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TSSU and SFU come to a tentative collective agreement

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After 29 months of bargaining, the TSSU has settled their labour dispute

By Alison Roach

Last Wednesday at just past 4 a.m., the TSSU and SFU reached a tentative collective agreement to end their labour dispute. The agreement was reached after spending both Monday and Tuesday at the bargaining table, with bargaining lasting from 9:30 a.m. till 7:00 p.m. on Monday, and on Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. till early the next morning. The tentative collective agreement was partnered with a back-to-work agreement, which effectively ended all current and future job action by the TSSU.

The back-to-work agreement came into effect last Wednesday at noon, and outlined that the TSSU consented to ceasing all picketing action, and promised to facilitate the submission of student grades by their members by Wednesday, Nov. 28th. On the university’s end, the back to work agreement included a clause that prohibits any sort of retaliation towards TSSU members who participated in job action.

The agreement came on the heels of the TSSU launching an entire week of job action. On the Monday, TSSU members held a silent protest, greeting the SFU bargaining team as they walked into Bennett Library. A flying picket was also set up on Tuesday morning from 7:30 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. around the Robert C. Brown building. TSSU member Melissa Roth, who was picketing that day, said, “I know a lot of tutorials have been cancelled, including a lot of professors [who] have chosen to support the strike by cancelling their classes.” There were plans in place to put up a full picket on the Friday before the agreement was reached.

Before becoming finalized, the collective agreement has to first be ratified by TSSU members and approved by the SFU Board of Governors. As of press time, the TSSU and the university were unwilling to comment on the details of the agreement since it had not yet been presented to TSSU members. The details of the collective agreement reached were presented to TSSU members in a special general meeting last Friday. TSSU spokesperson Jeff Zurek last Wednesday, who explained, “The bargaining team will make that pitch then to recommend or not recommend to the membership.”

On whether or not he believes the agreement will be recommended to TSSU members, Zurek said, “I’m pretty sure we’re going to recommend it. I mean, it’s the best we can do given the hard situation . . . we were put between a rock and a hard place and had to deal with it.” After the agreement is either recommended or not recommended, it will go to an in-person, balloted vote by TSSU members as per BC labour law. The details of where and when this vote will take place have not been finalized as of press time. In the case that the agreement is voted down by the majority of members, the TSSU will start strike action all over again.

The bargaining on Monday and Tuesday leading up to the agreement was attended by SFU vice-president academic, Dr. Jonathan Driver, who “acted like a mediator in many respects,” according to Zurek. Since many of the TSSUs proposals centred around academic issues, Driver’s presence helped to speed along the process. Driver said, “The bargaining team on the university’s side was able to consult me about proposals from TSSU, and what the impact of those proposals would be on managing academic programs in the university.”

Of his decision to join the bargaining team, Driver explained, “I wanted to be available to our bargaining team so that they would have the opportunity to ask me questions that related to the academic side of the university, to help them understand what were reasonable proposals.”

In the end, the TSSU and SFU bargaining teams signed off on 37 items. One specific change that Zurek did mention was a clause for the creation of a centralized posting system for all TSSU related jobs, across departments. Another important aspect of the agreement is that it will continued to be worked on until the agreement comes up for renewal again in a year an a half. Jeff Zurek explained, “It’s kind of like continuing bargaining from essentially today. . . covering all the issues we weren’t able to cover because Simon Fraser University didn’t decide to bargain with us up until the eleventh hour.” Monetary concerns weren’t covered in the tentative agreement was. Said Zurek, “I’m satisfied with what we were able to accomplish, given the situation. There’s more work to be done as far as our collective contract moving forward to the future. For some of those groups who we weren’t able to protect in this round, either because for the sessionals SFU didn’t want to, and for our folks at Harbour Centre, which is more a monetary thing, we couldn’t because of the provincial mandate.”

Driver echoed the sentiment of satisfaction: “I think we’re all very please that we’re coming to an agreement and that our undergraduate students in particular will be returning to a more normal [routine], and will be able to get the information about their grades. So we’re happy.”

In the meantime, the other union on campus on strike, CUPE 3338, is still without a collective agreement, and will continue to take job action.

Planned deportation of University of Regina students causing talk in House of Commons

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EIC
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Victoria Ordu and Ihuoma were given deportation notices last summer

By Michael Chmielewski

REGINA (CUP) — Two University of Regina students from Nigeria are facing deportation for violating terms of their visas that said they could not work off campus.

Victoria Ordu and Ihuoma Amadi were given the deportation notice last summer after the end of the 2012 winter semester, and have been taking sanctuary in a Regina church since then.

Since the beginning of the academic year, the case has generated significant attention at both the U of R and in the House of Commons.

In Question Period, Ralph Goodale, Liberal MP for Wascana, asked why the Conservative government is demanding deportation, while the U of R and the Government of Saskatchewan oppose these measures.

“I have information in my hands from the Canada Border Services Agency indicating that one of the subjects had not attended classes at the university in the Winter 2011 semester [and] was required to discontinue from studies based on failure to meet academic standards,” said Jason Kenney, the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism.

However, Goodale argues that Kenny is wrong.

“The university has been very clear that at all material times, these two young women were properly registered as students at the University of Regina,” Goodale said in an interview with The Carillon. He also said that Kenney’s statement “flies in the face of the facts.”

In the past couple of months, the Saskatchewan Immigration Justice Network, a local community group, has protested the deportation of the two students.

Events hosted included “teach-ins,” rallies both on- and off-campus, and a viral Twitter campaign called ‘#honestmistake,’ where people were encouraged to use the hashtag to share honest mistakes with Kenny and Vic Toews, the public safety minister.

These events have raised many questions surrounding the case, such as how the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) treated the students, and what role Walmart — the employer of the two women — played in the ordeal.

Joseph Mburu, professor of political science at the U of R, claimed that the students were “arrested by the CBSA” and that “one of them was arrested at Walmart, while serving customers at the till . . . [and was] taken through the walkway and through the shop in handcuffs into the car, brought into campus in handcuffs, walked around from the car-park to her dorm in handcuffs, which was very humiliating.”

When asked what role Walmart had in this situation, Mburu stated that “if the students presented their social insurance numbers, it’s expected that the employers would have detected that these students needed work permits, but Walmart did not notify these particular students, and so Walmart failed in this case.”

It was suggested that this situation could have been avoided if Walmart had noticed that these students were not allowed to work outside the campus.

Although many remain optimistic that the students will be able to finish up their last year of studies, Goodale said that if they were to experience the “guillotine of deportation” it would “certainly destroy any chance of these two young people ever being able to complete their education, and have long term negative consequences for the rest of their lives.

“It’s in effect a kind of life sentence that the government is trying to dole out here, and it’s just wrong.”

Goodale suggests that more appropriate measures would be reprimands, or warnings or fines.

He also felt it was strange that the government was taking such a harsh stance.

“That’s the other factor that needs to be noted in all of this: none of this is costing the government of Canada anything, because these students are on scholarship provided by the Nigerian Government. So it’s their nickel, not the [Canadian] government’s.”

Professor Mburu questions the government’s stance on this case.

“These two young women, who have done a small mistake, should they really be sent away? They will lose one whole year of their education, and we don’t know if they’ll ever be able to come back, because their funding [from the Nigerian Government] may be terminated,” he said.

He also explained the problems that the two women would encounter in re-applying and re-funding their visas if they were deported, because the deportation would affect their evaluation if they tried to come back to Canada to finish their studies.

“Their future would be ruined by the fact that they are being deported. They wouldn’t be able to get a job, they would be seen as people who are not good, there is a shame, and a lot of social exclusion.”

He said that in Nigeria, the effect of deportation would not only be felt by the students, but also by their parents.

Furthermore, the Conservative government’s insistence that the two students be deported has been seen, according to Goodale, as “anti-immigrant” and might deter other international students from taking up their studies in Canada.

Mburu poses a similar question in which potential foreign students will then be asking themselves if they should come study in Canada.

Goodale feels that international students significantly contribute to Canadian society and bring with them “brainpower, creativity, productivity, innovation and contribute to a larger tax base.”

He believes that Kenney is sending a “very negative, very contradictory message” that is saying, “Yeah, we want you to come, but watch out for CBSA, watch out for Immigration Canada, you cannot rely on them to be fair, or to be consistent, or to follow due process, or to behave in a reasonable manner.”

“[This] will give some international students reason to pause and think, ‘well, if that’s the way the border service works in Canada, maybe we should go to the UK or maybe the US, or maybe we should go to Japan rather than going to Canada,’ ” he said.

Even through all the messy details in this case, both Mburu and Goodale remain optimistic, with Goodale hoping that “saner heads will prevail here.”

Faculty at St. Francis Xavier move closer to a strike

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EIC
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Professors, lab instructors, and other academic workers prepare to walk off the job

By Sean McEvoy

ANTIGONISH (CUP) — The St. Francis Xavier Association of University Teachers (STFXAUT), which represents professors, lab instructors, workers at the Writing Centre and various other academic workers, sent a strong message to the St. Francis Xavier University (StFX) administration, voicing their displeasure with negotiations on a new collective agreement. The Association gave executive members the authority to call a strike, should the negotiations reach an impasse, with 48 hours notice.

Of those that voted, 78.4 per cent were in favour of a strike mandate. That number is lowered significantly when the total number of eligible voters in the association is taken into account. Of all eligible voters, only 62.4 per cent voted in favour of a strike mandate. There were a total of 407 eligible voters, with 319 votes cast; 254 yes, 65 no.

“This is a normal part of the bargaining process,” said Chris Frazer, the chief grievance officer and chair of the strike supports committee for the STFXAUT, regarding the strike mandate vote. “We are trying to encourage the administration to take our proposals more seriously than they are. This vote acts as a referendum and show of support from our members.”

“The contract came up for renewal in the summer. We’ve reached a point where we need to push things forward,” added Peter McInnis, president of STFXAUT. “I think we are looking for something that would be comparable to our sister institutions in [Nova Scotia]. The contract is about a lot more than money. I think we’re looking for something that keeps us on par with where we were, whether than going backwards.”

Corinna Fitzgerald, director of student life at StFX, said that during bargaining, the university remains committed to the interests of students.

“Our main concern is always students — their well-being and academic success. I imagine all parties involved in the negotiations also have this in mind as they move through the process. This can be a very stressful and unsettling process for students, and I encourage them to seek information, support and continue to focus on their academics as usual.”

STFXAUT is pushing for four primary goals: salaries comparable to their sister institutions, better medical and retirement benefits, provisions over financial exigency (the ability of administration to cut faculty positions in case of economic necessity), and incentives to get faculty to retire at, or around the age of 65. He also cited that there are a wide variety of smaller issues being discussed at the table.

McInnis and the association are currently left frustrated with how negotiations with the university administration have been going.

“I think I’d characterize their responses as delayed,” he said. McInnis went on to say that the STFXAUT has presented what they believed to be detailed, well thought out proposals, which were presented to the administration. According to him, these proposals have been met with relative silence.

The Xaverian attempted to get in contact with Ramsay Duff, the interim-vice-president of recruitment and student experience for his views on the vote and the position of the administration, but he could not be reached for comment by press time.

McInnis and Frazer both outlined various grievances against the Office of Student Experience, which the STFXAUT alleges has pushed the university into financial difficulties that are hindering the negotiation process, particularly during the time of Duff’s predecessor Keith Publicover.

“What we can say about Mr. Publicover is that there clearly was problems with his time here, and it’s lead to shortfall,” McInnis asserted. “He’s directly attributed to some problems with residence, vacant residence beds, and had a negative effect on recruitment.”

Fraser stated that Duff focuses on three points when talking about the negative financial situation of the university: the reduction of government funding for StFX, falling student enrolment, and declining numbers in of students in residence beds after an exodus to off-campus living last year following a mix-up by the Office of Student Experience.

“The loss of students in residence was the result of a screw up in the office of student experience,” Frazer said. “The problems with recruitment are also an issue directly related to the office of student experience. So these are the two major issues that have caused significant financial problems for this university.

“Rather than looking at their own mistakes and dealing with it, they’re passing that cost down to everyone else, from students, to custodial people, to faculty. We are responsible for our own mistakes, why are we now responsible for your [the administrations] mistakes?”

“The academic spending of the university has been in long-term, steady decline, in relation to the expenditures for the rest of the university,” he continued.

“I get upset when I see all the money going into [the new residences], when they can’t even ensure my computers will work properly, or ensure my students won’t be hurt or possibly seriously injured in my classroom. I can’t teach in that, and nobody’s listening to me.”

Frazer showed The Xaverian a rusted out chair from one of his classrooms, in which a girl had sat down on it, with the chair subsequently snapping and collapsing from underneath her due to the long-term damage.

Nick Head-Petersen, president of the StFX Students’ Union (STFXSU) said that they are watching the situation closely.

“The students’ union will be talking with both parties to provides students with updated information throughout the negotiation process,” he said. “Our hope is that both sides work diligently at the table to come to a resolution and agree on a new collective agreement.”

Frazer noted that although there has been a strike vote, this does not mean there will necessarily be a strike.

“We’re a long ways away from that point, so there’s no immediate worry about a strike,” he said.

“We’re of course aware of students very much, and of course what we’re doing, we see it as protecting the academic learning experience here at X,” added McInnis. “We have a very strong bond with students and we want to protect their experience.”

McInnis and Frazer said following the vote, the association looks to go back to the bargaining table. The STFXAUT will be meeting to discuss their next options. The possibility of requesting a provincial conciliator remains open although no move towards conciliation has been made as of yet.

University of Regina Students’ Union over $200,000 in the red

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EIC
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The URSU was found to have uncharacteristic deficiencies in information services and the revenues from its student pub, The Owl

By Dietrich Neu
Photos by Julia Dima

REGINA (CUP) — The University of Regina Students’ Union (URSU) ended their 2012 fiscal year with a $202,484 deficit, according to a financial audit conducted by MNP LLP, an independent firm of chartered accountants.

The Saskatchewan-based accounting company examined URSU’s finances from April 2011 to April 2012, and found that the student organization had uncharacteristic deficiencies in information services and the revenues from its student pub, The Owl.

URSU requested the audit after CFS-Saskatchewan representative Paige Kezima informed them of the allegations surrounding former URSU president Haanim Nur.

“We felt that because of the relationship between URSU and Haanim Nur, that it was probably important for us to check our books and make sure that nothing was taken from our accounts,” said Nathan Sgrazzutti, URSU president. “Luckily nothing was taken, and our books were clean.”

Although the audit confirmed that Haanim had not defrauded URSU, the organization did not get through 2012 financially unscathed.

The report indicates that The Owl ended the 2011 fiscal year with a surplus of $40,772; however, a year later they were $157,890 in the red. URSU also lost $12,466 on “Information Services, TV” last year, and lost an additional $27,277 on their investments over the course of 2012.

The massive drop in The Owl’s revenue is by far the most striking of all the statistics reported by the audit statement.

“Being that far in the red spells doom for any restaurant,” Sgrazzutti said. “For the Students’ Union bar to be $157,890 in debt means that URSU had to spend money that could have been used to a student benefit to keep the bar afloat.”

Kent Peterson, URSU’s president during the 2012 fiscal year, declined to comment on the audit. Paige Kezima, who also served on the executive at that time, declined to comment as well. Nur, who served as vice-president operations and finance in 2012, could not be reached either.

Peterson noted that because he no longer occupies his spot on the URSU executive he could not speak to the matter, and suggested The Carillon speak with The Owl’s managers instead. Owl management could not be reached by press time due to other commitments.

None of the current URSU executive sat on the executive committee last year when The Owl’s financial troubles took place. As for why The Owl’s revenue uncharacteristically dropped in 2012, Sgrazzutti believes it was not because of a lack of interest.

“I don’t think it was that as much as I think it was that The Owl was not being supported by its parent organization [URSU],” he said. “The Students’ Union is in charge of being the middle way between PAC student societies and event groups coming into The Owl and setting up events.

“The publicity that we can do for The Owl is huge,” he continued. “It is our responsibility to give The Owl the support that it needs and say ‘hey, there is an event happening.’ We need to expand the opportunity for The Owl to make money, and in turn, make money for students.”

Sgrazzutti mentioned several successful events over the past weeks — such as the Regina Rams playoff after party — that he believes were fueled by URSU actively seeking out student groups to host events at The Owl. Apparently, that initiative was not part of the last URSU executive’s mandate.

“You see what they did under a group like Kyle Addision, where they were $40,772 up, and that was because that executive committee worked on it,” Sgrazzutti said. “Then the next year, Owl revenue drops almost $200,000. That is huge.”

Both Sgrazzutti and Mitch Simpson, URSU’s current URSU vice-president operations and finance, agreed that the previous URSU student executives did not provide an adequate level of support for The Owl.

“The lack of executive support to run the business as a parent company is definitely a big reason why we lost money,” Simpson said.

In 2011, URSU made an agreement with PAC student societies to host at least one event per semester at The Owl. According to Simpson, that agreement resulted in events like Beer Fest, Business Students’ Society cabarets, and a host of others.

“That is a big revenue draw,” he said. “I’m not sure why, but I guess the other executive just didn’t want to go that route.”

A successful cabaret — at full capacity — can net The Owl $10,000 to $20,000 in revenue in a single evening. But without an agreement with PAC groups to host events at the campus bar, many of them didn’t.

“It is not to say that all of them didn’t, but a lot of events were missed out on last year,” Simpson said. “If you are missing out on four or five PAC society events, each semester, it is pretty easy to do the math about how much potential money was lost.”

“There was no working relationship built between the executive and The Owl [last year],” Sgrazzutti added. “There was no working relationship even with the society members. That is not how you are supposed to run this organization.”

This year, URSU is working to restore the old agreement with the PAC societies to provide benefits for student societies who decide to host events at The Owl.

“We are having a vested interest in giving the PAC societies what they need to host events on campus without having to go elsewhere,” Simpson said. “If they decide to go off campus to Whisky’s or the Rugby Club, or any venue outside of the school, that money is going back to those venues, and not back to students.

“You need to build working relationships with the people who could be using the venue if you want it to work,” he added. “It goes a long way, and I think that got missed out on last year. We are hoping to get back to where we were before, that would be our goal to help bring The Owl back.”

University Briefs

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EIC
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By Graham Cook

 

Elections BC taps Emily Carr students to get more young people to the polls

 

Elections BC is hoping to reverse the trend of few young people showing up to vote in time for the May 2013 provincial election. They have partnered with Emily Carr University of Art and Design to create a new course titled, “Designing for Democracy.” In this class, students are able to get credit for putting together a campaign that encourages people aged 18 to 24 to vote. In the 2009 provincial election, just over one quarter of eligible voters in that age group voted, a contrast to the 54 per cent who voted of those aged 25 and up.

 

With Files from Canadian University Press

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Controversial study suggests financial compensation for organ donors

 

The Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta and the University of Calgary conducted a study that concluded that people are likelier to donate an organ if they are given financial compensation. The study, titled “Attitudes towards Strategies to Increase Organ Donation: Views of the General Public and Health Professionals”, notes that almost half of Canadians that were surveyed approved the idea. This approval comes regardless of the fact that selling organs is against the law in Canada. The study was conducted using a web survey that targeted the public, health professionals, and those affected by kidney disease.

 

With files from The Capilano Courier

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Robert Ploughman a symbol for gay men in the RCMP

 

Corporal Robert Ploughman is one of the first openly gay RCMP officers in Canada, a designation to which he brings humour. Ploughman first came out in 2001 while attending the RCMP academy and, since then, has accomplished a number of initiatives, including entering the BC RCMP into the Vancouver Pride parade,. At one point in his life, he considered joining the Catholic ministry, but realized he was homosexual after a visit to a St. John’s gay bar. Over the past decade, the number of openly gay officers has increased, a change, which could be attributed to a shift in attitude in the RCMP.

 

With files from The Ubyssey

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Continuing Education Students’ Association at Ryerson hit with hefty legal fees

 

CESAR (Continuing Education Students’ Association at Ryerson) has had years of internal conflict and, just as it is trying to improve itself, has new legal challenges brought up against it. The group is facing legal bills in excess of $33,000, which were incurred by a former executive. Some of the bills resulted from members hiring lawyers to inquire how to go about impeaching someone, which was paid for with student fees. The fees totalled $33,311.04 for 2012, and around $25,000 for 2011. The normal amount for such fees is usually about $5,000.

 

With files from The Lance

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Scott McLean: moving on up

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EIC
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The Peak speaks with Scott McLean, the upcoming Public Affairs and Media Relations Director for SFU. He will become the university’s spokesperson in December 2012, replacing outgoing director Don MacLachlan.

Created by: Julian Giordano

Special thanks to:
Scott McLean
Alison Roach

Sports Spotlight: Manvir Sahota

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EIC
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Manvir Sahota was born in San Jose, California but moved to Vicoria at a young age where he started to wrestle for the first time. 

By Clay Gray
Photos by Mark Burnham

Some say North America is a land of opportunity, a place where people of all cultures and ethnicities are able to live together.  As a born American and fifth-year criminology major, Manvir Sahota knows this is true.  Born in San Jose, California to immigrant parents, Jasbir and Gurjeet Sahota, Manvir has first hand experience with the trials, tribulations, and rewards that are ever present in this society.  The Sohotas didn’t remain in the United States for long. When Manvir was five years old, they relocated to Victoria, British Columbia.

It was in Victoria that a very young Manvir began his life-long love affair with wrestling. His father, who had wrestled during his youth in India, introduced Manvir to wrestling. But when he stepped on the mat for the first time, it wasn’t love at first sight. As a child, Manvir was somewhat undersized — although his now-190-pound frame doesn’t give that impression — and he spent his first year of wrestling being tossed around the mat by some of the girls on the team. Manvir says, “I got pummeled by the girls on the team everyday. I wasn’t strong enough to wrestle with the other guys, because I was just a little guy.”

However, this didn’t deter Manvir from going back to the wrestling room day after day, and after a year of being on the bottom of the pile, his hard work started to pay off. “I went away from it for a year because it was so frustrating. While I was gone, I did pushups, sit-ups, and squats, so when I came back I was finally able to hold my own,” says Manvir. Although he was stronger and little more mature, he still had yet to truly embrace wrestling. But in eighth grade that changed quickly for him once he joined his middle school wrestling team, when he really began to hone his grappling skills.

As Manvir was about to start his post-secondary career, he was restless and felt as though he was stuck in a rut.  It was at this time that his father took the opportunity to bring Manvir back to the small rural village Dhulleta, India, where he grew up. “I lived the village life for six months. There was no running water, no electricity, so we showered with cold water. We butchered and gathered our own food. I made me appreciate everything I had here so much more. It changed me as a person by making me more humble. I learned more from that trip than I ever could from any book or class.” Upon his return to Canada, he had gained a deeper appreciation for the sacrifices that his parents made in order to give him a life full of opportunities.

Manvir has more than success in sport on his mind; academic achievement is also on his docket. Like the other student-athletes at SFU, he believes in getting up early, working hard like his parents taught him, and making the most of his time.  With a busy travel schedule for wrestling, Manvir knows that time management is the key to accomplishing his goals. However, it’s not the daily coordination of practice, school, and work that he views as the most crucial aspect for success, but the preparation that occurs weeks or months ahead of time. Manvir says, “It’s not someone else’s responsibility to organize my semester. I have to be on top of my schedule to make sure everything gets done. People think athletes get special treatment, but it really is just being organized and communicating with your professors.”

As Manvir moves into his final season for the Clan, many people in his life have high expectations for his wrestling.  The great expectations are due to the fact that he placed third in last years National Collegiate Wrestling Association and Canada’s Senior National championships. Recent success and lofty goals have been known to be the undoing of many athletes. So when Manvir assessed this upcoming season he knows that he needs to stay humble and keep his mind and his body strong. He said, “I don’t just analyze the matches I’ve lost, I analyze my wins as well.  I look for things I could have done better, and make those adjustments. By setting small, obtainable goals, I am able to deal with the pressure to win.”

SFU wins three home games to start

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EIC
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Clan beat up on local colleges to start the season, 3–0


By Clay Gray
Photos by Adam Ovenell-Carter

SFU’s Men’s Basketball team started their regular season with three straight victories over two of the local Lower Mainland colleges, Northwest Indian College and Douglas College.

In the home opener on Nov. 9, the Clan did not give a quarter to the NWIC Eagles, exactly doubling the visiting team’s total at the end of the night 104–52.  The evening’s dominance stemmed from Elijah Matthews and Anto Olah,who both racked up over 20 points. The Clan headed into the locker room at halftime with a 34-point lead over the Eagles. However, head coach James Blake made sure that the court time was spread around, giving at least 10 minutes to 11 different players.

The following evening, the Eagles scored 26 more points than the previous night. They kept it close in the opening minutes of play, and momentarily held the lead. But in the end it was the Clan who came out on top, taking the 112–78 victory.  Taylor Dunn led in scoring, putting up 24 points for the Clan, but Matthews who stole the show. He sunk six two-pointers and five field goals in the game. Making the best of the easy opponent, coach Blake cycled two freshmen, Matt Staudacher and Jahmar Thompson, into the lineup.

The Clan continued thrashing local opponents,putting up a 70-point difference in their 115–45 victory over Douglas College. This game did not have any surprises for the Clan’s point leaders, with Dunn and Matthews once again putting up 20-plus points. Coach Blake hadthe same 11-player rotation take to the court for this game, and all 11 would contribute at least five points.

With three home games in the bag, a 3–0 start, and scores of over 100 points in all three games, the Clan’s offence appears to be firing on all cylinders. However, the Clan wouldn’t attribute the win solely to their offence, with junior Anto Olah saying, “The first two games we played pretty poor defense, but we addressed that . . . and we played a lot better defense.”

Clan drop final season game to the Cougars

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EIC
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SFU can’t overcome early Cougar attack, lose 41–28

By Bryan Scott
Photos by Adam Ovenell-Carter


The Simon Fraser football team went out for their last game of the season last week. They took on the Azusa Pacific University Cougars, who were one position below the Clan in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standing.  Unfortunately, the Clan were unable to mount another miraculous comeback like they did against Humboldt State, and lost the game 41–28.

The Cougars scored early and often in the first quarter. They started with a 23-yard field goal after a few solid passing plays and an 18-yard rush from Cougars running back Ronald Douglas. The Clan tried to respond, but quarterback Trey Wheeler was picked off, giving the ball back to the Cougars on their own 36-yard line. Both teams used both of their quarterbacks to try and get an advantage. It worked for the Cougars; after JoJo Bones rushed for 10 yards and the first down, Nick Owens went in. He tossed up a 42-yard bomb to wide receiver Ed Dillihunt, who ran it in for a touchdown, pushing their lead to 10–0.

On the ensuing Clan drive, running back Bo Palmer was able to get the Clan moving with a 27-yard rush that got them down to the Cougars’ 48-yard line. They did not get much farther, as the Cougars’ defense and a costly penalty kept the Clan from scoring. The punt pinned the Cougars deep in their own zone, so they had to start from their own one-yard line.

The Clan’s run defense was their Achilles’ heel once again, as the Cougars pounded the ball up the field using the run nine times, including a 41-yard rush by Terrell Watson. He ended up finishing the drive with a six-yard run into the end zone. The first quarter ended with the Clan down by 17 points.

The Clan defense continued to struggle with the run in the second quarter when Owens went for a 63-yard jaunt to the SFU 33-yard line. Their defense stepped up after that and kept the score at 17–0. The Clan sacked Owens on fourth and 10 for eight yards, giving them the ball at their own 41. Palmer rushed the ball for 25 yards, and the eventual touchdown on the drive, pulling the Clan within 10. As the half ended, the Clan were in need of another huge second-half performance to win.

It was the Cougars who scored the first points out of the locker room to start the half. Bones capped off a nine-play, 66-yard drive with a rushing touchdown, putting the Cougars up 24–7. After some back-and-forth action, the Clan had a good drive going as they headed into the fourth quarter, but they were stuck at the APU 16-yard line on fourth and one to go. Wheeler found Jamal Kett for a first down. Palmer did the rest, completing his second touchdown of the game and closing the gap to 10 points once again.

The fourth quarter saw both teams putting up points. The Cougars matched their first-quarter total with two touchdowns and a field goal. The Clan scored touchdowns on their last three of four possessions, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit this time. They lost their final game of the season.

Palmer, who was named to the GNAC All-Academic team, had 159 yards on 26 carries, and two touchdowns. Trey Wheeler threw for 289 yards and a touchdown, and  was 25–44 on the day.

They finished the season 5–6 overall with a 4–6 record in the GNAC. This leaves them fourth in the conference, tied with the Cougars and ahead of Dixie State (3–7). This is an improvement from last year, when they finished with a 3–7 record.

Clan move on in NCAA Championships

By
EIC
-
0

SFU wins first two championship games, move on to quarterfinals

By Bryan Scott

The Simon Fraser men’s soccer team started their quest towards NCAA glory last week, with two games in the championship tourney. The Clan boasted a first-place seeding in their region, which gave them a first-round bye.

The Clan hosted on the California State Stanislaus Warriors, in Hayward, California. They were unable to host in Burnaby, since the border caused issues for some the teams. The Warriors were first to strike. In the 18th minute, Josue Barajas put his third of the year past Clan goalkeeper JD Blakely to give them a 1–0 lead.  On the other end of the pitch, Warrior goalkeeper Clint Long made five saves in the first 45 minutes to maintain the lead at the halfway point.

The Clan responded to start the second half, when Justin Wallace took a pass from Chris Bargholz, which went off the post and in the net to tie the game at one. In the 61st minute, after a phenomenal save by Blakely, Lucas Ferrito got the ball down the field and scored on his own rebound to boost the Clan to a 2–1 lead and a date with the Grand Canyon Antelopes in the third round.

For the game against the Antelopes, the Clan faced adversity before the match even started. A few days prior to the game, the Clan were told there was not enough room in their hotel for four teams, and they had to go to Phoenix, Arizona to play the Antelopes on their home field, despite their lower ranking.

SFU was not going to let a little extra travel time ruin their chances of winning. The Clan came out firing, getting nine shots to the Antelopes’ two in the first half. The game remained scoreless until Matt Besuschko coverted a Juan Sanchez corner kick, to give the Clan a one-goal lead. The lead held until the 66th minute, when Saeed Robinson tied the game on a penalty kick. Despite being outshot 12–4 in the half, SFU got the last laugh. In the 87th minute, leading goal scorer Carlo Basso put in a header on a feed from Bargholz to give the Clan the 2–1 victory. Basso credited his team for the winning goal, “[Wallace] got the ball up to Chris [Bargholz], who put a beautiful ball in to me and I didn’t really have to do much to be honest, just put it in the back of the net.”

With the win, the Clan’s historic season continued on Sat. Nov. 17 when they took on the University of Incarnate Word Cardinals (14–3–2) from San Antonio, Texas.  The results will be covered in the next issue of The Peak. 

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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