Vancouver Island University • Student Press Vol 44 • Issue 08 • Jan. 09 – Jan. 22 137 • 07 • • 17 • • 21 • “IDLE NO MORE” CAPTURING THE ESSENCE PORTAL DEADLINE OF CANADA “Idle No More” is a Canadian First Na- The National Hockey League entered its The deadline for the 2013 issue of tions protest movement, which started in third work stoppage in just two decades on Portal magazine is approaching fast. response to Bill C-45, an omnibus bill that Sept. 15, 2012, putting the season on hold Jan. 11, at 11:59 p.m., is the cut-off overhauled the Navigable Waters Protection as hockey’s doomsday clock struck midnight for students to submit their works. Act. First Nations feel that this bill threat- with no last-minute resolution. ens First Nations’ sovereignty over water. THE NAV Vol. 44 Issue 8 •Contents• NEWS SPORTS & FEATURES ARTS ENTERTAINMENT • 03 • Editorials • 09 • • 17 • • 22 • • 04 • Promise rings as Portal deadline Jan. 11 Capturing the essence of Canada ambiguous as romantic Letters for many students Mother Mother at The Port • 23 • • 05 • Theatre Around the Rink • 10 • “Idle No More” interview with • 18 • Jesse Recalma Do you speak the real French? Mariners in a minute Lana Del Rey New Year’s day polar bear swim • 11 • BC Summer Games • 19 • coming to Nanaimo Virtual classroom: education • 06 • on YouTube New Music 2013 Canada: • 24 • The Belle Game Study warns of smartphone • 12 • Blue Jays transformed to addiction • 20 • World Series favourites Spirituality on Tap: Part 1: Local circus performer gives “Spiritual But Not Religious” Out of the Blue and Beyond the Register for ski trips, back to disadvantaged children Black Rainbow ice hockey this semester Creamy fig balsamic vinaigrette • 07 • The Hobbit at 48 frames per • 25 • second Five cringe worthy news sto- • 13 - 16 • Get your head in the game ries of 2012 Apocalypse, soon • 21 • • 08 • The Navigator: a year in review Living With Monsters Colliery Dam’s New Year’s resolution HITCHCOCK VIU to host trades training and community careers dialogue Roll Call Gareth Boyce Ashwani Sinha Meagan Dyer Taralyn Cooper Amanda Key EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Production Manager President Sports Editor Graphic Designer [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Kaitlyn Till Emily Olesen Lynne Williams Délani Valin Jeremy Unrau Senior Copy Editor Graphic Designer Associate Editor News Editor Bookkeeper [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Christine Franic Mady Ritzker Zoe Lauckner Jake Buhrig Jennifer Fink Art Director Copy Editor Business & Ads Manager Arts Editor Web Editor [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Darian Hart Ad Sales [email protected] The Navigator welcomes reader contributions Guest Contributors All submissions must be original work of the author. Editors reserve the right to refuse submissions, and Délani Valin Jacqueline Gallant to edit for space or clarity. To submit, check our <www.thenav.ca> or email <[email protected]> Michael Lidstone (CUP) Letters to the editor should be no more than 400 words in length. The Navigator does not pay for letters. Mathew Snowie Daryl Gallinger (CUP) Opinions expressed in the Navigator are expressly those of the author and/or artist and do not Caitlin Olesen Cole Guenter (CUP) reflect the views of the Navigator staff. BJ Bruder Giséle Merlet Timothy Lewis Kyle Lanelier Kayla Byrne (CUP) Samantha Braun (CUP) 900 Fifth Street • Bld. 193, Rm. 217 • Nanaimo, BC V9R 5S5 • T: 250-753-2225 • F: 250-753-2257 • 02 • Vol. 44 • Issue 8 • Jan. 09 – Jan. 22 • THE NAVIGATOR THE NAV EDITORIALS Gareth Boyce Editor-In-Chief Give me the Walking safe the Navigator Nanaimo is not a pedestrian-friendly town. bad news first I walk where I need to go on a daily basis because I do not have my driver’s license, Limping over the line into 2013, world and nor do I want it. However, this means news is bleak as usual. At the forefront are that I am putting myself in danger on a dai- headlines on gun violence and the narrow ly basis as well. avoidance of the “fiscal cliff” south of the This is not new. Upon researching border, and the death toll in Syria. Every pedestrians or cyclists who have been hit new year seems to bring more doom and gloominess—as it would appear accord- by vehicles in Nanaimo, it became clear to Kaitlyn Till ing to the media, anyway. However, there me that this problem is systemic, and in no Associate Editor way unique to our little slice of paradise. the Navigator are certainly some stories with positive and In the last three months alone there have promising outcomes leading us into 2013. been at least three instances of pedestrians In Vancouver just before the new year, a or cyclists being hit. In some cases, the fault lay directly at the feet of those struck, in 13-year-old autistic boy walked away from his home and disappeared over the sub- others, it is less clear. Instead of laying blame, though, I argue that it is important to zero Sunday night. Police searched for him throughout the city overnight, putting look at why these events happen in the first place. out the word. On the morning of Dec. 31 he was found unharmed on a trail near Let me tell you a story of my average day, when VIU is in session at any rate. UBC. I get up, do my morning routine, and head out the door for the University. I walk The “Idle No More” movement for aboriginal rights continues to gain support— there. I take as many side paths as I can, avoiding as many busy streets as possible— there have been rallies in Texas, Hawaii, and New Zealand and the stories continues my end goal being to evade vehicles entirely. However, many of the side streets I take to grace headlines. have no sidewalk, or if they do it will only be for a portion of the road, and then the The latest oil rig incident in Alaska is currently reported as not having resulted in sidewalk is simply gone. In many cases I end up crossing the street where there is no a leak. And apparently, the NHL and the players’ association reached an agreement crosswalk. during the early hours of Jan. 6, but (speaking as a hockey fan) it has been so long I’m sure you’re wondering why I don’t simply bus, or carpool. The reasons for and ridiculous that I can barely care anymore. my decision to walk are threefold: I don’t own a driver’s license, I enjoy walking, and Well, those are all half-promising anyway—stories of negative events that turned I do my best to help the environment whenever I can, and walking as opposed to out well in the end or have a whiff of positive change about them. The reality of bussing is a way to do that. I also don’t like being constrained to the schedules of news and journalism is that drama, chaos, and uncertainty are the bread and butter the bus system in this town, which have, in the past, been less than beneficial. The of the business. We look for the problems, the absences, and the disappointments, bus schedules have improved dramatically since I first moved here 20 years ago, but and that’s what we write about with the objective to reveal and inform. But there’s they are still not perfect. When taking the bus, I find that I am either going to be 20 that moment when as a writer (universally true for journalists, fiction writers, and minutes early or 10 minutes late. so on) we hear of something unfortunate—a bad statistic, a sad story, and think yes. I should be safe, right? I take side streets, paths, and usually use crosswalks. I That is what I will write about—and there is a certain amount of relief that goes with look both ways, and even when wearing headphones, do my best to ensure I am fully the bad news because that means that this is a story that people will be interested in. aware of all that is transpiring around me. Yet despite all the precautions I take, and Then there is that brief, immensely guilty moment where we realize that the reaction the amount of thought I put into my route, I am almost hit by oncoming traffic on is not about someone else’s misfortune, but about our fortune for having that story a daily basis. to write about. The big reasons I see for this are in the design of the city, and the lack of pro- It’s easy to get lost in and even desensitized to the bad news—which calls for a tection offered to pedestrians: sidewalks ending without warning, crosswalks often trip to the World Gratitude Map. (Found at <gratitude.crowdmap.com/>.) Anyone placed several hundred metres away from one another to ensure the quick flow of can pin what they’re grateful for on their location and read what others are grateful traffic. Stop lights are designed for the same reasons, and pedestrian crossings often for around the world. Yes, it gets a bit tiresome after a few minutes of clicking on feel like an afterthought. A good example of such a situation would be the traffic “thank you’s” and “I love my kids” but some notes of thanks become more specific lights on the Old Island Highway adjacent to Terminal Park Mall.