Issue 10, Volume 123

ISSUE 10

XAVERIAN THE WEEKLY xaverian

Thursday Mar 29 2012

Volume 120 Issue 20

EDITORIAL STAFF

Friday, Thursday, February March 21, 13, 2012 2015 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Volume Volume 123 Issue Issue1510 Sean McEvoy121 xw.eic@stfx.ca | (902) 870-9431

OUR STAFF OUR STAFF

PRODUCT ION MANAGER Emma MacPherson EDITOR-IN-CHIEF EDITORS-IN-CHIEF xw.product@stfx.ca

Sean Ron Jeremy McEvoy MANAGING EDITOR xw.eic@stfx.ca Peter North Joe T hibault

NEWS Canadian flag has X connection

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StFX professor Laurie Stanley-Blackwell has direct relations to creator

COPY EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR Alexandra Adams Graham PRODUCT ION Haynes MANAGER xw.copy@stfx.ca

ANGELA MACKENZIE | Senior Reporter

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ARTISTIC COORDINATOR NEWS EDITOR Lindsay ART IST IC COORDINATOR Hatt Lewis Forward xw.news@stfx.ca x2012cdi@stfx.ca Fanny McToaster xw.photo@stfx.ca CULTURE EDITOR Kennedy Murphy COPY EDITOR xw.culture@stfx.ca

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Angela DIST RACTMacKenzie IONS EDITOR

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autonomous.

“The Canadian Flag was a remarkable “coming of age” achievement.” On February 15th 1965 the Canadian flag was first raised on parliament hill. This year marks the 50th anniversary of our flag becoming the symbol for our nation. It’s known worldwide, the two red stripes mark the border of our proud maple leaf. This symbol has not always been around, St. Francis Xavier’s own professor, Laurie Stanley-Blackwell, has direct relations to the creator of the original Flag Design. Her father, George Stanley had known for a while that Canada needed to have a flag separate from the union jack. A flag needed to be created that was “A distinctive expression of [Canada’s] independent Identity.” Stanley-Blackwell states regarding her father’s thoughts.

When creating the idea of this flag Stanley-Blackwell remarks that he was inspired by two powerful images. These images, he thought, stood out as strong Canadian symbols. “The first was the RMC flag, which he saw from his office window every day, standing out vividly against the blue sky and white snow;.” The RMC flag is where he grasped the inspiration for the red borders. The second “Percy William’s Jersey, emblazoned with a maple leaf.”

Percy Williams is a famous Canadian sprinter, he wore this jersey while he was winning at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam. These two symbols came together to create the patriotic flag we see today.

Growing up StanleyBlackwell noticed that her father was proud of his asso-

ciation with the creation of the Canadian Flag. However, it wasn’t all positive reinforcement that he was receiving. There were many veterans who, at the time, believed the flag to be an “outrageous betrayal of the Canadian Ensign and Union Jack.” Some people went as far as calling George Stanley a traitor, his personal and professional life were effected after the flag was created. Some people looked at the flag and viewed it insulting to the RMC flag which had earlier billowed outside his office. In fact, on February 15th 1965 during the flag raising ceremony George Stanley was receiving death threats in Ottawa.

Despite the threats, Stanley and his wife still went to the flag raising ceremony. His wife cried while Stanley stood there filled with pride, looking forward to the fut u r e where the Canadian M a p l e Leaf will

be the national symbol that all Canadians could relate to. “He took satisfaction in the fact that memories of the Union Jack and Canadian Ensign would fade over time in the public consciousness, and the Canadian maple leaf would eventually be the only flag of which Canadians would have first-hand experience.”

Stanley’s satisfaction remained to be seen as the Canadian Flag still remains 50 years after the original announcement. As Canadians, we no longer identify ourselves with the Union Jack, we have our own flag and it’s the only flag that we as a nation have a strong connection with. Flag Day is a significant day in Canada and it should be a moment that all Canadians take to appreciate. The flag is a symbol of how far our independence has come as a country. “Perhaps, it’s fitting that our flag day falls so close to Valentine’s Day. After all, Countries, just as people, need to be loved.” Professor Laurie Stanley-Blackwell Department of History. StFX.

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The Xaverian-Volume 123 Issue 10

NEWS

3

Mrazek survives election appeal Ruling on online content violations validates result of elections LEWIS FORWARD | Features Editor

The StFX Students’ Union certainly has a new Vice President Academic, but an appeal by a member of the electorate lodged on Feb 6 briefly plunged the status of president-elect Troy Mrazek into limbo. Mrazek survived the appeal, and is now the official Students’ Union president for the 2015-2016 academic year.

Mrazek’s 36-vote victory was called into question after an appeal was submitted under the Students’ Union Elections Act. The complaint was not brought forth by another candidate.

Members of the Elections Appeals Committee told the Xaverian that complaints in the appeal contested the result of the election, alleging that there were violations by Mrazek of the Elections Act regarding online campaign content running during the period of open polling.

Mrazek was alleged to have had ads running during the open polling period, which is in contradiction to the act.

Mrazek had purchased Facebook ads to run for the last week of cam-

paigning.

Mrazek told the committee that processing complications prevented him from getting in contact with the US-based company to have his ads removed during the polling period, as the company was slow to respond to his requests.

The ads ran past the campaigning period, and Mrazek was not able to take them down following a request made by the Returning Officers.

The Elections Act itself does not contain provisions for paid online advertisements.

“This was something we’d never dealt with before,” SU Chair Hilary Perry told the Xaverian. “We looked at what the election act had to say about it. As social media evolves, we’re going to be looking at the future of the act.”

Violations of the election act- if determined by the Returning Officers and the Elections Appeals Committee to have had a potential impact on the outcome of the election can result in fines, disqualifications, or in some cases, a repeated election.

The Appeals committee, composed of SU Chair Hilary Perry, SU Deputy Chair Alex Miller, Councillors Alex Gardner and Kieran Murphy, and non-voting member SU GM Sean Ryan met Tuesday night to discuss the allegations.

The committee determined that the alleged violations were acceptable given the circumstances of the delay in removal of the material.

The appeal also contains complaints that the electronic voting system experienced problems - including a seven-minute outage on the first polling day - that may have influenced the results of the election.

David Mattie, a software architect employed by the SU to conduct electronic polling, told the committee that during the period of outage, only four students voted who did not return to vote once the outage has passed.

The committee ruled that the four votes missed were not sufficient to alter the results of the 36-vote difference between Mrazek and the runner up, Isaac Turner.

The effect of the two factors on the results of the election was not, according to the committee, great enough to merit a successful appeal, and the appeal was rejected.

“The appeals process is doing what it’s supposed to. It works the way it should. We have mechanisms in place for things like this,” said Miller.

In the 2011-12 SU presidential and vice presidential elections, President and VP-elect Matt LeMoine and Kathleen Murphy were disqualified after the Elections Appeals Committee ruled that they exceeded the total allowed number of posters, after they printed new posters to replace a set they had printed which contained a spelling error. The committee ruled that printing the posters containing the correction put the two candidates who ran as one slate over the total allowance, resulting in their disqualification.

Mrazek could not be reached for comment in the minutes between the decision and deadline.

Scavenger hunt results in VP ineligbility Erickson appeals four major offences, compared by Student Life to Dal Dentistry and SMU chants LEWIS FORWARD | Features Editor

After a 60-person scavenger hunt was shut down on Jan 17 by residence life staff, one student's planned birthday party is now causing him major a disciplinary headache.

For second-year political science student and former Students' Union Vice President Academic candidate Ryley Erickson's birthday, he and some friends organized a campus-and-Antigonish-wide scavenger hunt, informally called "Rally4Ryley."

Erickson has now been dealt four major offenses, including 'engaging or encouraging in any form of assault, violence, harassment, or threatening behaviour on any person.'

"My intention regarding the event was for everyone to have fun but also be safe," Erickson told the Xaverian. "Every team was warned beforehand that participation was completely voluntary and that no one should be forced to do any items that they didn't want to do."

As a result of the accusations against him, Erickson's VP Academic candidacy privileges were revoked. Erickson said that during his first disciplinary hearing, Student Conduct Coordinator Tyson Ball made comparisons between his event and two major student controversies, the Dalhousie Dentistry Gentleman's Club posts and the SMU Frosh chants.

Erickson is currently appealing the decision, and a hearing date has so far not been set.

Student Life and members of the Disciplinary and Appeals committees cannot comment on any disciplinary cases involving students.

"I understand that residence life is trying to crack down on the drinking culture at StFX, but I believe that their outcomes are

far too serious given the event. I love being a part of the U, especially as one of the sole LGBTQ identifying members, and the outcomes have prevented me from running for a position next year."

According to Erickson, the event was shut down before attendees could complete more than a few clues. The competition was not in full swing by the time it was shut down. The event started at 6:30 PM, and was shut down by Residence Life at 8:55 PM. "None of the clues [Residence Life] would have a problem with were completed by the time it was shut down," said Erickson.

Erickson has also been dealt a “social ban” prohibiting him from attending any student events, including Pride Week, attending events at the Inn, and intramurals before Mar 15. He is also currently on both residence and alcohol probation.

To meet eligibility requirements for candidacy, potential candidates cannot have any outstanding academic or non-academic disciplinary sanctions.

Erickson was featured by the Xaverian as one of the candidates in the election, since he had briefly obtained approval for candidacy before being notified mid-way through his candidate interview with the Xaverian of his ineligibility due to the disciplinary action.

There was some confusion during the initial days of his candidacy, with sources initially indicating he was an "unofficial candidate", pending approval of his candidacy after a document submission deadline passed while Erickson was in the hospital.

Later, the SU Returning Officers confirmed that there were no unofficial candidates, and that Erickson was not a candidate.

This was all before his first disciplinary hearing, which took place on Jan 26, and the subsequent verdict,.

The hunt, which had over 100 attendees confirmed on Facebook, and around 60 participating, had 109 total clues crowd-sourced

by Erickson and other attendees.

Erickson had been compiling clues from participants since mid-November for the event.

On the night of the event, the clues were distributed. A member of each group took a picture of the full list, which was never distributed by Erickson as a paper copy.

The clues ranged from the innocuous (get a picture with security, worth 5 points) to the face-twisting (eat a whole lemon, worth ten points), to the intellectually challenging (solve a Rubik's Cube, worth 25), all the way to the pseudoscientific (collect fifteen strangers' signatures on a petition to ban dihydrogen monoxide, 15 points).

The full list of clues is available on the Xaverian's website.

There were some challenges that included making out with certain students, flirting, getting a picture with Dave Benoit, ordering a McDouble while shirtless, waxing chests, and proposing to strangers. One clue challenged members to have sex on the Oland Stadium X for 100 points.

One clue, that involved visiting each residence, included an addendum which outlined a 300-point penalty for any damage caused in a residence while attempting to complete the task.

The only task that involved an act of violence was "slap someone on your team in a visible place." That slap was worth ten points.

Another, written by an unknown student into document, was for a participant to "be

naked in a stranger's bed when they walk into their room."

Erickson said that this clue slipped through his perception before distribution of the list.

Erickson said that when he considered the more risky clues, he was planning on their completion to be between friends, not unwilling participants.

"The term stranger referred to anyone not involved in the scavenger hunt," said Erickson. "so I assumed that most people would complete the items with their friends.

Beyond the accusation of encouragement of harassment, Erickson was found to have “acted in a manner that would endanger the health and or safety of any member of the University community” and the university also determined that he was “causing a disturbance, which, for any reason disrupts the good order of the University community.”

Finally, Erickson was found in conflict of the Community Code for “organizing or participating in an unauthorized event”, which is a major offence according to the StFX Community code.

Few of the clues could be completed before the event was shut down by RLC Maureen McEwan at 8:55 PM, when MacEwan visited MacPherson to speak with Erickson and the VP of MacPherson, Taylor Chase.

Within minutes of being instructed to do so by McEwan, Chase and Erickson shut down the event and provided a list of challenges to residence life staff.

Erickson was notified in writing by Student Conduct Coordinator Tyson Ball of the instances in which he was in conflict with the community code. He was later sent an outcome letter detailing the decision.

4 NEWS

Friday, February 13, 2015-The Xaverian

Antigonish Review gets a wake up call Presidential Task Force calls into question worth of literary journal RACHEL REVOY | Senior Reporter

For 45 years, The Antigonish Review has been an outlet for local literature produced by Canadian writers. This literary journal is affiliated with StFX as the university is one of the journal’s major supporters. After the Presidential Task Force labeled the review as unsustainable, the future of this literary journal is going to be nothing but positive as the staff who work to keep the journal alive

strive to rebuild a connection between the review and StFX. “I doubt very much that the [Presidential Task Force] report is going to lead to the demise of the review. I don’t think people are chomping at the bit to shut it down. We see it as a wake up call,” says the Editor of The Antigonish Review, Gerald Trites.

The Presidential task force was released in October of last

semester, with the aim of labeling StFX programs as either sustainable or unsustainable in order to keep a high quality of programs offers at the univeristy. Unsustainable programs are meant to be reviewed by the presidential task force council to see if they can be altered in order to fit the set criteria, or if they need to be demolished. According to the StFX website, the task force is

designed to minimize unnecessary investments that are thought to be non-beneficial to students. The analysis that took place rated the economic and social value of each program. Ultimately the Antigonish Review was one of the programs redeemed unsustainable.

In response to the Presidential Task Force results, local writer and past English Professor Sheldon C u r r i e w r o t e about the i m p o r tance of the review and the function of the review as a literary journal.

“The Antigonish Review became a target even after it became one of the most prestigious literary reviews in the country and was a starting point for now wellk n o w n writers in Canada, United States, England and Australia .

Present day literary stars from Canada and elsewhere published their early work in the Review, for example, Alistair MacL eod, David Adams Richa r d s , George Ell i o t t Clarke, Roh i n t o n Mi s t ry, C a r o l Shields, Lynn Coady, Leo MacKay

Annie Dillard, Wayne Johnson,” writes Sheldon Currie in his written response to the presidential task force result of unsustainability.

The Antigonish Review originated in 1970 as a local literary review for aspiring creative writers. The review has never intended to become popular on StFX campus, although the intended purpose of the review is to allow English professors, community members, and student writers to have an outlet for creative writing.

“It’s an effort where the objective of the journal is to help emerging writers to get published, to promote Canadian literature in Atlantic Canada, to be of assistance in developing the literary community. So it’s not the kind of thing where you make a lot of money,” says Gerald Trites.

When the task force redeemed The Antigonish Review as unsustainable, this served as a wake up call to allow the journal to change the way they connect with StFX faculty and students. Since the task force results came out in last fall, The Antigonish Review formed an advisory committee to go through with making changes to the journal in order to improve the the quality and connection with campus life. One way to help the journal become more prevalent and popular was to create an electronic version for Kobo, which is currently available for download.

“We have it available now on Kobo, I want to get it into the Apple Istore. We’ll be doing that as soon as we’ve worked out the logistics. That’s an important element because as you know a lot of people are reading their stuff on the ipads and so on these days,” mentions Gerald Trites.

Even though the task force resulted in the The Antigonish Review to be defined as unsustainable, the editors and individuals who work on producing the literary review believe that it will continue to function as an asset to the community.

“We have some of the top writers in Canada who have been published in the review when they started out, because it’s been around for while now, who strongly support it and who feel that it maintains a very high standard of literary quality,” says Gerald Trites on the continuing quality of The Antigonish Review.

For aspiring writers at StFX, you can submit your work through the website TheAntigonishReview.com, or mail your submission to the address provided on the website.

OPINIONS 5

The Xaverian-Volume 123 Issue 10

OPINIONS Finding happily ever after It’s 2015 and love is love, so we should write our own fairytales MARIE WRIGHT | Contributor

Who remembers when they were little and still believed in fairytales?

Snow White, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Twilight… just kidding.

But anyways, the list goes on. From a young age there was a certain feeling and fantasy of how your life is supposed to unfold. As a little girl you hope to be swept away by a handsome prince; as a little boy you slay the dragon and marry the beautiful princess. Whether or not you wanted your life to be as magical as a fairytale, the most important thing was to live happily ever after.

Like all my other friends that were girls, I dated boys throughout junior high and high school. In fact, I dated a guy for 3 years up to my high school graduation. I loved him, but I loved him as a best friend. There was never that feeling of living happily ever.

Reality tends to show up knocking on our doors when we least expect it.

One day, that fantasy of what my life was supposed to be like vanished. I realized the most important thing was to be happy right now instead of focusing on the happily every after that would eventually come along.

My Prince Charming would not be a prince, but instead a princess.

I saw red flags my whole life--and by red flags I really mean big flashing warning signs, the kinds you see at a train crossing. I was never attracted to guys, but I had not come to terms with being attracted to girls.

We grow up in a society with certain social norms and a specific status quo. If our sexualities, preferences, or identities differ from the norm we usually ignore them. Essentially, we choose not to question how we really feel. Prior to university, I did not once doubt my sexuality because of my imbedded vision of marrying a man.

Karen Moning once said, “The most confused we ever get is when we try to convince our heads of something our hearts know is a lie.”

It all really began during my first year at StFX. I lived in TNT and word quickly spread that there was a gay girl in our residence. No one had a problem with it, but it was definitely talked about behind closed doors. I still remember the day I met her at the library and thinking two things: 1. I’m already extremely attracted to her.

2. Shit is going to hit the fan.

After a few months of secretly dating this girl, I found myself in a serious predicament. I still couldn’t admit to myself, let alone others, that I was gay. I lived in a constant state of denial. Eventually I reached out to one of my best friends. One night in particular after a long heart to heart, she told me to put on our favorite song by Sheryl Crowe and listen to it.

“If it makes you happy, it can’t be that bad.”

As with any dilemma, you can seek the advice of others. Go to your

parents, your family, or your peers.

You can surround yourself with trusted advisors and mentors. I think you definitely need that support and guidance in life. But in the end, a decision is always yours and yours alone. The only voice that matters is the one in your head and the voice in my head was telling me something I already knew.

Coming out isn’t easy for anyone, regardless of how accepting or not accepting the people in their lives are. For me the hardest part about the whole process was admitting it to myself. And when I did, there was a feeling of certainty and relief as reality sunk in and denial faded away. It was bittersweet in that I finally realized who I am, but at the same time it meant that it was time to tell everyone else.

I texted my dad one day and told him I needed to tell him something important when he got home from work--that way I sort of trapped myself into it. He knocked on my bedroom door that night and asked what was up. I immediately starting bawling and he quickly said, “What is it?

Are you pregnant?”

I told him, “No dad, the opposite.”

He said, “Did you have an abortion?”

I choked a bit from both laughing and crying at the same time. I took a deep breath and said, “No dad, I’m gay.”

Without hesitation, he said, “Well thank GOD”.

At that moment I thought I couldn’t be more relieved, until I heard the next comment he made. “Marie,” he said, “your mother would be so, so proud of you.” I’ve only seen my dad cry three times in my life--the first was when my mom passed away six years ago, the second was when he dropped me off at StFX in first year, and the third was that moment as he held me and told me he wished my Mom was there to hold me too.

Today as a coordinator for the Get REAL movement here at StFX, I am prouder than ever. Get REAL is a movement of university students across Canada who speak to high schools about unlearning homophobia, and embracing difference in everyone. We are open to any and all who wish to stand up and speak out against discrimination. I wish something like Get REAL came to my junior high, high school, or even StFX during my first year. I think this organization has the ability to open up people’s eyes and help them realize that homophobia is not okay in this day and age. Get REAL is more than a non-profit, and more than an organization; we are a generation of likeminded students who work tirelessly to change homophobic language and attitudes in any way possible. Because after all, it’s 2015 and love is love.

Dating is dead at X

Valentine’s Day? More like rub-it-in-that-I’m-single day

ANGELA MACKENZIE | Senior Reporter

As the winter days drag on, we become painfully aware that Valentine’s Day is just around the corner.

February 14 is a day to celebrate your significant other, meaning those men and women in relationships have a day dedicated exclusively to their no-longer-single status. They go out to dinner, or maybe treat themselves with a couple drinks, or simply spend a quiet evening alone doing whatever couples do behind closed doors. But what about all the singles out there? What do we have to look forward to?

Let’s think back to the simpler times, like the years from elementary school through to high school. Valentine’s Day was about loving all people while secretly waiting for a special Candy Gram from a secret admirer. The mystery helped to keep romance alive for all of the singles out there. Now, where is the mystery

for the singles? The thrill of waiting for that special someone to ask you out, or the anticipation of a Valentine’s Day dinner with your campus crush has seemed to disappear completely, especially at X. Whatever happened to the suspenseful moments leading up to Valentine’s Day? Wondering whether or not someone will ask you out, or making plans with your crush to maybe spark a relationship. This suspense is gone. If someone doesn’t have a date on Valentine’s Day, it’s no big deal--we’ll just go out to Piper’s and find a one-night Valentine.

Hook-up culture has become so common that it seems to have replaced the dating portion of relationships.

Dating services like Tinder and Plenty Of Fish have ruined of the mystery of meeting someone, asking them out, and potentially starting a life together. Asking someone on a

date has been replaced with: “Want to come over, watch a movie, and ‘cuddle’?” No one expects to just “cuddle,” because when two people are attracted to each other sex is expected. The thrill of dating, getting to know the person, and starting a relationship no longer starts with a cup of coffee. Sometimes it starts as friends hooking up, while other times they aren’t even friends first.

Meet someone, have sex with them, then later on see how things go. The thrill of dating is dead.

I think it would be so nice to go back to the middle school version of dating, but without that awkward puberty phase. Meet someone, start to form a crush, and either wait for them to ask you out, or take the risk and ask them out yourself. A couple dinner-dates, nights at the movie theatre, and walks in the park later you might find yourself in a 90s-style

relationship. Nobody is asking, “what are we?”; nobody expects you to leave right after sex; and nobody is calling you for a random booty call at 3 o’clock in the morning.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have the dating scene make a comeback? The suspense, the risk, the happiness, the getting to know someone you really like and starting a meaningful relationship with them. Valentine’s Day demonstrates how dating has devolved. Couples go out and enjoy themselves, but the singles no longer get cutsie Valentine’s cards or secret admirer candy grams. Most of us will go out, get drunk, and end up dancing with an attractive person for the rest of the evening. The wondering if someone will ask you out for Valentine ’s Day--or any day for that matter--is no longer there.

But dont you think it would be nice if it were?

6 OPINIONS

Friday, February 13, 2015-The Xaverian

Words on sexuality: a diatribe Brief thought on sexual identity in the modern context COLTAN THOMPSON | Psychology Columnist

As this year’s Pride Week happily coincides with Valentine’s Day, I’m inclined to share a series of perhaps disjointed thoughts that question common assumptions about sexuality. The relevancy of these considerations extend beyond the LGBTQ community—no majority is definable without its fringe members, after all. There is also little to do with love here. This is intentional: the underlying assumption is that love reigns across categories, and is therefore not of chief concern here. I will touch on five issues, each of which is deserving of a more lengthy consideration: the repression of common bisexual potential, the stain of gay popular culture, the heuristic of the straight assumption, transgender as a minority within a minority, and a somber note on how “coming out” serves as a negative measure of progress.

Bisexual potential: Freud thought a lot of... colourful

things, but they were not all bad, contrary to popular belief. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he did not feel that same-sex attraction was a mental disorder. He believed that all people were essentially bisexual, though this bisexual potential was obviously rarely acted upon.

I have always thought that this idea had merit, partially because it falls in line with modern research into sexual orientations—that is, people naturally vary in the four orientations of heterosexuality/homosexuality/bisexuality/asexuality (lack of sexual attraction to either sex).

Each orientation exists on a spectrum, meaning that no single person is 100% heterosexual, homosexual, evenly bisexual, or asexual.

So what gives? Why do we insist on treating the four sexual orientations as absolute categories? Part of the reason is natural to how we think: humans tend to categorize information rather

strictly for easy use. Yet part of the reason may also be due to how we are socialized. Custom and tradition lags behind new insight into sexual orientations. The bisexual potential is socialized out of us. Before they become “bros,” many a fledgling boy learns to participate in a hyper-masculine gender role, wherein the mere idea of same-sex attraction is alien.

The same is true of women, though the female gender role offers more bisexual latitude according to some research. Even if the same-sex to opposite-sex ratio of attraction is so low in an individual that he or she would never consider a same-sex encounter, many people find the mere thought of a samesex interaction repulsive— evidence of unforgiving socialization at work; for not desiring something is not the same as being disgusted by it.

The stain of gay popular culture: The crudeness of gay popular culture is an insult to us all: the inyour-face, juvenile, attention attention-seeking gays are the ones that make themselves the most noticed, and in my experience turn off even those who otherwise support the LGBTQ community. Popular culture presents a slice of society at large—but gay popular culture, because it is associated with a minority, appears to represent the gay minority to the rest of society.

And gay popular culture does anything but keep it in the bedroom.

How many elder generations know only the obnoxiousness and flamboyancy of pride parades, the real shows that went on in the gay theatres of yesteryear, or the raunchy vibes of gay bars. And the issue isn’t that a gay hook-up culture exists, it is that, to the public eye, a gay hook-up culture is all that exists.

Homosexuality and promiscuity are unfortunately linked concepts for many people, due in part to the loudest and the loosest of the gay community.

The gay minority should look to its own poster-boys (self-elected or accidental) when criticizing anti-gay prejudice: gay popular culture presents a

lewd, skewed image of the gay lifestyle which feeds public misconception and undermines the very respect that the gay minority seeks.

Further, gay popular culture would fight two battles simultaneously: prejudice against homosexuality, and the legitimization of promiscuity as a sexual lifestyle.

The former goal belongs to the gay community at large; the latter is not a gay issue: it is a further outgrowth of the sexual revolution and its attempt to remove the stigma of promiscuity. Combining the two goals into a single agenda only equates homosexuality with promiscuity, perpetuating an untruth and discouraging public respect.

Studies show that knowing someone personally who is gay increases acceptance of gay individuals. No wonder: without the influence of the average gay, the soullessness of gay popular culture is all that people have to go by.

The heuristic of the straight assumption: Some gays, for reasons I have never fully understood, take offence when individuals assume that they are straight. They think that it is rude or presumptuous, like the assumption that every middle-aged woman with children is married. But assuming that someone is straight is entirely reasonable—provided they don’t rock a serious gay voice! Humans regularly employ heuristics, quick cognitive rules-of-thumb that guide judgment and decision-making. Fact is, most people are heterosexual, therefore it is entirely reasonable to assume that someone you meet is heterosexual unless contrary evidence presents itself. End of discussion.

Transgender as a minority within a minority: It is sometimes claimed that LGBTQ advocacy groups focus excessively on the recognition and concerns of the gay community, overlooking transgender and transsexual concerns. This is, I think, a fair charge, but one that is not surprising. Transgender and transsexual individuals are a minority within the minority: if the gay community is an alleged 1%, trans individuals are an even smaller fraction still. It is therefore no wonder that homosexuality, as the majority (that feels funny to say), rules the LGBTQ conversation. This does not mean that ignorance of trans and “queer” concerns are justified, but it is easy to see

why these groups receive less emphasis. Sadly, it is far easier for homosexual individuals to find similar others than it is for transgender or transsexual individuals to find similar others.

“Coming out” as a measurement of progress: Today’s progress in the understanding of sexual orientation is not to be underestimated— er, in the West at least. However, the very fact that “coming out” as gay, bisexual, transgender, etc. is still accompanied by shock, negative reactions, and radical changes in how close others relate to the individual demonstrates how far we still have to go. In particular, the melodrama and emotional turmoil which parents and grandparents go through when a child or grandchild “comes out” continues to be disappointing: some engrained beliefs are difficult to change. While we cannot count on elder, conservative generations to change opinion, we can be confident in the fact that younger generations will eliminate old prejudices as they age. When “coming out,”— making an announcement accompanied by anxiety, fear of judgment, and social repercussions is no longer the rule, then we will have won. When discovering sexual orientation is considered as much a common part of sexual discovery as going through puberty, and being gay doesn’t evoke much attention because it has lost its social “shock value”—rather than the fascination (good or bad) it often receives now. That will be a laudable place indeed.

For anyone having read this far, the old “what does any of this have to do with me?” generator may be kicking in. In a sense I sympathize with such a thought— but I would challenge it. In a hyper-rational society like our own, we like to think that sexuality can fit in a nice, clean, categorical little box like everything else in life.

What makes sexuality so interesting, however, is its far reaching influence in our lives. It may be an atrocious parallel to draw, but just as mental disorders teach us volumes about normal (or typical) psychological functioning, understanding sexual variance instructs us in sexuality itself and allows us to assess the health of our own sexual identity and expression. Oh, its Valentine’s Day, you say? Well in that case, heap on the love ‘n whatnot.

OPINIONS 7

The Xaverian-Volume 123 Issue 10

50 Shades of Consent?

There is no Grey area between the black and white issue of consent CASSIA TREMBLAY AND EMILY MACDONALD | Contributors

Between the two of us, we’ve read only a small fraction of the erotic romance trilogy 50 Shades of Grey.

Those few pages, however, were enough to convince us that we could not and should not continue reading.

The sloppy writing, the questionable content, and overall aggressive were encouragement enough to close the book forever.

There is certainly entertainment value in stories of passionate romance, mysterious men, and forbidden love. While we understand that these novels provide an escape for the reader to another world—being swept away by a handsome young billionaire—we further sympathize with the viewpoint that the narrative glorifies an unhealthy and sometimes dangerous sexual relationship.

Critics argue that these books give women reason to question their selfworth, appearance, sexual-prowess, and to view themselves as ‘prey’.

While we believe that these criticisms are very subjective, there is danger in the popularity of a book with various scenes that glorify sexual harassment and even sexual assault. This could be especially dangerous considering many readers are young women who are in the midst of navigating their own sexual identity and preferences.

The nature of the personal relationship between the protagonists is just that – personal. Christian Grey and Ana Steele are depicted as par-

ticipating in a BDSM relationship.

BDSM is defined as variety of erotic practices involving dominance and submission, roleplaying, restraint, and other interpersonal dynamics.

While the role of the ‘dominant’ and ‘submissive’ partners may vary greatly within BDSM, consent is always essential.

It is none of our business if you’re in a BDSM relationship and it should not be anyone else’s either – as long as it is consensual and you’re practicing with the required safety and trust.

The trilogy goes too far as Christian Grey seeks to control every aspect of Ana’s life. The extent of this control makes it clear that their relationship has stepped outside of the trust and care that define a healthy BDSM relationship.

BDSM has many built-in risk factors. The practice is primarily a mental activity that proceeds by altering the perceptions of power within sexual relationships; therefore many of the risks involved are related to mental health. Risks almost always result from an abuse of the submissive’s trust. This abuse of trust may result in a dominant becoming physically or mentally abusive, the degradation of the submissive’s self-worth, and a dominant who attempts to isolate the submissive from society.

This is where 50 Shades is painfully flawed. In just a few quotations it becomes clear that the book repre-

sents a dangerous approach to sexual relationships and an abuse of trust and power: “No,” I protest, trying to kick him off. He stops. “If you struggle, I’ll tie your feet too. If you make a noise, Anastasia, I will gag you.”

“No, please. I can’t do this, not now. I need some time. Please.” “Oh Ana, don’t overthink this.”

BDSM only works when all participants agree to check-in often and continually ask for consent. Safe words are effective at recognizing your partner’s limits before consensual sex devolved into assault. The line between consent and abuse is blatantly crossed as demonstrated by Grey’s blatant refusal to let Anastasia go, his threats to confine her, and his preventing her from thinking about the situation before they proceed.

The language Grey uses in the novel is abusive, however individuals with limited knowledge on abusive behaviour could interpret the movie as intense and desirable love. They could believe his behavior is acceptable and try to emulate it. Impressionable young men and women might think the movie reflects an appropriate relationship, and it convince them that having a domineering, forceful partner is normal.

The release of the 50 Shades movie

on Valentine’s Day could be detrimental for the students at StFX. It is becoming increasingly clear that students on campus do not fully grasp the idea of legitimate consent. Although the prominent issues at StFX are not related to the contortion of BDSM relationships, parallels can be drawn between 50 Shades and situations around our community. What role does trust play between sexually involved individuals?

Specifically, students need to understand that consent must be provided without coercion and not while under the influence of any substance.

Consent is not silence, or “maybe,” or a negative answer that becomes positive once you’ve asked 50 times With nearly ironic timing, the movie release of 50 Shades of Grey will add another dimension to the current conversation around sexual assault and harassment on campus.

The school is beginning to take steps to reinforce a safe, positive, and healthy environment, as demonstrated by Dr. Kent MacDonald’s Colloquium on Sexualized Violence. The glorification of non-consensual scenes in 50 Shades of Grey stand to further cloud the issues of when consent is and is not legitimate, which could result in a step backwards in combating sexual violence.

Consent should be black and white—yes or no—because there is no room for Grey.

A second opinion on the election

Another point of view on the Presidential and Vice Presidential StFXSU elections ERIKA KINACH | Contributor

I want to begin this article by saying that I respect Sean McEvoy’s quest for the truth, transparency, and accountability, which I agree are three crucial characteristics of a successful Students’ Union. With that being said, I think that this year’s SU election should be analyzed from more than one point of view.

Students should have access to more than one opinion in the university paper regarding the election and other matters. Here, I offer my own take on the election events of the past few weeks.

It was a strong presidential race this year. Three candidates were on the ballot for President, which is the most I have seen during my four years at StFX. Troy Mrazek brings executive experience thanks to his current position as VP of Activities and Events this year, whereas Kevin Sweet and Isaac Turner do not presently hold a position within the Students’ Union. I agree that a fresh face is always welcome, but I do not see anything wrong with candidates having previous Union involvement, especially since we are struggling to find candidates to run for these positions. As it stands the nomination deadline was extended by a week, which consequently pushed back elections for other U positions. This was done as an effort to en-

courage more candidates to participate in the Presidential and Vice Presidential race.

I agree that the race for Vice President could have been improved by having multiple candidates run for the position. However, a candidate’s eligibility to run is definitely not a matter that should be left in the electorate’s hands, and that we should respect the decisions made by the Chair’s Office. There is an approval process for candidates to determine their eligibility to participate in the election, and for whatever reason Hannah Stordy was the only candidate approved. If anyone were allowed to run and it was left to students to determine who the candidates would be, the election process and Union would lose much of its credibility with students and administration.

It should be noted that members of the electorate brought concerns to the Council about possible violations, which are currently in the process of appeal.

With so many rules and regulations in the Elections Act, it is at times hard to distinguish a rule violation from a successful campaign. For example, under subsection 4.1.ii of the Elections Act, active campaigning is allowed during the campaign period, which includes:

“Speaking to residences, or individuals for the purpose of representation of a platform as a candidate”. Under these conditions, Mrazek and Story did not violate the Elections Act, as it is suggested in McEvoy’s editorial about the election. It was fair of him to question these actions however, since, active campaigning outlined in the Elections Act is a bit of grey area, and could benefit from some amendments to clarify exactly what is allowed. This could prevent accusations and appeal processes that are not only stressful for candidates but also members of the Union in future elections.

I attended the debate held at the Inn and I thought it was a success. Student engagement in Union elections has been at an all time low in recent years; voter turnout was a mere 19 per cent. I don’t blame the U for holding this debate in a social atmosphere, a public space in which students are inclined to visit on a Thursday night. Granted, it was loud and would have been hard to understand what was going on from the back of the Inn. I was late to the debate due to a night class and I was able to pull up a chair in the front row. From my place I easily observed the debate and was even able to ask a question despite

my late arrival. If we want the electorate to become more engaged, holding debates and other council events in a location where students are likely to attend might actually be a solution.

Could this year’s election have been better? Absolutely. Above all, I would recommend that the U start advertising the Presidential and Vice Presidential positions earlier in the year to entice student involvement and provide a selection of strong candidates. I also think that emphasizing the importance of school elections to first year students would also contribute to a decrease in apathy about these matters and a higher voter turnout on election day.

I hope that the Xaverian continues to keep the student body and faculty informed on current and upcoming elections about other union matters. I also hope that students outside of both the Xaverian and the Union aren’t afraid to make their voice heard either through the newspaper or by running for a Union position. Councilor, Senate, Board of Governors, Senior Class President/Vice President and Life Officer elections are approaching, and getting involved can be as easy as lifting a finger to click “vote”. You might say why, but I say, why not?

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Friday, February 13, 2015-The Xaverian

Joan and Fraser Muir

Cathy and Murray Kyte Ironically Cathy, a Phys. Ed student, and Murray, studying Business both decided to make geology their chosen elective in their first year of study. “We were in class together but didn’t really know each other,” explains Cathy, until the class was designated to go offsite for a fieldtrip in search of fossils.

“He [Murray] found a fossil and when he found the fossil we all had to gather around and find out what kind of fossil it was. From there, we ended up sitting on the bus together on the way home from the field trip,” Cathy shares, adding “I still have the fossil, framed.”

But unbeknownst to the Kytes, the pair had unofficially met before their first year fieldtrip. Before they started studying at StFX, Cathy’s dad, “Ace” McCann ’59 and Murray’s dad, Dr. John “Tink” Kyte ’47 met for the first time at

an event in Ottawa hosted by their alma matter. Upon the discovery that both of their children were off to StFX in the fall, Cathy told the Xaverian that her future father-inlaw jokingly told her dad to “make sure that my son stays away from your daughter” as any parent might chide.

The relationship progressed slowly from their geological expedition. Cathy says the pair took their time before starting to date, and their decision to pursue degrees in law after StFX delayed their engagement.

The Kytes were married in 1990 in Pembroke Ontario by a friend of theirs who had served as the Dean of Students during their years at StFX. The Kytes have four sons: Connor ’13, Joe (Waco) ’16, Sean (Riggins) ’18, and Patrick, who hopes to attend StFX after high school.

In an age where male students outnumbered females 4:1, Joan and Fraser Muir started their courtship on StFX campus. Hailing from Sydney, NS, Joan ’48, ’50 studied Arts for three years followed by a degree in education. Fraser ‘52, who came to StFX after serving in the Canadian forces, pursued a degree in Arts as well.

“A nun would stay with me,” Fraser says of the rare occasions he was permitted into Gilmora Hall to visit Joan. “I’d never get past the entrance.”

“The beginning started in her final year and my first year. On StFX Day we had a holiday in those days, December the third. We had an early snowfall and I was standing in the middle of the bridge talking to a friend of mine, the bridge just opposite The Wheel and I had a snowball.

Two girls from the Mount walked by and I let the snowball go when they got about fifteen feet away, and hit

this one [Joan] on the ass.

She came back and plastered me full in the face with a handful of snow that she had gathered.

Well that was the start of it, very romantic,” Fraser explains.

“And I thought ‘Who the hell is he, some jock who thinks he’s something,” laughs Joan.

While attending StFX, Joan says the pair would attend formal dances. “You had to wear a long dress and all that jazz.”

Joan says that although she had to abide by the Mount’s early curfew and therefore missed out on many campus events, she loved to attend basketball games in the afternoon and even served as The Xaverian’s sports reporter for some time.

As a male student, Fraser was allowed more free range for activities than Joan, yet he says his job at the dining hall left little time for

downtime. “I had a job as a waiter in the dining hall for two years, then [I was] head waiter for two years.

Three times a day, seven days of the week, it left little time for anything else.”

The couple wed in Sydney on June 26, 1954. “Fraser’s birthday is June 27th so I was always his birthday present,” says Joan.

The couple have five children and ten grandchildren, one of whom has just applied to StFX for next year.

“We are currently in a long-distance relationship – 5 260 km to be exact,” says Kate Cole ’12, ’14 of her fiancé Cassie Allison, ’16.

“Cassie and I met initially online, and we met up at Triangles Bar in Moncton, New Brunswick the summer before I went back to X for my Bachelor of Education program. After texting her stating that I was on my way to the bar, and we both had our panic attacks, I walked into the bar and went down the stairs to see her in a single shoulder grey shirt and long blonde hair. Naturally I had to go in the opposite direction because I didn’t expect her to look as pretty as what I saw in pictures.”

Still nervous to meet the girl she had been so anxious to meet, Kate says she waited around the bar, playing pool until she mustered the courage to talk to her.

“Naturally the first thing out of my mouth was, “Want to hear a joke?” Kate says, joking about how “smooth” her first impression must have been. “And at that moment I set the pace for our humorous relationship.”

“I asked her out for a date the next morning to Cora’s. Cassie says that the moment she knew she loved me was when I spilled whip cream on myself – clearly not my smoothest move.”

Not long after, Cassie decided to apply to StFX to be able to spend

more time with her new girlfriend, and began her degree in 2012. The two spent Cassie’s first year at StFX without a night apart, using one bedroom to live in and the other as “a closet.”

While at StFX, the couple did pretty much everything together: marching in Take Back the Night, watching sporting events, going to Wing Night, even “attempting mealhall.”

“I knew from the moment that I met Cassie that I wanted to marry

August 2018,” says Kate. “By then we will both have our X-Rings, our degrees, and hopefully some money saved for the wedding of our dreams.”

“Whenever I talk to anyone I say Antigonish is my home mainly because I grew up as a human, became an educator, and my furbaby [the couple’s dog] was born there, but also because home is where the heart is, and my heart is with a StFX student who hates those stairs just as much as everyone else.”

Kate Cole and Cassie Allison her. She is my best friend and it doesn’t hurt that she is a stunner,” and on December 21st 2014, on the shortest day of the year, Kate asked Cassie to be her wife, an occasion Kate had booked a photographer to capture.

“I wanted the shortest day of the year to have a long lasting memory that outlasted the daylight,” Kate says of her decision to propose on Winter Solstice.

“We plan on getting married in

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The Xaverian-Volume 123 Issue 10

Shelley and Ed McHugh “We never realized it until later but I was the first guy Shelley met at StFX,” says Ed McHugh ’79 of his wife Shelley ’80.

“When we started dating in my last year [at StFX], I pulled out my scrapbook from my orientation. We were going through it and I realize that buddy I met was actually Ed, at the Students’ Union Building.” By stroke of fate Ed, helping organize the freshmen students with last names starting with A-L, was assigned to welcome Shelley to university her very first day on campus.

“It’s so funny – I was standing in that line and I was looking at the guy that was from M-Z thinking God he is so handsome, maybe I could change my name to McCulligan [as her last name was Culligan] or something. But I did see that same guy later and Ed has aged

really well.”

But the first time the pair formally met was at Triangle Tavern, today’s Piper’s Pub. “That’s how we got to know one another.

We met there and then I was seeing him on campus all the time. I jokingly would say Ed was like the ‘BMOC’: the Big Man on Campus – because he was on every committee,” says Shelley.

It wasn’t until Shelley was in her fourth year and Ed was working in the admissions office that the two began to date. “I felt sorry for him because I thought gosh he probably doesn’t have any friends left here on campus, so I would invite him down to my apartment on Whiddens for some tea and apple pie.”

Shelley notes that Ed was three hours late for their first “date,” and that he must have visited out of obligation as he does

not like tea or apple pie.

“We started [dating] in February and actually in July I asked her to marry me.” Although at first she agreed, she quickly declined, telling Ed that it was too soon for an engagement. The pair eventually did get engaged two years later and were married in August 1983.

“We had a big StFX influence actually: the choir was from StFX, we had three priests that were all StFX guys.

It was a real StFX celebration.”

Both of the McHugh’s children have graduated from StFX: Kate ’08, and Colin ’10.

Tim Upton and Beryle Girard “We met in 1984, second year. He was in basement Mac and had an awesome view of the football game. I didn’t know him but my girlfriend knew him and he was having a preparty before the football game in his room and we decided that we would go over there,” Beryle says of the first time she met her husband Tim Upton.

It took a month from their first encounter until Beryle finally agreed to start

Anne Mac Mullon and Phil Panet-Raymond A love for politics became a twenty-five year love for Anne and Phillip following an election bet in 1988.

“In our fourth year we had a bet about the federal election of 1988 and who would win. I was running around working at the time for a StFX alumnus Francis Leblanc who was running for the Liberal Party. I was little miss gung-ho Liberal and he was like there’s no way, Brian Mulroney is so going to win again.” The pair both ended up winning the bet: Leblanc became the MP for the local riding, Cape Breton Highlands – Canso and Mulroney (another StFX alumnus) stayed as Prime Minister.

This was just the beginning for the seniors who flirted with the idea of becoming a couple

dating Tim. “He pursued me relentlessly,” she says, laughing.

“We had a lot of great times, a lot of fun,” Beryle says of their years at StFX, describing Tim’s party at “The Triangle” as a highlight.

“Tim was the president of the business society. He was not the greatest business student, but he was a lot of fun. They had the honours [business] banquet and he decided that there should be a banquet for those that weren’t honours, so he ran this massive party the night they had the honours banquet. He had it at the- we called it the Triangle at the time,

Piper’s Pub. It was I think the best party of the year, it was amazing.

Being the business student that he was, he arranged to have the beer super cheap and it was a great time.”

Following their graduation in 1987, Beryle and Tim spent time apart travelling: Tim in Europe and Beryle in Australia and New Zealand. In 1989 the two were married in Ottawa where they live today. All three of their children have attended StFX, making the Upton’s a tri-generational StFX family as Tim’s mom is an alumnus of 1952.

over the following weeks.

Anne describes the first time Phillip asked her out as one that arose from embarrassing circumstances.

“This is so lame, but I locked my keys in TNT [where she lived] and I had to go to Chillis in the basement to get a key copied and he was the one on key duty. I’m kind of embarrassed going down as a fourth year student that locked myself out of my room like an idiot. We’re chit-chatting away and he goes ‘You know, I really think we should go on a date.’ And I said ‘Well, maybe.’

It took a second time though before Phillip could convince Anne to go on a date. “One night he started whipping snowballs at my room. We used to call TNT the ‘fire breathing dragon’ – you could never regulate the heat in that building. It was always a thousand degrees so normally even in the dead of winter we would have the windows open. So he thought he was throwing a snowball to hit the window but lo and behold my window was wide open and he whipped it right in, landing on my desk. Then he said ‘Well this has given me enough time to ask you, why don’t we go out?”

Anne and Phillip graduated in 1989 and were married not long after in July 1990 in a ceremony filled with X alumni and friends.

“I describe StFX as four years of winning the lottery every single day,” Anne told the Xaverian, noting that her son Patrick, a first year living in MacPherson, has continued his parents love for their alma matter.

“We literally came full circle,” says Randy Delorey, business graduate of 2000 who made his way back to Antigonish in 2007 with his wife Michelle, Arts ’01 to pursue a career teaching in the Schwartz School of Business.

Although they started dating before attending StFX, the campus served to bring the Antigonish natives together.

“He was working for the recreation department as a lifeguard and my sister was a swimming teacher. She had a really difficult class and she asked me to come in to help her with it and that’s how we met,” explains Michelle.

“It took him about a month before he had the courage to ask me out,” she jokes, although Randy was quick to point out that she denied his requests three times.

“But it was on the same phone call – he was persistent.”

The pair started dating in high school, when Randy was in Grade 11 and Michelle in Grade 10, and continued courting throughout their years at StFX. While at StFX, the duo stayed involved with the aquatics centre, both working within the rec department. “Flirting was the usual pushing each other into the pool,” Michelle joked, saying that there was never a worry of a cellphone in either of their pockets like today.

“In four years we had one course together: we took Shakespeare. I was in my senior year and Mi-

chelle was in third year. It was a six credit course and we only made it through together halfway.”

“He wasn’t very fun to have a class with, he was really boring.”

The pair were engaged on Michelle’s graduation day in 2001 and were married at the StFX chapel in August 2003. The couple now has four children: Nick, William, Claire, and Ruby.

Michelle and Randy

Delorey

10 ARTS & CULTURE

Friday, February 13, 2015-The Xaverian

ARTS & CULTURE Savanah Jones: YouTube success Beauty and lifestyle YouTube channel approaching 40 000 subscribers RACHEL REVOY | Senior Reporter

Savanah and Stuff: July 25, 2014

StFX student Savannah Jones has used her talents to

create beauty and lifestyle videos that she plans to ex-

pand into a full-time job after graduating this spring.

Jones, a fourth year Psyc h o l o g y major, has been contributing to the entertainment and beauty industry with her dynamic YouTube channel entitled Savannah and Stuff.

Through her videos, Sav a n n a h gives makeup tutorials, r e v i e w s products, provides decorating ideas, and more.

“I had the intention of predominately making beauty videos, and I still want to do so, but I am also interested in branching out into other avenues as my interest have developed over the years,”

says Savannah on her plans for her growing channel.

Savannah’s videos began as a hobby to express her enjoyment for beauty and make up. Since she began uploading back in 2013, Savannah’s YouTube success has gradually increased.

Currently, Savannah And Stuff has nearly 40,000 subscribers and the channel has had 2.6 million views.

In the modern context, watching Youtube videos is easy entertainment. People can dedicate their time to watching a five minute YouTube video over watching an entire television episode, thus making it easier for people like Savannah to become recognised through Youtube.

“I think we’re in a really interesting period of marketing because of social media.

A website like YouTube gives content creators a platform where they can connect with a large audience, and in turn, can end up working with some big brands. Honesty has always been extremely important to me, and I try hard to make sure my viewers can trust my opinion,” says Savannah on the nature of the industry.

After completing her Psychology degree at StFX, Savannah plans on moving to Halifax to dedicate her time to creating videos. Currently, Savannah is enrolled in

eight courses and has little time to dedicate to her passion of sharing her beauty and style with the YouTube community. Becoming more involved in her channel would give Savannah the possibility of earning a living off of her videos. This would be a dream come true for her, because as like many others, Savannah never wished to work a nine to five job.

“I’m going to put all my effort into it over the summer.

Right now I’m doing about one video a week but my main goal is to do it full time.

I’m really looking forward to being more creative with my content. During the school year I go to Halifax and prefilm videos over the long weekends. The one’s I’m uploading now were filmed Christmas break.” says Savannah of her plans to dedicate more time to her videos.

For those aspiring video bloggers who desire to test the waters with their own videos, Savannah provides insight on the problems she has faced while creating a name for herself and her channel.

“I don’t think people realize how time consuming it is to make a video, it takes about eight hours in total.

You have to plan what kind of content you’re filming, you have to get ready for it, you have to set up your camera, you have to keep repeating a sentence to get it the right way. Editing takes a crazy amount of time. It also takes a really long time getting comfortable with yourself in front of a camera,” says Savannah on the amount of work it takes to create videos.

Savannah has received positive feedback from dedicated subscribers who always make sure to say positive things on her videos.

The positive feedback makes the hard work and dedication seem worth it.

“I’m very passionate about creating my own job, and this is representative of that. It’s really cool, and the sky’s the limit. It can really go anywhere,” says Savannah.

Check out Savannah’s YouTube channel “Savannah and Stuff ”, follow her on twitter @SavAndStuff and on instagram @savandstuff.

The Xaverian-Volume 123 Issue 10

ARTS & CULTURE

11

CFXU Presents Dregs Halifax garage rock duo Dregs closes out the midterm season at the Inn DEVON GREENE | Arts and Culture Editor

Midterms are coming to and end and many students are eager to get out of Antigonish for reading week.

Campus radio station, CFXU 93.3 the Fox is sending everyone off with a bang at the Inn. For those of you leaving Nova Scotia for the week, Thursday, February 19th is your chance to bask in the local talent before you go.

Halifax duo Dregs will be performing at the Inn as a part of the record

release tour for their self-titled album. The group consists of Ryan Dunn and Alex MacAskill who have been playing in bands together since they were young boys. Band members have come and gone, but they’ve always known one thing for certain: “The two of us need to stick together.” They have a connection, maybe a bit of a bro-mance. Whatever it is, it works. The boys are Dregs, a two-

piece rock band from Halifax, Nova Scotia. They both play equal parts guitar, drums, and vocals, and they switch up instruments multiple times a set. The range of influences and techniques that they bring to the table make for an original style while their years of experience together and collaborative songwriting process provide unity.

What really matters to these dudes is working hard, writing good music, and having a good time.

Main act, Dregs, will be joined by Tom Curry of Antigonish rock band Scrapes along with drummer Michael Dalton. Tom Cur-

ry’s musical stylings are none but his own. He is, and has always been entrenched in the east coast aura, moulded by the song of family&friends, and proclaims his very own sound by unmasking his inner musical self.

The stage will also feature The Gold Coast, a four piece rock outfit based out of Halifax; the perfect send off to an out of province vacation or the beginning of a laid back week in Nova Scotia.

For more information about the show join the official Facebook event page “Dregs + Gold Coast + Tom Curry & Michael Dalton(@ The Golden X Inn)” at https://www. f a c e b o o k . c o m / events/712584428838567/. The full length, debut album from Dregs comes out Feb 13th, available on the BandCamp at www.dregsdregsdregs.bandcamp.com.

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12 ARTS & CULTURE

Friday, February 13, 2015-The Xaverian

Featured Artist: Rachel Revoy Bringing StFX artists into the foreground

DEVON GREENE | Arts and Culture Editor

This week’s featured artist is second year student Rachel Revoy.

Rachel Revoy is refreshing and rebellious. A bold and edgy artistic style combined with a stand-alone attitude is what sets Revoy apart from other visual artists. Pursuing an honours degree in English does not leave much time for Revoy to dedicate to her artistic passions, but she is sure to make room for it both academically and personally. The majority of her impressive portfolio was created during her high school years as her university studies forced art onto the backburner, however Revoy took advantage of the

classes offered through the Fine Arts Department to continue to challenge herself and develop her artistic abilities.

Even though Revoy took art classes in high school and had an abundance of natural talent, she started where many students start out: Art 100. After completing the introductory course in her first year of study, Revoy pushed the limits of her comfort zone by taking a botanical drawing class in the first semester of her second year at StFX. Revoy described this class as learning to draw plants with the precision of a text book diagram, which was outside her normal artistic territory. “If you see all my other stuff its all based on abstract and not really having any rules when I draw. So thought I would try out doing technical drawing just to see what would happen. I’m very happy with how it turned out very well and I’m very happy with myself with how well I could adapt to doing technical work when I thought it would be too

hard for me.” Revoy’s piece, Stippled, Stemless Flower was created as a project for the botanical drawing class and proved to be a challenge, both in technique and subject. “The movement in a leaf, how it curls and rolls, there are so many colour variants and has so much going on and nothing is symmetrical. Doing that all in tiny little dots, you get to do it in a very particular way.”

Despite presenting one of the biggest challenges she has encountered so far, Revoy admitted that she enjoyed the process of creating the piece. “My favourite part about it is the petals because they were so soft and so light and barely there.

You could barely see any darkness or any shadow in them so I had to really be patient with deciding how I was going to represent that lightness and that softness while I was using a hard dot with a pen. I’m really pleased with how it turned out.”

Revoy explains that she did not follow the criteria to the exact specifications, but, as a result, was much happier in the final product.

A tendency to colour outside the lines –metaphorically speaking– is a reoccurring theme in Revoy’s work. Looking past the detail in even her most realistic work almost always reveals something that seems to be out of place or offbeat. Revoy says that she has been like that ever since her high school art classes, as you can see in her painting, Peppers. “My high school teacher wanted a realistic rendering of peppers so she brought in peppers for us to paint. Every art class I would find some way to not do what [my teacher] told me. Maybe a little bit to be rebellious but mostly my thing was that I really felt that I was a very creative person and I did not want anybody to give me a certain criteria of what I should and shouldn’t be expressing because that always makes you hold back a certain element of how first see something.” In this case, Revoy used unusual colours to give the ordinary peppers a unique qual-

ity. Revoy described to the Xaverian how she used purple rather than different shades of green to represent the various colour tones in the peppers to contrast its natural green colour and make the colours more dramatic.

Revoy ’s edgy, rebellious quality does not always come across as subtly as it does in Peppers or Stipple, Stemless Flower. Many of her pieces include bold colours and sharp lines created by magazine collages brightly coloured ink. One common shape among the pieces is that of a human skull. “There is no thought of death or anything morbid, I just really like the image of a skull because of the shapes and lines in it.” Revoy admits that she has no interest in biology and does not like to think about people as being made up of body parts such as bones and organs, but also sees another side to the skull image. [A skull is] very peaceful in a way because it’s so unifying and it reminds you that we’re all made up of these parts. I don’t like to think about it but there’s something so attractive about it in the same way because it’s a unifying element that we’re just this body.

It’s something that’s scary for me and attractive at the same time. When I’m drawing something it’s something that comes back to me because I’m always intrigued by it. It’s not the whole death imagery, I’m not trying to make a profound statement about how we are all going to die, just that we are all unified by what’s underneath.”

Revoy’s abstract touches to oftentimes realistic artwork comes from the unique way she sees the world. “I don’t see it as abstract a lot of the time. I like to look at something and just let my mind process it.”

Revoy tells the Xav that she tries not to alter the first impression an image leaves on her before she recreates it. She strives to be honest with what she sees initially so that she can capture more than the visual components of an object in her work. “[Think about], not how just the way you see it, but the way it makes you feel and represent that in the image. When you reproduce

the image, add the emotions in the form of colour, add the emotions in the form of collage, add the emotion behind the image or in front of the image.

Don’t make an image of just what can be seen.”

Revoy is not planning to pursue visual art professionally, but channels her artistic creativity into her passion for writing. As she moves from painting and drawing towards writing, Revoy is determined to keep her artistic vision the same and her creative process the same. “I want to use the same creative process of taking events and experiences and images and recreate them through stories and fiction and poetry and represent the same images that I was creating visually through the written word. I see it as transforming itself that way but I would never I want to just leave [my art] behind.”

It does not matter to Revoy what the medium is, the important thing about art is that the artist is able to express their idea, regardless of whether or not the audience fully understands.

She defines art as “someone’s interpretation of somet h i n g , reformed by them. Art is something that is taken in by the artist – an emotion, an event, a scene– and red i re c t e d through their talents and ex-

pressed to make a personal statement on it.”

Revoy is says that she is happiest when she is engaged in the creative process, whether through writing or through visual art. “It really does make me happy… It’s really meditative for me, just thinking about that blank piece of paper and all the possibilities that lay in that blankness. It’s something that you have full control over it. Even though you don’t have control over the things that happen in your life, that blank piece of paper is yours and you can just express yourself and do whatever you want with it and you just focus in that moment about what you want to create.” The passion and emotion in her voice makes it obvious that this passion will stick with her throughout her life and career, wherever it takes her.

DISTRACTIONS 13

The Xaverian-Volume 123 Issue 10

DISTRACTIONS KURT BROTHERS | Forever Alone

Spotted’s Say: V-DAY

X Games Corner: Love Maze

Valentine’s Day is coming up, and if you’re single, it means misery. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Maybe this Valentine’s Day, instead of drinking your sorrows away and stuffing your face with chocolate, you can finally confess the love you have for your meal hall crush. Wellyou might need a shot or two to proceed with that, but I see so many posts on the page with people confessing their crushes along with their crushes posting about them! If only I could play cupid for a day. So, if you have a special someone in mind, tell them! Honestly, what’s the worst that could happen? It might be awkward, and you might get turned down, but you’ve probably done more embarrassing things at the pub, so it’s worth a shot! Now, V-Day isn’t just about couples, it’s a day to show your love & appreciation for just about anyone in your life, such as the Sodexo Staff, or all of the janitors who make this campus clean & beautiful. So, Happy Valentine’s X & try to bring your “spotted” confessions into the real world.

The 5 Best Things for Singles on Valentine’s Day 1) Singles Shot-luck: That’s right, get your single friends together and get wasted! Why not? It’s not like anyone is waiting up for you. Maybe even hit the pub or split crow and you could find love in a hopeless place.

2) 50 Shades of Loneliness: Let’s be honest, everyone is waiting for 50 Shades to hit theatres. Just because you’re single doesn’t mean you have to hold off. Go alone! More popcorn for you.

3) Netflix Marathons: Who doesn’t love a Netflix binge session? It’s the one thing that’s there for you at the end of a long hard day of classes. Treat yourself to a nice night in with your laptop and a blanket fort.

4) Treat Yourself: There’s no one going to buy you anything nice this holiday season, so why not treat yourself? Go out and buy whatever you’ve been eyeing for the past few weeks.

What’s a couple (hundred) bucks?

5) February 15th: Every single person knows this day, because it’s when all the V-Day chocolate goes on sale. So flock to Wal-Mart and stock up on as much processed sugar as you can.

Valentine’s Day Card Ideas are Limitless with Google Images

SPORTS & HEALTH

SPORTS & HEALTH StFX playoff hockey around corner Daunting signs as both teams enter post-season AARON THORNELL | Sports & Health Editor

As their regular seasons come to an end, players of both StFX hockey teams turn their focus towards their first round playoff match-ups. The X-Men, who claimed fourth in the AUS division, will take on the fifth place UPEI Panthers. While the first place X-Women await the scheduling of their playoffs, they know that at the very least they will receive a first round bye.

It was not, however, a glamorous finish to the season for either team.

The X-Men dropped their final three games, earning only one point during a shootout loss to the Saint Mary’s Huskies on February 6th. That result was sandwiched by a pair of losses to UPEI and Acadia.

The fourth place X-Men, who finished the season with a 17-9-2 record, good for 36 points, improved from their sixth place finish in 2013-14, where they played to a 12-13-3 and tallied only 27 points. They were led by fourth year Michael Kirkpatrick, who put up 9 goals and 25 assists for a total of 34 points over the course of 28 games, and third year goaltender Drew Owsley, who started 24 of the teams 28 games, posting a 2.28 goals against average and a .907 save percentage.

Kirkpatrick finished third in the AUS in scoring.

The X-Men split their regular season series with the Panthers, dropping their first and final meetings, both by a score of 4-1. Their victories, however,

X-Men leading scorer Michael Kirkpatrick Via goxgo.ca

were decisive – they defeated UPEI by a score of 6-0 on November 14th, and again 5-1 on January 23rd. Their quarter-final match-up opens on Wednesday at home against the Panthers, followed by a game in Charlottetown on the 13th, and, if necessary, a third game in Antigonish on the 15th.

The X-Women had a season to remember – that is, until they reached the month of February. The team failed to pick up a point in their three games this month. They were shutout to Université de Moncton and UPEI, and closed out the regular season with their worst loss, a 6-1 shellacking at the hands of the Dalhousie Tigers.

This was the only game in which the X-Women allowed more than 3 goals.

Some of the trouble towards the end of the season may have been caused by the absence of the teams top two scorers, Alex Normore and Daley Oddy, who were asked to compete for Canada at the Winter University Games, held this year in Grenada, Spain. Canada lost their first ever game in the competition, losing by a score of 3-1 to Russia on February 8th. Normore and Oddy tallied an assist each over the course of two games.

The X-Women will await the result of the final regular season game between Dalhousie and the Mount Allison Mounties to gain a better sense of

X-Woman forward Alex Normore Via goxgo.ca who they will be facing in the second round.

Prior to their final three games, the X-Women had dominated the AUS division, as they went on a 21 game winning streak after losing their season opener. They closed out the regular season with a 21-40 record, winning the division by a comfortable 4 points over Moncton. As a team they led the league in goal differential, scoring 39 more goals than they allowed.

The team was led throughout the regular season by star forward Alex Normore, who recorded 32 points – 10 goals and 22 assists – on her way to claiming StFX all-time lead for career points, surpassing Brayden Ferguson’s previous mark of 196. Normore, a fifth year student from Bedford, NS, also claimed the scoring title in the AUS division for the fifth

consecutive year. Sojung Shin, a 3rd year goaltender from Seoul, South Korea, was the number one goaltender in the league, winning 14 games while posting a 1.19 goals against average and a .949 save percentage.

The X-Women are currently placed 8th in CIS rankings, dropping one spot following their recent slump. The XWomen will look to improve on their showing in last year’s AUS playoffs. As they are this year, the X-Women topped the season after regular season play and earned a bye to the semi-finals, where they were upset by fifth place Mt. Allison, who claimed the second and third games of the three game series.

Time will tell whether the recent struggles of StFX’s hockey teams will affect their playoff confidence.

StFX H. Kin. student analyzing head injuries X-Men football team provide data for honours project AARON THORNELL | Sports & Health Editor

The issue of concussions in sports of all levels is becoming an ever-more pressing issue.

Fourth-year StFX student Daniel Muise is seeking to discover some of the patterns that emerge concerning these injuries with the help of the X-Men football team.

As his honours project, Muise, with the help of StFX’s head athletic therapist Tara Sutherland and StFX associate professor Dr. Sasho MacKenzie, is hoping to analyze what differences can be identified between the hits – both in terms of intensity and frequency – laid during training camp, in-season practices, and regular season competition.

To do this, Muise, Sutherland

and MacKenzie are using 50 devices that serve to measure impact, magnitude, and frequency of contact, donated by GForce Tracker (GFT). These wireless trackers have were placed in the helmets of 50 members of the StFX football team, recording and transmitting data on the sidelines.

Although they are still in the process of data analysis, Muise, Sutherland and MacKenzie are already noticing some trends.

In-season practices appear to be the least intense of the three settings. During training camp the intensity rises, and games contain the most intense collisions.

The apparent conclusion that games contain the most intense collisions is not altogether

groundbreaking. Just how intense is the real question, as this could assist in the diagnosis of concussions and other head trauma, and potentially provide data that would discourage players from returning to action before it is safe.

It is the ordering of the other two that speaks volumes about the nature of football, and by extension, contact sports. For all of those who have been involved in a tryout in a contact sport, it quickly becomes apparent that the ability to use physicality and contact is an important feature in the mind of many. Muise’s evidence supports this, although it will be interesting to see just how much more intense and frequent the hits are when levelled

against the competition, as opposed to a teammate.

This differentiation could potentially open the door to discussions surrounding why “big hitters” are valued within the football world. It brings to mind the controversy surrounding the NFL’s New Orleans Saints and the so-called “bounty scandal”, in which it was discovered that players on the team were receiving salary bonuses for hurting other players.

For Muise, Sutherland, and Mackenzie, however, the immediate goal is to compile and present the data collected over the course of the 2014 season. Once this is done, it will be interesting to see where the results are taken.

Muise, left, with X-Man D-Lineman Vernon Sainvil in October 2014 Via Facebook.com

SPORTS & HEALTH

The Xaverian-Volume 123 Issue 10

15

Have a drink, watch the game What happens when sports and alcohol mix?

JIM LAHEY | Trailer Park Supervisor Over a week has passed since what many consider to be one of the defining events of any school year at StFX. While it has almost nothing to do with the university itself – or at least the book side of things – it manages to find its way into the schedules of many schedules. Yet, one can learn a great deal from observing a BurMac crowd. Among the chief takeaways is that alcohol, and more specifically, its consumption, can lead to some terribly humorous and unfortunate situations. This brings up one of the most time-tested and, dare I say, amazing combinations of human history – the marriage of sports and alcohol.

If we look back throughout history, we find that this is no new couple. The Romans were known to enjoy a drink of wine now and again, and when they were lucky enough to attend some of the gladiatorial games put on to distract them from their permanent squalor, they certainly wouldn’t shy from a beverage before entering the stadium. The same was surely true of the medieval aristocracy, sipping mead and beer as two men charged at each other on horses with giant sticks, attempting to maim each other. More contemporary examples of English hooligans and NASCAR rednecks only serve to reinforce this relationship.

Nowadays, alcohol and sport are

practically linked at the waist. Whether one is watching a sporting event live or in person, many enjoy having a little something (or a lot) to sip on.

Although some countries ban the sponsorship of sporting events by companies marketing alcoholic beverages, most professional sporting events, particularly in North America, are difficult to imagine without a form of advertisement or endorsement on behalf of some kind of beer or liquor producer. Many will recall watching the 2014 World Cup and learning about the bans on alcohol consumption at professional football matches in Brazil that began in 2003.

While such a restriction may seem odd to the casual sports fan, it is important to remember just how seriously Brazilians take their football. Indeed, every year prior to, during, or after the BurMac game here at StFX, alcohol and hockey fanaticism combine to produce violent results.

And so the question becomes: Is this an inevitable outcome? In the case of StFX’s house hockey cups, it is fairly apparent that there is more at stake than just the score of a hockey game – albeit, some darn good games have been played so far. These games are played for the honour, not just of the players, but all of those who still bear an alle-

This guy...loves sports Via Flickr Creative Commons giance to their residence. Perhaps the rivalries instilled in frosh upon their arrival at X, all meant to be in good fun, are taken too far at times? With the addition of alcohol, the most common social lubricant of all at this university, is there any chance that things won’t get a bit out of control?

Now I wouldn’t go so far as to invoke a ban on alcohol consumption for those looking to take in any of next years house cup hockey games – or any StFX sporting events, for that matter. There is a reason, after all, that so many sporting patrons also happen to be patrons of bars and pubs.

Having a few drinks makes the action

seem all that much more intense at times. Those same drinks can also make you care about something you previously thought to be relatively inconsequential. They can make the droning, homogeneous interviews of any hockey, football, or basketball player seem like insight, gospel even.

They make you feel like less of a jackass when you paint your face an assortment of colours, and allow you to cheer, taunt or boo without reservation.

In short, alcohol has the serious potential - although by no means certainty - to make sports a ton of fun to watch.

LASER 2015 - Photos by Devon Chisholm

16

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