news // no. 4 Douglas College launches ‘SHIFT’ » A thoughtful discussion about gender violence in Canada Katie Czenczek News Editor rom September 24 to September 28, Douglas College’s New Westminster Campus will be hosting SHIFT: Let's talk gender violence. The weeklong event aims to promote discussions about gender violence and the numerous different ways this violence can be experienced. Issues such as the lasting impact of colonialism, intimate partner violence, violence based on gender identity, toxic masculinity, and rape culture will be featured at the exhibit. Funded in part by the Douglas College Faculty-Wide Professional Development Fund, Lisa Smith, an instructor in the Sociology Department at Douglas, has helped organize SHIFT and will be speaking on the panel on September 28. In an interview with the Other Press, Lisa Smith said SHIFT was a way to keep the conversation moving forward following the #MeToo movement and the influx of social media activism. “We can’t underestimate the power of that, and I think that it’s a really positive thing in many ways,” she said. “One of the things that does concern me though is that there’s all of these ideas floating around in space, and I don’t necessarily see the space for good, thoughtful conversation about what’s [a] really difficult and pressing issue.” SHIFT started off on September 24 with a virtual reality documentary about the Highway of Tears. The documentary is four minutes long and focuses on the murders and disappearances of predominantly Indigenous women between 1969 and 2o0u that happened all along British Columbia's section of Highway 16. After the film, an information stand offered additional resources for those who wanted to learn more. The rest of the week features film screenings that bring up issues to be discussed later at the panel. Smith said that SHIFT is about violence at the criminal level and how those violent incidents that are overlooked ona day-to-day basis are connected. “Tt’s a much broader way of thinking Timeline of measles from July to September » Multiple measles cases throughout the Lower Mainland Katie Czenczek News Editor he one good thing about getting closer to midterm season is that at least there will be less of a chance that you've contracted measles from any of the July to September scares. Several measles exposures have been popping up across the Lower Mainland last month and early September. As far is it has been traced back, one case at the Vancouver International Airport (YVR), confirmed by health authorities on August 14, appears to be the earliest appearance of the infection in this most recent string of exposures. The traveller originally came to Vancouver from Tokyo on July 30 and passed through YVR again on August 6— though this infection would have already shown symptoms if people were exposed, given that any individuals who do contract the disease will likely show symptoms in one to three weeks. According to the BC Centre for Disease Control, another incidence possibly linked to the YVR case popped up later in August. People who visited the Moody Park Outdoor Pool, a New Westminster swimming pool, on August 19 between 1:30 pm and 4:30 pm may have been exposed to the virus. Yet another warning arose after a possible exposure on August 31 at 7 pm, where Fraser Health said that anyone who travelled on BC Ferries from Tsawwassen to Mayne Island at that time may have come into contact with the disease. This specific strain was also traced to Maple Ridge Secondary, which led the school’s administration to tell students and staff that they would be unable to enter the school until September 26 if they had not been immunized. Following the traveller who went to YVR twice in two weeks and the high- schooler who boarded the ferry, Vancouver Coastal Health officials warn that anyone who went to Skookum Festival may have come into contact with a third individual who has also been confirmed to carry the virus. LET’S TALK gender violence about the different kinds of violence people experience, and it can encompass things as broad as against your gender identity to workplace harassment,” she said. “The reason we fit those two pieces together is that sexual violence is a kind of gender violence. So, when we think about gender violence, what we're trying to think about is are there certain groups that are more or less likely to face these kinds of experiences.” Lisa Smith said that one of the motivations for creating this event was to get involved with IMPACTS, a seven- year research project designed to address sexual violence on campuses across Canada and internationally. The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada has given $2.6 million in funding towards the project. Partnered with McGill University, Smith will be conducting climate surveys to get statistical evidence to back up the claims being made about theotherpress.ca Image via event's Facebook page sexual violence on campuses. The McGill-based project, said Smith, “is really about exploring the role of colleges and universities in taking a leadership role around issues related to sexual violence and providing public education about these issues more broadly.” She also said that there isn’t currently strong statistical data for instances of sexual violence at institutions. “Getting good statistical data about any kind of gender violence is very difficult,” she said. “In the Canadian context, to my knowledge there are actually no studies that look at instances of sexual violence that we can record in terms of what’s happening on Canadian college campuses.” Douglas College and McGill University are two of the institutions that will be surveyed. Several measles exposures have been popping up across the Lower Mainland last month and early September. On September 8, anyone who went to Skookum Festival at Stanley Park from 5 pm to 1am, rode an Aquabus from Olympic Village to Hornby Street around 3 pm, and rode the Canada Line from Vancouver City Centre to Broadway-City Hall Station from u pm to1am may be at risk for the infection. For September 9, those who went to the Outdoor Community Block Party on Quebec Street from 1 pm to 3 pm or later took a Main Street bus from Terminal Station to Broadway from 3 pm to 5 pm may have also been potentially exposed. Finally, on September 1, anyone who ate at Noodlebox Mount Pleasant—located at 2511 Main Street—from anytime between noon and 6 pm may have come into contact with the person infected by measles. For the Skookum Festival infection, those affected will likely show symptoms between September 15 and September 29, so they might still crop up. Health officials warn that if you start experiencing fever, cough, runny nose, and red eyes, followed by a rash starting on the face and making its way down to the chest, you should contact your doctor and tell them you may have contracted measles. It’s not recommended, however, that you go to a clinic, as you could infect at-risk people with weaker immune systems. Anyone born before January 1, 1970, or those born after but who have had two doses of the MMR vaccine, are likely in the clear. For everyone else, it might be time to get vaccinated. Correction: BCFS Launches the ‘Fairness for International Students’ Campaign In our article “BCFS Launches the ‘Fairness for International Students’ Campaign” published on September un, 2018, we stated that there was a tuition increase of nine percent this year for international students. This is incorrect. The latest increase actually came into effect in fall of 2017. In future, international students will be given a year’s notice prior to any further increases. The Other Press apologizes for this error.