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FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 2007

13

Truth: avoid false rumours Continued from page 11

Try putting a condom on by yourself; make sure that you use the proper sized condom. Then try using a condom when you’re masturbating.

Jerking off while you wear it will help you get used to wearing a condom and, who knows, maybe you’ll really like the experience. Try, in the heat of the moment, having your partner put the condom on you with her mouth, that way you don’t really have to stop the fun to put it on.

This next question is from a woman who used to masturbate when she was younger but stopped and now wants to start up again. “I would love to reach climax; I just really don’t want to break my hymen, how do I achieve this?”

Firstly, there are some things everyone should know about hymens. If you’re worrying about preserving your hymen to prove your virginity, don’t bother: you might not even have one, it might have been “broken” already from non-sexual activities, or it might not even “break” when you do have sex for the rst time. A hymen isn’t how someone is going to be able to tell that you are a virgin.

There’s no “best way” or “most appropriate way” when it comes to masturbation Hymens are a bit of a medical mystery; not all women are born with a hymen, and between the time that a girl is old enough for school and until she reaches puberty, her hymen will be quite thin and delicate. This is because she is not producing as much estrogen. At this time it is thought to be possible for the hymen to be broken by something as simple as horseback riding, gymnastics or strenuous exercise.

After puberty the hymen, if present, thickens and changes shape. Instead of covering the whole entrance, it now forms a little crescent near the bottom that is pretty much indistinguishable from the other folds in a vagina. A woman’s hymen is pretty out of the way; this is why a normal hymen isn’t damaged by using tampons — in fact, for many women, even having sex doesn’t disturb their hymen at all!

Since this reader is well past puberty, her hymen (if she has one) should be thick and able to handle masturbation just ne — so long as she isn’t planning on shoving gigantic dildos or big zucchinis inside herself.

As for actually how to bring oneself to climax, well that’s a little more complicated and something that one has to explore on their own. Every woman is built differently and is going to respond to different types of stimulation.

For many, the most sure-re way to climax involves clitoral, not vaginal, stimulation. There are many ways to play with a clit: rub it through the hood covering it, lick your ngers or use vaginal juices to lubricate your nger while you rub it or lay on your stomach and press your palm or the heel of your hand against your clit. You could even try rubbing it on things.

There’s no “best way” or “most appropriate way” when it comes to masturbation, there is only the way that works best for you. ssparling@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Shawn Bell STAFF REPORTER

Hal Jacques has a BA in economics. He plays bass in a metal band and in his spare time records albums, including his own, to be released on Year of the Sun in the spring. But when asked to dene his job, Jacques says that, rst and foremost, he is a guitar teacher.

That’s for Pro Music, a music school in Waterloo that houses music classes for all ages — from little children playing tambourines to recorded artists honing their skills.

The building is designed to look like a studio; Jacques has his own little room; “Standing, I could touch all four walls,” he said. The lessons are one on one, student and teacher face to face, both with guitars, for half an hour a week.

“The students are mainly beginners,” Jacques said, “who have never picked up a guitar. I have to introduce them to it. One of the big challenges of the job is not necessarily trying to teach people to play guitar, but trying to make them stick with it past the beginner stage. It can be frustrating for a student at rst, so I’m not only a guitar teacher, but I’m also a guitar motivator.”

And how does one learn the guitar? “The rst thing I do is give them nger exercises,” he said, “things to get their hands used to playing on a fretboard. It’s a different motion than things you do in everyday life.

It’s something you have to get used to, and hone your muscle memory to be able to move your ngers the way they have to move.”

“From there I move to basic chords. I’ll teach them a little bit of single-note picking, a basic scale and show them a simple melody that uses the scale. Then it depends on where the student wants to go. Students who want to learn as many songs as they can, I’ll focus on chords. Kids who want to be playing blazing solos eventually, I’ll have a bigger focus on scales and stuff like that.”

SHAWN BELL

Hal Jacques carefully studies his pupil’s finger placement while providing instruction.

The students range in age from nine years to adults. “One thing my boss said to me,” Jacques said, “when I started was, ‘A lot of these kids are going to look up to you, and think you’re a pretty cool guy for teaching them how to play.’”

“I feel I have a responsibility to the students, not to waste their time and just show them songs, while at the same time motivating them to play the guitar and make it fun for them.”

“This is something that you can do for the rest of your life. It’s an endless path. There is no nal, ‘Well, I’ve learned the guitar.’ You can never say that. And anybody can learn. Things may take longer for some people, but anybody can learn guitar.”

Jacques, who graduated from UW one year ago, started his education in the faculty of science. “I did physics for one year,” he said, “and I thought ‘Fuck this shit, I’m not a scientist!’ So I switched to arts, and in my rst year of that I took ten different arts courses.”

Economics was an easy way to relate math to an arts major. So he switched to economics. He graduated with an honours BA in economics.

“I also took extra courses, business management courses, marketing courses, entrepreneurship and things like that and got an arts and business complement to my degree.”

“I knew I didn’t want a job in economics, but it appealed to me because I thought I could use the business

knowledge and combine it with the recording I do and the music I play.

Looking back, if I was going to try and use any of that knowledge I would have to relearn it all anyways.

My university education alone is not enough to get me going in any sort of music business.”

“Recording is what I want to do.

When I started in arts and business, the idea was that I was going to start my own record label. I don’t know if that’s necessarily what I want to do anymore.

There’s so many facets of the music industry that I’m not going to rule anything out. I’ll see as we go what I’m best at, what I’m interested in.” sbell@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

FEATURES

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2007

Caesars: a life-long love affair

PHOTO BY MICHAEL L. DAVENPORT, GRAPHIC BY MOHAMMAD JANGDA

Continued from page 10

If you are just getting into the game, have no fear in nding the right caesar. Start simple. Find a bar that can provide you with a “classic caesar”. If they don’t know what this means, I recommend leaving the venue completely, as this lack of basic knowledge will most denitely be reected throughout the rest of your dining or bar lounging experience.

This begs the question for K-W residents: Where should we go to get the greatest selection and most reliable caesar? Where can we nd the greatest selection? And is there any one particular person in this university town who can make them better than the rest?

After much exploration involving two long days of caesar drinking and after trying as many caesars at hot spots in this city, I have come to a few conclusions: If you want the most classic of classic caesars in town that will never do you wrong, you must go to Failte Irish Pub. This true caesar is made by seasoned veterans and they are proudly able to answer several questions behind what makes their’s so special. As well, if you are looking for the best bang for your buck, you should check this venue out on Sunday nights, where you can nd $2 caesars between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. They are miniature versions of

their pre-designed masterpieces, but you can’t go wrong, as they have exactly what a true caesar-lover needs.

As far as variety goes, you will be amazed with the selection of Caesar Martini’s as well as the Rude Native.

Caesar Martini’s has a very good grasp on the different degrees of caesars and recognize that there are several people out there who may not necessarily want just the classic caesar. Caesar Martini’s offers tequila-infused caesars inspired from Mexico as well as a blistering hot and spicy drink to challenge those with the jalapeno mouth.

The Rude Native is similar in its originality and takes it one step further.

The only Wasabi-infused bean-garnished caesar I have ever found comes from the Rude Native. It’s not strong enough to make you cry and it still has the exquisite qualities of the traditional caesar while providing its magnicent array of avour and satisfaction from the moment it hits your lips.

And now the most intriguing question to answer. Who makes the best caesar? You do! You may not know it yet, but all you need are the ingredients and openness to explore, create and drink. We are all different. No one can know what our taste buds enjoy better than ourselves. Give it a shot — or make it a double. What’s the worst that could happen?

13

Sparking meaningful dialogue

We currently live in what I would like to term an age of encounter. I choose these words because it encompasses both the positive and the negative types of meetings between different cultures, religious traditions and political viewpoints.

Our interactions with other people are no longer limited by geographic proximity, and the encounters between individuals and groups of different traditions will only become more numerous, more frequent and more engaging. Within each encounter lies an opportunity for discovery, but there is equal, if not greater, opportunity for misunderstanding.

When these encounters turn sour, we end up with what used to be termed a “clash of cultures,”or what I have more recently heard called a “clash of ignorance.” In order to avoid the continuation of this “clash of ignorance” we must individually ensure that these situations of encounter are made into situations of dialogue. We must ensure that education prevails over misunderstanding.

Inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue consists not only of ecumenical discussions between leaders of different traditions. It consists also of the daily interaction between peoples of different traditions: between roommates, between co-workers, between

friends, between lovers. My own household is one of my favourite examples of everyday dialogue. In our house, a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Buddhist and a Pagan all add up to ve awesome roommates, or to the perfect set up for a bad joke.

What distinguishes these situations of dialogue from mere encounter is the conscious effort towards the discovery of similarities and towards the appreciation of differences. In our house, we plan to learn about and celebrate at least one holiday from each of our backgrounds. I admit that it is a small step in educating each other about our traditions, but at the risk of sounding trite, even the greatest journey begins with a small step.

Small as the steps themselves are, the effect of the paradigm shift that accompanies these baby steps is immeasurable. Lately, it seems that dening ourselves is synonymous with highlighting the differences between ourselves and others. It is a pity that we crave the need for the distinction between “us” and “them,” as the primary basis for our own identity. Diversity is to be sought so that we may celebrate it, not so that we may divide over it.

When we shift our thinking towards making that effort to inform ourselves about and appreciate the “other,” we make an effort towards establishing a common ground. This highlighting of the similarities between two groups of people makes for a strong foundation for dialogue.

Admittedly, these are lofty ambitions, and at this point you are likely questioning the practical impact of this change in ideals. I answer you

Until there is an appreciation for the fact that we are all united by the experience of humanity, we will be unable to see that the goals of others have value. with this: conict cannot help but exist when two groups of people have no appreciation for each others’ goals, for each others’ rights. Such a situation is one of ignorance. Until there is an appreciation for the fact that we are all united by the experience of humanity, we will be unable to see that the goals of others have value.

I think Queen Rania of Jordan best summarized the point while on the Oprah Winfrey show last year, when she said: “Once you realize that others are like you, you want for them that which you want for yourself.”

So I challenge our generation to seek the common ground between ourselves and our metaphorical neighbours, to engage each other in dialogue. It is through this dialogue that we may educate ourselves, so that encounter results in discovery, so that discovery results in appreciation, so that appreciation prevails over ignorance.

— Rehana Rajabali

FEATURES

26

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2007

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S WEEK

Student programming in question

A matter of priorities Your campus, your move a “Stitch & Bitch” craft night and the annual Women’s Week concert at the Bomber, fronted

by Emm Gryner and local band Knock Knock Commemoration is a prominent feature in most Ginger. At the very least, all concert proceeds every society: whether we allot a day, week, went to the Uganja Women’s Bike Project.

A poster outside the Women’s Centre ofce month or year to a specic cause — and whether that time is allotted locally, provincially, nation- promised more — a series of booths in the SLC, ally or internationally — the point is to say “we for instance, and a forum on women in technocare” or “we remember” by calling everyone’s logical job elds — but when I polled students attention to something we as a community feel in the SLC, none could recall the Women’s Week display, which ran for should matter. three hours on Monday, In this day and age, Sometimes a lack of and no other informahowever, society’s very tion on the technology diversity makes it imeffective coverage just forum was posted. A possible to treat every commemorative event suggests complacency on small sign by the Turnkey Desk promised one with equal respect and consideration — when the part of a community nal showing of the Vagina Monologues, but was the last time anyone — and at that point, it’s the scattering of such truly celebrated United Women’s Week adverEmpire Loyalists’ Day, time to ask where our tisements was telling. for instance? And to an UW’s academic extent, this shifting of priorities should lie. community offered priorities is important, as some meatier fare for it reects a shift in comInternational Women’s munity values as a whole.

Day. The department But sometimes a lack of effective coverage just suggests complacency on of philosophy, for instance, hosted a symposium the part of a community — and at that point, it’s on “Women in a global world: Feminist Values and Human Rights Issues,” which touched on time to ask where our priorities should lie.

The theme for this year’s International everything from female circumcision to mothWomen’s Week, held from March 4 to March erhood in extreme poverty to case studies of 10, was “Ending Violence Against Women: Ac- women’s rights in varying world regions.

Wilfrid Laurier University also took an tion for Real Results.” One doesn’t even need to leave the country to nd reason to address this interesting approach to Women’s Week, with issue: from the very real trafcking of sex trade the university itself timing the release of its workers into and out of Canada, to the plight top three nalists for “Outstanding Women of of women and children in many degraded Ab- Laurier” to coincide with International Women’s original communities, to overarching statistics for Day. Meanwhile, their Women’s Centre started domestic abuse (30 per cent of Canadian women off the week’s festivities on a strong note with have been abused by their partners at least once, a launch party at the Paul Martin Centre, and according to one survey of 12,300 Canadian invited local female leaders like city councillor women), the gravity of this commemorative Karen Scian to attend their festivities.

There is no one “right” way to celebrate theme speaks for itself.

Last year I wrote a news piece for Imprint on International Women’s Week, and certainly an International Women’s Week student events. The argument can be made for the UW Women’s tone of the piece was particularly inspired by a Centre’s events being femme-positive. But in presentation by an immigrant women’s group that the spirit of commemoration, I entreat you was trying to create a real sense of community to take one nal moment to reect — for for English-as-a-Second-Language arrivals. This yourself — on International Women’s Week at kind of forum for discussion tackles real issues UW: Were the events listed of interest to you? and offers tangible means for students to get Did you know about them in advance, and if so, did you attend any? What would you have involved and make a difference.

In contrast, this year’s Women’s Week was liked to see done for International Women’s especially important, as it was also the 30th an- Week that wasn’t?

And just what are you going to do about niversary of International Women’s Day (March 8), but no such forums were in evidence. A lone it next year? banner hung in a corridor of the SLC, boasting such events as menstrual yoga, contact dancing, mclark@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Margaret Clark ASSISTANT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Lam have made the event planning process unnecessarily difcult.

“We shouldn’t be ghting with the Federation of Students,” said Osipian, “we should be working together.”

So what should be done to improve the Women’s Centre on campus? Well, both Osipian and Renjie Butalid, vice-president of administration and nance and acting viceWhen I rst saw the list of events to be held president internal, encourage more women to for International Women’s Week, I couldn’t take an active role in the Centre. Without new help but be more than a little disheartened. The volunteers, Osipian explained, the cycle will only event that looked even remotely interest- continue and the same group of people will ing to me was the Women’s Day Concert to be continue running the Centre.

While the International Women’s Week held at Bomber — and that was only because events seemed lacklusI love Knock Knock ter at best, it seems that Ginger.

If you’re like me, and you the Centre did the best I know I’m not with the resources it has the only woman on don’t like what you see — for now. According campus who felt this way. Many of my coming from the Women’s to Osipian, the ideas are out there, they just don’t friends were equally Centre, or any other always have the time and disinterested in the volunteers necessary to yoga while “Stitch and service for that matter, implement them.

Bitch” and a contact That being said, dance workshop were do something about.

I think there’s sigthe only other alternanificantly more that tives. My biggest quesshould have been done tion coming out of the — whether through week was “why?” support from Feds The Women’s Centre has a bit of a reputation on campus. Often or a more objective look at the events they perceived as an insular group of radical feminists were holding. Three hours of booths being pushing their own agenda, their events and of- set up on Monday hardly ts the service’s ce seem off-limits to everyone who doesn’t mandate of “informing the university comshare their perceived viewpoint. Talking with munity of women’s issues and discouraging co-ordinator Margarita Osipian, I discovered discriminating behaviour.” There’s denitely a void there, maybe it stems from the negathat this stereotype is far from the truth.

Run by a small group of volunteers who, tive perceptions on campus, maybe from a Osipian admitted, do all come from the same lack of support from Feds, whatever it is, group of friends and the same feminist this campus is in dire need of an active and viewpoint, the Centre struggles to run events energetic Women’s Centre.

Feminism has gotten a bad name over the outside of the norm. Following the name change from “Womyn’s Centre” to “Women’s past few years, but I think it’s time to push back Centre” earlier this year, Osipian explained the idea that all feminists are bra-burning manthat the majority of the Centre’s resources haters and embrace what the Women’s Centre have been dedicated to redecorating the ofce has to offer. An inviting ofce just up that tiny ight of stair beside Bomber is what awaits and replacing signage.

“I don’t mind acknowledging that it’s a anyone who dares to venture there.

If you’re like me, and you don’t like what problem, but it’s some we’re aware of,” said Osipian of the lack of variety in events the you see coming from the Women’s Centre, or any other service for that matter, do something Centre puts on.

She explained that, over the past few years, about. This campus has a big problem with the Centre has hit a series of roadblocks in apathy, and that needs to change. We aren’t goplanning events when trying to get them past ing to see the kind of engaging events that will Feds. The past two vice-president internals, provide education and discourse until someSait Kit Lo — who recently resigned over an thing is done, and that I leave up to you. issue regarding the Vagina Monologues put acsanady@imprint.uwaterloo.ca on by the Women’s Centre — and Lawrence

FEATURES

FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 2007

17

New Year: spring into Persian culture exhibition Continued from page 15

I have always perceived it as a celebration of spring, comparable to Easter in the concept of renewal of life.

Reza Dorri Giv, an organizer from the exhibition, told me that Nowruz is the biggest holiday in Iran. The public gets about 20 days of vacation to celebrate, so I think it’s a good thing that drinking on New Years isn’t so big in the Middle-East. BIPS describes that, “On this night people jump over bonres to chase away darkness, evil and sickness, and to prepare themselves for the brightness and goodness of the New Year. Children run through the streets banging pots and pans with spoons, and knock on neighbourhood doors.”

Ok, that last thing could get a little annoying, but at least it’s only once a year. Dorri Giv described that it is a little bit different to celebrate Nowruz in Canada, especially considering that spring really starts more like around the time of the summer solstice here.

In my journey through Iran, I was curious to see the different ways in which Nowruz is celebrated there as opposed to my experience of the occasion as a Pakistani.

Nowruz marks the beginning of the new year in the Irani calendar, which is different from both the western solar calendar and the Islamic lunar calendar.

So here’s to a prosperous and exciting new year’s 1386! Nowruz Mubarak! nlakhani@imprint.uwaterloo.ca PHOTOS COURTESY HOSSEIN FALAKI AND MEHDI AMOUI

Cake recipe: worth the time and effort Devil’s food cake

TIFFANY LI

Devil’s food cake ingredients 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature 3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted 3/4 cup hot water 3/4 cup sour cream 3 cups cake our (not self-rising), sifted (or 2 1/2 cups all-purpose our) 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar 4 large eggs 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

Mint chocolate ganache ingredients 4 cups heavy cream 2 lbs good quality semi-sweet chocolate, nely chopped 1/4 cup light corn syrup 1/4 tsp salt 1 1/2 tsp pure peppermint extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 ° F (if using a dark coloured pan, decrease to 325 ° F).

2. Grease two 9-by-2 inch round cake pans.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk cocoa with hot water until smooth. Whisk in sour cream and let cool.

4. In another medium bowl, sift together our, baking soda, and salt, set aside.

5. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and uffy.

6. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating to combine, then beat in the vanilla.

7. Add the our mixture in two parts: alternating with the cocoa mixture and beginning and ending with the our; beat until combined.

8. Divide batter between prepared pans and bake 45 to 50 minutes, or when a toothpick is inserted in centres it comes out clean.

9. Let cool for 15 minutes, then invert cakes onto a rack.

10. Take half of the mint chocolate ganache (3 1/2 cup) to a large clean bowl and beat until ganache holds soft peaks (if you use a mixer, set it to medium high speed and it should take 5 to 7 minutes).

11. Transfer one of the cake layers onto a cake platter and spread the top with 1 1/2 cups whipped ganache. Place other cake layer on top then spread remaining whipped ganache in a thin layer over the entire cake, covering completely.

12. Refrigerate until set (about 30 min).

13. Pour reserved ganache over the top, letting it run down the sides. Pour from the centre and use a spatula to spread it evenly over the top and sides of the cake.

14. Put cake back in the fridge for another 30 minutes to let it set.

Mint chocolate ganache 1. In a small saucepan bring cream to a full boil, turn off heat.

2. Add the chocolate and swirl pan to completely cover with cream.

3. Whisk mixture until smooth.

4. Add the corn syrup, salt and extract, and stir to combine.

Serve immediately. Leftovers can be tightly covered and stored in the fridge for up to two days.

Before using ganache, reheat gently in the microwave on low heat, stirring every few seconds. tli@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2007

New Year:

ye e h T

FEATURES

ar of the FIRE PIG Continued from page 9

CHRISTINE OGLEY

February 18, 2007 to February 6, 2008 — The year of the pig and of re. I like to refer to this particular combination of animal and element as the year of the luau.

This, the last year in the 12 year earthly branch sub-cycle, corresponds to Hai — more commonly known as the year of the pig. In Japanese, the Chinese character translates specically to a wild boar. Western cultures likewise refer to it as the year of the boar because the image of a pig generally has negative connotations. The pig is associated with fertility and virility in Chinese culture.

Honest, straightforward and patient, the type of person born in this year will generally make poor Feds’ candidates.

They are reserved with new people, which can give the misconception of aloofness.

Those who do gain condence with a pig will nd a lovely, warm-hearted person, or a dick.

I guess it depends on the person.

13

Pigs aren’t, by nature, ones to take revenge or be confrontational in general. If by chance someone tries to screw them over, they will usually withdraw and reect. Woody Allen is a famous pig. Think Woody. Once they have taken the time to think a social problem over (and perhaps discuss it with their therapist) they can nd a practical response.

Conservative creatures of habit, they dislike having their routine disturbed or being made to travel far from a familiar place. On road trips, they would likely ask for bathroom stops more than anyone else, and probably complain that the air conditioning is either too high, or that it’s too hot in the car. Just sit there quietly, pig, I’m not turning this car around. Plus, we’re going out to the countryside. As a pig, you love nature.

Being born in the year of pig is indicative of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. In other words they never turn down a friend request on Facebook even when they don’t know the person. They will still, however, have a few close friends who really understand them enough to share the really deep stuff. Pigs are a trustworthy bunch; they are not the type to let you down. They just want to do everything right and adhere to social norms. In short, they are the lamest people you know. bpinto@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

FEATURES

16

FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2007

Cheesy perfection Sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami?

Defying translation, this Japanese word is what we are now recognizing as the existence of a fth basic “taste.” Umami brings a subtle but memorable savoury meaty sensation, essential in rounding out food’s “deliciousness.” Umami is created by glutamates found naturally in protein rich foods, such as cheese (i.e. parmesan), mushrooms, meat and sh.

Such a discovery deserves some well overdue recognition, so I will celebrate with a dish that draws a spotlight to our palate’s fth taste. This

recipe offers a symphony of luscious avours: the blend of the sharp cheesy pesto sits atop a thick, white-eshed llet. The mild taste of cod readily accepts the vibrant coloured sauce.

The tangy cheese in the pesto does wonders to the palate. Whether you have a preference for creamy and soft, or pungent, hard and crumbly, like a ne aged wine, everyone can appreciate cheese for all its different types. Its basic categories begin as either fresh or ripened and, depending on the texture of the cheese and how it was made, it gets listed under one of many available subcategories. However, the same cheese can end up in two separate categories, depending on whether it is consumed when it is young and fresh or when it is aged.

From a humble liquid, the milk of a cow, goat or sheep is thickened with renin and when the liquid whey separates from the semisolid curds, the whey gets

drained off and the curds are collected and pressed into shapes. Cheeses at this stage are qualied as fresh or unripened.

These include cottage cheese, ricotta and cream cheese.

Meanwhile, aged or ripened cheese takes more time for its taste and character to develop and can be created by curing it in several ways: exposure to heat, bacteria, soaking, etc. If seasonings are desired, at this stage, salts, spices, herbs or even natural dyes (i.e. cheddar) are added. From here, it is stored, uncovered, a specic temperature and humidity for the cheese to undergo its natural ripening process. The cheeses are ready when the desired texture and character have been achieved.

The beauty of this recipe is that all assembly is done in the foil packets, which makes serving and cleaning up a breeze. tli@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

A breakdown of cheese forms: Firm cheeses are cooked, pressed into shapes and take at least two years to reach their desired taste and texture.

Some beloved forms include parmesan and pecorino; sharp and tangy, they are usually grated onto food.

Semirm cheeses are cooked and pressed but are not left to age like hard cheeses. Semirm types include

cheddar and edam.

Semisoft cheeses are pressed but can be cooked or uncooked. Types include gouda and monterey jack Soft ripened /surface ripened cheeses are interesting because they are not cooked or pressed. Rather,

they are subjected to bacteria that ripens the cheese from the outside in. The result is a texture range from soft and creamy to spreadable. Cheeses like this include brie or pont l’evêque.

Blue-veined cheeses are not for the faint of heart. A strong aroma and pungent taste, these cheeses have

been sprayed with a mold (Penicillium roqueforti ). To ensure the mold has permeated the entire cheese, painstaking labour is made to puncture it with pin-needle holes. As a result, blue or green veins emerge within its connes.

Other notable categories of cheeses include pasta lata and whey cheeses. Pasta lata, or “spun paste,” is

Italy’s famous stretched, cured cheese. Mozzarella is found under this discipline. Cheeses like this undergo a special process where they are given a hot whey bath, then kneaded and stretched to the desired pliable consistency. Whey cheeses like Italian ricotta are interesting because they are created not with milk, but from the whey drained from other cheeses. Renin is added to the whey and heated until the mixture coagulates.

Firm, semirm and semisoft cheese should be wrapped airtight in aluminum foil and stored in the

refrigerator door compartment (or warmest location). They will last for several weeks. Such cheeses can be frozen: just slice them before hand and wrap them tightly in foil then plastic. However, they may undergo a textural change.

Fresh and soft-ripened cheeses should be tightly wrapped and stored in the coldest part of the refrigerator for no more than two weeks.

Fish and Pesto

TIFFANY LI

2/3 cup homemade pesto (see recipe below or use purchased pesto) 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice 1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce 4.5- to 6-ounce fish fillets of choice (cod, red snapper, sole, halibut) 10 ounces plum or cherry tomatoes, coarsely chopped 2 yellow crookneck squash, thinly sliced on diagonal (optional) 8 ounces peapods Salt and pepper Preheat oven to 350°F. Blend pesto, lemon juice and hot pepper sauce in small bowl. Arrange four 12x12-inch pieces of heavy-duty foil on work surface. Place 1 fish fillet in center of each (skin side down on the foil). Sprinkle fish lightly with salt and pepper. Spread each fillet with 1 tablespoon pesto mixture. Top each fillet with tomatoes, squash and peapods then dollop with remaining pesto mixture. Fold sides of foil over fish and vegetables, covering completely; seal packets closed.

Using a spatula, transfer foil packets to large baking sheet. Bake until fish is just opaque in center and vegetables are crisp-tender, about 25 minutes.

Makes four servings.

Homemade Pesto 3 large garlic cloves 1/2 cup pine nuts or walnuts (lightly toasted, if desired) 2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano, coarsely grated (2/3 of a cup) 3/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp black pepper 3 cups loosely packed fresh basil 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil With food processor running, add garlic and finely chop. Stop motor and add nuts, cheese, salt, pepper and basil, then process until finely chopped.

With motor running, add oil, blending until incorporated.

Lasts for 1 week in the fridge, surface covered with plastic wrap.

Makes about 1 1/3 cups.

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FEATURES IMPRINT

FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2007

features@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Features Editor: Ellen Ewart Features Assistant: Christina Ironstone

Breaking glass ceilings since 1982

The main event is the centre’s 25th anniversary celebrations, which will be held during International Women’s Week.

PHOTOS BY CINDY WARD

The University of Waterloo Women’s Centre passes a milestone as it celebrates its 25th anniversary.

Launched in the school year of 1981-82, co-ordinators and volunteers at the centre are excited about celebrations and activities planned for winter 2007 and look forward to a future of positive change amongst the student body, while continuing their dedicated path in the support of women and women’s issues on campus and beyond.

Current co-ordinators of the Women’s Centre (TWC), Rose Schmidt and Margarita Osipian, are in their last terms at UW and will be working hard to leave their mark before they pass the torch.

The plans for this term include a prominent awareness campaign for the centre, which will include a strong contingency for education about feminism. “There is a stereotype about feminism,” said Schmidt, “and there is a stereotype about the Women’s Centre.”

As a rst-time visitor to the centre during the term’s open house January 16, I found TWC to be a very warm and casual environment — in fact, it was tough to nd even one hippie, bra-burning radical amongst them. Not

am thrilled to help.” She added,“Some might call that feminism; I also call it acceptance.”

One volunteer at the meet-and-greet said, “It’s one thing to talk about aggression towards women, and the lack of pay equity and promotion in employment. What bothers me the most is when a woman doesn’t even realize that she’s being treated as a second-class citizen. It is usually because our society has socialized itself into believing that certain ways of behaviour are the norm. All of these are women’s issues and all of society needs to take a look at itself in order to nd some kind of fair equilibrium.”

The Women’s Centre is a service provided and funded by the Federation of Students.

During last term’s annual general meeting of the Feds, it was voted to change the name of the Womyn’s Centre to the Women’s Centre based on recommendations in a service review

by Feds earlier in the year.

Sai Kit Lo, the current vice-president of internal services, says he hopes that by changing the name the centre will be viewed as a more inviting women’s information and service resource centre, which will draw even more women and men to the services provided.

Rose Schmidt said, “If the name change brings about more interest and more people to the centre, I will be glad. The centre is underutilized and has so many great resources.”

People of all collars need a little love

You’re probably familiar with Chairman Mao, but less so with Zhou Enlai, the late prime minister who arguably held Communist China together through its formative years.

Fiercely devoted to his cause, Zhou embraced the meeting of two elds regularly seen as extreme oppositions: “menial” labour and jobs requiring extensive academic study.

Enlai advocated, for instance, that all urban engineers and government ofcials be required to spend time working with rural communities, to gain perspective on the revolution and strengthen

their sense of brotherhood. Enlai himself often toiled in the elds to prove his point.

Yet Enlai, bizarrely, condemned the jack-of-alltrades mentality, and the same kind of dismissive declarations can be found in our own education structure, even as it tries to cater to divergent career paths. At my high school, for instance, there were two streams for the math program — which we as students invariably saw as “higher” and “lower” math.

While the imposition of a hierarchy to these courses is only valid to a degree, applied math teaches “the basics” to a more practically useful extent than upper maths, which cover a lot more actual ground. The extended conclusion many make — that the kinds of work such “applied” courses gear students towards are themselves inferior — is dangerously false.

I’m thinking here of construction jobs, plumbing, waste disposal — to say nothing of the retail, food services, custodial and basic record-keeping

The marketing department of the Feds, in conjunction with the centre’s co-ordinators, are working on a new logo for the centre which will be discussed organically and revealed in the coming weeks. The Federation of Students has also allocated a moderate budget increase to cover administration costs for the new name change, as well as a mild make-over for the centre and its resources.

“These are exciting times.” said Schmidt, “Not only is the centre moving forward with 25 successful years under its belt, but the school term is jam-packed with great events and we are really looking forward to the 25th anniversary celebrations during International Women’s Week. With all efforts on deck, we hope for positive change and a greater awareness of women’s issues.”

The Women’s Centre is located in the Student Life Centre in room 2102 (above the Bomber).

They are currently accepting submissions for their annual publication — these can include stories, drawings, poems or anything else appropriate to women’s issues. Weekly discussion groups are held Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m. and everyone is welcome. Drop in anytime, or reach them on their website, www.women.uwaterloo. ca or by calling 519-888-4567 x33457.

‘‘

work many students enter into after or during high school.

Asked what he wants to be when he grows up, it’s the rare child who decides upon “data entry technician,” “street sweeper” or “Zehrs general manager,” but we don’t all end up doctors, teachers, lawyers and politicians.

More importantly, we need people to do these other jobs — many of which, like plumbing and carpentry, require regularly updated skill-sets and produce very competitive, and consequently lucrative, job markets.

Moreover, doing “menial” work can provide a great deal of personal freedom. A new friend of mine paints houses to pay the bills, but the exibility of her hours and the instability of the job market also give her time to pursue more social change.

In her case, though an institutionalized job would provide regular paycheques, it would also curtail her ability to ght actively for the causes she

PETER TRINH

STAFF REPORTER

surprisingly, the group turned out to be about 18 very down-to-earth women and men that were there to meet, greet and discuss issues about upcoming events for the centre.

Their main event for this term is the centre’s 25th anniversary celebrations, which will be held during International Women’s Week, March 3 to 11, and will include lots of activities in the great hall at the SLC, as well as a live music festival at the Bomber on March 8.

The volunteers at TWC are also hoping for a repeat success of their hit production of The Vagina Monologues, which premiered at UW last year to sold-out audiences at the Bomber. The venue for this year’s production is still under consideration; either way, mark February 14, 15 and 16 on your calendar, as more information is still to come.

Besides events of music and joie de vivre, the Women’s Centre has a serious mandate — according to Schmidt, they provide resources, education and a safe supportive environment, to chill, to meet and to discuss individual and collective women’s issues.

“I get a joy from talking to women,” said Schmidt. “A university setting doesn’t always show the inequities of our modern world, but if just one woman comes to the centre needing support, and our centre can provide the resources she needs to take a step in a positive direction, I

cward@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

‘‘

Cindy Ward

We don’t all end up doctors, teachers, lawyers and politicians.

believes in. House-painting, however, allows her more freedom to volunteer on her schedule.

But especially as students, the real problems arise when we turn a dismissive attitude about jobs that don’t require PhDs back onto the people who are doing them. I see this ugly attitude rear its head in political science classes, where students, inspired in no small part by Plato’s The Republic, will frequently argue that the general population can’t be “trusted” with democracy — that most, for want of a university education, are unt to participate effectively in the political process.

This mentality is unfortunately mitigated by an opposing trend among many “unskilled” or “menial” workers to dismiss continuing education as the playground of the privileged.

See FUTURE, page 12

F EATURES Shedding light on SAD IMPRINT

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2007

13

features@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Features Editor: Ellen Ewart Features Assistant: Christina Ironstone

Light and dark exert control over our sleeping patterns; too much or not enough of one can seriously affect our circadian rhythm — our 24-hour biological cycle.

Continued from cover

But we’re in Waterloo, so what’s our excuse? Wikipedia credits the pathophysiology (which the Random House Unabridged Dictionary denes as “the functional changes associated with disease or syndrome”) to light rather than temperature. This may be the reason that your hate for winter is exponentially increased when it’s not only cold out, but also overcast.

The wonderful Waterloo weather, although sometimes sunny even on the coldest of days, is crap right now.

All apologies to skiers and snowboarders, but they’ve all got the right idea anyway: one of the treatments for SAD is physical activity that will increase your exposure to light.

A problem with this solution lies in managing to work up enough of your depleted energy to get your butt onto those hills. Because the symptoms only mimic those of clinical depression and dysthymia (read chronic mild depression), sometimes you may not feel depressed, rather just lack the energy to do things that you normally would have found pleasure in.

Alternatively, sitting under an abnormally bright light, including tanning beds, may do the trick. Bright light boxes are also offered by prescription.

The Seasonal Affective Disorder Association recommends exposure for up to four hours a day under a bright light with about 10 times the intensity of a household light bulb. Sit right in front of the bulb, allowing the light to shine right through your eyes. The light will pass through your retinas, along to the hypothalamus, which controls your body’s main functions.

The greenhouse at Biology 1 would also prove effective.

A UW student, Julie Smith, who asked that Imprint use a pseudonym, has felt affected for the last three years. She tried the light therapy and is still getting used to it. “I felt slightly dizzy the rst time I used it.

I haven’t been using it for long,” she

PHOTO: VALERIE LEAH BROADBENT, PROCESSING: KIRILL LEVIN

It can be hard to self-diagnose SAD since it can manifest itself in several ways. Problems sleeping, a state of lethargy, depression, overeating, anxiety, social problems, mood changes and loss of libido can all be symptoms of the winter blues. said. The Ofce for Persons with Disabilities in Needles Hall offers light therapy lamps to students that are registered with the ofce. Contact Susan Shifett at extension 37025 for inquiries.

As your body needs to fatten up to keep you warm, the winter season may come with some winter weight. Along with a depressed mood, a symptom of SAD is an intense craving for carbohydrates, which unfortunately, are very “out” these days. Craving sweets is also symptomatic of SAD, but take that with a grain of salt. Symptoms of SAD should be closely examined only if they are disrupting your daily life because some of them may be perfectly normal depending on the person.

Mood Disorder Canada estimates that two to four per cent of Canadians

are faced with SAD. If there are about 32 million people in Canada, that’s about 960,000 people feeling like crap and wondering why.

Smith advises that “if you have been feeling this for three consecutive winters, then you may have a problem.

Make an appointment with a doctor and discuss it. I also believe that SAD affects each of us differently, so many of my symptoms may not be exactly what you experience.”

A variety of other treatment options are available for those affected by SAD, including therapy, medication, ionized-air reception and cognitive therapy. If you have ever seen that late-night infomercial with the ionized bracelet that, when worn, provides relief from aches and pains, then you are already

somewhat familiar with the ionizedair reception treatment.

The Centre for Environmental Therapeutics afrms that “recent advances in technology have led to the development of small, compact ion generators that can produce levels of ion density sufcient for biological effect. Although the original clinical trial relied on ion exposure during the day in timed treatment sessions, more recently the method has been shown also to work during sleep, providing an innocuous, automatic and imperceptible antidepressant effect within a few weeks. Thus far, however, there have been no studies of the potential additional benet of combining negative air ion therapy with drug or light treatment.”

The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine states that, “Although there have been many demonstrations of clinical improvement, major issues remain unresolved: the relative contribution of placebo response, optimum timing of light exposure, and the therapeutic mechanism of action of light.”

Smith attributes the diagnosis of her SAD to the resources around her that highlighted her symptoms. She has combined bright light treatments with anti-depressants and claims they work wonders. Even if a single pamphlet on SAD is unattainable on campus, Health Services and Counseling Services maintain that there are professionals that will help you either way. kjakab@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Nurses disguised as Benny’s servers, reviving students

Benny’s receives a four out of ve beer salute from me, mostly attributed to the number of Sundays that would have been hell without it. I don’t know what this eatery is like during the week, or on the weekend before noon for that matter, but for those few hours that seem to happen between waking up with a

headache and needing to rush off to the library to study, the restaurant seems to be dedicated to nursing the hangovers of the university community.

You need not ask for a pitcher of ice water at your table. When the wait staff sees a group of dryeyed cotton-mouthed students slam down in one of the booths, they just assume that is the rst thing you will ask for. Coffee is never wanting either. It almost seems like there is one server who acts as the coffee steward, and whose only job it is to make sure I get my week’s worth of caffeine jolts, so take advantage and guzzle till you’re shaking.

The restaurant acts as kind of a meeting place for the two universities. It is located on Weber, closer to Laurier but, waiting in line, we see sweaters from both schools worn proudly. Though Benny’s is apparently popular with real people with real jobs, they are few and far between on Sunday afternoons and with all the students, you might feel like you are at last night’s party.

I advise all to plan your arrival before you get hungry. There is usually about a 10-minute line up at the door for the Sunday breakfast. But Benny’s entertains us with a strange looking waterfall fountain, a view of their many cakes, pies and desserts

and observation of the rest of the dining room from the line.

The host and server are usually very friendly and quick. It is in the best interest of the servers to get as many people through their meals as quickly as possible. You don’t feel rushed, however — only as if you are getting breakfast while it’s hot. The dining room is often noisy, but by your second coffee and fourth glass of water it doesn’t matter as much.

Even the hungriest of partiers can be lled to the brim for under $10.

The delicious breakfast options are a mixture of everything you could want in a breakfast, all put in a piping hot skillet. I ordered a breakfast

meal with my eggs poached. Usually I have trouble getting my poached eggs soft enough to spread on my toast, but with Benny’s it was not a problem at all.

Benny’s is an experience that all students should have, rst year and graduate alike. Next time you’re the host, peel your guests off your living room oor, shovel them into the back seat of your car and make them treat you to breakfast. Even if it doesn’t seem like a good idea when you’re rolling out of bed and your head is pounding, you’ll thank me when you get there. msokolyk@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2007

features@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Features Editor: Ellen Ewart Features Assistant: Christina Ironstone

FEATURES IMPRINT

Too hung over to think about resolutions in the early days of January? The Chinese NewYear,or Lunar New Year, gives us each a chance at renewal. Usually beginning late January to mid-February, this year we entered the new year on February 18.

CHRISTINE OGLEY

9

Brendan Pinto STAFF REPORTER

The University of Waterloo Alliance of Asian Student Clubs (UWAASC) will be celebrating Lunar Festival on the 27 and 28 of this month.

Tuesday will feature booths in the SLC basement selling food and more. Wednesday the 28 DJ Silver will be spinning in Federation Hall along with performances and a fashion show.

Celebrated internationally anywhere there are large populations of ethnic Chinese, the Lunar New Year is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. Starting on the rst day of the lunar month, which fell on February 18 this year, the holiday is celebrated for the following 14 days culminating with the Lantern Festival on the 15th day.

The calendar follows a sexagenary cycle representing the 60 combinations which result from the two root cycles — the heavenly stems and the earthly branches. The heavenly stems are represented by ve elements, and the 12 branches represented by the 12 Chinese zodiac signs.

According to ancient Chinese legend, the Nian, a man eating beast that lived in the mountains came down every 12 months to prey on human esh. The monster was believed to be afraid of loud noises and the colour red.

As a result, many of the festivities would include lighting reworks and liberal use of the colour red.

Imprint looks at the the new lunar year, see NEW YEAR page 13.

Would-be writers, be wary of writing programs

In 1936 the University of Iowa underwent a revolution of sorts, with the dawning of the very rst graduate level creative writing program in North America. Graduates of this program earned a Masters of ne arts in English by participating in a series of ction and poetry workshops, as well as by taking the occasional literature class.

Over 70 years later, the mindset embodied in creative writing programs — namely, that the ability to write creatively can be taught — is now a culture unto itself. From howto writers’ manuals, courses and magazines to the pervasive presence

of amateur and professional writing workshops, the making of literature has never been so much a commercialized “craft” as it is today.

Last winter term I attended one of the two creative writing courses offered at UW, hoping to dispel the feelings of extreme prejudice I had towards such programming. Ever since such programs gained mainstream major status in the 1960s, critics have argued that the creative writing workshop environment discourages innovation in favour of homogenous output — in essence, cookie-cutter poetry and prose. Moreover, the culture arising from creative writing groups is considered by many to be a gloried circle jerk, with publication too often awarded to those who produce the kind of “safe” writing engendered by workshop critiques.

I was extremely disappointed to nd that the creative writing program at UW lived up to my initial impressions in every way. Though most of

the students had only a passing interest in reading and an equally marginal background in writing, the course was not structured to teach them how to critique ction and poetry effectively at the outset it was assumed that, once thrust into a workshop setting, the students would immediately know how best to approach and comment upon each other’s work.

...the culture arising from creative writing groups is considered by many to be a glorified circle jerk...

If such a structure is indeed par for the course where creative writing programs are concerned, it’s no wonder the output of such workshops is accused of homogeneity: lacking the

tools to recognize and work within any writer’s individual style, students will invariably consider anything that stands out in the text to be an anomaly — instead of perhaps being a device that effectively arrests the reader’s attention. Should the author take all the “criticism” thus offered to heart, the result will invariably be work that is easily absorbed by readers — and just as easily forgotten.

But where the teaching of creative writing is concerned, more problematic is its narrow focus — teaching the basic “how” of writing short stories and poems, when writers should instead be nding stories worth writing about.

Most of the literary greats did not pop out of creative writing courses, after all: the insights imparted by Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov emerged from the whole of his life experiences, while Hemingway’s minimalism arose from his experience as a reporter, and his subject matter from working with the Red Cross during WWI.

Worse, with the naturalization of creative writing programs comes a sense of surprise when students of other disciplines — engineering, mathematics and computer science, for instance — try to make it big in the literary scene, as if creative writing students should have the market on creative writing cornered. Yeah, tell that to the late Isaac Asimov: physicist, essayist and canonical science ction writer.

Certainly, big names in contemporary literature are now associated with creative writing programs — and no doubt will continue to be, if only because of how ingrained creative writing programs are in our culture. Nonetheless, such programs should be seen as, at best, a starting point in any writer’s real education — and the acquisition of a degree, never the end result.

Emerging writers of UW, take heed: your classroom should be nothing less than the whole goddamned world. mclark@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

F EATURES A bright new beginning in Waterloo FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2006

IMPRINT

15

features@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Features Editor: Kinga Jakab Features Assistant: Ellen Ewart

Tariku Kebede REPORTER

When I learned the date that my ight had been booked, I could not stand the anticipation.

However, I had been told that my admission to Canada was still pending, so I still wasn’t sure if it was really going to happen.

In the beginning, I did not know much about the University of Waterloo. I went to browse at the public internet centre. There, usage is charged per minute on the old computers running on a tortoise-paced network.

I worked in Kakuma as a temporary teacher of English, math and science. I was paid 100 Kenyan shillings per day (equivalent to approximately $2/day).

I used about 60 minutes time ($1.20) to learn more about my university, especially the co-op program and the software engineering program that I had heard about on CNN. During this process, I asked myself one question: “Do I really deserve this?” I had just completed my Grade 12 in one of the world’s poorest country in a take-it or leave-it high school environment. Forget comparing my high school to the world, even compared to other schools in Kenya, the refugee high schools are hanging from the bottom.

In preparing to leave, I had to resign from my teaching job and say goodbye to everybody in my community. I also had to deal with the International Organization for Migration who, thankfully, completed my medical exams a mere 10 days before my expected departure from Kakuma. The day before my departure brought bad news as tension in the refugee camp arose from the shooting of three refugees by an unidentied gunmen. As a result, some refugees went to seek revenge on the host community

COURTESY TARIKU KEBEDE

Tariku Kebede in Kenyan refugee camp. He went from a refugee high school to studying science at UW. known as the Turkana, indigenous peoples living in Kenya outside of the refugee camp area.

Although there are a few harsh men from the Turkana tribe, they are the friendliest community I have ever met. They are nomads and are easy to approach. Drought often affects them as they raise cattle for their livelihood.

Nourishment from a cup of milk mixed with fresh blood along with a daily nap can be enough to sustain them for more than three days. Incredibly, some are fat and strong and highly resilient to diseases. For example, Turkanans could eat dead domestic animals, no matter how long the carcasses had been lying on the ground. The people are not normally scavengers; but it was life that forced them to do this. We do many things to make sure we

Keep your cool en route

On the highway of life, there are many pitstops.

On one of the more recent pitstops, I got to thinking about just how deeply transportation has permeated how we relate to each other. Not only has driving become part of our identity, it has also changed the way we interact with other people. We would never put up with the things we put up with were we not in a car.

The biggest change I’ve seen, and the most shocking, is how we treat other people when we’re on the road. Can you imagine how different life would be if people were equipped with horns and high beams?

Occasionally, if you live in a dangerous neighbourhood, you may witness a high speed chase. You’ll see some young guy running down the street full tilt and right behind him are police ofcers with their radios blaring.

However, if the young man falls and breaks his leg, and the police wait with him until an ambulance arrives, you probably will not witness a slowdown of pedestrian trafc to watch. Nor will you see others with similar injuries because they were watching the accident and not where they were going.

We commit road rage because we know we’re in the safety of our car. Have you ever walked out of a store in front of someone, forcing them to slow down and when you nally get home and they’ve followed you.

“Hey, dickhead, you cut me off back there!”

“Where?” you would probably ask, perplexed.

“Back at the IGA. Don’t pretend you didn’t notice.”

Cars make us think we’re invincible. They become extensions of us. I know I get a little freaked out sometimes when I’m driving at 130 km/h on the 401 and it occurs to me that I’m just sitting in a seat working the controls for the car. I’m not really driving. I’m just piloting this heap (and my car is a heap). If you mentally detach yourself from your car for a minute, it can really mess with your head. Either that or it was the gas leak in my car.

So why is it that we act so differently in cars? Is it the isolation? Our four door sedans become little bubbles that stop us from being part of our society?

Maybe if we all had microphones and speakers installed in our car that broadcast our words and thoughts to everyone else, we’d take things more seriously. We denitely wouldn’t curse about what the other person is doing. I know a few people who would limit the racial slurs they use when driving.

Just because you’re encased in steel and glass, with a radio and cup-holders, it doesn’t mean you’re not interacting with other people. In fact, since we’re traveling at speeds that exaggerate every movement and decision we make, we need to take those interactions more seriously.

So be a courteous driver. Drive with your windows down for a few more weeks, before it gets too cold. Talk to the other drivers if you can, or at the very least, treat them like other people, not enemies who could steal your spot in trafc. janstett@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

stay alive and that’s what they did. It is ironic, now I am here at Waterloo and see the many Canadian geese and ducks on the elds on campus unafraid of becoming a meal for the many students walking past each day.

I travelled by bus with two others for two days to get to Nairobi from Kakuma. From Nairobi I ew to Canada. My travels from Kakuma were very difcult, but the experience was an adventure. As we passed police checkpoints, I saw the conductor shaking some of the Kenyan policemen hands exchanging money. Thanks to the efforts of the government’s anti-corruption unit, these events have signicantly been reduced.

To leave out any horric details about the restaurants and the roads, I suggest that anybody who wants to travel consider doing so by air.

In total, we were about 38 people, including some of the students from another refugee camp called Daadab. For all of us, our rst exposure to the outside world was in the airplane.

One refugee in our group unknowingly drank a package of vinegar!

When our plane was nally over Toronto, my thoughts ashed back. I thought of my new life beginning. No hopelessness, no constant fear, no inexperienced teachers and no Kiswahili — the ofcial language of Kenya that was mandatory to study.

This is a new life, new hope, new future and new freedom. All with the help of God and the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) and its volunteers, local WUSC committees.

Fed Hall Fantasy returns

After the bar closures in 2003, students were left to nd bars in the community that t their needs. When Bomber nally reopened students ooded the gates — and yet Fed Hall remained empty. Perhaps the push into the community enabled us to nally see that there was a wide range of choice available outside of campus and we never came back.

What has happened to Thursday nights? I remember many students excited about dancing the night away in North America’s largest student-owned bar.

Well, for those of you not camped outside Fed Hall doors, the bar was indeed open Thursday nights all of last year. Where is the hype? Fed Hall’s website makes no mention of Fantasy Thursdays but if you backtrack to the Federation of Student’s home page you might stumble across an ad for Fantasy Thursdays returning this fall.

The downside to this iota of good news is a $5 cover. Why would we pay for our own bar?

The poster indicates no more information than “Stay tuned for more details.”

What else is there to do on Thursday nights?

Ceasars’ popularity is borderline ridiculous, especially considering there is never any toilet paper in the bathrooms after 11:30. Could Fed Hall step up and provide an alternative to the crazy line on University Ave. on Thursday nights?

As Feds’ vice-president Renjie Butalid points out, there has been a major shift in trends towards an intimate pub atmosphere rather than

Currently, the Feds are trying to promote the catering aspect of Fed Hall. The fact remains that Fed Hall is a great venue and when students come for events they have a great time. We may begin to see some positive changes if the newly appointed Fed Hall manager can take on a role of leadership.

The Feds would like to see Fed Hall utilized more for special events and catering as a venue rather than pushing the nightclub scene. Having special guests and comedians once a month would likely be very popular as previous attendance has proved.

Thursday nights will indeed continue this fall despite the low-key marketing efforts. As for the 19+ rule, it is true and completely the result of the alcohol committee and the university taking greater control over the student establishments. The Feds had no hand in dictating or deciding this.

The $5 cover, although offsetting the enormous xed operations costs of Fed Hall, may perpetuate what Butalid notes as the main problem of attendance. “The number one issue is that students don’t go to Fed Hall.”

Existing in the shadow of Bomber’s popularity, it’s hard to see clearly and realize that 200 people at Bomber is a great success, but 200 people at Fed Hall isn’t much due to its size.

You need at least 400-500 people to make Fed Hall look like it’s moving.

If you want an active role in shaping the future of Fed Hall, show up on Clubs Day, nd Dave McDougall, the clubs director, and join the UW Crew that deals with event planning.

Since this is the direction Fed Hall is taking, get involved and make sure these special events are frequent and awesome.

If you just want to party, have hope and stay tuned for Fed Hall’s $2.75 nights: $2.75 cover, $2.75 food, $2.75 “everything else.”

FEATURES

18

Bottled Poetry Drinking wine is easy, but what sparks conversation, enhances food and brings people together is tasting the wine. Learning about wines is a process that requires patience, imagination and a bit of money. This introduction can help the complete beginner or guide the intermediate oenophile.

Healthy choices Organic wines aren’t usually grouped in the LCBO unless there is a special — and temporary — display. Instead, you’ll have to ask a clerk to help you nd an organic wine that suits your tastes and price range.

The manager of the new LCBO on King St. in Waterloo Town Square draws a cute little ower in pencil on the price labels of organic wines.

This doesn’t prevent you from having to walk through the entire store, but helps nonetheless. Summerhill Estate Winery and Bella Vista Farm Winery are both Ontario vinters each produce organic wines. More than half of the wines produced

by Hainle Vineyard Estate Winery are not only organic but certied organic.

Certied organic is the key if you’re hardcore because otherwise, nothing prevents the vintner from diverting from their original plan of being organic if the wine doesn’t turn out as planned.

I recommend trying Domaines Perrin Nature Côtes-du-Rhône. At $16.95 for 750ml it’s a bit expensive but Côtes-du-Rhônes are well worth it.

Also worth the price tags are a syrah or chianti. Badia A Coltibuono sells a chianti classico for $25.15 and Bonterra sells a syrah for $19.95.

Ellen Ewart Features Editor

Around the World

Night out

Chardonnay

Restaurant dining

Dinner In

When in doubt

Be realistic. You don’t need to buy the most expensive wine to impress your date. And don’t feel daunted by a large selection. The key is to select a wine that best complements your food choice.

In general, pair light-bodied wines with lighter food and fuller-bodied wines with heartier, more avourful, richer and fattier dishes. Rich meat, sh or chicken dishes that include cream are well suited to full-bodied wines. Tannic wines are harder to put with food, but the classic rare roast beef with a cabernet sauvignon works well.

Shellsh pairs nicely with crisp, dry whites like Riesling, sauvignon blanc or champagne. Poultry, particularly roast chicken or turkey, go well with pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon or a chardonnay. The richness of duck requires a rich wine with full avour. Chinese food is balanced by spicy whites such as a gewurtraminer or off-dry Riesling.

Spicy food also pairs nicely with the sweetness of gewurtraminer, Riesling or zinfandels. With pasta, the pairing depends on the sauce. Generally, white sauces go with dry white wines while colourful sauces go nicely with rich red wines.

Remember that asking the server does not translate to, “I’m an idiot, decide for me.” Besides, the server should be knowledgeable enough to suggest a perfect pairing in any price range.

Being conscious of what your date is eating is important because you may not both choose a food that has the same wine pairing. A pinot noir is a red wine that has a nice range that can pair with most foods without ghting their avours. Though you might not have the choice in a restaurant, I recommend Inniskillin, an Ontario pinot noir.

Generally, wines in restaurants can be marked up by 300 per cent, therefore expect to pay roughly $26-35 for a bottle of Inniskillin.

To impress a hot date it all comes down to matching your wine with the fabulous meal you’ve prepared. Your date won’t likely know the price tag of the wine but will notice if the entire night goes smoothly and everything magically falls into place.

You can match your wine by similarity, by contrast or by provenance. Contrasting a fat and greasy dish like sausages with a dry acidulous wine will cleanse the palate and lighten up the heaviness of the dish.

Or, if you were working with a salmon let with a rich and buttery sauce you could pair it with a fresh sauvignon blanc to cut through the heavy sauce.

To match by similarity, in the case of the salmon let, you could also choose a full-bodied, big, buttery, oaked chardonnay to math the weight and character of the dish.

Matching by provenance is the traditional approach that pairs a regional dish with a wine from the same geographic area. Regional foods and wines often have a natural afnity for each other, having developed together over time.

An example of matching by provenance would be to serve a Florentine steak with a Brunello di Montalcino, a wine from Tuscany.

Put the effort in ahead of time by pairing wine online. Author Natalie MacLean’s website is the best for such occasions as it allows the user to select specic dishes and then matches a number of wines www.nataliemaclean. com/matcher/.

If you’d like a wine that serves as a pre-dinner drink among friends, I recommend a Sauvignon Blanc or a Pinot Grigio because they are nice “starter” wines for those who tend to pucker after every sip. South African wines have never let me down and such is the case with Two Oceans Sauvignon Blanc. It sells for only $9.25 but I wouldn’t shy away from presenting this bottle to a relative at a family dinner.

I know we’re told since kindergarten not to “judge a book by its cover,” but I’ve got to say, when in doubt, select a wine, within your price range, whose bottle appeals to your sense of aesthetics. Even wine labels seek to target a certain market so if the bottle itself appeals to you, it is likely for a reason.

Part of learning more about wine is by trying new things. Do this daringly by grabbing a bottle from the shelves that you know absolutely nothing about; or carefully by testing your favourite varietal from each region or vintner.

When I visit the LCBO, I like to buy a bottle that suits my initial needs – the reason I came to the LCBO in the rst place – then I pick up another bottle that forces me outside of my comfort zone. I often select that second bottle based on the design and appeal of the bottle.

While perusing the aisles of the new LCBO in Waterloo Town square, I noted some particularly fancy bottles. Sogrape from Portugal ($8.15); Painted Turtle, an Ontario shiraz and sauvignon blanc ($12.15); and 20 Bees Baco Noir ($13.15) have great labels.

Australia takes the prize for coolest labels with The Little Penguin Merlot ($12.15); Four Emu Shiraz ($14.15); and Alice White Cabernet Sauvignon ($8.10).

Traveling

When your goal is to just get trashed but the high heels and pearls aren’t classy enough then you might choose wine as your poison of choice.

First, go with white wine to avoid the stain that red wine often leaves on your teeth; red chompers are a bit counter-intuitive to the whole make-up, waxing, trimming, high-heel effect.

Your best bet is a white wine that isn’t too sweet — the sweetness of Riesling, gewurtraminer or zinfandel is what is responsible for your headache the next morning.

Don’t focus on the most amount of wine for the cheapest price — it’s not a deal if you don’t need it… or can’t stomach it. Instead, nd a region, varietal or colour and search out the lowest price tag on the biggest bottle, while knowing which varietals to stay clear of.

Try Botticelli, $13.15 for 1500 ml; the famously tacky Maria Christina, a.k.a wine in a box before there was the tetrapak, $33.15 for 4 litres; or try Bandit, a California wine that retails at $12.15 for a litre in a tetrapak.

The extra millilitres and low costs of these choices help justify drinking for sport.

If you insist on a red, despite the warning of stains, try a lighter red like 20 Bees Baco Noir, $13.15 for 750ml.

Understanding the difference between Old and New World is the starting point to understanding varietals. The difference is important because the grapes of Old World wines can be explained by their geographic location, whereas New World wines are titled as varietals.

New World refers to any wine that is not from the classic wine making regions in Europe (France, Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain). New Worlds may also be easier to manage because they dumb things down on the label; they will include the vinter, varietals, region, for example, on Inniskillin, 2004, Pinot Noir, Ontario.

An Old World wine can be hard to understand. Let me illustrate: You can have a Jaboulet Côte du Rhone Parallèle 45.

What does Jaboulet refer to? Or Parallèle 45? Is that literal, lateral or horizontal? Côte du Rhone is a region in Europe that stretches from Avignon in the south to the city of Vienna and encompasses both sides of the Rhone River. Yet this is not simply an indicator of the region, it also describes which grapes are used (“varietal”). The northern Rhone is home of the Syrah grape. The southern stretches of the Rhone produce the sublime Chateuneuf-du-Pape (sometimes produced from a single grape, sometimes from a blend of as many as 13 grapes). And that is just the red wines. Get it? Me neither.

Beyond this basic comparison of Old World vs. New World, Old World growers have the danger of being too complacent because they’ve been tilling the soil for generations. Old World wines span back to the Roman Empire and beyond. New World growers don’t have the advantage of years and years of trial to see what grows best in which regions; however, for this reason, they develop new technologies to ensure a quality grape.

Full Bodied

FEATURES

FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2007

For the adventurous traveller, begin by thinking of form to meet function.

Many wineries are moving towards the screw cap method rather than corking.

Whether you’re day-tripping, having a picnic, camping overnight or hitch-hiking across Canada, not having to bring a corkscrew is a little weight off your back. Better yet, go with a tetrapak.

Lightweight and crushable when empty, the tetrapak (often more than the typical 750 ml) is a perfect solution for the mobile connoisseur.

I recommend a merlot despite Paul Giamatti’s calamitous line in Sideways “I am not drinking any fucking merlot.”

Merlot tends to be the wine of choice for newbies and there is a good reason for that. It is not so full of tannin that it overwhelms the palate but it can work well with full avours.

When bringing a bottle of wine on a trip, be careful to maintain the temperature of the wine — although constant temperature is most important for wines that are corked.

It is true that wine acionados might turn their noses up at a merlot, so don’t bother bringing this bottle to someone else’s dinner table. But merlot works well in a supporting role, blending with cabernets to add sweetness and lend drinkability.

I recommend French Rabbit family reserve red wine that retails for $18.15 — slightly pricey but also sells merlot and pinot noir for under $10.

19

Glossary Aroma

The smell that the wine produces when wafting. The perfume of a wine can be secondary like fruit, owers, spices or honey, and be associated with winemaker’s practices, or tertiary perfumes that form during the ageing of wine, typically called the bouquet.

Oak

Often used when describing chardonnays, oakiness refers to the taste that is produced by wine being stored (aged) in oak barrels.

Those that are stored in metal barrels are called unoaked and have a different taste.

Tannin

The astringent, bitter-tasting plant polyphenols that bind and precipitate proteins. Uh, what? Tannin preserves the wine and balances against the other avour components of fruits, mineral and acids. Such wines are designed to improve over many years until they reach their peak — the point when the tannins have mellowed and the components have integrated perfectly. Tannins in grape skins and seeds tend to be more noticeable in red wines, which are fermented while in contact with the skins and seeds.

Body

Full-bodied wines have the greatest amount of tannins, while light-bodied wines have little or no tannins.

Varietals

Knowing the wine’s varietal is the most important way to distinguish one wine from another. Because consumers have become aware of the characteristics of individual varieties of grapes, wines have come to be identied by varietal names – except in Old World wines where the region of the wine describes its characteristics and is the primary method of categorizing. (See the distinction between Old and New World wines for more details.) Primary perfumes of a wine are linked to the grape variety.

Terroir

A French term that denotes the special characteristic of geography that bestows individuality upon the grape. It gives a sense of place. It is the sum of the effects that the environment has on the production of the wine. Terroir is a term that is used with chocolate and coffee as well as wine.

Vintage

Describes the year and the harvest of the wine in question. Some wines can be “multi-vintage” to denote that the vintner is purposely mixing grapes from several years to achieve a higher level wine.

Vintner

This will be the name of the winery on the bottle. Some vintners represent centuries upon centuries of the same family growing grapes in the same region, whereas others are infants in comparison and lacking in the family history.

Semillon

Sauvignon Blanc

Pinot Grigio

White Zinfandel

Reisling

Gewurztraminer

Côtes du Luberon

Soave Classico

Light Shiraz

Côtes-du-Rhône

Cabernet Sauvignon

Amarone

Valpolicella

Chianti

Châteauneuf-du-pape

Zinfandel

Baco

Pinot Noir

Merlot

Beaujolais Gamay

22

FEATURES IMPRINT

A taste of inequality

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2007

features@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Features Editor: Ellen Ewart Features Assistant: Christina Ironstone

Keith McManamen REPORTER

Students learn the problems of an inequal distribution of wealth and the power of participation.

One of the most inspiring activities at Laurier’s Global Citizenship Conference on March 10 and 11 was, believe it or not, the main banquet.

Participants like myself, who attended expecting a casual dinner got much more than they bargained for, since any nutrition received was trumped in a big way by food for thought, which was offered by the plateful.

Immediately upon entering the banquet, each person was given a number: one, two, or three. These corresponded to seating and to what each person ate. If you were lucky to be one of the dozen or so people who pulled a one, you were allowed to sit at a table with a white-tablecloth and sit on a comfy chair, where you were waited on promptly and were served a hearty multi-course meal. Meanwhile, the group that drew the twos, which numbered about 40, sat on chairs encircling the room, and were able to eat rice and veggies. The nal 150, which included myself and a friend, were the least fortunate, having to sit on the oor with only rice and water.

These class divisions were a metaphor for world demographics. In addition to the three classes, there were also the event co-ordinators, who catered to the every whim of the rst-classers and governed conversation, prohibiting any speaking across classes. These people represented the oppressive regime, led by one supreme dictator, who directed the proceedings.

And so, in this microcosm of the world, the role-play began.

Immediately, those in the third-world demographic were bullied by the oppressors; being told to stay seated and shut up so that the rst-worlders could dine in peace. Someone suggested singing Bob Marley’s “Get Up Stand Up,” which most of the Third World did. Unfortunately, there were very few who knew any of the words, and the co-ordinators quickly quelled the uncoordinated, unharmonious effort. Thus, all of the Third World was forced to stay quiet, seated and hungry, watching the rst and second world people eat their food before we could get ours.

However, my friend and I remained standing, by ourselves, deciding to resist the oppression and the injustice. We were confronted immediately by regime ofcials, who said we had to sit down or we wouldn’t get any food, but we stood our ground, resisting passively and not escalating the situation. The lead dictator came to us and said that if we didn’t sit down, then nobody in the Third World would get any food at all, yet still we stood. Gradually, more people from the bottom caste got up off the oor and stood with us.

The main dictator saw the revolution starting, and the two of us were pulled aside to speak with him. He told us that we had to stop right away, that it was turning into anarchy and that couldn’t happen. We couldn’t tell if this was part of the role play or not, but we kept playing along. We made it clear that we were protesting because we

felt we should get better food like the others.

He offered us seats at a rst class table if we could get everybody seated again, and we even negotiated a slightly better meal for our Third World comrades, so they could eat vegetables in addition to the rice.

But we politely refused the bribe we had received, and began to stir the uprising into an uproarious mob.

With the Third World all on their feet, we crowded around the rst world tables, clapping and yelling and cheering.

The oppressors tried to settle us down, the rest of the world watched and ate their food. Try as they might, we would not be settled; the taste of justice rallied us into a frenzy. It was glorious.

Slowly, some of the second class started to stand and cheer with us, and nally the rst class got on their feet as well. The revolution effort culminated in one of the speakers for Amnesty International charging the stage and carrying the main dictator away, then congratulating us for not taking no for an answer, and overthrowing oppression. Little did we know that none of this was scripted at all.

Truthfully, we had deviated from the script the moment the two of us stood up and refused to eat just rice. “None of it was scripted after people started to stand up in non-violent protest, but those protests were absolutely welcome,” said conference executive Jacob Pries, who was very pleased with the results. “I was absolutely ecstatic that the people joined together to try and bring some equality to all the people during the banquet” he remarked, “[it shows] people the power we do have if only we come together and work for a common goal.”

They weren’t lying to us when they said there wasn’t enough food, they actually only had a couple extra rst-class meals. So when we rioted for better food, they actually couldn’t give it to us, besides the veggies, which were plentiful. And that was the reason we were offered better meals if we could get everyone content with what they were being offered.

“As well, it ended up being an incredibly accurate depiction of the way the world is working, especially how the second class was quite content to sit and enjoy their food and do very little to help the plight of those who nd themselves in absolute poverty. Overall, it was much more effective in the way it turned out because people were directly confronted with the reality of the world which they are not often exposed to. So I would say that it was really an amazing success and I hope that it is something that can be run again.”

The role-play was a tremendous, albeit ideological, metaphor for the world today. The moral of the story is that a couple people can make a difference, and however small, it creates a ripple effect that rallies more people to the cause. Pries challenges students to deviate from the real world script and create a new one where people have adequate access to basic needs. While we might not be able to solve the world hunger problem in a day, we can certainly begin making ripples of our own.

CHRISTINE OGLEY

FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 2007

features@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Features Editor: Ellen Ewart Features Assistant: Christina Ironstone

FEATURES IMPRINT

Prepare yourself for a

Brand New Year

15

Chocolate never fails to satisfy

Persian Culture Exhibition gives students a look at events and traditions that mark the New Year.

COURTESY HOSSEIN FALAKI

Narmeen Lakhani STAFF REPORTER

With the Persian New Year just around the corner, I decided to walk into the heartland of Persia, DC 1301.

Ok, so it was as close to Iran as I could get on a student budget, but the Iranian Cultural Exhibition was a pretty good substitution.

I walked in to a room that took my breath away with its luminescence. Every corner was decorated with Persian rugs, hand-painted ceramics and beaded scarves. The live music was weaving around every person in the room, the effect of the inspired tar and drum players. It wasn’t the kind of music that made you want to join a mosh pit — rather it was soothing and almost serene.

When I woke up last Friday, I didn’t think I was going to be underdressed for school in jeans and a T-shirt, but the adorned ladies at the exhibition made me regret that I hadn’t worn something sparkly to school.

In my trance, I stopped at the centre of the exhibition at the haft sin table. The haft sin, which means “Seven S’s” is one of the critical aspects of the Persian New Year.

As you may have guessed, the table has seven symbolic items that begin with the letter “s.”

The British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS) states them as the sabzeh, samanu, senjed, sir, sib, somaq, and sombol. They translate into: vegetable sprout, sweet pudding, dried fruit, garlic, apples, sumac berries and hyacinth. There are other variations in which the table can include sekkeh (gold or silver

coins), serkeh (vinegar) and spand (wild rue). Although this sounds more like an unusual recipe, the items have historic meaning such as wishes for a new year of good health and wealth. I think we can all use a little more of that.

Nowruz means “new day” in Persian, and it is celebrated on the spring equinox between March 20 and 22. According to the BIPS, “This celebration of the rebirth of nature has its origin in the pre-Islamic period. The concept of rebirth and renewal of life, as well as the triumph of good over evil, reect aspects of Zoroastrianism, the ancient religion of Iran.”

There are also legends about how the holiday began. The Iran Culture and Information Center describes the legend of the famous Persian king Jamshid: “One version says

that after Jamshid had taught his people the art of building, weaving, mining and making arms, and divided them into four appropriate classes, he then set out to conquer the demon hosts.

Then he defeated and reduced to hard labour for the benet of men.

Next he ordered the demons to build him a special crystal carriage.

When it was ready, he entered the carriage and, to the joy and amazement of all the people, the demons lifted it into the air and Jamshid rode thus from Demavand to Babylon.

The day was called Now Ruz (the New Day) and was made an annual celebration.” Now the tradition has spread to many countries throughout the Middle East and different parts of Asia.

See NEW YEAR, page 17

As I was walking through the mall, my eld of vision suddenly took on a hue of royal blue. It was then I realized that Girl Guide “cookie season” is upon us again.

As I drew nearer, one of the girls raced over to me, chirping about their cookies and their vigilant request for me to make a purchase. Not being in the mood for cookies that day, I politely shook my head, mouthed a “no, thanks,” even gestured a “no” with the wave of my hand and kept walking.

Despite performing all three nonverbal cues and displaying contented distraction via my iPod, I still could not successfully dodge these Girl Guides. They were certainly a welltrained and persistent group at the shopping centre that day!

Sufce it to say I was soon confronted by another Girl Guide, who popped out of nowhere as I turned the corner. “Would you like to buy a box of cookies?” she said in a gleeful munchkin tone. She held the box of cookies in front of her, proudly displaying its contents: the colourful writing and the trademark pictures of the cookies and happy Girl Guides.

I was ghting a losing battle.

“Sure,” I said, “I’ll purchase a box of your cookies.” Unfortunately, availability of their chocolate mint cookies runs only from October to December so I left with the classic chocolate and vanilla instead.

Although the classic cookies were quite tasty, I still needed to satisfy my craving for that chocolate mint combination. This rendition takes the form of a dense, moist devil’s food cake with mint chocolate ganache. I suppose I should thank these Girl Guides for an unexpected inspiration!

The term devil’s food cake is thought of today as a dark, rich, dense baked chocolate item like a cake or cookie. As with the topping for the recipe, the word ganache is used to signify a rich and decadent icing made of semisweet or bittersweet chocolate with hot whipping (heavy) cream.

See page 17 for yummy recipe details

14

FEATURES

FEATURES

FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 2007

The past comes alive

Interactivity in the classroom Christina Ironstone STAFF REPORTER

The picture on the left is of the modern languages laboratory in 1977. In October 1961, the university planned to build the Arts I building — later renamed Modern Languages — and it was built a year later. The lab used cassette players to help the students to practise their language skills. The lab continued to use cassette tapes — although there were equipment updates throughout the passing years the labs had not yet undergone serious renovations until the fall of 2001. This was when the university decided that the cassette players were becoming outdated and that maybe it was time for a major systems upgrade.

When this decision was made a very important scal question came about, who sells the best for less? After much intensive research the university decided to go with a company that was originally based in Quebec. Robotel Electronic was full of highly motivated and dynamic staff. The company was also offering something the others did not

— they offered computers at a third of the price. Now the labs have computers for the students to use. They contain software programs for the students to do online quizzes and activities as well as auditory exercises — that reminds me of my term in Spanish 101. We would do some silent online activities then came the ones where we had to pronounce things like me llamo tina como estas usted? (my name is Tina, how are you?)

Or practising names like Miguel y Juan or saying items impia la cocina (clean the kitchen) or lava platos (dishwaher) which was kind of scary because who wants to have the whole class hear them pronounce stuff wrong. My class for the rst two classes didn’t really speak out loud.

The learning facilities are more hands-on and offer a more multimedia approach that benets more students than the original cassette tapes.

It is clear from the 1977 photo of the language lab that renovations were a brilliant idea! cironstone@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

UW GRAPHICS, MAURICE GREEN, 19770323

NEW YORK PIZZA

PHOTOS BY BRENDAN PINTO

Blasts from the past Modern Languages was originally called Arts I Some of the cassette players that were used in the lab were 15 years old and breaking down, which led to the idea of computers.

The idea of renovation was to get a more modern style for the outdated space.

A UW graduate of ne arts helped with the interior design of it.

15

On page 14 of the February 9, issue of Imprint, Neal MoogkSoulis provided a historical description of the tunnel between Arts Lecture and South Campus Hall. He wrote, “The origins of the spiral [in the tunnel] are unknown ...”

Thanks to Gord Dunbar, the mystery is claried. He writes: “As someone whose rst year at UW was in 1972, as someone who prowled the tunnels as an UW GRAPHICS, MAURICE GREEN, 19700407 awe-struck high school student in the late sixties, and as someone who spoke to the person who painted the tunnel with that mystical spiral, I may be able to help. The painter said the spiral was two things: First, it represented the psychedelic nature of the ‘60s and came to him in a “really cool LSD trip;” second, the painter felt that the spiral was a cool tribute to the Science Fiction TV series “Time Tunnel.”

Now the history comes alive!”

12

FEATURES

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2007

A cultural experience through food During a heated argument over the quality of a specic “Chinese” restaurant, my roommate made the claim that deep fried chicken balls are not a staple of any authentic Chinese cuisine — that they were invented by Chinese takeout restaurants in North America. I grudgingly admitted my ignorance and offered my whitewashed, cultureless heritage as a defence.

For many, the term “Chinese-Canadian buffet” conjures images of unauthentic, greasy and heat lamped food. If you offer the explanation that “you can’t expect to combine such different forms and get away with it!” I ask you to dene “Canadian food” as a distinct form, and refer to any encyclopedia for “fusion cuisine.” It can and has been done.

Using the analogy that you cannot compare a McFlurry to crème brûlée, my lack of skills at separating authentic Chinese food and CanadianChinese food make me a fairly good judge. The experience will not be rated on its authenticity but rather on its own merits.

Fascinated by the idea of a Chinese-Canadian buffet — it was my rst time — I searched through the phone book for one that looked appetizing. I picked up my friend from work and we were off for a late evening dinner. I had done no prior research and had chosen a friend who shares my belief that a terrible experience is still worth having. Located at 1382 Weber Street East, Yeun Woo was a great experience

and I give it 3.5 out of 5 beers due to its stellar service and unique atmosphere.

As it was fairly late at night, we were the only ones in the restaurant. On a regular night the décor would have been different but on that particular evening, the dining room had been decorated for a wedding. The East Asian-inspired décor was tackily emphasized by white sheer ribbons, pink ornaments and table centre pieces directly from a bridal magazine. Keeping in mind that I should not be evaluating authenticity, the décor provided interesting conversation and the same pseudointellectual questions about “Canadian culture” that we are all guilty of from time to time.

The regular décor was overdone. Statues, pictures and fabric wall treatments looked strange interlaced between liquor bottles and did not belong when you are not even offered chopsticks.

The dining room seats a large amount of people with lots of room but, in this case, I think more tables would make the room less vast and a better layout might make the experience more homey.

There was music playing through the entire meal but I don’t think it matched anything about the evening. My untrained ear distinguished Bach and Beethoven. The music didn’t relax me or make me feel sophisticated. Above any other effect that it had, the music made the restaurant look as if it was trying (and failing) to be something that it wasn’t.

The service was exquisite. Our waitress was fast, fun, friendly and informative. The menu looked decent but as I had heard so much about the buffet phenomenon, I chose to take a gander.

The food was delicious but unfortunately the ad in the yellow pages made it seem to have more variety than it did. The ad stated that there were hundreds of dishes to choose from, but unless that included all of the dishes on the menu, I don’t know that they even made 100.

A selection of 100 is overdoing it. When I see such an ad I assume it’s a lie, there’s a lot of waste or food is getting reused.

Fortunately for this restaurant, I didn’t get the impression that I was being fed last night’s entrées, but they should really change their ad as it only makes their decent selection seem miniscule.

The dishes I recommend are the little spring rolls, the sweet and sour pork, the fried rice and, most importantly, the wonton soup. The soup was my favourite course because I was able to take as many wontons as I wanted and went back for seconds (and thirds).

In this case, the “Canadian” portion of the buffet was limited and less developed.

The stale and soggy French fries were the beginning and end of my sampling of food on that end of the buffet. I will chalk that up to our being the last ones served.

One word of warning for those of you deep in student debt: the meal (depending on drinks and what you order) will be more than $10 and

when you order a root beer, it is a non-rellable can. Fortune cookies are free, however. It might be fun to grab a whole bunch and nd some that contradict each other!

I see this venue as a fun place for big groups (sports teams and pre-parties) and the evenings when you and your closest friend want to pig out and watch movies. Do not use it for a rst date, however. If it got crowded, you wouldn’t be able to hear yourself speak and might get embarrassed when making your third trip up to the buffet. It is also one of the least romantic places I have ever been. That may be why they played the classical music.

I will denitely go back (if only for the wonton soup). I recommend that you all make the journey.

This restaurant has opened my eyes to the hidden gem that is Chinese-Canadian buffets. They are not ashy, they are not trashy. They are an experience all on their own that only a true Canadian could understand. msokolyk@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Word up: the great power of writing Ins Inspired by a variety of particular human rights causes, JHR’s Waterloo chapter has launched a new ship of y. activism into the waters of the UW community.

Continued from page 10

Interested writers are encouraged to e-mail the group for more information or submissions at jhr.waterloo@gmail.com.

Although there were hardships in getting articles done and having writers meet their deadlines, the work was eventually completed.

Some members were worried about their writing ability but still found the condence to put out the publication they had worked so hard on. All had found their own leads and covered what they could on international and local levels.

In this rst issue they were even given a submission from another campus group, the University of Waterloo International Health Development Association (UWIHDA), who wrote about their work with a Native Canadian

community. Future ambitions include coverage of this year’s Human Rights Conference.

With a very loosely dened “management team” and a variety of students inspired by a variety of particular human rights causes, JHR’s Waterloo chapter has launched a new ship of activism into the waters of the UW community.

In the tradition of what is essentially the denition of “grass roots,” this new publication strives to be a voice for the voiceless, to spark awareness and concern for the issues that can go overlooked.

The tone of Write the Wrong is very personal and sometimes quite funny. More important than anything else, it’s a new voice in the chorus of campus publications, and will speak to UW students in a style all its own. bpinto@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

F EATURES u IMPRINT

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2006

features@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Features Editor: Kinga Jakab Features Assistant: Ellen Ewart

11

S

rviving everything December

Surviving home time

Surviving nal exams

Surviving penniless

Surviving in style

Meghan Withers

Neal Moogk-Soulis

Paul Bryant

Kristina Baxter

REPORTER

STAFF REPORTER

REPORTER

REPORTER

The term is nally coming to an end. Exams are upon us and the holiday season is quickly approaching. For some, the winter break means quality home time full of rest and relaxation, or a vacation to some tropical paradise.

But for the rest of us with high-stress holiday get-togethers and dysfunctional families here is a holiday survival guide for getting through the never-ending series of family parties, dinners and events.

Accept the inevitable: no matter what you do, or how you do it, the days will go on and your exams will need to be written. You cannot avoid them, though you can try to delay them with a doctor’s note. Accept your fate and bravely march on.

Find out when and where your exams are and make a schedule. There is nothing more embarrassing than either a) showing up for the wrong exam or b) thinking that your exam was tomorrow.

Profs are rarely sympathetic to such mistakes. A schedule can also help you anticipate how much time you have between exams.

Make sure you have all your notes. If you missed a class, or fell asleep during class, make sure that you have a complete set of notes. When you have all your notes, note the key concepts that you’ll need to know. Is there something that Prof. mentioned repeatedly? Did they drop any hints like, “That would make a good exam question.”

Review any midterms or assignments. The easy cliché is that you learn best from your mistakes.

Where did you lose marks before? Did you explain your answers well enough? Can you nd the correct answers in your notes? Was there something that the Prof. noted repeatedly? Was there a question on the exam that nobody got, but that the Prof. considers central to understanding the material?

Be prepared to see that question again.

Find a study buddy or group. There are two benets here. First, when you teach someone else a concept, you learn more. Second, discussions about concepts give you a better chance of understanding than when you’re studying on your own. When someone asks you a question, you have to pay attention. If you’re just re-reading your notes, there is a tendency to shift to auto-pilot and ignore everything.

Know when to take a break. Studying for six hours straight is no good. Take short breaks, even if they’re just to go the bathroom, do some laundry or shoot a few hoops outside.

Try to spread out your studying. If you have multiple exams in quick succession, alternate between topics to keep your mind fresh.

Make a study sheet. Even if it’s a recycled sheet of paper, a study sheet will help you keep track of what you’ve studied. You’ll also retain more if you write it down.

Don’t pull an all-nighter right before the exam.

The night is for sleeping, the day is for writing.

Sleeping during the exam is not recommended.

If you have unnished homework, lab activities or readings that aren’t worth marks, don’t try to do them all the night before the exam. Find the key theories and make sure you know how to apply them. If you can’t, nd a friend who can help you out.

Know when to party. Just because you’re studying doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have a life. Try to nd a balance between your studying and your recreation. If a friend is heading home before you (lucky bastard) and invites you for a drink, accept it. Just don’t turn one drink into a six-pub, ve hour marathon.

Create a mock exam for yourself. If you were the prof, what would you do? Some student societies also have exam banks. You shouldn’t be surprised by what appears on the exam.

Reward yourself between exams. Unless you have exams back-to-back, take a break between exams. Do something you love, get some exercise and — above all — relax. This will put you in a better mood for the next exam.

So, you wanna have some fun this holiday season but you’re an impoverished bookworm, just like me. Fret not, my impressionable scholars. I’ve come up with a plethora of cost-effective ways to keep your head screwed on during this time of snow, candy canes and a certain elderly gentleman who thinks he can get away with running an elf slave labour syndicate in the Arctic.

First of all, before you can hop onto your toboggan and go smashing headlong into an ornery pine tree with sugarplum delight, you’ll have to buy Christmas presents for your miserable family and friends. Unfortunately, the average person has only selectively internalized the fundamental message behind How the Grinch Stole Christmas and will not sing “Fah who for-aze, dah who dor-aze” if you fail to buy them something. They’re more likely to give you a swift kick in the teeth (which is known colloquially as the “Scrooge” response).

Anyway, I’ve come up with a solution that is street legal yet completely deranged: raid the refreshment table at a moderately-sized Christmas party! You’ll have to get there early, of course, or attend several parties, depending on the size of your family and friend-base. I would recommend only taking a few pastries from each party, as a courtesy; if you’d prefer to haul the whole shebang away, make sure the keys are in the ignition rst and, uh, don’t expect to be invited next year.

With presents out of your hair, it’s time to enjoy the holidays! Without hyperbole, the best way to garner entertainment without nances is to glue yourself to Richie Rich. This is notably tricky, though; your gold digging plans will go sour if the sugar momma/daddy decides to sit around and sulk on account of having someone stuck to them with sticky goo. Yeah, you thought the glue thing was a joke, didn’t you? You thought wrong.

If these hyper-effective strategies have you reaching for the scissors (to chop this article from your memories forever), I have a few conservative, turkey-and-eggnog suggestions as well. You could go carolling and “hark” your herald angelic voice around town with a few musically-disinclined friends (in a manner consistent with our bald-headed friend, Charlie Brown, and his mirror-cracking posse) or build snowmen in your neighbour’s driveway.

Or perhaps attach bells to the collars of your pets, and let them jingle your relatives all the way to the therapist’s couch! How about snowblowers? I’ll leave that one to your imagination. The possibilities are endless, really!

As you can gather from this enlightening bit of tripe, even us deprived book-huggers can enjoy the holiday season in absence of funds. So never mind the commercialism! Turn your nose up at the grinches of the world! This is your time to enjoy, and enjoy you will.

Oh, and be sure to dissuade your friends from reading this —you might just get stale cookies for Christmas! Happy holidays, everyone.

It happened again. I found myself tearing through my closet and emptying my dresser, saying the words “I have nothing to wear!”

These words are especially frustrating at the end of the term when most meagre student budgets are getting even smaller. But it is important to view this situation as a challenge rather than a problem. Here are some tips to spruce up your wardrobe without emptying your pockets.

Before you head out in search of new clothes, it is important to think about the items that are in your own room. Empty your drawers and dig to the back of your closet. Often I nd something that I may have forgotten about. Try to mix up different pieces or wear items that you haven’t worn in a while. Also, by adding different accessories to an outt you usually can achieve a different look. There is always the option of making your own clothes or altering some that you already have. This way is often less expensive than buying something new and it ensures you that no one will be wearing the same thing.

Not everything you buy has to be brand new.

Second-hand stores like Value Village and 360 Degree Clothing are great places to get cool clothes and accessories. These stores offer everything from unique, vintage items to name brand jeans — all at a low price. My personal favourites include accessories like purses, jewellery and silk scarves. It is important to mention that second-hand stores do require some extra time and energy, and you should always remember to wash your purchases after buying. Twice.

Since most people can relate to feeling unsatised with their wardrobes, you should use this to your advantage. Clothing exchanges are a great way to add to your wardrobe at no cost and are also very easy to organize. All those invited to an exchange have to bring items from their wardrobes that they do not wear anymore and are ready to part with. After laying all the items out on the oor, everyone takes their turn going through the pile and trying on items until everyone has something they like. Clothing exchanges are great because they offer an excuse to get together with friends and they are free! However, be prepared for ghts to break out and to feel some regret when you see your shirt leave on the back of someone else.

If you still feel the need to get something with tags, there are certain stores that offer trendy items for low prices. Winners is always a great place to shop because it offers those name brands we crave at reduced prices. The only drawback is that Winners is often hit-or-miss. If you happen to be there when a new shipment has arrived, don’t just stop at that location. Hit up all the other stores because they often get shipments on the same day. Don’t forget to drop into stores like Urban Planet, Stitches and Ardene’s because they offer great jeans, trendy shirts and cool accessories for very low costs. If you ever happen to get to Toronto, H&M is a hot spot to nd trendy, inexpensive clothes.

Remember, you don’t need to spend a lot of money to look good. With a little time and creativity, you can look great and still have enough money to pay your rent.

Master the “grin-and-bear-it” technique.

You’ll be needing this one — a lot. Situations can range from awkward statements made by eccentric relatives and nasty remarks made by siblings, to the vile-tasting casserole that your Aunt Mildred concocted “especially for you, dear.” Start practising in the mirror now.

Compose a list of conversational segues.

This is particularly useful in situations with lots of family members and may prevent fullout dining room table brawls and subsequent trips to the emergency room.

Be prepared with a list of potential conversation topics to avoid awkward and heated discussions on politics, religion, race, physical appearance and other personal attacks. For example, if Grandma really loves knitting, get her talking about that instead of the war on terrorism. Be careful; if you ask too much, she may attempt to teach you. So have a supply of other topics to keep her occupied with.

Create your own love-life.

One thing your family is sure to ask you about while you’re home is your love life. When this happens, you have to be prepared — especially if you’re single. So create your own boyfriend/girlfriend.

Not only will this keep your family from pitying your non-existent and sad love life, but it will also stop them from attempting to hook you up with so-and-so’s daughter who’s “a tad younger than you — but age is just a number.” If anyone asks where your partner is for the holidays, claiming he/she wants to meet him/her, simply explain that he/she is away on vacation with the family.

Plan escape routes.

Escape routes are key. In any environment you must know the location of: all available exits — door and window; the nearest washroom and; the food and drinks. Washroom breaks and drink rells are excellent excuses to break away from a conversation.

It is also wise to have a cell phone on you. You can either stage phone calls or arrange for friends to call. An urgent phone call can save you from any situation.

Keep busy.

Your family can’t expect you to attend all of their events if you have somewhere else to be. So make lots of plans with your friends, create some extensive school assignments that you really need to get a head start on before term starts or get a part-time job. Retail is always looking for seasonal staff this time of year, and a little extra cash can’t hurt.

Good luck and remember: If all else fails, you can always spike the egg nog.

nmoogksoulis@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

See SURVIVING, page 12

FEATURES

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2007

11

Alternatives to your typical Friday night Julie Vieth REPORTER

Need a change from the Waterloo bar scene? I do, so I’ve decided to explore some alternatives.

TGIF at the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery (KW|AG) is a fun and affordable Friday night experience for a date or a night out with a couple of close friends. You may be thinking, “Why would I want to spend my Friday night at an art gallery?”

Aside from the fact that you get a free beverage of your choice (included in your admission) there are many more reasons to spend your Friday night (or at least part of it) at the KW|AG. I found out about TGIF a couple weeks ago. It was Friday afternoon and I was procrastinating by spending time thinking about what to do that night. I had a few options but they all involved the same old Friday night plans: going to someone’s house to drink then heading to a bar that I’ve been to a million times, blowing my budget on drinks, inhaling an unnecessary (but so delicious) oversized piece of Campus Pizza and waking up to a killer hangover the next morning. Been there. Done that. On this particular Friday, I wanted to do something different.

Earlier that day I noticed an ad for TGIF @ KW|AG in Imprint. So I called up a friend and we decided to check it out that night.

... if you’re too drained for a bar crawl, want to round out your cultural experiences in the city before graduation or just need to impress a hot date.

Dressed classy and feeling pretty mature, we arrived at the KW|AG (in the Centre In The Square building on Queen Street in Kitchener) around 9:30 p.m. After being greeted, getting our tickets and hanging up our coats we didn’t know where to begin our evening — there was so much going on: gallery tours, psychic and palm readings, interactive art activities, live music and gourmet appetizers in the Art Bar. We chose to browse the gallery on our own. The current exhibit, on until March 25, is the River Grand Chronicles series. Their website says “[it] presents projects with a strong connection to the Grand River and the regions it winds through.”

TASHA ETHELSTON, KW|AG

During our gallery browsing, we stopped to make our own artistic masterpieces. I never thought I would spend any part of a Friday night building structures out of Styrofoam, toothpicks and Plasticine, but it was surprisingly fun to sit around a table with a group of adults and play like we were in second grade.

After experiencing the artwork we followed the sound of jazz music to the Art Bar. It’s small, cozy, romantically lit and very popular on a Friday night.

The demographic ranged from early twenties to late thirties — being

in our early twenties we felt pretty mature being surrounded by a number of ‘older’ people.

We got our complimentary drinks and sat and enjoyed the music. It wasn’t the kind of bar where we had to yell to hear each other over bumping bass — we had a whole conversation without yelling — and it was a surprisingly nice not to shout ourselves hoarse.

The band was amazing; they played for half an hour non-stop and didn’t even use sheet music. Though I am not a very musically-inclined person, I was nonetheless impressed by their performance.

To make the evening complete, we helped ourselves to the complimentary appetizers the chef was preparing in the bar. I can’t tell you what the appetizers were but they were delicious — compliments to the chef.

Art, a candlelit bar, a glass of red wine, a great jazz band and gourmet appetizers — I had a great time and still only spent $15 the whole night.

All in all, Thank Goodness It’s Friday at the K-W art gallery is denitely a good alternative to hitting the regular bar scene on a Friday night.

FEATURES

16

FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 2007

People of the world, spice up your life Spicy buffalo wings hold a beloved spot in many pub-dwellers’ stomachs. For greasy spoons, casual eateries and pubs, it is considered blasphemous to neglect the inclusion of buffalo wings on the menu. Then again, why would restauranteurs hesitate to do so? Legions of devoted fans make treks religiously to their favourite digs to indulge in such addictive pieces of meat. Arriving by

the pound(s), these divine, plump morsels are steaming, tender, juicy esh. Buffalo wings have become synonymous with good times because they have become host to many happy gatherings. From watching a sports game in front of the television to having a large celebratory bash, you will usually nd buffalo wings on a bed of lettuce alongside fresh, crunchy carrots, celery and dipping sauce on many food spreads.

My love for this simple food was rekindled when a friend told me about Morty’s and their Monday and Thursday ‘cheap wing’ nights. He wasn’t kidding about how delicious or popular they were. The restaurant was crowded with bodies and the wait for an available table was an arduous measure of patience. However we were soon rewarded for our vigilance: a bounty

of wings quickly arrived on checkered paper sheets in coloured weave baskets. Inhaling the heavy aroma of spices heightened our anticipation to sink our teeth into the meat. Fresh and avourful, the crisp exterior gave way to the juiciness locked within. As if in a trance, the wings had us in a euphoric state and soon the sight of bare chicken bones quickly replaced the once meat-laden basket.

As beloved as these wings have become, their history is quite recent. Buffalo wings and its name came from Buffalo, New York. A local restaurant called the Anchor Bar takes credit for the creation of this food. In 1964, the owners had an idea of deep frying the wings and coating them with Frank’s Red Hot Sauce. The wings sprouted a goldmine of avour and a large,

loyal audience. As an instant hit, buffalo wings and variations of the original recipe have been adopted into many restaurant families across nations and borders. Imagine the waste prior to this food saving idea; before these pieces used to be discarded or used for stocks in soups.

While the original wings did not include breading, this recipe does. Breading disperses the avours more evenly and makes them less messy to eat.

I realize that deep frying anything has become infamous but before we point ngers, in actuality, very little oil is absorbed by the chicken. Ensuring that the oil is hot will sear the exterior and seal in juices, keeping out most of the fat. tli@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Spicy Buffalo Wings

Spicy Buffalo wings

1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup hot sauce (i.e. Frank’s Red Hot Sauce) 1/4 tsp ground black pepper 1/4 tsp garlic powder 1 cup all-purpose our 1/2 tsp paprika 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 1/2 tsp salt 20 chicken wings Blue cheese dip (recipe follows) Celery and carrot sticks Vegetable oil, for frying

1. Heat oil, about one inch of a deep fryer, to 375 degrees, or heat a sauté pan on medium high heat. (the oil is hot enough when the sides just start to bubble).

2. Combine the butter, hot sauce, ground pepper and garlic powder in a small saucepan over low heat.

Heat until the butter is melted and the ingredients are well blended.

3. Combine the our, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt in a small bowl.

4. If the wings are frozen, defrost and dry.

5. Put the wings into a large bowl and sprinkle the our mixture over them, coating each wing evenly.

6. The secret to perfectly crispy wings: Put the wings in the refrigerator for 60 to 90 minutes. (this will also help the breading stick to the wings when they are being fried) 7. Put all the wings into the hot oil and fry them for 10 to 15 minutes or until some parts begin to turn dark brown. If using a sauté pan, put a few pieces in at a time.

8. Remove the wings from the oil to a paper towel to drain — don’t let them sit too long, because you want to serve the wings hot.

9. Quickly put the wings into a large bowl and add the hot sauce and stir, coating all the wings evenly.

Use a large plastic container with a lid for this part, then shake to evenly coat.

10. Serve with blue cheese dip and celery sticks on the side.

Blue Cheese dip 1/3 cup blue cheese, crumbled 1/3 cup sour cream 1 tbsp mayonnaise 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp hot sauce 1/4 tsp lemon juice (optional) 1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.

2. Chill, covered, until ready to serve.

TIFFANY LI

You don’t need a deep fryer for this recipe. use a sauté pan with sides deep enough to hold about an inch of oil.

FEATURES IMPRINT

10

Bright eyes for a sleepy head

Tina Ironstone STAFF REPORTER

“Get to bed, you need your sleep!” Your mom would tell you when you were in grade school, and you would because she told you to do it.

You would get eight hours or more a night and feel well rested. But now, university students are lucky if they can get seven hours of sleep a night. For some students 6 a.m. is a common wake up time but for others it is a common bedtime, students have varied sleep patterns and many students are up long past 2 a.m.

Due to late hours, students sometimes have difculty falling asleep and receive little to no sleep; fortunately, health hervices offers tons of information to help the sleepless student.

FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 2007

features@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Features Editor: Ellen Ewart Features Assistant: Christina Ironstone

They provide 10 helpful tips for becoming well rested and ready to face the day. It is important that students receive adequate sleep to function at full potential, and by following the suggested points, you are more likely to benet than someone who sleeps little or scattered throughout the day.

There are 10 things to do before bed to help you get a good night sleep (Also known as good sleep hygiene). Listening to soft music before or while you doze off will ease you into sleep. By setting up a routine you can get your body to adjust to a regular bedtime and wake up time. For something more casual, reading a novel or magazine or doing some light yoga helps. Aromatherapy oils like chamomile or lavender are also effective because they promote a relaxed state. Some things that do not promote a relaxed state are drinking caffeine, eating sugary foods or having a large meal.

As well, if you are facing your clock, you are more likely to be distracted and if a great deal of time passes you may become frustrated.

Try using breathing exercises inhale for four counts and exhale for four counts. By following a more regimented routine you are more likely to not only receive enough sleep but you also will have better clarity, a sharper attention span and feel more refreshed. Sounds wonderful, no? The problem with this is that students typically have a more varied routine and it is harder to schedule sleep consistency, let alone any consistency.

Consistency in university is more of a suggestion, seeing as certain things can determine how much sleep one actually gets a night. One of those things is your social life.

Part of the university experience is interacting with your peers and having some fun but that doesn’t mean this is the only thing that alters sleeping patterns. A big contributor is schoolwork, such as an assignment due the next day, an exam or midterm.

I asked one of my friends about consistency in her sleep patterns and she answered accordingly, “Being a student it’s hard to have a consistent sleeping time. I’m usually in bed around 1:30 a.m. and I usually fall asleep by 2:00 a.m. But if I have a test or assignment due… sleeping takes a back seat.” The pressure to do well in school can lead to stress, which can prevent you from relaxing and falling asleep easily. School is a high priority for students and takes up a great deal of time, but it has been proven that those who sleep seven to nine hours a night perform better on tests and have a better retention of information over those who fall below the recommended hours.

See SLEEP, page 13

GRAPHIC BY CHRISTINE OGLEY, PHOTO BY MICHAEL L. DAVENPORT

Science and religion — the immortal showdown This week I set for myself the two most difcult majors I could think to compare: religious studies and chemistry. It’s not so much that these two are particularly hard to connect, but that the relationship between these two seems, on the surface, wholly oppositional.

For instance, I could easily call into play the practice of radioisotope dating, as used specically in the case of estimating the age of fossils. Seeing as some religious groups believe the universe was created a relatively

short time ago (for Young Earth creationists, the number is 6,000 to 10,000 years), understanding the ratio between Carbon-14 and Carbon-12 in plant or animal matter, and how it can be used as an indicator of decay, would be useful for scientists seeking to disprove such arguments.

Alternately, due to the very fact that such calculations only result in estimates — science is careful not to offer absolute answers — religious groups might nd Carbon-14 dating a useful illustration of the gap between reason and faith, and so use their knowledge of the process to argue all the more vehemently for their beliefs.

Other examples spring just as easily to mind. There’s the matter of non-falsiability versus the scientic method — a no-win argument if ever there was one. Then there’s the complex balance of chemical prerequisites

needed to sustain the universe (with complexity offered as an argument for intelligent design and aesthetic balance a feature in many Asian religions). And of course, there are biochemical studies pointing to the science behind religious fervour. Whatever the concrete example I touch upon, it seems the two elds can only be combined to provide further ammunition for both sides.

In fact, as terrible as it sounds, the perfect metaphor for this dilemma seems to be the Jonestown Massacre of 1978, wherein a mixture of poisoned religious beliefs and cyanide-spiked Kool-Aid resulted in the deaths of over 900 people — men, women and children alike.

But must science and religion really be such mortal enemies?

When it comes right down to it, we all believe in something — religious or otherwise.

What I nd most unfortunate about the divide

between religious studies and hard sciences like chemistry is the conict it creates. Should an understanding of theology — that constant player in contemporary discourse — be limited to those who “keep the faith”? Should chemists be confused if their personal beliefs don’t always hold up to the scientic method?

And how about religious believers — should they refuse to test their beliefs against an age saturated with scientic debate?

As with all elds, a meeting of minds is imperative. Even if we as a society are doomed to millennia of further argument between religious beliefs and the scientic method, we should at the very least be making an effort to understand both sides of the issue — and more importantly, the very real human beings who lie behind every point of view. mclark@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

10

FEATURES IMPRINT

An ama-‘zine feat

Brendan Pinto STAFF REPORTER

I walked into the kitchen of 267 Lester Street to nd a table covered in boxes from Kinkos, unfolded pages and staplers, but most notably dozens of empty bottles of Lakeport Lager. I had just entered the Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) “getting-drunk-and-stapling party” with excited curiosity to nd something I was not expecting.

I first encountered JHR on the rst of UW’s club days earlier in January. The Imprint booth was placed near theirs. Between my shameless efforts recruiting students for the publication I call home, I was compelled to strike up a dialogue with them.

A brief conversation and a few laughs into our rst meeting, they had convinced me to sign up for their mailing list. Following this, the various activities that keep students busy throughout the term unfortunately pushed the organization out of my mind, but only for a while.

President Philippa Croome started the Waterloo chapter of JHR after travelling to Toronto for the Framework Foundation art auction, the mandate of which is to engage Canadians in their 20s and 30s to pick up a cause and support community development through volunteerism.

Among the 40 different groups represented in the CBC building downtown, JHR was the organization that caught Croome’s eye.

She and her friends have always been very passionate about human rights, but like many people her age, they had difculty nding an outlet to express their concern for the state of the world.

She is certainly not alone in her desire to help those in need. At their production night, I sat down to help fold papers and staple their inaugural issue. To say it was a quiet night would be a gross mischaracterization. As soon as I had walked through the door I was handed a beer and regaled with the story of the group’s trip to Kinkos. Apparently, editor-in-chief Ryan Johnson had “sweet-talked the dragon lady into giving them a 10 per cent discount” — the dragon

DA

AD JANG

MOHAMM

None are journalists rst and foremost, but all are united in their dedication to human rights. lady named for the tales of dragon adventures she relayed to the group without prompting.

Folding and stapling proceeded at a reasonable clip, even after the megaphone made an appearance and things degraded into using the squealing feedback to wake sleeping roommates.

The megaphone-wielding Johnson, like Croome, is a political science major. Following Croome’s discovery of the organization last summer, the two of them, along with a couple other friends attended the Canadian JHR summit in Toronto. Four or ve people from each of the over 20 chapters across North America assembled to learn how to run their organizations effectively and raise funds. A manual on how to start a management team and some ideas for moving forward helped to kick-start the group.

The national organization (www.

JHR.ca) receives some federal funding for their work. Since its inception in May of 2002, JHR has run projects in 10 African countries and throughout North America. Within Africa, JHR works with local media organizations to reach 20 million people with human rights-related stories on a weekly basis.

From the summit, members received T-shirts, buttons and some other materials to start their chapter.

By the end of the summer of 2006, the inspired students were ready to begin their quest. In September they planned their first fundraiser, the “Speak Silence” campaign that ran in October. With the focus of raising AIDS awareness, they highlighted the 25 million people worldwide that have died of AIDS to date with four of the members taking a 25-hour vow of silence. The group was “amazed at the generosity the campus showed them,” raising over $800 with the campaign.

Half of this money was donated to the Steven Lewis Foundation with the remaining $400 used towards the production costs of their rst ‘zine, Write the Wrong. Copies of this rst volume can be found at the Turnkey desk, at the Orange Monkey and in Jane Bond.

Croome and her friends form the core of the group. Coming from a range of backgrounds including political science, psychology, recreation and leisure along with various other disciplines, none are journalists rst and foremost, but all are united in their dedication to human rights. Issues discussed in their articles range from Darfur to Guantanamo, both a movie and book review rounding off the ‘zine with “drunken rants from the basement.”

Standing out for me the fateful night of my rst encounter with the chapter, I remember corporate liaison and event co-ordinator Jeff Dineley donning a ‘Free Tibet’ T-shirt. The informal tone of my meeting with them was spirited.

A theme of the night was ending their sentences with “… for human rights.” My favourite of them being Dineley’s “I’d screw Neve Campbell… for human rights.”

Working through the stresses of December exams and writing throughout the month of January, JHR members laboured extensively on Write the Wrong. Initially they submitted their articles to Imprint but found this paper’s focus on local news and events kept the member’s submissions from being printed.

Undaunted, the group gave birth to their own ‘zine, which has allowed them freer reign over the content they publish.

See WORD UP, page 12

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2007

features@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Features Editor: Ellen Ewart Features Assistant: Christina Ironstone

Interdisciplinary learning’s essential A few years ago, York University launched an aggressive ad campaign in the subways of Toronto. “Question every angle” was the theme of these ads, which presented a variety of common objects — a subway token, a chicken, a bottle of pills — through the diverse perspectives different professions might bring to the table. For the bottle of pills, for instance, one ad proclaimed: “A lawyer sees patent infringement.

An economist sees a bullish market. A psychologist sees addiction.”

The campaign was promoting York’s concurrent education program as well as its general commitment to interdisciplinary studies. Concurrent education is a term thrown around by a lot of universities these days, referring to any number of program plans that may require two specializations (with both carried either to degree or diploma), integrate teaching and learning environments for education students, or encourage diverse course selection as mandatory for the completion of any one degree.

By these models the University of Waterloo might itself be seen as offering a brand of concurrent education through its co-op program, wherein students ideally apply what they’ve learned in classroom settings to real workplace environments. (In many cases, of course, co-op terms are instead spent doing menial desk jobs — a “real world” lesson unto itself.)

But the difference between co-op and concurrent education is telling, especially when student attitudes to differing campus faculties are considered.

Why does the image of a computer lab call up programmers rst and foremost — why not an artist’s workstation, an environmentalist’s megaphone or a history student’s living archive of unfolding current events? As students, we use computer technology in a variety of

ways; why then do we allow archetypes more tting for the 1970s, when computers were truly only the playgrounds of programmers and accountants, to persist in the 21st century?

Moreover, the problem with coop, as a mentality, is that it places the interdisciplinary line between work and school terms, instead of within either.

Engineering and computer science students are frequently so focused on gaining the skills that will allow them to answer technical questions in coop interviews, they don’t have time to explore different perspectives for their elds.

And the real-world ramications are often startling: engineering students often graduate with technological solutions for a world more and more desperate for socio-technological answers. The ethics of introducing machines to maximize production efciency or to improve local access to basic resources, like clean water, must always consider the potential cost to community life.

Meanwhile, the technological community as a whole recognizes new questions for scientic development. A 1998 article entitled “Engineering and the Crossroads of our Species,” from The Bridge, a journal of engineering and research thought, lists three questions in particular for scientists to take into consideration for the application of any technological solutions: the question of (maintaining) work, the question of uniform versus diverse community growth and the question of basic human compassion.

Predicting the consequences of human advancement is never easy.

There is no one course or internship opportunity that will ensure students of all specialties come away from university with a world-view diverse enough to tackle all the changing issues of our time. What’s needed, therefore, is more a shift in mentality: the University of Waterloo doesn’t need a formal interdisciplinary mandate in order to “question every angle” — our best and brightest should be doing that anyway. mclark@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

When in Rome, drink up Russell Cole REPORTER

What better way to relax than at home or out with friends enjoying your favourite drink? In many students’ busy lives, a relaxing experience like this could make a person’s week!

My favourite drink is a caesar. I fell in love with the celery-salted rim and the special mix of spice Creative and tang within the full body of clamato and ice. variations: Shooters Yes, it may seem extreme, but I’m sure many feel broth bouillabaisse the same way about their favourite drink. It’s a Quick (cold) shots With oysters matter between you and your taste buds.

In a mussel base Caesars come in several styles and fashions in order to best suit the connoisseur. From the classic stick of celery, lime garnish, tabasco, worcestershire and vodka to a crunchy pickled bean and potent wasabi punch — caesars were truly created to enjoy.

CHRISTINE OGLEY

For full enjoyment see CAESAR, page 13

FEATURES

FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2007

15

UW GRAPHICS, 19680927

In last week’s issue, as part of the photography retrospective of UW, we featured this picture of a burnt-down building and asked you, readers, to provide the historical background.

UW GRAPHICS, MAURICE GREEN, 19790619

The building that is depicted in the January 19 issue of Imprint is the Brubacher House. It burnt down in 1968, but was refurbished by Conrad Grebel University College.

My favourite (and only) memory of the Brubacher house was attending a prayer service in its basement. It was a cold winter’s night and we lit a re in the replace.

We prayed and sang songs to the glow of the re — it was really nice.

— David Schulz

Meghan Withers STAFF REPORTER

Located on the University of Waterloo’s North Campus, next door to the Columbia Ice Fields, the Brubacher House is often an object of interest and speculation among UW students who are out on CIF “nature walks.” But how many people on campus know the story behind this beautifully preserved landmark that overlooks the Columbia playing elds?

The Brubacher House is a Mennonite farm house, built in 1850 from granite eld stone, in a style typical of Pennsylvania German architecture. The original owners, John E. Brubacher and his wife Magdalena, farmed the land surrounding the House and raised their 14 children.

Farming continued on the land until 1968, when the University of

Brubacher House Waterloo purchased the property.

UW had proposed to preserve and restore one of the original farm homes on the campus in recognition of the Pennsylvania German culture and as a reminder that the total 1,000 acres of the University campus was once owned by Mennonites and devoted to agriculture.

The house’s interior suffered serious damage in 1968 from a re sparked by a lawn mower engine in the basement; however, the home was fully restored by 1975, thanks to generous nancial support from the University of Waterloo, Conrad Grebel University College, the Ontario Heritage Foundation and the Waterloo Regional Heritage Foundation.

A designated Heritage Home, the Brubacher House now serves

as a museum for Pennsylvania German cultural heritage in Waterloo County, and offers insight into the pioneer life of Upper Canada and the simple, yet creative, Mennonite lifestyle.

Tours of the Brubacher House are available predominately from May 1 to October 31, but also by appointment throughout the rest of the year.

The next time you’re out enjoying the wonderfully refreshing outdoors near CIF, you can impress your friends with some knowledge about one of UW’s four museums.

Or at least stop speculating as to why there is an old house in the middle of nowhere. mwithers@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

UW GRAPHICS, MAURICE GREEN, 19700601

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2007

FEATURES

25

Thumbs up to ngers in the bum A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from a reader saying, “Love to see an article on the prostate gland. I taught my girlfriend how to milk my gland and she does it regularly for me. I think men have an aversion to this because she has to go through my asshole to get there, and some guys might think that is gay or something.... boy are they missing out!”

I covered the female “G-spot” last week, so it’s only fair that this week we spend some time on the male “P-spot.” As you might have guessed, “P-spot” is another pop culture term, but since we’re all too cool for that, let’s use its real name: the prostate gland.

The prostate gland is a pretty important gland for the fellas; it’s about the size of a golf ball and contributes 30 per cent of the uid in semen. It also has smooth muscles that propel the little guys into the urethra to prepare for ejaculation.

If you’re doing a dissection, you’ll nd it wrapped around the urethra somewhere between the bottom of the bladder and the start of the penis. If you’re looking to play, you’ll nd it about two inches up inside the male rectum.

This is also where your doctor will nd it, when he’s checking to make sure that you don’t have something icky like cancer, prostatitis or BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia).

A man’s prostate is full of nerves. Nerves are good because when your partner is able to stimulate them properly they can make you feel very very good. Many men, yes straight guys too, really enjoy having their prostate massaged. They claim to experience all kinds of nice things like super intense orgasms and orgasms that last a really long time. Enjoying having your ass/prostate stimulated doesn’t make you gay; enjoying sex with men does (and even this is a bit of a grey area).

Whether you’re a gay or a straight man, the physiology of your bum is going to be pretty much the same — unlike the equivalent Skene’s glands in women. All men have a prostate that could be full of un-tapped pleasure potential.

Now I know what your next big question is: how are you supposed to stimulate your prostate?

First of all, trim and le your nails and then wash your hands — if you don’t think you can or want to massage your prostate yourself, have your partner trim and le their nails and wash their hands. Some men feel more comfortable if they go to bathroom and take a shower/bath before play time. You’ll also want the room you’re in to be warm and cozy, maybe dim the lights a little.

Get yourself horny, in case you weren’t already! Going along with making the room warm and cozy, this experience is supposed to feel sexy — not like it’s a visit to the doctor’s ofce (unless the doctor’s ofce get you off).

So watch your favourite porn and masturbate a little, or play with your partner: make out, have them stroke you, etc.

Next, grab the latex gloves that you swiped from the lab (or bought at the pharmacy) and put them on, or have your partner put them on.

If you’ve decided to use a pliable G-spot/P-spot dildo or a butt-plug instead, wash it too and slip it into a condom. Then lube everything up using a silicone or water-based lube like liquid silk or K-Y jelly, and keep it handy.

Get comfortable. If you’re alone you might have to wiggle around a little to get yourself into a position where you can get easy access to your anus; try squatting, laying on your side, or on your back. If you’re with a partner,

you should get into a position where you are standing or kneeling with your hips squared and your butt pushed out and up; this will give them easier and you more comfortable access to your prostate.

Your partner is going to want to ease into this — no stabbing his or her nger right in there — it’s a good idea to start with a little massage. Your perineum is located between your balls and your anus, and is a great place to start the massage, slowly work into the anus using a rhythmic, circular motion.

When you feel ready, add more lube and have your partner rest the pad of their nger against the pucker of your bum. Relax and have them ease their nger inside, sometimes it helps to time it with your breath — remember to breathe deeply.

Once inside, you might want to rest for a moment to get used to the sensation before you continue. Once you give the okay, your partner’s nger can start to explore, pulling out to re-lube as necessary.

You should be in constant communication with your partner, telling them what feels good, when you need them to slow down, if you want them to apply more pressure, when they need to re-lube, if you’ve had enough or when you’re going to explode.

About two inches in, they should be able to nd your prostate, it will feel rm and the surface will feel like it’s around the size of the tip of your nose. Have your partner explore the surface of your prostate and experiment with different amounts of pressure. Some men like constant pressure, some like more of a massage and some like vibrations; experiment to nd out which you prefer.

But don’t forget about the guy in front! While prostate massage can feel really great, most men prefer to pair it with having their penis played with as well. This could mean jerking yourself off while you or your partner massages your

prostate, or your partner could use their other hand to stroke you. Alternatively, you could get a comfortable butt-plug or at-based toy that you can leave in while you masturbate or have sex as usual.

Prostate massage can be a great way to get to know your body better and experience something new — not to mention the reported mind blowing orgasms. Whether you are straight or gay, can you honestly tell me that you wouldn’t want to know what it’s like to cum harder, better or differently? ssparling@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

The diagram of the male reproductive tract shows where the anus and the prostate gland are located.

PETER TRINH

Tips: If you don’t have gloves but want a nger prostate massage, don’t use plastic wrap, which can easily rip. Slip your nger inside a condom instead. You can get them free from Health Services and Feds.

Take it slow, there’s no rule saying that you have to make it into your bum the rst time you start experimenting. If a perineum and anus massage is the furthest you get the rst couple of times, that’s ne. Only go as far as you are comfortable with.

FEATURES

14

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2007

What philosophy can’t answer, biology might Shawn Bell STAFF REPORTER

When you’re young and you want to work with your hands despite having a university degree, what do you do?

For Cameron Dunn, the answer came in construction.

“I decided the ofce thing wasn’t for me,” Dunn said. “I’ve always done construction, I’ve always liked construction, so I got into construction.”

The 25-year-old graduated from UW two years ago with a degree in urban planning. “I think [the education] was a benet,” Dunn said, “because what else was I going to do? I had a lot of fun and I learned a lot. At the end I decided that working in an ofce wasn’t for me. So I went for what makes me happy, and that’s doing construction.”

He spent two years as a ski-bum in Ferney and Nelson, BC. He has since moved to Victoria and the man has a plan — a ten-year plan, to be exact. “Hopefully I’ll become a building inspector by the time I’m 35,” he said. “To prepare myself, I think I have to start at the bottom and put in my time on site, which I really enjoy, because I’m young and I want to work with my hands and I like construction.”

He has begun this phase of his education in drywall. “The way I got my job,” Dunn said, “is I ipped through the yellow pages, and the rst construction phone number I saw I called. It was a drywall job and I took it. I started at an hourly rate and within six months I became my own sub-contractor.”

As a sub-contractor he bids on jobs and gets paid “piece work” or per square meter. The job itself is the nishing of drywall — making the drywall look awless before the painters take over.

“My most recent job is a commercial site,” Dunn said. “It’s a four-storey condo building, and we work from the top oor down. The most efcient way is to do one step of the process at a time, completely, and then you move to the next step.”

His two-man team, consisting of Dunn and his brother, tapes the entire oor, plasters mud over all the walls, skims the mud and sands it. The condo has four units on top, and it took them six weeks to make it perfect and sign off on the project.

Then they got paid. “On this job in particular,” Dunn said, “it was $.40 per square foot, times twenty-two thousand square feet.”

“To prepare myself, I think I have to start at the bottom and put in my time on site, which I really enjoy.”

— Cameron Dunn If you’re a sub-contractor you’re expected to have all your own equipment. For dry-walling, the startup cost exceeds $5,000 — not including your own vehicle. But you do get a GST number from the government, that says if you make more than $30, 000 a year, you can write off all business expenses.

“What I’m going to do,” Dunn said, “is become a professional in the major sectors inside the construction industry. I started with drywall because I already had a lot of tools and I knew a lot about it. I’m going to get an electrical ticket. That takes

about four years, but if you go to school for four months it knocks a year off of it. I’m not going to get my plumbing, because plumbing also takes three to four years, but it’s really simple, and I’ll do a lot of plumbing on-site.”

“You don’t need all that to be a building inspector,” he continued, “but in order to be a good building inspector, you have to have an actual knowledge of how things work on site. To have that knowledge, I think you have to spend a little bit of time, on-site, doing that rst-hand.”

There are private and public building inspectors. “I want to work for a city, a municipality,” Dunn said. “That’s an ofce job with eld work. I think it’s about 60 per cent ofce, 40 per cent eld. You get paid nicely, and it’s plum.

You’re not working hard, you get to leave the ofce a couple days out of the week and go around to talk to builders.

That to me, it’s pretty ideal.”

Urban planning is part of the faculty of environmental studies.

Dunn said his degree is a benet no matter where he uses it. “To give you an example,” he said, “I think there are probably 50 people working on the condo right now. Maybe two or three went to university. So, having a university degree and going into construction is not particularily common. However, it allows me to move much faster than everyone else, because I know you can either do one job and stay idle in that, or you can do a bunch of things really fast and make headway a lot quicker. Also, things seem to come easier to me, because I’ve learned how to learn, and I learned how to listen. Having gone to university, although it’s not in my profession, gives me a huge advantage over everyone else.” sbell@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Once upon a time, biology and philosophy were kith and kin in the eyes of the world’s great thinkers. Aristotle treated both the study of aesthetics and of the animal kingdom with the same self-assurance; early doctors once attributed illnesses of the body to decits of the spirit; the social inferiority of women was deemed a biological truth.

But over the centuries, biology and philosophy took different paths. Sir Francis Bacon introduced a concrete, observational approach to scientic analysis and René Descartes followed with his Discourse on Method, a treatise on the scientic method. In 1878 Charles Pierce developed the objective hypothesis model that is still used in science today, and like twins separated at birth, biology and philosophy went their separate ways.

Well, almost. The problem is that when we look back at the way science and philosophy used to commingle, we cannot help but view the meeting of their two worlds as primitive and unscientic — in a word: medieval.

Their eventual divergence was absolutely integral to the pursuit of new knowledge, with its benets amply demonstrated in the advent of new and better medicines, the success of the human genome project, and the real world application of philosophy through rened discourses on political theory, psychology and sociology.

But in the contemporary world, there are times when no amount of “objectivity” will provide answers to the questions with which both philosophy and biology now grapple.

These, of course, include matters of moral imperative and “bioethics” — whether it is “right” to pursue stem cell research, for instance, or to introduce bioengineered foodstuffs into the general marketplace.

Then there’s the question of love, and with it the whole matter of human sexuality, pursuant to the longstanding feud of “nature versus nurture.”

Though no absolute answer about the “why” of sex and sexuality will ever be accepted by the species as a whole, in The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature, author Matt Ridley at the very least offers a good introductory outline to the extent of this bio-philosophical question — and so demonstrates precisely why this topic crosses into both elds of study.

Other topics for cross-subject consideration are those that question long-standing classication models — what makes a biological species, for instance, and are there other possible hierarchies for biological difference?

What about the question of “race;” to what extent is it biologically justied, especially where medical sciences are concerned? Moreover, is there a biological imperative for reason, and if not, how and why did we as a species develop the logic systems that we did?

As of yet, these and similar questions cannot comfortably be solved by either biology or philosophy, which leads me to reconsider the socially-accepted divide between the two: did they ever really go their separate ways?

Certainly, there are compelling reasons for why biology and philosophy took different paths centuries ago, as more objective approaches were needed for the advancement of both.

Yet as the questions raised by new human advancements become exceedingly complex, it seems the question of objectivity itself has changed — and with it, all old oppositions between the elds of biology and philosophy.

Businesses often call in external consultants to highlight the failings their own personnel can’t help but overlook, on account of over-familiarity with the subject matter; similarly, so long as one refuses even to consider other approaches to a eld of study as broad and socially-affective as biology, in our contemporary, ever-questioning society, how can true scientic objectivity ever really be maintained? mclark@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Did [biology and philosophy] ever D s? really go their separate ways?

FEATURES

FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 2007

Sleep: Consistency is key In Grade 12, I remember the allnighter a couple of my friends and I Sarah Burrows, a second year pulled trying to nish our assignments English major student, knows the and were we tired that next day! I importance of a good night sleep don’t think I could string together a decent line of code in my program“Seven is a pretty good number of hours [to sleep] for a university stu- ming class, and at one point I think dent and I know I need at least that I almost fell asleep on the keyboard. if I want to function properly during We were zombies — literally! This the day...” She also went on to say that is why it is important to try and get she has been able to maintain some seven hours of sleep a night and if consistency in her routine to achieve that’s not possible get as many as you can. those seven hours.

There are many symptoms that Unfortunately, for many, seven hours is not plausible if they wish come with sleep deprivation. You to have their work nished, work a are groggy, less alert, have a slower part time job and make time for their response time and weaker short-term friends. My friend Hilary mentioned memory, your immune system will how the choices she and others make weaken and simple problems become affect her sleeping schedule: “I get six more difcult to solve and you have hours of sleep because I choose to. I a shorter patience. Say you were at choose to hang out with my friends. I work and you fell asleep, you could could get more sleep but it would cut get red for sleeping on the job. into other things… such as a social Trying to sleep as many hours as you can will prevent life.” Six hours these and other seems to be the symptoms from average for most It is quite possible occurring. students I inNow, I am in no for a night owl to terviewed. The way advocating lucky few slept get more than for the early over eight hours. bird lifestyle.

Students seemed enough required It is quite posto sacrice sleep sible for a night for either school sleep. owl to get more or to spend than enough retime with their friends. When asked how they felt quired sleep. This is more about the about their sleeping patterns, most different sleeping patterns of univerof the people I interviewed, said sity students and how not receiving that their patterns were bad and that enough sleep is detrimental to you.

One important tip that was not there never seemed to be enough time in the day to do everything mentioned in the HS top 10 is that they wanted to accomplish. This your bed should be just for sleep; if is why sleep sometimes gets placed you start using it for many different on the backburner. For it is more things like watching TV or doing important to nish off an assign- your homework, when you do decide ment or celebrate a friend’s birthday to sleep you are not as likely to asat Molly’s instead. There is always sociate the bed with sleep and will something happening on campus, have more difculty falling asleep.

The bed is more comfortable than especially in residence.

During rst year, I got the shortest a desk and is a more desirable locaamount of sleep that I ever had in tion — why sit at an uncomfortable my life. I lived on the party oor in desk when your soft cushy bed is Rev, North D, and it was never quiet unoccupied and practically calling but it was also a lot of fun to have your name? By keeping the bed a friends around and awake at all hours sleep zone you are more likely to of the night. This suited me quite well fall asleep than if the bed was a seeing as I am more of a night owl makeshift desk. If you are looking than an early bird. Even as a child, for more in depth information, HS I was always up later than most kids has packages prepared for students my age, but it really started when I with helpful tips and information on reached high school. In high school I sleeping patterns, sleeping disorders, would be up until 12:30 a.m. or 1 a.m. and just about anything related to working on assignments or chatting sleep, just ask. with a friend down the hall (I went to a boarding school). tironstone@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Continued from page 10

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Pin-on support Caitlin Badger REPORTER

As a precursor to their nal exhibition, this year’s ne arts studio specialization graduates are making and selling one-inch buttons featuring samples of their artwork.

The buttons, which go on sale March 6, serve three purposes: rst, to raise money to pay for the exhibition, which will take place from March 22 to 29 at Render, the East Campus Hall art gallery on Phillip Street; second, to serve as a thank-you souvenir to everyone who donates money; and nally, to remind everyone to attend the upcoming exhibition.

Besides, they look so darned snazzy on backpacks, jackets and hats—how could you not want one?

The buttons will be on sale in the SLC for one day only on Tuesday, March 6 from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Buttons are $2 each, or you can buy the whole set of 19 for $30. If you want the set, you can either order it via e-mail by contacting Andrea

Skelly, skelly.andrea@gmail.com, or by signing up at the SLC on Tuesday.

There are a limited number of buttons for sale, so act quickly and get them before the artists’ roommates and parents do!

If you’re still skeptical, you can lace up your snow boots and hike on over to East Campus Hall where you can check out the buttons on display in the front windows — walk to DC and look out behind the plaza; ECH

COURTESY CAITLIN BADGER

is the green building in the middle of the parking lot. Go on, the fresh air will do you good.

This year’s exhibition, cleverly entitled 22032007 29032007, will open with a reception from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on March 22 at Render Gallery. This is a great opportunity to meet the artists and show some support for the ne arts faculty, whom we so often admire from afar… Like from way across the parking lot.