October 29, 2012

REST IN PEACE SALLY THE PRINTER | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2012 SINCE 1918

UBC’S OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER | OCTOBER 29, 2012 | VOLUME XCIV| ISSUE XVII

KEEP ON TREKKIN’

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90 years ago, students marched to Point Grey to demand a proper university campus from the provincial government. But does the Great Trek still hold any meaning for students today? P6

THE UBYSSEY ‘THERE IS ONLY THE SOUND’

SOCCER

SEMIS The T-Birds women’s soccer team is headed to semi-finals after a win over the U of A Pandas P5

Senior culture writer Rhys Edwards experiences existential emptiness, spiritual triumph at last Saturday’s Bassnectar concert P8

HEART TO HEART

The new head of UBC cardiology wants to change how people get help for arrhythmia P3

TAs STRIKE

UBC’s teaching assistants begin job action Monday. Read about how you may be affected on P3

MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2012 |

YOUR GUIDE TO UBC EVENTS + PEOPLE

What’s on Tue 1229

OUR CAMPUS

THIS WEEK, MAY WE SUGGEST...

JUSTICE >>

2

ONE ON ONE WITH THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE UBC

MONDAY

International Justice and Refugees: 7:30 p.m. @ St. John’s College

Interested in international relations and law? The Justice Committee is hosting a dialogue session on international justice and refugees. Eunyoung Christina Choi, an expert on the issue of North Korean refugees in China, will be the guest speaker at the event.

Tue 1230

12 1Tue

BIKES >>

TUESDAY

PEACE >>

THURSDAY

Purple and Yellow Bike Mechanics Work Party: 6 p.m. @ the SUB Do you like bicycles? Do you like free pizza? If so, the Bike Kitchen is hosting an event for current and potential volunteers. Meet new people and learn more about bike repairs and the Bike Co-Op. Tue 1231

THE CLUB >>

WEDNESDAY

Trip-o-ween: 9 p.m. @ Fortune Sound Club Looking for a party to celebrate Halloween night? Fortune Sound Club presents Trip-o-ween. The club will be transformed into a haunted house-style party. $15.

Tue 122

PHOTO COURTESY TAYLOR MARTIN

For Taylor Martin and Rene Allain, home sweet home is a 26-foot sailboat in need of some serious TLC.

UBC Meditation Community’s Sitting Group: 5:30 p.m. @ SUB Room 211 Distracted while studying for midterms? The UBC Meditation Community might be able to help.

Attend a weekly session of concentrated meditation. All people from different levels of experience are welcome.

WRITING >>

FRIDAY

Writing Help Drop-Ins: 3 p.m. @ Chapman Learning Commons Are you getting stuck on how to write your paper? Need help in developing an outline or formatting your paper for citations?

There are fellow students willing to volunteer their time to help you. Tutorials are open until 7 p.m. Free.

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

Video content Make sure to check out our latest video about the Great Trek, airing now at ubyssey.ca/videos.

U THE UBYSSEY

EDITORIAL

Senior Lifestyle Writer STAFF Zafira Rajan Bryce Warnes, Josh Curran, zrajan@ubyssey.ca

Coordinating Editor Jonny Wakefield coordinating@ubyssey.ca Features Editor Natalya Kautz features@ubyssey.ca Managing Editor, Print Jeff Aschkinasi Video Editor printeditor@ubyssey.ca David Marino video@ubyssey.ca Managing Editor, Web Andrew Bates Copy Editor webeditor@ubyssey.ca Karina Palmitesta News Editors Will McDonald + Laura Rodgers news@ubyssey.ca

copy@ubyssey.ca

Senior News Writer Ming Wong mwong@ubyssey.ca

Graphics Assistant Indiana Joel ijoel@ubyssey.ca

Culture Editor Anna Zoria culture@ubyssey.ca

Layout Artist Collyn Chan cchan@ubyssey.ca

Senior Culture Writer Rhys Edwards redwards@ubyssey.ca

Videographer Soo Min Park spark@ubyssey.ca

Sports + Rec Editor CJ Pentland sports@ubyssey.ca

Webmaster Riley Tomasek webmaster@ubyssey.ca

Art Director Kai Jacobson art@ubyssey.ca

Peter Wojnar, Anthony Poon, Veronika Bondarenko, Yara De Jong, Lu Zhang, Ginny Monaco, Arno Rosenfeld, Matt Meuse, Hogan Wong, Rory Gattens, Brandon Chow, Joseph Ssettuba

OCTOBER 29, 2012 | VOLUME XCIV| ISSUE XVII BUSINESS

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They’re on a boat Will McDonald News Editor

Two UBC students have found a way to get around the high cost of living in Vancouver.

Taylor Martin and Rene Allain have been living on a sailboat anchored off the shore of Kits Beach since September.

Martin said that Allain has always dreamed of owning a boat, so when the two saw a free one on Craigslist last spring, they decided to seize the opportunity.

The 26-foot sailboat needed a lot of work, but first, the pair had to get it from Port Moody to its current home at Kits Beach.

The boat’s sails and motor weren’t functional at the time, so it wasn’t an easy trip. It took eight days to make the commute; the boat was powered by a generator and a car battery rigged together to run a small motor.

“We were waiting for when the tide was rolling out, when it was slack tide, so that the current wouldn’t be pushing us backwards. And then we’d go as far as we could for that day and then drop anchor … and make our way back towards Kits Beach,” said Martin.

Martin and Allain spent last summer fixing up the boat,

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and they had their work cut out for them.

“We were doing everything.

It just needed to be stripped.

It was all moldy, there was a bunch of old paint and a pool of gasoline at the bottom.… It was getting pretty gross,” said Martin.

And when the school year rolled in and neither had found a place to live yet, they realized the boat gave them options beyond just sailing. “[We] didn’t want to deal with finding a house or a sublet and kind of had a cheaper option, so we just decided to live on a boat.”

The boat now has a table and benches built from free scrap wood found around Vancouver.

It also has three beds, a toilet, a portable water tank and a camping stove.

“It’s pretty simple for now.

It’s kind of more like camping, but it’s getting there,” said Martin.

His before-school routine involves an unusual commute: 100 metres by canoe from boat to shore.

Martin said they don’t have anywhere to store the canoe, so they stash it in some blackberry bushes near the beach. He said no one has stolen it, but it doesn’t always stay where they leave it.

“Usually what happens is

someone has come down in the middle of the night or someone was pretty drunk and they’re like, ‘Oh, let’s take the canoe out.’ And they tend to not get very far,” said Martin.

Once on shore, the two friends bike from Kits Beach to campus, where Martin is a fourth-year geography student studying environmental sustainability. He said he plans to move to a regular house in Whistler after he finishes his degree this summer, and Allain plans to move to Vancouver Island. But both will be back on the boat before long.

“It’s kind of coming to the end of its term right now, but we plan on moving back onto it in the spring and fixing it up before we take it on a trip somewhere,” said Martin.

Martin said the boat still needs a new sail, rudder and motor. Despite the much-needed repairs, Martin has hopes for a seaworthy vessel by next fall.

“We both surf a lot. We want to take it on a big trip down to South America, maybe across into the Caribbean, just visiting friends along the way, and we’ll see how long it takes us to get down there,” said Martin.

“Whenever it’s too stormy to sail, we’ll surf, and whenever it’s nice and calm, we’ll keep sailing.” U

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2012 |

EDITORS WILL MCDONALD + LAURA RODGERS

TRANSIT >>

3

LABOUR >>

TA union CUPE 2278 to begin strikes today Laura Rodgers News Editor

Michael Ip PHOTO/THE UBYSSEY

The TransLink Mayors’ Council, along with the student-based Get On Board group, wants the province to levy road tolls to fund transit, but the idea has been met with resistance.

How the TransLink funding scramble will affect students U-Pass negotiations hang in limbo as mayors and lobby group push the province for more cash Arno Rosenfeld Staff Writer

The battle between local mayors and the province over transit funding, which escalated following a meeting of the mayors last week, could have dire consequences for students who rely on TransLink.

The mayors voted Thursday to reject TransLink’s request for a temporary property tax increase, which they had previously agreed to. They set up a February deadline for the province to find a sustainable funding model for TransLink.

“They’re cutting 366,000 hours [of service] next year,” said Tanner Bokor, AMS associate vice-president external, who heads the new transit lobbying group Get On Board. “That will have a very detrimental effect on students who take the bus to UBC every single day.”

The mayors want the province to explore what they call sustainable funding models for transit, and they put forth road pricing, such as tolls, as the ideal source of funding for TransLink expansion. If a sustainable model is not reached by

NEWS BRIEFS

February, the mayors may re-implement the property tax as one source of funding.

So far the provincial government has been very quiet on how they plan to respond to the mayors’ ultimatum.

“Once there is a publicly supported vision that has cost estimates and a clear and articulate plan, we will all be in a better position to look at funding tools,” Mary Polak, minister of transportation and infrastructure, said in an email statement.

Maria Harris, director of Electoral Area A and member of the Mayors’ Council, criticized the minister’s remarks.

“For the province to come out and say they’re looking for the mayors to come out with a clear and articulate plan and cost estimates — what then? How can we do that without having the party that is ultimately making the decision at the table and taking responsibility?

“The ball has been in the province’s court for two years,” Harris added, “and the province has done

nothing but say what they won’t do.”

TransLink had asked the Mayors’ Council on Transportation to provide $30 million in property taxes to fund the next two years, but unless something changes, the agency will be forced to dip into its $300 million of reserves instead.

Road pricing, which would charge drivers for how far and how often they drive, is generally considered a sound source of funding and is used in several cities around the world. However it is unpopular politically, and with elections in May, it might have little traction among provincial politicians.

Bokor said that if road pricing was implemented regionally, meaning the fees raised in Vancouver went to fund projects in that city, that could expedite the creation of a rapid transit line to UBC. He added that TransLink was prepared to create such a line, but they don’t have enough money to do so.

Harris said without the province allowing the mayors to use new forms of funding, it is unlikely that

there will be increased service along the Broadway corridor to UBC. Bokor said Get On Board supports road pricing as one means of funding, but also wants to explore reallocation of other taxes, including the carbon tax, corporate tax, sales tax and property tax.

But he emphasized that the most important goal right now is to get the cities and the province talking.

“We need to sit everyone down at one table instead of working in these separate silos, as has occurred for the past couple years, and basically say, do we want to have a functioning public transportation system in the future, or do we want to continue this decline?”

U-Passes, which are currently being negotiated between the AMS and TransLink, will also be affected by a decrease in transit funding.

“The more adequately funded the transit system is, certainly the better the ability to have favourable [U-Pass] terms and the better the ability to serve people once they have their U-Pass,” said VP External Kyle Warwick. U

HEALTH >>

Student-led environmental group protests oil pipelines at Premier Clark’s office

UBC cardiology head wants you to listen to your heart

Hundreds of activists, led by the UBC350 student environmental group, marched to Premier Christy Clark’s constituency office on Oct. 24 to protest the oil pipelines proposed to run to B.C.’s coast. The group wore colourful costumes and brought with them a papier-mâché oil tanker and a marching band.

Their protest was part of a larger demonstration of over 60 environmental activism assemblies across B.C., channeling energy from a 3,000-person anti-pipeline rally at the legislature in Victoria last Monday.

“More than 300 people came out to call upon our premier to say no to the Kinder Morgan and Enbridge pipeline proposals because of the immense risks they pose to our coast, our climate and our future,” said UBC geography student and UBCC350 representative Quinn Runkle.

“It’s really important for our premier to know that people aren’t just going to mobilize in Victoria, they’re also going to be mobilizing in their own community, in all sorts of ways, and really making our voice heard.”

She added that it’s particularly important for youth and students to be present.

“As young people, we must make our voices heard and ensure that Premier Clark knows that this will be an electoral issue in May.” U

UBC’s new head of cardiology plans to make changes across the province.

Dr. Andrew Krahn plans to create a province-wide network of clinics to help people with inherited arrhythmia, a heart condition that causes the heart to beat too quickly or slowly. It can cause fainting and sudden death.

Krahn is working on this network with Dr. Laura Arbour, a pediatrician and practicing clinical geneticist in UBC’s department of medical genetics.

Individuals found to have an inherited arrhythmia will be referred to a clinic at St. Paul’s Hospital or the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria.

There are about 7,000 people in B.C. with inherited arrhythmias, and for every person who has been identified as having this condition, roughly four more at-risk family members will be detected.

“Many but not all of these [arrhythmias] are inherited, so when we see somebody who has this, there’s a reasonable chance that their parents or families have it,” Krahn said.

For this reason, the patients’ relatives will be referred to the same clinic. Both individual

Sarah Bigam Contributor

PHOTO COURTESY DON ERHARDT

Andrew Krahn wants to set up a network of specialized heart clinics across B.C.

patients and their family members will be looked at to identify anybody who is at risk.

“For every patient we see, we’ll go about prevention strategies for them,” Krahn said. “We can give them advice on what tests and treatments are available and try to prevent this [sudden death] from happening.”

Inherited arrhythmia is quite a specialized area, Krahn said, although clinics focused on arrhythmias are appearing in some places throughout Canada as more attention is drawn to the condition.

In areas of B.C. where such clinics are not yet available, Krahn and Arbour are expecting to find a local contact. There are no plans for new clinics to be established for this network in the short term. Krahn said that

the network will provide a system for transporting patients to and from clinics.

In addition to in-person clinics at St. Paul’s and the Royal Jubilee, video clinics will also be held through facetime and Skype for people in the B.C. Interior and up north.

“Many of these patients are people who don’t know who the experts are or what the options for care are, so [we’ll provide] education for people,” said Krahn.

Krahn and Arbour started the planning process for the network in April and are hoping to have their first clinic in early January.

They plan to offer a range of information so that potential patients know this program exists.

“It’s a combination of awareness and prevention,” Krahn said of the network system. U

UBC’s unionized teaching assistants (TAs), represented by the CUPE 2278 local, plan to begin job action today after serving 72-hour strike notice on Friday.

According to union spokesperson Trish Everett, it’s “highly likely” that job action will start as early as the union is legally allowed, which is at 3 p.m. on Monday.

Everett said that she wasn’t able to say what form the job action will take. “We will minimize the effect on students to the extent that we’re able,” she said.

If picket lines do form around classes, midterms or labs, students have the option not to cross them, but they’ll have to notify UBC first.

Director of UBC Public Affairs Lucie McNeill said that even if a student already gave notice that they didn’t want to cross a picket line while the CUPE 116 support worker union was striking, they’ll have to give notice again during this new labour dispute.

She said that students should give notice by email to their dean or faculty; the email needs to be received either by Oct. 31 at 3 p.m. or before a student’s first midterm exam after job action begins, whichever comes first.

“UBC respects the collective bargaining process, and that extends to the right of bargaining groups to take on job action should they feel that that’s necessary,” said McNeill.

“They have the initiative in this....

The extent of job action, the form that job action takes, this is entirely up to them. The campus and the university will be ready.”

CUPE 2278 President Conrad King said the union opted to exit mediation and start a strike because he didn’t think they were gaining any ground in talks with UBC. The last mediation session between the two parties was on Oct. 12. “We feel that didn’t work,” said King.

The union wants higher wages that are comparable to those of teaching assistants at the University of Toronto, hiring preference for fifth-year Ph.D. students and third-year master’s students, and some form of tuition waiver from the university. The university is bound by the provincial net zero and cooperative gains mandates in these negotiations, which prevent or restrict wage hikes in publicly funded jobs.

McNeill said that the university is not interested in offering a full tuition waiver to TAs. “We believe there is an employment relationship that exists between the university and its 3,000 TAs that are members of CUPE 2278, and that is quite separate [from] the student relationship that exists [with] them when they are graduate students,” she said.

“Tuition is simply not part of that package.”

McNeill said that the university hopes to return to mediation with the union soon. UBC has offered the union the option of negotiating with a higher-profile mediator at the Labour Relations Board or bringing in a private mediator.

When a private mediator was brought in for talks between UBC and CUPE 116, a deal was reached in 34 hours of negotiation over one weekend.

Everett said the TAs do want to go back to bargaining with UBC as soon as they can, but they hope that undergoing job action in the meantime will make the talks more productive when they do happen. U

MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2012 |

EDITOR C.J. PENTLAND

VOLLEYBALL >>

T-Birds start year strong UBC beats Canada’s top-ranked team on Friday C.J. Pentland Sports + Rec Editor

It was the first time in over a year that the UBC women’s volleyball team was not ranked No. 1 in Canada heading into a match, but based on their effort on Friday night, they don’t plan to revisit that honour. The Thunderbirds got their regular season off to a convincing start yesterday, sweeping the current CIS No. 1 ranked Trinity Western University Spartans in three straight sets at War Memorial Gym. After falling to TWU last weekend in exhibition play, the Thunderbirds got their revenge when it mattered. Currently ranked No. 2 in the country, UBC received strong performances from all parts of their game and looked composed as they knocked off the country’s top team.

“I thought we were pretty steady basically throughout,” said UBC head coach Doug Reimer, who said he was impressed with his team’s overall composure and consistency. “[I liked] our emotional level and how we played as a group.”

After taking the first set 25-18, UBC was in full command during the second, leading all the way to take it 25-13. In the third set, the ’Birds got out to a bit of a slow start, but a tough effort saw them claw back to tie it midway through the set and pull away at the end, winning it 25-22.

The little things helped carry the T-Birds to victory. Their defensive game was very sound; they recorded 49 digs and 17 blocks to limit a high-powered Spartan attack. The serving game also proved to be critical, with the T-Birds serving eight aces to go along with countless other serves that kept Trinity Western on their heels.

BIRD DROPPINGS >>

Thunderbird weekend results MEN’S VOLLEYBALL HANGS TOUGH Friday night saw the UBC men’s volleyball team get down early to the CIS No. 2 ranked Trinity Western Spartans, but a tremendous come-from-behind effort saw them win the final three sets and come out victorious.

After dropping the first two sets 19-25 and 20-25, the No. 9 ranked Thunderbirds stormed back in and took the final three by scores of 2519, 25-20 and 15-12.

Middle Alex Russell was a constant force for UBC, recording 12 kills on .500 hitting while adding three blocks. Libero Ian Perry was also strong on defence, recording 13 digs.

The two teams rematched on Saturday, with TWU getting their revenge. They took down the ’Birds three sets to one, moving UBC to 1-1 on the regular season.

The T-Birds host No. 1 ranked Alberta next weekend at War Memorial Gym on Friday and Saturday night. First serve is 8 p.m. on Friday and 7 p.m. on Saturday.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY COMPLETES SWEEP

KAI JACOBSON PHOTO/THE UBYSSEY

UBC cruised to victory on Friday, beating Trinity Western in three straight sets.

On offence, six different players combined for 37 kills, 11 more than TWU. Lisa Barclay led the way with 12, while Rosie Schlagintweit added seven. Brina Derksen-Bergen was constantly setting up the attack, racking up 28 assists.

The T-Birds were tested again on Saturday night when they headed to Langley to take on TWU in their own gym. However,

the Spartans got their revenge, taking down the ’Birds three sets to one. UBC took the first set, but dropped the final three to move to 1-1 on the year.

Next weekend will provide another tough test for the Thunderbirds, as the CIS No. 3 ranked Alberta Pandas visit War Memorial Gym for a weekend series.

First serve is at 6 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday. U

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The UBC women’s hockey team used a couple of hard-fought efforts to take down the University of Saskatchewan Huskies this past weekend, defeating them 5-4 in overtime on Friday and 3-2 on Saturday.

Friday saw the ’Birds get out to an early 3-0 lead, but they gave up four straight goals to the Huskies to trail 4-3 after two periods. Christi Capozzi then tied the game up in the third to send the game to overtime, and in extra time she found Rebecca Unrau, who made no mistake firing it home to give UBC the victory.

Danielle Dube once again stood tall for the ’Birds, making 36 saves.

She currently has the fourth best goals against average (.941) in the Canada West.

Saturday night’s game was also

a tight affair. This time it was the ’Birds playing catch-up from the start, getting down 2-0 early. But Tatiana Rafter got UBC on the board in the second period, and Emily O’Neill tied it up 14 seconds later.

The two teams seemed to be poised to head into another overtime, but Kaitlin Imai broke the deadlock with just 2:51 remaining in the third period to give UBC the lead for good. Imai now ranks second in the Canada West scoring with 11 points in eight games.

Goalie Samantha Langford got the victory for UBC, stopping 30 of the 32 shots she faced to record her first win of the year.

The ’Birds are now 4-2-2 on the season, good for fourth in the Canada West. They return home next weekend to take on Mount Royal at Thunderbird Arena; puck drop is 7 p.m. on Friday night and 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

FOOTBALL ENDS SEASON WITH DEFEAT UBC football couldn’t manage to end their season on a high note, falling 52-24 to Saskatchewan on Friday night in Saskatoon. The loss gives the Thunderbirds a final record of 2-6 in the regular season, placing them fifth in the Canada West.

The game did feature some bright spots for quarterback Billy Greene.

Playing in his final game as a T-Bird, the reigning CIS MVP moved into third place for Canada West career passing yards, second place in career completions and ninth for career touchdown passes with 51. In total, Greene threw for 304 yards, including two TDs and an interception.

But besides Greene’s accomplishments, there weren’t many shining moments for the ’Birds. The defence struggled during the entire contest, giving up 31 points in the first half and a total of 534 yards.

The ’Birds must now regroup for next year and attempt to move on from a season that didn’t live up to expectations. U

HOCKEY >>

Hockey ’Birds stumble on the ice

C.J. Pentland Sports + Rec Editor

The UBC men’s hockey team dug a hole that they simply couldn’t climb out of on Saturday night; they got down early and ended up falling 5-1 to the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. It was their second loss of the weekend to the Huskies, who won 5-4 in against the Thunderbirds the previous night.

This weekend was a perfect chance for the CIS No. 10 ranked T-Birds to show that they are one of the Canada West’s top squads, as Saskatchewan is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation. Yet on Friday night they couldn’t take advantage of an early 2-0 lead, and on Saturday they simply couldn’t compete at the same level as the Huskies.

“This is the level we have to be at,” said UBC head coach Milan Dragicevic on Saturday night in reference to Saskatchewan’s play.

“It has to happen every night, not when we just want to play. If we want to be a good team — a great team — we have to bring it every night. We didn’t bring it tonight.”

Penalties were an issue for the ’Birds on Saturday; they totaled 18 minutes. Saskatchewan was able to capitalize, going two for three on the man advantage and not allowing UBC to pick up any momentum. The T-Birds able to

HOGAN WONG PHOTO/THE UBYSSEY

The UBC men’s hockey team had trouble stopping Saskatchewan, giving up 10 goals during the two-game series.

muster much offence, as it wasn’t until they were down 4-0 when Brad Hoban got the ’Birds on the board with a power play goal.

“I was disappointed with the pushback today; I didn’t think we pushed back very well,” said Dragicevic. “It was not overall a consistent pushback for when you’re down 2-0, 3-0, 4-0.”

As evidenced by the 10 goals allowed on the weekend, defence

once again proved to be a problem for UBC. Only three teams in all of Canada have allowed more goals than UBC, who have given up 54 over eight regular season games.

“We have to be better defensively; we talked about it before the game and we talked about it before the weekend,” said Dragicevic.

“We’re not going to win 6-5; that’s not who we are. Our guys [have] got to realize that.”

The normally high-powered offence, ranked third in the country in goals scored heading into Saturday’s game, also struggled on Saturday after a strong outing on Friday. Kevin Smith, Nate Fleming, Scott Wasden and Cole Pruden all tallied for UBC on Friday night, but only Hoban could crack the Huskies in game two. Aside from one power play goal, the ’Birds didn’t create many

quality scoring chances.

UBC has now moved to 4-3-1 on the year, dropping from second in the Canada West to fifth. In a conference as close as the Canada West, the ’Birds can’t afford to go on these losing streaks if they want to have a shot of making a deep playoff run.

“It’s a tough league; anyone can beat anyone. Come January and February, these points mean so much to us. These are playoff points for us; everything is a fourpoint game for us. And this is a huge lesson for our guys to learn,” said Dragicevic.

The T-Birds have a bye week next weekend, and will come back the following Friday to take on Mount Royal in Calgary. The bye week has the potential to be a blessing; it gives the ’Birds time to work on the facets of their game that weren’t up to par this past weekend. It also allows them to heal: captain Justin McCrae sat out Saturday’s contest due to a concussion received in Friday’s game.

The T-Birds saw firsthand this weekend what it takes to be one of Canada’s top teams. Now, it’s up to them to take what they learned and use it to show the country that they too belong in the same competition. U

MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2012

| sports + rec | 5

SOCCER >>

Women’s soccer off to the semis Thunderbirds dominate University of Alberta Pandas 4-0 C.J. Pentland Sports + Rec Editor

The UBC women’s soccer team is moving on to the next round of the Canada West playoffs. After soundly defeating the University of Alberta Pandas 4-0 on Saturday evening at Thunderbird Stadium, the ’Birds will be heading off to Langley next weekend to play in the conference semi-finals.

All facets of the T-Birds’ game clicked against the Pandas. They controlled the play for the majority of the match, limiting Alberta’s scoring chances and creating many of their own. After Christine Donnelly opened the scoring in the second minute, it was clear sailing for UBC to victory.

The T-Birds’ ability to create through balls and convert crosses proved to be key for their offensive attack. The Pandas had been stingy on defence all throughout the regular season, allowing a mere seven goals over 12 games, but this combination caused fits for Alberta and broke them down.

“They play a high square line, and they are vulnerable to penetrating passes, so we identified that,” said UBC head coach Mark Rogers. “We managed from a defensive standpoint to put some pressure on high up the pitch and win the ball back in their half, so you only need one or two passes to get in on goal from that position, and it worked out.”

Donnelly’s goal came off a header that fooled the Panda

Taryn Lim scored a goal in UBC’s 4-0 victory over Alberta on Saturday.

keeper. Rachel Ramsden’s tally, which made it a two-goal lead, came off a cross from Kelly Cook.

Ramsden took the feed on the right side and then deked past the keeper, putting the ball home from inside the six-yard box.

Taryn Lim widened the gap in the second half when she substituted into the game, heading home a cross from Janine Frazao. The game was then put completely out of reach in the 68th minute when Frazao broke down the left side and slipped the ball just inside the post.

“Alberta is a very good team.

They conceded seven goals all season, so to score four on them in one game is great, and we

could have had a few more too,” said Rogers. “[I’ve] got to hand it to the girls. At home we’ve been very, very good this year, scoring a minimum of four goals every time we’ve played here. Hats off to them. They thoroughly deserved the win.”

On the defensive side, goalie Alyssa Williamson was not called upon often, but she came up big when she needed to. The secondyear player made four saves and stood strong when the Pandas made a push at the start of the second half.

The T-Birds will now head to Langley next weekend for the Canada West Final Four hosted

by Trinity Western. They must

josh curran PHOTO/THE UBYSSEY

win their final two games there to qualify for nationals in Victoria.

UBC’s only two losses this season came against UVic and TWU, so the ’Birds will have their work cut out for them if they have visions of making it to nationals.

“I think that at the end of the day, you have to take each game as they come,” said Rogers. “Playing away from home in this league is never easy.

“All you can do today is enjoy that win, and now we turn our attention to who we have to play next.”

UBC will take on the Victoria Vikes in the semi-final on Saturday, while the final game will be on Nov. 4. U

MEN’S SOCCER A pair of ties on the weekend against Trinity Western University capped off an undefeated 11-0-3 regular season for the UBC men’s soccer team, as they played to a 0-0 draw on Friday night in Langley and a 2-2 decision on Saturday at Thunderbird Stadium. With the ties, UBC clinched first place in the Pacific division.

Friday night’s contest was the first time all season that the ’Birds had failed to score a goal. However, their defence stood strong, allowing only four shots, all of which goalie Luke O’Shea handled.

Saturday night saw both team’s offences come alive.

UBC opened the scoring in the 15th minute when Paul Clerc scored his fifth goal of the year on a header. TWU tied it up shortly after, but the T-Birds retook the lead just before halftime; Milad Mehrabi sent Sean Haley in on a breakaway and Haley made no mistake.

However, the Spartans scored the equalizer in the second half, and the game finished at 2-2.

The T-Birds receive a bye to the semi-finals next weekend in Alberta, where they will take on the winner of the Prairie division quarterfinal game.

To make the CIS nationals in Laval, Quebec, UBC must make the Canada West final.

Their semi-final match will take place on Friday and the final on Sunday. U

6 | feature |

MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2012

This seminal moment in UBC history epitomizes the idea of student engagement and activism.

But how connected are students to the university’s beginnings?

by Pavla Tan

M

ost students know that the new SUB building, a project both organized and funded by UBC students, is set to open its doors in 2014. However, students are less likely to know the new SUB is the most recent in a tradition of student initiatives dating back 80 years.

UBC’s culture of student activism began on Oct. 28, 1922.

Nine decades ago, 1,200 UBC students marched on a symbolic eight-kilometre journey to the Point Grey campus and convinced the government to construct UBC. Despite the Trek’s important place in UBC history, current students seem unable to find relevance in it.

Much like today, UBC students in the early 20th century were dissatisfied with the provincial government’s stance on post-secondary education.

In 1908, the B.C. provincial government passed the British Columbia University Act, legislation meant to establish a provincial university. Though the

government appointed a committee to investigate a potential site for the institution, the current location of Point Grey was not decided upon until 1910.

Three years later, the government broke ground on the University Endowment Lands with the start of construction for the Science Building, still standing on Main Mall as the Chemistry Building.

However, world events were not kind to the young UBC. With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, development of the university at Point Grey was put on hold. Eager students were forced into temporary facilities at the Fairview campus, now home to the Vancouver General Hospital.

“People … [had] to take classes in basements and churches and attics.

Classrooms were stuffed wherever they could find them and they were overcrowded. The conditions were appalling,” said university archivist Chris Hives, who has written several articles about UBC’s early years.

Between 1916 and 1922, enrolment at UBC expanded by 211

per cent. Stuck in Fairview’s inadequate facilities, students were unimpressed; those on the makeshift campus realized they would have to take action to realize their promised university.

“There was a very strong bond and camaraderie with the people,” said Hives. “They were very linked together in a common mission in a sense that [they] really had to do something to get the government to reinstate the development of the Point Grey campus.”

Forming the “Build the University” campaign, AMS President-elect Albert Richards led the Class of ’23 in a massive petition of 56,000 signatures, all collected by UBC students. Soon local businesses and organizations gave their support to the student movement.

Then on Oct. 28, the campaign came to a head.

Over 1,200 UBC students marched on a pilgrimage from the Fairview campus to the University Endowment Lands.

Beginning at the east end of the Georgia Viaduct and

traveling through downtown Vancouver, the students boarded B.C. Electric Railway trolley buses on Granville, dismounted at 10th Avenue and Sasamat and continued marching for three kilometres to the unfinished Science Building at Point Grey. The Trek concluded with the creation of a stone cairn, the first finished structure on campus, which is still standing on Main Mall.

Following the pilgrimage, the petition was delivered to the B.C. premier in Victoria.

“They succeeded in persuading the government to do what it should have done, when the [university] administration had not much luck,” said Herbert Rosengarten, professor emeritus of English. Rosengarten has been at UBC since 1965; he co-authored UBC: The First 100 Years , a history book documenting the university’s early years and development.

“The Great Trek was a real turning point,” said Rosengarten.

“It showed that the university was a force in the community, <em>

<em>

and people felt it was important, because it brought everybody together.”

In the following years, the government resumed construction of the university at its new campus site. The Science Building was finally completed in 1923, 10 years after its first ground-breaking. It was followed by the Main Library (now the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre) two years later.

I

•••

n the 90 years since, the seminal Trek has been recognized in varying ways on campus. For the several decades following the Trek, students and staff alike held an annual ceremony at the cairn in commemoration of the event. But at some point in the 1940s, Rosengarten said, the cairn ceremony disappeared from UBC tradition — and it seems the Trek’s relevance on campus is only continuing to fade.

“Today’s students are the beneficiaries of the work done by

MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2012

| feature | 7

1 Upon their arrival to campus, students spell out ‘UBC’ as a message to the provincial government.

2 The class of 1923 organized many public events to promote their cause, including a march through downtown Vancouver.

3 Students from the department of agriculture rally the public to support their university ambitions.

4 The “Fairview shacks” occupied by UBC students between 1916 and 1922 could not keep up with increasing enrolment.

5 The Main Library became the second building to be completed on Point Grey campus in 1925.

6 At the end of the Trek, students pose on the uncompleted Science Bulding with signs chiding the provincial government.

PHOTOS COURTESY UBC VIDEO ARCHIVES

STANLEY PARK

START

COLLYN CHAN GRAPHIC/THE UBYSSEY

Ninety years ago, 1,200 UBC students made the pilgrimage from downtown Vancouver to Point Grey. Starting at the east end of the Georgia Viaduct, the students rode trolley buses from Granville and Davie to 10th and Sasamat, then marched the three kilometres to campus.

those earlier students, and the work [this] generation of students does today is going to help students in the future. There should be a sense of that continuity, a sense of the history and of what we owe to the people who came before us,” he said.

If not a concrete knowledge of the Trek, then certainly the spirit continues to live on.

Chris Hives University archivist

Undoubtedly, the Great Trek was a formative moment in UBC history. But after 80 years, can the student body still identify with it?

One commemorative event run

by UBC REC is the Great Trek 8km Run and Relay. Beginning and ending at the cairn on Main Mall, the run takes place annually at the end of October.

Though it has only taken place for the past three years, the REC event is a direct reference to an historic UBC event called the Arts ’20 Relay. First organized in 1920 by UBC Arts students, the event was a relay from

Fairview to the promised Point Grey campus.

“That Arts Relay actually continued to about the ’40s, during which time the war provided an interruption,” recounted Michael Tan, REC associate director for intramurals and recreation. The event was restarted in 1969, but lack of finances forced it to shut down in 1994.

“When you coupled in costs, permits and all those other factors, unfortunately, the event was just unable to sustain itself,” said Tan. “So the Great Trek [Run and Relay] came along as a replacement.”

Tan said the Run and Relay covers roughly the same length as the journey from Fairview to Point Grey. “That’s a nice tie that we hope celebrates the history of the university.”

But despite REC’s efforts, Tan said he feels that many students remain unconnected to the university’s history.

“I’m not sure how aware they are of the history,” he said. “This is one of the efforts that we try to do to bring it to light. We hope people recognize why we are running the event.”

Rosengarten said he feels this historical disconnect does the UBC community a disservice.

“The AMS should encourage its members, UBC students, to

hang onto that history and occasionally have ceremonies that remind them of what they helped to create,” he said.

“You know, looking back at our history and getting everybody to recognize what UBC has managed to do in 100 years. It can’t do it by itself.”

In the past nine decades, the Great Trek has lent its name to several student initiatives. The AMS has presented the Great Trekker Award to notable UBC alumni since 1950, and the UBC Alumni Associations magazine publishes under the name Trek Magazine .

In his time as university archivist, Hives has contributed to the literature around the event.

In his 2001 article “The Great Trek,” published in Trek Magazine, Hives described the Great Trek as “the student pilgrimage that came to define the university.”

Hives also references a number of other student initiatives throughout UBC’s history. Building the gymnasium in 1929, Brock Hall in 1940, the Armoury 1941, War Memorial Gym 1951 and the SUB in 1968 were all results of initiatives in the decades following the Trek.

And with the construction of the new SUB proposed and financed by students, it is <em>

</em>

apparent that the tradition of student-based campaigns has not been extinguished.

“Students [have] played a really important part in helping UBC to grow. They’ve paid for a lot of buildings. They’ve always been involved in a very constructive way,” said Rosengarten.

Many in the UBC administration have used the Trek image for its associations of effort, pilgrimage and accomplishment.

In her time as UBC president from 1997 to 2006, Martha Piper created a series of strategic plans for UBC labeled Trek 2000 and Trek 2010.

We have a lot of students who feel involved, but not many of them know what the university’s history is.

Herbert Rosengarten Author of UBC: The First 100 Years

“It occurred to us that it would be a good idea to use that image of the community coming together and going on a great journey to try to create a new image of UBC,” said Rosengarten, who worked with Piper and her team on the Trek 2000 branding.

“Some of the things we were trying to do were similar to what the students had been trying to do in 1922 … that involved bringing everybody together in a common purpose, just like the [Great] Trek. Calling the strategic plan ‘Trek’ was a way of suggesting to everybody that this isn’t just an administration plan, but it was for everybody, including our students.”

Hives argued that the university has done enough to engage students.

“How do you reach out to people that don’t know they’re interested in the history of the university and what’s gone on in the past? I think we’ve done our part, in terms of if they do have that interest,” he said.

“If not a concrete knowledge of the Trek, then certainly the spirit continues to live on.”

But with no ceremonies planned by the UBC administration or the AMS, it seems most on campus are content with letting the origins of that spirit fade.

“We have a lot of students who feel involved, but not many of them know what the university’s history is or how they’re connected to it,” said Rosengarten.

“There is still some spirit alive, but it’s not connected to our past.” U

EDITOR ANNA ZORIA

MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2012 |

8

When you stare into the bass, the bass stares back BASSNECTAR >>

A Ubyssey writer recounts his transcendental first experience with live dubstep

Rhys Edwards Senior Culture Writer

S

ix p.m., Saturday evening. Hundreds of students, myself included, line up outside Thunderbird Arena. Dubstep superstar Bassnectar is playing tonight. Despite the torrents of rain, many of my queue companions are decked out in Halloween costumes, which means, for most of the girls there, that they are wearing essentially nothing. Other attendees shield a variety of fragile accoutrements — wings, feathers, masks — underneath umbrellas. Evidently, anticipation for the performance far outstrips any proprietary considerations.

There is only the sound.

Cascades of rhythm envelop the entire universe, and I feel a cessation of the self.

“Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting for this show?” quips a girl clad in a neon-orange headband to her friend, while a man dressed as a banana-wizard — or is it a wizard-banana? — tries to jump the line.

Having never heard live dubstep, I can only speculate as to what exactly it is that has driven these people here tonight in droves. There’s no consistency among the crowd of attendees; ethnicities and subcultures of many kinds are represented in the line. I reason to myself that there must be some intangible quality that unites them.

Shortly thereafter, I am granted access to the stadium. Moving past loitering zombies and sailors, I head directly to the floor in front of the stage; perhaps if I stand in the mosh pit, I think to myself, I’ll be able to experience this mystical quality, too. Yet surprisingly few people are gathered about. The bulk of the masses, it seems, is indifferent to the pre-Bassnectar lineup.

The first couple of acts garner only mod-

As I watch a girl in front of me snort coke out of her boyfriend’s hand, I wonder if the entire dubstep culture is based on a decrepit shallowness. erate enthusiasm. Gladkill offers standard genre fare, if you can call it that, combining vindictive beats with mellow harmonies.

I feel the pulse of a live dubstep bass beat rumbling through my body for the first time:

a mildly pleasing stimulant. Gramatik livens things up a bit, with a funky remix of the Beatles’ “Don’t Let me Down” accompanied by live guitar.

The entire affair is not unpleasant, but it doesn’t elicit the ecstasy of sensation I had been expecting. As I watch a girl in front of me snort coke out of her boyfriend’s hand, I wonder if the entire dubstep culture is actually based on a decrepit shallowness — a cheap stimulation of the primal faculties, devoid of intellect, moderation or self-consciousness. A perpetual proclamation: Yes, me.

Then, Bassnectar takes to the stage.

Circumstances change considerably.

True to his name, it’s only when Bassnectar begins to spin that I actually come to experience sound.

I enter into a sort of paralysis. My hair stands on end. I can’t breathe properly. I am suddenly dehydrated. The strobes and LEDs alight simultaneously, illuminating the mass of roaring dancers in sublime shocks of colour and light. For about 20 seconds, I experience a synesthesia of sensory information. I wonder if this is what it’s like to have an epileptic fit.

The crowd buffets me from side to side, and someone kicks me in the leg, but I am neither willing nor able to respond. I’ve been struck dumb.

Two people ask me if I’m okay. I reply to the affirmative, but it’s a redundant answer, because qualifications of value are now meaningless. There is only the sound. Cascades of rhythm envelop the entire universe, and I feel a cessation of the self. Space dinosaurs, matrices and inscrutable algorithms appear before me; none are incongruous.

Bassnectar is a preacher in front of his flock. With each staccato beat, he gestures in arcane mannerisms, to which the audience responds in kind. Men embrace each other, and I grow dimly aware of how my various ligaments are only connected by a contrived thread of subjective intentions. I understand, now. U

PETER WOJNAR PHOTO/THE UBYSSEY

PETER WOJNAR PHOTO/THE UBYSSEY

#bassnectar @tommylocke77 The king of bass himself #bassnectar #legendaryhair @marissaboo Bruised boobies #Bassnectar @starviolet01 What the fuck was I doing here? #bassnectar @juliandsouza Shoutout to the girl who let me try on her spirit hood last night, those things are soft as fuck. #Rolling #Bassnectar @CourtneyyJH Loudest night I’ve ever had. So tired so worth it!!! BASSQUAKE VANCOUVER

PETER WOJNAR PHOTO/THE UBYSSEY

MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2012

| culture | 9

HALLOWEEN >>

Under the movie microscope

We examine how things could have turned out for 5 horror movie villains Danielle Piper Contributor

With Halloween night creeping closer and closer, one can’t help but think about horror movies — the kind that induce home-alone paranoia and bed-wetting nightmares. Don’t deny it; the villains scare you senseless. But the lives of these five misunderstood bad guys could have turned out very differently ...

JASON VOORHEES FROM FRIDAY THE 13TH

NORMAN BATES FROM PSYCHO

FREDDY KRUEGER FROM NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

REALITY Jason

is so misunderstood. He drowned in Crystal Lake because his camp counsellors were too busy having sexytime. Years later, while seeking vengeance for her son, Jason’s mom is killed by another camp counsellor. Who does that? That is so disrespectful.

If someone’s mom is trying to kill you, you best stay put until she’s finished. Now, all Jason wants to do is get back at ... well, everyone. What better way to do that than with a nicely sharpened machete?

REALITY Norman also had a domin-

REALITY

MEANWHILE, IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE... Jason survives the

MEANWHILE, IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE... Norman, Norma and her

MEANWHILE, IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE... Freddy’s mom decides

JIGSAW FROM SAW

LEATHERFACE FROM TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE

<strong>

drowning incident. Watch out, though; his domineering mother is still angry with those negligent counsellors. Since Jason’s a mama’s boy, I see an inevitable tag team serial-killing enterprise in the near future.

eering mother, named Norma. In a fit of rage, he killed his mother and her lover, then developed a split personality and spent the majority of his days having conversations with himself as both Norman and Norma. Every once in a while, though, Norma will come out and kill someone. If you’ve never had a conversation with yourself before a stressful midterm while simultaneously plotting to do the most awful things to your professor, then you, my friend, do not go to UBC. </strong>

lover become one happy family.

She, however, ends up driving both men insane and they kill her anyway. What’s this movie’s name again? That’s right. So instead of one psycho, you now have two. Be thankful for what you got.

If you’re a true horror movie fan, then you know that Freddy was adopted by an abusive alcoholic who taught him all the fundamentals of becoming a mass murderer. What many do not know, however, is that Freddy’s mom was a nun who was sexually assaulted by numerous men. As a result, directors and screenwriters have named him “the son of 100 maniacs.” This gives a whole new meaning to the theory of nature vs. nurture.

Psychologists are going to have a field day with this one. to keep her baby. He grows up to be an obedient, normal, horror movie-fearing boy who is willing to please his mother — Buster Bluth, essentially. Is it us, or do all of these horror movie villains have mommy issues?

REALITY Jigsaw,

a survivor of colon cancer, a frontal lobe tumor and a suicide attempt, knows a thing or two about fighting for your own life. All in all, evil as he may be, he is just trying to share his knowledge by teaching us lessons in gratitude and appreciation.

While his methods could be called “gruesome” or “unethical,” they are certainly effective. Show of hands: If Jigsaw was your professor, how many of you would actually complain about midterms, assignments, term papers, labs and final exams? Exactly.

MEANWHILE, IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE... Jigsaw is your professor.

You have 24 hours to write your paper; for every hour it’s late you will lose a year of your life. Due to your hard work, dedication and overall desire to live, you're getting straight As. Congratulations.

REALITY Born with a severe facial

deformity, Leatherface has been bullied all his life. His family members are the only ones who stuck up for him as a child. As a result, he becomes subservient to their every whim, slashing strangers to fulfill their perverse desires.

If you think you have any right to judge Leatherface, then answer this: who hasn’t done something they’re not proud of because of peer pressure? Don’t lie. We all remember what we got up to during first year.

MEANWHILE, IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE... Leatherface breaks

free from his family’s control and becomes an anti-bullying spokesperson. Despite his success in this field, he still keeps a part-time chainsaw artist job, but this time, he puts his chainsaw to work in the world of wedding swan ice sculptures. Do you feel a bit safer now? U

POLITICS >>

Hébert speaks on disconnect between politics and public Catherine Guan Staff Writer

On Oct. 27, Chantal Hébert, one of the most esteemed voices in the press gallery on Parliament Hill, delivered her reflections on Canada in a public lecture at UBC. Hosted by the Vancouver Institute, the Toronto Star columnist mused on the increasing disconnect she’s witnessed between the public and the “chattering class” of politicians, academics and journalists.

But to call Hébert’s talk a lecture is somewhat deceptive. Although the crowd would consider itself too jaded and dignified to be called a fandom, they certainly seemed like one.

They came in flocks. They came in droves. One auditorium filled to capacity in mere minutes and the overflow filled another.

At the centre of this commotion was Chantal Hébert.

Over the course of her time on the road, Hébert’s original speech on Quebec and federalism has evolved into a more general contemplation on, in her words, “how the new media and the information age have turned into a disinformation age.”

“At a time when we have so much access to so much informa-

Hogan Wong PHOTO/THE UBYSSEY

Canadian journalist Chantel Hébert spoke at UBC on October 27.

tion, government and politicians have become so afraid of losing control that we actually have less information flowing out,” Hébert said in an interview prior to her talk. “And I’m not saying this is a Conservative trend. This is a control trend. I have seen no evidence that a party of any stripe would not like to exercise control.”

Hébert’s political commentary in both the English and French media is hugely influential. Her

national affairs column in the Toronto Star and her guest columns for Le Devoir and L’Actualité are praised for their objective and thoughtful analysis. On the West Coast, the pundit is perhaps best known for her appearance on the “At Issue” panel on CBC’s The National.

In the years she has spent on the Hill, Hébert was witness to many definitive moments in Canadian history. She covered watershed events such as the

Meech Lake Accord and the votes on capital punishment and abortion. She still recalls “going back to the House of Commons after the 1995 Quebec referendum where only a few thousand votes stood between a yes and a no and watching the politicians when nobody had really won, having to go back to that place and try to move on.”

The vote was particularly meaningful to Hébert as a francophone living in English Canada, but she said she considers herself a journalist first. “We watch. That is what we do. What happens is like people who go to war zones and you are looking behind your camera; you just think you are covering a hell of a good story.”

The same passion spurred her into journalism three decades ago. “I couldn’t think of anything else I wanted to do. While everyone else is doing serious work, I get paid to watch.… I thought this was incredibly appealing. And it is still the main appeal.”

Hébert does, however, admit to being frustrated with the current state of affairs in Parliament.

“The dumbing down of debate in the House of Commons? Very striking. The consequence of that: people will lose interest, because why would you listen to people

who are smart dumb themselves down and say things that will insult your intelligence?

“And more profoundly, good people are increasingly not going to want to do that for a living.

Would you want to be a trained seal that barks stupidity every day for 45 minutes?”

Hébert referenced an instance of this increasing disconnect between the government and its citizens that can been seen here in B.C. “Whether you agree with the Northern Gateway project or not, you can easily agree with the fact that the federal government, because it has stripped itself of anything that is green or environmentally conscious, is in a poor position to come to British Columbians who are concerned over the environment and to say,… we have your backs on this,” she said.

While Hébert doesn’t cover B.C. politics, she did have this to offer about the current petition for increased education spending that has been submitted to the provincial government by six B.C. university presidents: “I suspect in an election year that it is a good year to ask for more funding. And I also suspect that in an election year, no party is going to suggest, ‘Great, we are going to do it by raising tuition fees.’” U

MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2012 |

STUDENT VOICE. COMMUNITY REACH.

LAST WORDS

AMS exec excels at restructuring, advocacy KATICHISMS

by Gordon Katic

ILLUSTRATION INDIANA JOEL/THE UBYSSEY

SO 90 YEARS AGO, SOME PEOPLE DECIDED UBC SHOULD BE ON POINT GREY </strong>

Whenever UBC tries to talk about its history, it feels forced.

Most of the students here don’t feel any connection to this university, so we aren’t interested in founding myths.

That Great Trek thing? A bunch of people walked here 90 years ago, or something? That’s why UBC is at Point Grey? Sure.

Oh, they only walked from Fairview? Sorry, I don’t have any time to hear the rest of this one. If you’ll excuse me, I’m late to catch my two busses and SkyTrain back to Coquitlam.

It’s all very nice that a bunch of students banded together and demanded that the province build a university on Point Grey. There’s enough frontier gumption in that story to make it suitably mythic.

But really, we don’t have the sense of shared history that other schools do. This isn’t the kind of story that reverent seniors impart to frosh in hushed tones late at night.

It’s something you learn about from a 30-second soundbite in a video the administration makes you watch, and then you promptly forget about it because your brain already doesn’t have enough room for the three chapters of psychology you have to study tonight.

It’s worth noting that when those fabled UBC students of 1922 were trying to get the university to build a few buildings, they collected 56,000 signatures.

That’s more people than UBC’s total enrolment today. They were pretty serious.

In some ways, it’s weird that the administration venerates this particular story, because it’s about a bunch of students giving a shit about something, getting angry and changing it. Generally, the university’s higher-ups haven’t been happy about every subsequent time students tried to do the same thing.

But we can’t fault them for aggressively placing the Great Trek into the foreground of UBC’s history. It’s the only myth they’ve got.

UBC WILLING TO BE JERKS TO TA’S </strong>

Take a look at just about any labour dispute, and you’ll hear a common refrain from both employer and union: they don’t “bargain in the media.” That means that neither side will

try to score points by politicking in public, as opposed to at the bargaining table. It’s rarely productive, and makes an already tense situation worse. It’s a show of bad faith.

That’s why UBC’s reaction to CUPE 2278’s most recent set of demands seems more than a tad disrespectful.

UBC has basically said that the TAs’ demands for tuition waivers is ridiculous. That’s about as venomous a statement as you’ll get out of UBC on this round of collective bargaining. The TAs’ basic argument is that because tuition is a condition of employment, and tuition rises at two per cent every year, they need wage increases to keep pace. The most recent offer from UBC, a 1.5 per cent increase, won’t cover tuition inflation, let alone housing and other costs.

UBC has shown in the past that it’s not going to pull any punches with TAs. As you may recall, CUPE 2278 was primed to strike during term two finals last year, but was called into mediation by UBC just in the nick of time. It was Machiavellian.

Now, UBC is trying to get jabs in where it can. Maybe UBC feels it can talk this way because TAs are in the weird position of being both a student and employee of the university. The point is, you didn’t see this kind of language during the service workers’ dispute.

UBC should take its own advice and keep their assessments of 2278’s demands internal — especially when they seem quite reasonable.

NICE TO SEE REAL CLIMATE ADVOCACY COMING FROM UBC </strong>

If you were near Christy Clark’s constituency office in Kitsilano on Wednesday, you would have seen a large crowd of protesters, many of them UBC students, calling on the premier to say no to the controversial Enbridge pipeline.

This is a breath of fresh air from the UBC community. It represents some actual action and advocacy for environmental issues, instead of just more lip service about “sustainability,” a word thrown around at UBC to the point of semantic satiation.

It’s all well and good to have LEED Platinum buildings and bio-energy cogeneration plants, but without this sort of community engagement, it’s all just universities patting each other on the back.

10

But these were the grassroots actions of a specific special interest group from the UBC community — mostly students and a few professors. UBC is all about sustainability as a buzzword, but if they want to lose the fluffiness, they ought to support advocacy like this at the institutional level.

This probably won’t happen anytime soon, of course, because buzzword sustainability is comfortable and attractive to investors; it looks good without actually shaking things up. So until it does, the burden of advocacy will continue to fall on student and special interest groups, as it has done for years.

NOT ENOUGH BUSSES, NOT ENOUGH MONEY, AND NOBODY CAN FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE IT WORK

I would venture to say that I have been one of the AMS’s more scathing critics. In my very first column, I accused our student representatives of being “concerned more with self-aggrandizement and vindictive squabbles than anything.” Through the years, both in print and in person, I have lambasted their policies, attacked their commitment and accused them of personal and political cowardice.

However, I am pleased to say that this year’s executive has been exceptional.

Under President Matt Parson, execs this year have gone back to the drawing board, emphasizing the role of planning and research in setting new organizational goals and adjusting existing structures. So far, this executive has produced surveys and reports, large planning conferences and important business restructuring that will serve the AMS well for decades to come.

VP Finance Tristan Miller took a similar clean-slate approach with the budget. Miller identified the AMS’s over-reliance on volatile business revenue, and assisted with implementing dramatic structural changes that will take AMS councillors away from managing those businesses, freeing their hands for advocacy. This is not merely about managing a bureaucracy, though.

Parson’s executive has fearlessly investigated the most pressing and political issues at UBC. VP Academic Kiran Mahal, with

long-time associate VP Sean Cregten — a person of unparalleled dedication and probably the single most important advocate UBC students have had in recent memory — published two significant documents.

First, the Academic Experience Survey, which looked at a plethora of topics from housing and transit to exam databases and mental health, documented the overwhelming academic and financial stress that average UBC students cope with.

Next, Cregten authored the Student Housing and Sustainability Report. Shortly after the Academic Experience Survey demonstrated the importance of affordable on-campus housing, this report unveiled UBC’s systematic profiteering on housing rents. These documents provide both the impetus for change and the research to support it. It is this commitment to evidence-based advocacy that distinguishes Parson’s executive.

Another example of this refreshing philosophy is VP External Kyle Warwick. Warwick sent an unequivocal message to the provincial government demanding a more accessible and affordable academy.

The citation-filled letter proposed increased post-secondary funding, need-based grants, student loan reform, sustainable transit funding and public child care.

This executive has certainly been a glimmer of hope, but it will be all for naught if they are unable to turn research into action. Going forward, the AMS will need to learn the mechanics of change; surveys and reports do little unless they are backed by the threat of a politically mobilized student body. U

Thoughts, disclosures on UBC Dime Watch

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The “ultimatum” on transit set by the Mayors’ Council is a little toothless. They refuse to levy a new property tax to pump money into transit, like TransLink wants, and if the province doesn’t come up with a new funding model by February, they’ll ... levy a new property tax, like TransLink wants.

And there won’t be an answer, because there isn’t a plan. The government’s call for someone else to make a “vision” for how transit ought to work is reminiscent of their plan to cut one per cent from post-secondary education: gathering the university presidents in a room and hoping they work it out.

In Vancouver, transit issues are now mainstream. So many people, especially young people, need it and use it that they’re overwhelming the resources available. That’s why expanding the U-Pass to all post-secondary students, a project of former advanced education minister Moira Stilwell in 2010, was a great program.

But there was no plan for how it would shape the system, just like the government is now complaining that post-secondary institutions duplicate services when they’re the ones that flooded the market with teaching universities in the first place.

Decisions are being made as one-off, panicky gambits designed to woo voters next May, with no overarching strategy for how they’ll actually work.

So, by all means, ask for a plan. That doesn’t mean you’re going to get one. U

The UBC Dime Watch account existed for six months before it all fell apart in the last 48 hours, and now that athletes are being investigated and various bodies at the university are trying to figure out what to do, we thought it was time to give our thoughts on the issue.

But first, some disclosures.

Editors on both the current and past board of The Ubyssey were aware of the Twitter account dating back to last March. We suggested that editors not engage with them, and while some did through at replies, it was not to endorse their behaviour. The Ubyssey itself has never engaged with UBC Dime Watch on Twitter.

We understand that some of the activities of certain editors, including the fact that the account was referenced twice in print last year, could come across as a tacit endorsement. This is something we deeply regret.

It was known that this was going on to anyone who followed university athletics, or even searched UBC on Twitter. It was creepy, it was generally well understood what group it was linked with, and it had all the makings of a train wreck. That last bit is why we paid attention to it. But until recently there was no story. We thought you should know this because it’s clear we knew about it and didn’t do anything. We didn’t feel it was our place. We need to admit that as we try to express an opinion on it.

This account wasn’t the inside joke athletes have since played it off as. It was a public account that associated itself with the campus and sent offensive sexualized comments to women who did not give

their consent.

The Dime Watch Twitter account gave women on campus the impression that they could be objectified and “rated” without their consent, anywhere on campus, by someone they did not know and could not identify. Many people took to social media to voice their disgust with the whole concept. When somebody finally did unequivocally state their anger with the account by identifying a person involved, things got ugly.

Instead of backing off, close to a dozen athletes doubled down in a way that made this look anything but jocular and unserious.

To defend the Dime Watch account and attack its critics, as many varsity athletes did publicly, is to defend what they believed was their right: to photograph, discuss and “rate” women without their consent.

UBC has claimed that it is not their place to investigate who is behind the Dime Watch Twitter account, which we disagree with. The student-athlete code of conduct says athletes will conduct themselves so their “behaviour will not be considered a form of harassment, including comments and/or conduct which is insulting, intimidating, hurtful, malicious, degrading or otherwise offensive to an individual or group of individuals.” Clearly, social media guidelines need to be developed within this policy.

It is clear that this code of conduct has been breached not just by one athlete, but by a group of athletes posting under their own accounts who leapt to Dime Watch’s defence on Twitter. UBC needs to make clear what is being done. U

MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2012 |

PICTURES + WORDS ON YOUR UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE

PIC OF THE WEEK

ADVICE >>

Balancing your budget with your buddies WHAT YOU SHOULD DO

with Dr. Bryce Warnes Hi Dr*. Warnes: I’m a first-year student in Sauder and a lot of the friends that I’ve made this year are significantly more wealthy than I am. We constantly are going out to dinner, going shopping, and generally spending more money than I can afford to. I have tried suggesting activities with them that don’t require me to spend as much money, but the majority of them would rather just keep going downtown for a “night on the town.”

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, ALEXANDRA LEASK PHOTO/THE UBYSSEY

The UBC women’s rowing team won at the Western Canadian Rowing Championships in Burnaby last week, beating rivals U-Vic over the course of six races.

What I’m Dressed Like Now: Halloween “SEXY” INANIMATE OBJECT

“HOBO”

How much for that ratty-tatty shirt? $150? Oh, I get it.

Just no.

AN AVATAR/NA’VI

GEISHA

Paint is NOT a costume.

It’s a culture, not a costume.

INSIDE JOKE

99.97% of the people who see you won’t get it.

INDIANA JOEL GRAPHIC/THE UBYSSEY

HACKÉDEX

YOUR UBC WORD OF THE WEEK

“THE CAIRN”

11

Three monuments on UBC Campus are referred to as “the Cairn.” Most students will think of the Engineers’ Cairn on Main Mall in front of the Fred Kaiser Building. Another is the Alma Mater Society or Tuum Est cairn given to UBC by an anonymous donor; it’s currently located by the ICICS building.

The original cairn, however, is the Great Trek Cairn. Following the Great Trek (see more on pages 6-7), students banded together to erect a symbol of their campaign. A time capsule was buried under the cairn, and is set to be opened at the Trek’s 2022 centennial.

—Broke Student Hi Broke: Assuming your friends are in their late teens or early twenties, I’d be surprised if much — or any — of the money they are spending is really “theirs.” Most likely, ma and pa are their number one source of monthly income. This could make it hard for them to empathize with someone

who has a limited budget. To them, you may be “that friend” who worries unnecessarily about money.

You can’t expect them to change their high-flying lifestyle just because your wallet can’t keep up.

Instead, draw clear boundaries.

Set aside a monthly sum you can afford to spend on fun stuff. When that money is gone, you’re done for the month.

“I can’t go out for sushi tonight because I only have 10 dollars left in my monthly allowance” is more effective than “Can’t we just order a pizza, guys?” You’ll miss a few “nights on the town,” but your friends should get the message.

At that point, they’ll either start making more plans that include you, or they’ll give you the cold shoulder.

Which one they choose will be determined by what kind of people they are. As the old adage goes, money can’t buy you class. U Don’t know what you should do? Dr. Bryce does! Ask online at ubyssey.ca/advice/ and have your personal problems solved in the paper. All submissions are entirely anonymous. *Editor’s note: Bryce is not a doctor.