Monday, april 14, 2014 |
STUDENT VOICE. COMMUNITY REACH.
THE BEST OF THiS YEAr’S LAST WOrDS 1. Everyone shut up, the sports review is fine “Sexist Province columnist Tony Gallagher described the sports review committee a ‘think tank’ of experts composed of eight women — nine if you include Cowin herself — and two men. “‘Given its makeup,’ he adds, ‘you can prett y much guess the outcome will favour club and recreational sports to the very great detriment of varsity teams.’” 2. How the AMS bungled New SUB naming “If you’re going to name your Student Union Building after your student union, why not just leave it as the SUB? Or, if you want to get really adventurous with your rebranding, even the AMS SUB?” 3. Make our campus safe “While nobody is more to blame for these repulsive, cowardly attacks than the attackers who have been trying to molest women, those responsible for security on campus must be able to restore and maintain a sense of safety for students.” 4. The Ubyssey endorses divestment “Environmentally friendly? UBC and its sustainable initiatives are called into question by their investment
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A VISUAL GUIDE TO THE YEAR IN UBYSSEY STAFF OPINIONS
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of tens of millions of dollars in fossil fuels. While students may be coddled with LEED-certified buildings and Plant Ops hybrids on campus, the university is using its endowment to support companies responsible for global warming and pollution which decimates various local communities.”
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5. Moving on up? “While we don’t like seeing current UBC varsity teams in danger of losing their status, we applaud the university for offering AMS sports clubs to become competitive clubs under the UBC Athletics umbrella. Members of these clubs put considerable time, effort and money into their training and competition schedules, without much support from the university.” 6. Counselling reality clashes with rhetoric “It is disappointing to learn of the problems at UBC Counselling
Services. Awareness campaigns, and societal recognition is only as good as the services to back it up. The fact that Counselling is underfunded and, according to some students interviewed by The Ubyssey, just not very good, is discouraging to say the least.” 7. Whistler lodge debate needs to die “The Ski and Board Club’s campaign to force a another vote on the Whistler Lodge is well-intentioned, but as it stands, it’s a bad idea.” U
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Illustrations by Jethro Au (2, 4, 5, 6, 7), Indiana Joel (3) and David Marino (1)
Tar sands and the patriarchy are irrelevant
Calling for a new campus activism ARNO LAND
By Arno Rosenfeld
We need effective activism on this campus and we don’t have much of it. A central aspect of the problem is the increasing tendency among all of us to focus on intensely personal concerns. For a generation that has grown up on the Internet, this isn’t shocking. After all, our many screens promise interconnectivity, not unity — and most of us are happy to connect to other like-minded individuals and media. UBC then becomes not our community but a degree mill of sorts. Our university is where we go to boost our employment prospects, and maybe get an education. Outside of class, we’ll concern ourselves with our social lives and perhaps Reddit threads, Instagramming our lives and online “activism.” Even the parts of our lives outside the classroom that should intersect with UBC — our student friends, hookups, boyfriends and girlfriends, intramural teammates — seem to be neatly segregated from our connection to the university as such. For example, despite the connections made in first-year student residences, few seem to care much about where
the floormates they partied with end up the next year if there’s not enough student housing on campus to go around. The university has been going through big changes in recent years that we should all care about. Do you want to keep paying more for your education? Do you care how long it takes you to get to class? Do you care about construction on campus or the absence of a better party scene? What about UBC's plans to uncap the percentage of international students at UBC and open a new school for students who don’t speak English but will happily pay higher tuition? Or the fact we took $25 million in government funds to promote the interests of Canadian mining companies abroad? But the response to all these issues has been a collective “meh” on the part of most students and a “But the patriarchy! And colonialism! And the tar sands!” from the handful of students who fancy themselves student activists. The activists suffer from the same individualistic tunnel vision the rest of us do. During the sports targeting review, UBC athletes would stand up for their team’s future, but varsity players never publicly banded together in a unified display of solidarity. The leaders of the activism coming out the Sauder rape cheer revelation and sexual assaults pushed
FILE PHOTO GEOFF LISTER/THE UBYSSEY
If we can make protests social and inclusive events like the Undie Run, social justice on campus will receive a big boost.
The response to key issues on campus has been a collective “meh” from most students, and a “But the patriarchy! And colonialism! And the tar sands!” from student activists. a decidedly radical agenda instead of giving voice to the hundreds of students who initially appeared ready to march on campus to demand safety and an end to the tolerance of sexism at UBC. Even the divestment movement led by UBCC350, arguably this year’s most successful case of political activism, had almost nothing to do with the university. Their crowning achievement was to pass a symbolic resolution with no actual impact. Feeling empowered yet? Of course, it is easy to blame
the groups above; they’re actually doing something that can be criticized. More of the problem lies with all you, and me, who took part in little or no activism whatsoever. It doesn’t have to be this way. We all seem to revel in the few opportunities we’re given a chance to come together. Storm the Wall, the Welcome Back BBQ and Block Party, UBC Party Calendar’s winter swim at Wreck Beach and the Undie Run are all a huge hit with students. While all those events are inherently awesome, I think we also enjoy them because as much as we keep to our own groups, it's fun to actually come together as UBC students. Smart and savvy activism on issues impacting students — tuition, transit, construction, beer gardens and, yes, social issues like sexism and racism — could do the same thing social events like Block Party do: make us happy and bring us together, while also agitating for some important change. In fact, the AMS could even take
two minutes at Block Party or the Welcome Back BBQ to tell students about some pressing issues. Ditto to the organizers of, say, the Undie Run. “Hey everyone: FYI, we have a petition to allow more day drinking on campus. You guys should sign it! OK, now, let’s run through campus in our underwear.” Even 50 students protesting, well, anything, really, could get the university’s attention and show all students that there are things we should care about at UBC. A new campus activism will take leaders willing to compromise on issues about which they are passionate to draw in a wider base of supporters. It’ll also take a student body willing to take a few hours each term to step outside their bubble and go stand up for something. If we build a culture on campus of seriously advocating for our own interests, our community will gain strength across the board and when more serious issues come up, we’ll be ready to tackle them. U