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McDonald’s lovin’ nuts is a big mistake

By
EIC
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When I was four years old, I bit into half of a cashew and had to be immediately rushed to the hospital. For those like me with anaphylactic allergies, coming into contact with an allergen is a serious matter. In about 20 minutes, I can go into complete cardiac arrest without proper help.

McDonald’s is one of those places that I’ve always gone to because it’s there, it’s easy, and it’s safe. The fact that I, among millions of others, now literally risk my life by eating there is quite a turn off.

McDonald’s has gone nuts. By that, I mean they’ve gone the way that so many restaurants have, by becoming an area contaminated by allergens. Because of new items that require them to stock non-packaged nuts — namely, the almonds for the Skor McFlurry — the rest of the menu is now under a warning for potential cross-contamination with allergens.

McDonald’s Canada’s decision to bring unsealed nuts into a once-safe environment will affect millions of people negatively, including myself. In an increasingly accepting society, this policy seems to be moving backward, closing off an entire demographic from the consumer base. Anyone who knows a person with severe allergies, they will understand that this is a big deal for those who have to constantly monitor their food.

For those who may not be able to understand the seriousness of the situation, picture this: you go on a road trip with some friends, and as you are nearing exhaustion you decide to get food. McDonald’s is, of course, the easy option which litters every city.  You go in and order a Big Mac and some fries and sit down to eat your glorious meal.

After taking only one bite, you start to feel as if something is stuck in your throat and when you take a drink or cough, it doesn’t stop. Kids from the PlayPlace are screaming, and that’s when you notice it: there are little pieces of Skor bar accidentally in your burger. Mayhem ensues.

This may seem like a far-fetched, dramatic example, but for those who have allergies, it can be a very real nightmare. McDonald’s used to be a safe haven of a fast-food restaurant. Shoving the allergy community out the doors so a few people can enjoy a Skor McFlurry and feel a little more fancy is a poor decision from a business perspective.

Millions of people in North America alone have a nut allergy; the Skor McFlurry is just one item out of of many, and one that is not likely to bring in a comparable number of new customers on its own. In other words, the number of people McDonald’s attracts with this is far less than the number they’re pushing away.

McDonald’s has placed a sign in their stores that clearly outlines the risk of nut contact to their customers. To those with severe allergies like myself, this kind of sign is a frequently-seen ‘NOT WANTED’ sign pointed directly at me. Perhaps that’s the idea – of course I’m glad to have the warning rather than the onset of allergy symptoms – but all the same, it feels awful to be essentially banished from somewhere which for so long has been one of few safe places.

This new policy is disappointing and frustrating. My immune system fights against nuts, and McDonald’s new, “inclusive” policy means I’ll have to stand at odds with the corporation too, as will all of the people who’ve now been excluded.

Album Reviews

By
EIC
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Lemon Memory – Menace Beach

From the opening track, it instantly becomes clear where Menace Beach is from — confirmed by a quick Google search — they’re UK-based. Leeds, if we really want to get picky. Even though this is their second full length album, it sounds more like a debut album assembled from demos that were recorded on the cheapest cassettes possible.

I’ve been told numerous times to never describe a sound as “crunchy,” but I’ve also been told that rules are meant to be broken for the right reasons. So I’m going to come out and say it: this album is crunchy. Not in a satisfying fresh potato chip way, it’s more the crunch of a potato chip that has been left out for just a little too long. A stale crunch, if you will.

And stale is the perfect way to describe this album. It sounds like it came from the mid-00s British Invasion, but not in a good way. I was hoping for the album to get better, but it never did. Instead, as I was listening to it I felt the lead in some angsty indie film that only speaks to 16 year-olds.

Low Colour – The April Fools Childrenhood

Normally I don’t get stumped with what to say in an album review. Usually there are multiple things I can say about an album — good or bad. But with Low Colour I have just one: YES.

Yes, there are strong vocals. Yes, the lyrics actually make sense. Yes, there is a progression of tracks. Yes, I did get goosebumps.

I will take a moment to realize that while the sad indie boy vibe might not work for everyone, it works for me. David Cowling — the heart soul, and lone member of The April Fools Childrenhood — pairs his strong vocal abilities with sparse backing tracks, making for an album that is at times reminiscent of a stripped down Andy Shauf.

This might only be a four-song EP with an intro, but these four songs have been the highlight of my week. I just wish there were more, because I’m hooked.

Mr. Optimist Blues – Jonathan Roy

This album is poppy as hell, but in the best possible way. It’s not electronic pop and, bless him, Jonathan Roy’s vocals actually carry the whole thing. He also draws from the more successful aspects of recent pop music, only sparingly, as a way to highlight the feeling of a song.

It’s more optimistic than blues, but with a title like Mr. Optimist Blues I wasn’t expecting there to be much of a bluesy sound. Although, if he wanted to go bluesy it’s well within his vocal range to do so. It’s also probably hard to be blue when your dad is legendary goalie Patrick Roy.

This album is closest in sound and style to Coleman Hell, and that’s not a bad thing. The album as a whole gives a glimpse as to where pop could have gone (with a stand out cover of “New Shoes”) and where it should go. It also doesn’t hurt that his biggest musical mentor is none other than “Sunglasses at Night” singer Corey Hart.

I also listened to the whole album, which is a pretty big deal.

The flaws in the sexual misconduct draft policy

By
EIC
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1

I don’t think anyone can argue that SFU forming a Sexual Violence and Misconduct Prevention, Education, and Support Policy is a bad thing. However, the draft that recently went public undoubtedly needs work. While the town hall consultations have raised a lot more questions than answers, the solutions are a lot simpler than you might think (or at least some of them are).

Below are a list of complaints raised by myself or others, and ideas of how to remedy them.

A lack of specific language:

As was brought up multiple times during the town hall, the policy lacks some specific language. Some found problems with the fact that the policy doesn’t outright say any and all sexual misconduct is wrong, and that it doesn’t completely list out what constitutes banned behaviour.

The problem with vague language in policy is that it leaves a lot of wiggle room. While that freedom of interpretation may seem like a good thing, it’s quite the opposite when a survivor comes forward and the committee tells them that what they experienced was not sexual misconduct. The final draft would be much better with firmer definitions.

“Mandates education but does not make education mandatory”:

A town hall attendee tweeted this quote from Dr. Jon Driver, vice-president (VP) academic and member of the policy working group. How can a policy preach education on sexual misconduct without teaching students (who, for one reason or another, don’t always know what consent is) what that means?

The draft policy says there will be “education for members of the University Community.” But with this training not appearing to be at all compulsory, the people that actually need it probably won’t go. Just how does SFU plan on making sure students learn?

Make education mandatory, and not just in residence. We teach every student what plagiarism is; we should probably teach them what crimes are, too.

A timeline for the central resource office would be nice:

I love the idea of a central resource office, but I’d also love some idea of when the office will be up and running, how it will be funded, etc. The students of Sexual Violence Prevention and Support Centre (SVPSC), who’ve worked on a similar project for the past year and a half, seem more than willing to help. Yet the tone of tweets from figures like Dr. Tim Rahilly (VP of students), saying that there have been “limited meetings” about who will spearhead creating the resource office, suggest that SFU administration still isn’t sure what to do.

Announcing this project before putting a plan in place is unacceptable. SFU needs a better idea of how the central resource office will be run before it starts worrying about a better name.

How will the school respond?

The sexual violence policy was written specifically for SFU, so why have both the policy and the people presenting it been so vague about what role the university will play when misconduct occurs? What is the university’s stance when their students commit sexual misconduct off-campus? How effective is this policy really going to be?

Honestly, these questions are a bit sticky. Not because they’re hard to answer (be more specific, hold the university accountable, etc.). It’s more because the university keeps covering up assaults, allegedly going as far as to ask the families of survivors to “keep quiet.”

 

Of course, the policy should include more detail on how administration will respond in the future. And If SFU starts working towards ending rape culture — with education, hint hint — they won’t have to worry so much about how incidents will affect their public relations. The policy needs to tell us, in more certain and complete terms, about the measures SFU will be obligated to take in countering sexual violence; otherwise, there’s just too much room for things to go wrong.

Taxis need to stop suing and stop sucking

By
Peak Web
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0

If there’s one big threat to a status quo, it’s the rise of competition that you can’t just sweep under the rug. When people see the holes in the way things are being run, it’s pretty much a given that somebody’s going to come out of the woodwork to try and take you down. Prime example: the mediocrity of taxicabs, targeted by the ascension of ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft.

This, understandably, is a threatening concept. When Uber started muscling in on taxicab territory, it was just a matter of time before the legal actions started going off.

A few months ago, the taxicab industry launched a $215 million lawsuit against Ottawa for allegedly not doing enough to defend their livelihoods. Similar cases have been cropping up across North America for the past couple of years in places like New York. Uber themselves faced upwards of 50 lawsuits in 2015 alone.

Don’t get me wrong; in a lot of respects, the way Uber does things is just a little bit shady. For instance, the whole dispute over just what Uber drivers are considered to be (Employees? Independent contractors? Random citizens linked up to give each other rides by a social media app?) has raised questions about how things like tax laws and labour laws should be applied to them and their company.

But the ethics behind how Uber runs their operation are a separate conversation. The problem I have is this: competitors are cropping up, and rather than this being an impetus for the taxicab industry to improve, it’s been a source of three-way conflict eating up time and money better spent elsewhere.

Taxis aren’t in danger because of Uber. They’re in danger because they’re stuck in a rut of conducting themselves the same way as they always have, partially through their own lack of change and partially because their municipal governments aren’t giving them the freedom to compete properly.

People like Uber for a lot of reasons: it’s cheaper, it tracks the car called to you, it’s often perceived to be faster, etc. If cities that enforce base charges upon taxis gave more freedom for the companies to decide their own rates and make other changes to compete with Uber drivers, we’d have a healthier system of different drivers competing and forcing each other to become better.

At the same time, there are plenty of simple ways for taxis to stay ahead of Uber that aren’t generally restricted by city laws — for instance, investigating the claims that Uber provides quicker pickup times and faster transport, establishing better communication between drivers and those getting picked up, and developing a stronger online presence.

I understand the frustrations faced by taxis right now, but firing off lawsuits like this isn’t the best. Not only does the deluge of legal actions make it harder and harder to take any one issue with Uber seriously, but it comes before any real concentrated efforts to improve. Beyond all that, people just aren’t likely to sympathize with taxis when they’re flat-out happier with Uber.

It doesn’t matter how many times taxis win their suits. Until they do their jobs better, they’ll always be fighting uphill battles. Both city governments and taxi companies need to take companies like Uber and Lyft as incentives to work together and be better.

Liberal Crime Squad is the most topical game of 2017

By
EIC
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0
Don't let the lack of graphics fool you, Liberal Crime Squad is one of the most immersive games of what if surrounding politics.

By: Vincent Justin Mitra, Staff Writer

Republicans have gained majority control of the House of Representatives, Senate, Supreme Court, and the Oval Office with commentators describing it as the beginning of a new Conservative era.

This is the world of Liberal Crime Squad, the 2002 freeware game by Tarn Adams. The game positions you as the founder and leader of a group concerned with turning the United States away from the oppressive Conservative ideals that have swept the nation, and instead towards more Liberal government policies.

The game takes place in a US that caricatures both Republican and Democratic parties in the same tone as political cartoons. By doing so, it softens the elements of political horror and brings a bit of comedy and absurdity to an otherwise serious topic. While the game positions Liberals as the heroes and Conservatives as the villains, it also depicts both sides as strawmen extremists. One of the game’s Liberal goals, for example, is granting animals the right to marry; while Conservative goals include making flag burning legally equivalent to murder, and using death squads to suppress unacceptable speech.

The largest barrier to the game is likely to be the lack of graphics and the rather steep learning curve, two things it shares with Adams’ other creation, Dwarf Fortress (Reviewed for The Peak previously on June 6, 2016). Much of the game takes place in simple menus, and though a good portion does also involve moving your squad around a number of game maps, even these are depicted plainly and with only an occasional dash of colour.

While the game positions Liberals as heroes, it does allow the player to engage in violent, criminal, and hypocritical behaviour. For example, players can match the Conservative forces shot for shot, gunning down their enemies with the very types of guns they wish to ban. Alternatively, players can operate completely non-violently, without a drop of blood spilled as they passionately play guitars until their enemies break down in tears and lower their weapons.

Other activities your squads can engage in range from playing street music and selling pot brownies, to hacking the CIA or causing a nuclear meltdown. Nearly all of your actions will have a positive or negative effect on public opinion (freeing sweatshop workers will draw attention to harsh labour laws, for example) which will in turn affect policy decisions as well as the political leanings of elected officials.

Changes to the law will also affect gameplay, such as tighter gun regulation making it more difficult to buy guns, and the current stance on police regulation having an impact on whether your members survive arrest.

The game carries a disclaimer that its scope is “narrower than that of real life,” and underscores that it is meant as entertainment. Though Adams stopped working on the game in 2004, a dedicated fan community continues to develop and add features to the game.

With such an extreme election having just taken place in the United States, many people are fearful for their lives, and the division between the political left and right has become much more apparent. For people who can overcome the graphics and learning curve, this game will perhaps allow for a sort of escape, as well as an outlet where they can cause drastic political change on a simulated American hellscape.

Liberal Crime Squad is available for free at LCS.wikidot.com

Stuff we like and don’t like

By
EIC
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0
(Elena Hsu / The Peak)

Stuff we don’t like — Not getting what you expected from a menu (especially ones with pictures)

It’s a pretty well known fact that your food isn’t going to look like the picture (I’m looking at you McDonald’s). But usually the picture shows all of the ingredients even the ones you can’t usually see like ketchup, mustard, and more than one pickle.

When a menu trolls you though, that’s another thing entirely.

If you advertise something as mango salad and then you show a picture of actual mango salad, you know what I’m expecting? A freaking mango salad that looks (mostly) like the one in the picture. I’m not expecting sad iceberg lettuce, with sad carrots, anemic mango, and some wilted cilantro. I’m not looking for perfection, but I am looking for mango salad not salad with mango. Those are very different things.

So learn from my mistake and don’t order the mango salad from Thai Express, you’ll pay too much money for sadness. And I already pay too much money for sadness — I am, after all, a university student. – JW

Stuff we like — Novels by Christopher Moore

What happened to Jesus between the time he was a born and began his ministry? What if your child was capital D “Death?” What if the fool was the most important character in King Lear?

Christopher Moore attempts to answer all of these questions with a sense of sarcasm, wit, and satirical prowess. However, as you read his novels you realize that he isn’t mocking what he is writing about, instead — especially as is the case with Fool and Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal — he’s probing the what ifs of subjects he’s taken the time to understand.

If you are looking to laugh your ass off at great novels, or just want to read a less Shakespearean version of Shakespeare, but still with all the great tragic rantings, pick up a novel by Christopher Moore. You won’t regret it, and I know, since I’ve read all of them. – JW

Stuff we don’t like — Paying extra for sub-par guac’

Usually when I have to pay extra for guac’ all I’m getting is over ripe avocado slices that have been in a bullet blender for five minutes. If that’s all I’m getting in return for my $3 then I might as well have brought an avocado and done it myself.

There are two major problems here: 1. You’re making me pay for something that should be included in the price and 2. You clearly have no idea how to make guac’.

Guac should be built into the price of appropriate items on the menu, plain and simple. In most cases, the only thing saving your mediocre nachos is the fresh taste of avocado.

What’s worse is that very few people actually make decent guac’.

Pull it together, guys. – TC

Stuff we like — Blanket scarfs

Even if the snow has melted, that winter air is as cold as Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada. The only thing preventing me from becoming a grade-A popsicle is my extra large, super soft blanket scarf.

Why sacrifice style with a parka when you can wrap yourself up in a scarf and self-swaddle harder than anyone else. It can also double as a blanket if you need to take a power nap in between classes. – TC

Pill tracks body temperature while exercising

By
EIC
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0

The introduction of technology into the world of fitness and exercise through devices such as the Apple Watch and the Fitbit, has revolutionized the way that we monitor our progress when we work out. But what if you could obtain that same information without having to wear anything on your wrist?

That is what SFU’s Laboratory for Exercise and Environmental Physiology are trying to find out. The lab, of which biomedical physiology and kinesiology professor Dr. Matthew White is the head professor, is currently testing the effects of this pill. Specifically, understanding the human physiological response in extreme temperatures and climates.

Having been an alpine ski racer for more than 20 years, White is no stranger to the extreme climates that some athletes have to face. With SFU taking part in this research, White says that it will allow us to monitor the core temperatures of athletes and gain a better understanding of how people perform in the outdoors. To date, the pill has been tested on many different types of athletes, from mountain ultra marathon runners to women exercising in cold conditions.

The pill, which was created by the French company BodyCap, is taken just like a normal medicine tablet, but enables researchers to learn much more about what goes on inside. After the pill is ingested by the user, it makes its way through the gastrointestinal tract. It is able to monitor the internal body temperature every 30 seconds, and then send this information wirelessly to the user’s monitor. This becomes particularly useful when a person’s temperature deviates away from normal range, where the pill will send an alert out.

Though it sounds quite futuristic, the reality is that the patent for such a pill actually existed before the company BodyCap (the patent holders for the e-Celsius pill) was created in 2011. Since then, a lot of research and development has gone into the pill to test its effectiveness.

The entire BodyCap monitoring system with the pill rounds out to cost €50, which is about $70 with today’s exchange (as of January 27, 2017). This comes as a shock and relief to many of those who are serious athletes and those that would like to break into the athletic world, considering that the newest Fitbit Charge 2 starts at $199.95, while some Apple watches start at $489.

Beyond price, White says that the core temperature pill and something like the Fitbit are entirely different things, though both are useful in their own right. “The core temperature pill is a relatively easy way to measure body temperature, whereas the Fitbit serves as an accelerometer,” White told The Peak. “This [accelerometer] function is likely to come afterwards.”

With technology like the e-Celsius pill becoming readily available for sale, its tracking abilities to monitor progress and body functions can definitely play a key role not only in athletes’ training, but also for future research into the state of the body in extreme conditions. This can help to create new preventative measures for these athletes to avoid any harm or injury.

Famous philosophers and their fetishes

By
EIC
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0

Thales: Watersports

  • First in the western canon, first in the sack. Thales thought water was the only element. Show him how right he is.

 

Friedrich Nietzsche: Strangling

  • What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and the meaninglessness of the universe strangles us everyday anyways.

 

Immanuel Kant: Anal

  • After all, humans are always an end and not a means.

 

Ludwig Wittgenstein: Bugs

  • Is that a beetle in your box, or are you just happy to see me?

 

Michel Foucault: Flogging

  • Discipline and Punish your way into his heart. 

 

Jeremy Bentham: Voyeurism

  • He may not be watching you all the time, but you’ll learn to act as though he always is — and he’s probably rubbing one out, too. Call it the Panopti-cum.

 

Mary Wollstonecraft: Dom/sub

  • She loves it when women come out on top.

 

Socrates: Sensory deprivation

  • He knows that he knows nothing, especially what you’re going to do to him.

 

René Descartes: Wax play

  • His shape, texture, size, color, and smell may change, but he’ll always have extension, if you know what I mean.

 

Albert Camus: CBT (cock and ball torture)

  • All he wants to do is be crushed by Sisyphus’ boulder.

 

Karl Marx: Master/Slave

  • The proletariat may be a slave to the bourgeoisie, but Karl is only a slave to you.

 

Thomas Hobbes: Furries

  • We’re all animals in the state of nature, baby. Let’s make it nasty, brutish, and short.

 

Marquis de Sade: BDSM

  • Too easy.

 

 

Kedar Wright finds his fit as a leader

By
EIC
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0
Wright this season is averaging 14.9 points per game, as well as averaging 28.1 minutes per game.

In life, it’s important to find the right fit. Whether you’re talking about what you choose to study, what you want to do with your life, or who you want to surround yourself with, it’s all about finding the right fit.

It’s what junior guard Kedar Wright has been trying to find his whole academic and athletic career.

“I struggled a lot in my first year [academically],” he explained.

When Wright first came to university from his home in Toronto, it was at UBC. And at first, he wanted to do engineering.

“I was good at math. I was good at physics, but I didn’t necessarily want to do that,” Wright said.

He admitted he struggled with the intense course load that comes with engineering, while juggling the many hours he had to put in as a student athlete.

“One semester, I knew I was out of that [. . .] I didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I was just taking courses to stay eligible, to be honest.”

Today, he has a much clearer picture of his goals. He’s pursuing a bachelor of education, with a minor in kinesiology. He is a personal trainer, and when basketball is done and his schooling is done, he wants to pursue that.

The basketball, however, started off pretty good. In his freshman year at UBC in 2013-14 — where he played two years with current SFU assistant coach Bret Macdonald — Wright started seven games and put up 9.2 points per game. Near the end of the season, he put up a 28-point game in a playoff game versus the University of Alberta.

He even earned a spot on the Canada West (UBC’s conference in the Canadian Inter-University Sport (CIS) All-Rookie Team).

Wright credited his high school coach Omar Miles, now an assistant coach at Humber College, for preparing him for his first year of university.

“I feel like that program at St. Edmund Campion, my high school, just did a good job of preparing us as, like, men, rather than approaching things with a juvenile attitude. So I came and I had the right mentality and mindframe to approach that challenge.”

In his second year with UBC, he was a regular offensive contributor, and put up double-digit points on a nearly nightly basis.

“I feel like this is the best I’ve gotten along with a group of guys. I appreciate all these guys.”

However, after the 2014-15 year ended, though he looked poised to become one of the key players on the Thunderbirds as a junior, he left the program.

“If there is anything I could tell to a high schooler, or anybody looking to transfer, or anybody looking for an institution in general, it’s all about fit,” said Wright. “The basketball could be going well, your grades could be going well, but in terms of fit, if it’s not a good fit, you’re going to have a rough time in general. And it’s probably not going to be the best experience on both sides.”

That’s when then-SFU head coach Virgil Hill contacted Wright about joining the Clan. Wright visited the campus and liked what he saw. However, the timing didn’t work out for Wright to join the team for the 2015-16 season, and he sat out the season at home, working, and getting ready for the next season.

When he arrived at SFU, he was a changed man.

“When I first came to UBC, I was like a totally different person, in general. The biggest change has been internal,” said Wright. “Just the way I deal with things has been different.”

So far, from an athletic perspective at least, it seems like Wright has found the right fit. He has become the team’s offensive leader, putting up 14.9 points per game, while playing, on average, 28.1 minutes per game. He regularly plays 30-plus minutes a game, and puts up 20-plus points on regular basis.

“I’d say out of all the teams I’ve ever played for, I feel like this is the best I’ve gotten along with a group of guys. I appreciate all these guys,” he said of his new team.

With the team, he has one goal.

“First and foremost, SFU hasn’t clinched the playoffs ever. I’d like to do that and I only have one more year of eligibility left.

“That’s definitely a goal that we can do,” he explained. “We have the personnel to do it, it’s just putting it together. Our biggest challenge is the fact that everybody’s new, you know, new coach, I’d say almost 40% of our team is new, myself included.”

How do they make that step to become playoff contenders?

“We’ve got to win some games,” he said with a laugh.

“I think that’s just cohesion, got to get used to playing with each other,” he elaborated. “Finding out what works is what we need to do.”

While it may be early to call it a fit, he’s got a team where he’s a leader on the court, and he appreciates the community of SFU athletes who show up to each others’ games. He may just have found what he was looking for.

FUN FACT: Favourite thing about SFU?

“I’d say the people here are a little bit down to Earth, and I appreciate that.”

Down and out during Study Abroad

By
EIC
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1

[dropcap]N[/dropcap]ot all students going on exchange are prepared for the road ahead.

After stumbling into SFU’s Study Abroad program, it wasn’t long until I knew I wanted to go on exchange and get the study abroad experience, clichés and all. But what is the process for SFU students wanting to take part in this kind of adventure? For me, it was mostly paperwork followed by a great trip with little complaints, but that hasn’t been everyone’s experience.

The ups and downs of a semester abroad beg the question: what can students expect abroad?

The pre-departure excitement and paperwork

There are many factors to consider when going on exchange: cost of living, transferable class credits, and housing availability just to name a few. Talking with Kris Torno, manager of International Mobility at International Services for Students (ISS), she laid out the expectations for students preparing to go overseas.

“The application process itself is intentionally rigorous. The reason for that is it’s an introduction for students to the huge variety of considerations and planning that they’re going to have to be responsible for if they’re selected. It’s an introduction to the exchange experience.”

Grace Rose, a fourth-year communication student who went on exchange in England, found ISS helpful when it came time for her application. “After I was nominated for exchange, I had to submit an additional application to my host university and that required a few extra pieces that I had no idea about.

“However, the ISS proved to be incredibly helpful in terms of figuring out those pieces that I was clueless on,” she said.

The pre-departure sessions were also another plus for Rose, who was able to connect with SFU students who had gone to the host university in previous years, as well as meet current students going to the same school as her. “The exchange ambassadors were able to give me advice that came from personal experience, and not just through online research,” she said.

“As for the people I met going to Sussex too, we became fast friends and helped each other out in the time leading up to leaving. And we still keep in touch.”

When life overseas gets complicated

But what happens when the system falls short for students? Emily Della Mattia, an SFU student, went on exchange to France only to find that the university had no idea who she was.

“I arrived at Sciences Po in France and the secretary knew who I was, but the school in its official capacity didn’t. I didn’t have a student number, I wasn’t officially enrolled in school, [and] I didn’t have a place to live.  The housing application had been submitted with everything else, but it had never been completed on the school’s part,” she said.

“Mostly, I relied on the support of my friend who was already [attending classes] there. I wasn’t on the school’s mailing list, so she told me what to do. She told me when orientation was for the new students, so I showed up to that and they told us about the school, and passed around an attendance sheet, and my name wasn’t on it,” Della Mattia added.

“I didn’t have a student number. I wasn’t officially enrolled in school. I didn’t have a place to live.” – Emily Della Mattia, SFU student

“So I just wrote in my name and started attending classes. Still with no official status at this school.”

Della Mattia even slept on her friend’s dorm room floor until the issue was resolved, a process, she said, that took three weeks. “Residence monitors would come around and do random checks to make sure people weren’t living there who weren’t supposed to, so every day in the morning I’d pack up my things and the air mattress and hide them above the door, and every night take it all down again. That was a stressful period,” she said.

This isn’t what dreams are made of

When asked about partner school accountability, Torno explained that ISS meets annually to discuss with each of their partner schools. They exchange information over what had happened in the previous year, and any major changes to immigration regulation and global affairs. A process, she said, that is standard among all university exchange programs. That annual review ensures that SFU’s partners still comply with travel and safety guidelines, and if they don’t, the relationship is halted for the coming year.

“Relationship management is really important with exchange. So, we get to know our partners. We always have clear and open lines of communication with them,” said Torno. “When mistakes happen, it’s often due to a miscommunication, a staffing shortage, or a change in procedure on their side.”

ISS may have communication measures in place, but where is the line drawn when the student’s livelihood suffers due to a mistake? “If it’s a one-time thing we understand, and it’s something we would monitor in the future,” Torno said. “If it’s something that is more of a systemic issue, or ongoing challenge, we would raise it with the partner so they’re aware it’s a concern and explain the impact it has on the student and the exchange partnership. That itself might not cause us to discontinue what is otherwise a fruitful partnership.”

Looking back, Della Mattia believes that what happened to her was a miscommunication between the two schools. “When I was applying, my friend knew what was coming, so she told me what had happened with her, and that Sciences Po hadn’t sent the application package for a really long time. So when it got down to the deadline, ISS’ solution was to send her the old package.”

When she mentioned this previous occurrence to ISS, and asked about submitting the old package because of the time restraints, they assured her the new package would be coming soon. Weeks later, when it was down to the deadline, she sent ISS another reminder. They agreed to her submitting the old package, a month and a half after her initial suggestion.

“It wasn’t until early December that Sciences Po finally contacted me and ISS at the same time, finally giving me the new application package. At that point I talked to ISS and said, ‘I’ve done this right? They have this?’ ISS said yes, and that the application process was complete. In retrospect I think it’s possible there was a mix up there; I was supposed to do the new forms.”

Della Mattia’s overall experience abroad was still positive, and she found ISS diligent regarding other issues while she was in France. Torno mentioned that students are registered with the SFU travel safety database, and have access to SOS international. ISS monitors Canada’s global affairs reports on a daily basis, as well as the SOS international reports and the news. If anything happens in a region with SFU students, they are notified by ISS and depending on the situation the students may be required to check in with them directly.

“I was in France when the Charlie Hebdo attacks happened. ISS was good with checking in with everyone to make sure we were okay, along with updated security warnings,” said Della Mattia.

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The long road home

One of the most stressful and important aspects for students going on exchange is the credits they receive upon their return to SFU. “We want students to be happy with the credit they receive for their work abroad; it’s a fundamental piece of the exchange program,” said Torno.

The standard credit timeline and exchange credit system is posted for each university on the ISS website, and Torno says that the average course review process (if a course hasn’t previously been assigned a transfer) is 10 to 12 weeks. If the student is applying for them after their exchange, it can take a few months.

A student who studied at Sciences Po in Paris, who requested to remain anonymous, was one such individual. She didn’t apply until her exchange was over, but had a long conflict with ISS in order to get her exchange credits.

“I applied for exchange credits for all of my classes on May 30. I got a response on June 15 with follow up questions, and we emailed for a couple days and sorted out any logistics. I then heard nothing and followed up on August 5 with no update. I contacted ISS again on September 13 and was told that they would check in the morning, and was then asked a bunch more questions which I had already answered or were clear from my application,” she said.

“This led me to believe it was just forgotten about, so I don’t think anything was even submitted until September. I followed up October 28 and finally got the final confirmation.”

For students who deal with a prolonged credit transfer, it can be extremely problematic for graduation, or cause issues for the next semester. “The biggest issue was my transcript said I had 60 credits, when really I had 75 (fifteen from exchange). So I was unable to apply for fourth-year courses, which have a minimum requirement of 75 units. It really messed up my schedule.

“I also had a really late enrolment date, even though my GPA is above 3.5, and had a lot of trouble getting into even third year classes.[…] But the fact of the matter is I didn’t get credits until we were almost in finals the entire semester after which is ridiculous. I applied in May and got them October 28.”

“We don’t want students to be surprised by things. We try to make as much information as possible available throughout the entire process. Whether on our website, students’ timelines, or handouts, so they can access that info. But that being said, things come up,” said Torno.

Logistically, credits are less likely to be expedited when the units haven’t previously been assigned to an SFU equivalent, or if the host university does not supply sufficient information. “France is particularly problematic for syllabi, because it’s not a standard thing that’s done in their classrooms,” she said.

In regards to credit ratio, Torno says that there’s a very established way of determining value. “It’s not an art; it’s definitely a science,” she said. “But, if a student raises a concern, we’ll look into it, and if we think it should be re-examined, we will. That’s something we do regularly, and if a system has changed their credit ratio, we want students getting all the credits they’ve worked to complete overseas.”

When the system leaves students hanging

Adam Thompson is a student who studied at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China. Despite having taken eleven courses over eight months, he will only receive half of the appropriate credits due to a low credit ratio. “It’s preventing me from graduating this year. I’ve been told that another exchange credit evaluation is taking place, but I’m not convinced it’s going to yield different results.  I have support from the director of my faculty, so I’m certain my claim has merit,” he said.

As of now, Thompson’s case is still unresolved and he mentions pushback from other parts of SFU’s administration. Torno says that ISS doesn’t actually determine the credit ratio, but that it’s SFU admissions who has the authority over that field. “We don’t make determinations about how a course comes back, it’s the academic units who are responsible for that. But we will advocate for students and their timelines, especially when there’s a particular crunch for graduation,” she said.

Thompson isn’t as sure. “I’ve been battling for attention for over three months now. The administration needs to change its policies so that students like myself can commit to exchange terms.  It really is an incredible experience, and poor credit ratios spoil that opportunity.”

Moving Forward

It is clear by the wide range of experience that SFU’s Study Abroad program is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Many students, including myself, find ISS to be a positive representative of student success. However, it is important for any student taking such a big step in their life to consider the difficulties that they might face. ISS shows that they care, and has developed a comprehensive program for students to participate in.

The most common issue, it appears, is not with ISS itself, but the complicated network of relations that it holds to necessarily operate the exchange program. And while some things won’t always always be perfect, just as one can expect when transitioning to a new home abroad with different cultural norms, ISS has the students in mind.

“We try to advocate for students to the greatest degree that we can,” said Torno. “Because we want our partnerships to be successful, we want our students to be successful. That’s why we all come into work everyday.”

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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