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Beneath its waves, the ocean seems like the living canvas of imagination, where nature seems to have given just about everything a try. Secretly shrouded in its coral nooks and surging currents, some of the world’s stealthiest superheroes are thriving.

Mantis Shrimp: Super Vision, Shockwave Projection

These colourful sparkplugs are the Supermen of the sea, and the most gift-ed things you’ve probably never heard of. Their visual system holds a world record for complexity, and with it they can see ultraviolet, infrared, and polarized light. They may be small, but they’re not to be pestered – a Mantis shrimp can move its limbs so quickly that the surrounding water boils, radiating undersea luminescent shockwaves that can kill prey - even if the shrimp misses it with its bullet-speed, spear-shaped forearms.

Chitons: Magnetism, Super Durability

The teeth on the underside of chitons are composed of lots of magnetite – the hardest and most magnetic of all natural minerals. They use these to scrape up algae for food, but also as cutting edges to grind into rocks and burrow into cracks. Mega hardcore.

Sea Cucumber: Body Liquification, Regeneration

Shape shifters extraordinaire, sea cucumbers can transform their body tis-sue from solid to liquid form and back at will. This means that they can lit-erally pour themselves into cracks inaccessible to their predators and then re-solidify within that tight space. Even so, I still hold that their best party trick is literally shooting their guts out their butt – and then re-growing them.

Sailfish: Super Speed

The record for human swimming speed is 8.6km/hr. The record for cheetah running speed is 102km/hr. The record for sailfish swimming speed? 110km/hr. These beauties just wiggle their bodies around and outrace motorboats.

Sea Stars: Matter Disintegration

Starfish do this crazy thing with one of their two stomachs – they can eject it from their mouth, manoeuvre it between tightly clamped shells, spew out juices to digest their prey inside their own shells, and then suck their remains inside to finish the job later. Impressive borderline morbid?

Undercover Underwater: By Laura Fash

Seven Real Superpowers You Thought Were Just in Comics

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By Laura Fash House-roscopes

Dene

Shuswap RC Courtney Northrup is feeling ex-

tra generous this month. Whenever you en-

counter her, always ask for cookies.

Shuswap

Being from the house of red, you will

be feeling extra love this Valentine’s

month. Take advantage and give lots

of hugs, everyone will love it.

Haida

Wearing mismatched socks this

month will be the worst decision you

could ever make, but you do it any-

way to challenge this horoscope.

Nootka

This month, you will discover

that fairy tales are indeed re-

al. Do your best to convince

all your friends of this, it may

prove to be a wonderful deci-

sion.

Kwakiutl

Everyone will be filled with

love this Valentine’s month.

Fight the power and run

away screaming from anyone

who tries to hug you.

Salish

Wearing mismatched socks this month will turn

out to be the best decision you have ever made.

Embrace anything that happens while you wear

them.

Həm'ləsəm'

You will undoubtedly be locked out of

your bathroom at some point this

month. Rather than trying to get back

in, write your roommate a passive-

aggressive limerick, but make sure to

attach some candy to keep it light.

Q'ələχən

This month you may notice

your hair turning grey. Ini-

tially you panic, but do not

fret, it is only happening

because your body cannot

contain your house pride.

Keep it up!

Uncover the secrets of the future with Miss Informed,

Totem’s fortune teller.

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Time management refers to the strategy of prioritizing certain tasks in order to maximize the time available every day. Sometimes, despite our best plans to schedule study sessions, we end up being far less productive than anticipated. One problem with working longer hours is the fatigue that often over-comes us and pushes us to procrastinate or diverge from the intended task. Personally, I often experi-ence this during exam periods when I try to squeeze in as much studying time as possible, only to end up watching episodes of Modern Family online after a couple of hours. Instead of trying to continuously work, establishing rituals of energy renewal can prevent burnout and can lead to increased productivi-ty and performance. Incorporate these tips into your daily life and you’ll go a long way toward achiev-ing a sense of accomplishment and well-being.

The Body: Physical Energy

Do you wake up feeling tired? Take breaks at your desk? Skip breakfast? Assessing how well you’re cur-rently taking care of your body can give you a starting place for finding areas for improvement. Once you’ve identified potential areas to improve, try adding new behaviours to your daily routine.

Learn to notice imminent energy flagging and take action to remedy the situation

Take brief but regular breaks, away from your desk, at 90-120 minute intervals throughout longer work pe-riods

Enhance your sleep by setting an alarm for an earlier bedtime and reducing alcohol use

The Emotions: Quality of Energy

Becoming aware of changes in your emotions from moment to moment can improve your abilities to think clearly, logically, and reflectively. This helps us to adopt a more positive attitude throughout our day, which can motivate and drive us.

Try deep abdominal breathing: exhale slowly for 5-6 se-conds, inhale, and repeat until you feel more relaxed Fuel positive emotions in yourself and others by regularly expressing appreciation to others in detailed, specific terms through notes, emails, calls, and conversations

Manage Your Energy

By: Cathy Wang, Nurse on Campus Assistant

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The Mind: Focus of Energy

Multitasking actually undermines productivity and temporary distractions increases the amount of time necessary to finish the primary task by as much as 25%. By limiting technology use to only certain times of the day, we can actually perform much more effectively for the rest of the time.

Respond to emails at designated times during the day

Avoid distractions such as texts or Facebook when trying to perform high-concentration tasks

Identify the most important task for the day and make it the first priority

The Spirit: Energy of Meaning and Purpose

Imagine doing an activity you love, or seeing someone that truly matter to you… do you feel more excit-ed? More alert? Maybe your heart even beats a little faster. Focusing on a goal that gives us a sense of meaning and aligns with what we value most can give us that feeling every day.

Allocate time and energy to what you consider most important. For example, schedule lunches with a friend you would like to catch up with Live your core values. For instance, if honesty is important to you but you tend to tell white lies, practice eliminating those and being more truthful about every aspect of your life

Still feeling lethargic? Chat with Nurse on Campus for more ideas on how to bring up your energy levels. Gage commons block: 3-6 pm Mondays, Vanier commons block: 3-6 pm Tuesdays, Totem commons block: 3-6 pm Wednesdays.

Sources Cited

Schwartz, T., & McCarthy, C. (2007). Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time.Harvard Business Review, Octo-ber, pages 1-10. http://www.med.umich.edu/leadership/resources/Manage%20Your%20Energy%20Not%20Your%20Time.pdf

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As a Totem resident for two years now, I've seen tons of different room setups. I thought I'd share some of the more interesting ones I've encountered. Hopefully some of these ideas can help you maximize your activity space and help make your room a more productive and comfortable area. The Man-Cave - Skill Level: Novice Raise your bed to the highest level and then put the mattress on the floor un-derneath. You now have a giant table where your bed was, with a mini-bedroom underneath. Add a curtain for extra privacy or lighting for mood. Careful not to bump your head! Put your dressers on top of the table if you want even more space! Great way to separate your workspace from your sleeping space. Extra tip: if you set your printer up right on top of the dresser, you can have your print outs fall directly down onto your desk or lap.

Velcro Storage Walls -Skill Level: Beginner

Purchase some cheap velcro fasteners. Attach to your most commonly used items and stick them to the wall for easy access. I use mine on my toothbrush and tooth-paste so they're conveniently hanging on the wall for me to grab, especially when I'm in a rush. Works well for remote controls, pens, markers, and other things you don't have room for on your work desk.

Bed Disassembly- Skill Level: Intermediate

Take apart your bedframe and note how to put it back together. Put the parts in your closet and enjoy all the space you have without the bedframe in the way. Throw your mattress on the floor when it's time to sleep. Will give you lots of space- but remember to reassemble it before you leave, or you'll have to pay for it.

The Couch- Skill Level : Ultimate

Prerequisites: The Man Cave

With the Man Cave setup with your dresser and mini-fridge on top, you most likely will have space for a small 2 person couch. Make sure to have someone help you move it in. Be the person with the comfiest room in your building!

Bed Reorientation- Skill Level: Intermediate

Your bed would have been automatically set up length-wise in your room, but you can actually reorient width-wise and put it up against the window. Great if you find your room too warm and need to be close to the window to cool off.

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Dorm Room! By Cole Dickson

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What makes Vancouver such a desirable city to live in? Many Vancouverites would answer that it is the pristine natural beauty of our city that makes it unique. If you have yet to experience the outdoors in Vancouver you are not only missing out on a great experience but also an important part of Vancouver culture. Here are some awesome ways to get yourself out there, breath some fresh air, meet some new people and have an adventure! Go hiking! North Vancouver is but a short bus ride away and offers some amazing hiking trails. If you’re looking for a short-er hike, check out Lynn Canyon, Lynn Headwaters, Quar-ry Rock, Cypress Falls, or Lighthouse Park. If you want something a little more challenging some of my favour-ites are Eagle Ridge (from Horseshoe Bay) and Lynn Mountain. Go join a campus club! Totem Plays Outdoors is a new initiative at Totem Park that offers group-hiking opportunities and oth-er outdoors activities and adventures, check out the Facebook group. The Varsity Outdoors Club is also an amazing group where you can easily meet other awesome people of all skill levels to take you hik-ing, rock climbing, kayaking, or pretty much anything else outside.

Go skiing or snowboarding! Vancouver boasts some of the best skiing in the world and the mountain are literally right there waiting for you! Hope on a bus that will take you to one of the three local mountains, Cypress, Grouse or Seymour where you can rent gear. If you want the best Vancouver has to offer you can get up early and take a bus to Whistler, a world-renowned mountain which is more pricy but very much worth it for a more experienced skier.

Go for a walk or run on campus! If you’re not ready to commit to spending a whole day outside there are plenty of beautiful walks on campus. Check out Wreck beach for a stunning view of the ocean or Pacific Spirit Park for the earthy beauty of the Vancouver rainforest. It is a new semester and you have the opportunity to get out of your comfort zone and do something awesome! Join the party and go enjoy Vancouver’s natural play-ground!

Exper ience Vancouver ’ s Outdoors By David Penner

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The time of year has come to put on your thinking caps and begin your predictions – it’s time for The Oscars. Hype is already high with Ellen DeGeneres as the host for the 86th annual Oscars ceremony. However, everyone knows the curiosity won’t end until March 2nd, the day of the ceremony. Magazines and papers are already predicting the winners of the most popular categories. Specifically, after winning Best Picture are the Golden Globes, Pro-ducers Guild of America, Critics’ Choice Awards, and more, “12 Years a Slave” is a popular choice for the Academy’s Best Picture award. It is also a big year for Meryl Streep, who has now been nominated for 18 Academy Awards and is one win away from being tied for the most wins in competitive acting Academy Awards. Now it is time for you to decide! Take a look at the nomina-tions below and make predictions with your friends. Who do you think the big winner of 2014 will be?

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Her

Nebraska

Philomena

12 Years a Slave

The Wolf of Wall Street

Christian Bale (American Hustle)

Bruce Dern (Nebraska)

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf on Wall Street)

Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)

Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

Actor (in a leading role)

Best Picture

Actress (in a leading role)

Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine)

Jennifer Lawrence

(American Hustle)

Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)

Julia Roberts (August: Osage County)

June Swuibb (Nebraska)

Actor (in a supporting role)

Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips)

Bradley Cooper (American Hustle)

Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)

Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street)

Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

Actress (in a supporting role)

Amy Adams (American Hustle)

Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)

Sandra Bullock (Gravity)

Judi Dench (Philomena)

Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)

Animated Feature Film

The Croods

Frozen

Despicable Me 2

The Wind Rises

Ernest & Celestine

The Oscars

By Caitlyn Hayles

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Totem Games!

Discovery

Explore

February

Procrastination

Reading

Snowfall

TPRA

Vacation

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It’s been a lot of happy months living here in Totem Park, but now it’s time to start thinking about where you’re going to live next year. Here are some key things to consider when choosing where you’re going to live, and who you’re going to live with!

Price

Take a hard look at your financial situation and evaluate how much you have to spend on housing. You get what you pay for, so for some people it might be worth forking over a couple extra 100 dollars for a place close to campus, or with a cozy window seat. Know what your limit is, and remem-ber to ask about utilities, because they aren’t always included in the price.

Example: Basement suite shared with one other roommate. 20 minute bus ride from UBC, $650/month.

Location

For some people the idea of spending an hour on the bus is fine, while for other want to roll out of bed and be in class in 10 minutes. Know how long you’re wiling to spend in transit, and when you go to check houses out, time how long it takes you to get there (or google map it!) Keep in mind that the closer you are to campus the more expensive it can be.

Roomates

Once you’ve thought about price and location, it’s time to fill you future home. Living with your new best friends can be great, you can be open about your expectations from the beginning, you always have someone to goof off with, cook with, adventure with, and talk to. But you also can get distracted from your work, and you might find out that they’re great until you have to share a washroom with them. Living with roommates you didn’t know beforehand can be gamble, but if can also be a great way to meet new people (Think of how many great new people you met this year), and can offer a bet-ter study environment, because you won’t feel obliged to always hang out.

If you choose to live with friends there are a few im-portant things to keep in mind. Be careful to pick a group that you don’t just like, but feel you could survive a year of proximity with, that you have open communication with, and share compatible lifestyles. Make sure that they have similar expectations as well, because if you were looking for a roomy ground level home close to campus whereas they want to save money and live in a basement suite 40 minutes away, it might be best to either figure out a compromise, or search elsewhere for a roommate.

Things to consider when choosing housing

By Rebekah Glum

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It’s that time of year again! You’ve gone home for winter break, made New Year’s resolutions to eat healthier and exercise more – and then quickly yielded in the face of midterms and the grill’s chicken strips. No matter! With the days growing longer and warmer, now is the time to start afresh – again – by heading out for a jog!

Choosing a route is the easy part; set out in any direction from Totem, and you’ll soon be feasting on some slice of scenery. However, what shoes will you wear on your journey? Now, that’s a trickier ques-tion, but one which I will try to answer by taking a quick look at the three pairs lying in my closet.

ASICS GEL-Kayano 20 The ASICS GEL-Kayano 20 is the humble workhorse of my shoe family. They’re not pretty, they don’t win any glory, but day in and day out they’ll provide comfort and support, despite being battered for hours along pavement, across gravel, through riv-ers, over mountains, into Mordor, etc. Their added stability makes them a reliable friend to a pronator like me, but to those with the gift of good running form, their bulkiness can prove to be unnecessarily cumbersome. To attempt a motor vehicle anal-ogy, the GEL-Kayano 20 is a trustworthy pickup truck, not a For-mula One car.

New Balance 5000 The New Balance 5000 is a light pair -- like really, really ridiculously light -- so light that when dropped from a height of two metres, it takes 3.4 seconds for them to leisurely drift to the ground. The up-side of this near-weightlessness is that these shoes are FAST – wear-ing them feels no heavier than taping a piece of paper to each foot, allowing you to spring down the sidewalk like a cheetah chasing a gazelle. Unfortunately, the New Balance 5000’s also have about as much support and durability as two pieces of paper, so I rarely wear them for runs lasting longer than three “Best of ABBA” tracks. But it’s

not all bad – they are also yellow and have a tile pattern which reminds me of honeycombs, which is nice because I like honey.

Mizuno Wave Ekiden It was love at first fit. The moment I first put on my Mizuno Wave Ekidens, my feet knew they had met their soulmates. These shoes are as light as feathers, as red as cherries, and hug your feet with the comfort of a Snuggie and the precision of James Bond’s tuxedo. While they’re neither as supportive as the GEL-Kayano 20’s nor as swift as the New Balance 5000’s, the Wave Ekidens comes close on both counts, making them the near-perfect shoe. When I first went jogging with them on, I sailed along with a smile on my face, not realizing how long I’d been out until arriving in West Vancou-ver – but that’s a different story for a different day. In any case, the Wave Ekidens provide such a bliss-ful experience that users may well encounter the “Forrest Gump Effect”, and spend years jogging back-and-forth from coast-to-coast, simply because, with these bad boys on, they “just felt like running”.

My Favourite Running Shoes By Evan Elder

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The AMS Sexual Assault Support Centre (SASC) hosts The Anti-Violence Ally Program: an educational opportunity, informing people about the facts about sexual assault, as

well as getting more people involved in conversations about this issue. The opportunity aims to foster a welcoming, inclu-

sive atmosphere for all people.

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Can I Kiss You?

A Word from SASC

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