After spending all day cooking a delicious Christmas meal for our boss, Sean, we had to go on a thrilling mission to track him down so he could try it.
Go watch Part One if you want things to make slightly more sense...
That's Christmas baby.
It has been a dark semester (particularly for our Managing Editor Sean), so this month, the video team challenged ourselves to bring VIU some joy... plus Mike has had enough of talking about how awful the world is.
Embark on a journey of culinary debauchery with Jack and Ben who attempt to make a Christmas meal for our downtrodden leader, Sean. Witness the trials and tribulations, as our two intrepid cooks attempt to conjure some Christmas joy and use it to embue some tasty treats!
In the end, they don't manage to find the true meaning of Christmas, but they do succeed in making ...
The NAV’s Sports Editor, Austin Heidt, interviews VIU Hockey Captain Adam Morton and Assistant Captain Gavin Rauser before the holiday break. Get to know these veteran players at the Nanaimo Ice Centre, the home of the VIU Mariners.
https://youtu.be/SgPHfXGVrP8
Ella Blaschko is an international student from Munich, Germany. She’s in the second year of her journalism studies and spent the fall term at VIU.
A lifelong dream, a milestone and, above all, a great opportunity.
For 21-year-old Michel Egenolf and Claas Schönfeld, 20, their dream of covering the FIFA World Cup has come true.
“I’ve been fascinated by this world from a young age, and it was clear to me that I wanted to participate,” Egenolf says.
The two young sports journalists from Munich, Germany are currently in the thick of things, recording auditor reports of World ...
Commanding Hope: The Power We Have to Renew a World in Peril
Thomas Homer-Dixon
Vintage Canada, 2022
464 pages
ISBN: 978-0307363176
$24.00
Reviewed by Don Alexander
Don Alexander is a partially retired professor at VIU and Chair of the Environmental Scan Working Group of the VIU President’s Task Force on Climate Action and Sustainability.
Thomas Homer-Dixon’s Commanding Hope: The Power We Have to Renew a World in Peril is a magisterial book, comprehensive and thoughtful.
It aims to shed a compassionate light on what drives people to opposite ends of the spectrum ...
Spenser Smith graduated from VIU in 2019 with a major in Creative Writing and a minor in Journalism. In addition to growing mushrooms, he writes poetry. His first poetry book, A brief relief from hunger, will be published by Gordon Hill Press in 2023.
Last year, I watched Fantastic Fungi, a documentary about mushrooms on Netflix, and something mushroomed inside me.
The surreal timelapses of mushroom growth—tiny, indistinguishable blobs exploding into vivid bouquets of fungi—were mesmerizing.
(The movie took 15 years to film because of how painstaking these timelapses ...
VIU’s Culinary Arts students, Microbiology students, and three Urchins walk into Malaspina Theatre.
No, this isn't the start of a bad joke.
It's a look at the first-ever Urchin Tank event that took place on Wednesday evening, November 23 on VIU’s Nanaimo campus.
The Urchin Tank is the grand finale of the Seaweed Challenge, a semester-long collaboration between the Biology and Culinary Arts Departments where teams develop and test fermented seaweed products.
Dishes using each seaweed product were presented to judges, or “Urchins,” as part of the Urchin Tank finale.
Olivia ...
Lucy, my family's cocker spaniel, sits beside me on the loveseat. Mittens the Siamese-tuxedo cat gazes out at the snowy backyard from behind the living room curtains.
I’ve missed this.
Lucy and Mittens are back with my family in Kamloops, where I spent my Reading Week. I feel the acute lack of pet companionship in my current residence in Nanaimo.
I live with one other student in pet-free off-campus housing. We're both animal lovers, though my roommate is a dog person and I prefer cats. If we want pets, we’ll need to move somewhere else. But with the high cost of living, could we ...
University life is expensive, especially during inflation. And one of the priciest things right now is food.
I didn’t pay much attention to my grocery bill until this year. Nowadays, I plan out my week’s meals more carefully to make the most of my food.
The following list includes ingredients that I have in my kitchen and that every student should, too.
Side note: if you have allergies, dietary restrictions, or don't believe in the consumption of animal products, feel free to substitute with another ingredient of your choice where you can.
Let’s dig ...
A gathering of students listens attentively inside the student lounge in building 355 on VIU's Nanaimo campus, myself among them. Though a cold rain pelts the windowpanes, it's warm and comfortable inside the blue-walled lounge.
Some students occasionally write in notebooks, while others keep their hands in their laps, fully focused on the words of NourbeSe Philip, the guest poet at the front of the room.
I try to listen closely and rest on the sound and the expanding space of every word. People like Philip are my heroes: they've made a living doing what they love.
Do I have ...
This is part one of a two-part inquiry into the restraints placed on women's bodies and sexuality.
I sat in my doctor’s office at 15-years-old.
I’d barely been on a first date—let alone kissed anyone—but there I was, getting a prescription for a pill I couldn’t pronounce.
“This will help you,” my doctor said.
And I didn’t question her.
I went home and started to take a pill each day, the ten-page pamphlet of side effects collecting dust in my bathroom cabinet.
My doctor didn’t mention any side effects, so I thought: who cares?
I was on hormonal birth ...
I’m waist deep in the waters of Departure Bay with The Nav’s Megan Zolorycki.
It’s November and the year’s first snowflakes fall around us while we struggle to breathe in the icy water.
My entire body is screaming at me to run to shore, but I force myself to stay. I try to inhale deeply through my nose and out through my mouth.
It doesn’t work. My breath is rapid and shuddering. We manage to stay in the ocean for over a minute before going back to the safety of our towels.
*
Does the name Wim Hof sound familiar?
He is known as the notorious “Iceman” who climbed Mount ...
It’s tough being a teacher.
Unruly students, detailed planning, a less-than-perfect workplace—any one of these factors can cause a burnout.
All of them together can create a breaking point for teachers.
Teachers in BC are dealing with many challenges, such as low wages, and high housing and food costs, according to Chair of the Association of the BC Deans of Education, Allyson Jule.
As a result, some educators are leaving the province or retiring altogether.
“The teacher shortage is a significant crisis for the country,” Jule said.
Enter VIU’s Education ...
Who are the people running VIU's clubs?
Audio Editor Jack Corfield speaks to Gen, the Supreme Hierarch of Unconquerable Dungeons and Ancient God Dragons (President) of the D&D Club, and Elizabeth, the Minister of Internal Affairs for the History Club.
Later, he sits down with power couple Sam and Katrin, Co-Chair of the History Students' Association and Vice-President of the Phycology Club, respectively.
https://open.spotify.com/show/2xCViD6kkYZBRLUFCpfzmE
https://thenav.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/From-Club-to-Community_final-mixdown-1.mp3
https://youtu.be/_iaKNRyBkzI
Meet Austin Heidt, The Nav's brand new Sports Editor. Follow along with Austin as he gives an update on the recent action from the Mariners women's volleyball team, a review of last year's women's basketball team, and a look ahead for both squads.
https://youtu.be/IDtVf1a7jyo
Follow along with The Nav's Mike Duddy as he speaks with VIU's Thrive and fellow student Lindon Lennox to find ways to reduce stress as a student during a difficult semester.
If you're in need of help, call VIU's Counselling Services at (250) 740-6416 to book an appointment. Visit www.here2talk.ca for 24-hour confidential messaging.
Kuu-us Aboriginal Crisis Line: 1-800-588-8717
Vancouver Island Crisis Line: 1-888-494-3888
Nanaimo's very own Andrew Butler of Antler stopped by the Nav office to play us a few tunes and chat about the Nanaimo music scene. Stay tuned for future episodes of The Navigator Sessions where we will be highlighting the very best musical acts that the mid-island scene has to offer!
0:00 - Intro
0:10 - What is Antler?
1:14 - "A Way Out" by Antler
5:53 - What's the deal with the Nanaimo Music Scene?
6:53 - "Be Quiet and Drive" by Deftones
9:24 - "Destroy Your Dreams" by Antler
13:39 - Outro / Where to find Antler
Check out Antler: https://linktr.ee/AntlerBand
I’ve always been fascinated by owls. Their eyes look like two annular solar eclipses, rings bursting with a golden flame, lighting their way through the night.
I have nothing but my cellphone to light my way through the thick dark forest at the end of Galloway Gulch Road, Nanaimo—just off Jingle Pot Road behind the VIU campus.
The sun has just set, and all I have with me is a notebook, a pen, and my camera. I’m looking for the Northern Saw-whet Owl.
My friend Kenzie, a Biology student at VIU, invited me to tag along on an owl banding trip, something I had never done ...
October is a rough month with midterms, assignments, and cool weather kicking in. Luckily for students, there’s a new event this year: Beats Beyond Borders, organized by Cultural Connections. And it’s all about electronic dance music (EDM)!
The Beats Beyond Borders Global Electronic Music Festival is a free-admission concert on Thursday, Oct 20 in the RBC Royal Bank Plaza on VIU's Nanaimo campus and is the second part to the Beats Beyond Borders event series.
The festival features four DJs of different cultural backgrounds: Njoki Njoki, a University of Fraser Valley student from ...
[A previous version of this article implied the VIU Students' Union does not offer resources to students who have experienced instances of sexual misconduct. The updated version (published October 27, 2022) provides clarity on the subject.]
When I was younger, I was afraid of the dark.
I was a timid kid, night light on and my bedroom door wide open.
I believed there were monsters hiding in the walls, the boogeyman under my bed, and the only escape: the comfort of my mother’s embrace.
But I’m not a kid anymore.
The monsters I thought hid in my room are now ...
Last April, my classmate invited me to the 2021/2022 Mariners’ Spirit Showcase by VIU’s Dance Team. Usually, I don’t attend dance events, but I wanted to show her my support.
What followed was an amazing evening of routines—solo and group, cheer and dance, jazz and contemporary—with emceeing by coaches Elissa Miranda and Payton Berrigan. At the end of the event, they handed out awards and certificates to the graduating students.
I’ll admit I didn’t know too much about the Dance Team before that night. I’d seen them perform at the Mariners’ games, but I hadn’t considered what being ...
