The Argosy, September 22, Vol. 146, Iss. 3

Page 1

THE ARG OSY

NEWS

ARTS & CULTURE

SPORTS

OPINIONS

CENTREFOLD

Queerness and Pride at Mt. A. (Pg. 3)

Murmurations opens at the Owen’s. (Pg. 10)

Alumni Field: no longer a swamp. (Pg. 7)

Identity and exclusion at Pride. (Pg. 15)

Snapshots of Fall Fair. (Pg. 8-9)

Showing our true colours since 1872

Mount Allison’s Independent Student Newspaper

September 22, 2016 Vol. 146, Iss. 3


IT MEANS BEING ACCEPTED

I’M STILL FIGURING IT OUT

PRIDE IS MY

BEING ABLE TO

COMMUNITY

STAND UP AND

AND FRIEND

KNOW YOU ARE NOT

GROUP

ALONE

PRIDE

IT DOESN’T

PARADES IN

JUST FIT

A LOT OF BIG

ONE

CITIES HAVE

IDENTITY

BECOME THIS CORPORATE

MY SEXUALITY IS FOR ME IT’S NOT FOR ANYONE

PRIDE

I AM WHO

OPENS THE

I AM

DOOR TO

AND I

LIBERATION

FUCKING LOVE

ELSE

MYSELF

TOOL

IT ISN’T SOMETHING I DO FOR FUN ITS WHO I AM

PRIDE IS

AN

BEING

EXCLUSIONARY

UNDERSTAND-

ABLE TO

TO NON-

ING OF

LOVE

BINARY

HISTORY

WHO I

PEOPLE, BUT

LOVE

I THINK IT’S GETTING MORE INCLUSIVE

AN ONGOING

BEING

BEING

PANSEXUAL-

PROJECT FOR

PROUD

COMFORT-

ITY IS STILL

HOW WE CAN

OF WHO

ABLE WITH

KIND OF

MAKE THE

YOU ARE

WHO I

INVISIBLE IN

AM

A SEA

LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY

OF QUEER-

MORE

NESS

I DON’T EVER WANT TO BE QUIET ABOUT IT

PRIDE MEANS CELEBRATION AND RESISTANCE

INCLUSIVE

THANKS TO CATALYST, GET REAL, SHARE, THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES AND ALL MEMBERS OF THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY WHO SHARED THEIR EXPERIENCES!


EDITOR: CATHERINE TURNBULL & NAOMI GOLDBERG | SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

PRIDE

You are here, you are queer

NEWS 03

What the Sackville community has to say about Pride

JILL MACINTYRE News Reporter Happy Pride, Sackville. Today students, faculty and community members alike will be marching in Sackville’s second annual Pride parade, a celebration of identity, experience and resistance for queer* people. Queerness is not a single, homogenous experience. To get a more diverse picture and provide visibility to the community, Argosy staff interviewed more than 30 LGBTQ+ students on topics of Pride and queerness. Students were asked, “What does Pride mean to you?” To Sally Faulkner, who identifies as a pansexual woman, it means “community and the freedom to discover.” Community was an ongoing topic throughout most of the interviews. Students indicated that finding a support network of fellow queer people can be enriching, accepting and even life-saving. To Cat Bannon, a gay woman, Pride means “a celebration after a period of dulling [her]self for the comfort of others.”

“No one talked about sex being a positive thing or something a woman should enjoy, so when I got peer pressured into having sex and hated it, I just thought it was the normal thing. I thought of math equations when I kissed boys, but the first time I kissed a girl my world exploded,” said Bannon. Seventeenyear-old Alyssa Sanderson, who identifies as queer and non-binary, said that Pride allows individuals to live honestly and openly. “[Pride is] being able to hold my partner’s hand or express my pronouns and be understood, taken seriously and accepted,” they said. Queerness is not always easy to embrace initially.

Many students indicated mixed feelings about recognizing their queerness. Like many others, Blaire Guptill tried to convince herself for many years that she was straight. Guptill grew up in a small town “deeply rooted in [her Christian] faith,” without a lot of queer visibility. “I fought my queerness and I tried to convince myself for at least three years that I wasn’t gay,” Guptill said. Pride is not just an annual parade. It is an ongoing project and movement aimed at the inclusion of people who have been marginalized not only by a variety of state and social institutions, but also in many ways by the mainstream Pride movement itself. According to Aidan Legault, who identifies as a gay man, many people have been, and still are denied their Pride despite the radical origins of the movement.

“It’s important to understand as queer-identifying people where that movement comes from because the first Pride parade was an annual celebration of the Stonewall riots, which were actions carried out by queer and trans women of colour,” he said.

TO SALLY, PRIDE MEANS: “COMMUNITY AND THE FREEDOM TO DISCOVER.” “The fact that a lot of young, queeridentifying people don’t realize [the movement’s origins] is upsetting because then you see Pride events like Toronto where queer and trans people of colour are being systematically denied space,” said Legault, referring to a Black Lives Matter protest at Toronto Pride. Many interviewees indicated that certain people have been denied access to Pride for their race, nationality, sex, gender identity, class, ability and body type. The corporatization of Pride was mentioned in many interviews as well.

Queerness affects people in drastically different ways based on these and many more identities. Trans people, particularly trans women of colour, face incredibly high rates of murder relative to the general population. It is still a reality that some of the most “diverse” places in terms of sexual orientation and gender identity are prisons. Worldwide, it is still illegal to be queer in 76 countries – in 10 of these countries, homosexual sex is still punishable by death. Queerness is not a single experience. While Pride is a deeply politicized community celebration, it also needs to be an inclusive space not only for people marginalized by queerness but also for a number of other identities that have been excluded. *Queer in this context is not a derogatory term but a reclaimed term used to describe sexual orientations and gender identities that do not ascribe to hetero and cisnormativity.

ACCESSIBILITY

All-gender bathrooms to be the norm at Mt. A Many students welcome long-awaited change KAVANA WA KILELE News Reporter All-gender washrooms will soon be commonplace on campus, moving away from a model that upholds the gender binary. No timeline has been given for renovations, but Vice-President Finance and Administration Robert Inglis said that signage for alreadyestablished all-gender washrooms will be implemented within the next two months. Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Education Service (SHARE) Advisor Melody Petlock, who has been working on the project, said there has been a “much more positive will to take action” in the last year. “It was actually remarkably simple. We have a new VP who has been here for a year, and she is a great advocate,” Petlock said. Kim Meade was hired as VP international and student affairs in 2014. Petlock added that Inglis and

Director of Facilities Management Neil MacEachern have also strongly advocated for all-gender washrooms. When asked about challenges in implementing all-gender washrooms, Petlock said that there was a time when she would have experienced a pushback to efforts, but not anymore. The problem has now shifted to building codes and issues with signage. According to MacEachern, the university is bound by the New Brunswick Building Code Act in any work it does on campus facilities. The National Building Code, upon which the province’s code relies, currently stipulates that each building requires a certain number of toilets per sex (male and female) based on the building’s occupancy. According to MacEachern, this code is updated “every five years or so.” Another issue with creating a more accessible campus is signage. While the signage proposed by Petlock has been approved, it has yet to go campus-wide. Signs will

say “Washroom” and will include an image of a toilet and a wheelchair separated by a vertical line. Some buildings on campus already have all-gender washrooms. These include, but are not limited to, the Marjorie Young Bell Conservatory of Music, the student centre, Bennett House, Bigelow House and Windsor House. Upon request from residence assistants, dons and department members, Petlock has already installed all-gender signage in some campus buildings and residences. The signs that were put up read “All-Gender Restroom,” followed by a brief paragraph explaining that the washrooms are a positive space where people of all sexes, genders and gender expressions are welcome and respected. It added that if anyone wanted to talk about the decision, they could contact Petlock. Rogan Porter, a transgender man and former Mt. A student, said, “I had to strategically plan where I could use the washroom safely and no one

CONVENTIONAL BATHROOMS CAUSE STUDENT STRESS ANDREAS FOBES/ARGOSY should ever have to live like that.” Porter remembers hearing about the possibility of having all-gender washrooms on campus since his first year at Mt. A. ”It shouldn’t have taken so long...I had to go through my entire

transition wondering where I could pee next,” he said.

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STRESS

Printers pose problems for pupils Is this what Gutenberg intended?

STEP ONE: TRY

LEO GERTLER News Reporter Changes made over the summer to on-campus printing processing have been causing technical issues for students. New notes and posters placed near the printers in the Flying Bean Café provide step-by-step instructions for the new procedure, but troubles persist. “We’ve been having a recent spike of issues with these machines,” University Librarian Marc Truitt said. “These issues go back, essentially, to when they were installed.” Despite the assistance of

STEP TWO: HAVE NO SUCCESS Computing Services, students continue to face problems. “We just don’t have a solution yet,” Truitt said. “Computing Services has been by more than several times, working with the [library] access staff trying to pin this down. It’s a problem that’s been documented and reported to the reseller who has supplied the machines.” Second-year commerce student Jacob Mallet is frustrated with the printing situation. “I can’t print. Nothing is being submitted [through Web Print]. It’s fine 50 per cent of the time, but the other times it’s just garbage,” Mallet

said of the new system.“It’s like taking something that’s broken and breaking it even more. It’s frustrating.” In the library, where the majority of on-campus printers are housed, students are relying on librarians at the circulation desk to help them. “With the new printers it has been taking more of the staff’s time than it used to take,” said Laura Landon, head of access services. “I can’t give you a percentage, but it’s safe to say that a large number of the questions that come to the access desk are about the printers and other technical troubleshooting.” Even though maintenance of and

STEP THREE: GIVE UP

RYAN MACRAE/ARGOSY

technical support for the printers do not officially fall under the library’s responsibilities, Landon said she wants students to bring printer issues to the attention of the library staff. Second-year English major Percy Miller echoed the frustrations faced by Mallet. “I’ve had way more issues with the new printers than before.” Miller also highlighted the financial burden placed on students of using on-campus printing services. “When professors are asking you to print upwards of 50 pages, as one of mine is, you’re doing one of two things: you’re either using a lot of ink and paper on your personal printer

or you’re spending a fair amount of money to print that kind of material.” Having access to printing services is essential to many students’ academic success. In addition to physical copies of students’ work, many professors require that students be responsible for printing class notes. Expected to pay for printing, they feel entitled to functioning services. “It’s a cause of stress,” Miller said. “There’s a pressure put on you to be a professional student, and you feel childish having to say to a professor ‘I couldn’t get the printer working’ or ‘I’m sorry, my Mountie Money ran out.’”

admission for undergraduate and graduate studies. The majority of its members are university professors. Other members include administrative staff, appointees of the board and elected student representatives. Faculty Council advises the Senate and the president. Both Senate and Faculty Council are chaired by the president.

member, McCaffrey-Noviss (wemccaffreynoviss@mta.ca). Alternatively, students can take a more indirect approach: issues can be brought to the attention of MASU councillors-at-large or members of the MASU executive. If the MASU council passes a motion in support of a particular issue that is relevant to the board, both the MASU president and the student representative of the BoR can bring it up at the next board meeting. Students can also engage in direct activism. For example, following last year’s student protests over cuts to the WGST program, the board’s agenda was amended so that the topic would be discussed.

GOVERNANCE

Know your university Mt. A’s governance structure

NAOMI GOLDBERG News Editor Last year, Mount Allison students protested the senior administration’s plans to increase tuition for correspondence courses and cut the women’s and gender studies (WGST) program. In both cases, student protests were successful in reversing these decisions—at least in the short term. Given that all major changes at Mt. A must be approved by the Board of Regents (BoR), knowing what the BoR is and how it works is an important first step to getting involved in the decision-making process on campus.

BOARD OF REGENTS

The BoR is responsible for the management and control of the university. Twenty-five regents sit on the board, including the university president, the MASU president, an elected student representative, the chancellor, certain faculty members, and other individuals, including some Mt. A alumni, who do not work for the university. The current student representative is Willa McCaffrey-Noviss, who was elected for the second year in a row. The board meets three times a year, in February, May and October. However, it is often the case that many regents cannot make it to the February meeting due to weather conditions. The meetings can only

take place if quorum is reached, which requires eight regents to be present. In addition to an executive, the BoR has numerous standing and ad hoc committees. The executive committee handles the general management of the university’s affairs throughout the year, such as investing or directing the endowment fund and hiring new employees.

BOARD COMMITTEES

Standing committees are written into the board’s bylaws, which means they are permanent. Ad hoc committees are created during board meetings to deal with specific issues that come up and are dissolved once the issue at hand has been resolved. For example, after DivestMTA advocated for socially responsible investing last year, the board decided to create a Responsible Investing committee to look into the issue. Members of standing committees serve two-year terms, except for student members, who serve for one year. Non-regents can be appointed to a standing committee, although the majority of its members must be regents. Standing committees include the Nominating and Governance committee, whose responsibilities include monitoring the board’s communication with the university community. This committee also assesses the effectiveness of the

board, its committees and sometimes individual regents.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

According to Dylan Wooley-Berry, last year’s MASU president, board meetings actually begin a whole week in advance at the executive committee meeting. The executive committee goes through the board package, which contains all reports and information that will be discussed during the meeting, and creates the agenda for the upcoming meeting. Several days in advance, regents receive the board package. Regents cannot share the package itself with other people, but may relay the information within it. The next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 14 in Tweedie Hall. Among other topics, the board will discuss the university’s financial statements for the last fiscal year.

OTHER PARTS OF THE GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE

The university governance structure is also composed of the president, Senate and Faculty Council, all of which report back to the BoR. The president supervises and directs all academic matters and the general administration of the university. Senate deals mostly with academic affairs, such as deciding to discontinue courses and setting the terms of

STUDENT COMMUNICATION WITH THE BOARD

Students seeking to communicate with the board can follow several different paths. The most simple approach is to get in touch with the current student board


NEWS

THE ARGOSY | WWW.ARGOSY.CA

This Week in New Brunswick COMPILED BY CATHERINE TURNBULL & NAOMI GOLDBERG

NB LIQUOR TO OFFER DELIVERY SERVICES

FUNDING

05

New world-class research facility for Mt. A

$9.75 million granted by federal and provincial governments for renovations

NB Liquor will begin to offer online ordering and home delivery. A new website will offer a “Click-and-Collect” program by the end of the year or in early 2017. Customers who shop online will be able to pick up their order 48 to 72 hours later at the NB Liquor branch of their choice, a wait time designed to minimize impulse buys. NB Liquor will also provide home delivery for a fee, which will take two to four days. The delivery person will require identification in order to ensure that the person receiving the order is of legal drinking age.

TOBIQUE FIRST NATION APPROVES LAND CLAIM

The $39.2-million land claim approved this week by Tobique First Nation in western New Brunswick has been under negotiation for more than 40 years. The settlement is compensation from the federal government for 10,000 acres of land near the reserve that was siezed by Ottawa over a century ago. Eighty per cent of the money will be divided between more than 2,000 band members. The band council plans to spend the other 20 per cent on community development, including a new piece of land and on-reserve housing. Some band members feel that it was a “take-it-or-leave-it” situation and that the federal government didn’t give the band any choice in the matter.

YOUNG WOMAN FROM QUISPAMSIS EXPOSES VOYEUR FATHER

Twenty-three-year-old Bonnie Wilson asked to have her publication ban waved so that information could be released about David Michael Wilson, her father. David Michael Wilson pleaded guilty to a charge of voyeurism that said he spied on his daughter by installing a camera in her bedroom between March 2007 and 2014 and taking pictures of her in various stages of nudity. Bonnie Wilson said that exposing her father was important in spreading the message that voyeurism is not the fault of the victim.

FENTANYL HAS DEADLY PRESENCE IN MONCTON, REST OF MARITIMES

Fentanyl, a drug estimated to be over 100 times more powerful than heroin, has been causing alarm among officials across Canada. A staff member at a recovery centre in Moncton reported to the CBC at least three recent deaths related to counterfeit oxycontin and dilaudid, both laced with fentanyl. A CBC report found 33 fentanyl-related deaths in the Maritimes, though many believe the real number to be higher. British Columbia has declared a state of emergency as hundreds of fentanyl-related overdose deaths have occurred this year. British Columbia is currently the only province that tracks overdose rates and releases the information publicly. New Brunswick Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jennifer Russell has stated that she takes the threat of fentanyl seriously but will not commit to tracking or releasing information about overdoses in the province.

LITERACY GAP BETWEEN FRANCOPHONES AND ANGLOPHONES STILL PRESENT According to a recent study by Statistics Canada, New Brunswick is the only province in which francophones lag behind anglophones in literacy tests. Jean-Pierre Corbeil, chief specialist for language and immigration statistics at Statistics Canada, said such gaps have nearly disappeared in the rest of the country but remain in New Brunswick. The study states possible reasons for this discrepancy, including the declining industrial sector, an aging population and a lower level of education compared to the anglophone population.

BUSINESS-ATTIRED INDIVIDUALS ANNOUNCE FUNDING DECISION. ADRIAN KIVA/ARGOSY

NADIYA SAFONOVA Politics Reporter The federal and provincial governments announced last Thursday that they are investing $9.75 million toward a state-of-the-art Centre for Environmental Innovation at Mount Allison. Additionally, the federal and provincial governments are each contributing $250,000 toward athletic resource improvements through the Strategic Investment Fund Program and the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program. Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and Canadian Coast Guard and Beauséjour MP Dominic LeBlanc announced the federal government’s $6.5-million contribution to the new facility. Likewise, Premier Brian Gallant presented the $3.25-million investment from the provincial government. MemramcookTantramar MLA Bernard LeBlanc and Mt. A President Robert Campbell also spoke at the announcement. Mt. A is contributing $3.25 million to this project through the university’s general maintenance and renovations budget. The federal government is “focused on creating world-class innovation

and world-class research centres across the country, which will benefit the long-term economy of the country,” said Dominic LeBlanc. Gallant presented the provincial government’s goals of “investing in infrastructure, investing in our people through education and training, and fostering innovation”. “In 2015, the economy of New Brunswick grew by 1.9 per cent...it was the largest increase we had seen in years, and it was the fourth largest increase in the country,” said Gallant. The funds will go toward renovating the long-vacant Gairdner building––which is where the new environmental centre will be–– and the outdated Barclay facility. Barclay, home to the chemistry and biochemistry departments, will receive upgrades to its labs and infrastructure. Both facilities will be more energy-efficient after the renovations. According to Campbell, the Centre for Environmental Innovation will conduct research that “will help us all understand and mitigate the effects of climate change” and “ensure the long-term sustainability of marine and freshwater industries.” He added that “the real payoff of this public investment will be the

increased opportunities that it will give to our students.” No details about specific layout and function of the centre have been released to students yet. The construction of the Centre for Environmental Innovation has already begun with the clearing out of the Gairdner building. Projected timelines for the renovations estimate that the centre will be completed in the spring or summer of 2018. The portion of the funding directed to athletic resources will go toward upgrades to the athletic field. This will include improvements to the scoreboard and bleachers. Mt. A is also contributing $250,000 to the field, which was obtained through fundraising events. Talks about field upgrades began in spring of 2016. Mt. A wanted to complete the project quickly to be ready for the 2016 fall season. According to Dominic LeBlanc, this was an important upgrade not only for the campus, but also for “giving the Tantramar community the facilities and infrastructure that make Sackville such a wonderful place.” The announcement of the athletic field upgrade comes as a surprise to many Mt. A students.


06 SPORTS

EDITOR: DAVID TAPLIN | SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

RACISM

Not standing for it anymore Colin Kaepernick’s protest echoes tradition of resistance

BEN WISHART Sports Contributor In 1968, during a time of severe racial and social division in the United States, the actions of two AfricanAmerican Olympic athletes rocked the sports world. Standing on the podium donning black gloves, track and field athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists during the national anthem as a symbol of black power, solidarity and resistance. Fifty years later, with issues of police brutality and a broken justice system still perpetuating racial and social division in the United States, athletes are once again using the anthem as a medium to speak out, kneeling in protest where Smith and Carlos once raised their fists. On Aug. 14, during the San Francisco 49ers’ first preseason football game, quarterback Colin Kaepernick remained seated during the playing of The Star Spangled Banner. While this individual action went largely unnoticed at first, as the number of games in which Kaepernick refused to stand for the

national anthem accumulated, his kneeling quickly became a big story. “I am not going to stand to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour,” Kaepernick said. “There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.” Because of his form of protest, Kaepernick has been accused of disrespecting the military and has received incredible backlash. Everyone – from Donald Trump to Kate Upton to corporations who have since revoked their sponsorships – have taken a turn at publicly shaming the NFL quarterback. Despite the public outcry, the movement is beginning to spread. During the opening weekend of the NFL season, many of Kaepernick’s peers joined him in kneeling, while others raised their fists in solidarity. The opening weekend also coincided with the 15th anniversary of the events of 9/11, which fueled further outrage at the players’ protests. In response to critiques, Miami Dolphins running back Arian Foster said, “they say ‘It’s not the time to

do this.’ Well, when is the time? It’s never the time in somebody else’s eyes because they’ll always feel like it’s good enough.” While it is easy to look to our southern neighbours and criticize how issues of race have persisted, it is important that we do not become complacent about systemic racism in Canada, to which our Mount Allison community is far from immune. Fifth-year student and former varsity athlete Charles Kacou is no stranger to these racial issues. “Sackville is a nice town [with] a small community, but at the same time, there are times when racism does arise,” he said. “You see it subtly, maybe not every day, but it’s there.” Kacou recalled one recent incident. “I was approached at the grocery store and asked, ‘Do you speak French like the others?’ I asked what he was talking about and he said, ‘Aren’t you all from Ghana or something?’” While Kacou feels lucky to be in a community where the issues are less extreme than in other areas in the world, he still feels as though there

CURRENT PROTESTS SIMILAR TO THOSE FIFTY YEARS AGO. LOUIS SOBOL/ARGOSY are conversations to be had and issues to be resolved. Discussing the Kaepernick protests, Kacou said, “people need to understand that he’s just trying to make a point and trying to show that maybe there are things we should talk about more.” While the political outcome of

Kaepernick’s protest remains to be seen, the movement has already succeeded in one major way: Kaepernick has us talking. Whether you support his methods or feel that he has gone too far is not what matters here. It is time to start taking a serious look at these issues.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Perseverance and progress as young Mounties aim for results Looking to build from this weekend

HAMZA MUNAWAR Sports Reporter

After back-to-back losses to open the season, the women’s team won 2-0 against Saint Mary’s in Halifax. The win demonstrated the team’s potential to succeed this season. “It will be challenging, but we still strive to do so,” Ouellette said. The Mounties are the underdogs this year and are “excited about it,” said second-year player Emily Poole. “We have to focus [on] how we play as a team, how we work as a team. Outcomes will come from that.” Last weekend, the Mounties secured their first win of the season, playing both Saint Mary’s and defending champions Cape Breton. Shaking off the nerves that come with season openers, the Mounties worked as a team and played a strong outing, Ouellette said.

After nine starters graduated in May, Mount Allison women’s soccer team now hopes that youth will trump experience this season. This year marks coach Gene Ouellette’s third season with the team. While there has been a lot of turnover, Ouellette hopes that everyone will fill their new roles well. Captains Myranda Weild, Claire Neufeld, Tessa Richie and Jane Rouse will be expected to lead the team. The preseason proved that differences between the teams in the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) are marginal and that, with the right adjustments, the women’s team can push for a playoff spot.

MOUNTIES IN ACTION AGAINST CBU. ARDIAN KIVA/ARGOSY

THE SCOREBOARD

WOMEN’S SOCCER

FOOTBALL

MTA (A) 2 - SAINT MARY’S (H) 0 CAPE BRETON (A) 3 - MTA (H) 0

AUS

Memorial Cape Breton Acadia StFX Moncton UNB Mount Allison Dalhousie UPEI Saint Mary’s

GP 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 3

W 4 4 3 2 2 1 1 0 0 0

L 0 0 0 0 2 2 3 3 4 3

MEN’S SOCCER

MTA (A) 27 - SAINT MARY’S (H) 32

AUS T 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0

PTS 12 12 9 8 6 4 3 1 0 0

StFX Acadia Saint Mary’s Mount Allison

GP 2 2 2 2

W 2 1 1 0

L 0 1 1 2

WOMEN’S RUGBY

UNB (A) 23 - MTA (H) 14 MTA (A) 62 - DAL AC (H) 5

MEN’S RUBGY

MTA (A) 12 - UNBSJ (H) 12

LACROSSE

UNB (A) 10 - MTA (H) 7

PTS 4 2 2 0

MTA (A) 2 - SAINT MARY’S (H) 2 CAPE BRETON (A) 5 - MTA (H) 0

AUS

Acadia Dalhousie StFX Cape Breton UNB Memorial Moncton Saint Mary’s Mount Allison UPEI

GP 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 4

W 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 0

L 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 1 3 4

T

0 2 2 1 3 2 1 2 1 0

PTS 9 8 8 7 6 5 4 2 1 0

The first half against Saint Mary’s went scoreless, showcasing a strong defensive performance by the Mounties. Richie kept the team in the game with impressive goalkeeping. In the second half, Katherine Ollerhead and Pascale Haidar both scored to secure a 2-0 Mounties victory, their first of the season. Building on this win, the Mounties hosted Cape Breton at home. The cold and wet weather made for a tough match. After a rainy first half, the Mounties found themselves down by one goal. The second half showed more of the same, with the Mounties falling short 3-0 to the defending champions. The Mounties are better each time they step onto the field, building chemistry and narrowing the gap between them and other AUS teams with every week. If the young roster steps up and raises its game, it is easy to see that the Mounties have not only the potential to make the playoffs, but a bright future as well. The team is “headed in the right direction,” Weild said. The Mounties will be on the road this weekend as they play another doubleheader against St. FX and Cape Breton, getting another crack at the defending champions.


SPORTS

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ALUMNI FIELD

07

New field invites celebrations, skepticism Alumni Field enables increased playing durability and accessibility

DAVID TAPLIN Sports Editor With a new scoreboard standing next to new bleachers and a new press box, the final remnants of the David M. Macaulay field are almost gone. These improvements to the Alumni Field will mean that Mount Allison athletes no longer have to play on a swamp, even if they live in one. While athletes, students and the Sackville community will reap the benefits of the new field, the project also raises concerns about the priorities of the administration. The old grass field was reserved exclusively for varsity athletics, with two soccer teams and a football team splitting game and practice time. Even with the limited use, the grass surface would deteriorate quickly. As former varsity soccer player and current team manager Matt Poole put it, “by early October every year, the grass field was a complete swamp. It was nobody’s fault. That was just the nature of trying to maintain a grass field when you have [several] sports teams using it.” Citing the opportunity for more use, Athletic Director Pierre Arsenault said the new field is a “game-changer.” In the past “the grass field [was] used for 150 hours per year in a 10-week period.” In contrast, Arsenault stated that the turf field can now be used throughout

most of the year “for over 1,000 hours.” The durability of turf means the new field will be more inclusive. Instead of being reserved for varsity teams, Alumni Field is open to club teams’ practices, intramural games, and individual use – not only for students, but also for Sackville residents.

“BY EARLY OCTOBER EVERY YEAR, THE GRASS FIELD WAS A COMPLETE SWAMP.” “This summer, we’ve partnered with Football New Brunswick, hosted Lacrosse New Brunswick, [and] hosted soccer camps. Last year we [were] able to host high school football games, which we will do again this year,” said Arsenault. “When people come here and see the new facilities, they see a school that takes its athletics seriously,” said Poole. The first phase of Alumni Field’s installation cost $1.5 million and was financed through alumni donations. The upgrades, which represent the second phase of the project and are set to be finished this year, will cost approximately $800,000, according to Arsenault.

Last week, Beauséjour MP Dominic LeBlanc announced that the provincial and federal governments will each donate $250,000 to the second phase of the project. The university has also committed to contributing $250,000 to the upgrades, all of which has been fundraised. Not everyone in the Mt. A community is excited about the field. When asked about the project, Katharyn Stevenson, president of the Women’s and Gender Studies (WGST) Society, questioned its accessibility. “They have this exciting new project and it’s millions of dollars and [they] say that it’s alumni money that’s going towards benefitting our overall health and wellness,” Stevenson said. “I don’t feel welcome going out on that field. Not at all. The reality is that it benefits very specific groups of people on campus.” Concerning how the money for the field was raised, Stevenson said, “the [administration] markets toward certain alumni and say they want to build a field, but I’ve never heard them say, ‘our WGST program has little to no money, do you want to help save that?’” “Alumni can do what they want with their money, but there is definitely an aspect to guiding where they donate.”

MOUNTIES PLAYING ON MACAULAY FIELD IN 2012. DAVID SHI/ARGOSY ARCHIVES

ALUMNI FIELD IS AVAILABLE FOR A WIDER VARIETY OF TEAMS TO PLAY AND PRACTICE ON. ADRIAN KIVA/ARGOSY

MEN’S SOCCER

Rebuilding from the ground up

Structure is key as new coach tackles losing culture DAVID TAPLIN Sports Editor “Frustrating” is one word that the Mounties men’s soccer coach George Jenkins has used to describe the shape of this year’s men’s soccer team. Harsh as it may be, it is the reality for the Mounties, who have not qualified for playoffs since 2004. When Jenkins took the job as the team’s head coach in January, he was taking a position with a team that consistently finished low in the league standings. He knew he had some work to do, but the extent of it surprised even him. When asked if coaching the team is a tougher situation than he expected, Jenkins said, “yes, absolutely, it’s more than I thought. As we go farther down the road, I’m finding out more things. [There are a lot of] challenges we go up against.” “We are way behind where we need to be. You could really tell that when we played Acadia. The program needs to be revamped. It needs to be reshaped,” said Jenkins, who has coaching experience in Argentina, the United States and Europe. “I was hoping for much more, but we need to go back to the beginning and build a foundation,” he added. Jenkins also discussed making changes to the culture of the team

this season. “It’s not an easy thing to change. We have a training session, and they are excellent in the session, but we go back on the pitch and they go right back into their old habits. One or two wins out of the season [is] what I am hoping for.” Jenkins said that upon his arrival, “discipline here was almost zero and there was almost a sense of entitlement. We put an end to that.” Fourth-year player Mario Hennessey said that significant

“I WAS HOPING FOR MUCH MORE, BUT WE NEED TO GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING AND BUILD A FOUNDATION.” changes were made to the team’s training, including “much stricter policies regarding how punctual you are to practice [and] how much effort you have to give in practice. Things are a lot more structured.” With his younger brother entering his first year on the team, Hennessey has some advice to offer him and younger players. “Although the

season likely isn’t going to be what anyone is hoping for, look at it as a base [from which] to progress and do what you can at every practice and every game to get better individually.” Apart from structure, Jenkins has also placed an emphasis on recruiting. With connections in Ontario, he hopes to bring in fresh players to build his team around. “I have been recruiting a lot. A lot of the players I am getting are [in] grade 11, grade 10 – these are future players coming. You have to build.” Last weekend, the team earned a 2-2 draw on Saturday in Halifax against Saint Mary’s in their best outing of the season. On Sunday Mt. A hosted the Cape Breton Capers (CBU), a team ranked seventh in the country. When asked about his expectations for the match, Jenkins said, “we have to look at it as, ‘let’s try and keep as many goals out of the net as possible.’” The Mounties started the game with energy. Nine minutes in, the Capers scored off of a set piece due to a combination of an error by the goalkeeper and poor marking. The Mounties attempted to settle back in, but a mixture of poor defending and a high quality level from Cape Breton led to a 4-0 CBU lead at halftime. Mt. A looked better after the break,

JENKINS FACES A STEEP CHALLENGE AS MT. A MEN’S SOCCER COACH. SAMUEL THOMSON/ARGOSY stringing together passes here and there. The team went forward at times before settling back and defending. The result was never in doubt: 5-0 for Cape Breton.

With eyes toward next year, the Mounties will have to learn from tough games like this one. As Jenkins put it, “it’s only up from here.”


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CENTREFOLD

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA BY SYLVAN HAMBURGER, ADRIAN KIVA, RYAN MACRAE & SAVANNAH HARRIS


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CENTREFOLD

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10 ARTS & CULTURE

EDITORS: MIRELLE NAUD MALLORY BURNSIDE-HOLMES SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

FINE ARTS

“Murmurations” moves attendees

Rita McKeough and Graeme Patterson’s collaboration debuts at the Owens

PLAYER PIANO ADORNED IN LEAVES AND VINES SYMBOLIZES ACCORD BETWEEN MUSIC AND NATURE. SAVANNAH MILEEN HARRIS/THE ARGOSY

EVAN FURNESS Contributor “I haven’t stood in line for art since the Venice Biennale” said Gemey Kelly, director of the Owens Art Gallery, during her opening remarks last Wednesday night at the opening. The line for Calgary-based artist Rita McKeough and Sackville-based artist Graeme Patterson’s collaborative installation, Murmurations, stretched across the length of the gallery. Returning to the Owens the next day, I realized how necessary it had been to limit the number of visitors into the gallery room. Murmurations

should be seen alone. The gallery was nearly silent when I first entered the room. Towering paper trees spread throughout the room, animated starlings converged in the corner of a large-scale projection to my right and dozens of motorized leaves danced on the wall to my left. The leaves acted independently of one another, some bouncing, some swaying, others spinning out of control. They were like characters. I approached the centre piece: a player piano standing in the middle of the room. More leaves were nestled into its keys and roots climbed out

of its base, crawling throughout the gallery. One voice spoke, and then another. The piano sprung to life, banging out a dissonant, random progression of notes. Fans whirred into life, oscillating back and forth, rustling the leaves even more. A soundtrack began to play as the starlings changed formation. In an instant, the gallery became a thriving environment. Moving around the installation and examining every inch of the space, I began to glean more insight into this cacophony. I discovered that the paper trees were really piano rolls for a player piano, printed with

text that spiralled around the trunks, encouraging readers to dance around the trunks. These texts were lyrics of love and nature. I stood still for a while and the gallery went quiet. When I moved again, the gallery reanimated – starlings, piano, fans and all. I realized that my movement was the catalyst for the reactions of all these objects. Murmurations is an immersive show that begs to be explored. Everything in the gallery is triggered in some way by the audience via sensors, making visitation an essential component of the artwork. You tell the piece to begin. You tell it

to end – all of this simply by moving forward or standing still. The banter between you and the art is essential to understanding the artists’ communication and environmental concerns reflected in the exhibition. The work implies that our conservation efforts are necessary to help the environment thrive. With inaction and ignorance, we will keep hurting the environment’s well-being. This call to action is done in the most delicate of ways. That’s what Murmurations is: subtle and immersive. A must-see, Murmurations is on view at the Owens until Oct. 24.

MUSIC

Music gala opens season on a high note

Mt. A faculty and Tesla Quartet shine at annual charitable event EMMA SOLDAAT Contributor Mount Allison’s professors stepped out of the classroom and into the concert hall on Sept. 9 to share their talents with students and the community. All proceeds from the annual Faculty Gala Concert go towards scholarships for music students. Highlights from the concert included David Rogosin’s shimmering rendition of three Scriabin Preludes and Vicky St. Pierre’s performance of “What a Movie!” from Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti. Rogosin held Brunton spellbound with delicate

preludes and St. Pierre ended the first half on a high note with her hilarious acting performance. This year’s gala also featured the Mt. A debut of the internationally acclaimed Tesla Quartet, the Bell String Quartet-in-Residence. The residency was established by the Marjorie Young Bell Endowment fund to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first bachelor of music program at Mt. A and the 50th anniversary of the Marjorie Young Bell Conservatory of Music. The quartet, consisting of Ross Snyder (violin), Michelle Lie (violin), Edwin Kaplan (viola), and Serafim Smigelskiy (cello), was established in 2008 at the Juilliard School. The quartet performed both solo

and in collaboration with faculty members James Kalyn and Stephen Runge. Their first piece, Canadian composer Marcus Goddard’s “Allaqi,” highlighted the quartet’s flawless sense of ensemble, musicality and warm, rich timbre. The piece was previously performed in August at the Banff International String Quartet Competition, where the quartet won an assortment of awards: the Second Prize Laureates, the R.S. Williams & Sons Haydn Prize and the Canadian Commission Prize. The Tesla Quartet’s first solo recital at Mt. A will take place on Oct. 21 and will feature works by Haydn, Brahms and Janáček.

EDWIN KAPLAN, SERAFIM SMIGELSKIY, ROSS SNYDER, AND MICHELLE LIE OF THE TESLA QUARTET. SUBMITTED/EDWIN KAPLAN


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INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS

“Year of Indigenous Knowing” begins

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Armand Ruffo and Lee Maracle educate Mt. A through art and written word

NORVAL MORRISSEAU’S “MAN CHANGING INTO THUNDERBIRD”. ART CANADA INSTITUTE/ONLINE

MALLORY BURNSIDE-HOLMES & MIRELLE NAUD Arts and Culture Editors Indigenous affairs are finally on the radar at Mount Allison. After last year’s completion of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 97 Canadian universities across Canada, including Mt. A, pledged to offer increased Indigenous support and educational programming. As a result of this pledge, Mt. A’s theme

LEE MARACLE, WRITER AND ACTIVIST. LAURA DILLMAN/ SUBMITTED

this year is the “Year of Indigenous Knowing.” Readings by Anishinaabe writer Armand Garnet Ruffo and Stó:lō writer Lee Maracle opened Mt. A’s President’s Speakers Series, which is oriented toward this theme. Ruffo read biographical passages and poetry that he had written about Norval Morrisseau, the compelling Indigenous painter who shares Ruffo’s Anishinaabe heritage and Catholic upbringing.

The poet’s involvement in Morrisseau’s story began ten years ago when he received a call from the National Gallery of Canada. “They asked me if I would write something of Norval Morrisseau for the upcoming retrospective they were having,” Ruffo said. The event was Canada’s first solo show by an Indigenous painter. The richly coloured, spiritually evocative and sometimes-erotic works of Morrisseau served as an engaging

visual companion to Ruffo’s reading. Ruffo’s poetry explored motifs and stories of Anishinaabe heritage and their influence on the painter’s psyche and creations. Mt. A’s Indigenous Affairs Coordinator Doreen Richard said she saw her Mi’kmaq heritage echoed in Ruffo’s reading. “For myself there were a lot of connections,” she said. These included the “life scroll with the birchbark... the bear vision…[and] the seven cycles of life, [which] reminded me of the seven grandfather teachings.” Lee Maracle has written and spoken for decades on behalf of silenced Indigenous peoples. At Tweedie Hall, her storytelling experience and energetic presence demanded full audience attention. When Maracle spoke, everyone listened. “You could feel the room being literally pulled into the storytelling,” said Christl Verduyn, head of the Canadian Studies department. “[Maracle] is such an emotional speaker. Whenever she says anything she speaks with purpose,” said Ashley Cummings, first-year Inuit student originally from Nunavut. Maracle’s words provoked many emotional responses, particularly for Cummings. “I haven’t been back to Nunavut, my hometown, for a couple years. Hearing [Maracle] speak about language and issues that Indigenous people face really touched me,” she

said. The question-and-answer session included a moment that epitomized Maracle’s celebrated fearlessness, Cummings recounted. “[Robert] Campbell asked a question and I guess it rubbed her the wrong way. [Maracle] said, ‘In my mind this young girl in front of me,’ and motioned to me, ‘knows more than you do.’” The room burst into applause, as did Campbell. Maracle stood tall, as always. Ruffo and Maracle demonstrate how storytelling can improve public understanding of Indigenous cultures and histories. “Because writers have the craft of words, they actually became among the first activists. They were basically using the tool of English language, of white society, to resist and push back,” Verduyn said. When asked why these readings should matter to students, Cummings said, “[They offer] a perspective that often non-Indigenous people don’t get to really see. [Non-Indigenous students] get more insight.” Coming up in the speakers series, Anishinaabe writer Joseph Boyden (Oct. 3) and Mi’kmaq spoken-word artist Rebecca Thomas (Oct. 19) will further Mt. A’s education about Indigenous knowledge.

FOOD

Unsettling the table

Connecting culture and ecology through food ALEX LEPIANKA Contributor

As social creatures, how we cook and eat reveals a lot about what it means to be human. The fact that our food comes from the environment also grounds us in the ecosystem. Since in Sackville I can thank my local farmers personally, I often take it for granted that most food is grown, reared and prepared by strangers around the world. This form of food production is only a recent development for our species. In fact, technical improvements in food production, including agriculture, are thought to go hand in hand with human development. The growing distance between us and our food sources is often considered unsustainable or destructive. The cycles and rhythms of nature demand much less public attention when fresh produce can be bought year-round. While it is common to hear about environmental degradation caused by large-scale, industrialized agriculture, our removal from the food production chain has cultural effects that are also important. Our historical dependence on land for food means that many of our

social formations, including political and economic institutions, defensively responded to unpredictable environments indifferent to our survival. Only in the past few centuries have systems of markets, storage technologies and distribution networks relieved our dependence on local food industry. Historical dependences on the land shaped day-to-day practices much more than assignment deadlines and course readings could ever determine ours today. Before the modern era, the daily necessity of food work – from procurement and cooking to storage, preservation and management – was reflected in many spiritual, civic and ecological practices. For example, seasonal variations (from harvest time to hunting season) determined our food labour, which in turn shaped how we conceive of time. Today, our definition of a year is much more technical than ecological (referring to physical and astronomical measurements). In comparison, Old Europe’s worshiprelated and civic holiday calendars were highly interrelated with the growing season. In other words, the year followed a rhythm of hunting, growing and collecting, punctuated by spiritual feasts and public days of rest.

As we continue to become separated from the forests, oceans and pastures that nourish us, our cultural formations will become less and less ecologically dependent and our celebrations will refer to things other than the sun, the rain, the change of seasons and the health of the land. Perhaps this is a good thing, or perhaps not. However, even today, it is possible to think of a few public occasions that preserve the relationship between ecology and culture. Sackville’s Fall Fair is a particularly good example. In addition, many of our oldest ceremonies, including religious observances, relate to the growing cycle in some way. No matter how modern our food practices become, our taste for sunripened tomatoes, wild-caught salmon, foraged mushrooms and spring lamb will always ground us in our environment and its rhythms. The pleasures of food for our body are, after all, pleasures of this earth.

“CULTURE COMES TOGETHER” 7TH ANNUAL CULTURE DAYS Sackville will become a little more unified this Friday, Sept. 30. Mark the date, as it will host the seventh annual Culture Days festival, “Culture Comes Together,” from 1-2 p.m.

Sponsored by Mount Allison University and Renaissance Sackville, this event is sure to satisfy your cultural sweet tooth. Ten different downtown Sackville hotspots will provide you the opportunity to experience everything from origami to yoga. The festivities will feature talents from the school’s drama, fine arts, music, and English departments. Locations include: Fog Forest Gallery, Jean Coutu, Joe & the Crow, Mel’s Tea Room, Canada Post, Your Independent Grocer, Royal Bank, Tidewater Books, Scotiabank and the Salvation Army. We hope to see you there! Sincerely, Mt. A’s Arts and Culture Marketing class


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ARTS & CULTURE

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

FINE ARTS

Artist talks anarchy and activism Rita McKeough takes listeners through her artistic journey

SQUIRREL PERFORMS CELL-PHONE CPR. ILLUSTRATOR/ANDREAS FOBES

MARISSA CRUZ Reporter A hospital for speared hot-dogs and a giggling chicken are only a few highlights of Rita McKeough’s career. McKeough, who is an artist,

musician and educator, gave a spirited artist’s talk at the Owen’s Art Gallery last Tuesday. McKeough creates art with the main purpose of sparking conversations about social issues, finding her “inspiration often comes out of a concern in [her] life.”

Upon entering the gallery, McKeough’s energy was immediately apparent. “Am I playing this music too loud?” she asked, tongue-incheek, as she turned the music louder. She fist-bumped the air while greeting incoming guests. McKeough’s whimsical demeanour is also evident in her work. Although many of her pieces address serious subject matter, her approach in responding to these concerns demonstrates her characteristic playfulness. “I was interested in making a piece about violence against women and the way that memory embeds itself in your body,” she said of Taking it to the Teeth (1993). “So in the gallery I made a fictional body, the institution [stood] in for the body.” The layout of the installation referenced the digestive system and the performance portrayed the process of ingestion to excretion. McKeough tore off chunks of the gallery wall, chewing pieces and spitting them out as part of her performance. “For me, taking it in your mouth and spitting it out was where

empowerment could come from. You can taste it with its complexities,” McKeough said. As an educator, McKeough wants her outspokenness to inspire others to voice their opinions. During her time as a drummer in a punk band, she learned to embrace the nature of anarchy and to push forward, even when her voice felt unimportant. “[It’s] the idea of speaking for the things that you care about. Speaking up against things you don’t agree with. Letting your voice be heard,” McKeough said. Her piece Wave Over Wave (2000) is a memorial to immigrants who lost their lives overseas. The piece consists of 36 synchronized electronic drum sticks that tap the floor to depict the sounds of the sea. McKeough’s work commonly combines electronics and sound to convey meaning. “I have a fascination with technology. I am still learning,” McKeough said. McKeough expressed her concern with industrialized farming in her piece The Lion’s Share (2012). The piece combined kinetics and

performance to create a restaurant in a gallery space. Animated carrots, milk glasses with tongue casts, a fecescovered hot-dog pen and a giggling chicken named Betsy decorated the scene. The Lion’s Share demonstrates McKeough’s implementation of the multiple, as it includes hundreds of rubber fried eggs and hot dogs. In classic McKeough style, the piece uses humour to reveal the absurdity of modernized farming. In her thirty years of practice, McKeough has left a vivaciously intriguing imprint on Canada’s installation and performance art history. She challenges and answers questions concerning issues of social injustice, feminist theory, environmental practice and personal anxieties. “The juxtaposition of love and social activism is really important to me,” McKeough said. “[It’s] something that reoccurs in my work.” As the talk drew to a close and the music began, she gestured to the audience once more. “Is it time to dance now?”

COMMUNITY

Fall Fair celebrates sweet sixteen

“Thanks for the memories even though they weren’t so great” - Fall Out Boy CORINNA PAUMIER Arts and Culture Reporter In its sweetest year yet, the Sackville Fall Fair celebrated its 16th last weekend. Taking place at various spots across town, the Fair offered new and returning students the perfect opportunity to explore Sackville. With a new logo looking like something right off of a Shredded Wheat cereal box, the Fair committee boasted its biggest year yet. Hypnotist Ian Stewart opened the festivities Wednesday night by charming the crowd with his mystifying skills. The event took place at the Vogue Theatre, one of Sackville’s landmarks. Thursday’s events offered a leisurely evening, beginning with a book sale at the Sackville Public Library and followed by the gallery opening of Camp Cyanotype at the Visitor Information Centre. Over the summer, Rachel Thornton, Waterfowl Park’s summer artist-in-residence, taught herself how to make cyanotype photographs. She later held a group class to teach community members how to capture the magic of the marsh through cyanotyping. Local hotspots kicked off the weekend festivities on Friday by offering chili by the bowl, blueberry treats and barbecue. The day ended with a free evening concert in the main tent, located between local pizza favourite Goya’s and the Canadian Postal service office – luckily, no postal strike interrupted the celebrations. Two bands continued to light up the town long after the sky had exploded with colourful fireworks. The first, Halifax psychedelic punk

band Walrus, had the crowd throwing up rock hands and dancing with reckless abandon. The tent filled up quickly towards the end of their set, the growing crowd buzzing in anticipation of Plants and Animals. After a withdrawn set-up, Plants and Animals performed with loud instruments and barely audible vocals, producing sounds heavily nostalgic of bad 2000’s rock, clearly showing signs of a four-year hiatus. The performance had an acquired taste. Saturday promised an expanded farmers’ market, but it was surprisingly empty. There were no more than the normal number of vendors, possibly fewer––and understandably so, since the Doncaster Farm’s annual family day was in full swing. The farm was home to distressed petting-zoo animals and too many puppies for two hands to pet at once. The rest of the weekend featured events for revelers of all ages, ranging from music, dancing, laser-tag and sandcastle-making. The town made sure to hit almost every Sackville landmark, from Bridge Street to Silver Lake. The 16th celebration of the Fair had its bumps, not unlike any teenage year, but it nonetheless provided the town with five days of exploring and bonding. It is important for Mount Allison students to engage in their new hometown, or at least to experience it as less of a space to get locked in the library for 10 hours, and more as a community brimming with Maritime culture.

KIDS AND PUPPIES PRANCE ABOUT AT DONCASTER FARM. ILLUSTRATION/IZZY FRANCOLINI


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FILM

Captain Fantastic lives up to its name

Film explores alternative parenting on fringes of society

ROAD-TRIP READING LIST. ILLUSTRATION/JEFF MANN.

DARCY WORTH Contributor

hits all the right notes in all the right places. Centring on a family living in the wilderness of the United States’ Pacific Northwest, Captain Fantastic tells the story of a father, Ben, intent on raising his six children outside the reaches of mainstream society. With the aim of making them physically and intellectually strong, Ben teaches his children to denounce

Judging by the poster, one might mistake Captain Fantastic for a Wes Anderson film or a cheap knockoff of Little Miss Sunshine. Instead, it is a charming independent film from new director Matt Ross. Starring Lord of the Rings’ Viggo Mortensen in the titular role, this spellbinding film

capitalism and consumerism and instead appreciate nature, literature, philosophy and science. When Ben’s wife dies, the family embarks on a road trip to honour her last will and testament, which inadvertently exposes the children to a formerly forbidden society. Given the film’s critique of a capitalist and consumerist society, Captain Fantastic could easily have

been a meandering mess, filled with moody stares and cheesy, existential dialogue. Luckily, the film departs from such clichés and demonstrates a clear theme through effective character development. With humour and wit, the storyline does not take itself too seriously and successfully engages the audience. Great moments, such as a “birds and the bees” scene, justified the $10 admission price. Stylistically, the main characters would surely approve of the film’s organic production. Many scenes are shot with a handheld camera, a common technique used to depict realism and intimacy. The colour palette explodes with earthy greens, browns, yellows and blues. Lens flares often invade the frame, a technical imperfection the film uses to its advantage. Delightfully minimalist, much of the soundtrack happily uses diegetic sounds: birds, wind, rustling branches, and crunching dirt. At one point, a character soulfully sings a thematically appropriate version of a classic tune, bringing tears to the viewers’ eyes. When the family enters the city, the soundtrack bursts into rock-and-roll and the camera movements become fluid as the energy rises. They are now

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in a world alien to them, and the film’s atmosphere adjusts accordingly. The cast makes for a fantastic ensemble, with Mortensen at his best. He plays Ben perfectly: sometimes crazy, sometimes sincere, but always honest. George MacKay expertly directs the child actors’ charismatic performances – no small feat when there are six of them. The supporting cast equally delights, with strong performances by legendary Frank Langella and comedy veterans Steve Zahn and Kathryn Hahn, who perfectly play their roles as “mainstream” family relations. If a film is only as strong as its hold over an audience, Captain Fantastic is a puppet-master. The film expertly pulls moviegoers from high to low and back up again. At one moment, laughter fills the theatre; in the next, shocked silence. Captain Fantastic is a slow burn, growing on you the longer it lasts. With twenty minutes left, I scribbled in my notebook, “How will this end?” An unpredictable film, half road-trip and half underdog success story, it is certainly a film to remember.

EDUCATION

Mt. A alum challenges the way we learn

Edutainment presents a more effective teaching strategy

CHELSEA DOHERTY Arts and Culture Reporter

SUBMIT YOUR DRAWINGS TO THE SOCIETY OF ANONYMOUS DRAWERS’ ONLINE ARCHIVE, AND BE CONSIDERED FOR PUBLICATION IN THE ARGOSY. EMAIL SOCIETYOFANONYNOUSDRAWERS@GMAIL.COM OR FIND US ON FACEBOOK. HAPPY DRAWING!

“I didn’t want to be an Ivory Tower. I wanted to be useful,” said Sarah Cardey at a recent presentation. Cardey, an interdisciplinary social scientist and former Mount Allison drama student, currently works as a professor at the University of Reading, specializing in gender and development, communications and rural livelihoods. Cardey’s presentation in the Motyer-Fancy Theatre, titled “How I Got There from Here,” connected her current work to her Mt. A experience. “You can do anything at Mt. A. I worked for the newspaper. I had a radio show. I was in the theatre,” Cardey said. “All of that stuff merged together and helped create a foundation I was able to use, because you can practise these things [here], where in other places you wouldn’t be able to touch on it.” Cardey discussed her usage of edutainment (entertainment education) to educate others on issues of gender inequality, sexuality, homophobia and cross-cultural interactions. More recently, she has used edutainment to educate rural farmers in marketing, business and agricultural techniques. Many of the countries Cardey

has visited have developed their own successful edutainment programs. “There is an assumption that we cannot learn from a less developed country, which is ridiculous,” she said. She added that some of the greatest forms of edutainment have been developed in Africa and Latin America, particularly in South Africa, Uganda and Nicaragua. To remove language barriers in the countries she visits, Cardey uses techniques learned from the theatre. “You have to try and figure out what you’re trying to communicate and how you break that down so that you’ve got a common language to communicate,” she said. Cardey said that working with a diverse range of communities poses its challenges. “People are very happy to change economic conditions, but when it comes to social conditions, when you challenge gender inequalities, people can really get their backs up,” she said. “They are perfectly happy to talk about something that doesn’t threaten power relations, but as soon as you start threatening power relations and it looks like someone is going to lose power, then suddenly it’s imperialism.” Last Wednesday, Cardey hosted a workshop called “Theatre in Action,” in which she demonstrated the

techniques discussed in “How I Got From Here to There.” “During the workshop, we used theatrical tools to create a drama and/ or radio script to explore how theatre can be used to create empowering social change in education and community development,” Cardey said. “I always thought edutainment was for kids, but it really isn’t,” said Mt. A student Kaylie McGraw, a workshop attendee. McGraw explained that during the workshop, participants watched a variety of different edutainment videos and then had the opportunity to participate. One activity called for actors to perform a scene exhibiting oppressive behaviour. Audience members then “paused” the scene and re-directed actors to resolve the problematic situation. This technique removed the traditional divide between audience members and the performers, effectively incorporating the audience’s experience into the performance.


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Students from low-income backgrounds face unique struggles at Mt. A

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EDITORIAL staff EDITORS-IN-CHIEF | Sylvan Hamburger, Tyler Stuart MANAGING EDITOR | Cecilia Stuart NEWS EDITORS | Catherine Turnbull, Naomi Goldberg ARTS & CULTURE EDITORS | Mallory Burnside-Holmes, Mirelle Naud SPORTS & HEALTH EDITOR | David Taplin OPINIONS EDITOR | Shannon Power HUMOUR EDITOR | Mark Cruz COPY EDITOR | Claire Henderson-Hamilton

PRODUCTION staff PRODUCTION MANAGER | Hailey Guzik PHOTO EDITOR | Adrian Kiva PHOTOGRAPHERS | Ryan MacRae, Savannah Harris ILLUSTRATION EDITOR | Jeff Mann ILLUSTRATORS | Andreas Forbes, Izzy Francolini ONLINE EDITOR | Monica Zahl

REPORTING staff NEWS REPORTERS | Leo Gertler, Kavana Wa Kilele, Jill MacIntryre POLITICS REPORTER | Nadiya Safonova SPORTS REPORTER | Hamza Munawar ARTS & CULTURE REPORTERS | Chelsea Doherty, Marissa Cruz, Corinna Paumier

OPERATIONS staff BUSINESS MANAGER | Tessa Dixon AD MANAGER | James Lantz CIRCULATIONS | Katharyn Stevenson

CONTRIBUTORS Alex Lepianka, Dylan Wooley-Berry, Louis Sobol, Samuel Thomson, Evan Furness, Emma Soldaat, Darcy Worth, Liz Kent COVER | Adrian Kiva, Izzy Francolini, Jill MacIntyre RUNNING DOODLES | Jeff Mann

JILL MACINTYRE News Reporter I grew up in a low-income household in a small town on Prince Edward Island. I did not come from an educated family that could help me with my homework beyond early elementary school or grow up surrounded by people who could provide guidance about a future outside of P.E.I. I did not have the luxuries afforded to so many people simply by being born into wealth. I am a first-generation university student. First-generation university students face a unique set of struggles and forms of marginalization that are rarely, if ever, addressed at the universities they attend. Simply defined, a first-generation university student is a student whose parents did not have the privilege of attending university. Students that fit this criteria are often from rural, lowincome areas. Being a first-generation university student is sitting at Meal Hall and

The Argosy is the official independent student journal of news, opinion, and the arts, written, edited and funded by the students of Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of The Argosy’s staff or its Board of Directors. The Argosy is published weekly throughout the academic year by Argosy Publications Inc. Student contributions in the form of letters, articles,

DYLAN WOOLEY-BERRY Contributor

the Editor-in-Chief. Articles or other contributions can be sent to argosy@mta.ca or directly to a section editor. The Argosy will print unsolicited materials at its own discretion. Letters to the editor must be signed, though names may be withheld at the sender’s request and at The Argosy’s discretion. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Comments , concerns, or complaints about The Argosy’s content or operations should be first sent to the Editor-in-Chief at the address above. If the Editor-in-Chief is unable to resolve a complaint, it may be taken to the Argosy Publications, Inc. Board of Directors. The chairs of the Board of Directors can be reached at the address above. All materials appearing in The Argosy bear the copyright of Argosy Publications, Inc. Material cannot be reprinted without the consent of the Editor-in-Chief.

age. And I love that I would never even consider shaming someone for their background unlike so many students at Mount Allison that have unintentionally made me feel lessthan. I did not grow up with parents who could help me with a science fair project or afford to save for my education, but I do not for one second regret any of that. I feel unendingly privileged to attend university as it has not been an option for virtually anyone in my entire extended family. I am a better person because of the struggles I have faced, and I will not ever accept a rich kid trying to shame, degrade or pity me for my socioeconomic status. To all fellow first-generation university students, I am incredibly proud of you.

BEING A FIRST-GENERATION STUDENT CAN BE ISOLATING AND CONFUSING. JILL MACINTYRE/SUBMITTED

MASU photography embarassing for students

DISCLAIMERS & COPYRIGHT

racist, homophobic, or otherwise unfit for print, as determined by

clothing as a child. I feel incredibly isolated when fellow students discuss their ambivalence at a family vacation in California or summer jobs that earn above minimum wage. I feel incredibly angry when middle- or upper-class students talk about how “poor” they are because for once in their lives they have to manage their own money and cannot afford the brand-name ketchup. I am extremely proud of the person I am today, not in spite of my lower-class upbringing, but because of it. I love that I am hard-working and reliable because there was no other option in my family. I love that my friends can ask me for help with budgeting because I learned how to be practical at such an early

Snap, post, humiliate

Leslie Kern, Owen Griffiths

reserves the right to edit or refuse all materials deemed sexist,

overhearing people laughing about failing a midterm and losing their scholarship while knowing that if you lost your scholarship you would have to drop out of university. It is the look of mild disgust and disbelief you see in the eyes of fellow students when they learn that your parents are not doctors or lawyers or businesspeople but a liquor store employee and a salesman. It is sitting in an economics classroom listening to rich dudes advocate for austerity measures that would have sent your family to a food bank. The word that I would most closely associate with being a first-generation university student is fear. Fear that someone will mock my low-class accent during a presentation or that a professor will realize I am not from some fancy, well-funded school and think that I am not worth their time. Fear that every time I get a grade below my threshold of acceptability that I will never be good enough or rich enough to excel in an institution that was built to exclude people like me. I feel like I have to be two different people depending on whether I am at home or at school. At home, I rarely talk about my degree, classes or beliefs for fear that my family will think I have assimilated into the kind of person that would look down on them. When I am at school, I cannot talk about my childhood spent digging piss clams for supper at the shore or my secret joy of entering a Walmart since it was one of the only stores where I would ever get unused

MASU PHOTOS

PUBLICATION board

photography, graphic design and comics are welcome. The Argosy

EDITOR: SHANNON POWER | SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

After a long week, some Mount Allison students choose to decompress by going out, often to on-campus events sponsored by the Mount Allison Students’ Union (MASU). Every year the MASU uses students’ money to hire a student photographer to capture these events. The pictures are then posted to the MASU’s Facebook page. Unfortunately, the photos posted are not always appropriate and can greatly embarrass their subjects. Photos posted by the MASU over

the years have depicted students getting physically intimate on the dance floor, making out with someone they would probably rather forget about, and more. There have even been photos that have been posted, without consent, that have outed students to their families. This is not a new phenomenon. Students should be able to go to a MASU event without any fear or anxiety that they might be captured in a vulnerable moment. When you are sitting around a table with your friends and one of them says “the MASU photos are up,” what do you feel? Anxious dread? Excitement? A bit of both? Intentional or not, the way the MASU has posted photos in the past promotes a disturbing kind of campus-wide voyeurism instead of celebrating a fun night at an event they hosted. Campus events should be a fun place where students can relax, not a place where they must be hyper-aware of where the lens of the MASU photographer is pointing. It is important to note that not every picture taken at an event

is posted online, but that certain pictures are selected and then posted. For instance, it is uncommon to find a bad photo of the MASU executive members or of the friends of the photographers – the whole photoposting practice is tinged with bias. We must ask ourselves whether we pay over $230 in union fees to have the MASU post often-embarrassing pictures online, or rather to allow the

them to defend our rights as students. I call on council to take action and make a decision – will the MASU post inappropriate photos, or pursue advocacy?


OPINIONS

THE ARGOSY | WWW.ARGOSY.CA

PRIDE AND POLITICS

Pride is not progress

15

Challenging the official politics of queer gatherings

ALEX LEPIANKA Contributor Like so many public observances, Pride weeks are always at risk of having their meanings and functions distorted or repurposed for use against queer communities. As I have seen them, the official politics of Pride organizations are at odds with the values displayed in practice. Despite having attended Pride festivities this year in Halifax, Montreal and Moncton, I saw only accidental and unauthoritative commitments to include and celebrate those at the margins of sexual categories. The official narratives of Pride organizations spoke ambiguously about the public commitment to inclusivity. A moment of silence passed in Halifax for the victims of the Orlando shooting, but the crowd around me talked through it – we were too far back to hear the call to mourn. Police contingents march everywhere despite Black Lives Matter activists’ protests against police brutality

and injustice in Toronto. Floats are peopled by conventionally handsome, able-bodied and often-white men (qualities which also describe most parade organizers). There are always floats sponsored by banks, as if they are the champions of social progress. The audiences of these parades and I, perched on the curbs of our cities’ main streets, saw representations of experiences from the actual history of queer struggle cut out, reframed and repackaged. Excluded was any queer person not among the dominant tropes: the white urbanite gay male, the femme lesbian who appears in straight porn, the trans person who has happily transformed their body. As a cis white male whose identity is not a source of much suffering, I urge others of privilege not only to recognize the pleasures of representation and inclusion in this community, but also to resist the tendency to dominate it as ours alone. It is the responsibility of privileged people in the queer community to challenge the structure of representation in major queer cultural productions (parades included) and commit to keeping places of congregation inclusive (from clubs to friends’ homes). We must hold each other accountable to listening to what is already being said by those at the margins of the community and to fighting injustice when queer people are evicted for condo developments in gentrifying neighbourhoods, when queer people of colour are murdered again and again, when queer

PRIDE MARGINALIZES MEMBERS OF THE QUEER COMMUNITY BASED ON RACE, GENDER IDENTITY, ABILITY AND MORE. IZZY FRANCOLINI/ARGOSY Palestinians are not given thought by other queer people on vacation in gay Tel Aviv, and when queer youth are imprisoned. We cannot, in other words, be prideful. For the past few months, our Pride celebrations have demonstrated only willful ignorance of our complicity in the structures that make exclusion possible. Only in absence of a culture of

policing and incarceration, the imperial and xenophobic state and the logic of austerity will our pride be just. Until then, we will do as much work as we can, especially in the care for and inclusion of others. We will attend our celebrations with solemnity and mindfulness.

RACE AND SEXUALITY

Queerphobia in communities of colour teeming with hypocrisy

Fighting LGBTQ+ based oppression essential for communities of colour

KAVANA WA KILELE News Reporter Living as a member of the LGBTQA+ community is no walk in the park, but like most lived experiences in this world, life gets more difficult when you add racism into the mix. Speaking as a person of colour (POC) who knows about systemic racial oppression, I consider it hypocritical to create a system in our communities that marginalizes our own LGBTQA+ members – and yet, it still happens.

How do we begin to identify the source of the marginalization of LGBTQA+ people in our communities? Should we start with the cultural pressure that does not allow anything outside traditional gender and sexual binaries? Or, the fact that homophobia is imported into countries inhabited by POCs under the guise of religious enlightenment? One recent example of this occurred after the Orlando nightclub shooting, when pastor Steven Anderson of the Faithful Word Baptist Church said, “the good news is that there [are] 50 [fewer] pedophiles in this world.” Anderson was then still allowed entry into Botswana on the grounds of missionary work. He asserted that “multitudes” of LGBTQA+ would be “saved” in Botswana as a result, furthering the myth that LGBTQA+ people somehow need to be fixed. I personally walked away from religion years ago, but from what I remember, God did not put any caveats on the

commandment to love thy neighbor. Anderson was later deported after stating on public radio that gays and lebsians should be killed. “We don’t want hate speech in this country. Let him do it in his own country,” said President Ian Khama. The countries where it is hardest for LGBTQA+ people to live free of violence and discrimination are places inhabited by POCs. According to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Association, same-sex sexual contact is a criminal offence in 74 countries. In some countries, being gay or bisexual is punishable by death. This problem extends beyond religious individuals, institutions and governments. LGBTQA+-based oppression has spread to our families and friends. Nothing cuts deeper than having the people who are supposed to love you the most treat you as if your existence is a mistake. Queerphobic hate crimes actively seek to terrorize members of the

LGBTQA+ community simply for being who they are. The fact that I even have to write this is angering. The idea that we can end a person’s life based on personal preference is an incredible injustice. As POCs, we should know better. The whiplash of existing in this world with the injustices of systemic racial oppression should be a cautionary tale to the damage that can be done by systems based on discrimination. This is not to say that we as POCs have not progressed when it comes to LGBTQA+ rights. South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay are some of the places where same-sex marriage is now legal, but in my opinion, not enough has been done. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” So what can we, as members of various communities of colour, do about this? We must educate ourselves, demand safety and stand up to bigotry in all its forms.

As we go into Pride week in Sackville, I encourage you all to think about how you can make a difference in your daily life. I want to bear witness to a collaborative effort demanding justice for our fellow human beings in all communities. Nelson Mandela said,“No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate.” Anything we learn can be unlearned, despite how hard it may seem.


16 HUMOUR

EDITOR: MARK CRUZ | SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

ANALYTICS

White shirts under fire

Survey results show that orientation is “literally fucked” MARK CRUZ Humour Editor Orientation week is in crisis. Amidst accusations of the corruption and “stagnant mediocrity” of the programming, several student leaders and reactionaries raised concerns that “the best week of your life” needed to undergo serious changes. The chair of orientation teamed up with the Argosy to provide a platform for students to have their voices heard: an online survey hosted by surveymonkey.com. And we have heard you loud and clear. From the data gathered, below are the results for changes that will affect Orientation Week 2017. More white people: It’s no longer enough for orientation committee to be proud of their white shirts. They need to go a step further: They need to BE white. If the position of white shirt really is a status symbol, it makes logical sense that white people should fulfill this role, considering the privilege they already possess.

Zero-tolerance for dancing: You can call me Reverend Shaw, because this orientation week is gonna be just like Footloose. No twerking, shaking, bumping, grinding, twisting, dabbing or even nae, naeing! The orientation committee needs to be held accountable for encouraging impure thoughts and the consumption of that devil-worshipping rock and roll music! Education about the dangers of “political correctness”: Inclusive language? Not in this house. Safe spaces? I think that the Corn Boil counts. Campuses around the country have fostered a political climate that is too jarring and inhospitable for incoming students. It is time to do away with “PC” language and let the class of 2021 be themselves: talented young individuals, blissfully unaware of those pesky racist and misogynistic tendencies! The revised orientation week will include several workshops such as: “The Millennial Peril,” “A Warning about Trigger Warnings” and “Bro! It’s Just a Costume!”

Transform the karaoke BBQ into a two-night campout event: This crowd-pleaser will become a fully featured weekend blaster! Get ready for 48 nonstop hours of skits and trivia. Enjoy the goofy hijinks of white shirts under the stars! And fear not, those lovable security guards will still be there to keep you safe from tetanus and ghostly apparitions of the dead swans! Recognizing the hard work of white shirts: The orientation committee demands more respect! Student leaders have made it clear that their hard work needs validation. To remedy this, a student leaderstudded gala will be thrown at Convocation Hall, where white shirts will walk the red carpet and stand to win awards for their performances. The ceremony should evoke the true spirit of orientation: jockeying for social supremacy.

BY LIZ KENT

BY JEFF MANN

! calling all funny people !

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EMAIL ARGOSY@MTA.CA WITH YOUR NAME AND CONTACT INFORMATION FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED!


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