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At-Large Representative nomination form

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Peak Web
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0

The Peak Publications Society Board of Directors is seeking to elect three (3) new At-Large Representatives for the 2016-17 academic year. To qualify, candidates must be current SFU students, must not hold any editorial position on any of the Society’s publications, must not be a member of the Peak Collective (collective members are those who have contributed over the past semester), and must not hold any office at any Student Society.

You must also fill out the form below and collect signatures from five (5) members of the members of the Peak Publications Society — there are lots of them in our offices who would be happy to endorse you — and submit it to our Business Manager, Maia Odegaard, by 11:59 on Tuesday, October 11, 2016.

Questions? [email protected]

at_lrg_rep_newform

Women’s soccer suffers second loss of the season against Western Washington

By
EIC
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0
Olivia Aguiar had a chance to tie the game up late, but hit the crossbar.

The women’s soccer team was handed its second defeat of the season by the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) champion, the Western Washington University (WWU) Vikings.

After quickly getting into the rhythm of the game, the Clan seemed at ease in terms of possession and handled the first half with authority and technique. A mistake cost the team a potential win, though.

The goal that would win the game was scored by WWU forward Elise Aylward. She chested the ball into the goal 20 minutes following the kickoff, converting an assist from her teammate Gabriela Pelogi.

“We made one mistake and it cost us the win.”

Aside from the Vikings goal, SFU goalkeeper Priya Sandhu gave a quality performance and stood strong between the posts. The Vikings unleashed a total of 11 shots on her, as well as several other attempts in the penalty area. The Clan protected the net well, with midfielder Jenna Baxter diverting a free kick, and the defence blocking two corners.

SFU returned strong during the second half. The team generated several chances, reaching a total of eight attempts against the Vikings and creating multiple opportunities of scoring quality goals, including a spectacular long shot by Olivia Aguiar, which hit the bar.

The Clan lost the Vikings by a final score of 1–0. Despite a strong collective performance, the Clan’s terrific attempts to turn the game in its favour were not enough to take on the GNAC title contender. Still, the Clan fans witnessed what the “Beautiful Game” is about.

“I think we played a very solid game,” said coach Annie Hamel. “We made one mistake and it cost us the win. We had our opportunities, we creates our chances. We had a game plan, we executed well, but sometimes you fall short [. . .] We are ready to move forward.”

After 90 minutes witnessing her team battle to defend the home pitch, Hamel reflected on the loss and the changes in the next few games. “There are always areas of improvement. Now we have to limit those little mistakes that we make throughout the game. This was a great performance, and for us it is just about building on that. The game can be cruel at times.”

Freshman Emma Pringle has been remarkable in her first season with the Clan. The Clan’s new rookie — who scored four goals in five appearances — noted that “collectively we have played very well [. . .] My goals are from my team and my team always helps me. I’m very confident about next game. I feel that we are ready to take on any team. I just keep my head up and strive for the best.’’

Moving forward, the Clan will be taking Terry Fox Field again on September 29 against Seattle Pacific University. The game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

Fuck textbooks

By
EIC
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3

Why are textbooks so damn expensive?

Textbooks, and their ridiculous price tags, are a complicated mess that takes some explaining. The main reason textbooks are so expensive is they aren’t in a free market: students don’t have options when purchasing textbooks because the book is required for the class. Not any psychology text will do — it has to be the one assigned by the prof. This forced choice allows publishers and bookstores to put crazy high price tags on books because their clientele is guaranteed.

What’s the deal with new editions?

Sometimes authors will make extreme changes to a text. This can be because of new research, but it’s not uncommon for new editions to be released that correct nothing more than typos.

It makes perfect sense that, as new developments in your topic of study unfold, that you want them to be included in your curriculum. You want your education to be current, not lagging behind and becoming outdated.

However, if all that has changed is an added section and some typo fixes, there’s nothing in this world that can convince me that purchasing a new $130-textbook instead of the earlier edition for $50 is the better call.

I’d rather scan the pages from a friend’s book. Better yet, if you could just buy the missing section for $10 or $20, you’d still come out ahead instead of buying the new text.

Why do textbooks have to come bundled with access codes, study guides, etc.?

Because the universe hates us. Or at least, it feels that way.

Honestly, this is what I hate the most about buying textbooks. The textbook comes automatically bundled with a study guide you don’t need and won’t use, and you have to pay for it because that’s the only way to get the textbook.

My favourite bundle is the textbook and the access code. Why? Part of the problem concerns Canvas. If we could make the best possible use of that tool then we could end the bundling that increases our total at the checkout line.

What is the Open Textbook Project?

The Open Textbook Project is an initiative led by BCcampus and supported by the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS). It pushes for professors to adopt open educational resources: freely accessible textbooks and other learning materials.

VP university relations Arr Farah said they’re channeling their efforts into “advancing the cause.”

Farah pointed to the five library grants which were given out to faculty to aid in the creation of the open resources as evidence that the SFSS is moving in the right direction. He also noted that in the coming year, a course using an open textbook — Canadian History Pre-Confederation — will become available.

The SFSS’ lofty goal is to have as many textbooks as possible be offered as an open resource, but the world of policy moves slowly. Their goal for this year is to talk to the SFU Faculty Association and collect data on students’ use of textbooks.

Are textbooks even necessary?

It really depends on which faculty you’re in. For courses in the sciences, business, and social sciences, textbooks can be crucial because of the techniques and memorization required by those kinds of courses.

However, with courses in the arts, philosophy, English, and the like, you can probably skate by without buying textbooks. Most works and essays by old white guys are freely available in PDF form on the Internet. For novels and other books, libraries are a great resource.

But it also comes down to what kind a student you are. If you’re really gung-ho and it’s easier to have all your reading material in one place, then textbooks are probably necessary for your success. If you just need to pass — or know you aren’t going to do the homework or readings even when the material is right in front of you — you can probably forego the shopping trip.

So what can we do?

Not a whole lot that will bring about immediate change. Ask your professors if the latest edition is really necessary, or if the access code will be used (I’ve been burned before). Ask your instructors if there are cheaper alternatives to buying the textbooks. Help professors seriously consider moving to open resources.

Remember, you’re not limited to the bookstore. Try other suppliers like Better World Books, Amazon, and second-hand bookstores.

There is no obvious answer to this problem, but we need to come together as students and start demanding better and more affordable options.

Stop telling people how to protest

By
EIC
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0

Before I start, I’m going disclose that I am white — like, almost horrifically so. I recognize that as such I’m afforded some rights and freedoms that are denied to other members of society. And even though I am a woman, there’s no way that my experiences can compare to those of anyone who is a person of colour.

That is why the protest-shaming of Colin Kaepernick and the other NFL players who are sitting or kneeling during the “Star-Spangled Banner” makes my blood boil. These are people who are standing up to attain the rights that are already extended towards white people in America.

There’s a long-standing tradition of African-American athletes protesting during the playing of the national anthem — most notably, Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ fists raised in the Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics. The sitting and kneeling of Kaepernick and other NFL players is nothing new.

Yet (lots of) white people seem to hate it.

While the comments on websites like BuzzFeed have been relatively respectful for the Internet, that may have more to do with the sites’ readership demographic than overwhelming support for the athletes and Black Lives Matter movement. As of September 22, a quick Facebook search of Kaepernick’s name brings up one headline that stands out: “Colin Kaepernick says if he is killed for protests, it will have ‘proved point.’”

A quick scroll through the comments on this particular post brought up messages of support for his protest, POC educating white people about why this protest matters, and naturally, things like “white people have it bad too you know,” and “he’s doing it wrong.”

While messages of support and the education of uninformed people are great, the other two types of comments blatantly ignore the issue.

“White people have it bad too you know” is one of the most knee-jerk comments one can come up with. Yes, there are poor white people, and white people who get arrested; but that isn’t equivalent to what POC of the same socio-economic stature face. Just look at the length of time Brock Turner and Corey Batey were sentenced to after committing similar crimes, and tell me again how hard it is to be white.

The final “you’re [protesting] wrong” comment is the one that makes me shake my head and go, “Are you for real right now?” How would you, an unoppressed white person, like them to protest?

They take to the streets and march, you get mad. They take part in a peaceful protest, you get mad. They try to talk about the issues they face in a public forum, you change the channel or you get mad. What does that leave?

Nothing. It’s not really about protesting the “right” way; it’s about not protesting at all. It’s about a love of comfort and a fear of change. The way white people would like protests to happen wouldn’t make a large enough or lasting enough statement in regards to civil rights. Letter-writing campaigns and collecting signatures don’t garner lasting media coverage and can’t accomplish what needs to be done.

I hope that Kaepernick’s protest can make long-standing change and continue the conversation surrounding Black Lives Matter, and that police will stop shooting first and asking questions later. I don’t think that Kaepernick is protesting “the wrong way,” because as a white person, I’m not here to police your protest; I’m here to support your efforts.

We can’t afford to be lenient with sex offenders

By
EIC
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4

I can’t believe I have to write this. There shouldn’t even be a discussion happening around Brock. Fucking. Turner.

If you don’t remember, Turner was convicted of three counts of felony sexual assault for raping an unconscious woman behind a dumpster. He was sentenced to six months in Santa Clara County Jail and three years of probation, instead of the prosecutor’s recommendation of six years in prison, or the maximum potential sentence of 14 years in prison.

For a lot of people, six months in county jail was a slap in the face of sexual assault survivors everywhere. It’s incredibly debilitating to see your worth as a person be judged as less than the minimum sentence of two years. It is humiliating to have your trauma, your nightmares available for everyone to read or hear; to have your assailant’s father describe the worst event of your life as “20 minutes of action” not worth sacrificing the promising future of a sex offender.

There was also uproar regarding the media’s handling of the story, with reporters describing Turner as a good kid with a great swimming career ahead of him and using a non-mugshot photo in coverage. Now, because of “good behaviour,” Turner has been released after serving only half of his six-month sentence.

Some say Turner has learned his lesson, and that having to register as a sex offender and live with his parents in Ohio is punishment enough. Some say that since his swimming career is ruined, his future is doomed, and that’s the ultimate price to pay.

To those people, I say: what about the future of Emily Doe, the sexual assault survivor? How will she be able, as she says in the letter she read out at Turner’s sentencing, to sleep without a nightlight, or without having nightmares where someone is touching her as she’s unconscious? How will she get over the fear that haunts her every moment?

Brock Turner may have lost his shot at the life of a famous swimmer, but his actions have changed Emily Doe forever: as she wrote, ‘You cannot give me back the life I had before that night.’. And for that, he only had to pace around a county jail cell for three months.

We have all failed Emily Doe. Turner, for sexually assaulting her; the U.S. justice system, for allowing a judge to waive the minimum sentence of two years; and us, for not changing the way rape culture permeates through campuses and proliferates as an acceptable norm.

Consent is crucial and ongoing. If there isn’t a yes, nothing should be happening.

We need to take all the outrage we feel and reform the justice system into an environment where sexual assault and harassment are not treated with a slap on the wrist. We need to make the world a little safer by enforcing harsher consequences for felons like Brock Turner.

The California bill to instate a mandatory minimum prison sentence for the sexual assault of an unconscious or intoxicated person has so far been unanimously approved by California legislature. It’s a step in the right direction. It shouldn’t have to be this hard to teach people that sexual assault is wrong.

Don’t tell me that I’m “so white”

By
EIC
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1

I’m fed up with being told that I’m “whitewashed.” It’s a derogatory term implying that I don’t meet the stereotypical “standards” of my race. Growing up, I felt that I was never “black enough” — but obviously, I was never “white enough,” either.

How can you tell me that I’m not acting like my own race? Did I miss the “How to Be Black 101” course? Constantly receiving such criticism, from within your community and outside of it, leaves the subject of that criticism feeling like an outsider.

I was raised to understand my African culture and embrace my roots, but I was also taught to appreciate other cultures. Doing both doesn’t mean that I’m trying to be someone I’m not. Should I just pretend not to like the things I like?

Throughout my childhood, and even now, I’ve constantly heard phrases like “You’re pretty white for a black girl,” or “Why do you act so white?” I never knew how to respond to such statements and questions, because I wasn’t sure what “acting black” would mean.

Whether I fully understood the situation or not, it was clear to me that I was standing out in a negative way. This racial criticism caused my self-esteem to suffer and complicated the process of figuring out my identity. Maybe I was doing something wrong? I started to wonder if there was actually something wrong with me.

I’ve been told that Africans aren’t educated and don’t speak English. Well, I’m educated, fluent in English, and have good grammar — and that doesn’t mean I’m trying to be white. Many people of colour in this country are educated and speak English; trust me, we’re not trying to be white.

I’ve also been told that poetry and art are activities that only white people are allowed to do. Well, I absolutely love theatre and appreciate poetry, but it doesn’t mean that I’ve tossed my own culture. Let’s note that some of the most well-known poets were people of colour: Maya Angelou, Rita Dove, and Langston Hughes, for example.

I’m especially sick of hearing phrases like “Musicals? No, that’s for white people.” Well, Grease is one of my all-time favourite musicals. (And yes, I realize there were hardly any black people in Grease except near the end, where there are extras dancing in the background — it was based in the ‘50s, so segregation was still prominent.) That certainly doesn’t mean that I’ve forgotten about my roots.

Another stereotype: black people don’t like reading. Well, I’d honestly rather read the book than watch the movie, and that doesn’t mean I’m ashamed of my race.

Eventually, I stopped feeling ashamed of myself and looked at the facts. Even my most basic positive attributes — my speech, my intellect, my love of art — were drawing negative comments.

Black people are allowed to love reading. We can like musicals. We are allowed to listen to Radiohead and Adam Levine. My interests shouldn’t be categorized solely by the colour of my skin, and my racial background shouldn’t restrict me from doing what I love.

I know now that there are no guidelines to being black; I’m in charge of who I want to be. I’ll binge-watch Stranger Things and Gossip Girl, I’ll shamelessly order as many pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks as I can possibly afford, and I will not live up to your racial stereotypes.

I am not “whitewashed”; I am a hard-working, open-minded, outgoing, proud African woman. I will continue to surpass the expectations that society has set for me. Because the ideas you ascribe to white people are not unique to them.

Why the Canucks’ Stanley Cup run was the highlight of my life

By
EIC
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0

For those unfamiliar with me, you could be forgiven for thinking that the title of this Editor’s Voice is a bit over-the-top — but you’d be dead wrong. I’m referring to the two-month period between April 13 and June 15 of 2011, when the Vancouver Canucks almost did the impossible: win the Stanley Cup.

Heading into the season, I had a feeling that the Canucks would have a good team. They’d just come off a second-round loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, but had added players such as Dan Hamhuis, Manny Malhotra, and Keith Ballard.

By January, they had the best record in the NHL, and at that point, it should’ve simply been about coasting into the playoffs. I hoped for an easy first-round matchup against Dallas — a team that the Canucks had outplayed throughout the season. Imagine my dismay when the Chicago Blackhawks became their opponents.

While significantly weaker than the year before, the Blackhawks were still the defending champs. The Canucks easily won the first three games, and I distinctly remember bragging that the Canucks would sweep them and destroy in game four.

Boy, was I wrong. Game four was a 7–2 drubbing, and the Canucks lost the next two games, forcing a game seven.

I’d never been so tense watching a hockey game. If the Canucks lost, it would’ve been the cherry topping of the shit sundae that was the team’s soul-crushing defeats. No Canucks fan would ever live down their team becoming one of few to blow a 3–0 series lead.

Of course, they won thanks to Alex Burrows’ “dragon slayer” goal — in my mind, the greatest goal in Canucks history. From then on, I was obsessed. I started planning my whole life around the playoffs. Homework? Not a chance. Family engagements? Maybe some other time. If I had to go, I always made sure a TV was nearby.

My excitement on June 1 was palpable. I’d finally be able to see the Canucks in the finals. They won two games before getting destroyed in Boston, setting up for a crucial game five. I headed downtown with a few friends to watch it right outside the CBC building.

After the Canucks won, I almost died from the number of high-fives I gave while walking around the downtown core. I was so sure they’d win the cup; after all, they only had to win one of two games. How hard could that be? I headed downtown once again for game six, but the dream of the cup died after a four-goal first period for the Bruins.

Heading downtown to watch the seventh game, I distinctly remember my friend saying, “We’re either going to be there for the biggest party this city has ever seen, or a riot.”

Boy, was he right. After the loss, my friend, who wasn’t a big hockey fan at the time, needed some Subway. So there I was, the most heartbroken and disappointed I’d ever felt, while my friend nonchalantly munched on a veggie delight.

After that, it was chaos. I remember chairs being thrown through a nearby coffee shop. People would randomly start fighting, fuelled by a mixture of frustration and alcohol. At one point, someone was dancing atop a portapotty. We spent the next two hours running with the crowd so we wouldn’t get trampled over, before we took one of the last SkyTrains out of there.

What I miss most about those two months is how it was the topic to discuss during that time. Even people who weren’t into sports were discussing it. And for the record, I still haven’t watched the highlights from game seven.

 

Whether or not the US pardons Edward Snowden, he shouldn’t return

By
EIC
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1

Recent weeks have seen a resurgence of an ongoing controversial discussion over whether President Obama should pardon Edward Snowden before leaving office. Russia granted Snowden asylum in 2013, after he publicly revealed that the National Security Agency (NSA) had been surveilling the American population’s communications and Internet usage without their knowledge in the name of “homeland security.”

Even the FBI director, James Comey, has advised everyone to “take responsibility for their own safety and security” and cover their webcam up with tape. Snowden still resides in Russia, and many believe that he should now be allowed to return home.

The new feature film, Snowden, has reignited interest in this case, and the film is looking to gain further public support for a pardon. Meanwhile, Snowden himself has asked to come home to America, in hopes for a fair trial; however, the only solace promised to him was that he wouldn’t be tortured.

Snowden may deserve a pardon, but whether he receives one or not, he’ll never realistically be able to return to America without putting himself at serious risk.  After revealing what the government is capable of — from watching citizens through their personal webcams to eavesdropping through cell phones — I doubt Snowden would feel safe in his home country anyways.

It’s clear that the government has directly marked Snowden as the enemy, and a pardon wouldn’t stop the NSA from keeping a very close eye on him. Intense surveillance would likely be the least of his problems, considering the intrusive and violent search for Snowden after his whistle-blowing. In this case, we should greet a pardon with scepticism.

While Snowden’s insider knowledge may help him to avoid being spied on, it is nearly impossible to remain completely off the radar. Snowden has approved certain apps in order to help others protect their own privacy, such as Signal to encrypt texts, and KeePassX in order to prevent hackers and companies from discovering the passwords you use for multiple platforms.

In any case, the whistle-blower laws devised by the US government are often ineffective at best for protecting people like Snowden — likely because they pose such major threats. And, ironically enough, the government charged him with espionage.

Despite Obama declaring a transparent government under his authority, for the US to just gracefully admit their mistake of labelling Snowden as a traitor to America seems highly unlikely.

As long as America’s government continues to use “homeland security” as a valid reason to collect private data and obsessively watch over its citizens in true Orwellian fashion, Snowden will remain a dissident in their eyes, and a threat to the current regime. He will not be safe in America.

Seven existential thoughts you’ve had in a Starbucks line

By
EIC
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0

cake-pop
1. When the only thing that’s popping in your life is the cake pop

 

They look like the life of the party on the food shelf at Starbucks, and yet the only party you’ve attended recently was the social event of a club on campus with free pizza.

 

psl
2. When you hear someone order the infamous pumpkin spice latte

 

At this point, you know fall has definitely set in. You start to wonder why summer exists at all — a glimmer of hope, forgotten the second Canvas starts reminding you about the million assignments that are all due. You will never understand nor dare to defy the educational system.

 

3. When you realize that the Starbucks coffee cups are white, even though black traps more heat

This is when you grasp the fact that we are all individual souls in an infinite space-time continuum where everyone acts in their own self-interest. If Starbucks really cared about you, they would want the only thing that keeps you warm in Raincouver to stay warm a minute longer. 

 

passion-shaked-icetea

4. When you become aware that there are more tea options in the Teavana section than there are people in the world whom you can call for your midday breakdown

The only thing worse than having a breakdown is knowing that you can’t talk about your existential angst to the barista when she utters “Hi! How can I help you?” So, instead, you take your passion tango shaken iced tea to make up for the passion lacking in your life.



5. When your eyes stumble upon the “customize any drink” option on the menu


In that moment, when your heart is as heavy as your workload and you can’t get your shit together, you casually wonder why homework cannot be customized, too. Afterwards, you question your insignificance as a person — one who will never have control over all the time they must commit to a suffocating amount of schoolwork.

festival-drink

 

6. When the barista asks, “Would you like to try our new drinks for the season?”

In your head you say, “I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative, one I have never asked to be a part of,” because you’ve become an old soul who has forgotten how to relish in the new joys of life.

 

chai-latte

7. When you order the chai latte for the cultural experience

Unless you are an international student from India like me, the truth is you will never know what chai actually tastes like. Nonetheless, you willingly bend to the forces of our capitalist society and start to question your hollow attempts at leading an authentic existence. 

 

 

“Bad” tattoos aren’t bad, they’re just misinterpreted

By
EIC
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0

mowin-the-pubes

 

Title: The Landscaper

 

Progress is relative to how time moves. Mowing and trimming plant life is a futile task — it just keeps growing back. Yet the landscaper in this tattoo continues with his Sisyphean journey unaware that you can just let it flourish and grow into a beautiful bush.
daddys-little-angle

Title: Requiem for My Father

 

 The juxtaposition between the title and subject matter serves to create an internal conversation with the true nature of death and dying. It also offers commentary on how we memorialize the ones we have lost. Like the colloquialism says: every time a bell rings, an angle gets its wings.

 

yolo-tattoo

Title: Impermanence of Existence

 

YOLO is the rallying cry of the disenfranchised millennial. It brings together people who will never afford a house, have astronomical debt for most of their lives, see the bee go extinct, and see oceanic nations become modern-day Atlantis. While the baby boomers can’t see the other side of the precipice, the millennial is diving head first into it, PBR in hand yelling YOLO.

 

charboiled-baby

 

Title: The Greatest Honour

 

For the modern child, there is only one honour that can be conferred upon them that is equivalent to leader of the free world: a permanent tattoo on the body of their parent. While for the parent this is a risky move — what if they have a medieval homunculus? Regardless of what your child looks like, as long as the tattoo captures the essence of their spirit it is successful.

 

starsbehindear

 

Title: Night’s Queen
As day slips into night she comes out from her lair deep within the basement of suburbia. She emerges into the darkness to take to her throne in the living room, where she rules with an iron fist over her Tumblr page. Yet she is not a fearless ruler. When she senses movement near her throne room, she retreats back to her lair. The stars on her body the only symbol of her true power. 

 

 

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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