feature // bullying isn’t just a kids’ game >> PG. 5
The Brunswickan
Volume 141 Issue 25 • Canada’s Oldest Official Student Publication • UNB Fredericton’s Student Paper • Apr. 2, 2008
The whipper-snapper raving ‘The old man rant’ gets a good punch in the stomach
Arts, page 14
by Naomi Osborne
Natalie Sonier is just one of many university students whose dreams have been crushed by the government’s recent decision to scrap the Early French Immersion program. She is a fourth-year student at UNB and is majoring in French. Her plans after graduating were to attend St. Francis Xavier University to get a Bachelor in Education with a specialization in Early French Immersion. Her dream was to work with elementary students enrolled in the early immersion program in New Brunswick. But this plan has changed since the government initiated the new intensive Core French program, which will not allow students to study French immersion until the fifth grade. “The chances of me getting a job in New Brunswick are slim now,” said Sonier. “I would much rather find a job in the Maritimes, but if I can’t find something in my field I will have to move away.” As her family lives in Alberta, she would not have as many troubles finding a job there, although she would like to stay in New Brunswick. She says the problem which needs to be considered is that professionals, like doctors and lawyers, might move out of the province so their children can learn French at an early age. Most of the time, it is the welleducated, prestigious parents who want their children to be brought up speaking French at a young age, said Sonier. Sonier started taking French in kindergarten and is very thankful for the opportunity, because without it, she feels she would never have been accepted into the Education program. Her experience leads her to believe that the Early French Immersion program is vital, so children can learn French at an early age. “The best time to learn is during the younger ages when they are eager, excited, and their minds are like sponges. Whereas, in grade five, kids have social concerns and by that time, French may not be seen as ‘cool’ anymore.” She feels that starting French in grade five will only prolong the problems that children will face. “Students will be bombarded with French, and it could be very overwhelm-
see Jobs page 2
Sports, page 11
VP External announces candidacy for city council
by Josh O’Kane
Scrapping the Early French immersion program may not only affect elementary students, it also has the potential to drive away New Brunswick’s future generation
CIS to big leagues
Golden Bears Rockin’Vixens Lounge captain lands AHL deal
Opinions, page 7
Immersion changes deter education students
Special Ops
He’s not a student, he says. He’s a young professional who is involved in his community who happens to be a student. Jordan Graham, who will be handing away the reigns of the UNB Student Union VP External at the end of the month, is running for city councilor of Ward 11 under that premise. The 21-year-old candidate realized last summer that municipal elections were approaching, and saw things he believe he could do with the position. “Over the course of the year,” says Graham, “I saw things that I could be doing if I were in that capacity and I saw things that were being done that weren’t representative of all people in the community.” He says that he’s been encouraged to run for the position on many fronts, including the business community and many long-term residents of Fredericton. “I thought that I could bring a lot of fresh ideas to the position and to the ward on how to make things better and really represent everybody instead of just
a small portion of the people.” Ward 11, which includes the College Hill neighborhood between the UNB Campus and Regent Street, is currently overseen by Councilor Cathy MacLaggan. The incumbent councilor is vying for the position once more. Graham and MacLaggan once waged words on the pages of The Brunswickan over the growing number of rooming houses on the College Hill. On the September 12, 2007 issue of The Brunswickan, MacLaggan stated that former family homes treated as rooming houses “basically make a hole in the neighborhood.” In that story, Graham denoted this mindset as “sad, when the city’s officials are jumping to conclusions and making statements about the constituents whom they are responsible to represent.” According to Elections New Brunswick, persons are eligible to vote in the municipal election if they are of voting age, a Canadian citizen, a resident of New Brunswick for at least six months, and an ordinarily resident of the region as of the day of the election. Thus, university students aged 18 or older, having lived in New Brunswick
see Council page 3
Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan
Jordan Graham is running for city councilor of Ward 11, which includes the UNB and the College Hill
“We don’t do that in Africa” A bawdy, Bardlike romp by Josh O’Kane
It didn’t take long to fill up the Dineen Auditorium in Head Hall on Monday night as audience members were forced to spill into overflow rooms to watch Paul Martin speak. The former Canadian Prime Minister gave UNB’s Engineers without Borders’ inaugural “Lightbulb Lecture” that evening, with live feeds streaming in nearby rooms and online. After an introduction by Engineers without Borders’ co-CEO, George Roter, Martin thanked EWB for their actions in the world at large. He then moved on to his discussion topics for the evening, detailing the separate involvements of government and business in Canada’s role as a global actor, specifically in Africa, and utilizing resources for sustainable development in impoverished countries. Regardless of lower standards in some impoverished nations, Martin said that businesses “should adhere to the highest standards of the world, or go home,” in lieu of sinking to poor working conditions, substandard pay rates, and holding back possible development. In using Canada’s resources, including its skilled workers, such nations can be assisted. “We have a means of developing skills… it’s up to businesses to provide training across borders.” Martin alluded to Florenceville, New Brunswick, as a successful model of larger businesses bringing success to a com-
munity by working with local employers and small firms. Instead of working with firms outside of the region, Martin says that McCain Foods Ltd succeeded in the region by asking local firms to specialize for the region’s needs. “We don’t do that in Africa,” said Martin. “That’s an ethic that’s got to change… We need to give [those countries] the chance to develop.” After speaking of businesses’ roles as global citizens, Martin spoke of the need to create an African common market in which Canada could play its own role. The existing 53 state-system leads to a series of small, fragmented, fragile markets, said Martin. Comparing Saskatchewan and Rwanda as two landlocked areas, he said that Saskatchewan makes due by the goodwill of its neighbors, whereas Rwanda is forced to limit exporting and importing of goods. Limited infrastructure also proves a hindrance. Martin spoke of the benefits versus the detriments of an African Union, citing a transition fund as necessary for aiding smaller countries to adjust to the market. Such a common market would be necessary to reduce poverty on the continent, he said. In closing, the former Prime Minister addressed the need to eliminate poverty and reach for equality at home, referring to the treatment of First Nations persons
in Canada. Every resident, he said, deserves an equal opportunity in order for Canada to operate as a global citizen. “We cannot afford to squander the talent of one person so that we can go o n and do something better.”
TUNB’s “The Rover” is a rollicking battle of the sexes by Ashley Bursey
Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan
The sound of sword fighting can be heard through Memorial Hall, metal clanging on metal as a jumble of men in flamboyant shirts and beards jump around the stage. The choreography is almost flawless, a practiced dance that ends in an all-out wrestling match and a brutal stabbing. “It’s like ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ in here,” Len Falkenstein says wryly, scribbling notes as the actors behind him get up, dust themselves off, and brandish their swords for another go. It’s just one of half a dozen swordfights in Theatre UNB’s production of the 17th-century play, Aphra Behn’s “The Rover”, but the fancy footwork and flashing metal can’t even compare to the real battle of the sexes ensuing onstage: the verbal sparring. Behn, hailed as one of the first feminist playwrights, doesn’t disappoint in this vaguely, misandrist, bawdy romp centered around the Don Juan-ish Rover, Willmore, and his philandering friends. The play is set in Naples during Carnival time, which immediately amps
the visual appeal of the performance (characters are sporting everything from corsets to silky gowns to long johns, and most of them with brightly-coloured Carnival masks), adding to the period dresses, swarthy buccaneer attire, and lavish frippery. The plot, at the outset, seems simple: a band of Englishmen arrive in Naples (these, it would appear, are the roguish and dashing “pirates” of the story) and meet two sisters who are trying to escape arranged marriages and convents. But through several cases of mistaken identity (the masks don’t help our poor star-crossed lovers much) and a few pairs of wandering eyes, the path of love goes awry with comical results. At the same time, we see several characters advancing their own side plots: the loveless Angelica, who shocks men with her beauty and high price tag; the coquettish thief, Lucetta; the silly Blunt; and the powerful Don Pedro, a Spaniard and brother to our two sisters, Florinda and Hellena. And for empowered females everywhere, this is one piece that takes sexism and turns it on its head: Although the women lust after the their male counterparts, it’s always the “he” who ultimately gets jilted when the gals get sick of the boys’ inconstant ways. Hellena is a feisty hellcat, Angelica...isn’t, and Lucetta is a manipulative wench with a thirst for other people’s cash.
see TUNB page 16