June 27, 2019

JUNE 27, 2019

VO L . 1 1 1 , I SS UE 2 The University of Saskatchewan’s main campus is situated on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis.

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Victoria Becker/ Photo Editor A spectator faces the Lions Skatepark in Saskatoon as riders practice in the background on June 12, 2019.

Indoor skatepark looks for a new lease on life The skatepark has shut its garage doors for good — at its current location, that is.

TOMILOLA OJO CULTURE EDITOR

A local recreational facility, the Saskatoon Indoor Skatepark, is known for its affordable skate lessons, dynamic live shows and a close-knit community. The park recently shut down due to an inability to afford rent at its current location.

With Saskatoon covered in snow for most of the year, an indoor skatepark was a much needed saving grace to many local skaters. However, having to pay rent for 12 months a year when they were only busy for five of those wasn’t sustainable.

The Sheaf sat down with a skatepark board member and University of Saskatchewan alumnus Conor Britton to discuss the importance of a facility like this.

“It’s important to have some form of recreation, especially in the winter time. It’s really crucial to mental health, I think, just to be able to get out in the winter and be active…

To feel like you’re still part of the community that you built,” Britton said.

The skate community in Saskatoon has seen many iterations of indoor skateparks.

Long-time skaters might even remember when there was an indoor skatepark that operated in the City Centre Church, with volunteers building and tearing down the entire park every night.

Volunteers are still a crucial part of the skatepark. Being non-profit, the skatepark relies entirely on volunteers for its smooth running, along with various grants and monetary donations. Britton says the

park is currently looking to the City of Saskatoon for guidance in these matters.

“We’re interested in getting grants from [the city]… We’re also interested in looking at some properties that the city has that are underutilized right now… Maybe they don’t want us in that property, but maybe they could lead us in a direction that would be helpful to us,” Britton said.

The park was also supported by local skate shop Ninetimes and the Saskatoon Skateboard Foundation, donating either money, time or both to the success of the skatepark.

Britton speaks to the importance of supporting local skate shops like Ninetimes, and how this ends up building the local scene.

Continued on page 5

NBA champion Toronto Raptors a product of their Masai-ah The Raptors’ decision maker deserves all the props for Toronto’s historic championship.

TANNER MICHALENKO SPORTS & HEALTH EDITOR

For the first time in their 24-year history, the Toronto Raptors are the NBA champions, defeating the Golden State Warriors 4-2, capped off with a 114-110 win in game six of the NBA Finals.

Not long ago, the Raptors were consistently one of the worst teams in the league.

From 2001-02 to 2012-13, the team made the playoffs just three times in those 12 seasons and never advanced past round one.

Things changed after the 2012-13 season when they hired the reigning NBA Executive of the Year Masai Ujiri. Since then, Toronto has not missed the playoffs in six straight seasons and they

capped it off with the sport’s greatest achievement, an NBA championship.

The win can be credited to Ujiri, who had his work cut out for him upon arrival.

Ujiri’s first order of business as president was a trade few thought possible: trading Andrea Bargnani. Two years and about $22 million remaining on his contract made it unfavourable to include in a trade.

And yet Uriji successfully dealt the former first overall pick and received substantial assets in return from the New York Knicks, which included a firstand second-round draft pick.

The deal was so unfavourable for the Knicks, it was speculated that their ownership did not want to deal with Ujiri years thereafter.

Continued on page 4

NEWS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Nykole King editor@thesheaf.com NEWS EDITOR Ana Cristina Camacho news@thesheaf.com CULTURE EDITOR Tomilola Oja culture@thesheaf.com SPORTS & HEALTH EDITOR Tanner Michalenko sportshealth@thesheaf.com OPINIONS EDITOR Erin Matthews opinions@thesheaf.com STAFF WRITER Noah Callaghan staffwriter@thesheaf.com COPY EDITOR J.C. Balicanta Narag copy@thesheaf.com LAYOUT MANAGER Aqsa Hussain layout@thesheaf.com PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Victoria Becker photo@thesheaf.com GRAPHICS EDITOR Shawna Langer graphics@thesheaf.com WEB EDITOR Minh Au Duong web@thesheaf.com OUTREACH DIRECTOR Sophia Lagimodiere outreach@thesheaf.com AD & BUSINESS MANAGER Shantelle Hrytsak ads@thesheaf.com

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Mission // The mission of the Sheaf is to inform and entertain students by addressing issues relevant to life on campus, in the city or in the province. The newspaper serves as a forum for discussion on a wide range of issues that concern students.

Written for students, by students, it provides unique insight into university issues through a student perspective. The staff of editors, photographers and artists collaborate with volunteers as student journalists to create a product relevant to students on the University of Saskatchewan campus.

Land Acknowledgement // The Sheaf acknowledges that our office is built on Treaty Six Territory and the traditional homeland of the Métis. We pay our respects to the First Nations and Métis ancestors of this place and affirm both the importance of our relationship with Indigenous peoples and students at the U of S and our commitment to recognize and remain accountable for our collective history.

T H E S H E A F P U B L I S HI NG S OC I E T Y // J UNE 27, 2 0 1 9

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College of Medicine program for low-income students ready for its second year The program stays mostly unchanged while the college aims to increase financial aid in years to come.

Ana Cristina Camacho

NEWS EDITOR

Students of the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine tend to be from high­erincome households than the provincial medium. This is a trend in medical programs across Canada that the U of S is addressing by reserving six seats per year for low-income students.

In fall 2018, the college launched the Diversity and Social Accountability Admissions Program, setting aside six seats out of a 100 for low-income students. Applicants who provide proof of a household income below $80,000 in the five years prior to their application are considered first for the 79 general Saskatchewan seats and if unsuccessful, for the six less competitive DSAAP seats.

The program was modeled after the reportedly successful Aboriginal Admissions Program, which reserves 10 seats for Indigenous students every year. Though newer, DSAAP appears to also be doing well; all six seats were filled in 2018 and are predicted to be filled again this year.

Barry Ziola, director of admissions for the College of Medicine, says the program is meeting a need for representation within the college.

“We need to get broader representation of applicants from the full population spectrum.

We can’t have only rich kids getting into medicine,” Ziola said. “The university [is] a public entity in the province and not an ivory tower.”

For the 2019 admissions cycle, DSAAP remains the same aside from minor changes to the wording of the application.

Thinking about the future of the program, Ziola says the college is waiting to gather data on the students admitted through the program before making significant changes.

“Right now, out of every class of 100, about 25 per cent of seats are being filled by students who come from the lower half of income in Saskatchewan,” Ziola said. “There is room to get more seats on that side, but we need a couple of years of data to see if these applicants are being successful and so on, then maybe we can move to 10 [DSAAP] seats.”

The college is also interested in what type of impact DSAAP has on the community once students admitted through the program reach graduation.

“We find that a lot of our Aboriginal students latch onto family medicine and that’s a good thing because they’re going back to their communities in some cases,” Ziola said. “It

Heywood Yu The Leslie & Irene Dubé Health Sciences Library photographed at the University of Saskatchewan on June 7, 2019.

will be interesting, when we start graduating our DSAAP students, to see where they go.”

Ziola points to local industry and alumni as possible sources of financial support for DSAAP. He says he would like a “much more aggressive alumni support” for the College of Medicine.

Adding a financial aid component to the program has been on the table since DSAAP’s inception but it is still to be implemented. Ziola says the college’s budget deficit of around $3 million makes it difficult.

“I have said for a long time that 25 per cent of students in every incoming class needs financial support. As a starting target, [they] should be given a half-tuition scholarship

every year in medical school but that’s big coin,” Ziola said.

"Right now the college is not in a financial position to do anything though they have started discussions. It’s on the radar of the college.”

Overall, Ziola says the program has been well received and the local community seems to support social accountability initiatives.

“We haven’t had any blowback from the majority of professionals whose kids tend to make the majority of applicants to medicine,” Ziola said.

“Supporting disadvantaged applicants in the United States context has been controversial, but I do have to say that Saskatchewan seems to be very supportive of this type of approach.”

Convocation returns to campus after 50 years The university begins a new tradition with the spring 2019 convocation.

Ana Cristina Camacho

NEWS EDITOR

For the past 50 years, the University of Saskatchewan has held its convocation ceremonies at the downtown TCU Place. The opening of the Merlis Belsher Place in 2018 gave the university a location large enough to bring convocation back to campus grounds in spring 2019.

In an email to the Sheaf, Russell Isinger, university registrar, says the spring convocation was a success. Aside from the new location, the spring dates also saw changes in programming meant to shorten the ceremonies.

“I’ve now been part of 129 University of Saskatchewan convocation ceremonies, and the ones this spring were the best I have ever attended,” Isinger said.

“They were well-received, they ran a reasonable length of time and the ceremonies were more focused on the students.”

Isinger says the change in location had the desired effect on the celebrations.

“After 50 years off campus, having convocation on the university grounds, in our own facility where graduates, with their families and friends, can easily return to the campus to take photos and celebrate, is what we looked forward to with

this move,” Isinger said.

The university is still calculating the costs of the spring convocation. Isinger says he expects the move to be financially advantageous in the long run.

“There were one-time costs associated with moving to a new facility, but in the long term we anticipate costs to be more than comparable to TCU Place,” Isinger said.

Though mainly a sports facility, Merlis Belsher was designed with community events in mind, with input from the university group in charge of convocation. The facility seats more people than TCU Place which the university was start-

ing to outgrow; graduates now get seven invitation tickets each instead of four.

Isinger says the university is glad to bring convocation back to U of S grounds. He thanks the founding donor Merlis Belsher for his $12.25-million gift to the university.

“We are so grateful for Merlis Belsher for his transformative gift. It was his intention that the building would be more than a sports facility, and rather a multi-purpose event centre for the community,” Isinger said.

“Merlis Belsher Place is the perfect home for convocation, one of the university’s largest and most important public events.”

Legal // The Sheaf, published weekly during the academic year and periodically from May through August, is an incorporated non-profit that is, in part, student-body funded by way of a direct levy paid by all part- and full-time undergraduate students at the U of S. The remainder of the revenue is generated through advertising. The financial affairs are governed by a Board of Directors, most of whom are students. Membership in the Sheaf Publishing Society is open to all undergraduate students at the U of S, who are encouraged to contribute to the newspaper. Absolutely no experience is required!

The opinions expressed in the Sheaf do not necessarily reflect those of the Sheaf Publishing Society Inc. The Sheaf reserves the right to refuse to accept or print any material deemed unfit for publication, as determined by the Editor-in-Chief. The Editor-in-Chief has the right to veto any submission deemed unfit for the Society newspaper. In determining this, the Editor-in-Chief will decide if the article or artwork would be of interest to a significant portion of the Society and benefit the welfare of Sheaf readers. The Sheaf will not publish any racist, sexist, homophobic or libellous material.

2 / NEWS

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NEWS

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Changes coming to Voyageur Place residents in 2019-20 The new meal plan brings unlimited meals and no RCC. Ana Cristina Camacho

NEWS EDITOR

Rental costs at the University of Saskatchewan are reviewed annually to match changes in cost of living and student input. Study lounges, an unlimited meal plan and mental health services are among the changes coming to the student residences this year.

Rent cost is going up in all the residences in varying amounts. In Voyageur Place, the eight-month term rent is going up by $335 for single rooms and $297.70 for double units. The increases for McEown Park, College Quarter and Graduate House range from $72 for Seager Wheeler units to $304 for College Quarter’s one-bedroom units.

Quintin Zook, director of consumer services at the U of S, says renovations to the residence buildings this year will be in the form of small maintenance projects.

“This year, we are targeting some smaller projects like upgrading some units and replacing some flooring that’s getting deteriorated,” Zook said.

Zook says that in the apartment-style residences, the focus is on upgrading finishings like blinds or carpets.

In the older Voyageur Place buildings, student lounges will be transformed into study lounges to match reported student interest.

“We need to buy new furniture to convert those spaces to create more lounge study space — students are looking

Heywood Yu Saskatchewan Hall in the Voyageur Place residence photographed at the University of Saskatchewan on June 7, 2019.

for those types of space more often — more in Voyageur Place. Newer residences are built like that already,” Zook said.

Another change for Voyageur Place residents comes in the form of the new Unlimited Dining Meal Plan. Starting in the 2019 fall term, students on the meal plan will have unlimited access to the Marquis Dining Hall instead of the former 17 meals per week. The new system is meant to give flexibility to fit students’ schedules and promote healthier eating habits.

The meal plan will no lon-

ger include its $400 dollars in Residence Cash Card, accepted at Marquis Hall and other U of S food services outlets like the campus Tim Horton’s, Starbucks and Subway locations. Students can still purchase RCC through the Culinary Services.

Zook says the university consults students before changing the residence rental amounts by meeting with the vice-president of student affairs from the U of S Students’ Union and the Graduate Students’ Association.

“Some years we’ve taken their feedback and decreased

some rates based on it, depending on what the plan is,” Zook said.

Zook explains that student feedback is also collected through surveys and maintenance forms to inform how the money is used.

“We’ve done surveys in the past — we do them a lot more in Voyageur Place on the culinary side to find out how the food is,” Zook said. “Then we have maintenance forms to know where maintenance issues are happening, to see how we can address them and have them not come up in the following year.”

As a result of student feedback, Zook says the residences will be investing in mental-health resources in the years to come. A counsellor-inresidence initiative is currently being tested.

“We are testing it out as a means of response to our students who live in residence, for their mental health needs and other concerns that they have, as a direct resource,” Zook said. “We find that probably we are going to spend a little bit more in that in the coming years knowing that’s increasing in scope and risk for the university.”

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T H E S H E A F P U B L I S HI NG S OC I E T Y // MAY 0 9, 2 0 1 9

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NBA champion Toronto Raptors a product of their Masai-ah The Raptors’ decision maker deserves all the props for Toronto’s historic championship.

TANNER MICHALENKO SPORTS & HEALTH EDITOR

Continued from cover Soon after that, Ujiri made another surprising deal. Rudy Gay, Toronto’s second leading scorer at the time, was traded to the Sacramento Kings. Gay was dealt alongside two bench players in exchange for four Kings players.

As a result, the Raptors improved and made the playoffs for the first time since 2007-08.

Although they lost out in the first-round exit, just making it to that stage in year one of Ujiri’s reign provided a benchmark to build on.

The Raptors’ record improved 49-33 in the following 2014-15 season, but the playoff result was the same — an early exit in the first round. Ujiri had work to do that summer to get them over the hump.

He traded Greivis Vasquez, a backup point guard acquired in the Rudy Gay deal, in exchange for Norman Powell and a 2016 first-round pick. This was the second time Uriji received a valuable first-round pick in exchange for a replacement level player. Powell’s acquisition is also notable as the young player had good potential.

In 2015-16, the Raptors put together their most successful season ever, making it to the conference finals before losing to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Despite the deep playoff run, Ujiri would once again stay busy in the off-season.

Thanks to the Bargnani trade, the Raptors held two firstround picks in the 2016 draft.

They selected Jakob Poeltl and Pascal Siakam. In the following weeks after the draft, Ujiri would sign undrafted college player Fred VanVleet.

During the 2016-17 season, Ujiri would trade for Serge Ibaka, a three-time NBA AllDefensive Team player.

Despite the beefed-up defensive presence, the Raptors still fell victim to the hands of James and the Cavaliers in the playoffs. This time, it was a

4 / SPORTS & HEALTH

four-game sweep in the second round.

Getting to the post-season was no longer good enough as expectations on Ujiri heightened year after year.

In the 2017 off-season, Ujiri re-signed an ageing pair of starting players and decided to keep Kyle Lowry and Ibaka on the team for the foreseeable future. The pivotal decision turned out the right way for Toronto.

The Raptors put together their best regular season ever in 2017-18, producing a 5923 record and earning the first overall seed in the Eastern Conference — their first time doing so in franchise history. Going into the playoffs, Ujiri had done all he could to field the best roster the Raptors have ever had.

At this point, responsibility was laid in the hands of a coach who had been there since before Ujiri arrived, Dwane Casey.

For the third year in a row, a matchup with the Cavaliers in the second round awaited Toronto. That series was over in four games, becoming the first time in 49 years in NBA history that a first seed was swept in the playoffs — an unprecedented upset.

Enough was enough, and Casey had to go. After Casey’s dismissal, Ujiri could hire a coach he wanted and decided to promote from within. Nick Nurse, Casey’s former assistant, took over as the head coach. It was Nurse’s first head coaching opportunity.

The coaching change was not enough for Ujiri, and he had to shake up his team.

Seldom does a top-10 player become available via trade.

When it does happen, even amidst the most controversial circumstances, smart teams jump on the opportunity, and the Raptors did just that. Ujiri cashed in substantial assets for just one guaranteed season of Kawhi Leonard’s services.

For them to acquire Leonard, lifetime Raptor and face of the franchise for nine seasons DeMar DeRozan became the sacrificial lamb.

First-round picks DeRozan and Poeltl — the player ac-

Shawna Langer/ Graphics Editor

quired in Ujiri’s first trade in Toronto five years earlier — were traded to the San Antonio Spurs for Leonard and Danny Green.

Despite the upgrade in talent, the deal was a risky one.

Leonard played in only nine of 82 games in the previous season due to an injury. The Spurs’ team doctors had cleared him to play, but Leonard himself did not believe he was healthy enough to do so which created a “lack of trust” between the two parties.

While it was reported that Leonard was only considering signing in Los Angeles with either the Lakers or the Clippers after the 2019 season, now Toronto may be a serious consideration.

Regardless of whether or not Leonard leaves Toronto this July, the trade will forever go down as one of the best in league history.

Ujiri’s consistent ability to flip assets and continually improve sounds simple, but in reality, it is nothing short of remarkable.

If not for his resiliency to improve Canada’s team, the Raptors would not be world champions and Leonard would not be a sports legend that Canadians can always call their own.

Huskies search for stability at their top position Shawn Burt steps down as the chief athletics officer just two years after his arrival.

TANNER MICHALENKO SPORTS & HEALTH EDITOR

Huskie Athletics is on the search for their next leader after Shawn Burt announced that he will be stepping away from the university due to family considerations, effective this summer.

Previous to Burt, Basil Hughton was the Huskies’ athletic director for nine years.

Burt’s title as the chief athletics officer was the first of its kind, but it is unclear what differs between his role and the former athletic director. Only that the CAO has a broader scope that is interested in holding the program up to high standards.

The Huskies board of trustees, consisting of three prominent community members and three university leaders, is in charge of finding the program’s next leader.

David Dubé, chair of the trustees, offered a statement in the press release from the program, vowing to “continue to build

Huskie Athletics into the number one post-secondary sports program in Canada.”

Later in the release, the Huskies say “We have seen tremendous progress towards our mission during Shawn's time here and intend to continue that momentum moving forward.”

The Huskies say they have seen “tremendous progress” under Burt’s leadership, yet there are no notable accomplishments outside of the new organizational structure and hockey moved to Merlis Belsher Place.

After all, the Huskies were compensating Burt in the range of $112,500 and $188,500, a high salary for a brief stint as the top executive of the organization.

Burt considered sticking to the job while his wife and kids move back home, but he says “I’m just not wired that way,” in an interview with the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.

The search for Burt’s replacement has already commenced.

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Indoor skatepark looks for a new lease on life

The skatepark has shut its garage doors for good — at its current location, that is.

TOMILOLA OJO CULTURE EDITOR

Continued from cover “Any shop that puts the money back into the community is so important because you won’t see that kind of return on the really big scale shops. The community shops are the ones that boost the community-oriented events,” Britton says.

In the future, the park is looking to improve how they reach

CULTURE

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out for funding, make their funding incentives more appealing and switch up their business model in order to give the park a better foundation. However, they haven’t found a place to call home yet.

“We’re just in the process of looking at lots of different places that are up for lease and just seeing what would be plausible… As of right now, we’re homeless. But we’ll find something.”

Anyone looking to support the park or be involved in the com-

munity can look forward to a few upcoming events says Britton.

“It’s one Sunday a month where we have these Slappy Sundays at [the] Black Cat Tavern and we watch skateboard videos, hangout out with skaters and different people from the community and play pinball… It’s an awesome time.”

The park will continue running its summer skateparks outdoors, with Saturday Camps running every second Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. starting on June 15.

Half camps, which are their regular camps split into two 2.5 hour classes, will be running on Mon-

days starting on June 10. More information can be found on their Facebook page.

Victoria Becker/ Photo Editor A biker comes into frame as a skater performs a trick in the background at Lions Skatepark in Saskatoon on June 12, 2019.

Now our Game of Thrones watch has ended, let’s take a stab at deciphering it GABRIELLA FOURIE

COMING EVENTS

Shawna Langer/ Graphics Editor

A long-time fan takes a critical look at the mega-hit television show. Warning: major spoilers ahead.

Since its inception in 2011, HBO series Game of Thrones has captured the hearts of millions. It enthralled many with complicated characters, rich lore and the ambiguous fates of fan-favourite roles. However, it’s not without flaws.

With the show drawing to an end after a long, bloody and sometimes unbelievable run, fans are left picking up the pieces by trying to understand what the ending means for their favourite — and least favourite — characters.

The series finale “The Iron Throne,” saw Brandon ‘Bran’ Stark unforeseeably become the king of the remaining six kingdoms, even though his storyline had no relation to the struggle for the Iron Throne. However, this was still the least surprising scene in the episode.

The buildup to the death and downfall of Daenerys Targaryen was the main focus. In the last seasons penultimate episode, audiences watched as she burned King’s Landing, killing thousands of innocent people despite the surrender of the city.

Fans speculate that this was

character assassination, as Daenerys had previously acted as a champion of the downtrodden and the breaker of chains.

The theory that it was written for shock value as justification for her murder in the final episode is also being thrown around.

Despite all the killing and treachery, the true antagonist of this season was not any particular character. The careless writing was the show’s true adversary because it made the storyline feel unnatural and meandering compared to the previous seasons.

The lazy writing led to plot holes such as failing to fulfill several key prophecies from the original book and earlier seasons. An example of this is the prophecy of a messiah figure, the Azor Ahai, being reborn and eventually defeating the main villain, the Night King.

The writers had fan-favourite Arya Stark defeat the Night King in a rather spectacular stabbing, but her life does not match up with that of the prophesied Azor Ahai. She was not “born amidst smoke

and salt,” nor did she pull a sword called Lightbringer out of flames.

There are also quite a few loose ends left in the show. For instance, Red Priestess Melisandre prophesied that Arya would shut brown, blue and green eyes forever. But Arya never killed any major green-eyed characters so it was only partially fulfilled.

These loose ends, along with several seemingly important roles never being mentioned again, left viewers with a weak sense of closure even though the series had a strong, well-written start.

Though Game of Thrones had a few well-developed female characters, the treatment of some of these figures was problematic. Many of the women were subjected to gratuitous sexual violence to shock audiences and disenfranchise the women themselves.

Even more disturbingly, in episode four of season eight, the writers had Sansa Stark credit her abusers for making her the person she had become, saying that without them she

would not have become a stronger person.

The few claims to racial diversity the show has are through the Dothraki, House Martell and the former slaves that had been freed by Daenerys. Excluding House Martell, minorities have less power compared to the white characters.

Even though Daenerys ‘frees’ slaves, she still puts herself in a position to rule over them afterwards, expecting their fealty in exchange for chains. This is not exactly the deeds of one who is truly a champion of the downtrodden.

The treatment of women and the lack of diversity has been chalked up to historical accuracy, but in a show with dragons, magic and ice zombies, claiming historical accuracy is a weak excuse.

Despite its many flaws, the telling of this grand story of power and imperialism has given audiences an immersive escape filled with impeccable cinematography, dynamic costume design and a masterful score. Fans won’t be forgetting this one for a long time.

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sheaf june 27 to aug 28, 2019.indd 1

OPINIONS

T H E S H E A F P U B L I S HI NG S OC I E T Y // J UNE 27, 2 0 1 9

Khat’s Out Of The Bag The Sheaf is serving spicy advice for your salty taste buds.

Campus corners: The U of S has hidden places waiting for you to discover The summer might be the best time to explore the all the gems that the campus has to offer.

ERIN MATTHEWS OPINIONS EDITOR

Shawna Langer/ Graphics Editor

KHAT P.

Q: I am totally in love with one of my profs. Is this normal? What should I do?

Khat: If you didn’t fall in love with at least one of your professors, I would consider that weird because there is something strangely alluring about a professor fantasy.

However, there are rules preventing this fantasy so finish school first, and if you are still in love later, go find them on Bumble and pray you match.

A quicker solution is trying a little self-love session in the morning before class, and then you’ll know if it’s really written in the stars. If that spark is gone by the time the lecture starts, maybe you just needed to dust off the cobwebs.

Q: I failed a few classes last term. Should I drop out or retake them this year? I don’t know if I can handle this again.

Khat: It is not uncommon to fail classes, and it doesn’t mean you should immediately give up. If you think you can’t handle it, then approach it differently.

There are plenty of resources available for students to help them graduate. Try meeting with a counsellor at the Student Wellness Center or an academic advisor.

If these options don’t suit you, try taking the same classes but balance the workload with two hard classes and two easier classes. You might be surprised what you remember from the failed class by retaking it!

Q: This guy started talking to me on the bus and asked me for my number. I felt awkward and 6 / OPINIONS

wasn’t sure what to do so I panicked and gave it to him. Now, he won’t stop texting me. It’s making me uncomfortable. What should I do?

Khat: Ahh, yes, the creepy guy on the bus. Simplest way: block. No one loses their dignity, and the guy just keeps texting cyberspace to his heart's content. Nothing has changed except for you not getting his messages.

If you have absolutely had it with this dude just be upfront and say, “This is making me extremely uncomfortable, I don’t want you to text me anymore, I am blocking your number.” Boy, bye.

The Observatory One of the oldest buildings on campus, the little Observatory has just turned 90 years old this past April. The little stone building houses a telescope inside the covered dome.

Every Saturday night, the roof opens up when darkness settles over the campus. You can view the stars and planets or tour around the displays and learn a little something about the vast universe.

The view from the fifth floor agriculture We all know the towering views of the Agriculture Building, a six-story giant with hundreds of windows. The natural light that filters in the building’s hallways are magical. Find a bench that faces the Bowl on the fifth floor and take a minute to have a birds-eye view of the campus. Find your way to the top on the unique pod-like elevators that allow you to watch your ascent.

With over 100 years of history, the University of Saskatchewan is rich in curious and cozy corners just waiting for you to discover. Let the Sheaf take you on a trip around the lesser known areas of campus.

Erin Matthews/Opinons Editor The Observatory on Wiggins road at the U of S in June, 2019.

The bench behind the Biology Building Next time you are walking through the Bowl, take the fork in the road that’s between the Thorvaldson and the Biology Building. A tiny oasis can be found nestled in a little patch of greenery behind the glass windows of the Museum of Natural Sciences. There is a bench, a large cascading tree that blossoms in early May and lots of green shrubbery that magpies like to nest in.

Have a question that you’re too ashamed to ask for your friends’ advice on? Send in your questions to advice@thesheaf.com and read the Sheaf to see if your Khat is out of the bag

Erin Matthews/Opinons Editor A shaded bench sits in the green space at the U of S behind the W.P Thomson Building.

Q: I am in love with someone but her family is really strict and she’s pretty religious. How can I ask her out? What if her family doesn’t want her to date me?

Khat: Do you love her more than how much her family might dislike you? Religious and strict families will mostly require you to take it slow and easy. You might need to pull some old school cards out.

First, let her know that you’ve been wanting to ask her out on a date but that you’re worried about how the family might feel. Let her know you would like her family to meet you first before setting up a date and see if that is ok with her.

This alone will get you huge brownie points in this modern “wyd” age. Bring that old school romance back, and if it works out, I want to hear a follow up story.

VO L .1 1 1 // I SS UE 2

Erin Matthews/Opinions Editor The view of the campus from the fifth floor of the U of S Agriculture building in June, 2019.

The oddities in the vet med building You may have never set foot in the Western College of Veterinary Medicine that’s tucked behind the Agriculture Building. Built in the 1960s, vet med was part of an educational partnership that spanned several provinces. The building itself has its architectural quirks, including a long pedestrian ramp and a spiral staircase.

But the best part of the building might be the curiosities and oddities that are scattered throughout the halls. You can find the skeletons of a horse, a goat and a cow in still repose, and cabinets full of specimens of veterinary pathology — including a two-headed calf.

History in the Peter MacKinnon Building The Peter MacKinnon Building has been called many things over its 106 years — the College Building, the Administration Building — while accumulating a lot of history along the way.

If you take a minute to wander around the building, you will find names and dates engraved on the walls ranging from the influenza pandemic of 1918 to the war memorials of WWI. The old staircases have grooves worn into it from the feet of students that have climbed the steps over the past century.

Erin Matthews/Opinons Editor The names of volunteer nurses from the influenza pandemic of 1918 displayed in Erin Matthews/Opinons Editor A feline skeleton sits in a cabinet in the U of S vet med building in June, 2019.

the northern stairwell of the U of S Peter MacKinnon Building in June 2019.

J UNE 27, 2 0 1 9

DISTRACTIONS

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Quiz: Which apocalyptic event are you?

A. Costco. Endless hotdogs and reasonably priced socks.

B. Walmart to stock up on reusable straws. Maybe it’s not too late to save the world (and the turtles).

C. Drive north and die a hero with the polar bears.

D. Social media to make a post about it.

E. Bed.

All currency suddenly hits zero because the stockbrokers on Wall Street live out their Wolf of Wall Street fantasies. What do you choose as your new currency?

A. Sailor Dan art.

B. Copper wire.

C. Teeth.

D. Bold of you to assume I subscribe to society’s capitalistic values.

E. The taxidermied bodies of animals that died from oil spills.

How do you cope with the apocalypse?

A. Underground bunker. As long as you have guac and Netflix, you’ll survive this.

B. Make memes to cope with the crippling fear.

C. Don a green cargo jacket and become emotionally unavailable. You are now the protagonist of our new dystopian Earth.

D. Eat the rich.

E. Don’t. Just Die.

Who is your favourite One Direction member?

A. Liam.

B. Zayn.

C. Niall.

D. Harry.

E. Louis.

If you answered mostly As, you are: Biblical rapture You enjoy the simple things in life. You have your routine and don’t like having it shaken up, so a few tribulations aren’t going to bring you down. Whether it’s a seven-headed goat man, half the population being raptured or the four horsemen of the apocalypse marching down your street leaving a trail of death and destruction, it won’t stop you from going on your Saturday morning speed walk.

If you answered mostly Bs, you are: Plastic-straw tsunami You are notorious for putting off your work until it overwhelms you, so you put off saving the world until it was too late. You single-handedly ended the world with your single-use straws. You fool. Because you refused to recycle, eat locally-grown food and walk instead of drive, the ocean filled up with garbage, the sun went dark and a new ice age began. Like Atlas, you will carry the weight of the world on your shoulders for the rest of your short, miserable existence.

If you answered mostly Cs, you are: Nuclear war love triangle split You’ve always been a hopeless romantic. You shipped Trump, Putin and Kim Jong Un since the very start, and their breakup rocked your world in more ways than one. While the three world leaders started the next war during their post-breakup bender, you cut and coloured your hair, bought some camo pants and headed north to live it up with the polar bears. Your soft heart became dark and cold, much like our post-nuclear apocalypse world.

If you answered mostly Ds, you are: Communism You didn’t eat the rich fast enough and now they’re out for your rights. Again. You decide to make a pentagram and summon the ghost of Lenin to ask for guidance. He convinces you to give communism one more try. In the process, you freak out the Americans who decide to go ahead with their plans of world domination. Insanity ensues.

If you answered mostly Es, you are: Anti-vaxx zombie apocalypse You love your natural remedies and don’t believe in that modern medicine mumbo jumbo. You’re not sure where all these measles, chickenpox and polio outbreaks are coming from, but you know you’re safe from them because of the herbal potion you drank. That one bubonic plague case was scary, but it’s probably fine, right?

w

a

A. The dude who cut in front of you at Tim’s and got the last strawberry dip donut.

B. Whoever it is at Netflix that keeps cancelling good shows but renewed Insatiable for another season.

C. I don’t discriminate.

D. Foot fetishists.

E. Only gluten-free, vegan, free-range non-GMO people.

Sh

Food prices inflate to the point where you pull all your teeth out but still don’t have enough to buy an avocado for your poké bowl. Who do you cannibalize first?

We appreciate your service to St. John’s Ambulance therapy dogs.

You will be missed.

na

La ng er

/G

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Editor

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If you answered one of everything, you are: God You somehow regathered the infinity stones. You decide to snap your fingers and kill all life in the universe except your celebrity crush so you can restart the human race on your own terms.

DISTRACTIONS / 7

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T H E S H E A F P U B L I S HI NG S OC I E T Y // MAY 0 9 , 2 0 1 9

VO L .1 1 1 // I SS UE 2

USSU BACKPAGE U-PASS

Last day to opt-out for Quarter 3, Quarter 4 (6 credit) and/or Quarter 3 (3 credit) classes is June 28

Spring Term U-Pass is valid from July 1 to August 31

Last day to opt-out for Quarter 4 classes is July 24

Undergraduate Students Only

For more information visit ussu.ca/upass

University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union

2019 - 2020 EXECUTIVE USSU Centres

Summer Hours Mon to Fri 10 am to 1 pm

University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union

PrideCentre

Allen Lewis VP Student Affairs

~ Carlos Munoz Pimentel VP Academic

Jamie Bell VP Operations & Finance

Regan Ratt-Misponas President

SUMMER HOURS Starting May 1

Louis’

Mon to Fri 11am - 7pm

Louis’ Patio

(weather permitting)

Opens June 3 11am - 7pm

Loft Mon to Fri 8am - 4pm