The McGill Tribune Vol. 20 Issue 17

Why does MTV suck the bag?

A & E 1 9

Provigo's triumphant return n e w s

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IBU N E Tu esday, 23 Jan u ary 2001 Issue 17

P u b lis h e d by the S tu d e n ts ’ S o c ie ty o f M c G ill U n iv e r s it y

This ain't no Aquarius, baby Y ear of th e Snake slithers in Rhea Wong________________________ G uang X i Fa Cai. H appy N ew Year in M andarin

—

G ung H ay F at Choy —

H appy N ew Year in Cantonese

Forget the champagne and Auld Lang Syne. For a quarter of the world’s population, this Wednesday is a New Year celebra­ tion with a decidedly Chinese twist.

This upcoming year is the Year of the Snake, according to the Chinese Lunar calendar. W ithin the family and the Chinese com­ munity, many rituals are observed for the fifteen-day celebration of the coming spring. Certain beliefs and practices are attached to these rituals, ensuring longevity, wealth, happiness and health for the upcoming New Year.

Taking a break from an afternoon of skiing, Andrej Arsovski relaxes on Mount St. Anne during the IRC ski trip this past weekend

Nico Oved

McGill Redmen becoming basketball powerhouse Young team beats tough competition to pull into conference lead

History of the tradition

Neil Schnurbach and Tony Muir

One legend of the origin of the New Year revolves around the ancient mythical monster, Nian. A voracious beast, Nian came to harass and feast on humans. The villagers were afraid and accepted the offer made by an old man to tame the beast.

The clever old man chal­ lenged the beast: “I hear say that you are very capable, but can you swallow the other beasts of prey on earth instead of people who are by no means your worthy oppo­ nents?”

It may be a little bit early to break out the champagne, but halfway through the Quebec Student Sport Federation basketball schedule, the M cGill Redmen look like a force to be reckoned with.

A year after squeaking into the playoffs with a 7-13 record, first year head coach Nevio Marzinotto and his boys are leading the confer­ ence with an 8-3 mark.

This week marked the high point of M cG ill’s season with the Redmen winning three games including two over teams ranked in

the top ten nationally.

On Tuesday, M cGill beat #10 ranked cross-town rival Concordia 83-76. They followed that victory by vanquishing the Laurentian Volunteers on Friday by a count of 91-85. The exciting week culmi­ nated with an 84-78 win over the #8 ranked York Yeomen.

McGill 83, Concordia 76 Tuesday night’s game against Concordia was played in front of a full house of screaming fans at Love Competition Flail.

Veteran Brady Murphy fed off of the excitement in the building by

scoring eight of M cG ill’s first 14 points, including two three pointers to give the Redmen an early lead.

The first half then turned into a see-saw affair with Concordia and M cGill each exchanging the lead until late in the half.

W ith 40 seconds remaining in the frame, team captain K irk Reid took over. Reid, a notorious Concordia Stinger killer, drove the ball down court and hit a high arch­ ing acrobatic lay-up over the out­ stretched arms of 6’9 Concordia centre Real Kitieu. After M cG ill’s Pat Kieran blocked a shot, Reid per­ formed nearly the same incredible

Please see HORSES, page 11

Do you have suggestio education can be i on January 24th Topics: Learning

t how your quality of voice your ideas ^ aco ck 2 3 2 .

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move just seconds later to give the Redmen a 35-28 halftime lead.

The Redmen carried the momentum that Captain K irk gave them into the second half, opening up the frame with the first six points to give them a 41-28 lead.

The Captain’s namesake, point guard Denburk Reid had four of those points. A ll told, this 12-0 M cGill run proved to be decisive.

“That run was huge,” said K irk Reid after the game. “It gave the whole team confidence and momentum. We felt like we were in control after that point.”

Please see B A S K E T B A LL, page 29

2 News

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

Campus Life Fund coming soon to your fee account Council will hear proposed new student fee Thursday Jeff Derman and Nema Etheridge

In the wake of a funding crunch for campus clubs and serv­ ices, the Students’ Society of M cG ill University w ill address the issue of a Campus Life Fund at Thursday’s council meeting.

The fund would generate money through the addition of a new fee to students’ accounts, a program sim ilar to those of the Special Project Fund and the M cG ill Student Fund (M SF) .

Wojtek Baraniak, president of SSM U commented on the present position of campus funding. “ Right now we have the Special Projects Fu n d ...it’s only $20,000,” he said. “Last year, I looked into the idea of how certain student groups get more money and which student groups can’t get money. I quickly realized there are a lot of campus clubs out there that

don’t have the resources to give themselves the extra push.”

Baraniak noted that other stu­ dent unions across Canada have programs sim ilar to the Special Projects Fund.

He conceded, though, that the existing program restricts many clubs at M cG ill.

“Ours is a bit limited under the Special Projects Fund because it works to benefit all students,” he said. “That is a very tough kind of bar to pass.”

Because the Special Projects Fund requires all funded events to benefit the entire student body, many organizations are not eligible for funding from SSM U. The pro­ posed Campus Life Fund, though, would change such restrictions.

“What we’ve decided to do is ammend the rules on the amount of money we give out to students,” he said. “We’re liberalizing the rules a b it.”

W ith the Campus Life Fund,

organizations would go through SSM U to get the additional fund­ ing for various events.

“I think people apply for the money,” Erica Weinstein of the Women’s Union said, “ I don’t think the money w ill be allocated equally.”

Weinstein was also concerned about SSM U’s increased role in the allocation of the funds through the Campus Life Fund. “ [The fund] gives SSM U a lot of power . . . clubs are looking for more autonomy not less.”

On the other hand, Weinstein did acknowledge the tangible implications of the fee.

“Perhaps it w ill be a benefit for [the Woman’s U nion],” Weinstien said, noting the financial woes of the Union. “We desperately need the money.”

The proposed fund would be supported by an addtional fee of $2.86 per person, per semester, but

such changes would have to pass a student referendum in the spring.

Suzanne Loney, clubs repre­ sentative to SSM U believes there would be little pre-referendum debate on the issue.

“It is hard to take much of a stand on a $2 fee,” she said.

Does Baraniak have confidance that the referendum w ill pass?

“Absolutely,” he said. “ I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t feel a need for it. Obviously there are always going to be people that dis­ agree, but I feel that most of the people that go to vote on the refer­ endum w ill feel that there is room for improvement at M cG ill.”

The fee, Baraniak noted, would fund various student activi­ ties that don’t have “regular” fund­ ing status. For example, speakers’ series, new clubs and “C ” status intercollegiate teams, (self-fund­ ing) teams, would theoretically be candidates for the money.

Weinstein, who calls the fee an easy way out, disagrees with Baraniak about the outcome of the referendum. “SSM U could proba­ bly reorganise their budget. . . they could reduce their salaries and give back more,” she suggested.

“Nothing else is being explored, [as alternate sources of funding] ” Loney echoed.

Baraniak noted that corporate donations were not an avenue for additional funding, but he did sug­ gest that the alumni could be asked to match student donations.

Baraniak commented on the idea.

“It’s really all still up in the air,” he said. “Regardless of what happens we’re still going to go through with the plans for the Campus Life Fund.”

EarthSave's "M eat Out" Day com ing in M arch Christina Heyding

EarthSave is looking to pro­ mote vegetarianism at M cG ill, as part of their mandate to educate people about plant-based diets in light of environmental, humanistic, and health issues.

A part of the student-run, independent Quebec Public Interest Research Group, EarthSave, along with other groups such as The Queer-Straight Alliance, helps Q PIR G advocate

social justice and promote environ­ mental awareness. At a talk held earlier this month, the group explained its goals, and outlined its upcoming plans.

John Engler, a member of EarthSave, described why he became a vegetarian.

"Animals are treated as capital, not as living beings,” he said.

"Their pain and misery makes no difference. They are just pennies."

Others, however, took a differ­ ent view.

"I respect the cattle farmers.

Just like any other people, [they] have to make a living," said Patrick O ’Brien, a first-year student.

One of EarthSave’s first ven­ tures was the Vegetarian Discount Card, which continues to be sold today for ten dollars. The cards pro­ vide discounts at various Vegetarian Restaurants and Natural Food stores throughout Montreal. Now, with Q P IR G ’s support, EarthSave is organizing the upcoming "Meat O ut," occurring in March. The members of EarthSave hope that food providers on campus w ill elim-

McGill Esther Jungreis Acclaimed amnor of fne Commuted Ufe and International speaker

"Discovering the Value of Spirituality in Post Holocaust North-America”

inate meat from their menu on the "Meat Out" day.

"We hope this w ill increase popular awareness of the benefits of vegetarianism," said Alida Farrell, a member of EarthSave for almost two years.

EarthSave also hopes to con­ vince the Residence Food Providers to organize a vegetarian theme night. For vegetarian and vegan stu­ dents, this would be a welcome change.

"I know the cafeteria staff attempt to provide healthy vegetar­ ian and vegan meals to support our lifestyle choices, but the truth is that there is not enough variety of ingredients to satisfy our dietary needs," said one first-year student living in residence. Others do not show the same enthusiasm for an all-vegetarian meal.

"To everyone who eats meat, it

wouldn’t be fair, it would be reverse discrim ination," said Jason Camelford, a resident of Douglas Hall. " If there is an all vegetarian day, I hope it would be followed up with an all meat day," added O ’Brien.

In responding to these kinds of opinions, Farrell replied thought­ fully.

"I try to respect their decision and go on to greener pastures," she said. "I know that there are ways to live without harming other animals, and I w ill continue attempting to show this to others."

Since 1996, EarthSave has been advancing its mandate at the University through various events.

™ M c G ill A. Noel Fieldhouse Award C a ll for Nom inations

Wednesday January 31, 2001 at 8:00pm

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This lecture has been made possible by a grant from the Bea% Memorial Lectures Commrnee.

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307

Deadline: Wednesday, February 28, 2001

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

News 3

McGill eliminates first-year residence guarantee N o

s o lu tio n

sight for housing crisis

in

James Grohsgal____________________

M cG ill w ill no longer guaran­ tee housing to first-year students from outside Montreal starting next year because admissions to the University have exceeded available space in M cG ill Residences.

W ith the tightest housing market in Montreal since 1985, and a growing number of interna­ tional and out-of-province stu­ dents admitted to M cG ill, it w ill be even more difficult next year for students to find reasonably-priced apartments close to campus.

“The level of admissions has outpaced the number of new beds,” said Janice Johnson, the offcampus housing co-ordinator. “ M cG ill in particular and Montreal in general are very popu­ lar for students.”

“Next year, were moving to a random selection process,” said Johnson. “About 85 per cent of students eligible for [residence] w ill get space. We figured this was the fairest way. The previous policy was that anyone that was eligible for residence was guaranteed a space.”

M cG ill’s former policy was that all first-year students under 21 whose homes were not commuting

distance from school would be guaranteed housing. Under the new plan, students accepted to M cG ill and eligible for residence under the old rules w ill be assigned random numbers. Students with numbers below 1741 w ill be noti­ fied by April or May that they have received housing.

The admission rate for out-of­ province and international stu­ dents has increased over the past several years, but M cG ill has not compensated for this increase with new housing. The events of last September prompted a change in its housing guarantee.

“We ran up against a w all,” said Johnson. “We had 150 stu­ dents without beds at the last minute. That’s exactly why the pol­ icy was changed. I personally took 150 apartments off the market so they’d have a place to live.”

For international students, the housing crunch poses a particularly difficult problem. Because many of them are unable to come to Montreal before they begin school, it is harder to find an apartment and sign a lease.

“You can’t expect international students to study or get adjusted to Montreal when they don’t have a place to live. [Last September],

about 300 students came into my office in hysterics because they didn’t have a place to live,” said Jennifer Bilec, presi­ dent of the M cG ill International Students’ Network.

The OffCampus Housing Office is the primary provider of apart­ ment-hunting serv­ ices for students, and Johnson hopes that students w ill take advantages of the office’s services. “ [Students not u Where do we put all the students? receiving housing] _____________. believes that the loss of a housing w ill have plenty of time to find a space,” said Johnson. guarantee w ill add a greater burden “Most landlords are amenable to to both her office and Off-Campus faxing leases back and forth. We’ll housing.

“Off-Campus Housing is seri­ be their eyes and ears... but really it’s between the student and land­ ously overworked, and we’re not funded enough to go out and talk lord.”

The M ISN w ill also help to landlords,” said Bilec. “We’ve international students find apart­ been trying to implement pro­ ments, with a database to match up grams that would help, but there’s prospective roommates, and a sys­ no replacing the guarantee that tem to allow one semester M cG ill has retracted.”

M cG ill readily admits that the exchange students to split their leases w ith others. But Bilec srnrwan measures employed last

Nina zacnariaaes

year w ill not suffice in the future.

N ick de Takacsy, associate vice principal academic, says that there’s no escaping the lack of space.

“We are still seriously inade­ quate,” said de Takacsy. “We are running out of options other than buying or building. I need space two years ago, not two years from

SSMU Seeking a

Rental board approves larger-than-usual increases Jonathan Colford

I f you lease an apartment and your rent includes heat, prepare to pay much more next year.

Quebec’s rental board, la Régie du logement, increased the amount landlords can charge their tenants for gas and oil-heated apartments.

Rent adjustment is based on a building’s revenue and expenses.

The régie subjects the building’s expenses to adjustments in deter­ mining the rent increase for a given year.

For next year, the Régie rec­ ommends a rent increase of 2.1 per cent for gas-heated dwellings in 2001, oil heated dwellings by 4.8 per cent, 0.9 per cent for electrici­ ty-heated dwellings, and 0.7 per cent for non-heated dwellings.

Landlords are not bound by these rates and could very well ask for double those increases. Any landlord who wants to change the terms of the lease, or raise rent, must go to the régie to get approval.

Jeremy Farrell, VP community and government affairs of the

Students’ Society of M cG ill University, said that first year stu­ dents entering second year and serching for their first apartment are often uninformed about their rights with respect to their land­ lords and consequently are taken advantage of. SSM U organized a tenant rights clinic last semester to inform students about landlordtenant issues.

“Students need to be more aware of what landlords can and cannot do,” he said. Farrell noted that rent hikes increase the overall cost of a university education and can ultimately discourage people from pursuing post-secondary studies.

“I know that it’s hard to tie that to the Régie because the Régie doesn’t necessarily have that fore­ sight, but they should because they’re responsible for the econom­ ic planning,” he said.

For 2001, the régie increased the percentage of adjustment that it applies to a building’s expenses.

The largest increases occurred because of rising fuel costs which landlords want to pass onto their tenants. The price of a barrel of oil

(42 gallons) was $30,25 (U SD ) as of January 19, having risen from as little as $ 11 less than two years ago.

To see the impact on a $445per-month, gas-heated apartment, visit the régie’s website at www. rdl.gouv.qc.ca/en/eindex.html and visit the publica­ tions section.

Such an apartment, which would see its rent increase by $10 monthly according to the 2000 calculation, would be subject to a $ 16,65-per-month increase in 2001 assuming the same figures apply to the calculations.

Student Equity Commissioner (Stipended Position) The Student Equity Commisioner (SEC) is a new position created in order to put a focus on equity issues that concern linden graduate students at McGill. The SEC will be working on projects relating to discrimination issues, queer issues, gender issues, sexual harassment issues, students with disabilities issues and first people issues. The purpose of the SEC shall be to ensure the awareness and respect of stm dent rights as well as advocacy of equity issues at McGill University and at the SSMU. Please forward your résumé to ua@ssmu.mcgill.ca by Monday, February 5th 2001 or contact Clara Péron at 398-6797 for more info.

à

4 News

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

M cGill's environm ental policy delayed University re-examines its relationship with the environment Crofton Steers

M cG ill’s Environm ental Policy Workgroup has delayed the release of their proposed Environm ental Policy to allow members of the University com­ munity more time to provide feed­ back and recommendations.

The committee was formed last February to propose a new pol­ icy in conjunction with two docu­ ments signed in the early nineties, the H alifax and Talloires Declarations, both of which stipu­ late that Canadian universities should become more active in increasing environmental aware­ ness as part of student education.

Key principles of M cG ill’s newly proposed policy include the reduction of energy consumption, the favouring of non-toxic and bio­ degradable products, an increased emphasis on reducing, re-using and recycling, and a general increase of M cG ill students’ envi­ ronmental awareness.

Saeed M irza, a civil engineer­ ing and applied mechanics profes­ sor at M cG ill and chair of the Environmental Policy Workgroup, explained the delay.

“Our proposed policy is ready; we are trying to get feedback from students, teachers, and other mem­ bers of the University,” he said.

u It

is

a

slow

process, but one that the

E nvironm ental

P o licy

W orkgroup

hopes w ith

w ill

pay

o ff

more e n v iro n ­

m entally

literate

M c G ill graduates.

99 The entire policy is listed on the Environm ental Policy Workgroup’s website (www.mcgill.ca/epw) along with a list of possible implications.

“We have suggested implica­ tions,” said M irza. “Much of the feedback comes from these sug­ gested im plications.” The implica­ tions are mostly ways in which the

policy would be put into practice including everything from car­ pooling to using collected rain water for toilets and plant water­ ing.

“We need to develop policies that w ill be applicable over the total campus,” explained Mirza.

“The point is to increase aware•*5 ness.

But the University has not yet approved the policy. The Students’ Society of M cG ill University is also a member on the Environmental Policy Workgroup and President W ojtek Baraniak explained the nature of such policies.

“It’s a political game, not every proposal looks the same when it is approved as it did in the begin­ ning,” he said.

However, Baraniak recognized the importance of the policy.

“We all have different ideas of what constitutes environmental protection. [This environmental policy] is a crucial first step.”

Baraniak stressed SSM U’s responsi­ bility in increasing student envi­ ronmental awareness by adopting the motto “ leadership starts at home.” Future SSM U environ­ mental plans include making the Shatner Building fully compliant with both green and blue box recy­

cling programs, as well as setting up a more visible recycling centre in the Shatner cafeteria.

What remains unclear is what has taken the University ten years to act since the Halifax Declaration was signed in 1991. Baraniak believes that it was mainly due to poor finance.

“It ceased to be a priority,” he explained. “Often, to solve these problems, it takes money. M cG ill is financially better off now than it has been in quite a while. Now is the time.” He also elaborated on M cG ill’s continuity problem. “The biggest problem that we face as stu­ dents is continuity. Positions need to be created to ensure better con­ tinuity.”

B o t h

believe that M cG ill’s present poli­ cies with regard to the environ­ ment are insufficient and a new policy is definitely in order.

According to Baraniak, it is the

G r a d R in g S a le 1

0

student body that managed to get the issue finally put back on the table.

“It’s because students pushed for it,” he said. “It’s the first step.”

Now, after students and facul­ ty offer their feedback to the poli­ cy, the Environm ental Policy Workgroup w ill submit it to Senate, which w ill then decide if it is to be approved. Professor Mirza stressed that this process does not happen overnight.

“Once, and if, [the work­ group] accepts [the Environmental Policy], it w ill go to the Senate and it might take three to four months to actually be put into practice.”

It is a slow process, but one that the Environm ental Policy Workgroup hopes w ill pay off with more environm entally literate M cG ill graduates.

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The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 200f

NeWs 5

Student filmmaker's ups and downs Mike Bargav

The arduous road from ama­ teur fdmmaking to the big screen is one taken only by the talented few.

M cG ill student Hadai Friedman had made the daunting step, and is set to fdm a summer feature backed by investors. Friedman spoke to the Tribune about the ups and downs of student filmmaking Tribune: Give us some general background on the first movie.

Friedman: W ell, with the first feature that I directed, there were things I had done before: mediums and short films and video clips. I did a film with no means, and now I have material to build on. And when 1 go to approach producers, they basically like the fact that I ’ve done a film with no money.

T : What was the first freature about?

F: It was a courtroom drama, basically about a girl who was raped and killed in a summer camp. We shot it here in Montreal, and up north.

T : So, how did you get recog­ nition for your first feature?

F I: First people got to know me through industry contacts and

such. Then they came to know what I did, and at first they didn’t believe that this movie could have been done with no budget.

T : How much was the first fea­ ture made with?

F: It was made with $1200, and it was a full length feature.

T : So, how was that organized on a skeleton budget?'

F: A lot of pressure, a lot of hard work. The actors did it for free. They were acting students and they needed that as much as I did.

To get bigger roles in bigger pro­ ductions, actors have to show what they can do, and they helped me as much as I helped them.

T : What are some of the themes you like to explore in your films?

F: I don’t mind touching on things that have been done before.

People that are coming into my films are always going to be sur­ prised with the ending. It could be a good ending, or a bad ending, but it is going to have a twist. It is going to have a twist on society. These are the thing I am trying to do.

T : What directors influenced your style?

F: I ’m not going to lie to you. I have my inspiration from film

directors. Few directors have have influenced my style, but I ’m not imitating them. I am inspired by them. But I write my own stories, and I like directing my own scripts because I feel that I get a better attachment to the story and the actors, and that way I can work bet­ ter with the actors. Actors are the most important thing for a director.

A director is a story teller and the characters are the means to tell the story with. I know that I ’m good technically, but my strength is with the actors.

T : So what’s the biggest thrill in filmmaking?

F: It’s the ability to actually share the stories going through my head, but not in a literary way. The way I see it, filmmaking combines everything we have in the world into one artform. When I ’m on a movie set, I don’t sleep for 2 or 3 weeks straight. I ’m on a rush when I ’m behind the camera.

T : Have you always been inter­ ested in filmmaking?

F: I ’ve always been interested it, but I haven’t always had the means to do it. But once I picked up the camera, I literally never let it go. A lot of people say they like filmmaking... blah, blah, blah, but

my passion, I cannot even explain in words. I love film . When I was 12, we visited Universal Studios, and that’s when I knew it. The right reason for filmmaking, is to enter­ tain and tell a story. There is a lot of money involved. Then again, I ’m not going to critize Hollywood — a lot of good came out of Hollywood.

I just think the right reasons shouldn’t be about money.

T : So where do you draw the line between film as commercial entertainment, and film as art?

F: I realize that show biz is not just show and not just biz. The way I see it, as a filmmaker, I ’m trying to tell a story. If I ’m influenced by market forces and other factors, it w ill not be a good story. So when I write a story, I write is so it is mar­ ketable. I know it’s a compromise, and it’s a compromise I ’m willing to make.

O n lin e v id e o e x tra !

G et the

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Register at our website. tribune.mcgill.ca

Catch an interview with Friedman about his first movie project. It’s online at our website: tribune.mcgill.ca <c|k

Heartbeat of the Universe Astronomers from McGill and the Eastern Jin Dynasty collaborate to date a pulsar Dorota Nowodworski

If you thought only underlegal-age teens lie about their age, think again. New information was recently discovered reducing the age of a dense celestial body called a pulsar. Thanks to information in 386 A .D ., scientists have been able to pinpoint the birth of a pulsar as related to an event witnessed by Chinese astronomers.

Victoria Kaspi and M allory Roberts of M cG ill located the pul­ sar at the exact geometric center of a cloud of debris formed by a supernova, the explosion of a star.

The stunning pyrotechnics of the explosion were the likely source of observations made by the Chinese astronomers. Using the Chandra X-ray observatory, Kaspi and Roberts were able to piece together a puzzle 1,600 years in the making.

The supernova in question is called G 11.2-0.3 and the location of a pulsar at the center of its rem­ nants is strong new evidence for an association of their linked past.

This is only the second pulsar that has been clearly associated with a historic event. The first exists near the centre of the Crab Nebula, a remnant of another supernova recorded by the Chinese in 1054.

The technology used to observe this discovery is based in

the Chandra X-ray observatory.

This telescope was launched into orbit on July 23rd, 1999 and uses X-rays rather than light to bring distant images to focus. NASA documents detail that Chandra can detect sources more than twice as far away and produce images with five times greater detail than an optical telescope.

The beat of the pulse

A pulsar is basically formed when a massive star’s core collapses, leading the star into explosion.

Under conditions of extreme grav­ ity, about 300,000 times those of Earth’s, pulsars are thought to be composed m ainly o f neutrons, hence giving them their alias “neu­ tron stars.” According to the M cG ill Pulsar Group, a pulsar with a radius of 10 kilometers has crammed into it a mass greater than the Sun, which has a radius of approximately one m illion kilome­ ters. An amount the size of a pin­ head would weigh as much as an entire battleship, a teaspoon weigh­ ing more than a billion tons.

A constant edging toward the brink of chaos is what leads to the death of neutron stars. The pulsar’s angular momentum slows through time and they eventually disappear. “ [Pulsars] die because they are not spinning fast enough for there

to be a large enough electric field to accelerate particles that produce radiation, it’s difficult to find one under a certain frequency,” said Kaspi, a former assistant professor at M IT and now an associate pro­ fessor at M cG ill.

In addition to rotating, pulsars also release a beam of radiation, much like a spotlight. The beam consists of wavelengths spanning the entire spectrum, from the longer radio waves through the optical range of colors, and finally into the domain of high frequency gamma and X-rays. Th is radiation travels though the vacuum of space and enters the Earth’s atmosphere as one large pulse, which can be recorded and sounds much like a heartbeat, depending on the partic­ ular speed of rotation.

The radiation doesn’t always get to Earth all at once. The rea­ sons behind this fact could lead to a better understanding of the com­ position of our galaxy.

“Sometimes, rather than a single pulse [the radiation] can come in as a ‘chirp’ where the lower fre­ quencies of radio waves come in just after the higher ones,” explains Kaspi. “Th is happens when some­ thing along the way interferes with the original pulse, like an electron cloud or debris.”

Prior to Kaspi and Roberts’ project, the speed of rotation was

the main indicator of a pulsar’s age.

Mathematical formulas were based on the belief that the neutron star’s angular momentum slowed as it aged. According to these formulas, the pulsar at the centre of G 11.20.3 should be approximately 24,000 years old, fifteen times what the newly determined evi­ dence proves.

When asked whether the ques­ tioning of previous methods is more of a thorn in the side of astronomers than the sweet smell of the rose, Roberts, at M cGill since September, laughs. “W ell, maybe it’s all bad news.”

Kaspi, now fu ll time at M cG ill, comments on the difficul­ ties of studying astronomy. “A lot of the work relies on inference, and there have been many clever meth­ ods developed, unfortunately, you can’t take a star and put it in the laboratory.”

Nevertheless, revision of the pulsar’s age is only one aspect of the new work. According to David Nice, assistant professor of physics at Princeton, “the most important thing about [Kaspi and Roberts’] work is the simple establishment of a firm link between the pulsar and supernova, ...something that was hitherto uncertain.”

Over a thousand pulsars have been located throughout the con­ stellations, while only 200 or so

supernova vestiges have been cata­ logued. The difficulty lies in the fact that supernova debris disperses quickly, and pulsars move away quickly as well. Turns out that tim­ ing is everything when dating astronomical events.

C all /McGnxNiGHnM Call To C ii:

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398-MAIN

6News

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

Chapters backs acquistion by Future Shop

» » »

«

«* «

• Shortly after Trilogy Retail Enterprises LP began a $73 million partial takeover bid for a minority interest in Chapters Inc., Future Shop Ltd. has announced it w ill attempt to acquire a 100 per cent stake in the chain that runs the M cGill Bookstore.

The Chapters Inc. Board of Directors has announced a “unanimous recommenda­ tion for the acquisition of Chapters by Future Shop,” according to a press release issued Thursday. The bid is valued at approximately $16.80 per share, or roughly $200 m illion.

Lori DeCou, manager of corporate communications for Future Shop Ltd. explained that the takeover bid should not affect M cG ill’s bookstore for the moment.

“It is not the intention of Future Shop in the near or imminent future to change [the running of M cG ill’s bookstore]. Chapters would run as an independent divi­ sion, so it would be business as usual,” DeCou explained.

DeCou’s explanation was echoed by Chapters In c’s Director of Public Relations, Helena Aalto.

“Short-term and in the rela­ tive long-term, we don’t antic­ ipate any impact [on the bookstore.] It’s so early, I couldn’t even speculate... but [short-term] don’t expect any changes at all.”

Trilogy is currently bidding $15 per share for a 50.1 per cent stake in the chain in an attempt to merge the opera­ tions with that o f Indigo Books Music & more Inc. The shakeup comes at a time when analysts believe there is excess capacity in the bookselling industry.

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» » » »

Hot News Tip? Call 398-DOOM

The Sexual Assault Centre of McGill Students Society seeks

York students file classaction suit against univer­ sity

local 4600 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, is disappointed with the progress of negotiations with the University.

The TAs and RAs are seeking tuition protection, greater job security, pay equity, and a reduction in the fees paid by students who have completed their bourse load (post-residen­ cy fees).

• Citing losses and damages suffered as a result of an 11week strike by teaching assis­ tants, research assistants and contract faculty, York University students filed a class-action lawsuit against York last week.

W hile York has offered some financial compensation to the Queen’s student union pro­ students, they maintain that it claims deregulation debate is not enough. dead On January 18, the Ontario government granted extra • Anonymous sources within funding to help York students Ontario’s M inistry of Training, complete their year. The extra Colleges and Universities told funds, made available through the Queen’s student union that the Ontario Student the government “has not Assistance Program, are wavered in its commitment to expected to help them cover limiting tuition hikes in regulat­ their additional living expenses ed programs until 2005,” during the extended school according to an Alma Mater year, whose winter exam peri­ Society press release. od ends on May 26, 2001.

Paul Heisler, president of the More than 9,000 of York’s AM S, which represents Queen’s 33,000 students receive OSAP students, said that tuition in aid. regulated programs like Arts and Science w ill not rise more Carleton TAs to vote on than two per cent annually for the next five years. He added strike mandate that recent debate at the • Teaching assistants and University over deregulation research assistants at Carleton was no longer productive in the University w ill hold a strike AM S’ opinion and that students vote from January 22 to 24. should now be debating how to The union representing them, improve the overall quality of a

Queen’s education.

An activist group, the Coalition against Deregulation, believes that the new talk of “quality” is a “smokescreen” and that the government and the Queen’s administration still favour deregulation, which they have been debating behind closed doors.

— with files from theJournal (Queens U)

Grad studies in wine tasting atUBC • British Columbia wineries will deliver 22,000 bottles of wine to the University of British Columbia’s newly established Wine Research Library where researchers w ill determine which of their products w ill improve with aging and how they stack up against the world’s best.

U B C is collecting about 8,000 bottles of international wine from private donors. Graduate students w ill analyze the wines and an expert board of directors w ill taste them annually.

The library w ill occupy 117 square metres of space in the basement of U B C ’s Food and Nutritional Sciences Building.

The B C wine industry is paying the $500,000 cost of setting it up.

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The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

News Y

B ack and bigger than b efo re, the d ecad en t Provigo re-o p en s Nema Etheridge

Bigger selections and new ren­ ovations may have left many Parc Avenue shoppers searching for their favourite President’s Choice selections since Provigo re-opened its doors earlier this month.

The store had been closed for renovations since October when it suffered severe smoke and water damage from a fire that started above the location, in the ware­ house of Grenier d’art. Since then, Provigo has re-modeled and expanded into the space of what was a neighbouring store.

Provigo had already been planning renovations to the Parc location at the time of the fire, but such changes, Judith Konrad, serv­ ice manager, believes, would have taken a longer time and been an inconvenience to shoppers.

“They had already planned to expand into the neighbouring store, but renovations would have been gradual... people would have had to shop around them,” she said.

Instead, the store closed for three months, and shoppers were welcomed back on January 5 to what Konrad described as being, “a new concept in Provigo.”

She explained the changes.

“First of all, it’s much bigger,” she said. “Now, it’s about 30,000 square feet.”

The added space, she believes, has created a number of conven­ iences for many shoppers.

“The displays are more mod­ ern. There is more available, and sections are separated more clearly.

It’s easier for customers to find items.”

More space has also allowed many pre-existing departments within the store to expand. “ People liked the Prêt à Manger section, (meals ready to eat), and we have been able to improve on the idea,” she said.

“Also, we’ve had people comment on the fresh fish counter. We have never had that before and people have been very impressed with it.”

A bigger bakery and a new patisserie section were further additions that she mentioned.

“The bakery has become a much bigger department, and we’re now baking our own stuff,” she said.

Nathalie Deviers, assistant manager for the bakery department agreed.

“We’re now doing our own m uffins, cakes, and specialty breads,” she said. “We’re also put­ ting a lot more detail into our products... like the decorating we do with chocolate...”

Selling baked goods by the unit has also been an added con­ venience to customers, Deviers explained. “Many people are living alone, or in small households, and they don’t want their food to go bad before they have a chance to eat it.”

Deviers also promised that the new bakery operates around the clock to keep goods fresh.

“At the end of everyday, left­ overs are given to some homeless people in the area... our night shift comes in every night and bakes all the goods. Everything you see here is fresh.”

In addition to new and expanded departments, Konrad also noted changes to the store’s appearance, as well, mentioning the murals that had been added to the Parc location.

“This is really a new concept.

The paintings are adjusted for the area...W e have [scenes depicting] M cG ill, Place-des-Arts, MontRoyal, etc.,” she said, and then explained that pictures had been taken of local areas so that artists could be commissioned by Provigo to turn the photographs into murals.

with the changes, many feel a bit overwhelmed.

“A lot of people say ‘O h, thank God you’re back, b u t... it’s so big.’ Some people don’t find stuff where it was before because some things have changed and moved across the store.”

Amber Samson, Montreal res­ ident and first time shopper at the newly remodeled Provigo, agreed.

“The selection’s great, but it’s almost too big,” she said. “It’s kind of American. I usually shop at small stores in the city, but this seems sort of suburban. I don’t feel like I ’m in Montreal anymore. It really makes me realize how lucky we are to have so much food at our disposal.”

She was sympathetic, though, to the wide range of President’s Choice selections. “ It’s good quality, good value, pre-packed food. I don’t find it expensive, but it’s definitely not native to Montreal or even Q uebec... it’s like finding Montreal bagels in Toronto, I guess.”

“It’s clean and it’s pleasant,” Samson said of Provigo, and later added, “ It’s suburbs come to Montreal.”

Nema Etheridge

Finally, produce doesn’t go bad the next day

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Rocio Alvarado, a new cashier for the Parc location says that although most shoppers are happy

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8Op/Ed

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

Opinion

Edi t ori al

EDITORIAL “I disapprove o f what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

— Voltaire

Trigger-happy petitions Shehryar Fazli________________________________________________________________

As the petition against the involvement of two M cGill professors in the federal government’s case against homosexual marriage is being passed around campus, I implore the M cGill community not to get trigger-happy with its accusations.

Professors Margaret Somerville and Katherine Young are serving as expert witnesses for the Canadian government in its court case against two men fighting to be recognized under law as a wedded couple. The profes­ sors’ collaboration with the federal government has created a stir among groups throughout the University, including the M cGill School of Social Work which is passing and emailing petitions around campus protesting the participation in the case. The wording of the petition, however, raises some concerns.

The subject title of the email reads: “M cGill professors take homophobic stance against same-sex marriage.” This is exactly the kind of state­ ment that the M cGill community should avoid. The word “homophobic” connotates a fear or hatred of homosexuals. Before labeling Somerville and Young, it is essential to examine the little that we know of their arguments.

The petition quotes Somerville as arguing that it is crucial to take into account the large segment of society that believes marriage to be “a sacred union of a man and a woman.”

The petition further notes that Young w ill argue that, according to traditional customs and norms, “marriage has been a heterosexual institu­ tion... [which] can not be set aside without consequences in social terms.”

Before anyone is to criticize the two positions, it is necessary to under­ stand what these positions are. It is surprising that some groups around campus have failed to view Somerville and Young’s arguments in context.

First of all, the two quotes cited in the petition deal with the nature of marriage in our culture, and not specifically with an opinion on homosex­ uality itself. It is, therefore, inappropriate to issue charges of homophobia when nothing of what the professors have asserted suggests an attitude against gay people. In other words, while the document makes it clear that the professors intend to testify against the institution of same-sex mar­ riage, nothing in what has been presented reveals afear or hatred of homo­ sexuals.

Secondly, the statements provide only a hint of each individual’s analysis of marriage. Given that Somerville and Young are expert w it­ nesses, this is all we have access to for the time being. What we can deduce so far is that, according to the petition, Young w ill testify that same-sex marriages could be damaging to a society that regards marriage as a het­ erosexual association.

This testimony would be an analysis of our culture; it does not reflect a moral stance. As such, there is nothing inherently oppressive or unethi­ cal about this view. Before characterizing Young’s position, it would be worthwhile to wait until more than three lines of her analysis is available to the public. The same goes for Somerville.

In their roles as expert witnesses, what matters is the professors’ analysis of a possible legislative change, not their personal views.

In its request to Somerville and Young to withdraw or reverse their position, the petition is demanding that they remove their contribution to the issue. A more effective way of dealing with the situation would be to take into account the entire argument and to then debate its validity. It is premature to assume that just because the professors are testifying for the government, their testimonies automatically reveal prejudice. It is neces­ sary to wait until we are fam iliar with an entire account of Somerville and Young’s testimonies before passing judgement.

In the meanwhile, let us withhold our accusations.

THE

M c G IL L T R IB U N E

Editor-In-Chief John Salloum

News Editor Shehryar Fazli

A ssistant Editor-In-Chief Assistant News Editors Stephanie Levitz

Assistant Editor-In-Chief Rhea Wong

Campus Editor Jonathan Colford

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

Mike Bargav Nema Etheridge Features Editors Shirlee Engel Ian Speigel Entertainment Editors Grace Carter Marie-Hélène Savard

Letter

Stop the Press _

Do the math

PGSS pays its own way

In “SSM U-PGSS negotiations forecast possible changes to campus services’ budget” (Issue 16, January 16), the Tribune presents a poorly researched article which is strongly biased due to the writers’ naïveté.

Ten years ago, the campus media was filled with articles about the pending separation between SSM U and PGSS. I suggest the Tribune and the SSM U executive take a look. As an example of the Tribune’s misunderstanding of the issue, I present to you the lead paragraph: “Graduate students w ill walk away with more money in their pockets as a result of recent negotiations between SSM U and PGSS.” This is completely false. At the completion of the Memorandum of Agreement, the PGSS’s ‘alimony’ payments w ill be over and the SSM U is entitled to exactly $0.00 per year, as was the intent of the agreement. I personally informed SSM U of this 2 years ago when I was Financial Affairs Coordinator of PGSS. Can you say ‘institution­ al memory’? However, due to the current negotiations, the PGSS w ill be giving the SSM U $16,000 per year. After consulting with my mathematician friends, I was informed that Grad Students w ill actually have $16,000 per year less in their collective pockets as a result of the current negotiations.

Damian G. Wheeler Ph.D. 5

Ed note: Prior to 2001, SSMU received $65,000 per year from PGSS — a charge that has been reduced to $16,000 per year. After consulting our mathematician friends, we were informed that $65,000 - $16,000 = $49,000.

Can we say ‘net gain’?

Correction Last week’s editorial "Changing the guard” (Issue 16, January 16) should have been credited to Ian Speigel. The Tribune regrets the error.

is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the Students' Society of M cGill University

Science Editor Michael Ayles

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Assistant Sports Editors James Empringham Neil Schnurbach Photo Editors Patrick Fok Nico Oved

Ad Typesetters Dom Michaud Siu Min Jim Chris Essert

On-line Editors Andre Nance Mildred Wong Staff: Jen Deraum. Vineenl Escanlar, Urns Bssert, Stephanie Gabor, GooMar, Sarah Gregory. Janie, GrObrghat Christina HeyOing. Mart. Kerr. Raquel Kirsch, Christian Lander, Alexandre Leigh, David Ma. Tuny Muir. Dorota Nowodworski. Joseph Quesnel. Andrew Raven, Omar Sachedtna. David Schanale, David Schipper, Crofton Steers, Dtoone Thomas, Mêlante Tombons, Angela Wilson, Leora Wise.

Having been interviewed for readership should also keep in Bargav and Etheridge’s January mind that costs associated with the 16th article regarding the negotia­ operation of the SSM U organiza­ tion of a new memorandum of tion (e.g. building maintenance agreement between the PGSS and and accounting) are retained the SSM U, I was appalled by the whether graduate students utilize level of bias and misinformation the services or not. This is best present in the article. As such, I am exemplified by looking at the going to reiterate several points that SSM U budget where there are no were apparently either lost or not line items associated with adminis­ researched adequately before the tration or building maintenance as article went to press. I w ill attempt they pertain specifically to clubs or to put these points within the con­ services. text of M r. Baraniak and M r. “ [The SSM U] gave [the Gratto’s statements: PGSS] an offer of $30000...’’-Mr. “The brilliant SSM U execu­ Baraniak. In this instance, it is like­ tives at the time didn’t put a renew­ ly that Mr. Baraniak has been mis­ al clause in .” - M r. Baraniak. quoted. The offer from M r.

Renewal clauses are generally a Baraniak and M r. Gratto was standard component of any con­ $45000. I would be happy to have tract unless deliberately and pur­ the e-mail from Mr. Baraniak for­ posefully excluded. The SSM U warded to you. executives in question were in full Finally, I would like to point knowledge of what they had done out that, in spite of Mr. Baraniak and understood that the arrange­ and Mr. Gratto’s statements, the ment was to be temporary. In short, PGSS has never intended to erode the original agreement was a “buy- the clubs and services available to off” and was never intended by SSM U members. We made it clear either party to be sustainable. from the onset of negotiations that “ [At the meeting], someone the PGSS was not going to con­ said $16000 somewhat arbitarily.” - tribute to SSM U clubs.

The Mr. Baraniak. This is not true. The rationale being that the PGSS net-expenditure on the part of the already funds and supports a num­ SSM U for the services being nego­ ber of clubs and organizations that tiated was $24668 in the final include SSM U members in their 1999-2000 SSM U budget (see the rosters at no charge to the SSM U. currently available 2000-2001 The PGSS’s negotiations have been SSM U Budget Summary, Services about access to the 12 “Services” 1999-2000). It is important to (13 with the inclusion of that evernote that the SSMU-PGSS agree­ elusive service, daycare) listed on ment is strictly between these two page 3 of the SSM U 2000-2001 entities, thus the moneys trans­ Budget. The PGSS has never sug­ ferred to the SSM U should only be gested or implied that its member­ applied to the net-cost incurred by ship should take advantage of the that organization. As Graduate services provided by the SSM U at Students comprise a third of the zero cost. We have always, and w ill student population, we felt that it is continue, to pay our own way. reasonable to assume that we repre­ sent a third of the net-cost, or Sincerely, $8227. As for any ancillary charges Aaron J. Windsor such as building maintenance, Executive Chairperson accounting, etc., this is precisely Post-Graduate Students’ Society why the PGSS offered to top-up o f M cGill University the amount to -$16000. Your

Letters must include author's name, signature, identification le.g. U2 Biology, SSMU President) and telephone number and be tyjied double-spaced, submitted on disk in Macintosh or IBM word processor format, or sent by e-mail. Letters more than 200 words, pieces for Stop the Press more than 500 words, or submissions judged by the Editor-in-Chiefto be liljelious, sexist, racist, homophobic, or solev promotional in nature, will not be published. The Tribune will make all reasonable efforts to print submissions provided that space is available, and reserves the right to edit letters for length. Bring submissions to the Tribune office, FAX lo 398-1750 or send to tribune@ssmu.mcgill.ca.

Columns appearing under 'Editorial' heading are decided upon by the editorial board and written by a memljer of the editorial board. All other opinions are strict­ ly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The McGill Tribune, its editors or its staff. Please recycle this newspaper.

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The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

Opinion

Op/Ed 9

Editorial

The dangers of form mail When mass mailing just gets way out of hand electronic invitation to his wed­ ding, which took place last Sunday in the Metropolitan Community Church. He was married to Joe Am y Langstaff Varnell, also of Toronto. An email reply was sent in your name, stating To: Rt. Hon. Adrienne Clarkson, that Your Excellency regretted your Governor General of Canada inability to attend but that you From: Amy Langstaff wished the couple well.

Re: The Politics of Post The bishops learned of this response and were considerably ran­ Dear Madam: kled, as bishops sometimes are.

Your spokesperson, Stewart am truly saddened to find that Wheeler, was quick to distance you my first official correspondence I from the offending message (well, it with Rideau Hall must concern wasn’t offending to everyone — it an action on the part of Your was read aloud at the wedding of Excellency with which I have no Messrs. Bourassa and Varnell), choice but to take issue. I read with insisting that it was a form letter, a heavy heart of the heated corre­ sent to thousands upon thousands spondence between your staff and of disappointed function givers, the Canadian Conference of party throwers, fund raisers, and brides and grooms each year, and Catholic Bishops last week.

Lest Your Excellency should be that the bishops should not imagine confused (someone of your station that the email was a statement of can hardly be expected to handle approval of the same-sex union in every scrap of correspondence question hand-stamped by Your addressed to her; you may be igno­ Excellency. The bishops were not rant of the exchange of which I quieted by Mr. Wheeler’s assur­ Monsignor Peter write), I w ill offer a thumbnail ances; sketch of the events to date. Last Schonenbach, general secretary of week, Toronto bank manager Kevin the bishops’ conference, insisted Bourassa sent Your Excellency an that you were accountable for corre­ spondence written by staff on your

Open Letter

I

behalf and that this letter was an unacceptable message for an office as elevated as your own to be send­ ing.

I feel it my responsibility as a citizen to echo the bishops’ con­ cerns, and to adumbrate for you and your staff but a few of the implications of the email your rep­ resentatives so carelessly sent off last week. Imagine with me if you w ill — if you can even conjure in your distinguished mind the horror that would be — the sort of place Canada would become if we allowed gay men and lesbians to receive form letters and generic mailings just as other members of the general public do. Imagine the disgrace. Imagine the disorder. I think it w ill soon be apparent to Your Excellency that the privilege of receiving generic correspondence is one that Canadian society cannot afford to extend to those who do not conform to the moral standards our forbears worked so hard to establish in this rugged, untamed land.

The trend begins innocently enough: “Dear Sir or Madam: I wish you (and your______ (option­ al)) every happiness on the occasion of your________.” Doesn’t seem like

the sort of thing that w ill cause soci­ ety to slowly unravel, does it? But before anyone knows what has hap­ pened, Governor General, form let­ ters lead to further correspondence and these people are receiving com­ mercial mail. “Not to worry,” you insist. “I don’t mind if they receive the same coupons as their hetero­ sexual neighbours and save thirty cents on a jar of peanut butter.” But the repercussions are so much more serious than that. T h in k, Your Excellency, I implore you to T H IN K .

Menus from take-out restau­ rants. Once those start showing up in the mailbox, gays and lesbians start to think, “W hy don’t we just order a pizza? In fact, why don’t we just shack up and destroy the nuclear family while we’re at it?”

Then, once they’re holed up in their domestic bunkers, the offers of magazine subscriptions start turn­ ing up. They subscribe, and start to keep abreast of current affairs. And the mail just keeps rolling in!

They’re entering sweepstakes and pooling their winnings to further their insidious agenda. They’re get­ ting free estimates of how much it w ill cost to clean their pizza saucestained carpets and drapes, and

before you know it, they control the whole in-home service sector.

Harrowing, isn’t it? But wait — I haven’t even gotten to the chain emails yet. Gays and lesbians start sending those on, we’ve got a whole seedy subculture of these people marching around with good luck they’ve amassed via their hotmail accounts. Who knows what evil they might wreak with all that good luck, such a benign asset in the hands of decent Canadians?

Governor General, I ’m sure you and your staff can elaborate the remainder of this horrifying sce­ nario for yourselves. It’s plain to me, as I hope it is to you, that it’s not so much marriage that’s the issue here, as the bishops seem to think, but the danger of gays and lesbians being incorporated into the nation­ al generic mail community. Form letters and mass commercial mail­ ings have a proud tradition in this great land, and I trust that you, like me and many others I am sure, would hate to see them fall into the wrong hands.

Yours respectfully, Amy Langstaff

The howl of the suburbanite \ /hy doesn't everyone want to be part of the same place?

Depravedlndifferenc I ) ii n c a n

he mere mention of out­ raged suburbanites’ —once I get past the apparent oxy­ moron - brings to mind images from the movie ‘Edward Scissorhands’, with pastel-clad folks leaving the comfort of their splitlevel homes to siege the evil house, the source of their anxiety. Sound familiar? Just think of the huge rally recently on M cGill College to protest against the “megacity”. No doubt about it: outraged suburban­ ites are a dime a dozen these days on the Island of Montreal.

Many anglophones have con­ vinced themselves that the unifica­ tion of Montreal is little more than a thinly-veiled move by the P Q to deprive them of their linguistic rights. T h is is the philosophy described aptly by one of my pro­ fessors as “just because you’re para­ noid, it doesn’t mean that they’re not out to get you.” I disagree with those anglos; I believe that there are other issues at stake which w ill have more impact on the lives of

R eid Montrealers.

As I ’ve expressed in other columns, I believe that one of Montreal’s best characteristics is its engaging, exciting, and bilingual city centre. I would expect that most suburbanites (especially those from the inner-suburbs like Westmount and Outremont) would agree to some extent. So why are they upset about being integrated with that centre? In short, aside from the paranoid unilingualists, they’re afraid that they’ll either pay more or receive lower-quality services, or both. I ’ll be the first to admit that their fears are probably justified.

But that doesn’t mean the uni­ fication plan is wrong; it simply means that many of the existing municipalities have had an easy ride for a long time. Too long.

It is the nature of cities in Canada (and beyond) that the city core is where most affluent citizens work, at professional and business offices, though most live elsewhere.

It is also where those most in need

of services and who are most unable to contribute financially beyond their own needs live, often so that they are within easy reach of their low-paying service jobs. The result, if you carve the affluent areas out of the city to create a hodge-podge of municipal­ ities like Montreal’s current make­ up, is that the affluent citizens come into the city core every day and use Montreal’s services without ever paying for them. Meanwhile, their municipalities - who neither have to pay for a massive daily influx of visitors nor for services for the city’s less-affluent - build and maintain beautiful libraries and snow-free sidewalks.

In other words, suburban Montrealers depend on the city for their income but enjoy the benefits of their isolated status. No other major Canadian city has to face such a situation, where through the evolution of a city the richest neigh­ bourhoods have managed to escape the burden of shared civic responsi­ bilities. Rather than looking out for our collective well-being, which is made more difficult by both the inequity of the current structure and the inability to make macro­ decisions in the best interests of all Montrealers, suburban isolationists '

tend towards the ideas behind wealthy American gated communi­ ties. In short, they want all of the benefits and none of the costs.

Who can blame the citizens of these municipalities for wanting to preserve this enviable status quo?

Their protests are to be expected, but they go too far when they mock Montreal’s ability to provide highquality services. Mayor Bourque and his team may not be the most efficient civic administrators on the face of the planet, but the bottom line is that Montreal as it is current­ ly constituted simply does not have the tax base to provide a compara­ ble level of services to the smaller municipalities.

Interestingly, in the storm sur­ rounding this legislation I haven’t seen anyone ask how these measures w ill affect Montreal’s large post-sec­ ondary student population.

Somewhat ironic, I think, given how proud many people seem to be that we’re here in the first place; proud of the ‘city of knowledge’.

Most of us live in central Montreal, in close proximity to M cG ill, UdeM, Concordia, and UQ AM , and pay taxes through our landlords to the C ity of Montreal.

And we put up with streets and sidewalks that, when they’re not

covered in uncleared snow, show more litter than streets I ’ve seen anywhere else in Canada. W ith appropriate contributions finally coming from the wealthier areas of the city, some of the burden w ill of maintaining the city w ill be lifted off us and we w ill benefit from improved services.

So, here’s my advice: when you hear suburbanites howl, follow their lead and think about your own selfinterest as a true Montrealer. And then hope like hell that Pierre Bourque (or whoever defeats him) is more adept at shuffling papers than Edward Scissorhands.

10 Op/Ed

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

•• • E l l i p s i s * * * Oooh! Look at us! W e just re d e s ig n e d o u rse lv e s!

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This week, helped along by the truly beautiful redesign of the section, you lucky, lucky people get a recipe for Carrot Ginger Soup. Lucky you.

Ingredients:

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4 cups chicken broth 1 cup chopped onions 2 cloves minced garlic 2 teaspoons grated ginger root 3 cups chopped carrots' 1 teaspoon ground thyme 1/2 cup orange juice 1/2 cup buttermilk

3-4 drops hot pepper sauce (defi­ nitely optional) 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1 tablespoon chopped fresh pars­ ley (also optional)

Nutritional Information: Just so you know, per serving you’ll get: 99 calories, 2.1 g fat, 18g car­ bohydrate, 4.1 g protein, 122 mg sodium, 1 mg cholesterol. Calories from fat: 17.6%.

Footnotes: 1Did you know that carrots are protectors against cancer, they promote a healthy immune system, good vision, and healthy skin, hair, bones and teeth? Also, did you know that carrots are actually better for you when they’re cooked? This is because cooking them helps to dissolve the cell walls, making the nutrients more readily available for the body to use.

Amazing stuff, eh?

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Instructions: Start by pouring 1/2 cup of the broth into a large saucepan. Add the onions, garlic and ginger root and cook this stuff over medium-high for about 3 minutes. Then add in the rest of the broth, the carrots, the thyme and the orange juice. Bring this all to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover the pot and simmer it for about 20 minutes, or until the carrots are cooked. Now you’ll need a blender or a food processor to blend this stuff up. Once it’s all blended you can add the buttermilk, the hot pepper sauce if you like it spicy, and the pepper.

D O N O T let this boil or else the buttermilk w ill curdle. You can just stir this over low heat until the soup is warm again. Now serve the soup, sprinkling it with the fresh parsley.

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In this startlingly, dare we say frighteningly, original game, your task is to make as many words as possible using any combination of the nine letters arrayed to my immediate right. You can use letters once only per word.

Proper nouns, slang terms, and contractions, of course, are welcomed with opened arms.

Using these nine letters, I personally1formed 109 words.

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35. Effect of bronchitis 38. Weak spot 39. Indian and Arctic 40. Before 4 L Full 42. Anatomical windows?

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60. 9th months, abbv.?

61. Come to blows 62. Grain

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Tuesday, January 23, 2001

Paying heed to the w ater gods Justin Renard

Inside the 3715 Peel building classroom, activist and author Anna Paskal greeted and welcomed old friends and the general public.

There was an air of home, almost like family reunion. It felt as if everyone there was already well acquainted even though most of them were not. And as the small room filled, the interested and curi­ ous crowded towards the rear, forc­ ing the event coordinators to haul away tables of displayed books and refreshments.

Paskal’s expression betrayed that she was not expecting such an immense turnout, although she was delighted nonetheless. But this is not the first time she has been a part of a gathering of people to tell a story and send a message.

Recently, the Centre for Developing-Area Studies (CD AS) of M cGill put forth a presentation

by Paskal on her book The Water Gods: The Inside Story o f a World Bank Project in Nepal, released last

October. Accompanied by CDAS Director Rosalind Boyd, CD AS Associate Fellow Billur Gunguren and the International Secretariat for Water in Montreal’s Deputy Secretary General Gabriel Regallet, Paskal spoke about her novel and provoked discussion on the issues concerning the controversial World Bank-funded hydropower project, Arun III. The Water Gods, set in 1995, traces Paskal’s, then a 22-year-old undergraduate student studying development politics at Hampshire College in Massachusetts, journey with her mother, writer M errily Weisbord, on a trek into Nepal’s Arun Valley, site of the proposed two billion dollar dam. Weisbord was making the trip to collect infor­ mation for a radio documentary on the project.

Paskal and Weisbord joined a team of a documentary film crew, interpreters, sherpas and Cree and Indian activists to, as Paskal writes, “hear the stories and points-of-view of people whose lives have already been and might increasingly be, affected by a large-scale foreign-aid project.”

During the proj­ ect, the team met with the indigenous Rai, Tharu and Tamang vil­ lagers, showing them a 10-minute documen­ tary on the Canadian aboriginal campaign against the James Bay hydroelectric project.

The goal was to increase awareness and create a forum through which the natives could express their consternation.

To fully capture the weight of the con­ troversy, Paskal narrat­ ed what it was like to hike the mountains of Nepal with over 30 others — complete with documentation and video equipment — and explained in detail the major politi­ cal and business deals taking place before and during their trip.

Sim ilar to the many gatherings with curious and unsure vil­ lagers, Paskal again was at the heart of an audi­ ence that Thursday, delivering anecdotes and awareness.

She summarized her trip and read excerpts from her book, while pre­ senting slides of the images now locked in her memory.

“We did not realize it was such a hot potato because of the ramifi­ cations it would have for the entire

country,” Paskal said in explaining her original reaction to facts regard­ ing the project.

In the mid-1980s only ten per­ cent of Nepal’s 25 million people had access to electricity. Arun III was designed with enough capacity

to significantly increase this per­ centage, and in turn, spur industry, international investment and mod­ ernization.

Pundits countered that the dam would create an economic cri­ sis, as it would cost over twice the annual budget of Nepal, with for­

eign engineers, contractors and laborers carrying out most of the work.

Environmentalists and devel­ opment economists claimed that the dam would result in the dis­ placement of thousands of people and threaten hundreds of endangered species.

W ith approximately 450,000 indigenous peoples living in set­ tlements throughout the two-kilometer deep valley, few were aware just how threat­ ening Arun III was.

Paskal described the numerous encounters with vil­ lagers who naively believed that Arun III was going to directly help them, not giving thought to their own endangerment.

However reluctant as many villagers were at first, Paskal’s team managed to set the record straight.

“I felt what was most successful were the one-on-one dis­ cussions with passerbys on the way,” she commented. “At the village level there are inferred politics at play, so people won’t speak their minds.”

Upon leaving Nepal, Paskal’s team arrived only to hear word that Arun III had been approved. Fortunately, a scathing World Bank report of the project convinced the World Bank President-elect James Wolfensohn to unilaterally cancel the project.

But in 1998 Arun III was again up for bid, and now Eurorient Investment Group USA holds the

Lifting the veil of oppression iacquie Aquines

Thoughts of the Islamic reli­ gion often bring to mind practices with negative connotations. Some feel that the teachings of Islam are sexist and demeaning to women but contrary to this initial impres­ sion, the teachings of Mohammed were actually very feminist for his time. For example, it is perhaps one of the only main religions that spec­ ify women’s rights by abolishing such sex-discriminating practices as female infanticide.

Recently, distinguished lectur­ er Dr. Homa Hoodfar, from Concordia University’s department of sociology and anthropology pre­ sented a seminar, hosted by the M cGill faculty of law, on ‘Women

Living Under Muslim Laws’ (W LU M L). Hoodfar is vociferous and distinguished activist with W LU M L. The mandate of W LU M L, which is part of the International Solidarity Network, is to “build equitable and democratic societies,” Hoodfar explained.

“Muslim women don’t know much about their counterpart Muslim countries, such as Iran, Pakistan, or Egypt.

The purpose of the network is to provide a horizontal link between them.”

The W LU M L has effected sig­ nificant changes within Algeria. “ [We were able to] raise consci­ entiousness about the disadvantages of having the head of the family vote on behalf of women,” said Hoodfar.

Applying intense pressure, the group managed to change Algerian laws so that women now have the right to vote for themselves, as opposed to being represented by their husband or father. The organ­ ization has also fought for interna­ tional and national recognition of rape as a war crime.

There are many issues today that lin k Muslim law to the infringement of human rights.

Hoodfar mentioned a case regard­ ing a Sri Lankan migrant worker who became pregnant after being raped by her employer while work­ ing in Abu Dhabi. Hoodbar states in her paper entitled Building Civil Societies : A Guide for Social and Political Activism, that “The Abu

Dhabi government was treating the case as adultery, since without w it­

nesses the woman could not prove the rape.”

In order for a woman to prove rape in Abu Dhabi, she must pro­ vide at least two male eye-witnesses —an impossibility in most rape sit­ uations. The girl was convicted of adultery, and sentenced her to death by stoning — to occur two months after she was to give birth.

Women activists took up this case and were successfully able to return the woman back to Sri Lanka with the child.

Despite the positive outcome in this case, Hoodfar stressed the tendency for western societies to treat the symptoms of oppression, rather than the cause. As an exam­ ple, she cited the situation of a 17year-old Nigerian woman, Bariya Ibrahim Magazu. She had a child

contract.

Paskal’s presentation was fol­ lowed by thought provoking talks

by Gunguren and Regallet.

Gunguren shared her experience from the site of a similar dam proj­ ect in Brazil, where proponents raved about its benefits, but failed to mention other statistics — like 40,000 displaced households as a result of its construction.

“The history of dams is a his­ tory of disappointment,” said Regallet, a specialist on the politics of water. “We should speak on behalf of the people and act as cata­ lysts of change, but leave the people to speak on what concerns them.”

Although Paskal’s venture was unsuccessful in plugging the flow of Arun III, her efforts were not for nothing. Through the publication of her thesis her message has reached out to affect the public and even government.

Since the trek, Paskal, now 27, has been in the business of docu­ mentary films. Her most recent, Pressure Point, is a film on antiglobalization protests and civil dis­ obedience. And last week, Paskal left for a five-month trip to SouthEast Asia. A “sort of hiatus” she called it.

“My partner and I are going to travel, rest and visit social justice organizations,” she said. “We are going to work at an orphanage for Korean children in Sangklaburi, Thailand.”

At the orphanage, Paskal w ill help where she can and aid in a weaving cooperative as an initiative to bring about alternative income generating programs for women.

Paskal sees herself trying many dif­ ferent things in life in many differ­ ent places, but one thing w ill remain the same, she w ill send a message.

**n I

out of wedlock and was sentenced to receive 180 lashes for offending Allah — 100 lashes for having premartial sex and 80 for defaming the names of the three men she accused of raping her. Canadian amnesty groups got wind, and set about to adopt Magazu, to save her from her punishment. Canadain activities have been cited as one of the rea­ sons that the punishment has been reduced to 100 lashes.

The extreme sentencing of Magazu was due to the implemen­ tation of the new Zamfara Sharia Penal Code, Islamic jurisprudence, which is a fundamentalist code that must be recognized before any legal judgements are made. The institu­ tion of this Islamic law has sparked Please see W O M E N ’S, page 15

12 Features

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

Reading week travel for the monetarily challenged Reading week may be a month away, but start planning now Finding a travel plan that suits your wants and budget is a pretty The atmosphere is ideal. The big challenge (you mean I can’t go scenery is lush and green. The on a Caribbean cruise for $350 and sandy white beaches in the fore­ a used economics textbook?). But ground invite you to sacrifice your don’t despair! Though your bank body to the sun gods. Freshly balance doesn’t look like it w ill get squeezed orange juice and a stack of you out of your apartment, you’d be honey-glazed pancakes arrive at surprised how far your money can your door promptly to welcome the take you if you shop around.

I f calling, checking, and organ­ afternoon. izing your own travel plans sounds Then flash to another scene — like too much of a hassle, then you you’re rushing to school in the a.m ., might need a travel agent. There are your face is frozen, your left foot many travel agencies in this city, just got soaked in a slush puddle, and one of them is right on univerand after paying for tuition and books there is scarcely enough money for a morning coffee.

We have barely attended two weeks of class, but the thought of Many students choose Reading Week (February 19-23) is to go on a short holialready in our minds. Although the day, visit friends, or use words spring, Montreal, and February aren’t exactly a match, stu­ the opportunity to do dents w ill settle for just about any­ what many students do thing that involves a possible vaca­ best: drink and sleep. tion from the bitterness of winter.

Despite its highly academic name, Reading Week doesn’t have to be a time purely for studying.

Many students choose to go on a short holiday, visit friends, or use sity grounds: Voyages Campus. the opportunity to do what many Located in the basement of the Shatner Building, it is a great source students do best: drink and sleep.

Racquel Kirsch

44

McGill Office of Student Exchanges and Study Abroad

A Message for Quebec Residents* Quebec Government Awards for Study Outside Quebec are available for M cGill students who participate in a student exchange or study abroad.

Who is eligible?

Students who are Quebec residents and • have completed 15 M cGill credits and are registered for 15 McGill credits at the time of application. Masters and Ph.D. students must have completed 9 credits of course work for non-thesis programs and one full-time semester for thesis programs, at the time of application.

Please note that graduate students are not eligible to apply if they are in additional session.

• have a CGPA greater than 2.7 • are pursuing full-time studies while enrolled in an Exchange or Study Abroad program outside Quebec.

Priority will be given to students whose study abroad experience is deemed integral to their program of study.

• How do I apply?

The McGill University Bilateral/CREPUQ Exchange Application Form will serve as application for McGill students participating in an official M cGill exchange program.The application deadlines for exchanges in September 2001 and January 2002 are Monday, February 5,2001 • (CREPUQ ) and Wednesday, February 7,2001 (Bilateral).

M cGill students studying away on their own must complete a special application form available at the Office of Student Exchanges and Study Abroad, or on the website indicated below. The deadline for receipt of the completed application forms and attachments is Tuesday, April 10,2001.

For more information see www.aro.mcgill.ca/student/red.htm or visit the Office of Student Exchanges and Study Abroad James Administration Annex, 847 Sherbrooke St. West Office hours: Monday to Friday 10:00 am - 3:00 pm *As defined by the rules established by the Ministry of Education of Quebec.

of travel info and offers competitive prices.

When planning your vacation, you’ll probably come across the question of whether or not you should buy a package tour. Packages are best for the traveler who doesn’t like to do any planning during the vacation, says Audré Chartier, trav­ el consultant at Voyages Campus.

Though the package may cost you less, you’ll have to be willing to fol­ low the set schedule.

“Packages are usually all-inclu­ sive, but [buying one] depends on the person,” she says. “It’s a psy­ chological thing.”

an example of the latter, consider New York City. It has three airports: LaGuardia, JF K , and Newark.

Opening up the option of flying to any one of them w ill increase your chances of finding a good flight.

Some airlines offer special deals to travelers who buy more than one return trip to the same destination.

along the way. You could pay for a ticket to Ottawa and share two nights in a motel with someone for $ 100.

Greyhound covers Canada, but also holds a solid footing in the United States. W ith tracks going in all directions from Abbotsford to Washington, your destination is

Plan your voyage on the net

One of the most effortless places to start looking for cheap travel is online. There are dozens of online travel providers, be they an actual airline or an independent agency. W ith the hundreds of providers, Canadian consumers have to be extra careful when look­ ing for travel on the Internet. Many sites originate from the Unites States, meaning that you have to pay your fare in American dollars, and often flights are not available from Canada.

Despite it’s convenience, plan­ ning a vacation in front of the com­ puter screen is not PhD student Chris Worsley’s cup of tea.

“There’s an old-fashioned quality to person-to-person con­ tact,” he says. “I even go down [to an agency] in person to verify my tickets.”

If you are going to search the net for travel, there are three notable sites that service Canadian consum ers •.www.aircana.da. ca, www.exit.ca, and www.canada.com.

Though A ir Canada’s site is easy to use, it w ill not, for obvious reasons, quote prices from other airlines.

This means that you’re only getting A ir Canada’s lowest price. W ith its recently acquired monopoly over the Canadian skies and subsequent fare hikes, the prices may not be the lowest available to you.

To get fares from many air­ lines, you must go through an inde­ pendent agency. Searches on exit.ca and canada.com w ill present you with flights from both major and chartered airlines. Chartered air­ lines (such as West Jet, Royal Airlines) can often fly you to your destination for less than the big competition.

When searching for flights, flexibility is the key. The more options you give the search engine, the more possibilities it can show you in return, and the better chance you have of getting a cheap flight.

Being flexible means trying differ­ ent times of the day, traveling on a weekday (it’s usually cheaper), and looking for flights that land in dif­ ferent airports in the same city. For

This can yield big savings, especial­ ly if you’re using Reading Week as an opportunity to go home. It’s also handy if you can find a few people going to the same place, and you can split the booklet. Delta Airlines offers a New York promotion where if you fly only on certain days; you can get 2 two-way tickets for $475a savings of almost $200 off the reg­ ular price.

Trains and buses

If the staying on the ground is more your style, the train is still a fast and easy way of getting around.

Via Rail, Canada’s national rail serv­ ice provider, offers a wide range of Canadian destinations for the domestic traveler. And unlike when booking a plane seat, traveling by rail and being a student actually means something. W ith the pur­ chase of an International Student Identity Card (IS IC ), full-time stu­ dents under 25 years of age can enjoy a 35 per cent discount on rail fares. The card costs $16, and is also recognized in over 90 countries as a legitimate student ID . It can be use­ ful for student discounts at movies, museums, and tours. You can get an IS IC at Voyages Campus.

If neither the plane nor train tickles your fancy, the bus w ill cer­ tainly ease your budgetary fears.

The Greyhound and Voyageur bus companies are the two most rep­ utable firms in the Montreal area.

Voyageur covers the Montreal/Ottawa/Toronto route.

You can go to Ottawa (return) for $40 or Toronto (return) for $90, with other stops in smaller towns

sure to be on the map. They offer many student discounts if you book in advance. Greyhound also offers many overnight buses, so you can get the driving over with while it’s dark.

Ride Board

For those who are comfortable traveling with complete strangers, the Ride Board can be a dream resource. If you plan on driving somewhere for the break and you want to pick up some extra cash, you can try putting up a notice on the carpooling board in the Shatner lobby. Conversely, if you need a ride you can respond to one of these notices or put up one of your own.

You’ll surely get to your destination for a very reasonable price.

Riding with an unfamiliar per­ son is not an issue for U3 Geography student Em ily DiFranco. Though not a generally trusting person, she feels safe know­ ing that these people are her peers.

“It’s better than hitchhiking,” says U3 Geography student Em ily DiFranco, “and it’s really cheap.”

Whatever you do this Reading Week, be sure to get plenty of R & R. It’s a great time to visit friends, not only because you haven’t seen them in a while, but because it makes good monetary sense.

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

Features 15

P la c e s to go Ian Speigel

celebrate their new year, ushering in Snake? Are

they on to something? W ell, you would have a tough time arguing in favour o f George Dubya’s serpen­ tine nature — he’s more like a lem­ ming — however, with regards to the

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pie (regular visi­

M oreover, those

This Tuesday the Chinese will the year o f the snake.

on your own.

Submit any half-baked (hence

N o t a good idea at all. The point is,

the name) idea to the site, and peo-

i f you’re unsure about the feasibility

o f other time wasting sites like:

www. adcritic. com, www. heavy, com.

14 Features

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

Falun Gong: Spiritualism since the '90s China, is a nine-year-old movement

Stephanie Levitz

the actual practice.

whose motions and mantra offer the

gy to improve your mind, body and spirit is quite fashionable these days — even Oprah has gotten into the game. And while yoga classes are packed, it’s not the only method to

media attention as a result o f the of

its

followers

in

practitioner into a state o f ding, or

tioner will become a better person.

“empty but conscious mind” and redirect energy flows in the body.

“ The practice is aimed to tell

Falun G ong followers has once

would a communist government be

people to harmonize the body and

again drawn international scrutiny

against it? They don’t like any kind

m ind

says

says Raisa Nones, who was a first

on the abuse o f human rights in

o f subordination and religion is

Yumin Yang, a Montreal practition­

time attendee at a Sunday Falun

China. It represents an unwanted

viewed as the worst o f all.”

er. “ It emphasizes more an inner

Gong practice session at Concordia.

a

bid

for

the

with

the

Universe,”

“ It takes you a different place,”

training path.”

Altogether not a religion

2008

This path is based on ancient Buddhist and Taoist traditions that

Olympics, and that Canada is plan­

practice that has garnered so much

positions. T h e exercises take the

English student. “ I mean, why else

making

the meditative

o f philosophy and

exercise through which the practi­

combination

However, the imprisonment o f

spotlight, considering that Beijing is

stretch yourself to nirvana.

persecution

religion,” said Jordan McCaul, a U2

practitioner a harmonized life.

Channeling your karmic ener­

Falun Gong,

“ I figure it must be a kind o f

ning a trade mission there early next

Falun G ong is not so much a

month. But few are familiar with

religion as it is a way o f life — a

44

of

The Bible tells us that

qigong, or harnessing the vital ener­

when someone slaps us, we

are rooted

in

the

principle

gy that is believed to exist in every living thing. Most often, the term

should

qigong is invoked when people

cheek, or that we should

speak

of

harnessing

energy

to

turn

the other

improve one’s physical and spiritual

be kind to our neighbours.

well-being — Tai Chi is one such

But that is hard to follow. 1

example.

Falun Gong, meaning cultiva­

don’t understand why —

tion o f the great law wheel, focuses

Falun Gong gives the why.

firstly on one’s mind and moral quality, which will in turn enhance

—

Kai Wang

one’s health. The movement was

V

developed by Master Li Hongzhi, ironically, with the full support o f the Chinese government, in 1992.

“ It is a different way o f learning

Its successful healing practices set

about human nature.”

Hongzhi on a teaching mission

“T h e feeling when you are in

across China, attracting thousands

practice and meditation is beyond

o f followers there and Falun Gong

words,” says Jennifer Nadeau, a

soon spread across the world.

Concordia student who has been

The two main texts o f Falun

practicing Falun G ong for a year

Gong are the Zhuan Falun and

and a half. “ I was very critical at

China Falun Gong, both penned by

first, wondering i f this was true, but

Hongzhi. Contained within them is

I realized it was more about attach­

the full philosophy o f Falun Gong,

ments and pre-conceived notions

as well as the five exercises used to

that were holding me back.”

bring the body in accordance with

Part o f Falun Gong’s philoso­

its main principles o f truthfulness,

phy rests on giving up attachments,

compassion and tolerance.

whether to things temporal, such as

“The book can bring us health

meat, or spiritual, such as jealously.

and peace o f mind,” says Kai Wang,

W hile the Zhuan Falun does not

a Concordia graduate student and

explicitly tell practitioners not to eat

practitioner. “ W h y a person should

meat, it suggests that one’s attach­

be a better person — it gives me

ment to eating meat can be over­

answers to questions I ’ve pursued

come and one will accept that the

my whole life that I couldn’t find

killing o f things is in violation o f the

anywhere else. It has enlightened

major principles o f the practice.

myself. “ Truthfulness, compassion and

Banned in China

tolerance,” continues Wang, “ is the real nature o f any human being.

In its early years, Falun Gong

Going back to your nature makes

was recognized by the Chinese gov­

you naturally good.”

ernment as an effective way o f improving the health and morality

International Following

in society. As the number o f follow­ ers grew, the government began to

M cG ill

B ookstore

C h a r l e s

I s a i a h

5 : O

u

F

R

O

M

P

A

T

R

B e r l i n

r s d a y , O

you

B l a t t b e r g ’s

t h i n g s .. . t h i s T h

in vites

p m

-

w a s i s

O

L T

U I

a b o u t

nd

f l o o r

o n

R

C

r i g h t

B

by h is

A

L

I

P

O

L

1 , o o k

b o o k :

S

T

I

T

a b o u t

w h e r e

F e b r u a r y 2

a lectu re

b a s e d

P I

to

I

T

O

C

S

m a n y h e

w e n t

w r o n g

2 0 0 1 s t o r e

C

a f é

M any practitioners are drawn

see the movement as a threat to the

to Falun G ong because o f its focus

regime. In July o f 1999, the govern­

on individual cultivation practice

ment banned Falun Gong on the

and lack o f set guidelines. Although

grounds that “the society had not

practice sessions are held several

been registered as required by the

times a week in cities across Canada,

law and had engaged in illegal activ­

including Montreal, they exist more

ities, advocating superstition and

for those who are new to Falun

spreading fallacies, hoodwinking

Gong, allowing them an opportuni­

people, inciting and creating distur­

ty to learn the exercises. Reading the

bances, and jeopardizing social sta­

book is not a prerequisite, nor are

bility” (China Daily, July 23, 1999).

there set times or duration o f prac­

Since then, the government has imprisoned hundreds o f followers in

tice.

“Master Li says everything is up

labour camps, most notably Zhang

to a person’s heart,” says Wang.

Kunlun, a Canadian academic who

“ Falun Dafa points to a person’s

had returned to China in the sum­

heart — formality can’t change the

mer o f 2 0 0 0 to care for his ailing

BOOKSTORE

heart.” both sitting and standing positions,

Chang Shan labour camp —- some

3 4 8 0 M c T a v is h • 3 9 8 -7 4 4 4

along with meditative music that

say as the result o f pressure from the

directs practitioners when to change

Canadian government.

mother-in-law. Last week, Kunlun

The exercises are performed in

was abruptly released from the Liu

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

Features 15

What's in a hangover? acetaldehyde does a good deal o f

centration can be greatly impaired.

damage to the body.

Congeners

Studies on pilots have shown men­

are another important hangover

tal acuity, visual skills and reflexes

contributor; these are impurities

may all remain dulled up to 12

that N ew Year’s celebrations have

color

darker

drinks

like

hours after drinking.

Makes you

brandy, whiskey, Kahlua, red wine

wonder what your pilot was up to

or Guinness.

the night before your flight, doesn’t

A

good

rule o f

come and gone, and hopefully so

thumb to follow: the clearer the

have your hangovers. But have you

alcohol, the fewer congeners, and

it?

W h y do we feel so thirsty

ever wondered, while doubled over

the less acute the hangover.

So

when we’re hungover? Alcohol is a

in pain, cursing that one last drink

stick to vodka, gin, white wine and

diuretic (a fancy w ord meaning it

from the night before, why am I

lighter colored beer.

makes you pee) and it inhibits a

feeling this way? W here is this nau­ sea,

headache,

excessive

thirst,

A more recent theory on what

chemical in the kidneys called anti­

causes hangovers has to do with

diuretic hormone. This hormone

insomnia, dizziness, lethargy and

inflam m ation.

all the rest com ing from? Here are

im m une w hite

your

normally prevents excessive loss o f

cells see

water through the kidneys. W ith

W hen blood

a few facts to mull over the next

lower levels o f the anti-diuretic

time you find yourself in you own

hormone, more circulating water is

personal post-alcohol hell.

T h e alcohol we drink is called ethanol, or ethyl alcohol.

excreted in the urine causing the

6 6

body to become dehydrated and A

W h en

good

you drink, chemicals like endor­

th u m b

phins, seratonin and dopamine are

c le a r e r

all released in your brain to cause that ‘happy’ or ‘drunk’ feeling that

th e

to

r u le

fo llo w :

th e

fe w e r

of

creating that excessive thirst. A lot

th e

o f the excreted water used by the

a lc o h o l,

kidneys to flush out the alcohol

co n gen ers,

toxins comes from other organs, like the brain. This further con­

comes with over-imbibing. As you

a n d t h e le s s a c u t e t h e

tributes to the headache that may

keep drinking the ethanol in alco­

h a n go ver.

already be the size o f N e w York.

hol continues to mess up your

So now you’ve got your brain,

body — it can interfere with your

your liver and your kidneys w ork­

nerves to create a feeling o f confu­

ing overtime. I f that’s not enough,

congeners)

something foreign in the body (like

alcohol also affects your heart by

you’ve consumed.

sion, as well as dampen your reflex­ es and generally slow you down.

up the impurities (like those nasty left

by

the

alcohol

T h e only recommendations doctors have are to drink water throughout the night (maybe alter­

viruses, or, in the case o f alcohol,

increasing blood pressure (likely

Does it work? T h e verdict is

nate one drink with one glass o f

That’s w hy alcohol is considered a

the congeners and the acetalde­

due to the release o f adrenaline-like

still out. U ntil it undergoes scien­

water); or at the very least drink

depressant.

hyde), they release small molecules

hormones). Your heart starts beat­

tific clinical study, it could just be

lots o f water before bed.

called

ing harder and faster, raising your

another placebo (along with raw

and eat something before or during

risk o f heart attack.

eggs and Tabasco, cow’s stomach,

beverage consumption -

rabbit droppings or any number o f

help absorb some o f those killer

similar ‘guaranteed remedies’ sug­

congeners.

Your liver processes ethanol by

cytokines,

w hich

cause

Also try

changing it into a toxic chemical

inflammation and give you flu-like

called acetaldehyde. W h en

this

symptoms. This could explain why

toxin accumulates in the body, you

hangovers often feel a lot like the

start to feel nauseous, your blood

flu. O ur bodies are better at getting

vessels dilate, giving rise to that

rid o f the breakdown products o f

A lot o f people drink, which

W h en you wake up with a

for thought: W h at i f a hangover is

w ell-know n

hangover headache.

alcohol than we are at fighting o ff

means a lot o f people get hungover.

hangover a com m on mistake is to

our body’s way o f punishing us for

Acetaldehyde is poisonous to the

flu viruses, which is w hy hangovers

So it follows that there is a big mar­

reach for the black coffee, N o t a

drinking?

liver since it prevents the transport

last at most a day but the flu can

ket for hangover remedies. Take

good idea seeing as coffee further

wouldn’t we be encouraging heavy

o f fat and protein out o f the liver

plague you for over a week.

Hangover remedies

it may

Finally, a little food (or drink)

gested over the years).

I f we cured hangovers

Sob’r-K, a US product that promis­

dehydrates you, worsening symp­

drinking and saying it’s alright to

cells. This explains w hy your liver

Alcohol has the unfortunate

es to get rid o f hangovers so you

toms. G o for water instead - it’ll

put such heavy strain on our bod­

becomes more and more fatty the

effect o f killing brain cells, which

can enjoy “any and all alcoholic

start to re-hydrate you. Also be

ies each time we go on a drinking

more you drink over the years.

do not regenerate — once they’re

beverages without the after effects

careful with painkillers like Aspirin

binge?

Eventually the acetaldehyde is fur­

gone they’re not com ing back.

o f a hangover.” H o w does this ‘mir­

or A d vil which can irritate the

drug company would turn away

ther processed into acetic acid,

A lcoh ol also changes the flow o f

acle cure’ work? T h e active ingre­

stomach and Tylenol which can

the billions o f dollars that could be

electrolyte ions through brain cells,

dient in Sob’r-K is some sort o f

strain an already overused liver.

made from a clinically accepted

slowing the speed at which neu­

special ‘activated carbon’ (basically

“ H air o f the dog” (drinking more

hangover cure? In the end, hang­

rons fire. T h e next morning, as the

it’s charcoal). It’s absorbed from

alcohol the next m orning) may

overs are definitely a hard problem

brain cells that are still around start

your stomach into the blood where

help with some symptoms but it’s

to swallow.

working again, dexterity and con­

it apparently goes around picking

really only delaying the inevitable.

which goes to the bladder for excretion.

W hat actually causes you to feel hungover is still up for debate.

As mentioned, accumulation o f

O n the other hand, what

Women's rights. Sharia and Koranic law continued from page 11 several widespread human rights debates.

The nature of Sharia H ood far tional wom en

promotes

activism educate

where

transna­ Muslim

themselves

on

Koranic verses so that they may bet­ ter understand their rights. She prompts women to “ inform [them­ selves] o f the government and the com m unity [since]

acquire autonomy, as opposed to

responded by saying that “ Sharia is

Saudi Arabia it wasn’t until after the

independence,

lives.

not divine law” and that women do

Traditionally, all the interpreting

late 1800’s) men decided that every­

H oodfar would like to see Muslim

have the right to educate themselves

has been done in a patriarchal ma

one’s modesty w ould

be better

women empowered “with autono­

o f the Koranic verses. “ It may have

ner, leading to the creation o f the

guarded i f women were completely

my, while stressing community” to

taken Christianity and other reli­

Sharia. For example the Koran

covered. This is where H oodfar’s

choose what they would like to do

gions to adopt to the rights o f

refers to modesty o f dress, but does

involvement with W L U M L comes

with their lives with respect to edu­

modernity, over a long period o f

not directly demand that a woman

in. The group holds annual conven­

cation, careers, and who they wish

time.

be com pletely enshrouded from

tions “to increase women’s knowl­

to marry, instead o f being coerced

There’s nothing inevitable for Islam

head to toe.

edge about both their common and

against their will.

to do the same.” It is this ability to

decide whether that person’s inter­

communities

use a lot o f Islamic law to justify their treatment o f wom en.”

A n y learned Muslim can inter­ pret the Koran him or herself. It is up to the Muslim community to

pretations w ill

to

be accepted.

Somewhere along the way (in

in

their

It didn’t happen overnight.

diverse situations in various con­

Undoubtedly, the intentions o f

remain unshaken in her convictions

Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty...

A n d say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty...

texts.”

It is not equality that Hoodfar

W L U M L will be met with some

that make Professor H om a Hoodfar

resistance. A perfect example o f this

a successful Muslim woman.

seeks, but rather equity between the

took place during the seminar.

sexes, where people get fair and just

young man, wearing a long beard,

treatment.

of

spoke o f Muslim fundamentalism.

W L U M L is to unify the struggles o f

H e accused her o f adopting a rela­

(24:31-32)

women living under Muslim law

tivistic, Western epistemology and

and have them band together to

abandoning the Sharia. Hoodfar

I

The

objective

A

For more information on Women Living Under M uslim Law, please see their website at www. wluml. org.

R P M

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

Features 17

How to get deported Notes from

z

0

Phillip Tr i p p enb a c h

T

here was a moment last year when I questioned whether

Australia, through the offices o f an

program is actually easier than it

Victorian avenues, a lively arts

apply

exchange program, is actually a

may seem, despite the nightmarish

scene and cultural life, and the

Confused yet? G et used to it - this

morning o f a cold clear night, and I was beginning to feel the effects o f

blizzard o f paperwork described

best and most varied cuisine on

is what the whole process is like.

above. There are really only two

the continent. D ue to some pecu­

Mercifully, the Exchange Centre is

the seemingly endless retinue o f

qualifications, ch ief o f which is

liarities

namely,

staffed by understanding, accom­

forms, documents and letters from

the willingness to go (and to work

Australia’s being in the Southern

m odating people w ho coach con­

deceased relatives that have to be

a little to make it happen). T h e

Hemisphere — I ’ll be going for the

fused

com pleted and submitted in tripli-

second requirement is a G P A o f

autumn

process w ith

44 I h a d n o id e a t r y in g

high

with

A u s tr a lia c o u ld b e

guidebooks, handbooks, and forms; m y computer swam in a nauseating

o f 2 0 0 1 , which

applicants

through

the

the gentleness o f

begins in late February. (It’s all

therapists. I can’t overemphasize

A

very confusing at first, but you get

h ow

respectable grade, but hardly in

used to it). School itself doesn’t

Exchange Centre is an annex o f

the “ N o-life-thanks-I’m-studying”

begin until March 5th, a fact all o f j the James administration build­ ing, near the M ilto n Gates on m y friends grit their teeth at. O f

sets

as

their

cu toff.

helpful

main

grams w ith dozens o f universities

stacked with piles o f brochures,

all

lucky buggers are off. In the mean­

calendars and university curricu­

tim e,

lums, enough

w orld.

1

chose

serious

contenders

were

I ’ll be on w alkabout in

to

fill

walls

The

course, exams run until the end o f

the

The

are.

June, tw o months after all you

over

campus.

they

M c G ill runs exchange pro­

Melbourne, Australia, but other

th is c o n f o u n d in g .

web o f e-mails sent and unsent. I

term

-

o ffice

to g e t sen t to

papers,

o f location

3.0 or above, which the exchange

category.

too tired to think straight. M y desk heaped

January.

good thing. T h at’s what I was

cramming-induced delirium. I was was

in

w orking on that night in January;

it was all worth it. It was mid-January o f last year, the early

fu ll-year,

hours o f

pleasant speculation. W h y

Southern Australia.

are

not

seriously considered chucking it all

Singapore, Paris, Birmingham . . .

out the w indow and ending the

the list is long. I also briefly con­

good story: M ontreal to Toronto J Flip open a university prospectus

sidered

to Los Angeles to Taipei to Kuala

tedium. I had no idea trying to get sent to Australia could be this con­ founding.

O nce upon a time, the perpe­ trators o f such heinous crimes as, say, stealing a lo a f o f bread, or insulting

the

m onarchy

were

loaded on ships and taken to some place w ild

and forbiddin g like

Canada or Australia. In those days getting deported was just one step short o f execution.

These

things

are

markedly different. Canada is a pretty cool place (especially in the w in ter)

and

T

gettin g

h

sent

is

to

U n iversity

in

Tokyo, until I remembered read­

Lum pur to

cate as part o f the application

ing that students in Japan typical­

days in Kuala Lumpur. It totals

process for M c G ill’s student for­

ly spend something to the tune o f

about 36 hours o f being sealed

eign exchange program.

2 0 hours a day studying just to

inside a 747, which is not exactly

keep

m y idea o f a good time.

Through some miracle I man­

up w ith

the course load

Sydney, w ith

three

(Intrigued as I was by the prospect

So, you feel like trying for an

and duly completed. T w o months

o f experiencing the land o f the ris­

exchange spot? First, you’d better

later I opened m y m ailbox to find

ing sun first hand, I intend m y

get a m ove on, as the deadline for

(to m y continued amazement) a

cultural experience to extend at

applications for the ‘B ’ term o f

letter

least slightly beyond the host uni­

2001-2 is late January. A ’ term or

versity’s library).

full-year applications are due in

o f acceptance of

from

the

M elb ou rn e

in

spending this term and the sum­

the second largest city in Australia.

unless you’re applying fo r

It’s a multicultural city o f three

autumn semester o f an Australian

m illion ,

exchange, in which case you can

G etting a spot in an exchange

w

e

e

k

a

t

known

fo r

M

stately

c

m ight find yourself deported to Australia for a year or so . . .

correspondant fo r the Tribune sta­ tioned down under.

N ovem ber o f the preceding year,

Australia. So that’s where I ’ll be

So I decided on M elbourne,

mer.

and dream a little. A t worst, you

P hillip Trippenbach is a foreign

aged to submit everything on time

U n iversity

days,

Waseda

T h e flight alone should be a

mosey down and give it a look?

G

il l A

t

h

the

le

t

ic

s

M a r tle t H o c k e y W ed n esd ay Ja n

2 4 . 6 :4 5 d m

v s W illia m s c o lle g e

W ed n esd ay Ja n

M cGill

vs

3 1 . 6 :4 5 p m

M id d le b u r y C o lle g e

ATHLETICS

Tickets on Sale Now at the Sports Centre For into: 398-7000 www.athletics.mcgill.ca

M c C o n n e ll A r e n a

$2 Students $4 Adults

18 Features

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

H o rse s a n d rats an d m o n k e y s oh my. continued from page 1 Tricked, Nian ate the beasts o f prey that plagued the villagers and their animals. W ith that, the old man rode away on Nian after coun­ seling the villagers to hang red paper decorations on the door to scare Nian away should he return. Later, it turned out the old man was an immortal god and the villagers were able to enjoy their peaceful lives without fearing Nian.

To this day, people celebrate the coming o f the new moon and conquest o f Nian.

and abundance while chicken is eaten for prosperity.

Often specific foods bring luck because o f the sound o f their Chinese names, which often resem­ ble other auspicious words. “ W e eat special dumplings called zhao zhi, which also means the turning o f the time in the N ew Year,” explained Professor Bill Wang of the East Asian Studies Department. “ Fish is also made because it sounds like the word for ‘more’ which means extra, additional, extra wealth.”

Do's and don'ts

Daily customs During each o f the fifteen days o f celebration, a special food with symbolic significance is prepared.

O n the first day, for example, the Chinese family eats a traditional vegetarian dish called jai, which is supposed to guarantee longevity. It is made with lotus seed (for fertili­ ty), ginkgo nut (for wealth), black moss seaweed (wealth) and dried bean curd (for fulfillment).

Aside from jai, whole fish is prepared to represent togetherness

There are several traditions practiced in order to ring in the N ew Year with style.

Throughout the home, it is important to clean thoroughly and decorate with objects that hold sym­ bolic meaning. For example, live plants denote rebirth and growth while candy trays laden with good­ ies are offered to guests in order for them to start the N ew Year o ff sweetly.

“There is a particular character which they put on the door,”

explained Wang, “ W hen guests come in they see this particular character fu which means happiness or fortune. But often they will put it upside down so that guests will comment on it. T h e word for upside down is dao which also means arrive’ so it is considered good luck for guests to say ‘Happiness is arriv­ ing’ by saying ‘Happiness is upside dow n .”

Guests and family members visit throughout the holiday often bearing oranges and tangerines, which are symbols o f abundant hap­ piness.

Generally, children are very well taken care o f around this time by being showered with red envelopes o f money to bring them prosperity. Also, firecrackers are lit in order to herald the N e w Year and keep the family from evil spirits who are scared away by the sound. “ Firecrackers play an important role in tradition because we need to scare away the devils and bad mon­ sters. Because the monster Nian was considered a special dangerous monster that ate children, firecrack­ ers were used to scare them away.

Before the use o f gunpowder, people would light bamboo to make a very

loud sound,” Wang said.

It is also very important that individuals set the tone for the upcoming year by putting their best foot forward. This- means a clean appearance and new clothes.

However, washing your hair would wash away the luck o f the N ew Year.

For the more traditional fami­ lies, customs such as kneeling down to serve tea may be observed around this date as well. “ In my family, the female in­ laws have to kneel down and serve tea to the elders. We also bow and offer incense to our ancestors. O f course, my mother hates it and does not kneel down before her in-laws and will book a trip ro anywhere but home. I hat’s called escaping the N ew Year,” commented H ong Kong-born Daniel Sze-Hin Ho, U3 English literature.

It's a family affair W ithout a doubt, the most important aspect o f the Ghinese N ew Year is coming together with your family for meals and gather­ ings. A ll over China, people will travel for miles to reunite with their family for the holiday season.

“The first thing o f the new year is that all the family will come back home and gather because for the whole year they may be away work­ ing in different regions. T h ey must come back and this is called tuan yuan, family reunion.'' Wang said.

And, of course, food is the cor­ nerstone o f any Chinese family. , “ For me, Chinese N ew Year means elaborate dinners with my extended family. Obviously, aunts, uncles and cousins are expected to attend and share a meal. We usually go out the evening before or the day of the N ew Year,” Boston-born Emily Wong, U2 Anatomy said.

Mooning over you Similar to the Western zodiac, the Chinese believe that each year represents a certain animal. This animal, they say, is the animal that lives in one’s heart and will manifest itself in an individual’s personality.

The Chinese lunar calendar has twelve animals that reoccur in a cycle and while this year is the snake, next year will be the horse.

H o r o s c o p e g u id e : T h e C h in e s e C a le n d a r W h a t y e a r w e r e y o u b o r n ?

Though shy, Boar people have tremendous inner strength. Th ey are honest, kind and affectionate. They never retreat once a goal has been set, but rarely seek help from others. They get along best with Rabbit and Sheep people, worst with Serpent year people.

1916 - 1928 - 1940 - 1952 - 1964 - 1976 - 1988 - 2000 1922 - 1934 - 1946 - 1958 - 1970 - 1982 - 1994 - 2006 O 0 0

(2 ÇA

Outwardly stubborn and short-tempered, Dragon people are gentle, sensitive and soft-hearted, and considered fortunate because the Dragon symbolizes life, growth, riches, virtue and harmony. They get along best with Rat, Monkey or Snake people; worst with people born in year o f the Dog.

1921 - 1933 - 1945 - 1957 - 1969 - 1981 - 1993 - 2005 Hare people are very lucky and successful. They are usually talented and ambitious; good at business ventures. They are honest people but tend to be melancholy. Year o f the Hare people are best suited to Sheep, Boar or D og year people. Rat and Rooster year people are the worst match.

Determined and ambitious, Year o f the Rooster people often under­ take tasks beyond their capabilities. Th ey are bold and outspoken, often distrusting others but capable o f having loyal friends. They are best suited to those born in the Year o f the Ox, Serpent or Dragon; worst suited to Rabbit year people.

1920 - 1932 - 1944 - 1956 - 1968 - 1980 - 1992 - 2004 tiger year people are sensitive, compassionate and considerate.

However, being short-tempered, they can be powerful enemies.

Though usually deep thinkers and careful planners, they tend to con­ flict with authority. 1 hey get along best with those born in the Year o f the Dragon, Horse or Dog; unsuited for Snake or Monkey year

Monkey year people are skillful, talented and flexible. They are also very original, creative and sensible. They have poor opinions o f oth­ ers and can be strong willed and short-tempered. Th ey are compati­ ble with Dragon, Rat, Rabbit, Sheep and D og year people; incom­ patible with Serpent, Boar and Tiger year people.

1912 - 1924 - 1936 - 1948 - 1960 - 1972 - 1984 - 1996 Rat year people are charming, hard working and thrifty. T h ey tend to be penny-pinchers and like to save money. Th ey are often ambi­ tious. They get along best with Dragon, M onkey or O x people; worst with Year o f the Horse people.

1918 - 1930 - 1942 - 1954 - 1966 - 1978 - 1990 - 2002 CO

o JZ

Horse people are often popular due to their cheerfulness and talka­ tiveness. W ise and talented, they handle money matters well. They enjoy crowds and entertainment but are independent and short-tem­ pered. Horse people are most compatible with D og and Sheep peo­ ple; worst with Rat people.

arts & entertainment ♦

T u e s d a y J a n u a r y 2 3 , 2001

Music videos: totally Speared?

W h e r e h a v e a ll t h e g o o d o n e s g o n e ? would we know that a certain angry rapper is

the bad acting in Dark Angel. Dancing w ith a

in fact so tortured by his fame i f not for his

chair has not been cool

‘T h e W ay I Am ’ video?

since the 80s, and it’s even

dinner tables and in class. C om e on, how else

Steph Kwoo Once upon a time, the music video was the “ it” thing o f the enter­

But heck, what is wrong with some o f

less so when the dance

tainment industry. In the

the videos that bombard m y screen lately?

leans dangerously toward

days when trashy movies

W h y are they so bad?

were made a little too

the kind o f erotic perform­

Lots o f recent music videos are cliché

ance

you

can

find

manufac­

and monotonous. Their lack o f originality

tured Magnum P.I. look-alikes dominated the

and entertaining values prompt us to change

dancing with a chair have

small screen, and music records were unable

the channel immediately whenever they are

anything to do with being

to engage all o f our needed-to-be-pampered

on, as if to escape some form o f torment that

senses, music videos came along and swept us

we cannot endure. Indeed, no one can take

stronger?

O f course, 1 understand

away. T h ey were something fresh and new,

too much o f watching a Britney video with­

that Britney’s video is part o f

with no rules or conventions; creativity was

out worrying that he might have a heart

the bigger scheme o f making

the only expectation. W e liked th em ...A

attack, or the new Dream (P u ff Daddy’s girl

her the queen o f all things pop,

LO T. W e liked them so much that when a

group) video without wondering if his mem­

but there are better ways to do it.

whole channel was created just for them, we

ory is playing a trick on him since the video

Take ‘Stan’ for example. It is a

could not wait to call ourselves the M T V gen­

so much resembles a certain N ’S Y N C bye-

video that grabs your full attention,

eration.

bye-bye

As

with a story as stirring as a Stephen King

w h ole

M any years have since passed. And for

MuchMusic decides to show these videos

novel assembled in a high quality production.

video simply because it is so boring.

many years, we have faithfully stuck to that

every hour despite their pure badness, it’s

T h e video obviously sells its pissed-at-the-

label. There was never anything wrong with

remote control to the rescue.

world artist, but it doesn’t fail to entertain us,

N ’S Y N C ’s newest video is as boring. The jump-and-zoom shots are getting really old

often,

mass

video

(which

was

good ).

H ow

at

Supersexe.

does

that. Music videos were good and entertain­

Seriously, how bad can Ms. I-like-to-

ing. T h ey were the coolest things in the uni­

bare-it-all Spears’ ‘Stronger’ video be? The

does it?

Some other major disappointments are

verse according to us...

ever-shocking nymph not only seeks to pol­

the two David Meyers videos, ‘Original

angelic soft focus used in the video cannot

So here I am, an M T V generation kid,

lute us with her pretentious lip-sync “ live”

Prankster’ and ‘This I Promise You’, which

make someone look less criminal-like.

with MuchMusic on 24/7 in m y apartment,

acts, dressed in her petite little bra-tops and

are played as often as Britney’s. N o t only do

I f the quality o f the music videos contin­

trying to stay connected with the rest o f the

nude color pants. N o w she wants to declare

Offspring’s songs all sound the same, their

ues to go downhill, we will be forced give up

world. Apart from the entertainment factor,

her hazardous sense o f style in her video as

videos look the same too. W e can well do

our M T V generation badge before we get all

being informed about the latest music videos

well. First o f all, the little dramatic sequence

without those distracting beach/coast/dock/

bitter and have to reminisce about the good

is crucial for my social life — knowing how

at the beginning o f the video is just plain silly

whatever-you-call-it scenes, which are one big

old days. To our dear music video producers

Britney looks or whom Blink 182 mocks pro­

- I had a heartfelt laugh at Britney’s precious

cliché now in music videos. M y friend told

and directors, it’s time to get back to work!

vides much appreciated discussion topics at

one line, “whatever,” the same way I laugh at

me that he has never been able to watch the

and overused and by the way, Mr. Meyers, the

Stephen lays down the foundation T h e b r ic k s a n d m o r t a r o f w r it in g a c c o r d in g to K in g yourself and the subject you are dealing with,

he then sold to his mother. Later, in the

some o f them unpleasant. Firstly, i f you are a

and focusing on what your story is really

eighth grade, he sold short novel versions o f

mediocre writer, no amount o f hard work or

“ Read a lot and write a lot”

Roger Corman horror films he had seen and

creative writing classes will make you a good

This is the most important piece o f

got in trouble for it. As he grew up, his writ­

writer or even a competent one. O n ly focus

advice Stephen K ing has to give to potential

ing became more refined and his reading

and hard work will allow you to improve your

writers in his new book, On Writing, a mem­

more extensive. H e started sending short sto­

writing. Guides that make claims to the

oir o f the craft. Everything else King has to say

ries to professional publications and received

magic bullet about writing are only taking

to potential writers is secondary to this basic

a steady stream o f rejection letters that he

your money. Secondly, you have to love the

tacked on a nail in his room.

art and the craft o f producing it to be any

David Schanzle______________________

tenet.

good at it.

Arguably one o f the most popular novel­

N o matter what was happening in his

ists o f our time, the man who penned such

life, he was always writing' and always sub­

monstrous texts as The Stand and It doesnt

mitting. H e never let himself make excuses

Aspiring writers will probably get the most

have a great deal to say about how to write

that would take him away from his writing,

out o f it, but its appeal goes well beyond the

good fiction; no secret formulas, no hidden

there was always enough time, and a good

bounds o f such a small population. His auto­

routines or magic potions. In fact, he doesn’t

place. O ne gets the sense from reading this

biographical vignettes are often hilarious due

quite understand the process himself, making

book that Stephen King writes not because he

to his bemused look at growing up. His writ­

an analogy between his writing and the exca­

wants to but because he has to. H e has an

ing text is endlessly fascinating for the

addiction to writing that goes beyond mere

insights he makes into the mindset o f a writer

pleasure. W riting is what allowed him to

at work. As in his first non-fiction book

remain a functional human being when he

Danse Macabre (probably one o f the best

was in the throes o f alcohol and drug addic­

books ever written about the horror genre),

vation o f a fossil.

His book is more an exploration o f where his creativity comes from than an

about.

Is

this

book

for

non-writers?

Yes.

instructional manual. A lo n g the way he

King believes that writers are born, not

imparts helpful advice such as, “Adverbs are

made. In his early bedridden childhood spent

tion (he barely remembers writing Cujo) and

King has an ability to write about subjects

not your friend,” which describes tricks that

fighting infections, the five-year old boy read

what helped him in his long recovery process

that are familiar to all o f us, while providing

have worked for him, and gives some tips

everything he could get his tiny hands on.

after being hit by a van last year.

brilliant insights that force you to view a topic

about selling your work. These are just help­

Later, he wrote four short stories about Mr.

His instructional pointers are devoid o f

from a peculiar angle. This book is one o f the

ful hints, however. W hat he does have to say

Rabbit Trick who drove around with three

bullshit, and this honesty is the best part

very few texts on writing in which the author

essentially comes down to being honest about

other magic animals helping kids out, which

about the book. H e has real points to make,

knows anything about the craft.

20 A&E

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

The dumbing down of America T h ir t e e n D a y s g lo s s e s o v e r t h e C u b a n M is s ile C r is is w it h s h e e n o f p a t r io t is m David Schipper Typical

of

H o lly w o o d ’s

attempt to simplify and condense American history for the general public,

the

by-the-numbers

Thirteen Days could have been much more.

T h e Cold W ar docudrama tells the story o f the Cuban Missile Crisis o f October 1962, when the United States and the USSR came closest

to

a

nuclear

war.

Unfortunately, the film pays lavish attention to period detail at the expense o f delving

deeply into

President John F. Kennedy’s histori­ cal thought process, which guided his fateful decisions at the time.

T h e film, directed by Roger Donaldson (N o K evin

Costner

Way O ut), stars as

Kenneth

O ’Donnell, a special assistant to the President, who played only a minor

role during the actual crisis. The

gers. This is simply not factual, and

Germany; not so much the concept

film. As well, a football is shown at

Canadian actor Bruce Greenwood

is certianly not what is related in

o f appeasement o f H itler in 1938,

various times in the movie to signi­

excels as Kennedy, even though his

both

book

which is talked about briefly in the

fy

Massachusetts accent occasionally

film, but the possible retaliation by

Kennedy and his staff when they

slacks. But the real discovery here is

Thirteen Days and The Kennedy Tapes, on which the film is purport­

the Soviets in Germ any i f the

were

Steven Culp as Kennedy’s brother

edly

Robert

based.

Kennedy’s

Thirteen Days, the

youth in

and

naiveté,

college,

but

that also

of of

O ’Donnell and his children, and

Robert, the Attorney General. It

movie, hasn’t decided what it wants

essentially all o f America’s children.

helps that Culp bears a striking

to be, a white-knuckle suspense or a

As Robert Kennedy put it, they

resemblance to the person he por­

laconic history lesson.

were “the young people who had no

trays, but it is the actor’s quiet ges­

It would have been interesting

tures and calm, careful intonations

to see what was taken out o f the

nothing o f the confrontation, but

that give the character dimension

movie prior to release, because there

whose lives would be snuffed out

and clarity.

are traces o f sophistication through­

like everyone else’s. T h ey would

role, who had no say, who knew

Much has been made o f the

out the film. For example, W orld

never have a chance to make a deci­

realism in Thirteen Days. Physical

War I is hinted at in the film when

sion, to vote in an election, to run

details o f the time period have been

President

mentions

for office, to lead a revolution, to

lovingly recreated. However, the

Barbara Tuchman’s book The Guns

determine their own destinies.”

audience is not made aware o f how

o f August, a book that influenced his

previous

the

thinking during the crisis. As well,

United States were to unilaterally

could

decisions the President and his

Pearl Harbor is an important refer­

attack Cuba.

thought-provoking film, but, as it

advisors made. Moreover, most o f

ence point that is given short shrift

T h e opening scene o f the film

is, all we are left with are fragments

Kennedy’s staff and the top brass in

in the film. Another crucial blunder

is a digital shot o f an enormous

o f the past and revisionism o f the

the military are portrayed as one­

by the filmmakers is the near­

mushroom cloud, an image that

present.

dimensional, jingoistic warm on­

absence

appears again midway through the

history influenced

Kennedy

of

the

m ention

of

Beneath the simplicity here, there have

been

QUI A DROIT À CES BOURSES? B O U R S E S P O U R À

É T U D E S

ministère de l'Éducation du Québec s'adresse aux Québécoises et aux Québécois qui

L ' E X T É R I E U R

souhaitent acquérir une partie de leur formation universitaire à l'extérieur du Québec.

D U

DES

Le Programme de bourses pour de courts séjours d'études universitaires à l'extérieur du Québec (PBCSE) est en vigueur depuis septembre 2000. Ce programme du

Q U É B E C

Il leur permet un maximum de deux séjours d'au moins deux mois chacun et d'une durée totale d'au plus huit mois.

CRITERES D'ADMISSIBILITE Pour obtenir une bourse, les étudiantes et les étudiants inscrits au baccalauréat doivent avoir terminé avec succès au Québec au moins l'équivalent de deux trimestres d'études à temps plein. À la maîtrise et au doctorat, le nombre d'unités (crédits) exigées est d'au moins neuf. La formation acquise à l'extérieur du Québec devra mener à l'obtention, dans le programme en cours à l'université d'attache, d'un nombre d'unités équivalent à celui que procurent des études à temps plein.

Pour être retenus, les dossiers de candidature doivent comporter une garantie que les études poursuivies à l'extérieur du Québec donneront droit à des unités reconnues pour l'obtention du diplôme postulé à l'université d'attache. Il est à noter qu'une université peut, compte tenu de ses propres objectifs, ajouter des exigences à celles figurant dans le présent document.

MODALITÉS Le montant maximal de la bourse peut varier de 750 $ à 1 000 $ par mois, selon la destination.

La bourse peut s'ajouter à une bourse d'excellence prévoyant un montant particulier pour des études à l'extérieur du Québec.

Dans ce cas, ce montant sera soustrait du montant de la bourse du PBCSE.

Une aide f i n a n c i è r e qui pourrait faire

la différence POUR PLUS D'INFORMATION ET POUR OBTENIR LES FORMULAIRES REQUIS adressez-vous au Service aux étudiantes et aux étudiants ou à la Direction de la coopération internationale de votre université.

Q uébec Ministère de l’Éducation

a

intriguing,

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

A&E 21

Gridlocked Traffic H ig h ly p r e a c h y t o n e le a d s to s lo w - m o v in g f lic k Judith Drory For all the Oscar buzz in the air, Steven Soderbergh’s long antici­ pated film Traffic is a flimsily con­ structed flick with a heavy-handed social message. T h e film focuses on

T h e latter may be the best present­

employs a hand-held camera which

movie opposes to escape the drudg­

in Mexico are made to seem dan­

ed storyline o f the three, but even it

was probably intended to add a

ery on-screen.

gerous and amoral.

has flaws. There are too many char­

layer o f realism, but in practice,

acters related to this story and too

an

presents many characters, but you

entered Traffic.

much corruption— so much that

intense headache from the jerky

never really relate or connect with

pointment and relief that I exited.

one gets lost in the whirlwind o f

movements, and cynicism at its

them.

M ost o f them come o ff as

W hen the movie finally came to its

who is or is not a bad guy.

contrived attempt to maintain a

flat and one dimensional. There is

dull, sappy ending, I was relieved to

documentary feel.

Despite this,

a number o f rapid celebrity cameos

get out o f a two-hour movie that

Soderbergh must be given credit for

which become ridiculous and divert

seemed more like three hours.

his innovative use o f colour. Bright

attention from the movie.

There

Traffic could have been a very

colours and a somewhat clearer

are also several characters who take

good movie, as it touched on many

focus were

ing .between the US and Mexico, aided by N A F T A , by way o f three largely unrelated plot threads.

O n the American side, there is Supreme C ou rt judge

(Michael Douglas), who has been appointed by the president as the newest

anti-drug

the war against drugs, his own daughter becomes heavily engaged in narcotic euphoria. There is the pregnant trophy w ife (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who mistakes her hus­ band for an honest businessman, and, upon learning his true identity The

final storyline focuses on undercov­

California. Both sides o f the border are trying to take down the notori­ ous Obregon Brothers cartel, but are faced with several obstacles.

me w ith

One of many villains in T r a ff ic Traffic is the latest release from current

“ it”

director

Steven

(O u t o f Sight, Erin Brockovich). In Traffic, Soderbergh

Soderbergh

It was with disap­

the

on an emotional change so radically

compelling issues. However, instead

American scenes, while pale yellows

inconsistent that one wonders i f a

o f expanding or solving these prob­

and browns depicted a hazier, gritti­

new character has been introduced

lems, the movie copped out and

er Tijuana.

without

shied away from the possibility o f a

used to

depict

the

audience

being

difficult answer. N o t many movies

informed. ( Usual

have focused on how the very claim

intense, overwhelming issue that

Suspects), one o f the better principal

o f a war on drugs could lead to

everyone is fighting about with piti­

actors in this movie, plays one o f

increased drug use and self-fulfilling

ful results.

the

T h e film attempts to

Benicio

drug

D el

Toro

officers

in

Tijuana.

prophecy.

In Traffic, the story is

give real faces to all sides o f the

Despite his acting talent, he is ham­

overdone, the dialogue is preachy,

issue, including the addicts, the

pered by his dichéd fallen angel role

and the characters themselves are

smugglers and the cops and anti­

in which he must engage in the

unrealistic. For an anti-drug movie,

drug politicians.

moral struggle that accompanies

I would have been much happier

corruption. Unfortunately, most o f

with

done after-school special. W e have

the key actors in this movie have

Traffic is about as subde as those

all been hearing for years that drugs

similar roles. T h e film also suffers

ads in the good old days, in which

are bad and that drug abuse is a seri­

in that almost every troubling event

our brains were compared to eggs.

ous problem. But the highly moral,

is highly predictable. Every possible

Surely most o f us remember what

preachy overtones o f this movie did

troubling event even remotely relat­

our brains look like on

nothing to make me feel sorry for

ed to drugs is used here. T h e movie

(namely, fried) . N ob od y should

anyone.

Its sugary sweetness left

even gives in to a little bit o f patri­

waste their time or money on the

me feeling so nauseous that I want­

otism: Americans are painted as

H ollyw ood version o f age old com­

ed to indulge in the very vices the

moral, drug busters whereas those

mercials.

However, the

effect is really just that o f an over­

as a serious drug smuggler, will go

Tijuana, M exico and San Diego,

provide

drug trafficking is an incredibly

Ironically, while he is embroiled in

er drug enforcement officers in

to

T h e theme o f Traffic is that

crusader.

to any extreme to help him.

It was with high hopes that I

served

the intensification o f drug traffick­

an O h io

Traffic suffers horribly in that it

something

more

original.

drugs

Forrest Gump en France F u n n y F e lix w o u ld flo a t a w a y w it h o u t h e lp f r o m Manuel Mendelzon

Hitchhiking across the rolling green countryside o f France in the summer, with nothing but a rain­ bow coloured kite, a bottle o f water and a bag full o f protease inhibitors, the

title

character

in

Jacques

Martineau and O liver Ducastel’s

Funny

Felix

happily

bounces

through this short airy film spread­ ing his Forrest Gump-like wisdom and mirth over everyone he meets.

Funny Felix is the story o f a young Frenchman who lives with his boyfriend in Dieppe and decides to set out on a cross-country jour­ ney in search o f a father he’s never met in Marseilles, meeting an eclec­ tic cast o f characters along the way.

This movie is a refreshing, light look at family and relationships which leaves you in an inevitable good m ood even after dealing with such heavy issues as A ID S , racism, hate

crimes

and

homophobia.

There’s no doubt that the lush, green

pastures

and

blossoming

landscape that serve as a backdrop for the action had something to do with the film’s generally pleasant atmosphere. This, combined with w itty dialogue, dry humour and sharp social commentary, makes the film fresh and engaging. A good

s t r o n g s u p p o r t in g c a s t.

example is a hilarious scene in a

movie is not Felix, but the quirky

frustrated when he cant get Felix to

Inside

doctor’s waiting room, where three

bunch o f people he meets on the

sleep with him. Ariane Ascaride

Toronto, the Teddy Bear award at

people exchange neurot­

plays

a

the Berlin Gay and Lesbian Film

ic, yet deadpan, W oody

neurotic and fabu­

Festival. It was also well received at

Allen-esque banter about

lously fiery single

last fall’s Image + Nation Festival

their

mother

respective

A ID S

treatments.

Isabelle,

Out

Film

Festival

in

three,

right here in Montréal. Funny Felix

whom Felix adopts

is billed by the folks over at Cinema

of

Sami Bouajila wins

as his sister. Stealing

du Parc as a great gay road movie.

the audience over with

the show, however,

This troubles me a bit, because I

the wide-eyed, childlike

is

the

veteran

generally object to movies being

innocence and irreverent

Parisian

cabaret

labelled ‘gay, as i f it were a genre

portrayal o f Felix, a guy

singer

Patachou,

similar to ‘comedy’ or ‘action’. I

who is just as worried

w ho

plays

don’t agree that Funny Felix is as

about missing his daily

Mathilde, an elderly

much a ‘gay movie as it is a movie

dose o f a trashy television

woman Felix stum­

about people, relationships and

soap opera as he is about

bles

and

family. In fact, it seems to me that

missing his daily dose o f

adopts as his grand­

Funny Felix's only achievement as a

A Z T . Bouajila’s Felix is

mother. Mathilde is

‘gay movie’ is that it isn’t really

remarkably well-adjusted

a lonely w idow who

about being gay at all.

despite the fact that his

finds in Felix a sym­

Despite the cliche nature o f the

mother recently died, he

pathetic ear. Their

movie’s message and the sometimes

upon

has never met his father,

relationship culmi­

nauseating lead character, Funny

just lost his job and is

nates in a hilarious

Felix is a little gem o f a film, a nice

H I V positive. W hile oh-

scene where the pair

quiet movie which, as much as I

so-life

attentively

hate to admit it, left me feeling

affirm ing

and

watch

happy, Felix is both a

the aforementioned

strength and a weakness

trashy soap opera

in the film. In fact, after a

over breakfast and

while Felix’s unshakeable

compare the w ide

happiness

array o f pills they

becomes

each have to take.

downright obnoxious. It is strangely similar to that

T h e movie has

friend o f yours who’s just

opened to critical

so gosh-darn, genuinely nice that

road. Charly Sergue is charming as

acclaim at gay film festivals all over

you hate his guts.

Jules, who plays the role o f Felix’s

the world, winning the audience

“ little brother” and is thoroughly

award for best picture at last year’s

Luckily, the real star o f this

(gasp) all warm inside.

Funny Felix screens at Cinema du Parc this month

22 A&E

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

Take me down to Je C h e r c h e Upstairs, Brother W h ite ’s

By Carl Joakim Gagnon

em inent

quartet

“ Yeah” in between verses. This is a

T h e Donnas

Various Artists

The Donnas Turn 21

It’s a Team M in t Xmas Volume 1

(Lookout!)

(M in t)

on

refreshing breath o f decent 60’s beat girl garage.

January 12, who was undoubtedly

A irp ort G irl

cookin’. W h ite is a familiar face in

“ I don’t wanna go to school no

Th is

ciously insignificant details our

the M cG ill Music Department,

more. D o you wanna go out with

Christmas,

me?” ( ‘Last Chance Dance’). The

Lawrence’s busy schedule o f pick­

T h in k o f any one o f the deli­

record

came but

due

out

before

Honey I ’m an artist C D /LP

to

Grant

(Matinee/Fortuna Pop)

bars and restaurants thrive on, and

and the next M cG ill performance

you can be sure Upstairs has got it

w ill follow on the 22nd and 23rd,

Donnas lived out the Palo A lto val­

ing his own record as the year’s

H opelessly

wrong. Outside, its sign is upside

with the M cG ill Jazz Com bos per­

ley-girl dreams o f every girl (and

best, this fine single only hit stores

thrown over that classic United

out

o f tune vocals

down. Inside, M ontreal electri­

forming. I f you’re going to show

boy) with their great teen anthems.

in Vancouver. M in t has been put­

K in gd om

cians have channelled all their

school spirit there’s no reason not

T h ey introduced us to Cali slang

ting out mostly misses as o f late,

A irport G irl’s last single had every

strip-club expertise into the softly,

to be swinging hard while doing it.

like “rab” and “mano.” T h ey taught

but this 7” makes up for all their

boi and grrl swooning over the

sexily lit set o f stairs leading up to

T h e weekend before W h ite’s

us to respect rock and roll. Sadly,

alt-country sins. T h e A side has

dreamy lyrics and dissonant gui-

the restroom. A n d while the rest­

performance, bewildered students

all high school hi-jinx must come

one track each by Carolyn M ark

tar/keyboard lines and every critic

rooms, at least, may be upstairs’,

with too much time on their hands

to an end. N o

and

yelling Belle and Sebastien foul.

nothing else is: should you raise

could also catch the G e o ff Lapp

wanna go out with me?’ N o more

Duotang, both reinforcing m y pre­

But like the band once said them­

your jaw disdainfully as you pass

trio giving a walk-through o f jazz

‘I ’m

mine

viously mentioned statements o f

selves, “ T h e kids just want cool

gonna

m ore ‘D o you

make

him

her

R oom -M ates

and

guitar

pop

sound.

low-brow ‘Cheers’ an entranceway

standards and near-standards, all

(tonight)’ . Now , aged 21, they go

M in t records mediocrity. However,

sounds.” Available on thick Czech

or two further north, you’d risk

held together by Lapp’s own expe­

through the motions to continue

the B side contains T wanna kiss

vinyl.

dislocating it on the couple o f steps

rienced touch. Experience some­

the rock with m otor city inspired

you this Christmas,’ a studio single

leading

times results in Lapp’s sometimes

songs like ‘A re you gonna move it

testimony to the pop genius o f

elegantly bored renditions o f jazz

for me?’ and ‘Livin’ after m id­

D ave

almost

classics. Yet, the confidence o f

night’, a salute to arena rock heroes

Evaporators). T h is

everything essential is perfectly

Lapp, the zest o f the drumming

Judas Priest. I guess you just can’t

endlessly the entire holiday season,

executed. T h e joint has been newly

and the experienced power o f the

stay in high school 4 ever.

filling m y house with joy, pop nos­

renovated, but the atmosphere is as

rendition resulted - as is often the

talgia and wonderful female/male

Yeah okay, a total obvious choice.

laid-back as the almost unreason­

case at Upstairs - in a good, solid

vocal harmonies by the group Dave

Kathleen Hanna once punched

ably comfortable chairs. T h e bar,

performance o f comfortable, tradi­

meanwhile, is still made o f the

tional, ear-warming jazz

down,

ironically,

to

Upstairs.

Lucky,

then,

that

The Donnas play M ontreal on March 14 with Bratmobile at Club Soda

Upstairs, as the Lapp trio per­

kind o f dark, polished w ood that makes you want to see how far you

fectly demonstrates, is a can’t-miss,

can slide your drink on it. A n d i f

and an equally good place, strange­

T h e Untitles

you

clean­

ly, to bring yourself, your date,

LP/CD

shaven, wonderfully polite waiters

your parents, your landlord, or

(Soul Static Sound/Bubble Core)

are there to pick up the pieces and

your monkey. You usually won’t

serve you another.

have to bring much else either -

miss,

handsom ely

Carswell

(Smugglers,

Stephen Malkmus

record spun

Discretion Grove 7” (M atador)

‘n Megan. Everyone will love this

Courtney Love in the face; Steven

song.

M alkmus

The

7”

also

holds

an

once

challenged

Evaporators song, “ W h o are you,”

Courtney Love to a crossword con­

and

of

test. This is the much-hyped debut

the

single from the ex-Pavement front­

a

spooky

“ Christmas

rendition

D og”

by

Snowglobe-lins.

man, which also serves as a prelude to the full length to be released on

Gore Gore Girls

February 13th. Although this sin­

Minimalist ambiance, eerie silence,

Strange Girls LP/CD

gle does capture Malkmus’ clever

(G et H ip )

turn o f phrase, it seems to lack the

But in the end, o f course, it all

except a roundly satisfied grin - as

buzz, crackle and ominous water

boils down to music — and ah-

concerts are no more than five,

drips. These are the sounds chosen

haing, go-brother jazz music at

maybe ten dollars; actually, even

by the founder o f Soul Static

Aside from having the stupidest

tinuous Fall references and distinc­

that. Now , to be fair to M ontreal’s

when they’re twenty, the price is

Sound records (Rococo Rot, H IM ,

band name in history, the Gore

tive craziness. Nevertheless, the

east-side jazz joints o f more radical

usually mysteriously halved

by

U i), Darryl M oore. Based out o f

Gore Girls com bine great song

brilliant com edy (see the matador

musical character, jazz at Upstairs

some point in

the second set.

London, his label focuses mostly

writing with 60s girl group energy,

records web-site for a taste) o f this

may well be less go-brother than a

Concerts usually start by ten, and

on

interdisciplinary technology-

earning them Headcoatees’ com­

indie rock legend lives on with

few other places. Its taste in music

individual sets might last anyw'here

related artists. In his spare time, he

parisons from all over. This time,

what w ill surely be his most talked

malaria hysteria o f Pavement’s con­

tends towards the more conserva­

from thirty minutes until over an

goes by the name D to bring a new

however, the girls play their own

about, although not best, release to

tive. But there’s nothing conserva­

hour; but once the swing o f a per­

sophistication to popular ambi-

instruments and write their own

date. N o te that the 7” contains one

tive - nothing stingy - about the

fectly executed Upstairs perform ­

ent/techno music with a study o f

songs. T h e garage sound has also

non-album b-side while the C D

quality o f the jazz the place serves.

ance has got into your system -

early electroacoustic composers. I f

been updated with

single contains two.

boy, I tell you: it takes years to get

you owned a label, you could put

rock tradition, which mostly trans­

out.

out your own poise record too!

lates into yelling “A lrigh t” and

One group

this

particularly m onth

was

notable André

the D etroit

h t t p :/ / t r ib u n e .m c g ill.c a

H elping save lives C a p t a in B r u n o C a s t o n g u a y c o o r d in a t e s a ir r e s c u e fo r t h e C a n a d ia n F o r c e s .

H e a n d h is c o l l e a g u e s a n d p a r t n e r s h e l p C a n a d ia n s in d a n g e r . T h e y r e s p o n d a r o u n d t h e c l o c k t o e m e r g e n c i e s o n l a n d o r a t s e a a n d h e l p s a v e l i v e s . T h i s is ju s t o n e o f th e h u n d r e d s o f s e r v ic e s p r o v id e d b y t h e G o v e r n m e n t o f C a n a d a .

F o r m o r e in fo r m a t io n o n g o v e r n m e n t s e r v ic e s : • V is it th e S e r v ic e C a n a d a A c c e s s C e n t r e n e a r e s t y o u • V is it w w w .c a n a d a .g c .c a • C a l l 1 8 0 0 O - C a n a d a (1 8 0 0 6 2 2 - 6 2 3 2 ) T T Y / T D D : 1 8 0 0 4 6 5 -7 7 3 5

Canada

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

A&E 23

I don't want your DVD easily. D igita l Versatile Discs are a powerful new form at fo r storing a

N ew S k in for the O ld C erem o n y C h ris (fe a t .)

E ric

his week,

T

0

ow in g to

the

to m y last colum n1, I ’ve decided to move on to something completely different. A lon g with m y very special guest Eric2, I ’m going to i)break it down w/r/t D V D s and ii)demonstrate the king

So, like, what’s the story with D V D s, anyway? W e just got one in our apartment, and Eric can’t stop talking about it, he thinks it’s about

the

greatest

thing

since

bread3. As for me, it looks nice, but what’s the big deal? Eric’s an idiot, as far as I ’m concerned. Let me turn it over to him for a little while.

I think it’s best that you and I ( Chris’ “loyal” readers) ignore Chris’ foolhardy statements andfocus on the task at hand: DVDs. To the layman, this circular, reflective disc looks remarkably similar to its poor cousin, the compact disc. Do not befooled so

new

issue. It’s absolutely essential that you take everything this dishonest

m oved

in.

neighbourhood

golfin g

fool says with a veritable handful o f salt, the bastard. Listen, unless you

entertainm ent

A dm ittedly,

pelling enough fo r you, perhaps you are just as big a fo o l as my good friend Chris believes me to be and as such, you don’t deserve the pleasure derivedfrom DVDs anyways. To you, I say go fuck yourself.

great idea, but somehow, only Eric

view movies exclusively for special

I ’ve

managed to be stupid enough to

effects6, and have no care whatever

for almost twenty

break a w indow with a g o lf ball. I

about their plots, a D V D player

everything I have written, I ’m fair­

years, and over the course o f that

told him to be careful, but he

w ill be about as useful to you as

ly convinced that no matter how

time, I would probably say that his

assured me that it was no problem’

would be a book to my good pal

hard

taste in movies has become more

and that he had ‘everything under

Eric.

impossible to find a bigger idiot

juvenile, and the guy’s never met a

control’, that ‘this was a situation

video game he didn’t like. Eric

he had been in countless times, and

After carefully reviewing every­

ly lofty claim to make, but like I

thinks that i f an amp or television

that w e had nothing to w orry about’3. M aybe for him, but it

necessarily be better. W hat a fool.

damn sure was a problem for me to

thing I havepresented to you thusfar, I noticed that I ’ve really said nothing to promote your switch from VHS to D V D . You’re probably wondering what a ll o f the pseudo-technicalja r­ gon means and how it helps you, the ignorant, regular-joe consumer. Well, let me tell you. Having a D V D play­ er increasesyour enjoyment o f a given

said, we’ve been bosom buddies for

or technology is newer, it must

film by a minimum factor o f 107.

How? Well, let’s see: DVDs have

shackles o f the V H S , but that’s not

known

and

have over

him

technology Eric.

o f logical fallacies, the ad hominem argument.

in

Toronto, the day that m y family around a residential area is never a

industries

shall-we-say poor response

would certainly back me up on this

T h e unreasonable control that the

D o you know what’s poweful?

e st

is a bloody liar. A n y o f his friends

this time that we were golfing in my

variety o f digital media1*.

E ss e rt

whole ‘D V D ’ thing reminds me o f

look over my shoulder for m y first

Presently, the majority o f DVDs is fo r home video and so I think it’s appropriate to focus on that. DVDs offer increased storage and, conse­ quently are able to offer higher reso­ lution images and a more dynamic audio soundtrack. Also, because the form at is digital, little to none o f the data w ill be lost upon playback (even after you’ve played the D V D many, many times) and this same data can be faithfully compressed and uncom­ pressed thereby freeing up space on the D V D fo r other things T h e space that really needs to

18 months in the new ‘hood. W hat a senseless dunderpate.

In order to save valuable storage space, DVDs are compressed using the M P E G -2 (M otion Picture Experts Group) standard. To get an idea o f how fundamental this com­ pression is, one must understand that w ithout compression, a standard D V D could only store about 3 min­ utes o f high-resolution video. By com­ parison, a compressed D V D using both layers (DVDs are dual-layered) can provide well over 200 minutes o f video.

be freed-up is space in Eric’s brain for non-idiot things, the idiot. This

Footnotes: 1A little shout-out to Jenna: thanks for your response. I'm not sure I agree with you entirely, though. The way I see it, you'd be pleased if I substituted 'affecting' for 'pleasing' as the word that comes after 'aesthetically'. This cer­ tainly makes sense when it comes to books, but I'm not so sure it applies in the realm of visual art. How can I see something as 'good art' if I know noth­ ing about it and I think it's ugly? As for Fight Club, I was just disappointed when Fincher abandoned the extreme stylism of the first half of the film in

Speaking o f compression, Eric

A fter

carefully

you

look,

reviewing

it’s absolutely

than Eric. I know that this is a fair­

much better picture and sound qual­ ity; they can be viewed in “normal” or widescreen; you don’t have to rewind them; and, presently, Blockbuster does not edit their D V D titles fo r rental. Apparently, because DVDs already incorporate parental locking

mechanisms,

Blockbuster

deemed their unconstitutional edit­ ing practices superfluous.

I f these reasons are not com­

favour of idiotic plot advancements in the second half.

2 (and my roomate, and as you'll come to see shortly, giant idiot) Eric will appear in this font, and I’ll be in the normal font.

3Who caught that reference?

4Unbeknownst to most, DVD does not stand for digital video disc. You see, this digital storage medium will soon be used to distribute music.

Audio-DVDs will have more than 4 hours of playtime and will have greater fidelity (i.e. greater frequecy ranges) due to a higher bitrate.

almost

twenty

years,

and

I ’ve

known a lot o f people over that time, yet Eric has consistently been the Num ber 1 Idiot In M y Life, all along. Eric’s latest fascination, the DVD,

may or

may not

be a

groundbreaking

im provem ent,

freeing us from

the totalitarian

what’s at issue here. W hat is at issue is Eric, and how incredibly dense and foolish he truly is. N o t to mention a liar.

A t this point, I ’d like to apolo­ gise to you, m y loyal readers, for Eric’s notorious insult in the last paragraph, and on your behalf, I would add to Eric, go fuck your­ self. hesser@po-box. mcgill. ca

sMaybe those weren't his exact words. We were, after all, only ten years old.

6By this time it should come as no surprise to you that Eric is the paradigm example of this type of person: he saw Charlie's Angels like six times, and he thought Cone is Sixty Seconds was 'totally amazing!'1 7According to an indepedent study (conducted by me)*. "(Recall what I said earlier about Eric's tendency towards fabrication), f (Chris made this up. I hated Gone in Sixty Seconds— Eric)

Mr. Lear an intriguing, pretentious curiosity L o c a l p r o d u c t i o n h i g h o n a t m o s p h e r i c s b u t l a c k i n g in e m o t i o n a l d e p t h David Schipper

and so when the play finally began,

the 65-minute performance. Some

castigated for her seeming lack o f

the effect was striking.

may term this avant-garde perform­

devotion to her father, and is repre­

about the play, and indeed, the

The

most interesting thing

Light became increasingly visi­

ance ‘art’ , others may deem it pre­

sented in the play by a life-size doll

source material, is that a variety o f

The play mr lear, loosely based

ble from the right side o f the stage,

tentious rubbish, yet there is merit

with blond braids. Much o f the play

interpretations may arise from it.

on W illiam Shakespeare, began its

and the title character moved silent­

in this approach.

is about Lear’s search for redemp­

W hen all is said and done, much

ten

on

ly to the front o f the stage holding a

Molnar actually speaks little

tion amidst madness and disinte­

great art satisfies this notion.

Wednesday night. Visually striking,

candelabrum. H e then moved his

English in the play, choosing to

gration. Little o f Shakespeare’s text

the play nevertheless had difficulty

eyes from right to left repeatedly,

mumble

inarticulately

in

is used save for lines like, “ Even in

captivating its audience, partly due

looking towards the audience with­

Hungarian,

Latin,

Italian.

the best o f times he hath ever but

to its multilingual nature and mis­

out actually looking directly at

Since the assumption is made that

guided originality.

day

run

at

Usine

C

and

them. H e then left the stage and the

most theatregoers do not compre­

The Usine C building used to

fool made his entrance, the first in a

hend

be the Raymond factory, and is part

series o f outlandish setups involving

convey most o f his feeling in expres­

o f an effort to revitalize the south

numerous props such as a clown

sion, whether it be a pained facial

central region o f Montreal. T h e

nose, a wheelbarrow, and a flower­

expression or wild movement. One

building itself houses a theatre, a

pot. T h e fool also acts as Lear’s care­

o f the most striking moments in the

café, a public meeting hall, an art

taker and guide.

play is when he smashes the flower­

exhibit, and a garden, and first opened its doors in March 1995.

Constant billows

Hungarian,

M olnar

mr lear, written by John Sipes,

pot on the floor, spreading dirt

who plays the fool, gives George

everywhere. T h e fool then gives

Molnar, who plays the lead role, an

him a broom and a dustpan with

slowly filled the theatre. T h e stage

enormous amount o f latitude in

which to redeem himself.

was barely perceptible except for the

terms o f expression. Molnar is a

It is not absolutely necessary

track lights on the ceiling, which

veteran o f mime performance and

that one bring an extensive knowl­

was incredibly high. Indeed, I was

there are long stretches in the play

edge o f Shakespeare’s text to this

surprised at how large the stage was

that oscillate between silent move­

play. T h e main story is essentially

considering how small the room

ment and shrieking lament. It is

the same: Lear is treated poorly by

seemed. This effect occurred partly

questionable whether it was neces­

his two eldest daughters, to whom

because o f the mix o f mist and

sary to view Molnar in all o f his glo­

he has given his inheritance. His

pherics had already been created,

rious splendour midway through

slenderly known himself.”

must

o f smoke

darkness. In essence, the atmos­

m r lear runs at l ’Usine C, 1345 Lalonde, untilJan. 27tb. Call 5214493fo r info.

youngest daughter, his favourite, is

D is c o u n t s This offer valid for all regularly scheduled services operated by Coach Canada (Montreal Corridor, Niagara Peninsula and Key Southwestern Cities.)

For Fare & Schedule Information Call 8 4 2 -2 2 8 1

C oa ch C anada

1 800 461 7661

Operated by trentway-wagar inc.

g j

24

roos yTBunsl £S .yebaauT « n u d iiï A&E

The McGill Tribune,

Tu esd ay,

23 J a n u a r y 2001

M id w e e k karm a Dan Zacks I ’m

not

Livin g— all

a big the

fan

o f Le

pretentiousness

gives me a headache.

G ood atmosphere is vital to the quality o f a club and Le Living has precious little o f it. T h e major­ ity o f the patrons are in their late twenties and early thirties and des­ perate to appear as i f part o f a scene that exists only in their imagina­ tions.

Th ey jostle and push while on the dance floor and, i f male, treat you courteously only when you have large breasts and dress like you want a career in porn. In the main room the bar takes up three quar­ ters o f the floor space, revealing everything about the club’s priori­ ties, and women wearing terribly clichéd cowboy hats sell beer and shots on the dance floor, making dancing rather difficult (at least for the few who go to dance).

So why do I keep on forking out eight dollars to get into Le Living? Easy, Karma Wednesdays with

Bruno Brown are one o f

Montreal’s best sources for solid, if not a little mainstream, deep house.

A lo n g with

Hypnotica’s visuals,

dancing Wednesday nights away at Le Living is definitely worth expe­ riencing. W hat makes Karma really impressive, however, is the promot­ ers’ willingness to use the night to showcase local talent. In November they brought us Jaffa, and last Wednesday, Les Couches Potatoes.

A

live-house act with

two

drummers, a guitarist, sax and trumpet player, and two vocalists in addition to the electronics o f front­ men

N ie

B

and

Jean-Michel

Lapointe, Les Couches Potatoes have a sound that successfully spans the spectrum from Diva house, to jazzy house, to straight ahead four on the floor. As far as live-house goes, Les Couches Potatoes needn’t worry about their more popular rivals. Th ey are far more organic and uninhibited than both the live versions

of

St.

Germain

and

Groove Armada, and stand to pro­ vide some real com petition for Montreal’s other live house group, T h e N ew Deal.

Particularly impressive was the anonymous brass section (when did it stop being good manners to introduce your band members?) that added colour and depth to the sound, and with their solos, an authentic jazzy vibe. Whenever Les Couches Potatoes do their next show, drop everything and get yourself some tickets, you won’t be disappointed. In the meantime, put on your dancing shoes (although you might find that you’re the only one wearing them) and head to at least one karma Wednesday at Le Living.

The jyicGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001 behind 1997’s critically and com­

is a perfect mix o f plaintive ballads

selfish a shellfish") respectively cov­

mercially acclaimed Ray o f Light,

and

ered by archaic forms o f screamed

appears for three songs as well.

Mountains has been sadly over­

harmonization, leaves the listener

O rbit’s “Am azing” is the most

looked so far, but when you think

confused and distracted. Targeting

typical Madonna dance song on

about it, so was Suzanne Vega at

an audience distrusting o f all social

the album, mildly reminiscent o f

first.

1999s Weekend,” a song that should not David Deacon

be played ever again under the rules

Stranger in the M orning

o f the Geneva Convention. Some

(Twisted Circle)

songs from 1983 should stay there.

T h at

David

Deacon’s

album

goes

for

C orey

H art’s

“ Sunglasses A t N igh t,” a song that

Stranger in the M orning was a

runs for an interminable 5 minutes.

pleasant surprise. W ith an album

Trooper was Canada’s answer to

title o f dubious quality and song

Quiet Riot. Enough said. As a side

names that read like a list o f tired

note, it is a curiosity that at least

adult-contemporary clichés, I was

five o f the twelve songs included

not expecting something so digni­

here are by Montrealers. T h e album

fied and soulful.

is not a complete throwaway either

Deacon’s voice, a deep guttural

as it has some well-known chestnuts

growl, has a certain elemental qual­

from Five Man Electrical Band,

ity that brings to all his songs a

Bachman Turner Overdrive, April

world-weary

W in e,

m elancholy

and

and

the

Stampeders.

impressive emotional depth. W hen

However, for a more contemplative

coupled with his very tight band,

overview o f Canadiana, check out

the result is some very good blues

the inexpensive four disc set O h

infused rock/pop. It is Deacon’s

W hat A Feeling instead, twice the

lyrics, however, that are most mem­

money and a hundred times the

orable. ‘It took you forever’ has a

value.

poetic flow reminiscent o f good Leonard Cohen and the rhythmic punch o f ‘California has no winter’

Madonna

remains thum ping around your

Music

head long after the song has ended,

(Maverick Records)

“ Beautiful

to

M adonna

I

am

detract from Deacon’s delivery and,

biased. As far as I ’m concerned, the

with their saccharine wailings, add

woman can do no wrong. She is

an unfortunate element o f the

responsible for some o f the most

hokey. Backup singers notw ith­

danceable, well-crafted pop songs o f

standing, this is a band that I would

the past two decades; she straddles

pay good money to see in an inti­

the chasm between mainstream and

mate club setting. A quick search

underground cultures; she has a

on the ‘net reveals that Deacon

razor sharp wit and an incredible

ing for his live performances and I can see why; this is some really sophisticated, intense rock/pop that deserves to be heard.

ple

acoustic

guitar,

instinct for spotting the next “ it”

Canada Volume 1 is a twelve track

trend and claiming it as her own -

compendium o f a who’s who in

before anyone else can even touch

classic

music:

it. This is nothing new, but Music,

Loverboy, Trooper, Gino Vannelli,

her ninth studio album, is. This

A ldo Nova, N ick Gilder. I f you are

short, succinct album (ten songs) is

asking yourself, “ N ick who?,’’ do

perhaps one o f her best. It certainly

not worry, no one knows either.

contains some o f the most irre­

W h o is the intended audience for

sistible

this? H ow could the mere concept

“ Vogue” . T h e

o f this album not be offensive to

“ Music,” is immediately recogniza­

every Canadian person? I f Canada

ble. W ith its techno-funk flavor and

is still considered a small town by

a cracking whip o f a drum beat,

our neighbours to the south, then

there are few songs which can com­

they should not send us these awk­

pel you to dance nearly as much, or

ward love letters any more.

as hard. T h e new wunderkind at the

Canadian

pop

M adonna lead

songs o ff

since single,

The first track is “American

helm is Parisian producer Mirwais,

Woman” by T h e Guess W h o, a

Madonna’s newest discovery. His

cleverly chosen track as it is a

stripped down synth beats paired

Vietnam protest song and a genuine

with

Canadian anthem, ironic tongue

Music a clarity that has been miss­

firmly in cheek. T h e second track is

ing from

Loverboy’s

W illia m

“ W orkin g

For

The

sharp, clean vocals,

lends

pop songs as o f late.

O rbit,

the mastermind

musical

Underground Alternatives

sultry ballad are rudely corrupted by obtrusively simplistic chord pro­ gressions and shrieking guitar solos.

lowed by an ocean o f warm strings.

from Canada’s own N ick Holder, a

This disastrous amateur band needs

The most charming song on the

DJ deserving o f his reputation as

to realize their ‘gig’ is up.

album though, is clearly “ W hat it

one o f the world’s foremost house

— Jenna Benn

Feels Like for a Girl.” A t her recent

producers— has

not

N e w York concert at Roseland,

turntable

the

Madonna dedicated this song to Britney

Spears

t-shirt

no

less.

since

left

my

m om ent

Gooblar

I

Bleeker and Meeker

picked it up.

Underground

Britney Spears, while sporting a

opens

with a

(Gooblar)

Alternatives

‘Am erican track

Eats

Its

co-written

by

“ Gone,” the final track, is a bitter­

Young,’

sweet reminder that, believe it or

Toronto spoken word artist Jemeni

not, the unstoppable M will not be

that is intense not only because o f

around forever. This song is proba­

its deep, driving beat, but because

bly the most real Madonna has ever

o f its politically charged message. A

been regarding her status as an icon

brutal indictment o f N e w York

and her ultimate fate as a performer.

mayor Giuliani’s treatment o f the

But fear not, M addy has years o f

Amadou Diallo shooting and the

good stuff left in her. A n d rumor

American prison system, the track

has it she is going on tour this sum­

is something o f a departure for both

mer. Kids, get ready to camp out for

N ick Holder and house music in

tickets. You know I ’ll be there - at

general. House is notoriously and

the front o f the line.

— Siddhartha Mukherjee

fundamentally apolitical, celebrated G ood

as an aural anti-depressant by its

W ill

H unting

made

fans and condemned as mindless

Elliot Smith so popular that even

drivel

it

detractors.

m ech an ical-p en cil-sh arp -w itted

(or

fortunately,

crossword-puzzle writers have lost

Mountains

depending on your perspective), the

the cryptic comedy and become all

(Matador)

rest o f Underground Alternatives is

sensitive.

by

U nfortunately

M ary T im on y

Bleeker and Meeker is an emo­

typical house, that is, sans political M ary Timony, the lead singer

overtones, and contains throughout

tionally

and multi-instrumentalist o f the

Holder’s original, tight, and often

from a M cG ill student grounded in

Boston band Helium, has recently

educated

6 -song

demo

sublime beats.

all the sensibilities o f college indie

released Mountains, a gorgeous and

‘Summer Daze’ is a samba clas­

rock. Gooblar thwarts the pitfalls o f

evocative song cycle. Simply put,

sic, surpassing Holder’s single and

modern/alternative/post rock (cir­

Tim on y is the second coming o f

underground

‘Da

cle preferred title) traveling the fine

Suzanne Vega. Anyone who can

Sambrafrique’ for its skilful use o f

line with help from tasteful vocal

remember Vega’s self-titled debut

the Brazilian rhythm. Jazzy, Latin

harmonies and straight into the

from 1985 will immediately con­

percussion also distinguishes ‘Inside

amp electric guitar. Forget about

nect the two albums and artists.

Your Soul,’ but the highlight o f the

layers o f multitracked complexity

album is without question ‘Friday

and recall rainy days o f boredom,

N igh t at M ovement.’ A

brilliant

putting on a lost 7” and finding a

ode

brilliant

sound that could have changed

M ovement parties held on the last

your life and now just makes you

Friday o f the month in Toronto,

feel good. Above all, Gooblar plays

Markets has released a new series o f Rocks.

uninspired

sequencing and faulty attempts at a

This album— nine solid tracks

Special

C ity

T h eir N ick H older

then that killer, robotic beat fol­

(Bands.com)

entitled

amongst hatred.

M adonna

Various Artists

allnims

sense o f security and communality

sounding sweeter than ever, and

Canada Volume 1

Music

confines, 6 gig heroically delivers a

o f Mirwais’ production style: sim­

— Dan Zacks

Universal

songs.

“ Don’t Tell M e,” the second single

com pletely

enjoys something o f a cult follow ­

up-tempo

o f f the album, showcases the beauty

I have to admit, when it comes

overuse o f backup-singers. T h ey

clanging

— David Schipper

Stranger.”

just like good pop should.

The album’s only real flaw is its

a &e 2 5

to

hit,

the

equally

this track almost makes missing

the bedroom

them bearable.

T h e room comes with the record­

production sound.

Buy the album, check out N ick

ing, giving it a wonderfully warm

H old er when he next spins in

and sincere ambience. Listen close­

M ontreal,

him,

ly to ‘Yer mind is stronger than you

Mondays 2:00AM to 4:00AM EST

think’ for a tiny watch beep that

on lgroove.com.

takes you to the moment. This is

-Dan Zacks

everything I love about independ­

and

listen

to

ent music.

T h e instrumentation is sparse and the recording determinedly low-fi as befits a Matador Records artist.

T h e lyrics possess a deep emo­ tional

current

as

the

6gig

Tincan Experiment (Artemis Records)

listener

explores T im on y’s themes o f loneli­

There

comes 4 time when

ness, isolation, and ignorance. The

every handcrafted garage boy band

imagery expands on Vega’s T h e

seeks freedom from their puppet

Queen and the Soldier: dungeon

masters. Ironically, 6 gig revel in

dances, poison moons, mountains

their lack o f originality and spon­

o f fire, bells, painted horses, valleys

taneity, showing no signs o f matu­

o f 1,00 0 perfumes, and riders on

ration or independence from their

the stormy sea. There is not a song

infamous predecessors Oasis and

here that is less than fascinating,

Blink 182. I f one cannot lead: fol­

and the best ones transport you to

low, yet this band’s futile attempts

Tim ony’s alternate universe o f dark­

at musical replication only reiterates

ness and warmth. T h e melodies are

the musicians’ lack o f inspiration.

at times spectacular and the record

6 gig’s bad lyrics (" you call me

D o w n lo a d &

lis t e n

th e

m p3s

fo r y o u r s e lf!

Two tracks from this CD are available in the CD Reviews on our website.

4$ tribune.mcgill.ca <c|* CD Release party, Barfly, this Friday Jan. 26 @ 9:00pm.

tu' j>iiua£

iOOf. yiF.unbt ts, ,yfin>s>uT .snuditY i Uo YM*^r,î

Sports ____________ ___________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________T u e s d a y , 2 3

J a n u a ry 2 0 0 1

R e d m e n h o c k e y m o v e in to tie fo r s e c o n d p la ce B ig w i n o v e r C o n c o r d i a m a k e s u p f o r l a c k l u s t r e p e r f o r m a n c e a g a i n s t U Q T R Mark Kerr

Concordia

W hat a difference 90 seconds

Tremblay took what little wind

pull even and

there was out o f the sails o f the

salvage

M cG ill players.

a

point.

makes.

“ W e had a very soft start, and

“ W e just

T h e M cG ill Redmen hockey

we can’t do that against U Q T R ,”

team broke open Sunday’s crucial

knew we had

said Raymond.

divisional match-up against cross­

to play a full

feated team and there’s a reason for that.”

“ They’re an unde­

town rival Concordia with three

game and not

powerplay goals within a minute

let them back

and a half to secure a 7-4 victory at

into

like

period, U Q T R had built a four-

M cConnell arena.

Wednesday

goal lead. Vaillancourt came on in

In

it

night,”

the victory, G reg Davis

said

Five minutes into the second

relief o f starting goalie

Benoit

moved to within two games o f sur­

Davis o f the

Menard, providing a much-needed

passing the M c G ill

approach

spark.

consecutive

to

the rematch.

point-scoring streak with two goals.

Joel Bergeron brought the

team within two on his fifth and

Rearguard Adam Shell also scored

Sunday’s

sixth goals o f the season. However,

twice while Stéphane Ducharme,

win helped to

Tremblay’s second goal o f the night,

Paul Thériault and Dave Bahl each

salvage

scored once.

potentially

a powerplay marker, put the game out o f reach.

Luc Vaillancourt

a

disastrous

made 29 saves for the victory.

“W e can’t take as many penal­

T h e win puts the Redmen into

week for the

ties,” acknowledged Adam

a tie with the Stingers for second

men’s hockey

who was sitting o ff at the time o f

Shell

place in the Far East Division, and

M c G ill

increases the chance that the two

Concordia could not. After falling

The Redmen got sidetracked

teams will meet in the first round o f

behind 3-0, the Stingers did noth­

near the end o f the game, giving up

crosstown rivals, the Redmen fell to

goals,” opined Raymond.

the playoffs.

ing to help themselves when Vince

two late goals to Chris Page and

the second ranked U Q T R Patriotes

looking for consistency.

Labossiere

a high-sticking

Gerry Gomez. Mathieu Fleury had

6-3 at home last Friday.

time o f the year, we can’t have that

M cG ill amassed an insur­

a strong game for the Stingers,

“T h e win was a good confi­ dence booster knowing that we can

major.

capitalized

took

where

beat them i f we meet in the play­

mountable 5-0 lead in the next five

offs,”

minutes.

said

goaltender

Luc

Vaillaincourt.

“ It was the turning point,” said

The game resembled a playoff match through the first period with both

teams

playing

Davis o f the quick second period

the decisive goal.

power-play.”

“ W e’re A t this

type o f effort.”

Shell remains optimistic that

“ Our intensity sort o f sagged

Friday,” said Raymond. “W e want­

the defending O U A champs are

after 5-0,” Davis commented after

ed to make sure that we bounced back.”

capable o f being defeated.

recording a goal and an assist.

the game.

The Redmen’s coach was dis­

T h e sophomore winger said

“Absolutely,” responded Shell when asked about the probability o f

last

mayed by the slow start o f his team.

defeating U Q T R . “ It takes a m on­

the

The Patriotes jumped out to a two-

strous effort, and we didn’t have the

Stingers, albeit with less dramatic

goal lead before the game was even

effort.”

“ But the boys

consequences. M cG ill jumped out

ten minutes old. Goals by Marc-

have been working hard on the

to a three-goal lead only to have

Etiennce Hubert and Alexandre

“ Kelly Nobes (assistant coach)

the

later

play

M cG ill killed several penalties due

is running the power-play and

Wednesday’s

in a large part to the strong goal­

doing a good job,” credited Coach Martin Raymond.

The contest quickly changed as

“ I was a little upset with the

“W e competed after the two

way we played against U Q T R on

goals. “W e took control after that.”

tentatively.

tending o f Vaillancourt.

o f settling for a tie against their

3-3

resembled tie

with

Tired Martlets win a big one then fall flat W o m e n s b a s k e t b a ll t e a m David Schipper______________________

fin is h e s h o m e s t a n d a t 2 - 3

to play.

with 10 points and four rebounds.

Keith

T h e score was tied at 30 with

Pruden was not enthusiastic about

C oncordia

coach

6:18 to play in the first half, bqt by

Concordia then went on a 25-

It was Gagné who had a key steal

ball team beat their cross-town

11 run to tie up the score at 59

with 35.7 seconds left and sank

the way that his team played on

the end o f the half the score was

rivals, the Concordia Stingers, 64-

with

two free throws to put M cG ill up

Tuesday night.

44-36 and the Martlets were not

T h e M cG ill Martlets basket­

1:38 to play. Five clutch

60 in a crucial conference match­

M artlet free throws preserved the

up on Tuesday.

win for M cG ill.

64-60 at the end o f the game.

“W e weren’t ready to play. W e

able to close the gap.

“ In the first half, we played

played terribly on defense. W e had

The first half potentially for

like a team. W e were not overcon­

15 turnovers in the first half. In the

M cG ill only two points back in the

M cG ill demonstrated how talented

fident,” Gagné explained. “ W e got

second half, we played like we can

points, while fourth year forward

playoff hunt. However, playing five

and explosive this team can be. T he

tired in the second half. I think we

play,” Pruden said. “ Let me tell you

Jill

games in nine days took its toll as

Martlets shot over 53% from the

forgot how to penetrate to the bas­

something, though: the key to ath­

rebounds.

the

field, had 2 0 rebounds, including

ket.”

The

w in

M artlets

Laurentian

left

fourth-place

succumbed

and York

over

to the

14 defensively,

and com m itted

only seven team fouls, a rarity for

weekend.

T h e M cG ill-Concordia game was extremely important for both teams as they are battling it out for

Coach M oore was quick to add praise for her young forward.

M cG ill.

“ Sarah’s positive contribution

“ This was a big win for us,” enthused

coach

Lisen

M oore.

helped

our

defense

ton igh t,”

Fifth

year

guard

Shauna

Conway led Laurentian with 24 Eccles added

22

w ith

Freshman

ten

forward

letic competition is consistency. It

C arolyn

has to be game-in, game-out. It

points. Laurentian shot an impres­

can’t be random. W e scored 19

sive 55% from the field in the

points in the first half- that’s a joke.

game.

M c G ill

is

playing

w ith

Plum m er

scored

18

some

M cG ill gave Laurentian too

M oore added. “ I think that the

aggression, some real confidence.

many second opportunities under

the third and final p layoff spot in

“ This was a learning situation —

team is more coachable now, but I

T h ey were prepared for us, and

the basket, and the lack o f interior

the QSSF.

learning how to play with a big

have to warn m y players what hap­

deserve their w in.”

positioning translated into easy

lead. W e lost focus and intensity

pens when we don’t play to our

the

out there. W e can’t get into a half

strengths. I did not call any time­

as

court game. This team must play a

outs

transition game to w in.”

because I have confidence in them.

Leading through M artlets

the

48-24 second

seemed

to

m idway half, sink

Concordia made one basket after

during

the

tough

points for the opposition. W ith

Martlets beaten by Laurentian

stretch

through the second half, M cG ill The

Laurentian

Voyageurs,

another on a 1 0 -0 run, cutting the

Rookie forward Sarah Gagné

lead to fourteen with ten minutes

held the team together, especially

they’re going to give me a lot o f

ten

in the second half, and finished

grey hairs.”

Martlets 86-71 on Friday night..

I love this basketball team but

Laurentian leading 67-48 midway

undefeated and ranked in the top in

the

country,

beat

went

on

Laurentian

an

1 1 -0

run,

m aintained

but their

the

Please see WINNING on page 27

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

Sports 27

Martlets volleyball drop showdown against #1 Laval Team

in t i g h t p l a y o f f r a c e a g a i n s t t o p - r a n k i n g s c h o o l s

Jonathan Colford___________________ T h e fifth-ranked Martlets are finding themselves in a tight spot

W innipeg, and two wins against

as the Martlets were

the

able to stay close in the

Manitoba Bisons.

first two and beat Laval

going into the last four games o f their regular season, and the team didn’t do itself much o f a favour this weekend, losing to Laval and Montreal.

Playing in a four-team confer­ ence in which all four clubs are ranked among the top ten nation­ ally, the Red ‘N

out the first three sets

W h ite have a

tough challenge ahead i f they are to earn a spot at the Nationals being

lems for the Martlets, getting sever­

defense enabled the Rouge et O r to get some key points o f f tips and

al key kills o f f shorts from setter

fourth

Julie M orin . T h e

set,

however,

trouble defending against the 6 -

spike attempt coming

foot-tall Duchaine, whose power

with Laval ahead 17-13

and good vertical helped her break

—

M cG ill’s middle block.

a Thom pson strike

which bounced o ff the

“ She is the one that hurts us

top o f the net and fell

— we can control much o f the hit­

the

M artlet’s

ting from the other players,” said M artlets

sional spike from middle Elizabeth Taryn

Thom pson throwing o f f the Rouge et Or. After dropping the first two sets 25-20 and 25-22, the Martlets stormed back to take the third 2 1 -

o f f blocks by Jamieson,

O n Sunday, the Martlets lost their fourth regular-season game in

Shauna Forster yet a

a row, dropping 3-1 to Montreal

stream o f spikes that

(25-18, 18-25, 25-15, 25-15).

Tough road ahead

“ W e were working

T h e Martlets ended the week­

out the kinks as we

end last in the QSSF with a 3-5

haven’t

played

record, behind M ontreal

awhile,”

said Forster.

Sherbrooke (4-3), and first-place

M c G ill did not play

Laval (5-3). T h e top three teams in

over

Two, four, six, eight, who do we appreciate? Martlets!

C orrigan

and

the conference make the playoffs,

since

a January

6 th

and with four games remaining,

game

against

Acadia

the Martlets have their work cut

point came o ff Allaire’s clutch dig Laval

m iddle

D u m on t’s tip

Catherine

and the ensuing

M artlet tip was not recovered by

“ W e can totally be on top o f

the Rouge et O r ended

everybody else, that’s for sure,” said

up being the Martlets’

a confident Allaire after the Laval game.

first game o f 2 0 0 1 .

“ T h ey are big girls, they put

ping, wiping off, and hitting roll

up big blocks, and we were trying

shots, low balls, anything to keep

to use as much variation to unsettle

them on their toes and not to play

Rouge et O r were kept busy over

them as much as we could,” said

a regular hard-hitting game.”

the break. Laval acquired its top

power Joliane Allaire. T h e twelfth

Jamieson. “ W e thought we could

T h e strategy worked through­

out for them.

afternoon’s tangle with C rystal Wreden

do that by hitting aggressively, tip­

Laval.

(4-5),

and

the

got canceled, Saturday

lead thanks to tips from middle M arie-M ich ele

for

break,

25. In the set, M cG ill battled back from a 6 -1 0 deficit to take a 12-11

Rachèle

lost the final set 25-19.

wipe-offs and tips, with the occa­ pow er

coach

Thom pson, and setter

speed attack which featured mostly

and

head

Béliveau.

ally did them in. Th ey

M cG ill replied with an off-

Jamieson

M artlets had

with the Martlets’ last

broke the block eventu­

wipe-offs.

of

from

M c G ill’s attack in the

M cG ill got points

forcing them to defend deep. This

D om in iqu e

disappeared

Manitoba.

O n Saturday, Laval attacked

m iddle

Duchaine caused no end o f prob­

court.

the Martlets with a power game,

Laval

in the third. T h e power

into

held this year at the University o f

form erly-first-ranked

U nlike

the

M artlets,

the

ranking over the holidays thanks to victories

over

Toron to,

York,

Winning streak snapped at two Defensive stalwart Santamaria

when we miss one. I ’m going to

potent offensive pace the rest o f the

added

way.

M artlets.

continued from page 26

eight

for

the

give them some physical and men­

Saturday,

the

tal rest, build it into the schedule

points

On

“ T h e y wore us dow n with

Martlets lost 71-59 to the York

this week, and concentrate on what

theif' heavy interior play and fast

Yeowomen, who rose to 3-8 in

we do best, which is running in

screens. W e were a step behind

the

transition.”

ton igh t,”

schedule between the Quebec

offered

coach

Lisen

20

game

interlocking

Cynthia Santamaria was par­

conferences.

ticularly disappointed by the loss

zone is when we need to keep

M cG ill fell to 2-9, still only two

and is adamant that a better shoot­

fighting. Th at shows in intense,

points

M oore.

“ However, our com fort

and

O ntario behind

the

ing percentage w ill occur with

3-7

close ball games. Still, we’re at our

Concordia Stingers, who lost to

best when we keep concentrating.

Laurentian 68-60 on Saturday.

some rest, “W e lost the individual battles in the second half,” Santamaria

W e just didn’t do that tonight. As

M cG ill trailed by only two

usual, Cynthia Santamaria played

at the half, 36-34, and by six

said. “ I try to bring the team up

points midway through the sec­

with m y intensity, but we’re just

Maude Vallières, who is in the

ond half, 52-46, when York

tired, I guess, and it shows in our

running for rookie o f the year,

slowly pulled away for good.

inside game. W e have to give every­

scored 17 points, the guard’s season

Four Yeowomen reached dou­

thing that we have.”

average, adding six rebounds and

ble figures, including sopho­

two steals.

more forward K elly Vernelli

phenomenal defense down low.”

Shannon Howard, Lysiane van

and first year forward Miranda

der Knaap, and Cheeka M itchell

Pyette w ith

all had ten points for M cG ill.

R ookie

17 points each.

guard

Susy

D abovic

reduced the bench because these

from 34 from the line.

Van der Knaap, celebrating

added 16 while second year guard

her 2 1 st birthday, led the team

Natassia Subban scored 13. Three

second half,”

with seven rebounds. M itchell also

York players had ten rebounds

“We

had four assists and four steals.

apiece, and the Yeowomen were 23

“ That was a tired team in the M oore explained.

were just flat

today.

I ’ve

players have chemistry and flow together, but the rebounding has to get better. W e can’t give two shots

- <.rx7i

(T

\CCS • -,

28*Sports

‘ c

, T .... i

jT ;

^ j-f

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

The meaning of being Dave R e d m e n c e n t e r D a v e B u r g e s s n e x t in lo n g l i n e o f t a l e n t e d M c G i l l p l a y m a k e r s ticular success this season, Burgess

Jam es Empringham

doing i f I wasn’t playing hockey.

is reserved.

T o watch center Dave Burgess patrol the neutral zone for the Redmen is to watch a man in his element.

Possessed with an innate

upon it, you watch as Burgess hits the blue line in characteristic full stride. H e surveys the ice for his options.

A

pass to a streaking

winger? A snapshot five hole? A deke on the goaltender? O n ly he

role was to play more defensively.

Burgess is enjoying his new role as playmaker for this year’s

need more scoring.”

excitedly explains,

“ W hat I really

love is making that pass which nobody else could have seen or expected, but works out perfectly.”

Already with 19 helpers in 16

Redmen team, but he realizes that

A lo n g with more ice time, especially

on

the

power-play,

rematch

Together, Davis and Burgess have

Burgess w ill bear much o f the

accounted for a remarkable 44% o f

blame.

M cG ill’s tallies this season.

this

Recently he also became

Redmen player ever to score 20 goals in three seasons, and the 64th M cG ill member to play in

100

games. In this his third season, he has become the next in the long line

“ There’s always pressure, no notes. “ T h e goal o f everyone on this

knows that I don’t have a shot,

team is to make it back to the con­

there’s no joking about that, so

ference finals, and it’s something I

knowing that he can score, I ’m

know we can do. I like this team a

automatically going to keep passing

lot. W e have players like Perrault

it to him,” Burgess notes,

and Ducharme who don’t quit, and

from the past as Mathieu Darche and Pierre Gendron. “ Like all o f our past leaders, Redmen

Raymond.

coach

M artin

“ H e definitely has his

own style though. H e’s very offen­ sively talented, but he’s totally com­ mitted to the defensive side o f the

Redmen squad is still unknown, Coach

stands the role Burgess will play in

“ M y size has always been an issue,” he notes.

Raymond already under­

its determination.

“ I guess i f you

“ H e’s not our only guy, but he’s

have the choice between a guy who

hockey rink.

is 5’ H ” and a guy who is 6 ’ 2 ” ,

hockey was all there was to do.”

you’re going to choose the bigger

Located just a five

In the winter time,

hockey is not a common progres­

our number one center, great on the

sion, it made sense to Burgess.

powerplay, and an invaluable penal­

minute

“ M ost o f the good hockey

guy, but I ’ve never had a problem in

drive north o f the N orth Dakota-

players near home try to make it in

the leagues I ’ve played in.”

Canadian border, Crystal C ity is a

M ajor Junior or some attend the

thrown his way, in typical Burgess

Manitoba town o f just over 500

University o f Manitoba, but the

style, he makes it clear that he’s not

people.

stature o f the M cG ill name really

taking anything too seriously.

Coach Raymond agreed, “ Even though he’s one o f our smallest

ty killer.”

Despite

the

superlatives

players, there is no doubt that Dave

“ People always laugh when I

is a gritty player and one o f our

tell them that there were more peo­

Burgess grew fond o f city life

some work out and some don’t. I f

toughest competitors.”

ple in m y first year physics class at

very quickly. After living with a

m y teammate is where I think he is,

M cG ill than there were in Crystal

family in Westmount for his first

I look good, but i f he isn’t, I want to

City,” he chuckled.

year, the third year Management

get o ff the ice as quick as possible,” he grins.

W hile the stereotype o f the small player bothers Burgess, he can’t help but grin when acknowl­

to

student moved closer to campus last

M cG ill after he was spotted by one

year, allowing him to be closer to

stereotype; the sleepy Prairie hockey

o f Coach Raymond’s scouts, play­

the rink among other things.

town, in which he grew up.

Burgess

was

recruited

impressed me,” he explains.

edging the verity o f another hockey

ing in a local Junior “A ” game. And

“ Throughout the season we’re

“ In Crystal C ity there is a gro­

while moving from Crystal C ity

practicing two hours a day,” he

cery store, a curling rink and a

Junior “A ” to M cG ill University

explains. “ I don’t know what I ’d be

game as well.”

W hen asked to explain his par­

W h ile the fate o f this year’s

175

attain his entire life.

Dave is an extremely selfless player,” extols

they’re not scared o f anyone.”

pound Burgess has worked hard to

o f talented Redmen leaders, a line which includes such notable names

Rivières,

well. I pass and he shoots. Everyone

season. the sixth

Trois

matter what role your playing,” he

confidence which the 5’ 11”

passes

with

“W e compliment each other

that category for the entire Ontario

perfect

Redmen

least as far as a conference final

exudes an obvious confidence. It’s a

Burgess has been making a plethora

the

forged with line mate Greg Davis.

the Redmen, placing him second in

of

If

be attributed to the chemistry he’s

His speech, however quiet,

Conference,

responsibilities.

don’t score enough goals to get at

conference games this season with

University A th letic

it’s a role which comes with added

Burgess’ increase in scoring can also

knows for sure. “ M y game is intuition,” he

grades might also go up as well.”

This year though, I knew that we’d

instinct for open ice, and capable o f the pin point pass to capitalize

Probably a lot o f video games. M y

“ M y first two years, I knew m y

“ For every wild pass I make,

Proving once again that even a man in his element knows his role.

What's On

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January 24: 10 a.m.- 6:00 p.m.

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Tue 23 Jan 2-3 pm E-Business

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I f you want help out and become a volunteer, contact blooddrive@sus.mcgill.ca

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Friday, January 26th: The one and

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Wednesday, January 24th: Voicing

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disappointed.

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

Sports 29

Basketball team continues great play Sutton and driving to the basket.

barrage o f three pointers by the

with a great defensive effort. W e

team’s leading scorer, started the

M cG ill did indeed take control

Marcario hit his lay-up despite

Volunteers’ Clifton Edwards.

seem like the team to beat in the

game cold from the field missing

o f the game until the Stingers start­

being mauled on the way up. H e

“ Defense wins games,” said

conference. I f everyone works hard,

his first six shots, but eventually tal­

ed to play pressure defense. This

added a free throw to give M cG ill a

head coach N evio Marzinotto. “W e

we can get pretty far.”

lied a game high 30 points. W ith

continued from page 1

tactic seemed to fluster the Redmen and Concordia managed to pull within seven, 55-48, with 8:44 left in the game.

Once again though, Kirk Reid performed his magic. After a Real Kitieu miss, Murphy grabbed the rebound and tossed a bomb to

“ This was a good performance

his offensive output this weekend,

today,” added coach Marzinotto.

Marcario is in the running to win

“ But we still have things to work

the CLAU national scoring title.

on. W e made it too exciting at the

“ I don’t think about it,” said

end. But we played good defense

Marcario. “T h e way the team is

and

game

going it’s just very exciting to play,

together. I f we got some inside scor­

and whatever comes along with that

ing, who knows what this team

is just a bonus.”

we

are

getting

our

T h e game went back and forth

could do.”

Reid. T h e captain adeptly handled

through the first ten minutes o f the

the pass and hit a lay-up despite

McGill 84 York 78

being manhandled by Concordia’s

second half with the two teams exchanging leads until the Redmen

Eric Zulu. Reid hit the ensuing free throw to give M cG ill a command­ ing ten point advantage.

T h e lead was never in doubt from that point onwards. T h e 8376 final score was the closest that Concordia would come for the rest o f the game and even that is deceiv­ ing since Zulu hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to make the score look respectable.

M cG ill was led by Kirk Reid’s 25

points.

Guard

D om enico

Marcario and forward Pat Kieran also chipped in with

12

points

apiece, with Kieran adding nine rebounds.

Perhaps o f even more impor­ tance was the defense o f Kieran and fellow forward Brent Prowse. This

fact,

Prowse

and

3-0 advantage.

Marcario did not stop there.

Kieran even combined to outscore

H e scored 13 o f M cG ill’s first 25

Kitieu 20 to 14.

again. Denburk Reid, Domenico

the new year Saturday night at the

Marcario and Kirk Reid were all

Currie Gym, and the eighth ranked

sensational in the second half, and

York Yeomen were more than they

the team shot a phenomenal 63

could handle early on.

percent from the field. Both times

Five minutes and 17 seconds

the Yeomen threatened to pull the

into the game the Redmen were

game close, Dom enico Marcario

down 15-0, forcing first year head

responded with big 3 point shots,

coach Marzinotto to burn a time­

the last one coming with 1:25 to

out and expel a verbal lashing on his

play to seal the victory.

players in order to get their heads

“ This was a good team [we

back in the game. “ W e’ve done this

played] tonight, so o f course it’s

in the past in our second game on a

going to be close,” said Coach

Saturday and it’s a real struggle to

Marzinotto, “ but I expect all the

get off,” said coach Marzinotto after

games to be like this for the rest o f

the game. “ It’s definitely a mental

the year. M ore important than the

aspect not a physical one. Th ey are

win, when you’re down

tired, but so is the other team com­

against a quality team and you

by

15

ing into their second game o f the

come back, it makes you a quality team. This is a good confidence

lost our lead when we lapsed on

level is fine, so it’s obviously just a

builder.”

defense. After our time out though,

mental thing.”

massive Kitieu to 14 points and 14 In

their toughest opponents so far in

week-end, but I think our fitness

duo managed to lim it Concordia’s rebounds.

T h e M cG ill Redmen hosted

went on a 9 -3 run and never trailed

we got everything in order.”

M cG ill should get some strong

Although Marzinotto refused

consideration for a top ten ranking

M cG ill did indeed look like a

to repeat his “pep-talk” , whatever he

in the CLAU this week, their first in

new basketball team after their

said certainly inspired point guard

a long time.

utes into the game, M cG ill led 25-

break.

and

Denburk Reid who proceeded to

“These kids playing well and

15.

D enburk

with

put up nine points on a 14-4 run

beating some o f the best teams in

“ I felt good right from the

both diminutive guards dropping in

over the next five and a half min­

the country is more important than

beginning,” explained Marcario. “ It

basket after basket. W ith a 6-0 run,

utes to get the Redmen back in the

a top ten national ranking, but we

year but they still didn’t respect us.

was nice to set the tone for the

M cG ill managed to regain a 66-59

have to be given some credibility

N o w they know that w e mean busi­

team. It seemed like the team got

lead.

game. “ Individual people should step

The win was a huge confidence booster for the Redmen who pulled into a tie with Concordia for the conference lead. “ This win feels really good,” said Murphy. “W e beat them last

points including five on an impres­ sive 15-1 Redmen run.

Ten min­

Head coach N evio Marzinotto was also quite excited about the vic­ tory but stressed not getting too “W inning the game was great,” explained coach Marzinotto. “ But we haven’t achieved our goals yet.

W e want to take this thing one

show

continued

up and carry the team when others

W h ile the Redmen may have

put an exclamation point on their

aren’t making the plays,” said coach

been pumped up, M c G ill’s run

performance, courtesy o f the Reid

M arzinotto.

boys.

Denburk,

seemed to wake up the Vees. W ith

“ Tonight last

it

night

[vs.

Laurentian] it was Domenico, and

the half, Laurentian pulled to with­

rebound and dribbled up court.

against Concordia it was Kirk Reid.

in five points and seemed to have all

From there he spotted Burkie open

But the thing about Denburk is

o f the momentum.

charging towards the basket. The

that he doesn’t just step up his

captain

game, he makes everyone around

That is when M cG ill’s shortest

K irk

lobbed

grabbed

a pass

up

for

him better.”

player stood tall. 5’6 point guard

Denburk that seemed like it would

Denburk Reid led M cG ill to a 12-3

be impossible to reach. But the ver­

run to end the half.

tically challenged point guard was

entire team for pulling together and

T h e Montreal native did it all

up to the task. Denburk soared over

not panicking when

Despite their exciting victory

during that stretch. H e hit a clutch

the rim grabbed the pass and layed

down early.

over Concordia on Tuesday, M cG ill

three-pointer, put on a dribbling

it in

alley-oop

“ W e came out flat, we’ve come

could not have been that confident

display and drove to

the hoop

brought the Love Com petition Hall

out like that before and still won so

entering Friday night’s game against

against much bigger defenders. All

the Laurentian Volunteers.

crowd to its feet.

M cG ill held on to its lead from

we know we can over come adversi­

told, Reid and the Redmen held a seemingly comfortable 45-33 edge

there, as they continued to be led by

effo rt,”

going into the locker room.

the

of

pumped for the Friday night games

a

and give it our all, and it’s just hard

career high 31 points in the game.

to come out again Saturday night

game at a time and continue our momentum into the weekend.”

McGill 91 Laurentian 85

Laurentian has long been a particularly tough team for M cG ill

the hoop. This

clutch

Marcario.

performance

D om enico

scored

Denburk

Reid

credits

the

they were

ty i f we put together a solid team said Reid.

“We

get so

to beat. In fact, coming into the

Unlike the Concordia game

game, the Redmen had lost eleven

though, M cG ill did not build on

straight games to the Vees.

their first half momentum to start

Denburk and Kirk Reid were also

with that much energy, and it takes

M cG ill did not seem to care

the second half. In fact, Laurentian

quite impressive. Denburk scored

us a lot longer to get into our

about the losing streak and came

outscored M cG ill 24-9 to open up

25, while Kirk added 18.

groove.”

out on fire against Laurentian.

the frame and actually led 57-54

Sophomore guard Dom enico Marcario set the tone for the game.

with 12:30 left in the game.

T h e Redmen’s defense which

& S t a y C lo s e

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R a te s in c lu d e o n e n ig h t ’s d aay A lo d g in g a n d o n e -d y W h ite fa c e lif t tic kket. e t.

T h e Redmen went on another

with his offensive display, he was

run, 1 0 -0 , later in the first, thanks

•Restrictions

more impressed with his defense.

this

A p p ly

“I

feel like

I

played

time

to

shooting

guard

great

D om enico Marcario, and found

St-Leonard

native opened the contest by steal­

point was having trouble rotating to

defense today,” said Marcario. “ In

themselves even at the half with the

ing the ball from Laurentian’s Leon

the open man. This resulted in a

fact, the whole team came through

Yeomen at 31 apiece. Marcario, the

dim inutive

W h it e f a c e M o u n ta in

Marcario was happy

W h ile

had been so tenacious up until that

The

now.”

was

a

Captain

less than six minutes remaining in

overconfident.

D om enico

W ith 4:05 left, the Redmen

pumped up after that.”

ness. W e’re contenders.”

The

^

 888 - w h it e f a c e ( 944 - 8332 ) w w w . w h i t e f a c e r e g io n . c o m

30 Sports

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

Track co ach Barrett b lasts team 's boorish behaviour Andrew Raven_______________________

C a r o l i n e

win in the 1 0 0 0 was the most

T h e M cG ill track and field

Handschuh

exciting event o f the day as he

team had a successful meet on

( 3 0 0 0 m ) .

clipped runner up Rob Berg o f

Saturday at the Tomlinson field-

Remarkably,

Queens by .3 o f a second.

house, but that’s not what head

Handshuh won

"It was really close and I could

coach Dennis

gold in her first

feel him over m y shoulder," said

ever 3000m.

Hayashi.

Barrett was con­

cerned with in its aftermath.

"T h e O n tario

"I

teams, York,

Windsor, St. Lawrence, they all

don’t

really

Later, running second in the

have

relay, Hayashi blew past his com­

stay and cheer their teams on. [W e

specialty.

say] ‘O h m y days done, so let me

week I ran the

Last

petitors and put M cG ill ahead to stay.

just go home. I don’t care about

1500...

but

"T h e key to running is to be

anybody else’ . T h ere’s no team

this is the first

smooth," he said. " Sometimes the

spirit. There’s no passion. Th ey

time I have run

faster you go, the looser you get, so

only think about me, m yself and I.

the 3000. I ’ll

it’s important to stay in stride.

"It’s an individual sport, but at

have to talk to

Today I was able to run smoothly."

the end o f the day there is a team

my

coach

T h e men’s tally was completed

medal. T h e more you support your

about [what to

by tw o bronzes, one by Jeffrey

next

Wagner in the 600m and the other

. "

by Om ar Gianfresco in the 300m.

teammates, the harder they run.

run

You hope that the veterans will

w e e k ]

stick around and keep the gang

Handshuh

Surprisingly, the men were com ­

together, but that didn’t happen. I f

said.

pletely shut out in the field.

In

that happens again, they’re not going to run track at M cG ill."

600,

Barrett opined.

was

The

6 th

annual

M c G ill

by

the

T h e Invitational was only the

Lessard

fourth meet o f the season, and

follow ed

third at M cG ill. G oin g into the

teammates

tournament,

Invitational was a study in con­

Sara M illar and

trasts. T h e M cG ill wom en dom i­

Natalie Seaman, com pleting the

nated the field and easily w on the

on ly sweep o f the day on the

overall meet title, while the men

women’s side. Crieghton added a

struggled and finished fourth, well

bronze in the long jump to her

behind first placed Queens.

gold, and Erin C hoi won M c G ill’s 13

only other field medal, a silver in

medals in 14 events lead by gold

the high jump. Christine Lagarde,

medal winners Dawn Crieghton

who finished third in both the 60m

(triple

Lessard

sprint and the 60m hurdles, round­

(1000m ),

ed out the women’s individual tally.

The

w om en

ju m p),

(600m ), E m ilie

captured

Lindsay

Zein

O deh

M ondor

(1 500m ),

and

Coach Dennis Barrett was pleased

with the results.

seconds.

"W e had a lot o f new people running [and] that was good to see.

They

could

have

let

Celine D ion run the anchor leg "Early in the season we try to

ances... and even with the nation­

use their splits [to determine who

al champions, Sherbrooke, here,

w ill run the relays]," said Barrett. ”

the women won the meet," Barrett

But we will decide later on who

said.

w ill run at nationals."

The

men,

w ho

w on

were

should move up on the strength o f men were tied for ninth with Sherbooke, but could fall out o f the top ten as the Vert et O r placed second at the meet.

four

tory came in the 4x800m relay,

medals, were

where the women beat runner up

Hayashi who captured gold in the

St. Lawrence by an astounding 46

1000m and the 4x800m relay. His

lead

w om en

an impressive performance. T h e

and still won easily.

W e had some really good perform­

M c G ill’s most impressive vic­

the

ranked tenth in the nation and

by Yohsuke

Ray Lewis + murder rap = wasted marketing opportunity game

and

lead

his

improbable

Ray and his friends decided to high

their future viability as spokesmen.

Ravens to the Superbowl, blah,

tail it out o f the club.

Their only

T h e reasons why these athletes are

backer. That is the position on the

L e ft F ie ld

blah, blah. T h e great injustice in all

mistake was that they fled the scene

so popular is simply that the world

field where it is most imperative

o f this is not the repetitive and bor­

in

Lincoln

has grown bored o f the hard work­

that you are able to attack running

Christian Lander

ing nature o f sports writers, but in

Navigator Sports U tility Vehicle.

ing, boring athlete who loves his

backs and quarterbacks,

Ray Lewis missing the chance o f a

These cars are huge as it is, but a

family, goes to church, etc.

vicious hits, and lead the defense.

lifetime to spring from linebacker

stretched version stands out more

Sports is a form o f entertain­

These players are generally regarded

to icon.

than a white cornerback. Needless

ment and fans want someone who

as the toughest and most vicious on the team. It doesn’t take a market­

Out of

a

STRETCH ED

you consider that he plays line­

deliver

the thousands o f

Before going any further, it is

to say, their choice o f getaway car

is entertaining, and nothing sells

reporters from websites,

important to recap the events that

was fingered rather easily and all the

more than a criminal.

television, newspapers,

landed Ray Lewis in a wardrobe o f

suspects were rounded up.

and radio at the Superbowl this

orange prison jumpsuits for the

a criminal

with a violent crime playing this

year, the need for a story is greater

early part o f 2000.

Following last

months in prison, with an intense

image. Rappers like D M X , Snoop

position, and playing it better than

than ever.

year’s Superbowl between the Rams

swarm o f media surrounding his

D ogg (circa 1992) and Eminem

anyone else.

year’s most

and Titans, Lewis and a few o f his

trial.

Eventually he was acquitted

have all been able to parlay court

Ray Lewis is young, dangerous

popular story will be that o f Ray

friends went to an Atlanta night

and went back to work for the

dates into stronger record sales.

( i f he chooses to be) and talented.

Lewis, the Baltimore Ravens star

club for one o f the thousands o f

Baltimore Ravens.

Once there, he

T h e record companies know that a

That image could have hawked m il­

linebacker who was arrested after

post game parties offered in the city.

said almost nothing, worked hard

young, dangerous star who plays by

lions o f dollars worth o f sneakers,

last year’s Superbowl in Atlanta and

A t this particular club, there was an

and had a great season. H e endured

his own rules is a valuable com­

soft drinks, clothing, and countless

charged with murder.

altercation

some

a few hardships this season like the

m odity and they exploit it to the

other products to the increasingly

T h e media will eat up the fact

exchanges o f words and punches,

occasional chant o f ‘murderer’ dur­

fullest extent.

valuable

that this troubled player has worked

Lewis’s friends shanked Richard

ing a road game, but other than

icons

hard to exorcise his demons and put

Lollar, 24, and Jacinth Baker, 21,

that he was as quiet as a mouse.

forth the hard work necessary to

both o f whom eventually died from

make him the top linebacker in the

the injuries.

ith

W

Inevitably,

this

and,

after

Ray would spend the next few

So to recap, we see that Ray Lewis a) hangs with killers, b) has a

After committing the crime,

R eT

i

All rV

h ’i

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Th ey create true are

recognized

by

throngs o f youth as well as middle aged midwesterners.

Ray

Lewis

has

value o f having a person charged

market

of

suburban

‘gangstas’ .

T h e N F L has seen some great image crafting players like Mean Joe

missed

his

Green, Ickey Woods, and Deion

bangin’ ride, c) is wealthy, d) is an

chance to become one o f these cross

Sanders.

amazing athlete. I f you add e) has a

cultural icons.

create an o ff the field image (one

bad ass attitude, Ray Lewis is the

___________________ m RUE MILTON

ing expert to see the commercial

A look to music reveals the via­

A

These men were able to

young management firm

that didn’t necessarily match up

most marketable and commercially

would have promoted Lewis as a

with their real personality) that

viable athlete in the N F L .

man who is as dangerous on the

made them into major crossover

W e are living in the era o f the

field as he is o ff o f it. W ith only a

stars. Ray Lewis could have bested

thugged out star. T h e most popular

bit o f media coaching, he could

them all.

players among youth today all have

have used little tricks like intimidat­

more than the quarterback.

a little criminal activity in their

ing reporters without getting fined,

great it could have been.

past.

Players

like

Randy Moss

(assault and drug possession), Allen

or learn to make outrageous state­ ments to make this image a reality.

Iverson (assault) and others have

T h e potential for Lewis as a

not seen their criminal pasts hinder

spokesman looks even greater when

A linebacker who kills H ow

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 23 January 2001

Sports 31

Gambling sure bet to enhance Superbowl fun M a k e it t r u l y a s u p e r S u n d a y is that it is all a fluke.

Schnurb's Superbowl Pool

Neil Schnurbach

You do not need to have any football knowledge

Ok. You’re one o f them. You watch

the

Superbowl

because

to predict who will get National Anthem 2:00 minutes

everybody is watching it. O r you

Coin Toss

just

Coin Toss W inner

love

the

commercials.

Or

maybe because nothing else is on. sure. You do not like football.

Have no fear. I am the guy who can make the Superbowl fun for everyone.

Some people are dreading this

the

Heads/Tails (2 pts.)

Similarly, no one really

Ravens/Giants (1 pt.)

knows

penalty.

how

long

the

national

Ravens/Giants (2 pts.)

take.

Ravens/Giants (2 pts.)

because o f this pool my

Ravens/Giants (2 pts.)

friends and I were hyped

Fassel(Giants)/Belichick (Ravens)(2pt)

from the coin toss until

1st Touchdown 1st Sack 1st Field Goal

1st Coach’s Challenge

first

Ravens/Giants (2 pts.)

1st first down

But we know one thing for

Over/Under (2pts.)

But

last

w ill year,

the end o f the game.

Ravens/Giants (2 pts.)

1st injury

anthem

In many cases in

year’s big game. T h e Ravens and

1st 5-10 yard Penalty

Ravens/Giants ( l pt.)

the Giants are two defensive teams

1st Penalty o f 15 yards or more

Ravens/Giants (1 pt.)

and the game promises to be a low

1 st interception

scoring affair with very minimal

Is there a score before 6:27 left in the 1st Quarter

action. T o the casual football fan

1st running play o f more than 10 yards

Ravens/Giants (2 pts.)

this sounds like torture.

1st pass o f more than 20 yards

Ravens/Giants (2 pts.)

scale gambling w ill keep

1st fumble (recovered by the other team)

Ravens/Giants (2 pts.)

everyone interested.

There is one fool-p roof way to make each minute o f the action valuable.

For those o f you out there who are extremely moral people, brace yourselves. This solution involves some low stakes gambling.

Basically, what you do is dis­ tribute a copy o f my football pool (see the box) to everyone at your Superbowl

party

and

you

are

bound to have a good time. You

recent

Ravens/Giants (2 pts.)

Yes/No

history,

the

Superbowl has been a blowout.

(2 pts.)

But have no

fear. Even i f the game is not close, some small

Ravens Q B Trent Differ 160 yards passing

Over/Under

(2 pts.)

There is one caveat

Giants Q B Kerry Collins 200 yards passing

Over/Under

(2 pts.)

that I have for you. In

Lewis(Ravens)/Barber(Giants)(2pt)

order for the pool to be

M ore rushing yards

run

Sharpe(Ravens)/Toomer(Giants) (2pt)

M ore receiving yards

Stover(Ravens)/Daiusio(Giants)(2pt)

Longest field goal

Yes/No (2 pts.)

A second half score before 5:45 left in the 3rd Quarter

McCrary(Ravens)/Strahan(Giants)(2pt)

More Sacks

Ravens/Giants

Tim e o f Possession at the half

Ravens/Giants

Tim e o f Possession for the game

Ravens/Giants

1st second half T D

properly,

you

should have at least one

(2pts.)

(4 pts.)

(2pts.)

football

fan

Superbowl

at

your party.

Otherwise, no one will know

which

coach

issued the first challenge or who had more time

1st second half field goal

Ravens/Giants

(2pts.)

1st 2 nd half punt

Ravens/Giants

(2pts.)

Aside from that lit­

Every aspect o f the game has a cer­

1st safety

Ravens/Giants

(2pts.)

tle piece o f information,

tain point value allotted to it. For

7 points in the first Quarter

Over/Under

(3 pts.)

my advice should make

instance, i f you predict that the

10 points in the second Quarter

coin toss will be heads and it is,

7 points in the third Quarter

you get two points. I f you think

9 points in the fourth Quarter

should pay $5 to enter the pool.

The

pool

works

like

this:

that the Ravens are going to beat the Giants and they do, you get seven points. T h e many categories add up to 100 points. W hoever has the most points wins all o f the money in the pot.

Over/Under

(3pts.)

the game fun for the

Over/Under

(3pts.)

whole family. Enjoy!

Over/Under

(3 pts.)

Over/Under

17 points at half time

Over/Under

3 3 points by the end o f the game

o f possession.

(4pts.)

(5 pts.)

Ravens/Giants (5pts.)

Halftime score (Ravens -1 .5 ) Final Score (Ravens -3)

Ravens/Giants (lOpts.)

Final Score without Spread

Ravens/Giants

(7pts.)

T h e best part about this pool

O rford on Feb. 10 and 11th.

S p o r ts B r ie f s Martlet Hockey receives rude welcome in Lake Placid Nordic skiing makes McGill return T h e Martlets travelled to Lake For the first time since the

Placid for the High Peaks tourney

1980s, M cG ill competed in Nordic

last weekend and returned with lit­

skiing over the week-end at M t. St.

and were promptly dismissed with

enjoying his first off-season as a

the season hosted by Sherbrooke.

a 3-0 loss to the powerful Laval

member o f the Seattle Seahawks o f

The team won by a 39-36 margin,

team. T h e final tally o f the three

the National Football league, his

with Judy Morris emerging victori­

games was 25-14, 25-13, 25-22.

younger brother Mathieu, the for­

ous in women’s singles competi­

mer captain o f the Redmen hockey

tion, and the doubles tandem o f

team who recently got engaged, is

Sally Carter and Rani Chatoorgoon

doing his utmost to attain his

also triumphing. In mixed doubles

dream o f playing in the national

play, M orris teamed w ith Sean

Baillie's Successor to be named soon

Hockey League. Mathieu is cur­

O ’Conner o f the men’s squad to

athletics

rently fourth in scoring on the

win their match.

There is a great deal o f antici­

tle more than some not so fond

On

memories to show for it. T h e team

pation around M cG ill

Saturday, Erin Freeland-Ballantyne

lost their first game o f the tourney

about the soon to named successor

Syracuse Crunch, the American

o f the women’s team took home a bronze medal in a combined time

5-1 to St. Lawrence College on Saturday. T h e Martlets were out-

to long-tim e Redmen football coach Charlie Baillie, who’s retiring

hockey league affiliate o f the expansion Columbus Blue-Jackets.

o f 28:39 in the com bined

1.5

shot 50-20 in the process, recieving

after 29 years on the job. The

H e has 12 goals and 31 points in

meter freestyle and 5 kilometre

a lone goal from forward Allison

Gazette recently reported that the

43 games played. It is anticipated

Emilie Mondor, a freshman studying animal biology, won a pair

Anne

in

Quebec

City.

Mondor, Marcario McGillAdidas Athletes of the Week

classic event. Emily Schonberg was

Ticmanis. Kim St. Pierre made 45

list has been narrowed down to

that he will receive a call-up to ‘The

fourth, and Sonja Osterjag was fifth. O n Sunday in the 10 kilome­

saves keeping the score close for the

Show” before the end o f the Blue­

o f gold medals at the sixth annual

T h e team should be

three people. T h e leading candidate appears to be former M cG ill coach

jackets’ regular season.

M c G ill

tre freestyle, Freeland placed sec­

given credit for bouncing back

Sonny W olfe, who has been at the

ond, Osterjag placed third and

strong later in the day by battling

helm o f the Acadia Axemen for the

Schonberg was fourth. O n

the

Concordia to overtime at one goal

past

M acD onald

a piece, but ultimately the team

placed fifth in the 1.5 kilometre

came up short, losing in a shootout

Baillie heirs include Chuck M cM ann, a member o f the Calgary

freestyle and the 7.5 kilometre clas­

2-1. The loss brought the Martlets

Stampeders coaching staff, and

season record to 10-12-4.

men’s

side,

C olin

most part.

15 years. O ther potential

Invitational

Team

Challenge track and field meet on

New Badminton Coach over 55-champion

Saturday.

Dom enico Marcario, a 5-foot-

T h e M cG ill Badminton pro­

10 guard, scored 72 points in three

Jacques Chapdelaine, who led the

gram annointed Lane Bickel as its new head coach. Bickel recently

victories for M cG ill last week, help­ ing the unranked Redmen knock

seconds. H e was 3-5 seconds o ff the

Laval Rouge et O r to the Vanier

won

o f f a pair o f Top 10 teams and

w inning

Cup in 1999.

men’s

sic in a combined time o f 30:45 time.

On

Sunday,

MacDonald placed fifth in the 15 kilometre freestyle event. Daniel Park placed eighth and Mathieu Laliberte was 11th. T h e nordic team competes next at M ount

Redmen volleyball team spiked

by Laval

the International over 55

Apparently

Darche Brothers Update

tournament.

move into sole possession o f first

Bickel’s success has

place in the Quebec conference for

senior

rubbed o ff on his team which fared well against l’Universite du Quebec

T h e Redmen volleyball team

W hile former Redmen foot­

travelled to St. Foy last weekend

ball star Jean-Phiilippe Darche is

a Trois Rivieres over the weekend at the second league tournament o f

the first time since 1986.

F e a t u r in g :

P la y in g f ie ld :

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