Volume II . . . No. 7 MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2014 FREE.99
Catching up with CMA in their second year of operation Adventures in British Columbias Backyard Block break has always been a time of relaxation, adventure and rejuvenation. Typically, it is a time to either get off the hill or chill out and do nothing for a few days. Fourth year Andrew Simon had a vision to break this status quo by designing a trip that satisfies not only our sense of adventure but also our thirst for learning. Simons idea came to life this past September block break when a group of 14 Quest students em- barked on an kayaking journey to circumnavigate the northern half of Galiano Island to Dionysus Provincial Park. Behind Simons vision for the trip was the phi- losophy of place-based learning. This pedagogy focuses on learn- ing from a specific locale and em- ploys the support of local organi- zations, agencies and businesses. Within a few hours of arriving on Galiano Island, students were busy catching crabs, visualizing their spirit trees and identifying edible berries under the guid- ance of knowledgeable communi- ty members. The teacher role of this trip was not filled by a single person, but by several, including a local filmmaker, an eco-psy- chologist, a dream specialist and Not your typical kayaking adventure members of the Galiano Land Conservancy. Most important- ly, students acted as co-educa- tors by provoking thoughts and questions for each other about their surroundings. There is something about the island that you cant really know about un- less you go there, noted second year student Shane Degroote. The outdoors proved to be a dynamic classroom. Eco-phi- losophy was discussed around a campfire, students witnessed forest restoration practices and visited the chairperson of an in- tentional community. These ac- tivities may be unconventional in a standard university educa- tion. Nevertheless, second year student Bianca Wagner noted that, we were able to put our experience into an academic context. This outcome aligns with Simons idea of what place- based learning can accomplish. The more we can relate very complex issues to particular con- texts, the better for understand- ing these issues, stated Simon. The success of the Galia- no trip provokes a reflection of our own learning style at Quest. Should Quest incorporate more place-based learning into its course plan? For trip partici- EDUCATION NEWS & OPINION PAGE A2 & A3 By ELEANOR PARKER AND MERIYA GMEINER-MCPHERSON ELEANOR PARKER What Is All The Fuss About? By NEDER GATMON-SEGAL When I heard fourth year student Conlan Mansfields public complaints about the Research Ethics Boards (REB) decision to deny his keystone research pro- posal, I was intrigued. The REB is in place specifically to review re- search proposals for projects such as keystones and individual tutor research involving human subjects. Mansfields situation piqued my in- terest further: I had never heard of the REB beforehand, nor had I ever heard of a students research pro- posal being denied. Mansfield was stirring up outrage in some student social circles, so I decided to inves- tigate; what was all the fuss about? I decided to start by going straight to the source. Mansfield has been extremely outspoken about his denied research propos- al and the process underlying it. He has had a busy work schedule since being forced to change his keystone project, touching on the question, what is suffering? His ini- tial research proposal was to go to a prison and investigate the idea of prisons, both psychologically and philosophically, as a means of re- ducing harm and inmate rehabilita- tion. Specifically, he emphasized, from the perspective of the peo- ple incarcerated... Most research in psychology in this context is done on people, rather than for people or with people. Mansfield decid- ed to focus on First Nations youth incarcerated in a Vancouver-area prison, specifically because their presence in the prison system is disproportionate to their relatively small provincial population. Mans- field hoped to conduct interviews that focused on systemic issues, rather than strictly individual ones. For example, he would ask partic- ipants if and why they started us- ing narcotics, rather than simply if and when they did. This, he hoped, would shed light not only on indi- vidual factors that had caused the youth to be incarcerated, but also on overarching societal factors that affected their life trajectory. According to Mansfield, who started the application process last spring, he was recently informed by the REB that the harms and risks to [himself] and to participants did not justify the benefits from the research. Mansfield detailed some of the specific concerns the REB voiced about his research. After hearing the concerns from Mans- field, I wanted to confirm them with the REB, but this is where, as a jour- nalist, I hit the proverbial brick wall. It is REB policy not to dis- cuss individual cases with anyone other than university employees, even if said individual provides consent. How was I supposed to present a balanced and unbi- ased article when only one party Continued on page A2 How High is Your Higher Learning? By DORAH PRIETO Definition: The term study drugs describes prescription amphetamine and methyl- phenidate stimulants used for non-prescribed purposes, spe- cifically for academic perfor- mance enhancement. For Quest students, the de- mands of academic life can be stressful. Coping strategies vary from Halloween chocolate off-sales, to running half marathons to, in- creasingly, using study drugs. Ac- cording to the University of Mich- igan Substance Abuse Research Center, 10 to 35% of American college students use prescription stimulants for academic focus, with a notable increase in usage in the past 10 years. This study drug phenomena has gained at- tention for study drugs use as an academic performance enhancer, for various health concerns, and for stoking an ethical debate. A study conducted by Cher- well, the Oxford university news- paper, found that 7% of Oxford students had taken study drugs. In Cambridge that number rose to 10%, with York University in Toron- to at 20%. Out of 226 survey partic- Coast Mountain Academy: If Quest Were a High School By KENDRA PERRIN I knew that the little peo- ple in uniformly blue shirts who occasionally ate in our cafeteria belonged to a high school, and I knew that high school had some land on Quests campus. That was it, though. Coast Mountain Acad- emy, or CMA, is an innovative, in- dependent, university-preparatory school for students in grades 7 through 12. Only in its second year of operation, it now has 66 students. This represents an enrollment in- crease of nearly 300% from last year, when it had only 17 students. Continued on page A2 Squamish has plenty of op- tions when it comes to K through 6 education. There are four public elementary schools, two Montes- sori schools, one Waldorf school, and one French immersion school. However, for high school there was only one option, and it wasnt a very good option, explained Quests President David Helfand, referring to Howe Sound Second- ary School, which, until recently, was the only secondary school in Squamish (not counting Don Ross Secondary in Brackendale). For parents dissatisfied with the quality of secondary edu- Continued on page A3 A conversation around use and prevalence of study drugs at Quest Research ethics examined through the lens of one students denied research proposal pant Teddy Rose, the answer is obvious: lets imagine a school where place-based learning was the norm, and then if some- body brought up the alterna- tive of, well how about we sit around a table and talk about something, or read and look at pictures on a power-point, well it would be a no-brainer. Why would you ever do it that way when you have the opportuni- ty to do place-based learning? It must be recognized that Quest does offer a spectrum of classes with experiential learn- ing components (i.e Visual An- thropology, Antarctica Excursion, Sustainable Community Devel- opment in Belize, Ecological Self, Squamish First Nations Culture & Lifeways and Tectonics of West- ern North America). However, these courses may feel inacces- sible to some students because they are all Concentration level and some include extra costs. As Rose puts it, you dont have to go halfway around the world to change your life, all you have to do is look in your backyard. What seems to be lacking at Quest is a habit of learning from our own community as a feature of more classes. Al- though some disciplines lend themselves readily to experien- tial learning, it is hard to imag- ine others such as philosophy or calculus being taught outside of the traditional classroom. Cre- ativity and progressive thinking would be needed to incorporate a community-based experien- tial component to these classes. In the meantime, Simon just submitted a proposal to have the Galiano block break trip become a full block class. The class would include an adven- ture component similar to last block breaks sea kayaking trek, and would take an active role in addressing key socio-cultural-en- vironmental issues on the island. ipants at Quest, 24% of survey re- spondents had taken study drugs at Quest at least once. Studies have shown that numbers of study drug users vary significantly between schools, with the most users at pri- vate and elite universities. Of the 24%, 30% had taken study drugs only once, 35% had taken them a couple times per year, 13% monthly, 6% weekly, and 16% daily. The ma- jority of respondents used study drugs for humanities courses. Of the 54 respondents that had taken study drugs to do school work, 32 students desired con- centration or focus, 13 used them cation, this lack of local choice meant making the eight hour round-trip to independent schools in North or West Vancouver every weekday. Understand- ably, this wasnt a feasible op- tion for every dissatisfied family. Some local people, of whom Toran [Savjord] is one, concerned about their kids education, thought this is crazy. Squamish is growing so much, there are so many little kids here, and, in anoth- er few years, theyre going to need a place to go, theyre going to need another option, said Helfand. OPINION PAGE B1 & B2 SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT PAGE A2 & A3 A2 MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2014 The Mark EDUCATION A nomadic alternative to desk and blackboard education Classroom Alive On May 26, 2013, three young men began walking on a six- month journey from Jrna, Swe- den to Athens, Greece, engaging in self-directed higher learning along the way. Caleb Buchbinder, Mathi- js Poppe and Mischa Saunders conceived of Classroom Alivean alternative to traditional class- room-based higher educationas a peer-led learning collective aimed at integrating all the processes of life into a framework to study dif- ferent fields. They were joined by 30 other students at various points throughout the walk. The group split their eight-hour days evenly between walking and studying, covering topics like the Philosophy of Science, Art and Activism, Nutri- tion, Portrait Drawing, Finance, and Social Narratives. Largely, in our society, if youre going to study it means to sit at a desk and take notes and write papers, and thats one form that learning can take, says Saun- ders. But, in addition to learning whatever the professor is telling you, youre also learning how to sit at a desk and take notes. We wanted to explore different forms [of learning] because the two are not necessarily connected. Classroom Alive fundamen- tally strives to embrace everyday processes, such as students re- lationships with each other and financial management, as avenues to study a given subject, along with conventional methods like analyz- ing texts. Instead of just hoping to learn to be socially aware and socially creative, we saw relation- ships as an actual place of learning and as having a capacity which can be developed in the same way that mathematics can, explains Buchbinder. What we were able to do was connect, to some degree, inner personal learning with outer analytical study, but the ways that we engaged in the latter remained largely reading and writing. For their pedagogy, they held weekly circle check-ins during Study Drugs cont. By ALESSANDRO TERSIGNI which students would present what they were presently learn- ing about to the group, followed by hour-long mentorship groups of three or four students to share more in-depth challenges and feedback. They also held focus weeks, during which they would come together for three to eight days to discuss a shared topic, each bringing relevant questions to the group from whatever field they were exploring. These shared topics included Money and Basic Income, The Philosophy of Free- dom and the Eurocrisis, the last of which they examined while stay- ing in a gutted building in Greece. Finally, they facilitated nodes, for which they hosted guest speakers and organized discussions in the cities they visited, addressing top- ics such as The Need for Diversity. for staying awake, five used them for speed, and four used them for relaxing or feeling calm enough to do homework. Galaxy Jim, a fourth year student with no prescription says, my friend gave me some adderall and I was able to stay up all night. Id take them again to stay awake. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, prescription stimulants do promote wakefulness but are not correlated with enhanced learning or thinking abilities. According to Dr. Maria Rogers, assistant professor and director of the ADHD and Development Lab at the University of Ottawa, study drugs increase levels of neu- rotransmitters (particularly dopa- mine) in the brain that help with concentration and focus. However, these effects are also what lead to addiction. Fourth year Quest student Astral Ben says, I had a roommate who started off using them for writing essays and then it turned into an addiction problem. According to WebMD, a pop- ular medical website, appetite loss, sleep problems, and irritability are the main side effects from amphet- amines and methylphenidates. The National Institute on Drug Abuse warns that negative effects include increased blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature. Nebulous Nika warns her fellow Quest students: I dont think peo- By DORAH PRIETO Costs ran at approximate- ly $100 per week per student, or $2500 for the full six months, and mainly covered food but also gear and other minor expenses. Financ- es were shared to a certain degree by using a collective bank account which was kick-started by grants from foundations and private do- nors, as well as contributions from the students themselves. When each person joined, they were giv- en a general estimate of costs and would give an amount of money they felt they could ... the inten- tion was to make the experience economically accessible, says Saunders. Accommodations were consistently accessible and free. Every 15 km for six months we were able to find space to pitch 10 tents, and we paid twice to do so, says Buchbinder. In terms of accrediting Class- room Alive, the founders laid out two possibilities. Saunders de- scribed a community certified diploma as assessing your skills, going out, finding the people who are the most advanced in those skills, and getting them to verify it, as a possible alternative to the current system of higher learning accreditation. Alternatively, Bu- chbinder explained that theres a whole field of institutions that you can pay to test and accred- it endeavors such as Classroom Alive. For example, Portland State University offers accreditation for self-directed studies that have been outlined in a pre-approved learning contract and done in cor- respondence with a faculty spon- sor. At Quest, each student studies a wide range of fields and works together in class to figure out how each subject is related. At Class- room Alive, each student studies one field and then works with their peers to make connections; the emphasis is placed on using students relationships with each other as learning tools, especially through peer teaching. As alterna- tives to traditional higher learning forms, both Quest and Classroom Alive challenge the relationship be- tween lecture-style professing and studying. If youre interested in tak- ing part in or initiating a Classroom Alive-based programexperiential learning?find more specific DIY in- structions at www.classroomalive. com. The most recent trip was Classroom Alive Ireland, a 70-day walk up the islands Atlantic west coast this past summer. ple are educated on the effects of study drugs. I landed in the hospi- tal with an almost lethal overdose once. In fact, they are classified as schedule two drugs alongside methamphetamines and cocaine. Toby Freyer, a fourth year student with a prescription for ADHD, says I always warn anyone I talk to who has thought about doing them that its going to mess with your body and you dont know exactly how. However, the majority of survey re- spondents didnt think that study drug usage is a problem at Quest. When asked about opin- ions on study drug use at Quest, many respondents thought that usage was a personal choice and therefore were not concerned with study drug use at Quest (54 responses). Quest student re- spondent Meteor Mave says, I dont think its healthy for your body but I wouldnt consider it wrong. Its just personal prefer- ence. Many respondents were not aware of any usage at Quest at all (34 responses), and those that ex- pressed concern were mostly con- cerned about health-related issues (27 responses). However, student respondent Asteroid Leo says I dont agree with it at all because it puts a disadvantage on other students, a sentiment reflected by the eight respondents that felt study drug use was cheating or unleveling the playing field. Albe- do Juan, who has occasionally distributed Concerta to Quest stu- dents says people have come to peer-reviewers must submit an ap- plication, with the recommendation of a faculty member, which assures the student is comfortable provid- ing critical and useful feedback. After all the editing and refin- ing work has been done with help from peer-reviewers, the final pro- nouncement for publication will depend on the Faculty Selection Committee. Several tutors have already agreed to be part of the committee. Among them are Da- vid Helfand, Shira Weidenbaum, Doug Monroe, Annie Prudhom- me-Genereux, James Byrne, Jon- athan Warner and Rich Wildman. The idea of creating an inter- nal Quest Academic Journal was sparked last year by current SRC President Celine Allen. However, because of time constraints and challenges getting support from faculty members, the project did not materialize. This year, Bryce and McKenzie decided to work towards consummating this idea. Both Ministers think the jour- nal would give students a better understanding of what is behind publishing academic work. Bryce says that, having gone through the publishing process herself, she understands how valuable it is and how much work goes into it. McKenzie insists that, re- gardless of whether the paper is published in this years pub- lication, going through the pro- cess as an undergraduate will be a valuable experience in itself. Faculty members will be invit- ed to nominate papers they think could become excellent academic pieces. Bryce expects to have each faculty member nominate one or two papers per class. There- fore, the Quest Academic Journal should include work from a wide array of fields and academic topics. Nominations can also be self-endorsed. Students under- taking independent research are welcomed to submit their work for the peer-reviewing process. Keystone projects, or refined ver- sions of these, could potentially be featured in the publication. How- ever, there will be a 10 page limit on the submissions, to allot space for multiple sections in the journal. The publication will run on a rolling basis. The deadline to sub- mit a paper for this years publica- tion will be in early March. The first issue, which will be accessible in print and online, is scheduled to be published in April 2015, and is ex- citing news for Quests Academics! Quests First Aca- demic Journal By ANDREA PRUDENCIO CARRIAGA # of students Fig. 1 Disciplines for which respondents used study drugs at Quest D i s c i p l i n e me at Quest and say hey I have this thing due in 12 hours and Im really stressed. Im very reluctant, but sometimes I help them out. So what does this mean for Quest? Fourth year student An- drew Luba has never taken study drugs and feels as though they en- gender a spirit of competition that runs perpendicular to the collab- orative pedagogy of Quest. Luba says, it could create a race to the bottom in the spirit of competition, but the point of Quest is that we are willing to collaborate. Second year student Alanna Ryan was di- agnosed with ADHD in highschool but has never filled her prescrip- tion, partially because the block plan works well for students with ADHD. Ryan says, with the block plan and discussion-based classes, I am able to pay attention more eas- ily, a sentiment that Freyer agrees with; I was encouraged towards Quest because of my ADD. Its eas- ier for me to focus because of the block plan. Study drugs have a clandestine but complex presence at Quest, a phenomena that has sparked a multifaceted dialogue. Foundation and Concentration SRC Ministers, Nessa Bryce and Nigel McKenzie, are spearheading the creation of the inaugural Quest Academic Journal. This publica- tion will showcase exceptional ac- ademic work from all fields written by the student body. The journal will provide a space for students to get involved in the academic writ- ing process, as both authors and as peer-reviewers. Moreover, facul- ty endorsement and participation in the selection process will assure the legitimacy of the publication. All submitted papers will go through the peer-reviewing pro- cess. Three peer-reviewers will read and edit each paper, giv- ing the author a chance to refine and improve their work. After comments and suggestions have been addressed, each paper must then be endorsed by at least two out of the three peer-reviewers. Papers that make it through this academic odyssey will then be presented to the Faculty Selec- tion Committee. Bryce estimates that about 10 papers will be se- lected to be published this year. Primarily, peer tutors from the Learning Commons will serve as peer-reviewers. This project will enhance the role of peer tu- tors by involving them in perpet- uating high level academic rigour. Nonetheless, peer-reviewer posi- tions will be open for any student that wishes to apply. Prospective FLICKR EDUCATION A3 By JEANNIE RAKAMNUAYKIT & ANDREA PRUDENCIO CARIAGA Bias-Check Before Writing Teaching Evaluations CMA cont. MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2014 The Mark Helfand, informed of the de- mand for a new school by Savjord, couldnt help but see the possi- bilities both for Quest and for the greater community of Squamish. Quest had plenty of young facul- ty with kids, and, as believers in innovative education, they were eventually going to need a good place for their kids to go to high school. Plus, there were plenty of Quest students interested in K through 12 education and, despite having some luck volunteering at local elementary schools, working in the high school had essentially been a no-go. Having an option for these students to do something in more progressive education was really attractive, said Helfand. Cue forward to the 2013/2014 academic year and we have the humble inception of CMA, running out of three rented classrooms on the second floor of Quests aca- demic building. This classroom lease agreement was negotiat- ed back when Quest had empty classrooms to spare, and it was originally meant to last two years. By KENDRA PERRIN Sitting at the Squamish Grey- hound Station, Im not surprised to find a few other Quest students waiting for the bus, talking about their classes. I am surprised, how- ever, when a student comments that her class has not been as challenging as she expected, at- tributing this to her tutor being very pregnant. Her friends agree , saying, yeah, that definitely plays a role. Immediately, I look up and ask, how does her pregnancy affect the class? They seem sur- prised by my brusque response, and quickly dismiss the topic. One of the students says, Oh, I dont know, its just that a lot of what weve learned is common sense to me. The correlation is not evident to me. Unfortunately, the bus ar- rives and our conversation is inter- rupted. They board and sit several seats away from me. The issue of faculty evalua- tions has been particularly salient in my mind after tutor Mai Yasue presented on the topic last com- munity update. Her presentation meant to educate students on how to write useful and respectful teach- ing evaluations. She also wanted to remind students to check them- selves for implicit biases that could colour their evaluations. In partic- ular, she emphasized gender, sex- ual orientation, and racial biases that commonly infiltrate our minds without our explicit endorsement. In a later conversation, she stated that, students write things in the teaching evaluations for fe- male faculty that they would nev- er dare to write for male tutors. Some examples include comments about their appearance, their motherly qualities, and, as exem- plified by the overheard comment in the greyhound station, referenc- es to their personal family lives and bodies. Its hard to believe that being pregnant has anything to do with the content of a class or the intellectual input of a tutor. How- ever, as noted by Yasue, these are the types of comments some fac- ulty members have encountered in their evaluations. At Quest, we pretend we are unaffected by the kind of discrim- ination proliferated by the over- whelming cultural forces of our society. Yasue, who made a video of faculty reading some of the less useful comments theyve received in their evaluations, asserted that they are inappropriate and clear- ly happen here [at Quest]. She added, it is nave to believe we are immune to the discriminatory beliefs in our society. We cant forget we exist within a cultural context in which specific messages about certain groups of people are played on repeat. It is logical we would internalize these messages to some degree. Thus, we need to use our conscious brain to over- ride our internalized assumptions and ensure that biases are not af- fecting teaching evaluations. Part of the problem is the sur- vey itself said tutor Megan Bull- och. Of course, it is important that the teaching evaluation survey has effective and specific questions. Fortunately, the administration is working on changing the prompts so that questions are less permis- sive of useless, biased crap. Ques- tions should be fixated on specific aspects of teaching, such as class However, following the enormous incoming class of 2013/2014, it be- came clear that CMAs presence in Quests academic building couldnt last beyond the year. Quite sim- ply, we needed the space back. The solution to the space- squeeze was a 5-year lease of the land right across from the Swift Creek residences, which en- abled CMA to establish a portable campus and accommodate their significantly larger student body. Not only does Quest benefit from the rent paid for this land (which amounts to at least a few students scholarships), but the District of Squamish required that CMA build [infrastructure] as though they were building a four million dollar school there, said Helfand. This is value added to Quests land without a penny out of its pocket Despite CMAs now slightly longer-term presence on Quests property, David Baird, CMAs Head of School, explained, we dont have a formal partnership with Quest at all; its a friend- ship. Baird likes having CMA in such close proximity to what he considers an inspiring model of post-secondary education, and Helfand certainly doesnt mind having CMA around. Incidentally, David and David are now neigh- bors in Four Winds (i.e. the Lofts). Bairds background is with international schools, and he has worked everywhere from Swazi- land to Vietnam. He hopes to re- cruit more international students to CMA, because he believes exposure to a global perspec- tive is invaluable for high-school students who can otherwise be a little sheltered, he said. He spent time at several Unit- ed World Colleges before com- ing to CMA, experience that has made him a big proponent of the International Baccalaureate pro- gram. Its the gold standard now of high-school programs, he said. Though the money and mass will have to come first, he hopes to bring the IB to CMA at some point in the not too distant future. Baird is keen to have any Quest students curious about secondary education in CMAs classrooms. This could be experiential learning, an independent study, or just a way to spend a free morning or after- noonall options that a few Quest students have already explored. As for the future of CMA, the vision is 220 to 240 students and a permanent campus. Following the conclusion of the five year lease, Quests Board could issue them pacing, particular content and pedagogical tools. Yasue recom- mended that students make spe- cific notes throughout the block so that on the last day they dont feel rushed and can give comprehen- sive feedback. Teaching evaluations are not only read by the faculty that they are directed towards, but are also considered by the Performance Review Committee when deter- mining whether tutors will be rehired. Therefore, if feedback is swayed due to implicit biases, it might be a dangerous mechanism by which diversity and equity among faculty is systematically re- duced. Even if tutor are rehired de- spite these types of comments in their evaluations, it is still demoral- izing, unjustified, and purposeless to read them. Signing teacher evaluations would make students more ac- countable to the sort of com- ments they write, suggested Mai Yasue. Although she recognizes it would be difficult to implement this at Quest, given the size of our student population, she thinks it COAST MOUNTAIN ACADEMY would make critiques more re- sponsible and useful. Moreover, if a tutor takes their evaluations very seriously and wishes to clarify cer- tain comments, they could easily contact the student. This would re- quire a high level of trust towards tutors, since students would have to be confident that critical, but grounded, negative evaluations would not affect future classes or their relationships with tutors. Finally, Yasue reminded us that faculty fully encourage more critical comments from students. However, these comments should be detailed, respectful and uncon- taminated by discriminatory bias- es. I think back to the comment I overheard at the station and hope that the students who voiced it can re-examine and filter their evalua- tions, from a bias-aware stand- point, and give truly useful feed- back. Hopefully someday, faculty wont have to traverse through the shes so pregnant, hes too flam- boyant, and she is too aggressive and demanding type of comments to find the necessary feedback to improve their teaching. a longer lease (50 years is all that is needed to build) or could, of course, kick them offgracefully. Ei- ther way, they will not be selling the land. CMAs ideal is to stay, though Baird explained they would need 5.5 to 6 million dollars in order to build a permanent school on the land they are leasing. Fundrais- ing, of course, is always the issue, he said. Surely, Quest can relate. The future of the Quest-CMA relationship aside, it sure is cool to know that, just down the hill, there are high school students sitting around round tables in small, seminar-style classrooms. On Fridays, they are out in the world for experiential learning. This is all part of what CMA calls an education fit for the 21st centu- ry. Sound familiar? Maybe some- day, some of these students will head up the hill to join us in do- ing pretty much the same thing. Quest is changing things a lot, really shaking things up, said Baird. So are you, CMA, so are you. To get in touch with Head of School David Baird about visit- ing CMA or volunteering, send him an email at david.baird@ c oa s t mount a i nac ade my. c a REB cont. By NEDER GATMON-SEGAL could share their opinion? Af- ter contacting a number of REB members, and interviewing Quest tutor I-Chant Chiang, I realized that the only sources that would inform me specifically on Mans- fields case were the Tri-Council Policy Statement and Mansfield himself. What is the TCPS? Its a document that contains all of the fundamental principles underlying ethical research involving humans. From going over the TCPS and discussing with Mansfield the is- sues that were raised by the REB, I got a better picture of what the REBs concerns might have been. One concern was that of consent. According to Mansfield, the REB was worried that participants wouldnt feel truly free to consent to the proposal, given the circum- stances. Under Article 3.1 of the TCPS, it is states that undue influ- ence and manipulation may arise when prospective participants are recruited by individuals in a posi- tion of authority... e.g. correctional officers and prisoners. Mansfield was aware of this issue and made certain provisions to address this. However, with no access to his actual proposal or input from the REB, I can only assume his provi- sions were not to the REBs liking. It seems as though the great- est concern for the REB was the risk to participants. According to Mansfield, the REB was wor- ried that asking individuals the questions... would cause [some participants] to have a traumatic flashback... [and] therefore actually cause them harm. This seems like a logical concern, yet Mansfield takes issue with the way the REB calculates psychological risk. He wondered, prefacing his question with acknowledgment of the dif- ficult position the REB is in, how do they evaluate, on the basis of something so individual and ob- jective, the idea of psychological harm? According to the TCPS, risk should be empirically evaluated on the basis of previous research in that field. Mansfield claimed that contrary to [his] assumptions, [the REB] had found some research doing this sort of work before. In- deed, Chiang said that it would be very difficult to find a case where a student is proposing a research project [on which] there has been absolutely no research done at all. However, Mansfields disagree- ment with the REB goes deeper than the available empirical data. He has issue with the very way in which REBs calculate risk. Citing a paper by Kevin D. Haggerty, titled Ethics Creep: Governing Social Science Research in the Name of Ethics, Mansfield ponders how likely must an eventuality be be- fore a researcher must initiate protocols to mitigate that risk? One of the REBs suggestions was that Mansfield, who has little substantial qualitative research ex- perience, conduct the study with a more experienced co-researcher. However, Mansfield decided not to appeal the REBs decision, partly because the decision caused [him] to reflect to what extent research of this kind can affect social change. The debate surrounding re- search ethics on campus is valu- able, but only if participants inform themselves about both sides of the debate. The subject brings with it unique challenges, because of issues of confidentiality and the complexity that comes with con- ducting research involving hu- mans. However, that should not deter students from going out and asking the right (or wrong) ques- tions. It is likely that most third and fourth year students would be more than willing to discuss their research ethics concerns if their keystone involves research on humans. On the other hand mem- bers of the REB, as Chiang put it, are very happy to talk with stu- dents about their applications and answer key questions. This offer should be extended by all faculty members to all students, not simply ones directly applying for research. Although bound by confidential- ity, faculty members can provide insight into what is, admittedly, a very complex issue. In the end, this healthy inquiry and debate will only lead to a more fruitful and professional research community at our seven year old university. B1 MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2014 The Mark OPINION This month, I set out to write a hard-hitting, part opinion, part expos piece about how faculty advising at Quest is failing. After a less than satisfactory experi- ence with the advisor I was paired with during Cornerstone (who, to their defense, was new, and who, I imagine, was figuring everything out just as much as I was), I finally switched advisors. Did you know you could do that? I didnt. Only af- ter the sympathetic tutor who had adopted me as their honorary ad- visee suggested I go on the Portal and become their actual advisee did I realized this was an option. Once I knew, I got typing as fast as my little fingers would let me and made that switch. Apart from a fairly awkward exchange of emails with my now former advisor (which isnt a necessary part of the processI just thought it was com- mon courtesy to let them know I was no longer their advisee), it was painless and absolutely worth it. I emailed my new advisor in the middle of the summer with a panicked question about course selection, and they replied within a day. I informed my new advisor about my maybe-questionable- though-too-soon-to-tell decision to go on exchange in the spring of my second year and, despite the com- plications it posed, they tackled the challenge with me. Ecstatic, I told my new advisor that I thought I finally had my Question, and they humored me with 45 minutes of brainstorming and then sent me off with a fascinating and pertinent book. This, as far as I am con- cerned, is what advising should look like. I had finally overcome the disquieting suspicion that my academic questions, concerns, and crises didnt really matter to the faculty until Question block. So mine is an advising mis- hap turned advising success sto- ry, but my happy ending wasnt enough to shut me up. Curious Advising Blues & Some Revelations About Initiative By KENDRA PERRIN On the hunt for a small s scandal, my most pronounced discovery was my own oversight A Conversation Manual It is imperative that we have difficult conversations about im- portant things. Every controver- sial conversation that makes us uncomfortable is usually one that needs having. As an introduction to a series of articles on how to have these conversations, I will start with some conversation game rules or terms and conditions. Before we enter into conversations, we must recognize how our experiences of privilege and oppression inform our places in these conversations. Rule 1: Accept that com- mon ground does not exist. Common ground does not exist in these dorm rooms, this school, this city, nor this world. You can come close to it, but in- evitably you and your fellow con- verser are informed by different experiences of the same world (or maybe even a different world). Intersectionality, a widely ac- cepted theory in the social scienc- es, says that we live in a complex web of privilege/oppression which informs our lived experience. Our privilege/oppression is based on our visible and invisible qualities. Visible privilege/oppression cor- responds to the way our bodies exist politically in space. We all have different bodies which are read differently in different spaces; our bodies are symbolic. Bodies are read by skin color, hair, bone structure, body size, sex, gender expression, height, weight, cloth- ing, visible disabilities and many other physical indicators. The context and environment that our bodies inhabit also contribute to how we read each other. The world reads the symbols of our bodies and doles out privilege/ oppression based on these sym- bols from the moment we are born. Invisible privilege/oppression also shifts our positioning on this intricate web. Because you cant see it, it is best to assume that you know nothing about the experi- ence of your fellow converser un- What it really means to think before you speak By MARIELLE ROSKY View From Here By SOMMER HARRIS SOMMER HARRIS Three thousand and five hun- dred meters up in the air, I am nes- tled among the shrubs between two ridges in the Himalayan Moun- tains; this morning, three friends and I embarked on the Thousand Lakes trek, a four-day hike near Thimpu, the capital city of Bhutan. The view from here is not dynam- ic or far-reaching. Rather, we stare out into whiteness. Suspended in a cloud, it seems impossible that anything else exists. I turn my gaze from the pearly barrier to my friends. Right now, these compan- ions are my only reality. My view from here: Renee, Net, Julian, a jar of peanut butter, and some biscuits. Though fogged by clouds, my view is not clouded by thoughts of the future. I see this moment. Bhutan runs at a different pace than British Columbia. At first, I didnt even notice, entranced by the dynamic clouds and friend- ly faces. However, after my head stopped spinning from the initial culture shock and altitude change, the pace became clear. Traffic stops for rodents to cross the road. ATMs are often out of order. Blackouts are common, and so is running out of water mid-shower. There isnt yet the infrastructure for a quick paced life without bumps. I expected something along these lines. Bhutan is still being developed; according to locals, twenty years ago Thimpu con- sisted only of rice flats, a river, and some farm houses. Now, it has over 100 000 residents, and dozens of new buildings each year. The city is growing rapidly. However, it still has a slow pace. Normally, Im two steps ahead of each moment. While my friends stop to smell the roses, I run to the next bush or dig a new row in the garden to plant more ros- es. Envisioning the new growth, I dig and plant and water and dig and plant and water and dig and plant and water. Sometimes, the flowers I already have die because my focus is on new sproutlings. Refections on Dagala (Thousand Lakes) Trek This life approach has not worked for me in Bhutan. Ive had to shift my future-oriented mindset to look at the moment in front of me. What do I see when I look at the immediate moment? I see Bhu- tanese friends, reaching out to me. I feel the honey-scented sunshine and delicious grass between my toes. I taste and savor each bite of a meal: nourishment. I try to see existence as an end in itself, though Im no Buddha. I feel love and a Himalayan breeze. I lay in the grass and eat savory and sweet treats. All of this, an end in itself. On the mountain with the whiteout around us my expe- riences are their own ends. Skip- py peanut butter, for example, is terrible for you, but it tastes deli- cious. Were improvising. In this moment, the future takes a back- seat. This moment (really, every moment, but I usually forget this) could not be anything but an end in itself. How could it? I cant see farther than ten feet in front of me, but the air smells like roses. as to whether my experience was unique, I began asking my peers about their experiences with their advisors. I will not proclaim to have any kind of conclusive data to report. However, what I can say with confidence is: mixed reviews. One of my peers switched to a new advisor within the week after I told them that this is, in fact, an option. They, too, are now much happier. Mixed reviews, I thought could be worse, but also could be better. Convinced that I was on to something, the next step in my investigation was to chat with our chief academic officer, Ryan Der- by-Talbot. I wanted to know if there was a disconnect between his vi- sion of the advisors role and what was actually happening between advisors and advisees. In order to know this, I had to figure out some- thing more fundamental: what ex- actly is an advisor expected to do? Derby-Talbot provided wonderful clarity, and my con- versation with him has admit- tedly changed the direction of this article (which is now far less hard-hitting and expos-es- que than I had once imagined). Derby-Talbot explained, ad- visors are meant to be the peo- ple that help ensure students are getting off to the right start when they come to Quest. This includes selecting appropriate courses, but can also mean helping students settle into what is essentially a new world. For the thousands of questions that some students have during their first two years, advi- sors are meant to be the imme- diate go-to person that can help answer those questions, he said. Ok. Yes. This all sounded ideal this is what I had expected. Stand- ing up, I remained unconvinced that his vision of advising was consistently materializing. What I somehow didnt expect, though, was what Derby-Talbot offered me as I prepared to walk out the door: If anyone has thoughts about how we could improve the advising pro- cess, I am very interested in these. Oh. Wait. What? I felt dumb- struck, embarrassed, and a little red, so I quickly strode out of his of- fice after a meek, Sure thank you. How had I forgotten that the people in power at Quest are not just there to be interviewed? They are there for us to consult with. They are not only open to, but interested in, hearing about any disconnects between vision and reality, because this knowledge en- ables them to do their jobs better. If you will forgive my being a little didactic, I will leave you with this: if you have a problem, like I did, go the source. Though it can be exciting to think about uncover- ing a scandal, it is almost certainly more fruitful to actually mobilize and try to fix whatever it is you are frustrated about. Figuratively, and perhaps literally, go talk to R.D.T. Then, if that still doesnt work, I suppose you could write an expos. less theyve told you. Examples of invisible qualities about a persons identity are their class, citizenship, sexuality, mental and physical ill- ness, to name a few. Our different experiences must be acknowl- edged and respected. To erase dif- ference in an effort to start a con- versation on common ground is an insult disguised as equality. So how does all this infor- mation relate to our conversa- tions? The privilege/oppression we receive based on visible and invisible qualities has informed our perspective, our motives, and our realities. Thus, it is im- perative that when having con- versation we observe rule 2. Rule 2: Acknowledge where you stand in relation to your converser. The way that oppression/ privilege has been doled out has made the ground uneven. Some stand on higher ground than others, whether or not they want or know this. In light of this, knowing where you and your fel- low converser are both coming from will help everyone under- stand the context of what is said. It is especially important to question remarks that are coming from a place of privilege. Kindly point out that certain topics which are framed as objective (example: freedom) cannot be considered uni- versal, as even in countries such as Canada, some people experience less freedom than others based on their visible and invisible qualities. Additionally, the oppression/ privilege status of yourself and your fellow converser should guide the very nature of how you converse. If you stand on higher ground than your fellow convers- er, note that always getting the last word, cutting them off, raising your voice, or questioning their logic in a way that is condescending can emotionally set someone off and halt the potential for fruitful dialogue. Realize that institutional racism, sexism, classism, etcetera, play out in social situations, even if so subtly that they can barely be perceived. Remember: your body does not exist neutrally in space. As a person of some privilege, I have to work to silence my loud voice when talking to people who have historically been silenced by those who look like me. As a person of some oppression, I expect my fel- low conversers to do the same. With these guidelines in mind, see how your conversa- tions about controversial topics change and look out for next weeks piece on how to ask ques- tions and how to listen when having these conversations. OPINION B2 TUCKER SHERMAN MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2014 The Mark What do we really mean when we talke about gender equality? A historic look at Movembers growth Equal rights for women and men are undeniably important, and UN Womens new campaign, HeForShe, is a powerful tool in en- listing the voices of boys and men in the push for these rights. Celeb- rity spokesperson, Emma Watson, noted in her speech addressing the United Nations in New York City that, men dont have the ben- efits of equality either. The pres- sures that men face to conform to gender stereotypes contribute heavily to the power imbalance in the men-versus-women-dichot- omy that pervades mainstream discourse surrounding gender. However, one critical component that HeForShe ignores in its cam- paign to end gender inequal- ity is, well, any gender identi- ty other than man or woman. A 2011 report on the National Transgender Discrimination Sur- vey, published by The National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbi- an Task Force, presented data on people who identify as a gender other than man or woman. These identities included transgender, transsexual, gender non-con- forming, and genderqueer, among many others. The report, which presented data on 6,450 transgen- der and gender non-conforming people in the United States, con- cluded that, [transgender and If you touch each other, you will get chlamydia. And die. If this sounds familiar to you, congratulations! One or both of the following statements are true: you have seen Mean Girls, and/or you went to public school, where you were forced to sit through sex ed. There, you were likely taught to fear two principal risks of casual sex: pregnancy and sexually trans- mitted infections (or STIs). What they probably didnt tell you is that many STIs dont invari- ably end in death. Often, even our fear of the STIs that never go away is disproportionate to the patholo- gy of those STIs. They are manage- able, and in some cases, they do go away. Genital warts is one such STI that is reputed to stick with you for life. While there is no medical cure, your body can fight it off -- so the warts arent permanent. Gen- tial warts is one expression of the single most common STI in North America: the Human Papillomavi- rus (HPV). A local doctor claims its so commonplace that if you have had sex with somebody who has had sex before, you have or have had HPV. In fact, the Center for Disease Control states that nearly all sexually active adults will con- tract HPV during their lifetime. So what does this mean for your health? HPV causes an ab- normality in your tissues. Most strains of HPV can be divided into two categories: high risk strains (the kind that can cause cancer), and low risk strains (the kind that can cause genital warts). Contracting any strain of the virus does not guarantee cancer or warts because your body can, and often does, fight it off. If your body fails to do this, though, the only way for women to find out if they have the the high risk strain is via pap smear, because the kind that causes cancer most common- ly appears on the cervix. For men there are still not recommended tests. How you deal with high risk strains of HPV is between you and your doctor. Dealing with low risk strains is a different story. Warts can appear anywhere from 3 months to sev- eral years after infection, but a lot of the time people remain asymp- tomatic even though they might be carrying the virus. Usually with low risk strains, your body will fight it off naturally and youll never even know that you had it. Freaking out in the shower is not an uncommon reaction to finding unidentified bumps on your genitals, but the truth is most people tend to overreact to gential warts. They arent necessarily a gender non-conforming people] were more likely to have expe- rienced harassment at work, at school, in the doctors office, or on the street than to have escaped such mistreatment...and at rates far above the national average. Global marginalization of women is real and demands our attention, but to have a campaign in the name of gender equality that completely ignores non-nor- mative genders does more to rein- force the concept of the man-ver- sus-woman dichotomy than it does to challenge it. It must be made clear that this is not an in- clusive gender equality campaign; it is a womens rights campaign. When campaigns like HeFor- She present complex issues that suddenly become the focus of massive online attention, it can be difficult to recognize their implied, and sometimes harmful, state- ments. Generally, when a good looking, intelligent celebrity tell us to do things, we do them or at least let other people know that we agree with that good look- ing, intelligent celebrity. But to take something like this at face value is to give in to slacktivism. This isnt to say that celebri- ty endorsements are a bad thing; many studies done on the topic show that celebrity spokesper- sons garner significant amounts of public interest for the causes they advocate. A campaigns market- HeForShe: Good But Not Good Enough threat to your health; most of the time, the most challenging part of dealing with an STI like genital warts is the stigma. For example, we asked stu- dents if they would have sex with a person they knew had genital warts, and the general consensus was no. Its not a surprising answer, but it is important to consider why were saying no. One student said, I dont want to sleep with somebody with HPV because when you have HPV peo- ple dont want to sleep with you. This response illustrates the issue quite clearly. It isnt the warts themselves we fear (as we said be- fore, they are harmless). The only thing we truly have to fear is the re- jection created by the fear of rejec- tion, which is created by the fear of rejection... You see the dilemma. The diagnosis is worse than the pathology of this strain of HPV. If you are worried about con- tracting or passing on the HPV vi- rus, sit down and talk about it with your partner. If someone tells you they have warts, be conscious of your reaction. Think about it. At the end of the day, only you can decide whats right for you, but remember that the fear of genital warts is the part that sucks, not necessarily genital warts in and of themselves. Communicate and be considerate. Play safe, Kenzie & Caleah By MACKENZIE ERLANK & CALEAH DEAN By JON FARMER Getting Off Why, You Moustache? By ZACHARY KERSHMAN ability shouldnt be the sole factor in evaluating its efficacy, its just important to acknowledge that good marketing doesnt eliminate the need for evaluation entirely. Ideally, these viral movements get people talking about global issues and, ideally, these conver- sations lead to meaningful change and its all very idealistic and beau- tiful, just like the celebrities inextri- cably attached to these campaigns. Hopefully, HeForShes exclusion of trans folk and people of non-nor- mative genders will become one of its strengths, in that it will spark debate about the absence of these minority groups virtually everywhere in mainstream media. Its November; the days are short- er, the frst years are through rhet- oric, and men around the world are wearing moustaches. If you dont know about Movember this growing movement may seem strange. If youre curious why so many of the men in your life are suddenly wearing moustaches or posing in photo shoots, I can tell you. Tey want your attention, but not for themselves, to raise awareness and money for mens health issues. Men live on average 4-5 years less than women and Movembers website attributes this statistic to their lack of awareness, unwill- ingness to discuss health issues and act when unwell, high risk activities, and stigma surround- ing mental health. Tis culture of silence ignores the fact that men are afected by health issues while common sense and plenty of sta- tistics prove it. For instance, 1 in 7 men will be diagnosed with pros- tate cancer in their lives and four times as many men end their own lives compared to women. Mo- vembers website also cites that 4 out of 5 suicides among young people in Canada are commit- ted by men, despite mens lower - reported rates of depression. Tese are heavy statistics but part of Movembers genius is to make space for important conversations in a fun way, starting with the space of stubbly upper lips. Movember is a fantastic excuse to have fun, get silly, and build com- munity but at its heart its about people. Statistics on mens health are impressive and shocking but they arent really powerful until you put a face to them. Finding a human face is easy; everyone is afected by mens health in some way. It only takes starting conver- sations to fnd out how. Personally, the men in my fam- ily have weak hearts. When my paternal great-grandfather died of a heart attack my grandfather had to drop out of school at 15 to support the family. In turn, my grandfather had a massive heart attack at 52 that almost killed him, forced him to retire, and lef him with just 40% heart capacity. Examples of mental health is- sues are also surprisingly easy to fnd among family and friends although we seldom talk about them. In 2012, 4 separate friends confded to me that their fathers -- all middle aged profession- al men -- had made attempts on their own lives. Tose are extreme examples but we all have friends who struggle with mental illness- es of one kind or another and many of us deal with them per- sonally but stigma ofen keeps us from talking about it. Reducing stigma around health issues is one of Movembers main goals and a primary reasons it deserves sup- port. Im not suggesting that we talk about them all of the time or that medical histories should be ex- plicit or transparent. What I am advocating for is the creation of a popular image of manhood and masculinity that incorporates illness and health issues not as a sign of weakness, but as a fact of life. I use Movember and my moustache to talk about these things; this is why theyre here. Movember formed in Australia in 2003 with 30 participants, in- spired by a beer fueled conversa- tion about bygone fashion trends and the desire to bring back the moustache. In 2004 450 partic- ipants ofcially raised $54,000 AUS for prostate cancer research in Australia. Last year over 1.1 million participants in 21 coun- tries raised $146.6 million CAD for mens health charities. 2013 marks Quests fourth cam- paign and campus participation has been growing steadily since 2010. I used it to justify my own feeble facial hair that year and a dozen people celebrated the end of the month with a potluck and silly auction in North Kitchen. We raised around $150. In 2011 the infamous Michael Luba suggested we create a fundraising calendar. We sold around 60 calendars with images from a hasty photo shoot in Riverside 201 . Between the cal- endar and end of Movember auc- tion in Swifcreek 202 we raised over $600 in 2011. Last year Quest raised over $2000, sold out of calendars, and hosted an End of Movember party on the third foor of the library for more than 200 people. We also crowned Leif Huot and exchange student Jen Lobley as Quests inaugural Mr and Miss Movember. Tis year promises more of the same with a calendar well on its way to pro- duction and a months end open mic scheduled for 8:30pm on the 29thin the Atrium. Supporting Movember is easy. You can donate money, buy a calendar, or bid on a moustache; you can ask the men in your life about their health; or schedule a physical or STI test for yourself. You dont have to do big things, simple conversations help. But if you are starting to think about holiday shopping, keep the calen- dars in mind. FROM THE VAULT SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT By ALESSANDRO TERSIGNI By JONAH GOLDEN Quest Pub Update Album Reviews: October By JACK LAMBERT Sprinklergate Corrections & clarifcations When it comes to environmental activism, size matters An article in this past Septem- ber issue of the Mark on the prog- ress of creating a Quest Campus Pub stated that the SRC could take out a mortgage to finance its con- struction. It has since come to the Marks attention that the SRC is not an independent organization and thus cannot take out bank loans in its name. As it is not a very profitable venture, the pub is unlikely to be C1 MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2014 The Mark ARTS & CULTURE of interest to external investors. The Quest administration could take out a loan on the SRCs behalf to fund a pub, but this is unlikely because they have money tied up in other projects, such as the new residences, Ossa and Red Tusk, says SRC President Cline Allen. Brad Klees, Quest alumnus and a prominent proponent of the pub thus far, says its now up to the students to create momentum for the project. ...[A]t a certain point it will be up to the current students Like Watergate, but sprinklers and not a scandal Peoples Climate March the pipes. The heavy rain that falls for most of the year in Squamish is always going through this pro- cess and renewing our source of naturally filtered water. The only real risk of water shortage in Squa- mish is in the summer when too many weeks go by without rain- fall. When the aquifer dries out, Squamish is forced to send river water into our pipes, requiring a boil water advisory, but more than enough water is there if we need it. Squamish has a fantastic sup- ply of this commodity that other places in the world are literally dying for. One might think that Squamish could afford to share a little, but water doesnt really work like that. Water is not a global commodity. To say that there is a global water shortage implies that were all drinking out of the same cup, and were not. Wildman ex- plained to us that we dont have It was the last week of Sep- tember block and one of the first nights of rain this year. Second year student, Zach Kershman, was walking home after a late night in the Academic Building. Upon ar- riving at the walk-up to Riverside, Kershman was surprised to find the sprinklers on. Why, he asked himself, would the sprinklers be on when water is falling from the sky? Does this sprinkler system not have a moisture sensor that knows to shut down when its raining? Does Quest not care about the im- pending global water shortage that will surely incite the apocalypse? What about all the people of the world without access to clean drinking water? It seemed counter to Quests implicit commitment to conser- vation and, in true journalistic fashion, we decided to get to the bottom of this juicy scandal. We started by getting in touch with Darren Newton, Manager of Hous- ing and Residence Life, who told us that the sprinklers run on a timer system, and that when it starts raining late in the evening, there is no one there to turn the system off. This was not a shocking dis- covery. But it left us with some questions about our water re- sources, so we sat down with en- vironmental chemist and Quests resident expert on all things water, Rich Wildman. He immediately set us straight about our preconceived notions on water conservation. According to Wildman, there is not a water crisis here. Weve got plenty of water. Squamish gets its water from an aquiferan underground rock formation that holds groundwater. The aquifer is a renewable source of water, making water scarcity in Squamish essen- tially a non-issue. When Garibaldi erupted 8000 years ago it created the Ring Creek lava flow, which flows down the big hill towards campus. The lava flow crystalizes in to pumice, a porous rock which has lots of tiny holes through which water can be fil- tered. The pumice sits on top of impermeable granite, the same rock that the Chief is made of. Rain drops fall on the entire lava flow and percolate through its many pores. When the water hits the im- permeable granite below, the water is forced to flow downhill instead of going deeper into the ground. It flows right into the aquifer, which holds groundwater until we suck it out with machines. Since the water in the aquifer has already been filtered through the porous rock, all we need to do is chlorinate it and send it downhill to town. This chlorination is mostly to keep the water from picking up pathogens on its journey through the pipes built to share it with any- body but ourselves. The closest town to Squamish, Britannia Beach, is not connected to our water sup- ply. There has been some talk about water tankers shipping wa- ter, similarly to how oil is shipped, to places that need it. Right now, its just not feasible. Conservation of water and better infrastructure in those places in need is more cost effective than water tankers going across the ocean. So, whats at stake when our sprinklers are on in the rain? Its not perfectly clear. On the one hand we have lots of water, espe- cially during the rainy season, and if we dont use it no one else will. On the other hand, the concept of environmental stewardship has im- plications beyond Squamishs wa- ter situation, and theres a lot to be said for standing in solidarity with people in areas without access to clean drinking water by not being frivilous with our good fortune. By ERIKA SERODIO and ZACH KERSHMAN Afer putting aside the re- alization that I had emitted 1.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide in trav- eling to and from New York to attend a march against climate change, I realized something else: size matters. And the Peoples Cli- mate March was massive. On September 21, two days before the U.N. hosted a climate summit for state and business leaders from around the world, 400 000 people marched through New York City calling for the cli- mate summit to produce plans that would actually mitigate cli- mate change. Te march was more than twice the size that any- one had predicted; it shut down Manhattan, it blocked trafc, and it spanned farther than the eye could see. Te day of the march, there were three tweets every sec- ond regarding the Peoples Cli- mate March. Te Times Square Jumbotron projected video from 2500 other marches around the world. Like I said, it was huge. At the same time, the march was very small. It was a demon- stration full of single-moment-re- minders that we all have a reason to care about climate change. It was riding the Subway at 6 am, surrounded by pumped-up vol- unteers. It was Bill McKibben dancing to a drum line. It was the miles of marching that lef people tired but inspired. It was watching my mom get swept away by the crowd. It was old friends play- ing music, new friends starting chants, shouts, whispers, smiles, and determined faces. It was di- verse but unifedchallenging the stereotype that environmen- talists are elite, old, and white. Te small moments were a testament to the multifarious motives that drive a wide variety of people to fght climate change. Tese motives, however, are not new. I think people have al- ways cared about the issue, but have felt powerless in showing it. People rightfully fear that their Prius and local diet are not enough to fght such a global problem, and in the past, this fear has led to discouragement and inaction. Te march demonstrat- ed that the climate movement is widespreadbig enough to address the problem. Being con- nected to a larger movement re- places fear and inaction with hope and action. Tat is why size, in this case, matters. Size confrms to us that change really is possible, this hope motivates us to act, and our action empowers the movement. On the fip side, the fossil fuel industry is empowered by a dif- ferent type of sizea seemingly endless cash fow. Teir money is long, but their people-power (and science) is lacking. Te battle of size comes down to the big mon- ey of a few versus the actions of many; whichever side can apply more pressure on policy makers will win. Te climate movement is fghting the size battle with peo- ple-power and science. Teir devices are argument, passion, symbols, images, analogies, and alternatives. Tese strategies apply pressure in many ways, including simply unveiling the injustices of the current state of afairs. Tis pressure will not be released until the system changes, starting with our leaders listening to econo- mists and putting a price on car- bon. Politicians will try to relieve pressure with pseudo-change, but until results are seen, the climate movement will continue to grow until the pressure cannot be dis- pelled or ignored with anything but legitimate change. to get the ball rolling, he says. If I were a student, I would lockdown interest in the student body and approach the SRC about brokering some deal with the University at large. Allen says this will be a larger topic of discussion for the SRC in the near future. One more afford- able option could be facilitating a space that can be turned into a licensed, beer-garden-esque area. However, funding such an endeav- or doesnt look feasible at present. alt-J This is All Yours alt-Js second album, This is All Yours, is a dark indie master- piece. It combines the sharp treble filled rhythms and vocal style of in their previous album An Awe- some Wave with its icy alt-elec- tronic influences meet indie folk and atmospheric rock on its new- est album This is All Yours. Each song is like a coat, warming you with its soothing sound. Warm Foothills is one of the most alluring songs on the album, it starts slow and then builds into a crescendo of whistling, piano and acoustic gui- tar. Left Hand Free starts with a jangly, slightly distorted guitar start then brings in snare heavy drums and bright vocals, a step away from the main theme of the album. This whole album is best listened to on a dark and dreary day with a warm cup of tea in your hands. My Pick: Pusher Hozier Hozier Bluesy ballads accented by sharp guitar and the soulful voice of Andrew Hozier-Bryne consti- tute his eponymous debut album. The album has obvious delta and British blues influences, yet mixes in modern melodies of indie folk, such as in the top track on the album Take Me to Church. This JONAH GOLDEN ARTS & CULTURE D1 By MARIA JOSE ARAUJO Pollinating Around By ARLETTE AKINGENEYE and VALERIA VERGANI Where Are You From? By LEENA DUPUIS November Briefs MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2014 The Mark Advice, challenges, and opportunities for international students at Quest Some arts and culture-y events that you should check out Quest welcomes all those willing to pollinate for the beneft of our insect neighbours Halloween at the Gondola October 25 from 1 - 4 pm at Sea to Sky Gondola. Admis- sions are free with Gondola lift tickets or summer season/ annual passes. The Sea to Sky Gondola welcomes costumed individuals of all ages to participate in a multitude of ac- tivities, including trick-or-treating on the Panorama trail. Dont miss this amazing opportunity to enjoy a beautiful view with a Halloween twist. The Paperboys October 26 at the Brackendale Art Gallery. Tickets are $20 each and are available for pur- chase at Xocolatl or the BAG. The Paperboys, a JUNO award winning band, have been delight- ing fans for 20 years with their unique blend of Irish, Mexican and Roots Folk music, and its now your chance to see them live at the BAG. The band is composed of writer/ singer Tom Landa, flutist Geoffrey, bassist Brad Gillard, Kalissa Her- nandez on fiddle, drummer Sam Esecson and tromboniste Nick La Riviere. If you cant make it to their concert, be sure to listen to their al- bum Molinos, which received four stars out of five by AllMusic.
We Scare Hunger! October 10 through 31. Food deposit in Atrium. In the spirit of giving, open up your cupboards and bring your non-perishable food items to the atrium for the Squamish Helping Hands. Any kind of food that is sealed and will not spoil will be accepted.To commemorate this event, there will be trick-or-treat- ing, but, instead of collecting can- Have you noticed something different on campus? The keen eye may have spotted that we have new flowers at Quest, and not just any flowers, pollinator- friendly ones. Fourth year student Micha- lina Hunter, best known as Michi, organized the Quest Pollinator En- hancement Project, which was also her Keystone project. The event, ran on Saturday, October 5, and aimed to raise awareness on how honeybees and native pollinators share an ecosystem. Educating the community about honeybees is vital because they are not a native species and their presence may af- fect the resources available to other types of native pollinators like bum- blebeesmaking them compete to survive. Ensuring there is plenty of food available for every pollinator, is ensuring they have a fair chance of surviving the winter. The pollinator enhancement event demonstrated how a community can assume re- sponsibility for maintaining balance in an ecosystem. At the event, I found myself constantly surrounded by different activities and stations that looked interesting. I came home with a collection of things including a beeswax candle that I rolled myself, a bee home, and a flower bomb. I learned that flower bombs are seeds and soil wrapped in clay. The idea, which originated in New York, is to throw the bombs where you want flowers to eventually bloom. Each station had a volunteer that educated the attendants. On the bee home building station, they fo- cused on how it was important to make spaces available for individual pollinators in the winter. Especially As the Quest student body has grown to over five hundred stu- dents this year, the number of international students has grown with it. According to the univer- sitys website, the Quest student population currently includes 14% of students from countries other than Canada or the USA. A num- ber of questions remain, howev- er, about what it means to be an international student at Quest. A growing international population does not always mean more mutu- al support, integration, or diversity. The new academic year has seen an increase in the number of ini- tiatives meant to help international students feel supported and wel- comed into the Quest community. Besides the traditional interna- tional students orientation, which gives international students an ex- tra two days to get to know their surroundings before classes start, the current Minister of Internation- alization, Aida Ndiaye, has been organizing International Affairs Dinners. The International Affairs Dinners is a series of discussions on foreign countries histories and current issues that aim to chal- lenge cultural stereotypes perpet- uated by Western media. The In- ternational Discussion Group, run by Student Services Officer Will Prescott, invites international stu- dents to come together and share their unique experiences in order to support each other through the year-long process of integration. In spite of these initiatives, adjust- ing to Quest takes international students more than just a few weeks. Common difficulties that international students grapple with are the limited range of food options in the cafeteria, the rainy Squamish weather, and the lack of common cultural references with North American students. Espe- cially in light of the ever-changing character of the Quest community, each student finds a different way to overcome these difficulties and get adjusted to life at Quest. Tas- mia Nower, a fourth year student from Bangladesh, remembers that the small size of the Quest student body made her feel welcome and involved in the community during her first year. On the other hand, Ndiaye, a third year student from Senegal, says that during her first year she relied mostly on Quest students that she had previous- ly known from her high school in South Africa as a support system. Vic Wang, a third year student from China, explains that making connections with the Squamish community through his host fam- ily helped him feel more at home at Quest during his first months in Canada. A common strategy that seems to have helped their process of integration is the willingness to be proactive in learning about North American culture and sharing their own traditions with roommates, friends, and classmates. According to Ndiaye, It is important for international students to be proactive, to raise their voices, and to share their different perspective. People at Quest usually value the different perspectives and points of view of internation- al students. While international stu- dents need to take the ini- tiative to make their voices heard by the rest of the student body, it is import- ant that all Quest students become aware of the diver- sity of cultures, backgrounds and languages present on campus. All Quest students should make an active effort to cherish perspectives and stories that are different than their own. in areas where the forest has been logged and buildings have replaced the natural habitat. Surrounded by live music and a good dose of sunshine, I also got the opportunity to get a tour of the beehive. Once up close to the hive and its humming and buzz- ing, I couldnt help but stare and wonder about all the life inside of it. If you missed out on the event, you can still get involved by join- ing the bee club, something that I would definitely recommend. Michi mentioned she would be happy to train students, especially first and second years, on how to take care of the bees, so that when she grad- uates, they can continue to lead the project. It is the little things like our friendly pollinators that are so crucial to natures harmony. Taking care of their home is the least we can do. dy for yourself, canned goods will be distributed. Come with your trick-or-treat bag and do some good for your community!
Masquerade Ball Event starts at 6 pm November 8 and ends November 9 at 1 pm at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park Roundhouse. Squamish firefighters, in partner- ship Sea to Sky Community Ser- vice, are hosting a Masquerade Ball, and every one is welcome. Food will be served all through- out the night,with different entries: canaps, buffet dinner, dessert, and late night snacks. Of course, the evening will be full of dancing with live entertainment courtesy of Faith & Desire. Put on a mask and dancing shoes and join in on this good cause. More details about ticket prices at Squamish official website.
The Legend of Joan of Arc Preseted by the Arts Club, play runs every Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from October 23 to November 23 at the Stanley Alliance Industrial Stage in Van. Are you a fan of history, Joan of Arc, or plays in general? Well, youre in luck! George Bernard Shaws play explores the legend of Joan of Arc and her remarkable rise and fall. How did an illiterate teenage girl in- spire an army of men to rid France of its English occupiers, and place a dauphin on the throne? Was she a witch? A madwoman? A genius? These questions are explored in what The Guardian calls an Intel- lectually vigorous, visually excit- ing play. For more information and tickets, visit http://artsclub.com/ ballad starts with a piano and at the apex of the song, a slightly dis- torted guitar comes in, making it even darker. All of the songs on the album have complex, story-telling lyrics that address struggle, exer- tion, and love. This album would be best enjoyed during a tough breakup, but no need to go looking for one of those. My Pick: Angel of Small Death and The Codeine Scene The Blank Tapes Vacation If you want to take a mental trip to Hawaii, this album is for you. This modern surf rock is upbeat, catchy, and perfect for relaxing on a beach (or in your bed). Coast to Coast tells the story of road tripping from coast to coast, and the clean sharp guitar and Beach Boys-esque vocals make it the per- fect song to listen to while south of tropical climates. This is the sonic equivalent of spending a day on the coast, this album lets you get away from life, something we all need to do sometimes. My Pick: Holy Roll- er Tallest Man on Earth The Wild Hunt The Tallest Man on Earth cant be compared to anybody else. His unique guitar style and his crack- ly, melodramatic voice make him one of a kind. His album The Wild Hunt contains everything you could ask for; it is his best album. In the song The Wild Hunt smooth rhythmic strumming and a lulling voice pull you in. The lyrics also hint that the song feels as if winter is around the corner. Kristian Mats- son taps rhythms out using his feet, making it seem like he is playing right in front of you. His songs are lyrically rich and filled with descrip- tion frozen landscapes and falling leaves. His fingerpicked melodies on guitar communicate so much emotion, especially in the song Love Is All. This song is a master- ful arrangement -- its use of high, fingerpicking gives the illusion that he is playing an bass and guitar. He is truly a unique master of his own genre. This would best be enjoyed as we prepare for the fog and the rain roll in. My Pick: King of Spain Album Reviews cont. ALESSANDRO TERSIGNI By JACK LAMBERT HEALTH & WELLNESS E1 MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2014 The Mark By JORDAN ROSS Dont Let S.A.D. Get You Down By MILA MASON Gratitude & Happiness Many people in the Northern hemisphere report feeling the blues during the fall and winter months, and Quest is no exception. These blues are formally called Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, and are classified by the American Psychi- atric Association as a type of re- current major depressive disorder associated with a seasonal pattern. Luckily, there are some ways you can help prevent SAD. The following tips have been adapted from The Depression Cure, a book by Stephen S. Ilardi, a researcher in clinical psychology who has been treating depression for many years. These tips may be helpful for mild seasonal depression, as well as more major depressive disorders. However, the following information is not a substitute for medical ad- vice; please talk to a medical pro- fessional if you think you may be depressed Supplements There are a few key supple- ments that can help alleviate de- pressive systems. The first are omega-3 oils, which are crucial to healthy brain function. Taking 1000 mg a day may keep you from feeling down during the next few months. Unfortunately, vegetarian options are a lot more limited. Its possible to get omega-3s that have been created by algae, but they are much harder to find and significant- ly more expensive. The second to consider is vita- min D. Its easy to become vitamin D deficient when we dont spend as much time outdoors and our sun exposure is limited because of the weather. 2000 international units of vitamin D3 has been shown to help regulate your mood. In addition to oils and vitamin D, a daily multivitamin will provide the antioxidants needed for your body to use omega-3s more effec- tively. Vitamin C also provides addi- tional antioxidants; 500 mg per day is recommended by Stephen Ilardi. Finally, evening primrose oil provides an essential fat for your brain called gamma-linolenic acid, or GLA. High doses of omega-3s can deplete GLA in your brain, which can lead to depression, and the primrose oil has been shown to help combat this. 500 mg of primrose oil per week should be ideal. You should be able to get all of these essential supplements at most grocery or drugstores, but, if you are not in a rush, check online as the prices tend to be cheaper. Pay Attention to Your Thoughts The first thing to watch out for is rumination -- the process of your mind wandering, lingering, and repeating negative thoughts and emotions. The best way to avoid rumination is finding activities that distract yourself. These could be as casual as reading a book or watch- ing something on Netflix, but you might find activities like painting, drawing, or socializing will also do the trick. Get Moving Exercise is another tool in fight- ing depression. Our ancient ances- tors spent a lot of time running and walking and this, among other fac- tors, meant they had far lower rates of depression. Start by scheduling three, hour-long windows of time per week, even if you will only ex- ercise for thirty minutes of each of those windows. This can be tough on the block plan when work is crushing you, but if you are feeling stressed or depressed, your time spent exercising will pay off. Try to get your heartrate up and keep it there for thirty minutes; brisk walk- ing, running, biking, rock climbing, or intramural sports are all great op- tions. The important thing is to find something you enjoy enough to do multiples times a week and long enough to get your blood pumping. Social Activity Finally, social activity can help prevent depression. It can be easy to feel isolated at Quest, but there are a variety of ways to be so- cial: strike up a conversation with someone while youre waiting for your food, have a chat with one of the cashiers, or ask a few of your classmates if they want to review the readings together. Group na- ture walks, in particular, have also been correlated to to lower rates of depression, so find a few of your friends and head out to the woods! Additionally, the Quest counselors shouldnt be seen as resources only for people who are in dire need; they are for anyone to talk to, even if you think your problems are too small (or too big). Hopefully with these tips in your toolbox, you can help yourself feel as bright as possible through- out the dreary upcoming months. Why everyone should thank each other more often The Mark CALEAH DEAN, Editor-in-Chief JONATHAN VON OFENHEIM, Editor-in-Chief ALESSANDRO TERSIGNI, News Editor ZACHARY KERSHMAN, Opinion Editor KENDRA PERRIN, Arts & Culture Editor KEVIN BERNA, Sports Editor R. MARIS WINTERS, Production Manager MORGAN HILLIS, Production Assistant JORDAN ROSS, Media Guru TARI AJADI, Editor-at-Large JEANNIE RAKAMNUAYKIT, Copy Editor NEDER GATMON-SEGAL, Copy Editor As the weather changes and depression-like symptoms loom, these tips can help keep your mood up through to the spring Womens team close, despite injuries. SPORTS Mens Soccer Team Makes Provincials! By BEN IRONSIDE GOLDSTEIN & EMMA TAYLOR On the weekend of October 25, Quest will host the Pacific North- west (Pacwest) Soccer Provincials. Both Quest teams had a chance of competing in provincials, depend- ing on the results of last weekends games. In the Pacwest league, the top four teams from each division of six advance to provincials. Last weekend, the Kermodes played against the Kwantlen University Eagles on Saturday, and against the Langara Falcons on Sunday. For the Mens team, who lost to Capilano and Douglas on October 11 and 12, winning their games last weekend was crucial for making provincials. Last season the womens team placed second in provincials, and head coach Craig Smith pre- dicted they would have a shot at nationals this year. In past seasons, however, they had far fewer inju- ries. Losing six starting players to injuries and indefinite suspensions over the course of this season left them in a tough position, but by winning two games against Capila- no and Douglas on the second-to- last weekend of the season, they reached the same position as the Mens team: both teams needed to win the last two games of the sea- son to make provincials. The Mens team won against Kwantlen on Saturday October 18, with a score of 1-0, keeping their chances alive, but the Womens team tied, and did not get a spot at provincials. Then, on Sunday October 19, the Mens team beat Langara 3-0 to earn a spot in the 2014 provincials. The mens team has had their best season in years, and the womens team has performed admirably and stayed motivated through a series of unfortunate injuries - their coaches are very proud. This years Mens senior class has never made provincials since they came to Quest as fresh- faced first years, so this victory was especially sweet for those six student-athletes. Players attributed this turn- around to hard work, luck, and their new head coach, Alexander Elliott, who has previously coached at universities in Germany and BC. Several players gave favorable re- ports about the new boss, and said Even in the fog, Squamish is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, but the sun makes us happy in a chemical way that no lamp can quite reproduce. That is why, in this coming foggy season, we hard-working, often-stressed- out university students may find we need some way to cope with the loss of endorphins What makes someone hap- py differs depending on who that person is. That being said, there are a few things (e.g. hugs, food, and exercise) that are scientifically proven to have an endorphin-fed happy impact on everyone. One of these universal happiness-induc- ers that feels particularly appropri- ate for the season is gratitude. Martin E. P. Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania con- ducted a short study on the effects of gratitude on human happiness. First, the participants were giv- en a baseline test to assess how happy they were. They were then asked to think of someone who had been a monumental mentor in their lives. After choosing some- body, the participants were asked to write a letter to this person sin- cerely thanking them. Then, the participants were given a different version of the test that was con- ducted at the beginning and the results were compared. Every par- ticipant in the study experienced a boost between 2% and 19% in their happiness levels after thanking someone who had been an influ- ential mentor to them in their lives. Even if the fog isnt pulling you down, everyone has rainy days. So if you feel yourself stuck in one, or just want to give it a go because it is awesome, try sincerely thanking as many people as you can every day, or for one daywhatever floats your boat. Keep in mind that thanking others will not just make you hap- pyit also makes the person you are thanking feel good. In addition, when someone is thanked, they tend to then reflect on what they did to deserve that thanking. Re- flecting on good things ultimately leads to more good things, and thats some good stuff. If you are going to take any- thing from this, take this: thank the people who you feel need thank- ing, do positive things that make you feel better and also make the world a better place. Some- one may thank you for these nice things and, if they do, give them a big hug, a piece of chocolate, and imaginein the words of Atmo- spherethe fine sunshine on your skin and warming up your mind and maybe, just maybe, youll feel happy. that he brought a new profession- alism to the team. These victories mean a lot to the players, especially some of the third and fourth years who are experiencing their first wins here at Quest. Sundays game was the last regular season game for many graduating Quest students. Colton Cook, a first year on the Mens team said about winning: it was so cool to be part of something so special not just for us personally but for the school even, and the seniors. R. MARIS WINTERS KENDRICK RUDY DETTMERS