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Injecting compassion for drug addicts in prison

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Photo credit: Rachelle Tjahyana

Injustices within prisons are disturbing, though not often thought of. The rights of those who bend or break the laws forced upon them are often forcefully disregarded, and inmates’ physical and emotional health is not a priority. Correctional Services Canada’s value statement conveys a message of fairness, encouragement and rehabilitation opposed to the punitive mindset, which appears to be the reality.

Recently in Regina, a 21-year-old woman named Breanna Kannick passed away in her prison cell as a result of drug withdrawal. The loss of her life left her family reeling in the aftermath, and questioning the role the correction facility played in her death.

Upon arrival to the institution, there is an initial health inspection, but such is done by facility employees, without a doctor or nurse present. Perhaps with a more thorough inspection a dependency would be legitimized and inmates could have easier access to assistance. On the night of Kannick’s death, she was vomiting and shouting for help from her cell. A combination of greater empathic responses from prison employees, proper health examinations, and care could have saved Kannick’s life.

The denial of proper treatment for an addict while incarcerated seems more based on misplaced moral superiority rather than good policy or science-based evidence. Sadly, addiction has always been an issue that prompts some to hop upon their moral high horse, and is why it is always difficult to have an adult discussion about drug use and harm reduction.

Hysteria and moral panic created by conservatives and knee jerk reactionaries is difficult to counter.

In popular discourse on the topic, ideological knee jerk reactions seem to prevail. Though looking at the case of Insite, a safe injection site here in the Lower Mainland, Dr. Thomas Kerr, director of the Urban Health Research Initiative at the British Columbia Centre for Excellence (BC-CfE) in HIV/AIDS, and Dr. Julio Montaner, director of the BC-CfE, discuss in The Vancouver Sun the success of Insite, noting that “sadly, ideological debate about harm reduction continues, despite widespread agreement among health authorities [. . .] that such programs are essential to the fight against [. . .] drug-related harms.”

It’s clear that drug addicts should not only receive fair and humane treatment in prison, but also that it would actually be of benefit to follow harm reduction inside Canada’s prisons. However, the hysteria and moral panic created by conservatives and knee jerk reactionaries is difficult to counter.

As Kerr and Montaner also note that the discourse on prison injustice is still being likened to past debates about cigarette smoking and global warming. Critics continue to bombard offenses against scientists while misrepresenting research along the way.

It seems a little ignorance goes a long way. Yet when it comes to public policy, science and compassion should always trump incomprehension and vengeance.

Sports Briefs

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Volleyball

 

Women’s volleyball won in Hawaii Thursday against Hawaii Pacific in five sets. The last set was a marathon, with the score ending in 39–37. The team is 3–2 so far in the preseason, and their home opener is September 17th.

 

Softball

 

Quebec native Hailey Geary has committed to the Clan. She competed in the U21 national championships for Quebec, as well as the U18 national championship for Quebec as well. She will stay in Quebec during the fall, but is expected to join the team when they begin their season in February.

 

Wrestling Alumnus

 

SFU wrestling alumni Helen Maroulis has won a gold medal in the 55 kg freestyle at the 2015 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas. Maroulis last competed for the Clan in the 2013–2014 season.

 

With files from SFU Athletics

Admit it, your degree is worthless

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Photo courtesy of Wolfstone (Flickr)

With another school year officially underway, I’m again trying to summarize and explain my purpose at university to new friends and acquaintances. But if you are offended by the blank looks, unrelated tangents, or comments questioning your ambition that ensue every time you mention your degree, it might be time for a reality check.

It is okay for people to criticize our degrees and, unless we are also willing to do the same, we might be completely missing the point of pursuing ‘higher education.’ 

Therefore, it’s time to come out of our student bubbles to take a closer look at ourselves and our verbose disciplines.

Many university degrees have no practical aspect to them beyond self-discovery. They leave students no better prepared to get a job in the real world or make a considerable difference in the area to which they have just devoted four-plus years of their life. 

We must remember this when we try to explain the conceptual ideas that lay the foundation for our degree. Sure, the debate pitting practicality against the ‘value of advanced education’ does not come down squarely on one side. Most of us haven’t tried to apply our discipline in the real world yet, so the critics may have a point. I’ve begun to realize that applying my degree will be harder than it seems. 

It’s time to come out of the student bubble to take a closer look at ourselves and our verbose discipline.

Furthermore, whether you’re working on your bachelors, postgraduate, or doctorate, you are not superior in society and your opinion does not automatically become more scholarly. In fact, though you might be offended when friends or family don’t invest the time to understand what your degree is all about, maybe their apathy is a sign that a connection is missing. Remember being a student is not an accomplishment in itself and it doesn’t command respect.

Moreover, the privilege to be able to spend a good deal of time in the pursuit of knowledge cannot be overstated. The jaded questions that come after you announce yet another degree might be out of envy rather than ignorance. So, humbly approach your time off from the full-time workforce and your interest-free student loans, because there are very few who are able to enjoy these luxuries.

In the end, your degree is what you make of it. You can carve out your own path and make the experience meaningful, or you can put your guard up whenever you meet a questioning face.

If you are investing time and energy into your degree and you feel people are not acknowledging that, remember they are not necessarily trying to undermine your future — they’re just giving you a large dose of the harsh reality.

Not everyone is going to understand or agree with your choices in life, and we have to find a way to work through this. I don’t feel that university is a mistake — it is a place for personal growth and it puts our real world experiences in check. Let’s be proud of our degree, but still conscious of the bigger picture.

University Briefs

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Photo courtesy of The Varsity

U of T archaeologist traces history of wine

[TORONTO]  — University of Toronto archaeologist Stephen Batiuk has discovered that wine may have been invented over 6,000 years ago in Georgia.

Findings show that, back then, wine had significant importance to daily life as it was often used as a form of payment and to climb up the social ladder. However, wine, unlike beer, could not be produced at all times during the year.

With files from The Varsity

Scholarship for LGBT activism offered at U of S

[SASKATOON] —  The University of Saskatchewan, for the first time in its history, is to offer a law scholarship which recognizes work towards LGBT activism and the contributions of LGBT students.

The Brad Berg and Brian Rolfes LGBT Rights Scholarship will provide the recipient with $25,000 over four years. The award is for a student that works towards LGBT rights through their academic or community involvement. Now a couple, both Berg and Rolfes graduated from the U of S College of Law and created this scholarship with the hopes of making a real difference for the LGBT community.

With files from The Sheaf

U of C takes science to the streets

[CALGARY] — The University of Calgary  is putting on a five-day festival with sixty events, which will include contributions from the university’s best and brightest scientists, engineers, and artists.

The event, Beakerhead, returns to Calgary from September 16 to 20 and will explore the result of combining technical and creative disciplines. It will feature “science busking,” where impromptu science experiments will take place on the street. The campus itself will host a “giant flying robotic dragonfly” and an interactive art show.

With files from The Gauntlet

Board Shorts

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Photo by Ben Derochie

Satellite Space Expansion

The board discussed a motion regarding the renovation, expansion, and improvement of student space on all of SFU’s campuses. The SFSS Space Expansion Fund exists to support initiatives such as this. The motion also proposed that SFSS staff be assigned specifically to serve satellite campuses.

Directors expressed a need for better understanding of how to serve students on satellite campuses and offered the creation of society space in Vancouver and Surrey as a solution. There is no current society space outside of Burnaby Campus. This sparked debate as to the difference between ‘student space’ and ‘society space.’ Ultimately the motion was tabled.

GRID Agreement

The Greek Representation and Interest Development Club (GRID) is a club with the goal of gaining official recognition for fraternities and sororities on campus. The club had been required by the SFSS to sign a Letter of Agreement to ensure GRID followed bylaws that restricted by the activities GRID could engage in as well as how their leadership was selected. 

This letter has expired as of September 1. There was general confusion around what the club’s bylaws are as well as why the letter had been created in the first place.

VP Student Life Deepak Sharma asserted that since GRID is a “student-based interest group” like many others, it should be allowed to register as a club under the existing bylaws and not be “handpicked” from many clubs who may have violated SFSS bylaws, by requiring signing of a Letter of Agreement.

Further discussion was tabled until the October board meeting. Said VP University Relations Brady Yano, “Until I see action on their part, I am not interested in opening this up for discussion.”

Colbert debuts as the new host of The Late Show

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Photo courtesy of AP Photo/CBS, John Paul Filo.

Colbert is back!

On the night of Tuesday September 8, 2015, we witnessed television history when Stephen Colbert made “Hello, nation!” his first words as the new host of The Late Show. I was able to watch the show live, being in Toronto and sharing the same time zone as New York City.

As an strong advocate for Team Colbert, I was anticipating what everyone else was also looking forward to the real Stephen Colbert.

But all that aside, The Late Show revealed his true on screen personality something that he had wanted for a long time, especially after being taken hostage with his self-righteous, meglomaniac host character of The Colbert Report.

The first show was a great start because it showed that the new host was the same charming Stephen Colbert that endeared him to his audience and encouraged the move to CBS in the first place.

The new desk is a slight reminder of his old one at The Colbert Report, a very accentuated letter ‘C’ for Colbert. The current one is a polished sleek ‘C.’

My favourite part of the show was the beginning, when a baseball umpire walked from the left side of the screen and stood beside Stephen Colbert as the host started singing “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Less than a minute or so later, the umpire removed his face mask and it was Jon Stewart who declared “Play ball!” It was a beautiful and sentimental way to kick off his best friend’s Late Show era.

The contents of the show contained lots of funny, topical jabs at pop culture. However, there was plenty of needless promotion, especially the Sabra Hummus product placement. Now, I can understand the financial benefits of advertising, but seriously, I don’t think anyone wants to go through the ordeal of an eight-minute commercial during a highly anticipated debut show.

Back in early June, Colbert quipped that he goes to bed praying that Donald Trump will still be relevant when he comes on air in September, and his wishes have come true. Colbert binged on Trump and had a wonderful metaphor of the media’s obsession with Trump. One of the highlight jabs was when he compared the Trump mania to eating Oreos — delicious, but really unhealthy in the end.

His line up for the first night was a weird take on a late night convention. George Clooney, a movie star with no movie to promote, and Jeb Bush, a Republican presidential candidate. There has been talk that booking Jeb Bush was a move to affirm that he was not going to be yet another liberal late night TV host bashing conservatives for cheap laughs. I think he would have won over television critics if he booked Donald Trump for his first show too bad Jimmy Fallon got Trump first.

In classic extravagant Colbert style, the show ended with a stack of musically gifted individuals. His band leader, Jon Batiste, was joined by Mavis Staples, Susan Tedeschi, Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard, Paul Janeway, Aloe Blacc, Derek Trucks, Buddy Guy, Ben Folds, and Beirut members Ben Lanz, Kyle Resnick, and Zach Condon. Colbert even joined in to show off his vocal pipes.

 

How successful will his tenure be as host of The Late Show? I think it will primarily depend on the viewers and how much sophistication, politics, and edginess they want in their late night TV meal.

Fringe Festival features SFU stars

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Photo courtesy of Vancouver Fringe Festival.

Every year the Vancouver Fringe Festival gives artists the opportunity to showcase their art in some of the zaniest and most interesting venues throughout Vancouver. Many SFU students and alumni join in on the action, showcasing their incredible talents in unique ways. This year, the list of shows that feature SFU peeps within their casts and crews is massive. Here is a brief rundown of the 13 shows that highlight SFU talent.

From the creative mind of Elysse Cheadle comes hoof, a fascinating and funny piece inspired by the melding of art and animal. In an interview with The Peak, Elysse let us in on the three year process it took to create hoof. The cast and crew of the production are made entirely of past and present SFU students, making this movement-based production work onstage and off.

Cheadle described the show as “a physical theatre performance where we have layered the behaviours and traits of hoofed animals on top of domestic human situations.” It will incorporate the styles of “soap opera, melodrama, and clown” with the much more animalistic tones of “farmyard behaviour” to create an extremely unique comedy, said Cheadle.

The show is based around a central image that inspired the creation of the piece, Cheadle said, that of “a really long table with a bunch of women [. . .] with their hands on [the table], in the shape of hoofs.” As well, said Cheadle, pastoral paintings and portraiture helped to create the characters that will take shape at the Waterfront Theatre. hoof promises to be an interesting and hilarious remount featuring the stellar talents of SFU students.

The Dudes of My Life, performing at Studio 16, features actress and writer Christina Andreola, an SFU alumna. The show also features other SFU students and alumni in the crew, including director Deneh’Cho Thompson, stage manager Emily Neumann, sound designer Tegan Wahlgren, and dramaturge Daniel Borzillo.

The show tells a tale of parental and cultural pressure on a single 26-year-old Italian girl trying to navigate herself through life and love. Andreola said that the inspiration from the piece came from a date gone sour, “where the person I was on a date with accidentally sent a text message to me, instead of his roommate,” stating that he was unsure if he wanted to keep seeing her.

From that misstep in love came this one-person show, which will be performing its remount with “more stories and more anecdotes; it’s a lot more personal this year,” says Andreola. This extremely relatable, comedic production promises to be authentic and thoroughly entertaining.

Also featuring SFU talents is The Traveller by Garibian Productions. Written by current SFU student Daniel Morton, this play will be performing at the Havana Theatre. Based on his personal experiences and the stories he heard while travelling, this modern moral play has a much more sombre tone. The piece’s inspiration is the quest that some travellers have to find “something more real, darker, more grittier, more dangerous than the next person […] to see the world for its ugly side,” said Morton.

This one-person show is formatted to feel like a conversation between the traveller and the audience, creating a very “multi-dimensional piece, featuring storytelling, music, and poetry,” said Morton. “It’s almost a ghost story,” stated Morton, “dark and fun at the same time,” like a fairy tale by the brothers Grimm. This performance has already shown at the Victoria Fringe Festival, and is now coming back to Vancouver.

Small Town Hoser Spic, being put on by Rice & Beans Theatre, is a one-man show written and performed by Pedro Chamale, an SFU alumnus with a BFA in Theatre Performance. The show was inspired by Chamale’s life experiences being a person of Hispanic descent who grew up in small town Northern BC. Performing at the Cultch’s Historic Theatre, it shows the struggles Chamale faced finding a sense of home, national identity, and culture.

Starstuff: Per Aspera ad Astra, also by by Rice & Beans Theatre, is a story that follows the character of Thomas Malinsky, a pilot on a journey in a one-person spaceship. SFU alumnus Derek Chan is part of this production also performing at the Cultch’s Historic Theatre, telling a story about exploring the unknown, and the meaning of connection in the modern age.

A Quiet Place by Psyche Theatre features direction by SFU alumna Kaylin Metchie. This show, part of the Vancouver Fringe Dramatic Works Series, features only two actors who face a daunting challenge. Two amnesiacs find themselves in a room with no door, one chair, and one light bulb, and what ensues makes up this story. It can be seen at the Cultch’s Vancity Culture Lab.

SFU student Luciana D’Anunciacao will be featured in An Empty House (Full of Air). This movement-based piece being performed at the Pandora Park’s Field House explores the use of space in a household setting. It is sweet and comedic, and intends to look into the concept of partnership in performing.

Dating for Dumb Heads features SFU alumnus Jim Sands, an East Vancouver based storyteller, musician, and clown. Performed in the False Creek Gym, Jim will play Hansel, who is searching the internet for love during cascading global crises.

From Amleth Productions comes Just Watch Me: A Trudeau Musical, featuring SFU alumnus Daniel McLeod. Showing at the Pacific Theatre, this narrative is based on a true story of a teacher fired in the 1970s in BC for speaking out. Time travel, singing, and politics come together to create this fascinating production.

SFU alumnus Matt Clarke will be directing Love is for Superbeasts, performing at Studio 16. The show by Little Mountain Lion takes an interesting approach in an attempt to understand the mind of a murderer: it features the chance to join both the media and academics to meet two “actual” serial killers to learn all about them.

Mrs. Singh & Me is a production being put on by the South Asian Arts Society, featuring SFU alumnus Rohit Chokhani. This unique, dark comedy performing at the Cultch’s Historic Theatre follows the story of Mrs. Kuldeep Singh, who has been kidnapped by a man named Raj.

From The Troika Collective, founded by SFU alumna Aliya Griffin comes Olya the Child, which also features actors and fellow SFU alumni Jessica Hood and Rachelle Miguel. Showing in the Emily Carr Parkade, this production follows the stories of an adopted child from Russia, and a Canadian woman.

Pipef@%! by The Uninvited Guests explores the multimedia side of theatre and performance. Featuring SFU graduate Valerie Christiansen, this production explores recent environmental concerns occurring in BC, as well as the interactions between economic classes in society.

The Vancouver Fringe Festival runs from September 10 to 20. For more information, visit vancouverfringe.com.

Laugh Track: Andy Cañete

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Image by Serena Chan

In many ways, Porn & Pinochet is the perfect embodiment for comedian Andy Cañete. The show has Cañete performing alone, something he’s used to after a decade of doing stand-up; the story transcends borders and goes between Canada and Chile, like Cañete did; and the whole show is an exercise in storytelling, both the funny and the serious. “That’s where the show comes from,” explains Cañete. “The three best emotions — anger, crying, and happiness — all in one.” The Peak caught up with Cañete to discuss his one-man show, how it differs from stand-up, and why he gets emotional while talking about a soccer team.

Your Fringe show, Porn & Pinochet, has been around since 2013. How has the show changed since then?

When you apply to the Fringe, they ask how long your show is. I hadn’t written it yet so I said “around 45 minutes,” then I thought, “Shit, can I do 45 minutes?” I wrote the show, performed it and it killed, but it was 75 minutes. So in that 2013 one, there are certain stories I kept in every show but other parts I’d switch in and out. Basically, the beginning and the end were the same, but there were a lot of times where it’d be like, “Ten years later!” I had to jump a fair bit. It was well-received and well-liked, but it always bothered me because I wanted to do the 75-minute version. That’s what I’m doing now.

There are also certain things I took out of that show, not because they weren’t funny, but because. . . you know how DVDs have the deleted scenes, and you look at the deleted scenes and it’s a good scene, but sometimes within the structure of the movie it doesn’t fit? Of that 45-minute version, I kept about 37 minutes of it.

How has your style of comedy changed since two years ago?

I’m focusing more on the one-man show stuff than the stand-up. It’s a lot more engaging and fulfilling to do this, because it’s a lot more personable. This is way more in-depth and rewarding, and less politics and drama. In stand-up, it’s not always the guy who’s doing the best that’s getting the time; it’s the guy who knows the guy. With the Fringe, there’s just a lottery and you’re in.

Do you think your shift towards one-man shows came as a result of doing the Fringe?

I kept meeting comedians that were doing one-man shows and they loved it, and then one-man shows starting popping up on television. It’s something comics will do and it’s admirable. I was thinking, “This is right up my alley! I tell stories!” And storytelling is tougher now, because there isn’t the attention span that there used to be. If you’re not knocking it out every two seconds, the audience tends to lose it. With the Fringe, there’s no drinking, no phones. They’re all very attentive. With stand-up, if you’re not getting laughter you think you’re bombing. In the theatre, just because they’re not laughing doesn’t mean you’re bombing. I’ve had shows where nobody laughed and then afterwards I got this tremendous applause. It’s a process for me, because occasionally the stand-up thing kicks in for me and I think the audience is hating it.

Is the show more Porn or more Pinochet?

I wasn’t sure what to call the show two years ago and so I went to a “how to market a show” conference for the Fringe, and they said the two things that sell the most on a show are politics and sex. I talk about Pinochet, and I tell a story about porn, so Porn & Pinochet. I’ve gotten complaints that I don’t talk enough about Pinochet, and then I’ve gotten complaints that I talk too much about Pinochet. Some people wanted more comedy, some people wanted more drama, and some people just want one. They can’t tell if it’s a comedy or a drama, and I ask “Can’t it be both?” I’d say probably more Pinochet, but not by much. The porn is a five-minute story, out of a 75-minute show, whereas Pinochet and Chile come in and out.

The play’s been described as a “story about a Chilean growing up in Canada and a Canadian growing up in Chile. But funny.” Does this kind of duality run through your other comedy?

When I started doing stand-up, a lot of my stuff was about Chile and people liked it, but other comedians started complaining and told me, “You know you can do other stuff? You don’t have to talk about being from Chile all the time.” So I started talking about relationships and sports and other stuff. Lately I haven’t talked about Chile in my stand-up at all, but all my early stuff — and some of the stuff in this show — is.

That’s the other thing: I didn’t realize how much it affected me, talking about Pinochet. The first time I performed this show, I wrote everything down and then when I got in front of everybody, my voice would crack. I’d almost start crying before I even started talking about it. I realized I had never really talked about this stuff before to anybody, and then I was talking about it in front of a crowd for the first time. Maybe that’s why there’s less Pinochet. I can’t cry throughout the show, it would look awful. I took a few parts out because I wasn’t ready to talk about it.

How do you strike that balance between the funny and the serious?

I don’t even know. I just do it. There’s a part of the show where I talk about my soccer team and it weirds people out because I get choked up. It’s very personal for me because when I was miserable, it was my happy place. So later on when they do well, I get choked up because I was in Canada and I didn’t get to see them do well. Then I go into me getting my first commercial, and it was a public service announcement for safe sex. So people were choked up and then laughing. I have no idea how I do it. I try to buffer. I’m not going to put sad sad sad; I try to do sad funny sad funny.

HUMOUR: SFU wildlife prepares invasion on school’s 50th anniversary

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Photo Credit: Lisa Dimyadi

It’s been almost 50 years since Simon Fraser University first opened its doors to its starting class of 2,500 students. Today, faculty and students alike celebrate the school’s semi-centennial anniversary with various events, including speeches by Andrew Petter and SFSS president Enoch Weng.

“We’re very excited to celebrate this milestone,” president Andrew Petter told The Peak the morning of the event. “SFU has a rich and diverse history, and we look forward to highlighting that history.” Petter noted that a highlight would be the Celebrate and Savour event, an evening dinner set in the school’s Academic Quadrangle.

But students, faculty, and alumni of SFU are not the only ones preparing for the school’s 50th anniversary festivities. We reached out to the wildlife of SFU, who have shared Burnaby Mountain with the university and its staff for the past half century, for comment.

“For them, it’s 50 years of accomplishment and innovation,” an adult black bear and wildlife representative, told The Peak. “For us, it’s 50 years of deforestation, refugeeism, and foraging for half-eaten Tim Hortons breakfast sandwiches.”

Other animals on SFU campus echoed this sentiment. “Burnaby Mountain used to be a place where you could settle down, raise a family, and scare the hell out of hikers,” said a mother raccoon. “Now I’m lucky if some undergrad doesn’t Snapchat me and my kids while we’re trying to eat out of the garbage.”

Once subject to turf wars and disputed land borders among the native wildlife, Burnaby Mountain has become the site of resistance for a host of species, including coyotes, woodpeckers, and deer. Condominium construction has led the local fauna to establish a formal coalition, not unlike our own United Nations. The organisation, Freedom for Animals of Burnaby Mountain (FABM), has announced plans for their own 50th anniversary festivities — a hostile takeover of Burnaby Mountain.

“My father was there the day Arthur Erickson first set foot on Burnaby Mountain,” an elderly coyote announced at a FABM meeting in the depth of the forest. “He watched as Erickson’s men tore apart our home, laid waste to our habitat, separated mother from kin. Now, it is their turn to feel our pain.

“Petter will fall. SFU will fall.”

The announcement was met with fervent applause, with several creatures shouting “Kill!” and “Let them burn!” In the aftermath of the speech, a young FABM member and black bear boasted to our reporter: “We will break them. They will know our names. Burnaby Mountain belongs to the bears.”

Narrowly escaping the ensuing riots, our reporter has since been placed under witness protection.

When reached for comment, president Petter seemed unfazed by the threat of hostile invasion. “Since McTaggart-Cowan first set foot in this office, we’ve held strong against any threats these animals — these savages — have thrown at us,” he maintained. Petter then proceeded to open a hidden door behind his bookcase, exposing an arsenal of high-tech gadgetry, as well as a jet black spandex suit and night vision goggles.

“Let them come,” he said, smirking and lighting a cigarette. “We’ll make this an anniversary to remember.”

As both the President’s Office and the animal inhabitants of Burnaby Mountain prepare for combat, SFU’s student body remains largely ignorant of the looming threat of total war. In fact, most seem only vaguely aware that there will be any 50th anniversary celebrations at all, citing minimal awareness of a song contest and “maybe a party or something.”

As one undergrad told our reporter: “As long as there’s beer, I’m there.”

#22

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It becomes much easier

once you accept the fact that,

things fall apart.

and we are all

just things.