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Board Shorts

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Board Shorts
SFU Hackspace Project

The Board of Directors discussed a potential Hackspace Project that would culminate in the creation of a hackspace at SFU Burnaby. A hackspace is a workspace where people with common interests, often in technology and digital or electronic art, can come to use tools that they would otherwise be unable to afford or have access to, such as 3D printers.

Currently, there is a Vancouver Hackspace on West Hastings St and space available at SFU Surrey for bookings through IATSU; however the SFSS feels that a Burnaby hackspace would encourage community building at the campus and encourage students from all SFU locations to collaborate. In addition, the space would be useful for engineering students who need specific equipment to complete academic assignments or projects for competitions.

Financial Literacy Workshops

The Advocacy Committee is conducting Financial Literacy Workshops this summer, to be expanded in the fall, as part of a pilot project with Financial Literacy Council. The original purpose of the council was “to help students understand financial basics and to teach them the financial life skills and the discipline necessary to pay off debts and begin saving money.” The Workshops echo these principles, educating students about student loans, savings, taxes, and other financial matters.

The Workshops will be taking place July 23 and 24 from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 3:00 p.m., respectively, in Robert C. Brown Hall at SFU Burnaby. Participants are required to pre-register for the 30 spots available for each session. In addition to the free course and refreshments, the participants are eligible for a free one-on-one consultation with a financial professional.

AMA officially recognizes obesity as a disease

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EIC
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WEB-Obesity-Mark Burnham

The American Medical Association (AMA), the largest association of medical doctors in the United States, has recently voted in favour of recognizing obesity as “a disease state with multiple pathophysiological aspects.”

The World Health Organization, Food and Drug Administration and Internal Revenue Agency have all previously categorized obesity as a disease, a fact cited by the AMA in their decision. The association also cited “an overabundance of clinical evidence to identify obesity as a multi-metabolic and hormonal disease state,” according to a recent resolution.

“The suggestion that obesity is not a disease but rather a consequence of a chosen lifestyle . . . is equivalent to suggesting that lung cancer is not a disease because it was brought about by individual choice to smoke cigarettes,” the resolution continued.

The World Health Organization defines obesity as resulting from a person’s Body Mass Index (BMI)  — a calculation in which a person’s weight in kilograms is divided by their height in meters — being greater than or equal to 30. According to Statistics Canada, in 2010, 19 per cent of males and 21 per cent of females aged 20 to 39 were classified as obese. In a 2007 study by Forbes magazine, Canada was ranked the 35th “fattest country,” with 61.1 per cent of Canadians at an unhealthy weight.

Obesity has also been proven to increase the chances of contracting other diseases, such as type two diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancer. Dementia, sleep apnea and depression have also been linked with obesity.

“I definitely agree it should be considered a disease,” said Diana Bedoya, a professor in SFU’s Kinesiology department who also runs a website that promotes weight loss and positive self-image. “It’s kind of surprising it’s taken so long.”

According to Dr. Bedoya, though the decision has no legal consequences, it will have important reverberations in the medical community. “I think it’ll change the way people look at [obesity], and maybe give it a bit more attention that it deserves. And maybe more resources will finally go into prevention and potentially treatment for it as well.”

However, not all reactions to the resolution have been positive. In a recent article for The Globe and Mail, Andrew Ryan said the decision “could lead to more reliance on expensive drugs and surgery rather than people affecting lifestyle changes. Why opt for fruit and vegetables and taking long walks when there’s lap band surgery and new diet drugs?”

Bedoya is resistant to consider obesity as purely the result of poor eating habits and lack of physical activity. “It’s a very complex disorder,” she said. “There are still doctors out there who think that’s it’s just an individual problem and that people should just learn to eat less and exercise more. But it’s way more complex than that.”

The Canadian Medical Association, Canada’s equivalent medical organization, has yet to formally recognize obesity as a disease. However, Bedoya is confident that the AMA’s decision will inspire debate: “It’ll at least spawn a discussion at the next meeting, that’s for sure.”

Notes from this month’s Board of Governors meeting

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EIC
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WEB-BoG-Joe Gratz-Flickr

Sustainability Strategic Plan 2013-2016

The Board approved the Sustainability Strategic Plan, which will work to support social, economic, and ecological sustainability at the University and in the community.

The Plan expresses SFU’s recognition that our society cannot continue “business as usual,” and states, “SFU is an evidence-based institution and the science is abundantly clear: human-caused climate change is real and evidence of environmental degradation is widespread and obvious.”

The Plan will encourage the university to apply a “sustainability lens” to all aspects of the university, and its goals include creating enhanced opportunities for student, staff, and community involvement in sustainability operations as well as making sustainability a key research priority.

New bus exchange at SFU Surrey

The plans to create a new bus exchange at SFU Surrey are in the option analysis stage; negotiations are currently underway with adjacent property owners for the possible acquisition of additional property. The planning study — conducted with SFU, Translink and the City of Surrey — should be completed by the end of June.

Parking

In the hopes of relieving the anxiety caused by the loss of parking stalls on the Burnaby campus this summer due to the UniverCity expansion, a new Parking Plan is being prepared for the Fall semester. 

The Plan will include reduced prices for ‘indoor’ parking with a special reference to Discovery Park, which is located below G Lot. ‘Outdoor’ parking will be priced higher in an attempt to discourage overuse of lots like E, which is near a busy transit location

The Sustainable Mobility Advisory Committee is hoping that “pricing will alter behavior,” encouraging students and staff to use parking spots further away from campus in return for a lower expense.

The Committee has stressed the importance of ensuring that all parking lots and stalls get maximum use, discussing the possible elimination of reserved stalls. “We are confident that there will be enough spots, provided they are used properly,” spoke Dr Pat Hibbitts, VP Finance & Administration.

Less thefts

Program & Policy Development recently followed up on the effectiveness of SFU Burnaby’s “Leave it, Lose it” theft prevention campaign. At the event debrief, PPD announced that Campus Security experienced a decline of 30 per cent in reports of theft between April 2012 and April 2013.

More professionals in the classroom

In the most recent round of bargaining with the Faculty Association, the University agreed to the creation of the new rank of Teaching Professor and the expansion of the existing category of Clinical Faculty to encompass a broader range of practitioner faculty.

The new system will allow Associate Professors and Senior Lecturers to be promoted into the tenured rank of Teaching Professor. This rank will be reserved for exceptional staff whose scholarship related to teaching and learning has attained national or international recognition.

In the past, Clinical Faculty — professionals (including researchers) from agencies outside of the University — have been limited to health care and health science specialists, but the category will now be expanded to include practitioners in other fields such as teaching and business.

SuperFunUnivesity! #2

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EIC
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superfun2

Research Roundup

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EIC
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injections [616]

Insite leads to fewer ODs, lower HIV rates

A prominent figure of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES), Insite is the first and only legal supervised injection site for drug users in North America, providing drug users with clean syringes, healthcare professionals to supervise, immunisation, and recovery opportunities. The site has been a constant hotbed of discussion, protest, and research on drug use, prevention, and recovery.

For SFU criminology PhD candidate Ehsan Jozaghi, Insite was the topic for his masters thesis, and will be the upcoming topic for his PhD. Jozaghi’s master’s thesis examined how Insite is transforming cultural drug use in the Downtown Eastside, and how the services that this site provides have had such a positive impact on its clients.

Jozaghi found that Insite helped lower the rates of HIV in the Downtown Eastside, and that fewer drug overdoses were also taking place after Insite’s construction. The wailing of ambulance sirens is a noise that is beginning to lose some popularity in this vicinity, and not as many drug addicts can be seen populating the alleyways.

The research conducted by Jozaghi can be seen in publications such as International Journal of Drug Policy, and Canadian Graduate Journal of Sociology and Criminology.

Jozaghi explains how what stood out to him most was how a relatively small site like Insite can have such a tremendous impact on the community of the DTES, a neighbourhood that is home to roughly five thousand drug users. Facilities like Insite lower the spread of life-threatening diseases like HIV, and the services that it provides have also proven to be very cost-effective, which is why Jozaghi believes that “at least three more” Insites need to be set up in the Downtown Eastside.

Speaking to why Canada’s federal government is opposed to the services Insite provides. Jozaghi speculated this is because of the Bush administration’s war on drugs, a war that Stephen Harper has mimicked and applied to Canada and its laws.

Jozaghi believes that Harper and his Conservative government see Insite “as a criminal justice issue, and not as a health care issue,” creating an “ideological warfare” that overshadows the positive impact that places like Insite can have on communities.

For his PhD, Jozaghi will look at the theory of planned behavior, and how drug users in the DTES have different opinions towards Insite when compared to other drug users in BC.

 

WEB-Research Roundup Stanley Cup-Nicky Tu-Flickr

Making criminals of Stanley Cup rioters the wrong approach

For many Vancouverites, the riots which occurred after the Canucks lost to the Bruins in game seven of the Stanley Cup finals is a touchy subject.

Long after the fires were quelled and store windows repaired, citizens were reminded of the riots on a daily basis as they were asked to turn their friends-made-rioters in to the police so that they could be properly punished. However, one SFU M.A. student’s thesis is challenging the city’s response to such violence, calling it cumbersome, slow, and incredibly costly.

“I was actually inspired to research this topic shortly after the London riots in the UK took place, the same year as the Vancouver Stanley cup riot,” said Tania Arvanitidis, an SFU M.A. student.

“The less serious young offenders were being diverted to restorative justice programs because there were not enough resources in the justice system to sentence them all formally, and because this provided better results for both offenders and victims in a lot of cases . . . It made me wonder why we weren’t adopting a similar approach, incorporating restorative alternatives and diversionary options.”

She believes that such the restorative justice process — where perpetrators are given the opportunity to meet and make reparations with their victims — would have been amply suited to the riots, as many of those arrested were young, first time offenders who wanted to make up for what they did.

Although Arvanitidis feels that restorative justice is the best alternative, that does not mean that the system is problem-free.

“There are downsides to restorative justice, too, the biggest probably being that the process must be voluntary,” spoke Arvanitidis. “Victims of crime suffer greatly, and meeting with an offender when they are not ready to, or meeting with an offender who does not want to take responsibility or apologize, can cause even more pain and trauma to the victim than they have already experienced.”

“I’m not arguing that traditional options have no purpose, nor that all rioters would be suitable for a restorative process, but that many would surely benefit if the option was available to them,” she concluded.

A Comic’s Comic #3

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EIC
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comics3_colour

Peak Week July 1 – 6

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Peak Web
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Eats

If you’re looking for some good BBQ this summer, look no further. Buck Stop recently opened up in the West End on Denman St., and it promises to satisfy all your smoky meat cravings. The “classic barbecue and small plate saloon” prepares everything in house and sources their ingredients locally. The interior is lined with dark wooden bars and tables, and feels very much like you’ve just stepped into the south. Try their pulled pork, served on a portuguese bun with house-made pickles, or test out their hush puppies, a dish consisting of fried cornbread, cheddar fritter and honey butter. Yum.

Beats

One part style, one part movement: Vancouver Cycle Chic is hosting their second annual Cycle Chic Social on July 5, a night of fashion, lifestyle, art, food, and music. The evening is a celebration of the cycle culture in Vancouver, combining a love for bikes, fashion, and the lifestyle surrounding it. The evening will feature a fashion show, local DJs Chapel Sound, City of Glass, #findpeter and BIKES, as well as food trucks, dance floors, and an art installation by Colin Caulfield. There’s plenty to keep anyone satisfied and entertained, plus there will be prizes and giveaways all night. Check out vancouvercyclechic.ca for details.

Theats

The Indian Summer Festival returns this week, running July 4 to 13. The festival features music, literature, film, business, politics, and food, bridging the cultural gap between Vancouver and the Indian subcontinent. This year’s highlights include musical group Rajasthan Josh, with a blend of percussion and strings for traditional renditions as well as collaborative pieces with some well-known Vancouver artists. The Lit and Sound Cabaret features music from Mohamed Assani, Rup Sidhu and Curtis Andrews, and words by Jillian Christmas, Jeet Thayil, Zaccheus Jackson and Anoushka Ratnarajah.

Elites

The Chinatown Experiment, a storefront that hosts pop-up shops for Vancouver entrepreneurs and artists, will be hosting the Laser Cutter Cafe now until August 6. What is a laser cutter cafe, you ask? A laser cutter is a computer controlled laser that cuts and etches precise patterns into many different materials; the cafe part means they will also be offering you tea while they teach you how to use a laser cutter. These tools have been used to make postcards, games, jewelry, and nearly anything else you can imagine. Check out lasercuttercafe.com for more details and pricing.

Treats

A couple of the folks behind McLeod Books have come together to form The Paper Hound, a newly opened used bookstore on Pender. Owned by Kim Koch and Rod Clarke, the bookstore deals mainly in used and rare books, with a selection of new titles from local publishers like Arsenal Pulp Press. The charming shop has wood floors, brick walls, and racks of old bookmarks, postcards and letters, along with the impressive collection of literature. It’s certainly a nice and welcome addition to a city that is used to removing culture rather than fostering it.

Jay Arner and the self

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Peak Web
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I first came across Jay Arner’s music through last summer’s excellent Bad Friend / Black Horse 7 inch record. The cover featured Arner off to the side of a symmetrical group shot featuring a look-alike wearing a collared shirt and two Gibson-SG-wielding female guitarists. For his new record, Jay Arner is front and centre, but he’s still staring off into space. It’s part of an emotional whiteout brought about by bad parties, underemployment, and existential burnout.

When not playing in bands, Jay Arner has recorded an impressive array of albums at Burnaby’s Hive Studios, and on his own with mobile gear. For this record, Arner played and recorded all of the instruments that appear on the album.

Released on Vancouver’s own Mint Records, Arner’s debut full-length follows the thread of label-mates The New Pornographers’ Hive-recorded early work, and the bedroom pop produced by decades of Brian Wilson acolytes.

The addition of synthesizers give the work a bit of an 80s New Order touch, but the album still feels like a kaleidoscopic journey through pop history uninterrupted by any one element. I met with Arner at his South Granville apartment to discuss the record.

 

The Peak: I really liked the cover for this record. What can you tell me about it?

Jay Arner: [laughs] Well we’ve got a very consistent band aesthetic right now [between the 7” and the full length]. We’ll probably ruin it sooner or later. I went to my label, Mint, last week when they finally got the records in, and it was a little terrifying.

 

The Peak: It seems like that kind of “big face” thing is something you saw more on records from the 70s when there wasn’t a whole lot of press or anything, so you didn’t even know what they looked like.

J: James Taylor.

 

The Peak: Yeah, exactly.

J: Well I kind of thought: what else are you going to put on the cover of a record called Jay Arner? I just went with that one idea and kept it very consistent thematically. If I’m the only person on the record, I’m gonna also be on the physical record.

 

The Peak: Who took the photos?

J: My friend Michelle. She’s a food photographer normally. I think I was acting a little bit like food, and maybe that’s why it worked.

 

The Peak: So here we are on South Granville, which you wrote a song about.

J: Yup. I was kind of homeless and housesitting at a couple of different places. This is actually one of the places I was housesitting at, and Dave [Prowse, of Japandroids]’s place was the other. I lived at Dave’s for a while when he was on tour. So that song is kind of a few different things compressed. I did “get off the bus at the wrong stop,” but that was near Dave’s place. But here I did, yes, look for laundry change. True story.

 

The Peak: You mentioned at your Music Waste show that some “crazy internet people,” Fred and Sharon, were going to make your next video for “Out to Lunch”.

J: Yeah, they’re like a retired or semi-retired couple and they make videos. I think they’re from Kelowna. Shena at Mint Records [Arner’s publicist] knows them, because she’s from around there and they run a bakery or something. They just make these insane videos with computer animation. They’re just really unintentionally grotesque.

I don’t know what technology they’re using, but it looks like computer animation from 1989, and the people in them are really distorted in almost grotesque ways. It’s kind of like outsider art or something but it’s really cool. Shena’s dream has been to get one of her bands to work with Fred and Sharon, and we were the first people to say yes. They’re pretty amazing.

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The Peak: Does the music you’re creating at all aspire to be pop?

J: I like making stuff sound really fucked up. I’ve always felt like the better a song is, the more it can stand up to just sounding like a mess. My early inspirations were all the lo-fi bands. They had awesome songs, and it doesn’t even occur to you that it sounds like shit!

I really liked the idea of catchy pop songs that were really abrasive, and the idea of making people listen to stuff that’s really abrasive and having them not even notice it because you have a strong song. I guess I try and make stuff sound not as pop, but the songs are inherently pop songs.

 

The Peak: What other kind of music inspires you?

J: I listen to a lot of David Bowie. He’s probably my all-time favourite artist, especially his late 70s stuff. I’m actually reading a biography of him right now. It’s crazy. Going from Ziggy Stardust to Station to Station and Low happened within 5 years. I guess he had a massive drug problem too.

Prog rock is becoming a bit of an inspiration as well. King Crimson, and stuff like that. Just like really pompous prog rock. All the mellotron stuff: so good, man.

 

The Peak: Would all the prog rock ever inspire you to transform into a synth wizard?

J: My girlfriend and I have been getting into this guy named Kebu. He’s like this nerd from Europe, and he does the prog-rock keyboard thing. He makes ridiculous music. It’s very entertaining, though. The music is very average, but it’s just hilarious because of the amount of work he puts into it.

It’s also just nice to listen to all the keyboards. He’s so into it, but his audience is empty chairs. He’s got quite the synth collection. It’s like the culmination to all the Youtube synthesizer videos. I wanted to try and infiltrate that culture.

I had this acid house persona all planned out, but I don’t have a TB-303 [gurgly Roland bass synthesizer] so I can’t really do it. I was going to be called Udonna which is a combination of udon noodles and Madonna. But when Kebu exists though, why try? He’s got me beat.

Paula Deen denies being racist: “Some of my best recipes are fried chicken!”

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EIC
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Celebrity chef Paula Deen, who has recently found herself in some controversy after alleged racist behaviour against African-Americans, has come out denying all allegations.

Deen said that she couldn’t be racist as she could name several ‘black dishes’ that she had cooked, some of which she counted amongst her favorite recipes.

Included in her list of foods she loved to make were ‘fried chicken, chitlins, cornbread, black-eyed peas, hushpuppies, okra, watermelon chicken, watermelon ice-cream and watermelon fried chicken.’

“I can’t be racist, I make all the food that those people like! They eat unhealthy shit, right?” Deen said, probably hurting her case more than anything.

Critics pan Kanye West’s new baby

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EIC
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Kanye West dropped his first ever child over a week ago just a day before releasing his sixth solo studio album, and although Yeezus has fared well with critics, North West has received less than stellar reviews.

USA Today gave the baby two out of four stars, while Rolling Stones shelled out three out of 10 and Entertainment Weekly gave the little girl a “C-” based solely on her ‘faux-clever first name.’

Although West was disappointed by the response, he’s vowed not to listen to the haters and will reportedly still choose to love his daughter.

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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