Home Blog Page 901

The fab, the fear, and the freshman 15

By
EIC
-
0

I was on the bus, eating a Rice Krispy square.

While I ate, I noticed someone looking back at me with disgust. She was beautiful and incredibly fit, wearing athletic clothes and perfect eyebrows. As she shook her head, she not-so-discreetly whispered, to no one in particular, “this girl is clearly letting herself go.”

Once we got to Production Station I rushed up the stairs to catch the train. She climbed with ease while I was huffing and puffing. When I finally got up to the top, clearly out of breath and sporting red cheeks, she shook her head again and uttered the words, “freshman 15 is so disgusting.”

What she doesn’t know is that I struggled with my weight.

In preparation for high school grad, I was 5’2” and 105 pounds. The freshman 15 — or the supposed weight gain that university students struggle with in their first year — was the one thing that scared me the most about starting university, and I vowed that I would never “let myself go.”

So in first year, I made it my mission to keep my grade 12 body. I starved myself through classes, only bringing a banana and water with me — and no cash to buy food. I politely declined trips to the food court with my new friends and refused to eat alone in public.

But at home, I ate like the apocalypse was upon us. I would eat heaping portions of everything to make up for the banana and water during the day. When my sisters wanted ice cream, I had ice cream. I smuggled chocolate, chips, and even cold pasta with me to eat in private and binge eat everything, only to repeat the cycle the next day.

At home, I was eating like the apocalypse was upon us.

I weighed 135 pounds at the end of first semester.

To my dismay, I wasn’t losing weight, I was gaining it. I balked at my mom’s attempt to fill my backpack with extra food, thinking that she was sabotaging my plan to lose weight.

But it wasn’t until I fainted at work that I realized that my successive headaches were not coincidences, that driving while seeing double was quite dangerous and that my internal rumblings were not meant to be ignored. My body was crying out for something, anything, and I had cut it off completely.

When I talked to a friend about my weight struggle, she had confided in me that she too had a similar experience with freshman 15. My friend is what most people would consider as beautiful, and her years of playing soccer helped her to develop a slender and athletic physique. It was then that I truly saw that the negative stigma around freshman 15 affected everyone. And no matter how many times I tell her that she is beautiful just the way she is, she will continue to smile and brush it off — just the same way I did so many times over the course of my first year.

 

Our bodies, regardless of shape and size, are fine the way they are.

I had developed dangerous eating habits out of my obsession of staying skinny, thanks to Photoshopped models and unrealistic body standards. But if even Barbie can figure out that our bodies are diverse, then maybe we need to remember that too.  I realize now that my goal is not to be skinny, but healthy.

Even if you don’t look like that Calvin Klein model, it’s okay. Over the course of my struggle, finding help and seeking a safer way to maintain a healthy weight, I began to see how valuable our bodies truly are. Our bodies do so much for us, and regardless of shape or size, it is important to remember that we are not defined by our jean size.

Tips on how to be healthy and happy

  • Schedule in eating and exercise: we all have busy schedules, so make sure that you set aside time to enjoy your food as well as time to get out for some fresh air.
  • Bring lunch with you: packing a simple lunch like a sandwich with veggies and fruit will leave you more satisfied — and it costs less too!
  • Add walking to your commute: obviously this doesn’t mean walking down the mountain to Production Station, but something simple like getting off one stop earlier and walking the rest of the distance is a way to keep yourself moving.
  • Find a workout buddy: it’s always more fun and motivating when you have someone to go with. A buddy will keep you accountable and will make it less intimidating.
  • Positive self-talk: remind yourself that you are fabulous and that your outward appearance is only one facet of you.
  • Have a support system: surround yourself around people that build you up and images that promote healthy lifestyles. Express your feelings and don’t be afraid to fail — just remember to pick yourself back up, with their help.

Comics!

By
EIC
-
0

Creator’s Pet (Destiny Hsu)

CP_019

Mystic Man (Reuben Newton)

WEBMystic Man 10 vs Master of Element

Peers (Leslie Lu)

Week6(5)

Boohoo, Woohoo

By
EIC
-
0

Boohoo: Pizza Pockets

After years of genetically modifying calzones in a mildew-covered basement, a hideous monster is born: the Pizza Pocket.

Pizza Pockets are essentially highly noxious cheese farts wrapped up like fat little gremlins in a swaddle of greasy dough. Whenever I eat them, I feel like a baby bird cawing away, eager for its mother to vomit into its mouth (and I wouldn’t be surprised if I was literally eating pre-chewed earthworms — the ingredients of Pizza Pockets are basically a military secret).

Pizza Pockets don’t even pretend to be delicious, either, since they know that you’ve already hit rock bottom eating them. After those little poop-sacks are chucked into the microwave, they immediately explode into a crime scene of cheese and self-loathing, and then arrogantly expect you to shove their mangled existence into your mouth. I won’t stand for your abuse anymore, Pizza Pockets.

Woohoo: Pizza in your pockets

Pizza in your pockets! A cool snack and great quirk — who wouldn’t want to be known as the babe with the pizza in their pockets? It’ll be a quirk you’re actually proud of, as opposed to that other quirk you have of being a nervous farter (you’ll never forget that one time at summer camp where you went in to kiss Victor for the first time and ripped one so loud that he ended up crying with fear).

Pocket pizza will make you the hippest cat on the block, like John Travolta in Grease and, incidentally, just as greasy as John Travolta in Grease. Just carry a few slices of ‘za at all times, and you’ll always be ready for action.

“Is that pizza in your pocket or are you happy to see me?” It’s both, of course! You’re always happy when you’ve got pizza in your pockets.

Satellite Signals

By
EIC
-
0

Woodwards WEB-woodward

The Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre will host “Two-Spirit and Indigenous Transgender Stories and Photos of Safety, Belonging and Well-being” on Wednesday, March 9 at 7:00 p.m.

The free lecture will feature research from leading Indigenous Two-Spirit, transgender, and gender non-conforming figures and will shed light on issues facing these communities in Metro Vancouver especially in health and well being.

Surrey surrey

There will be an information session for SFU’s Human Resources Management Certificate on March 17 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., in room 5100 at the SFU Surrey campus. This information session is a great way to find out if human resources management is for you, whether you’re a student interested in the field, a professional looking for a promotion, or just curious about the program.

The session is held at no cost, and registration is available on the SFU website.

Harbour Centre vancouver

On March 15 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at Harbour Centre, SFU’s School of Public Policy will be hosting a presentation by Anne Giardini, SFU Chancellor and a former lawyer and business executive, to speak about problems and perceptions surrounding women and power.

The talk will discuss methods by which private organizations and governments can change these perceptions and enable equality.

We make assumptions, and they destroy us

By
EIC
-
0

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n the world of text messaging, we complain about the amount of times meaning gets lost in translation — the amount of times our “K” texts are perceived as anger, or when and when not to punctuate our sentences. Our circumstances of miscommunication are blamed on the short forms we send across text. Yet, unfortunately, this is not a technological problem.

We make assumptions all the time and we don’t need a cell phone to do it. We are inherently sensitive, destined to take things too personally, and rarely inclined to go beyond our own perspectives. How many times do we read into somebody’s tone of voice? How many times do we twist the words they say into meaning something that maybe they don’t? How many times do we actually take the time to make sure we’re reading into things the right way?

Miscommunication is one of our greatest flaws. We assume things and we don’t have the courage to figure them out. And the worst part is that these assumptions destroy us. They destroy our friendships and our perspectives on people; they destroy our willingness to fight for relationships to stay alive. In a sense, they fuel our isolation. We’ve criticized the way English classes force us to read between the lines and we’ve forgotten that we’re naturals at it — that we use these tactics every single day and we’ve formed our world around the assumptions we’ve created on every kind of interaction.

One sentence has a thousand meanings and with a slight change in pitch suddenly the meanings become personal.

We live in a world where one sentence has a thousand meanings, and a slight change in pitch can suddenly make something intensely personal — targeted at us with harshness behind their syllables. A world where we fail to ask questions because our assumptions guide us to answers might not even exist; thus we perpetuate the bubble of toxicity we’ve created, of always assuming and never understanding or asking. Of never mending the bruises that have developed from these assumptions.

Why are we prone to stop trying, to let broken relationships get the best of us? Because we assume the next will be like the last. We get stuck in a pattern and assume it will perpetuate itself, so we give up before there’s even been a chance to try. We avoid relationships, avoid their repairs, avoid conflict, we let our assumptions dictate every aspect of ours lives, and we will inevitably and irreparably hurt ourselves in the process.

These days, any miscommunication is somehow linked to a text message we sent that we shouldn’t have punctuated. As if miscommunication stems from Facebook messenger and other sources of online conversation — as though this technology can create the problems we so frequently bring up. Has technology worsened our communication? Or were we never that good in the first place? As a communications student, I’m wired to believe the overabundance and heavy reliance on technology is the cause of a lot of our problems. But it’s not.

We are.

SFU Replies

By
EIC
-
0

To SFU,

I’m concerned about my class with Dr. Olle. A geography course based entirely on digging is odd. Is this standard? Also, where is Dr. Tran?

Also, and I’m not complaining about this, but I’m wondering if we’ll be able to leave the campus soon. The rations aren’t enough, and several students are worried about illness. . .

Best,

Alice Rook

 

Hi Alice,

This isn’t the best place to talk about specific course or professor location problems. But I do want to calm your nerves — every class has taken on a mandatory digging segment, its intensity is being left up to the discretion of each professor. I assume that Michelle was just especially interested in digging, her being a geography professor and all.

Don’t worry about calling professors by their first names, by the way. We are all comrades under SFU, as was voted upon by the SFU Voting Committee last week. Just look to the flags: “Comrades engaged under SFU, we have got our digging to do!” They’ve always been there.

Concerning your concerns concerning the rations, I assure you that more will come, come delivery day! Just last week, delivery day was a Tuesday; perhaps this Tuesday we will be just as lucky. Provided we aren’t cheated again by those UBC rascals. Those cheats! This week, perhaps, the shipment will stop by an SFU campus first.

We’ll all be able to leave soon, comrade! Our families are waiting for us, and they love us dearly. I miss my family as well, though I recognize the magnitude of our work. Who knows what glorious riches lie in the innermost depths of Burnaby mountain?

We do, Alice! And you will too, in due time, if you stay the course, and don’t question your course, of course! Look to Comrade Michelle, who goes above and beyond her digging pedagogy duty.

Look to the stars, SFU, and keep your shovel in the mountain!

Best,

Victor Von Doom

Director of Comrade Relations,

President of Voting Committee

Former city councillor celebrated in staged reading

By
EIC
-
0

The fourth annual memorial for Jim Green, former Vancouver City Councillor and community activist, celebrated his life with a staged reading of his book, Against the Tide: The Story of the Canadian Seamen’s Union.

While studying at UBC in the early 1970s, living in the Downtown Eastside, and working as a casual longshoreman, Green became acquainted with former members of the Canadian Seamen’s Union (CSU), and was approached by a committee with the request that he record the history of their union.

The staged reading was commissioned by SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement and shone light on a lesser-known chapter of Canadian labour history, featuring the CSU. The memorial was held in partnership with the Institute for the Humanities at SFU, SFU’s Department of History, and the BC Labour Heritage Centre.

Vancouver City Councillor Geoff Meggs, who was the original editor of Green’s Against the Tide, explained in the foreword to the event guide: “Most Canadians have forgotten, if they ever knew, that our country once boasted one of the largest merchant navies in the world, a key to victory in the Second World War crewed by men and women organized into the Canadian Seamen’s Union.”

Charles Demers, a local writer, and SFU history alumni, adapted Against the Tide for this special performance.

The production was directed by Amiel Gladstone, and featured Andrew Wheeler as Jim Green, Carmen Aguirre as Labour, and Kevin MacDonald as Capital. Local musician and SFU MFA graduate Corbin Murdoch performed live on the set, singing lyrics that originated as poetry in the CSU’s newsletter, Searchlight.

Am Johal, Director of SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement, explained that “the story of the Canadian Seamen’s Union is not just an historical tale. The relationship between labour and capital is also a very contemporary story.

“Taking this book that is rarely read these days and giving some life to the first-person narratives that are in the book was a great way to bring to life these memories in a way that they wouldn’t be forgotten,” he said.

Director of Research at the BC Labour Heritage Centre, Robin Folvik, explained, “it is important to acknowledge all of the information contained in this book that would likely otherwise have been lost without Green’s research and writing. His extensive interviews across the country and access to former CSU members’ memorabilia and clippings captured things that otherwise would have been impossible for us to access today.”

Their reading highlighted some of the key moments in the history of the CSU, including the 1949 strike, which ended in victory for the union.

The lines were divided between the three actors: Wheeler read the words of Jim Green, Aguirre read testimonies from members of the CSU, and MacDonald read the lines of the government and corporations who opposed the CSU and its ties to the Communist Party.

“Jim did these interviews in the ’70s and the ’80s — many of the people he interviewed have passed on. The interviews are held at the national archives, but it’s a very obscure story and hard to find. Jim spent a lot of time traveling the country trying to capture these stories so they wouldn’t be forgotten,” said Johal.

“We thought that at this annual memorial event, it would be an interesting time to land this text down in the present in a way that still resonates with us today.”

The reading was filmed and is currently being made into a documentary.

Folvik reflected, “although working people have always been cultural producers, using a wide range of creative practices to reflect their experiences, they are rarely the ones to receive funding or support to bring their projects to a broader audience.

“SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement’s backing of this production, particularly one that is so focused on the struggles and solidarities of working people in Canada, fills an important gap.”

University Briefs

By
EIC
-
0

U of A study finds shift in Canadian attitudes to marriage

[EDMONTON] – University of Alberta sociologist Lisa Strohschein, in her study of Canadian perceptions of marriage, found that matrimony is no longer of central importance to Canadians. Her findings suggest that people are getting married later in life, are having children without worrying about marriage, and are far more focused on their careers and concerned with their financial stability than in the past century.

This study said that marriage is still important to Canadians and viewed as an end goal, but the findings suggest that our attitudes surrounding its necessity have loosened significantly.

With files from CBC News

Laurentian University’s chili lunch supports literacy program

[ONTARIO] – Laurentian University’s Equity and Social Justice Committee has raised funds for Frontier College’s literacy program by successfully organizing a chili lunch.

The literacy program aims to support Aboriginal groups across Canadian provinces. It has allowed Aboriginal children to be more immersed in reading books, a result confirmed by the parents of these children. Six thousand children have already participated in this program, which continues to grow and expand.

With files from The Lambda

McGill researchers develop model biological supercomputer

[MONTREAL] – McGill University professor Dan Nicolau and his team of researchers have developed a book-sized model for a biological supercomputer that uses proteins propelled by Adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a key chemical in the process of metabolism.

Due to the biologically-based processing providing less heating issues, these supercomputers are said to be more energy efficient than their current counterparts. The researchers are uncertain as to when full-scale versions will be available.

With files from McGill Newsroom

Social hiring initiative develops work skills with DTES residents

By
EIC
-
0
Anna Migicovsky co-founded the Knack program during her MBA studies at SFU

If you have ever hunted for a job, you know how hard it is to find one all too well. That struggle is 10 times greater for low-income individuals living in the poorest neighbourhoods in East Vancouver, many of whom are physically unable to work in full-time positions and are often dismissed by employers.

SFU MBA Candidate Anna Migicovsky is hoping to make that job search a little easier. She is the project coordinator of an employment platform called Knack, which aims to connect businesses with those who are looking for employment in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Migicovsky developed the program along with two others as part of her internship at LEDLAB, a social innovation lab that is a branch of RADIUS SFU and EcoTrust Canada.

Knack was created as a community program in partnership with the Potluck Cafe Society, which has been providing good food and employment opportunities for the community for over 15 years. Migicovsky and her team also work with other nonprofit organizations within the Downtown Eastside, such as Union Gospel Mission, an organization that also provides career advising as part of the services it offers.

According to Migicovsky, around 7,000 people in the Downtown Eastside are currently collecting social assistance, and these individuals are not necessarily working. “The Downtown Eastside is currently very volunteer-focused, but these volunteers are actually doing a lot for the organizations [of which they are part],” explained Migicovsky. “We want to create more income-generating opportunities for these individuals. We’re trying to use the knowledge and wisdom that Potluck has in order to increase the number of employment opportunities.”

Knack focuses on educating employers about inclusive employment, and that people are coming from unstable backgrounds and might be unable to work 40-hour weeks. The program also offers several workshops to develop soft transferrable skills such as time management, teamwork, and conflict resolution, to name a few. Upon completing these workshops, participants earn digital badges that act as certifications of the skills they have developed. They are similar to badges that one would earn by being part of a Scouts Canada troop, and veer away from qualifications one might include on a traditional resumé.

Essentially, Knack wants to create a mutually beneficial relationship between employee and employer. “There is an untapped labour market right now that is about providing low-skill jobs at affordable rates. This program is not just about educating individuals, but also about understanding what the employer wants,” said Migicovsky. “It’ll increase quality of life for the individual and also create casual part-time work positions for the employer.”

But most importantly, what Migicovsky wants individuals to take away from the Knack program is a better quality of life. “Employment isn’t only for people who are healthy and stable,” Migicovsky said. “It is also a pillar of health.”

Female genital mutilation procedures do not deserve any respect

By
EIC
-
0

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he argument on behalf of female genital mutilation (FGM) has been happening for thousands of years, as the procedure has been practiced for centuries globally. According to the United Nations, over 30 countries have practiced FGM.

FGM is generally practiced as infibulation, where young girls’ or infants’ labia lips are cut off, as well as their clitoris. The vaginal opening could also be sewn nearly completely shut, with just enough room for menstrual bleeding to emerge. These procedures can cause irrevocable complications for childbirth and sex, as well as psychological trauma.

Although FGM is criminalized in Canada and depicted negatively throughout mainstream media, gynecologist Dr. Allan Jacobs argues that minor vulvar procedures should be legalized as a “compromise.” He states that to disallow “small vulvar nick[s]” would be discriminatory towards different cultures that uphold this practice, and that allowing them could “forestalls subsequent vulvar infibulation done under dangerous conditions.”

His intention is to replace major infibulation procedures with smaller, less invasive procedures; ones he claims are completely harmless to the child at the time, and as she grows into womanhood. In an interview with CBC radio, Jacobs compares ear piercings, circumcision, and breast enhancement surgeries to female genital mutilation procedures.

Though, when creating analogies like these, it is crucial to look to the reasons for a procedure. Female genital mutilation procedures are based in patriarchal traditions, can be meant to inhibit sexual pleasure for women, can cause dangerous repercussions, and are simply harmful operations that young children cannot consent to.

If Allen Jacobs intends less invasive procedures to be a compromise, it is a compromise that will most likely fail. According to Ruth Macklin of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, cultures that are inclined to perform extreme mutilation of female genitals would not be likely to acceptless invasive alterations just because they’re available. In fact, the practice of genital mutilation was often done in many cultures to determine whether a women was essentially ‘marriage material.’

If less invasive vulvar ‘nicks,’ as Jacobs proposed, were carried out as harmlessly as he describes, then there would be no evidence on the woman by the time of marriage; and therefore could be seen as obsolete.

The fact of the matter is, not every cultural practice deserves respect. Historically, the United States used female genital mutilation to cure hysteria in the 19th and 20th centuries, until people began to question the ethics of the practice.

To preach cultural acceptance surrounding a violent and non-consensual procedure in nonsensical. It is undeniable; some cultural practices are harmful. Culture is a dynamic force that can shift and change, and to accept a practice as harmful as FGM is regrettable at best.

Maryum Saifee has written for The Guardian about her experiences with ‘less invasive’ FGM, and hopes to be an inspiration for other women to come forward with their experiences. Saifee, when speaking on air to CBC, states that her experience with type one female alteration procedures was a “blocked out the memory because it was so traumatic.”

Instead of making loose inferences about whether or not “less invasive” FGM procedures are psychologically and physically traumatic, Jacobs should turn to survivors of the procedure he is recommending in order to learn the real effects it can have. As Saifee adamantly insists, “any form of structured gender-based violence [. . . is] just wrong,” and in no way should we condone or accept it.

1...900901902...1,448Page 901 of 1,448

Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

For advertising inquiries: [email protected]
For promotional inquiries: [email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society

Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

For advertising inquiries: [email protected]
For promotional inquiries: [email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society