<a href="https://the-peak.ca/2014/02/moment-of-zen-2/" rel="bookmark" title="Moment of Zen">Moment of Zen

-

February 24, 2014

The Clan lacrosse team continued its season with a road trip down to Boise, ID, going 1-1 over the weekend in a double header against #4 Brigham Young University and conference opponent Boise State University,

The preparation for Saturday’s game versus BYU was almost military-like; no one but the coaches spoke, as the team steeled itself for a game it had been working toward all semester. But after fighting tooth and nail until the final buzzer, the Clan fell short 8–7 to the BYU Cougars.

The Cougars came out firing, outscoring the Clan 6–2 in the first half. After settling their nerves the Clan came out hot in the second half, scoring four straight and keeping the Cougars scoreless for almost 25 minutes. In the end, the Cougars tallied two goals off unsettled plays in the dying minutes to jump ahead 8-6.

SFU refused to back down, though, as Tyler Kirkby found Travis Hayes in the middle to bring the game to within one, late. Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Clan would get as the Cougars maintained possession of the ball for the final two minutes, barely staving off the SFU rally.

Tyler Kirkby lead the game offensively for SFU, potting two goals and two assists, while Sam Clare also netted a pair. Senior goaltender Darren Zwack had a strong game, making 13 saves on 21 shots, walking away with an admirable .619 save percentage. The Clan’s penalty kill also stood strong, shutting down all seven of the man-up opportunities BYU had over the course of the game.

The team, disappointed with the tough loss, still proved that it is a top contender in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA), and that a spot in the national tournament final is well within reach.

In their second game of the weekend, against Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League (PNCLL) rival Boise State Broncos, the Clan came out firing on all cylinders and didn’t let up for the full 60 minutes. Thirteen different Clan players recorded points in the 27–5 trouncing over the Broncos.

Sam Clare had six goals on the game while eight SFU players
had multiple-point performances. Tyler Kirkby’s five goals gives him 12 on the year, and his 15 points put him first in the PNCLL and seventh in the MCLA in scoring.

Goalies Darren Zwack (10 saves on 12 shots) and freshman Jeremy Lasher (five saves on eight shots) split the game in net.

The Clan’s next home game is against long time PNCLL rival, University of Oregon Ducks on March 1 at Terry Fox Field.

The next generation’s health could go up in smoke

By

-

February 24, 2014

From British Columbia to New Brunswick, electronic cigarettes have stirred up political debate and controversy.

While these might look like a blessing for those trying to quit smoking, they may also be the start of a dangerous trend amongst Canadian youth. The product remains unregulated and available to all ages, leaving myself, as well as healthcare officials across the nation, wondering when and if the government will intervene.

Despite the novelty of e-cigarettes, disturbing stories are emerging of how this product may affect children. This winter, an 11-year old South Delta boy purchased an e-cigarette at a local store. His parents were horrified to find the boy as he tried to blow smoke rings with it at home. After the boy’s father attempted to return the product, he was denied a refund on the grounds that the store owner did not violate any provincial regulations.

A bit shocking, no? Since there are currently no restrictions on this product, vendors have been offering the inherently adult product to children. These vapour-producing cigarettes appeal to youth as they come in a variety of kid-friendly flavours (such as grape and cherry), and they can be purchased at any local drugstore.

By making this product available to youth, we may open the door to a revived smoking culture.

Since e-cigarettes legally cannot contain nicotine, they were deemed harmless when they first hit the shelves. However, this is a premature conception of the potential dangers associated with the trend.

After years of anti-smoking campaigns, the world began to see a decrease in its smoking population. This happened because kids were educated about smoking; from an early age, adults started warning of the dangers of nicotine and smoke.

Now, after all this progress, we risk seeing a reversal in the way kids view cigarettes.

With every innovation comes a trial period where you learn how society adapts to the product. E-cigarettes present a slippery slope that may lead from fun flavours to tobacco. They look like real cigarettes, and are held like cigarettes — what’s to stop young people from experimenting with tobacco after doing so with e-cigs? By making this product available to youth, we may actually desensitize the next generation and open the door to a revived smoking culture.

Seeing these products used outside of their intended purpose — to help people quit smoking — makes me wonder whether they will lead to a generational movement towards a world where “lighting up” is a social norm. Although e-cigarettes have the potential to help smokers quit, the government should hastily intervene and restrict them as 19+ products.

Stop freaking out about your life already

By

-

February 24, 2014

To the fine folks who populate SFU: do you have a five-year plan? If so, congratulations on your ability to be good at stuff. You can probably stop reading here, and get back to doing bicep curls while you write your thesis, or whatever it is that you do to entertain yourself.

If, like me, your current five-year plan consists of merely trying to stay alive, read on!

When people ask me what I’m doing after I graduate, I genuinely have no idea what to say. Last week I realized I’m only ten courses away from finishing my degree, which resulted in a short episode of internal screaming that I quickly drowned out with three or seven cocktails.

But then, I got serious. Goals are important. They give us structure when Canvas schedules no longer can.

After much introspection, no research, and a fun makeover montage, I have come up with a plan that I like to call the “Do Cool New Shit Pretty Often” plan.

The basic tenants of the DCNSPO lifestyle are as follows: 1. Try new things. 2. Don’t compare yourself to other people. 3. Expect to fail miserably sometimes.

You will probably royally fuck up a number of things in your life; believe you’ll get through them.

This plan works great for millennials such as myself who typically need structure to function and often suffer from an immobilizing fear of failure. I’m not saying that everyone is like me but if you have ever found yourself reading the “Top 25 People Under 25” lists and wondering why you spent so many years collecting Beanie Babies instead of practicing your networking skills, you might want to put a copy of the DCNSPO plan up on your fridge.

Trying something new can mean anything — for me, that could mean eating a new, interesting fruit, or maybe trying heroin. Just kidding. Seriously though, it means doing whatever you want, as long as it challenges your personal status quo. This way, in case your life flashes before your eyes, you won’t die out of boredom before you die from whatever else is about to hit you.

Making sure you don’t compare yourself to other people too often allows you to focus on your strengths. Just because you showed up at job interview with a chocolate chip melted onto your shirt doesn’t mean you don’t have important skills to bring to the company. So what if everyone else showed up in a suit? Pretend they don’t exist and you’ll be way more confident.

Accepting failure as part of life is by far the most important part of the plan. Fear of failure stops us from experimenting and traps us in our comfort zones. Stepping outside of yours might bruise your ego a little bit, but bruises build character. Maybe you’ll need a tetanus shot afterwards but you’ll have some great stories.

Getting used to failure is liberating. And, at the end of the day, we’re all human; accept that you will probably royally fuck up a number of things in your life, and just believe that you’ll get through them. Don’t let your fear stop you from trying things.

You can’t make five-year plans for the unknown and that’s what makes not having one a bit frightening. But the “Do Cool New Shit Pretty Often” plan has really put my mind at ease, so if you need the structure right now, feel free to plagiarize it.

TL;DR — I suggest you throw caution to the wind, and write something for The Peak this week.

Reconciliation through Poetry

By

-

February 24, 2014

Last September, 70,000 people gathered in downtown Vancouver on a rainy Sunday in an effort to build new relationships among Aboriginal peoples and all Canadians. The four-kilometre walk began at Queen Elizabeth Plaza and a steady stream of umbrella-toting individuals took over the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts, gathering together as one.

The Walk for Reconciliation on September 22, 2013 was part of a week-long culmination of events in Vancouver to engage in a dialogue about the painful legacy of residential schools in Canada.

“I’m still moved by the results of Reconciliation Week, in particular that big walk,” says Chief Robert Joseph, Hereditary Chief of the Gwawaenuk First Nation. “We were trying to create that image, that vision, to convince others that there are those who care,” he says.

These comments were part of a video created by SFU’s Centre for Dialogue, which presented Chief Joseph with the 2014 Jack P. Blaney Award for Dialogue to honour his life’s work. The Walk for Reconciliation was just one piece in the ongoing process of reconciliation.

“We were trying to create that image, that vision, to convince others that there are those who care.”

Chief Robert Joseph, Ambassador for Reconciliation Canada

The Blaney award was presented on Jan. 15 and several events were also organized for the local community to participate with the ideas and topics at hand.

“We don’t want to just give this award and then walk away,” explains Mark Winston, the director of the Centre for Dialogue, speaking about the series of events in conjunction with the Blaney award.

A key figure in the ongoing process of reconciliation, Chief Joseph is the current Ambassador for Reconciliation Canada, an organization dedicated to using dialogue to revitalize relationships and build resilience.

“The real profound shift [from healing to reconciliation] for me was being part of a national dialogue […] as we moved across the country, the tone of these discussions and the attitudes of people between each other started to shift. People were actually starting to talk to each other instead of screaming and pounding tables. We began to listen to one another and we began to think, well, maybe there are some ways to resolve this terrible legacy.”

Chief Joseph is also a special advisor to both Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Indian Residential School Resolutions Canada; he is also involved in several other societies and organizations for Aboriginal First Nations and Residential School survivors.

“I know that there are enough of us — including Simon Fraser and other institutions — who care, and other like-minded people are thinking about how we can continue to do this,” says Chief Joseph. “We have to stay the course and we have to promote this idea that we are one: Namwayut.”

“All five poets have different styles and approaches to reconciliation.”

Mark Winston, director of the Centre for Dialogue

A workshop for the SFU community in early February addressed how SFU could be more welcoming to Aboriginal peoples and perspectives. The dialogue included administrators, faculty, community leaders, and students, and Winston says a full report will soon be released.

Next week, a third event will take place called Reconciliation through Poetry.

“We wanted something arts-related,” explains Winston, and the connection to Lunch Poems at Harbour Centre made poetry a fitting medium.

On Thursday, Feb. 27, five poets will read from newly commissioned poems exploring the concept of reconciliation. A selection committee approached poets Jordan Abel, Joanne Arnott, Juliane Okot Bitek, Jordan Scott and Daniel Zomparelli after careful deliberation.

“We wanted a diverse selection of poets — both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, gender identity, cultural background. All five poets have different styles and approaches to reconciliation,” Winston said.

The event is free and open to the public. It will take place at the Vancouver Public Library, Central Branch, in the Alice McKay Room from 7 to 9 p.m. The evening is not dialogue-based; it is intended to be a community gathering to explore the theme of reconciliation through the medium of poetry.

It’s always greener on the other side

By

-

February 24, 2014

For Donald Sales, a great dance performance all boils down to honesty.

“I think what draws an audience in is not your physical ability to execute dance moves, that’s nice to see, but what really draws one in is when you’re absolutely honest and vulnerable on stage and not trying to be someone else,” Sales said.

He compares it to an old couple dancing by themselves: “It’s not technical, but it’s beautiful. Honesty is the key.” This is something he strives to achieve with his new dance company, Project20.

On top of his exciting dance career, Sales is also a successful music producer. He has worked with Akon, Kardinal Offishall, and K-os. You may not think that hip hop and contemporary dance are related, but Sales explained that they come together in unexpected ways. “I’ll be sitting at home working on a song, listening to a ton of music and think ‘that would be great to choreograph to.’”

Another example of his two worlds colliding happened during a performance at Ballet BC. “I was performing Carmen — the pas de deux at the end — and in the middle of the song I thought it would be great to sample in a hip hop song.” Who knew Carmen and hip hop music had anything in common?

“I was performing Carmen [. . .] and in the middle of the song I thought it would be great to sample in a hip hop song.”

Donald Sales, Project 20

His idea for the future is to have Diplo or Major Lazer compose for his company. Having access to the music industry can be very useful for a choreographer, but working in these two different art worlds can be exhausting.

At Ballet BC, Sales said he would rehearse with the company all day and then head to the music studio at night. “Whenever it gets really heavy I try to separate the two,” he said. “I’ve disciplined myself to do that over the years.”

Project20 will have its debut at the Chutzpah Festival with Sales’ new work, gr33n. He began work on gr33n last year, and has had time to think about manipulating the space in the Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre. “It’s been nice to take our time,” he said.

To create this piece, Sales began with the title and a rough idea of what it could be like, working with the dancers to develop it. “I knew I wanted to call it gr33n — it’s my favourite colour and there are all these things it represents.” There are four dancers in the show, and they represent four different aspects of the colour: envy, greed, illness, and greenhorn.

The dancers put a lot of themselves in the show. Sales said that during his career dancers never had the opportunity to express themselves, they just had to do what they were told — he wants to let his dancers have some input.

“They’ve been training for so long. They know how to point their feet, but they forget how to be themselves.”

Donald Sales, Project 20

“With my dancers I like to sit down in the space and we talk; I ask questions. They draw pictures of their life story, and then we have to dance it,” he says. Sales values their collaboration very highly: “I couldn’t have choreographed it physically myself if I wanted to.”

Having the dancers put their own ideas and emotions into the work also adds the element of honesty that Sales finds so essential. “I say just be human, be yourself. I give them clear pictures to think about — it’s very vivid and literal and helps them break away from formalities. They’ve been training for so long. They know how to point their feet, but they forget how to be themselves.”

After Chutzpah, Sales hopes to take gr33n on the road. “I don’t plan to create another work for a few years,” he said, “this deserves a life on the road.”

Project20’s gr33n, will be part of a double bill performance with Ate9 Dance Company March 1 to 3 at the Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre as part of the Chutzpah Festival. For more information, visit chutzpahfestival.com.

University Briefs

By

-

February 24, 2014

15-year old admitted to U of A

Marcela Louie, 15, is set to attend the University of Alberta next fall. With an IQ of 145 by age seven, she was above 99.9 per cent of other children of the same age. Louie is on track to graduate from Grade 12 this summer, after which she will go on to join U of A’s faculty of sciences.

It is only in rare cases that such a young student is admitted. “On average, maybe one student each year that arrives at the U of A is 15 years of age,” explained registrar Lisa Collins. She added that they even once admitted an 11-year old. Despite her age, Louie feels prepared and highly anticipates her transition into university. “I’m all gung-ho about it,” she said.

With files from The Gateway

Mayor sues U of W student newspaper

Mayor of Winnipeg, Sam Katz, has filed a lawsuit against the University of Winnipeg’s student newspaper, The Uniter, for defamation. A columnist in The Uniter dubbed Katz the “local political blunder” of 2013 and allegedly implied the mayor was linked to criminal activity. Katz’s lawyer, Robert Tapper, said that the allegations of criminal behaviour are clearly crossing a legal line.

The mayor is suing the author of the article, the publisher (Mouseland Press Inc), and the university. Editor, Nicholas Friesen, maintained that The Uniter “stand[s] by our writers.”

The University of Winnipeg denied any connection to the paper and stated in a press release that the university’s involvement in the suit is “erroneous” because it “exercises no control whatsoever over The Uniter’s actions, editorial content, reporters or editorial board.”

With files from Winnipeg Sun

U of T housing map a “stalker’s dream”

On Feb. 13, U of T’s Faculty of Law took down a map that showed current students’ approximate addresses after students rebelled against what they considered to be a violation of their privacy.

Krista Nerland, a law student, said in a tumblr post, “The data we gave you about our addresses wasn’t for this purpose, and making the data anonymous only goes so far in such a small community.”

In another comment, Aurora Cee, a law student, called the map a “stalker’s dream.”

Benjamin Alarie, associate professor & associate dean of the first year program, attempted to alleviate student concerns by saying that any direct pinpointing of students’ addresses was coincidental, having been generated from a list of postal codes.

With files from The Varsity

Mt. Allison strike ends after three weeks

Mt. Allison students returned to classes on Feb. 17 following a three week long strike during which faculty and librarians demanded a new collective agreement. According to faculty, pensions and benefits were central to the dispute.

The university announced a return to class the week prior, which caused confusion as the faculty association said they had not agreed to end the strike. In the end, the return to classes was announced just after midnight on Sunday, Feb. 16 following 14 hours of negotiations facilitated by a provincially-appointed mediator.

Despite concerns about a revised academic calendar, the registrar’s office insisted that they would preserve reading week.

With files from The Argosy

We’ll always have Paris

By

-

February 24, 2014

It’s hard to believe that the Rendez-Vous French Film Festival has just celebrated its 20th year. This little known festival, presented by Visions Ouest Productions, features 10 days of French film from all over the world, including many impressive Quebecois films.

Since its launch, the Rendez-Vous French Film Festival has presented over 1,000 French films and given Vancouver’s francophones and francophiles alike the chance to see them.

Out of the almost 50 short and feature-length films presented at various venues during the festival, I was able to enjoy seven diverse films that gave me a taste of the world of francophone cinema today.

The festival’s offerings included fiction, documentaries, and animated shorts. Post-festival, the programming continues with a special event to mark Black History Month at a French immersion high school in Surrey, a screening in Tofino, and the Salon du Cinema at Studio 16.

Featured on the cover of the festival program, Le Demantèlement is a melancholic drama about sheep farmer Gaby Gagnon (Gabriel Arcand) whose way of life is lost when he decides to sell his farm in order help his daughter financially.

Awash in the golden glow of the rolling hills of the Gagnon farm, this film is beautiful and bittersweet. Gaby’s two brothers want nothing to do with the farm their father left behind, his two daughters move to Montreal, and his wife leaves him — all he has left is his dog and his farm. It is heart wrenching to watch as Gaby decides to dismantle the farm and auction off his life’s work.

Sophie Desmarais, who plays Gaby Gagnon’s daughter in Le Demantèlement, also stars as Sarah Lepage in Sarah préfère la course. The title translates to “Sarah prefers to run,” and it couldn’t be more true.

Awash in the golden glow of the rolling hills of the Gagnon farm, Le Demantèlement is beautiful and bittersweet.

When she is invited to join the track and field team at McGill University, she tells her mother, who is unsupportive of her plan, that she will be moving to Montreal without her help.

Antoine Breton (Jean-Sébastien Courchesne), a friend of Sarah’s, says he also wants to move to Montreal and will help her with expenses if they become roommates. On the drive to Montreal, Antoine proposes that they get married in order to take advantage of government bursaries for young married students. As it turns out, Antoine is actually in love with Sarah, but unfortunately for him she just prefers to run.

With little plot and a mixture of fiction and documentary elements, Gare du Nord is a film from France about Ismaël (Reda Kateb), a PhD student doing his field work at Paris’ main train station, Gare du Nord. His thesis is that the station is a global village square and he surveys travellers as they pass through. He studies the station’s activities, vendors, culture, and while he’s at it, ends up falling in love with Mathilde (Nicole Garcia), an academic who believes in his work.

The closing night film, Triptyque by Robert Lepage and Pedro Pires, is described as a “contemporary urban saga.” It’s the story of Michelle (Lise Castonguay), a schizophrenic bookseller, her sister Marie (Frédérike Bédard), and Thomas (Hans Piesbergen), her German neurosurgeon. Marie and Thomas end up falling in love, and Michelle returns to work in the bookstore after being released from a mental institution.

Split into three sections, the film focuses on each of the main characters as they go through a major event in their lives. As the cinematic adaptation of the play Lipsynch (also directed by Robert Lepage), Triptyque retains the themes of speech, communication, and the human voice as indicators of identity and emotion. Through poetry and emotionally poetic scenes, these three characters figure out how to express themselves.

The Rendez-Vous French Film Festival has so much to offer with a wide variety of films in many genres, and it deserves more exposure in the future so that more people can experience this valuable cultural event.

The paintbrush is mightier than the sword

By

-

February 24, 2014

On Feb. 13, Changemakers Vancouver collaborated with Late Nite Art to create a night of empowerment through art, discussion, and good food. Hosted at the InterUrban Art Gallery on Hastings, the event buzzed with creativity.

Mohamed Ehab and Ajay Puri are the co-founders of Changemakers Vancouver, which all started when Ehab moved to Canada to work as a pharmacist. In his spare time, he started a film group to meet new friends and like-minded people. It started out small with events such as potlucks and movie screenings, which were held in his living room.

“The number of members I had in my group quickly grew to over 800. Of course my living room wasn’t big enough,” said Ehab. While he was connecting with Vancouverites who wanted to have a positive impact in their community, Ajay Puri was expanding his own network.

Puri has co-founded and continues to co-lead many movement-based organizations; some know him as the “social media guru” of Vancouver. When Ehab and Puri met, they realized that they each had their own networks of people, both of which were passionate about social change and making the world a better place. Brainstorming different ways to connect their networks, Changemakers Vancouver was born.

“It’s not just about the people standing in the streets. It’s also about the people that understand and hold that conversation”

Zack Embree, photographer

“The focus of Changemakers is to not only be a social networking event,” said Ehab, “We want to create an action oriented social group that brings like-minded people together to connect, share ideas, and most importantly, to act.”

Changemakers has held four events so far, each with a different topic. For “Art you Ready,” Volume IV of Changemakers Vancouver, the theme focused on the insights we gain when we engage our creative side.

While music played in the background, tables covered in paper and a wide variety of art supplies and magazines were placed in the centre of the room. The first prompt was to find some sort of image from a magazine that you thought described change and cut it out.

More thought-provoking prompts were given by Late Nite Art facilitator Julien Thomas, who encouraged participants to use the materials provided to create a community art piece. After every prompt, participants were to move (usually one seat over), spreading their individual works all over the table, allowing everyone to check out each other’s creations.

My personal favourite prompt was, “With your eyes closed, share a secret you’ve never told anyone using your body to draw.” Using more than my hands and arms to draw, the prompt forced me to really think of something that required my whole body to create an image that would describe my secret. Thomas occasionally debriefed the prompts, and for that particular one, he asked, “Is there a difference between a dark secret and an exciting secret?”

Food was sourced from Nelson the Seagull and Terra Breads, and put together by Yashar Nijati, chief chef at YummusOrganicHummus and director of The Chinatown Experiment. Served on sharable plates, new conversations spawned and the room filled with talk and laughter.

After dinner, in-house photographer Zack Embree spoke about his work, which revolves around social change, and was a perfect fit for the event. He went through some photographs, explaining why his work is so important to him, and how he finds new ways to portray social change through different varieties of art.

“It’s not just about the people standing in the streets. It’s also about the people that understand and hold that conversation,” said Embree.

At the end of the event, Late Nite Art put together an activity with blank postcards. We were given the opportunity to send a postcard to someone we had been thinking about, someone we hadn’t been in touch with in a while. An invitation to use the art utensils provided to create something meaningful for someone who matters was the perfect end to a wonderful night.

The next Changemakers event will be in April. Check changemakersvan.com for more details.

Batalia’s ex-boyfriend to stand trial

By

-

February 24, 2014