Ridiculous! A high school told a girl that her poncho made out of word puzzles and Sudokus was “too distracting” for male students

By

-

May 25, 2015

Screen Shot 2015-05-22 at 2.23.37 PM — Illustration by Rachelle Tjahyana

A local teenager is fighting back after her school suspended her for wearing clothes made entirely out of crosswords, Sudokus, and other puzzles meant to stimulate a person’s cognitive thinking.

Beth Francis, a grade 11 student at Mount Pleasant Secondary School, was sent home early last Monday after her homeroom teacher deemed that Francis’ poncho was distracting the male students in her class. Francis says that the school’s administration staff, including the principal, became involved with the situation and gave Francis a week-long suspension when she tried to defend the article of clothing.

“I feel like I’m being unfairly targeted by the school,” Francis said in an interview with The Peak. “I mean, guys in my class wear shirts with Sudokus on them all of the time. I don’t see why my case is any different.”

Immediately following the notice of suspension, Francis penned an essay about her experience and posted it online to the social media website Facebook, calling the school’s punishment an overreaction and ultimately sexist. Francis is asking women who have faced similar discrimination to stand up to what she calls unreasonable expectations being forced onto members of her sex.

“Just because a female student wears an article of clothing with crosswords and little brain teasers on it isn’t an invitation for her male counterparts to pay attention to her,” Francis’ essay reads. “The school is blaming me for something I have no control over.”

With prom season approaching for high schools, cases similar to Francis’ have been popping up all over online and in the media. In Calgary, Alberta, a female student was denied entrance to her graduation ceremony because of a brain teaser she had sewn onto her graduation cap. A senior in Brandon, Manitoba was also barred from her prom dance because the strapless dress she was wearing had several word searches embroidered onto it. Both girls echo Francis’ struggle, saying they’ve worn similar clothing before and received nothing but compliments from fellow classmates.

“There’s absolutely no excuse for this kind of treatment,” Francis’ mother told The Peak, saying she has already contacted the school board and is demanding an apology, as well as an immediate lift on her daughter’s suspension. “Teenage boys are going to be distracted regardless of what Beth wears, whether it’s by a crossword puzzle or a one of those problems where you have all of the letters in a word but they’re jumbled up together. Quit shaming the students for something they’re not doing on purpose.”

However, the school has thus far stood by the principal’s decision to suspend Francis, citing the need to provide a productive and stimulating learning environment for students, free of unnecessary distractions.

“A teacher’s responsibility is to educate,” read an official statement from Mount Pleasant Secondary. “While we respect out students’ wishes to express themselves as individuals, both physically and mentally, the power is ultimately in the teacher’s hands to overrule that privilege if they think the learning environment is at risk, as was the case with Ms. Francis’ poncho.”

This week in comics

By

EIC

-

May 25, 2015

0

The Adventures of Agoraphobia Man (Jacey Gibb)

Single-celled organisms just wanna have fun (Elizabeth Pau & Jacey Gibb)

All the bells and whistles (Serena Chan)

Peers (Leslie Lu)

Seagull Square (Jill Mandrake)

Micro housing is a novelty, not a solution

By

EIC

-

May 25, 2015

0

5369940097_d9c10b8f4b_b — Photo courtesy of Mark Turnauckas (Flickr)

Throughout the last few days I’ve clicked through countless photos of stylish apartments barely the size of my bedroom. Put simply, I find them fascinating.

My interest isn’t solely because I think 200 square foot micro apartments look amazing, being designed in an incredibly utilitarian, sophisticated manner given the space. It’s also because I like to picture myself going about my day in them. Here is the inside of a living space that can be captured in its entirety with merely two or three photos. That’s how small it is.

Micro living is so chic. So different. So cool.

Picture yourself having to hang your kitchen table on the wall after you use it, or to fold your chairs into a floor-cupboard behind you. Micro dwellings are designed so that inhabitants can make as much use of the limited space as possible. Drawers pull out from the sides of stairs; a bed is nestled on the second floor just atop the stairwell; a bathroom the size of that on an airplane is tucked away in the corner.

These tiny dwellings are so unique that the novelty has us wondering how our lives would be different while residing in them. Would we be able to adapt to this living space? How long would this last?

Micro lofts are only a minimalist’s and an architect’s dream.

But before we indulge too much in the fantasies of urban affordable living, let’s take a moment to consider the realities of a cramped living space. Micro lofts are a minimalist’s and an architect’s dream. In other words, the health risks and housing obstacles vastly outweigh the benefits.

Sure, a miniscule apartment may suit a single, 20-something year old, who spends most time out of the house, but to a sloppy workaholic, or more importantly a family, these snapshot spaces would likely transform one’s life into an inconvenient, claustrophobic nightmare.

The act of reconfiguring one’s living space in order to meet the needs of daily tasks would soon become tedious and constricting. Lack of storage would bar me from purchasing goods and household items. The noise from other micro lofts would be incredible, thus preventing me from safeguarding my full privacy. And with no real freedom to move, all too soon I imagine the walls in my tiny space would feel as though they’re tightening around me.

However, more concrete research by InformeDesign now claims that claustrophobia caused by cramped living spaces can contribute to increased domestic violence and alcohol abuse — not a fantastic finding for those young families searching for affordable homes in the heart of of the city. Further findings from Social Science Research claim that lack of freedom contributes to a withdrawn child, one that has difficulty concentrating.

Small-scale homes would additionally prevent gatherings of more than a few individuals — a loss in identity claim for the home owner. I enjoy inviting people into my living space and showing them what is important or unique to me as an individual.

Real estate agents and housing developers in Vancouver may proclaim these homes as the solution to our city’s increasing housing unaffordability, though this solution merely pertains to select individuals with active lifestyles. Yes, the mayor of New York can hail micro housing as a “milestone for new housing models,” though I’d be interested to see how he fares living in an urban closet.

I think it’s time we looked past the novelty and realized these avant garde “solutions” as what they really are — a solution to increasing numbers in a living space, but not to actually living.

First Nations cultivated clam gardens to create food security

By

EIC

-

May 25, 2015

0

EPSON MFP image — Clams are much more productive in clam gardens. - Momo Lin

A team of SFU researchers, working alongside coastal First Nations, has revealed that ancient clam gardens along the northwest coast were cultivated by coastal indigenous people — not naturally occurring, as previously thought.

By comparing clam growth rates in the stone terrace gardens and in other non-walled beaches, they determined that clams grow better and more densely within the altered environment than without.

Their findings show that the First Nations people along the coast — from Washington to Alaska — were not simply hunter-gatherers. They created food security by increasing clam productivity through creating ideal clam habitats.

“We think that many Indigenous peoples worldwide had some kind of sophisticated marine management, but the Pacific Northwest is likely one of the few places in the world where this can be documented,” said SFU archaeologist Dana Lepofsky in a media release.

Lepofsky has been working to accurately date these gardens by assessing the last time the deepest part of the rock was exposed to sunlight during the clam gardens’ construction. While the team can’t provide specific dating, the clam gardens are estimated to be 1,000 years old in the least.

It was local geomorphologist John Harper who first noticed that coastline didn’t look as it should, having undergone only natural processes. While flying over the coast approximately a decade ago, he saw that there were walled structures that didn’t fit in with the natural coastline — human-made clam gardens.

The team, working in conjunction with the Clam Garden Network and knowledge holders from the Tla’amin First Nation and Laich-kwil-tach Treaty Society, focused their research on two bays on Quadra Island.

In an experiment, the team placed baby clams in clam gardens and in non-walled beaches and then compared their growth rates, biomass, and densities over a season of growth.

Lead author of the three-year study and a graduate from SFU’s School of Resource and Environmental Management, marine ecologist Amy Groesbeck, joined the team and started her master’s thesis on clam gardens in 2010.

“We found that there were much higher densities of clams, especially culturally and economically important clams, butter clams and littleneck clams in clam gardens,” said Groesbeck. “They’re extremely innovative structures, very innovative engineered environments.”

She added that they are looking into many potential mechanisms that contribute to clam productivity, including tidal height, increased beach slope, and sediment composition.

When they dug up the sand from clam garden beaches, they found a significant amount of crushed shell. Coastal First Nations members revealed that these ground up shells were indeed added to the beaches to increase clam productivity.

The team is also looking into the possibility that the shell hash in the sediment, through releasing calcium carbonate into the water, “acts as a localized buffer against ocean acidification,” said Groesbeck.

Not only will their research have implications for ocean acidification research, but it could help in applying ancient techniques to increase food production and security.

Let schoolgirls bare their shoulders

By

EIC

-

May 25, 2015

0

Over the last week, the high school dress code issue has catapulted back into news headlines. While this is not a new issue, it is recurring, and has yet to be acted upon within our school systems.

Lauren Wiggins, a girl in New Brunswick, was recently sent to detention for attending her high school class in a maxi dress with halter straps. Her teachers were upset over the fact that she was disregarding their school’s dress code that — like many — has multiple restrictions on what girls can wear to their school. Wiggins claims she was told that these guidelines are in place to make sure that boys are not distracted by the girl’s appearance, and argued they discriminate against girls and not their male peers.

Rather than to simply take the detention and dress ‘more appropriately’ in the future, Wiggins decided to bring to the principal’s attention how today’s backwards dress codes only penalize girls, and how they perpetuate the rape culture mindset. She was suspended for a day for voicing her opinions.

Girls continue to be placed as the instigators of unwarranted glances, distraction, and in some cases, rape.

If we tell our young girls that they need to watch what they wear so as to keep from distract the young boys around them, what do we teach them? We instill within their minds from a young age that it is the girl’s fault when she is a victim of voyeurism, because she ‘asks for it’ by wearing something. No blame is placed on young boys for their lack of self-control, yet we still feel that we do not need to teach them anything different.

Wiggins pointed out to her principal that boys disregard the few dress code rules in place for their attire, and go without punishment. Yet girls are the ones who are reprimanded for their choice in clothing, and given further punishment when they try to speak out.

In perpetuating this cycle, girls continue to be placed as the instigators of unwarranted glances, distraction, and in some cases, rape. We need to teach our young students that they are responsible for their own actions, not the actions of those around them. They should not be blamed for others’ poor behaviour, especially at such an influential young age.

If we instill such beliefs in their minds at this age, it will only serve to follow them through the rest of their lives — a prospect that is simply discriminatory and unacceptable.

We must break our culture of sex shame

By

EIC

-

May 25, 2015

0

WEB - Paige - Phoebe Lim — Photo Credit: Phoebe Lim

I was never given “the talk” while growing up. Not once did my parents even off-handedly bring the topic up, let alone sit me down and explain what sex and sexuality was. Looking back as an adult, the lack of sex education and openness about the subject is one of the only elements of my childhood that I wish had been drastically different.

While in school, I was given a fair share of sex education. During elementary school, we were shown age-suitable puppets that taught us about private parts and inappropriate touching. In contrast, while in high school I was assigned a shame-inducing project where we were given bonus marks for finding and showing the most grotesque pictures of STIs to the class.

So, I had a mix of both the good and bad in school.

Meanwhile, at home the conversation was nonexistent. No one ever explained to me what menstruation was, or how to deal with it. No one ever introduced any form of relationship other than the monogamous, heterosexual standard. No one ever told me that becoming sexual was okay. This all made me feel very alone and scared.

No one ever told me that becoming sexual was okay, and this all made me feel alone and scared.

Growing up, I was forced to navigate through these confusing questions and, propelled by my curiosity, taught myself some of the answers. It took a while to fill in the holes that were left by my patchy schooling, which even left me a little ashamed and embarrassed.

Sex education should be taught more thoroughly and efficiently in schools and by parents; it needs to be a constant conversation that evolves as a child matures. In order to break the culture of shame that surrounds sex, we need to be able to have open conversations where educators are well equipped and open to answering any and all types of questions.

We can’t keep using fear tactics, denial, shame, and even lies to continue to suppress school-aged sexualities. To discount people’s experiences and feelings will only lead to the spread of false information, and more unwarranted shame associated with sex.

Let’s break this culture of sex-shame by being honest, open, and above all, curious.

Woohoo, Boohoo

By

EIC

-

May 25, 2015

0

Screen Shot 2015-05-22 at 7.43.18 PM — Photo courtesy of Chinguri (Flickr)

Woohoo: One-ply

I’m pulling a utilitarian stance and proclaiming that one-ply toilet paper is definitely the favourable tool with which to garnish our restrooms.

Put simply, when I’m gracing the loo, I’d like to use something that gets the quick and dirty done, you know?

One-ply makes sense in a pragmatic way: it’s literally (and simply) paper that one uses for bodily purposes. It costs less to produce and to buy, it’s kinder to the environment in that it doesn’t use up as many trees to produce, and it’s less likely to clog the toilet! What’s not to love?

Sure, it may a bit less comfortable than it’s layered counterpart, but let’s face it, Charmin costs a mint, and my pockets are borderline starving.

Unfortunately, it can be difficult to find household one-ply toilet paper at the supermarket. Why is it that I have to visit a restaurant or a shopping centre to access the best invention since the wheel? Oh this ironic world we live in.

Boohoo: Two-ply

That being said, my bathroom houses toilet paper that’s firm and thick. So thick, in fact, that when I tear off a sheet I feel like I’m wasting three quarters of it. And that’s probably because I am.

I don’t need the extra padding. Will I be able to actually feel those lovely, intricate floral patterns? Is that why they print them there? Cause I sure as heck ain’t stopping to gaze at the artwork before getting down to business.

Kudos to the toilet paper artists who’ve created masterpieces that will never again be witnessed after the flush. I feel like our creative talents could be put to something a little more noticeable.

Two-ply, three-ply, even four-ply (yes, it’s real!) waste not only my wallet, but also my neurons as I rack my brain for valid reasons why this product even exists.

Why can’t we celebrate ‘mombods?’

By

EIC

-

May 25, 2015

0

Screen Shot 2015-05-22 at 5.54.11 PM — Photo Credit: Rachelle Tjahyana

Social media has a bad habit of taking old misogynistic concepts, giving them new names, and perpetuating outdated ideas about men and women. The latest trend sparking international debate is “#Dadbod” — a term coined to describe middle-aged men who were formerly of an athletic build, but who now have a more round, less toned body type.

Though this trend may at first seem superficial, it actually says a lot more about our society’s gender expectations than we give it credit for.

I want to make my stance on body acceptance clear: people come in all sizes, and there is certainly no ‘cookie cutter’ shape that we should all stride to achieve. But this trend represents more than just a body acceptance movement for men — it’s a reminder that the society we live in holds different standards for men and women.

The real issue stems from the nature of this trend. Put simply, dadbod is male privilege disguised as empowerment. If we consider the reverse, the idea of ‘mombod,’ I don’t think any of us can say with certainty that it would generate the same response. Middle-aged women are slammed with advertisements for diet regiments and gym memberships; they are pressured into losing baby weight and maintaining their youthful shape.

Unfortunately, we live in a society where only men can celebrate their bodies whichever way they come.

Kristin Schaal, a comedian on The Daily Show, called out this hypocrisy last week by naming off famous “Momshells” — such as Beyoncé, Scarlett Johansson, and Jennifer Lopez — who were celebrated for how quickly they were able to lose the baby weight, instead of embracing their new shape. Schaal points out that women can never relax about the shape of their body, that for women it is never okay to accept anything less than a perfect figure.

Celebrating dadbod highlights the hypocrisy women face during conversations about body shape. Unfortunately, we live in a society where men can celebrate their bodies whichever way they come, while women are not so privileged. As Brian Moylan, pop culture columnist for Time magazine, puts it, “the problem with the Dad Bod isn’t what it says about men, but what it says about women and how we treat them.”

I will acknowledge that men can also feel insecure about their bodies, but I do not approve of the dadbod craze all the same. If we truly want to eradicate body image problems in our society, it has to be done with more respect by allowing women a similar privilege, and it certainly has to be more inclusive. Celebrating dadbod does not qualify as an empowerment movement for men, but rather a parade of male privilege.

Body appreciation is not a subject to shy away from and merits conversation, but before you jump on the ‘dadbod’ bandwagon, stop and think about what terms like this say about gender equality and body image.

Radio personality lectures on “Media and the Middle East”

By

EIC

-

May 25, 2015

0

WEB- DB - indybay — David Barsamian, speaking at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno, CA. - Photo Courtesy of Mike Rhodes

David Barsamian, speaking at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno, CA. - Photo Courtesy of Mike Rhodes — David Barsamian, speaking at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno, CA. – Photo Courtesy of Mike Rhodes

Investigative journalist and outspoken activist David Barsamian delivered a lecture on May 14 at SFU’s Harbour Centre campus, titled “Media and the Middle East.”

Barsamian has hosted a weekly radio show called Alternative Radio for the past 29 years, which has featured intellectuals like Noam Chomsky, Edward Said, and Howard Zinn, and is also the author of 25 books. The Peak sat down with Barsamian to discuss the problems of media bias, particularly around issues of foreign policy.

The Peak: Speaking in general, how do you think corporate media fails the average news consumer?

Barsamian: They fail the average news consumer in multiple ways: by distorting reality, by being a conduit, [and] an electronic umbilical cord for state propaganda. This is particularly the case in the US where the media are cheerleaders for war and empire. [. . .] The only discussion that goes on is about tactics. Should we use this bomber in attacking Iraq or should we use that bomber? But no one unpacks the embedded idea that the US has the right to intervene anywhere in the world.

They also fail in not providing any context or background or history. [. . .] You’ll notice that particularly in the US corporate media the Islamic identity of these groups that are opposed to the US empire is highly accented, whereas the political motivation is totally ignored.

P: I had the chance to speak to Chris Hedges earlier this year. He was talking about how the media pigeonholes people who are critical into soundbites and they are never really given a full kind of stage or platform.

B: That’s another mechanism of control. [. . .] When you are arguing counter-hegemonic points and perspectives that aren’t in the mainstream, you need time to explain [and give historical background]. If you just say, “The US is the greatest country in the world,” you don’t need to defend that in any way. But if you say, “The US is the major source of international terrorism in the world today,” that is an argument from the other side of the moon. So you need time to explain why you say that and we’re not given time in the corporate media.

P: You were deported from India. Tell us more about that and how you used it to further your own activism.

B: Well, I was very hurt. I’ve been going to India since 1966. [. . .] I was prevented from entering the country even though I had a valid visa on September 23rd, 2011. [. . .] It’s clearly because of my work on Kashmir which, for Hindu nationalists, is equivalent to what Israel represents for Zionists.

Huge human rights violations are going on in Kashmir, [committed] by the Indian state, but the Indian state has very successfully promoted a certain image of India around the world of Ashrams; people doing yoga, sitar players, vegetarian food, Ghandi, and Buddha.

P: You’ve talked about corporate media so I want to know, if I or anyone wants to be more conscious about the media they consume what things should they be critical of?

B: Be skeptical. Go to independent sources of information. Read a lot. Always ask questions [. . .] Let’s say in Canada right now the C-51 bill is being talked about. If it passes, who will it benefit? [. . .] And why are people in power saying certain things? I think that we have to hold their feet to the fire. The onus is on them not on us. When Harper says, “[This] is in Canada’s national interest,” when another pipeline is opened, [can] it be backed up by facts or do corporations benefit from these policies? That’s the question.

Doctors must be open with their patients about death

By

EIC

-

May 25, 2015

0

WEB - Pills - Phoebe Lim — Photo credit: Phoebe Lim

When faced with a terminal diagnosis, it may initially seem logical to provide patients with access to experimental treatments in a last ditch attempt at survival. However, while these treatments should be accessible to patients, they should not be considered ‘go-to’ treatment options by the desperate.

In Canada, we have the Special Access Programme (SAP), which makes accessible drugs that are not yet approved in Canada, including those still in experimental phases.

Many Western individuals question whether the terminally ill should have access to these treatments, feeling the program does more harm than good. Some argue that treating individuals with experimental drugs only serves to foster false hope and continue needless suffering.

This is due to the fact that the majority of these drugs, depending on what phase of testing they go through, may either not work or decrease a patient’s quality of life. The Canadian government states on their website that “[SAP] does not constitute an assurance that a drug is safe, efficacious or of high quality.”

To have this program available to Canadians is certainly important, as it gives individuals the autonomy to choose what they want put into their bodies, or how they want to live the remainder of their lives. While this autonomy is not absolute, as some individuals cannot provide informed consent, it should be available to those who can.

When faced with discussion about death, many of us — including physicians — tend to shy away from these intensely emotional situations. If doctors are to provide access to experimental drugs, then this neglectful attitude much change at the first signs of terminal diagnosis, so that patients can be informed enough to make a plan that balances the physician’s expertise with the patient’s emotional and physical needs.

Ironically, most doctors would choose not to resuscitate themselves if they were terminally ill.

A Journal of the American Medical Association study from 2013 showed that 88.3 per cent of physicians would personally choose a “do-not-resuscitate” order for themselves if they were terminally ill, yet during their medical practice they would ironically choose to put their terminally ill patients under aggressive treatments to prolong their lives. The study found that most seniors would choose to die peacefully at home, but only about a third really do.

This disconnect indicates that there is a problem in the way physicians communicate about death with their patients: while doctors are acutely knowledgeable about the suffering associated with a long drawn-out illness, patients may not be.

Furthermore, to have a discussion about how to continue a fight may often be easier than to admit that the fight is futile, and that there are no longer any weapons left in the artillery.

If doctors are going to suggest to their patients try experimental treatments as an alternative, then doctors must be fully trained to communicate the potential risks. This is because they may be in a position without liability if a patient is harmed, and we must be certain that the sickest among us are not exploited.

As a society, we need to be more accepting and acknowledge when an individual wants to end the fight, which means having supportive access to palliative care, and open conversations about death with physicians from the onset of a potentially terminal diagnosis.

To have access to experimental drugs without this shift in attitude will only serve to perpetuate our culture’s fear of death. While some individuals may choose experimental drugs, they should understand the full implications of the path they will travel on, because even their doctor may not know the exact course it will take.