September 8, 2011

September 8, 2011 | VOL. XCIII ISS. II

Fucking in the bushes SINCE 1918

PEP RALLY Your first and last

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P8

THE UBYSSEY

Exec Profiles

PACIFIC SPIRIT BLAZE EMPTY CHAIRS Meet the AMS executive, your elected student officials

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Is school spirit dead at UBC?

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SEXUAL

ASSAULT SUPPORT

HOBBLED Brushfire erupts overnight near residences P3

AMS fails to fill full-time positions at SASC, making many services unavailable for ‘months.’

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What’s on 8

THU

This week, may we suggest...

Our Campus

One on one with the people who make UBC

IN THE PIT>>

JFK of MSTRKRFT: 8pm-1am at the Pit This time last year the AMS booked JFK, of Toronto-based electronic duo MSTRKRFT, to play at the Pit. People were stoked. But then he cancelled!

And people were really not stoked. The AMS was all like “Woah chill out, party people! We’re totally gonna make sure that one day, JFK is gonna get all y’alls booties shakin’ on this campus.” One year later, they’re making good on this oddly–phrased promise.

9

FRI

CLUBS >>

10SAT

FRINGE >>

8-Bit Spit: 9pm-2am @ Anza Spit is the biggest and best monthly gay dance party in Vancouver. Run by former AUS hack Mike Kushnir, Spit welcomes “hot homos, dirty dykes, tasty transfolk,” (and sexy straights too!)

The Anza club is at the corner of 8th and Ontario.

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SUN

FILM >>

Latin American Film Fest: 1pm @ Pacific Cinematheque Catch the tail end of VLAFF for a series of the finest films from South and Central America. The first film, El Cielo Abierto, tells the story of Óscar Arnulfo Romero, a revolutionary Salvadoran.

12 MON

Sterling spent part of her Imagine Day making root beer floats at the alumni booth on Main Mall.

Imagine all the people. All of them.

Rambo: the Missing Years @ Studio 1398 The Vancouver Fringe Festival runs September 8-18, so now is the time to check out some innovative (and cheap) theatre.

Rambo: the Missing Years is the semi-autobiographical story of Howard Petrick, a young GI in the Vietnam era who organized his comrades against the war.

REC >> UBC Rec shopping week @ Student Rec Centre Not sure if you want to take a spin class or kickboxing?

Bouldering or pilates? The UBC Rec shopping week kicks off on Monday and offers students the chance to try an instructional class for free. More info at rec. bc.ca.

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Got an event you’d like to see on this page? Send your event and your best pitch to printeditor@ubyssey.ca.

THE UBYSSEY September 8, 2011, Volume XXXIII

CONTACT

EDITORIAL

Coordinating Editor Justin McElroy

coordinating@ubyssey.ca

Managing Editor, Print Jonny Wakefield printeditor@ubyssey.ca

Managing Editor, Web Arshy Mann webeditor@ubyssey.ca

News Editors Kalyeena Makortoff & Micki Cowan

Video Editor David Marino

video@ubyssey.ca

Senior Web Writer Andrew Bates abates@ubyssey.ca

Graphics Assistant Indiana Joel

Art Director Geoff Lister

art@ubyssey.ca

Culture Editor Ginny Monaco

culture@ubyssey.ca

Senior Culture Writer Taylor Loren tloren@ubyssey.ca

Sports Editor Drake Fenton

sports@ubyssey.ca

Features Editor Brian Platt

features@ubyssey.ca

Business Office: Room 23 Editorial Office: Room 24 Student Union Building 6138 Student Union Blvd Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1 tel: 604.822.2301 web: www.ubyssey.ca

Print Advertising:

604.822.1654 Business Office:

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feedback@ubyssey.ca

ijoel@ubyssey.ca

Webmaster Jeff Blake

webmaster@ubyssey.ca

news@ubyssey.ca

BUSINESS

Business Manager Fernie Pereira business@ubyssey.ca

Ad Sales Alex Hoopes

advertising@ubyssey.ca

STAFF

Andrew Hood, Bryce Warnes, Catherine Guan, David Elop, Jon Chiang, Josh Curran, Will McDonald, Tara Martellaro, Virginie Menard

GEOFF LISTER PHOTO

LEGAL

The Ubyssey is the official student newspaper of the University of British Columbia. It is published every Monday and Thursday by The Ubyssey Publications Society. We are an autonomous, democratically run student organization, and all students are encouraged to participate.

Editorials are chosen and written by the Ubyssey staff. They are the expressed opinion of the staff, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Ubyssey Publications Society or the University of British Columbia. All editorial content appearing in The Ubyssey is the property of The Ubyssey Publications Society.

Stories, opinions, photographs and artwork contained herein cannot be reproduced without the expressed, written permission of The Ubyssey Publications Society.

The Ubyssey is a founding member of Canadian University Press (CUP) and adheres to CUP’s guiding principles.

Letters to the editor must be under 300 words. Please include your

phone number, student number and signature (not for publication) as well as your year and faculty with all submissions. ID will be checked when submissions are dropped off at the editorial office of The Ubyssey; otherwise verification will be done by phone. The Ubyssey reserves the right to edit submissions for length and clarity. All letters must be received by 12 noon the day before intended publication. Letters received after this point will be published in the following issue unless there is an urgent time restriction or other matter deemed relevant by the Ubyssey staff.

It is agreed by all persons placing display or classified advertising that if the Ubyssey Publications Society fails to publish an advertisement or if an error in the ad occurs the liability of the UPS will not be greater than the price paid for the ad. The UPS shall not be responsible for slight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value or the impact of the ad.

Andrew Bates Senior Web Writer

The woman in charge of juggling the departments, clubs and fresh faces of Imagine Day reckons it has gotten even larger this year.

“With that,” she said, “comes the joy of trying to make sure that everybody knows what’s going on: student, staff and faculty alike.”

For Shannon Sterling, organizing on campus has been a joy for 15 years. “I was really involved in high school and this continued on to university.”

A Metro Vancouver native, she was involved in everything from ResLife, Safewalk, Speakeasy and theatre since she arrived at UBC as a first-year. Now she works in the Student Development Centre and is in charge of organizing Imagine Day. “UBC is a very vast organization, I think it might come down to coordination,” she said. “There are a lot of people involved. I think there’s 30 different departments or staff units across campus who are contributing in some way, shape or form to Imagine.”

The winding-down period for Imagine Day will last one to two months, according to Sterling, at

which point it starts over again.

“On October 1, we start planning 2012 right away,” she said. “We start meeting; every month there’s a new milestone, from leader recruitment to new training, because we have over a thousand leaders that are a part of the experience.”

Sterling graduated with an Arts degree and then came right back to UBC. “I continued on and did an education degree,” she said.

“I love students of all ages. My brain’s in elementary education, so it’s a little bit of a different lens than 18-24 year olds.”

But Sterling’s journey wouldn’t take her all the way back to elementary school. “I worked for Student Recruitment in advising for four years as a recruiter adviser for the university, so I traveled across Canada talking a lot about what UBC has to offer,” she said.

“After being on the road for about 10-12 weeks a year, I started thinking about how much I enjoyed talking about UBC, but I missed it more and I missed the time I had with students,” Sterling said. “When the opportunity came up in Student Development [four years ago], I left that job for this one.”

Sterling now works in communications for the Student Development Centre, organizes Imagine Day and also plans the Student Leadership Conference, which she says is the largest of its kind in Canada. She’s also a grad student at SFU, working on her Master of Education, but she thinks that universities have won her heart. U

Shannon Sterling Occupation Head of Imagine Day Her sports and hobbies “Beer league softball, golf—I’m a pretty good golfer—and I like to garden. I’m basically an old woman in a thirty-year-old body.”

What she studied Education at UBC On her month off from Imagine “On October 1, we start planning 2012 right away.”

News

09.08.2011 |

3

Editors: Kalyeena Makortoff & Micki Cowan

AMS SERVICES >>

AMS fails to fill positions at Sexual Assault Support Centre Jonny Wakefield Print Editor

People who have been sexually assaulted will not be able to find the support services once provided by the AMS. The Sexual Assault Support Centre (SASC) is without two full-time professional staff members following the departure of coordinator Vicki Poulios in June. The AMS cites difficulties in finding a qualified candidate as the reason for the continued vacancies of those positions.

“We are actively searching for people, but we’re not sure if we can fill the positions and have those staff trained and comfortable in that position to run walk-in services until later in this semester, if not until after winter break,” said AMS President Jeremy McElroy.

SASC has historically provided services to people who have been sexually assaulted, including crisis support and drop-in services, as well as accompaniment to hospitals, police and court hearings. Additionally, the centre does outreach work, provides

training for AMS staff and provides optional support training to residence staff.

“This has really limited the services we are able to offer,” said Emily Yakashiro, the outreach coordinator at SASC and its one remaining staff member. “All these kind of big things that a Sexual Assault Support Centre should be able to offer, we can’t offer at this point.”

McElroy said that since Poulios’ departure, the AMS has had difficulty finding qualified staff for the positions.

“We’re left in this awkward spot where there’s nobody left to run the office right now,” he said.

Irene Tsepnopoulos-Elhaimer, a spokesperson for Women Against Violence Against Women (WAVAW), said that it is “shocking” to not have these services in place during frosh week.

“There are so many sexual assaults on campus,” she said. “The age of the students, that’s the age when most people are at risk—the 15 to 24 age group. It’s very concerning not to have the centre up and running.” She

said SASC has traditionally provided referrals to WAVAW services.

McElroy said that the AMS is working with the RCMP and the Student Health Centre to ensure that students have access to some level of support.

Yakashiro said the centre will not be able to offer crisis support, drop-in services or accompaniment until the positions are filled.

“It’s disappointing. Students are paying for this service with their student fees and it’s not being provided in the capacity that it should be,” said Yakashiro. U

PACIFIC SPIRIT BLAZE >>

JUMPSTART >>

Andrew Bates

New Aboriginal students get a “Jumpstart” at UBC

Wildfire near Totem Park contained Senior Web Writer

A wildfire west of Totem Park residences in Pacific Spirit Park that broke out late Tuesday night was 95 per cent contained as of 4pm Wednesday and was expected to be extinguished by the end of the day.

At approximately midnight Tuesday, a call was made to emergency services, informing them that a tree had caught fire. The fire spread to half an acre by 3am. At its worst, the fire reached three-quarters of a hectare at 2pm Wednesday, according to Jeff Mortimer, wildfire management staffer for the BC Forest Service.

The fire’s location proved a challenge to firefighters. Flames were down a steep, rocky cliff and visibility was low, according to Deputy Fire Chief Les Sziklai. “You have to understand, our crews are structural firefighters, we do have bush fire capabilities, but we aren’t typically brushfire...firefighters,” he said.

“We have a lot of staff here...But it is frustrating because you can’t really see what’s going on.”

Forest Service crews arrived at daybreak.

“We didn’t have any wind. We put crews on the ground, we put fallers on the ground and we put aircraft bucketing machines [in the air],” Mortimer said. “Getting on it early today, the crews made really good progress.”

Haida and Salish House in Totem Park residence were the closest to the blaze. “What we were hearing from the fire department was they were not really concerned about the fire itself progressing across Marine Drive and starting to threaten UBC buildings, but there

TIM BLONK/THE UBYSSEY

Trisha Telep Contributor

A fire truck pulls up in front of the botanical gardens to manage the blaze.

GEOFF LISTER /THE UBYSSEY

was a concern about possible heavy smoke,” said Ron Holton, UBC’s chief risk officer.

“So we were wanting to be prepared, if need be, [to] evacuate people out of residences or out of the University Neighbourhoods Association.”

Students in the buildings were aware of the commotion, but not especially worried. “You don’t really notice it,” said Kevin Hamersley, a first-year engineering student.

“You hear a helicopter and you keep your windows closed, it’s not a huge effect. If we had to evacuate,

it’d be something completely different, but right now it’s not a big deal at all.”

“I heard the fire trucks and I could see them right outside my room using the fire hydrants. It was only 20 feet from the building,” said Spencer Lewis, a first-year Arts student in Salish House. “I was worried this morning, when they said to take anything you might not want to lose. I thought that it would be smoky, so I bought a fan.”

Although wildfires are common in BC, Mortimer said “this is not a normal event for this kind of year

here. We have very dry conditions and in the last few days we’ve had very low humidity and that probably helped the fire spread,” he said.

“You’re always going to get one of these once in a while,” Mortimer said. “There’s going to be people around in certain conditions, and they will do things that start fires.”

Mortimer would not confirm the cause of the fire, saying that the Vancouver City Fire Department was in charge of investigating the origin. U —With files from Arshy Mann, Brian Platt and Jonny Wakefield.

Alzheimer’s linked to blood vessel growth, say UBC researchers

UBC receives $2.9 million in funding from CFI

First-years: who you are in numbers

University of British Columbia researchers in climate change, chemistry, medical imaging and physical therapy recently received $2.9 million in funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

The funding will cover research equipment, facilities and other infrastructure. Forty-two institutions across Canada will also receive funding from CFI as part of a $53 million Leaders Opportunity Fund, announced on September 1 by Gary Goodyear, who is the the minister of state for science and technology.

This September, the UBC Vancouver campus welcomed 5913 new first-year students with overall enrolment totalling 47,781.

The majority of the campus population is made up of undergraduates, who this year reached 37,551, with the remaining 10,230 made up of graduate students. International student numbers—undergraduate and graduates—arrived at 7759.

One in four students at the Vancouver campus were admitted using broad-based admissions criteria, which takes into account extracurricular and life experiences of applicants, compared to one in ten last year. U

News briefs UBC drops in QS 2011 World University Rankings UBC dropped in rankings from 44th to 53rd place in the 2011 World University Rankings, which are published annually by the British firm QS and were released this week.

Two Canadian universities moved up in the rankings, with McGill moving to 17th from 19 th and the University of Toronto moving from 29 th to 23rd.

The rankings are based on academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per faculty, student-faculty ratios and proportion of international students and faculty members.

A team of UBC researchers have a new explanation for how Alzheimer’s disease destroys the brain. Instead of the death of cells—which has been the focus of many studies— a high number of cells in brain capillaries may cause the disease.

Researchers, led by Professor Wilfred Jefferies, found a higher density of capillaries in brain samples of people who died of the neurodegenerative disease.

With the new information. treatments that target blood vessel growth may be the next step in the battle against Alzheimer’s.

Jumpstart, UBC’s two-week orientation program previously aimed at new international students, extended its hand to new Aboriginal students for the first time this August after seven years running.

“There has never been an orientation program at UBC for Aboriginal students, but there has long been a need,” said Kirstin Scansen, Aboriginal engagement coordinator at Jumpstart.

“Aboriginal students in the past have tended to feel culturally alienated at UBC, as it’s such a large institution.”

Métis transfer student, Greg Gareau, was impressed with the program. “The Aboriginal cohort got together and learned separately.

We learned about West Coast culture, but the story across Canada is the same: the issues that Natives face with land rights and the issues that Natives face with...the common stereotypes of what an Aboriginal person is.”

However, Spencer Lindsay, an Aboriginal student and recent graduate of the First Nations Studies Program, said there’s something pejorative about bringing Aboriginals into the Jumpstart fold.

“Jumpstart kind of started out with the idea that international students are somehow not equipped to deal with UBC and need extra training. It’s kind of condescending, you know? And, in a way, that’s often how Aboriginal students are treated.

‘You’re not good enough so we need to bring you through [Jumpstart].’”

But the opportunities for crosscultural ties remain, said Rick Ouellet, community development officer at the First Nations House of Learning.

“It’s a global world. It’s not a bad thing to introduce our [Aboriginal] students to networks from across the planet.”

Now, said Gareau, “We can get together and talk about our own past in...our rural Aboriginal communities and we all share common stories and common goals that we have set for ourselves that include coming to a post-secondary institute like UBC.” U —With files from Kalyeena Makortoff

4 | News | 09.08.2011

Meet your AMS executives

While student council is made up of over 40 people, there are five who are tasked with carrying out the decisions of your student representatives.

You may never meet them, but they impact choices made about almost all aspects of your student life.

We took the time to find out what they think about UBC, their hobbies, political perspectives and academic interests. So here they are, the leaders of your Alma Mater Society—the AMS.

President: Jeremy McElroy I

JOSH CURRAN/THE UBYSSEY

t was Imagine Day in my first year,” said Jeremy McElroy, “and Kevin Keystone was [AMS] president...Keystone was a pretty good speaker and I was sitting there being like, “Man, student council kids are nerds!’”

Now, McElroy is the 102nd president of AMS and has himself spoken in front of over 5000 first years, quoting Miss Frizzle from The Magic School Bus. This is not where he expected to be.

McElroy grew up in North Delta, and while he was accepted to McGill, UBC and the University of Toronto, he felt he wasn’t yet done with the Lower Mainland.

Soon after coming to UBC, he was convinced to run for the Arts Undergraduate Society’s (AUS) first-year rep, which he won.

Campus parties would fuel his involvement at UBC, beginning with his next position as social coordinator for the AUS. “I learned about beer gardens and the history of party culture on this campus and really sort of fell in love with it, but got frustrated with some of the push-back that we got both from the UBC community, the RCMP and classroom services.”

These frustrations led McElroy to help resurrect the Radical Beer Faction, a cross-faculty group that

hosted beer gardens and parties on campus. But after a year and a half, he says that he “realized that it was time to come back to reality and I ran to be an Arts councillor on the AMS. “During that year we had ‘UNgate,’ where two execs at the time, unbeknownst to anyone, paid a lot of money to file a human rights complaint to the United Nations.”

McElroy saw this as “a clear lack of accountability” of both Council and the executive. “I put my money where my mouth was, and ran to be VP External for my fifth year.”

He wasn’t quite done, though.

The next year he ran for AMS president, the position he holds now.

He’ll be graduating in 2012. When asked what he wished he could change about student politics, he said exactly that: the politics.

“I don’t like student politics.

I don’t like calling us a student government or a student council.

We’re a board of directors of a nonprofit organization, at the end of the day. We provide services, we hire staff, we run businesses. There really shouldn’t be a lot of politics involved in what goes on.

“At the end of the day we’re... trying to do what’s in the best interest for the student body.”

—Kalyeena Makortoff

VP Academic: Matt Parson

VP Finance: Elin Tayyar

H

e’s a lover of Italo-disco music, a Beta fraternity member and the AMS’s VP Finance for two years running.

Although Elin Tayyar is a long way from his birthplace in Iran, he came to UBC after living for some years in East Van and Burnaby. He has described himself as random, and looking at his track record in university, it’s hard to disagree.

Tayyar is currently in his sixth year at UBC, “though I figure the first year didn’t count because I was a commuter and in sciences,” he laughed.

He got tired of sciences, went out on a limb with a history course he was taking at the time, transferred into Arts and decided to major in international relations. After a fourth-year course, he integrated a minor in economics.

Tayyar really considers his UBC life beginning during his second year when he finally got into residence, and now stresses the importance of involvement and having a life on campus.

“The best part [of UBC] is opportunities,” said Tayyar, “for the variety of different things you can do.

If you are a hipster, you could probably join CiTR, and if you’re a politician you can join a club or the Greek system. There’s a good variety, so it’s good for everyone.”

During his time as VP Finance, his proud moment has been the restructuring of the AMS Health and Dental Plan. “It’s not a very sexy topic but as far as measureables go, it’s been a huge impact: over a million dollars a year saved.”

And as for political slant, he’s hard to pin down. “I’m a part-time

I

GEOFF LISTER/THE UBYSSEY

Stalinist, part-time socialist...I don’t really like the NDP. I understand economics and I believe in economic efficiency. I hate bureaucracy so that goes against the whole socialist thing. I’m prosustainable development, [and] I’m kind of a technocrat.”

He said the randomness of his personality has gotten worse with his position, but he’s embraced it, at least.

Following in this vein, he gave his advice to first-years.

“Participate. Get involved. There’s a bunch of shit you can do, so do it.”

“Take a variety of different classes to make sure you know what you like. Chances are you’ll probably change your mind.”

—Kayleena Makortoff

f it wasn’t UBC, it would have been Western—or Hogwarts, said AMS VP Academic Matt Parson.

But jokes aside, in a big university like UBC, “you have to find [community] in smaller pockets.”

For Parson, the community that led him to student politics was the fraternities.

“I got uber-involved within the Greek system. I joined my second year and from there just took up every opportunity that I could from being social coordinator to PR, and eventually president within my own fraternity Phi Delta Theta.”

When he became president of the Intra-Fraternity Council, he got a taste of what it meant to liaise with a bunch of different groups on campus, such as the university and the University Neighbourhoods Association (UNA).

His current position as VP Academic does just that, but instead represents the AMS’s views.

“I talked to former VP Academic Ben Cappellacci and I saw a lot of

CHRIS BORCHERT/THE UBYSSEY

commonalities with this position, and those previous experiences. I thought I’d throw my hat in the race for this position. And there you go.”

But when Parson isn’t liaising with the fraternities and the university, he isn’t any less busy.

“I’ve always been really active, playing soccer, hockey and football.

As far as hobbies go, I play the guitar, and I’m trying to make a dining room table right now.”

Just as Parson is experimenting with carpentry, he encourages firstyear UBC students to try new things as well.

“Don’t be scared to try anything.

Really, there’s no better way to find who you are, and that’s one of the main reasons that you’re actually out at UBC.” But don’t let everything go to the wind. “Stay grounded. Realize that at the end of the day you are a student and you’re just trying to do the best you can. Don’t let your personality and your ego get in the way.”

—Micki Cowan

09.08.2011 | News | 5

VP Admin: Mike Silley VP External: Katherine Tyson

JOSH CURRAN/THE UBYSSEY

I

f you ask Katherine Tyson about politics, she’ll have a lot to say.

Whether it is about the AMS or federal or provincial politics—where she identifies as a non-partisan partisan—she will tell you all about it.

“I don’t think it’s healthy for people who think of themselves as non-partisan and just believing in particular issues to not get involved,” she explained. “What you end up getting is a lack of ideas within the political parties because those who have ideas decide, ‘I can’t be part of the political process because this party doesn’t fit me to a tee.’”

Before becoming AMS VP External, Tyson took heed of her own advice.

She got involved as president of the BC Young Liberals and in a plethora GEOFF LISTER/THE UBYSSEY

G

rowing up in Spain the first ten years of his life, you may think that UBC is a strange place for the AMS’s VP Administration, Mike Silley, to end up. In reality, Silley has had a strong connection to Vancouver—­­­­­­­ his birthplace—and UBC his whole life.

“Every summer when I was living in Spain I would come to Vancouver,” he said.

And now, it’s almost reversed— Silley still speaks both Spanish and Portuguese, and travels back to Spain nearly every summer.

Once it came time for university, both ease of access and family connection led him to UBC. “My brother had gone to UBC, so I had heard good things.”

He won’t be the last Silley to attend UBC either. His younger brother is enrolled in his first year this September.

“We’re actually taking the same class together. He’s living in Totem, which I lived in in first year—so definitely I know he’s in store for a very fun year.”

Though he recognizes that one of UBC’s shortfalls lies in its immense and somewhat intimidating size, he said that there are many ways to take advantage of that and see it as a positive.

Silley’s advice is to get involved right away in the first semester, as he did with the fraternity Sigma Chi. “Get involved with as many organizations and hobbies as you can, because the friends you make now are the friends that are going

Get involved with as many organizations and hobbies as you can, because the friends you make now are the friends that are going to carry you through university—and hopefully for the rest of your life.

Mike Silley AMS VP Admin to carry you through university— and hopefully for the rest of your life.”

For him, it was student politics that struck a chord. “[The best thing is] that you can actually make a difference.”

Silley used the example of the new SUB as proof of what happens when students get involved and rally for a cause—“a new facility just for students.”

As VP Administration, Silley’s heavily involved with the development of the new SUB, which will be built beginning in early 2012.

This project has even influenced his life plans. “Just because I’m involved with the new SUB, I’ve grown to have a real passion for real estate and development,” he said.

“I don’t know where that will take me.” U —Micki Cowan

of humanitarian affairs—which should bode well for her future plans of going into economic development and perhaps microfinance. She hopes to put her political skills to work for UBC students by advocating for student financial assistance reform.

At UBC, she is part of the honours political science program with a second major in international relations. Her minors are in Asian language and culture, and economics. Yes, Tyson has four degree specializations.

Aside from politics, she enjoys Japanese anime and manga, as well as Youtube videos.

“Historically, [my favourite] was Escaflowne—the actual Japanese version, not the American one. My current favourite is Skippy, and Vampire

Knight. I have an iPad now, so late at night I just scroll through them quickly.”

Tyson recognizes how important slowing down is, even if it’s just for a few minutes every night—which she recommends to first–year students.

“Stay drama–free and stress–free.

Life will go on. When you get that boyfriend or girlfriend and they don’t call, still study,” she said.

“Stress leads to most of the mental and health illnesses, which leads to the highest rate of incompletion of degrees as well as drop-outs—and we don’t want that. Stay stress-free.”

Her advice for the stressed-out student? Visit Nitobe Garden to meditate. Or do yoga. U —Micki Cowan

Culture

09.08.2011 |

6

Editor: Ginny Monaco

ART >>

Particle physicist makes photography debut

COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

Former Ubyssey editors Kate Barbaria and Brendan Albano created Mr. Boat-head’s Electricl Dream Ship.

THEATRE >>

COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

UBC students take on the Fringe

Rhys Edwards Contributor

Hosting a variety of eccentric, morbid, hilarious and provocative theatrical productions, the Vancouver International Fringe Festival is once again upon us.

Beginning on September 8, the Fringe will feature performances from a diverse range of talented artists, young and veteran, local, national and international.

The pluralistic, uncensored and democratic nature of the festival will be directly embodied by several Fringe works featuring UBC students and graduates. For instance, Ingrid Nilson, an honours student in the UBC theatre arts program, will perform solo in Yum/Yuck, a subversive exploration of yoga and its social connotations.

According to Nilson, who is also co-president of the Player’s Club, Yum/Yuck will pose “controversial

questions about the commodified corporatization of yoga, health and healing.” The production takes “an explicit look behind the Spandexsuited, Lulu-clad crew that comprises the yoga community.”

Nilson’s work is a multidisciplinary effort, featuring contributions from students and advisors at both UBC and SFU. For her, Yum/ Yuck is not only an exercise in thematic contrasts, but also an opportunity to integrate her education with her art.

Fringe administrators do not select what shows to include in the festival based on merit. Instead, a roster is created through random selection. This encourages the public reception of relatively new, innovative productions, while ensuring that attendees never know quite what to expect from the festival.

One such project, created by BFA graduates and former Ubyssey editors Kate Barbaria and Brendan

Albano, will redefine audience–participant relationships. In their show, Mr. Boat-Head’s Electrical Dream Ship, members will be asked to share their memories, dreams and nightmares with the public.

The various cerebral phenomena will be recorded and uploaded to a website, which, Barbaria said, will serve as a repository for those “with under-developed imaginations, in need of inspiration, or who simply never remember their dreams.”

Thus, rather than remaining passive observers, audience members will become the source of the spectacle themselves. “The premise is that we are no smarter or more clever or more creative than you, so why should we tell the stories while you listen in silence?” said Barbaria.

For the creative pair, UBC helped foster the critical thinking that led to Dream Ship’s creation. According to Barbaria, “Our experiences at UBC have informed the way we

Ginny Monaco

constantly ask ourselves why we are doing what we are doing.” U

UBC Fringe More than a few UBC students have got shows at this year’s Fringe. Here are a few: Lovestruck Red Square Collective (Andrey Summers, BFA Creative Writing and Fiona Revill, BFA Creative Writing) Oh My God! Delinquent Theatre (Laura McLean, BFA, Theatre Production and Christine Quintana, BFA Acting)

Arts briefs LIVE >>

UBC Music announces concert season

The list of dates and performers have been released for the upcoming UBC Music concert season. Concerts take place every Wednesday at noon and include everything from traditional Persian music to covers of Miles Davis.

Students will perform contemporary renditions of works by traditional composers such as Brahms, Beethoven and Chopin.

There are also a number of selected highlight performances by musicians such as Jane Coop and the UBC Symphony Orchestra. Full details and concert information can be found at www.music.ubc.ca.

MOA announces fall exhibitions The Museum of Anthropology has recently announced its schedule of exhibitions and events for this fall.

Events begin on September 18 with Musqueam Celebration and carry on through to February 12.

New exhibits include A Green Dress: Objects, Memory, and the Museum and Hiroshima by Ishiuchi Miyako.

Hiroshima features an array of photographs of clothing and

personal items belonging to the victims of Hiroshima. A Green Dress highlights a number of physical items from the bombing and much more. For more information, visit www.moa.ubc.ca/events –By Scott C. MacDonald

Chan Centre season performance lineup released The Chan Centre performance line up for the 2011-12 concert season includes performances by Kronos Quartet, Soledad Barrio and Mavis Staples.

For the first time in recent years, season subscriptions are available.

“Vancouver’s uniqueness and identity stems from diversity,” said Joyce Hinton, co-managing director of the Chan. “Our 2011-12 concert season is inspired by this incredible tapestry.” –By Rhys Edwards ART>>

Belkin Gallery hosts MFA exhibition Seven graduates of the Master of Fine Arts program will have their work shown in an exhibition at the Belkin Gallery.

The show, titled Happy, will feature multidisciplinary works

DUNCAN CAIRNS-BRENNER/THE UBYSSEY

The Museum of Anthropology has announced its upcoming fall exhibits.

that range thematically from exploration of work and labour to social interactions and identity.

According to Tara Hogue, public programs and exhibitions assistant, the show “includes engaging works that ... make us aware of our everyday surroundings in our interactions with each other and the spaces around us, as well as large-scale sculptural works, performance-based art and paintings that are masterful in their study of colour or question the nature of studio practice by appropriating the work of others.”

On September 10, there will be a public critique with Nigel Prince, executive director of the Contemporary Art Gallery.

Happy runs until September 18.

UBC>>

UBC launches Aboriginal representation course The University of British Columbia Graduate School of Journalism has created the first Canadian university course dedicated to improving Aboriginal representation in news media.

Duncan McCue, a regular contributor to CBC’s The National and one of a few mainstream Aboriginal reporters in Vancouver, will lead the class.

“The course’s goal is to elevate the quality of coverage of Aboriginal issues and to improve the relationship between the news media and Aboriginal peoples,” said McCue. U

Culture Editor

“Yeah,” said Douglas Beder. “You see changes.”

The former UBC professor and particle physicist-turned photographer gave the example of a campus tree sequoia by a library’s centre block.

“The university decided that this would be a nice place to put benches for people. So they dug a trench to pour concrete all around the tree, not knowing that sequoias have very close to surface roots. All the roots were cut and the tree died.”

Beder talks a lot about nature. As a physicist, he’s trained to. “If you start out in science,” he said, “it’s always because you’re curious about the external world. You start noticing details. When I go hiking with people, most of them see a gray blur. I see a rock that’s telling a story.”

Born in Montréal in 1940, Beder, “one of those annoying kids that’s curious and says ‘why’ all the time,” was drawn to science from a young age. His father, the artist Jack Beder, became well-known for portraiture and Montréal streetscapes.

Beder attended McGill for his undergraduate degree, then moved to California. “It was time to get away from Montréal’s climate,” he said.

“Both meteorological and political.”

After finishing grad studies at the California Institute of Technology, Beder spent a year in Geneva at CERN, home of the Large Hadron Collider. “It happened to be a fruitful year in physics. It was exciting.”

Beder eventually settled in Vancouver and started teaching at UBC in 1968. He calls his time spent as a professor his greatest accomplishment. “You rate yourself extremely severely,” he said.

He retired early in 1998. “You should sometimes quit things when you’re at your peak,” he said. “The last thing you want to do is find yourself in front of 300 people in a lecture hall and you don’t want to be there.”

In his retirement, Beder was drawn to photography. It’s really not that different from science, he said.

His debut exhibition of photography at the Eastwood Onley Gallery is focused on the most basic recurring patterns in nature. The selected works feature Beder’s studies in Hawaiian lava flows and the fauna of the Galapogos Islands.

“You can see complexity emerging from simple underlying principles. You go down to the lowest, most underlying levels and that’s like physics.” U

09.08.2011 | Culture | 7

The Ubyssey’s picks of the Fringe Ginny Monaco & Andrew Bates The beginning of the Fringe Festival marks the raunchiest, most outlandish two weeks in Vancouver theatre.

The plurality of artistic voices ensure that nearly every Fringe show is bound to provoke thought and discussion.

Jesus in Montana In his solo show Jesus in Montana, Fringe favourite Barry Smith muses on his time in a religious cult in the 1990s. Written and performed by Smith, the show chronicles his transition from a dishwasher stunted by his fundamentalist upbringing to the enlightened realization that Jesus is living in Montana.

In detailing his journey to find the reincarnated Christ, Smith tackles topics of teenage rebellion and existential crisis. Jesus in Montana was sold out and held over at the 2011 Edmonton Fringe.

Jesus in Montana opens September 9 at the Waterfront Theatre.

Progressive Polygamists No examination into the polygamy lifestyle is complete without jump-rope.

The Progressive Polygamists: The Sweetest Performers is a comedy show by Vancouver performers Emmelia Gordon and Pippa Mackie, who appear in character as

COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

The Progressive Polygamists and Giant Invisible Robot have two of the best titles in the 2011 Fringe Festival.

“sister wives” Mercy Eve and Eden Grace.

The show, fresh from the Toronto and Saskatoon Fringe Festivals, bills itself as a “full throttle, interactive, intensely sweet comedy” that is aimed to present an insider’s perspective of polygamy and make the audience take a closer look at the rights and wrongs of the religious practice.

Polygamy, the practice of one man keeping several wives, is maintained by an offshoot sect of Mormonism based in Bountiful, British Columbia.

It’s been in the news lately as the BC Supreme Court deliberates whether the law that makes it

illegal is constitutional.

After attending sessions of the court case in Vancouver, Gordon and Mackie were inspired by the topic’s importance. The satirical comedy aims to shine a light on the topic using “audience participation, Polygamist research, character mash ups, jump-rope, history and song.”

The Progressive Polygamists: The Sweetest Performers opens September 8 at Studio 16.

Giant Invisible Robot You may never forget that you saw a Giant Invisible Robot.

Robot, a one-man show starring Jayson McDonald, directed by Scott Holden, depicts the overactive imagination of a young boy whose closest companion is the titular and possibly imaginary robot with destructive urges.

It first toured in 2006/2007, when it won Best Original Script, Best Original Work, and Best Male Performer. This is the last stop on a Fringe tour that’s taken it through Regina, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton and Victoria.

Reviewing last week’s Victoria performance, The Martlet’s Janine Crockett called it “a well-paced, enthralling journey into a boy’s

world that has a worthwhile pay-off.” According to Crockett, McDonald’s characters include a hammy superhero, an arrogant scientist, the fidgety, slouchy protagonist and the giant invisible robot.

Crockett says this comedy with an emotional core asks whether the robot is a simple imaginary friend, a psychological coping mechanism or much more and McDonald’s ability to embody the shy, but enthusiastic boy helps further the play’s surprisingly touching climax.

Giant Invisible Robot opens September 9 at the Revue Stage. U

8 | Centre | 09.08.2011

IMAGINE

5913 first-year students began their UBC degree on Tuesday, and most of them were in Thunderbird Arena for the UBC Imagine Pep Rally.

GEOFF LISTER /THE UBYSSEY

GEOFF LISTER /THE UBYSSEY

Hundreds of students signed up to be MUG leaders to show first-year students around campus and give them their first taste of faculty pride.

JOSH CURRAN/THE UBYSSEY

The anthem was sung by Mark Donnelly, who routinely serenades Vancouver Canuck crowds. Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t above making a few cracks at Boston.

GEOFF LISTER /THE UBYSSEY

Near the end of the rally, UBC students set a Guiness World Record by attempting to become the largest crowd to engage in a simultaneous high-five ever. The previous record was 1790 people, set by the University of Guelph.

09.08.2011 | Centre | 9

GEOFF LISTER /THE UBYSSEY

Previously known as the School of Human Kinetics, the School of Kinesiology punched above their weight in crowd volume Tuesday.

GEOFF LISTER /THE UBYSSEY

GEOFF LISTER /THE UBYSSEY

JOSH CURRAN/THE UBYSSEY

Normally reserved AUS President Justin Yang (left) and Dean of Arts Gage Averill (right) get the Arts faction on their feet after introductions..

JOSH CURRAN/THE UBYSSEY

AMS President Jeremy McElroy spoke before the crowd at Imagine.

JOSH CURRAN/THE UBYSSEY

Cheerleaders exhibit their skills to pep rally attendees at Thunderbird Arena.

Sports

09.08.2011 |

10

Editor: Drake Fenton

Silent Stadiums

Why sold-out crowds are just a dream for the Thunderbirds Alison Mah Contributor

Have you ever heard the UBC fight song?

It’s called “Hail UBC” and it was written by a student named Harold King way back in the 1930s. In typical fight song fashion, the tune buoyantly marches along to pistonlike snare drums and overly selfcongratulatory lines like, “All other teams acknowledge us masters.” It culminates in a rousing choral cry of “Hail UBC!” likely anticipating that the crowd will bellow it back with double the enthusiasm.

According to UBC archives, King’s little ditty was “quickly embraced” by students back in the day.

Clearly, his intentions were to create something the fragmented UBC student populace could rally around.

Fans would be able to belt it out proudly at weekly varsity games; if everything worked out, they would for future generations to come.

Ultimately, King’s modest proposal was meant to establish a

long-standing tradition that would express the emotional support of the entire student body every time it was sung.

So again: have you ever heard the UBC fight song? Probably not.

The riddle of its disappearance involves a variety of conspiring factors. It may have just gradually evaporated with the growing expanse of students, as UBC’s population swelled from 2400 in 1939 to 20,936 in 1970, and then doubled to the almost 40,000 undergraduates it holds today. With increasing size comes the increasing difficulty of uniting such a diversified populace.

Or perhaps the disappearance of “Hail UBC” reflects the generational malaise of the disembodied, techno-centric student that chooses to stay at home, sedentary and computer-bound, or goes elsewhere on a Friday night. Maybe student priorities have just changed.

Whatever the case, the lackadaisical attendance numbers don’t lie. Last season, only five varsity games had a turnout of more than

1000 people. Of those five, one was the homecoming football game and the other the Shrum Bowl—events that pull consistent numbers every year. Women’s volleyball completed another dominating season, going 20-4 and winning a fourth consecutive national championship, and yet only pulled an average attendance of 322. Men’s hockey, on the other hand, averaged 300 people per game, a figure that seems inflated considering the contradictory visual evidence should one actually attend a game.

So in a nutshell: Where has all the UBC school spirit gone? And why aren’t a large majority of students attending varsity games?

“That’s the golden question,” laughs UBC’s athletics marketing and promotions coordinator Leon Denenfeld. “If I had the answer to that…I think there’s a couple of things. One of them is awareness.

Living on your own for the first time, you get busy and focus on your core needs. There are also lots of people pulling you in different directions.”

School spirit is an abstract concept that often takes a tangible form.

In simplest terms, it’s a feeling, a surge of pride. But anyone can feel pride for their school, institution, sports team or otherwise; it’s the externalization of that pride that is the most essential, and most enjoyable, part of school spirit. This, of course, involves the requisite parade of giant foam fingers, pompoms and faces painted blue and gold. But it’s also the smell of sweat and the feel of static air, the sight of spectators rising and falling in a single cry of joy or agony. It’s a penetration of all five senses.

The loud and colourful LipDub video is perhaps the best and most recent example of UBC student involvement. But to say that LipDub was a sign that our school spirit is alive and well is ignoring the picture as a whole. To walk inside the haunting echo chamber of a Thunderbirds hockey game, or a women’s volleyball match—so hushed it may as well have been played in the middle of Sunday

church service—will tell a different story. In this case, the silence takes precedence over the noise.

As a student body and as a campus, we have remained too quiet.

Finding the noise There is no blanket solution or quick panacea for reviving school spirit.

Denenfeld and others like him are trying to promote the Thunderbirds brand and they understand that part of the building process involves establishing a foundation, which is why student loyalty programs like Blue Crew were created. For a $15 fee, members receive a T-shirt and access to every single varsity game, which, everything considered, is a small price to pay for a full year’s worth of entertainment. Blue Crew membership has risen consistently since its inception in 2007, growing from 400 to 1700 in 2011. However, there’s still a problem.

“It’s not translating to [students] coming to games consistently,”

09.08.2011 | says Theresa Hanson, the associate director of intercollegiate and high performance sport. “As the year goes on, even though all our teams are still playing, students start getting busy and have other priorities.”

The problem is not just enticing students, then. Seventeen hundred students have shown they have no difficulty grabbing a pen and scratching down their names in passive commitment, probably attracted by the bright paraphernalia more than anything else.

The real problem halting the growth of school spirit is deeper, multifaceted and trickier in the way it’s interconnected. Think of it as a web consisting of three aspects: awareness, funding and culture.

And if you tug one string, the whole thing shakes.

The elements of disenfranchisement The first issue concerning school spirit is awareness. Blue Crew is loud and conspicuous for the first few weeks of school, but then their presence is withdrawn and significantly lacking around campus for the rest of the year. Denenfeld is seeking to change how often Blue Crew appears and the different types of roles they’ll play.

“I want to make Blue Crew the official support group of the Athletics department. You’ll know the Blue Crew working the games by their name tags. You’ll see them on campus, so it’s a familiar face.”

Another awareness issue involves campus media—both student-run outlets and official ones.

“We can only do so much media off-campus and we’re competing in a sports-heavy town,” says Denenfeld. “TEAM 1040 radio and The Province say, ‘Sure we’ll cover you, just pay us!’ Scott Rintoul [TEAM 1040 host and UBC alumnus] can only do so much without getting slapped on the wrist.”

Women’s volleyball head coach Doug Reimer says every little bit of coverage matters. “I notice a difference when we get support from The Ubyssey. It helps, just the awareness is so important. I try to talk to the reporters at The Vancouver Sun—they don’t have that dedicated university reporter all the time. It’s really hit and miss.”

The second issue concerning school spirit involves funding from Athletics. Canadian varsity programs simply do not have the same resources as their counterparts in the United States. A comparison between the two is not only unrealistic, but also irrelevant due to the incessant amount of dollars dumped into American programs.

In 2009, for example, the Texas Longhorns football budget reached a staggering $127 million, one-third of which was fuelled by alumni donations alone. In comparison, the 2009-10 UBC Athletics department had $17.5 million in revenue. In the US, priorities are just different.

UBC’s modest athletics budget— not uncommon across Canada with the exception of schools like Laval, which has almost $2 million invested into football alone­—usually means modest returns. Higher academic expectations are sometimes a deterrent for athletes who are otherwise physically gifted, meaning UBC often misses on some of the best players available.

“The majority of the players that we recruit don’t have the academic standards to get into UBC,” said men’s hockey head coach Milan Dragicevic earlier this summer. “So a lot of players that we want, we just can’t get into school as well.”

UBC basketball guard Doug Plumb, who moved from his home in Pitt Meadows to Minnesota in Grade 9, says he relocated because

of the lack of attention given to athletes in Canada.

“It’s a better opportunity. There are a lot of good players in Canada that don’t get noticed because they’re north of the border.”

Plumb and the ‘Birds drew some of the highest and most consistent crowds at UBC last year, averaging an attendance of 772 people per home game. It helps that all they did was win, going 31-3 for the season and 16-1 at home. When asked why other UBC sports have not been able to replicate similar attendance numbers, Plumb was candid.

“For hockey…don’t they have better players in the WHL [Western Hockey League]? As far as talentwise, it’s a bit more watered down.

[Audiences] want to see a good product, right?”

For Reimer, the small budget significantly affects the crowd energy and noise levels at games. “I wish I had more staff just to promote. The more effort we do put into crowds, we do see some return. Even being the visitor, the team would rather be on the road and have energy cheering against us because we don’t get it all the time. So when you do get it, you’re just that more pumped.”

The third and last issue concerning school spirit is culture. UBC is uniquely affected by its location, the large amount of commuters and the diversity and differing attitudes of its population. UBC campus, for one, is isolated enough from the Lower Mainland that it’s difficult to entice people to make the trek all the way over at 6pm on a Friday night.

And on campus? Approximately 8700 students will be living in residence this year, not including other housing not managed by the Student Housing and Hospitality Services. “The students on campus—those ones should be coming to the games. It’s right here, it’s right at their footsteps,” says Hanson.

Explanations for how UBC culture itself affects school spirit are plentiful, and up for debate. Plumb believes part of it is a cultural divide that’s preventing any significant growth. “From a school spirit standpoint, we have a large amount of international students and they don’t really get as engaged. In the States, it’s more of a social thing where everyone goes and get rowdy, whereas at UBC it’s not quite like that.”

Reimer, on the other hand, thinks the problem is a selective attitude. “It’s close to being, ‘If it’s not really professional and it’s not hockey, it’s not really spectator worthy.’ Frankly, they’ve worked to get students in the past and sometimes it can be frustrating when it doesn’t happen. I’d say we almost have too many events and it’s tough to focus.”

And of course, there is always room for admitting that students simply don’t care like they used to.

When asked if varsity sport mattered to UBC students, Reimer was brief: “The general answer would be, not really.”

Is there a solution?

The bottom line is that UBC athletics will never draw as many fans as our counterparts in the States do, and to think otherwise is plain silly. So what can be done?

Awareness is important, but it’s not as important a first step as funding and proper program support, which creates a desirable environment for prospective athletes. And then, if everything clicks and the team starts winning, media awareness and promotional efforts come into play because there’s a good product for audiences to watch. Success breeds success.

More people will begin attending, leading to higher revenue and better program support. The process, as mentioned, is reactionary and nonlinear.

Yet what if athletics funding never has been, and never will be, a top priority at UBC? If the crucial first step is, as it is with many things, money, then where will it all come from? And furthermore, what about the Thunderbirds teams that are winning, yet people still aren’t showing up?

Half the answer, as cliché as it may sound, starts with the students.

While it’s not a dramatic commitment, attending a Thunderbirds game signals to administrators and finance directors that someone cares, at least a little bit. As we all know, unless the university starts making bigger departmental commitments to athletics, attendance is going to ebb and flow. At this point, any attention is good attention, and if students cheer loudly enough, hopefully those who control purse strings will hear it.

Going to watch games shouldn’t feel like a chore—the whole point, of course, is to have fun.

Yes, there is still an abundance of questions, most of which can’t be answered in a single analysis.

Yet the question of whether or not all of this matters will undoubtedly be decided by UBC’s student body. There will always be a small, dedicated fan base that supports the university’s athletic community.

However, if the general population cannot be bothered to attend games, bring their friends, decorate their faces and colour-coordinate their clothing, if even only a handful of times a year, the disenfranchisement that plagues Athletics­— facilitating small pockets rife with lint, rather than deep pockets lined with dollars—will remain the perpetual definition of UBC’s school spirit.

Get loud. Or stay quiet. U

| 11

GEOFF LISTER PHOTO

UBC’s Cheer squad can do little to inspire crowds when there’s no one there.

12 | Games | 09.08.2011

Crossword

(CUP) — Puzzles provided by BestCrosswords. com. Used with permission.

Across

Down

1— Squeeze 6— Oops!

10— Collide with 14— Grecian architectural style 15— ___ bene 16— Biblical birthright seller 17— Lout 18— Court order 19— Own (up) 20— Immigrant’s subj.

21— From that time onward 24— Stored away 26— Downy 27— Wreath of flowers 28— Porridge 30— Language of Pakistan 33— Russian money 35— Impresario Hurok 38— New Zealand evergreen tree 40— UK record label 41— Autocratic Russian rulers 43— Needle hole 44— Frail 47— Tailless amphibian 48— Dry and crumbly 49— Article in Le Monde 51— Declare 54— Intend 58— High—speed rail transport 61— 13th letter of the Hebrew alphabet 62— Defeat 63— Markers 64— Fine fiddle 66— Comics canine 67— 1/100 of a monetary unit 68— Taj ___ 69— Look after 70— “___ quam videri” (North Carolina’s motto) 71— Delight

1— Heaps 2— Perch 3—_____ Gay 4— Bro or sis 5— Tool for cutting grass 6— Single 7— French, e.g.

8— Auricular 9— Malevolent 10— Deceive 11— Consumers 12— Poles for sails 13— Obnoxiously forward 22— One who has something coming?

23— Navy, e.g.

25— Insult 28— Mucilaginous 29— Diamond stats 30— Luau instrument 31— 2004 biopic 32— Expected 34— Trompe l’___ 35— ___ Paulo 36— Man—mouse connector 37— Acid 39— Grenoble’s river 42— Pace 45— Trellis 46— Cosmonaut Gagarin 48— Thawed 50— Generic 51— Superior of a monastery 52— Jacket material 53— Killed 54— Stickum 55— Brando’s birthplace 56— Attack 57— Author Zola 59— Digits of the foot 60— Flows 65— ___ de mer

Solutions

09.08.2011 | Games | 13

Sudoku

Difficulty: Intermediate

Tuesday’s answers

Answers to today’s puzzle in Monday’s paper

Opinion

09.08.2011 |

14

Editor: Brian Platt

GEOFF LISTER/THE UBYSSEY

Students need to fill the Imagine Day gap Editor’s Notebook Justin McElroy

INDIANA JOEL ILLUSTRATION/THE UBYSSEY

Editorial The case of Sasan Ansari shows that UBC needs to develop a policy on student conduct off campus This year the UBC law school will enroll a student who, only five years ago, brutally killed his friend by stabbing him 33 times. Sasan Ansari was subsequently dubbed the “Country Club Killer” for committing the crime at the Hollyburn Country Club in West Vancouver.

Both the university and the faculty have made it clear that there is nothing they will do about the fact that some students will soon be studying court cases alongside a recent convict.

The question on our minds, and those of many other students, is whether the university is right to treat this as a matter outside of their jurisdiction. According to a public statement from the dean of the Faculty of Law, Mary Anne Bobinksi, UBC “generally does not investigate or assess its students’ personal lives.” There are numerous arguments to be made for and against this position; we will try to parse them fully here.

After a person has gone through the criminal justice system and served their time, it’s in everyone’s interest to have that person reintegrate into society. It’s true that we regularly place limits on this principle, such as keeping sexual offenders on a watch list and not allowing some people with criminal records to cross borders. But we don’t place limits without a reason, and you would need a very strong reason for preventing someone from taking classes after they fulfilled the court’s requirements. The parole board has decided that Ansari is not a threat to society—does the UBC administration really know better?

But we can also reasonably ask whether turning him away from UBC Law would be such a serious sanction. There are numerous higher education institutes in the country, including private ones that have fewer reasons for turning away a convict than a taxpayer-funded public institution does.

Furthermore, UBC Law is a very competitive faculty, and it seems wrong that Ansari is taking the place of a student who hasn’t committed any major felonies—especially considering the difficulty he will face in passing the bar exam.

It would be easier to guide our way through this moral maze if UBC had a set policy on how to deal with students who have committed serious crimes off campus.

Currently there is a policy vacuum, and the administration hides behind that when problems arise (as they did when UBC students were caught rioting in June). The response from the dean of Law did not refer to a policy, but instead a general practice that UBC has fallen into.

And it is also apparent that UBC does not always leave it to the courts. Its non-academic misconduct policy in the Vancouver Academic Calendar states that UBC will take action on any sort of hate crime committed by a student, whether or not it directly involves the university. This creates an absurd situation where UBC is prepared to act against racism committed by its students, but not a killing.

UBC should set out a process for dealing with situations like Ansari’s. We think it’s fair to say that most students would be

comfortable with the university looking at the criminal records of prospective and incoming students, and perhaps turning away a student if the criminal record indicates the student has seriously violated the values of this institution. Many universities have a “good character” clause, holding its students to a certain level of acceptable conduct regardless of whether the conduct takes place on campus.

Yes, this would require a certain amount of case-by-case deliberation, but why is that such a bad thing? It should be noted that if UBC was willing to examine Ansari’s situation, there is still a good case to be made for allowing Ansari to attend.

Ansari’s charge was dropped from second degree murder to manslaughter primarily because he went into a “dissociative state” and does not remember committing the crime. The judge noted that “[he] is a highly motivated student who has always done well academically. He is athletic and has an impressive record of service to other people as a coach and as a tutor and mentor to learningdisabled and other students.”

Between the time of the killing and the sentencing, Ansari completed two years of law school and, according to the judge, was a top student.

But these considerations can’t be cited by UBC, because UBC has ruled out examining Ansari’s case at all. Until UBC takes some responsibility for the character of its students, controversies such as the one over the “Country Club Killer” will not go away. U

It’s my seventh year as a student at UBC. In that time, I’ve seen every part of this campus, talked to hundreds of students and professors and written thousands upon thousands of words about what this university is about.

So after seven years, I’ve developed a certain overly-nuanced view of this place, incapable of holding extreme opinions. If somebody says something nice about UBC, I say, “Yes, but…” On the other hand, if someone is critical, I begin my response with, “That being said…”

Maybe it’s the journalist in me, but I’m incapable of seeing anything UBC does as unambiguously good or bad.

Except the Imagine Rally.

The Imagine Rally is awesome. Thousands of students pack Thunderbird Arena, scream at the top of their lungs, feel a rivalry with other faculties and become invested in the place and promise that is UBC. It’s choreographed to the hilt, with every cliché imaginable thrown into the feel-good videos and speeches, but it works. More than that, it makes you feel like you made the greatest decision of your life to come here. The Imagine Rally takes all your preconceived notions as to what university can be like and tells you that yes, it’s all true. The greatest four years of your life await.

And then, over the course of many years, classes, study

marathons at IKB and lineups in academic advising offices, that thrill dissipates.

The sold-out Thunderbird Arena?

You won’t see that again. The rivalry with other faculties? Unless you take part in the Faculty Cup (note: don’t feel bad if you don’t know what it is), you’ll soon forget such a thing can even exist. Of course, the day-to-day grind of university life means campus spirit is tamped down most of the year, no matter where you are.

Yet when you talk to friends out east and they tell you about their over-the-top frosh activities, it’s easy to get a little jealous and use it as proof of our lack of West Coast spirit. But the more I thought about it, our first week activities are perfectly fine. By the middle of September, a first-year student will be in love with their residence, or their faculty, or a club they’ve stumbled upon. And you know what? In a campus this large and far away from affordable housing, that’s probably always going to be how it is.

Imagine Day is great. But the gap in collective action that inspires students the rest of the year isn’t.

Such action doesn’t come from waiting for the university to throw another giant party, though. They have too many other priorities and communications departments to make bringing the campus together possible. It’s going to come from you and your crazy ideas. Start clubs that throw awesome parties. Get pissed at something and hold a giant rally. Or better yet, look at what LipDub did last year and figure out a way to top it.

“Tuum Est” means “It’s yours.”

But it also means “It’s up to you.” U

Waste policy and the GSS Letters

I have volunteered many years for the GSS orientation days. Every year at the beginning of the fall term, about 700 students come for the welcome barbecue. Every year the same story repeats itself: no real waste reduction measures are in place.

A contractor will use Styrofoam plates to deliver hamburgers. I will see this and complain to the organizers. They will direct me to the GSS staff. I will ask the GSS staff, who will tell me they have no control because it is an outside contractor. I continue my journey to the GSS executive, they feel sorry (and I believe them), and then they tell me that next year, it will be better.

In eight months, a new executive will be in place and they will forget about sustainability principles. The same GSS staff will continue to not care about wasteful free events and the story will repeat itself. This year, I took an

extra step to talk to the contractor.

He was quite open to the idea of composting, but nobody told him about the program.

The story does not have to repeat itself. UBC has had a large in-vessel composting unit since 2004. UBC is offering composting for seven years now and recycling for many more years. UBC Waste Management must do its part and start putting some teeth on its waste policy. Garbage removal should cost three times more than recycling and composting.

Composting and recycling should be inspected and fines should apply if they are not done correctly.

These simple steps will mean careless staff and executives will start caring about it enough to save money, and that is all we need.

-Alexandre Vigneault Graduate student, chemical & biological engineering Send your letters to feedback@ubyssey.ca

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09.08.2011 |

15

Pictures and words on your university experience

HUMOUR >>

Query the 8th: Where are the free parkings?

The 25 Queries of Student D Bryce Warnes

The 25 Queries of Student D is an attempt to answer 25 pressing questions posted anonymously by a commenter on The Ubyssey’s website.

For the introduction to this column, and to read the original comment, visit ubyssey.ca/opinion/the-twentyfive-queries-of-st432udent-d/

QUERY THE 8th: Where are the

free parkings on campus?

According to UBC Parking, there are no free parkings on campus.

Prudent car-owners will tell you that you can park near Blanca—well within the range of slices from the University Golf Course’s third tee—or near Wreck Beach. These spots fall outside the purview of UBC Parking and the walk to more central parts of campus may not be worth the trouble. Even residential areas at the edge of the endowment lands are subject to towing under the auspices of the City of Vancouver.

The president of the University and members of the Board of

Governors are guaranteed free parkings. Such blessed individuals receive a FlexPass which allows them unlimited access to all lots, meter spaces and parkades on campus. I’m not sure exactly what one of these special passes looks like, but I imagine it’s made of gold and bears the pyramid-and-eye seal of the global Illuminati.

But you can still find free parkings on campus, even if you’re a normal student denied the blessings of the Masonic Reptilian conspiracy—but you’ll have to be smart about it. Many try, but fail, to evade the parking authorities. For instance, this summer, a woman thought she could find free parkings inside the Blenz in the Village. Her error was catastrophic.

The best way to park for free at UBC is to use the art of concealment. After all, no one can tow a tree. Intrigued? Read on.

But in case you need another hint: Nitobe Gardens.

How to disguise your car as a tree

you’re good at throwing rocks, or you own a gun, kill some birds.

Like three, maybe ten birds should be enough. Don’t mess up their bodies too bad, though. You want them to pass for living creatures.

Get some zip ties, and attach the birds to the branches on your car.

This is the secret to making a really believable tree disguise

STEP ONE. Get some branches.

This is easy. There are branches basically everywhere. Here’s a hint: look for a forest. Don’t worry if you can’t see it for all the trees.

Keep an open mind and a forest will present itself to you. It’s like The Secret. The universe provides.

STEP TWO. You’ve got the

branches. I’m assuming you have a small, old car, preferably with a hatchback. (If you can afford anything bigger than a Corolla, you have no right to be skipping out on the cost of parking. Stab yourself in the face immediately.) Now find some tape. You can probably get free tape from the Resource Groups. I’m pretty sure that’s part of their mandate: sticking it to the man.

STEP THREE. Tape branches all

over your car. Now pay attention, because this is the most important part: Try to make it look like a tree.

If necessary, print out pictures of trees from the internet and use them for reference.

STEP THREE POINT FIVE. If

PHOTO GEOFF LISTER/THE UBYSSEY

STEP FOUR. Park your car early

in the morning or late at night, when there aren’t many people around.

If bystanders see a tree driving, they might see right through your disguise! Try to find a grassy median or green area, somewhere a tree belongs. Ask yourself, “If I were a tree, where would I grow?” BONUS HINT: the Knoll.

With a little elbow grease and what may technically qualify as several instances of poaching, you have managed to create something

even better than a FlexPass. Isn’t that easier than paying UBC Parking a minimum of $640 a year? Make sure you change the branches every week, because they’ll start to go brown. And, assuming the weather isn’t too hot and their tiny corpses haven’t started to reek of decay, you can probably still eat the birds.

That should help cut food costs a little. Well, I hope that answered your question, Student D! Check this space next week for more useful tips. U

16 | Scene | 09.08.2011

Changes at first Pit night Pit Night on Wednesday had a bit of a change as Live Host, a security company hired to work at the Pit and Gallery, among others, unveiled its new scanner system.

The scanners, which started appearing in BC bars in 2009, can link a patron to their card and verify the information at the same time. In some urban areas, the machines are used to create a registry for problem patrons. —Andrew Bates GEOFF LISTER/THE UBYSSEY