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Radhoc Youth Leadership Presents an Insight to Charities

Timothy Parsons
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Radhoc Youth Leadership Presents an Insight to Charities

Maddie Doyle and Ally Bowes, representing Radhoc Youth Leadership, hosted a presentation on February 6th titled, “The Pitfalls of Voluntourism and Judging Charities”. It wasn’t a bashing of charitable work like the title might suggest, but more of a demonstration of how someone can find a charity or non-profit organization they feel best suits the cause they want to support. The presentation featured the Canada Revenue website (https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/charities-giving/charities-listings.html), and demonstrated how to search for charities and non-profit organizations that operate in Canada. The most intriguing part of this was when the expenses for any given charity were shown, presenting how much each charity might spend on staff and administration, charitable causes, operating expenses, etc.

Afterwards, the audience was shown the different kinds of charities, often classified by where they operate and what makes up the most of their expenses. After which, an interactive activity provided a better understanding by letting each audience member create their own charity organization, based on one of the types given.

Global Women Breakfast 2019: Global Networking Event for Women in Chemistry (and Science)

Modeline Longjohn
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Global Women Breakfast 2019: Global Networking Event for Women in Chemistry (and Science)
Photo Credits: Stephanie Gallant

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is the globally acclaimed body responsible for chemical nomenclature and terminology including specific names, properties and symbols of chemical compounds. In addition to the aforementioned role, IUPAC also provides objective scientific know-how for the resolution of critical global chemistry related issues. Established in 1919 by career chemists (academic and industrial) with the goal of uniting to advance the knowledge and exchange of information within the chemistry community. 2019 marked the 100thyear of IUPAC as a global organization. 

To celebrate the role of women in the advancement of chemistry, chemists and students across the globe organized a global breakfast event on February 12th, 2019. This global breakfast celebration titled, “Empowering Women in chemistry: a global networking event” was organised at Memorial University by Dr. Francesca Kerton (Professor of Chemistry). The event was co-organized by doctoral candidates at Memorial University (Silvana Pereira, Juliana Vidal and Stephanie Gallant). The event attracted different women within the science community at Memorial (both students and professors).

Photo Credits: Stephanie Gallant

The highlights of the Global Women’s breakfasts were presentations by Dr. Francesca Kerton, an associate member of the IUPAC CHEWRAWN Committee and Incoming Chair of the Canadian National Committee for IUPAC. In addition, a talk was given by Dr. Erika Merschrod, Professor of Chemistry at Memorial University and Chair of the Joint CAP/CSC Surface Division. The event also featured networking opportunities, Chemistry and Science games and of course, light but delicious breakfast.

Alita Battle Angel Review

Timothy Parsons
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Alita Battle Angel Review

Alita: Battle Angel has been James Cameron’s passion project for years. Since 2003, he has held the film rights and has claimed over and over again that he will be directing this adaptation of the Japanese manga, but dropped it to focus on his Avatar series. While still acting as a producer, he handed over the director’s chair to Robert Rodriguez, who you might remember from such film series as Spy Kids and Machete.

Hollywood’s history of adapting beloved Japanese manga and anime has been rough to say the least. From duds like Ghost in the Shell and Death Note, to the embarrassment/insult that is Dragonball: Evolution, it seems that North American studios don’t have the capacity to understand what makes the original stories so great, or the passion to see timeless characters brought to life. James Cameron definitely has passion to spare; it can’t be easy being a big name trying to get a movie made, but constantly being told no. But does the cast and crew have the ability to create life-like characters and an intriguing world? Or is this another nail in the coffin for Hollywood anime/manga adaptations?

In a dystopian future, the movie follows Alita (Rosa Salazar), an A.I found in a junkyard by Dr. Dyson Ido (Christopher Waltz). After the doctor puts her in an artificial body, Alita awakens with no memory of who she is. As she experiences the world anew, it’s revealed that Alita has combat experience that puts the murderous cyborgs of Iron City to shame. Alita is now being hunted by the mysterious Nova (Mahershala Ali, kind of), and must find more of her past and how she came to Iron City.

We should probably start with the best element, the action. As with any action/adventure film, action is one of the most important elements, second only the characters. It’s not often I say this, but the fights and chases in Alita Battle Angel are glorious. The characters are vibrant and dynamic as they beat the snot out of each other, and unlike some fight scenes in movies, it’s very easy to follow the action, never being too close or using too many cuts between hits. I was lucky enough to see this in 3D, and the effects looked wonderful. This isn’t like some cash grab, “oh, we’ll say it’s 3D, but hardly anything will stand out, and those fools will never notice”, post conversion crap, the action takes full effect of the 3D, with shards of metal, sprays of oil, and weapons going around everywhere. I honestly wish I had seen this in IMAX 3D, it would’ve looked even better.

The cast do a good job as well. Rosa Salazar’s acting can seem dry at times, but to be fair, she’s playing a robot so I think that’s the point. The scenes of her experiencing new things after losing her memory are the best, kind of like Ariel exploring the city in Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Christopher Waltz’s Dr. Ido is probably the best character, with a tragic past and a desire to do good.

The world building is also top notch. In many futuristic movies I watch, the worlds are dark, dirty, and have hardly any hope, but Alita: Battle Angel has a good mix of both. You see the hardships people must go through, and how they live off the scraps of those above them, but the environment is still bright, and people are still smiling and laughing. It’s one of the nicer futures I’ve seen in a while.

Nothing is without flaw though, and Alita: Battle Angel drags the story quite a bit. The biggest one is the villain, or villains I should say. Mahershala Ali plays Vector, an entrepreneur that runs the popular “Motorball” games and deals in black market cybernetic parts. But he also plays Nova, a scientist from the floating city of Zalem, by way of Nova taking control of Vector’s body and mind. I found this really cheapened the character, as one of the best actors in the film isn’t the Big Bad, but his puppet. Vector is still an interesting character, cold and manipulative, and has a group of lackeys to do his dirty work. It’s also shown that he knows that Nova takes control of his body, but nothing is done with this. We could’ve had a sympathetic villain that reviles being the plaything of another person, but this plot point is quickly dropped.

There’s another villain coming after Alita in the movie: Zapan (Ed Skrien), who is also disappointing. When you look at his motivation, it boils down to him being a sore loser. He’s not intimidating or interesting, he just acts like a arse while whining about losing a fight.

The action may look amazing, but Alita suffers from being overpowered. Right from the get go, Alita makes the robotic criminals and bounty hunters look incompetent by comparison. Apart from one fight in the middle, there’s never a sense of danger for Alita, nothing special to overcome. So they become a game of “how’s Alita going to beat this one?”, which again looks nice, but it does leave the action scenes a bit dry.

Finally, the ending is disappointing, which is probably the most important aspect to a movie when you want sequels. The climax is dull, considering Alita once again trashes the competition like nobody’s business, and the whole thing is over in a few short minutes. There is an emotional climax which, while effective, doesn’t feel earned through the movie. Nothing feels truly accomplished in this movie, no injustice was stopped, no big villain defeated, they just leave that to the possible sequel to deal with. My biggest pet peeve is when movies that plan for sequels just devote the last few minutes to set up the next one. The only time it can work is when it’s in a movie that’s already a sequel, because that way you already have a fanbase to work from, who liked the first film enough to want a second, and then the second can entice for a third. If they want to set up a quick plotline of what might happen if there’s a sequel, then fine, but Battle Angel Alita overdoes it, never a good sign for the first movie in a series that already has a high break-even point.

Overall, Alita: Battle Angel is energetic, but tasteless fun. If you suffer through my analogy, it’s like a cupcake. Sweet, pretty, definitely tasty, but it’s certainly not very filling. However, the world, the actors, and the action make Battle Angel Alita an entertaining watch, which gives it three out of five stars.


Students and Faculty Flock to MUN Blood Donation Clinic

Timothy Parsons
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Students and Faculty Flock to MUN Blood Donation Clinic

February 12th and 13th saw Memorial University hosting Canadian Blood Services mobile centers. Held in The Landing and the Bruneau Centre lobby, many brave souls donated blood with the selfless motive to save lives. Muse reporter, Timothy Parsons, spoke with Gordon Skiffington, media contact and donor relations for Canadian Blood Services, for more details.

Picture Credit: Ehsan Mohammadi

It’s a pleasure to meet you Gordon, how long have you been a part of 
the Canadian Blood Services?
About 19 years now.

How successful was this recent blood drive?
We received about 125 donors for this drive. Memorial University have wonderful volunteers that helped us set up and advertise the event.

How many donations on average does the Canadian Blood Services need every year?
In this province, we need about 14,000 donations per year. In storage, we usually have about a month’s supply at 2500, but this number can vary. Of course we need all kind of blood types for different people and situations, but the most common types are A and O so they would be the most important blood type to have on hand.

How often can someone donate blood?
For men it’s 56 days, for women it’s 76 days. People can also donate their plasma once a week, and platelets every two weeks.

Will there be any other donation drives in the future?
We set donation drives on campus twice a year, one in the fall and in the winter, so the next one won’t be until the fall semester.

What would you consider to be the most convenient way for interested people to donate?
You can book an appointment through our website blood.ca. You can also use our downloadable app, which will let you book your appointment, as well as keep your donor number and allow you to complete the short survey usually done before each donation.

If someone wanted to organize an event where they get lots of their peers to volunteer to donate, what would you suggest?
We offer a ride service call Lifebus, where we set up a time for a group to donate, and we arrange a bus to give them transport. The Lifebus can be booked by contacting me personally at gordon.skiffington@blood.ca or by calling 709-758-8046.

If you’re interested in book a Lifebus for your group, or are interested in donating blood, please contact Gordon Skiffington at Gordon.Skiffington@blood.ca or 709-758-8046, or the Canadian Blood Services St. John’s location at 1-888-236-6283.

Local Fundraiser “How to Fill a Food Bank” Filled with Love

Alanna Harriot
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Local Fundraiser “How to Fill a Food Bank” Filled with Love

The St. John’s Farmer’s Market found itself packed on a Tuesday night as locals came out to support “How to Fill a Food Bank”, a local fundraiser aimed at helping Newfoundland’s Community Food Sharing Association (CFSA) recover from a fire that destroyed all their food two weeks prior.

The tragedy happened early on January 30th, and destroyed hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth in food. The organization served as a hub for donations, which it typically distributed to 54 different food banks as far as Goose Bay- which meant the effects would be felt throughout the province.

However, the community has come together spectacularly during this time of need, and at this time a huge amount of funds have already been raised in support of the organization, in addition to the food gained from food drives being held all over the city.

Admission for the local fundraiser was by money or food donation, and tickets could be purchased for $5 each, which in turn could be redeemed for food, drinks and dessert. The event was held from 5pm to 11pm, and included local food prepared by local chefs, live music, a silent auction and a 50/50 raffle.

The dessert table, where for a $5 ticket, visitors could pile on as many desserts as they would like on their plate. Picture Credit: Mengdong Chen

The Farmer’s Market was packed with vendors of both familiar faces and new ones, ranging from staples at the Farmer’s Market like Fatima’s, the Jewish Deli and Oh my Cheeses, to new faces such as Wedgwood and Raymond’s.

When asked about how the event came to be, Jonathan Richler, owner of the Jewish Deli and organizer of the event, had this to say:

I work in the food community, I would like to say, as opposed to the industry, and everyone works together as a family. So I called my family. And nobody said no.

Jonathan Richler, owner of the Jewish Deli and organizer of How to Fill a Food Bank, talking to a customer. Photo Credit: Mengdong Chen

Nearly all the money from the event will be going to the CFSA, and each vendor came to donate their time and food costs to help out, taking none of the profits from it. Jonathan added, “I know that [the CFSA] already raised a few hundred thousand dollars, but even then we have to remember that everybody eats three times a day, so money only goes so far.”

WUSC Local Chapter at MUN to Host “Love Without Borders”

Modeline Longjohn
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This year, as part of the International Development week, the World University Services of Canada (WUSC) MUN Committee hosted the ‘Love without Borders’ event on Friday, 8th February 2019, at the Loft of the University Centre. Speaking with Husam Basemah, the Fundraising coordinator for WUSC MUN Committee about the goal of the event, he said the aim is to increase awareness about the refugee crises.

The event features multiple stations showcasing a diverse and interesting range of activities which left the venue packed with participants throughout the duration. On the choice of activities for “Love Without Borders,” Husam Basemah, who will be returning next year as the Chairperson of WUSC local chapter at MUN elaborated,

“For this event, we have provided a virtual reality (VR) headset which people can use to see the refugee camps and what goes on there. By seeing the camps in 360 degrees , the attendants can sort of experience what’s going on there at a deeper level.”

In addition to the VR headset, which is a device that provides virtual reality for the user, there were some more things to do, namely art therapy, which allowed participants to express their feelings about the virtual reality of refugee life using arts; and the tree of life, where participants could write a note to refugees.

Art Therapy at Love Without Borders. Photo Credits: Mengdong Cheng

Speaking on the future goals of the MUN chapter of WUSC, Husam added that they intend to establish a scholarship program designed primarily for refugee students, giving out financial aid to at least one student annually, in the hopes to enable a new life with quality education.


Together with the other five Committee members, WUSC continues to raise awareness about the current refugee crises using different campaigns such as this ‘Love without borders’ event. In recognition of their exemplary work and the diversity of their Committee, WUSC MUN received an award (the rising Committee award) from the global WUSC organization.

Picture Credit: Mengdong Chen

Cinema Politica Serves a Slice of Tunisian Spring

Jacob Laybolt
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Cinema Politica Serves a Slice of Tunisian Spring

Last Thursday Cinema Politica held a film screening in the University Centre. Projected onto The Loft’s screen was a film concerning the Tunisian Revolution and its aftermath; a piece documentary titled ‘A Revolution in Four Seasons’ (2016). The organization presented a film which sheds light on the convictions of political movements and the varied interpretations of a people’s democracy.

The film’s narrative centres on two juxtaposed political candidates: Emma Ben Jemaa, journalist and free speech advocate, and Jawhara Ettis, an English teacher from the Islamist Party Ennahda, running for office during the Arab Spring’s fever pitch. Both are defined by their outspoken ideological beliefs while the film divides their experiences of failure and success through a turbulent election. 

While not taking an outright definition or stance for democracy, the film seemed more preoccupied with the personal experience of the female leads rather than explicitly outlining the political structure and society of Tunisia itself. At times, the account seemed to obscure or muddle specifics necessary to clarify the events of the Tunisian Spring and the election, which is a key component of the film. Furthermore, the film arguably failed to document the more tragic aspect of the revolution; notably, the extensively recorded instances of chaos and self-immolation (see Mohamed Bouazizi) and casualties which were not covered or given passing mention. As the film attempted to maintain an objective to focus on the protagonists, it ultimately failed in doing this at certain moments by confusingly matching the chronology of both Emma’s and Jawhara’s intertwined political stints via highlights and non-contextual personal moments.

A Revolution in Four Seasons offers an accessible, but light analysis of the political situation of Tunisia during 2011-2016. If you were looking for an elaborate presentation of the ethics of revolutions and an exploration for definitive ‘democracy’, you might need to gaze elsewhere. The movie offers an introduction to the Arab Spring (although isolating the lens within Tunisia in order to focus on the women on the front lines of the Tunisian politics), as well as an explanation of the development of anti-establishment sentiments after an elected Tunisian party assumed leadership. A fair and respectful opportunity is given for the respective sides to voice their views for the elections which serve as a summary for the debate of the region’s politics during the era. The end product is a well-produced, semi-biographical documentary with a highly political edge.

As Canada moves towards another election in a matter of months, one can only hope that Cinema Politica will soon return to showcase some thought-provoking material.

Japanese Culture Club’s Maid Cafe Event a Roaring Success

Noah Laybolt
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Japanese Culture Club’s Maid Cafe Event a Roaring Success

The Memorial Japanese Culture Club organised a maid cafe event on Saturday (February 9) which was open to the public, free of cost. An well-attended event, it featured activities ranging from craft-making to Japanese games. A prize draw occurred later in the evening and cake and snacks were available to all.

We spoke with the club president Mikayla Pie about the Japanese Culture Club and its scheduled activities. 

Free snacks and cake to make the event even more merrier.

MUSE: How often do you hold this cafe event?

MIKAYLA: We do a different event every semester, so once a semester we have one main big event in The Landing and one monthly event in The Loft but usually we have a cafe event once a year.

MUSE: How many people are involved with the club?

MIKAYLA: It depends, every semester it fluctuates. But this semester there are 5 executive members.

MUSE: How may people get involved with the club?

MIKAYLA: We have a Facebook page, MUN Japanse Culture Club, as well as an instagram page which is MUNJCCNL. Anyone can get involved, it’s open to the public. We used to have weekly meetups but now we just have monthly ones. We encourage everyone who is interested, to join!

MUSE: What’s your favourite part about being in the culture club?

MIKAYLA: My favourite part about the culture club is that not only do we get to experience and enjoy the Japanese culture, we also get to blend all the different cultures together and experience things from around the world.

MUSE: What kind of other activities or events do you organise?

MIKAYLA: Previous events we’ve done included origami, calligraphy and things like that. 

The Japanese Culture Club invites everyone interested to learn about a different culture or be reminded of their own some more, to join their committee and/or growing body of participants. The instagram for the Japanese Culture Club can be found below. 

https://www.instagram.com/munjccnl/?hl=en

MUNSU Comments on Teachers’ Strike; Administration Responds

Jacob Laybolt
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Lately, the turbulent teacher negotiations have been viewed as drawn out, obscured, and bleak at times. Luckily, in the past few weeks, the downward trajectory has been bucked as university and union negotiators approach a temporary agreement. Many students found out on Twitter that their doubts and concerns over the possible future of MUN under strike ought to be paused after MUNFA announced a tentative agreement on Jan 11th. 

Although some have criticized the school’s level of silence during the November-January period, MUN made three posts via the Gazette to update the public where possible in tandem with negotiations. Additionally, on December 6th, an email from the Office of the Registrar had been sent out to students, linking to an “information hub for labour relations news”. 
Currently, the page lists the accurate status of a reached tentative agreement with MUNFA and LUMUN, stating “No details of the tentative agreements will be released until both unions have had an opportunity to conduct their ratification votes.” There is also an included list of public updates from the University Negotiating Committee dating as far back as March 8th, 2018, until December 20th, 2018 (the most recent alert). MUNFA has also been publishing their updates on the negotiations. 

While the university seems to have been making an effort to update the public, some argue this was not enough. Bailey Howard, Executive Director of External Affairs at MUNSU, described the line of communication between the school administration and the student body as “disheartening”. This was in reference to two postponed and cancelled meetings that had been scheduled between MUNSU and the University Provost & Academic Vice President, Dr Noreen Golfman. Furthermore, MUNSU had found it “very difficult” to garner a response from the school and obtain information about the strike, adding that they “don’t know” if the tentative agreement is a stable option. MUNSU stated they do not have an official stance on the issue, the organization has a “longstanding, pro-union commitment” and cited a list of challenges faced by per-course instructors (PCI’s) and other less seasoned teaching staff, including equally stagnant and low wages and dubious contracts trapped in perpetual renegotiation. As some contracts themselves are renewed/discontinued on a per semester basis, this leaves the staff in question unsure about their occupational standing.

Since some students were completely unaware of teacher-administration squabbles until just prior to exams in December of 2018, some lecturers announced to their classes that they would answer questions while others declared they were unwilling to speak out on the matter. In one extreme instance, a since debunked rumour circulated amongst students that in the result of a strike during final examinations, students would be automatically given a final 50% grade in their course in order to avoid outright failure. Such misunderstanding might bolster MUNSU’s accusations that the MUN administration failed to meet adequate standards of transparency by publicly stating a contingency plan.

David Sorensen, Manager (Communications) at the Division of Marketing & Communications at Memorial, had this to say:

“The students’ union is not a party to either of these agreements but, like many others, are affected by the outcome of negotiations. The university has made clear in all its communications that its primary goal has been to minimize the impact on students of any potential labour disruption. As part of the planning for a possible strike, the university struck a planning committee to oversee the operational decisions that would need to be made at various points in the semester should classes or research be interrupted. That planning work required dozens of scenarios to be considered.
In response to MUNSU’s request for a meeting with the Provost, the planning group was delegated to establish an ongoing relationship and met several times with representatives of students’ unions from all campuses to hear students concerns, answer questions as answers were available and keep an ongoing channel for direct communications between the students’ unions and the Registrar as negotiations continued. Those meetings were scheduled into 2019 and were only halted with agreement from the students’ unions once the tentative agreements had been reached.”

While the current relationship between students and administration might seem fogged and contentious, the dynamic between Memorial University and MUNFA-LUMUN might forecast sunny ways after this winter’s long icy standstill. LUMUN and MUNFA are expected to vote on the agreements in February 2019. As various negotiations in the past have led to subsequently improved contracts, one can only hope the decade’s long trend continues.

Go Abroad Fair & a Talk with Su Alteen

Sanjna Joshi
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Go Abroad Fair & a Talk with Su Alteen

The Go Abroad Fair showcases work, study and volunteer opportunities for the Memorial University community. It was held in The Landing (UC 3018) on the 6th of February, 2019 (Wednesday), and included a wide variety of organizations, including: the Atlantic Council for International Cooperation, the MUN Internationalization Office, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Faculty of Business Students Studying Abroad, the Scholarships Office, various departments from the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures (MLLC), i.e. French, German, Russian and Spanish organizations, to name a few. A full list of all the participating organisations can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/375235793041291/permalink/383759898855547/.

Numerous clubs, societies & organisations participated in the fair to showcase opportunities. Picture Credit: Ehsan Mohammadi

The event was sponsored by the Atlantic Council for International Cooperation (ACIC), and the cultural food, ranging from croissants, Swiss Cheese, Sausage to Nachos and salsa, to name a few, encouraged a lot of the students to attend, but it also allowed them the opportunity to visit some of the many booths that were present there.

Su Alteen, the Go Abroad Fair Coordinator, talks about the significance of having been invited to integrate the fair as a part of the International Development Week events in St. John’s,. “The Fair is important because it’s about bringing people together, who all have something special that they can share. It’s a one stop shop networking opportunity to meet anyone you need to, develop great relations and get more info on how to go abroad and/or get involved here at home.”

During her freshman year of studies in 2014, Su attended the Go Abroad Fair for the first time and fell in love with the Canadian Third Year Nice program. Inspired, she changed her major to French and after much hard work and resilience, finally made her dream of studying in France come true, having had what she claims to be the best year of her life so far. Upon her return, she was eager to share her experiences, hoping to encourage others to study abroad and get involved in similar programs- an interest which led her to applying for MLLC Go Abroad MUCEP (Memorial’s Undergradtuate Career Experience Program).

“The presence of organizations such as the Student Volunteer Bureau, the Student Experience Office and the Student Wellness & Counselling Centre at the fair also play an important role,” Alteen says, “Since they help students thrive, which enables them to get more involved, and empathize with people who have had different experiences, thereby enabling the creation of a fundamentally diverse university community. The Fair extends to intersectional partners with inbound and outbound international as well as local students being connected and interconnected. It is an experience of internationalization provided to many students, here, at home.”

Ranging from societies to career development- the Go Abroad Fair had it all.
Picture Credits: Ehsan Mohammadi

Naturally, Alteen has faced challenges as a queer woman who was born in China and brought up in Newfoundland. She has seen her fair share of the world, and is considered a mentor to many. Along with the usual stress of a college student, balancing family, friends, academics, work, volunteering and hobbies, Alteen is also dealing with personal struggles everyday, such as being under treatment for an ongoing mental health condition as well as utilising The Blundon Centre, a unit of Memorial Student Life dedicated to provide accessibility supports for students with special needs.

Nevertheless, similar to anyone else organizing an event, she managed to muster up the courage and charisma that every host or hostess needs to carry out the function. By applying for a grant from the ACIC, she shared her dream of development, connectedness, empathy and shared community with them to pull off yet another successful Go Abroad Fair. Since Su Alteen will be graduating soon, she has already started working on putting the framework in place to pass the project on to capable newcomers who she believes will only build off the amazing work that has been done so far. She hopes for bigger, brighter initiatives and greater inclusivity which would help students, faculty and staff from day one to not only succeed on their own, but to craft everlasting networks, connections and friendships which will help them thrive on campus and beyond.

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