THE MARK$FREE.99 TUESDAY FEBRUARY 25th, 2014

HALFPIPE HEROINES

INSIDE TODAYS PAPERRace & Faculty A3

Portait Politics A2Woodfibre LNG A2

PLANS FOR SQUAMISH RESORT RESURFACELOCAL DEVELOPMENT

Proposal for Garibaldi at Squamish progresses sparking discussion about future growth and development in the Squamish area

On Thursday, February 20th two Quest students, Roz Groenewoud and Keltie Hansen, competed in the first ever Womens Olympic Halfpipe competition. Groenewoud placed 7th and Hansen placed 13th overall, both cheered on by a crowd of students and staff packed into the Quest University cafeteria at 6:00 AM to watch the event.

AMENDMENT VOTE BACK ON

CALEAH DEAN & KEVIN BERNA

Quest students compete in inaugural Womens Freestyle Skiing event at Sochi Olympics

Editors-in-ChiefTari Ajadi & Jake Smith

News EditorAlessandro Tersigni

Opinion EditorElise Scribner

Arts and Culture EditorCaleah Dean

Editor-at-large Brad Klees

THE MARKNinth Edition

After two qualifying runs each, Groenewoud ranked 6th and moved on to the finals with the top 12 com-petitors while Hansen just missed the opportunity to ski alongside her team-mate, placing 13th. The cafeteria crowd buzzed with hope when the French competitor Anais Caradeux was pro-nounced unfit for the finals after a fall in the qualifiers, but unfortunately

Plans to build an all-season resort on Mount Garibaldi are on the table once again after years of debate over its economic and environmental viability. The $5.5 billion Garibaldi at Squamish (GAS) project has been sent to the next stage of development and, if passed, construction will begin in 2015. GAS would be built on on Crown Land 15 kilometers north of Squamish. The GAS development propos-al covers 4,901 hectares of land, which is equivalent to about half the size of Squamish. The resort would include a 25-lift ski resort (Whistler has 37 lifts) with 5,739 new housing units, 500,000 sq. feet of commercial space and two 18-hole golf courses surrounding Brohm Lake. After several rejections from the British Columbia Environ-mental Assessment Office (EAO), the proposal has resurfaced since its latest rejection in 2010. Vice chairman of GAS, Wolf-gang Richter, first proposed the project in 1997. The EAO had most recently put the project on hold in 2010, requesting further environmental research con-cerning the environmental impact of sourcing water for this massive resort. This decision was made jointly by for-mer BC minister of environment Bar-ry Penner and former BC minister of

tourism, arts and culture Kevin Kruger. I have a particular concern around the potential impact to fish and other aquatic species in Brohm Creek, Penner told the Squamish Chief at the time about his decision. Minister Krueger also expressed specific con-cerns about public safety given that a number of dams were proposed above some of the residential facilities. The new proposal includes a plan to source groundwater from a Par-adise Valley aquifer. Piteau Associates Engineering Inc., an environmental consulting firm hired by GAS, carried out testing. The study indicated that the aquifer could be pumped at 70 liters per second and that impacts on neigh-boring wells in Paradise Valley would be minimal. However, Squamish residents and environmentalists continue to express concerns about the proposal, submitting comments and concerns to the EAO. In one of the comments pub-lished to the EAO website, Squamish resident Evan Stevens wrote, This is nothing but a land grab by real estate developers looking to capitalize on government loop-holes that allow the rock bottom sale of public land to pri-vate developers. This area is already a major economic attraction for Squa-mish, with its great camping and lake, rock climbing, mountain biking and motor sports of world class standards

attracting tens of thousands of users. One major concern is that GAS intends to release its waste-water just north of the Cheakamus Riv-er, which is already loaded with liquid waste from Whistler. There is also concern among Whistler residents regarding the ef-fects of a new resort on Whistlers economy, as the resorts would be just 60 kilometers apart. Whistler Mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden has expressed concerns about the economic viability of the GAS project in a meeting with BCs current Minister of Environment, Mary Polak, at a conference concern-ing the proposal held in September. Our destination visitors, as everyone knows, are down, and we are relying more and more on regional visitors. To put a competing resort 30 minutes away from Whistler doesnt make any sense, Wilhelm-Morden said. If all goes according to plan, GAS would see nearly 6,000 proposed housing units filled upon its comple-tion. In a 2010 socio-economic report, it was predicted that GAS would in-crease the population in the District of Squamish by 22% by the year 2031. This spike in population would not only af-fect current Squamish infrastructure, but would also require further develop-ment of the area. Several recent development projects proposed in Squamish have

been rejected by City Council in keep-ing with the Districts growth man-agement strategy. A 2012 proposal to develop the area that is now home to the Perth outdoor recreation trail net-works, a 450-acre project, was refused on the basis that the required popu-lation threshold of 22,500 had not yet been met. The 22 percent increase in population that would come from the completion of GAS would bring the population of Squamish to approx-imately 37,000. This growth would bring previously rejected development plans back to the table. While many Squamish resi-dents have expressed their concerns about the GAS in council meetings and letters to the EAO, Richter remains confident that progress will contin-ue. He told the Vancouver Sun in a recent interview, this project will go ahead[]Its time for the government to get out of the way and let us do the planning work.

Hansen was not moved up and the fi-nals continued with only 11 skiers. Groenewoud skied the half-pipe while sporting her signature red lipstick and purple ribbons in honor of Squamish local Sarah Burke, an in-fluential figure in womens skiing who passed away in 2012 after a training ac-cident. Groenewoud placed 7th over-all in the event only two months after

double knee surgery. Her first trick in the final ended in a fall and seemed to shake her confidence for her next run. She scored 74.20 on her second final round in the halfpipe. On behalf of Quest University we would like to say how proud we are of both Roz and Keltie and how much we are looking forward to having them home again.

MOLLY PAYNE & ZACH KERSHMAN

O N E - Y E A R A N N I V E R S A R Y E D I T I O N

NEWS & OPINIONA2 || THE MARK

These assessments will deter-mine whether the project goes ahead and how. They say yes or no, but very rarely is it an absolute yes or no. Usually, its a yes if , or a no unless, said Giraud. If the environmental assess-ments give the project a yes, or the more likely conditional yes, the next step would be applying for permits from the necessary government ministries. Site construction would take place through-out 2015 and 2016, and the first quar-ter of 2017 would see the facility up and running. Squamish was chosen as the projects location because of the existing infrastructure on the old pulp mill site, which would allow the construction and operation of the LNG facility to have a relatively small environmental impact. The site already has a FortisBC pipeline, an electricity transmission line, and a deep-water port for receiving and load-ing ships. Plus, the land is zoned for in-dustrial use by the District of Squamish and has limited use beyond industry be-cause of pollution remaining from the pulp mill. You couldnt farm on it or anything, said Giraud. As part of the land purchasing agreement, Woodfibre has committed to a significant remediation effort, which has already begun. They are spending $7 million on the initial site cleanup. Though funded entirely by the private sector, the Woodfibre project fits into a broader political landscape, with Christy Clarks provincial government pushing for the development of LNG fa-cilities as part of its BC Jobs Plan. Their aim is to have three LNG facilities oper-ating by 2020. Although the environmental assessments will ultimately determine whether the Woodfibre project goes ahead, there are still many project de-tails to be negotiated where community feedback can have an impact. Giraud stressed that even though the first round of community consultation has con-cluded, those concerned or interested in the project are welcome to contact him to set up a meeting. We are trying to be as open as possible, said Giraud.

By March 1st, Quest is on track to receive more applications from pro-spective students than ever before, em-phasizing the Universitys increasing popularity and recognition. March 1st is the deadline for applicants to Quest who require scholar-ships and financial aid from the school. This year, as Admissions Director Keely Stott said via email, [We already] have over 620 applications and it is only mid-February. At this time last year, admissions had received fewer than 500 applications. Moreover, 32% more students applied early action this year than last year, and admissions staff report that these students tend to be more enthusi-astic and informed about Quest.

Overall, the University admit-ted 414 students in 2013, in hopes of matriculating 180 in the Fall semester. A surprising 65% of admitted students chose to attend Quest, much higher than the expected rate of 50-55%, which is typical for similar institutions. The high yield resulted in an unexpectedly large incoming class of 220 for the 2013-14 academic year. One challenge of an increasing applicant pool is interviewing every can-didate. Interviews are an essential aspect in determining an applicants compat-ibility with Quest. If submissions keep increasing by greater than 20% each year, the interview process as it is now will be too time consuming. This year, admissions will again aim for an incoming class of 180 and expect a matriculation rate of 50-55%. These expectations, along with the in-

ADMISSIONS CHECK-INQuests application count is biggest yet

crease in number of applicants, means that this years acceptance rate will prob-ably be lower than last years, which was 62%. At other universities, low ad-missions rates are often advertised as evidence of exclusivity, but Quest Pres-ident David Helfand told The Mark that Quests prestige should be based on the achievements of alumni, not on admis-sions rates. He said Quests admissions process searches not for those looking for a degree in anticipation to get them a specific job, but for students who will be engaged and successful at Quest. Rather than selecting applicants with the most academic prowess, the admis-sions counselors, who are Quest alum-ni, base their selection process on the principle: pick students you would have wanted to be in class with.

GRAHAM STREICH &BEN IRONSIDE GOLDSTEIN

PROPOSED WOODFIBRE LNG PLANT MOVES AHEAD

KENDRA PERRIN

Over the past month, the Woodfibre LNG Project has hosted eight community consultation sessions regarding their proposal to build a $1.6 billion LNG processing and export fa-cility in Squamish. These sessions gave citizens an initial opportunity to gain information and voice their concerns. Since the project is still in an early stage, this feedback could have a meaningful influence on its direction. The Woodfibre LNG facility would be seven kilometers southwest of Squamish on the site of the former Woodfibre pulp mill, which has been vacant since closing in 2006. It would export between 1.5 and 2.1 million tons of LNG per year to markets in Asia, with a planned operating life of 25 years. It is considered a small-scale project, being only about one-tenth the size of pro-posed projects in Northern B.C. None-theless, it would still see 40 LNG carriers per year travelling the waters of Howe Sound. When asked how informed she thought most people were about the project, first-year Quest student Talia Martz-Oberlander remarked that natu-ral gas is a big unknown for a lot of peo-ple. It is definitely less known than oil, because its relatively new for BC. LNG is natural gas that is chilled to -162 degrees Celsius so that it can assume liquid form. Once in liquid form, it takes up approximately 1/600th of the space of natural gas. This makes it much easier to transport. LNG is odor-less, non-toxic, non-corrosive and, if a spill occurred, it would warm and evap-orate. Once processed, LNG can be used for a variety of purposes, such as heating homes and fuelling vehicles. It is consid-ered to be the worlds cleanest burning fossil fuel. However, LNG is typically extracted from the ground through the process of hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as fracking, which raises environmental concerns. Woodfibre does not extract natural gas itself, but will liquefy sur-plus natural gas purchased in the open market, some of which may come from fracking in BC or elsewhere. I worry that projects like this will just perpet-

uate the terrible process of fracking. It seems like the more ports of export there are, the more extraction sites will pop up in response to the demand, said Martz-Oberlander. Woodfibre does not anticipate that the project will result in any new extraction activity because of its relatively small scale. Vice president of corporate af-fairs at Woodfibre Byng Giraud estimat-ed that they had heard from about 400 community members throughout the entire consultation process. Overall, he was pleasantly surprised with the turn-out and the kind of feedback voiced. Squamish residents realized there would be benefits, namely job creation and contribution to the tax base. There were three main concerns raised: the LNG carrier traffic in the Howe Sound, the fa-cilitys potential effect on air quality, and the facilitys aesthetic impact and noise production. Martz-Oberlander was im-pressed by the timing of the communi-ty consultation. The fact that they are doing open houses like this when the project is at such an infancy stage is re-ally amazing The earlier on you have public consultation yes, it does sort of appease the community because they feel like theyre involved but it can also really improve the project. Woodfibre, having completed the initial round of community consul-tation, will now form a Working Group consisting of representatives from the various stakeholders in the project: rep-resentatives of the community, represen-tatives of the Squamish Nation, Woodfi-bre, and government regulators. Giraud hopes this group would be formed sometime in March. Their task will be to work with the communitys feedback to form a draft application information request (DAIR), and also to determine the priorities for the upcoming environ-mental assessments. According to Woodfibres ten-tative timeline, the formal application for the project will be submitted to the federal and provincial governments re-spective environmental assessment or-ganizations by August of 2014. Their as-sessment processes will take about a year to complete, so the results will be known in the summer of 2015.

KEYSTONE UPDATE

Any fourth-year Quest students looking to graduate this Spring are hast-ily finishing their Keystone projects in these final months before commence-ment. The Keystone project is an ex-tension of a students Question studies culminating in a focused project akin to an undergraduate thesis. The Mark checked in with three fourth-years in-tent on graduating to find out the sta-tus of their Keystones. See what Miles Minichiello, Paul Sales, and Tom Turner have to say about the influences, devel-opment, and latest progress of their Key-stones.

Miles MinichielloWhat is a man? Q: What is your Keystone project?A: I wrote a myth/fairytale/story and am going to perform it. Throughout my Question process, Ive realized that I could not come up with a universal definition of a man. Instead, my definition is much more personal, like, What does it mean to be a man for me? Another component of my question is the exploration of initia-tion rights and story telling. My keystone project is the combination of these two interests. Im performing my project the way storytelling used to happen - out in the woods and around a fire.Q: When did you start?A: I initially got the idea when I did an experiential learning block in August 2013. I began writing in November.Q: How has the process been of develop-ing your Keystone?A: My Keystone project is very important and meaningful for me. What gets in the way of my project is the other required courses that I have to take.Q: What influenced your Keystone most?A: My experiential learning in Wales and my seminal readings.

Paul SalesWhat factors influence choice? Q: What is your Keystone?A: Im building a device called an EEG, which is short for electroencephalogram. It amplifies brain waves through elec-trodes placed on the scalp.Q: When did you start?A: Ive been thinking about the idea for a while, but began ordering the parts last week.Q: How has the process been of develop-ing your Keystone?A: Since I started late, Ive been feeling pretty rushed to finish the project on time. Im pretty much working in the electron-ics lab all the time. I wasnt super stoked on the idea of a Keystone project at first, but now Im really liking the way its taken over my life!Q: Whats influenced your Keystone most?A: My peers and my tutors. I knew that other Quest students had built research devices for their keystone projects in the past. My current tutor, Court and my peers are helping me make this project come together. Tom TurnerHow can visual art express mathematics? Q: What is your Keystone?A: Im making a sculpture of a math equa-tion statically representing how a ripple decays on the surface of water. I wrote and implemented a program in Java that propagates a wave and shows how waves decay, reflect and interact on a surface of still water.Q: When did you start?A: This November.Q: How has the process been of develop-ing your Keystone?A: My Keystone has been a constant frus-tration. Its been a utilization of skills that I learned and many that I hadnt. The creative process behind the technical skills has been awesome. However, I dont think Id ever want to make a sculpture again.Q: Whats influenced your Keystone most? A: Quest tutors Ryan and Glen, going to Barcelona, and all the math courses Ive taken at Quest. Last year, I took eight math classes in a row! I fell deeply in love with math.

Laura Finkler-Kemeny

Pending regulatory approvals, the northwestern shore of Howe Sound could see a liquified natural gas (LNG) facili-ty operating as early as the first quarter of 2017.

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 25th, 2014

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 25th, 2014

bers of the Quest community the op-portunity to intellectually and socially revel in their cultural experiences? If prospective faculty members are to be evaluated simply within ordinal terms, then certainly I fear that many ethnic and racial Quest students will continue to be neglected of a unique experience which can only be brought forth by those who have shared similar experi-ences. Indeed, in considering the cate-gorical criteriathat once one passes a certain threshold of qualifications, intangible considerations are the main factorfor hiring faculty, one would be delivering a more holistic educational experience for all students. Will we be the leaders in high-er education once more? Or simply al-low this issue to fall to the hip side as many universities have? I eagerly await your response. I will be publishing this letter in The Mark to gather further awareness on the topic.

Sincerely,Jose Colorado

The response to Joses article is published to the right

LETTERS: RACE AND FACULTY HIRING

THE MARK || A3 NEWS & OPINION

Dear Quest Faculty Members,

I hope that this letter will be given your sincerest consideration as the proceeding issue has benignly laid dormant for far too long. For the past four years I have been privileged enough to experience Quests tre-mendous growth. Sadly it has lagged behind in one significant category which threatens to undermine the en-tire Quest experienceracial diversity within its academy. Based upon Quests current faculty profile (available through Quests website), currently four out of the 34 permanent faculty members are visible minorities. This white hegemon-ic dominance among faculty members doesnt appear to be yielding either. For the past four years I have seen many prospective candidates audition for Quest teaching positionsunan-imously white. In continuously per-petuating a white dominated teaching staff, are we not then implicitly propa-gating a higher level of thinking and a university experience within exclusive-ly white terms? Certainly, it would be nave to believe that the Quest white faculty members who direct our edu-cational experiences are somehow free of their implicit white bias. In contin-uously staffing a heavily dominated white faculty, how can we reasonably believe that as an institution we are fully committed to allowing all mem-

We appreciate Joss articulate and thoughtful letter regarding the im-portant matter of faculty diversity. In-deed, we agree that fostering a campus culture that is culturally rich and wel-coming to all students is of utmost im-portance, in that it supports our overall mission of providing valuable and sig-nificant learning experiences for our students. Hiring faculty members that are an appropriate fit for Quests unique educational mission is challenging, most notably because we seek indi-viduals with capacities that lie outside of the conventional academic training excellent teachers who can provide engaging courses, valuable mentorship, and intelligent thought on hard ques-tions of undergraduate educational design. Finding potential Quest tutors does not come down to following a standardized set of criteria, and so we have put much care and thought into each search we have done. Our baseline has always been to find the best people we can for this unique academic posi-tion. Of course, as Jos points out, it is naive to assume that faculty mem-bers do not have implicit biases, espe-cially when it comes to making hiring decisions. We have recognized this matter; indeed, this past November we brought in Alden Habacon, a Diversity and Inclusion Specialist working with UBC, to facilitate a faculty meeting on the topic of diversity through hiring. One outcome of that meeting was the development of a new hiring protocol

(already in use) that includes deliberate steps to address implicit biases of those who participate in hiring processes, with the goal of increasing visible di-versity across our faculty. Indeed, you may recall I-Chants session at the Jan-uary Community Update in which the matter of implicit bias in the classroom was discussed with the student body, as an explicit part of this process. In addi-tion, our job ads are written to reach a broad audience rather than having the narrow disciplinary focus used in most traditional academic searches; this ap-proach has been shown to increase the diversity of both applicants and hires. One thing that Habacon said in his session is that diversity should be part of how we measure the effec-tiveness of our hiring process, not a criterion used in the process itself. In other words, our aim should not be to artificially skew our hiring process for the sake of diversity alone, but to con-sider consciously its importance as one (of many) aspects of a healthy faculty profile. Indeed, there are many forms of diversity in addition to race and ethnic-ity that are important to contemplate when building an excellent faculty. Again, we appreciate the con-cerns raised in Joss letter, and remain committed to providing students with the best possible learning experiences we can. We are open to ideas as to how we can further foster diversity and rich cultural exchanges as part of our Uni-versity.

Sincerely,Ryan Derby-Talbot and David Helfand

By many accounts, one of the first words one utters to describe the Quest community is tight-knit. How-ever, how many of the discussions stu-dents have actually delve deeper than the superficial level of what course are you in? With this in mind, Ive been asking people how they are doing and, after getting the standard good re-sponse, following up with are you ac-tually doing well or just saying that? Most of the time, they respond with: actually Im so-so. This article sets out to investigate individual Quest stu-dents anonymously, at a less superficial level, about the topic of sadness. It is safe to assume that most, if not all, Quest students deal with sadness on a regular basis. However, considering how common sadness is, it is surprising how hard it is to genu-inely talk about it with friends or even close family members. As one first-year student, here referred to as Sam, said:

Its really important to engage with sadness and to understand why youre feeling the way you do. Despite these sentiments, he went on to claim that at Quest I can confide in people about a problem but not necessarily express the same degree of emotion and sadness that I feel. When asked why she was sad, one fourth-year student, here referred to as Morgan, responded: I think a lot of it has to do with fear I measure my own happiness by how far short I feel like I am falling from my potential. When posed with the same question, Sam stated that [A] lot of times my sad-ness stems from just being unsatisfied with myself Self-scrutinizing and not being happy with what Im seeing. Sam went on to say that the dissatisfaction can relate to many different areas, such as academics, social-life, or analyzing life priorities including where am I going and what do I want? When asked when they were last sad, Morgan responded: Today. Most days. Sam re-

sponded: very recently the entirety of last week actually. Every time someone would ask how Im doing Id [answer]: Im wonderful. Im doing great! because theres a social stigma against being unhappy, and also I didnt want to ver-balize my sadness because I felt like it would make it more real, said Sam. If verbalizing sadness makes it more real, how does one receive the support he or she might need? Sam responded that the most important thing is to be alone with my sadness. To recognize why Im sad and to identify what the problem is basically just processing. Then the next step is usually talking about it with someone that I trust and getting an outside perspective. Mor-gan, who felt that she was falling short of her potential, claimed that some-times I talk to people but I dont find that helps. She thinks the best way to deal with sadness is to do the work to reach that potential. Both students did acknowl-

DELVING DEEPER: SADNESSAn under-the-surface profile of individual students sadness at Quest

NEDER GATMON-SEGAL edge that, when dealing with other peo-ples sadness, they felt it was important to bear witness and provide an outlet for them. I just really wish people had the mentality that its okay to be sad but theres just so much stigma against sharing sadness and sharing vulnera-bility and I think thats bullshit, said Sam. Everyones sadness comes from a different source and each indi-vidual deals with his or her sadness in a different way. Without a little prob-ing, however, it is impossible to know the best way to support people around you. In writing this article, I ran into no difficulty finding interview subjects; in fact, Sam and Morgan were the first two people I spoke with. There was nothing in their interviews that they asked me to omit afterwards and, as far as I could tell, were genuine and open about their feelings. I find that very telling. It just takes a little effort.

RESPONSE:

OPINION

PORTRAIT POLITICSIn response to postponement of the referendum voting process, the Mark asked students what it means to be part of a positive political culture at Quest.

If youre not going to be informed until something juicy happens, what

good are you in democracy? -- Graham

People can be involved openly in the politics at Quest and be out-spoken in their views, but can also put that aside and be friends

across their political boundaries. -- SaraMae

I knew I wanted to vote because I want to be involved at Quest, but I didnt know how I would actually see our opinions come across.

-- Samantha

The students of Quest need to not just base their opinions of whats going on in the SRC off of what their friends are saying, but they need to individually be able to talk to ministers and look into the issues that are being brought forward by the SRC. -- Forrest

Voting is powerful, and choosing not to vote can be just as powerful as

choosing to vote. -- Tara

If [the SRC ministers] have issues [with each other] they shouldnt voice the discrepancies. They should be a unit rather than a bunch of pieces that are in the same place.

-- Heather

Yeah, it is essentially drama. Its like oh-my-fuck-ing-God, are you guys kidding me? Jesus!

-- AthenaI just feel like, what political culture? You mean

like Graham and maybe a few other people? -- Christopher

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 25th, 2014B1 || THE MARK

B2 || THE MARK

In response to growing demand for more visual arts opportunities at Quest, administration has begun a search for art-ists-in-residence to teach courses and hold workshops at the University in the 2014-15 academic year. Why is it important to have arts in the curriculum at Quest? Third-year student Grace Salisbury believes that art classes, both skill-building and academi-cally-orientated, are vital for students who have art-related Questions and Keystones. Salisbury says, art is a fantastic communi-cation tool...its another way to articulate, express yourself, get a point across, and inspire people. A wider variety of classes that tap into the fine arts would further en-

ART MOVING INCULTURE

rich Quests well-rounded liberal arts edu-cation. Since Quests inception seven years ago, students and administration have shared the endeavor of meeting stu-dent-artists needs. Though there have been opportunities for students to engage in extra-curricular arts, students and facul-ty alike have noticed the lack of academic support for student-initiated art projects. The root of the problem is the lack of facul-ty specializing in fine arts at Quest. What changes will the upcoming year bring for budding artists on campus? Dean of students Melanie Koenderman and hu-manities tutor Jeff Warren both shared their thoughts about the recently posted job listing for the artist-in-residence pro-gram, which will begin in Fall 2014.

The program searches for two to four artists who specialize in any disci-pline, including, but not limited to, visual arts, sculpture, theatre, dance, and creative writing. The artists-in-residence will be expected to teach one or two blocks per semester, host workshops, and provide ex-periential learning opportunities, all whilst continuing their personal work. The aim of the program is to support arts at Quest and further Quests engagement with the Squamish community, said Warren.As head of the search committee, Warren said most of the details regarding how the program will function are up in the air at the moment. It all depends on what the applicants can offer, he said. The limited resources and spaces for the artist-in-resi-dence will be taken into account on a case-

by-case basis. The initial idea of the art-ist-in-residence is about doing art, said Warren, rather than providing academ-ic arts courses, such as art history. Major changes have recently been made in the Humanities foundation program, which will allow for a variety of new courses and tutors to enter the community in the near future. The new Humanities Foundation Program will encompass three major cate-gories: texts, scholarship, and culture. A va-riety of specialized courses will be offered in each category potentially enabling the integration of art.Students who would like to see arts inte-grated as a serious part of the Quest curric-ulum should take action by voicing specific requests to the search committee.

New artist-in-residence program expected to commence in Fall 2014

MARIELLE ROSKY & SHIYU HUANG

CULTURE

A FESTIVE SUMMER Its Sunday morning; its earlier than youd like. Youre awoken by the bois-terous yells of those who have yet to go to bed and the bright sun that burns through the thin paper of your tent wall. Your brain is muddled and soggy from last nights de-baucheries. If only you could sleep a few more hours. The tent smells of sweat, hap-piness and hotdogs. The scene is not real-ly worth suffering through. You unzip the door as much as your hangover-impaired body will allow and wriggle your way through the tiny opening. Your friend is already awake, and he hands you a freshly cracked Budweiser. Breakfast. After a satis-factory meal and time spent lazing out in the sun, you trudge through the campsite towards an open field where soon youll be staring up in awe at Justin Vernons semi-bald head. Later, youll share Poprocks with a man named John whos wearing nothing but a jock strap and an American flag as a cape. Finally, when your weary legs can carry you no longer, youll crawl back onto your roll-up mattress and fall asleep think-

ing about all the fun youll have tomorrow. This is a day in the life of a music festival-goer. And if you go to either music festi-val gracing the Sea-to-Sky this summer, it could be a day in your life. Squamish Valley Music Festival is back for its fourth consecutive year this August 8th - 10th, and it just keeps getting better. This year theyve booked some of the biggest names in the music business. Bruno Mars, Eminem, and Arcade Fire will be headlining the festival, and some of my favourite groups, like Broken Bells and Atmosphere, are adding to the hype. On top of that, theres a talented selection of Vancouver-based bands like The Court-neys, Aiden Knight, and Good For Grapes. This year, Squamish Valley has also been nominated for Best Overseas Festival at the UK Festival Awards. When I went to the festival for its first year, they showcased mostly local acts and had an overall atten-dance of 13,000. This summer, that num-ber will nearly triple. The downside? Ticket prices have increased by more than $100 to $325. This year, though, Pemberton Mu-sic Festival is back. When this festival gave

it a shot for the first time in 2008, parking issues and logistical problems made it a bust. Now theyre back under new man-agement for a second try, and early-bird tickets have already sold out. Although this years lineup has yet to be announced, Im sure ticket holders are hoping for a selec-tion similar to 2008s: Jay-Z, Coldplay, The Tragically Hip, Vampire Weekend, Death Cab for Cutie, N.E.R.D., Chromeo, The Flaming Lips - the list goes on and on. I dont know how a first-try, middle-of-no-where festival managed to get so many major names, but if they can manage it a second time Ill change my name to Sue-Anne McGinty. With tickets priced at $299, they will need to attract some top talent to compete with Squamish Valley. If youre torn between the two fes-tivals, Id suggest waiting for Pembertons lineup to be released before making the call. Either way, theyre both bound to be a good time. Music festivals are so much more than just concerts; they are unique experiences that youll never forget. Peace out.

On February 15th and 16th, Quest women produced Eve Enslers The Vagina Monologues in conjunction with a silent auction, with the proceeds going to the Howe Sound Womens Centre in Squa-mish. The Quest Art Series Facebook page describes the show as based on in-terviews with over 200 women about their sexuality, strength and liberation. The structure of the show breaks the fourth wall, putting audience members in the po-sition of the interviewer. In the beginning of the Sundays show, there were a few tech-nical difficulties and scarce laughter, but as the performers and audience became more comfortable, the conversation of sorts be-came fluid, honest, and hilarious. Beyond entertainment, the shared goal in creating, performing, and attending TVM is to engage in a conversation that is too often silenced: that of female sexu-ality, sex, sexual organs, and the violence committed against them all. This goal is achieved through the orchestration of the show itself, as well as the position of the audience, insofar as they can comprehend

issues of gender, sex, and sexaulity. This years performance excelled in the elements of physical comedy and multiple actresses contributing to the delivery of a single monologue. Mono-logues like My Angry Vagina and Because He Liked to Look at It drew widespread laughs, and were mediated with intense monologues and rape and abuse statistics that confronted the oppression of women. As evidenced by the variety of sounds emanating from the crowd, the Squamish and Quest audience is diverse in their readiness to engage in the conversa-tion. A select group of students whistled, talked incessantly, and mumbled insen-sitive comments during the more serious parts of the show. Others leaned forward in the chairs, gasped, and nodded along with the monologues as if their personal experi-ences were being voiced for the first time. Some laughed with familiarity at their fa-vorite monologues and punchlines. A fraction of the audience cringed with discomfort during and after the show. These audience members are othered by Enslers (exclusive) narrative of woman-hood, gender, sex and sexuality. One male Quest student who, ref-

erencing the Clitoris vs. Penis monologue, felt as though the sexes were being further dichotomized, and could not see the logic behind devaluing the penis to value the va-gina. Another Quest student voiced concerns regarding the racially problemat-ic portrayal of the speaker in the My An-gry Vagina monologue. Often performed by white bodies with clothing, accents, and mannerisms that evoke a stereotype of non-white femininity, this monologue verges on mimicry and reinforces the racist stereotype that sassiness and anger are in-herently qualities of women of color. Additionally, TVM is exceeding-ly gender normative in its portrayal of the relationship between women and vaginas, doing nothing to share the voices and ex-periences of transgender and intersex folk. Due to Eve Enslers stringent copy-right policies, Quest students have limited liberty to alter the original script. That be-ing said, there is room to add perspective in both the direction and the recruitment of a more diverse cast. Additionally, TVM need not be the single instrument through which the Quest community engages in the discussion of gender, sex, and sexuality.

WHOSE VAGINA IS SPEAKING?MARIELLE ROSKY The Squamish Winter Farmers Market

Every other Sunday starting next month (March 2, 16, and 30) from 11am 4pm at the West Coast Heritage Park. FREE. Check out booths selling local produce and other goods, such as natural cleaning products, fresh bread, and handmade jour-nals. Quest students are often there, look-ing around wide-eyed and excited to see the world outside of Quest. Student Affairs runs free shuttles to and from the market. Whistlers Fire and Ice ShowSundays in March, starting at 6:30pm before the 9th and 7:30pm from the 9th on, at Ski-ers Plaza in Whistler Village. FREE. Attend if you wish to see elite skiers and boarders jump through a giant ring of fire (we certainly wish to see this). The af-ter-party at the Garibaldi Lift Company is a family affair until 8pm, when the kids (un-der 19) are kicked out. Whistler Film Festival Oscar PartyMarch 2, 2014 from 4pm 8pm at the Fir-eRock Lounge, Westin Whistler. Tickets are available online for $25. Capacity is limited. If you cant go to the actual Oscars, then you might as well go to Whistlers Oscar Party. Leave your raincoat behind (if you wish) to get all fancied up and stroll down their red carpet. The party will have appe-tizers and cocktails, old-school activities like bingo and pool, and, of course, a live stream of the Oscars. The Sunday Service ImprovSundays, 9pm at The Kozmik Zoo Lounge in East Vancouver. Entrance costs $7, and is 19+. Watch some of the funniest people around in an improv show. These funny people happen to be the proud winners of Best Improv Troupe in Canada in 2012. Food is good, beer is better, and ambiance is cool. You will not be disappointed. You may pee yourself. Its always busy, so go early or make a reservation (call 604 875 9006).

Driving Miss DaisyDaily until March 15th at the Arts Club Stage on Granville Island, Vancouver. Tick-ets are available online, starting at $29.Get off campus and get a dose of theatre! Driving Miss Daisy is a Pulitzer Prize-win-ning play that follows the adventures of a Southern matriarch and her chauffeur over 25 years of friendship. It sounds awesome. Plus, if you havent yet been - and even if you have - Granville Island is wonderful.

BRIEFSBEN IRONSIDE GOLDSTEIN & KENDRA PERRIN

A review of the Vagina Monologues

MAGGIE MCPHEE

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 25th, 2014

TRADITIONSOP-ED

Since coming back from a se-mester abroad, Ive heard a lot of con-versations about the ways that Quest has changed. Many of the people I spoke with were worried about change and lamented the loss of Quest tra-ditions. Our traditions are definitely changing but change and loss are not synonymous. Traditions help to define our community for us and for newcom-ers. Our traditions create our culture. But identifying traditions in a young community is difficult; we havent re-ally been around long enough to have them. If Quest changes every year and those changes affect traditions, then how do we continue to create the cul-ture we love? To better explore how we col-lectively think of traditions at Quest I posted an informal poll asking students

to rank the top five most important Quest traditions. The responses ranged from institutional events like Adven-ture Pursuits and Questival; to the student run initiatives like V-Day and Dancing Bear; and to informal events like Wine & Cheese, Open Mics, bon-fires, and open invitation parties. Most of the responses interpreted traditions as events but some responses were more general including greeting or waving to people you see on campus and good conversations. Apparently our traditions are more than what we do; theyre how we interact in shared space. While some traditions like taking a topless photo on top of the Chief or skiing before class wont change with community growth, many of the most iconic events will struggle to incorporate the community as they have in the past. Multiple survey re-sponses suggested Wine & Cheese and

Open Mic have changed considerably. However, in the month that Ive been back Ive attended both events and, although Wine & Cheese was a little rowdier than Ive seen some, the vibe matched the first one I attended four years ago: classy in dress and rowdier than the founders expected. Open Mic was still a packed room, welcoming au-dience, and group sing-a-longs at the end. Im not convinced that the events themselves have changed all that much. Most of the traditions men-tioned in survey responses are commu-nity events that encourage connection. One respondent was more general and wrote that making connection, real connection, a priority is the most fun-damental and important tradition that gives rise to all the others. Students have been saying that we cant all party together and know everyone like they did in the first four years and thats partly true. The phys-

JON FARMER ical infrastructure lacks the capacity to host the types of bring-everyone-you-know events that knit former generations of Quest students so close-ly bonfires aside. That challenge isnt going away but the friendly, welcom-ing spirit that inspired those traditions doesnt have to change with communi-ty growth. Holding doors, saying hello as we pass, and sitting with people we dont know in the Caf stand on their own as cultural traditions that embrace and encourage connection. We will only know they are traditions, however, if we experience them and help others to do the same. If we consciously create our culture then we dont need to worry about preserving our traditions as they stand. We can inspire our community to support the culture of connection that inspires all of our other traditions. In the end, its up to us.

INSTITUTIONALIZING REVOLUTION

Self-dissatisfaction is my de-fault operating mode, and that dissat-isfaction extends easily to any group or institution that I find myself a part of. Agitation, and thus critique, comes naturally to me. It is unsurprising, then, that my column in the Mark is preoc-cupied with problems and solutions. But heres the thing: self-criticism is ex-hausting. Constructive, yes. Awesome, yes. But exhausting. Happily, there is something us humans have that we can always sink our teeth into, one emotion I can hold in an unmitigated, unquali-fied, unhampered way: gratefulness. I am so ridiculously grate-ful. Every dayevery minuteis an unearned gift. Gratefulness is easy to forget, but just as easy to remember;

any breath can be a prayer, any step a meditation. And when people act with that reverence, they are inclined to act compassionately, proactively, and intentionally. When each moment is a gift, its only natural to pay that gift forward. For a telling example, consid-er the Question block, in which each Quest student spends time considering where ze is in zir life, and pretty much always comes out with a Question that more or less fits the structure: what is this world problem and how can I help fix it? If this were a puff piece, this would be the point where I pull a TV sitcom thanksgiving and begin enu-merating every object of my appre-ciation. And Id enjoy doing so. But I wont. (If doing so appeals to you, I would strongly recommend joining

our Ambassador team). Instead, I have a proposal. What if, at Quest, we werent defined by our Honour Principle, which basi-cally reads: respect people, and dont hurt them or impede their learning (and no plagiarism), or by our Mission Statement, which basically reads: lets all get to know each other really well despite being pretty different, while we work together to cultivate a big-picture understanding of the world? What if we wanted to agree to implement our gratefulness--to put it into action? I propose a Ministry Principle. Now, I know were a secular school here, so I want to be clear that I dont mean ministry the noun (like a preacher). I mean the verb to minister. Google de-fines it simply: to attend to the needs of (someone) or to provide (something

necessary or helpful). I mean the min-istry that is the natural human product of gratefulness. The ministry Quest president Dr. David Helfand held up in this years convocation speech, which compelled Quests incoming class to acknowledge and leverage its privilege. I would love it if we were to make explicit the ethos we apparently already share. Wouldnt it be something if the Quest community claimed a prin-ciple that was proactive, rather than precautionary? Wouldnt it be some-thing if we claimed a shared principle that was something students related to enough to actually remember and ref-erence? Lets have each incoming stu-dent affirm our shared ethos: I pledge to serve myself by serving my commu-nity, and the world. Lets uncover our gratefulness.

CALEB RAIBLE-CLARK

OP-ED

The first time I travelled, what struck me most were the differences in cul-ture. I remember being in Peru, aged 16, squatting above a hole in the ground to use the bathroom. I can still feel my burning thighs and the hot tears run-ning down my cheeks as I remembered my porcelain throne, sitting unused back home in Canada. Im (kind of) kidding about the part where I cried, but I was shocked and sometimes appalled by the vast differences between my familiar world and these foreign ones. I have learned that the things that shock and awe are some of the most rewarding aspects of travel. I find myself now on a beach in Belize, fresh from a five-day stint in the jungle. Ive spent some more time travelling in Latin America since my first adventure, and while I admit that I wasnt particularly excited about wolf

spiders that are literally the size of my hand, I didnt think twice that people here could stomach such creatures liv-ing in their houses rent-free. Those things dont shock me anymore. Im beginning to wonder where my love of travel still lies if not in the thrill of the unfamiliar. If anything, that love has grown as I have come to expect these striking differences. Its now the similarities, not the differences that strike me. The challenge isnt in getting used to the different bathroom facility standards (Im pretty sure in Canada they would call a half-decayed platform with a round cement cylinder balanc-ing on two rotting pieces of plywood a liability - not an outhouse), or the per-petual presence of bug bites in puzzling places. The real challenge (I submit at the risk of sounding like a hippie) is in recognizing these cultural inconsisten-cies as different expressions of the same desires - different languages spoken

with the same voice. Its in deriving a thrill, not from contrasting new ideas with the already familiar, but from de-veloping an understanding of their ex-istence in their own right. Finding excitement in cross-cultural differences is certainly one of the most enriching aspects of travel and should not be devalued, but much like a long-term relationship (or at least from what I hear about them), other sources of enrichment crop up as the novelty wears off. In my remaining time in Be-lize, I will continue to search for joy in the differences that embody desires and emotions shared by my culture. Break-ing off my relationship with travel just because the honeymoon phase is over would be an injustice to the many other ways travel continues to enrich my life; this trips a keeper.

THE VIEW FROM HERE: BELIZEMACKENZIE ERLANK

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 25th, 2014THE MARK || B3

Supporters of a new skateboard bowl in the Garibaldi Highlands evoked the spirit of Squamish at a public hearing last Tuesday. They made the case that the town wouldnt be the recreation capital it claims to be without the go get em spir-it of those who built the first bike trails and brushed off the first climbing routes without permission. Construction on the skateboard bowl, which sits under the west end of the Quest bridge, was started without prior permission in October 2013 and contin-ued until a fine and stop-work order was given the projects leaders by Squamish officials. The hearing, held at the Howe Sound Brew Pub, drew a crowd largely in favor of the project. Many young parents and community leaders from the Garib-aldi Highlands neighborhood spoke in favor of the skate bowl as a necessary addition to a town lacking recreation opportunities for youth. As one dad put it, I cant afford three season passes or three mountain bikes, but I can afford three skateboards. Skateboarders and

SKATEPARK UPDATEBRAD KLEES

contd. on next page

This article was originally published on-line on February 13th

Controversy over the amend-ment procedure outlined in the con-stitution of Quest University Cana-das Students Association has halted Graham Fischers current amendment voting process. Perceived violations of Articles Nine and Ten of the consti-tution and the extension of the voting time without any permissions were the topics of a heated discussion among students and elected representatives. Discussion reached a stalemate at the SRC meeting Tuesday night. While researching for a Politi-cal Psychology class project on Sunday 9th February, 3rd year student Edgar Omole was alarmed to find that Arti-cle Nine of the constitution laid out a referendum process that seemed to have been overlooked by Fischer and the Constitutional Review Committee during Fischers months-long push for 56 constitutional amendments. As discussion of this potential breach of the constitution moved swift-ly through the student body, students and SRC members alike began to voice displeasure with other aspects of Fisch-ers amendment tactics. Article Nine of the constitution states that the President must call for a referendum of a proposal petitioned by either 40% of the SRC or 40% of the student body. Fischers constitutional amendments were not pre-approved by any petition. However, Article Ten reads simply that any member of the Stu-dents Association may propose an amendment to the constitution. 40% of the student population voting with a 2/3rds majority is required to pass any amendment. No petition process is outlined, and many wondered if the two articles are distinct or inextricably linked. The proposal of constitutional amendments was passing through what was routinely referred to as a referen-

tions like that have turned me off [I] lost my trust in the elections. Following the meeting, Fischer sent the SRC Ministers an email at 2:30 am Wednesday morning that said he would agree to postpone and redo the process but only if the Ministers agreed to certain conditions. Otherwise, if we didnt agree with his conditions, he would just continue the vote, said Wake. I think that a lot of Ministers ei-ther didnt agree with what those condi-tions were, or didnt have time to reply, but the referendum was stopped. The first condition was to abide by Article Ten alone in the amendment process, thus requiring no prior SRC approval before an amendment propos-al. Fischer will also continue to propose all amendments in full as they are now, though voting ballots will be partnered with an additional document that says how many ministers support each indi-vidual amendment. The conditions also say that another Constitutional Review Com-mittee be formed, and that another round of voting on these new amend-ments would take place over an entire block. Additionally, Fischer says they will clarify advertising language in the future, using constitutional amending process instead of the term referen-dum that caused so much confusion. These conditions were an-nounced to the student body in an email sent Wednesday night by the cur-rent Constitutional Review Committee. Mannion says [Fischer is] pushing forward regardless of our opin-ion, and I dont know if thats a power struggle, or he really believes in these things, or hes doing it because he can. Fischer says that the charac-terization that Ive completely ignored [the SRCs] opinions is completely falseI dont think I should be forced to give up some amendments because some people disagree with it. Controversy notwithstanding, theres been a lot of good that has come out of [this] says Fischer.

sion of the voting deadline for the ref-erendum items. When quorum was not reached in the original two day allotted period as announced in an email from the Constitutional Review Committee on February 5th, voting was extended into the next week. Constitutional Review Com-mittee member Anna Obermeier de-fended the voting extension in a Face-book post: It was not extended, per say. We started with Thursday and Fri-day because Ben and I were unsure of our availability for this week. I [] was not able to commit to any dates until Sunday when I knew my work sched-ule. One student posted on Face-book: I was under the impres-sion that voting ended on Friday, so I rushed to vote on Friday. Had I known that we would have several days this week to hand in our votes, I may have spent more time considering the ballot, or more of the issues voiced by Trevor [Mannion] and others may have sur-faced. The current constitution lacks any policy concerning length and ex-tension of voting periods, but Minis-ters generally agreed that any extension should have been voted on. Another concern voiced by members of the SRC during Tuesdays meeting was the blurring of lines be-tween Fischers roles as both an amend-ment-proposing student and SRC President. Minister of External Affairs Greyson Herdman said that Graham [Fischer] was aware that his amend-ments did not comply with the opinions of the ministers yet he implemented them nonetheless. Herdman, among others, claimed Fischer misrepresented the organizations opinion and made it appear as though the SRC as a whole agreed with the amendments. He ref-erenced incidences including labelling envelopes with voting ballots inside of them SRC and then taping them to students doors on Sunday night. Fischer proposed the constitu-tional changes as a student without pri-or SRC endorsement, and many were opposed to various amendments put forth. Herdman went on to say that ac-

dum by both Fischer and the Consti-tutional Review Committee even in the amendment proposal document itself. As a result, many thought Arti-cles Nine and Ten were inseparable and that any amendments should have first passed through the petition. In a separate article, 3.06 (i), the constitution seems to put all pow-er of interpretation to the chairperson, who is selected and paid by the SRC. This years chairperson, Andrew Luba, stated during Tuesdays meeting, As it stands, under the constitution, I cant say that [Fischers amendment pro-cess is] unconstitutionalbut I would advise the SRC and Graham [that] we stop the process [and restart] with more SRC involvement. During the discussion of the articles in the meeting, Foundation Representative Lonnie Wake acknowl-edged that people are upset about how it played out, how it was run. People are confused and up in arms. There are deeper issues we need to address. Minister of Finance Trevor Mannion spoke directly to Fischer: Youve openly admitted to making mistakes [and the] SRC has made mis-takes in not keeping a clear eye. Know-ing you made a mistake, you cant con-tinue with this [amendment process]. You need to fix it. In good conscience I think you should withdraw the amend-ments. Wake pointed out that Fischer has proposed alterations to the consti-tutional amendment process that make it look more like the current Article Nine, where the SRC would have some ability to pre-screen amendment pro-posals. I believe that Graham thinks [the pre-screening method] is a really good system. I think that it is a system that is better than the one that we have now. We have the chance to follow that system, and we should. Against an overwhelming ma-jority of Ministers, Fischer was reluc-tant to halt or alter the voting process as it stood, and the meeting ended with-out resolution. One of the dissatisfactions raised repeatedly has been the exten-

CONSTITUTIONAL CONUNDRUMAmendment voting halted, to be restarted in March

BRAD KLEES, JAKE SMITH, TARI AJADI & JON VAN OFENHEIM

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 25th, 2014

community social workers alike spoke in an effort to dispel the idea that a new park would only end up as a trash-filled hotspot for criminal activity. Opponents of the skateboard bowl said that the projects leaders needed to restore the trust of the community after sneaking in the first wave of construc-tion. There were also numerous concerns raised about parking and washrooms, as well as the noise levels that could affect surrounding houses, the closest of which is less than 50 metres from the bowl. One Quest student spoke brief-ly about the huge asset this bowl could be to the University, but the voice of the University in whose front yard the proj-ect sits was largely absent. The public is welcome to submit comments to the District about the project until February 25th at planning@squamish.ca

Skatepark Update contd.

Aries March 21 to April 19On the 2nd and 3rd be careful of cli-mate changes. April bathrooms bring May blossoms is the saying, but April deluges deliver mud and clean-up pe-riods.Taurus April 20 to May 20Be prepared to get busy this month, performing activities of any kind. BUT, be cautious of breeze and rainfall, only when combined. Keep your window wipers on high in the evenings. Gemini May 21 to June 20.Good news: youll be rich this month! We know youll want to spend it on gum and flowers, but with your em-ployment record, try to preserve this windfall. Take proper care that you are clothed properly on the tenth and elev-enth.Cancer June 21 to July 22If you havent heard from family lately, take time to bask in fond thoughts of childhood. Because soon you will re-member how you were ready to come

back to Quest on the second day of winter break and that, well, your child-hood was kind of fucked. But so was everyones because we were all devil children. Be ready to support the fami-ly and friends who put up with you this month.Leo July 23 to August 22Avoid fortune cookies; they only feed into false stereotypes of their authors. Let go of any past conflicts with ad-min or roommates youve internalized. And finally, if you cant sleep on the full moon, follow the trail the witches leave into the abyss. Virgo August 23 to Sept. 22March is the month for makeovers! You are advised to change your clothes, cosmetics, and your hairstyle (check out the Echo for suggestions). Also, the Moon is frowning on your excess body weight. But dont stop eating cheese, the moon likes cheese. Cause its made of cheese. Libra Sept. 23 to October 22

Despite being over-loved this month, pressure sensations and nervousness will get you down. Try yoga and relax-ation exercises, and use (natural) medi-cations. Find someone you can lean on and become fully dependent on them, to the point where youre no longer your own autonomous being. Scorpio October 23 to Nov. 21Romance is coming your way, as Venus and Mars duel on the 29th. But, your romantic partner will unfortunately be insane and theyll steal your ideas. Overall, life will be exciting, but an-noying. Just like the show biz industry: movie!Sagittarius Nov. 22 to Dec. 21Consider taking your senior granny out sailing! You might also discover someone that you instantly drop madly in really like with (really like a.k.a. they are the father of your children). Lovers want to learn more about your skills this month. Impress them with pulling an intact noodle out of your throat.

Capricorn Dec. 22 to January 19You have fallen into favour with Ve-nus, my fishy little goat Capricorn. That means sexy romance is on the horizon, and I mean the horizontal horizon... However! You might get stir-crazy in which case, space is an excellent cure for all symptoms! (i.e. star wars mara-thon). Aquarius January 20 to Feb. 18Amazing activities are happening this month. However, make sure you are authentic. Your outfits and hair are not the real you. When your parents call asking for money again, you will have to hurt their feelings and tell them you have none this time. Pisces Feb. 19 to March 20March is all about intuition for you Pisces. However, as our wise ESL in-ternet horoscope guru says: You have a smooth wheel and no intuitive in-tuitions can quit that! That is why she is our clan leader, she is genius. Good luck Pisces, remember: intuition!

MARCH HOROSCOPESBy the Four Fates: Brooke, Michi, Sophie, and Dorah

WINDSOR (CUP) If you think Truth or Dare is bad, you have probably not heard of neknomination. Neknomination is the newest drinking trend and it is hitting univer-sity and college campuses just in time for reading week. The drinking competition varies, but essentially begins with one person posting a video via social media of him or herself drinking an excessive amount of alcohol and then nominat-ing two other friends to do the same, perpetuating a cycle of drunkenness across the Internet.Neknomination, however, can vary from the simple necking of a bottle of beer to the necking of entire bottle of vodka. In one video, a participant skips the alcohol altogether and instead

rides a horse into the local Tesco store to steal, and promptly drink, a bottle of pop. Some videos have over 100,000 hits despite the novelty of the game. One of the more popular videos depicts a man drinking beer directly out of a toilet as he is held upside down. The game, however, has al-ready proven to be lethal. The neknom-ination craze has been blamed for the deaths of at least two men in the United Kingdom. Sandra Davis, University of Windsor residence life manager, said that there have already been multi-ple known cases of neknomination on campus. It happened so quickly. I was only made aware of it last week and we started seeing it almost immediately, said Davis. Its amazing how it just circulates so quickly through social

media. While peer pressure may be the reason for neknomination, Davis hopes that peers would report an in-cident if it got too out of hand, rather than attempt to cover it up. To a certain degree I think some students are concerned as well, said Davis. If it were to escalate to the point where somebody was too inebri-ated our concern is that the friend is not going to seek help. St. Clair College student Chris Delgado said he has seen videos of friends participating on Facebook and that he believes peer pressure is the source of the problem. Its stupid. Its a nomination, right? So theyre doing their own thing and your job is to do one better, said Delgado. I think theyre intoxicated while they do it, so theyre not thinking properly.

Heidi Lamb, student alcohol education coordinator at the Universi-ty of Windsor, says that neknomination is an issue that must be addressed on campus in order to keep students safe. People only see the two-min-ute video, but they dont realize the long-term impact that it could have, said Lamb. Lamb said that even if one dis-regards the physical effects of neknom-ination, the social and professional risks are considerable as well.In our age, your Internet profile is ev-ermore important. I dont think that it will look good, in five or ten years, when an employer searches you on Google and finds not only that youve posted this online, but also that youre peer pressuring your friends to do it, said Lamb.

NEKNOMINATION HITS CANADIAN CAMPUSESTRAVIS FAUTEUX - THE LANCE (UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR)

The Quest Mens Basketball team had their strongest season yet this year with 16 wins and 5 losses, finishing third in the PACWEST league and 14th in the nation. Kermodes point guard Cartiea French-Toney and shooting guard Jos Colorado are ranked the first and fourth highest scorers in the league. The teams next big challenge is the Pacwest Provincial Champion-ship held February 27th March 1st at Douglas College, followed by the CCAA Canadian National Champion-ship held March 12th 15th at Quest University. To reflect on a great season and upcoming challenges, I sat down with some of the Kermodes top ballers. Cartiea French-Toney (4th year ath-lete/2nd year student, captain, point guard) What are the main differences between last years team and the present

team? This year were more of a unit, were closer together, and we all hang out with each other. We understand each other better, what we can do well and what we cant do, so we play off each other. Getting Shedrick [Nelson] was another big addition that only made us better than what we were.What has been the teams strongest as-pect this year? Our strongest aspect would have to be our guards: me, Jos, and Sheddy. They call us the big three be-cause when we all play well and score, everybody else on our team plays well and we win. Michael Powell (2nd year athlete/3rd year student, forward) What are the main differences between last years team and the present team? We have a lot of depth [this year]. For example, our forwards are all

at a relatively similar level, so we argu-ably have the most depth in the league. This means we can run our asses off and not be worried about who goes on next when we get tired. Your biggest beats this year were the two against the Langara Fal-cons. But before that you were able to beat them 80-77 last November. What do you think the difference was be-tween your losses and your win? When we beat them we came out strong, we were in the right mind-set from the beginning, and we had the fans behind us the whole time. When we got our asses kicked by Langara we got down, we stopped playing togeth-er as a team, we stopped executing our sets, the crowd got less into it and that diminished the home court advantage. Jos Colorado (4th year athlete/4th year student, shooting guard) What have been the teams greatest challenges this year?

Definitely overcoming how small we are is a challenge. Other teams are so much bigger than us and it really shows when we play them. We struggle to keep them outside the paint [the key] because they can power it down low on us because theyre so much bigger. What will be most important to keep in mind at Nationals? I know people are going to be hyped off the walls when we play and the gym is going to be packed but I think we just have to relax and play our game, and dont try to do too much or play it outside of ourselves. We can definitely score on teams; the thing for us is going to be rebounding...espe-cially when we play those big Ontario teams.

CONVERSATIONS WITH KERMODESALESSANDRO TERSIGNI

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 25th, 2014