7 October 2015

MANITOBAN the

THE OFFICIAL UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA STUDENTS’ NEWSPAPER

ARTS & CULTURE

On your mark, get set, pledge UMFM kicks off annual fundraising drive Page 22

FEATURE

Raise your voice The Canadian federal election is just around the corner Page 10-15

VO L 1 0 2 · N O 9 · O C TO B E R 7, 2 0 1 5 · W W W.T H E M A N I TO B A N .CO M

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Index

VOL. 102 NO. 9 October 7, 2015

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Craig Adolphe

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BUSINESS MANAGER Adam Owczar

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ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Michelle Arentsen

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EDITORIAL

NEWS EDITOR Ethan Cabel

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FEATURES EDITOR Dana Hatherly

SCIENCE

Cutting the commute

Technological advances make working from home possible page 17

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COMMENT EDITOR Evan Tremblay

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MANAGING EDITOR Lauren Siddall

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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR Chantelle Dubois

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ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Seamus Hamilton-Pattison

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SPORTS EDITOR Mike Still

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COPY EDITOR Tom Ingram

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DESIGN

EDITORIAL

DESIGN EDITOR Bradly Wohlgemuth

The origin of our origins

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GRAPHICS EDITOR Bram Keast

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PHOTO EDITOR Carolyne Kroeker

Pondering how the universe came to be

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DESIGN ASSOCIATE vacant GRAPHICS ASSOCIATE Kelly Campbell PHOTO ASSOCIATE Chantal Zdan

page 6

REPORTERS

SPORTS

NEWS Garett Williams NEWS Aleah Isaak NEWS Samuel Osho SCIENCE Malak Abas ARTS & CULTURE Olivia Michalczuk ARTS & CULTURE vacant SPORTS Andy Che ASSISTANT COPY EDITOR Sarah Doran

DJ dishes it out Bison linebacker talks about the final regular season stretch

VOLUNTEER CONTRIBUTORS

page 27 Correction: The article “Perry Bellegarde speaks at University of Manitoba” on page 4 of our Sept. 30 issue mistakenly stated that the “Closing the Gap” report called for the federal government to work again with First Nations to implement Bill C-33. In reality the AFN does not want to re-engage on Bill C-33. Rather, the report calls on the government to re-engage on the issue of First Nations control of First Nations education. We apologize for the mistake.

Design Design Editor: Bradly Wohlgemuth Contact: design@themanitoban.com / 474.6775 Graphics Editor: Bram Keast Contact: graphics@themanitoban.com / 474.6775 Photo Editor: Carolyne Kroeker Contact: photo@themanitoban.com / 474.6775

Caitlin Griffith Tyler Drachuk Ryan Capar Ryan Stelter

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News

News Editor: Ethan Cabel Contact: news@themanitoban.com / 474.6770

Lecture reflects on legacy of the Ebola crisis Medical lawyer Jonathan Cohen discusses the link between health and human rights at Bannatyne campus LAUREN SIDDALL, STAFF

PHOTOS BY LAUREN SIDDALL

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he University of Manitoba welcomed medical lawyer Jonathan Cohen on Oct. 2 to deliver the annual Class of 1972 Arnold Naimark Lecture in Medicine and Society, for the faculty of health sciences at the Bannatyne campus.

Cohen works as the acting director of the public health program at Open Society Foundations, a global organization dedicated to human rights-based advocacy on a variety of health issues.

His lecture explored the link between medicine and human rights, arguing that the legal system has a role in augmenting the health care system for the overall improvement of public health.

“Most of the organizations that invest in public health programs tend to focus on technology or magical bullet solutions to public health problems, like there is this great device that can do this and that. But our argument is that public and population health will never be accomplished until you look at the world you live in, the social status of the people you are trying to help, and the quality of governance that surrounds and affects public health,” Cohen told the Manitoban. Cohen cited many examples of human rights violations in the realm of health care.

The Holocaust, for example, relied on medical professionals after Hitler introduced a euthanasia program in which doctors were instructed to kill those deemed unacceptable. Human rights violations continued in apartheid South Africa, where doctors helped to enforce a health care system built on racial discrimination.

While these examples seem antiquated and are typically used as a measure of how far we have come as a society, Cohen heavily referred to a recent example throughout his lecture – the Ebola outbreak of last year.

Ebola, a virus causing a rare and deadly hemorrhagic fever, killed over

11,000 people in 2014.

Previously, the World Health Organization (WHO) had recorded a total of 29 outbreaks of Ebola in human history, resulting in fewer than 2,000 deaths.

The first case was eventually discovered to be a one-year-old child who lived in Guinea, who contracted the virus in December 2013, but was not diagnosed as having Ebola until March 2014 – providing ample opportunity for the virus to spread. Less than a year later, over 6,500 cases were confirmed in four different countries.

“Public and population health will never be accomplished until you look at the world you live in, the social status of the people you are trying to help, and the quality of governance that surrounds and affects public health”– Jonathan Cohen, acting director, Open Society Foundations According to the WHO, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was the most severe acute public health emergency seen in modern times.

“I think what was striking about this epidemic was not just how it was experienced in West Africa, but how it was experienced in the rest of the world. Many will remember the

major international headlines that countries affected by the Ebola outexploded last summer as a result break were in the process of paying not only of increasing pleas for help back International Monetary Fund from humanitarian agencies such as (IMF) loans.

Doctors Without Borders, but also “When Ebola began, Guinea, because of the threat and the fear of Liberia, and Sierra Leone were Ebola spreading globally,” Cohen all receiving loans from the IMF. said.

Conditions on these loans required The widespread fear of Ebola countries to prioritize repaying their had cataclysmic effects, Cohen said. debt and their interest payments over Epidemics cause fear, panic, and hys- funding critical social and health serteria, especially when exacerbated by vices. Ebola-affected countries had to the media, which leads to violent acts limit not only the number of health of discrimination against those who workers they were able to hire, but are infected or suspected to have con- they also had to cap wages to a pititracted the virus. fully low level to meet broader IMF “There’s actually a less obvious, and policy directives,” Cohen said. in my view much deeper and more When Ebola hit – in order to profound link between medicine relieve the extreme shortage of health and public health [that] epidemics care workers in West Africa, very few like Ebola raise. It has to do with the of whom have the training necessary human rights of health workers, and to treat biosafety level four pathogens in this case the rights of doctors and – these countries appealed to nations nurses who are expected under much like Canada, who have such expertise. duress to provide treatment and care Rather than sending technical to people who are living with poten- support, such as doctors and nurses tially fatal diseases,” Cohen said. with the correct training needed “This link is not simply the trade- to treat Ebola safely and effectively, off between personal liberty and these countries responded slowly public health. It is not simply about and inadequately, which only made whether people have been quaran- it more difficult for those in need tined against their will, although that to access the staff and supplies they is a popular debate. Human rights required, Cohen said. begin with whether people have “As a result, doctors and nurses in access to health care in the first place, the affected countries, already underand whether doctors and nurses can paid, in short supply, and already vuldo their job and get paid for it.” nerable to Ebola themselves, were For example, in Sierra Leone in literally told to go and manage, try to 2010 – just before the Ebola outbreak treat patients without personal pro– approximately 50 per cent of health tective equipment in facilities without care workers were not receiving a proper infection control,” he added. salary, according to Cohen’s lecture.

As a result, the virus spiraled out As a function of this systemic flaw, of control and continued to spread, the American Central Intelligence infecting and killing many medical Agency and the WHO report that workers. This resulted in military Sierra Leone had 0.02 doctors per forces blockading and forcibly quar1,000 people, while Liberia main- antining many Liberians regardless tained 0.65 physicians per 10,000 of whether they demonstrated any people. symptoms of Ebola.

According to Cohen, this shortage Security services treated individuof public health services was exacer- als thought to be infected as criminals, bated by the fact that many African creating a deep stigmatization that

served to worsen the epidemic. The effort to find “hidden” patients actually coaxed symptomatic individuals further into hiding and constructed a deep culture of fear and panic surrounding Ebola, Cohen said.

“My goal is to point out that harmful and ineffective health measures do not come out of nowhere,” he added.

“Quarantine does not begin with the military. Had there been sufficient health workers in these countries, had these workers been able to do their job, had they been paid, had they had access to personal protective gear, had wealthy nations sent technical assistance and staff and not just written a cheque and sealed their borders, such blunt and ineffective measures may never had been needed.”

The Ebola outbreak, and arguably the whole field of medicine, provides one of the most compelling examples of the interdependence of rights, according to Cohen.

In the Ebola epidemic, denying the right to health also denied the right to liberty. By neglecting the health system, West African governments eventually had no choice but to enforce a mass quarantine, leading to extreme violence and even death.

“I hope, ultimately, to change people’s conception of what public health is, that public health is not just a series of technical interventions.

Public health really is an expression of the kind of society that we live in,” Cohen said.

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News

News Editor: Ethan Cabel Contact: news@themanitoban.com / 474.6770

University of Manitoba Press launches Decolonizing Employment Book calls for indigenous labour market inclusion SAMUEL OSHO, STAFF

IMAGE PROVIDED BY UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA PRESS

T

he call for inclusion of indigenous Canadians in the labour market is the focus of a new book launching this week from the University of Manitoba Press, entitled Decolonizing Employment.

The newly published book was authored by Shauna MacKinnon, an assistant professor in the department of urban and inner-city studies at the University of Winnipeg.

MacKinnon served as the former director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Manitoba and remains an advocate for policy change

to tackle poverty and social exclusion through numerous community initiatives and coalitions.

Decolonizing Employment is a thoroughly researched study of indigenous participation in the Canadian labour market from a political economy perspective.

Manitoba was used as a case study with an analysis of current education and training programs aimed at indigenous people. MacKinnon chose the province of Manitoba as a case study due to the growing population of indigenous people in the province coupled with the ongoing efforts of the provincial government to bolster inclusion of indigenous people in the labour market.

“This is where I have had my experience but also because we have a very large indigenous population and it is a growing population and employers are keenly aware that this is an important component of the labour market. It is also because we have got interesting things happening here,” MacKinnon said.

“I talked about some of the training programs that are happening here and some of the things that the provincial government has done here to make employment more accessible [...] There is potential here but I think we are not doing as much as we need to do but I think it is an interesting

place and space to look at what can be done and I think it is transferable to other regions of the country.”

“It is government’s responsibility and employers’ to take some responsibility and look at what they can be doing.

We cannot talk about reconciliation and not take responsibility” – Shauna MacKinnon, author, Decolonizing Employment MacKinnon told the Manitoban that the Canadian government and employers need to take responsibility in building a bridge toward reconciliation with indigenous people that will successfully link them with good jobs and better educational opportunities.

“It is government’s responsibility and employers’ to take some respon-

sibility and look at what they can be doing. We cannot talk about reconciliation and not take responsibility.

So, we all have to take some responsibility and I think this is an important role for the employers to look at their workplaces and look at how many indigenous people are working in this place and what kinds of jobs do they have and are they just in the entry level jobs. Do we have indigenous people in management positions?” MacKinnon said, adding that Canadian citizens might need to invest more money through taxes in a bid to bolster government resources for this purpose.

Her research is complemented throughout the book by stakeholder interviews in a bid to uncover the shortcomings of what she characterizes as “neoliberal” training programs.

Neoliberalism is a political movement characterized by tax cuts, minimal government regulations, and balanced budgets, often at the expense of government social programs. It prioritizes private sector growth and seeks to bring private sector management practices into the public, or government, sector.

MacKinnon said that the current political discourse around tax cuts is unhelpful, arguing that more revenue for the government is ultimately necessary in order to facilitate

reconciliation.

“Government needs to do more in terms of investing more in training but then we all have to take a look at what that means and investment means we need more money,” MacKinnon said.

Her argument depicts a Canadian society dominated by neoliberal governance, with policies that have visibly constrained the ambitions of indigenous Canadians. She therefore demands a paradigm shift towards a deliberate, concerted effort to improve the lives of indigenous people through reconciliation.

“I really do believe that if we are serious in Canada about improving conditions of indigenous people – and that will be improving education opportunities, training opportunities, employment opportunities – then we have to do things differently and that means moving away in the opposite direction of the neoliberal model which translates into greater investments,” she said.

“My argument is that we are moving in the opposite direction so we are making it difficult for indigenous people to access education, training, and good jobs.”

CPA Manitoba streamlines accounting designation First exams for new CPA designation written by students last month GARETT WILLIAMS, STAFF

PHOTO BY CHANTAL ZDAN

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new professional accounting general accountant (CGA). designation and regulatory body But when the provincial that came into effect in September Chartered Professional Accountants should relieve stress for students Act came into effect Sept. 1, the three looking to enter the accounting field disciplines and regulatory bodat the University of Manitoba in the ies were folded into one Chartered years ahead.

Professional Accountants (CPA) Previously, students looking Manitoba designation and regulaforward to a career in accounting tory body. had to chart their studies through Kelsey DeGraeve, president of the one of three programs – chartered Asper School of Business Accounting accountant (CA), certified manage- Association, said the single program ment accountant (CMA), or certified relieves pressure for students who

would otherwise have had to decide Manitoba, CMA Manitoba and CA which program would lead them into Manitoba – goes back to the fall of their career.

2013, when the organizations began “Everyone knows what they’re discussions leading to the formagoing into, assuming that they’re tion of the Chartered Professional going to be going and getting the Accountants of Manitoba. designation after, so that’s a little bit Legislation was tabled in simpler for us,” DeGraeve said.

December 2014 and received royal “They definitely touch on every- assent this June, clearing the way thing within the program,” she added. for a September press conference at “You can take certain courses within the U of M unveiling the new CPA the program that are maybe slightly Manitoba body. steered towards one [discipline or the Hannaford said the scope of each other] but at the end of the day, they’ll of the three accounting bodies was all have CPA as their designation.” beginning to overlap and bringing Gary Hannaford, president and them together under one roof pulls CEO of the newly minted CPA the field in line with other profesManitoba, agreed the single desig- sional bodies. nation will simplify the process for “There are not three law societstudents coming into the field. ies, for example, and there are not “If they want to become a profes- three sets of engineers, [...] so why sional accountant, there’s one type of wouldn’t we do the same thing within professional accountant to become,” the accounting profession?” he said.

Hannaford said.

The move brings more than 9,000 “And since we’re all one, it makes members and students in Manitoba it less confusing as to whether or in line with the more than 200,000 not they’ve made the wrong career CPA-designated accountants choice.”

Canada-wide.

The effort to fold together the By the end of 2015, all provinces three previous bodies – CGA will have moved to the CPA des-

ignation, while the Yukon and the Northwest Territories are expected to follow suit in 2016.

Current professional accountants can continue to use their legacy designations or tag CPA in front of their current designation but will not be labelled as simply a CPA for a period of 10 years.

The first crop of students who will hold the CPA designation wrote their exam in late September.

Drawing on the strengths of each of the three previous courses to build one unified, strengthened program will kick-start graduates’ careers, said Hannaford.

“We think it’s an exciting program,” he said. “Taking the best of what the three different accounting bodies had to offer in the past should make it an even better program and better prepare students for their careers in the business world.”

VOL. 102 NO. 9 October 7, 2015

News

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Community meeting charts way forward on illegal housing Residents’, stakeholders’ associations established, but community remains concerned GARETT WILLIAMS, STAFF

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f the illegal rooming houses that have been sprouting up in neighbourhoods surrounding the University of Manitoba are to be weeded out, the effort has to come from the community itself. That was the message South Winnipeg-St. Norbert Coun. Janice Lukes delivered to a packed community meeting on campus last week.

Presenting an update on the issue of illegal and unsafe student accommodations to an at times raucous crowd of about 275 people packed into a room in Investors Group Field Sept.

30, Lukes said the problem can only be resolved through a partnership between residents, the city, and the U of M, but stressed the effort must be led by the neighbourhood.

“A lot of people, I know, aren’t happy,” Lukes told the Manitoban following the more than two-hour meeting that saw several presenters interrupted by the crowd.

“They wanted an instantaneous result but it didn’t happen instantaneously [...] I think what [the residents’ advocacy] is doing is, hopefully, holding more folks accountable and it’s actually good because it’s making people consider becoming part of a stakeholder group and a residents’ group.”

An ad-hoc residents’ association will work to combat the growing problem of illegal rooming houses around the university, where restrictive zoning bylaws and high demand for cheap housing is leading many to convert single-family homes into multi-unit dwellings that violate the Manitoba Building Code.

The issue has been compounded in the last half-decade as the school works to increase recruitment of international students.

In the last five years, the U of M has nearly doubled its international student population, with more than 15 per cent of the nearly 30,000 total students coming from abroad. The university’s strategic enrolment management plan calls for 10 per cent undergraduate and 20 per cent graduate international student enrolment by 2018.

Lukes will co-chair the Stakeholders’ Rental Housing Association – which will include Fort Richmond NDP MLA Kerri Irvin-Ross and representation from the university, the student union, city staff, Manitoba housing, and realtors, among others.

But it’s the Residents’ Rental Housing Association that she said will give the neighbourhood an opportunity to take the reins in order to face the issue head-on.

“I’m not going to lead it,” Lukes said. “I’m going to support [the residents] and give them all the tools they need but they have to take ownership of their community.”

Fort Richmond resident Calvin Patrick, a former U of M student who has lived in the neighbourhood for

nearly 10 years, attended the meeting and said he has seen the community deteriorate as houses are sold from families to absentee landlords.

“The neighbourhood is actually collapsing,” he said, noting cases of unkempt yards and houses with boarded-up windows as examples of owners taking advantage of lax bylaw enforcement.

“If it would be like a family renting a basement to one student, that’s not a big deal,” Patrick added.

“There’s an influx and there’s growth and if there’s continued growth, what happens to this community? It evaporates. There will be nothing” – Calvin Patrick, local resident “We’ve had that before, that was going on for years – then it kind of just winds through and blows up into something else.”

Additionally, a party lifestyle that Patrick argues should be confined to campus has sprawled through the neighbourhood, bringing with it broken bottles, people running through yards at all hours, and police visits.

“If one house knows people in another house who know people in another house, it’s not even a house party anymore – it’s a block party,” Patrick said.

“There isn’t necessarily a scientific study of just which residences in the area are illegal rooming houses or who exactly is living there” – John Danakas, executive director of public affairs, University of Manitoba “Anybody caught in between, you live in fear,” he added, “because you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

The City of Winnipeg’s By-law Enforcement Services had 118 calls from the Fort Richmond area between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2015.

Fifty-eight of the calls resulted in compliance orders, including two

PHOTOS BY GARETT WILLIAMS

basement emergency vacate orders, struction, he said the university takes 12 littering and garbage orders, and its role as a neighbour seriously, not32 vegetation orders. Nearly all have ing the U of M replaced more than been complied with, while nine are 350 beds in the aging Tache Hall still in progress. with the 360-room Pembina Hall Presenters at the meeting included residence in 2011. city staff, developers, the University He acknowledged the construcof Manitoba Students’ Union, and tion offered little in the way of new representatives from the university beds but said it speaks to the univeritself – executive director of public sity’s commitment to accommodating affairs John Danakas and director of students. government and community engageDanakas said the university will ment Tyler MacAfee – who took heat continue working to attract increasfrom the crowd for what they believe ing numbers of international stuto be insufficient on-campus housing. dents, who he said enrich life both Danakas presented the univer- on-campus and in the surrounding sity’s plan to develop the former community, and warned it’s unfair for Southwood golf course property, the neighbourhood to assume the U which the U of M took over in 2011. of M is responsible for all the issues The plan aims to accommodate up in the surrounding community. to 4,200 multi-dwelling units, along “There isn’t necessarily a scientific with 21,070 square metres of retail study of just which residences in the and hospitality space. area are illegal rooming houses or While Danakas conceded that who exactly is living there,” Danakas the Southwood project is in the early said. stages and still years away from con“Are they in fact students? Are they

in fact international students? Are they in fact University of Manitoba international students? One can’t assume just on anecdotal evidence that those are always the facts.”

Nearly 60 community members have committed to participate in the residents’ association, which is scheduled to hold its first meeting on Nov. 4.

But that’s little comfort for Patrick, who said he worries the association will simply insulate the city and the university from the community’s concerns while the number of rooming houses continues to rise.

“There’s an inf lux and there’s growth and if there’s continued growth, what happens to this community?” he said.

“It evaporates. There will be nothing.”

Editorial Editor-In-Chief: Craig Adolphe Contact: Editor@themanitoban.com / 474.6770

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VOL. 102 NO. 9 October 7, 2015

Editorial

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Letters to the editor Re: Cancellation of the U of M federal candidates’ debate I am very disappointed that the University of Manitoba Students’ Union (UMSU) has decided to cancel the upcoming Winnipeg South federal candidates’ debate.

The rationale given to my campaign by vice-president external Astitwa Thapa was “the Local Candidate’s Debate has been cancelled because

of [Conservative candidate Gordon] 29,000 students at the University be bullied by the Harper government participation through hosting a fedGiesbrecht’s refusal to attend the of Manitoba indicated their lack of – a government that has refused to eral candidates’ debate. debate. We have heard from a lot of interest. Even without the participa- participate in public forums in a students that they just aren’t inter- tion of the Conservative candidate, meaningful way.

Brianne Goertzen ested in attending if there won’t students, professors, and staff deserve In a time when youth voter turn- NDP candidate, Winnipeg South be a debate with the Conservative to hear about the platforms of the out is at an all-time low one would representation.”

New Democratic Party, Green Party, expect the student union of the I would ask UMSU to indicate and Liberal Party. In cancelling the largest post-secondary institution in how many of the approximately debate, UMSU is allowing itself to Manitoba to encourage democratic

Re: UMSU moves forward with divestment campaign

It’s no secret: students will change this election

I want to commend UMSU Council and vice-president external Astitwa Thapa for their trailblazing work towards divesting the University Investment Trust from the fossil fuel sector. I agree wholeheartedly with Thapa when he says “the University of Manitoba prides itself in being a leader in the 21st century – then be a leader by divesting from fossil fuels.”

I am encouraged for the future of the country given this insightful campaign, and wish the student government continued success in its excellent work advocating for positive social change. Please continue being the change and leading by example.

Michael Silicz U of M alumnus and former Manitoban comment editor, 2007-2009

Young people and students can the debt crisis that is bankrupting an education and we need the federal on. Choose an issue that matters most drastically change the outcome of this entire generation. government to ensure that adequate to you, investigate, read and underfederal election. The current governWhile the provincial government housing exists for everyone. stand what each party is proposing to ment won a majority in the 14 clos- has direct power over post-secondary Students across the country, par- address the issue. Engage with your est ridings by only 6,201 votes. Just education, the federal government ticularly women-identified students, local politicians, online or at local imagine what could happen if more can play a leadership role in ensur- should be able to attend post-second- candidates’ forums. Ask them quesyoung people voted and raised the ing education for all. Unfortunately, ary where a consent culture is fostered. tions and demand they take a stand. issues that we care about. federal funding for social programs The federal government can provide As part of a national student As members of the Canadian like post-secondary education has leadership to ensure all students feel organization, we know that politFederation of Students (CFS), stu- been steadily slashed since the 1980s. safe on campus. ical parties have been listening to dents at the University of Manitoba While government grants used to Throughout and after students’ our campaign. The Green Party and across the province are partici- cover up to 80 per cent of university education, getting a good job is announced a plan to eliminate tuition pating in the national “It’s No Secret” budgets 30 years ago, they now cover becoming harder and harder. It’s fees by 2020. The NDP announced a campaign. The campaign seeks to roughly only 50 per cent. no secret that youth unemployment plan to eliminate interest on federal engage students in the election and It’s no secret tuition fees are and under-employment is outpacing student loans and give $250 million ensure that we are voting while also making up the difference. Fees have general unemployment rates. Many to the student grants program. The raising issues that are critical for stu- tripled since the 1990s, outpacing the students are forced to take unpaid Liberals have talked about investing rates of inflation and other costs such internships, often only accessible to in a youth jobs and employment plan. dents across Canada.

We must demand that our polit- as housing or food. At the same time, those who are able to work without The CFS will continue to repicians and political parties meaning- university administrations, includ- earning a wage. The federal govern- resent the interests of University fully address the issues facing young ing the University of Manitoba, are ment must take strong leadership to of Manitoba students at a national, people today, including the future of investing in capital projects and cut- address youth employment in Canada. provincial, and local scale in this electhe economy, the environment, and ting the fundamentals: courses, faculYoung people are watching as tion and elections to come. When the society that we will inherit. A ties, programs and services. our current leaders destroy our land we stand in solidarity, students can critical way to make this demand is International students were and environment. The divestment change the national conversation. with our ballot. Students can make burdened with covering these campaign active on campus through Last election only 39 per cent of a difference this election. It’s up to budget cuts when their tuition fee the Divest Manitoba student group, people age 18-24 voted. On Oct. 19, us to ensure that student issues are differentials were hiked by up to 18 which CFS-Manitoba allocated let’s change that. When students on the table. per cent. At both the government $2,000 to help launch, seeks to end are active and engaged, we can see There are many issues facing stu- and institutional level, there is a lack investment in fossil fuels at the uni- change on the issues that affect us on dents on a day-to-day basis that must of leadership to create post-secondary versity level. a daily basis. Be part of the student be included in the national conver- institutions that are focused on proThe CFS has been helping launch movement that will continue to fight sation about our collective future. viding quality and accessible edu- and coordinate this campaign across for more equity and justice on our It’s no secret that student debt has cation for the public good. While the country. The federal government campuses and in our society on elecclimbed to over $17 billion in Canada. fighting budget cuts at the university must stop subsidizing fossil fuels and tion day and beyond.

We’ve seen little leadership on this level, we must also demand that the the tar sands, and instead invest in issue from our politicians. federal government adequately fund future generations through clean Michael Barkman Instead, the federal government post-secondary education across the and renewable energy. Students Chairperson, Canadian Federation secretly increased the student debt country. today will inherit the environment, of Students-Manitoba ceiling from $19 billion to $24 billion Students face another hurdle in but we need to see action now to this spring without talking about the paying for their housing. It’s no secret address the climate crisis that puts root causes of skyrocketing student Canada is one of the only developed our entire collective future into a debt. We are told that the main issue nations without a national housing dangerous position. in this election is the economy, yet strategy. Many students depend on The list of reasons for young people we’ve seen little conversation about affordable housing throughout their to vote in this election goes on and

Comment Comment Editor: Evan Tremblay Contact: comment@themanitoban.com / 474.6529

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Give us a break Bison attendance complaints tone-deaf, wearying TOM INGRAM, STAFF

you have to work, and in many cases you have to work more than one job.

If you take your studies seriously, then coursework and reading will absorb a great deal of your time. Then there are extracurricular activities, some of which (depending on your program) are nominally optional but in practice required. I’m told many people enjoy going out with their friends as well.

There just isn’t time for many students to attend football games even if they wanted to. It’s nothing short of cruel to suggest they are in some way letting somebody down by prioritizing school, work, and other responsibilities over football – which, let’s not forget, is not the main purpose of a university.

But there are also many people that aren’t interested in football at all and would never attend a game even if you paid them.

Performance etiquette

GRAPHIC BY CAROLINE NORMAN

W

hen I learned that Bison editorial back in March, describing Sports is dismayed that their attendance at Bisons home games as best-attended football games draw a “abysmal” and “pathetic.” mere quarter of the student body out These articles discuss the indisputto Investors Group Field, it brought able fact that supportive fans can tears to my eyes. The sky became sud- improve a football team’s performdenly overcast, and out of nowhere I ance on the field. But they go one heard the plaintive strains of the slow step farther and intimate that U of movement from Tchaikovsky’s violin M students have a responsibility to concerto ringing out from the world’s attend football games and are sometiniest violin. how letting the school down if they In an article in the Sept. 30 issue don’t. of the Manitoban, Mike Still wrote, I’m not a sports fan. Ordinarily “while Bison Sports is working hard I don’t begrudge other people their to create an optimal fan experience, sports fandom so long as they keep it’s still up to the students and fans to it away from me. But the immortal do their part and actually show up.” rind it takes to publicly lament the He expressed a similar view in an attendance levels and suggest that

University of Manitoba students have some kind of obligation to show up at Bisons games – well, that makes me mad.

Manitoba is behind the curve, but it’s by a matter of hundreds, not thousands. Regardless of the size of the stadium, expecting a five-digit turnout on a regular basis is absurdly Crunching the numbers unrealistic. CIS football only occaFirst, let’s dispel the notion that sionally cracks five-digit attendance Manitoba’s attendance this year is – it has done so only four times this in some way unusually low for CIS season, twice at Laval and twice at football. The average attendance at Western. all CIS men’s football games that This is not to say that Bison Sports have happened this season by the shouldn’t press to improve attendtime of writing is 3,596. The Bisons’ ance, but it’s certainly not true average attendance at the four games that Manitoba fans are uniquely that have been played so far is 3,264 – unsupportive of their team. Guilt less, but not by much. Last season it tactics are hardly warranted. was 2,891 against an overall average Being a student these days is not of 3,307. easy. Unless you’re extremely well-off,

Though I doubt athletes would like being compared to musical performers, I think the analogy holds.

It’s not actually necessary for the U of M to have a football team. The Bisons do not play football because we need them to. They play football for their own benefit as athletes and as entertainment for the fans. In an important sense, this makes them performers, and some of the same rules of etiquette must apply.

As a musician, it strikes me as unspeakably gauche to complain publicly about poor attendance – especially when your definition of “poor attendance” is still usually greater than 1,000 people. Even worse is to deny the autonomy of the audience to choose what they do and do not wish to see.

We’re taught that nobody owes you an audience. I happen to think that a symphony concert is a more worthwhile place to spend an evening than a football game, but even I can’t argue with an audience’s choices one way or the other. In the words of the great sportsman Yogi Berra, “if they don’t want to come out, nobody’s gonna stop ’em.”

If people know about your concert and consider it worth their time to attend, they will. All you can do is promote the concert as heavily as possible, play as well as possible, and hope for the best. I don’t see how the matter could be any different for athletes and football games.

Musicians are no strangers to the “home field advantage.” Of course it is always better to be playing for a large and visibly excited audience so you can feed reciprocally off the energy in the room. Playing for a small or unsympathetic audience is difficult and unpleasant, but sometimes you have to do it.

You don’t always get the audience you’d like. As a performer, if the excitement isn’t there, it’s your job to create it. You have to do this for whoever shows up, whether it’s 30,000 people or only three.

Features Features Editor: Dana Hatherly Contact: features@themanitoban.com / 474.6520

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Point/Counterpoint: To vote or not to vote You should vote CRAIG ADOLPHE, STAFF

GRAPHIC BY BRAM KEAST

You should vote. won’t change the nature of our cap- a social democratic agenda has ing initiatives, and a variety of other Often when people tell you that, italist world-economy and it won’t prevailed through much of the late policies are currently on the table. they argue it’s a sacred responsibil- end the burning of fossil fuels. Where 20th century, is full of examples. In Which of these things we do and who ity and the best way for you to effect many of them err is rejecting voting Finland, a government-run “hous- is elected to implement other legislachange. Voting advocates tend to get or otherwise participating in the elec- ing first” initiative helped to reduce tion moving forward does matter. a little hyperbolic. toral system as naive, inconsequential, the number of homeless people in You may not like the fact that I won’t attempt to list activities or a waste of time. the country from over 18,000 in 1987 someone else is producing legislafrom most to least impactful in terms Many of those radicals view our to 9000 people in 2003 – effectively tion that will impact you, but this will of bringing about change, but I will elections as something akin to elect- dropping the country's homeless rate happen whether you vote or not. And readily acknowledge that voting isn’t ing a new captain to steer the Titanic by over 50 per cent in the span of 15 if you don’t vote, then it’s that much the only way to do it. after its collision with an iceberg. years. The housing policy didn’t end more likely to be someone you find There are other things you can They see us headed in a terrible dir- homelessness altogether, and Finland, unpalatable and who has a drastically do, other tools in your social change ection and the matter of who leads us like every country, still suffers from different view of the world. toolbox. Any good organizer knows as an entirely superficial or cosmetic economic inequality, but for those you need diverse strategies and tactics decision at best, or a distraction from lives that were improved by govern- The perfect as enemy at the ready if you’re hoping to bring the real issue at worst. ment intervention, it wasn’t an incon- of the good about any type of societal improveI encourage you to remember that sequential difference.

Conscientious non-voters often ments, but voting doesn’t hinder even small changes can have a big We don’t have to go far to see point to the fact that no party perthose other efforts in any meaning- effect – particularly when stacked the impact of government policy. fectly represents their ideal governful way. You can do both. one on top of the other. When Canada’s history is full of policy ment (or even form of governance) their effect is to stigmatize groups, changes and political decisions that as a reason to reject the system altoFor the conscientious decrease accessibility of essential ser- have had both great and terrible gether. The perfect is the enemy of non-voters vices, or ravage the environment, they effects for its citizens. We’ve estab- the good, as the saying goes.

Many of smartest and most well can worsen the lives of many people. lished a national healthcare system, Many people prefer being involved read people I know practice rad- When they’re targeted at alleviat- created the CBC, and passed a law in social movements – such as the ical politics, identifying as socialist, ing poverty, making services more allowing same-sex marriage.

Occupy movement, Idle No More, anarchist, or communist. They do so accessible, or reducing harm to the We’ve also had a long history of or the student movement – where because they recognize the structural environment, these gradual changes colonization, sent young people to rhetoric is often high and there are inequalities that exist in society and can have the opposite effect. Passing die in wars, plundered our natural greater opportunities to feel active want to address them. on electoral politics is effectively giv- resources, and infringed on people’s and involved to electoral politics, They further recognize that voting ing in to the former as an inevitability. rights – putting Japanese Canadians which can be boring, unimaginative, isn’t a panacea for all of a country’s Government has had a major in internment camps throughout the and unpleasant on the whole. problems and inequalities – a new impact in alleviating inequality in 1940s, for example. National childSocial movements give an oppordemocratically elected government other countries. Scandinavia, where care, legalization of marijuana, hous- tunity for people to gather, discuss

their problems, imagine an improved and often ideal world, and present that to the broader society, usually by taking steps to live their ideals in the public spotlight. It’s a beautiful thing to see.

Radicals are right in that social movements play a major role in bringing about social change. In fact they’re generally the prime incubators of social change. But it’s through government action that these changes are often institutionalized, ensuring that the new ideas that have been concocted and any benefits that have been won remain available well into the future, after the movement has fizzled.

So organize a sit-in or boycott, write slam poetry, support alternative media, and found a workers’ co-op.

Live the way you want to live. And when all that is done, pop in to a local voting station and mark an X beside the candidate you think is best suited to make a difference.

Voting won’t change everything, but it will change some things – don’t throw anything out of your toolbox just yet.

VOL. 102 NO. 9 October 7, 2015

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Point/Counterpoint: To vote or not to vote Don’t vote EVAN TREMBLAY, STAFF

Voting is nothing. Voting is checking a box on a piece of paper.

Not many people bother to check that box anymore. We are told that this is a bad thing. We are failing the system, our country, our society.

Somehow, if more people checked that box, things would be better.

Not voting does not mean that you are apathetic, though certainly many people who do not vote are. But this is also true of many people who do vote – whose sole act of civic engagement is checking a box every few years.

Many people vote for the same political party their entire lives without knowing the candidates, the issues, or even the history of the party they are voting for. Is their uninformed participation in the system, which is easily manipulated, better than my informed lack of participation?

To hear voters wax poetic in their defence of voting, you would think it was an informed debate among equally reasonable and knowledgeable peers. Images of white-robed Greeks, sage and bearded, are forced upon the imagination of the unfortunate listener.

Be the most well-informed, reasonable person you can be. But remember, when you check that box, your vote counts no more than the most gullible, hateful, criminal, stupid, and bigoted members of our society. Or, if you prefer, their worldview is just as valid as yours.

Not voting does not mean that you are happy with the way things are.

Neither does voting, for that matter.

“Change,” “hope,” and “better” are familiar clarion calls which tend to make people flock to a certain political banner. But not voting can stem from an understanding that the real issue is not the party in power – it is the system through which that party holds power.

If you think that the system itself is deeply flawed and must be replaced by a better one, then why would you debase your ideals by participating in that flawed system?

In particular, why would you give up your sovereignty by voting? That’s what voting is – the acquiescence to be ruled. If you vote in good faith, that democratic act is a two-way street. If your candidate doesn’t win, you must submit to the authority of whoever did win. A vote for any candidate is a vote for the system. A vote for any set of ideals is a vote for our current system of government, be it a shade more blue, red, or orange.

The ideals may be different, but the system claims the authority (though it may not always exercise it) to tell you what substances you can put into your body, what are the permissible forms of worship, and what forms of expression are permissible. It will always claim the authority to practise violence on your behalf, punish on your behalf, steal on your behalf, and oppress on your behalf. A vote is merely an expressed opinion on how crudely enforced that author-

GRAPHIC BY BRAM KEAST

ity will be, and in what walks of life.

That’s giving a lot away by checking a box.

Futility

Incremental change is often held up as a reason to vote: if the system itself is bad, the line goes, than at least we can slowly make it better, because incremental improvement is better than nothing. This would be an attractive argument, if incremental changes were always improvements. But a system that can be made incrementally better through voting can be made incrementally worse in the same way. Incremental change is nothing other than the lack of ability on the part of the system to resist capricious change by the government of the day.

In Canada, we’ve seen incremental improvements in environmental regulations over decades, which have been, inarguably, a good thing.

But by the very mechanisms these improvements were accomplished, they were swept away. The system allows for tinkering, but there are no

methods to guarantee this tinkering will be for the greater good. Rather, the tinkering is most likely to be done by the kind of unscrupulous people who are best at manipulating others to vote for them. These changes are most likely to be done so that these unscrupulous people can cement their hold on the system.

Many people vote for the same political party their entire lives without knowing the candidates, the issues, or even the history of the party they are voting for Not voting does not mean you are not involved. If you do not vote

on principle, then you have a moral responsibility to be involved, at least to the degree that you must live your life in accordance to your own ideals.

There is greater involvement, and probably greater effect, in a person trying every day to be kind, charitable, environmentally conscious, and socially responsible, than voting can ever bring.

Not voting means living your life well without needing to elect someone to tell you – legally compel you, more likely – to live your life well. It means opening yourself to your own personal shortcomings without having the government as a whipping boy to shift blame to when you fall short.

On a practical note

The system is broken. It will, for many years, prop itself up, whether you vote or not. In nothing is this seen more clearly than in its response to climate change.

Climate change is a threat to every human on the planet, one that cannot be ignored or stopped. To avoid the worst of its effects – and the worst

of its effects may be the collapse of the biosphere and the end of human life – will require massive cultural, economic, industrial, and social re-organization on a global scale.

However, the people you could vote for refuse even to speak in the language of radical need – they lack the will and ability to begin the necessary adaptations. The system cannot even address the impending collapse of the life-systems which support its constituent parts – which it glibly calls “voters.”

Not voting is recognizing the huge disconnect between our government and our lives, between reality and pleasant fiction, between the lies of politicians and the truth of your conscience.

Don’t vote – don’t waste your time.

Live your life in such a way that if everyone lived their life like you, we wouldn’t need to cast a vote deciding which of your brothers was least unfit to be your keeper.

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Features

Features Editor: Dana Hatherly Contact: features@themanitoban.com / 474.6520

Getting out the youth vote Be the Vote aims to educate, engage youth electorate MIKE STILL, STAFF

we’re very sensitive to the fact that it takes so much more,” Kennedy said.

“I think what we’ve learned is that addressing this probably requires something so much larger than what we’re able to do, but at the same time, we’re not discouraged.”

“By virtue of the fact of more youth voting, we would hope to see politicians try and engage youth in innovative ways that are meeting youth where they’re at” – Grace Kennedy, founder and executive director, Be the Vote

Source: Elections Canada

One political advocacy group has sought creative ways to combat political apathy and boost electoral participation among youth.

In the 2011 federal election, voter turnout for those between the ages of 18 and 24 years old was just 38.8 per cent, and 45.1 per cent for those ages 25 to 34.

Grace Kennedy, a Manitoba native in her second year of a postdegree program in social work at McMaster University, wanted to reverse historical trends and raise those numbers for the upcoming federal election. As founder and executive director of Be the Vote, Kennedy aims to politicize youth and increase

their electoral participation across the country.

“There’s a lot of initiatives that pop up around elections to get youth to vote, but there’s nothing that really sticks around, year-round, to try to advocate and encourage youth to get more involved in politics 365 days a year,” Kennedy said.

To keep youth commitment up, the organization has been emphasizing their awareness campaigns.

“The biggest project we have on the go right now is pushing out our public service announcement video campaigns on ad space through YouTube and Facebook,” Kennedy said.

The goal with the online advertisements is to provide a subtler pull to those who may not otherwise be interested in getting out to vote and learning more about the long-term impact of their electoral involvement.

PHOTO BY CAROLYNE KROEKER Be the Vote also has their own Upon her return to Winnipeg in YouTube channel under the same late 2014, Kennedy held a meeting name. They have been publishing with a number of interested people weekly videos over the past month from the University of Manitoba and to provide some background about across Winnipeg who also wanted to each major federal party’s platform see this happen. and other pertinent information for “Basically, we formed a group. youth voters.

“To be honest, and I’ll agree, youth A lot of people are still involved at the advisory level, and then I found are most comfortable at our computpeers when I was at McMaster to ers, watching videos, and that’s where actually get involved in operations we’re used to getting messaging,” and incorporate as a not-for-profit,” Kennedy said. “It’s just about being respectful of that. And so, why not Kennedy said.

By March of this year, Be the Vote, have stuff on YouTube?”

Overall, Be the Vote is trying to a non-partisan initiative to increase youth voter turnout, was up and encourage inclusivity for the youth electorate. running.

“It just comes back to having a Kennedy and her team have been out in the community in the lead up more inclusive political society in to the election, doing their best to Canada,” Kennedy said. “By virtue promote youth engagement in the of the fact of more youth voting, we political process. They attended would hope to see politicians try and major events, such as TEDxYouth@ engage youth in innovative ways that Jamesville in Hamilton, Ont. and are meeting youth where they’re at.”

Pride Toronto, to spread the word.

Kennedy also gave a presentation To learn more about the Be the about her youth engagement strategy Vote, go to www.bethevote.ca at the Hamilton Town Hall on electoral reform.

While the group’s outreach efforts have had some success, Kennedy acknowledged the fact that there is still a ways to go.

“It’s very easy to get the kudos from those who think it’s really commendable that we’re working on this, but

VOL. 102 NO. 9 October 7, 2015

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Forcing indigenous issues to the federal forefront Reconciliation needs to be addressed by party leaders because it is a Canadian problem ALEAH ISAAK, STAFF

PHOTO BY ALEAH ISAAK

On Sept. 26 the National Post Canadian society. their parents and communities, in but Sinclair argued that the main genocide possible. I inhabit an instipublished a letter about the lack of “For over a century, the central what was known as the Sixties Scoop. issues are rooted in the constitution. tutional world that sought to elimiindigenous issues at the forefront of goals of Canada’s Aboriginal policy In a study titled “Pathways to the “Treaties are established agree- nate indigenous peoples as cultural federal election platforms, denounc- were to eliminate Aboriginal gov- Overrepresentation of Aboriginal ments that were intended to create a groups and that has not undergone ing the silence from each of the major ernments; ignore Aboriginal rights; Children in Canada’s Child Welfare peaceful and beneficially reciprocal sufficient change to ensure that these political parties on such issues at the terminate the Treaties; and, through System,” which compared child wel- relationship,” Sinclair said. destructive tendencies cease. So I am past three leaders’ debates. a process of assimilation, cause fare services provided to aboriginal “It will only be opening up the con- implicated in this society and have Specifically, the lack of conver- Aboriginal peoples to cease to exist and Caucasian children in Canada, stitution that will bring true recon- a responsibility to contribute to sation on reconciliation remains an as distinct legal, social, cultural, reli- the authors state that between the ciliation. Until then everything else change.” embarrassing gap in our election. gious, and racial entities in Canada,” years 2000 and 2002, 40 per cent of is just fixing the windows.”

At an individual level, we can all In the letter, Wab Kinew, asso- the report states. children in the child welfare system Sinclair was referring to section take steps by trying to understand the ciate vice-president of indigenous were aboriginal, yet aboriginal chil- 91(24) of the Constitution Act of 1867, history of our country and its people. affairs at the University of Winnipeg, Residential schools dren represented less than five per which stipulates that the federal gov- This may involve reading the TRC called on federal politicians to discuss When Canada first became a cent of the child population. ernment has control over “Indians, report and its recommendations for how they would implement the Truth country in 1867, there were residenand Lands reserved for Indians.” action. and Reconciliation Commission’s tial schools run by churches already Section 35(1) of the Constitution Act Ry Moran is the director of the (TRC) recommendations. The letter in operation, dating back to the 1840s. “The issues facing of 1982 recognizes the treaty rights National Centre for Truth and was signed by 22 other people from The Indian Act was enacted in 1876, of the aboriginal peoples of Canada. Reconciliation located at the U of indigenous peoples a variety of professions and back- effectively allowing the federal Sinclair argued that neither of M’s Fort Garry campus. He told the grounds from across Canada. government to establish residential these sections go far enough towards Manitoban what he thought students are as critical today While all parties have put forward schools. The government started the reconciliation that is necessary can do to create change. as they ever have background documents outlining phasing out mandatory residential for Canada.

“We all have a collective obligation their positions on indigenous issues, school education in the 1950s and Reconciliation is not only impor- to become informed of the issues and been” – Ry Moran, these conversations have yet to be a 1960s, with the last federally funded tant for policy makers, educators, and the challenges of reconciliation. We part of national debates. residential school closing in the 1990s. politicians – it is important for all need to understand why the call to director, National As university students preparing Under the residential school Canadians. We need to recognize reconciliation is so loud in society Centre for Truth to take on leadership roles in our system, indigenous children were that we all suffer when integral voices right now. I think all citizens and society in the very near future, it is removed from their families and in our country are not heard. students have been asked to learn and Reconciliation important that we have the courage immersed in federally run schools. more about this history,” Moran said. to be honest with ourselves and each They were taught the ways of A united front “The issues facing indigenous other about the present state of our European culture, told that their A group of U of M colleagues – peoples are as critical today as they country: to acknowledge its strengths own culture was wrong, and were not Treaties including Sinclair, history profes- ever have been.” and weaknesses. allowed to speak their language. This, The report by the TRC, along with sor Adele Perry, sociology professor Racial divides still exist in We also need to have an under- as the TRC explains in their report, the report of the Royal Commission Andrew Woolford, and Adam Muller, Canadian society. This is a Canadian standing of our history in order to was an act of cultural genocide. on Aboriginal Peoples, provides associate professor of English, film, problem, not just a First Nations move forward.

Even though residential schools a blueprint for moving forward, and theatre – have put together a peti- problem. Once we understand this, In the opening paragraphs of the have been shut down, the effects are according to Niigaanwewidam tion in support of the TRC’s final we will know why the lack of contruth and reconciliation summary evident today.

Sinclair, assistant professor and act- report, asking all levels of govern- versation among federal leaders is so report, the commissioner outlines the From the 1960s until the 1980s ing department head of native studies ment to address its findings. appalling. history of the relationship between there was an increase in the number at the U of M. Woolford told the Manitoban why indigenous people in Canada and the of indigenous children adopted by The Royal Commission on this transformation has significance federal government, laying down the non-indigenous families, sometimes Aboriginal Peoples identifies treaties for him. foundation for reconciliation in the without the knowledge or consent of as the starting point for reconciliation, “I live in a society that made

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Features

Features Editor: Dana Hatherly Contact: features@themanitoban.com / 474.6520

Winnipeg South candidates respond to federal election questions Questions and answers with the Green, Liberal, and NDP candidates in U of M’s south riding DANA HATHERLY, STAFF

I

Our roads are not in good shape. n the lead up to the 2015 federal fee and dividend system. both the Conservatives and Liberals elections, the Manitoban requested Basically, each party is sort of talk- have promised child care spaces and We have brown water and frozen interviews with each of the candi- ing about climate change, but people have yet to deliver on that. pipes. We can’t carry on an economy That’s one of my big priorities, as without infrastructure. Our major dates for MP in the Winnipeg South aren’t really putting their foot down. riding, home to the University The NDP have put forward a cap- well as ensuring health care fund- plank is supporting the middle class, of Manitoba Fort Garry campus. and-trade policy, which is kind of the ing transfers do take place, because because without a strong middle class, Three out of the four candidates in most solid platform out of the three I believe our health care system, if we don’t have a growing economy. the riding were interviewed by the main parties, but the cap-and-trade you’ve ever experienced an emergency We’re in a recession, even though Mr. Manitoban: Liberal party candidate system is extremely open to corrup- room wait, is absolutely horrendous. Harper denies it, and we need to put Terry Duguid, Green party candidate tion. It’s basically the right to pollute This shouldn’t be the case in Canada. money in people’s pockets.

Adam Smith, and NDP candidate by pollution tokens, or sell carbon And of course, a job creation port[The Liberals are] proposing a tax Brianne Goertzen. amounts back and forth, so that if you folio, not just for the older genera- cut for the middle class and our child Conservative candidate Gordon don’t cut down your carbon, you can tion, but for youth that are exiting benefit, which will put money in the Giesbrecht was the only candidate buy from somebody else who did cut post-secondary education. It’s at a pockets of parents. We know that this in the riding who did not agree to down their carbon. But you wind up time when students are exiting post- is going to get the economy moving, an interview. The Manitoban did not with these weird conflicts of interest secondary and there’s no jobs for we know that this is going to get jobs, receive response to email and phone where there is a business that pro- them. The only jobs they can find are and we know that it’s going to benefit call requests to the Conservative cam- duces a basically unsellable product, precarious part-time employment. It’s the people of Winnipeg South. paign office. except it produces a lot of poisonous pretty impossible to pay your student Each of the candidates who were after-effects, like it has really bad loan payments back. We’re seeing a S: The tuition [issue] obviously interviewed were asked the same consequences for the environment, drain of people’s skills that they’ve applies. Another is that the Green standardized questions, in the same so they get rid of that, and that’s what incurred during post-secondary being party is really against urban sprawl. order. The questions were not dis- their business is: it’s creating a poison slowly eroded because they’re forced Unfortunately, Winnipeg South tributed to the candidates prior to and then cleaning that up. You create into jobs to pay back debt. has had quite a problem with urban the interviews. sprawl. A lot of our areas are expandconflicts of interest.

Well, our plan is that you simply DUGUID, LIBERAL: Strong repre- ing quite far away. This is bad for MANITOBAN: What are your pri- add a carbon fee when it’s taken out sentation is certainly the mainstay, nearby wetlands, increasing driving orities and goals in government, if of the ground – right from the oil pro- but we have an infrastructure deficit, times, increasing gridlock, and makelected? ducers, right at the site. We’re think- which our city councillors and oth- ing it much more expensive to build ing about $50 a tonne, and it would ers will tell you about. The university roads and basic infrastructure – water SMITH, GREEN: Well, a specific one be passed onto consumers as any con- has been underfunded in my opinion. piping, electrical piping, electrical having to do with the university is sumption tax and oil tax is, but the fee We’ve had research cut back, we’ve wiring, and things like that. that tuition is getting out of control. taken from the base, instead of being had our scientists muzzled. The What we actually want to propose And honestly, the whole way our uni- put into general revenue, will be sent University of Manitoba is really a is a Canadian infrastructure bank. versity system works is we already out immediately to all Canadians in knowledge engine for our commu- Currently, provinces borrow money pay heavy tax subsidies for a good the form of a dividend cheque. This nity and our province, and it’s very at a higher rate than the Canadian post-secondary education, but what dividend cheque will then be equal important that we support it. Jobs government does, because the happens, actually, is it’s often the for all Canadians, so even though the for youth: critical. We are going to national government is considered lowest-income people that get priced lower income Canadians spend more be putting forward a plan to put $1.3 more credit-worthy. We would like out of that anyway. So we’re subsid- of their income on consumable goods billion toward jobs for youth, as well this bank to borrow at the Canadian ing most of the cost, but not quite and would be hit harder by the carbon as $300 million over the next three rate and then lend out infrastructure enough to help the poorest people, tax, they will receive an equal amount years to create 40,000 jobs for young funding to the provinces and municiwhich means they’re often trapped to the guy who bought a yacht, a pri- people. palities at the good rate, instead of in situations beyond their control and vate jet. We will be equalizing that the one they would be forced to pay. have trouble being able to actualize and creating an incentive for both M: What needs have you identified In exchange, the conditions for these their full potential. people and businesses to reduce car- in the riding that must be addressed loans would be a reduction in urban We would like to, by 2020, com- bon usage. sprawl, basically trying to make more at the federal level? pletely do away with tuition in the concentrated, better organized areas. same way that Germany, Finland – a GOERTZEN, NDP: One of my big pri- D: I’m sounding like a broken record I’m not an urban engineer, I couldn’t lot of the most successful northern orities is to implement the national here, but the university community tell you exactly the best ways to do European countries – have in job child care strategy that we put for- has not been supported. The univer- that, except we’re not doing it the training and post-secondary educa- ward. I have a child, and childcare is sity has an impact of $1 billion in our best way right now. tion, in order to level that playing very hard to find, even in a province local economy, but research fundfield, in order to have as educated a such as Manitoba. With the second ing has been flatlined or cut. We’ve G: Again, jobs and the economy. If population as possible. And they’ve lowest rates of child care, we just don’t had institutions like the Freshwater we don’t have jobs, then we don’t have kind of proven that it works from a have enough spaces, and the NDP is Institute, the Cereal Research Centre a productive economy. We need a funding point of view. It doesn’t break the only party that’s putting forward – right here on campus – we’ve had stable economy in any kind of riding, the bank and the benefits are really a concrete plan. A $15 a day maximum those two institutions gutted. We and this one is no different. A lot of worth it. Another one I quite like out and the creation of a million spaces – need to support our research, our what I’m hearing at the door is people of the policies is that we have a carbon this is unheard of in the past, where university, our infrastructure. do want decent jobs – jobs that are

Adam Smith, Green party candidate

Terry Duguid, Liberal party candidate

paying decent wages that also come with full-time hours, as opposed to piecing together part-time jobs to make ends meet. Household debt is at a record high [...] which shows an indebted generation that’s not really being discussed.

Child care also falls into this, because every $1 you invest in child care, you get $2 returned to the economy, so that’s actually contributing to a stable economy, that platform.

Health care is also a concern of mostly those who are retiring and the baby boomer generation, which is understandable, because they’re going to be accessing health care at higher rates than the younger generation would. So those are the top priorities, as well as the big issues that I’ve heard thus far from the riding and I feel are evident in the riding.

M: What are your thoughts on the current federal levels of support for education? What would you implement or change?

G: I think it’s pretty apparent that the federal government has really dropped the ball in funding postsecondary education. A lot of people say, “education falls under provincial jurisdiction,” which is true. However I do believe that the federal government has a responsibility. The NDP is the only party that has ever proposed the National Post-secondary Education Act, which will provide for guaranteed funding levels, so making education more accessible, affordable, and of higher quality, because there will be a standardization of what post-secondary is.

I will be chiefly taking that on personally, as a goal of mine, to make sure that that bill gets re-proposed in the house. But again, education funding levels from the federal level have decreased [...] so it’s a lot harder for provinces to put money into postsecondary when they have other obligations that they are now footing the bill for.

S: Well, obviously reducing tuition would be the big one. It’s unfortunate: textbooks have increased 2.3 times the rate of inflation since 2008 and the average student in debt is over $25,000

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in debt. These are ridiculous numbers, and even when they graduate you get about 13 per cent unemployment for youth, and [higher rates of] underemployment when they’re working part-time jobs that aren’t often in their field in any way.

Federal funding for post-secondary education has fallen 50 per cent as a ratio of GDP between 1993 and 2013, and we think we really need to turn that around. Obviously education is a provincial thing, but the funding comes heavily from the federal government. The federal government collects [about] 50 cents of every tax dollar paid, and they don’t have to pay for it directly, so they can kind of help create programs like that.

We would like to get rid of the two per cent cap on funding for Inuit and First Nations people. It would take a little while to turn around the system to get rid of tuition by 2020, but in that time, we’d like to make student loans debt-free and we’d like a debt-forgiveness program for anything above $10,000. That might get re-worked depending on the jobs people are getting. Medical students may, for instance, be allowed a higher level of debt because they will receive higher pay once they graduate on average, but we need to stop starting our young people with so much debt.

D: There is a student debt crisis, there is an accessibility crisis for some students. Without bursaries and loans, I wouldn’t have gotten my undergraduate degree or my master’s degree. I ended up with $10,000 worth of debt.

I ended up paying it off over a decade, but it’s the best investment that I’ve made. I think that a priority for me is support for students. We haven’t made our post-secondary education announcement yet, but I hope we hear something about that from the Liberal party and I think that we will.

I think we need to increase research funding. Our universities have been starved of funds. I like to say: the science of today is the economy of tomorrow. And if we’re not investing in research and innovation, then we’re not growing our economy.

We just recently made an announcement on business incubators [...] I believe the innovation announcement that we just made will benefit those two institutions greatly.

M: How will your planned measures support academic research across the country?

D: We have, as I’ve described, this $20 billion social infrastructure fund. I’m sure some of that will be directed towards the university community. And I believe that we will

Brianne Goertzen, NDP candidate

Features

restore research funding for things to areas where we have a national immigrants, folks who don’t have the like freshwater research. We have advantage based on what we have in means to seek higher education like the [Experimental Lakes Area], our country. some other families do. And so they which has a very strong connection need special supports, in my opinion. to the University of Manitoba and G: I think academic research is a But I think that by supporting the the University of Winnipeg, and that key component at the University of middle class – our whole program funding, to the tune of $1.5 million Manitoba. I actually did my mas- is directed at the middle class, puta year, will be restored. We will try ter’s here, so I have seen the effects ting money in their pockets, getting and recover the role that we played in of the corporatization on university them back to work – so they’ll be able freshwater research. campuses mainly through research to support their sons and daughters We’re incredible at health research, funding. What’s interesting is stu- going into higher education. particularly things like HIV and dents are deciding their topics by infectious diseases. We are global way of funding levels, and I think it S: Ultimately, our goal is to get rid of powerhouses, and yet our university should be more where your interests the problem completely. In the meanand our public institutions, like the are, where your passions are, because time, we’d like to increase bursaries, National Microbiology Laboratory, that’s where the greatest research especially for lower-income people, have been starved of funds. So my comes from.

First Nations people who tend to get belief is that, and I will certainly push The funding levels for research hit the hardest by that. We want to for this should I be elected, that we should be examined, in particular the allow everybody [to access post-secneed to be increasing research funds Tri-Council funding levels and the ondary education], especially as many so that we can stay competitive as a way that it’s granted to folks. I would people from disadvantaged groups nation, we can innovate and create ideally like to see a little bit of the and areas as possible, in order to prothose jobs of the future. removal of co-opting private interest vide good examples for other people The Conservatives have shifted with public research. Those are my in their group. You don’t want to have the way funds are being spent away own personal beliefs in regards to all of the taxpayer subsidies that are from basic research. If we hadn’t that, but again, academic research is already provided to universities being done basic research, we wouldn’t something that should be prioritized taken advantage of by the better-off have something called the laser. You and there should be more research already. You want to target the groups never know, these exercises in pure and funding dollars for graduate that need it most, and ultimately, we research, just for the point of discov- studies, for sure. want to do it by ending tuition. ery, often are these paradigm-shifting discoveries that change our lives. All M: What will you do to support uni- M: More and more students are findof those things at one point folks versity students and address rising ing themselves unemployed, juggling multiple part-time jobs, or in unpaid thought were not very important, levels of student debt in Canada? they turned out to be very important. internships. What will you do to supG: I think, again, the key component port young people looking for work S: Basically, again, it’s another fund- to that is if there is a national frame- and those coming out of university? ing issue. The funding has dropped work, the funding levels that the postso precariously that we believe there secondary institutions are needing G: We did announce our 40,000 just needs to be more funding. One of will then remove that onus on the jobs, particularly for youth. We’re our main things that we’d like is that student, as we’ve seen here [at the also providing incentives for compawe’d like to bring in stronger appren- U of M] with the recent budget cuts nies to seek apprenticeship programs. ticeship programming. In Canada and the disproportionate increases Another key component is that there we spend a lot of money on company of tuition fees. will be legislation protecting unpaid research and development through Manitoba has legislation that ties internships. It’s actually a really tax incentives, but we’re finding out tuition to inflation levels, but Ontario frightening thing to see what young that that is not the best way to get doesn’t, for example. For me, it’s cou- people are being put through to try to skilled research and development. pled when you start at the macro-level make inroads into a job. We’re actuA lot of the money goes eventually of federal funding and it goes down to ally going to be protecting interns from companies, either through them your provincial. If there’s a standard under our party platform. or to universities to do the research and a mechanism which institutions To me, it’s very vital for us to be and development, but we’re finding have to abide by, then it goes down to looking at the whole life cycle of an tax incentives aren’t the best way – it the student who is not being dispro- individual. When you head through tends to get gobbled up by already portionately burdened with tuition your post-secondary education, like established players who aren’t bring- costs to cover those funding levels, myself, I was promised at the end of ing around the new technology that which are shortfalls from the prov- it that I’d be put in a position where we’re going to need to become a big- ince to the university administration. you’d at least be able to get a well-payger player. ing job, a job. However that’s just not Countries like Finland, Taiwan, D: Under the Harper government, the case that youth are facing today. I and Israel, they’re doing what is student debt has skyrocketed. I think think it’s really sad that they also feel focused investment grants towards the average debt is $26,000 per stu- disenfranchised to vote because they entrepreneurs, towards promising dent graduating. The other issue is don’t feel like politicians are listening university plans. We can’t just allow that student fees have gone up [...] to them. But I’m listening, I’ve expethese lazy “let people take advan- under Harper’s watch, and so I’m very rienced it, so I want to make sure that tage of ” programs. We’ve got to try sensitive to that. We haven’t made they know that their concerns aren’t to build on our strengths, like our any announcements on that, but as I falling on deaf ears. aerospace division type thing. We said before, if it wasn’t for grants and have an advantage for cold weather bursaries, I wouldn’t have gotten an S: We’re proposing $1 billion a year to testing. We have, across the country, education. fund a youth community and enviexcellent places to do tidal technoI’m particularly concerned about ronment service corps. This would logical research, so we would like a disadvantaged students from our be for people ages 18-25. The money lot of the increase in funding to go indigenous communities, recent would be divided up amongst munici-

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palities who need work done, and this money would then be given to their local young people as a way to give them that first job they need to get into the labour market, because so many jobs require job training that they just don’t have.

We also propose a ban for unpaid internships. We believe that it’s taking advantage of students when they’re basically required to get internships now, if you want to find a job, and the ones who don’t have parents or family to support them while they’re doing that stage. Others are often just simply left out of the labour market and are forced into jobs way outside their field and way below their education grade.

We think, with the youth community and education service corps, it would fund 40,000 young people. It would be a trial balloon period, so we would try it for four years, so 160,000 young people would go through at the minimum federal wage, which we support raising to $15. This would give them their starting job experience and it would allow municipalities to get involved with their young people, get them used to some of the problems that the community as a whole has to deal with, so it would create a lot of connections between the next generation and what the current government has to deal with already.

D: Justin Trudeau introduced a few months ago a new youth jobs program. It’ll be $1.3 billion over the next three years to get our young people back to work, young people who have been in school. We know young people that we work with, that have master’s degrees, our gold medal winners, and they’re serving burgers at McDonald’s, and it’s just a crying shame. There’s a great need out there for those talents, and we need to put those talents to work.

There’s also this $300 million fund, the youth jobs fund, which will help train young people and integrate them into the workplace. It’s just a shame that the unemployment rate for youth, people under the age of 25, is three times what it is for adults. We need to do something about that. Mr. Harper has neglected our youth over the last decade, and they need attention. They’re going to be the leaders of tomorrow. And if they’ve got these big gaps in their work records and they’re not using their skills, it’s not good for our country or our economy.

Gordon Giesbrecht, Conservative candidate (photo unavailable)

Science & technology 16 Science & Technology Editor: Chantelle Dubois Contact: science@themanitoban.com / 474.6529

Water, water, everywhere Search for water in the universe continues after NASA’s Mars announcement CHANTELLE DUBOIS, STAFF

R

ecently NASA announced that liquid water has been found on Mars. This water was discovered after analyzing streaks that appeared on slopes which disappeared in cold weather and reappeared in warm weather. The discovery was made through data collected by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

Scientists believe that this liquid

history of water on Mars by collecting photographs, analyzing minerals on the surface, measuring the distribution of dust and water in the atmopshere, and tracking Martian weather.

The MRO was launched from Earth in 2005 and has been orbiting Mars since 2006.

Mars on average is much colder than Earth, with an average temperature of -50C. The streaks of salty water appear at a relatively warm -23C. The Martian polar ice caps were already known to contain frozen water and carbon dioxide.

The discovery of liquid water on GRAPHIC BY KELLY CAMPBELL Mars is significant because of the is a hydrated mixture composed of implication that the environment magnesium perchlorate, sodium per- could potentially sustain life or have chlorate, and sodium chlorate. It is once sustained life. Life as we know it also thought that the streaks are the thrives in environments where liquid result of water being absorbed to the water is present. surface from below the surface.

A meteorite from Mars that was Over the past decade, the MRO discovered in the Antarctic in 1996 has been monitoring and collecting was thought to possibly have the data on the red planet. The purpose fossils of microbes, which may have of the MRO’s mission is to study the come from the neighbouring planet.

The discovery of life on another to many of its similarities to Earth planet would be one of the biggest and potential as a future home for discoveries in human history. humans.

In an interview with MSNBC, It is thought the planet may have Bill Nye, the CEO of the Planetary once had oceans similar to Earth Society, said, “if we were to discover and may have been a habitable life on another world [...] it would environment. change this one. It would change Currently there are several ongothe way everybody feels about what ing Mars missions. Aside from it means to be a living thing in the the MRO, there are the Spirit and cosmos [...] It would change human Opportunity rovers, the Curiosity history.” rover, Mars Express, Mars Odyssey, Mars is not the only place where and the Mars Atmosphere and scientists are looking for water. Many Volatile Evolution mission. The of Jupiter’s moons are thought to har- InSight mission is scheduled to bour water below the surface, includ- launch in 2016. ing Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, and These missions’ mandates include Enceladus. Saturn’s moon Dione is analyzing composition of the atmoalso a candidate for the presence of sphere, photographing its surface, water. searching for water, analyzing the The Dawn space probe is currently Martian poles, studying radiation, investigating Ceres, a dwarf planet studying the planet’s interior, and in the asteroid belt, also thought to determining Mars’s potential for potentially have water. habitability.

The red planet, our closest neighbour in the solar system, has been a point of fascination and intrigue due

VOL. 102 NO. 9 October 7, 2015

Science & Technology 17

Telework Working in a virtual office CHANTELLE DUBOIS, STAFF

T

elework, or remote working, is a steadily increasing trend in the workplace, with a 26 per cent increase in telework job postings in the U.S. for 2014 over the previous year.

Thanks to cloud sharing platforms, various communication channels, and ubiquitous Internet access, the office can now be wherever you take your laptop with you. Meetings can be held virtually online, documents can be shared live on the cloud, tasks can be managed through a variety of management applications, and work can be completed from home, or even on the beach if one wishes (as long as there is a Wi-Fi connection).

For employers, the appeals of telework and hiring remotely are numerous. It can reduce the cost of rent for office space for employees if not all of them need to come in to an office to work. It also enables employers to expand their pool of potential talent, since they now have the option of hiring outside of their immediate vicinity. This could also make hard-to-find skills easier to obtain for a company. Additionally, work can be completed around the clock if employees are hired globally.

For employees, telework gives them the flexibility to work where they want and when they want. Most telework jobs are task-based, meaning that employees don’t have to commit

to the typical nine-to-five workday. It status on a daily basis. also eliminates commuting time and Other companies have reportcost, reducing the amount of time in edly used GoToMeeting, Skype, and rush hour. More options can also be Campfire for virtual meetings. available since geographical location For task management Trello, is no longer a limiting factor in a job Slack, Google Calendar, Asana, and search.

Basecamp are popular options.

In a study lead by Nicholas For file sharing Google Drive, Bloom, an economics professor from DropBox, and GitHub have all been Stanford University, employees who popular options as well. teleworked tended to work 9.4 per All of these platforms and services cent longer, and were 13 per cent more either come at a very low cost for busiproductive than their in-office peers. nesses or are free.

The rate of quitting also went down One of the most successful examby half, which Bloom took as an indi- ples of companies which primarily cator that employees were happier. operate remotely is Automattic, the Unfortunately, the study also creator of WordPress. The company found that employees who worked has 190 employees from 28 countries from home were passed over for in 141 cities around the world. Only promotion more often, and some 10 of those employees report regularly felt isolated from their peers. It was to the main office. suggested that some in-office work The culture of Automattic is would help balance these factors. inspired by the open source commuSome companies have found it nity, where individuals from around valuable to ensure they continue to the globe can freely contribute to interact with their employees face to software projects. face by having regularly scheduled Automattic promotes inclusivevideo meetings. ness by keep all channels of com- with their co-workers anywhere in Ordr.in, a tech startup, starts each munication open for all employees. the world. The company also orgaday with a 15-minute video confer- Anyone who works for them can join nizes an annual grand meeting where ence call on Google Hangouts. David in on a Google Hangouts video call all employees are flown in.

Bloom, CEO of Ordr.in, said he or chat room meetings.

The company also benefits from found this to be an effective way to The money saved from not having having work being completed keep everyone communicating and to rent a large office space is also dedi- around the clock, with an estimate ensure that everyone feels account- cated to a travel budget for employees, of 100 updates being pushed onto able when they have to report their who can use it to arrange meetings WordPress daily.

GRAPHIC BY JEN GOERTZEN

Telework hasn’t completely replaced the traditional office workplace, but for talented, self-motivated individuals, it can be a great option for finding flexible and rewarding work.

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Science & Technology

Science & Technology Editor: Chantelle Dubois Contact: science@themanitoban.com / 474.6529

Science briefs: Helpful bugs These insects are making the world a better place MALAK ABAS, STAFF

Brazilian wasp venom contains cancerfighting toxins

Recent studies on the Brazilian wasp Polybia palista reveal that the venom in their stingers contains what may one day be an effective treatment to fight cancer. The peptide in the wasp’s venom, called MP1, attacks cancer cells by ripping open holes in their membranes. The venom is especially effective because it is selective and only attacks cancerous cells.

Cancerous cells arrange lipids within their cell membranes in a way that leaves them vulnerable to the MP1 toxin, and the cell dies after being punctured.

The lipids targeted by MP1 are phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylethanolamine. While healthy cells normally keep these lipids on the inside of their membranes, cancerous cells keep these lipids on the outside.

The venom was tested on model membranes that contained both lipids. MP1 was efficient at breaking open the membranes – the holes in

the membrane formed almost immediately. The next step is to continue experimentation with the Brazilian wasp in an attempt to fine-tune the venom into a drug that could be suitable for humans to use as an alternative to our current form of chemotherapy.

Paul Beales, co-author of the original research published by the Biophysical Journal and senior translational research fellow at the University of Leeds, reports that there is still a long way to go before the venom is considered safe for human use.

“As it has been shown to be selective to cancer cells and non-toxic to normal cells in the lab, this peptide has the potential to be safe,” Beales said to the Huffington Post. “But further work would be required to prove that.”

Dung beetles save U.K. farmers millions

Dung beetles and humans have a sites that could harm the cattle, and anthelmintics, which are drugs symbiotic relationship. The humans fewer pest flies. that kill or stun parasitic worms. provide the cattle, who in turn proThey also improved both cows Anthelmintics also affect dung vide the dung from which the beetle raised in organic environments (with- beetles. gets its name. The dung beetle uses out the use of antibiotics or hormones) The study, which refers to anthelthe dung for everything from food to and cows raised in conventional envi- mintics as unecessary, concludes that a place for mating, and in turn make ronments. The estimated financial ending these regular treatments could the dirt that the farmer uses richer benefits were greater with cows in an save U.K. farmers an additional £6.2 in nutrients. organic environment: £43.70 annually million a year, not including the addiThe extent of this relationship’s per cow, compared to the convention- tional savings from not purchasing impact was not known until recent ally raised cow’s £37.42. anthelmintics. research in the journal Ecological The study goes on to suggest that Entomology reported that the dung as much as £40.2 million more could beetle’s work could be saving the be saved each year if further action United Kingdom cattle industry an was taken to protect dung beetles average of £367 million per year. through agri-environment schemes The benefits are the result of the – financial benefits for farmers who dung beetle’s positive impact on cattle. work with methods that preserve the These include less pasture fouling, environment. improved grass growth, fewer paraCattle are currently treated with

Plastic-eating worms could help reduce waste

Stanford researchers have pre- verts the plastic into biodegradable sented a possible solution to the waste. mounting plastic waste crisis: the The researchers, who published mealworm. their findings in Environmental It has been shown that meal- Science and Technology, fed 100 mealworms, which are the larvae of the worms between 34 and 39 mg of darkling beetle, can survive on a Styrofoam for a month. Bacteria diet of Styrofoam and other plastics. within the larval gut of the mealPlastics, which are considered largely worm were shown to have broken non-biodegradable, have been accu- down the Styrofoam within 24 hours mulating in landfills and oceans for of consuming it. decades.

They were compared with larvae While there are other animals that that were fed a bran diet and had lived are able to consume plastic – cock- alongside them for the month, and roaches, for example – they were not found no difference in overall health considered as an option for landfill of either group of mealworms. management because they did not The droppings of the mealresult in by-products which are worms that ate plastic for the month biodegradable. appeared to be safe to use for crops, The mealworm can not only con- although further research is needed. sume plastic healthily, but also conThe second study took the gut bac-

teria of the mealworm and applied it to polystyrene (a form of plastic used for Styrofoam). The bacteria also degraded the polystyrene, but at a slower rate than the mealworm.

Scientists hope that this research will be a stepping-stone to discovering the exact microorganisms that give mealworms this digestive power, which could give scientists the ability to replicate these enzymes.

Along with further studies on the mealworm, the researchers are also looking for a water-bound equivalent to the mealworm to study to combat the huge amount of plastic waste found in the world’s oceans.

GRAPHICS BY BRAM KEAST

Diversions Graphics Editor: Bram Keast Contact: graphics@themanitoban.com / 474.6775

ILLUSTRATION BY BRAM KEAST

PHOTO BY CAROLYNE KROEKER

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IVORY BUFFALO THE

PVR with History Channel recordings to replace retiring professor Department of history head defends new hire MURV BERKLEY, STAFF

Controversy has erupted over a will head classes on 1940s Europe, as easily watch this at home. I mean, decision to replace retiring history American bayou culture in the 21st I wouldn’t, but I could if I wanted to.” professor Morgan Gremins with a century which will be largely focused Brennan told the Ivory Buffalo PVR filled with History Channel on the reality series “Swamp People,” that he sympathized with the conprogramming. and history of alien intervention in cerns raised by students but argued The PVR, which lacks any formal human evolution which will draw that the department had to make accreditation, was brought in by a from a variety of History Channel some hard choices in the face of member of the university’s IT staff original programming includ- university-wide budget cuts. after history department head Lyle ing “Ancient Aliens,” “Hangar “We don’t really have many options.

Brennan was told by senior admin- 1: The UFO Files,” and “UFOs The PVR will help to alleviate some istration that they did not have the Declassified.” of the teaching workload, allowing resources to replace the retiring proChloe Sanders, second-year our other faculty members to mainfessor with a qualified human. history student, said she was dis- tain their current allotted amounts The PVR is scheduled to begin appointed to hear about the hiring of time for research,” Brennan said. teaching in January at the com- decision.

“The PVR will not itself be mencement of the winter term, and “I don’t see the point. I could just engaged in any research, I should

clarify that. It’s strictly being brought on in a teaching capacity.”

In response to the decision, University of Manitoba Faculty Association representative Marty Herzog is calling for a review of the university’s hiring policies.

“This isn’t an isolated incident. This is just another example of a welldocumented trend by the administration to replace academic staff with household electronics,” said Herzog.

“It’s the VCR incident all over again,” he added, referring to the recently appointed head of the department of film studies.

ILLUSTRATION BY BRAM KEAST

Arts & Culture

Arts & Culture Editor: Seamus Hamilton-Pattison Contact: arts@themanitoban.com / 474.6529

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Pledge your allegiance to campus radio U of M campus radio station to kick off fourth annual pledge drive OLIVIA MICHALCZUK, STAFF

PHOTO BY JARED MCKETIAK

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he fourth annual Pledge-ORama fundraiser for 101.5 UMFM is just around the corner and the beloved campus radio station is in need of donations to continue to provide its listeners with “hit-free” content and relevant talk radio.

UMFM has had the same operating budget since 1998 and as the costs of running the station increase, the lack of sufficient funds becomes problematic.

Pledge-O-Rama is a fundraiser that relies on listeners to contribute donations from Oct. 16 at 6:30 p.m. through Oct. 23 at 8 p.m.

Station manager Jared McKetiak reflected on how important the fundraiser is not only for UMFM, but also the community.

“I know that many of us were pretty apprehensive about asking our loyal listeners, friends, and family for their hard-earned money in that first year, but I think that what we’ve all come to realize is that UMFM is a valuable part of Winnipeg’s artistic fabric and that people, some who we know and many who we don’t, are more than happy to support a great cause,” said McKetiak.

“The week is hard to explain – it’s a mix of sleepless days and nights, lots of caffeine, and the best team of volunteers in town all banding together to raise money to keep producing the great radio that Winnipeg and beyond has come to know and love [...] Any amount helps out, no matter how big or small.”

If your student budget prevents you from being able to donate money, you can still contribute to ensure Pledge-O-Rama is a success.

“If you want to come down and help answer phones during PledgeO-Rama, drop us a line at pledge@ umfm.com and we’ll get you sorted out,” McKetiak told the Manitoban.

“If you’re on social media, an easy source of help is sharing our content,” added program director Michael Elves.

“Whether it’s the event page for the kick-off show, posts about special programming, photos of our merch, or anything else, take a few seconds to help spread the message.”

The fundraiser changes a bit every year and 2015 is sure to keep donors satisfied. Pledge-O-Rama’s kick-off show is scheduled for Oct. 15.

“We got pretty lucky with Ben Caplan, who’s in the midst of touring Canada on his excellent new record and was already slated to play the Good Will [Social Club],” said McKetiak.

“We added Heartbeat City and Astre, two of our favorite local acts and participants on this year’s Pledge-O-Rama CD, for what we think is an amazing night of music.”

Tickets for the kick-off event are $5 at the door with a minimum $25 donation to Pledge-O-Rama, or $12 otherwise.

Aside from the kick-off ticket discount, a variety of other incentives are included to encourage generosity to UMFM from discount cards that are redeemable at more than 40 local business to UMFM swag including mugs and t-shirts designed by local designer Tiff Bartel. Toques, scarves, sweatshirts, and the Transmissions from UMFM 101.5 compilation album will also be available depending on how much one donates to the station.

“I believe strongly in what we’re doing here at UMFM and all the great things we accomplish with listener support,” said Elves.

“The two takeaways that continue to blow me away each year are the amazing outpouring of support of our listeners each year and seeing volunteers from all walks of life band together in the common goal of raising money that is essential to UMFM’s continued survival,” added McKetiak.

Donations are accepted by phone from 6 a.m.-3 a.m. Donors can also pledge money in person at the UMFM station at Room 308 in University Centre (Monday to Friday between 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.) or online. Payment plans are available to contribute in installments and a variety of payment options make it easy to contribute.

For more information on PledgeO-Rama, please visit www. umfm.com/events/pledge

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Building the arts in a borough Independent gallery avidly supports contemporary art in the community TYLER DRACHUK

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“The focus has changed towards a and 14, respectively. rt director Alexandra Keim (known for her work with the more community-based art gallery One featured painting in Dyck’s Canadian Museum for Human and the model is both commercial collection is an abstract landscape Rights) and gallery assistant Kristina and public. Sometimes exhibitions entitled Anticipation Gone Up The Vannan are never bored despite the are not easily sellable, and more Drain. Vannan notes its Haida infludeceptive stillness of the approxi- experimental like the back room,” ence and the meshing of mountain mately 3,000-square-foot gallery Keim told the Manitoban. Actual and prairie features. space of Actual Contemporary.

Contemporary’s back room currently “We see ourselves as one of the Fresh off the unveiling of Mélanie features a Scream Machine aimed at a leading contemporary art platforms Rocan’s new multimedia collection Crowd in Suspense. within the prairies, if not within Beaux Désastres/Beautiful Disasters “We are trying to reach the bounds Canada,” said Keim. and Heat – a ceramic collaboration between local, national, and internaDoes Keim believe Actual between artists Zachari Logan, tional. A balance between for-profit Contemporary achieved this through Osvaldo Yero, and Grace Nickle and not-for-profit, but our focus is international efforts or local comand soon a fourth, Lin Xu – Keim mainly on Manitoban and Prairie munity building? recalled the night of Sept. 5, when artists.”

“Check, check, all of the above,” the exhibits debuted.

This includes an upcoming col- she said, with an optimistic smile. “[It was] very joyful – there were laboration with the Video Pool Future collaborations include hundreds of people throughout the Media Arts Centre entitled Age of a holiday season exhibition with a gallery including supporters of all Catastrophe and a painting exhibition working title of Push, Pull, and Drag; the artists. Mélanie is very integrated from Neil Peter Dyck, From Bluffs to artists such as Ian August and Erica within the arts community. No anxi- the Holler.

Mendritzki; and a solo exhibition in ety, it goes up there with boredom.”

“We are constantly in contact with the new year of current Heat artist Beautiful Disasters is very gestural artists to prepare them with framing Grace Nickel. and relies heavily on juxtaposition and square footage for layout design.

Actual Contemporary has not exploring the relation between the Age of Catastrophe includes a lot of only survived past its first year, it now subconscious and waking state of the logistics for us to host these high-tech thrives as it matures into its next. This artistic process. artists,” said Keim. and similar independent galleries “Her sculptures are very playful, “The theme behind these two exhi- are a pinnacle of the art scene across almost child-like as they jump out bitions is a contrast of high and low Western Canada; gallant artists and of her canvases like an extension of tech,” she explained. gallery-goers owe a great deal to these her paintings,” said Keim.

Dyck uses found wood pieces that pioneering spirits.

Entering its second year since are taped, painted, and beautifully its inception in July 2014, Actual layered to create his works, whereas Actual Contemporary is located at Contemporary is now one of the everything with Video Pool will have 300 Ross Ave. For more informalargest independent galleries in to do with “electronics, interactivity, tion, visit www.actualgallery.ca Winnipeg. Keim is nine months into film, and video.” her job as art director.

These exhibitions debut Nov. 13

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY ACTUAL GALLERY

Get hooked on Narcos Netflix original series offers a chilling, historically accurate look at Colombian drug culture CAITLIN GRIFFITH

Narcos is a crime drama series on Netflix created by Carlos Bernard, Chris Brancato, Doug Miro, and Paul Eckstein that details the life of Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel, as well as the American Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents who searched for Escobar.

The series stays extremely accurate to the real-life story of Pablo Escobar (portrayed by Wagner Moura). It’s so accurate, in fact, that it often comes across as a documentary more than a dramatized serialization of the events that took place in Escobar’s life.

The plot is intertwined with real photos and news clips that accompany tumultuous scenes. Reaffirming its documentary style, almost the entire show is narrated by DEA agent Steve Murphy (played by Boyd Holbrook).

That being said, the show makes constant references to the genre of magical realism (which, coincidentally, originated in Colombia). This means that artistic licensing is taken in order to dramatize events and give

the story an almost mythical aspect.

Steve Murphy is the driving protagonist of the show. Given that he is based off of an actual DEA agent of the same name, this could have led to a fictionalized version of Murphy that would add more drama and move the plot forward.

This, however, this isn’t the case for Narcos. The real DEA agents Steve Murphy and Javier Pena were consultants on the show and aided actors Boyd Holbrook and Pedro Pascal (who plays Pena) with getting into their characters.

A major fault in the show is the use of certain disturbing content that may be triggering to viewers. This is most notable in one particular scene, where members of the cartel repeatedly rape a woman.

While this scene is used to show a power play amongst Escobar’s men, there are many ways in which they could obtain this same goal without the use of such an unsettling scene that brings up a sensitive subject that should not be tossed around for the sake of shock value.

While the show maintains the back-story. For this immoral doings of Escobar, it also reason, I do believe manages to make him frighteningly I will continue sympathetic. While this is a good watching Narcos, thing in a dramatic sense – because and I look forward a flat character can ruin a show – it’s for season two also off-putting that he may be a where I can learn character whom people end up root- more about Pablo ing for, as he is such a historically Escobar’s life story, horrendous man who destroyed which truly seems countless lives. to be greater than Other than Escobar himself, fiction. the other characters have yet to be 3.5/5 developed in a distinct manner, and it can even be hard to remember their This review was names or their place in the story. It is based on the first understandable, however, that a show three episodes of about Escobar will focus solely on Narcos, which are Escobar before developing the rest of currently availthe characters. This can lead to a slow able for streamstart since, as stated above, the driv- ing on Netflix. ing protagonist is Steve Murphy, and as in the first few episodes he seems lifeless to viewers, he is incredibly hard to root for.

There is enormous potential in this show to round out more characters and fall into more interesting plots as viewers become familiar with the

GRAPHIC BY BRAM KEAST

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Arts & Culture

Arts & Culture Editor: Seamus Hamilton-Pattison Contact: arts@themanitoban.com / 474.6529

‘Musical chairs’ on air Get to know the past and present hosts of Buckle-Up Radio on UMFM SEAMUS HAMILTON-PATTISON, STAFF

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espite a relatively recent change in shows and hosts, listeners who tune in to 101.5 UMFM on Saturdays between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. will be guaranteed one thing for certain: two hours of great, eclectic music.

Hosted by Jon Carr, Buckle-Up Radio plays a wide variety of music.

According to Carr, one can tune in and hear “jazz, country, pop, funk, experimental, et cetera,” though he

Both Carr and Einarson but it didn’t always occupy the afore- son, every time I played Bob Dylan mentioned two-hour period each someone would call in and literally extolled the virtues of UMFM for Saturday morning. yell at me. It became frustrating and encouraging and supporting the Previously, this time slot belonged restrictive, so I left after a little more hosts’ penchant for eclectic, varied to music historian John Einarson. than two years.” programming.

The show was called My Generation “The format of my UMFM show and ran until May of this year when was, indeed, perfect for my music “My Generation was Einarson relinquished the time slot history interests. The UMFM staff to Carr and Buckle-Up Radio. encouraged and supported that a destination point Prior to joining UMFM, approach to my show. It was a perfect every Saturday Einarson’s radio experience included marriage,” said Einarson. two ill-fated years with the Nostalgia “If it’s good, and makes you smile, morning from 10 a.m.

Broadcasting Cooperation (CJNU the music can all be listened to to 12 p.m. for music 93.7 FM). together. Like a musical stew. There “As I am quite well known as isn’t enough of that on radio: true lovers of all stripes” a music historian, I was invited to diversity. Sure, you’ll hear Eagles or host my own two-hour radio show on the Beatles here on Buckle-Up. Heck, CJNU Nostalgia Radio, entitled This Following a conversation with you can hear that on any commerTime Long Ago. I played mostly popu- UMFM program director Michael cial radio. But you aren’t going to lar 60s music, including Winnipeg Elves, Einarson would begin hosting hear them with Royal Canoe, Dave music history with anecdotes, and My Generation on UMFM, where Brubeck, the F-Holes, Delta Blues backstories to the records. It was he was allowed total freedom to music, or easy listening. I want to GRAPHIC BY BRAM KEAST a popular Friday evening show. broadcast whatever genres of music bring back what radio was all about However, the limited format of the he chose.

– [UMFM] is the only place to do has a particular soft spot for The station didn’t allow me to stray too far “Right from the get-go, My that,” said Carr.

Beatles, “rock/pop music of the 1960s,” from the familiar, nor to dip my feet Generation was a popular show and and a Texan alternative rock band into the 70s or beyond,” said Einarson. brought a wider demographic to Jon Carr hosts Buckle-Up Radio “In fact, the show was really an UMFM. I loved the opportunity to every Saturday on 101.5 UMFM called Midlake.

Carr told the Manitoban that experiment by CJNU to appeal to a do featured theme shows, play rare, from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. Re-runs he runs such a diverse show for his younger (aged 50-60) demographic live, unheard, or long lost tracks, and of John Einarson’s show, My audience with the goal that they than their usual programming and introduce listeners to artists they may Generation, can be heard from 12 will “hopefully see how music is all many of the station’s regular listeners never have known previously. My a.m. to 2 a.m. Find out more about connected.” were not very supportive or apprecia- Generation was a destination point the programming offered on UMFM Buckle-Up Radio has been pres- tive of the music I was playing [...] every Saturday morning from 10 by visiting www.umfm.com ent on the University of Manitoba’s They would often let me know this a.m. to 12 p.m. for music lovers of campus radio station for three years, while I was on-air. For some rea- all stripes.”

30 years of cinematic pride Winnipeg’s only LGBTTQ* film festival celebrates anniversary, hosts free screening at U of M OLIVIA MICHALCZUK, STAFF

PHOTO PROVIDED BY REEL PRIDE

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he Reel Pride Festival will be of The Amina Profile: A Gay Girl in celebrating its 30th year in Damascus, shown in a women’s and Winnipeg by continuing to show gender studies research class at the films that focus on content relevant University of Manitoba to which all to the queer community. The purely were welcome. volunteer board is excited to share “This is never going to show up in the films they have collected for this mainstream cinema,” said program year’s festival, which takes place at committee member Annette Schultz. the Gas Station Theatre from Oct. “We provide a place for film that 13-18. has to do with any of the issues or This year, the festival has spon- stories or narratives that have to do sored three pre-screenings at two with LGBTTQ*.” alternate locations aside from the host The attitudes of the audience venue. The first one was a screening evolved as layers of the story began

to unfold. The audience was taken and at the end of the day, everyone’s “People are starting to take on an emotional journey alongside lives are connected. When Reel Pride notice of what we’re doing here Montrealer Sandra Bagaria, who not started, being out wasn’t socially in Winnipeg,” said Ron Lambert, only bravely displayed the personal acceptable, it was on the cusp of that organizer of the short film competiside of her story, but also explored the turn [...] The mandate of Reel Pride is tion program. effects her online lesbian relationship to bring the issues of our community This year’s show on Oct. 14 at the with Syrian social and political activ- into the [wider] community so we Gas Station Theatre contains three ist Amina Abdallah Arraf al Omari get the visibility and the knowledge hours of selected Canadian shorts had on the queer community in Syria about different issues.” with queer content from around 80 and around the world.

“You are sharing part of our lives entries.

The way people identified with the with us and our different challenges The Reel Pride festival has done film varied throughout the room in and concerns,” added Pruse. a lot for the queer community in the discussion that took place after.

It is evident that the board mem- Winnipeg since its humble beginThe focus shifted from political bers are excited for the Reel Pride nings in 1985, even within the comcrisis, to online relationships, to how 30th anniversary. mittee running the festival. people identified with the characters “Anything that can exist for that “We needed to get permission for from the perspective of their sexual long is awesome – this needs to be people to put their names on the orientation. A discussion participant celebrated,” said Schultz excitedly. board list. Now they’re active and pointed out that the films have many “There are two lesbian shows in contributing and out,” said Schultz. layers and points of view, so when mainstream media that are coming “Some of the films helped me come attending the Reel Pride Festival, out at the same time as our film festi- out and be a better person,” added queer content is going to be an aspect val, one of them that we were hoping Pruse. but not necessarily the focus. to have but it got picked up. I don’t Matthew Pruse, a member of know that that has ever happened The next outreach pre-screening Reel Pride’s board, described why before [...] That’s what’s changed now, Four Moons will take place at Red the entire community, regardless of but we’ve been around for 30 years.” River College Princess campus at 7 sexual orientation, should be involved This year features the 12th Annual p.m. on Oct. 9. Newly featured online in the festival.

Reel Pride Canadian LGBTTQ* ticket purchasing can be done on the “We all know someone that is gay Short Film Competition that has website. Information about the preor lesbian, or trans, et cetera [...] We recently spiked in interest and screenings and festival schedule can be have tons of people in our community popularity. found online at www.reelpride.org

VOL. 102 NO. 9 October 7, 2015

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’Toban turntable Want us to review your band? Email arts@themanitoban.com today!

RYAN CAPAR

SEAMUS HAMILTON-PATTISON, STAFF

Black Mastiff Music Machine 3.5/5

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Kalle Mattson Avalanche 3.5/5

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IMAGE PROVIDED BY KALLE MATTSON

valanche marks the fifth release The third track, “Left Behind,”

by Canadian folk artist Kalle slows things down with acoustic Mattson and offers the listener a short finger-picking, shakers, and an yet fulfilling experience. The album’s infectious harmonica melody threesix tracks clock in at 24 minutes. quarters of the way into the song.

Rather than writing songs that The album picks back up once sound like a Mumford & Sons again with the songs “A Long Time throwaway jam, Kalle Mattson’s Ago” and “New Romantics,” where folk tunes feel like they draw more Mattson marries traditional folk influence from older folk artists with modern-sounding keyboards such as Bob Dylan or the Travelling and synths before ending with the softer “Baby Blue,” a song that is very Wilburys, which I can appreciate.

Avalanche starts on a high note. Dylan-esque in its melody and tone.

Take my word, Avalanche is a The first two tracks, “Avalanche” and “Lost Love,” are what I would strong album. It has variety and will describe as drivers: upbeat songs appeal to those that are diehard fans you’d want to turn up on the highway. of the genre, while seducing those Mattson is able to use his storytelling who aren’t. to draw the listener in, while having the songwriting ability to hold your www.kallemattson.com attention with grandiose choruses.

dmonton’s Black Mastiff is a sneaky band. Their name evokes heavy metal forefathers Black Sabbath. The front cover of Music Machine is stark and monochromatic, featuring a winter forest and a wall of refrigerator-sized Ampeg and Traynor amplifiers with an imposing Rickenbacker bass prominently featured.

These few superficial aspects, coupled with the fact that the band is signed to impeccable Canadian heavy metal label New Damage Records, leads the listener to anticipate a fuzzy, overdriven aural assault in the traditional doom metal fashion of groups IMAGE PROVIDED BY BLACK MASTIFF like Electric Wizard, Candlemass, the aforementioned (and ever- Shea’s crooning verses before the so perfectly, but also detracts from almighty) Sabbath, or even Down. song drops into a slow, instantly a sludgier, fuzzier 1970s vibe that In actuality, Black Mastiff are headbangable chorus at Shea’s the record could have had.

If you come at this album much more “rock ’n’ roll” than all Ozzy Osborne-esque cry of “Here expecting these guys to be the next that. What you have here is essen- I go.” tially really, really heavy blues-rock.

Other standout tracks include High on Fire or Sunn O))) based on In that way, it actually does remind the feedback and guitar effects- the ominous artwork, you’re going one of Black Sabbath, particularly laden “Neolithic Grove,” as well to be severely let down. as the slow-burning opening track However, if you dig proto-heavy their debut. metal the likes of Black Sabbath’s The guitar riffs are huge, mono- “Near North.” lithic, and dominate the majority Unfortunately, this album’s earliest work or the lazy stoner of the album, but each one has a greatest strength is also its most rock of Corrosion of Conformity’s certain “swing” to it. Couple that immediately apparent weakness. Deliverance, pick this bad boy up with singer Clay Shea’s shock- The band’s riff-driven approach to and let the power of the riff comingly sultry-smooth vocals, Music each song works great overall but pel you.

Machine is far more groovy and sexy because of this, the vast majority of the songs feel like they’re around www.blackmastiff.com than metallic and punishing.

The album’s fourth track, the same tempo.

Music Machine also sports a “Pariah,” is the best example of this. A quirky, climbing bass riff crystal-clear, polished production. and thunderous drumming guide It’s great to hear every instrument

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Arts & Culture

Arts & Culture Editor: Seamus Hamilton-Pattison Contact: arts@themanitoban.com / 474.6529

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Sports Sports Editor: Mike Still Contact: sports@themanitoban.com / 474.6529

Discussions with DJ Chatting about the second half of the season MIKE STILL, STAFF

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fter a slow start to the season, the University of Manitoba Bisons football squad has won their last two consecutive games, and head into the Thanksgiving bye week tied for second in the conference with a 3-2 record.

The Manitoban caught up with linebacker DJ Lalama – who is 15th in the conference with 21.5 tackles, to chat about the team’s mindset entering the final three regular season games.

MANITOBAN: You have three regular season games left after the bye week, two of which are against teams lower than you in the standings.

Is it hard not to brush off those two matchups, and focus more on your rematch with a UBC team that beat you earlier this year?

LALAMA: I think after what happened last year, the option of looking past an opponent is feared, in the sense that last year we probably looked past Alberta and Regina and we got spanked both times. It’s one of those things, I think the big core of the group that was there last year is back this year, and we understand what it really means to take it one game at a time.

We get scouting reports Sunday or Monday, and that’s what that week is focused on. I think if we start looking ahead, we’re not going to do ourselves any favours. Who knows, UBC could be 2-5 by the time we play them, or they could be 5-2. Our goal is to be 5-2 by the time we play them, and then go from there.

I think from a defensive standpoint, we’ve shown what we can do at times, it’s just about finding that consistency now.

M: You’ve got Regina again right after the bye week. Is your mindset or preparation any different heading into a back-to-back?

M: Does it give you some relief, knowing you have an offence that can keep you in pretty much any game with its quick strike abilities?

L: No, we’ll have a pretty good handle of what they do. Their coaches aren’t dumb, and neither are ours, so I’m sure there’s going to be some stuff kind of taken off the board, or some new stuff added, especially with that bye week in between. But again, all we can do is gameplan for what we’ve seen on film, and when they throw something new at us, just make the adjustments that we need.

L: We definitely have confidence in our offence. Three different running backs, five different receivers, a quarterback, that are all contributing, and the o-line is playing great. They like to stretch the field and make big plays. They’re playing great, I think they’re third in the country in yards, so they’re doing what they’re doing, they’re controlling what they’ve got to control, now it’s just up to us to keep the other team off the board.

M: How would you evaluate the defence’s play after the first four games of the season?

L: From a defensive standpoint, I think we have yet to put a full 60 minutes together. I think you’ve seen our front seven at times be dominant, I think you’ve seen our secondary be dominant at times as well. We’re trying to find that stride, and that link to kind of put the two together.

I think you’ve also seen a tale of halves. Against Calgary, I think we played very well in the first half, not so much in the second half, and UBC, arguably the reverse of that. Again in Alberta, came out with kind of a slow start, and a big second half. So,

M: Do you think the defence has a statement to make over the final three games?

L: I wouldn’t say so much a statement.

I would say more or less, we’ve seen on film what we can do. It’s just about executing that over 60 minutes. In terms of a statement, if we were 0-4, maybe that word would come out, but we’ve lost two very close games to two very good football teams. I think collectively, both games we’ve lost, we’ve lost by a combined nine points to two top-ranked teams. I think biggest thing for us is just creating turnovers – creating havoc that way, and limiting the big play. I think if we

PHOTOS BY JEFF MILLER

do those two things, our physicality will come out, and the rest will take care of itself.

M: As you mentioned, your first three games were against top-ranked teams in the conference. Do you think it’s good to have matchups like that at the start of the year, to test your resolve as a team?

L: Definitely. I think any time you can play against top competition, it brings the best out in you. Moving forward, again, we’ve seen what we can do against the best competition.

Not to take anything away from the rest of the conference, but playing Calgary, you’ve seen what they’re doing across the board, and we take pride with some of the things we did in that game, and we know there’s

some things we need to fix. At the end of the day, we’re excited about the second half of the season, and I think you’re going to see guys kind of turn up, and show why we’re going to be in the Hardy Cup come November.

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Sports

Sports Editor: Mike Still Contact: sports@themanitoban.com / 474.6529

Mr. Everything Bison slotback Jesse Walker has become gifted playmaker in Manitoba’s offence MIKE STILL, STAFF

It didn’t take Jesse Walker long to “I played offence, defence, I played Ultimately, though, he chose to figure out that football was his calling. kicker, I played kick returner, I played stay in Canada, noting that head A fairly gifted soccer player growing punt returner, I played punter. I coach Brian Dobie made him feel up, Walker stepped onto the gridiron didn’t leave the field, I was just off to comfortable from the beginning of for the first time midway through the side getting a drink of water, and the recruiting process in grade 11 until grade eight, and the rest is history. then I’d go back on.” he made his final choice to attend “My first game, I scored five touchWithout a doubt, Walker was the the University of Manitoba for the downs I think, and then I was like, MVP for his squad, and the statistics 2015 season. okay, this is something for me, I can back up that statement.

“Coach Dobie made me feel a diftell,” Walker said.

In grade 11, he had 2,131 all- ferent kind of way with him,” Walker Walker, a native of Mission, B.C., purpose yards, as well as 26 tackles, said. “He actually showed me outside has proven ever since his first game six interceptions, and two fumble of football, even if I didn’t make it that he’s not only a playmaker but recoveries. He followed that up past a year, he would still be there an ironman as well. He barely took a with another stellar season his senior to help me try and figure out my life play off in his four seasons at Mission year, with 3,048 all-purpose yards, 25 for the next three to four years at the Secondary School from grades nine tackles, and four interceptions.

University of Manitoba.” to 12.

Midway through his rookie camWalker’s talents in high school “Coming from a small school, we were noticed not only by CIS schools, paign, it looks like Walker made the didn’t have many kids who played but universities down south as well. right decision. He claimed a starting football – there were maybe 25 on A total of 12 contacted Walker, with spot at slotback in training camp, and our roster, which is barely enough for Purdue and Nevada showing the has currently hauled in 21 receptions guys to start both ways,” Walker said. most interest. for 358 yards, and three touchdowns.

His total receiving yards are good for second on the team so far this season.

“I think there’s a lot of things that are going to feature me this year, and I’m just trying to follow up, to fill the shoes that I’ve got to fill” – Jesse Walker

said.

With the departure of former Bison Nic Demski to the CFL, it’s fair to say that Walker has filled the Mr. Everything role in the receiving corps quite well. Along with veterans Alex Vitt, Bryden Bone, and Dustin Pedersen, Manitoba has assembled a diverse group of pass-catchers this year, and Walker knows it.

“Our offence here is crazy, we have so much talent and so much depth right now,” Walker said.

“I think there’s a lot of things that are going to feature me this year, and I’m just trying to follow up, to fill the shoes that I’ve got to fill.”

“As a freshman, it’s been pretty tough, because you’re trying to learn everything at the same time, but it’s all coming together now,” Walker

Bisons face familiar foes Women’s hockey split opening series of 2015-16 season RYAN STELTER, VOLUNTEER STAFF

The puck dropped on the University of Manitoba Bisons women’s hockey season this weekend with a pair of games against the reigning Canada West champions, the Alberta Pandas.

The herd edged the Pandas on Saturday night with a 2-1 win, but fell 4-0 on Sunday.

Saturday night comeback

On Saturday, the teams saved the scoring until late in a penalty-filled affair. Alberta received seven penalties on the night, and the Bisons had five of their own.

After two periods of scoreless hockey, the deadlock was broken by the Pandas in the third period, when they struck with a goal by defenceman Natasha Steblin.

The Bisons pushed for an equalizer and they found one just two minutes later through Alanna Sharman, The second-year forward will be looking to build off her impressive rookie year – one in which she led the Canada West in scoring.

The herd grabbed the game winner with three minutes remaining in the contest. Lauryn Keen, the defenceman from Manitou, was the hero of the night as she completed the comeback for the home side.

The Bisons held off a late push from the Pandas, killing a penalty in the dying minutes of the game.

The score line showed how close this contest was, as Manitoba had 17 shots, compared to Alberta’s 14.

Bisons get blanked on Sunday PHOTO BY CHANTAL ZDAN

The Pandas were determined to

avenge the loss they were handed

by Manitoba the night before. They pushed early and it resulted in forward Nicole McGlenen taking a penalty early in the first. Alberta capitalized and scored on the ensuing power play. Alberta would add another before the period was up.

A penalty-riddled second period saw no goals being scored, with Manitoba keeping themselves close heading into the final 20 minutes.

The Pandas really pushed in the third period, however, as they outshot the herd 11-4. They would add two more goals, one from Erinn Baddock, and another via Alison Campbell.

Bison penalties would be the story of the night, as they took five, compared to Alberta’s one. Manitoba’s lack of discipline bogged down the flow of the game, as well as their chances, and never allowed them to mount a serious comeback.

On a positive note, Bison goalie Rachel Dyck played admirably in the loss, making 28 saves on 32 shots.

What’s next?

The Bisons now head to Regina for a pair of games against the Cougars next weekend. Last season, the Bisons had a 3-1 record in the regular season playing against Regina.

The Cougars will be seeking revenge as the Bisons kicked them out of the Canada West playoffs last year.

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Bisons beat the sheep Manitoba wins their homecoming game against Regina RYAN STELTER, VOLUNTEER STAFF

T

his past Friday night saw the Vitt. After nabbing another touchUniversity of Manitoba Bisons down on the opening play of the football team get their first home win second half, Vitt is now up to four of the season, soundly beating the touchdowns for the year. He curRegina Rams by a score of 34-19. rently sits second in Canada West Both the Bisons and the Rams started off slow, trading field goals After throwing for early in the first quarter. Later in the opening session, though, Manitoba three touchdowns grabbed the momentum. against the Rams, The herd was pinned deep in their own end when Bison quarterback Deezar now leads Theo Deezar completed a 42-yard pass to Dustin Pedersen. The wide- the Canada West out made an excellent grab over the conference, with 13 shoulder to get the Bisons out of trouble. That kick-started the Bison offence, according to Deezar. in both yards per game and total “I honestly think that was the spark touchdowns.

After the Vitt major, Manitoba of our offence, that got us going in the entire first half there,” he said. would score three more touchdowns “Without that play I think it’s a dif- in the second quarter, outscoring the ferent story for sure.”

Rams 21-7.

The Bisons went on to score on The Bisons had this game in the the ensuing drive, through a 30-yard bag, it seemed. However, they let touchdown reception by veteran Alex stalled offensively in the second half,

something head coach Brian Dobie was not too happy about.

“We need to understand that when we have a lead, we need to increase the lead,” he said. “Our guys didn’t quit today, but they slowed down, they took their foot off the gas, they didn’t have that killer instinct.”

Getting it done defensively

Despite a sluggish second half, Manitoba never really allowed the Rams into the game. Regina’s offensive yardage was mostly through the air, with Rams quarterback Noah Picton throwing short five-to-10-yard passes.

Regina found some success in the first half with this type of passing game, but the Bison defence shut it down in the second. Dobie commented that it was a physical adjustment by the players that helped stymie the Rams offensively.

“I think the defence started to play more physically, I think that was a big

part of it,” he said. “We want to mini- downs against the Rams, Deezar now mize drives like that and I thought we leads the Canada West conference did a pretty good job of that.” with 13, and is also fourth overall in Everyone got involved defensively the country. Deezar is also averaging for the Bisons, with seven players 377 yards a game, another conference recording at least five tackles. Jayden best.

McKoy led the pack with 10. Eric Bison running back Jamel Lyles is Plett also got his second interception also fifth in the conference in yards of the year towards the end of the per game, averaging 108. He has fourth quarter, crushing any chance earned himself two CIS Player of the of a Regina comeback.

Week awards on the year, through his effort both offensively and on special teams.

The Bisons head into a bye week Despite a sluggish next week and then take on Regina second half, again, this time in Regina on Oct. 17.

Manitoba never really allowed the Rams into the game

Conference-leading offence

After throwing for three touch-

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Sports

Sports Editor: Mike Still Contact: sports@themanitoban.com / 474.6529

National Women’s Hockey League breaks new ground Season opens for first paid women’s hockey league in North America BRAM KEAST, STAFF

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“We’re thrilled to be launching the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Formerly his Month, the puck drops on the hockey. The immensely popular 2014 inaugural season of the National Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia first-ever paid professional women’s a forward for the CWHL’s Boston Women’s Hockey League (NWHL). highlighted the surge of interest hockey league and creating a platform Blades, Duggan will suit up for the The new league based in the U.S. fea- when the women’s gold medal final for these talented women,” Rylan said Buffalo Beauts this season. tures four teams: the Buffalo Beauts, between Canada and the U.S. was in a press release. “We look forward to helping grow the sport for the best the Boston Pride, the Connecticut one of the most watched events.

Unlike the CWHL, Whale, and the New York Riveters.

The new league is also the first pro- players in the world, and giving these The league is currently in its fessional paid women’s hockey league women a place to shine.” all players in the Tatiana Rafter of the Buffalo preseason exhibition stage, which in North America. Commissioner opened Sept. 25 with a game between Dani Rylan originally planned to Beauts is one of those players. The NWHL will be paid the Beauts and Mercyhurst College expand the Canadian Women’s Winnipeg native previously played for salaries, with teams Lakers. The regular season starts Hockey League (CWHL) into New the University of British Columbia Oct. 11 on a night that will see the York but with sponsorship deals and Thunderbirds, scoring 116 points in providing equipment Boston Pride take on the Buffalo funding from the charitable NWHL five seasons. Her breakout year came and covering Beauts, while Connecticut will face Foundation, she was able to start a in the 2013-14 season when she led the off against New York. The season will new league with four founding teams. Canada West Conference in goals, travel expenses run until February 2016, with playoffs Unlike in the CWHL, all players in scoring 20 and assisting 18. the NWHL will be paid salaries, with Other big names in the league set to begin in March.

Also in the new league is Nana Officially announced in April of teams providing equipment and cover- include Meghan Duggan, who capthis year, the upstart NWHL comes ing travel expenses. Each team has a tained the U.S. Women’s National Fujimoto, who won the MVP award amid growing popularity of women’s salary cap of US$270,000 for 18 players. Team to a silver medal at the 2014 as the goaltender for Japan in the 2014

Winter Olympics in Sochi. She will be goaltending for the New York Riveters.

A draft was held this June in Boston which saw twenty players drafted by the four teams, with Alex Carpenter of Boston College picked first overall, while most players signed as free agents.

Currently, games are only available live and on local networks in the four teams’ home cities, but talks of a possible network deal and streaming services for next year’s season are currently underway.

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Finders, keepers Bisons and Wesmen both possess goalies of the future ANDY CHE, STAFF

ence of dominating youth soccer and attempting to do the same in the CIS is definitely contrasted.

“It’s a higher level for sure. Before it was just 18-year-old kids, not the university level where you’re training every single day. The CIS is a much higher level,” Grzenda said.

With the rest of his university sporting career ahead of him, Grzenda is keeping his head high regarding both his performance and the Wesmen’s. Any goalkeeper of his calibre playing at the CIS level would agree that they should have only one target in the back of their minds.

“I want to be a starting keeper. I will try to get in as many games as I can and be a consistent performer and contributor,” Grzenda said.

L

ately Manitoba has become a Wesmen, and if that performance was breeding ground for some major any indication, this shot-stopper has a contributors to North American soc- bright future ahead of him in the CIS. cer, such as Desiree Scott and Tyson For Grzenda, the road to the CIS Farago. has not always been clear-cut. As a Scott recently starred for Canada freshman last season, he was confined in the 2014 Women’s World Cup, to the bench as an understudy to felwhile Farago underwent a trial low goalkeepers Joshua Partaker and with English club Brighton & Hove Martin Skiarski.

Albion before moving on to FC With no appearances after his Edmonton in 2013. first year, the wait for a CIS debut Debuting in the CIS this past sea- extended into this season. During son, goalkeepers Logan Grzenda and the summer period, Grzenda was Madison Wilford are well on their asked to limit his performances with way to leaving a lasting imprint on Germania FC in order to commit to Manitoba soccer as well. the Wesmen. It was a decision that quickly paid off.

Grzenda graced CIS turf for the very first time in the Sept. 12 seaWilford has proven son opener. Although the Wesmen herself to be a strong dropped a 2-1 decision to the Mount Royal Cougars, the 21-year-old presence in the revealed his true potential to be a number one.

Manitoba goal. In With seven saves to his name, he addition, her ability was named the Wesmen’s man of the match. to play the long ball The experience for Grzenda was has enhanced the surreal right from the moment he stepped onto the pitch for the first Bisons’ options in time.

“It was way different than normal. initiating attacks There were way more fans and it felt from the backline a bit more real,” he said.

Though his most memorable moment might not have been a save, Logan’s run it certainly brought the crowd to its Decorated with an under-18 feet. Grzenda won possession with a national title, University of Winnipeg Manuel Neuer-like challenge outside Wesmen goalkeeper Logan Grzenda his box, winning the ball and leaving currently plies his trade for Manitoba his fellow man grounded.

Major Soccer League premier team, “I won the ball as he went to kick Germania FC. He also recently it but he got my full body and he appeared in his first competitive flipped,” Grzenda said. “I had the match for the University of Winnipeg fans jeering at me for that, and I was

derby match at Investors Group Field coming up this weekend, it will serve as no surprise should she be given the opportunity to grace the turf.

Wilford’s most recent performance was a 3-0 win against Lethbridge on the back of a 3-1 loss to Calgary. She made 14 saves for her first shutout in the CIS. If that’s any indication, it won’t be the only one she has.

“My first CIS season has definitely been both nerve-racking and exhilarating,” said Wilford.

“There have been some intense games, that’s for sure. But I think our Bisons women’s soccer team has done incredible work, and I can’t wait to see how the rest of the season goes.”

Wilford has proven herself to be a strong presence in the Manitoba goal. In addition, her ability to play the long ball has enhanced the Bisons’ options in initiating attacks from Living up to the backline. Especially with curexpectations is rent first-choice goalkeeper Chloe Werle in her final season of CIS elisomething not gibility, Wilford provides the Bisons the luxury of planning for the years unfamiliar to beyond their captain’s departure.

Grzenda, though, Part of a group of goalkeepers that combine for 13 years of CIS experiwho backstopped ence, the rookie will have plenty of his U-18 club to a resources at her disposal to lessen her learning curve. national title in 2012 just loving it.”

“The veteran goalkeepers on the Grzenda has plenty of chances team are some of my best friends, they’ve been giving me exceptional to live up to the hype he garnered during the season premiere. Living The passing of the torch? support,” Wilford said.

Though she may be a freshman, “We work so hard every day in up to expectations is something not unfamiliar to Grzenda, though, University of Manitoba Bisons stop- practice, helping each other get betwho backstopped his U-18 club to a per Madison Wilford is performing ter and I’m so lucky to have such loyal national title in 2012. The champi- well beyond her years. Five games comrades.” onship series marked the first time into her debut CIS campaign, she Customary to the norm of signithat a Manitoba club had won the has two wins to her credit and sits fying goalkeepers in a squad’s depth tournament since 1991. fourth amongst all keepers with an chart, starters inherit the numberIt seems like history is repeating impressive 0.929 saves-to-shots ratio. one jersey should it become available.

Fittingly for a first-year player in a Don’t be surprised if the Winnipeg itself, since he rose in the pecking order for FC Northwest as a youth position that demands a lot of experi- native swaps her number 30 for numunder similar circumstances. His ence, Wilford began the campaign as ber one by next season. father Ron, a former FC Northwest a reserve goalkeeper. But four games manager, remembers the experience into the regular season, she began to rise in the pecking order. well.

“Logan was one of three goalies on She made her debut during that team. He was a smaller goalie, Manitoba’s trip to Regina and was but he’s worked really hard the past introduced as a substitute at halftime. couple of years,” he said.

The Bisons won the match 2-1, and For the goalkeeper entering his Wilford has participated in every second year of eligibility, the experi- game for the herd since. With the