The McGill Tribune Vol. 20 Issue 18

M a rz in o tto h a s R e d m e n w in n in g S p o r t s 25

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T u e s d a y , 3 0 J a n u a r y 2 0 0 1 I s s u e 18

P u b lish ed by the S tu d e n ts ’ S ociety o f M c G ill U n iversity

C o u r s eb o o k s s till n o t a v a ila b lefo r m a n ystu d e n ts C arly Johnson________________

More than three weeks into the new semester, prolonged delays at the McGill bookstore have been leaving students and professors high and dry without required course textbooks.

As of Tuesday, January 16, as much as 14 ’per cent of required textbooks had not arrived in the McGill bookstore, and many are still unavailable.

The shortages are leaving stu­ dents anxious at being unable to start their work on time. Rachael Jagielski, a U1 political science student whose developing areas course textbook did not arrive until last week, expressed her dis­ content at the situation.

“It’s frustrating because I have a midterm in that class on the [February 9]. That’s two weeks on however many weeks this semester — on top of everything else, I have to read this book now from chap­ ter one.”

Mario Fortina, the manager of the McGill bookstore, said the delays cannot be attributed to a single cause, and cited problems ranging from publisher-related disputes to misplaced orders.

“Chapters is having some issues with various publishers and we’re sorting out those issues.

Other issues might be misplaced orders, lost orders... Also, there are a number of universities in the United States that are merging their warehouse facilities, and that’s created a backlog — it cre­ ates delays as far as their shipping their orders to us,” he said.

“Your powers are weak old man"... Julie Vader (aka Sara Moarif) exercises the dark side of the force on her kendo partner.

Patrick Fok

Profs to testify in gay marriage case G ro u p s

o b je c t to

James Grohsgal

The likelihood that two McGill professors will testify as expert witnesses against same-sex marriage in a high-profile court case has sparked controversy among campus gay and lesbian organiza­ tions.

The two professors, Dr. Margaret Somerville and Dr. Katherine Young, are the targets of a petition currently circulating among the McGill community.

Members of Project Interaction, a homosexual-support group in the

e x p e r t w itn e s s

te s tim o n y

School of Social Work, drafted the petition, which is dated January 16.

Dr. Shari Brotman, an assistant professor in the School of Social Work, and the coordinator of Project Interaction, thinks that Somerville and Young’s testimony are ill-advised.

“We are really disappointed that they are taking a stance in a court case against what we consider to be the rights of gays, lesbians and bisexuals,” said Brotman. “They’re using their opinions in a way that has a huge impact.”

Somerville, a founding mem­

a g a in s t s a m e - s e x

ber of the McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law and a professor in the Medical School, has an excellent reputation as a bioethicist, and has testified in front of Parliament on biomedical issues.

No stranger to controversy, Somerville has drawn the ire of Jewish groups in her opposition to male circumcision.

Young is a professor in the Faculty of Religious Studies, where she specializes in South Indian reli­ gion and scholarship related to women in world religions. She is also a member of the McGill Centre

m a r r ia g e

for Medicine, Ethics, and Law, and has written about Hindu ethics.

The professors will apparently testify in Toronto, where attorneys from separate gay marriage cases in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia will have the opportuni­ ty to question them, along with sev­ eral other expert witnesses. The list of witnesses for the Ministry of Justice was distributed by email to attorneys involved in the cases in late November.

Gail Sinclair, an attorney in the Ontario division of the Canadian

Please see SH IP P IN G , page 6

Please see CONTROVERSY, page 6

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2 News

The McGiH Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001

Bleeding the student Voicing our Vision casts an eye on McGill's shortcomings

since the establishment of CBS and Héma-Quebec to the change in perceptions of public confidence.

When Dr. Carter, of the popu­ Advertising strategies have lar TV drama, ER, yells, “Give me proven to be highly successful in 1000 cc’s of O-Neg Stat!” the increasing the number of dona­ patient who is receiving that blood tions. Many people used to believe assumes that it is safe and that suf­ that it was possible to contract a ficient quantities are available. In disease by donating blood, but now Canada, during the 1970s and early around 90 per cent of people know 1980s, the tainted blood crises and this to be false. It was expected that the lack of public trust in the Red donations would drop 4 - 2 0 per Cross were evidence that this was cent when people who were consid­ not the case. ered to be at high risk for having The Federal Government been exposed to Creutzfeldt-Jacob responded in 1997 by recommend­ disease, the human version of mad ing a reorganization of the blood cow disease, were banned from system in the Commission of donating. However, due to the suc­ Inquiry on the Blood System in cess of a Héma-Québec advertising Canada. As a result, in 1998 the organizations Héma-Québec and campaign, donations actually Canadian Blood Services were increased by 11 per cent.

Other blood is rejected for established to manage the blood more controversial reasons. “People supply in Quebec and the rest of have safe blood but are restricted Canada respectively. One of the from donating,” says Fraser Hall, a greatest challenges facing these representative from Queer McGill. organizations today is the recruit­ The restrictions set by Health ment of donors.

“Since I am healthy, I figured Canada exclude donors who have had sex with homosexual men but that I would give blood just to help do not exclude woman who have people,” said Stamatia Nikolakais, a had sex with heterosexual men.

McGill student and first time blood donor. Dr. Harvey Schipper, a rep­ Queer McGill argues that Health resentative on the board of CBS, Canada is restricting a group with potentially safe blood and allowing notes that the recruitment of young a group with equally as potentially donors is especially important because they can continue to give unsafe blood to donate.

Another challenge facing blood for many years to come.

Héma-Québec and CBS is the For this reason, the recent appropriate utilization of blood drive at McGill organized resources. Education programs by the Engineering are aimed at hospitals, the Undergraduate Society primary consumers of and the Science blood products, to teach Undergraduate them to make the Society that collect­ most efficient use of ed more than their blood, considered projected target for by the CBS to be a number of donations national resource. was of exceptional Since most importance. Many of the blood transfusions first time donors said that occur in an would contin­ r ... r emergency sit­ ue to give uation, we all blood as long have a vested as they remain interest in the system.

Alternatives healthy and able. This is good to donor blood are important but news, especially for hemophiliacs have limited value. Autologous who rely heavily on the quality and donations are self-donations done quantity of the blood supply.

“When Héma-Québec came prior to scheduled surgeries.

Artificial blood products research on board they were facing a short­ has yielded some products that are age and one of their strengths is to secure and enhance donor sup­ currently used as short-term inter­ port,” said Robert St.-Pierre, the ventions.

However, we are still far away Hepatitis C Program Coordinator from developing a viable substitute of The Canadian Hemophilia for human blood. Unlike American Society in Montreal.

President George W. Bush, who “[There has been] improve­ carries a supply of matched blood ment in operations and in terms of with him on Air Force One when­ donor recruitment, Héma-Québec is way ahead of the game,” com­ ever he travels, we must put our mented St.-Pierre on the compari­ trust in Héma-Québec and the son of Héma-Québec to its prede­ CBS to make safe blood available in our hospitals. cessor, the Red Cross.

Héma-Québec works in part­ nership with CBS on a daily basis to ensure that all hospitals’ needs across the entire country are met.

Dr. Schipper attributes the increase in the level of blood donations Rayzie Schulm an

M ike Bargav

Students gathered to discuss their concerns about McGill last Wednesday in the first Voicing our Vision forum hosted by the Students’ Society of McGill University.

Among the issues under scruti­ ny were the quality of education, learning environment, libraries, support services, and the first year experience within the context of an ever-growing student population.

The purpose of the forum was to generate an outline of student concerns that will be presented to the administration during the McGill End of the Millennium cel­ ebrations.

Q u a lity o f Education

Amongst the issues of impor­ tance were concerns about a University that places a greater emphasis on research than teaching.

“There is an emphasis on research that allows bad teaching to slip through,” said Mariam Rosenberg-Lee. “Classes are accommodated to research schedules. For a class that

Discussing student concerns did not need much division, we had five professors through the course.

That becomes particularly hard,” said Martin Doe, echoing similar sentiments.

Further criticism of the quality of education at McGill drew from what some believe to be a lack of professor accountability.

“There’s no accountability for professors in unavoidable prerequi­ site courses,” said Nicholas Bucelli.

It’s hard to have to take a course that is taught by a bad prof. It’s a

Masha Bogushezsky

waste of my time and money.’

Class Sizes

Disappointment and frustra­ tion over swelling class sizes and overflowing lecture halls was expressed by many.

“I believe that everyone who is paying for an education has a right to a learning environment that is conducive to learning,” said U2 arts student Jonathan Bracewell. “I will go so far as to say that it is insulting for students that pay for education have to sit on the floor.”

$ McGill O f f ic e o fS t u d e n tE x c h a n g e sa n d S t u d y A b r o a d A M e s s a g e fo r Q u e b e c R e s id e n ts * Quebec Government Awards for Study Outside Quebec are available for McGill students who participate in a student exchange or study abroad.

W ho is eligible?

Students who are Quebec residents and • have completed 15 McGill 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 CG PA 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 McGill exchange program.The application deadlines for exchanges in September 2001 and January 2002 are Monday, February 5 ,2 0 0 1 • (CREPUQ) and Wednesday, February 7 ,2 0 0 1 (Bilateral).

McGill 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 1 0 ,2 0 0 1 .

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

*Asdefinedbytherulesestablishedbythe Ministryof Educationof Quebec.

Financial A id

Further problems were pointed out with respect to what some con­ sider to be an inefficiently managed financial aid system.

McGill International Student Network president Jennifer Bilec explained the growing difficulty of providing international students with aid.

“For financial aid, I’ve had more students coming in this year with so much trouble finding [work],” she said. “These students cannot work anywhere else except on campus.”

Clara Péron, Students’ Society of McGill University VP University Affairs was thrilled by the degree of student participation in the forum.

“We expected a worst case sce­ nario where only five people would show up. The turnout was very good,” said Péron. “Everyone seemed very happy to say what dif­ ficulties people see in McGill.”

However, Péron did predict rocky roads for McGill, with the possibility of more government cuts to education.

“This week the government announced the possibility of a 400 million dollar cut,” she said. “We ust thought we could breathe again, and this comes along as a warning.”

The M cG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001

News 3

Protestors seek academic amnesty from McGill S h eh ryar Fazli

The FTAA-Alert Coalition is seeking academic amnesty from the Administration that, if granted, will allow students wishing to attend a four-day protest in Quebec City in late April against the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, to defer any exams taking place at that time.

The FTAA-Alert Coalition was founded at McGill last summer, and teams up student groups and individuals opposed to the Free Trade Agreement. The organization promotes its mandate around cam­ pus through posters, pamphlets, and other similar medians through which it seeks to educate the McGill community about the FTAA. One of its biggest projects now is to get individuals to Quebec City from April 19-22 to join the protest during the FTAA summit.

A number of different strate­

gies are expected to be employed in articulating various groups' resist­ ance to the FTAA, including a legal rally, teach-ins conferences, political theatre and non-violent attempts to blockade or interfere with the FTAA summit. Organizers in the FTAA-Alert Coaltion hope that at least a few hundred members of the McGill community will join them for the demonstrations.

Given that the event is schdeuled during the University's winter final exam session, the coali­ tion is hoping the Administration will allow students wishing to attend the protest to defer any exams that conflict with the rallies.

In last week's SSMU Council meet­ ing, a representative from the group urged SSMU to support the FTAAAlert Coalition in its request to the University.

"The University should recog­ nize the magnitude of the FTAA

protests and respect the fact that students face conflicts with exams," said Jeff Wilson, a member of the group since September, who is working specifically to advocate the request for academic amnesty. "The FTAA has potential to directly effect education, tuition, and stu­ dent life. It could allow American private universities to operate in Canada and compete with public universities. Publicly funded educa­ tion may be classified as a barrier to trade as it would compete with foreignly owned private institutions.

The University has a role as a social critic. Education consists in pro­ ducing articulate and involved citi­ zens [and] the University should encourage student involvement in civil society or at least be willing to make arrangements facilitating stu­ dent's involvement in civil society."

SSMU President Wojtek Baraniak, recognizing both positive

Student associations reject FEUQ membership fee increases Jonathan Colford

Recent referendum rejections of a $1.50 Fédération Étudiante Universitaire du Québec member­ ship fee increase by students at Université Laval and Université de Montréal, two of the largest stu­ dent unions in Quebec, are a cause for concern, its president said.

La FEUQ lobbies the provin­ cial government on post-secondary education issues such as accessibili­ ty and quality. It regroups 17 stu­ dent associations representing 135,000 students provincewide.

The association, which cur­ rently charges a fee of $2.50 per student per semester, is currently asking all of its member institu­ tions to consult students over increasing that fee to $4.00 per semester. La FEUQ has not changed its fee since its inception in 1989.

“Four dollars is not a big dif­ ference from $2.50,” FEUQ presi­ dent Christian Robitaille said. “We have to explain to students why the increase is necessary.”

The move however has not sat well with students at one of Quebec’s largest universities.

Students at Université Laval have so far rejected the fee hike in a ref­ erendum held in December.

Laval students rejected the fee increase in a referendum held last December. The referendum, which received a 15.3 per cent turnout, saw 64.9 per cent of voters reject the increase.

Laval’s graduate student union, l’Association des étudiantes et étudiants de Laval inscrits aux études supérieures, has approved the fee increase. Other student

La FEUQ’s sovereignty man­ date has come under review by the membership. Robitaille said that the mandate was not getting them any results.

“Interest in the sovereignty mandate is not the same [today],” he said. “In 1994, there was a wind in the [sails of the] sovereignty movement.”

“The real question is that we have a sovereignty mandate, we don’t do anything with it, so why have it?” Robitaille then asked rhetorically.

SSMU President Wojtek Baraniak, who was VP community and government affairs last year, said that SSMU rejoining la FEUQ was “inevitable” and was “just a question of timing.” He said, however, that before consider­ ing membership in la FEUQ, SSMU would have to solve inter­ nal issues such as renovations, leas­ es, and club funding.

“It would be smarter to devote F E U Q w an ts S S M U b ack in our organization’s resources to our Robitaille came to speak to the own, at-home, issues,” he said. “I Students’ Society of McGill think a lot of it will be out of the University’s council last Thursday way after this year.”

The political makeup of la about la FEUQ. The SSMU, a FEUQ could also influence founding member of la FEUQ, left whether SSMU rejoins. Within the the organization in 1994 when la organization, there is a split FEUQ adopted a pro-sovereignty between large urban universities mandate. Since the 1995 referen­ like Laval, Montreal, and UQAM, dum, la FEUQ has been much less and the smaller regional ones. vocal in its support for sovereignty.

Traditionally, Laval and Montreal Robitaille was immediately asked on la FEUQ’s stance on dif­ have run la FEUQ, while UQAM ferential tuition fees and tuition has supplied executives. deregulation for international stu­ dents.

“Government has to be responsible for the fees it fixes,” he said. McGill will most likely increase those fees this year.

unions having approved the fee include the Université du Québec à Rimouski student union and the Institut Armand-Frappier students’ union.

L’Université de Montréal’s stu­ dent union is holding its referen­ dum between February 12 and 23.

The student union, la Fédération des associations étudiantes du cam­ pus de l’Université de Montréal, is not taking a stand in the referen­ dum, FAECUM external affairs coordinator Nicolas Fournier con­ firmed. Yes and No committees have been formed.

“Too many students don’t know what la FEUQ is, and too many students don’t know what their own association [does],” Robitaille said. “Even if it’s a no, we will realize that the student movement has to be talked about, has to be present in the minds of students.”

and negative aspects of the FTAA, stressing the importance of extracurricular work in a student's overall education. Councilors over­ whelmingly voted in favour of rep­ resenting the group's stance.

"I think the Students’ Society should speak out in favor of such a thing because a sizable number of students have asked us to [do so], and we represent them," said Jeremy Farrell, SSMU vice-presi­ dent community and government affairs. "This is a time to put your personal opinion aside and realize that you’re a representative body...

In Council it was stated that if a siz­ able amount of students want [SSMU] to do something, then [SSMU] is obligated to do that.

And I feel very strongly about that."

However, while SSMU's deci­ sion to support the FTAA-Alert Coalition's initiative is viewed as a positive step, some question

whether the Society is setting a good example.

"I am worried about the prece­ dent that this sets," said Arts Senator Michael Hershfield. "Who are we to say that the FTAA desrves academic amnesty... I'm worried that this is forming a very slippery slope. If we support this rally, we have to support every rally that stu­ dents feel strongly about." Baraniak expressed similar views.

"Who is to say that this issue is more important than any other issue?" He said. "Who is to say that cultural event on the other side of of the country is not equally impor­ tant?"

Hershfield also expressed con­ cern about students abusing the freedom granted to them by the University by pretending to join the protest merely to avoid taking an exam. However, Farrell stressed that Please see DEFERRALS, page 7

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iOOr. v'ir Of vi^yyK* cr?|" The M cG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001

They've modified the monkeys — are we next? to happen.

Michael Ayles and Nema Etheridge Photos by Nem a Etheridge

Nicolas S am aan, U1 A rts

Scientists recently announced the creation of the first genetically modified monkey — a real mile­ stone, considering that this animal shares 95 per cent of our DNA. We went to the street to find out if peo­ ple thought that we would (or should) see genetically modified human beings in the near future.

A n n e W h e e le r, first y e a r science

The bottom line is I don’t

think it’s possible to stop human progression, that science can be stopped. I morally think it’s wrong if it got to the point of genetically creating humans, but I don’t think that it really will be stopped. It can be put off for a while, but it’s going

human clone. I would say that in about 20 years we won’t be cloning people, we’ll just be cloning the part that we need. Let’s say I need a new lung, we’ll just clone a lung, we won’t have to create a whole human. In another way it’s bad, cause we’ll never die. There will be the problem of world hunger, but maybe we could genetically modify food. It’s good for technology but it’s really getting scary for the rest of us.

C e lin e Pool, U 0 Sociology

Jenn ifer M a d d a fo rd ,

I believe that in less than a year, big max two years, we’ll see a

U 3 English Lit

I think because of the whole religion and everything I don’t think it’s gonna happen. The pope has a lot of power and I think because of religion it’s going to be a big issue and it’s going to be extremely hard to do that.

Assaad Z a k k a , M c G ill staff

Tuesday, February 13,2001 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

At the downtown Delta Hotel, Cartier rooms A & B 777 University Street, Square Victoria metro station, St. Jacques exit "The CG A M e g a C o ck tail p a rty is the b est o p p o rtu n ity fo r y o u to e x c h a n g e w ith C G A s a b o u t fin a n cia l p e rfo rm a n c e in e x p e rt a c c o u n t­ ing a n d to c o lle ct a ll th e in fo rm atio n that w ill h e lp y o u to ta k e the right d irectio n in y o u r c a r e e r ."

I find all of that genetic modi­ fication stuff pretty damn scary, but I think that it can also be used for good purposes. Things like when someone loses a heart, then you can grow another one in a monkey and use it. I think if we’re using it for responsible kinds of purposes then it’s okay, but I don’t know, that’s pretty scary stuff. I’m not really sure if it’s a good thing.

Sarah Bovaird, U 0 Science

I certainly think there are ethi­ cal objections, and I don’t think it should be done right away before seeing what society really needs, what its priorities are.

Ghassan M h a n n a , U 2 E n gin eerin g

"W ho k n o w s, m a y b e y o u w ill m e e t y o u r next e m p lo y e r !”

M r. M a r io Lafo nd , FCGA, C h a irm a n o f th e B u re a u o f th e O rd re d es CGA du Q uebec an d H o n o ra ry P resid en t o f th e M e g a CGA C ocktail P arty, 3 rd ed itio n

I don’t think we’ll see them any time in the near future, but I don’t think it’s such a distant thought that they’ll be here in many years.

But I do think it’s a bad idea to start with, right from the start.

Patrick Lim Soo, P h D C h em is try

NEC: Sylvain Brunet - Tel.: 340-6692/Office: 620-7055, Room Ri-886 UQÀM: Karine Barbeau - Tel: 987-3283, Room RM-255 karine_barbeau@moncourrier.com Registration deadline: Monday, February 5,2001 Registration fees: $5 deposit refunded at the cocktail

L'Ordre des CGA du Québec

Hopefully not. I know that in Britain they’re allowing research to be done on human embryos for the treatment of certain diseases like Parkinson’s, and if they use it to that extent it’s fine. I think in terms of helping people, it’s always worth­ while doing. But whether or not we should clone people, I don’t think that’s right, and I think there should be some sort of guidelines.

I don’t think you can clone a whole human out of nothing, but maybe you can improve on mini­ mizing defects and mutations. I don’t see it as a problem if you try to minimize mutations, but to actual­ ly clone a whole person, I don’t think that’s right.

The M cG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001

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tion of transportation and public utilities caused by man-made or natural disasters the situation could become catastrophic,” he said.

Meanwhile, Moore felt that the new health centre would improve access to the hospital facilities to patients.

“We are not closing hospital services, we are moving them to a 43 acre site where there is room to build a complex of health facilities in a campus setting,” she said.

“Neither the [Royal Victoria] or the Montreal General are easy for peo­ ple to get to especially by public transportation. These hospitals were planned for longer term stays.

But we are seeing more and ambu­ latory or out-patients.

“Also, the new health centre at the Glen Yards site will be designed so that services are convenient for the patients. Now, unfortunately we have to locate services where we can find space and often that is incon­ venient and confusing for patients,” she added.

“The question is ‘why don’t we renovate’?” Moore continued.

“Renovations would be disruptive for patients and staff over a long period of time, costly and the results would still be a compromise on what is really needed. There are

Architecture at McGill.

“We find this ruling unaccept­ able and are surprised that a Committee of this calibre would accept such a restrictive mandate,” he continued. “The closure of five major health facilities is a funda­ mental decision about which the public has never been consulted and which, if implemented, will have enormous consequences for the life, health and safety of Montrealers.”

But Sheila Moore, communi­ cations director of the McGill University Health Center, said that the decision to build a modern health centre was necessary because current facilities were not meeting the needs of the public.

“The issue of whether to build a new health facility has been the subject of many reviews both at the Ministry of Health and Social Services and at the Montreal Centre Regional Board level. The need for a new facility is clear and urgent,” she said.

But while hospitals may feel less of a crunch, Baker doesn’t see this benefiting the public. He ques­ tioned whether the replacement of existing emergency facilities in a central location could adequately serve the needs of the public.

“When faced with the disrup­

McGill University Health Centre’s plan to shut-down five Montreal-area hospitals and replace them with a single “super-hospital” isn’t sitting well with a group of vocal citizens and McGill faculty.

In a recent press release, the group claimed that public hearings into the matter were skewed. The press release notes that discussion was not allowed on whether or not the hospitals should be consolidat­ ed at all. A consultative committee was struck, but discussion was lim­ ited to talk of the re-use of the five buildings currently occupied by Royal Victoria Hospital, Children’s Hospital, Montreal General Hospital, Chest Hospital, and the Neurological Institute.

“From the outset, Committee President [Roy C.] Heenan made it absolutely clear that he would accept no discussion whatsoever of the M UHC’s decision to terminate the current use of the five existing hospitals and to transfer their serv­ ices and personnel to an all new facility to be constructed on the Glen Rail Yards, a site in Montreal’s West End, close to the Vendôme metro station,” said Joseph Baker, a former Associate Professor of

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Summit and in 1999, in a press release issued on January 23. La FEUQsaid that Quebec Minister of Reports filtered out to the Finance Bernard Landry, the likely media last week that the Quebec successor to the premier post as Conseil du Trésor would cut fund­ Lucien Bouchard is resigning, was ing to education by $400 million in going to use the $400 million to the budget for 2001-02. This is on finance a tax cut. top of the billion that they commit­ La FEUQ is especially con­ ted to education at the Quebec cerned that no one in the govern­ Youth Summit in February 2000. ment has either confirmed or denied At the Quebec Youth Summit the rumours. held in February 2000, the Quebec "It’s scary that someone who is government had promised an addi­ not the premier is letting the tional billion dollars over the next rumour go around,” said FEUQ three years to education. Two hun­ President Christian Robitaille, who dred million dollars would be dis­ along with two other FEUQ execu­ tributed this year, $300 million in tives showed up at last Thursday’s 2001- 02, and $500 million in Students’ Society of McGill 2002- 03. The cuts would likely University council meeting. wipe away the gain for next year.

"We’re going to ask Bernard Although the cuts were just a Landry to retract that decision and rumour at this point, reaction from if he doesn’t he is going to have to the post-secondary education sector face everyone in the youth commu­ was swift. nity," he said.

The student lobby group la Robitaille told SSMU council Fédération Étudiante Universitaire that McGill could expect to take a du Québec accused the government charge of $35 to $40 million if the of flip-flopping on electoral and cuts were to occur. budgetary promises made at the

Jonathan Colford

News 5

Across the dark, dingy bridge lies the torture chamber a lot of things that simply can’t be renovated in the existing buildings.

We need a health centre designed to accommodate modern medical technology and the needs of today’s patients. At the same time it will be a flexibly designed so that in the future it can be easily updated to meet new needs.”

Exactly how to re-use the vacant buildings is another topic of contention. Baker alleges that the “MUHC has made no secret of its interest in the real estate potential of the buildings and sites it propos­ es to vacate,” and claims that up to one million square feet presently occupied by the hospitals could be demolished to make way for “luxu­ rious condominiums” with “verdant open spaces.”

“The waste of public resources for private gain is not justifiable, from a social, ecological or architec­ tural heritage standpoint,” Baker

Joanne Lehrer

said. “Further questions much be raised regarding the ethical propri­ ety of anticipating the sale of hospi­ tal lands that were deeded by the founders for the provision of health care facilities at the service of the Montreal public.”

Moore responded by saying that no decision has been made about new uses for these buildings.

“The MUHC wants the exist­ ing buildings to be re-used in a way that adds to the quality of life of Montrealers. We organized these public hearings to get advice from the public. Our expertise is health care, not urban development, so we are looking for public input,” she said.

The next round of public hear­ ings is scheduled for February 7 and 9, 7:00 pm, at the Samuel Bronfman Center, on the corner of Docteur Penfield and Côte des Neiges.

c o n s i d e r s e d u c a t i o n s te p s

d o w n

McGill principal Bernard Shapiro could not comment much on the rumoured cut, as it is just rumour at this point. He expressed doubt that McGill would be cut $35 to 40 million as the university has never been cut that much before.

The $400 million would be cut from education, which includes ele­ mentary, high schools, CEGEPs and universities.

Just over a month ago, McGill, along with other Quebec universi­ ties, signed a performance contract with the Ministry of Education. The contract stipulates targets universi­ ties must reach in order to receive the additional funding, targets that include increasing the graduation rate and enrollment.

"No cuts are acceptable at this point," said Jeremy Farrell, VP com­ munity and government affairs of SSMU. "The government has made several promises, has signed con­ tracts, and instilled a societal emphasis on education. If they were to cut now, they will push education back to 1995 when the federal gov­

ernment initially cut the CHST." Although la FEUQ is trying to negotiate with the government to prevent the cuts, students may also be called upon by their student asso­ ciations to protest the cuts through demonstrations, a staple of the 1995-98 budget cutback years.

"I'm not talking necessarily of [holding] a demonstration," Robitaille told SSMU council last Thursday. "[But] possibly that will be the only way for us to express ourselves."

"We will do everything in our power to push the government to understand the students' position," Farrell said after council.

W h y cut?

One possibility is that by float­ ing a rumour of cuts to education, the government is measuring la FEUQ and students' loyalties to the Parti Québécois and to sovereignty.

"They're surely testing it," Robitaille said when asked to com­ ment on this possibility.

La FEUQ adopted a controver­ sial pro-sovereignty stance in 1994 after the newly-elected PQ govern­ ment promised to maintain a tuition freeze for Quebec residents in the event of Quebec’s separation from Canada. The stance caused several student associations to leave la FEUQ, including SSMU.

S e n d y o u r v a le n tin e a m essage, p r in t .

L ook fo r m o re in fo n e x t w e e k .

6 News

The M cG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001

C a s e

g e n e r a t e s

continuedfrompage 1 Ministry of Justice who was among those responsible for drawing up the list of expert witnesses, declined to comment on the case or the wit­ nesses.

“We have reason to be wary of furthering what is happening in Montreal in any way, shape, or form,” said Sinclair. “We have no comment, especially in light of what is happening on your campus.

[The list of expert witnesses] has been shared with opposing counsel, but it is not public information.”

Included in the emailed list of witnesses, and in the Project Interaction petition, are descrip­ tions of the professors’ opinions.

According to the two emails, Somerville was attributed with the following beliefs: “Homosexual people and same-sex couples are entitled to respect for themselves and their beliefs, but so are people who believe that marriage is a

c o n t r o v e r s y

sacred union of a man and a woman. Mutual respect requires restraint when values conflict. In this context, it requires restricting marriage to different-sex couples, and recognizing partnerships of same-sex couples, but not as mar­ riage.”

The emails also stated what Young’s position would be in the case: “Through a comparative analysis of the world’s religions and cultures, Dr. Young will show that marriage has been a heterosexual institution. This common pattern of norms suggests that culture com­ plements biology, and cannot be set aside without consequences in social terms.”

When questioned by The McGill Tribune, neither Young nor Somerville would comment about their involvement in the case, but both underscored the need for civil­ ity.

“I just hope that we can enter into this debate with mutual respect,” said Somerville. “People should wait until after they’ve heard the full arguments.” Somerville also stressed that she’s not a homo­ phobe, saying, “I’m certainly not, and my previous work attests to that.”

Young feels that she has a right to express her beliefs as a professor.

“I think that academics are to be in a position to make academic analyses,” said Young. “There is freedom of expression in a tenured process, and when a government is thinking about changing a law, we have to look at both sides of the argument.”

The Quebec case involved in the current controversy is that of Michael Hendricks and René LeBoeuf, who were denied a mar­ riage license on two occasions and

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filed an appeal with the Québec Superior Court last August. The attorney representing Hendricks and LeBoeuf, Anne-France Goldwater, does not see why Somerville and Young should testi­ fy“What relevance do any of these religions have? Dr. Young doesn’t belong here, because I’m not here to argue the Bible... I am very resistant to religious involvement in this case, because we will venture where we do not belong.”

On Somerville, Goldwater said, “[T]here is nothing, and I mean fucking nothing, to justify this woman opining about gay mar­ riage, save as an ordinary person with no more or less authority than you or me or anyone else... If she is putting on an ethicist’s hat, it’s to opine that homosexual marriage is unethical... Academics are respon­

Whatever their cause, the delays have prompted some profes­ sors to make alternate arrange­ ments for next semester.

Other professors, however, are taking the problems in stride.

Political Science professor Rex Brynen is reluctant to place the blame on the bookstore.

“There are just so many over­ lapping problems that it’s hard to tell exactly what the cause is...” he said. “With all the problems I’ve had this term, most of them seem to be non-bookstore problems.”

One such problem is the fluc­ tuating class sizes in the first weeks of class, which leave professors unsure about the number of books to order. Professors must first esti­ mate the number of texts required, being careful not to over-order, and the bookstore also evaluates the required number.

“We basically look at the his­

tory of the course and the enroll­ ment,” said Mr. Fortino, “and if in the past the professor ordered 100 and they only sold 50, we may not order all of the hundred, we may order 80 or 90. In some cases we’re overstocked, but in some cases we’ve had to re-order.”

In any case, Fortino forecasts that nearly all required books should be in-store and available within the week, with a few possi­ ble exceptions.

“We expect to have this cleared up within the next couple of days. The problem will be those textbooks that have been ordered from overseas — we have several shipments that we’re waiting to come in from England, or Israel, and there’s also another book that was ordered from the Universiy of Hawaii Press — that takes a little longer than we had projected, or than the professors had projected.

Also, other books, that we proba­ bly won’t be able to get because

C a rle to n TAs v o te f o r s tr ik e

d is c o u n t on a ll o u r fra m e s w ith th e p u r c h a s e o f le n s e s (McGill students andstaff- not valid with other promotions)

B u s in e s s , m a rk e tin g a n d re ta il s t u d e n t s a n d p r o f e s s o r s , c h e c k o u t h o w g re a t w e a re!

OTTAWA — Teaching and research assistants at Carleton University voted 60 per cent in favour of granting their union a strike mandate in a vote held last week.

The union, local 4600 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, has been negotiat­ ing a new collective agreement with Carleton for seven months. CUPE 4600 is after smaller class sizes, insurance fees for international stu­ dents, lower post-residency fees, dental plan coverage and wage indexation to tuition fees.

Talks broke off on November 29.

A strike could begin as early as January 31.

Negotiations between CUPE 4600 and the University are scheduled to resume January 29.

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p u s sible in their communities for their opinions, and cannot rely on the protection of the ivory tower to state any kind of blather in a social­ ly irresponsible way.”

Fraser Hall, the administrator of Queer McGill, believes that the professors’ statements in court may affect the rights of gays and les­ bians.

“When someone testifies in court in a case where the decision is going to affect the rights of people, that action is homophobic because it’s not just a passive statement — it’s an active stance,” said Hall.

“Using your opinion to negatively affect someone’s life is homophobic, because it affects the lives of a gay couple.”

Shipping delays to blame continued frompage 1

GEORGES

o n

p ro g ra m fu n d in g to c o m b a t s h o rta g e

TORONTO — The Ontario government has decided to combat the province’s growing

they are out of stock at the pub­ lisher, will be reprinted by the pub­ lisher, and they could take longer,” he said.

But the exact arrival date of these late shipments has not been determined, and worried students will have to continue checking on a day-to-day basis. Many feel left in the dark as at this lack of informa­ tion.

“I went to the bookstore on the first day and they said, well we really can’t tell you what day the text is coming in because we don’t want a mad rush... Nobody’s really telling me what the story is,” said Ms. Jagielski.

In the meantime, students will have to bear with the vagueness and the delays, and hope that the last of their required textbooks arrive before their midterms do.

nursing shortage by providing an additional $49 million to training programs in its universities and colleges.

All provinces face nursing shortages: Ontario’s numbers about 12,000 nurses. The deficit, which followed a series of government cutbacks to health care, has caused emergency room overcrowding and the closing of hospital beds.

Beginning January 1, 2005, the College of Nurses of Ontario will require registered nurses to have a degree in order to register to practice in the province.

The new funding, announced on January 19, is expected to increase the number of new nurses graduating in Ontario to 2,800, an increase of 1,100 since 1999-2000.

The amount includes $14.7 million for a fast-track nursing program that allows students to earn their four-year degree in three years; $24.3 million will be devoted to increasing nurs­ ing enrollment while an additional $10 million will cover the purchase of new equipment, library holdings, and to develop curriculum.

The M cG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001

Deferrals dem anded continued frompage 3 a deferral does not excuse a student from taking the exam at all, but merely post­ pones it until the next exam session. In this way, he believes that déférais can actu­ ally cause an inconvenience to the student.

"People have to realize that deferring exams is not ever a good thing to do, and students know that. So people aren’t just going to [pretend...] just to get out of exams," Farrell said.

Hershfield disagreed.

"I don't think [deferring exams] is a bad thing," he said. "If students have the chance to get out of exams, they will."

Another concern that has been voiced is whether in granting academic amnesty to FTAA protestors, both McGill and SSMU are asserting a moral position on the issue.

"I strongly believe in neutrality, and I think if we are to support this, we are breaking our stance of neutrality," said Hershfield. "Who is to say that the protes­ tors are being positive role models for the University? Not all studetns agree [with the protests]."

"There is a part of our membership that probably thinks that [the FTAA] is good idea," added Baraniak. "My intitial concern was that if we were to support this, would we be taking a stance against the FTAA. That I obviously oppose."

Despite these drawbacks to support­ ing the FTAA-Alert Coalition's request for academic amnesty, Baraniak nevertheless believes that students should be able

T h i s

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P e n n (it's a figure of speech,,, yets don’t actually get the penny.,.'!

Subm it w hatever you want to say at Mtp;//irifeiune.megiillxa %Igor Valenovitch It has been many moons since my lips grazed the back of your kneecap. Our time together is almost over. Shall we meet aeain?

# lason Kidd is a fool for hitting his wife Props to Capriati for reaching Aussie finals Ravens over Giants in worst Superbowl ever McGill basketball should be in the top ten

# The road in front of the Milton gates has been torn up like 12 times since I’ve been here. When the hell are those big puddles going to go away?

# to the beautiful girl with whom i sometimes think about the way things could have been i figured it out last night eating kiwi

$ When you are walking down the street And you make eye contact with a stranger, smile at each other. It makes both of your days nicer.

•The real question is not whether sleeping with your TA would improve your mark, but whether your TA would consider your "performance" A-worthy.

18Not every single production, theatre or otherwise deserves a standing ovation. When will people realize that a standing ovation is like an A? Would you give everything an A?

&Props to my honey ST and her homie AC On their engagement You guys rock

# There is little in life as simultaneously intricate and unadorned as a Chinese parasol which can be yours for about 5 dollars in our wonderful, but underrated, Chinatown.

#What you really need to do in McConnell Arena is have raves and wrestling shows.

Athletics could make SO MUCH CASH off say, $10 tix + concessions.

%In the Shatner caf, when you get to the microwave, ask the person waiting behind you if they care to share it with you.

We'll all get to eat much faster. Thanks.

$ there is no need for everybody to be so hostile and disrespectful everybody is doing the best they can so say please, thank you and smile

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express their views on important social and political issues.

"Give people the choice to go [protest] without having to suffer the aca­ demic consequences, because this is a very significant event that happens to be dur­ ing our formative years at university... If this was the '60s, of course we'd be on board and we would not even be debating this issue. But society changes and priori­ ties change," he said.

SSMU is thus giving serious consider­ ation to the FTAA-Alert Coaltion's cause, hoping that the protests in Quebec City will not be violent. Farrell suggested that the group also contemplate alternative forms of protest, including letter-writing or postcard campaigns to members of the government such as the one undertaken by the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations last semester in regards to the government's attention to education.

The FTAA-Alert Coalition's request for academic amnesty will now be brought before Senate, which will then decide on how to proceed with the issue. At Concordia University, the Concordia Student Union has also requested academ­ ic amnesty be granted to students wishing to protest the FTAA in April. The University's administration has instructed professors to make arrangements with stu­ dents individually about deferring exams in their courses, and has set a March 15 deadline for doing so.

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8 Op/Ed

The M cG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001

Opinion

Editorial

EDITORIALS 'T o show re s e n tm e n t a t a reproach is to a c k n o w le d g e th a t o n e m a y h ave d ese rv ed it " - Tacitus

L e tte rs F a lu n Gong: S p iritu a lis m s in c e th e ‘9 0 s

S tep h an ie Levitz__________________________________________

The question was innocuous enough. Posed by Mark Chodos, VP communications and events for the Students’ Society, addressed to Erica Weinstein, clubs and services rep, it dealt with her comments regarding the campus life fund in both this, and other campus papers. The VP wanted to know why she said one thing in one paper, and one thing in another paper.

And why, he asked, instead of criticizing SSMU, doesn’t she take steps to improve it?

The answer should have been simple. Instead, Weinstein chose not to answer the question but chastise this and other campus papers.

We are unprofessional, don’t know what we are doing, don’t train our reporters — there isn’t a journalism school here so how could we? We don’t tape interviews, we take things out of context, we misquote and don’t know the issues. We call her up and ask her why she thinks certain things are bad, so she tells us. That’s not her fault. She doesn’t know what else to do.

Student representatives take note: if asked to comment on something for the campus media that you do not actually have an opinion on, don’t.

If you are quoted, and we make a mistake, tell us and we’ll fix it. If you want excellent training in journalism that has seen former reporters for all the campus media go on to national and international media, including the National Post, Globe and Mail, Macleans and Saturday Night Magazine, come work for us — we can teach you more than a four year journalism degree — and there are people who will back us up on that one as well.

Student reporters are far better trained for writing jobs then student representatives are for theirs. We asked the questions, you answered them.

Don’t use us to cover your mistakes. Don’t tell us your opinion, then refuse to stand behind it. Don’t tell us we don’t know the issues, when you won’t even acknowledge them.

Being a McGill student who practices Falun Gong, I found that Stephanie Levitz’s article on the subject was both objective and well-informed. I’m glad to see that our student papers are writing much better articles (i.e. informed and impartial - reporting facts rather than sensationalizing) on the topic than most major national and international news sources. The current crackdown against the practice in China violates China’s own constitution as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and I sincerely hope that it will soon end, leaving behind noth­ ing but a serious historical lesson.

Nonetheless, with more and more people around the world - includ­ ing Montrealers - learning it, you’re soon sure to see some of us out­ doors practicing the gentle, slow exercises right here on campus, and letting people discover for them­ selves the answer to the frequently asked question “What is this Falun Gong all about anyways?.”

Cheers, Daniel Sky

"W h e n th e y c o m e dow nstairs fro m th e ir Ivo ry Tow er, idealists are a p t to w a lk straigh t into th e g utter." - Logan Pearsall S m ith M ik e Bargav________________________________________________________

S u p p o rt fo r EUS p re s id e n t

When the university considers granting potential Quebec City protest­ ers academic amnesty from otherwise mandatory exams, the legitimacy of the cause is outweighed by a larger issue at hand: providing academic amnesty for the Quebec City protest automatically places the onus for granting academic amnesty for any other protest. At face value, the decision is deceptively simple: we should allow students the leeway to petition for a cause in which they strongly believe. Many consider deferring exams so that students can participate in a protest rally a justifiable cause: to many, it should not be written off as just a capricious grab to escape the drudgery of exam weeks. Rather than extoll or denigrate the cause, however, one argu­ ment against the granting of academic amnesty is not as much a political stance as it is a matter of practicality.

The underlying issue in this matter is the precedence such an action sets. There are a lot of causes worthy of fighting for, and for many individ­ uals, their experiences in defending ideology contributes more by far to their personal development than the gleanings of a few exam weeks. Drawing a difference between the importance of any of these causes would be arbitrary and probably hypocritical, if not outright idiotic.

Without going too far down the slippery slope, where exactly does one draw the line on what should be supported and what should not be? The reality is that such a fine line cannot be drawn, the most probable result being the tumult between different interest groups campaigning for support for equally valid viewpoints; in short, a decision to approve academic amnesty that brings more problems than bargained for at face value.

It has recently come to my attention that the president of the Engineering Undergraduates’ Society, Anjali Mishra, is facing possible impeachment for sending a letter to the Tribune which crticized certain misogynist and racist comments on the part of The Plumber’s Faucet. In writing a per­ sonal letter, she is being attacked by the rest of the EUS executive, who evidently plan to present an impeachment motion at their next meeting Tuesday.

I urge Engineering students to show their support for Mishra, who acted of her own accord in an intelligent and noble manner. If the EUS executive body supports the bigot­ ed comments made by the Faucet, then they should by all means impeach their president and allow the Faucet to continue printing

TH E M c G IL L Editor -In -C hief John Salfoum

A ssistant Editor -In -C hief Stephanie Levitz

T R IB U N E News Editor Shehryar Fazli

Assistant News Editors Mike Bargav Nema Etheridge

A ssistant Editor - in -C hief Rhea W ong

C ampus Editor Jonathan C o lford

Features Editors Shirlee Engel Ian Speigel

Entertainment Editors Grace Carter Marie-Hélène Savard

is an ed itorially autonom ous new spaper published by th e Students' Society o f M c G ill University

Science Editor Michael Ayles

Sports Editor Jeremy Kuzmarov

Assistant Sports Editors James Empringham Neil Schnurbach

Photo Editors Patrick Fok Nico Oved

On-line Editors Andre Nance Mildred Wong

Production Manager Eric Oest

Advertising and Marketing Manager Paul Slachta

Ad Typesetters Oom Michaud Siu Min Jim Chris Essert

Staff: David Barclay, Masha Bogushezsky, Mami Brot, Genevieve Chiu, Judith Drory, Chris fissett, Stepb Gabor, Jenny George, Jordan Goldblatt, Sara Gregory, James Grohsghal, Mimi Gross, Cariy Johnson, Raquel Kirsch, Nina Kim. Joanne Lehrer, Ben Madgett, Hma Mahmood, Siddhartha Mukherjee, Joseph Quesnei, Omar Sachedina. Ben Sassoon, David Schanzfc, David Schipper, Ryan Sengara, Melanie Tomsons, Jennifer Trawinski, Angela Wilson, Leora Wise, Crystal Wreden, Dan Zacks

slurs. I’m still a little unsure about how her letter constitutes an impeachable offense — but then again, what do Engineering stu­ dents know about proper govern­ ing bodies? What the Faucet print­ ed was offensive; Anjali’s letter was diplomatic, well-written, and high­ ly appropriate.

Sam Feinson U0 Arts

S to p

th e

P re s s

Re: “ T rig g e r-h a p p y P e titio n s ”

A petition being distributed by Project Interaction has generated an exciting response. The petition is in response to two McGill profes­ sors (Margaret Somerville and Katherine Young) testifying for the Canadian government in a case that may deprive two individuals from marriage. Shehyrar Fazli’s recent Editorial “Trigger-happy Petitions” (Jan. 23, 2001) calls for us to with­ hold our accusations of these pro­ fessors as homophobic.

Fazli’s editorial is prob­ lematic in many respects. Fazli sug­ gests that “nothing of what the pro­ fessors have asserted suggests an attitude against gay people”, that their proposed testimony “does not reflect a moral stance”, and that “there is nothing inherently oppres­ sive or unethical about this view.”

Fazli says that, although the peti­ tion accuses these professors’ stances of being homophobic, this statement is invalid because “noth­ ing in what has been presented reveals a fear or hatred of homosex­ uals”. In our opinion, Fazli’s defini­ tion of homophobia is far too lim­ ited. Homophobia can be exempli­ fied in many forms that do not nec­ essarily display outright fear or hatred of homosexuals. Rather than just the simple fear or hatred of queer people, homophobia includes the aversion to queer peo­ ple, their lifestyle, or culture.

Aversion implies avoidance or rejec­ tion, and by preventing queer peo­ ple from getting married, Somerville and Young’s initiative speaks loudly to reject the validity

of queer relationships, even if they think that they are not hurting the queer cause. Thus we maintain that their stance is clearly homophobic.

Fazli calls for the McGill community to withhold its accusa­ tions, and to wait for more facts before accusing Somerville and Young of perpetuating homopho­ bia. However, we feel strongly that the time for action is right now.

Part of the point of the petition is to raise awareness of this issue on campus, in Montreal, and in Canada. Fazli proposes that a more effective way to deal with the issue would be to take into account the entire argument and to then debate its validity. Somerville has already been invited by Project Interaction and Queer McGill to participate in a public debate on the topic.

Without acting now, no debate would ever happen. Waiting until after the professors testify will be too late. Queer McGill recognizes this moment as a vital time for pro­ moting queer-positive values and for fighting homophobia. The public must be aware that the stance taken by these professors shows an aversion to queer lifestyle.

The fact that Somerville and Young are not practicing a textbook defini­ tion of homophobia makes this case ideal for raising awareness.

Somerville and Young are granted authority to act as expert witnesses in this case by their posi­ tions as professors from McGill University. Members of the McGill community have a right to express their disagreement with these pro­ fessor’s positions to possibly influ­ ence the outcome of a legal decision that will affect many people’s rights.

If Somerville and Young move forward with their current position, we will continue to stand in direct opposition.

Queer McGill Executive Committee

Letters must include author's name, signature, identification (e.g. U2 Biology, SSMU President) and telephone number and be typed double-spaced, submitted on disk in Macintosh or IBM word processor format, or sent by e-mail, tetters more than 200 words, pieces for Stop the Press more than 500 words, or submissions judged by the Editor-in-Chief to be libellous, sexist, racist, homophobic, or soley 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 to 398-1750 or send to tribu ne@ssmu.mcgitl.ca.

Columns appearing under 'Editorial' heading are decided upon by the editorial board and written by a member 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.

Subscriptions are available for $30.00 per year.

A d v er tisin g O f f ic e : Raul Slachta, 3600 rue McTavish, Suite 1200, Montreal, Québec H3A1Y2 Tel: (514) 398-6806 Fax: (514) 398-7490 E d it o r ia l O

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Tel: (5 1 4 )3 9 8 -6 7 8 9 Fax: (514) 398-1750 e-mail: tribune@ssmu.mcgill.ca W eb: http :/Ari bu ne. megi i I .ca

The M cG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001

Op/Ed 9

Editorial

R e p r e s e n t i n g S c h e d u lin g

th e

F T A A

t h e

s u m m it d u r in g

The O u t h o u s e of Comments

D a v i d M a r sh a I oncordias decision to allow students to defer final exams this spring will enable those who desire attending the Summit of the Americas, to be held in Québec City this April, to do so without jeopardizing their term. The unprecedented compro­ mise is a vital step forward, by which the undemocratic institu­ tions of world trade will again be challenged by both pressure groups and dynamic student bodies.

McGill’s administration ought to comply with the recent decision of our NDG neighbour, as it is the duty of any university to question and protest against undemocratic institutions of this kind.

C

u n r e p r e s e n t e d

O f course, fervent demonstra­ tions at economic conferences are nothing new. We all remember Seattle and Prague, where literally thousands of determined protesters confronted armed police officers in an attempt to express the citizens, intensifying mistrust of multi-later­ al trade talks. Some were injured, many were arrested, for the simple act of speaking their minds. And still, our supposed representatives — those white-collar economists sitting inside those majestic post­ modern palaces — seemed content to simply have the streets emptied of the demonstrators and continue their work. And away with the rev­ olutionaries, they screamed!

In order to pre-empt any sig­

fin a l e x a m s

w a s n 't

ju s t a

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nificant conflict this time around, ety learn the truth about these kinds the white-collar organizers of of occasions. So what better strategy Québec’s event are employing fur­ then to schedule the conference | ther draconian measures. As in during the standard examination Davos, Switzerland this past week- I period of most North American | end, cement barricades and barbed mind-expanding institutions? With exams in full gear, the fervour wire will be erected around Québec’s downtown core. In addi­ of opposition will remain virtually tion, access to the enclosed area, nil.

Except for the possible pres­ which will encompass a large part of the city centre, will be limited to ence of a few Laval University stu­ those possessing the necessary gov­ dents.

But why not get the whole of ernment documents. All others will be denied entry by the STCUQ Laval to make an exodus down la police force, whose officers, like Grande Allée towards St. Louis | those of its Montreal equivalent, are Street, at which point Concordians sure to be relatively aggressive (but I and les Lavalois could stand united guess that’s what you get when you vis-à-vis an international institution force a macho police unit to drive which controls so much of our life, yet over which we have so little con­ Chrysler mini vans!).

Clearly the most conspicuous trol. There is no doubt that much of attempts to keep protesters out is of what they do is productive and the scheduling of the conference leads to a more prosperous future. itself. O f course, the people run­ However, in a world that is increas­ ning this event aren’t stupid; in fact, ingly borderless, and in societies they are fully aware that a great that are far more pluralist than years number of demonstrators come past, it is imperative that the voices from North Americas universities, of the unrepresented be represent­ where the young minds of our soci­ ed. That they be represented in the

boardroom.

Lree trade has affected us all, yet we were given little opportunity to participate, deliberate, and deplore. The same is true for GATT, for the emerging economy of the Americas, for all that consists in cross-border economic relations.

Protesting these realities is crucial indeed.

McGill ought to permit her students to defer their final exams, in the name of democracy, notably participation and justice. University students have been targeted as the mischievous ones, when they, like the demonstrators who often accompany them, are merely inter­ ested in a deeper cause, in a just society. To allow powerful politi­ cians to manipulate the outcome of this conference is to undermine one of the most salient reasons for which universities exist. Like Concordia, our school must respond.

Things that m ake you g o ...H m m m m ?'

It ell, here is...as gradua­ tion is upon me, I have the inevitable desire to look back on these past 4 years at all the unsolved mysteries here at McGill which yearn to be answered. In otherwords, I’d like to take my precious 15 seconds in the sun to lay down a much needed rant...

Doors... first, on the second floor of Leacock there are doors to exit, yet they are perpetually locked. Why, why.. .why? Unlocking these doors would make many a walk from Shatner to Leacock more efficient - heaven forbid this institution should do something that makes it more efficient for the students. Second, in many a McGill build­ ing, there are two or more functional doors, but many a time only one is unlocked? Who is the genius that thought to have a swarm of students squeeze through one door as they make the mad rush from building to building in five minutes.

Line ups...finally someone had the glorious sense to bring a Tim Horton’s to campus!

Nevertheless, some ridiculous scheme manages to foul the ‘bits-of-tim’ experience, first you have to line up to get your food, where you receive a receipt from a cash register which doesn’t seem to know how to take cash, because then you have to present the receipt after lining up again to pay!

Microwaves.. .Now, I’m willing to admit that I like to dabble in the Tikki-Ming once and a while, but on occasion I would much rather bring my lunch in my beloved My-Little-Pony lunch box. But upon arriving at the cafeteria, what am I to find, but a line up of people at the microwave long enough to take up my entire break time!

Granted there was another microwave installed in the Shatner cafeteria, but still...two microwaves are hardly an effective means serving the many hungry students who wait impatiently inline with their tupperware!

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Samosas...where are my precious spicy-vegetable-filled-pockets? There’s a serious lack of samosa selling going on! I used to rejoice at the site of a greasy box sitting atop the table in the foyer at Leacock.. .now all I ever see is people hocking cell phones! I hate to say it, but maybe Veggie-rama should get on the band wagon and start selling samosas.. .mmm mmm.

The Brown Building...the supposedly state of the art, all-about-accessibility, Student Services Building. first of all, the entrance of the Counseling and Tutorial Service went without a door handle for the entire first semester, due to brilliant architectural genius. Second, countless students have gotten lost trying to get to the other wing of the building, thinking that it would be logical to take the elevator to the fifth floor with­ out having to get off at the second or third, and walk to a different elevator to continue their jour­ ney. Third, a significant lack of water fountains and bathrooms.. .two of the most essential student services in my mind.

The Alley.. .where is it?! Where is my beloved little Alley, where I can get a big cookie and a decent cup of coffee without having to go into Gerts or climb up to the cafeteria? I loved the dank décor and I’m sure the chain smokers didn’t mind it either, it doesn’t need renovating...every­ one knows that once something goes on McGill’s ‘under renovation’ list we can kiss it good by for a mysteriously semi-permanent amount of time.

And the most serious crime of all... those people who talk about the final exam, while wait­ ing in line for the exam, they are no more than the scourge of the earth.

And last but not least. The guy who has devoted his life to this newspaper, the editor-in chief of his baby, ‘the Trib’... Mr. John Salloum. If anyone can reveal the deep dark secret as to why this straight arrow, ‘Frank Grimeyesque’, fix-it man, and just all round nice guy has “Dirty” as a nick name...inquiring minds want to know.

A University is I A more than a JL jLplace of higher learning. It is a collec­ tion of minute imper­ fections, which over the course of four years, have driven me nearly insane. So, with no further delay, my list of things at McGill which I don’t understand: Ticket to McGill basketball game: three dollars. Beer at McGill basketball game: three dollars. I’m no economist, but that don’t make no sense (me no English major either).

I’m not sure what irritates me more: that we can’t call the Shatner Center officially the Shatner Center because he never donated money, or that Captain Kirk is the cheapest man alive.

Stewart Bio building. Why not just put the building all the way on top of the hill, and give grades based on who makes it up there with the least amount of respiratory damage?

In the Arts building base­ ment, there are washrooms every three steps. Each one is palatial in size, and full of insightful graffiti that only an Arts student could write (Shakespeare sucketh!)

However, on every other floor of the Arts building, no bathrooms but lots of corners.

Cold Beverage Agreement.

This stupid debate makes even Quebec politics look civilized. I love how we have a Molson resi­

dence, a Molson stadium, etc., and yet, heaven forbid we should sell only Coke in our stores. No corporate sponsorship here.

People who start questions in class with “don’t you think that...”, or “isn’t it true that...”

These are not questions. They are merely a way for irritating stu­ dents to look for praise from pro­ fessors. New rule: ask a question which isn’t really a question, and you fail the course. Similarly, if you ask a question which the pro­ fessor has just explained, causing the rest of the students to stare at you and point and laugh, you fail too.

Graduation fee is sixty dol­ lars. I don’t ask for much, But, there are some things I expect: When I go to Burger King, I don’t expect to pay an extra nickel for a straw. Hell if I buy a freakin’ Ginsu knife over the phone, they throw in an orange peeler gratuit.

But you’re making me pay sixty extra bucks after the amount of money I’ve put into this school?

Shouldn’t graduation be assumed, or is the goal of this school not to actually graduatfe students?

The Leacock Elevators.

They’re like a broken slot machine: they all show the same thing at the same time.

People who write for student newspapers and think they know everything about everything, when in fact they know nothing about anything.

10 Op/Ed

The M cG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001

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Chicken Fajitas Here’s a general recipe for one of our favourites. This is a great meal that will impress your guests with minimal effort on your part. Also, for all the meat lovers that we have been ignoring for the past little while, this one’s for you.

For about 4 people you will need: • 1 pkg. soft tortilla shells • 3 chicken breasts • 1 green pepper • 1 medium onion • 1/2 can black beans • 3/4 cup frozen corn • 1-2 ripe avocadoes (they should be soft to the touch) • 1/2 bottle salsa

• Some cheddar or mozzarella (grated) • Sour cream or low-fat plain yogurt • Chili powder • Lemon juice (from a real lemon or from the bottle) • 3 cloves garlic

Instructions: The chicken: Marinate the chicken for at least 5-10 minutes (the longer, the better) in a mixture of lemon juice (enough to cover the chicken), 2 cloves of minced garlic, salt and pepper. To cook it, you can broil it in your oven or just fry it1. Once it is done, cut it into strips.

The guacamole: If the avocadoes are ripe, you should be able to mash them up with a fork into a smooth mixture. Add a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice, 1 clove of minced garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Then you can add a couple of tablespoons of sour cream, or low-fat yogurt for the healthier version. Mix this all together and that’s that.

The fdlings: 1. Chop the pepper and onion into long, thin strips and fry them in a little olive oil until they are tender. To spice this up, add one tablespoon of chilli powder or some salsa.

2. Dump the beans and corn into a separate pan and heat this mixture up, frying for only a couple of minutes or else the beans will get mushy.

Into this pan you can add some garlic, chilli powder, salsa, salt or pepper.

To serve: Your tortilla shells can be heated up in the microwave, or you can place them in a ht>t, dry frying pan for about 20 seconds to make them a lit­ tle crispy. Serving is easy; just put all the above into the tortilla, roll it, and eat it. Bon appétit.

Footnotes: 1 The broiler is definitely the low-fat option. If you are lucky enough to have a George Forman grill or something of the like, use it. b y ‘t h e r e a l J i m S h a d y ’

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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.

This week I was in a bit of a rush, so I only managed to pull off about 50 words. I’m pretty confident that you could manage up to 200 with these letters. Good luck!

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Across 1. Russian vacation house 6. Recede 9. Type of poem 14. Plant that heals burns 15. Caviar 16. Stomach Ailment 17. Drug Related 18. What a OG movie is 20. Red tone 21. What the computer is when you are working 22. State north of CT 23. Abbrev. For metaphors 24. Noose need 26. Plural ending in words from Hebrew 27. Gas filled electron tube 33. How steaks may be done 37. An emotion of wonder 38. Supported 39. Declining 43. Conceit 45. One who cures hides 46. Type of coffee cup 52. Musical note 53. A famous one is named Charlie 54. Simple computer program 57. Morning hours 59. Simile word 60. Tended the fire 63. Rinds 65. Priest’s garments 68. Epitome of slow 69. Baby 70. Contraction of "no ‘habla?"

71. Evolve 72. Axelike tool 73. Can be stopped up Down 1. Obstacle 2. Sir _ Guiness 3.

Cipher 4. Scion’s boat 5. Standard computer code 6. "The Importance of Being 7. Feathery stole 8. Where the bats are!

9. Sister of Cadmus 10. What Earth is 11. Halloween month 12. Think 13. Town in Utah 18. A doctrine 25. State near Washington 26. Deter 27. Belnd 29.

Mate 30. Shower 31. Possessed 32. Racial division

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34. The prophet of _ 35. Disection 36. State in NE 40. In the location of 41. State west of NJ 42. Place to get a cola 44. Third person singular present indica­ tive of to be 47. Print styles 48. Scuffle 49. Used before words beginning with a vowel sound 50. A holy place 51. Synthetic 55. Possessive pronoun 56. A wide body of water 57. Part of a church 58. Repair 61. ...ere last I saw_ 62. Salami place 64. French water 66. Brick carrier 67. _ Jose

L a s t W e e k ’s P u z z l e S o lv e d

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Tuesday,

C o n d e m n i n g T h e

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Joseph Quesnel_________________

Picture, for a moment, being accused of fornication before mar­ riage after you’ve discovered that you are pregnant. To top it all off, the pregnancy is the result of being raped. Then, come to realize that you are facing a sentence of 100 lashes with a cane - a punishment that could kill you.

This is the situation of 17year-old Bariya Magazu of Nigeria; or at least this is what we know of the situation from mainstream media. The case has dominated the news media for the past several weeks and has provoked a stream of international outrage from human rights groups and govern­ ments alike, particularly Canada.

Magazu was sentenced to receive 100 lashes for engaging in pre-marital sex and an additional 80 for bringing “false claim” against three men whom she claimed had engaged in sex with

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Media ethics and religion

It is argued that this case rais­ es more questions than answers.

Do such well-publicized events contribute to a misleading inter­ pretation of women under Islamic law? It is often the case that we hear only the worst cases of applied Shari’a in the media. We hear about the repressive measures of the Talibans of Afghanistan and who can forget the calls for Salman Rushdie’s death from the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran.

But, do these cases tell us

S o u t h

more about the actual state of Islamic law or do they tell us more

A f r i c a 's

about our own perceptions and misperceptions?

e d u c a t i o n

reform.

“We are in a race against time, expectations are enormous and In the 1990’s, South Africa without progress we tend towards underwent a staggering uproot of instability,” he said. its entire political and The new year social system. marked the end of MO? .

Apartheid, in 1995, was CIDA’s five-year eradicated. Yet this project.

In the accomplishment did not NAMIBIA provinces of come without extreme Mpumalanga, ^PRETORIA w challenges. One of the *mt..\ Houting, Guateng, éËÉSIWWëfWii* s w ill. most prominent con­ and Free State, great cerns to post apartheid feats have been South Africa has been accomplished. The the democratization of m m m school system has to A lls .,/ t Say education. The McGill restructure itself, Dwfetn Department of striving to increase .0® ââf Education, in partner­ its standards of ship with the South equality to interna­ African Department of tionally respected la s t I » * » , .

S ald an a Education, has played levels. an important role in this Cape* “We face chal­ IfeSMibâii daunting challenge. lenges of crime, vio­ The Canadian the work during this time focused lence, broken families, and com­ International Development upon human resources. CIDA’s munities. We want to restore a cul­ Agency (CIDA), which heads the first initiative was to develop the ture of learning and teaching,” said partnership, used a recent confer­ skills, education, and resources of Anusha Naidoo, the chair of the ence hosted by the Canada-South the South African school system. Guateng school department.

African Partnership in Education In 1995, however, CIDA’s began to Naidoo explained that consis­ and Development Program focus on equity and providing tently malfunctioning schools were (CSEAMP), to communicate to access to equitable education, studied and that nine priority areas the Montreal community both the which was widely unavailable. Tim were targeted. It was in these areas partnership’s successes and further Naidoo, Mpumalanga’s that CSEAMP helped create a new challenges.

Department of Education culture, which “attacked” break­ Canadians have been involved Provincial Coordinator, described downs in teacher control, student in South Africa since 1950 when the urgent need for efficient control and administrative control. the atrocities of apartheid were becoming a national and world­ wide concern. CIDA was founded in 1972, and until 1994, CIDA’s program was channeled through underground fundraising. Most of

2001

N ig e r ia

d e b a te

her at the behest of her own father.

In 1999, Zamfara state caused controversy as the first northern Nigerian state to impose a strict Muslim shari’a legal system.

Without legal representation, as is the case under Islamic law, Magazu was sentenced. However, she received a reduced punishment last Friday of 100 lashes and has since been in recovery.

i n g

M a rn i Brot_____________________

h e a te d

30 J a n u a r y

Pat Pheto, principal of Free State Department of Education, chose to begin his huge task of restructuring by first carefully questioning the students. He learned that, interestingly enough, a common complaint was that the washrooms were completely unsanitary.

“Now parents come and clean the toilets in many of the schools throughout the area. Believe it or not this makes a huge impact on the children, to see their parents actually there taking part in their lives. Before this, this scenerio would have seemed impossible,” says Pheto.

Another challenge faced by Pheto and other educators is that many of the parents are illiterate.

Pheto has attempted, through con­ ferences and parent teacher meet­ ings, to break down the stereotype that education is only for enlight­ ened people. Pheto wants to show parents that they are “smarter than him and can contribute a great deal to their child’s education and development.”

Rural schools are also a huge dilemma for South Africa. Most are under-resourced, under-fund­ ed, and have one teacher instruct­ ing up to five grades under one roof. There are over five hundred and thirty farm schools in the

Professor El Obaid A. ElObaid teaches Islamic law and human rights law at the McGill University. He finds it quite trou­ bling that the case has become clichéd, mentioning that such cen­ tral issues as to what extent the sex­ ual acts involved were consensual are strangely absent from the debates, which he finds problemat­ ic in drawing concrete conclusions.

El-Obaid is frustrated with the misconceptions about Islam that have fed into the public mind.

“If there is a possibility for this not being a consensual sexual rela­ tionship; if there is a possibility of raising the notion that this woman was forced into these particular sexual relations... If that is the case, then we are looking into a poten­ tial of rape,” says El- Obaid. “It would have affected [the dynam­ ics] because in most aspects of Islamic law, she would not be pun­ ished for being raped.”

El-Obaid also says that he Please see S H A R IA , page 15

s y s t e m province of Mpumalanga alone. In the past, parents had no control in the education of their children.

Rather, it was the farm owners who retained control of the schools and “charged” each student to attend, as legally, the schools were located on their property.

Moreover, many of the educa­ tors were unqualified and did not have the teaching skills necessary for this difficult schooling situa­ tion. Now, however, teachers are taught through a CSEAMP initiat­ ed multi-graded approach how to effectively handle the classroom.

This is accomplished through grouping the children together, regardless of their school level.

Each pupil in the group is assigned a role and the group as whole must complete a project. In turn, the children teach one another and develop important social and com­ munication skills. The children then return to a group filled with students on their level and work quietly on their assignments while the teacher acts as a facilitator “Pupils have become more socially aware and have developed much more respect for the teacher due to her new found control over the classroom,” said Fikele Mtshali, Circuit Manager of Mpumalanga’s Department of Please see SCHOOLS, page 16

12 Features

The M cG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001

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eve all seen a million Top Ten” lists, count­ ing down everything from movies to historical moments to lame David Letterman com­ ments on the world at large.

Actually, Letterman can sometimes be pretty accurate and humorous in his observations, but what makes no sense is that the #1 item on the list is never funny. And even here in Montreal, many of us can easily name our own list of the top ten restaurants or clubs in town, or the top ten reasons to go to McGill (like free transcripts —if you don’t count the $8 per semester tran­ script fee we all pay). So in the spir­ it of all this counting and listing, here are the top ten legal resources for students in Montreal. Well, stu­ dents and other people, in some cases, but here goes:

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1) The Arnold Bennett Housing Hotline. Sure, you may have call a few times before you can get through to someone, but this free tenants information and assistance

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Hina M ahm ood

It’s FROSH week! You’re final­ ly at university and you get your lit­ tle college kit that may include a beer mug, a frosh bracelet, sun­ screen (in those summer days when the sun did shine), and of course the condom. Oh my god! And there’s girls girls and more girls or you’ve finally spotted the Brad Pitt look-alike who you know in your heart you’re destined to marry. You party! You go wild! Everything good in life boils down to two things beer, sex, beer, sex, beer.... did I mention sex?

Many students look back with a smile at their freshman year and their initiation into college. Dossie Easton and Catherine A. Liszt, authors of The Ethical Slut: A Guide to Infinite Sexual Possibilities, would applaud that smile. They hold the view that there is nothing wrong with sex for sex’s sake and they dis­ agree with the view that a sexual relationship has to be a lifetime pair-bonding experience. They see fault with our cultures worshipping self-denial; whether it be “food, recreation, or sex.”

Sex is not for cementing rela­ tionships, making babies, or any other functions it happens to serve.

g u i d e

re s o u rc e s

fo r y o u n g

resource is staffed by people who know the Regie due Logement inside out and are well-versed in the applications and implications of lease laws. They run weekly clin­ ics where you can see them in per­ son, or you can call them weekdays from 9am-5pm at 488-0412.

2) The Regie du Logement. In addi­ tion to the above organization, you can contact the Regie directly with your questions and concerns. All residential landlord-tenant issues go through this rental board, so if you get to the stage where you are actually making a complaint or try­ ing to get some recourse, you will ultimately have to go through this agency. Expect to wait on hold.

873-2245.

t o p e o p le

t h e in

M o n tre a l

help you get the job done. 8789788.

4) Consumer Protection Bureau. You took your TV to be repaired and you paid $50 when you picked it up. The problem is that when you got it home, it still didn’t work.

The repairman claims you must have broken it again on your way out the door. Call this government agency to find out what your rights are and what you can do to get them enforced. 873-3701.

5) Quebec Human Rights Commission. This organization will hear complaints on violations of the Quebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which governs discrimi­ nation and other human rights dealings between private citizens 3) Youth Employment Services. So | and other people or groups, includ­ you’ve come up with the ultimate ing companies. The Commission product that everyone in the world will provide information on what will want to have, or perhaps some­ kinds of matters it will hear, how to thing less stupendous but still mar­ file a complaint, and how its proce­ ketable, and you are starting your dures work. It can be reached at own business. The problem is that 873-5146 or 1-800-361-6477. you don’t really know anything about taxation, business structures 6) The Labor Standards Commission or what intellectual property (Commission des Norms du means for you. This group helps to Travail). If you are a non-unionized answer many business-related employee, this is the place to go questions for young entrepreneurs with your questions and com­ and has a variety of resources to plaints relating to workplace issues

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Sex is for pleasure, which is worth­ while in itself. They say that people have sex because it feels good and raises self-esteem and that this pleasure “is one of the core values of ethical sluthood.” They believe that people should have as much sex as possible if they wish to. According to them “the human capacity for sex and intimacy is far greater than most people think-possibly infmiteand that having a lot of satisfying connections simply makes it possi­ ble for you to have a lot more.”

Rebecca Visser, a guest-speaker at McGill who has given numerous speeches in high schools all over the US and Europe, has a strong objec­ tion to this view on sexuality. She defined sexuality as being at the core of a person’s identity. It affects everyone’s physical, mental, and emotional state more profoundly than almost anything else. She spoke of benefit o f ‘chaste sexuality’ as opposed to ‘plastic sexuality’ pro­ moted by ‘ethical sluts’.

Visser granted that people may have multiple sex partners. It is con­ sidered a form of sexual freedom, experimentation, a part of growing up. However, that doesn’t mean, she argued, that it is right. She listed the physical realities of plastic sexu­ ality such as AIDS, pregnancy, and referenced scary statistics like two

l a w like wrongful dismissal, insuffi­ cient notice before getting fired and other prohibited practices.

(Note: if your concern is about workplace safety, call the Commission de la Santé et Sécurité du Travail at 873-3990.) You can reach the Labor Standards Commission at 873-7061 or at 1-800-265-1414.

7) Advocacy and University Affairs.

Students at McGill involved in dis­ ciplinary procedures or who wish to launch a grievance within the University system can get a free student Advocate who will follow their case and act as their represen­ tative in these matters. The various echelons of decision-making at this school (as at others) can be confus­ ing, if not a little scary, so call Advocacy at 398-4384. j 8) YWCA Legal Information Clinic.

This Clinic will let you have a 30minute consultation with a lawyer for $5.00, by appointment only. It is a general clinic, but it is particu­ larly good on issues related to fam­ ily, immigration and criminal law.

Call the Y at 866-9941, extension 293. And although this was sup­ posed to be a top ten list, I’ll throw in a few extra general legal clinics.

Head and Hands (481-0277) can

help you with information in a wide variety of legal areas, as can the McGill Legal Information Clinic (398-6792), where students from McGill’s Faculty of Law provide legal information at no cost.

9) Lawyer Referral Centre o f the Barreau du Quebec. Sometimes you’ve just got to have a lawyer, which is a situation that can be a problem for students on a tight budget. This free referral service will put you in contact with a lawyer who specializes in whatever area you need help in and you can get a half-hour consultation for $30. 866-2490.

10) Crime Victims Assistance Center o f Montreal. This one is a little dif­ ferent from the other items on this list, but it is equally important even if you may use it less fre­ quently. Victims of crime can call here for moral support and for information on victims’ rights and recourses. 277-9860.

And there you have it. Cut this column out and put it on your fridge, or at least tuck it away somewhere for future reference.

You never know when it might come in handy.

s h y ? people contract STDs every 5 sec­ onds in the US. With regards to

No sex please - till marriage

emotions, she said people that prac­ tice plastic sexuality build walls around their real feelings and emo­ tions. Because of the lack of com­

mitment in these relationships it is more likely to lead to jealousy and pain. Chaste sexuality, however, successfully integrates emotions and sexuality within a person rather than separating them. It creates a lifestyle of respect for sexuality by saving sex for marriage.

She emphasized that chastity didn’t mean celibacy as someone who had already had sex could make the decision to be chaste at any point in their lives. She found chastity to be beneficial in every aspect of a per­ son’s life.

“There is not such thing as sex­ ual needs but there are sexual desires and desires can be con­ trolled. Chastity gives the people the freedom to plan their future, the freedom to respect people, the freedom to be trusted by the oppo­ site sex rather than be viewed as pieces of meat, and defeats the problems of pregnancy and STDs,” she said.

Visser ended her lecture by addressing the topic of sexual edu­ cation. She found that it focused too deeply on the physical aspects of sex while neglecting the inevitable emotional aspect that comes with it. She also thought the message should be abstinence rather than “safe sex.”

“After all, we don’t advocate

‘safe drunk-driving’, we advocate ‘no drunk-driving.’ The view that they’ll do it anyway is ridiculous. If someone drinks and drives we don’t say ‘oh since they’re going to drink anyway we might as well show them how to put on a seatbelt properly while they’re drunk, so they’re less likely to get killed if they get into an accident,”’ she said.

Visser also believes that parents as well as educators should stick to the abstinence message and that the medical community should get involved by talking to students about the realities of being sexually active.

Scott Kline, a sexual ethics pro­ fessor at McGill, disagreed with this approach to sex education. He mentioned that Visser’s speech has to be looked at in the appropriate context given the fact that she is Catholic and was addressing a mostly Catholic audience. He agreed, however, that she did make some valid points but said that it was far easier to moralize in a closeknit community. To impose these morals and values on people from different backgrounds, religions, values, and experiences would not be as effective as Visser would sup­ pose. He feels rather than imposing abstinence, awareness of sexual con Please see LUST, page 15

The M cG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001

IT. What is IT? More than you think M a rie -H é lè n e Savard

and a portable dialysis machine.

Oh, and he always wore denim and liked going clubbing. Meanwhile, on the net, armchair engineers were having a field day speculating on the nature of the invention in

It will sweep over the world and change lives, cities, and ways of thinking. It will be unlike any­ thing that now exists, bigger than the Internet and the PC. Now that I have your atten­ tion, I suppose you expect me to tell you what I’m talking about.

Well, I can’t. I have no idea what “IT” is. Neither do the Washington Post or the New York Times, but that didn’t stop them from running lengthy articles on the subject.

Between January 9th and 25th, so much hype surrounded the myste­ rious IT that dozens of websites and discussion boards sprung up overnight to speculate on its nature. But what happens now that the media frenzy has dried up?

Let’s recapitulate: on Januray 9th, the fledging media gossip website Inside.com broke the story that Harvard Business School Press had just paid a $250,000 advance for a book by freelance journalist Steve Kemper about an invention called IT, code-named Ginger. The catch was that neither the editor nor the agent knew what IT was.

Inside.com had obtained a copy of the 26-page book proposal, which provided a few clues as to the nature of Dean Kamen’s invention.

But the most tantalizing part of the proposal was a series of quotes by Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs and John Doerr.

Had Inside.com done a bit of research on the web, it would have been able to provide more informa­ Check IT out tion on both the invention and the inventor. Associated Press picked chat rooms and websites like up the story two days later, and the theItquestion.com. A consensus wheels started turning. ABC News, seemed to form, based on the clues Reuters, the Washington Post...The from the Inside.com story, that IT first batch of stories recycled was probably some sort of trans­ Inside.corn’s scoop, adding back­ portation device, maybe a Jetsonground invention on Kamen like hovercraft, or a jet pack. The (mostly culled from an in-depth Washington Post went so far as to profile in the September 2000 issue predicting it was a “wearable car”.

The hype was starting to spin of Wired.) We learned, among out of control. By January 12th, other things, that he had made his someone had the good idea of fortune with an insulin pump, the looking up Kamen’s registered heart stent used by Dick Cheney,

patents on the World Intellectual Property Organization website. It turns out IT was nothing but a...scooter. How could a scooter change the world? There had to be something else. The media chose to believe the p r o p o s a l ’s quotes over the patent, and kept searching for IT. While the Baltimore Sun, BBC News, Forbes and CNN were still running articles of the basic “What is IT?” variety, The Boston Globe went back to the Wired article, and read the that a team of 170 engineers w e r e employed by Kamen to work on an inexpensive, non-polluting engine based on a Scottish invention called a Stirling engine. The Globe came to the conclusion that if the Stirling was used in a scooter, “Kamen could be known as the man who started the next industrial revolution.” The next day, Scotland on Sunday was the only newspaper to report The Globe’s findings, M SNBC and CNN focusing their attention on a press release issued by Kamen, say­ ing that the media’s expectations were “beyond whimsical.”

By the following week, the hype ballon was deflating, mostly because the media hadn’t been able

to find one credible source willing to comment on the invention.

While the initial articles were titled “Ginger: The Wheel Thing?” ( The Washington Post) and “The Next Big IT” (TechTV.com), the most recent batch were headlined “The Net’s Overnight Disappointment” fEcommerce Times) or “Mystery device scoots into obscurity” [Detroit Free Press).

Bitterness had replaced the initial excitement. As Michael S. Malone wrote on Forbes.com, “IT had media manipulation written all over it...I already feel suckered by IT, and I don’t even know what the hell it is.” Slowly, people were starting to find holes in Inside.corn’s original story. If this invention was so big, why hire a relatively inexperienced writer like Kemper to pen a book about it, and accept such a small advance?

Why did Kamen show IT to Bezos, Jobs and Doerr, of all people? Why all the secrecy around the inven­ tion? Why the book? As Nobel Prize-winning chemist and physi­ cist Alan Heeger pointed out for ABC News, before a book comes out about a scientific advance, “usually, there’s a scientific back­ ground and you would imagine seeing things in published litera­ ture in peer review.” The proposal leak was starting to reek of a pub­ licity ploy.

The hype cadaver almost came back to life on January 25th, when it was revealed that you can already pre-order Ginger at Amazon.com, even tho'ugh Jeff Bezos is the only one who knows what they’re sell­ ing. Proving that they’d had enough, no media outlet chose to pick up the story.

Next year, when Ginger/IT is released, most people will have forr gotten about this mid-January hys­ teria. They will have moved on to the next paid-for-twice adopted twins, the next Survivor, the next Superbowl... the next IT.

Protecting our natural heritage Jean Fau is a chief park warden for Parks Canada. He and his colleagues protect the plant and animal life in our national parks. They also help Canadians explore and enjoy these special places. This is just one of the hundreds of services provided by the Government of Canada.

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Canada

W h a t 's s a id

Features 13

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IT :

Credit Suisse First Boston Investment Bank - Expects Kamen’s invention to make more money than any start­ up in history.

- Predicts Kamen will be worth more in five years than Bill Gates.

Steve Jobs, Apple C om puter Co. co-founder - Says the invention will be as sig­ nificant as the Personal Computer (PC).

- Is quoted as saying “If enough people see the machine, you won’t have to convince them to architect cities around it. It’ll just happen.”

Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder - Is quoted as saying that IT “is a product so revolutionary, you’ll have no problem selling it. The question is, are people going to be allowed to use it?”

John Doerr, Venture capitalist - Calls Dean Kamen a combination o f Henry Ford and Thomas Edison.

Says he had been sure he wouldn’t see the development of anything in his lifetime as im portant as the World Wide Web - until he saw IT. Steve Kemper, A uthor o f the upcom ing book about IT - Says the invention “will require meeting with city planners, regula­ tors, legislators, targe commercial companies and university presi­ dents about how cities, companies and campuses can be retro-fitted for Ginger.”

Dean Kamen, IT inventor - Says the invention “will profound­ ly affect our environment and the way people live worldwide. It will be an alternative to products that are dirty, expensive, sometimes dan­ gerous and often frustrating, espe­ cially for people in the cities.”

Bob Metcalfe, 3com founder and friend o f Kamen’s - In an email to Inside.com: “If I invented metal, and came out with the first spoon, which would be the big invention, the spoon or metal?

This is the current complication in solving the IT mystery.”

14 Features

The M cG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001

S e n io r re c re a tio n ta k e s a step to w a rd s th e te ch n o lo g ic a l S h irle e Engel

If you were asked to conjure up an image ofyourselfin the future, when you are somewhere between the ages of 70 and 90, you probably see your face among a plethora of silver-haired folks wearing high-prescription bifocals with shaky voices dealing cards or yelling “Bingp” over a cup of tea. Perhaps some­ where in the background is a middleaged female with a cart foil ofsmall Dixie cups, each containing tiny white cap­ sules. A small window reveals a single trace of vegetation - a barren tree - and a parking lot You are somewhere in a seniors residence, a far cry from the boom-bust, boisterous and chaotic exis­ tence you once knew in the dty.

Admit it With the exception of

your grandparents who go on the occa­ sional walk and lead somewhat active lives, for the most part you are still stereo­ typing the older population — senile, incapacitated human being? spending the last of their days in the tranquil sur­ roundings of a nursing home, away from the hub of technology, dealing their cards as the rest of the world ticks dong.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Since the advent of one of the greatest blessing? to come out of the 20th century, everyone wants to grab a key­ board and surf the information high­ way. . .that is, literally everyone.

“It is important to dispel these myths that older adults are not interested and not capable of learning,” says Iryna Dulka, research coordinator at the McGill Centre for Applied Family Research.

M o in s d e s o le il, p l u s b r illa n t .

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“The whole sphere of alternate simple tasks such as turning the housing of older adults needs to be cre­ machines on and off Grandma s been wined for yeans ative and responsible to have education “It steers away from the traditional opportunities available, especially for Bingo.. .it bring? a new angle to recre­ Although the astonishing speed people who have time, interest and capacity.”

Manoir Montefiore, a seniors residence in Côte St Luc, is the home of 10 seniors between the ages of 70 and 90 who will graduate on February 6 from an eight-week course that has not only revolutionized the way they communicate with family, but also how they spend their free time. Since the completion of an Internet workshop designed by the Manoir Montefiore and McGills Centre for Applied Family Research, the three PCs in the lobby of the residence have been bombarded with dozens of elders wanting to get in on the latest addition to their building.

Manoir Montefiore is the first seniors residence in Montreal to undertake such an initiative to give older genera­ tions a chance to enjoy the ben­ Everyone can drive in the fast lane on the information superhighway Jenny George efits of recent technological developments. “Graduates” of the ation and diversifies what we have to with which the Internet has bombarded Internet workshop course now frequent offer them,” says Blaise. “It also empxjw- households left many seniors behind, the machines in the lobby and spend free ers them to be more independent in their some McGill students say that their time playing solitaire and emailing their leisure activities.” grandparents have been computer families. The course was so successful friendly for years. “My grandma has been that there have been numerous requests Not just email using the Internet since before most pteofor new ones. It has also sparked the ple had Windows installed,” says interest of neighbouring residences look­ It is not just email and the occa­ Michaela Seear, a U 1 art history student. ing to integrate computers into seniors’ sional game of solitaire that seniors are “She was hooked up to CompuServe lives. after Many are interested in becoming through MSDOS. Unfortunatdy for “We have had an insurgence of regular Internet users, and there is a her, none of her friends were as comput­ interest in the program itself,” says whole online market waiting to greet er friendly and she had nobody to send Maggie Blaise, therapeutic recreation them with a user name and password. A email to except her computer-geek son.” director of Manoir Montefiore, who worid of information is available to sen­ The courses at Manoir Montefiore began teaching a new dass on January iors on the Internet, from health and are indicative of a society that is not will­ 24. wellness issues to communicating with ing to leave elders behind just because the Howard Modlin, executive director fellow elders. Merely typing the word information age missed them in their of Manoir Montefiore, Dulka and others ‘senior’ in the search field of your prime. Learning never stops, and being at the Centre for Applied Family favourite engine elicits a superfluity of in touch with the latest developments in Research, initiated the Internet course sites dedicated solely to the age demo­ technology can actually be beneficial to project. The original intent was to try graphic For instance, www.senior.com senior citizens. and add to the lives of seniors who had features an online community for older “We know that there is a relation­ expressed interest in communicating populations. Elder surfers can join chat ship between physical and mental health with their families through the Internet. rooms, engage in conversation through and being involved in an educational “Howard though some residents forums, play in the game room, and join activity for seniors,” says Dulka. “Studies should be able to email grandchildren online dubs for leisure activities such as in relation to older adults have shown and [there is] all this talk about the cooking, traveling and poetry. links to that [being involved] can enhance self Internet and websites. So it was timely,” news, entertainment, relationships, faith, esteem in addition to providing learning says Dulka. “We were here, we were able insurance and- yes- even computing are that people want. It also enhances oppor­ to meet that need in terms of our back­ a part of the web community. Another tunities for socialization.” ground and the work that we do around such site is www.wiredseniors.com, self Blaise says that she is excited to con­ healthy aging.” described as "a Portal web site to serve all tinue teaching residents about the new The course was taught from the needs of the over 50 age group. addition to their home. Since the com­ October to December 2000 by McGill "Just like any other network, we puters were installed, seniors use lunch medical student Alain Bestawros in 45- make a wide variety of Seniors Oriented breaks and gaps of free time to hop on minute Monday sessions with two stu­ information and programs available to the machines for limited to 30-minute dents per computer. our audience," the site says. Other popu­ intervals. She is enthusiastic about being Contrary to the common percep­ lar sites indude www.gp60.com, which able to offer seniors a more diverse activ­ tion that seniors cannot grasp working focuses on health and wellness for an ity base. with computers, many elders are actually aging population, netheadseniors.com, “I truly believe that the senior ptoptquite proficient. According to Blaise, whose homepage proudly instructs its ulation is changing,” says Blaise. “People since the conclusion of the workshops, visitors to "sit back, tell the grandkids are getting older but they’re staying Manoir Montefiore residents have been they can't use the computer for a while, healthy longer and living longer. We teaching staffmembers how to use email and have some fun." want to get away from the stereotypies and often coach each other on how to do associated with older populations.”

The M cG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001

S h a r i 'a

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continued frompage 11 believes that the degree to which this case has been central in the media recently tells us something about the media itself.

“Is this case the worst we have seen in the last two or three weeks in terms of human rights abuses in the world? O r this has received so much attention, government and media, because it does really involve issues that could easily sen­ sationalized and actually could, with almost no effort, be blown out of proportion and be made to be bigger than they are?” he asks.

Indeed, media all over the world, including Canada, have focussed extensively on the issue, i has been carrying at least two or three articles on the issue daily.

Although El-Obaid says that the extreme nature of the Magazu sentence is worthy of being con­ demned, he is wary of voicing an opinion because it may contribute to a prejudicial understanding of Islam.

“It does not represent a digni­ fied way of dealing with this case or this woman. But on the other hand, I am also keen and aware of the fact that things have got to a point where one really hesitates to express an opinion for the fear of actually feeding into a rather pop culture kind of vision of Islam or a really negative perception of Islam,” he says.

m

Features 15

I s l a m P etition ing th e state

A recent petition sent by a group called “Muslims of Canada” was addressed to the government of Nigeria and the Shari’a Court of the state of Zamfara. It called upon the court to correctly interpret Islamic law in order to present Islam to the world in its “true char­ acter as a religion of peace, toler­ ance and mercy.”

The petition mentions that in carrying out Shari’a, the court should also bear in mind the Prophetic hadith which states: “Avoid [inflicting] ultimate pun­ ishments (hudud) by means of uncertainties (Shubuhat).”

The uncertainties it mentions surround the whole issue of Magazu being guilty of adultery, which necessitates a willful and consensual act. The petition alludes to the strong evidence showing that Magazu was com­ pelled by her father to engage in sexual relations with three men against her will. As such, her father should be deemed the guilty party.

In te rp re tin g relig io u s law

The question of correct inter­ pretation and application of Islamic law is a crucial issue in this case, as there are many different competing schools of interpreta­

tion within Islam. It is not simply a monolithic source of law. Proper application of Shari’a involves looking at different sources and arriving at decisions based on cer­ tain principles. Principles not clearly elucidated in the Quran are gleaned from prophetic sayings of the Prophet and from community and scholarly consensus.

Amina Mohammed, U2 stu­ dent in Education, is a member of the Muslim Students’ Association at McGill. She says that there must be a clear separation between what is cultural and what is actually reli­ gious. Nigeria is one context in which Shari’a is being applied and it does not represent Islam as a whole.

“I’m kind of worried about people just reading the articles that are coming out and maybe not realizing that the details are very sketchy,” she says. “Behind this one article there is a whole bunch of information that puts light and explains the situation and a lot of people don’t have access to that background information.”

Mohammed says that there is a danger in immediately accepting the details of this case at face value In the end, the challenge for international organizations and government is one of how to effec­ tively condemn human rights abuses while at the same time avoiding oversimplifying an issue

s W eek e t M

or stereotyping a religion or a peo­ ple.

Reem Meshal, a PhD candi­ date in the Institute of Islamic Studies and a specialist in Islamic legal history, says that immediately jumping on one case as somehow signifying how Muslims have viewed women everywhere and every place is simply ludicrous.

“Historically, the rights that women have been accorded have been enlightened in comparison with Europe and Asia,” she says.

“If you look at property rights women had under Islamic law 1400 years ago and realize that Quebec and France only had it in the 20th century.”

Lust and morality continued frompage 12

people’s views on sexuality change with their experiences.

Most people, like Kline, hold be as effective as Visser would sup­ pose. He feels rather than impos­ opinions on sexuality that fall ing abstinence, awareness of sexual somewhere in between Dossie consequences and different meth­ Easton and Catherine A. Liszt’s ods of contraception should be Ethical slut and Rebecca Visser’s increased.

He also felt that chaste sexuality. Just ask the aver­ presently sex is not any less valued age McGill student.

“FROSH week I was a typical than it was before, rather views on sexuality have changed. Sexuality freshman straight out of an all has become N. America’s prime boys highschool. I got to universi­ commodity. Circumstances have ty and went wild my first year, changed where people are travel­ especially the first week which was ing to different places, exposed to a lot of fun,” said Tak Graham, far larger doses of information, now a U3 student. “Now I’ve been and society is becoming increas­ going out with my girlfriend for a while long-distance and I’m faith­ ingly fragmented.

For example, it was fairly rare ful and really happy. Your views for the majority of children to on sexuality change as you mature leave home and study at a univer­ which doesn’t say that your old sity in a different town before. ones were wrong.”

This change in circumstances leads people to act and react to sit­ uations in different ways and thus

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16 Features

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001

There can be no knowledge without emotion

S tep h an ie Levitz

While kids today seem to want nothing more than the latest in gaming technology, underneath it all, everyone wants a puppy. When I was in grade five, my wish was

granted - I came home from school one afternoon, and there she was our new standard poodle. There was some heated discussion about what to name her, but in the end we settled on Ashley.

For the next thirteen years, Ashley was an integral member of our family. When asked, my mom would say she had three daughters, myself, my sister and Ashley —never letting on that Ashley was a big black dog, who had failed every obedience course we enrolled her in

and whose comprehension was lim­ ited to the words walk, car, dinner and squirrel. But she understood love and devotion — abstract con­ cepts that puzzle even the most highly-educated humans. There is a reason they say poodles are the one of the brightest breed of dogs.

Poodles rarely live past the age of thirteen, and so it was last week that my dog was put to sleep. She was suffering from a host of medical problems, that could not necessari­ ly be successfully treated. Even if

they were, she would have been left in great pain. On the outside, she looked as robust and healthy as she did the day we got her — but her insides were a mess. A sedative, fol­ lowed by an injection took her from our world to wherever it is dogs go.

I didn’t get to say a real goodbye — my mom called from Ottawa the night before and told me what was to happen. The sense of sadness and loss was overwhelming - and try as they might, friends of mine who had never had a dog could not sym­ pathize —to them, she was an ani­ mal, worthy of love for sure, but to grieve over such a thing was beyond their comprehension.

The hardest part about her death was the thought that hit me when my mother broke the news that she was to be put to sleep. The thought was —we are killing her. It doesn’t matter what the facts are, we are willfully ending a life that does­ n’t necessarily need to be over.

I’ve never formed a concrete opinion on euthanasia - certainly not for people anyway, and to a less­ er extent for animals. In City Slickers, when Curly shoots the cow that had just given birth on the grounds that she was in pain and would die soon anyway, I winced.

Surely, he could have allowed her to just die naturally, but surely, he did not want to watch her die slowly and in pain. Today, medical tech­ nology has given us humane ways to play God and decide when some lives should end and others contin­ ue. What gives us the right to make that decision? We can never have all

the facts nor understand all the con­ sequences. Every directed search for answers brings new questions. Did it matter that Ashley had no under­ standing of what was happening to her? Dogs only live in the present tense - when she was put to sleep, she could not have known she would never wake up. Would it have been better for Ashley to live in terrible pain and be unable to walk? Would she come to resent us for keeping her that way? Would it have made sense to subject her to operation after operation that may have reduced the pain but not the symptoms? Would it be rational to prolong a life that may soon end itself by natural causes?

British novelist Arnold Bennett once wrote “There can be no knowledge without emotion. We may be aware of a truth, yet until we have felt its force, it is not ours.

To the cognition of the brain must be added the experience of the soul.”

Am I mad at my parents for making the decision they did? No. I can’t say that I would have or have not done the same. Through Ashley’s death I felt the power of a truth. To my understanding of a right to die has been added the experience of feeling. So many peo­ ple condemn or support this truth I have come to know, without the force of emotion. May they never have to truly experience it, but may they also refrain from passing con­ crete judgment on it without first feeling its force.

Schools and South Africa continued frompage 11

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Education The third focus of the pro­ gram concentrated on personal safety in school. Even in a post­ apartheid society violence is still very much prevalent in schools on a wide level. Sexual assaults are common and often go unreported.

Before CSEAMP, gender inequali­ ty and sexual assault continually plagued many of the schools in Free State. CSEAMP provided funds to develop safer schools.

Now teachers are trained in this area; each district has a gender coordinator, and each district con­ ducts workshops for both parents and students. In addition, there is now a radio program that broad­ casts twice a month. The show features a 30-minute segment dis­ cussing sexual issues like rape, assault, and intercourse and is fol­ lowed by a 30-minute call in peri­ od. This has served to bring these issues into public discourse. Oily Miameli, the Gender Focal Person of Free State Department of Education emphasized the inclu­

sive nature of the program.

“Many of the times men were discouraged from becoming involved in the workshops when they are called perpetrators.

CSEAMP helped us to reach out to them and men have now estab­ lished a forum for the prevention of sexual assault through the International Department of Education. But, we still have a long way to go,” she said.

Truly much has been accom­ plished, yet there are still numer­ ous schools that have not been reached by CSEAMP or any other aid program. South Africa will not succeed in transforming its school system without support from within anda abroad. CSEAMP has taken an important initiative in securing the future of schools for the children of South Africa. This has not gone unrecognized, but is only one step in many to come.

♦

a r t s & e n t e r t a i n m

e n t Tuesda y J a n u a r y 30, 2001

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‘survivors’ who allowed themselves to be exploited for fame, and yet, seemed to be otherwise normal peopie. It was like I knew these indi-

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many questions about this bizarre new viewing habit, But can we just stop for a second and try to remember MTV’s

By the time you read this, the tribal council will have spoken. The strange-sounding words ‘Kucha’ and ‘Ogakor’ will be familiar. A new breed of celebrities will have been created and they will eagerly be flaunting their 15 minutes of fame by parading on daytime and late night talk shows.

What am I talking about? For anyone who doesn’t know (and I find this hard to believe), Survivor II aired its first episode directly after last Sunday’s Superbowl. The origi­ nal Survivor was this summer’s answer to reruns and lazy, sunny afternoons. Sixteen contestants were dropped off on an island and were told to “outlast, outwit and outplay,” all in pursuit of a million Which self-obsessed moron will become King of the Outback? dollars. Each episode included chal­ viduals and was voting along with The Real World, the show that start­ lenges (usually something along the them. This is not to mention the ed it all? As a Canadian, I don’t get lines of a scavenger hunt or an MTV, so any chance I got to watch obstacle course). The team that lost unintentional humour that I The Real World in the States, I took. derived out of the fact that half the the challenge would then have to MTV is the real creator of throwing characters couldn’t spell their fellow vote one of its members off. The strangers together and watching show was so popular that Survivor teammates’ names. I always wanted them develop new habits, like the the misspelling to somehow dis­ victor Richard Hatch, a formerly whole thing is some kind of strange qualify the ballot.

It would be like unknown corporate trainer, has on Jeopardy where if you mispro­ petri dish experiment. The cameras become a household name. nounce the answer you lose the were there and so were we. And we I, like many of you, watched couldn’t get enough. Nor can we Survivor somewhat religiously. It money. now.

Survivor is the show that didn’t matter that I missed the first There are two different views brought us the bug-eating, backfour episodes. I was hooked from on why Survivor became such a suc­ stabbing, eclectic cast of characters the first time I saw the show. It was cess. The first is that we enjoy what like some strange hypnosis had that you were never sure if you is being created for us. It is the evil loved or hated.

It is the show that taken over. I knew that I didn’t made “reality” programming a pop­ inherent in every person, to enjoy actually like the show, but I was observing other people’s problems. helpless in the face of my need to ular phenomenon in North America and one that has raised Many people like to shy away from watch, fascinated by the would-be

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th e m this truth, somehow believing that tionships. What does this show panting over these shows is not an prove, other than viewers like us indicator of our more malevolent want to see other people’s relation­ nature. The other side of the coin is ships come to an end? And if that is that we watch because we want to what we want, what does that say be these people. Why else do so about us?

Are we so infatuated with the many people watch Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? Really, why else concept of these new celebrities that would anybody put up with that we will accept almost anything? horribly insensitive, annoying Who would want to participate in these shows? What is motivating Reege?

Perhaps the most fascinating them to go to such extremes?

I don’t pretend to have the thing about these shows is that we are eating them up like they’re the answers to any of these questions. I best thing since sliced bread. am, after all, in the key demograph­ Hoping that the success of its pred­ ic: for these shows, and in most cases ecessor will bring as many viewers I am watching. It wouldn’t be fair of for Survivor II, the producers of the me to pretend that I wasn’t. I know CBS-run Survivor have already that I watch these shows because I upped the ante. Not satisfied with enjoy that people switch from their already impressive ratings, the friends to foes in the blink of an new Survivor boasts that the new eye. What will be interesting is to cast is buffer and more attractive. see how Survivor fares the second So apparently, we don’t just want to time around. The one thing I am watch alliances, we want them to sure of is that even if we are becom­ look good too. Which I guess is ing a more inverted society that good. If we’re already watching likes to watch ourselves, one thing these shows, we might as well enjoy we still don’t like is the same-con­ cept rerun. In fact, this concept is the scenery.

Why do we love reality TV so bound to get old and soon we will much? It’s addictive. To put it sim­ be merely riding on the tails of the ply, we watch all these shows to see latest trend. In the meantime, if confrontations. Even more than anyone is looking for me, I will be that, we love conflict concerning there on Thursdays, likely watching steamy relationships. We thrive on the longer Friends and tuning in for watching people suffer, because we the last five minutes of Survivor II. know we have the power to walk away without having to deal with the situation.

And can anyone explain Temptation Island to me? This show is basically set up to destroy rela­

W h o 's a fr a id o f t h e b ig , b a d W o o lf?

Chris Essert

This past summer, I went to see a production of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid o f Virginia Woolf? that my sister stage-managed (I actually went because she did) and I was quite impressed, not least by the acting talents of the kid who played Felix on Road to Avonlea in the main role.

Being so impressed, I was espe­ cially excited to see the new pro­ duction being put on by the Tuesday Night Café Theatre, direct­ ed by Leila Nadel-Cadaxa. Anyone who ever celebrated a childhood birthday knows that too much anticipation often leads to let­ downs. Luckily, this wasn’t the case for me last night, because this play was great.

Who’s Afraid o f Virginia Woolf?

is about the relationship between George (Jonathan Black) and Martha (Sarah Steinbock-Pratt), a middle-aged couple living in an unhappy marriage in a New England university town where George is a history professor. We watch George and Martha continue

their years-long marital war, abus­ ing one another verbally and some­ times physically; the situation is complicated by the presence of a younger professor, Nick (Dror Yuravlivker) and his wife Honey (Katy Pederson), who George and Martha use as props in their battle

with each other.

It’s a brilliant work, as far as I’m concerned: biting wit, delicious humour and cringe-inducingly intense emotional confrontations (including lots of yelling and screaming) combine to make this a play filled with many ups and downs. In my companion’s words, watching this play is “stressful”.

That’s just fine with me, though.

It’s always hard for me to judge a play. I feel like the role played by the playwright is very, very impor­ tant, much more important than the role of a screenwriter in a movie. Because of this, I hesitate to heap praise upon Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? because, the way I see it, Albee’s already done all the necessary work: his play is amazing, and all the players need to do is not screw it up.

O f course, that’s not totally fair. Anyone who’s seen the Mel Gibson Hamlet knows that even the greatest play in the history of English literature can be turned into a gigantic piece of crap.

That certainly is not the case in TN C ’s latest production. NadelCadaxa started with a lot of poten­ tial and lived up to it quite well. I would hesitate to call the direction inspired, but it certainly delivered everything Albee asks for, and quite well.

In terms of the nitty-gritty tech stuff (although my dramatist sister would scold me for this and instruct me that that’s where all the real work happens), there’s not much to talk about. The action all occurs in George and Martha’s living room, and the most movement we see is in the form of George’s almost conPlease see TNC, page 18

18 A&E

The M cG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001 Everclear and Nickelback at Metropolis, Friday, Feb 2nd

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What do you get when you mix chal­ lenge, romance, and triumph all into one movie? A perfect formula where bal­ let fuses with hiphop to equal Julia Stiles getting jiggy with Sean Patrick Thomas in Save the Last Dance.

Sarah, played by Julia Stiles, is an aspiring ballerina who makes bal-

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let the most important thing in her life. That is.. .until something devas­ tating happens.

The nightmare all begins the day of the most important audition for the Juilliard School of Performing Arts. Sarah expectantly glances around the empty auditori­ um only to find no sign of mother.

She walks onto the stage unsure, frightened, angry. As she begins to dance, the anger swells up inside of her, until it can no longer be con­ tained within the confinements of her body. She falls and loses any chance of being accepted into the prestigious school. But little does she know what is occurring at the same time.

Just when the movie’s got you expecting to take a turn for the very worst, destiny steps in and alters the course of Sarahs life by taking her for a spin that she’ll never forget.

The audience is captivated as Sarah moves in with her aspiring musician dad who lives in the 'hood. The school she is about to attend is nine­ ty-nine percent black, and she becomes a minority.

On the first day at her new

sight is too shocking for them to turn away from. The story keeps the audience in suspense as we witness the conflict that arises between Sarah and Derek.

The plot thickens when Derek chooses Sarah over his long time best friend in high school, causing them to take two totally different directions.

Save the Last Dance isn’t just about a girl meeting the boy next door; it becomes a story of renewing a hope lost within a dream thrown away. The movie demonstrates how a devastating milestone in one’s life can be overcome with the aid of a true friend.

The movie goes on to illustrate that any road may unravel in various unpredictable ways, turning what was once strife and sadness into glory and triumph, only as long as you’re willing to make it happen.

Like Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "Our greatest glory con­ sists not in never falling, but in ris­ ing every time we fall."

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continued frompage 17 stant trips to and from the bar: this is a play fuelled by alcohol.

As for the performances, I’m no drama critic, but I thought they were well-done. Steinbock-Pratt’s Martha is the star of the show.

From body language to sultry southern accent to sharply delivered dialogue, she had this role down perfectly.

Yuralivker was good in his role, especially in moments where he’s called on to display his physicality.

He definitely cuts a threatening fig­ ure when necessary. As for Pederson, if she wasn’t actually drunk during the play, she might be

o o l f one of the best actors I’ve ever seen.

She was extraordinarily convincing in the play’s most subtle role. My only compaint might be with Black’s George: he started slowly, and I thought he was a bit off dur­ ing the more witty parts of his role.

However, when push came to shove and George started to take over the situation, emotionally and physical­ ly, Black really came alive. His anger was convincing and impas­ sioned.

I haven’t seen many plays at McGill, but if memory serves me, this is undoubtedly the strongest of the lot.

The M cG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001

M S O t h e

b r a z e n l y S p

M e d io c r e

a c e

O

e v e n in g

David S ch ipp er

“2001” was the theme at Place des Arts last week as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra mawkishly promoted its performance of Richard Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra (translated as ‘thus spake Zarathustra’), popularized in Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The suite of eight connected musical episodes was inspired by the tale of the Persian mystic Zarathustra as told in Frederich Nietzsche’s prose poem of the same name. It was Strauss’ attempt to convey the evolution of the human race from origin to Übermensch and the human conflict with nature.

The famous three-note trum­ pet call, representing Nature, opened the work, and indeed the trumpets were sharp, led by the always powerful Paul Merkelo. Man

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is represented by a rapid arpeggiated motif in B minor and B major, first played quiedy and pizzicato in the cellos. Unfortunately, the sub­ tlety of the piece ended here, and much of the remaining thirty min­ utes was uneventful save for an occasional trumpet flourish.

Before the intermission, the audience was delighted by pianist Radu Lupu and the MSO perform­ ing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.4 in G major, Opus 58. The concerto is somewhat unique in that it opens with the piano instead of orchestral exposition. The orchestra is heard several measures later, and settles into a calm march.

Lupu played the cadenza towards the end of the movement, and thrilled the crowd with precise swirls of scales and arpeggios.

The second movement was played only by piano and strings, the latter played forte and staccato while Lupu stayed lyrical and smooth. Charles Rosen called this

movement “uncompromisingly the­ atrical,” and the contrasting sounds mesmerized the audience, which did not have an opportunity to catch its breath as the orchestra led into the final movement, using trumpet and timpani for the first time. This was a strong finish to a fine performance.

Unfortunately, the evening got off to a rocky start as the MSO decided to begin with Béla Bartok’s Four Orchestral Pieces, Opus 12.

This early work is fairly dull to begin with and was given a lacklus­ ter treatment by the orchestra. To make matters worse, it lacks the influence of traditional Hungarian folk music in its rhythmic and har­ monic structure and is heavily influenced by other composers.

The program itself seemed haphazardly put together, and that is what the audience received: a musical triumph amidst much dog­ gerel.

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The M cG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001

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McQueen, your perfect allAmerican girl, complete with eating disorder. Don’t feel too bad though.

Bujfy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, This show makes light of anorexia Dawsons Creek, Felicity, Gilmore Girls (probably the best new show as often as it takes it seriously. (“For once this empty feeling inside of me of the season), Grosse Point, Young is actually due to something other Americans (now canceled)...There is than bulimia!”) Then there is hardly a show on television that I Nicole Julian, the meanest bitch in don’t enjoy, especially when it school and head of the Glamazons, comes to teen programming and the WB. But there is one show, the cheerleading squad and elite group to which only the truly pop­ now in its second season, that like ular belong. Recently Nicole was the cheese, stands alone: Popular. kicked off the squad. In order to The basic theme of the show reinstate her popularity, she is revolves around the notion that in forced to bribe the hunky principal high school, thé biggest taboo of all is being unpopular. The premise is (who has an odd obsession for Tater simple: an all-out war between the Tots of all things). Thus, Nicole reenacts the infamous bathtub populars and unpopulars of scene from American Beauty, but Kennedy High. Popular addresses instead of rose petals, she is pictured the gamut of teen issues - sex, alco­ holism, coming out, suicide, weight bathing seductively in a tub full of prepackaged potato treat. Finally, issues, etc. but it does so with a there is the neurotic Mary Cherry, spin. In other words, Popular is the the rich Texan girl, who is Nicole’s type of television show you would sidekick as often as she is the butt of expect John Waters to make: her jokes. When Mary Cherry scathing, twisted, and with a fasci­ returns from her mother’s plastic nation for the fat, ugly, and freak­ surgeon with the most frightening ish. pair of collagen-injected lips, Allow me to introduce you: on the popular side there is Brook Nicole refers to her as “FrankenS id d h arth a M u kh erje e

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teen” and tells the token fat kid to “stop looking at Mary Cherry like she’s a Hot Pocket”. I can only hope that I am conveying the complete lunacy of this show, though I can’t stress enough how effective it is.

Now on to the unpopulars, who are, frankly, far less inter­ esting. Sam McBride (played by Canadian native Carly Pope) is the newspaper reporting leader of the pack. Lily is the tomboy activist type.

When Lily berates Mary Cherry for wearing fur, she retorts “Lily, I’d be glad to stop wearing anally electrocuted minks if only you’d be so kind as to skin your legs and present them to me as a gift.” Carmen is the likable but - unfortu­ nately for her in this popular world: fat girl.

And the men?

Josh is the popular, blond, jock type, while Harrison is the not-so-hot guy who has been battling leukemia. Recently, when it seemed like his illness would get the best of him, Harrison actually met God, who turned out to be a mature Charlie’s Angels type - played by none other than AnnMargaret.

Finally, there is Bobbi Glass, a true gem of a character. She is the sexually ambiguous chemistry teacher who wears a tie and insists on being called “sir.” Miss Glass is brash, tough, and quick-witted, always scheming up the next pre­ posterous assignment with which she can fail the class. Miss Glass has total control over her frightened students and is fond of choice phrases such as “My wrath will fol­ low you like an STD from a cheap Bangkok hooker.” A classic Popular scene has the androgynous Miss Gfass announcing to the students “Today, I’m going to show you my balls.” The entire class gasps in uni­ son and Nicole hisses “I told you so” to Mary Cherry. It turns out her “balls” are merely styrofoam molec­ ular models, as would be expected in a chemistry class, but the impli­ cation is in typical Popular form.

The finest examples of the acidly comedic writing that blesses Popular have been the two Christmas specials. This season, Harrison contemplates jumping off the hospital roof only to be stopped by his guardian angel who shows him what the world would have been if he was never born: essential­ ly, It’s aWonderful Life with a Popular twist. Nicole and Mary Cherry turn out to be hookers with mullets and missing teeth who charge a penny for their services.

April Tuna, Kennedy High’s most unpopular, turns into a Cruella Deville type tycoon who, as a result

n o t )

of being tormented in high school, turns L.A. into a giant fish market.

Faced with such bleakness, Harrison decides life is worth living after all. During the final fifteen minutes of this episode, I confess

authority though, from two McGill students (who knew Miss Pope in here prt-Popular days) that she used to have more brow than Brooke Shields.

The show is so outrageous that

that I was crying my popular little heat out. Not only does Harrison finally find a bone marrow match, but the entire cast joins together in song. It was a tender moment for a show that rarely gives anyone a break.

In last year’s Christmas special, Mary Cherry plays the Ghost of Christmas Future, and parodied the famous Christmas Carol scene where the phantom lifts her dress to reveal two emaciated children beneath. In the Popular version though, Mary Cherry lifted her enormous prom gown to reveal a decrepit April Tuna and fellow unpopular cramming dirt into her mouth, from a jar labeled “dirt.”

This could only happen on Popular.

I mean, could you imagine if Felicity lifted up her dress to reveal Ben and Noel crouching under­ neath, eating dirt out of a jar?

Popular is much like the humor of Sandra Bernhard. Both are melo­ dramatic, self-referential, ironic (especially about irony), self-indul­ gent, shallow, raunchy, but overall, somehow sophisticated. Like Miss Bernhard, if you don’t find Popular humorous, chances are you just don’t get it. It simply requires a darker sense of humor to appreci­ ate.

The beauty of Popular is that it works on so many levels. I could write an entire article regarding the show as a social commentary on the psychological brutality that is the high school experience or how Popular blurs the lines between teen drama and black comedy resulting in an entirely new genre of televi­ sion. Or, I could simply discuss the sorry state of Carly Pope’s over­ plucked eyebrows. I have it on good

I am forced to elevate it to a level of near-genius. The witty banter is simply the finest in cunning televi­ sion writing since Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Which begs the question, did you catch last week’s episode? Well, it just so happened to be STD week at Kennedy High. And of course, the ever-scheming Miss Glass took it upon herself to educate the unin­ formed, though sexually enterpris­ ing students. Thus, the student body participated in an All That Jazz’ style choreographed perform­ ance full of delicious rhymes like “blow a kiss to lady syphilis” and “if your venereal zone is bacteria prone”.

A delightful number it was, especially since each student actual­ ly played the character of a venereal disease. The earnest, but rather mis­ guided, Mary Cherry was assigned crabs. She is shown carefully exam­ ining an enormous fresh-water crab at lunch and commenting to Nicole, “I find it shocking that these sea-swimmin’ fellas could turn nasty and root around in my LaPerla lady drawers.” When Nicole explains that crabs are in fact millimeter size insects, Mary Cherry seems disappointed and remarks “Well, there goes my research reservation at Red Lobster.”

But this VD extravaganza is just another typical day in a Popular world. One can only imagine what they will come up with next. Well kids, that’s all for now from Kennedy High. But remember, stay tuned, stay fabulous, and most importantly, please, stay popular.

The M cG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001

David B arclay___________________

By the mid-18 th century, the term Baroque had reached a deroga­ tory status and was readily applied to a vast amount of flashy and sen­ sationalist music considered by thinkers and writers to be deforma­ tions of the beauty of nature. Sadly, this day approaches for 20th centu­ ry rock music.

On the popular front, rock music is irrelevant and detached.

The college indie rock hipsters of the early nineties have finally fin­ ished their 6-year no work/video game degrees and have been going out fashion for a few years now.

Most record stores deleted their ‘garage-rock’ section of LPs because it was confusing the many club DJs. And yet only 4 years ago, North

P e e l

P u b

M ontreal J e tin if e r

T r a w i n ski

ife is full of challenges.

Although many endeavors are inevitably doomed for failure, their pursuit alone is a noble thing that deserves respect and, ulti­ mately, defines humanity.

One such futile mission is shaping the world to a person’s utopian vision; another is the attempt to determine a definite response to such seemingly unan­ swerable questions as “What is the meaning of life?” and “Who am I?” My venture in this here column is not quite so honorable, but I believe it fits into this schema because it involves something so much larger than me, that nothing I could ever write would suffice in pinpointing its essence.

Yet, because this subject is such a crux of the McGill social world, I am going to offer forth my most profound attempt to analyze a place where tourists flock and business­ men call “home”. A downtown pit that’s one of the most famous places in our metropolitan wonderland, a bar with six-dollar pitcher Mondays and loonie shooter Thursdays: the Peel Pub, located on Ste. Catherine, corner Peel.

Peel, as it’s known to the bulk of its customers, is so bad it’s freak­ ing great. Thinking about the char­ acteristics of this bar, I’ve come to realize that it actually has quite a bit in common with immorality. Not just for the obvious reasons, like drinking and smoking and swearing (which occur at almost all alcohol­ serving institutions): Peel Pub dis­

L

America was on the verge of one of the greatest rock revivals in popular music history.

Across Canada and the U.S., the kick-out-the-jams spirit of the Stooges, the MC5 and Johnny Thunders was being brought alive and pressed on record by energetic and inspired acts. Seattle had The Murder City Devils, Texas had The Makers and Montreal had Tricky Woo. It truly was a rock invasion and a return to purist roots.

The shows were good. They used fire and spat. They did guitar kicks and knee drops. It was rock and roll. But it wasn’t long before enthusiasts began adopting a melt­ ing pot mix of symbols and styles ranging from British flag shirts to Clash mini-pins. Apparently, rock and roll just began drowning in a

h u r t s

s o

plays raunchiness, fosters indul­ gence, encourages loss of selfrespect, and results in the chaos that so characterizes sinful behaviour...

And yet we McGill students eat Peel up like candy. As the Crocodile Hunter would say, “Let’s take a clos­ er look” at this hotbed o’ fun a few blocks from campus.

Raunchiness is the feature most responsible for Peel Pub’s notoriety in the downtown area of Montreal. If you’ve ever heard the phrase “recycled beer,” it was most likely in the context of a discussion about Peel Pub, which has a reputa­ tion as a dirty, dirty bar.

Rumor has it that servers pour beer from half-finished pitchers into “new” pitchers and do the same with fries and chicken wings. I’ve had decent food there but did once have a random straw in my pitcher, so who really knows? Whether or not allegations of “recycled” bever­ age and cuisine are true, people still come back - and bring their friends and loved ones with them.

A sketchy menu isn’t the only way that Peel Pub is blatantly raunchy. Over the course of a night, the washrooms tend to deteriorate into wastelands of piss and puke.

Shameless wet t-shirt contests cor­ rupt the oft-underage drinkers who populate the bar. And back in the dance-floor days of Peel (i.e., last year), horny men seemed to come fresh off the boat right into Peel Pub’s doors, grinding to the viva­ cious music with any female who wouldn’t repeatedly push them away (think of the three “What is Love?” guys on SNL). Now that Peel Pub is sans dance floor, such guys sit at tables instead.

Another aspect of Peel Pub that makes this uber-bar bad for your conscience but oh so fun is its

sea of studded belt lameness.

The Murder City Devils got exponentially worse, putting out LPs at a high frequency. The Makers, who got into a fight after every show they played in their first year of existence, released the glammed up, over produced and infinitesimally mediocre Rock Star Gods on Subpop. In Montreal, Tricky Woo became psychedelic, allowing Caffeine to become the new rock and roll band. Similarly, Vancouver and New York produced The Black Halos and The Mooney Susuki . Suddenly, rock ‘n roll had been reduced to a handful of half­ hearted high energy rock bands that love AC/DC (it’s so bad it’s good!) and legions of fans wearing spiked bracelets and tight pants.

Montreal is a cesspool of this

crap. Just look at Caffeine.

Listening to a record called Porn Star is embarrassing enough but can you imagine what putting it out must feel like? Just because VICE magazine prints ads by companies like PimpGear doesn’t mean it’s cool/tough to call your rock and roll record Porn Star. At least when hip-hop guys do stuff like this, it’s funny. Meanwhile, The Black Halos have been rocking the West Coast with their really punk fake British accents and a stage show similar to classic Kideo.

The fans are just as bad. My aunt wore leather pants to Christmas dinner and the only basic difference between her and any twenty-something rock girl is that a) she didn’t wear a baby-T that had ‘Rock Star’ glitter painted on it

A&E 21

and b) she doesn’t know all the words to London Calling. And it turns out that the ‘punk’ activity that these rock and rollers have been up to is a little back stabbing and promiscuousness, which is okay so long as they don’t hurt anybody’s feelings, right?

The worst part is that they will either get old and end up dragging their saggy piercings down to the same crap bar every night wearing their worn out leather Buzzcocks jacket, or they will just end up get­ ting an okay paying job and listen­ ing to Massive Attack the rest of their lives. In the end, thanks to them and the half-ass bands they listen to, rock ‘n roll is just gonna equal crap.

g o o d implicit encouragement of indul­ gence. Peel Pub patrons tend to feel invincible during a long night there because it takes quite a while for the beer to make any severe dent in their wallets or mentality, consider­ ing that the glasses are tiny, and the beer is cheap and hardly forte in alcohol level. This feeling of invin­ cibility leads people (especially rowdy students) to go for drink after drink, get shooter after shoot­ er, order pitcher after pitcher with­ out any sense of consequence.

Further, it leads to chugging like nowhere else in this fine city. People raise their glasses (even shove them in their mouths) and throw beer back like it ain’t nuttin’ but water.

And the bar resounds with that euphonic university tune of “Here’s to (name)! Here’s to (name)! Here’s to (name), he’s a horse’s ass. Why was he born so beautiful-..” as a conglomerate of different groups of friends, CEGEP kids, old dudes, American visitors, and tough-guy bouncers look on in awe at how quickly a few pitchers can vanish.

(They also observe in shock how quickly a couple Prairie Fire shoot­ ers, made of tequila and tabasco, can bring that beer right back up!).

Peel Pub fosters a loss of selfrespect in people, and not just the normal drunken lapse of self-digni­ ty. Like porn, Peel’s filthy nature actually makes people want more of it, and lines outside the down-stairs to Peel Pub’s entrance can last hours on end, especially on Mondays, Thursdays, and scheduled school breaks in the States. But people are willing to wait out in the snow for a good forty-five minutes to get into this place, even (gasp!) pay off the bouncers to get past the wait. The service can be insanely slow, the bouncers sometimes expect “special

treatment” (i.e. $5) in return for another occasion, somebody let entrance, and Peel isn’t exactly the loose pepper spray and the whole classiest joint, but people put up j bar was sneezing.

An ambiance of disarray often with its crap because this bar is so develops at Peel Pub, a crazy place gosh-darn fun. where crazy shit happens. Peel In spite of bureaucratic sensi­ brings out all those aspects of bilities at the Peel Pub door, the human nature that people normally place itself operates on a genuine try to subvert.

Although this bar is level of anarchy. Chaos —shown to be evil by the popular culture in dirty, loud, and chaotic, such attrib­ such 1960s TV shows as Get Smart utes make Peel one of the most fun - reigns King at Peel Pub, as the places in this whole city. As a sometimes order-less seating McGill student, I’m proud to say, arrangements of people and out­ there’s no better way to spend a breaks of fights, events, and chants Monday than slinging back a few demonstrate. One time I was there, with your friends at the Peel Pub. virtually all the Americans and Canadians in the bar got into a nationalist screaming war. On

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2 2 A&E

The M cG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001

R e s t l e s s Dan Zacks

Sometimes it’s nice to be reminded just how good a DJ can be. Phil Asher, aka Restless Soul, did just that for the lucky souls who spent last Tuesday night at Blizzarts.

Whether a result of his longrunning Sunday night show on London’s KISS FM, his more than seventy-five productions, his count­ less remixes, his own label, or his hugely influential ‘Inspiration Information’ nights with Patrick Forge, Asher is one of the music’s pioneers and remains one of its greatest visionaries.

Although there was nothing groundbreaking about his approxi­ mately three hour set, Asher’s deft mixes and eclectic sound left little doubt as to the legitimacy of his reputation and, more importantly, his ability to stir things up on the dance floor. Rhythms were com­ plex, basslines driving, and the rare grooves appropriately rare. He cov­ ered the spectrum from straight ahead jazzy dance and funk right through to a half-dozen sub-genres of house and even some salsa with a

S o u l :

f la ir ,

flair, confidence, and panache that most DJs can’t even hope to achieve. Coolest of all, Asher was obviously having fun. This was no jaded DJ, annoyed to be spinning in a small capacity club, but a guy who obviously loves what he does and enjoys the music he plays.

The crowd, thankfully, responded well (the thought of a repeat of the Russ Dewbury night at Tokyo’s last September, where only a half-dozen people showedup, was an embarrassing prospect) and started groovin’ on the floor after the first couple of tracks.

Many more chose to simply sit back, enjoy the tunes, and watch a master. That this was possible merely confirms that Blizzarts is one of the best venues to catch a DJ in the city. The sound may not be superlative and the dance floor may be small, but the vibe is supremely and wonderfully mellow.

You couldn’t find attitude if you searched it out, and it is one of the few clubs/lounges where you can go solo and not feel like a pathetic loner. Drinks are cheap, and you can imbibe, should you choose to do so, with apparent impunity.

c o n f i d e n c e ,

When Asher lit a joint (and spun, of course, some dub-flavoured beats) the coolness of Blizzarts was indisputable and the evening was sealed as one of the better parties of the season. It should also be men­ tioned that the proceeds from the very reasonable ten-dollar cover went to support McGill Daycare, making the night guilt-free and all the more enjoyable.

Roy Davis Jr., producer, DJ and general impresario extraordi­ naire, is similar to Phil Asher in that he too is at the forefront of his genre—deep soulful house. His ‘Gabriel’ is one of the most sublime house tracks ever produced, with its charged vocals and sweet trumpet sample, and though Davis hasn’t achieved as much fame as some of his Chicago contemporaries, his mixing prowess is legendary and his shows allegedly brilliant.

Davis released his latest album on Montreal’s Bombay label, and Bombay Records does a night every Thursday at Kokino. Kokino is not known as a music oriented club and I was surprised that the promoters even bothered to publicize Davis’ appearance at last week’s party. But

publicize it they did, with countless pamphlets throughout upper-res and many more in major record stores. It was therefore particularly galling that I had to wait twenty minutes in the cold to get in. You want exclusivity? Fine, more power to you, but then please refrain from shoving pamphlets in my mailbox asking me to come to your party.

Gruff, unfriendly bouncers didn’t make the wait any more pleasant, likewise with the whimpering girls, complaining about the cold (no one forced them to wear skirts in -20 degree weather) and the far-fromcapacity crowd suggested that the whole thing was some sadistic way of making a profoundly mediocre club look important.

And, of course, Kokino is about as relevant to house as the lat­ est Chris Sheppard compilation. I’d wager a beer that no more than a dozen people actually knew who Davis was, and that even fewer peo­ ple cared. This is a club you go to pick-up and get picked-up, not to enjoy the music. Davis was clearly well aware of this, spinning bland, mediocre house with an unbearable disco vibe that the crowd seemed to

R e p o rts re g a rd in g th e d e a th o f id e a lis m

’d like to start this column by correcting a misconception that my fellow investigators and I may have perpetrated in the past, i or the record, idealism isn’t dead.

Sure, Nietzche told everyone that God was dead and an endless string of modernists, post-modernists, post-post-modernists and other depressing bastards cried about the death of the dream. Some hope was held out to listless masses in the form of the moving image. Movies offered the common Joe a chance to overcome his hardships and ascend to his rightful place of privilege. He could enjoy a life of wealth and adventure for the paltry cost of a movie ticket.

O f course, there was always that element of shameless sensationalistic consumerism in the cine­ ma —movies that seemed to exist only to make the studios some money and to exploit the viewing proclivities of a particular demo­ graphic. Many critics say that in the

love. The only indications that he is the same person who produces brilliant music were his extremely tight, layered mixes and his spin­ ning of the Jazzanova remix of ‘Watch them come,’ the evening’s highlight and sole positive experi­ ence. Mind you, watching Davis show-off for a cameraman was very amusing.

Bottom line: Kokino is not a place to go for music and Davis, no matter how good, would have never been able to transcend that room’s atmosphere (or complete lack there­ of). Indeed, if you enjoy music Kokino is to be avoided. Like the plague. With little dancing space, obnoxious ignorant people, expen­ sive drinks and so much attitude that it makes one queasy, the place should be left to those who frequent it.

On a more positive note, look for more excellent DJs at Blizzarts, particularly during their monthly Rhythm nights and on February 1, when DJ Scissorckics makes an appearance.

g re a tly e x a g g e ra te d

flux. Mainstream cinema, while in especially relevant to my argument viewer with its decidedly non-main­ many cases a lot of cynically vapid because it would appear to be some­ stream features, including impar­ eye candy, is getting more high- what autobiographical. Hoffman’s tial, analytical studies of its charac­ minded all the time, especially as j protagonist is an idealistic young ters and an arty sense of aesthetics, the line continues to blur between screenwriter-cum-playwright, fresh as evidenced by its distinctive color sixties and seventies, the idealism of j it and more personal “art house” from Broadway and seemingly schemes and use of hand-held cam­ Hollywood’s Golden Age gasped its fare. The art-film, as it were, has about to suffer a huge blow to his eras and montage editing. Like last breath, springing to life one last always retained the air of idealism as artistic integrity at the hands of a Mamet’s State and Main, time as it was finally freed from the it is created ostensibly out of a love manipulative, pandering director Soderbergh’s Traffic simultaneously constraints of the old studio system. of cinema surpassing any want for j played by William H. Macy, who gives mainstream audiences what While some would say that some money or stardom on the part of makes him rewrite his opus they’ve come to expect from former wholesome fare of the eighties, like, the cast and crew. Expectations are throughout the filming. art house directors and goes against say, Rambo or Top Gun, expressed always very mixed when an artsy O f course, this being a family- audience expectations. Sure, the an idealistic outlook and a genuine director starts making films for a oriented kind of comedy, a sort of movie is somber and contemplative, pride in American culture and mili- mainstream audience. Will they balance is struck in the end between | but maybe it’s a little too much so, tary/industrial dominance, few can sacrifice their righteous ideology in j the exploitative director and his ide­ with remarkably little action occur­ overlook the cynicism and air of order to reach a wider audience? alistic writer as their equally deliri­ ring in it for an “epic.” The fre­ immorality that’s become increas- Will their artistic pretensions alien­ ous viewpoints finally converge into quent scenes of people in transit, ingly prevalent in mainstream cine­ ate them from the common viewer? a mutual desire to entertain. The driving and flying through alter­ ma. Political pundits like senators Usually both fears come true to an witty, dialogue-driven script takes nately blue and yellow landscapes John McCain and Joseph extent, but the result is worth it, as the audience through the ups and while Carter Burwell’s spaced-out Lieberman have even gone so far as it yields the viewer a more unique, downs of crisis and compromise score plays in the background to say that Hollywood has become a and I’d hazard to say, even a more that threaten a movie production works pretty well but gives way to a moral wasteland, unsuitable for inspiring experience than most with surprising smoothness, consid­ jarringly abstract scenes like the one mass consumption. other films. ering that there’s very little of that in which a helicopter is shown fly­ I say that these senators and all Steven Soderbergh and David staple of the American comedy — ing upside down. the reactionary critics who’ve come Mamet are two example of artsy physical humor. The film only fal­ The movie presents itself as before them are wrong. Maybe types made good who give proof ters slightly when it tries to infuse having an impartial viewpoint on they’re not dead wrong, but they’re that idealism is still alive in the physical comedy element as is drug abuse, in itself something of being a little hasty in passing judge­ Hollywood, albeit in unexpected exemplified in a scene where an idealistic high watermark, as it ment on an industry that would forms. Mamet, a playwright and Hoffman’s character gets a fishhook promises to offer us an alternative seem to be in a perpetual state of screenwriter who made a name for stuck in his finger. The scene would to the usual trite and cynical “Just himself with hard-edged dramas have worked great if not for Say No” dogma.

Unfortunately, full of characters who respond to Rebecca Pidgeon, Mamet’s wife and this eventually gives way to a corneach other’s hopeless strings of mis- frequent star of his plays, who ball message about good old-fash­ communication with rage and usu­ appears as Hoffman’s on-screen love ioned family values as the film ends ally R-rated language, has recently interest. She’s a good actress, but with Michael Douglas’ drug czar been showing a softer side. His her manner of diction, emphasizing getting his daughter off the streets newest film, State and Main, is a the pauses and ambiguity of the and into rehab. I’d make a bigger gentle satire of conventional dialogue, make her matter-of-fact stink about this apparent compro­ Hollywood filmmaking starring a punchlines sound weird and creepy. mise of ideals, but let’s face it -we’re cast of au courrant hipsters like I’m sure it would have worked bet­ not living in a perfect world. Those Phillip Seymour Hoffman and ter on stage. only exist in the movies...

Traffic similarly pleases the j William H. Macy. This movie is

B en S a s s o n an d the McGill Special Investigative Team I

p a n a c h e

Sports T h e C o a c h

n e w N e v io

f a c e

M a r z in o tto

Neil S chnurbach

Before the season started, win­ ning the Quebec Student Sport Federation championship did not seem like the most realistic goal for the McGill Redmen. They were coming off of a losing season and continued to play in a tough divi­ sion. Litde did they know, all they needed was a little coaching change.

Enter Nevio Marzinotto.

After spending the last nine years as an assistant coach with the Redmen, the high school teacher from John Paul I academy got his chance to be the head man.

Actually, he got his second chance to be the head man.

In 1991-92, coach Ken Schildroth took a sabbatical and Marzinotto, who coached the Quebec under 19 team, was given his first stint in university basket­ ball. Marzinotto did not make the most out of his opportunity and seemed to be overmatched, leading his troops to a 2-22 record on the season.

“I wasn’t ready yet for universi­ ty coaching then,” said Marzinotto.

“I was used to coaching at the high school level. All of a sudden I got to McGill and all of my counter­ parts knew how to coach. It was a little bit humbling but a great learn­ ing experience.”

Marzinotto seems more pre­ pared this time around. He and his assistants, Bernie Rosanelli and

b e a t

h a s

Sophomore point guard Frederic Bernard started in place of Domenico Marcario on Friday night in Lennoxville and his return to the starting lineup was a glorious one, with 14 points and five rebounds in only 19 minutes in an easy 84-61 win over Bishop’s Gaiters.

McGill led the Gaiters from the three minute mark and never looked back. Most McGill oppo­ nents exploit their main weakness, a lack of focus at the end of each half.

This game was no different, with Bishop’s going on an 8-2 run at the end of the half to pull within eight, 43-35. A previous 8-0 run by the Gaiters had pulled them within four, 23-19, midway through the

tu rn e d

t e a m

in e x p e r ie n c e d

David S ch ipp er ________________

R e d m th e

e n

te a m

s p l i t s

fro m

B is h o p 's

period. That was as close as they would get, however, scoring only 26 points in the entire second half, a shameful output for any team.

Maybe the purple dinosaur mascot distracted both teams at times, but certainly not Bernard, who had a key rejection at the end of the first half, and pulled down rebounds on both sides of the court.

“This was my first game in weeks because of an injury,’ Bernard said. “I was really scared to come back and suck. I was nervous yesterday.” Bernard paused, and added: “[The Gaiters] were sluggish at points, but we still had to play them. We couldn’t let up.”

Captain Kirk Reid made sever­ al spectacular plays during the course of the game, including a nice

a n d

w th e n

J a n u a ry 2 0 0 1

b a s k e t b a l l

David King have brought some coaching methods of Schildroth much needed respectability back to who had been at the helm for 15 McGill’s basketball program. After years before taking the position of finishing a disap­ pointing 7-13 in league play last year, the team has rebounded to tie for the lead in the QSSF conference with a 9-4 record.

Perhaps more importantly, the coaching staff has the respect of its players, something that has been lack­ ing in years past.

Assistant coaches King and Rosanelli are both former high level basketball players.

King played for the Bishop’s Gaiters as well as the National “B” team and the Quebec provincial team.

Rosanelli was a star with the Intercollegiate Coordinator at the Athletics Department.

Redmen in the late 1980s.

“Coach Marzinotto instills While Marzinotto was never really a high calibre player, his play­ confidence instead of destroying it,” ers have nonetheless been quite remarked fourth year guard Ari receptive to him. His intense yet Hunter. “You can really talk to easily approachable style sits him. He gives respect and gets extremely well with his young respect in return.”

“People are not afraid to play group of athletes.

The players did not seem to anymore,” added senior forward respond anymore to the stringent Andrew Bier. “We no longer have to

B a s k e t b a l l R e d m e n

o f

Tuesday, 3 0

p re te n d e rs

jump shot that ricocheted off the board at the beginning of the game, a fadeaway jump shot that shocked the Gaiters and gave McGill anoth­ er 20 point lead midway through the second half, and another bank shot two minutes later. Reid fin­ ished the game with 17 points, six rebounds, two assists, and three steals in only 28 minutes. One of the keys to his continued success is his excellent performance from the line.

“They had nothing to lose. I thought both teams were playing a little too [loosely],” coach Nevio Marzinotto explained. “In the first half, we were to blame for the men­ tal breakdowns, and sloppy choices against their zone.”

The coach struggled to explain why his team fared poorly in the

c o n te n d e rs

look over our shoulders if we miss a shot.”

Replacing Schildroth with Marzinotto has been a welcome change to many of the players. It is not only the intense practices and the approachability of the coach that makes him popular with his troops. The style of play which Marzinotto enjoys is quite compat­ ible with the strength of the Redmen this year.

After center Mark Rawas grad­ uated at the end of last year, the Redmen lacked a big body to give them a strong inside game. Coach Marzinotto decided to use that to his advantage. McGill is a team that is full of talented guards. The coaches frequently put four guards in the game which allows McGill to outquick their opponents. The run and gun offensive style and pressure defense has been pleasing to the players and fans alike.

“Running on offense and pressing on defense have given this team confidence,” said second year guard-forward Fred Bernard.

“Confidence is the main difference between this year and last year.”

Marzinotto is quick to deflect the credit for the success of the team this year. He feels that per­ haps some of the on-court addi tions like forward Brent “Bam-Bam” Prowse and especially point guard Denburk Reid have been more instrumental to the team’s improve­ ment this year than the addition of

e e k e n d lo s e

to

to

a new head coach.

“A coach can’t put points on the board,” said Marzinotto. “The biggest change this year has been the addition of Denburk Reid who makes everyone else better. Because he is so quick, teams don’t press us anymore. That makes us better as a group.”

While the coach has been satis­ fied with his team’s results thus far in the season he is quick to stress that his work is not yet done. The Redmen still have many things to work on to make them champi­ onship material.

“Our inside game is non-exis­ tent,” remarked Marzinotto. “We also don’t get to the foul line enough. Another problem is our perimeter defense at times. The point is that we are much better but we are not perfect. The guys have to realize that we have not done anything yet. We’ve just won a bunch of games but that’s it. We can’t lose focus. There’s a lot of sea­ son ahead.”

The players do not seem like they will lose their intensity. They are playing in front of coaches who they like and who inspire them to win. That will surely translate into continued success for this young Redmen team.

Who knows? Perhaps a trip to the final eight is finally a realistic goal for the Redmen.

See M arzinotto’s video interview on our website.

s e r i e s

L a va !

last two minutes of each half.

“We don’t finish well. We look at films to try to understand why. I think it’s mostly mental — they relax too much out there,” Marzinotto reasoned. “In the sec­ ond half, you saw a quality team, but there will always be growing pains. We can’t relax though. There should never be a comfort zone at the end of a half.”

The Redmen were compelled to play a zone offense without the speedy Marcario, but players like Hidesh Bhardwaj stepped up with 11 points, including 3 of 4 from 3point range to help the team to vic­ tory.

Redmen lose big one

The Redmen faced the Laval

Rouge-et-Or on Saturday in a cru­ cial division game. Earlier in the year the two teams played at McGill and the Redmen lost after blowing a comfortable late lead.

This Saturday’s game was almost a carbon copy of the earlier game with the Redmen losing by a count of 79-73.

With 15 minutes remaining in the game, McGill seemed comfort­ ably ahead with a ten point lead.

That lead slowly slipped away until Laval tied it with a few minutes remaining.

From that point onward, Laval’s Charles Fortier was a shoot­ ing machine, hitting his baskets from all over the floor.

Head coach Marzinotto was unimpressed with his team’s effort Please see LET DOWN page 26

2 4 Sports

The M cG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001

D r u g s , M c G ill

s c a n d a l

C h a n c e llo r a n d

James Em pringham

IO C

a n d V P

D ic k

“Drug use among athletes is the number one threat the Olympic movement faces in the next century.

We are currendy concentrating all of our efforts on combating this

In recent years the Olympic games have been as likely to make headlines for a story of scandal than with anything resembling that romantic notion of the triumphant human spirit. It seems that even individual Olympics are now asso­ ciated more with the hints and alle­ gations which surrounded them, than they are with the athletic com­ petition they staged. Seoul was Ben Johnson, Atlanta was Michelle Smith, and Nagano was Ross Rebagliati. The Salt Lake City Winter Olympics haven’t even been hosted yet, and already its legacy will be tarred by charges of bribery and corruption which were sub­ stantiated in an highly publicized international investigation two years ago.

Amidst a backdrop of contro­ versy, McGill Chancellor and International Olympic Committee Vice President Dick Pound has done a remarkable job of appearing removed from it all. In fact, it’s a semblance of virtue which has directly made him the unofficial problem. If we sound paternalistic front runner for the position of on this issue, so be it. It’s a criticism IOC President, when current hon­ the IOC’s willing to take.”

Pound’s speech briefly touched cho Juan Antonio Samaranch steps upon the entire notable history of down in July. the Olympics.

He commented on Commenting on a possible everything from the debate of ama­ promotion, the threat which drugs teurism to the financing of the and bribery pose to the legitimacy games to the much-maligned of the Olympics, and a number of Canadian performance at the other hot button Olympic issues, Sydney games.

Dick Pound addressed The “The Canadian media in their Women’s Canadian Club of all knowingness felt that the Montreal last Monday, January 22 Canadian performance in Sydney in a speech entitled “The Olympics; was unacceptable,” Pound scoffed. is there a future?” Pound spoke for “Having the games in Toronto over forty minutes at the Montreal in 2008 would, however, give the Citadel and perhaps calmed by the Canadian team a great goal to focus audience of Montreal socialites, he was surprisingly candid.

M

a r t l e t s

T e a m

c a n 't c a r r y

David S ch ipp er

The McGill Martlets showed their mettle against Bishops Gaiters as they shrugged off a slow start, to manage a 75-66 victory in front of a stunned crowd in Lennoxville last Friday night.

Down 18-5, five and a half minutes into the game, Coach Lisen Moore called a timeout to set­ tle her team down and switch strat­ egy. The Martlets’ rapid-fire trap­ ping style was not adjusting well to the Gaiters’ zone offense. McGill responded with a 28-16 run during the rest of the first half, including 13-0 in the last 2:30, and never looked back.

“Tonight, we had passes, pene­

s c o r e m o m e n tu m

u l t i m P o u n d

a t e

d is c u s s e s

On the likelihood of Toronto winning their Olympic bid, Pound was diplomatic: “I think the fundamental deci­ sion that the IOC has to make is

th e

fu tu re

o f th e

“I almost got into a fist fight with the organizer of the Ice Dancing competition when he told me the results of the competition ten days before the Olympics began.”

U ltim a te Frisbee as a possible O ly m p ic sport:

“I have a son who is on my case about that. There is a technical and political aspect to that. To intro­ duce a new sport into the games it has to be played on at least four continents if it’s a men’s sport and on three if it’s a women’s. The rest is a matter of persuading the IOC to consider it a sport. Our difficulty at the moment is that we’re running out of space for more sports.”

H im s e lf as a ca n d id a te to replace Juan A n to n io S am aran ch as n e x t IO C President:

whether or not China’s ready. If China is ready then it goes in the pot with four other very qualified cities.”

Pound also addresed the cur­ rent legitimacy of the Olympic selection process when he professed: “we’ve got an entire new code of conduct, an ethics committee which can investigate allegations concerning a breach in conduct. It’s a pretty clean process now which we’ve put in place.”

On other isssues he was less guarded...

Pound w eig h s in o n ...

Ice D ancin g as an O ly m p ic sport:

u p s e t

“The process is an election, not a promotion. It’s an election by all of the members of the IO C .. .It will be the usual eye gouging, back stab­ bing process that happens in an international organization of any sort...I’ve read in the media that I’m a candidate for the position, but ultimately there will be a time and a place for that decision and this is not it.”

H im s elf as M cG ill's Chancellor:

“As Chancellor you’re just more sort of a general representa­ tive. But working as a member of the IOC you have to learn how deal with different constituencies, and different backgrounds.

As Chancellor you also have to deal

v i c t o r y

a g a in s t t h ir d - r a n k e d

tration, and an inside finish,” Moore enthused. “We were mental­ ly prepared to play, with hands ready. Bishop’s plays tough at home and we got off to a sluggish start.

We tried to pass the ball instead of penetrating past the match-up.”

Cynthia Santamaria and Maude Vallieres ignited the come­ back for the Martlets, the fourth year veteran with two key threepointers and the stalwart rookie with an offensive rebound, a steal, and two quick baskets. Rookie Anne-Marie Jekyll added a three of her own. When Bishop’s Coach Rod Gilpin was assessed a technical foul for arguing a call, McGill hegan a charge that did not let up for the rest of the game.

“Our defense was nonexistent

f r i s b e e

in the first ten minutes,” explained Santamaria. “We were told to stay confident during the time-out. We know what we can do. They were playing their guards a lot, leaving our players open on the inside for better position and shots.”

In the second half, it was Guard Emily Gleeson, in her debut, with a striking three-pointer that put McGill into the lead, 47-45.

Bishop’s would not lead the game again from that point on. It should be noted that Gleeson has a strong presence on the court, and controls the ball quite well.

First year Forward Sarah Gagne is playing well considering she missed the season’s first half with a serious knee injury, Friday’s improved performance was exem­

L a v a l

o v e r R o u g e

O ly m p ic s with different groups like faculty, students, non-academic staff, grad­ uate students, undergraduate stu­ dents, Macdonald campus and what not. The experience in balanc­ ing those interests and making sure everyone has a chance to be heard and in an appropriate environment, is what I take from my time with the IOC.” Q u e b e c C ity as an ev en tu a l sight o f th e W in te r G am es:

“Ultimately, I think that Quebec City would be an ideal sight for the Olympic games. What was unfortunate for Quebec City was that they were competing against a very strong bid from Salt Lake City for the 2002 games. The bid from Salt Lake was also their second attempt, so it was hard to say no to them. Personally though, I would love to see the Olympics come to Quebec City sometime soon.”

G re e c e as th e (p ro b a b le ) sight fo r 2 0 0 4 gam es:

“There is no question that Athens is behind what we consider to be a reliable hosting point.

They’ve had three and a half years now since they got the games and I think they’re way behind the curve.

They are focusing on the prob­ lem... but it is a Mediterranean country and they tend to do things at the last minute. I won’t be able to give a definitive answer [on their capability] until the day after the closing ceremonies, but it was very much like that in Barcelona. I think they’ll get it done, because it’s too important for them not to. I will, however, be bringing an extra case of Rolaids.”

B i s h o p 's e t

O r

plified by a crucial hoop which gave the Martlets a 12 point lead with just over five minutes remaining.

With three Gaiters collapsing on her under the hoop, Gagne side stepped to calmly convert the reverse lay-up for an easy score.

Cheeka Mitchell scored 16 of her 19 points in the second half, adding six rebounds, five assists, and five steals in 35 stellar minutes.

On Saturday, the Martlets were soundly beaten 102-73 to the Laval Rouge et Or, who are ranked third in the country. Still, it was a good offensive showing for the Martlets, with Vallieres leading the team with 24 points, four assists, and five steals. Mitchell added 15 points, five assists, and a steal. Santamaria had 12 points, while Shannon

Howard had 8 points but chipped in with twelve rebounds in only 16 minutes.

The fact that Laval seemingly scored at will must be a continuing concern for coach Moore.

“We need four more weeks of preparation for a team like Laval,” insisted Moore. “We simply do not have enough in our bag of tricks.

There is not a team in Quebec that has enough right now to beat them.

We wanted to prevent runs against us and we succeeded in the second half, bringing it back to a 10 point game. They just capitalize on men­ tal errors.”

The 3-9 Martlets have the week off and resume play on February 9 and 10 against Ottawa and Carleton.

The M cG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001

T h e

d i a r y

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s u p e r b o w

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v ir g in depends on important parts, you should use FedEx®. Weren’t they watching the commercials?

S tep h an ie “ B ru ise r” Levitz S u nd ay, Janu ary 2 8

Beers consumed: 3 (very good) Plate of nachos shared: 1 (even ate the olives, good) Chicken Wings: 12 Football games watched previously: 0 (very bad) Understanding of football: limited (how hard can it be?)

3:15 Arrive at Sir Winston Churchill’s.

Friends say posters they have seen say kick-off is at four, so better go early and get seats. Get to Sir Winston’s. Order pitcher, congratu­ late selves on finding excellent view­ ing spots — guess other people don’t arrive till later.

4:00 Realize Superbowl party starts at four. Kick off not until 6:15. Oops.

To kill time, go out to find a news­ paper to read up on game.

4:10 For some reason, all sports sections from all Montreal Gazettes have been removed from papers at near­ est dep. Find other dep. Get paper.

Go back to bar. Try to decipher arti­ cles on game, realize that lingo would require a whole other section in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Stick to reading roster and trying to figure out who the biggest player on both teams is.

5:15 Bar begins to fill up. DJ announces presence of Montreal Allouettes player in bar. Muted response from

S p o r t s

Superbowl fun down at the Peel Pub. crowd. Notice that myself and my friends are only group of females in bar unaccompanied by men.

5:30 Randomly enter football pool. Free — so no money wasted if my guess at a score at the end of the first quarter isn’t right. No money gained if I am right though — but might get nifty Budweiser hat.

6:15ish Game finally begins. Butt sore from sitting on bar stool for so long.

Backstreet Boys can do many things — except sing the American national anthem. Ray Charles can do everything. Time for second pitcher.

7:30 Utterly confused. Thought downs were football speak for increments of time. Realize quarterback’s only job is to throw ball — that’s it.

Sports 25

Halftime N ’Sync is to the Superbowl as Aerosmith is to bar mitzvahs. As in, completely out of place.

Reflections at the halfway point: not a good idea to beginning football watching career with Superbowl. Like learning how to Ten bucks if you can spot Levitz.____________Patrick Fok drive on the There must be more to it than that. DeLorean. Realize that skill of foot­ Why does he get all the glory if it is ball is not playing the game, but the big guys protecting him who do understanding the game. all the work? Have also learned that sometimes it is better for no one to Third quarter catch the ball and instead just let it (have stopped checking watch fall and then protect it. Right.

— time means nothing) Decide to take pity on Allouettes player who is sitting with a stack of 7:45 What are you doing? What are you pictures of himself and a big mark­ doing? What are you doing? Best er waiting to give autographs that commercial of the game. no one is asking for. Don’t know his name, but figure it could be worth 8:00 something one day. Signature on Previously thought that the longest photo illegible — start asking peo­ fifteen minutes were those right ple around me if they know his before class was over. Was wrong. name, figure they’re all football Headline on Gazette column on savvy folk.

Superbowl is SuperBore. No kid­ No one knows. ding. Pruning Astroturf would be more exciting at this point. Food ordered just before seven finally arrives. Sir Winston’s has run out of Halfway through third quarter chicken wings and had some sent Butt has gone numb. Am tired of by taxi. When your business telling people to get out of my way

so I can see the game. Realize asking them to move is more matter of principle than anything else — am terribly bored by game, despite three touchdowns in the last 36 sec­ onds. Why don’t they have touch­ down dances?

Towards end of third quarter Chicken wings have not gone over well with one of the gang. Decision time — to leave or to stay. Decide on leaving, obvious Giants have lost. Crowd is pleased by this fact.

Can’t leave until know Allouettes name.

Alphonso Roundtree.

7 minutes left in fourth quarter Walk in apartment, run to TV to turn on game. Ravens still ahead — feel relieved. Perplexed by fact that I actually care. Didn’t realize I was rooting for Baltimore — guess if a nun predicted they would win, who am I to disagree with God? End of game Big football players with little kids very cute. Not as emotional as I would have thought — the players, not me. Although did get teary at history of NFL commercial. Can’t imagine wanting anything as badly as each team probably wanted to win the Superbowl. Can’t under­ stand it, but can appreciate it. Cool to watch them all so happy — feel bad for losers. But they do get 30 grand. Pooled all together they could maybe buy a 30 second com­ mercial for next year’s game. Which I probably won’t watch.

B r i e f s

Davis set to Eclipse long-time McGill Record The Joe Dimaggio of the McGill Redmen hockey team, Greg Davis has been a model of consistency over the course of the season. He has tallied a point in every single McGill game thus far, and tied the all-time school record for consecutive points with 27 on Friday in Toronto. Davis scored the lone Redmen goal in McGill’s dis­ appointing loss to the Varsity Blues, the team’s first since 1996 ending an 11 game winning streak.

The Redmen were outshot 46-45 in a barn-burner, which Toronto won by a 4-1 margin. Luc Vaillancourt got the loss for McGill in nets despite making 42 saves.

The good news was the heroics of Davis who tied current National Hockey League coach George Burnett for the scoring streak

record. McGill plays RMC at home on Friday night where fans will have the opportunity to wit­ ness Davis make history if he is able to get his name on the scoresheet.

Melamed the Great Makes Triumphant Return

After spending the semester studying abroad in Israel, Eva Melamed, who set the all-time McGill single goal-scoring record last season since broken by Amber Allen, suited up for the Red’n White in indoor soccer action at the Tomlinson fieldhouse over the week-end. Melamed showed few signs of rust as she scored two goals including the winner in McGill’s 51 victory over Concordia on Saturday. The Martlets also notched victories against Ottawa and UQAM on the same day to jump out to a 3-0 start in league

play. continued her torrent scoring streak from the outdoor season by notching four goals, including a hat-trick against UQAM in McGill’s 6-0 whitewashing. Allen also scored the lone goal in the Martlets 1-0 shutout of Ottawa.

Sacha Lieben got three wins for McGill in nets. Other McGill scor­ ers were Sophie Labrom with two, and Ashlee Gentry, Claire Labrom, and Victoria Lowerson with single helpers.

McGill travels to Sherbrooke in two weeks.

Skiing team dominates

At a meet held at Mt. Stoneham, Quebec, the McGill ski team was quite successful. On Saturday, Brianne l.aw finished in first with a time of 1:35.45. Other accomplished Martlets were Kveta Safarik who won the bronze medal

and Marguerite Debruyn who fin­ ished in fourth. McGill’s Liserl Woods finished in 12th.

On Sunday, Lesley White picked up the second gold medal for the Martlets winning in a time of 1:42.62. McGill swept the medals with Lise-Marie Acton cap­ turing the silver and Law getting the bronze. Marguerite Debruyn finished in fourth, and Sefarik was sixth.

On the men’s side, Dave Prchal led the McGill skiers with 10th and 11th place finishes. In Saturday’s race, Chris Owen placed 22nd, and Joachim Hrusky placed 20th on Sunday. The men current­ ly reside in 3rd place behind Bishops and Montreal in league play. The women’s team is in first, ahead of Bishop’s. Both teams will compete next week at Mt. Original near Quebec City next week.

Martlets Volleyball wins wild one in Nation's Capitol

Struggling to make the play­ offs, the Martlets got a major con­ fidence booster over the week-end with a 3-0 victory over Ottawa in an exhibition match. McGill swept the Gee-Gees 36-34, 25-15, 25-16.

6”0 Middle-blocker Elizabeth Jamieson led the way for the Red n’ White with 11 kills, 6.5 blocks and an impressive 2.58 passing ratio.

Marie-Andre Lessard chipped in with 7 kills, 2 aces, 10 digs, and a 2.41 passing ratio. McGill, fighting for its play-off life, resumes league play next week-end at Sherbrooke and Laval in must-win games.

Mailloux and Marcario Named McGill Athletes of the Week

For the second straight week Domenico Marcario was named as the McGill male athlete of the week. After battling a bad flu bug all week, Marcario poured in 24 continued on page26

2 6 Sports

T h e

The M cG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001

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L et d o w n a g a in st L aval continued from page

O u t o f L e ft F ie ld

Jerem y Kuzmarov enowned social critic Tom Wolfe dubbed the 1970s the “Me Decade,” but in profes­ sional sports the same characteriza­ tion is perhaps more apt for the present.

Symbolic, or perhaps an exag­ gerated caricature of the times is Ray Lewis, the Most Valuable Player in the Baltimore Ravens’ 347 Super Bowl victory over the New York Giants whose post-game remarks vividly demonstrated his egocentric oudook.

According to Lewis, his own widely chronicled odyssey from incarceration to football stardom and heroism, which culminated with his dominating performance in Sunday’s championship, was part of a master plan devised by God himself.

As Lewis, a middle-linebacker who anchored perhaps the best defense in the history of the game, stated when confronted by reporters during the frenzied postSuper Bowl Raven celebrations: “I knew there was a reason God sent me through hell, this is the ultimate feeling.”

Wait a second Ray, was it God

R

who directed you to flee the scene of a crime in a stretched limousine while two innocent men lay dead outside a Georgia night-club?

Lewis at center of controversy Did God instruct you to with­ hold information from the police so that the perpetrators of the murder would get off scot-free, leaving the families of the slain victims not only devastated but also exasperated by the failure to obtain a sense of closure, or justice?

In lieu of this situation, sorry Ray, if I’m not compelled to shed a tear of compassion for you and the

(jEsso) imperial Oil You’re on your way with Esso.

g r o w t h • o p p o r t u n i t ie s

23

difficulty caused by your arrest. at the end of the game.

True, perhaps you were the vic­ “We played soft and tentative tim of over-zealous district attor­ ball in the last ten minutes,” neys and police officials who want­ explained the coach. “More intensi­ ed to bolster their image and capi­ ty and focus was required. We talize on your big name.

Perhaps you didn’t warrant the murder arrest. But that’s besides the point. You weren’t the victim here, Ray. And that fact makes your postSuper bowl comments most dis­ heartening.

Clearly, from your perspective, the Georgia night-club incident wasn’t a tragedy.

It was instru­ mental in the career path, and part of the des­ tiny of one Ray Lewis, who would make you believe, in the aftermath of the Super Bowl, that he was a coura­ geous figure of knew that this game would go seminal impordown to the wire, but they execut­ www.cnn.com tance. _______________ Given ed and we didn’t.” the harrowing One McGill player who did obstacles thrust in his path, he felt execute was Domenico Marcario. deserving of great praise and respect j Marcario who was still suffering the for his accomplishments. [ ill-affects of a lingering flu managed Surely, there are many, includ­ to lead the squad with 24 points ing the families of the slain victims, including 10 of 18 from the field. who see things differently.

Fred Bernard, returning from a seri­ The world does not after all ous eye injury managed nine points revolve around Ray Lewis. and six rebounds in limited action.

le a r n in g

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Sports B riefs co n tin u ed ... points on Saturday in McGills loss to the Laval Rouge et Or. A great spot-shooter with an explo­ sive first step to the basket, Marcario sat out Friday’s game because of his illness. Last week, Marcario was named not only McGil athlete of the week but also Quebec, and Canadian athlete of the week for his heroics in McGill’s three home victories.

For the women, Paula Mailloux gets this week’s nod as the McGill athlete of the week.

Mailloux , a third year phys.ed major from Capreol Ontario, scored three goals and three assists in two games for the Martlet hockey team. The hard-nosed left­ winger scored a hat-trick and added two helpers in the Martlets crucial 6-4 victory over division rival UQTR. She added an assist on the tying goal in McGill’s 1-1 tie with Vermont’s Williams College. Check out next week’s Jonathan Colford Tribune exclu­ sive profile on Mailloux and her high-flying linemates Sarah I.omas and Sophie Acheson M c G ill w restlin g g rap p les in

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The rest of McGill’s team was less than stellar on this night.

“We got little from Kirk Reid and Pat Kieran,” continued Marzinotto. “When one of our players scores 20 points (Marcario), that’s great. But we can’t be a one man show.

Everyone else should rise to the occasion as well.”

The loss was a crippling blow for the Redmen who fell into a tie for first with the Concordia Stingers who won both of their games this weekend. If the two teams are knotted at the end of the year, Concordia would be the division champs.

“Home court in the playoffs is really important,” said Marzinotto.

“It is very disappointing that we did not perform against Laval. This may come back to haunt us when the season ends.”

L on d o n

Four wrestlers made the trip to London to compete in the University of Western Ontario

open. The wrestlers were able to compere thanks to the generous donation of last year’s MVP F.rdem Huner. The physiotherapy graduate paid for the players to stay in their hotels. On the women’s side, Amy Delday beat her opponent from McMaster in overtime. It was her first match since she had hernia surgery after being involved in a tragic car acci­ dent with the team last year.

Delday’s string of bad luck unfor­ tunately continued as she hurt her arm in her next match and fin­ ished fourth.

Wendy Burner finished fourth losing to tough competi­ tion.

On the men’s side, Caleb Netting from British Columbia lost in the dying seconds to Aaron Coutts, last year’s C1AU bronze medalist. Netting rebounded with two straight wins, before falling to his last opponent from the University of New Brunswick. He finished fourth in the competition Nic Leipzig, also rebounding from his injuries suffered in last year’s team car crash, lost in the 82 kilogram division to the reign­ ing CIAU silver and bronze medalists. He didn’t place in the final standings. McGill travels next to the Atlantic conference finals in two weeks.

The M cG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 30 January 2001

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Jonathn Colford

The McGill Martlets went into another big game against l’Université du Québec à TroisRivières and beat them again, this time in the Patriotes’ own barn.

The victory was more difficult than one might have expected.

While McGill-UQTR games are traditionally close affairs, the Martlets have not lost a regular sea­ son or playoff game in TroisRivières since the provincial semi­ final three years ago — only captain Dana Rittmaster and veteran back­ up goaltender Amey Doyle are like­ ly to remember that game as they are the only current Martlets to

s e c o n d

s u r v i v e s

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in

have been on the roster back then.

On Sunday, McGill needed some clutch scoring from its top line in the third period and a stal­ wart defensive effort throughout the final frame to outlast the Patriotes 6-4 in a wild game.

The Martlets, at 2-4, moved into a tie for second place in the QSSF with the UQTR Patriotes (24) with two games to go in the sea­ son. McGill must beat UQTR on Friday in order to clinch second place in the conference and homeice advantage for the conference semi-final on February 11.

Concordia (5-1) has clinched the conference title and will host the provincial title game on

c o n fe re n c e

a n o t h e r th a n k s

February 17.

O ffe n s iv e spurt

On offence, forward Paula Mailloux continued her torrid scor­ ing pace, netting three goals and two assists for the Martlets.

Linemates Sophie Acheson had two goals and an assist, including the winner scored with 1:45 to go in the third on a pass from Mailloux, while Sarah Lomas added two assists. Mailloux (26 GP, 16-15-31) now trails team scoring leader Lomas (26 GP, 13-19-32) by one point. Acheson is third on the team with 15 goals and 28 points in 26 games.

C o r r e c tio n

Last week's track and field photo was incorrectly credited to Patrick Fok.

to

s e c o n d

Sports 2 7

s q u e a k e r w in

in

Rookie Véronique Lapierre, got the other Martlets score, her fifth of the season.

“Defensively we could have played a better game,” Martlets head coach Peter Smith said.

Patriotes forward Annick Babovan gave her side a 4-3 lead at 16:24 of the second period, after the Patriotes stormed back from an early 2-0 deficit. UQTR blueliners Nathalie Déry and Virginie Bilodeau were all over the Martlets, clearing the zone on defence and directing the offense from the point.

“They have two dominant players, [Déry and Bilodeau], and we can’t afford to make mistakes

a

ro w

against them,” Smith said.

The Martlets put the game away in the final frame as Mailloux tied the game at four at 9:35 of the third. The Capreol, Ontario, native assisted on Acheson’s winner with less than two minutes to go in the game, then capped her five-point night by scoring the insurance marker in an empty net.

Martlet goaltender Kim StPierre made 39 saves for her side, which directed 43 shots at the UQTR goal.

“Maybe four goals against is a lot,” said St-Pierre. “The really important thing is to win the game, and I was really happy because we won the game.”

Get game headlines e-mailed to you! h ttp ://trib u n e.m cg ill.c a

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