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My Bloody Valentine returns

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the peak my bloody valentine

Highly anticipated m b v suggested there’s more to come

By Max Hill

m b v, My Bloody Valentine’s first full-length release in 22 years, might never escape the gargantuan shadow cast by its enduring, influential predecessor, Loveless. Naturally, it’s impossible to review the former without mentioning the latter: countless die-hard shoegazers, PBR drinkers and record store junkies have spent decades waxing poetic over the seemingly distant possibility of Kevin Shields and company releasing an album that could match the effortless brilliance of the band’s 1991 magnum opus.

Finally, that day has come, and although m b v doesn’t quite live up to the spectacular heights of Loveless, it is a terrific record, one that pays its respects to the bare bones of the band’s previous catalogue
while pushing the boundaries of their sound into new, uncharted territory.

The album opens with “She Found Now”, a hazy makeout-mixtape ballad that coos softly from behind a curtain of waxy, nostalgic guitars. The band’s sound is immediately recognizable; Shields trusts that m b v already has its audience, and he doesn’t waste a second, immersing listeners in the dreamy soundscapes My Bloody Valentine are so known and loved for. “Only Tomorrow” and “Who Sees You” sound like Loveless tracks from the cutting room floor in the best possible sense, and the warm familiarity of co- vocalist Bilinda Butcher’s whispered alto should comfort fans weary that the band might have lost the ethereal quality which has kept their catalogue in constant rotation.

“Is This and Yes” and “If I Am” display the band’s forays into new ground: the former being an atmospheric mood piece heavily inspired by ambient and electronica, and the latter groovy and full of misplaced longing and lust. “New You”, the closest thing on the album to a potential single, reminds us of Shields’ ability to weave an intoxicating melody through a patchwork of blurred synths.

The album’s standout track, “In Another Way,” is unlike anything My Bloody Valentine has ever done: rather than openended and sprawling, the track is heavy, energetic and contained. This sound is further explored in “Nothing Is,” which is more like a military march than a pop song.

“Wonder 2”, the album’s closer, collapses in on itself in a remarkably messy, self-destructive fashion, as Shield’s experimental tendencies lead to a darker and rawer sound than any track found on 1989’s Isn’t Anything.

m b v’s gradual musical slope from the warmly familiar to the breathtakingly new showcase a band remarkably unfazed by the unbelievable hype surrounding their often-promised but rarely-believed reunion. Shields manages to both satisfy old fans and court new ones, all while reminding the musically inclined why we fell for him in the first place. While m b v only occasionally reaches the heights at which 1991’s Loveless soars unabashedly, it still feels worth the wait, not only because it proves that My Bloody Valentine are still capable of making beautiful,
meaningful art, but also because it suggests that they’re likely to make even more, and in ways we have yet to see.

SFU splits road games

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WEB-lacrosse-Rylee Spivak

SFU lacrosse bounces back with win, after close loss on the road

By Bryan Scott
Photos by Rylee Spivak

The 22nd-ranked Simon Fraser’s men’s lacrosse team hit the road last week to battle their Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League rivals, the seventh-ranked University of Oregon Ducks, and then traveled further south to face the 25th-ranked Chico State Wildcats.

SFU and Oregon have been bitter rivals for many years. In fact, in the 16 PNCLL championships that have happened since 1997, SFU has won eight and UO has won seven. Needless to say, this game was a barn-burner.

Despite a slow, nervous start for both teams, six goals were scored in the opening frame. Oregon struck first when attackman Matt Johnson buried the ball past SFU goaltender Darren Zwack. Luckily, SFU’s Andrew Branting scored to tie the game with an outside rip shortly after.

After Oregon scored to take the lead, 2–1, Johnson scored his second of the game to double the Duck’s lead. SFU attackman Colton Dow cut the lead to one when he dunked a pass from Sam Clare on the crease. But before the quarter had run out, Johnson completed his hat-trick, and the Clan trailed 4–2.

The second quarter pace was slower than the first. Zwack managed to keep all but two balls out of the net, but Clare was the only one to score for SFU, and they hit the locker rooms down by three. SFU flew out of the locker room with a purpose, they looked more together and had a calm approach to their task. Dow got them on the board early, only to have Oregon respond with one of their own, keeping the lead at three, 7–4.

They didn’t give up, and were rewarded with back-to-back goals. First, Branting scored his second of the game, and then Brendan Farell scored to cut the lead to just one, meaning that SFU trailed by only one heading into the final 15 minutes of the game.

Unfortunately, the Ducks found the back of the net first in the fourth quarter, restoring the two goal lead.

The hostility picked up when Ward Spencer took a pass from Eric Ransom, and made no mistake putting it past the Oregon goalie. The Ducks answered right back once again, but the Clan kept their heads up and refocused on the next draw. Oregon took an undisciplined flag, which allowed Ransom to take a feed from Spencer and launch a rocket through the goalie’s legs.

SFU won the next face-off and took over what would be the last possession of the game. However, the Duck’s defense was too stingy that night, and the Clan lost their first game of the season, 9–8. SFU needed to be more efficient with their shots, as they slung 48 shots towards the net, including a 31–12 advantage in the second half. Mark Hilker and Riley Wanzer held down the loose ball category for SFU picking up seven each. Next, the Clan headed to try and tame the Wildcats in front of their home fans. Once again, SFU allowed their opposition to score the first goal of the game. Dow tied the game before the end of the first quarter, and assisted on Ransom’s second quarter goal to give the Clan a 2–1 lead.

After Chico State tied the game at two, Dow made a great pass to Travis Hayes who buried it for another Clan lead. They held that lead until the buzzer sounded to end the first half.

The see-saw battle continued into the second half. The Wildcats tied the game at three, but SFU reclaimed the lead on Lyndon Knuttila’s first collegiate goal, which was assisted by Hayes. After Chico State tied the game for the third time, Clare took a pass from Branting and rifled a shot past the goaltender. His goal ended up being the winning one as the Clan defensive unit shut the door in the final quarter.

SFU added three more goals in the fourth to take their third win in seven days, 8–4 over the Wildcats. Zwack made nine saves in the effort, and was clutch when he needed to be. Dow and Clare led the team with three points each. With only four goals against, it ties the all-time record against ranked opponents, which was set last year against Illinois.

SFU’s head coach Brent Hoskins was satisfied with the road win. “This trip built a lot of character for us early in our season,” commented Hoskins after the game, “so it was important to grind one out versus Chico State.” He was impressed by his team’s ability to stick with it until the final buzzer. “Ultimately this was a great learning experience, and we felt like we grew a lot as a team over the course of tonight’s game,” he finished.
The Clan are 3–1 on the year, but have yet to play any opponent from their PNCLL north division.

SFU topples two GNAC rivals

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SFU maintains second place with two conference wins

By Bryan Scott

After an up-and-down week, SFU’s women’s basketball team was ready to get back to a bit of roll as the season heads down to the wire.

They had two important conference games. First on the road against the Montana State University Billings Yellowjackets, then they headed home to face the Central Washington University Wildcats. MSUB was not ready for the Clan to start the game and allowed SFU to take a 17–9 lead over the first 10 minutes. The Yellowjackets responded over the remainder of the half, but SFU still had a six-point lead at halftime. Once again, SFU dominated the first minutes of the half.

They opened up an 18-point lead, with help from a 17–5 run. The Yellowjackets tried to get back in the game, but it was too much to overcome, SFU took the game 61–55.

Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe was a dominating force, she scored 21 points and snagged
21 rebounds. Her double-double total for the season is putting Tim Hortons to shame. Erin Chambers knocked down 21 points of her own in the win. SFU started out their game against the Wildcats impressively, not allowing them to score
a point for almost five minutes. After falling down by nine points, CWU picked up their game a bit, and managed to cut the lead to only five by halftime, 31–26. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, SFU never gave up the lead.

The Clan kept up with them, despite being outscored 28–24 in the paint and 17–4 off the bench in the second half. In the end, SFU enjoyed a seven-point victory, 67–60.

Raincock-Ekunwe fell three assists short of a triple-double but provided her usual doubledouble with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Kristina Collins chipped
in 16 points and six assists, and Chelsea Reist had 15 points. These two important wins give the Clan some breathing room in the standings, as they now have two more conference wins than third place Northwest Nazarene. The latest win was also head coach Bruce Langford’s 299th collegiate win, bringing him very close to reaching a great milestone in his career.

Clan drop two more

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SFU continue to slump as season end fast approaches

By Bryan Scott

As basketball season is winding down, SFU’s men’s basketball team finished off their home schedule, and then shipped off to Alaska for a pair of games last week.

The first game of the week was also the final home game for the Clan. In honour of this, they celebrated senior players: Anto Olah, Matt Raivio and Tallon Milne before they took the court against the Saint Martin’s Saints. It took a few possessions from both teams to warm up and get the ball moving. After the Clan tied the game at a bucket apiece, SMU decided to go a bit of a run. They scored the next six points on their way to an eventual 10 point lead seven minutes into the game.

SFU was getting good opportunities around the rim but they had trouble finishing the play and getting the points. They were outscored 22–14 in the paint in the first half, and trailed 41–30 when the halftime buzzer sounded.

The Clan managed to cut the difference to eight over the first four minutes of the second half, but that is as close as they got. SFU was much better in the paint in the second half, and out-rebounded SMU, but it was the Saints who kept putting points on the board. The game ended 80–60 for SMU.

Olah did all he could in his final career home game scoring 19 points and contributed seven rebounds. Raivio was also solid, knocking down 10 points. Olah reflected on his time at school in a press release after the game, “I love it at SFU.”

The Clan headed north for their next battle, taking on the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves in Anchorage. They started the game with an 11–5 run, before the Seawolves eventually tied it at 13 a few minutes later.

AAU outplayed the Clan to finish the half with help from a 12–3 run to give them a 32–19 lead with just over five minutes to play in the first half. SFU could not gain enough traction and were behind 44–26 heading into the locker rooms, and left themselves a high mountain to climb in the second half if they wanted to get the win.

SFU worked hard in the second half but could only make up eight points on the Seawolves by the end of the game. At one point, they closed the gap to nine thanks to a 20–10 run, but it was not enough. Olah led the team once again with 20 points.

SFU can't find the win column

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Peak Web
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SFU lose in a shootout on the road, can’t rebound at home

By Andrew Jow

The Simon Fraser University Clan hockey team faced the Trinity Western University Spartans in a home-and-home series as the two clubs faced off for the last time this season. SFU had gotten the better of TWU in their last three matchups, but could not count on the last-place Spartans to go down without a fight.

The first game took place at TWU’s home rink, the Langley Events Centre. SFU took the lead early on a Brenden Silvester rocket, but TWU answered
50 seconds later on an easy tap in for Mattias Schmitt. The Clan’s Nick Sandor and Jono Ceci responded by scoring on two separate rushes. SFU
caught TWU’s defense out of position and made them pay. Spartan defenseman Jake Harcoff finished off a long first period with a goal for TWU. The goal was a result of some great pressure, which brought the home team within a goal after of the Clan after the first 20 minutes.

Trinity Western tied the game up and eventually took the lead one minute into the second, thanks to Schmitt and Matthew Ius. They capitalized off of a failed clearing attempt and a botched 2-on-2 by SFU’s defense. Things were soon tied when SFU defenseman Kale Wild jumped in on the rush and finished off a perfectly executed 3-on-1.

The TWU lead was restored on a late power play as Ius muscled home his second goal of the game. TWU carried much of play in the period as the Spartans proved they were not pushovers.

The Clan ran into some penalty trouble to begin the third, but two consecutive kills gave SFU the momentum. Trevor Milner tied the back-and-forth game as he deftly tipped in a Kale Wild point shot that sent the game into overtime tied 5–5.

SFU had the best chance in the extra frame as Christopher Hoe found Joey Pavone open in the high slot, but TWU goaltender Harry Fredeman turned Pavone’s wrister away. A shootout was needed to determine the victor.

Fredeman and SFU goaltender Evan Kurylo were solid, they turned away 11 out of 12 shooters. The lone scorer was TWU’s Chris Harano, which gave the Spartans the 6–5 victory. The second game between the two clubs took place
Saturday night at Bill Copeland Arena. SFU looked to bounce back strong after the tough loss in Langley.

Although SFU started strong, it was the visiting Spartans who scored first. SFU’s defensive zone meltdowns allowed TWU to score three unanswered goals credited to Cody Stephenson, Matt Chaput and Ius, who buried wide-open tap-ins at the goalmouth.

Ius’s marker was particularly frustrating for SFU, because he got credited for a Taylor Swaffield clearing attempt that hit goaltender Graham Gordon’s foot and trickled in. Captain Hoe finally put his team on the
board. He made no mistake of a great pass from Brenden Silvester.

In the first and second periods, Coach Mark Coletta changed his strategy from the night before. In the second game, SFU used the dump and chase rather than skating the puck out wide as they did the night before. Early in the second, the strategy worked as SFU set up down low, which put a lot of pressure on the Spartans’ defense.

But after 15 minutes of pressure, the Clan had nothing to show for their efforts. To make matters worse, TWU’s Stephenson found yet another loose puck in front of SFU’s net, and buried his second goal of the night. SFU’s Taylor Oak got one back, but SFU was down two heading into the third.
The final frame was TWU goaltender Harry Fredeman’s period. Two consecutive TWU penalties gave SFU an opportunity to tie this one up, but
Fredeman was not to be beaten, and TWU hung on for the 4–2 victory.

The Clan’s leading scorer, Ben Van Lare, and some key defensemen were not dressed for the series. SFU will need to put these two games behind them as first-place Selkirk College makes the trip to Burnaby next week for a showdown of the top two teams in the BCIHL.

GNAC success for Clan

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Peak Web
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SFU pulls off four titles on the track at conference championship

By Bryan Scott

Both the men’s and the women’s Simon Fraser track and field teams were in Nampa, Idaho last week to compete in the 2013 Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships.

As expected the women’s distance medley team consisting of Helen Crofts, Lindsey Butterworth, Michaela Kane, and Chantal Desch were spectacular. They demolished everyone else in the field and finished with a time of 11:47.86, beating the second-place Alaska Anchorage by nine seconds. They
are now ranked number two in the entire NCAA division II.

The women’s 4×400-metre relay team also won their event. The team is similar to the long distance medley, but Sarah Sawatzky ran instead of Butterworth. They broke their own meet record from 2011, with a time of 3:48.36. Butterworth was busy in her individual mile race; she was SFU’s
first individual champion of the weekend. She beat her 2012 championship time by nine seconds, with a time of 4:58.09.

Crofts was another member of the Clan that was able to repeat her championship , winning the 800-metre race after also winning it in the 2011 season. Her time was 2:12.29. Kane and Sawatzky finished second and fourth respectively in the same race.

Andrea Abrams was impressive in the 60-metre hurdles, finishing third in the event with a personal best time of 8.88. On the men’s side, Stuart Ellenwood had the best performance finishing the 400-metre in a time of 50.23. Cameron Proceviat ran his best indoor 800-metre and finished seventh overall.

In the field, Kim Neville- Rutherford came in fourth place in high jump with a jump of 1.61 metres, and Jade Richardson finished sixth in shot put. The only man in the field for SFU was Luca Molinari who placed ninth in the weight throw event with a toss of 14.01 metres. “This weekend was extremely successful for us, and we had a lot of athletes run personal
best times,” said Head Coach Brit Townsend in a press release after the championships. “That is all we can ask for from our athletes, and the coaches and I are very happy.”

Dear Doctor Bryce!

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Peak Web
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Is it okay to drink Palm Bay at times that are not during the day?

Sincerely,
Palm Bay Shame

Dear PBS,

You appended to your query a YouTube video of white people being assholes in a pool and rapping clumsily about how it’s fine to drink Palm Bay during the daytime, but not after 4 p.m. because that’s “gay.” If you feel these people are acceptable drinking role models — as opposed to Ernest Hemingway, Billie Holiday, or your “fun uncle” who drives a Camaro — then do whatever you want. Stick a 151-soaked tampon up your ass, for all I care.

But for those who are serious about drinking in the daytime, I offer the following guidance. The problem with drinks like Palm Bay is that their sugar content is similar to Coca-Cola or beer. Drinking a six-pack of these party pops before lunch will leave you crashing by midafternoon.
Not everyone who needs alcohol to face life’s incomprehensible cruelties can spend all day on a bench in the park. Some of us have an image
to maintain, pay cheques to earn or kids to look after. Liberal doses of water (one cup water per ounce hard bar) and coffee (as much as necessary) will keep you humming during the daylight hours. Carry antacids with you to fight the inevitable reflux that will develop as a result of this method.

Shots of hard bar are a traditional means of keeping your hands steady until happy hour. A bar veteran I once knew recommended stashing a fifth of Stoli in the freezer as a refreshing pre-breakfast cure for the shakes. Vodka is also famously scentless and easy to conceal, although it does not completely lack odour. Any hard liquor will do as long as you can keep it hidden from your boss, spouse, etc. Consider investing in a flask. Fisherman’s Friends work better than breath mints or gum
to cover the smell.

Dilute the hard stuff with mixers if you must, but make sure the liquids complement each other. Brown liquors work well with cola, Sprite or iced tea. They can also be mixed into hot drinks. Stick to diet soda to avoid the aforementioned sugar slump. Vodka or gin plus water in a Nalgene bottle lets you carry Dutch courage wherever life takes you — even to the gym.

Maintaining hard liquor discipline during the morning and afternoon will keep the world in soft focus without sacrificing your energy levels
and alertness. Once your daily duties are dispatched and you’re settling down in your favourite haunt, feel free to tuck into high-calorie fare like beer and wine. Enjoy — you’ve earned it.

In accordance with by-law C-36: The Peak is legally required to inform you Doctor Bruce is not a doctor.

By Bryce Warnes
With files from the Ubyssey

Man's pink shirt single-handedly puts an end to bullying, breast cancer

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Peak Web
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WEB-pink shirt-Mark Burnham

Man’s wardrobe choices end bullying and breast cancer; Livestrong bracelets still don’t do shit

By Brad McLeod
Photos by Mark Burnham

VANCOUVER — Despite the best intentions and hard work done by social activists and scientists alike in the past several decades, both bullying and breast cancer officially ceased existing thanks to an unexpected hero, a man who wore a pink t-shirt to work last week.

Hal Lungren, a 43-year-old schoolteacher from the Joyce- Collingwood area, reportedly ended both the abstract concept of “bullying” and the very specific disease of breast cancer by simply walking outside his house
in a colour of clothing not typically associated with his gender. “It was absolutely astonishing,” recalled one witness of Lungren’s enigmatic display of bravery, “I remember he passed me by on the street and as soon as I saw his shirt I instinctively knew I was cured. The lump in my breast was gone . . . and in reaching for my chest I also let go of this person that I had been noogieing for the last hour. Suddenly, I didn’t even have the urge to chase after them.” As Lungren walked through his neighbourhood, everyone he passed was rid of both the cancer in their breasts and the rage they felt towards weaklings, poindexters and dweebs.

The feeling soon spread across the city, and by Sunday, the nation. By the next morning bullying and breast cancer were no longer world problems, joining the ranks of the bubonic plague and terrorism.

As of yet, scientists have not been able to explain the phenomena of the pink shirt, but it is not the first time an article of clothing has made such a dramatic impact on society. In the 1940s in Italy, black shirts were able to rid the country of pesky things such as democracy and happiness, in the 1970s, a Che Guvera t-shirt overthrew an oppressive dictatorship in Cuba, and more recently, shirts bearing the word “swag” finally gave an identifiable mark to people who should be avoided at all costs.

As for Lungren’s pink shirt, those involved in raising awareness about the previously littleknown anti-bullying and breast cancer movements are baffled as to why they weren’t able to yield the same results with their own pink attire.

“I think the big difference between the shirt that ultimately ended bullying and breast cancer, and those that just raised a little awareness
about them, was the shade,” explained Tom Johnson, a doctor of Interior design. “Most of the breast cancer apparel had been excessively magenta and the anti-bullying stuff was too dull and faded . . . Mr. Lungren’s shirt was just the perfect shade of pink to finally make the world realize the tragedy of breast cancer and bullying. Although Mr. Lungren has
been celebrated as a hero for standing up to bullying and cancer, instead of being another white shirt-wearing sheep, he’s told the media that the entire event was actually an accident and the shirt he wore was in fact just a white shirt that had gotten mixed in with his red laundry.

Regardless of his motivation, Lungren triumphed in defeating two of the world’s biggest evils, with probably the only remaining global problems being homophobia, drought, famine, every other type of cancer, hepatitises A–E, malaria, AIDS, racism, genocide, murder, cyberbullying ( which was somehow it was unaffected), rape, alcoholism, drug addiction, sobriety, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, Harlem shakes, swarms of killer bees, southern comedian Killer Beaz, the band Phish, and the general depression of every human being on earth.

Benny and the regrets

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Peak Web
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The controversies surrounding Pope Benedict XVI’s Vatican career

pope

By Ljudmila Petrovic
Illustration by Eleanor Qu

 

“In today’s world . . . both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.”

 

With these words, Pope Benedict XVI resigned from his position in the Roman Catholic Church, something that had not happened for almost 600 years. But the significance of the event lies in the discussions that it reignited. Pope Benedict cited his failing health and old age as the reason for his resignation but, as with any historic event, the announcement was followed by a string of alternative theories.

Not surprisingly, Pope Benedict’s career and personal life have been scrutinized, as well as the Church’s more recent scandals.

 

Pope Benedict: Early Nazi Ties?

Pope Benedict XVI was born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger on April 16, 1927 in Bavaria. One well-known biographical detail is his membership in the Hitler Youth at the age of 14.

The Atlantic Wire scoured Twitter and found that it was not an uncommon thread: “Resigning for health reasons! Yeah. That’s it. Not because of anything scandalous like covering up child abuse or having a Nazi youth past,” read one tweet. “Old Benni’s Nazi past is trending in the UK, right up there with all the Popery,” said another.

It should be noted, however, that this was required by law for all German boys his age after Dec. 1939; it is hardly accurate to dwell on this. A few years later he was drafted into the German anti-aircraft corps and trained in the infantry, but deserted in 1945 as the Allied forces approached. He was held as a prisoner of war for a few months, but was released by the end of the Second World War.

 

Sex scandals

We’ve all heard a Catholic priest joke or two, but in recent years, the Catholic Church has been getting increasing amounts of attention as sex scandals come to light. In fact, one of the theories about Pope Benedict’s resignation has cited his link to these scandals; some Twitter users even go so far as to speculate that his resignation is preemptive and that there are more scandals being unearthed.

Pope Benedict himself has received criticism for his indirect role in the scandals. In the German church, his brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, was in charge of a choir at a boarding school that had recently been at the brunt of abuse claims. In 1980, while he was still in the positions of archdiocese of Munich and Freising, he approved a transfer for therapy for a priest accused of molesting boys. Upon completion of therapy, the priest was allowed to return to his place in the Church, only to commit more abuses. It was not until March 2010 that the current archdiocese of Munich admitted that the affair had not been handled correctly; however, the Vatican denied that Benedict XVI was in any way responsible.

In the four years leading up to his papacy, Benedict XVI was also the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and he led the Vatican investigations into the abuse allegations.

In what some have called a chillingly timely fashion, Feb. 4 marked the premiere of Mea Maxima Culpa, Alex Gibney’s new HBO show. It looks at the Catholic Church’s history of sexual abuse scandals and the pope’s complicity. “[The pope] says he is disgusted by [the abuse], and I believe him,” said Gibney in an interview. “But he lives within this institution, with this group of men who exist between mortals and the angels, and he favors protecting the institution to protecting the children.”

 

Vatileaks

One of the most significant scandals in Pope Benedict’s career — and one that is said to have contributed immensely to his failing health — is the “Vatileaks” affair. According to the website, “Vatileaks is a site dedicated to publishing unknown and suppressed information that has been hidden from the people by the Vatican hierarchs in an attempt to conceal the truth about its past.”

The scandal first came to light in January 2012, when memos from the pope’s office were leaked. Paolo Gabriele, the pope’s butler, was arrested in association with the scandal. On Oct. 6 of last year, he was found guilty of theft. He was serving his 18-month sentence on Dec. 22, 2012 when Pope Benedict XVI paid him a visit and forgave him for the crime.

Items leaked included the removal of Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano from office after he attempted to stop nepotism within the Church, and allegations that Mafia leader Enrico De Pedis had been buried alongside former popes and cardinals for the price of one billion lire ($660,000). What the world learned was stories of corruption within the Vatican, and Pope Benedict was widely criticized for his lack of leadership and inability to handle this internal dishonesty.

 

Other religions

In a September 2006 speech at the University of Regensburg, Pope Benedict called the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad “evil and inhuman.” He apologized several days later, saying that the text had not reflected his own opinions. One of his main critics for this was the al-Azhar mosque in Cairo and in 2011, an advertising campaign for Benetton alluded to this by displaying photo shopped images of the pope kissing Mohammed Ahmed al-Tayeb — the mosque’s grand sheikh — on the lips. The ads were quickly removed when the Vatican threatened legal action.

In 2008, it was announced that the pope had made revisions to the “Good Friday Prayer for the Jews” part of the Tridentine Mass. The new version, translated from the Latin, reads: “Let us also pray for the Jews: That our God and Lord may illuminate their hearts, that they acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Savior of all men.” Jewish organizations around the world spoke out in criticism of the wording of the prayer, believing that it had historical implications for the conversion of Jews.

 

Prophecy

Not quite a scandal, but for those that are more so inclined, there has also been talk of a prophecy involving Pope Benedict. In the 12th century, St. Malachy, bishop of Armagh, predicted that Petrus Romanus (or Peter the Roman) would be the 112th and last pope of the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict is the 111th since Malachy’s recorded visions. Now, people have visions all the time, but apparently, Malachy’s have come true before.
Take that as you will.

Rise in Theft on Burnaby Campus

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WEB-library thief-Mark Burnham

SFU security warns students to keep their valuables close

By Alison Roach
Photos by Mark Burnham

There appears to be a rise in the number of thefts happening at SFU campuses. A blanket warning was recently posted on the SFU Campus Security webpage, cautioning students “of the importance of securing [their] personal belongings when on campus.”

This warning comes on the heels of a noticeable spike in on-campus thefts of opportunity since the new year. SFU
Campus Security director Steven MacLean explained, “These are thefts where individuals are leaving their personal stuff alone, unattended, and unguarded, and then people take advantage of that.” An unusual number of these thefts have been reported since

Jan. 1, with a total of 40 incidents. Last year alone the Burnaby campus experienced 225 thefts of opportunity, which is higher than average, but the real spike began around the beginning of the new year, and the new semester. “It is unusual,” said MacLean.

While MacLean emphasized that security has not been able to pinpoint any specific targeted areas, he acknowledges there are areas on campus that experience more thefts. “There are one of two incidents where this is happening in classrooms,” MacLean stated, “but there is also common study areas where these items are being stolen.”

The stolen property has been typically electronics and students’ personal items. “What we’re seeing is the theft of a lot of electronics; so iPhones, iPads, laptops . . . and wallets and backpacks as well,” said MacLean.

Though some backpacks have been recovered, they had been emptied of valuables. None of the stolen electronics have been returned to their owners.

Campus Security was unable to go into detail on any potential suspects, but there have been several reports of people who may be behind the thefts. Campus Security has been working alongside the Burnaby RCMP to see if those individuals may be previously known to local police forces.

“We think perhaps there is a group of people working in concert, conducting this type of activity. For operational reasons right now, we don’t want to give too much information, but hopefully we’ll be able to release more information in the near future,” said MacLean. He was unable to say whether its known if the suspects are part of the SFU community or not.

SFU Campus Security has also been working with other campus officials and SFU’s social media networks to spread the word that students need to be taking more active possession of their own belongings.

One SFU student. Who wished to remain unnamed, recently had a laptop stolen from a computer lab in the West Mall Complex during an open lab session where many students were working on an assignment for the same course.
“The thief came and sat at the computer next to me and began to unpack some materials from his bag,” they described, “I was so focused on the assignment that I didn’t pay much attention to him, or even notice when got up and left two minutes later. He placed his bag by mine and pretended to go into it to find something but was actually reaching into my purse to slip my laptop out of its case.”

Stories like this are being echoed throughout campus, and students are warned to keep a close watch on their belongings, as well as to watch out for their friends. That student’s personal advice? “Make sure you have an eye on your valuables at all times. This wouldn’t have happened if my purse was in front of me on the desk, but then again, one would assume that right by your feet would be safe as well.” MacLean’s parting advice follows the same tack: “Look out for each other. Look after your stuff.”
 

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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