Who is bulk.email@stfx.ca?

Stop the spam

Anyone attached to StFX in any way has probably, at one point or another, complained to someone about how awful their StFX email is. Besides the important notices and emails from friends, peers, colleagues, students, professors, and administrators, we all get flooded with completely unnecessary emails about all sorts of things. It is email without a specific audience, completely unsolicited, and sent throughout the entire school. It’s spam and it’s coming from the University itself.

Why is StFX spamming our inboxes multiple times a day about events and items that rarely, if ever, concern us? 

The amount of spam from StFX led me to turn off notifications for my inbox. My peers in the education program and some of my professors have all voiced similar complaints about the amount of emails filling our inboxes. I’m very happy for the people who have worked hard and are now entering the thesis-defense phase of their education, congratulations to them, but an email sent in bulk devalues their efforts by, essentially, spamming the university at large. Sending notice of the defense to select groups associated with the work or the program would be a much more appropriate way of raising awareness.

But is what StFX sends its users actually spam? Unlike other emails that occasionally fill my personal inbox, StFX’s emails contain no “unsubscribe button,” nowhere in the message is the opportunity for the recipient to turn off the emails. There is no way, as I discovered, to email the sender and ask them directly to stop. If you try to reply to “St. Francis Xavier University,” you realize two things very quickly. First, you’re not actually emailing StFX, you’re emailing bulk.email@stfx.ca. Second, you’ll receive an instant reply telling you that bulk.email@stfx.ca is an unattended inbox; meaning no one uses it. A lot like a spam email.

What’s one to do? I emailed StFX IT services and asked them about it. They replied that they had no idea who actually runs bulk.email@stfx.ca and that the only way to stop the emails from ending up in my inbox was to create a “Rule” that automatically redirected the emails to my junk folder, which I promptly did. Now, instead of filling up my inbox all with emails from StFX (or more accurately, bulk.email@stfx.ca) they all go right into my trash. It’s simple and relatively easy.

I also emailed communications about this. I received a reply from Cindy Mackenzie, Manager of Media Relations. Cindy told me she, too, has no idea who runs bulk.email@stfx.ca and that I should contact IT. A dead end.

So, who runs bulk.email@stfx.ca? It remains a bit of a mystery. If you or someone you know has the answer, please let us know. Send us a tip, we’ll even keep you anonymous. Thanks in advance.

For everyone else who shares my frustration at being spammed by our very own University and wants the emails to stop, it’s relatively easy. Right click the offending email in your inbox and, from the dropdown menu, select “Create Rule,” and send that sucker to your Deleted Items folder where you’ll no longer get notifications or even see the offender.

Anyone connected to the notorious spammer, bulk.email@stfx.ca, please, reconsider how bulk emails are handled. Surely, there’s a better way than sending out untargeted, mass emails daily. Make a few lists, use Excel (I’ll even help you out!) and separate emails by the programs they’re attached to. An email about the science department? Maybe don’t send it to the English students. A lecture about Medieval Theology? Just direct it to the theology students. Or better yet, maybe have a calendar on the website about up-and-coming events that people can choose to view instead of flooding their inboxes. Just a thought.

How Do I Get Your Vote?

What it takes to get your participation

With the recent Students’ Union election, the school had a voter turn-out of approximately 1554 students, just under a quarter of the student body. As someone who works with several organizations, this low level of participation and engagement is familiar. There is a decline in student engagement, but what is causing it? 

In the case of the Students’ Union election, a good chunk could be attributed to a lack of knowledge. I didn’t know when the election was, let alone who was running until one of the candidates came to speak to my department. 

The current Students’ Union has not been very engaged with the student body in my opinion, and this became evident with the election. We here at The Xaverian Weekly didn’t know we were hosting the presidential debate until a post on social media the day before. There was clearly a lack of communication and it becomes visible there are many different factors that influence the level of student engagement.

Say I was armed with the knowledge of my candidates, the dates and locations of big events, and was even offered alternative solutions to encourage my participation, would the result of my participation change? The answer is probably no (don’t worry, I vote). 

When Stephen Harper was up for election in 2015, the voter turn-out increased across the country to 68.49%, the highest it had been since 1993; however, when Donald Trump ran for president, the United States saw a decrease in their voter turn-out at 58.1%. With knowledge readily available and the resources and means to partake, there is no reason not to get involved, especially when it comes to something that will impact your household and your life.

Returning to campus, engagement is something that I struggle to attain from my target audiences with surveys for events that I create. Surveys are a great tool to garner the interests and opinions, but sometimes people respond with what they think the surveyor wants to know rather than honest opinions. 

I’ve attended several events over the past two years hosted by different organizations and have seen engagement and participation increase in the Antigonish community rather than the campus specific community. The biggest turn-outs are typically those with a live music element or a drinking aspect. 

It could be coincidence that important events line up on specific days when people have plans, but that demonstrates market competition. The hierarchy of events means that hosts must strategically develop their events to best target their audience. Is the time practical and will people be off work, and have the energy? Is what I’m offering interesting, and if not, how can I make it so? Who is the target audience? What is appealing to them? Question upon question all with the intent of getting people to venture out to participate in an hour-long activity, or submitting an online questionnaire, or to vote the leader of their country. Gone are the days when face-to-face interaction was all it took to entice people into getting involved, but so is the time when people did in-person canvassing. 

This expands just beyond the professional realm as well, I am constantly hounded by my peers to organize social events, and as a planner, I am deterred from it. To give you an example why, I have short story; I am a former immersion student, and my peers asked me repeatedly to host a reunion. They were given a date, events were decided by the group and everything was set. Three times in a row, the events had no one show up, but time after time people would turn to me and ask me to host another. This is an insult to me as an organizer because I have put my time and effort into this project, and it has gone to waste. I achieved success on my very last time by telling people I was headed to a restaurant and told them they could join me if they wished. Zero preparation gave my event the boost it needed, and this is a trend I’ve come to notice. If you plan an event ahead of time, people might be less inclined to attend; commitment has become an enemy.

Trends change, and with it interests and desires. The  requirements to host a fruitful event seem to be ever shifting and hard to predict. I reach out to you, our readers, how do you find success with your events or products? 

I am not a business student and marketing is not my strong suit; I can identify strengths and weaknesses but am at a loss for the best way of finding a consistently successful strategy. The older I get, the happier I am to attend events and put myself out there, but my  personal experience may be different than others. 

Wormholes and UFOs

Freedom of Information request exposes CIA projects

A recently released Freedom of Information (FOI) request has unearthed a number of interesting research projects undertaken by the CIA as part of a program known as Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). Though no stranger to bizarre and unusual projects, the CIA and other branches of the American government have investigated phenomena more likely to be a plot twist from the Twilight Zone than any legitimate cosmic origin.

The documents released include projects in unknown states of research and funding. Some of the projects are more typical of military research with titles like, “Field Effects on Biological Tissues,” and some more cryptic like, “Space Access.”, What has captured imaginations, however, are the projects titled “Traversable Wormholes, Stargates, and Negative Energy,” and “Warp Drive, Dark Energy, and the Manipulation of Extra Dimensions,” among others with equally science fiction like concepts and titles. Though they may sound like technobabble in the style of Star Trek engineer Jeordie LaForge, each of these projects is attached to a legitimate author, representing either a company or a university. Some of these authors have a history of publishing work in reputable science journals, such as Nature. Interestingly, the author of the research about warp drives was cited by Gizmodo in 2009 about his “scientifically accurate” design for a ship with a warp drive. Whether these projects ever produce viable science is unknown and unlikely to be released any time soon, if ever.

In 2017, the Washington Post and the New York Times reported on a $22 million-dollar project buried inside the $600 billion-dollar Defense Department budget. The $22 million-dollar figure was the budget for AATIP, which has been cataloguing and collecting unusual incidents involving unidentified objects encountered by fighter pilots. Videos of the encounters were released and made their way across the internet and lit up paranormal and conspiracy forums and social media sites alike. 

While little else was revealed at that time, it follows on previous paranormal work by the CIA and other branches of the American government. In the 1950s a similar program, called Blue Book, recorded and tracked phenomena that fighter pilots encountered. Although the vast majority of it was explained by unusual, but natural, cloud and weather patterns, more than 700 remained unexplained at the time of the program’s closure. The CIA also investigated the potential psychic powers of people, training men to kill goats with just their thoughts.

Although these projects have been widely derided both before and after becoming public, there were very real concerns throughout the Cold War that American and Soviet agencies were falling behind one another and losing an imagined arms race in unlikely scientific domains. Each super power leaked information in hopes that the other would waste time and resources on either useless data or technological dead ends. 

Perhaps, most famously, American agencies spent time researching psionic and psychic powers and abilities after hearing that Soviet scientists had been successful in harnessing psychic abilities in test subjects. American researchers attempted to have their own subjects succeed in clairvoyance and other paranormal and parapsychological activities. By 1995, after 20 years of study, the project was closed with the conclusion that the study had “dubious value,” and that the test subjects who reported some ability in remote viewing had “substantially more background information than might otherwise be apparent,” a stunning rebuke to a such a long running study.

Soviet scientists were also the target of rumour and false data. American scientists, having exhausted research into a potential nerve agent, and hoping to encourage Soviet researchers into wasting time and resources, purposefully leaked 4000 documents on, what the American scientists believed, was non-weaponizable chemical agents as part of Operation Shocker. The documents led the Soviets to expand their research and may have led to the production of notorious nerve agent, Novichok, which was used on and led to the death of former Russian GRU officer Sergei Skripal, Charlie Rowley, and Dawn Sturgess in March and June 2018.

Stella Bowles Interview

Recipient of Meritorious Service Medal from the Governor General of Canada visits campus

Stella Bowles was interviewed by Yanik Gallie in The Xaverian Weekly newsroom on February 5, 2019. Bowles was on campus hosting an address to Bachelor of Education students with a focus in Business. Bowles was invited to speak of her entrepreneurial skills and how to support non-traditional student learning. My River: Cleaning up the LaHave River is a book by Bowles written with Anne Laurel Carter available for purchase at Chapters, Amazon, and local bookshops across Canada.

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YG: How did you meet Carter?

SB: She presented herself as an author wanting to write a book about my work. She came over for a cup of tea, we had tea and talked. We decided it would be a good idea to write the first couple chapters and see if a publisher picks up the book. Formac Publishing Company Limited picked up the book, so she wrote the rest. 

YG: Describe a typical workshop for the book with Carter. 

SB: Anne wrote the book from my perspective. There was a lot of sending notes back and forth to change things. Because she lives in Toronto, we had to FaceTime to talk. Sometimes it would be talking about my day because she needed to become me to write the book. She was in Hawaii once when we were FaceTiming. She was asking about how I would structure my sentences. When I proofread the drafts, I recognized things I said. There’s a lot of proofreading involved. Even if you read a page, you have to go back and read it again. Sending emails is a big part of the work too. She captured my voice. 

YG: What’s your advice to  students? 

SB: You can make a difference no matter your age. Your age shouldn’t define what you can and cannot do. If you talk to your parents or a mentor, you can get somebody to help you. You can accomplish just about anything. 

YG: What’s your advice to teachers?

SB: I think classrooms need more hands-on learning. I don’t like traditional school. It’s boring. If you do an activity or workshop, students retain more information than they would if they were reading from a textbook. Science is fun; I learned that with my project. 

YG: How can teachers better support students?

SB: Care. Any kind of acknowledgement is nice. They don’t have to throw a party but saying something positive with constructive advice is important to students. Don’t shut down questions if students are interested in an unfamiliar topic either. Guide students and help them find a resource, teacher or mentor to engage with their interest.

YG: Can you share the story about your sign?

SB: I’m a little stubborn (chuckles). My sign was up to show that the river was contaminated with fecal bacteria and the municipality called me asking to take the sign down. I said, “No.” They called again and asked, “When are you going to take it down?” I said, “As soon as the program starts and the first hole is done for a septic system, I’ll take it down.” They called me again later and invited me to the digging ceremony for the septic system where we took some pictures then I took my sign down. 

YG: You recently announced a partnership with Bluenose Coastal Action Foundation. How did it happen?

SB: It happened through the prize money I was winning from different organizations. We decided to have a partnership and create kits that provide students with equipment for them to test their own  waterways.

This partnership is showing that kids can make a difference and science can be fun. The kits are about $600 each, and that provides equipment to test for about a year. I have a few groups in Nova Scotia and three groups in Sweden who are using the kits. 

YG: What is your message to communities in Canada that have straight pipes dumping into waterways?

SB: Straight pipes are 100% illegal in Canada. They are not grandfathered in by law and that should be enforced. I don’t see how it’s right to be putting sewage and toilet paper down the toilet directly into our waterways. When I was getting a sample, we found needles along the shore. Anything being flushed ends up in our waterways. If someone steps on a needle, it’s dangerous.

YG: Mayor Rachel Bailey of Lunenburg questioned the validity of your Lunenburg water results.

SB: I was curious. I wanted to know what Lunenburg’s contamination level was and it was bad. I posted the results and the mayor was not happy. She questioned the validity of my results. I went to Acadia university and we did tests with variables to validate my experiment. Half of my samples are tested by me and half are tested by an accredited laboratory. The results turned out to be accurate. 

YG: How do you modify your presentation for a specific audience?

SB: I present to people in primary and secondary classes, university, and nursing homes. It’s interesting because I’m always presenting in a different way and adapting my speech. If I talk to little kids, I’ll say, “There’s poop in the river.” They’ll react by trying to fix the problem. When people get older, it’s all about tax money going towards fixing the problem and funding. It’s fascinating how people’s perspectives change as they get older. 

YG: How did you get in touch with researchers in Sweden?

SB: Jennie Larsson came to work with Coastal Action for a month over the summer. We got in contact with her and we went to one of her conferences in Halifax. She said it would be great to have a partnership with us. 

I went to Sweden this  December right after the Walk of Fame. It was a cool experience being in the classrooms in Sweden. All the kids get fed healthy meals at the schools. They were eating cream fish and food that nobody would ever go near at my school. 

YG: Considering how Sweden is running their education system, how can we improve our system?

SB: Technology in the classroom is not going away. It   bothers me when teachers lock      everything down on a Chromebook. Have a little more trust in students. We need to have a conversation in the classroom about how to properly respect the internet and use the technology. 

YG: What’s your takeaway from being the first recipient of Canada’s Walk of Fame          Community Hero Award?

SB: I think it’s a good opportunity to spread my message    further. It really gets the message out that our waters aren’t clean, and we need to step up our game on that situation. It’s great to be winning, but I’m not doing it for the awards. 

YG: During your acceptance speech you mention Dr. David Maxwell is a mentor. How is he an exemplary teacher?

SB: He provided me with testing equipment. I was able to publish my results. Being an 11-year-old kid testing water and saying it’s dirty, a lot of people would question what I was talking about. Dr. Maxwell helped to validate my work. 

He likes to ask me a lot of questions and makes me think critically. He still goes back to things I didn’t know when I was 11 and asks me to explain it to him now. 

YG: What was a most memorable moment from Canada’s Walk of Fame?

SB: They cut out the best part of Canada’s Walk of Fame from airtime. I didn’t know who Kurt Browning was and I was told to walk fast to my seat because I had gone to the bathroom during a commercial break when Kurt said, “Are you Stella Bowles?” I said, “Yep.” I kept walking to my seat. He got on stage and made a joke that I am the most intimidating person he ever met and that I could get any politician’s money (chuckles). 

Also, because my award was associated with the Toronto Maple Leafs, they gave me a jersey signed by the whole team with my name embroidered on the back. In a few weeks, they’re flying the family to see a Toronto Maple Leafs game which I’m excited to attend. 

Dr. Leslie Jane McMillan Interview

Book Launch: Truth and Conviction: Donald Marshall Jr. and the Mi’kmaw Quest for Justice

Dr. Leslie Jane McMillan was interviewed by Yanik Gallie in her office on January 28, 2019. McMillan’s book launch on February 1 at the Antigonish public library brought together a roomful of people beyond seating capacity. The book sold out before guest speakers Laurel J. Halfpenny-MacQuarrie and Kerry Prosper introduced McMillan. Truth and Conviction: Donald Marshall Jr. and the Mi’kmaw Quest for Justice is available for purchase at Chapters, Amazon, and local bookshops across Canada.

***

YG: Looking back at the wrongful conviction and fishing cases, how does it feel to continue fighting for social justice?

JM: September 17, 1999 is the 20th anniversary of the Marshall decision. This year also marks the completion of the commission on Donald Marshall Junior prosecution for the time he spent in jail for a murder he did not commit. It’s the 30th anniversary of that report which technically was released on January 26, 1990 but the commission concluded its work in 1989. Having been involved in that work for a long time, my passion is constantly fueled and restocked by the outrages that continue to happen in terms of justice and equality with examples of systemic racism and discrimination. There’s no shortage, unfortunately, of situations that point to the need for systemic change. Hopefully the work we do now in collaboration with community is picking up some momentum. It’s starting to drive not just surface changes, but substantive changes in the way relationships recognize and honour Indigenous treaty rights, human rights and Mi’kmaw vision for governance over all things that affect their lives. It’s taken a long time to address systemic racism and discrimination because they require systemic change. There are increasingly more and more people getting involved in positions of power who are recognizing what happens when they exclude Mi’kmaq people from decision making that impacts their lives. 

YG: What are your favorite memories with Donald Marshall Junior?

JM: We had a lot of very happy times when we lived up in Cape Breton in Aberdeen at a place we called Junior’s farm. I think some of the happiest moments were when his brothers, sisters, mother, the extended family, the kids and their kids would all come over to the farmhouse. We’d have a big bonfire with lots of food. The day he woke up from his transplant was also one of the happiest days. When he recognized he had survived that ordeal, it was a special moment. Most of the time, happy moments were sitting around up in Aberdeen playing cribbage at the kitchen table with the windows wide open, smelling the cedar, and being out in the country.

YG: How is the title and cover artwork significant to you?

JM: It took a long time to get to that title. It certainly wasn’t the original title. It’s commonplace that the press has an idea, the author has an idea, and sometimes it takes a while to negotiate something that everybody’s comfortable publishing. The book was originally called Unsettling Justice and then colon with another caption. 

Truth and Conviction are powerful terms. As an anthropologist, I think there are multiple truths. I also think there are many forms of conviction. Whether it’s conviction to make change or conviction in the sense of the justice system, we constantly construct these ideas of truth and conviction. It’s a metaphor for many paths that are in the book. 

It’s the legacy of Donald Marshall Junior that I’m pointing to in terms of narrating these very important points like what are the truths for Mi’kmaq people? What is the history and the consequences of colonization of their legal principles? What are their convictions about the restoration and revitalization of those legal principles today? That’s very much part of Donald Marshall Junior’s legacy outlined in the quest for justice.

The artwork is one of my favorite pictures. I thought we would go with more abstract art or an artist’s rendition, but they wanted to use this photo. It’s a beautiful photo of him fly fishing and he looks extremely peaceful. Fly fishing was one of his favorite things to do. 

YG: Having been a defendant for Marshall’s decision on Indigenous fishing rights, can you describe the atmosphere during the proceeding?

JM: There was a lot of tension. The court was first heard at the provincial level here in Antigonish because the charges were near Paq’tnkek at Pomquet Harbour. There was a lot of media attention to the case because it was Donald Marshall Junior. It’s interesting whenever you’re dealing with somebody who’s in the public gaze, you deal with a lot of unwanted attention. You’ve got strangers approaching you about strange things too. There’s a certain vulnerability of being in the public gaze that made me very uneasy and made Donald even more uneasy. 

He wanted to avoid that after the wrongful conviction when it was just non-stop. All he wanted to do was exercise his treaty rights in a calm and peaceful way, a right that he knew he had. Generationally, these rights were known by the Mi’kmaq to be active and alive. The gaze of the public, again, caused a lot of stress and tension. His health declined more rapidly than I think it would have otherwise hadn’t he experienced that.Then, we lost at the court here. The late judge John D. Embree did everything he could to give the fairest judgement and open it up for further investigation which we are always grateful that we were given leave to appeal. It was hard work. 

YG: Kerry Prosper was talking with me earlier today about the preparation for court and the collaborative effort of the team.

JM: There was a huge team of researchers. A lot of new Mi’kmaq lawyers who had just graduated from the Indigenous Blacks and Mi’kmaq law program that had started at Dalhousie University as a result of the commission of inquiry into the wrongful conviction helped with the case. It was a beautiful synergy that was happening. Many of these Mi’kmaq lawyers at that time are now in leadership positions like chief P.J. Prosper, Doug Brown who is president of Union of Nova Scotia Indians, and Jimbo Michael. A lot of strong Mi’kmaq women lawyers were also part of the research team. 

There was an awful lot of preparation. I have seven or eight volumes of historical archival work. William Wicken who was one of the historical experts for the Mi’kmaq worked tirelessly. This was a very important treaty test case because it was testing 1760-1761 treaties which were different than the 1752 treaty. This had the addition of commerciality and the livelihood trade part that was critical to the nation. Bruce Wildsmith and Eric Zscheile led the legal team with exemplary care.

YG: You were with Donald Marshall Junior in Pomquet Harbour fishing. Can you describe the environment the day DFO met you on the water?

JM: A beautiful sunny day. It was one of those days when you’re happy to be on the water. A slight breeze, I remember the water sparkling. Donald’s back was really sore, so I was driving the boat most of the day and I was hauling the nets. In Pomquet, the eels are big. The eels were slapping around the boat. 

We were in a good mood, then we see a boat coming. Normally it’s quiet down there. Sometimes there would be a fisherman or two around, but it was quiet that day. The DFO came over in their boat and asked to see what was in our boat. I thought they were looking for by-catch like if you’re fishing salmon when it’s out of season. They asked to see our license and JR said, “I don’t need a license.” The officer said, “Everybody needs a license.” JR said, “I’ve got a treaty right.” I didn’t have a license either. None of the people we fished eel with had them or talked about them. Mi’kmaq didn’t need licenses is how we understood the land to be. 

The officers were very polite. They wanted our names and address. We were reluctant to engage with the officers. Donald’s not that comfortable around people in uniform, and rightly so. They asked to take one of our nets for evidence. We asked them to take an empty net, which they did. We wanted it back, but we didn’t ever get it back. Then, they drove away and hit a sand bar. We laughed because we thought, they don’t even know the water. What are they doing down here?  We had no idea what was going on. When we called asking to get the net back, things started to progress from there. Things got quite political quickly. It was a nice sunny day and we were quite bewildered. 

YG: What are your thoughts on the implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action?

JM: There are 94 Calls to Action. Two of the most critical ones from my perspective are numbers 42 and 50 which talk about building Indigenous justice systems and institutes to learn about Indigenous legal principles and put them into practice. We are a long way from those Calls to Action. I think they offer such an exciting opportunity to engage, develop, and apply Indigenous legal principles. 

Other Calls to Action talk about the reduction of incarceration of Indigenous people. There are lots of opportunities to build programs and facilities for wellness and healing that are really grounded in Indigenous cultures and teachings. If the government follows through on their commitment to implement all Calls to Action, there can be some beautiful programs and opportunities to help break cycles of intergenerational trauma, recidivism, and young people going to jail because there aren’t opportunities for education, employment or getting grounded in cultural teachings. 

I’m optimistic. There’s lots of mobilization around Indigenous intelligence. There’s lots of scholars, legal scholars, but there must be more collaboration with the legal justice system and the courts, with society in general. What does a pluralistic justice system look like? Community building and fostering community to legitimize their own justice systems and programming in ways that are meaningful. It takes a long time to unpack the horrors of colonization and rejuvenate pride and belief in the principles of ways of being. 

YG: Land-based education is important in schools.

JM: We just came from a three-day conference on land-based education as the conduit to healing dispute and dispute management as well. People get disconnected when they make a dispute within a community. They break a relationship not only with the individual they’ve harmed but with the families and networks of families that create a community. How do you fix that? Sending them to jail isn’t the answer. The answer is reintegration back into the fold of what it means to be a whole new person. By creating opportunities, we help an individual who’s in crisis to address their prideness demon, addiction, or cycles of abuse that they need help to facilitate. Giving the space, having the communities create spaces, and having them supported consistently not with programs or pilot projects but with real systemic resources to make change. It’s generative, but we are a long way from seeing substantial results. We’ve been talking for a long time. More people talk now but I want to see more action. 

YG: What is your philosophy as an anthropologist?

JM: Anthropology as a discipline is well-positioned in terms of community engagement. In terms of working with Indigenous communities and as a professor of Anthropology, I try to leverage my position of privilege and power to advocate for changes the community tells me they want. 

I’m very fortunate. I was up in community today and I was up in community for the last three days of last week with the Marshall family and a gathering of elders. They are so generous in the knowledge they share. The experiences that I have are rich. 

A lot of times, it’s really painful and difficult work. You’re working with people’s pain and suffering trying to find solutions so that it doesn’t continue, so that we don’t perpetuate colonial relationships, and so that we don’t allow laws or policies that infringe on people’s wellbeing. 

We fight for equity and my job is a great one in that I get to meet people from around the world who are so wise and resilient. It keeps reaffirming that cultural attributes are phenomenal, and they tell us a lot about humanity. 

Sakura Saunders Interview

Beehive Design Collective and the Youth Activism Conference workshop series

Sakura Saunders in an environmental justice and indigenous solidarity activist living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She’s been organizing in Canada for close to thirteen years, and is currently a member of the Beehive Design Collective, an arts and activist organization that creates intricate and metaphor rich murals to act as centrepieces in educational campaigns around social justice issues. Previously, Sakura also worked as a media activist in the United States. 

On Sunday, February 3, Sakura visited the StFX campus to facilitate the first of the Youth Activism Conference workshop series. The workshop centred around creativity and art in activism, and story-based strategies for organizing. 

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AS: What role do you see art and story occupying in activist and protest work? 

SS: I think that story is fundamental to creating narrative. We need to create narrative that represents not only the reality that we live but the reality that we want to see, and we need to challenge dominant narratives and myths around the inevitability of the status quo, especially considering that right now, the status quo is driving us towards climate chaos and an extreme concentration of wealth in the hands of very few people. We need to be challenging that system of economics and getting back to the basics, saying “we actually need to rebuild our economy in a way that prioritizes both people and the land that sustains us,” and this is actually going to be better at meeting the needs of most people. We have a convincing narrative because it’s not very hard to prove what our current state of capitalism has done in terms of environmental devastation and wealth inequality, and the fact that people feel so powerless. So many people don’t even feel comfortable speaking out in their workplaces about injustices that they face because workers in our current economy are disempowered and afraid of losing jobs. We really need to assert that our economy doesn’t necessarily need to be this way, that our society doesn’t need to be this way, and that, supposedly, we live in a democracy and are able to choose a different path. As for campaigns for a higher minimum wage, they’re not extraordinarily ambitious, but they are illustrative in the gains we can make that are good for people and are beneficial to the overall economy. I think that there are lots of instances where if we assert the necessity of taking care of each other and the planet, that is actually going to be better for our society, and not cost society as the dominant narrative would suggest. 

AS: What about art makes it so conducive to social change?

SS: When I think specifically of the Beehive Collective art, it’s really beautiful, detailed illustrations of animals, and plants, and machines, and the quality of the artwork makes even people who don’t share our political values curious. They want to understand what’s happening in the images, and they become curious and disarmed by it. When you tell someone a story, you’re not telling them what to believe. You’re telling them a history, and then if they listen, the lessons are embedded in that. It’s a softer way to approach people that allows them to make those connections on their own, but at the same time, we created that art with the intention of changing hearts and minds, enabling people to see a different way of being, and to understand the trajectory that they’ve been on through examining histories and seeing how the system has perpetually undermined people and taken away their power, and as a result have made it so that decisions are being made far away from where those decisions are having impact. We’re just getting worse and worse off as a society. We’re getting more poor, and we’re having less control over our lives

AS: What makes a good story?

SS: I ran a training today based on how to construct effective narratives. This is based on a methodology I learned from what is now the Centre for Story Based Strategy, and a smart story, a good, effective narrative, is one that reframes an issue, that opens fissures in the dominant narrative, takes those contradictions in the popular narratives that we’re fed and opens those wide up to expose their absurdity. It has as primary characters the agents of change, who are the people that are most impacted by the negative aspects of the status quo or the dominant narratives. It creates new characters, new heroes, and it foreshadows the outcome that we want to achieve while building a frame that has all sorts of necessary underlying assumptions that reflect a value system we think is fundamental to the new world we want to bring. And that is, fundamentally, a value system of care. If we prioritize taking care of each other, and taking care of the environment, I think you’ll find that people will be plenty busy, people will have more agency, and people will be happier - it will be a happier society overall, we’ll have less social issues.

AS: Can you tell me about a specific moment when you witnessed art playing an import role or impacting a movement you were involved in?

SS: I don’t know if I’d call it art, as much as culture. I’m so inspired by the Indigenous resistance and resurgence taking place in Canada that is so based in traditions, and the reclamation of language, and implicit in language and traditions is a centering of future generations and the land. I think that’s very powerful, and I think it simultaneously reinforces indigenous sovereignty, which is something that’s glossed over a lot, even though the vast majority of the population in Canada lives within 100 miles of the US border, and somehow people feel very entitled to this entire country. I think that what is happening right now with the conflict in Wet’suwet’en Yintah, that’s created conflict across the entire Canadian landscape. In learning about the hereditary system, and how it isn’t like kings (that’s a very western way of looking at it), but it’s more like a system where people have roles and responsibilities, and you’re raised with certain responsibilities, and if you don’t live up to those responsibilities there are checks and balances to remove your title and remove your names, but that fundamentally embodied in that role is not some shallow notion of democracy or popularity, but actually this responsibility to future generations. 

AS: For those among us who don’t identify as artists or storytellers, do you have any advice on how to incorporate creativity into activist work?

SS: Creative activism isn’t necessarily about 2-D art, or musical art, or anything like that. I gave examples of creative actions today that included musical flash mobs in shopping malls, or pranks, where different types of creativity are at play. If you’re a writer, if you’re an athlete, if you’re a visual artist, if you’re a musician, or just someone who’s very bold - creative action is about symbolism. It’s about forwarding a narrative, forwarding a set of values, it’s about winning hearts and minds, it’s about knowing who you’re speaking to, and it doesn’t necessarily have to do with the skill you have to render a certain image. And if you still feel like you don’t identify as a creative in any of those capacities, you can still work with others. I think that the best work is work that incorporates a lot of different perspectives. We all have a role, and we build from below. If you’re interested in doing creative actions but don’t feel creative yourself, just get together with other people. Check out methodologies that exist that can take you through questions to help you shape an action that will be both creative and effective in reaching your goals.

Down Home Christmas

A Christmas spent “up the lane” in Upper Big Tracadie, Nova Scotia

Tara Reddick is a third-year student at STFX, she grew up in Antigonish.  She is a playwright, her play “The West Woods” toured Nova Scotia and was also  featured at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in 2017. The following story is a little look into her childhood during a Christmas spent “up the lane” in Upper Big Tracadie, Nova Scotia. Upper Big Tracadie is a rural African Nova Scotian community about 25 minutes from the town of Antigonish.

***

My mother and father always did the best they could at Christmas. I never really asked for anything. What I received, I received. It was always about the spirit of Christmas and never about gifts.  I never bragged to my friends after Christmas break, I had nothing to brag about. I tell you though, I can remember every Christmas like it was yesterday. I miss my Nanny especially at the Holidays, she died the day after Christmas; I was there when she took her last breath and I think about her        everyday. Nothing will ever come close to a Christmas spent at my Nan’s down home. She was our matriarch, she was our rock.  Her name was Dorothy Daye and this Christmas marked the third year of her passing.

Go Tell it on the Mountain 

Christmas eve, mom and dad pack up the few gifts we have and the 6 of us load up our Dodge Omni meant for 4. Lorraine and Wilfred, two boys and two girls rowdy unruly brats. Mom says, “Let’s wake up Christmas day down home kids.” Do we have to mom? Off to Nanny and Granddaddy’s we go. Folks are home from Toronto, Montreal and Halifax. Aunts, uncles and cousins alike. Nintendo show downs, penny hockey, snakes and ladders. Checkers too, but we can’t find all the pieces.  Sliding down the stairs on our bums. Carpet burns and playing school, “I want to be the teacher this time.” The wood furnace is burning, uncle Barry got it wide open I tell yah! Nan is baking, molasses cake, corn bread, brown sugar-squares, lemon, apple and blueberry pie, “Did anyone take out the turkey yet?” Better take out a big one. It is still early in the evening, now it’s time to get out Mahalia Jackson’s Christmas album.  The needle on the record player isn’t the best, but it plays. Granddaddy fell asleep in his favourite chair. Just a few hours before he had it rockin’ and the kitchen turned into a wrestling ring. WWF legends, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Roddy Piper.  “ Get em, that’s it, pin him, come on pin him, give it to him.” He smokes his Export A’s and sneaks a little drink and the sweat is pouring. “How much wood did Barry put in that furnace anyway?” The kids are tearing the house up, playing hide and go seek, finding places we never knew existed. 

Nan cleans houses in town and the families she works for always give her chocolates. Me and cousin Geneva eat them before she even knows they are open.

Later in the night, Nan just wants her daughters to stay in and pray in the Christmas day, but my aunt’s got other plans. They go down, down the lane to Mrs. Cunningham’s and over to Rear Monastery to visit aunt Evelyn. They come back laughing and telling stories and I listen, I always listen.  Nan is asleep at the table she was waiting up. Now all 20 of us cousins have found a spot to sleep. On the floor, we take beds on the coach, even in the hallway, in every corner all of us sleeping, close as close can be. The house is warm with love and we are happy the furnace has died down, but don’t dare let that fire go out cause it’s cold tonight. 

Morning, Nan is first to wake up she is at the stove. She starts in on breakfast. Two cartons of eggs, two pounds of bacon, fresh biscuits and beans.  The aunts are tired, “See I told you fellas’ to stay your ass home last night, out running the roads.”

I wish I could go back in time, there was so much love and I had my Nan.

Ending the Stigma

Bell Let’s Talk Day sparks more conversation for the ninth year

After 2019’s Bell Let’s Talk Day, Bell reported a record 145 442 699 interactions, translating into $7 272 134.95 in donations towards mental health initiatives across Canada. This will be the ninth year that Bell commits more money to mental health, and initiates more conversation to create a Canada that is stigma-free.

Stigma, according to the Oxford Dictionary is “a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person.” To be more general, stigma is a negative stereotype. With regards to mental health, the biggest barrier between those suffering from problems or illnesses and recovery is the stigma they face.

About one fifth of Canadians will experience a mental health problem or illness in any given year, yet according to the Mental Health Commission of Canada, “despite how common it is, mental illness continues to be met with widespread stigma: in hospitals, workplaces, and schools; in rural and urban communities; even among close friends and families.”

Bell Canada notes the 5 simple ways to end the stigma and start a conversation. It is important to note mental health is an extremely complex matter that is unique to each and every person. Bell’s five points are aimed at ending stigma, and not intending to take authority on fixing mental illnesses. The five points are as follows:

Language Matters. Words make a difference. Worlds help, but they can also hurt. We must make a conscientious effort to use the right language with others. For example, one who suffers from a mental illness is not “crazy.”

Educate Yourself. This is extremely important. Mental health is a concept that continually gets researched and studied, and our understanding of it is constantly evolving. Having the right tools and knowing the right language makes a massive difference. Supporting those experiencing mental illnesses can also be ameliorated by knowing how to correctly speak and address their struggles.

Be Kind. Kindness is the most simple and effective way to make a difference in the world. Caring for others in gestures big and small can remind them of their worth and remind them that you are there for them. By offering to speak to someone over coffee, or simply passing a smile, you could unknowingly turn someone’s whole day around.

Listen and Ask. Mental illness is a very common form of human pain and suffering. Being a good listener and asking how you can help or simply being there for people you care about can be an essential step in their recovery.

Talk About It. Breaking the silence is everything Bell set out to do when it began the Bell Let’s Talk initiative. According to Bell’s statistics, two out of three people suffer in silence in fear of judgement, rejection, or burdening others. Being open to a conversation and sparking conversation helps to eliminate the stigma.

Here at StFX there are many events and groups that aim to end the stigma during Bell Let’s Talk and throughout the entire year. During the week of January 28 to February 1, StFX Athletics dedicated their home games to mental health awareness, with athletes sporting the BellLet’sTalk blue toques, and holding posters to support the conversation. The hashtag #oneteamformentalhealth was used prominently on social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. The Student Athlete Mental Health Initiative (SAMHI) was also present throughout the week, hosting events like a coffee house at local business, Tall & Small, Photo Booths at sporting events, and mindfulness and yoga sessions!

Residence Life also hosted a number of events throughout residences. On January 29, the Residence Life team also held a Health Promotions booth in the Student Union Building, where they distributed blue BellLet’sTalk Toques and other helpful resources.

On January 30, Flourish @ X, a program dedicated to students making the best of their university experience, promoted Bell Let’s Talk on its Facebook page, stating “Mental Health is something that should be nourished like physical health and no one should suffer in silence.”

In our small StFX and Antigonish communities, in our country we’re proud to call home, and across the world, mental health is something we must all be mindful of. Mental illness affects many, and eliminating the stigma will make a massive difference for everyone. Taking actions and making a difference, big or small, is what is needed to make progress.

The Hardest Part of February is the Spelling

Some ideas to help you unwind during the break

Read: I know, I know, you’re already reading for courses – or at least you’re supposed to be. But how much of what you’re expected to read is for fun? When’s the last time you stayed up late turning pages? We often forget what it feels like to read for enjoyment in undergrad. So I’ll suggest things: read something stupid. Read something without a complex argument. Instead, maybe find something with a knight, a mystery, a really hot love interest. Reading used to be fun, right? Maybe we need the novel equivalent to Grown Ups 2 – fart jokes, butt scratches, and slapstick.

Walk: It is solved by walking. Whatever “it” is, it’ll almost always be solved. I’m not talking exercise, we’ll get to that. But there’s a sense of clarity when you walk, headphones or no headphones. I’ve found that sitting can be a brain-trap. If I remember right, every essay I’ve ever written (at least the ones that ended up half-decent) were “figured out” while on a walk-break from the laptop. If I only knew why walking made us feel so good I’d tell you. Maybe it’s a nomadic carry over from caveman genes. Whatever the case, go out your door and walk without a plan.

Exercise: It’s old hack. You’ve heard it a million times already. So I’ll try and spin this another way. “Go out and be active” comes off as “I dunno, do something”, there’s little direction. I’ll say this: go out some evening and run until you can’t. Stop, breathe hard. Breathe some more. And then run back. You’ll hate most of it, but the second you’ve caught your breath at home is everything. A rush of “I’ve done something good for myself” followed by “Damn... I feel good”. Pretty good for thinking “I want to die” seconds before. If anything, don’t exercise for the six-pack. Move for your head. You’ll thank you later.

Get lost in Spotify: We’ve covered all the basics I think, now for some fun ones. Most of us have Spotify, yeah? Most of us have got lost in a YouTube hole, yeah? Well do that, but with Spotify. Go to “Discover”, find something that sounds half decent and disappear down the rabbit hole. I’ll warn you, make sure you’ve got the time to spend. Most of us have only done this sort of thing when procrastinating. Your discovery time then is usually spent with the dread of due assignments lurking around. The same beautiful chaos is so incredible with a free conscience.

Performances, Lectures: I know you get the same emails I do. Every second day we’re told about a new lecture series, a new performance on campus, a new event somewhere in these halls. So please don’t delete them along with the pointless emails about Banner and      Moodle. I’ve seen some incredible performances here, I’ve heard some awesome lectures outside of class. I don’t even regret the dry ones – even those give me something to learn.

(Good) Netflix: The last point was a hard sell, I know. And this one’s hardly a sell. You’re all using Netflix, yeah? Here’s a few suggestions. First, Maniac. Jonah Hill and Emma Stone star in a miniseries that looks to “fix the mind” in an alternative future. I binged it in one go - not because I wanted to, but because I had to. And this isn’t some Birdbox meme, this one has an ending. Another suggestion: Brigsby Bear. Kyle Mooney plays a man who discovers his whole world is a lie in a beautiful piece on childhood fantasies. No matter what you choose to discover, try not to be like me and everyone else: “Oh...sounds cool... I’ll watch The Office instead tho...”

Arts: Me, like everyone else, I have random moments where I’ll think “I love Bob Ross, why don’t I try actually painting?” But I never do. And so I ask you to do. Even if you doodle, sketch, or scratch something into a desk. Make art, make it pure. Don’t think too hard, don’t focus too much. Just make something with your hands. Even if it sucks, even if you think it’s silly. Get lost in the process. A visiting lecturer gave one of my classes some clay to play with. We lost an hour in what felt like seconds.

Be (in silence): When’s the last time you sat in silence (besides the morning or night in bed)? I’m not talking meditating, I’m not talking a breath exercise. I’m just talking silence. Maybe you cook, maybe you clean, maybe you just look out the window. But in silence? No music? Crazy, I know. But only once you’ve unplugged can you really know the appeal. I’m not preaching, believe me. I’m plugged in too, always. But those minutes or hours of silence now mean more to me than the latest YouTube conspiracy video. I trust you’ll find love for silence too.

Volunteer: Opportunities are everywhere on campus, everywhere in town. Now, you always here of the positive impact volunteer work has on our community. This much is not news. But I’d like to point out something a little different: don’t you sleep a little better knowing you’ve done good. Going to class, going through the motions of the day-to-day, doing the things you’re expected to do, all this is standard. But no one expects your volunteered time. Volunteering is exceptional, the act of doing good. It’s a good stretch, cracking all your back and you announce “right, that’s what I’m meant to do”.

Stare: Much of what I’ve said has been proactive. Most of it is “doing”. This one’s a bit lazy, but most important. We had a sunset in late January. It was incredible. If/when we get one in February, stare at the sky. Sunsets are cliché? Don’t be so joyless. Don’t take a picture, don’t tell your friends, don’t say a word. Just stare. This is unplugging, being in silence, going for a walk, getting lost, and breathing all at once. Maybe not even a sunset. Just something beyond you, something beautiful. Maybe just a high mark written in red pen, maybe just a well-baked biscuit.

The Straight One

Short story

There is something eerie yet peaceful about cemeteries. Especially on a day like today. The air is crisp, and the leaves have started to turn colour like the ripening of an apple. The light is bouncing off the polished gravestones, and of course, my friend’s laughter is tickling my ears. I wonder if dead people throw parties? Do they mind having us on their graves? Do we have some ghosts just chilling beside us? I couldn’t tell ya, but I like to think so. 

 I plop myself down on the blanket, immediately there’s dirt on my jeans. 

“What’d I miss?” I ask. 

“We’re talking about our coming out stories.” Ruth says with a mouthful of rainbow chocolate chip cookies. 

They talk the way the wind blows, around me but not necessarily to me. Ruth goes on about how coming out is a continual constant. You never stop doing it. She’s still in the process of telling her family she’s pan. Before you make the joke, no pansexual doesn’t mean she’s attracted to pans it means she’s attracted to anyone, gender is thrown entirely out the window. She doesn’t admit it, but I totally think she likes women and non-binary people more than men. But, don’t tell her I said that. 

“Aw fuck!” Alice drops a cube of cheese on the ground.

She’s bi, not the same as pan but similar and, as she loves to tell everyone, she’s our local raging feminist. My ears twitch right in time to hear Alice say the most badass sentence, “I’m not straight enough for the straights or gay enough for the gays. I’m 100% gay and 100% straight.” Seriously Alice. Put that on a t-shirt. 

“Yass Queen, preach!”

There he is. My favourite guy, Sean. If you couldn’t tell from the “Yass Queen,” Sean’s gay. He’s sugar in black coffee. Sweet, yet strong and a total teddy bear. 

Then there’s me, Kali, the straight one. I adore these people. They are the embodiment of pure sunshine. They get pushed behind dark clouds and have to fight through leaves, but they always manage to shine. I wouldn’t say the same about me.  

“Helloooo, Kali. You still with us?” Alice snaps me back to earth.

“Yeah, yeah. what were you saying?”

“Remember we’re going out tonight. Meet at 7, our place.” Sean pipes up.

“Gotcha. I’ll be there. I’m not square.” I say with a wink and some major finger guns.

  It looks like the Tasmanian Devil just tore through my room. Slashes of red sequins, denim skirts, heavy wool, and black dresses are in every nook and cranny. There is nothing in my closet to wear. I know that sounds like the most melodramatic, stereotypical girl thing to say, but I mean it. Every sleeveless top shows the inflamed pimples on my shoulders. Every skirt makes my thighs look like jiggly tree trunks. Every crop top makes me look like a bloated pregnant woman. It’s horrifying. I knew I shouldn’t have eaten that bowl of cereal this morning. I see the scale in the corner, it’s begging me to step on just to laugh at me with the number. Just the thought of that number makes my stomach clench so much that a little vomit crawls up the back of my throat. 

I have to put something on, seriously, I can’t go out in my bra and underwear. That would be even worse. I go full Narnia and find a black halter top and a green button-up skirt in the back of my closet. It’s good enough.

I make my way to the bathroom even though it feels like I’m walking through tar. I look in the mirror, and all I see is an ugly, worthless girl, who doesn’t fit in anywhere. My nose is huge and round, and my cheeks are like chipmunks. I open my makeup bag and pick up my foundation brush. I start painting my skin, making it even. Mixing and blending colour after colour around my eyes, adding glitter, making their blueness pop. It’s like getting lost in living art. I contour out the hollows of my cheeks and the sides of my nose. I’m creating a miracle on my face. My nose is slim and cheeks defined. I love that about makeup, I can look however I want. Manipulate whatever I want. I finally get to be pretty. I lean in close to the mirror and apply the final touch. I carefully swipe on a terracotta red lipstick. I don’t like much about my face but, I can at least say, I have very sexy lips.

I rush out the door and into what appears to be a light show. The sun is setting, and the sky is a wash of rosy pinks and vibrant oranges. I love this time of day. Right when the day begins to turn night, almost as if the world is switching persona just like the rest of us. My heels click on the hard pavement. I can already feel my feet getting sore around the toes. This might be a very long night. I stand to wait for the walk symbol to come on and spot a cute guy on the other side of the road. Long hair, tight shirt, very Jim Morrison and totally my type. I make a mental note to find him in the club later. I finally cross the street and walk a little further and get to my friend’s front door. I just go in, there’s no need to knock. The house is a bundle of energy. Sean is in the kitchen mixing what appears to be Malibu and Coke. Ruth is fussing about the music, “Shut up and Dance” by Walk the Moon is bumping away.

“Has anyone seen my other earring?” Alice calls out while coming down the stairs. 

“Did you check the bathroom?” Sean yells back. 

“Oh, hey Kali. Yeah, Sean, I checked there.”

Holy shit. Alice looks great. She’s in a skintight, sky-blue dress. It shows every curve, from her rounded shoulders to her firm thighs. She’s like the Goddess Venus just stepped out of a painting, round and soft. Wait, what am I thinking? I’ve never had such a thought about a girl, sure as hell not Alice. I think I need a drink. 

We pregame hard. The drinks are flowing almost as much as the laughter is. Sean keeps bringing us drink after drink. I swear that boy thinks he’s a professional bartender. We’re up dancing on the couches, the room is swirling with pure, unadulterated joy. I don’t know how the club could be any better than this. 

“We should get going if we want to get in, it’s getting late,” Ruth says. I look at my phone, it’s 11:30. The time has just slipped away, I guess that’s what happens when you’re having fun. We stuff some money and our ID’s into our bras and head out the door. The club is literally a block away, so I won’t bore you with the details of the walk. Long story short, we giggled a lot and stumbled even more. 

The club is going ham. The music is blaring, the bass is going like a hammer pounding a nail. “Anyone want shots?” I scream over the music, but my friends can barely hear me. They all throw their hands in the air which I guess means yes. The bar is swarming with people. Sean goes to the bar, throws some hardcore elbows and manages to get through while the rest of us go grab a table. I look out at the dance floor and it’s just a sea of people. I bet if there wasn’t any music, they wouldn’t look like they were dancing and look more like skankily dressed potatoes fighting.  

A few minutes later Sean comes over with four hot pink shots. Leave it to Sean to be utterly extra and utterly predictable. I count down “One, two, three, GO!” We all down our shots and immediately get twisted expressions on our faces. That was like biting into a lemon. Ruth shoots up, grabs my hand and pulls me onto the dance floor. Everyone else follows suit, and we join the mass of fighting potatoes. Something catches my eye. It’s Alice’s hair. It’s shining as the strobe lights pass over and bounce along with the beat of the music, just like Alice. Something is pulling me closer and closer to her. I’m all of a sudden stone cold sober. I just so badly want to be near her. She’s smiling, and it’s radiant. My heart’s pounding and our eyes meet. I just go for it. I kiss her. She kisses me back. The music fades into the background. The whole world seems to stand still. Her lips are soft and tender, and she kinda tastes like cherries. It feels so right. Then boom; it hits me like a brick wall. I pull away. Everything floods back. The music is deafening. I look around at my friends, and they’re dumbfounded. They look like someone just killed a cat in front of them or something. My heart’s racing and not in a good way. My hands are shaking like a baby’s rattle, and my breath is stuck in my lungs. I have to get out of here. I can’t stay. I need out. Then I’m running. Running. I’m freezing to death and burning alive at the same time. The streets become a blur, and somehow, I’m home. 

I’m standing in front of my mirror and still shaking beyond belief. Get a hold of yourself, Kali. Don’t be such a wimp. I splash cold water on my face. I don’t recognize the girl staring back. Her face is dripping with black mascara. Her lipstick is smeared at the edges. I reach for my makeup wipes, slowly pulling one out of the container. Breathing heavy I rub at my eye, it stings a bit. Then I do the other eye and finally my lips. Barefaced with slightly stained lips I see myself. For the first time, I really see myself. My breathing has slowed down, and I’m still. Really still. But, I’m the straight one. I can’t be… I… maybe I’m not so different after all. Maybe.… maybe. Am I gay?  

Bre O’Handley Interview

Gender and Sexual Diversity Advisor

Bre O’Handley was interviewed by Addy Strickland on January 26, 2019.

O’Handley is a StFX graduate from Guysborough, Nova Scotia with a B.Sc. Honours in Psychology.

A paper based on her Honours thesis research was published online by Psychology and Sexuality on May 22, 2017. 

O’Handley is the Gender and Sexual Diversity Advisor at StFX. Her goal is to create a queer community that is celebrated.

***

AS: Can you give me a little bit of history on pride at StFX?

BO: Chris Frazer would probably be the person to go to when it comes to Pride at StFX! I started as a student at X in 2012, and while I remember Pride Week happening each year and there always being a Pride Week issue of the Xaverian, I actually wasn’t very involved as a student with the happenings of Pride during my undergrad! Chris Frazer has been at StFX since 2004 and has really been the person to spearhead much of what now happens as Pride Month at X, along with the help of the X Pride student society of course! Chris spent about 15 years working as the LGBTQ advisor on a volunteer basis, my position, of the Gender and Sexual Diversity Advisor at StFX, was just created in 2017. Before then, different faculty members, particularly Dr. Chris Frazer and Dr. Rachel Hurst, did the heavy lifting when it came to supporting LGBTQ+ issues and students at StFX!

AS: Have you noticed any changes in what pride month looks like since you started working here?

BO: Absolutely! As I mentioned above, before my position was created Pride happened every year, but often took the form of “Pride Week.” One of my main goals my first year on the job was to expand that into a Pride Month, so 2018 was the first time (to my knowledge) that StFX had a full month of Pride events! In the past, when it was Pride Week, many of the events were primarily student centred and happened at the Inn, which was a fantastic way to celebrate! But now that we have a whole month to jampack with events, X Pride and I have been able to organize quite a variety of events. We kick off the month with the Pride Flag Raising, as a way to think about how far the queer community here at X, and everywhere, has come but also to acknowledge how far we have to go. Then the month is peppered with engagements like lectures, panels, coffeehouses, film screenings, games nights, LGBTQ+ inclusive church services, Sex Toy Bingo and we always finish off with the always incredible Priscilla: Queen of the Highlands drag show.

Photo: X-Pride

 AS: Why is pride month so important? What does pride month do for the StFX and Antigonish community?

BO: Pride Month is important anywhere, but especially on the StFX campus because the campus climate here is so heteronormative and cis-normative. During my time as an undergrad, I found it really hard to find the LGBTQ+ community at StFX and really wish that I had had more of that support as a student. When you’re LGBTQ+ at StFX, a school that does still lack diversity and has a long history of homophobia, in part due to the rural context, it’s easy to feel like an outsider. While I met so many incredible people and learned so much during my time as an undergrad, it always felt like I was missing something when it came to engaging with and celebrating my queer identity. Having a month where we celebrate and actively engage in queer culture is so important for LGBTQ+ students, staff and faculty as it sends a signal that we’re here, we’re queer and everyone else is going to have to get used to it. I think Pride Month also offers a space to the Antigonish community of LGBTQ+ folks. While I will admit that our events are mostly catered towards StFX students, staff and faculty, community members are always very welcome at any of the events that X Pride and I host and we love to have community members come and engage with us! Again, the rural context of Antigonish can make for a difficult time as a queer person, as there is still homophobia, biphobia and transphobia on this campus and in this town, and not as many resources as you would find in a place like Halifax.

AS: There have been so many great events this month - do you have a favourite? Why?

BO: I think my favorite new event this Pride Month would have to be the What I Love About Being Queer film screening and panel discussion. I first discovered the What I Love About Being Queer book and film by Vivek Shraya last year when I was shopping for resources for my office at Venus Envy in Halifax. I had never seen a book like it before and instantly knew I needed to have it in my office. The purpose of What I Love About Being Queer is to focus on the positive narratives of being queer, something that too often we overlook as we still have many struggles and discrimination that we must focus on. The book and film contains answers from a diverse group of queer Canadians to the question, “what do you love about being queer?” The first time that I read the book was in a café in Halifax right after I bought it, my partner and I started reading and blew through the book within half an hour. I’m not a big public crier, but there was no way I could hold back the tears while reading this book, not because it’s sad but because it was so incredibly moving to see so many people celebrating being queer and it was content that I, like the author, can attest to having needed so many times before in my life. So being able to share this message and film with the StFX queer community and allies at the screening was really special for me, and to have the incredible panel of queer professors and community members was so refreshing and fascinating. Even at StFX, the queer community proves to be more diverse than you might think.

 But, I think my all-time favorite Pride Month event has to be Priscilla. I know I sing its praise every year but it’s true when Dr. Frazer says that it’s the best drag show east of Montreal and it is just such an engaging and wildly fun event every single year. We’ve already sold over a third of tickets for this year’s Priscilla, so if you want to make it to the show this year (and trust me, YOU DO) you’re going to want to snag a ticket ASAP! They are being sold in the third floor SUB Lobby 9am-3pm, Monday-Friday until Feb 1st!

AS: Pride month is, obviously, just one month. What suggestions do you have to help the StFX community celebrate pride all year round?

BO: There are lots of events that folks can go to celebrate pride all year round! My office and X-Pride organize events every month, like the X Pride Coffeehouses and Spill the Tea sessions! X Pride coffeehouses happen at the Tall and Small café and are a chance for folks to perform music, spoken word, whatever they want, Sadie Goering organizes those so if anyone ever wants to perform, they can contact them to get involved! Spill the Tea sessions happen monthly which I organize with X Pride, it’s an informal discussion group and we pick a topic each month, like coming out or gender identity, and just talk it out with each other. I run an annual lecture series: The Gender and Sexual Diversity lecture series, so there will be talks monthly for the rest of the year that folks can attend! February 26th, spoken word artist, Kavi Ade, will be performing on campus! X Pride releases a calendar of events each term, so if you want to stay up to date on ways to celebrate pride year-round, definitely get involved with them or join the Facebook group “X-Pride 2018-2019” to stay in the loop!

AS: Evidently, representation is really important - do you have any thoughts on what needs to be done to ensure that the queer community is fairly represented by student government?

BO: I believe there is a possibility that an LGBTQ+ Representative will be added to Council this upcoming academic year, although I’m not 100% sure, and I think that that would help to ensure the queer community is fairly represented by student government. We’ve been lucky the past two years to have a union that was fairly educated and cared about issues of equity, at least with regards to the LGBTQ+ community, and so I hope to see the same in coming years. I think that having members of student government complete training around LGBTQ+ issues and gender inclusivity is a fantastic way to move towards being more aware of how decisions may impact LGBTQ+ students, so I would certainly recommend members of student government to seek out Positive Space training and similar programs to stay informed.

Charging Stations on Campus for Electric Vehicles

Electric vehicles’ charging stations $1 per hour now functioning

Two electric vehicle charging stations in the Bloomfield Centre rear parking lot and one in the J. Bruce Brown Hall parking lot installed on November 20, 2018 are now functioning. 

Faculty Management’s Energy & Utilities Supervisor Kevin Latimer, leader of these installments, said the stations are part of the Mulroney Hall project. The charging stations earned Mulroney Hall points to qualify as a Gold building on the LEAD (Leadership Energy and Environmental Design) ranking. 

At the cost of $1 per hour, an electric vehicle hooked at a charging station on campus will get its battery charging and the payment is easily processed through the FLO app. 

When asked about profitability, Latimer commented “It isn’t profitable at a buck an hour. A buck an hour will recover our energy cost. Three units cost close to $25 000.”

“I was talking to Kevin Latimer about stations since I got the car. Some charging stations are free,” Frank Comeau said referring to the stations at Halifax Library, Dalhousie University and Saint Mary’s University. “I was arguing with Latimer to make them free.”

Comeau added, “There’s no point in charging my car here because it costs me two to three times more than it costs at home. For that reason, I don’t use them that much.”

Comeau was the first user of the charging station at J. Bruce Brown Hall. Comeau and I did the math to compare the charging and fueling costs between our vehicles. Comeau’s Volt travels 60 kilometers for $1.5 to $2.5 while my Grand Prix travels the same distance for $8 to $8.25. 

As part of the Maritime Link Project, Nova Scotia is shifting from 28% renewable energy to 40% renewable energy. Latimer notes, “Nova Scotia Power has promised to have 40% renewables by 2020. When that happens, electricity will be more environmentally friendly than gas. Right now, electricity in Nova Scotia is close to breaking even with gas in terms of carbon footprint.” 

Latimer started fidgeting with his safety glasses when he mentioned, “We could easily go to 50% renewable energy, but Nova Scotia is going to sell 10% for profit to the States where energy will go at a much higher rate.” 

Comeau, electrical engineer and professor at StFX, questioned the research that concludes electric vehicles have a similar carbon footprint as gas vehicles, “Studies have shown that electric vehicles in Nova Scotia emit the same carbon footprint as gas cars and other studies have shown that it’s about half of the carbon footprint. I can’t seem to get to the bottom of this. If we had 100% renewables, it’d be better.” 

Comeau has been fascinated with renewable energy since he was a youngster, “I’ve been interested in electric cars since the oil crisis in the 1970s. There were big, long, lineups at gas stations and people started thinking about renewables then is what I remember.”

 “I have plans to put solar power on my house to charge my car,” Comeau asserted. Solutions to the carbon footprint issue seem to be generating electricity with renewable energy sources like solar panels, windmills, or hydropower instead of mining lithium. 

Comeau is one of two professors at StFX who have electric vehicles. Few students, if any, have electric vehicles. Latimer hopes that tourists visiting campus with electric vehicles this summer will increase the use of charging stations. 

Electric vehicles will have to be actively charging at the station on campus or they will get a ticket, and they can stay charging in the station for up to four hours per parking session. Electric vehicle charging symbols will be painted in the designated parking spots this spring. 

2019 Class Presidents Interview

Sarah Comandante and Carl Miller discuss the legacy project

Bowen Assman interviewed Sarah Comandante and Carl Miller on January 24, 2019.

***

BA: Can you explain to me what the bursary is and how much money is involved in it as of right now?

SC: The emergency mental health fund is essentially a bursary that can be accessible to students in every year concerning mental health problems or mental health difficulties. It’s going to be distributed under the purview of the Health and Counseling Center. This isn’t going to be a bursary that people apply for and we’re trying to eliminate that third party in there because one of the biggest problems with mental health is breaking down that stigma. For a lot of people just applying for something to say, “I’m having a hard time” is something that’s going to deter them from even wanting to go and get help. This is something that the psychologists, the doctors and the nurses can distribute as they see fit within the Health and Counseling Center. The bursary is intentionally very open-ended, and we purposefully did not put strict stipulations on it so that it has the potential to reach as many students as possible. We’re kind of using the same examples. They’re very arbitrary but it could range from someone who is having a really hard time and isn’t able to work so they’re having to take some time off of work and this money is giving them a grocery card because they’re not able to pay for their groceries right now or if someone experiences a death in the family and needs to fly home, it could potentially cover the cost of a flight. It’s something that we’re really trying to make very open-ended. We got off to a bit of a slow start around X Ring and the Day of Giving but just in the past week and a half we’ve gotten some pretty substantial private donors and we’re speaking to all of the local businesses in town, as well as Bell Alliant, so I don’t have a number right now because there’s so much in limbo.

BA: How will the Health and Counseling Center distribute money?

CM: Yeah, so it is tough because you say, “What is mental health?” With an emergency fund, people immediately think, oh it is for counselling or therapy sessions. What it is intended for is, let’s say you broke your leg, or something really serious happened physically, ok, we have resources for that. If somebody dies in your family or you get into a really tough situation which you know everybody does, this isn’t going to fix it but it could be one more support for people who find themselves in a situation where it’s just not going to work. If income is limited in a specific time span or something you know personal happens and they just need a hand, the councilors will have access to that funding.

SC: The money is going to go into an endowment fund, and it is going to be paid out on the interest rate. The money that’s going to be given to the Counseling Center every year is going to be the fixed amount from the interest coming out of that endowment fund, and that will be the money that they can work with for the year. Essentially, they can use it on one student or they can use it on ten. If there is a rollover from year to year, then maybe the next year will have some more money. The intent is that all the money going in right now is going to go into that  endowment fund and the money coming off annually is going to be from that interest rate so that the bursary is sustainable for itself.

BA: And you don’t have to specifically ask for it? Is it given out?

SC: It’s a tricky thing that when we were discussing the terms and conditions with the Health and Counselling Center, one of the hardest things was how do we assess who to give this money to and we kind of came to the conclusion that physicians and psychiatrists and psychologists are going to be the people that are going to be best able to assess the need of individuals and so we’re hoping that by people knowing that this is a potential support for them, it can also encourage people to go get some help and to go in there. We don’t know yet if it’s going to be people going in and saying that they think they need help, but a lot of times, things that get disclosed in counseling sessions can be a trigger for a counselor to say maybe this is something where I could help make this person’s life easier. It is tricky because you really have to be careful that people aren’t going to go in and ask for this money and take advantage of it. But because it’s not going to be done by an application basis, it’s not like anyone can write themselves up a story.

BA: It’s kind of tough to balance?

CM: Yes, it is broad enough but not enough to abuse it.

SC: Yeah, this was really the best way that we could find that it was going to be distributed appropriately under these professionals. If you had a committee for bursaries and scholarships where there’s a committee of people who decide who gets what, we didn’t think it would be appropriate to have people have to disclose personal details of their life and then who are those people on the committee to decide whether or not they deserve the money right?

BA: Yes, so why the focus on mental health, especially in 2019 today?

SC: Over our last four years at least here, I think we really spoke about how this campus has seen a lot of change. There’s been a lot of major events that have happened here, and we wanted this legacy project for the class of 2019 to be something that really encompassed what we’ve experienced. Breaking the stigma around mental health as well as sexual violence has been a huge thing that’s plagued our class. We wanted to find a way to kind of bring those two things together and really work towards it, because as much as there are a lot of efforts towards breaking down the stigma of mental health, it’s something that is constantly prevalent and no matter what everyone has mental health and everyone will experience a mental health problem in their life whether or not that be a mental illness but that is how statistics are shown. If it’s not you, it’s your roommate or it’s your best friend. It really can be applied to everyone.

CM: Yeah. I think the strong point is if you’re lucky enough to get to university without it happening to you directly, it is happening to one of your friends who have found themselves in a situation where there isn’t really a noticeable change in behavior so you just hope they can kind of tough it out. I think it resonates with a lot of people, if not on the personal scale then definitely somebody close to you.

SC: Yeah, we were talking about for X-Ring is that the idea of students contributing to this bursary is a way for students to directly give to other students and to show their support to other people. So, how much more positively we can affect others when they’re going through something like this is to show that our community is behind them and that money coming from the students is going directly back to the students. So, it’s a way to keep it within where it matters.

BA: Branching on that, the decision to start the mental health bursary was from whom?

SC: It was from us, we made the idea. There was a lot of just like trying to bounce off ideas and we had a couple ideas for the bursary. This was the way we could meld them all together. Then, we put out a poll and we put out a form asking, “this is an idea we have right now. Do you support it or not support it or do you have another idea?” So that was like our best way to grasp it and we had almost unanimously people support it. We probably got around ten responses of people that had other ideas, but it was like nine out of the ten other ideas were actually for this. It was just that we hadn’t explained the bursary well enough or we weren’t able to explain it well enough in those stages. So, it was kind of a common theme.

CM: Yeah, and I think one of the good things about me and Sarah’s presence is that we had the two perspectives of a student who lives far away and a student who comes from here. I think this was a good center point and something that everyone understands because if not, it’s kind of like focused towards one or the other, but I think this really applies for everybody

SC: We found that we wanted to make a bursary for literally everyone because a lot of the scholarships or the bursaries, there is such specific criteria that it’s almost like some groups are just always not able to access it. We were like, how do we make something that has the potential for everybody to actually access?

BA: Last year’s was for refugee students?

SC: Yeah, and that was with WUSC (World University Service of Canada).

BA: Does that one continue on and then this one will continue as well so there’ll be numerous bursaries?

SC: Yeah, so this is the fourth year of the legacy project and it’s basically like they’re all always there. So, the whole point of the endowment is that in 30 years there will be 30 bursaries for 30 different things. This got started by the class presidents I think four years ago and they had the idea of leaving a legacy project. The idea was that you could do a capital project or you can do like a bursary and it’s just happened that all of the classes have found that the bursaries are most successful. They’re still even fundraising for last year’s bursary. The amount of money that bursary is providing every year is going specifically to that bursary and then when people donate, they can direct their donation. When you go to the StFX website, you can direct it to a certain year’s bursary.

BA: How long are these bursaries expected to last for?

CM: If you take the interest year-by-year it’ll always be there.

SC: The whole goal is to have as much in that endowment fund as possible so that the yearly payout is as high as it possibly can be.

BA: What are your other roles as class presidents?

CM: Right now, that was kind of the big thing (bursary), that and X-Ring really had been the first semester of, “Whoa, okay let’s get these things under control.” But now, second semester we are really trying to plan some activities for the senior class to come together one last time and meet some new people.

SC: We are having a grad fair, it’s going to happen hopefully at the end of March. We’re working it out with Alumni Affairs right now. We are doing a grad fair that’s going to be just a little thing probably in the McKay room one afternoon and it’ll be things like getting fitted for your gowns, photos, selling tickets and stuff for all the events for the weekend. Another thing we’re working on is the time capsule. All of the classes have a time capsule. We’re going to put it out pretty soon, but we were going to enlist the help of hopefully some seniors to create the physical box because it is a cool artsy project, but we’re both science students so that’s not going to work (laughs). We need people to do that. 

We’re also working on developing a digital time capsule where every senior has a chance to put in a 30- second video or some pictures or something of themselves. We’re working on that and the time capsule is like a whole event during Xaverian farewell. We’ve raised some money from first semester from some different events like one-month raffle tickets and X-Ring tickets. We’re really trying to find ideas for stuff that people would be interested in doing and planning events, but essentially from here on out there will be new senior class presidents in like a month and we will have to help plan grad. Grad is pretty low key compared to X-Ring.

BA: I hear that it is not a big deal (grad).

SC: It’s just that it happens after the fact but there’s some really cool events happening. I had no idea there was like a lobster dinner. They put on a big lobster dinner, as it is hard to get dinner reservations. If we can put some money towards subsidizing the ticket, everyone can go to that and there’s like three nights at the Inn. The last night of grad you stay up all night at the Inn as the party doesn’t even start until late and then they serve breakfast at 4am there. There’s actually a lot of cool events. The hard thing is that it happens after we have all left. The only reason I know this stuff is because I work at the Inn, so we worked grad weekend and it has the potential for a lot of cool stuff.

Anyone interested in donating to this year’s bursary can visit the website stfx.ca/class0f2019.

We Are Queer and We Will Not Be Silenced

I love being a queer at StFX

When I was in grade school, I was bullied by my peers for being too loud, for wanting to answer the teacher’s questions, for being overly attached to anyone who showed me kindness. When I was seven, my classmate told me I was ‘gay’ for having a close female friend that I spent all my free time at school with. I didn’t understand what the word meant at the time, but the way he said it made me ashamed. I thought I was doing something wrong. That shame only got worse after my parents explained what it meant and my best friend would kiss me behind closed doors when her parents were home.

When I got to high school, I had a better understanding of what it meant to be gay or lesbian, but everything was self-learned from the stereotypes I saw on TV. My school was in a white and Christian neighbourhood; you never talked about homosexuality unless it was gossip, shame-inducing gossip. I never talked about it, but I thought about my own sexual identity a lot and I was so confused. 

On TV, any non-heterosexual character was either strictly gay or lesbian and their relationships always involved sex. But I wasn’t like that. I knew I liked boys, but I also liked girls, and I had no words to explain who I was or what I was feeling. It is so damning to grow up in a space where the only words that I had to describe myself were ‘unnatural’ and ‘broken’.

It wasn’t until eleventh grade when my understanding expanded again. During a late-night conversation with a friend, I laid out all the frustration I was feeling about my identity crisis and he replied with three words: “Are you bisexual?” That question was a game changer for me. 

On one hand, a weight had been lifted off my chest. I finally had a word to explain why my heart would leap out of my chest when the pianist in jazz band would talk to me and why I got flustered whenever my friend asked me to spend the night at her place. 

On the other hand, it left one question unsolved and created a new problem. Why did the idea of having to be in a physical relationship scare me so much? What would happen if I came out to my peers and word got back to my dad, a teacher at our school that everybody loved? He always told me liking girls is okay, but whenever he would talk about my little brother’s friends who didn’t participate in typical ‘boy’ activities, he would always ask me if I thought they were gay with a hint of disgust in his voice. In the end, I graduated high school with a secret known to only four people: one was the girl I had loved for years, and another looked at me with pity every time he saw me holding her hand and comforting her over the last jerk of an ex-boyfriend.

Coming to X has changed my life in more ways than I can express and a lot of that is because of the people I’ve met through X Pride. Here I was at a traditionally Catholic university surrounded by an amazing group of queer peers who were proud and unashamed of who they were. 

Their influences goes deeper than most people understand; their pride helped me be open about who I am and love the person I have become, and because of that I came out to my mum and brother, the two most important people in my life.

I love being queer. And I love being a queer at StFX.

X Pride has also exposed me to the diversity of the queer community that I had been missing throughout my life. Through conversations, events, and amazing celebrations such as Pride Month, I learned more about each letter in LGBTQ+ and I got to learn about the sexual and gender identities encompassed by the plus. Not only did I learn about the diverse identities in this community, but I also learned that each person had a different experience and these experiences shaped how they viewed their identity. 

I thought about myself, my history, my aversions and desires, and I asked questions. In 2019, I wake up every morning proud to be a panromantic, asexual woman who is a part of one of the strongest, most loving, and more diverse communities at StFX.

In June 1990, an organization called Queer Nation circulated a pamphlet at the New York City Pride Parade title “Queers Read This.” There’s one line from it that encompasses where I am now in my life and how important the diversity in the queer community is: “You’re immeasurably valuable, because unless you start believing that, it can easily be taken from you.” Each person finds value in themselves in different ways, but these different ways are all expressed through the language and labels we use. 

Language has a special meaning in the queer community. As X Pride president Robert Chatterton said recently, “language has significance within our community and labels are what help us identify who we are and how we can celebrate our differences.” To someone who is cisgender and heterosexual, these differences aren’t obvious and they can be confusing. Trust me, they can even be confusing for queers. But this is why we ask questions, so we can better understand the people around us and avoid misgendering and making assumptions about the people we encounter on a day-to-day basis. In the queer community, we are all different people coming from different backgrounds, with different fears and aspirations. One common aspiration is that we be heard and accepted by the people around us.

Recently in StFX politics, Students Union presidential candidate Cecil VanBuskirk stood up and talked about the positives of queer label erasure, stating that the way to solve LGBTQ+ issues on campus is to do away with labels entirely. To a cisgender heterosexual man, queer label erasure may look like a way to end discrimination. As a queer woman, I am not afraid to call this what it is. Whatever his intentions may have been, candidate VanBuskirk’s remarks present “oppression in its politest form” (Chatterton). 

In a Facebook post to X Pride, Chatterton states that “the removal of labels only masks the oppression that has been faced by marginalized communities for centuries.” The last thirty years have been an incredibly powerful time for the queer community. After the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s that claimed tens of millions of lives, the queer community came together in solidarity of the brothers and sisters they lost to a disease that was perpetuated by the Reagan and H. W. Bush administrations in the United States. They did more than fight for the acknowledgment of the epidemic facing their community; the 1980s also represented a time when the queer community reclaimed the names thrown at them by homophobes for centuries. Queer, lesbian, and gay were no longer words to shame people acting outside the gender and sexuality norms; instead, they became the labels used to proudly identify a community of fighters.

As a collective, we are queer. As individuals, we are gay. We are lesbians. We are bisexual. We are pansexual. We are transgender men and women. We are non-binary. We are aromantic. We are asexual. We are intersex. We are two-spirit. We are all different people with different experiences and identities, and when we come together we are fierce and we are proud and we will not be silenced. Our labels reveal our diversity, but our diversity makes us stronger, and any attempt to silence us will be met with a pride that we have because of the sacrifices made by the millions of members of our community that came before us and created a space for us to exist.

I have spent too many years ashamed of who I am to let someone tell me that I’m too queer to exist. Discrimination against the queer community is not a result of too many labels, and it cannot be solved through queer label erasure. Discrimination happens because people don’t want to share space with people who are different, who challenge the status quo, and who will not be shamed into submission. 

I love being queer. And I love being a queer at StFX.

I love being surrounded by a community that accepts my differences. I love living in a community where I am not judged for my labels and am instead celebrated for them. I use my labels to define a part of myself; my labels do not determine my existence.

I am a panromantic asexual woman. I have diagnosed anxiety and depression. I love politics, queer literature, and Star Trek. I love the family I’ve found in X Pride.

I love being queer. And I love being a queer at StFX.

A leaflet distributed at pride march in NY published anonymously by Queers in 1990,  “Well, yes, “gay” is great.  It has its place.  But when a lot of lesbians and gay men wake up in the morning we feel angry and disgusted, not gay.  So we’ve chosen to call ourselves queer. Using “queer” is a way of reminding us how we are perceived by the rest of the world.”

“It’s a way of telling ourselves we don’t have to be witty and charming people who keep our lives discreet and marginalized in the straight world.  We use queer as gay men loving lesbians and lesbians loving being queer. (…) And when spoken to other gays and lesbians it’s a way of suggesting we close ranks, and forget (temporarily) our individual differences because we face a more insidious common enemy.  Yeah, QUEER can be a rough word but it is also a sly and ironic weapon we can steal from the homophobe’s hands and use against him.”

I love being queer at StFX.

A Tale as Old as Time

The cold hard truth about group projects

One of the inevitable parts of classes is group work. When you don’t have a group project requirement on a syllabus – consider yourself lucky. Here’s the thing – are group projects helpful? Is group work valuable? Based on my own experiences, I’m inclined to say no.

Group work usually results in this situation: you’re put together with three other people you might not be acquainted with. Before the class ends, you’ll rush around finding everyone in your group...you’ll to flag them down before everyone leaves, to get emails or to exchange facebook profiles. Weeks pass and eventually someone in the group realizes that the presentation date is looming. 

Someone must take initiative and start a group chat. You might meet up a couple times, but there’s always one person who doesn’t show up, always with an excuse. See, the thing about group projects is they are just individual projects hastily strung together at the last minute. 

You know I’m right – and I’m sure plenty of professors get that vibe as well. It’s stressful to be in a group project when you know that nobody is thinking about the actual group. It’s every person for themselves, and with so many group projects having only one grade (not individual marks), that mentality is a pretty bad one to have. You meet, awkwardly, with people you barely know, do your part of the presentation (and maybe even someone else’s if you’re unlucky) alone, and the night before one or two members put everything together in hopes that it’ll be a passable final product. During presentation day, having to rely on each other’s differing public speaking skills can be just as stressful as the work that came before it.

Group projects overall just feel like a waste of time. You’re not really learning any teamwork skills because there isn’t much teamwork involved. The final product is usually inconsistent. PowerPoint presentations are particularly botched in group work; I’ve seen group presentations where it looks like four separate presentations loosely stitched together. When presentations are cohesive, it’s usually one person who does that extra work to give the work that final, polished touch. Chances are that it is the same person who got everyone together in that group chat!

The experience of being in a group project is radically different if it involves friends. If you can pick your own groups and you have some friends in the class, group projects will not only be less stressful, but maybe even fun! However, being able to pick your partners in a class where you don’t know people often results in the same situation of professor-organized groups. Often, groups are predetermined, and four total strangers end up with the aforementioned loosely connected PowerPoint presentation. I don’t think that removing group projects from a class would remove anything particularly helpful or necessary. Taking all of this into account, professors should try and incorporate them into classes as little as possible. 

There are certain exceptions to the standard group project outcome. One of the times where I feel like a group project works as intended is when the group is required to do something performance-based. Obviously, this is not the kind of project that applies to all classes... but skits and performances can apply to many different subjects and utilizes the group work requirement properly. Clearly, a group performance requires so much more planning and group participation than a PowerPoint, and to perform at even a mediocre level everyone has to be on the same page. So performance group projects? Absolutely fine. It’s a good way to work on team skills, something that traditional group presentations lack.

Group projects are weird. Everyone thinks that they did, “the most” for their group, and everyone underestimates how much the other group members did. Maybe this huge imbalance of work and payoff is a sign that group work just isn’t worth the fuss. The less group projects in a class the better, as far as I’m concerned!

Does Your Vote Count?

Problems within the Students’ Union elections

On Wednesday, January 23, Cecil VanBuskirk was elected as the incoming Students’ Union president with 741 votes. While VanBuskirk was all smiles cutting cake at the Inn after his victory, his election win may not be an accurate representation of what StFX students want, but rather a representation of the advantages to running for president in a flawed Students’ Union electoral system.

Elections for Students’ Union positions have been plagued over the last couple of years by a multitude of problems. Elections have suffered from low levels of engagement, inability to find candidates for positions like VP Academic, and flaws in the electronic voting system itself. As the Students’ Union presidential election results become official and elections for other representatives get underway, perhaps it’s time to reevaluate whether the Students’ Union elections are run in a way that ensures the best candidates are elected to some of the most important positions for representing students on campus.

While casting ballots electronically has its problems, such as making sure the Students’ Union elections are equitable, it is one of the few areas of success for the Students’ Union. By having an electronic voting system, they’ve avoided the costs that running a paper ballot system incurs, such as staffing polling booths. While paper ballots are feasible on such a small campus, the Students’ Union’s decision to stick to electronic ballots means that they don’t need to worry about the organizational capabilities they’d need to get students to physical ballot boxes.

However, the emails with links to the Students’ Union electronic voting site have been known to get filtered into spam folders and are easily buried under the numerous other emails students receive in one day from the university. Electronic voting systems can also be susceptible to hacking or electoral fraud, although the Students’ Union voting system claims that “voters who bypass authentication or have already voted are denied access to the ballot.” The Students’ Union should ensure that the way they email students voting links isn’t impeding participation in elections.

Another aspect of the Students’ Union electoral system that may be discouraging, or confusing students, is the ballot itself. The Students’ Union uses a ranked ballot system, except in the case of a single candidate running for a position, in which case students must vote yes or no instead. This means that if no candidate receives a majority during an election, the candidate with the least amount of first place votes will be eliminated, and those who voted for the least popular candidate will have their votes reallocated to their second-choice candidates, and so on until a candidate has a plurality. Given that most students are probably more familiar with first-past-the-post or simple majority ballots, it may be worth sending an explanation of how ranked ballots work during the election season, especially given that there has been confusion over the wording on the ballot instructions in the past.

The Students’ Union has extensive bylaws for when campaigns and nominations can open, but they have been a bit lax on them especially with the presidential election this year. The call for presidential nominations opened two days late, and since nomination deadlines were extended due to a lack of applicants, the candidates were announced three days after the beginning of when campaigning should have started.  Any potential B.Ed. students who wished to run were also at a disadvantage, as their classes started several days after the deadline for nominations, impacting their ability to gather signatures needed for nomination forms. If the Students’ Union truly wants to attract the widest range of candidates and give them the best chance to engage with voters during campaigns, they should make sure they follow their own election bylaws or amend them to be fairer to all.

A big issue during the recent Students’ Union president election was slander and attack ads. Candidates in elections can discuss other candidates’ policies, but the election bylaws forbid slandering other slates or candidates. While no candidate should be personally attacked for their platform, candidates should be careful when making accusations of slander if the claims are verifiable and legitimate statements that they’ve made in debates or posts on their campaign page. Words matter enormously during elections, so it is best for candidates to make well-informed statements before other students, the Students’ Union, or the campus media hold you accountable for them.

Students are also barely engaged with Students’ Union elections, as is evident from the approximately 23% voter turnout for the Students’ Union president elections this year. While many students are aware of elections on campus, most simply don’t care enough to cast a vote until it’s someone they know or unless they already follow campus politics. If this trend continues, Students’ Union elections are likely to follow mainstream politics in which elections become a quasi-popularity contest, instead of having those in power actually represent, in this case, what is in the best interests of StFX students.

Some of the lack of involvement from students may stem from the fact that many don’t know what exactly the Students’ Union does, and how much their advocacy, or lack thereof, affects our everyday experience at StFX. The Students’ Union has taken the initiative to recruit volunteers and students at large to try to inform students about the election and the importance of elected Students’ Union representatives, but the tables they’ve set up are few and fairly easy for students to walk past.  Perhaps investment in a website or providing a file to all voters that outline the duties of all Students’ Union positions along with a brief overview of all the candidates for specific positions during elections could remedy the issue and create a more informed campus.

No electoral system or election is perfect, and the Students’ Union elections are no exception. The Students’ Union should seriously contemplate how to increase student engagement in elections, make sure that their bylaws are inclusive, and make sure the electoral system is easy to understand and access. After all, having election results that reflect the interests of the majority are crucial when the Students’ Union is the primary organization advocating for students on issues with university administration, all levels of government, and other societies. 

Juul Tones

Smokers in the new generation

E-cigarettes have been around for years now with Juul taking the helm “with the goal to provide a satisfying alternative for adult smokers” according to their website. Are the effects of an e-cigarette that much lower than regular cigarettes? Current research from publications in the England Public Health suggest no, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t risks.

If burn temperatures are increased there is the risk of what is commonly referred to as a dry puff, where the smoke released is harsher than that of a regular puff. The dry puff occurs when the e-cigarettes are placed at maximum power and puffs are set to last approximately 4-5 seconds; it can also occur when liquid levels are low, and the temperature is high. The liquid in the cigarettes when burned at these high temperatures releases formaldehyde which can be dangerous in large quantities. Seasoned smokers of e-cigarettes know to avoid these harsher puffs, but people who are new to the products may be at risk to inhale.

This is important to note because Juul has become under fire for their targeting of youth, who would have no experience. From young people in their advertisements, to launch parties, social media influencers, flavoured pods and bright colours, these things are what market advisors claim to be associated with targeting younger people. There has been a surge of new young nicotine smokers and although that cannot be directly connected to Juuls, it appears that they are the most prominent e-cigarette on the market which causes suspicion. The dangers of young people not familiar with smoking these devices is real; though they would come to recognize the difference of a dry puff with practice, they will still inhale dangerous chemicals while learning. 

As someone who has never smoked but has lived in multiple households of tobacco chewers and smokers, I can’t speak to the personal benefit of switching from smoking to vaping. I can, however, say that while there isn’t the same lingering stench and thick smoke that once came with cigarettes, there is a distinct smell that goes beyond the different flavours of e-cigarette liquids. It’s artificial smelling, with something akin to essential oils lining the stale water vapor. It does not promote confidence that these are a healthy alternative. I have also witnessed that while the nicotine quantity can be reduced to minimal quantities (even zero) in some devices, the act of smoking often increases drastically because it appears healthier and more puffs are needed to satisfy the nicotine addiction.

The people who smoke these devices also promote it as an aesthetic, a similar tactic used by the big tobacco brands for years. I’ve had people come up to me saying, “Watch what I can do!” and blow smoke rings. The difference being that water vapor is longer lasting than the smoke from cigarettes and it is often used for tricks. Trick competitions have begun and gained sizeable notoriety which only further promotes usage. As we approach the release of shorter long-term studies and we’re seeing early effects of these devices and it is minimal, but it will be years before any conclusive evidence will show what impact these devices have and how we will change our perception of them. 

Artwork: Caleb MacIsaac

These devices are dangerous in my opinion, because we don’t know the long-term effects of the chemicals used, but we do know the effects of things like nicotine. To boot, watching important people in my life increase their puff count and have it so easily switched to cigarettes when drinking alcohol, does not incite confidence that these products have the intended effect. As a preservice teacher, I do see my students, some as early as 12 years old, smoking e-cigarettes and it breaks my heart. Some parents aren’t phased and say “well, it could be cigarettes” as if that excuses the behaviour. Policies have since been implemented banning the devices from schools, but if my youth taught me anything, kids are crafty, and they can always find a work around. It begs the question of companies like Juul, who are under fire: why don’t they release pods that don’t have any nicotine? That way if kids do manage to get a device, they have the option to be nicotine free. The war on drugs was not an effective tool in substance management and educating kids with limited research won’t have the same result to inform, so why not educate them on the substances we are familiar with such as nicotine. By offering them this information, any young people who are smoking can make an informed decision on what they put in their bodies.

From what I have seen, when e-cigarettes are used with the intended purpose and are monitored by users, then they are effective tools to reduce the damages of smoking. I don’t like them, but they are the lesser of two evils.

Moose Hide Campaign

End violence against women and children

The Moose Hide Campaign (MHC) is a movement of Indigenous and non-Indigenous men and boys who are taking a stand to end violence against women and children. The campaign is not limited to men and boys, women and girls are encouraged to wear the moose hide and take roles in the campaign like ceremonial witnesses for events, keynote speakers, and cultural leaders and advisors. 

MHC was started by Paul Lacerte and his daughter Raven in 2011. Lacerte is from Cariboo Clan and the Carrier Nation. 

There are many avenues to participate in the campaign. Wearing a square pin made of leather or non-leather is an option. The Xaverian Weekly will provide pins (leather or non-leather), information about the campaign, and other resources about local services in the newsroom (Room 111D, SUB) each Friday of February from 11am-2pm. 

All moose hide squares come from traditional hunters who hunt moose for food and ceremonial purposes, or from animals who have died in road accidents. No animals are hunted specifically to supply hides for the Moose Hide Campaign. 

The patches are produced with care by Indigenous women who are deeply committed to the protection of women and children and who value the living origins of the patches. Making the patches provides a valuable source of income for the women involved.

Another avenue for participation is the day of fasting and gathering on February 13, 2019. MHC provides a fasting guide for people who are new to the traditional practice. The guide is available in The Xaverian Weekly newsroom where the day’s events on February 13 will be livestreamed. If unable to participate in person, MHC has an online “Pledge Now” button that records a short 45 second video with phone, laptop or tablet. Photos and messages are also accepted as alternatives to video. 

A New Approach to Mental Health

Flourish @ X

When the discipline of psychology began, it was much closer to philosophy than a hard science. Early critics of the field stressed the importance of objectivity, for psychology to ever be taken seriously as a science. Of course, this was a positive change in many ways, as understanding the human mind requires rigorous and replicable study. Yet, there is something profound in the writings of the psychological pioneers like Carl Jung, Abraham Maslow and Viktor Frankl. It is worth questioning where the old approach to psychology may have had merit, and whether anything is being overlooked in the current approach.

In many ways, the relatively new subfield of psychology, Positive Psychology returns to the disciplines roots while maintaining scientific rigor. Though much of modern psychology is focused on retroactively treating those with mental illnesses and disorders, Positive Psychology takes a proactive approach to mental well-being. The study is concerned with identifying what it takes to lead a happy and fulfilled life.

In recent years, some universities across Canada have initiated programs which apply the findings of Positive Psychology to help the general student population maintain mental well-being. Now, StFX has launched a new concept which follows in that spirit. So, I sat down with Ivan Drouin, clinical psychologist here at StFX, to get the low-down about his exciting new project on campus this semester.

The program is called Flourish @ X, and it’s a large-scale approach to self-actualization. It is made up of a variety of events, workshops and informative talks - for students, for free. In Ivan’s words, “Just like we try to have activities to promote a good physical health, we’re trying to now have activities on campus to promote a good mental health.” Currently, the first of many workshops for Flourish @ X are underway focused on mindfulness, stress, and procrastination management. Anyone interested should not delay!

At the core of Flourish @ X is a Positive Psychology literature review of world philosophies and religions which has described 6 “cardinal virtues,” comprised of 24-character strengths which span cross-culturally, and which have direct impact on one’s happiness. Flourish @ X is aimed at helping students identify and develop these character strengths within themselves.

As mentioned previously, workshops are only one small piece to Flourish @ X. In addition, there will be Ted Talk style presentations by students, for students, meeting on the second floor of Mini Moe’s cafe. Ivan elaborates, “That’s kind of the basic of the flourishing program, offering exercises, workshops and events, to promote a better mental health for the students.”

These talks will take place on Tuesdays from five to six o’clock, on February 5, March 5, and April 2. Conversations will revolve around three main topics as of now: 1) Healthy lifestyles, 2) Healthy relationships and 3) Success at X. Presenters will be current students and recent graduates. Anyone interested in giving a talk is encouraged to contact Ivan Druin at idrouin@stfx.ca with a short, half page summary of what they would like to speak about.

Flourish @ X is in practice, but it is still developing. Down the road there may be other offerings like a collective art project, among other things. Ivan recommends that those interested visit the Facebook page, Flourish at StFX, and drop-in on an upcoming workshop. Dates for which include: January 31, February 7 and 14 from 6:30 to 7:15 p.m. in Bloomfield 427.

Where’s Our Flag?

It’s time for StFX to permanently install the Pride flag & the Pan-African flag 

Back in September of 2015 StFX permanently installed the Mi’kmaq flag, which was long overdue. This land was and still is the traditional homeland of the Mi’kmaq people. StFX made the move forward for helping the process of reconciliation and indigenizing this campus with this act. 

On January 7, 2019 the pride flag was raised outside of Morrison hall to celebrate the beginning of pride month here at StFX. It was a very blustery cold day, but still people showed up to show their support and celebrate diversity. Alongside the pride flag sits, the Mi’kmaq, Nova Scotia, and Canadian flag. All of which are permanently installed. I think we can all agree that it’s time for StFX to permanently install the pride flag and Pan-African flag here on campus. 

Bre O’Handley is the Gender and Sexual Diversity Advisor here at StFX. O’Handley is such an important figure on this campus and works tirelessly to make a positive difference on this campus, this university is lucky to have her working here. I asked O’Handley about the pride flag being permanently installed and what it would mean to the LGBTQ+ here on campus and she had this to say, “In the case of the flag at StFX, now that the Mi’kmaq flag is permanently installed, I definitely think the flag flown during African Heritage month should be permanently installed next as StFX has a long history of oppression with those communities. If StFX chose to fly the three flags (including the Pride flag), this would be a sign of respect and support for these communities which still experience discrimination. Flying the pride flag would indicate to students within the LGBTQ+ community that StFX is a space for them and that StFX as an institution acknowledges their presence on campus and welcomes them here. It’s really simple yet a powerful way that StFX can work towards being a more inclusive and welcoming campus to students who have historically been marginalized on campus.” 

O’Handley made a very important point in her statement, the flag flown during African Heritage month should also be permanently installed. 

February 1 will mark the beginning of African heritage month here at StFX, in which the Pan-African flag will also be raised for the month. I spoke with Summer-joy Upshaw, who is the Representative of Student of African Descent and asked her the similar question of why the Pan-African flag needs to be permanently installed at StFX. 

“The importance of representation across our campus lies solely in the diversity of the people we represent. Being situated on a campus that is the home to many diverse backgrounds and cultures means that it is important to devote the utmost effort into accurately representing these cultures in an equitable and prosperous way.” 

“The celebration of any group of individuals holds such a powerful impact that can only strengthen bonds of solidarity amongst social and cultural groups. Given that we are experiencing a time of extreme advocacy, on the behalf of many marginalized, stigmatized and oppressed groups, it only seems appropriate that our campus do its due diligence and continue creating an inclusive and culturally enriched environment for all that study here. The installment of a Pan-African flag holds extreme importance to me as I, myself, self-identify as African-Nova Scotian. Being the Representative for Students of African Descent on this campus, I witness many instances of injustice that still continue to affect our people.” 

“I find it extremely crucial to continue advocating on behalf of my constituents, as equitable outcomes for all, on all planes, is a basic human right. With the installment of a Pan-African flag comes triumph and satisfaction. This flag not only symbolizes the great obstacles that our people have overcome, but it also gives acknowledgement to the point that regardless of the hardships we have been faced as a people, we have overcome it, and for that, we are resilient. The Pan-African flag is an emblem of strength and courage and deserves nothing more than to be flown high above our campus grounds in recognition of all of our African peoples.” 

This institution prides itself and always expressed how it’s a very inclusive campus and a positive space for everyone no matter their race, sexuality, gender or religion. It does not take much to install these flags, but what they mean to the individuals that identity with these flags means everything. 

It does not matter how much the university advertise words about inclusivity, words do not mean anything if no action is taken. University is hard, no matter what year of study you are in, or what one’s program is. The last thing that anyone would want to feel is not supported or the feeling of not being welcome. These flags represent parts of people identities, and how far they’ve had to come in life to get where they are today. 

It’s 2019 and it’s time for StFX to make room for the Pride flag and the Pan-African flag outside of Morrison hall permanently.