The Gateway Magazine - April 2018 by The Gateway

If I were to change professions, I would be an ... Elementary teacher or a soap opera actress.

The worst job I've ever had was … Classifying dead insects in my dad’s biology lab.

The one way I have changed for the better is ... Having more empathy.

My pop culture best friend would be ... Natalie Portman.

One piece of advice I'd give a current student is ... Stay active and be social.

Asked & Answered with Lalitha Taylor, ’05 BSc(Nutr/Food), registered dietitian. Read the full interview at ualberta.ca/alumni

April 2018 Published since November 21, 1910 Circulation 3,500 ISSN 0845-356X Suite 3-04 8900 114 St. NW University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2J7 Advertising www.f-media.ca

The Open Letter Issue Editor-in-Chief Jamie Sarkonak

News Editor Sofia Osborne

Back Cover Photo by Rosty Soroka

Managing Editor Raylene Lung

Staff Reporter Nathan Fung

Art Director Alex Patterson

Arts & Culture Editor Victoria Chiu

Graphic Designer Laura Lucas

Opinion Editor Emma Jones

Photo Editor Rosty Soroka

Webmaster Papa Yaw Gyeke-Lartey

Online Editor Oumar Salifou

Cover Illustration by Iyla So

Contributors Arden Burtnik Courtney Graham Enrique Marroquin Shay Lewis Juan Felipe Vargas Alba Matt Gwozd Pia Saunders Jonah Dunch Doha Anwar Regan Brodziak Kesia Dias Adam Lachacz

Copyright All materials appearing in The Gateway bear copyright of their creator(s) and may not be used without written consent. Volunteer Want to write, draw, or shoot photos for us? To get involved visit gtwy.ca/volunteer for more information.

GSJS The Gateway is published by the Gateway Student Journalism Society (GSJS), a studentrun, autonomous, apolitical not-for-profit organization, operated in accordance with the Societies Act of Alberta.

THE SYLLABUS NOTES

THE QUAD

Five Things For... Need to attract your crush before the semester is over? Here are five things for doing just that.

Beyond the Bachelor This BComm grad is taking his photography business to the next level.

Point / Counterpoint To fund or to not fund private schools? That is the 27.4 million dollar question.

Worth It or Not Worth It Hot topics of discussion for a (hopefully) hot summer.

Q&A We sat down with Ray Dagg, the LRT custodian with a positive outlook on life.

Spotlight Liza Chatterjee is looking forward to the next 100 years of the Faculty of Nursing.

Noodle Notes Looking for ramen options that don't come in a styrofoam cup? Check out these four hotspots.

What's the A-peel? 5 things to consider before doing a juice cleanse.

DIVERSIONS

Photo Strip A personalized take on public transit featuring ETS.

Something to Do Numbers are fun. Try these easy and slightly harder sudokus.

Christianity on Campus Insight into student spirituality and the history of faith.

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Notes | Five Things For

FIVE THINGS FOR:

Attracting Your Crush Before the Semester Ends BY ARDEN BURTNIK | ILLUSTRATION BY LAURA LUCAS

“I’ve Seen that Face Before (Libertango)” by Grace Jones SEXUAL SONG

FRENCH

TANGO BABY

A riff on a classic Argentinian tango, Jones’ haunting, elegant, and erotic track was featured in a Paris nightclub scene in the 1988 thriller Frantic. The French lyrics are the absolute sexiest part, but a close second is the movie's night prowler who is both precarious and alluring.

Anonymous Altruism SELFLESSNESS

WARMS MY COLD DEAD HEART

This is, for example, when you can spell a word but don’t know how it’s pronounced so you stumble in front of a room of people but somebody in the back corrects you in a way that’s deliberately not embarrassing. There’s a lot of space for humiliation out there; a stranger’s compassion placates a great deal of fears.

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Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker in The Social Network MOVIE

HOT MEN

BRING SEXYBACK

While Man of the Woods requires us to reassess his pop canon rank, Timberlake's role as Napster's creator is alluring. When he tells Zuckerberg to drop “the” and go with “just Facebook” I’m reminded of the Justin who was arrogant enough to name an album FutureSex/LoveSounds.

Trances of the Blast by Mary Ruefle POETRY

SOUL STUFF

HOT WORDS

The poems in Mary Ruefle’s 2013 collection are detailed with crisp lines, separate from the stanzas, as if they are small word blasts that pierce through your physical stuff and into your soul stuff. Ruefle argues for the potency of simplicity, that the most succinct words are the most intimate. g

Cosplaying as Elon Musk Upon Graduation SUCCESS

GET THAT BANK

TESLA

Musk's proposed colonization of Mars is arousing, not because he’s a Bond villain gone altruistic, but because he’s audacious enough to do so. Adopting Musk as an alternative persona could be the very wellspring for your workplace success in the tepid post-grad ethers.

Beyond the Bachelor | Notes

BEYOND THE BACHELOR:

Photographer is bringing his business into focus BY COURTNEY GRAHAM | PHOTO BY ROMY YOUNG PHOTOGRAPHY

From J. Lo to J.T., this Edmonton-based photographer's work with the humble and high-end is making serious waves. Romy Young is bringing the style and expertise of high-end photography a little closer to home. It was shortly after earning his 2005 Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Alberta that Young began his pursuit of photography. It started out as a hobby, but eventually turned into a profession. After talking to another photographer at an event and seeing the potential of the Edmonton wedding photography scene, Young was inspired to take his hobby and transform it into a business. “The hardest part was that I couldn’t really go too much in depth at first,” Young says. “I couldn’t purchase all of the equipment that I needed. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be.” He persevered and, after exhausting his friends and family as clientele, started gathering more clients based on the quality of his photographs. He honed his skills at NAIT, where Young completed a certificate program in graphic design in 2008. “I started learning layout and photography and really just good

design — how things should be presented," Young says. “Even now, a lot of photographers don’t understand graphic design. They can take amazing photographs, but how they present it, ultimately, makes it look like an amateur did it.” These technical skills, alongside his business savvy and a fortunate job shadow at Roth and Ramberg Photography in Calgary, have helped to bring Young to where he is today. Now, Young does everything from commercial and advertising photography to covering events and weddings. He has even photographed Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Lopez, and Justin Bieber's back-up dancers. “I've worked with the hip-hop industry in Edmonton and L.A., and I’ve been able to connect with a lot of choreographers and dancers there," Young says. Adding to his busy schedule, Young wants to start teaching the elements of photography that he says go into creating great photographs in addition to developing the digital marketing of his photography. With a passion for travel and sharing his photography, Young has a busy and interesting future ahead of him. g

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Notes | Point / Counterpoint

POINT / COUNTERPOINT SHOULD WE DEFUND PRIVATE SCHOOLS? To fund or not to fund? That's the $27.4 million question.

Point: Stop Giving Rich People Money

Counterpoint: It’s the Principle

BY ENRIQUE MARROQUIN

BY EMMA JONES

Private schools don’t deserve or need a single dime of public funding. Education is a right in Canada — one we’re entitled to in order to become functioning members of society regardless of our backgrounds. Private schools are the opposite of this idea. They can and do admit students based on socioeconomic status, gender, and religious beliefs; in Alberta alone they received nearly $110 million in 2017. We’re talking about primary and secondary schools charging upwards of $20,000 a year. For example, if you don’t want to take public transit, the government doesn’t pay you to get a car. The top 15 richest private schools in Alberta — with tuition greater than $10,000 a year — received $27.4 million in public funds last year. This money belongs in public schools, going towards removing mandatory fees, providing school lunches, hiring teachers, maintaining facilities, and more. According

The question here isn’t whether or not we should subsidize the education of those who can already afford it — though it’s easy to see it that way. This is an issue of the government’s responsibility, on principle, to provide a basic standard of education to every student regardless of their income. It’s easy to hate on kids in snooty private school uniforms, and while I would never choose that for my own children, what matters here is that every student in the province has the right to education, no matter what they wear while they get it. In practice, the government has a responsibility to pay a fair portion of that education. In the public system, that means paying for all of it. In the private system, that means providing a certain amount of funding to uphold that responsibility to students. While it may seem like the government is paying for expensive athletic equipment, it’s actually more akin to the government paying for teachers and textbooks, with parents choosing to pay extra for extra services. Asking families to provide the full cost of private school by eliminating public funding entirely suggests it is reasonable to expect citizens to pay for their own basic education, as they would not only be paying for grand pianos, but also classrooms and calculators and other things that we rightfully expect the government to provide for everyone. In order to support defunding private schools, one must either support the elimination of private schools entirely (which is a whole other debate), or the undermining of the principle of basic education being provided for every student in Alberta. g

to Progress Alberta, if we stopped funding these 15 private institutions, we could afford six modernized schools, 109 new playgrounds, or 272 new teachers at the cost of a few luxuries for a handful of privileged kids. I understand these schools give something public ones don’t, like high-caliber athletics programs or multi-language teaching, and yes, some kids receive need-based scholarships, but publicly subsidizing the elite is unacceptable. Alberta, Quebec, B.C., Saskatchewan, and Manitoba give funding to private schools (Alberta gives the proportionally the most), the rest of the country doesn’t give them a single cent. Alberta's model is wasteful, unfair, and it perpetuates the already growing wealth inequality in this country. We urgently need to defund the bourgeoisie paradise that is private schools.

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Worth it or Not Worth it | Notes

WORTH IT -ORNOT WORTH IT SUMMER LOVIN' EDITION

Four writers weigh in on whether it's worth it to invest time, money, and emotion into the following.

Graduating in Four Years

Still Owning an iPod

BY SHAY LEWIS

BY PIA SAUNDERS

You enter university doe-eyed, hopeful, and believing that in four years you will be free to work in some magical money-making paradise. You see your five course semester and think that a good amount of hard work and dedication will carry the day. By the end of the second year, you realize this isn’t the case, and many classes have insane workloads. By third year, you have likely dropped a class or two a few times, and by fourth year, you’ve realized the only way you graduate this year is blood magic. Very illegal, very NOT WORTH IT.

The unlimited access to those early 2000’s bangers is just one of the many reasons to still own an iPod. By digging out your old iPod, you will find treasures that you forgot even existed. There is also the more questionable reason of being a real #hipster and owning something that’s basically #vintage. The everlasting battery, massive storage, and the big plus of doing a digital detox at the gym or out in the bush while still being able to listen to your favourite tunes solidify its value. WORTH IT.

Summer in Edmonton

Getting a Summer Bod

BY MATT GWOZD

BY JUAN FELIPE VARGAS ALBA

Some people think spending their summer in Edmonton is a bummer, but there are a lot of reasons it’s actually awesome. People call Edmonton “the festival city” for a reason: there’s always something interesting happening, from the Fringe to Folk Fest to Taste of Edmonton. This city also has great summer weather; days are hot but not boiling, with between 14 to 16 hours of daylight since the sun sets so late. With long, warm days and so much to do, spend your summer in Edmonton. WORTH IT.

Summer is fast approaching, which means that longer days and a slightly higher chance of burning. Get ready to stroll down to the Accidental Beach and show off that summer body you’ve been working on. But what even is a summer body? Technically, any body existing in summer is a summer body, so we really don’t need to spend entire months starving to shed those extra pounds. We all know that it’s sun’s out, guns out, but is it worth it to be stressing over having the “right” body for summer? NOT WORTH IT. g

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The Quad | Q&A

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Q&A | The Quad

The U of A's Beloved LRT Custodian Q&A with Ray Dagg

WRITTEN BY JONAH DUNCH | PHOTO BY DOHA ANWAR Ray Dagg works as a custodian for the Edmonton Transit Service, maintaining the University LRT Station and keeping it clean. Dagg is known to students for his extravagant Halloween costumes, friendly conversations, and popular photographs on the “Overheard at the University of Alberta” Facebook group. We talked to Dagg about poetry, pipefitting, and his philosophy of life.

The Gateway: You’re known for your cool hair and funny hats, and you also enjoy dressing up for Halloween. Tell us about that. Dagg: This is the only job where I can get away with stuff like that … The only bad thing about dressing up on Halloween is you’ve got to get up really early to get on all the makeup. And I start work at seven o’clock in the morning, so I’ve got to get up at four o’clock in the morning to do makeup and so on. And one year I got way too carried away! It was the "good fairy gone bad" costume and I wore a dress. It was freezing cold. I was able to do it for about an hour or so and then I had to go put back on my pants. I still don’t understand how women wear dresses in the wintertime. What made you decide to start dyeing your hair? I saw people doing it and I thought it looked really cool. I’ve been doing this for five, six years now. Every three weeks or so, whenever it starts to come out, I redo it. The next thing’s gonna be full body dyes. It may not happen for a while because they’ve got to come up with something that’s safe enough to put on your skin. But could you imagine having people walking around with blue-dyed skin? Purple-dyed skin? You know, it would look cool. What brought you into your current line of work? Before working for ETS, I was a pipefitter, and before that, I did different jobs. It gets hard. I’m not a very big person to

begin with, and that type of work is very physically demanding. After a while it just started getting harder and harder to do. I never enjoyed pipefitting. See, with university students and so on, you pick a career path, right? With me, when I was growing up, I never picked a career path. I was working as a labourer in a pipefitting shop, and one time, the boss comes up to me and says, “Ray, what do you want to be, a welder or a pipefitter?” “A pipefitter,” I said. “Okay, you start school next week.”

"What’s nice is that I’m a middle-aged man and I get to spend my day with a bunch of nice young people." — RAY DAGG

What’s a day of work like for you? It’s basically just sweeping, running the floor scrubber, this sort of stuff. It’s not challenging, but it keeps me busy. What’s nice is that I’m a middle-aged man and I get to spend my day with a bunch of nice young people. I’ve had people come up and say that it really makes their day when

they see me in the morning with a smile, being happy, and so on. So, I’m thinking, "why not?" My basic philosophy is you can choose to be happy, or you can choose to be sad. And it’s better to choose to be smiling and happy than be crying and miserable all the time. It took me a long time to figure that out, because you’re the only one who’s gonna control that. Can you talk about what drew you to poetry and photography? I just like finding a way to express myself creatively. Every once in a while I get an idea, and as long as I’m happy with it then that’s all that matters. With poetry, you can put down feelings and thoughts and so on that you may not want to express openly. It’s cathartic. Here’s a mnemonic I created so people would remember my name easy: “Bright as a ray of sunshine, sharp as a dagger, soft as a teddy bear.” That way it gets the name and I just threw in the “soft as a teddy bear” part for fun. Do you have any other creative interests? I’ve thought of a couple B-movie screenplays. I was thinking, there’s never been a zombie movie or show that’s been based in a northern climate. What would happen to a zombie at minus 20? I came up with this story: it was around Thanksgiving, the zombie virus would infect a turkey, and for the first week or two, the zombies go around eating people, then a cold snap comes in, and it drops down to minus 20, and then all of a sudden you’ve got frozen zombies. You’ve got zombie sickness. g

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The Quad | Spotlight

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Spotlight | The Quad

The Next 100 Years

Looking forward with Liza Chatterjee WRITTEN BY REGAN BRODZIAK | PHOTO BY KESIA DIAS

For third-year nursing student Liza Chatterjee, nursing isn’t only about doing. It’s about listening. The Faculty of Nursing is celebrating its 100th year at the University of Alberta, and Chatterjee’s holistic approach to nursing may represent the future. Chaterjee is the bilingual representative for the Nursing Undergraduate Association and a scholar with the Peter Lougheed Leadership College. She’s completed half of her courses in French (Chatterjee also speaks Russian and Bengali). Chatterjee was first attracted to the medical field when she realized how small acts of care and kindness could change people's’ lives. As a child, she became fascinated by this. “In a lot of ways, medicine is just like magic,” she said. But Chatterjee’s decision to become a nurse wasn’t always the plan. In fact, when she applied to the University of Alberta’s nursing program, it came as a bit of a shock to her family. For the longest time, she planned on going into forestry. But to her, nursing and forestry aren’t so different. After all, she said, they both involve caring for other living beings. Along with the joys of nursing, however, come the stresses. After clinicals, Chatterjee likes to de-stress by taking a walk in the river valley, or by caring for her collection of indoor plants. Her fascination with nature and with medicine are independent from one another, she said. “The reason I love nature is the same reason I love human beings,” she explained. “For both of them, I just want to learn how to heal them in the best way I can.”

Just like plants, each patient is different. Although nursing programs are still structured around obedience and following step-by-step instructions, there is an ongoing shift towards more personalized approaches to nursing. To Chatterjee, this is exactly what the nursing profession needs: more listening. “In listening to a person, you take into account how they as a human being are taking their illness,” she said. “People respond best if you do things in the way that is most comfortable for them.”

“Every time that I’ve said goodbye to a patient that I’ve gotten to know, there’s just such a feeling of gratitude.” — LIZA CHATTERJEE Chatterjee adopted this value from her instructor, Deb Armstrong. As a shock trauma air rescue nurse, Armstrong is often treating people who aren’t formally her patients. Because of this, she calls them her “humans.” For Chatterjee, this changes the way you interact with the person you’re treating. You aren’t just treating a client, she said, you’re treating another human being. “Every time that I’ve said goodbye to a patient that I’ve gotten to know there’s

just such a feeling of gratitude to them,” Chatterjee said. “It feel like I’ve learned a lot from them and when they thank me it’s really meaningful.” As a nurse, Chatterjee can see herself working in public health or midwifery. She is attracted to how midwifery takes a holistic approach to medicine, looking after the whole person and responding to their needs and wants. Again, she said, this goes back to listening. “It doesn’t focus on my plan and what I do to the person, but instead is about working with the person and doing what they need,” she said. In the future, Chatterjee sees herself returning to school to get an arts degree. While she thinks this could help her become a better nurse, she sees value in the arts beyond simply helping her career. “It would just be so cool to be into something just for the sake of how beautiful it is,” she said. Despite her love for nursing, Chatterjee said the job isn’t always glamorous. As a nurse you’re always questioning yourself, she said. She recalled a time where she experienced issues with scheduling and because of this, her patient didn’t end up getting the care that he needed. Though Chatterjee described this as the single-worst feeling as a nurse, she tries to turn her mistakes into a learning experience. “In a lot of ways the nursing job is bigger than what I’m capable of giving it and I’m still learning,” she said. “I don’t know very much, but I am privileged to be a part of nursing.” g

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The Quad | Noodle Notes

Not Your Typical 99¢ Ramen Noodles BY VICTORIA CHIU | DESIGN BY LAURA LUCAS

Ramen is the staple of university life. Whether it's a six-pack of ichiban for a couple of bucks on a Monday night or one of those cup noodles to get through a particularly intense cram sesh, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn't reached for instant ramen — the epitome of cheap, deliciously not-good-for-you pseudo-food — at least once in their life. The curly shape of the noodle, the carb influx, and the salty flavour of the preservatives and dried vegetable mix in the little spice packet make the ramen most people are familiar with virtually irresistible. The eternal struggle that any college kid (or kid of any age) with the munchies faces is that while ramen may taste great, it definitely isn’t great for you. The instant variety also isn’t the

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most sophisticated food, and it certainly won’t score you any points with anyone coming over to your place for dinner. So goes the age-old dilemma: you want ramen quickly, more quickly than you can cook up your own veggies and miso broth and noodles, but you also don’t want to feel like your arteries are hardening after your meal by turning to Mr. Noodles. Luckily, there’s a solution. There’s a whole host of amazing restaurants in Edmonton who are willing to do the heavy lifting for you, serving up elevated steaming bowls. Through the use of elements like fresh ingredients and hand-pulled noodles, they offer healthy renditions of this dish without costing a fortune.

Noodle Notes | The Quad

Nomiya When it comes to traditional, flavourful, and visually stunning ramen, Nomiya takes one of the top spots among Edmonton noodle haunts for its rich, satisfying bowls. The variety is fantastic. The restaurant offers miso, black garlic, seafood, vegetarian, shio (salt), curry, and spicy variations; each bowl is accompanied by accoutrements like nori (seaweed), corn, naruto, and sliced bamboo shoots. Ask about the hand-pulled noodles made in-house and take your ramen to even higher heights. LOCATIONS: 803 Unit 646 Calgary Trail and 11160 Ellerslie Road HOURS: Mon-Thur (11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. and 4:30–9:30 p.m.);

Fri-Sun (11:30 a.m.–9:30 p.m.)

Nudoru For Whyte Ave regulars, Nudoru can make for a convenient spot to grab a quick bite of MSG-free broth and boasts the claim to fame of being the first noodle house in Edmonton to offer inhouse ramen made fresh daily, made exclusively with Canadian flour, and notes on its menus that all other items are also made in-house. The make-your-own option is the most appealing here: choose from a selection of broth types, toppings, and extras (proteins, special toppings, and more) to craft your ideal bowl. With your own cravings at the helm, you can’t possibly go wrong. LOCATION: 10532 – 82 Avenue HOURS: Tues-Sat (11:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.); Sun (12:00 p.m.–

5:00 p.m.); closed Mon

Tokiwa Ramen If you’re hankering for a light, open, airy atmosphere to slurp your noodles, Tokiwa Ramen has you covered. With creamy, slow-cooked soup bases and a minimalist decoration scheme in a trendy location, this is a ramen shop that will make you feel fancy just being there. This unpredictable restaurant has a strange daily custom, however: the shop closes whenever the soup supply runs out, which could be anywhere from right after lunch hour to later in the evening. Check social media or, better yet, call ahead to avoid disappointment. LOCATION: 11978 – 104 Avenue (in the Brewery District) HOURS: Open daily from 11:00 a.m. until whenever the

soup runs out.

Kazoku Ramen West end residents rejoice: Kazoku Ramen, tucked away off of 100 Avenue, takes the crown for sheer variety of ramen. Take a crack at the white miso (gluten free, natch), chili goma (sesame and spicy chili bean flavour), tomato (tomato garlic flavour), and signature Kazoku (lighter, less salty pork flavour) ramen to witness the magic yourself. Using only hand-picked pork, freerange chicken, and locally grown produce in everything on the menu, this comfortable spot is all but guaranteed to scratch any latent ramen itches. Bring cash or debit, as the restaurant does not take credit cards. g LOCATION: 16518 – 100 Avenue HOURS: Wed-Mon (11:00 a.m.–9:30 p.m.); closed Tues

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Feature | What's the A-peel?

What's the a-peel? Five things to consider before doing a juice cleanse

WRITTEN BY RAYLENE LUNG | PHOTOS BY ROSTY SOROKA

DECEMBER APRIL 2018 2017 | 13

Feature | What's the A-peel?

The body absorbs countless toxins. These toxins can impact one’s overall health, and must be constantly flushed out of the system. They can cause “issues” such as “adrenal fatigue” and an “imbalance of the microbiome,” to name a few. The body is able to detoxify naturally via the kidney and liver, but the idea of aiding these processes through other means is a long-standing debate. For some, the solution to the body’s problems is to detoxify. This can mean juicing, cleansing, or detoxing. Cleanses and detoxes are marketed as ways to correct the adrenal flow of the body and reset the microbiome. In addition, they can also contribute to weight loss (over a limited time). Juice cleanses and detoxes of many varieties are marketed as a necessity for achieving not only a healthy weight, but a healthier body and mind. But it’s just that — marketing. Claims about the effectiveness of juice cleanses are completely false, as is the solution. The semi-scientific language used around cleanses persuades the public that there are toxins in the body that it cannot handle on its

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What's the A-peel? | Feature

own. “It’s just gimmick (after) gimmick,” says Tim Caulfield, a professor in the Faculty and of Law and School of Public Health, and research director at the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta.“(The) sciencey language creates this veneer of legitimacy when it is completely bogus.” While cleanses and detoxes are not necessarily beneficial to one’s health, they are also not inherently unhealthy. They’re high calorie but are not detrimental to wellbeing — most juice cleanses act as meal replacements while some are to be taken in addition to regular food. The benefits of cleanses can be obtained from simply eating fruits and vegetables, which provide more fiber and other essentials that the body needs. Take the “Clean” cleanse, for example. The cleanse's regimen involves taking one juice concoction in the morning and one at night. Four years ago, Caulfield did this exact cleanse after travelling to Hollywood to meet with Gwyneth Paltrow’s health consultant. He then endured three weeks with food restrictions and no coffee to experience the apparent benefits of juicing. While he did lose weight, he gained it back the minute he stopped the cleanse. Before deciding to embark on a cleansing or detoxing journey, there are five things to consider.

the perfect marketing ploy, sucking clients in with idealistic expectations and self-discipline, despite the fact that there is no real evidence to support the benefits of cleansing. “It has this really interesting, kinda noble, righteous vibe to it,” Caulfield says. “It’s part of the marketing.”

1. Taking on the Challenge According to the creator of the “Clean” cleanse, 80 per cent of clients who do the cleanse are doing it to lose weight. But while many are turning to cleansing and juicing as a way to get fit fast, the cleanses are pitched as having benefits outside of being a crash diet. When they do lose weight, which Caulfield can vouch for, it felt like a noble right. This appeal of cleanses is the satisfaction of accomplishment — when the weight does melt off, people feel good about themselves. The mere fact that they held out, even for a short term goal, gives people an indescribable high of self-achievement. “I think people get a little bit of a buzz from that,” Caulfield says. “You feel like you’re taking control of your life, and I think that also creates this illusion of benefit.” This gives people a reason and a license to do cleanse, aside from weight loss. And the weight does come off — before it comes right back on when the cleanse stops. It is

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Feature | What's the A-peel?

2. Beware of the Marketing Virtually every millenial and Generation Xer has heard of juices, cleanses, and detoxes because of marketing. Marketing schemes are wide-ranging. They include the ever-growing “fitspo” culture on Instagram and Tumblr, the healty implications of juice bars, or the positive effects of teatoxes. Health marketing even forms the basis of Gwyneth Paltrow’s health and fitness empire, Goop. For people who want to feel better, there is a temptation to try what they're seeing on social media. “I think there is that element that gives it an appeal and it’s the perfect marketing thing,” Caulfield says. “You go on these juice cleanses, you lose weight, and you attribute it to the cleanse. You finish the cleanse, you start putting weight back on and that’s your fault.” In the midst of a health revolution, marketing is key to convincing everyone that they need to cleanse. It is not just New Year's resolutions that push people to take better care of themselves and attain fitter physiques. Even social pressures market weight loss as something beneficial. “Juice cleanses really feed into that short term solution,” Caulfield says. “That 'new you' or 'get ready for the beach' (mentality).” There are other factors too — celebrity appeal plays a major role on top of the positive health messaging. Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop has worked in recruiting CAULFIELD, RESEARCH DIRECTOR countless clients who follow her regimens OF THE HEALTH LAW INSTITUTE like religion.

"Juice cleanses really feed into that short term solution, that 'new you' or 'get ready for the beach' (mentality)." – TIM

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What's the A-peel? | Feature

Sample Cleanse In this example, one concoction is to be taken in the morning and the other at night. These include protein and mineral supplements. This regimen includes one meal at lunctime with dietary restrictions.*

Morning: -

Beets Ginger Blueberries Apple Kale Banana Wheatgrass Pomegranate

Night: -

Honey Mint Pineapple Orange Spinach Lemon Coconut Carrots

*This sample cleanse is a simplified version of the Clean Program created by Dr. Alejandro Junger. This is not a legitimate cleanse and we do not endorse it; it is for illustrative purposes only and is not to be used as dietary advice.

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Feature | What's the A-peel?

3. Celebs Are Not Exactly Like Us Consider celebrity influence before juicing. This culture affects the way people approach the fad. Health trends like juice cleanses and detoxes don’t gain popularity on their own — celebrities, social media, television and the like all perpetuate it, making exposure nearly impossible to avoid. Celebrity culture has helped to create this industry. It even affects consumers, who claim to not be influenced by paparazzi shots of Jonah Hill walking down Rodeo Drive, green juice in hand. “I think it is a celebrity-created health phenomenon,” Caulfield says. “They have such a cultural footprint and that is significant.” Whether or not they believe that those juice concoctions and teatoxes actually benefit their health is up for debate. Jonah Hill might believe that it works or may just enjoy drinking them. In other cases, it’s part of their brand — Gwyneth Paltrow’s brand Goop is a

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prime example. While she may believe that her regimens are beneficial, they’re more of a money grab than anything, with Paltrow creating a persona of herself around the company. She promotes everything from absurd workouts to unconventional health advice. “For (some), it’s part of a larger marketing strategy,” Caulfield says. “For others, they’re just walking down the street with their green juice and someone takes a picture of them.” People are entranced by the beautiful celebrities that they put on a pedestal, and therefore, “a powerful narrative can overwhelm what the data says,” Caulfield says.

4. It Doesn’t Taste Awful and It Doesn't Work While there is no evidence to suggest that cleanses will warrant results, people must consider how cleansing can impact their lives more broadly. Many people have tried juice cleanses to lose weight, to combat adrenal fatigue or rebalance whatever inner chakras they have misaligned during their pre-detox lives. Others claim that cleansing has become an important part of their lives. Caulfield has interviewed people who attributed their well-being to cleanses, including a woman battling cancer. “That’s one of the reasons it’s hard to convince people otherwise,” he says. “Because people have these personal experiences.” Anecdotes from so-called everyday people, much like those of celebrities, is validating for those who find it effective and those needing another reason to try.

What's the A-peel? | Feature

While these anecdotes create an illusion that cleanses have some sort benefit, they’re not hurting the people who choose to do them. They may even begin to heal, which can come from the effects of placebo. “That’s (why) a lot of these alternative and unproven therapies seem efficacious because people might have gotten better on their own or there is a powerful placebo effect,” Caulfield says. Despite the fact that cleanses and detoxes have worked for some, their success shouldn’t be thought of as guaranteed. “Because you are treating your body so differently for a period of time, you do feel a little bit differently,” Caulfield says. “And I think people mistakenly mean that that’s something beneficial happening.”

5. Acceptance

"People are always looking for a magic solution with nutrition."

Everyone knows about cleanses, and they aren’t going away anytime soon. Six years ago, only a small percentage of the public would have known, let alone tried, cleansing of any sort. Now, with the influence of celebrities, an increase in health trends and more people aching for an ideal beach bod, juice cleanses are at peak popularity. It has become a cultural norm, which, to Caulfield, may not be the most sustainable. “People are always looking for a magic solution with nutrition,” he says. “Humans are in general pretty resilient and the key is just eating real food ... there is no magic.” While he was curious and subjected himself to the regimen for three weeks, Caulfield stills plays devil’s advocate. After hearing the stories of those who found juicing important to their lives and seeing results himself when he cleansed, he sees nothing inherently wrong with juicing, as long as those who are on the cleanse monitor their health. “If people enjoy juicing, and as long as they are eating in a healthy way, who am I to say to stop,” he says. g

– TIM CAULFIELD

APRIL 2018 | 19

Feature | Christianity on Campus

Christianity on Campus & the seven deadly sins BY ADAM LACHACZ | ILLUSTRATION BY ALEX PATTERSON

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Christianity on Campus | Feature

Chaplain Sarah Holmstrom can be seen around campus championing social justice projects, holding office hours, flipping pancakes, and speaking with students.

Holmstrom is a reverend with the Anglican Church. She's also a chaplain with the university and believes no two days are the same. “I enjoy connecting with (students’) lives and what they are up to, interested in, and struggling with,” Holmstrom says. “It is a joy to see when students have found a place and persons that they can connect with and feel like they can grab a fresh of breath air or solace in the midst of frantic academic life.” The university campus, for the most part, is a secular place. However, faith exists within certain spaces at the University of Alberta. Student beliefs are nurtured through the nearly 20 chaplains who console students and organize faith based events. The Interfaith Chaplain’s Association at the U of A has members from different faiths and denominations, including Islam, Christianity, and Wicca. They are priests, imams, rabbis, or lay representatives from religious organizations appointed care for the needs of the U of A community. University life is demanding. Adjusting to the stress and constant assignments can be challenging. Often when first years come to campus they are challenged on their faith. Meghan Marsh, a former nursing student at the U of A who has seen a chaplain before, believes chaplains play an integral role in helping students adapt to campus life. “Moving away from home, having a new style of courses, and being subjected to a lot of pressure from assignments is hard,” Marsh says. “I went from having a solid group of friends to none overnight.” She shared how coming to the U of A from a community where faith played a major role was difficult. Harmonizing with the lifestyle of a university student led her to doubt her faith. Holmstrom says that faith crises’ can happen often on campus. Sometimes it can be from a student learning something that clashes with their beliefs or just feeling alone on campus. As a chaplain, she assures students they are not alone in their struggles. According to her, many students feel they cannot integrate into university because of their system of beliefs. Often students come talk to chaplains because they believe they did something wrong or they have questions around what is permissible or not permissible. “None of us believes 100 per cent what we did five, 10, or 20 years ago,” Holmstrom says. “Sometimes a student might struggle because the call of their faith requires that they not indulge in some of the things that everyone else is doing.” The hardest thing for Marsh was worrying about her system of beliefs. Coming from a strong Christian background, university life pushed her into new situations.

“I had to ask myself, is this something I can or can’t do?” Marsh says. Depending on one’s own system of beliefs, the worry of carrying out a wrong course of behaviour does or does not concern a person. Paul Flaman, who is a U of A professor with a background in Christian theology, believes all societies have conceived their own systems of ethics which are a reflection on their human experience. “Humans have faced the question of how not everything in our experience is happy or good,” Flaman says. “There are the tragic and negative parts to our life. We can hurt each other and ourselves. So, the different human cultures conceived of their own systems of morality or manners to describe negative behaviours.” For Marsh, seeing a chaplain helped her recognize that her faith is not a hindrance to being a U of A student. It guided her to see that what she thought was wrongful behaviour was not in reality. Felice Liftshitz, a medieval historian at the U of A who teaches women’s and gender studies and religious studies courses, believes the specific enumeration of what is deemed acceptable behaviour emerged from a particular Christian context. According to her, the definitions of right and wrong for Christians came out of historical social movements and became ingrained within society. “It is not as if ... suddenly humans in general started to think about things like vice or unacceptable behaviour,” Liftshitz says. “It came out of a very particular context which was Christian monasticism.” In the fourth century, all across the Mediterranean Sea, many men and women flocked to dedicate their life to monasticism, or a solitary life dedicated to furthering their personal spirituality. This movement saw women become nuns and men monks. There were all sorts of new spiritual monastic communities that emerged. Usually these individuals would isolate themselves or their community from the world so as to protect themselves from outside secular influences. “The origins of the monastic impulse are not about social good that they eventually began to do,” Liftshitz says. “It was all about the salvation of the individual. It was about struggling against the sins that hurt their spirituality.” Monasticism focused on the concept of mortifying one’s own flesh, and to live as though the person was dead to the world. Interested individuals would leave behind their biological families and devote their lives to personal purification and sanctification. Ultimately, the goal for those pursuing monastic lifestyles was to live more like an angel than a person.

APRIL 2018 | 21

Feature | Christianity on Campus

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Christianity on Campus | Feature

Today, the idea of seven deadly sins permeates Westen culture. A popular anime, The Seven Deadly Sins, spins a story where legendary warriors turn against the system and are enumerated as sinners by a tyrannical regime. The protagonist, Elizabeth, journeys to find the outcast warriors who sinned to bring justice back to her kingdom. The modern conception of wrongdoing can be traced back to the Christian idea of seven deadly sins. The list includes lust, gluttony, greed, envy, wrath, sloth, and pride. Also referred to as the cardinal vices, these behaviours lead to destructive consequences for oneself, others, and the greater world. “The seven deadly sins deal with regular pitfalls that can damage a person,” Flaman says. “They deal with the extremes of what could be everyday behaviours, or the abuses or absolute excesses that are detrimental in the end.” For Marsh, the seven deadly sins are something she is aware of and hopes to avoid. “From a young age we were taught about being aware of these seven sins as inclinations that lead towards worser behaviour,” she explains. The list of inclinations that lead to sin has pervaded all cultures. However, this enumeration of deadly behaviours had a much humbler beginning in monasticism. Evagrius Ponticus was a monk in the Egyptian desert in the fourth century who first conceptualized a list of eight thoughts that will tempt an individual who is seeking to live a pure life. A specific list of evil thoughts became an easy pneumonic device to help see what they were struggling with. Ponticus’ eight evil thoughts were gluttony, fornication, avarice, self-estimation, envy, wrath, boasting, and dejection. These were then popularized by John Cassian, a monk who lived in the third and fourth centuries. He expanded upon the concept of sin by offering practical applications on how to keep desires in check, one of those being to tie two iron boards against men's testicles to squeeze them tight. This was his best solution to combating the effects of lust. “The thing is, th number eight doesn’t have traction in Western culture,” Liftshitz says. “Eight is not a number with a lot of numerological mysticism or symbolism attached to it. The number was changed to seven and that struck. It gained traction.” The whole idea to contain human desires in a form of selfdiscipline remained confined to monastic circles for a long time. It was not until the late sixth century where they began mainstream in Latin Europe. Pope Gregory the Great, a Father of the Latin Church in the sixth century, came from a monastic background. Familiar with the Ponticus’ eight evil thoughts, Gregory wanted to install a more formal structure to give people a way to purge themselves from everyday evil inclinations so they would not be damned. He introduced the idea of seven evil vices. The list became the standard list of seven deadly sins that's familiar in the West today.

APRIL 2018 | 23

Feature | Christianity on Campus

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Christianity on Campus | Feature

Originally, the seven deadly sins were not called sins. In the Latin Church the wording used was "capital" or "cardinal" vices. Each negative vice had a positive parallel virtue pair to help make it easier for people to remember how to combat that form of behaviour. The word “sin” seemed to have replaced the vice and virtue pairing in mainstream conversations sometime before the late 14th or early 15th century. Furthermore, these early constructions of vice and virtue were presented differently to men and women. Flaman believes that the understanding of sin is never stagnant for society. Cultures see certain behaviours as wrong and that develops their overall attitude toward sets of behaviour. “As culture evolves, so does its conception of wrongdoing,” Flaman says. “Our culture today definitely sees sexual abuse or harassment as wrong and unacceptable behaviour. The last few months of 2017 saw a large spotlight on the women in Hollywood who reported being taken advantage of or sexually abused by men in more powerful positions than they were. Accordingly, sin has grown in understanding.” Today, many religious scholars or celebrities offer their own more modern list of seven deadly sins. Vatican scholar and bishop Gianfraco Girotti is advocating for the Catholic Church to create a list of social sins which includes: bioethical violations, morally dubious scientific research, drug abuse, polluting the environment, contributing to wealth disparity, possessing excessive

wealth, and creating conditions for poverty. “Part of the thinking there is that we humans do not only have natural good inclinations,” Flaman says. “We also have disordered desires and fears. Sometimes we fail to do what is right because of a disordered fear and it would require courage to do the right thing in that situation. So, that ... is sort of a reflection that we do not always act in the best interests.” On campus, Holmstrom believes students struggle more today with pressure to do what is right, to perform academically, to live up to expectations, and to balance work and school. According to her, students know what is wrong but feel they are alone. “Young adults today are lonelier than ever before,” she says. “Social media, I believe, has had a huge impact on this. I would say that the increase in mental health issues and death by suicide is evidence of this fact ... Facebook and Snapchat are not replacements for human to human contact. We are hardwired to be in community and in relationship with one another as human beings. For Marsh, connecting with a chaplain opened her up to meeting new people and finding a place for religion within her experience at the U of A. “I felt so alone,” she says. “Now, I know people of faith are there and can help me. I also know that what I believe in does not mean I have to sacrifice my university experience.” g

Student Admission: $10 ($8 Matinée) Metro Cinema is a community-based non-profit society devoted to the exhibition and promotion of Canadian, international, and independent film and video. metrocinema.org

Buffalo ‘66

April 16 @ 7PM Convict Billy Brown dreads going home so much upon his release from prison that he tries to get back inside. In desperation, Billy kidnaps Layla from a tap dancing class and pleads with her to impersonate his wife and to accompany him home to visit his parents. To Billy’s dismay, Layla takes to her role enthusiastically.

An American Werewolf in London

April 29 @ 7PM

Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists. Alley Kat Keg Night - Full Moon pale ale

Have a Nice Day

April 29 @ 9:30PM, April 30 @ 9:30PM In a desperate attempt to save his fiancée’s failed plastic surgery, Xiao Zhang, a mere driver, steals a large sum of money from his boss. News of the robbery spreads fast within the town and, over the course of one night, everyone starts looking for Xiao Zhang and his money.

Metro Cinema at the Garneau 8712-109 Street | metrocinema.org

Metro Cinema receives ongoing support from these Arts Funders:

Diversions | Photo Strip

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Diversions | Something to Do

Here are some more sudokus. This one is sorta easy.

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Solutions will be posted online at gtwy.ca.

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