Charlene Aviles
Current grading systems don’t reflect student’s abilities
January 18, 2021by Charlene Aviles, Peak Associate It’s believed that rewarding students’ hard work with letter grades can promote more effective learning. However, rather than prioritizing learning, this system induces pressure on students to focus solely on grades. The SFU Senate recently approved a compassionate grading pilot that would allow students to take a pass, credit, or no credit mark for electives. While this move is a great start for reforming the letter grade system, discrepancies remain. A permanent, alternative grading scheme should be implemented to ensure a focus on learning. Without external pressures from the letter grade system, students can adopt…
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Kick off your Vancouver Short Film Festival marathon with “An Evening of Cocktails and Calamity”
January 18, 2021By: Charlene Aviles, Peak Associate Despite a global pandemic, Vancouver's film industry is resilient. This is, at least partially, due to is partly due to a group of talented local filmmakers, who you can support during the upcoming Vancouver Short…
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Pandemic puts Gaura Hari Karma-Free Meals Society’s hot and nutritious vegan meal program on pause
January 11, 2021By: Charlene Aviles, Peak Associate Since 2004, the Gaura Hari Karma-Free Meals Society (GHKFM) has provided what GHKFM’s vice president Patrick Francis describes as “hot meals prepared with love and [ . . . ] spiritual devotion" to Vancouver's Downtown…
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SFU alumni reduce electric vehicle battery waste and provide renewable energy to remote Canadian communities
January 10, 2021By: Charlene Aviles, Peak Associate & Harvin Bhathal, Features Editor Over the past several years, the popularity of electric vehicles has steadily increased. This is due to the low cost required to run and maintain them, as well as the…
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Need to Know, Need to Go November 9 to 15
November 10, 2020By: Charlene Aviles, Peak Associate South African Film Festival | November 1–12 | Cost: $10 | Online The South African Film Festival will offer 15 documentaries and short films for online streaming, the proceeds of which will go to Education…
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SFU’s Katayoon Yousefbigloo awarded the Audain Travel Award
November 4, 2020By: Charlene Aviles, Peak Associate Intrigued by the adaptation of technology to create interactive art, multi-talented artist, musician, and MFA student Katayoon Yousefbigloo hopes to use the $7,500 Audain Travel Award she recently received to do just that. The award,…
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Need to Know, Need to Go from November 2 to 8
November 3, 2020By: Charlene Aviles, Peak Associate c̓əc̓əwitəl̕ | Helping Each Other | ch’áwatway | Museum of Vancouver | September 16 to December 9 | $10 for adults or free for individuals self-identifying as Indigenous The c̓əc̓əwitəl̕ | Helping Each Other |…
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Vancouver Writers Fest is back with stacks of books, events, and authors
October 18, 2020By: Charlene Aviles, Peak Associate The annual Vancouver Writers Fest (VWF) is returning from October 19 to 25 and will showcase over 70 authors. The festival offers a wide variety of events catering to different genres and age groups to…
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#NotGoingBack Climate Strike
October 14, 2020By Charlene Aviles, Peak Associate Sustainabiliteens, Climate Strike Canada, and Our Time planned four Metro Vancouver #NotGoingBack climate strikes on September 25. This initiative supported Friday for Future’s Global Day of Climate Action. In response to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s…
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Hannah Bel Davis’ film Pandemic! provides an exploration of remote learning challenges
October 10, 2020By: Charlene Aviles, Peak Associate This past summer, Hannah Bel Davis, an SFU graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film and English and a Certificate in Creative Writing, was hired by a Université Laval (Laval University) professor to…
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