Twerking twenty-year olds, crack-smoking politicians, retiring teenyboppers — 2013 brought a barrage of sensational headlines. But, unsurprisingly, the most important and influential news stories of this past year came from right here in the centre of the pop culture universe: Burnaby Mountain. And Peak Quarterly was there to cover them all, the most prominent of which we are showcasing in PQ in Review.
Greatest political intrigue | Illicit Election
The SFSS had its annual elections last March resulting in notably big wins for current president, Humza Khan, and external relations officer, Chardaye Bueckert. The two won by margins of 648 and 123 votes, respectively. Another hard fought race was for university relations officer, with Alia Ali stealing the win by 29 votes. Yet, what election is complete without some controversy? Ali was later disqualified, having withdrawn from classes under extenuating circumstances.
Update: The SFSS did not replace Ali whose position will be, once again, up for grabs in SFSS elections this March.
Biggest blunder | Bad faith blues
2013 started off with some labour drama as SFU was found guilty of bargaining in bad faith with the local union, CUPE 3338. We all remember the picket lines and angry protests from several years back, but this specific issue arose after the university put proposed amendments to the Pension Plan on the table for bargaining; SFU had previously signed an agreement with the union in Oct. 2010 that restricted them from putting any new proposals on the bargaining table from that time on.
Update: SFU and CUPE 3338 settled on a four-year deal on June 28, which retroactively began on Apr. 1 2010 and therefore ends on Mar. 31 2014. As of yet, they have not reached an agreement on the Pension Plan.
Most viewed story of all time | SFSS incident snowballs
Peak Quarterly flew off the shelves last October following an incident that took place in the SFSS offices involving members of the Board of Directors. Moe Kopahi, member services officer, allegedly struck Monique Ataei, environmental representative, while grabbing his phone out of her hand. As a result, Ataei called for Kopahi’s resignation, and Kopahi stated his intention to stay on in his position and criticized Ataei for “claiming false accusations.” The outrage was especially poignant online, as it became the most shared and commented upon story of the year. Comments reached both extremes, spanning from “This drama is absolutely disgusting and makes our sfss members look incompetent” to “Moe, your sfss career is done.”
Update: Several Board Members stepped forward after the incident, citing their own experiences of harassment in the SFSS offices. A mediator was brought in at the end of November to help resolve the matter between Ataei and Kopahi.
Most controversial external news coverage | Bali bungle
On Jan. 25, The Province ran an article claiming that SFU students on field school became ill in Bali after drinking methanol-laced spirits. What followed was a flurry of responses from the students in Bali, who said the claim was “grossly exaggerated.” Scott McLean, acting director of Public Affairs and Media Relations at SFU, felt it might have been “only speculation on [The Province]’s part.” Still, news of the issue reached papers outside of British Columbia, making it one of the most troubling (and perplexing) incidents of 2013.
Update: As of now, Michael Howard (who led the field school in Bali) is not leading future trips. McLean was unable to respond to Peak Quarterly before press time.
Best challenge to UBC | Blue-ribbon Brewing
What year would be complete without SFU triumphing over UBC in some way? SFU’s brewing club S.F. Brew beat out UBC’s brUBC in October during a ‘friendly’ home brew competition. Beers were evaluated by a panel of judges on appearance, aroma, flavour, and overall impression. SFU student Natasha Peiksar’s IPA, Hop-A-Rella, took home best in the IPA category as well as Best in Show. She says the beer is called Hop-A-Rella because a couple of girls brewed it.
Update: Get buzzed on SFU pride and taste the girls’ first beer ever brewed later this year; the win earned the girls a commercial brew of 12,000 litres.
Best literature | Notorious Novel
SFU’s most provocative publication of 2013 came from professor Morten Jerven, whose book, Poor Numbers, points to a lack of knowledge about the reality of economic development in Africa due to poorly collected data. As might have been expected, many African officials took offense to this. He was even expelled from several international conferences this past year, one of which he learned about when he was already in the Heathrow airport — yikes.
Update: Bill Gates named Poor Numbers one of his favourite reads of 2013, saying “[Jerven] makes a strong case . . . But as I argue in my longer review, that doesn’t mean we know nothing about what works in development.”
Most successful event anywhere | DJs deliver
To begin the new school year, the SFSS hosted SFU’s first ever successful Kickoff Concert, last year’s having been stunted by K’naan’s failed appearance. Roughly 1800 danced the night away on Sept. 13 in Convocation Mall. It featured performances by Carl Louis & Martin Danielle (CLMD), Dzeko and Torres, Mat Zo, and DJ contest winner, SFU student Sajjid Lakhani. The student society president, Humza Khan, considers the event a groundbreaking success, saying “Nothing like this had ever happened before at SFU,” and that he is “sure that hosting such events will be easier in the future.”
Update: K’naan was unable to comment as to whether or not a redemption concert was in the foreseeable future.
Most newsworthy human | Role Model
Last June, SFU’s Jessica Kruger made headlines across the country after entering the Lise Watier Something Sweet modeling competition with the hopes of becoming Canada’s first quadriplegic model. The only female member of the BC wheelchair rugby team, Kruger took a break from her work speaking at schools and conferences with WorkSafe BC, to enter the competition.
Update: When voting took place in July, Kruger beat out 400 contestants to claim first prize in the contest. In Fashion Magazine online, Kruger spoke to her importance as a beauty ambassador, saying “Just because you’re in a wheelchair or you have a disability, it doesn’t mean that you can’t be seen as beautiful or that you can’t be seen in the fashion and modeling sphere.”
Greatest philanthropist | Philanthropic phenom
Many student initiatives made great strides this year, showcasing SFU students’ commitment to the world. One of the most notable examples was Sport for Food, an organization aimed at raising food, funds, and awareness for local food banks, co-created by SFU student Richard Loat. Over the past three years, the organization has raised the equivalent of 500,000 pounds of food for food banks across the country.
Update: While Loat was in the Philippines helping to rebuild after Typhoon Haiyan, he was notified that he had won a spot in a U.K.-based accelerator program, Sirius, to help launch his non-profit. Sport for Food will receive a 12-month place in Sirius’ accelerator program, plus £12,000 per team member.
Social media superstars | Translink Torment
This year’s stars of social media are SFU students Katie Nordgren and Alexa Dredge, who launched a website called “Harassment on Translink.” What began as a GSWS course requirement quickly went viral, and the two were featured by CBC, Huffington Post, and The Province. The site’s goal is to raise awareness of harassment on public transit by “compil[ing] stories of these experiences to demonstrate the reality and severity of this particular issue to TransLink and the City of Vancouver.”
Update: The girls aspire to implement an app, a text alert system, and a system-wide anti-harassment campaign to further combat harassment. On Dec. 31, Nordgren and Dredge posted the following online, “While we hope that future developments and improvements in policy and safety measures . . . renders this site eventually obsolete, we pledge to keep this going as long as it’s needed.”
