Volume 23, Issue 7 — March 2024

The Sputnik,We Orbit Around You.

Volume 23, Issue 7 - March 7, 2024

News, pg. 3

Sports, pg. 4

Arts & Culture, pg. 7

Opinion, pg. 11

The Infinitum, pg. 8-9

THE BELMONT IN ONE MARKET

SUPER BOWL LVIII CHAMPION 2024

“THE OUTSIDERS” IN BRANTFORD

CULTURAL AUTHENTICITY

LADY DAY AND THE DARK DAME

DIFFERENT CULTURES IN A MELTING POT

A TALE OF TWO HEROES WITH A GRAPHIC

THE NEW RESTAURANT IS OPEN TO STUDENTS

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS WIN AGAINST 49ERS

LAURIER’S THEATRE CLUB PUTS ON A SHOW

SPRING THAW The Springtime Issue

UMAYMAH SUHAIL / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The bridge over the Grand River in Brantford.

02

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2024

SPUTNIK_NEWS

WWW.THESPUTNIK.CA

THE SPUTNIK STAFF LEAD OPINION WRITER Jada Phillips

EDITORINCHIEF Umaymah Suhail eic@thesputnik.ca NEWS EDITOR VACANT

INFINITUM EDITOR Tusharika Tyagi infinitum@thesputnik.ca

LEAD NEWS WRITER VACANT

LEAD INFINITUM WRITER Thando Bhebhe

SPORTS EDITOR Celina Shamon sports@thesputnik.ca

PHOTO EDITOR Serena Anagbe photography@thesputnik.ca

LEAD SPORTS WRITER Mitchell Hartman

WEB MANAGER VACANT

ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Alexa Ford arts@thesputnik.ca

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Sathyashini Suresh social@thesputnik.ca

LEAD ARTS & CULTURE WRITER Sienna Bilancia

VIDEO EDITOR VACANT

OPINION EDITOR Mitchell Baldwin opinion@thesputnik.ca

SENIOR COPY EDITOR Victoria Blagdon copyeditor@thesputnik.ca

WLUSP ADMINISTRATION EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Aaron Waitson ed@wlusp.com

BRANTFORD MANAGER OF OPERATIONS VACANT

PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER Serena Austin president@wlusp.com

HR MANAGER Lia McGinnis hr@wlusp.com

FINANCE MANAGER Randy Moore randy@rcmbrooks.com

WEB MANAGER Sam Nabi web@wlusp.com

ADVERTISING MANAGER Kurtis Rideout ads@wlusp.com

BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIR Serena Austin

TREASURER Madalyn Mostascci

VICECHAIR Jacob Rice

COMMUNITY DIRECTOR Rosalind Horne

STUDENT DIRECTOR Jack Vrolyk

COMMUNITY DIRECTOR Shelby Blackley

SECRETARY Maryka Van Wyngaarden

CONTRIBUTORS Olga Steblyk Bachir Miloudi Karen Savoy Katie Bird

Piper Force Ayse Aras Connor Pilger Mackenzie Morrison

Hasna Isase Niyati Pancholi

ADVERTISING All advertising inquiries can be directed to Kurtis Rideout at kurtis.rideout@wlusp.com.

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THE.SPUTNIK

Editor’s Note: Am I proud to be a Canadian?

UMAYMAH SUHAIL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

If you had asked me one year ago, I would have told you that I am a proud Canadian. I was born and raised in this country. This is where I study, work and get together with my friends, family and peers. This is the only place where I know my way around, physically, culturally and politically, and I can comfortably call this nation my home.

But this year, I am finding it harder and harder to maintain this sentiment, especially as I scroll through news articles and more Instagram posts presenting the brutal reality of the people currently in Gaza. I hear gut-wrenching stories from my Palestinian friends about their family members overseas, while the Canadian government idly stands by.

Samar Alkhdour is a Palestinian mother living in Canada. Her 13-year-old daughter, Jana, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and was living in Gaza with Alkhdour’s in-laws, according to CBC. For the past several years, Alkhdour has been dealing with her daughter’s immigration process to Canada so Jana can live with her mother safely.

The Global Affairs Department finally approved Jana’s application in January — but they were two weeks too late.

She already died from malnutrition and a lack of medicine in Gaza since the Israeli government is intentionally

withholding supplies.

This isn’t the first time Canada refused to step in while they could.

Last year, the Manitoba government refused to search landfills for remains of missing Indigenous women allegedly victim to a serial killer, even when there were numerous repeated calls for action nation-wide and report after report confirming the search’s physical and financial feasibility. Considering Canada’s ongoing mistreatment of Indigenous Peoples after the recent discovery of mass unmarked graves outside residential schools, the traumatizing displacement of generations of children and the closure of the last residential school just in 1996, this is a highly neglectful and disturbing move.

This is a recurring theme throughout Canadian history. In 1942, Canada housed Japanese internment camps “in the name of national security” and only formally apologized with an offer of compensation in 1988. And up until 1923, Chinese immigrants paid a head tax when they entered the country — a policy that did not apply to Europeans.

It is horrendous to compare tragedies, however, it’s also important to note the way certain struggles are viewed differently than others in Canada. For example, the Canadian government was quick to send aid to Ukraine when Russia first illegally invaded the country in 2022, including $4 billion in military assistance. Canada continues to send aid to

Ukraine to help it “stabilize its economy.”

After the trial in the International Court of Justice where South Africa brought forth genocide allegations against Israel, I wondered how proud South Africans must be that their country recognizes injustice and does not hesitate to address it, at least in this case. Throughout the legal process, South Africans referred to their own previous apartheid laws, which were adopted from the Indian Act in Canada. Now, Nicaragua is filing a case against Germany for contributing to the genocide of the Palestinian people. The court dates are undecided, but at times like this, my disappointment in my home country grows deeper and deeper.

“Support for the process and the institution does not mean, per se, that we support the premise of the issue brought forward by South Africa,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in January about the ICJ. Shame might be a better description. I am ashamed of our poor leadership and incompetence to learn from our cruel, racist history. I am ashamed that I cannot be proud of a country that was founded on immigration because it fails to respect and value human life — unless those lives are white, of course. I am ashamed of our cowardly hesitation to take a stand and act quickly in recognizing and rectifying inhumane treatment or war crimes.

Why aren’t you?

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2024

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THE SPUTNIK  NEWS

ACTIVISIM

Police killing renews calls to defund police in Waterloo Schizophrenic Black man shot and killed by police after family called for help during mental health crisis

SERENA AUSTIN PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER

On Friday, Feb. 23, protestors gathered in front of the Waterloo Regional Police Services headquarters in solidarity with Nicholas Nembhard, a schizophrenic Black man who was killed by an officer just days earlier.

According to the Special Investigations Unit, which is responsible for investigating police involved deaths, injuries and shootings in Ontario, WRPS were called to a home on Brybeck Crescent in Kitchener for a disturbance call around 9 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 19. In a release published the next day, the SIU said, “Upon arriving at the scene, officers encountered a man holding an edged weapon. There was an interaction, and one officer discharged his firearm. The man was struck.”

The man, 31-year-old Nem-

bhard, was then taken to the hospital where he died due to his injuries.

In interviews with CBC, Nembhard’s brothers said he was experiencing a mental health crisis, and they called the police to help him.

“If we knew they were going to do this to Nicolas we would have never called the cops for that,” said Nicholas’ brother Mario, who was at the home when police arrived.

Nembhard’s death has renewed calls to defund and abolish the police in the region.

“We need to, as a community, respond in outrage [to police violence],” said Jacara Droog, a social worker and organizer with Fight Back KW and GroundUpWR, at the protest.

Along with defunding and abolishing the WRPS, the other calls to action that came with the protest were refunding the community and stopping police from responding to mental health crisis calls.

“Increased police budgets make no difference in the sup-

port and the care of people in our community,” said Ann Marie Beals, an assistant professor in the community psychology program at Wilfrid Laurier University. “And the amount of Black and Indigenous people who are gunned down by the police is increasing.”

A University of Toronto study released at the end of 2023 found that police budgets have little to do with crime rates across the country and more specifically, increases to police budgets haven’t led to lower crime rates.

In 2024, the WRPS saw a $13.4 million dollar increase to their budget from last year, adding up to $252.4 million, making it the second-largest portion of the regional budget. In 2023, more than $200 million of the WRPS’ funding came from property taxes.

“The police’s job was to catch people who ran away,” said Beals, referring to slave patrols and the RCMP, whose earliest job was to forcibly remove Indigenous peoples from their land and onto reserves. “It just has morphed

SERENA AUSTIN / PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER

Protestors show support for Nicholas Nembhard outside WRPS Central Division.

into another form of oppression, using police brutality and using

the carceral system. ‘We can’t kill you, so we’ll lock you away.’”

CAMPUS

New SU restaurant opens in One Market Laurier Brantford students finally have a place on campus to grab hot meals in between classes PIPER FORCE NEWS WRITER

The Belmont restaurant recently opened on Wilfrid Laurier University’s Brantford campus as a new one-stop-shop for students to grab coffee and food while on the go to class.

Laurier’s new restaurant officially opened for business in January. The establishment is located in the One Market building. Students will find it beside the Market St. and Dalhousie St. entrance. The Belmont operates Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Students’ Union owns the restaurant and carried out the production of the project.

“We’re super grateful now that it is up and running,” said Megan Spenler, president and CEO of the undergraduate Students’ Union. “It’s been very popular from what we’ve heard and seen.”

Laurier’s Belmont only took about three months to set up. The

SERENA ANAGBE / PHOTO EDITOR

The Belmont restaurant in One Market.

Students’ Union team used the original layout of the previous Williams Fresh Café that was in its place until May 31, 2019. The updates including the installment of sinks and other machinery began in November 2023, followed by a fresh coat of paint and design adjustments in December, leading to the opening at the start of the new year.

The menu for The Belmont began with simply coffee and

muffins. It has expanded in its first month alone to also serve breakfast items, wraps, salads, sandwiches, soups, lunch boxes and shareable appetizers.

Spenler said the Students’ Union and The Belmont staff are content with the menu as is and the current options available, but there is possibility for more expansion.

“Going forward, I’m sure we’ll be looking to expand to more

dietary restriction options,” said Spenler, referring to more gluten free and halal choices.

The Belmont currently carries a Sysco Halal certified butter chicken wrap available along with a butter chicken box for Muslim students looking for more food options. The staff at the Belmont will sanitize and take all precautions needed upon request for students with dietary restrictions.

The Belmont has recently also made online ordering available to customers for easy pickup when in a rush.

“I don’t think a lot of students know that,” said Michelle Finch, a staff member at The Belmont.

Finch also said the restaurant hopes to expand its hours to run until 8 p.m. to make it more accessible to students.

The restaurant was given its name after the old Belmont hotel which previously occupied part of the space where Laurier’s Grand River Hall is currently housed.

The Belmont is only one part of future developments in One Market. The university hopes to continue developments by implementing more common space, food choices and even retail options, such as a new location for The Hawk Shop in the downtown core of the city.

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2024

THE SPUTNIK · SPORTS

04

NFL

Kansas City Chiefs win Super Bowl LVIII The 2024 Super Bowl champions beat the San Francisco 49ers

MITCHELL HARTMAN LEAD SPORTS WRITER

For the first time since the 2004 season, a team has won the Super Bowl in back-to-back years.

In a thrilling back-and-forth game, the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl for the second straight year, the third time in five years and the fourth time as a franchise.

The game was a rematch of the 2019 event and had the same outcome, with the Chiefs taking down the San Francisco 49ers. The final score was 25-22, with the game ending in overtime for just the second time in Super Bowl history.

Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes was awarded Super

Bowl MVP for the third time in his career, which ranks him second all-time in NFL history, just behind Tom Brady, who has won the award five times.

“Leading into this game there wasn’t too much excitement from fans but I felt like it lived up to my expectations,” said second-year psychology student Owen Shantz, who’s a lifelong fan of the NFL. “You can’t go wrong with an overtime game and a Mahomes comeback.”

While the game was entertaining, many football fans were hoping for different teams to be in the Super Bowl, as the Chiefs and 49ers played each other only a few years prior and the Chiefs themselves have now played in four of the last five Super Bowls.

On top of this, fan favourite Baltimore Ravens and underdogs Detroit Lions were eliminated from the NFL play-offs just one round

before the Super Bowl.

“My ideal match-up would’ve been the Lions against the Ravens, [it was] really tough watching the Lions get beat the way they did,” said Ian Chamberlain, a third-year criminology student and NFL fan.

With the NFL season now to a close, all eyes turn to next year, where the Kansas City Chiefs have a chance to win three straight Super Bowls, which no team has ever accomplished, not even Tom Brady’s New England Patriots.

“It’s really early to predict… but I think the Ravens vs 49ers is the most likely matchup, but I think the Rams, Seahawks and Texans could make it as a dark horse,” said Shantz when discussing the next Super Bowl champion.

“My Super Bowl prediction for 2025, it’s got to be the Dolphins vs.

Eagles,” said Chamberlain about the next NFL season.

According to DraftKings, the

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO / MICHAEL OWENS

The Super Bowl LVIII stadium 2024.

49ers, Chiefs, Ravens and Buffalo Bills have the highest odds to win next year’s Super Bowl, respectively.

Regardless of who wins next year, the Chiefs and 49ers put on a thrilling game and it will be tough to follow it next February.

FIFA

Will the World Cup revolutionize soccer culture in Canada?

A look into the future of Canadian soccer after hosting the upcoming World Cup AYSE ARAS SPORTS WRITER

FIFA reveals new details about the World Cup soccer games that will be hosted in two Canadian cities, Toronto and Vancouver.

After the FIFA World Cup held in Qatar back in November 2022, there has been anticipation for the next World Cup, which will take place in all three North American countries. Canada will be hosting the World Cup in 2026 for the first time. The games in Canada will be split between Toronto at the BMO Field and the B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver.

“So not only can we run a very successful World Cup in a couple of years, but also it will set the city up for future success when it comes to conventions and conferences and just tourism in general,” said Vancouver mayor Ken Smith in an interview with CBC. Canadians are commonly known for being greater fans of other sports, such as hockey and basketball, while the soccer

audience in Canada stays smaller, although the sport is growing in the country and has increasing

There could be shift in the amount of attention that Canadians give to soccer once the World

it is possible that World Cup 2026 could be revolutionary for soccer culture in Canada and increase the

participation in Canada. The rest of the world is crazy about this sport, which was recorded to have 4 billion fans in 2020, according to statisticsanddata.org.

Cup arrives in Canada for the first time in 2026. Since Canadian culture focuses more on other sports, it is seemingly less likely for people to get into soccer in Canada. Yet,

soccer audience and fandom in the country.

“I’m just excited that teams are coming to Canada. I think this will be a good opportunity for Canada

BACHIR MILOUDI / SPUTNIK PHOTOGRAPHY

to come together and support the teams they want,” said Niyati Pancholi, a second-year digital media and journalism student at Wilfrid Laurier University in Brantford.

“I think it’s amazing. I want to see Jude,” Pancholi said, referring to the English soccer player, Jude Bellingham, who was signed to Real Madrid last June.

With a month of publicizing the World Cup in North America, including 13 games in Canada, there is potential for soccer culture in Canada to expand. With more exposure to soccer or “football”, increasing Canadians will have the opportunity to give this sport a chance. Canadians who have not considered watching soccer before will get to see the exciting and more combative techniques in soccer from around the world, such as in European soccer, which is often more aggressive than the soccer played in Canada.

FIFA World Cup tickets typically sell fast, despite their high prices.

Information on tickets will be available soon on the FIFA website.

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THE SPUTNIK  SPORTS

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2024

INDOOR SOCCER

Laurier Brantford’s indoor soccer teams kick off seasons Golden Hawks are back on the soccer pitch for the 2024 indoor season, with both women’s and men’s teams

SERENA ANAGBE / PHOTO EDITOR

The Laurier Brantford men’s and women’s indoor soccer teams.

MITCHELL HARTMAN LEAD SPORTS WRITER

In late January, Wilfrid Laurier University Brantford’s indoor soccer teams took to the pitch in their first tournament of the season, hosted at the Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan.

Both the men’s and women’s teams used their months of preparation for the opening tournament,

which saw both squads put out a strong effort.

“Even though we didn’t get a win under our belt, I think the team stayed strong from the start all the way to the end,” said Alyssa Mulgrew, a fourth-year forensic psychology student and member of the women’s indoor soccer team.

The opening tournament also gave the women’s team a chance to improve on multiple aspects of their game.

“One of the biggest things we need to work on as a team is our fitness level. We need to be able to move up and down the field as a

unit, support one another and play more of a possession game,” added Mulgrew.

On the men’s side, the team was happy with their effort but unfortunately came out of the tournament without a victory.

“We know what we did well and we know what to improve on, and I think that is most important because we know the problems.

Now, it’s all about working to fix them,” said Jackson Rice, a fourthyear digital media and journalism student and member of the men’s team. “The effort was there, just wasn’t good enough for the first

time and we are ready for the next one.”

On top of improving their overall performance on the turf, both teams hope to use this year’s tournaments to put Laurier Brantford’s indoor soccer program on the map.

“A lot of these teams see us as an easy win...but for this [year], it will be the breakthrough of Laurier Brantford and I can’t wait for it,” said Rice.

“We are hoping to come out quick and strong from the first whistle to last and give it our best fight. We want to show everyone what the Laurier Brantford Varsity

Indoor Soccer team is all about,” said Mulgrew when talking about the team’s upcoming tournaments.

The teams had their second tournament of the season on Feb. 14, again hosted in Vaughan.

The women’s team earned their first draw of the season, tying George Brown College 1-1. The men’s team unfortunately left the tournament with no victories, but played well all day and made the school proud with their efforts.

Both teams will head back to Vaughan on Feb. 28 and March 7 where they will wrap up their seasons.

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THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2O24

THE SPUTNIK  ARTS & CULTURE

BRANTFORD

Welcoming back Jane Goodall

The Sanderson Centre for the Performing arts calls Goodall to Brantford for the second time

SIENNA BILANCIA LEAD ARTS & CULTURE WRITER

On April 8, 2024, the Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts will welcome Jane Goodall back for the second time, thanks to a partnership with the James Hillier Foundation.

The first time that Goodall visited the Sanderson Centre was in 2018. Tickets sold out in a week, which was one of the centre’s fastest times for selling out tickets — until now. The tickets for this year’s upcoming show sold out in only a few hours and the waitlist is already filled.

“One of the things that I love about her is that she is all about taking personal action and encouraging that among people,” said Glenn Brown, the general manager of the Sanderson Centre.

Goodall is a scientist and an activist. Her work with chimpanzees started in 1960 when she first visited the forests of Tanzania. She has been inspired and inspiring since she decided to leave her old life behind to help save the incredible animals she had grown to care for dearly. Goodall has had many scientific discoveries and is an active conservationist. After the amazing response the Brantford community had to her first visit, she is returning to the Sanderson Centre to share her message of hope.

“We gave the public and the students the opportunity to see her again,” said Chuck Beach, the director of the James Hillier Foundation.

The James Hillier Foundation has partnered with the Sanderson Centre for several events and each one has sold out. The foundation was created to honour James Hillier and his legacy of helping Brantford high school students who are looking to go into a career in scientific research by giving

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO / CITY OF BRANTFORD

English primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall.

them scholarships. The process goes through the foundation and the high schools. Beach said the foundation is supplying 350

complimentary tickets to local high school students.

“The great thing about the Hillier Foundation is that they approach

this as less as a foundation for them and more of an opportunity to get students excited about science,” said Brown.

RELATIONSHIP ADVICE

KAREN SAVOY / SPUTNIK PHOTOGRAPHY

ALEXA FORD ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

The following anonymous submission has been modified

for readability.

When I was in Grade 11, I thought it was a really good idea for some reason to join a dating app and lie about my age, so that’s karma. I matched with this guy who drove a nice car and seemed nice. We went to all you can eat sushi, and all was going well until he asked me if I knew what a lizard

person was. I kind of chuckled and I said no, and he proceeded to explain them with fear in his eyes.

I then realized he wasn’t joking anymore, and he genuinely thought they were real as well as accused me of being one. Let’s just say the date was cut short.

Wow! To each his own, but that’s an interesting topic to bring up on

the first date. Unfortunately, a nice car does not cover up the fact that this person has some strong opinions. I also think that Grade 11 is a tad too young for dating apps, so I agree with you that’s some karma, but I hope your dating life since then has been more successful and with less lizard people!

ALEXA FORD / ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

Scan the code to submit your own story!

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2O24

07

THE SPUTNIK · ARTS & CULTURE

CLUBS

The Outsiders comes to Brantford

Laurier Brantford’s theatre club brings S.E Hinton’s work to the stage

SIENNA BILANCIA LEAD ARTS & CULTURE WRITER

Wilfrid Laurier University’s Brantford campus has many clubs and associations; one of them is Laurier’s Theatre Club.

The club is student-run and putting on a production of The Outsiders. Originally, The Outsiders is a book written by S.E. Hinton, which was later turned into a movie. The show will take place on Saturday, March 23 in the Research and Academic Centre West, room RCW002. The show begins at 7 p.m. and the doors open at 6 p.m. This student production is “pay what you can”, meaning it is free admission, but the club will be accepting donations.

“Everyone is really dedicated,” said Sophia Soares, a second-year forensic psychology student and the club’s co-president. “It is nice to have something that is not tied to academic.”

The process of putting on a show like this began with choosing which show the club would be preforming this year back in August.

Then, there were auditions to fill the cast. Of course, no show can work without a crew behind the scenes. Crew members are always

OLGA STEBLYK / SPUTNIK PHOTOGRAPHY

The Laurier Brantford Theatre Club’s cast and crew.

needed to help with tech and sets.

The Theatre Club in Brantford has been around for a few years now. Due to COVID they weren’t able to put on any shows. This year’s show will be the second since the pandemic.

What the co-presidents of the club want is for everyone to feel welcome. Soares said the environ-

ment in the club feels more like a family than anything else.

“We have a really solid community,” said Anna Pieczula, a thirdyear law and society student and the other co-president.

It may be too late to join the cast, but the club is always looking for people to help with tech or building sets. There is a place for every-

one. What the club is looking for is to create a community, a place for people to enjoy and participate in the arts together.

“We have a really good space for people to express themselves through art,” said Pieczula.

The sets are handmade by the members of the club, the costumes are thrifted or also handmade.

The club is the embodiment of the phrase, “use what is available to you”. The reason behind this phrase is because of the limited budget available to the club.

Pieczula encourages Laurier Brantford students to “come and enjoy the show.”

LITERATURE

Springtime reads New reads for the TBR to put a spring in your step!

KATIE BIRD BOOKS IT UP PRESIDENT

Need more book recommendations? Then keep reading as Wilfrid Laurier University’s Brantford Books It Up members have suggested some of their all-time favourite reads!

The first book is better known as a series as it is a combination of five shorter books. The series is the Mindf*ck series by S.T. Abby and it truly will keep you up all night wanting to know more.

This book takes opposites attract to a whole new level as it follows Logan, a profiler for the FBI, as he is trying to catch the serial killer that is leaving bodies all around town. Little does Logan know that the serial killer he is looking for is the same person he shares his bed with. Lana did not expect to fall for Logan, the man trying to save lives

while she takes them. Lana is on a mission though, she is not just any serial killer, she is on a hunt for justice for the people who took from her and left her for dead. She has been training and perfecting her skills so that they don’t see her coming. Will Logan help Lana bring them down one by one? Or will he finally catch his serial killer?

The second book is Magnolia Parks by Jessa Hastings. This book follows beautiful dysfunctional love that will have you cursing the characters you love while also rooting for them despite their bad decisions. This book follows Magnolia Parks and BJ Ballentine, both wealthy London socialites who are meant to be and everyone knows it.

The two are stuck in this toxic love where they are on a roller coaster of love and hurt. Magnolia goes on dates with other people while BJ

retaliates and gets back at her by sleeping with other girls. No matter how hard they try to get over each other, they always find themselves back in each other’s arms. But eventually the thin thread keeping them tethered together will snap as secrets come to light. Magnolia and BJ are questioning how much hurt you can cause the one you love and how many loves you really get in a lifetime.

The third book is Twisted Games

by Ana Huang, which can be read as a stand-alone book but is the second book in the four-book series. The book follows Princess Bridget who, despite being tied down by her duties as a princess, has wanted nothing but freedom and to live her own life. When her older brother abdicates, she is faced with a life of a politically bound marriage and a throne

she never wanted. Rhys Larsen is a grumpy, arrogant and elite bodyguard that will do anything to protect his clients and ensure he never gets emotionally attached.

When he is assigned to protect Princess Bridget von Ascheberg, he finds himself letting her in and breaking down the walls he put up. Their love is forbidden as he is supposed to protect her and she is supposed to rule a kingdom. Are Bridget and Rhys ready to take the

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO / KATIE BIRD

risk of destroying a kingdom and ruining each other for a chance at love?

All three of these books will have you wishing you could read it for the first time again! Each book is from a series you should definitely check out and they are also all written in dual point of view. Make sure to read the trigger warnings for each book before adding to your To Be Read list!

THE SPUTNIK · FEATURES

08

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2024 · 09

SHORT STORY

Lady Day and the Dark Dame A tale of two heroes

THANDO BHEBHE LEAD INFINITUM WRITER

The story I’d been planning to write took me to the Republic of Fauxland, located just off the Eastern coasts of Canada and the United States. The country was a lot like its neighbors; an empire built on slavery, genocide and stolen land. The 21st century would mark another age of prosperity and economic superiority within the Western state, but like its neighbors, it was a very selective prosperity afforded only to its wealthiest individuals. The rest, however, suffer under a new war, the inequality war.

Sodom and Gomorrah were the poster children of economic, political and social inequality and they would be the centrepiece of my masterpiece.

It was a jarring experience walking on their streets. To the West sat Sodom City, nicknamed Devil’s Delight. I could best describe Sodom as a mix of Vegas, Los Angeles and the lustful decadence of the late Roman Empire, with barbarians marching at the gates.

Gomorrah would be the wasteland of barbarians, a gothic city riddled with darkness and gloom. Yet a twisted beauty echoed within the dark.

While Sodom was the Devil’s twisted delights, Gomorrah was the Devil’s Den, in all its shame.

Now that I’d found my setting, within them a tale of parities and disparities prepping, the star of my show revealed herself in the city of lights.

Stars and starlets flashed bright on the time square-esque billboards in downtown Sodom, Billie Holloway’s image singing into a silver vintage mic as jazz age class adorned the songstress. She was everywhere, billboards, ads, movies and practically had a heritage site for the new Sin City attracting admirers galore. I was among the entranced, her siren singing hooking me through her songs. Yet she ascended above all this, becoming more than just a flash of fame, Billie Holloway was a hero, she was Lady Day. “Why did you choose that name?” I asked.

Holloway smiled, her teeth gleaming white. I’d secured every journalist’s dream, being granted exclusive access to an interview with her.

“Billie Holidays has always been my role model, I don’t think there’s anyone I have

more respect for than her. You could say my entire career is plagiarized from her,” Holloway said, laughing.

“Well, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery after all,” I said, trying to win her grace.

“I think I wanted to achieve what Holiday couldn’t, be the Lady Day that she never could.

Songs like Strange Fruit echo a vigilantism that practically killed her career you know; she had the whole FBI on her ass for that. She could’ve played it safe, but no, she took on the goddamn United States of America. That’s who she was, that’s Lady Day! That’s who I wanted to be.”

You remind me of Ying and Yang. For all that is good, there is all that is evil, for every day, there is a night, for Lady Day, there is the Dark Dame, and all are one and the same!

“So, you became a vigilante?”

“Well, in spirit at least.”

Lady Day was Billie Holloway’s heroic alter ego. She’d already captured the world with her celebrity, but unsatisfied, she became the uncaped crusader, roaming the streets of Sodom in hopes of preventing violent ends from violent delights.

A real life friendly neighborhood superhero.

“I wanted to help people, that’s all it’s ever been about!

Black folks were getting lynched in the South and the Lady Day of then chose to use her stage to shine light on such acts. Today we’re facing rampant crime and corruption and extreme levels of inequality. This is what’s driving kids to rob, steal and kill, it’s all survival. Today’s FBI are corrupt politicians and justice systems that prevent the pain by more pain!

Police brutality and violence is at an all-time high. The Lady Day of today needs to stop this, that’s what I’m trying to do.”

“Is that why you don’t kill, your golden rule?”

“The problem isn’t the criminal, rather the system that perpetuates said criminal.”

She spoke just as sweetly as she sang, her cadence eloquent and controlled. This spoke to her blue blood roots.

“Lady Day was also meant to

be more than just a hero. I also wanted her to be a role model, a symbol of a better Sodom!”

This is where Holloway’s halo beamed. Aside from beating the “bad guys”, she’s deeply invested in major charitable endeavors, from schools to healthcare to any and all economic ails.

“I can see the symbol working as most of my projects are publicly funded. People believe in Lady Day and they believe in her mission, and they’re putting their money where their mouth is!”

“Yet challenges still arise...” I probed.

“Of course, charity makes a big difference, but the system remains unchanged. It’s still the same CEOs and politicians running the city and profit is king. It’s the people who are sacrificed.”

“Why don’t you run for office then, like your father? People believe in Lady Day after all, you’ll have support.”

“He was barely a father… and an even worse politician. And yes, I’ll have the people behind me, but not the system.”

“With the people behind you though, you can make your own system… The people are the power after all.”

“That’s not what Lady Day represents, she’s a hero, not a god. Besides, the French people of 1789 thought they were the power, look what that brought them.”

“Liberty, equality and fraternity.”

“Death, fear and chaos, it was a reign of terror!”

“Isn’t that the price of revolution?”

“It is, and it’s one I – one Lady Day, isn’t willing to pay.

Besides... there are other alternatives.”

“Like what, reform? You want to work within the system, be co-opted? I suppose that’s why you’re a vigilante in spirit only,” I said.

I was walking on thin ice, but I needed to build up my next point, introduce the antagonist of my tale.

“Do these criticisms sound familiar?” I asked.

“Of course,” she said, smiling without any resistance nor will, almost a knee-jerk glee.

I was alluding to Lady Day’s arch nemesis, another vigilante within the twin cities who went by the name, the Dark Dame.

She almost exclusively operated at night as opposed to Lady’s day. She prowled the ghettos of Gomorrah, yet her deathly reach was felt even in Sodom.

“Your rival has quite the resume, she’s killed and kidnapped those same CEOs and

politicians you can’t touch, bending the system to her very will. Those criminals you don’t kill usually always find themselves back on the streets and despite your rehabilitation programs, many of them return to their lives of crime, perpetuating the same pain you’re so desperate to end. The Dark Dame prevents all that, once and for all.”

“You can say that the Dark Dame is more effective, I’ve heard that before. But do the means justify the ends? She kills people, all people, not just the corrupt politicians and CEOs. What kind of message – what kind of symbol does she represent? It’s one of fear and dread, one of terror!”

“Batman represents fear, yet he’s a pop culture hero, the hero in fact.”

“That’s because he doesn’t kill, he has a code, a line that he doesn’t cross. What’s the Dark Dame’s line? I’ll give you a hint, she has none!”

“You may be right, but her enemy, your enemy, doesn’t have a line either! These governments and corporations, the system, it acts with impunity.”

“I’m on the side of peace and justice.”

“But there is no peace without justice.”

Holloway paused; her smile gone.

“Whether you like it or not, The Dark Dame has become the hero you choose not to be.”

“Hero? She’s a criminal. She has ties to the Halliday Gang, a syndicate that robs, steals, and kills, they even launch prison breaks! They’re the same gang that kidnapped me when I was a child and murdered my father – she murdered my father!”

“Barely a father, one who was riddled with corruption!”

“The point remains. My dad was a lot of things, but not even he deserved to die. No one does.”

“Soldiers kill, yet they’re heroes. She’s waging a war on crime, and the Halliday Gang is the closest thing we have to a real life Robin Hood. Not only do they steal from the system and give to the poor, but they police the criminal underworld as well, doing what the cops could never do. They – she, is doing all she can to have the best outcome for innocents.”

“She plays judge, jury and executioner, and the people may feel like she’s a hero, but they said the same thing about Robespierre and his gang of Jacobins. How did that end?

He was killed by his very own guillotine!”

Holloway flexed her intellect, seeing it as a strength,

but to many, it revealed an out-of-touchiness. While Gomorrah’s dame was shrouded in darkness, what little was known of her was that she’d been an orphan, abandoned and raised by the wolves of the Halliday Gang. She understood how the real world worked.

And there was Lady Day, shimmering in privilege, adorned in white, guarded by only a shield, her face bare for all to see in the warm light of day.

“Systems of white supremacy, patriarchy and political and economic colonization did not have lines, that’s why they won.

You won’t dismantle them by wearing gloves.”

“Yet the road to hell is paved with good intentions, all power must be checked!”

I chuckled, the pieces finally in place.

“You know, it’s quite funny.”

“What is?” Holloway said, a wavering smile slipping.

“You are the Dark Dame’s line, the check to her power.”

Holloway paused, watching.

“I mean, think about it. At the end of the day you all want the same thing. She represents fear and dread, bending the system to her will, and you represent hope and goodness, inspiring the system. You two actually have more of a symbiotic relationship when you think about it some more. She gets dirty, so you stay clean. You’re the hero we want and she’s the hero we need…”

Holloway gave up smiling, an intense glare shooting, desperate to restrain.

“I always found it funny that despite you two being bitter rivals, you’ve never actually faced off with one another...”

I then tapped my phone on the desk between us, going off the record. There was a reason why I had secured this interview.

It was because I knew something no one else did. Sodom was a house of cards, an empire built on lies, a scintillating oasis that glimmered in the desert distance. But I knew it was all a mirage, I knew Billie Holloway’s secret.

“I don’t know how you did it, but I’m impressed. You know what you remind me of? You remind me of Ying and Yang.

For all that is good, there is all that is evil, for every day, there is a night, for Lady Day, there is the Dark Dame, and all are one and the same!”

Holloway’s slight smile gave her away. I now looked at her with new eyes, Clark Kent’s glasses finally falling off.

“I have so many more questions...” I said, a tale of two heroes at hand.

THANDO BHEBHE / LEAD INFINITUM WRITER

10

THE SPUTNIK · ARTS & CULTURE

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2O24

CAMPUS

Annual St. Patrick’s Day parties return Celebrations expected to be the party of the year again

ALEXA FORD ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

Now that the month of love is over with, students have to prepare for the upcoming daunting event that is St. Patrick’s Day at Wilfrid Laurier University. Official St. Patrick’s Day is on Sunday, March 17, and Laurier is known across the nation for hosting one of the most

energetic block parties seen on campuses.

The party usually begins on Ezra Avenue in Waterloo and eventually spills over to other surrounding neighbourhoods in downtown.

Students from both Laurier and University of Waterloo join to celebrate from the wee hours of the morning until well into the evening. This block party is seen by many students to help let off steam in the midst of a hectic exam season.

Usually, there is copious amounts of alcohol consumed and

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO / ABBEY KILNER

Laurier students celebrating dressed up in St. Patrick’s Day attire.

the university encourages students to be safe and responsible on this day. An official statement from the university says, “The safety of our community safety is our highest priority. As students, you are expected to engage in safe, responsible and respectful conduct.”

During the parties, there are university staff and local authorities present to ensure everyone is being safe and no one is seriously hurt.

The crowds can get quite large and it is easy to get lost in the sea of drunken students.

Green and gold clad women and men will flood through the streets of Waterloo all day travelling from house party to party until they eventually end up at the block party. The official date for Laurier’s party has not been decided yet, the process of choosing this is determined by the students and an Instagram account, Canadian Party Life. Every year a poll is put on their Instagram and students can decide which days each university will celebrate. This is done so that if students want to go to multiple parties, they can.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO / ABBEY KILNER

A Laurier St. Patrick’s Day street party at full capacity.

“That I could go to the best restaurant in the world, Central.”

If you could catch a leprechaun and make one wish, what would it be?

– Cristobal Olaechea, second-year psychology student

“For Palestine to be free.”

“To go on vacation to Greece.”

“To eliminate poverty and make everyone rich.”

– Tammana Desilva, second-year criminology student

– Cecilia Toms, third-year social work student

– Emily Minuk, fourth-year social work student

THE SPUTNIK · OPINION

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2024

11

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

The modern decision maker

Why modernizing the legal system with AI is a bad idea

JADA PHILLIPS LEAD OPINION WRITER

i Jeffrey Ewert was an inmate serving two concurrent life sentences following his conviction of murder and attempted murder in 1984. In assessing his risk of reoffending, the Correctional Service of Canada used inapplicable data to help make decisions about his case. i The Correctional Service of Canada frequently uses a variety of statistical databases to make decisions in the criminal justice system, such as making determinations on bail, sentencing or conditions of sentences. A computerized legal system is not some far away futuristic fantasy.

The new horizon of the legal system is one that is digitized. i In a directive, the government has stated their commitment to deploying automated decision systems will lead “to more

efficient, accurate, consistent and interpretable decisions made pursuant to Canadian law.”

Humans are inherently irrational beings that make unreasonable decisions every day. AI could be the solution that remedies any discrepancies or unfairness in the justice system. i Ewert is a Métis man. The assessment program used to generate his chance of reoffending was developed and tested on predominantly non-Indigenous populations with no research that substantiates that the rates were

NIYATI PANCHOLI / SPUTNIK PHOTOGRAPHY AI as a danger to security.

consistent when the offender was Indigenous. i AI, though efficient and accurate, is still a man-made creation.

AI algorithms are designed to emulate human intelligence through human imputed data and functions. If AI is biased at the point of its creation, then it is trained to perpetuate the very biases it seeks to avoid. If predictive policing tools are developed with data which has marginalized groups overrepresented, then it

is bound to reinforce patterns of racist policing practices. i Administrative justice concerns itself with how decisions are made. Decisions are only valid if they are reasonable. In the case of Canada v. Vavilov, it was outlined that reasonable decisions are made only through a “coherent and rational chain of analysis” that is “justified in relation to the facts and law” of the case. A decision that was made reasonably would feature elements of “justification, transparency and intelligibility.” i To decide if a decision was reasonable in the first place would require that the reasons for a decision are known. There is a reason why judges carefully craft long elaborate explanations for the reasoning of their decision.

Decisions are meant to be scrutinized to ensure that the fundamentals principles of the justice system are being upheld and that decision makers are accountable to the public. i The same transparency does not currently exist at present for AI systems used in the legal

system. Analyzing the coding, the data imputed and requiring AI to explain the reasons for their results would defeat the purposes for their introduction in the first place. That doesn’t mean that AI should be trusted blindly. It should be able to be scrutinized to the same degree as any decision maker in the justice system. i Nye Thomas, the executive director of the Law Commission of Ontario highlighted this point by saying, “Regulators, the legal profession, judges, governments, and civil society organizations will have to think about how the technology can be used most effectively and appropriately.” i The future of the world is digital. To not modernize the legal system is to ignore the current reality of the world. AI could be revolutionary in altering the legal system, but a degree of caution should be used instead of welcoming it with open arms.

The true issue is not with the AI itself, but the accountability for the creation, implementation and consequences of its use.

SOCIETY

Cultural authenticity in homogenized spaces Representing your culture in a melting pot HASNA ISASE OPINION WRITER i When I moved to Brantford for my studies, I found myself in a place with little diversity and opportunities for communal cultural experiences. A feeling that’s not talked about enough among students is the feeling of cultural isolation when being introduced to a new environment that does not have many spaces to share similar interests, language or traditions. i The City of Brantford itself has many attractions but there’s not a large variety of communities to integrate yourself with. How do students find a sense of security in homogenized spaces? Being a person of colour, there’s a shared understanding that westernization tends to suppress our ability to express culture or find a similar group to share it with. In slang terms, people can become more “whitewashed” or hesitant to maybe speak their native lan-

guage, cook traditional meals or shy away from experiences out of embarrassment. i A good example of accepting culture and bringing it into western spaces is a current NFL football player, Jeremiah OwusuKoramoah. He plays for the Clevland Browns and became popular on social media for wearing Ghanaian dress on his game days. The NFL is known as a traditionally white American symbol and in Jeremiah bringing in his cultural differences and leaning into his community, that unbridled choice of expression works to open conversations of forms of assimilation. More importantly, it creates an understanding that culture is not threatening, it’s authentic and holds its strength on its own. i While culture can hold strength through tradition and history, it continues to do so when newer generations bring it into a modern setting. The pro-

cess of connecting to your culture helps expression and authenticity come through in areas that feel heavily restricting. That can be wearing certain clothes at school versus being at home, code-switching or changing the food you eat in public. There’s many ways shame can form and further damage someone’s mental health over time. i The philosopher and political activist Edward Said discussed how the world has been set up to make people assimilate or feel isolated in their culture differences. His idea of Otherness in his work, Orientalism, explores how the Orient/Other is a western tool to maintain power whether it be culturally, institutionally or nationally. This concept is popular in academic literature and has been applied to different generations. i While his work is in a global context and I am exploring a narrow experience, aspects of

the other tend to bleed into regular life. It’s important for those who are deeply connected to their culture to find ways to lean into their traditions even if there’s not a lot of options in your area. Whether that be wearing cultural clothing or jewelry, surrounding yourself with specific literature and music, finding communities online and

OLGA STEBLYK / SPUTNIK PHOTOGRAPHY

so forth. i I found myself stepping away from my culture at certain times when I moved and I assumed many other people had similar struggles worth writing about.

I soon realized it’s irreproachable authenticity that allows for cultural expression.

THE SPUTNIK · OPINION

12

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2024

INFRASTRUCTURE

Why car-centric urban planning sucks How car-based infrastructure is bad for residents

JADA PHILLIPS LEAD OPINION WRITER

i During the 20th century, the transportation system completely changed life as we knew it. Gone were the days of horse-drawn carriages, streetcars or walking.

Instead, there was a new darling entering the scene. By 1953, almost 80 per cent of travel was done by automobile.

The rise of the automobile age ushered in better economic standards, more job opportunities and increased productivity.

Cars became the glue that held together the modern capitalist society even to this very day.

I have never owned a car. I don’t want the responsibility of maintaining one and as a student,

my funds are limited when it comes to paying for insurance or winter tires. This means I rely on public transit or walking to get to where I need to be.

I don’t mind walking around the city or riding the bus. Oftentimes, it is a welcome reprieve where I can catch up on an audiobook or people-watch as a daily source of entertainment.

I can’t say that my walks through the city or the bus rides to campus are completely idyllic journeys. Based on a 2016 census, data suggests that those taking public transport take 53 per cent longer on their commute than those who drive. This does not even account for the time it takes to get to the public transportation in the first place. If you live in larger metropolitan areas such as Toronto, there are TTC stops or stations in nearly every neighborhood. Data from Statistics Canada suggests that on average, 56 per

cent of the population in towns with under 500,000 people live within 500 meters of a publica transport stop.

Isn’t that supposed to be the point at the end of the day? Cities should be designed with their inhabitants in mind, not their Honda Civics. The roaring success of the automobile industry has left little room for anything else in urban planning. If there is one thing you need for certain in Canada, it’s a car. Canada’s cities are the furthest thing away from walkable, with amenities such as grocery stores or schools being kilometers apart.

Canada’s urban planning is designed with the car in mind.

The infrastructure and the roads almost entirely cater towards the use of private vehicles. This is evidenced through the sprawling highway systems and parking lots the size of football fields commonplace in any major Canadian

city.

This prioritization of cars has led to a range of complex health, social and environmental impacts. Car-centric cities has caused poorer health outcomes with the rise of illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, increased use of fossil fuels, social isolation, pollution and exacerbate wealth inequalities by limiting opportunities for those without cars.

A shift away from car-centric city design is the necessary next step that all cities across Canada should take. There is an obvious need for the use of cars. They are convenient and make getting around far easier than being without them. However, there is an opportunity to allow people to dictate the building of cities. It

SERENA ANAGBE / PHOTO EDITOR Cars on a highway.

shouldn’t be a radical idea to be able to get to where I need to go without a car.

Similar sentiments have even been shared by the City of Brantford. The city developed the Transportation Master Plan which aims to address “transit service improvement/enhancements to promote increased transit use and the provision of active mode infrastructure to promote increased cycling and walking.”

While the 20th century marked the dawn of the automobile, the 21st century can be marked with the rise of sustainable, equitable and community-focused urban design.

SOCIETY

A case for community gardens Building gardens to hold the world together

MITCHELL BALDWIN OPINION EDITOR

i Actions are influenced by the actor’s environment. The social composition of resources, the community ties they have, what opportunities will be present in the future. All these factors, as well as many more, all contribute to the development of social attitudes, such as criminality. i These factors present several issues when being addressed, such as how do we attack poverty while operating in a winner-loser economic system?

How do we provide housing for the vulnerable when the average person struggles to pay rent?

How do we do anything at all when the game has been fundamentally rigged against us?

Simple: We get creative. i When you’re staring down the barrel of global extinction, solutions may be sparse and dis-

parate. However, Environmental Criminology purports to address issues in the construction of environment to address antisocial behaviours, such as crime. One aspect to this line of thought is that by making residents more individually responsible for their environment, crime rates will decrease. i While this is great to know, what exactly does it have to do with plants? i Compared to buildings and expansive social programs, plants are cheap. They are a cheap means to get the proverbial ball rolling towards a cohesive community. Community gardens present an opportunity to bring people together in a common, non-political and non-economic cause. After all, who wouldn’t want their neighbourhood to look pretty or to have next to free food to eat? i The concept of community gardens is not new to Brantford.

The city already has a community garden program designed to help engage the community to group activities. As of writing

this, there are 14 gardens in Brantford, with residents being able to submit a message to the city to request more locations. i The ability to erect more communal green spaces is important, not only because of how it could bring together members of the community, but it serves to help address food shortages in communities and helps to educate local citizens in ecology. With a looming climate crisis that threatens to

make crop growth increasingly unfeasible for every degree increase in global temperature, it is imperative that communities can find a way to strengthen their bonds before the current crises of housing, food, fascism and climate threaten to break community ties altogether from unbearable strain. i One such way this can be done is seen in Stephen Markley’s The Deluge, wherein a social movement known

SERENA ANAGBE / PHOTO EDITOR A bed of flowers.

as A Fierce Blue Fire establish a number of outposts on the continental U.S.A. with the express purpose of educating their communities on sustainable practices, growing food to provide their communities with as well as providing rehabilitation services for drug users. i While it may seem ridiculous to point to a novel as a solution, it is a preferable alternative to the extinction of our species, our hopes, our dreams. This is a crisis which requires creative solutions to overcome the weight of a system that is so far beyond corrupt that it has spiraled out of our control. It is a people’s war for survival. That is the promise of community gardens. Not to simply please the hippie crowd, but to start preparing the average person to survive, endure and persevere in what will undoubtedly be the most challenging years that humanity has ever faced. i With this being said, one question is left. Where are you going to start a garden?

THE SPUTNIK · OPINION

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2024

13

SPACE EXPLORATION

The forgotten frontier Why we should prioritise sending Canadians into space

MITCHELL BALDWIN OPINION EDITOR

Space: The final frontier. We know not where it comes from or where it goes, but it remains the ultimate destination of humankind.

There are few things more cathartic yet exhilarating than gazing upon the stars with your own eyes. The vastness of space, the beauty of planets that lay infinitely beyond our grasp. I don’t think I am alone in feeling a yearning to touch the stars which

have lined the skies of countless nights, to gaze upon planets which surround the infinite dots that the night sky brings.

Space represents the ultimate test for humanity. It tests our resilience, our ability to work together and it dares us to dream bigger. Space exploration is a cause that transcends flags and ideologies. It represents a culmination of all the advancements in science and society. It is the possibility for more than what even our wildest dreams could imagine.

Is this reason enough to turn our collective gaze back to the stars? Should we sit and wait for all of our other problems to resolve themselves before daring

to explore the great unknown?

I don’t think so. The greatest of adventures all come from taking a leap of faith, to blindly rush into the unknown caring not for what detractors may say. As I see it, what greater adventure is there than venturing out in the black abyss of space? You don’t even need to be an astronaut to help.

When U.S. President John F. Kennedy went to the NASA space center in 1962, he came across a janitor and asked him what he was doing. The janitor had said he was helping a man get on the moon. Just by keeping the space centre clean, this janitor helped close a gap that was once thought to be unreachable. It didn’t matter that he wouldn’t be the one to

touch the moon, it didn’t matter that he wasn’t designing the rocket, all that mattered was that it was a team sport and he played his part to cross a boundary that had only ever been dreamt of before.

To touch space is an endeavour that cannot be accomplished by the half-hearted funding of space agencies from what is, frankly, a government so disinterested you wouldn’t be blamed for assuming that none of our elected representatives has ever spent even a single night gazing up at the stars and wondering what secrets and stories this vast black abyss is waiting to share with us.

With this being said, it does not seem like there is much that

any of us can do to change this reality, does it? Wrong. If we want to touch the vastest frontier of exploration that will ever exist again, all we need to do is to call our elected representatives and ask that they develop programs to aid our national space agency, as well as to unilaterally push our international allies to do the same. After all, this is a team effort.

In 50 years, it may matter what flag was put on Mars first. In 150 years, all that will matter is that someone dared to leave our little blue marble to explore horizons that have never been seen with the naked human eye before. All that needs doing is for us all to pick up the phone and ask.

OLGA STEBLYK / SPUTNIK PHOTOGRAPHY

INFINITUM

14

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2024

THE SPUTNIK  INFINITUM

SHORT STORY

I Am: The circle of life The food chain as an endless loop

CONNOR PILGER INFINITUM CONTRIBUTOR

I am a sun. My surface is hot with searing flames. I cast my gaze in all directions, and it is a scorching stare, a fiery regard.

I am a giver of life, yet I am devoid of it. Nothing can live upon or within me and I am alone. I cast my gaze ever outwards, an eternal effort to grant that which I can never have to all that I can see. My eye crashes upon a small orb of blue and green, filtering through its atmosphere upon the trunk of a tree and its manyI am a leaf. A lush display of life, consuming the gentle ca-

ress of the morning light, combining it with the air I take in and the water I drink, fulfilling and nurturing myself. Mother tree brings me the water, the pores on my surface take in the air and the sun brings itself every morning, continuing my life. I shake and ruffle, a disturbance on my cover, a small thing, another green thing, also alive but moving, crawling upon me. Its mouth agape and intentions clear, it rips and tears, pieces of me vanishing intoI am a caterpillar. Many legs, gripping and pulling, chewing the leaf and devouring its sugar, the sweet nectar of life

NIYATI PANCHOLI / SPUTNIK PHOTOGRAPHY

Tree leaves.

for me. I am fat, plump, slow and delicious-looking. My feeding ground is the home of my main predator, so I seek shelter. Under a branch, I latch myself and spin my cocoon.

I prepare to reduce my body to sludge and re-emerge later, crowned as a monarch. But something nudges and crawls along my chrysalis, my hiding home. Not a bird, something smaller, with legs and pincers, and they are many and they are grinding and ripping, cutting through my cocoon; I cannot move, cannot escape. I feel the pincers bite into my flesh and

tear chunks out as they drag me to theirI am an ant. Six legs and a blackened body, pincers and antennae. I hear, feel and smell my thousand brothers and the trails they leave behind. I feel no feelings and my thoughts are barely my own. I am an organic robot, fulfilling the will of my colony. I bring the food to the nest; this piece of half-dissolved flesh picked from the cocoon’s carcass and leave it for the hatchlings to eat. I venture back to the entrance, preparing to follow the scents to more food, more chunks of flesh, but suddenly, I am snared, pulled in, devoured in an instantI am a bear. My coat was black and now streaked with grey, my fur betraying my age and weakness to those around me. I am old and nearing my end. My once powerful body slumped, broken by time. I slurp up more ants from their nest, filling my frail body with the last strength I will find in this life. I returned to the lake.

Within this lake, I sleep one final time. I am not alive to feel my body wilt and rot, to feel the insectsI am a fly. My wings buzz and I am off, my belly filled with the waste of an elderly bear. I lay my eggs in the rotting flesh, in the feces in the corner of the cave and the edge of the lake.

My young will live, eating the waste of other creatures and laying their eggs in feces. My eyes see so much of this lake; my young will cover it, inherit it and all the rot and decay around it. But I flew too close to the edge, and the tongue strikes out, strikes true, drags me and devours meI am a toad. Small and brown and spotted, my legs carry me back to my spawn puddle, my filled belly giving me the energy I sorely needed. I am fat with young, and it will be time soon to place their eggs in the spawn puddle. My tongue strikes out, snapping up another fly, more energy for my belly, and I know that before the sun rises again, I will have eggs to nurture, a brood to spawn. I hop towards my home, I can feel the time nearing and I need to be home, to be safe. I hop into the open and now I am the one that is snatched, my perforated form carried off, impaled on a black beak as hungry amber eyes regard me. I am barely in the branch before it throws its head back and I slide, slide down the throat intoI am a crow. As I return to my nest, I let out a satisfied croak, cawing in delight over my filled belly. My children have long since left, and it will

soon be the season for my mate to return so I may bear more eggs and hatchlings. My shining black feathers twitch as I regard my nest and look upon the trinkets and baubles I have gathered, many of them gifted by the noisy dwellers.

Baubles are left out and charms are given, though I always keep the best for myself. Sometimes they leave me food, but today I am filled, so I hope for baubles. I leave my branch and fly several minutes through the air towards where I know they will be waiting, with shiny trinkets and kind sounding noises.

As I approach, I see another flying high, a brown and tan feathered creature, a hunter of crows and a denier of charms.

I swoop low as I near the grey ground, hoping to avoid the hunter’s attention but failing to notice what has escaped my attention as the large, metal, noisy thing I thought I could outrun crushes my side. They stop, scream and shout, but I am gone before I realize there is danger. The smallest resident begs her father, who takes me with a towel and places me in a hole in their garden, and I am remembered.

I am remembered.

I am remembered.

I am remembered for some time, my tomb interring me through the cold months.

When spring comes and seeds are sown, some of these seeds reach out and find me with their roots, my body filling the soil with nutrients. And from my body grows a stalk, then a leaf, then a bloom, then a fruit.

Just a tiny fruit, small and red and filled with seeds of its own, plucked once ripe and taken into a home. And in that home, I am taken and given and once given, I am-

When spring comes and seeds are sown, some of these seeds reach out and find me with their roots, my body filling the soil with nutrients.

I am something new. I am something incredible and wondrous. I am something I have never been before, something I will hopefully be for a very long time and something that I nor anything else could ever be again, for all its wondrousness is singular and unique. Nothing I am now will ever be anyone else ever again.

I am you.

INFINITUM

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2024

THE SPUTNIK  INFINITUM

15

SHORT STORY

My printer’s been acting up lately Love fax — literally MACKENZIE MORRISON INFINITUM CONTRIBUTOR

It as a gift from my older brother back when he was still with us. It’s an OK machine.

It does everything that a printer should do. Lately, it’s just been acting a little weird. Sometimes it’d just print for no reason at all. It always printed the same thing — rows and rows of jumbled text that appeared to lay over each other in a chaos of letters. I have no idea what they said. But one day, the messages started getting clearer.

The text was gradually becoming less jumbled and something readable was starting to form. Eventually, I could make out a few words.

I stood looking at the text in horror.

My whole body felt numb. I lost the ability to breathe. I will not tell you what it said.

TUSHARIKA TYAGI / INFINITUM EDITOR

SHORT STORY

SHORT STORY

Do you like tapioca?

Creepy crawlers in drinks MACKENZIE MORRISON INFINITUM CONTRIBUTOR

BACHIR MILOUDI / SPUTNIK PHOTOGRAPHY

Hands in soil.

The labrynth of life

I’ve never been a fan, personally.

Solids in my liquid? No thank you.

I groaned internally when the barista handed me my drink, tapioca and all. I’m too shy to tell them they got the order wrong, so I just head out.

As I get home, I somehow found a way to drink all the liquid without swallowing any tapioca.

I put the cup down on my counter-top — I’d dispose of the tapioca

later. Guess what I forgot to do that night. I woke up, seeing the cup still on my counter.

The tapioca pearls looked a little different than what I had remembered. They looked almost… hard?

Like they grew some sort of shell.

I took one out of the cup, inspecting it in my hand. Weird. It almost looked like…crack.

A small piece of the pearl breaks open.

Crack.

A long, slender leg pokes out.

Crackcrackcrack.

Some kind of spider-like creature stood in the center of my palm.

CRACKCRACKCRACKCRACKCRACKCRACK. I watched, frozen, as one by one, each of the tapioca pearls began to hatch. The last thing I saw was dozens of spiders crawling towards me at an impossibly fast speed as they scrambled inside my eyes, nose and ears. To this day, I can still feel them crawling around inside my brain.

A look into life as a maze

TUSHARIKA TYAGI INFINITUM EDITOR

Hands dug out from below the surface. Wiggling their way to the top. Dig. Dig. Dig. The woman climbed out of her birthplace.

Grown from the soils of the earth placed in the middle of a maze.

Giant walls of green stood all around her with their imposing stature. She wordlessly looked up towards the sky.

She got to her all fours and began until she reached the wall and learned to support her weight.

Walking while keeping her hand

on the leaves along the walls. It was as if they were whispering into her ears. Leading her someplace.

Then she met someone. Covered in dirt all over stood another.

They reached out to one another and walked together as the maze continued. Until the other one moved to another wall.

Walking and walking, she continued to discover a songbird.

She let go of the wall and chased after the bird. Following it through the maze until she came to a dead end. The bird sat on the top of the wall and tilted its head at her.

Hunger.

She climbed the wall. And for the first time, she saw her way out of the maze. A bit more dangerous. A bit more terrifying, but she was ready to make her way out.

NIYATI PANCHOLI / SPUTNIK PHOTOGRAPHY

Bubble tea.

THE SPUTNIK  INFINITUM

16

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2024

GRAPHIC OF THE MONTH

KAREN SAVOY / SPUTNIK PHOTOGRAPHY