Frankly, we don’t have a bone in the dogyard SINCE 1918 January 26, 2012 | VOL. XCIII ISS. XXXV

UTHE UBYSSEY

UBC’s collegiate sailing team is taking off

CATCHING

WINDP6

AMSENDORSEMENTSUbyssey staff gives its take on the elections P9

COMEFOR ARIDEGeeks after Dark an excellent adventure for partying nerds P8

2 | Page 2 | 01.26.2012

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THE UBYSSEY January 26, 2012, Volume XCIII, Issue XXXV

LEGAL

STAFFAndrew Hood, Bryce Warnes, Catherine Guan, David Elop, Jon Chiang, Josh Curran, Will McDonald, Tara Martellaro, Virginie Menard, Scott MacDonald, Anna Zoria, Peter Wojnar, Tanner Bokor, Dominic Lai, Mark-Andre Gessaroli, Natalya Kautz, Kai Jacobson, RJ Reid

Got an event you’d like to see on this page? Send your event and your best pitch to printeditor@ubyssey.ca.

What’s on This week, may we suggest...

SUS>>

FRI27 AMS>>

FILM>>

MON30

THEATRE>>

GREEN COLLEGE >>

Science Week’s Professor Pageant: 12:30-2pm @ Abdul LadhaFollowing the Arts Undergraduate Society’s Arts Week, the SUS presents Science Week. Swing by the Abdul Ladha Science Student Centre to wit-ness four professors strut in style across the runway to be crowned as the SUS’s Science Professor 2012.

The Idiot closing: 2pm @ Frederic Wood Theatre

Theatre at UBC and the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival presents the award-winning production of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot. Considering the world as it is to-day, how could you miss a show where the only place for sanity would be a sanatorium? Tickets can be purchased from Theatre at UBC and online, $32+.

AMS Elections Results Night: 7pm @ the Gallery

If you’ve been following the elec-tions and want to see how things turn out, come by the Gallery for a few pints and hear the results. Revel in the hackery.

Ritual, Community and Conflict Dialogue: 8-9pm @ Coach HouseUBC psychology faculty member Jonathan Lanman explores how some of the worst atrocities have been caused by groups defend-ing their personal beliefs. An event of the Resident Members’ Series of Green College.

THU26

SUN29

SAT28Turkish Movie Night: 7-9pm @ Global Lounge

Looking for something calm and new to try this Saturday? Look no further than the Global Lounge for the Turkish Student Society’s night of movies, tea and snacks. $5 entry.

Catherine GuanStaff Writer

There is a moment in her per-formance that transports you, a startling realization that be-neath her Care Bear positivity, there is old-soul wisdom. Spoken word poet Sarah Kay brought her blend of infectious joy and unbridled passion to UBC as the opening keynote speaker for the Student Leadership Conference on January 14.

To say she was well-received by the student delegates would be an understatement. They were impressed. They were inspired. They were moved. “It was really wonderful and lovely to see all those faces,” Kay said.

Kay, 22, is something of a child prodigy. She began to garner atten-tion when she was 14, performing in poetry clubs around New York City. But her first acquaintance with poetry came much earlier.

“When I was a kid, [my parents] used to write me a poem every single day and put it in my lunch box,” she recollected.

“So I kind of approach all poetry the same way. It’s this sur-prise…It interrupts my day in the best possible way.”

While she is known for her

spoken word poetry, Kay works in a variety of mediums as a docu-mentary filmmaker, playwright and singer-songwriter. However, the role that she perhaps cherishes the most is that of a teacher. She is the founder of Project VOICE, an organization that she runs with her “partner in poetry crime,” Phil Kaye. Their goal is to teach youth self expression through spoken word poetry.

Her favourite memory of be-ing onstage occurred during one of Project VOICE’s poetry tours, when they visited a middle school in Southern California.

“We try to make room for people in the audience to come onstage and share some of their poems with us. The previous year, nobody had come onstage because they had no idea what spoken word poetry was.

“But the second year, as soon as I asked a question, this boy jumped up and ran up to the stage immediately. He didn’t even wait for me to call him. He said, ‘I wrote this poem the day after you left last year and I have been wait-ing all year to share it with you.’ And it was beautiful.”

In recent years, spoken word poetry has witnessed a major re-vival, Kay said.

She’s not surprised. “Spoken word poetry is one of the oldest art forms that we have. Technically, Shakespeare is spoken word po-etry; Homer, even, was spoken word poetry.

“I think that part of the reason that people are getting so excited-about it right now [is because] most of our interactions are digitized, or mediated,” she said.

“We have most of our expe-riences through some kind of screen. So the fact that there is still a space that exists where people can gather in the same room and share the same air, it’s a return to the campfire effect of the earliest humans. There is something really wonderful about that kind of gath-ering that happens.”

While she is immersed in the New York City spoken word scene, Kay said, “I do know that the scene is very different depending on where you are and that’s wonder-ful, and that’s a part of what makes this art form so exciting. There is something regional about it.”

Kay has now returned to her tour in California. Her brief stay in Vancouver didn’t allow her to dive into the local scene. She promises, however, to return soon. “I have to come back a second time to check it out.” U

Sarah Kay lets the truth fly at SLC

Our Campus One on one with the people who make UBC

NYC-based poet Sarah Kay says that the immediacy of spoken poetry is refreshing in our digitized age. CHRIS BORCHERT/THE UBYSSEY

UPut your bone in our dog yardWRITE FOR OPINIONSBrian Platt | features@ubyssey.ca

NewsEditors: Kalyeena Makortoff & Micki Cowan

01.26.2012 | 3

Ming WongContributor

In a bid to maximize its effec-tiveness in attracting students, over six million dollars’ worth of UBC’s scholarship budget is being overhauled.

The UBC President’s Entrance Scholarship (PES) program, which gives one-time financial awards to incoming students based on their high school grades, will no longer be awarded as of January 1, 2012.

The PES was set up as a finan-cial incentive to persuade students to choose UBC over other post-sec-ondary institutions. But UBC said that research shows the scholar-ship is not determining students’ choice to enroll at the university.

“Our reputation, choice of pro-gram [and] our geographic loca-tion, were much more powerful considerations than a $500 PES,” said James Ridge, associate VP and registrar of UBC Enrolment Services.

“The award itself was not a significant factor—in some cases, it appeared not to be a factor at all—in choosing UBC. So we began a few years ago to think there might be a much better use for this money.”

The scholarship was a tiered program which automatically of-fered $500 to $4000 scholarships depending on admission averages of the applicant.

Other Canadian schools such as the University of Toronto and McGill still provide an entrance scholarship based on admission averages.

The decision, made by members of the university executive through a budget process, was made two years ago and it has been winding

down since then, phasing out lower tiers of the scholarship.

Ridge says 70 per cent of awards funding went to PES. “At any given time we have three times more continuing students than we have entering students, so we really did want to adjust that imbalance.”

The approximately $6.1 million dished out to the PES annually is now being put towards Work Study, bursaries and multi-year Major Entrance Scholarships.

$2.5 million will go toward stu-dent Work Study salaries, $1.2 mil-lion will be allocated to Go Global (funding students’ travel costs and

other uses) and $1.1 million will fund bursaries.

Additionally, about $500,000 will be used to stabilize endowed awards that were impacted by the recession. $150,000 and $100,000 will go respectively to the Major Entrance Scholarship and the Loran Scholar programs, and $500,000 will be allocated to a va-riety of programs, such as moving scholarship and bursary applica-tions fully online.

“We wanted to align the money...to programs that were elements of our strategic commitment to give to students to enrich education

opportunities,” said Ridge.Beatrice Collier-Pandya, a first-

year Engineering student, suggests a balance between bursaries and rewarding incoming students with good grades. For herself, scholar-ships were a factor but it wasn’t the deciding one.

But third-year Arts student Christy Fong received a PES when she was accepted to UBC, and said that it was important in her final decision.

“I would’ve chosen UBC whether or not I got a scholarship, but I think that having it offered to me really influenced my choice to go here.” U

Wingmen shown to be lying for their friends

A new UBC study investigated how much “wingmen” lie for their friends.

The study showed that wingmen will lie to improve their friends’ repu-tations and downplay their worst qualities.

“I think that we defend the impressions of those that matter most to us,” said Jennifer Argo, a professor at the Alberta School of Business.

“You’re willing to mend other people’s impressions for them if they can’t do it themselves.”

According to the study, empathy motivates people to lie for others.

“If you’re low in empathy, you’re not a good wingman,” said Argo.

Existence of arsenic bacteria challenged by UBC prof

UBC microbiology professor Rosie Redfield has performed experiments which seem to disprove the ground-breaking, controversial discovery of bacteria which incorporate arsenic into their DNA.

In December 2010 a research team led by Felisa Wolfe-Simon claimed to find a bacterial strain liv-ing in an arsenic-laden lake which sometimes used arsenic in place of phosphorus.

Redfield led a group criticizing both the results and the haste with which they were published. Redfield’s findings were posted on her blog, and have not yet been submitted to a peer-reviewed science journal.

UBC study examines polygamous marriage

A study on monogamous marriage found that polygamous societies tend to have greater levels of crime, violence, poverty and gender in-equality than societies that practice monogamy.

UBC professor Joseph Henrich, who led the study, said this is due to the increased social competition be-tween men in cultures where women are less evenly distributed, which increased chances that men would engage in criminal behaviour com-peting for the women available for marriage. The study concluded that monogamy leads to improvements in child welfare and less conflict in households.

“Shit UBC Says” goes viral

A YouTube video titled “Shit UBC Says” has gained nearly 36,000 views since it was posted on Sunday.

The video was written by UBC student Kaveh Sarhangpour, with contributions from David Pratt and Thomas Jeffery, who also acted in the three-minute film. The video featured Kevin Lee and Enzo Woo as actors.

In it, students get lost in Buchanan, play Starcraft while conversing in Korean, yearn after Blue Chip cook-ies, hint at the phallic shape of the clock tower and struggle to pro-nounce “Ubyssey.”

The video follows the meme es-tablished by the popular video series “Shit Girls Say,” the first instalment of which has 12.7 million views. U

Conrad CompagnaContributor

The words of Zimbabwean author NoViolet Bulawayo have been a ral-lying cry for students and faculty that have called for an African stud-ies major.

Bulawayo, a professor at Cornell University, spoke at the African Awareness Conference held at UBC last week. She said that in a school that prides itself on creating global citizens, neglecting other parts of the world while emphasizing East Asia is not enough, especially when so many students are volunteering in Africa.

“[When] I hear sentiments like, ‘You are the first African writer ever to visit my classes,’ then it becomes a cause for concern,” she said.

The conference hosted guest speakers from UBC and around the world in an effort to expand focus on a continent that has often been portrayed as a land of famine and war.

Critical study of the continent remains badly underfunded at UBC, organizers said.

The initiative, founded in 2002, has urged the university to expand its African studies program, which currently only offers a minor.

“I would say that UBC, at the end of the day, it’s a commercial institute,” said Osaze Omokaro, an African Awareness Initiative execu-tive. “The sort of rhetoric that we’ve gotten from the administration is, ‘If you can show us the demand for the African studies program, we’ll work on the African studies pro-gram. And I think that there’s some-thing quite wrong with that.”

One student who attended the conference, Maneo Mohale, said the African studies class she wanted to get into was so packed there were two wait lists.

“I don’t necessarily buy into the rhetoric that you’ve been given that there is not enough demand for the class,” she said. U

Election infractions committed by Senate and BoG candidates

The elimination of the President’s Entrance Scholarship will allow UBC to fund more Go Global opportunities.

PHOTO COURTESY KALYEENA MAKORTOFF

News briefs

Micki CowanNews Editor

This year’s elections have been fairly tame for elections administra-tor Carolee Changfoot.

Last year saw the disqualification and then reinstatement of a presi-dential candidate, Omar Chaaban, and slating accusations leveled against current AMS President Jeremy McElroy and VP External candidate Mitch Wright.

This year, seven candidates have been placed in the “penalty box”

for election infractions. “Both Katherine Tyson and Carven Li promoted their campaign via social media before the campaign period even started,” said Changfoot.

Caroline Wong also ended up in the penalty box. “Her volunteers got the message at the wrong time and ended up postering before her material was even approved,” said Changfoot.

The idea behind the penalty box is that voters see the names of those who committed infractions when they go to vote online. “Generally

the penalty box will be put up where it is right now; it’s very close to the ‘vote here’ button. It’s in a visible place,” she said.

According to a news release sent by the 2012 Elections Committee, the most recent additions to the penalty box are Erik MacKinnon, Dawei Ji, Aaron Sihota and Jordan Stewart for participating in slate-like activity.

MacKinnon’s name was at the bottom of an email sent to the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences that also included statements

supporting other candidates from the faculty.

MacKinnon said that when he inquired about sending out the email with the IT announcements, they informed him they would only send out one email. In order to be fair to the other candidates from his faculty, he informed them of the opportunity and submitted their write-ups along with his.

“I specifically put in the email to Margaret Nicholson, who handles this at Pharmacy, that it can’t go out on my behalf and if it has my name

on it [that’s] a violation of elections rules,” said MacKinnon. His name was also misspelled at the bottom of the email. MacKinnon sees it as a mistake. “I made it very clear that the...intention was never to run as a slate, we don’t even have similar views on anything.”

Although the candidates and the faculty stated it was unintentional, the committee has still found them in violation of code. They will each receive a penalty and a fine of ten per cent of their maximum spend-ing limit. U

President’s Entrance Scholarship axed Africa Awareness Initiative expands campus focus

ALEXANDRA DOWNING/THE UBYSSEY

SCHOLARSHIPS >>

ELECTIONS >>

CONFERENCES >>

4 | News | 01.26.2012

Place Vanier hosts AMS elections debates

President debate

The presidential candidates voiced their opinions on issues ranging from Gage South to student engagement.

On Gage South, Alyssa Koehn said the Gage South petition was a good example of the AMS communicating well with the student body.

Matt Parson placed importance on designating the land as academic rather than making it available for market housing.

Meanwhile, Ben Cappellacci focused on how he worked on the issue as VP Academic two years ago. “The future is uncer-tain. It should remain a priority in the AMS to make sure it suits the students’ needs,” he said.

All three candidates had different ideas of how to reach out and involve students. Koehn stressed the importance of fixing the AMS’s website and generally being more clear and collaborative in communications. Cappellacci’s solution was to collaborate with groups on campus. “A simple way would be to create a video or presentation on what’s happened at the AMS Council,” he said.

Parson had a very concrete example of how to engage the UBC population. He plans to speak with four different stu-dents every day and document the meetings in a blog. —Micki Cowan

ELECTIONS>>

GEOFF LISTER PHOTOS/THE UBYSSEY

VP Finance debate

During Tuesday’s AMS election debates at Place Vanier, Tristan Miller, the sole candidate for VP Finance, took questions con-cerning his vision of the AMS’s financial future.

“The sustainability fund in itself is here to provide funding for sustainability projects on campus,” said Miller. “[What] I would aim for is to directly approach faculties rather than hav-ing them apply to this fund. Not that many people actually ap-ply to it, because people have to come and find that money.”

When asked about his position regarding the AMS’s relation-ship with clubs, Miller said, “Moving to a system where they get a week-long period three times a year to elect someone to look after the money is one of the things I would do differently.”

Miller was then asked about what he would have done during the controversy surrounding the Gaza flotilla donation. Though he couldn’t remember all the details of the event, he said he would not have withheld the money.

The next question pertained to the amount of financial con-trol the AMS should hold over resource groups.

“They view the AMS as an organization in opposition to them. They view us as encroaching on their autonomy. We de-serve the right to know what they spend their money on.” —Scott Macdonald

VP Administration debate

With little difference between their platforms, VP Administration candidates Elaine Kuo and Caroline Wong tried to make their respective cases to the audience at Place Vanier.

Wong touted her strong background in the workings of the AMS, while Kuo focused on helping student clubs and enhanc-ing student life and involvement.

Both candidates agreed that the under-utilization of the Clubs Benefit Fund and the Sexual Assault Initiatives Fund was an issue to be rectified. They each pledged to improve communication on how students, clubs and groups can apply for and receive money from the funds.

When discussing the new SUB project, which is part of the VP Admin portfolio, both Wong and Kuo spoke on the need to keep students updated on its progress and to promote sustain-ability initiatives. Wong mentioned the idea of putting similar clubs in the same room to help solve the issue of too many clubs and not enough space.

One issue the candidates differed on was whether clubs should be able to include “UBC” in their name. Kuo supported this, while Wong didn’t take a side. U—Colin Chia

01.26.2012 | News | 5

Kalyeena MakortoffNews Editor

When many student unions hold elections, voters are given a choice between a number of student politi-cal parties called “slates.” But this year marks the eighth consecu-tive AMS election with a strict ban on slates, to the point where even “slate-like activity” can result in fines or disqualification.

Slates have been in and out of UBC’s political culture since the 1970s, according to AMS archivist Sheldon Goldfarb. Between 1991 and 2002, 56 out of 60 elected ex-ecutives were part of slates, leaving independent candidates in the dust.

An apparent systemic bias against independent candidates and the highly adversarial envi-ronment created by competition between slates were the main arguments for banning slates in the AMS. In 2005, when independent presidential candidate Spencer Keys won the election, he succeed-ed in banning slates altogether.

But, as anyone who’s involved in AMS politics knows, this didn’t put the slate debate to rest.

What’s wrong with slates, anyways?

Proponents of reviving the slate system have argued that we’ve thrown the baby out with the bathwater. If slates came back, we’d have better engagement, better gender and minority representa-tion, and more accountability.

Now graduated, longtime Arts councillor Matt Naylor was a strong advocate for bringing slates back to the AMS. He backed the student engagement argument, say-ing that allowing slates would be another way to draw new students into student politics who otherwise might not know where to begin or would rather unite with a group of students who had similar concerns.

Voters might also be better en-gaged and informed with a slate system. Richard Johnston, a UBC political science professor who holds the Canada research chair in

public opinion, elections and rep-resentation, said that voter turnout is likely hurt by not having slates.

“We’re talking about a relatively low-information environment [in AMS politics]. How do people navigate in low-information envi-ronments? They look for crutches, they look for proxies, they look for cue-giving entities,” Johnston explained.

Imagine if you were given can-didates for members of parliament, but only the names, Johnston said. Then, imagine you were then given each candidate’s party label.

“Merely by giving you those [la-bels], I would be telling you 75 per cent of what you need to know.”

Former VP External Tim Chu agreed. “It really does not help when you have students who are going to school, taking five courses, working a part-time job to pay tuition fees and you’re trying to ask them to do research on…30, 40 candidates.”

The information is inconclusive about voter turnout after the loss of slates; some years are higher than before and some are lower, and fac-tors such as the voting system likely have a large effect. But Naylor said that it’s still a matter of being trans-parent with students who aren’t on the inside of the AMS.

“Candidates already help one an-other, and those relationships play out in Council. The only thing the slate ban does is deny that informa-tion to the voting populace.”

Another problem is that candi-date’s political views can be buried in their platforms, with their full position only being disclosed af-ter they’ve been elected to their position.

“Think about it,” said Chu. “If a right-wing slate starts up on cam-pus where their position is, ‘It’s okay for tuition fees to increase,’ how many students will be voting for them?

“[But] that’s actually the position of a lot [of the] AMS executive, and people don’t know that because they’re running as independents,” Chu argued.

“They’re talking about their

own experience and how they’re best suited for the job, but we don’t quite know exactly where they stand.”

Political parties can also ensure ethnic minorities and women are not left behind.

“If you’re concerned [about] incorporating more women into po-litical life, you have to take steps to make it happen,” said Johnston. “It helps to have a centralized nomi-nating process that sets up quotas...If there are no parties, there can’t be any quotas.”

There used to be a quota for wom-en in each slate, and while it did lead to more women running and winning, women were often elected to VP Finance or VP Administration positions. However, no women have been elected AMS president since the abolition of slates.

Toxic slates

But there are others that think the AMS isn’t the place for partisanship.

“Some view the AMS as a stu-dent government, but I see it as it legally is—the Board of Directors of a $30 million non-profit service providing organization,” said Jeremy McElroy, current president of the AMS. He considers himself political, but tends to avoid placing himself in parties. “While people may disagree on issues, we are based on a consensus model that aims to bring about the best pos-sible outcome.

“Needlessly politicizing Council would not engage students more, it would only bring more division around the table.”

Keys said this is exactly what he saw before he banned slates. In his experience, political competi-tion was an underlying current in everything that Council did.

“The environment itself was toxic...It doesn’t make sense to have that kind of a hyper-partisan envi-ronment that poisons everything—even the smallest of decisions in regard to who sits on an appoint-ments committee—for what you actually got out of it.”

Johnston said this holds for most political party systems. “Parties are seen as getting in the way of proper deliberation, and indeed, they do! We know that the extremes of par-tisanship can often get in the way of the real business of politics.”

The existence of parties also tends to produce boundaries and oppositions that can get artificial and rigid.

According to Keys, in the days of slates, AMS councillors were not friends, didn’t spend any time with each other and everyone stayed on their own side of campus. When executives from different slates were elected, it caused infighting that might not be resolved until 9 months into a 12 month position.

Student unions that have slates sometimes have rules that mitigate the problems that plagued the AMS. Keys points to the University of Alberta, which has strict rules on slates and doesn’t have the culture of divisive politics that the AMS did.

Queen’s University, in compari-son, has compulsory slate voting, where you only have one vote, and you vote for a slate. But there, slates don’t continue from year to year, meaning their brands aren’t associated with certain political views. Instead, slates simply take on the initials of a coalition of peo-ple running for executive position.

To slate or not to slate

So the question remains: has the AMS had enough cool-off time after slates, or are they inherently wrong for student politics at UBC?

In 2009, a proposal to resur-rect slates was introduced, but the motion did not achieve the two thirds of Council support required

to pass.But slates have since been

brought into the Student Legal Fund Society (SLFS) race. The 2009 SLFS board passed a resolu-tion to allow them, said Naylor. “[We] thought that slates would provide valuable information to students who weren’t likely to get jazzed up about the six individuals running to sit on the board of the legal fund.

“I think it’s helped the society by providing some stability, and also by fostering debate about the society.”

This year a new slate, using the name of an old slate called Student Progressive Action Network (SPAN), has entered the race, providing a left-wing perspec-tive to challenge the incumbent slate, Students for Responsible Leadership.

“A contest of ideas is going to in-ject some innovation into that race, and that society,” said Naylor.

But Keys doesn’t think the AMS would be able to sidestep the po-larization that comes with the re-introduction of slates, and insisted that projects like the new SUB would never have passed under a partisan system.

“Look at what the AMS has ac-complished since slates have been gotten rid of, and compare that with the accomplishments in the same period of time before slates were gotten rid of and then tell me slates are better,” said Keys. “I don’t think you can.

“Everyone I’ve ever seen that’s advocated for a slate system in the last ten years, not a single one of them actually saw slates in action. The only people who saw slates...have said, it’s better the way things are now.” U

Would slates improve our elections?AMS ELECTIONS >>

The AMS banned student political parties in 2004, but the debate hasn’t disappeared

Before the slate prohibition, posters such as these decorated the UBC Vancouver campus.

6 | Sports | 01.26.2012

It is a brisk, wet early October morning on Lake Washington in Seattle. People dressed in heavy rain jackets walk from

their cars to the dock at Sail Sand Point in Magnuson Park, a former naval base that is now a sprawling sports complex.

Inside the open doors of an old warehouse is the dry storage for the UBC collegiate sailing team. A sail lies on the floor. Neil Roberts and Karl Jensen, both engineering students, are debating about which number to apply to the new sail.

Another member of the team walks in. “We’ve got to be on the water in ten minutes,” says Becky Power, a fourth-year student in integrated sciences.

A crisp number eight is stamped onto the sail as the team rushes down the dock to get out on the water. The fresh sails fly into the air as other members scramble to set the rudder and tiller together. The team is ready to set out into the drizzling bay for a day of racing at the University of Washington’s Cascadia Cup.

The UBC collegiate sail-ing team started in 2009 after students from the AMS Sailing Club

joined the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA), a governing body that includes teams from across the United States and Canada.

“We were talking one day, and Queen’s [University] has quite a de-veloped [team] and we were talking about how we all considered going because of that,” says Power.

“We decided that [a team] would be an excellent addition to the school because a lot of sailors get deterred from coming to UBC because there is no collegiate pro-gram, and then they will go out

east to McGill or Queen’s. We kind of want to keep other sailors here and get more people involved on the West Coast.”

The AMS Sailing Club provides UBC’s team with access to boats, equipment and training facili-ties. The team recently bought new sails—a small advantage, as sails lose their effectiveness over time.

College sailing compe-titions, called regattas, require teams of two to sail small boats of the same model, most commonly the 13-foot Flying Junior. The skip-per “drives” the boat, controlling the main sail and the steering, while the other sailor is re-sponsible for the weight distribution of the delicately balanced bats. They’re also responsible for the jib, a smaller sail on the front of the boat.

Host schools provide all of the boats and basic equipment, although most schools bring their own sails, rudders and tillers. These simple boats level the playing field and keep the cost of regattas down.

Compared to the other schools at this regatta, UBC is an amateur club. UBC holds open practices twice a week during the school year, and many of the team members practice only once a week and don’t consistently practice with the same teammate. Only two of the teams—Power and Byron Roehrl, and Jensen and Roberts—have sailed together before.

After rigging the boat, the teams push out onto the lake. A lackadaisical four-knot breeze ripples

across the surface and the boats slide through the water quietly. The start line bobs about half a kilometre

offshore, stretching 100 metres to an-other buoy. The committee boat, a 16-foot dinghy, sits on one end, setting the course and managing the start.

Sailing races start on a sequence, with the aim being to cross the start line exactly as the countdown

reaches zero. A quick start is key to a good race, but toeing the line, often crowded by more than 20 other boats, is a complicated dance. Boats that push the limit are penalized by having to come back around and repeat the start.

UBC comes slow out of the gate, with boats 4 and 8 placing 15th and 18th out of 23 boats in the first race. Scoring is calculated by adding up how well a team places over several races; each division com-pleted eight races over the weekend. The winner is determined by the lowest cumulative team score at the end of the regatta. The boats sail two races and then switch sailors; if the B division doesn’t sail a series, the A division’s races are discounted.

The rain perme-ates everything. My camera bag is soaked by

the second race and I’m suddenly glad I paid for weatherproofing.

The wind, on the other hand, isn’t nearly as consistent. After two races (and just enough time for the B division to sail to the line) it drops to a whisper. Half an hour later, rippling water lures the teams back onto the course.

“Some people say [sailing] is 60 per cent athletic and 40 per cent mental, so it’s a large component of sailing. The environ-ment is a huge factor in sailing. You have to be extremely adaptable,” says Power. “Sitting onshore, you have to keep an open mind and you

can’t get frustrated because when you get frustrated you’re just not going to do well.”

The wind picks up consistently through the afternoon. The wind has sailors hauling themselves out of the boat to hike out, flattening the boats against the stiff breeze.

Sailors train in and out of the water. Sitting halfway out of a small skiff for hours requires more than just patience—it demands a gym membership.

“Sailing’s a sport you can get into no matter your level of fitness or general health, but in order to get to the top you’ve got to be on top of your game just like any other sport,” says Roberts. “If you look at top sailors, they’ll all be training on the water four or five days a week and in the gym six days a week.”

For some, the wind is giving them more trouble than a sore abdomen. Smaller and more inexperienced sail-ors suddenly find their boats upside down. As they flail to right them-selves, frigid October water rushes into every crevice of their boat, shocking their senses and their pride.

The UBC

Sailing Club: Trying

to catch a breeze

Somewhere in between competitive and social, the UBC sailing team joins the growing collegiate sailing movement in the Northwest

Photos and story by Geoff Lister

We decided that [a team] would be an excellent

addition to the school... A lot of sailors get

deterred from coming to UBC because there is

no collegiate program, and they...go out east to

McGill or Queen’s.

Becky PowerMember of the UBC sailing team

01.26.2012 | Sports | 7

“It’s frustrating when I let it capsize. I’ve never been afraid of capsizing because I’ve been around the water so much, it’s more, ‘Oh no, now I’ve lost my position in the race and I’m going to come last,’” says Power, who managed to keep her boat upright for the weekend. “But if you’re pushing it, it’s kind of inevitable.”

Sailing may be competitive, but it’s not a varsity sport on the western seaboard. While top boats at regattas have

competitive crews that have sailed together since kindergarten, local teams have people sailing in their first competition ever.

“It makes for a more challenging situation at times, because you have to expect the unexpected, flailing and capsizing and doing odd ran-dom manoeuvres that are moderate-ly annoying or dangerous at times,” says Jensen.

UBC’s team has made outreach a key part of their mission. At this meet, they’ve brought new sailors to teach them how to race.

“Most people on our team have raced before, but there’s a couple of people who grew up in [recreational sailing] programs. You definitely need to know how to sail before you join our team, but we’re all for teaching and improving your knowl-edge of racing,” says Power.

With varying levels of experience and points not counting towards national rankings, this weekend’s regatta has a slightly more relaxed atmosphere.

“This was a small regional re-gatta,” says Power. “If you’re at the western championships you take things more seriously. [If] it’s like a local regatta, it’s not necessarily serious...It’s competitive yet fun; we like to let loose and have fun.”

Tickets to a Sam Roberts concert

on Friday were purchased before the trip. When the team arrived on Friday, they headed to a frosh party at the University of Washington before leaving to see Roberts play at a local bar. The small bar is packed with Canadians who have come down to see him.

On Saturday, fresh off the water, the team wandered for several blocks before arriving at a keg party held at a University of Washington team member’s house.

As I wandered around the party taking photos and watching sailors from various teams banter back and forth, I could see a gradual osmo-sis of brotherhood developing. The sharing of drinks and stories was just another facet of sailing’s most fun-damental requirement: the necessity of trust. And while most team sports create this, there is a certain amount of artifice in games created for stadi-ums and arenas.

But there is something pure in sailing, the necessity of two people trusting each other as they combat nature’s angst; howling winds and

the cascading waves of frigid, icy water.

The team arrives on a clear Sunday morning to a wa-terskier gracefully carving across a perfectly flat lake.

Teams mingle, talking about sailing or school, while others sit in their car to catch up on homework.

“I’m kind of used to it. There’s a social aspect of sailing that occurs on no-wind days, so it’s kind of a natural part of sailing culture,” says Roberts. “It’s not ideal but there’s good things that come from it. A lot of my best friends I’ve made hanging out at regattas.”

Eventually a gentle puff of wind coaxes the teams out onto the water. It’s slow going and races are aban-doned and restarted as the wind comes, shifts and goes. UBC’s boats are placing well enough; veteran team members Ryan Cutting and Jen Grierson take a big early lead by charging the entire fleet in the wrong direction on the start line, called port-tacking the fleet.

The racing ends in the early after-noon and presentations are made. Sailing teams rarely stay for trophies, as getting back home at a reasonable hour takes precedent over waiting for hardware. UBC places 11th and 12th out of 23 boats.

As for UBC’s sailing team, it’s growing despite undesirable winter conditions.

“It’s not really developed quite yet, but our goal is to become more like the Queen’s team,” says Power. “It’d be nice for us to eventually get to that level. Obviously the team is only a year old, so we’re still in the testing phase.

“I think that with UBC, it’s more to promote people to continue rac-ing. It’s a little bit competitive—like, we didn’t win, but it’s not the Olympics.” U

If you’re at the western championships you

take things more seri-ously. [If] it’s like a local

regatta, it’s not necessarily serious...

It’s competitive yet fun; we like to let loose .

Becky PowerMember of the UBC sailing team

Becky Power looks out across a windless Pontiac Bay Sunday morning.

Karl Jenson and Mike Fischer cross the line for a first place finish on Sunday.

Neil Roberts packs up sails at the end of the weekend regatta.

CultureEditor: Ginny Monaco

01.26.2012 | 8

Anna ZoriaStaff Writer

Fish and Bird are a band who have a hard time fitting into any sort of boxes.

When asked what genre best de-scribes them, the group ponders the question for several minutes before finally replying, “Microwave folk newspaper music.”

“We’ve had a lot of extensive and fruitless conversations about what we should call it,” says Taylor Ashton, the BC band’s leading vocal-ist. The band’s co-founder, Adam Iredale-Gray, agrees: “At one point we decided on indie folk, but folk is such a broad term that it doesn’t re-ally mean anything at this point.”

It all started when Ashton and Iredale-Gray came together over their love for old-timey music. Three albums later and thousands of touring miles under their col-lective belts, the band is now a five-piece award-winning ma-chine. While they have a tradition-ally roots line-up (banjo, guitar, fiddle, upright bass, drums), their music often goes beyond what people typically classify as “Americana-bluegrass.”

But with lyrics like “Though

we try and try to conjoin/Every whisper is a shout across the void,” it becomes clear that this is not your grandparents’ back-porch music. Ashton explained that the main themes of the new album are isolation, miscommunication and dreams that stem from personal ex-periences of “being really close with someone and having what you say come across as totally wrong.”

He adds, “I sort of imagine us all on our own planets, screaming at each other, trying to get our point across.”

Although the new album and a number of cross-country tours have brought Fish and Bird great critical acclaim and nation-wide attention, the band seems pretty set on staying true to the small town communities whose hearts they’ve won over in recent years. “You can be struggling and poor as an artist in New York City or Berlin or your home town,” says Ben Kelly, who plays drums for the band.

What’s more, Fish and Bird ap-pear to be genuinely rooted in the communities that have made them who they are today. As we sit in the coffee shop and chat, I notice post-ers advertising the band’s upcom-ing shows plastered to the shop’s

windows, and the baristas holler out inside jokes at various band members during our interview. They seem relaxed and at ease, and come across as the sort of band that is quietly confident in the value of their own art.

This quiet confidence is perhaps what allows Fish and Bird to be so playful about the labels that the media often tries to assign to them. As I point out that they’re not

helping the situation by wearing all plaid, they look over at the only member of their crew who isn’t wearing any and say, deadpan, “She didn’t get the memo.”

With a good sense of humour and a talent that’s grounded in years of practice, Fish and Bird are sure to stick around. And judging from the support they get at their shows, people are ready to listen to whatever they’re shouting. U

Sebastian Yoh ChernContributor

It’s not a question of how nerdy you are, it’s a question of when nerdy you are.

Geeks After Dark (GAD) is a unique marriage of dancing, com-edy and nerd fanfare. The group organizes quarterly nights of trivia, costume contests and burlesque—or, as the case may be, nerdlesque. Their upcoming British science fiction-themed club event, Geeks After Dark: Bigger on the Inside, is this Friday at The Cellar.

GAD began about two years ago when artistic director Fairlith Harvey wanted to organize a con-vention fundraiser, though the event itself ultimately fell through.

“Fairlith’s been part of the bur-lesque community for a long time, and she thought it’d be fun to have nerdy, geeky, videogame and comic book-themed burlesque numbers,” said Cameron Russell, an execu-tive of the group and co-producer

responsible for hosting, social media and writing.

“It was a huge success, and even though the convention didn’t hap-pen, we just thought, let’s keep do-ing that because it was a lot of fun.”

Bigger on the Inside, the com-pany’s fourth nightclub event, will be hosted by the Tenth Doctor from Doctor Who and Arthur Dent from A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, portrayed by Russell and fellow co-producer Tyler Nicol, respectively.

“The hosting sequences are usu-ally themed,” noted Russell, who also played Marty McFly and The Riddler in past events.

“We write a little story about why they’re there and what they’re do-ing. It’s like a little show.”

GAD separates itself from the crowd with its nerdlesque dance numbers that feature talented in-dividuals from around the city in a variety of costumes.

“All of the burlesque numbers

are nerdy-themed. It doesn’t matter what kind. It can be from Carmen Sandiego to Batman Returns to Pokemon,” said Russell. Participation is open to anyone hop-ing to showcase his or her skills or even those interested in just trying their hand at burlesque.

“Anyone can participate. If you got a number and you know how to do that stuff, you’re welcome to come out and try,” Russell said.

“If anybody wants to learn how to do that or try something out, please feel free to contact us. We like to give new talent a way to show them-selves off.”

However, don’t expect to see any half-hearted routines and execu-tion. “We plan it far in advance,” said Russel.

“We have to stage it all out, make sure it’s the right kind of number and time it all out. It’s a process.”

Nerdlesque and quirky host segments aside, GAD is an excel-lent place to meet like-minded

individuals and unabashedly wax nerdy. There’s also a $2 discount if you go in costume.

“Whether a movie night, a pub night, or any other event, Geeks After Dark is an all around positive experience,” said Dan Haselhan, a regular attendee.

“It’s a small but growing com-munity embracing everything dorky with an adult twist. You can show up a stranger and leave with a ton of new friends,” he added.

GAD has grown steadily since its humble beginnings, and Russell anticipates Bigger on the Inside will be the biggest one yet.

“From the amount of advertising we’ve done and the amount of buzz we’ve gotten from newspapers such as the Georgia Straight, we’re prob-ably looking at around 250, so it’s going to be at capacity. We’re really excited about that.” U

For more information, check out facebook.com/GeeksAfterDark.

The best nerd party this side of Mos Eisley

The forests of Victoria, BC are Fish and Birds’ natural habitat.

COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

NERD CULTURE>>

PHOTOS COURTESY OF GEEKS AFTER

Harley Quinn, Sergeant Slaughter, Two-Face and Thor all just want to have fun. If you do too, take a walk through the fourth dimension to Geeks After Dark.

Fish and Bird avoid falling into genre traps

Rhys EdwardsStaff Writer

Following on the success of Neworld Theatre’s 2005 production of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, UBC’s Frederic Wood Theatre is host once again to anoth-er adaptation by the great Russian sensualist: The Idiot.

The Idiot follows the exploits of the tragicomically innocent Prince Lyov Nikolayevich Myshkin, who has returned to St Petersburg af-ter several years of treatment for epilepsy in Switzerland. He is soon embroiled with an entourage of neurotic, conceited and passionate characters, who lead the Prince into a desperate conflict of love, dignity and truth.

Much of the narrative has been altered or simplified for the stage. This allows the audience to engage in the production without suc-cumbing to weariness, though it is perhaps worrisome that some of the more subtle qualities of Dostoyevsky’s rich cast are lost in the transition. Furthermore, some crucial plot points are only briefly detailed, which can be confusing.

Thankfully, the brevity of the narrative is more than balanced by the subtlety with which the en-semble delivers their performance. With deftness and precision, the cast communicates the deeply funny aspects of Dostoyevsky’s tale, while also conveying the urgent humanity of their distinct characters. Kevin MacDonald renders a convinc-ing naivete as the titular idiot; also notable is Craig Erickson’s sharp portrayal of Ganya, the terse, self-deprecating, sometimes-friend of the Prince.

To streamline the narrative, director and playwright James Tait, along with composer Joelysa Pankanea, has employed the use of brief musical dialogues; these provide context for certain plot points, while emphasizing others. These segments are occasionally dissonant, but are generally effec-tive, if not altogether profound. Also laudable is the outstanding costume design by Mara Gottler, which complements the cast without de-grading the work into a historical period piece.

Tait has managed to develop a coherent and moving production out of Dostoyevsky’s text. It is miracu-lous that, at a running time of three and a half hours, Tait’s adaptation of The Idiot does not once lose momen-tum, particularly considering the sometimes obtuse nature of the plot. Rather, Tait’s direction is succinct and entertaining. Most praisewor-thy is the self-sufficiency of the production; it is an outstanding work of theatre, regardless of taste or familiarity with the text.

The Idiot runs until January 29. It is produced by Neworld Theatre Production and Vancouver Moving Theatre, amd co-presented by Theatre at UBC and the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. U

The Idiot is a subtle and engaging adaptation

THEATRE>>

ubyssey.ca/culture

Get enlightened

01.26.2012 | Opinion | 9

VP External

Kyle Warwick: 5 for, 4 against, 1 abstention

We are endorsing Warwick, but the vote only passed by a narrow margin. The race for VP External is uncontested, which means a vote against Kyle Warwick is essentially a vote for a by-election and a hope for

more candidates.The chief concerns about Warwick are his

political ties (he ran as a Liberal candidate in the last federal election) and his mismanage-ment of the executive pay raise as chair of the Legislative Procedures Committee. But given that the Liberals have been reduced to third-party status, this is less of a concern than it might normally be. We also hope that Warwick has learned something about the im-portance of public relations after the pay raise

fiasco that he bears some responsibility for.Yet there are many reasons Warwick

deserves this endorsement. His knowledge of policy at every governmental level is un-rivaled on Council, which is a particularly important asset in the VP External portfo-lio. He brings a long institutional memory to the executive and pays close attention to detail during debates. Warwick also has a proven commitment to advocating student issues and can back up his rhetoric when challenged.

Finally, on a personal level, Warwick is the least egotistical candidate that the AMS has had for a long time, which is refreshing in student politics. He consistently puts princi-ple before politics and values the importance of open, honest debate.

We always prefer competition in election races, but Warwick will serve the AMS well in this position.

Dissenting Opinion

While Warwick is extremely knowledgeable on the inner workings of AMS bylaws and

code, his lack of plans for federal lobbying is excluding UBC from important debates that could impact students.

Warwick’s political affiliation as a staunch federal Liberal—he ran for them as a sacrifi-cial lamb in the 2011 federal election—opens the door for partisan politics influencing AMS policy. He may claim it won’t be a problem, but it has always been a problem with partisan VP Externals in the past. He was also the leading advocate of the PAR performance bonus for executives, which was bungled terribly and disillusioned many students.

Also in question are Warwick’s abilities in advocacy itself. Having knowledge of the issues is one thing, but convincing others to take your side is another. There is no doubt that Warwick is a very intelligent, passionate individual and an asset to the AMS, but he isn’t the ideal candidate for VP External. U

VP Academic Kiran Mahal: 6 for, 4 against

We are endorsing Kiran Mahal by a narrow margin over Bahador Moosavi. Iqbal Kassam is passionate, but lacks the knowledge of UBC necessary to oversee the very broad portfolio he’s running for. Carven

Li’s platform, while having its share of good ideas, is too focused on issues that aren’t pressing for the portfolio, such as athletics fees.

Both Mahal and Moosavi have the skills required to make good VP Academics.

But though Mahal might not be as quali-fied when it comes to the university affairs part of the portfolio, she has a clear vision for its academic responsibilities. The emphasis of her campaign on student mental health also impressed us. As SUS president, she has shown that she can competently manage the responsibilities required of an executive. Moosavi is well-rounded and reliable in his work on Council, and we think it would be a significant loss if he left the AMS. Ultimately, though, we feel that Mahal’s strength on aca-demic policy outweighs the balance Moosavi would bring.

We should also add that The Ubyssey will not comment on Party Rock’s candidacy; an offspring of Rock has been sitting in our of-fice for a week, giving us a conflict of interest in this matter.

AMS Elections Endorsements

The Ubyssey’s official endorsements for the 2012-13 AMS executive

PresidentMatt Parson: 11 for, 0 against

For the first time in recent memory, there are three competent candidates for president. Alyssa Koehn is passionate about student engagement and has a proven desire for involve-ment with campus. Ben Cappellacci is a great

speaker and did a good job as VP Academic with the AMS. And Matt Parson is hard-working and has experience in many levels of campus life.

But when you break down both what was said in the debates and the candidates’ plat-forms, Parson has so much more to offer than the others.

Parson has clear, specific plans for dealing with the most important issues facing both UBC and the position of president. These include governance, Gage South, housing affordability, student mental health and stu-dent engagement.

We especially appreciate that Parson knows enough about campus issues to speak in detail on all the planks in his platform. With the new Performance Accountability Restriction (PAR) on $5000 of executive pay next year, there is a good chance he will achieve his goals.

And for the first time in recent memory, a presidential candidate is willing to pledge something concrete in terms of engaging the student body. Parson plans to meet 1000 different students as president and docu-ment this in a blog. It’s lofty, but it’s better than anything we’ve heard from the other candidates.

While Cappellacci’s overall vision is inspirational, his plan for leadership is reminiscent of the current president, Jeremy McElroy. They both speak about grandiose visions for the society, but back it up with little detail. With so many clear issues to be worked on this year, the AMS needs someone who has a more focused plan.

Koehn’s lack of experience in a VP position is one thing that holds us back from endors-ing her—we would have likely endorsed her for one of those positions instead. We’re also concerned that by focusing so largely on student engagement, she would not help the AMS gain ground on many of the other policy areas that it has been working on.

Again, these are three strong candidates and the AMS would benefit from all of them. But Parson is knowledgeable and passion-ate enough to take the AMS in the direction it needs to go—and that’s why we’ve unani-mously endorsed him.

This year, 12 Ubyssey editors and volunteer staff met for two and a half hours to decide who we would endorse in the AMS elections. We operate on a one-person, one-vote system, and this year, in the interest of transparency, we’re releasing our internal vote

totals as well. Coordinating editor Justin McElroy, being the cousin of current AMS President Jeremy McElroy, did not take part in discussions or voting for our endorsement of president. The vote totals differ slightly, as some staff did not vote on certain races. For a full explanation of the thought process behind our endorsements, visit the AMS Elections blog on our website.

VP Administration Caroline Wong: 9 for, 0 against

We are unanimously endors-ing Caroline Wong for VP Administration.

Wong’s experience as an AMS rep sitting on the Business and Facilities Committee and chairing the Student Life Committee has given her a reasonable grasp

of many aspects of the VP Admin portfolio, and she is known to possess a strong and efficient work ethic.

Her platform contains concrete plans for the new SUB regarding sustainability and disabil-ity access, touches on some positive new plans for club administration, and also has a strong focus on improving AMS services (although this issue partially falls under the VP Academic portfolio).

Elaine Kuo demonstrated a fundamental lack of experience in this portfolio. Though she has been president of the English Club, at the AMS level she has only served as a student-at-large on the Student Administrative Commission. Her platform focused on AMS clubs to the exclusion of all other issues. Compared to Wong, Kuo also showed a general lack of confidence and knowledge in debate.

There are a number of areas in which Wong needs improvement, however. Demonstrating a lack of knowledge regarding the Clubs Benefit Fund, she stated in debate that it could be used for travel expenses but was correctly informed by Tristan Miller that this was not permitted. Her communication style could also use more professionalism. But on the whole, there was consensus that Wong’s experience and knowl-edge gave her a clear advantage over Kuo.

VP Finance Tristan Miller: 9 for, 0 against

Tristan Miller is a very well-qualified candidate for VP Finance, and we are unanimously endorsing him in this uncontested race. Due to his work as vice-chair of the Finance Commission, Miller has solid knowledge of the

AMS’s finances and his proposal for having Council adopt three-year plans is a good idea that will help bring consistency to the soci-ety’s budgetary priorities.

Our endorsement does come with a small caveat. In the past, there has been an is-sue with the VP Finance not being able to communicate effectively with the student community, as Miller has pointed out in some of his interviews. The problem is that Miller leaves much to be desired in his public speaking skills. He has promised to increase consultations with other AMS organizations before making decisions, but for this to work he will need to improve his ability to speak in front of large groups.

We do wish he had some competition to force him to defend his positions more robustly, but we are confident that Miller will be a dependable and trustworthy VP Finance.

10 | Opinion | 01.26.2012

The two students elected to UBC’s Board of Governors have a giant responsibility. On the affordability of education, on governance of the largest urban area in Canada with-out a municipal government and on letting the most powerful people at UBC know exactly what students think, their voice is crucial.

The good news is that all seven candidates have the experience and passion to be a positive force on the Board. It’s the strongest

field any of us have seen. The bad news is we have to choose two.

For our first choice, we are en-dorsing Sean Cregten for the Board of Governors. The vote was unani-mous in his favour.

His two years as AMS Associate VP for Academic & University Affairs has given him the knowl-edge, contacts and sense of history to succeed in the role. On Gage South and land use issues, he has second-to-none expertise among the candidates. Most importantly, he knows how to manage the fine line of being respectful to the administration while pointing out the ways their plans do not benefit current students. His lack of vigor-ous campaigning means his chanc-es of winning are small, which is a shame. But you won’t be disap-pointed if you vote for Cregten.

Sumedha Sharma has served on the Board for the past year, and while she is passionate and knowl-edgeable, her tangible accom-plishments are few. Nobody will accuse her of not working hard, but we feel it’s time for a different

perspective on the board.Tagg Jefferson, despite having

the least campus-wide experience, has impressed us with his nu-anced answers. However, his lack of knowledge on the governance of UBC (at least when he was inter-viewed by our writers) precluded us from seriously considering his candidacy.

Mike Silley, though helped by his experience on the AMS executive, was too vague on anything other than tuition increases for us to have confidence on what he would do on the Board. In addition, com-plaints by councillors and fellow executives about his work this year gave us pause.

Candidates aside from Cregten who received the most consider-ation by us were Erik MacKinnon, Matt Parson and Justin Yang. The debate for Matt Parson was brief—while we have high confidence in his abilities, the many potential conflicts that could arise from be-ing president and a Board member meant that ultimately we couldn’t consider him.

Justin Yang is, in many ways, an ideal type of Board candidate. We have no doubts that if elected, he would be diligent, competent and courteous, while pushing for-ward one or two ideas that would benefit all students. Yet his self-acknowledged problem of passivity would hinder his effectiveness in a group of 18 very powerful and very wealthy people.

Which leaves us with Erik MacKinnon. We endorse him partly because he ran the best campaign of any candidate in this election—if you want to represent all students, you should put the energy in to getting their support, and MacKinnon did that. But we also endorse him because we know he would work hard, be reasoned in his opinions and speak out when he felt it necessary. We haven’t had a Board member that was a real public advocate for student interests in some time. MacKinnon would be a breath of fresh air.

However, a note on the el-ephant in the room—MacKinnon’s documented history of offensive

statements about women and minorities on his personal blog, Bald Truth. We condemn those statements unconditionally. But ultimately, even those most put off by MacKinnon’s past state-ments acknowledged that when he wants to act professionally, he does so. Now he has to understand that if elected, he’ll be represent-ing all students; with many of them, he’s already at two and a half strikes. Our endorsement is for MacKinnon, not for Bald Truth—and we hope he won’t make us feel silly in six months.

Seat 1: Sean Cregten, 10 votes Seat 2: Erik MacKinnon, 6 votes Runner up: Justin Yang, 4 votes

Board of Governors

Student Legal Fund SocietyWe unanimously endorse a split board

In the race for the Student Legal Fund Society (SLFS) board of directors, we are endorsing a split board. We believe both slates are flawed, and wouldn’t want to see either with full power. However, we’re endorsing a ballot with four seats for the Student Progressive Action Network (SPAN) and two seats for the Students for Responsible Leadership (SRL). Ultimately our decision was a result of both the SRL’s refusal to fund many legal initiatives and the number of sensible proposals from SPAN.

Because the board has nine total members, a four-person block from SPAN would mean that they would be able to push initiatives such as fund-ing Freedom of Information requests and criminal background checks for students, but would still have other board members to act as a check.

We have qualms about specific candidates on both slates, such as SRL’s Maria Cirstea, who appears to have no interest in the SLFS, and SPAN’s Arielle Friedman, who irresponsibly managed funds as treasurer of the Social Justice Centre. However, SPAN is offering new ideas and enthusiasm to a board that has lacked both. And that’s a good thing.

SenateJustin YangKiran MahalKatherine TysonMontana Hunter (all unanimous)

Five out of the six candidates in this race will be elected. We are unani-mously endorsing four of them: Justin Yang, Kiran Mahal, Katherine Tyson and Montana Hunter. The other two candidates, Dawei Ji and Barnabas Caro, both failed to get enough sup-port from our editorial board for endorsements.

Yang, the incumbent, continues to have an outstanding understanding of academic issues and will provide need-ed experience to the body’s student caucus. Mahal is focused on academic issues and will be able to translate that in a useful way to Senate, with strong ideas on how to bridge rifts between Senate and AMS Council. Katherine Tyson’s skill set will apply better to a role on the Senate than it did to the role of AMS VP External, and she appears ready to forcefully argue for her positions.

Unlike the first three, Montana Hunter has less experience on the issues, although he has expressed a willingness to learn and will comport himself with maturity on a body where students must work side by side with profes-sors and staff.

Both Ji and Caro possess less of an understanding of the workings of Senate and do not have the experience to support themselves stepping into the role. Caro is passionate and well-intentioned but did not impress us with his knowledge of the issues, while Ji is outspoken but lacks substance in his positions.

The referendum questions

Question 1: Reducing the Student Spaces Fee

Yes 8, No 2

We endorse voting yes to this ques-tion. Although students put plenty of money into this fund every year, little of it is used and even less will be needed in the future. With a new SUB, the costly renovations that are regularly needed to keep our current aging building in shape won’t be needed. Part of the reason the AMS is in bad financial shape is because too much of their money is forced to go into funds that can’t be spent properly—and this helps to rectify that.

Question 2: Putting the Endow-ment Fund in code

Yes 10, Abstain 1

We endorse voting yes to this be-cause the new AMS Endowment Fund is a good idea. Our student union should have a fund where they keep the principal but spend the interest, creating a more sustainable business model. It’s important to protect large endowment funds from manipulation from future councils, and codifying the fund through a referendum will do that.

Question 3: The Whistler Lodge

Yes 5, No 4, Abstain 1

Virtually every member of our staff agreed there is very little hope of the AMS running the Whistler Lodge well anytime soon. It was built by the Varsity Outdoors Club when Whistler was a sleepy out-post, the AMS took it over, and now they simply do not have the capac-ity or the organization to effective-ly manage it in the 21st century.

However, we were also in agree-ment that the AMS did not do their due diligence in trying to sell the lodge. Getting rid of a much-cher-ished service that many students feel passionately about should require transparency and building a case. Our student union didn’t do any of this.

The question is, what matters more: being accountable to stake-holders, or immediately saving the AMS quite a bit of money? A slim majority of us believed that since selling the lodge is inevitable, the sooner the AMS gets on with do-ing so the better. But we wouldn’t argue much if you voted the other way.

Question 4: Selling three pieces of art from the Permanent Collection

Yes 1, No 9, Abstain 1

We overwhelmingly endorse voting no. The question is not transpar-ent and students do not know what

they are authorizing the AMS to do. The Permanent Collection has many culturally significant pieces of art and it would be a shame to see them sold because the AMS doesn’t wish to pay $9000 annually in insurance fees.

Furthermore, the AMS has re-cently stated that they are looking to sell their most expensive piec-es—which are the strongest pieces in the collection. One of these is Lawren Harris’s Mountain Spirit. Harris is one of Canada’s most renowned painters and Mountain Spirit was a gift to the AMS from Maclean’s magazine. Selling paint-ings that were previously received as gifts is a massively insulting act.

Pierre Berton, Canadian icon and former Ubyssey editor, was the managing editor of Maclean’s when the AMS received this piece. By selling it they are tarnishing the trust created between one of UBC’s most famous alumni and the student union. If we give the AMS the permission to do this—to legally sell a culturally significant gift—we are giving our elected executives permission to shine an incredibly negative light on this campus.

To be clear, we aren’t against the idea of selling a couple pieces of the collection to have funds avail-able for maintaining (and building upon) the collection. That’s a good idea. But do it transparently, and do it honestly. U

COURTESY MICHAEL KINGSMILL

VS

01.26.2012 | 11ScenePictures and words on your university experience

All in the name of art

On the upcoming referendum, students will decide whether to grant the AMS the right to sell the three most valuable works from their “Permanent” Art Collection. The collection is being stored in less-than-favourable conditions, and the AMS can’t afford the insurance and security payments necessary to display it.

I hope this passes and that the AMS sells the pieces. Current pre-dictions point to the sale bringing in a giant heap of money, destined for the Student Art Fund. Some of that cash can go towards improv-ing the situation of the unsold pieces.

More importantly, that mon-ey needs to go towards art that students will actually enjoy, art that will appeal to UBC’s masses. Instead of being stored in a dank, leaky room, the AMS’s art should be on permanent display as murals around campus. Further, these new works of art need to appeal to the majority of students.

And the best place to find art that appeals to a broad swath of the student population is at the Imaginus Poster Sale.

For instance, how about a por-trait of Bob Marley smoking an im-maculate doob, spread across the

south face of Buchanan Tower? If one image sums up the Faculty of Arts, it’s Tuff Gong blazin’.

The front of Henry Angus would look great with a film still of Tony Montana wielding his “little friend.” What image better sum-marizes Sauder mentality than a coked-up gangster mercilessly mowing down other human beings in pursuit of wealth and fame?

Imagine the interior walls of the BirdCoop graced with giant prints of Da Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man.” That way everyone who is sweating and straining towards perfection can fix their eyes on the impossible ideal they’re pursuing.

Stills from Fight Club belong on all of the frat houses, due to impli-cations of violent homoerocitism.

I’d like to say there’s a place somewhere on this campus for Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, but she’s smoking a ciga-rette in that picture. If people see that, they could very well take up smoking, a habit which is morally Wrong.

Those “Keep Calm and Carry On” posters would provide handy advice in the Bookstore, where the cost of textbooks often throws customers into fits of anxiety and dismay roughly equal to that expe-rienced by British citizens during a hypothetical Nazi invasion.

There is a chance that the cost of maintaining all this public art (keeping Bob’s spliff lit, wiping jizz and blood from the Fight Club mural, etc.) would be prohibitive.

In that case, I recommend the AMS begins hiring their own art-ists to churn out work.

I’m picturing a Grapes of Wrath situation here, where the AMS president pulls up in front of an independently-owned coffee house (perhaps the Boulevard) in a Ford roadster, watch fob dangling from waistcoat pocket, cigar a-puffing,

and enters the building.“Y’all lookin’ fer work?” s/he

hollers to the baristas behind the counter.

Shortly, jalopies begin parking outside the SUB. They are piloted by men and women with new tat-toos and thick-framed glasses, their improvised truck-beds load-ed with easels, cameras, modelling

clay and iMac workstations.Before long, AMS businesses

and clubs are graced with oil paintings of anime-eyed pop sur-realist heroines, Super-8 dream sequences set to ambient micro-techno, indecipherable India ink contour drawings and Polaroids of half-naked skinny chicks smoking.

All in the name of Art. U

Let’s sell those moldy old paintings and get some art students will actually understand

EJ Hughes and other BC art heirlooms could learn a thing or two from the Imaginus poster sale. JONNY WAKEFIELD/THE UBYSSEY

HUMOUR >>

Warnes World

BryceWarnes

STAY ON THE NEWS CYCLEMicki Cowan and Kalyeena Makortoff | news@ubyssey.ca

12 | Games | 01.26.2012

Across

1- Averages 6- Barber shop request 10- Thick slice 14- Good point 15- ___ extra cost 16- Hawaiian city 17- Blank look 18- Cancun coin 19- Drum sound 20- Chat

22- Guard 24- Periodical, briefly 26- Tiny 27- Bribe 31- Jabber 32- Earlier 33- Alternate 36- RR stop 39- Ethereal: prefix 40- Syrian leader 41- Drop

(CUP) — Puzzles provided by BestCrosswords.com. Used with permission.

42- After taxes 43- Ascended 44- Pueblo Indian village 45- Belonging to us 46- Wounded 48- To bargain 51- ___ Paulo 52- Chief Indian officer 54- Underground electric railroad 59- Bunches 60- Yours, in Tours 62- Metal spikes 63- Adhesive 64- Make-up artist? 65- Pang 66- Chow 67- Ages and ages 68- Guide

Down

1- Not fem. 2- This, in Tijuana 3- Slippery ___ eel 4- Soft ball brand 5- Vegetable appliance 6- Faucet 7- Numbered rds. 8- Atlas feature 9- Wide-eyed 10- Contract 11- Big cats 12- Kind of cat 13- Cotton seed pod 21- Bleat of a sheep 23- Drop of water expelled by the eye 25- Vulgar 27- Bridge 28- Algonquian language 29- “Java” trumpeter 30- Miss Piggy’s query 34- Half a fly 35- Clock pointers 36- Problem with L.A. 37- Duration 38- Not much 40- Large terrier 41- South American tuber

43- Batting Babe 44- Quantities 45- Speaks publicly 47- Small batteries 48- Papal seal 49- Circa 50- Rate 52- Wise 53- Horse color 55- Monetary unit of Thailand 56- Metal filament 57- Burn balm 58- Belgian river 61- Apr. addressee

Presidential hopefuls Matt Parson and Ben Cappellacci battle for supremacy in the Science Undergraduate Society’s Jello wrestling contest. The event is a battle royale for the heads of undergraduate societies, as well as AMS executive candidates. Contestants attempt to wrest a Jello-soaked sock from their opponent’s foot.

GEOFF LISTER/THE UBYSSEY

AMS SILLINESS >>