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The Career Centre hosted its biennial career fair with 61 businesses ready to offer students jobs — but apparently the food was the highlight.

An entire generation is learning to turn to their phones instead of dealing with social situations and awkward silences. We know the problem, but what are the repercussions? And is there a solution? Thomas Nyte describes his small steps.

After four years of hearing nothing from Tokyo Police Club, fans get another album — Forcefield. Check out the review on how it compares to Champ, and how Tokyo Police Club has grown.

Klaus Figueredo just finished his fifth season of university hoops, and talks to Nathan Hutton about what he’s learned on the long road that got him here.

Hits and misses of the Career Fair

How many young people does it take to be than a smartphone?

A force to be reckoned with

Playing the transition game

News

Opinion

Arts

Sports & Health

The Cascade is UFV’s autonomous student newspaper. It provides a forum for UFV students

to have their journalism published. It also acts as an alternative press for the Fraser Valley. The Cascade is funded with UFV student funds. The Cascade is

published every Wednesday with a circulation of 1500 and is distributed at UFV campuses and throughout

Abbotsford, Chilliwack, and Mission. The Cascade is a member of the Canadian University Press, a national cooperative of 75 university and college newspapers from Victoria to St. John’s. The Cascade follows the CUP ethical policy concerning material of a prejudi-

cial or oppressive nature.Submissions are preferred in electronic format

through e-mail. Please send submissions in “.txt” or “.doc” format only.

Articles and letters to the editor must be typed. The Cascade reserves the right to edit submissions for clarity and length. The Cascade will not print any

articles that contain racist, sexist, homophobic or libel-lous content. The writer’s name and student number must be submitted with each submission. Letters to the editor must be under 250 words if intended for print. Only one letter to the editor per writer in any

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Chamber of secrets

News

Briefs

In the time of digital behe-moth movie theatres, AVX, VIP, IMAX, 3D, and so on, clas-sic film-fed projector screens are a dying breed. Cloverdale’s Clova Cinema announced, after a long battle to secure fund-ing for a digital projector and extended lease, that they will closing their doors, but rest assured they intend to go out with a bang. They plan to show as many films as they can get their hands on until the inevita-ble day digital takes over com-pletely.

Clova Cinema closes

Lightbulbs, friendly trees, and the value of daydreaming: Katie Stobbart has the highlights of Daniela Elza’s GreenSpeak lecture, “Through the poetry of the world: toward an ecology of being.”

Ecology meets poeticsCulture 12

Staff writernadine@ufvcascade.ca

Nadine Moedt

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news@ufvcascade.ca

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@CascadeNewsStaff writer

breckles@ufvcascade.caTaylor Breckles

After a year-long debate and the final decision by Ab-botsford Council to turn down funding for a 20-man housing unit for the homeless, Abbots-ford’s homeless population is being surveyed. 5 and 2 Min-istries founder and executive director Ward Draper is lead-ing the survey to find out how many homeless individuals are in Abbotsford as well as who they are.

Counting the homeless

The SUS AGM scheduled for March 12 did not occur due to lack of member turnout. A first attempt requires about 70 people to reach quorum, whereas the second attempt requires only 15. However, not all was lost; while stu-dents waited the mandated 30 minutes before post-poning the meeting, UFV’s chamber of secrets was dis-covered and the recently elected president Ryan Pe-terson took everyone back to childhood with clapping games. The AGM’s second at-tempt has been scheduled for March 19 at 3 p.m. in B101 in Abbotsford or A0014 in Chilliwack.

As a kid, I was an avid stamp-collector. I’m not sure I’ve ever told anyone that before; it ’s one of those embarrassing facts that aren’t hidden, per se, but which any sensible hu-man will avoid mentioning in polite conversation. But those tiny coloured squares were my obsession for more than a few years; I carefully saved them from my parents’ envelopes and ordered them from the Canada Post catalogue with my birthday money.

Back then, stamps were around 45 cents, give or take, and steadily rose by a few cents every few years. I have an impressive collection of 42-cent and 46-cent stamps, each of which takes up nearly a page of its own in a slim blue volume.

I stopped collecting when I hit teenhood, but I continue to harbour a secret love for Can-ada Post.

Now the idea of a physical message medium is so retro that not even hipsters will touch it.

So, faced with declining use and increasing disinterest, Canada Post announced cuts last December.

Massive cuts. Five million households cur-

rently get mail delivered to the door, a service that will be re-placed by community boxes.

Of roughly 50,000 mail car-riers currently employed,

Canada Post expects to let be-tween 6000 and 8000 go, most of whom they predict will hit retirement age and phase out of the workforce naturally.

Finally, stamps will increase from 63 cents each to an even $1 — although the thrifty eye will note they’re only 85 cents if bought by the booklets.

These are drastic changes, unlike anything Canada Post has proposed before. They all kick in at the end of March: like some kind of April Fool’s joke, the price of stamps will rise, community boxes will sprout on street corners, and mail carriers will retire left and right.

Without these measures, Canada Post says, they expect to run a deficit of $1 billion by the year 2020 — a scary num-ber.

But technology is outpacing tradition; the feel of a physi-cal letter is outmatched by the speed and ease of email. We don’t live in an era of mail-order catalogues and hand-written letters anymore; the average Canadian household only buys two stamps ev-ery month, and mailbags are mostly filled with bills or paid advertisements. Rarely does the mailbox hold anything the recipient is excited — or even willing — to read.

Canada Post reported a prof-it in 2012, but only following a deficit in 2011 — the first in 16 years, but the latest step in a progression of slowly reced-ing profit margins. Canada Post doesn’t draw on tax dol-

lars and doesn’t ever intend to, leaving few options for the ail-ing service.

But while the cuts have con-tinued to make headlines since December, fewer sources touch on the fact that these cuts were born from recommendations found in a report from the Conference Board of Canada (CBC). Even fewer mention the rest of the report’s contents; cuts, surprisingly, were not the only option.

As it turns out, Canada Post is not the only flagging postal system in the world. In 2012, the US Postal System reported a deficit of $15.9 billion. The German and British postal systems suffered the same downslide.

Rather than cut, they found other solutions.

Both Germany and Britain chose to privatize their postal systems, opening the service up to the market rather than keeping it a crown corporation as Canada has.

“By 2000, Deutsche Post had become fully privatized,” the CBC report reads. “Through attrition, the size of the work-force was reduced by 38 per cent and, by 2010, productivity increased by 20 per cent.”

It wasn’t an abrupt shift, but a gradual one that began in 1990. The effects were exactly what was expected: a smaller, more productive, more profit-able workforce — but no blan-ket cuts.

The other popular option is to evolve the postal service to include banking services,

which is fairly common world-wide; Japan, New Zealand, and half a dozen countries operate this way, and the US is seriously considering it as well. Since postal outlets are already a trusted and secure establishment, the leap from money orders to payday loans or debit cards isn’t all that huge.

But this option is one CBC dismisses without ado.

“Canada has a highly devel-oped financial services sector that extends from large banks to small credit unions,” it states. “[T]he conditions that allowed other postal adminis-trations to succeed in banking do not exist in Canada. There-fore, this report does not ex-plore financial services as an option in Canada.”

The board quickly crosses out privatization as well.

“Neither privatization nor liberalization of markets is, by itself, a strategy for sustaining postal services in an environ-ment of decline,” the section concludes.

Which leaves only one op-tion: cuts.

I don’t have the CBC’s ex-perience, nor the information they used to come to this con-clusion, yet I can’t help but wonder if they could have looked a little harder at expan-sion rather than contraction.

Raising the price of stamps — a commodity already in low demand — may well spell the death of what little casual mail traffic is left.

DESSA BAYROCKTHE CASCADE

The numbers, the options, the conclusionWith big changes coming in April, is Canada Post side-stepping a future of deficit or quietly disintegrating?

3NEWSWEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

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A medley of UFV anthropol-ogy students and Langley lo-cals were invited to a presen-tation in the new Kwantlen Longhouse Cultural Center in Fort Langley on March 14, where artist Brandon Gabriel and UFV instructor Douglas Hudson made presentations on indigenous art and archeology.

The group toured the long-house and took part in tradi-tional Sto:lo songs and drum-ming. The Longhouse, built entirely of western red cedar, opened in 2013.

Gabriel welcomed the group as the first guests outside of the Kwantlen community, and described the significance of its place in relation to Fort Langley.

Fort Langley was the first post set up by Hudson’s Bay Company in B.C. in 1827. The heritage town now celebrates this history. Kwantlen peoples, however, see the milestone dif-ferently, according to Gabriel.

“This idea that the settlers, the colonial people, came here, were coming to a land that was devoid of people and culture, was not true,” he said. “We were a big strong presence.”

A massive usurping of land and the disenfranchisement of Kwantlen peoples followed. The land was sold off in parcels in the form of the communities we see today.

The presence of the new longhouse comes as a symbol of the spirit of the Kwantlen peoples.

“It speaks volumes,” Gabriel said. “It speaks to the resilience

of our people, the desire for us to continue on with our cul-ture, despite the many adverse effects that the Canadian gov-ernment put on our people.”

Gabriel, who is a renowned Coast Salish artist with art ex-hibited around the world, gave a presentation on First Nations art and perspectives. He spoke on the importance of language and the oral tradition of First Nations people. Despite not having the Western tradition of a written culture, First Na-tions peoples had a complex,

unique language and means of preserving memory.

Early petroglyphs (picto-gram engravings on rock) de-tailed “life as it was happen-ing” over 500 years ago.

“Art is as much about the hu-man journey as itself,” Gabriel said. “We study and map hu-man history through art.”

A main topic of discussion was the repatriation of arti-facts taken from First Nations peoples throughout the history of Canada. According to Gabri-el, First Nations artifacts from

British Columbia are second in number only to Egyptian arti-facts held by museums. Most of these were taken without the permission of the people they belonged to. Now, there is no system in place to return the stolen art.

Reclaiming these items is a difficult process. The identi-ties of the artifact owners were never documented meaning relatives are not able to prove their direct ancestry and there-fore can’t reclaim items that belong to their family.

Gabriel also spoke of criti-cism many indigenous artists face when it comes to creating modern works. Indigenous art has been relegated to the past, and must conform to idealistic expectations of what “Indian” art should look like.

This expectation is seen in the mass production and imita-tion of First Nations art.

“The sacredness has been lost in the quantification of the art form,” Gabriel said.

NADINE MOEDTTHE CASCADE

Art, language, and memories revisited at Kwantlen Longhouse

“We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change at-titudes, lives and, ultimately, the world,” reads the TED Talk mission statement — an ideal Student Life is hoping to bring to UFV.

Eighteen-minute TED Talk events tackle everything from current business ventures to cultural issues impacting the world. Modelling a simi-lar speaking series, fittingly named UFV Talks, Student Life programmer Martin Kelly hopes to engage students and give them a forum to express their ideas.

“Ideas are like planting seeds or dropping a petal into a pond — they’ll expand from here,” Kelly says. “There isn’t a short-age of good ideas out there — so why not share them?”

So far there has only been one student speaker, with a relatively small turn out of ap-proximately 10 students. Kelly says this has more to do with the program’s infancy, explain-

ing that with anything it takes time to get students involved and aware.

“This is the trial run … it’s a building thing like everything else,” he says. “Hopefully this will evolve into something much grander but it has to start somewhere.”

TED Talks specifically looks to address issues that will open a broad discourse, a fact Kelly strongly believes should be emulated by students wishing to speak at these events.

“Do you have something [to say] that will make a light bulb go off over students heads and get them talking? … I don’t want it to be about a particu-lar issue,” Kelly says. “So not about starving kids in Africa or the conflict in Ukraine or anything like that — no axe to grind.

“The idea is to present any kind of view on any thought that you have,” he says, “that will make the people who come to watch do a double-take.”

Kelly notes that while other events on campus geared at opening up similar types of

discussion are valuable, their formality may be intimidating to students — something he hopes UFV Talks will address.

“Stéphane Dion came. We have Daniela Elza, the writer in residence, bringing in peo-ple — fantastic stuff — but those [events] are more for-mal; it ’s a different structure,” Kelly says. “With [UFV Talks] you’ll never have a friendlier or [more] sympathetic audi-ence. It’s very gentle — it’s not

subject to academic rigor.”In time, Kelly hopes UFV

Talks will gain enough trac-tion to potentially become a “TEDx” event, or a mini ver-sion of the TED Talks them-selves, a potential Martin be-lieves UFV students should be striving toward.

“I think there should be more of this kind of stuff at univer-sities,” he says. “If you’re go-ing to create a vibrant campus community … we need to have

some intellectual pursuits for students to engage in.”

“If you sit here in U-House and listen to the conversations … students love talking about stuff that means a lot to them,” Kelly concludes. “So the dream would be to make it ... a desti-nation — a reason for students not to go home after school, but to stay.”

KATHERINE GIBSONTHE CASCADE

TED-style UFV Talks form a foundation for students to express ideas

Image: Nadine Moedt

The Kwantlen Longhouse Cultural Centre opened its doors for a discussion on repatriation and Aboriginal artwork.

4NEWS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

www.ufvcascade.ca

:/ ;) :( :O :S :D Science on Purpose

Career Fair attracts students with food

Which affects you more — a sad expression on your best friend’s face, or the sad-face emoticon your best friend sends you in a text message?

The answer may surprise you: on average, people are be-ginning to view both in exactly the same way. A happy emoti-con might just be a colon and a closed parenthesis, but that simple combination triggers the same chemical reaction in the brain as looking at a happy expression on someone’s face.

The journey of :), :/, :P, and :O began in 1982, when profes-sor Scott Fahlman first used an emoticon as part of an online message board conversation. As email and other text con-versations became increasingly common, it became clear that not all parts of physical conver-sation translated well into text; over 90 per cent of communi-cation is non-verbal, which in-cludes facial expressions, body language, and all those subtle motions you make with your eyes. For the most part, these supplementary messages help

us get our points across in ev-eryday conversation, but are lost in a text message.

Think about the difference between these phrases:

Where have you been? :)Where have you been? :SWhere have you been? :(Where have you been? :OCute combinations of punc-

tuation pepper casual online conversation, and help fill in

at least some of the deficit be-tween physical and digital communication.

They do such a good job, Dr. Owen Churches reports, that we now respond to emoticons and physical expressions in nearly the same way. In a re-cent study, titled “Emoticons in mind: an event-related po-tential study” in Social Neuro-science, he tracked the way the

brain responds to both human expressions and their emoticon counterparts.

“Most of us pay more atten-tion to faces than we do to any-thing else,” Churches told ABC Science. “We know experimen-tally that people respond dif-ferently to faces than they do to other object categories.”

As part of the study, Church-

es and his team showed pic-tures of faces and a variety of emoticons. Watching the electric activity in the brain, they were able to compare re-actions. On average, the reac-tion was the same for both face and emoticon, but only when the emoticon read left to right. Scientifically speaking, :) looks like a face, but (: just looks like punctuation.

The human brain learns to recognize faces at a young age, and automatically notes the po-sition of eyes, nose, and mouth to identify other people and their expressions. This is an automatic response to its sur-roundings, and after enough exposure the brain learns to identify emoticons in the same way.

“Before 1982 there would be no reason that ‘:-)’ would acti-vate face sensitive areas of the cortex but now it does because we’ve learnt that this repre-sents a face,” Churches told ABC Science. “This is an en-tirely culturally-created neu-ral response. It’s really quite amazing.”

DESSA BAYROCKTHE CASCADE

Image: Anthony Biondi / The Cascade

Who needs a job when there’s free food?

UFV career centre’s biennial Career Fair held on March 12 was an opportunity for stu-dents and employers to meet in order to discuss potential employment; but many stu-dents gathered for the free food instead.

One student commented that the chocolate-covered strawberries were delicious and that they were disappear-ing quickly, as their only re-sponse to how they felt the event was going. Many stu-dents were also fascinated by the cotton candy cart set up outside of Tim Hortons, ex-claiming that free food is cer-tain to brighten anyone’s day.

Sixty-one employers were present at the event to pro-vide university students with information and networking opportunities, yet many stu-dents spoke only of the free samples.

In addition to providing an opportunity to meet with em-ployers, the Career Fair also had a draw for two tuition credits and a tablet, which was drawn from the 1000 stu-dents that passed through the fair over its three-and-a-half hours.

Working while attend-ing university has become very normal among students. Thanks to the Career Fair,

many of those students were able to search for jobs in an organized manner with an op-portune location.

Held in the Envision Athlet-ic Centre, employers from all types of businesses came out to meet with future prospects and possibly walk away with a few new employees.

BCAA, the Abbotsford School District, Envision, and the Canadian Cancer Society were among the businesses in attendance. Although there was no private interview area this year, employers still had opportunities to chat with students.

Many of the business booths had high interest, such as Home Depot and Envision, while others saw less traffic.

Some enticed students with pens (after all, what univer-sity student can’t use another pen?) and brochures, while Home Depot gave away minia-ture orange hammers as well, which were a crowd-pleaser. Other employers had neither pens nor hammers, but in-stead used enthusiastic em-ployees to wrangle students.

However, food appeared to be the biggest draw for stu-dents. With a spread includ-ing a multitude of desserts and finger-foods, several students stopped by the food table provided by the Career Centre to have a nibble and perhaps wander into the fair.

People experience the same neuro-chemical response when looking at both emoticons and faces.

TAYLOR BRECKLESTHE CASCADE

Emoticons: just as good as a real face?

Professional writers share their secrets

Ever wish you could translate your essay writing skills into a full blown writing career?

For about 70 UFV students and community members, the Professional Writers Associa-tion of Canada (PWAC) shared how to make it happen.

On March 12, PWAC hosted a discussion titled “Writing for a Living,” with the help of the UFV communications department, English students association, and media and communications student as-sociation.

PWAC is a national organi-zation that looks to improve working conditions for writ-ers, lobbying on their behalf for fair treatment. The event featured a panel discussion, question period, and speed networking, as well as alumni wine. Attendees had the op-portunity to rub shoulders with and learn from writers currently working in the field.

During the panel discus-sion, PWAC Fraser Valley president Lynda Grace Phil-lippsen encouraged students to use networking as a means of becoming known and rec-ognized within the industry.

“Getting to know people… really intimately getting to know people,” Phillippsen said. “Sometimes, manna falls from heaven — someone has read what you’ve written.”

PWAC B.C. regional director Heidi Turner also suggested that students take the time to

network with other writers. “Most of my writing con-

tracts come from other[s]…,” she explained, further noting that writers will pass on proj-ects when they themselves don’t have the time to com-plete them.

PWAC member Ronda Payne noted that becoming a profes-sional writer means accepting you will always be on a learn-ing curve, both outwardly as a writer and internally as a hu-man being.

“When you’re out on your own, you spend a lot of time in here,” Payne said, touching her head. “Know what you’re good at and know what you need help with.”

After allowing the panel-lists to speak, the floor was opened to questions from the audience and Twitter, using the hashtag #writeUFV. From how to navigate e-publish-ing to dealing with rejection, these questions gave the op-portunity for a more personal-ized look at writing.

“Learn to accept the emo-tion … it sucks,” Payne said regarding rejection. Payne went on to explain the impor-tance of being persistent when trying to break into the field no matter what the reaction of the industry may be.

“A lot of the time, you will get nothing back on what you submitted,” Tuner added. “It’s not personal.”

When asked what advice they wished had been given to them as young writers, the panellists were unanimous in

their responses — know your worth.

“Don’t let anyone influence you,” PWAC member Janet Love Morrison encouraged the audience. “If someone’s influ-encing your beliefs, that’s not your truth.”

“I wish someone had told me … get a paper file folder and make an email folder … write on it, ‘I am a good writer — here’s proof,’” Payne said. “Keep emails and positive let-ters … for those crappy days when you feel like a fraud or a bad writer.

“[When you] lose con-fidence,” she concluded, “you’ve always got that proof and no one can take that away from you.”

With files from Katie Stobbart

KATHERINE GIBSONTHE CASCADE

Image: Rick Rake

“Know what you’re good at and know what you need help with.”

5NEWSWEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

www.ufvcascade.ca

Students from universities across Canada, Europe, and the US are protesting against aca-demic institutions investing in fossil fuel companies.

The University of Victoria Students’ Society (UVSS) re-leased a statement on February 5 saying students are demand-ing UVic divest from fossil fu-els.

“The UVSS is calling on the university to put its invest-ments toward supporting a new, sustainable, clean, and just future,” UVSS chairperson Kelsey Mech is quoted saying.

The release notes the UVSS board of directors passed a motion calling for UVic to “im-mediately freeze any new in-vestments in fossil fuels and commit to creating a three-year plan to divest all remaining shares in the industry.”

Taryn Brownell, News editor of UVic’s Martlet, has been fol-lowing the story on the island campus. She explains divest-ment is high on the list of top-ics that were brought up at the UVSS election.

“Newly elected chairperson of the UVSS (Kayleigh Erick-son) stated during the election period that she wanted to see a referendum on the topic of divestment so that students would have a say on the topic,” Brownell says.

In an interview conducted by the Martlet, Erickson explained that her reason for wanting to make it more than a board vote stems from the effects di-vestment will have on student scholarships. Since scholar-ships are tied to the universi-ty’s investment income, freez-ing assets could negatively affect them.

“There’s always a chance that scholarships and bursaries will be affected and, being a stu-dent who has a scholarship, that’s not a risk I’m willing to take.”

Divestment, as a political and economic strategy, has proved popular and successful in the past. In 1986, Harvard Univer-sity divested roughly $157 mil-lion in South African-related stocks during the apartheid era, and in 1990 universities pulled funds from tobacco companies while boosting an-ti-smoking campaigns.

But James Engell, a Harvard University professor, notes in The Huffington Post there is a difference between those ex-amples and the divestment movement today against fossil fuels.

“Those who believed that the university should not divest its tobacco holdings could at least make the (weak) argument that smokers have some choice. But that is not the case with those affected by climate change — there is no choice, no place to escape, no ‘climate-change free zone.’”

Companies like Chevron, Exxon Mobil, and Lukoil are just a few of the 200 titles ben-efitting from stock sharehold-ers, and are some of the largest

producers of carbon dioxide — a fact that is not being ignored.

Students at Edinburgh Uni-versity handed a petition with 1480 signatures to the princi-pal to divest in “dirty” compa-nies. The Guardian reports that universities in Edinburgh and Glasgow have “agreed to con-sider their investments in oil and gas funds.”

Another article in The Guard-ian notes 10 Oxford University common rooms have passed motions mandating that “each college’s junior and middle common room [push] the uni-versity for full fossil fuel di-vestment.”

The divestment movement is organized by 350.org, a site dedicated to global grassroots movements. The name is de-scribed as being the goal the site strives for.

“The number 350 means cli-mate safety: to preserve a live-able planet, scientists tell us we must reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere from its current level of 400 parts per million to below 350 ppm.”

Patrick Harrison, a member of GreenSpeak and biology professor at UFV, notes the ef-fects fossil fuels have on the environment.

“The effects of CO2 on cli-mate change [are] well sup-ported, so we need to be care-ful what we do and the amount of CO2 we put into the atmo-

sphere,” he says. “We are at an all-time high, and we need to be careful that we don’t cre-ate a greenhouse effect. We’ve boxed ourselves in; our econo-my is carbon-based.”

According to We Are Power Shift, a website that connects members of the climate move-ment, “divestment can be a profound step when an inves-tor decides to make a statement by withdrawing financial sup-port from a corporation that is abusing the environment, the community, or larger society.”

While some schools have an-nounced plans to stop invest-ing in fossil fuels, Victor Luck-erson, writing for Time, says that, “large universities with billion-dollar endowments have said they won’t alter their investment strategies.”

In his article, Engell says Harvard plans to remain in-vested.

“The Harvard Corpora-tion has a strong presump-tion against divestment, as it should. Otherwise every cause and political debate would ex-ert leverage over investments of an institution that rightly tries to avoid political stances, except, perhaps, on matters such as affirmative action.”

Dean of Harvard Drew Faust wrote an open letter regarding student activities, responding to their call for Harvard to di-vest.

“[While I share] their belief in the importance of address-ing climate change, I do not be-lieve, nor do my colleagues on the Corporation, that univer-sity divestment from the fossil fuel industry is warranted or wise.

“[I find a] troubling inconsis-tency in the notion that, as an investor, we should boycott a whole class of companies at the same time that, as individuals and as a community, we are ex-tensively relying on those com-panies’ products and services for so much of what we do ev-ery day.”

Faust also added that pulling investments from companies we are so dependent on would come “at a substantial econom-ic cost.”

Despite the debate to divest, Geoffry Morgan reports in Al-berta Oil that fossil fuel compa-nies are not threatened.

“Perhaps part of the reason the energy industry hasn’t been alarmed by 350.org is because executives don’t per-ceive it as a credible financial threat. Martin Molyneaux, the vice-chairman of FirstEnergy Capital, says the kind of mass divestiture 350.org envisions would not limit energy compa-nies’ access to capital.”

An open letter sent to student activists from We Are Power Shift suggests that divestment in fossil fuels may only need to

be symbolic to be successful.“Institutions of learning

must challenge systems that endanger the future of younger generations. We believe that colleges and universities di-vesting from fossil fuels and reinvesting in clean energy will deliver a powerful politi-cal message,” it reads.

Chief financial officer Jackie Hogan says UFV holds endow-ments of approximately $9.2 million, where roughly 8.5 per cent is invested in the energy sector, which is comprised of various fossil fuel companies.

Hogan explains UFV’s fi-nances are separated into two categories: an operating fund income and an endowment in-come. The endowment income is restricted to the purposes of endowment, which is outlined in UFV’s investment policy:

“The primary investment ob-jectives of Endowment Funds are to preserve and maintain the purchasing power of the endowment capital and to meet the annual cash flow obliga-tions of the Fund.”

UFV is aware of the divest-ment movement. Hogan ex-plains that while there is currently no restriction on in-vesting in fossil fuel compa-nies, the topic is on the agenda for the upcoming finance meet-ing.

ASHLEY MUSSBACHERTHE CASCADE

To divest, or stay the course?Universities across the world consider their investments in fossil fuels

Image: Windsordi/ flickr

Often universities invest in fossil fuels at a secondary level, meaning the amount they invest is harder to track.

6

OPINION OPINION WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

www.ufvcascade.ca

A couple weeks ago, I watched a video on my smart phone about how people are too addicted to their smart phones.

Unfortunately, the video over-simplified a huge societal issue and underutilized a big opportunity for thoughtfulness and poignancy. How? It presented a problem with-out a consequence or a solution.

And that’s what really got me thinking — smart phone usage is crippling younger generations.

A couple days after watching the video, I was sitting in a class along with about 20 other early students, waiting for the professor to ar-rive. With smart phone saturation weighing heavily on my mind, I decided to leave my iPhone in my pocket, sit back in my chair, and take a look around the room.

Literally every person in the room was on a phone. Every. Sin-gle. One.

My disgust quickly outweighed my fascination and I didn’t touch my phone for the rest of the after-noon. When I left to drive home, I put my phone in the trunk to make sure I wouldn’t even glance at it while I was driving.

The issue here is not the fact that many young people are losing their ability to talk to people face to face. Frankly, that just isn’t true.

The real issue is that more and more people no longer find it im-portant to talk to each other face to face. Smart phones have provided a convenient alternative to facing potentially awkward social situa-tions.

You see, I along with many of you am a member of Generation Y; the generation that has, in re-cent years, taken a lot of flak for being too dependent on technol-ogy. And there’s absolutely no doubt that we’ve seen significant advances in the popularity of per-sonal technology over the last de-cade. For example, statistics show on Election Day in 2008, there were a total of 1.8 million tweets in 24 hours worldwide. On Election Day 2012, four years later, Twitter states the same amount of tweets were shared every six seconds.

My Generation Y cohorts and I have been living in a culture that has constantly sought to remove the stigma of abusing personal technology, but the truth is there’s absolutely nothing the culture can do to change it.

So this leaves us to devise our own solution. We as phone users must learn to be smarter than our smart phones. We have to think critically about our phone usage. We need to start spreading the message: constantly being on your phone is not okay.

When we “kill time” on our

phones, we are robbing ourselves of real life experience and leaving ourselves at the mercy of apathy. It’s like paying for an invaluable university class and never show-ing up for it.

We risk missing significant mo-ments with friends, loved ones, and perhaps most importantly, en-emies. We risk denying ourselves singular experiences of real happi-ness, sadness, and anger.

I am just as guilty as you regard-ing this issue, but for those of you who claim you are unaffected by the inundation of cellular technol-ogy, don’t trick yourself. It’s easy to tell yourself that checking your Facebook cannot wait. It’s easy to tell yourself that if you don’t know something, you can just Google it instead of actually remembering it.

I’ve been there — but adopting this attitude robs us of two vital

life skills: the ability to be patient, and the ability to be bored.

I encourage everyone to careful-ly reevaluate your personal defi-nition of “often.” Don’t compare your habits to the habits of others. You and you alone need to decide how often you should be on your phone.

SNAPSHOTS This week’s theme: My alter ego

I could imagine it — myself dressed in tights, standing atop a tall building, overlooking a city. From there I could hear the plight of those in need of help.

I’d jump from the building, my cape blow-ing in the wind behind me, and fly from rooftop to rooftop.

I would protect the innocent, stop the bad guys, rescue the occasional cat from a tree, and walk the elderly across the street.

Call me Captain Canuck, Major Maple Leaf, or something patriotic like Captain America is to the US.

The red and white costume would be a symbol of justice and Canadian nationalism. A great adventure. I could spout off catch-phrases like, “up, up, and away, eh!” and apologize for stopping the bad guys — even though I wouldn’t really be sorry.

I would be a beacon of hope for humanity. But sadly, I have no superpowers, and I

don’t look good in tights.

Captain CanuckJeff Hughes

I own three straighteners, two curling irons, a boatload of make-up, and at least 20 pairs of shoes ranging from heeled boots to flats to runners.

But I am not a fashionista. I don’t even know how to french-braid my hair, or how to properly apply anything other than mas-cara.

The truth is my alter ego is that inner woman who goes shopping and thinks, “curling my hair with a straighting iron will be no problem at all.”

Right.Every morning I sleep in and leave just

enough time to shower and throw my wet hair up in a bun, no brushing required. I rarely apply make-up, and I pick my clothes based on the weather.

Of course, my alter ego is just dying to wear that pair of stilettos to school, or suc-cessfully curl her hair with a flat iron.

But the most important part of my morn-ing will never be heels or hair. It is coffee.

Put-together — on the insideAshley Mussbacher

In contrast to my innocence, I can really be quite “the rebel.” So much to the point where I see it in my best interest to ensure the public does not know about my bad-ass stories.

Though I am petite and look fragile, I’m a ninja. Usually when I tell someone I am training in tae kwon do and kick-boxing, the most common reaction I get (and it’s usually from members of the male species) is that I look weak or that they can beat me in a fight.

But those comments cause me to go into beast mode. Usually my attitude portrays an angry response like, “come at me bro!” or, “just because I’m small doesn’t mean I don’t have the ability to kick your ass!”

But when beast mode has calmed down, I know there is no need for me to argue or prove myself. For I have the knowledge that with one of my super-fly kicks to where it hurts mosts, it is K.O. for that fella.

Bruce Lee was small, and no one messed with him.

Don’t underestimate me

Melissa Ly

Why isn’t it acceptable to dance in public? Ninety per cent of the time, I’m listening

to music, and at the very least I’ll bob my head along to the beat.

I get odd looks on the bus or while walk-ing down a hallway, especially when what-ever song I’m listening to elicits a specific response — like a smile.

But not just any smile; it’s the broadest, goofiest smile you could ever imagine. I could be dancing. But I’m confined to chron-ically bobbing my head or tapping my feet.

This past week as I was walking into the library and listening to music, Hall & Oates’ “Rich Girl” started playing. My head started moving. You know, that back-and-forth mo-tion you get when you’re playing or listen-ing to music you get lost in. Yeah — that one.

So, four steps into the library and a pass-erby looks at me with a face that seems to say “get out.”

Well, you know what, passerby? I will not get out. I’ll just keep tappin’ that foot and bobbin’ that head.

I could be dancin’Martin Castro

Smarter than your smart phoneTHOMAS NYTECONTRIBUTOR

Image: Jorge Quinteros

“Something about the way the class was so silent, I could actually hear fingers tapping screens.”

7OPINIONWEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

www.ufvcascade.ca

WE WANT YOU!Write, design, draw, or sell ad space for The Cascade!

We meet every Monday in C1421 at 8 a.m. (Yes, we know it’s early. But we’d love to see you there!)Email Michael@ufvcascade.ca for more information.

“We want change!” “Wait, why are you changing that?”

This seems to be a trend in poli-tics: demanding better from the government while rejecting any potential change.

Take ObamaCare, for example. I know it’s not a problem in our country, but we’re neighbours. We’re trade partners. We’re depen-dent on the US for decent Netflix. Our fates have been tied together.

However, there is one signifi-cant difference between our two countries, other than maple syrup and poutine. That is health care. Canada is known for its wonderful health care system, and the US has come to want one for itself. What does President Obama do to try to help his people with this desire? He creates ObamaCare. How does this suggestion go over? With mas-sive mixed feelings.

A Fox News headline effectively portrayed many Americans’ dis-dain for the idea: “ObamaCare: the impossible enforcement of an un-workable law.” The headline alone doesn’t inspire much hope for the plan. The article goes on to outline how ObamaCare is an utter failure because “if you claim hardship, it looks like the Obama administra-tion is planning to take your word for it.” Basically, according to this quote, ObamaCare fails because it wants to help the misfortunate.

There have been other articles with headlines such as, “Cancer

patient who blamed ObamaCare for ‘unaffordable’ treatment is ac-tually saving money,” and “Obam-aCare just made Americans richer without anyone noticing” (both from the Huffington Post). It seems Americans are unsure about what is best for their country.

The moral of this international tidbit is, if Americans don’t know everything about their govern-ment and how best to work togeth-er, do Canadians know any better?

In our case, many Canadians seem to hate Stephen Harper — evidence provided by the website Shit Harper Did, but though Harper may have done and said some stu-pid things, he has also contributed some good to our government.

Additionally, what if he becomes another historical hero in the years to come? What if the history books remember him as a victim of an oppressive society, and his initial plans turn out to have some ben-efit? I’m not saying that will hap-pen for sure; after all, unlike Mr Peabody, I lack a time machine.

My point is, do we expect too much of our governments without giving them a chance? Often, we as the public don’t know all the facts at hand, nor have we been trained for their job.

Political critique is everywhere, and it probably won’t ever go away, but a little bit of consider-ation for our leaders is needed for sure.

We’re all human, even if some of us are politicians.

Politics and expectations don’t mixTAYLOR BRECKLESTHE CASCADE

I entered a concrete poem to the Louden Singletree that I had received a lot of praise from my friends for and ultimately re-ceived an email saying that it was not suitable for publishing in Louden Singletree. I respond-ed by asking if they would let me know why it was rejected so that I would know what type of material would be more suitable for their magazine and to date have not received a reply. Now I know that publishing companies routinely do not answer queries about rejections but surely Loud-en Singletree is not a big time

publishing outfit with thousands of unwanted submissions. I even volunteered to assess submissions which I thought would be writing but agreed to assess fine art which I ended up doing entirely. How-ever, I was not given the courtesy of a reply to my inquiry. Shouldn’t Louden Singletree at least reply to the volunteers who have taken time from their winter vacation to assess the work of other artists, what do readers think?

Dawn Emile

Re: Louden’s silenceLetters to the editor

Hi Dawn,

First of all, we’d like to thank you for voicing your concerns and apologize for the fact that you’ve not yet received a reply to your inquiry. Sometimes things fall through the cracks — we’re stressed-out students too! We’re also sending you a personal email with a more specific response.

We’d also like to take this op-portunity to remind everyone that, while Louden Singletree is a small publication, we strive to adhere to the standards of profes-sional literary magazines. There-fore, it is our policy that feedback is not to be given to contributors

— regardless of whether or not they volunteered as readers.

This year we received one hun-dred and seventy-five submis-sions to the magazine. Over win-ter break, we anonymously sent each piece to three readers who provided feedback and a “yes” or “no” vote. Pieces that were given at least two “yes” votes were then sent to us, and we ultimately de-cided which of the remaining sub-missions were suitable for pub-lication. In the end, twenty-five pieces were chosen.

We (the Editorial Board) consist only of seven members. Unfortu-nately, we don’t have the time or manpower required for us to give

feedback to all the submissions that weren’t chosen for publica-tion. Like we said — we’re all stu-dents too!

We’re grateful that you submit-ted your work to us, and we’re incredibly appreciative of all the contributors and volunteer read-ers. We greatly enjoyed reading everyone’s work — year after year, the UFV community is prov-ing itself exceptionally talented.

We hope to see more of your contributions in future issues!

Louden Singletree Editorial Board, 2014

Image: Cobalt123/ flickr

“Do we expect too much of our governments without giving them a chance?”

We’re hiring a managing editor.We’re looking for someone who is diplomatic, hands-

on, and loves working with people. Strong writing skills are necessary, but editing experience isn’t.

We’ll train you up if you’re willing to dive in feet-first. Email Michael@ufvcascade.ca for more information, or to submit a resumé and writing sample.

Image: Ian Mutto/ flickr

8

OPINION OPINION WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

www.ufvcascade.ca

Feel like sharing your short-and-sweet opinion? Keep an eye out for our whiteboard-toting pollsters roaming the halls.

What do you think when I say “Generation Y?”

CULTUREWEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

www.ufvcascade.ca

9

CROSSWORD Mice and men

1. This mouse was adopted by a family of humans, much to the dismay of their caustic, fluffy cat. (6, 6)4. This rat appeared in The Muppet Show. (5)6. A famous cartoon mouse, seldom seen without Tom. (5)7. The first cartoon character to have a star on the Hollywood walk of fame. (6)8. The Rescuers are a team of mice: ____ and Bernard. (6)10. Touted as “the fastest mouse in all Mexico” by Looney Tunes. (6, 8)11. This white mouse’s diminutive partner was the Brain. (5)12. This mouse was the star of An American Tail. (6)

2. These fellows had their tails chopped off for going after a married woman. (5, 5, 4)3. Ironically, this mouse is the mascot of a restaurant. (5, 1, 6)5. This nasty character wants to destroy the Nutcracker. (3,5,4)9. Everyone thought this rat was the real deal — but You-Know-Who knows who he is. (8)

ACROSS

DOWN

Last week’s crossword Sudoku solution

Answer keys

ACROSS

1 EVAPORATION3 DESERT6 ECZEMA8 FUSE9 DULL10 DRYDOCK11 WASTELAND

DOWN

2 ARID4 TOWEL5 CHAPPED7 CROUTONS

by KATIE STOBBART

2 8 3 5 4 7 6 9 1

6 4 7 2 9 1 3 5 8

9 5 1 3 6 8 7 4 2

1 7 6 4 3 9 8 5 2

4 3 5 7 8 2 1 6 9

2 8 9 5 1 6 4 7 3

9 1 4 7 2 5 3 6 8

8 7 3 9 1 6 5 2 4

6 2 5 8 3 4 1 9 7

2 8 5

6 3 8

5 3 4

7 6 9 8 2

4 6 9

2 9 5 4 7

1 5 6

8 3 4

1 9 7

SUDOKU PUZZLE

Aries: March 21 - April 19: Your vehicle will break down this month. I don’t own a vehicle, you may smugly say. ”Vehicle” is a metaphor, ass-hole, I may smugly reply.

Gemini: May 21 - June 21: You know how the markets are these days, which is why Jupiter urges you to invest in candy.

Cancer: June 22 - July 22: Hamlet is your spirit animal.

Libra: Sept 23 - Oct 22: Stairs are trying to kill you. Taking the elevator is self-preservation.

Scorpio: Oct 23 - Nov 21: Sick? Tired? Hungry? Stressed? There’s an ale for that.

Sagittarius: Nov 22 - Dec 21: Your destiny is tied to IKEA.

Capricorn: Dec 22 - Jan 19: Your tendency to sport “duck face” in photos isn’t a model-ling choice, but rather a para-site living in your face. I urge you to remove it and destroy it before your grad photo ap-pointment.

Aquarius: Jan 20 - Feb 18: You have a paper to write? Perhaps it is time to watch Sons of Anarchy.

Pisces: Feb 19 - March 20: Invest in floodlights.

Leo: July 23 - Aug 22: The word “frankfurter” will feature heavily in your next A-grade paper.

Virgo: Aug 23 -Sept22: Good grades. Sleep. Friends. You may pick two for this month. If you are lucky, the fates will allow you to add “eat” at no extra charge.

The Weekly Horoscope Star Signs from January Jones*

Taurus: April 20 - May 20: Crabs are in your future. I urge you to go for sushi and get a California roll rather than waiting for — you know. The other kind.

*No, not that January Jones

CULTURE10

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

www.ufvcascade.caFEATURE

The Cascades women’s basket-ball team has accomplished the greatest feat in the history of the program; they have the national bronze medal and are the un-opposed third-best team in the country.

The bronze medal caps off an impressive season that took the team to the CIS national cham-pionship tournament, which features the best eight teams in the country.

The Cascades were the un-derdog in all three games they played, but managed to prove their perseverance and skill lev-el, defeating two higher-ranked teams. Their only loss came to the eventual champion and host team the Windsor University Lancers.

“I’m just really proud of the squad, and I think we

played our best basketball of the season this weekend,” head coach Al Tuchscherer said. “We had the opportunity to play three top quality programs and just had a great experience in Windsor. I’m really happy for our seniors; it’s such an awe-some way for them to finish.”

The weekend started with a game against the McGill Univer-sity Martlets that the Cascades dominated, a 14-point win by a score of 74-60.

The Cascades shone through the play of both Aieshia Luyken (20 points, six rebounds, six as-sists) and Nataliia Gavryliuk (17-2-2). McGill had been the number one defensive team all year in the CIS, holding oppos-ing teams to only 47.3 points per game all year long. The Cascades nearly scored 47 on the Martlets in the first half alone, and fin-ished strong with a fourth quar-ter that saw them post over 20 points in a quarter for the third time in the game.

The Cascades didn’t only deal with the feisty Martlets squad, but also against their loud cheer-ing section that was filled with McGill students and the school’s men’s hockey team, who were also in Windsor for their nation-al hockey tournament.

After the game Tuchscherer assessed his team’s perfor-mance, the team’s finest on the national stage.

“I thought our ball movement was fantastic in the first half and defensively we forced a lot of tough shots, [but] we started to

glaze over a little bit in that third quarter and they came at us super hard,” he said. “All our time-outs, [the coach-ing staff was] just talking to the girls about relaxing and having confidence in what we do and finding something to make it happen. They did, and I’m really proud of them. McGill pulled within four at one point and we got some big baskets down the stretch, and that’s a big veteran effort for us.”

The second game of the tour-nament would prove to be the most difficult for the Cascades; they had drawn the University of Windsor Lancers, the four-time winner of the tournament. The Cascades gave the Lancers all they could handle — though they would lose the game 65-45, UFV held them to their lowest point total of the entire tourna-ment.

The Cascades put their best foot forward against the best team in the country; they even led by one point going into halftime. UFV struggled for the majority of the game with the Lancers’ full court press put on by head coach Chan-tal Vallée, but Tuchscherer countered with a zone de-fense that the Lancers had difficulty figuring out.

The Sasquatch player of the game was Nicole Wierks, who registered 17 points and collected a pair of blocks.

The final game of the tournament for the Cas-cades was against their Cana-da West rival the Saskatchewan Huskies for the national bronze medal.

The game between the two arch-rivals came only a week af-ter the two battled for the divi-sional title, which UFV lost. UFV went into the game knowing was the last time that the Cas-cades group of seniors would play together as teammates on one floor.

The bitter rivals fought back and forth all game, hardware and bragging rights on the line. Not only would this be the last game for a group of highly tal-ented graduating players, but the last before a contested tiered division realignment comes into effect next season, with UFV and teams like the Huskies on unequal sides of the schedule.

The Cascades lost starter Sar-ah Wierks after she picked up

two quick fouls, but the team’s depth helped to make up for the loss as Shayna Litman and Kait-lyn Brink stepped up. The Cas-cades trailed before going ahead just as halftime approached. Their lead never disappeared and the Cascades’ 25-point third quarter put the game out of reach for the Huskies.

UFV star Kayli Sartori re-ceived player of the game hon-ours in the Cascades 69-57 win for scoring 13 points and grab-bing nine rebounds in the win.

After the game, assistant coach Sean Bosco complimented Tuchscherer and the Cascades’ group of departing seniors.

“This is something that Al’s been working hard to accom-plish for years with this group,” he said. “When he started re-cruiting these girls that are graduating, he had a vision in

mind for something like this. For them to realize that vision is very humbling for a coach. They never stopped be-lieving in the vision that he set up for them, and here they are today as a top three team in the nation. I’m proud of the way our players supported each other to-day; not just our fifth-years, but also some of our younger play-ers that came off the bench. The legacy that some of our older players are leaving is fantastic.”

The Cascades’ bronze med-als are a victorious finish to the playing careers of Aieshia Luyken, Nicole Wierks, Courtney Bartel, and Saman-tha Kurath. UFV’s next sea-son will be one of discovery. Photos by Ian Shalapata

Underdogs take first national varsity medalNATHAN HUTTONTHE CASCADE

“I’m proud of the way

our players supported

each other today, not

just our fifth-years, but

also some of the young-

er players that came off

the bench. The legacy

that some of our players

are leaving is fantastic.”

CULTUREWEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

www.ufvcascade.ca

11

FEATURE

“My pen drawings are the direct result of my imagination. I draw with fine tip pens which allow fine detail; how-

ever, they leave little room for error. Therefore, although my creations are very free, they also require the skill of a steady hand, patience, and control. I create shapes, lines,

and forms with the use of various mark-making techniques and patterns. I usually do not begin with any particular

image in mind, instead I just let my unconscious do most of the decision-making for the initial stages of the drawing. Finally, I begin to see certain shapes or images. Thus, from these forms I develop creatures and objects that are not of

reality, but rather creations from my imagination.”

“‘One Day As ...’ is a series of abstract paint-

ings, and each painting is a fantasy role play. I tried to create the views from

the perspective of special characters. For this paint-ing, I dreamed about the

view from Neil Armstrong (spaceman).”

“This painting comes from a series of nine paintings I com-pleted studying how we read gender cues and how these cues can be obscured. These

paintings were an exploration of paint and gender represen-tation, which led to my series

Gender, now on display at Inceptions in the Visual Arts

Diploma show at the Kariton Gallery.”

Title: IdentityArtist: Michelle Auton

Medium: Acrylic on canvasDate: 2010

Title: One Day as Armstrong

Artist: Cybil LeeMedium: Acrylic painting on

4x6 rough boardDate: 2013

Title (from left to right): Cones, Flower, Shell, Spikes,

Untitled Artist: Mallory DonenMedium: Fine tip pens

Date: N/A

Creative Page

This collection of artwork, photogra-phy, and writing showcases the unique

talents and culture of UFV’s artistic community. Want to see your work on this page? Contact valerie@ufvcascade.

ca for more information.

CULTURE12

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

www.ufvcascade.ca

I would like to live in a fan-tasy world in which society just accepts an individual’s decision whether or not to marry.

Generation Y is being scruti-nized by previous generations because we’re not jumping blindly into marriage in our late teens or early 20s and popping out five children by the time we’re 30.

While many of my generation may be pushing 30 by the time they even consider marriage, it does not mean we’re all get-ting hammered every night at clubs, hopped up on cocaine, and having sex with anything that stands on two legs, regard-less of gender. Of course, I can’t speak for all of us, but there is a middle ground. Some of us are actually thinking about the con-sequences of getting married too early.

And too early is different for everyone.

Generation Y is said to be “much more racially and eth-nically diverse” than previous generations, according to social marketing professional William J. Schroer, which many people speculate is the reason a large number of us are throwing tra-ditions like marriage to the wind. I take comfort in know-ing that most of my generation is putting off marriage, going against the status quo, at least until they are absolutely sure they want it. How can you make a lifetime commitment to some-one else when you don’t even understand who you are as an individual?

That understanding can only

come from soul-seeking through a vast number of different expe-riences: education, work, hob-bies, friends and rivals, and, yes, sex.

Hook-up culture is not ex-clusive to Generation Y. In fact, according to Justin Garcia’s re-search at The Kinsey Institute, this cultural revolution had its beginnings in the 1920s. It’s an age-old mindset of breaking out of tradition, only to eventually fall back into it.

But it isn’t all about sex. Our generation has witnessed

same-sex marriages become le-galized in countries across the world, watched friends we’ve known for years bravely come out as gay, and experienced the collapse of the traditional fam-ily.

In a whirring and dynamic so-cial structure, some of us won-der where we fit. The framework developed by society clearly marks two decisions: marriage or staying single. But it’s not necessarily that easy, and some-times it takes a little more time to decide what will ultimately make us happy.

Marriage is only an extra step in a committed relationship, not an ultimate goal. Many of us look forward to the “big day,” despite the lateness of the event in our lives, and when we final-ly do want to settle down, we’ll know we’re doing it for the right reasons.

And with the right person.That ring is not magical. It

does not have the power to make a bad relationship better. And if taking that extra bit of time to make sure it’s the right decision is what we want to do, it’s our life — let us do it.

Where do you daydream?This is the question writer in

residence Daniela Elza asked of a small audience to start her GreenSpeak lecture on March 11. The talk offered a unique take on environmental sustainability even from its title: “Through the poetry of the world: toward an ecology of being.”

The talk was attended by an audience of about a dozen, in-cluding students of English, bi-ology, geography, physics, and environmental studies.

Elza stood in the foreground of a great tree whose branches stretched out of sight, beyond the corners of the B101 lecture hall’s big screen.

“This is my friend,” she said, gesturing to the trunk, its fur-rowed bark. “I want to intro-duce you.” I found myself wish-ing the lecture had been held outside, where spring was fi-nally beginning to poke through the hard winter ground and the sun was caught up in the fuzzy skin of new magnolia buds.

Could we be introduced to a tree through a photograph?

However, her words also spoke to a new kind of con-sciousness: could we, in the first place, be introduced to a tree?

Then she drew us to this idea of daydreaming.

“In class!” one student offered as an answer.

“I’ve waited all my life to talk about daydreaming in a school,” said Elza, who earned a doctor-ate in philosophy of education, beaming. She went on to point out that in our busy, results-focused culture, daydreaming is often overlooked, viewed as “doing nothing.”

But reverie, the state of being lost in one’s thoughts, is a pow-er we have not yet harnessed, she said. Scientists are getting curious about things like mem-ory, intuition, language, creativ-ity, spontaneous forms of cogni-tion… things, Elza said, “which writers have been talking about forever.”

From daydreaming she moved on to our perception of the sens-es. What are they? Taste, smell, touch, hearing, sight…

“Sense of space,” Patrick Har-

rison, chair of UFV’s centre for sustainability, suggested. Intu-ition, someone else added, and common sense.

There are four acknowledged senses on top of the five we are familiar with. Thermoception is our ability to sense temperature, nociception our sense of physi-cal pain, equilibrioception our sense of balance and accelera-tion, and finally proprioception, which is the kinesthetic aware-ness of the body. Elza pointed to synesthesia as well, which involves experiencing two sens-es at the same time. The word is a Greek compound meaning “joined perception.” She smiled, asking if synesthesia is not what poets have been trying to ac-complish for some time.

“We’re still Aristotelian about the way we think of our senses,” she said, noting the importance of the senses: they are how we experience the world. Can we be introduced to a tree?

The poetic consciousness, Elza said, is an ecological con-sciousness. As an exercise, she produced a lightbulb, holding it up for us to see, and asked us to describe it. A list of qualities

began to form. Filament. Clear. Symbol for an idea. Glass. Small. Globular.

Elza pointed out the dark shadow on one side of the glass bulb — it was burnt out. Then she asked us to write down how we thought the lightbulb would describe itself.

“Even disconnected, I still seek the light.”

“I give up myself to be my-self.”

“I’ve been a servant of hu-manity all my life.”

“You are most commonly aware of me in my absence.”

“I illuminate that which is hidden.”

“What just happened?” Elza exclaimed. “It became extraordi-nary… it made even a burnt-out lightbulb light up.”

She pondered aloud whether a poetic practice could move us toward a greater coherence.

“We need to focus,” she said, speaking of the division be-tween art and science, “on in-tegration and convergence to make ourselves whole again.”

Feel like saving a life be-tween your classes? Canadian Blood Services is holding a blood donor clinic on UFV’s Abbotsford campus from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Student Activity Centre in E-building. According to the Canadian Blood Services website, dona-tors must weigh over 110 lbs. and be in general good health. If you can’t make it to this clinic but still want to donate blood, call 1-888-2-DONATE to book an appointment.

There’s still time to catch UFV Theatre’s dark, post-apoc-alyptic production of Romeo and Juliet! Featuring the direc-torial work of award-winning fight director Paul Gélineau, this unusual play promises a fresh and thrilling take on Shakespeare’s tragic story of star-crossed lovers. Tickets available online through UFV’s website.

Do you like burgers? Do you like beer? Do you like helping your fellow students? If you answered yes to any of these, come by the Phoenix Lounge this Saturday for a night of burgers and beer hosted by UFV’s Community Develop-ment class. Proceeds will go to the UFV Student Emergen-cy Fund, which supports local students in need of financial aid. For more information on the fundraiser, contact der-ekanthonyepp@gmail.com.

Blood donor clinic

UFV Theatre presents Romeo and Juliet

UFV fundraiser: Burger & Beer Night

March 20

March 5-23

March 22

Upcoming

Events

David Barsamian, award-winning independent journal-ist and founder and director of Alternative Radio, will give a lecture titled “Imperialism: Old Wine, New Bottles.” The event is presented by the UFV College of Arts, and will be held in D115 on the Ab-botsford campus from 10 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Everyone is welcome to attend. For more information, contact prabhjot.parmar@ufv.ca.

March 27

KATIE STOBBARTTHE CASCADE

ASHLEY MUSSBACHERTHE CASCADE

Synesthesia of art and science

Too early is different for everyone

David Barsamian lecture

image: Joseph Bremson/Flickr

Marriage is getting lower and lower on Generation Y’s list of pri-orities — is that a bad thing, or does it give young couples a chance to test-drive their relationship before putting a ring on it?

Discussions Below the Belt

Moving toward an ecological consciousness

CULTUREWEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

www.ufvcascade.ca

13

If the irresistible thump and jingle of bhangra music didn’t draw you over to the celebra-tions at U-House on Friday af-ternoon, maybe the spicy smell of samosas did. Or maybe it was the sight of students smeared from head to toe in shocking shades of red, orange, green, and yellow paint.

It was the perfect day for the celebration of Holi, the Indian festival of spring: blue skies and warm breezes, buds swelling on the trees, crocuses beginning to poke out of the earth. Many of the students were jacketless and in sandals. Students gathered outside for the traditional game of “playing Holi,” where revel-lers throw handfuls of bright powdered dye called gulal on each other. Celebrants wear white clothing like a canvas, and the brilliant dye dusts their skin, faces, and hair, turning entire villages — or campuses — into a riot of colour.

“Holi is the celebration of wa-ter and colour, the time when flowers start blossoming,” Ra-jnish Dhawan, acting director of the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies, explained to me. “All of the colours of Holi represent the different flowers and their meanings. Everywhere there is a mood of joyousness, the arche-typal mood of spring.”

Dhawan recounted the Hindu origin story of Holi to me: the demon Hiranakashap had a pi-ous young son, Prahlad, who worshipped the god Vishnu. Hiranakashap was unable to persuade his son to give up his religious beliefs, and finally decided to kill him. He seated Prahlad in the lap of Holika, the boy’s demon aunt who had a boon that protected her from fire, and set fire to them both —

but when the flames died down, Holika had been reduced to ash-es and Prahlad had been saved by the intervention of Vishnu. The story teaches us the univer-sal power of good over evil, and the holiday takes its name from the burning of Holika.

Dhawan also told me another story from Hindu culture of how the god Krishna would go to his lover Radha’s village to play Holi, but was chased away for his cheekiness. People still come to that village from all over the world for a massive seven-day celebration of Holi, during which women playfully beat men in a show of chiding them just as Krishna was chided.

The campus celebrations didn’t involve any beatings, but there was plenty of good cheer.

There’s just something about a seasonal festival full of dancing, music, tasty food, and good old-fashioned paint-throwing that draws people together.

“There are over 300 religions in India, and all of them are different,” student volunteer Sourav Aggarwal told me. “But everyone celebrates Holi.”

After the free samosas were handed out, four barefoot bhangra dancers in shimmering green, gold, and white uniforms got up in front of the tightly-packed crowd and danced. Many of the faces in the crowd watching them were not Indian, and many of the people I spoke to had never heard of Holi be-fore that morning. The students lining up for samosas, wiping gulal off their faces, and wishing

each other “Happy Holi!” repre-sented dozens of different back-grounds — a beautiful reminder of UFV’s astonishing diversity.

Bumping into Rajnish Dhawan once more in the crowd, I com-mented on how cheerful and friendly everyone seemed to be. He smiled.

“That’s how we celebrate spring,” he said, nodding.

Student Life’s Martin Kelly, whose hair was tinted green with gulal, also stopped to chat with me. Student Life didn’t or-ganize the event, he explained; it was the students who wanted to celebrate. Students Gurv Gill and Shyna Kandra were the driving force behind the event, but many others volunteered their time and energy to share the celebration of Holi with the rest of campus.

“The stuff that people really carry with them from school happens outside the classroom,” said Kelly, sweeping his arm around us at the crowd of stu-dents. “When I’ve got Muslim

elves at my Christmas party, when we’re seeing Indian faces at Chinese New Year and Scot-tish and German students at Holi, you can see that the cross-cultural connections are being made.”

Sukhmani Dhaliwal, another student who had volunteered for the event, agreed.

“It’s not just Punjabis here, it’s everyone,” she said. “I’m meet-ing people I never would have otherwise.”

I saw what she meant as I looked around the room: white kids laughing as they learned how to shimmy to bhangra, In-do-Canadians introducing Ko-rean exchange students to their first samosas, Muslims chatting with Sikhs and atheists. As Dha-wan explained to the crowd, in today’s day and age, throwing gulal isn’t just a fun game, it’s symbolic; the brilliant powder hides the colour of our skin and hair, concealing our differences.

“It makes everyone the same race, the same colour,” he said.

Bhangra dancers perform in front of a crowd of students, faculty, and friends in the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies as part of Holi, the Indian spring festival of colour and water.Image: Valerie Franklin

VALERIE FRANKLINTHE CASCADE

Holi festival brings students together

Image: Valerie Franklin

The Holi events drew a crowd of students from all cultures, ethnici-ties, and walks of life.

Image: Valerie Franklin

Covered in gulal after the morning festivities, Student Life’s Martin Kelly poses with two of the students who helped organize the event.

CULTURE14

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

www.ufvcascade.ca

Jean on jean, baby. That’s right, everybody, it’s back in town.

When denim shirts came back, I was skeptical because of the baggy, oversized ones from the ‘80s. But now, designers have moulded denim tops to fit the body in the areas that count, like the shoulders and hips. Other-wise, they’re still a loose-fitting top to be worn like a regular but-ton-down shirt or blouse.

The beauty of the denim top is the many ways you can wear it.

One of the common ways I wear mine is like an open cardigan. This gives long sleeves to some of my favorite summer tops, dresses, or T-shirts that are just too cold to wear by themselves in the winter.

Secondly, I wear it buttoned all the way to the top — and yes, I mean to the very top, to the “man button,” which achieves your common “hipster” look.

Thirdly, providing it doesn’t have bulky breast pockets with a button or a pocket flap, I wear it as a layering undershirt beneath my cardigan or sweater with the collar and cuffs peeking out.

And finally, I even wear it with jeans on the bottom!

I thought this was a big fash-ion no-no. When the denim shirt was “in” in the late ‘80s, the denim was thicker, lighter, and splashed with acid. But usually it was worn with the same shade

of denim on both the top and the bottom. Ew!

Everyone who sported this look appeared monochromatic and mundane. It’s extremely hard to wear the same shade on top and on the bottom unless you’re wearing black – and even then, if either your black top or bottoms are slightly faded, you’re in trouble.

But you can wear two differ-ent shades of denim that actu-ally correspond quite nicely with each other.

I find that darker denim on the bottom with a medium denim on the top works the best. Usu-ally the top should be one shade lighter on the colour spectrum than the bottoms; Google “blue colour wheel” for a colour pal-ette to select from.

So if you’re wearing navy blue or midnight blue denim jeans, choose a medium shade for the top, like an azure blue, dodger blue, or even a steel blue denim. The lighter shades of denim like powder blue or light sky blue

work best in the summer, and can sometimes clash with dark jean bottoms. Instead, layer those shades over a bold colour top in red, pink, or coral, pair them with white or black bot-toms, and glam the whole thing up with some white and gold ac-cessories.

The beauty of the denim top is that it falls under the same rule as jeans — it matches with ev-erything! As long as your jeans are the proper shade, I bet you can wear your denim top with

any pair of pants (and even some of your skirts) that are folded away nicely in your closet.

You should never be in a panic for what to throw on before class when your denim shirt waits to greet you with open arms. The denim top has your back, and jeans will save your butt the next time you’re in a manic fashion crisis. In this denim duo you’ll be deemed a patriotic citizen as you walk down the road looking sleek in your Canadian tuxedo.

Fashion Forward

Double denim: the Canadian tuxedo BRITTNEY HENSMANTHE CASCADE

The denim top has

your back, and jeans will

save your butt the next

time you’re in a manic

fashion crisis.

Fresh coffee and warm cook-ies greeted us at the Press Café, where many of UFV’s students and faculty gathered together for an afternoon of poetry on March 13.

With her graceful gestures, kind eyes, and soothing Bulgar-ian accent, Daniela Elza, UFV’s writer in residence and one of the event’s organizers, invited us to lend our ears to some of our finest local poets.

The audience sat at ease as the first reader, Rob Taylor, shared some of his poetry from his book of poems entitled The Other Side of Ourselves. With his words, he effectively took us to a place of shared human feeling. His po-ems reflected much of our ev-eryday, relatable life experiences regarding interactions with the people closest to us: mothers, spouses, even ourselves.

“Rob always gets me to the place where I’m almost about to cry,” Elza said after Taylor fin-ished.

Next up was Trevor Carolan, one of UFV’s English professors. The first class I ever took at UFV was with Trevor, and it was one

of my favourites. “He’s always got the best

vests,” a friend said, leaning over to me while Trevor made his way towards the mic, and he sure did. Dazzling the audi-ence with a grey and gold woven vest and his classic red leather

tie, he weaved and bobbed to the rhythm of each line he spoke.

As I listened, I waited for him to whip out his harmonica or start singing William Blake’s “Tyger! Tyger! burning bright...” Instead, he pulled out the lyrics to the Beatles’ “All You Need

is Love,” and performed it as a spoken-word poem accompa-nied by Bryce Orr’s acoustic gui-tar. The audience joined together to sing the famous chorus.

“I love when we bring the music to the words — and the words to the music,” said the

ever-so-quotable Elza. A reading by poet Renée Saro-

jini Saklikar followed. Saklikar knows the power of an effective pause; the silence said so much after her words sliced our ears and penetrated our souls.

There was then an open mix session, during which students shared some of their personal written works. Each poet’s dif-ferent words and voice brought a unique aspect to the poems they read. As one student read, her face came alive and her voice filled with job. Enchanting!

Though we were an intimately sized group, all the poets who shared their work were genu-inely pleased to be part of those two hours together with us. Tay-lor referred to sharing poetry as a way for writers and readers to build and establish community.

Writers are a humble bunch, I thought as I scanned the room. They’re not flashy, or loud, or toffee-nosed. The gentlemen and ladies who gathered in the UFV bookstore closed their eyes and simply drank in the cleverly crafted words. Words that help us look at the world in a differ-ent light, words that we call — poetry.

BRITTNEY HENSMANTHE CASCADE

Canadian Writers Series: an afternoon of poetry

Dr. Trevor Carolan of UFV’s English department was one of the poets who read their work for an intimate crowd of students and faculty in the Abbotsford campus bookstore.

Image: Brittney Hensman

Wearing a denim shirt with jeans can be tricky to pull off, but the key is to mix contrasting shades and colours of denim.

Image: Jcjeansandclothes/Wikimedia Commons

ARTSWEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

www.ufvcascade.ca

15

Soun

dBit

es

Nineteen-year-old NYC resident Greta Kline has been shyly writing and releasing bedroom recordings on her Bandcamp page for most of her teenage life. In fact, she’s uploaded more than 40 albums and EPs since 2009, which means she’s released more songs in that short span than most artists do in a lifetime. Frankie Cos-mos is made up of a trio of musicians that includes the prolific Kline and her boyfriend Aaron Maine (Porches), who write minimalist and infectiously angsty songs about the conventional ups and downs of urban living. Oc-casional vocal support from Maine — specifically on “Owen” — evokes the harmonies on 69 Love Songs-era Magnetic Fields. Underneath Kline’s simple guitar strums and sweet voice are seemingly innocuous lost-little-girl lyrics that, upon closer inspection, convey a rich feeling of loneliness and paranoia; they could fill much more than a two-minute song. The album’s crowning jewel, “Birthday Song,” may only be 69 seconds long, but sets the standard for Kline’s startling, frank lyrics, “I think how repulsive to you it must be / when I refuse to do the things you want me to.” While the record clocks in at only 18 minutes, Zentropy is packed full of wit, excellent hooks, and human experience.

Imagine Eeyore on drugs. With a megaphone. Tremolo and reverb cranked. Shaky Dream is a forlorn, ambient journey that so often toes the line between gloomy and downright dissonant that you’ll wonder how it sounds as good as it does. The 10-track sophomore album from Toronto alt-rockers Dinosaur Bones is a lesson in balance. For every art-rock break-down, there’s a garage hook to bring listeners back in. For every cymbal-driven beat, there’s a thumping, guitar-picked bass. Standout track “Sleepsick” maintains a sonic equilibrium of dis-cord, love, and ‘60s reverb. The tonally terrifying “Nothing Left Between the Lines” sounds like the soundtrack for a drowning ballerina — in the best way. “So Brand New” is the happiest song that will ever make you sad, and “End of Life Crisis,” capping the album, is stuffed to the gills with gravelly am-bience, oscillating synths, and some atmospheric gloom that’s downright lovely. Shaky Dream is an album that takes two or three listens before it all starts to make sense, but when it does, you’ll be subject to a journey so intense and freakishly raw that you’ll love it more after every listen.

TIM UBELS THOMAS NYTE

Dinosaur Bones Shaky Dream

Frankie Cosmos Zentropy

Min

i Alb

um R

evie

ws

Tokyo Police Club — ForcefieldAlbum Review

When I heard that Tokyo Police Club was going to release a new album, Force-field, after four years of having heard nothing from them, I freaked out. I think it’s safe to say that Tokyo Police Club’s previous album, Champ, is easily one of my favourite albums. So Forcefield was up against some pretty formidable stan-dards.

Champ was the emotional equivalent of a teenager: inexperienced and angsty as hell. Barrelling down a small-town main street in late July. Running shoes that were probably once white but now boast more texture than colour. Long greasy hair flying about our protagonist’s face. This is Champ: confused with everything, slightly melancholic, and yet oddly com-pelling. Adolescence epitomized.

Forcefield is more mature than Champ — but not by much. If Champ was equivalent to careless, confused adolescence, then Forcefield is careless, confused 20-some-thing-hood. You’re more mature, but you still don’t know where you’re going.

“Argentina,” Forcefield’s first single, was met with excitement and general ap-proval from fans. As always, there was that one individual who is overly critical of everything: “‘Argentina’ sounds just like a really long poppy TPC song; just because a song is long doesn’t mean it’s

good!” To this critic I say: well, you’re partly right. It does sound like that. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Sure, this song is more upbeat and pop-influ-enced than TPC’s earlier work, but it’s still genuinely good. Different does not always mean bad. Tokyo Police Club’s nine-minute-long single actually manag-es to keep all its energy throughout, and avoids getting boring. Fun fact: “Argen-tina” was originally three separate songs. After playing through them, the band de-cided they’d work better as one.

The only weak link in this album is its last song: “Feel The Effect.” The track feels lazy; it doesn’t really do anything, you know? It just sort of sits there, a half-hearted bookend in an otherwise unbe-lievable album.

Tokyo Police Club has always had a

penchant for crafting vaguely melanchol-ic songs whose melodies and lyrics man-age to stay in your head for days, if not longer. This is certainly true for the other eight tracks that make up Forcefield.

“Hot Tonight,” the second single from this album, is actually not that ambi-tious at all. It’s probably one of the most straightforward and pop-like songs on the whole record. But it doesn’t pretend to be anything else. As always, lead singer and bassist Dave Monks’ vocals are oddly hypnotic and incredibly visual. As melan-cholic as the lyrics are (“I had a good time and I’m ready to die”), this song, along with others, like “Miserable,” is guaran-teed to make you want to dance, or at the very least bob your head like a buoy in the sea of sound that is Tokyo Police Club. In terms of infectiousness, it doesn’t get any better than the chorus on “Toy Guns.” You’ll be singing this for days, trust me.

Forcefield is also a stylistic departure for Tokyo Police Club, boasting more ambi-tious instrumentation. “Gonna Be Ready,” for example, features a screeching guitar that gradually builds tension through-out the whole track, ending somewhat abruptly, and giving way to “Beaches,” one of the most unabashedly infectious and angst-ridden songs on the whole al-bum. “I am waiting for a knock on the door / you can call on me to say you were right / are you gone, are you there / are you just out of sight?” The whole song implies so many inadequacies and insecu-

rities on the part of the narrator. I love it.A lot of the songs on this album are

about love or relationships. Not in a cheesy Hollywood way, though — more in a troubled, very personal fashion. The narrator in most of the tracks comes off as being so totally awkward that one can’t help but be convinced that his feel-ings are genuine. “Argentina” includes a line I think we’ve all heard before, maybe worded a bit differently, in so many mov-ies and books that it’s not even funny: “I don’t want to want you like I want you.” Normally, I’d write off such a phrase as being eight units of measurement over the line of how cliché something can be before I have to stop taking it seriously, but Monks sells it. His infatuation has so completely taken hold of him that he doesn’t even know what to do with him-self or how to deal with it. I dig it.

In the end, Forcefield has become one of my favourite albums within weeks of it appearing on my phone. Is it better than Champ? No, no it is not. But that’s only because Champ was easily Tokyo Police Club’s best album, and probably one of the albums I push on people the hardest. Forcefield is, however, one of the most re-freshing records I’ve heard in a long time. If you haven’t managed to somehow get your hands on the record two weeks be-fore its actual release date, I urge you to buy it when it comes out.

MARTIN CASTROCONTRIBUTOR

NOW HIRING

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The Editor-in-Chief directseditorial and production staff

through all stages of publishingthe paper each week.

The position requires a minimumof 16 office hours a week, and isnot recommended for full-time

students.

If you want to gain valuable writingexperience and think you canhandle staying on campus for

nearly 24 hours a day, this mightbe the job for you!

For a full job description, checkout the employment page on

ufvcascade.ca, or emailmichael@ufvcascade.ca

Pay per issue: $300

ARTS16

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

www.ufvcascade.ca

Presto Cucina says, on the front of their menu, that they are the place to go to “enjoy the flavours of Italy in a warm and unpretentious setting.”

I would have thought the Old Spaghetti Factory was the place to go for that.

But by “unpretentious,” Pres-to Cucina, perhaps, means “self -serve.” You walk in and order at the front, fill up your own beverage at the beverage coun-ter, then sit down and wait for your server to carry your food out for you. It sounds very chain-restaurant-esque, but the décor, music, and atmosphere are of a nice eatery. The walls are rustic red and yellow, the door frames are brick, and the art depicts Italian apartments and landscapes.

I found it annoying to order at the front, mostly because I’m the type to sit down and take my time with the menu. The restau-rant was empty, but I imagine if it was busy you’d feel pressured to order like you do in a McDon-ald’s line-up.

The other downside is that you have to pay — and tip — immediately. How was I sup-posed to know if the service would be any good? If I did tip, would service be better? How much are you supposed to tip at an “unpretentious” restaurant, anyway?

The menu boasts antipasti, pizza, pasta, paninis, and dolci. I thought the pickings were a bit slim for the antipasti and pas-ta, but they had all the basics. We ended up ordering bread-

sticks ($7 breadsticks, so we ex-pected them to be pretty good) and their spaghetti special that comes with with a glass of wine.

We poked our noses over at the gelato part of Presto Cuci-na for a moment before sitting down. The restaurant is split into two parts — the sit-down area for meals, and the gelato parlour, divided by a doorway. The gelato is presented in clas-sic flavours: strawberry, lime, mango, peanut butter chocolate, papaya, and so on. There were about 16 flavours available. We decided to order some after our meal.

We chose our own seat, in a comfortable booth. Our server — a bit of a sullen woman — brought out our breadsticks first. The breadsticks came with a delicious marinara dip with shredded mozza cheese. The breadsticks were nice, with but-ter, garlic, basil, and just the right amount of crunch. They were good, but maybe not $7 good.

The spaghetti that followed was beautiful. Both the bread-sticks and the spaghetti came on decorated dishes twice the size of your average dinner plate. The presentation of the spaghetti was lovely; the pasta

was curled nicely in a heap, the meatballs lined up in the side with the garlic bread, and on top of a bed of cheese, a single olive.

Presto Cucina’s spaghetti def-initely outdoes the Old Spaghet-ti Factory’s. The meatballs were actually Italian meatballs, spices and all. The sauce was more than just marinara, and I could see the flecks of fresh basil.

The portions were fairly good, even for the glass of wine, which was pretty full for a restaurant serving.

After the meal we headed back to the gelato. I’ve travelled across Italy, and tried gelato in Rome, Florence, Naples, Pisa, and Venice. Apparently it’s not hard to make, because Presto Cucina’s tastes pretty much the same as gelato I’ve had in Italy. We tried lime and papaya, be-cause citrus and fruit are the best gelato flavours. Prices were surprisingly good; often gelato is overpriced. The lime was al-most too tart, but the papaya was golden sweetness. It was a perfect finishing touch to the Italian meal.

Thumbs up to Presto Cucina for good food at decent prices. Remember not to leave out the gelato after your meal!

Queens of the Stone Age — “The Bronze Age”

“I’ve been waiting for so long / you can hold it, do me a favour.” No, you can’t; let go of my medal. I worked hard for this, because I am a 2013/14 Women’s Cascades bas-ketball player, and I rank in the top three teams in this vast country. Robyn — “Konichiwa Bitches” The Cascades can “count you out like a mathematician,” or “tear you down like I’m in demolition.” They’re “so very hot” that when they “rob your mansion, you ain’t call the cops / you call the fire sta-tion.” Getting no love from Wind-sor commentators, Coach Al and co. really “supersized them.”

Sloan — “The Good in Everyone”

I think I’ve shuffled this song be-fore, but it’s a testament to the UFV coaching staff, in particular coaches Al Tuchscherer and An-thony Luyken, whose ability to find the best in their players has fi-nally paid off on the national stage. Flanked by Alexa McCarthy and Sean Bosko, they’re here. Print it. Tom Petty — “Last Dance with Mary Jane” A tribute to Sam Kurath, Courtney Bartel, Nicole Wierks, and Aiei-sha Luyken, who sign off on their Canadian Inter-University Sport careers with about as high a note as they possibly could. No one ac-tually said it was impossible, but to posit these Cascades as tourna-ment underdogs is understating a fact. U2 — “Pride (In the Name of Love)” In the name of the game you put your body on the line. Kaitlyn Brink looked out for the count as of game one against the Dinos, but came back with three days to go before the national tournament, playing big minutes like Nicole Wierks has while injured for two seasons.

CIVL station manager Aaron Levy is honoured to have per-formed play-by-play duties for UFV Cascades basketball teams for the past four years. Relive the memories on demand at can-adawest.tv, and see how a team of Fraser Valley locals, plus one gritty Ukrainian and a stellar post from Centennial High in Coquitlam, brought home the Canada bronze.

1Mac DeMarco Salad Days

2White LungBlow It South b/w Down

with You

3Varsity GirlsDarnit

4TrustJoyland

5Cloud NothingsHere And Nowhere Else

6Telstar Drugs Saline

7Speedy OrtizReal Hair

8n.213Rejectamenta

9Tough Age Tough Age

10Heaven for Real Hero’s Code

11Fountain Fountain

12 Jonwayne Rap Album One

13The Pack A.D.Do Not Engage

14Ghost BeachBlonde

15The KetaminesStay Awake b/w Al

ways Small

16Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial

Orchestra Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything

17Dum Dum Girls Too True

18New Vaders Dynamic Traxx

Vol. 1

19Haim Days Are Gone

20Real Estate Atlas

CHARTS ShuffleAARON LEVYCIVL STATION MANAGER

33640 South Fraser Way (at Five Cor-ners), AbbotsfordAppies up to $8.50Entries $9 to $15Gelato $5.50 for a double scoop

Presto CucinaSASHA MOEDTTHE CASCADE

Dine & Dash

Image: Sasha Moedt

ARTSWEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

www.ufvcascade.ca

17

Cascade Arcade

One Finger Death PunchStick-figure animated violence

has been an ongoing guilty plea-sure of the internet for the last decade. There have been hun-dreds of animated shorts or flash games on Newgrounds and the infamous StickDeath. But while this genre has been present, it has never really changed, and at times it disappears from the limelight.

With One Finger Death Punch, however, the genre seems set to return, offering something thrill-ing to the simplistic genre.

One Finger Death Punch is a parody of old kung fu movies. The opening menu is full of imi-tation ancient Chinese artwork and epic music, begging to get the blood flowing as well as the chuckles.

But once the game begins, the humour is replaced with an ad-dictive intensity. The game con-trols consist of hitting the two mouse buttons to control the direction in which you want to attack.

The simplistic side-scrolling combat is ridiculous and violent with power-move and freeze-frame skull-crushing anima-tions. These elements have no effect on the way you play. You

are still just pressing the same two buttons on the mouse, but the game offers such a cinematic presentation that you feel you’re doing more.

The background scenery and objects are ever-changing, from a lush green forest to a seclud-ed mountaintop. These back-drops factor into how the game is played, sometimes requiring a change in brightness settings. But the real treat is the objects that appear in the background and how you can interact with them. You can kick enemies

through house walls, nail heads to lamp posts, impale them on upright swords, and perform many more acts of destruction with bows, staffs, and giant scythes.

One Finger Death Punch of-fers two game modes: story and survival. Survival shows off the great balancing in this game, as enemies evolve from single-hit kills to those that require mul-tiple hits or combos. These more difficult enemies are introduced at perfect times and don’t en-cumber the player — but they

don’t make it easier either.This game thrives on present-

ing challenges, not only through the urge to beat a personal best, but also to compete with friends on leader boards for bragging rights. Despite being a two-but-ton game, it still requires skill, patience, and quick reflexes. As the narrator reminds you, this game is not about button mash-ing. Doing that only results in missing targets which hinders you for a precious second, dur-ing which the enemy can land a crushing blow.

There are so many different styles and combo sequences that I have rarely seen the same out-comes twice. Combos can result in extended range, bullet-time effects, or slamming an enemy with a power attack which, while doing nothing but kill an enemy, is always amazing to watch.

One aspect that separates me from true fans of these intense reaction-based games is that my reaction time is not quick enough to tackle late-game moments when the difficulty ramps up. As with Guitar Hero, I am limited to how fast I can react and eventu-ally the game just becomes im-possible. This, of course, is what will make some people love this. While I do enjoy a challenge, it sometimes just gets out of con-trol.

But other than that, this game is completely worth the $5. Some may argue that it could be a free internet Flash game, but this game would lag horribly and likely be prone to crash on that platform.

This small game is a much larger package than it seems. My personal favourite parts are the dark dramatic scenes involving a light saber or nunchakus. These figures cast their shadows on the screen as they clash in bloody silhouette combat.

JEREMY HANNAFORDCONTRIBUTOR

A calm, peaceful panning shot of California’s Redwood forests is slowly broken by the roar of engines from multi-million-dol-lar cars racing along the seclud-ed roads. The hum of a powerful engine soon reaches a peak as the speakers let out the thunder-ous boom of oil, fuel, and carbon fibre.

All of this sounds great, but this feeling of reckless speed comes with a mess of wooden characters, cheesy dialogue, and a plot more absurd than the idea of a Ford Mustang jumping an off-route embankment.

EA’s Need for Speed product is an excellent racing series that has produced some fantastic titles. It has also produced some that left much to be desired. Need for Speed the film seems to dip into the latter category. Some of the narrative follows the story from Need for Speed: the Run but the majority takes its own path. It follows the story of Toby (Aaron Paul) who is released after serv-ing time for a crime he did not commit. He embarks on a quest to gain entrance into a secret high-stakes street race that will somehow tie into proving his innocence. The overall script is so muddled that tasks that were thought to be extremely impor-tant are completed and some-times forgotten before the final climax.

Throughout much of the pre-release interviews and press cov-erage, the cast and crew of Need for Speed have sold the movies as being completely real, never using special effects. And this is pretty much true. All the races and stunts are done without the assistance of special effects and this builds a feeling of realistic danger and adrenaline. The use of in-board dash cameras and high quality GoPro footage de-velops a good sense of immer-sion and excites inner speed demons. Excellent driving cho-reography and stunt planning help make some races like the

triple Koenigsegg race a heart-pumping thrill ride. But then the filmmakers proceed to believe their car-enthusiast audiences don’t know what they do about automotive engineering.

Enough viewings of BBC’s Top Gear will let you in on how lu-dicrous the speeds these cars are supposedly reaching are. While a Ford Mustang has several hun-dred horsepower under the hood and a sleek body design, there is no amount of fine tuning and at-tachments that could make one reach over 230 mph on a stan-dard race track! In an attempt to up the ante and increase the in-

tensity, they instead straight-up insult anyone who has any car sense. While the stunts are all real, anyone with a basic sense of physics knows it’s just insane. It’s one thing to push the realm of believeability, but these mo-ments just break the connection with the viewer and waste our time.

As for elements of the games themselves, this film features something from almost all the major titles. The final race fol-lows a track very similar to that of Criterion’s Hot Pursuit while the drifting sequences are reminiscent of Carbon or Under-

ground. There is also the unusual appearance of the infamous Pro Street which Toby’s friends play on a gaming console early on in the movie. Thankfully this isn’t as obvious as it was in 2007’s Hitman.

While the film is adapted from the video games, it still tries to be its own product. This defi-nitely gives the film more cred-ibility, but that is thrown away when characters — like Kid Cudi — open their mouths and deliver cringe-worthy dialogue.

For a film about the search for high-velocity cars, Need for Speed moves as slowly as a snail. Clocking in at just over two hours, it drags along with un-necessary dialogue, unnecessary characters, and unnecessary plot points. So much of this film is filler and does nothing to offer a strong narrative, which honestly should be second in terms of the film’s purpose.

Need for Speed tries too hard, boasting outrageous speeds, hammy acting, and brain-dead plot devices. While it is an hon-ourable testament to stunt driv-ers and performers, it forgets itself and goes too far. In the opening scene, there is a drive-in playing the classic car chase scene from Bullitt, starring Steve McQueen. This iconic chase is what Need For Speed strives and ultimately fails to be. As Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear would say, this is rubbish.

JEREMY HANNAFORDCONTRIBUTOR

Need for SpeedFilm Review

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

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Take one tablet every four hours as needed, the Tylenol container meekly suggests. Read the complete label; follow all the directions. Apart from a few bold words, the instructions are docile and placid. Like the safe-ty instruction routine dutifully carried out by airline stewards before each flight, the words, repeated ad nauseam, have lost their power to grip regular us-ers.

However, a recent Toronto Star investigation found that acet-aminophen, the active ingredi-ent in pain-killers like Tylenol, Benylin, Neocitran, and Nyquil, is a little more volatile than the label lets on.

In the last decade, acetamin-ophen has sent nearly 13,000 Canadians to the hospital, and been a major or contributing cause in the deaths of hun-dreds more. Health Canada has received 2402 reports of acet-aminophen overdose cases since 2005; among these, 287 were fa-tal. While acetaminophen is a common means of attempting suicide, many cases of overdose are accidental, caused by taking relatively little over the recom-mended dose.

Billions of pills containing acetaminophen are taken as directed on the label without adverse reactions worldwide,

but there is serious danger as-sociated with even the slightest overdose (more than 4000 mg or eight extra strength tablets).

Most of us have had those nights where, surrounded by used Kleenex, we reach for the Nyquil indiscriminately in an attempt to shake the symptoms of a cold. The accessibility of the drug — and in turn our lack of understanding of the risks in-volved — makes even the most benevolent-seeming drugs po-tentially hazardous. We think nothing of popping a pill or two over the recommended dose, yet that might be enough to cause serious harm. It’s just Tylenol, we think, how dangerous could it be?

Acetaminophen is older than any regulatory standards that might be imposed on it; it was first introduced to the market in 1893. According the Star, if acetaminophen was entering the market now as a new drug, it would not be available to the public without a prescription.

Gerry Harrington, director of public affairs for Consumer Health Products Canada ex-plained to the Star that while it’s an exceptionally safe drug when taken appropriately in compari-son to other similar drugs, the overdose risks make it a “real standout.”

“There’s a sharp veering into danger if you’re reckless with it,” Harrington said.

In a culture that throws the “no pain no gain” cliché out

the window at the hint of a headache, the danger lies in the abundance of too-accessible drugs without the same level of information.

Consider using alternative methods of pain and cold relief if a Tylenol or dose of Neocitran isn’t doing the trick; tea and creamed honey may be more placebo than real medication,

but it acts as a comfort. Boiling half a lemon with some grated ginger root relieves stress in your throat; if it’s a headache that requires a Tylenol, consider employing more preventative methods. Headaches are often caused by mild dehydration and can be easily deterred.

However, if using acetamino-phen, or any other non-prescrip-

tion drug for that matter, is the only effective method, make sure you take the label seriously. The margin of error between a safe dose and an overdose is much smaller than you think.

Even a small error can lead to Tylenol overdoseNADINE MOEDTTHE CASCADE

With the Abbotsford Heat struggling for a playoff position in the tight Western Confer-ence, losing nine of their last 10 games, the team is an example of the other side of what happens when an NHL team begins to try out its next generation, hav-ing given up core players to the shorthanded Calgary Flames. The team’s recent freefall in the standings is alarming, but not entirely unexpected considering the current state of their lineup. Injuries and call-ups are always part of the game, and teams certainly don’t like to make ex-cuses, but the situation in Ab-botsford is exceptionally dire. The Heat can only look ahead at this point. Though the return of Max Reinhart this past weekend against the Utica Comets pro-vided a momentary boost, the Heat also could receive a more long-term spark from prospects that are finishing up their sea-sons at the college level.

Johnny Gaudreau — Left wing

Johnny Gaudreau, 20, contin-ues to harness his skills at the NCAA level, as the junior at Boston College is currently in contention for the 2013 Hobey

Baker Award, college hockey’s most prestigious honour. At only 5’8, his biggest strength lies with his puck-handling skills. He’s quick on the puck and has a nose for the net, picking up a notable 30 goals and 64 points in only 34 games for Boston Col-lege. Gaudreau has one more year of eligibility to improve his size in order to make the jump to the professional level, but management could have other ideas if they feel his play is far

enough along to warrant a call-up to the Heat.

Mark Jankowski — CentreThe Flames’ first-round se-

lection in the 2012 NHL entry draft, Mark Jankowski, is a bit of an enigma. Jankowski was drafted 21st overall despite be-ing ranked as a mid-to-late second-round selection, so his development is hard to out-line. He plays a well-balanced and two-way game, slotting in

nicely as the second-line centre for Providence College this sea-son. Despite somewhat average numbers for a college player (11 goals and 22 points), his play was good enough to elicit an in-vite from Team Canada for their junior camp for the 2014 World Junior Championships, which is never a bad sign.

Bill Arnold — CentrePlaying alongside Gaudreau at

Boston College, Bill Arnold has

also played himself into conten-tion for the Hobey Baker Award during his senior year. While he is a long shot to make the top 10 list of finalists, the 21-year-old Arnold put up impressive num-bers in his final season, tallying 12 goals and 44 points. Arnold is bound to turn pro next year, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Arnold get a taste of profes-sional hockey with the Heat this spring to prepare him for what’s to come next fall.

Jon Gillies – GoaltenderWith the play of Joni Ortio

now a feature of the Flames, the Heat’s goaltending situation re-mains a question mark. That’s where Providence Friars ‘ten-der Jon Gillies comes in. With no sign of a sophomore slump, Gillies started the season on a tear, finishing with a 16-7-5 re-cord and a .927 save percentage. Gillies is also in the running for the Hobey Baker. With the makeshift duo of former ECHL netminders Oliver Roy and the recently signed Aaron Dell struggling to hold down the fort in Abbotsford, Gillies’ arrival in the near future will be one to look forward to.

Heat Report

College prospects making significant stridesTIM UBELSCONTRIBUTOR

Image: Galatians Design Company/Flickr

College prospects like Jon Gillies could find themselves playing in the AHL soon, depending on what scouts think.

It can be easy to add a pill or two to the label’s suggested dose, but recent studies show this might not be smart.Image: Jerry Bowley/Flickr

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Klaus Figueredo came to UFV for the 2011-2012 season after spend-ing his first post-secondary basket-ball years at the Northern Alberta Iinstitute of Technology. His leader-ship on and off the court since then has propelled the Cascades to back-to-back Canada West final four appearances. Figueredo’s play and upbeat attitude made him one of the most distinctive talents on Adam Friesen’s squad, which is why his skill on the court will be missed next year. This season, Figueredo’s fifth, was his last of eligibility.

Can you talk about the Leth-bridge series this year?

It was exciting for us getting out of that first-round playoff. I mean, looking at the team at the beginning of the year, a lot of people doubted us and we didn’t even know how far we could go. That was like the cherry on top, making it to the [Canada West] final four.

Once you made it through, the final four was disappoint-ing. Can you talk about that and why the team struggled so much?

I mean, what can you do? It was three teams that we hadn’t beaten all year. The first game [against the University of Vic-toria Vikes] was heartbreaking with things not going the way we wanted them to and shots not going down, that was a huge thing. Throughout the whole year we depended on the three-point line, but when push came to shove it disappeared from us. Then, as for the second game, we went in like, “okay, let’s bring home a medal and there is a possibility of a wild card,” which Saskatchewan ended up getting after they beat us. Not to say that we would have gotten it or that we could have gotten it, [but] it still hurts and it was a situation where we didn’t shoot very well.

In 2011 you came to UFV after spending the first part of your career at NAIT. What went into making that transfer?

I was at a transitional point in my career. After doing two years at NAIT, I decided to take a year off, not knowing exactly where I wanted to go next. I was looking at a few universi-ties that I had been in contact with out of high school ... none of which were showing a great interest. Randomly I recieved a phone call from Barnaby Crad-dock asking me whether I would consider UFV (at the time I had no idea what and where UFV even was) as a viable option to continue my career. I am a very open person and like to take ad-vantage of every opportunity given to me so I decided to give UFV a visit and it turned out to be a school I would highly con-sider. The rest is history.

What have been the highs and lows of playing at UFV?

It’s all been kind of good. I mean there was a lot of adver-sity after my first year — Barn-aby recruited me here and then he left, and then a lot of players decided to leave with him, but it’s just another stepping stone that we had to get over. In terms of adversity, the following year we had Adam come and it was almost like it was brand new again. We had a good year again and then the big three [left] —

Sam [Freeman], [Kyle] Grewal, and JY [James York]. Then again it was like a new team — usu-ally if you come into a univer-sity team it’s like five years and you’re with the same people for that full five years. Whereas this team was almost like the college idea — you do your two years and you’re gone. [Finally] this year it was a brand new team again. All that being said, you learn from that and it’s kind of like when there are things that happen in life that try [to] knock

you down; you always overcome it.

You talked about Barnaby leaving — did you ever consid-er joining him?

No. I had a good situation going here, in terms of school, transfer credit, and everything — it’s too much of a hassle, right? It’s not like I was going to lose any situation I had here [because he left] and he had mentioned that to anyone who was staying. We are going to

be taken care of, so I decided to stay. I mean, I like Barnaby — he is a good guy and he treated me very well, but this is the situa-tion — I grew upon UFV as it grew upon me.

What Cascade team was your favourite?

I wouldn’t say any particular Cascade team is my favourite. Each team had a different dy-namic to it. Rather than say-ing which team is my favourite, each team had moments which are most memorable. With [my] first year here at UFV, the most memorable moment was having the chance to experience nation-als that year, heading out east to Halifax. The next year after that it would be the first-round play-off game against Saskatchewan game three to get us to the Can-ada West final four. And this year there were a couple: our first two league games against Lethbridge and Calgary, where we got the sweep starting off the year on a good note, the 16-game win streak and then sweeping Lethbridge in the first-round playoff series to make Canada West final four.

If you could say anything to the guys in the locker room, what would you say?

If I could say one thing to the boys, it would be: make the most of the opportunity you have be-ing a varsity athlete. The five years go by quick. There are people that dream about being where you are but cannot. Every one of you guys is blessed to be healthy and fortunate enough to be playing at this level of bas-ketball. You all worked hard to compete at this level — never forget that and continue to work hard. Be a student to the game and never stop learning. You are an ambassador of the school as well as the community; inspire others through the position you were fortunate enough to ob-tain.

Finally, what is next for you?Finish up school; get my

degree in efforts to continue studying at a grad school for physiotherapy. In the meantime while going to school, I will be on the bench at coach Adam Fri-esen’s side helping him coach next year’s team.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

UFV Legends: Klaus Figueredo Height: 6’0Hometown: St. Albert, AlbertaHigh School: St. Albert High School

NATHAN HUTTONTHE CASCADE

Image: Tree Frog Imaging

Klaus Figueredo saw a lot of change during his UFV career, but was a constant, putting up points with grit and skill.

“I am a very open per-

son and like to take ad-

vantage of every oppor-

tunity given to me so I

decided to give UFV a

visit and it turned out

to be a school I would

highly consider. The rest

is history.”

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