The Argosy, January 24, Vol. 149, Iss. 12

THE ARG OSY

NEWS Mt. A Students create scuba society (Pg. 3) Garnet and Cold AF since 1872

ARTS & CULTURE Garnet and Gold reach out to community for donations (Pg. 7)

OPINIONS How sleep deprivation affects your health (Pg. 13)

CREATIVE “Nightshade” (Pg. 15)

Mount Allison’s Independent Student Newspaper

COVER: MARA IRETA GORDON, UNTITLED, MEDIUM FORMAT COLOUR FILM, 2020.

January 24, 2020 Vol. 149, Iss. 12

02 NEWS

EDITOR: AMELIA MACDOUGALL FLEMING & EMMA CONRAD | JANUARY 24, 2020 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

DISCUSSION

Interdisciplinary Conversation covers the theme of impact Impact in philanthropy, decision making and asteroids

FRIDAY, JAN. 24 MTA Music: Piano Master Class 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Brunton Auditorium Ukulele Strum-Along 1:30 to 3 p.m.

Bill Johnstone Memorial Activity Centre Adult Female Shinny Hockey 8:45 to 9:45 p.m.

Tantramar Civic Centre

SATURDAY, JAN. 25 MTA Music: Kirill Gerstein 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Brunton Auditorium

SUNDAY, JAN. 26 Memory Cafe 2 to 3:30 p.m.

Sackville United Church Sunday Public Skate 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Tantramar Civic Centre THE TALK FOCUSED ON RELATIONSJIPS BETWEEN PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT. ASHLI GREEN/ARGOSY

MONDAY, JAN. 27 Sitting Meditation 7 to 8 p.m.

Sackville United Church Fung Loy Kok Taoist Tai Chi 7 to 9 p.m.

St. Andew’s Presbyterian Church

TUESDAY, JAN. 28 Yoga Flow N Slow 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

22 Lansdowne St. 15th Annual Sports Recognition Night 6 to 8 p.m.

Tantramar Civic Centre

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 29 Inside the Ivory Tower 12 to 1 p.m.

Town Hall Council Chambers Table Tennis 3 to 6 p.m.

Middle Sackville Baptist Church

THURSDAY, JAN. 30 Let’s Talk About Suicide Awareness 7 to 8 p.m.

Bill Johnstone Memorial Activity Centre

ZOE HUNTER News Reporter On Thursday, Jan. 16, Mount Allison held an interdisciplinary conversation at the Owens Art Gallery, where speakers spoke on the theme of “impact” from their individual perspectives. This is the fourth year that Mt. A has held interdisciplinary conversations. Each year, the talks revolve around a central theme.

The three speakers for this session were Jeff Wright, executive director of development at Mt. A; Dr. David Lieske, a geography and environment professor’ and Dr. Catherine Lovekin, a physics professor.

Wright spoke first and organized his speech into two sections. The first part was about the impact of joy on philanthropy and the second part was on the impact of joy in everyday life.

“The impact of philanthropy on campus takes many shapes.

Sometimes the recipients of generosity are not even aware that they are benefiting from philanthropy until much after the fact,” said Wright. To elaborate he used a recent example: “We had a call from an alumnus in Toronto before Christmas who wanted to make a $10,000 gift to the Meighen Centre because he still holds [the Meighen Centre] accountable for his success.”

“Joy impacts how we live our lives more than any other emotion. Living without joy is one of the hardest things anyone can do,” said Wright.

“The impact that joy has on your mind, on your body, taste buds, your

aura cannot be overlooked because it is so critical to the foundation of the human spirit.”

Lieske then spoke about the impact of decision-making, especially in an environmental context.

“Scientists want an absolute, which is almost impossible to achieve in reality,” said Lieske. “One of my observations I’ve made about decision-making is that [it’s] messy, there are many uncertainties.”

Lieske related this to the

“THE IMPACT THAT JOY HAS ON YOUR MIND, ON YOUR BODY, TASTE BUDS, YOUR AURA CANNOT BE OVERLOOKED BECAUSE IT IS SO CRITICAL TO THE FOUNDATION OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT” environment by saying that “In environmental contexts, I argue that [decisions] often don’t get made; actually it is all enforced on us. If you look at most of the environmental impacts that consume the Guardian website – things like pollution, land

activity – they’re little incremental decisions that are being made in an ungoverned way that are all not planned but they are all acting with cumulative effect.”

Lastly, Lovekin spoke about the effects that asteroid impacts have had across time.

“There have been a lot of impacts in the history of the solar system, and one of the easiest places to see that is the moon. It is covered with craters, so it has been impacted by a lot of things,” said Lovekin. She explained that we can see the craters on the moon clearly due to the lack of weather and erosion: “Every crater that is formed on the moon pretty much is still there.”

“It’s really useful that the moon is so close to us because we’ve been there, we have rocks and so we can figure out how old things are. We can tell from this that in the past – four billion years ago say – there were a lot of asteroid impacts,” said Lovekin.

“We sort of assume that since the moon is close enough to us, what happened to the moon happened to Earth as well.

“The asteroid rate has gone down fairly significantly. We still see impacts today. If you’ve ever gone out to see a meteor shower, those are small things that are trying to hit the Earth, but they are so small that they vaporize in the atmosphere,” said Lovekin.

Lovekin described how astronomers discover asteroids nearby. “There is an extensive monitoring program to figure out

what else there is in the environment around us, because if something is coming that is big enough to wipe out all life on Earth we’d like to know,” she said. “We rank them on something called the Torino scale which goes from zero to nine, zero being ‘This is not dangerous’ to nine being ‘We’re all going to die.’ ” Lovekin reassured the audience not to worry too much. “The highest object we have ever found on the Torino scale is a one, and once we mapped it a little more carefully and figured out its orbit a little better it

“EVERY CRATER THAT IS FORMED ON THE MOON PRETTY MUCH IS STILL THERE” got downgraded to a zero,” she said.

The next sessions will be held on Feb. 27 and March 29 at the Owens.

These will continue on with the theme of impact.

NEWS

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CLUBS AND SOCIETIES

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Mt. A grad students create Scuba Society New club teaches students how to keep calm ‘under pressure’

A SCUBA CERTIFICATION IS AN ASSET IN MANY CAREERS IN FEILDS LIKE BIOLOGY AND PHOTOGRAPHY FRISIA LI/SUBMITTED

MARTHA PITRE News Reporter Julia Campbell and Alex DiLonardo, both masters students at Mount Allison, kept running into students looking to scuba dive. Without a dedicated diving group in the Sackville area, students interested in pursuing diving for academic or recreational purposes were out of luck.

In September, Campbell, DiLonardo and their group of interested divers became a society.

“The society was formed to create a network for people interested in becoming divers and those already certified that want to practice skills or

find a dive buddy,” said DiLonardo.

“Scuba is all about meeting new people, trying new things and sharing new experiences in a new environment.”

Campbell and DiLonardo put on their second Scuba Society event on Jan. 19 in partnership with Sharkbait Scuba, a local diving school. Four students took part in the Discover Scuba workshop, with other participants impeded by the winter storm.

Although the society had a slow start last semester, Campbell and DiLonardo are hoping to host more events, especially for certified divers, when the weather conditions are more favourable. The club is also

offering the opportunity for novice divers to get certified by instructor Mark Payne.

“Because the academic season is constrained to the colder months of the year, we have a limited window of warmer conditions to dive in,” said DiLonardo. They are also looking to expand their events to open water environments like the ocean and nearby lakes.

After completing their beginner scuba diving certifications, divers can pursue open water certifications including ice diving, cave diving, wreck diving, rescue diving and shark diving.

“Diving offers an exciting way to explore the underwater world,” said

DiLonardo. Diving is also a highly sought skill in biology, engineering, archaeology, photography and many trade and technical jobs. DiLonardo added that diving also offers many practical skills such as “planning, communication, problem-solving skills and most importantly keeping calm under pressure – pun intended.”

Anyone, certified or not, is welcome at all Discover Scuba events – DiLonardo describes the society’s events as “try before you buy.” The Scuba Society acknowledges that diving certifications can be expensive on a student budget, so the Discover Scuba events are designed specifically so that participants can decide whether they want to pursue scuba at

a higher level.

“Breathing underwater is definitely a memorable experience,” said DiLonardo. “We also love when students come with friends and get to experience diving together. Also underwater photoshoots are sure to get a lot of likes!”

The Scuba Society is still accepting new members. Anyone interested in learning more about scuba can email Campbell and DiLonardo at scuba@ mta.ca. Potential participants are encouraged to join the MtA Scuba Society Facebook group for new events and updates.

CAMPBELL AND DILONARDO ARE BOTH WORKING IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR JOSH KUREK’S ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND AQUATIC BIOMONITORING LAB FRISIA LI/SUBMITTED

Meet Ivan As Mount Allison’s first Black Students Advisor and Diversity Educator, Ivan Okello works with students, faculty, and staff to help facilitate discussions, educational workshops, and celebrate cultural diversity in our community, including February’s Black History Month activities.

Find him in the International Centre, second floor of the Student Centre, or e-mail iokello@mta.ca.

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NEWS

JANUARY 24, 2020 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

SPEAKER SERIES

Sociology Professor talks disability rights, abortion rights and mother blame ACID presents first guest speaker in series of talks on disability throughout the semester

MACDOUGALL IS WORKING WITH HORIZON HEALTH TO LEARN ABOUT PATIENT EXPERIENCES OF MIDWIFERY. MADELEINE HANSEN/ARGOSY

EMMA CONRAD News Editor On Jan. 15, Dr. Christiana MacDougall was the first guest speaker in a series put on by the Association of Chronically Ill and Disabled students (ACID). MacDougall talked about disability rights, abortion rights and mother blame.

MacDougall is a sociology and women’s and gender studies professor as well as a registered social worker who has worked with people with disabilities for most of her career. “My research is … focused in the area of reproduction, specifically looking at the intersection of mental illness and birth experience,” said MacDougall. “I do quite a bit of work around trauma and birth.”

The first part of the talk focused on the socially constructed idea of what a “good mother” is. MacDougall discussed the qualities these people are expected to have.

“The good mother is the white, middle-class, Protestant, cis woman with a lot of focus on homemaking,” said MacDougall. “This idea of ‘good mothers’ relies on lots of unquestioned and unexamined ideas around gender essentialism.”

The talk deconstructed

stereotypes of motherhood and ideas surrounding what the ideal mother would look like. “The idea is that cis women are just naturally caring and naturally good at homemaking, [that]

“ACID AS A GROUP AIMS TO EDUCATE THE STUDENT BODY ABOUT DISABILITY, CREATE AWARENESS SURROUNDING TOPICS REGARDING DISABILITY AND TO OFFER SOCIAL SUPPORT FOR DISABLED STUDENTS” women’s bodies are just made for this,” explained MacDougall.

MacDougall explained that when it comes to disability, society often looks towards the mother’s behaviour during pregnancy and the things

that happened throughout their pregnancy to explain why a child is born with a disability.

“It’s not unusual historically, and even today, to have children [with disabilities] removed from their [mothers’] care,” said MacDougall.

“Either because it’s assumed that their children’s needs are too high for mothers to care for them, or [that] these children are having difficulties due to their mother’s inadequacy.”

MacDougall also explained how eugenics is implicated in disability and mother blame, due to social beliefs that certain women shouldn’t be able to reproduce.

“There’s this idea that they might pass on their defective genes,” said MacDougall. “A lot of women with cognitive impairments would be sterilized, often without their knowledge and often against their will.”

MacDougall added that in some countries parents are encouraged to terminate their pregnancy if doctors can determine that their child will be born with a disability. MacDougall explains how this often leads to tension between disability rights and reproductive rights communities.

“How can these [movements] co-exist? And they can [co-]exist,”

said MacDougall. “I think what we need to do is resist these pressures to pit people against each other. You want to question who benefits from these two groups being positioned in opposition as opposed to being positioned in collaboration.”

“ YOU WANT TO QUESTION WHO BENEFITS FROM THESE TWO GROUPS BEING POSITIONED IN OPPOSITION AS OPPOSED TO BEING POSITIONED IN COLLABORATION” Students who attended the lecture felt that this talk would further help them in their schoolwork.

“Dr. MacDougall offered interesting insight regarding the complex intersections between disability and motherhood through a sociological lens,” said Laren

Bedgood, a fourth-year religious studies and philosophy student. “I plan to incorporate this valuable feminist framework into my philosophy coursework.”

“I felt that the talk was excellent,” said Anna Campbell, ACID’s president. “Dr. MacDougall is very knowledgeable around the subject.

The language she used was inclusive, and I liked that [she] gave people many things to think about it when comes to disability rights, abortion rights and how ‘mothers’’ bodies are survellied.

“ACID as a group aims to educate the student body about disability, create awareness surrounding topics regarding disability and to offer social support for disabled students,” said Campbell. “When we use the word ‘disability’ it encompasses a large spectrum, including but not limited to chronic illnesses, neurodiversity, mental illnesses and communication differences.”

“I would like to thank ACID for facilitating this important speaker series,” said Bedgood. “I look forward to attending the next guest lecture.”

Next in the speaker series is a talk on philosophy of disability with Dr. Jane Dryden on Jan. 22.

NEWS

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SPORTS

Mounties women’s basketball off to a great start in the new year

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Dedication, hard work and team support are paying off for women’s basketballl team NATASHA GOSSELIN News Reporter The Mounties women’s basketball team has started the new year with a two-game win streak. The team will need to keep up this momentum in order to secure a playoff spot later this season. With only nine matchups left in the season, every game will count.

On Saturday, Jan. 11, the Mounties defeated UNB Saint John 66-55 in the 20th annual Kingston Cup, a yearly rivalry game between the two schools.

First-year guard Sophie Trail scored 16 points, second-year forward Abby Miller scored eight rebounds and first-year guard Maddy Greatorex led the team with six assists.

On Jan. 15, the team won their second game in a row against Crandall University with a final score of 76-56. Trail led the game with 17 points, while fourth-year guard Jill Harris led the team with seven rebounds. Greatorex, Trail and thirdyear forward Sophie Hartlen tied for most assists with one each.

The Mounties were meant to face Mount Saint Vincent on Sunday, Jan. 19 in Sackville but the game was postponed to an undetermined date

due to poor weather.

In the first half of the season, the Mounties finished with two wins out of seven games. These wins combined with their current two-game winning streak put them at fifth place in the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association.

“At this point in the season, we have already played every team in the league at least once,” said Harris.

“We play each team three times so it is important for us to learn from our early games and hold each other accountable in order to better ourselves.

“We have a very young team this year with a lot of potential, which is exciting,” said Harris. “Being a student athlete has helped teach me how to handle challenges and get along with a variety of different personalities. As an upper-year player, I have the benefit of perspective and I try to bring that as support for my teammates on and off the court.”

From the perspective of upper-year players, “It’s incredible to reflect upon the progression of myself and my teammates since joining the team,” added Cole Smolensky, a third-year guard. “We’ve all had the opportunity to grow not only as players but also

THE TEAM HAS BEEN WORKING HARD TO KEEP THEIR WINNING STREAK THIS SEMESTER. GREG ELLISON/SUBMITTED as friends.”

As the season continues, the Mounties have high expectations. “As we still have more than half of our season left, I am confident that we will continue to grow as a strong and fast team,” said Hannah Hawkes, a second-year guard. “We will continue to practise hard and to encourage

each other in order to meet our goals.

Being a second year requires more responsibilities, including helping the first years transition and being a good example on and off the court.”

First-year guard Ashley Hamilton recognized these responsibilities in upper-year players as well: “The whole team was so welcoming and

made the transition on and off the court easy. The girls always have my back and are always willing to help me every step of the way.”

The Mounties’ next game will be at home on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 1:00 p.m. against University of King’s College.

STRIKE

What to know about the faculty strike vote, as of Tuesday

MAFA and the University met for a final round of negotiations before the union’s strike vote

MINNOW HOLTZ-CARRIERE Editor-in-Chief The Mount Allison Faculty Association (MAFA) is the union that represents part-time and fulltime professors, instructors and librarians at Mt. A. During collective bargaining MAFA, negotiates on behalf of faculty to make sure their concerns are heard by University administration. It also ensures the collective agreement – the contract that faculty work under as employees of the University – meets the needs of faculty.

The collective agreement that Mt. A faculty had been working under since 2016 expired in June 2019. This is normal – collective agreements are meant to expire within a certain number of years, so that workers can renegotiate the terms of their employment. Currently MAFA and the University are in the process of renegotiating this contract.

For MAFA, the negotiations centre on academic understaffing and compensation for part-time professors. MAFA said in a December statement that their core concern was a seven per cent decrease in the number of full-time teaching faculty employed by the University over the last decade, paired with a 33 per cent decrease in the number of librarians over the last 15 years.

In the same statement, MAFA went on to describe the University’s reliance on part-time professors as problematic. In 2018, part-time academics at Mt. A received an average income of $12,136 per year, placing them below the poverty line.

The University has responded by arguing that student-faculty ratios have “remained favourable,” and that over the last three years full-time faculty taught an average of 88 per cent of courses. The University also responded to concerns about parttime faculty pay by arguing its part-

time course stipends are the highest of comparable universities.

The University’s priorities in these negotiations include financial sustainability, Mt. A’s academic mission and “the interests of other key stakeholders, including students, staff and the Province of New Brunswick.”

MAFA and the University currently sit at an impasse. A strike vote is another bargaining chip MAFA can use in the negotiation process. As an employer, the University’s equivalent bargaining chip is a lockout. In a lockout, work is suspended and employees are generally not allowed on the premises of their job.

A majority strike vote doesn’t necessarily mean your professors actually will go on strike. Think of each action as a point on a scale of escalation: first, MAFA and the University will try to negotiate between themselves in an organized process called collective bargaining.

If they are unable to reach an

agreement, a neutral, governmentappointed conciliation officer is called in. If the conciliation officer is unable to bring collective bargaining to resolution, MAFA’s members have the option to take the next step, which is to hold a strike vote. In this case, MAFA provided notice that a strike vote would be held on Jan. 21 and 22 if negotiation with administration did not lead to a tentative agreement

by Monday, Jan. 20.

However, a vote where the majority of members are in favour of striking does not mean MAFA members must immediately cease work. A majority strike vote is one step higher on the scale of escalation. If the possibility of a strike isn’t enough escalation, the next step on the scale is to actually strike.

In October 2019 MAFA held a straw strike vote in which 94 per cent of faculty voted in favour of taking job action, including a strike if necessary. A straw strike vote is a

mock vote, used to gauge support or show unity, without actually enabling the union to strike.

The strike vote on Jan. 21 is not a straw vote and will enable MAFA to strike if necessary. Under the NB Industrial Relations Act, MAFA has to give the University at least 24 hours’ notice if they intend to strike.

MAFA has gone on strike three times previously. The last strike was in 2014 and lasted 22 days. All classes, labs, seminars and supervised projects like theses and independent study projects were cancelled or put on hold for the duration of the strike.

You can find more detailed information about ongoing negotiations at mafa.ca (for MAFA’s news releases) and mta.ca/ negotiations (for the University’s news releases).

MAFA and the University are scheduled to meet this Friday, Jan. 24 to resume negotiations with the assistance of the mediator.

Hi all, You may have noticed that this paper came out on a Friday instead of the usual Thursday. For the remainder of the semester, the Argosy will be printed every second Friday instead of every second Thursday as they have been in the past. Newsletters will also move to Friday. Our printers closed in December so we have moved to a new printing company and changes needed to be made to accommodate the shift.

Thanks for reading!

06 ARTS & CULTURE

FILM REVIEW

‘The Rise of Skywalker’ The epic saga gets a ‘meh’ finale

EDITOR: BEN MAKSYM JANUARY 24 2020 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

MUSIC

The Indigenous next wave hits the marshes Indigenous artist Jeremy Dutcher reignites his ancestral language through international tour MAGGIE PITMAN Arts & Culture Reporter

ABRAMS AND LUCASFILM HEAD KATHLEEN KENNEDY ARE SO FOCUSED ON GIVING THE FANS ANSWERS TO (ALMOST) EVERY QUESTION THEY HAVE ABOUT THIS TRILOGY THAT IT ENDS UP FEELING LIKE PANDERING TO THE FANS, BOTH CASUAL AND DIEHARD. MADELEINE HANSEN/ARGOSY

HANNAH TUCK Arts & Culture Reporter Star Wars has been a pop-culture cornerstone for just over 40 years.

The most recent additions to the franchise under Disney’s ownership (such as Solo) haven’t been lauded by audiences, with both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi coming under fire from hardcore fans that didn’t think the Skywalker story was going in the right direction.

The pressure was on for Disney and Lucasfilm: they had to course-correct this ship before it took a nosedive toward ruin. Unfortunately for Disney, the last installment of the Skywalker saga is not on the light side of the Force… but it isn’t on the dark side either. It’s the Grey Jedi of Star Wars movies – neutral, both good and bad.

First, let’s talk about the good. The Force Awakens was a solid step for this new trilogy partially thanks to director J.J. Abrams.

Regardless of how you feel about the movie’s strong similarities to A New Hope, Abrams catapulted the franchise back into the mainstream with something that the franchise had not seen before: a trilogy that would be led by a female Jedi, a Black Stormtrooper and a Latino Resistance pilot. Abrams, who also directed the trilogy’s first installment, came back to finish what he started, transforming some of the story choices that director Rian Johnson made with The Last Jedi (for better or worse depending on who you are).

The script is also solid, though it does fall more on the fan service side of things several times. There’s more Leia in Rise of Skywalker than you might think, with Abrams pulling from unused footage from The Force Awakens of Carrie Fisher (who tragically passed away in December of 2016). The scenes with her have to be structured around those bits of footage, though, which can make the scenes feel rigid.

Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega) and Poe (Oscar Isaac) do get a solid amount of interaction, answering the complaint that this main trio of the franchise had little interaction in The Last Jedi. They finally seem like a real group of friends, which makes for very good chemistry in their scenes together.

Adam Driver as Kylo Ren easily delivers the best performance of the movie. His scenes with Rey in particular are electric and interesting to watch. They are the perfect example of balance in a franchise dominated by talk of good versus evil.

Now, we need to talk about the bad. Too much of a good thing – for example, fan service – can spoil it, which is the case with Rise of Skywalker. Abrams and Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy are so focused on giving the fans answers to (almost) every question they have about this trilogy that it ends up feeling like pandering to the fans, both casual and die-hard.

Between its callbacks to the original series through locations or characters, and interactions fans have been asking for since this trilogy started, the movie does its best to cater to what everyone wants. This results in the movie feeling like it was thrown together for the sake of finishing the story. It was so obvious that I laughed at the movie a few times, which is never a good sign.

There’s also the wasted potential of the other female characters of the movie. Keri Russell as Zorri Bliss, an old smuggler friend of Poe’s, is underutilized as a former and also potential love interest. Why would you hire Keri Russell for your movie and not only barely use her, but stick a bucket on her head – and an unflattering one at that?

Naomi Ackie’s Jannah, another love interest they try to throw at Finn after his moment with Rose Tiko (Kelly Marie Tran) in The Last Jedi, does have a few key moments in the last half, but feels shoved in to give

more diversity both in regards to gender and race to the franchise.

Tran, the first Asian woman to be a lead in a Star Wars movie who had a prominent role in The Last Jedi, is completely sidelined, getting less than 10 minutes of screen time in the 2½-hour runtime.

Possibly my biggest gripe with the movie is that Abrams told fans that there would be LGBT2Q+ representation in this movie, something that the fans have been clamoring for since Finn and Poe became such fast friends in The Force Awakens. Isaac especially has hinted at there being something more between the two characters. I saw all of Finn and Poe’s interactions through an LGBT2Q+ lens because I wanted it to be there, but the “representation” in the film comes at the very end and lasts for all of five seconds between two unnamed female Resistance fighters. While Unnamed Space Lesbians A and B gave a glimmer of hope that maybe someday Star Wars (and Disney as a whole) will go there, the fact that these five seconds are edited out of the cut of the movie that was released in countries such as China and Singapore was disheartening. Just like the “it’s there if you want it” queer representation in Frozen II, Disney once again shied away from showing that anybody, of any orientation, can be a hero, which is frustrating to say the least.

Was this a perfect Star Wars movie?

No. Have any of the films in this new trilogy been? Again, no. Do I feel satisfied with how the saga wrapped up despite the blatant pandering? For the most part. I’m looking forward to the break from a galaxy far, far away though. Hopefully with new original stories to tell that don’t rely so heavily on nostalgia for the past, this space opera can travel at lightspeed back to the respected place in pop culture that it once had.

On Nov. 30, the Mount Allison University Performing Arts Series presented its second concert of the season, and the performances just keep getting better and better. This neo-operatic performance brought the Indigenous artist Jeremy Dutcher, recipient of the 2018 Polaris Prize, to the Brunton Auditorium.

Coming from the Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick, Dutcher’s music calls out to the stories of his ancestors through transcriptions of Wolastoq songs from 1907 wax cylinders, an early recording medium. These recordings are central to his original interpretations.

“I think the act of sonic reclamation is so important. It’s a really beautiful time right now. Our young people are taking those songs back and investing in our language,” said Dutcher.

“Culture is fluid, and culture grows.”

Dutcher worked on his recent debut album, Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, for five years, modernizing the songs of his ancestors. Many of the songs from this album were discussed during and included in his concert. The performance of electrifying music created a sense of awakening for spectators and educated many who are only now learning about Indigenous history.

“Jeremy Dutcher is an energetic performer that brought new diversity to the performance atmosphere of Brunton Auditorium as we work towards supporting and normalizing Indigenous cultures rather than tokenizing them,” said music student Bryenton Innes. Dutcher’s performance was the topic of many conversations in the following days.

After the performance, Dutcher encouraged spectators to pay a visit to his parents at a booth in the lobby.

His parents, who were accompanying him on tour, were fundraising to

start an immersion program for the Wolastoqey language. Dutcher emphasizes the importance of this project on his website, where he notes, “I’m doing this work because there’s only about a hundred Wolastoqey speakers left,” adding that, “It’s crucial for us to make sure that we’re using our language and passing it on to the next generation. If you lose the language, you’re not just losing words; you’re losing an entire way of seeing and experiencing the world from a distinctly Indigenous perspective.”

While Dutcher’s work has received criticism, it has for the most part been viewed as an important part of the ignition of an Indigenous renaissance.

“My mom always said, ‘If they don’t know you personally, don’t take it personally,’ ” said Dutcher. “Anyone I’ve received backlash from doesn’t really understand the implications of this work.”

When asked about his next steps in his career, Dutcher alluded that there was no timeline for his next art piece: “I’m going to let the next stories take the time that they need to come out.

It’s very frustrating!”

There’s no shortage of music for fans who are waiting for Dutcher’s next project to form. Dutcher himself listens to and recommends several Indigenous artists including Buffy Sainte-Marie, Nina Simone and Riit.

These artists, like Dutcher, are paving the way for other Indigenous artists.

“Being an Indigenous artist has given me this unique space to forge my own path because often people don’t know what to expect from me,” said Dutcher.

As Dutcher said in his Polaris Prize acceptance, “Canada, you are in the midst of Indigenous renaissance.”

This new cultural boom is expanding the reach of the present Indigenous community and forging the path for the truth of Indigenous history to come forward. It is up to Canadians to open their ears.

COMING FROM THE TOBIQUE FIRST NATION IN NEW BRUNSWICK, DUTCHER’S MUSIC CALLS OUT TO THE STORIES OF HIS ANCESTORS THROUGH TRANSCRIPTIONS OF WOLASTOQ SONGS FROM 1907 WAX CYLINDERS, AN EARLY RECORDING MEDIUM. MADELEINE HANSEN/ARGOSY

ARTS & CULTURE

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CAMPUS LIFE

Garnet and Gold reaches out to community for donations

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G&G executive starts new fundraising legacy

“IF THIS FUNDRAISING PAGE WERE TO WORK OUT, IT WOULD BE A HUGE DEAL FOR ENSURING THAT GARNET AND GOLD CONTINUES TO BE A PART OF OUR MOUNT ALLISON TRADITION,” SAID SCARAVELLI. GILL HILL/ARGOSY

MAGGIE PITMAN Arts & Culture Reporter “People would be pretty rattled if [Garnet and Gold] showed up next year and said, ‘We can’t have a show,’” said Laura Scaravelli, the Garnet and Gold (G&G) society president and a fourth-year bachelor of music student. “That’s not on the immediate horizon but if we continue to run a deficit … it is a reality that we have to think about.”

Mount Allison’s musical theatre society Garnet and Gold has been around since 1932, making it an important feature of the school and the community. Each year, students and community members alike have shown up to the shows that G&G puts on at the end of each January. The productions attract students from across disciplines and with varying levels of theatre experience who join the cast and crew year after year.

Due to rising production costs in recent years, the society’s future has become uncertain. Currently, they are in debt.

“If we break even and then some in the next couple years we should

be fine,” said Scaravelli. “But if we were to have another two, three years [like we’ve had recently] I would say that there’s very little chance that we would be able to continue having G&G, which would be a huge shame.”

In past years, the society has relied largely on the income from ticket sales to support the production, with the aid of outside fundraisers, sponsorships and society fees.

“You would be hard-pressed to find an arts organization who is able to break even on ticket sales alone,” said Scaravelli. “In the past, we raised about $15,000 on ticket sales alone and that basically covered the entire show.” With rising production costs however, the society struggles to cover their costs.

There is also the constant concern that shows could be cancelled due to winter weather, leaving the society without a large portion of their funding.

This year’s exec team decided to introduce a new way of fundraising that will hopefully calm these worries, and created an online site where the public can donate as much as they choose.

“Crowdfunding is very popular right now, and it was something that we were lacking,” said Scaravelli, who mentioned the large number of G&G alumni who would likely wish to donate. “The website is a way to streamline donations from family and friends.” “[It would be] a huge loss if [G&G was] unable to continue in the future,” said Sydney Ford, a third-year biology honours student and G&G’s secretary-treasurer this year. “[We hope] reaching out to the community through online fundraising is going to help people understand that there are a lot of costs associated with running a full-scale production every year like we do. We really do rely on support from everyone.”

As of Tuesday, Jan. 14, the site has raised $2,180.

The society has already done much to limit their costs in recent years. “Costs with running a theatre production have risen exponentially and we’ve cut corners in every place we can,” explained Scaravelli. “When we sat down with our budget, realized we were in a deficit [and] that we had to make it up, immediately the

question became where can we cut costs, and the honest answer was nowhere.”

Recent G&G shows have had an almost non-existent costume and prop budget. Everything is either made from hand, reused from previous years, or borrowed from members of the cast and crew. Sets are kept to a bare minimum and cast members are largely responsible for their own costumes.

Still, Scaravelli and Ford pointed to two major costs that G&G has to deal with each year.

The first is production rights to the script and music score. There used to be a number of companies that sold production rights, meaning that, depending on popularity and availability, some shows cost less and others more. However, these companies have recently been amalgamated under the Americanbased Musical Theatre International, a large umbrella company that has placed set prices on all scores.

“The rights cost what they do. Five years ago, we paid maybe $3,500; our rights for the show this year were around $8,000,” explained

Scaravelli, who hopes that the online fundraising will be enough to cover the copyrights.

The second massive cost associated with the production is the space. The society pays an hourly fee for their time in Convocation Hall. “Generally students use school facilities for free, [but] because this building is what it is, with all the incredibly expensive technology involved in it, there has to be somebody employed by the University in the building at all times.” The cost to rent the space can be anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 a year.

In addition, the society has to cover all the little costs that come with running a production of this size, from batteries for the mic-packs to printing programs.

“Unfortunately, I think people often take [G&G] for granted. It’s important to remember that we are essentially the only school in Eastern Canada, very possibly in [all of] Canada, that has a group like [this],” said Scaravelli. “We are entirely student-run, we are not universityfunded, we do not run through any academic departments … and [we’re] open for everyone.”

“We have such a big impact on campus,” added Ford. “Even people who aren’t super involved in the arts know that the show happens every year and a lot of people come to see it … and appreciate it.”

“I think that in many ways we’re very undervalued by the University.

That being said, we also see every year, year after year, a tremendous amount of support from the community and from the students,” said Scaravelli.

“At the end of the day, no matter how great the fundraising page goes, our primary income is always going to be ticket sales.”

If you are interested in making a donation, the website is garnetandgold.online-compliance. com. G&G’s annual fundraiser Spectacular Spectacular takes place Friday, Jan. 17, from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. at Ducky’s Bar. Tickets to Mary Poppins will be on sale later in the month.

LAST YEAR, GARNET AND GOLD PUT ON THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED MUSICAL ‘HELLO DOLLY!’ AS THEIR ANNUAL SHOW. THIS YEAR, DESPITE THE FINANCIAL WORRIES, THEY’VE BEEN HARD AT WORK WITH THEIR PRODUCTION OF ‘MARY POPPINS,’ WHICH OPENS ON JANUARY 30TH. GILL HILL/ARGOSY

Fairy Tails and Opening Exercises come to the Owens Owens Art Gallery opens the new year with two new exhibitions this month JULIANNA RUTLEDGE Arts and Culture Reporter “Winter is the time for fairy tales,” said Anne Koval, an art history professor and the curator of one of the Owens’ latest exhibitions.

On the evening of Friday, Jan. 17, students, artists and community members gathered in the Owens Art Gallery for the double vernissage of two new exhibitions, Fairy Tails and Opening Exercises.

Fairy Tails, curated by Koval, explores the role of nature and animals in fairytales. Koval noted how animals often have important roles in fairy tales. “[The artworks here] aren’t [all] literal translations of fairy tales, but the artists were already working in that kind of otherworldly context in their work so I thought I would bring

it together,” explained Koval.

Fairy Tails features works from Amalie Atkins, Aganetha Dyck, Diana Thorneycroft, Meryl McMaster, Sylvia Ptak, Vicky Sabourin, Anna Torma, Laura Vickerson and Janice Wright Cheney. Some of the artists were present at the opening, while others were unable to attend due to the weather.

“I like my shows to be accessible to all generations and to people who might not normally go into a gallery,” said Koval, referencing the wide range of work in the show. “Everyone can relate to fairy tales.”

Cheney’s work explores loss of habitat due to forestry practices.

“The work is from a series I’ve been working on exploring the presence – mythical, historical and real – of a cougar, an animal in eastern Canada that [has been] declared extinct,” said

Cheney. Her piece features a life-sized plush cougar set against the backdrop of a black and white forest. “Part of my work is a lament for what is lost.”

McMaster had two pieces in the exhibition. In one picture she stands with a boat of crows lifted on her shoulder as she stares out at the viewer. In the other, a shrouded foxlike creature peeks its head out to glance at the stars. “[I was] thinking about ideas of great migration that’s happened across this territory now known as Canada … [and] about the environmental consequences that are happening right now,” said McMaster. “[While also thinking of] this hope of stopping [the] pattern of what we’re doing to the environment.”

The second exhibition, Opening Exercises, was curated by Emily Falvey, director-curator of the

Owens. Artist Didier Morelli explored the relationship between sports and visual arts by combining his own work with materials from Alex Colville; focusing on Colville’s mural, Athletes (1961), which is currently exhibited at the Owens. The exhibition also features written work examining long-distance running

by Eunice Bélidor and Camille Georgeson-Usher.

“I’m really interested in the relationship between arts and sports,” said Falvey. “I feel like they actually have a lot in common and they’re not always put together.”

Morelli’s work incorporates material from the Mount Allison Archives into his own pieces to explore this unfamiliar connection.

“I was asked to recontextualize or reframe [Athletes],” said Morelli.

“The exhibition has a bunch of

components to it. One of them is archival, so [I looked] at both the history of Athletes as a painting in the University … as well as the history of sports in the University.”

“I’m really happy to be in the company of some of these other artists and there’s strong work here,” said Laura Vickerson, whose work was also featured in Fairy Tails. “It’s been a good experience … the people here [at the Owens] are great.”

Both Fairy Tails and Opening Exercises will be open until April 1 and I encourage you all to stop in.

PHOTOS BY AUDE GAZZANO

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ARTS & CULTURE

JANUARY 24 2020 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

DRAMA

‘Mary Poppins’ soars into Sackville

Garnet and Gold’s upcoming production is sure to be a spoonful of sugar

MAGGIE PITMAN Arts & Culture Reporter When you walk into Convocation Hall next weekend, you will be greeted by the rooftops of London, a household in chaos and a windy park, perfect for flying kites. Together, these locations set the scene for the story of the Banks family: a story full of familial values and the idea that anything can happen if you let it.

The Garnet and Gold Musical Theatre Society has been working tirelessly on their upcoming production of Mary Poppins. Tickets are now on sale and the show runs from Jan. 30 to Feb. 1.

Based on a popular children’s novel

by P. L. Travers, Mary Poppins tells the story of a troubled family in desperate need of a nanny, but not just for the children. Emotionally detached father Mr. Banks also learns a thing or two from Poppins. The show is a journey of growth for the family, teaching life lessons through whimsical tunes and magical moments.

“This show tells such a wonderful story!” said Sarah English, who will be doubling as both the evil nanny Miss Andrew and the Bird Woman in

the production. “It’s heartwarming, funny and filled with energy from beginning to end.”

Victoria Rust takes the stage

MUSICALS ARE MAGICAL IN THEIR OWN WAY. THEY BRING HAPPINESS AND JOY WHETHER YOU’RE JUST THERE TO WATCH OR YOU’RE A PARTICIPANT as Mary Poppins with a warm interpretation of the role that can only be described as practically perfect in every way. Rust’s cheer is delightfully juxtaposed with English’s sinister portrayal of Miss Andrew.

Everything is tied together with a charming interpretation of the role of Bert, portrayed by Sam Unger.

Together, these three actors balance each other perfectly and bring the

show to life.

Despite recent financial struggles, Garnet and Gold seems stronger than ever. Students coming from all disciplines are excited to get involved.

“While growing up in Sackville as a kid, I was always amazed at the Garnet and Gold productions,” said Emma Chase, who will be playing the role of Katie Nanna in the upcoming show. “To be a part of Mary Poppins is almost surreal. I’m having such a good time learning the songs and choreography.”

Musicals are magical in their own way. They bring happiness and joy whether you’re just there to watch or you’re a participant. Garnet and Gold never fails to produce an exhilarating show and this year, it is overwhelmingly clear that through their commitment and dedication, the members of the cast and crew have bonded to form a family of their own.… Hopefully they won’t be needing a nanny any time soon.

THE UPCOMING SHOW FROM GARNET AND GOLD PROMISES TO BE SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS! MARA IRETA GORDON/ARGOSY

ARTS & CULTURE

THE ARGOSY | WWW.SINCE1872.CA

STREAMING

Disney Plus review

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Can Mickey Mouse compete with other streaming services?

HANNAH TUCK Arts & Culture Reporter Streaming services have become a booming business over the last few years. Netflix started the so-called “streaming wars,” and with their unmitigated success with original content like The Crown, Orange is the New Black and Stranger Things, it’s no wonder that other companies have tried to get their hats in the ring.

Hulu, home of The Handmaid’s Tale, has a rather small but vocal following; Amazon Prime Video has a few originals that have caught public attention (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel comes to mind); and other companies like Warner Brothers and NBC are making their plays in the near future.

Disney saw a window in the viable market and decided to take a leap last year.

And take a leap they did: Launching on Nov. 12 in North America, Disney Plus saw 10 million users sign up on its first day alone.

Not only does the streaming platform have a majority of the Disney catalogue of movies and TV shows (including Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior programs), but also new original series with episodes released on a weekly basis, the most notable of which is The Mandalorian, a show set in the Star Wars universe.

I abstained from getting Disney Plus until after classes for fall term ended, as I thought it would be a void that I would fall into and would never climb out of. When I did log in for the first time, I was overwhelmed by the amount of choice I had access to, so much that I almost cried. If I wanted to watch a classic like Sleeping Beauty, I could (and I did – it still holds up). If I wanted to watch a slightly

obscure direct-to-DVD sequel, I could (again, I did – Princess Diaries 2: A Royal Engagement is a perfect sequel and I will not take questions at this time). The original series are also quite good. I haven’t finished the first season of The Mandalorian at the time of writing, but I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen so far. My favorite original shows by far are High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and Encore.

While the amount of choice is great, I think it’s also a negative for Disney Plus. With so much choice, it’s hard to get a good idea of what to watch, which can lead to hours of scrolling before you give up and go back to whatever you were watching on Netflix. With Disney releasing new content onto the streaming service every month, including new original series airing on a weekly basis, this amount of content is only going to build up. I can understand why you would want to have a lot of content as soon as possible to compete with streaming giant Netflix, but there comes a point where it’s too much too fast and people can’t keep up anymore.

To help me get a better understanding of how Disney Plus is being received by others on campus, I reached out asking for opinions on the service. Sarah MacLoon, a second-year music student, said she wanted Disney Plus because it had content that would become hard to access otherwise. She said she thought it was worth the investment, but that the appeal started to wear off after a few months.

“You can consume all the content, feel all the nostalgia, and then save your money, but I still prefer Netflix for its more diverse content,” she said.

“I’m not sure what Disney could do

WATCH OUT, NETFLIX! DISNEY IS JOINING THE STREAMING GAME. BUT HOW CAN THE MEDIA JUGGERNAUT FARE AGAINST ESTABLISHED PLATFORMS? BRE DARLISON/ARGOSY to better their service as it’s so childcentric.… They could have a hard time expanding their content.”

MacLoon is right. The Mandalorian is easily one of the most violent shows on the service, but it’s under the Star Wars name and Disney image, so it can’t be too violent. Where Netflix pulls from a variety of networks that produce all kinds of shows, Disney is only able to pull from the brands that they own – Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, Disney Animation, Disney Studios (their live action division) and National Geographic. Yes, there’s a

variety of content there, but it isn’t the same as Netflix when it comes to the amount of diverse content that it has.

At the end of the day, I’m glad that I have Disney Plus. I think it’s at least worth taking a look at with the week-long free trial so you can see if it’s to your taste. Just keep in mind that it isn’t going to be like Netflix or whatever other streaming service you’re used to. It’s Disney, which means it has a particular branding of family-friendly content to maintain that doesn’t line up

with other original content on other streaming services – you’re not going to find something comparable to Orange is the New Black or Big Mouth on Disney Plus. It’s useful for when you’re trying to find that one series you always watched when you were a kid, but if you’re looking for a more diverse range of content, I’d keep your Netflix tab open, just in case.

DRAMA

Strangers, storms and sips of coffee How Tintamarre breaks barriers with hilarity and diversity HANNAH LUCAS Contributor Right in the heart of the Mount Allison campus, a group of wildly diverse characters have been conversing over coffee in the cluttered-yet-cozy Café du Quai since September. Don’t be shocked if you haven’t heard of it, though – the café’s lush orange walls and mysterious paintings are part of the world behind Nomade, Tintamarre’s annual production through the Motyer-Fancy Theatre.

Tintamarre is Mount Allison’s long-running bilingual theatre troupe that celebrates cultural differences and comments on the changing world. Directed by Alex Fancy, the collaboratively written plays have been sparking joy and provoking thought in our community for decades, and not just at Mount Allison: 2020 will mark the 33rd year of the Tintamarrathon, which brings the most recent Tintamarre

production to schools across the Maritimes each year. According to Fancy, 150,000 grade-school students have experienced the Tintamarrathon since its first tour, and the tours show no signs of stopping any time soon.

“Tintamarre is an organic community of people who are passionate about theatre and about the role that theatre can play in our world in a time of unprecedented change,” said Fancy. “The people in Tintamarre are all volunteers – they are all very committed to this role of theatre, and they are also very respectful of each other and believe in the importance of safe spaces.”

Associate director Caitlin O’Connor – who also plays Ernestine, a former fisher and current conspiracy theorist, in the current production – described Tintamarre as “an environment that not only allows you to explore, but also to celebrate having fun in more than one language, as well as different cultures,

identities and things happening in our world.” As a student, she believes that Tintamarre has been “like a home within the greater community of Mount Allison.”

When asked who Tintamarre is looking for, associate director Noémie Chiasson, who also plays Café du Quai’s hard-working owner Doris, enthusiastically exclaimed, “Everyone! We don’t discriminate, there’s no auditions.… It doesn’t matter how much experience you have in theatre.”

Tintamarre celebrates and encourages diversity within its cast, and this year is no exception. The 11 cast members of Nomade – actors of vastly different ages, programs of study, hometowns and stories to tell – have made the process of creating the show refreshing. The cast members have developed incredible bonds with one another since their first meeting in September.

Of course, the café would simply be

a blank stage without the tech crew, who have been dedicated, creative and outstandingly helpful in the process of creating the show.

“It takes a village to make a play,” said Fancy. “Part of the magic of theatre – and this is true here, since so many people have contributed to the making of the play – is the growing realization that the final product is so much larger than the sum of its parts.”

This year’s production is as interesting as it is relevant. As a silent stranger passes through the small town of Port-à-Petit, the storm of the century follows close behind, leaving the patrons of Café du Quai trapped within, and for some, trapped within the barriers of their own ignorance and fear.

Despite the serious subjects of fear of the unknown and climate change, however, the comedic play is a hilarious celebration of diversity, love and community.

“What’s great about this play is that we’re addressing serious problems that are happening at the moment, but we’re also using comedy to make the subject easier to explain,” said Chiasson.

“Without comedy, without engaging the spectators, we can’t accomplish our goals, because it’s a comedy that opens people’s hearts and minds,” added Fancy.

If you have 70 minutes to spare and a yearning to find the joy of the unknown in a tiny Maritime café, consider taking a trip to Port-à-Petit in Tintamarre’s Nomade!

Nomade runs Jan. 22 to 25 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 general admission, $5 for students and seniors and Thursday is PWYC.

12 OPINIONS

EDITOR: LAUREN SHAY | JANUARY 24, 2020| ARGOSY@MTA.CA

COLUMN

How sleep deprivation affects your health Getting enough sleep at night is important for student health in a number of ways

RACHEL MCDOUGALL Columnist Picture this: it’s well past midnight the night before your biggest midterm of the semester. Odds are that when you’re hit with a snack craving. Instead of having a balanced and nutrient-rich meal, you’re digging into a bag of chips (or animal crackers, my personal favourite).

Well, you’re not the only one inclined to make unhealthy food choices while sleep-deprived; studies show that proper metabolic functioning and managing food cravings are closely linked with a good night’s sleep. On a biological level, disturbances in a healthy sleeping pattern will cause the hormones that control hunger and energy levels to become unbalanced, tricking your body into thinking it’s hungrier than it actually is.

Unfortunately, evidence shows that “catching up” on sleep over the weekends has a less-than-desirable effect. According to a recent study, people who slept in two days per

week had higher insulin sensitivity than those that never caught up on sleep, meaning that these individuals had an impaired ability to regulate

UNFORTUNATELY, EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT “CATCHING UP” ON SLEEP OVER THE WEEKENDS HAS A LESSTHAN-DESIRABLE EFFECT their blood sugar. But this doesn’t mean that it’s good to always be in a “sleep debt” and never catch up on lost sleep either. Instead, make yourself a healthier sleep schedule that is both attainable and balances

the many aspects of your life.

Surveys show that in general, sleep routines around the winter break become messed up, and students may have a hard time readjusting to the regular routine of the semester.

Professionals believe that establishing a healthy sleep routine should be a priority for students starting back in after the holidays. Here are three tips to help you establish and stick to a healthy sleep schedule this term.

First, practice good sleep hygiene by not using any screens before bed.

The blue light emitted from your devices interferes with your body’s natural production of the sleep hormone melatonin. You can also plug your phone in on the opposite side of your room, which will force you to get out of bed when your alarm goes off. You can also take advantage of your phone’s “Do Not Disturb” and “Night Shift” functions to minimize blue light interference.

Second, let your roommates know what your schedule is like. Be sure to tell them if there’s a particular day of the week that you have to be up

earlier and need to go to bed earlier the night before so they can be quiet so as not to disturb you.

And finally, although it may seem

PROFESSIONALS BELIEVE THAT ESTABLISHING A HEALTHY SLEEP ROUTINE SHOULD BE A PRIORITY FOR STUDENTS STARTING BACK IN AFTER THE HOLIDAYS daunting, stick to your new sleep schedule – even on the weekends.

Any drastic changes to your sleep schedule during the weekend will

disrupt your circadian clock and will make it harder for you to get out of bed when you need to during the week.

There are many benefits of sticking to a schedule that allows you to enjoy quality, consistent sleep. For example, immune chemicals known as cytokines are produced during sleep, which enhance your ability to fight infections and diseases. Your body also releases hormones that help regulate mood during sleep, and neurons involved in concentration and learning are able to repair themselves.

Did you enjoy this article? Be sure to download the CampusWell app for more like it as well as some easy and healthy snack recipes! Be sure to check out events happening around campus next week for Bell Let’s Talk Day. If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions for what you’d like to see discussed in this column, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at healthintern@mta.ca and follow on Instagram @mtahealthintern. Have a happy and healthy week!

Call for Submissions Give us your opinions!

Do you have something to say about the MAFA strike. MASU dissolving the International Affairs Coordinator position, or literally anything else?

Send an email to LSHAY@MTA.CA with a pitch or an article and maybe next issue it’ll be in this space instead of another call for submissions!

OPINIONS

THE ARGOSY | WWW.SINCE1872.CA

13

THE ARGOSY

PRESS RELEASE

MASU press release

w w w. s i n c e 1 8 7 2 . c a Independent Student Newspaper of Mount Allison University Friday January 24th. 2019 volume 149 issue 12

An update from the MASU executive

Circulation 1,500 Since 1872

on Unceded Mi’kmaq Land 62 York Street W. McCain Student Centre Mount Allison University Sackville, New Brunswick

506.364.2236

E4L 1H3

Email argosy@mta.ca

THE ARGOSY is published by Argosy Publications, Inc., a student run, autonomous, nonpartisan not-forprofit organization operated in accordance with the province of New Brunswick.

EDITORIAL staff EDITORS IN CHIEF | Maia Herriot and Minnow Holtz-Carriere NEWS EDITORS | Emma Conrad and Amelia MacDougall Fleming ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR | Ben Maksym OPINIONS EDITOR | Lauren Shay HUMOUR EDITOR | William Traves

PRODUCTION staff PRODUCTION MANAGER | Kiara Mazerolle PHOTO EDITOR | Gill Hill PHOTOGRAPHERS | Aude Gazzano ILLUSTRATIONS EDITOR | Ashli Green ILLUSTRATORS | Mara Ireta Gordon and Madeleine Hansen

REPORTING staff THE MASU EXECUTIVE IS LOOKING FORWARD TO ANOTHER SEMESTER WITH YOU ALL! SARAH REEDER/SUBMITTED

EMELYANA TITARENKO MASU President Since the executive took office on May 1, we have been working hard to make sure that your student experience is extraordinary. Here’s a short update on just some of the things we have accomplished thus far.

President, Emelyana Titarenko (masupresident@mta.ca) Since the start of my term, I introduced MASU staff training and cultural competency training for all our MASU staff and councillors and the residence and orientation leaders. I created a MASU Partnership Package to help us increase entertainment revenue and supported the planning of the Get Out the Vote (GOTV) campaign. In September, I, alongside Elise, led the #DontCutOurFuture campaign to raise awareness of the cuts made to financial aid programs in New Brunswick. We also finalized the Budget Advisory Committee advocacy document which includes recommendations for RA pay increase, correspondence courses, a permanent Black Student Advisor-Diversity Educator position and Fitness Centre improvements.

Additionally, work and planning for the Strategic Plan 2023 has begun alongside our VP Finance. Finally, I started to explore the Nimbus app (Uber but for tutors) to see if it could work on our campus.

Vice President Academic, Sam Unger (masuacademic@mta.ca) In May, Sam created an advocacy document which includes recommendations on five key themes: mental health in the classroom, modernizing exam spaces, scholarships and bursaries, online

NEWS REPORTERS | Laura Skinner, Natasha Gosselin, and Zoe Hunter

learning and distribution credits which he presented to members of the University administration, deans, professors and staff. In August, Sam began to work with our graduate students to help with their advocacy and in December, a Graduate Student Representative position on the Student Administrative Council (SAC) was approved. Sam also started a conversation with Anne Comfort surrounding faculty mental health training which would improve the classroom experience for many. Accordingly, the Student Affairs Committee drafted a policy on content warnings and mental health in the classroom along with a policy on affordable classroom resources, which has had its first reading at the SAC. Vice President External, Elise Vaillancourt (masuexternal@mta. ca) Elise spent most of her mandate planning, organizing and executing the federal GOTV campaign alongside two student coordinators (Olivia Corrigan and Mearon Mulugeta) and a group of student volunteers.

The campaign collected over 900 pledges which helped students get informed on when, how and where they can vote. Elise also sits on the University Experiential Learning Committee and ORBIS Outcome Committee which was established to plan a successful execution of a co-curricular record. A huge project for Elise has been the Good Food Box program which will be launched this February. The goal of this program is to offer students a pack of fresh produce at a discounted rate to help with healthy and affordable eating.

Finally, Elise alongside Student-at-

Large Jordan Takkiruq and myself participated in the New Brunswick Student Alliance advocacy week. We met with different key stakeholders within the post-secondary education system and brought forward recommendations within the themes of international students, Indigeneity and financial aid. The full document is available on nbsa-aenb.ca/.

Vice President Student Life, Venna Penney (masustudentlife@ mta.ca) This year, Venna along with the Pride Committee organized the first-ever Mount Allison Pride Week which was filled with different events including the Pride Parade. Venna has also organized and taken part in several trainings including the clubs and societies executive training, alcohol harms reduction training for orientation leaders, and the active bystander training for the football team. With her staff, she has had several successful campaigns and events including the Keep It Social Halloween campaign, “What to do in Sackville” mini reading week campaign, and the winter carnival featuring Delaney Jane. Venna has also emphasized supporting residence leaders and even hosted the first-ever Residence Leader Appreciation night.

Accordingly, Venna helped advocate for having residence leaders attend a cultural competency training to help create a welcoming environment for all. Finally, through the various committees she sits on, Venna has been able to advocate for mental health, alcohol and cannabis harms reduction and accessibility needs.

Vice President Finance & Operations, Kevin Wong (masufinance@mta.ca)

Although Kevin did not spend the summer in Sackville, he still worked a few hours a week from home and managed to get several of our operating procedures reviewed.

Although Kevin’s role is very internal, he has had great success in supporting his staff during the fall election and the first-ever MASU job fair. He has also been leading his committees in approving funding and making changes and improvements to our bylaws and operating procedures.

Vice President Communications, Lauren Doane (masucommunications@mta.ca) In the summer, Lauren created our MASU Agenda and helped the Allisonian editors finalize the yearbook, on top of organizing a media team to help with orientation.

Since then, she has created a proposal for a new MASU website, provided input on the Mt. A Website Advisory Committee and assisted in the execution of the GOTV campaign (just to name a few things).

To learn more about our work, come by council, read the minutes, shoot us an email or just come by the office! We look forward to another successful semester with you all.

ARTS & CULTURE REPORTERS | Maggie Pitman, Hannah Tuck. and Julianna Rutledge

OPERATIONS staff SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER | Megan Fitzgerald DISTRIBUTIONS MANAGER | Michaela Kaiser HR REP | Ryan Schultz

CONTRIBUTORS Emilyana Titaranko, Hamish Hallet, Hannah Lucas. Bre Darlison COVER | Mara Gordon

PUBLICATION board TBA

DISCLAIMERS & COPYRIGHT 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, photography, graphic designs and comics are welcome. The Argosy reserves the right to edit or refuse all materials deemed sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic or otherwise unfit for print, as determined by the Editors 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 Editors in Chief at the address above. If the Editors in Chief are 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 Editors in Chief.

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OPINIONS

JANUARY 24, 2020 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

COLUMN

Go on exchange!

Three reasons why you should consider doing a year abroad the experience is worth the challenge.

If it was easy, everyone would have done an exchange program, gone to university and jumped out of a plane. Those things are not easy, but the rewards are enormous. The growth you’ll experience as a person is not just mental. It can improve you in a social, interpersonal, political and cultural manner.

You name it, you will develop it during exchange.

An exchange also adds on to your university degree.

Sometimes doing three to four years at the same institution, in the same place, with the same professors can become repetitive. After a while, you might find you need a change in your life, like me. Spending some time away in a different environment is a way to enact that change, and it adds so many opportunities during and after your university degree. It makes your time as a student even more fulfilling than it already is (minus the assignments), and it allows you to make so many memories and opportunities as well. I may be thinking of moving to Canada now, but we will see. And of course,

spending some time studying or working in another country adds to your CV. Who doesn’t want that?

Finally, an exchange gives you an excuse to travel. Whether it is going to Hong Kong, Australia, Europe or the United States, doing an exchange allows you to explore the world and see so many places and faces.

I believe we were put on this magnificent Earth to explore its beauty and to exchange with one another. An exchange program can do this and can allow anyone who has the travel bug like me to explore the wonders of this Earth.

Besides, it can enable you to get away from the snow, the cold, the wet and the wind of Canada.

Those are a few of the reasons why I went on a year abroad.

If you are thinking of doing a semester or a year abroad, then do it!

Lastly, if you have any questions about exchange, you can speak to me.

I can talk about this all day long!

I BELIEVE WE WERE PUT ON THIS MAGNIFICENT EARTH TO EXPLORE ITS BEAUTY AND TO EXCHANGE WITH ONE ANOTHER

HAMISH HALLETT Columnist With 2020 starting on not so much of a positive note, let me try and lift everyone up and suggest a fantastic idea. That is, to do an exchange

abroad! In my honest and biased opinion, my past few months here at Mount Allison cannot be described in just a few words – it has been that amazing.

Here are three reasons why.

Spending a semester somewhere

other than Mount Allison will grow you as an individual. It will push you to become independent and make you understand the world so much better. Yes, being in another country can be quite challenging and might not be something you’re used to, but

Call for Argosy Board Members The Argosy is looking for faculty and student board members!

The Argosy board is made up of two Editors in Chief (EICs), two student board members and two faculty members. The board meets once a semester and their function is primarily to keep the EICs and business manager (all student positions) accountable through presenting the budget to the board and talking through any significant changes the EICs made to the paper at meetings. Additionally, if a larger, unexpected issue comes up during the year (a defamation accusation for example) the board will be consulted as part of the EICs’ process of response.

No previous knowledge of the business of a newspaper required. Interested faculty from any department may e-mail us at argosy@mta.ca, or contact this year’s Editors-in-Chief, Maia Herriot and Minnow Holtz-Carriere, directly.

EDITOR: MATTHEW CANN | JANUARY 24, 2020 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

CREATIVE 15

NIGHTSHADE, CHLOE MANTROM

UNTITLED, CHLOE MANTROM

UNTITLED, KATE BROWN

SUBMIT

SAN ANTONIO DREAM, CHLOE MANTROM

send your artwork: photos, writing, painting, sketches, series, watercolors, and poetry. anything creative, or artistic can make it in this section, including doodles (!) we can work with any medium and format. to submit: attach your work with your name, medium, name of the piece (if titled), and any formatting specialties in an email to mtcann@mta.ca.