A short video covering clubs day, and the clubs offered at SFU.
Created: Julian Giordano
Contact: [email protected]
Score: Colors – Leo Perez
A quick look at the SFU Clubs
Interview with the SFSS President
A short interview with Lorenz Yeung about the SFSS, and what it hopes to accomplish for the summer.
Created: Julian Giordano
Contact: [email protected]
The Avengers
By Paul Hurst
Larger-than-life superhero action flick remains true to its comic roots
The Avengers is a 20-course meal at a five star restaurant of action and adventure with action as the main course and spiced up by credible acting. It’s paced just right, alternating furiously funny “high camp” and brief seriousness. After the events of Thor, The Avengers are brought into the picture to defeat Thor’s adoptive brother, Loki, who comes to Earth to enslave all humans. He’s backed up with the requisite army of ugly, evil alien invaders.
Intense cartoon conflict and the latest in computer-generated special effects on a vast scale are the stars here, with the plot receding into the background. The Avengers is WWE done superhero large. Much of the humour in the movie is physical slapstick akin to professional wrestling, and the comic violence elicited rounds of laughter from the audience. Iron Man, played by Robert Downey Jr., provides most of the bon mots that give a semi-intellectual balance to the visceral funnies — at one point the Hulk grabs Loki by the legs and beats him repeatedly against the ground, like a child with a doll. Loki is left lying in a divot in the concrete floor and making squeaking sounds.
The special effects and sets are up to the latest standards, if not pushing the envelope. One expects the latest in gigantic space ships and evil CG monsters, and The Avengers is more than happy to avenge your need for them.
The movie comes to a satisfying conclusion, with the obvious, wanton, necessary destruction of New York City. Everyone loves it when NYC gets blowed up real good.
Award fund established for deceased SFU graduate
By Graham Cook
Funds will go towards female international students
The friends and family of the late Lenami Godinez-Avila have created an Award Fund at SFU in her memory. Twenty seven year-old Godinez-Avila died in late April while hang-gliding off Mount Woodside in Agassiz, B.C.
According to a press release from RememberingLena.com, it was Godinez-Avila’s dream to create such a fund that would allow international students like herself to attend university abroad. The recipients of this award will therefore be female international students who wish to study at SFU. The same document states that “those selected will demonstrate a passion for sustainability, a connection to community and the drive to work hard — core values that exemplified Lenami throughout her life.”
Godinez-Avila was born in Mexico and came to study at Simon Fraser University in 2003. In 2006, she graduated with a BA in Latin American Studies and Economics, and went on to work for the B.C. Ministry of Environment. She participated in waste reduction projects such as a compost drop spot where apartment residents could deposit kitchen scraps. Godinez-Avila also regularly donated to SFU’s International Students’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
The situation surrounding the young woman’s death is currently being reviewed by law enforcement. Witnesses claimed that she fell 300 meters about 30 seconds after takeoff. The tandem hang-gliding pilot involved, 50 year-old William Jonathan Orders, was arrested on charges of obstruction of justice for allegedly swallowing a camera’s memory card. The CBC reported that police used daily X-rays to follow the memory card through his body, and that the police are now in possession of the card.
Orders have been released on bail, with the conditions that he put up just over $5,700, surrender his passport, and not participate in any hang-gliding. He is scheduled to appear in court on June 18.
Opponents of men’s centre are unwittingly reinforcing patriarchy
By Paul Wang
Critics of the proposed SFU Men’s Centre claim that it is unnecessary, because men don’t have the same problems as women. However, this argument relies on the same problematic assumptions that the Women’s Centre is supposed to fight, and is ultimately a stumbling block for the cause of gender equality.
Let’s make one thing clear: there is no need for the creation of some sort of Victorian gentlemen’s club at SFU. A men’s centre will need the same level of oversight that the Women’s Centre does. Furthermore, the creation of a men’s centre cannot compromise the current operations of the Women’s Centre, an organization that provides valuable services to the student body. Despite assertions to the contrary, academic statistics do not make the Women’s Centre obsolete. There are indeed more women pursuing undergraduate degrees than men, and more of them getting their degrees. However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t still abused women, female victims of sexual harassment, or cultural assumptions that prevent these women from reaching their full potential. The issues that the Women’s Centre deals with are primarily cultural, not academic.
The cause of these issues is a series of cultural assumptions and biases which most refer to collectively as “the patriarchy,” a term which conjures up an image of a male-dominated society. The problem with that image is that, like most issues, has two sides, a duality reflected by the fact that although our student body is doing a fine job of combating the assumptions that victimize women, it has entirely ignored those that target men.
The patriarchy defines roles for men as well as women. The man is the warrior, the stoic, the defender, and the breadwinner. These ideas create an increasingly obsolete image of masculinity that forces demands on men that are difficult to live up to. This is why abused women are rightfully treated with sympathy, while abused men are so afraid of the humiliation of potential emasculation that they rarely report an abusive partner. This is why when a woman dresses in men’s clothes, she’s a tomboy, but when a man dresses in women’s clothes, he’s labeled a freak.
These issues exist, and they are issues in need of address. A men’s centre, under the proper oversight, can provide a place for research and activist events. It can help with the education process to fight these cultural assumptions from both sides, and to open a second front against both sexual discrimination, and stereotyping.
To say that there is no need for a men’s centre is to insinuate that us guys are expected to take care of our own problems, and that either abused men and the cultural assumptions that victimize all but the most “macho” of us don’t exist, or that we are strong enough to deal with them ourselves. This idea would then suggest women must naturally have a specialized support structure to help them. How is this different from what both the Women’s Centre and the proposed Men’s Centre aim to fix? The opponents of the Men’s Centre may not know it, but by reinforcing the same cultural assumptions that we should be banding together to fight, they are perpetuating the problem.
SFSS board shorts
By David Dyck
Board addresses concerns about facilities
The board approved a letter drafted by URO Jeff McCann addressed to SFU VP-finance and administration Pat Hibbitts, which addressed several concerns that the society has about “access to invoices, information relating to project quotes, and timely feedback opportunities.” It suggested that facilities post electronic invoices, formal documentation between preliminary and final estimates, and more opportunities for feedback.
Board seeks Build SFU project worker
A job description for a Build SFU project worker to support the board of directors was passed. Among the project worker’s responsibilities would be to take meeting minutes and work with other SFSS staff, student representatives, and university staff. The staff member is projected to work from five to 20 hours per week.
URO sends standing regrets for summer
University Relations Officer Jeff McCann requested that the board ratify standing regrets for May 22 until August 18. “I don’t want to take a leave of absence, I want to keep working, I just won’t be able to come to board meetings,” said McCann, citing a summer co-op term that he accepted. He stated that he would still attend space committee meetings, Build SFU steering committee meetings, and forum meetings.
Treasurer Kevin Zhang voiced concerns that as an executive director it’s more imperative that he attend board of director meetings than faculty of health sciences representative Tracy Luong, whose leave of absence over the summer was approved by board earlier this month.
“Why don’t we give him the benefit of the doubt and let him do it? He was president last semester, I’m pretty sure he knows what he’s doing,” said education faculty representative Shideh Manavipour.
Zhang responded, “I ran on a platform of being accountable. There’s no way for me to know if Jeff is being accountable if he’s doing work at home. If I don’t see the person and all I see is 10 hours [worth of] emails, who’s accountable?”
McCann pointed out that he was heavily involved in at least two of the items on the agenda at that meeting itself, including the letter to VP-finance.
The board voted to ratify the URO’s standing regrets until the end of June, at which time it would be reevaluated.
Women’s Centre serves more than just pancakes, it serves our community
By Negin Alavi
The Women’s Centre has, unfortunately, not been able to pay for ads about our centre due to our budget cuts in 2009/10. However, that hasn’t stopped the Women’s Centre from stepping up for all students, regardless of gender. In fact, on the topic of our budget, it’s important that we clear up the gross misrepresentation in the “Girl’s Club” article, published by The Peak two weeks ago. The SFSS budget puts our staff wages and Centre budget in one line, so while the budget shows a higher number, the actual annual working budget for the centre has been carved down closer to $8,000, less than 50 per cent of our 2008/9 budget. We’ve had to ask and work for every dime. We’re relieved to say that our most recent budget increase was from an actual referendum process. However, $667 a month, before this past May 1 seems fiendishly low, considering our high number of volunteers, event planning, and a library that is available for all genders.
We are active in Forum and Advocacy: an under-funded and under-reported committee of the SFSS. The Women’s Centre and our sibling space, Out on Campus, were part of the fight for every student in a multi-student society campaign that headed out to Victoria on the issue of student debt. Our volunteers were also part of the successful March to Defend Public Education that was held downtown on April 1. Furthermore, we play an integral part in referring students of all genders to the campus Food Bank. MBC’s room 1349 exists not as a “kindness,” but as a necessity for student survival.
While women may have equal access to university and student debt, that doesn’t mean equal access to debt payment, not with women still earning 30 cents less on the dollar than men. Forget the myth that “more women in school” means “women making more money.” That even head-hunted women hit the glass ceiling at entry level shows that feminism isn’t quite passe, unless, of course, you choose to be content with a foot in the door and a brake on advancement.
If you think our mandate is antiquated, ask what it is first. In a few words: pro-feminist, pro-choice, anti-racist, sex-positive, and trans-inclusive. All of these are current and relevant to the diverse body of students’s lives. The Advocacy Committee, Out On Campus, the SFSS Legal clinic, and the Women’s Centre, organizations that help all students graduate, have been ravaged by SFSS cuts over the past four years.
These cuts have also reduced the Women’s Centre’s ability to combat attempts to make reproductive choice illegal, stop racist attacks in action and rhetoric, and fight for queer and trans rights; all topics debated regularly in legislatures throughout the world. Feminists of all genders are not done yet. It is regrettable that our Pro-Choice Days received little coverage, with our amazing male allies countering anti-choicers on campus last November. Nor was there coverage on the March 2012 event with national activists speaking on choice, a serious topic currently under national discussion. But with events like these, we’re proving that if it’s still happening, it’s not history, and that the SFU Women’s Centre is happening for international students, graduate students, students across disciplines, as well as their non-SFU loved ones. Still need more proof of our relevance? Volunteer applications never stop coming in.
This Centre is clear in our support of women, men, and non-conformists being feminists, without apology. Feminism, in its diverse manifestations, is indeed the affirmation of women, not an implicit rejection of men. That is why we work in a collective process with many different voices, sharing important principles, and contributing to progress for real equity and ethical power sharing in an unbalanced, binary-gendered world. In and around our little space, we’re okay with calling it feminism; just remember that it directs the community building work that we’ve been doing on behalf of all SFU students.
Mean Sun by Brasstronaut
By Colin O’Neil
Brasstronaut’s crowdsource-enabled sophomore offering presents a lush audioscape
Vancouver band Brasstronaut released their second full-length album Mean Sun last Tuesday, giving fans another dose of their melodic tones, far-away vibrations, and perhaps an insight into the future of survival as a musician in our technological age.
Mean Sun is Brasstronaut’s follow-up to 2010’s Mt. Chimera, and was recorded with renowned producer and Juno award winner Colin Stewart, who has worked with Vancouver notables Black Mountain and Dan Mangan, but perhaps the band’s fans and supporters should receive just as much acknowledgement. In order to enable the production of Mean Sun, Brasstronaut deployed a fundraising campaign on Indiegogo that raised more than their goal of $15,000. In exchange for generous donations, they offered perks ranging from free downloads of Mean Sun to autographed merchandise and a private show. Using technology and the interconnectedness of music-lovers to their advantage, Brasstronaut released their second album, worth a listen or two or 10.
Upon first listen, it is apparent this is a masterfully produced album from a band that exists far outside your everyday image of a rock and roll quartet. With instruments such as a clarinet, trumpet, and lap steel guitar, Mean Sun builds and falls perfectly, offering neither too much nor too little of what the band’s six members put forth.
“Bounce”, the album’s opening track, rises gently, like a wave forming over miles of open ocean to reach its full form of thumping bass, foot-tapping drums, and weaving horns and strings. The song evokes thoughts of pleasant travel across big, wide spaces, of desert and frozen tundra, and even of space itself. This thread continues throughout the album. “Francisco” offers a breakdown of claps, intricate guitar picking, and trumpet tooting, while “Moonwalker” gives the listener images of deep-breathing astronauts, the cold moon, and is reminiscent of The Flaming Lips. The album’s title track lyrically delivers the themes of spatial hugeness that other songs do instrumentally.
In their fundraising efforts, Brasstronaut proves that bands can adapt to their circumstances and find ways to fulfill their goals in any environment. At a time when musicians complain relentlessly about stolen music and an intrusive recording industry, the independent Brasstronaut has turned the system on its head. Mean Sun is an album that doesn’t seem to fall into any obvious categorization (jazz-pop-rock fusion does not seem to do justice), but satisfies regardless. It is an album to fall asleep to, drive to, or think to. Explore the world, Brasstronaut, and Mean Sun.
Brasstronaut plays their CD release show June 2 at the Rio.
Mercy Years chasing the dream on the roads of western Canada
Passion might just pay off for Mercy Years guitarist and SFU dropout Benjamin Mott
“He who opens a school door, closes a prison,” French artist Victor Hugo once said. Generally true, but this adage has proved false for many of the most successful and wealthy people in the world. John Lennon certainly didn’t pen “Imagine” because he aced a calculus exam, and teenaged Bill Gates created the pancake-sorting algorithm and founded Microsoft.
Mercy Years guitarist and former SFU student Benjamin Mott is following in their footsteps. “Generally, I was going towards an arts degree, but the idea of having a steady job after getting a bachelor’s seemed silly to me,” he says.
Mott, who was an SFU student until this spring, began with a major in music and changed programs twice, first to electronics and engineering, and then to communications. After finding his passion for music through Mercy Years, Mott dropped out of school to pursue the golden dream of every struggling musician.
“After four years [of university], I still couldn’t find something that I was really excited to study,” Mott says. “I decided that’s not where I wanted to put my energy. I think that if you’re in school and spending all of that time and money, you should love what you’re doing.”
In many cases, this epiphany comes with a hefty share of hardship, potential failure, and dissatisfaction. But for Mott, passion and determination weren’t so difficult to find. “I don’t think there was a particular light bulb, but I eventually realized that I had to do what was best for myself, and what I want do is play guitar in a rock band and tour Canada and North America.”
Now, with their inaugural western Canada tour behind them, Mercy Years is taking steps down a promising path that started with guitarist Adam Sharp’s move to Canada and an ad on Craigslist in 2009. Sharp recruited guitarist Nick Russell, and the band was born.
“Nick was the only person that wrote me back who didn’t say ‘pro-attitude’. Everyone else was telling me how cool they were, and Nick was just humble, so we hit it off,” Sharp says.
Mott, drummer Jamison Gladysz, bassist Matt Gostelow, and vocalist Hannah Walker were adopted through their time working together at JJ Bean. Mercy Years came to a full circle when Russell took to Craigslist again and found the band’s latest addition, keyboardist and vocalist Laura Genschorek.
“Craigslist has been very good to this band,” Mott chuckles.
Their self-titled EP was officially released May 4, one day after their CD release show at The Cobalt, where free copies were given away. Three guitarists and multiple vocalists lend a full sound to their music, giving Mercy Years a creative advantage in the industry.
“We’ve always been into a collaborative approach to music. Having more members and having girl vocals adds a lot to the sound and gives you a wider range of things you can do with the music,” Russell says.
This variety comes through with the group’s weaving guitar parts and harmonious, soft vocals, which have been praised on the EP. “The proper review we had was good. It said we sounded very summery, which is something I’m not sure we expected, but now that I’ve listened to it, it’s true,” Russell says. “It’s great because summer CDs end up being road trip CDs, which you attach to good memories.”
Mercy Years has a sunny future that includes their first festival appearance in Edmonton in late summer, more hometown shows, and finishing their debut album. “We’ve got some good momentum at the moment,” says Sharp, “and it would be nice to keep it going.”
Mercy Years plays the Breast Cancer Fundraiser at 560 on May 24.
