"CONTENTdm"@en . "http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=1211252"@en . "University Publications"@en . "2015-08-28"@en . "2003-03-21"@en . "Colours. A Ubyssey Special Issue."@en . ""@en . "https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/Ubysseynews/items/1.0127934/source.json"@en . "application/pdf"@en . " '^t**^**\u00C2\u00AE'''''\nfc-\n. .:*\n.**--\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0 \u00E2\u0096\u00A0 - w \u00E2\u0096\u00A0\n>* .- p.,'- * *,\n1\n(\n)\nl l o\nFind your roots\n\"f\.iiff.if, y/\(,i'\nittT^iTTTrnTm fri ftmivfrm n\nJ\nSWEDISH GRADUATE\nSTUD'ENT(F) and partner(m) need\n. furnished .apartment for July and August\nwhile she interns at the Vancouver Art\ngallery. Phone: 604-591-2562\nTo place an Ad\nor Classified,\ncall 822-1654\nor visit SUB\n;,.' Room 23\n(Basement),\n-l v;\n~V7^' \"^\"\n\"vX*-**11\nBCIT Bachelor of Technology\nEnvironmental Engineering\nConstruction Management\n* * ~ ' oii to nork in the jrpjs uf\n\v iter tr-'iipicn*. hy.'iO^coVgy\nccn^.2 n'njtcl sil\u00C2\u00BBb, solid n.i-te, air\ntt'jn ity r.r--1 ij.scs.rce nur;.ij;?.ii\u00C2\u00BB.!it.\nContact: 604.151690(5\np.il\inclcr_ri\"o\u00C2\u00ABcs -bcitc.i\nP'C rt ({ill*; ti-*- p'iplonM or cqiiivilent\n[\u00E2\u0096\u00A0lus iCd-pt.-bi\" experience Eijj'i'h\n12 ur Ct.ijiv.ili.rit.\nCONSTKUCIION MANVSEMtiNr\nPiep.ir\u00C2\u00BB s >0'i to Lf:ciiin r.ii\u00C2\u00BB\u00C2\u00BB jrim-nt\ntirof<.bSr>rjl ur i^io.id-.-i.s jour\nUnj \yij.;\u00C2\u00AB if j.ju tip j'n ,-cly .1\nm an.ifjpr.\nCont.ict- \u00C2\u00AB304 112 7160\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0n<'ijr_s i_o vs'-ii -tcit c.j\nI1, i\nCheck our Web site\nfor dates of upcoming\nInformation sessions:\nwww.constructlon.bcit.ca\n*\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 i \" . 'i\n1 .I.'!.\nU,\ni^cM\n3.\nby yi.K. SKaKmci\nr\na mirror is insufficient and an but-of-\nbody experience wouldn't have the same scope as\n. in the shower, against the white ceramic tiles\nmy hand rests\n, And* a smile blossoms when I see my\nclean skin is the same\ncolour\nasT,. - \u00E2\u0096\u00A0\ndirt\n'1\n\ *-, :t \u00E2\u0096\u00A0/\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00E2\u0096\u00A0:\n.'<&\n..'\u00E2\u0096\u00A0X\n/-' V'\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 \u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00C2\u00BB ^ /p\nby CSitanjali Kolanac\n'i^^^Xj<^C^*4\nby ^ana -Holbrook\nL\t\nThere's a rock\nHigh above\nOn the edge\nOf a cliff.\nQuite small\nIt sits unnoticed\nBy the people\nFelt below.\nBattered\nBy the wind\n,, Arid the rain\nAnd the snow\nIt teeters i\nBarely balanced\"\nAlmost rolling\n, Almost falling\nOff the edge\nTo destruction\n.On the ground\nFarbelowY\nWhat holds it\nUp from slipping\nUp from sliding\nOff the edge?\nA speck of sand\nA dab of dirt\nScarcely stopping\nBarely blocking.\nYet securing\nIt from tumbling\nOff the edge.\nWould you notice\nIf it lost it\nIfitfeUof\nTo its end?\nWould you cars\nIf you saw it?\nWould you save it?\nWould you stop it?\nWould it matter\nIf it slid off\nAnd it fell off\nFor forever?\nIt is just a rock\nOn the edge\nOf a cliff.\n'jf \"*\u00E2\u0096\u00A0 \u00C2\u00BB1;* 7.\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0-.- .- - ' _M\u00E2\u0080\u0094 m /tfimk -,-M Y3 -A -M 7-\nby;A.K. Sharma\nThe tractor and the wind have made\npure sweat become a suspension of\nsulphur particles, dust arid leaf *\nof timothy grass! \u00E2\u0080\u0094\nthings that don't belong on this\nmotah larkha who doesn't belong on this\nBritish Leland Massey-Ferguson farm equipment,\non the grass that doesn't belong to\nThe Italian farmer who has the! title to\na quarter section of God's Countiy\nare yvelcome.\nC?eo\n*\n* by 3av\a -Holb^ooU\n__ It's standing right there by the sofa\nIt's lumbering on down the hall\nIt's huge arid it's rude and it's standing right there\nBut no one will say that it's true.\nIt steps on your toes by the doormat\nIt throws the dishes all over the room\nIt falls down the stairs arid nobody cares\nBut no one will say that it's there. \u00E2\u0080\u009E\nt .\nIt's always at family gatherings\nIt makes no attempt to hide\nConteritly it sits right in our inidst\nAs we drown it out with our noise.\nI guess it could be kind of funny\nIn a way that makes me cry.\nThey all sit with a sheet over it\nAnd try to eat crumpets and pie\nThe teapot is spilling ,\nThe china is cracked , \u00E2\u0080\u009E '.,-.-'\nYet they deny that it's there and laugh without care\n' As hysteria joins them for tea.\nWatching it destroy all their lives\nAnd sitting conlfortably by\nMakes me want to scream and shatter the dream\nThat's trapped them all here in this lie.\nThey say I'm crazy, I'm nuts = * -\nBecause I no longer visit lor tea\nBut I cannot stand to be ripped in half\nAnd have my head crushed fronj inside. -\u00E2\u0080\u00A2\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0J*\nif\nby y\my JKAcLacU^an li \"*\"i Ai* \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 , . ,-\nA WL\nAWt-Iv 52'!/ \u00C2\u00A32003\nv 3p\u00C2\u00AB-'c-icil 0s\nTHEUBYSSEY\nFRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2003\nVOLUME 84 ISSUE 44\nEDITORIAL BOARD\nSPECIAL ISSUE\nCOORDINATORS\nTejas Ewing\nJohn Hua\nACTING\nCOORDINATING EDITOR\nNic Fensom\nNEWS EDITORS\nKathleen Deering\nChris Shepherd\nCULTURE EDITOR\nMichael Schwandt\nSPORTS EDITOR\nSarah Conchie\nFEATURES/NATIONAL EDITOR\nDuncan M. McHugh\nCOPY EDITOR\nAnna King\nPHOTO EDITOR\nNic Fensom\nPRODUCTION MANAGER\nHywel tuscano\nCOORDINATORS\nVOLUNTEERS\nJesse Marchand\nRESEARCH/LETTERS\nParminder Nizher\nThe Ubysseyis the official student newspaper of the University of\nBritish Columbia. It is published every Tuesday and Friday by The\nUbyssey Publications Society\nWe are an autonomous, democratically run student organisation,\nand all students are encouraged to participate.\nEditorials are chosen and written by the Ubyssey staff. They ar\u00C2\u00A7 the\nexpressed opinion of the staff, and do not necessarily reflect the\nviews of The Ubyssey Publications Society or the University ot\nBritish Columbia.\nThe Ubyssey is a founding member of Canadian University Press\n(CUP) and adheres to CUP's guiding principles.\nAll editorial content appearing in 77?e Ubysseyis the properly of The\nUbyssey Publications Society. Stories, \"opinions, photographs and\nartwork contained herein cannot be reproduced without the\nexpressed, written permission of The Ubyssey Publications Society.\nLetters to the editor must be under 300 words. Please include your\nphone number, student number and signature (not for publication)\nas well as your year and faculty with all submissions. ID wiil be\nchecked when submissions are dropped off at the editorial office of\nThe Ubyssey, otherwise verification will be done by phone.\n\"Perspectives\" are opinion pieces over 300 words but under 750\nwords and are run according to space.\n\"Freestyles\" are opinion pieces written by Ubyssc staff members.\nPriority will be given to letters and perspectives over freestyles\nunless the latter is time sensitive. Opinion pieces wiil not be run\nuntil the identity of the writer has been verified\nn is agreed by all persons placing display or classified advertising\nthat if the Ubyssey Publications Society fails to publish an advertisement or if an error in the, ad occurs the liability of the UPS will\nnot be greater than the price paid for the ad. The UPS shall not be\nresponsible for slight changes or typographical errors that do not\nlessen the value or the impact of the ad.\nEDITORIAL OFFICE\nRoom 24, Student Union Building\n6138 Student Union Boulevard\nVancouver, BC V6T 1Z1\ntel: 604-822-2301\nfax: 604-822-9279\nweb: www.ubyssey.bc.ca\ne-mail: feedback@ubyssey.bc.ca\nBUSINESS OFFICE\nRoom 23, Student Union Building\nadvertising: 604-822-1654\nbusiness office: 604-822-6681\nfax: 604-822-1658\ne-mail: advertising@ubyssey.bc.ca\nBUSINESS MANAGER\nFernie Pereira\nAD SALES\nKaren Leung\nAD DESIGN\nShalene Takara\nDea/ Dennis W. Visser. I am having trouble with my John Hua.\nI know he doesn't love me anymore and is cheating on me with\nDpincan M. McHugh and Parminder Nizher. IfcTiat should I do.\nSigned, a broken-hearted-lover, Aman Sharma Dear brokenhearted lover, 1 feel your pain. My Anna King once went on an\nall night crazy binge and ended up in seedy hotel with Michael\nSchwandt Dave Gaertner, Tim Shand and Jesse Marchand.\nSometimes you just have to let go of your Chris Shepherd and\nstart looking for a new Gina Eom. But then again an Annie\nThompson or a Hywel Tuscano la always nice. But before you\nmove on try making you/ Jana Holbrook feel jealous by letting\nher see you with a Kathleen Deering or two. Then move on.\nClosure from your Tejaa Ewing or Mic Fensom is the most\nimportant diing. Anger is good for people like Kate Hamm but\nyou must let it go to be a truly happy Lori Charvat My sincerest\nwishes for your future, love 5arah Conchie.\nV\nCanadian\nUniversity\nPress\nCanada Post Sales Agreement Nppppiber 0732141\n/e\n&VSSt-!>\nct\n7-\nssue\n3\nAs Special Issue coordinators for this year's\nColours Issue, we were faced with an array of possible themes to choose from. Released specifically\non the International Day for the Elimination of\nRacial Discrimination, we decided this year's\nissue should have a widely focussed 1 direction\ntowards the elimination of racism and discrimination. A key element in the battle against these\nproblems is acceptance at eveiy level. Not only\nmust we accept the cultures of others, but also our\nown.\nFor this year's Colours Issue, we chose the\ntheme of 'finding your roots.' With that in mind,\nour contributing writers were able to learn about\nthemselves and their roots, through writing highly personal pieces. However, we hope that readers\nwill gain an appreciation of all cultures, by considering the stories and the processes that went\ninto writing them. This is our way of bringing\nacceptance to the forefront, because all the stories\nchallenge racial chscrimination from the past,\npresent and future.\nOne might notice that there are only a few\npieces that touch on one of Canada's greatest\nfaults, the maltreatment of First Nations people.\nWe highly regret that this matter was not fully\naddressed. We didn't do enough to solicit pieces\nfrom the Aboriginal community on campus, and\nwe deeply regret this omission. It is our responsibility to seek out contributions from a multitude of\nvoices, in order to create acceptance for people of\nall colours. -\nToday, these issues are even more important\nThe world is facing a war, partly between cultures\nand beliefs. Paranoia and bigotry follow closely at\nthe heels of any conflict, threatening the progress\nthat we have made towards cultural acceptance. It\nis important to keep an open mind when bom\nbarded by stereotypes and difficult decisions. We\nhope that this issue will allow people to do that\nWe are fully aware that the conflict in Iraq is on\neveryone's mind, overshadowing the positive\nimpact that was meant to be achieved on this day.\nIn that sense, we have purposely avoided pieces\nthat are directly related to racism resulting from\nwar. Before we can address these issues, we must\naddress racism on a very basic level. Racism and\ndiscrimination are problems that affect eveiyone\non a regular basis, and it should not take a war to\nbring this to our attention.\nFinding comfort with pur ethnicities and those\nof others will equip us with the open-mindedness\nneeded to accept each other equally as human\nbeings.. With this appreciation for all cultural backgrounds, we can deal with the inevitable consequences of war in the fight against racism and discrimination. \u00C2\u00A9\n<*\u00E2\u0080\u0094+* /*\n\u00E2\u0082\u00AC 6 i>ctwes t-& f^XLf\nUnity in\ndiversity: A\ncultural\nkaleidoscope\nby\nKate Hamm\nHere we are again, winding down the winter\nuniversity year and winding up for .the annual\nFESTIVA event. FESTIVA the most popular\nmulticultural festival on campus, is known for\nits wonderfully diverse international food, global displays, interactive workshops, cultural performances and dance party.\nOrganised by International House and a\nteam of enthusiastic volunteers (between 50\nand 75 people offer to help annually), FESTIVA\npromises to be the biggest UBC multicultural\ncelebration of the year. This year's theme is\n'Unity in Diversity: A Cultural Kaleidoscope,\"\nand was chosen by the FESTIVA Steering\nCommittee for its message of appreciation for\neach other's cultural differences. As Winnie L.\nCheung, the executive director of International\nHouse, says, \"I have heard from so many students every year, no matter which cultural\nbackground they come from, that FESTIVA is\nsuch a joyful occasion, which reassures them\nthat they don't have to be someone else to feel\nthey belong.*\nShe would know, as someone who has witnessed the unity demonstrated by UBC's\ndiverse community year after year since the\nfirst FESTIVA was dreamed up by a group of\nstudents and staff at International House in\n1992.\nEach year since its inception, FESTTVA has\naimed to build a sense of multicultural community, foster student leadership and encourage\ninter-cultural partnerships. Everyone\u00E2\u0080\u0094students, faculty and the broader community\u00E2\u0080\u0094is\nencouraged to come out and participate in any\nway they would like. Each year the 400 FESTIVA tickets sell out and the event is packed. This\nyear International House and the Graduate\nStudent Society have joined forces to prepare\nand host the event. Tickets can be purchased at\nboth places.\nA lot of work is going into FESTIVA by a lot\nof volunteers who have been involved in the\nevent previously, or want to become a part of\nthe team for the first time. Joydeep Sengupta,\nchair of FESTIVA 2003, has a unique reason to\nbe involved in the planning this year. \"FESTIVA has enriched my grad life at UBC immensely,' he says. \"The event provided me with\nample opportunities to meet people from several countries and cultures, and most impor\ntant of all, it got me connected with the vibrant\nmulticultural campus life that exists in UBC\nSo come out this year on March 2 6 and experience the kaleidoscope of cultures for yourself.\nEach FESTIVA is unique, but the one thing that\nremains the same is the .energy and vibrancy of\nthe UBC community coming together to celebrate their diversity. - ' \u00E2\u0096\u00A0\nFESTIVA 2003\nUnity in Diversity: A Kaleidoscope of\nCultures\nWhat:\n-An annual party celebrating the cultural\nrichness on our campus .\n-Multicultural performances (songs, poetry,\ndrama, dance, martial arts) and displays\n-International Food Court sampling booths\n-Great music and dancing\nWhy:\n-To promote multiculturalism, provide leadership opportunities and build a sense of community\n%, Where and When:\n-March 26th, 2003, 5-7pm, International\nFood Festival and displays at International\nHouse\n-7-9pm Performances at the Graduate\nStudent Centre\n-9-12pm Dance Party\nBuy your tickets at International House or at\nthe Graduate Student Centre (tickets are\n5.00/person). @\n\\nEXPLORE *LM\nMV\nV\nTALK\nUjjal Dosanjh on Racism in The Moot\nCourtroom at UBC's Curtis Law Building\nWednesday, March 26 at 12:30pm\nBC's Former Premier will be speaking on\n\"Racism: Global Implications, Local\nAction/ sponsored by the UBC Equity\n.Office, in support of the International Day\nfor the Elimination of Racial\nDiscrimination.\nCheck our 'tween classes and\nWeekend listings every Tuesday\nand Friday. E-mail submissions\nto production @ubyssey.bc.ca\nICED IN BLACK BC Gas-trans Mountain Pipe Line\nCinema at SFU Friday, March 21\nThe Iced in Black film festival features up-and-\ncoming Canadian Filmmakers whose work is dedicated to portraying the Black' Canadian\nExperience.\nNational Films Board's Reel Diversity\nCompetition\nSubmission Deadline, April 04\nThe NFB is awarding a total of $ 1 million in funding to the winners of the Reel Diversity\nCompetition. The filmmaking competition is targeted towards emerging filmmakers of colour.\n$20,000 will be awarded to one winner from each\nregion in Canada: BC, Western, Ontario, Quebec\narid the Atlantic. The money will be put towards\nthe funding of a 40 minute NFB documentary,\nwhich will be later televised. For more information\ngo to www.nfb.ca/reeldiversity. \u00C2\u00A9 -\nyu.- March, 21, 2003\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0A Wbyssey Special Dssue\nTEACH ENGLISH IN\nColon?\n^\ \3te,tt\,&\sc\, cr t+vise> 6\nby TTejas Gwing\nFor reading break I decided to go to Montreal for a day to visit\nrelatives. It seemed pretty crazy, but I was in Ontario anyway,\nso I figured I'd jet over and experience a truly different culture.\nI'd never been to Quebec in the winter before, and I wanted to\nsee what their distinct culture was lile at this time, when it's\nabout as different from BC as possible. Here's my tale: Y\n8:00am: I get out of the busf'and am hit by a wall' of frigid\nair. Apparency, it's one of the coldest,winters in years (the\naverage temperature was minus;,tlurry with wind* chill}. My\nplan to wall to my uncle's place disappears as fast as the heat\nfrom my body. I hail a cab, and think of my friends in Hawaii\nand Mexico. Oh well, at least it's not snowing. t , 7\"\"\"\n9:00ani: It starts snowing.\n10:15am: My uncle, his wife and I head out The weather is\npart ofthe Montreal experience, so I decide that I'm not going\nto stay indoors and fear the cold. No, I am going to forge ahead\nand get as full a Montreal experience as possible. I notice that\nthe stop signs here say \"Arret* Even in France they say \"Stop.*\nTalk about language poUcel '\u00E2\u0096\u00A0 .'\n10:30am: I arrive at the door of Schwartz's on St Laurent,\nthe best Montreal smoked meat shop in town, only to be met\nby aline-up. I guess pther people have heard of it too. \" ..\n' ^ 10:45am:J realise that the line-up is only those w&o-want to\nsit down. Clever people (ie, not tourists) push-ahead arid get\nsomething from the tal^-out counter. I go ahead and buy a\nsmoked-meat sandwich. You haven't Uved as a qieat-eater until\nyou've tried one of these sandwiches. The puny excuse for\nsmoked meat we get here'wouldn't be worthy to wipe your face\nwith afterwards. Here you g?t hot thick, freshly smoled slabs\nof meat, marinated in spices, witbYa dab
    L\nspQnsors a winter event called festival Lumie're. It features\navant-garde outdoor performances every weekend for over a\nmonth. I arrive to see. musicians dressed as construction workers erecting a scaffolding to progressive-rock music. There is a\nsnow slide for the kids, frozen maple syrup desserts, hot dogs\nto grill over gas fires, and plenty of beer. All of this is heated\nusing glowing red UV heaters. Aren't UV rays the main cause of\nskin cancer? Does it make sense for everyone to be huddling\naround high-intensity UV bombardment devices? Oh well. The\nevent rounded off with some outdoor dancing to some very\ngood DJs. One night Anne Savage was performing there.\nImagine dancing to house music with babies, teenagers and\nsenior citizens, all of them flirting with each other. Then imagine doing it outdoors in freezing cold weather, bundled up in all\nyour layers. Finally, picture it dumping snow. Only in Montreal!\n10:30pm: Our final stop is Club Passeport at 4517 St Denis\nStreet This place is the oldest dance club still surviving in\nMontreal. Part of its success stems from the fact that it is a boutique in the daytime. Every night, they just clear away the _\nclothes and get busy. The rest of its success can be attributed to\nthe fact that it ROCKS! It's truly French-Canadian, and they\nwere playing electroclash waaay before it got trendy. One of the\npatrons explained that it's a French-style, sophisticated meat\nmarket, where you have to be able to hold a conversation about\n.cUltureMSr poUtics before you are considered truly attractive. :-\n' Here's\" \"a^tip, if you really want to fit in wear black and practice\ndancing against a wall by yourself. The drinks are cheap, the\nmusic is cool and the people are even cooler. They don't mind\nAnglos, and you will feel comfortable regardless of your sexual\npreference. I've never been to a club where you can relax and\n'simply be yourself as much as here. Male sure you go, it will\nbe the most authentic Montreal cultural experience you\nwill find. O -\n*>V\nwve-isCC'Ci't^' &*%,.\n/\\n^^et^c^*v3\nby JKnnle. TYkompscm\nAmericans are so easy to male fun of. When\nRick Mercer, from This Hour has 22 Minutes,\ncame to the United States to film \"Tailing to\nAmericans,' he had no trouble getting\nAmericans to say really stupid things on tape.\nWe congratulated Canadians on their national\nigloo. We were shocled to learn of the slaugh-\n, tering of seals in Saslatchewan. Canadians\nwere congratulated on finally getting running\nwater in all five states I The list goes on and on.\nHowever, the humour gets scary quite\nquiclly. \"Tailing to Americans\" loses its\nappeal when you reaUse those responses are\ncoining from some of America' 3 most highly\neducated citizens. When New Yorlers agree\nwith Rick Mercer that \"Jean Chretien-Pinochet\nshould be charged with crimes against\nhumanity,\" I worry. Are Americans really that\nstupid?\nPerhaps this is my liberal upbringing tailing, but I have to say \"No,\" and I would lile to\noffer another explanation for our blatant lacl\nof Inowledge. I thinl it's the fault of our media\nand our pubUc schools. A UBC professor\nrecently asled me if it is true that Americans\nget most, if not all, of their news from TV. He\nwas, shocled to hear that we do. However, he\nwould have been more shocled to Inow that\nhad he asled the average American that question, they probably would have responded\nwith, \"Well...where else would you get the\nnews?* This response wouldn't bother me so\nmuch if CNN and its compatriots actually told\nthe truth, instead of the ridiculous one-sided\nnews stories that they propagate. Look at the\nnews coverage on the war against Iraq and the\n'Axis of Evil.* Is it any surprise that in a recent\npoll run by The New York Times and CBS, 42\nper cent of Americans stated they beUeve\nSaddam Hussein was behind the September\n11 attacks? Y\n. Our pubUc schools, however, are the.true\nfailure in my eyes. How can we not be critical\nof an education system that inspires bools\nlile Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything\nYour American History Textbook Got\nWrorig\"(James W. Loewen/ 1996)? Equally\nfrightening are the huge blocls of American\nhistory that have been mysteriously left but.\nRecently, in an e-mail to my politically active\n2 7-year-old sister, I mentioned that previous\nUS interventions in the Middle East could give\nsome idea of how the situation in Iraq will\nplay out She had no idea what I was tailing\nabout. When I responded with information\nabout our funding of Iranian, Afghani and\nother regimes, much to my surprise, her reply\nwas, \"Wow. I had no ideal Thanl you so much\nfor letting me Inowl\" Then I remembered that\nit hadn't been until I left the United States that\nI learned about all the things my government\nhad been doing unbeknownst to its constituents.\nI was out of the United States for the first\nyear after SeptembeV 11, arid I remember\nreturning and hearing my open-minded\nfriends tell me that the World Trade Center\nwas attacled because vye're a superpower and\nthe rest of the world is jealous. I couldn't\nbeUeve it Did they really think that there\nweren't any other reasons? Had it not occurred\nto them that perhaps our constant presence in\nthe Middle East wa3 beginning to be a frustration to those that Uved there? Apparently it had\nnot _.-\u00E2\u0096\u00A0'\nWatching President Bush's speech Monday\nnight was a similar experience. I found myself\nremembering daysji when I used to beUeve in\nmy president (although I can't remember ever\nhaving faith in Bush). I disagree with Bush's\nchoice to wage war on Iraq, but I also understand why CNN subsequently found that 66\nper cent of Americans do supporthis decision.\nThe simplest reason is that they were reUeved \"\nto have a decision\u00E2\u0080\u0094any decision. Every time I\ngo to the United States, I come back to Canada\nrunning. Everyone is changing travel plans.\nEveiyone is tense\u00E2\u0080\u0094even in quiet Uttle Seattle.\nBut for the majority of Americans, Bush's decision to go to war is not lowering anxiety at all.\nSo why do they support it? .\nWhen I was in grade 12 1 had one of those\"\nrare breeds of high school teachers, the kind\nwho teaches you how to be patriotic while\nremaining critical of your government We\nwere having a debate on whether or not Bush\nshould be elected, and our teacher made a\nstatement that really surprised me. He said\nthat regardless of whether or not we liked\nBush, if we, as a people, elected him, we would\nall have to support him. Many people feel that\nthey have to support this war, because we have\nto support our president\nMaybe this stems from the patriotism we\nare taught since childhood, learning' about\nAmerica, \"strong and free' along with our\nABCs.\nThe lack of diversity in the media doesn't\nhelp this compliant behaviour as we age.\nPerhaps if the US media provided Americans!\nwith the international opinion of our actions,\nthere would not be 68 per cent of Americans'\nbeUeving that we had done all we could to;\nresolve this issue through diplomacy. Although\nBush's administration made two pubUc stat&j*\nments. about their \"Shod and Awe* strategy;-\nwhich plans to leave no area in Baghdad safe,\nvery few Americans who I've spoken with\nInew of this plan. At this point, I'm not sure\nwhat this knowledge would have done to stop\nBush. At least the people would have been able*\nto make informed opinions. And if we are to be\na truly free nation, that must be one of our\nbasic rights. '\nI am,aware that this sad story of misleading media and poor standards of education is\nnot exclusive to the United States. I ara.\nreminded of a Canadian friend of mine who\ndidn't know whkt ocean ran along the coast of\nBritish Columbia, and another who didn't\nknow what side of a map of Europe was up.\nThere's something about Americans though,\nthat makes our ignorance that much more disgusting. But I' ask you, the next time an\nAmerican says something stupid, after you\nlaugh, tale the time to pull them aside and tell\nthem that, no, Toronto is not the capital of\nCanada. Ottawa is. O yVW-U, 21, 2003\nA CA^yssi'y Sf.'i'cricJ Jssn<.j\nCreate your own customized train pass\nwith the new Eurail Select Pass!\nChoose any 3,4 or 5 adjoining Eurail\ncountries, andf choose between 5 and 15\ndays of travel within a two month period.\nThere are 17 countries to choose from, so\nget out a map and start planning your trip!\nYbLlth prices from $411 to $918\nAdult prices from $502 to $1113\nSee Travel CUTS for full details & great airfares.\n11TRAVELCUIS\nSee the world your way\n120 W. Broadway;... 604-659-2887 UBC SUBY. $04-822-6890\nGranville Island 604-659-2820 UBC Marketplace.. 604-659-2860\n567 Seymour St.... 604-659-2830' - SFU, Burnaby 604-659-2850\nWest End 604-659-2845 Langley 604-539-8840\nNEW: Kitsilano 604-659-2870 t\u00E2\u0080\u009Ei^l.\u00E2\u0080\u009E.e,t\u00E2\u0080\u009E. tni'iinonn\n- (inside a,. Travel wg at 3065 w. isroadrntf Telephone Sales.... 604-717-780O\nServing student & budget travellers for over 30 years with over 70 offices across Canada.\nOwned and operated by lhe Canadian.Federation'of Students: All offices registered wild trie BC.Travel Registrar\nStudent (Peer) Advisors, ARTS\nIn a continuing effort to increase the level of service provided by\nthe Faculty of Arts Academic Advising Office, the Faculty intends\nto hire three to five students to serve as the first point of contact\nfor students attending the Academic Advising Office.\nSuccessful applicants must be entering their third or fourth year in\nthe Faculty of Arts and have completed at least thirty credits at\nUBC. They must possess good communication skills, and be\nreliable and conscientious workers. Their duties will include\noffering assistance to,Js|yd^nj^jnJ^^g.^j^CT^t\u00C2\u00A3arJi3i.to\nresolution of their, inquiries;1 referringstudentsto[appropriate\nAcademic Advising Office staff, and scheduling appointments for\nFaculty advisors. Pre-employment training is offered and required.\nEmployment will be 3 to 10 hours a week on regular shifts of\nbetween 3 and 3.5 hours, morning or afternoon. Payment is at the\nrate of $14.45 per hour. Term of employment is September, 2003.\nto the end of April, 2004. '\nApplications, including a resume, two letters of reference, and a\nstatement indicating the qualities the candidate would bring to the\nposition must be submitted to:\nMs. Grace VVolkosky, Academici Advisor \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 v\nArts Academic Advising Office\nBuchanan A201\nTHE DEADLINE FOR APPLYING IS MARCH 31ST, 2003.\nUbyssey Publications Society\nA N N U A L\nFriday\nMarch 28th, 2003\n11:30am\nin Council Chambers, 2nd floor of SUB\nJf \u00C2\u00A32*.. \"-\u00E2\u0080\u00A2<'\"\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00E2\u0096\u00A0'.. j I \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 w.\u00C2\u00BB\n,;\u00E2\u0080\u00A2*\u00E2\u0080\u00A2\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 a., f-;; \u00E2\u0080\u009E vz \u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00C2\u00BB,:..\n. i. j 1*,.''..*, .. * **\nMarch, 21, 2003 *J\nA HUyssey Special Jssue /\n1 \u00C2\u00AB*\nmagine having grandparents who you don't\nknow very well.\nGrandparents who you\nlove deeply, but you\nstruggle to understand.\nGrandparents who you\nlove with your entire\nbeing, yet you are \u00E2\u0096\u00A0\ndeeply saddened by, even ashamed of.\nSuch is my relationship with India, a relationship that has troubled me ever since I\nwas old enough to understand it, and one\nthat I was finally able to confront. You see,\nIndia is my motherland, and after nine\nyears away, I finally went back. This is the\nstory of that journey.\nWhen I stepped out of the airplane with\nmy father, I was confronted with all my\nfears at once. The India I had tried to forget\nwas staring me right in the face. The overpopulation, the poverty, the garbage\u00E2\u0080\u0094was\nthis how I remembered India?\nI took myself hack 17 year's: I am running through a leafy courtyard, with trees\neverywhere. Small houses peek through\nthe greenery and I can feel the clean.earth\non my bare feet I pick up a twig and put it\nin my mouth as I run through the small village. I'm getting hot I run to a house with\na well. I pull up a bucket and bathe in the\ncool water, feeling it sink into die: grass\nbetween my toes. I am in the village where\nmy mother was born, at the house of my\ngreat-grandmother. This place is the\nembodiment of peace for me; this is the\nIndia I hold us my heart Yet it is not the <\nIndia that I am confronted with, and it is\nnot the real India.\nIndia is a countiy that suffers more than\nmost others. It is practically a continent It\nhas almost as many people as China, yet is\nonly a third the size. India is not pretty,\n\" clean or. organised. India is disgracefully\ncorrupt, and it is badly run.. Although it's\nimproving, the rate is far too slow. India is\nabout as different from Canada as you can\nget, and I had forgotten how true that was.\nEnsconced in my comfortable Canadian\n.life, with my idealised memories ofjhe\npast, I tried to forget the troubling*partihf ..\"\nIndia. This trip was going to be a reality\ncheck, one where I could come to terms\nwith my feelings arid perhaps understand\nmy country a Uttle better. \u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00E2\u0096\u00A0'> '\nAs I travelled through the crowded\nstreets, I thought about my heritage. You\nsee, I'm not folly Indian. I'm a mixed-race\nchild. My father is a white Canadian from\nOttawa. I don't look Indian; in fact I don't\nreally look like anything at all. Compared\nto anyone in India, I've been privileged all\nmy life. Once I began to realise that, everything I saw in India began to tale on a new\nmeaning. When you go to India, you have\nIV *..*.*'^ f .* * f '\niii' -\u00C2\u00A34- ^|i^\";ii^-l7i4 rHf*'\n|v\u00C2\u00BB * rt t.-;,;Ji,*r k * ti I}, ~\nL ' i i, \"(A7ij ?.*'\"!\u00E2\u0080\u00A2'\u00C2\u00AB ti-t.'\nl- \u00E2\u0080\u009E. > .\u00C2\u00AB.-- vi **\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00C2\u00A3,',;\u00E2\u0096\u00A0' - zn\nto just throw yourself into it and I couldn't\ndo that I would be ^confronted by the\nsqualor, the corruption and the poverty at\n, evgiy turn, and would want to run back to\nmy. life of privilege. Yet I would look outside and see my compatriots starving on\nthe street. It made me feel like a phoney,\nlike a tourist. What kind of Indian was I if\nmy petty Canadian concerns prevented me\nfrom getting to know my homeland? This\nwas an attitude that had prevented me\nfrom going back for such a long time.\nHonestly, I had been afraid of returning,\nafraid of how India made me feel, afraid of\nhow I was ashamed of India's problems\nand more pfoud of Canada than I Was of\nmy motherland.\nThat day, I went to a temple, with those\nthoughts running through my head in an\nendless loop. A temple in India is not like a\nCanadian church, or a museum in Europe.\nIt is a Iivihg, breathing organism, filled\nwith the vibrancy and contrast that makes\nIndia special*. Bustling with shops, garbage\nand crowds, yet austere at the Same time.\"\nIt was refreshing to go there, refreshing to\nrealise that people had been there for thousands of years. I was at one of the oldest\nand largest temple complexes in India and\nr could feel that it would be there for thousands- of years: more. It seemed that whatever was thrown at it) this facet of Indian\nculture would just keep going, and il* gave\nme hope.\nAs I watched the people going about\ntheir daily business, I heard the powerful\nclang of bells ringing through the temple\ncorridors, and it silenced the dialogue in\nmy head. I walked over to the altar, where\na priest was hefting a rope connected to\none set of bells, while his colleagues struck\nthe others. Slowly, the rhythm and sound\nof the bells built to a crescendo. Everyone\nwas rendered speechless by the buzz of\npower in the air. Behind us, we all heard\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0 another' bell ringing, softer. We turned\nand? around tKe corner trundled a full-\ngrown elephant, painted like the other;\npriests and wearing a red headdress covered in tinkling bells.\nThe elephant was swinging a bell in its\ntrunk and the crowd parted. The elephant\nreceived an offering from the priests-\ncoconut milk, bananas and a garland of\nflowers\u00E2\u0080\u0094and then left as suddenly as it had\nappeared. The bells stopped ringing, and\neveiything was back to normal. I had experienced a culture-reaffirming event, something that never could have happened in\nCanada. I felt a connectioa to the Indians\naround me. I was proud of my heritage.\nA few days later, my mpod came* crashing back to earth. Some of India's idiosyncrasies were coming togetler in a frustrating series of events for my father and I.\nThe hotel we were staying at tried to rip us\noff by slipping some extra charges onto the\nbill. Then our car broke dqwn because our\n' travel agent had provide! us with a far\"\nworse car than we had paid for. When we\nfinally arrived at our destination, another\ntemple, we were late. We rushed around\nlooking for the entrance to the inner sanctum, trying to see the majnificent golden\nroof the temple was famois for. However,\nupon arrival at the inner entrance, I found\nthat only Hindus were alowed further. I\ntried to plead my case, and play up my\nIndian side, but there was no convincing\nthe priests. I left, feeling upset and excluded in my own country.\nI walked over to a store to calm down. I'\ntried to bargain over a Uttle trinket, but my\nfrustrations followed me there\u00E2\u0080\u0094I felt like\nthe shopkeeper was tiying to rip me off,\nand the bargaining* turned _intq an* argument I was being treated* Uke* a naive\ntourist I felt denied by my culture and I\nwas, frankly, pretty pissed off. Sure,' my\ncomplaints were petty in the bigger picture, but I was starting to feel resentful of\nall the differences between India and\nCanada. I was falUng back into my old\nmindset, denying my Indian side and longing for the ease and safety of Canada.\nThen something changed for me.\nFeeling morose, we left the shop, ready to\ngo back to the controlled comforts of the\nhotel Suddenly, I felt a tugging at my shirt.\nThere, next to me, was a teenager f vaguely recognised. \"Do you want to see the\ngolden roof?\" he asked, I was ready to dismiss him as just another tout, but there\nwas a look to him that suggested sincerity.\nThen I recognised him; he was the assistant in the shop where I had caused1 the\ncommotion: Despite my behaviour, he was\ntrying to help me. \"I know a stairway'where\nyou can get to the roof and see eveiytnirig!\nJust give me the money and I'll get you in.*\nNormally, it would be pretty foolhardy\nto just hand a stranger some money in'\nIndia, but I felt a connection with him, and\nI hoped hi felt*the same way. He explained\nthat the gate was already closed; because\nwe had arrived so late, but he would do his\nbest to buy us some tickets 'anyway: He\ndashed off, and we waited. Five minutes\nlater I was ready to leave, ripped off yet\nagain But then, around the corner bound-\ne\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\n' - lO '* -\"r\n\u00E2\u0080\u0094 \u00E2\u0096\u00A0- \" 1 <\n*\u00E2\u0096\u00A0 \u00C2\u00BB \" \u00E2\u0080\u0094 . tJ * 7 .--- \" \"\npeople in similar situations reconnect to\ntheir roots, aryf perhaps jworjc tp. mak'i} *'\ntheir own countries \"better in the future.\nMaybe some Indians Uving here in Canada\nwould decide to tale an extra interest in\ntheir home and its problems. Maybe one\nday I'd meet one of them in India while\nworking on a charity project I kept this\nhope in my mind as I started to write.\nSome days later, our trip was nearing\nits end, I was exhausted from opening'\nmyself up to the onslaught that is India.\nWe were in a whole different area now, at\na beach resort. We had arrived late;, due to\ncar troubles once again. I was tired and\nstressed out, frazzled from a long car journey on dangerous roads, having narrowly\navoided a few accidents, and..passing\nsome wrecked cars that hadn'tbeen so\nlucky. I was angry, because I knew that the\naccidents had been caused in part by the\ncorruption that kept the roads in such bad\ncondition. I was feeling tired and looking\nforward to the flight home. I crawled\nsleepily into bed, wondering what surprise lay in store for me on my final day.\nI awoke to a knocking on the door. It\nwas before dawn, and my father had\nwoken me up. \"It's our last day; let's go\nsee the sunrise I' I crawled put of bed, and\nwe set out across the sand. When we got\nto the beach, I was met by an amazing\nsight As the sun broke out from the\nwaves, the fishermen of the nearby village were setting off. To the right, an\nolder man was meditating towards the\nsunrise. It was a picture of absolute harmony. Everything seemed to fit; everything was in its place. The angle'of the\nsun, the taste of the salty air, and the\nsound of the waves\u00E2\u0080\u0094all perfect. '* '\nIn the crowded bustle of India, such\nmoments are hard to find, but when you\nfind them they are all the more special. I\nreaUsed that I was happy to be heading\nback to Canada, where such moments are'\nmore common, and this was nothing to be\nashamed of. But, what really gladdened\nmy heart, was that I couldn't wait to come\nback. Q ' \u00E2\u0096\u00A0'\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 Y * 8\nMarch, 21, 2003\nA lAbyssey Special Jssue,' \",.\nV%tbj\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0DVD ZONE-\nJ 2138 WESTERN PARKWAY, VANCOUVER j\nJ (on Campus, beside Bank of Montreal) J\nLarge Selection of\nDVD, VHS & GAMES\nfor your enjoyment!\nReservations 604-221-9355\nYou must be staff to vote in the Mysseyelections\ns oil paid staff Laura Blue Jeff HcHenzie\n\u00C2\u00A7 John Hua Heather Pauls Jontyootad\n\u00C2\u00A7 Zerah Lufle ,7 feiosEiuing CaitHcHinneii\nI Iva Cheung Bman Zandberg Dan Enjo\npHeoamhomas lan Duncan;\n7 JotinHcCranh HielielleMap\nBoth need two I?\nmeetings |\nv>\nBman Sharma\n00\ns\nAlison Benjamin =*\nO\nIntegrated Sciences Program\nMaking Connections in Science\nThe Integrated Sciences Program of\nthe Faculty of Science at UBC allows you\nto create your own program of study,\nbridging across disciplines of your choice\nwww.science.ubc.ca/\"isp \\nProgram Information Sessions:\nWednesday, March 26, 12:00 in LSK 462?\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 Thursday,\"March 27, 5:00 in LSK 460\nSeminar: March%7 at 12:30 in LSK 460\nDr. Lee Gass (Past Director, ISP) ;\nReflections on Integrated Sciences\nCreate your own Science degree (3rd and 4th year)\n2nd year students: check it out now!\nA^\nmm\nSB*-\n-r.4-1 \u00E2\u0080\u00A2:*'\n\u00C2\u00A3\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00E2\u0080\u00A2>,. ,Ut)<\n!\u00E2\u0096\u00A0<\u00C2\u00BB-\u00E2\u0096\u00A0(. jig\nUniversity Boulevard Neighbourhood Plan\nTell us wfiat you think\nIn keeping with UBC's evolving University Town, a draft neighbourhood plan is being\ndeveloped for the University Boulevard local area.\nA campus and community consultation process is being conducted to gather feedback on\nthe draft plan prior to its finalization and presentation t6 the UBC Board of Governors in\nMay, 2003. You can participate in this consultation in a number of ways:\n1. ' Ihterriet: You can learn'more about the draft University Boulevard Neighbourhood plan\nby reading the Discussion Guide at www.universitytown.ubc.ca and give your opinion via\nthe online feedback form.\n2. Open Houses\nMarch 24, 9:30 am to 3 pm in the UBC Bookstore\nMarch 25, 3 pm to 8 pm in Room 214 of SUB\n3. Small Group Meetings (February 10-March 31)\nYour group can request a presentation by contacting the University Town inquiry line\nat 604.822.6400 or e-maifinfo.universitytown@ubc.ca\n4. Campus and Community Public Meeting Y\nTuesday, April 1, 7 pm\nRoom 214-Student Union Building \u00E2\u0080\u009E,\nHow Campus & Community Feedback Will Be Used\nFeedback gathered through this consultation via the web, fax, campus publications, open\nhouses, small-group meetings and public meetings will be recorded and summarized in a\nConsultation Summary Report, which will be presented with a Technical report and revised\nneighbourhood plan to the UBC Board of Governors. The Consultation Summary Report will\nalso be posted on the web.\nFor further information contact:\nLinda Moore\nTel: 604.822.6400 '\nFax: 604.822.8102\nE-mail: info.universitytown@ubc.ca\nWeb: www.universitytown.ubc.ca\ny\u00C2\u00A7\u00C2\u00A3\nUNIVERSITY TOWN\nl+&UAs &t$t^ vVCi^^C\nWhat happens when\nfamilial pressures\noverride romance\nby C\\na &ovv\\nGossip: my best friend of four years\nwas one of the select few whose\nromantic relationship was strong\nenough to surpass high school\ngraduation. Most high school relationships do not graduate with you,\nand are looked back upon with only\nchagrined fondness and sometimes self-pity. But my best friend\nand her boy made it, and their silly,\nchipper, honeymoonish atmosphere remained preserved. You\nknow, giggles and delightful gazes\nto the point where even die-hard,\nproud to be. singles start to turn\ngreen with envy. And no, that is not\nmy natural skin colour. So when\nshe recently announced a sudden\nbreak-up with her long-term\nboyfriend, it baffled me to the point\nwhere L panicked when she withdrew into her shell and completely\ndeprived me of details.\nIt took a week of constant nagging to squeeze out the story\nbehind the break-up. Since the\nbeginning of their relationship, her\n. fathey had be,en, fiercely against it,,.,\nbecause she Vas\" Chinese arid he\nwas Caucasian. At first, her father's\ndispleasure was only expressed\nwith a cpld glare whenever he visited, but it soon evolved into more\nvocal expressions. As the relationship grew, so did her father's\nresentment towards the 'white\nboy.' The two parties polarised\nuntiji a few weeks before the breakup, when my friend finally broke\ndown and could no longer endure\nthe severe lectures she faced whenever she came home after a date.\nI couldn't beUeve what I was\nhearing. First of all, she hadn't told\nme any of this before, and that\nalone saddened me. But that's\nbeside the point I was shocked\nabout what her father had said to\nher. The harsh accusations and\nscorching words really boiled down\nto 'you must stick to your own kind,\nand anything else is a disgrace.\"\nFor my friend's father, ethnic culture was more important than\nromantic attraction.\nAfter puzzling over this, I decided to apply his values onto myself.\nNow, despite my genes spelling out\nthat I am Korean, I was born and\nraised in a small town in Germany.\nIt is a scholarly town, with its prestigious university producing one\nNobel prize-winning physicist after\nanother. My experience there was\nwonderful and I am immensely\ngrateful towards my parents who\ndecided to give me the most\ninsightful, thorough, and superb\neducation available. I attended a\nCatholic school, and amidst my\nschoolmates I was the only visible\nminority.\nRacism is too strong a word to\ndescribe people's initial reaction\ntowards my presence\u00E2\u0080\u0094it was more\nof a discomfort, a certain glint in\ntheir eyes. Por some, or perhaps\neven most, I appeared to be someone they wished wasn't there\u00E2\u0080\u0094like\nwhen you have a certain spot that\nyou really want to scratch but can't\nquite reach. That was their first\nimpression of me, because my eyes\nwere small and slanted, because\nmy hair was straight and unforgiv-\ningly black, because my skin had a\nyellow tint. Perhaps it was a similar\ndifference in physical appearance\nthat sparked resentment in my best\nfriend's father towards the now ex-\nboyfriend?\nMy schoolmates in Germany\nquickly overcame their initial reaction and turned into close friends,\nfriends who still contact me now.\n, After experiencing my friends'\nquick change, I hoped that a man\nwho had been in Canada for twenty\nyears could tolerate his daughter\ndating someone from a different\ncultural background. However,\nwhen I left Germany to finish my\nelementary education in Korea, I\ndiscovered through my own parents that one's original culture\nnever really disappears. It became\nclear to me that Korea was home\nfor my parents, and that their identity would never be shaken by years\"\n' of being placed in another culture.'\nFor me, however, it was an entirely\nforeign experience. I wasn't used to\nthe humid air, the high density of\npeople, and the lack of wide-open\nfields. I felt locked up and trapped,\nand extremely unhappy. But my\nsuffering was soothed by friendly\nand accepting people and their\nextreme loyalty to one another.\nNever before had I seen such a\nclose-knit community\u00E2\u0080\u0094the powerful bond I got to share was overwhelming and left me in awe.\nI learned to love and respect my\nfamily's ancestry, and developed a\nhealthy dose of pride for the five-\nthousand-year history of my parents' home countiy. I was extremely grateful for my quick acceptance,\ndespite my awkward Korean\ntongue and clumsy etiquette.\nTherefore, I found it surprising that\nmy friend's father didn't even\nattempt to share the culture of his\norigin with my friend's boyfriend.\n'Kids from interracial parents are\nleft with identity crises,* was anoth-\ner thing he had said, but wouldn't\nthis be all the more reason to\nembrace cultural education? To\ncarefully skim off and interbreed\nonly a population with1 a few common sequences in their nucleotides\nseems unnecessaiy.\nA source of enlightenment\ncame the other day when I watched\nMy Big Fat Greek Wedding. The\nfather in the movie felt that the\npreservation of his culture would\nbe threatened by accepting a foreign member into the family-\nPeople from different cultures are\ndifficult to 'assimilate.' And yet,\ncultural differences are miniscule\nin the big picture of things. Innate\nin every human being lies the quest\nto be happy. Taking pride in one's\nculture is one thing, but exploiting\nthis pride to deny someone else's\nhappiness is quite another. \u00E2\u0099\u00A6 Cofeiiii5\nHIT*ai\u00C2\u00BB\". i *t'; f.i\"..\nsii4.w<'r\u00C2\u00BB\" \* '-\u00E2\u0080\u00A2'if:.' \u00E2\u0080\u00A2'\nffijKW* \u00C2\u00BB **\u00C2\u00AB t pw \u00E2\u0080\u00A2\u00C2\u00AB .' \u00E2\u0080\u00A2\n^\nct\nCtA,\nft\nby Dennis W. Visse*4\nMy parents came to Canada in\n1974 as immigrants from the\nNetherlands. I was bom several\nyears later and was raised with a\nstrong appreciation of Dutch culture. At home, we spoke Dutch and\nmy parents instilled in me a good\ndose of Western European values. I\nhad always thought of myself as a\nDutch-Canadian, having been\ninfluenced by both societies. It was\nnot until the age of fifteen that I\nbecame aware of yet a third source\nof my heritage: I realised that I was\nalso Asian.\" Y*'' Y*. 4 \" \"'' \u00E2\u0096\u00A0\nMy mother was actually born in\nSemarang, Indonesia. Both of her\nparents had also been born there.\nMy grandparents each had one\nfully Indonesian parent and one\nhalf-Dutch, half-Indonesian parent,\nmaking each of my grandparents\nthree-quarters Indonesian, one-\nquarter Dutch. This makes my\nmother three-quarters Indonesian,\nand it also makes me three-eighths\nIndonesian with five-eights of good\nold Dutch blood.\nIn the wake \"of decolonisation\nafter World War II, General\nSukarno took control of Indonesia.\nMost of the Dutch nationals who\nhad lived their whole lives there,\nincluding my family, then packed\nup and headed to the Netherlands.\nMy mother was five years old at\nthe time. She grew up in Den\nHaag, where she would later meet\nmy father. ,.-,\nIn retrospect, it seems rather\nstrange that it took me fifteejjyears\nto realise this about my family;\nhow could I not have known? Of\ncourse I was aware of where my\nfamily had come from, but at home\nwe never talked about it It was not\nuntil I sat down with my grandmother and started asking her\nabout our family history that I\nstarted to think of myself as part\nAsian. This was. actually quite a\npersonal epiphany for me\u00E2\u0080\u0094why\nhad I never been conscious of my\nAsian roots before? My mother is\nvisibly Asian, yet I had never connected her 'Asian-ness' with my\nown personal self-identity.\nThis realisation sparked my\ncuriosity because it has always\nbeen important lo me lo know\nwho I am and where I come from.\nThis was the beginning of a new\ntime of self-discovery, an opportunity to learn about my Asian heritage. I embarked on a personal\nquest to develop my Southeast\nAsian 'self.' I have since sought to\nlearn as much about Asian culture\nd^^^V* . \u00C2\u00BB\nas possible; first Indonesian, then\nSoutheast Asian, and now Asian-\nPacific cultures in general. This\ninterest in Asia has accompanied\nme to UBC, where I study political\nscience and have developed a\nkeen interest in Asian-Pacific politics and languages.\nAmy Tan and Wayson Choy\nhave both written about\nhybridised identities, Tan in the\nUnited States, Choy in Canada. Tn\nhis book The Souls of Black Folks,\nW.E.B Dubois explicitly wrote of\nbeing of two worlds and two\nminds, one African and one\nAmerican. 'Although\" T cannot\nequate my experiences with that of\nChinese North Americans or with\nthe hardships faced by African\nAmericans, I have also come to\nthink of myself as having a\nhybridised identity, and of being\nof two worlds and two minds. The\nfirst world/mind has\" been with\nme since birth. The second is still\nevolving as I seek to discover who\nI am.\n.Often it seems that we are made\n' to choose one culture with which\nwe feel the greatest affinity, but\nwhy can't we be both? Why can't\nwe take the best of both worlds? In\na country as rich and diverse as\nCanada, we have a unique and fantastic opportunity to do just that.\nVancouver is a city of multiculturalism. Since the 1950s, it has seen\nmanifold demographic shifts. This\nis due to a large influx of immigrants, first mainly European, and,\nin, the late 20th century, Asian.\nToday, Vancouver is truly another\n'gateway to Asia.'\nThere is a strength in diversity\nthat we must never lose sight of. All\ncultures have merit all cultures are\nexotic and exciting, and no culture\nis better than any other. Canada\npurports to. be a country that\nembraces multiculturalism, but\n' sometimes we fall short of this.\nStill, we should continue to strive\nfor this ideal, to become- a more\n- cosmopolitan society, a mosaic on\nwhich the world can model itself. In\nmy opinion, this is the essence of\nCanadian identity. We are a nation\nof many nations, bound together by\nshared ideals of tolerance and\nunderstanding. This is something I\nhave struggled with since I was fifteen. I am still struggling to bring\nthe two worlds of my heritage\ntogether. When 1 tell people that I\nam of mixed descent, I am usually\nmet with looks of disbelief. After all,\nI hardly look Asian myself Still, I\nam proud to be Eurasian, as much\nas f am proud to be Canadian. \u00C2\u00A9\nc^PyycroCe-cC bc\stx&,ty,c\.\nby ~$o\\v\ Hwct\nMany of my friends playfully refer to\nme as 'the whitest Chinese guy they've\never known.\" I have no problem with\nthis statement because until a couple\nof years ago, I would have completely\nagreed, and would have also been\nquite proud of the label.\nHaving grown up with ambitious\nChinese parents, I was enroled in\nFrench immersion since the age of\nthree-, in hopes that with a handle on\nboth of Canada's official languages, I\nwould easily obtain success in the\nfuture. In exchange for my knowledge of the French-language, I lost\nalmost all of my Chinese dialect and\nspent the next fifteen years among\nmosdy Caucasians, being one of the\nfew Chinese students in my classes, I\nhad little problem with this, knowing\nnothing else, and had veiy little interest in the culture that was slipping\naway.\nAs the Chinese population\nincreased in BC, I began to notice .\nhow different I was* from those who\nfelt the strong influences of Chinese\nculture. Despite my awareness of this\ndifference, my feelings towards the\nculture remained the same. I had ho\ninterest in it whatsoever and further\ninsulated myself within Western culture. I began to view other Chinese\npeople in the light of stereotypes,\nbecoming annoyed by the same prejudices that I'm sure many people\nplaced on me. Do not get me wrong,\nat no time in my life was I self-\nloathing towards my Chinese background, but I simply couldn't relate\nto other Chinese people whose\nupbringing was so vastly different\nthan my own.\nToday, I stilly barely know any\nCantonese or Mandarin, despite the\nfact that my parents are fluent in both\nlanguages. My parents did not fail in\nthis department; I simply had' no\ndesire to learn a language that was of\nno use to my present life. I would\nsoon realise what a poor choice in\njudgment this would be.\nOnce I began attending UBC, all\nmy views and attitudes towards;\nChinese, culture began to change. Not.\nonly were my classes filled with many\nChinese students with similar backgrounds, but I also found a huge\nChinese community that still held a\nstrong connection to its roots. I now\nfind myself among more and more\nChinese friends, and have a strong\nrespect and desire for my lostculture.\nIt was a tough adjustment to learn to\naccept a culture that I repressed for so\nmany years, but I feel that I am all the\nmore lucky for doing so.\nNow, I find myself in an odd position, as I am placed somewhere\" in\nthe middle of two vastly different cultures. I still feel very much connected with my Western upbringing, and\nwill never lose the friends I've had\nsince childhood, yet I am also trying\nto grow into a more diverse person,\nwho also takes pride in his Chinese\nheritage. So, am I still a banana (a\nwhite person trapped in a yellow person's body)? To a certain extent, but I\nam somewhat of a spoiled banana,\none that has begun to yellow on the\ninside as well As I continue to* go\nthrough my identity crisis, I am\naware that I will never be completely\nWesternised, nor will I be completely\nChinese. To be completely honest, I\ndon't think there's a more perfect\nbalance. \u00C2\u00A9\nm<\nif SC-GCk,\nby Pacmmdei* JVJizket*\nAllow me to clarify what 'Oreo'\nmeans. As in the famous cookie, an\nOreo is a person who is brown on the~\noutside and white on the inside,\ndescribing the package much better\nthan the popular Indo-Canadian\nphrases 'gorafied' or 'whitewashed.'\nLet me back up a Uttle and tell you\nhow I came across it. While driving\nwith a Chinese friend of mine (to the\ntunes of the Bollywood film Kuch\nKuch Hota Hal], he described himself\nas a \"banana' (the Chinese equivalent\nof an Oreo); and was sure Indians\nmust have a similar word along the\nlines of banana. I racked my brain\nbut all I could think of was whitewashed. Needless to say I. asked my\ncousin and she introduced me to,\ndrumroll please...Oreo. Right then, a\nlightbulb went off in my head. Wait a\nsec\u00E2\u0080\u0094I've heard that phrase directed\nat myself once or twice. Over the\nyears I've been called whitewashed,\ngorafied, weird and Oreo.\nSo you wanna know why I'm an\nOreo? Welllll...I don't like rap music\n(shock). I wear bandannas as headbands. I don't have my hair dyed\nbronze, nor do I wear grey makeup.\nI'm obsessed with Russian literature. I go to the theatre. I've actually\nbeen to an art gallery (for fun),\nrather than hit Adantis. I want to be\na journalist (not a drug dealer's wife,\na doctor or a lawyer). Many Indians\ndon't see me as a 'typical' Indo-\nCanadian, and that makes me white\non the inside? Harsh.\n, It- dbe'sn't, matter that I'm fluent\nin Punjabi and Hindi. That I can\nname Bollywood megastar's Shah\nRukh Khan's films off by heart\n(probably his characters' names\nalso). That I drool when I listen to\nthe tabla. That I read Indian novels.\nThat I watch Indian films religiously. That I like ghazels. That I practise\nclassical Indian dance and think of\nmyself as Indian. - Clearly I'm an\nOreo, don't you think?\nHere's a story that occurred over\nthe summer. I go to the Indian film\nstore at least fifty times a week and\nneedless to say I'm down with the\nyoung Indian guy working there. One\nLL&ct LCtc \u00E2\u0082\u00AC^6 0,tv K^J^e^c\nday he called me whitewashed. I'm at\na place where I rent Indian films and\nhe's calling me whitewashed?! What\nthe fuck? I responded by writing a\nnice Uttle note in Punjabi, which he\nhad difficulty reading. \"I'm a Punjabi\nkuri (girl)l* I felt like screaming.\nI'll admit that even I have called\npeople whitewashedbackin my ignorant high school days. I used the term\non my now best friend, who is\nPunjabi. I figured that she must be on\ncrack because she's Christian and not\na Sikh, I learned early on that I was\nbeing ignorant but the sad thing is so\nmany Canadian-born Indians don't\nreaUse this, and pass this mentaUty\nonto others.\nWhat right do Indians have to call\nme gorafied, when many of them are\nimmersed in African-American culture? How many Canadian-born desis\ndo you see pretending that, well, that\nthey're black? Calling an Indian\nwhitewashed is no different than calling an Indian blackwashed\u00E2\u0080\u0094offensive right?\nShah Rukh Khan says it best in his\nfilin Phir Bhi Dil Hain Hindustani,\n'Apni Chatri tun ko dadon kabhi jub\nbharsa pani. Phir bhi dil hain\nHindustani.\" Translation: I'll give you\nmy umbrella whenever you're in the\nrain...after all, our hearts are Indian.\nCheesy, but you get the point.\nIsn't that what it's all about?\nPulling each other up as Indians?\nInstead of categorising one another\nas white or black, we should only see\nourselves as true Indians. \u00C2\u00A9 v^ March, 21, 2003\nI is y\ t^byssey Special Dssue.\n-i)\n^^\u00E2\u0096\u00A0^\u00E2\u0096\u00A0^P\njgi^i^l^lM\nThe Security Blanket of Choice\nfor over 50a 000\nstudents & backpackers.\nTravel CUTS exclusive BON 2\u00C2\u00A3 VOYAGE\" Insurance.\nCovers just about everything.\nBuy online at www.travekuts.com XSfRAWLCjire\nyour way\nReceive a\nCOMPLIMENTARY\nDOUBLE PASS\nto a preview\nscreening of:\nHead of\nState\nshowing\nWednesday, March 26\nat 7:00 P.M.\nCineplex Granville\n(855 Granville Street).\nCome to SUB Room 23\nfor your complimentary\npass.\nUBYSSEY\nGiveaway\nPut Your Degree\nIf you have a university degree in any field you may be able to\nobtain a BCIT diploma in one year.\nBCIT's direct entry and post-diploma business programs can\nfast-track you into a career in:\nFinancial Management\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 Finance\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 Financial Planning\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 Professional Accounting\nContact: Tim Edwards\nAssociate Dean\n604.432.8898 or\nfmgt@bcitca\n' Business Administration\nand Operations\nManagement\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 Business Administration\n>\"' Human Resource\nManagement\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 Y: International Trade and\n- transportation\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 Operations Management\nContact: Chris Jaques\nAssociate Dean\n604.451.6714 or\nopmt@bcit.ca\nInformation Technology\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 Information Technology\nManagement\nContact: David Horspool\nAssociate Dean\n604.432.8382 pr\nitm@bcit.ca\nMarketing Management\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 Commercial Real Estate\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 Direct Response\nMarketing\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 Entrepreneurship\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 Marketing\nCommunications\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 Professional Sales\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 Tourism Management\nContact: Barry Hogan\nAssociate Dean\n604.456.8066 or\nmktg@bcit.ca\ntSSSllA\nApply now for Fall 2003\n\u00C2\u00A3-^LvL(^<& ii&LcC' t& &, cHcclct titfbtV\nIke Story'oj 'long Louie,\nVimouver's Quiet 'titan'\ni-.(;. pi:rk,\l?i.Y;\nTONG: THE STORY OF TONG LOUIE,\nVANCOUVER'S QUIET TITAN\nby E.G. Perrault\n[Harbour Publishing]\nThe Chinese culture, although\nabundant in art, beauty and\npower, has always remained\nsomewhat reserved in presenting\nitself to the world. Stemming from\n,old, Chinese ,tradition, one was\ntaught that things must be done at\none's own accord, eliminating any\noutside influences; only this would\nlead to the possession of complete\n, control.\nThe late Tong Louie was a man\nwho lived by this principle. Who is\nTong Louie? The fact that many\ntoday do not know him is proof of\nhis dedication to the old tradition.\nE.G. Perrault is the author of Tong:\nThe Story of Tong Louie,\nVancouver's Quiet Titan, the biography of a man who became one of\nthe most successful entrepreneurs\nin British Columbia while remaining under the radar of the media\nand the public eye.\nTo kill the suspense, if you've\nheard of the Independent Grocers\nAlliance (IGA) or London Drugs,\nyou've heard of Tong Louie's legacy. E.G. Perrault's authorised biography of Vancouver's quiet titan\nisn't a masterpiece by any means;\nrather it is the story of Louie's\nhumble beginnings that is intriguing and capturing. Dating back to\nhis father's immigration to\n- Canada from rural China, the story\nbegins' with the cold truth*of a not-\nso-multicultural Canada.\nTong's father, Hok Yat Louie,\nfell victim to the luring promise of\nthe Golden Mountain, and decided\nto raise a family in a country that\nlater \"denied them the vote federally, provincially and municipally,\nmaintained a blanket immigration\nban against them, barred them\nfrom public swimming pools and\ngenerally deprived them of\nthe most important rights of\ncitizenship.\"\nLouie's story is one of perseverance and loyalty, as his family\nstruggled with a little business\nthat barely survived due to the\nracist obstacles put in place by\nwhite suppliers and related businesses. The Louie family saw\nthemselves as Canadian, and\nwould not follow the many\nChinese-Canadians that left their\nhomes. Loyalty and honour was\ntheir drive, a drive that would lead\nto Tong Louie's brother dying in\nWorld War II for a countiy that\ndidn't want his kind on its land.\nThis glimpse into the life of\nTong Louie is only a small portion\nof the trials and obstacles he faced\nin order to \"gain success and\nrespect ' among his fellow\nCanadians. Driven by the principles taught to him by his father,\nTong Louie, defied the rules set\nupon him' by Canadian and\nChinese culture alike, turning his\nfather's humble, honest company\nH.Y. Louie Co. Ltd. into one ofthe\nlargest grocery suppliers in\nCanada. With the success of H.Y.\nLouie and the expansion into other\nmarkets with IGA and London\nDrugs, Tong Louie was recognised\nas BC Business's Entrepreneur of\nthe Year on several occasions. He\nhas also received such distinguished honours as the Orders of\nCanada and British Columbia.\nTong Louie passed away on\nApril 28, 1998, but his legacy lives\non through the success of his company, now run by his son Brandt\nLouie. The story of Tong Louie is a\ngood reminder of Canada's questionable history as a multicultural\ncountry. Although it may seem\ntoday that the Chinese-Canadian\nhas little opposition in terms of\nracism and oppression, only very\nrecently has this changed. Only\ntwo generations ago, Hok Yat\nLouie was not allowed to vote due\nto his ethnicity, despite owning an\nhonest business that contributed\nto his country's economy.\nThe multiculturalism of Canada\nis an important part of our identity, but we cannot forget how this\nmulticulturalism was slowly and\npainfully established, Tong is a key\nsource to learning about the truth\nand history in regards to the heritage of Chinese-Canadians, a heritage that is too often taken\nfor granted. \u00C2\u00A9\ni * *\n-* 'V. E-:p*i!:, t,- .'\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00E2\u0096\u00A0' \u00E2\u0096\u00A0\nLV<-<. \u00E2\u0096\u00A0.-'.. . i\nKM.**** .:...-\nrf'v'-iT\" .\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\u00E2\u0096\u00A0 \u00E2\u0096\u00A0\" ' '\np M\u00C2\u00BB? \"t.a -a- J\n-Uijlil ... .\n7'\ L\(\u00C2\u00BByssi'y !r*f'i'i\"i\u00C2\u00ABu ^fa^iw ' '\nCLx^ve o-r\u00C2\u00A3fve,se, i6 <*,&\u00E2\u0082\u00AC Like- \u00E2\u0082\u00AC\u00C2\u00A3%,& cr\u00E2\u0082\u00ACCve^^\nComparing media representations of minorities in Canada\nand the United States\nby \u00C2\u00A3>ave C}ae**fne\u00C2\u00BB*\nAn integral part of living the Canadian standard, at least as far\nas one would divine from Due South ot a blatantly nationalist\nbeer commercial, seems to be that Canadians are incredibly\ntolerant and polite. We like hockey, we can drink pitcher after\npitcher of eight per cent beer and we will\u00E2\u0080\u0094and always have-\nencouraged everyone, regardless of race, to come and join the\nmedicare parly. Yet historically this obviously isn't true. Then:\nwhy is it that Canadians are so quick to see their country as a\ncultural haven? Why has this idea become ah integral piece of\nCanadian identity, and how did it happen?\nOne possible answer is concretely linked to Donald\nGoellnicht's theories on Black power and its connection to the\nAsian-American movement In his essay \"A Long Labour: The\nProtracted Birth of Asian-Canadian Literature,' Goellhicht\nidentifies Asian-American culture as piggybacking the Black\npower movement in the fight for ethnic equality.\nConversely, the author points to Canada's major ethnic\nmovement as being Quebec's drive for sovereignty, an event\nthat could not work in the same catalytic manner for the\nAsian-Canadian community. Goellnicht uses this argument to\nidentify the protracted Asian-Canadian cultural movement as\nopposed to that of Asian-Americans. Yet this argument also\nseems applicable to the awareness of minority history as\ncompared between the two countries.\nIt would seeing that not only did the more radical movements in the United States allow for the rise of other similar\nmovements, but they also allowed for more historical awareness through the media in North American society.\nGrowing up, I was familiarised with aspects of US racial\ndiscrimination before I even discovered the same had existed\nin Canadav Mobt. likely this was due to the unavoidable\nonslaught of American media that Canadian culture is inundated with. Yet, while certain aspects of American culture presented in the media are nothing but distasteful fluff, others\ncan be an educational experience.\nSlavery is not an issue that the American media shies away\nfrom; therefore information surrounding it is available to\nAmericans and the world on an hourly basis. Initially, the US\nmedia addressed slavery issues because of the pressures from\nAfrican-American grassroots organisations who wanted to\nincrease African-American awareness on all planes.\nObviously, the blossoming television industry was a very\nviable means to quickly and comprehensively spread information. Y \u00E2\u0080\u00A2_'. :' 7\nOne of the results of this was the groundbreaking mini-\nseries Roots. Now, slavery issues are addressed in books,\nnewspapers and on TV because the media and the American\npopulace are able to see them as relevant and important parts\nof their history. This provokes thought and change in all levels\nof society, which in turn allows for progressive movements in\nthe media that can turn away from identity-based ideas and\nexplore the unlimited facets of what comprises the African-\nAmerican culture. Good examples of this are The Cosby Show,\nand more recently The Hughleys, which dealt with issues\nimportant to the African-American community today including, ser, education and drug use.\nGiven that Canada never had a major ethnic movement,\nAsian-Canadian culture and history is, for the most part, left\nout of mainstream media. Granted, Canada does not have the\nindustry power held by American media juggernauts, but if\none addresses the amount of Asian-Canadian culture that is\npresented in Canadian media, one can see that it is a gross\nunder-representation.\nWithout parallel movements in Canada, ethnic history and\nthe country's racist role in it will be forever left in the shadows\nof history, only to be addressed by academics and those specifically connected with those events. As it stands right now,\nCanada refuses to take any real ownership for the racial atrocities that occurred in the past, like First Nations residential\nschooling, Japanese internment and the Komagata Maru incident. According to the limited historical perspective available\nto the public, these events were unfortunate mistakes, one\nzero on an otherwise perfect scorecard. Until some move is\nmade tovyards teUing the history of ethnic minorities in the\nmainstream media, Canadians will forever hold their idealist\nprimetime attitudes about history in their countiy. O\ncc\nutooccuti\nI\nU,*l>&sL C~ls fV\sC4s\nLtlis&soLst?\nA visiting student looks at the\npotential for institutional\nracism in Canada\nby Tim SHcmd\nIf one contends that Canada's past colonial\npolicies and laws of ethnic segregation and\noppression, irrespective of the recipient, are\ntantamount to overt racism, then Canada\nmarched proudly into nationhood as an openly racist country. The manifestations of this\nare still being Uved out by many of the country's ethnic communities, especially First\nNations groups.\n, In contrast, at the beginning, of the new\nmillennium, Canada has fully and wholeheartedly embraced the project of multiculturalism. Today, my perception is that a large\nproportion of Canadians would regard themselves as tolerant and unprejudiced, that\ntheir national identity is synonymous with\nthe language of inclusion and respect for difference\u00E2\u0080\u0094not ethnic polarisation and oppression. However, is this view of Canada's\nhealthy ethnic diversity shared by those outside its borders? And within this celebration\nof multiculturalism, is tolerance and inclusion the reality for all Canadians? Moreover,\ncould the policy of multiculturalism be in\nitself problematic? These questions must be\ndealt with in order to create a society that is\ntruly based on the promotion of racial\njustice. \u00E2\u0080\u009E .,\nWhen I first arrived at the Vancouver air-,\nport I was immediately struck by. the\ngrandiose totem poles and the refreshiiig celebration of First Nations culture. This image\nwas for me immediately juxtaposed with the\nproblematic British perception of a typical\nCanadian as being a white European\u00E2\u0080\u0094very littie i? heard of th? country's ethnic diversity or\nof the maltreatment of First Nations people.\nThis was a healthy challenge to- my pre-con-\nceived notions. It was further enriching to discover the nurnber of people of Asian descent\nthat rightly saw themselves as\" Canadian \"as\nmuch as they saw themselves as Chinese or\nKorean. I soon learned that there was no single defining 'Canadian' ethnicity. This filled\nme with a sense of joy that I had chosen to\nstudy on exchange within what appeared to\nbe a great mosaic of happily co-existing ethnic\ncultures.\nCanada has without question come a long\nway in the project of happy co-existence, but\nas my curiosity pushed me to dig deeper, I\nfound a different kind of multiculturalism,\none that celebrated diversity, while continuing to cement the dominance of those most\npowerful: mainly white, heterosexual males.\nOne in which the oppressions ofthe past, and\ntheir effects on the present, are omitted from\npopular notions and definitions of Canada. A\nmulticulturalism where concerns regarding\nracialised crime, the marginalisation of communities and ethnic disadvantages in health,\neducation and employment were jettisoned,\nbecause they challenge the comfortable\nimage.\nMulticulturalism per se isn't in my opinion a negative thing. A truly multicultural and\nequal society has imminent social, cultural\nand political advantages. In its current form,\nhowever, multiculturalism in Canada fails the\nmarginalised and excluded by not questioning the very reasons for the existence of social\ninequalities. It does not challenge solutions\nthat seek to lay the blame squarely at the door\nofthe 'other' (any marginalised group of peoples) for their own predicament. It does not\nquestion the assertion that we have reached a\nstate of racial equality and that society affords\n. the same'oppbrtunities to everyone. \"\"\nIn this flawed form of multiculturalism it\n'is simply a matter of who is personally moti-\n,vated and willing, to work hard to make a living. Assertions of there being a level playing\"\nfield' ignore; oppression and the constant\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 struggle\" of ethnic minorities against not only\n. negative stereotypes, but. also the struggle to\ngain material resources and to keep their\nidentity and dignity.'\nThis view can often discredit the recognition that sucn social problems lie witnin'a\nlarger context of historical, structural and\ninstitutional factors. These factors sowed the\nseeds of inequality through the degradation,\ndevaluation, oppression, exploitation and\ndehumanisation of people, particularly in the*\ncontext of First Nation communities. The\nonus is on the most privileged of Canadian\nsociety to support the marginalised in\ntheir emancipation from all forms of\ndiscrimination.\nTalking about cultural diversity and promoting multiculturalism is ineffective if not\naccompanied by an active commitment to\nchallenging inequalities through a fundamental change, of institutions,- attitudes and prao- -\ntices. As Martin Luther King Jr argued, we\nneed a revolution of values, something virtually impossible if we all believe that there is\nno more structural inequality or privilege in\nsociety.\nMulticulturalism is further problematic\nwhen it entrenches racism by rendering\nwhite privilege invisible, a benefit Peggy\nMcintosh argues in her seminal work, \"White\nPrivilege: Unpacking the invisible backpack.\"\nWhite people are conditioned not to recognise\nthat \yhich they enjoy on a daily basis,\nMcintosh argues. Such privilege will remain\nentrenched in society until it is acknowledged\nand deconstructed, power structures are\naltered, and we all embrace dialogue and dissent with a willingness to stand in uncomfortable places. Only then can we celebrate\nour passion for cultural diversity, justice and\nfreedorri for all.\nThe above is not said to be deliberately disparaging about Canada or Canadians, a coun\ntry and a people that I have grown to love. It\nis said with the hope that\u00E2\u0080\u0094by pointing out the\ndisparities between rhetoric and reality that I\nperceive\u00E2\u0080\u0094I will encourage debate on how\nCanada can move beyond racial differentiation and discrimination. Similarly, I don't\nmean to suggest that Canada is ignoring solu-\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 tion** or* avoiding- the-roacV t&- actualising-\nhuman agency for all its citizens. Instead, I\nwant to encourage everyone to take ownership of a new destination on this road, a new\nparadigm of radical multiculturalism, a new\npolitics of cultural difference; one that will\nnot only transform attitudinal discrimination,\nbut will fundamentally alter power structures\nby reconstituting the political economy arid\nculture from the vantage point of the most\noppressed and marginalised.\nI invite you to join me today in my dream\nand vision of social transformation, rooted in\nthe fundamental belief of a radically democratic ideal of freedom and justice for all, with\na sense of exciting possibility and potential.\nLet us together learn from the past and look to\nit for strength, not solace; look at the present\nand acknowledge and wage war on all forms\nof inequality, rather than invest in individualistic profiteering; and look toward the future\nand vow to make it different and better for\neveryone. \u00C2\u00A9\nr^exJc&t$i*va\\nUBC's Equity Office opened in 1994 to implement two important university policies: banning discrimination and harassment and promoting educational and employment equity.\nThe university's Discrimination and\nHarassment Policy has proven to be an effective tool in managing Tjad' behaviour on cain-\npus. Every year, the Equity Office works with\nmany students, faculty and staff to address\nconcerns of discrimination and harassment\nIn addition to responding to complaints of\nracism and other human rights-based complaints, the Equity Office takes proactive measures, tackling 'isms' at their roots, by offering\nworkshops, presentations and other programs.\nOne such program is the Reviewing Race film\nand dialogue series, which the Equity Office is\nsponsoring in partnership with other groups\nand faculties on campus.\nReVjewing Race is a video and dialogue\nseries designed to examine the impact of race\nand racism on interpersonal and social relationships. The medium of film will.be used to\nexplore the historical, political, social and personal perspectives of racism. Each fjlrn will be\nfollowed by a discussion session, led by an\nexperienced facilitator. The discussion component of the series will provide an opportunity\nfor participants to unpack the film's messages,\nto engage in an open and safe dialogue about\nrace, and to generate ideas for positive change\non the UBC campus and beyond. This series is\nthe first of its kind at UBC\u00E2\u0080\u0094one targeted at students, faculty and staff\u00E2\u0080\u0094to generate ideas for\nimproved race relations within our campus\ncommunity. The film and dialogue series will\nbe held at the Norm Theatre in the SUB, starting in April.\nFor information about discrimination arid\nharassment please call the Equity Office at\n(604)* 822-63S3. For the Reviewing Race\nseries, call (604) 8 2 2-215 3. \u00C2\u00A9 12\nMatch, 21/ 2003\nA tAbyssey Special CJsswe\nJ^^\f\^ i4^i\^cL^CA^^'Cc\>f\>\nby K\u00C2\u00AB-rt\leeK\ Oeefing\n\"I feel a slight sense of guilt for not knowing much about my\nJamaican roots or my history, whereas I know a lot about my\nScottish history,\" actor Lesley Ewen tells me, as we sifat a coffee shop on Main Street She grew up with a white'mother and\nwhite stepfather, and only met her Jamaican father when she\nwas 26 years old. People frequently assume she knows a lot\nmore about Jamaica, than she actually does, she says.\nEwen created a one-woman performance called \"An\nUnderstanding of Brown\" about eighfyears ago to facilitate discussion and bring awareness about what it's like to be of mixed\nethnicity. She uses a brown box as a prop, symbolising her\nstruggle to Identify with either of her parents' heritage and the\ncolour she eventually felt most comfortable identifying with.\nShe is discussing common issues people of mixed ethnicity\nencounter withjamala MacRae, a law student at UBC and organiser of this year's Black History Month events.\nDespite being being born in Canada, both women are often\nasked where they come from, as if it's from somewhere else. The\nquestion does not stem from people's curiosity about her 'white\nside,' Ewen says. It's the Uack side' that people want to know\nabout They can tell she isn't Ijlack', but they can tell she's not\nwhite' either. \"When people ask I say, 'My mother's Scottish and\nmy stepfather's Scottish too.' Then I just call a spade a spade.\n'Where'd I get the tan? Oh, my biological father's Jamaican.'\nThen they say 'Oh, Jamaican. Now I feel ok, now you're in a box.'\"\nPeople ask because white is the norm, she says. Whatever\nmakes up that white, whether German or Scottish or English,\nthat is the norm. \"Whatever is outside of that needs to b,e questioned and identified so 'the norm' can feel comfortable with\nit,\" Ewen says, \"And that'3 why we get asked and why you'don't\nget asked, why people feel they heed to know about our background.\"\nMacRae agrees that at some point she has also felt she\nshould know more about her background. Her ethnicity is a\nmixture of Jamaican, Costa Rican and Scottish. Ewen theorises, \"Maybe as opposed to guilt, it's an expectation that has\nbeen put upon me that I should know more.\"\nMacRae reflects that she has identified herself as both\nblack and mixed. \"I guess there's a little bit of me that feels\nguilty, but it's not about other people. I mean na one can really place the1 guilt\"upon me,' F don t think,\" MacRae say's* \"But\nthey can bring up questions like, 'Why is it I don't know about\nmy history?' I could maybe make the generalisation that when\nyou're of colour, you're almost expected to know.\"\nMacRae said she thinks if people actually thought about\nwhat they themselves know about their own histories they\nwouldn't be quite so surprised when neither her nor Lesley\nIsSSfc^\nWWflfiWHSSBB\"\n^gg*;\u00C2\u00A3MUffiK \u00E2\u0096\u00A0gtvj\nNOT CHOOSING SIDES: Lesley Ewen and Jamala MacRae pojider the need to put others in a box. nic fensom photo\nknow the history of their ethnic background as well.\nSometimes she becomes frustrated with the frequency of the\nquestion and says, \"I'm from here.\" When people press, she'll\nsay 'Eastside, Vancouver\" or that her parents are from\nCanada. \"After a while you just get tired of trying to make people nicely realise why their questions can be so bothersome.\"\nMaybe a good question to ask is why people need, to ask\nthat question in the first place, Ewen says. Why some people\nfeel discomfort, or such curiousity not knowing. Why people\nfeel safer when they can put other people in a box, and identify therh by a label. \"\nBoth women agree that the voice of the mixed individual is\nstarting to become more powerful. \"I think there's just more\nof us,\" said MacRae. \"I think there were a lot of mixed couples\nin the 70s, I think that started to become more and more okay,\nand those people had children. And we're those children.\nWe're getting to a point where this is our country, our first lan\nguage, our culture and we're going to have a space iii it'\n'I also think the mixed voices might go a long way toward\nshifting racism,\" adds Ewen, \"because it challenges the dual-\nistic view of black, white or us being the dorqdnant Or being\nforced to choose sides. Oh one hand here's my mother who I\nlove and here's my father who I love.\"\nIn one of her shuyvs; Ewen met a girl who had about 10 different ethnicities in her. \"How can you even have any kind of\nracism? It negates the idea of racism,\" she said. As people\nstart questioning what it means to be black or Chinese or\nwhite, 'perhaps the extra voice of people who are mixed will\nmean people will start to see each other's similarities as\nhuman beings. \"I would really like to see that happen. I think\nit would make for a much more interesting world,\" MacRae\ntells me. \"To have all those different backgrounds and to know\na Httle bit about each of them and be really proud of them all\nand celebrate them all.* \u00C2\u00A9\n\u00C2\u00A3\n\u00C2\u00A34\"^V\nby yVAicKael Schwcwdf\n?\n(XCV %^&% "Newspapers"@en . "Vancouver (B.C.)"@en . "LH3.B7 U4"@en . "LH3_B7_U4_2003_03_21"@en . "10.14288/1.0127934"@en . "English"@en . "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en . "Vancouver : The Ubyssey Publications Society"@en . "Images provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy, or otherwise use these images must be obtained from The Ubyssey: http://ubyssey.ca/"@en . "Original Format: University of British Columbia. Archives"@en . "University of British Columbia"@en . "The Ubyssey"@en . "Text"@en .