Above: Photo via amandapalmer.com
By News Editor Aislinn Cottell
VIU hosted the 11th Annual Urban Issues Film Festival on November 4, where a variety of films investigating urban development projects and philosophies were shown and discussed. The following are my personal opinions on each piece, beginning with my favourites and working down in that order. Most of the films can be found online and I encourage you to check out a few of them at home—especially the first two TED Talks.
#1 Want to Help Someone? Shut Up and Listen!
This first film was a TED Talk by Ernesto Sirolli, ...
By contributor Kelly Whiteside
The Vancouver Island Symphony (VIS) revealed their new mini-series, Symphony SoundBites, on Thursday, October 27. This series contains two shows (one of which was in October, the other in March) that give the audience a more intimate experience with only 11 core musicians present. Continuing with the theme of their symphony season, Lifting the Human Spirit, the first SoundBite performance was based on the French spirit. Featuring composers Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky, Claude Debussy, and VIS artistic director Pierre Simard, the performance focused on ...
By Sports and Lifestyle Editor Cole Schisler
The Mariners were in Montreal for the CCAA National Soccer Championship over the weekend, and ended the tournament winning the last of their three games.
In their opening match against the Idiennes d’Ahunstic, the Mariners kept the game tied at 0–0 throughout the first half. While both teams created scoring opportunities, the Idiennes found the net at the 82-minute-mark, to win the match 1–0 over the Mariners. Harroop Mali was named VIU’s player of the game.
Next, the Mariners played the North Alberta Institute of ...
By Arts Editor Brendan Barlow
On Tuesday, November 22, Vancouver Island University will host a book launch event for In Our Own Aboriginal Voice, an anthology of both Aboriginal writers and artists from all over British Columbia. This launch will not only feature copies of the book available for sale, but also readings from a number of the contributing authors including Michael Calvert, Maryann Dick, Kevin Henry, Darlene McIntosh, Natalia Auger Nybida, Ry-Lee Pearson, Spencer Sheehan-Kalina, Kirsten Sam, Kris Skinner, and Joe Starr.
Contributing author Spencer Sheehan-Kalina ...
Above: Photo via bandcamp.com
By Arts Editor Brendan Barlow
Released October 1, and handed to me in public outside The Vault Cafe on an actual cassette, Nowstalgic is the debut release from Nanaimo rappers Teenwolf and Static. It is an 11-song album produced right here at The Chamber studio right down by the CHLY headquarters. The album is presently available for whatever you can pay on teenwolfstatic.ca, and also found on a wonderfully nostalgic red cassette tape.
There’s plenty to like about Nowstalgic, not least of which is the pleasant lack of blatant and outward misogyny, ...
Vancouver Island University Student’s Union completes petition required for member referendum on issue of leaving the Canadian Federation of Students.
The Vancouver Island University Students’ Union (VIUSU) has been petitioning to leave the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) since the beginning of September. Representatives of the VIUSU said they are dissatisfied with the lack of accountability and mismanagement of resources by the CFS. Patrick Barbosa, VIUSU’s advocacy organizer, said a new group of students was elected to the CFS board three years ago, and the group has ...
By Sports and Lifestyle Editor Cole Schisler
On September 2014, the Island Crisis Care Society (ICCS) published a study on the state of homelessness in Nanaimo titled “Summary of Need for Emergency Shelter and Related Housing Services for Women in Nanaimo.”
According to the summary¸ “census reports done over a four-year period prior to 2009 found between 100 and 300 people without homes in the city.” Between 2006 and 2011, the population of Nanaimo increased six percent and, assuming a future growth rate of another six percent, this summary estimates 645 people will experience ...
Above: Location of Woodfibre LNG plant. Photo via Global News.
By Associate Editor Natalie Gates
A few weeks ago, a friend on Facebook posted a photo of the new Woodfibre LNG and FortisBC Community Office in downtown Squamish, with the caption: “Whoever guessed an #LNG office that facilitates the exportation of fracked gas and global warming could be so ‘community’ oriented?”
I gave it a “Like”.
The buzz around the new liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Howe Sound has been a divisive issue in my little hometown. A group called My Sea to Sky has collected nearly 9000 ...
Above: Keith Penner scaling a rock wall. By Cole Schisler.
By Sports and Lifestyle Editor Cole Schisler
Every Tuesday night at 6 pm, Campus Rec runs a shuttle service from the VIU gym to the Romper Room Indoor Rock Climbing Centre for $7.35.
VIU Campus Rec provides all the necessary equipment, including harnesses and climbing shoes. They also cover the cost of admission and transport students to and from the climbing gym. Regularly, admission to the climbing gym would cost around $22.
Keith Penner, a second-year VIU business student, is an avid climber and a regular on the ...
Above: Photo via iStockphoto.com
Send your questions, concerns, and curiosities about sex to Diana via column@thenav.ca. Your questions stay anonymous and confidential!
By columnist Diana Pearson
I pick up a blue, ridged Fun Factory vibrator from the suspended display platform. I look at my partner, feel my face flush with a rosy glow, and press the button.
“Oh my god!” I exclaim. “It’s self-thrusting!”
We laugh as the vibrator takes on a life of its own in the palm of my hand. It makes me tingle. And him, too.
We continue browsing along the wall, leisurely perusing ...
Above: Photo via iStockphoto.com
By News Editor Aislinn Cottell
What
Cineplex Entertainment has announced that all seats at Galaxy Cinemas are to be replaced with automatic recliners, which will be phased in over the next several months. The movie theatre will remain open to the public throughout the renovations.
Where
All eight auditoriums of the Galaxy Cinema located in the Nanaimo North Town Centre mall.
Why you should care
According to Cineplex, “the high-back, extra-wide seats recline at the touch of a button for maximum comfort, and have proved to be very ...
Above: Mariners Guard Chanece Curtis leads the play. By Cole Schisler.
By Sports and Lifestyle Editor Cole Schisler
On Friday November 4, the VIU Mariners took on the Douglas Royals in a close contest.
Both teams came out strong defensively. The Royals relied on a few key players to make their shots, while the Mariners were varied in their shooting. The Mariners’ Emily Clarke came out with some impressive shots early on, and landed some big three pointers. The Royals led 18–15 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Royals created many turnovers, and used ...
Contributor Gordan Hak
Hogan’s Alley was a neighbourhood in downtown Vancouver. It was home to many immigrant communities, but it is best remembered for the African-Canadian population that had established itself by 1923. In its heyday Hogan’s Alley was a focal point for black culture, known for its restaurants and home to the African Methodist Episcopal Fountain Chapel.
Perhaps its most famous resident was Nora Hendrix, the grandmother of the musician Jimi Hendrix. Then in 1967, in line with the urban renewal and “slum clearance” thinking of the time, the City of Vancouver began ...
By Sports and Lifestyle Editor Cole Schisler
The Mariners traveled to Columbia Bible College on November 4 for back-to-back games against the CBC Bearcats.
In Friday’s matchup, the Women won in three straight sets. They took the first set 25–16, the second 25–23, and the third 25–23. Mariners’ right side Power Forward Mikayla Wagner tallied up seven digs, six kills, one block and a service ace. On Saturday, the Mariners won in three straight sets again, scoring 25–16 in the first, 25–13 in the second, and 25–16 in the third.
Following their back to back victories over the ...
Above: Photo via economist.com
By contributor Dallas Bezaire
Our Earth is said to be 4.5 billion years old. Its age has been calculated in a number of ways, one being through the use of stratigraphic layers—layers of sediment left by millions of years’ worth of silt and soil.
The largest divisions are called eras, the current one being the Cenozoic Era which started with the extinction of the dinosaurs by a large meteor. Eras are further divided into periods; the current is the Quaternary which is marked by the frequent glaciation periods triggered in part by the fusing of North ...
By contributor Ahron Balatti
“You’re an asshole, Ahron.”
I just smirked.
“You think you know everything. You’re honestly just a huge jack-ass.”
I laughed as I walked out of my friend Molly’s house. So what my trash GPA was keeping me out of university? So what I could only get a job delivering pizzas? I was 17—I knew everything.
I had this terrible 96 Honda Civic which barely drove and I was pushing everything it had down Baylis Road in Qualicum. I drove passed a guy with his thumb outstretched, his shoulders slumped. Clearly, he must’ve also been having a bad ...
By columnist Diana Pearson
Send your questions, concerns, and curiosities about sex to Diana via column@thenav.ca. Your questions stay anonymous and confidential!
STIs are one of the big risks of engaging in sexual activity, so learning about STIs is essential for safer sex practices. So before you get down n’ dirty, let this Q&A be a conversation-starter between you and your current, and future, partners.
Please note: this is a short overview of STIs. For up-to-date, thorough medical information about STIs, seek information from Island Sexual Health, HealthLinkBC, a ...
Above: Sign for the Salvation Army on a building in downtown Portland. Photo via iStockphoto.
By Sports and Lifestyle Editor Cole Schisler
Across BC, rates of homelessness are rising. For some, the issue can be attributed to the lack of affordable housing. For others, it could be loss of a job, addiction, mental illness, or just one bad decision that spirals out of control.
In Nanaimo, The Homeless Hub estimates that there are 174 people experiencing absolute homelessness, 115 people living on the streets, anywhere from 137 to 567 people living in hidden homelessness, and per ...
Above: Toronto, Canada - June 27, 2016: Justin Trudeau meets Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto at Casa Loma for dinner. Photo via iStockphoto.
By contributor Dallas Bezaire
Government accountability. If you watch House of Cards or keep up with the news, it sounds like an unending task somewhat akin to banging your head against the wall. But fear not my fellow students and citizens, there is hope.
At its heart, government accountability is making sure your government is doing what it should do. This means your government is fulfilling its basic duties set out by our ...
Above: Opera. Photo via barleydoeshorror
By Arts Editor Brendan Barlow
Halloween has now come and gone, and we’re into November now, which I suppose means that it’s basically Christmas. Every October I review one horror film per day that I have never seen before. I promised to complete my set of 31 reviews, so here they are. You can find complete reviews of all 31films, and previous years’ reviews, at barleydoeshorror.wordpress.com.
October 16: The Gate (1987)
This fun and goofy little movie is chock-full of everything we’ve come to love about the ’80s: stop motion ...
Above: VIU students in the Foundations welding program show off their skills with the plasma cutter. Photo by Aislinn Cottell.
By News Editor Aislinn Cottell
Although our culture has come a long way from the strictly prohibitive gender roles of the past, many careers which show a large imbalance in their workforce when it comes to their female demographic. The trades—an umbrella term for jobs such as carpentry, heavy mechanics, welding, electrical, and automotive work—is an industry that, whether or not intentional, is often coded as “men’s work.”
Last month, VIU took a step ...
By Associate Editor Natalie Gates
VIU’s Model United Nations (MUN) club took home six awards at the University of Victoria MUN Conference October 21–23.
The conference was attended by colleges and private high schools in the area. Twenty nine VIU MUN students attended—the club’s largest traveling delegation yet.
“This conference differed from others because I could see the growth in students,” said VIU MUN President Shantel Beute. “This growth is just how I imagined it when I took leadership in 2013. The fact that we left with six awards just showed that our preparations were ...
By Sports and Lifestyle Editor Cole Schisler
As the Mariners soccer teams wrap up their season and head into provincials, PACWEST has released a list of divisional all stars, as well as player of the year, coach of the year, and their final soccer player of the week.
Six Mariners were named PACWEST All-Stars. From the Men’s team was Victor Blasco with four goals, Mateo Kostering, and Shun Takano with four goals. From the Women’s team was Chloe Gummer with six goals, Rachel Jones with four goals, and Carli Rey with two goals.
Mariners Midfielder Shun Takano was named the ...
Above: Apple iPhone 6s screen with various social media applications. Photo via iStockphoto.
By contributor Krista Meckelborg
I don't know about you, but Snapchat has revolutionized the way I share my life on social media. Before Snapchat existed, how often did you post a stream of drunken selfies after a night out that likely wouldn't have otherwise been seen by another set of eyes?
One of the biggest and best new ways marketers are attracting younger generations is through ephemeral marketing. Ephemeral means “lasting a very short time; short-lived; transitory.” Thus, ...
