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Woohoo, boohoo

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EIC
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Woohoo: baby steps

I respect the crap out of people who stand up for their principles. To do so is, at its deepest level, to justify living. It’s what gets you up in the morning, it gives life meaning outside of merely existing.

I don’t think standing up for your principles means trying to be perfect, though. For instance, some people who want to support a cause put a small financial amount towards it yearly. If that’s all they can do, then that’s awesome.

Some people who support vegetarianism choose to only cut out red meat from their diet, while some choose to cut out everything but fish, and others choose to be vegan. If these are steps in a direction that someone wants to go, they’re awesome, no matter where they fall on a scale of intensity.

Even the smallest movements are adding to that something greater. In lieu of perfection, a step in a direction is worthwhile, regardless of its size.

Boohoo: moral apathy

Apathy, while its roots are often understandable, garners less respect from me.

I often hear apathetic responses to vegetarianism. Some say it’s useless because almost every product has animal by-products in it. It’s true, tires, cleaning products, condoms, fabric softeners, roads, insulin, etc. can or do have such ingredients.

On the other hand, I’ve been insulted for not being vegan when I eat vegetarian, for not going all the way.

However, it does not follow to argue that if we can’t be perfect we should give up. People aren’t perfect, but there’s nothing wrong with trying to solve or at least draw attention to problems. Do you think voting matters? I sincerely hope you do, and sincerely hope you wouldn’t abstain from voting if it didn’t look like your party would win.

Apathy can achieve a perfection of correctness: if you don’t try, you can’t fail. While I appreciate this concern, pursuit of perfection isn’t an excuse to roll-over and give up.

University Briefs

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EIC
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briefs - outdoorPDK
Emergency landing on UBC waters

At 3:30 pm on Sunday, a Harbour Air seaplane made an emergency landing in the waters off UBC. The plane was on its way from the Gulf Islands to Vancouver. No one was injured and the aircraft was not damaged; it was towed to shore shortly after the landing. The company’s VP Flight Operations and Safety, Eric Scott, said that there was a mechanical failure with the engine, but that it was still being investigated. Only one passenger was on board.

With files from The Ubyssey

 

Students surviving polar vortex 

Despite harsh winter weather, all three U of T campuses have remained open. On Jan. 7, the university made the decision to remain open at 6:00 a.m., despite low temperatures around -30° C.

More than temperatures, the university was focused on what it called a “five-factor” policy including weather conditions, transit accessibility, campus and road conditions, and whether or not other institutions in the area are closed.

Though the weather raised concerns of accessibility for students with physical disabilities, it didn’t prevent U of T’s social programming from taking place – on Tuesday night, a Winterfest pub crawl event went ahead as planned.

With files from The Varsity

 

UNB shuts down during strike

Stop the presses! Full-time profs started a strike at the University of New Brunswick on the morning of Jan. 13; meetings between the university and full-time faculty were not enough to reach a collective agreement.

All classes at UNB are suspended for the duration of the strike, except for a few online courses. Although having decided to stay neutral, UNB student union president Ben Whitney said he was disappointed with the news and that the UNBSU would be “communicating with the students and getting them involved in the dialogue.”

With files from The Brunswickan

SFU Hockey showcases top college talent

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EIC
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After a lengthy break over the holidays, the Simon Fraser University men’s hockey team welcomed the University of Princeton, University of North Dakota and cross town rivals University of British Columbia to Bill Copeland Arena for the second annual Great Northwest Showcase (GNS). SFU had an up and down weekend as they were trounced by Princeton 8-1, but narrowly lost to powerhouse North Dakota, 4-3.

Princeton and North Dakota, two NCAA Division I schools, are premier colleges for developing NHL talent. Princeton has had 23 players since 1963 drafted by NHL teams, while this year’s North Dakota squad boasts 15 NHL draft picks, highlighted by USA’s 2012-13 World Juniors hero Rocco Grimaldi and St. Louis Blues’ first rounder Jordan Schmaltz.

Simon Fraser played Princeton for their opening game of the GNS. In the first period, Princeton’s Andrew Calof, the eventual player of the game, put the visitors ahead early. Despite being heavily outshot, SFU found itself level when Graham Smerek forced a turnover in Princeton’s zone and found Clan leading scorer Nick Sandor, who buried the equalizer.

Sandor’s goal was SFU’s lone bright spot of the night. Calof led the Princeton onslaught with four points over the course of the game, which featured six third-period Princeton goals.  The Clan was no match for Princeton’s obvious talent level.

SFU’s strategy in the second game of the showcase, against North Dakota, was to play a five man neutral zone trap: keep five men in front of the puck, absorb as much heat as North Dakota could bring, and capitalize on chances in transition. For most of the night, the strategy worked perfectly.

The first period came and went without any scoring, but North Dakota carried the play, peppering Clan netminder Graham Gordon with a multitude of shots.

North Dakota’s relentless fore-check finally paid off, as in the second, they drew a Clan penalty, and on the ensuing powerplay Grimaldi put his team ahead 1-0. SFU’s newest member Scott Brkich answered with a power play blast of his own, leveling the game at one goal apiece.

The third period featured as much drama as a hockey game could provide. SFU took a surprising one from a great individual effort by Trevor Piller, whose cross-ice pass hit a ND defenseman and went in. After the go ahead goal, North Dakota did what great teams do and picked up their game, eventually replying to SFU’s goal with two of their own, taking a 3–2 lead.

The seesaw period continued when Jono Ceci found Sandor cross-crease for the tap-in equalizer. North Dakota’s Dillon Simpson eventually put the Fighting Sioux ahead for good off of a mad scramble in the SFU crease. Ceci later had a glorious opportunity all alone at the side of the net, but was denied by Sioux netminder Zane Gothberg, securing North Dakota’s 4–3 victory.

SFU only had 17 shots in the game compared to North Dakota’s 51, but despite what the stat sheet may say, SFU did a great job of limiting North Dakota’s chances, as most of the 51 shots were from low percentage areas on the ice.

UBC eventually went on to win the GNS, with two victories out of two games played, but SFU’s valiant effort against North Dakota wrapped up a great weekend of high-level hockey.

Tippy Top Ten: SFU Observatory

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EIC
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The weekly Peak Humour “Tippy Top 10” list is a hilarious and unique countdown of 10 jokes following a specific theme. It is completely original and in no way a rip-off of any segment from a popular late-night show hosted by David Letterman. In fact we here at The Peak had never even heard about David Letterman or his signature “Top Ten List” until we wrote that last sentence.  

SFU recently announced a new $4.4 million astronomical observatory and plaza which will house a telescope that the public can use to view galaxies billions of light-years away. Anyway here’s this week’s Tippy Top 10 . . .

Tippy Top 10 Reasons to Get Excited About the New SFU Observatory

10. We’ll be first to see the asteroid that destroys UBC (and the rest of earth)

9. Can finally stop lying about the size of our telescope

8. Will provide a safe place for students to pursue passion in science, or trip on acid

7. Might actually find out the difference between astrology, astronomy and scientology

6. Discovering a new comet could make you the envy of dozens

5. Will finally have a place to take dates to see Uranus

4. It’ll centralize school’s nerds in a way the Quidditch team never could

3. No longer have to just wonder about what those damn Wookies are up to

2. View of galaxies billions of light-years away will allow you to see just how minor and insignificant your degree is

1. Three words: Martian Sex Voyeurism

Local singer lends voice to SFU recycling campaign

By
EIC
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WEB-bendsinister zero wate-bill hawley

The lead singer of local band Bend Sinister lent his talents to SFU’s newest campaign, the Zero Waste Initiative, which is looking to greatly reduce the university’s environmental footprint by 2015.

Dan Moxon, an SFU alumni and singer from Bend Sinister, joined up with SFU Creative Services in early January to make a music video that explains the initiative to students. The video features Moxon singing about how to further separate waste into four new recycling streams: landfill waste, compostables, paper, and recyclables.

The Zero Waste Initiative is a joint project between the Sustainability Office and Facilities Services that aims to double the amount of waste SFU will divert from landfills over the next year by encouraging recycling and composting alternatives.

“2014 is the best possible time to implement this program because it’s now, and now is far better than later,” Rachel Telling told The Peak. Telling, the Zero Waste coordinator, explained that Metro Vancouver is implementing zero waste goals, which include a ban on organic wastes from its landfills by 2015.

“SFU is leading in this changeover . . . so members of our community not only have time to become familiar with it, but so they can themselves be leaders in this major change in how waste is managed in BC,” Telling explained.

However, with a new system comes the challenge of making recycling exciting for SFU students. After brainstorming the best medium through which to connect with students, the Sustainability Office and Creative Services settled on the idea of a “playful and catchy video.”

Enter Moxon. As a member of SFU Creative Services by day and musician by night, Moxon offered to lend his songwriting talents and personality to the Zero Waste video.

“It’s pretty easy to get behind green initiatives and recycling and doing that sort of thing in general, and it sounded like a fun project,” Moxon said. “Alex [Konyves], the key creative director, was the one who approached me about being involved and he just had this idea to do a sort of musical-esque video to promote it and it just sounded like an interesting way to approach it and raise awareness around it.”

Moxon has been composing music for SFU Creative Services since 2006, but this video was a new experience for the entire team.

“This was the first time they asked me to act in something, so that’s a little out of my element, but I sort of said I’d give it a whirl and try,” said Moxon. “At first they were talking about having a chorus line with people dancing, and I said I don’t mind singing the song and doing my thing, but I don’t know if I’m going to jump around and dance . . . it’s a little bit out of my element, but I was happy to do it for an interesting and good cause.”

Although Bend Sinister’s new album is coming out this March, Moxon does not feel like he needs to choose between being frontman of the band and the face of the Zero Waste Campaign. “I think I can probably do both at the same time,” he said. “I don’t think they have any further campaign schedules for me to go from campus to campus promoting being green and recycling . . . I’d be happy to do both.”

SFU hopes to divert 70% of its waste from landfills by 2015, but for Telling this is only the first step in a grander environmental initiative: “Our vision is that, by the end of 2015, the only people not understanding and accepting as natural how to use the new bins will be people arriving at SFU from beyond the Lower Mainland.”

Premature baby permanently banned from baseball for steroid use

By
EIC
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ST. LOUIS — According to a press release from Major League Baseball, a prematurely born baby has been permanently banned from playing the sport after finding evidence of steroid usage.

The baby, who as of yet has not been named, had allegedly been given steroids before birth to help his lungs function normally and allow him to live. Major League Baseball Commissioner, Bud Selig, stated that he wants to set an example with this suspension.

“I want kids to know if you use steroids, there will be punishment,” Selig explained in a press conference in Saint Louis. “I don’t care if your doctor talked you into it, I don’t care if you’re a baby, I don’t even care if you‘re not born yet. If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.”

Tim and Rose Geridanos, the baby’s parents, were understandably unhappy and shocked after hearing Selig’s decision on TV.

“This is just a routine procedure when a baby is born prematurely,” explained a clearly shaken Rose. “I don’t even think that they’re the same kind of steroids the MLB is trying to get rid of.”

Despite the severe allegations and steep punishment set against him, Major League Baseball’s Player Association did not offer its support to the baby.

“Well at least it’s not one of our players. Maybe the baby should have thought about the consequences before taking performance enhancing drugs,” said representative Hal Bors, “Maybe this will serve as a wakeup call for babies everywhere to take responsibility for their actions, this isn’t the incubator anymore.”

The Geridanos, although angry at the damage of reputation that this suspension might bring upon their son, will not attempt to overturn the suspension stating: “It’s not worth our time and energy . . . besides, we’re more cricket fans anyways.”

Women’s basketball earn upset victory on split weekend

By
EIC
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As the Great Northwest Athletic Conference basketball season heats up, the Simon Fraser University women’s team is in the race for conference supremacy. The very competitive conference that started the 2013-14 season with three nationally ranked teams is as tight as ever heading into week four of play. SFU saw a split weekend at home to wrap up week three, proving without a doubt that the GNAC is still anyone’s for the taking.

The Clan earned an upset victory over No. 18 Northwest Nazarene on Thursday before falling to the 10th place team in the conference, Central Washington, moving to a 3–2 conference record. The split is a perfect example of the battle for a conference title; any team to win on any given day.

The story of the weekend, however, was the play of junior captain Erin Chambers who led her team and all athletes on the floor in both contests. Against the Crusaders the fiery guard/forward combo tallied 25 points, leading her team to a 75–66 victory over the visitors.

Assisting her in the victory was Rebecca Langmead, as the senior had her first double-double of the season. The 6’5” forward used her height to her advantage tallying 15 points and 12 rebounds in the contest to lead all players on the boards.

Katie Lowen and Kia Van Laare each added 11 points as well. It was Van Laare’s sharp-shooting from off the bench that gave the Clan a mid-game rush, as the senior netted back-to-back three-pointers to give the Clan the much needed lead heading into the second half.

After a one day break, the team took to the court Saturday evening against the Wildcats but a lackluster Clan side was only able to hang in during a 63–54 loss, thanks to Chambers’ 32 points — over half of the team’s total. The captain was able to keep her team in the running throughout the game, bringing them within as few as two points.

The Clan women were plagued by the flu, as starters Marie-Line Petit and Langmead saw limited minutes due to illness. Despite playing only 16 minutes, Petit was the Clan’s second highest scorer, but only put up eight points, as the home team fell to the previously 0-5 visitors.

Now moving further along into conference play the team will face the final four competitors in the conference rotation before a rematch with all nine GNAC teams to wrap up the season. Their next match will be against conference leaders, the Saint Martin’s Saints, who are currently 4–1 after an upset over former GNAC leaders, Alaska Anchorage. SFU will face the Seawolves the following weekend as they round out the first set of games.

Clan place second at National Duals

By
EIC
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It was almost a repeat of 2013 for the SFU Clan women’s wrestling team when they travelled to Des Moines, IA for the Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association (WCWA) National Duals last weekend. They finished in second place after two days of competition; though they were just one win away from repeating as WCWA Dual Champions, the second place success is still an excellent showing for the dual team.

The Clan women started the tournament against University of the Cumberlands winning nine of the 10 matches, beating the Patriots 38–6 overall. The following day the Clan took on second-ranked Oklahoma City University in the semi-finals where they would bounce the 2013 runner-ups out of the finals. SFU saw more intense competition from the highly ranked OCU Stars, taking the dual 27–17 on the second day of competition.

In the final, SFU fell to King College by two points, losing 21–19 in the last dual of the meet.  The Tornado would finish first, matching their ranking entering the competition, taking the title for the first time in school history.

SFU’s dual team included Darby Huckle, Victoria Anthony, Laura Anderson, Helen Maroulis, Maegan Kuruvita, Monika Podgorski, Justina DiStasio, Jenna McLatchy, Nikkie Brar, Mallory Velte, and Michiko Araki. Seniors Anthony, Maroulis, DiStasio and McLatchy were all undefeated throughout the tournament, closing out their dual careers with the Clan in winning style and leading their team to their second top-two finish at the championships in as many years.

Velte, Kuruvita and Anderson all won matches in their first championships as the three freshmen were able to earn points for the Clan in the first two duals of the meet. Huckle won the Clan’s first match in the final against King before Maroulis, DiStasio and McLatchy finished it off for SFU.

The Clan will get another shot at a first-place finish when they head to St. Louis, MO, beginning January 24, where they will attempt to defend their 2013 WCWA National Championship in the non-dual portion of their championship season.

The Clan lost seniors Danielle Lappage and Sidney Morrison who were champions in their weight-classes in 2013, but retain many members of the winning squad heading into this year’s tournament. McLatchey, DiStasio and Maroulis are all returning champions, and Brar and Huckle are returning bronze medalists.

Lost (and found) in translation

By
Peak Web
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A play about one man’s personal journey, Théâtre PÀP’s The Dragonfly of Chicoutimi is also a play about language, culture, and finding your identity. First performed in 1995 on the eve of the Quebec referendum, there are strong political undertones, but it is also an emotional portrait of Gaston Talbot, one troubled man played by five actors.

The play is performed in English, but in a way it is also performed in French. Although the actors are speaking English, they are using French syntax, and this has a strange effect on the audience. “People will ask us a year later, ‘do you want to translate it into English,’ and we say ‘it was in English,’” laughs Patrice Dubois, one of the actors and the company’s artistic co-director.

Written by Larry Tremblay, Dragonfly wasn’t always performed by five actors. “It was a solo at first,” explained Dubois. “I saw it as a young actor in a small venue. We recreated it with a new touch: five voices. The challenge was to keep the intimacy of the main character and put it into something more formal. It’s a way for the audience to take part in five parts of a character. They see his fragility, he is strong, he’s a child, he’s sad, he’s crazy . . . there are different portraits on stage to see at the same time, these mysterious parts inside us as an individual.”

Bringing together five people as one cohesive character can be difficult, and Dubois said that the rehearsal process is very precise because the show has a choral element to it and timing is very important.

Playing Gaston Talbot is an emotional experience for all of the actors: “Gaston Talbot is not interesting at first sight; he’s someone you’d see in the street and not stop to look at, but you get interested in his own little story,” said Dubois. “Gaston Talbot is really upset with his childhood. He says his childhood was a success, but he lies and then he tries to tell the truth.”

Bringing together five people as one cohesive character can be difficult.

Aside from Gaston’s emotional world, there is another layer of meaning in Dragonfly. “On one side it’s really emotional, and on the other side there are things to do with language. People hear their own language in a different way, and this funny side of the show is really important, too,” Dubois explained.

“When we first speak a language we have a certain way to think. There is a tension between what’s going on in our head and what’s going on in our mouths.” This cultural side of the show allows for a great deal of humour for those who speak both languages, while others are able to hear their own language in a new way.

Dubois and Théâtre PÀP artistic co-director Claude Poissant recently made a decision to tour their company’s work within Canada instead of just to Europe and are thrilled to be at the PuSh Festival where they can encounter new audiences.

The Dragonfly of Chicoutimi runs from Jan 22–25 at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts as part of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. For more information visit pushfestival.ca.

New $4.4 million SFU observatory set to monitor construction of new $4.4 trillion Rigel 6 satellite campus

By
EIC
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BURNABY — SFU’s long discussed and fully supported $4.4 trillion Rigel 6 satellite campus, which was officially announced last week, is set to be accompanied by an observatory whose $4.4 million price tag has set off a large number of angry SFU students.

While few are against the planned billions-of-light-years away satellite campus located in the far-off Rigel universe and set to be complete in August 3045, concerned students say they feel ‘blindsided’ by the new Trottier Observatory and Plaza.

“Are we really going to spend a few million dollars on a building that just magnifies space a little?” questioned Jill Stevens, a third year communications major. “I can totally understand the practicality of keeping some connection with the new Rigel 6 campus, but can’t we just trust that its getting built and not have to spy on them?”

Stevens’ sentiments have been echoed by many students at SFU who say that $4.4 million seems excessive just for an earth-building.

“In this economy we really need to think about what is absolutely necessary, and this observatory just seems a little excessive,” SFU biology alum, Tyler Deroche, told The Peak. “Hopefully the people in charge of our Rigel 6 campus will be a little more level headed.”

Deroche went on to say that he felt it wasn’t really the observatory that had students so riled up but that they were simply unhappy about the way it was implemented.

“Well, the Starry Nights stargazing program has been around since 2007 so I think we all knew that a satellite campus located in another universe was coming for sure,” he explained, thinking back. “But an observatory? Where the fuck did that come from? Don’t even get me started on the plaza they’ve been saying is going to be built with it . . . this school is getting down-right reckless with its spending!”

While Deroche has said they will fight hard to prevent the observatory, he also stated that he still hasn’t soured on the Rigel 6 campus.

“I’ve supported that from the beginning and I think it has a lot of potential” he said, trying to remain optimistic. “There could be so much great stuff there, it could have it’s own academic quadrangle, it’s own SUB building . . . oooh they could even build an observatory — that would be pretty cool!”

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Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

Contact us: [email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society 1965-2024

Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

Contact us:
[email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society 1965-2024