In anticipation of a festival-filled summer with great music and hopefully better fashion, here is a brief list of festival fashion do’s and don’ts.

DO connect with your vintage roots. Music festivals evoke an old-school feeling that can be expressed through a variety of great style choices. Here’s an opportunity to wear that awesome retro band shirt you found at an overpriced vintage store or that hippie fringe vest you stole from your mom’s closet.

There is probably no better occasion to let your hair down and express your inner flower child or rock and roll god/goddess. After all, when else will you have the excuse to sport hippie head bands, flower crowns and fanny-packs all at the same time?

Just don't dress like this, whatever you do (photo Kai Jacobson/The Ubyssey).

DON’T advertise your love of acid trips through your choice of chapeau. For the love of all things aesthetically pleasing, can we please address the SpiritHood?! These handmade, faux-fur hat/scarf combos (available in wild roadkill varieties such as hawk, leopard, wolf…and yes, panda bear) are a fashion choice that cause even the most style-blind individuals to stare in confusion.

If the ridiculousness of a stuffed animal resting on your head doesn’t deter you, perhaps the problematic marketing of the “Navajo spirit” should raise some alarms.

Not only are these hats offensive to the eyes, they are actually offensive to the cultures they claim to express. You will not embody the spirit of the owl. You are not a wolf. You are just a fool who shelled out $150 to look like a hybrid teddy bear.

DO try something funky in denim. Music festivals are a perfectly appropriate environment to shed your everyday jeans and don a pair of cutoff shorts instead. Denim allows you to express your inner wild child, so channel some Nirvana or Courtney Love.

Whether you shred them, embroider them or stud them, you can’t go wrong; 90s grunge, in the form of oversized denim jackets and acid washed jeans, is definitely coming back in style.

Paired with flip-flops for the California surfer look, or with combat boots for a more punk-rock twist, denim is a versatile and incredibly comfortable style choice for those long, hazy festival days.

DON’T dress like a glowstick. Avoid the highlighter tees and the sunglasses at night. This is not A Night at the Roxbury and you are not fooling anyone, “bro.” While those who enjoy their hallucinogens might express their inner National Geographic, festival “bros” seeking heavy basslines and techno anthems stick out like a sore…jaw?

And ladies, never ever get caught in a photo with a pacifier. The 90s are over, and so is your infancy. Let the raves RIP.

DON’T get a Skrillex haircut. This “techno-mullet” is not only passé, but really quite hideous. The fact that you like the sound of robots copulating with the occasional T. Rex shriek followed by a “siiiick bass drop” does not need to be advertised on your head. In fact, all that your patchy scalp brings to mind is the hair-clipper prank in Jackass. Don’t cut it off…Just cut it out.

Armed with these fashion guidelines, you can now go dance your heart out in the sunshine, confident that you look as great as you feel. Let the festival fun begin!

Bill C-30 is the lawful access legislation proposed by current minister of public safety Vic Toews. The bill is also known as the Investigating and Preventing Criminal Electronic Communications Act or Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act and it’s a complex, 100-page piece of legislation that outlines changes to access to digital information by the RCMP, police, and government agencies such as the Canadian Security Intelligence Society and Communications Security Establishment Canada.

The next move for the bill is unclear. The Conservatives seem to be responding to public backlash against C-30. However, most critics believe this important piece of legislation won’t be on the backburner for long.

Nexus talked about the bill with Chris Parsons, PhD candidate in the political science department at the University of Victoria, and Michael Geist, the Canada research chair in internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa. Parsons also worked at the University of Guelph doing network security and management, while Geist is a respected columnist who writes extensively about technology law issues. Here they help explain Bill C-30 and the implications it would have on Canadian society.

(Graphic by Jessica Tai)

1. What happens to your information?

Currently under Canadian law, police and RCMP officers are allowed to approach Internet and telecommunications service providers (ISPs and TSPs) for subscriber information, and the service providers have the option to share this information, which is usually only done in rare circumstances to aid in an ongoing investigation. If the service providers don’t feel comfortable sharing information about their customers for any reason, they can refuse.

What some find disturbing is that although the title of the bill implies it will apply to serious crimes, the surveillance techniques could be applied to anyone. According to Geist, this is going to create an extensive surveillance infrastructure that doesn’t exist right now, because those authorized will be able to demand information about anyone, at any time, and without a warrant.

“Obviously, it does apply to crimes, but it can be applied in much broader ways as well,” says Geist, “and that’s unquestionably one of the big concerns that has arisen. If we’re serious about dealing with these [privacy] issues, then the bill could limit the law specifically to criminal activity, which is something we don’t have right now.”

Beyond the powers of lawful access, those authorized would also have the authority to inspect service providers to make sure they are using surveillance as directed. Under Section 14, “[The bill] even goes so far as to allow the state to install its own surveillance technology, directly at private ISPs,” says Geist.

2. Will your privacy be protected?

Privacy protection by ISPs and other web-based services is a controversial topic. Many of us just click “agree” when privacy policies pop up and don’t think about it again. Most of those policies do outline circumstances when a company will release your data, but with ISPs it’s generally only in extreme circumstances, as mentioned above. The information shared is usually things like address, phone number, and name. But with increased monitoring, a person’s subscriber information would likely be more revealing, including things like browser history and emails.

Under Bill C-30, the privacy agreements would change radically. Section 487.0195 exempts ISPs and TSPs from both criminal and civil liability for voluntarily giving away any and all of their customers’ information to police or government agencies.

“It opens the door to ISPs engaging in all sorts of activities without any kind of liability,” says Geist. “That’s not to say every ISP’s going to do it, but especially a small local ISP would want to be seen as helpful with law enforcement, and they might engage in all sorts of activities. This bill really seeks to encourage them to do that, by providing them with this statutory immunity.”

3. Vulnerable information 

One of the risks that comes with setting up the types of real-time interception and storage capacities outlined in C-30 is that the network opens itself to certain security vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities are what allows the third-party access to the information, but could potentially be exploited by hackers. One of Parsons’ concerns is that smaller ISPs will be more susceptible to outside forces.

“Not to besmirch any of Canada’s ISPs, but there is a difference in the kind of technical and security resourcing that, say, a Rogers, Bell, Shaw, or Telus can bring into their lawful access environments, and an ISP that’s only serving 5,000 or 10,000 people,” says Parsons. “There’s a better chance that they just might not have staff on hand that have the same level of expertise you might get in a multibillion dollar corporation.”

Beyond the threat of hackers, Parsons outlines concerns that networks could have with employees who would be trusted with all this sensitive information.

“You have to make sure the people on the insides, the administrators, are equally trustworthy,” he says. “And you have to ensure that there’s no way for them to circumvent auditing mechanisms, no way for them to basically use the powers at their fingertips. Most instances of hacking actually tend to start from the inside with a disgruntled employee, or an employee that’s bought, or just an employee who’s suggested to look the other way.”

4. Insufficient oversight

Both Geist and Parsons feel that effective oversight regulations of the authorities are key in any kind of surveillance law. Geist says that although Bill C-30 does have some oversights and reporting mechanisms, they don’t go far enough.

“We’ve seen some suggest, and I think it’s a good idea, that we need a surveillance commissioner, one that extends beyond what a privacy commissioner might do, to focus more specifically on these issues,” he says.

Parsons agrees that there needs to be a series of checks and balances when this kind of blanket power is given to the state, and has done extensive research on the oversight system in Europe.

“It’s really critical that we have not just insight into how many times they use these powers, but why,” says Parsons. “How many times do they screw up? Not necessarily by malice, but certainly in the UK, if you look at their examples, you get amazing numbers of inaccuracies, just because someone hit a four instead of a three. Routine clerical-style errors will lead to inappropriate uses of the technology. But one of the reasons we know what we do in the UK, is because they have a third-party, independent, resourced commissioner keeping track of this information.”

5. Social impacts of surveillance

“Most Canadians probably lead fairly mundane lives. They’re not generally that concerned if the police monitor what they do because they have nothing to hide. But that misses a lot,” says Parsons. In his opinion, citizens will pay for their own surveillance in one way or another.

“It will create a culture or environment of concern,” he says. “I don’t think it leads to trust between citizenry.”

More significantly, though, he feels that most Canadians don’t quite understand how contemporary policing functions.

“They start using open-source techniques, pulling together who are you, who are you speaking to, who they are speaking to, and in that way they start developing communities of interest,” says Parsons.

So what does this mean in terms of digital surveillance?

“It means that if you’re speaking with me and the police think that I’m someone of interest, those who I communicate with, who are marginally involved in projects I’m involved in, all of a sudden they get tied to me somehow,” says Parsons. “There’s an implication on them, just by associating with me. And so if you want to ensure that you don’t fall under police surveillance, or you’re not looked at by intelligence or whoever else, then you have to start thinking, ‘Do I really want to talk to that person?’”

6. Intelligence appropriate 

According to Parsons, the majority of the information collected by ISPs under C-30 is more suited to intelligence gathering than solving serious crimes.

“For the low-hanging fruit they might catch some more child pornographers [under C-30],” he says. “But they’re far more likely to start monitoring other ‘extremist’ statements and comments. We can’t forget that days before C-30 was introduced, environmental groups, such as Greenpeace, were identified as extremist.”

Greenpeace, PETA, some First Nations groups, anti-capitalists, and others have been labelled extremist by the Conservative government. The political implications are strong and apply to a huge range of people.

“If you’re a journalist, and you’re doing work on a controversial story, you can imagine concern about protecting your sources,” says Parsons. “You [would] really need to start doing things like going to land lines, or going back to the few remaining public telephone booths, or just meeting face-to-face.”

The issue with the majority of information that could be gathered is that, although these topics may be politically sensitive, they don’t usually involve crimes, especially of a serious nature.

Parsons believes C-30 will without a doubt lead to more arrests, but the truly serious criminals will always remain one step ahead of police.

“When we’re talking serious organized crime, the real bad guys, they’re savvy,” he says. “They’ve been fighting this fight for a long time. What law enforcement is asking for now is unlikely to catch up.”

7. What will be required of ISPs?

If Bill C-30 is passed, ISPs will be required to dramatically update their networks, both technically and on a security level.

“All networks will be required to allow for real-time surveillance, to intercept communications, to isolate communications to a particular individual, and to engage in multiple simultaneous interceptions,” says Geist.

ISPs and TSPs will also be subject to inspection by the state to ensure their capabilities meet the standards outlined in the bill, and will have to file a report if they acquire new technologies.

Beyond that, employees involved in communication interception and access at an ISP or a TSP will be subject to RCMP background checks.

“If you’re to be a citizen working for, say, Facebook, or Rogers, or whoever, the notion that you’re going to have to get security screening in order to do the job you were hired to do, I think many people would find that invasive and offensive,” says Parsons.

8. Cost

The estimated cost of Bill C-30 by the Public Safety Commissioner is $80 million over the first four years, and about seven million per year after that.

Both Geist and Parsons have doubts about that estimate, and feel the bill would likely end up costing Canada more, at least as it’s tabled right now.

“If we look at the experience in other jurisdictions, I think that massively understates the actual costs,” says Geist. “That’s also only the cost on the surveillance infrastructure side. This will actually bring in all sorts of new costs. Where ISPs comply with requests for information they’ll be able to charge for it. So we’re talking about significant costs that at the end of the day the public is going to have to pay, whether it’s in the way of higher taxes or by way of higher fees to ISPs.”

Parsons says it’s possible to implement Bill C-30 for what the government estimates, but there wouldn’t be much point.

“You could do this on the cheap; it’s possible. It wouldn’t be very effective, but you could do it,” he says. “Or, you could do it in a very professional way, in which case we’re going to blow past $80 million dollars in a year.”

9. The case of the missing regulations

Geist, Parsons, and others who have studied Bill C-30 say there are many unspecified regulations. Section 64, in particular, has many scratching their heads. This section of the bill gives cabinet the power to fill in the blanks after the bill has passed, when it wouldn’t be subject to a review or vote.

“What it’s done is left out a lot of the details and the implementation of the legislation remains an unknown,” says Geist. “It leaves so many different issues to regulation, so that in terms of trying to really effectively judge what the government’s got in mind, it’s very tough to do when they’re not telling you what they’re planning.”

Among the missing regulations are things like what, exactly, in terms of equipment and staff, ISPs and TSPs will need to do to comply with the new regulations. Other things, like cost, have also been left out. As a majority government, the Conservatives have the power to pass the bill as is, leaving the door open for quick changes down the road.

“They’re in a position to add a lot of meat on the bones, so to speak,” says Geist, “and do it without having to go through the House of Commons for approval again; it happens just at cabinet level.”

Parsons says this situation isn’t entirely abnormal for such a complicated bill, but that this piece of legislation is particularly important.

“This has the capability of reshaping the internet in Canada as we know it,” he says. “I don’t want that left to regulators, or to administrative panels. This needs to be front and centre in the debate, and it’s absolutely inappropriate for the government to try and hide it or move it away to the back stage.”

10. Is Bill C-30 really needed?

According to Geist, the biggest issue with Bill C-30 is that, in his opinion, a sufficient case hasn’t been made by law enforcement that this bill is even necessary.

“The issue is whether or not law enforcement is in a position, based on the current rules, to deal with [online crime], and if they’re not, is that a function of the rules, is that a function of a lack of resources, or is it a function of a lack of knowledge of how to deal with these issues?” asks Geist. “There may be many factors behind the challenges faced by law enforcement. But enacting Bill C-30 doesn’t really move the ball forward on those very much.”

She goes to class and does her assignments, just like any other student.

She never realized that with her most recent assignment she would start such a controversial cultural discussion that ultimately saw her art being damaged and improperly removed from a class display.

Sooraya Graham's work, which was returned to her damaged after being removed from the fine arts wing by an offended viewer. The work has since been returned to the TRU campus display (image courtesy of Sooraya Graham).

Coming from Northern B.C., Graham is a Canadian Muslim and a fourth-year fine arts student.

Like many other artists, all she wanted to do was foster discussion using her artwork.

With the events that have transpired since she first displayed her work, Graham has people talking not only at TRU, but also throughout Kamloops.

“People think I am so foreign, so different and they can’t relate to me somehow,” Graham said. “But at the same time, I’m just like an every-other-day Canadian girl. I do the same things, I wear the same things just underneath [the veil].”

Graham’s art depicts a Muslim woman holding a bra.

The woman in the piece is wearing a niqab, the traditional veil or cloth that many Muslim women adorn to cover their face.

“With my artwork, I was trying to create a discussion point for Muslim women, for veiled women and to kind of show light of how we are just normal women,” Graham said.

“I wanted to have an image that displayed something that every woman could relate to.”

Graham completed the class assignment and with the help of professor Ernie Kroeger, she displayed her work alongside other classmates’ assignments within the fine arts department on TRU campus.

Shortly after the work was put on display, it came to Graham’s attention that the piece had been removed from the wall upon which it was hung.

“We’re always told that our voice is important and that we can say something with our art,” Graham said. “It is shocking when someone tries to silence that.”

After contacting the chair of the fine arts department, Lloyd Bennett, Graham was informed that a business card had been left behind in place of the art.

The card belonged to a staff member at TRU World, and she was shocked at that revelation.

“I did not expect to hear that,” Graham said. “I thought maybe [it was] someone who would not understand [the artwork] versus someone who is expected to show a different type of behaviour.”

According to TRU administration, the artwork was not taken down in an official capacity.

“There was an individual that was offended and she took the artwork down,” said Christopher Seguin, vice-president of advancement for TRU.

“That TRU World staff member was acting on an individual basis.”

The artwork was eventually returned to Graham, though not unconditionally.

“The person [who removed the art] had gotten in contact with Lloyd and they had my image,” Graham said. “They weren’t willing to give it to me if I was going to put it back on the wall. They were holding it hostage, I guess you could say.”

In an ironic twist, this development was right in line with the motivation that Graham had when she was initially inspired to create the piece.

“With art, there is always going to be a little controversy,” Graham said.

“You can dislike it, you can argue about it, but to physically get in contact with an art piece and rip it down and destroy it, that is such an invasion of my personal space as an artist — to have someone censor what I can do.”

According to Seguin, it was more miscommunication than censorship that resulted in Graham’s work being removed from the wall.

“In no way did TRU at any point want to censor an artistic piece of work,” Seguin said. “We honestly thought it was a poster being tagged up on a board that we had to investigate.”

The only question involved with that assertion is that Graham’s artwork is much larger than the size of a standard U.S. letter-sized poster and was hung as a part of a class display of visual arts assignments.

The question remains as to how it could be mistaken for a poster to begin with.

The TRU World staff member responsible for removing the artwork was unavailable for comment.

Graham wears the niqab as a personal choice.

She believes that some people in Canada have the misconception that women who wear the niqab are somehow oppressed or forced into doing so. That is a part of what motivates her art.

“In a lot of Western media, you often see the veiled woman as oppressed, or as a fundamentalist, or this pacifistic woman,” Graham said.

“And that’s not the case. I think it’s something that needs to be broken as a stereotype.”

The wearing of the niqab started as a Bedouin tradition, originally being more of an upper-class, Middle Eastern tradition as opposed to just an Islamic tradition.

In general, the niqab is not enforced — it is merely a choice, part of what Graham wanted to shed light on.

“I am a huge activist for naqabi rights … I think it should be a choice for any individual,” Graham said. “I don’t think women should be forced to wear the veil, but I don’t think women should be forced not to wear the veil either.

“I’m just saddened that individuals decided that they did not like this discussion and that they did not want to participate in this discussion,” Graham said. “They wanted to take it right off the table, or the wall.”

Graham explained she uses her art to try to give a voice to the Muslim woman.

“That’s part of being Canadian; it’s to create a discussion point. If we stopped talking about things just because we don’t like it or it makes us feel uncomfortable, we would get nowhere,” she said.

“This is such a multicultural country and I had pride seeing that veiled woman up on the wall because it did create discussion in my classes, and I was able to explain more about the veil and the history of the veil.”

As of April 2, Graham’s artwork had been returned to the display in the TRU Art Gallery.

Their songs pummelled the unfortunately small crowd with crunchy, discordant riffs, scorched earth screaming, and thundering drums. While the band was definitely heavy enough to appease the most hardcore headbangers, they seamlessly weaved psychedelic synths and trippy vocal samples into their metal onslaught.

All Else Fails played a killer set to a sparse crowd recently in Victoria (photo provided).

It was disheartening to see that Logan’s had all but emptied after the opening band, Two Years After and Counting, who gave a solid enough performance. Their fairly standard metal fare was supplemented by their undeniable stage presence; they really knew how to get the crowd moving.

The size of the crowd of remaining diehards must have been deflating for the headliners, who brought an impressive array of All Else Fails merch and were raring to go onstage as the openers played.  Those who did stick around were treated to an unforgettable night.

All Else Fails is a band that epitomizes all that is right with heavy music today, defying the mainstream while remaining accessible, and fearlessly experimenting with unconventional styles and sounds. All Else Fails could gain a steady following outside of Alberta and be heard across North America, if only more people would come out to their shows. In the meantime, check out their album, Oracle, What Was, Is, and Could Have Been, for some essential listening.

Hawksley Workman's The God That Comes debuts at Uno (photo provided).

“We’re honored to be able to present a performer of Hawksley Workman’s caliber and give Victoria a first glimpse at this new work-in-progress,” says Uno’s artistic director Janet Munsil. “There definitely seems to be a lot of excitement building about this show amongst our audiences and fans of Hawksley’s music. The tickets have just gone on sale, but I think that The God that Comes will be one of the most popular shows this year and hopefully a chance for music audiences to experience a whole new kind of live show than what they are used to.”

Other Uno Fest highlights this year include a fifth performance of festival favourite Jake’s Gift, as well as Canterbury Cocktails, winner of best spoken word performance at last year’s Fringe Festival. Uno also features plays by locals Dave Morris (Phone Booth), Michael Delamont (God Is a Scottish Drag Queen), and Andrew Bailey (The Adversary), among others, continuing the Uno tradition of nurturing local theatre talent.

“An important part of Uno Fest is presenting new work by local, emerging artists alongside the work of Canada’s most established performance artists,” explains Munsil. “We have an excellent batch of local talent in the festival this year as well as some exciting UnoWorks shows… UnoWorks has become an important vehicle for fostering new work development in Victoria and has also given UnoWorks artists an opportunity to premiere their finished works the next year at the festival.”

Speaking of homegrown performance artists, Uno will see the launch of Press>Play, a series of four site-specific audio monologues commissioned by Intrepid Theatre as part of the Victoria 150 Anniversary Celebrations.

Other Uno Fest performers hail from Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, and Australia. Tickets for Uno Fest range from $16-$25 per show, or $65 for a five-show pass. Check out intrepidtheatre.com/uno-fest-2012 for more information and a complete schedule.

According to Albert van Akker, program leader of the college’s architectural trades and carpentry program, the college’s targeting of the LSP in its 2012/2013 budget cuts could have long-lasting ramifications for student who used the services to learn how to study properly, manage their time, and strengthen academic weaknesses.

“This is a program that is vital for a lot of the students,” says van Akker, “and if they can’t get the type of service that the learning skills team has been providing, it is going to be the difference; they are simply not going to be able to succeed.”

Every year roughly 100 Interurban trades students attend the workshops that learning skills counsellor Zack Zajchowski holds. He also sees approximately 50 trades students for one-on-one appointments.

“You do have to have your theory underpinning your practise; students do have to do the paper and pen types of tests and so the Learning Skills becomes a piece that is needed,” says Zajchowski.

Many students used the college's learning skills program (photo courtesy Camosun College).

Camosun is trying to offset the college’s current debt of $2.5 million by making staff reductions and program cuts to the tune of $500,000. The college claims that the programs affected, such as the Applied Communication Program, were those with least student impact.

“The Learning Skills reduction contributed approximately $220,000 to the overall reduction target,” says Nicole Greengoe, director, student services and registrar. “All decisions regarding reductions within student services were exceedingly difficult to make and were made within the context of how many students would the reduction impact, what risks were associated with the reduction, and how would the targeted reductions influence our ability to conduct mission critical business for students and for the college?”

Van Akker stresses that students who previously used learning skills services are going to be at an academic disadvantage now because many don’t have proper study techniques, which can drastically affect grades and eventual wages.

“These people are potentially being marginalized to a lower income for a much longer portion of their career,” says van Akker, “or their entire career because they can’t advance, get through the training, and get the certification that’s going to allow them to command a journeyman rate.”

It is unlikely that LSP would be reintroduced anytime soon, but according to Greengoe it may be considered if the budget ever permits.

“It goes without saying that we are very, very saddened by the reduction to Learning Skills and those employees who deliver this service, and we very much hope that we will be able to reintroduce learning skills services and courses should our budgets and/or strategic priorities allow,” says Greengoe.

According to Zajchowski, the learning skills program at Interurban is well known amongst similar programs across the country.

“We are a flagship of learning skills across Canada,” claims Zajchowski, “and even outside the country.”

The documentary Leaving Fear Behind, filmed by Dhondup Wangchun, is currently on the road with help from Amnesty International and the Canada-Tibet Committee. Wangchun, whose wife has been presenting the film on the tour, was put behind bars in March of 2008 by the Chinese government in connection with his filming.

The documentary, which screens in Victoria tonight, details Tibet’s feelings about the Chinese occupation of Tibet and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“When it was announced that China would host the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Wangchun, along with many other Tibetans, was enraged and decided to travel abroad to Chinese-occupied Tibet to record and report the observations of how Tibetans felt about China being given the world stage when conditions are so bad in Tibet because of the Chinese regime,” says Judy Tethong, president of the Canada-Tibet Committee.

A scene from Leaving Fear Behind (photo provided).

Prior to filming Leaving Fear Behind, Wangchun left his family in Dharamsala because their lives could be in danger in Tibet if he got caught.

“Before Wangchun was captured, a Tibetan woman from England who was attending university in Beijing secretly traveled to the southern part of China to meet Wangchun and collect the raw footage he filmed,” says Tethong. “She handed it over to a flight attendant friend who got it out of China before the Public Security Bureau of China could get a hold of it.”

Tethong says China overtaking Tibet isn’t a prominent subject in international media because it’s such a dominant country in global economy and world trade.

“Some Tibetans are taking their own lives in demonstration of all the atrocities that the Chinese are putting them through,” says Tethong, “while others are risking their lives by fleeing through the Tibetan mountains to escape the Chinese regime.”

The film is being toured through Canada and the US, including lobbying at Parliament Hill and Capitol Hill in hopes to free Wangchun.

Leaving Fear Behind
7 pm, Tuesday, May 8th
James Bay New Horizons (234 Menzies Street)
Admission by donation

A furor has sprung up over the ending of the game, with detractors claiming that the conclusion doesn’t respect the themes set up by the preceding two games and dashes the notion of player choice, one of the key tenets of the series.

There’s been ongoing outcry for BioWare to change the ending to the game to satisfy the demands of its fans, but in doing so would they sacrifice their artistic integrity? While video games are ultimately made for purchase, there’s still an artist’s statement in the product and it’s the combined work of a studio full of talented people.

Campaigns to change Mass Effect 3 have been ongoing.

Because video games are such an interactive medium, as opposed to books and movies, some gamers believe they are well within their rights to request that the ending be changed.

Regardless of the input needed from the player, most modern video games are still designed to tell a specific story, and the user is just there to push it along. Sure, there’s fun to be had along the way, but games are so carefully play-tested and designed these days that there isn’t much room for deviation.

Video game designers have a set path they want players to go on, and the story is part of that. Even a game like Mass Effect, which is one of the few games where players can influence the storyline, still has an overarching plot beyond the control of the gamer.

That said, the vocal segment of the fan base that wants the ending to be changed claim that because they’ve invested so much time and energy into the games that BioWare should change the ending to alleviate the disappointment the ending caused.

As patrons of BioWare’s craft, shouldn’t gamers have a say in this matter? Movies are sometimes test-screened with multiple endings and the one that makes it into the theater is based on audience feedback, so why should video games be any different?

Well, the problem is that the medium is still in its relative infancy and the process of making a game is much more complicated than making a movie. The story is written months or even years in advance of making the game and there’s a complicated collection of codes and art assets that needs to be built before the game can even take shape.

While people have a right to complain when they’re unsatisfied with their video game purchase, asking a studio to change the ending of a game is rather unprecedented and, when it comes down to it, nearly impossible.

“Victoria is one of our favourite cities in the world and we’re pulling out all the stops,” says Symons. “We’ll be talking about growing green and black tea in BC, a topic we are very stoked about. We’ll also be discussing ways to grow greener at home, for example, how to turn your yard into an entirely edible oasis, including growing olives and figs.”

The authors of Sow Simple get their hands dirty (photo submitted).

Symons, who says they’ll also be teaching people how to make free plants with easy propagation tips and homemade “magic willow juice,” says that students interested in starting gardening should “just go for it,” and start off with herbs as they are low maintenance and less susceptible to pests than other garden plants.

“Plant vegetables that you love to eat, and you will enjoy gardening even more,” she says. “Trees are a wonderful choice if you have ample room; they are a great way to commemorate someone special, celebrate a birthday or mark a special occasion, such as graduation.”

Planting trees? This is all good and dandy for people who have time on their hands and plenty of space, although the reality is that students often have neither. But Symons says that’s not a problem.

“If you don’t have a lot of room, you can grow a mini-potager—a tiny kitchen or herb garden—in a simple recycled nursery pot from the garden centre,” she says. “Don’t be afraid to grow veggies and even berries in pots. Potatoes, raspberries, and blueberries all grow well on balconies. And if you don’t have a balcony, consider growing micro-greens—baby greens such as arugula, broccoli and pea shoots—on your windowsill, or even on a tabletop. A community garden plot is also a great idea.”

Christina Symons and John Gillespie
6:30 pm, Thursday, May 3
Dig This, 636 Fort Street
Free

2 pm, Saturday May 5
Cannor Nursery, 4660 Elk Lake Drive
Free

The event, which takes place at the Interurban campus from 8:30 am until 3 pm, will ask visitors from the community, including approximately 1,500 students from 15 Vancouver Island high schools, to participate in over 100 hands-on activities.

The idea, according to Camosun open house coordinator Val Mieras, is to allow community members and prospective students to see with their own eyes what postsecondary education looks like at Camosun, as well as what the many career options are in this day and age.

“Open house is not just a talking head show,” says Mieras, “it’s a very hands-on event that invites young people to have fun as they learn about career opportunities and the Camosun programs that can get them started. Open house lets them pick up tools, build, break, and fix things, talk to faculty about careers they may not know about, and discover new interests.”

Plasma cutting was a highlight of last yea's open house (photo courtesy of Camosun College).

All areas of the Interurban campus will be open for the event, including the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence (PISE). Programs based at the Lansdowne campus will also be out at Interurban for the day with activities and displays.

Some highlights of the event include a build a junk guitar workshop, traditional First Nations medicine, wheelchair obstacle race, spaghetti bridge contest, compressed air rocket launch, steel cutting with a plasma arc cutter, pipe bowling and golf, operating a heavy duty crane, and biology bingo, among others.

“One of the highlights is the Health Care Career Fair happening in the PISE gym with the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA). VIHA is the island’s largest employer and they recognize that they need to capture the interest of today’s high school students in order to meet an anticipated shortage of skilled workers starting in 2015.”

Go to camosun.ca/openhouse for more info.