Oscar predictions 2017

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February 25, 2017

LLL d 29 _5194.NEF — Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling capture the magic of the classic Hollywood musical as Mia and Sebastian in *La La Land*.

Best picture – La La Land

La La Land is almost a shoo-in to win. The cinematography is stunning, the dance numbers are magical, and the chemistry between Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone captivates moviegoers from beginning to end. While Moonlight is a competitor for the win, La La Land will be difficult to beat with its 14 nominations, glitzy musical numbers, and stunning on-screen visuals.

Best director – Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Chazelle creates a magical masterpiece with La La Land and reinvents the meaning of musical. He is able to add fantastical elements to the film without making it cheesy, and creates a cinematic experience that is modern and relatable. A possible competitor is Barry Jenkins for Moonlight, who creates an incredibly important film about identity. However, with the surreal film experience established by Chazelle, this win is his.

Best actor – Denzel Washington (Fences)

Washington delivers a larger-than-life performance in Fences that will earn him an Oscar. While critics claim Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea) to be the front-runner, I find Washington’s performance to be the more captivating of the two. Affleck’s performance is reserved while Washington is bold and crass. While both actors deal with the tragedies of their past in different ways, I feel Washington digs deeper and delivers a stronger performance.

Best actress – Emma Stone (La La Land)

Stone will most likely go home with best actress of the year — however, it’s not because she is the best. Rather, it’s because La La Land received so much buzz from critics and is the favourite this year. My hope is that Isabelle Huppert of Elle steals the show. Her acting is captivating, twisted, and truly deserved the Golden Globe win. Stone will be difficult to beat, but let’s see if Huppert can do it!

Best supporting actor – Dev Patel (Lion)

Patel will win as he succeeds at following the impressive first act by Sunny Pawar (five-year-old Saroo) and embodies the same mischievous, curious and resilient essence of Saroo. Additionally, Patel completely transforms from the skinny, geeky teenager from Slumdog Millionaire, to a handsome, young man with a mane like a lion. A possible steal is Mahershala Ali of Moonlight — however, Patel’s transformation and depth of emotion outlasts Ali’s brief onscreen appearance.

Best supporting actress – Viola Davis (Fences)

Davis blows the other nominees out of the water, and delivers a heartfelt performance that makes viewers reflect on the importance of choice. She embodies her character and handles everything life throws her way with grace. An unlikely competitor is Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea) who delivers an extremely emotionally driven performance. However, Davis supports Washington’s role in a way that is essential to the meaning of Fences, which will win her the Oscar.

Best original song – “City of Stars” (La La Land)

It is only fitting that the Oscar will go to a song from a musical. While either “City of Stars” or “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” — also from La La Land — could win, “City of Stars” has a simple, yet iconic melody that gets stuck in your head. Moreover, this song is the embodiment of La La Land and is used to represent Sebastian’s (Gosling) love towards Mia (Stone) throughout.

SFU men’s soccer open pre-season with victory over University of the Fraser Valley

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February 25, 2017

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DSC_3160-1024x678 — Adam Jones (#10), seen here in action last season, scored SFU’s first goal of the match.

SFU men’s soccer kicked off their pre-season preparations with a confidence-building victory over a dogged University of the Fraser Valley outfit at Terry Fox Field on Friday night. Goals from Adam Jones and Dzenan Bezdrob were enough to secure a 2–1 victory for the home side, which looked comfortable in possession throughout.

Right from the start, the Clan seemed at ease with the ball at their feet, moving play around the park with patience and waiting for opportunities to arise.

With the visitors also looking to play an expansive style, it was perhaps surprising that it took until the 10th minute for the first real chance of the night. SFU forward Riley Pang took advantage of a defensive error from Fraser Valley, only to see his shot clip the outside of the post on its way wide.

The home side was beginning to control the game, with their possession-based style affording them time on the ball. An eye-catching turn from Mamadi Camara led to a corner for the Clan, from which Pang headed the ball over the crossbar, despite being unmarked in the penalty area.

The chances kept coming for SFU, with Kyle Jones flashing a free kick just wide from 25 yards after as many minutes.

Eventually, the first goal of the game arrived. With five minutes to go until halftime, Erik Morden’s cross was met with a delightful diving header from Adam Jones. His effort beat the Fraser Valley goalkeeper to give SFU a 1–0 lead going into the break.

Almost directly from the restart, the Clan had a great chance to register their second. Camara was found by a sublime diagonal pass from centre-back Magnus Kristensen, but the SFU winger was unable to properly connect with his shot.

Kristensen showed his defensive prowess minutes later, as the Norwegian leapt high to clear away a dangerous corner from the lively Brady Weir.

Momentum was with the home side, though, and only a brilliant save from Fraser Valley replacement goalkeeper Jesse March prevented SFU doubling their lead on 65 minutes. Lucas McIlveen rose high to connect with an in-swinging free kick, and his header would have ended up in the back of the net was it not for March’s save.

There wasn’t long to wait for SFU’s second goal, though. Dzenan Bezdrob latched onto a through-ball on 68 minutes, and his shot was too powerful for March in the Fraser Valley goal. The Clan doubled their advantage.

Fraser Valley, however, showed their resilience, creating a few late chances of their own. With a minute remaining, they were rewarded with a goal. A free kick from out wide evaded everyone in the SFU penalty area, and when the ball came back off the post it was the visitors who reacted the quickest, turning the ball past SFU goalkeeper Victor Gouchee to halve the deficit.

It came too late to make a difference, though, with the final whistle blowing shortly afterward to confirm the victory for the Clan.

SFU head coach Clint Schneider was pleased with his side’s performance, highlighting the contribution of his less experienced players after the match.

“Results are great at this point, but it’s great for our guys to get minutes. The weather hasn’t really cooperated with us this spring, and we haven’t been outside a lot. I was pleased — overall, it was good.

“The younger guys who didn’t play so much in the fall I thought did really well — Dzenan [Bezdrob] got a goal, Erik [Morden] got an assist, — two guys that haven’t had a lot of minutes.”

Next Game: The Clan continue their pre-season preparations next Friday, as they take on the Fraser Valley All-Stars on Terry Fox Field. Giving his thoughts on his team’s next match, Schneider said, “The plan is to play a lot of our young guys, get them the majority of the minutes. It’s another exercise for us before we move on into spring.”

Othniel Spence flies with career-high 29 point game despite loss

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February 24, 2017

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mensbasketballweb — Spence’s 29 points were the highest recorded in a single game by an SFU player all season.

While he had a couple of good threes in the first half, that was all Othniel Spence had on the board in six minutes of court time in the first 20 minutes. Few would have expected him to explode as he did in the second half.

He finished the game with 29 points. That’s the best individual point total anyone on the team has put up all season. He was just everywhere in the second half, putting up confident and exciting plays. His 23 second-half points came in 18 minutes of playing time, a remarkably efficient performance.

As a freshman straight out of high school, whose minutes can vary game-to-game — maxing out at 24 minutes to sometimes sitting the entire second half — it’s a very promising sign of one of the Clan’s futures.

“Othniel plays with a lot of speed, and in our offence, a guy like Othniel can really succeed. He’s been putting in a lot of time in the gym — a lot of extra time in the gym — in the last month and it’s really paying off,” said head coach Steve Hanson.

In the end, Spence finished the game 11-for-15 (73.3%) from the field and six-for-seven (85.7%) from the three-point line.

Despite the remarkable offensive outburst by the 6’1” point guard, SFU was unable to beat the Saint Martin’s Saints in their penultimate home game, falling 102–78. SFU put up some decent offensive numbers, but were unable to stop the Saints — who were playing for their playoff lives — and unable to go drive-for-drive against the Lacey, Washington-based team.

The lopsided loss is all the more disappointing after a stretch of four relatively close games, including a win, where SFU seemed to make definite progress.

“I said [before the game], ‘We’re playing a desperate team and we’ve got to come out hard,’ and we didn’t. So that’s really disappointing,” said Hanson. “What was tough was when we did get a couple of stops, we just missed. Too many mental mistakes; we looked like the team back in early December tonight, unfortunately. We regressed tonight, for sure.”

Saint Martin’s jumped out to a 10–0 lead before SFU put up their first two points 3:14 in. It didn’t take long for the Saints to further build that lead up to 18–4.

SFU was able to go on a 13–5 run to get the game within six points, but just as quickly as SFU was able to get back into contention, Saint Martin’s was able to pull away.

The half finished 54–36 in the Saints’ favour. Saint Martin’s was shooting at an incredible rate, sinking 69.9% of their shots from the field — a trend that slowed only moderately in the second, as they finished with an overall 66.0%.

Graham Miller got to see some action in the first, putting up 12 points in 10 minutes of play. Despite some mistakes, his offensive performance showed potential.

“[There were] too many mental mistakes; we looked like the team back in early December tonight, unfortunately.”

“Now that his concussion’s gone and he’s just getting back to the swing — it’s really tough when you sit almost a month with an injury — he’s been looking a lot better in practice,” Hanson said about the 6’7” redshirt freshman. “The game speed is not there, his foot speed is not there for games, but we know he is going to be good in a couple of years, so we give him some minutes.”

While he didn’t put up any more points, Miller saw a further seven minutes of action in the second.

In the second half, Saint Martin’s played sloppily at times, and despite their high shooting percentage, left some drives without a shot. SFU looked like they might be able to take advantage of this, at one point reducing the deficit to 12.

However, SFU was unable to sustain the momentum.

Outside of Spence, Miller and Michael Provenzano, who had 11, were the only players with double-digit point totals. Spence also led in rebounds with four, three of them defensive.

The typical big-minute players saw their time on court reduced, with Provenzano playing only 25 minutes and Kedar Wright only 22 minutes. Wright finished with six points and two defensive rebounds. Vinnie Safin, Bowen Bakken, and Bongani Moyo — who have been used sparingly — received minutes.

Next Game: It’s the last game of the year for the men’s basketball team. More importantly, it’s the last game of seniors Hidde Vos’ and Gibran Sewani’s careers.

While they aren’t fighting for anything in the standings, and the win total will still be low, it would be huge to send off Vos and Sewani with one last home win, in front of what’s probably going to be a big, loud crowd.

It won’t be against an easy team. Despite being ninth in the conference, and having lost their last game, Seattle Pacific has won three of their last five games.

“They’re a big physical team. There [are] not a lot of guys on our team physically that can match up with them,” said Hanson. “When we played at SPU, they were in a different world. I mean, a lot of senior leadership, a lot of big, strong kids they have, and they took it to us the first game of the season.

“We’re going to see what we’re made of Saturday, because we’ve got to play with some pride and I told our seniors, ‘You’ve got to go down swinging.’”

Hanson emphasized the importance he stressed to Vos and Sewani about shooting more — even if it means more misses.

“[I told them,] ‘Hidde, if you’re one-for-five, let’s go two-for-ten, take shots, and Gibran same thing,’” he explained. “I’m excited for them Saturday, and we’ll see how we bounce back.

“I just want to see — regardless of the score — how hard we compete against them.”

Seattle Pacific’s Tony Miller is fifth in scoring and third in rebounding in the GNAC.

Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.

SFU edges out Alaska Fairbanks with last-second Meg Wilson basket

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February 24, 2017

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womensbasketballweb — Meg Wilson finished with 10 points and four rebounds in 34 minutes of action, including the winning basket with 0.3 seconds left.

The tried and trusted combination of Ellen Kett and Meg Wilson proved the game-deciding difference on Thursday night. SFU women’s basketball claimed a dramatic 73–71 win at home over Alaska Fairbanks to move to 15–4 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC).

With the scores tied at 71, Kett’s pass found Wilson in the shadow of the basket, with the forward’s shot hanging for what seemed like an eternity on the rim. Finally, it dropped with 0.3 seconds remaining to settle the game in the Clan’s favour.

However, it was a true team effort from the home team as coach Bruce Langford used the bench to significant — and often game-changing — effect. Samantha Beauchamp impressed with a vital contribution of seven rebounds during her 10 minutes of action, whilst Tayler Drynan shot 100% from three-point range in a match where there was never more than a seven-point difference between the two sides.

Both sides came into the encounter with playoff ambitions and it was, perhaps, no surprise that the first quarter saw defences on top. Despite Rachel Fradgley registering the first points of the night for the Clan, the home side soon found themselves 8–4 down with four minutes to go in the quarter. Coach Langford made the bold call to remove both Kett and Wilson early, and it paid off; Sophie Swant and Tayla Jackson made telling contributions to bring the scores back level at 12–12 at the end of the first 10 minutes.

Kett and Wilson returned to the court. SFU opened the second period with the first three-pointer of the match via Vanessa Gee. Kett began to find her passing range, despite coming into the game having struggled with illness in the lead up. An eye-catching assist for Fradgley was one of a total of nine on the night, breaking her own GNAC season record in the process. Drynan’s three-pointer with 23 seconds left in the half saw SFU take a 31–26 advantage into the halftime break.

“Ellen and I have played together for so long and she’s such a great teammate, so it was exciting to end the game like that.”

– Meg Wilson on the winning play

However, with the second-highest scorer in the division, Jordan Wilson, in their ranks, Alaska Fairbanks came back at the Clan. SFU traded baskets before edging ahead after Swant was punished for a technical foul. With seconds left in the third, Gee’s second three-pointer of the night gave the home side the narrowest of leads going into the final quarter.

Once more, it was SFU that started the quarter the better; Ozi Nwabuko opened the scoring before turning provider with an athletic assist for Wilson as they opened up a 53–48 lead. Yet the home side could never quite put their visitors away, as the Nanooks continued to fight their way back into the game. The lead changed hands time and again before Kett was on target. Two free throws with 96 seconds remaining gave SFU a five-point cushion.

Again, though, Alaska Fairbanks refused to go away. Despite trailing by three with less than a minute to go, three free throws from Jaylee Mays drew the visitors level. It was only through the cool head of Kett and the latest of late interventions from Wilson that the Clan was finally able to celebrate a hard-fought win.

Speaking after the game, Wilson said, “We started off slow — we definitely weren’t hitting shots like we can. They did a good job of taking us away from what we wanted to do, but we never gave up.

“Ellen and I have played together for so long and she’s such a great teammate, so it was exciting to end the game like that.

Coach Langford was pleased with the contribution of his bench, but admitted his side was below their usual standards.

“I didn’t think we executed so well tonight. We stuck it out and snuck it out, and everyone scored and contributed, but I didn’t think we were sharp.

“I think our bench has outscored every team we’ve played for a while now [SFU’s bench finished with 29 points, 13 more than their counterparts], and I was really pleased with their contribution aside from Sophie [Swant]’s technical.”

Next Game: On senior’s night, SFU will face arguably its toughest test of the season as they face the unbeaten Alaska Anchorage Seawolves. Both Wilson and Langford anticipate another tough encounter at the West Gym.

“Knowing we can come out and finish games is important,” said Wilson. “I know it’ll be a close game on Saturday, so we need to get rested and get ready.”

Langford agreed, saying, “We’d like to do our best against them. We enjoy playing them and enjoying upsetting them. I think we play them as well as anyone and, if we come out and play, it’ll be a hell of a game.”

SFU edges out Alaska Fairbanks with last-second Meg Wilson basket

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EIC

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February 24, 2017

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The tried and trusted combination of Ellen Kett and Meg Wilson proved the game-deciding difference on Thursday night. SFU women’s basketball claimed a dramatic 73–71 win at home over Alaska Fairbanks to move to 15–4 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC).

With the scores tied at 71, Kett’s pass found Wilson in the shadow of the basket, with the forward’s shot hanging for what seemed like an eternity on the rim. Finally, it dropped with 0.3 seconds remaining to settle the game in the Clan’s favour.

However, it was a true team effort from the home team as coach Bruce Langford used the bench to significant — and often game-changing — effect. Samantha Beauchamp impressed with a vital contribution of seven rebounds during her 10 minutes of action, whilst Tayler Drynan shot 100% from three-point range in a match where there was never more than a seven-point difference between the two sides.

Both sides came into the encounter with playoff ambitions and it was, perhaps, no surprise that the first quarter saw defences on top. Despite Rachel Fradgley registering the first points of the night for the Clan, the home side soon found themselves 8–4 down with four minutes to go in the quarter. Coach Langford made the bold call to remove both Kett and Wilson early, and it paid off; Sophie Swant and Tayla Jackson made telling contributions to bring the scores back level at 12–12 at the end of the first 10 minutes.

“Ellen and I have played together for so long and she’s such a great teammate, so it was exciting to end the game like that.”

– Meg Wilson on the game winning play

Kett and Wilson returned to the court. SFU opened the second period with the first three-pointer of the match via Vanessa Gee. Kett began to find her passing range, despite coming into the game having struggled with illness in the lead up. An eye-catching assist for Fradgley was one of a total of nine on the night, breaking her own GNAC season record in the process. Drynan’s three-pointer with 23 seconds left in the half saw SFU take a 31–26 advantage into the halftime break.

However, with the second-highest scorer in the division, Jordan Wilson, in their ranks, Alaska Fairbanks came back at the Clan. SFU traded baskets before edging ahead after Swant was punished for a technical foul. With seconds left in the third, Gee’s second three-pointer of the night gave the home side the narrowest of leads going into the final quarter.

Once more, it was SFU that started the quarter the better; Ozi Nwabuko opened the scoring before turning provider with an athletic assist for Wilson as they opened up a 53–48 lead. Yet the home side could never quite put their visitors away, as the Nanooks continued to fight their way back into the game. The lead changed hands time and again before Kett was on target. Two free throws with 96 seconds remaining gave SFU a five-point cushion.

Again, though, Alaska Fairbanks refused to go away. Despite trailing by three with less than a minute to go, three free throws from Jaylee Mays drew the visitors level. It was only through the cool head of Kett and the latest of late interventions from Wilson that the Clan was finally able to celebrate a hard-fought win.

Speaking after the game, Wilson said, “We started off slow — we definitely weren’t hitting shots like we can. They did a good job of taking us away from what we wanted to do, but we never gave up.

“Ellen and I have played together for so long and she’s such a great teammate, so it was exciting to end the game like that.”

Coach Langford was pleased with the contribution of his bench, but admitted his side was below their usual standards.

“I didn’t think we executed so well tonight. We stuck it out and snuck it out, and everyone scored and contributed, but I didn’t think we were sharp.

“I think our bench has outscored every team we’ve played for a while now [SFU’s bench finished with 29 points, 13 more than their counterparts], and I was really pleased with their contribution aside from Sophie [Swant]’s technical.”

Next Game: On senior’s night, SFU will face arguably its toughest test of the season as they face the unbeaten Alaska Anchorage Seawolves. Both Wilson and Langford anticipate another tough encounter at the West Gym.

“Knowing we can come out and finish games is important,” said Wilson. “I know it’ll be a close game on Saturday, so we need to get rested and get ready.”

Langford agreed, saying, “We’d like to do our best against them. We enjoy playing them and enjoying upsetting them. I think we play them as well as anyone and, if we come out and play, it’ll be a hell of a game.”

SFU Blood for Life encourages students to get involved, save lives

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February 24, 2017

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SFU Blood for Life is bringing students together over a shared interest in saving lives, one pint of plasma at a time.

Having established themselves on campus in spring 2016, this year promises to be a big one for SFU Blood for Life. The group has set goals to increase awareness, as well as access, to the process of blood donation.

As executive director Iman Baharmand explains, the club is looking to bring back the connection between the university and Canadian Blood Services (CBS), and remind students that blood is ‘in us to give.’

In the club’s early stages, Baharmand recalled that the majority of the planning was centred around a simple question: how do we bring blood donation opportunities to campus?

“The idea came when I was volunteering with the CBS in the wider community outside SFU, and I thought to myself ‘Why don’t we have a regular blood donation drive on campus?’ After that initial question, I began looking more and more into it, and we learned that there used to be regular donation drives on campus, where they would have these trucks and you could walk on and donate,” Baharmand added.

That founding idea has been the focal point for the club so far, as they work closely with CBS in their efforts to increase both blood donation and, more recently, stem cell donation.

According to the CBS, over 80 conditions can be treated with stem cell transplants, yet the register is hampered by a lack of ethnic diversity. With SFU’s multi-ethnic campus, it was perhaps no surprise that the Blood for Life team decided to step up to the plate, and help students get involved in the donation process.

“We recently held our first stem cell drive, which was a big success,” said Baharmand. “We’d aimed for registering 100 people, and got 147. I think the way we operated that drive was really important, in terms of making sure students have the knowledge they need and are fully informed on what they’re signing up for.”

Monique Sekhon, the club’s community director, agreed: “It’s really important to inform our candidates that they need to be committed if they’re going to sign up for this. In our spiel with them at the beginning, we give them all the information they need in relative layman’s terms so they can get a full understanding.”

Sekhon stressed how important asking questions is to the process, not only from the student’s part — but theirs as well. “We do our best to ask ‘Is this something you’re comfortable with?’ or ‘Do you understand you could literally be saving a life?’”

The passion with which Baharmand, Sekhon, and the rest of the Blood for Life team run the society is evident, perhaps never more so than through their enthusiastic explanations as to how they initially got involved with blood donation.

“Everybody has a different story — for some people it’s like a family tradition once you turn 17; for others, it’s a different story,” said Baharmand.

“Personally, it was in high school. I hadn’t really thought about blood donation, but we had an outreach event at my high school. [The volunteers] said, ‘Hey guys, if you want to donate blood, you get to miss the last block of school.’ So me and my buddies jumped in a car and away we went.”

For Sekhon, it was a slightly more circuitous route. “It’s always been ingrained with me by my family that giving back to your community is really important, and obviously blood donation is one way to do that. It kind of stemmed from that.”

With one highly successful event under their belts already, SFU Blood for Life has already made a name for themselves on campus. Having attracted significant interest at Clubs Days, what does the future hold for the club?

“We’re aiming to do at least one big stem cell drive per semester, so our next one will probably be in [the] fall,” said Baharmand.

“However, the best way to find out what’s going on is to head to our website — sfubloodforlife.com — or our Facebook page, SFU Blood for Life. Through any of our channels, there [are] ways to get involved in our events as either a participant or a volunteer.”

Baharmand hopes that as the club continues to grow, more students will get involved and have their say in the clubs’ development. “Any suggestions from the student body are totally welcome, too. We’re a club foundationally built upon collaboration and the sharing of ideas. There’s no sense of hierarchy.”

“Volunteering is a great way to get involved” added Sekhon. “If this is something you’re passionate about and can make time for, that’s great — come on out. A lot of people are really interested in the club so far, so the response has been great.”

It seems, then, that SFU Blood for Life is a club heading in the right direction. If you’re interested in donating, keep an eye open for the next campus blood drive.

Minutes from February 22

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February 23, 2017

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Peak Publications Society Board of Directors Meeting Agenda
February 22, 2017
The Peak offices
Chair: Jessica Pickering

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RCMP warn students about sexual assault on Burnaby campus

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February 22, 2017

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In a time where Simon Fraser University is currently in the midst of developing a sexual violence and misconduct policy, another horrific reminder of why it is necessary took place on Burnaby campus.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) are warning students to be on alert for a tall male who sexually assaulted a woman who was walking from her night class to the parking lot around 7:30 on Tuesday night. He was described as “medium to heavy build,” with a “deep voice with no accent.”

The survivor was able to ward off the assailant, and is reported to not be physically harmed. The suspect fled the scene after he overheard people nearby, according to the RCMP.

“We want to caution the public when walking at night to stick to well lit areas and stay off your electronic device to increase your situational awareness,” said Staff Sergeant Major John A. Buis in the RCMP’s release on the incident. He also advised that should any student feel unsafe travelling on campus, they should call SFU security.

If anyone has any information about the incident, they are urged to reach out to the Burnaby RCMP at 604-294-7922. Alternatively, if they wish to remain anonymous, they can call 1-800-222-TIPS or make a report at www.solvecrime.ca

SFU track and field finish with four individual conference champions

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February 22, 2017

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GNAC_2017_Day2_0078 — Tsygankov won both the 400 metre and the long jump events, the first time that's ever been done.

The 2017 Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) indoor championships were marked by a number of outstanding performances for SFU, along with a lot of firsts. Four members of the team — Chantel Desch, Ella Brown, Vladislav Tsygankov, and Addy Townsend — ended up winning conference titles.

“I would say it was an epic weekend,” said head coach Brit Townsend talking to The Peak. “We’ve probably never had the depth and the quality of performance that we had on this past weekend. We had probably five or six more people that are on the rankings list. We came within a couple of points of winning the championship, which we’ve never done. Our men finished in the highest placing ever, and just missed third place.

“I think overall, it just showed we are definitely going in the right direction.”

Chantel Desch won her first-ever indoor title in the 400-metre, Ella Brown won her first ever title — indoor or outdoor — in the triple jump, and Addy Townsend continued her strong season with a title in the 800-metre. But perhaps the highlight of the event for SFU was the performance of Vladislav Tsygankov. Not only did he finish first in the 400-metre, but also in the long jump event — the first time that has ever been done.

“He’s just a great athlete,” said Townsend on Tsygankov. “He’s somebody who, if you introduce him to something, he’s got that body awareness and he’s a really quick learner, too. [He’s] very coachable.

“We had him in the four-by-four last year, and he proved to be a really great contributor. This year, his four-by-four splits were becoming so fast that we thought ‘you know what, we’re going to try him on the Sunday of last weekend in a flat 400,’ which he hadn’t done in a long time. He actually ran faster than Daniel had on that track in Seattle. We said ‘it’s your best chance of making it to nationals, so let’s give it a try at the GNACs.’

“He did that, and honestly, it was only two and a half hours later after the heat of the 400s that he had to do the long jump, and he had his best result of the year.”

Other standout performances included those from Katherine Lucas and Valda Kabia, who finished second and third in the 200-metre respectively, and Nathan Mah, who finished third in the 200-metre.

The team now turns its focus to the upcoming NCAA Division II Indoor Nationals, taking place in Birmingham, Alabama starting on March 10. Townsend is hoping to send at least 10 people to nationals, but stressed how hard it is to make it there.

“It’s really tough to make it in track and field. There [are] over 300 schools, and they only take 16 competitors, so you have to be at least the 16th-best in the nation.

“Our goal will be to get people in the final,” she continued. “That will be fantastic. We had an all-American performance from Vlad last year in the long jump, and an all-American performance from our women’s DMR team. Our women’s DMR [distance medley relay] has a chance to repeat at that, I think Vlad has a chance, and I think someone like Chantel — if she gets a break and gets through the heat to the final — has a chance. Same with Addy.

“They’ve all gained a bit of experience and I think those individuals have a chance of moving through to All-American positions, which would be amazing.”

Agenda for February 22

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February 22, 2017

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Peak Publications Society Board of Directors Meeting Agenda
February 22, 2017
The Peak offices
Chair: Jessica Pickering

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