@prefix edm: . @prefix dcterms: . @prefix dc: . @prefix skos: . edm:dataProvider "CONTENTdm"@en ; dcterms:isReferencedBy "http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=1211252"@en ; dcterms:isPartOf "University Publications"@en ; dcterms:issued "2015-08-26"@en, "2013-01-24"@en ; edm:aggregatedCHO "https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/Ubysseynews/items/1.0126256/source.json"@en ; dc:format "application/pdf"@en ; skos:note """ DISENDORSED BY HACKS EVERYWHERE SINCE 1918 UBC'S OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER | JANUARY 24, 2013 | VOLUMEXCIV| ISSUEXXXV ENDORSEMENTS Still holding out on voting? Read our editorial board's official breakdown and rationale pio SPILL ACCIDENT IN SOUTH CAMPUS SENDS GALLONS OF DIESEL INTO STREAM P4 CAN TAND BAD P6 »Page 2 What's on lEK.MAYI THEATRE» Rhinoceros: 7:30 p.m. @ Telus Studio Theatre Theatre at UBC's latest production follows French everyman Berenger, who is horrified to find that everyone in his small village is transforming into stampeding rhinoceroses. This absurdist exploration of conformity is playing at the Telus until Feb. 9. Directed by MFA directing student Chelsea Haberlin, performed by BFA acting students. $10 for students. ELECTIONS » AMS Elections Results Party: 5 p.m. @ the Gallery Ifyou haven't noticed that it is election season, perhaps you should pick up Monday's issue of the paper. Make sure to come to thiseventto meetyourfuturestu- dent government and discover the future of the U-Pass. FOOD» Dine Out Vancouver @ restaurants all over the city Score cheap three-course meals at fine dining establishments that are way out of the average student's price range. $18, $28 and $38 menus available; visit dineoutvancouver.com. UBC men's hockey vs. Mt. Royal Cougars: 2:30-4:30 p.m. @ Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre Cheer on the Thunderbirds men's hockey team as they duke it out on the ice with the Mt. Royal Cougars. $2 for students. VERY IMPORTANT» Data Privacy Day: All day @ The whole world! Did you know that today is Data Privacy Day? Use these 24 hours as an opportunity to hack-proof your passwords, PIN numbers and personal documents. Golly! Doesn't that feel better? Priceless. 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 latest Ubyssey Weekly Show, airing now at ubyssey.ca/videos/. 'JJthe ubyssey JANUARY24.2013 | VOLUMEXCIV| ISSUEXXXV Coordinating Editor Jonny Wakefield coordinating@u byssey.ca Managing Editor, Print Jeff Aschkinasi minted ito r@u byssey.ca Managing Editor,Web Andrew Bates webed itor@u byssey.ca News Editors Will McDonald* Laura Rodgers iews@ubyssey.ca Senior News Writer Ming Wong Tiwong@ u byssey.ca Culture Editor Anna Zona culture@ubyssey.ca Senior Culture Writer Rhys Edwards •edwards@u byssey.ca Sports + Rec Editor CJ Pentland sports@ubyssey.ca Senior LifestyleWriter Justin Fleming jfleming@u byssey.ca Features Editor Amo Rosenfeld featu res@u byssey.ca Video Editor David Marino video@ubyssey.ca Copy Editor Karina Palmitesta copy@ubyssey.ca STAFF 3ryce Warnes, Josh Curran, ^eter Wojnar, Anthony Poon,VeronikaBondarenko, Yara Van Kessel.Lu Zhang, Catherine Guan,Ginny Monaco,Arno Rosenfeld. Matt Meuse, Hogan Wong, Rory Gattens, Brandon Chow, Joseph Ssettuba. Tyler McRobbie, Sarah Big am, StephanieXu, Natalya Kautz Business Manager Fernie Pereira fpereira@ubyssey.ca Ad Sales Ben Chen 3chen@ubyssey.ca Accounts Tom Tang ttang@ubyssey.ca Editorial Office: SUB 24 604.822.2301 Business Office: SUB 23 ADVERTISING 604.822.1654 nquiries 604.822.6681 Student Union Building 6138 SUB Boulevard Vancouver, BCV6T1Z1 Online: ubyssey.ca Twitter: @ubyssey Art Director Kai Jacobson a rt@ ubyssey.ca Graphics Assistant Indiana Joel joe l@ ubyssey.ca Layout Artist Colly n Chan cchan@ ubyssey.ca Videographer Lu Zhang zhang@ubyssey.ca Webmaster Riley Tomasek webrnaster@u byssey.ca Th fficial stu dent newspaper of the University or bsrmsn Lolumbla. t Is published every Monday andThursday by The Ubyssey Publications Sociely. We are ar autonomous, democratically •un student organization, anc all students are encoi iraned to oartlcipate. Editorials are chosen and written by the Ubyssey staff. They are the expressed opln- on of the staff, and do not necessarily reflect the views ofThe Jbyssey Publications Sociely or the University of British Co- umbla. All editorial content appearing In The Ubyssey Is the property ofThe Ubyssey Publications Society. Stories, opinions, photographs andart- work contained he oe reproduced without the expressed, written permission ofThe Ubyssey Publications Society. The Ubyssey Is a founding member of Canadian University Press (CUP) and adheres to CUP's guiding principles. Letters tothe editor must oe under300 words. Please nclude your phone number, student number and signature (not for publication) as well as your year and faculty with all submissions. ID wll oe checked when submissions are dropped off at the adi tori al office ofThe Ubyssey; otherwise verification will be done by phone. The Ubyssey •eserves the right to edit sub- lisslons for length and clari- '. All letters must be receivec oy 12 noon the day before Intended publication. Letters received after this point will be oublished In the following Issue unless there is an urgent time restriction or other matter deemed relevant by the Jbyssey staff. It is agreed by all persons olaclng display orclasslfiedad- vertisingthatlftheUbysseyPub- icatlons Sociely falls topublish an advertise men tor if an error n the ad occurs the liability of theUPS wll notbe greater tnar the price paid for the ad. The J PS shall notbe responsl ble for slight changes or typographl- caFerrors that do not lessen the value or the impact of the ad. OUR CAMPUS ONE ON ONE WITH THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE UBC KAI JACOBSON PHOJWHE UBYSSEY AMS presidential candidate Jay Shah has been an active member of the Greek system since he came to UBC. Jay Shah talks REC, rappers Will McDonald News Editor AMS presidential candidate Jay Shah has held numerous AMS positions, but he's most at home when he's with his fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, or participating in UBC REC activities. "This is probably my biggest accomplishment: I came in fourth in the UBC REC campus-wide table tennis tournament," said Shah. Shah said hockey is his favourite sport to watch, but he is also a fan of baseball and football. "I knew something in my life was missing from October to November this year and I couldn't actually pinpoint it — and I realized it was hockey," said Shah. Shah is active in REC sports, including ball hockey, basketball, soccer and Storm the Wall. Shah has also played competitive hockey since he was in the seventh grade. He mentioned that winning the UBC REC ball hockey tournament on his fraternity's team was another milestone in his life. "I never won an organized ball hockey tournament until this year, so that, I would have to say, was one of my bigger accomplishments," said Shah. A Markham, Ontario native, Shah is in his fifth year of a BA in international relations and English literature. In his first year at UBC, Shah lived far away from campus and had no network of friends or family in the area. He said that's when he got involved in Greek life. "Obviously having that sort of familial feeling was hugely, hugely beneficial, initially," said Shah. Shah is currently the executive coordinator of student services for the AMS and has held numerous elected positions in the Greek system, including president of Beta Theta Pi. "[Fraternies are] not necessarily for everyone, but it's definitely something that has provided me with a lot of experience, with a lot of knowledge, with a lot of tolerance that has allowed me to grow as a person and help grow the organization," said Shah. "It's something that I think, overall, is just a fantastic experience." Shah is known for his speaking ability and communication skills, which he developed as the AMS ombudsperson. Rumour has it that this affinity for public speaking stems from an obsession with rapper Jay-Z. "I think that's actually been a little bit overblown. There were drinks flowing that night and so I can't really corroborate the extent to which I'm a huge Jay-Z fan," said Shah. "I do have a lot of respect for him, definitely. Coming from where he came from and being able to build up what he's been able to is definitely hugely motivational, but do I have a huge obsession? I wouldn't necessarily classify it as that. But I'm definitely a fan of his music, for sure." tJ l. Send us your flash fiction & poetry 3. Win prizes The Ubyssey's annual creative writing contest is open for submissions! Have your work judged by published authors and magazine editors. Winners in each category are published in The Ubyssey and awarded $75 and a subscription to a literary magazine. ul ™^5 • Email submissions by Feb. 1, 2013 |C1 1 U mUTmrn^ * 300-500 words for flash fiction AlW MmMmmm • 1 page or less for poetry Visit ubyssey.ca/literary/for full submission guidelines. tNewsl INVENTIONS » ORS WILL MCDONALD + LAURA RODGERS BUSINESSES» Isabel Chen holds up a watch equipped with the panic device. ^^r^ssf c&v ,#os ««J* Aoosecg /'*'' *"<§* ^di*en .&ocrt peneW? J / V -* Kevi "22H5*? ■bo">-fea '"hearted f own-up ' ,a"7 tale " VlJi Kline S,J* m y.t. "Dfla/rp /^w —«' San, nPky im by '' 'iotta,, } m ~ ^ Liu ^ ■\\\\ K\\ (,»# ^-ai§^ =HOTOCOURTESYOFTHE ARTIST One of these flicks could be your ticket out of a seasonal, rain-induced funk. Opinions AMS ELECTIONS ENDORSEMENTS OUR THOUGHTS ON THIS YEARS AMS ELECTIONS CANDIDATES Each year, The Ubyssey endorses candidates in the AMS elections. We do this to give students a better sense of what we look for in a candidate for public office. The editorial board was able to come to a consensus on the majority of races. When we weren't able to settle on one candidate/referendum proposal, we brought the proposal to a vote. Much like the Supreme Court, we've written majority and minority opinions. Unless otherwise noted, however, the editorial board was unanimous in its decisions. Let's start from the top: PRESIDENT Endorsement: Caroline Wong At the beginning of this election season, we were not overly thrilled with the candidates for president. Indeed, it was hard at first to pick out where they differed in any substantive way. On the face of it, Jay Shah, Caroline Wong and Ekateryna Baranovskaya come from very similar backgrounds. They've all come from somewhere deep inside the AMS — from Student Services, Council orthe undergraduate societies. They're all arts students, and they're all involved in Greek life. And they've all served on one committee or another (a point every candidate was all too happy to bring up inthe debates). These candidates come from a monoculture that is interested in code, bylaws and Robert's Rules of Order. Now, a week and a half into the two-week campaign period, the three hopefuls have yet to distinguish themselves. What these candidates represent, ultimately, is an AMS that has completely forgotten how to talk to actual students. Ninety-eight per cent of students don't care if a candidate has served on such and such committee unless it's clear as day why that matters. The intricacies ofthe organization only matter if they propel some larger vision, a vision of what a student society ought to be. These candidates have no such vision. It's a competition over who would be the better manager, who better understands pragmatically what the AMS can do over the next year. Steady as she goes. These are the criteria on which we had to base our decision. Baranovskaya offered a number of ideas for improving student engagement with the AMS (a lofty goal that has been trotted out by AMS politicians since time immemorial). She would do this by creating some sort of forum, or providing better support for undergraduate society elections. But "engagement" with the AMS isn't going to spring from a forum; it will only come from offering some new service to students, or from realigning existing services to better reflect what students want. Baranovskaya's platform point about the upcoming provincial election came across as equally unclear. And while creating an executive position to focus on student mental health and social life is a good idea, more or less every other candidate believes this should happen. It is not a new idea. Jay Shah has tried to distin guish himself by arguing he is not a "career student politician." And while this is true (Shah has not held an elected position in the AMS), this argument doesn't go far in recommending him for the job of president. AMS services, which Shah headed this year, will exist no matter who's in charge. The department gets a dependable amount of money from students and has a large permanent staff. It will run no matter who's in charge (though that's not to say that there haven't been any hiccups in recent years). Shah has done little to rock the boat or try new things. Services such as Safewalk, tutoring and mini school are no more visible this year than they have been in the past. He may have been a fine manager, but we're not convinced that Shah would be a particularly effective leader. Caroline Wong is the only candidate in this race with any past executive experience, having served as VP Administration under past president Matt Parson. This puts her in a better position than the other two candidates, as she knows the ins and outs ofthe new SUB project. The new SUB opens in a little over a year, and since the AMS is betting the farm on the hope the new building will increase business revenues and student engagement, the priority of this executive will be making sure the transition goes smoothly. They also have to make sure that the new SUB is something students are excited about. We think Wong is in the best position to lead this charge. While her term as VP Admin was largely uneventful, we believe she did a fine job keeping up communications with clubs and pushing the new SUB project. While her background is in administration, she knows what she has to do to step into a leadership role. While we give her our endorsement, it's lukewarm. Even after almost two weeks of campaigning, no candidate stands head and/or shoulders above the rest. Full disclosure: Colly n Chan, one of The Ubyssey's paid graphic designers, worked on Wong's campaign for VP Administration, and served briefly as Wong's assistant. Chan has not participated in any AMS-related coverage and was not present at our endorsement meeting. BOARD OF GOVERNORS Endorsement: Matt Parson and Tristan Miller BoG is a tough race this year. Let's start with who we don't endorse. We can unequivocally do not endorse Harsev Oshan. He has a list of follies as the Arts Undergraduate Society president that make us wary of giving him our support. He has basic responsibility issues, such as signing dubious sponsorship deals with Gold's Gym, leaving thousands of dollars in a office that was broken into and missing meetings. His campaign has promised very little in terms of what he will do for students if elected to the bigtable. We also have issues with sup porting Conny Lin. She had a lacklustre performance at the debates and her answers to our candidate questions went off topic. There is something to be said for having a graduate student rep on the Board, but she seems to lack basic knowledge of key issues like governance. While incumbent BoG rep Mike Silley didn't make any big mistakes during his time in office, we don't think he deserves another term. He doesn't have any concrete platform points this year, and some quotes (like the Board has "won him over") cause us to question if he has lost touch with the student point of view. We also have problems with him taking credit for the lower bachelor of international economics tuition during his time in office. He didn't take an active role pressing for it, and citing it as an accomplishment seems disingenuous. We think Erin Rennie would be an OK choice, but she isn't in our top two. Her platform to fight the war on fun is appealing, but it is unclear if that can actually be addressed at the board level. She was away from UBC for years and might not be up to date on the campus culture. She also worked in a B.C. Liberal cabinet minister's office. On aboard dominated by B.C. Liberals, her political career could put her in a tough position to disagree with her fellow board members. Which leaves our endorsements for Matt Parson and Tristan Miller. Parson has extensive political experience and knows what's coming down the pipeline at the board. He has experience working on student housing, a valuable attribute for a student rep. But we have our concerns about his AMS presidency. He backed down on a number of his campaign promises and didn't wow us with his PAR goals. But ultimately, he understands students and understands how the board works. We think he will be an effective voice for students. We think Tristan Miller would be a good foil to Parson on the board. He has the personality to be an effective bad cop. While he can come across as icy to the average student, he has concrete plans for housing affordability. We also think he wouldn't be afraid to take a stand against the board and will resist becoming a lackey. VP ACADEMIC Endorsement: Kiran Mahal Kiran Mahal has been an outstanding AMS executive this year and has strong ideas for continuing her work in a second term. Mahal has been active as an advocate for student housing, taking the lead on the Acadia Park issue after UBC moved to evict student families from the buildings. She has also drawn up a Student Housing Action Plan and worked on restructuring UBC's internal loan structure, the easiest way to bring housing costs down. It was Mahal who spearheaded the fight against the bachelor of international economics and succeeded in forcing the Board of Governors to reduce tuition, saving students around $500,000. Challengers Anne Kessler and i\\ Montana Hunter have no business running for the VP Academic position. Kessler's rants against the university at debates and in her stump speech appear juvenile when she fails to couple them with any compelling policy positions. Hunter is running on a platform of "affordability," an issue already being addressed by Mahal. He has not presented any concrete or realistic ways to reduce student costs. To say Kessler and Hunter's vanswers at the debates were boilerplate would be too kind. The Ubyssey wholeheartedly endorses Kiran Mahal for a second term as VP Academic and University Affairs. VP EXTERNAL Endorsement: Tanner Bokor It's hard to get excited about a race with only one candidate. While we endorse Tanner Bokor for the position of VP External, we do so with some caveats. Bokor has made transit his sole focus as Associate VP External, and while it's safe to say students want to see advocacy focused on improving transit service to UBC, we worry that this approach will come at the expense of other areas ofthe portfolio. For one, WTF (the provincial campaign to improve access to education that the AMS supports) is awful. Its website hasn't been updated since early September, and there's no indication that the AMS or other area student unions are gearing up for any kind of advocacy push during this spring's provincial elections. If Bokor focuses exclusively on transit as VP External, his term will have been a failure. All that aside, Bokor has done fine work inthe VP External's office this year, and would be a good choice to take the reins. He's certainly better than the alternative: a "no" vote. VP ADMINISTRATION Endorsement: Derek Moore (7 for, 3 against) This was a tough choice. Our editorial board quickly moved past Justin Fernandes, who has gained a reputation in the Science Undergraduate Society as being hard to work with. And while we're not always keen to endorse someone based solely on prior AMS experience, Olivia Yung would need some more experience running an organization before we'd suggest handing her the keys to the SUB/clubs. Derek Moore ultimately gets our endorsement. He's worked on the new SUB project extensively, and has an understanding ofthe thousands of little things that need to happen before the AMS can move into the new building in 18 months. That project is far from "done," as other candidates have suggested. Moore has worked hard over the past year to make sure all clubs and student organizations with a designated space in the new SUB were consulted. Moore would be well suited to some ofthe more mundane administrative work that the position's title suggests. And while Moore has proven himself to be a hard worker, some on our editorial board were concerned about his lack of ideas. On that front, one candidate stood out. We debated for some time whether to endorse this race's wildcard candidate, Barnabas Caro. Caro is well-known (as UBC students go). He's been a residence advisor and has served on the Student Administrative Commission, the AMS group in charge of managing clubs. He seems to have developed a good rapport with club execs, organizing a number of informal (and well-attended) beer nights. Much of his platform revolves around advertising the often untouched funds the AMS makes available for clubs. Of course, these initiatives are not the same as managing a multimillion dollar building, and Caro has shown in the past that he has some basic responsibility issues. Ultimately, Moore is the safe choice. But part of us wants to see what Caro would do with the position. VP FINANCE Endorsement: Joaquin Acevedo VP Finance is not a glamorous job. It's mostly spreadsheet-crunching, telling other people they can't have things and cheque-sign- ing.ALOTof cheque-signing. It's important the person who takes the job has a clear grasp ofthe job duties before they start, because the time between taking office in March and submitting the summer's first budget draft will inevitably breeze by. Mateusz Miadlikowski seems like an eager chap, but he revealed in debate that he really doesn't know what he's talking about. His only experience with the AMS is slinging beers at the Pit. We don't want to disparage that, but it doesn't exactly prepare him to take control ofthe society's oft-confusing financial side. Joaquin has the requisite experience and knowledge of what the VP Finance does. He's also a fairly affable guy who communicates well, which will make his role working between AMS Council and the new business board easier. RACES AT A GLANCE Due to space limitations, we have not included this year's Senate and Student Legal Fund Society (SLFS) endorsements in print. Find our thoughts on these races and the referenda at ubyssey.ca. • Senate: Kiran Mahal, Philip Edgecumbe, Yaniv Pereslavsky and Natalie Marshall • SLFS: Students for Responsible Leadership • Referenda: Question 1 (U-Pass): YES. Question 2 (AGM quorum): YES. Question 3 (substantive bylaw changes): YES. Question 4: (housekeeping bylaw changes): YES. Question 5: ($l/student for Bike Co-op): NO, 8 to 3). a THURSDAY, JANUARY24,2013 | OPINIONS | 11 LIFE» ELECTIONS » Kicking the "busyness" habit i REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PRESENT by Kurtis Lockhart We've all been in that frustrating situation: you ask a friend if she wants to go see a movie, or meet you at the pub for a drink, or simply hang out. And then you get that eye-roll-inducing response: "Oh, I'm suuuper busy, but... I'll tryyyy and make time. I'll let you know..." All the while, you know she's not as busy as she thinks she is, and could definitely "make time." This problem of "busyness" - or rather, faux busyness — is not new. Inthe 1920s, Franz Kafka wrote of busyness in his masterpiece, The Trial. In one scene, a character laments that his case is taking up all of his time: "Most of all, I don't want to lose my trial,... [and if] you want to do something about your trial you don't have much time for anything else." This sentiment has never held more currency than in today's universities. None of us wants to lose or fail in our own trials, and so we give everything — all of our time — to winning, to attaining our goals, to getting that A grade. Our trials make us busy and distract us from actually living. The key piece of information that gives The Trial its absurd and surreal dimension is that Joseph K., the novel's protagonist, doesn't even know why he's been summoned to court in the first place. He never finds out, yet he is still forced, nonsensically, to try to win his trial. This is the perfect analogy to university life — and, I guess, to adulthood in general. We allow these frivolous trials to overwhelm us, despite the fact that they make us exhausted, We may think we're busy, but be honest with anxious and temperamental. Just like Joseph K., we don't know how they've come to take up all of our time, or to what end. I can think of two main reasons: one more readily obvious to us students, and the other more subtle, but no less potent. The primary reason we allow ourselves to succumb to busyness is so we can get into the best schools or secure the best jobs. In place of idleness and leisure, college admissions boards and hiring committees require extracurricular activities and community service; they demand busyness. In contrast, the second reason goes largely unnoticed: we take refuge in busyness because we don't want to be idle. With idleness comes either boredom — unbearable in our entertain- yourself: you could reschedule. ment-crazed, one-click culture — or worse, actual introspection. That is, being alone with your thoughts. This may be the most frightening prospect of all. We fear we might ask ourselves questions of true consequence during those rare moments of silence in an otherwise frenetically busy existence: Am I happy? Do I know what I want to do with my life? If so, am I doing it for the right reasons? Do I actually love my significant other? Does he or she love me? And, worst of all — who am I? Just as Joseph K. didn't know why he was summoned, we too don't know — or don't want to know — the answers to these questions. And this lends the same absurdity and surrealism, the same lack of purpose, to our lives as it does to Joseph K.'s. To avoid answering these ANDREWBATES PHOJWHE UBYSSEY questions, to avoid silence and introspection, we eschew idleness and take shelter in busyness. Busyness, almost like drugs or alcohol, becomes our escape. One can't much scratch the surface of this subject in 600 words. This is all to say that midterms are just around the corner, and we are all going to be busy. But that isn't an excuse to stop living, because after midterms are finals and after finals is graduation and after graduation is real life where you'll have a real job and — spoiler alert — you'll be busy. Busyness is a convenient fiction. And unlike Joseph K., we shouldn't make the mistake of allowing our absurd trials to distract us from things of real meaning and consequence. tJ PIC OF THE WEEK Candidates for prez don't offer much to chew on