March 26, 2012 (12 pages)

March 26, 2012 | VOL. XCIII ISS. L

Puking on couches SINCE 1918

BRAVE NEW PLAY

RITES

U TAs APPROVE STRIKE

UBC’s creative minds come together to write, direct and perform new works

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THE UBYSSEY ROAD TO

PRO Women’s hockey players find the way unpaved

P8

Membership votes 81 per cent in favour, union goes to the table with the threat of work stoppage in their back pocket

P3

UBC

PUNISHES

NUDE PROTEST

8 Abortion rights advocate under fire after GAP display

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ELITE It’s the quarterfinals of UBC’s quinessential experiences, go vote!

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2 | Page 2 | 03.26.2012

What’s on 26 MON

This week, may we suggest...

TERRY PROJECT >>

Nick Harrison: a modern-day swordsman

Nothing Less than a Revolution: How Women’s Movements are Changing our World: 12:30–2pm @ Frederic Wood Theatre

Former president and CEO of the Global Fund for Women, Kavita Ramdas, will share her stories of working with women to create social change. Having tackled issues such as climate change, global equality and gender equality, Ramdas has a unique perspective on the future of women’s role in society.

Tickets available for free online at kavitaramdas.eventbrite.com.

27 TUE

CYCLE >>

29 THU

C+CP >>

Bike Co-op Volunteer Night: 6–9pm @ The Bike Kitchen Ever wanted to fix your own wheels? Stop by the AMS Bike Coop’s Purple and Yellow Volunteer night. You will learn the basics of bike repair and help maintain the co-op’s colourful fleet­­­—no experience needed!

28 WED

FESTIVAL >>

Brave New Play Rites: 7:30– 9:30pm @ Dorothy Somerset Studio UBC’s theatre and creative writing programs are collaborating to present the 26th annual Brave New Play Rites Festival. The festival is comprised of 12 20-minute plays. Tickets available online.

30 FRI

Vancouver Housing Action Plan Public Workshop: 5–7pm @ Ponderosa Centre Do you have an opinion or question about the future of housing at UBC? Make sure to check out Campus and Community Planning’s public workshop. The full housing plan can be read online at planning.ubc.ca/housingplan. RSVP to stefani.lu@ubc.ca by March 27. Dinner will be provided.

FILM >> Shoot it at UBC! A Celebration of Indie Film: 7pm @ the Chan Centre A look at the history of independent filmmaking at UBC, including Bruce Sweeney’s break-out feature Live Bait, a reading by film critic David Spaner and a Q&A with both Sweeney and Spaner moderated by UBC prof and Live Bait star, Tom Scholte.

U

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

THE UBYSSEY March 26, 2012, Volume XCIII, Issue L

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 news@ubyssey.ca

Art Director Geoff Lister

art@ubyssey.ca

Culture Editor Ginny Monaco

culture@ubyssey.ca

Senior Culture Writer Will Johnson wjohnson@ubyssey.ca

Sports Editor Drake Fenton

sports@ubyssey.ca

Features Editor Brian Platt

features@ubyssey.ca

Copy Editor Karina Palmitesta copy@ubyssey.ca

Video Editor David Marino

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Senior Web Writer Andrew Bates abates@ubyssey.ca

Graphics Assistant Indiana Joel

BUSINESS

CONTACT

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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

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One on one with the people who make UBC

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.

Zafira Rajan Contributor

Nick Harrison had a childhood dream much like many other boys. “When I was a kid, I really wanted to be a Jedi, or Indiana Jones,” said Harrison. “It was my kid fantasy.”

Fortunately for him, he gets paid to live out those dreams as a fight choreographer for both film and theatre. He is studying for his PhD through the UBC theatre program. Harrison recently choreographed the fight scenes in their production of Macbeth.

Harrison’s career in fight choreography has violent origins.

“A long time ago, I was brutally attacked as a child by another kid, who ended up stabbing me,” Harrison said. “When I recovered, my parents put me into martial arts from fourth grade onwards,” and it took off from there.

While attending drama school in England, he was also a member of the British Kendo Team—a Japanese martial art—and ended up taking stage combat as a part of his drama school training.

Since graduating, Harrison has Harrison has over 300 different types of weapons in his personal armoury. worked primarily in fight choreography. He’s worked with Sarah “Actors know that they are rehistory of stage fights,” he said.

Michelle Gellar in Scooby Doo sponsible and have to maintain His career is by no means ap2 for a fight scene in which he the integrity of that safety.” proaching a standstill. “Basically, played a possessed suit of armour; Harrison himself has only I have a Peter Pan job; I get paid he’s also worked with the late Bob suffered one major setback as a to play, and I get paid to let other Anderson, who choreographed result of stunt work. He recalls people play. To me, that’s the best fights for blockbuster films indoing a stunt three years ago— job you could ever have.” U cluding Star Wars and Pirates of an 18-foot fall— which pulled the Caribbean. his right foot entirely out of its “Some of my best moments socket.

Nick Harrison have been wearing armour on “You take your mobility for Stargate in three feet of mud and granted,” he said. “I had to say Occupation working nine hours on one fight— no to a call from Pirates of the Fight choreographer slipping, sweating, exhausted…

Caribbean asking me to come And it’s wonderful,” Harrison choreograph a fight for them and Area of study said. “And when I was working on work in Hawaii for four months.

Theatre PhD Scooby Doo 2 as the Black Knight, I’m better now but I’ll never be holding a 14-pound broadsword 100 per cent.”

Work-related injuries in a 9-foot suit of armour in a The accident hasn’t stopped His right foot was pulled from its fight that took 3 months to work him, though. Harrison is still an socket after an 18-foot fall. on. It’s amazing.” actor, teacher, stunt performer With two full suits of armour and fight choreographer. He His personal armoury and 300 different types of weapperforms improv and has re300 weapons ons in his own personal armoury, cently ventured into the field of 2 suits of armour there’s not much for him to comdirecting. plain about. But the most obvious Harrison’s PhD work focuses Why he loves his job question is whether the price of on the origins of fight choreogra“Some of my best moments have using dangerous weapons on a phy in history. “I’ve managed to been wearing armour on Stargate daily basis pays off. turn my practical skill set in doin three feet of mud and working “Safety is always the first ing this into an academic skill set nine hours on one fight.” consideration,” Harrison said. of teaching the methodology and

U

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News

03.26.2012 |

3

Editors: Kalyeena Makortoff & Micki Cowan

UNION UPDATE >>

Teaching assistants vote 81 per cent in favour of union strike Micki Cowan News Editor

Teaching assistants (TAs) have voted in favour of a strike, but the union will be returning to the bargaining table on Tuesday.

Out of approximately 2300 eligible TAs, 810 participated in Thursday’s ballot, with 81 per cent of those voting in favour. The vote grants the union the power to call a strike with 72-hour notice, giving them more leverage for bargaining with the university.

“We will report UBC’s response after the meeting. We are extremely grateful to everyone who took the time to vote today,” wrote CUPE 2278 executive David Waddell in an email. The union is currently refusing interview requests.

Director of UBC Public Affairs, Lucie McNeill, said that the university was disappointed by the vote.

“Our negotiators feel that they were making some real progress with the union at the table, that UBC had agreed to some improvements that the union itself told us were

important to them,” she said.

The union and UBC came to an agreement on three issues, including capping work at 24 hours a week and creating two new categories for unpaid leave. They also approved specific language in the contract that would prevent academic repercussions for actions such as filing greievances or publicly airing complaints.

Despite this progress, little headway has been made on the question of wages, according to McNeill. The union is requesting equal wages to TAs at the University of Toronto.

“The union has to know, UBC is very clear about that, that we’re negotiating within the net-zero mandate of the provincial government,” she said. “A positive strike vote doesn’t change that reality for us at the bargaining table and when we go back [to bargaining] on the 27th, that’s still the playing field we’re in.”

Before the strike vote was held, Jamie Paris, VP academic and external affairs of the Graduate Student Society (GSS), said that he believed the union was justified in holding such a vote in order to encourage

PROTEST >>

UBC to discipline nude protester

Student disrobed to protest pro-life Genocide Awareness Project

movement in the bargaining process, though he didn’t advocate for TAs to vote yes or no.

“It’s been a long time, and it’s become clear that the two sides aren’t getting closer to an agreement.”

McNeill pointed out that just because there was a strike vote doesn’t mean there is going to be a strike.

“Until the union essentially serves the employer of UBC with their 72-hours strike notice, our view is that the work happens at the bargaining table, and that’s where we’re headed back to on the 27th.” U HONORARY DEGREE >>

JapaneseCanadian students given UBC tribute

Jonny Wakefield Manaing Editor, Print

A student who removed her clothes on campus in protest of an antiabortion demonstration is under investigation by UBC. According to the blog Naked at UBC, the university has charged Justine Davidson, who created the blog, with “student misconduct” for allegedly “disrupting” a display by the Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) on March 8. Davidson wrote that Chad Hyson, UBC’s associate director for student development, sent her an email after she sat naked in front of a demonstration by the hardline anti-abortion group. “[Hyson] told me there were three options: a hearing before the president and a council, a reparation plan or a letter of warning,” said Davidson in the blog post.

GAP set up a demonstration outside the SUB that had several graphic signs equating abortion with mass murder, comparing it with, among other things, the “Cambodian Killing Fields.”

Davidson said in her blog that her actions were separate from the main counter-protest, organized

by UBC Students for Reproductive Rights.

“I didn’t feel that waving a sign and shouting was an articulate enough way to respond to this very carefully crafted anti-abortion message,” she wrote. “I reject outright the assertion that by supporting the right to free, safe abortions, I am turning it into a tool of mass murder.”

Shortly after Davidson took off her clothes, UBC Security officers

PHOTO COURTESY UBC LIBRARY

The sixth annual graduation banquet of the UBC Japanese students club. The photo is from 1938.

Grace Shaw Contributor

GEOFF LISTER/THE UBYSSEY

UBC is charging Justine Davidson, pictured above, with student misconduct for “disrupting” a display by the Genocide Awareness Project.

arrived and asked her to cover up.

She put on underwear, but continued to sit topless. Campus RCMP officers were eventually called. In her blog post, Davidson said security officers called the RCMP, but The Ubyssey could not confirm this.

Davidson wrote she received an email several days later from Hyson, accusing her of non-academic misconduct. “People are not permitted to be naked in public

places on campus,” wrote Hyson to The Ubyssey. “If this happens, it’s our security staff’s job to uphold the rules of conduct on campus, ask the person to put their clothes back on, and to report incidents of suspected misconduct to the administration.”

“When there is a report of misconduct, the student conduct manager contacts the student involved to discuss the allegation,” Davidson

said. “It is then up to the student conduct manager to decide what to do: discontinue further action, work with the student on an agreeable resolution, or refer the matter to the President’s UBC Vancouver NonAcademic Misconduct Committee for their consideration.”

Hyson did not deny the exchange took place, but said he could not comment on the allegations without Davidson’s consent. U

Vancouver Prostate Centre recieves $5 million grant

UBC profs develop tools to detect fecal pollution in water

Change room design influences purchases, UBC study says

Emily Carr to move to East Vancouver

The Vancouver Prostate Centre (VPC)—a joint project by UBC and Vancouver General Hospital—received a $5 million grant from the provincial government last week.

The VPC is the largest prostate cancer treatment facility in Canada and includes a clinical trials facility at Vancouver General Hospital.

“This grant will be used to further prostate cancer research towards new treatments that control progression of the disease,” said UBC professor and VPC director, Martin Gleave.

“These funds will allow us to recruit and retain world leading scientists who will discover how cancer cells develop resistance.“

Through Genome BC and Genome Canada, UBC professors are helping co-lead a new research project meant to identify fecal pollution in watersheds.

The $3.2 million project will find new tools to track sources of water contamination. If successful, the project will help reduce contaminant testing wait times from days to hours, and provide profiles of all microbes in water samples—not just E. coli bacteria.

“Clean drinking water is a fundamentally important global issue...we need to better manage our water supply,” said project co-leader and UBC professor Judith Isaac-Renton.

A new UBC study suggests that the design of retail change rooms affects what customers buy.

The study found that communal mirrors discourage some women from buying clothes. When a woman tried on an outfit beside a more attractive person trying on the same thing, she was more likely not to buy the item.

“For a consumer who doesn’t feel like a supermodel…you can facilitate them and make them feel better about themselves, or you can put them in a situation where they feel worse,” said UBC marketing professor Darren Dahl, who co-wrote the study.

BC has budgeted $1.7 million to create a business plan to move Emily Carr University of Art and Design from Granville Island to East Vancouver’s Great Northern Way. The news comes in the wake of BC’s $70 million cut in higher education spending over the next three years. The 1800-student school is continuing to grow despite the reduced enrolment in other Canadian art schools.

“While we’re...asking our public post-secondary institutions to find administrative efficiencies, we’re also providing carefully considered, responsible investments,” said Minister of Advanced Education Naomi Yamamoto. U

News briefs

UBC has started their attempt to right a 70-year-old injustice.

On Wednesday, March 22, UBC held a symposium to begin its tribute to Japanese-Canadian UBC students whose degrees were cut short by internment. Called “Addressing Injustice: UBC’s Response to the Internment of Japanese Canadian Students—Then and Now,” the symposium examined the university’s role in the injustices of WWII. Mary Kitagawa, a member of the Greater Vancouver Japanese Canadian Citizens Association, spoke at the event, along with UBC professor Henry Yu, University of Victoria history professor John Price and historian Stan Fukawa.

Getting to the point of being recognized at a symposium has taken Mary Kitagawa on a three-year journey through UBC’s red tape.

Expediency was an important factor, as most of the formerly interned students are in their 80s and 90s.

“Until 1977, we were an invisible group. There was nothing in the history books of Canada that even mentioned the word ‘internment,’” Kitagawa said. “No one ever talked about this before.”

The symposium and honorary degrees are part of UBC’s “threepronged” educational approach, which also includes digitizing the Japanese-Canadian literary and historical archives, creating new Asian studies courses and proposing an Asian-Canadian studies minor.

“We needed to have a safe space to do what the university does really well, which is to have an uncomfortable conversation about what it is that UBC did to help the students, and to not help the students,” explained Alden Habacon, co-chair of the UBC JapaneseCanadian tribute committee.

“It did take too long. At least we’re being honest about it,” he said. U

4 | News | 03.26.2012 ADMISSIONS >>

International enrolment upped

GOVERNANCE >>

UNA to poll residents, not students, about UBC governance Laura Rodgers Staff Writer

Students from Jumpstart, UBC’s international orientation program.

WeiJia Qin Contributor

UBC is increasing the number of international students on campus, as revealed in their enrolment targets for the 2012-2013 school year.

At the March 14 Senate meeting, Admissions Committee chair Richard Anstee said the goal is to increase the total number of international students to 15 per cent of the student population. Anstee believes that if growth continues, this objective could be reached in the next five years.

Andrew Arida, director of undergraduate admissions at UBC, explained the focus on increasing international student numbers.

“There is a desire to increase international enrolment because international students don’t take away seats from domestic students,”

said Arida.

The number of domestic students admitted each year is fixed because approximately two thirds of domestic student fees are subsidized by the government.

Anstee explained there has been no growth in the number of subsidized domestic students in more than ten years.

Part of this admissions target, Anstee said, is getting more international students into science.

“In some sense, international students are underrepresented in the Faculty of Science,” he said, noting that science requirements are more curriculum-specific and not all school systems around the world offer these required courses.

Admitting more international students may still let more Canadians into UBC. “The admission decision

TIM BLONK/THE UBYSSEY

is citizenship blind. There are many Canadian citizens studying in school systems abroad, so many international admission decisions we make are actually for Canadian citizens,” said Arida.

Despite the increase in the targeted admissions, UBC is not changing their standards for Canadian or international admissions.

But getting into UBC still remains a challenge for many international students.

“It is hard to get in because international students have to take a language test, which is one of the hardest parts for international students to get in,” said Denise Tian, an international student from China. “The percentage of [international applicants accepted to] UBC is not that high, but many people still go for it.” U

The UNA is asking its constituents what they think a new local government at UBC should look like. But unlike the idea for a poll floated earlier this year by a Metro Vancouver committee, students won’t get to weigh in.

The poll was originally meant to be a demographic survey with questions about neighbourhood features like landscaping and streetlights, but will now question owners and tenants of UBC’s neighbourhood developments about whether they think the campus should join Vancouver or become its own city. The poll’s questions have not been fully decided yet, and a UNA committee will either hire a UBC department or an outside consultant to finalize them.

AMS VP Academic and University Affairs Kiran Mahal, who sits on the UNA board, believes that students need to be consulted when it comes to governance.

“Governance will affect every single student who lives here or even goes to school here,” she said.

The AMS’s current policy on the governance issue is that a review should be conducted before any changes are made—and that the review should be independent from UBC. While the student union doesn’t have plans to poll students themselves, they said it is important that student interests are taken into account.

“We’re open to working with other stakeholders on campus in terms of seeing what we can do to get the ball moving on this, and getting some pressure on the provincial government to actually start a governance review,” Mahal said.

The western tip of Point Grey hasn’t had a local government for nearly two years, when it was divorced from Metro Vancouver, and now falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development.

While the provincial government has said there is “no consensus” to change the status quo, students and UNA residents have seen this as a stalemate rather than satisfactory solution.

Metro Vancouver’s intergovernmental and administration committee agreed to research residents’ feelings about local governance back in February.

The possibility of a campuswide poll was discussed, which would have included student residences.

However, Electoral Area A director Maria Harris said she wasn’t interested in pushing for a full Metro poll of the area. If Metro Vancouver does conduct any research, she is content to leave the research methods up to Metro staff.

Harris was enthusiastic about the survey being conducted by the UNA, however.

“I think we should wait to see what kind of questions are on [a UNA survey], and particularly if there are questions regarding governance on it. Because if there are, the staff and directors of Metro Vancouver may determine...that there is no need for a further survey,” Harris said.

“If I could go to Metro Vancouver with that news, it would be very easy to tell them to back off,” she added.

In a letter to The Campus Resident , a UNA-run newspaper, UNA chair Prod Laquian raised concern that a poll conducted by Metro Vancouver may not put the concerns of UNA residents first.

“Commuter students who attend UBC for some part of certain days for a limited period of time” may have different priorities from those of permanent non-student residents, he wrote. Currently, about 7500 campus residents belong to the UNA. But Mahal maintained that both students and UBC residents need to work together to advance the issue.

“What the government’s looking for is consensus, and that’s what we have to show.” U

Culture

03.26.2012 |

5

Editor: Ginny Monaco

FOOD >>

Ocean Wise schools consumers on seafood sustainability Food with Tyler McRobbie

ALEXANDRA DOWNING/THE UBYSSEY

Christine Bortolin and Alexander Keurvorst give “serviceable” performances as Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, says reviewer Rhys Edwards..

THEATRE >>

Theatre at UBC’s Macbeth trades story for scenery

Rhys Edwards Contributor

As the final production in this year’s theatre season at UBC, Macbeth is impressive in scale.

A large cast, combined with exquisite sound and costume design, make for a robust and visually compelling performance. The most macabre and soul-stirring features of Shakespeare’s renowned tragedy are delivered with all due circumstance—though the excitement of these moments comes at the expense of the narrative, which is sometimes lost in the midst of the action.

Director Patrick New has

particularly emphasized these setpieces, while also introducing a number of non script-based excursions that illustrate and expound upon certain plot details. As with the setpieces, these moments prove entertaining to a point.

However, the focus on visual exposition tends to overshadow the more stirring features of Macbeth’s timeless poetry, which is somewhat mired by the rapidity with which it is delivered. This contrast is particularly salient within the second act, which, having more dramatic stage action, feels stronger given the director’s focus on the visuals.

In addition to the visual action,

New has also chosen to increase the involvement of the infamous witches in the play, both through the re-arrangement of dialogue and blocking. This has proven a largely successful decision, and introduces a greater depth to the nuanced depravity of Macbeth and his wife.

Georgia Beaty, Melanie Reich and Tracy Schut complement each other wonderfully as the witches. The rest of the cast delivers a serviceable—though straightforward—performance.

Further supporting the production is the excellent sound and costume design. In particular, Andrew Douglas’s original compositions for the bagpipe are highly stirring,

and are well integrated into the performance as a whole. They could easily stand on their own as a work of musical art.

Perhaps of all the Shakespearean tragedies, Macbeth stands out as the eponymous tale of mystical intrigue, political conflict, and cold, bloody murder. Theatre at UBC’s rendition of the proverbial “Scottish Play” succeeds through its emphasis on the conventionally dramatic features of the tale, though the complexities that make Macbeth an outstanding story on its own terms are less prevalent. U Macbeth runs until March 31 at Frederic Wood Theatre.

WRITERS >>

UBC alum Benjamin Wood releases debut novel Will Johnson Senior Culture Writer

British author Benjamin Wood’s new novel The Bellwether Revivals is already drawing comparisons to Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited, and he has no problem with that.

“Listen, that book came out over 50 years ago and it’s still in print,” said Wood.

“If my book gets mentioned in the same breath, then I’m thrilled.”

But Wood, who graduated from UBC with an MFA in creative writing in 2006, feels there are important distinctions between his debut novel and similar books coming out of the UK. “I didn’t want to write a traditional campus-set book,” said Wood.

“They’re usually about a bunch of students having a wonderful ballyhoo of a time in their colleges, sipping port and riding around town in jalopies.”

“I wanted to write something darker, more gothic.”

The Bellwether Revivals tells the story of Oscar, a young man working at a nursing home in Cambridge, who falls in love with a woman named Iris Bellwether.

He also meets her brother Eden, who is a tortured, strange musical genius. The novel centres around a multiple murder, and opens with Oscar surrounded by dead bodies while sirens wail in the distance.

“It’s a literary novel,” said Wood.

“But I wanted it to have the pageturning qualities of a mystery or a thriller.”

Wood wrote Revivals shortly after returning to England from his time at UBC. He was living in Cambridge and commuting to London while writing the novel, and though he called it an entirely imaginative work, he said he shares some traits with his main character.

“When you live in Cambridge, there’s a strange sensation that you’re living in a world that revolves around the sun, which is the university,” he said. “But like me, Oscar is an outsider.

“I had such an amazing time in Vancouver, and then I got back to England I thought, what am I going to do with myself now? You know, the literary millions weren’t exactly forthcoming,” he said.

So Wood began teaching, and worked on the novel during his down-time.

Revivals focuses strongly on the world of music. After spending several years as a singer-songwriter in the UK, Wood shifted his focus to fiction. But he continues to perform, and he’s currently in a band with his younger brother called Arbiter Deputy.

“I can never abandon music,” he said. “It’s something I have to do.”

Wood has already signed a deal

WILL JOHNSON/THE UBYSSEY

to produce two more books, and work has started on the first. But he declined to give any details.

“I like to hold my cards close to my chest.” U

Two words: seafood and sustainability.

Individually, they have embedded themselves into our consciousness as iconic Vancouver catchphrases.

In the past, they may not have had much to do with each other, but since 2005, Ocean Wise—in partnership with the Vancouver Aquarium—has been working hard to raise awareness on the need for ocean-friendly seafood.

Its remarkable success over the past seven years has brought Ocean Wise to the forefront of Canada’s seafood industry. It’s currently partnered with more than 300 restaurants, retailers and fisheries across the country.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Theodora Geach, program coordinator for Ocean Wise, to explore what it means for seafood to become Ocean Wise approved.

It doesn’t always come easily, and it might not come cheap.

The basic criteria used to determine the ocean friendliness of harvesting a species depends upon the species itself, but perhaps more importantly the method of fishing.

Geach explained the detrimental effects of fishing en masse.

“Things like dolphins getting caught in your tuna nets, for example. You want to ensure you’re not getting a whole bunch of species you’re not intending to catch,” a practice she refers to as bycatch, which the program seeks to minimize.

The alternative? Individual catching by hook-and-line, which Geach admitted takes more effort.

But, she argued, “you’re getting a far superior quality fish in that sense.

“It’s a huge support for chefs and seafood suppliers to have us here to be that kind of third-party verification system for them,” she said.

And it’s these partnerships that have been the key to Ocean Wise’s growth.

The link between quality and sustainability has been beneficial for the program. But it’s not always enough to ensure that consumers are making the best seafood decisions, especially when cost is a concern.

For this, Geach explained how the program has helped bring to light the abundant number of inexpensive alternatives available in our very own backyard.

The BC spot prawn has played a pivotal role in defining West Coast cuisine since it first appeared on menus a few years ago. Alongside farmed mussels and Pacific sardines, BC spot prawns epitomize what affordable and sustainable seafood means.

Look out for the Ocean Wise symbol next time you’re dining out; it’s been adopted by many popular eateries, including Cactus Club, Earls, The Sandbar and even UBC Food Services. You can also find partnering fishmongers and stores to ensure that fresh, responsible and delicious seafood is never far from reach. U

6 | Culture | 03.26.2012 THEATRE >>

The wright stuff A Brave New Play Rites team hashes out the details on their production. The festival, which starts March 28, has produced a number of notable playwrights and directors.

CLARE MIDDLETON/THE UBYSSEY

At Brave New Play Rites, creative writing and theatre students team up to produce a dozen short plays

O

ver the course of the last quarter century, 400 short plays have been produced at UBC’s Brave New Play Rites Festival. Each year, creative writing students have their work selected for production, with the end result being produced by students in the theatre department.

In the past, Brave New has featured the work of such notable writers as Aaron Bushkowsky, Dennis E. Bolen, Zsuszi Gartner, Steven Galloway, Maureen Medved, Andrew Westoll, Madeleine Thien and many others. Some have gone on to illustrious theatre careers, while others have written award-winning novels and poetry.

This year, Brave New will feature 12 plays under 20 minutes in length, all at UBC’s Dorothy Somerset Studio from March 28 to April 1. You don’t want to miss it.

The plays—courtesy Brave New Playrites. The festival runs March 28 to April 1.

A Table for Three

Another Shot

Clark the Lark

Consent

Divided Allegiance

Written by Tristan Koster-Pickering Directed by Matthew Willis

Written by Chloe Packer Directed by Wade Kinley

Written by Andrew Parsons Directed by Kathy Yan Li

Written by K.L. Lee Directed by Jennette White

Written by Elisabeth Astwood Directed by Danielle Bourgon

Sam and Ralph are good at what they do, because it’s all they do. But when their third wheel doesn’t show up, they’re free to do whatever they want. Do they keep calm and carry on? Or do they throw caution to the wind and break as many of the rules as they can?

An angry young man knows that his small community will eventually determine his culpability in a death in their town. In a desperate bid to keep out of prison, he orchestrates an impossible crime with his wideeyed, childlike crony, with startling consequences.

An eight-year-old boy, who is accidentally left behind while his family flies to France for Christmas, prepares for the final battle for Middle Earth, while Luke Skywalker takes advanced Jedi training from Yoda.

Also, a guilt ridden lion cub flees into exile and abandons his identity as the future king. In one act. Or something.

This one-act play set in an abortion clinic tells the story of three women from very different generations and backgrounds wrestling with the dilemma of whether or not to keep an unplanned pregnancy. We meet a teenager who is pregnant, the clinic receptionist who believes she is pregnant, and the counsellor who helps them with their decisions.

Consent is about the complex issue of women’s reproductive health and how their choices can affect them for the rest of their lives.

Rachelle and Jason have grown up together in the underground city that humanity has carved for itself now that global warming has rendered Earth’s surface uninhabitable. Since the population of the human race has radically declined, great pains are taken to create the perfect matching of couples and therefore ensure genetic diversity.

Unfortunately, that means that love has nothing to do with whom you are bound to, and Rachelle and Jason are very much in love.

03.26.2012 | Culture

ALEXANDRA DOWNING/THE UBYSSEY

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CLARE MIDDLETON/THE UBYSSEY

THEATRE >>

From playwright to production: the creative process behind Brave New Play Rites Ginny Monaco Culture Editor

Tristan Koster-Pickering isn’t sure how most playwrights go about their business.

But the creative writing student said his play, A Table for Three, was written “over the course of a night and a bottle of whiskey.”

A Table for Three is one of twelve plays being produced for the 26th annual Brave New Play Rites Festival. Clare Middleton, the producer of the festival, explained that the process of curating Brave New began in November, when students in the creative writing department are invited to sumbit plays under 15 minutes in length.

Once the plays are decided upon, they are taken to the theatre department and put in the hands of directing students. “Different directors are matched up with different plays,” said Middleton. “We had a casting call in January and two days of auditions. Some of the actors are UBC students and a lot of them are from the community.”

Koster-Pickering was surprised to be chosen.

“I wasn’t expecting [my play] to be selected,” he said. “When I finished it, I thought, ‘This is awful.’

But they picked it and I went back to fix everything that was wrong with it.

“If they had produced the first draft of it, I

I’m Not There Written by Nathan Smith Directed by Paul Weston I’m Not There follows the troubled mind of a man still coping with the loss of his lover one year ago. Still tormented by visions of her, he questions his own beliefs and his grasp on reality. After all, if he can see her—if he can touch her and hear her voice— isn’t that real enough?

Little Roundy Things Written by Tara Armstrong Directed by Hayley Petersen Modern urbanites, Tom and Heather, are in an open relationship. For three years they’ve revelled in sex with others, while falling deeper in love with each other. Now, after one too many unintentional stabs in the heart, the couple decides to give monogamy a try. Tom brings home a brand-new Ikea bed, to symbolize their fresh beginning. As the couple struggles to assemble the bed tensions mount with each missing screw and misleading instruction. Turns out relationships, like Ikea furniture, are pretty fucking complicated.

probably would have just thrown myself under a bus.

Thankfully with the help of my director—Matthew Willis, who is fantastic—and with a couple weeks of revisions, it turned out really well.”

Working with a director was a new experience for Koster-Pickering, but he enjoyed the process.

“Some people get very possessive of their work.

Half the fun for me is taking something I wrote, giving it to someone else and seeing what they do with it,” he said.

“Because he’s a director, he’s a lot more experienced in just the staging of things. He know how stuff works. There’s stuff I wrote that sounds really good in my head, but doesn’t really work on stage. He brought a lot of new perspective. He saw things that even I didn’t realize were there.”

Like Koster-Pickering, many of the creative writing students involved haven’t seen their work produced on the stage. “That’s so exciting,” said Middleton.

“Outside of school, if you’re doing something, there’s a level of knowledge that’s always expected.

“But a lot of [the students] are doing this to learn and because they’re excited about it. They pick up on things more than they would if they were doing this as a job. It’s new. After you’ve worked in the world for a while, it’s easy to say, ‘That won’t work, that won’t work.’

“But for them, anything is possible.” U

The Prince of Bales Written by Julie Farr Directed by Trina Moran A prince, a witch, a mighty lady-knight, together turn the search for love on someone’s final night from humble and depressing to a rather easy breeze, but wait and see. The wife-to-be will catch them in a freeze.

Zip Zang Bot Written by Hamilton Hollands Directed by Christina Dao A slice of life that takes place in a psychiatric ward as a patient struggles to overcome what put him there in the first place.

The Pursuit Written by Kelsey Straight Directed by Helen Wrack-Adams A time traveler searching for Jesus arrives in the year 5005. There he finds two hipsters who cannot stop playing Jenga! As their tower grows taller, their reason for playing the game becomes more and more unclear. What

ALEXANDRA DOWNING/THE UBYSSEY

Po

ALEXANDRA DOWNING/THE UBYSSEY

CLARE MIDDLETON/THE UBYSSEY

will happen when the tower falls, and what could Jesus have to do with it?

Window Parade Written by Neal Giannone Directed by Megan Gilron Men on the inside looking out, with the help of a woman. After an accidental event between roommates leads to a sexual revelation, David finds himself baring his soul, amongst other things, to his roommates.

I Search and I Hide Written by Erica Wright Directed by Michelle Harrison Edward tells us his story of love and heartache. He spent many a day and night pining for her. When finally he manages to capture a brief moment together with her, he thinks he has found his fairy tale love. But not all is as Edward perceives. Many years have passed since they have seen each other, but over those years Edward has never given up.

CLARE MIDDLETON/THE UBYSSEY

Sports

03.26.2012 |

8

Editor: Drake Fenton

HOCKEY >>

From UBC to the pros, finding a way in women’s hockey Drake Fenton Sports Editor

“I honestly went online and Googled women’s pro hockey in Europe.”

That is how former UBC Thunderbird Haleigh Callison started her pro career overseas.

Callison currently plays for the Toronto Furies in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL).

The league has six teams, and this past weekend was the Clarkson Cup—the CWHL’s equivalent of the Stanley Cup. But Callison’s road to playing professional hockey in Canada has been filled with twists and turns. After playing from 2002 to 2007 at UBC, Callison was in the dark. Her options were sparse. She spent the 2007/08 season in the Western Women’s Hockey League, playing for the BC Breakers. The league had four other teams. The Breakers lost every game the year Callison played for them.

The next year, they lost every game again.

The writing was on the wall for the league—there wasn’t enough parity, income or sponsorships.

Currently, there are only two teams left in the league.

Callison knew she needed something different. Playing 22 games and never winning once is a tough pill to swallow for a highly paid professional athlete. For an athlete not being paid to play, it’s almost unbearable.

So she Googled her options and headed to Europe. She played professionally in Germany, which she said was an incredible experience.

“The team covered my flights to go over, they paid for me for a place to live, the only thing I had to pay for was fun,” she said. “I got to travel Europe playing the sport I love. I went to the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia and Slovenia, among others.”

Callison said that teams in Europe, compared to North America, have

more funding for players because they simply do not have the same number of women playing the sport.

In Canada and America she said, the money gets spread pretty thin.

While she enjoyed playing in Europe immensely, Callison felt it lacked the skill level found in North America.

“There is a ton of opportunities overseas at a decent level, but it doesn’t compare to what the league is like over here,” she said.

The Canadian Women’s Hockey League started in 2007 and over the past five years it has grown into what is arguably the best women’s hockey league in world. Many teams are loaded with Olympic athletes, and a large portion of Canada’s national team play in the league.

The CWHL is a centrally funded body, meaning that each team receives equal access to funding. This helps provide parity and keeps any one team from excessively spending to attract the best talent, and in turn, dominate the league.

The downside of the CWHL, though, is that they do not have enough income to pay their players.

“We don’t get paid at all,” said Callison. “But we don’t have to pay to play. All of our practice and game ice is covered, our hotels are covered, buses and planes are covered, but it still is an investment as a player financially.

“We are still putting some money into playing the sport. We don’t get sticks and stuff like that. I don’t want to focus on the negatives because it is still a step up, not having to pay to play, but if you compare that to the NHL it’s a little bit disheartening because skill-wise it is the equivalent.”

While some of the members of the national team are funded by Hockey Canada, Callison, like the majority of the other players in the league, has to work another job to pay the bills.

This year was her third season in the CWHL, all of which have been

COURTESY CWHL/BRANDON TAYLOR

Haleigh Callison plays professionally in the CWHL. She started her career as a T-Bird.

spent with the Furies. In her first year, the CWHL implemented a draft in a bid to become a more professional league.

“You put your name into the draft.

You go to the website and you let them know, this is who I am,” said Callison. “They set up a profile and then you get put into the draft and depending on where you get drafted, you’ll have opportunity to go try out for that team.”

While Callison said almost every player will get drafted, each player still has to be good enough to make the team she is drafted to.

Though the draft has helped improve the profile of the league, what is still missing is a coast-to-coast reach. This is becoming more and more problematic for Callison.

She grew up in Smithers, BC.

Her dad and three older brothers all played hockey. “I basically just wanted to be like them. I looked up to them and I still look up them,” she said.

Callison is quite close with her family and while she only spends half of the year out east and the other half in Vancouver, she still finds it hard leaving at the beginning of each season.

“My family is out here, I have a nephew out here. It’s hard leaving every year,” she said.

With the current state of the CWHL, Callison is forced to choose between the city she loves and her family or playing the sport she loves.

At the age of 27, she is thinking it might be time to move on.

“Do I continue to move my life out here every season?” she asked. “I’m

getting to the point where at my age I want to have a family one day and I know I want to be in Vancouver long term.

“And for [women] it’s different. If we want to have kids, it’s not like we can play through that…I would say in the next couple of years I will be hanging them up, unless there are opportunities out west.”

As the league continues to grow and receive more attention—the Clarkson Cup was broadcast nationally on TSN with the Montreal Stars defeating the Brampton Thunder 4-2—the career trajectories of women playing in western Canada will hopefully change.

“There is a lot of great talent out west,” she said. “But a lot of girls don’t get recognized or get noticed because it’s so much out in the east.

It’s exciting for me to play even a few years out here because every year I feel like I am getting contacted by UBC players that I have never met.

“They are asking me, ‘Hey, how did you do this, I am interested in playing, do you think it’s possible I could do the same?’ That is exciting for me because it will just take one more girl to get out here, a second girl to get out here and then hopefully snowball.

“Hopefully one day we will have a team in Vancouver and be across the country. That is my ultimate goal, to be honest.”

While her career may be closer to its end than its beginning, professional women’s hockey is just beginning to find its stride. During the course of Callison’s career, it has gone from an afterthought to a legitimate professional sport—a sport that can be watched and appreciated more than once every four years during the Olympics.

“When people come to the games they are always blown away by the talent, the skill and how physical the game is,” Callison said.”Fans want to come back.” U

RUGBY >>

UBC blown out by Berkeley in World Cup Andrew Bates Senior Web Writer

GEOFF LISTER/THE UBYSSEY

UBC only lost to Cal by one point when they met in California. UBC lost 46-20 on Sunday.

It’s easy to believe you can pull off a result before the game starts.

The sun is shining, the scoreboard says nil-nil, and you’ve got a shot.

But when injuries hit and you’re 20 points down, how do you turn it around?

How do you defeat a more powerful enemy?

The UBC men’s rugby team didn’t answer that question against UC Berkeley, but they certainly did some research. The World Cup 2-game series was up in the air after the T-Birds lost the first match 13-12 in California, but injuries piled up and defensive errors multiplied. Cal scored three tries in the first half and took a 22-8 lead, effectively putting a T-Bird World Cup victory out of reach.

Yet UBC refused to lay down and die. They kept pushing and scored a pair of tries that came straight from hard work. “Things weren’t happening in the backfield so the forwards tried to keep it to themselves and were pretty successful in regards to that,” said UBC head coach Spence McTavish. “I thought the forwards played very well today and I think the backs really let our team down.”

A number of key UBC players were injured heading into the game, and five freshmen played in their first World Cup. “We’ll put the best team that we can on the field on the day, and whatever that team is, that’s the team that represents UBC,” McTavish said ahead of the game.

But it got worse: defensive specialist Shawn Bates had to come off in the first 3 minutes, necessitating the first of more than 11 subs for the Thunderbirds.

Throughout the game Cal took control by exploiting holes in the T-Bird back line and UBC couldn’t hold the defensive shape that kept the same Cal squad to only one try in their previous meeting.

In the second half, with Berkeley holding a commanding 36-8 lead, UBC’s forward pack did their best to end the embarrassment. At the 59 minute mark they manufactured a try and then 7 minutes later, eighth man Alexander Daniels smuggled the ball out of a scrum 10 metres out.

He took the ball right to edge of the try line before getting tackled. After a successful ruck, UBC captain Alex Kam smashed the ball over the line for the try.

Unfortunately, that ended the nascent Thunderbird comeback. At the 68 minute mark, Cal’s scrumhalf

Paul Bosco crossed the try line after Berkeley ripped through UBC’s defence. A penalty put the nail in the coffin with six minutes left, and the Golden Bears could have scored again after forcing a turnover, but the whistle for full-time ended that.

Coming into the second half, the challenge was to overcome a monstrous lead against the best college team in the United States. It was a credit to UBC that they were able to find a pair of tries—only the fourth time in the last ten years of World Cup games that a team scored 20 points in a losing contest.

But the 91st chapter of this classic rivalry ended in a 46-20 loss. Going into the next year, the team will want to improve on that result and their placement in the CDI Premier League, and the keys are clear.

Improve on defence, desperately hope to avoid injuries and make sure that they keep systems and penaltytaking on task.

But working hard helps. “They went out there and they kept their heads up, and they kept persevering and they didn’t give up,” said McTavish. “All in all I guess that’s really all you can ask as a coach.

“Just hey, you guys just go and keep fighting on and see what happens.” U

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Opinion

03.26.2012 |

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Editor: Brian Platt

Polite smiles can’t hide Totem’s problems Perspectives >> Laura Fukumoto

DAVID MARINO/THE UBYSSEY

UBC’s response to nude protest is unjust and unfair Editorial When our editorial staff learned that UBC had begun the process of disciplinary action against Justine Davidson, we were appalled. She has been charged with “disrupting” the Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) display on March 8, and will reportedly have a letter of warning placed on her file.

One of our editors was on site when Davidson disrobed to protest the GAP display, and she literally just sat in a chair and cheerfully waved to the other protesters who had been shouting down GAP’s speakers for hours. There is no meaningful sense in which she was rude or belligerent—particularly in comparison to the other protesters, or indeed, to GAP’s display itself. Her only “disruptive” action was, apparently, her nakedness.

It is absurd and outrageous that Davidson should be subject to discipline for what she did. The UBC administration’s initial response to this situation is embarrassing in many ways, and we will get into all of them shortly. But first, a few words need to be said about GAP’s presence on campus.

In the past, The Ubyssey has devoted significant coverage to the protests that inevitably arise when GAP brings their shameless and disgusting display to our university.

There was one particularly heated exchange in 1999, when three former AMS Council members vandalized and trashed the GAP display; they were subsequently given a four-month suspension by UBC. Our current editorial board is skeptical of giving the display or the protests much coverage, unless something particularly newsworthy happens at them. GAP’s organizers almost certainly use media coverage as a metric for their success at influencing the conversation, and we do not want to reward them for their truly abhorrent tactics, which include using the Holocaust and September 11 to argue against abortion.

Furthermore, these events have

developed a predictable pattern: GAP shows up with their display, the display is protested by angry students, GAP goes home and nobody’s mind is changed about anything. The necessity of giving coverage to GAP or the protests has diminished over time.

Some student papers use these protests as a reason to run passionate columns calling on students to stand up for a woman’s right to control her body. We have run many such columns in the past. But the truth is that our entire editorial board is pro-choice, and based on polling evidence, we are reasonably sure that a majority of our readers are prochoice. Our mission is more than telling people what they already believe.

That does not mean that we are unsupportive of the protests. Student activism on campus is a sign of an engaged and intellectually stimulated student body, and UBC would be a horribly dull place if students didn’t organize and protest on occasion. It is also important for students to make their opposition to GAP loud and clear. We are unreservedly supportive of the anti-GAP protests, and of Davidson’s actions.

Which brings us to the response from the office of UBC’s VicePresident Students.

UBC began a roll-out of a new non-academic misconduct policy in January, though we have been unable to confirm how much of that policy is currently in place. The new policy is more detailed and farreaching than the previous one, and provides more options for addressing violations and resolving conflicts.

This may be the first public test of the new policy.

In her blog post on the subject, which can be seen at http://nakedubc.blogspot.com, Davidson said that GAP did not make a complaint, which means this is an entirely UBC-initiated process. She was given three options by the VP Students office: “a hearing before the president and council, a reparation plan or a letter of warning.” In other words, she had been singled out of that protest as deserving of misconduct charges. She could have chosen to argue her case before the council,

but she shouldn’t have to go through this process in the first place.

Chad Hyson, the associate director of student development and the official tasked with dealing with this case, has stated simply that “students are not allowed to be naked in public places on campus.”

Following this rule so closely—on a campus with a nude beach right next door!—has resulted in a preposterous situation where display boards showing piles of bloody fetuses are permitted and loud protesters are allowed to heckle and interrupt GAP’s speakers, but a silent and peaceful female protester is punished for not wearing clothes.

We understand that Hyson is only following the rules given to him, but by not exercising any common sense in how to apply those rules, a gross injustice has been committed.

Davidson was accommodating when approached by UBC Security guards, and put on underwear when asked. According to her blog post, she also had an amicable conversation with RCMP officers, who told her that naked protesters are usually just asked to put their clothes back on.

Imagine that: solving the problem by having a reasonable conversation that leads to a sensible solution!

There is a good argument to be made that Canadian society is far too conservative about the human body and sexuality, particularly compared to European standards. But UBC has the right to hold students to a certain level of decency in public squares, and it’s not outrageous to ask students to keep their genitals covered.

What is outrageous is to allow a horribly graphic display of violent imagery, but still punish the nudity.

Even if UBC came up with a perfect non-academic misconduct policy, it would still be a disaster if it was applied without sound judgment.

By insisting on a hardline stance on public nudity on campus, the UBC administration looks hypocritical and draconian. We call on UBC President Stephen Toope and Louise Cowin, the VP Students, to intervene in this situation, absolve Davidson of any misconduct and let common sense prevail. U

Many UBC students probably think Totem Park residents are just looking for reasons to complain about living on the coast of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Earlier this year, residents of həm’ləsəm and q’ələχən houses complained of cold showers and ongoing construction, and have all been monetarily compensated for their discomfort. Yet there is still a humming undercurrent of unrest and bitterness among a large population of residents, much of which is about cost of student housing and ongoing construction.

As a former resident of Shuswap house in Totem Park, and former residence advisor (RA) of the same house, I have a pretty clear idea of what everyone is complaining about.

Earlier this year, I wrote a blog post that garnered quite a bit of attention among former and current RAs, many of whom share the same criticisms of Student Housing and Hospitality Services (SHHS) that I hold, but feel they cannot address them with a superior for fear of reprimand. Advisors are hired and re-hired on recommendation; current advisors put forward names of residents they think will excel in the position, and are asked to personally vouch for individuals applying for the job. Rezlife is a network of opportunities for advisors, which is why reputation and professionalism are stressed. Professionalism defines your character as an advisor, in spite of the entanglement of personal relationships and friendships we all know first-year residence to be.

Even now, in writing this article, I am concerned I am burning bridges with my former employers, many of whom I respect and admire.

Keeping this idea of reputation and professionalism in mind, it isn’t difficult to see why current residence advisors have chosen not to address systemic problems with superiors— or if they have, they are placated with understanding smiles and no promises of action. Rezlife is a business of placating smiles, which are usually beautiful and much appreciated in the workplace, but there are some issues that must be addressed without saccharine, understanding smiles.

The spark of this housing debate was the monetary compensation of həm’ləsəm and q’ələχən residents, which managing director of SHHS, Andrew Parr, said was “primarily about the hot water” and was a “significant disruption and inconvenience to students.” If this lack of hot showers and ongoing construction was a significant disruption and inconvenience to students and was worthy of more than $200 of compensation, then I would sincerely like to know what my experience in residence can be described as. In my first year, using the men’s washroom to shower became regular practice, as the women’s showers were consistently cold or lukewarm for nearly the entire year. No one really minded, because living co-ed usually means you forfeit some amount of personal space and privacy anyway.

The following year as an advisor in Shuswap, I filed no less than three work orders to have the hot water fixed on our floor. Travelling to other floors for a shower, bathroom caddy

and towel in tow, became routine, and hot showers were a luxury. I still consider hot showers a luxury, but for the money we pay it should be a guarantee.

We did not have a hot shower on our floor until January that year. I did my best to placate irate residents, place the understanding smile on my face, told them I lived there too and understood their frustration. I also reserved this smile for complaints about the massive construction of həm’ləsəm and q’ələχən, which lasted from April 2010 until August 2011, and into this school year. I watched the ground break for those buildings; I remember trying to study for exams surrounded by shaking bedroom walls. The noise and vibrations of construction just outside my bedroom window rattled my door for the entirety of the 20102011 school year.

Many former and current residence advisors share the same criticisms of Student Housing and Hospitality Services, but feel they cannot address them with a superior for fear of reprimand.

Perhaps the most horrifying aspect of this construction noise was the stories that began to surface from female residents in my building, stories of being cat-called by construction workers who remained indistinguishable behind blue fences; stories of groups of construction workers peering into a resident’s room while she changed, having forgotten to shut her blinds.

To my knowledge, Totem Park residence fees for the 2010-2011 school year were not adjusted because of the construction projects, and we paid the same fees as Place Vanier residents. If this is not evidence of “significant disruption and inconvenience,” I don’t know what is.

The aim of this article is not monetary compensation for residents who endured this, although that would be nice. I want to call attention to and critique the way SHHS hastily handled these construction projects, in hopes they will consider the effect of construction upon students in their future housing projects. As the “Housing Action Plan” is being developed and discussed from March 20 until April 4, I feel that adding my experiences and the experiences of others to the discussion is imperative (I’ll refrain from commenting upon SHHS’s propaganda-like YouTube video, and the fact that this important discussion is taking place during the busiest time of the student year).

I am not interested in igniting some sort of campaign; my goal is to make this better, because after two years in residence I still look back fondly on my experiences with gratitude.

On a final note, the power of the voices of SHHS employees should also be a point of reflection. It should be concerning that your employees were intimidated into silence for fear of reprimand. When any employee feels powerless to voice concerns or change their situation, we have much bigger problems to address than cold showers. U

Scene

03.26.2012 |

11

Pictures and words on your university experience

#1 Imagine Day (56.9%) #4 Mocking SFU (43.1%) An over-the-top day that in no way represents campus culture.

(1) IMAGINE DAY (2) STORM THE WALL

(8) SLEEPING IN CLASS (3) PAY FOR CLASS/UPASS

#2 Storm the Wall (63.2%) #3 Wreck Beach (36.8%) It’s the perfect storm of sprinting, biking, swimming and fun!

#2 Not buying the Custom Course Pack (44.4%) #3 Pay for a class to get the U-Pass (55.6%) Ooh! Cheap transit...and a useless class. Yay.

LAST-N1 7

#1 Rent is Too Damn High (48.5%) #5 Construction (51.5%) Will it ever stop? No. Will it benefit me? Eh, maybe? #2 B-Line pass-ups (52.6%) #6 No cheap bar to go to (47.4%) Maybe if we angrily tweet TransLink enough, they’ll finally replace it with rapid transit.

UPASS

FINAL 4 (5) CONSTRUCTION (2) B-LINE PASS-UPS

(4) ams block party (2) last n17 bus to UBC

BLOCK-PA RTY

SLEEPING

LAST-N17

#1 Pit Night (48.8%) #4 AMS Block Party (51.2%) Good music , cheap booze, a de-facto pre-party for your end-of-year celebrations. #2 Last N17 to UBC (59.4%) #6 Gallery Karaoke (40.5%) Make best friends that you’ll never speak with again.

Drinking division

Complaining Division

IMAGINE-DAY C OURSE-PACK s

CONSTURC TION

#5 Engineers and their seven classes (40.0%) #8 Sleeping in class (60.0%) 8am classes are cruel and unusual punishment.

Learning division

Bragging Division

UBC MARCH MADNESS

It’s down to eight. Go to our website, and vote on what you think is the quintessential UBC experience. For every matchup you post a comment on, you gain another entry into our draw. The prize? Two lower-bowl tickets to the Canucks vs. Flames on Saturday, March 31. The winner will be announced on Friday, March 30.

12 | Games | 03.26.2012

Crossword

62— Church area 66— I did it!

67— Bellini opera 68— Follow 69— Banned apple spray 70— Two 71— Gaelic language of Ireland or Scotland 72— Dagger 73— Beginning 74— Quantity of paper

north-western Africa 58— Hebrew month 59— Imprint 60— Some nest eggs 61—French friend 63—Bern’s river 64—Passport endorsement 65—K-6 66—Bit

Down

Puzzles provided by BestCrosswords.com. Used with permission.

Across 1— Turkish titles 5— Glaze 10— Arguing 14— Deep cut 15— Oscar de la _ 16— “The Joy of Cooking” author Rombauer 17— “ _ sprach Zarathustra” 18— Slippery as _ 19— “Jurassic Park” actress 20— Pealed 21— Mattress of straw 23— Diamond authority 25— Eternity

26— Bobbins 31— Windlass 35— Prince Valiant’s son 36— Organization 38— Chief island of the Philippines 40— LP player 42— Block 44— Actress Garr 45— Coniferous tree 47— Claw 49— Taxi 50— Taj _ 52— Proves beyond doubt 54— VCR button 56— “Fancy that!”

57— Characteristic of mammals

1— Culture medium 2— Big bash 3— Org. 4— Military commander of Japan 5— Wrestled 6— Actress Olin 7— Dedicated to the _ Love 8— Inscribed pillar 9— Yellowish color 10— Helps 11— Very, in Versailles 12— Hungary’s Nagy 13— Convert into leather 22— Deep blue 24— Rx writers 26— Satirist Mort 27— King of Troy 28— Below: prefix 29— Coup d’ _ 30— Shrub of the cashew family 32— Crackpot 33— Prague native 34— Goddesses of the seasons 37— Haul 39— Penpoints 41— German pronoun 43— Affecting the emotions 46— Injure 48— Vane dir.

51— Simple shed 53— Pivot 55— Jester 57— Former French colony of

DINOSAUR MAZE

Plays and music and stuff!

WRITE FOR THE UBYSSEY Ginny Monaco culture@ubyssey.ca