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iWMMI
EVENTS THIS WEEK, CHECK CH
FRIDAY
1HE01LEND/IR.G3
r£
THECALEND^'9*
LOWEEN
r>
TH\\TT +DUNGEON STAGE
THE CALENDAR HALLOWEEN
9:00 P.M. @ KOERNER'S PUB
The Calendar is hosting two Halloween parties this year, one for all ages and
one 19+. Both parties promise good times, cool costumes and great people.
Tickets $20
SAT-SUN ' 1-2
UBC T-BIRDS SWIM MEET
SATURDAY 10:30 A.M. -SUNDAY3:30 P.M. @ UBC AQUATIC CENTRE
UBC is hosting the 2014Odlum Brown Colleges Cup | Pacific at the UBC
Aquatic Centre this weekend. Come cheer on the 'Birds at this Canada West
competition. Free
SATURDAY ' 1-30
f
MADE IN IV
▼ MOVEMBER
NOVEMBER1-30@UBC/ALL OVER THE WORLD
Take advantage of your annual opportunity to see how you look with a stache
with (relatively) little risk of being made fun of. Raise awareness and money
for men's health and look stylish with your grown or drawn-on stache. Free
ON
THE
COVER
Making quorum at the AGM
was one ofthe best displays of
activism at UBC inyears.
-Photo Cherihan Hassun
Want to see your events listed here?
Email your events listings to
ourcampus@ubyssey.ca.
<*w
^^*f^ ¥ ■ < -v t ■ «
UBYSSE
\\JTHE
Y
OCTOBER30.2014 | VOLUMEXCVI | ISSUEXIX
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PHOTO CHERIHAN HASSUN/THE UBYSSEY
Sian Echard is a English literature and medieval studies professor who has a focus on Arthurian literature.
Sian Echard is a prof of the round table
Austen Erhardt
Opinions & Blog Editor
At first glance, UBC prof Sian
Echard appears to check off a
number of boxes ofthe stereotypical university academic.
She's an English literature and
medieval studies professor, and
has spent hundreds of hours
poring over centuries-old manuscripts, translating texts from
ancient languages and deciphering meaning in pre-modern
prose and poetry. Spend five
minutes in one of her classes,
however, and you'll quickly see
what sets Echard apart from
her peers and the mass media
portrayal of her profession.
For Echard, the study of old and
middle English goes beyond
Beowulf and The Canterbury
Tales. One of her areas of focus
is Arthurian literature — texts
based on the story of the legendary King Arthur. In her classes,
students reading aloud middle
English poetry and writing with
quills on parchment is as common a sight as her lecturing.
My parents were
interested in castles
and cathedrals and
Roman ruins and all
that kind of stuff
... so it was kind of
a backdrop to my
growing up."
Sian Echard
UBC English and medieval
studies professor
Echard grew up in Ontario in
an academic family. Her grandfather passed away when she
was very young, and her parents
decided to spend their summers
in Wales to be with Echard's
grandmother. Though many
know the story of Arthur solely
through Disney animations,
movies and children's stories,
the Arthurian myth — or history,
depending on who you ask — is a
significant aspect of Welsh and
Britannic culture; a culture in
which Echard was immersed for
much of her life.
"Because [her parents] were
academics, summer was very
long. Even once we were in
school they would just take us
out of school in May and we
would live in Wales. So it meant
that I spent most of my childhood summers in Wales. My parents were interested in castles
and cathedrals and Roman ruins
and all that kind of stuff... so it
was kind of a backdrop to my
growing up," Echard said.
Echard started at Queen's
University unsure of what,
exactly, she wanted to study.
Interested in history, languages
and English literature, she was
torn between the subjects that
she had come to love growing
up and was just beginning to
explore in an academic context.
I love the beginning
of a project, when you
have just a vague idea
and you start digging
into archives to see...
or you don't even know
what you're looking
for and then you have
that aha' moment, and
suddenly you think,
oh, that's it!'"
"Then when I was in university, in my second year of undergrad ... I took a history course,
taught by someone who I later
discovered was a graduate of
the program that I would go on
to do (the Centre for Medieval
Studies at U of T). And it was a
standard, early-Middle Ages-
type course. But, it was interdisciplinary. So we read literary
works, we did some art history.
It wasn't just history," Echard
said. "That was the point at
which I decided that I would
do medieval studies. I ended up
doing literary studies within
medieval studies, partly because
I liked languages so much."
Echard is bilingual, speaking
English and French, comfortable
with German and literate in
Latin and medieval Welsh. She
also knows basic conversational
modern Welsh and, impressively,
can easily pronounce Llanfair-
pwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrn-
drobwllllantysiliogogogoch
— the verbose name of a Welsh
train station.
Echard's role as a professor
is twofold: her time is split between teaching and researching.
"I love the beginning of a
project, when you have just a
vague idea and you start digging
into archives to see ... or you
don't even know what you're
looking for and then you have
that 'aha' moment, and suddenly
you think, 'oh, that's it!' And all
the stuff that didn't make sense
suddenly makes sense," she said.
Although the manuscripts
that Echard studies tend to be,
at minimum, hundreds of years
old and carefully protected and
preserved, that doesn't mean
that they're completely off
limits. Echard's first up-close-
and-personal experience with a
manuscript was when she was
a graduate student at U of T,
with a famous book called the
Hunterian Psalter.
Though Echard has greater access than many people
through her academic position,
she pointed out that undergraduates can get involved, too.
"Here at UBC, Rare Books
& Special Collections is open
to anybody with a library card.
You just have to obey their rules
and put your stuff in a locker
and all that. But we have some
really interesting old books at
UBC that you can ask to see!"
Echard said.
When it came to selecting her
favourite text, Echard chose the
4,000-line Alliterative Morte
Arthure as her favourite poem,
but struggled to narrow it down
to a single book, ultimately
identifying Tolkien's Lord ofthe
Rings trilogy — and appendices
— as her 'stranded on an island'
reading material.
Ultimately, for Echard, the
best part of her job is the teaching and constant interaction
with students.
"I love teaching. I'm very
happy to be at a research university, and I really enjoy research.
I can get lost in the library for
hours ... But in terms of day-today rewards, teaching is the one
from which — because there's
always feedback and because it
always changes, even if you're
teaching the same thing over and
over again, students never react
in exactly the same way — you
just get constant feedback." Xi // News
EDITORS JOVANAVRANIC +VERONIKA BONDARENKO
RSDAY, OCTOBER:
RESEARCH»
UBC professor studies rehabilitation of aboriginal inmates
David Nixon
Senior Staff Writer
A UBC professor wants to
change the way we look at
criminal rehabilitation.
UBC nursing professor Helen
Brown has received roughly
$150,000 in funding from the
Movember Foundation to study
the effect of replacing idle time
of male aboriginal inmates with
work aimed at giving back to impoverished children and families.
"You can teach someone employment skills and do rehabilitation post-release," said Brown.
"But the vision here is deeper
than that... when you give to
others you develop the kind of
self worth that is at the root of
rehabilitation."
The Movember Foundation's
Men's Health & Wellbeing Innovation Challenge announced on
October 20 that $2.2 million
would be spread across 15 winning projects for "creative and
innovative ideas that [aim] to
disrupt longheld assumptions
about men's health, focus on
positive elements of masculinity,
and get men to take action with
their health." Among the list
of recipients like "Beer League
Doctor" and "Hockey Fans in
Training," Brown's project sticks
out as one ofthe more interesting
applications of this goal.
Brown was invited to join
the project by retired Ferndale
Warden Brian Lang. He spearheaded the project and has been
working on it for seven months
already. Brown received a lot of
raised eyebrows over it — the
project treats the inmates as co-researchers, and she called it "almost
more activism" than research. But
that's exactly why she wanted to
do it, even though it was outside of
her field of expertise.
There are 25 men currently
involved in the project across three
sites in the Cariboo-Chilcotin region. Jobs for the men involve making furniture, toys, cultural items
and growing food. All of it is sent to
the most impoverished First Nations
children and families in B.C.
Those children have begun
writing to thank the inmates
as well, which Brown says has
further motivated the men. This
element of helping others is integral to the project.
Why aboriginal men? "It's
tackling a significant issue of
over-representation," Brown said.
=HOTO THOMAS HAWK/FLICKR
UBC nursing professor Helen Brown is helping aboriginal men in prisons rehabilitate themselves by giving back to their communities.
Statistics Canada reported
in 2010/2011 that 20 per cent
of federal inmates in custody
were aboriginal. It's 27 per cent
for Provincial and Territorial
prisons. In the overall Canadian
population, First Nations account
for about three per cent. Another
report in 2003 showed offence
rates for aboriginal males were at
58 per cent, while non-aboriginal
rates were 42 per cent.
"The normal methods of rehabilitation are not working for
these men," said Brown.
Now, with funding from the
Movember Foundation, Brown
will study metrics such as early
release dates and repeat offences
among the men over two years
and see if the new strategies have
an impact. Those metrics are a
long way off, but already she has
heard and recorded testimony
from the men in the program
which has both moved and
impressed her.
"Some of them have had
horrific lives," said Brown, "but
I've met some very articulate,
thoughtful people who are on
a path now [and] they're going
to be a force when they leave in
terms of what they're going to
do and who they want to be. It's
really amazing to see that." Xi
NEWS BRIEFS
University of Alberta President
to become Distinguished Fellow
in Residence at UBC
Current University of Alberta
president Indira Samarasekera
will be coming to UBC in 2015.
Samarasekera, who has been
president of U of A since 2005, will
be joining UBC's Liu Institute for
Global Issues as a Distinguished
Fellow in Residence. Samarasekera, who has a Masters in
mechanical engineering from the
University of California and a PhD
in metallurgical engineering from
UBC, also served as Vice President
Research at UBC prior to beginning her position at U of A.
UBC holds town hall on fee
increase proposals
A consultation was held on
October 28 at 10 a.m. in the SUB
Ballroom to provide students with
detailed information about the
proposed 2015 international tuition and residence fee increases.
UBC Vice Provost and Associate VP Enrolment and Academic
Facilities, Angela Redish, led a
presentation outlining the details
ofthe university's proposals, and
later, along with VP Students
Louise Cowin and representatives
from the UBC Board of Governors, answered questions posed by
students in attendance. Only about
five students were present at the
town hall's peak.
The next public meetings on the
topic of fee increases are planned
to take place next week. According
to Cowin, UBC will be sending out
broadcast e-mails to inform students of when they can take part in
consultations. Until then, students
are encouraged to voice their
opinions and ask questions online
at UBC's Consultations' site. Xi
Want to write
for news?
EMAIL NEWS@UBYSSEY.CA OR
COME BY OUR EDITORIAL OFFICE
SUB 24, FOLLOW THE SIGNS
LANGUAGES»
UBC professor hopes to bring more aboriginal language study to UBC
Mark Turin is advocating for the preservation and revival of Canadian First Nations languages
Mateo Ospina
StaffWriter
A UBC anthropology professor
is hoping to bring aboriginal languages to the forefront of language
study at UBC.
Mark Turin, who is chair
ofthe university's First Nations Language Program and a
registered student in the same
program, has an academic background in studies of endangered
languages around the world. He
is currently working towards a
future in First Nations studies
that focuses on a partnership
between the university and indigenous communities.
The First Nations Language
Program currently offers opportunities to study languages such
as Cree, Kwak'wala, Nle'kepmx-
cin and Dakelh Dene. In order to
expand the program's curriculum to include more indigenous
languages, Turin has immersed
himself in the language and cultures of aboriginal peoples from
the wider B.C. area to work directly toward the goal of reviving
these languages that have only a
few speakers left.
"We're probably seeing the last
generation of fluent speakers of
many of these languages," said
Turin.
While there are intense efforts
aimed at the documentation of
these languages both as a historic reference and as part of a
cultural preservation, preserving
languages with a very limited
number of speakers presents a
number of challenges.
"The challenges now [are] that
we have a generation of people
that want to transmit their knowledge except they are getting
older and are forgetting and have
never had someone to speak to in
their languages," said Turin.
Turin hopes that the university,
which is situated on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory
ofthe hericjemirierri-speaking
Musqueam people, will become
a centre for a progressive and
community-focused study of First
Nations culture and languages.
=HOTO COURTESY ALEJANDRO YOSHIZAWA
UBC professor Mark Turin is dedicated to the preservation of aboriginal languages.
Still, Turin also said that there
are some differences of opinion with regard to how these
languages should be taught
and studied.
"Some communities feel they
should remain oral because a
written form gives them [a form]
they were never meant to have,"
said Turin. "Other communities
believe that writing gives a longer
chance of success."
Accordingto Turin, the increased
research in First Nations Languages
has allowed UBC to offer a course
ontheheric]emirierri language
that fulfills the Arts language
requirement. Turin hopes that this
relationship between UBC and the
languages of First Nations People
will allow for more such courses to
be taught at the university.
Turin said that, aside from
being important for the pres
ervation of aboriginal culture,
studying First Nations languages
can also give students the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of Canada's history and
cultural identity.
"The singular achievement of
our species, which is language,
it's power and orality and performative brilliance, is something we don't celebrate enough,"
said Turin. tJ 4 I NEWS I THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30,2014
HEALTH »
UBC doctors recommend increased
education, vaccination against HPV
UBC doctors recommend getting vaccinated against HPV.
=HOTO COURTESY LILY EGHDAM
Kari Lindberg
Contributor
UBC doctors Melica
Nourmoussavi and Lily Eghdami
are trying to promote the
knowledge and education around
the HPV vaccine.
The human papillomavirus
(HPV) is a sexually transmitted
infection that can lead to cervical
cancer in women. Scientists have
known about HPV's link to cancer for decades, but the first vaccine that protects women against
the disease was authorized for
use in Canada in 2006.
The National Advisory
Committee on Immunization
currently recommends that girls
ages nine to 26 receive the HPV
vaccine to decrease the risk of
cervical cancer in the future.
As such, a number of UBC
doctors are questioning why many
people are choosing not to vaccinate their children when a vaccine
is readily available.
Nourmoussavi who, along
with her colleague Eghdami, is
a resident in the department of
obstetrics and gynaecology at UBC
said that when she asks patients
why they have not vaccinated their
daughters, the most common response is that they were not aware
that the vaccine was necessary to
protect against cervical cancer.
"Most parents and daughters
want to get educated on it," said
Noumoussavi. "They are actually
very interested. It is just overcoming that lack of knowledge."
Nourmoussavi also said that the
best way to increase knowledge
about the vaccine is to push both
elementary and high schools to
include information on HPV in the
school's health education.
"When education occurs around
other forms of cancers, HPV
should be lumped in with it as
well," said Nourmoussavi.
Still, Nourmoussavi said that
one ofthe barriers to increased
education about the virus may
stem from its somewhat taboo
nature as an STL
But as it is estimated that over
75 per cent of Canadians will come
into contact with this virus in their
lifetime and 10 to 30 per cent will
become infected with it, getting
the vaccine before becoming sexually active will offer the greatest
protection from cervical cancer.
"You can essentially assume
that that your daughter is going to
come into contact with this virus
at some point in her life," said
Nourmoussavi.
The vaccine is also recommended
for all women who are under the age
of 26, as it can still protect against
some strands of HPV.
Nourmoussavi encouraged UBC
students to talk to their family
doctors about how they can best
protect themselves. Xi
NEW SUB »
AMS planning new sustainability features in the new SUB
Kelley Lin
Staff Writer
The AMS hopes to make the Nest
the most sustainable student
union building in North America.
As part of this plan, the new
SUB is expected to have many
fun, modern and environmentally-friendly sustainability features.
"This is why it's cool to be
at a university because we can
start doing weird things that
you couldn't do at a regular
municipality. I guess that's
kind ofthe spirit ofthe new
building," said Chiyi Tam, AMS
Sustainability Coordinator.
Tam said that there will be a
number of designs in the building that aim to be both sustainable and appealing to students.
In order to make the building
more appealing to students, the
designs have been chosen based
on student contributions across
all faculties. One of these student-driven projects is a mobile
charging station constructed by
engineering students that will allow students to pedal a stationary
bike to charge their electronics.
Accordingto Tam, the main
sustainability objective ofthe
AMS with this new SUB is to
bring to life the idea of a "closed-
loop building." Like the "farm
to table" concept, a closed-loop
building focuses on reusing
resources and allowing the cycle
of compost to garden, garden to
restaurant and restaurant back
to compost.
There are also hopes to bring
interactive sustainability to a
regional scale by adding cutting-edge composters, incorporating rainwater into its water system, utilizing grey water (water
that has been used for washing
and cleaning) for flushing toilets, replacing air-conditioning
with open windows and natural
=HOTO COURTESY DIALOG DESIGNS
The New SUB is expected to have several new sustainability features.
cooling processes and even a
new rooftop restaurant featuring
ocean-wise food made in-house
to the new SUB.
Additionally, the AMS is
working on improving the social
components ofthe new building by bringing more light and
connecting spaces for students to
interact in.
"Buildings that just made
you feel like it was more airy,
more glass, more modern and
sustainable [help] you behave
accordingly. That's the more sustainable and practical approach,"
said Tam.
In hoping to meet its sustainability goals, the AMS is also modernizing the Nest's composting,
water, food and overall sustainability systems before its official
opening, which is slated for the
spring term. Xi
► Industry-Focused Program
► Startup Business Support
?heGcdSm:ca/info-session
►
►
4 Major Canadian Universities
Competitive Scholarship Opportunities
,N THE NEXT ONLINE WEBINAR NOV 7th
CENTRE FOR
DIGITAL MEDIA
a collaboration between
emilycarr ^iPW'
thecdm.ca THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014 | NEWS
Will McDonald
Coordinating Editor
Over 500 students assembled and
voted to oppose UBC's housing and tuition fee increases on
October 28.
For the first time in over 40
years, the AMS Annual General
Meeting reached quorum, and
students used the opportunity to
pass seven motions opposing the
housing and tuition increases.
The motions included having the AMS organize protests
until the Board "votes down" the
proposals for the housing and fee
increases as well as the student society providing support for student
groups who oppose the fees.
Motions to oppose the housing and tuition hikes, as well as
lobby the provincial government
for more post-secondary funding passed with little debate. A
motion requiring the AMS to
organize protests brought about
more discussion.
Arts Undergraduate Society
President Jenna Omassi said that
the AMS should not be organizing
protests as a society, but rather
representing student concerns and
interests to the university.
"The AMS as a body is not
structured to organize protests
and to be organizing movements
like this," said Omassi. "The AMS
is here to advocate on your behalf."
Omassi also raised concerns
that organizing protests would
jeopardize the AMS's ability to
negotiate with the university.
"If the AMS starts organizing
student protests, how long is it
going to be before the university
stops inviting us to these meetings?" said Omassi.
Other students argued the AMS
should not be afraid to oppose the
university, and should do what
students want, which is organize
more protests.
"I think we all clearly demonstrated that we're against these
hikes," said student organizer
Gabriel D'Astous. "Why don't
they mobilize us and organize us
to create strength at the negotiation table?"
D'Astous also said that a stronger and more proactive stance from
the AMS is necessary to create
change within the university.
"Let's create that strength, let's
mobilize students, let's get protests
going, let's have the AMS represent our voices and let's do this,"
said D'Astous.
The motion to lobby the provincial government for more tenants
rights also brought about debate.
Some students argued that Student
Housing has the ability to change
the residence contracts without
warning, and doesn't always act in
tenants' best interests.
"Students here at UBC have
a closer relationship with the
university and can impact more
closely what the residence contract
looks like as opposed to having
to go above all those places to the
provincial government in order
to lobby for any changes that you
might want to have," said student
Joaquin Acevedo.
Others, including VP Academic
and University Affairs Anne Kessler,
argued that moving the responsibility to the provincial government
would only create more bureaucracy
and make it difficult for students to
advocate on their own behalf.
"I have had a couple of meetings
this year already with Andrew
Parr, the head of Student Housing
and Hospitality Services about the
contract and the answer has been
absolutely no to any changes that
we suggested at all," said Kessler.
"Not that I don't think it's worth
exploring that avenue, I think that
we need to go bigger."
The motion on tuition is expected
to go to the Board in November while the housing motion
is expected to be approved in
second term.
All ofthe motions passed at the
meeting will be brought back to
AMS Council next Wednesday. Xi
-With files from
Veronika Bondarenko
Motions
brought to the dlllO
Officially oppose the international
tuition fee increase
Officially oppose the housing fee
increase
Advocate to the provincial government to ensure tenant rights'
within university housing
Advocate to the provincial government to increase post secondary funding
Support student groups opposing
the fee increases
Organize student protests
Inform major media outlets ofthe
motions presented // Opinions
iiwajiiHwi
iWMMI
LAST WORDS »
YU/THE UBYSSEY
LAST WORDS //
AGM AMBIVALENCE
For the first time in over 40 years,
the AMS has managed to meet
quorum and get 500 students to
show up to the SUB Ballroom to
pass policy that binds the AMS to
take a strong stance in opposing
the proposed housing and tuition
fee increases. And that is amazing!
Given the disappointing turnout
at the first Town Hall meeting,
we remained skeptical until the
last minute. When quorum was
briefly lost near the beginning of
the meeting, we anxiously held
our breath until more people
were brought in and quorum was
reached again.
Many ofthe proposed motions
were passed unanimously, though
the degree to which some (if not
most) students fully understood
what was going on is debatable.
It's tough to be the opposing voice
when you're surrounded by a sea
of 500 "ayes," and questionable
how educated a person's vote can
really be when the reading of the
motions and what debate there
was was almost inaudible to those
standing in the back.
While no more than a handful
of students showed up to the Town
Hall held just two hours before
the AGM, there was no shortage of would-be speakers at the
AGM. It's unfortunate that more
people, especially those who are
very involved in the protests and
#IAmAStudent movement, didn't
come to the Town Hall. Criticizing the notion of negotiations in
favour of more active activism is
a fair argument, but it's weakened
when the prospect of negotiation
hasn't even been explored (like
at the Town Hall with influential UBC officials such as Louise
Cowin, Andrew Parr and Angela
Redish present.)
The value that UBC will place
on what comes out of the town
halls is, as yet, unknown — but that
doesn't mean that they, as the most
obvious channel for discourse with
the university, should be ignored
entirely. Though there were many
at the AGM who wanted to make
their voices heard, and many who
did so successfully, formal meeting
procedures were not exactly
followed. Speaking up is great, but
so is trying to keep the meeting
somewhat organized and waiting
for recognition from the Chair before proposing motions and calling
them to question. We get that, in
part, the rapidity resulted from
concerns about losing quorum, but
that doesn't mean that debate and
procedure should be completely
sacrificed, either.
That said, for a campus that
often seems to lack the true sense
of community found in smaller
universities, Tuesday's events are
remarkable. The students — or at
least, 500 of them — have spoken.
Hopefully the university will, accordingly, come to understand the
seriousness ofthe anti-fee increase
movement and how driven they
are to achieve their goals.
HALLOWEEN COSTUMES
Halloween is coming up this
weekend, and to avoid donning an
insensitive ensemble, we've got
some safe, but still fun, costume
ideas for you.
There's always a trend of people
poking fun at current events and
celebrity scandals on Halloween,
but The Ubyssey wouldn't recommend it. So instead of dressing
up like Amanda Bynes this year,
why not throw on a one-of-a-kind,
handmade car-on-the-stairs getup?
You'd be the life ofthe party. Just
don't get stuck on the stairs.
On the theme of getting stuck,
you could also hit up parties
dressed as Parker the Pigeon, who
was trapped in the Bookstore for
a weekend. People dress up like
superheroes all the time — so why
not the brave, noble Parker?
Other suggestions from around
our office include Arvind Gupta,
a student protester, ArgyleMan,
Mount Gandalf, the Gage towers
highline, bus loop guy, Andrew
Parr's wallet, the AMS AGM (just
run around with some friends
yelling "YAY") and the AMS
AGM dogs.
Once you've got your wicked
UBC-inspired costume on, head on
over to President Gupta's house for
some Trick-or-Treating. We did it
at Toope's house in previous years,
so we're just hoping Gupta carries
on the tradition. tJ
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Dissenting opinions on the events & outcome ofthe AGM
Successful motions were a momentous
occasion in the history of UBC politics
Voices were silenced in the name of a
symbolic win
GORDON KATIC
Tuesday, October 28,2014 could be remembered as one ofthe most important
days in the history of politics at UBC. Over
500 students packed a room to attend the
Annual General Meeting ofthe AMS, our
student society. The AMS reached quorum
for the first time in 40 years, and they voted
— unequivocally — to organize campus
protests until the university backs down on
their proposed hikes to student housing and
international tuition.
This is not the first time that students
have expressed anger over rising tuition.
They voted on this issue two other times
since my first day at UBC, just six years ago.
In both cases, an overwhelming majority of
students — about nine out of 10 — told the
AMS one simple message: you need to lobby
for lower tuition.
The AMS' response has always been to
'play nice.' Administration after administration has avoided real activism; they
decided to plead from the table, rather
than shout from the streets. What has this
pleading got us?
Tuition fees have risen each year that
I've attended UBC. Across Canada, they've
grown fourfold between 1990 and 2010,
far outpacing inflation. At the same time,
class sizes have ballooned, student debt has
skyrocketed and public funding to post-secondary education has plummeted. You
know the story already — at least, nine out
of 10 of you do.
The American abolitionist Frederick
Douglass said, "Power concedes nothing
without a demand. It never did and it never
will. Find out just what any people will
quietly submit to and you have found out
the exact measure of injustice and wrong
which will be imposed upon them."
Tuition is not slavery, but there is still an
important lesson in these words. They are
as much an inspiring call for emancipation
as they are an astute analysis ofthe dynamics of social change. In short, Douglas'
lesson is that we must make demands.
Tuesday was not a call for lobbying, it
was a call for resistance. Tuesday was not
a call to write reports, shake hands, build
relationships or 'engage stakeholders';
Tuesday was a call to demand our right to
an affordable education.
However, there will be a backlash. People
will tell us that our impolite demand could
"burn bridges," or "set us back." People will
tell us that our demand is too unrealistic,
or not suited to an organization such as the
AMS. People will tell us that our demand
is "dangerous," as the president ofthe Arts
Undergraduate Society said at least half a
dozen times in her short statement at Tuesday's meeting.
These people have not merely forgotten the history of social movements
from abolitionism to feminism
— these people have forgotten
the history of this very campus.
UBC was built by a demand.
In 1922,1,200 students
marched over 10 kilometres
from Downtown Vancouver
to Point Grey, demanding that
the provincial government build
them a suitable campus. Today, this
day is remembered as the Great Trek.
These students did not write a detailed
report on the feasibility of expediting construction on the unfinished campus, they
did a 'sit-in.' They did not call the education minister's executive assistant to ask if
they had some time to in the next couple
of weeks to discuss structural deficiencies within the existing laboratories, they
hand-delivered 56,000 signatures to the
House of Commons. They did not convene
an AMS committee in order to draft a
strongly worded letter, they formed a giant
"UBC" out of their own bodies.
Following the Great Trek, the government
voted to immediately construct the Point
Grey campus.
On October 28,1922, we demanded a better UBC. This October 28, 92 years later, we
did the exact same thing. The first demand
built us a beautiful campus, the second demand could build us an affordable one.
Katie is a is a Master's student in the School
of Journalism. Xi
VIETVU
Letter
I'm disappointed at what happened at the
Annual General Meeting ofthe AMS on
Tuesday.
I'm not disappointed at how we were able
to reach quorum — it was awesome that
so many students cared and showed up to
the meeting. As an international student,
I oppose the tuition fee and residence fee
increases and it was quite amazing to see that
a lot of students care about that issue and I
appreciate them showing up.
I'm disappointed because people did not
stop for a moment and consider what they
were voting for, the implications of
what they were voting for and how
it could affect students in the long
run.
Most students believed that
what they were voting for was
right - that the AMS should
be organizing protests, that the
AMS should be providing resources for the student protests.
It was mentioned many times
during the AGM that AMS was
"scared" of fighting the university, that it was
afraid it will damage the relationship it has,
that talking to the university is not a solution.
I beg to differ. Two years ago, the bachelor
of international economics degree was
proposed with an exorbitant domestic and
international tuition. The student bodies
(the Economics Students Association, Arts
Undergraduate Society, the AMS and the
International Students Association) sat down
with the university to express their concerns.
And what happened was that tuition was
lowered. It was because we asked the university to justify the cost increase and told them
exactly why not all ofthe items proposed
could not be justified.
We sat down with the university, we
talked, and it actually worked. Magic? No.
It was because the mentality wasn't that the
university was an evil corporation. We went
into the conversation believing the university
to have been out of touch with the student
body. A protest may have been beneficial to
our case, but ultimately, it was the student
representatives meeting with the university that made change happen. So that's the
same approach I tried to suggest we take on
Tuesday (along with Jenna Omassi and some
others) citing how, in 2003 and 2004, tuition
increases were decreased because the AMS
negotiated with the university and showed
the university how some ofthe fees didn't
make sense.
My points were taken as defeatist and
were quickly dismissed. Then, before any
other students were able to question the
motivation, implication or the wording of this
motion, the question was called to a vote by
two students. At this point, no one knew what
they were voting for. No one, including me,
knew what the implications were for passing
these motions. Being at the back ofthe room,
I did not even hear what the exact wording
of the motion was — I just knew it was about
AMS organizing protests.
And the voting happened. Green papers
flew to the sky and no one had stopped to
consider what passing this motion would
mean.
And it passed. I was amongst the few who
raised the orange card to show my opposition.
Many might tell you what happened at the
AGM was democracy — that students mobilized and voted on an issue they care about. It
definitely was a form of democracy. Whether
it was a thoughtful decision is another question — considering the combination of debate
domination and open voting (that implicitly
bullied students to "go with the herd" for fear
of standing out. This actually did happen in
the AGM), it was much less democratic than
it should have been.
So, I'm disappointed because all that intention to do good was spent passing something
without fully understanding what it is or
what it will do. And I'm worried that it will
spread the AMS's resources even thinner
than they already are, making the AMS's
negotiation process much less effective than
it could have been.
Viet Vu is a fourth-year honours economics
student and president ofthe Vancouver School
of Economics Undergraduate Society. Xi II Culture
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Jenica Montgomery
Culture Editor
Halloween is the time when people have the
opportunity to escape into a fantasy realm, to
become something they're not on a regular basis.
For many, this means donning a costume for
one, or multiple, night© and embodying a new
and exciting persona. For others this is a night of
dread; a night whereupon their peers dress up as
something that disturbs them.
Culture as a costume has been a problem not
only throughout North America, but on UBC's
campus specfically. It was only last April that
the AMS responded to an issue involving a
native headdress that was worn at Block Party
celebrations, hoping to create a safer and more
inclusive environment. Following the fashion
styles prominent at large scale music festivals,
a UBC student was seen wearing an indigenous
style headdress, leading to backlash from students, AMS staff and student groups.
Halloween presents a time when people
believe it's acceptable to replicate the traditional dress of a cultural group for the
sake of fun. This includes, but is not
limited to, Indigenous headdresses, Arabian costumes, samurai
and geisha outfits ... The list
goes on.
"Halloween is a
touchy area that you
know students want
to party and see it
as a holiday, but
's also a time to
reflect and take
the opportunity
to discuss,"
said Nicole
Aleong,
Academic Affairs and
Journal
Coordinator
ofthe UBC Anthropology Students'
Association.
This year, the Equity
and Inclusion Office is hoping to
curb some of this accidental -
and sometimes not accidental -
insensitivity. Their campaign
consists of posters that state:
culture is not a costume. At
UBC we do not mimic racial
groups. It's a matter of respect."
Students who dress as a
particular racial group for
Halloween are crossing a line,
essentializing and objectifying a
cultural, ethnic or racial group. The
Equity and Inclusion Office hopes the
poster campaign will remind students
that dressing as a particular group is
offensive and insensitive.
"The intention of this poster campaign is really to reiterate the message
and reinforce the message that in fact
this practice is not appropriate, it is not
just funny," said Director of Intercultur-
al Understanding Strategy Development
Alden Habacon. "In fact some people take
really serious offence to it, and critically,
often times it's quite racist, often times it's
quite misogynist, but because it's guised in
fun, it seems like 'we can get away with it, I
don't mean it seriously.'"
To continue this dialogue the UBC Anthropology Students' Association (ASA), in collaboration with the UBC Sociology Students'
Association (SSA), is hosting a "Big Talk" panel
called Unpacking Halloween on October 30. At
this panel, panellists and attendees will discuss
the topic of culture as a costume.
"I came up with this idea for having a critical
and frank discussion on cultural appropriation
around the time of Halloween because of some
ofthe recent issues that have been going on
on-campus and off-campus, like headdresses being worn at music festivals," said SSA
co-president Avi Ames.
"I wanted to bring people together to try
to understand why it's problematic and how
to conceptualize cultural appropriation,"
said Ames.
The panellists at the event include Renisa
Mawani, a sociology professor; Charles Men-
zies, an anthropology professor; and Leonora
Angeles; a professor with the institute for
And for some reason
[Halloween] seems like at time
when people feel like it gives
them license to almost take
advantage of this opportunity
to caricature culture, race and
ethnicity, in ways that are so
obviously inappropriate."
Alden Habacon
UBC's Director of Intercultural
Understanding Strategy Development
gender, race, sexuality and social justice.
The ASA and SSA hope that their panel
discussion will create a dialogue about cultural
appropriation and its effects.
Cultural appropriation is a difficult and convoluted concept but can be understood as the
deliberate taking of aspects of other cultures
and incorporating them into one's own.
"I first learned about cultural appropriation
in Art school," said Habacon.
"Cultural appropriation, for me, is really just
the inappropriate and insensitive taking of someone's culture and essentially objectifying it and
removing it from its context, and turning it into a
kind of object you now use and manipulate."
At a multicultural campus like UBC, racial
essentialization and dressing in a culturally
themed costume is a heavy issue that many students should reflect upon this Halloween.
To essentialize a cultural, ethnic or racial
group is to reduce said group to one characteristic or stereotype and claim that that characteristic or stereotype represents a diverse and
multifaceted group.
"And for some reason [Halloween] seems
like a time when people feel like it gives them
license to almost take advantage of this opportunity to caricature culture, race and ethnicity,
in ways that are so obviously inappropriate,"
said Habacon. "But for some reason... this time
of year it seems for some reason to be socially
acceptable for some."
Habacon noted that while shopping for their
Halloween costumes, students should be mindful of their costume decisions.
"As a basic rule of thumb, if you can just apply
that kind of 'don't go there' sense about dressing
up as other peoples culture, race or ethnicity,
you're totally safe," said Habacon. "Secondly,
dress up as whoever you want, but keep in mind
that you don't have to dress up as their ethnic,
racial or cultural identity." tJ II Culture
JENICA MONTGOMERY
FILM»
Reconnecting with history
in The Inquiry Film
PHOTO COURTESY UNDAMACCANNELL
The Inquiry Film followed the Berger Inquiry in the Northwest Territories.
ChloeLai
Contributor
Almost 40 years ago, while on
a break from her work on the
Berger Inquiry in the Northwest
Territories, then CBC reporter Drew Ann Wake went to a
backyard barbeque in Vancouver.
Sitting with friends, Wake shared
her experiences ofthe hearings
that were being held in the northern communities by indigenous
peoples who were against the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline.
The Berger Inquiry was a unique
project, a "mixing of traditional
academic expertise and expertise
of lived experience in the communities."
That's when, Wake recalled,
Arthur Pape "shot to his feet
and yelled 'I'm going to make a
movie!'"
Pape, filmmaker Jesse Nishi-
hata and their crew, accompanied Wake to Colville Lake, 50
kilometres north ofthe Arctic
Circle. The resultant documentary, The Inquiry Film, followed
John T'Seleie and UBC Law
professor Michael Jackson as they
went "out into the bush" to help
people in extremely remote areas
prepare to speak before Judge
Thomas Berger. Some were old
enough to remember the signing
of treaties in 1921, others were in
their mid-twenties. Some spoke in
their own languages, while others
stated their case in English.
"What has been said by our
people ... it's been said for a long,
long time. It's just never had a
place where it could come out,"
T'Seleie said in the film.
In what Wake called an "explosion of emotions rather than
structured narrative," Nishihata
layered the Dene voices over
footage of their interaction with
the stunning natural environment
— canoeing through icy water,
hunting caribou, smoking fresh
fish. His message is clear: this
community's identity is deeply
rooted in the land.
The Inquiry Film won the
award for Best Documentary at
the Canadian Film Festival that
year.
Then it disappeared, until
five years ago, when Professor
Jackson dug up his copy. Around
the same time, Wake rediscovered some of her audio recordings
from the Inquiry. The pair teamed
up with photographer Linda
MacCannell and returned to
the Northwest Territories. They
digitized the "three half-hour
reels" of film in the archives, restoring the elders' voices to their
communities.
"And that's how the film has
revived," said Wake.
Equally important to the
revival ofthe original film is its
role in the creation ofthe Inquiry
exhibit. An interactive media
experience, Inquiry combines the
historical footage ofthe speeches made by Dene elders with
digital elements, such as video
animation. Exhibition participants flip through scrapbooks
containing interview summaries
from individuals involved in the
Berger Inquiry. MacCannell's
photographs from 2009, ofthe
community leaders who originally spearheaded the resistance to
the pipeline, are hung just above
eye level, "to give a sense of these
people and their power."
Introduced to Wake's new
media project by Professor Jackson, Amy Perreault, strategist for
Aboriginal Initiatives at UBC's
Centre for Teaching, Learning
and Technology, was immediately
struck by the importance ofthe
exhibit. She and Wake brought it
to Allard Hall in 2012, and have
worked closely together ever
since.
"The Inquiry is coming back
full circle into the classrooms,"
she said, referring to the fact that
many ofthe major participants
in the Berger Inquiry, including
Wake, Pape and Judge Berger
himself, have personal connections to the university. "In some
ways it's part of UBC's history."
Since its inception, Inquiry
has been exhibited in 32 venues.
Wake said that it will travel to
another 12, in Canada, the US
and possibly Britain. When will it
rest? In 2017, on the 40th birthday ofthe release of Berger's
report, until then, it continues to
evolve as its dedicated creators
strive to carry the voices of the
northern First Nations communities to the world. Xi
OPERA»
UBC Opera s production of The Bartered
Bride coming to campus this November
UBC opera's production of the Bartered Bride
Olivia Law
StaffWriter
Opera at UBC is in fine form.
After successful performances
of The Florentine Straw Hat
and The Cunning Little Vixen
last season, they are back with
a new performance of Smet-
ana's The Bartered Bride in the
Old Auditorium.
A tale of love and bargaining,
The Bartered Bride tells the story
of how, after a late surprise
revelation, true love prevails over
the combined efforts of over-ambitious parents and a scheming
marriage broker, in a festive
bohemian Czech village.
Designed by Jeremy Baxter
and Alessia Carpoca, with costumes from Czech performance
companies, The Bartered Bride
has a plethora of talking points,
but perhaps the most notable
is the music. It is striking with
its bold changes of mood, use
of traditional folk melodies and
memorable tunes and rhythms.
Conducted by Norbert Baxa,
the UBC Opera Ensemble and
members ofthe Vancouver Opera
Orchestra will present Czech
composer Smetana's masterpiece
PHOTO COURTESY UBC OPERA
is coming this November.
for just four performances at the
UBC Old Auditorium.
Although the majority ofthe
cast didn't come together until
September, several ofthe lead
roles have been working on the
challenging score since May,
even performing the opera for
their tour ofthe Czech Republic
in July. Director Nancy Hermiston stressed the benefits of performing the opera to its homeland. "This is, for the Czechs,
their national opera, which is so
dear to their hearts, it's really
great. It's so nice to bring it back
home."
Most singers are accustomed
to French, Italian and German
operas, so the challenge of singing in Czech was addressed early
on. Learning pronunciation from
Czech vocal coaches has meant
that students have been mistaken
for locals after performing on
previous tours. "We try to be
as clear and as authentic with
our languages as possible, so it
has to be a really high quality,
understanding every word that
they say, and every word that
everybody else says to them,
and basically every word in the
score," said Hermiston.
The Bartered Bride, although
written in the 1800s, provides
a lively, fun, comedic storyline,
filled with strong and independent characters. "It's great fun,"
said Hermiston. "MaFenka is a
really independent girl, really
the modern Czech woman —
very strong, very independent."
MaFenka, the female lead, is
played by Allyson Hopp and
Laura Miller.
The rehearsal process is long,
but effective. Singers first must
learn their own parts, with
assistance of teachers in the style
ofthe music, the technicalities of
the melodies and the language,
and then rehearsals are taken to
the stage with pianists.
"Once you get on the set it's a
totally different process," said
Hermiston. "All of a sudden
you've got doorways to contend
with, you've got more space
to make your entrance, you've
got different levels, all kinds
of things which affect how you
breathe, how solid you feel.
You've got to incorporate all that
into your singing and not get
distracted."
It seems as though opera is
one ofthe most finely detailed
art forms. UBC's production is
double-cast for all the main roles,
largely due to the high number
of singers enrolled in the opera
program in the school of Music.
"You cannot be a good performer if you do not go on stage.
You have to jump in and do it,
because there's such a difference
between performing in studio to
being on the stage, in the heat of
battle," said Hermiston. "It's a
whole different world."
And a whole different world
it shall be. Performances for The
Bartered Bride begin on November 13 and run for four shows. Xi
Notice of Development Permit Application - DP 14036
Public Open House
National Soccer Development Centre
You are invited to attend an Open House on Wednesday, November 12 to view and comment on
the proposed new National Soccer Development Centre located within Thunderbird Park in the
Athletics Precinct.
Date:
Place:
.Vednesday, November 12,201'
lommons Room, MBA House,'.
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Wesbrook J
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:00-6:00 PM
.esbrook Mall
Plans will be displayed for the proposed new
3,400m2 National Soccer Development Centre,
a joint project between UBC Athletics and the
Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club.
Representatives from the project team and
Campus + Community Planning will be available
to provide information and respond to inquiries
about this project.
For more information on this project, please visit:
plannine.ubc.ca/vancouver/projects-consultations
For further information: i-i
Please direct questions to Karen Russell <—'
Manager Development Services
karen.russell@ubc.ca 604-822-1586
This event is wheelchair accessible.
This notice contains important information which may affect you. Please ask someone to translate it for you.
o| «*lfeStfc»n|i!^2l.feg£SrSfi7hS0l 5Ui=fL-|^.
a place of mind
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
campus+community planning THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014 | CULTURE
FILM»
Don't forget, Canada has horror films too
=HOTO CHERIHAN HASSUN/THE UBYSSEY
Professor Mathijs is a well known cult cinema enthusiast and teaches cult cinema here at UBC.
Lawrence Neal Garcia
Senior Staff Writer
Canada isn't always the first
thing that comes to mind when
one thinks of horror. And yet,
Canadian horror films are
perhaps the most original and
exciting ofthe genre, a fact that
goes largely unrecognized. The
Canadian Horror Show series, a
retrospective of Canadian horror
gems through the years (which
runs from October 29 to November 1 at Vancity Theatre), will
attempt to correct that.
Co-produced by the Shivers
Film Society and the Vancouver International Film Festival
Society, with a special talk from
UBC film studies professor
Ernest Mathijs, the series runs
over four days, offering nine
varied, frightening selections
- from Faith Healer (1988), an
episode of a television spinoff
of Friday the 13th directed by
David Cronenberg, to Ginger
Snaps 2: Unleashed (2004), a
sequel to a female werewolf cult
film, to Tucker St Dale vs. Evil
(2010), a horror-comedy that
serves up guts, gore and laughs in
equal measure.
Canada's influence in the
genre goes back to the 'tax-shelter era,' a filmmaking boom in
the 1970s and 80s spurred by
the introduction of 100 per cent
Capital Cost Allowances (CCA)
for investment in Canadian
feature films. That filmmaking
explosion produced blood-soaked
slasher classics such as Prom
Night (1980), My Bloody Valentine
(1981) and Visiting Hours (1982)
— all of which are part ofthe
retrospective — and influential
body horror films such as David
Cronenberg's Scanners (1981) and
Videodrome (1983). It's telling
that the top search suggestion for
Scanners is 'head explosion.'
"Canadian filmmakers were
at their peak, and had a huge
influence on the entire genre
that people are unaware of," said
Vince d'Amato ofthe Shivers
Film Society, who is in charge of
the series programming. Even
the slasher sub-genre, of which
the American film Halloween
(1978) is commonly regarded
as the first, began with Black
Christmas (1974), a Canadian
independent film.
While audiences flocked to
the films, many of which became
top-grossing horror flicks, the
Canadian government — which
had funded many of them — was
less taken with the output.
When Canada first introduced
the tax-shelter laws, it was
largely in the hope of creating
celebrated, critically acclaimed
prestige pictures, said d'Amato.
"When they did it and got The
Brood and Videodrome and My
Bloody Valentine instead, they
were embarrassed that it didn't
work out, which is a shame
because in many ways some of
those films are superior to the
other films."
Government response notwithstanding, Canadian horror remains a potent force in
the genre.
"[The tax-shelter era] put
down the seeds for ... a generation of genre filmmakers that
have blossomed within Canada
and made these Canadian films,"
said Ernest Mathijs, whose
talk traces the rich lineage of
Canadian horror: from the early
tax-shelter films, to sequels such
as Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night
II, to later films such as Ginger
Snaps and Cube, and even to the
recent television series Orphan
Black (not incidentally created
by the same people who made
Ginger Snaps 2) — all of which
contain what he termed the
"Canadian horror aesthetic."
Mathijs noted that it's also a
lineage that is often marginalized, but still remains original,
exciting, and most importantly,
terrifying — attributes that he
hopes the series will showcase.
"If you compare [the Canadian
horror film industry] to the size
of the horror film industry in
the US, it's still marginal. But
it's got one big advantage, and
that's the quality that it offers.
And what we're trying to say in
the Canadian Horror Show series
is: this is not new," said Mathijs.
"Orphan Black is now celebrated
and everybody says: 'Wow, look
what the Canadians can do!' Well,
I'm sorry, but we've been doing
this for 30 odd years, if you just
trace it back properly."
As for why Canadian filmmakers are so good at making
horror films both Mathijs and
d'Amato point to the strong documentary filmmaking tradition,
which in turn led to more realistic, and more terrifying, horror.
"You can trace that to literature too," said Mathijs. "Margaret
Atwood said that the one things
that Canadians are better at than
Americans is the art of survival,
because we're up north. It's a matter of life and death... and I guess
that sort of trickles through into
the aesthetic."
So whether you're a lifelong
horror fan like d'Amato and
Mathijs or just a casual filmgoer
looking for a Halloween scare, the
Canadian Horror Show series is
sure to have something to offer,
because the best in Canadian horror is also the best ofthe genre.
After watching some of these
films, that's something you're not
likely to forget. Xi
HALLOWEEN »
All you need is your imagination to carve an amazing pumpkin
Gabriel Germaix
Staff Writer
On the street, a car passes by,
hauling a cart of finely carved
pumpkins, takes a turn and
drives into the cold and rainy
night. Halloween season is here.
With the end of October
comes a checklist. The triptych
"find a party, find a costume,
find a pumpkin" seems to be a
well-rooted North American
tradition, and even if trick or
treating is not that relevant on
campus, residents still keep
creating landscapes of jack-o'-
lanterns, a special treat for the
eyes. The welcoming village of
Fairview Crescent has already
started to see smiling orange
faces pop up on the porches,
and stocks at grocery stores are
depleting quickly.
As big as it is in Vancouver,
pumpkin carving is virtually
non-existent overseas. However,
last year's winner of the Faculty
of Applied Science carving contest agreed to give some valuable
advice to students who were not
fortunate enough to grow up in a
Halloween-loving family.
Last year, the winning prize
was divided between two teams.
One ofthe team's consisted of
Kristen Cassidy, the Alumni
Engagement Administrative
Coordinator in the Development
and Alumni Engagement department for the Sauder School of
Business, and Tarn Khare, for a
winning piece depicting an owl
on a branch in front of a carved-
out moon. According to her,
carving is more about inspiration
than technical skills.
"We didn't have anything
except for a big knife," for the
contest her team won, she said.
"The only thing you need is imagination."
A few things still have to be
kept in mind.
First of all, the choice of
pumpkin, if the design depends
on the size then make sure you
take a big enough pumpkin, the
texture of it should be very firm.
"I usually go for a medium
sized one with a good face on
it, no bumps or imperfections,"
said Cassidy. Seeing the splendidly thin eye of a cat collapse
into a gaping hole because the
material was too soft is not the
best feeling.
Cassidy advised against using
a stencil on the pumpkin.
"You can use it to figure out
the space ofthe pumpkin," she
said, but by no means should the
outline be followed as an exact
blueprint. Printing a drawing
does not work in a satisfactory
way either, because ofthe irregular surface ofthe 3D object that
is our beloved orange squash.
As important as the technique
is the idea behind the pumpkin.
As new movies come out, inspiration is forever renewed. Jack-
Carving pumpkins is a low-cost Halloween activity that you could participate in.
o'-lanterns of previous years
pictured minions ofthe animated
hit Despicable Me in numbers.
This year, experienced carvers
might follow the Frozen frenzy or
try characters from Guardians of
the Galaxy or other popular hits
from this year.
"It is fine to make a traditional
one," said Cassidy. "The more
unique or fun are the ones you
bring your own creativity to."
Who knows what scary faces
will welcome the students who
=HOTOCOURTESF SPENCER WRIGHT/FLICKR
dress up and try to extort candy
from their neighbours this year ...
The Applied Science's Annual
Pumpkin Carving Contest will
take place on October 31 at 12 p.m.
at the Fred Kaiser Atrium. Xi // Sports + Rec
EDITOR JACKHAUEN
THUNDERBIRDS »
T-BIRDS 5-ON-5
GREGARIOUS GREEKS
1. Which fraternity/sorority are you in, and
what motivated you to become part of the
GreeksystematUBC?
2. Is the brotherly/sisterly bond stronger in
your fraternity/sorority or on your team?
3. What does a typical Saturday night look
like for you?
4. Who throws better parties, your team or
your fraternity/sorority?
Phi DeltaTheta.l was...
rejected from first year
housing, and I was able to
find a place to stay inside
one ofthe houses.
Anextremelytough
question, but if I were to
pick one above the other
...I would say my bond is
closer with the team.
Late night "business"
meetings with my two
good friends Jack Daniel
and Alexander Keith.
Even the best party a
sports team could throw
couldn't compare to the
worst Greek party.
Alpha Gamma Delta... I
stayed because I meta
great group of women
who made me laugh
and shared many of my
interests and passions.
While I'm really close
with teammates who do
the same events as me,
as a whole, my sorority
has a stronger bond.
I usually get together
with some friends and
either go to A.Y.C.E
or have a few rousing
games of Cards Against
Humanity.
If I do choose to go out,
my best nights are spent
with a mixed crowd
of Greek and varsity
friends.
SigmaChi. Asan
international student I
was looking fora'family
away from home.'
Stronger in the fraternity. It feels very much like
a family; wespend a lot
oftime together.
Playing video games
at home or catching up
on work. My Saturdays are my me days.
#RoxySundays
lOOpercentthe
fraternity. The resources
are virtually limitless with
a fraternity.
I felt inclined to make the
most of my university
experience — 'cause
you only get to do this
once!
The sisterly bond I've
experienced has been
stronger in my sorority
thanonthetrackteam.
Eithera night out with
friends, staying in,
preparing fora meetor
cramming at the library.
Well I'm actually the
person in charge of
parties for my sorority,
and I like to think I throw
a pretty rad semi and
semi-formal.
Coming from the Netherlands, this is also the first
time I have ever been to
Canada. As such, I was
motivated in join Sigma
Chi.
The brotherly bond at
Sigma Chi is very personal and strong, and
see my teammates more
than six times a week so
that makes us very close.
When I don't have a
gamelusuallygotoSig
eitherto attend a party
orjusttohangoutand
have a good time.
The frats generally
throw more parties —
it's especially crazy
during September
— but my team also
throws amazing parties.
5. What Greek god or goddess are you most
1 believe I'm most like
1 like to think I'm pretty
Hermes. Zero to 100...
I'm at the gym right now
1 think 1 would be like
like?
Zeus based primarily
wise, and I'm pretty good
real quick.
and the girl I'm training
Apollo, the god of
on my relationship with
at time management and
with said Artemis, the
musicand thesun. He
Yuri Kisil, who 1 would
juggling all my activities,
female god ofthe hunt,
was an intelligent per
[compare to Hercules.
so I'm probably most like
primarily because I'm
son and also an eager
Athena.
good at javelin?
sportsman.
GREATTREK»
UBC s Great Trek 2014 was cold, difficult, and
totally worth it
The historic race was tough, but free pancakes at the end made it all worth it.
Emma Raines
Contributor
The morning ofthe UBC Great
Trek started off like any other day.
Just kidding, it started out with
rhythmic drumming at 5:30 a.m.
So between my half-asleep stupor
and apparent inability to sync a
watch, I ended up at the start line
30 seconds before the gun went off
— success.
The Great Trek is a 10km
individual / 2.5km relay race
that loops around Main Mall to
celebrate the 1922 student march
that resulted in the creation of this
wonderful campus.
It was part intimidating and
part inspiring to start the race
with such blazing fast runners
— the male winner finished in a
time of 36 minutes. I realized that
I was soaking wet about halfway
through lap two, and had to sadly
ignore the wonderful water station
volunteers each lap. I was waterlogged enough as it was.
A few minutes before I realized
there was not a dry part of my
body, I started running with an
awesome girl who turned out to
be a fourth-year computer science
major, and there was no way I
could have run as fast as I did
without her. Every time she surged
in front of me, my competitive
instinct would kick in and I would
have to keep up. She ended up propelling me to finish a whole two
minutes faster than my goal time.
Those speedy little relay runners helped a bit, but the fact that
they only had to run a quarter of
the distance as the rest of us made
me curse them more than latch on
=HOTO COURTESY RACHEL VON HAHK
for inspiration.
Post-race festivities involved
free smoothies, granola bars and
a never-ending pancake line (to
be expected). I walked around
in a daze for a while waiting for
the endorphins to kick in — and
they did, just as my body decided
it was no longer necessary to stay
warm. I was lucky to have a fun
Running Room stretch session
to keep my mind off of my frozen
limbs — in the flexibility contest
I was doomed from the start,
but by some miracle I balanced
long enough on one foot to win
a Running Room gift certificate.
An excuse to wander around a
running store for hours and spend
money? Twist my arm.
Thank you, Great Trek, for a
seriously fun morning and a major
ego boost. tJ THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30,2014 I SPORTS I 11
=HOTO CHERIHAN HASSUNfTHE UBYSSEY
UBC volleyball player Mac McNicol trained in Korea over the summer, thanks to a rich relationship between UBCandSungkyunkwan University.
VOLLEYBALL »
Mac McNicol takes lessons learned in Korea back to UBC
Volleyball program in Suwon, South Korea has attracted many Thunderbirds over the years
often not taken classes since they
were young.
"Essentially in elementary
school these kids have to choose if
they want to be an athlete or they
want to be a student — you can't do
both," said Ohman.
Although the academic requirements of SKKU athletes have
increased over the past few years,
from McNicol's vantage point, the
players still hold athletics as the
utmost priority, with academics as
an afterthought. "You're not there
to get an education, necessarily,"
he said. "You're there to prepare to
play professionally."
For this focus on athletics from
such a young age, Ohman estimates Korean volleyball players
will have put in over 10,000
hours by the time they reach the
university level. Compare this to
the approximation of 1500 hours
of a Canadian athlete who has
played volleyball year-round since
middle school.
This variance in developmental training between cultures is
evident in the Korean's possession
of an enormous amount of skill at a
relatively young age. Historically,
the SKKU team has defeated UBC
in a gross majority ofthe team's
match ups, with the Thunderbirds
prevailing only a handful of times.
The living arrangements at
SKKU were also quite different
than McNicol has been accustomed to at UBC, with coaches and
players all living under the same
roof. "I think almost every sports
team [at SKKU] lived in the same
dorm," he said. "There were four
or five guys per dorm room, and
the coach and the assistant coaches lived there as well."
Additionally, the athletes have
a hired kitchen staff that prepares
meals for them at certain times
throughout the day.
All in all, McNicol notes the
experience as being exceptionally
positive and worthwhile.
"It's made me appreciate [volleyball] more. For them it's kind
of like 'do-or-die' — it's a lifestyle.
Whereas for us, everyone is here
because they love the sport. It was
humbling."
"He does look a lot more comfortable on the floor," said Schick.
"He seems more focused and
driven; he looks good so far."
McNicol has undergone tremendous development through
his two years at UBC, which he
indicates is due in large part to the
Thunderbird coaching staff. "I've
been really lucky with Rich and
[assistant coach Matt Lebourdais]
letting me pursue what I want to
pursue," he said. "They've let me
make mistakes and work it out in
order to get to where I am now."
Following his five years of eligibility at UBC, McNicol intends to
pursue volleyball at a professional
level. "I'd like to play overseas for
a couple years, if my body holds up
— knock on wood."
Schick has always seen the potential in McNicol. "When you can
get the work ethic, the strength,
and the growth — the sky's the
limit."
Now the starting right-side for
the Thunderbirds, McNicol and
the UBC men's volleyball team
have begun the 2014-2015 regular
season and are looking strong.
"Our team this year has really
high expectations; we have to keep
demanding that we improve," said
McNicol. "I'm really excited to see
where we go."
Be sure to follow McNicol and
the UBC men's volleyball team on
their quest for excellence in the
2014-2015 season, a
Noah Derksen
Contributor
At 6'8", third-year UBC volleyball player Mackenzie McNicol
is an impressive specimen. With
athletic abilities engrained into his
genetics, he is already a step ahead
ofthe competition. Even with
his physical gifts, McNicol has
taken every opportunity to better
himself as a volleyball player, including a 24-day venture to South
Korea for additional training this
past summer.
UBC men's volleyball head
coach Richard Schick commends
McNicol's commitment to the
sport. "Mac's a guy that you can
see the enjoyment in his face on
the court," said Schick. "He's
always looking to get extra reps. I
almost have to tell him not to come
to stuff."
Besides being a full-time varsity
athlete, McNicol is also enrolled
as a full-time student in UBC's
computer engineering program
within the Faculty of Applied
Science. "I fix a lot of computers
right now, and do tinkering with
stuff like that," he said. "I thought
it'd be a good thing to get into, it's
something I enjoy and do on the
side anyways."
However, being a student, in
arguably the toughest undergraduate faculty, along with being a
varsity athlete, is not an easy feat.
"It's definitely a challenge," said
McNicol. "It made me learn how
to learn on my own, just with how
much time you're spending away
from school."
Throughout the season the
volleyball team keeps up the workload. With both individual and
team practices, along with weight
room and video sessions, McNicol estimates he spends between
three and four hours each day in
direct training. Once the regular
season begins, the team will travel
away from Vancouver an average
of once every two weeks, causing
the athletes to miss a good portion
of Thursday and Friday lectures.
Needless to say, time management
is key.
"You don't have time to be wasting," said McNicol.
McNicol's technologically savvy
nature found him a position with
a network engineering company
back home in Calgary this past
summer. It was beneficial for
McNicol to gain some experience
in the workforce, as this summer
was the first of his university career that he was not training with
the Alberta provincial team. This
was due to a lack of teams that are
offered past a certain age, rather
than of McNicol's own choosing.
In the summer of 2013, he joined
Team Alberta to compete at the
Canada Summer Games in Sherbrooke, Quebec, where the team
ultimately won the tournament
gold. McNicol held a prominent
role in the team's success.
Despite having not trained with
the provincial team this past summer, McNicol did not allow himself
any time off. In preparation for the
2014/15 Thunderbird season, he hit
the weights almost every day. "I'd
come back from work, go to the
gym for an hour or two, then come
home and go to bed," he said. "I
was trying to get stronger. That's
where the game is going — being as
big and as strong as possible."
But he wasn't away from
the court for too long. Midway
through the month of July,
McNicol hopped on a plane at the
Calgary International Airport that
would take him to Sungkyunkwan
University (SKKU) in the city of
Suwon, South Korea, approximately 30km away from Seoul.
The UBC men's volleyball
program has had a rich relationship with SKKU over the span of
approximately 30 years. Instrumental to this relationship has
been Han-Joo Eom, who earned
his masters degree and PhD from
UBC in the late 1980s and early
1990s, and was a former SKKU
and Korean National Volleyball
Team athlete. Eom retired from
the Korean professional volleyball
league and came to UBC in 1985
to pursue academics. While at
UBC, he played on former UBC
head coach Dale Ohman's team for
one year, and acted as an assistant
coach to Ohman for some time after. Ohman was at the helm ofthe
UBC program for 25 years prior
to Schick's inauguration as head
coach, and saw the program to its
most recent national title in 1983.
Since Eom's time at UBC, the
men's volleyball team has visited
SKKU once every four years, and
have hosted the Korean team
in the middle of that cycle. This
January, the SKKU volleyball
team will visit Vancouver to
train with and play against the
Thunderbird team in a weekend
series, ceremonially marking the
30th anniversary of Eom's initial
visit to UBC. Eom, who has a PhD
in applied statistics, is currently
the Dean of Physical Education
at SKKU.
Additionally, as a result of
Eom's relationship with the men's
volleyball program, UBC has sent
athletes to train with SKKU over
the Canadian summer break while
the Korean team is in the midst of
training. One ofthe most notable
of these athletes is former men's
volleyball standout Jared Krause.
Krause has excelled following
his time at UBC, playing with
the Canadian National team and
professional teams in Denmark,
Belgium and Greece. He took the
trip to Korea following his third
year at UBC.
"The Korea trip really opened
my eyes to different playing styles
and strategies," said Krause.
"Their style is heavy on ball control and repetition. The discipline
they bring to the game — it toughens you up mentally."
Both Krause and McNicol
noticed a more technical focus
in the Korean style of play
when compared to Canadian
volleyball players.
"Technically they're very
skilled," noted Krause. "It's drilled
into them from an early age, and
they definitely put in the hours."
"Everything they do is precise;
it's more about precision than
power," added McNicol.
This development of skill is
achieved through six to eight
hours of intensive training each
day for five or more days a week.
The training revolves around
rigorous repetition of specific
volleyball movements and skills,
seeking to instil the proper techniques and physical contacts into
muscle memory. The SKKU team
also implemented cardiovascular exercise heavily into their
training, despite volleyball being
a sport that requires quick and
explosive movements more than
cardiovascular abilities.
"We did a lot of running,"
McNicol said. "In a normal day I
would get up at 6:30, we'd go for
a four kilometre run to warm up,
then breakfast. You'd go to the
morning practice of usually three
or four hours, lunch, then another
three to four hours of training."
McNicol acknowledged the
work ethic ofthe Korean athletes.
"It was motivating, how they
worked so hard everyday," he said.
"It made me want to work harder."
Another discrepancy between
the two university programs is
in the balance between athletics
and academics.
Traditionally, athletes of Canadian post-secondary institutions
attend university in order to earn
a bachelors degree — to help them
along a specific career path — in
addition to a pursuit of continued
athletics. Although there are a
number of university athletes that
go on to play professionally in their
respective sports, such as Krause,
the vast majority of athletes will
retire following their five years
of eligibility and settle into an
alternative career. In the Canadian
Interuniversity Sport (CIS), the
governing body of university sport
in Canada, all athletes are required
to be enrolled and pass a minimum of nine academic credits or
three courses per term in order to
maintain athletic eligibility. These
types of academic requirements
have only recently been implemented in the Korean university
league. With education systems
being entirely different in South
Korea, former UBC head coach
Ohman notes that athletes have Photo of the Day
Get involved. Join the team.
coordinating@ubyssey.ca
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