February 27, 2020

FEBRUARY 27, 2020

The Sheaf Publishing Society

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

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Editorial | Is reconciliation dead?

The events on Wet’suwet’en territory show a colossal divide in Canada.

De-ratification of religious campus club prompts concerns over USSU policy Power to Change is appealing the decision.

WARDAH ANWAR

Krista Forsberg poses for a photo as she rallies at the intersection of Idylwyld Drive and 22nd Street West, Saskatoon, SK., in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en people on Feb. 13, 2020. | Victoria Becker/ Photo Editor

All across the country, people are proclaiming that reconciliation is dead. As if this statement isn’t alarming enough, what makes it even more so is that this is largely our youth saying these words.

Our Indigenous youth don’t have faith in reconciliation, and that’s a problem for all of us. If they don’t believe in a future where Indigenous land rights and titles are respected, then how can we begin to plan in that direction? It says a lot about the state of our country to have a phrase like ‘reconciliation is dead’ popping up everywhere.

This sentiment deserves to be listened to. The most recent use of the phrase is associated with the raid on Unist’ot’en. The RCMP invaded Wet’suwet’en Territory and removed matriarchs during a ceremony for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women to make room for Coastal GasLink pipeline planning.

Workers later removed ceremonial red dresses, placed in honour of the MMIW. The Coastal GasLink pipeline can be relocated to different land. But to have it on Wet’suwet’en land is an act of environmental violence on traditional territory and it puts those families at risk of

exposure to toxic pollutants.

Their rationale was that other routes would impact other urban communities and have more of an environmental impact with other routes.

The Wet’suwet’en route is the quickest, most cost-effective way from their perspective.

These actions of violence and invasion have sparked something in the youth of the country. They are taking a stand, they are using their voices and they will be heard.

According to Ry Moran, director of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, the protests are themselves acts of reconciliation. These are the very steps that we

need to take forward in building an Indigenous-Canadian relationship.

So that’s hopeful. I think it’s also a fair statement to say that reconciliation is dying right now and will continue to if we don’t take immediate action. These land invasions are not protecting Indigenous rights, and the youth can see that.

If you want to show your support, there is solidarity in keeping up to date with what is happening. There is solidarity in signing the petition to end the invasion. You can also go out and join a local protest.

We must stand together.

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The religious-based campus club Power to Change has been de-ratified because of complaints over disruption and concerns about the inclusion and comfort of students.

Although there have been previous complaints about the group, the University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union decided to de-ratify Power to Change mid-February over two specific complaints this year: one regarding a meeting the club had in September and one about an event they held in January.

The USSU executive did not share the exact content of the complaints aside from the general topic of student discomfort and social disruption.

The Power to Change executive team declined an interview. However, in a Facebook message to the Sheaf, a Power to Change representative wrote that the group is “extremely saddened” to be handed a de-ratification as it has a “wide impact” on their activities.

“We feel [like] we, along with other clubs on campus, play a vital role in supporting and serving the campus community,” the message reads.

Continued to pg. 4

13 Graduate tuition increase leaves students reeling

OPINIONS

NEWS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Nykole King editor@thesheaf.com NEWS EDITOR Ana Cristina Camacho news@thesheaf.com

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Students upset after USSU Special General Meeting adjurns early The vote to open up USSU executive positions to international students did not take place.

SPORTS & HEALTH EDITOR VACANT sportshealth@thesheaf.com CULTURE EDITOR Tomilola Ojo culture@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

Chairs sit empty outside of Arts 241 in the Arts Building at the U of S on Feb. 14, 2020. | Victoria Becker/ Photo Editor

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ADVERTISING (306) 966 8688 EDITORIAL (306) 966 8689 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.

Several proposed changes to the University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union bylaws are currently up in the air as the meeting, which cost the union around $2,100, ended only a few seconds after its start.

The Special General Meeting on Feb. 6 was adjourned immediately after it was called to order, since the USSU chairperson counted the attendants at 6 p.m. and determined a lack of quorum.

The chair’s actions were met with general discontent from the students present, some of which even attempted to challenge the chair’s decision.

The students’ complaint was that the chair did not wait to reach the quorum before starting the meeting. In the past, Annual General Meetings and SGMs have started late, reportedly while the USSU actively gathered more students.

USSU President Regan Ratt-Misponas says that despite this precedent, the union respects the chair’s decision.

“As years go by, there is a new chairperson that is selected and our chairperson made the call to start at 6 p.m.,” Ratt-Misponas said.

“It’s unfortunate that those amendments weren’t able to be decided on. However, we do have to respect the call that was made by the chair.”

One of the main reasons behind the SGM, the first to be called by the union in almost a decade, was to follow up on a group of international students’ request for a change in the bylaws. The amendments would have allowed international students, and other groups with similar course-credit restrictions, to run for executive positions in the students’ union.

This SGM was required to make the amendments in time for the USSU elections in March.

Akingbehin Akinwande, the International Students’ Association president, is part of the group that has been asking for this change since September 2019. The group has expressed discontent with the way their petition has been handled, and Akinwande says that the SGM was an-

other letdown for them.

“To get this amendment, even to this stage, was so much struggle,” Akinwande said. “I was ready to make a compromise. Although the USSU didn’t really include us in this process, at least this is a step in achieving something. But then they shut it down again.”

Akinwande was among the students who spoke up after the SGM was adjourned, in an impromptu “town hall” with the USSU where students voiced a wide range of concerns and suggestions.

Ratt-Misponas says that a main takeaway from the town hall was that students felt frustrated with the procedure and protocol of meetings.

“All those ideas, all those suggestions, all that frustration that was sensed in the room, we got to hear firsthand. And so that is something that our executive team is listening to,” Ratt-Misponas said. “[We had] the opportunity to discuss with students some of the concerns that they had, but also some of the ideas that they had for how to improve our services and the student

experience overall. So I don’t think that was a waste.”

Given the USSU bylaws regarding general meetings, it will not be possible to call another SGM before the students’ union elections; international students will remain ineligible for executive positions. Ratt-Misponas says the possibility of another SGM is now up to the University Students’ Council members.

Akinwande is content that students at the SGM seemed engaged and ready to voice their concerns to the USSU, but he is keeping his plans private for the time being.

“I don’t think I will tell my plans because I just don’t trust the USSU anymore.

We tried to work with them on just an amendment and they obviously shut it down,” Akinwande said.

“Students are seeing what’s going on and I could feel the dissent; I could feel the frustration in the voices of some of those students and that’s something [we can use] … to make a statement that strikes a chord in the USSU, and perhaps forces them to make the change that is necessary for students.”

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F E B R AURY 27, 2 0 2 0

Ending the conflict in Ukraine requires compromise, says uOttawa professor The lecture marked six years since the most violent day of the Euromaidan Revolution.

NYKOLE KING

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

After six years and a growing list of casualties, a political studies professor says the War in Donbas needs a permanent ceasefire, even if it means compromise for Ukraine.

Little has changed in terms of the boundaries, says Dominique Arel, a professor and chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Ottawa.

With the death toll estimated over 13,000, Ukrainians face a heavy price for defending their Eastern border.

At the annual Mohyla Lecture, Arel spoke about the origin and consequences of the war to an audience largely made up of members from the Ukrainian-Canadian community.

It seems unlikely that Russian­-backed forces will depart Donbas and restore it to Ukraine, according to Arel’s analysis of the active war.

“I’m not sure I’m gonna be popular tonight just saying that,” Arel admitted with a little laugh, hours before the lecture. “But then, you know, the message [in] the end is hopeful.”

Political compromise is a difficult topic to broach when advocating for anything less than total territorial sovereignty is sometimes seen as treacherous. Canada, in particular, is known for being an ardent supporter of Ukraine, providing military training and humanitarian aid.

Dominique Arel speaks to a crowd at the annual Mohyla Lecture held at the U of S St. Thomas More Shannon Library on Feb. 13, 2020. | Nykole King/ Editor-in-Chief

But Arel makes the point that with international relations, it is important to be realistic about negotiations.

Rather than telling Ukrainians which options they should pursue, he is laying out the options so Ukraine can decide on what they see as the best course of action.

“It’s less what is it that we would like to happen as opposed to what is possible.

What is possible and what is ultimately positive for Ukraine,” Arel said.

While there was a ceasefire established in 2015, it has gone unrecognized for years.

The priority for Arel is for conflict to be suspended while diplomatic talks continue.

Almost a year ago, Ukraine established Volodymyr Zelensky as its president, winning over the incumbent Petro Poroshenko, who took power in 2014. Zelensky, who is from the Eastern region, vowed to end the war, something his predecessor was not able to do.

“He doesn’t want the war to go on as a live war,” Arel said about President Zelensky. “If

he makes it a cold war, that’s already a huge improvement.

Nothing is solved politically, but at least people are not dying anymore.”

But even if negotiations led to possible reintegrating of the region, pro-Russian sentiment is a pre-existing condition that would present difficulties.

The four-month gap before police lost control and Russian­-backed forces entered Donbas means that even after a ceasefire, there might still be a pro-Europe, pro-Russia divide in Ukraine.

“The Ukrainian government lost control of the territory

before there was an actual systematic military intervention.

And that is the really difficult part to understand and then to figure out what it means going forward,” Arel said.

Not everything is hopeless though. Arel says that Ukraine is much stronger now than it was six years ago. Especially in comparison to neighbouring Poland and Hungary, who have both relapsed to a more authoritarian style of rule.

“The whole thing is that, de facto, there’s a number of indicators — despite all the problems, it shows that Ukraine is making progress.”

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De-ratification of religious campus club prompts concerns over USSU policy Power to Change is appealing the decision.

WARDAH ANWAR

Continued from cover They say they will be filing an official appeal on the USSU’s decision.

Jamie Bell, USSU vice­ president operations and finance, says that between when the complaint was issued in January, to the second, Power to Change implemented some changes but continued to receive complaints.

“In the communication that I had with them, I [noted] that if we did receive another complaint, the budget and finance committee did have the option to implement regulatory action,” Bell said.

Other religious groups have reportedly also received complaints. Bell says that the de­ ratification of Power to Change would not affect any other group or policy. While the USSU recently began a revision of their campus club policy, Bell says that the current review is unrelated and only for clarity.

“We are just cognisant of what kind of activities are being held on campus, regard-

File | Riley Deacon

less of religious affiliation.

And both the university and the USSU are investigating campus club activity just to make sure that the campus is safe for students,” Bell said.

Power to Change is taking the option to appeal the decision and Bell says that he is in talks with the group’s leadership to facilitate the process.

Bell says that the USSU is

inclusive and encouraging of all campus groups and assures that the de-ratification of Power to Change has nothing to do with religious affiliation.

“We’re actually one of the most inclusive [students’ unions], with our regulations on … what kind of clubs we do accept for ratification,” Bell said.

Retired diplomat visits Saskatoon to discuss relations with the Middle East Canada’s stance on human rights can create uncomfortable conversations for diplomats.

NYKOLE KING

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Almost everything is political, especially Twitter. A former Canadian ambassador found that out the hard way.

Dennis Horak held the position of Canadian ambassador

Supplied by Dennis Horak | Sally Horak

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to Saudi Arabia for almost three years until the summer of 2018, when Global Affairs Canada sent out a tweet advocating for the release of activists from prison. While he was not responsible for the tweet, he was expelled from the country regardless.

The tweet was seen as a breach

of international law where Canada crossed the line by dictating how Saudi Arabia should manage their own affairs. This was Horak’s second time in his career being thrown out of a posting in the Persian Gulf, the first being when Canada cut ties with Iran under the Harper government.

Horak says the Persian Gulf is not a place that Canada can ignore without repercussions.

“It has this tendency, as much as the rest of the Middle East, to come up and bite you. And such a place we need to be engaged with… We need to understand what’s going on, and frankly, we’re playing short-handed there now with no embassy in Iran and no ambassador in Saudi Arabia,” Horak said.

Recently, Iran has been of particular global interest, with the United States assassination of Iranian major general Qasem Soleimani in January. Then

the subsequent plane crash that killed 176 people is more challenging with no embassy in Iran, according to Horak.

He is coming to Saskatoon as a guest speaker for an event hosted by the Canadian International Council on Feb. 27. His talk, titled “Iran and the Middle East — a Canadian Perspective,” will dive into his rich, 20-year experience in foreign service and the difficulties he has faced when values clash with global politics.

At times, diplomacy comes at odds with Canada’s commitment to defend human rights on the world stage, leading to complicated situations. However, Horak feels that Canadian values should not “override everything else we do” regarding our foreign policy.

“We can have an impact on human rights … and we can have a much greater impact [by] engaging them and talking with

them and doing things on the ground more than we [could] ever do with a tweet,” Horak said.

One consequence of the severed relations was that Saudi Arabia withdrew its students from Canadian post-secondary institutions in 2018. When countries have turbulent relationships with one another, universities and its students are sometimes the ones impacted by it.

“When you have international students, whether they come from Saudi Arabia or China or whatever, they’re taking back a little bit of Canada with them so they are inevitably politicized one way or another,” Horak said.

Horak, too, has been impacted by the volatile nature of diplomacy. Since 2018, he has retired from politics but continues to write about the Middle East with articles in The Globe and Mail and is currently working on a book.

F E B R AURY 27, 2 0 2 0

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SPORTS&HEALTH

NBA trade deadline 2020: New colours for familiar faces A bustling NBA market as teams strive for the playoffs or picks.

The NBA trade deadline brings about a flurry of player movement every season. Contending teams look to optimize their roster for post-season success, while teams hoping for draft lottery luck look to sell veteran players in exchange for as many draft picks as possible.

This year’s trade deadline was no different, as the arms race for the championship led to top teams making bold moves that may have huge implications during the playoffs. The following trades are expected to make the biggest impact around the league.

UDAY CHHINA

Andre Drummond to the Cavs

The Detroit Pistons have been in limbo, as they are neither good enough for deep playoff runs or bad enough for high draft picks. To disrupt this pattern, they have committed to rebuilding the franchise.

With Blake Griffin out indefinitely, the Pistons hoped to salvage a lost season. Detroit dealt out their star centre Andre Drummond, who is expected to opt into his $28-million player option and stick with his current contract this summer.

The Pistons wanted to gain salary cap flexibility and draft picks, so they would rather trade Drummond than pay him for another year. However, the lack of demand for the centre was indicative of the team’s reluctance to move him in prior deadlines.

As a two time All-Star and the league leader in rebounds, one would expect Drummond to yield more value than two second-round draft picks and bench players John Henson and Brandon Knight.

For the Cleveland Cavaliers, taking Drummond makes little sense as they are a team who is also firmly at the bottom of the standings and looking to rebuild for the future. This trade could be a last resort to appease star Kevin Love, but if Drummond accepts his player option, the Cavaliers may have severely hindered their salary cap for the next season.

Andre Igoudala to Miami

The Golden State Warriors were clever to negotiate a sign and trade that landed them All-Star D’Angelo Russell in return for Kevin Durant’s departure to Brooklyn this past summer.

To make room for his arrival, the Warriors dealt long tenured veteran Andre Iguodala to the Memphis Grizzlies. Iguodala was determined to never play for the young team and sat out the first half of the season while the Grizzlies explored trade options.

The Grizzlies were not expected to be in the playoff hunt this season, but stellar play from rookie Ja Morant and sophomore Jaren Jackson Jr. has them vying for the eighth seed in the Western Conference.

Despite this, Iguodala remained stubborn in his decision to not play. The mutual agreement worked out for both sides and he was dealt at the deadline to the Miami Heat, along with Jae Crowder and Solomon Hill, in exchange for Justise Winslow, Dion Waiters and James Johnson.

With Winslow, Memphis adds a young forward with playmaking potential to their cast of rookies and sophomores. Though he has been out with a back injury since Jan. 8, Winslow posted 11.3 points and 4.0 assists in 32.0 minutes per game for the Heat this season.

Meanwhile, Iguodala is a strong wing defender which could be pivotal for the Heat going up against elite forwards in the playoffs such as Pascal Siakam, Jayson Tatum and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

D’Angelo Russell to Minnesota

Despite being an All-Star last season, D’Angelo Rus-

sell was not a perfect fit for the Warriors. The score-first guard had a clashing playstyle with the team’s elite backcourt tandem of Klay Thompson, who is out for the season, and Stephen Curry When Curry went down with a hand injury in October, Russell was forced to provide the majority of the scoring for a depleted Warriors team. He scored an average of 23.6 points per game for the Warriors. But still, the questionable fit was too large of a question mark for the team to continue the experiment.

Minnesota has had its own share of growing pains as Andrew Wiggins failed to live up to his potential and his hefty $148-million five-year contract. The Warriors sent Russell to the Timberwolves in exchange for Andrew Wiggins and a first- and second-round draft pick.

Growing discontent from the Minnesota Timberwolves’ franchise cornerstone Karl-Anthony Towns, who had not won a game since November, made for the perfect storm. Towns and Russell are good friends who hoped to play together one day regardless, so a trade between the Warriors and Timberwolves was mutually beneficial.

For Minnesota, this trade pairs their star centre with a great point guard, fixing both the chemistry and talent issues on the team. They also dumped a contract that was seen as immovable.

For the Warriors, they replaced their logjam of guards with Wiggins, who is a small forward. A change of scenery might just rejuvenate Wiggins’ career. Instead of lofty expectations to be the star, being the third option behind Curry and Thompson will allow him to flourish in his reduced role.

Marcus Morris to the LA Clippers

Marcus Morris was one of the most sought after players at the deadline among contenders, as he posted 19.6 points on the struggling New York Knicks. As a high scoring wing who provides solid defence, he is a player that can be plugged into any team for immediate positive impact.

Despite the Lakers showing interest, it was their neighbouring LA team who won the bid for his services.

The Clippers acquired Morris from New York in exchange for Maurice Harkless, a first-round pick, a 2021 pick swap and a 2021 second-round pick.

Harkless was a dependable defender but did not provide much offence, averaging a mere 5.5 points in 50 games this season for the team. With this move, the LA team retain most of their defensive identity but add a much more dynamic scorer to their bench. Morris will not only be a spark of the bench, but he will also allow Clipper stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to rest before the playoffs.

The Knicks also won this trade, as the team cashed on Morris’ high value and gained rotation player Harkless instead of losing Morris for nothing in free agency. More importantly, they gain the Clippers’ 2020 first-round pick as well as rights to a first-round pick swap option with the Clippers in 2021 and another secondround pick in 2021.

For a young and developing team, amassing picks is the main goal and the Knicks did so without giving up a significant piece. A rare win-win trade for both teams.

The Hawks received Rockets’ centres Clint Capela and Nenê in exchange for a second-round pick. They sent forward Evan Turner and a first-round pick to the Timberwolves.

The Timberwolves sent forward Robert Covington to the Rockets and acquired Malik Beasley from the Nuggets. The Nuggets themselves received three rotational players and a first-round pick from Houston.

The Timberwolves and Nuggets both benefit from the trade, as they acquire picks and rotation players without much cost.

Houston’s playstyle is predicated on analytics, which is the result of general manager Daryl Morey’s philosophy of “Moreyball.” This analytically heavy style identifies three pointers and shots in the paint as the most efficient options and the Rockets have prioritized these shots over anything else on the court.

Trading for Covington is the Rockets putting all their eggs into one basket, as this trade strips them of their only productive centre — Capela. This move may leave them without a reliable defensive anchor, but the team’s fast-paced style with three-point shooters surrounding Russell Westbrook could be a blistering offense.

The Atlanta Hawks hit a home run by trading for Capela and solidifying their front court for the future.

In 39 games this season, Capela posted 13.9 points and 13.8 rebounds along with almost two blocks per game.

The Hawks have needed a front court partner for their young star John Collins, and Capela provides them with an imposing defensive presence in the paint. Capela should also fit right into the Hawks’ offence, as he can catch lobs from All-Star guard Trae Young, who is second in assists per game.

With the abundance of draft picks that were moved around this deadline, bottom teams like the Timberwolves and Pistons have positioned themselves for success during the NBA draft in late June. The wealth of draft picks gives teams flexibility because they can draft promising young players or use the picks in trades for veteran players fulfilling team needs.

The league also has more parity than ever, so the acquisitions by the Heat and Clippers may be the deciding factors during playoff series when teams are evenly matched and need every ounce of production from each player. Once again, the trade deadline has bolstered team rosters and ensured an exciting second half of the NBA season.

Clint Capela to the Atlanta Hawks

The main blockbuster trade of the deadline was a four-team deal between the Atlanta Hawks, Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Shawna Langer/ Graphics Editor

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Records fall as Huskies women’s track and field team defend conference title The Huskies women continue Canada West dominance as they secure their third straight title.

JOHANN JACOB

The Huskies women’s track and field team retained their Canada West Championship for the third consecutive time, while the men’s team clinched second place.

The Huskies welcomed the challenge of defending their titles on home turf as they hosted the Canada West Championship on Feb. 21 and 22 at the Saskatoon Field House. Strong overall performances from all areas resulted in the Huskies tallying up 20 medals.

“We have the saying ‘teams on paper don’t win championships.’

You don’t cash anything in until it’s all said and done,” said Jason Reindl, Huskies track and field head coach.

“While we were ranked first and second, we were also the defending champions for both [the men and women’s teams].

We knew that Calgary and other schools in the conference had their eyes on us.”

Entering the championships, the Huskies women were placed first overall in the Canada West rankings and looked to extend their four-point lead over the Calgary Dinos. The men, on

the other hand, looked to close the 13.75 point gap over the top-seeded Dinos.

The number one ranked women’s 60-metre hurdler in the nation, Michelle Harrison, had high expectations leading into the championships, as she aspires to join the Canadian Olympic team for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. And Harrison didn’t disappoint, as she extended the women’s points tally by setting a new Canada West record of 8.21 seconds in the hurdles, bettering the previous record of 8.24 seconds.

“To be able to run consistently faster and faster and get closer to my goals is extremely rewarding,” Harrison said. “My goal is to make it to the Olympics this summer.”

Harrison also qualified for the 60-metre sprint and guided the Huskie women’s 200­-metre relay team to a new Canada West record alongside Ashlyn Mooney, Leadan Chartier and Kendra Farmer.

The women’s team was able to extend their four-point lead to 14.5 points, earning a total of 142.5 points to retain their title over the Calgary Dinos.

Meanwhile, the men’s team was

Supplied | GetMyPhoto.ca/HuskieAthletics

unable to close their gap over the Dinos and finished second place, trailing by 10-points.

“Absolutely outstanding as a team. They all raised each other up and supported each other,” said Reindl, who was awarded women’s coach of year. “We fell a little short on the men’s side but from our projections, Calgary was supposed to beat us by quite a lot. For us to keep it as close as we did — we’re very happy with the accomplishment.”

The men’s charge was led by third-year Huskie Karson Lehner, who is the top ranked

300-metre runner in the nation. He improved on his second place finish at Canada West from last year by setting a new record of 33.07 seconds, beating the previous record of 33.44 to secure the gold.

Lehner etched his name into the Huskie and Canada West records by bettering the 300-metre record set by Huskie alumnus Cyprian Enweani. The goal to beat Enweani’s long-standing record time was meaningful for Lehner as Enweani went on to compete in the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics.

“Cyprian Enweani was a fantastic athlete,” said Lehner.

“It’s a great goal to aim for and luckily to achieve it here, with the help of great coaching and awesome training partners, is amazing.“ From this meet, seven Huskie athletes qualified for nationals and will join those who have already qualified earlier this season. For those Huskies that qualified for the 2020 U SPORTS championships, they will travel to Edmonton over the March 6-9 weekend.

No pain, no gain. Could you be training too much?

Overworking our bodies is possible and it can have consequences on performance and health.

MITCH ROHRKE

Typically when people worry about their fitness levels, they are concerned with not being fit enough. However, for some, that may not be the case. Teachers, parents and coaches always teach us that more is better, right? Well, perhaps not.

There appears to be a point at which you can train too much and it can have detrimental effects on both your body and your mind. To obtain more information about this issue, the Sheaf sat down with Phil Chilibeck, a professor in the College of Kinesiology specializing in neuromuscular adaptations.

Chilibeck defines overtraining as a “state where you are training hard, but your performance is deteriorating.”

This concept may sound confusing, and rightfully so.

If one is training correctly, an increase in performance

will occur, whether that be aerobic, such as walking or biking, or anaerobic, like sprinting or weightlifting. Yet with this idea of overtraining, there is the possibility of one’s performance deteriorating or declining if they are training hard, according to Chilibeck.

He explains that one’s body needs adequate time to recover and rest. Chilibeck adds that if the workload exceeds recovery, the potential for overtraining rises substantially. Proper recovery is not only beneficial for athletes, but it is also essential.

When questioned about resolving this dilemma if it occurs, Chilibeck states that the best fix for overtraining is prevention. One of the primary prevention strategies is simply sleep. He states that athletes should average seven to nine hours of sleep every night.

Another prevention strategy Chilibeck notes is following a proper diet. One must be eating sufficient calories and

nutrients to fuel their body.

Fruits and vegetables, non‑ refined carbohydrates and lean protein are all ideals for an athlete’s diet.

Chilibeck also explains that periodization, the cycle for “periods of intensity and periods of easier training,” is an important method for monitoring activity and reducing the chances of overtraining.

These periods of varied intensity can also be called a “mesocycle” where it changes at certain times of the year.

For example, an athlete might focus on building endurance from January through April.

While May through September, they might switch to strength and muscle gains, and then October to December they reduce the workload to just maintain their strength.

Each mesocycle is structured differently, with some more intense than others.

These mesocycles make up what Chilibeck terms “pe-

riodization,” where the goal is to prevent an athlete from training hard all year round.

Chilibeck explains how during the competition season, athletes should train to maintain the muscle gains accumulated outside of competition season. This training structure is often used in hockey and allows players the rest their muscles need.

“Right now, players are playing two to three games per week, so their training regime will be easier, as they need more recovery time between games. However, in the off-season, they will be training hard to maximize potential gains for the next in-season,” Chilibeck said.

Another example Chilibeck provides is track and field, where he uses the term “taper.” Tapering means that one trains hard during the in-season, and then one to two weeks before the competition, the athlete backs off on volume to allow enough rest.

Shawna Langer/ Graphics Editor

The athlete would then have a few shorter intense sessions days before the competition.

“This allows the body to overcompensate on the gains you made during your training session,” Chilibeck said.

Chilibeck says athletes need identification strategies to recognize when they are overtraining.

“The best markers are in relation to their psychological state — how the athlete is feeling [and] levels of depression,” Chilibeck said. “Female athletes are often easier to assess for overtraining, as their menstruation cycles can stop altogether. However, for males, you can really only base it primarily off of psychological needs.”

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ousing the homeless: Collaborative efforts to address complex issues

NOAH CALLAGHAN STAFF WRITER

Societal problems are easily identifiable, but understanding what causes them and developing community-led solutions is the real challenge.

Homelessness, mental health and systemic discrimination are not problems unique to Saskatoon, but issues faced in cities across Canada.

While citizens might be aware and concerned by these issues, often the collaborative work by community service organizations to solve these problems goes unnoticed.

In 2015, the Saskatoon Housing Initiatives Partnership, the United Way of Saskatoon and Area and the Community Advisory Board on Saskatoon Homelessness began designing a five-year plan to facilitate a co-ordinated approach to address the issue.

Saskatoon’s Homelessness Action Plan calls for “a serious investment in affordable housing units across the spectrum.” It also calls for a collaborative system of response where community service organizations increase prevention efforts, transitional support and public policy reform to make “homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring.”

To implement the action plan, SHIP became the lead organization responsible for fostering collective action between Saskatoon agencies to develop new housing units and recondition existing facilities .

Colleen Christopherson-Cote, director of planning and evaluation for SHIP, says homelessness is a complex social issue that cannot be solved by community partners working in isolation. Instead, these groups are relying on a “collective impact model” and “mutually reinforcing activities.”

“By creating common agendas like plans and strategies, community partners can come together and know what we’re doing as a collective,” Christopherson-Cote said.

“But we also recognize that each member brings a very

unique set of skills and work that they do as individual agencies.”

Since 2012, SHIP has administered how the nearly $7 million in funding from the federal government’s Homelessness Partnering Strategy has been invested in Saskatoon. In 2018, $1.85 million was put towards affordable housing developments, innovative projects, renovations and transitional living support homes.

Since 2015, 983 individuals have been sheltered through the Housing First and other housing placement programs funded

by SHIP. Housing First is a recovery-orientated approach for ending homelessness developed in the United States. The model centres on immediately moving people experiencing homelessness into an appropriate shelter without requiring commitments for treatment.

Christopherson-Cote says Housing First is just one method to address homelessness, but it is an effective approach because it provides people with access to housing without forcing them to agree to compliance requirements.

“Housing First does a really good job at meeting people where they’re at,” Christopherson-Cote said. “It’s a harm­ reduction based model that regardless of what’s going on in people’s lives, they should have housing first.”

SHIP’s 2018 Point-in-Time Count, which offers a “snapshot” measurement of the community, accounted for 475 people experiencing homelessness in Saskatoon.

Once individuals are in the program, they are supported by “intense case management” to keep them safe and securely housed over the long term, says Christopherson-Cote.

Street art displayed in downtown Saskatoon, Sk., photographed on Feb.23, 2020. | Victoria Becker/ Photo Editor

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In the 2018 count, 55 per cent of the individuals were reported as chronically homeless, defined as someone who has been experiencing homelessness for six months or more within the past year.

In 2014, Saskatoon Crisis Intervention Service partnered with SHIP and the United Way to develop the Journey Home program for the city based on the Housing First model.

Rita Field, executive director of SCIS, says the Journey Home program uses intensive case management to help support vulnerable people experiencing chronic homelessness.

She says participating in Housing First is a good fit for a frontline outreach operation and a 24-hour crisis service like SCIS. “It works very nicely because we can see these crisis situations popping up and can identify that perhaps an outreach to this individual could make a difference, and they might fit with this model,” Field said.

Field says having citizens who are chronically homeless is problematic because they frequently over-rely on shelters and emergency services intended as temporary, not long-term solutions. The Journey Home program’s purpose is to break that cycle of homelessness.

“The whole idea behind Housing First is to recognize that it’s a basic right to have access to housing,” Field said.

Once housed in a stable shelter, Field says if the individual chooses to be involved in some form of treatment then SCIS connects them with the appropriate support for difficulties with unemployment, health concerns or substance use.

“It’s about establishing relationships of trust and finding the right match,” Field said. “If they would like to be involved with recovery, there are many options and excellent services in our community.”

Christopherson-Cote says although housing placement programs can be costly and resource-intensive, it actually reduces the burden on other services in the city.

She says that often the people experiencing chronic homelesness placed in these kinds of intensive case management and supported living programs are considered to be of “high acuity.” That means they have often experienced personal problems like health issues, substance use, intergenerational trauma and violence.

“The people that are in the program are the biggest service users of systems like health and justice,” Christopherson-Cote said.

“So the social return on investment for Housing First is quite high because what we’re doing is pulling people out of those really expensive services by providing them with housing services and hoping they will then get the help they need once they’re housed.”

Christopherson-Cote says that when the general population thinks about homelessness, they often default to stereotypical images, mainly of men “rough sleeping” on the streets. However, homelessness in Saskatoon is much more complex.

Of the 475 people identified in the 2018 PIT Count, 38 per cent were women and 7 per cent were children or youth. Also, 18 per cent qualified for “Hidden Homelessness,” a category that includes people couchsurfing and living in overcrowded or inadequate shelters.

Christopherson-Cote says it is also important to consider the people living temporarily in systems like prison or health-

An alley view of an aging building in downtown Saskatoon, Sk., photographed on Feb.23, 2020. | Victoria Becker/ Photo Editor

care who become homeless upon release if they have no access to shelter.

“The community does a really amazing job at responding to the crisis and getting people sheltered in supported care or affordable housing,” Christopherson-Cote said.

“But I feel like the piece we’re missing is that there are still people coming out of systems or falling out of being homed and the homelessness action plan needs to take that next step of increasing prevention.”

The Lighthouse Supported Living in Saskatoon is more than just an emergency shelter. It offers Housing First services to the community through its affordable housing and supported living spaces.

In partnership with SCIS’ Journey Home program, the Lighthouse launched the Managed Alcohol Program for people with recurring substance use and who may lack appropriate shelter.

The program funded by the Saskatchewan Health Authority provides clients in supported living with customized daily doses of liquor to chronic drinkers and consumers of non-beverage alcohol, such as hand sanitizer.

The Lighthouse’s addictions counsellor, Julie Milne, says she can see the difference the innovative program is making to support people’s treatment for substance use through harm minimization.

“Most of the participants have come from our Stabilization Unit and now they have ten pours a day of proper alcohol instead of drinking street alcohol,” Milne said.

“It’s well managed and I would advocate for it because I just think there’s a big place for programs like this.”

In the 2018 PIT Count, it was reported that 53 per cent of the surveyed individuals responded they “felt they would be successfully housed with help managing alcohol issues.” The Managed Alcohol Program expanded to serving nine clients in 2019 after a successful pilot program.

Although experiences of homelessness cannot be explained by mental health and substance-use problems alone, these

Lighthouse, but she is also available to the people using the emergency shelter and Stabilization Unit. Even if people do not want to immediately address their problems, Milne can still refer people to one of the five Housing First intake centres in the city.

“Some people want to be securely housed before they address their addictions,” Milne said.

Although community organizations like SCIS and the Lighthouse have been finding success with their Housing First programs, other organizations working collaboratively with the plan to end homelessness in Saskatoon choose not to follow the model.

Christopherson-Cote acknowledges that Housing First is just a “tool in the tool chest.” She says it can be resource intensive and does not work for every person. However, she is pleased that the federal government’s new Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy funding stream allows for more flexibility in creating a plan specific to Saskatoon’s needs.

“The idea is that we need to look at a much more coordinated system and we can’t eliminate homelessness with one specific tool; it has to be a multitude of different things,” Christopherson­-Cote said.

Shirley Isbister, president of the Central Urban Métis Federation Inc., says the organization has operated its own model of supported housing for over a decade before Housing First was used in Saskatoon.

CUMFI never adopted the Housing First model but focused on its own Coming Home Program and affordable housing with a zero-tolerance policy towards alcohol or substance consumption. With the 2018 federal funding, SHIP invested $196,000 into renovating one of CUMFI’s four supported living homes.

CUMFI’s Coming Home Program specializes in providing intensive support for parents and families in order to have children returned from the foster care system or to maintain custody.

“What leads to a stigma towards homelessness is that people don’t understand how people become homeless or the conditions that surround them.”

– Shirley Isbister three issues share a complex relationship.

Milne says mental health issues can lead to substance use, and substance use can lead to poorer mental health or psychosis. Also, people with these problems are at an increased risk of falling into homelessness, and people experiencing homelessness are more vulnerable to these difficulties.

“A lot of people who have a mental health problem and an addiction don’t see the mental health problem as a problem,” Milne said. “But they’ll use substances to manage their mental health and it’s very difficult to get a diagnosis or to even see a psychiatrist.”

Milne offers addictions counselling to everyone living at the

“People who can stay housed is one thing, but we have so many people who can’t,” Isbister said.

“Because we’ve always known that our families will never move forward without having strong support, then we can assist their move into the community.”

Indigenous peoples are over-represented in Saskatchewan’s criminal justice and foster care systems, and urban Indigenous people also experience homelessness at a disproportionate rate.

Of the 475 people counted in 2018, 85 per cent of the respondents self-identified as Indigenous. Isbister believes that few people properly recognize how Canada’s history

Shawna Langer/ Graphics Editor

of colonization and racism created this present situation.

“What leads to a stigma towards homelessness is that people don’t understand how people become homeless or the conditions that surround them,” Isbister said.

“Residential schools and the Sixties Scoop — Métis and First Nations people were a part of all those tragedies, and people don’t realize that along with that comes addiction, violence and everything else.”

Because these are intergenerational problems, Isbister believes that it will take generations to make those statistics change.

“We’re never going to end homelessness but we need to find ways to prevent it as much as possible,” Isbister said.

“But it’s going to take working with children in schools and reducing poverty.”

She does not think that Saskatoon can move forward without community partnerships, but because of the disproportionate demographics, Isbister believes that homelessness programming should be led by an Indigenous organization.

Isbister has recently attended community meetings on homelessness in Saskatoon where she was the only Indigenous person in attendance.

“There’s all these non-Indigenous people going to decide on how we’re going to move forward make change but 85 per cent of the homeless are Indigenous, so that tells me that change needs to be Indigenous-led and community driven,” Isbister said.

“We need to step up, we need to have the dollars to step up and to make change in our own communities and we need, as leaders, to be able to do that.”

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Darío Alva’s bizarre post-internet reality This futuristic artist is paving the way for a whole new brand of surreal creations.

NICO ROCK

From design work for Travis Scott and Post Malone to CGI shorts about dentistry and shoes, Darío Alva is making waves with his brand of mind-bending 3D visual art and film.

My introduction to Darío Alva’s work was through Dazed magazine’s online platform, Dazed Digital. On the first ever cover of the online magazine, Alva poses rap superstar Travis Scott and model Kate Moss as chrome-plated centaurs, with infolds detailing close-up shots of their faces adorned in metal thorns, chains, teeth and bones.

Moss and Scott’s posing looks strange, almost like actionfigures being uncomfortably subjected to the whims of a child. It’s stunning in a completely unique way as it immediately asks for the full attention of any viewer. Naturally, I needed to see more of this work.

A quick Google search revealed that Alva — working under the handle @cavecanems on Instagram — is not a one-trick pony.

Digital renders of dragons, machinery, futuristic technology, mutated animals and closeups of human anatomy all collide

to form a beautifully unsettling, uncanny valley effect, dropping the viewer into completely unpredictable worlds and asking them to watch the chaos unfold.

It’s the human touches that make Alva’s work relatable. To simply illustrate a fantasy world is one thing, but to bring a modern familiarity into that world is a different beast altogether. He does this by emphasizing nuances in the human face and drawing inspiration from small things that are generally not given a second thought like an infographic at a doctor’s office.

With influences ranging from Digimon to Greek mythology, his work captures the pace and spread of the modern internet, condensing it into a single image or short video. For this feat alone, Alva deserves kudos.

It is no surprise then that Alva’s content has not gone unnoticed.

Having designed the cover art for Post Malone’s singles “Rockstar” and “Psycho,” there is a chance that you may have seen Alva’s material without knowing who he is or what he does. For that, you can’t be blamed.

With the everyday hustle mentality practiced by so many digital content creators, it’s difficult to imagine an artist pulling so much inspiration from cyber-

space without himself existing in that same world, which makes this particular artist so intriguing.

Alva’s visuals may be loud, but the man himself keeps a remarkably low profile, having scarce personal information about himself or his personal life online. Unrated describes him as a digital artist and animator based in Madrid known for creating some of the “most bizarre, outlandish, disturbing and captivating visuals.” His Instagram bio only reads “content detritus,” which translates from Latin as “waste content.”

I’ve found describing his work very difficult, but if you decide to peer into this looking glass, you’ll be rewarded with the most intense internet surrealism to be found in modern visual art.

So what does the future look like for Darío Alva? Nobody can say for certain. The next step for any artist’s career is always unpredictable, but the eclectic nature of Alva’s work makes taking a guess a shot in the dark.

Recent collaborations with the electronic music avant­ garde queen Holly Herndon and the late-night comedy channel turned Gen Z cultural powerhouse Adult Swim suggest that his projects are only going to get

Instagram / @cavecanems

bigger and more absurd.

Fans of his will possibly be forced to wait for new material as his Instagram is only updated once every two or three months.

It’s hard to imagine what the visuals themselves are go-

ing to look like — maybe more can-kicking zombie soccer — but there is no doubt in my mind that Alva will continue to pushing the envelope and develop media for an algorithmically enslaved world.

How police brutality in black media affects our empathy and mental health Is repeated exposure to police brutality against black people desensitizing the public from their pain?

TOMILOLA OJO CULTURE EDITOR

Last summer, I took some time to find and consume media and art by black people, which led me to watch quite a few Netflix shows.

One thing I found coming up again and again in the plots was police brutality. It came up in She’s Gotta Have It, where a homeless man is imprisoned after a white woman calls the police on him for sitting on the front steps of her brownstone.

Dear White People sees a black college student getting a gun pulled on him by an officer for not getting his identification out fast enough. Even See You Yesterday, a movie about time travelling teenagers, is based around the protagonist’s brother getting shot by police.

The point that these shows are trying to make — that there is a very real and serious issue with police brutality against black people in North America — is

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an important one that isn’t being taken seriously enough by people in power.

However, hearing about these difficult and graphic issues again and again takes its toll.

Though black people have been experiencing violence at the hands of police for much longer, the ubiquity of cameras and recording devices that came with the advent of the 21st century has brought a lot more attention to these issues. Now, we can see them happening — no matter where we are in the world.

Instead of just reading about the death of Eric Garner in the newspaper, we saw video footage of him being pushed to the ground and asphyxiated to death by police officers despite his repeated pleas that he couldn’t breathe. The same happened with 12-year-old Tamir Rice, whose crime was playing with a toy gun.

Though these videos are meant to keep police accountable, what they’re really doing is desensitiz-

ing the public to the pain of black people. This reality is especially depressing because a majority of the police officers caught on tape are acquitted of their crimes.

The lack of justice is a difficult thing to constantly be reminded of, and the more we see this happen and the more guilty officers go free, the less our emotional reactions will be the next

time something similar happens.

And, judging from the track record, there will be plenty of ‘next times.’

Though it is important for black people to tell our own stories and deal with the trauma from these issues in any healthy manner we can find, the repeated exposure to the pain of black people is creating public apathy

towards their issues.

While I don’t claim to have any of the answers as to how to deal with this, we need to find ways to care for our own mental health that still allow us to be present and active in this issue. We cannot ask people to stop creating art about this issue because it is their therapy, but constantly consuming it is taking a mental toll on us.

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Playing with paganism: Five local thrift stores A review of season three of for your perusing The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina pleasures Season three misses the mark on its own mythology. Warning: spoilers ahead.

Looking to add a bit more personality to your closet? These local stores might be of interest.

TOMILOLA OJO

GABRIELLA FOURIE

Ed ito r ra ph ics

Season two of Sabrina left viewers with several new promising plotlines being set up.

However, with new plotlines comes new problems.

The newest season brings us even more crazy stories, spooky scenes and a new host of characters.

New characters bring new antagonists, including another main villain for the series — pagans.

A small band of pagan witches wander into Greendale with their own agenda, and they threaten Sabrina’s already weakened Satanic coven.

The pagans want to resurrect the ‘Green Man’ — a prominent symbol in Celtic paganism — and return the Earth to the religions of the old world that existed before the rise of new belief systems like Christianity.

Or in Sabrina’s case, Satanism.

Right off the bat, paganism is a slightly problematic term to be using as it is an umbrella term for religions that are based on beliefs like naturalism and animism, have a feminine figurehead or are polytheistic.

The word ‘pagan’ originates from the Latin word paganus, which was used by the Romans to refer to people living in rural areas.

As more people converted to Christianity, especially those living in cities, “pagan” became the term for the rural folk who still believed in the old ways. However, the term came to be used for many different cultures, no matter how different they were.

Lumping several belief systems together like this is a common way people mishandle paganism, and it is a shame that the series has to perpetuate it.

Additionally, when it comes to ideas about paganism, the series writers seem to pick and choose what they want to be pagan. Lumping together Greek

CULTURE EDITOR

Sh

mythology and Celtic mythology together under the guise of ‘paganism’ is an artistic licence taken a little too far. The mythologies are far too unique and different to have that done to them.

One of the pagan characters goes by the name of Circe, who is no doubt based on the sorceress and goddess Circe from Greek mythology and Homer’s famed character from The Odyssey. She even turns men into pigs at one point: an obvious homage to the goddess.

Circe is portrayed as cunning and malevolent and even drastically harms one of the series’ most beloved witches, Hilda.

The leader of the pagan witches is another hoof-footed figurehead from Greek mythology, portrayed as the obvious bad guy.

Despite all this villainization of the pagans, in the hour of their greatest need, a group of witches led by Zelda call on the help of the triple goddess Hecate. She is another figurehead from Greek mythology, who is somehow good and better than the other pagan figures in the series.

The pagans are portrayed as bad, but when the coven is in trouble, they decide to call on a pagan goddess because she is

na aw

er ng La

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the only one powerful enough to help. This constant switch feels like the writers didn’t do their homework and were just picking names out of a hat that they vaguely recognized.

Despite the mishandling of paganism, season three was action-packed. It felt like an analogy for Sabrina’s own penchant to stretch herself too thin by doing too much, and things going haywire because of it.

The series, like Sabrina herself, needs to slow things down a bit and work on doing fewer things really well, rather than trying to do too much with the end result being only half as good.

Trying to lump Greek mythology and paganism while entertaining numerous other subplots makes the show feel rushed and sloppy. One can only hope that the next season is an improvement.

The end of season three forebodes an even bigger, darker threat that Greendale will face in season four, but who knows what that danger will be this time around? With Sabrina living a double life between hell and Earth, one can only imagine what sort of brouhaha the next season will bring. Hopefully, there isn’t more impromptu singing.

Whether it’s for environmental, financial or fashion-related reasons, everyone seems to be crazy about thrifting lately. Though you might hit the occasional jackpot, going to thrift stores can sometimes take hours out of your day and still be fruitless, leaving you frustrated.

I’m looking at you, Value Village.

That’s where these locally-based, carefully curated stores come in. Each a projection of the owner’s aesthetic and personality, these stores have gone ahead and done the shopping and restoring so your thrift clothes are ready to go, right off the rack. Here are three local thrift stores to help spice up your closet.

Better Off Duds

If you’re into authentic vintage clothes, this is the place for you. Based in the heart of the historic Mayfair and Caswell neighbourhoods, BOD specializes in clothes from the ‘60s to the ‘90s.

Ever since owner Nicola Tabb opened up shop in 2012, she has believed that every piece of clothing deserves the chance at a second life. BOD has a wide variety of sizes and styles to choose from, so if you’re searching for a statement piece or something to wear to your next roaring ‘20s themed party, there is something here for you.

Some highlights of this store include the racks of Levi jeans, the entire wall of cowboy

boots and the kind and inclusive attitude of the shop clerks.

Hazlewood

Opting for more laid back, flowy and often minimalistic styles, Hazlewood mostly carries accessories, clothing and furniture. According to the store’s website, store owner Michaela Michael curates vintage and second-hand clothing that “reflect the flora, fauna and fashion of its rural home and heritage.”

Though it’s a bit more on the expensive side, Hazlewood’s apparel is for those who want to be comfortable and laid back but still have a modern, fashionable look at the same time.

The store also carries candles, perfume and other locally crafted apothecary items. If you’re ever on 20th Street and looking for sustainable, unique fashion, Hazlewood is the place to be.

The Knick

For lovers of street and urban styles, The Knick is the place to be. Situated near the former location of the farmers market, this shop features both timeless pieces and the latest trends.

The owner, Sarah Gaudry, also brings her love of sewing into some of the clothes by adding modern and unique flairs, taking the pieces from everyday clothing to one­-of‑a-kind pieces. The store itself is also beautiful and features eye-popping geometric shelves and earthy tones.

For denim lovers, there are also cutoff shorts and comfy jeans galore.

Better Off Duds store clerk mends a dress while tending the counter at their store in Saskatoon, SK., on Feb. 20, 2020. | Tomilola Ojo/ Culture Editor

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Solidarity among people of colour is a scam With all the division and infighting, is there hope for POC solidarity?

TOMILOLA OJO CULTURE EDITOR

AQSA HUSSAIN

LAYOUT MANAGER

When it comes to racism and discrimination, people of colour — also known as POC — have quite a bit in common.

Though the term has been used as far back as 1796, when it was used to describe lightskinned mixed people, the term began gaining popularity again in the 1970s and was used to describe anyone who wasn’t white. Folks thought it sounded better than just saying non-white people.

Because people of colour have experienced, and continue to experience, many of the same issues, the idea of solidarity arose. Why not band together and present a united front against their common issues?

POC solidarity refers to unity and agreement held

among people of colour in which we all come together and fight against common issues. This usually involves incidences of racism and discrimination.

Though this sounds all well and good, and has definitely been practised successfully in the past, there are some inherent issues that arise due to pre-existing power structures.

POC solidarity is hard to claim when many races barely have solidarity within their own groups. Colourism is a key factor for the divide among coloured people. A dark-skinned brown person and a light-skinned brown person do not experience racism in the same way.

How can we fight for common goals alongside people of other races when we can barely accept people of our own race?

As a light-skinned brown person — Aqsa here, hi — I am noticeably not white, but

I do have the privilege of having very light skin. Within the South Asian community, lighter skin is an aspiration while darker brown skin is looked down upon.

This extends outside our own race and onto other POC. Many brown people are anti-black and racist towards darker-skinned, black and Indigenous peoples. The origin of this issue can be traced back to a belief in a racial hierarchy.

This hierarchy organizes certain racial groups as superior or inferior to others.

White people are at the top and black people are at the bottom, so there is a scramble among POC to get closer to the top of the hierarchy — even if it means that you’re climbing on the backs of other racial groups.

Black people usually end up at the bottom of the list, and this has caused anti-black sentiments to grow among other ethnic groups. As a black

Shawna Langer/ Graphics Editor

woman in Canada — Tomi talking now — I have experienced racism at the hands of white people while also being discriminated against by other minorities.

Colourism and racial hierarchy play a huge role in the struggle for POC solidarity.

Colourism predates colonization and is seen in South Asia with structures like the caste system, which divides people by skin colour.

However, POC were pitted against each other as the white race colonized their land, increasing the divide between them.

While black, brown and people anywhere in between face racism in North America, different groups experience it in different ways.

Coloured people have always been in North America — prior to colonization, Indigenous peoples inhabited this land — yet Indigenous groups are the subject of racism, not only from white settlers but from peoples of all colours.

The crux of the issue is that the term POC gets its meaning from what it’s not, as opposed to what it is. It covers a widely diverse and varied group of people who all happen to have experienced racism at the hands of white people, but it also lumps together groups of people who come with vastly different belief systems and walks of life.

While POC solidarity is a tall order to ask of people who constantly experience discrimination and are pit against each other, it is not impossible. Every POC group has different, nuanced needs and issues specific to their communities, and we can’t help each other if we don’t listen to each other.

Listen to the voices of other coloured people, work on your own internalized prejudices and actively try to be better to the people around you. That is the start of the road to real POC solidarity that works.

r Ou ! s e o mer W st Cu

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“We’re tired of being milked for our money”: What is the cost of pursuing a graduate degree?

The proposed tuition increases leaves graduate students reeling.

ERIN MATTHEWS OPINIONS EDITOR

Graduate students at the University of Saskatchewan are upset after the details of a proposed tuition increase were announced at a meeting earlier this month.

This “conversation” between the interim dean of the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, Trevor Crowe, and the students was supposed to help “demystify” the newly set rates for domestic and international graduate tuition. Instead, it left many students blindsided.

Currently, domestic graduate students are paying just over $1,500 per semester. The increase would see their tuition rise to over $2,200 per semester by 2025. Meanwhile, international students will experience an even larger increase — seeing their tuition nearly double from just over $2,600 per term to $5,000.

International students make up around 40 per cent of the graduate student population.

The university says this increase will raise tuition rates to the U15 Research University median and improve financial packages.

“The decision is not based on rankings but rather how we compare to other Canadian research-intensive universities in the amount of funding we are able to provide to our graduate students,” Crowe said in an email to the Sheaf.

“The tuition and financial support proposal is a way to ensure our students have a great experience and receive financial supports comparable to other members of the U15.”

However, during the demystifying tuition talk, the graduate students were under the impression that increasing tuition and financial aid is needed to help the university’s ranking among the U15.

As someone who had planned on entering into a masters program after completing my degree, this increase has me questioning if I can afford to further my education. The rationale put forward by the university is not only perplexing, but may have repercussions that will be counterproductive to their goal.

This same sentiment is felt by graduate students from across all disciplines and backgrounds.

Derek Cameron is a masters student in the department of history, and he is angry about the increase and the way it was

The U of S Graduate House facing Cumberland Ave. photographed on Feb.14, 2020. | Victoria Becker/ Photo Editor

presented to students.

“It’s about financial packages and making us look better in the rankings, which for people that go here, the rankings weren’t our biggest concerns. It was the advisors, the person we are working with. So they are caring about a metric that students really don’t find as effective,” Cameron said.

According to Cameron, the 2022-23 academic year is when students may see an increase in their financial packages.

“So what that means is that people who are in the last couple years are getting the full brunt of the increase while not getting anything out of it,” Cameron said. “And, to be frank, the packages are below the poverty line.”

This forces grad students to look for work outside of their program in order to make ends meet. Cameron believes this causes undue stress on graduate students and can put their degree and research in jeopardy.

Cameron believes this increase will force students to make difficult choices, which may lead to less students enrolled at the graduate level.

“It’s going to decrease the amount of graduate students that are doing things like TAing and helping to provide education at this institution. So it’s going to weaken [graduate] programs and those weak graduate programs are also going to weaken the university,” Cameron said.

Similar concerns were put forward by Mercy Harris, an international student from the United States, who has similar concerns and feels like this increase was unforeseeable. When asked why she chose the U of S to pursue a masters in biology, Harris echoed what Cameron had to say about what makes the campus attractive.

“I was drawn here because of the research. This research, paired with low tuition and low international differential, made the U of S a favourable place to study,” Harris said.

“I think if you have a school already in the U15 and have good research, to a certain extent, the research speaks for itself. They see low tuition as a disadvantage but I definitely don’t completely understand that viewpoint.”

The work that grad students are doing on campus is a big part of what makes that research successful. If these graduate programs suffer, it is likely the research will suffer from the lack of resources.

It’s uncertain if tuition increases will achieve the administration’s goal, but it is clear that this move will hurt graduate students.

“Gambling on this intangible administrative goal seems irresponsible given the certain and more tangible impacts on the graduate students the university serves,” Harris said.

Jeffery Zielinski, a PhD student in the department of

physics, feels strongly about the increases.

“I think it’s a little bit ridiculous. It’s an unnecessary increase in tuition for reasons that seem poorly justified. They simply think increasing tuition will get them higher on the U15 list,” Zielinski said.

He believes that the university is ignoring monetary issues that plague grad students, like food insecurity.

“My main issue is that at the same time there are [nearly] $6 million in raises for the 750 staff that make over $125,000 a year already,” Zielinski said, referencing the salary increases that he calculated through information available to the public.

Zielinski said that several of his professors have voiced concerns about the tuition increase, saying it will be detrimental to how many students they can secure. They believe that the tuition increase will result in students not being able to afford their degrees.

Zielinski — who is from Alberta — came to the U of S because the physics department has the only fusion program in canada.

“The reason I chose the university was based on the research prestige, the people that were working here and the stability,” Zielinski said. “I certainly didn’t think about it as a Walmart institution because the tuition was too low.”

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Rebuttal: “February vs. November: A comparison of mid-term breaks” The November break is both underrated and underappreciated.

Shawna Langer/ Graphics Editor

BRYCE BULGIS

I personally love the November break. Why? Because by that time, midterms are over. Also, finals are still a few weeks away, so there is no need to stress about it yet.

Yes, the end of the term looms, but you still have generally three weeks left of

classes. The time left is plenty enough to address your end of term projects and start thinking about preparing for your finals if they are earlier in the exam period. There’s no need to stress about finals until December — so save your time, and renewed energy thanks to the break, for your end of term projects.

The November break is a

much-needed week of calm, giving students a break to recover from midterm madness before entering the end-of-term insanity. The February break falls flat because of its timing: right smack in the middle of the term. As the author admitted, “we will keep telling ourselves that we’re going to finish the essay that is due af­ ter the break or study for that looming midterm — knowing full well we will not.”

The above quote is exactly why the February break is not the better break. I have fallen into this trap many times, and this most recent break saw me procrastinate with my to-do list more than I care to admit.

Oftentimes, midterms are scheduled the week after the break, but how can one possibly relax when they have midterms to study for during the “break?” The November break carries a smaller chance of having midterms or assign-

ments scheduled the week when you come back. Any end-of-term stuff is probably not happening until the last week of November or first week of December.

Not to mention the fact that we don’t need a break in October. We have only been in school for roughly six weeks.

By then, we still have enough energy and motivation from the summer, nicer weather and Thanksgiving long weekend to get us through.

We can enjoy a week off in early November to recover from the hell that is midterms.

In my first year, I had four midterms scheduled the week after the February break and it was absolutely awful.

Perhaps the February break could actually be a break if professors were mandated to schedule midterms before the break, not after.

This scheduling issue is a common problem that I’ve

A journey towards self-care Have you taken time to yourself lately?

VAIDEHEE LANKE

ng La / er ap hi cs

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14 / OPINIONS

listen to my body. But it’s not as simple as taking care of yourself during days of illness.

That is where self-care, a word which seems to have a fleeting existence on this campus, comes into play.

I’m still trying to figure out how to define self-care in a meaningful way, but I do know that there is a need for it. First, please throw all notions of what self-care is supposed to look like out the window.

It comes in many forms whether it’s a walk in the park or insert in your choice. You need to define it yourself. Self-care is your time. Hopefully this helps you connect with yourself more.

Because the thing about sickness is that it doesn’t come knocking on your door asking for permission to come in. It kicks the door wide open, whether you are expecting it or not and often stays longer than any of us want it to. To rise up to all that life brings, we must take care of ourselves.

Self-care should be something we can openly discuss and ask how our communities, including the university, can better support us in this endeavour.

a wn Sh a

Illness can strike us down before we even get a chance to fight back, and we become increasingly vulnerable to sickness by not making ourselves a priority.

A couple of Tuesdays ago, a freight train hit me out of nowhere. Before I realized it, or wanted to admit it, I was sick.

I complained to myself, my family and anyone that would listen. The complaint wasn’t about the sickness itself, but its arrival.

It had to hit at a time when the semester was in full gear and of great inconvenience to me.

The next few days were full of medications, plenty of rest, soup galore and a healthy supply of Vicks VapoRub. Yet my most pressing concern was not my recovery. That took a back seat compared to all the lectures, study time and school I was missing.

I don’t think I’m alone in this thinking.

Perhaps this mindset has been developing all my life — cooking from the early days of high school — or maybe it is even reflective of the modern, capitalist

society we inhabit. Regardless of the driving force, our lives can often end up looking severely unbalanced with everything from school to work to social life taking priority over self-care.

This inequality rings true for me. During my sick days, I was more worried about how everything in my life was on pause. It even got to the point that one day, my mother and I passionately argued about going to my lab.

In an email to the lab co-ordinator, I used non­ committal language like, “I may potentially not come to the lab.”

But in the end, my mom won. I have to say that future me was thankful despite past me’s protest.

Recovery came a week later after four days of school missed.

I’ve never been more grateful to see the world without a pounding headache. I truly missed the ability to breathe deeply and clearly, without a runny nose or stuffy chest.

Even though I was just another victim to the flu — of which there are many yearly — my experience with sickness left many lessons in its wake. The most obvious lesson was the need to

Ed ito r

heard from students who lament about all the stuff they have to do over the break.

Their classes have pushed everything to the week that they come back instead of having midterms during the first two weeks of February when they should rightfully occur.

The professional colleges cannot implement a week off in term one regardless of when it occur and has nothing to do with the break occurring in November versus October, and it’s merely a consequence of their course schedules and the limited timespan of term one due to the Christmas break.

Perhaps even the rest of us would prefer to be done with classes, and by extension, exams, sooner in term one instead of having that break.

But for now, the November break’s biggest success is the reprieve it gives us from midterm madness, and I think it should be here to stay.

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