February 14, 2013

hIDe YOUR CUCUmBeRs SiNCE 1918

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UBC’S OFFiCiAl STUDENT NEWSPAPEr | FEBrUArY 14, 2013 | VOlUME XCiV| iSSUE Xli

THE UBYSSEY

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013 |

YOUr GUiDE TO UBC EVENTS + PEOPlE

what’s on Tue 1214

OUR CAMPUS

THIS WEEK, MAY WE SUGGEST...

LOVE >>

2

ONE ON ONE WITH THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE UBC

THURSDAY

Valentine’s Day

We know you know. The internet has been bombarding your email inbox with reminders to reserve a table for dinner with that special someone. if you’re in a relationship, enjoy the day. if you’re not, have a great time hanging out with positive people. No need for negativity—even if it is a hallmark holiday.

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Tue 1216

SPORTS >>

FRIDAY

THEATRE >>

SATURDAY

UBC Thunderbirds vs. UVic Vikes basketball: 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. @ War memorial Gym Go cheer on your UBC T-Birds as they compete against Victoria this Friday. Tickets $2 for students or free with a Blue Crew pass.

PhOTO COUrTESY JASON rOBiNSON

Jason robinson founded Sustainability Television in 2007.

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HEALTH >>

SUNDAY

Tennis 1.0 Beginners Clinic: 9:30–11:30 a.m. @ UBC Tennis Centre You know that it’s a slow time of year when we publish tennis, so here you go. if you’re looking for an (expensive) way to spend your break, pick up the classic racquet sport! Tickets $207.90.

Tue 1218

The Vagina monologues: 7 p.m. @ Frederic Wood Theatre The annual production of the award-winning play is back on campus. Come witness the show based upon 200+ interviews conducted by playwright Eve Ensler. Tickets $16, available online and at the Outpost.

BREAK >>

MONDAY

Reading Week The Ubyssey is going on vacation, too. Expect our award-winning web and print content beginning again on Sunday, Feb. 25. if you need some news sustenance, we recommend taking a look back through the ages of The Ubyssey, courtesy of the UBC library archives.

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

U THE UBYSSEY EDITORIAL

Senior Lifestyle Writer Justin Fleming jfleming@ubyssey.ca

Coordinating Editor Jonny Wakefield coordinating@ubyssey.ca Features Editor Arno Rosenfeld Managing Editor, Print features@ubyssey.ca Jeff Aschkinasi printeditor@ubyssey.ca Video Editor David Marino Managing Editor, Web video@ubyssey.ca Andrew Bates Copy Editor webeditor@ubyssey.ca Karina Palmitesta News Editors copy@ubyssey.ca Will McDonald + Art Director Laura Rodgers Kai Jacobson news@ubyssey.ca art@ubyssey.ca Senior News Writer Graphics Assistant Ming Wong mwong@ubyssey.ca Indiana Joel ijoel@ubyssey.ca Culture Editor Anna Zoria Layout Artist culture@ubyssey.ca Collyn Chan cchan@ubyssey.ca Senior Culture Writer Rhys Edwards Videographer redwards@ubyssey.ca Lu Zhang lzhang@ubyssey.ca Sports + Rec Editor Webmaster CJ Pentland Riley Tomasek sports@ubyssey.ca webmaster@ubyssey.ca

STAFF Bryce Warnes, Josh Curran, Peter Wojnar, Anthony Poon, Veronika Bondarenko, Yara Van Kessel, lu Zhang, Catherine Guan, Ginny Monaco, Arno rosenfeld, Matt Meuse, hogan Wong, rory Gattens, Brandon Chow, Joseph Ssettuba. Tyler Mcrobbie, Sarah Bigam, Stephanie Xu, Natalya Kautz, Colin Chia, Kim Pringle

Arno Rosenfeld Features Editor

Jason Robinson wants to show what people are doing to help the environment — and he has been working with UBC to do so.

“We’re just not hearing about all the amazing stuff that’s going on,” said Robinson, founder of Sustainability Television.

Founded in 2007, the Richmond-based Sustainability Television produces content highlighting environmental activism and innovation from around the world. But it has also established strong ties with UBC, including a recent deal with the Faculty of Land and Food Systems to produce content on the environmental impact of food around the world.

A Richmond native, Robinson said he worked in finance prior to starting Sustainability Television. He said he spent seven years planning the organization before its launch.

“I didn’t see anything innovative enough,” Robinson said of why he decided to start a media organization

rather than participate in a more traditional type of environmental activism.

Robinson said Sustainability Television content has been picked up by television channels, but most of the content goes onto Sustainability Television’s website.

One piece of content that helped establish the strong relationship between Sustainability Television and UBC was a 2009 documentary about the fight to save the UBC Farm.

The video highlighted student activists at UBC who wanted to stop planned development from being built on the farm.

Robinson said the documentary was an example of what his organization tries to do, and that the attention on the UBC Farm has led the University of Victoria and Kwantlen University to begin exploring the creation of their own research farms.

Sustainability Television has also made other documentaries focused on UBC, including a recent one entitled Eating Carbon Smart that focuses on how food production affects the earth. <em>

</em>

FEBrUArY 14, 2013 | VOlUME XCiV| iSSUE Xli BUSINESS

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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

TV for a greener world

herein cannot be reproduced without the expressed, written permission of The Ubyssey Publications Society.

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The new partnership between the Faculty of Land and Food Systems and Robinson’s for-profit organization will include various types of content, Robinson said.

“There may be students from LFS who want to share what they’re doing,” he said. “The faculty itself — I know they’re doing different research initiatives that are very innovative and would be really good for people to know about.”

Growing up, Robinson actually watched very little television, he said.

“I wasn’t allowed to watch television for eight hours a day,” Robinson explained. “I was given half an hour in the evening to watch television if I wanted to do it.”

But the television he did watch as a child has shaped the work he is doing today.

“I usually [watched] PBS or David Suzuki’s The Nature of Things or Wild Kingdom or something that was valuable; I think there’s far too much junk on TV,” Robinson said.

And with the help of like-minded folks at UBC, Robinson is well on his way to changing that. U </em>

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013 |

EDITORS WILL Mcdonald + laura rodgers

CRIME >>

3

SALARIES >>

Faculty arbitration delayed to June Will McDonald News Editor

Kai Jacobson photo illustration/THE UBYSSEY

Nick Milette said his two bicycles were stolen from the third-floor balcony of his Acadia Park residence.

UBC denies responsibility for balcony bike theft Arno Rosenfeld Features Editor

UBC student Nick Milette allegedly had two valuable bicycles, worth $3,500 combined, stolen from his third-floor residence balcony. He’s blaming the university for the theft because, he claims, a UBC-owned ladder was used to abscond with the bikes.

Milette said when he arrived back from winter break to his Sopron House residence in Acadia Park, he found the two bicycles he had left on the balcony of his apartment were gone. He said he found a ladder marked “UBC” leaning against his building, and he suspected it was used to perform the theft.

He assumed the ladder was left there by a UBC employee, and now he’s looking into pinning liability for the theft on the university.

Brian Heathcote, chief financial officer of UBC Housing, sees things differently. He said the ladder, which UBC took down from the

NEWS BRIEFS UBC hands out sentences to athletes involved in Dime Watch Twitter account UBC Athletics has determined eight varsity athletes involved in lewd actions related to the anonymous @UBCDimeWatch Twitter account will receive either letters of reprimand or game suspensions.

The identities of the athletes being punished are not being released. Twenty-nine athletes who were involved in a “participatory” manner will be forced to attend a sensitivity-training seminar. @UBCDimeWatch was a Twitter account that tweeted voyeuristic pictures of women on UBC campus, often accompanied by lewd comments. UBC varsity hockey player Ben Schmidt was found to be connected to a website related to the Twitter account in October 2012.

New computer program sheds light on ancient languages UBC researchers have developed new technology to help understand ancient languages.

The new computer system, created along with researchers from UC Berkeley, can reconstruct ancient protolanguages with 85 per cent accuracy.

The computer will speed up intensive work that formerly had to be done by hand. The system analyzes existing words into groups to determine the original language they came from. U

building after Milette pointed out its presence, doesn’t meet current WorkSafe BC code. Heathcote claims UBC doesn’t have any such unsafe ladders currently in use, especially because they would face stiff fines if they did.

Milette also claims his neighbours saw the ladder propped against his building, unattended, for many days before it was taken down. But Heathcote said that Housing staff working around Acadia Park during the time in question did not notice any extension ladder reaching up to a third-floor balcony.

Milette, a third-year architecture student who has lived in student housing in years past without any issues, said he thinks UBC is leaving a lot unanswered.

“My questions are: where was that ladder kept? Why was it not secured? Why was it not written up as missing or stolen? How did it get there?” he said.

But while Heathcote expressed dismay over the theft, he and Milette have entirely different assumptions about how the ladder ended up outside Milette’s balcony.

“We wouldn’t be using a ladder like that, and we also have no ladders missing,” Heathcote stated.

In an email to The Ubyssey , Heathcote said the ladder not only fell short of safety codes, but it also had an old, out-of-service UBC phone number stencilled to its side that proved its age. That phone number — 228 2062 — suggests the ladder was from the early ’90s, according to Heathcote, because UBC changed its phone number prefix from 228 to 822 in August 1991.

Heathcote also said the hefty fines that Worksafe BC doles out for safety violations are based on the size of the organization they’re fining. This means when UBC gets fined, it’s usually in the $80,000– 100,000 range, so they’re especially careful to not use unsafe equipment. <em>

</em>

But Milette still thinks a UBCmarked ladder lying around Acadia Park for days is inexcusable, and he’s still out two valuable bikes.

He said he reported the theft to the RCMP, but they didn’t investigate it. The RCMP was unable to be reached for comment by deadline.

Milette is still hoping UBC will compensate him for the cost of the bikes, and he’s scheduled a meeting with a pro-bono lawyer to investigate his options. He says his contract with UBC Housing releases them from all liabilities, but he believes he may still be able to pursue a claim against UBC Building Operations if it turns out the ladder was their responsibility.

“It’s unfortunate if it was a UBC ladder that somebody used it to commit a crime,” Heathcote said. “But if someone stole a UBC truck and used it to rob a bank, you wouldn’t come to UBC and say, ‘Hey, you’re responsible for that bank robbery.’” U

ACADEMIA >>

Want to grade your prof before your class is over?

Veronika Bondarenko Staff Writer

The AMS wants to give more students a chance to evaluate their professors partway through the term, but the assessments won’t be mandatory anytime soon.

Following a pilot project spearheaded by AMS VP Academic Kiran Mahal and UBC physics professor Simon Bates, the possibility of bringing midterm teaching evaluations to all faculties at UBC remains up in the air.

Conducted over the course of last term, the project asked 22 faculty members from the Faculties of Arts, Science, Applied Science and Kinesiology to incorporate midterm teaching evaluations into their classrooms.

According to Mahal, the response they received from both faculty members and students over the last term has been largely positive.

“About three quarters of the students actually said that their faculty member who was teaching the course came back and discussed the results of the evaluation with them, which is huge, because that doesn’t happen with final evaluations,” said Mahal.

Bates has been incorporating midterm teaching evaluations into his classes both at UBC and at other institutions, and said that they give him a chance to tweak his courses

HOGAN WONG PHOTO/THE UBYSSEY

UBC prof Simon Bates (left) and AMS VP Academic Kiran Mahal (right) developed a pilot project for students to give their professors feedback before classes end.

before the end of the term.

“I’ve been doing things like this for a number of years about midway through the class, just to get a sense of how students are doing with the course and what things they think they can improve on and what things they think I can do to improve their understanding,” said Bates.

UBC’s Sauder School of Business is currently the only faculty with mandatory midterm teaching evaluations. Mahal, who has completed a minor in commerce, has used her experience with Sauder to try to push for a similar system to be implemented in other faculties.

But Mahal is not looking for the project to be mandated in other faculties any time soon. Instead, she hopes that the pilot project will encourage more faculty members to offer midterm teaching evaluations.

“We don’t want to make this something that’s mandated and then have faculty members think of it in a negative way,” said Mahal.

“We want to make sure that there’s really a positive spirit around the entire process, so that it creates dialogue and a more constructive classroom environment.”

Unlike end-of-term evaluations, the data from midterm teaching evaluations would not be considered in the promotion or tenure of faculty members.

Bates and Mahal plan on extending the project for another term before they make any recommendations to faculties.

The final decision on whether or not to incorporate midterm evaluations into the classrooms will be left to the discretion of associate deans and individual faculty members. U

The conflict between UBC and its Faculty Association will be resolved by a third party, but not until this summer.

UBC and the Faculty Association met for bargaining sessions this October and December, but the negotiations stalled over wage increases. Both parties agreed to five days of mediation and arbitration, starting on Feb. 4, to finally settle the dispute. But the arbitrator called in sick, and the talks have been rescheduled to June.

Nancy Langton, president of the Faculty Association, which represents professors, assistant deans, librarians and most other faculty members, thinks the university is trying to delay paying wages that the association believes members are owed.

In October, the association asked UBC for a 10 per cent raise to make their wages level with faculty at other major universities like the University of Toronto.

The university’s counter-offer was a 1.2 per cent wage increase and a 0.3 per cent increase to retain certain professors.

In a post on the association’s website, Langton said she felt the university was delaying bargaining in the hopes faculty would settle for a less generous deal.

“I am starting to feel that the university is hanging onto this money for their own benefit (keeping it and using it) before paying it out to its employees,” wrote Langton.

UBC spokesperson Lucie McNeill denied this accusation.

“Regarding this business of delaying or not delaying, I want to say emphatically that neither party is intentionally delaying the process,” said McNeill.

Binding arbitration has been rescheduled for the first week of June.

The university also hopes to meet with the association for non-binding arbitration sessions sometime before then. In an online human resources bulletin, UBC predicted arbitration would be a “time-expensive and costly process.”

Until talks are resolved, faculty members will not receive any standard “progress-through-theranks” pay increases they have earned since July 2012.

“We’re essentially going to be resorting to arbitration,” said McNeill. “This is in the circumstances where we cannot reach an agreement ourselves and we’ve reached that point.”

McNeill said the parties will discuss other points of contention, aside from pay increases, during arbitration, but she refused to disclose any further details.

“Disagreements do happen and there are different understandings and interpretations and they have their views and we have ours,” said McNeill.

According to Langton, faculty members aren’t pleased with the new arbitration date.

“We will continue to encourage the university to quit stalling, and to agree to the shortened arbitration process we proposed, so that we can schedule arbitration dates much earlier than June,” said Langton in a post on the association’s website.

The Faculty Association did not respond to interview requests before press time. U

4 | the sex supplement |

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

the sex supplement I

n case the cover wasn’t enough of a hint, this is The Ubyssey’s annual sex supplement and we hope you won’t be able to take your hands off it. In addition to the standard romantic (see: cats going on dates, pg. 12) and sexual (see: sex shop reviews, pg. 8) fare, we’ve tried to peel back Hallmark-coated Valentine’s Day illusions of romance and bliss.

On pg. 8, you’ll find a handful of UBC students’ bad — and downright strange — Valentine’s Day experiences. On the next page, we dissect why you really shouldn’t spend today stalking your ex on social media, and explore the elusive question of just what exactly friends with benefits are supposed to do on a day that can create a false dichotomy between romantic couples and lonely singles.

We hope you enjoy what we have to offer and that you spend this day in a way that makes you happy!

—Features editor Arno Rosenfeld

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

| the sex supplement | 5

Friends with benefits on the day of love Erik Coates Contributor

Society tells us a lot about what we should be doing on Valentine’s Day. Couples should be together, revelling in their mutual love.

Single folk should be questioning their self-worth, feeling extra-lonely and bingeing on ice cream. But there is a third group that Hallmark seems to have overlooked. These are the outcasts that don’t fit in with the cute couples or the sullen singles. They are the friends with benefits.

For those still in the dark about this 21st-century innovation, friends with benefits are essentially friends by day and lovers by night. According to recent Hollywood flicks like Friends with Benefits and No Strings Attached , this kind of relationship is struck up between emotionally unavailable (but horny) people who eventually realize that they are unfulfilled in life and should embrace a “real” relationship with each other.

But what about people who just know what's up and want to enjoy life while they're young? What if a relationship truly works best as an occasional roll in the hay and nothing more?

And what in the world are these poonmates supposed to do on Valentine's Day? Are they supposed to go out for dinner like people in a committed relationship? Stay home and drunkenly text their exes like proper single people? Study for midterms at the library before getting down with their “friend” to relieve some stress?

I asked a few UBC students what they think bed buddies should do on Ferris Wheel Day (yes, the inventor Gale Ferris Jr. was born on Valentine’s Day).

Taline Ainein, a second-year

KAI JACOBSON PHOTOS/THE UBYSSEY

commerce student, said friends with benefits shouldn't do anything. Matt Simons, a first-year science student, said, “They should do what they'd do any other day: Have sex.” Finally, James

Chan, a fourth-year arts student, took a more conventional tack: “They should just admit they love each other or break up."

Here’s what I think: friends with benefits should keep on

keeping on. Valentine's Day, after all, is an overly commercialized holiday that attempts to pigeonhole relationships and fails to account for a wide spectrum of romantic and sexual situations.

So celebrate love in any way that pleases you, whether that means buying your fuckbuddy a bouquet of flowers or relaxing at home alone. U

The pitfalls of cyber-stalking your ex Emily Burton-Brown Contributor

Facebook stalking happens yearround, but Valentine's Day is ripe for an especially high number of forlorn lovers poring over their exes' status updates.

Tara Marshall, a psychology professor at Brunel University in London, England, has researched the relationship between Facebook surveillance of ex-partners, sustained negative feelings towards an ex and personal growth post-breakup. She recently published her findings on what she calls “interpersonal electronic surveillance” in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.

Marshall’s findings may prove surprising to those who assume blocking or de-friending an ex in the event of a messy break-up will facilitate the healing process. Instead, Marshall’s study found that exes who remained Facebook friends “were lower in negative feelings, sexual desire and longing for the former partner than people who were not Facebook friends.”

Marshall suggests this may be the result of decreased emotional sensitivity due to continuous exposure to “banal status updates, comments and photos.” Constant check-ins at the gym or embarrassingly public political rants definitely help erode any “residual attraction.” Plus, the dumped party avoids the emotional black hole of wondering what — or

who — their ex is doing.

However, the study suggests, while remaining Facebook friends may help reduce sexual desire for an ex, explicitly monitoring (read: Facebook stalking) their activities through social media hurts emotional recovery and personal growth. Additionally, Facebook creeping is associated with "obsessive relational intrusion," a term used to indicate the unwanted pursuit of an intimate relationship, particularly with a former romantic partner.

Now, to be honest, it's not surprising that constantly checking up on exes isn’t good for mental health.

But I’ll be the first to admit to keeping tabs on the Toms, Dicks and Harrys of the past.

Justifications for Facebook stalking run the gamut, from solicitous (“I just want to make sure he’s doing okay — he really deserves to be happy") to vengeful (“I want to make sure the effing SOB is so full of regret he can’t get out of bed in the morning”).

Any fans of the HBO series Girls will remember the episode in which a depressed and newly single Marnie clicks through her ex-boyfriend's Facebook photos with disgust. The truth of this scene is what makes it both hilarious and incredibly devastating; you do not want to be that girl, but you know you have been and probably will be again at some point in your life.

In days gone by, I ended a fairly tumultuous relationship with someone and unfriended them on Facebook, thinking it was for the best. About a month later, I was back in full ex-girlfriend psycho mode, checking his wall for public posts and incriminating photos. I lost track of time scrolling through a

certain girl’s history because I was convinced he had begun dating her, and accidentally "liked" one of her status updates — from several years ago. Naturally, she told him about it and he confronted me.

Moral of the story? By staying too invested in your old beau's status updates, you’re putting your life on

hold for someone who should be part of your past. And now that it’s been scientifically proven, you can use hard evidence to kick the habit.

So go tweet the lyrics of an empowered music artist of your choice (Toni Braxton’s “He Wasn’t Man Enough” is my personal favourite) and move on with your life. U

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013 |

EDiTOr C.J. PENTLAND

6

TRAVEL >>

Road trippin’ in the Western U.S.

What you need to know to survive and make the most of your U.S. adventure

Justin Fleming Senior Lifestyle Writer

With reading break on the horizon, visions of relaxation and vacation are on students’ minds.

But instead of just staying holed up in the rainy Lower Mainland for the week, why not get out of the province, soak up some rays

and experience what the West Coast has to offer? Why not just hop in a car and drive?

It’s not a complicated notion.

There doesn’t have to be a set destination, it doesn’t cost a lot of money and it doesn’t require a ton of planning. As long as you have a car, a few necessities

and some buddies, a road trip to the United States can be the perfect opportunity to unwind before the home stretch of the semester.

Here are some essential tips on how to be prepared and make the most of your road trip south of the 49th parallel. U

Places to go 1. Leavenworth, Washington: Save yourself the

airfare and get a taste of Germany outside Seattle at this Bavarian village in the Cascade Mountains.

2. Cannon Beach, Oregon: Nine miles of beautiful beaches, bluffs and cliffs. Hike the trails down to the beach and impressive rock formations at Ecola State Park. Keep your eyes peeled for the resident elk herd.

leGeND sCeNIC VIeWs hIKING sURFING pARTY plACe GOOD FOOD BIRDWATChING

3. Eugene, Oregon: Referred to as “Emerald City,” Eugene

is the second-largest city in the state and home to the University of Oregon. Forget Victoria — “university town” takes on a whole new meaning here. But there’s stuff here for non-partiers too. The city’s slogan is “A great city for the arts and outdoors.”

4. Reno, Nevada: Not ready for Las Vegas? Get your feet wet with some cotton-tops in Reno, “the biggest little city in the world.”

5. Point Reyes Station, California: The perfect place to stop, grab a bite and sample the local flavour. The Point Reyes National Seashore also offers great hiking.

6. Big Sur, California: Tap into your inner bohemian in these verdant hills above the coast.

7. Cayucos, California: Great surfing and unreal eats at a

price that won’t break the bank.

8. Joshua Tree, Southeast California: Hiking, camping, climbing and general soul-searching are all possible in this 790,636-acre park, which encompasses both the Mohave and the Colorado Deserts. To top it off, there are also surreal geological formations and cacti gardens.

9. Grand Canyon, Arizona: Just stating the obvious

here.

Classic road reads THE GRAPES OF WRATH BY JOhN sTeINBeCK

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CHINA BLUES BY KI lONGFellOW

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</EM>

HELL’S ANGELS: THE STRANGE AND TERRIBLE SAGA BY hUNTeR s. ThOmpsON

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THE WHITE ALBUM BY JOAN DIDION <EM>

</Em>

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BLOOD MERIDIAN BY CORmAC mCCARThY </EM>

CANARY ROW BY JOhN sTeINBeCK

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ON THE ROAD BY JACK KeROUAC

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ThURsDAY, FeBRUARY 14, 2013

necessities for the road

Duct tape : Make like Red Green and carry the tape that can fix anything. </strong>

Vice grips : Use them for various tasks, or for stress relief if your car breaks down. <strong>

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Multi-headed screwdriver : This little tool is a big help.

Knife : One of humankind’s oldest tools. You’d be stupid to leave home without one. </strong>

Camp stove or Coleman burner : If you’re going to be on the road for more than a few days, you’ll be grateful for the independence that one of these bad boys can afford you.

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Cooler : A large, hard-shell cooler — if you have room — will ensure you’ve got enough space for a block of ice and plenty of food.

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Tire pressure gauge : Note that some tires’ air pressure differs from what is recommended in the manual and will be printed on the wall of the tire, so check both. <strong>

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Jumper cables : You don’t want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere. <strong>

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Power inverter : These plug into your car lighter and offer continuous 110/120V power and 5V USB output that lets you charge and run most gadgets. It’s well worth the $25. <strong>

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Camera : Leave your expensive camera at home so it won’t be lost or stolen; instead, pick up a couple disposables so you can save those memories worry-free. <strong>

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Rope : You never know what you may need it for. </strong>

Paper towels : Life in 150 square feet gets messy.

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Breathable, open-toed footwear: Maybe it’s finally time for those Crocs.

Spare set of keys : Affix it to the underside of your vehicle, tuck in some obscure cranny, disguise as hood ornament or entrust to your co-pilot.

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Map : In the event of electrical problems, a tangible map wins every time.

Deck of cards : Make new friends with drinking games, or catch up on some “you time” with an introspective game of solitaire. </strong>

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If you’re slumming it and showers aren’t a luxury you can afford, grab a bar of soap and find the nearest aquatic centre.

HOT TIPS

The grocery store chain Trader Joe’s houses a bevy of wholesome and affordable eats and is a great place to go shopping for food supplies.

Highways to Highway 101: This scenic route winds down the entire coast of Oregon, from the Columbia River to the California border, passes through forest growths and offers stunning views of the Pacific Ocean. It’s a lot slower to travel on, but it’s worth it.

Pacific Coast Highway: While this highway runs close to the entire length of California, the stretch from Orange County up to Malibu is where the magic happens.

Route 66: Jump onto a section of Route 66 that runs from

Los Angeles to Chicago and travel the road that took the refugees out of the Dust Bowl and the hippies to California. Diners and motels abound.

Avenue of Giants: The 31-mile portion of the old U.S.

Route 101 in Northern California is surrounded by 51,222 acres of redwood groves. It is said to be the most dramatic display of these stoic giants in the whole 500-mile redwood belt.

Driving albums The Doobie Brothers: Toulouse Street

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Capture the essence of California in the ’70s while rocking down the highway to “Rockin’ Down the Highway.”

Youth Lagoon: The Year of Hibernation <strong>

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This atmospheric, lo-fi dream pop is perfect for daydreaming while winding along the highway.

AMERICAN FUN FACTS The grizzly bear is the official state animal of California, but no grizzly bears have been seen there since 1922.

“General Sherman,” a 3,500-year-old tree in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park in Tulare County, California, is the single largest tree on Earth.

Anyone 21 and over is legally allowed to possess one ounce of cannabis in Washington, but smoking it in public is illegal.

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| spORTs + ReC | 7

First aid kit : Patch yourself up in the event of minor injuries. </strong>

It is illegal in Oregon to pump your own gas. You must stay in your car and wait for a gas station attendant to do it for you.

8 | The sex sUpplemeNT |

ThURsDAY, FeBRUARY 14, 2013

Silly, strange, scary: Valentine’s Day gone awry Katelyn Verstraten Contributor

V

alentine’s Day is here again: cue the spike in chocolate and condom sales and let the horror stories begin. It seems like everyone has an unfortunate Valentine’s Day story, although not everyone is willing to share the gory details. We at The Ubyssey have compiled a few UBC students' choice V-Day memories, ranging from sweet to stalkerish.

Down wiTh haLLmarK “Celebrating Valentine’s Day is like celebrating VD," second-year Ph.D. student Tim Höllering said. “It turns into something

gross.”

Höllering said he believes romantic gestures should be spontaneous, not enforced by an arbitrary day. “[I have] tales of romanticism,” said Höllering. “But part of why they're awesome is because they happened when I wanted to and not because societal group pressure dictated it.”

EnginE issUEs “I was 10 and we were dating,'” said firstyear Ph.D. student Ashley Dudill. “The doorbell rang, and me and my dad went to answer.

He had left a little stuffed animal on the front stoop — very sweet. Then my dad looked up and started laughing. He and his parents

had tried to drive away before we saw them, but their car had broken down. I still have the toy at home.”

CLam sUrPrisE “My high school boyfriend made me a surprise dinner at his parents’,” Victoria resident Heather Quee recalled. “His dad came into the kitchen just before his parents were going out and asked me if I liked clams. I said, Not really,’ but it turned out the whole dinner was pasta with clam sauce. Worst day ever.

It ended pretty much the next week.”

ThirD-whEELing “My weirdest Valentine’s Day was when I

Exploring Vancouver’s active sex shop scene Madeline Rigg Contributor

B

ottles of wine and boxes of chocolates for your boo are par for the Valentine's Day course, so why not be creative this year? After Christmas, Valentine’s Day is the busiest time of the year for adult boutiques, and for good reason — sex toys are fun! They’re an easy way to shake things up in bed, and if nothing else, they're good for a laugh.

Starting a conversation on sex toys and exploring sex shops can be a great way to discuss how you and your partner connect physically and what makes him or her feel good. By the same token, going into sex shops and finding things you’re interested in is a good way to explore your own sexuality.

If you do opt for some sex toy exploration today, one of the great things about Vancouver is that you don’t need to head to a sketchy store on Granville. There are lots of fun, clean, boutique-style shops to choose from where you can find quality products in a classy environment.

ThE arT oF LoVing (1819 w. 5Th aVE): The Art of Loving is a great start for people who have never been to an adult store before and may be a bit nervous about the experience.

The front of the store houses a large bookshelf and couch, along with fliers advertising upcoming sex seminars and workshops. Store co-owner John Ince said The Art of Loving

attempts to emphasize education when it comes to sex; the store's philosophy, he said, is that "the biggest and most powerful sex organ in the body is the brain."

The store is quiet and the walls are covered with art, creating a very unintimidating and gallery-like atmosphere. The sales staff greet customers as they come in, but manage not to be pushy. There is a great selection of products, from simple vibrators to high-end brands such as Lelo and We Vibe, but the shop is large enough to avoid seeming cluttered or overwhelming. There is also a clearly marked section for guys, though it’s not as extensive. It’s easy to wander around, pick things up and play with them, or even joke around if you’ve brought someone with you. If you have questions, staff members are always ready to consult with you one-on-one.

honEy giFTs (3448 CamBiE sT.): Due to its location, Honey Gifts is definitely busier than The Art of Loving. Honey Gifts also has a more upbeat boutique atmosphere. The shop is especially busy during the Valentine’s Day rush, and since it's a small space, things can get a little cramped. But despite its small size, Honey Gifts carries a surprisingly large amount of products; you can find everything from novelty games to lingerie, toys and massage oils.

The prices at Honey Gifts are the most reasonable of the three shops, but given the crowded quarters, it's best to visit this shop when you

know what you want and aren't too nervous about going into adult stores. You'll have to squeeze past other customers, and you may find it more difficult to take your time and look at all the different products.

womyns’ warE (896 CommErCiaL Dr.): This store is the farthest from UBC, located all the way out on Commerical Drive. That said, the trek might be worth it: Womyns’ Ware has been voted “Best Sex Toy Store” by the readers of the Georgia Straight 16 years in a row. The owners of Womyns’ Ware believe sexuality is closely tied to overall happiness and health, and they’ve tried to create a space to celebrate and empower women and women’s sexuality.

Out of the three stores in this article, Womyns' Ware has the least variety and the highest prices. The focus is squarely on high-end plugs, vibes and dildos, without much in the way of books or novelty items.

However, one thing this store has that is missing in the other two is a large BDSM section, with paddles, cuffs, floggers and rope. Because Womyns’ Ware focuses on quality products, the BDSM section comes across as sturdy and accessible rather than scary or trashy.

The store itself is quite large, with products spaced well and nicely displayed; it doesn’t get crowded the way the others do on busy days.

Adding to the store's relaxed atmosphere are the salespeople, who are very friendly and happy to answer any questions. U

inadvertently went for Thai food with my friend and her boyfriend,” said Michaela Rife, a first-year master's student. “Although maybe that was actually my best. I think that tells you a lot about my life.”

Too CLosE For ComForT “I went on a first date with someone who had been stalking me for months,” said Emma K., who lives at UBC's Green College. “He baked me heart-shaped cookies. I didn’t even realize it was Valentine’s Day. “After [the date], he began showing up in my apartment every day. He would get my roommate to let him in, and I would come home and he would be sitting on my bed waiting for me. We broke up.” U

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

| the sex supplement | 9

UBC lecturer speaks out against TEDx talk on the dangers of online porn Justin Flemming Senior Lifestyle Writer

What better way to celebrate being single on Valentine’s Day than buying a magnum of wine, some scented candles and a box of chocolates and locking yourself in the bedroom with your trusty porn machine for an all-night solo sex marathon?

But anyone who has seen Gary Wilson’s TEDx talk “The Great Porn Experiment” or his YouTube video series “Your Brain on Porn” — or even simply wandered the halls of the subreddit r/NoFap — this may seem like a recipe for a libido-sapping descent into erectile dysfunction and mental illness.

The stigmas around masturbation are many, and pornography is obviously seen as a vehicle for masturbation. Gary Wilson claims in his videos that Internet pornography is a far more potent force than its predecessor, the pornographic magazine, and is having devastating effects on many areas of young people’s lives.

In his TEDx talk, Wilson stated that symptoms of a porn addiction mimic ADHD, social anxiety, depression, performance anxiety, OCD and a host of other mental disorders.

“Guys never realize they can overcome these symptoms simply by changing their behaviour,” said Wilson.

He goes on to say that healthcare professionals should be screening for porn addictions first, rather than treating patients showing signs of mental disorders.

But Jason Winters, a sessional lecturer on human sexuality in the department of psychology at UBC, finds Wilson’s claims troubling and unethical.

“There is no research showing that Internet pornography causes mental disorders — none,” Winters wrote in his class blog.

“Psychological problems and mental disorders can lead to problematic porn use as a means to cope and self-medicate.

“Wilson is simply presenting his ideology as fact,” wrote Winters, “and in this case, it’s dangerous.”

Wilson claims porn can cause desensitization through brain rewiring and can result in men being unable to achieve and maintain erections with a partner. Anyone who has ever been stricken with an unresponsive member in a time of need will tell you that this can be a confusing, frustrating and emasculating experience. But Winters offers a few alternate explanations: • The more orgasms you’re having, or the longer you’re stimulated before one, the longer it will take you to fully sexually recharge. If you’re masturbating to porn for an hour and your partner wants to have sex hours later, you are not going to respond as strongly.

• A man whose main sexual partner is always or mostly himself is likely to feel anxiety when with a real partner. Anxiety is a boner-kill.

• Some men will grip themselves in a certain way when they masturbate. When they’re with a real partner, the sensation can be different

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or not as intense. This can lead to erectile dysfunction or delayed ejaculation.

“They’re extrapolating on poorly done studies and kind of making shit up; it’s driving me crazy,” said Winters.

Attempting to eradicate porn

only drives it underground, Winters said.

“The best thing that can happen to porn is to make it mainstream,” said Winters. “Then we can criticize it, evaluate it and it becomes more legitimate.... Far better than it hiding in the shadows.” U

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013 |

EDiTOr ANNA ZORIA

FOOD >>

Think before you order Whether or not you choose to celebrate this Valentine’s Day, there is no avoiding certain truths when it comes to love: food stuck in your teeth is not sexy.

In fact, food-related embarrassments — including bad breath, unsightly bibs and egregious food stains — are cited as the primary cause in more than 30 per cent of post-holiday breakups in Metro Vancouver. Just kidding. But what I’m not joking about are the following five foods to avoid on date night.

KAi JACOBSON PhOTO illUSTrATiON/ThE UBYSSEY

riBs This might seem like a no-brainer, but then again, ribs are just so damn good. Pork or beef, ribs satisfy the most primal of human instincts: tearing meat from a bone with your teeth. But save the primal acts for later and order something that won’t leave you looking like the barbecue-sauce version of Heath Ledger’s Joker. Try steak or pork chops instead; they’ll make you appear much more mature.

sPaghETTi You think that you can do this one gracefully, but you can’t. You can twirl the noodles around your fork until the cows come home,

DRINKING >>

Valentine’s wines

Four to drown your sorrows Joshua Decolognon Contriubtor

WHAT AM I EATING?

by Tyler Mcrobbie

Please, please, please avoid the classic barbecue sauce in the beard mistake.

but there will always be that stray strand ready to whip you right in the face. You’ll be left with Bolognese stains that scream, “I consistently make bad life decisions!” Ideally, you should avoid all long noodles, including linguine, fettuccine and spaghettini.

onions anD garLiC These two are tricky because they’re so ubiquitous in good food.

What Italian dish doesn’t have one or both of these ingredients in it?

The problem is that they result in some pretty pungent halitosis. The key is to work together with your date: either you both order the Caesar salad, or neither of you do.

Either way, you’ll be in the same boat and there will be no cause for embarrassment. Carry some gum regardless.

LoBsTEr This is where that unsightly bib I mentioned earlier comes in. But apart from that, eating shellfish like crab and lobster is difficult and somewhat barbaric-looking. This is especially true if you don’t know what you’re doing; you run the risk of being made a fool of by a dead crustacean, and no one wants that.

There are many things that say “I’m a baller” better than eviscerating an animal. Instead, order a nice bottle of wine that you can both enjoy. U

10

Need wine for that intimate, romantic dinner? That’s great. Stop reading this article and go away.

My single-hearted brethren, have no fear: even though alcohol is one of the worst bandages for a non-special Valentine’s Day, there’s no harm in trying to make the best of it.

But first: the prime Valentine’s wine-pairing tip? Stay clear of chocolate with champagne, unless you want your drink to taste like those lemons that life is throwing at you. If you’re adamant on stuffing your face with chocolate, skip the dry sparkling wines and go for something sweeter and richer, like port.

2011 Sumac Ridge Private Reserve Gewurztraminer ($14.99) After a nauseating week of incessant heart-themed decor and cheesy Facebook quotes, cooking a nice meal might seem unappealing. So why not pick up a bottle of white and some takeout?

Gewurztraminer is a great pairing for Chinese takeout: its slight sweetness helps to quench delicious Sriracha-induced burning, and the grape has a unique flavour profile that typically involves lychee, spice and flowers.

This pink and fleshy grape variety has relatively higher amounts of alcohol and an oily, smooth texture; pair it with acoustic guitar covers and Adele on repeat.

Never mind, I’ll find someone like Gew.

2010 Andre Vinet Muscadet de Sèvre-etMaine Sur Lie Le Chant de la Mer ($21.99) If you happen to be crying salty tears of loneliness, have no fear.

There’s a wine for that.

Muscadet, made from Melon de Bourgogne, has its home in

the Loire Valley of France. Along with its delicate apple notes, this Muscadet has fresh briny and yeasty characteristics that happen to pair well with one of the unhappier bodily fluids.

But if you happen to do some cooking between bouts of tears, try this wine with lighter seafood — especially the aphrodisiac oyster. There are plenty of fish in the sea, and lots of them pair well with Muscadet.

2011 Maison Lorgeril L’Orangeraie Rosé ($14.99) If seeing pink doesn’t trigger your gag reflex, this great value rosé will do wonders.

This wine exudes light strawberry notes along with fresh acidity and just a touch of sweetness. Rosé is quite versatile, so it’s great if you’re a last-minute dinner type — whether that calls for pizza for three or burgers and a Game of Thrones marathon for one.

Meat lovers, take note: smoked meats and savoury rosés match as well as hydration and a hangover. <em>

</em>

Martini Asti ($12.99) If your roommate hasn’t already left an empty bottle of this lying around somewhere, then here’s an introduction.

Sometimes drier wines aren’t cupid-made matches, so why not go for a combination of something sparkling, sweet and affordable?

With flavours that lean towards the sweeter green and stone fruit sections of the produce market, this quaffable, crowd-pleasing white is sure to resound well with lighter desserts. Don’t want to spoil yourself? Pair this with a fruit salad.

At seven per cent ABV, it’s not so much of an alcoholic commitment, unlike that one crappy relationship that you’d much rather never bring up again.

Cheers to that! U

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013 |

STUDENT VOICe. COMMUNITY REACH.

TWU’s anti-gay pledge and the Christian PR problem

LAST WORD

PERSPECTIVES

by Bryan Sandberg indiana joel illustration/the ubyssey

Cashing in on ending stigma Any conversation about mental health invariably includes some mention of “ending the stigma.”

The basic idea is that mental health issues are still misunderstood by the general public, and need to be brought into the mainstream pantheon of illness.

This is all well and good: mental health issues tend to fly under the radar, and many people don’t have the tools to understand whether they’re suffering from depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or any other number of mental maladies.

So yes, let’s bring the issue out into the open and reduce stigma. But as these issues become part of everyday discussion, there’s a new danger: mental illness may become commercialized.

We saw this with Bell Canada’s recent “Let’s Talk” campaign, in which the telecom giant donated five cents per text and social media share to mental health programs. Some might dismiss the concern that major companies are getting involved as reactionary. After all, at the end of the day, it’s money to a good cause.

But we’ve seen what happens when marketers get ahold of “awareness” campaigns. The “Pink” campaign for breast cancer, for example, has become a billion-dollar industry.

Same goes for prostate cancer awareness. These illnesses are now rolled into tightly scripted marketing campaigns, with precoded messages about what it is to be sick and what recovery looks like.

It would be a shame to see mental health campaigns fall victim to the same kind of crass commercialization. It’s debatable whether Bell Canada’s Let’s Talk campaign amounts to profiteering from illness. But the bottom line is that stories of those who struggle with mental illness can’t be told through a promoted hashtag.

Ladder silliness There’s some top-flight silliness brewing in the tale of an Acadia Park student whose bikes were

allegedly stolen from his balcony using a (possibly decommissioned) UBC ladder.

The student says his bikes were stolen from a UBC residence balcony using a UBC-branded ladder, so UBC should be liable for their cost.

But UBC says the ladder in question was so old and unsafe that no university employee could possibly have been using it, thus putting them in the clear.

To the student, we have to ask: Why did you put your multi-thousand-dollar bikes on your open balcony, completely unsecured? Yeah, maybe living in a cozy and neighbourly place like Acadia Park gave you a false sense of security. But anyone who’s been at UBC for longer than a day knows how rampant bike theft is in these parts. You should aggressively secure your two-wheeled assets if you expect any sympathy at all.

Students: Get your bike-securing act together. UBC: get your ladder-vetting act together, or something.

RE: A bike theft from a thirdfloor balcony using a UBC ladder

And to UBC, we ask: What the hell is going on with your ladders? As UBC Housing tells the story, the nefarious bike thief must’ve hopped into a time machine to secure a ladder as old as the original Degrassi.

Because there’s no possible way any current university employees could’ve left such a dangerous and outmoded piece of equipment lying around.

This argument is awfully convenient. Something doesn’t become impossible just because it would be bad for UBC if it were true, despite whatever staff would like to think.

So, students: Get your bike-securing act together.

UBC: Get your ladder-vetting act together, or something.

Then we won’t have any similarly silly shenanigans to report on in the future. Wait — never mind. I guess we should ask all <em>

11

of you to keep being silly.

Time to test the teachers UBC is taking a step in the right direction on midterm teaching evaluations.

It makes sense to consider the structure of a course halfway through: professors get a chance to gather some direct feedback and actually become aware of students’ concerns. If students are assessed partway through the term with exams and papers, professors should be evaluated at the same time.

However, the halfway point of a term is too late to make any major changes to the curriculum. It’s unlikely that midterm evaluations will drastically alter courses, but at least they give the professor something to consider.

To Valentine’s Day lovers: No one can tell us we’re wrong In the yearly debate over Valentine’s Day, it’s easy to feel like the cynics have won. The push to commercialize every holiday means that couples can feel forced to buy $100 dinners and overpriced roses on Feb. 14, and single people can feel entirely excluded. But if you try, you can find a bit more meaning in it.

On this Valentine’s Day, take some time out to celebrate love regardless of whether or not it’s romantic.

Wear red and be shameless about it. Call your parents.

Celebrate the close friends in your life. (Palentine’s Day parties are awesome.) Take yourself out on a date. Do something you love doing.

The best way to reclaim this weird holiday is to just be passionate about things. Whatever you do, have as much fun with it as you can, because you’re awesome and you want to.

Doing things with conviction is probably the best way to celebrate a day named after a guy sentenced to death for officiating illegal weddings.

Regardless of whether or not you have a romantic partner or just a bunch of awesome friends and family, try to love really hard today and you won’t regret it. U

Trinity Western University, a private Christian institution in Langley, B.C., would like to build a law school. Normally this would not be a controversial move. But TWU requires all students to sign a code of conduct that precludes “sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman.” This is not the first time the school’s views on homosexuality have made headlines. In 2001, TWU applied to the British Columbia College of Teachers for accreditation for a new teacher’s college. The BCCT declined the application, citing the student code of conduct. The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, which ultimately ruled that TWU was entitled to its religious views.

But according to Bryan Sandberg, a columnist at the TWU campus paper, Mars’ Hill , TWU students who hold such homophobic views are in the minority.

He argues that such views are not compatible with true Christian faith and are disastrous for the public perception of the church. </em>

LANGLEY (CUP) — Christianity has a public relations nightmare on its hands: every­one thinks Christians hate gay people.

Okay, so I’m exaggerating — not everybody thinks that. However, it’s closer to being true than some would like to admit.

A 2007 book by Christian pollsters David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons titled unChristian found that an astonishing 91 per cent of 16- to 29-year-olds that don’t attend a church described the Chris­t ian church as being “antihomo­sexual.”

This was also the number one negative perception against the church the authors found, ranking even more highly than complaints that the church was “judgmental” or “hypocritical.”

For those of us with strong ties to Trinity Western Univer­sity, this accusation is wearily famil­iar. In the early 2000s, Trinity West­ern was forced to defend itself before the Supreme Court of Canada against accusations of anti-gay discrimination. These same accusations are now cropping up in 2013. And while the Supreme Court of Canada did rule in favour of TWU in 2001 on the basis of freedom of religion, it is unfortunate that the religion we are free to have is being reduced in the public’s minds to statements about gay people.

In the midst of the mainstream church fielding phone calls about dis­c rimination and <em>

</em>

PHOTO COURTESY MARS’ HILL

lamenting persecu­t ion by those who disagree with them, there is a very important situation that is not being addressed.

When Christi­a nity, a belief system whose core mes­sage hinges on God’s love for all peo­ple, is accused far and wide of hating approximately 10 per cent of the population, that is a very serious problem. That the Christian church’s response has been, at best, apathetic, and at worst, self-satisfied about this state of affairs is even worse.

When I first came out to my Christian minis­ter parents, both of whom had strong Bible school training and spoke regu­larly in churches, I was told with com­ plete sincerity that I could not be gay and Christian.

So while Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection and ascen­sion could save somebody like Saul of Tarsus, my sexual orientation alone was sufficient grounds for my theo­logically educated Christian parents (who I love very dearly and have come a long way over the years) to doubt my salvation.

I’m not alone in having to deal with new difficulties after com­ ing out. A great number of gay Chris­t ians have found themselves rejected by their families, kicked out of their churches or stripped of their leader­ship positions, all because of judgment against their sexual orientation.

This should not be. If Christ truly came to save humanity, we as his followers should be eager to extend that same love and grace to all, without regard to race, gender or sexual orientation.

Here at Trinity Western, we know the Christian community does not have to be hostile towards gay and lesbians. I am only one of numerous gay and lesbian students who have had very positive experiences being welcomed and loved by this amazing commu­n ity.

However, it is important for us to be aware that the level of ac­ceptance found here is not the norm among Christian communities across North America. It is to the Christian church’s detriment that such discrim­inatory, prejudiced patterns continue unchecked, causing them to be seen as defining what Christians are about. It is my hope that those who have ex­perienced welcoming Christian com­munity, be it at Trinity Western or elsewhere, seek to carry the same accepting embrace beyond this cam­pus.

In doing so, may we as a com­ munity take even small steps towards correcting what is one of the modern day Christian church’s most grievous wrongs.

12 | FeATURes |

ThURsDAY, FeBRUARY 14, 2013

Sit in the UBC Rose Garden or take a walk through the Nitobe Memorial Garden and just chat. It’s easy, stress-free, cost-free, and a good way to get to know each other without going too fast.

If you’re going to be spending a fair bit of time together you might as well get it out of the way with a simple lunch date. End the date with a Blue Chip cookie. Extra points if you split it.

By now you should know what similar interests you have. You could go to War Memorial Gym and cheer on your favourite team, walk through the Botanical Gardens or go see the latest horror movie. But whatever it is, make sure both of you are excited about it.

Go out for a night, just you two. Find somewhere off campus, or keep it simple and visit the Point Grill or the Village. Either way it’s time to get romantic. Maybe end the night with a moonlit walk.

Have an off-campus adventure! Maybe take a day trip to Stanely Park. Clearly you two get along, so dedicate an entire day to one another and find something you both like to do. It could be visiting the aquarium, or biking around the edges, or even just taking in the gorgeous scenery.

PHOTOGRAPHY: YES, IT’S FREUDIAN

Take photos for The Ubyssey Kai Jacobson | art@ubyssey.ca