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Dr. Sanjiv Gandhi speaks on COVID-19, public health, and preventive care

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Photo of a woman putting on respirator
PHOTO: Sora Shimazaki / Pexels

By: Michelle Young, Editor-in-Chief

“Scientifically and objectively, we’re really still in the midst of this pandemic,” said Dr. Sanjiv Gandhi in conversation with Protect our Province BC. “Emotionally, much of the population — I think to no fault of their own — is in a different place.” On February 3, the grassroots organization hosted an online seminar with Gandhi to discuss the current state of the pandemic and BC’s pandemic response. 

Gandhi, who specializes in pediatric heart and lung surgery, recently left the BC Children’s Hospital and joined the BC Greens as their deputy leader. In an interview with The Tyee, he cited his reasons for leaving the medical field as a toxic work environment and “the health authority’s positive narrative,” as a barrier to providing patients with proper care. He has been a vocal critic of BC’s current healthcare policies. 

“Some would say we need to move past COVID-19 and ‘learn to live with it,’ but I think this thinking really demonstrates a fundamental ignorance and lack of education,” Gandhi continued. “That’s unfortunately been an approach that’s been encouraged by a government that hasn’t been honest with British Columbians about the virus, how it spreads, and how to protect ourselves.” 

In regards to BC’s pandemic response, Gandhi said one of the biggest mistakes, “can be traced back to a failure to adapt to a changing science, which should have been used to educate the public properly.” This includes lagging information on COVID-19 transmission, incomplete mask guidance, and a lack of recognition of long COVID from public health. 

“Polls suggest that voters don’t particularly care about COVID-19 anymore, but it really needs to be science, not polls, that guides public health.” He cited the increasing death toll of COVID-19, noting more deaths have occurred from acute COVID-19 in 2022 in BC than previous years of the pandemic. Acute COVID-19 refers to the stage of infection that involves symptoms which would typically resolve on their own, rather than a chronic condition like long COVID. “Those numbers don’t include people who have suffered from other medical issues because of previous COVID-19 infections.” 

Gandhi explained the importance of preventative care and acknowledging COVID-19 as an airborne disease. “‘Preventative’ means not getting the disease in the first place. Wear a mask before you get sick.” He described “spraying a can of mace in a room,” as a way to understand the lingering nature of airborne disease. “It doesn’t leave immediately — you can walk into that room a few minutes later and your eyes are going to burn and your lungs are going to sting — and COVID-19 is just like mace.” 

He added our ability to control respiratory illnesses will be dependent on our ability to “improve air quality.” This includes measures such as CO2 monitors and air filtration devices. Gandhi said the airborne nature of COVID-19 is a “fact not up for debate, the inability of the government to state that categorically is, I think, politically based. Acknowledgement of that fact would make them culpable for their inaction on measures.”

Measures to prevent airborne disease are not only applicable to COVID-19, but will also prevent the transmission of future outbreaks. “We stop waterborne diseases with clean water, so stop airborne diseases with clean air — it’s not just about COVID-19 — it’s about the nature of airborne diseases.”

Gandhi also spoke on the false theory of immunity debt. This theory claims the early pandemic response is to blame for the recent influx of respiratory illnesses, because measures such as social distancing and using masks “understimulated” the immune system. However, it’s not a theory formally recognized by immunologists. “Never, ever, have we promoted illness to promote wellness.” 

In 2022, McGill reported that the idea of “immunity debt” largely stemmed from a single 2021 scientific paper, and has since been critiqued as lacking evidence. Global News also reported the paper as being misinterpreted. Other doctors noted immunity does not require constant exposure to viruses, as the immune system wouldn’t become less effective over time “on its own.” Gandhi added this theory “doesn’t recognize the vascular nature of this virus and falsely concentrates on the acute respiratory symptoms.” 

Evidence for potential long-term health complications due to former COVID-19 infections has been quickly accumulating, explained Gandhi. Studies show long COVID can produce “dozens of symptoms across multiple organ systems.” This can include cardiac impairment in the heart, cognitive impairment, blood clots, erectile dysfunction, and irregular menstruation — among many other symptoms. A study in Nature reported that “symptoms can last for years.” Gandhi added, “The potential ramifications of repeated COVID-19 infections — for everyone — young, old, those with pre-existing medical conditions, and those that were previously healthy are significant.” Studies show repeated COVID-19 infections increase the risk of death, organ failure, hospitalization, and long COVID. 

“We need specific clinics with experts knowledgeable about this disease,” he explained. “We have these clinics for disorders whose prevalence is far lower than long COVID.” 

He said while the current pandemic response encourages people to “assess their own risk,” the public hasn’t been sufficiently informed on how to do so or understand the risk associated with a COVID-19 infection. If the BC Greens were elected, Gandhi said the party would first focus on “proper education, rooted in science, geared to empowering people to make informed decisions,” in addition to clean air, which Gandhi emphasized as a part of preventative medicine. 

“Clean air is not hard. You measure air quality, and when air quality is not up to snuff, you put air filtration devices in. There’s a variety of them out there.” CO2 monitors can measure air quality by providing a sense of how well-ventilated a room is. In spaces where there is poor ventilation, CO2 levels will be higher, and signify a risk of potential infection to airborne disease. To improve air quality, measures like ventilation and filtration can be taken. Ventilation allows fresh air to circulate into a space, whereas filtration can “reduce airborne contaminants including viruses,” by filtering the air already within a space. Masks, ventilation, and filtration all help to reduce the risk of COVID-19 and other diseases by providing better air quality. 

Gandhi said those who are still concerned with COVID-19 are not “obsessed” with it. He added, “I’m not obsessed with COVID-19, what I am obsessed with is caring about the health of people.” 

VANDU criticizes Vancouver’s new drug policy, says it is not enough

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This is a photo of the SFU Vancouver Harbour Centre campus. It is an aerial photo overlooking the harbour.
PHOTO: Angie / Unsplash

By: Aditi Dwivedi, News Writer

The BC government was granted an exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act by Health Canada, to decriminalize the possession of certain illegal drugs from January 31, 2023 to January 31, 2026. The decriminalization is a critical step in BC’s fight against the growing opioid crisis, homelessness, and overdose deaths in the province.

This exemption allows adults 18 years or older in BC to carry certain illegal drugs for personal use without facing criminal charges or being arrested. These eligible drugs include crack, powder cocaine, methamphetamine (meth), ecstasy (MDMA), and opioids — heroin, morphine, fentanyl. However, individuals carrying more than a combined total of 2.5 grams will be subject to criminal charges and the drugs will be confiscated.

The Peak had an interview with the Vancouver Area Network of Drugs Users (VANDU) to learn how this decision impacts people who use drugs. Since 2016, the overdose crisis has resulted in over 11,000 deaths in BC. VANDU is a collection of people in the Vancouver community who have formerly used or currently use drugs. They fight against stigma, and work to improve the lives of people who use drugs through user-based peer support and education.

David Hamm, a member of the Board of Directors of VANDU spoke to The Peak about how they “have been lobbying for this move since the beginning of VANDU, 25 years ago.” Hamm added that while the step is long overdue for the ongoing opioid crisis, it is a step in the right direction. He said VANDU’s “efforts have finally been taken seriously [ . . . ] to do something that will help decriminalize the population of drug users, but we do find it woefully lacking.”

According to Hamm, a survey conducted by VANDU concluded that 4.5 grams of each substance would be a more appropriate amount than the current limit of 2.5 grams of collective amount. He explained, “The reason people have larger amounts on them is because they only want to go out as little as possible to get their substances and also because [ . . . ] if you get more of it, then you get a better price on it.” He added, “Navigating through the community, and the drugs, for a person using drugs could be a very trying experience, especially for the elderly, and there are a lot of people that experience violence too.” By increasing the number of grams an individual can carry, it reduces the risks to their economic and personal safety.

According to Lisa Lapointe, chief coroner at the BC Coroners Service, toxicology data “confirms that the drug supply in British Columbia is increasingly volatile and life-threatening.” Hamm believes that decriminalizing toxic substances is not going to help the overdose crisis. Instead, he noted the resources being used for decriminalization should have gone towards providing a safe supply of opioid substances to save users from the “really toxic supply out there.” 

While Hamm mentioned people who use drugs still have to deal with backlash and stigma from the community, there have been instances of support. “A heartwarming gesture was put out by the public when we heard about losing some funding for our art program [ . . . ] in one evening we received twice the amount of money that we were gonna receive from the city.”

The VANDU art program is a series of events which encourages vulnerable people who use drugs to engage with art projects, like making banners commemorating the lives lost to toxic drugs, with the help of a facilitator. This year the Vancouver City Council voted against the allocation of $7,500 as an art grant to VANDU citing the organization’s failure to “deliver what it promised when it was given a sizable grant to clean up East Hastings Street last year.”

According to Hamm, the overall lack of government action against the opioid crisis is worsening the crisis. “This emergency has been going on for over seven years now [ . . . ] I can’t picture any other situation where there would be such a lack of action [ . . . ] they would do anything, use any resources, to tackle any other kind of emergency, but because it’s drug users, they have not been willing to do what it takes, which is having a regulated safe supply by the government.

For more information about VANDU’s community engagement activities, visit their website.

Comics

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ILLUSTRATION: Sara Brinkac / The Peak

By: Angela Shen

COMIC: Panel 1 features a CBA news anchor, smiling at a bewildered groundhog while saying, "It seems like this year's spring will be early!" Panel 2 features a sleepy groundhog saying to its partner in their habitat, 'The groundhogs' hole,' "Do they know u woke up early? Ugh, it's cold . . ." while the other groundhog responds, "I was hungry . . ."
ILLUSTRATION: Angela Shen / The Peak

What bug are you?

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Assorted illustrations of bugs: ants, bees, cockroaches, beatles, and ladybugs in little outfits.
ILLUSTRATION: Hailey Gil / The Peak

By: Hana Hoffman, Peak Associate and Bug Expert

Hello, fellow creatures! My name is Carlos Buzz, and I’m a graduate of entomology. I study similarities between human and insect personalities. A lot of habits and moods are surprisingly similar, and I thought it would be interesting for y’all to find your bug twin. Answer the questions, and find your match below the quiz. Enjoy! 

Do you eat well? 

  1. I just eat whatever I have. No preference really.
  2. I’m always snacking on something, show me the grub!
  3. I like eating out sometimes, as I am a distinguished noble.
  4. Yes, and I prefer to eat in peace. No noisy guests please.
  5. I feed on homework. Yours, if you’re not careful!

If a bug from the same species as you decides to poke you annoyingly, what would you do? 

  1. Laugh it off and start a normal conversation. 
  2. Poke them back?
  3. Give them a death stare and walk away.
  4. Decide to teach them the history of poking. You’ve no time for them! 
  5. Fight them with your bare antennas! 

Are you a chill person?

  1. The chillest and coolest person you’ll ever meet!
  2. For the most part. If I seem rude, it’s not intentional.
  3. I’m a little judgemental, but I keep comments to myself.
  4. If I’m frustrated with someone, I won’t hesitate to speak about it. Buzz, buzz, Becky!
  5. No . . . I’m competitive, hehe.

From the following, which hobby interests you the most?

  1. Drinking and snacking with friends while watching YouTube.
  2. Doing anything that’s easy and effortless.
  3. Finding activities to do in the city — I like exploring.
  4. Playing a jazz instrument. You could never!
  5. Coding and hacking top-of-the-line stuff, I can’t tell you about it!

Which of the following words best describes you?

  1. Ayeee~
  2. Rawr!
  3. Adventures!!
  4. Ugh.
  5. Unbeatable, the best there ever was.

 

Mostly 1’s. Butter-fly 
“I know I’m super fly~” 

You’re the cool bean of the insect kingdom. A day in the chill life of butterflies: living right behind the trash cans in the food court and hanging out with your dawgs while eating dropped food from clumsy humans. Plus, you’ve got the trendiest wing patterns to flex and it all came naturally from your genetics. Who says you need to physically fly to look fly? 

Mostly 2’s. Dragon-sigh 
“More lit than a firefly!”

You’re a laid-back manager of the local Dragonfly Flying School and don’t like to waste too much energy talking. Like cruising in the air, you just go with the flow! The most useful feature about your dragon-sighs is that you sigh with fire! Whenever one of your employees tells you something you don’t want to hear, they get fired accidentally before you have a chance to think. This is great because it prevents you from overthinking.

Mostly 3’s. Phas-Mid 
“Make use of your legs while you still have some left.”

You’re an average joe and you kinda fall in the middle of all bug personalities. Although you don’t like to jazz up your day too much, you’d much rather do some backpacking than stay in one place or else life gets boring. Observing different scenes is the best entertainment, unlike spending too much time on the web like spiders do. I don’t understand why some bugs would rather sit around all day sluggishly than go out and have an ant-tastic time at the flea market. 

Mostly 4’s. Rantin’ Mantis 
“Quit buzzing around and bugging me.” 

You’re tired of society and just want some peace and quiet, because when another insect pisses you off, you can’t help but let out your frustration by ranting about them to your nearest neighbours. You live on a private property on Burnaby Mountain that’s off limits to humans. As long as nobody’s bothering you, you’re just living your best mantis life. 

Mostly 5’s. Assassin Bug
“You can’t bee the best if you’re just like the rest.”

You are a deadly insect and a threat to everyone else in the class as you raise the expectations a thousand times higher. The type of bug that enters every exam and kills it. No, like I don’t mean killing it as in achieving the highest marks. I mean hacking the system — living as a bug in the school computers to change the grades of the human version of you to A pluses. Assassin bugs feed on other people’s percentages and gnaw down their delicious GPA’s.

Alan Lake Factorie presents Le Cris des Méduses

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A group of shirtless dancers with black pants lift two dancers up.
PHOTO: Martin Morissette

By: Saije Rusimovici, Staff Writer

Le Cris des Méduses is a 19th century romantic painting come to life through choreography and art direction by Alan Lake Factori(e). An interpretation of French romantic painter Théodore Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa (1819), the haunting performance featured nine dancers whose bodies are used as independent vessels intertwining and coming together to create a single unit. The painting depicts a shipwreck and a cluster of bodies struggling to survive adrift. The interpretation, performed at the Vancouver Playhouse on January 27 and 28, highlights the interconnected components of life and death.

The theatre was hazy with a fog-like smoke that drifted from the stage and over the audience. What initially struck me about this production was the foreboding music that transported the audience to a tragic scene. Dressed in distressed street clothes, dancers emerged from behind a large wooden wall that rotated to reveal other dancers in different positions. The set design was minimal, consisting of wooden structures that the dancers climbed and balanced on. These multi-use structures were also used to transport the dancers across the stage and later became canvases splattered with paint.

The performance art captures the juxtaposing attributes of vulnerability and strength demonstrated through both the physical act of dancing and stylistic visual elements. In several scenes, the dancers are nude. The nudity in this performance is not of an overtly sexual or provocative nature, focusing less on sex appeal but on the natural elements of the human body both alone and with others. It was compelling to watch how deliberate movements worked to showcase human fragility. 

I interpreted this dance as a statement about the dynamics of the human experience, with an emphasis on suffering. Once I learned Géricault’s painting was behind the inspiration of Lake’s choreography, I began to connect the images in the performance to the artwork. Something about the imagery of the shipwreck, corpses brought back to life through dance, and eerie percussion transported me to this scene. It beckoned me to consider the ways through which humans have endured suffering historically and in present society. The performance allows for the audience to reflect on how mutual support can help guide us through the trials and triumphs of life.

The SFU Alumni Association votes to merge with SFU

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This is a photo of the SFU Burnaby campus. The outdoor staircase into the convocation mall is shown. The sky is dark and cloudy.
PHOTO: Gudrun Wai-Gunnarsson / The Peak

By: Aditi Dwivedi, News Writer

SFU’s Alumni Association held a vote on February 15 to determine the future of their organization. SFU was proposing to change the current Alumni Association from a legally separate organization, to an internal SFU entity, which would include an appointed Council. All registered members of the Alumni Association were invited to approve or disapprove the proposed changes.

On February 15, the Alumni Association voted to dissolve. Former SFU undergraduate student Corbett Gildersleve posted to social media, “Well, the SFU Alumni Association voted to dissolve itself tonight and transfer their assets to SFU. It will now be replaced by a new association that has an alumni Council with members appointed by the SFU President, and no longer be independent of SFU.” The SFU Alumni Association was previously an organization with their own elected Board of Directors. They functioned as an independent link between SFU and its community of alumni. 

According to a statement issued by Braden McMillan, director of media relations and public affairs for SFU, the intent behind the vote was “to align SFU’s alumni program with industry best practices and modernize the governance model, which has remained largely unchanged since its inception in 1969.” 

McMillan also stated only 10% of SFU’s alumni were registered as members of the association; the proposed changes will enable all SFU students to automatically become part of the Alumni Association upon graduation.

The university claimed this decision would “ensure an inclusive governance model.” An SFU alum, who chose to stay anonymous, spoke to The Peak about the possible negative ramifications of this decision. According to them, the association has a fiduciary responsibility which holds them accountable to the alumni, and ensures the usage of funds for the benefit of the alumni. With the dissolution of the association as a separate organization, “there will be no official accountability to alumni at all, for how funds specifically earmarked for alumni engagement are being used.”

Before the associations’ dissolution, the university was required to pass all decisions relating to alumni engagement — use of funds, organization of events, and others — through the Alumni Association. In accordance with the BC Societies Act, the association had “made all of their financial statements and inner workings public.” The anonymous SFU alum believes the vote on February 15 was a tool for the university to “handpick alumni that it wants from the society at large, and have absolutely no transparency in how anything is carried out when it comes to alumni engagement.”

According to the anonymous source, they believe the dissolution may affect the focus of funding priorities. They believe the SFU Alumni Association will stop focusing on alumni assistance and welfare, to only fundraising, and “extracting money from existing alumni” for the upcoming fundraising goals of the university. The association had normally focused on organizing career fairs, networking nights, discounted workshops for alumni, and awarding outstanding alumni for excellence in their respective fields.

In a survey conducted by the SFU Alumni Association in 2021, the alumni were asked about their expectations from the university. According to the anonymous source, the general overview of answers concluded the alumni were asking for ongoing career support — one on one career services for alumni and academic support. The anonymous SFU alumnus believes if the alumni realized that voting in favor of dissolution would mean a loss of what they expect from the university in terms of engagement, then the motion would not have passed. 

However, they noted a major cause of concern is the lack of awareness about the vote amongst most SFU alumni. They noted the university had neither publicized it, nor posted about it on any of their social media channels, including the SFU Alumni Association website.

For more information on registering as a member of the SFU Alumni Association please visit their website.

Creative Corner: Poetry and its therapeutic properties

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A lined notebook on a wooden table with a pen and purple flowers on top.
PHOTO: Sixteen Miles Out / Unsplash

By: Jeeya Parasbhai Khavadia, SFU Student

Poems, stories, and other types of creative writing have piqued my interest since I was a child. I used to tear poems from magazines and place them inside my school textbooks to lift myself up. However, I never imagined I could be a poet. Thankfully, my mother did! She noticed my interest and purchased several books about how to write poetry. She used to take me to creative writing workshops, force me to compete in school competitions, and teach me rhyming techniques.

Five years after writing my first poem, I can proudly call myself a poet. Poetry for me is like toys for a kid; like a kid is attached to their toys, I am deeply attached to poetry. Some days, I will even get teary-eyed if words don’t go together in a poem or if it doesn’t turn out how I envisioned.

Poems have the potential to convey far beyond what long prose can. My favourite line of poetry is from “Dreams” by Langston Hughes: “hold fast to dreams for if dreams die / life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” This is such a profound sentence, but it’s explained so succinctly. Using symbolism, imagery, and metaphor, a deep meaning is conveyed in a beautiful way.

Both reading and writing poetry can be a therapeutic process. Poetry therapy, a subtype of bibliotherapy, involves reading and writing poems for personal growth and healing. Writing poetry is therapy for me and an important part of my daily life. Sitting in a park or garden with a notebook and a cup of coffee gives me a sense of calm and stability, which benefits my studies and how I deal with difficult situations in my life. In my own piece, “The Truth of Life,” I wrote about how “In this play called life / we are just puppets who never survive.” 

All of this is possible because my mom believed in me and encouraged me to pursue my passion. Don’t underestimate encouragement from those around you because those who care want to see you succeed in life. Even if you feel insecure in your abilities, you can excel in areas you had no idea you could. 

Finally, I’d like to motivate you to experiment with something new in your life by quoting some lines from Catherine Pulsifer’s poem, “You Can:” “And as you move towards your goal / you may find potholes in the roadway / But with a plan and a determined attitude / You can achieve a new beginning / if you want to!”

Climate change impacts mental health within youth

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This is a photo of climate protestors. One person among the crowd is holding a sign that reads “There is no Planet B”
PHOTO: Li-An Lim / Unsplash

By: Natalie Cooke, News Writer 

The 2023 Summit of Mental Health and Climate Change is hosted by the Mental Health and Climate Change Alliance. Topics centered around the adverse impacts the climate crisis has on mental health and well-being. The Summit is a two-day virtual event that began in 2021 where over 120 climate change and mental health experts share their insights. 

Matt Treble, one of the speakers at the event, is a graduate student at Athabasca University. He currently works as a youth mental health counsellor at two non-profit organizations. His research and discussion analyzed climate change anxiety and existential anxiety among youth. 

Treble explained in his discussion why he was interested to start research in this field. “My clientele is generally 14–19, and I noticed over the past few years that [ . . . ] folks are really struggling about how to conceptualize their future, and how to plan what careers they want to do, and what type of family planning that they want to do in the context of uncertainty.” He noted, “Climate change was cited as a source of concern.” 

Existential anxiety is “a feeling of dread or panic that arises when a person confronts the limitations of their existence. Thoughts of death, the meaningless of life, or the insignificance of self, can all trigger existential anxiety.” 

Treble noted, “From a counselling psychology perspective, we look at existential anxiety and existentialism as the search for meaning and authenticity within your life.” He found this uncertainty can lead to mental health issues, especially in youth. 

Treble explained youth are trying to determine a “sense of self” through finding, “agency and resiliency.” However, their agency and resiliency are threatened by climate change because they seemingly have no control in this environmental battle. 

In Treble’s research, he asked youth to respond to the question of how they feel when thinking about climate change. The respondents said they felt hopeless due to a lack of control of the world’s future, as well as guilty that they may not be doing enough. When the researchers asked, “How does climate change affect how you think about your future?” responses underscored a feeling of discouragement. For example, responses were framed around the idea that if the world is coming to an end, there is no point in progressing in one’s career or bringing children into a world that will cease to exist. 

However, some adolescents also shared they are increasingly motivated to facilitate change, and they are inspired by activists such as Greta Thunberg. Beginning her activism as a teenager, she has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize on two separate occasions, Thunberg continues to demonstrate leadership and initiative among youth. 

Treble’s data shows “Climate change awareness creates a wide array of emotional responses in Canadian adolescents.” He explained, “The results from this study could help inform the counselling psychology discipline to create targeted climate specific interventions and techniques, to support adolescents that are experiencing mental health issues from climate change awareness.” 

For more information and resources for worries and anxiety related to climate change, visit the Mental Health and Climate Change Alliance website. 

SFU should make Indigenous language courses free for students

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a stack of books about Indigenous languages
PHOTO: Gudrun Wai-Gunnarsson / The Peak

By: Saije Rusimovici, Staff Writer

Content warning: mentions of residential schools and colonialism.

Language inspires connection. Being able to communicate in the language of your culture fosters meaningful engagement within and outside of your community. In high school, students in British Columbia are required to take a language course as a part of their curriculum until grade 11. This is a core part of the public school program, but many discontinue their language learning after graduation. Making language courses free in Canada would be a critical step towards preserving language and culture for many people, and encourage post-secondary students to sign up for additional language courses. Furthermore, implementing Indigenous language programs at post-secondary institutions is crucial. This is more than a step towards reconciliation — it’s a way for Indigenous students to connect with their cultural roots. 

Proper language instruction is an important part of Canada’s multicultural landscape. Sustaining language is a necessity. To encourage further study of French, the Canadian government has created the Explore program, a fully-funded French immersion program that allows individuals to learn or improve their language skills in an immersive environment. This includes participating in cultural activities, themed workshops, and weekly events. 

But what about Indigenous languages? One might say that you can learn a new language on apps like Duolingo nowadays, but many languages are not accessible on apps like these. Indigenous languages like the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim and Halkomelem, for example, are not included.  Encouraging connection to one’s culture by making language courses more accessible should be a top priority for SFU. 

The Sníchim Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing immersive language opportunities for adult learners to raise the number of fluent Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim speakers. They explain that Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim is “historically an oral language without a formal writing system.” They add that the number of reported fluent Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim speakers has risen from 10 to 100 since 2010. It is the Sníchim Foundation’s mission to further increase the number of fluent speakers, as revitalization of Indigenous languages is a necessary component of working towards decolonization and Indigenous cultural resurgence. 

Through a partnership with SFU, the Squamish Language Academy teaches Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim for free. This is an excellent step forward for the revitalization of Indigenous languages. SFU has an Indigenous language learning program, but cost shouldn’t be a barrier in connecting with your culture. Making language programs free is a necessary part of reconciliation, especially when language erasure is a painful mark of colonialism. SFU is still in the process of decolonizing.

Part of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report places an emphasis on language as a key aspect of reconciliation. The assimilation of Indigenous children into residential schools is one of many colonial injustices responsible for the loss of fluent Indigenous language speakers. Many people’s ties to storytelling, oral histories, music, and everyday speech have been severed by the effects of colonization. 

This is a truly devastating fact, as I know the times I’ve felt most connected to my own heritage was through spoken language. In my second year at SFU, I took two consecutive semesters of introductory Italian. Coming from Italian heritage, this wasn’t just a useful tool to help me interact with my family members and coworkers. It strengthened my connections to the community. For this reason, accessible language education is not only a necessary aspect of preserving identities, but a key step towards decolonization. 

The Neurochemistry of love, desire, and attraction

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Actually, love comes from the brain, not the heart. PHOTO: Robina Weermeijer / Unsplash

By: Vee Babbar, SFU Student

It’s likely we’ve all questioned the meaning of love at some point in our lives. Some might think they have never crossed paths with this odd physiological neurochemistry. However, love can come in many forms. It could be as simple as falling head over heels for your new job as a bartender in the bustling streets of Berlin, or as complex as trying to understand molecular thermodynamics. This wizardry is inevitable and is bound to happen sooner or later, transcending all boundaries and expectations. The complexity of this affection is a testament to this powerful emotion’s depth and versatility. Whether romantic love, platonic love, or love for a new adventure, passion reminds us of the boundless possibilities of human emotion.

Love is more than just a feeling; being “love-struck” releases neurotransmitters. These are chemicals released from the brain in response to our actions. Their role is to deliver messages between the brain and every part of the human body. When it comes to attraction, romance, and pleasure, the main neurotransmitter released is dopamine. This chemical released in high levels activates the reward circuit, causing a pleasurable experience. Oxytocin is another hormone associated with love and romance. Oxytocin levels increase with sexual arousal and an orgasm and might be associated with pain-relieving effects, creating a possible association between pain and pleasure. What’s more, something similar happens with the consumption of chocolates. Chocolate can elevate a person’s mood through the release of a cocktail of oxytocin, dopamine, and many other chemicals that might give a similar sensation to the feeling of love. Chocolate is an aphrodisiac food, releasing soothing chemicals in your brain that increase energy and intimacy desire levels — perhaps this is why we associate them with Valentine’s Day. Other chemicals released during romantic and sexual arousal include: serotonin, which is directly linked with mood and stress reduction and norepinephrine, which increases our heartbeat, and vasopressin. Norepinephrine is released after orgasms and affects each reproductive system differently. This gives a biological basis for the notion that people with an internal reproductive system might experience an emotional connection after sex and people with an external reproductive system tend to feel sleepy. I know, brain chemistry is confusing.

While brain chemistry is a well-studied subject, there are still many misconceptions surrounding neurotransmitters, hormones, and the way they modulate or alter our behavior. Oxytocin, for example, is colloquially associated with bonds forming between partners after consensual sexual encounters, yet, there’s no proof to back up that statement in humans. Yes, oxytocin does increase with sexual activities, but this is primarily due to our evolutionary advancement to encourage humans to indulge in more of it. Oxytocin’s natural purpose has always been to induce feelings of care to nurture your loved ones. But attraction, love, and desire are complex emotions that can be found in an array of very unique scenarios. What makes love different from physical and sexual attraction? To answer that, we must look at it from a more comprehensive lens.

Alec Beall, post-doctoral researcher at the psychology department of UBC, conducted an experiment to better understand the difference between love and sexual desire. Beall showed a group of undergraduate students pictures of puppies and kittens, followed by a survey to assess their sexual desire. The results showed lower levels of such desires when they thought of nurturing the little animals. Beall says oxytocin is released impulsively when an adult simply looks at a puppy or infant with tenderness. The instinct to care for and protect young ones is a fundamental aspect of both human and animal behavior, causing feelings of affection and concern for others. On the other hand, I believe love driven solely by lust or worldly desires lacks genuine emotional connection and care for others. Love stems from the innate desire to nurture and protect those we hold dear.

Love is often misunderstood as a shallow attraction based on someone’s physical appearance, intelligence, or behavior. But true love goes beyond these superficial things as a deep appreciation and care for someone, which is not necessarily conscious or deliberate. It’s a feeling that comes from within and is rooted in a person’s instincts and emotions. 

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Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

For advertising inquiries: [email protected]
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© The Peak Publications Society