WORLD OF WARCROP All your digital labour belongs to us

MONTREAL (CUP) Gold farming is a type of digital labour. Put simply, in massively multiplayer online role-playing games like World of Warcraft, players will pay real-world currency for characters, weapons, and gold coins, or to reach higher levels.

Professional gamers, or “gold farmers,” will spend time attaining these digital goods and then sell them to the gamers willing to pay. Due to the tens of millions of players worldwide, the demand for gold-farming services is quite high, and over the past decade this sort of virtual trading has developed into an industry – one that touches on issues of global trade, regulation, and the sociology of cyberspace.

Because gold farming usually exists outside the law, it is largely undocumented – making it difficult to grasp the size and scale of the industry. In “Current Analysis and Future Research Analysis on ‘Gold Farming,’” Cambridge professor Richard Heeks explains that annual revenue could range from US$200 million to US$20 billion. He also estimates there at least 400,000 gold farmers and five to 10 million buyers.



The vast majority of gold farming takes place in China, but it’s also been documented in other East Asian countries, and to some degree, in Mexico and Russia. Business models vary, but most reports describe micro-enterprises typically run out of a one- or two-room apartment or office spaces with 10 or 20 employees and computers. Remko Tanis, a Dutch freelance correspondent living and working in Shanghai, explains that gold-farming firms crop up on the outskirts of cities where rent is cheap. Often, there are colleges nearby where potential employees can be found – most gold-farmers are males in their late teens or early twenties who are already familiar with massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs).



Myth-Busting


Though most know little about gold farming, those that do usually associate it with words like “sweatshop” – just look at the Wikipedia page. This image of an exploitive industry is grossly distorted. Heeks affirms that, writing that “most (gold farmers) enjoy their work and that the oft-applied ‘virtual sweatshop’ label is at best partial and at worst inappropriate.”

Tanis explains that the gold farmers in Shanghai whom he spoken “all said they were playing these games anyways, so why not try to make money out of it.” Tanis finds that many continued to play the same games in their free time. He adds that “The problem is more that they are addicted to the computer than that they are being exploited as computer slaves.”

Heeks and Tanis both place a gold farmers’ monthly pay at about US$200 to US$250 – slightly higher than the average in China.

“Pay and conditions are poor by Western standards but are good or better than the alternatives that gold farmers face,” Heeks notes.

Victimizing narratives are often unsubstantiated and reveal the Western penchant to impose their opinions of acceptable employment onto others. Ulises Majias, an assistant professor at the State University of New York at Oswego, explains, “There is a tendency for us in the ‘First World’ to look at an image of, say, a bunch of shirtless guys in a room somewhere in Asia and immediately think ‘sweatshop’ and ‘oppression.’”

Along with pay and conditions, the nature of gold farmers’ work is often criticized. Killing the same monsters and retracing the same game-space for gold coins is boring and repetitive. One gold farmer cited in Heeks’s paper is quoted: “You try going back and forth clicking the same thing for 12 hours a day, six or seven days a week, then you will see if it’s a game or not.”

However, accusations lodged against the automated nature of gold farmers’ virtual tasks deserve reassessment. Heeks’s research finds that many gold farmers gain a sense of achievement from their work and see little difference between play and work.

The measures many gaming companies have taken against gold farming threaten the livelihood of these digital labourers, but they also diversify and enhance the complexity of their work. Gold farmers have to outwit gaming companies so that their clients can continue to buy characters, weapons, capital, and access to levels without being noticed.

“It challenges the people here to get smarter,” explains Tanis.

Heeks also writes that gold farming may provide valuable IT skills, and could potentially be a step toward more highly skilled work as a programmer.

Gold farming is typically thought of in terms of a simple dichotomy: the rich Westerners buy the virtual products and the poor Easterners slave away acquiring them. But this narrative only vaguely fits a small portion of the industry. Since the late ‘90s, Asian countries have developed and launched their own MMORPGs, and Heeks notes that although the global gold-farming trade garners the most attention, it is likely smaller than national, regional, and local trade.

Heeks and Tanis both point out that the market for gold farming is actually much bigger in Asia than in Europe or North America. Tanis says that gold-farming firms in cities in the southeast of China, like Shanghai, “tend to specialize in the domestic market, and some other Asian countries.”

In 2009, students from Ithaca College in Ithaca, N.Y. worked with Majias and Tanis, as well as other academics, to research gold farming. Their blog, though titled stopgoldfarming.wordpress.com, shows a movement away from their initial, unequivocally negative stance toward gold farming – assuming it exploited workers. Their final posts from last April acknowledge that their primary assumptions were called into question and that gold farmers are not necessarily victims of the industry.



Cheating Fantasy



Although the demand for virtual trading comes from gamers, the biggest opposition to gold farming is also from individuals in gaming communities. Nicholas Yee, a research scientist from Palo Alto Research Center, estimates that 22 per cent of the players of the online game EverQuest participate in trading. Although this means there is a huge market for gold farmers in EverQuest and potentially other games, it also suggests that most gamers object to the idea of buying wealth and status in the games. To them, it’s cheating.

Cooper Sellers, an American who manages nogold.org and other gaming-related sites, explains that “being able to ‘buy’ your way to the higher levels degrades the accomplishments of the others who earn their prestige through hard work.” His site aims to help web masters of MMORPG-related sites who oppose gold farming, through efforts like blacklisting ads from gold-farming brokers.

It seems convenient for gaming companies to align themselves with anti-gold-farming activism when their primary concerns are the integrity and quality of their game play. An unofficial World of Warcraft web site (wow.com) posted an article promoting an upcoming documentary about Chinese gold farming made by Ge Jin, a PhD student at the University of California-San Diego.

Of anti-gold-farming members of the gaming community, Tanis speculates, “I don’t think they’re at all concerned with sweatshop practices. They might say it because that sounds better than ‘they cheat their way into my fantasy world.’’’



Virtual Racism



Unfortunately, gold sellers rather than gold buyers become the targets of gamers’ resentment toward what they deem unfair play in games, which, for many, are more “real” than reality.

For all players — gold farmers, gold buyers, and those that object to the practice — MMORPGs can provide a welcome escape from reality and a virtual world where a fantasy avatar gives the individual a greater sense of fulfillment than their position in the real world. However, resentment toward cheating often manifests in in-game racism, which can make the game a hostile place for gold farmers, and even other players with poor English assumed to be gold farmers.

Gold farmers are often easy to spot, and other players go out of their way to kill the characters or send them hateful and violent messages. In “The Life of a Chinese Gold Farmer,” a 2007 article for the New York Times Magazine by Julian Dibbell, the author notes the disturbing racism in homemade movies on sites like YouTube including such titles as “Chinese Gold Farmers Must Die” and “Chinese Farmer Extermination.”

Yee finds the vocabulary of this in-game racism eerily familiar – noting a similar need for extermination associated with Chinese immigrants in the 19th century. He recognizes the similarities between the contemporary and historical narratives: “Chinese immigrant workers being harrassed and murdered by Westerners who feel they alone constitute acceptable labour.”

Efforts to fight gold farming often rely on other players’ hostility toward the practice, as they are encouraged to report suspicious behaviour – for instance, a character trolling the same area over and over again for gold. These accounts can then be then banned, which can compromise gold-farmers’ employment.

Tanis notes that gaming companies may have been trying to maximize profits – by eliminating gold farming, players are unable to buy their way into higher levels, and must pay months of subscription fees to earn it through proper play. However, Heeks points out that “doing nothing about gold-farming also costs nothing whereas doing something costs money in staff time and other resources.”



Corporate Farming



Despite the measures taken to prohibit gold farming, it continues. Gaming companies have already started to realize the potential for economic gain by incorporating it into their business model.

“While MMORPGs initially tried to ignore and then repress gold farming ... they will realize there is a demand and figure out a way to make money from it,” says Majias.

Heeks notes that many Asian games, which follow a free-to-play business model rather than a monthly subscription like Western games, sell levels and characters – capitalizing on the demand for the services gold-farmers provide.

This model, however, leaves no room for gold farmers who profit from the demand for purchasing fast-tracked virtual goods and services, and the gaming companies’ failure to provide them.

Majias explains that what started out “in the interstices of the network ... will become mainstream, and more importantly, automated.” This leaves an uncertain future for gold farmers whose services may receive less reward, or may not be required at all in this new business model.



Gaming Governance



Looking toward the future of the industry, questions of government involvement arise. Like other cyber activities, governments have difficulty understanding and regulating gold farming. “Mr. Wang,” a gold-farm owner that Tanis interviewed, explained that he tried to apply for a government registration in order to pay taxes and get insurance and social security for his employees, but the government turned away his request because they didn’t understand if his business was farming or virtual gaming. Heeks’s research finds some gold-farming firms in China registered and paying taxes – an obvious economic incentive for governments to regulate the industry.

The South Korean government attempted to ban the trading of virtual currency in 2007, but the South Korean Supreme Court recently ruled that virtual money can now, in fact, be exchanged for real-life cash.

There are claims China has a similar ban in place, but Tanis, a Shanghai resident, says that if this is true it would have little relevance or consequence. On the other hand, Heeks notes that there are reports that local governments in China have invested directly in gold farming.



Real-world Implications



One solution proposed, which relies on regulation, has a fair-trade model for gold farming. For the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival at Ithaca College in New York, Majias organized an alternate-reality game that explored “whether there could be fair-trade (gold), just like Fair Trade coffee and chocolate – in other words, a system for compensating workers appropriately.”

Majias is, however, skeptical that this would be feasible. He doubts that the Chinese government will regulate the industry and predicts that it would inevitably be incorporated into the games by the game manufacturers themselves.

Another inhibition to a fair-trade model is that many workers may already be compensated proportionally to the value of their work. According to Heeks’s research, most micro-enterprises seem to pay workers relative to the profit made by the firm. This being said, business models are diverse across the industry, and numbers show both firms just breaking even, as well as firms with the potential for super-profits. Heeks notes one South Korean entrepreneur who out-sourced Chinese gold-farmers for the Korean game Lineage II and made US$9.6 million in four years. The potential for this super-profitability is less likely since the deflation of virtual gold in 2007.

Whether this virtual world merely reproduces current labour patterns of inequity and exploitation, or if the features of digital technology could create different and better patterns is difficult to ascertain.

Heeks writes that gold farming largely reproduces “real-world institutions and social forces” in the virtual realm. But, he also finds reason to be more optimistic. After the price of virtual gold fell in 2007, changes took place necessary for its survival – one being that intermediary brokers between the gold farmers and the gamers were largely cut out and power became more dispersed.

“While this falls short of an argument that technology has transformed social structures and behaviours,” notes Heeks, “it means the mix of technology, structure, and agency is unpredictable.”

Though the issues related to gold farming currently have little audience aside from gamers and academics, these are questions that we all should be contemplating, as the commoditization of the Internet increasingly infiltrates our day-to-day lives through sites like Facebook and Twitter. Insisting that the victims of this commodification are only other people on other continents shifts the focus away from the primary issues.

“Underlying cyber-Orientalism,” says Majias, “serves to conceal the fact that ... we all find ourselves being (sometimes willingly) exploited by Web 2.0 companies.”

“It’s just we find it much easier to think of those being exploited as the Chinese ... But at least the folks in China are getting paid.”

// Whitney Mallet

The McGill Daily

EDITORIAL: CAPILANO U CUT CLASSES And hoped we would just shut up and pay more for less learning

The basic assumption of students at a university is that we are somehow important to the administration's decision making processes. In most cases, this is true. We are considered to be clients for the course selections and we are canvassed in order to keep our instructors accountable. We hold seats on the newly elected, 30 person senate (four fabulous seats) and on the 15 person Board of Governors (an influential two spots). Once more, services like a students union or a student newspaper can receive a portion of the students revenue in order to provide outlets for our Charter rights and freedoms. But that is where the dialogue ends.

Case in point: The surgery of the fourth hour from our curriculum that was enacted in 2008. This change, ushered in in part to keep with our shiny new upgrade to University from College (even though it affords no more opportunities for students at all) effectively reduced our class contact time by 25% and compromised the reputation of the school, which had up to that point been based on smaller classes and personal relationships between students and teachers. That lost hour was made up by supplementary learning, such as the Moodle strategy or extra readings. In effect, it amounted to a massive loss in learning with no change in the costs of tuition. The cut also resulted in class times being scheduled into lunch hours, creating only two communal lunch blocks, Tuesdays and Thursdays, which severely compromises the ability of students to organize their Clubs, meetings and gatherings.

The change was met with much grumbling and gnashing of teeth by students and teachers. I reported on the change when it came into effect and could not find a single teacher who felt positive about it. Most felt that their hard-wrought curricula were simply cut off like a moldy crust. The student responses weren't much better, but some reveled in shorter classes.

Due to this dissent, the administration decided to officially canvass students and faculty to find some hard data. The survey was sent to the student inboxes of the Capilano webmail service and thus finds itself in questionable scientific statistical territory due to its voluntary component (typically this type of research is not regarded as credible).

A greater problem is the length of time it took for these survey results to be addressed. It has been almost a solid year since the survey was completed. The Courier only obtained these documents after months of inquiry and finally, after beginning procedures for a Freedom of Information request.

The final survey, which concluded on March 27th, 2009, resulted in a fat and bloated 200 page document that must have cost enormous amounts of time and resources, and simply summarizes what we already know –  that the students who remember what it was like to have a fourth hour disapproved of the switch, and those who enrolled when the change was in effect preferred it that way. The length of time it took for the survey results to be compiled effectively ensured that end, and no address is in sight.

The final recommendations of the survey state that no changes will be made, that more surveys should be performed when actualizing such changes in the future, and that teachers are still unhappy with the switch.

It should be noted, however, that these changes did come about for a good reason. Classes were overflowing and the administration could not continue to offer courses without performing major surgery. Still, it simply points to the administration's priorities: quantity of student dollars over quality of student experiences. Increasing the scheduling of courses in the evenings was deemed an unpopular and unprofitable option.

As we bid goodbye to our long-standing university president, the mathematically minded Dr. Greg Lee,  we should also lament. The vicious fourth hour cut tarnishes and shames his career of excellent service to students and should stand as a warning for his impending successor. Once more, the disrespectful and dismissive way the survey was handled leaves much room for student unrest in our publicly funded university. We were 'waited out', with the hopes that the students who remember the old way will move on and simply forget. But don't worry, the Capilano Courier is still here, to help you remember.

See the news section for further explanation of the survey and its results.

// Kevin Murray

editor

The Voicebox

The Voicebox, to quote a famous author, returneth. Look for our Voiceboxers, Rachelle and Mercedes, Tuesday afternoons in the Birch cafeteria. Then we'll publish your opinion, even if it's dumb.

“We love the Capilano Courier. We actually do. We read it every week.”                                                   [Yay! –Mercedes]

“The squirrels in the parking lot: they’re everywhere. They never stop. They’re moving right now. There’s one over there. And it’s moving.” 

[Second voice]“Squirrels don’t move.”                                        

 [First voice] “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It’s really awkward being one of the only African-American people at this school. Everyone asks my opinion on being the only African-American here. I’m not from Africa, and I’m not from Haiti. Please don’t give me any donations. And please don’t stare at me when I walk behind you because I don’t want to steal your wallet. “

                                                                                                                                          [Sorry for asking for your opinion on being one of the only African-Americans at Cap. –Mercedes]

“Caf prices are too expensive.”

 [No kidding? -Giles]

“Say no to twincest. It’s unnatural and an easy way for people to poke fun. I mean, hilarious, but kind of awkward.”

[This one came from a pair of twins. -Mercedes]

“I actually really enjoy working at the caf. I meet everyone. I once met a guy decked out as a pimp. Like a 1960’s/70’s era pimp with a total pimp hat, a fuzzy leopard print thing goin’ on, and a cane and everything. And he was actually advertising for a documentary that was just made, about boxing. And he was working on his PhD. That would be one of the craziest people I ever met.”                           [Seriously? What the fuck? Talk about random. –Mercedes]

“Watch firefly. It’s a TV show. It’s awesome. You should see it.”

“I’m hoping to write an article for the Cap Courier. I like the idea that they pay people who write articles. I would like to write an article about the Olympics. Like how teachers are getting laid off, so maybe I’ll write a short story about that.”                                                                                                                             

[A short story, eh? That’s pretty ambitious... I’m sure an article will suffice. But yes, do it. -Mercedes]

“I feel like as a society we’ve digressed from reading literature to reading garbage. Every time I see books like Eragon or Twilight it just makes me feel a little sick inside. And then we have classes, like English classes that are all like about Iranian literature, and I have to stop and wonder how they possibly pass it off as an English class. We basically watch Farsi films with English subtitles and read English translations of Farsi books. And I’m like ‘Wow, that’s sucking up to the Iranian population of North Vancouver.’“

[Oh wow. -Giles]

                                                                                                                                                      

“Do you know what really makes me mad? When guys have a crush on you, so they think it’s okay to come up and touch you at any time or, like, sit by you when you’re with your friends, or just constantly be there. That pisses me off like no other. It’s just something that’s really annoying me.”

[Creepy. What kind of guys are you hanging out with? I mean, hello, stalker alert. –Mercedes]

I JUST WANNA GO HOME Living five days on campus for at-risk youth

Don’t be surprised when a group of students appear to be living homeless on your campus next week. They will be participating in a campaign called 5 Days for the Homeless, a student initiative that began in 2005 out of the University of Alberta’s School of Business.

The mission of the campaign is to “increase awareness of the issue of homelessness and to raise donations for charitable organizations supporting homeless and at-risk youth across the country.”

At Capilano University, the 5 Days for the Homeless campaign is run by the Justice Committee (SJC). This is the second year the Capilano Students Union (CSU) has participated in the national campaign.

“Most students don’t have the time or money to make an impact on such a pervasive issue,” says Richard McCrae, SJC Coordinator. This [campaign] gives us the capacity to come together, and give some of what we have.”

From March 14-19, five students will sleep outside on campus in an effort to promote awareness about homelessness and raise money for Alternate Shelter Society.

Students will have no income and must rely on direct donations for food and beverages during the campaign. The participants must still attend all classes while a part of the 5 Days campaign.

The SJC has decided proceeds from their campaign will go to Alternate Shelter Society because it “doesn’t fit with the standard shelter method that we’ve seen over the years, it’s for the supremely at-risk [youth] … who have been rejected by other organizations,” says McCrae. “It is really important in particular to support an organization that is taking a stand for these kids.”

Alternate Shelter Society, located in East Vancouver, serves to provide services to a population of youth variously described as ‘abused’, ‘homeless’, ‘at risk’ and ‘behaviourally disordered’. Their mandate is “to care for the children and youth at Alternate Shelter Society the best we can.”

“This campaign isn’t about solving homelessness,” says McCrae. “It’s about raising money for a great cause, to help out the kids at Alternate Shelter Society.”

The 5 Days campaign at Capilano is aiming to raise $12,000, which will pay the cost of the accreditation process for Alternate Shelter Society, says McCrae. In the past the government has paid this fee, but the Society was recently told that they would now have to pay for the accreditation process themselves. Without the money, the shelter will be forced to close.

Some students on campus, however, feel that the campaign is not the best way to approach the issue of homelessness.

“I think one thing about the 5 Days is that it’s not realistically representing homeless people, getting students to sacrifice themselves for a certain amount of time - but I think you have to look beyond what the students are doing, and all the work that’s gone into creating awareness,” says Charlotte Hill, a Global Stewardship student.

At the recent CFS-BC AGM, the CSU proposed a motion requesting a $500 donation towards the campaign from the CFS-BC. The motion did not pass, for a variety of reasons.

McCrae stressed that although one purposes of the campaign is to promote awareness about homelessness, that is not the main focus of their initiative.

“We can do something really great for a small organization and change their standing for the rest of the year, and allow them to invest in kids who really need help,” says McCrae.

The campaign will begin with a Kickoff Party on March 12 at the Ukranian Hall, featuring bands The Boom Booms, Small Town Artillery, and Erica Dee. Tickets are available in the Birch Cafeteria, or at the door for $10, with proceeds going towards Alternate Shelter Society.

The Arts and Entertainment Management Program has also volunteered to support the 5 Days campaign, through their performing arts showcase called artsmash! All proceeds from ticket sales will go towards the campaign.

McCrae reflected on the fact that when he ran for Social Justice Coordinator last year, every Capilano student he talked to “said [they] wanted to see more done about the Downtown East Side and homelessness in Vancouver.”

“We have proven that students here believe in things, because I’ve seen our group rise up again and again in the face of adversity,” says McCrae. “Regardless of the outcomes of this campaign, we have all gained something truly profound.”

// Samantha Thompson

assistant news editor

FOOD FOR THOUGHT Ottawa students boycott Chartwells

OTTAWA (CUP) — In an attempt to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the Chartwells food services at the University of Ottawa, students organized an “Anything But Chartwells Day” in late February.

The initiative called for students to boycott all Chartwells-run campus food establishments on February 22. Chartwells is a division of Compass Group Canada, part of the world’s largest contract food service company, and controls the vast majority of food services on the University of Ottawa campus.

The boycott gained momentum on the Facebook group “I bet I can find 36,244 students at uOttawa who hate the Café,” which currently has over 2,000 members.

Shaughnessy O’Reilly was one of the organizers behind Anything But Chartwells Day, and he explained his desire to see an improvement from the University of Ottawa’s Food Services department.

“I’d just like for them to know that the majority of students are not happy with the food services on campus, and maybe the boycott will put more pressure (on) them to listen to us and make some necessary changes a bit faster,” said O’Reilly. 

In an attempt to encourage people to avoid purchasing Chartwells products, students were invited to join the People’s Republic of Delicious (PRD), a vegan-friendly food collective based at the U of O, for a free meal in the school’s student centre on Monday, Feb. 22. The PRD also offers free breakfast on Thursday mornings on campus.

The collective “has always stood against corporate food on campus,” said PRD member Victoria Benjamin in an email. “We wanted to provide alternatives for students from the cafeteria in order to facilitate the boycott.”

Patrick Genest, manager of the University of Ottawa’s Food Services, said that there are other avenues for students to voice their concerns and criticisms.

“On our website, we have a ‘Let’s Talk’ box where (students) can voice their comments directly to us,” said Genest.

Genest is also taking proactive measures to gauge student opinions.

“I read the Facebook page on a regular basis, and I take the comments from that page. We see where the bulk of the problems are coming from and we’re going to work on that.”

However, the mass support for  Anything But Chartwells Day is a testament to the level of student frustration with food services on campus.

“We’re also encouraging students to send an email to the (school’s administration) and the people at Food Services,” said O’Reilly. “I really think the food is of such poor quality, the boycott was the best way to send the message.”

O’Reilly doesn’t want to see the efforts end with the boycott. When asked about the future of the anti-Chartwells movement, O’Reilly explained his plans to use the Facebook group as an organizing platform.

“I’m going to call for a meeting on the Facebook (group) soon, and we’ll decide where to go from there,” he said.

According to O’Reilly, Anything But Chartwells Day is gradually gaining popularity on campuses nationwide.

“I’ve talked with a bunch of people on Facebook who have Chartwells on their campus as well, and it seems to be a nationwide issue — lots of people in B.C. and Toronto have said they want to do something similar,” he said.

While it is not clear how widespread the anti-Chartwells movement is, it seems the PRD is on board to take the activism to the next level, according to Benjamin.

“It was a great opportunity to discuss why students feel disillusioned with Chartwells as well as brainstorm ideas on where this movement can go next,” she said.

// Amira Elmi

the Fulcrum

NEWS (LONG) BRIEFS

SAGM PROPOSES IMPORTANT BYLAW CHANGES

There are a variety of important motions to be considered at this spring's CSU Semi-Annual General Meeting. Notably, with Motion Six, the CSU would like to strike bylaw V that requires them to send two delegates to National Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) general meetings and three delegates to Provincial CFS general meetings.

The passing of this motion would solve a discrepancy between their budget and their bylaws. The issue is that if no one volunteers to go to the CFS General Meetings, then they are not required to send anyone and the CSU may lack representation at that meeting.

GENDER INEQUALITY TO REMAIN IN ANTHEM

The Speech from the Throne at the beginning of this month sparked a lot of interest amongst Canadians. The Speech mentioned jobs as the top priority, along with the freezing of salaries for the Prime Minister, Ministers, MPs, and Senators; along with plans to celebrate the War of 1812. Much discussion was also centered around the suggestion that Parliament be asked to change the wording of O Canada to reflect gender neutrality (“in all thy sons command”). This proposal caused over a thousand people to join a Facebook fan page where the members expressed their discontent, saying things like, “Who the heck thought up this lame brained plan anyway?” A recent post informed members their voice had been heard, and that the Conservatives have decided to drop the idea to revise the national anthem. “Hopefully,” the post reads, “the national anthem will never again be used as a political football.” Jian Ghomeshi speculated on the CBC that it was a Conservative ruse to avoid dealing with the Afghanistan Detainee case. 

CATS

Capilano University film studies graduate Dominique Basi has delved deep into cat culture with a dramatic short film about her own cat. In solidarity with the “I Can Haz Cheezburger” movement, the Capilano Courier has posted the film on their website. The YouTube page describes the film as “the dramatic and true portrayal of the inner turmoil of an indoor cat.” To view the film, visit www.capilanocourier.com.

COURIER BOARD VACANCIES

Two members of the Capilano Courier Board of Directors have vacated their positions. The seven member board now requires two new members to attend the final two or three meetings of the year. The Board meets once per month during the publishing year to discuss financial and administrative matters relating to the paper. Elections for the positions will take place on Tuesday, March 16 at the Courier office in Maple 122 at noon, prior to the weekly story meeting. All students are welcome to nominate themselves to run. Interested parties should contact news@capilanocourier.com.

// Samantha Thompson and Natalie Corbo

news team

SCHEDULING WOES WILL REMAIN Fourth Hour Survey Results Received

Last year, when 25% of University class time was cut, the universal lunch hour became class time, Moodle learning became the preferred supplement for the lost hour, and some class blocks became asymmetrical to encourage increased use of Friday classroom time, students and teachers were left grumbling. Now, dissatisfaction with Capilano University's current schedule format is evident in more than just informal discussion.

In early January of 2009, the Ad-Hoc Committee on Scheduling Evaluation (COSE) was formed “to determine, where possible, the impact of the new schedule on operations and learning conditions of the University, and to develop principles to guide future scheduling decisions.” The committee compiled their own discussion with the data from student and faculty surveys, to draft a report on the scheduling situation.

The draft of the committee’s report is just shy of 200 pages and is comprised of both numerical and qualitative data, as well as comprehensive information about the information collection process and recommendations from the committee. 

Rumblings throughout the school were generally negative at the time of the change, and the Courier reported in early January 2009 that “students and faculty members remain indignant” to the changes and lack of formal consultation prior to making the changes.

Those complaints have now been quantified. Only 5% of students who indicated a preference on the COSE-conducted survey stated that they preferred asymmetrical scheduling.

Teachers surveyed also acknowledged that the new scheduling system has made their jobs harder. The report also notes that “an overwhelming proportion of [faculty respondents] indicated that all selected aspects were at least somewhat more difficult this term compared with previous terms.” Indeed, 95 percent of faculty respondents felt that “covering essential course content adequately” is more difficult “compared with previous terms.”

Many feel that the change hurts the quality of education significantly. When asked “what aspects of the shift to centrally coordinated scheduling have been most beneficial to students [and faculty]” many of the open-ended qualitative responses were some variation on “I haven’t noticed any benefits at all.”

Members of the COSE also “expressed strong concerns about the loss of the fourth hour and the effect on educational quality.” However, the report indicates that “it has been generally accepted that space needs drove the change and that any attempt to revert back to the two-hour format would negatively affect our ability to accommodate students.”

The survey notes that students registered prior to the Spring 2008 term preferred two hour blocks, students who registered more recently (after the changes were made) preferred one and a half hour classes.

Although diagrams in the document show that symmetrical scheduling (having all classes on Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday at identical times) would not result in a loss of classroom utilization hours, the asymmetrical blocks increase use of classroom space on Fridays. According to the recommendations, COSE determined that having Friday classes meet once per week (in three hour blocks) was not favorable, however no student or faculty input on this matter was indicated.

Much of the scheduling adjustments were made to encourage Friday classes, however students have indicated a preference for a Monday through Thursday week to allow “for study time, work, family obligations, and recreation.”

However, in the conclusion to the report, it is noted that “the generally accepted limit of utilization had been well exceeded,” and that “program expansion requests ... would likely not be ... implemented under the previous schedule model.” Essentially, capacity has been reached in terms of classroom use and the previous schedule, which only allowed for 38.5 hours of classroom use per week would not accommodate the demand for new classes.

The recommendations by the committee have little to do with making changes, and centre mostly around communicating the “new Principles and Essential Process Considerations,” and more meticulous monitoring to “[examine] trends and [adjust] the allocation of classroom capacity.”

// Natalie Corbo

news editor

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS And down the slippery rabbit-hole

Two rows of windows spanned the length of the pale building, all with the white blinds pulled shut – except for two. In the first window, there was an old man, sitting at a desk and staring out the glass and into the world beyond. And in the second, there was another man, sitting in exactly the same position… but instead of staring out into the world, he held his head in his hands. This building is a retirement home, but its clients are of a special breed – this place is a home for retired veterans who can no longer live on their own.

These two men, and all the veterans in that building, had experienced so much in their lifetime – and now they are left alone to stare out a window and reflect back on all they had witnessed. They have a lot to reflect upon – thinking about the people they have killed while fighting in war, the horrors that they have seen, and the friends and family they have lost.

Veterans are people in celebrated professions. Back in 1914, when World War I first began, war was romanticized. Go off to war, the recruitment ads read, and come back a hero. At that point, no one knew exactly what was in store – and when the war finally ended in 1919, people were relieved. Of course, those relieved were also those who were still alive – for those who were now no more than corpses left behind, decomposing on the now-silent battlefield, could feel nothing.

The profession remains respected today. On February 18th, 2010, the death of John Babcock made national headlines. Babcock was Canada’s last known WWI veteran. The Prime Minister issued a statement that read, “The passing of Mr. Babcock marks the end of an era."

Yes, battles won in the World Wars helped shape Canada’s history. Harper himself said that Babcock’s death was the end of an era, yet not much has changed since 1919. Technology may evolve, but the underlying concept remains identical. Over 60,000 Canadian men died in WWI, and another 45,300 in WWII – people who did not need to die. It is strange that human beings still seek out a means to destroy each other.

When you look at all the wars and conflicts throughout the world, there is one common factor that unites them all:

Fear.

Fear is everywhere.  It is the driving force behind all conflict. WWII happened because people had a fear of communism.  Genocides occur as a result of a fear that people could be different from what that which you are familiar with. Conflicts for profit, for things like oil, expansion of territory, and rivalry – all come out as a fear of someone, some other nation, having more than you.

If we are to co-exist as a unified human race, then we must accept that there must be a unified responsibility. We cannot attribute ‘human nature’ for our mistakes. We must take responsibility, as a global community, for the crimes committed.

No matter how anti-war you may feel, it is important not to take it out on the men and women who are sacrificing their lives for our country, and for other world citizens. They have chosen a dangerous profession. They display an admirable level of nationalism, something that is unheard of in most parts of Canada.

It is odd, however, that we do more for natural disasters, which we have no control over, than we do for conflict, these human-made disasters. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been sent to assist the recent earthquake in Haiti, yet if we send money to Afghanistan we are ‘funding a war’.  If we put more effort into prevention, the world would be not be on a steep slippery slope to demise, and instead it would be ascending the mountain of unity and peace (something that presently seems to be a mountain only in the land of fantasy and idealism).

If instead of placing our veterans in care homes, leaving them there alone to deal with everything they’ve been through, we rejoiced all the work they’ve done for our country, then we could end the conflict. It is impossible for us to move forward, strongly into the future, if we do not learn from our mistakes in the past.

Then, veterans will not need to hold their heads in their hands when they realize that despite all that they have given up; there are still thousands of others who are sacrificing their lives to fight the ongoing battle against Fear.

// Samantha Thompson

assistant news editor

THE CAFETERIA IS DECADENT AND DEPRAVED Aramark should lower prices or perish

I'm sure Aramark loves the idea that they own all the restaurants on campus. And somewhere in their back room is a fancy chart that has a graph that points out that they can charge more due to their monopoly. But recent research suggests that this American company doesn't understand the Canadian mentality too well. That is, Aramark's strategy fails to recognize the reaction of Canadians to high food prices. I implore Aramark to take the following into account.

Consider the fact that eight out of ten Canadians are now eating at home because the cost of eating out is too high, according to a recent Ipsos-Reid poll. Eighty percent is a huge number when we consider what Aramark is banking on – that students are stuck on this island and are willing to shell out a lot more for the convenience of readily available food. It's a strategy that works with ballparks, airports and more recently, Olympic venues. But as students who visit the campus daily, we're not the one-time customers those other venues depend on. We're the opposite; if Aramark played their cards right, we could even become devoted clients.

However, as it stands now, Aramark lacks customer satisfaction or loyalty. For two years, I've sat outside of the cafeteria collecting opinions from students on lunch hour every Tuesday for our Voicebox (see page two of the Courier). Although we've asked for “any opinion on anything,” the most common opinion was that Aramark's prices were too high and they should lower prices. True, this is not completely scientific and may be passed off as simply anecdotal, yet it's a powerful anecdote when you realize that we had to implement a “no complaints about cafeteria food” rule due to the sheer amount of repeat commentary on this one issue. No one has given us a positive review on Aramark, ever.

Aramark's high prices are a huge reason for student dissatisfaction and has lead to students looking elsewhere. If you're still feeling incredulous about these results, then let's get scientific: Nine out of ten Canadians agree that they “sometimes don’t buy certain food because it costs too much,” according to the latest survey by Ipsos Reid. Is Aramark really stubborn enough to believe that they can fight the determination of almost 90% of Canadians due to a monopoly? Again, 80% would rather just cook at home as an alternative and 76% take the extra step of looking for deals on food (i.e: sales, coupons, flyers, etc.). You don't have a monopoly on the willpower of Canadians, Aramark.

The Courier once attempted to rectify this situation by providing a big purple fridge for students, etymologically named “Big Purple.” The fridge contained drinks for students at the cost of a donation. It was so successful that it caught the attention of another company who has a food contract with us: Coca Cola. And here lies the problem with all these food contracts: You're bound to upset one of these companies for even the smallest dent in their profit crusade. As Coke did not allow alternative drinks on campus, we were forced to shut our fridge down. However, our point was left standing: It's possible to provide well priced, desirable options for students.

To compensate, the Courier works as a collective to buy food from off-site vendors. Our policy is to boycott Aramark unless starvation makes it impossible, and we help each other collectively to forage for food by considering our team interests and needs, just like a big family. In fact, that is the only way we can handle corporate monopolies from a grass-roots level. We, as community members, must help each other to support desirable food options and share from the symbolic community crock-pot in the corner of the CSU lounge, or from the real one in the corner of the Courier's office. If we continue to think individually about our tummy rumblings then we will always be picked off by the appetite-snipers of Aramark, one by one. A collective boycott of Aramark is only as good as its alternative, and the way I see it, that alternative must consist of an extra sandwich or two for your study buddies. By changing how we think of eating, as a community need rather than an individual desire, we can begin to develop an autonomy of appetites and free ourselves from our corporate meat masters. Excelsior!

// Alamir Novin

Editor

INDIE SENSITIVITY The racialization of alternative and hip hop music

MONTREAL (CUP) – Martin Cesar never questioned whether he was listening to the right kind of music.

As a kid who never quite fit in, he fell in love with the rock of bands like Sonic Youth and never looked back. Relating to the alienation he heard in that music, rock became a refuge for a teenager who says he always felt like an outsider.

But a few years ago, Cesar – lead singer of Montreal-based experimental pop band Think About Life – suddenly found he didn’t fit the definition of what an indie rocker was supposed to be.

It was around that time that the genre started blowing up in popular media, and with it came images of the kids who were supposedly the only ones involved: “vintage” clothes, thick-rimmed glasses being adorned by the overwhelmingly white of the middle class. Cesar, who was born in the Seychelles off the coast of Africa, found himself suddenly “weirdly self-conscious.”

“Race has never even defined me,” he says now. “I’m Creole, and that’s a long history of races and cultures mixing.”

But that stereotypical image of a white indie rocker, he says, “put my cultural standpoint into question, and whether my race is what people see more than the actual person that I am.”

We might like to think the only black and white in music comes on piano keyboards, but pop music history tells a different story. White people in North America have been eating up “black” music since the 1800s, but it’s been harder for black people to cross into white milieus; black musicians in the American South during the 1940s would sometimes get beat up just for daring to have a drink in the same “white” venue they had just played. The hostility softened further north, where Detroit-based Motown Records propelled black artists with soul sensibilities into the pop mainstream.

Chuck Berry, a black American singer, songwriter and guitarist considered by some to be the father of rock 'n' roll, pioneered a new sound that was picked up by white artists like Elvis Presley. Presley brought a love of black gospel into “white” pop music — a winning formula that some have decried as exploitative of black musicians.

Craig Morrison, an ethnomusicologist and Concordia professor, disagrees with that notion.

“For him it was just all music,” argues Morrison. “So when it came out, it came out as this melting pot, Elvis-style.”

If black musicians were marginalized, it was not because of the wishes of white musicians, says Morrison. Rather, it was a product of big record companies and a mass culture that still valourized white achievements over those of minorities. Some cities were so opposed to integrating black and white, he says, that they banned rock 'n' roll altogether — a music genre he called a “black and white hybrid.”

“The great coming together that had been rock 'n’ roll and soul music kind of splits apart again for many reasons, the simplest and strongest (being) the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.,” says Morrison, adding that the rise of the militant Black Panther Party made race relations more about opposition than harmony.

The impact, Morrison says, was black musicians’ transition towards priding themselves upon what they considered “black music” and rejecting the “whiteness” of rock.

“After Jimi Hendrix, who was huge and black in rock?” Morrison points out. “You weren’t finding new rock performers that were black because it was separated.”

There is still a noticeable absence of black faces in both indie rock bands and audiences, but is the reverse true for traditionally “black” music forms?

“The real truth about hip hop today is it’s post-racial,” says music journalist Morgan Steiker, who wrote a hip-hop column for Montreal weekly paper Mirror. “So you can’t say anymore, ‘Oh, it’s just a black thing.’ or ‘It’s a black thing that white folks took.’ It’s become this absolutely global culture that’s almost like a blank slate. People appropriate it for themselves.”

Though he admits he doesn’t think we should ignore that hip hop started as a way for black musicians to work around “particular social contexts,” he says it can still be hard for white kids to prove they’ve got the life experience to back up their lyrics.

“There’s the self-consciousness of putting on a front and spicing up your life to have that cred,” Steiker says. Artists who are neither white nor black are more likely to find relevance in the narrative of struggle, he continues.

“Hip hop was born out of revolt and rebellion. It’s a much more believable narrative to say, ‘I’m an Asian-Canadian with an immigrant background and I’m an outsider and I’m revolting against the system.’ It’s more respected than, ‘I’m a white kid from the suburbs.’”

On the flip side, Cesar says his skin colour has prompted others to question his credibility, too. His band has always worked from a “punky, DIY” ethos, he says, but reviewers didn’t seem to think he could pull it off.

When he started releasing music, Cesar says the reviews “basically concentrated on my lack of authenticity, as a black person falling into punk rock – as if it was just this new thing I was getting into, like I didn’t know what I was doing.

“I found it really offensive, because it just makes me come off like I have no connection to it.”

And then there were the comparisons to TV on the Radio, a successful indie rock band boasting an almost entirely black lineup. Cesar, the only black member of Think About Life, thinks the similarities between the bands are more visual than aural.

He says he’s started to think, “a good music journalist is when you see a finished article (about our band) and it doesn’t include TV on the Radio or other bands where one of the band members is black. That’s great.”

Steiker may say that hip hop is a “blank slate,” but there’s still a lot written on the surface of indie rock. Narrow definitions of who will want to listen to the music — and ultimately take part in the communities that grow around it — could be alienating to those who don’t feel they fit the bill. What was a refuge for outsiders could end up pushing people out.

Cesar says there’s “a lot of bigotry indie rock right now,” with an emphasis on race that taints coverage of artists any darker than ecru.

“It just has to do with the over-commercialism that has been happening in indie rock in the past four, five years,” he says. “We’ll get over it, but it’s a shame.”

// Madeline Coleman

The Link

VANCOUVER DUBSTEP IS ALIVE IN 2005 And also in 2010

The Vancouver dubstep scene is vibrant and thriving. With an abundance of DJs and producers who are known for their diversity in style and for their intimacy with the community, “Vancouver is really one of the number one places to be in terms of people who are really stoked on [dubstep] and know their shit”, explains Tank Girl of Vancouver's Lighta! Sound crew.

The origins of dubstep can be traced back to the grime genre in east London. Specifically it developed at Forward>>, a weekly event at the nightclub Plastic People London. As dubstep's darker, more simplistic grime sounds started sparking the interest of producers, they began creating their own more complex rhythms, bass lines, and generally higher caliber productions. The term dubstep was coined in the early 2000’s. It took its roots from bass culture, which comes from early Jamaican dub and reggae music, and heavily emphasizes sub bass (40 hertz and below) on the sound systems.

According to Tank Girl, though, “I went to London, where dubstep was born, and it wasn’t as fun going out and partying there... everybody was hanging out in their own little groups. Here it’s a much more friendly environment.”

Lighta! Sound is a crew of Vancouver DJs and producers that produce a variety of bass oriented music, which can be experienced every first Saturday of the month at the Astoria. They strive to play forward-thinking music with high quality sound systems.

“Surprisingly enough, dubstep is at the forefront and is gaining a lot of popularity” says Ben Ulis, a producer and DJ of Lighta! Sound. Many dubstep artists, such as UK’s Rusko, are gaining popularity and playing sold-out shows all over the world. These artists are drawing new attention to the genre and bringing dubstep to a fresh crowd. “People are just getting introduced to it through more easily accessible dubstep so lots of different people are getting into the scene” says Tank Girl.

“Right now half the scene is playing the really standard dubstep, and the other side of it is people trying to include all these influences into dubstep, making it slower and different.” explains Ian Mrozewski, label manager of Writing Colours Recordings. Skream, Benga and Kode 9 (all from London) who Ian describes as the meat and potatoes of the genre, are the more commercially successful producers of the genre.

Electronic music is a constantly evolving music form, however, and more producers are incorporating their own styles and mixing other genres of music with dubstep. “There are so many different directions its going in,” explains Tank Girl, “Some people are rooted in the reggae sound, and then there are people who incorporate UK garage or techno sounds.”

With so much going on in the scene, dubstep is flourishing and evolving in many different directions. Vancouver has a solid community of DJs keeping the scene alive, and there is no shortage of dubstep nights to attend around the city. As the genre is becoming more and more popular globally, it impacts the local scene, and everyone is benefitting. 

For more bass-heavy encounters, check out the new Friday dubstep weekly night "Low Indigo", hosted by Lighta! on the first Saturday of every month at the Astoria.

// Harrison Pratt

Writer

AFFORDING A KILLER BOTTLE Pairing wines with student meals

VICTORIA (CUP) – A subscription to Wine Spectator, Food and Wine or Decanter isn’t necessary to figure out what wines a person may find appealing. And finding the appropriate nectar to pair with simpler foods, or less-pricey student fare, can be just as easy if some basic guidelines are followed.

Of course, it never hurts to experiment by going to a wine store, looking around, and grabbing a bottle with a particularly eye-catching label.

“It’s really not that uncommon for the novice wine drinker to do that,” says Ken Stockley, assistant manager at the Everything Wine store in Victoria. Stockley, a wine aficionado, has been in the business of vino for over 15 years. He worked at the Okanagan’s Mission Hill Winery, and did a five-year stint for Mark Anthony Brands, one of the province’s leading wine distributors, prior to his arrival at B.C.’s largest wine store.

Stockley says that pairing wine for under $12 a bottle is easily attainable and that most people, avid wine drinkers or not, are looking for recommendations around that price.

“Red wine with red meat and white wine with white meat is still the golden rule when pairing wine with food,” says Stockley, but he also suggests “drinking what you prefer, no matter what you are eating.”

Foods where either a white or a red is a possibility in pairing are a great starting point for the amateur wine drinker. Pasta with tomato sauce is a dish that works well with either.

“Some will tell you that tomato sauce is very acidic, which can demand a white wine, which tends to be more on the acidic side,” says Stockley. “Others feel that it’s a red sauce, and it’s with pasta, which has some big flavours, so needs a big, more full-bodied red.”

Pinot Grigio, a lighter, more acidic, and un-oaked white could easily work with pasta and tomato sauce, as would a full-bodied Sicilian Nero d’Avola or Argentine Malbec.

Pizza may also be paired with either red or white. If it’s cheese-based, a lighter acidic white such as a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc or an Italian Pinot Grigio would be ideal, with the higher acidity complementing the richness of the cheese. A meat-based pizza would pair very well with an inexpensive Italian Chianti or Spanish Tempranillo.

Asian foods such as stir-fries or sushi also both lend themselves to experimentation where wine pairing is concerned.

“For this style of food, it’s all about German Rieslings and Gewürztraminers,” says Stockley.

These oilier, textured white wines help balance spice, while their sweet fruit and aromatic qualities compliment fatty fish such as tuna and salmon. If red is your preference, a lighter red such as a Spanish Grenache or French Beaujolais would be most appropriate. Stockley recommends chilling it down to soften it.

“Regionally, wine from Chile, Argentina, the region of Toro in Spain and many Italian varietals offer some of the best values,” says Stockley.

However, he says, “The best thing you can do is to not be intimidated when looking to try something a bit different.”

//Brett Blair

Nexus

VANCOUVER VESTIBULES Where the streets are too tame

It wasn’t Carnival, but it was as close as this beer-swilling, hockey crazy city has ever come. Opinions about the politics of the Olympics aside, the force that enveloped Vancouver over those two weeks was both unstoppable and undeniable.

Whether people were doing keg-stands in the middle of Robson Street or having spontaneous boom-box dance parties in the street while dressed like the Blue Man Group, something bizarre was going on.

In Spacing editor Shawn Micaleff’s essay about the importance of street festivals, he stresses the word “liminal.” The word evokes an idea of openness, ambiguity, and a disorientation that occurs during the transition from one place or headspace to another. Street closures, he espouses, can have this effect on a city.

Vancouver’s downtown integrates commercial, business and residential spaces remarkably, but has always lacked public social spaces. A shopping district with wider than average sidewalks is a sorry excuse for a public space, and parks can be limiting at best. The European concept of the town square has not yet immigrated into the North American consciousness, and cities like Vancouver are used for their explicitly functional purposes, while the divisive celebration and partying happens exclusively behind closed doors.

As Micaleff proposes, street parties and festivals have the astonishing ability to “change the basic function of a city, temporarily, and open space for new interactions and understanding of our place in the city.”

The camaraderie of being surrounded by thousands of new best friends after Canada wins gold must be an elating experience. The atmosphere in Vancouver during the times of triumph for the athletes is clearly unmatched in any conventional house party. There is an excitement in the fact that the people you are sharing this wide open space with our total strangers. Anyone could be there and anything can happen – and social order, by and large, remains.

The key is to harness the elements that gave Vancouver two weeks of mind-boggling street parties and apply them in a more permanent way, so that this sort of public celebration can happen for other events. New Orleans is known for Mardi Gras, and Rio de Janeiro is Carnival. The uniting power of street festivals is unmatched by private gatherings.

Micaleff refers to Toronto in his essay, which invites an easy comparison to Vancouver. He mentions that Toronto’s “boring” reputation (a label Vancouverites should be familiar with as well) makes it especially interesting to see what happens “when the streets are given over to people.”

Currently, the most public of spaces in Vancouver are based around commercial interests. Malls can be seen as public spaces to a certain extent – they require no entrance admission, and entrance is also non-discriminatory (if you follow the rules). There are events to partake in sometimes, and young and old can spend the whole day there if they want to. However, a mall's purpose is always unbridled consumption.

The only current permanent pedestrian area in Vancouver has a similar problem. The Granville Entertainment District is based around an expensive bar and club scene, that has appeal to a very specific demographic as well as a reputation for excessive negative rowdiness. In 2006, city police acknowledged that “Granville Street has descended into chaos,” according to CBC article.

By most accounts, the majority of the daily celebrations downtown during the Olympics were family friendly – this seems to be important to people when determining the value and acceptability of an event that takes place in public. While liquor pour-outs were staggering, and the Liquor Board forced liquor stores to close early on several days during the parties, tragedy and chaos were notably absent.

The central question is now what will inspire Vancouverites to take to the streets in droves again, and whether this will be possible. Road closures are key to this type of public celebration, and perhaps a taste of a real street party will make the city hungry for more.

// Natalie Corbo

Columnist

HITS FROM THE BONG Stronger strains cause reefer madness

55% of people in Vancouver have experimented with marijuana. Despite its illegality, it's deeply incorporated into Vancouver culture, through places like the New Amsterdam Cafe, and its Vapour lounge. Partially responsible for this popularity is marijuana's image as a fairly harmless drug, though emerging scientific studies have contested this belief recently, mostly due to the selective breeding of plant strains to yield more fruit, or buds.

To put it simply, cannabis has two notable active properties, Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Cannabidiol (CBD). As the cannabis plant has been selectively bred, the THC quantity has increased in order to increase it's potency. In the 1960's the THC content of marijuana was at 1 percent, but according to the American Council for Drug Education, marijuana currently runs a THC content of around 7.5-24 percent and rising.

A study by the Trimbos Institute for Mental Health and Addiction was carried out to determine the THC quantity of cannabis available for sale in Dutch coffee shops. The study started in 2000 and  observed the THC content double by 2004, compared to the relatively unchanged levels of imported strains. You've probably heard someone's parents mention that weed is different now than when they were growing up, often to rationalize their own experimentation with cannabis and to attack your own, but they're not so far off. There are some negative consequences to this THC strengthening process.

The Trimbos study concluded that as THC content rises in marijuana, the CBD content stays the same, as CBD doesn't have the desired psychotropic qualities of THC. CBD is responsible, however, for many positive side-effects, most notably as an equalizing agent. Not only does it inhibit invasive cancer growth, it also helps to negate the psychogenic effects of THC. CBD helps metabolize THC, balancing the high, and is even effective in treating psychoses. By excluding this natural occurring psychoactive by drastically upping THC content, we may make cannabis more of a risk to users.

With these effects in mind, we can see how stronger marijuana strains have a similarity to LSD, which is known to catalyse schizophrenia in youth if one is genetically predisposed. This new information on THC, the prominent psychoactive content of marijuana, has exposed similar consequences. Numerous studies demonstrate that THC causes short term psychosis, and carries the possibility of early-onset schizophrenia. Picked up by the media, modern strains of street cannabis are now under the microscope.

The Risks of THC

A statistic put forward by the Beckley Foundation claims that 40-50 percent of healthy people who consume cannabis experience a state of transient psychoses, though when CBD is introduced these symptoms are minimized. The symptoms of this cannabis-induced transient psychoses include depersonalization, paranoid feelings and derealisation. Admittedly, “transient psychosis” just sounds like a scientific description of what it is to be totally baked, so it may not be enough to make somebody think twice before twisting one up.

There is evidence that marijuana usage can catalyze an early schizophrenic episode if its use pre-dates brain development, so look out teens. The quality of the substance, how often it is used, and the age of the user are all variable factors. Evidence also shows that THC can worsen mental illnesses. It is inconclusive whether smoking marijuana, while your brain is still in development or otherwise, can actually cause schizophrenia. It is also worth noting that the consumption of alcohol carries four times the risks described.

Overall, it appears as if the global 'green' industry has reached critical mass, unfortunately due to the greed of growers eschewing negative health effects in favour of profitable yields – but there is a solution for you die hards. Grow your own, and grow it simply. We can conclude that no one is really benefiting from overwhelming THC levels other than the profiteering grower. The average smoker doesn't really need 'wheelchair' weed, despite how cool it sounds. Also, if the upward THC trend continues, it appears that the health negatives will drastically outweigh the positives and society will have all the more reason to rant 'reefer madness' at the top of their pristine, pearly white lungs.

// Marco Ferreira

Columnist