Orlando, Fla., Toronto and now potentially Glace Bay, N.S.
As professional sports begin to return to televisions everywhere, there is a growing demand for safe facilities where these games can be played. The demand for sports bubbles such as the NBA bubble in Orlando is apparent. Now, one small Cape Breton town in NovaScotia is rising to the challenge.
“Well me and the fellas were talking and it occurred to us that if they can do it, why can’t we?” said Glace Bay Mayor Dale Fridge, the man behind the town’s bid to become an athletic mecca. “I looked into it and the only thing you need for most sports is a big field, and hell, Glace Bay is at least 90 per cent field.”
In a move described by some critics as “overly optimistic,” the Glace Bay city council has contacted at least four major sports leagues to offer the town as a place to set up a bubble. In a statement released by the council, it was revealed that while they have already been turned down by the National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS) and Spikeball Coalition (SBC), the town remains optimistic someone will take up the offer soon.
Glace Bay, N.S.: Future home of professional sports? The mayor sure hopes so. (Photo from Google
Maps)
Benefits of sport in Glace Bay
The mayor and council remain confident if they continue to advertise, eventually someone will want to come to Cape Breton.
“It is a little frustrating. There seems to be some misunderstanding over what we have to offer,” Fridge said in response to comments from an SBC representative who claimed GlaceBay simply lacks the facilities for high-level athletic competition. “Quite frankly, they are just being picky. As mentioned before, we have more than enough fields, plenty of standing room for spectators and three Tim Hortons within walking distance of anywhere.”
The plan, if it works, represents a golden opportunity for a region that could heavily benefit from increased tourism. The sports bubble, it is hoped, will help bring more attention to Glace Bay and the surrounding areas internationally.
Fridge is optimistic this will be a great economic move for the town.
“All we need to do is get ourselves out there and get flight bans dropped, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Fridge said.
Outside of concerns regarding facilities, or rather the lack of them, there has also been some debate around whether Glace Bay is in fact a convenient location for leagues such as the MLS, where the majority of teams are based in the United States.
“When we crunched the numbers for transporting all our players, support staff, equipment and supplies, it turned out it would cost more to travel to Goose Bay, or whatever it’s called, than if we moved their entire town to us,” said Tony Embezzliani, general manager of the New York Red Bulls. “It was an extremely kind offer, but entirely unwarranted.”
The town council has stated it will continue its efforts to establish the sports bubble despite the initial lukewarm response. When asked why, Fridge responded, “Well, honestly, I don’t really have much else to do.”
Winter sports at Dalhousie University may look a little different this coming season with continuing concerns over the spread of COVID-19.
The way indoor sports such as basketball and volleyball are watched live will be changing. While games will still be played at Dal’s facilities, spectators will be seated in state-of-the-art “sport pods,” which will replace the current bleachers.
These pods are fully sealed modular cubicles, each equipped with a screen showing the game.
Moe Ronic, Dal’s athletic advisor, claimed Dal pods offer 99.8 per cent protection against COVID-19 with only a small decrease in viewing quality.
“I genuinely believe this is the best solution,” Ronic said of the decision. “We initially looked into having the players maintain social distancing too. That just led to some pretty boring but high-scoring basketball games.”
The university’s adoption of the new sport pod technology has drawn controversy in several ways. Some have questioned whether the spectator experience will suffer due to the audience being unable to physically see the players outside of the single 12-inch LCD monitor.
When asked to comment, Ronic stated “I really don’t see the problem here. You’ll still be in the room with the players and the video stream has almost no delay. I can’t really figure out what else you could ask for.”
Will we ever see fans attend sports games like this again? Only time, and the success of sports pods, will
tell. (Photo by Aleksandr Osipov)
A pricey solution
Many students have also raised concerns over the cost of the pods; each one sports a price tag of $5,600. With tuition already elevated, concerns have been raised as to whether the investment into sport pods is worth it.
Alexander “Money Man” Anderson, head of the Dalhousie’s Rowe School of Business, questioned whether the purchase was worth the investment.
“The maximum number of pods that can be installed is 250. I can’t help questioning whether this justifies the proposed 160 per cent increase in tuition required to fund the project,” he said.
When asked to comment on the steep price, Ronic argued the future benefits outweigh the upfront cost.
“The sport pods are entirely self-cleaning, which will save massive amounts of labour that would otherwise be required for sanitizing. Long-term, we are saving money,” he said.
When asked to comment on exactly how long “long-term” was, Ronic said “um, well, lets see. I’d say 36 years, conservatively.”
The business faculty are not the only critics of the sport pod proposal. Many sport teams are also opposed to the move with some players threatening to boycott the upcoming season.
“It’s just kind of creepy,” Poppy Culture of the women’s basketball team said. She believes the pods create an uncomfortable, unnatural environment for the players.
“Being surrounded by all those cubicles is unnerving, it’s like 1984, or maybe more 2001: A Space Odyssey. No, perhaps, Robot is a better example.”
With criticism coming in from all sides, the future of sport pods at Dal hangs in the air. Will this technology become the future of university athletics? Honestly, no, probably not.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses and facilities are tightening their hygiene and safety policies. Dalhousie University is one of those institutions and has received unexpected pushback due to its policy to limit the number of people allowed to use the Dalplex weight room.
Workout times must now be booked at least one hour in advance, are limited to current students and faculty, and have a maximum of two people per booking. That final stipulation has drawn the ire of some members in the lifting population.
“This, to us, goes beyond mere preventative measures. This is an act of war: war against the boys,” said Dwayne Crowbar, a Dalplex user and self-proclaimed “jacked dude.”
“If I’m lifting, I need Tony spotting, Dave with the water and towels, JJ watching my form and Silvio lifting slightly less beside me for optics,” Crowbar said. “Is that really so much to ask?”
These concerns have been echoed by others who argue the limits to group size will heavily impact gym productivity.
“I find these criticisms somewhat disheartening. As of now, this is the best we can do. Outdoor facility options were briefly explored, but they were deemed unrealistic,” said Herman Finkle, Dalplex’s chief COVID-19 prevention officer. He claimed the university is doing all it can to accommodate those who still wish to use the facilities.
Weightlifters at Dalhousie University have been protesting COVID-19 regulations at Dalplex, particularly
the rule limiting bookings to two people. (Photo by Geoffrey Howard)
Arguments to reopen
Crowbar and others have argued those above a certain level of fitness should be allowed to use the facility more freely. Their argument is some people are simply too strong to be harmed by the virus.
“My guy Tony benches 300 pounds. I would like to see the virus try,” Crowbar wrote in an open Instagram story to Dal on Nov. 7. “And if that Finkle guy thinks he can make all the rules, I’d like to see him come and say it to my face.”
Despite the enthusiasm to return to full gym capacity, Finkle stated such changes are currently unlikely and called for an end to protests.
“We are not going to return to capacity and yes, I do make the rules, regardless of my proximity to anyone’s face,” he said.
The lack of response from the university has led some to question whether Dal is taking the issue seriously. Finkle had a socially-distanced meeting with Crowbar and other weightlifters on Nov. 15 to discuss the situation, but negotiations completely broke down between the two sides. This led to a small scuffle and resulted in the loss of around three kilograms of protein powder.
As of now, Dalplex will maintain the current protocols despite continued criticism from some of the weightlifting community. When asked whether a resolution is in sight, Finkle said, “If this gets me fired, I will be so frigging mad. I don’t get paid anywhere near enough to put up with this shit.”
A commercial regularly used during Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC) broadcasts has been cut amid pushback from annoyed fans.
HNIC announced the Frosted Flakes’ “cereal celly” (short for celebration) ad will be taken off the air starting with the broadcast of game five of the National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs’ second round between the Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens.
During HNIC games, ads account for a three-plus-hour timeslot. The Frosted Flakes commercial cancellation bumps HNIC’s four commercials down to only three. Remaining commercials include SkipTheDishes’ auction commercial (the one where Jon Hamm yells“rabbity babbity boo”), the Pepsi commercial where NHL players are forced to eat chips and awkwardly dance with mascots, and a Loblaws commercial that falsely suggests cauliflower tastes like chicken wings.
As part of their decision to scrap the Frosted Flakes commercial, HNIC cited concerns regarding long-term impacts on ratings.
“We’re lucky we still have fans tuning in this time of year,” said HNIC’s Dawn Charry (not to be confused with Don Cherry, the guy who yells at clouds). “We can’t take any chances because viewers can and will shut off the TV to go play outside or something.”
A wrongful approach
Frosted Flakes remains an official NHL partner, but due to outrage from fans, the company’s commercials will no longer appear during Hockey Night in Canada. (Photo by Luke Dyment)
The scrapped Frosted Flakes commercial involves a cringeworthy sequence where a sports fan fantasizes about playing hockey with Tony the Tiger (the Dalhousie Gazette could not confirm if that fan knows anything about actual NHL players). The fan then scores with a slapshot from a nearly centre ice position, which some argue makes no sense as the player isn’t being defended and could have skated closer to the net to make the shot. The ad shows the fan celebrating his goal by eating a bowl of Frosted Flakes. The ad set off a social media frenzy and mostresponses weren’t positive.
Thankfully, the events of the ad only occurred inside the mind of the cereal-loving fan. Many suspect intoxication may have been a factor as the fan is shown to own merchandise from at least five NHL teams, but seemingly cheers for the Edmonton Oilers based on his jersey’s colours.
Frosted Flakes CEO Lim Jahey said the company doesn’t know where they went wrong. Their sales have fallen by 25 per cent since the commercial’s launch.
“This is the most we’ve ever spent on advertising. The ad was being shown twice per commercial break. The idea is to get it stuck in people’s heads,” Jahey said. He added the company is struggling with paying bills. That’s not due to a shortage of funds, but because the company’s mailbox is being crowded with NHL rule books and copies of Hockey for Dummies mailed to them by fans.
Hockey fan Anne Phillips said the Frosted Flakes cut is an important step for viewer sanity, but work still needs to be done.
“It’s great to hear this news today, but I will not be told to have wing-flavoured cauliflower anymore,” she said in reference to the Loblaws commercial. “They talked me into trying it. It isn’t the same. If you’re listening, don’t fall for it. It might save your life.”
SkipTheDishes president Foodie Williams was pleased with the announcement, as the decision means more airtime during commercial breaks for his company.
Every winter, I look out my window on snowy days and see something deeply disturbing: people running.
Yes, I’m talking about people who run outside in three inches of snow, on icy sidewalks and in -20 C weather. (You know who you are.)
Winter runners are harmful to society. While everyone else stays inside, binge watches The Crown, wallows in seasonal depression and buries themselves in Christmas cookies, runners are outside during the winter months. They make the rest of us feel lazy and inactive. Winter runners are devils in activewear disguise. Just how do they run outside in those clothes? No one’s staying warm in thin running tights, neon-coloured windbreakers and tiny black gloves.
Halifax is a particularly hard place to imagine running outside. The sidewalks are full of slopes. I’ve fell and slid down an icy sidewalk on Morris Street more times than I care to say – and I was just walking. How in the world are people running on these streets? Are they even human? Or are they robots sent by the government to make us feel so bad about ourselves we need to go shopping to assuage our shame, thereby boosting the economy and helping huge corporations? Some might call this a conspiracy, but others might just agree with me.
Running in sub-zero weather: It should be illegal. How does anyone run on icy sidewalks without getting
severe knee injuries? (Photo by Andrew Rashotte)
Another student’s perspective
Norma L. Persson is a second-year Dalhousie University student studying organic biomedical animal science (a totally real major). Persson likes to stay inside in the winter and watch Planet Earth. She says she hates seeing runners out in the snow.
“Oh yeah, they’re totally robots,” Persson says. “That, or they’re just terrible people. We need to start bullying people who run in the snow. Like, come on, they’re obviously just showing off. We need to stop them.”
Persson says the thought of winter runners has even affected her studies.
“Sometimes I’m sitting and just thinking about those people when I should be writing a biology midterm,” says Persson. “Next thing you know, it’s midnight and I’ve got no work done. I’ve just been racking my brain trying to figure out why people would do something so horrible.”
Persson says she does not enjoy physical activities. However, she understands and even supports people who run in the spring, summer and fall.
“I’ve heard exercising is good for you. So, yeah, run in the warmer months. But people who run in the winter are evil. Like, just go the gym,” Persson says.
Active mom
Karen Strange is an accountant and part-time mommy blogger, as she calls herself. Strange says she loves to run during the winter months. She insists she is not a government-funded robot.
“I just can’t help it,” Strange says. “I love running, especially in the snow. Feeling your toes all freezing and wet, the air so cold you feel like you’re suffocating. It’s exhilarating! Besides, what else am I supposed to do in the winter? Stay inside like a normal person? That’s not me. I’m an active mom.”
“Winter runners are devils in activewear disguise.”
During my interview with Strange, she said the words “active mom” 126 times. She also showed me pictures of her kids at least twice.
Strange writes about her obsession with winter running in her blog Active Mom 4 Life.
“Everyone should try running in the ice and snow,” reads one of Strange’s blog posts. “I love the feeling of angry people staring at you from their windows as you jog by. Their vicious glares make me run even faster and it really gets my heart rate up.”
I asked Strange if she ever thought of going to a gym in the winter rather than running outside. She immediately seemed offended.
“I have the right to run in any weather,” Strange says. “No one can stop me. I know there’s haters out there but screw them. I’m an active mom.”
The bottom line
I will never truly understand people like Strange. Sure, it can be difficult to go to the gym, but at least the gym is indoors. Nothing is enjoyable about going outside on a freezing day. Why would anyone do this voluntarily? Perhaps we’ll never find a good answer.
Ultimately, I believe running in the snow should be a fineable offence. At the very least, as Persson argues, we should be bullying winter runners. What they’re doing is not right. Why should the majority of society be forced to witness something that elicits so much self-hate? Join the fight by never going outside in winter.
With files from the Bissett Student Success Centre
Editor’s note: This is a satirical article. The Dalhousie Gazette asked advisors at the Bissett Student Success Centre to give us satirical tips on how to succeed academically. The following article is based on their responses. There are services available to support Dalhousie students in their studies. If you are not sure where to start, begin by reaching out to the Bissett Centre or to an advisor in your program.
Being a university student is tough: the late nights, early mornings and endless assignments. Sometimes, we need an extra bit of support to guide us through the worst of it. Here are a few tips on how not to fail university.
Syllabus? Is that French?
First, don’t look at your syllabus. It’s long, boring and contains absolutely no useful or relevant information about grades or assignments. Wondering what day the midterm is? It’s not on the syllabus. Want to know how the group project is marked? Just email the professor one hour before the assignment is due. Even better, just email the teacher’s assistant! Whatever you do, don’t read the syllabus.
Don’t listen to your professor when she tells you to read the syllabus or the assigned textbook. Just
follow these tips and university will be a breeze. (Photo by Alex E. Proimos)
Degree planning
When selecting courses, pick the ones your friends are in, even if other classes are more useful to you. If you have only one goal during university, it should be to live like it’s the best four years of your entire life. Why worry about the significant costs of this education, or that you need specific requirements for a certain degree track? School is much more fun with friends. How are you supposed to focus if the vibes are dead?
Show up?
If time is a Western, colonialist concept, why should you subscribe to its rigid parameters? How can tiny hands on a clock be so powerful and determine so much about your own life? Divest from clocks and time as a concept.
When in doubt, cram it out
If a final exam is worth 50 per cent of your grade, don’t bother wasting time working on the course throughout the term. Plan to get 100 per cent on all your finals. Simply spend a few days before the exam learning all of the course material.
“It shows real initiative from the students to be able to push off work till the absolute end,” says Adie Visor, a totally real academic advisor at Dalhousie University. “It’s the perfect practice for the real world and shows students that as long as it gets done, that’s all that matters.”
Self-care
The best way to fuel yourself through the grind is through God’s nectar itself: coffee. Don’t stop at one expensive cup. Have 10! Studies have shown excessive amounts of caffeine lead to the medical phenomenon known as “Brain Sponge”: This is when information you are trying to retain immediately latches itself onto your long-term memory the second you drink coffee.
Don’t do the readings
Life without danger is not a life truly lived. If you know you have assigned readings and tutorials weekly, don’t waste precious time doing the readings. Watch another episode of Bob’s Burgers. Clean your room. Do some online shopping. Do anything else. What will Freud tell you that the sex advice podcast Call Her Daddy won’t?
“First, don’t look at your syllabus. ”
When the tutorial begins, keep a few bullshit statements handy. This is a style of rhetoric that allows students to seem much more knowledgeable on a subject than they actually are. Try asking everyone to “unpack that” and build on every classmate’s point by repeating the same thing in different words. No one will be able to tell you shit when you pull out “consequently!”
Yes, Wikipedia is a good source
Be sure to use Wikipedia and YouTube videos as the only sources of information for your essay. How long will we allow the oppressive hands of academia to dictate what is a good source? How many 200-page journal articles must you read to write an essay, especially if a YouTube video says the same thing so much quicker? Why do any of the background research yourself when Wikipedia has all the information?
Don’t ever change
If you had your future career planned out at age 12, be sure to stick with that regardless. If you dreamed of going to medical school ever since first watching Grey’s Anatomy, what do a few failed grades in organic chemistry mean? Why should your clear lack of passion or talent in a subject make you re-evaluate whether a degree is for you? University is not the place for change or growth, so just stick to the same thing!
Editors Note: This article was updated on Nov. 18 to include the update that the hotel self-isolation cost is $1,528 and Dalhousie University will be paying 50 per cent of that cost for each international student, except those who are already in Nova Scotia and decide to leave the country at any point.
On Nov. 3, Dalhousie University was officially added to the list of universities permitted to welcome back international students who wish to return to Canada. But as they attempt to complete virtual courses in different time zones while paying almost double the price of their Canadian classmates in undergraduate tuition, international students are left frustrated by Dal’s handling of their situation during the pandemic.
Additionally, international students are concerned about their budgets and limited job opportunities available in Halifax. They must now pay to stay in a Halifax hotel for a government-mandated 14-day self-isolation.
Dal will be paying 50 per cent of the hotel cost for each student, which is $1,528, according to an email sent to students on Nov. 18 from Verity Turpin, acting vice-provost of student affairs and Frank Harvey, acting vice-provost academic. The email also said Dal would not cover costs for international students who are already in Nova Scotia and decide to leave and return to Canada at any point.
In an email to the Dalhousie Student Union (DSU) on Nov. 3, Verity Turpin, said recent negotiations had resulted in a price tag of $1,625 for the isolation. This email was forwarded to the Dalhousie Gazette.
Of the more than 4,000 international students at Dalhousie, some feel as though the school has been treating them as a cash grab during the pandemic. (Photo by Geoffrey Howard)
Dal spokesperson Janet Bryson said in an email to the Gazette on Nov. 4 that the university was still working to get “the best rates for students.” Bryson also said the university would not provide the name of the hotel international students are staying in for their self-isolation “due to the privacy of those students.”
The DSU sent a list of questions to Turpin after receiving multiple concerns from students regarding the 14-day self-isolation.
Mazen Brisha, a third-year kinesiology student from the United Arab Emirates who will be spending his fall term at home, says he feels like the university only wants international students to come back for monetary gain.
“I just think that the overall consensus is that, like, it doesn’t feel like we’re very welcome anymore,” said Brisha.
Why students can come back now
Starting on Oct. 20, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada released the first version of a list of Designated Learning Institutions that have been approved to allow international students who are living outside Canada back to their campuses. On Nov. 3, the list was updated to include Nova Scotian universities after their plans for welcoming students had been approved by the provincial government under their new International Student Institutional Readiness: Public Health Requirements guidelines.
Bryson said the university developed its plan to receive students in consultation with the Nova Scotia Department of Advanced Education and Labour.
However, international students were not consulted about the process they would be undertaking to return to Halifax, Turpin said in her email to the DSU.
This lack of consultation is something the union is “quite concerned about,” said DSU President Maddie Stinson.
Stinson also said the union wants to know why the provincial government is “choosing to increase monitoring solely for international students when some international countries have fewer cases than, for example, the province of Ontario.”
Returning to Halifax
International students such as Fabian Bong, a third-year chemistry and computer science student from Germany, are anxious to return to Halifax. But the process so far has not been simple.
Bong made arrangements to travel back to Halifax earlier this fall, where he’ll be living in LeMarchant Place residence. He planned to arrive on Oct. 20 and made arrangements with Dal to quarantine in Howe Hall, which is where Canadian students from provinces outside the Atlantic bubble quarantined before entering residence.
“Then, the day I wanted to fly, the rules changed,” Bong said.
Prior to Oct. 20, international students who could prove it was necessary for them to be on campus for their studies and had a valid study permit dated before March 18 could return to the country. Then, new policy came into effect and the federal Designated Learning Institutions list was created.
Upon learning of the list, Bong called Dal and was told the university wouldn’t be added to the list until a later date. When he later found out Dal would be included on the list, he immediately booked his flight. But at this point, Bong still believed he would be completing his self-isolation in Howe Hall.
The mandatory hotel quarantine came as a surprise to Bong. He found out about it while browsing the Dalhousie subreddit on Reddit. He was reading a post about the possible Dalhousie Faculty Association strike where someone commented the university was greedy and would be charging $2,000 for international students to self-isolate. This figure was based on an early estimate reported by the CBCand attributed to Bryson. The comment on Reddit was later edited to note it was the province mandating hotel quarantines, not the university.
At first, Bong wasn’t convinced as he believed he had already made arrangements to self-isolate with the university.
“I was like, well, they didn’t charge me. Why would they charge us now?” he said.
His next thought was the hotel isolation requirement must only be for students living off campus. But a few days after, he was on a call with the Dalhousie International Centre who informed him the hotel stay was required for every international student returning to Halifax.
For Bong, this new expense is concerning. He already budgeted his finances for the term and had been spending some of his money in Germany under the impression he was saving money by not being in Halifax.
“It’s like someone just running up and saying: ‘Hey, you want to live in Canada? Pay that much money,’” he said.
Luckily, Bong has a job lined up in the chemistry department at Dal where he’ll be attempting to work the 20 hours a week he is allowed as an international student.
The DSU asked Turpin why students who had already arranged their own self-isolation accommodations had to stay at a hotel.
“The monitoring requirements outlined in the International Student Institutional Readiness: Public Health Requirements document are impossible to meet if international students are quarantining in their own homes. The [provincial] Department of Labour and Advanced Education has confirmed this,” Turpin replied in the email.
The requirements stipulate the university must be responsible for monitoring the quarantined students during their 14-day stay.
Brisha says he understands the provincial government’s responsibility to keep Nova Scotians safe by ensuring students isolate, but he takes issue with their methods.
“I understand where it’s coming from, but for them to pile on and extenuate and sort of enhance the financial strain that international students are already under by charging you [$1,528] just for the quarantine period, it’s outrageous and it’s preposterous, in my opinion. But unfortunately, I am not surprised,” Brisha said.
International students can’t go on like this
For Brisha and Bong, virtual courses have significantly altered the way they live their daily lives.
Brisha has sacrificed his sleep schedule to be able to succeed academically.
“It’s been very, very challenging, easily the most challenging semester in my academic career,” he said. “It’s completely flipped my daily schedule.”
Brisha goes to sleep at around 7 a.m. on most days, averaging about three to four hours of sleep a night.
“Basically I still live by Halifax time, but get minimal sleep,” he said.
Due to his workload, Brisha says he hasn’t had a chance to consider whether this lifestyle can be sustainable, though he plans to return to Halifax in the winter.
“I haven’t really had a proper chance to consider anything in the long run. It’s sort of the theme of complete tunnel vision, just trying to take each day as it goes,” he said. “I finish my assignments at seven in the morning and get a few hours of sleep, then go to work in the morning. And I think that structure of life is very toxic and very unhealthy, for obvious reasons.”
For Bong, the change is not as drastic. His school day starts at 3 p.m. and ends around 10 p.m. But he has had difficulty maintaining a social life as his friends enrolled in German universities have been on a break for the past few months. This means his only free time in the mornings is often when his friends are sleeping in.
On top of the challenges they face in their studies, international students are still paying the highest tuition of any type of student at Dal.
“The main perspective that I have, as well as like most international students I’ve spoken to, is that we just feel like the quality of education is severely lacking, especially for the price,” Brisha said.
According to Dal’s online fee calculator, an international student pursuing an undergraduate arts or sciences degree pays an average of $21,371.46 in tuition and incidental fees for one year. For a Canadian citizen, the average cost of one year is $9,365.46.
Brisha said international students feel like they are simply dollar signs in the eyes of Dalhousie.
“They’re not even trying to hide it anymore with, ‘Hey, we love international students. You guys add diversity and inclusion and all that stuff to our campus.’ No, like it’s very clearly ‘We need you for money now,’” he said.
Will this affect Dal’s global reputation?
According to Brisha, he and multiple friends decided to apply and go to Dal based on word of mouth.
At the high school Brisha attended in Dubai, students who went abroad to tour universities would oftentimes give presentations on the schools they visited for other students.
After the way international students have been treated by the university this year, Brisha says the word of mouth has turned sour.
“I think Dalhousie University cannot possibly understand or comprehend [the damage] both financially and reputation-wise that will be incurred from this semester and this year in general,” Brisha said.
When Max MacAulay looks for subjects to draw, he tries to find people who look interesting and will likely stay still for more than five minutes.
Typically, MacAulay finds these people at the Halifax Public Gardens, the Halifax Waterfront, local bars or on busses. Equipped with a pen and paper, he draws his subjects and films their reaction when he hands them the finished work. If they give him their permission, he will post the video to his TikTok and Instagram accounts.
MacAulay, a second-year business major at Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC), says he was motivated to start posting videos after noticing how superficial social media can be.
“I find that there’s a lot of pressure to look a certain way or act a certain way [on social media], and a lot of it’s staged, a lot of it’s fake. So I thought OK, how can I go against that?” MacAulay said.
A drawing MacAualy created of a person studying at Starbucks. He tends to draw unsuspecting strangers and then hands them the completed artwork. (Photo by Geoffrey Howard)
Making strangers’ days
MacAulay has been posting on TikTok since 2019, but only started drawing strangers around March 2020 shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. He explains that in addition to wanting to post genuine content, he was inspired to spread positivity in light of all the negative news.
“I’ve had people reach out to me like, ‘Oh my god, thanks so much. It’s made my day.’” he says.
MacAulay recalls one of the first times he drew a stranger in the food court at the Halifax Shopping Centre and the positive reaction the stranger had.
“It was just totally genuine,” MacAulay says. “I think if I didn’t have that first reaction, I probably wouldn’t be drawing other people now. It kind of motivated me to do more. I was like yeah OK, it was pretty fun to do that. Let’s do some more.”
One of the most popular videos on MacAulay’s TikTok page is of a man and a woman sitting together at a Halifax bar. In the video, MacAulay draws the couple and notes with humour that the man is wearing a pair of shiny shoes.
“I bet he’s talking to his wife all the time like ‘Oh, look at my shoes!’” MacAulay explains with a laugh. “So I added him saying that [in the drawing] and they really liked it.”
In the video, MacAulay presents the couple with the picture, to which the man happily exclaims, “Are you serious?”
The comments are overwhelmingly positive.
“So wholesome,” one user comments.
“Doesn’t take much to make someone’s day,” another one agrees.
As of early November, the video currently has about 5.5 million views and 1.1 million likes.
Max MacAulay is a Halifax-based artist whose videos of drawing have gone viral. He has an impressive 220,000 followers on his TikTok account @slick.skills. (Photo by Geoffrey Howard)
Finding motivation again
MacAulay has lived in Nova Scotia his entire life. He briefly attended Dalhousie University before dropping out and taking a couple of years off. He says he’s always loved art, but started taking it seriously about three years ago when he began drawing every day. He prefers to do all of his drawings with a pen.
“If I’m using a pencil, it kind of makes me feel like if I make a mistake, I’m allowed to erase it. Whereas with a pen, you can’t,” he explains. “So if I make a mistake I work with the mistake.”
He got the inspiration for his TikTok username, slick.skills, from a childhood nickname given to him by a basketball coach.
“I don’t know how he came up with that. I think it’s because I was stealing the ball all the time. So I’d be ‘slick,’” MacAulay says with a laugh.
MacAulay describes his childhood self as a “super determined kid,” noting how he was always active, excelling at school and generally felt very positive. When he got to university, he began struggling with depression and grappled with a lack of motivation. After taking a couple of years off school, he decided to rebrand himself on social media as a fresh start.
“When I started NSCC and made a new Instagram I changed my name to [slick.skills],” he says. “I called myself that again, hoping to get my motivation back, even if it’s just in a small way of nicknaming myself again.”
MacAulay plans on continuing to make art and TikTok videos, hoping he can continue to spread his message of positivity and authenticity. He says he would like to collaborate with other artists in the future.
“I might even collab with people who don’t even do art,” he adds. “People that I find who are genuinely creative or actually post good stuff on TikTok, that’s in the future. Here in Halifax, I’d really like to get some mural work, if I can.”
It’s been nearly nine months since the Dalhousie University Tigers swimming team wrapped up their 2019-2020 season at the U Sports Championships. They finished just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Dal swimmers smile as they return to the pool. The question remains of when actual competition will resume for Atlantic University Sport. (Photo by Lance Cansdale)
Swimmers felt the pandemic’s effects in the off-season though as pools nationwide closed.
Many Dal swimmers hadn’t even seen a pool for six months, from March until late summer, when Dalplex reopened. Tigers swimmer Imani Theodore said it’s challenging to feel comfortable swimming after just one day off, let alone half a year.
“It was hard getting readjusted,” Theodore said. “[Swimming] has been good after being back for a while, but it was a really hard adjustment period our first month back.”
With the AUS’s cancellation of fall semester sports, swimmer Mady Shivgulam said there has been a bright side.
“Usually, the goal in mind is to practice in order to improve for the next swim meet. [The suspension of fall sports] has been nice in one sense. It’s been good to focus on training. Plus, I enjoy being with the team and enjoying swimming for what the sport is,” Shivgulam said.
Even without official competition, the team makes up for it by designating their Friday nights as “race nights.” Swimmers race each other in different ways each week, whether through a different number of laps or swim styles.
Mady Shivgulam prepares to take off in a race last year at Dalplex. She, along with her teammates, are keeping a close eye on when they could possibly compete against other teams, even if it happen in a remote, time-trial fashion. (Photo provided by Mady Shivgulam)
Swimming coach Lance Cansdale said the in-house events have been successful in keeping a sense of competitiveness.
“Athletes can apply results from these races to where their performance level might be through the year, making it a great chance for them,” he said.
Cansdale said his team, featuring 14 rookies, is moving in the right direction and training hard despite the uncertainty of what the season will bring. A motto he’s preached is “anywhere, anytime, any condition.”
“You’ve got to be ready to go regardless. The athletes who can adapt to changing variables are the ones that will be consistent and successful,” Cansdale said about the slogan. “This is true for [swimmers’] academic lives too. With online classes, students are learning not only their courses but a new way of learning since class delivery is different. They have to be slowly loaded and given time to adapt because for six months, they had nothing.”
Status of virtual competitions
Regular competition against other schools won’t be back until at least January 2021. Cansdale said he and other AUS coaches have considered the idea of distanced (or virtual) competitions too. The AUS hasn’t commented on this possibility, but in such a case, schools would race at each of their own pools and have times recorded. Times would then be compared to those of their opponents.
Cansdale, Shivgulam and Theodore said no plans to compete in this fashion have been set. But having at least one virtual competition against other teams before Christmas isn’t off the table.
Cansdale added, as part of the process of returning to normal competition, remote competition could be one of a few steps to a return. That could mean distanced competition could happen in January, even if the AUS approves a return to play.
Any distance competitions would involve much different approaches to races, Theodore said.
“It’s one of those situations where you have to race the clock and not the other person,” she said. “Once you get a racing suit on, everything can change. The headspace feels different, it’s like switching into competition mode.”
“When you walk into the AUS Championships in February, you can feel the atmosphere is different than meets earlier in the season. Some swimmers really strive in that environment,” Shivgulam said about the pressure-filled meets where many teams gather to chase a championship. “Our team is really supportive though. If we’re only given [distanced competition]parameters, we can get behind that and motivate each other to make the best of that situation.”
It hasn’t been an easy recovery for swimming programs in the AUS. The pandemic’s financial burden and health concerns forced Acadia University to close its pool. They form one example of how a return to swimming is difficult in its own respect from other sports.
“We’re trying to be as optimistic as we can for the new year. But things look somewhat promising since we are in the Atlantic bubble,” Cansdale said. “Fingers are crossed.”
Even COVID-19 couldn’t stop Halifax’s love of burgers.
From Oct. 22 to 31, The Coast newspaper held their annual Halifax Burger Week event. These seven days of eating normally take place during a week in March, but were extended to 10 days and pushed into the fall by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The premise of the week is simple: Each participating restaurant offers a creative $6 burger or a more expensive option. A minimum of $1 for each burger sold is then donated to Feed Nova Scotia.
“It’s [always been] a big eating event and helps support our restaurant clients. It’s also a really big charity initiative as well,” said Haley Clarke, Burger Week event coordinator. This year, supporting local businesses was more important than ever before as many have suffered due to the pandemic.
According to Clarke, Haligonians know how to support their community.
“As Nova Scotians, as Haligonians, small business is the backbone of our community. [Burger Week] happens once a year so it feels special, and it’s supporting local and supporting Feed Nova Scotia. I think that’s the reason why people can get behind it,” Clarke said.
Business recovery
When COVID-19 struck Halifax, Clarke said their initial idea was to postpone this year’s event to June. But they realized this wasn’t realistic and decided on October, when business for restaurants slows down after the summer season.
Masked servers greet customers at Unchained Kitchen on Agricola Street. The restaurant created the spicy pork belly and pumpkin burger for Burger Week. (Photo by James MacLean)
Making the event 10 days this year was an important adaptation to help ensure restaurants and patrons were able to follow COVID-19 guidelines, according to Clarke. With three extra days, including an additional weekend for the public to get out, Clarke said restaurant guests were able to “spread out the crazy.” The extra days allowed restaurants to maintain social distancing; people felt less urgency to get out in one weekend, which resulted in shorter lineups outside. Many restaurants also offered takeout and delivery options.
Evangelos Panopalis, owner of Athens Restaurant on Quinpool Road, said they shut down completely from March 17 until May 6. The recovery has been slow. The day the restaurant closed was “the worst day of my business life,” Panopalis said. The pandemic forced him to lay off 35 staff.
In a normal year, Burger Week is “one of the best weeks in the year,” said Panopalis. Even before COVID-19, restaurants in Halifax usually have less business during January and February, and Burger Week is when restaurants used to start to see a turnaround, Panopalis said.
Due to constant construction on Quinpool Road during the last five years, Panopalis’ business has seen a downward trend. After being closed for seven weeks due to COVID-19, they have yet to reach 70 per cent of the revenue they had last year.
“Everything helps,” Panopalis said, “but it’s certainly a far cry from a regular Burger Week.”
Panopalis said supporting the big chains is also important for supporting the community. “It’s difficult for me to say, ‘only support small, family-owned businesses,’ ’cause the people that live here work at all these other places too.”
Meredith Hines, manager of HopYard Halifax, a bar and restaurant on Gottingen Street, said they also shut down completely for three months, but were lucky enough to keep their Charlottetown branch open for takeout. Hines said Burger Week has been helpful for the now reopened Halifax branch.
“It usually brings in a lot of hype, just for that one week,” she said. “So it’s definitely helpful in that sense and bringing different people that probably haven’t even been to HopYard before.”
Burgers for charity
A server at Antojo Tacos + Tequila on Argyle Street holds three of their Burger Week creations. (Photo by James MacLean)
While there were only 146 restaurants participating this year, as opposed to 160 in 2019, Clarke says this year’s Burger Week marks the most restaurants ever to have donated part of their burger proceeds to Feed Nova Scotia.
The province’s food bank needs more support this year than any year in the past. A lot of their fundraisers and food drives have been cancelled or postponed. Yet the need is up because many people have lost their jobs and are relying on Feed Nova Scotia for support, said Clarke.
“Solely in that aspect, in supporting Feed Nova Scotia and supporting your community, this year is the year to get behind [Burger Week] if that’s what means the most to you,” Clarke said.
Moxey Munch, a food enthusiast and YouTube personality, was chosen as one of two Burger Week 2020 ambassadors. She decided to give back to Feed Nova Scotia personally.
As a Burger Week ambassador, Munch was awarded $500 to buy burgers and share her experience on social media. For every burger she tried, she gave an additional $10 to Feed Nova Scotia with the intent to match her donations with the prize money by eating 50 burgers. She also encouraged others to donate on her YouTube channel, telling the audience if they donated as well, she’d match an additional $500 of donations to Feed Nova Scotia.
“This year is such a tough year, and I am very fortunate that I still have a job and a roof over my head,” said Munch. “I want to make sure that we as a community as a whole are helping those around us.”
Everyone has found 2020 challenging and Burger Week was a reminder of the community we’ve been missing in our lives, said Munch.
After all, Munch said, “Who doesn’t like having an excuse to eat hamburgers and french fries?”
Correction: This article initially stated Halifax Burger Week 2020 raised more donations to Feed Nova Scotia than any year before.That is incorrect. This year’s Burger Week had the most restaurants ever sign up to donate part of their burger proceeds to Feed Nova Scotia. The Gazette has updated the article and apologizes for this error.
