February 24, 2014

feBRUARY 24, 2013 | vOlUMe XCv| ISSUe XlII TIME IS A FLAT CIRCLE SINCE 1918

CHanT CHanGES UBC recommends new equality course, fund in response to September Sauder FROSH chants

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This guy definitely knows where Matthews field is

V-baLL dynaSTy UBC women’s team hopes to capture sixth straight national title

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BLOCK PARTY LINEUP REVEALED Adventure Club, Dan Mangan to play at year-end celebration P3

tRAnSit AnXiety

Don’t know where to sit? Read our slightly irreverent guide to the buses and trains in Vancouver

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Monday, February 24, 2014 |

YOUR gUIde TO UBC eveNTS + PeOPle

WHAt’S On

ThIS weeK, MAY we SUggeST...

OuR CAMPuS

2

ONe ON ONe wITh The PeOPle whO MAKe UBC

MONDAY 24 SUSTaInabILITy FaIR 11 A.M.–2 P.M. @ SUB

want to get involved with green initiatives but not sure where to start? Come by the Sustainability fair and visit booths from different groups for snacks and games.

Free

TUESDAY

25

FREE SKaTInG

12 P.M.–2 P.M. @ DOUG MITCHELL THUNDERBIRD SPORTS CENTRE (NORTH DOORS)

looking for a fun way to pass time during your lunch break? Skate with the Jumpstart program for free. go live out your Olympic dream or watch first-timers struggle and fall in the stands.

Free, $3.50 for skate rentals

PhOTO STeveN RIChARdS/The UBYSSeY

Stephen Chatman has been teaching at UBC for 38 years and has received three Juno nominations during this time: in 2004, 2007 and now 2014.

WEDNESDAY 26 FESTIVaL dIonySIa 7 P.M. @ DOROTHY SOMERSET STUDIOS

UBC Players Club is hosting a theatre festival featuring six oneact shows directed and crafted by UBC students. Runs until March 2. $5 for Players Club members, $10 for non-members at the door or online

“The picture speaks for itself.” Illustration by Indiana Joel.

Want to see your events listed here?

Email your events listings to printeditor@ubyssey.ca

U THE UBYSSEY

eDitORiAL

Coordinating Editor Geoff Lister coordinating@ubyssey.ca Managing Editor, Print Ming Wong printeditor@ubyssey.ca Managing Editor, Web CJ Pentland webeditor@ubyssey.ca News Editors Will McDonald + Sarah Bigam news@ubyssey.ca Senior News Writer Veronika Bondarenko vbondarenko@ubyssey.ca Culture Editor Rhys Edwards culture@ubyssey.ca Senior Culture Writer Aurora Tejeida atejeida@ubyssey.ca Sports + Rec Editor Natalie Scadden sports@ubyssey.ca Senior Lifestyle Writer Reyhana Heatherington rheatherington@ubyssey.ca Features Editor Arno Rosenfeld features@ubyssey.ca

Video Producer Lu Zhang video@ubyssey.ca Copy Editor Matt Meuse copy@ubyssey.ca

Photo Editor Carter Brundage photos@ubyssey.ca Illustrator Indiana Joel ijoel@ubyssey.ca Webmaster Tony Li webmaster@ubyssey.ca Distribution Coordinator Lily Cai lcai@ubyssey.ca

StAff Catherine Guan, Nick Adams, Kanta Dihal, Marlee Laval, Angela Tien, Carly Sotas, Alex Meisner, Luella Sun, Jenny Tang, Adrienne Hembree, Mehryar Maalem, Jack Hauen, Kosta Prodanovic, Olivia Law, Jethro Au, Bailey Ramsay, Jenica Montgomery, Austen Erhardt, Alice Fleerackers, Nikos Wright, Milica Palinic, Jovana Vranic, Mackenzie Walker, Kaveh Sarhangpour, Steven Richards

feBRUARY 24, 2014 | vOlUMe XCv| ISSUe XlII

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Juno noms aplenty for prof Stephen Chatman Mormei Zanke Contributor

Stephen Chatman is a composed man. Managing his role as a professor and chair of composition at UBC School of Music, it does help that he has this trait in his repertoire.

When he’s not teaching, Chatman is reaping awards upon awards. His latest nomination is for Classical Composition of the Year in the upcoming 2014 Juno Awards, happening in March. His nominated work is “Magnificat: Songs of Reflection,” a piece commissioned in 2010 for the Winter Olympics.

He has been nominated two times previously.

“I haven’t won yet,” Chatman said, “but it’s still fun to go.”

Chatman has been teaching at UBC for 38 years. He applied for a position in 1976 right after graduating with a PhD in musical arts from the University of Michigan. He has been at UBC ever since.

“I’ve been very lucky,” he says about teaching at UBC and influencing his composition students and being influenced himself.

Chatman has a clear grasp on what it means to be a musician.

“It’s a combination of imagination technique and a lot of hard work,” he says. Perhaps it is this thoughtful analysis that has enabled him to succeed throughout

his career, composing music for symphonies and more.

He has written over 100 pieces of contemporary classical music, most of which are choral pieces, but he’s also written orchestra, chamber and even children’s music.

Chatman is also the composer behind “Hail UBC,” the littleknown UBC sporting anthem.

But on the whole, his work has not gone unnoticed. He is a three-time winner of the Western Canadian Music Award for outstanding classical composition. He has won three BMI awards, two SOCAN awards and was the first Canadian ever to be shortlisted in the BBC Masterprize competition.

He is also a member of the Order of Canada.

With work spanning almost four decades, the evolution of his music reflects his growth as a composer. When he was younger, he experimented more with different styles and aesthetics.

“As I get older, I’m not exploring so much anymore,” he said. “I’m more settled and I think my expression is more consistent in that way.”

Although he feels more comfortable in his position now, he does not neglect to acknowledge how difficult composing music can be sometimes. “Fear of failure has a big affect on people,” he said.

“To stare at a blank piece of paper and then try to think of the first thing to write down — [that] can be scary.”

Despite these fears harboured by most creative types, Chatman says he is most inspired when he is working and not worrying too much — when he is just “fooling around” with the music.

Chatman is living proof that with talent, hard work, and a little bit of luck, anything can happen. As someone who has been working at his craft for a long time, Chatman is someone who has solved the riddle of creation: “I improvise.” U

Monday, February 24, 2014 |

EDITORS WILL Mcdonald + Sarah Bigam

equity >>

fun >>

Block Party to be held in Matthews Field, lineup features Dan Mangan

A press conference in October addressed the Pocahontas chant and announced the formation of this task force to address systemic issues.

file photo carter brundage/THE UBYSSEY

UBC drafts equity recommendations after chants

Sarah Bigam News Editor

A UBC task force is seeking feedback on draft recommendations to address gender-based violence and the trivialization of Aboriginal peoples in the campus community.

The Intersectional Gender-based Violence and Aboriginal Stereotypes Task Force was formed in November 2013 in response to the “Y-O-UN-G” and “Pocahontas” chants at Sauder FROSH in September. The group included VP Students Louise Cowin, representatives from six faculties, two student representatives and the director of student housing.

The 14 recommendations include a new course requirement for students, new guidelines for events and the establishment of a fund for community-led equality initiatives.

The group recommended adding a “culture of equality” course

NEWS BRIEFS Liking the sound of your own voice A UBC study on vocal attractiveness found that people prefer voices that are similar to their own. The study found that similar-sounding voices conveyed a sense of community to listeners.

The study also found that North Americans preferred the voices of men who spoke with a shorter average word length and who sounded physically larger. North Americans were found to prefer “breathier” females voices, like that of Marilyn Monroe, over “creakier” voices like those of the Kardashians. Researchers who led the study said this reflects our society’s obsession with youthfulness, because breathy voices come from younger vocal cords.

Researchers flex robot muscles UBC researchers are helping create inexpensive artificial muscles using coiled fibres from fishing line and sewing thread.

“In terms of the strength and power of the artificial muscle, we found that it can quickly lift weights 100 times heavier than a same-sized human muscle can, in a single contraction,” said UBC electrical and computer engineering professor John Madden. “It also has a higher power output for its weight than that of an automobile combustion engine.”

The muscles contract and relax in response to temperature changes. They could be used in medical devices, humanoid robots, prosthetic limbs or fabrics. U

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requirement to all undergraduate and professional degrees. Students would have to take one course from an approved list dealing with gender, ethnicity or sexuality to meet the requirement.

The report recommended creating a mandatory online orientation module for UBC students to complete beginning their degree that covers UBC’s inclusive environment policies.

The document also recommended immediate changes to student-led orientations including the immediate development by the AMS, the UBC Students’ Union Okanagan and UBC of guidelines for all UBC events, hosted both on and off campus, “with clear enforcement mechanisms.”

The group recommended increased diversity in hiring and the development of an “equity action

plan.” The group also suggested that goals on representation, hiring, promotions and curriculum renewal be reported to the associate vice-president of equity and inclusion and that this information be available to all members of each faculty.

The report also recommended the establishment of an intersectional transgender and gender diversity task force that will lead a new “intersectional gender and sexual diversity strategic plan.”

“A focused plan is necessary to address both overt discrimination and violence and the day-to-day subtleties of gender discrimination on campus that are not necessarily covered in wider policies, particularly those issues unique to transgender and gender diverse people,” the report said.

The report recommended the university use new and current

sources of money to create a fund to reward UBC community-based initiatives that aim to further student and faculty understanding of equality.

The report also recommended increased communication of UBC’s position on equity.

“Goals of all student-led activities must complement official university welcome events and such events must be scheduled to take place after official welcoming events,” the report said.

“The issues at this university, and others, represent and are tied to systemic issues of intersectional violence where women, Indigenous Peoples, people of colour, and sexual and gender minority populations are often the target,” the report said.

The task force’s goal is to begin a dialogue on these issues. Feedback can be given online until March 4. U

VOting >>

Ski and Board Club pushing for another lodge referendum

Veronika Bondarenko Senior News Writer

After the referendum question giving the AMS permission to sell the expensive Whistler Lodge won by a 4.6 per cent margin in the January elections, some students want another vote.

The Ski and Board Club has launched a petition calling for a revote. However, the lodge lost the AMS $220,000 between 2005 and 2013, and the club has no specific financial plan for how to fix this.

Logan Parker, spokesperson for the Ski and Board Club, believes the lodge’s cultural and recreational benefits make the lodge worth keeping despite the money that is lost on it every year.

“We think [having a lodge] is a really neat opportunity for students to have at UBC and we see it in a different light too because while it is losing money right now, we feel that the Whistler Lodge shouldn’t be sold to solve shortterm problems,” said Parker.

As it currently stands, the lodge is a large drain on AMS resources.

The majority of UBC students do not use it when they go to Whistler and the house itself is in a state of severe disrepair. AMS President Caroline Wong pointed out that even the most basic renovations would cost upwards of $200,000

File photo KAI JACOBSON/THE UBYSSEY

Students may back asked to vote once more on the Whistler Lodge.

— money she feels could be better spent on other student services.

“In terms of capital spaces, we were looking at almost $2–300,000 in renovations right away,” said Wong. “And even if we advertised that and took a look at our operational losses as well, we would still lose about $55,000 a year.”

The money from the sale of the lodge would go into the AMS’s endowment fund. Wong suggested that the yearly proceeds from this money be used to subsidize skiers and snowboarders.

Parker argues that with new management, better advertisement, and some repairs, the lodge could once again be made both into a profitable student business and a longstanding symbol of skiing culture on campus.

“We want to work with [the AMS] as much as possible because

we agree with them that the lodge isn’t making money right now and that it isn’t sustainable and that things do need to change,” said Parker. “We just see the change not as selling the lodge, but rather as taking that as more incentive to make it profitable.”

Wong said that there are other, much more sustainable, symbols of student culture that will continue to be built for UBC students in the years to come.

“We’re going to continue building these kinds of legacies,” said Wong. “Keeping [the lodge] for the sake of a symbol and losing money where we could be using it for other services and events for students doesn’t really make sense to me.”

The petition would need to gather 1,000 student signatures to allow the Ski and Board Club to call a second referendum. U

Photo silvia bobilvia/wikicommons

Dan Mangan and Adventure Club will headline this year’s Block Party.

Will McDonald + Ming Wong News Editor + Managing Editor, Print

The AMS has announced that Block Party will take place at Matthews Field this year. The field is located on south campus next to Thunderbird Stadium.

The concert has traditionally been held on MacInnes Field, but the AMS had to find a new location this year due to plans for construction of a new aquatic centre.

AMS events manager Anna Hillar said the new venue will still have a 6,500-person capacity.

Block Party will remain a 19+ event.

“It’s one of the best fields for us to have the event on. There’s not a lot of fences that are restricting us,” said Hillar.”I’m excited about the move. There’s obviously lots of logistics that are going to have to change ... [but] because it’s a bigger field, everything’s going to be a bit bigger.”

“I think it’s going to be a fantastic concert and the lineup is going to be awesome,” said Hillar.

This year’s Block Party will feature headliners Dan Mangan + Blacksmith and Adventure Club.

Also performing in the annual last day of classes celebration are folk rockers the Crackling, Vancouver-based rapper Shad, Block Party staple MGH! (formerly My! Gay! Husband!) and the winner of the AMS competition, Last Band Standing.

According to Dan Mangan’s website he’s performing under the moniker Dan Mangan + Blacksmith because he wants to move away from the acoustic singer-songwriter label. His next album will focus more on making music as a collective with his band.

Adventure Club has remixed several bands including Metric and Alexisonfire, but they are most known for their spin of Foxes’ Youth.

The Crackling is a five-piece band who released their latest album “Mary Magdalene” in April 2013. They cite Neil Young and free jazz as influences.

Shad is performing at Block Party for the first time, and DJ MGH! will be returning after performing sets in last year’s Block Party and Welcome Back BBQ. Tickets will be on sale Wednesday Feb. 26, and will cost between $15 and $25. The event takes place Tuesday April 8 from 2:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. U

4 | nEWS |

Monday, FEbRUaRy 24, 2014

inteRnAtiOnAL >>

HeALtH >>

B.C. hits record number of organ transplants Activist talks human trafficking in Cambodia

PhOTO gReNT gRANdBY/flICKR

St. Paul’s Transplant Centre performed 140 organ transplants in 2013.

Graydon Leigh The Martlet

PhOTO glOBAl PARTNeRShIP fOR edUCATION/flICKR

Children and parents wait in line for a medical screening in Cambodia.

Mariam Baldeh Contributor

On Feb. 13, a former RCMP forensic scientist came to UBC to speak about human trafficking in Cambodia.

Brian McConaghy began with a brief overview of Cambodian history. According to McConaghy, Cambodia has a graphic history of child abuse and domestic violence.

“No country exists in a vacuum — there’s always a reason for why it is the way it is,” said McConaghy. “The psychology of this country is unique in terms of what it’s been exposed to.”

In the early 1990s, McConaghy said, Cambodia was AIDS-free as a result of the country being sealed from inor-out migration for three years.

According to McConaghy, the arrival of UN troops to reconstruct the nation resulted in the proliferation of the AIDS epidemic in the country as the troops sought after the young girls, offering them higher pay than their poverty-stricken families were making at the time.

McConaghy, who said he broke the UN embargo to smuggle in two suitcases of medical supplies to Cambodia, said kids as young as five can be forced to work in brothels.

“If you’re going to execute warrants to rescue such children, you need the participation of [the police] ... but [the police] are part owners of and frequent the brothels,” said McConaghy. “So when you’re sitting across the table engaging in negotiations with these people, you’re really sitting across the enemy.”

McConaghy founded the NeeSong Rehabilitation Centre, which he said offers medical intervention and intensive therapy.

“When you rescue a girl from the brothels, you have stolen product, and the traffickers will be coming after you to retrieve it.

It’s not pretty,” said McConaghy.

The centre partners with numerous organizations to provide job skills programs. McConaghy said job skills give them a sense of value so that they don’t relapse when they leave.

“It’s also therapeutic — the girls see that they can make something beautiful and desirable, so there’s beauty and value within them,” said McConaghy.

He also said he took over a brothel from the Vietnamese mafia and redeveloped it into a community centre called “the Sanctuary” right under their noses. According to McConaghy, by also serving traffickers, the clinic serves as a way of leveraging relationships with the mafia to excuse children from being sold or abused.

McConaghy said over 500 kids engage in the educational programs, church services, counselling and youth programs the centre offers daily. He said several changes have resulted from the work being done — a decline from 98 per cent to 60 per cent of the centre attendees being abused, mothers coming up to the centre staff asking for help to stop selling their children. He also said four of the girls went on to university.

According to McConaghy, spirituality makes a huge impact in trafficking. He said when the girls internalize the idea that they are so valuable and loved that someone died for them, it makes for successful rehabilitation. McConaghy said the new trend in Cambodia is recruiting girls aged 17 to 22 into the KTV bars — brothels masquerading as karaoke bars.

“I was in Phnom Penh recently and it’s crazy — it’s really well hidden, so unless you’re looking for it, you’ll miss it,” said Allison Yang, a first-year UBC student.

Diane Buermans is part of the University Christian Ministry, which helped organize the talk.

“I think what’s most inspiring about Brian’s work is that he’s bringing dignity back to the girls.

It might be a drop in the bucket rescuing one girl, but that one life counts. So it’s important to not despair, and to know that there’s hope.”

“It’s not about breaking down a door and rescuing a kid, although that’s important too, it’s about changing the community so that they aren’t selling children anymore,” McConaghy said. “That’s how you stop human trafficking.” U

VICTORIA (NUW) — 2013 was a banner year for organ donations in B.C., surpassing the previous year’s total by more than 40 transplants.

The 346 transplants within the calendar year saw organ waiting lists shrink and patient satisfaction grow. Most notably, transplant centres have recently been granted the capacity to fast-track living donor assessments. Also, programs with Federal Canadian Blood Services enabled medical professionals to connect matching donors with recipients on a national level.

Out of every one million Canadian residents, 28 donated an organ last year. But that only accounts for donors that are still alive, as 14.5 out of every one million deceased citizens also donated a functioning organ. While the latter statistic is on par with the national average, the former exceeds the

median among all provinces by a substantial margin.

“The record numbers are great — and we have more work to do,” said Peggy John, communications manager for B.C. Transplant, in an email. “More than 85 per cent of British Columbians support organ donation, but only 19 per cent have registered their decision.”

Those involved in organ donation question why such a small fraction of the population each year (less than .00003 per cent) is able to donate. One answer speaks to the necessary sophistication of these operations, as doctors have less than 10 hours to preserve a lung, for example, before the organ begins to deteriorate due to a lack of blood containing nutrients and oxygen.

The number of kidney transplants, which was the most common procedure last year, saw a considerable increase from 2012, as more than 40 procedures were successfully executed. Following

that was the frequency of heart transplants. At 23 operations, the risky procedure boasted a 31 per cent provincial increase in volume from 2012.

The institution responsible for administering the heaviest bulk of these transplants was Victoria General Hospital’s Transplant Centre.

Performing over 199 transplants last year, Victoria General Hospital is one of only three locations registered in the B.C. Transplant Agency.

The others — St. Paul’s Transplant Centre and the B.C. Children’s Hospital — performed 140 and seven operations, respectively.

“Organ donation isn’t something people think about until it touches them in some way,” said John.

“Stats show you are more likely to need a transplant in your lifetime than you are to become an organ donor.”

There are currently 495 individuals on the transplant waiting list in B.C.

Monday, February 24, 2014 |

edITOR RHYS EDWARDS

PROCRASTINATION STATION

BLOGS INTO BOOKS The peculiar trend of blogging book deals Some people may have forgotten this, but the term “blog” comes from the union of the terms “web” and “log.” Though there are some predecessors, the blog as we know it started to rise in popularity in the late ‘90s. As of 2011, there were over 150 million blogs in existence.

It comes as no surprise, then, that managers, editors and producers would soon realize that some of these blogs were actually quite good, ultimately going on to bring some of these online creations to bookstores near you. granted, many blogs are either about cats or food. Unfortunately, many of these have also been turned into books — I’m talking about masterpieces like I Can Has Cheezburger?: A LOLcat Colleckshun — but some of these blogs turned books are actually quite good, and definitely worth a read.

A recent example is Allie Brosh’s Hyperbole and a Half. Published in late October 2013, the book is doing so well that the Chapters on Broadway and granville was out of stock several weeks ago.

Hyperbole and a Half is a combination of comics and written entries. The images are drawn in MS Paint, making them look intentionally crude and infantile. Brosh’s entries are usually about her life growing up in rural Montana or about her current life and issues with depression; it’s pretty funny stuff. The book offers some content that is not available online, but if you visit her website, you should definitely read “depression Part 2,” one of her most famous entries.

Kate Beaton’s Hark, a Vagrant! is similar, yet different. Also a collection of comics, Beaton’s work often focuses on historical or fictional characters from western literature. her work is less personal than Brosh’s, but equally funny and probably a bit smarter. Beaton, who was born in Nova Scotia, started posting her comics on the web in 2007. Hark, a Vagrant! was released in September 2011, and TIMe magazine named it one of the top 10 fiction books of the year.

Another example that might be better known is Julie Powell’s Julie and Julia.

Originally known as “Julie & Julia: 365 days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen” when it first started in 2002, the (now defunct) blog was mainly about Powell’s attempt to spend a year cooking her way though Julia Child’s cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. when the book came out in 2005, it was more self-reflection than cooking tips, but it was good enough to be turned into a film starring Amy Adams and Meryl Streep.

This isn’t the first time blogs have been an entryway for authors into the film world. Back in 2005, diablo Cody was only known for her memoir Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper.

Originally a blog about her experiences working at a strip club called the Pussy Ranch, Candy girl is laugh-out-loud funny — funny enough to get her a contract to write a movie. This movie turned out to be Juno — for which Cody eventually won an Oscar. U —Aurora Tejeida, Senior Culture Writer

MORE ONLINE

For web exclusives and more Procrastination Station, visit ubyssey.ca/culture.

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ARt >>

Four curators unite famous artists World-class O’Brian collection unveiled downtown Soumya Gupta Contributor

Postmodern photography is coming face to face with First Nations mythology in downtown Vancouver.

Satellite Gallery recently opened its latest exhibit, “Cindy Sherman Meets Dzunuk’wa,” which features 36 artists and 41 works from the nationally famous art collection of Michael O’Brian.

In addition to being an adept collector, O’Brian, with his wife Inna Vlassev O’Brian, founded the Michael O’Brian Family Foundation. He is a major benefactor of UBC’s Museum of Anthropology.

“Satellite Gallery is a space created by O’Brian as a means to allow multiple institutions of arts to work collaboratively together,” said Karen Duffek, a curator of the North West Coast collection at the Museum of Anthropology. Duffek is one four curators in the show; collaborators from other institutions include Helga Pakasaar (Presentation House Gallery), Cate Rimmer (Emily Carr University) and Keith Wallace (the Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery at UBC).

“To honour the opportunity of this space, for the first time ever, all four of us are working together for the exhibit,” said Duffek.

O’Brian’s collection has articles of art from both international and local artists. It includes works by famed artists such as Ann Kipling, Victor Vasarely, Mary Pratt, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Brian Jungen and Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, along with the highlighted artists from the title of the exhibition: Cindy Sherman and Beau Dick, the carver of Dzunuk’wa.

“Cindy Sherman comes fact to face with the Kwakwakw’wakw artist and mask carver Beau Dick’s Dzunuk’wa,” said Duffek.

Cindy Sherman’s work, a photographic portrait of vanity and the grotesque, contrasts with Dick’s mask, which represents Dzunuk’wa, the wild woman of the woods. The mask refers to a myth from the Kwakwaka’wakw First Nation of a woman who went to get her eyebrows shaped, but ended up with them being sliced off by the hairdresser. Both featured artworks illustrate the often crude nature of existence, a theme repeated among many of the other works in the exhibition. teCH >>

New app wants you to party right Olivia Law Staff Writer

How many times have you been excited for a night out downtown, only to be disappointed by expensive cover charges, long lines and a sketchy atmosphere?

Two UBC computer science graduates, along with a friend, have come up with a solution they hope will change Vancouver’s nightlife for the better.

Nightbound was released in the iOS App Store at the beginning of February, and an Android version will be available soon. It provides users with real-time statistics, such as capacity, queueing times and gender ratios, for nightclubs and bars on Granville Street in downtown Vancouver.

On any given night in Vancouver, there is no guarantee that revelers will have a consistently good club experience. According to third-year computer science student and app designer Matt Gu, “lots of venues like to pretend that it’s a good night. It’s definitely not always the case.”

The data for Nightbound is supplied by users of the app each night. Using this information to gain wider recognition for Nightbound, the creators are hoping to eventually collaborate with the nightclubs directly.

“So far, we’re limiting the venues to just Granville Street,” said Gu, who developed the app with master’s student Rahul Jiresal and PhD candidate Deepak Azad.

“There’s a really big interest and a wide market for the idea, but it’s all about the execution. Once we have enough users, we will be able to use it for leverage with nightclubs directly, having them take over the real time information, and using us to advertise for their events.

Essentially, we can become a digital promotions team for the venues.”

The development process for Nightbound was relatively short. It began in late October 2013 after the designers conducted customer interviews with over 100 people who complained about the unreliability of a good night out in Vancouver. The idea was born to create a crowdsourced app where users can provide real-time updates for the benefit of others, creating a continual cycle of information.

“Quality is the key to making our idea successful,” Gu said. “Our ultimate goal is to get venues on board, relating directly to the people of Vancouver.” All the people behind Nightbound are volunteers.

Future plans for the app include expanding to more venues, and creating partnerships to offer customer loyalty and reward programs.

“We are building a product that we can see has a future,” said Gu. “We’re just hoping to make people’s experiences of Vancouver nightlife more enjoyable.

Happier party-goers mean a more active nightlife scene in Vancouver. It’s winners all round.” U

IMAge COURTeSY SATellITe gAlleRY

The original paintings for Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas’ beloved book Red are just some of the many works on display at Satellite.

“Mr. O’Brian doesn’t discriminate against any category of art,” said Duffek. “His collection includes pieces from different art traditions, with quite a range of artists and all sorts of different kinds of media.”

What distinguishes Cindy Sherman meets Dzunuk’wa is the wide range of different practices and traditions on display. The curators did not worry about maintaining boundaries between each of them, instead allowing them to come into contact with, and reflect upon, each other.

“This exhibition has combined the creative power of four curators to collaborate and formulate a rare assembly of works,” said Duffek, “to provoke each artist’s approach and take on things.” U Cindy Sherman Meets Dzunuk’wa runs until March 29 at Satellite Gallery, 560 Seymour St.

6 | CULTURE |

Monday, February 24, 2014

The Ubyssey presents:

The unspoken rules of

Riding the Bus

Words: Karen Wang Illustrations: Indiana Joel

T

here’s a familiar sight that greets every commuter stepping on board their daily bus ride home.

Flashing their blue U-Passes at the driver, the incoming passengers select their seats — the corner and window spots are typically claimed first — and proceed to gaze intently down at their phones. Those uninterested in staring at mobile devices instead turn to look nonchalantly out the window or up to inspect the ceiling. If they can help it, the strangers in the vehicle don’t sit next to each other, talk, or make eye contact.

This unspoken code of public transport conduct may appear absurd to the outsider, but from their experiences, most students can come to a consensus on a few common “rules” of riding the bus.

“If there’s empty seats on the bus, then normally [people] will go for the empty seats instead of sitting right beside someone else,” said Tom Wang, a fourth-year microbiology major This observation is echoed by Neil Lloyd, a master’s economics student. “You always try and make sure there’s one space between you and the person next to you,” Lloyd said. “And you never want that awkward eye contact when you realize that there’s someone looking at you while you’re looking at them.”

“If there’s room, [passengers will] try to sit away from each other,” Randy Goreman, a bus driver on the 99 B-Line, conceded. “I don’t know why, but it’s not uncommon for them to try and keep their space. I don’t know if it’s they’re worried about getting sick, or [if] they just don’t like taking the bus but they have to.”

While nearly everyone agrees on the type of behaviours found aboard public transit, articulating a reason for these events was more of a struggle.

In order to preserve the common good, avoid acknowledging the presence of others wherever possible. If eye contact is indeed made with another passenger, look away immediately or close your eyes and pretend you are in a deep sleep.

When selecting a seat, sit as close to the window as possible. Always leave one empty seat between you and other passengers.

present on an elevator, similar behaviours can be observed, where people tend to look up at the floor number rather than at each other.

This act of respectfully refusing to acknowledge strangers in close proximity is known as civil inattention, a term coined by sociologist Erving Goffman.

The code dictating the ordered madness on buses and similarly uncomfortable public situations is built upon a mutual understanding: people keep distant on the bus both for their own comfort as well as to avoid impeding upon fellow passengers’ boundaries.

As with everything, however, there are a number of factors that can influence our preference for space and conduct on the bus. Of course, culture is a major factor.

“In general, some cultures, European cultures especially,” said Suedfeld, “tend to prefer larger interpersonal distances than, for example, Middle Eastern cultures and some others around the world ... Africans, [for instance.]” “[In Singapore,] the norms are definitely different,” said Ili Rahan, a second-year Arts student. “If you start talking to someone, they’re just going to be like, ‘Who is this person? I don’t know them.’

“When people take the bus, they’re always in a rush, so they’re not in the mood to start talking.”

In contrast, Lloyd, who came to Canada from South Africa, found the people there more open to sitting next to and striking conversation with strangers. “If you go on public transport in South Africa, people are far more chatty,” said Lloyd.

“Coming here ... you wonder sometimes if it’s a cultural thing.” U

“[People] don’t really want to sit together with strangers, I guess,” said Eunice Park, a second-year commerce student.

“I think that as a society we live very individualistic lives, so we don’t really [sit] with strangers, [and we] have a fear toward strangers,” Lloyd suggested. “And some people just like to listen to music and they kind of mind their own business, and that doesn’t help.”

Peter Suedfeld, a social and environmental psychologist at UBC, attributes part of this phenomenon to our preferences for personal space — interpersonal distances, to use the technical term. Interpersonal distances between people vary with different relationships; strangers aren’t comfortable with small distances between each other, while romantic partners are emotionally and physically closer. “[On transit in Vancouver,] we are generally with strangers, and the interpersonal distance preference between strangers is relatively high,” said Suedfeld. “At least a foot.

“Of course, when the bus is really crowded, as it often is, coming to UBC or leaving from UBC, that makes people uncomfortable, because they have to stand closer than they would really prefer to, and that makes them irritable. It can make them also very eager to not touch people,” he said.

Eye contact is typically also avoided, because “although it isn’t physical contact, it’s an intrusion on your privacy.

“And it’s kind of rude to be caught staring at somebody you don’t know,” Suedfeld said.

Suedfeld drew an analogy to a crowded elevator, another confined and potentially claustrophobic public location. When multiple people are

Do not speak to other passengers. Ignore anyone who tries to make conversation.

At most, use courtesy phrases such as “Excuse me” and “Is this seat taken?” instead.

Monday, FEbRUaRy 24, 2014

| CULTURE | 7

Does the price of school sings on stage wine actually matter? Sauder Student cohort to perform in murder mystery musical tHeAtRe >>

Alex Meisner Staff Writer

JoSHUA dEColoNGoN wine

Spoiler alert: maybe.

There’s something about wine that leads people to be a bit more dubious about its price. Perhaps it lies in the higher costs compared to beer, subsequently leading to the sometimes unintended visage of pretension. And because wine can be a difficult thing to communicate about, it’s understandably convenient that consumers might treat wine quality and its cost as a neat linear scale. But if we skip the whole Economics 101 supply and demand thing, we can look at the price of wine from two ends of the spectrum. So let’s enter the world of alcoholic analogies.

Think back to Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones or your favourite massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

There are always those elusive weapons that happen to be carved from the rarest metals for which someone needs to climb dangerous monster-infested cliffs, or potions made from forest faerie tears that are so scarce that you need to save up your precious gold pieces and trade on the black market.

What I love about wine is that it’s sometimes equivalently mystical: the world’s most prized dessert wine, Sauternes, is a coveted golden liquid whose best wines must be created from grapes affected by “noble rot,” also known as Botrytis cinerea.

Perfect weather conditions control the stage and therefore the rot’s chancy quality. And although technically a fungus, if controlled carefully the rot can concentrate the wine’s sugar and acid, making it both luscious and long-lived.

It also contributes an inimitable and mostly indescribable flavour which might sound disgusting in theory, yet it commands legit dolla billz: there’s your rare faerie potion, with +100 points to your happiness stat.

PhOTO JOSh CURRAN/The UBYSSeY

When the suits at the Sauder School of Business take off their ties and kick off their heels, it’s a mysterious sight.

On Thursday, Feb. 27, students from Sauder and fellow faculties will be hosting a murder mystery musical charity fundraiser under the direction of Katie Coopersmith and Raeanne Lee. The musical, this year titled The Clash of the Chorus , has the Sauder “Banknotes” butting heads with the dedicated Arts’ “Sunshine” choir.

“It pits two opposing choirs against each other. One of them is a Sauder business choir who is just doing it for their Arts credit, and the other one is the super artsy, hippy choir,” said Coopersmith, one the musical’s co-directors.

Besides a comical direction, intense rivalry and thrilling plot twist, the audience can anticipate a busy intermission catered

by Calhoun’s, raffle draws and contribution to the musical’s fundraising efforts.

“At intermission we’ll have a good sense of the plot so far, and we’ll ask [the audience] to put a ballot forward with who they think the murderer is, and for the correct guesses we will pick out a name. We have a couple of exciting prizes,” said fellow writer and co-director Lee. Coopersmith said funds raised will go to the Vancouver Foundation. “They have a bunch of sub-charities within it and one of them is the Homelessness Initiative, and that is what our proceeds are going to.

“They basically triple whatever you give them, so we couldn’t pass that up.”

The Sauder Murder Mystery Musical, which has been under the umbrella of the Commerce Community Program (CCP) for several years now, will be hosted at the Hillel House on campus.

The cast, which consists of nine <em>

</em>

Repeat similar stories about the difficult growing regions of Champagne and cooler areas of Germany, and suddenly, the wine snob who gets excited about a Champagne vintaged 2002 doesn’t seem so far from the gamer whose flame ruby-bejewelled adamantium sword is about to slay the final boss.

But also think about mass-produced coffee and some famous branded clothing. Wine can have parallels here, where prices are held mostly by reputation or marketing. Quality can be pushed into the backseat simply because, on the extreme end, money becomes the driver. Though I’d be hard-pressed to come up with specific cash-commanding wines that aren’t necessarily matched in quality (mostly because I’m a poor student), Yellow Tail is a prime example of a well-selling wine on the lower end of the price spectrum, even though it doesn’t exactly command much complexity or excitement.

Sometimes, the whole thing doesn’t matter. If it makes you happy, you’ll buy it; as long as it has caffeine, you’ll drink it. It’s almost like the shirt I bought from H&M, which I recently discovered had a hole in it. But then I remembered that it was from H&M. You can’t always expect fantastic things out of the cheaper bottles, but there are the disjointed bunch that provide great value or more adventure. You’ll just need to know where to look to find out which ones they are. Or drink more.

Bottoms up! U

PhOTO CARTeR BRUNdAge/The UBYSSeY

The musical will feature two opposing choirs: one a Sauder business choir and the other an artsy hippy choir.

students and a Sauder faculty member, first got involved with the musical during their auditions back in November, and since the beginning of January have been avidly rehearsing together.

Sauder cast members Wendy Vaz and Bernice Chung, along with LFS colleague Isabel Antonio, are eager to see a big turnout for the event.

“The plot of the musical is really cute, it’s really cheesy, it is very cliché, but that’s what makes it entertaining,” Sunshine choir member Antonio said.

As one of the three Sauder students present in the musical, Vaz said the only challenge of having a diverse range of faculty participants was that scheduling rehearsals and important dates became difficult.

“I have never [been a director or writer] before and neither had Raeanne. We’ve both acted but have never been on this side of it,” Coopersmith said. “It was a challenge, but lots of fun, and it was cool to have people actually listen to you and follow your directions.”

Everyone managed to get along just fine — including the participating Sauder professor.

As tradition holds, a Sauder faculty member takes part in assuming a role for the murder mystery musical. In previous years this position was filled by Jeff Kroeker, a full-time professor in the accounting division. This year however, the musical has a new shining star: Professor David “DJ” Miller.

“He is actually really awesome; he can do different accents. It was really fun working with him,” Chung said.

Miller’s inclusion in the play is just one of the ways in which students from Sauder want to promote increased campus interconnectivity.

“This year we wanted to make it more inclusive to all faculties,” Lee explained. “We’re trying to make it more of a UBC staple, rather than just a Sauder thing.” U Tickets will be available for sale on the musical’s Facebook page, or at the event’s booth in the SUB on Feb. 25 and 26. <em>

</em>

Culture Meetings Fridays at 2:30 p.m. / SUB24

U Follow all the latest

CULTURE HAPPENINGS: gallery previews campus life art music sophistry on

twitter @UbysseyCulture

Monday, February 24, 2014 |

edITOR NATALIE SCADDEN

8

DynASty >>

Women’s volleyball sets sights on seventh straight championship

Geoff Lister Coordinating editor

For many teams, winning the Canada West conference is a significant achievement. But for six-time national champions, it’s another notch on their way to the big show in Regina next weekend.

UBC’s three-set win over Manitoba for Canada West gold was a refreshing game for Thunderbird fans after suffering through backto-back losses to Alberta before the reading break.

“We had some late season struggles, so for us to turn it around, win the match we had to last night and come back and play really well as a group today is encouraging moving forward.” said head coach Doug Reimer.

“I think it’s a real positive from where we were two weeks ago in Alberta where we were struggling, and doing when we have to.”

UBC’s offence came from all angles, with hitters Lisa Barclay, Rosie Schlagintweit and Juliana Kaufmanis coming from all sides.

Middle Abbey Keeping put up an excellent nine kills and a .333 hitting average. While Manitoba managed to hold Barclay to a .161 hitting average, she still managed to keep up with her average kills per game for the season “[Barclay] struggled a little bit more, but we had way better offensive balance. She opens things just with her presence on the court because they know what she can do,” said Reimer.

“I thought we played a really good game,” said Barclay. “We’ve

UBC’s women’s volleyball team beat the University of Manitoba Bison to claim the Canada west title and banner.

struggled putting away teams in three so I think that really showed the work we’ve put in.”

Briana Liau Kent had two big games this weekend, with 23 digs on Friday night against UBCO and another 12 against Manitoba.

Her play will be a key part of the Thunderbirds defence next weekend in Regina.

“She was on fire. She dug balls that were incredible and she was steady throughout,” said Reimer after the game.

UBC’s season has been stellar by any measure, save against themselves. This year’s 18-4 record wasn’t quite up to UBC’s past two years (21-1, 18-2). And while UBC didn’t go more than

four sets in any wins last year and never failed to take a set in a night, they let five games slip to five sets this season. But after a two week break, the team seems to have it together. Reimer credits some of that to the team’s work in the last week.

“More of it was being [a] group, being together,” he said. “The

PhOTO geOff lISTeR/The UBYSSeY

break was good. We had a chance to get some quality training and we had Rick Hanson come in and speak to the group and that’s positive.”

UBC will play in Regina next weekend at the CIS national championships. UBC has won the past six CIS titles and was ranked first going into the playoffs. U

Monday, FEbRUaRy 24, 2014

| SPoRTS + REC | 9

SWiMMing >>

Women’s swimming 3-peats as CIS national champs Team sets record for widest margin of victory in the championship’s history Natalie Scadden Sports editor

At the 2014 CIS Swimming Championships in Toronto, there was little doubt the UBC Thunderbirds women’s swim team was going to win their third straight national title. The only question was how much distance they’d put between themselves and the runners up.

By the end of the third and final night, the UBC women had 802.5 points, nearly double that of the second-place Montreal Carabins.

The 397.5 point margin of victory was a new CIS record.

“We challenged them from the start of the year to be the best performers they can be on the day,” said UBC head coach Steve Price. “Throughout this competition they really pushed themselves and conducted themselves like the championship team we know they are. I think for the most part this season they did that from start to finish.”

Leading the way this weekend was rookie Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson, who came away with three individual gold medals as well as an individual silver (behind a new CIS record-setter in Laval’s Genevieve Cantin) and one relay gold.

PhOTO COURTeSY MARTIN BAZYl/UNIveRSITY Of TORONTO

They really pushed themselves and conducted themselves like the championship team we know they are.

Steve Price Head coach

“She’s obviously a great recruit — I’m very happy she chose us,” Price said of Seltenreich-Hodgson, who was awarded both the rookie and overall female CIS swimmer of the year. “She was considering the U.S. very much, and then when she came to visit UBC in the fall, she really liked the team and liked the school, liked the girls and made the decision to stay with us.

She’s done very, very well.”

Seltenreich-Hodgson’s winning times in the 200m and 400m individual medley were the fastest by any woman in Canada this season.

Her 4:34.76 in the 400m shattered the previous CIS record of 4:37.81 set by Calgary’s Tianna Rissling last year.

“That’s the level of kids that we recruited, and I think people continue to be attracted to the school,” said Price. “We let everybody know that we’re about performance and that we can coach them as well as anybody else in the world.”

One of the strengths of UBC’s women’s team is the depth and longevity of athletes. Looking ahead to next season, it will lose just two fifth-year swimmers in Laura Thompson and Brittney Harley, who both finished their CIS careers with lifetime best times and podium performances.

“That’s one of the things I want to do with this women’s program; if you’re going right through the program, you’re still improving

The UBC women’s swim team celebrates with their CIS banner in Toronto.

every year,” said Price.

On the men’s side, UBC again finished in second place to the Toronto Varsity Blues, who swam well in front of their home crowd.

Having lost by 15 points last year, Price said he would’ve liked the guys to have been a bit closer than the 80.5 points they were behind this weekend.

“Every session matters, especially the heat sessions — you’ve got get into scoring position,” he said. “Ultimately, we didn’t have enough scoring swims. They were close, but they couldn’t get themselves through. It’s a numbers game at this meet and you cannot have that many misses.”

The UBC men were in first place after day one, but Toronto made a strong comeback on the second day and Price believes that was the difference. “We won the first day and maybe still won the last day just on the day alone but not by very much,” he said. “So we learned that lesson. It wasn’t a surprise or like we didn’t know what we had to do, we just didn’t get it done. I don’t want to hang that on them in a negative way because it was a tall order for a young team.”

Coleman Allen : CIS male swimmer of the year. Won seven medals and set CIS record in 100m butterfly.

Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson : CIS female swimmer of the year.

Three individual golds, one individual silver, one relay gold.

Price knew his squad would rely heavily on the leadership of thirdyear standout Coleman Allen, the Canada West male swimmer of the year. Allen certainly delivered, winning seven medals and setting a new CIS record in the 100m butterfly (51.44). He was rewarded with the CIS male swimmer of the year honours, an award his roommate, former T-Bird Kelly Aspinall, took home last year.

Allen also anchored UBC’s 4x200m freestyle relay, breaking the Canadian record with a time of 7:09.50. In fact, for the first time since 2006, the UBC men and women stood on top of the <strong>

<strong>

</strong>

</strong>

podium in all six relays throughout the meet.

“We went in ranked first in all the relays just based on our times this season, but to be able to come out and actually sweep them all is really good,” said Price. “To be a great team, you have to have great relays. They count for double points, and it also shows the depth of your program.”

Every swimmer on the roster contributed points for UBC, but Price gave special mention to Justin Chan and Fionnuala Pierse.

“Justin is a local kid that’s come through the club program and now on the varsity team and was a little bit overlooked with the coaches before me,” said the coach. “He really stepped up and earned a spot on the men’s 4x200m relay, which ended up breaking a record and got us a gold medal. He swam very well — 100 per cent personal bests throughout the weekend.”

Fionnuala is one of the five Pierse sisters who have swam for UBC, and her dedication to the team paid off this weekend with her first individual CIS medal in the 100m freestyle on Saturday night. “She swam well throughout,” Price said. “She’s a fourthyear for the team that has hung in there, plugged away and did a great job, also winning the gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay.”

Overall, Price was impressed with both his teams and the calibre of competition this year, and is encouraged by the growing rivalry on the men’s side between UBC and Toronto.

“It’s good for Canada [and] it’s good for CIS swimming,” he said. “This meet itself, the level of competition and results of the meet from all over the place was great. It’s raised the bar of college swimming and helped some of these people who are going to be on the national team get ready for the next level of competition. Plus, any time they have a chance to race each other and race hard domestically, it’s only going to make them better.” U

Monday, February 24, 2014 |

student voice. Community reach.

10

Student movements need to look internally to be succesful

photo ryan kelpin/the varsity

Student activists need to listen to students to get back on message.

illustration jethro au/The Ubyssey

LAST WORDS The return of the son of the Whistler Lodge The Ski and Board Club’s campaign to force another vote on the Whistler Lodge is well-intentioned, but as it stands, it’s a bad idea.

The lodge is, in theory, a nice thing for students to have. But in reality, students don’t use it a whole lot, especially since the nicer and almost equally cheap hostel opened nearby.

The lodge lost $220,000 between 2005 and 2013, and currently needs at least $200,000 in renovations to meet basic building standards. For people who try to book a bed in the lodge on a Saturday in January, it doesn’t seem like this should be the case — it’s always full. However, while the lodge is full on weekends during peak season, it’s practically empty during the week and during the summer. That’s why it’s losing so much money.

If the Ski and Board Club, or any group on campus, really wants to keep the Whistler Lodge, they need to come up with a financial plan that doesn’t have it losing thousands of student dollars every year. If they can come up with that, that’s awesome. The lodge was built by hand by students in 1965 and is an important symbol of student initiative.

As it currently stands, the AMS would really like to sell the lodge,

PArting shots and snap judgments from The ubyssey editorial board

and they’ve already voted down the idea of running it as a student service. If the club doesn’t come up with anything, and the revote passes anyway, this petition will only serve to further delay an already drawn-out process.

How to ride the goddamn bus Our feature story this issue highlighted the peculiar social rules that determine the way people utilize our much beleaguered bus system. Though arguably well-founded in principles of Canadian politeness and personal space, the extent to which we follow these rules — at the expense of our own well-being, as well as that of others — is absurd.

Here is a list of issues that people will avoid addressing in order to maintain precious, precious face: • Someone sitting in an aisle seat with a window seat free • Someone standing in an aisle blocking off a free aisle seat, while bizarrely refusing to use it themselves (no one is allowed to sit there, apparently) • Someone placing a bag on a seat so no one can sit in it • Standing in the exit door aisle area, which blocks people from using any free seats available further back in the bus while simultaneously preventing new passengers from from filling up

free aisle space, and exacerbating the difficulty of leaving the bus for other passengers We at The Ubyssey — with the greatest possible degree of Canadian politeness imaginable — would like to kindly remind the public that face is ultimately an abstract idea which, if effaced, will not necessarily instantiate the end of the world, and further, that you are quite unlikely to interact with the same people on the bus again.

As such, we hope that newer generations of bus riders will learn to speak up when other passengers exhibit profuse forms of douchebaggery, as in the examples enumerated above. <em>

</em>

Try Medeo, it’s better than Google Medeo, now part of the AMS’s healthcare plan, allows you to visit a doctor from the comfort of your own home. It’s a great idea, especially since many ailments simply require reassurance or advice from a doctor, not a full inspection or medication. It’s certainly better than trying to diagnose yourself with Google. Of course, public-private partnerships should come with some skepticism — Medeo wants you to use its service so it can make money — but on the surface, it seems like a better time than traipsing to UBC’s overworked medical clinic, or anywhere else in Vancouver. U

Letter: UBC Counselling article was unfair, misleading

letter Dear editor, Your article (“Waits, complaints and constraints: the state of UBC Counselling Services,” Feb. 10) identifies the difficulties many students have in seeking out help, and the importance of supporting the mental health of students at UBC — on this we agree.

However, the portrayal of UBC Counselling Services is inaccurate and based on a complete lack of meaningful evidence.

Long lines are not the experience of the majority of students

who seek help. In surveys conducted by UBC Counselling Services in the past two years, 82 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they received service in a reasonable amount of time.

Contrary to your anecdote, friends and family members are encouraged to sit with students in the waiting room.

We know this is a support to many students.

The vast majority of counselling is one on one. Pre and post data for group counselling show it is a very effective form of treatment for our community as well. Finding the right course of

support for each unique circumstance is vital, and our team is extremely dedicated to student well-being — students are encouraged to raise concerns and actively help us find the right fit.

Our data shows that 86 per cent of students are satisfied with the services and care they receive from UBC Counselling Services. To suggest otherwise, and possibly keep students from trying to receive such support, is irresponsible. <em>

Janet Teasdale Managing Director, Student Development and Services

</em>

op-ed

Abdullah Shihipar TORONTO (NUW) — Over the past few months in the city of London, U.K., hundreds of students have been taking to the streets to protest the forced closure of the University of London Union — the University of London’s central students’ union.

Throughout the demonstrations, the students have faced aggression from the authorities, been arrested, and have had their right to protest severely curtailed by the university administration.

In contrast, when it comes to mobilizing against cuts to university education in Ontario, the situation is dismal. The now-defunct annual protest to “drop fees,” organized by the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), could only ever muster lukewarm support; while students certainly don’t like paying high fees, there is little enthusiasm to do anything about it.

One doesn’t have to go far to see student mobilization in action. In 2012, Quebecois students went on strike in response to a proposed tuition fee increase of 75 per cent. Student activists across the province have posed the question of why Ontario students can’t replicate Quebec’s results. The finger is often pointed towards the apathetic masses of students, who do not take part in the work towards affordable education — either consciously or out of ignorance. And so organizers spend most of their time during the year appealing to students through rhetoric and buzzwords to encourage action and involvement.

This sense of apathy does exist to a certain extent. But with respect to mobilizing for education, students are far from being disengaged members of society.

Both inside and outside the classroom, many students are actively involved in issues they care about — whether the issue is tackling the stigma around HIV/AIDS, or examining the effect municipal policies have on the city’s working class; students are involved. The problem does not lie with students, but with the student organizers.

We are asking the wrong questions. Rather than assuming students are as apathetic as we think they are, we should be asking how we came to that conclusion in the first place.

The answer is simple: while well-versed in activist ideology and rhetoric, student organizers in Ontario, including myself, all fail to listen to their fellow students. We get so lost in talking and reading about organization that we fail to stop and give students the chance to participate in the movement. It is not a case of merely forgetting; when students try to participate in the process and present alternative ideas, they are either shunned or treated with hostility. Often those who dissent, regardless of political affiliation, are referred to as right-wingers bent on pursuing a campaign of union-busting. It is true that there are political parties that do try to undermine the work of student unions, but, for the most part, the threat is exaggerated.

While claiming to speak for students, organizers continue to maintain a condescending attitude that gives the impression that they know the best practices to guide the student movement, and that the student body is too ignorant to contribute effectively. The status quo of ignoring voices in student movements needs to change. We need to radically rethink how we organize ourselves on campus. We may not agree with all the ideas presented to us, but we need to attempt to include as many voices as we can. Theory is important, but without the involvement of students, it is meaningless.

In addition to listening to students, we need to restructure our systems of participatory democracy to ensure students have more of a say more often. One such model exists in the direct democracy model, applied in general assemblies of the Quebec student movement and the Occupy Wall Street protests. Direct democracy allows people to vote on specific policies, as opposed to leaving all of the decisions to a representative executive. Organizers in Ontario have rejected the model, suggesting that such a structure would disenfranchise minority voices. However, as Occupy has successfully demonstrated, direct democracy can be put into place with controls to ensure that minority voices are adequately represented.

If we do not take these steps, students will continue to be disenfranchised, organizers will continue to boast about victories, and tuition fees will continue to increase.

This article was originally printed in The Varsity, the University of Toronto’s student newspaper.

Monday, FEbRUaRy 24, 2014

| GaMES | 11

It’s 2045 and since everyone backs up their memory on the computer, the red arrow stole the green arrow’s memory via USB stick! The green arrow usually knows her way around Dino-Mall but not when her sense of direction and map skills are in the hands of the conniving red arrow! Help the green arrow catch up and take back what is hers.

PUZZle COURTeSY BeSTCROSSwORdS.COM. USed wITh PeRMISSION.

aCross 1- heroic 5- Cravat 10- ladies of Sp. 14- Building block brand 15- Mislead 16- Actress Skye 17- earth day subj.

18- Army leader?

19- ferrara family 20- values highly 22- Collided 24- ___-mo 25- Queue after Q 26- By accident, old-style 29- Resistance unit 32- Stickum 36- Zeno of ___ 37- Straight man 39- Coal scuttle 40- In spite of 43- friend of fidel 44- Move unsteadily 45- Sea-going eagle 46- Snap course 48- Snitch 49- Played the part 50- 100 per cent 52- Paid player 53- Outfit 57- highest singing voice in women 61- Actor estrada 62- Unit of weight in gemstones 64- Son of Zeus in greek mythology 65- A Death in the Family author; 66- Kool-Aid maker 67- New Mexico art colony 68- Actor Auberjonois 69- Approvals 70- Sicilian spewer

8- ear-related 9- It’s human 10- Midday nap 11- ___ hashanah 12- get in a hand 13- Tournament favorite 21- Tv Tarzan Ron 23- Colorado resort 26- Therefore 27- hawaiian greeting 28- for ___ sake!

29- Alternate 30- Plantain lily 31- Sacred song 33- Tee, e.g.

34- 1,000 kilograms 35- Created a border 37- ___-foy, Quebec 38- Needlefish 41- Author Calvino 42- embellish 47- federal soldier in the Civil war 49- dada pioneer 51- fortunate 52- Annie of Designing Women 53- Rip 54- Impulse to act 55- Nothing, in Nantes 56- Shipping deduction 57- Ump’s call 58- I smell ___!

59- It’s a gas 60- greek peak 63- ___ Tafari (haile Selassie) FEB. 11 ANSWERS

doWn 1- gen. Robert ___ 2- Bodybuilder’s pride 3- ___ Rhythm 4- Cabbage salad 5- San Antonio landmark 6- letter opener 7- 100 yrs.

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email editor Carter Brundage photo@ubyssey.ca

Filming, video, selfies email producer lu Zhang video@ubyssey.ca

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