Home Blog Page 1334

Top ranked Clan ready to compete in NCAA Championship

By
EIC
-
0

Despite being the GNAC champions three times in a row, the Clan head to their first NCAA Championship tournament.

By Bryan Scott

The Simon Fraser men’s soccer teams were already Great Northwest Athletic Conference champions when they hosted the Western Washington Vikings in their final season game last week. They were still awaiting their fate in the NCAA championship team announcements were released later on in the week. The Clan played a strong game and came out on top 3¬–0.
The Clan did not want to give the Vikings a chance, once again shooting early and often. It didn’t take long Clan midfielder Colin Jaques to find Justin Wallace for the game’s first goal in the 11th minute. Michael Winter added another 10 minutes later to double the lead to 2–0. The Clan fired 15 shots in the first half, but only four of them found the net. In the second half, they managed to get seven on target but only John Hodnett found the back of the net off a rebound. JD Blakely was solid in net, recording the shut-out.

With the win, the Clan finished the regular season with a record of 16–1–1 and 12–1–1 in GNAC play.
The NCAA tournament takes place over the next three weeks culminating on Dec. 1st in Evans, Georgia. This year there will be 35 teams competing for the title. It is a single elimination tournament, meaning that the Clan needs to win every game from here on out to win the championship.
They had to wait until Nov. 5 to find out who they would face in the first round of the NCAA championship tournament. When the brackets were finally revealed, it looked good for the Clan. They held on to their first place West Region position and earned a bye into the second round of the tournament. The Clan gladly took the bye after they have spent two years being unable to compete in the final tournament due to their previous NCAA eligibility. Clan midfielder Michael Winter showed excitement, saying “As a senior this is my only chance at an NCAA Championship, and we are going to compete as if we will never have this chance again.”

The Clan’s faced the winner of the Nov. 8 game between the fourth ranked California State University Stanislaus Warriors and the fifth ranked Notre de Namur Argonauts. The Warriors ended up taking the game 3–2 over the Argonauts which set up the second round match with the Clan. The game took place on Nov. 10 and will be covered in a later issue of the Peak.
SFU’s rivals from GNAC Seattle Pacific lost their first round game to California State Los Angeles on the other half of the regional bracket.

Clan compete in their first West Regional Championship

By
EIC
-
0

SFU’s cross-country teams compete hard at West Regional Championship, but do not qualify for nationals. 

By Bryan Scott

The season has ended for the Simon Fraser cross-country teams. They were the first non-American team to compete in a post-season competition in the NCAA, when they went to Honolulu, Hawaii last week.

The women’s team performed well at the West Regional Championship, placing sixth in the six-kilometre course, and the men finished in 13th place on the eight-kilometre course.

The women’s team was led by Freshman Peggy Noel who finished 18th, with a time of 22:25.25. Another freshman Kansas Mackenzie finished in a time of 22:31.38 to wrap up 20th spot. Captain Lindsay Butterworth finished in 76thth place after being sick throughout the week. The first place finisher on the women’s side was Susan Tanui from Alaska Anchorage University with a time of 21:18.50.

On the men’s side it was Adam Reid who finished in the highest position for the Clan. He completed the course in 34:07.56 to earn 42nd spot. Travis Vugeveen and Timo Hoberg were close together finishing 69th and 72nd respectively. Micah Chelimo from Alaska Anchorage earned top spot on the men’s side. Chico State University took home both the men’s and the women’s team competitions.

Only the top five teams make in on to the NCAA championship, so it is an unfortunate finish for the Clan but they were strong throughout the season and will look to improve for next year.

Clan are the best at Clansmen Invitational

By
EIC
-
0


Clan earn 40 team points and take the Clansmen Invitational

By Clay Gray
Photos by Mark Burnham

The 2012 Clansmen Invitational was held Nov. 2 and 3 with the men’s university division going down on Friday alongside the women’s open division. A solid showing from both wrestling teams kept the universities’ men and women’s open titles in Burnaby. On the first day, there were several stand out performances. They came from five men (Sukhan Chalan, 57 kg, Josh Punzo, 72 kg, Sanjay Rekhi, 82 kg, Manvir Sahota, 90 kg, and Kooner Gurjot, 130 kg) and one woman (Danielle Lappage, 63 kg) standing atop the podium on Friday. The Clan’s medals didn’t end there, as SFU would snag three silvers and two bronzes to bring the total medal count 11 for Friday divisions. The dominance of SFU’s women was evident in the team scores for the competition as they ended the day with 40 team points while the second place team would finish with only 22. Women’s head coach Mike Jones said, “It was a good home opener for our young athletes. Overall I thought we performed well but when you have a group of 20, someone is going to be disappointed with their individual results.”
Saturday’s competition saw only men taking to the mats in their open division. Although the Clan had high hopes for some of its wrestlers, only two would step onto the podium, with Sukan Cahal placing third, and Sunny Dhinsa taking second. Cahal came up short against the eventual champion, Zach Sanders, dropping into the backside where he would face current teammate Skylar Davis. After a victory over Davis, Cahal squared off against a former teammate in the medal round, which he won in a nail-biting a decision. Men’s head coach Justin Abdou expressed admiration for Chalan’s performance. “[He] wrestled well, his only loss in either tournament came from a four time division one All-American and recent university worlds bronze medalist,” said Abdou.
The Clansmen Invitational is known for attracting some of the best heavyweights from around the world, and this year was no exception. SFU’s freshman sensation Sunny Dhinsa started the day with a bye into the quarter-finals where he dealt Puerto Rico’s Edagardo Lopez a defeat via a two-round decision. In the semifinals, Sunny grabbed hold of another decision over Burnaby Mountain’s Jaspreet Sahota. However, victory eluded Dhinsa in the finals, as Tervel Diagnev of Sunkist Wrestling Club proved to be too much. The loss was not taken too hard by the 19-year-old Dhinsa, since Diagnev recently placed fifth at the London Olympics. When asked about Sunny’s performance, Justin Abdou said, “The Clansmen was one of Sunny’s first tournaments for the Clan. He was in a deep weight class that had a former NCAA Division I champion place fifth. This tournament gives us a benchmark of where we are and an idea of what we need to work on in order to get the same level as the top five heavyweights in the world.”

SFU hosts Anime Evolution convention

By
EIC
-
0

 

After a short hiatus, Anime Evolution returns in full force with a new governing body

By Rachel Braeuer
Photos by Vaikunthe Banerjee

On Nov. 3 and 4, SFU’s Burnaby campus was overrun with Endermen, Links, and even a few Pokemon while it played host to the rebirth of Anime Evolution’s annual convention. It was appropriately dubbed Akimatsuri, a condensation of the Japanese phrase aki matsuri, meaning “autumn festival,” a nod to the fact that this is the first year the convention has been held during any time of the year but summer.

This is also the first time the convention has taken place at all since 2010. While Anime Evolution’s normal three-day event was slated to run from Aug. 13-15 in 2011, it was cancelled, leaving ticket holders and fans in general out of the funds paid for tickets and in the dark regarding the convention’s future.

AE Conventions Corporation, the group that produced anime evolution conventions until 2010, cited various legal and financial issues leading to the 2011 convention’s failure to launch. Anime Evolution is now run by the Vancouver Anime Convention Society, a registered non-profit organization that they state will allow “certain benefits we didn’t [have] before that should lead to more opportunities and reduced costs for the convention.” It will also allow them to partner with other organizations more easily.

The convention itself maintained the same amount of material that their usual three-day event would hold, jam-packed into a two-day format. The halls of the AQ were as busy as a normal school day, except the crowds lasted late into the night, with the last panels wrapping up at 2:00 a.m., only to have the first panels restart the next day at 9:30 a.m.

A big part of any anime convention is cosplay, or costume play, in which fans dress up as their favourite characters from different shows, mangas, movies, etc., often getting completely in character by adopting their personas and mannerisms. The Peak was able to speak to Wayne and Garth, from Aurora, Illinois, who came all that way to “see the show,” said Wayne; “and to maybe score — schwingity-schwang,” added Garth.

The feel of the event was more of a meeting of friends than an opportunity to listen to panels and talk to industry professionals. “It’s more random, I have tonnes of friends here, so I’m always looking for them. As for the guests, if I get to see one, I get to see one,” said Chris Jensen, who started cosplaying about five years ago, and has been a self-defined nerd his whole life. “It’s like nerd mardi-gras almost,” echoed Natasha Pereira, dressed as Belarus from the Hetalia: Axis Powers series. “There’s so many fandoms, there’s so many people to talk to, so many things to see — I can’t get enough of it.”

The next Anime Evolution convention is slated to run sometime in 2013 and will reconvene with their usual three-day format.

SFU co-hosts Media Democracy Days

By
EIC
-
0

 

The event focused on media politics and affecting change

By Jennifer Bednard
Photos courtesy of Flickr

On Nov. 2 and 3, students and community members alike descended on booths and panels in the Vancouver Public Library building as part of Media Democracy Days, an annual event organized by both the SFU communication department and members of independent media organizations, to discuss issues in the print and broadcast media. “The big question is, ‘what are timely and relevant issues,’ ” explained Josh Tabish, lead coordinator of this year’s MDD, “‘[and] how does the media inform our understanding of them and action around them?’ ”

The event included workshops, a documentary screening, keynote speeches, and panels on a variety of topics ranging from data and political marketing to the use of scientific evidence in the news. “It’s not just for communications students,” said Kavya Joseph, co-coordinator of the event, “We targeted the international studies department, political science, women and gender studies, environmental science . . . For people in the sciences, it’s knowing to be aware of your relationship with the media and how it affects how science is received by people.”

The diverse programming was made possible in part by an increase in donations. Tabish explained, “This year we got very lucky and received a very large donation from VanCity Credit Union, which gave us more time to imagine more creative programming, rather than trying to scramble together funding.”

Though programming and panel design is decided primarily by members of the communication department at SFU, Kathleen Cross, a professor of communication studies who has been involved with the event for some time, says that there is a high degree of community engagement and involvement as well. She stated, “From the very beginning, it was based on a combination of academics and community. It wasn’t just an academic conference, and it wasn’t just a community conference or practitioners’ conference on how to make things better — it was both. Change will happen when you have a good combination of theory and practice.”

Change in media organizations has been a goal of Media Democracy Days since its inception in 2001. “There was a major media buy by CanWest,” Cross explained, “It was one of the first times that there was a major change in concentration of ownership, and people were very concerned about that. They said ‘We’ve got to start talking about this.’ ” Conversations at previous Media Democracy Days events led to the creation of The Tyee, an online alternative news source and Open Media, a national lobby group that focuses on media and communications issues.

This year’s Media Democracy Days were marked by an unprecedented amount of student involvement. “We had an army of volunteers,” Tabish said, “We could have taken the school over! It was unbelievable. We had to turn people away.” Courtenay McLaughlin, a communications student and volunteer, discussed reasons to get involved, saying “I think it’s a really important opportunity for all communication students to get involved with on some level, because MDD really is the crux of what the communication program is all about.”

Tabish added that the event can benefit students who are looking to get jobs in the media industries. “MDD offers a few things. It brings together all of the progressive and independent and alternative organizations in the Lower Mainland, so for people who want to work in this field, it’s kind of a wonderful show-and-tell session. And through the panels, for people who wish to work in these areas, this is a great way to have a kind of bird’s eye view on what type of media culture exists in the Lower Mainland.”

Organizers said that the biggest benefit of Media Democracy Days is how the event allows like-minded individuals to come together to change the system. Joseph explained, “It’s not just about talking about the media. It’s not just about dialogue. It’s also about creating a platform to bring together so many different people so that we can actually create some kind of change in the media system.”

Cross also points out that this focus means that MDD has produced some outstanding results. She stated, “Open Media was started by four twenty-somethings, and they created one of the most incredible and the most effective national lobbying groups on media and communications issues that we’ve ever seen in this country. You don’t need to be a corporate lawyer to do these things.”

SFU Labour Update

By
EIC
-
0

A quick update on the SFU labour strike from the front lines.

Created by Julian Giordano

Special thanks to:
TSSU
Bryan Scott
Alison Roach

Staying Sharp: Tips for running for the president.

By
EIC
-
0

By Colin Sharp

Layout by April Alayon
Photos by Mark Burnham

Power. You know you want it. And what greater power is there than being the commander in chief of a country? I mean, aside from being the CEO of the oil company that actually runs the country. Yeah, it sounds pretty great if you ignore that other option, right? And you want to know what’s even better than running a country? Running the greatest country in the history of the god damned world: America. For she is beautiful, and she is mighty in her glory. America. Freedom. America. Eagle. America. Flag. America. America.

Leading a country is a daunting task, but before you worry about that, you need to think about winning an election. This is where I come in. If you want to become the next president of the United States of America you’re going to need the watchful eye of Sir Colin Anthony Sharp, Esquire, a man that once ran a joke campaign for SFSS President and then dropped out because everyone thought he was actually going to win. Expertise, guys. I’ve got it in spades. Now let’s get patriotic as shit. And the rocket’s red glaaaaare, the bombs bursting in aaaaiiiir . . . .

 

1. Money. You’re going to need a lot of money.

My editor told me I should clear this up right away. Apparently not all of you are rich, and since I’m the independently wealthy Colin Sharp and the “target demographic” for this “student” newspaper lacks my “endless cashflow,” then by ignoring your finances I’m being a “pompous douche.” Well you know what, Gary? I’m prepared to shove hundred dollar bills down your throat until you can no longer make noises from your face. The 100 dollar bills smell like maple now, so I’ll just pair it with a nice pancake breakfast. And it’s not like these potential candidates need that much money. If you don’t have a spare $700 million in the bank, just liquidate a few assets; that’s just barely a third of the average yacht fleet, it’s not that hard. I’m here to give you advice on how to become the president, not to help the poor.

 

2. Be a god damned novelty.

In 2008 it was enough to be a black guy. People thought that was pretty nutty. It’s 2012 now, and we’ve had four years of a black guy so you need to be legit crazy now. I guess what I’m saying is, why not be a fucking Mormon? Mitt has his shit together, but let’s take it a step farther: become a scientologist. The general public is ready for this. After all, it’s been 12 years since Battlefield Earth.

 

3. Transportation is key.

John McCain thought he had this nailed back in 2000. He wanted to be president so he went and bought himself a bus. Then he dubbed it “The Straight Talk Express.” He couldn’t even get his own party to vote him in. Then the idiot brought it back in 2008, and he would’ve done even worse if it wasn’t for the novelty of that unintelligent lady he brought along. What’s the lesson here? Buses are stupid. Buy a plane. The president flies on a plane, you fly on a plane, you are the president. It’s a simple transitive property.

 

4. Have someone script literally everything you say.

If you go off book you’re going to screw up. Guaranteed. Even if you didn’t screw up, Fox News is going to say you screwed up. And if Fox News doesn’t think you screwed up, then you almost certainly screwed up.

 

5. Get more votes than the other candidates.

My advisors tell me that if you want to win you need more votes than the other candidates and that this is because of something called “math.” Your guess is as good as mine as to how the intricacies of this system work, but apparently this math thing is all we have right now. When you’re president, you should direct some funding towards working on an alternative.

Alright folks, quick recap. In order to get more votes than the other guys you’re going to want to be rich, you’re going to want to be a scientologist, you’re going to want to fly a plane, and you’re going to need someone scripting everything you say. You essentially need to be John Travolta. This will definitely work, unless John Travolta himself runs for office. You know, because he already has all of that going for him, and he would get the sympathy votes because his kid Jet (also a kind of plane!) died.

Alright. I tried to overlook this but it’s just too incredible to risk not explicitly mentioning it. Are you as impressed as I am that I called a section “be a god damned novelty” and then talked about religion. “God damn.” Religion. I mean, can you even begin to understand how funny this is? Screw the United States, I should be the president of laughs.

 

We fail Omar Khadr if we bar him from university

By
EIC
-
0

Khadr deserves the same opportunities as any other Canadian citizen

By Megan Mulder

In “Khadr not ready for post secondary”, printed in the Oct. 15 edition of The Peak, Saba Kaidani argues that if Omar Khadr is released on parole, he should be barred from post-secondary opportunities, which he may apply for in the summer of 2013. Kaidani’s article repeatedly misses the mark as it discusses the pros and cons of admitting Omar Khadr to King’s University College.

It is true that King’s University College has stated that Khadr’s application “would be considered in the same fashion as any other applicant” — and well it should be. To do anything else would be discriminatory. Refusing to admit Khadr on the basis of the fear that he may be the target of violence is akin to the oppositions of black students’ first entrances to white universities in the United States, purportedly made for fear of lynchings against them by white students. Their false concern was just as nonsensical then as Kaidani’s argument is now.

Kaidani also argues that Khadr is not ready for civilian life, saying that his psychiatric state is “likely fragile,” and continuing that he might be “the one aiming the gun.” Much evidence points to the contrary: Khadr’s defence lawyers call him “a model prisoner,” and Professor Arlette Zinck, who spent two years engaging in distance education with Khadr, says he was “attentive and interested in other people.” In addition, Dr. Steven Xenakis is a U.S. Army psychiatrist who assessed Khadr for the defence, and after spending more than 200 hours with him, Dr Xenakis’s opinion is that Khadr is “a very minimal risk if a risk at all” for endangering Canadian society.

She also says he may not be the “picture of innocence” he seems, and points to his close familial connections with Osama Bin Laden as proof. To which I say: this isn’t 18th-century China. There is no collective responsibility under Canadian law.

In fact, both Canadian and international laws see Khadr as a child soldier, and both the United States and Canada have ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which expressly requires rehabilitation of child soldiers.

Kaidani fails to see the real issue: the rights of Omar Khadr have been repeatedly violated. The Canadian government failed Omar Khadr when it stood by and let a 15-year-old boy be strapped to a stretcher and interrogated for 12 hours after being shot twice in the chest. It failed Khadr when he was being tortured — hooded, threatened with rape and barking dogs, and, as Human Rights Watch reports, “used as a ‘human mop’ after he urinated on the floor during one interrogation session.” And we will fail him too if we consider him “not worth the risk” of giving him the chances any other Canadian would receive.

We must not let fear rule us instead of reason. Let us uphold the rights we have affirmed. We can start by seeing Omar Khadr for what he is: a child soldier, deprived of his rights, abandoned by his government, and now, if Saba Kaidani will get her way, one also deprived of the opportunity even to be considered for post-secondary education. Canada has been shameful enough in its conduct towards Omar Khadr. Let us not take it any further. Omar Khadr must be allowed to apply for post-secondary education when he is able and if he so wishes.

The downside of “Made in China”

By
EIC
-
0

An iPhone! An Xbox! Our dignity for a pair of shoes!

By Eric LeBlanc
Photos by Mark Burnham

SACKVILLE (CUP) — An investigation by a Chinese non-governmental organization recently exposed child labour at an East coast factory owned by Foxconn, the manufacturer behind 40 per cent of all consumer electronics, including the Apple chain, the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. The company would later admit to finding interns as young as 14, working as part of a school program that employs them for up to six months, and promised to rectify the situation as soon as possible.

But this isn’t the only major controversy involving the Taiwanese giant. Foxconn is internationally known for its overall treatment of employees, which includes demanding work up to 72 hours a week at little pay, over-discipline on the part of management, and excessive and forced overtime. These conditions have led to so many employee suicides that the company was forced to install “suicide-prevention netting” at some of its factories. In Mexico, workers were told that their buses would be late and that they would be required to work overtime without pay. It was later revealed that those buses were directed by Foxconn management to delay their route, a finding that incited a riot at the plant.

What makes this plant so appealing to the tech giants in the West, however, is just how cheap production costs are. An iPhone currently generates $452 in profit for Apple through Foxconn, whereas, if produced in the United States, that number would drop just under $300. But shouldn’t Apple be satisfied with such a profit margin anyway? Isn’t the small drop worth the benefits in advancing human rights? Apparently the answer is no.

Apple isn’t the only one: Nike is known for employing workers, sometimes under the age of 16, in environments with similar or harsher conditions overseas, and faces much criticism to this day for improperly addressing the issues. And then there are the numerous chocolate companies purchasing cocoa from countries like Cote d’Ivoire, where the use of child labour is prevalent and well-known.

The reality of the world, however, is that it is highly unlikely that consumers will refrain from purchasing these products over these issues. The concept “Made in China” has found a place in popular culture, and has desensitized us all to what exactly that implies. Indeed, I honestly don’t see myself holding off from the next new phone or television over this, but that’s not because I don’t care — it’s because consumerism has become a lifestyle for us; the next best thing is a need rather than a desire. That’s the downside of advancing consumer technology.

That doesn’t mean this must remain as the status quo, though. Governments have the power to push legislation to discourage companies from outsourcing manufacturing labour to locales that don’t satisfy a certain workplace standard.

It should be in their best interests to do so — manufacturing is a huge job-and-wealth-generator. In this economically unstable era of our history, it seems that’s just what we would need. Not to mention that we have the capacity, with existing giants like Flextronics, Celestica, Sanmina-SCI and Jabil Circuit, each based out of North America.

If we pride ourselves for being above everyone else, perhaps it’s time we stopped exploiting everyone else’s hardships.

How to eat a banana non-sexually: A handy guide.

By
EIC
-
0

1. Do not make eye contact with anyone, and do not fully close eyes when biting into the banana.

2. The banana must move towards your mouth, not the other way around (i.e. you should not have to bend over to eat the banana).

3. When bringing the banana up to your mouth, it must come up vertically, the banana must not come into the mouth horizontally

4. Absolutely no obvious tongue action when it comes to eating the banana, we can not stress this enough

5. And last but not least, act confident when eating a banana. Don’t act like you don’t do this often or that you’re embarrassed. Own your confidence; own the banana.

1...1,3331,3341,335...1,430Page 1,334 of 1,430

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