Rapper rumoured to have penned new album in which he discusses his superior merits

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November 12, 2013

NEW YORK — Exciting news emerged last weekend as an iMessage leak revealed information on the subject matter of a popular gangsta-rapper’s not-yet-released album. According to sources at The Peak, the new songs carefully describe ways in which the artist is superior to his rivals.

Early reports have also mentioned that the police and the recording industry may also have been said to be deficient in a comparative standing to the artist.

While the news of the braggadocio has been confirmed, the exact qualities the artist will boast about are still in question. Over half of the boastings are rumoured to be related to the confidence the rapper has in his superior ability to rap.

Beyond this, many are speculating that the qualities could be as wide-ranging as his extraordinary accumulation of wealth to how many women were interested in participating in sexual intercourse with him. Experts say the song’s title, [sic] ‘paPUh FLOodd’ is an allusion to the numerous banknotes that the artist has in his possession.

The sexual exploits of the rapper have drawn the most interest from those anticipating the release. An excited fan told The Peak “Well, in one of his last albums we found out that ‘[his] bitch sucked [his] dick on [his] fucking private jet’*, so it’ll be fascinating to get an update on their lifestyle.”

The fan also elaborated on the possible evolution of the rapper’s motifs. Speculating that it is very likely the artist will bring some incredibly groundbreaking improvements to the industry. “That’s this guy’s thing, man, he changes the whole game up — every, single, time.“

He concluded by posturing that the artist may mention which kind of private jet he receives fellatio on, as well as the altitude of the plane or planes on which said fellatio occurred.

When reached for a comment, the rapper only responded with the message ‘4eva’ which was sent to the press in the form of a diamond-encrusted, four-finger ring.

Untold Stories

By

EIC

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November 12, 2013

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Who perpetrates sexual assault?

The common archetypal images are of men with greasy moustaches and trenchcoats, waiting to physically overpower their female victims into submission. As for victims, men can’t get raped because they’re too strong to get physically subdued. That’s just science, right?

This logic builds upon the presumed premise that one must be raped by a member of the opposite sex, and that rape can only happen through physical force — neither of which are true. In reality, the majority of sexual offences are intra-familial, or perpetrated by acquaintances, friends, or partners. In these cases, the perpetrator rarely physically overpowers the victim; they’re more likely to rely on coercion or manipulation, using emotions or verbal threats as weapons.

Sexual assault can happen to anyone. It can happen within relationships, amongst acquaintances, or at the hands of a stranger. It can include any range of non-consensual sexual behavior. Really, the only link is that those who experience it are left filled with shame, and suffer a string of consequences — physical, psychological, emotional. If we cannot pinpoint one scenario or one type of perpetrator, then how can we have a clear idea of what a victim looks like?

I recently started watching Mad Men, thinking it would be filled with so much misogyny and gender stereotypes of the time period that I wouldn’t be able to get past the first season. Spoiler alert: I just finished the sixth season and it is revealed that Don Draper, the stoic, hard-drinking, womanizing protagonist, was raped as a boy. Only it’s not said in so many words: it’s presented as an older woman — a prostitute — taking his virginity against his will.

He grows up to have a drinking problem, an inability to commit to one woman (despite being married twice), and a habit of never sharing his feelings or weaknesses. Yet he is successful in business and pleasure, and is seen as mysterious and suave; women want him, and men want to be him.

Sure, it can be argued that it was a different time. It can also be argued that this is fiction. Yet, the Center for Disease Control’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey in 2010 reported that the rate of male victims of sexual assault was much higher than expected — something that’s been corroborated by many similar studies. One study found that 44 per cent of college men in their sample reported being subjected to a sexually coercive tactic, while another reported similar numbers of 43 per cent of college men reporting being a victim of a coercive incident.

In the United States, 10 per cent of reported victims of sexual assault are males.

Now, these numbers are only representative of one small aspect of sexual abuse, and the numbers reported by women are still much higher. Nonetheless, these statistics are shockingly high for an issue where men are solely seen as perpetrators, and never victims.

Not only that, but male victimization is grossly underreported because, simply put, our society does not take male sexual assault seriously. I have heard too many people argue that rape is exclusively a women’s issue or that men can’t be raped, and I have seen too many men refuse to show that they’re hurting simply because they’re “being men.”

Every so often, male survivors of sexual victimization speak out, and the stories are as diverse and complex as the issue of rape itself: some were victimized as children, some for their chosen gender or sexuality, some at the hands of partners (both male and female). According to the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, 10 per cent of reported victims are males.

Our society maintains an outdated and heteronormative view of sexuality, which is partly where this idea stems from. If, as society dictates, women are coyer and have sex only to please their men, and all men want sex all the time, and people only have sex with the opposite gender, then it would logically follow that only men can perpetrate rape upon women. Given that none of these are facts, it’s insulting to all genders and sexual practices that this is the inherent assumption.

With all this as a framework, there’s no surprise that this is the same society that minimizes the impact that non-consensual sex has on males. There’s a belief that men always want sex, that it’s only a matter of collecting the largest number of (female) partners, and that it’s just part of being a man — whatever that even means.

If there is anything we can take from the recent pro-rape FROSH chants, it’s that all of us — especially boys and men — are in dire need of education. One must wonder whether the enigmatic “Bro Code,” the Holy Bible for misogynists that commands “bros before hos,” has a subsection that deals with a bro getting raped. I’d imagine the answer is no, that this isn’t seen as something that men should talk about — though I’m hardly a Bro Code scholar.

We need to educate boys and men so that they stop perpetuating rape culture and start spreading respect and mindfulness of the impact of their words and actions. But we also need to educate them so that they are not afraid to step forward when they are the ones victimized. Rape culture is not a joke, and it shouldn’t be treated as such by anybody. It is constantly being perpetrated in media, in everyday actions and jokes and on our university campuses. The only way that we can hope that our children will live in a better world is if we are ready to be allies and to hear each other’s stories — regardless of gender.

Fraser Health launches “1 in 5” campaign

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EIC

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November 12, 2013

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Rectal pain, discharge and bleeding — these are a few of the possible symptoms of the sexually transmitted infection (STI) known as the “clap,” chlamydia. But what really makes this STI scary is that oftentimes, it exhibits no symptoms at all. Chlamydia is known as a “silent” infection, and many carriers have no idea that they are infected.

A recent study by the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada (SIECCAN) reported that only 51 per cent of sexually active university students use condoms, and when they do use them it’s for contraceptive reasons, as opposed to the protection against STIs.

In light of this statistic, Fraser Health Authority has launched the awareness campaign “1 in 5,” taking its name from the research discovery that one in five female SFU students will contract chlamydia during their academic career.

In order to raise awareness and to promote good sexual health, Fraser Health strung up women’s underwear and set up an information booth in the AQ during the last week of October to give out free condoms and important information. Additionally, they created a social media presence for the campaign over Facebook and Twitter to spread the word about this illusive infection.

Dr. Michelle Murti, medical health officer at Fraser Health, told The Peak that despite being an extremely treatable STI, chlamydia is probably one of the most common.

Many carriers have no idea that they are infected.

“We see about 3,000 cases a year across Fraser Health. Mostly, the highest numbers are in women between the ages of 20 and 24,” Murti said. However, if the infection is so easily treated — with only one round of antibiotics — why is it spread so widely amongst the student body?

The answer is simple: lack of awareness. It is a combination of the “silent” nature of the infection and the lack of protection being used by sexually active students. Dr. Murti stated, “about 70 per cent of women and 50 per cent of men won’t even have symptoms so they won’t know they’ve been infected.”

She also stressed the importance of getting tested, which is as easy as peeing into a cup. The long-term effects of the infection can be severe: if untreated, chlamydia can cause pelvic inflammatory disease, tissue scarring, and infertility later in life.

In this technological age, and with the surge of sexual health awareness initiatives in recent years, SIECCAN hoped to see improved numbers from those of a similar survey done years ago. Unfortunately, the results of this new study seem to indicate that students haven’t become more aware of protecting themselves against chlamydia.

Dr. Murti said that even though in the recent survey, “many of the students thought for themselves that they had very good or excellent knowledge in sexual health and in STIs,” the desired level of awareness has yet to be achieved since the number of people using condoms is still low and the frequency of cases of infection is so high.

Dr. Murti considers SFU students in particular to be lucky, as “they have the health and counseling services available at both Vancouver and Burnaby campuses.” Resources can also be found on Fraser Health’s website, including information on STIs, and the locations of sexual health clinics nearest you.

Album Reviews: Lady Gaga, Sky Ferreira, and a throwback to Outkast

By

Peak Web

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November 12, 2013

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Lady Gaga – ARTPOP

Fame and fortune aside, Lady Gaga’s evolution from fringe freakshow to pop culture queen hasn’t done her any favours. Instead, it’s made her self-referential theatricality the industry expectation: little monsters like Nicki Minaj and Miley Cyrus have laid claim to a portion of the songstress’s fan base by aping her dramatic flair and Hollywood-gothic musicality.

Today, Lady Gaga’s claim to the hype machine throne is tenuous at best, and almost entirely dependent on the success her much-awaited comeback to 2011’s Born This Way. This is the album that will make or break her career.

Repetitive, unimaginative and bloated, ARTPOP fails in virtually every possible way. Sure, there’s the occasional earworm here and there: the titular track is a capably Madonna-esque ode to Andy Warhol, and “Gypsy” is as catchy as it is vaguely offensive. But for the most part, Gaga’s newest is the work of an old dog who’s run out of new tricks.

Never is this more apparent than in the album’s opener, “Aura,” in which Gaga attempts to show us the real her, the one “behind the aura,” while a computerized voice repeats “dance, sex, art” lifelessly. Is this a straight-faced attempt to introduce the album’s ham-handed themes, or a shallow attempt to be avant-garde? It doesn’t matter — the song is downright awful, as are the vast majority of the tracks that follow.

Though lyrics were never her strong suit, Gaga’s bon mots throughout ARTPOP are lacklustre and carelessly clichéd. “Dope,” the album’s token piano ballad and a sappy love letter to Gaga’s fans, is particularly misguided: Gaga’s impassioned refrain, “I need you more than dope,” isn’t just bad; it’s embarrassing.

There are moments here where you can almost hear the Lady Gaga we fell in love with five years ago — the unexpectedly moving bridge of “Donatella,” the banshee energy of “Manicure,” the self-parody of “Applause.” All this only makes it more painful to state the obvious: ARTPOP is a completely unmitigated disaster.

Sky Ferreira – Night Time, My Time

Now this is what I’m talking about!

Sky Ferreira’s studio debut, Night Time, My Time, is far from game-changing: it’s affable alterna-pop with just the right amount of cheek, and it’s everything a cautiously optimistic music listener like myself expects from a mainstream pop effort. No more, no less. Ferreira’s newest LP is conventional, cohesive and congenial; as it turns out, not every album has to rewrite the rules.

Producer Ariel Rechtshaid, who’s worked with such artists as Vampire Weekend and Haim, gives Ferreira’s songwriting an assembly line simplicity that nods to some of her biggest synth pop influences, such as Duran Duran and Cyndi Lauper. The verse chorus verse structure of such standouts as “24 Hours” and “You’re Not the One” are charmingly familiar, and Ferreira’s decidedly non-threatening pop star sneer helps keep Night Time, My Time from becoming overly repetitive.

By this point, Ferreira’s story is well known: she was signed at age 15, and has been caught in a maelstrom of failed pop experiments and studio squabbles ever since. Last year, she finally got her big break with the John Hughes prom night dance track “Everything Is Embarrassing,” announcing herself as the Lana Del Rey alternative we’d all been waiting for.

Night Time, My Time effectively subverts the one-hit-wonder template Ferreira briefly toyed with: all 12 tracks on the record, in their own way, recreate the unabashed joy and nostalgic haze of her breakout single. The pop rock elasticity of the guitars and the broad stroke synthesizers set the stage perfectly for Ferreira’s teen idol subversion: at no point during the album’s lean 45 minute runtime does any instrument or chord progression feel out of place.

In her own way, Ferreira proves that pop star status doesn’t necessarily equate to vapidity or acquiescence. Night Time, My Time is the sort of album that the FM radio elite have been trying — and failing — to make for decades: catchy, fun escapism that doesn’t insult your intelligence.

Throwback: Outkast – Aquemini

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was more ambitious. Stankonia had better singles. ATLiens had better lyrics, and Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik began it all. But OutKast were never better than on their third studio record: a portmanteau of Big Boi and André 3000’s astrological signs (Aquarius and Gemini), Aquemini sees the duo at the top of their game as musicians and performers.

Though their differences would eventually lead to their breakup, the balance struck between Big Boi’s dynamic boasts and André 3000’s spitfire stanzas on Aquemini is striking. The pair turn on a dime from solemn observation to bombastic wordplay, sometimes within the same stanza. Their fast-paced Georgian twang contrasts beautifully with the LP’s molasses-thick instrumentation, which includes horns, low register bass and a rip roaring harmonica solo.

The album’s most popular single, “Rosa Parks,” from its civil rights refrain to its syncopated acoustic guitar beat, seems to single-handedly carve out a place for southern hip-hop. The seven minute horn-led “SpottieOttieDopaliscious” is loose and soulful, while the dual anecdotes on the “Da Art of Storytellin’ (Part 1)” are among some of the most poignant rhymes ever put to vinyl.

Each song has its own unique tone and message; at 74 minutes, a lesser album might have seemed bloated, but each cut on Aquemini feels necessary. The duo experiment, but never lose focus — maybe that’s just a side effect of their Yin and Yang relationship, Dre being the head-in-the-clouds creative and Big the frugal businessman.

The former tends to get the lion’s share of the praise, but OutKast was always a marriage of equals: their music remains the product of two brilliant minds working in sync in a way that calls to mind the greats: Lennon and McCartney, Strummer and Jones, Q-Tip and Phife Dawg.

Aquemini was the first southern hip hop record to get a five mics rating in The Source. In the nineties, the question on everyone’s mind was, east or west? The correct answer was Georgia, and OutKast were more than happy to let everyone know.

Word on the Street: Rob Ford

By

EIC

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November 12, 2013

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Clan drop three in a row

By

EIC

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November 12, 2013

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The SFU women’s volleyball team has had a rough go over the past two weeks losing their last three consecutive matches, dropping to 4–8 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) play. However, their next win, should they find it this season, would mark their highest single-season win total since joining the conference in 2010.

SFU’s inaugural National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) season in 2010 saw its volleyball team beat four conference competitors, and the past few years have seen even fewer wins, so this year’s squad has a chance to make history in the six remaining games of the 2013 campaign.

Two losses on the road did not help as the Clan fell 0–3 to Northwest Nazarene and 1–3 to Central Washington on a southbound road trip.

The ladies opened slow in the first set against NNU as a pressing Crusaders offence made passing difficult for the Clan’s defence, and an 11–4 run for the home side hindered the SFU’s attack. After dropping the first set 25–10, the women opened the second with more intensity, falling behind twice but tying the score at 10 and 15.

Unfortunately, the ladies couldn’t hold on to what momentum they had and dropped the second and third sets by scores of 25–17, losing to the third-place team in the conference for the second time this season. Junior Kelsey Robinson had seven kills on the night while setters Tamara Nipp and Brooklyn Gould-Bradbury each had ten assists.

In the second match of the weekend, the Clan showed better teamwork and pressure as they worked the CWU Wildcats, but ultimately lost in four sets.

After dropping the first 25–21, they won the second set with a nail-biter score of 26–24, pressing the home side relentlessly for the win. Difficulties converting on offence held the Clan back in the final two sets, though, as they would drop them 25–13 and 25–20 with the loss bringing their conference record to 4–8.

Robinson again led the team in kills with 19 on the night while freshman Devon May added 11 of her own. Alanna Chan had 28 digs in the loss while setters Gould-Bradbury and Nipp added 33 and 10 assists respectively.

With the loss the Clan have dropped to an even overall record of 9–9 (including non-conference play) and will be looking for their record breaking win in the final six matches of the 2013 season.

With no players graduating from this year’s squad, this season will likely be considered one of development. If they cannot convert on the remainder of the season, the experience gained in 2013 will be a great advantage for next year, as the team will return all of its starters for another year of improvement and growth in 2014 and beyond.

SFU wrestling start strong

By

EIC

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November 12, 2013

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As most of Clan team’s fall campaigns nears a close, the wrestling teams are just beginning their 2013-14 seasons, which run from early November until late March, with the men’s team being the final winter squad to begin competition for SFU.

Kicking off the season with a bang, the men’s and women’s teams hosted the SFU International tournament on Burnaby Mountain, an annual tournament featuring high-level competitors from across the USA and Canada. Clan athletes had the chance to wrestle many older athletes with international experience at the meet, as they hosted club and collegiate teams alike, starting their 2013-14 seasons with some tough competition.

“The SFU International is always great and brings excellent competition to our athletes,” said senior Justina DiStasio, who placed second in her weight class on the women’s side. “We have freshmen wrestling very experienced adults with years of international and collegiate competition under their belts which is a great learning experience for our teams as they develop.”

On the men’s side, Arjun Gill of Surrey, BC was victorious at 96-kg as he went undefeated in his first tournament of the year, wrestling in the open category. The tournament featured matches in both open and college weights, as Morgan Smith won the college 78-kg weight class and Ryan Yewchin won his match at the college weight of 100-kg. The junior wrestled eight matches in three different weight classes over the weekend placing second at 90-kg and fourth at 96-kg behind his teammate, Gill.

At 55-kg Sukhan Chahal and Skylor Davis placed second and third for the Clan while Dhillon Hume and Cody Coombes both had third place finishes at 61-kg and 78-kg respectively, resulting in many top finishes for the Clan in their first time hitting the mats in 2013.

The Clan women also had strong showings, wrestling in their third tournament of the season and first non-dual of 2013. Jenna McLatchy was the Clan’s sole victor on the weekend as the senior won the college weight of 82-kg besting the other five girls in the field. Fellow seniors Justina DiStasio and Nikkie Brar both had second place finishes in the open competitions 72-kg and 51-kg respectively. DiStasio suffered her first loss of the season after winning ten matches straight for the Clan side.

“It’s tough losing, but it helps you see where you need to improve,” explained the Burnaby native. “Even at our dual in Oklahoma where we struggled in the final a couple weekends ago; the losses showed us what we need to improve on for the remainder of the season to be just as successful as last year.”

The 2012-13 Clan women were Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association (WCWA) champions last season in both the team competition and dual championship and, despite losing four winning seniors from that campaign, the new talent in 2013-14 will be looking to equal or better those results.

Freshman Mallory Velte placed third out of 11 competitors at 59-kg at the SFU International, while Laura Anderson and Monika Podgorski had sixth place finishes at 55-kg and 67-kg to round out the Clan contingent.

Meanwhile, across the continent, Clan senior and internationally recognized American wrestler Helen Maroulis won her exhibition match against Venezuela’s Marcia Andrades, an opening match to the National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star Classic. The WCWA champion and member of Team USA earned an 8–0 victory winning the match in a technical fall with 15 seconds remaining in the first period. She will rejoin the Clan’s schedule moving forward.

With winning results this early in the season, both Clan team’s will be fighting all winter long for wrestling supremacy as the women look to repeat as double national champions. The men will look to improve on their 2013 NCAA campaign which saw two wrestlers compete at their first ever NCAA Division II championships and junior Skylor Davis place third, earning All-American honours. Davis will look for another chance to compete at the championships, and with hard work and determination, the Clan will be able to send a larger contingent to the 2014 championships.

University Briefs

By

EIC

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November 12, 2013

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UBC student society refuses support for sexual assault counselling

UBC Commerce undergraduate members voted against providing $200,000 to expand sexual assault counselling and education for students last week. The society, which was at the centre of a pro-rape frosh chant earlier this semester, had already contributed $50,000 to the cause and pledged to contribute the remaining $200,000 after it was approved by a referendum. However, 70 per cent of members who participated voted not to contribute the remaining amount.

Robert Helsley, dean of the Sauder School of Business, told reporters on Monday that he was “deeply disappointed” to hear of the voting results. “I’m aware this will be very disappointing to our wider community,” said Helsley. “I’m not prepared to speculate on why the students chose not to support the referendum.”

With files from The Ubyssey

Making robots feel to heal patients

University of Saskatchewan professor Chris Zhang is building emotionally-savvy robots to help rehabilitate patients by analyzing them at home and directing them towards self-rehabilitation. The goal of the project is to design robots that can analyze human emotion, mimic, and respond so as to make the patient feel comfortable. This technology would be especially useful for those who live farther away from hospitals or who have mobility issues in getting to a hospital.

For Zhang, this technology is growing in importance as the advent of automation reduces the need for some human-to-human interaction. “This type of technology will be used in health care and medicine in the next 20 years,” Zhang told The Sheaf. “It is natural that the human will take emotion into account. Therefore, why should the machine be excluded from this emotional effect in cognition.”

With files from The Sheaf

Ryerson’s men’s hockey team suspended for drinking

Ryerson University has suspended its men’s hockey team after the student athletes were drinking on a trip to New Jersey in mid-October. The students violated the Ryerson student-athlete handbook, which stipulates that alcohol is prohibited on all road trips.

Director of athletics Ivan Joseph told The Eyeopener, “Long story short, they were in the hotel room, they were drinking alcohol, we did an orientation, they signed the paper, it’s not permitted, it’s not acceptable behaviour.”

As punishment, the team is facing a seven-day suspension, during which they will forfeit two games. The team is scheduled to return to play on Nov. 15. According Joseph, head coach Graham Wise has also been suspended for four games. Part-time assistant coach Lawrence Smith is also no longer with the team; however reasons for his departure have not been provided.

With files from The Eyeopener

Building families key to building self-esteem

By

EIC

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November 11, 2013

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More than 20 years ago, Naomi Wolf wrote The Beauty Myth, arguing that the main systemic barrier that women face today are the shackles of an unattainable and rigid idea of beauty, which keeps them oppressed — an “Iron Maiden,” perfect, thin, pretty. Today, in 2013, young girls are literally asking the internet whether or not they fit this ideal.

This recent horrifying trend sees pre-teen and teenaged girls, between nine and 14 years-old, taking to Youtube to ask strangers whether they’re “pretty or ugly.” I don’t think I have to tell you that these young girls’ videos are met with disgusting comments, either of a graphically sexual nature or that insult them in ways I could never imagine speaking to a stranger.

This isn’t an isolated trend nor is the internet the only medium through which this attitude is being perpetrated. I guarantee that most women have experienced an extension of this — in fact, I remember being as young as 11 when I first started having strange men comment on my appearance.

The internet acts as a platform making it frighteningly easy to anonymously communicate these attitudes — and frighteningly difficult for girls to get away from uncomfortable situations. The medium may be changing, but the problem remains the same: girls are learning very early on that their looks dictate their worth, and that they have no control over this. Rather, it is up to others to judge whether they’re “pretty” or “ugly,” and thus what they can contribute to society.

This situation cannot be solved by simply telling a girl that she’s beautiful or reminding her that, “pretty” or not, it’s her other qualities that will bring her happiness and success. This has been building and it’s only getting worse with the blurring of the line between public and private.

These ideas of “beauty,” of self-esteem, of external recognition are so embedded in our society, in our media, in our communication that I can’t fathom a pragmatic solution. But something needs to change in the environment that girls are growing up in.

I don’t want a world where my little sister and my future children are learning to measure their self-worth based on their looks, in which eating disorders seem like the only way to attain “beauty,” where 11 year olds are put into situations where they are desperately wondering if they’re worthy of praise from strangers hidden behind computer screens and usernames.

Supportive families is one major way to tackle this and other problems, something that is, unfortunately, not happening enough. We need more programs educating parents; parents need to know if their kids are involved in this kind of behaviour and how to address it. Many families also need to be supported with more financial benefits. Not enough money means that the parent(s) or caregiver(s) have to work more, meaning less opportunity to build and strengthen relationships of dialogue, trust, and support with their children.

Thanks for Family Day, Christy, but families are going to need more than one day a year. To mitigate the effects of what kids are exposed to, one needs a familial support system that, not only knows what’s going on in a kid’s life, but that has also built them up from infancy to know their worth and to know it’s impossible to find in the anonymous void of the internet.

We can’t stop the opposite from happening, but we can encourage families to teach their kids how to safely and critically approach the messages being thrown at them daily.

Arctic melt-down

By

EIC

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November 11, 2013

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On No. 1, 28 Greenpeace activists and two journalists were imprisoned in Russia. The “Arctic 30,” as many call them, were documenting and campaigning for a global sanctuary to protect our polar ice cap against Arctic oil drilling. The group — two of whom are Canadian — peacefully protested the Gazprom’s Prirazlomnaya platform, the world’s first offshore Arctic oil platform.

The group was first detained on Sept. 18, on charges hugely disproportionate to their actions. At first they were tried for piracy, but this was later changed to hooliganism — action that could result in imprisonment for seven years.

The Arctic is an incredibly volatile place to drill for oil, due to its ever-shifting, poorly understood, and remote nature. If there is a spill, the likelihood of a proper cleanup is slim to none. Surrounded by oil disasters every day, is this worth the risk? We are travelling to the ends of the earth and destroying our already threatened ecosystems in the name of profit.

Needless to say, the oil that companies like Gazprom are looking to extract is the very reason that the pristine Arctic is at risk of drilling in the first place. It reflects a twisted and dark cycle of climate change and fossil-fuel addiction. The peaceful activists were held at gunpoint, sprayed with water in an Arctic environment, and are still being detained in Russia on disproportionate charges labelling them as dangerous and violent, all in response to peaceful protesting.

If we are capable of destroying this planet, we are capable of redesigning our energy reliance.

As oil and state become as coupled as salt and pepper, we risk the very foundations of democracy. Environmental justice is possible, but it is frowned upon. Unable to create change from within institutions of control, creative activism is necessary to draw attention to the peril our planet and our species are now facing.

I have never felt more fearful than when talking to friends and family about this, and hearing nothing but doubt and reservation about our ability to make the changes necessary for our children to live on this planet. If we are capable of destroying this planet, we are sure as hell capable of redesigning our energy reliance.

The notions of change begin and end at our ability to question where the power within our society is being held. Demanding transparency and radical change with our government is not a choice. I am paying Stephen Harper’s bills through my tax dollars — and today I am paying him to demand the release of the “Arctic 30” from illegal detainment. I am demanding for a shift away from oil and gas subsidies, and shaking the status-quo. We deserve better. The “Arctic 30” deserve freedom.

Stewing in public apathy, I am blown away by the idea that Canada will not fight for two of its own citizens to be released in the face of injustice. As the tar sands grow, and Canada reaches a fever-pitch of carbon emissions and human rights violations citizens have to wake from their stupor. We have an obligation to our loved ones and our future children to demand a green and peaceful world — a demand that starts with releasing the “Arctic 30” from Russian jail. We are accountable for the actions of our government, and we must hold our government accountable to us.

Where is justice? It is starting to look like it will just be us.