Home Blog Page 873

Tom McCarthy masterfully negotiates a challenging story

By
EIC
-
0
Best Picture winner Spotlight is a must see.

The critically acclaimed film Spotlight seamlessly delivers a very important story based on true events and demands the attention of the world. It revisits the scandal and cover-up of child molestation within the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston and the Pulitzer Prize winning investigation that the Boston Globe conducted in 2002.

Without watching the movie, it is very easy to assume the worst of it. The movie poster is of a messy table with bland looking people sitting around it, there are quite a few big names in the cast, and the story deals with an intense situation. There’s much that could go wrong, but let me assure you that it is more than worthwhile: I would even say that it’s a must-watch-before-you-die movie. I’m not the only one who thinks Spotlight is rave-worthy — being a movie that was released on November 6th of 2015, it received 6 Oscar nominations and won Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture.

Director and writer Tom McCarthy did an exceptional job at telling the story just as it needed to be told: with respect, honesty, and passion. Most Catholics, like myself, have probably heard of the scandal at one point or another especially during the time it was being uncovered, but have not fully dedicated a moment to really process the tragedy at hand. For that very reason it is particularly important for Catholics, but also for anyone else, to watch this movie and recognize that this kind of institutional corruption is possible so to avoid a similar situation in the future.

It is clear and proclaimed that the movie had no agenda of slandering the Catholic Church nor swaying viewer’s religious paths. The movie’s simplicity proves this. The setting was sensible, and the film’s only dramatics were the ones in the cast’s human reactions.

To further argue that the movie is a fair depiction of true events, I point out that as the characters go deeper into the investigation they realize that it is not only the Archdiocese at fault, but also the legal system and the press. It was the ignorance and silence of the press during this time which buried the story so deep that The Boston Globe’s investigative journalism team was almost unable to cover it.

The motive of the movie is made clear: to delicately unveil the truth of the scandal and to provide a justifiable and public tribute for the victims whose stories were suppressed for so long.

Through the amazing directing done by Tom McCarthy, this based-on-a-true-story movie was everything it had to be and more. Although it was dialogue-heavy, every word carried a tense weight and didn’t go purposeless. The humanity and normality displayed in the movie through the Spotlight reporters as they uncover facts and testimonies is what I believe will really illicit the strong emotions within viewers. “Spotlight” also draws attention to long-form investigative journalism at its finest.

This is an informative movie that demonstrates masterful grace in storytelling and cinematography. Everybody needs to see it: the story of the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church is more than what it initially appeared to be. It deserves copious amounts of attention and conversation.

Don’t preorder video games

By
EIC
-
0

“Sorry, we’re out of stock. They probably will be everywhere.”

So the cashier at EB Games told me last weekend when I went to pick up my copy of the new Fire Emblem. And she was right. Two Best Buys and one London Drugs later, I returned home empty-handed. I get it — it’s a popular game, we’ve been waiting for the localisation for a whole year, etc. Still, it stung not to be able to own a copy on release day.

Of course, I could have just pre-ordered it. But here’s the thing: pre-ordering games is the worst. And I’ll tell you why.

For those not in the know, pre-ordering games is the practice of shelling out around 10 bucks in advance to somewhere like EB or Best Buy in exchange for a reserved copy of an upcoming title. Said reserved copies often come with extra content or trinkets as a reward for players willing to pay a little extra to the developers, publishers, and retailers. Your favourite game companies get more pocket change, and you get your game as soon as it’s released. Sounds good, right?

Yeah, no. There’s a reason that pre-ordering games has gone from being a popular trend to essentially the law of the land in the past five years, and it has very little to do with your own benefit as a player and a whole hell of a lot to do with how much money everyone else stands to make. Retailers regularly rake in millions of dollars on pre-orders every year, and revenue from pre-ordered games rose by 24 percent between 2014 and 2015. In turn, more and more publishers are choosing to offer pre-orders, despite the downsides.

And boy, are there downsides. For starters, pre-orders essentially lock in release dates for titles: if you’ve promised customers they’ll be getting game X at date Y, you’d better believe they will raise a fuss if you don’t deliver. The problem is that sometimes, release dates need to be pushed back. Games are super tough to make, and if development teams aren’t given enough time to iron out the kinks, you end up with sloppy, buggy games. And this happens all the time. In the past year alone, Just Cause 3, Fallout 4, Batman: Arkham Knight, and The Witcher 3 have all been the subject of rushed, glitch-full launches.

As Nintendo mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto once said, “A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad.”

Even more nasty than buggy launches, though, is how pre-ordering eliminates the value of video game reviews from players and professionals alike. The ubiquity of pre-orders has gradually made game demos a thing of the past, meaning that you probably won’t have a sense of whether or not a game is actually worth playing until reviewers get their hands on a test copy. Usually, these are sent out only a few weeks before the official release, long after hundreds of thousands of pre-orders have been placed.

So what if the game you’ve promised to buy is actually, you know, not so great? Well, tough luck. Unless you’re buying via online distributor Steam, who recently revamped their refund policy, you’re stuck with the title you paid for months ago. Imagine if comic book fans had prepaid for tickets to the new Fantastic Four movie before the terrible reviews started coming out. They’d be pretty pissed, right? And yet this is still the status quo among most publishers.

How do we fight back, you ask? Well, there’s really only one way — we need to stop pre-ordering, full stop. Plenty of writers have been urging gamers to break the habit for years, and yet more and more are choosing to pre-order, whether it be for convenience or a (mostly false) sense of security. And I can see the appeal: it would’ve been nice to know that a copy of Fire Emblem were waiting for me at EB Games, without having to risk it on release day.

But ultimately, this is bigger than us. If we want our games to be good, or at least finished, we need to make a change.

Want to know what games could have benefited from being released later?

Here are five famous games that could have benefited from some extra time with the developers.

Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness (2003)

The latest Tomb Raider title has spelled
rejuvenation for the series, but for a time many thought one of gaming’s oldest and most profitable titles would never recover from the utter failure of Angel of Darkness. Featuring laughable graphics and some downright terrifying glitches, this game is a perfectly example of a mainstream franchise getting lazy and complacent. The result is pretty regrettable.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)

Unlike the Tomb Raider series, Sonic the Hedgehog never really recovered from Sonic the Hedgehog. Like, I’m not kidding — this is one of the worst games ever. The levels are incoherent, the controls are terrible, and even the game’s story is ill advised. (Sonic falls in love with a human woman. Yeah.) This was the moment wherein Sonic went from respectable old-school series to permanent laughingstock.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 (2015)

There may be no better modern example of why pre-ordering is the worst than THPS5. Like, how did this game even get released? It’s more than just broken — it’s not even finished. Characters regularly morph through walls or simply lose all control of their limbs mid-jump. For fans of the original Pro Skater games for the PS2, this game is heartbreaking. For everyone else, it’s literally unplayable.

 

CENTRE STAGE: In review: Winners and Losers, Trevor Noah at JFL Northwest, and dance at Chutzpah!

By
EIC
-
0
Trevor Noah is hilarious and just plain adorable.

Winners and Losers

Feb 16–27; The Cultch

This show has been gaining plenty of critical acclaim, from being nominated for a 2015 Governor General’s Literary Award to rave reviews from critics, but it didn’t work for me. While there were many interesting concepts discussed through a capitalist lens, I felt like I was essentially eavesdropping on an interesting conversation between two friends.

I’ll admit that the conversation was at times engaging, funny, and entertaining, but there were also an equal number of moments when I wondered what the point was. Based on conversations between the performers, Marcus Youssef and James Long, the show situated the two at opposite ends of a long table, a bell in front of each, while they debated whether something was a winner or a loser in the face of capitalism.

They discussed Mexico, Canada, microwaves, Pamela Anderson, their own parents, and each other. As the topics of discussion became more personal, their conversation became heated. They were brutally honest with each other — as any true friend should be — and they shared anecdotes from their childhoods while struggling to reconcile their economic backgrounds.

After throwing arguments at each other for a while, the show abruptly ended. “I think we’re done,” said Youssef. “Until tomorrow night,” replied Long.

 

Trevor Noah

JFL Northwest

Feb 19; Queen Elizabeth Theatre

Trevor Noah made his first stand up appearance in Vancouver for the JFL Northwest festival and entertained a sold-out, appreciative crowd. We laughed until our faces hurt, and reveled in Noah’s cultural commentary.

Noah casually took the stage and soaked up the love from a cheering audience. This being his first time in Vancouver, he shared his observations that “Vancouver is a lot more Asian than I expected,” and that, “it’s like bizarro America: everything seems the same, but people are polite.”

Before the show, Noah took a walk around the city and described his hunt for the best poutine and his perspective on Chinatown. He said that if he were to be dropped off there, he would just assume he was in China and not think that perhaps a few blocks away he would be in Vancouver — there are no Chinatowns in South Africa, he explained. 

The hilarious cultural comparisons and gestural acting continued with his assessment of communications between drivers on the road. In America, he said, everyone honks all the time and it’s impossible to know what they are trying to say, whereas in South Africa, they hoot and this sound can be modified to suit many purposes. His story of getting tacos for the first time was capped off with a wonderful miscommunication in which napkin was taken to mean diaper, as it does in South Africa.

Noah now knows that there could never be a black James Bond thanks to a visit to Scotland, where there are no black people, and he made his case for a Russian accent being the scariest of any accent. These kinds of observational stories about race, nationality and cultural differences, acted out and described with wonderful pacing and humility are what gives Noah his trademark likable style.

I love Noah’s brand of humour, which doesn’t rely on tired clichés. He is able to tell lengthy stories without losing the audience’s attention, and he has the respect of his fans. Everyone in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre left the show laughing, and I hope Noah is able to return soon to do it all over again.

Shay Kuebler Radical System Art: Telemetry Vol. 1 and MADBOOTS DANCE: (SAD BOYS)

Chutzpah! Festival

Feb 20 – 22; Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre

The first version of his full-length project being developed over two years, Telemetry Vol. 1 is a beautiful piece of choreography mixing swing, bebop jazz, house and contemporary dance and music styles and incorporating Danny Nielsen’s stunning tap mastery. The choreography seems to have an air of maturity about it, and this may be Kuebler’s best work yet.  

The show began with Neilson tapping across the back of a dark stage, as lights were activated based on the intensity of his tapping. This was an impressive effect, and Neilson was then joined by Kuebler and five others who moved surreptitiously across a dimly lit stage, a single light swinging back and forth to show us bits and pieces of their movements.

The group moved in a flowing unison, reacting to each other and always anticipating their next move. They ebbed and flowed around the stage as Neilson continued his tapping, his rhythms complimenting their trademark Kuebler movement style.

Neilson was spotlighted a couple of times; coming to the front of the stage to show off his footwork, and then later, on set off to one side as the other dancers riffed off of his moves. I also enjoyed an emotionally charged duet between Kuebler and Lexi Vajda that showed off a new side to Kuebler’s work I hadn’t seen before.

The second half of the double bill was an all-male troupe from New York, MADBOOTS DANCE, performing (SAD BOYS). Four dancers in tight pants and strange harnesses around their shoulders presented a rather aggressive, bold work that seemed to be a portrayal of what it feels like to be gay and be ridiculed by words such as “faggot,” “beast,” and “sissy” (these were all projected onto the stage). As the piece went on, they moved through a few phases, some emotional and contemplative, others urgent and angry.

A pile of sand at stage right served an unknown purpose, and the meaning behind the quasi-nudity at the end with one of the dancers covering his penis with only his hand was also lost on me. I’m not sure that I understood the message these dancers were trying to convey, but the piece presented some bold choreography that did elicit feelings of concern and uneasiness. Perhaps that was what they were going for.   

 

Coming Up: Vancouver International Dance Festival

The 16th annual VIDF will be presented at various venues around the city from February 28 to March 19 and includes world premieres from Vancouver’s Company 605 and EDAM, a Canadian premiere and co-production by Sweden’s Memory Wax and Cuba’s Danza Teatro Retazos, along with performances by Quebec’s Compagnie Virginie Brunelle and Japan’s Natsu Nakajima. Always presenting a variety of dance styles ranging from butoh to hip hop, the festival is sure to have something for everyone’s tastes. There are even some free performances taking place in the SFU Woodward’s atrium, so be sure to check them out.

Vancouver Whitecaps Season Preview

By
EIC
-
0
Blas Perez, seen here in action with Panama, was acquired from FC Dallas over the offseason.

As the NHL season begins to wind down and the hopes of any Canadian teams making the playoffs continues to dwindle, it’s the perfect time to look forward to new possibilities. March 6 marks the beginning of a new season in Major League Soccer, which means that the Vancouver Whitecaps will return to BC Place in hopes of building off of last year’s successes.

This will be the Whitecaps’ sixth season in MLS play and the team has grown better with every passing year. Many people aren’t even aware of the soccer culture in the city, but with an average of over 20,000 fans per game and a record 11 sellouts last season, the Whitecaps have a higher attendance than the Vancouver Canucks and fall just shy of the BC Lions.

Supporter culture surrounding the team is at an all-time high with Curva Collective, Rain City Brigade, and the Southsiders all having record membership numbers. During the final game of last year’s playoffs against Portland, a number of fans marched down the street to the stadium drumming, singing, waving flags, and lighting flares. The procession was four city blocks long, and while the Caps lost the game and were knocked out of the playoffs, it hinted that the best was yet to come.

The new season brings new promise, with the core of team remaining intact and many players being resigned to multi-year contracts. As for new additions, coach Carl Robinson has looked to build his front line and bolster the team’s scoring, which was limited at times last season. Masato Kudo was brought over from Japan where he was the all-time leading goal scorer for Kashiwa Reysol of the J1 League. Also joining the team is Christian Bolanos, a Costa Rican who has played over 60 international matches and appeared in two FIFA World Cups.

Finally, striker Blas Perez was obtained from FC Dallas. Perez, who was always a thorn in the side of the Whitecaps, will hope to transfer his skill of scoring goals against Vancouver to scoring for Vancouver. He is tied for third in goals scored against the Whitecaps since they joined the MLS. Over the last couple seasons, the Whitecaps have put a strong focus on building their team from within, dedicating a lot of time and resources into their residency program and lower division affiliate Whitecaps FC II.

New additions and residency players will play a huge roll in the coming season as the depth of the team will be put to the test through three competitions, The Voyageurs Canada Cup, CONCACAF Champions League, and regular season MLS play. Last season the Whitecaps were knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage, however it was clear that focus was being put on the team’s playoff positioning and Canada Cup.

This year might tell a different story as the Caps will have more team depth to fully commit across all competitions. As for the Canada Cup, Vancouver enters the tournament as the top seed after having won the competition last year with a 2–0 victory over Montreal in the final game. Ironically, it will be Montreal against whom the Whitecaps will open their season on March 6. With the team that is being assembled, this season is looking to be something special.

CINEPHILIA: Triple 9 is unconventionally stunning

By
EIC
-
0
Director John Hillcoat leaves classic cinematic beauty behind.

Grimy, dark movies don’t get enough credit. Examining this year’s best cinematography nominations, including Carol, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Hateful Eight, The Revenant, and Sicario, there seems to be a widespread misconception that traditional beauty defines the worth of a film’s cinematography.

But great cinematography is about feeling; about how the camera’s movement, the texture of the image, the composition, and the lighting evoke a mood and psychology. Planting a camera in a forest during magic hour or whizzing it around in a long take can be dazzling and impressive. But what does it make us feel about the characters and the world they live in?

Starring Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anthony Mackie, Aaron Paul, Kate Winslet, and Woody Harrelson, the A-list cast in John Hillcoat’s Triple 9 are extras next to the under-lit bars, abandoned housing complexes, and eerie underground parking lots; the surroundings are more telling and profound than any of the characters themselves.

Following a group of dirty cops turned bank robbers who are involved in a transaction with a Jewish-Russian mob, two investigators begin to look into the bank robbery as well as a homicide in a Latino neighborhood on the outskirts of Atlanta. Confused yet? Triple 9 is incoherently plotted, juggling too many strands and characters. The screenplay by Matt Cook relies on simple motivations, two-dimensional characters, and derivative beats. But Triple 9 is the rare movie where none of this seems to matter all that much.

Crime films, which often function as institutional critiques, are engraved with subtext, whether intentional or not: the economic causes of crime, the unjust investigations of them, and the societal paranoia inflicted by homicides linked to drugs, global conflicts, and domestic politics.

Triple 9 has allusions to the Iraq war, the economic crash in 2009, the prominence of gun culture in the United States, the renewed fear of Russians, and the racial profiling of Latinos for crimes they didn’t commit. None of it coheres, except as a wild pastiche of entrancing images: a police officer hiding three decapitated heads from nearby neighbors with a white sheet; a condemned apartment building that houses the homeless; a neon-lit bar that reeks of stained liquor and loneliness.

Almost every scene is concerned with a space; the political cause for its decrepit status and the impact it has on those who live within it. During the film’s most taut sequence, a group of police officers raid a low-income apartment complex, avoiding the residents during a lethal firefight. A woman opens her front door and sees dozens of cops heavily armed with guns about to open fire steps away from her home. In the middle of his riveting action set-pieces, Hillcoat stops, considers the surroundings and contemplates the impact of violence.

The messily plotted, terribly disjointed, and thematically undercooked Triple 9 is wonderfully grimy, and by all means a beautiful-grimy movie. As a film concerned with environments, not plot, and a portrayal of a world on the brink of collapse, not a study of individual characters, it mostly works. In his first film set in a contemporary period, John Hillcoat (The Road, Lawless) makes a film that is a beautiful to behold only because it’s willing to embrace the polluted: the underrepresented underbelly of city life.

ALBUM REVIEWS

By
EIC
-
0

Basia Bulat – Good Advice

Good Advice is the fourth album to be released by Canadian singer-songwriter Basia Bulat. The album showcases the amazing vocal talent that Bulat has without going over the top in regards to production — it sounds like it is somewhere between a live and studio recording.

It does not sound like your average singer-songwriter album, as the majority of the songs are pop-tinged — but this is not a fault. If anything, it adds to Good Advice being an exceptional album. By still staying true to the ethos of the singer-songwriter genre, it stands out as a mix between traditional singer-songwriter and pop.

Highlights from the album include: “La La Lie,” “Infamous,” and “The Garden”

Foxes – All I Need

All I Need is Foxes’ second album. It follows up on the success of “Clarity” — Zedd’s Grammy-winning song on which she was the featured singer — and her debut album Glorious.

This is definitely a modern pop album. The focus of the album is Foxes’ vocal ability, but at points it becomes overshadowed by the synth heavy backing tracks. That being said, it is highly danceable, and could be fun to sing in the car, but if you are looking for something to just chill out and read a book to, I might skip this one.

Highlights include: “Cruel” and “Scar”

Majid Jordan – Majid Jordan

This is Majid Jordan’s first full-length album. The group — composed of members Majid Al Maskati and Jordan Ullman — are building on the success that they have had by being producers and being featured on Drake’s “Hold On, We’re Going Home.”

Aside from the Drake feature on “My Love,” there is nothing exceptionally notable about the album. It is beautifully produced, and every song is very clean-sounding, but lyrically there is room to grow. I wouldn’t count Majid Jordan out just yet, though. They have potential, but don’t listen to this album expecting a fully-developed sound.

The highlight is:

“My Love”

Sports Briefs

By
EIC
-
0

Women’s Basketball

SFU won their 14th straight game against Alaska Anchorage Thursday night with a score of 83–68. Elisa Homer finished with a team-high 25 points, and senior Alisha Roberts had 24. Rachel Fradgley finished with nine rebounds on the night. The team begins its quest for the GNAC title on March 3.

Men’s Basketball

The Clan lost to Saint Martin’s University 87–58 on Thursday night. The loss drops the team to 2–23 overall on the season. Due to injuries, SFU was only able to field six players on the night, which meant a lot of minutes for very few players. Andrew Williamson led the team with 18 points on the night.

Swimming

Ten SFU athletes have been selected to participate in the 2016 NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships. Adrian Vanderhelm leads the Clan in nominations, being nominated in five different events.

Softball

SFU competed in two games over the weekend of February 21, winning one and losing one. The first game was against Eastern Oregon, which they lost 10–8. The second game the Clan were able to come back from a seven-run deficit to win the game 8–7.

BC Budget adds $25 million to post-secondary funding, elicits criticism

By
EIC
-
0
The BC Budget, passed at the BC Legislature pictured here, was released to criticism this week

The BC Liberals have emerged with a new budget for this fiscal year. On February 16, the provincial government released the 2016–2017 Budget, a document that pinpoints multiple government sectors that will be impacted in the upcoming fiscal year.

In his speech to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Finance Minister Mike de Jong stated that 2016 is the fourth consecutive year the provincial government is presenting a balanced budget, including a potential $264 million surplus.

The projected budget surplus has been achieved through various means. Some tactics include cutting public spending, such as removing the transportation subsidy for people with disabilities, and increasing costs to taxpayers in a number of ways, including raising MSP premiums for seniors, childless couples, and people making more than $51,000 per year.

While some people will be paying more, many of the top earners will be paying less; the temporary top income tax rate on taxable income over $150,000 has expired after being introduced in 2014.

In an email correspondence with The Peak, Dr. Krishna Pendakur of SFU’s Department of Economics wrote, “roughly speaking, this budget is of apiece with the last 16 years of BC Liberal budgets.

Screen Shot 2016-02-26 at 11.50.43 PM“It is a low-tax, low-expenditure regime, wherein keeping taxes low even at the price of mediocre publicly provided goods and services is thought to be the right choice.”

Post-secondary institutions lie under the umbrella of public services, and so amongst those impacted by budget decisions, students will also be affected.

The provincial government is adding $25 million in funding to the Ministry of Advanced Education in 2016, or two percent from the previous year’s budget, an increase from the previous cuts of 16 million in 2014 and 11 million in 2015. According to the official budget report, however, the majority of the additional funding is meant for continuing to honour wage increase agreements for public sector employees in the Ministry of Advanced Education. Despite this year’s budget increase, it appears to be going less to students and more to administration.

When it comes directly to students, per-student operating grants have been dwindling over the last 15 years, claims the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC. According to Kathleen Yang, VP External for the Simon Fraser Student Society, “operating grants from the provincial government to SFU have also been in decline since 2010.” It is unclear as of yet how much funding SFU will see from the budget’s post-secondary investment plans.

However, the Minister of Advanced Education, Andrew Wilkinson, has a positive outlook on the BC Budget and its intersection with post-secondary institutions.

Screen Shot 2016-02-26 at 11.50.27 PM“The system is actually working very well,” said Wilkinson. “We have, as you know, a two percent cap on tuition growth. We are very comfortable with this cap of two percent growth on tuition, even though the universities and colleges would like it to be significantly more.”

That tuition cap in BC is for domestic students, who pay the fourth-lowest tuition in Canada. However, according to a recent media release from the Alliance of British Columbia Students (ABCS), BC charges the highest interest rate on student loans in the country. What that means for students is that the provincial government earns about $10,000 in interest off the average student loan debt of $35,000.Screen Shot 2016-02-26 at 11.50.13 PM

In the same media release, ACBS chairperson added that on top of this exorbitant interest rate, BC is also the only province to not provide grants on the basis of financial need.

The province is focusing its post-secondary infrastructure budget of $2.5 billion on brand-new buildings rather than upgrading and maintaining pre-existing ones. Some notable additions are a new 123 million dollar campus for Emily Carr University and a 19 million dollar trades facility at Selkirk College in Nelson.

“The 2.5 billion in investments over three years for post-secondary education is going to increase capacity in the long run,” said Dr. Steeve Mongrain, professor in the SFU Department of Economics. “In the short run however, it will have no impact. The current crop of undergraduate students are unlikely to see any benefit.”

When asked about SFU maintenance and upgrades, Wilkinson could not supply any examples of how our school will be aided with this $2.5 billion infrastructure plan, though Mongrain indicated that SFU may see a small amount of funding.

In the wake of Ontario’s recent announcement to offer grants to low-income students that are expected to fully cover the tuition costs of most students, BC’s changes to education funding may, as some critics argue, prove anemic.

New MLA makes history in BC legislature

By
EIC
-
1
Melanie Mark (centre) is the first female Aboriginal MLA in BC history. - Photo courtesy of Melanie Mark Campaign (Flickr)

Melanie Mark always knew that she was a fighter.

February 2 proved to be a big day, not only for Mark, but also for the province. With 61 percent of the vote, Mark won the by-election for the riding of Vancouver-Mount Pleasant. She is the first First Nations woman to be elected into the BC Legislature — Mark is Cree, Gitxsan, Nisga’a, and Ojibway.

“It’s about time,” Mark said in an interview with The Peak. “The high from the past two weeks has been incredible.”

An alumna of SFU, Mark holds a degree in Political Science with a minor in Sociology. Despite the fact that she was determined to finish her degree quickly, Mark remembers her time at SFU with fondness, calling it a “great opportunity for friendships and networking.” She spent most of her time studying so that she could get on with her career as well as raise her daughter. “I always in a hurry,” Mark recalled. “I wish I had more time to get things done.”

It was this strength and determination that pushed Mark to run for the NDP nomination after then incumbent Jenny Kwan resigned and ran in the federal election. Initially, Mark was planning on running in May 2017 so that she could build up her exposure. But once the position was vacated, Mark saw this as a “push to do it now.”

“It’s now or never,” she said with a laugh. “Put your name in the hat, and do your best.”

Running in the by-election a year earlier than anticipated proved to be a learning curve. Mark compared her experience of meeting people and knocking on doors to “going into a different job interview with each person [she] spoke to.”

“I had to explain what skills I had and what I had to offer to them,” she said. “The more I connected with people, the more I felt that I could be a person that could help them overcome their difficulties.”

Mark’s advocacy work includes being the president of the Urban Native Youth Association, working at Save the Children Canada and Covenant House Vancouver, and more recently as the Associate Deputy Representative for Advocacy, Aboriginal and Community Relations, and Youth Engagement.

It was through this position that she saw how the government system was failing the province’s most vulnerable demographic: children.

“Children have no say in the budget, public policy [. . .]  they are the recipient of what adults decide,” Mark said. “We need to be strong advocates for children’s rights: their ability to practice their culture, their right to safety, and the right to be free from exploitation.”

Mark’s First Nations heritage was an integral part of her campaign and life, though this had not always been the case. Growing up, racism, especially towards people of Aboriginal and First Nations heritage, was extremely prevalent. “I didn’t grow up with a lot of pride [for my culture],” Mark said.

One of the reasons why this was the case was because of fear. Her grandparents, out of fear of discrimination and racism, did not share the First Nations culture with her. “I didn’t learn about residential schools until I was in college,” Mark admitted. She attributes this lack of understanding to a lack of Aboriginal education.

“Many people say that just because I am First Nations, I will only fight for issues pertaining to Native people. I am here to fight for justice and fairness for everyone.”

But none of this would be possible, Mark says, without the support that she has had throughout the campaign and ultimately her life.

Mark’s mother, who had suffered from alcoholism but has since been sober for 10 years, was a prime example of this in her life. “Our family was there to support and embrace [my mom] when she was ready,” she said. In the same way, Mark says that we need to have a society that will be there for people when they are ready to make a change

“We [as a collective society] are strong, and we can move mountains. We sometimes just need the opportunity.”

Mark reminds students that the road may not always be easy, and that people may be there just to “deflate you” in life. “Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something,” she said. “If you want to create change, don’t wait for it to come to you. You have to go to the change.”

Lauren Swistak swims through life with purpose

By
EIC
-
0
Swistak currently has the fifth fastest time in the 200 metre butterfly this season.

A third-year criminology student, Swistak is at the top of her swimming game. She’s helping the SFU Clan to recent victories over the University of Victoria and Seattle University in dual swimming meets. She currently holds the fifth-fastest time in the 200 metre butterfly in the NCAA D2 in this season, and was honoured alongside Adrian Vander-Helm as College Swimming’s National Swimmers-of-the-Week for Division II the week of January 20.

Despite a rough start to her university swimming career, Swistak has shown that determination and hard work pays off in the pursuit of greatness. “I’m happy that my training is clicking,” she says.

Swimming came into Swistak’s life at the age of nine, when she began taking part in summer club. She would swim during summer, alongside playing soccer. What pushed Swistak towards swimming was a conversation with her soccer coach on priorities. “He basically sat me down and told me that I had to choose,” Swistak recounted. In the end, she moved bravely into the swimming world, for its individual nature. “It’s a bit selfish, I guess. But I get to be in control of my own fate.”

What ultimately pushed Swistak to go the competitive route with her swimming was the fact that she wanted the chance to compete against others. During her time in Swim Kids, the Red Cross swimming lesson program, “I wasn’t really learning the strokes; I just wanted to race people,” she said.

It was this competitiveness and talent that drew Simon Fraser Aquatic (SFA)’s Head Coach Liam Donnelly to Swistak. She swims the 200 metre butterfly, and also does distance freestyle. When asked why she chose to pursue butterfly as her stroke of choice, Swistak says that it’s “more glamourous” and that it makes her feel “tougher.” While she would prefer butterfly over distance freestyle, she says that ultimately will do whatever helps the team.

“I can’t think of myself not swimming. It’s a part of me.”

During the regular season, she competes in the NCAA with the SFU Women’s team and with coach and Cory Beatt, whom she affectionately calls her “second dad.” During the off season, she trains with the SFA team, under the coaching of Beatt.

This strong relationship that Swistak has built with Beatt, as well as her fellow teammates, is a big reason why Swistak feels that her swimming is finally clicking. She discussed how the women’s team, after a heartbreaking loss to Seattle University in October, banded together to beat the team in a dual meet in January. Through their teamwork and motivation, the women’s team got the comeback they wanted. “We felt so connected [after that win. . .] it’s one of my highlights for this year, and my best memories with the women’s team.”

Swistak’s sights, like many other athletes, are set on the Olympics. Her proudest moments are reflective of her talent and dedication towards that goal: at 10 years old, she received her first provincial qualifying time in 100 metre freestyle that put her through to provincials. Eight years later, while she was in grade 12, Swistak made the B finals for World Trials for the very first time.

Sandwiched in-between an intense water training and voluntary dry land training schedule, Swistak says that ultimately time management is a must in order to be able to complete everything she needs to do to be successful, from studying to taking time off to relax. Between juggling the many different aspects of her life, she has resigned to the fact that her criminology degree will take her five years, but she enjoys her classes and is taking life day by day.

But taking swimming out of Swistak’s life, she says, would be “sad.” Swimming has helped her to develop important values, such as setting goals, good time management, and commitment. “It’s provided me with a lot of structure. [. . .] I can’t think of myself not swimming. It’s a part of me.”

With this path and her determination, Swistak’s optimism for her future is refreshing, and she shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

1...872873874...1,417Page 873 of 1,417

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