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Love Letters to SFU #4 (To an SFU Prof)

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Peak Web
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Image courtesy of Pixabay

By: Winona Young, Staff Writer

Dear SFU prof,

When I walked into my prof’s office hours, he recited Dr. Seuss to me. Mid-sentence. With no prologue at all. Now I know for a fact that reciting children’s literature is not in his job description, or hell, even his field of study, but it’s fine. Without a doubt, to this day, that prof remains one of my favourite profs.

At SFU, on its teetering mountain top filled with students looking downward in the halls as they make a beeline for the bus loops, it was hard to find any chances to talk to anyone. Yes, there’d be days where I saw my friends, but SFU is such a big campus that I rarely shared any classes with them.

As a student, I felt a little lonely being one of several people in a 200+ lecture, and one of the few willing to speak up. I came from a high school that pushed kids day in and day out to speak up (read: do Socratic Seminars every other week). As I transitioned from seeing my friends on a daily basis and hearing other people talk in classes to SFU’s commuter campus, my world got quiet — I got quiet… and that scared me.

But my profs had to speak every day – and God, did they like to talk. Luckily for them, I’m what many people would call a “keener.” So I braved the trek to their office for office hours, like I often did, hoping that my visit would be repaid in high Canvas grades and, more importantly, end my desperate search to find the Mr. Miyagi to my Danny.

What I found instead was a zany communications prof who interrupted me during my proposal about my satire on the neoliberalism and the commodification of feminism with the phrase, “Star-belly sneetches.”

I responded as eloquently as any undergrad could. I paused and replied with “???”

Without missing a beat, the prof continued his recitation: “Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches / Had bellies with stars. / The Plain-Belly Sneetches / Had none upon thars,” he finished with a nod.

Still confused to the point of intrigue, I watched as my prof, seemingly possessed by the ghost of Dr. Seuss, began digging through his shelves for the book. Then, when he couldn’t find it, he searched online for the entire PDF. Once he’d procured a copy of the children’s book, he promptly narrated the entirety of The Star Bellied-Sneetches to me, illustrations and all.

I was speechless. When he finished his impromptu storytime, he noted that, interesting fact, my satirization of neoliberalism could be a loose model of Sneetches. He spent the next twenty minutes bluntly picking apart my idea, which gave me about as much intellectual whiplash as one could imagine.

And I loved it.

I loved my prof’s zaniness. I adored that even with all the propriety of academia, it didn’t stop him from reciting children’s literature on that grey Tuesday afternoon.

There was never a dull moment during this prof’s office hours. Even with his occasional tangents, he would never hesitate to give me a critical note, push me to do better, or promote greater understanding of the course content.

Long after I finish my degree, I know I’ll still look back on my university experience with fond memories of those office hours, which were more impactful than any lecture.

To the professor, who shall remain nameless, thank you for the critique, the wisdom, and for never shutting up — truly.

 

With love and a newfound appreciation for Dr. Seuss,

Winona

SFU’s Video Game production = GAME OVER

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Peak Web
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Photo curtesy of pexels

Author: Ana Staskevich, Staff Writer

HELLO GAMERS AND GALS, it’s ya boy here with another video game review and I gotta say, this is the first time I COULDN’T finish a video game. Simon Fraser University assumed they could just produce a VIDEO GAME about their school. As a dedicated, full-time gamer, I’ll try anything once but SFU: Student Life is a bit different than the games I’m used to reviewing.

I’ll be honest…

It’s fucking depressing.

Student Life is a multiplayer game that connects you to other “students.” Once you got it all set up (a process that needs a pre-approval from the Gamemakers, which takes about a month, and then you’re dealing with a lengthy download time), you finally get started. Additionally, there is an option to get a “Scholarship Extension” which gives you more quests but lags the fuck out of your PC.

One CRAZY thing about the game is a connection to the Wi-Fi network SFUNET-SECURE is required. This whole system is buggy to say the least — on the daily, it glitched out and disconnected me even though I put in the valid credentials! Major embarrassment.

By the way, this game is unplayable without the add-ons (the Health extensions, the “Upper Division Enrolment” pack, the Study-Night-At-Bennett DLC, etc) and you gotta pay the “real life” rate of tuition to play. This is all in their Terms and Conditions btw . . . who reads that shit anyway?

The main point of the game is that you can choose and play through a “Major,” which is in your stats and can be changed throughout your game journey. This, however, can only be done by interacting with Advisor NPCs, who get harder and harder to find as you progress through the levels. In order to complete the main quests by attending Lectures, you need to get tools by paying real life money. This pay-to-win is BULLSHIT. I already have a video game controller and now they want me to connect some piece of crap called an iClicker!!?

You gotta level up through points, or “units.” As a Student, you go through being “First Year” etc with the final level being “Graduation.” I personally did not take a straight path to “Graduation,” because this game really DOES NOTHING to lead you in any proper direction. Graduation, for those of you still reading, was just a cut scene that lead to “Further Learning” DLC… which, in case you haven’t followed along, costs a SHIT TON of money. Like, a lot. More than I have as a Professional Gamer.

One thing this game really lacks is the option to teleport to important areas on the map — it was a pain in the ass to walk LITERALLY everywhere, since all the buildings are spaced out and your tiny student feet can only do so much. Seeing my in-game sprite waddle around with the pace of a turtle was true commitment to realism.

With the latest update of the game, I got the amazing privilege of dealing with the newest challenge called the “Construction Labyrinth.” This jacks up the coding like nobody’s business  and forces the map to restructure the layout. Sometimes you can just clip through the labyrinth, but usually you’ll be stuck in an impossible timed maze trying to complete Classes.

Pain. In. My. Ass.

All in all, I personally found this game fucking chaotic. It gives you a sense of real life STRESS with a touch of dissociation — but from what I’ve heard, this is the SFU experience.

Playability: Poor
Graphics: Weather dependent
Overall rating: Maclean’s gives it first place in comprehension, I give it a 2/10

Martini Shot: A Graduating Film Showcase

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Peak Web
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Image courtesy of the School of Contemporary Arts via sfu.ca

By: Alison Wick, Arts Editor

I really did not know what to expect from the graduating showcase of the SFU School of Contemporary Arts’ Film program for 2019. In the weeks leading up to the screening, what I had mostly heard about from friends in the cohort was everything that had gone wrong: footage becoming unusable, plans going awry, countless hours in front of computer screens, and a general imbalance between work needing to be done and time available to do it. I feared for my friends that they might not complete their projects in time or that more wrenches would be thrown into their plans, stopping them from making the art they envisioned.

Sitting down in the theatre and seeing all 12 films, my fears melted away as I forgot everything they told me. Each film was beautifully unique and exquisitely rendered in each filmmaker’s distinctive style. No film showed any cracks, reflecting the exhaustive effort that went into them — they were all effortlessly professional and artistic pieces of cinema.

The evening was split into two halves featuring six films, including two short Q&As with each group of six filmmakers. Although the running time of the evening was over two hours, the fantastic films and amusing co-hosts kept us engaged and excited. The films ranged from narrative explorations of character to mixed media animations to documentaries — with too much nuance and individuality to properly convey in this short piece of writing.

In their talkbacks with the audience, the filmmakers discussed the collaborative process of filmmaking and how complex it is to translate sensory experiences to the screen. They also fielded questions about topics ranging from set decoration to bringing your hopes and dreams to life.

The cohort was clearly a tight-knit group of collaborators. You didn’t just see it through the credits; you could feel it in the theatre. A strong sense of community and excitement in the audience is what really separated this evening from a regular film screening.

After the films, a reception was held in the World Art Centre next to the theatre. Filmmakers, along with friends and family, celebrated their achievements and exhaled sighs of relief.

SFU Film 2019’s graduating filmmakers are: Emily Bayrock, Sophia Biedka, Sean Brennan, Hannah Davis, Hannah Dubois, Rosie Hsueh, Ethan Lammie, Grace Mathisen, Carr Sappier, Greg Sparling, Marianne Thodas, and Gordon Wong. These are 12 filmmakers to keep your eyes and ears out for in the coming years; follow them, support their work (special points if you do this financially), and watch as they each bring new perspectives, new images, and new ways of filmmaking to Vancouver and beyond.

A big congratulations to everyone in the class of SFU Film 2019 — your films were wonderful, you are wonderful, and I can’t wait to see what you do next.

Below is a full list and brief description of each film and director in the order of the showcase.

Sifu – Gordan Wong

Image courtesy of Emily Bayrock via Vimeo

Sifu is a touching film about the lifelong relationship between a father and son, who have a tense but loving bond, and their shared practice of martial arts.

As I Care For You – Rosie Hseuh

Image courtesy of Emily Bayrock via Vimeo

Hseuh’s charming hand-drawn animated film tells a sweet and simple story about a hidden caregiver who lifts peoples’ spirits — all without dialogue, emphasizing colourful images and a universal message.

The Indestructible Girl – Grace Mathisen

Image courtesy of Emily Bayrock via Vimeo

Endearing and humorous, this film follows a young girl as she plays with her favourite, and possibly imaginary, friend.

The Calling – Ethan Lammie

Image courtesy of Emily Bayrock via Vimeo

Marrying humour and horror, this thriller tells the story of a young man as he spirals into crisis darker than he imagined.

If You Must – Directed by Sophia Biedka

Image courtesy of Emily Bayrock via Vimeo

If You Must is an impeccably shot snapshot of life for Tahltan community members in Northern B.C, where mining companies and few job opportunities put pressure on the relationship between the community and their territory.

Normal People Don’t Feel This Way – Marianne Thodas

Image courtesy of Emily Bayrock via Vimeo

This mixed media experimental film tries to create images based on what you smell, touch, and taste of someone having a mental breakdown by layering filmed footage, animated images, and still photos.

Holly – Sean Brennan

Image courtesy of Emily Bayrock via Vimeo

A phony therapist, the spirit of a lost dog, and a quick-witted protagonist command your attention and laughter in this offbeat narrative film.

Bearly There – Greg Sparling

Image courtesy of Emily Bayrock via Vimeo

A kind of character study of a girl running away from the world, Sparling shows the humourous and dejected difficulties of escaping into the woods with a stuffed bear as your partner.

Virgo Rising – Emily Bayrock

Image courtesy of SFU SCA Film – Spring 2019 Screenings via Facebook

Bayrock combines fiction and documentary to portray and bring attention to the realities of vulvodynia, and the difficult ways it affects every aspect of women’s lives.

Someone, Somewhere Is Silently Screaming – Hannah Davis

Image courtesy of SFU SCA Film – Spring 2019 Screenings via Facebook

With a sarcastic and dry sense of humour, this film brings the mundane search for a lost dog to life with dance numbers, green screens, and underwhelming yet over the top characters.

What Spring Does To The Cherry Trees – Hannah Dubois

Image courtesy of Emily Bayrock via Vimeo

With keen attention to cinematography, What Spring Does To The Cherry Trees considers the internal tension and complexity of suddenly becoming the supportive partner.

MANAPE MANI – Carr Sappier

Image courtesy of Emily Bayrock via Vimeo

Manape Mani follows the delightfully funny and passionate Madeline Terbasket (Syilx) as she prepares for a comedy show, reflecting on her relationship to self and community through conversation with Sappier.

“Impactful, open, compassionate”: Giovanni HoSang’s vision for his SFSS presidency

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Peak Web
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Image courtesy of Chris Ho

By: Gabrielle McLaren, Editor-in-Chief

Fast Facts

Name: Giovanni HoSang

Pronouns: He / him / his

Departmental affiliation: Computing science, fourth year

Hometown: Spanish Town, Jamaica

Hobbies: Cricket, dancing  (specifically to Jamaican music), keeping up with politics, and being active in the Black community

Fun Fact: HoSang was a semi-professional cricket player in high school. During his last year of high school, he guided his team to their first schoolboy title. Lighting up at the memory, HoSang dug up articles and videos online to show off “my first headline” and reminisce.

When asked for a fun fact about himself, Giovanni HoSang completely blanked, saying: “I’m an open book, people know everything.” It took some time to get to the cricket.

The SFSS’s new president has been a very visible individual on campus. In fact, HoSang identified rising activism and the “level of comfort in challenging the status quo” as his favourite parts about SFU’s student body. HoSang himself has been both the president of the Students of Caribbean and African Ancestry and a vocal member of the SFU Tuition Freeze Now campaign.

In these roles, HoSang has criticized the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) in the past. Last March, HoSang announced his bid for the society’s presidency and was elected by a landslide.

“I realised that the student society was disconnected from the student body,” HoSang said frankly. He pointed to the politics currently surrounding higher education and students to explain why students and their student societies need to be in synch with one another now more than ever. In particular, HoSang discussed the Ford government’s recent budgetary cuts to postsecondary education in Ontario and the sweep of conservatism across Canada.

“We have to make sure we have a strong student society that is connected to the student body.”

For HoSang, advocacy is at the core of student unions’ existences. When asked what three words HoSang hoped would describe his presidency in particular, he settled on impactful, open, and compassionate.

“The student society has lost its mandate of fighting for students and advocating heavily for students,” HoSang went on. “It feels more service-oriented. And one of the big reasons for me to run was to actually bring back that advocacy and activism to the student society.

HoSang believes that the amount of leadership experience he has on and off campus has prepared him for a board position. What attracted him to the president’s position specifically is the president’s role in shaping the board. “I’m focused on building relationships,” HoSang states.

For HoSang, these relationships are both on and off the board. He’s excited to work with a board that includes 12 other new members. “It’s a good opportunity to have new perspectives on the board which we have not seen in a while,” HoSang said.

HoSang also hopes to improve the relationship that the board has with students, and identified relationship-building as his main focus for the month of May.  He plans to use social media to keep open lines of communication with students and to push for transparency on the board. He voiced his disapproval of a recent board decision to reverse a policy designed to keep track of how individual board members voted. He also spoke of promoting board meetings to students online to boost attendance and of strengthening the SFSS’ relationship with campus media such as CJSF and The Peak.

“Once you know what’s going on, you’ll stay more connected,” HoSang said.

However, HoSang is also concerned by the SFSS’s relationship with other student groups and independent student societies on campus, which he characterized as painful.

“A wealth of institutional relationships have been hurt over the last few years, and I intend to rebuild those relationships to bring them back to where [sic] it used to be [ . . . ] That’s through dialogue and conversation.”

HoSang later emphasized how other groups on campus were an asset to the community and further spoke on the importance of strong positive relationships between student groups.

“The SFSS can’t do everything, so we need to be empowering groups on campus who are also student groups. We have had a habit over the last three years to be characterizing those groups as external groups and in a sense we share the same approach [ . . . ] It’s important that we are in collaboration with these groups.”  

He names Embark Sustainability, campus radio CJSF, the Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group (SFPIRG), and The Peak Publication Society, though he also intends to reach out to constituency groups and clubs as well.

From June to August, he will then be on co-op, working for Microsoft. He says that he will be working for the SFSS remotely.

Among his many ideas and projects, and one of his main goals is building up a movement for tuition affordability before Fall. HoSang plans on setting up an affordability working group, which he says would mirror the one currently being assembled the Graduate Student Society and would be interested in working with them in the future to “push the notion that students’ affordability should be prioritized when budgetary allocations are made by SFU.”

HoSang also hopes to reach out to Fraser International College (FIC) students over the course of his presidency to “give them a home” in the SFSS — namely by advocating for them to receive voting rights within the society.

HoSang also hopes to improve the SFSS’s advocacy or events which he identified as the weak links of his three-pronged approach of: services, advocacy, and events.

“Those are what drive the engagement of students.”   

As for his past endeavors: HoSang says he will remain a member of SOCA, which has just elected Afia Poku as their new president, laughingly noting that he will always be a member of the Black community on campus.

He also plans on staying involved with SFU Tuition Freeze Now, which will remain independent from the SFSS, though the society has endorsed it. HoSang also projects that the movement will grow as sister branches crop up across Canada to “build a Canada-wide movement.”

Ultimately, what excites HoSang the most about his presidency is the impact that the SFSS can have on the student body. To him, this goes hand in hand with “seeing a board that fights for students,” which he thinks will shift the perspective that most students have on the SFSS.  

Student union building delayed again, September opening called “very optimistic”

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Peak Web
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By: Zach Siddiqui, Copy Editor

Construction on the Student Union Building (SUB) is unlikely to finish in time for summer, says SFSS executive director Sylvia Ceacero.

On April 18, at an SFSS board of directors’ meeting, Ceacero updated the board on the SUB’s progress, stating that “the opening of the SUB in September seems very optimistic.” Build SFU manager Marc Fontaine was also present.

Previously, the SFSS had announced on their website that “SFU and the contractor believe the building will be complete in late March 2019 [ . . . ] The SFSS is planning to host a grand opening in Summer 2019.”

While Ceacero noted that she would like to be mistaken, she also stated that based on the building’s current state, it would not be “prudent” to expect an imminent finish.

“We’re pushing very hard for that to be the case, we are at every meeting [about the SUB] . . . [We are] just trying to manage the expectations.”

According to the SFSS website, the SFSS “is not involved in managing the construction work.”

“Pro-Can Construction Group is the contractor and is responsible for building the SUB. Pro-Can sets the construction schedule. [ . . . ] SFU is managing the contractor and the consultants (e.g. the architects and engineers) on behalf of the SFSS,” the site says.

Later, Jessica Nguyen, vice-president-elect student life, asked when the SUB was likely to be completed.

“That’s a great question,” Fontaine joked. More seriously, Ceacero explained that it is “rare” for projects as large as the SUB to be completed on schedule.

Ceacero disclosed the progress update while the board was discussing the SFSS’s 2019–20 events budget. Nguyen had mentioned hoping to run more events over the summer with the SUB open.

“Now that the SUB is unlikely to open this summer and maybe even the fall, the events committee and I will have to rethink venue ideas, but this will not change the number of high-quality events we will produce,” Nguyen told The Peak in a follow-up email interview.

“In event planning, almost anything you can imagine that would go wrong will go wrong, so the events committee will just have to be adaptable and creative in using the resources we have.”

The Peak is continuing to look into this story. More details to come as the story develops.

Live tweeting grades @theangrystudent95

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Peak Web
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Written by: Mishaa Khan, Peak Associate
Illustration and layout by: Siloam Yeung

Local third-year drops out of summer classes for lack of summer wardrobe

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Peak Web
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Written by: Gabrielle McLaren, Editor-in-chief

BURNABY, B.C. — Alice Fitzgerald, a third-year SFU student, announced to friends, family, professors, classmates, and SFU administration that she was dropping out of summer classes this semester because of creative fashion difference with the season.

In an exclusive interview with The Peak, Fitzgerald was frank about her decision to abandon her summer plans.

“It all started on the first day of class, since I thought I should have a really bomb first-day outfit — you know, maybe that way, I could find love in one of my tutorials,” Fitzgerald said. “So I got up, showered, put my hair up in a fun and flirty messy summer bun that I found on Pinterest, and then opened my closet . . . only to realize that I don’t own a single piece of clothing that isn’t black, and that all of my outfits require at least three layers. Also, I refuse to wear shorts.”

According to Fitzgerald, she spent several hours looking for an outfit she could wear without wanting to claw off her skin in the suffocating Robert C. Brown Hall during her first class of the day, but that she could also wear in the frigidly air-conditioned West Mall Centre for her second class. All three of Fitzgerald’s siblings, her mom, and a friend who joined the crisis room via FaceTime tried and failed to salvage an appropriate outfit from Fitzgerald’s closet.

“In the end, it was all about being honest with myself,” she concluded. “I just can’t function in this weather.”

Despite the confidence with which she made this decision, Fitzgerald is now in the distasteful position of finding a good summer job that hasn’t been taken yet. At the time of publishing, Fitzgerald was still contemplating whether or not it would be simpler to reverse-hibernate until atmospheric conditions compatible with her wardrobe returned.

Fitzgerald is not alone in finding the summer season hostile to her fashion choices. As a matter of fact, so many students have felt personally attacked by the sun that they have formed their own club: SFU Students Against Summer Weather Now.

“We’re currently the fifth-largest SFSS club,” president Jeremy Wu said in an interview held in a blissfully air-conditioned Starbucks so close to his home that he only had to subject himself to nature for three minutes. “I think that highlights just how important this issue is to students.”

Wu, who is also the club founder, said that he was inspired after he passed out from heatstroke in an intersession philosophy tutorial. He was left unaided for two hours before somebody realized that he hadn’t simply fallen asleep.

“People say I could have taken off my beanie,” Wu recalled. “But my beanie is the most important part of me. It would be like asking a mother to ritually sacrifice one of her children. They just don’t understand what it is to have an aesthetic.”

Wu quickly found that he was not alone after browsing SFU Reddit. His first club member was a fourth-year kinesiology major who still has stress-nightmares about that horrifying slurping sound their bare thighs made when unpeeled from an AQ tutorial room’s awful, sticky plastic chair.

“What this club highlights is that SFU needs to do more to support students during this fashion transition phase,” Wu insisted. “Unfortunately, we are unable to meet during the summer because none of our members can leave their homes, so most of our activism is done during the Fall and Winter terms. But one day, we will make a difference on this campus for the meteorologically inconvenienced.”

SFU administration did not respond to an interview request in time for publication.

 

Opinions in Dialogue: Should anti-vax parents pay fines?

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Peak Web
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Photo by Hyttalo Souza via Unsplash

By: Nicole Magas, Opinions Editor and Gabrielle McLaren, Editor-in-Chief

On April 30, The Washington Post published the op-ed, “Anti-vaxxers are dangerous. Make them face isolation, fines, arrests” by Juliette Kayyem, suggesting that fines be implemented for parents who refuse to vaccinate their children. The article offers this solution as a next step to banning unvaccinated children from public spaces. It reasons that the choice not to vaccinate lies with the parents, therefore punishment must as well.

The Peak’s Editor-in-Chief, Gabrielle McLaren, and Opinions Editor, Nicole Magas, take turns discussing the pros and cons of this proposal in an informal dialogue.

GM: Overall, I agree with the piece. The conversation around vaccination has to be reframed as a public safety concern, since the crisis created by anti-vax movements literally endangers lives. I’m not sure that a fine will be enough to dissuade someone who is really gung-ho about the evils of vaccines since that kind of position gets entrenched, but in a country like the U.S. where healthcare is so dystopically monetized already, maybe it would. At the very least, it opens a door for anti-vax fines to be redirected towards the medical bills of immunocompromised individuals who suddenly find themselves hospitalized with measles.

NM: I’d like to start by saying I’m firmly pro-vaccine. That said, I’m skeptical of the efficacy of fines to change health behaviour. The article directs its criticism toward new-age hippie types, but laws and regulations can’t only apply to one group. I worry that already marginalized populations could get hit harder for this than the middle class. A fine for not vaccinating one’s children would be regressive in that it would hurt poorer families — children included — more than well-off families.

GM: Fair point. Laws and regulations vary, but in the school district where I grew up, if something was up with your immunization file your parents would get a notice from the city and school board. You’d have a grace period where they could then get you vaccinated. I think a similar system would need to be in place to avoid innocent mistakes resulting in massive penalties.

It’s worth saying that this would be unthinkable in a healthcare system where vaccination isn’t covered by the state. Measles doesn’t care about your income level, so equal opportunities for immunization need to exist. Programs to cover immunization exist in the States, though I can’t vouch for their effectiveness, and routine vaccination in Canada is covered.

This isn’t to say that our healthcare system is perfect, but the state does offer opportunities for vaccination. If you’ve still chosen not to do your best to avoid a formerly-eradicated disease, I think there should be a fiscal cost associated with the social and ethical costs of that choice. If not to change minds, then at least to fund further immunization campaigns.  

NM: It definitely would be a win-win to use fines to better fund other parts of the healthcare system. Unfortunately, fines may not be an effective deterrent. I think the “health belief model” developed by the US Public Health Service can explain some of the reasoning behind a diehard anti-vaxxer’s motivations. This model basically asks: am I likely to get this disease, what are the consequences if I do, and what’s keeping me from taking preventative steps?

Unfortunately, because measles has not (until recently) been publicly visible, many people without exposure to it may not feel that they or their children are likely to get sick, or, if they do, won’t be in serious danger. The flip side is that with the erroneous association of vaccines with autism — which has recently been more visible than measles — many parents may feel that the consequences of an autism diagnosis are far worse than that of contracting measles.

This isn’t to suggest that they are in any way correct, especially given the wrongness of implying that the potential death of a child would be preferable to autism. However, given that these are strongly held beliefs, trying to correct them with fines may not actually change the behaviour. In fact, for the parents who believe that vaccines are a government conspiracy, having the government impose a fine for not vaccinating may only further ingrain their incorrect ideas.

GM: The reasoning behind the anti-vaccination is an important consideration here. Policing and criminalizing health is also a really problematic idea — the AIDS epidemic or even the opioid crisis right now are really good examples.

That being said: anti-vaxxers are adults whose anti-science beliefs are harming children. Socially, that’s horrifying. I’m a history major who studies not just how the past shaped the present, but also what contexts have brought us to where we are and what needs to be done or undone to preserve or deconstruct them. Plus, my little sister is autistic, so my personal bias is to have zero pity for the anti-science vaccine noncompliant.

Closing thoughts: We worry that being lax with adults who actively choose to ignore science just gives them more wiggle room, and children (theirs and others) end up suffering. There are 16 states where you can be fined for leaving your dog in a hot car. Yet when it comes to parental negligence and health care, penalties only come when it’s too late. That’s how we end up with these tragic stories about parents who lose their children and are convicted of “failing to provide the necessities of life.” Herd immunization is our collective responsibility; we shouldn’t fail each other, and we shouldn’t let each other slither away either.

At its core, the issue is this: do we want to punish people, or do we want results? Lauren Vogel’s work on winning over the vaccine hesitant might be helpful here. She argues that you won’t be able to win over anti-vaxxers with brute force.

Indirect social and grassroots campaigns such as those advised by Vogel may be more effective, though perhaps less satisfying, than the hardline financial punishments suggested by Kayyem.

 

At The: Study Public House

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Marcus Blackstock / The Peak

By: Winona Young, Head Staff Writer

It’s 9 p.m. on a Thursday when my friends and I walk into the pub. With finals looming, we strut inside with every intention to get lit on a weekday. It’s The Study Public House’s first annual Thursday night party, and expectations are high.

ACCESSIBILITY: C-

Even looking at the entrance of The Study Public House, it’s clear that wheelchair accessibility will be difficult. While the floors are sturdy and the pub is fairly spacious, a lot of it is divided by staircases big and small.

The bathrooms, though ridiculously well lit and clean, are gendered. The nearest gender-neutral bathrooms at your disposal would be the ones in Maggie Benston.

AMBIANCE: A

The first thing I noticed when I walked into The Study was how cool it looks. The place is hip, modern, and adorned with neon lighting — it is clearly made for people’s Insta feeds. That Thursday night, the place was packed to the brim with people, so a table was virtually impossible to find. The place was upbeat, but not rowdy, and the bar was teeming with energy. God, it was infectious.

Depending on where you are, however (take for instance the makeshift houses on the main), the space can be a tad overstimulating. The constant noise of basketball and skee-ball machines, being right behind the DJ, can definitely make conversation difficult.  

Finally, to answer the big question: yes, you can definitely study at The Study. Just try to get here a bit earlier.

FOOD: C+

Food was by far not my favourite aspect of The Study. Our food took roughly 30–40 minutes to arrive, which definitely delayed my friends in joining us on the dance floor.

The chicken tenders, nachos, tomato soup, fish and chips, and shepherd’s pie were well liked, while items like the bangers and mash, and beef dip weren’t praised well. At the very least, the borderline-overwhelming menu does have a few vegetarian and vegan options available.

In addition,The Study’s portion sizes vary a lot. On other visits, a friend of mine was given six fries with her burger, while another received three-quarters of a waffle for their chicken and waffles.

Despite most meals averaging $16, the food was subpar. As far as restaurant food goes on SFU’s campus, Club Ilia still reigns supreme.

DRINKS AND THE BAR: B

The Study’s drinks are fine as can be and well priced, especially for happy hour deals. They have a wide beer selection and a large variety of shots (a friend ordered “The Hank,” which was Jack Daniels with a bacon strip). I noticed that there was a lot of Peach Schnapps on the cocktail menu, even for my drink, the Little Boy Blue. My choice of cocktail was absolutely delicious, and I would definitely recommend it.

The main bar on the top floor was definitely packed, so students should definitely venture to the lower floor if they want quicker bar service. Overall, their service was very accommodating, even if it took a tad too long.

PARTYING: B+

Armed with several drunk pals and an urgent need to drop it low on a school night, my friends and I ventured to the dance floor. Half of the upper-floor seating was cleared out for a dance floor, and my friends and I were those people getting down at around 9 p.m., when the dance floor was virtually empty. Dancing didn’t pick up until around 10 p.m.

The Study’s dance floor is sizable, and they had a wide selection of bops, bangers, and jams playing throughout the night. But if dancing isn’t your vibe, I found that there’s more than enough room to go sit at a table to chat with your friends (which many people were doing). If you feel like playing games, you can play ping-pong, billiards, or shuffleboard (in my opinion, the best game there), or else you can spend a few loonies and toonies on pinball, basketball, and skee-ball.

RATING: B+ A step up from the former Highland Pub, I can say with certainty that The Study finally brings some cool campus life to SFU. While the service had taken a while and the menu will most likely remain lacklustre, the Study Public House is a hip pub that will guarantee you a good time.

SFSS passes 2019–20 budget, sees rises in both revenue and staffing costs

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By: Zach Siddiqui, Copy Editor

At the April 18 board meeting, the SFSS approved their 2019–20 operating budget. The Peak reached out to Matthew Chow, outgoing vice-president finance, to talk about the new budget’s highlights.

The 2019–20 budget features a $372,000 increase from the 2018–19 budget because of revenue from the new agreement to deliver services to FIC students. However, this comes with “its own set of operational issues,” says Chow.

“Even in our current capacity, our staff are already overwhelmed, so the increase in expected service delivery means a required increase in staffing to keep up with the demand,” he explained.

As a result, the budget accounts for significantly higher staffing costs for the SFSS Student Centre. However, Chow stressed, “the entire cost of increased staffing isn’t directly increased due to the FIC deal, but rather, is connected to the cost of scaling the organization in size.”

Staffing costs are also rising for the Administration Office, which mainly encompasses the cost of the SFSS’s management positions, such as the executive director and the general manager, as well as the cost of legal aid and expert consultations.

In fact, the SFSS has not yet decided to hire more administrators. However, the society is currently doing an internal organizational review, which includes assessing how many management jobs are needed. Because of this, the funds to hire more management have been budgeted for, should it become necessary.

“If next year’s Board decides that additional management isn’t necessary, that’s honestly their decision [ . . . ] When budgeting, it’s best practice to account for probable situations that are likely to happen,” Chow wrote.

The vice-president also spoke on the committee budgets, which have been restructured to account for the greater guidance role staff have been playing for board committees.

“The Board’s services budget, more commonly known as the committee budgets, has been reallocated across the operating departments for management,” wrote Chow. “As we’ve on-boarded new coordinators into the organization, the relationship between staff and Board committees has shifted in that the staff member oversees and advises the committee on the plans they have.”

He noted that because frequent events like pancake breakfasts and pub nights should fall under the umbrella of standard operations, the SFSS plans to hand more autonomy to the coordinators. However, the board of directors will still be making all funding decisions.

Changes have also been made to the SFSS council budget, which has risen from $1,500 to $5,000 to fund any ventures the council may want to undertake for the benefit of the student body.

“Given the complaints that Council has been ineffective and purposeless for the last few years, this will be a structural change to enable the body to advocate for subjects better [sic] and run projects that the Board doesn’t have capacity to run,” says Chow. However, the SFSS vice-president finance reserves the right to block and investigate any reimbursement requests from Council that seem suspect.

“In terms of internal controls, this line item still falls under the Board budget, so in the case of a shady reimbursement, the VP Finance has full authority to reject cheque requisitions and investigate the reimbursement.”

Something stressed during the April 18 board meeting was that the board can diverge from the approved budget if needed. Chow expanded on this over email.

“The budget is not harshly prescriptive, but rather permits the annual spending of [up to certain amounts for certain line items.] In the case that the Society does feel the need to spend outside of the proposed amount, they can motion an allocation at the Board table and request additional spending out of the line item.”

While Chow deplores “frivolous spending” — for instance, a committee asking for more funding because it has depleted its budget on goods it didn’t use — he acknowledges that at times, the society needs fiscal flexibility.

“In the case that there arises a new initiative or project that has a proven cost/benefit analysis for how it benefits students aggregately, the Society should be open to the possibility of allocating additional resources,” he writes.

“If the Board of Directors does motion an allocation for an unbudgeted expense that warrants resource provision, then they’re held accountable for their reasoning in a public eye, which I believe is a reasonable position to take.”

Chow notes that a particular strength of the 2019–20 budget is that it is clear about what’s on the table as far as proposed projects for the year, with the SFSS having “really emphasized planning ahead.” However, he also acknowledges that the budget is hard to read and understand on paper. In particular, the relationship between the operating budget and the society’s overall finances is not well explained.

“Upon reading the summary of the budget, you might be concerned that there is a proposed deficit of [about $126,000], but before anyone jumps to conclusion[s] on the mismanagement of the Society, you have to understand that the Society is already in a stable position,” Chow writes.

“It has funds in excess [ . . . ] for several operating cycles, and the amount proposed to be spent here is an investment to better improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our service delivery.“

Chow also notes that the society has had to estimate what the Student Union Building’s operating costs will look like. Those figures, he says, will have to be revisited when the SUB opens.

The full SFSS budget documents for each year are not publicly available, as they include the salary and wage information for SFSS staff, which is confidential. However, consolidated budget summaries are available on the SFSS’s website. The consolidated summary for 2019–20 has not yet been posted online.

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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