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Something rotten in the state of Greece

By
EIC
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0

By Reid Standish

 

Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.

– Hamlet Act I, Sc. III

 

It all began innocently enough.

Back in 2002, as Greece first adopted the Euro as its currency, the country’s economic forecast was overwhelmingly optimistic. With its new currency and fresh access to the privileges of EU membership, Greece began a bacchanalia of large-scale borrowing. This manifested in a wild period of high-profile projects that went well over budget, such as the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Although the 2008 economic crisis was the straw that broke the camel’s back, Greece’s economic problems were well underway before the ghost of the global meltdown appeared.

Slow growth meant that the government had to shore out more in state benefits and received less through taxation. This was compounded by widespread tax evasion, government corruption, and some startling inconsistencies in Greece’s official economic statistics. By the time that Greece’s economic problems began to surface, lenders began charging higher interest rates and market speculation ran wild as many began to doubt Greece’s ability to repay its massive debt. Since then, Greece has been stalling off default, having accepted a bailout package in 2010 worth EUR 110 billion, with a second bailout package of EUR 130 billion currently on its way. The price has been increased austerity, which has resulted in many state entitlements being cut. This in turn has sparked massive protests and in some cases, riots.

A little more than kin, and less than kind

It would be poetic to call what is happening in Greece hubris. The country’s massive debt was accumulated over a period of shortsighted borrowing and an overestimated balance between taxation and entitlement programs. But beyond the poetic nature of the sovereign debt crisis, the country is on the verge of economic and social collapse. The austerity measures imposed as part of the bailout package have triggered unrest, most recently on February 12 when hooded youths torched and looted buildings across central Athens as lawmakers backed more than EUR 3 billion in cuts to wages, jobs, and pensions. Greeks are now bracing for a decade of hardship.

The most recent bailout averts a chaotic default next month, but does little to allay doubts over Greece’s long-term financial and social stability as the country faces spiraling unemployment and a recession in its fifth year. Moreover, the credit agency Fitch further downgraded Greece’s rating from CCC to C. It was the first of widely expected cuts from all rating agencies because Greece will pass into technical default on its liabilities once the transaction is completed, which finance minister Evangelos Venizelos said must take place by March 12. The complex deal reached on Tuesday buys time to stabilize the 17-nation currency bloc and strengthen its financial protection against a Greek default, but it leaves doubts about Greece’s ability to avoid difficulties in the longer term.

Meanwhile, tensions with the Eurozone are on the rise, particularly between Greece and one of its main lender nations, Germany. A draft enabling law for new budget cuts that was introduced into parliament on February 21 showed that Greece now sees a budget deficit of 6.7 per cent of gross domestic product, up from an original target of 5.4 per cent in its initial 2012 budget. The new figure retroactively reflected a more pessimistic view of the economy that already emerged last year as Greece and its lenders set out to work on the bailout package. Besides sending permanent foreign inspectors, the bailout plan requires Greece to set aside revenue to cover debt service into a special reserved account.

The plan reflects the mistrust between Greece and foreign lenders — in particular EU paymaster Germany. After years of backsliding on reforms by Athens, the EU is desperate to oversee a Greek recovery. But restrictive stipulations have riled Greeks whose sense of national pride has been hurt by the threat of bankruptcy. Laying the groundwork for political infighting within the EU and adding to growing anti-EU sentiment on the streets of Athens.

To default, or not to default, that is the question

As austerity measures continue to be imposed onto the Greek people through EU concessions, social unrest is destined to rise. This, combined with the ominous outlook for the Greek economy has prompted numerous suggestions of how best to deal with Greece’s sovereign debt crisis.  One idea has been to let Greece default on its debt.

Both Argentina in 2001 and Iceland in 2008 have gone down similar paths and have managed to recover. Just last week Iceland’s credit rating was upgraded to BB+ by Fitch. The credit upgrade was a signal of Iceland’s course to recovery as Fitch once again labeled the country as safe to invest in. Nouriel Roubini, the chairman of Roubini Global Economics and an NYU professor has openly stated that a similar route would provide Greece with the best opportunity of rebuilding its economy.

By remaining in the Euro, which is still a strong currency, Greece is relinquishing the opportunity of letting its currency devalue and becoming more competitive. “A return to a national currency and a sharp depreciation would quickly restore competitiveness and growth, as it did in Argentina and many other emerging markets that abandoned their currency pegs,” said Roubini, while speaking at an economic summit at NYU last week.

Such a maneuver would see Greece leave the Eurozone and could be traumatic to the region, due to capital losses from financial institutions within the EU that are tied to Greek debt. However, this is not to say that these problems could not be overcome. Although dealing with capital losses would be a major hurdle to overcome, it is not without precedent. In 2001, Argentina “pesified” its debts, as it converted all debt incurred in U.S. dollars into pesos as a means of restructuring its debt and preventing capital flight out of Argentina.

A Greek default may prove to be inevitable. Therefore preventive means might be the most prudent way forward. “Like a broken marriage that requires a break-up, it is better to have rules that make separation less costly to both sides. Breaking up and divorcing is painful and costly, even when such rules exist. Make no mistake: an orderly Euro exit will be hard. But watching the slow disorderly implosion of the Greek economy and society will be much worse,” said Roubini during his closing statement at the NYU economic summit.

The rest is silence

At the Four Seasons Vancouver on February 17, the Fraser Institute hosted a talk with Greek parliamentarian, Kyriakos Mitsotakis about the growing debt crisis in Greece. At the event, Mitsotakis tackled the possibility of a default, but remained firmly against the idea. “The violent shake up of our reforms is starting to create new opportunities. A default is not the answer now,” said Mitsotakis.

This does hold some merit. Despite its recovery from the 2001 crisis, Argentina still remains politically and economically isolated and a similar fate would follow Greece most likely should Athens follow Buenos Aires’ lead. Moreover, the reintroduction of a new currency could cause a host of practical problems that could hinder economic recovery further. For the time being, the Hellenic parliament remains determined to tackle the familiar problem, rather than risk a whole new one.

However, the most pressing problem for Greece may be the Greeks themselves. While much of the attention has been focused on bailouts and the possibility of a default, more and more Greeks are taking to the streets in protest. On February 12, Athens experienced the worst episode of violence in years and as unemployment continues along with the deadly combination of austerity measures and a deepened recession takes hold, its safe to say that Athens hasn’t burned for the last time. Such dire circumstances could create a vile political climate, which Greece is already beginning to display symptoms of. Far-left and far-right political parties are gaining prominence, and soon the legitimacy of the political status quo will expire.

“We have about six to nine months to start and get some results. Otherwise, reform fatigue will set in and people will begin to question what their sacrifices have been for,” said Mitsotakis, who voted in favour of both bailout packages for Greece. Yet, despite the anger on the streets, Mitsotakis appeared cautiously optimistic, citing future legislation on tax reform, combatting unemployment, and reprivatizing the Greek banks. “We may be running a primary surplus by the end of this year.”

Even though such reforms may be worthwhile, Mitsotakis has failed to acknowledge that there is something fundamentally rotten in the state of Greece. Austerity measures and Greece’s debt tragedy will only continue and along with them comes social unrest on the streets, inflammatory rhetoric from Brussels, and an economy in desperate need of a jumpstart. The past few years have been filled with empty promises of reform in Greece and although the new bailout stipulations may help to achieve these reforms, much of the damage has already been done through inaction.

Indecisiveness coupled with hasty actions makes for a tragic ending. With elections slated for April, it is safe to say that many of the current political cast of characters will not make it to the next act. There is no happy ending here — just a country in need of repair.

Casual attitude about levies sucking students dry

By
EIC
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2

By Cedric Chen

I’m a forum representative. Last month, another student organization (referred to as “Organization X” after here) came to the SFSS Forum meeting, advocating their referendum question to impose yet another levy on all students, whether they accept it or not. Organization X asked for the forum’s endorsement, and I refused to support them. Later, when I was reporting back to my DSU about this in a DSU general meeting, the attendees became furiously and blatantly hostile to this proposal, and this gave us yet another indication that the practice of on-campus organizations collecting levies is going too far and getting out of control.

Before I get started, allow me to draw a clear distinction: I’m in no way advocating against any cause of any on-campus organization collecting levies; my point is simply that the practice of collecting levies is getting far too acceptable.

First of all, let’s be brutally honest: SFU students and students at other institutions are already bearing heavy financial burdens thanks to government cut-backs and corporate greed (think about your hundred-dollar textbooks). Unlike the wealthy, just one more dollar can always be the last straw on a student’s back. Also, unlike the governments, who can always increase taxes as a mean of income, we cannot ask for unlimited treasure from our parents. With many of us already bearing unbearable student debts, most of us would do whatever we can to cut down our expenses. Opening up another levy is certainly in counterproductive to this goal.

More importantly, students are sometimes not given any other choices. If a student does not agree with how The Peak or SFPIRG is behaving, they have the option of opting out and reclaiming their levies. For some other organizations, opting out has not been an option, and if you refuse to pay these levies, your account becomes outstanding, preventing you from enrolling courses for the  next semester. Taking Organization X as an example, when I was trying to add an opt-out clause into their referendum question proposal, my motion was turned down.

Another reason why I’m against such practices is that once levies are approved, we can hardly find a way to track how they’re used, let alone decide how they should be used. In these cases, ‘Don’t worry. They’ll know how to use the money,’ is plain old bullshit. If the Simon Fraser Student Society, big enough to supposedly represent all SFU students, commits financial misconduct like using our money to renovate their office instead of repairing the recharging machine at the Copy Centre until last semester, then how can we just expect a random on-campus organization to financially behave as well?

Again, I’m not alleging that all these organizations have been committing financial misconduct, and if one organization doesn’t commit financial misconduct, its people know that my comments here won’t affect them. I’m just proposing that we cannot just trust any organization when we’re deprived of information.

Last but certainly not least, call me selfish, but some of these organizations and their causes just aren’t going to bring any benefit to SFU or the SFU community. While The Peak is providing SFU students a platform to spill out their dissatisfaction with this university, and SFPIRG is providing SFU students good alternative sources for knowledge, I can’t see how some other of these organizations are to our benefit. In the example of the Organization X, they’re starting big projects outside of Canada. How are those big projects going to benefit SFU? Organization X kept arguing that they’re practicing SFU’s motto ‘Thinking of the World’, but have they been thinking about SFU, whose very survival is under threat from all sides?

Let’s be honest: We’re just not ‘enlightened’ to the point where we’re willing to give out levies from our pockets without seeing any potential benefit or reward, especially when we’re about to starve to death. Are these big projects going to produce talents that will help SFU build itself in return? Maybe. Maybe not.

In conclusion, I just don’t see the necessity of opening up another levy that will be imposed on already-struggling SFU students. Other than that, the practice of random on-campus organizations collecting levies may be justifiable when this practice is well under control, but now it’s spiraling out of control.

My final words to the Organization X are: if you want money, you can always do what all DSUs have been doing. Hosting fund-raisers or applying for a grant. You can also sign a sponsorship agreement with a big corporation, just like what the BASS has done. If students don’t want to give you money, you really shouldn’t just go to the SFSS and ask them to force students into giving you money.

Soon there’ll be a referendum regarding this proposed new levy, and I would encourage you all to vote ‘No’. Because if the question is passed, other organizations will do the same, and eventually SFU students will be dragged into a bottomless whirlpool.

The SUB is a scam

By
EIC
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0

By Joel Warren

Eleven years ago, the SFSS held a referendum encouraging students to radically alter the SFSS governance structure. Previously, the board of directors was composed of six executives — inclding one for grad students — plus a representative from each departmental student union. The new structure was to be more efficient. As such, DSUs were demoted to an advisory role on forum. The board created faculty representatives, two at-large positions and a seventh executive, the member services officer.

I remember disagreeing with this proposal, as the centralization of power would not only weaken any sense of student ownership of the SFSS, but it would reduce meaningful, inclusive participation in SFSS governance. But most importantly, I knew it would turn the board into a dirty site of ideological contest and petty alliances because a voting block of less than 10 students could hold the authority to promote personal interests rather than students’ interests. I genuinely wish I had been wrong.

The influence of the Canadian Federation of Students back then was more complicated, as they knew they could only appease, not control, a 35 to 40-member board. The CFS meddling then was minor compared to the following six years, where the dominant theme of SFSS board politics became CFS versus anybody else. This battleground dynamic led to the alienation of and eventual secession by Grad students, the impeachment of the CFS, half of the board and, eventually, SFU’s defederation from the CFS.

Progressive-minded students, which traditionally comprised an unaligned majority at forum, gradually shunned the SFSS, focusing their efforts inward towards various constituency groups, SFPIRG groups, DSUs, and clubs, creating a vacuum in SFSS politics which, absent the CFS presence, allowed a radical rightward shift culminating in this last year’s fascistic coup of the Leninistic party vanguard structure of SFSS governance.

If forum was the board like it used to be, the tragic events of this last year would never have happened. Forum-as-board would not abide a three-month lockout and cuts to services. Instead of taking an IMF austerity approach to budget deficits, more inventive measures to balancing the budget would have been taken. There would have been transparency, debates, and meaningfully inclusive participation in the discussions and decision-making surrounding the student union building (SUB). Arry Dhillon would have never been capable of saying, to paraphrase, that there is to be no debate on the SUB levy outside of a ‘No’ campaign for the referendum. [Eds. Note – Dhillon denies this quote, and maintains that debate over referendum questions is under the purview of the IEC, the BuildSFU campaign is informational only, and that the SFSS is not currently running a ‘Yes’ campaign on the referendum question as the period to do so has not started.]

The SUB is the largest initiative the SFSS has ever undertaken and  according to Arts Representative Kyle Acernio, the levy proposed is the largest in Canadian student political history [Eds. Note – The Peak could not independently confirm this figure.] The process to introduce it unfolded at the last possible board meeting available to put referendum questions to ballot, a deadline conveniently prior to a chance for forum representatives to consult their constituencies and advise the Board. This is the student politics equivalent of proroguing Parliament because the minority in power fears the majority might prefer something resembling a democratic institutional process.

Less than a half-dozen board members sat in secret negotiations with the SFU administration, hacked out a deal, and manipulated timeframes and deadlines to ensure nobody but them had a say — either in the nature of the referendum question or on the SUB proposal marketed to students. The Board is asking for an incremental levy, eventually capping at $270 per year in 2022  — but has done nothing to earn students’ trust that we should support them. Like the snake-oil salesman, they claim a SUB is a panacea of all student ills then set up a propaganda office to close the deal.

A closer look at the deal presented is revealing. Surrey and Downtown students will not benefit much from this SUB but will pay the same as Burnaby students so the board is likely to encounter significant opposition there. Throw in a football stadium (athletics and rec being under university jurisdiction, and is thus SFU’s responsibility to pay for) and you can buy jock ‘Yes’ votes to counter satellite campus ‘No’ votes.

In exchange we get an old building requiring massive retrofits and upgrades to become our SUB. On any hierarchy of needs, an upgrade to, say, student family residences outweighs a sports complex, but that would not buy enough votes. So instead of meeting real needs, or utilizing a more accessible space between the MBC and AQ, where we are not architecturally hindered by aging structures, a couple of SFSS autocrats chose the inferior site, throwing in a perk that will benefit a few to secure an unequal levy. Aside from these dirty political tricks, the board bowed to university pressure for student money as if the deal would crumble without immediate guaranteed funds. Bollocks! SFU wants a SUB too, because it helps their place-marketing.

Ultimately, however, the SUB hustle — “the McCann Scam” — may prove the catalyst to the end of the decade-long failed experiment in centralized SFSS governance. Many DSU’s and constituency groups are livid, not over the SUB, but over the secrecy and manipulation candy-coated with hollow appeals for post-hoc community input. My prediction is that come summer semester you will likely see forum pushing back and itself instituting legally binding procedural standards for the SUB project rooted in inclusion, transparency, and accountability which the Board must meet before one cent can ever be collected. This momentum may give rise to the self-confidence needed for a complimentary push by Forum for a return to decentralized SFSS governance, ensuring a handful of self-interested and ideologically aligned students cannot treat our non-profit society like their own private enterprise.

Ends may ‘justify’ means in business, but in non-profits, the means are ends themselves. Indeed, no board-designed procedural standards for the SUB are acceptable. Accountability must be imposed from below. Viva forum!

SFU infrastructure needs your help

By
EIC
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0

By Mike Soron

 

The offices, labs, and public spaces at SFU have seriously deteriorated because they are not maintained as needed. It saddens me to see the monumental steps of Arthur Erikson’s Convocation Mall literally crumbling, marked off by orange safety pylons on rainy days. Some buildings are unsafe and others so degraded that they can only be demolished. This is not an acceptable environment for world-class teaching, learning and research and graduate students are calling on the B.C. government to restore funding for the maintenance and renewal of campus buildings.

SFU’s Capital Plan, approved by the Board of Governors last spring, indicates that more than half of SFU’s buildings are in ‘poor’ condition. The plan warns that the WAC Bennett Library building is seismically unsafe. Considering this, I’m not surprised that building maintenance and renewal is a top priority for university administrators. Considering that SFU’s report to the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) indicates a backlog of over $700 million at SFU Burnaby alone, building maintenance and renewal will remain a priority for many, many years. Yet, SFU cannot even meet ordinary yearly maintenance costs, let alone address the backlog of repairs postponed because of recent funding cuts.

In Canada, the provinces are responsible for post-secondary education, and British Columbia has historically funded maintenance through an annual capital allowance (ACA) to universities and colleges. Funding for SFU ACA has been dramatically slashed, from approximately $4.6 million in 2008–2009 to just over $500,000 in 2010–2011 — a 90 per cent decrease! SFU’s is asking for $20 million a year in provincial maintenance funding starting in 2012, just to keep our buildings and infrastructure from degrading further. But, administration’s report to the NWCCU says a value twice that is needed. If appropriate funding is not soon provided, SFU warns that its operations will be affected. At our university, operations must mean teaching, learning and research. These are SFU’s core functions and — at minimum — we need safe and healthy classrooms, labs, and washrooms kept in good repair.

Everyday, next to unsealed windows and closed-off hallways, students feel the consequences of not maintaining our buildings and infrastructure. I hear stories from graduate students about leaky ceilings, unheated offices, and unrepaired fixtures. I see the damage at SFU Vancouver, too, where malfunctioning elevators and locked stairwells soured my early classwork at Harbour Centre. Feedback from concerned students in these buildings should encourage the province to restore and prioritize maintenance funding through the ACA.

Renewing buildings in Burnaby, Vancouver, and Surrey is a socially, fiscally, and environmentally responsible use of provincial resources. Repairing and rebuilding our campus employs British Columbian workers and can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to dangerous global warming. Undertaking these repairs can improve the health and well-being of students, faculty, and staff on campus. Further delaying this work will only increase risk and long-term costs, while impairing the teaching, learning and research taking place at SFU today. So, grab a camera, document the urgent need around you, and help the GSS advocate for the provincial funds needed to repair our campus.

You can help advocate for restored funding by photographing examples of the under-maintained campus and its impact on your learning, research, and teaching. Take photographs and send them to [email protected] or by visiting iheartsfu.tumblr.com. The Graduate Student Society will collect these stories and photos showing how postponing maintenance affects teaching, learning and research and use them in making a strong case for urgent action by the B.C. government.

Canada’s apartheid

By
EIC
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0

Are we 20 years behind South Africa?

By Christopher Nichols

I’m sitting on a metal bunk in a medium-security prison in South Africa as I write this.  The blazing sunlight and gorgeous natural scenery outside seem strangely juxtaposed with the barred windows and razor wire-topped walls, but I suppose Africa has always been a land of contradictions. The cold concrete walls do something to alleviate the 35 degree temperature outside, but I can’t quite stave off a slick of sweat.

I am, by the way, referring to the long-defunct prison on Robben Island, just off the coast of Cape Town, where I am currently spending three weeks working in heritage conservation. The island itself is quite beautiful, which — speaking of contradictions — is also at odds with its unsavoury history. It has served as a leper colony, a mental asylum, a military outpost, and several forms of prison. Most famously, Robben Island was for many years the dumping ground for South Africa’s political dissidents — including Nelson Mandela, who finally broke the back of the apartheid system in 1991.

Institutionalised racism is not what you’d call a new problem. It is so old a problem, in fact, that it boggles the mind to think that it was still in place as recently as 1991. Surely, in our world of genetic science and understanding of DNA, we should be passed the concept of race itself, let alone of racism. That is, of course, wishful thinking, as the obsessive need to classify and divide is one of the defining features of humanity, and not something that we have much chance of wiping out entirely (despite it also being one of our most problematic and conflictive tendencies). Once humans do begin to spot petty differences among things, especially themselves, it’s all but inevitable that a pecking order is established — usually somewhat less-than-diplomatically. Apartheid, in some form or another, has existed since the dawn of colonialism. South Africa was simply the first country to give it its own name.

In many ways, while researching the history of the racial struggles here as close to first-hand as one can get today, I am reminded of our own racial conflicts in Canada. The colonial efforts in both countries show a very distinct strategy designed to dehumanise the indigenous populations: a policy of attempted assimilation followed by one of segregation, with the two policies overlapping to various degrees; the ‘innovation’ of ID cards; heavy stereotyping and distortion of history to portray the people as inferior and savage; and systems of enforced poverty.

With all these similarities in mind, however, there is one major difference that does need to be pointed out. South Africa managed to free itself from this archaic system 20 years ago and establish for itself a new, non-racist order. Difficulties still exist among the people, as they are prone to, but the government is, finally, officially colour-blind (one absurd exception being that employers are required to give preference to non-white job candidates — a bizarre twist of prejudice, though I refuse to use the phrase ‘reverse racism’). The question does have to be asked, therefore: why is Canada so far behind in this — pardon the expression — race?

While Canada is not an overtly or intentionally racially oppressive country, and has made great efforts to rectify past injustices (correction of history and stereotypes and repatriation of artefacts, for instance), it continues to retain some of those hallmarks of racism that South Africa shed so decisively in the ‘90s. In particular, segregation and ID carding persist, via reservations and status cards, respectively. But they have been somewhat watered down and warped, being presented as a) voluntary, and b) beneficial.

Segregation via the reserve system is still going strong. It’s not an enforced situation; anyone has the right to move out of the reservation if they want to. However, it is nevertheless a system whereby a single denomination of people can become isolated from all others —segregation by choice! Similarly, no one will be arrested for failing to produce a status card, but the card’s demeaning effect still takes hold: a document that identifies you as disparate from all other humans (not simply from white people; there are no status cards for people of black, Hispanic, or any other descent) — which is dehumanization of the self.

The key point is that instead of rectifying the situation, the government has merely offset the responsibility for it: they place the decision in the hands of the minority whether or not to shed these remnants of oppression and unite with ‘mainstream’ society. And though I do not believe the legislation regarding the problem is designed to actively oppress native people, neither does it encourage them to free themselves. By presenting things such as reservations and status cards as benefits, and moreover as entirely optional, the government is able to maintain a façade of equality while retaining those old elements of colonialism.

I realize I may sound a bit contradictory here: if I don’t believe the government is still being deliberately racist, what explanation can I offer for the retention of those colonial elements? Why would they not just get rid of them now? I present to you the rub: they have backed themselves into a corner. In their zeal to compensate  for the wrongs of the past, they have created a situation from which they cannot escape without a further indictment of racism. Were they to abolish reservations and status cards now, apparently revoking First Nations’ benefits, they would look straightforwardly racist. But by leaving things the way they are, they can be accused of backhanded racism instead.

While I think the first choice would ultimately be more humanistic and a step towards truer equality, this would sadly not be the outward impression. And as appearances are usually so much more important in politics than undercurrents, this catch-22 may persist for some time. What a beautiful example of that famous Canadian fence-sitting.

“Ordinary Canadians don’t care about the arts”

By
EIC
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1

How arts organizations in B.C. are impacted by funding cuts, and why they aren’t giving up

By Esther Tung
Photos By Mark Burnham

It’s official — arts and culture funding in B.C. will be frozen for the next three years. The 2012 B.C. provincial budget, released last week, was projected to bring the province from its current deficit to a $154 million surplus for 2014. While other areas of the budget were also frozen, the province’s freeze on funding will put B.C. in dead last among all Canadian provinces for available arts funding. Even the one silver lining — $9 million set aside for a $500 tax credit for each child enrolled in sports or arts programs —  comes with a catch: that credit only comes into effect if over $1,000 in fees is spent to begin with, which does little to make the arts any more accessible or affordable. Yet the B.C. government managed to find wiggle room for over $80 million in tax credits of up to $42,500 for purchases of recreational properties under $850,000.

Harper once notoriously said, “Ordinary Canadians don’t care about the arts,” to explain emptying $45 million out of the federal arts funding coffers in 2008. This is despite a federally-funded report’s findings that there has been a 107 per cent increase in spending on visual arts and a 50 per cent increase in spending on live performing arts in the last decade. No one has argued that we should increase arts funding at the expense of education and healthcare, or that the two can even be compared. However, there is an important place for the arts in our society. “An attitude in the culture that is particular to North America is that the government doesn’t have a responsibility to fund arts and culture, which I agree with,” Minna Schendlinger, the managing director of PuSh, a performance art festival, said. “They have a responsibility to invest in it, however.” The arts is more like post-secondary education — it’s beyond the basic set of human rights, but when accessible, is extremely enriching and valuable to a person, and it fosters critical, analytical, and creative thinking. There aren’t quite the same sneers when it comes to people wanting to see more subsidies and funding to post-secondary institutions, however.

An attitude in the culture that is particular to North America is that the government doesn’t have a responsibility to fund arts and culture, which I agree with. They have a responsibility to invest in it, however.

– Minna Schendlinger, managing director of PuSh

Contrary to popular opinion, ‘art’ is not limited to interpretive dance, vagina monologues, and abstract paintings. “When you pick up a newspaper, somebody wrote that. When you look at a website, somebody designed that,” said Schendlinger. “Because arts is [sic] so tightly woven into the fabric of society, it’s very easy to take for granted.” Art is your school choir and ensemble; it is your film, dance, and theatre electives. Art is reading a book; it is playing tambourine in a band. Art is doodling in the margins.

Furthermore, art spaces function as a kind of public sphere where grievances, good news, ideas, questions, and critiques come together. A healthy arts community creates social cohesion through real human interaction (because a live concert is never the same as the record). A developed cultural identity can bring a certain amount of prestige to a region. For example, we immediately think of Western European countries when we imagine a place with cool venues, progressive attitudes, and a cutting-edge artistic scene — and it correlates with the arts being assigned a much higher societal value in those countries.

On top of creating cultural prestige, the government at least won’t lose money by funding the arts, and may even earn some back. Directly after the Campbell arts cuts, then-executive director of the Alliance of Arts Amir Ali Alibhai held a talk at the VAG, citing this from a study funded by the City of Vancouver: “Every dollar invested in arts and culture returns between $1.05 and $1.36 in taxes back to the provincial government.” Furthermore, B.C.’s former minister of tourism, culture, and the arts, Kevin Krueger, reported that B.C.’s heritage and arts industry generate approximately 78,000 jobs in the creative industry and $5.2 billion in economic activity annually.

The arts are important for a number of reasons, and government funding cuts do not help them flourish. However, they are not solely responsible for the struggles faced by the arts community: the direct provincial spending makes up a small fraction of what B.C. arts organizations receive. What has affected the arts in B.C. far more are the changes made to the community gaming grants. Taxes collected by the province from gambling activities, including lotto tickets and horse racing, are reorganized into gaming grants, which are given out on the basis of an organization’s community engagement. $36 million was cut from gaming grants under Gordon Campbell’s government, and the eligibilities shifted to exclude arts, environmental, and sports programs that did not cater primarily to children and youth. Christy Clark, however, reinstated previous eligibilities and added $15 million to the fund in January — but that still leaves a $20 million shortfall from its earlier numbers.

Perhaps the one upside to all these cuts is that they allowed many arts organizations to prove that their sustainability was rooted in more than just government money and demonstrate how much “ordinary people” really do care about the arts. The Vancouver International Fringe Festival, considered a large independent theatre festival with a budget of over $1 million, was lucky to lock in a three-year term with a $70,000 gaming grant before the eligibilities changed, keeping them on track with the festival’s projected 30 per cent expansion. When their term ended, Fringe was resourceful in making up for the difference. “We’ve had to shift a lot of our focus to donations and fundraising,” said Executive Director David Jordan. “This meant we had to change the way we communicated with the community, which really had a positive effect, as now more people are aware that we are a charity, not just an entertainment event.”

For all non-profit organizations, including Fringe and many other arts festivals and organizations in B.C., surplus money is invested back into the organization — as opposed to being distributed as profit to owners and shareholders. In the Fringe’s case, that includes a mentoring program. Last year’s obvious pick was Awkward Stage Productions, which put on Smile, which alternated between a senior and junior youth cast. At Awkward Stage, older actors mentor newcomers, and all tech and design work is handled by youth as well.

Grants are vital to non-profits, precisely because grants are not loans. Without the pressure of needing to put together an event that must appeal to a wide enough audience so as to both repay the loan and earn enough money for next year, organizations are allowed that bit of leeway to step outside their comfort zone, nurture their artists, and sharpen their edges. The Fringe is one such instance. “The Fringe acts as an incubator for emerging ideas and artists,” said Jordan. The Fringe has a bit of a curious curatorial approach, in which they literally pick their shows out of a hat. “It’s very against the grain in terms of our society, which is so organized around excellence. We’re the opposite of that.” And if a weird show happens to get picked? “Then we have a weird show, and usually there will be weird people that like it,” he laughed. The only quality control in place is the artist application fee of $800, though participating artists keep everything earned at the box office after. “It’s a little mix of capitalism of socialism.” According to Jordan, the average group makes about $2,500, while top-tier shows, such as last year’s media darling Grim and Fischer, make around $5,000, which doesn’t amount to much of an hourly wage.

Of course, grants are not handed out indiscriminately. There is still pressure to create an end product that displays stability and a potential for growth if the organization wants to have a shot at applying for the grant again. Organizations still need to work hard to raise money on their own through donations and sales. “Grants are not handouts. You don’t get in line, put your hand out, and then someone drops a few thousand dollars in it.” Schendlinger said, explaining the long, arduous grant application process. She spends an average of 80 to 100 hours per grant proposal, which can include up to four separate reports. The bottom line is that arts organizations don’t just squander taxpayer money. Many festivals have contingent measures in place, whether it be following the for-profit model of having three months’ operating costs in reserve at all times, or having an endowment fund, which are both strategies adopted by the Vancouver International Writer’s Festival.

Arts in B.C. have definitely not reached their full potential, and dismal arts funding is only one factor among many. Consider the Writers’ Festival again. Their programming targeted at school-age children allowed them to remain eligible for the gaming grants, though ironically, it has been the attendance of that very demographic that has suffered in the past. “The teachers’ job action is hurting many arts organizations aimed at school-age audiences overall,” began Camilla Tibbs, operations manager of the festival. While teachers under the current B.C. Teachers’ Federation job action are still in classes, they have refused to pick up extra tasks, which include the arrangement of field trips. The year prior, cuts at the school board level affected ticket sales to school groups. Tibbs considered the Writer’s Festival fortunate in that this only afflicted half their programming, and added that many tickets were instead given away to schools that otherwise could not attend.

Despite all of these struggles, the arts community in B.C. is still trying to hold on. Going back to Harper’s sentiment on the arts, which has appeared to seep down to lower levels of government — if ordinary Canadians don’t care about the arts, then who are the people volunteering to man box offices in the cold, or working minimum wage while keeping their eye on the Pulitzer Prize? Why bother organizing free outdoor movies in the summer when no one supposedly cares? If it’s not ordinary Canadians who are behind the resurgence of book clubs in the last decade, then who is?

KSA signs deal with impeached former directors

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EIC
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By Matt DiMera


KSA agrees to pay Dhaliwal and Sandhu’s court costs, signs confidentiality agreement

SURREY (CUP) — The interim board of the Kwantlen Student Association (KSA) has reached an out-of-court settlement with impeached former director Balninna “Nina” Sandhu and student Gary Dhaliwal, and agreed to pay their court costs.

A mutual consent order was filed in B.C. Supreme Court February 16, upholding the November 30 special general meeting (SGM) and declaring the impeachments of 13 former directors as valid. In addition, the order upheld the new KSA bylaws adopted at that same meeting.

The consent order also overturned the placing in bad standing of 26 current and former students and staff members. Members in bad standing would not have been allowed to run for office in the KSA or vote in KSA elections.

Sandhu, the KSA’s former director of finance, and student Gary Singh Dhaliwal had filed a petition January 10 in B.C. Supreme Court claiming that the SGM was invalid and sought a court order to reinstate the impeached directors and to place 14 other current and former students and staff members back in good standing as KSA members.

According to a petition filed with the court in January, Gary Dhaliwal had intended to run for office in the next KSA election.

However, in a joint statement issued February 16 by the KSA and Sandhu and Dhaliwal, the 26 have “voluntarily agreed not to participate in the affairs of the KSA in any manner for the next three years, including seeking office as directors of the society.”

The KSA has also agreed that “the former directors, current directors, and other individuals named in the special resolutions at the SGM have agreed not to engage in further litigation regarding past events relating to the society.”

Both of those agreements are not included in the consent order filed with the court.

When asked by The Runner if there were other conditions or terms in that agreement that have not been made public, the current chairperson of the KSA executive board Christopher Girodat declined to answer.

“The student association has agreed not to discuss the settlement beyond what’s in the common statement,” said Girodat.

“The parties agreed to a desire to resolve all outstanding issues from the past,” he said, when asked if all cash advances had been repaid and if all KSA electronic equipment had been returned by the former directors.

According to the statement, “the parties and individuals involved in this matter have agreed to maintain confidentiality over the out-of-court resolution and discussions leading to the out-of-court resolution and, therefore, will not be making further statements regarding the out-of-court resolution or discussions that led up to the out-of-court resolution.”

Girodat was unable to say how much Sandhu and Dhaliwal’s legal fees will cost the KSA, but he assured students that the amount will be made public as soon as it is available.

Jonathan Tweedale, lawyer for Sandhu and Dhaliwal, also declined to comment about the settlement, citing the confidentiality agreement. Sandhu did not respond to an email request for an interview before deadline.

With the civil lawsuit ended, the KSA board is no longer prevented from bargaining with their staff’s union, from signing or changing contracts, or from calling an election.

Those restrictions had been agreed to by the KSA’s legal counsel David Borins, after Sandhu applied for a temporary injunction to stop the board from making any major decisions.

Current and former students posted their discontent with the news of the settlement on a Facebook group called Concerned Students of Kwantlen.

“People can dress it up all they want, however the bottom line is this whole saga goes to team Takhar, in the end,” wrote longtime former KSA board member Ken McIntyre in a lengthy post.

Former KSA executive member Steve Lee also expressed his disappointment on the Facebook group.

“It just means there is no justice here, no precedent set for people in the future,” wrote Lee. “It sends the message that it is okay to try this stuff cause in the end you will get away with it.”

According to Girodat, the decision to settle will allow the KSA to start the process of rebuilding, including hiring a general manager.

“Now that the dispute over the SGM has been put to rest, the Kwantlen Student Association can move on to hold elections        . . . we can resume working toward a collective agreement with our staff, which has been ongoing for 10 months now,” said Girodat in a February 17 interview.

“We can now commit the KSA’s time and resources back to student services, advocacy, and student representation, under a more accountable set of bylaws designed to put the power back in the hands of students.”

SFU researchers see security in holes

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EIC
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By Sam Reynolds

The colourful wings of the blue morpho butterfly inspire new anti-counterfeit technology

Taking inspiration from nature, a Surrey-based company led by two SFU researchers has developed a technology that has the potential to revolutionize security for documents and banknotes.

NanoTech Security’s product, called Nano-Optic Technology for Enhanced Security, or NOtES, can stamp a billion holes only atoms in width — no longer than a virus — onto an object, to reflect light with the brightness of an LED.

This would create a unique pattern for a document such as ID or a banknote that would be practically impossible to counterfeit.

“To build such small structures on large scales you need very specialized and expensive equipment which deters the counterfeiters,” explained Clint Landrock, an SFU PhD candidate who doubles as the chief technology officer of NanoTech Security. “We developed special algorithms and designs which make NOtES nearly impossible to replicate, and so far we have not been able to reverse.”

While confidentiality agreements prohibit Landrock from naming firms that are interested in NanoTech Security’s product, he did explain that a number of companies that have an interest in brand protection, such as manufacturers of jewelry or aircraft parts, are taking a look at this technology.

According to research done by the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition, counterfeiting is more than a $600-billion industry.

The scientific principal behind NOtES is known as plasmonics, and takes place when light collects in the billion holes imprinted on a NOtES stamp.  No dyes or pigments are used to create a pattern; the company explained that light “creates higher than expected optical outputs by creating an electromagnetic field, called surface plasmonic resonance.”

Simply put: a billion clear atom-sized holes create an optical illusion of a coloured pattern or design.

A phenomenon similar to plasmonics is found in the wings of the blue morpho butterfly, native to Mexico and Central America. The butterfly’s blue colour comes not from pigment in its skin, but from hundreds of millions of atom sized holes in its wings that reflect light in a particular way.

Though the exact manufacturing process is a protected trade secret, prototypes of a NOtES stamp were fabricated by using an electron microscope and an ion beam to etch the pattern on the material one atom at a time. After a master stamp was created, copies were made by growing the metal directly on top of the original.

NOtES is not the first attempt (though it is the first using nanotechnology) to mimic the effect found in the butterfly’s wings. Despite its microscopic size NOtES is far simpler than its competitors: other attempts have involved using arrays of small LEDs or complicated layers of material to bend light.

In an interview with the Financial Post, Landrock explained that in addition to being a revolutionary authentication technology NOtES will mark the first time that nanotechnology is used in a large-scale commercial project.

“Once our technology is commercialized, it will really mark one of the first true nanotechnologies to hit an industrial scale,” Landrock said.

University Briefs

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EIC
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By Ariane Madden

UVic student’s tattoo joke goes viral

 

A joke photo featuring the face of a University of Victoria student on his girlfriend’s arm resulted in hundreds of Facebook posts last week and was reposted to social news websites such as Reddit. The truth that the picture was photoshopped and the girlfriend was made up came out after news outlet OpenFile.ca investigated.

 

Arrest made in York shooting

 

Police in Toronto have arrested a suspect involved in a shooting last weekend at York University. Neighbours reportedly heard multiple gunshots coming from a university-managed apartment block. Although nobody was hurt, damage to the house was sustained.

 

Western University elections hacker faces charges

 

A former student of Western University will face criminal charges this week despite an apology he posted to online video site YouTube for changing questions on the student society elections on Valentine’s Day. Police and the student society have determined that costs stemming from the prank and rescheduled elections amounted to $10,000 and was worthy of criminal charges.

 

Arrests at Montreal CEGEP protests

 

Thirty-seven people were arrested at a Montreal CEGEP after they broke into the college and vandalized it last week. Thousands of Quebec students are protesting tuition fee increases, though prior protests have been mostly without incident.

 

Fight at UofC pub sends student to hospital

 

A fight between five students at the University of Calgary’s student pub “the Den” sent one student to hospital last week.  Campus police were called to the pub around 1:00 a.m. to attend to the student. It is believed that alcohol was a contributing factor in the fight.

 

 

SFU conference highlights sustainability

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EIC
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By Michael Brophy

Event speakers included Vancouver city councillor, poets, and comedians

The Western Canada Sustainable Campuses Conference, organized by students each year to raise awareness about issues of sustainability, took place at Simon Fraser University from February 16 to 20. The four day conference, which partnered with other similar youth oriented organizations such as Sierra Youth and Sustainable SFU, convened students from universities across western Canada to network, attend lectures by sustainability leaders, sit in on student presentations, tour forest trails, and participate in activist minded workshops.

The Saturday night keynote at the Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema at SFU Woodward’s featured poets and community leaders. Slam poet Johnny McRae preceded with “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle” and other poems.

Following, Ginger Gosnell-Myers, the event moderator, gave the floor to speaker Andrea Reimer, a councillor with City of Vancouver, who opened up about her journey from living on the Vancouver streets as a teenager to her current position. Ken Lyotier, founder of United We Can, addressed the youthful audience: “You have the knowledge and ability to raise the bar a little; not just for the people around you but for the planet. It needs to happen.” He insisted on the importance of youth activism. “There is a social issue, an environmental issue, and an economic issue. There are so many opportunities for young people to get involved.” Another keynote speaker, Heather O’Hara, executive director at Potluck Catering and Cafe in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, when asked if she would do a PhD, responded: “I’ve thought about this myself. I wouldn’t. I’d rather spend that 25,000 bucks getting my hands dirty on the ground.” She continued, “That experience, that wisdom, that knowledge. The power of experience from people who are not formally educated. I value that.”

Upon arriving at the conference, attendees were handed living lab manuals for the conference weekend, repurposing covers of old library text books. “The books outlined and set the tone for the weekend. They’re professional and creative and you were able to choose a booklet with a personal touch,” said James McNish, former board member of Sustainable SFU. He added, “I was really excited about the calibre of the people coming to speak. These are people who are doing really innovative and really imaginative projects.”

Richard Loat, an SFU communications student, former Facebook employee, and CEO of Five Hole For Food, encouraged participants at his organizational development workshop to take after the words of the late Mahatma Ghandi: “Be the change you want to see” when approaching the role of community leadership. Loat has taken these words and put them into action personally by founding a charitable organization that has raised funds and over 65,000 pounds of food donations for food banks across Canada by arranging street hockey games.

“The communication paradigm has shifted,” said Loat, relating modern techniques to engage people in traditional relationships to a cause. “We all know the feeling of going hungry. We can identify.”

During the Olympics in Vancouver, Loat put on a hockey game in the middle of Granville Street, which Gregor Robertson participated in. “It was the most childlike sense of happiness I’d ever seen,” recalled Loat of Robertson’s expression while playing street hockey for the charity event. What started as a one-man operation is now a 50-person team, the majority of which came on board through Twitter.

In a class on creative activism, Sean Devlin of Truthfool Communications, a comedian and climate organizer, gave a presentation revealing the history of techniques in creative activism. Participants were later encouraged to engage in brainstorming activities to help their own organizations gain strides in meeting their goals.

“Creative tactics can create millions in earned media,” said Devlin of the value of protests as essentially free public service announcements.

The presentation addressed the power of creating a simplified message for the masses: self immolation in Tunisia, the Filipino texting revolution, sex strikes that ended wars, and Dan Glass’s stunt of attempting to super-glue himself during a press photo handshake to Gordon Brown, the U.K. prime minister at the time, forcing him to address activists opposition to airport expansions.

“As an activist, you are a performer,” said Devlin, “[and] there is one common thread between all these stories: we succeed.”

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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