september 4, 2014
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UBC STUDENTS IN VIFF P3 STUDENTS STRUGGLE WITH HOUSING P4 IMAGINE DAY PHOTO GALLERY P6 DEFENCE OF JOURNALISM P9 SOCCER PREVIEWS P10
Greeting Gupta
September 4, 2014 | VoLume XcVI| ISSue IValoha dave since 1918
Austen ErhardtOpinions & Blog Editor
For many of us, doing a cross-Canada trip would be an accomplishment worth brag-ging about. For others, dipping a toe in Vancouver’s frigid waters is a near-bucket list item. UBC alum Meagan Abele has taken both of these achievements to the next level.
Abele, who grew up in a small town in Saskatchewan, came to UBC after graduating from high school, largely due to her love of water. Though in B.C., Saskatchewan has a reputation for being flat and little else, Abele spent much of her youth on a nearby lake that bottomed out around 40 feet.
“I always liked swimming down as deep as I could... they sunk some toilets and stuff so you had something to swim around while you were down there,” Abele said. “From when the ice melts to when it starts to freeze, pretty much, I was in the water.”
Abele’s love of the water grew into an interest in scuba diving, sparked by a family friend’s involvement in the sport. She knew before leaving high school that she wanted her career to relate to diving in some way, but for her, going to university wasn’t set in stone. Her parents encouraged her to go, however, and she found herself studying science at UBC.
“I wasn’t sure what I exactly
wanted to do with [school]. Then I got into Marine Bio and met some other people doing stuff and thought, ‘this is really cool.’”
Abele first became in-volved with UBC’s diving club, AquaSoc, soon after she arrived on campus, and quickly attained further diving certifications and became more and more in-volved in the club. Before long, she had earned her instructor’s certification and began teaching others to dive as well. Although she’s done hundreds of dives now and the water is a second home, Abele admits that doing her first dive with AquaSoc was a nerve-wracking experience.
“I went out and was like, ‘do I remember everything?’ and tried to remember all this train-ing that I did the year before,” Abele said.
Abele has dived in dozens of places both around B.C. and the world, so choosing a favourite spot is not an easy task. But she conceded that the place that she did her first ocean night dive, Ansel Point in West Vancouver, is still her favourite to dive spot to frequent.
“It’s a really quiet, residential area. there’s usually not a lot of people diving out there.... It’s really nice and quiet. It’s more of an advanced dive, there’s a big wall, but it’s really really cool. You can get lots of octopus and stuff in there.”
Shortly after graduating from
UBC with a marine biology de-gree in 2014, Abele departed on a cross-Canada bike tour with her partner, Natalie Scadden.
Traveling from Victoria, B.C. to Canada’s easternmost point in Cape Spear, Newfoundland, the pair spent 100 days on the road, riding five or six hours per day. Though she struggled to select a single highlight of the trip, Abele made clear that her time in Rodgers Pass in the Selkirk Mountains was one of her top sections of the trip. While she was there, she and Scadden planned to visit a cabin at the Rodgers pass summit. Despite assurances that the path would be clear, the pair were met with snow and lim-ited visibility.
“We met a friend of a friend of a roommate — someone we didn’t really know. She drove up with us and brought all this hiking gear in. We locked our bike behind this little shed and had to hike three or four kilometres through the snow to the shack.”
Though Abele has graduated from UBC, she’s still working at AquaSoc as an instructor for another year.
Abele had some words of advice for anyone wanting to follow in her footsteps.
“Just do everything that you have time for. It’s easy to be like, ‘oh, I’m too busy to join a club.’ It’s only four years. If you have the time, just do it.” U
Thursday, sEpTEmBEr 4, 2014 | 2YOUR GUIDE TO UBC EVENTS, PEOPLE + CAMPUS
STAFFNatalie Scadden, CJ Pentland
SEPTEMBER 04, 2014 | VOLUME XCVI| ISSUE IV
UThe Ubyssey
The Ubyssey is the official student newspaper of the Univer-sity of British Columbia. It is pub-lished every Monday and Thurs-day by The Ubyssey Publications Society. We are an autonomous, democratically run student orga-nization, and all students are en-couraged to participate.
Editorials are chosen and written by the Ubyssey staff. They are the expressed opinion of the staff, and do not necessarily re-flect the views of The Ubyssey Publications Society or the Uni-versity of British Columbia. All editorial content appearing in The Ubyssey is the property of The Ubyssey Publications Society. Stories, opinions, photographs and artwork contained herein
cannot be reproduced without the expressed, written permis-sion of The Ubyssey Publica-tions Society.
The Ubyssey is a founding member of Canadian Universi-ty Press (CUP) and adheres to CUP’s guiding principles.
Letters to the editor must be under 300 words. Please include your phone number, student number and signa-ture (not for publication) as well as your year and faculty with all submissions. ID will be checked when submissions are dropped off at the editorial office of The Ubyssey; otherwise ver-ification will be done by phone. The Ubyssey reserves the right to edit submissions for length
and clarity. All letters must be received by 12 noon the day be-fore intended publication. Let-ters received after this point will be published in the follow-ing issue unless there is an ur-gent time restriction or other matter deemed relevant by the Ubyssey staff.
It is agreed by all persons placing display or classified ad-vertising that if the Ubyssey Pub-lications Society fails to publish an advertisement or if an error in the ad occurs the liability of the UPS will not be greater than the price paid for the ad. The UPS shall not be responsible for slight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value or the impact of the ad.
LEGAL
BUSINESS
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CONTACT
Editorial Office: SUB 24604.822.2301
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Student Union Building6138 SUB BoulevardVancouver, BC V6T 1Z1
Online: ubyssey.caTwitter: @ubyssey
OUR CAMPUSTHE PEOPLE AND BUILDINGS THAT MAKE UBC
Got an event you’d like to see on this page? Send your event and your best pitch to [email protected].
HUmAN RIGHTS LECTURE
BACkyARd BBQ
SHOppING wEEk
Human Rights Lecture @ Frederic Wood Theatre from 7 - 9 p.m.Payam Akhavan, an international law professor at McGill, will be giving a talk on the subject “beyond human rights — building a world on empathy.” Free, but registration required.
AMS Backyard BBQ @ North SUB Plaza from 3:00 - 9:00 p.m. Join more than 3,000 of your fellow students in enjoying some local and exotic music, imbibing in some reasonably priced beers and ringing in the new school year at this year’s replacement for the Welcome Back BBQ. Tickets from $12-20. 19+ and two pieces of ID for beer garden entry.
UBC Rec Open House @ UBC Athletics buildings from September 8-14. This is your chance to try all of the rec classes that you’ve always been interest-ed in, without fear of commitment. UBC Rec has made many of their classes free for this shopping week, so don’t hesitate to try something out. Free
What’s on This wEEk, may wE suggEsT...
Tue124 Thursday
Tue125 Friday
Tue128-14 All week
EdITORIAL
Coordinating Editor Will [email protected]
Design EditorNick [email protected]
Web DeveloperPeter [email protected]
News EditorsJovana Vranic + Veronika [email protected]
Culture Editor Jenica [email protected]
Sports + Rec EditorJack [email protected]
Video ProducerKeith [email protected]
Photo Editor Mackenzie [email protected]
Opinions + Blog EditorAusten [email protected]
Distribution CoordinatorLily [email protected]
PhOTO MACkENzIE WALkER / ThE UBYSSEY
Meagan Abele with two of her favourite things.
If you weren’t at the Pep Rally, you can live vicariously through this photo. However, don’t think this means you can pour water on Gupta any time you like.
ON THE
COVER
Meagan Abele has biked across Canada and walked on the bottom of the ocean
Thursday, sEpTEmBEr 4, 2014 | 3EDITOR Jenica MontgoMery
UBC and VIFF continue to share long history
FILm >>
CULTURE vULTURE
ANTiCiPATEd dALAi LAMA
The Dalai Lama is coming by UBC to give a teaching on compassion in support of the Tibetan Resettlement Project in British Columbia. having the Dalai Lama give a speech at UBC is an opportunity for stu-dents to become empowered and educated about Tibetan tribulations and the current state of Tibetan refugees. For those looking to achieve tran-scendental wisdom, attend-ing the Dalai Lama’s teaching on October 23 2014 will be the first step towards inner happiness.
Ai WEiWEi
A new exhibit opening at the Morris and helen Belkin Art Gallery, Ai Weiwei New York Photographs 1983-1993, features the photographs of prominent artist Ai Weiwei. The photographs chron-icle a difficult and transitory time in the artist’s life as he was settling into a life in New York after moving from China. Narratives surface in the photographs as the artist interacted with new situations such as poverty and political demonstrations. Ai Weiwei is a well-known artist who is also an active advocate for human rights and freedom of speech in China. All are welcome to the opening reception is on September 4, 2014 .U
VIFF >>
UBC’s film department and VIFF have a strong relationship, frequently featuring the works of UBC faculty and students.
PhOTO PULLED FROM VIFF.ORG
VIFF is the biggest film festival in Vancouver and has a long history with UBC’s film department.
Gabby PlonkaContributor
The Vancouver International Film Festival has become a cul-tural jumping-off point for UBC Film students. Multiple under-graduate and alumni submissions make the cut each year alongside the work of past and present fac-ulty members. Since the festival’s launch and Vancouver’s advent as a filmmaking hot spot, UBC has formed a tight-knit community of filmmakers.
“In spite of any ups and downs,” said UBC film professor and actor Tom Scholte, “Van-couver remains in the top three locations for the movie industry in North America. It makes UBC an extremely valuable place to be studying and pursuing film.”
The UBC Film community attempts to shrink Vancou-ver’s big-pond film industry to a more manageable size by providing support and industry connections to students. The Vancouver International Film Festival — VIFF — which boasts plenty of local f lavour, student and otherwise, has always been a big starting point. In fact, VIFF shows more Canadian films than any other festival in the world. For students looking to get involved, this downsizing can be both a blessing and a curse.
“[The Vancouver International Film Festival] is definitely a small community,” said Andrew Cier, an executive member of the UBC Film Society. Cier is a native of Park City, Utah, home to the
Sundance Film Festival. “When Sundance comes around, the whole city shuts down. You don’t really get that here.”
When you aren’t a hard-hitting filmmaker, the small community vibe can definitely be a double-edged sword. “As it stands, I haven’t seen a ton of [VIFF] branching out,” Cier said. “I would definitely be open to more student involvement.”
However, VIFF’s seemingly small window of opportunity has not been lost on a huge quantity of UBC film students. Numerous filmmakers submit work every year and many have reaped the rewards — film festival’s con-tributors can be found all over UBC’s campus.
UBC Film contributions are not limited to students — many of UBC’s faculty have also been featured at VIFF throughout the years.
Most recently, Scholte has become a successful actor both within and outside VIFF. Just last year, Scholte starred in The Dick Knost Show, a comedy that he co-produced with fellow UBC Film alumn Bruce Sweeney, which was featured at the 2013 Vancouver Film Festival, as well as the Toronto Film Festival, and earned Scholte a nomination for Best Actor in a Canadian Film, a pretty good accomplishment for any aspiring filmmaker.
After receiving his BA in Act-ing from UBC in the 90s, Scholte has continued to work closely within the UBC film community.
“There won’t be a year where
UBC isn’t represented [at the VIFF],” Scholte said. “Even our undergraduate students contrib-ute films every year.”
The relationship between UBC and the Vancouver Inter-national Film Festival is one that has survived many years. For instance, Creative Writing professor Sharon McGowan and UBC Film Chair Peggy Thomp-son have collaborated in the past on works such as Better than Chocolate (1999) and The Lotus Eaters (1993).
Delving even deeper into the past of Vancouver filmmaking,
UBC graduate Larry Kent’s 1963 film The Bitter Ash was com-memoratively screened at VIFF in 2001. Filmed crudely in black and white with sound added in post-production, The Bitter Ash was a ground-breaking work in West Coast film.
Scholte suggests that a lot of UBC Film’s success has to do with the program’s huge alumni support. “We have an amazing tri-mentorship program,” he said. “Our alumni association works really hard to promote stu-dent work. There’s an amazing community for students here.” U
College Days, College Nights: a faded retrospective lens to UBC’s pastOlamide OlaniyanContributor
One of the first thoughts you get when you start watching the 2004 documentary <em>College Days, College Nights </em> is that everything looks hauntingly familiar.
The documentary, a full length feature film, follows the lives of sixteen young undergradu-ates and their journey through the post secondary system. The film has recently been up-loaded to YouTube as a 3-part television show.
With Imagine Day just behind us, and students — both returning and new — flooding onto campus it’s nice to see what UBC looked like in the early 2000s, familiar — yet vastly different. According to Spencer Keys, one of the students featured in the film, and a cur-rent UBC Law student, university life hasn’t really changed much.
The political scene definitely has a different lay of the land. In the first parts of the show, Keys ran for several student positions in the AMS as an independent can-didate while holding a spot on the student council. He later became the 96th President of the Alma Mater Society.
Though a lot has changed since Keys’ undergraduate years, he said they same reasons still drive stu-dents to get involved on campus.
“Candidates run because of a sense of public service, a love of UBC, positive experience with the AMS or their undergraduate society and their personal ambi-tion,” said Keys.
However, he said the main dif-ference in the political scene is the large influence of the Greek system.
“Candidates of the Greek sys-tem seem to be more prominent now, probably because they are one of the few ways to get that broad exposure,” said Keys.
The number of fun events on campus has definitely decreased since <em>College Days, College Nights </
em> was filmed. The AMS Back-yard BBQ is only a shadow of its former self, with its new capacity at about half of what it was in previous years. Several other events have been discontinued or dismantled over the years, including Arts County Fair. According to Keys, the demise of beer gardens as of recent years has made the most difference in terms of student life.
“When there were three to nine beer gardens every Friday, you had a lot of opportunities to meet a broad cross section of people on campus,” said Keys.
Though it’s fascinating to see the similarities and differences within the show, the establishing shots showcase the pure beauty that UBC offered students of the past.
It’s enlightening to see how much changes in a decade. Ipads didn’t exist; the first smart-phones were made in 2005 and
College Days, College Nights debuted in 2004YOUTUBE SCREENGRAB
huge construction projects that cause today’s students grief didn’t exist. It feels like these people lived and studied in an entirely different era.
Overall, watching the show is a positive and enlightening experi-ence. Viewers will get to see UBC in a faded retrospective lens. As if looking into a time capsule and seeing the sensibilities of uni-versity students at that time, the similarities between us and them, and the differences that shape our eras. U
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2014 | 4EDITORS Jovana vranic + veronika Bondarenko
NEw SUB >>
Construction setbacks delay opening of The Pit and The Perch in the new SUBFurther delays in the AMS Student Nest will not push building opening date back
Scott JacobsenContributor
Several setbacks in the construction of The Pit and The Perch may cause the business-es to open later than expected.
“It is a little bit different for each of the outlets,” said Ava Nasiri, AMS VP admin. “The reason The Perch is lagging behind a bit is because we had some foundational changes that occurred in February.”
Nasiri said the construction workers needed to raise the ground of the spaces to become level, which caused the delays in the building process. Both the Perch and The Pit are expected to open within a few weeks of the opening of the new SUB in January 2015. The Perch will open sooner as construction of The Pit must stop for a week if the space is to be used for the open-ing ceremonies celebrations.
“As a student, it is unfortunate and disappointing, obviously, that The Pit and The Perch are delayed, but on large student projects like the Student Nest ... it is something that can be foreseen,” said Jenna Omassi, a fourth-year international relations and religious studies student and Arts Undergraduate Society president.
Still, Omassi feels satisfied by the efforts of the AMS to make sure the new SUB opens on schedule.
“The fact that the AMS is planning for a way to use the SUB for the first week back will be important from a student perspec-tive,” said Omassi.
Nasiri considered the construction’s long-term benefits in addition to the short-term costs.
“It was in the best interest of students to make that decision now rather than four years from now,” said Nasiri.
According to Nasiri, the decision to open these spaces later comes from balancing the provision of a quality space for the entire lifespan of the building.
“We are really well-aware and under-stand this is student money,” said Nasiri.
As such, Nasiri notes the acute aware-ness of cautious, informed spending of student money while balancing the need for keeping student excitement about the new space.
According to Nasiri, they have looked into a conditional operating license for the first week of second term for The Pit but the exact details regarding the license are still unclear.
The Perch and The Pit construction delays will not affect the rest of the build-ing, which is scheduled to open January 5. We’re all keeping our fingers crossed that the date doesn’t get pushed back. U
FILE PhOTO GEOFF LISTER/ThE UBYSSEYWhile thousands of students live in UBC’s residences, many more have had to find places off-campus.
Mateo OspinaContributor
The search to find housing at or near UBC has been an ongoing struggle for many UBC students.
Thousands of students have filled up UBC’s campus residences over the weekend, but many more have had to find places to live off-campus.
First-year Arts student Riki Beazley is happy to have secured a spot in UBC residences this year.
“You get lonely sometimes,” said Beazley. “I like it here better surrounded by people that you are friends with.”
For Beazley, the complexity of finding housing in Van-couver and potential problems with landlords were his primary reasons for wanting to live in the UBC campus residences this year.
But with UBC’s limited residence space, finding a place to live on campus is often not an option. As such, living in areas like Point Grey and Kitsilano can be signifi-cantly more expensive, especially when factoring in rent and utilities.
As such, many students move further away from cam-
pus to bring down their housing costs.First-year Arts student Dina Shouhdy will be commut-
ing to campus from Burnaby for 70 minutes each day. As such, she’s worried about missing out on various social events that make up a large part of student life.
“All the night activities and gatherings, it’s so hard to participate in them because it’s difficult to get home at night,” said Shouhdy. “I have to leave early and miss out on those activities and probably even miss out on meeting new people and getting to know them.”
But for Arts student Erica Dharmawan, there are also benefits to living far away from campus.
“I get to learn how to use the bus system,” said Dhar-mawan. “I get to learn how to cook too and I get to be closer to the city since UBC is kind of isolated in that one area.”
Andrew Parr, Managing Director of UBC Student Housing and Hospitality Services, recommends students begin the search for housing early and persevere to until they find the place that best suits them.
“We know that some students do have some difficulty,
but hope that students aren’t having trouble with that,” said Parr. “Reach out to your resources, the resources we provide. Take the time to shop around. Start early.”
Parr also encouraged students to expand their options by looking for apartments with a one-year lease. Along with an added sense of security that comes with a longer lease, it makes the renting process much easier.
“I think that opens up a huge inventory,” said Parr. “It would also give you the security of knowing you have this place for one year and don’t have to reenter the applica-tion process.”
Currently, UBC Student Housing and Hospitality Services offer residence to 10 per cent of those who apply. First year students are offered a housing guarantee while priority spaces are also given to newly-admitted Aboriginal students, exchange students and students with disabilities.
The AMS also offers resources such as the AMS Rentsline available for students who need to find hous-ing. Check out their website, chalked full of resources, at www.amsrentline.com U
Housing struggles: navigating Vancouver’s housing marketHOUSING >>
THURSdAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2014 | NEWS | 5
SEP 8-12
S.U.B.First Floor9am-8pm9am-5pm
RESIdENCES >>
Upper-year residences make room for first yearsDemand for student housing rises as UBC welcomes large first year class
Orchard Commons will be the home of UBC’s Vantage College, established as a transition pro-gram for international students coming to UBC. The building will include academic, administration and residential spaces. It is tar-geted to open for the 2016-2017 school year, according to UBC Board documents.
The Orchard Commons build-ing will be located across the street from Ritsumeiken House, where all 200 beds are now given
to first years.Along with Ritsumeiken’s 200
beds, about 550 beds in the Gage residence are now being taken up by first-year students.
“It’s unfortunate that the number of first-year students wanting housing is displacing, to a certain extent, upper-year students who would normally be in those beds,” said Parr.
Aside from Orchard Com-mons, UBC is also expanding its Ponderosa residence on
University Boulevard to include another building to house more upper-year students, according to Parr. The building will be open in the spring term of 2016.
Parr also noted that UBC continues to plan the construc-tion of future residences. UBC is working on a plan to house more students, both in their first year and beyond.
According to plans for the new UBC Aquatic Centre, Wesbrook Mall holds promise as a hotspot
for new construction. The east side of the REC Centre and new Aquatic Centre, as well as the parking lot area on the south side of the War Memorial Gym may potentially be home to student housing and retail buildings.
As first-year students continue to fill campus residences over the next few years, UBC’s up-per-years will have to keep their eyes out for low cost, nearby off-campus alternatives as they now have no other option. U
UWriteShootEdit CodeDrink
COME BY THE UBYSSEY OFFICE SUB 24, FOLLOW THE SIGNS
550 beds in UBC’s Walter Gage Residence have been assigned to first-year students.PhOTO MACkENzIE WALkER/ThE UBYSSEY
Jovana VranicNews Editor
UBC Student Housing and Hospitality Services have placed over 700 first-year students in a residence typically reserved for older students.
As a result of the opening of UBC’s Vantage College, changes in international enrolment and an overall growth in interest for on-campus housing, residences are seeing an increased number of first-year students moving in.
According to UBC Housing’s managing director Andrew Parr, this number will only increase in the years to come.
UBC guarantees housing for first- and second-year inter-national students, as well as domestic students applying dir-ectly from high school. Because of this, hundreds of upper-year students have been forced to find accommodation elsewhere.
Last school year, the UBC Senate passed a policy to reflect current practices of admitting a greater number of international students than the former policy cap allowed.
The population of inter-national students on campus is expected to rise by nine per cent over the next five years, accord-ing to the Senate’s report.
This is partially due to the opening of UBC’s international Vantage College.
This year, 180 Vantage college students are residing in the Place Vanier residence.
“Next year we’re expecting about 300 students,” said Parr. “In the following year, those students will all be moved to the new [Orchard Commons residence] where we’re building an additional 1,048 beds.”
Thursday, sEpTEmBEr 4, 2014 | 6PICTURES + WORDS ON YOUR UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE
Veronika BondarenkoNews Editor
Despite Tuesday’s pouring rain, UBC started off the new school year with a day of orientations and a pep rally.
The incoming class of 6,084 first-year students packed the stands at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre for UBC’s 18th Imagine Day.
Linc Kesler, director of the First Nations House of Learning, started off the presentations by acknowledging UBC’s presence on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Musqueam people.
After UBC choir members sung the national anthem, AMS President Tanner Bokor gave a speech that encouraged students to pursue new passions and ex-plore opportunities outside their comfort zones.
“UBC is a place that embraces diversity, drives us to be more than a number and empowers us to imagine and create new opportun-ities and outlets for our passions,” said Bokor. “It gives us opportun-ities to strive to be better.”
Next, VP Students Louise Cowin gave a speech about the
potential of the incoming class of first years.
“Today we meet our future alumni,” said Cowin. “Today we meet our new batch of bright and curious students.”
Cowin continued her speech with some stats on the class of 2018. The youngest student is 14 years old while the oldest is 65. The most common names are Emily and Michael, while the mean admission average is 88.4 per cent.
“We are a community filled with people exploring, discov-ering and pursuing,” said Cowin. “This is a place where you begin your quest to contribute to a greater purpose and, tell me, how great is that?”
After several popular perform-ances by beatboxers, slam poets and Imagine Day emcee Miss D., UBC President Arvind Gupta finished the speeches by talking about beginning university in the 1970s and congratulating students on making the choice to attend UBC.
“We have pretty much the toughest admission standards of any university in Canada and that means that most of you
could have gone to anywhere you wanted,” said Gupta. “You could have chosen any university that you wanted, but you wanted to be here.”
Gupta also gave words of ad-vice to students who, upon first entering university, are encour-aged to go after every opportun-ity that comes their way.
“I’m going to suggest some-thing very different,” said Gupta. “I want you all to search for your passion. Whatever you signed up to study, whatever you think you want to do right now, look around you and try to think about what you’re passion-ate about. What gives your life meaning? Because passionate people change the world.”
In an unexpected finish to the pep rally that seemed incredibly appropriate for the stereotyp-ically rainy day in Vancouver, Gupta and Bokor took part in an ALS Ice Bucket Challenge to the raging applause of the crowd.
“I think it’s really great for people to find causes they believe in and support them and do it in a fun way,” said Gupta. “I think you should all look for causes you believe in.” U
Imagine Day starts school celebrations with a splash
ImAGINE dAy >>
Polar opposite of his predecessor, Gupta happily accepts the ice bucket challenge
THURSdAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2014 | SCENE | 7
Thursday, sEpTEmBEr 4, 2014 | 8STUDENT VOICE. COMMUNITY REACH.
6,084 88.4%
14 65
incoming first year students mean admission average
age of youngest student age of oldest student
Michael
Emily
Most common names
Top ’s of Imagine Day
THURSdAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2014 | OPiNiONS | 9
A struggling medium: in defense of student journalism
The Phoenix, UBC-O’s official student newspaper, turned over the keys to its office in August af-ter being evicted by the school’s student union.
According to David Nixon, for-mer editor-in-chief of the paper, The Phoenix has been operating at a deficit for several years. The UBC-O student union evicted the newspaper in order to free up the space for a business that will gen-erate income — though the space has since been allocated to the UBC-O Peer Support Network, Women’s Resource Centre and Pride Centre.
Though some, including the UBC-O student union, do not appear to consider the Phoenix’s loss of their 250 sq. foot office to be detrimental to the paper’s po-tential performance or viability, the newspaper has already strug-gled financially over the past few years — and the loss of their office space may be the nail in the coffin. Rocky Kim, UBC-O’s student union president, argued that “the term ‘eviction’ is very harsh and implies we’re kicking [The Phoenix] out and that’s it. No, that’s definitely not the case. I’ve made every recommenda-tion and concession to make sure they’re still viable.” Except for giving them an office.
Although this transpired in the Okanagan, and there is no clear, direct connection to The Ubyssey or UBC Vancouver, it is a microcosm of the general trend of events in student journalism — and journalism in general.
For hundreds of years, since shortly after the creation of the printing press, newspapers have been a dominant medium through which people remained informed of current events. Even 20 years ago, newspapers were one of the leading forms of media. Over the past couple of decades, however, online jour-nalism — professional and ama-teur — and television have ser-iously encroached on what was formerly territory firmly held by print media. It’s now a common sentiment among journalists and observers alike that newspapers are dying. Equally common is the question, “does it matter?”
The Ubyssey was founded in 1918 and has run (almost) con-tinuously for 96 years. The paper has been the host — and in some cases, the runway, for the ca-reers — of many notable alumni, including Prime Minister John Turner and dozens of journalists and authors, from Pierre Berton — who reportedly enrolled at UBC primarily to write for The Ubyssey — and Allan Fothering-ham (who was kidnapped by members of the Engineering Undergraduate Society for his critical columns, and who subse-quently kidnapped and impris-oned the then-EUS president for three days), to poet Earle Birney and photographer Jeff Wall.
As one might expect of any organization with a near-100 year history, The Ubyssey has a colourful past. One of our more notable achievements is having been called “the vilest rag you can imagine and … the best argu-ment for censorship that could be produced.” The paper eventually moved from its first office with the UBC Publications Board, to the basement of Brock Hall and reaching its (so-far) pinnacle in the third floor of the SUB, before being relegated to our current basement office in 2001 (see the AMS-Ubyssey conflict of ’94, in which The Ubyssey was shut down and later resurrected by a student referendum).
We’ve done some good. From advocating for the right of Japanese-Canadian students to continue their studies during the Second World War to breaking the stories of the Sauder FROSH cheers and UBC sexual assaults in 2013. But we’ve also done some bad, such as coming out against co-education in 1929, and pub-lishing a tasteless image of a UBC student mock-crucified on a to-tem pole at Easter in 1959 (which resulted in the firing of the entire editorial staff ). We’ve made some striking (if optimistic) observa-tions, such as proclaiming the end of World War I to herald a “a new era of peace,” and some slightly embarrassing ones, like when we called The Beatles’ first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show “the biggest disappoint-ment since mother told us there was no Santa Claus.” Ultimately, we’re human. The Ubyssey is and always has been run by students, for most of whom the experi-ence at the paper is their first foray into journalism. We make mistakes and poor decisions, and we’re all, in some ways, learning as we go. But we work here be-cause we want to make the paper as good as it can be.
The Ubyssey is, first and fore-most, a student service. Whether it’s breaking news stories or offering a place for students to learn how to be journalists, The Ubyssey exists courtesy of and for the benefit of UBC students. We’re funded by a fee of $6.21 per student, per school year and each year plenty of students opt out of this fee. Even as I write this piece in our office, we’ve had several people walk in asking to opt out of the fee. And that is absolutely their right.
The editors and some staff writers at the paper are paid, but most — along with dozens of other unpaid staff — spend hours doing volunteer work each week. All of our editors could make more money working at a fast food job than we do at the paper. For some of us, it is a job — but it’s also a place to learn and have fun.
Student newspapers are more
than just an outlet for campus news reporting. They’re places for people to make their opinions heard. They’re places for people to learn how to be journalists in a relaxed environment, and a place to meet others who have similar interests. Perhaps most import-antly for some of the people who work here, it’s a way to gain experience in a relevant field.
Vaughn Palmer, a political pundit for the Vancouver Sun, is one of The Ubyssey’s most well-known contemporary alumni. He wrote for The Ubyssey in the ‘70s and, though he didn’t focus much on academics (like many Ubyssey editors over the years), his in-volvement propelled his career in journalism.
“I got my start in journal-ism at The Ubyssey, spent more time in the newsroom than the classroom – as evidenced by the number of incompletes in my transcript,” Palmer said.
Alan Fotheringham, another Ubyssey alum who is a prominent Canadian journalist, famous for his columns in Maclean’s and the Globe and Mail, also discussed his dedication to journalism over academics in his memoir.
“I was one of the few Ubyssey editors to actually graduate,” he said.
The Ubyssey gets criticized a lot. Many student papers do. Sometimes it’s for the perceived poor quality of our writing or reporting, or the fact that we publish controversial opinions pieces. It’s The Ubyssey’s policy
to publish letters student write, as long as they meet length requirements and aren’t libelous. It’s not a perfect policy — it can result in some opinions being overrepresented — but it gives everyone a chance to speak their mind, which is a cornerstone of any student newspaper.
Is it better to have some random
guy blogging from home a few times a week? Maybe. I’m the blog editor for The Ubyssey and I can tell you that nine times out of 10, a short, snappy blog post performs better than a long, researched, stolid article. In such an instantan-eous world, where so much infor-mation is at your fingertips, this is understandable. But there’s some-thing to be said for an institution — a team — that works around the clock to create content. Particular-ly if that institution works at the same place they report on. Justin McElroy, a former multi-term Ubyssey editor and currently a writer and web producer at Global News, agrees.
“There’s still an innate value in having a heft of people together … building up that kinetic energy in one place and that place being close to, if not right on, the area that you’re directly reporting on that you can’t replace in any way,” he said.
Though for some people at The Ubyssey, journalism has been their
dream job for years, others hadn’t even seriously considered it as a career path. McElroy fit into the latter group.
“It’s one of those things like being an astronaut or profession-al golfer … yeah, that’d be cool, but people don’t actually do that, right? They have boring jobs!” he said.
For others, like second-year Ubyssey volunteer Olivia Law, student newspapers serve as just another step on the career path they’ve had laid out since they were kids, and a chance to gain experience. “[The Ubyssey] said, ‘you don’t ever have to have writ-ten anything before. We’ll start you off with something that’s 200 words long that maybe no one will read, but it’ll get published, and you’ll have something that was published,” she said.
One of the greatest assets of a student paper is that it is intrin-sically local. The Ubyssey, as with all student papers, has its focus directed toward campus and issues that affect students. Though other publications do ad-dress student issues from time to time, it is with student journalism — by students and for students — that a portrait of a school can be painted and made complete. Whether it’s Our Campus profiles revealing the life stories of some of UBC’s favourite profs, news articles breaking stories about administration scandals or re-porting research achievements, or sports commentary on the major win by one of our teams, the coverage of student issues by stu-dent newspapers is unequaled by other, non-student publications.
“Student newspapers have been vibrant for decades and decades and decades in Canada and North America, because they have their pulse on where students are, and are constantly reporting for them the way they expect,” McElroy said.
If student journalism is going to survive, it will have to adapt to the changing times. But it also requires the support of its audi-ence and benefactors, and the realization of the public that it is, ultimately and in many ways, a student service — to both its audience and authors. U
PhOTO COURTESY UBC ARChIVES
Prime Minister John Turner looking back at his time at The Ubyssey with our archives in 1988.
OPiniOnS & BlOg EditOREditorial
AUStEn ERhARdt
I got my start in journalism at The
Ubyssey, spent more time in the newsroom than the classroom –as evidenced by
the number of incompletes in my
transcript,”.Vaughn Palmer
Former Ubyssey editor and columnist at the Vancouver Sun.
It’s now a common sentiment among
journalists and observers alike
that newspapers are dying. Equally
common is the question, “does it
matter?”
There’s still an innate value in
having a heft of people together …
building up that kinetic energy in
one place and that place being close
to, if not right on, the area that you’re
directly reporting on that you can’t
replace in any way,”.Justin McElroy
Former multi-term Ubyssey editor and writer and web producer at
global News.
Thursday, sEpTEmBEr 4, 2014 | 10EDITOR Jack Hauen
Jack Hauensports and rec Editor
The sailing club isn’t just for sailing. The club owns an array of watercraft, from paddleboards to windsurfers to Flying Juniors, which some members use to race competitively. The variety of choices reflects the club’s inclusive atmosphere.
“Previous sailing experience is awesome,” said instructor Neil Roberts. “But we’re also perfectly happy to train people as crew, then move them into skippering roles as they’re comfortable.”
If you’re unfamiliar with sailing terminology, crew refers to the people in the boat mainly respon-sible for shifting their weight around in order to balance the boat that the skipper is responsible for steering. I know this because I at-tended the club’s recruiting event at Jericho Beach — aptly named Try Sailing — which got students out on the water and encouraged them to join up. I can sea the appeal.
During the event, the new recruits were given a hands-on landlocked rundown of some basic safety and steering mechanisms of the ship, then it was into the ocean to experience the open water with two strangers who quickly became friends. Funny how that works when you’re depending on one another to stay dry.
We went through a quick and easy figure eight loop a few times, practicing tacking, balancing, tightening the jib and any other ocean-related jargon you can think
of, then the instructors roped us to their motorboats and toured us around Jericho’s waters. Though it was a relaxed evening with little to no stress, the level of instructor contact seemed indicative of the care they feel for their club and the recruits who join them – good news, since they also run a lesson program aimed to turn even the greenest landlubber into a sea dog capable of braving the great blue unknown.
“It’s probably Canada’s cheapest lesson program in terms of the cost per hour of instruction. You get fully professional instruction —these aren’t volunteers coming out and teaching you what they think they know, these are professional, trained instructors who really know their stuff,” said Roberts.
Roberts described the sailing club as a “group of groups”; the competitive race team is focused on competing in regattas across B.C., Washington and Oregon, while the rest of the club divides its time between lessons and recreational boating activities (windsurfing, kayaking, and stand up paddleboarding, to name a few).
The race team holds practices three times per week, and it pays off. Last season they placed first and second at CICSA (Canadian Intercollegiate Sailing Associ-ation) Nationals in match racing, and second in fleet racing, as well as taking home second place at the Women’s NWICSA (Northwest Intercollegiate Sailing Associ-ation) Qualifier, and gaining com-petitive club status at UBC.
Stephanie Stearman, the vice-president of the sailing team, cites instant feedback from other members as reason the skills of those involved in the club will always improve.
“Some people have placed at international events, and some are just beginners, so there’ll always be something to learn from your peers. By the end of the season we pick up on everyone’s knowledge.”
The non-competitive side holds just-for-fun events and lessons throughout the year, but mainly during warmer weather.
“In the summer, they do trips all around the Gulf Islands. There’s also a more casual racing scene going on in the summer, as well as some competitive stuff in the catamarans,” said Roberts. “Then,
in the winter, the recreational club slows down a bit. They run lessons through the fall, switch over once everyone goes skiing in December or January, then we rev it up again in April.”
Though the views of experi-enced club members might be a bit biased, they’re all more than happy to list off reasons to join the club and get a taste of Vancouver’s open water.
“I think sailing’s unique be-cause it’s part athleticism, but it’s very social,” said Stearman. “This is competition, but in a fun way. I learn something every time I’m on the water. I’ll be 90 years old and still sailing, and still learning something. There are different factors each time, so it really is a thinking person’s sport. You’re always on your toes.”
“It never gets boring, said club treasurer Ekaterina Gerasimenko. “You’re always outside and the scenery’s always different, the people are always different.... It’s just great to be on the water in the fresh air. You can see the sunrise, the sunset, it’s really romantic.”
And if you’re wondering whether the Sailing Club knows how to party, you should know that the motorboat cage at Jericho also contained a healthy amount of empty kegs from the previous get-together. The old stereotype of a sailor with a bottle of rum appar-ently still holds water, according to Gerasimenko.
“Well back in the day, sailors drank it all the time. It’s just in our blood.” U
Olamide OlaniyanContributor
With nine fresh faces join-ing the women’s soccer team this year, the squad’s future is relatively uncertain. The preseason saw matches with the University of Alberta, Western Washington and Langara College. The 2014-15 season started off on the right foot as the women took the first game against defending Canada West champions U of A at home 1-0. Taylor Shannik tallied the lone score at 63:57, knocking in a free kick from 20 yards out. The T-Birds then dropped their next match against Western Washington University by the same score on August 22 after allowing an early goal. The final preseason game saw the women defeat Langara at Varsity Field last week, again one-nil, after rookie midfielder Reetu Johal put in the lone tally in the 75th minute.
According to head coach Andrea Neil, this season will be mostly about growth for the ‘Birds. She’s focused on building the team up and getting the squad full of new players ready to be contenders in Canada West. “The 2014 Canada West season is more about establishing a pro-gram, laying a foundation,” said Neil, the former assistant coach of the Canadian National Team. “We
already have a defensive record in the past — we want to shift and focus a little more on our attacking.” This season will be Neil’s second season as head coach. She joined the club in 2013, bringing a wealth of experience to the helm
and leading the Thunderbirds to a third place finish in the regular season before losing to Alberta in Canada West’s opening playoff round, then falling to Victoria in penalty kicks in the bronze medal game. Neil is a UBC graduate and ex-Thunderbird — she lead the
team to a CIAU championship in 1994 and won the Marilyn Pomfret in 1993 as the univer-sity’s top female athlete. She has also competed for Canada in four World Cups. Neil is one of the most decor-ated soccer players to come from
Canada, and has been inducted into the UBC Sports Hall of Fame, the BC Sports Hall of Fame, the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame, and the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, and was recently honoured by the Vancouver Whitecaps as she became the second player to be inducted into their Ring of Honour, mainly due to her years as captain of the team. She’ll need all of that experi-ence to lead the Thunderbirds to become contenders in the CIS. The 2014-2015 team is largely composed of rookies, placing heavy weights on the shoulders of incoming recruits. The large recruiting class includes: defenders Madison Matulionis, Alisa Murtland, Nadia Langenberg and Emma Kallner; forwards Amrit Berar and Emma Leese; and midfielders Reetu Johal, Alix Varchol, Elizabeth Swoboda and Stephanie Pospiech. According to Neil, the greatest strength of the women’s soccer team is their openness to learn and grow. “It’s important not to judge them by how far they can go. It is important to judge by how far they have come. And they have been remarkable,” said Neil. <em> The team’s home opener will be on Saturday, September 13 on Varsity Field against the University of Northern B.C.</em> U
Come sail away with UBC Sailing
SOCCER >>
Club offers recreational, competitive sailing, other watersports
PhOTO JACk hAUEN / ThE UBYSSEY
From left to right: Stephanie Stearman, zoe Lin, Alicia Chan, Neil Roberts, and Ekaterina Gerasimenko.
Women’s soccer looks to build this season
PhOTO MACkENzIE WALkER / ThE UBYSSEYThe women’s soccer squad is relying on a batch of new players to step up their game.
New recruits are in the spotlight after last year’s heartbreak
SAILING >>
THURSdAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2014 | SPORTS | 11
Soren ElsayContributor
If repeating as champions really is the hardest thing to do in sports, then the UBC Thunderbirds are about to undertake an even tough-er task. The ‘Birds followed up their undefeated season in 2012 with another dominant display, this time only losing a single game enroute to a second consecutive CIS Championship. Along the way UBC collected a 15th Canada West banner thanks to a 6-1 demolition of Saskatchewan in the final, and continued on to defeat Laval 3-1 to claim the CIS National Title. The challenge now for the Thunderbirds is to do something that has not been seen in over 20 years. In order to find the last team to win three straight titles, you have to look back to the great UBC teams from 1989 – 1992 which won an unparalleled four consecutive CIS banners. For head coach Mike Mosher, who enters his 19th season at the helm, this season is like any other. “We have won 13 championships, and 12 over the last 30 years … so that is the standard. [Winning the championship] is the expectation regardless of what happened the previous year,” he said. If any team is to step out of the shadow of its forefathers, this may be the team. The 2014 squad sees many key pieces returning, includ-ing its three leading goal scorers and three starting defenders. “If I look at this group versus last year, I think the starting 11 is as good as what we had last year and I think what we’ve got in terms of depth is better,” said Mosher. “Right now I think we have actually got a better team than we did last year.” Offensively, the ‘Birds were a juggernaut last season, averaging almost three and a half goals per game, and most of the usual suspects are back. Milad Mihrabi returns after leading the team with 15 goals in 20 games, as well as Navid Mashinchi, whom Mosher calls “one of the best players in the entire country.” Naill Cousens, the 6’4” striker, returns as well, after a successful first season for the Thunderbirds which saw him register 11 goals
and earn CIS Tournament MVP. Joining the trio is a handful of intriguing additions: the diminu-tive Boris Si returns home after spending the last two years play-ing professionally in China, and Jules Chopin, who has moved across town from SFU, providing Mosher with even more at-tacking options. This plethora of weapons gives Mosher flexibility when it comes to attacking the oppos-ition. “We can hurt teams in so many different ways. We’ve got different players that can do it, from different positions, [and] set pieces.” While he acknowledges
that certain players are the focal point, Mosher values a “level of unpredictability in terms of how we attack.” At the other end of the field, the Thunderbirds are well equipped to be as stifling as they were last year, a year in which the team surrendered a measly 12 goals all season. Anchoring the back four is fifth-year senior Paul Clerc. This year’s captain will fill a big part of the void left behind from last year’s graduated captains Will Hyde and Greg Smith, something Mosher knows he is fully prepared to handle: “[Clerc] has done it all on the
field, he does it in the classroom, he won the Governor General’s Award [given to the country’s top academic athlete] … there is an easy leader right there,” said Mosher. Joining Clerc on the back line are three returning starters from last season. Bryan Fong enjoyed a break-out year last season and will be back to man the other centre back spot. Two year starter Tyler Mertens and newcomer Chris Serban round out an experienced back four. In goal, Mosher has the lux-ury of having all four keepers returning from last year. Last season saw all of them — Luke O’Shea, Richard Meister, Ante
Beskovic and Chris Beck — get significant playing time, and Mosher excepts much the same for this year.
“I think we’ll see a bit of the same [as last year] where different guys get different opportunities to play. We are fortunate to have a wealth of good goalkeepers.”
The Thunderbirds begin their season September 5 in Victoria against the University of Victoria Vikes. The first home game of the season is slated for Saturday, Sep-tember 13 against the University of Northern B.C. U
Men’s soccer sets sights on a three-peat
PhOTO MACkENzIE WALkER / ThE UBYSSEY
Winning the CIS championship this year would be nothing out of the ordinary for the Thunderbirds.
SOCCER >>
Expectations are high after dominant recent years
Frosted Tips: exercises to improve your skating
Cole Wilson had 22 points in 28 games in the 2013/2014 season.FILE PhOTO ALVIN TIAN / ThE UBYSSEY
Jason YeeContributor
Tip 1: Off-Ic eExercises</strong>
Doing fundamental lifts like squats, deadlifts and lunges will go a long way to helping your skating stride by strengthening you and teaching you muscular endurance in a knee and hip flexed position. This allows you to get more knee bend while skating, and knee bend leads to a longer stride with better push angles. My favourite exercise is a called a “single leg squat to target.” To do this, stand facing away from a bench or chair on one leg. Sit your hips back, while balancing on one leg, until your bum touches the seat. Sit com-pletely down on the seat. Then squeeze your bum and stand back up. Repeat 5-6 reps per side for
2-3 sets. You shouldn’t wobble or wiggle during the rep. Your joints should remain stacked (knees in line with toes), and your spine should remain neutral and straight throughout the movement. Your knee also shouldn’t travel forward over your toes — it should remain stationary while your hips sit back.
<strong>Tip 2: Get your bum down and bend your knees</strong>
If you’re already strong off the ice, the next step is to get a deeper knee bend. Do this by sitting your bum back as if sitting in a chair. The lower your knee bend, the more favourable your push angle is to developing speed. Skaters without much knee bend push straight down (vertically) into the ice, while skaters with more knee bend have more horizontal and lateral push. By pushing laterally and horizontally, skaters push in
a much more energy efficient dir-ection. Think of how low Sidney Crosby skates — bend your knees and sit your bum back to become more efficient and faster.
<strong>Tip 3: Keep your skate blade on the ice</strong>
Sometimes skaters try to skate fast-er by taking faster steps. This can be a mistake if the skater also takes a shorter step. A tip that I often give players is to keep their blade on the ice and feel them pushing into it as long as possible. In order to do this, ensure that your push starts under your body, and that you finish with your toe on the ice. Feeling the push through this complete range of motion is your goal. Think of Ryan Kesler — he always has a long stride that starts under his body and powerfully pushes through his toe, putting all the power from his legs into the ice. U
Thursday, sEpTEmBEr 4, 2014 | 12PICTURES + WORDS ON YOUR UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE
CROSSWORDSUDOKU
ACross
1- humorist Bombeck 5- Big cheese 9- Small antelope14- Swedish auto15- Bard’s river16- Vends17- Fork feature18- First name in country19- Magazine copy20- Four-time Indy 500 winner22- Get ready24- Collection of maps, Titan of Greek mythology26- “Exodus” hero27- Out of tune30- hayrick35- I swear!36- Japanese wrestling37- Alaska’s first governor38- TV Tarzan Ron39- Gasping42- “Wheel of Fortune” buy43- Cambodian currency45- Untruths, tells falsehoods46- heartburn48- Society of women50- Anise-flavored liqueur51- Abu Dhabi’s fed.52- Deadly virus54- Inclination58- Milan opera house62- Straighten63- A Baldwin brother65- OPEC member66- European capital, in song67- Whip68- Inter ___69- Dummy Mortimer70- ABA member71- Rifle (through)
DoWn
1- It is in Spain2- Racetrack boundary3- hindu lawgiver4- Eastern Algonquian language5- Just6- ___ barrel7- Cry out loud8- Ginger cookie9- Willows10- Reprieve11- Role for Ingrid12- Make indistinct13- Words of understanding21- Precipitous23- Semisynthetic textile25- Sleep27- Lulus28- Accountant’s sheet29- Pilot31- French friends32- One more time33- Division of a long poem34- Massage36- Bad mood40- Extraterrestrial41- Some Celts44- Goldbricker47- Thank you49- Showered50- Swampy53- hallowed54- Drinks (as a cat)55- Vivacity56- Leeds’s river57- Festive occasion59- Woody’s boy60- Den of wild animals and dragons61- Med school subj.64- Back muscle, briefly
TUE SEPT 16 2014 /8pm
Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer
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