i2Culture

All-Gender Bathrooms on Campus

Colin Slark
Editor-in-Chief

Yo may have noticed the signs all over campus. Every
single-occupancy bathroom at UNBC now has a sign on it
that reads “All-Gender Bathroom”. You might be wondering
about that, after all, were the bathrooms previously not all-
gender? There was a little picture of a person, and picture of
a little person in a dress. Male and female. All genders, right?
Not so. Many people were born in a male or female body

and assigned that gender identity at birth, but identity as a
member of the other gender. These people are transgender.
Furthermore, other people identify as genderfluid, adhering
to aspects of both male and female gender identity, and other
people identify as non-binary; they do not identify as male
or female. You may think that gender is a binary, but instead
it is a vast spectrum. To accommodate all people on the
spectrum, UNBC students led an initiative to make sure that
bathrooms on campus are more accessible to people of all
gender identities.

Members of NUGSS and the Northern Pride Centre
started the initiative back in January when a group of
students identified some issues important to them on

campus that they would like solved. UNBC President Dr.
Daniel Weeks approved the initiative back in February

and this October the plan was completed to change the
signage on all single-occupancy bathrooms on campus.
Angela Kehler, past president of NUGSS and one of the
leaders of the initiative says that the motivation for the
initiative was about visibility: “It’s about [...] the awareness
that not all people identify within the gender binary

and we need a safe space for everyone on campus.”

Krystal Vandenberg, president of the Northern Pride Centre
says that inclusivity was on the mind when the initiative
was thought of: “The single-stalled washrooms only had
the handicap sign on the labels as well as male and female,
which is a binary, and people that are not of a binary
gender are not comfortable in using those washrooms. Also,
people that may be transitioning may not be able to pass
and feel uncomfortable going into one of the big gendered
bathrooms due to harassment. The stats of people being
harassed in gendered bathrooms is actually quite high, there
have actually been cases at UNBC of individuals who do not
fit within the gender binary being harassed [in gendered
bathrooms]. They prefer to use the single-stall bathrooms

DLC and the Gaming Industry

Shawn Caldera
Publisher

Eu this month, one of the most anticipated video
games of 2015 was released, Fallout 4. An estimated 1.2
million copies have been sold on launch day, with rumours
suggesting it may even surpass the company’s last big release
title, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Many gamers at UNBC have
already bought it, or are waiting for the chance to buy the
game. What makes it stand out among the plethora of games
that have been released over the past 3 months?

Besides the amazing themes, expansive worlds and
customizability that the Fallout series has given gamers for
years, one of the biggest things that gamers are attracted

to is the massive amount of content they get on day 1; and
to have the full game that they are paying for. That last
sentence may confuse the non-gamers a bit, so prepare

for some condensed info. Modern video games publishers
are criticized for selling games that are full with DLC
(Downloadable content) and microtransactions. More recent
examples include Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs, WB’s Arkham Knight,
and Assassin’s Creed Unity. These games, when released,
had major performance issues, limited the gameplay of the
user and/or, had major areas that were inaccessible due to

a DLC or microtransaction restriction. These are considered
“top-shelf” games, which sell anywhere from $69.99 to
$79.99, and at that price, a game should be packing in as
much quality as possible? Theoretically, they should, but

in almost in a sudden wave, publishers began to adopt this

stance. Free to play games, such as Tribes: Ascend, were
dubbed “pay-to-win,” due to the ability to buy almost every
weapon, ability and level boost to get to a higher rank, than
the vanilla experience point grinders. Essentially, it’s left
many gamers with a sour taste in their mouth, and has led
to much skepticism about where the industry is going.

The model of microtransactions is somewhat of a joke in
the industry. It’s almost expected from all free-to-play
games, and leave the gamer ina state of helplessness; and
that’s probably why there is so much saturation of the
model. Free-to-play is perhaps not the worst direction for
the industry to go, but very few companies do it correctly.
Take for example the popular MOBA game, League of
Legends. By having only special skins and experience
boosts available for purchase, it allows for a much fairer
metagame, which rewards players for skill and practice.
This way, it keeps the game true to its core, while having an
option for players to succumb to their inner collectors.

Compared to a game that sells its DLC almost a year before
the game comes out and can’t even run on launch day,
one can figure out which is the better model, both for the
gamer and the publisher. The DLC and microtransaction
dominant model seems to have begotten lazy game
design. However, publishers like Bethesda continue to be
a guiding light for those losing faith in the once underdog
industry. Even though Fallout 4 has DLC announced, it

is merely for expansion, meaning that even once you

but felt uncomfortable doing so because they were labeled
handicapped washrooms, and these people felt they were
occupying a space reserved for certain individuals.

However, some feel that this initiative does not go far enough
as the multiple-occupant bathrooms are not gender neutral
and some others believe that people using these washrooms
will be labelled as not being part of the gender binary. The
issue with making all washrooms gender neutral is that many
women and men are uncomfortable with sharing bathroom
space with each other. As for people using the washroom
being singled out, Vandenberg says: “[The washrooms] are
accessible to anyone. I know that one of the washrooms down
in building 8, there was a female washroom and a single-stall
washroom right beside it, and if you had a class nearby, males
would tend to use that washroom instead of walking to the
next closest bathroom at the other end of the building. It’s
not going to flag anyone as being part of the non-binary,

or trans community. They’re accessible to everyone.”

Ultimately, this move allows people at UNBC to use whatever
bathroom they feel comfortable using. Anything that allows
and facilitates people to feel safer and more secure without
infringing on anyone else should be counted as a victory.

buy the game, you can do all you want to in the post-
apocalyptic setting without hitting an invisible money-
wall. And if you do happen to want more stories and
missions to follow, you can then purchase the extra content,
which truly satisfies the meaning of “extra content.”

Game developer Masahiro Sakurai holds firmly onto this
belief. Being the main man behind the Kirby and Smash Bros.
series, he is considered one of gaming’s top developers. His
latest game, Super Smash Bros for Wii U and 3DS, has close

to 60 playable characters (with more on the way), a huge
selection of stages, game modes, and multiplayer capabilities.
In a column with Famitsu, Sakurai stated “these days, the ‘DLC
scam’ has become quite the epidemic, charging customers
extra money to complete what was essentially an unfinished
product.” When asked what differentiates the DLC methods
that he uses for his games, he wrote that “The DLC we are
releasing for Smash is authentic, developed only after we
finished working on the main game. Of course, said content
will come to you at a premium as compensation for the work
put into developing additional content post-production.”

With some of the bigger names holding true to the
standard of quality, instead of succumbing to corporate
greed, there is still hope that the industry will drop

the DLC and microtransactions soon, or will be forced
to when they see how these AAA developers are still
making their fans happy to keep on coming back.