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Speaking to SFU’s best and brightest: an interview with 2019’s SFU Outstanding Alumni Night awardees

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Photo by SFU News

By: Kelly Chia, Staff Writer 

The 2019 Outstanding Alumni Awards took place September 20 at the Sheraton Wall Centre. It featured four awardees: Isabel Ge Mahe, Kathleen Hepburn, Hew Choy Leong, and Mark Okerstrom. Peter Akman, 2018’s recipient for Outstanding Alumni for Professional Achievement, hosted the awards night. 

All four awardees are exemplary in their own right, sporting an impressive list of accomplishments under their belt. I sat down with Isabel Ge Mahe and Hew Choy Leung separately, and they led me through the ups and downs in their career.

The first awardee I approached was Apple’s vice president and directing manager of Greater China region, Isabel Ge Mahe. We spoke in between the bustle of mic fittings and rehearsals. 

Mahe is a powerhouse: she was personally hired by Steve Jobs in 2008 to work as vice president on their Wireless Communications team at a time when Apple was preparing to release their first iPhone. Since then, she’s moved on to a managerial role. Recently, Mahe was selected to join Starbucks’s Board of Directors, too. 

Alumni advice — Isabel de Gahe: “Just persevere — because you will always run into problems and you need to learn to plow through that.”

While Mahe has an impressive resume, we chuckled as she recalled the long nights spent at SFU. “[Engineering science] was actually a really challenging program, I remember it required 160 credits to graduate.

“I remember working with my teammates in the labs through like, early mornings sometimes [until] 3 a.m. [ . . . ] I remember eating cold pizza in the Pit.” Apparently, the Pit was a hang out spot on campus that’s long been renovated over.

Mahe truly believes in what she is doing. She advised students to persevere through their mistakes and to do things they really believe in. Mahe ended our conversation by also telling me that you can never spend too much time with your family. After we finished our interview, Mahe later reaffirmed the importance of family in her acceptance speech. She told the audience about coming to Canada at the age of 16 with her father and learning English by bussing tables. In honour of her late father, who sacrificed his career as a doctor in China to help her purse her dreamsin Canada, Mahe created the Peng Tu Ge Scholarship for Women in Engineering or Computing Science at SFU. 

Alumni advice — Hew Choy Leong: “You have to be very patient with what you’re doing, and with the failure.”

I then spoke with Hew, who was charming and easygoing, over dinner. It was evident in just a few minutes of conversation that he built his career from his endless discipline. Hew is a distinguished scientist, renowned internationally for his discoveries about the antifreeze protein in salmon. Hew is from Ipoh, Malaysia, and studied at Nanyang Polytechnic in Singapore. I was born in Malaysia and briefly studied in Singapore too, so on a personal level, it was really inspiring for me to speak with a Malaysian academic. We bonded over this before launching into his extensive academic career. 

After graduating from Nanyang Polytechnic, Hew got a scholarship to study at the University of Manitoba. He then followed his supervisor, who got a job at SFU, to Vancouver. Hew then completed his degree at Simon Fraser University in one year, an institution which he credits for his work ethic in research. 

“So all my experimental work was done at Simon Fraser. The research culture in Simon Fraser and also the kind of advice I received from many of my professors, I still remember,” he said. “So my experience at Simon Fraser, even though it was short, it laid the foundation for my research interest. It also trained me how to do research.”

When asked how he dealt with challenges in his career, he responded that challenges were natural in his work. 

“As a scientist, when we do research, you look at the term, ‘research,’ [meaning] you continue doing it.

“It means you have to be very patient about what you are doing, and about the failure,” he said,
“the results may not be consistent with what you think it should be [but] these are the kind of issues that train you to be a sharp and critical thinker.” 

In his acceptance speech, Hew told an anecdote about one of his failures; he had imported about 200 cod into his lab for research, but they all died overnight due to the cold temperature. Hew joked that the fish everyone then ate at the research centre made him the most popular guy in the centre. Still, Hew persevered and closely observed some fish that didn’t freeze to death. And from there, the rest is history. 

Alumni advice — Mark Okerstrom: “[Work] hard, [pursue] your passions, [take] risks, and [get] comfortable with failure because that’s a part of life, and ultimately just [be] open to opportunities.”

I went on to speak with the two other alumni, Mark Okerstrom and Kathleen Hepburn, for pieces of advice they’d give to students. 

Okerstrom is the CEO of Expedia, and is quite down-to-earth despite helming the Fortune 500 company at a young age. He confessed to me that he wasn’t sure what to do in his twenties. 

“I had tons of different career goals over my life,” he began. 

Okerstrom explained that his curiosity drove his different career decisions. “Ultimately, I ended up pursuing things I had the most interest in,” he said.

“I had practiced law for four years, and I discovered more interesting things, then I went back to business school and I’ve been blowing through life.”

Okerstrom’s academic life had taken him from SFU, then to UBC for law school, and even to Harvard Business School at one point. 

“It was one of those times, when growing up in Canada, I thought ‘who gets to go to Harvard?’” Okerstrom recalled fondly. Still, no matter where he goes, Okerstrom praises SFU for guiding him. “My time here at Simon Fraser [ . . . ] was one of the most formative periods of my life.

“I studied philosophy and critical reasoning, and then psychology and calculus,” he told me. “The breadth of what I studied was phenomenal — SFU instilled in me a curiosity that still drives me today; but it also instilled a need to [be] disciplined, and to be self-motivated to get things done on time.” Indeed, Okerstrom’s constant willingness to push himself and to accept opportunities has taken him all over the world to find his next step. 

Alumni advice — Kathleen Hepburn: “Accept you’re going to fail.”

When I finally approached Hepburn and spoke with her, it was clear that she’s a passionate filmmaker. Having graduated in 2007, Hepburn is this year’s Rising Star recipient, an award that recognizes new talents among SFU alumni. Hepburn’s first feature film, Never Steady, Never Still, has premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2017. The film won the awards for Best Canadian Film, Special Jury Prize, and Best Director. 

“I think I’m inspired by the world we live in — the social context of our lives and the ethical dilemmas,” Hepburn mused, when asked about what inspired her work. “But I’m really interested in [ . . . ] people living in complicated circumstances and having to make difficult decisions.” 

Indeed, these inspirations are reflected in her most recent production, The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open, a film wherein two Indigenous women in Vancouver meet each other by chance and come to lean on each other. This film is the culmination of Hepburn’s collaboration with Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers as writer and director. The Toronto International Film Festival describes The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open as “a brilliant, poignant collaboration between two of Canada’s brightest — and boldest — filmmakers.”

When asked about the most rewarding experience about working on the film, Hepburn talked about her actor’s growth — they were working with a 17 year old actress, Violet Nelson, who had never acted before in her life. “When we first met her, she was unbelievably shy and reserved, if you asked her a question, she would [ . . . ] shrink into herself. Throughout the process of making the film, [ . . . ] she emerged into this [ . . . ] amazing [person].” 

Hepburn really believes in her work, which is what keeps her motivated. “One of the things that makes a filmmaker successful is that they don’t give up [ . . . ] it’s a tough industry, and you have to not be afraid of putting yourself out there.” 

Even through the obstacles, Hepburn, really believes in her work, which keeps her motivated.

 “One of the things that makes a filmmaker successful is that they don’t give up [ . . . ] it’s a tough industry, and you have to not be afraid of putting yourself out there.” 

Her words, like those of the other alumni, can speak to all of us, no matter what point we are in in our academic journey. To see these phenomenal individuals light the way for SFU alumnus instils an indescribable pride; as a student, I’m elated to see how my work now could lead to greater things, and that feeling is a great gift.  It was especially a good experience to connect with alumni who are proud to show how SFU led them to their careers. Overall, when SFU feels like a commuter campus sometimes, it’s nice to have an event that remembers and celebrates our community here.

 

The full speeches of the 2019 Outstanding Alumni Awards recipients are available on Facebook.

You’re a student and a citizen: A cheat sheet on when, where, and how students can vote this 2019 election

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Vector Images

By: Gabrielle McLaren, Editor-in-Chief 

Like a rare meteor that only appears when the Governor General calls — it’s election time in Canada; which means that all your relatives on Facebook are going to start acting up and you, my friend, are going to have to start thinking about where and how you’re going to vote. If you’re over the age of 18 and a Canadian citizen, that is. You can double check your voter registration online (something that you can do at the polls, but might want to check in advance if you’re living away from home). 

The Peak is here to help you do two things. First — figure out how elections and our system of representation work in the first place. Next — figure out how to make it work for you so that you can vote. 

 

In case your high school social studies failed you, here’s how our Parliament works:

Yes, I know, boring, but you need to know this so that you can understand where your vote is going and why it matters. 

Essentially, Canada is divided into 338 pieces called ridings. Ridings are geographical entities, but their boundaries are decided by population — which is why there are more ridings in Vancouver than there are in all three territories put together. This is also why federal and provincial ridings are different and why new ridings pop up as the population grows. 

Every riding gets a seat in the House of Commons in Parliament, which will be occupied by a member of Parliament (MP). When election season rolls around, Canadians vote for the candidate that they want to send to Ottawa through a first-past-the-post system: meaning that the candidate with the most votes wins the seat. That’s who you’re voting for; unlike Americans, we don’t vote directly for our head of government. And our head of state is a different person entirely.  

That being said, candidates typically represent political parties though a few run independently (it’s harder, due to lack of resources, but it happens). So at the end of the day, the party that has the most candidates in the House of Commons is invited by the Governor General, who represents the Queen, to form government, and the leader of that party becomes the Prime Minister. 

For a party to be considered an official party in Canada, it needs to hold 12 seats in the House of Commons — so the Liberals, NDP, and Conservatives are in while the Bloc Québecois, Green Party, and Peoples’ Party of Canada (thank God) are out. This affects their funding and the amount of time they get during Question Period among other procedural things.  

You’ll be able to hear party leaders debate on October 7, at the official English language debate, and at an informal debate on October 2.

With these procedures in mind: if the idea of voting in the federal election feels overwhelming and pointless, or if you can’t pick a candidate you love more than the others, think back to your riding. Think of the local issues, the local candidates, and the promises they’re making for your community. This is more manageable. One thing that this piece won’t try to do is hammer a kumbaya notion that every vote matters into you, even if I think it’s true; but I would encourage you to think of voting as something complex that has repercussions and implications on multiple levels. 

 

Here’s how you can vote if you’re . . . 

. . . a student from Vancouver in Vancouver

If you’re originally from the Lower Mainland or can get to your home riding to vote; great. Mark your calendar: election day is Monday, October 21. 

You could always vote during advance polling, which will take place from October 11–14. If you’re registered to vote at the address where you live, you should be getting a voter information card with details or, after October 2, you can check online for your riding’s advanced polling times and dates. 

You’ll want to start by finding your riding on Election Canada’s website. The site allows you to search for your riding by postal code, electoral district name, candidate name, map, place name, or by going down a list. There, you’ll find all your riding-specific instructions there; including a list of places where you can vote (and their accessibility features). This website also lets you see a full list of confirmed candidates for your riding and a list of past results if you’re curious about how your riding’s voted in the past.  

On election day: show up with the appropriate ID — a list of options is available online. Good news for students: a student ID is an acceptable piece, if you pair it with something like a bank statement or utility bill that has your address on it. If you don’t have ID, you can also have someone with ID vouch for you. 

 

. . . a student from out of town

Vote by mail: You have to apply to vote by special ballot by October 15 at 6:00 p.m. online (or at a local Elections Canada office). Do. Not. Miss. This. Deadline. You’ll be asked to submit proof of your identity, same as everyone else, and you’ll receive a special ballot voting kit in the mail. Essentially, you’ll get a blank ballot on which you write the first and last name of the candidate you want to vote for, and then you mail it back to Elections Canada. 

 

. . . a student outside of the country 

First off, congrats on your cool study abroad experience, your sudden streak of wanderlust, or that cool school outside of Canada you’re attending while still reading The Peak. You’ll want to get in touch with your local embassy or consulate (which you can find through Global Affairs’ website) so that you can vote by special ballot through them.   

 

. . . a student who will be on campus and can vote between classes through the Vote on Campus program 

Once upon a time in 2015, Elections Canada set up a pilot project to help make it easier for students to vote by opening polling stations just for us. 70,000 votes were cast on university campuses by special ballot vote. This year, Elections Canada expanded the program for students at 115 post-secondary institutions across the country to vote October 5–9.

SFU participated in the 2015 pilot project and boasted an incredibly high voter turnout. This year, SFU students will be able to vote at three separate stations at the Burnaby Campus, which opens at 9:00 a.m. throughout the Vote on Campus period, closing at 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays, 4:00 p.m. on Sundays, and 9:00 p.m. on weekdays.     

 

SIDEBAR: Voting timeline 

  • 1867 : In the first Canadian election ever, Sir John A. Macdonald becomes the first PM. That being said, only male British subjects over the age of 21 with certain property qualifications could vote, so . . . yeah . . . Elections were also run by provinces, meaning that the guidelines, procedures, and even timelines of elections varied from place to place which created a whole lot of confusion, nonsense, tomfoolery, and shenanigans. 
  • 1874: The Liberal government introduce a secret ballot instead of having everyone hop on stage and yell out their choice candidate in the village square. In a completely shocking turn of events, this also led to less violence at the polls and reduced corruption more generally. 
  • 1898: Achievement unlocked: universal male suffrage rolls out across the country, abolishing the property and income criteria that had kept many voters (especially people of colour) out of the voting booths. 
  • 1917: One step forward, one step back: women serving in the military or married to active members gain the right to vote. But since we’re in the middle of the war, people are feeling racist and a chunk of voters from “enemy countries” or who happen to speak too much German get disenfranchised. 
  • 1918: Women gain the federal vote, unless otherwise barred due to racial laws. The first woman ever elected, Agnes MacPhail, won a seat immediately after this. 
  • 1948: The last barrier against Asian Canadian voters is lifted, when the federal government decides that people being discriminated against by provincial voting laws (i.e. those in British Columbia) shouldn’t disenfranchise voters at the federal level. BC repealed their laws in 1949.
  • 1950: Inuit people gain the right to vote, though the absence of polling stations in the North means that this right couldn’t be practised. 
  • 1960: First Nations people with Indian status gain the right to vote without losing their status. 
  •  2019: You are here. 

Tools and useful links

Driver spontaneously evaporates while complaining about Vancouver climate strike

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Written by Zach Siddiqui, Humour Editor

VANCOUVER, BC — On Friday afternoon, Richard Sunnyvale, 39, dissolved into vapour right in the middle of a Yaletown nightclub, to the shock of his fellow Gen X debauchees. Witnesses report that Sunnyvale had been partway through a tirade on the traffic disruptions caused by Vancouver’s Friday climate strike, one of a long series of climate change protests held internationally this month, at the time of death.

Sunnyvale’s remains were not available for comment, having vanished into the air as rapidly as performative climate activism from students in SFU classrooms when the semester ends. Despite this, bar staff managed to recount the events for The Peak. 

“You know, it’s just the worst,” Sunnyvale was reportedly slurring to a bartender just before his sublimation. “These hippies feel so entitled to the goddamn streets. Can’t even drive over here in peace after work to get sloshed in my own city . . . and for what?

“If climate change were real, then tell me, how come my damn glass of IPA is still chilled like a fuckin’ beauty, eh?”

Soon after this, as the rays of the setting sun streamed into the bar through a skylight, Sunnyvale suddenly transformed into a small white haze. According to managers, staff were slow to respond as they originally confused the lingering vapour for a cucumber cloud from a Juul. 

Authorities do not suspect foul play in Sunnyvale’s drastic change in state of matter — at least, no foul play beyond the rumoured consumer fraud and asset misappropriation of Big Greenhouse. However, they urge all Vancouverites to take safety measures when flagging down busy employees at bars to debrief them on personal problems, lest they, too, evaporate. Suggested measures include developing a sense of perspective on world issues and not being full of hot air.

At press time, Sunnyvale’s 2019 Corvette Stingray was still parked outside the club. A mix of climate action slogans and epitaphs for the vaporized Sunnyvale had been keyed into the chrome red paint job, including “PRIVACY IS FOR POOPING, NOT FOR TRANSPORTATION,” “GASSES TO GASSES, TAX CUTS TO TAX CUTS,” and “ugh my body is a nitrous oxide emission . . . let’s get it in the atmosphere </3”.

Federal election debate to be hosted on SFU Burnaby

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A photo of the first federal leader's debate in the 2019 election

By: Paige Riding, News Writer

By now, students should have heard about the upcoming Federal Election happening this October. Some, however, may not know where their political standings lie or where their potential vote may go. Members of the SFU community might find that schooling, work, or a busy mixture of both does not allow a great amount of time to research the candidates of one’s riding. Hopefully, the upcoming Federal Elections Debate being held at the Burnaby SFU campus may help SFU patrons to decide on which name to check off on the ballot come election day.

The candidates will provide their standings on a variety of issues that pertain to post-secondary students and members of the community. Shina Kaur, Vice-President of University Relations for the SFSS, says “the event will have two parts, a session with pre-selected questions surrounding the federal government’s role in post-secondary education & tuition, housing & affordability, and the environment & climate change. The second part will be a Q&A with audience members.” Students are encouraged to come with any questions or concerns and get some answers from their future MP.

The event features candidates from the major parties running in the Burnaby North-Seymour riding. This riding stretches from Burrard Inlet to the southeast portion of North Vancouver, also including Seymour Creek Indian Reserve No. 2 as well as Burrard Inlet Indian Reserve No. 3 (globalnews.ca). The New Democratic Party’s Svend Robinson, Liberal representative Terry Beech, Green’s Amita Kuttner, and the Conservative candidate Heather Leung were all invited to partake. However, according to Kaur, “The Conservatives did not respond to our invite.”

Hosted by the Simon Fraser Student Society and the Grad Student Society, the Federal Elections 2019 Debate will occur on October 3rd from 5:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m. in the evening in room C9001. The event is free, but registration is required. Free tickets to attend are available online. 

To learn more about the debate, contact the Student Society at [email protected]. Moreover, voters are encouraged to additional research on what their vote will go toward beforehand.

 

Student subscriptions: What services and apps SFU students are using their little money on

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Photo by Sharon McCutcheon / Unsplash

By: Kayli Jamieson, Gurpreet Kambo, Nicole Magas, and Winona Young

 

Amazon Prime Student | $3.99 per month | Online delivery store

Prime is a service that supposedly allows subscribers to receive extra fast shipping on items to their home. However, it’s not as good in Canada as in the United States where you can get same-day shipping on nearly anything you can think of. There’s far fewer same-day shipping items in Canada, as the norm seems to be two days to a week. However, you can still get decent deals.  Amazon Prime includes: Prime Music (sucks in Canada), Prime Video (not bad, some decent content), and Prime Reading which has a small library of free books that rotates every month (actually pretty good). Despite the Canadian benefits being subpar compared to United States, the student rate for Amazon Prime is only $39 per year (or $3.99 per month). With prices like these, it makes the subscription worthwhile. -— GK

 

The Economist Magazine  | $64 per 12 weeks | Economic magazine

My friends often ask me why I pay for my news. But in this world of post-truth, fake news, and the ever-growing reliance on social media networks for news, it is more essential than ever to support trusted journalism. I’ve been subscribed for well over a year and my knowledge in world news and global issues has reflected this. What’s truly great about The Economist is their analysis of global issues and their prediction of possible outcomes or consequences. It really allows the reader to open up their perspective to issues around the world and break out of your bubble. The subscription also includes access to digital editions of the magazine that I read on my iPad, as well as a daily early morning email called The Economist Espresso that delivers the day’s top stories in a summarized paragraph to your inbox. — KJ

 

FocusMate | $5 per month | Social study tool

Think wholesome ChatRoulette. FocusMate is a tool I’ve used to help me stay focused on my school work. It is essentially co-working with someone over video for 50 minute sessions, where you each discuss your goal for that specific session, and then you proceed to work on that goal, without talking, until the end of the session when you check in on your progress. It revolves around a calendar where people can book sessions requesting a partner, and someone else can come and book that session with you. You can book them in advance so as to plan your day, as the external pressure of an ‘appointment’ you have to keep is what gets you at your desk, rather than procrastinating. The service has a free tier (three sessions per week) and a paid tier at $4 USD/month (unlimited sessions). For me, this service has a magic to it that few other focus/productivity tools I’ve tried lack, so it was obvious that it was worth it. — GK

 

Headspace | $17.99 per month | Meditation app

I’ve downloaded my fair share of apps to add to my therapy; journaling apps, mood tracking apps, encouraging apps that have a game feature included (these ones were weird but oddly common), etc. Headspace is a guided meditation app I’ve been using for several months so far, and I’m fairly happy with it. It has guided meditations for about everything you can think of — flight anxiety, burnout, how to forgive yourself . . . just about anything really. Headspace has the guided meditations in different lengths (3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes). Each meditation topic, take for instance, “Managing Anxiety,” has sessions designed to be done in a certain time span, that can range from 10–30 days. In the throes of my undergraduate telenovela of a life, the guided meditations have been a really helpful way to center myself. — WY 

 

Maclean’s Magazine | $26.20 per year | Canadian news magazine

I truly enjoy being subscribed to The Economist, but something was missing — a Canadian element. With the upcoming federal election on October 21 looming nearer, I wanted to access articles by Canadian journalists providing their insights on this country’s present issues as well as their coverage on the party candidates. This subscription covers 12 physical print issues that are sent to you monthly. But as a perk, you’re also able to access their weekly digital issues on your tablet. I’d recommend this subscription for anyone wanting to read about issues across the country as Maclean’s is able to provide that focused insight! — KJ

 

Marvel Unlimited | $12.99 per month | Comic book collection 

I’m hooked on superheroes; particularly the Marvel Comics Universe franchise. I stumbled across this subscription feature of Marvel when searching for comic series publication dates so I could hunt them down at my local library. However, some series are so limited and rare that either libraries don’t have them, or you’d have to spend a fortune at the comic store. Marvel Unlimited is a yearly subscription that allows me to access tens of thousands of digital comics to read via my iPad, iPhone, or laptop. Whether I’m interested in delving into the origins of Wolverine, catching up on Miles Morales and his Spidey adventures, or brushing up on the latest and greatest of Ms. Marvel, this annual subscription is worth your money if you don’t want to break the bank on physical comics. — KJ

 

Nintendo Switch Online | $4.99 per month | Online gaming platform

My go-to self-care routine often involves some kind of Nintendo video game. Nintendo Switch Online is a service that allows you to play games online. It allows me to play Splatoon 2 against others, a game in which you play as cool-ass squid-human children who are shooting coloured ink at each other — sort of like a Nintendo-y take on Halo or Call of Duty. There’s other great perks too, including cloud save backups, and access to a library of classic Super Nintendo and NES games. If you’re a 90s kid, these are all the awesome games that you grew up like Super Mario World and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.  At just five bucks per month, Nintendo Switch Online is a bargain. — GK

 

Shudder | $5.99 per month | Horror movie subscription 

I’m a horror movie buff — supernatural horror to be exact. Netflix used to be my go-to for horror, but most of their new releases have been international and subtitled, which hasn’t been great for me, a person who needs to multitask while watching movies in order to get anything at all done. I grabbed a free trial of Crave and found their horror content surprisingly contemporary and top-tier, if somewhat limited. The problem with Crave is that their catalog doesn’t update very regularly, their platform is full of bugs, and they only keep partial seasons of TV shows. At the moment, my go-to for horror is my Shudder subscription through Amazon Prime, which is an additional purchase on top of Prime. Their catalogue tends toward older or B-movie horror films, but they are just weird enough to keep me coming back for more. Horror fans, if you need to put your $5 anywhere, I recommend Shudder. — NM

 

YouTube Red | $17.99 per month | Online video streaming platform

Not to flex, but I haven’t watched an ad on YouTube since 2017. It’s refreshing to briefly live in an online platform free of ads. My favourite feature is that users can download any YouTube video onto their phone. This feature clearly understands my poor impulse control, and prevents me from running up my data bill every month watching random videos on my daily commute. And the videos you’ve saved last — I still have videos from December 2018 on my phone. There admittedly are other benefits, like having access to all of YouTube Originals, which, okay? But to me, no ads and all of my favourite videos on hand are more than worth the $18 I could easily blow on a Cornerstone meal, any day. — WY 

Transphobic vandalism in SFU washrooms

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The Transgender Pride Flag

Content warning: the following article discusses themes of suicide and contains triggering transphobic slurs and images of vandalism. The Peak has chosen not to publish photos of the transphobic vandalism.

By: Jess Dela Cruz, News Writer 

Ongoing transphobic and homophobic vandalism in SFU’s washrooms has caused escalating concern for LGBTQ2+ community members and allies. This is an ongoing issue that was previously reported by The Peak.  

In June of 2019, Out On Campus (OOC) launched the #WeJustNeedToPee poster campaign, reaffirming transgender students’ right to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender. Ashley Brooks, OOC’s coordinator, described it as “a positive campaign reminding our campus community to be respectful of trans students in these spaces and reassuring our trans community that they have a right to feel safe on their campus.” 

However, as stated by to Brooks, OOC has been “Receiving reports of posters being torn down and defaced.” Brooks reports that “until recently, this vandalism had been relatively minor.” However, recent cases have been extreme and concerning to many in the campus’ community. According to Brooks, the vandalism on the posters consisted of things such as a swastika, the word ‘FAG,’ and changing of the #WeJustNeedToPee hashtag to #WeJustNeedToKYS — with KYS standing for ‘kill yourself.’ 

Other vandalism on the posters say, “a person [is] going to hell if they don’t repent.” One says, “#MakeStraightGreatAgain.” Others, “#UseTheHandicapBathroom” and “#CisgenderPride.” 

Brooks has been working with the Human Rights Office, Campus Public Safety, the Student Conduct Office, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU), and the police to monitor the situation. 

Additionally, Brooks states “Seeing a swastika is disturbing enough – especially since Canada recently added a neo-Nazi group to its list of terrorist organisations – but seeing it alongside an encouragement to suicide is mortifying since trans folks are already three times as likely as cis[gender] people to attempt suicide. This is truly a stain on our vibrant and diverse campus community and a stark reminder of the need for safer spaces for marginalised groups.” 

There are only a limited number of washrooms at SFU that are gender-neutral, and thus reliably safe for transgender students to use. In most cases, these are the single-use accessible washrooms. OOC has published an online package called “Trans and Gender Diverse Guide to SFU.”

 Brooks adds, “if you’re ever in a washroom wondering if somebody else belongs there in there, they likely know better than you do.” 

If you have questions or need assistance, visit Out on Campus in the Rotunda or email  [email protected]. For Health and Counselling Services, visit the clinic in the Maggie Benston Centre, Room 0101 or contact them at 778-782-5781. Students can also volunteer with OOC to help them replace defaced posters. 

 

Event hosted at SFU Harbour Centre includes guest criticized for transphobic views

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A screenshot of the poster for the transphobic event

By: Gurpreet Kambo, News Editor

An event being held at SFU’s Vancouver campus has caused controversy among the LGBTQ2+ community and allies. The event, titled “How Media Bias Shapes the Gender Identity Debate,” has raised concerns due to some speakers’ associations with transphobic discourse. 

One of the speakers in particular, SFU alumna and founder of the website Feminist Current Meghan Murphy, has been notorious for her recent involvement in several controversial events. Murphy advocates for a gender essentialist point of view that sees gender as inflexible and determined by the genitalia that one is born with — a view that would deny the existence of trans and gender divergent individuals. She was also banned from Twitter for the use of transphobic language.

In July 2019, Murphy spoke at a sold out event at the Vancouver Public Library while protesters marched outside. VPL was subsequently banned from attending Vancouver Pride, deeming the event to be “Transphobic hate speech.”

Other speakers include similarly controversial speakers such as: National Post columnist Jon Kay, SFU alumna Lindsay Shepherd, and journalist at The Post-Millennial Anna Slatz. The event is organized by SFU professor of archaeology Mark Collard.

Many social media users spoke out against the event and SFU for hosting it. June Scudeler, assistant professor in the First Nations Studies and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies (GSWS) departments, tweeted: “Hey, @SFU, the eventbrite page for the transphobic event is still up. This is not the ‘engaged university’ I want to work at.” 

Another user @lardandsabia tweeted “Hurts to know @SFU will host a GIDYVR panel. Gender identity is NOT a debate, but MM [Meghan Murphy] continues to spread transphobic hate speech under this thin veil. SFU, you’re willing to ignore BC Human Rights Code and make your trans community members question their safety to host this? #SFU.”

The event was  taken down from Instagram, though the Facebook page remains up.

Following the eruption of controversy, SFU made an official statement which said: “Universities operate on the principle that freedom of expression is a core component of intellectual inquiry and central to the pursuit of knowledge. As such, we support the right of faculty and other SFU community members to engage in free speech within the limits of the law.”

Additionally, the statement claimed that SFU does not endorse the views expressed, and that SFU is “Deeply committed to equity, diversity and inclusion.” Moreover, SFU supports “The right of trans community members to define their own gender identity and be respected in that choice.”    

The GSWS department has also released a statement that they are “Profoundly disappointed by those who use the language of feminism to justify exclusion and discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression. We affirm that trans people are exactly who they say they are.” The statement mentions that the department will sponsor an event that “Supports and uplifts trans communities” in response.

The Peak reached out to Ashley Brooks, coordinator of Out on Campus, campus’ LGBTQ2+ resource centre, for comments. 

“The event should really not be taking place at SFU,” Brooks stated. “[SFU needs] to think very carefully about how they’re defining legitimate intellectual inquiry [ . . . ] This is more fundamental than debating big societal issues, we’re debating personhood here.

“It’s even worse that recently SFU put on display a transgender flag [in] August [ . . . ] those are more than pretty flags, they mean something. 

“Trans students need to see more than a commitment to display[ing] a flag or creat[ing] a mural celebrating gender and sexual diversity [ . . . ] You cannot be up for debating the legitimacy of people’s identities while also championing those identities — it is a complete contradiction.” 

Brooks adds, “It is above and beyond negligent to be discussing the legitimacy of [people] who attempt suicide as a result of those identities around three times as much as cisgendered people do.” 

Brooks suggests that for SFU, the consequences may include: SFU being uninvited from Vancouver Pride and damage to the school’s relationship with its LGBTQ2+ students and communities.

 

 

Measured in love: Rent at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre

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Arts
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Rent first premiered in New York City in 1996. Image courtesy of Amy Boyle / Broadway Across Canada.

04/10/2019: This story was corrected from an older version. The previous version stated that Mimi was played by Kelsee Sweigard, Maureen was played by Lexi Greene, and Collins was played by Juan Luis Espinal. Mimi was portrayed by Aiyana Smash, Maureen was portrayed by Kelsee Sweigard, and Collins was portrayed by Shafiq Hicks.

By: Kelly Chia, Staff Writer

I went to the opening night of Broadway Across Canada’s production of Rent on Tuesday, September 17. My first thoughts after watching the musical felt like a deep exhale from some locked part of myself — I hadn’t seen love displayed in such a tender way in a while. I was thoroughly impressed by the performance, if a little weepy afterwards.

Rent is set in 1980s New York City, when the AIDS epidemic was merciless. As the audience, we find out quite early on that many of the main characters have HIV. What is especially poignant about Rent is that AIDS isn’t initially the driving plot of the show, but a looming backdrop. It helps to centre the love stories in Rent, and they unfurl unsteadily because the characters know that their futures are uncertain. The audience knows this, too, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to us. But for the first act, we are all allowed to forget it.

The first act was a wild ride of bohemian liveliness. Aiyana Smash delivered a spectacular performance as Mimi, and is particularly impressive in “Out Tonight,” where she expertly straddled the stair railings on the set and absolutely killed the song. Kelsee Sweigard also did a magnificent job as Maureen in “Over the Moon.” She engaged with the audience and asked us to moo at one point, which was done in the service of giving the middle finger to capitalist pigs. It was spectacular.

While the entire first act takes place over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the second act drives over the subsequent year quickly. Suddenly, the time that felt so thorough and enjoyable in the first act becomes the factor that makes these relationships deteriorate. It all suddenly feels too short.

Angel, portrayed by Joshua Tavares, and Collins, portrayed by Shafiq Hicks, are introduced to us as a couple in the first act. The two have a stable relationship, but as Angel’s health gets significantly worse in the second act, the gravity of their situation becomes apparent. Tavares and Hicks did an excellent job of conveying the couple’s closeness.

Meanwhile, Maureen and Joanne (Samantha Mbolekwa) realize the polar differences in their personalities. “Take Me or Leave Me” is an explosive number that is as playful as Maureen’s character; Sweigard and Mbolekwa had amazing harmonies here. Even though they break up during this song, we later see that they miss each other in “Without You.”

The musical proceeds with the group coping with Angel’s death and grappling with Mimi’s illness as it progresses from HIV to AIDS. Mimi’s partner Roger (Coleman Cummings) cannot bear seeing her health deteriorate, and this painful dynamic was really what pulled at my heartstrings. The play comes back around to Christmas Day, and the ensemble of homeless people remind the audience that nothing has changed for them — they still don’t have a place to go as the snow starts falling. The second act hits hard with the reality of the characters’ situations, and the cast did an amazing job of expressing these emotional gut punches.

Even through the characters’ harsh circumstances, Rent is a lesson about how love is the most reliable constant in difficult times, be it platonic or romantic. The musical teaches us to be vulnerable and connected with our loved ones, and to always understand their worth. For the characters that don’t have much time left, this is crucial for maintaining a happy relationship — as seen by Angel and Collins, who are presented as the happiest couple. Overall, the cast of Rent did an amazing job, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to see this musical. 

Vancouver Climate Strike 2019

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Multimedia
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Your weekly SFU horoscopes: September 30–October 6

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EIC
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An illustration of a girl with long flowing hair. Astrological signs and stars shine around her.
ILLUSTRATION: Marissa Ouyang / The Peak

Written by Zach Siddiqui, Humour Editor

Aries — March 21–April 19

You might be bored to hot tears by this week’s class presentation. Channel your crazy into charity for once, and go take over the entire show from your bleary-eyed, orally challenged classmates. Scrap their original dull presentation topic and instead dictate to the class the full timeline of CupcakKe’s bizarre online breakdown-takedown against Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes.

Taurus — April 20–May 20

You thought you’d glowed up so hard over the summer. I’m sorry to tell you that that was just the vitamin D and the warm lighting. The October rain and the nutritional wasteland of your palate are soon to wash away the glamour, revealing your real idiot mountain gnome complexion.

Gemini — May 21–June 20

This week, remember: lovers are like pumpkin spice. Their supposed identities are a front for an unstable mix of five different personalities/herbs, but we indulge in them anyway. Then we snort puka shells with the VSCO girls.

Cancer — June 21–July 22

You’ve buried your most embarrassing memories for years under layers of neoliberalism and the power of positive thinking. Now would be a good time to harvest those memories and pour them into your art. Let the shame of buying $6 chicken strips and fries from the caf’ for a grade 8 charlatan who never BBM’d you back flow through your synapses . . . let it define the nuances of your sham answers to SFU’s latest enter-to-win student experience survey.

Leo — July 23–August 22

Don’t think you owe anyone explanations or justifications this week. Just be you. And if that ends in mortgage broker fraud, so be it.

Virgo — August 23–September 22

It’s time. Pack up the summer outfits and stock your closet with an armoury of plaid buttoned tops and worn jeans. Dressing like a scarecrow until December could convince some wizard somewhere to magick you a brain for the semester. 

Libra — September 23–October 22

Someone’s going to cross you this week. Don’t engage. Just stop what you’re doing, pucker up,  and post a selfie to your Snap Story captioned “~if that’s your man then why did he write his SFU ID number on my pumpkin cream cold brew?~”

Scorpio — October 23–November 21

Don’t go thinking you can trust anyone with the knowledge that the SFU online library reserves have one (1) digital copy of the textbook everyone’s put off buying available — especially not in fall semester. They’ll all betray you in the end. Yes, even Phillippe with the stubbly serrated jawline.

Sagittarius — November 22–December 21

Remind yourself . . . everything you do has a consequence. You can’t just knock back nine Mike’s Hard Lemonades in a dark corner of the Robert C. Brown maze, solve the spider-in-the-urinal problem, and then put on a cute sweater in the morning and move on. 

Capricorn — December 22–January 19

Your sapiosexuality is going to be hard to satiate this week. Your crushes, rather than be characterized by the imagined lines borne of your anguished mind, will actually open their mouths . . .  “Game of Thrones earned all nine of its Emmys.”

Aquarius — January 20–February 18

Don’t obey the impulse to get a full-body spray of pesticides done in lieu of renewing your vaccines. Yes, you might be a healthy snack for now. But what works for the mushy apples coming into season on your senile grandfather’s probably ill-gotten land is unlikely to work for you. 

Pisces — February 19–March 20

Tie-dye your thrift shop purchases this week using red wine, scotch, and curaçao. It’s time your extended family learned your true colours at Thanksgiving.

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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