Volume 49 | Issue 9 | November 11, 2014
INside:
Celebrating Artspace’s 40th (see centre) A Look at The Bata Library
Research Assistants Spotted at Trent: To Unionize Is It Bullying or Cute
Men’s Rugby Gets Silver
Contents Pages 10-13: Arts&Culture
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This Issue in History: Volume 33 (1998), Issue 9 Back in the late 1990s, public education was one of the key issues in the political warfare surrounding Ontario’s socalled Common Sense Revolution. At the time, the province’s (neo)conservative government, led by Premier Mike Harris, Education Minister Dave Johnson, and Labour Minister (as well as future federal finance minister) Jim Flaherty, sought to implement Bill 160, legislation designed to severely cutback the province’s funding of public education and restructure the power-relations between elected school boards and the government. Unsurprisingly, the province’s teachers opposed Bill 160 and in 1997, staged the largest strike in North American history as more than 120,000 of them walked off the job in protest. Despite their actions, Bill 160 was passed by the provincial legislature in December of 1997. In order to continue the community conversation on the government’s education agenda following the passage of Bill 160, Arthur printed a four page feature in November 1998 entitled “Talk Back! On Education� that showcased a number of local perspectives critiquing Harris’ education initiatives. In their contextualizing editorial, Arthur’s volume 33 coeditors Keir Forbes and Lisa Whittington-Hill explained that they felt that “there was still a lot to be said about the state of education� and that the feature was thus “necessary to provide another forum for [the] voices underrepresented in mainstream media.� The four page feature included a number of guest columns by local teachers and parents including an article by Peterborough Collegiate Vocational School (PCVS) Eng-
lish teacher Pat Smith, who argued the characteristics that are required for being a good teacher inherently make it difficult for someone to be effective political activist. “We have the intelligence, the articulate voices, and the belief in the importance of education,â€? Smith wrote. “But we are constantly torn between between the legitimate concerns of caring for students and caring for ourselves and our society‌ We must hope that we have the strength to hold out for what is right.â€? Smith’s criticism of the government’s education cutbacks was echoed by another PCVS teacher, Karen Christie, whose article, entitled “This is your life in the Big Box world,â€? focused on critiquing the government’s idea that education should be treated as a business with the focus being solely on the bottom-line. “In Big Box Education,â€? she stated, “getting your money’s worth means‌ that the lowest price is the law, no matter what.â€? In the two decades since the passage of Bill 160, the province’s education system has enjoyed relative calm and stability as it attempted to rebuild itself in the aftermath of Mike Harris’ Common Sense Revolution. However, there are once again troubling signs pointing to the resurgence of neoliberal ideology and economic austerity as a threat to this province’s public education system. According to Trent University President Leo Groarke, the current Liberal government is looking to forge ahead with its controversial plans to cut $3 billion worth of spending over the next several years, cuts that will undoubtedly once again drive a wedge into the politics and lead to the re-emergence of the discourse of “Big Box Education.â€? Hopefully the provincial Liberals have learned a thing or two about governance from the fallout of Mike Harris’ war against public services. If not we could be in for a messy, albeit interesting, couple of years.
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CampusNews Bata Library: The knowledge centre of Trent University Part 3 of our “Students and Media” series
By Ayesha Barmania
Libraries provide a poignant example of institutions adapting to the student as cyborg, half person and half technology. Of course, I don’t mean literally a cyborg, but instead I refer to the product of humans interacting with technology. A student with a smartphone has different capabilities, goals, and intentions, than a student without. Libraries walk the line between providing the physical space for students to conduct research, and a resource to access information, which is beginning a digital transition. The library is a physical entity located centrally at the core of Symons campus; it is also a virtual entity providing academic resources to students, faculty, and alumni; it is an archive for regional documents; and lastly, it is a composite of librarians who impart skills and knowledge upon those who ask for it. This article explores how Bata Library negotiates its identity as a physical space for students and a virtual resource for information.
A Space for Students “The Library is considered to be the central building of the campus, the one building used by all members of the University. It has therefore been placed at the confluence of all pedestrian traffic, making it the proper hub of the University,” writes Ron Thom, the Master Architect for Trent University, in the Master Plan (1964). The library as a building was designed to be much more than a repository for books. It was designed to be the hub of university life and a forum for the Trent community to connect. Today, it is one of the primary spaces used by students meeting to work on assignments and sometimes to socialize. Architecturally, Bata Library was designed to jut out over the river and provide a beautiful complement to the Otonabee River for outside observers; as well, it was designed to offer a beautiful view for the building’s occupants over the natural landscape. Thom’s vision for the university united all facets of the built environment with the natural landscape. As per Ron Thom’s style, the building forces the pedestrian to walk through closed, tunnel-like passages into an open
and light-filled atrium at the centre of the building. The atrium was designed to provide a “vital visual connection joining various parts of the library (Ron Thom 1967).” For the individual, the library provides categorical spaces for different learners. These are divided into different coloured zones for different work environments. The second floor is a Green Zone that permits socializing and group meetings. The third floor is a Red Zone that provides and demands silence from occupants. The fourth floor is a Yellow Zone that is somewhere in between. As Ellen Olsen-Lynch, a learning and liaison librarian, puts it, “we introduced those spaces so that people could go to a space where they knew what to expect.” The library certainly provides excellent spaces for the individual student to hole up using the carrels provided, reading rooms, or group study spaces, if they are available. Recent debates over the Trent Central Student Association’s (TCSA) plans for a student centre have cited a lack of student meeting spaces on campus due to overcrowding at the library. It may have transpired that the library is too popular a hub for students and it does not adequately meet the demand for group study spaces. ‘Traditional’ forms of libraries have also emphasized the storage and accessibility of resources, namely: books. Trent University’s Instructions to the Master Planner specified that, “[the student] should be aware of books from the moment he enters the library and should learn to move among them with ease, familiarity, and understanding.” With the transition away from physical books toward digital media and e-books, the role of books in this environment is being negotiated.
Resources for the Community “The library of the future serves people and is not just a repository, but a place for knowledge acquisition,” said Loretta Durst, Manager of Communication and Administration at Bata Library. While much of academic information moves online, libraries are forced to reassess their techniques for facilitating learning. The priorities of libraries are shifting from physical resources to include access to online resources. This happens through the acquisition of digital media, digitization, and teaching programs for research skills. Durst describes one of the most important roles that Bata Libraries fulfills is material acquisition. Historically, acquisition has referred to physical monographs (books), maps, photographs and periodicals. Today, acquisitions include access to an array of electronic media. Bata Library pays for the university’s access to online databases like JSTOR and EBSCO, which each open a vast repository for digital periodicals. Furthermore, Bata pays for subscriptions to ebook hosts like Oxford University. The move into digital resources allows members of the Trent community to access information wherever they are. Research is no longer limited to the physical library building; it can take place at home, in restaurants, and around the world. Bata provides access to all of their resources to students on and off campus using proxy servers that give researchers’ computers the necessary IP address for websites to recognize that the request is coming from Trent. Proxy servers also allow the library to
collect data on how frequently databases are being used, which helps determine funding allocation later on. The ability to search the Internet for research vastly changes the geography of research. Search engines open the door for researchers to discover and access obscure sources that they may not have discovered with physical indices. Part of the issue, however, is that nonscholarly search engines, like Google, can deliver questionable sources. Bata Library mitigates this issue by providing students and researchers with the skills to critically examine the suitability of sources depending on their needs. Librarian Ellen Olsen-Lynch said, “We want to make sure students leave here with the skills not only for university but also lifelong skills such as learning how to weed through information and evaluate a source.” Librarians can offer skill development as well as immediate assistance in finding appropriate resources for specific research. The library also offers services that fill the gaps of the collection. RACER and inter-library loan programs offer researchers and students the opportunity to request materials from other Ontario university libraries. The ability to search the Internet for resources opens the realm of possibilities and expectations for students. Through programs like this, Bata is able to account for materials that exist but are not on hand. Unique to Bata is the endowment of a regional archive of historically significant documents, photos, illustrations and maps. “It’s an important asset for researchers as well as in its role as a repository for regional assets,” said Durst. Bata also accepts donations of personal collections and can set up designated reading rooms that display these collections. My personal favourite study spot is the Indigenous Studies Reading area that secludes a silent study area with the donated collection of Mary Hanbridge.
The Library of the Future In September of this year, Bata Library released a draft of its newly minted Strategic Plan 2014-2017. In this document, the university lays out its plan for this exact issue of balancing the physical space and the virtual resource. “[The library’s] major challenge is continuing to offer important traditional services and collections while at the same time offering relevant technologically-enabled services. We still need library buildings, but library collections and services are increasingly available online, accessible throughout the campus, at home, or in the community; in fact, almost anywhere that there is an Internet connection.” Key to the library’s strategy for the upcoming years is flexibility. Bata Library hopes to remain flexible and attuned to the changes in library uses for the purpose of best serving the needs of the Trent community. The librarians and administrative staff welcome student and researcher input in the planning and implementation of these plans. The Library Advisory Committee provides the catalyst between library administration, faculty, and students through representatives. Further than this, librarians are accessible for conversation and assistance.
Volume 49 | Issue 9 | November 11, 2014
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Campus: News
Research Assistants at Trent seeking to unionize with CUPE By Ugyen Wangmo
The concerns and predicaments of Research Assistants (RA) at Trent will be a thing of the past with guaranteed collective benefits, as they look to become unionized. The Trent University RA committee has planned to unionize with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 3908. An organizing drive was launched on September 2, and is currently underway. “Individuals can accomplish more when they work together as a group,” said the President, CUPE Local 3908, Stephen Horner. This was supported by a statement from the RA committee who said that, “We would like to create a network of RAs having conversation in a union environment to improve and protect the work that they are doing on campus.” “One of the challenges many RAs face is feeling isolated in their work,” says Ziysah von Bieberstein, an RA who has worked on different projects in various departments over the years. She said, “like most RAs we have spoken with, my experiences and relationships with my supervisors have been positive.” However, she often had no peers to work with or to share challenges with. Von Bieberstein was unsure who she would go to if she did encounter a problem at work. She says it is wonderful that so many professors at Trent are ethical and treat their RAs with respect. However, RAs should not have to depend on the good fortune of having a caring supervisor. Instead, she says, “We need assurance that our rights are protected, and that all RAs will have the same opportunities to have a positive experience.” Further, there was no clear expectation and standard on either side, both for supervisors and RAs. She had noticed that it has been stressful for some of the professors that she had worked with, because they wanted to know they were doing the right thing, but really didn’t know what the right thing was. So a more formalized relationship with the union will solve such problems, she said. One of the founding members of the RA committee, Sean Carleton, said that the RA committee started in 2011. Since then, they had been working to put RAs across campus into conversation with each other, and conducted a range of
surveys to ascertain their working experiences. Carleton said that it was found that even though the RAs were happy with their supervisors and the flexibility of work, they also expressed fear and desire to have greater protection around the work that they were doing. Though most RAs were working on short-term contract, many were working for supervisors who were also their academic advisor. So it was felt that this created an awkward power dynamic, that was ultimately imbalanced. Increasingly they started to realize that people felt unionization would help improve their work. This is not to say that they don’t like their work, but that it will help guarantee some benefits and protection for them, says Carleton. Similarly, another founding member of the RA committee who was also a former RA, Julia Smith, said that the Trent Graduate Student Association (GSA), who had also conducted their own separate survey, has also concluded that RAs would benefit from unionization. From the surveys conducted, there were wide varieties of reasons why this would be beneficial, but most common were the hours of work. Some who were hired to do certain amounts of work would realize when the work actually started that they were working more than the paid hours, explained
Smith. One major issue found from the survey was that the terms of employment changed according to the supervisor’s vagary. That, the RA committee found, was a problem, especially for those whose life was already planned around work. When such was the situation they had nowhere to go to appeal, and since there are no rules around how changes get made to rules of employment, they felt like they had to accept it. The absence of a collective voice, able to speak out for the entire RA was another issue. It was found difficult to speak out, particularly for those who were working for someone who had control over their academic life as well as their work life. Further, according to the RA committee, it can become frustrating when some people have access to good benefits while others do not, even though they are doing similar kinds of work. The idea is about thinking of RA’s as a whole, they added. If one RA is having a good experience, and if they know another who is not, then the idea is that by working together everyone will benefit, supplemented Smith. Carleton pointed out how it parallels in some ways to the history of CUPE organization on campus. Previously, when graduate teaching assistants were not organized, there were people questioning why they should benefit when others were having a
bad experience, he reminisced. “The idea we are trying to put forward is a collective benefit for RAs at Trent, current and in the future,” stated Carleton. “This is an important opportunity for RAs to come together to make a democratic decision about their work at Trent. We really hope everyone will get informed and involved,” added the RA committee. The Trent University Faculty Association’s (TUFA) Executive Committee has endorsed the campaign initiated to unionize the RAs at Trent. The reasoning stated by TUFA to endorse the campaign was that, “A successful campaign would strengthen the labour community on campus.” It was further stated that improved terms and conditions of employment for research assistants and post-docs would make Trent more competitive in attracting highly qualified personnel. Also, TUFA believes they should take a principled lead in advocating for good working conditions for everyone at Trent. Meanwhile, the RA committee will need at least 40 percent of the RAs to sign a card in order to call for a vote to form a union. The committee is positive that they are well on their way to getting the number of cards that they need. After this, a vote will take place, and if more than 50 percent of the vote is in favour, then the RAs at Trent will ultimately be unionized.
OPSEU holding lucrative 50th anniversary contest By Simon Semchuk
The OPSEU Local 365 is holding a contest open to all current Trent students in celebration of Trent’s 50th anniversary. With two prize divisions for undergraduate and graduate students, the first place for each division is a lucrative $2,500, with $1,500 for second-place winners, $500 for third place, and $50 to each of a possible 20 runners up. “The entries are in support of the value of the organized labour movement, as a tool for social justice,” said Jeannine Crowe of the OPSEU Local 365 committee. “The focus of the statement can be the influence of the labour movement on local, provincial, national, or international perspectives.” Submissions can be in any medium, from essay, visual art, poetry, sculpture, video, to performance. “An abstract or rational of the intent behind the entry is required to accompany the entry, and award winning entrants will
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be asked to present a three minute speech on their rationale at an celebration in the new year,” added Crowe. “OPSEU Local 365 is the bargaining unit that represents support staff at Trent University: services and buildings, secretarial and office, administrative, library, and scientific support. OPSEU stands for Ontario Public Service Employees Union, and provincial membership includes nurses, child care workers, ambulance drivers, nursing home employees, corrections, college and university staff, LCBO employees, and more. “Provincially, OPSEU advocates not
only for workers who are members of the organization, but also on larger social justice issues of benefit to all citizens of the province,” Crowe explained. Crowe explained how the award “was conceived on a snowy night two years ago at a general membership meeting.” With a budget of $10,000 to create an event commemorating the 50th anniversary of Trent, OPSEU Local 365 struck a committee that evening. “There was unanimous support among local members that the funds be used to give back to the students who are a vital part of making our workplace enjoyable
and personally fulfilling. “Additionally, it is hoped that the resulting entries will provide a more lasting documentation or commemoration of the 50th anniversary than an event might do, as well as being intellectually and creatively engaging with students, who are, after all, the reason we’re all here.” Crowe said, “Students are able to develop entries on their own or in a group, provided the entries are original work, following the usual Trent guidelines of Academic integrity.” The deadline for entries is December 3 at 4pm, so get creative! For more information, or to enter the contest, check out trentu.ca/opseuaward. “The entries will be judged by a panel including the head of OPSEU, Smokey Thomas, as well as Trent faculty: David Newhouse, Head of Indigenous Studies; Joan Sangster, Labour Historian and faculty of Women’s Studies; and Bryan Palmer, Canadian Research Chair in Labour History.”
Campus: News
Theatre Trent holding competition to find its new logo By Brian Hough
Theatre Trent is holding a logo design contest for artists and graphic designers. They are looking for a design which is theatrical and easily identifiable. Deadline for submissions is December 31, 2014. The winning entry will receive $250. According to Ryan Kerr, alumni representative on the Theatre Trent Executive Committee, Theatre Trent is a student levy group of Trent University dedicated to supporting theatrical endeavors throughout the Trent community by both current Trent students and Trent alumni.
The group does not mount its own productions, instead assisting aspiring theatre makers by providing financial support and props/costume storage space that funded projects have access to. In addition, through a partnership with The Theatre on King, funded shows have access to a rehearsal venue at no cost to the production. To be eligible for Theatre Trent funding, at least 50% of the cast and crew must be Trent students and/or alumni. None of the funding can be allotted to wages, only props, costumes, venue rental, production costs, and equipment. Over the years Theatre Trent’s funding
has proved invaluable to the local theatre and performance scene, says Kerr. Most recently it is funding the current production of Romeo and Juliet: Superstar Ice Miners on Europa!! by Mysterious Entity, and the upcoming production of Truth by the motley collective, but also it was key in assisting the Anne Shirley Theatre Company with funding before they gained their own levy, and consistently assists the Classics Drama with their yearly production. The need for a new logo comes as Theatre Trent attempts to rebuild and expand its presence in Peterborough. “Due to a lack of affordable performance/rehearsal space, Theatre Trent con-
tinued to fund current students and alumni in many and various productions, but had fewer applicants. As applications lessened, so did Theatre Trent’s visibility and profile in the community.” Despite this adversity, Theatre Trent continued and persisted through these somewhat less productive years. Kerr says that the new logo is “a way to re-launch Theatre Trent as a presence within the community again; a re-branding for the 21st century.” To learn more about Theatre Trent, funding guidelines, or to submit a logo design, visit their theatretrent.wordpress.com or contact them at: theatretrent@trentu.ca.
Strategic Mandate Agreement: Paving the way for Trent’s future By Ugyen Wangmo
Trent University is continuing with its existing programming while in development of new programs, in the light of the new Strategic Mandate Agreement (SMA) that came into effect this April. The SMA is a document that was developed jointly by the Trent University Administration and the provincial government beginning in 2012. The agreement outlines the areas and initiatives that Trent is expected to develop over the next several years. The new term of the SMA (2014-2017) between the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities (MTCU) and Trent University identifies the following as key areas of differentiation: research, unique interdisciplinary pedagogical approach, small class size, community engagement, and inclusivity of underrepresented groups. These are the areas in which Trent will be expected to strengthen in the coming years. “It is important to note that the SMA is a three year agreement, and it is a mistake to think that we have done that now and can move on to other things,” said Provost and Vice-President, Academic, Dr. Gary Boire.
He explained that what the government has initiated in the SMA process is the ongoing process of differentiation that has now put a set of obligations, expectations, and responsibilities on universities. On one hand, universities are told to differentiate, and on the other hand if everybody tries to differentiate, then everybody becomes the same, said Boire. So what Trent has done is identify what it is it that we do differently from other universities and where our strengths lie, and those are the aspects that were put into the SMA, he said. In terms of implementation, Dr. Boire explained that the SMA has many different parts to it and that some parts will take longer than others to implement. For example, he explained one component of the SMA was the allocation of additional graduate seats, which indicates the different number of students for whom Trent will receive government funding. The part with seats for existing programs has started, while those for new programs has not yet been approved. And those programs are in the process of going through the various stages of approval before they finally go to government for the final sign off. A new Masters degree program in Con-
servation Biology and a Masters in Instrumentation Analysis are currently going through the process of approval, he said. Aforementioned are examples of some parts that have already started, while other parts will take a year or two to implement, he informed. One of the challenges for all universities in Ontario is that the SMA identifies specific areas in which the government will permit future growth and at Trent these areas of strength are very limited, said Boire. In terms of retention and recruitment, Boire said that President Leo Groarke has taken a personal interest with a hands-on approach to marketing, branding, recruitment and retention. In order to improve the retention rates, Trent has begun a restructuring of the colleges and an increase in student services under Associate Vice-President Students Nona Robinson. But in terms of recruitment it is imperative that the university continue to recognize the energies of the diversity of students that come to Trent. As to the question of why it was important to include certain programs in the SMA as opposed to many others which could have been included, they were simply told to be included by the government. Every university was asked to identify ten areas of program strength, and they did the best they could to fully represent the full spectrum of activities at Trent within the ten, he said. But the government then reduced that number down to four program areas in which Trent is to grow in. These areas were chosen because they were the demonstrable strengths of the university, for example environmental science, an area where Trent is without question a leader. “It is important for everyone involved in the post-secondary sector—faculty, staff, and students to be very pragmatic in their approach to developing their opinion about
the SMA,” he said. The university sector in Ontario is poised for incredible changes over the next decade or two, as public institutions universities are not exempt from the political realities of the times, he said. He added that in order to survive, one has to be pragmatic and work towards doing one’s best with what is available, which according to him will asking to do more with less. “I think it will be a very challenging time but I am optimistic and confident that Trent will continue to do what it does best, but needs to be vigilant too,” says Dr. Boire. As the term of the current Provost, who was essentially the principal architect of the existing SMA, nears its end, the new incoming provost will have to continue and accomplish its mandates till its term ends in 2017. When asked about his thoughts on that, Provost Boire said, “I would like to think that the new provost does to my plans what I did to my predecessor’s plans - take what they felt was strongest and best and continue with it, disregard those they feel are weak and inefficient and develop their own.” Furthermore, “I am at the disposal of the new provost and will participate as much or little as they wish.” If he was asked for advice then his advice would be, “Always listen! Listen to the sounds and stories of Trent before you start trying to change anything, get the lay of the land, do as the creator advised and listen.” But, once they have finished listening, he said to move on and bring as many people with them as they can to make Trent continue to be a place as good as it is. There is no further financial information with respect to the SMA to report at this time, as noted by Vice President, Finance and Administration, Steven Pillar. Meanwhile the President’s office is planning a SMA open forum some time between November and December, if new information becomes available.
Volume 49 | Issue 9 | November 11, 2014
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Campus: Academics
Clearing the air of Canadian colonialism: A conversation on Indigenous health and history with Dr. James Daschuk By Ayesha Barmania
Prof. James Daschuk, of the University of Regina, has dedicated the past two decades of his career to uncovering the history of the Canadian colonial expedition of the Great Plains. His recent book, Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Aboriginal Life, has received academic and public acclaim for its exposition of the atrocities committed against the Indigenous populations of Saskatchewan. Daschuk, an alumnus of Trent University’s Canadian Studies program, was invited back to his alma mater to give the annual W.O. Morton lecture on October 30, 2014. He met with Arthur to discuss his research, race relations, and the politics of writing about colonialism. Could you talk a bit about your new book and your research in general? Sure. What I intended to do with Clearing the Plains was to find the origin of the health disparity that exists between Indigenous Canadians and white Canadians. What I found was that Indigenous Canadians lost their health early on through government policies. They had their health taken away from them even before the settlers showed up after the construction of Canadian Pacific Railway. What is the timeframe of the book? I went back as far as 1200 AD and looked at prehistoric changes in the population. There was a severe downturn in climate beginning in the mid-13th century, and one of the most heretical things I found in the book was that so many Indigenous nations had such a tough time for probably 100 years or more after that changing climate, that I propose the absolute peak of the Indigenous population happened 200 years before Columbus, rather than the day before Columbus tripped over the Bahamas. I started it in 1200 AD and I ended it
in 1891. The reason being that in 1891, back in Saskatchewan, the population was widely infected with tuberculosis and the global flu pandemic that passed around the area at that time. There was a huge spike in mortality rates. It represents the time when the population absolutely bottomed out. And for the past 115-120 years things have been creeping up and getting better very slowly over time. Your research takes health as a measurement of political hierarchy and social stratification. What are the Social Determinants of Health and why are they an important measurement? At the University of Regina, I teach in a health studies program as a historian about the impact of social forces on health, for example: socio-economic status, housing, education, access to clean water, and security. I teach how those shape three quarters of the health arc of our lives, and just one quarter of our lives are shaped by medical intervention. What that means is that when you end up in a hospital, you’ve already lost your health. Of course in Canada, the biggest gap is between white Canadians and Indigenous Canadians due to these social forces. Life expectancy is 5-10 years shorter due to those social forces that have diverged for over 100 years. If we could create a more equitable society, we could create more equitable health outcomes. How did you come to be interested in this topic? Thirty years ago I was an Anthropology major at Trent and I was just interested in Indigenous cultures. I come from Northern Ontario and I spent a lot of time out in the bush, so I probably had a romantic view of Indigenous people out on the land. I eventually made my way to Winnipeg, where the Hudson’s Bay Company archives are; the archive is the largest repository of
documents pertaining to the history of Northern Canada. I went to grad school in Manitoba so I could look at those documents. Very soon after that I got a job at the medical school, because there was an epidemiologist who was interested in historical trends. That was 25 years ago, and I really haven’t looked back. Since the issue is so big, an army of historians could probably work on it and still not get to the bottom of it.
issues?
How did your education at Trent shape your interests?
Where do you fit in with all of the other people writing and discussing this topic?
I’m the first person to go to university in my family. Both of my parents didn’t finish high school due to World War II breaking out. As the first person in my family going to university I wasn’t really sure what university was all about. I was pretty insecure about the whole situation. I spent a couple of years at McMaster and I wasn’t really fulfilled there, so I came here. It was the first time I experienced the seminar approach and the personalized interactions that we have with our professors, which is a wonderful thing. Being a Trent student and being a Canadian Studies student, I developed personal connections with professors. It was John Wadland who helped me out and guided me toward becoming an academic, I guess because he saw promise in me. That was the first time that I really thought about having the potential of being an academic. It was something I’d always dreamed about, but he helped me see how to connect the dots to attaining that goal. I think that Trent was a very important part of that growing process. I hope that undergrads going through the process today have the same quality of education. And from what I’ve seen it’s still that system, which is an ideal system for us all to follow. Congratulations to Trent for keeping that up.
That’s a good question. Well, I’m certainly not the first person. I took so long that one of my first teachers even gave me heck for it. I could have been the first person, but I took so long that I missed that boat. But one good thing is that I have been able to build upon other people’s work who have published before me. Hopefully, I’m taking it to a higher level. And I guess because of my privilege as a white academic, a lot of people have heard the message. I’ve been speaking to anyone who will listen to me and in the past year I have spoken to maybe a hundred different groups. So maybe it’s my time and I’m just trying to take advantage of that by trying to spread the word as best I can, with the goal to improve race relations. Ultimately that’s all of our goals.
How do you feel about the general public becoming more interested in Indigenous
A lot of people have told me since the book has been published that maybe this is the moment for Indigenous issues, maybe now is its time. I have received a lot of positive recognition from academics, First Nations, and others who are encouraging me to keep things going, spreading the word as best as I can. And maybe it’s a cliche, but maybe soon we’ll reach a tipping point.
What do you feel is the role of research like this in political and activist movements? I think we should all, as academics, work as hard as we can and to the highest standard, to address these important issues. I encourage all academics, students and grad students to take on whatever they feel are important topics. I feel that as academics we have a role to inform important debates, it’s just that we have to make our research accessible to people involved in those debates.
OPIRG working group to host anti-poverty discussion panel featuring local councillors and Trent professor By Laura Crump
Poverty is a significant issue in Canada that perforates many facets of our lives including health outcomes, education and crime rates. People who live below the poverty line are less likely to pursue higher education and more likely to drop out of high school. They are also more likely to be convicted of a criminal offense. One study even found that people living in lower income neighborhoods in Canada have a life expectancy of less than 20 years that of those living in higher income areas. In Peterborough, recent studies seem to suggest that poverty is increasing, and it’s clear that something needs to be done. But how can we, as students, work to change this? As students, we have a unique position in the community. Whether we plan to be in Peterborough for four years or 20, we
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have the chance to make a real difference in the community we are living in, even if just for a short time. Most students have the time to devote a couple hours a week to causes such as these, and even our sheer number makes us a force to contend with in events such as elections and rallies. Our varied degrees and interests also
give us a multitude of ways to get involved. As nursing students we can spearhead community health initiatives, or as education majors we can work with atrisk children. A group of students thinking along these lines recently founded Anti-Poverty Activism, an OPIRG working group that aims to educate students about poverty
and also support anti-poverty initiatives in the community. The group’s current project is a panel featuring local activists and experts talking about Why Poverty Matters, how change is happening here in Peterborough and how we can get involved. The panel will feature Diane Therrien, a newly elected city councilor in the downtown area to fight poverty here in Peterborough. As well, Paul Brown, who works with both the United Way and the Workers Action Centre, and Professor Gillian Balfour, a sociology professor here at Trent University will also be speaking. Interested in learning more? Check out the Why Poverty Matters panel event occurring Wednesday November 19 from 7–9pm In Gzowski room 103. Refreshments will be provided. For more information about the event or Anti-Poverty activism e-mail: opirglistings@gmail.com.
Campus: Life
Spotted at Trent: Community building or cyberbullying By Zachary Cox
It is a scene that is likely familiar to many Trent students: “To the fella who had the guts to ask me for my number in the OC computer lab- I salute you. More people need to take chances,” or “the guy cracking the beer open in sociology knows how to do thirsty Thursdays right.” Seemingly anonymous posts gathered on a central social media account—this is the culture of “spotted pages.” For those who do not know, the premise is relatively simple. Individuals can send private messages to a hub account that will then proceed to post the submitted messages, with no ties to the original messenger. In doing so, people have the opportunity to leave pseudo-anonymous posts. Spotted pages are common at Canadian Universities these days. The University of Waterloo, Queens University, the University of Toronto and others all have easily accessible spotted pages. Trent has two popular ones currently in operation, one on Facebook with 3667 likes and one on Twitter with 1154 followers. The intention of these pages is to submit posts about what is seen around the region that the page serves, in this case, Trent University. “Saw someone at Trent & would like to send them an anonymous message? Do it here! Send us a DM and we’ll post it! Don’t be shy!” reads the description on the Twitter profile. A similar explanation is found on the Facebook page. It’s not a phenomenon that is limited to Canada, nor is it to universities. There are plenty of spotted pages for educational institutions in America, Europe, and elsewhere around the world. In addition, there are spotted pages for parks, shopping centres, and other public locations. If nothing else, spotted pages are common. Common, and controversial. There are many differing opinions on the existence and usage of such pages. There are those who feel that the page builds community, while others feel it is a method of avoiding actual social interaction. Similarly, there are those who feel that the pages are humorous and entertaining and those who
feel that some of the posts are unpleasant and offensive. One Trent student, Megan Webb, feels that the page is limiting proper interaction between individuals. “I love the page for its humorous moments,” she said, “but it seems like people are using it as a way to cop out of telling people how they actually feel, stooping further into the stigma of people relying on social networks to interact.” Sonal Mandalia, an exchange student from Kent University, however, feels that the usage of the pages are an indication of the strong community present at Trent. “It’s an indication of Trent’s ethos,” she said. Summer Stevenson, a third year student, has some concerns about the entire process. “I think it can be used for wonderful things, but people have an issue with anonymity,” she said, explaining that some of the posts strike her as being “destructive and mean and bullying.” Posts, such as the one posted to the Twitter page on November 3 that says “to the girl rambling on in POST1000Y.. Please shut the f*** up” could certainly be perceived as cyberbullying. In addition, various posts commenting on physical appearances could be considered sexual harassment. But what about the people who run the spotted pages? What are their thoughts
on the matter? Through a conversation on Twitter, the unnamed admin of the Twitter page provided some insight into the inner workings. The individual who manages the Twitter page is not the same person behind the Facebook page. They simply wanted to provide a similar service on an alternate social network in order to cater to those who use Twitter more heavily than Facebook. When it comes to moderation it is not extensive, but they do attempt to make sure what gets posted is positivity. “I really don’t have a ton of time to fix things when they come in,” the account owner said, “because I get tons of direct messages a day from people so it’s hard to keep up and fix everything that gets sent to me. However, I do like to skim to make sure that what I’m posting isn’t negative.” They admit that some of the posts that have been submitted have been more than questionable. “I’ve received some really harsh messages,” they said, but noted that pleasant messages are frequent as well. “There’s one way that people use this page that stands out to me from the rest and it makes me so happy,” they said. “When people point out random acts of kindness or just give recognition to people. I always love getting messages about how great a Tim Horton’s worker is or
how nice it was to get a smile from an unfamiliar face.” As of press deadline, the administrator of the Facebook page had not responded to any inquiries. The Trent spotted pages have been used for both good and bad. It has been shown that there is the potential for the page to be used to spread cheer and goodwill through posts such as “to the guy who held the door for me today, thanks. I was having a pretty crappy day so a small gesture like that really made me feel better,” but also that the potential is there for it to be used in a negative fashion as well. In the end, it all comes back to the users. It is up to those who use the page to determine the fashion the service is used. Will the spotted at Trent pages build or hinder community? Will they spread positive or negative messages? It depends on what the users decide. As such, there are some things that should be kept in mind if you intend to use the pages. What kind of community do you want to be a part of? What sorts of anonymous messages would you want posted about yourself? And of course, because nothing is truly anonymous, what sorts of messages would you want associated with your name? If these questions are kept in mind, acceptable ways to use the pages should be easy to spot.
Steven Heighten comes to Traill for the Writer’s Readings Series By Brian Hough
Steven Heighten was the latest writer to visit Traill as part of the Writer’s Readings series. The Toronto native and Queen’s graduate read both poetry and short fiction to a nearly full Scott House JCR. Heighten has been making a career out of both poetry and short fiction for quite a while now. In 1989, he was the winner of the Air Canada Award for most promising writer under the age of 30. In the same year won the Gerald Lampert Award for his first book of poetry, Stalin’s Carnival. Heighten started with the poem Address Book, dedicated to a friend named ‘Mad Carl’, before reading a piece from his short fiction anthology The Dead Are More Visible. He then returned to poetry, reading a beautiful piece about reading to his daughter before bed for the last time “because the thing about these moments is that you never know that they’re the last time until after.” He also spoke about his habit of wak-
ing up in the middle of the night to write, inspired by dreams and writing from the ‘night mind.’ By this he meant not bringing too much of the critical, rational mind to bear down on the process of writing, to avoid letting it get in the way. This is perhaps not surprising given that his collection, The Ecstasy of Skeptics (1994) focused very much on the Nietzschean themes of the relationship between the Apollonian and Dionysian in the artistic process made famous in the German philosopher’s work, The Birth Of Tragedy. The majority of the discussion focused on the creative process and technique, which personally, I always find to be the most interesting parts of these discussions. One of the first questions focused on the short fiction he read, asking why he chose not to define his male characters’ occupation until further on in the text. Heighten astutely observed that those types of details are best dropped intermittently to allow the reader to immediately engage with the action of the narrative rather than “bogging down” the pace of the text with too many details given all at once (*ahem* looking at you Thomas Hardy).
In the context of poetry he also mentioned that writing from dreams can allow you to generate affects and inspire techniques that would make the poetry “weirder than it otherwise would be, if you sat down and planned it out using a purely rational approach”. When asked whether or not he had any problems going back and forth between poetry and short fiction, Heighten re-
marked that, “Poetry, these days, is for me a labour of love. Given the stage of my life and my position, I largely focus on fiction, because fiction pays the bills. As soon as I finish one book I begin working on the next.” Heighten’s reading was an excellent piece of instruction on ways to approach the craft, while also being spotted with some gorgeous writing.
Volume 49 | Issue 9 | November 11, 2014
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Campus: Life
Trent graduate student brings burlesque to Peterborough By Brian Hough
While burlesque has a long history, it has recently been catching on across the continent as a form of performance art, in part because of its being woman and LGBTQ– friendly, as well as its distinct emphasis on body and sex-positivity. Moreover it’s multi-genre and collaborative approach attracts a wide variety of talents, as a single show can include everything from more traditional burlesque dancing and performances to comedy, music, and even poetry/spoken word. Babelesque is hoping to bring that culture to Peterborough, thanks to coordinator and instructor Amy Jane Von Purr (aka Miss Von Purr, aka The Glamour Ghoul), a PhD student at Trent University in the Cultural Studies program. Babelesque is a new class sponsored by the Trent Queer Collective, held on Tuesdays at 6pm at Sadleir House. The classes are open to anybody and serve as an introduction to the world of burlesque, as well as DIY prop construction and costume design. Miss Von Purr says, “In addition to learning a history of burlesque, the art of the tease, and how to mould the perfect, personalized onstage persona, Babelesque focuses heavily on body confidence. This class is intended to help people (re)discover their inner babe and celebrate their individual brand of sexiness.” In the past, however, burlesque has suffered from various misunderstandings “First off, burlesque is not stripping. The strip-tease is an important element of burlesque, but certainly not the primary focus. We are learning about performance, about casting a seductive spell over an audience. Some people do not realize that burlesque has a very long and colourful history. Our modern perception of bur-
lesque is best defined as ‘neo-burlesque’ - and I want people to understand this art is informed by a classic tradition. Babelesque combines neo-burlesque with classic burlesque and never forgets its vaudeville, cabaret roots.” Miss Von Purr herself says that she came to it almost ‘by accident’ in Ottawa, saying, “I have had experience on stage since childhood and I have always adored musicals, cabaret, stage-shows, and elaborate costumes. I knew about burlesque, but always thought that someone like myself wouldn’t be capable of performing that type of act. I went to see several shows in Ottawa and I fell in love with the community. Suddenly, a friend volunteered us to perform in a show! I was terrified! Then, the friend dropped out and I had to scramble for another partner. I ended up collaborating with the phenomenal Bendy LaRule, and we performed our first show called “B is for Burlesque” - a Jim Henson themed burlesque show. It was such an incredible experience and I was hooked.” In keeping with the interdisciplinary nature of the medium Miss Von Purr is participant in a wide variety of arts and culture events in the city. She takes Belly Dance classes, spins poi, is involved with the Trent Film Society, and is heavily involved in several fandoms and fan culture, particularly with horror films. She also has big plans for Peterborough, hoping to expand the burlesque scene to the Electric City. “I would love to see burlesque turn into an inclusive and vibrant community of dancers and performers,” she says. “In Ottawa, there is a strong burlesque community and several separate dance troupes. I would love to see a few troupes (or at least one) spring up here in Peterborough. We are a much smaller city, but this town is bursting with talent! In Ottawa, the bur-
lesque community is heavily involved with community groups, charities, fundraisers, and local events- I think burlesque in PTBO could do the same thing and become an entity synonymous with sexiness,
talent, and compassion.” To contact Miss Von Purr about the Babelesque classes, e-mail her at burlesque. ptbo@gmail.com or find “Amy Jane Von Purr” on Facebook.
David Morrison Lecture: Planning for life after Trent By Renzo Costa
It is perhaps typical to meet the end of a phase with both a feeling of uncertainty and excitement. The end of university is an anticipated moment that nonetheless proves to be a great source of anxiety. On October 28, the annual David Morrison lecture took place at Market Hall. The lecture was titled “Dilemmas in Changemaking: Thoughts on Planning a Life Change” and was offered by Trent alumna Alison Van Rooy, a government official working for the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development. This lecture was complemented by a talk with International Development Studies Trent alumni about life after uni-
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versity and the different career paths they have taken. Regardless of your major, the talk and the lecture were hugely inspiring in terms of thinking about what’s next. It is in the context of great uncertainty that decisions about life after university have to be made. This brings enormous amounts of stress to students, who struggle to find out how to continue developing their passion while also finding a job and working towards starting a professional career. The job market is not particularly encouraging, and neither is the financial support provided to students to continue into graduate studies. Even the volunteering and non-gov-
ernmental sector is bombarded with organizations that ‘sell’ volunteering experiences. These experiences often involve going to the global south and allowing the participants to feel good about themselves while traveling at the same time. Increasingly, this ‘volunteering business’ has been challenged. Students wishing to do meaningful internships or volunteering have to navigate through a plethora of businesses trying to commercialize them for profit. However, one of the main conclusions from the lecture and the talk was that even when the future looks uncertain, there is always time to find our path. We often struggle to make the decisions that would count towards the career that we have envisioned. Nevertheless, it is often the case that we will change our direction many times in the next few years, and that is not necessarily undesirable. Another important conclusion from the talk and the lecture was the fact that after finishing undergraduate studies, most students have the opportunity to be flexible since they have not settled down in any particular place. This allows us to get out of our comfort zones and explore our personal goals. Many students have been in school their whole life, and so their twenties provide the necessary flexibility to find new experiences that enable us to challenge ourselves outside the classroom. Some would argue this would not count towards career building, however, I would
disagree. Exploring oneself through traveling or activities that force us to reach out of our comfort zone provide skills and vital experience for any future career. Finding out what specific career one may take could also help. Graduate studies, for instance, offer a wide range of very specialized options. Students often feel unsure of their options, and so dedicating some time to exploring oneself internally could be helpful in deciding what career path to follow. Furthermore, there are different phases in life that allow for different decisions. We live in a time where we do not have to stick to one career and we will most likely change jobs throughout our lives. Right after university, we have the flexibility to involve ourselves in experiences that would imply leaving everything we know. Perhaps later in life, a job that offers more stability in a fixed place would be feasible, for someone looking to form a family, for instance. Embracing this flexibility is a difficult skill, but would allow us to have the necessary experience to know how to change our careers according to our life stages. It is the ability to transform what life brings into meaningful experience what will allow us to succeed in the future. In uncertain times, those who can be flexible enough to look for opportunities that enable them to get out of their comfort zones will be better equipped to materialize their passions into meaningful careers in the future.
College Head Profile: Lindy Garneau - True Gzowski By Ugyen Wangmo
What does it mean to you to be the head of Gzowski College? This building has a deep meaning for me, and I spent a lot of my time in here. Some of the most meaningful relationships and the work that I feel really defines me was accomplished in this building. And now to be a part of it in this way is really quite extraordinary. How do you view the success of the Gzowski College? Success of the Gzowski College for me is not about looking at it as though it is just a yellow building but looking at it as a building of people, and of community. And to be able to raise that community so that when we identify Gzowski College we think about people as opposed to just a building, that to me is a success of the college. And what do you think students view the success of College as being? To the student, success is when they know who their college head is and when they know who you are because you are engaged with what the students are doing. At the root of it all, success to students and to me is “ Community Building.” Is there anything groundbreaking Gzowski is planning to initiate in the near future? One of the things which is really going to be interesting that we are doing is an outreach program for at risk youth in the community called the ‘University One on One’. It is not necessarily for university students, it is for students out there that may not already see themselves as having any university potentials or postsecondary potentials. This program would invite them to come for an eight-week program through Gzowski College. It is to help them with their transition out of high school and into a university setting. It will be great way to reach out to the community. We are expecting it to unfold sometime in January. What are the opportunities of this position? Everything about this position is an opportunity for me. I have really worked hard to be here and this has really been a dream for me, so I don’t take it lightly. Colleges took a huge shift when for the first time in their history, they hired a huge number of students, eight students for every College. This means that every idea we have, every program that we run is from the students. So my role here is to serve the students by networking with faculties, community members and staffs, which is a great opportunity for me. Above all, the opportunity to help the
Campus: Life
students draw out their talents and every wonderful aspect within them and to help them shine with confidence. I have noticed the effort you put to offer your visitors a cup of tea, talk about its significance? When I have visitors in my office it is important for me to take the time to make tea. My Teacher and mentor, the late Lorne Ellingson, who taught in the Indigenous Studies Department at Trent, used to make tea before almost every meeting. We had both been impacted from a Teaching given by Elder Michael Thrasher, which states: “A relationship is a thousand cups of tea”. Each time someone comes into my office we are building our relationship. The time and detail it takes to make the tea is symbolic of the time and detail that goes into building a relationship. Enjoying the pot of tea together is related to the sharing that takes place within the relationship and the community. I want all of my conversation with students, staff, and faculty to feel meaningful and authentic. What I know to be true is nothing is more meaningful and authentic than the conversations I have with others while drinking tea together. Tell us something you would proudly share with the Trent community? It was the summer before I began my journey as a Trent student. Like many other first year students as I wait, having a difficult time transition into university, during this time my Dad and a group of his friends and colleagues went on a fishing trip. While there, my Dad happened to mention that his daughter would be attending Trent University in the fall. From the fishing site beside them a man approached him. The man pulled out his business card and wrote a little note on it and asked my Dad to give it to me. When he came home, he told me he had met someone who worked at Trent, who was very enthusiastic about my attending in the fall. He handed me the business card. It read: “Dear Lindy, Welcome to Trent. If you ever need anything, please come and see me”. It was signed T.H.B. Symons. Final word? Peter Gzowski College is a place where the head, heart, and hands of learning can be championed and explored. We are youthful, curious, and invested in the academic passions and learning journeys of our students. The College is a community of support, leadership, and celebration. It brings me great joy to be a part of Trent in this way. It honours me to continue to serve the student body with meaningful, intentional, and heartfelt contribution.
Volume 49 | Issue 9 | November 11, 2014
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arts
The Beef Boys and Lonely Parade return from East Coast tour By Brian Hough
Two of Peterborough’s most quickly growing bands, The Beef Boys and The Lonely Parade, recently returned from a 10-day tour of the East Coast. It was both of their first times touring outside of Ontario, and a great showcase for the talent emerging from the city. Says Brandon Root (The Beef Boys) “We’d been talking about it for a long time, but it didn’t really start coming together until we called The Lonely Parade and got them on board.” Packing themselves into a single van (Luca Mo (The Beef Boys): “We also should mention Candace—Candace drove our van because none of us had licenses”) and made their way through Quebec, but not before playing to a packed audience at The Garnet to kick off their tour. Their next show (Oct. 18th) saw them in Fredericton at the Reneu Boutique where they played with The Pastel Skeletons. “There was this scientist or something there, some guy with a lab coat who was playing with these silver orbs. I don’t know if anyone even knew him. He was like balancing and rolling them around on his hands” says Charlotte Dempsey (The Lonely Parade). “This guys was ‘that guy’, the guy in all these small town scenes who’s not necessarily into punk rock or anything but just knows that these are the kind of places where he can just hang out and play with his orbs and no one’s going to care, every town sort of has a guy like that, it’s a weird sort of thing that you always see in small scenes, it’s kind of what makes them fun places to play.” Adds Germ Sperman (The Beef Boys). The bands next moved onto Moncton where they played with the Mike V band at ‘Claude’s House’, says Young Ray Kang (The Beef Boys), “I don’t know that ‘Claude’ has lived in this house for 80 years, I think he’s just an urban myth. It was just this old re-
The Lonely Parade (L-R: Augusta Vanhoof Veno, Anwyn Climenhage, and Charlotte Dempsey) play a Halloween Show (they're dressed as moms). Photo by Keila MacPherson.
cording space where kinds put on shows.” Augusta Vanhoof Veno (The Lonely Parade) says of the show, “it was all ages, which was great because the liquor laws were strict out east. In New Brunswick you have to order something to eat anytime you want to order a beer.” An all ages show was also beneficial since two of the members of The Lonely Parade are underage. The bands then took a detour to Sackville, a popular place among Canadian Musicians. “We fell in love with the Black Death, a coffee shop there, it was a great town, we liked it so much we went back again on the way home even though we didn’t play there,” says Veno. They then went to Halifax for the first of four shows, at Plan-B (“‘Plan A’ for us” says Augusta) with The Age. “[They’re] kind of like a lot of people from other more wellknown Halifax bands” says Sperman on the band. Almost all of the bands’ members cited Plan-B as one of the highlights of their tour. Run by a local art collective “Plan B is a non-profit social enterprise co-op pro-
viding low cost retail space and training for local small and micro businesses to sell their products” (from the Plan-B Facebook page). “They had like a performance space, and zine library in the back and all sorts of cool vintage vendors sharing a space” recounts Mo. The bands next show in Halifax was at ‘The Young Offenders’ Gallery’ where they played with solo act Nigel Chapman. Says Brandon, “It was a house that was basically like a kitchen with nothing in it, where we played and a loft, but the whole gallery was in the kitchen.” “There were installations in the bathroom,” says Anwyn Climenhage (The Lonely Parade). “Gallery number two was in the bathroom,” adds Sperman. Before rounding out their Halifax shows at the Dalhousie Student Union run ‘TRoom’ they played one more show at an all-day house party event. “A lot of really good bands that played at Pop Explosion played at that show,” says
Climenhage. Bandmate Dempsey adds, “Pop Explosion was why we went; we thought we had got in (to the festival), but we didn’t.” “When life gives you nothing, make lemons, then make lemonade,” says Veno. Root then brings up one of the oddest parts of the bands’ trip: “The loft just had dozens and dozens of rabbits just in cages and everywhere. I don’t even know what they were for.” Says Mo, “You could smell them as soon as you went up the stairs.” Finally, they made their made back home, stopping again in Quebec City, “We played a murder mystery game we bought at Plan-B”, says Dempsey. Adds Young Ray Kang, “It was endorsed by Vincent Price. It said so on the box.” The trip back home seems to have been the longest part of the tour. Kang says “for some reason the trip from Quebec City to Peterborough took like twenty hours.” “I think we got lost a few times,” adds Veno. Adds Sperman, “It didn’t take that long, but it felt like forever.” “... and then we smashed everything and anything that to do with the tour,” says Climenhage. The Lonely Parade didn’t waste any time either, almost immediately heading to Toronto for a show at Lee’s Palace opening for Weezer-cover supergroup ‘Sheezer’. “We got kicked out and had to leave until 5 minutes before we played and leave 5 minutes later” says Dempsey (referring to playing in a band while in the age of minority when most venues serve alcohol). “Actually we played with The Lonely Parade again at The Garnet just a couple days later, so it’s like the tour never really ended,” Sperman adds. When asked about any regrets, Sperman says “I made a bet with this guy that I could do the whole tour in only my underwear, so I bought some Long Johns. I only made it to Quebec City.”
Interstellar: It’s good to know there’ll always be sexy astronauts By Brian Lukaszewicz
Interstellar, directed by Christopher Nolan (helmer of the Batman trilogy and Inception for those of you who like to aggressively ignore all of the less pretty, non-acting types) is a spiritual successor to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, not just in terms of its setting in the deep, dark loneliness of space, but in its ability to confound as much as it entertains. Like Kubrick, Nolan doesn’t seem too concerned that his big abstract ideas may leave part of his audience behind. In fact, he appears to embrace the malleability of it. Interstellar is a blank canvas – you can paint most any interpretation over it. That should lure a few people in, though it could just the same turn a few off. The film’s comfort with ambiguity is evident right from its beginning. Earth is on its last legs. The reason for its demise seems to be a combination of things – starvation chief among them – but there’s no one underwriting event to point to as the catalyst. In the end, the why doesn’t matter anyway. Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) lives on a farm with his young daughter Murph, his son Tom, and his father-in-law Donald. A former astronaut, he’s asked – through an intricate series of events – to fly a mission to another galaxy through a wormhole recently opened up by a mysterious extra-dimensional force.
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Despite apprehensions about leaving his family—the consequences described in the theory of relativity state that even if he were to return home his children could be long dead—Cooper joins the expedition in hopes that he can save his kids from Earth’s inevitable decline. Nolan then proceeds to journey Cooper and his crew through every flashy physics theory he can think of, knowing full well that if the science ever becomes too dense there’s enough there visually to keep most anyone enticed. Indeed, there’s something about the scale of Interstellar that makes it feel, for lack of a better term, incredibly awe inspiring. It’s amazing how a tiny dot of light against the backdrop of some epic set piece in space can summon so much raw emotion. But it’s the exploration of time on the lives of these characters that makes Interstellar truly compelling. For all the movies that have explored time as a theme over the years—and I don’t even mean in science fiction, the passage of time is a surefire way to tug at the heartstrings—none of them have been able to play with the big ideas the way this film has. Given the real life implications of relativistic physics, it’s amazing more movies haven’t explored the concept before. Imagine if every hour in one place were equal to years in another. Children who are older than their parents. Essentially a means to
time travel into the future. There’s a lot of material there, and while it would be easy to lose the characters in all of it, Nolan (along with his screenwriter brother Jonathan) are masters at finding the pathos underlying each scenario they tackle. For their part, the cast delivers quite well. McConaughey continues his long tradition of delivering existential dialogue with added gravitas (see his Lincoln commercial for proof). Anne Hathaway, playing Cooper’s traveling companion Amelia, gives a pretty well rounded depiction (with a little help from the script) to a character that in lesser movies would have amounted to little more than the stock scientist. In fact, one of the great things about Interstellar is that despite its focus on a multitude of scientific theories, its characters are distinctly human. They know their stuff, but they speak and act like real people, willing to forgo logic for what feels right. Ideals aren’t always the easiest things to live out, and Interstellar’s nuanced understanding of that is nice to see. The film does have its flaws. There are countless plot holes, some perhaps explainable by a misunderstanding of the science (I’m pretty well-versed in this stuff, but figuring it all out would probably send me down a month long Wikipedia clickhole) though others seem less forgivable. Likewise, Nolan, doing his best showdon’t-tell, tends to have his characters
jump just so we can see what plays out in spite of the fact that a lot of the consequences should have been figured out by these people beforehand. As in most instances where science meets entertainment, there’s bound to be at least a few complaints about accuracy. Nothing brings the scientists and the laymen together like dissecting the merit of a popular movie. Despite the credentials of the film’s technical advisor, noted physicist Kip Thorne, some of the methodology just seems far-fetched, and distractingly so. In fact, my gut tells me a lot of people in the scientific community won’t like this film at all. Interstellar seems to want it both ways, to explore the implications of relativity while ignoring a dozen other physical concepts. But that’s missing the point a bit too. A few minor points aside, Nolan has done something else here. He’s dared to dream of science yet undiscovered, that there may be things out there we’ve yet to comprehend. Is that convenient for a filmmaker trying to make something that entertains? Sure it is. But it doesn’t make it any less of a possibility either. What I do know is that Interstellar is a full 170 minutes I spent glued to my seat. And despite the surface comparisons to 2001: A Space Odyssey, it was nothing I’d ever seen before. It may divide, but it demands to be seen.
Arts
4th Line Theatre’s new season: Car Chases and spiritual awakenings By Caleigh Boyle
After a very successful 2014 season with Dr. Barnardo’s Children and Wounded Soldiers, 4th Line Theatre announced their 2015 season, along with some exciting changes to the company! Kim Blackwell, newly promoted to Managing Artistic Director, will be directing both plays this coming summer. “I am thrilled that both the Board of Directors and Robert Winslow believe in me, and have given me this amazing opportunity to be the artistic leader of this theatre that I love so much,” says Blackwell. Beginning with the theatre in 1992, Blackwell explains how she could never imagine this happening. “From those early days to now, I bring two decades of knowledge of this theatre to my new position, as well as an absolute belief in our mission and mandate.” With Blackwell as the new managing artistic director, Robert Winslow, founder of 4th Line Theatre, has taken on the role of creative director. “As creative director, I will have more time to focus on writing and research,” he explains. The season will be opening in June 2015 with the world premiere of Alex PochGoldin’s The Bad Luck Bank Robbers, inspired by Grace Barker’s book of the same name.
The play tells the story of bank robbers who, on August 31, 1961, stole $250,000 (the largest, single day, bank robbery in Canada at the time) from a local Havelock bank. The Bad Luck Bank Robbers is a comedy mixed with the dramas of courtroom trial and the mystery of the missing money. Poch-Goldin will appear for the first time on the 4th Line stage as an attorney, acting along side Winslow, who will be playing one of the robbers. Beginning in August, returning to the 4th Line Theatre Stage will be Gimme That Prime Time Religion.
First produced at the theatre in 2002, Gimme That Prime Time Religion follows the story an evangelistic reverend, Bobby Angel. The 2002 production was also the directorial debut for Kim Blackwell, so she jumped at the opportunity to bring it back to 4th Line. “It really launched me as a professional director… so it seems fitting to revisit that particular show this year. And I’m very interested in exploring the dark underbelly of religious fundamentalism in a satirical manner,” she said. Though this play is a comedy, Robert
Winslow warns that “it’s got a sharp edge to it.” Gimme That Prime Time Religion has been toured across Canada and through many places in Europe such as London, England and Scotland, with Winslow playing Bobby Angel during each production alongside many different casts. Winslow will be playing Bobby Angel again in this coming season. So if you are ready to walk through the valley, if you are ready for the healing powers of Jesus, go see Reverend Bobby Angel in August. The 2015 season is a lighter one than the last; featuring two comic (albeit satirical and edgy) plays full of car chases and spiritual awakenings. For the coming season Blackwell says, “I plan to keep doing what we do so well, telling important Canadian stories in an epic way at the Winslow farm.” Going into its 22nd season, 4th Line Theatre has become a summer destination. The thing about 4th Line Theatre is that it’s not like any other. Being outside in nature, and hearing stories that happened in our own communities creates a connection between audience and play that people are really drawn to, and the 2015 season won’t be any different. The Bad Luck Bank Robbers and Gimme That Prime Time Religion are both shows that you won’t want to miss.
Theatre Review: Romeo and Juliet: Superstar Ice Miners of Europa!!! By Simon Semchuck
Last week, Mysterious Entity’s Romeo and Juliet: Superstar Ice Miners of Europa!!! (yes, the exclamation marks are necessary) landed in Peterborough. Adapted by Kate Story from her short story The Yoke of Inauspicious Stars and directed by Em Glasspool, the play took the bard’s famous tragedy and turned it into a comic, tragic, scifi, anti-corporate, love story. The show was staged at The Theatre on King, the up-and-coming black box theatre space built for intimate performances. The audience couldn’t have been far over 30 people. The performance-side of the small room was painted icy white with hints of blue and included a bar made of water cooler bottles that could be lit up from behind, making it look like a collection of crystal bubbles, and a bed with fur blankets. Because of sightlines however, the bed— the centre of the action for a number of crucial scenes—was difficult to view for a large chunk of the audience. Costumes by Kate Story were fun, mixing steampunk (for the Caps) and a sort of cowboy gothic (for the Monties) with white and blue jumpsuits. It was refreshing to see a light-hearted futuristic show that wasn’t just tin foil and blinking lights. The plot, besides the obvious, revolved around the rival corporations of Capisco and Monsanto mining fresh water on Europa to send back to Earth, devastated after war, nuclear fallout, and other nasty things. Romeo is the best ice miner on Europa until Juliet comes along. The story dealt with Orwellian surveillance, exploitation of nature, celebrity culture, and a singing moon. It was a packed night. The show was also highly physical, with excellent fight direction by Kenn Gibb, the small space of TTOK making the intensity of the action even more exhilarating.
The play was semi-Shakespearean, pulling lines from Romeo and Juliet as well as Shakespeare’s other plays and mixing them with modern lingo and some of Story’s own iambic couplets. Story’s script also played with gender, with Paris as a lesbian lusting after Juliet and Prince as gender non-conforming (she was referred to with alternating he and she pronouns). Furthermore, simply making Juliet a self-empowered miner instead of a repressed child brought an interesting new dynamic to the character. As for the acting, Romeo (Ken Gibb) was played as surprisingly boyish. This amplified the comic elements of the play, but with a Juliet decidedly more mature, the initial wooing lacked something. But when Gibb wasn’t being comic, finally the chemistry between the actors ap-
peared. Juliet (Sarah McNeilly) acted with extravagance, which again leaned more towards comedy than tragedy. Her confidence was engaging, however, and she did find real fragility and emotional depth in her nightmare of radiation poisoning monologue. Paris (Em Glasspool) tread a fine line between uncomfortable lech and sympathetic lovesick soul, pulling it off gracefully. Laurence (Dianne Latchford), a cross of Friar Laurence and Juliet’s Nurse as a barkeep, was a fine mix between surly and tender-hearted, and gave her terrible advice to the lovers with perfect conviction. But the show was stolen by two of the more minor characters. Prince (Kate Story) was the mysterious bar owner and much more—a looker and a listener, he seemed to have much more control over
the dealings of the rival corporations than was ever explained. Romeo and Juliet, we know, I wanted Prince’s story. And finally MAB—the Multi-Access Bionetwork (Hilary Wear), which was basically Facebook and other social media that talks to you from your wrist. Malfunctioning from the singing at Europa’s core, she becomes Queen MAB, the dark fairy spoken of in the original Romeo and Juliet. Wear was funny, strange, and captivating. If you missed the show, Mysterious Entity is hoping to bring it back next year at Market Hall and to tour it through schools. The show is definitely entertaining, I just hope to see the actors push themselves further in reprising the roles. You can also read the original story in the story collection Carbide Tipped Pens, coming out in December through Tor Books.
Volume 49 | Issue 9 | November 11, 2014
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OpinionPages Editorial: Remembrance Day - Editorial: Artspace’s legacy shows A personal conflict importance of acting on ideals By Matthew Rappolt
Remembrance Day always seems to uncover the same predictable public disagreements. Should stores be allowed to play holiday music between Halloween and November 12? Is it insensitive that businesses showcase Christmas trees instead of poppies in their window displays during this time? And, conversely, if they do, is it right that they appropriate the emotions and images of Remembrance Day for their own commercial benefit? For me, Remembrance Day has always been the source of a much more personal conflict involving what it means for us to “remember” and “celebrate” our military past. I grew up in a small town outside of Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario, and attended a Mennonite church until I moved up here to Peterborough for university. Philosophically, I still identify with the Mennonite belief in pacifism and I oppose any aspect of war and military conflict. I continue to believe that war creates more problems than it can ever solve. But these views have left me with conflicted feelings about taking part in the ceremonies and traditions that occur each year on November 11. On one hand, as a student of history, I understand the cultural and community value of commemorating significant events of the past. I think Santayana was correct when he remarked that people ignorant of the past are doomed to repeat its mistakes. On the other hand, however, as a student of politics, I realize that everything is political and each year I worry about the extent to which Remembrance Day naturalizes the narratives of militarism and armed combat within our collective conscience.
Put more plainly, while I believe that it is ethically correct, even necessary, for us to commemorate and pay tribute to the many millions of people who have been killed, displaced, and otherwise impacted by the war and conflict, I question whether the political subtext of Remembrance Day reinforces the alltoo-common view that war is simply a necessary and justifiable fact of life. Thus, I have been left with these conundrums: is it ethical for someone who believes in peace and actively opposes war to take part in Remembrance Day celebrations? Is it possible to separate the commemoration of human life, lost in tragic circumstance, from the glorification of nationalism, militarism, and global imperialism? If I wear a poppy on my coat am I legitimizing a political agenda I fundamentally disagree with? To date I am unable to answer any of these questions with certainty. However, beyond these ethical landmines, I feel that there is something fundamentally human about gathering to remember those who gave their lives in the belief that they were defending the best ideals of human society. After all, I do agree that the ideals at the root of our society: freedom, justice, community, and equality are indeed worth defending. I am just of the belief this can be done without the use of nuclear weapons, political assassinations, or occupations. And so each year I struggle over whether or not I should pin the poppy to my coat and walk down to the cenotaph at 11:00 on November 11. I usually do both of these things, all the while questioning whether or not I am actually being true to my beliefs. I guess it feels right to reflect on the fact that the unconscionable horrors of war have always happened, and continue to happen, to people like myself.
Letters to the Editors supporting the “sanctions” which preUniting to chase that ever- and vented baby formula and childhood inoculations from entering Iraq causing over a elusive goal of peace million deaths of children under 6 years of Dear Arthur, Reports on the first Canadian bombing missions in Iraq stressed that targets in Falluja were “precisely targeted” by lasers. Some years ago I visited a site in Baghdad so precisely targeted that two bombs hit sideby side. All humans in the building were instantly incinerated but their photos lined the walls. The site so precisely targeted was a shelter for women and children. Visitors from the U.S. brought hundreds of cards expressing shame, guilt, sympathy, sorrow, and pleas for forgiveness. Sadly no words can compensate for the death of a child. A report on the internet titled “Falluja Babies and Depleted Uranium” states that “America’s toxic legacy in Iraq from two wars” includes hundreds of tons of depleted uranium now causing an epidemic of birth defects, cancers, liver disease and childhood leukemia. Previously Canada contributed to this suffering much less conspicuously, quietly supplying much of the depleted uranium
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age. Now we are more visibly involved in the killing machine bringing death, maiming, terror and bereavement to civilians powerless to defend themselves. Recently an American bombing “error’ left 250 schoolchildren dead in Syria. OOPS! (It may help to think of this as “collateral damage”, not a massacre of the innocent. Remember arms sales are a good thing for the Canadian economy.) Killing children is never right, justified or in any way forgivable. Attempts to justify the targetting of children and other civilians bring us to the brink of moral bankruptcy. These days it is hard to capture public attention with non-violent vocabularly. If you would like to give peace a fighting chance you might want to attend one of the following meetings at Sadleir House (the huge red house one block north of Parkhill on the west side of George St.): Thursday, Nov. 6 a gathering of people from various backgrounds wishing to pursue the elusive goal of peace. Tuesday November 10 the Amnesty
By Pat Reddick
Last Friday I had the pleasure of attending Artspace’s 40th Anniversary party and hearing the story of its early years. While the whole night was a treat, I was particularly inspired by Joe Stable’s slideshow presentation on the early history of the co-operatively run art gallery. Back in 1974 there was almost nowhere for Peterborough artists to show their work in town. Even outside of town the options were limited, and rarely would they pay a decent wage for art, if at all. This is part of the reason why Artspace, as well as many other artist-run art galleries, got started up: to pay artists a living wage. Artspace always stuck by this ideal, ensuring proper pay for all whose art was exhibited within it, and creating blacklists of galleries who didn’t do so. Fearlessly, these lists often included places like the National Gallery of Canada. When Stable said that, I was amazed by the concept of such a collective. Here is a group of people with certain ideals about how the world ought to be. Rather than just advocating for those ideals they put them into practice and started something that’s still operating today, 40 years later. As their Mission states to this day, they compensate all artists whose work they exhibit “with fees that exceed recommended CARFAC rates.” In the main gallery, the words first written by Artspace co-founder David Bierk “I will not grow old in Peterborough because old Peterborough is a pain in the ass” are painted in large black letters on the wall by his son Alex Bierk. “Old,” to me, doesn’t refer to age. The work is much more a warning against becoming stuck in your ways, not adapting to change, and not continuing to adapt to a changing world. At 40 years, Artspace has Intenrational annual meeting featuring a Peterborough paramedic courageously saving lives in Syria. Both meetings are from 7 to 9 pm, free and open to everyone. Sincerely, Carol Winter
“Country Cousins” is getting ready for Christmas To Arthur, The Christmas show with your Country Cousins is taking place on December 2. We are going to play Christmas music and
yet to grow “old.” But it seems to me that Artspace is even more fundamentally built on the idea that if something is wrong with the world then it only makes sense to do something about it—to attempt to solve that problem—even if it’s just on a local scale. Not only did the founders of Artspace advocate for decent pay for artists, they created a space where those ideals were embraced. The result is a testament to the importance of turning ideas into action. If, in 1974, those artists hadn’t decided to move into the old Boy Scouts’ office on the corner of Brock and Water, there certainly wouldn’t have been an Artspace, and there likely wouldn’t be the same thriving local arts scene that exists here today. The beginning wasn’t glamourous— if too many people stood on the floor of the gallery it would sink—but over time, and with much support from like-minded folks, the gallery grew into what it is today. Actually, that process wasn’t glamourous either, and creative solutions were employed along the way to make it happen. For example, Stable recounted during the slideshow how they enlisted the help of volunteer construction workers from a construction program offered at Fleming at the time to renovate Artspace’s second home on Hunter St. while saving on labour costs. Through government grants, they were able to compensate them. Artspace is an inspiring example of what can happen if enough people stick with a project long enough to see it through. What exists now is a nationally renowned art gallery that any city would be proud to have. On the one hand I imagine that no one involved in Artspace’s early days could have imagined this is what it would look like 40 years later. On the other hand, I think this is exactly what they had in mind, and exactly the reason why they started it. tell the Christmas stories that you like so much. We also have a special treat for you: we are going to have James Kerr, Howard Fisher, and Jeffrey Stewart sing “Away in a Manger” and “Silent Night.” Also, James Kerr is going to tell you a story about when he was a little boy at Christmas time. Daniel O’Donnell will be joining us to sing “White Christmas,” “The Gift,” and “Christmas in Innisfree.” Daniel O’Donnell and Jeff Stewart will be singing “O Holy Night” as a tribute to Jeff ’s mom and dad. Best wishes, Jeffrey Stewart Trent Radio Historian
Do you have something to say about something you read in Arthur or about something going on at Trent or Peterborough? Bust out a .doc, then send it to
editors@trentarthur.ca 500 words or less, due Thursday
Opinion
Remembrance Day: Ontario town finds new way to honour veterans By Lindsay Thackeray
A small town in southwestern Ontario has found a remarkable way to salute their hometown veterans. The community of Harriston, about a three hour drive from Peterborough, has adorned its main street with commemorative Remembrance Day banners. Each has the name and picture of a local veteran, along with the military branch they served in. This project was launched by the Harriston Legion Branch 296, and it’s the first year of the initiative. It has already garnered a significant amount of attention from both the media and other Legion branches intending to do the same next year. “The idea came from a small town in New Brunswick called St. George,” says Legion member Gary Thackeray, who chaired the committee responsible for organizing the banners. (Full disclosure: he’s also my dad, which made landing an interview with him pretty easy). The Legion branch in St. George completed this project last year, inspiring Harriston to tackle something similar. After a great deal of planning and hard work, the community was able to display banners of their own. “I cannot imagine being seventeen, eighteen years old and having to do what they did,” says Thackeray of some of the veterans of the town, many who served during World War II. “Leaving their homes to go away for three, four, five years some of them.” The intention behind these banners is to engage the community in remembering local veterans and who they were. Walking down the street and seeing the faces of
those who have served our country might prompt residents to take an interest and ask questions, especially younger citizens. It’s in this way that the project encapsulates the ‘Lest We Forget’ theme of Remembrance Day, ensuring continued recognition and respect throughout future generations. Thackeray explains some of the initiatives being undertaken already, including the proposed involvement of local schools to visit and view the banners, with students completing research projects on a specific veteran. “Bus tours are also being scheduled to and from local retirement centres so seniors can view the banners as well,” he says. Each banner was sponsored by the respective veteran’s families. They were put up on October 1, and will be taken down after Remembrance Day. They’ll be used
for three years before it is anticipated they will have to be retired and replaced. “After three years, a new banner will likely have to be redone because it’ll be weathered,” says Thackeray. However, this is all just an estimate, since this is the first year the project was initiated. “We don’t really know, this is all new!” Fifteen banners were put up this year, and already a growing number of applications are being received for next year’s phase of the project. Lots of publicity was generated around the undertaking, most notably a feature on CTV news. “Our branch is a solid branch, we’ve got a good executive,” says Thackeray, when discussing the support needed to ensure the success of the project. “They’ve got behind this, and they’ve promoted it.” Thackeray says the branch has also been receiving inquiries from other Legion branches in Ontario, regarding how to ini-
tiate such a project in their own communities. “Things are picking up, and hopefully there will be a lot more branches that do this for next year.” The project took Harriston about a year in the planning, so now is a great time to start for communities hoping to do the same thing. This also isn’t something exclusive to small towns. “Midland branch called wanting information, and they’re quite a bit bigger than our community,” says Thackeray. For reference, Midland’s population is about 16,500 compared to Harriston’s 2,000. He also thinks this is definitely a viable project for larger cities, such as Peterborough. “It can be done in any city, for sure. They just have to designate a certain area for the banners to be installed.” In Harriston, the Legion branch undertook the project in partnership with the Town of Minto (the local township), and the Chamber of Commerce. The Town of Minto looked after installing the banners and taking them down, while the Chamber of Commerce helped out with the finances. However, there’s plenty of viable arrangements to make this project possible for any given region. It all depends on what is suitable for each particular community. It seems as though there’s a great potential for similar projects to catch on across the province. It’s been extremely well received in Harriston, with many hailing it as a heartfelt and emotional way to show how veterans are revered in the community. “I hope they go ahead with this,” says Thackeray of the prospective future projects among other communities, “I think it’s a great idea.”
Comment: Trent University’s legacy in municipal politics By Ayesha Barmania
The municipal election on October 27 surprised me in its attempted outreach to post-secondary students. There were several events held on campus by various student organizations, and furthermore, there were candidates who were actively calling on and catering to the student vote. While not unprecedented, this year the push for students seemed persuasive. There was a resounding call to get more Trent students engaged in municipal politics through the vote. There was even the introduction of online voting, a method which may be particularly appealing to younger voters.
Additionally to the vote, this year five out of the ten city councillors voted into office are graduates of Trent University. As an institution of the town, Trent makes its presence known in a variety of ways, and the question of this article is: what is Trent University’s presence in municipal politics? Systemic issues of voter apathy within the university remain, despite efforts toward engagement. With a large proportion of out-of-town students, Trent’s community may feel disenfranchised from the results of an election. Students who are only planning on remaining in Peterborough for their degree feel like they should not have a vote in a city they have little stake in.
The issue with this perfectly understandable apathy is that it perpetuates an absence of the student voice in municipal politics, which can negatively affect future students. In preparing for this article, I did a straw poll on the day of the election to see whether students planned on voting. Several already had, several intended to, a few said they did not know enough, and several more said that they had tried online but it had not worked. Distressingly, issues with the online voter registration program had put off several students who had intended to vote. They said that they had filled out the online registration form and never received a voter card or any information about whether it had succeeded. It left potential voters confused and excluded from the online voting process. There was also the option of voting at a station on Election Day for those who could not or would not vote online. These voting stations were set up in various locations around town, and notably on Trent campus at Blackburn Hall. In this way it was fairly easy for the Trent community to cast their votes, but still several students polled were unaware of where and how they could do it. Perhaps a more central location on campus, or a campaign on Election Day to inform students of the location would have been helpful. Another facet to consider is the larger displeasure with the electoral system of-
ten leads many students to voter abstention as a mode of resistance. Increasingly students and others critique the electoral system for its class and business biases. Whether abstention is an effective mode of resistance is a topic for ideological and political debate, the fact remains that much of student ‘apathy’ is informed dissent from the electoral process. Besides voting, Trent University has a muted presence through its alumni sitting on council. Henry Clarke (Ward 2), Dean Pappas (Ward 3), Diane Therrien (Ward 3), Gary Baldwin (Ward 4), and Dave Haacke (Ward 5) are current city council members and they all attended Trent University. Hopefully, with their first-hand experience at the university, these councillors will be able to represent the interests of students. Clarke, Pappas, and Baldwin were each raised in Peterborough and chose to continue their education at Trent rather than leave for a new city. Therrien and Haacke both chose to stay in Peterborough after their stints at Trent. The limited engagement of Trent alumni in the politics of Peterborough may reflect larger patterns of fewer students staying on in the city after graduation. This is a negative spiral in which student and alumni interests are not represented on council, and therefore the city does not act for the benefit of the Trent community.
Volume 49 | Issue 9 | November 11, 2014
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Clubs&Groups Trent Radio knows the future By James Kerr
(All plugged shows are on 92.7 CFFF FM.)
Scorpio:
Lemon Tree By Pei Hsu
It has been two months since the ceasefire between Palestine and Israel, and media coverage on the conflict has dwindled and shifted its focus to other parts of the Middle East. Lemon Tree, with its delicate approach to a seemingly trivial episode on a land torn by war, can be a timely reminder of the underlying issues at the root of this unresolved conflict. Co-written by Israeli filmmakers Suha Arraf and Eran Riklis, and directed by the latter, Lemon Tree is set near the border between Israel and the West Bank, where the Palestinian woman, Salma, lives in solitude by the lemon grove she inherited from her father. Surrounded by concrete walls and the arid landscape, Salma’s lemon grove is what supports her to become an independent and courageous woman after the departure of her family. This spiritual oasis, unfortunately, is soon to be destroyed after the Israeli Defense Minister and his wife, Mira, move in next door as Salma’s neighbor. For fear of assassins hiding in the lemon grove, the secret service orders to uproot the lemon trees. The order evokes a series of events that eventually end up in the Supreme Court. The scenario seems unrealistic in the real world given the tension near the border. Nonetheless, by juxtaposing the two households side by side, we not only see the stark contrast between them in terms of imbalanced power and how the lemon grove transforms their lives, but also in the shared struggles between Salma and Mira. While Salma lives like a prisoner on her own land, Mira lives like a prisoner in
her own mansion. Both are constrained by their identities and circumstances. Although there is some romantic undertone, the film is essentially a poetic presentation of women’s struggles and aspirations in a society saturated with hostility. As the camera follows Salma’s defense for her lemon grove, it also captures the disdain held towards Salma in her daily life because of her ethnicity and gender. The hostility does not only come from the Israeli state, but also from the male domination within the Palestinian society, under which Salma was constantly watched by the phantom of her late husband. What makes the film so charming is the attention to the subtle details of daily domesticity. We grow fond of Salma as she picks the lemons, pickles them, and puts on the hijab. These gestures, performed elegantly by Hiam Abbass, bring Salma’s world within a reachable distance while highlighting the absurd bureaucratic measures taken by the Defense Minister. Japanese writer Haruki Murakami said in his acceptance speech of the Jerusalem Prize: “If there is a hard, high wall, and an egg that breaks against it, no matter how right the wall or how wrong the egg, I will stand on the side of the egg. Why? Because each of us is an egg, a unique soul enclosed in a fragile egg.” In the context of Lemon Tree, it is Salma’s lemon versus the high wall separating one land into two worlds, where some people enjoy more freedom than others. Please join us for a free screening of Eran Riklis’s Lemon Tree, Wednesday November 12, at 8 pm @ ARTSPACE, 378 Aylmer Street (between Hunter and Simcoe). All are welcome!
Your ambition knows no bounds. Spread your arms wide and embrace the nonsense of your thoughts. Be mindful of the strength of smiles. If you fail to keep yourself guarded, you may find hurt feelings. To indulge appropriately you must listen to the science fiction that is “Speculating Canada” with Derek Newman-Stille, Wednesday afternoons at 4pm.
Sagittarius:
There aren’t any secrets left untold. You just may have said them all. There isn’t anything left to do but have a coffee in a cafe and pretend it’s empty except for you, and to listen to the mellow advice of Alex Karas on “Die Neue Welle”, Monday afternoons at 1pm.
10pm. The ability to use your imagination with Wes Grist will be the key weapon in coming challenges. Taurus: You have been teetering on a few things where you really should just be ripping off your shirt in a rage and smashing like the Hulk. Assert! If you need help formulating these concerns into poetry, you should listen to “Poetry Slam Down” with Carolyn McGee and Sasha Patterson Thursday nights at 7pm. They’ll teach you how to slam.
Gemini: Lately you’ve been feeling like
drifting away on the wind. Gravitate towards people and activities that are grounding. Without anchor, you tend to lose sight of your long-term goals. Beware of the cat’s meow at midnight. And so, listen to “Klaus in the Clouds” with Duncan MacKinnon and Daniel Collins, Fridays at 2:30pm.
Capricorn: Your sense of rhythm is in Cancer:
great jeopardy. For a long time you thought you could dance, until someone pointed out to you that you were just flailing your limbs madly. Your sense of rhythm can only be saved Thursday afternoons at 4pm by listening to “The Bongo Hour” with Laura Klinduch and Kevin Lemieux. Let Laura and Kevin carry you back into bongo-directed dancing bliss, let loose your secret heart, and save the universe.
Aquarius:
Things haven’t been great lately, you have to admit it. Sure, maybe you made some mistakes. She said things, you said things - if you go down that rabbit hole there’s no returning. But there comes a time when you have to take a step back and think, maybe...maybe...it’s all the crap that I’m eating for food. Mondays at 4pm Anisah Madden and Melissa Johnston can help put you on the right food path with their show “Food Fight.” Eat your vegetables.
Pisces:
You are going to go on a long journey to see someone you’ve seen before. There may be a dog there. Beware of grey hairs. Your lucky day is Thursday and the number four. This means, obviously, that you should be listening to all the acoustic protest songs of Rob Hailman on his show “They’ll Never Keep Us Down”, Monday nights at 9pm, to best prepare you for the struggle of the proletariat.
This is a time to dwell and brood and generally indulge in your own inner self. Forget the world, forget life; forget responsibility! This is selfish-selfish meme (you-you) time, all the way. Then, when you’re feeling spent and cathartic, listen to the stories read on “Telling Tales” with Joanna Richardson, Tuesday nights at 7pm.
Leo:
Your sassiness may have offended a friend. The relationship can only be repaired superficially. It may take you longer to mend your bridges than to burn them. For a snippet of the bigger picture, listen to all tidbits of fact and fancy on “Alphabet Soup” with Theresa Chomko, Thursday mornings at 10am.
Virgo: This is a time to have faith in yourself and your decisions, especially concerning love and money. You may be uncertain in these prospects, but to everyone else you’ll look like one cool cucumber. Go forward with seeming confidence! And, if you fail to connect to your fellow human, you could always listen to “People of Peterborough” with Kemi Akapo each Friday morning at 10am, where Kemi gets you in touch with your town.
Libra: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, con-
You will find a stranger on the road; meet them well! Your lucky numbers are 5 and Blue. This means you should be listening to “Imagination Time” with Wes Grist every Thursday night starting at
sectetur adipiscing elit. Mauris ut odio luctus, bibendum nulla ac, pellentesque quam. Pellentesque molestie malesuada tortor, in volutpat risus viverra nec. Phasellus sit amet interdum eros. Donec sodales id risus vitae imperdiet. Proin sed eros porta, varius tellus et, maximus tellus. Audite ad vocem Patrick Reddick de “Media Are Plural” Tuesdays um 3pm on Requiem-turrim Trent 92.7 frequency modulatione.
Diwali is widely celebrated as the “festival of lights” in India. It has its origins in Hindu mythology, and symbolizes triumph of good over evil and victory of light over darkness. It is celebrated with great zeal all over India and the world by millions of Hindus and Sikhs. The five day festival is packed with fun as people wear new clothes, delicious food is cooked, and prayers are performed. The actual Diwali day is the third day of the festival. On this day the entire country is lit up with clay lamps known as “diyas”, and people gather and do fireworks in almost each street of the nation. We tried to recreate Diwali at Trent. The event started with two short films which were aimed at educating our guests about the mythology behind the festival and giving a sense of how it is celebrated in India. Then, traditional Indian snacks were served as food, which is a big component of the festivities. After finishing the food,
everyone went outside to the garden at Peter Gzowski College, which was full of beautiful yellow lights from the sparklers in everyone’s hands. The night concluded with women getting henna tattoos and dance performances on Indian music. The event saw attendance from about sixty people, all from very different backgrounds, which made it very special time. I would love to take this opportunity and thank the staff at The Risk Management Department, Student Affairs Department at Trent, and the Trent International Students Association, all other regional groups at Trent, our guests, and last but not least, our volunteers, without whom the event would not have been possible. For more information and to know about our future events, “like” our Facebook page “South Asian Association at Trent” or email us at southasiantrent@ gmail.com.
Aries:
South Asian Association: Diwali Celebration at Trent
By Aaditya Thakar
The South Asian Association is a Trent student group. We aim to promote cultural
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diversity at Trent. I am Aaditya, President of the club for the year 2014/15. I am in my second year doing joint majors in Biology and Psychology.
SportsPage Jiu-Jitsu: The best course at Trent
By Lindsay Thackeray
What exactly is jiu jitsu? The easy answer is to define it as another martial art; a self-defence system that’s handy to know ‘just-in-case’. But a more ambitious interpretation acknowledges that jiu jitsu means different things to different people. The art can be studied by anyone, and the possibilities are endless. You can take ideas learned from jiu jitsu and find ways to apply them in other parts of your life, using it in the lifelong process of continuously bettering yourself regardless of how you choose to do it. In 1993, Andy Dobie Sensei opened the first Jitsu Canada club at Trent University.
“The first year it was just me and a bunch of complete beginners.” says Dobie Sensei, explaining how it took a few years for the club to become the established institution it is today. It has experienced plenty of fluctuations in enrolment over the years, as most clubs do. “All clubs do go up and down, but Trent’s always been a pretty dynamic club,” says Dobie Sensei. After a few years had passed however, there became enough experienced members to help mentor people along. Currently the club sees about 25-30 people on the mats each week, with a large number of experienced grades in addition to a significant number of novices. This seems a pretty noteworthy accomplishment con-
sidering most members are busy university students. It looks as though there are a number of motivations inspiring this level of commitment, with everyone having their own particular reasons to train. “I think they get out of jiu jitsu whatever they’re asking for.” says Evan Senkiw Sensei, regarding the draw of the art. Senkiw Sensei has been head instructor at the Trent Club since 2011. “The jiu jitsu club can serve people in many different ways, in many different directions.” Certainly, a big part of jiu jitsu is the community. Social events have always been a part of jiu jitsu, with members meeting together regularly both after training and for other occasions. Constructing these relationships is a critical aspect of training, if only to build the level of trust needed to feel comfortable placing confidence in your peers. You don’t have to spend much time at the Trent Jiu Jitsu Club to see how strong the bonds are between its members. “I don’t think you can develop the intimate relationships and chemistry together to do the sorts of training we do […] if we were a club that treated our students like clients,” says Senkiw Sensei. “It’s the fact that the Trent Jiu Jitsu Club has a long history of building something a little more than what you might call clientele.” This is Leah Kirkland’s third year of studying jiu jitsu. “Jitsu has brought me close to people in such a deep way. I think I’ve learned so much about myself, and everything I can do.” she says. She agrees that finding a community is an important part of studying the art. “We’re all afraid at one point, and you’re just trying to figure out your body, figure out your body working with someone else’s body, to do all these techniques that you never thought you’d be doing,” she says. “I guess we sort of build a relationship with each other that extends beyond that.” The Trent University Jiu Jitsu Club is part of the larger institution of Jitsu Canada, which was established by Dobie Sensei, the president of the organization. Dobie Sensei came to Canada looking for a university to start a jiu jitsu club, and following a conversation with some airport workers, decided upon Trent. “They said, ‘Trent, Peterborough, go there,’” he explains. “So I found Peterborough on a map, drove here, and that was it.” In addition to the Trent club, Dobie Sensei also established a club at the Peterborough YMCA, as well as senior grade classes
for higher belts at the Kawartha Martial Arts Academy. From Peterborough, the Jitsu Canada project has since extended to clubs in Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto and Guelph, as well as farther reaching establishments in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Burnaby. There’s also a Jitsu USA club at Trinity College in Connecticut. Relationship building isn’t constricted to your own club, either. These bonds extend between cities, provinces, and countries as well. This was evident at the Ontario Provincial Course, which took place in Kingston the weekend of November 1 and 2. Here, members of Jitsu Canada clubs met for a weekend of learning, providing a chance for everyone to train together. “There’s so much knowledge that comes together when we get together with different clubs to learn,” says James Somerville, a member of the Trent Club. “It’s a whole different experience than just coming out to one club week after week.” Laura Wensink also appreciates the benefits of training with different people and being exposed to unfamiliar styles. “In provincials, you’re taught by a bunch of different senseis with different approaches. You’re also using different body types, so you get your jiu jitsu put into perspective. “It’s really eye-opening, mind opening […], just meeting all the different people from different clubs, seeing what everyone’s coming up with,” explains Somerville. “It’s pretty special.” Since its conception, Jitsu Canada has spun a network of invaluable relationships across the country, revealing themselves in strong ties between people who might only see each other a few times a year. They’re all joined by the common goal of exploring new layers of jiu jitsu and learning about themselves in the process. “Some people show up wanting to expand a knowledge of self defence. That’s great, and that’s definitely something you can do with this art,” says Senkiw Sensei. “But I think the people that stay much longer are the people who find things like community; a diverse network of critically thinking people.” The Trent University Jiu Jitsu Club trains Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 8:3010:30pm in the Trent Athletic Centre. New members are always welcome, and no previous experience is necessary. Be sure to check out peterboroughjiujitsu.com or jitsucanada.com for more information.
Volume 49 | Issue 9 | November 11, 2014
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Sports
Trent Men’s Rugby takes silver to complete successful season
Varsity Standings
as of November 8, 2014
Women’s Volleyball - OCAA East Wins
Team
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Draws
Points
Trent
5
0
0
10
Canadore
4
1
0
8
Georgian
3
1
0
6
Seneca Algonquin
2 2 2 1 1
1
0 0 0 0 0 0
4 4 4 2 2 2
Loyalist Durham George Brown La Cite
1
By Zachary Cox
This Saturday, November 8 the Trent Men’s Rugby tea season came to an end with a silver medal from the Ontario Colleges Athletics Association final against the Humber Hawks, bringing to a close a very successful season for the team. Over the entire the season, the Trent team suffered only two losses. The season started strong from the very beginning, even before the regular games began, with wins against the University of Waterloo and a Queens University club team. “We had two exhibition games,” said head coach David McCully, “we won both of those and played pretty well.” After the success of the exhibition games, Trent suffered a disappointing loss in their regular season opener. On Friday, September 12, a close-fought game against Fleming ended with Trent losing by just one point, the final score sitting at 14-15. A loss is always a shame, but McCully believes there was a silver lining to this one. “It was tough to lose but I think we probably benefited a bit from that disappointment because we put a lot of work in over the next couple weeks to try and make up for that,” he said. Their work paid off, as the team suffered no more defeats for the remainder of the regular season, besting Seneca 43-24, Algonquin 50-36, Loyalist 63-5, Fleming 3119, and St. Lawrence 33-17 to put them into the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association semi-finals. The victorious rematch against Fleming was a season highlight for McCully, “that sort of secured the first place in the eastern division for us and home advantage through the playoffs so it was a pretty big game,” he said. On November 1 Trent achieved a semi-finals victory against Algonquin, 40-29, thereby advancing them to the finals against Humber. This season isn’t the first time that Trent has made it to the finals, nor is it the first time that they faced Humber there. In 2011 Trent won bronze at the OCAA finals, in 2012 they competed against Humber in the final and took home silver, and in 2013 they played for bronze but lost. This year Trent took the silver home once more. The game on Saturday, November 8 was a hard fought battle, with a strong showing from both teams. Competing in a mixture of rain and snow the Trent men’s team held a 6-5 lead over Humber for a portion of the first half, thanks to a couple well-placed kicks by Jesse Leadbetter. The Trent Excalibur Twitter page stated that this was the first time that the Humber men’s rugby team has trailed in several seasons, a clear accomplishment for Trent. A strong push by Trent in the final minutes of the last half kept tensions high, but in the end the Humber team won out, and the game ended with a score of 29-18. McCully feels that one of the reasons behind the strong season was the amount of experience the team had, with a significant portion of the players being seniors. “Two thirds of the players are returning and then a third are new players so we had a good balance at the start of the year,” he said. “The new guys bought in pretty quickly to what we were trying to do.” He also thought that some changes to the training program have made a difference as well. “One of the bigger changes we’ve made in the last four years, that I think is a huge factor in the improvement of the program to get to this level, is that it’s a 12 month commitment.” Though Trent wasn’t able to take the gold, silver is an incredible accomplishment as well. “It’s as good a season as we’ve had,” said McCully, and it is a season that the men’s Team can, and should, be proud of.
Losses
2 2 3 3 3
Men’s Volleyball - OCAA East Team
Wins
Losses
Draws
Points
Durham
4
0
0
8
Fleming
4
1
0
8
Algonquin
3
1
0
6
Seneca Canadore Trent
2
1
3 2 1
2 3 3
0 0 0 0
4 6 4 2
1
3
0
2
George Brown Georgian Women’s Lacrosse - OUA East Team
Wins
Losses
Draws
Points
Toronto
8
2
1
-
UOIT Queen’s
4 5
4 6
2 1
-
Trent York
3 0
5 10
2 0
-
Wins
Losses
Draws
Points
Men’s Lacrosse - CUFLA East Team McGill
12
0
0
24
Bishop’s
10
2
0
20
Queen’s
7
5
0
14
Carlton Trent Ottawa Concordia
6
6
4 3
8 9
0 0 0
12 8 6
0
12
0
0
listings Clubs & Groups Sadleir House Theatre Trent Logo Contest. That’s right, Theatre Trent needs a new logo. The old one has served us well, but it is time to search for a new one. Are you a Trent student or alumni and think you have what it takes to design the new Theatre Trent logo, then we want to hear from you! Send your logo designs to: Theatre Trent, c/o P.R. Community & Student Assn., (Sadleir House), 751 George St. N., Peterborough, ON, K9H 3T2 or visit our new website: http://theatretrent.wordpress.com/ Deadline for logo submissions is: December 31, 2014
BABE–LESQUE Tuesdays until Dec 2, 6-7pm in Hobbs Library (room 101) wheelchair accessible. Presented by Burlesque in PTBO and the TQC. Get in touch with your inner babe with this fun 6 week class! Learn the fundamentals of burlesque, develop a stage persona, craft your own props and costumes, fall back in love with your beautiful body! No dance experience is necessary and this class is open to any-BODY. $60 for 6 weeks, or $15 drop-in. Contact burlesque.ptbo@gmail.com to register now! Facebook: Burlesque in PTBO
Weekly Open Mics EVERY Thursday evening at 8pm at the Trend pub in Traill college! Hosted by the Trent University Music Society. Bring your instruments or just come to listen for a night of good music and good company. Free admission, all welcome! More info: trentumusic@gmail.com.
Barefoot Flamenco. Explore the roots of flamenco without the heavy stomping or foot technique. Develop better rhythm, concentration, balance, and strong posture, and enjoy the beauty and passion of flamenco without feeling limited by the technicality and precision of the footwork. Nov 25, 7:30-8:30pm at Sadleir House. $15 per session. For more info or to register call Jess at 705-977-2709 or just show up!
Come learn basic to advanced Arabic! Our classes cover reading, writing and speaking. Weekly Arabic classes every Tuesday from 5-6pm at GCS 108. Absolutely free! Visual Artist Needed ... Trent Fashion Show is a student-run charity event raising money this year for Peterborough’s YES Shelter and UNICEF Canada. They are in need for a visual artist to design the event posters and advertisements. If this could be you, please contact us at trentfashionshow@gmail.com This month Trent Writers Society is hosting a bunch of events in celebration of National Novel Writing Month. There will be a WrapUp Workshop to stay motivated and help writers with editing hosted by journalist/editor Beverly Bell, on Monday Nov. 24 from 5-7pm in LEC Room 207. There will also be an All Night Write at Whistle Stop Restaurant on Thurs. Nov 27 to Friday Nov. 28 (9pm to 9am) and we welcome all writers to bring their computers and spend their time finishing their NaNo novels or any other projects. There will be coffee, wifi and snacks provided! On top of this we will also be holding our weekly TWS Meetings on Thursdays from 7-9 that usually take place in Champlain M2. Find us on Facebook, or email trentwriterssociety@gmail.com The Trent Centre for Biomaterials Research in partnership with KWIC present a Carbon Conversation, Sacred Seeds: Seeds of Resistance, Seeds of Hope with Dr. Vandana Shiva. Sunday Nov 16, 11am at Wenjack Theatre. Tickets limited and in advance on-line at kwic.info, free with donations accepted at the door. {Suggested $20/ pwyc} Please join us for a post-talk discussion from 1-3pm at the Gathering Space, hosted by Indigenous Environmental Studies and the First People’s House of Learning. Dr. Shiva is a recipient of the Right Livelihood Award and holds a PhD in Quantum Theory from the University of Western Ontario. In 1991, she founded ‘Navdanya’ a movement to protect the diversity and integrity of living resources, especially seeds, and to oppose the aims of the WTO agreement, which would have all seeds susceptible to genetic modification patents and becoming intellectual property. This is Dr. Shiva’s first Peterborough visit and will coincide to kick-off Trent’s International Education Week.
Tuesday
Trent Kenneth Kidd Lecture Series, 2014 Department of Anthropology, Trent University Dr. Marie-Cécile Soulier Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Anthropology, Trent University. Early Modern Human Exploitation of Mammals in Southwest France 35,000 Years Ago. This talk will present an integrated analysis of alimentary refuse, bone tools and items of personal adornment. The evidence suggest that these three spheres were strongly interconnected, which has implications about the evolution of alimentary practices during the early Upper Paleolithic some 35,000 years ago. Thursday, Nov. 20, 5-7pm Gzowski College 115. All Welcome. Walkhome—Trent’s safe walk service. Late class? Working in the lab? Call us for a walk; 25 minutes from Symons or Traill (downtown) Hours of operation: Monday to Friday: 7pm to 1am, Saturday & Sunday: 9pm to 1am 705-748-1748 Walkhome—Pre-book your safe walk. Do you regularly have practice Monday night, work in the Library Tuesday night or go downtown Friday night? Our team of volunteers walkers can meet you, on campus or downtown. Monday to Friday: 7pm to 1am, Saturday & Sunday: 9pm to 1am. Call us 705- 748-1748 or email walkhome@tretnu.ca to Prebook a walk. The Academic Mentoring Program is recruiting! Need help with course concepts or effective studying? Apply as a mentee and request an upper-year student mentor. Want to aid another student in a course you’ve taken before? Apply as a mentor to help out and gain valuable experience. Visit http://www.trentu.ca/academicskills/peermentoring.php for more information. The Crunch is on! Feeling a little bit like a paper-writing, one-person assembly line? An Academic Skills appointment offers you the opportunity to discuss a paper you are currently working on with an experienced instructor who can provide support at all stages of the writing process - from picking
Wednesday
send yours to listings@trentarthur.ca
a topic to revising your draft - by offering guidance and suggestions for improvement. Use our new online booking system to make a forty-five minute appointment or a thirty-minute “drop-in” appointment (on Mondays only). You can also submit essays or questions online. Go to www.trentu.ca/ academicskills for more information.
Local Public Health Care Rally and March at Queen’s Park to challenge Ontario’s For Profit Private Clinics, Friday, November 21, free bus leaving Evinrude Centre, 911 Monaghan Rd at 9: 00 a.m. – Students are most welcome to join Peterborough Health Coalition, contact 705-745-2446, rbrady1@ cogeco.ca “Education is a Right” is the focus of this year’s dinner presented by the Peterborough chapter of Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan Sat, Nov. 22 at 6 pm at St. John’s Anglican Church, Brock St. Guest speaker is Trent PhD. student and research and teaching assistant Shegufa Merchant. Afghani crafts for sale; silent auction; Middle-Eastern dinner. Tickets $15 for students, available at YWCA at Simcoe, New Canadians Centre on Romaine and Ariyana Restaurant at George and Hunter, or call 705-748-6251 for info. Volunteer Tutors Needed at the New Canadians Centre. Do you have one or two hours a week available to help a newcomer to Canada improve their English language skills and become more confident and connected in their new community? No previous experience is required. For more information or an application form, please contact: Anne Elliott, Community Coordinator, 705-7430882 or anne@nccpeterborough.ca St. John’s Ambulance Standard First Aid Our Standard Certificate is valid for 3 years! Includes CPR and AED training! This course provides a certificate in Standard First Aid & a CPR/AED certificate. 13 to 14.5 hours of instructional time (2 days); includes wonderful 435-page First Aid/CPR/ AED book. ****This course is required by the WSIB if your place of work employs more than 5 employees per shift.**** Upcoming sessions: Weekdays(8:30-4) Nov 12-13, 1920, 26-27. Weekends(8:30-4) Nov 15-16, 22-23, 29-30. sjapeterborough@bellnet.ca, 705-745-0331, sja.ca St. John’s Ambulance CPR Recertification (Weekdays at 6:30 pm) Dec. 10. Call for additional dates, or organize your own group at a convenient time at any location--discounts for groups! sjapeterborough@bellnet.ca, 705-745-0331, sja.ca Travel/ Teach English - TEFL Certification with The TESL Trainer at One World ESL School. Free info & registration Open House. www.tesltrainer.ca Contact: tesltrainer@sympatico.ca ESL Help & Editing - Contact: worldeslschool@sympatico.ca
one-
Arts The Trend is proud to present a night of Indie Folk Rock & Blues featuring: The Outsorcerer (Trent Alumni) with support from
Thursday
Friday
t Earl Wilfong @ The Tankhouse (4pm)
t Bill Dickenson @ The t Art Lajambe Black Horse Pub (7pm) Tankhouse (4pm)
t Fat Plant Assembly Musical Improv Social@ The Spill (9pm)
t Weld: Neil Young and t Patron Saint of Tom Petty Tribute @ Plagues w/ Broken Foot, The Red Dog (9pm) Piss Locusts, and The Muddy Hack @ The Spill t Caitlin Currie: CD (8pm) Release Party! w/ Good Ghost, Brock Matteson, t Karaoke Karaoke w/ and The Moonlight Sin- Kate Ledeuce @ The Garners @ The Spill (9pm) net (10pm)
@
This Week in Live Music: presented by ElectricCityLive.ca
The t Feet to Fire Tankhouse (5pm)
’81 Special (Current Trent Students) and Zach Agar (also University educated) Friday, November 14. Doors at 8, Show at 9. Only $3!!! Traill College, Wallis Hall From Stage to Lens to Screen: A one day hands-on filmmaking intensive with filmmaker Jeremy Mimnagh & dance artist Heidi Strauss. Sunday, November 16, 11am – 5pm. An exploratory (and fun) day of creative, technical and compositional film making, this intensive invites a range of participants from filmmakers to performers. Participants are encouraged to come prepared with a particular scenario in mind that they are curious about turning into a film. These ideas will converge to form the source material/content for the development of short films. It’s designed as an intense day, with no time to overthink! Location: Market Hall, 140 Charlotte Street. Fee: $25. Register by email to admin@publicenergy.ca or call us at 705-745-1788. The Peterborough Storytellers usually meet on the third Wednesday of the month, from 7 to 9 at the Peterborough Public Library. Our next meetings will be on November 19, 2014 (Tales of the Wee Folk), January 21 (Troubadours), February 18 (Personal Storytelling) and March 18 (World storytelling day. Theme “Wishes”) 2015. There is no December 2014 meeting. Kawartha Youth Orchestra’s “Winter Tales” concert. Come join the KYO for their season premiere concert “Winter Tales” at 3pm on Sunday, November 30 at Market Hall. See and hear our region’s talented youth perform some of the greatest music ever written. Tickets are available by phone from the Market Hall Box office at 705-749-1146 or online by visiting MarketHall.org. November is National Novel Writing Month! Take part in a fun writing challenge. Writers worldwide unleash their creativity each year with the goal of writing a 50,000 word novel in November. Visit nanowrimo. org for details and to sign up. Join us in writing at the Peterborough Public Library each Saturday from 1-5pm in November. Dance Your Bones: Move freely to DJ beats from around the world. no steps, no alcohol, just the freedom to move the way you want in the company of like-minded others. $10. Every Thursday 6pm-8pm at 235 Rubidge St. in Peterborough until December 18. www.danceyourbones.com The Theatre on King is happy to welcome Don Masters back. This time with his new workshop: Two Day On Camera Acting Intensive. This two day workshop takes place on Saturday, November 15 (10am - 5pm) and Sunday November 16 (10am - 4pm) and is full of essential knowledge for anyone interested in persuing a career on screen: the psychology of acting, script analysis, basic professionalism, and screen coaching. TTOK, 159 King Street, #102 (around back) Please email Don to register your spot:donmasters@bell.net Chelsey Bennett is looking for musicians who can play R&B, hip-hop, soul, funk, and world music to accompany her on original tracks. Bass and percussion are particularly useful! If you are interested, contact bennettchelsey@gmail.com or come to Carpe Diem Cafe on a Wednesday between 6-8pm to jam!
Saturday @ The t Rye Street @ Tankhouse (3pm)
The
t Bobby Watson & Kate t Dan Mahoney @ Carpe Kelly @ Carpe Diem (6pm) Diem Cafe(6pm) t Harpoonist & the Axe t John Mansell @ The Murderer @ The Red Dog Porch and Pint (7pm) (9pm) t Drew McIvor and The Soul Drivers @ The t Tim Shefflied and the X-Husbands @ The Spill Spill (9pm) (9pm) t Soda Pony @ The Garnet (10pm) t (FPSHF 0MMJWFS @ The Black Horse Pub (8pm) t Diamond Dave and the Smoke Eaters @ The t Abigail LaPielle @ Pig’s Ear (10pm) The Garnet (10pm)