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(Y Criminal injustice
(Y Level up the real way

( Challenging your anxieties

And more!

Of university and animal farms

» How certain initiations can bring on later implications

Mercedes Deutscher
Staff Reporter

 

ritish Prime Minister David
Cameron woke up to smell
the bacon.

Several allegations are made
in a political biography, written
by former British Tory Party
treasurer Lord Ashcroft, set to
be released in early October.
The most prominent allegation
in the media was that as part of
a fraternity initiation at Oxford,
Cameron placed his genitals into
the mouth of a dead pig.

It is a story all too common
in fraternities, sororities, and
other groups. To be included in
such company, you must prove
yourself worthy.

When do these initiations
cross the line though? Why do

young men—like Cameron once

: was—feel it is so important to

: fit in that it is worth sticking

: their pork into pork? Why do

: members of certain fraternities
: permanently brand their skins

: asa pledge of allegiance? Even

: in events as low-commitment as
: a frosh week, why did first-year
: business students at UBC think
: it was okay to make chants that
: made a joke of sexual assault?

If post-secondary is

: supposedly a place to be yourself,
: why do young adults place
: themselves in situations of
: danger or controversy in order to
: belong?

What you do in your young

: adulthood can have influence

: on your opportunities later on

: in your career, especially since

: the rise of social media. Sure,

: Cameron is the current British

: Prime Minister, but what if

: this news came to light prior

: to his election? Chances are

: he wouldn't be in office today.

: Other political careers have been

: stopped in their tracks due to

: reckless decisions. Take Jerry

: Bance, a Canadian Conservative
: candidate who was dropped

: from the election after the public
: was exposed to a video of him

: urinating into a client’s empty

: coffee cup during his previous

: career as a repairman. Your

: actions have never been more

: scrutinized.

It is not to say that you need

: to be overly careful and cautious
: about every aspect of your

: life. However, take a moment

: to consider and assess your :
: decision-making process. If asked :
: to do something by a group you

: are trying to fit into, question

: what is motivating you to do

: sucha thing. Sure, it may make

: a great story for at the bar, but

: is it something that you’d want

: your family to know about? Your
: future employer? The general

: public?

How much worth do

: you place in yourself over the

: camaraderie of others? It’s

: probably pretty easy to figure out
: ones’ values based on what they

: ask of you in a non-professional

: setting.

  

Image credit David Hartley/REX Shutterstock

_ Perhaps if someone told that toa
: younger Cameron, he may have

: rethought his actions taken in

: order to make some new friends.

 

Crane climbing

» Fad or food for the soul

Davie Wong
Columnist

hen the children of

the 22nd century look
back at our history, and us as a
civilization, they will notice a few
things. In particular, they will
look at our strange trends.

From Korean smash singles
in North America to songs about
foxes and stupid high media
coverage on what the female
backend muscles can do, 2014
and 2015 have been the years
of strange trends. But one new
trend is truly one of the strangest
so far. Yes, even stranger than
someone balancing objects on
their buttocks.

Crane climbing. That’s
right, crane climbing. Daring
individuals from around the
city—from adventure seekers
to adrenaline junkies—have
tuned into their social media to
see who has next accomplished
a magnificent feat of crane
climbing.

Crane climbing is fairly
self-explanatory. It is the act of
climbing cranes throughout the
city and taking pictures of or
filming oneself in the act.

But why would anyone do
something so dangerous? Each

: climber has his or her own :
: reasons and motives for climbing. :
: Some do it for adrenaline, some :
: do it for attention, and others

: do it for a variety of reasons that
: we may never know. However,

: there are individuals who have

: spoken out about their passion, —!
: which so many have called “urban :
: free climbing.” Joseph McGuire,
: a climber based out of Calgary,

: Alberta, penned a letter to Global
: News explaining his actions.

In the letter McGuire

: explains how a troubled

: childhood and depression lead

: him to “urban exploration,’ as

: he calls it. He is also stricken

: with a chronic disease that leaves
: him exhausted. No doctors have
: been able to diagnose his illness,
: leaving him to self-diagnose it

: as chronic fatigue syndrome. He
: has used climbing as a way of

: coping with his depression and

: his chronic disease. He explains
: that, when he climbs, “[he is]

: completely lost in the moment

: and nothing else matters.” He is
: often asked if he is afraid to die

: because of the danger his hobby
: brings. To this he responds: “I

: am not afraid to die as long as

: I’m truly living. We have this one
: brief moment of opportunity

: called life, and eternity to be

dead.”

McGuire has climbed over

30 cranes and over 100 rooftops,
: mostly in Vancouver and Victoria, :
: including Vancouver’s Trump

: Tower. His social media pages

: and YouTube channel are filled

: with films and photos of his

: daring feats. However, he has

: since been arrested and is facing
: criminal charges.

Even celebrities are finding

: themselves caught up in the

: trend. Steve-O, star of Jackass,
: was recently arrested and

: criminally charged for climbing

: a crane in Hollywood. He was
: protesting the treatment of killer
: whales at SeaWorld.

Since McGuire’s daring

: videos went viral, even more

: videos have gone up showing the
: climbing of multiple skyscrapers
: through a variety of cities. It has
: become a worrying trend for

: police who fear that others will

: try to imitate the videos without
: realizing how dangerous it really
: Is. Already, police have caught :
: two teenagers in North Vancouver :
: attempting to climb a crane at a
: construction site. Christopher

  

Photo credit James Kingston via mpora.com

: Schneider, a professor at Wilfred
: Laurier University, told CBC

: News that the rise in urban free

: climbers may be a result of social
: media and the popularity of the
: videos already out there.

: Whatever reason there may

: be for urban climbers to do

: what they are doing, it is still

: very dangerous. Many of the

: climbers are not equipped with

: proper climbing gear. The sheer
: magnitude of the climb means

that one mistake could very well

: result in death.