The McGill Tribune Vol. 24 Issue 18

Curiosity delivers. Vol. 24 Issue 18

Tribune

PUBLISHED

NEWS-. Robot injustice not represented during Equity Week.

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OPINION: Evil SpongeBob villain threatens world domination.

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A&E: Hasidic rap? Why not, says the peace lovin' Matisyahq.

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Tuesday, January 25, 2005

E N T S ' S O C I E T Y OF M C G I L L U N I V E R S I T Y

A drop in the bucket F E U Q q u e s t io n s w h e t h e r r e p a y m e n t p r o g r a m w ill a i d s t u d e n t s w it h l o a n s new regime, students who have not paid their loans off for 10 years may apply to the Ministère de l'Éducation to have their debt absolved.

The Montreal Gazette reported that Education Minister Pierre Reid claims the program will cost the gov­ ernment $22-million per year, and will eventually reach $60-million per year by 2 0 1 5 . He said that this new fund­ ing will help new graduates manage their debt and protect their credit rat­ ings as they enter the workforce.

"It's just a reality we have to cope with—certain students don't have the job they expect right away, and it might take a few years sometimes," Reid said in the Gazette on January 13.

Student groups are not impressed with this initiative.

"This program is entirely insuffi­ cient," said N ick Vikander, a spokesperson for la Fédération étudi­ ante universitaire du Québec. FEUQ's primary grievance is that this plan does

M ATTHEW HENDY

Quebec plans to butt out

The provincial government did some political backpedaling this month.

Since last spring, when the province cut $ 103-million from the stu­ dent bursaries program, Premier Jean Charest has endured tremendous pres­ sure from enraged student groups. In response, the government recently introduced an income-contingent loan repayment plan.

Under the financial aid program, which takes effect next fall, students with an annual income of less than $25,621 will be required to pay only part of the interest accrued on their out­ standing student loan debt, while stu­ dents making minimum wage will not be charged any interest at all. Even those who have not completed their degrees are eligible.

Single parents with higher incomes will also see their interest reduced, depending on how many children they support. Finally, under the

See FEUQ, page 2

B a n o n s m o k i n g in p u b l i c p l a c e s p r o p o s e d JAY PALEJA Students who enjoy having a smoke at the local bar will have to move their guilty pleasure elsewhere if the Quebec government has its way. If passed, a new law could create a ban on smoking in all public places by the spring.

According to a CBC News arti­ cle, one in four people above the age of 15 in the province smokes, com­ pared to one in five in all of Canada.

Quebec is seen as a bastion for smok­ ing, but Health Minister Philippe Couillard has said it is time to clean up its air.

A recent report prepared by Jack Jedwab, executive director of the Association for Canadian Studies, indi­ cates that Quebec has a poor record

when it comes to second-hand smoke.

Twenty-seven per cent of non-smokers are exposed to second-hand smoke— the highest rate in the country.

The proposed ban follows in the footsteps of many other provinces and municipalities.

New Brunswick, M anitoba, and, Saskatchewan already have provincewide bans in place, while O ntario and Newfoundland and Labrador have announced plans to follow suit. Some of Canada's largest cities such as Toronto, Ottawa, and Victoria currently employ a smoking ban in public places.

On-campus bar Gert's will directly feel the effects. According to Manager W allace Sealy, approximately half of the bar's customers are smokers.

However, he doesn't predict a ban

would be a long-term problem.

"For a regular everyday club I could see problems... but here it's a stu­ dent bar, so I don't see effects on sales," he said. "It's a student venue... and it's always being booked [by clubs]."

If the law required separate venti­ lated smokers' rooms, Sealy said it could pose a problem for the establish­ ment.

"Creating a smokers' environment might be difficult due to the w ay we re set up," he said.

Others applaud the government initiative.

"W e're not anti-smokers by any means... [but] imposing second-hand smoke is another story," said Kerrie

SPORTS

2Q&22

t was a busy weekend for the Redmen. They took on cross­ town rivals C o nco rdia on Saturday night at M cC onnell Arena, but that was the least of their concerns. The Red V W hite are handling the fallout from their top recruit abandoning the team midseason. Details inside. (Oh, and zebras are our new gods.)

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See SMOKING, page 7

This Week in McGill Athletics: Tsunami Relief Fundraiser Fri., Jan. 28 Invitational Track Meet 6pm Fri., Jan. 28 Redmen Hockey vs Ottawa 7pm Sat., Jan. 29 Basketball (W) 6pm (M) 8pm vs Concordia* Sat., Jan. 29 Invitational Track Meet 9am Sun., Jan. 30 Martlet Hockey vs Carleton 1pm * p ro c e e d s to T su n a m i R e lie f - d o n a tio n s a c c e p te d at a ll tic k e t c o u n te rs

news Disabled for a day A b l e - b o d i e d s t u d e n t s l e a r n w h a t it 's lik e

equity week R E C O G N I Z I N G OPPRESSI ON

Feminism faces unsteady grounds S p e a k e rs e n c o u ra g e b r e a k in g n e w b a r r ie r s eminism faces challenges crossing over into the mainstream, speakers and audience members agreed at a Tuesday discussion organ­ ized by the Union for Gender Empowerment.

The talk—entitled "W hat is Feminist Activism?"—fea­ tured three guests who detailed their experiences within feminist activism and called for today's feminist movement to grow more ambitious as it moves for­ ward.

Heidi Mehta of the South Asian Women's Community Centre spoke first, describing the contradictions she has faced as a woman of mixed race, and saying that feminism and anti-racism must be fought on the same battlefields.

"There can be no sister­ hood until colonialism is eradi­ cated," she said.

N a ta lie Kouri-Towe, a M cG ill Women's Studies stu­ dent, echoed Mehta's ideas.

She stressed the importance of acknowledging the criticisms of past feminist efforts such as the marginalization of Third W orld women.

"W e cannot distance our­ selves from that past," she said.

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"As a woman of colour, I don't experience racism and sexism separately."

Joslyn Trowbridge, a M cG ill graduate, was the final speaker. She described the dif­ ficulties she has faced as à pro­ fessional feminist in her work with GirlSpace, an organiza­ tion that offers workshops for teenage girls. Trowbridge high­ lighted the challenges of solicit­ ing funding and support from the professional community, while staying true to the goals of her organization.

"M ake sure you know what your boundaries and prin­ ciples are," she said.

W hen the floor was opened for discussion, the majority of comments centred on the struggle in moving beyond the relatively safe space of a university, where "nobody says the wrong thing," to the less equalityfriendly work place.

All agreed that the most overwhelming task in the future is to challenge institutions, and move past the safe enclosures in which the feminist movement has gained much of its steam. ■ —M ohit Arora

S T U D E N T NEWS

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ANDREW BRYAN

difficulty to participants were the weather, slush, slow elevators, and a lack of handi­ capped seating in the cafeteria and certain classrooms.

Suzanne Amiel, U1 International Development Studies, spent the day in crutch­ es for tne first time.

"When I was with the two people [in] wheelchairs I found that the way they got looked at was totally different from the way I was looked at, mine being a temporary injury as people assumed,” she said. "The way that people look at other people in wheelchairs is tinged with a certain kind of sympathy for them that maybe isn't even solicited by the person in the wheelchair."

Second-year Arts student G abe

Commozi, who went to his classes in a wheelchair, found the experience eye-ope ing.

"You see disabled people everyday, but you never get to live their experience.

This took your regular life and shook it up a lot. Every time you wanted to head out some­ place it was twice as complicated; you'd have three times the obstacles getting from point A to point B," Commozi said. “It was a hassle, but at the same time what was remarkable was the compassion and the communal atmosphere that there is at McGill. I was offered help constantly and ; was heartwarming, really." ■ —Kevin Afshari

Leading ladies lacking in Canada M e d i a r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f f e m a l e p o l it ic ia n s is f l a w e d he media is partly responsible for the lack of women in Canadian parlia­ ment, according to Political Science Professor Elisabeth Gidengil.

Rather than blaming voter inhibition for the low number of female Members of Parliament, Gidengil's M onday lecture, "The Political (Mis)Representation of W omen," focused on the accountability of the media in its representation of female political candidates.

According to Gidengil's research, the whole language of political reportage is inherently biased in favour of men. Such reporting makes use of sports, war, and violence metaphors, all of which are traditionally thought of as mascu­ line.

Gidengil said women are not general­ ly inclined to enter politics.

"A good deal of the problem is on the supply side," she said. "Most women don't

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Continued from cover

FEUQ unimpressed

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hile wintertime in Montreal may present problems and inconven­ iences for the average M cG ill stu­ dent, it is a much more difficult struggle for physically disabled people around campus.

The daunting task of getting up a snowy hill increases in difficulty when one is restricted to a wheelchair.

Learning about these hardships was the goal of Accessibility Awareness Day on Thursday. As part of Equity Week, organiz­ ers Danielle Taylor and Melissa Pang recruit­ ed 10 to 15 non-disabled students to simu­ late having a disability for the day. The dis­ abilities included physical disabilities that required wheelchairs or crutches, visual dis­ abilities, and hearing disabilities.

“It showed them what students with dis­ abilities do have to deal with and the differ­ ent ways that there are to get around cam­ pus, and also what's lacking in terms of accessibility at McGill because the whole idea is to have equity among students,” said Taylor.

Stephanie Benedict, U3 Arts, spent the day in the Shatner building in a wheelchair and didn't go outside.

"I just realized what little things are hard for them and how much planning you have to do when you want to get around," she said. "You can't just run from place to place—you have to plan a route and make sure that it's accessible."

The obstacles that presented the most

not address the $ 103-million cut to the stu­ dent bursaries program.

"There's nothing in it that reduces stu­ dent debt," Vikander said.

FEUQ and other student groups have demanded that the government reduce aggregate student debt, which would require massive reinvestment in student bur­ saries.

Daniel Friedlaender, Students' Society vice-president (community and government), shared the same opinion.

"This plan affects only 15 per cent of the students with government loans," he

want to be in Parliament."

She attributed women's apparent non­ interest in gaining political positions to two factors: the idea of politics as a game for men, and the challenge of handling family life and a parliamentary position at the same time.

W ith women comprising 21.1 per cent of Parliament, Canada is ranked 36th in the world. The only Western nations to post a lower percentage are the United Kingdom and the United States, which reach only 17 per cent and 14 per- eent, respectively.

The Canadian single-member plurality system makes voters unable to comprehend the low number of female candidates, said Gidengil.

"W e are blind to the system imbalance because we see only our district," she said.

Greg Brass, a Ph D. student and mem­

said. "It satisfies a certain need, but this small-scale debt relief isn't nearly enough."

FEUQ is skeptical about the govern­ ment's intentions.

"It's nothing more than a political tac­ tic—it's not even a new idea as they say it is," Vikander said.

A similar income-contingent debt-relief policy already exists, he said, albeit on a much smaller scale. The "new" program will simply expand the one already in existence.

"They're passing this off as a new ini­ tiative to help students, but in reality it's just a recycled idea that they hope will appease us," he said.

As part of ongoing efforts to reverse the $ 103-million cut, FEUQ has orchestrated a

ber of the Students' Society Equity Committee, agreed with Gidengil's argu ments.

"Dr. Gidengil pointed to the sources ol imbalanced representation of women in pol­ itics," he said. "W e have a tendency to dis­ miss the real reasons for problems like this."

Gidengil offered only hazy solutions for the many issues she addressed. She called for a sensitization of the media and some w ay of proving to women that politics matter.

However, M arion M alone, U1 Biomedical Sciences, thought research may lead to alterations of media representation in the future.

"It's important for people to understand the inequalities that exist," she said. "It makes you think about ways to change [media and politics].” ■ —Genevieve Jenkins

telephone campaign that begins this week.

Students from participating universities across the province, including M cG ill, will call Members of the National Assembly, urg­ ing them to support student bursary reinvest­ ment.

"The National Assembly and even the Liberal caucus are divided on this issue," Vikander said, "so it's important that the gov­ ernment knows how strongly students feel about the cuts." ■ For the next five weeks, students at M cG ill are calling M N A s Mondays through Wednesdays in two-hour blocks. To sign up, contact Daniel Friedlaender at 3 9 8 -6 7 9 8 or external@ssmu. mcgill. ca.

the mcgill tribune | 25.1.05 | news

news 1 The McGill Tribune hereby declares itself the Trivial Pursuit champions, or at least, the winners against TV McGill. W rite for News and see why we're the shiznit.

News meetings: Wednesdays at 6pm in Shatner 110.

C lipped wings T h e b a la n c e o f g e n d e r e q u a lit y ender equality is not always a womens struggle. Elizabeth W righ t spoke W ednesday about the importance of men in the fight for equal opportunities. W right is a Ph.D. candidate at Université Laval and was a member of the Canadian delegation to the 48th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

W right, who is Baha'i, said that what makes all people equal is their spiritual nature. She stressed that achieving true equality is "not only a question of education, but a question of will," citing the example of educat­ ed men using the sex trade in Thailand.

W right said that most resistance to cross-gender work for equality comes from men. However, she added that some women are afraid of losing control within the movement.

W right distributed selections from

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Baha'i writings and a copy of the con­ clusions from the Fourth W orld Conference on Women for attendees to read and discuss. In the Baha'i texts, the genders are described as equal but different: "The world of humanity is possessed of two wings: the male and the female. So long as these two wings are not equivalent in strength, the bird will not fly."

Leslie Kirsh, U3 International Development Studies, noted that the Fourth W orld Conference agreements were commonsensical but that apply­ ing the programs would be difficult.

"The problem with implementa­ tion is sovereignty," she said.

One issue raised was the fact that in many M cG ill classes, women are discussed as a separate area of study in course material. It was asserted that women cannot be truly equal in the consciousness of students if they are treated as a detached group.

"This is half of humanity," W right said.

She said she would like to see less of a discrepancy between the number of male and female faculty members at universities and that there is a need for "more women to be role models in all professions." She further indicated that she agreed with quota systems until equality between men and women is achieved.

Jameel Mostaghim, U2 Political Science, said the high turnout for the event showed that the equality of men and women is considered an impor­ tant issue.

Wright's general message was one of optimism. Although she acknowledged recent backlash against women's rights in the world, W right urged persistence.

"W e've seen other utopias being realized in this world." ■ — Jacqui Wilson

No safe space in classroom H o m o p h o b i c b e h a v i o u r r e q u ir e s i n t e r v e n t i o n ender harassment is a real problem at McGill, and it is time for the administration to put an end to it. This is the message of the M cG ill Equity Subcommittee on Queer People, a group committed to ensuring fair treatment for McGill's queer community.

The subcommittee includes repre­ sentatives from all student groups including the Students' Society, Queer M cG ill, and faculty and staff from vari­ ous academic departments. As an advisory body, the group researches problems related to gender issues and equality, and recommends potential solutions to the university Senate and the Board of Governors.

"If issues come up, we can get things going," said Tara Sackett, a stu­ dent representative from Macdonald Campus.

Some projects currently in the works include developing an interdisci­ plinary minor in Sexuality and Gender Diversity Studies, establishing safe spaces free from any discrimination or harassment, and lobbying to have more gender-neutral washrooms built throughout campus.

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Although McGill prides itself on being an open and accepting commu­ nity, the group said that gender equali­ ty is far from being a reality.

"I have heard many stories of pro­ fessors making homophobic comments in class," said student representative-atlarge Elizabeth Meyer. "McGill needs to start talking about these issues more."

As part of Equity W eek, the Queerequity Safe Space Workgroup, a sub-group of the Equity Subcommittee, hosted a workshop Wednesday night on the issue of gen­ der harassment in schools. In her pres­ entation, Meyer discussed how teach­ ers and students must work together to stop gender harassment and make schools safer learning spaces. hf teachers don't stop the [nega­ tive] behaviour or intervene, this sends the message that it is okay" for students to harass others based on their per­ ceived sexual orientation, said Meyer.

She said that many students are harassed because others think they are gay or lesbian, regardless of whether they are, and that teachers have the power to make a difference.

"It's very possible to intervene and change the culture, change behave iours," she said.

Meyer also highlighted the need for students themselves to work towards ending gender harassment.

"Teachers are important, but the students have their own experiences of what's happening in the hallways," and they can also make a difference, she said.

Although the Quebec Human Rights Commission has declared homophobic harassment a human rights issue, simply having this policy is not enough to make a real change. Some of the obstacles to putting the policy into practice in schools are the lack of enforcement, lack of awareness of the policy, little time and money, and the fear many teachers have of becoming targets if they openly discuss gender issues in the classroom.

Meyer, however, urges teachers to take an active role in freeing schools of gender violence and harassment.

"If a teacher can so easily inter­ vene and create safer spaces in their classrooms, why aren't they?" ■ —Christine Cullen

N E WS BRI EF

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Forty feet worth of help for tsunami victims

A forty-foot-long shipping container carrying urgently needed supplies donated by M cG ill students will soon be sent to areas in Sri Lanka affected by the recent tsunami.

The container, which will hold items such as clothing, | non-perishable food, medical supplies, and toiletries, is being put together by U3 Chemical Engineering student Shafraz Zafrullah and his family.

"This was my mother's idea; she is from Sri Lanka, he said. "It was a family decision [to organize this]."

Zafrullah's uncle and his uncle's wife, who live in Sri Lanka, have been informing him about what items are most needed. Zafrullah's uncle, who is working with the Ministry of Social Services in Sri Lanka, will also help ensure that the items are distributed where they are most crucial upon their

arrival in the country.

Shipping costs for the container are being covered by Sri Lankan groups and private donations.

Zaffrullah said that donations will be accepted until there are enough items to fill the container.

"Hopefully that will be within a month," he said, adding that they need donations of non-perishable food items and toi­ letries.

Students can leave items in boxes located in the EUS common room in the McConnell Engineering Building or the MISN lounge, room 1 100 in the Brown Building. ■ —Amanda Greenman For more information or to donate, contact Zafrullah at shafraz.zafrullah@mail.mcgill. ca. For a complete list of what is being collected, visit www.mcgilltribune.com

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Notice to all undergraduate students in the Faculty of Education The Education Undergraduate Students Society will be holding a referendum to become a legally accredited student association in accordance with the Quebec Act respecting the accreditation and financing of students’ associations. This act provides accredited student associations in Quebec with a number of rights vis-à-vis their relations with the administration.

The referendum will take place between February 4th and 1 Lth 2005. Students may vote online or at the following locations: a) Education Building: Feb 4th & 7th to 1 lth , 10am to 4pm b) Shatner Building (3rd floor): Feb 7th , 9:30am to 3pm

The referendum will consist of the following question:

Do you agree that the ED US should become accredited as your legally recognised undergraduate student representative body in the Faculty of Education, under the Quebec A ct respecting the accreditation and financing of students’ associations.

Yes/No EDUS will form the ‘yes committee’ for this referendum.

Students interested in forming a ‘no committee’ may do so by filling out forms available at the Elections McGill office (room 405 of the Shatner building)

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news | 25.1.05 | the mcgill tribune

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Socialist W orker editor Paul Kellogg led an on-campus discussion Thursday on whether Canada should cancel the $858-million debt held by the regions affected by last years tsunami.

O n December 26, the fourthlargest earthquake ever recorded struck in the Indian Ocean, sending devastating waves throughout the region. Currently, more than 2 2 6 ,0 0 0 people are confirmed dead, and the world has collectively pledged more than $2-billion in aid.

"These figures are extraordinary," Kellogg said in his opening remarks. "I don't think that is because of the nature of the disaster, but the political situation at this time."

Kellogg stressed that at its most basic level, the tsunami was a horren­ dous natural disaster. However, the fail­ ure of the Pacific tsunami monitoring system to notify South Asia of the impending waves, in conjunction with Western leaders' slow response, demonstrated that the situation "was made much worse by a horrendous

racist, class-biased response of Western governments around the world."

He argued that the disaster was further magnified by the legacy of imperialism and poverty Western coun­ tries have left in the region. For this rea­ son, International Socialists argue it is not enough that Canada offer $ 4 5 0 million in aid —it must cancel the region's $848-million debt as well.

"The debt is the chain of gold tying these countries to the Western w orld," Kellogg said.

Ian Towers, another member of the group, noted that "it is all too easy to use aid to keep this master-slave rela­ tionship going."

In an interview, however, political science professor Erik Kuhonta warned that certain countries may not want their debt suspended because their credit rating will decline, resulting in a higher interest rate for any future loans on the international market. Moreover, there is the intangible, but no less real, issue of national pride.

Currently, India and Thailand have already indicated that they do not want to be included in any debt relief

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plan. Their economic situation enables them to repay their debts without incur­ ring any future credit rating penalties.

Sybil Ataogul, a labour lawyer at the discussion, said that the only rea­ son Western governments have even offered to cancel debts is that circum­ stances have forced the Asian countries to refuse.

"It's just a publicity stunt," she argued.

Despite the group's criticism of Western imperialism and government policy, Kellogg praised the expressions of humanity that the tsunami has evoked.

"W hat is changed is the con­ sciousness of the people in the world," he said. "There is a new sense of soli­ darity... a new force, a new super power, which is the sense of the possi­ ble—the sense of humanity." ■ To sign a petition calling on Canada to cancel the debt of the tsunami-affected countries, visit www.socialist.ca. The Social Justice Committee of Montreal is holding its 'Jubilee Plus Five" event in support of debt cancellation Wednesday at 7pm at La Sala Rossa, 4848 boulevard St-Laurent. Call 286.1965.

NEWS

Munroe-Blum stands for questions P r i n c i p a l s h a r e s v i e w s o n t u it io n a n d a d v i s i n g JA M ES G O T O W IE C

"It's just not what happens in real­ ty-" For the second time since begin­ ning her term. Principal Heather Munroe-Blum spent an hour at the Students' Society council meeting on Thursday, responding to councillors' questions and soliciting their thoughts on how to improve the student experi­ ence at M cG ill.

Munroe-Blum came with no pre­ pared notes or statements, and invited councillors to ask her questions on any subject, saying that she reserved the right to "reflect and not respond."

Education Representative Rob Green led off the questions, asking the principal to expand on her views about tuition fees, which she has made known in the Montreal Gazette and to the National Assembly of Quebec.

Munroe-Blum answered by explaining her interpretation of various studies relating tuition fees to access.

"W ha t prevents young people from attending [university] is not tuition fees—it's the cost of living," she said, adding that even with no tuition at all the cost of living would still be an obstacle for some students.

The principal said that tuition rates must rise, but only if matched with an increase in student aid. She said that her eventual goal is to be able to bring graduate students to M cG ill with no tuition, and to not deny any qualified undergraduates on the basis on finan­ cial need. But, she added, those who can pay should have to pay more.

"Any smart person who thinks about values but not about outcomes would think, 'Gee, let's make it free,"' she said.

But she emphasized that zero tuition does not lead to greater access.

Staying on the subject of student aid, Senate Representative M a x Reed asked Munroe-Blum whether the administration w ill support SSMU's efforts to reverse the provincial govern­ ment's recent $ 103-million cut to finan­ cial aid.

"W e have a lot of irons in the fire," she said, referring to M cG ills ongoing negotiations with the province over the university's chronic under-fund­ ing, and discussions regarding interna­ tional tuition.

"It's not my instinct that coming out on this, as principal of M cG ill, is the most effective w ay to move it forward."

Senate Representative Gonzalo Riva asked what the administration is doing to help reform the advising process.

"Advising is absolutely our main agenda," Munroe-Blum said.

She then polled councillors for their thoughts on the most important aspects of advising.

Students' Society Vice-President (Communications and Events) M ark Sward told the principal that while she had made commendable efforts to reach out to students, he wondered how well connected to them she actu­ ally felt.

"It's hard in a community of 40,000-plus people to have a connec­ tion," she said.

She added that the newlyorganized town hall meetings are a good w ay to get in touch with the M cG ill community, and that she has tried since the start of her term to get a handle on student concerns.

"There are a lot of things I've learned about the challenges students

YASEMIN EMORY

Heather M unroe-Blum connects w ith students at SnOAP.

face," she said.

In retrospect, councillors said they appreciated the principal coming to the council session but were unsur­ prised by many of her answers.

"O ne thing that was nice to see was that she was here at all," said Riva, adding that both students and administrators benefit from a dialogue.

"W e would probably be less of a headache for her if she involved us" in more decision-making.

Reed agreed.

"W hile w e may not agree on things, it's always good to have the lines of communication open." ■

the mcgill tribune j 25.1.05 | news SPEAKER

Professor urges nuclear disarmament

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CHARLTON R. DWIGHT Dr. Mohammad-Reza Fakhari, an International Relations professor at LaGuardia Community College of the City University of N ew York, will discuss the issue of nuclear disarmament and proliferation at a Student W orld AssemblyMcGill panel on Thursday.

SWA is a non-governmental and non-partisan organization—comprising 261 colleges and universities around the world and representing 103 nation­ alities—designed to give students a voice on issues of global significance.

Fakhari, the principal advisor to SWA, is currently researching globaliza­ tion and its consequences.

Fie said he is eager to come to M cG ill to educate students about the need for nuclear disarmament and the dangers of nuclear proliferation.

"Having nuclear weapons is against the policy of globalization, where everyone is a stakeholder," he said. "It is not beneficial for our global society to have nuclear weapons."

Fakhari emphasized the immediate

importance of nuclear disarmament, adding that US Vice-President Dick Cheney has recently identified Iran as the country's next possible military target because of Iran's reported development of nuclear weapons.

"If you have an invasion of Iran it could really create chaos in the Middle East," Fakhari said. "This is urgent."

The professor's doctoral disserta­ tion dealt with the rise of former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the USSR and his key role in ending the Cold War. According to Fakhari, what global politics requires today is a mindset like Gorbachev's—one concerned with human interest. Such a mindset helped end the Cold W ar between the USSR and the US. "Gorbachev wanted all nuclear weapons to be disarmed by 2 0 0 0 ," he said. "He thought that they would destroy humankind."

Fakhari said he encourages stu­ dents to learn about and voice their opinions on important global issues such as nuclear disarmament.

"Students are future leaders," he

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said. "W e should start educating them that nuclear weapons can destroy the world." ■

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Re-instating the value of a degree

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A U S i s s u e s r e p o r t o u t l i n i n g m a j o r p r o b l e m s in f a c u l t y MEGAN BRIGGS

The state of Arts education at M cG ill is in question. Last week, Arts Undergraduate Society Vice-President (Academic) Zach Finkelstein proposed answers in the form of an AUS policy report.

A sum of anonymous concerns and public opinions expressed by professors and students, the seven-page report identifies the current major difficulties with the Faculty of Arts.

Finkelstein said the goal of the report is to set the groundwork for the next couple of years of academic policy, and to encourage students to voice their opinions.

"The more people talk, the more [the problems] will be issues," Finkelstein said. "The administration is reason­ able. .. it is important to go to them as an adult and work from the inside."

The first item on the report is overenrolment, which according to Finkelstein has resulted in capped class­ es and devaluing the M cG ill Arts degree. AUS is concerned with the unex­ pected 11 per cent increase in atten­ dance for the 20 04-2005 academic year and its detrimental effects on class sizes and professor-student relationships.

Finkelstein recommends running classes later in the day and a trial run of night courses.

According to the report, there is a need for full-time departmental advisors because the current advising situation is hindering rather than helping students.

It recommends that the university make advising mandatory for first ear students and that full-time advisors be hired for departments with more than 2 0 0 registered students.

Arts Senator Gonzalo Riva said that making advising mandatory for all students and hiring full-time departmental advisors would be an admission that the situation is flawed.

"I think it is misguided to make advising mandatory for students," he

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said. "The reason students don't go is because the quality of advising is appalling, not because they don't want to or don't care."

Riva proposes improving the quali­ ty of existing advising, as well as having AUS-subsidized peer advisors—students from upper years counseling first-year stu­ dents.

Another issue is the state of the McLennan-Redpath Humanities and Social Sciences Library. The report calls for more space to hold materials that the faculty plans to acquire in the next few years, and it raises the need for improved sanitation in the library.

McLennan acting Head Librarian Kendall Wallis agreed with the report's dissatisfaction with the space and clean­ liness of the library. He did not, howev^

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of the Advisory Committee for the Faculty of Arts and head of the IDS program, said that if the faculty were to vote, there would not be unanimous agreement in favour of IDS becoming a department.

"It's a question of self-interest," he said. "Money diverted to IDS as a department would not be directed to other existing faculties... Somebody will see their budget cut."

Frankman condemned the view that IDS is neither defined nor structured enough to deserve the title and benefits of a department.

He said that from a faculty perspec­ tive, the sacrificing of staff for a new pro­ gram is a concern. However, Frankman said that the issue is a question of student needs, and that with continuing student interest such as that of AUS, there may

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"The reason students don't seek advising is because the quality offered is appalling, not because they don't want to or don't care."

— S e n a to r G o n z a lo Riva oJJ er, agree that a physical expansion of the library, as suggested by AUS, was a realistic solution. In an effort to improve the quality of the collection, the McLennan library brought in more than 4 0 ,0 0 0 new books during the 20032 0 0 4 school year.

"So many things coming in without a place to put them results in a lot of fid­ dling," Wallis said. "It is grossly ineffi­ cient."

Rather than consider a costly phys­ ical expansion of the building, however, Wallis has requested compact shelving in the basement, so that rarely used items will still be accessible to students, but stored more efficiently.

The final concern the report raises is whether the faculty should grant full departmental status to the International Development Studies program, which is currently an inter-disciplinary program administered mainly by the Political Science and Economics departments.

Professor Myron Frankman, chair

Paralegal Studies

be possibility of an IDS department.

To formally identify the major issues faced by the faculty, Finkelstein posted opinion boards on WebCT and met with more than 15 professors from vari­ ous departments as well as more than 5 0 students.

He said he hopes that a report like this will keep student councils focused on the recurring, wide-scale issues, bypass­ ing the "relentless social climbing of stu­ dent politics [that is] holding people back."

Finkelstein's report will be present­ ed to the Faculty of Arts committee today. Though the consequences of the report are still unclear, its message is that change can be effected as long as stu­ dents make their voices heard.

As Wallis put it, "the advancement of learning comes through listening to things like the AUS report. " ■ Visit www.mcgilltribune.com read a copy of the AUS report.

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news | 25.105 |-the mcgill tribune ANGLES

A tale o f tw o countries SSMU P re se n ts T h e T h ird A n n u a l C

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"W e have the worlds eyes focused on the tsunami o f the Indian Ocean, but the world continues to overlook the silent tsunamis o f deaths from malaria, which take every month the number

KEYNOTE SPEAKER FRIDAY, JAN 28TH

o f people that died in the Asian tragedy. " —Jeffrey Sachs, head o f the United Nations-sponsored Millennium Project. anada is two-faced when it comes to giving interna­ tional aid.

Dr. Jekyll Canada is overwhelmed by com­ passion when he sees images of the Boxing Day catastrophe in South Asia, which officially has claimed more than 2 2 6 ,0 0 0 lives.

Dr. Jekyll Canada nobly responds with what has been called a tsuna­ mi aid tsunami. Mr. Hyde Canada is underwhelmed by apathy when he sees not images, but numbers, much more staggering but much less evocative.

One hundred and thirty thou­ sand people die every week from preventable causes. That's seven, million lives every year. Mr. Hyde responds with indifference, barely managing to feign not noticing.

The numbers are there, but they scarcely make an impression.

Canada is not the lone suffer­ er of this bipolar disorder.

W orldwide, tsunami aid will soon equal US$5.8-billion, the total amount the United Nations received for all humanitarian relief efforts around the globe last year.

The money and the charitable sen­ timent are there, but sadly only for those disasters that make for bigbudget blockbuster entertainment.

At a UN summit in 20 00 , rich countries around the world agreed on the Millennium Development Goals, which include eradicating extreme pover­ ty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, and reducing child mortality, among other initia­ tives, and developing a Global Partnership for Development by 20 1 5 .

In 2 0 0 2 , UN SecretaryGeneral Kofi Annan appointed

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LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF QUEBEC 11 to 12:30 - Bukhman Room, Shatner Building To round off January with Equity Week in mind, the Honourable Lise Thibault will discuss the challenges faced by persons with disabilities in Quebec and Canada, as well as her own story of living with a disability.

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PEER ADVI SERS WANTED! ■ ■ M

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The Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) and the Science Undergraduate Society (SUS), in conjunction with the Student Affairs Office of Arts and Science, are looking for Peer Advisers!

RESPONSIBILITIES

H elping fe llo w students in decision m aking, explaining d ro p /a d d procedures, referrals to o th e r campus resources, and m ore. A cce pted volunteers are expected to m ake a c o m m itm e n t fo r th e fu ll academ ic year, and w ill receive a le tte r o f reco m m e n d a tio n fro m th e Faculty a tte s tin g to th e services provided.

Successful applicants m ust have a m in im u m CGPA o f 3.00, be a t least a U1 stu de nt, be prepared to c o m m it a maximum o f 2 hours/w eek, and a tte n d tra in in g sessions in M arch 2005. Listening skills, th e a b ility to respond in a n o n -ju d g m e n ta l manner, and compassion fo r o the rs are also valuable assets.

HOW DO I FIND OUT MORE?

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED

C ontact Zack Finkelstein a t AUS at: academic@aus.mcgill.com o r Christopher Lee o f SUS a t academic@sus.mcgill.ca. Applications w ill be available in th e lobby o f Dawson Hall as o f January 25, 2005.

C om pleted applications m ust be subm itted to Dawson Hall, Room 110, in an envelope labelled "Peer Advising" by February 28, 2005.

S S MU IN 60

Harvard economist and head of the Colombia Earth Institute Jeffrey Sachs to develop a plan to meet the MDGs, which was released last Monday. The 3,000-page whopper is the result of a years worth of work by 26 5 experts.

It all boils down to this: in order to realize the MDGs, rich countries must dedicate about 0 .5 per cent of their combined $30-trillion GDP to international humani­ tarian aid (0.44 per cent in 20 06 , and rising to 0 .5 4 per cent in 2015). The global average is about half that, and Canada offers up a measly 0 .2 8 per cent.

That's the Hyde in us. Sure, Jekyll stops by once in a while, but only if something catches his atten­ tion, and it should be apolitical.

Then Hyde turns around and Jekyll wakes up. Suddenly C anada grows a heart and a conscience.

The aid rolls in, hand over fist, until the conscience is assuaged and the world settles back aloofly into the humdrum task of fixing the chronic, man-made preventable problems.

It was in 19 70 that then Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson led an international com­ mission whose goal it was to take on this very task. It set an ambitious but eminently attainable goal: for­ eign aid spending should be 0 .7 per cent of GDP. But then generous Jekyll got bored. His compassion burned out. W here was the glitz and glamour? Jekyll turned around and there was Hyde. H ow dull — tragedies that happen every day.

W e have better things to worry about. ■

SECONDS

The Students' Society council killed a motion Thursday that would have banned SSMU from blocking access to or occupying government buildings as part of any student cam­ paign. O n December 16, members of la Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec used fences and fir trees to block access to the Ministère de l'Édu­ cation in Montreal for several hours, protesting $ 103-million in cuts to stu­ dent bursaries last summer.

Such actions are occasionally "counter-productive," said SSMU VicePresident (Community and Government) Daniel Friedlaender, who nonetheless added that he did not want to make those decisions with­ out consulting council.

"W e just need to make sure we put pressure on the government while not harming us in the public light," he said.

Unlike leaders of other student unions, SSMU Vice-President

(Operations) Anthony Di Carlo said he is uncomfortable with the possibility of students getting arrested.

The Université Laval is among the FEUQ members that side with SSMU, he added. Although several councillors agreed that it is unlikely that SSMU will engage in acts of civil disobedience anyway, they were reluctant to formal­ ly state their position since SSMU has already been portrayed as out of step with the larger student movement this year.

"There's just nothing to be gained at all by making this statement pub­ licly," said Education Representative Rob Green.

Green successfully presented a separate motion mandating Friedlaender and others to prioritize the ongoing FEUQ telephone cam­ paign. ■ —Jennifer Jett, Clio Pitula, and Lisa Varano

the mcgill tribune | 25.1.05 | news

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i r - i A brothel in Germany is donating part ot its takings to tsunami relief efforts. The owner said she has SSfSiCtrng fwoftte received an enthusiastic response from clients, prostitutes, *'! CinccrcH 1 and the general public. • The National Post has created /;« . wrP peffK a national mitten registry to help the thousands of * Canadians w ho lose their mittens every winter. To send in a \t found glove or mitten, or to report one missing, visit t*v”s www.nationalpost.com/mittens. • Singer, actress, socialite, i V«k j;t {•f h reality TV star Paris Hilton has been accused of petty theft, after *« taking a copy of her infamous sex tape, "O ne N ight in Paris," m ie s m e from a newsstand and refusing to pay for it. • In other news tiCs iO sif v relating to the infamous tape, the Internet M ovie Database has listed Miss Hilton as a cinematographer for the film, without giv: v to h # |# i! ing her an acting credit. • Former Director of Measurement tV C anada Donald Billing was charged with fraud after using I î k T ‘ w ills government credit cards to buy $ 1 8 5 ,0 0 0 worth of hockey y , ^ | cards, claiming they were office supplies. • A man in the Netherlands put on a Batman costume and climbed onto the ■ ‘I n . , r i „ bal cony of a courthouse to campaign for his paternal rights.

W , ’ ,V He is a member of Fathers 4 Justice, a w orldw ide organi». . V* . , zation that petitions to allow divorced fathers to see their

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$ 33 ,0 0 0 The amount that students raised for tsunami relief by January 1 1, the deadline for the government to match donations.

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NEWS

No smoking P o t e n t ia l b a n w e lc o m e d b y s o m e Continued from cover Nesbitt, co-president of Students for a Smoke Free Tomorrow. "It's one thing to smoke a cigarette but another to smell like one."

"I'm sure bars and pubs will suf­ fer but health and lives are in ques-

a motion saying it will not renew con­ tracts with tobacco companies.

Nesbitt disapproves of the smok­ ing room in Caférama in the Shatner building.

"There's no door there, [so ever^ thing] smells of smoke," she said. "I'm surprised [the SSMU] hasn't done a n ^

children. ■

$ 4 5 ,0 0 0 The amount that students spent at SnOAP from January 5 to 14.

PROVINCIAL

7

SOURCES. BBC.CO .U K , IM DB.COM , NATIONALPOST.COM , REUTERS.COM, YA H O O .CO M

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campus listings

Students will soon have to take their smoking habits to the streets.

W H O ...

W H A T ...

Jubilee Plus Five campaign against W o rld Bank debt N uclear Proliferation in the M iddle Eastpanel discussion

Volunteer Fair

W H E N ...

W H E R E ...

C O N T A C T ...

La Sala Rossa, 4848 St. Laurent

286.1965

Social Justice Committee of Montreal

Jan 26, 7PM

Student World Assembly

Jan 27, 5:307PM

Otto Maass 112

bly.org

Feb 2, 10:30-2

Shatner Ballroom

ssmuvolunteer@hotmail.com

SSMU Volunteer - Program

rachel.aleks@mail.mcgill.ca mcgill@studentworldassem-

For only a toonie, you can get a listing in the print and online editions of the Trib. Drop by the SSMU office (Brown Student Building, Suite 1200] to pick up a form. Deadlines are Fridays at 3:30pm. For more informa­ tion, e-mail calendar@tribune.mcgill.ca.

u O tta w a L ’U n iv e rsité c a n a d ie n n e C a n a d a ’s u n ive rsity

tion," she said. "If traditional smoking countries can stop it, it's about time the province can as well."

Students for a Smoke Free Tomorrow is behind several anti-tobac­ co initiatives on campus. The group was involved in Thursday's Q uit Smoking Day, which was hosted by Student Health Services as part of Smoke Free W eek, and also held a smoke-free day last February. Last year, it was part of an effort to end the sale of cigarettes at Sadie's Tabagie, which led the Students' Society to pass

thing about that."

Students on campus had differing thoughts on the government proposal.

"I don't think non-smokers hate smoking in bars as much as smokers love it," said Andrew Porter, U1 History, and a non-smoker himself.

Joanna Creed, U1 Management, did not want smokers to be left out in the cold.

"W ith the NHL lockout [and] the SAQ on strike," she said, "the only thing saving people in -20 degree weather in this province is smoking inside bars." ■

The University of Ottawa re w a rd s e x c e lle n c e in th e

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F o r P h D S tu d e n ts :

• A lm o s t 90% o f all C an ad ian s are a w a rd e d an a d m is s io n s c h o la rs h ip th a t co vers th e ir tu itio n fo r fo u r years!

• T his s c h o la rs h ip in c lu d e s a s u p p le m e n t o f $ 10,000 o v e r fo u r years.

• It a lso in c lu d e s a s s is ta n ts h ip s o f a t lea st $ 24,000 o v e r fo u r years.

• S tu d e n ts can re ce ive th re e tra v e l g ra n ts , in c lu d in g o n e to a n y d e s tin a tio n in th e w o rld , to p re s e n t th e ir research fin d in g s .

F o r R e s e a r c h M a s t e r 's S t u d e n t s :

• O v e r 4 5% o f a ll C an a d ia n s are a w a rd e d s c h o la rs h ip s th a t c o v e r th e ir t u itio n fo r a year.

• A d m is s io n s c h o la rs h ip s in c lu d e a s u p p le m e n t o f $2,000 a n d a s s is ta n ts h ip s o f a t lea st $6,000.

• S tu d e n ts can re ce ive a tra v e l g ra n t to p re s e n t th e ir research fin d in g s .

N a tu ra lly , fin a n c ia l a ssistance o ffe re d b y th e U n iv e rs ity o f O tta w a is in a d d itio n to a n y o th e r fin a n c ia l a id o r s c h o la rs h ip th a t s tu d e n ts m a y rece ive fro m fe d e ra l, p ro v in c ia l o r o th e r sources.

For further inform ation on aw ards and PhD or master's studies in the hum anities or the sciences, please contact www.grad.uOttawa.ca ■

opinion

think factory

Won't somebody please think of the children?

SSMU's conservatism!

Crippling or clever?

"Few radicals have g o od digestions. " —Samuel Butler, English author ew university students want to be called con­ servative. O n the brink of our potential, we hardly wish to see ourselves as moderate, cau­ tious, and change-fearing, particularly when everything surrounding us screams just the opposite: excess, passion, volatility. W hy, then, is "conservative" the first word that springs to mind when considering the character and actions of our student leaders?

The days of rallying with face paint and peace signs are over. Gone is the zeal that kept our parents justifiably skipping their lectures to demonstrate against the latest in newfangled injustices. Political correctness, affirmative action, and the now enshrined "open mind"—offsprings of the post-war era—have done aw ay with the need for radical action on a day-to-day basis.

Yet numerous are those students in Quebec who believe some form of radicalism is still a necessary and effective w ay to defend their oft-overlooked rights in the face of less than compassionate politicians. Some, like the leaders of la Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec, believe acts like the December 16 blocking of the Ministère de l'Education with fences and fir trees are required and constructive tactics. The Students' Society, however, is not among them. At least not in practice.

In a provincewide FEUQ-held protest against the $ 103-million cut to student bursaries on November 10, 2 0 0 4 , only 2 0 0 of the 1 0 ,0 0 0 students present were from M cG ill. Students' Society VP (Community and Government) Daniel Friedlander, the supposed ring­ leader of our student activism, garnered negative media coverage when Gazette University Life reporter Peggy Curran described him—however unfairly—as conservative; so conservative, in fact, that he'll take a pie to the face without retaliating. And now, SSMU executives are arguing against McGill's involvement in FEUQ's more radical measures, namely occupying and blocking access to government buildings. Considering the fervent opposition from students— Education Representative Rob Green believes SSMU's estrange­ ment from FEUQ will reflect poorly on the university, while Arts Senator Gonzalo Riva thinks backing down will impede FEUQ's efforts—one can't help but won­ der: Is SSMU's conservative attitude preventing the school from really engaging with Quebec's student movement?

M cG ill has never been fully able to integrate itself into the province's student scene. Plagued by unsavoury beginnings—rich British businessmen build imposing English institution, taking over downtown core—the uni­ versity has been hard-pressed to prove its affinities with

F

Québécois student bodies, whose interests have lied primarily in making their schools more autonomous of federal and provincial governments. Yet while a pic­ ture-perfect relationship with student associations is unrealistic, bridging the gaps caused by a history of lin­ guistic and cultural barriers is not. M cG ills involvement in Quebec's student movement is important: Joining in the cry to defend student issues will only make its echo that much louder.

Then again, raising the dust over alleged injustice is a dirty game that has rarely done student associa­ tions much good. As post-industrial society has made universities that much more important to C anadas eco­ nomic and cultural survival, government bodies have become increasingly concerned with the nature and funding of higher education. Since the 1970s, students who put up excessively radical fronts to defend their interests have thus been perceived as greedy and laughable: The general populace notes the large amount of public funds given to universities, sees the "privileged status" of students, and concludes that their lawbreaking protests are indications that money is being poorly spent. Research has proven that student radicalism negatively affects the opinion of the public and of officials, and seldomly influences university-government relations.

It is indeed possible, then, that SSMU's unadven­ turous positions reveal intelligence and promise more so than fear of change or inability to gauge important issues. If radicalism is indeed a thing of the past, per­ haps less intrusive lobbying is the wave of the future.

Vice-President (Operations) Anthony Di Carlo is rightly concerned that M cG ill students may get arrested if they participate in FEUQ's more radical campaigns, and consequently attract negative rather than positive atten­ tion. Perhaps the best w ay to make an impression on politicians is to beat them at their own game: W e'll likely be taken more seriously if w e opt for intelligent politicking. For instance, there is much potential in FEUQ's five-week phone campaign to M N As to reverse the cut to student bursaries... provided SSMU gets enough students involved.

It boils down to the fact that even at its most radi­ cal, SSMU has been pretty straight-laced. The least it can do now is be radically conservative: Students must be bombarded with information concerning the new telephone campaign; executives must use all their mus­ cle to explain the relevance of the campaign to prospective volunteers. If all goes well, SSMU's success will enable it to become an integral part of the Quebec student movement, while proving that conservatism yields more than just petrified opinions and ossified minds. ■

JAMES SCARFONE

I t's the Teletubbie scandal

revisited. The Christian right, fresh off its astounding victory in the recent US election, has set its sights on a new target: SpongeBob SquarePants. Apparently, the midget underwater oddball is misleading children into thinking that gay is the new in thing. Rightwing groups have latched onto this story and actually believe that the Nickelodeon cartoon is spreading homosexual propaganda. I'll give you a minute to col­ lect your thoughts.

Yes, w e knew already that some fundamentalist Christians consider homosexuality to be a sin, and the idea that a cartoon character may be spreading gay mannerisms—SpongeBob enjoys frolicking through his neighbourhood holding hands with his best guy friend, wouldn't you know—has them peeling their children aw ay from such scandalous material. One's first instinct upon hearing this breaking news is to laugh and scoff at yet another bunch of unreasonable religionists sticking their necks out for nothing. But it's more than that.

W hen w e were kids, w e cherished the thought of simple Saturday morning cartoons—there was no computer animation that caused seizures, nor were there storylines much more com­ plex than Garfield sleeping the hours away, waiting for his morn-

These days, dumb news items such as a potentially gay-touting SpongeBob are dominating the wire and, in tandem, taking away sacred elements of childhood. ing lasagna. Now, the younger generation is subjected to inane excuses for animation and plots. Simplicity is no more.

These days, dumb news items such as a potentially gay-tout­ ing SpongeBob are dominating the wire and, in tandem, taking aw ay sacred elements of childhood.

I guess w e shouldn't be too surprised. According to the news cycle, it's about time that the cartoon character focus came into play. It was six years ago that w e first heard revelations of homo­ sexuality in childrens programming. The object of ridicule: a cer­ tain Tinky Winky. W e are now shrugging off the present claim regarding SpongeBob simply because it's already been covered.

But what w e already know about folks like Jerry Falwell and Zell Miller is that they will not give up their stance on so-called lib­ eral issues, even if it means attacking homosexuality by pointing to a fictitious sponge-like creature. W hat's the point, anyway?

Their efforts will just be muddied when the kids they are trying to salvage start watching W ill & Grace reruns in a few years time.

By then, Jack will be the new culprit.

W hat children should be subjected to is a daily dose of fun half-hour cartoons that promotes old-fashioned slapstick. They should not have to worry about subconscious sexual orientation "placement" supposedly set up by the producers. In last week's issue, w e addressed nostalgia and how we as university students wish to revisit the comfort zone of our youth by indulging in the foods w e ate, the games w e played, even the shows we watched. To burden today's children with obscene allegations like those of the Christian right is to taint a childhood they are meant to cherish without question. ■

Carlos and Pepe's ate my brain here once was a lad named Sir Carlos who was in charge of a campus syllable collection. He needed help, so he decided to hold casting calls for other positions to be filled.

M any unqualified applicants showed up, and of course, they all forgot to bring their clown suits. So Chief Deputy Editor Lord Pepe said, "Forget the plan, it's Friday, let's get high!" to which Sir Carlos responded, "W h o brought the camel? And the yucca plant?" Lord Pepe was shocked and said, "I pity the fool who has to sit on the hump. M y prediction: pain."

As the plucky couple of travelers continued towards the horizon, the ground beneath them began to rumble. W hen Sir Carlos fell to the ground, he noticed a small tin whistle that res­ onated with beauty; he had to have it. He grabbed the whis­ tle and blew into it hard, but no sound came out; something was stuck inside of it. And then, Lord Pepe hooked up with a

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, or how random collections of syllables slip past copy editors

pregnant girl. "He is such a playa, but don't hata him biyotch!" yelled said pregnant girl at the passersby.

Sir Carlos glared at Lord Pepe. "I'm far better looking than he is," he said vainly, and rather jealously. "Do you want my refried beans, Lord Pepe? It'll make you feel better," said Sir Carlos cunningly.

Silence is golden but shouting is fun, they decided. And the refried beans made both of them wanna go bowling.

After some time, Lord Pepe came to an interesting realiza­ tion. "The language w e are speaking is entirely put into ques­ tion," he observed. "I have to wonder where w e are all going in life when conversing like this."

Luckily, Sir Carlos whispered to him in sweet Esperanto, at which point Lord Pepe knew they would always understand each other. ■

the mcgill tribune | 25.105 | opinion

Sacred cows

The

M cG ill T r ib u n e Curiosity delivers.

Editor- in-C hief Natalie Fletcher editor@tribune.mcgill.ca

Managing Editor James Scarfone seniored@tribune.mcgill.ca

N ews Editors Jennifer Jett Laura Saba Lisa Varano tribnews@tribune.mcgill.ca

Features Editors Liz Allemang Panthea Lee features@tribune.mcgill.ca

9

Oh, but it is about politics JEFF ROBERTS

je ff.roberts@elf. m cgill .ca

I t's

an off-season of sorts for political junkies.

American congressional races are nearly two years away, and there are no Canadian elec­ tions on the immediate horizon. Fans of conspira­ cy, intrigue, and blood-sport politics have been left without an outlet for their hobby. Except for one.

Unbeknownst to many, a succession race of epic proportions is beginning to heat up in the Vatican, where John Paul II is growing increasingly frail and a variety of factions are jostling to choose his replacement. Though not your standard election fare, the papal primaries make for great viewing for all those who enjoy observing the interplay of politics and power.

Perhaps some context is in order. First, those who believe that the Church "isn't about politics" should not bother to read any further. For the rest, it is useful to know that the nationality of the Vatican's pipeline to G od matters very much to believers and, especially, to the immense religious bureaucracy that runs the Church. The present pope, of course, is Polish. His selection, say many, was a strategic—and ultimately successful—

America and Africa are favourably juxtaposing their full churches to the empty ones of Europe in order to argue that the next pope should hail from their part of the world. Their chances, however, don't look strong as these countries are lacking the insider support of the front-runner.

As the races take shape, the platforms are hardly encouraging. Unlike what might occur under a sane political system, the Church's recent track record of rampant child abuse and patholog­ ical misogyny has not brought about calls for a reform candidate. Instead, the campaign slogans of the Pope's successor are likely to resemble those of his counterparts in the 12th century: "Hell for homos!"... "Fight the Turks!"... "1 5 babies for every woman!"

Alas, the candidates in the papal race will not have to face the scrutiny to which their secular counterparts are subjected. But despite the fact that the race will be characterized by a total lack of any democracy or accountability, political junkies should enjoy it all the same. Put me down for $ 10 on Italy. ■

attempt to subvert communism in Eastern Europe.

Specifically, by choosing Karol W ojtyla (John Paul II) as the leader of the Church, the Vatican sought to undermine Soviet hegemony by providing a sym­ bol of resistance for God-lovers enduring life under a regime that was officially godless.

Now, the question becomes which country will claim the next pope. Vatican-watchers tap Italy as the clear front-runner so far. That country enjoys two distinct advantages: a strong historical claim, and a good number of influential cardinals in its corner. And last week, in a strategic gambit worthy of Karl Rove, the Italian camp has been spreading rumours about the impending beatification of Pius XII. Despite his reputation as a Nazi collaborator, the late Italian pope is being remarketed as a Hitler-defying hero worthy of sainthood. The strate­ gy is an audacious one but, if successful, might serve to serve to add a touch of celebrity oomph to the Italian campaign.

W hile Italy enjoys the lead in the papal races, insiders don't entirely discount the dark-horse candidacies of other countries. Nations in Latin

A&E Editors Daniel C hodos

Swift kick

Lise Treutler arts@tribune.mcgill.ca

i-

Sports Editors

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M o h it Arora

F

A n d re w Segal

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Winter night, Montreal night done right

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JEREMY MORRIS

jerem y.m orris@ m ail.m cgill.ca

sports@tribune.mcgill.ca

o I'm walking back home from Papineau and Rachel. Fucking long walk. And I know that it is going to take 4 0 minutes, at best. So there's three of us trudging along past Parc Lafontaine and we're busy trying not to fall on the ice. W e're slip­ ping and sliding, and, of course, complaining.

"Can we cut through the park?" "Is there a shortcut?" "W hy so much ice?" W e pass an Old Quebec church, and I'm sure that I saw it featured in some Denys Arcand movie. If it's an American movie they mostly film the south and west of the city.

This is the hinterlands. The girls remark, "They filmed an episode of Dawsons Creek here. It was supposed to be Paris, but I could clearly see the O ld Port." Cracked sidewalks, dark back alleys, and it's so damn cold.

I wish for the illusory warmth of a cigarette, while remembering my December trek up to avenue du Mont-Royal from the Trib Christmas party. That time there were four of us and we were quite drunk. To fall would have meant freezing to the sidewalk. To stop for a piss was tantamount to suicide—the Police métropolitain de Montréal would chisel you out ip July. Still, in my inebriated

S

Photo Editors Yasemin Emory Iwona Link photo@tribune.mcgill.ca

C opy Editor Sam Goffman sam.goffman@mail.mcgill.ca

D esign Editors Lara Bekhazi Benji Feldman FHeather Kitty M a k design@tribune.mcgill.ca

O nline Editor Lynne FJsu online@tribune.mcgill.ca

Advertising Manager Paul Slachta advmgr@ssmu.mcgill.ca

state, I became convinced that this was in fact the true story of the Canadian experience. A group of playful hooligans endlessly plodding northwards to a friend's house, while singing songs, telling dirty jokes, swigging back a bottle of Scotch and some­ how transcending our frozen locale through friend­ ship. Unfortunately, I was too drunk to share such insights with my companions and very nearly col­ lapsed in a snowbank.

I'm wishing even more for that smoke now. I kick a hunk of ice onto the sidewalk. Kicking ice to pass a journey must be a national pastime. Didn't you do it when you were little? It's quite satisfying.

So we're kicking the block of ice down St-Denis and I can't help but notice all the plastic bits, chunks of cardboard, packaging, and advertising disposably embedded in the ice along the path.

This is Montreal in all its discarded glory.

The girls leave and I am now alone with the winter night. I have a cheap dep cigar. Two Indian guys sold it to me at the 25-hour dépanneur. Earlier, I passed Haitian cab drivers, Algerians in a drug deal around Carré St-Louis, Charlie selling noodles atThe W indow, and frat boys on cobbled Prince-

Arthur screaming, "W e're taking these girls home tonight." Rosycheeked, I dream of my slippers, my face melting off in ecstatic joy.

I have come to the conclusion that if you don't embrace the cold then you aren't a true Montrealer.

W e bitch and bitch and bitch about it, but what are we, tourists? Are w e only here to see the muse­ ums, live in the Ghetto, go to the same bars every Saturday, comment on so and so's sexual indiscre­ tions? And then what? W e graduate and move back to Toronto, LA, N e w York—anywhere with more warmth, sunlight, and power. Almost as if vol­ untarily choosing not to wear a coat constitutes making it as a professional. Is that the definition of success?

The cold in Montreal is both literal and metaphorical. Like a lover, it knows every hair, hole, and bump on your body, and you want to strip down naked so that it can claim the very last of you. Ten minutes, five city blocks, and the cigar is out. That's the cold for you. It makes you all too human, all too tiny, all too aware of the sublime.

"Words, words, words," you say, but sometime, just stop and watch the sun rise over the ice. ■

Ad T ypesetter Shawn Lazare

Publisher C had Ronalds

C ollaborators Kevin Afshari, Miriam Aronowicz, Lise Bondy, Megan Briggs, Dave Brodkey, Dan Butler, Robert Church, Christine Cullen, Celia D'Andrea, Charlton R. Dwight, Vladimir Eremin, Joseph Gilgoff, Paul Goertzen, James Gotowiec, Amanda Greenman, Adam Heller, Matthew Hendy, Michael Ichioka, Genevieve Jenkins, Seema Jethalal, Leora Katz, Cristina Markham, Chloe Markowicz, Dan McQuillan, Melissa Miller, Jeremy Morris, Adam Myers, Caroline Olechowski, Jay Paleja, Julie Peters, Clio Pitula, Casey Reynolds, Jeff Roberts, Julia Shonfield, Cory Sterling, Zenah Surani, Josh Wilner, Jacqui W ilson

T ribune O ffices Editorial. Shatner University Centre, Suite 110, 3480 McTavish, Montreal QC Tel: 514.398.6789 Fax. 514.398.1750

Yalta is not political Yalla is an independent literary collection by Canadian Jewish and Arab youth that present their reflections on the Palestinian-lsraeli struggle (Yalla starts peace process 18 .1.05). The common message Yalla wanted to emphasize is that both sides are in pain, and both seek peace. It was clear­ ly stated by the Yalla editors and the co-sponsors, Hillel and ASA M cG ill, that the Yalla launch party was a non-political event.

The ASA believes that it is the responsibility of the media to convey the facts properly. Yalla did not start a peace process, nor is it the first time that Arabs and Jews have met. The signifi­ cance of the project lies in the fact that it was a publication that touched on the common human suffering of both sides. It allowed Arabs and Jews to meet and not talk about politics but remember that we all deserve to live in peace.

Having clarified what Yalla stands for, at least from the ASA's perspective, we find it out of context to make the compar­ ison between Yalla and the situation in Palestine. Meetings between the political leadership in Israel and Palestine are « faced with many challenges and while we can comfortably sit down and talk here in Montreal, our families back home are faced with daily challenges that threaten their lives. You cannot draw parallels between the progress of Yalla and the complex­ ity of the Palestinian-lsraeli peace process.

The ASA is dedicated to continuing dialogue but we must all be realistic about our achievements and progress.

—Faisal Darras, ASA President

Advertising. Brown Student Building, Suite 1200, 3 600 McTavish, Montreal Q C H3A 1Y2 Tel. 514.398.6806 Fax. 514.398.7490

The McGill Tribune is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the Students' Society All other opinions are strictly those of the author and do not necessarif

Exchange nightmares This is a cautionary warning for all M cG ill students think­ ing about doing an exchange: prepare to deal with a night­ mare of an exchange office. Last year, I pulled out of doing an exchange, as the process became so stressful that it was no longer worth the effort; this was largely due in part to the exchange office. Though over the past year it may have changed, I have never encountered an office so unknowh edgable, unprepared, unwilling, uncaring, and at times flat-out rude. During the course of my academic life, I have never come across an office that, with exceptions, was so bafflingly incom­ petent. It is my opinion that the exchange office personifies McGill's biggest problem, a problem that constantly sees M cGill get low marks in college rankings: its administrative red tape.

Though there are some exceptions, dealing with the administra­ tion of M cG ill can be a nightmare. This was especially the case with my dealing with the exchange office. So to those who are doing or planning on doing an exchange here, be forewarned.

—Bryan Walsh, U3 History

Breaking news faster than CN N So far this semester, the Tribune has featured three articles complaining about the proliferation of furry/Ugg boots. How shocking: in the winter, a lot of girls at M cG ill wear boots.

Thank you for covering this interesting story so thoroughly.

—Allison Codard, U3 Political Science G O O D JOB, ALLISON I FOR BEING SUCH A N ATTENTIVE READER, W E ARE OFFERING YOU O N E LOLLIPOP, REDEEMABLE AT A N Y TIME.

10

opinion | 2 5 .1 0 5 | th e m cgill tribune

SHEEP'S

Bird watching

The She-pee* death of reason

CLOTHING

Ain't nothing but a P thang

daniel.butler@ mail. mcgill. ca here have been some truly outstanding sci­ entific and cultural developments in the recent history of mankind. I would consid­ er penicillin, the computer chip, and the Duckworth-Lewis system of recalculating run targets in cricket—if you don't know what I'm talking about, your intellectual development has clearly been stunted—among the higher echelons of these.

However, for every grand illumination of human endeavour, there is always a dark shadow cast by somebody very misguided to balance off the brilliance. Enter the creator of the "She-pee." This device was concocted somewhere deep in the fjords of Scandinavia and has now risen to prominence thanks to the organizers of the Big Day Out music festival in Melbourne. They have decided to put the sword to the last vestiges of gender dignity by

T

panthea. Iee@ma il.m cgill.ca

"You have mail" and other horror stories PANTHEA LEE M

y mother always told me that "hate" was a very strong word. And I agree. Today, ?»

I no longer hate liver, I just intensely dis­ like it. I no longer hate my life; I only wish it were different. Completely different. Heck, I no longer hate Graham Jacobs, though I wish I could smash his conceited little face into a billion pieces and then send the smithereens to that new skank he's dating. See, I am mature now.

However, there is one hate that I have never gotten over: my hatred of technology. Oh, tech­ nology. How do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways.

You reconnect me with the ghosts o f my pathetic fxrst. I ain't no Scrooge, and I sure as hell don't need to be haunted by the evils of yes­ teryear The Facebook, however, doesn't seem to understand this. Last week, I got an e-mail inform­ ing me that I had a friend awaiting confirmation W h o is it, but Krystal Jones from 10th grade. The nerve! This is the very girl who said I could only be her friend if I let her copy my English home­ work every week. How dare she try and use me today as just another name in her pursuit of plas­ tic popularity? Oh, Facebook, why must you remind me of my traumatizing past?

You expose me for the asshole I really am.

M S N Geeks will be the ruin of me. For those backstabbers not in the know, take note. This is a W eb site that allows people to check who has deleted them off their M S N Messenger list.

Friendships will be marred and hell will break loose. Case in point: my friend Gertrude (names have been changed to protect the identities of the snubbed and mortified) got deleted by best friend Hortense. Cue Jerry Springer-esque "oooh." Not only that, Hortense just got hitched and Gertrude was her maid of honour. I know! Can you believe it? After hearing this tragic story of treachery, I decided to try the site out for myself. M y list was nothing scandalous. Folks that had me deleted were friends that I haven't seen since Saved by the Bell was cool. So, figuring I was safe, I decid­ ed to spread the word about this nifty tool. Bad move. W ithin a day, I had seven indignant peo­ ple confront me about deletions. Oops.

At first I tried to deny them, stammering and stuttering like Daffy Duck. Then, I tried to justify myself. Yet, how do you explain to someone that you just had to delete them because your list was at maximum capacity and in order to add a new contact—that cute guy you met in class the other d a y—you just had to delete someone. And that someone just had to be them Yeah, awkward.

Welcome to Dickwad City... population: me.

You make me live in a constant state o f fear and paranoia. Each time my cellphone rings, I cringe. Further, as I spend most of my waking hours in the basement of a school building, I don't get reception for most of the day and have to deal with lots of angry messages when I finally leave my dungeon each night. W hile I fear my phone and, thus, avoid checking my voicemail as much as possible, my fear of e-mail has surpassed all rationality I am so scared of em ail that I check it 17 times a day. All five accounts—two personal, three official.

Does this mean I am efficient about replying to emails? Hardly. You see, I often forget about e mails. Like the victims of traumatic experiences that block out the painful parts of the past from their minds, I sometimes subconsciously block the particularly distressing e-mails from my memory. I am paranoia personified.

Technology will be my downfall. Thoreau once proclaimed, "Lo! Men have become the tools of their tools." W hile I agree with my prede­ cessor, I myself am not so eloquent. So let this be P Thang's statement to technology: bite me ■

DAN BUTLER forcing this contraption upon unsuspecting patrons at this iconic Australian event. Now, shock awaits those females stepping up to join the usual lines of patient and dignified XX-ers who, for generations,-have cherished the com­ munal act of waiting for hours upon end for the chance to enjoy the privacy of a cubicle while at big events. Instead of reaching their toiletseat mecca, gals will be thrust a hand-held fun­ nel called a pee-mate, which looks like some­ thing from Madam e Tussaud's Chamber of Horrors, and told to do their business at the uri­ nal. WTF? Is it just me, or is this "time-saving" meas­ ure simply an attempt by the "you-know-whoists" to castrate one of the few remaining gen­ der distinctions between men and women?

M any of you probably remember the ridicu­ lous nature of that scene from The Full Monty.

(Need I remind you? Oh, all right. The one with the drunk chicks peeing in the men's uri­ nals.) Today, less than 10 years later, women are suddenly expected to forget that they were taught to sit down when peeing. Well, hear ye, hear ye! W ithout wishing to sound dramat­ ic, not only do I foresee a War-of-the-Worldsfirst-broadcast-esque scene of chaos and destruction as confused female punters won­ der why the gods have forsaken them, but also, the downfall of humankind's belief in rea­ son.

G ood men and women will sadly accept the irony that, whilst in the grand era of Enlightenment the natural order was often chal­ lenged to great ends, and many, many good things have come to pass. The She-pee is evi­ dence that sometimes we've just gotta trust nature, goddammit. ■

Neurotica

I'm not dealing with this anymore CRISTINA MARKHAM

cristina.m arkham @ m ail. mcgill. ca ince the only mail I ever receive is bills, and 9 5 per cent of my e-mails are spam, I love hearing my phone ring. Aside from telemarketers and frustrated Australians who call looking for my old roommate, there is a good chance that I genuinely want to speak to whoever's calling. But these days, I feel like a switchboard operator: Since N e w Year's, my phone has been ringing off the hook—so much, in fact, that I've been tempted to dis­ connect it. It seems my closest friends have decided that I am their own personal advice column, and call me on a daily basis to pour out the details of their dating lives, seeking my supposedly sagacious guidance.

There are several reasons why I feel that I'm not qualified to advise my friends. First of all, they're all a few hundred kilometres aw ay at different universities, and I'm sure there's got to be some girl within a six block radius of them who is capable of drawing parallels between my friends' relationships and an episode of Sex and the City, which often turns out to be my best advice. Also, our tastes in men differ vastly—most vastly with my friend w ho calls for advice about her girlfriend.

S

W hile my friends are drooling over lacrosse players, my heart races for a man who owns a word-of-the-day calendar, and my knees go weak if he can explain Avogadro's number over cocktails. Few share my love of geeks, and my own taste tends to colour my opinion of their gentleman of the moment.

Our conversations tend to make me feel like an out-of-touch grandmother. W hen I ask about the status of their relationship, I'll get one of three confusing answers.

1. The "It's pretty casual right now" response. Okay, how does one discern between a casual and a ... well, I guess the opposite would be a black tie relationship? If he starts showing up for your 3am rendezvous wearing a cummerbund and tails, is that a sign that you've made a transition in the rela­ tionship?

2. The "N aw, we're just dealing right now" response. I'm still not sure about this one. It refers to when two people are sleep­ ing together on a somewhat regular basis, but haven't really defined the relationship. From what I can glean, it seems like an attempt on the girl's part to give meaning to a series of

Interesting people doing interesting things BY

CASEY

REYNOLDS

meaningless hook-ups. I wonder if this guy is lamenting to his friends that he is confused about the status of the relationship, or if he is being high-fived for beating the system.

3. The "W e're not dating, we're talking response. I'm not liking the implications of this one: I talk to every boy I meet. I refuse to address these kinds of cases, because I think they're half-assed attempts to avoid admitting you just might be in a relationship.

Though I am getting a bit tired of playing everyone's personal Sue Johanson, there is one phone call I always look forward to receiving. A particular friend always calls me with questions so ridiculous, I'm sure she's making them up: "W ell, Todd in Toronto has called me a few times and I really want to see him, but Mitch is right here in the city with me... but Christian keeps promising to come in and visit me from Calgary. W hat do you think I should do?"

Until the day I am faced with the taxing dilemma of juggling three gorgeous men who all adore me, I will put up with the phone calls and live vicariously—albeit a bit confusedly— through her. ■

Across

Down

1. Charlton Heston is a former president

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38. Double dose of this vitamin is good

30. American Nuclear Society (abbr.)

for the skin

39. A favourite word of Martin Luther

40. @

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4 6 . ",___Flew O ver the Cuckoos Nest"

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purpose 54.

University students and

of this too babies

need these 5 5 . Wendell W ilkie did this in 1 940 5 6 . Former Habs goaltender

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CHATTERBOX

campus

Prof, Picard gives us a cultural education J u s t d o n 't a s k h e r a b o u t b e d b u g s o r M ic r o s o f t W o r d

SI L H O U E T T E

Trivial Pursuits T h e q u iz z ic a l n a t u r e o f u n iv e r s it y Q a n d A LISE BO ND Y uick, what acoustic property does a duck's quack not have? if you know the answer, or the thought of knowing the answer really gets you off, you're not alone. The Trivia Club was co-founded in January 2 0 0 3 by Andrew Segal and Jonathan Klein, two triviaphiles inspired by the Canadian high school competition "Reach for the Top," a thirst for random knowledge, and the desire for a dose of friendly competition.

Q

ber since the group's inception, has only one complaint: "There are often not many science trivia questions, so we were planning on volunteering once to make up the ques­ tions, and have them be really obscure so only w e would get them."

O ne warning about the Trivia Club: you may, like cer­ tain members, start to watch Jeopardy! religiously, look up lists of topics on the Internet or be your English teacher's source of all information about the newspaper-ironing habits of British butlers. You may also get the irrepressible urge to

Professor Madeleine Pothier-Picard is a part-time instructor in the English and French Language Centre. She teaches Elementary French and, as a native Quebecker, enjoys educating McGill students in La Belle Province's mother tongue

JULIA SHONFIELD

Trivia Club Executives Andrew Segal and Yudi Fujita at Activities' Night: Students by day, Trivia geeks by night.

Their bi^veekly meetings are lively evenings divided into two parts. During the first half, roughly 20 to 30 students divided into teams of four compete in six rounds of 10 ques­ tions each. All of the questions are quick one-liners, with two rounds of general interest questions, two rounds of academ­ ic-themed questions and then two pop culture-themed rounds. Rounds often have themes, and these have included such diverse topics as subways, Shakespeare, or baseball.

This first segment is designed to be fun, interactive, bar-style trivia, featuring teams with names like "The Dick Pound All Stars" competing for prizes of pints at Brutopia or AAcKibbins (which regularly host their own trivia nights). The convivial atmosphere is further fueled by "Trash" singles, questions on pop culture that earned their moniker from disdainful hard­ core trivia buffs and was later adopted by a movement in the trivia world called TRASH (Testing Recall About Strange Happenings).

The second portion of the evening pays homage to the more serious, cutthroat world of academic trivia competi­ tions, uncharted territory for a Canadian quizee. "In the States they are much more serious about trivia," notes Segal.

"There are hundreds of university teams competing in National Academic Q uiz tournaments across the country. As a trivia club, w e even get a list of outgoing seniors to recruit from."

The questions involved in these rigorous competitions are longer and more esoteric, with several detailed compo­ nents, and you can ring in the middle of the question to guess the answer. The Trivia Club spends about an hour each week practicing this more intense style with old ques­ tions. It seems this practice has paid off, as last year they were the best team in the Canadian sectional competition, and Segal considers their chances for success in the February competition in Ottawa to be good.

For those trivia buffs less inclined to participate in national competitions, they plan on hosting a campus-wide tournament on March 20, open to members and non-mem­ bers alike, with plenty of food and prizes. Segal emphasizes that you don't have to be good at trivia to join the group or attend the tournament—the group is still growing and is always open to new players.

Abigale Miller, a U3 Biochemistry student and a mem-

throttle trivia writers when you come across factually inaccu­ rate questions. The answer to the opening question, for instance, is that a duck's quack does not echo. Any scientificall^minded trivia lover knows this explanation defies the laws of physics. It just goes to show that in the wonderful world of trivia, there is always room for discussion of weird and wacky facts, the expansion of knowledge and, umm, ducks.

The Trivia Clubs first meeting o f the semester will be on January 2 3 at 7'.30pm in Shatner B30. E-mail triviaclub@hotmail.com for more information. ■

The best part about teaching at McGill is... the provoking, challenging, and stimulating exchanges with young adults who are basically eager to ben­ efit from your knowledge and experience.

Since they live in a French-speaking city, more McGill students should... make francophone friends, integrate some jouai montréalais or slang into their French, wander about in Montreal beyond rue St-Denis and acquire a craving for cretons on their toasts and poutine with their beer.

An English expression I've always found strange is... "Don't let the bed bugs bite." It is phonetically interesting but visually scarring.

M y favourite place to travel is... and has been France. In addition to the beauty of its diverse geography, where each region is almost a country in itself, I have grown to appreciate my French roots and to overcome the complexe du colonisé" whereby Parisian French is considered to be the ultimate standard of expression. I now feel at home in France with the French people. As a lin­ guist an d a teacher, I believe in the notion that maintaining one's regional accent and vocabulary is an integral component of one's cultural identity that escapes any value judgment.

M y favourite Québécois culinary delicacy is... my mother's succulente meringue au sirop d'érable, served only at Christmas dinner.

A destination I have not visited yet, but I would like to visit is...

Newfoundland. It is the last province of Canada left for me to explore and enjoy.

If I could be any French verb, I would be... dormir. I am an insomniac.

If I were not teaching at McGill, I would be... growing a garden, as did my favourite writer Voltaire.

M y pet peeve is... having been obliged to switch from WordPerfect to W ord. . , The most important thing my students learn in Elementary French is... that learning French is elementary.

M y most treasured possessions are... a 17th century Italian painting of M a ry M agdalene and my computer files.

If I had to pick one French word to describe M cG ill, it would be... vibrant.

The language I would most like to learn is... Esperanto, in the hope of see­ ing it universally adopted before I die.

FINER POINTS

—Compiled by Caroline Olechowski

Pop quiz, trivia buffs A E P i presents...

1. W hich small island cou ntry—not New Zealand, as is commonly thought—has the most sheep per capita?

The Falkland Islands 2 . W hat was Gene Cernan the last person to do?

W alk on the moon 3. W hat is the only US state capital without a McDonald's?

Montpelier, Vermont 4 . W ho is the patron saint of skiers?

St. Bernard 5. W hat is recognized as the state fish of Hawaii?

Humuhumunukunukuapua'a

6 . W hich celebrity was born Terry Gene Bollea?

Hulk Hogan 7. W hat is the only number that can be spelled in English by going forward in the alphabet without backtracking?

Forty 8. W hat was created by Canadians Chris Haney and Scott Abbott in December 1979?

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Foodisnri: Religion or disease?

In a society where food, in part, defines our cultural Identity, is our obsession with all things edible healthy?

BY P A N T H E A LEE

rom when we first wake up—sunny-side up or scrambled, milk or cream in your coffee—to when we hit the hay—do you really need that bowl of ice cream before bed?—the average person is faced with 30 to 4 0 food-related deci­ sions each day. Sometimes the decisions are made on impulse but, more and more, people are putting great thought into their food choices. After all, you are what you eat, or so the saying goes. A century ago, you would have been able to pinpoint a persons origins simply by observing what they ate. In todays global village, however, where ethnic cuisine is all the rage, it is impossible to brand a person by their dinner. O r is it?

W hile cultural distinctions have blurred, the advent of nutrition­ al science, coupled with the age of industrialization; has turned the once-simple query of "what's for dinner?" into a difficult, even emo­ tionally taxing, matter. Today, food fixation and an epidemic of dietary schizophrenia plagues North Americans, and our complex love-hate relationship with grub has escalated to the point of obses­ sion.

M an hasn't always eaten for pleasure. Sustenance was the sole name of the game for tens of thousands of years, and entire civiliza­ tions attempted to nourish themselves any way they knew how. The Japanese, largely a population of fishermen, consumed the seafood they caught off their shores. M any cultures, however, soon bored of the modest variety of fodder their environments offered and sought to spice up their fare. Mexicans, for one, have long added chilis to make an otherwise bland-tasting diet of beans, rice, and corn more palatable. The Indians employed similar tactics. Throughout history, people the world over have used spices to mask the pungent tang of less-than-fresh meats; after all, refrigeration is only a modern luxury.

Thus, preferences for food are not merely developed nor learned, but rather dictated by necessity, cultural tradition, and the times in which people lived. Today, although most have ventured beyond the stan­ dard fare of their cultures, food plays a major role in character devel­ opment, if not for a sense of belonging to a particular group, then perhaps even more importantly, for a sense of individual identity.

F

Food as religion Everybody is weird about food in one w ay or another. A recent

study found that one in three people don't like slippery foods such as oysters. One in five don't like their foods to touch on the plate. Even more shocking? One-fifth of people eat from a selection of just 10 or fewer foods most of the time. W e are obsessed with food. W e all get those cravings—9 7 per cent of the population confesses to strong and specific urges to indulge. It's 3am... must... have... Pizza 1+ 1. O r perhaps the can't... stop... eating... Ben and Jerry's HalfBaked. How did we reach this point of food mania?

It is through food—through hunger and satiation—that a baby first learns about desire and gratification. It is at the dinner table that children learn etiquette—to share, converse, and take turns. Cookies and sweets are often used as positive reinforcements by parents to reward desirable behaviour. How often have we heard, "Finish your broccoli, and you can have some ice cream"? From infancy, individ­ uals learn to place great importance on food for both physiological and social reasons.

As we reach adulthood, our relationship with food becomes more complex. It emerges as both a dear friend and a loathed enemy. W e seek solace in that pint of chocolate ice cream after a long day, and then curse it the next day when we step on the scale only to see that dreaded extra pound. W e use food to live out our notions of relaxation, of pleasure, of love. Toiling over an extrava­ gant meal is a sign of affection for loved ones. W e turn to food when we are bored or anxious—reach for that bag of chips when cram­ ming for exams or when vegging out in front of the tube. W e use food as a basis for social interaction. Let's do lunch! W hy not go for coffee? For something that is so much a part of our daily routines and collective culture, however, we seem unable to determine our true thoughts about it. Feelings of delight and appreciation are often mud­ dled with those of guilt and remorse.

Nutritional science has, ironically, made us worse off than our ancestors ever were. Today, any nutrients, vitamins, or minerals we could possibly want can all be made available in the form of a pill or a powder. Thus, free of the dictum of nutrition, we feel free to make up our own rules about what we eat.

In an age of waning spiritual faith, can food be the new reli­ gion? Devoting so much time and energy to it, have we become the disciples of foodism? W e know it is there for us when we need it— national supermarkets carry some 4 0 ,0 0 0 food items, and, on aver­

age, add 4 3 new ones daily. M any swear by a certain regime, and dutifully follow their diet manuals as if they were sacred texts. Others turn to food when seeking comfort or when rewarding themselves.

"W e love with it, reward and punish ourselves with it, use it as a reli­ gion," says Chris W olf, a Chicago-based food marketing consultant.

Today, most Canadians don't worry about whether they are get­ ting enough food but, rather, whether they are "doing it right." Are they violating any commandments of their diet? W e fret that w e eat too much. W e worry about too many carbs, or cholesterol, or sugar.

W e worry whether our meals are too high in fat, or whether they have the right kinds of fat. W e wonder whether we should buy organic. W hat about free-range? Anthropologist Conrad Kottak has suggested that fast-food restaurants serve as a church for many.

These chains' decor, menu, and even the conversation between clerk and customer are so dependable as to have become a kind of com­ forting ritual.

Although many strive for a diet that resembles varying permuta­ tions of "healthy," for many others, eating has become more than that—it has become a form of self-expression. Be it a political state­ ment or one of fashion or ethics, food is no longer the means to an end, but an end in itself. "Be vegan" or "buy free-trade" are the war cries of the socially responsible. Trendy fusion eateries cater to the imageconscious, the same ones that run around town clutching tall, half-caf, non-fat, ristretto shot, no foam, two-pump light vanilla lattes in hand.

W e are confused. Low carb or low fat? W hich trend to follow?

W ith each study that comes out, we put yet another food on our list of forbidden fruit. Our entire culture "has an eating disorder," argues Joan Gussow, professor of nutrition at Columbia University. "W e are more detached from our food than at any time in history."

Food: friend or foe?

Cable television's Food Network has more subscribers than the Playboy Channel. And forget three meals a day—the average per­ son is putting foodstuffs into their mouth approximately 2 0 times a day. This must mean that we love our food, right? W rong.

At any given time, approximately 7 0 per cent of women and 35 per cent of men in Canada are on some form of diet. According to Canada's National Eating Disorder Information Clinic, 35 per

th e m cgill tribune

hough your Kraft Dinner isn't making you thinner—ditto for that heaping bowl of your Mama's chili smothered in gooey cheese— there are worse things you could be doing for your waistline.

Sometimes it's not the late night trips to the fridge or the stash of cook­ ies under your mattress that are piling on the poundage. For many of us, the hectic university schedule results in many fine dining experiences away from our apartments. A coffee on the w ay to class, a hurried lunch in Shatner and, on those days when failed exams and empty wal­ lets weigh on the spirits, a pitcher of sorrowdrowning beer at the dank pit that is Gert's.

The eternally relevant mantra of "it’s the little things that count applied time and again to relationships is equally relevant to eating habits. Sorry to burst the bubble, but the truth is, while those pricey study break snacks may slim your wallet, they do not have the same effect on your expanding girth. Aside from the health effects—since most are really only swayed by the superficial implications—munchies high in fat, calories, and sodium, the latter of which causes the dreaded bloat, take a toll on students' fine physiques.

W hile this is hardly an endorsement of the annoying art called calorie counting or of sketchy fat-free groceries, it is a warning against the too frequent bingefest. A couple of beers, for instance, is fine every now and again, but one 12-ounce brew every day entails 1 ,0 5 0 extra calories a week, or 15 pounds gained annually. Bearing in mind the daily intake recommended by Health Canada for men (2,70 0-3 ,0 00 calories, 9 0 grams of fat) and women (1,80 0-2 ,1 00 calories, 65 grams of fat) consider how your campus bites and Ghetto grub weigh

T

How does your student grub really stack up?

When it comes to love handles, home-cooked fare isn't necessarily at fault

BY L IZ A L L E M A N C

I stress, therefore I eat On e a tin g w hen frazzled

in:

BY L A R A B E K H A Z I ■ Pepsi (355 mL)—Calories: 167; Carbs: 4 2 .6 grams; Sodium: 14.2 milligrams ■Coffee with cream and sugar (10oz)—Calories: 78; Fat: 4g; Protein: 0 .6 g ; Carbs: 10g; Sodium: 20mg • Guinness draught 12o z bottle—Calories: 125; Carbs 10g • Labatt Blue (1 2oz)—Calories: 153; Carbs 10g ■ Corona (1 2oz)—Calories: 148; Carbs: 14g • Molson Ex (40 oz)—Calories: 5 1 0 ; Carbs: 3 3 .3g ■ Iced C ap from Timmy Ho's, made with cream versus 2 per cent milk ( 10o z)—Calories: 2 3 0 to 150; Fat: 1 lg to 1,5g; Protein: 2g to 3g; Carbs: 30g to 32g; Sodium: 25m g to 35mg ■ Tim Horton's Timbits (Chocolate glaze, Sour Cream glaze)—Calories: 5 0 to 9 0 ; Fat: 2g to 4 .5 g ; Protein: lg ; Carbs: 8g to 12g; Sodium: 80mg to 160mg ■ Krispy Kreme original glaze doughnut—Calories: 2 0 0 ; Fat: 12g; Protein: 2g; Carbs: 22 g; Sodium: 9 5 mg • 2 Cookies (Chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal

raisin)—Calories: 3 0 0 to 3 3 0 ; Fat: 12g to 18g; Protein: 4 g to 6g; Carbs: 36g to 4 4 g ; Sodium: 25 2m g to 280m g - Pizza Pizza (Personal pizza: Cheese, Veggie)— Calories: 6 2 4 to 6 4 8 ; Fat: 2 1 ,6g to 2 2 .4 g ; Carbs: 7 4 .4g to 80g; Protein: 3 2 g to 3 4 .8g; Sodium: 1676m g to 1 848m g • Poutine (for a 16oz serving)—Calories: 8 3 9 ; Fat: 6 2 . 3g; Carbs: 4 2 .6g; Protein: 2 8 .5g; Sodium: 1088m g ■ Plain bagel with generous smear of herb and garlic cream cheese—Calories: 5 6 7 ; Fat: 28 g; Protein: 1 lg ; Carbs: 5 8 g ; Sodium: 931 mg ■ Three bean salad with vinaigrette (8oz)—Calories: 3 0 9 ; Fat: 1 3g; Carbs: 4 4 g ; Protein: 5 .3 g ; Sodium: 92 3m g • Veggierama-style Ham and cheese panini—Calories: 5 5 7 ; Fat: 26; Carbs: 4 6 ; Protein: 35 ■ Samosa—Calories: 3 7 0 ; Fat: 17.6; Carbs: 4 8 .1 ; Protein: 6 .3 ■

cent of these socalled "normal" dieters eventually develop severely disturbed food and weight attitudes and behaviours.

An estimated 6 0 ,0 0 0 Canadians suffer from either anorexia or bulimia, with another 4 4 0 ,0 0 0 on top of that living with disor­ dered eating habits. These numbers don't look pretty. What's even scarier? Approximately one in five eating disorders is fatal.

W hile many dismiss these individuals as simply vain, those that suffer from eating disorders often harbour deeper psy­ chological problems for which the disorder is but a symptom.

There is, for example, a strong correlation between anxiety and eating disorders. W hile the healthy level of anxiety is between 1 3 and 30 per cent, it shoots up to 6 6 per cent among those with eating disorders. Perfectionism, obsessive-compulsive dis­ order and social phobia are also more common.

Mental trauma aside, eating disorders can have painful effects on physical well-being as well. These illnesses can lead to heart disease, nerve damage, blood disorders, to name a few. Yet, what's just as grim is the emotional and physical hell that haunts those with eating disorders. Thoughts of food often invade their every thought, thwarting their understanding of their own bodies. Studies have shown that people who restrict their eating do not decrease their caloric intake offer ingesting a high number of calories, as biology would deem logical. In fact, dieters tend to eat more after eating that bag of chips.

Their rationale? Since their diet has already been "broken," they feel like they might as well overeat, causing them to spin further into depression.

Dietary schizophrenia W e love it but w e hate that we love it. W e are simultane­ ously fascinated and repulsed by it. W e are obsessed with calories, grams, and percentages. W e judge others by what they eat, and reward and punish ourselves for what we eat.

W e are the disciples of Atkins and of South Beach. "Food shall be your remedy," asserted Hippocrates once upon a time.

Sadly, we agree. W e follow rules and regimes, hoping desper­ ately that food is the answer, even though we are unsure of the question. ■

IW O N A LINK

ou all know the feeling. You slowly climb onto the scale and look down, scared to open your eyes, not knowing what number may be looking back up at you. Even the less weight­ conscious among us, the eat-as^ou-go guys and gals, feel the jeans tightening morning after morning. W h a t is it about stress that gives us free reign to consume all things edible without any thought of the inevitable repercussions?

Our overworked minds must be convinced that they can find solace in Twix bars and bagels. And so w e eat and eat. W hen you have a 1,00Chvord essay to finish by the morning and an overdue lab report, it really doesn't take much convincing that eight chocolate brownies will help you get through it all. The clichéd scene of a girl drowning her sorrows in a tub of ice cream has appeared countless times in movies, sitcoms, and even your own living room, and this for a reason: food is comforting.

However, this binge-eating phenomenon has morphed to include more than just ice cream. Almost anything high in sugar or fat—dubbed by most as comfort fo o d —w ill help you store up on energy in order to better cope.

According to Chemistry Professor and Director of the M cG ill O ffice of Science and Society Dr. Joe Schwarcz, certain foods, like carbohydrates, w ill trigger the release of amino acids, namely tryp­ tophan, into the brain, serving as a mood elevator. "Indulging in comfort foods is more psychological than anything else. It doesn t really do much to your body other than cause you to put on weight, since healthy nutritional habits are more of a long-term thing."

Reasons given to justify our indulgence sessions have also evolved. W hether it's due to impending deadlines, midterms, or personal mishaps, feeling shitty is the perfect excuse to surrender to all those abdominal lusts in an attempt to soothe turbulent emo­ tions. This stems from trying to find a tangible, readily-consumable solution to our problems, since humans are generally uncomfort­ able with purely abstract emotions.

Dr. Louise Thibault, associate professor at the M cG ill School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition agrees. "Food acts as a medica­ tion," she insists. “ It's effective, but potentially dangerous, in the sense that it may create the habit of using food as a stress-reliever, whereas oth'è? Hëalthier methods should become more common­ place, such as meditation and working out."

Since exam time encompasses the highest levels of stress, it is mainly during this period that comfort foods are devoured with such vigour. Hunger pangs, however imaginary, are the perfect reason to procrastinate. Coffee breaks are suddenly of crucial importance; portions of regular meals double in size to "keep you going"; constant snacking becomes indispensable. Pigging out takes on a clearly social form: when all your friends are doing it, you don't feel quite so bad. The nature of our library cafeteria doesn't help either. The healthy options in Redpath are limited to a salad whose best-before date is cryptic at best, and sandwiches with indistinguishable paper-thin fillings.

Usually young adults are relatively aware of what they eat, not necessarily foraying to obsessive depths of calorie-counting, while still possessing some nutritional awareness. Yet all dietary monitoring goes out the w indow the minute they don t feel quite upto-par. Feelings of guilt often follow a calorie-fest and, in classic stu­ dent fashion, vows of becoming a gym junkie are made time and time again.

Yet when holidays season rolls around, and you have plenty of time to look in the mirror and contemplate your earth-shattering beauty, all you see is a plump, unhealthy looking version of your­ self. Dealing with the weight gain is yet another source of stress: students would be better off settling somewhere between their pre­ university weight and their slightly more inflated selves.

Exercising self-control is easier preached than practised, but when all else fails, there are words of wisdom worth considering.

As Miss Piggy put it, "Never eat more than you can lift." ■

Y

a&e ENTERTAINMENT

SPECIAL:

A & E GETS

POLITICAL

^J)usic Oh Dubya, we love to hate ya American musicians morph into activists on album after album in 2 0 0 4 DANIEL CHODOS ver the past year, I have discovered that US President George W . Bush has done some very good things for America. Sure, his tax cuts for the rich hurt the majori­ ty of the population, his w a r on terror has raised more eye­ brows than a failing anvil, and he actually doesn't read. But we are overlooking some very important factors that make the US a more pleasant place to live.

Emerging from the rubble of shattered constitutional rights and torched Iraqi dwellings is an impressive and informed musi­ cal landscape, the likes of which w e have not seen since Vietnam and perhaps never will again.

A tremendous liberal response among American musicians to the Bush administration has produced countless albums, DVDs, and tours that condemn the government's policies and actions. W hat's more surprising than the sheer amount of protest albums and songs written by artists lately is how good most of them are. Five of Rolling Stone magazine's "Albums of the Year" for 2 0 0 4 were wholly or partially dedicated to rip­ ping apart the credibility o f Dubya and his cronies.

Leading the pack is a punk band that has evolved from singing about masturbation and blowing shit up to educating their youthful audience about sociopolitical issues. Green Day's American Idiot, a powerful rock opera, became one of this year's most popular and controversiaj albums, including such thought provoking lyrics as, "N o w everybody do the propagand a /A n d sing along in the age of paranoia" in the title track.

Green Day, who released the immensely successful Dookie—their first major album— back in 19 94 , is riding a tide of praise for their politically-charged 2 0 0 4 effort. Even record executives are shocked by the band's resurgence 10 years after its inception. "I have nothing to compare it to," Reprise Records rep Phil Costello told Spin magazine in a September interview.

"This never, ever happens."

Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day's lead singer and most outspoken member, is clearly driven by his strong anti-Bush sen­ timent. Despite voting for left-leaning independent candidate Ralph N ader in the 2 0 0 0 election, Armstrong agreed that his ideological counterparts needed to support John Kerry's Democrats. "N o w you have no choice," he said. "N o w you have to vote for whoever's going to get the right-wing out of office."

Other bands have jumped on the rock opera boat this past

O

year as well, including semi-retired Camper Van Beethoven, an ensemble that rose to stardom playing late-1980s "college rock." In 2 0 0 4 , the band returned to the music scene, and cre­ ated a concept album, entitled N e w Roman Times, that took a slightly more subtle shot at the incumbent American regime, at least according to lead vocalist and songwriter, David Lowery.

"W e didn't want to make it an overt comment on the cur­ rent political climate, so w e made up a fictional North America in which there's many different countries that fight each other every once in a while, and Texas has gone neo-fascist and

California has had a civil war."

The album's slightly disturbing narrative focuses on a par­ ticular US soldier from "the Fundamentalist Christian Republic of Texas." The political content of N e w Roman Times is easily dis­ cernible for the average fan, as many song titles smack of innu­ endo, including such dubious monikers as "M ilitia Song," "Civil Disobedience," and the instrumental "Yanqui G o Home." The album's melody conveys this theme effectively, infusing each song with a twangy, Southern folk guitar sound.

The Beastie Boys, returning to their old-school rap roots, came out with To the 5 Boroughs, which shunned the modern music motifs, and included a slew of songs that made direct political commentaries. Included among these is "Right Right N o w N o w ," which sounds off on such US policy issues as gun control, foreign relations, and racism.

R.E.M., lead by astute liberal M ichael Stipe, churned out Around the Sun, which despite a somewhat sour response from critics, included poetic lyrics that served as a turbulent protest of the political status quo.

Even 14-year-old boys may be getting the message these days, at least those who've tuned into rapper Eminem's work over the past year. As part of his latest album, Encore, the noto­ rious bleach-blond superstar put together an engrossing animat­ ed video for "Mosh" that depicts President Bush as a sadistic monster bent on world domination. It stresses the need for the youth of America to act before it's too late.

In addition to these and.m any other overtly political LPs released prior to the 2 0 0 4 election, dozens of talented artists worked pro bono over the summer to push voters toward the side of the Democrats. Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., and the Dixie Chicks joined so many other disgruntled artists on the "Vote for Change" tour in September. O ne month prior, Moby, Steve Earle, Lou Reed, Tom Morello, and others crashed the Republican National Convention with protest music on the streets of N e w York.

Music appears to be the medium of choice these days to appeal to young voters. Unfortunately, those w ho are listening were simply outnumbered at the polls by white, rural Evangelical Christians for whom "change" is a curse word. On the bright side, w e are left with a legacy in rock 'n' roll that will last longer than any legislation the Republicans can bring to the table. As long as bands are willing to w ax political in the face of oppression, the next generation of voters may see the world in a whole new light.

Thank you, G eorge W . Bush. ■

GRAPHIC COLLAGE BY BENJI FELDMAN

HANDS

OFF

THE

CANVAS

Crime is down? No way!

1 ast summer, a friend visiting from Spain returned from her first-ever trip to the US. W hen she returned, her lone observation was that "everyone is so scared."

Hmmm, what on Earth is making people so darn para­ noid? After giving this question some thought, I gave up and tuned into some network television. Flipping channels, I saw promos for the folbw ing shows: CSI:, CSI: Miami, CSI: N e w York, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent (back-to-back-to-back, to boot), NYPD Blue, Alias, Numb3rs, Cold Case, NCIS, Without a Trace, Cops, 24, Americas Most W anted—what is the com­ mon denominator here? Crime.

In addition to these fine programs, other TV show titles, such as Fear Factor, Arrested Development, and Hell's Kitchen, contain words that tend to evoke fear and anxiety.

Thus, on any given night, I should be able to catch approximately an hour and a half of solid, in-my-face, policechasing-the-bad-guys fun. Assuming the average person

L

watches three hours of television each night (a conservative estimate), w e can deduce that close to half of that coverage seeks to convince Joe American that violent criminals are everywhere.

W ell, that answers my initial question. O r does it? Are people really all that affected by what they watch on televi­ sion? In my first sociology course at M cG ill, I learned an astounding statistic: despite the fact that crime had been decreasing for the last seven years, the perceived crime rate had increased in every one of those years.

This data is anything but conclusive. However, there is ample evidence to suggest that television and similar forms of entertainment indoctrinates people into thinking they are in w ay more danger than they truly are. In Barry Glassner's best­ selling book, The Culture o f Fear: W hy Americans Are Afraid o f the W rong Things, he points to the m edia—which inflate crime statistics and stories in order to achieve higher ratings— as the number one peddler of panic in society today.

DANIEL CHODOS If there is some kind of mass government conspiracy at work here, the next logical question must be: why scare the public?

To this question, I propose three possible answers. One, these shows serve as an opiate for the masses. As long as I am worried that some masked man will cut me up, foreign policy will hardly be my biggest concern. Two, these shows divide all people into good and evil, leading the audience to side with legal authority in every episode. W hen a cop is try­ ing to track down someone who killed three gimpy orphans, it leaves little ambiguity as to who I should be rooting for.

Lastly, these shows leave no doubt in anyone's mind that the government will outsmart the criminals, because the cops always come out on top.

M aybe I'm the one w ho is paranoid. M aybe all the pro­ grams I'm seeing on television are just pure and simple enter­ tainment, with no sinister intentions lurking behind them. After all, people like me always end up dead on TV shows. ■

the mcgill tribune | 25.1.05 | a&e ] 7

PREVI EWS

W hat makes

■ M lim J I I i J tI B Æ

wL

^

MUSIC. Throw back—Cabaret Music Hall — 2111 boul. St-Laurent—January 28 Fresh off their first US tour, Throwback will

BadEducation so good Spill JL

B

A r e - i n v e n t i o n o f f ilm n o ir w it h a n A l m o d o v a r t w is t

i j É Ê Ê reunlte w il^ ^ eir beloved Montreal fans this Friday \ >' ‘ I at Cabaret. The show celebrates the release of their H E j t n B 0&'(QÊm new album. Border Crossing, which includes 14 ' C V v I o rigin al songs. Throughout the past year, ÎÉifc l i , 1 J Throwback has developed a more mature musical . and is looking forward to rewarding their \ loyal M cG ill fans, who fust gave them a shot two ï I jr y l I years ago 1 lets c m be purchased in advance at info@throwbackonline.com for only $8.

s t y l e

CHLOE MARKOWICZ hen Pedro Almodovar's latest film, Bad Education, hit theatres, his throngs of loyal fans all around the world knew to expect the unexpected.

As with his celebrated past works, such as All About M y Mother or Talk to Her, Almodovar does not hesitate to shock, challenge, move, and humour his audience.

Spanish-language directors might be all the rage lately, but it was Pedro Almodovar who first made Hollywood sit up and take notice, well before the talents of Alejandro Amenabar (The Others) or Alfonso Cuaron (Y Tu Mama Tambien) burst onto the silver screen. At the very least, an Almodovar film w ill encourage you to think outside the cin­

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ematic box.

Bad Education begins with two men—an actor and a filmmaker—in 1980s Spain, w ho re-encounter each other after they have been separated for 16 years. Ignacio Rodriguez (Gael G arcia Bernal) shows his first love Enrique G oded (Fele Martinez) a script based on their shared child­ hood experience at a Catholic boys' school. From this point on, the narrative spirals from one flashback to another to reveal what is truly a hauntingly bad education. The com­ plex sequence of events makes it near impossible to ade­ quately summarize the story in print, yet on screen the film is surprisingly clear as it flows from one character to anoth­ er, from real to imaginary events, and from past to present time frames.

Bad Education is a dramatic thriller with a difference; the works of Almodovar's Hollywood heroes, such as Billy W ild er and Alfred Hitchcock, inspired him to transpose the traditional film noir into a contemporary setting. He skilfully juxtaposes a beautifully innocent childhood love story, with the ugly horrors of pedophilia and murder, using the context of this classic cinematic genre. Even the femme fatale has been re-shaped to suit Almodovar's controversial style, por­ trayed by Bernal, who as it turns out is not only a gorgeous man, but also makes a devastatingly attractive drag-queen fatale.

Bernal is gradually achieving heartthrob status since starring in Y Tu M am a Tambien and The Motorcycle Diaries, but here he proves that his assets as an actor extend beyond the physical, as he showcased his remarkable ver­ satility. Almodovar's protagonists maintain a sense of humanity throughout, as the filmmaker does not shy aw ay

FILM. The Merchant o f Venice—various the­ atres—begins January 21 In perhaps the shrewdest casting job of the year, Sony Pictures lured Al Pacino to play the role o f Shylock in the first-ever big screen adaptation of W illia m Shakespeare's The Merchant o f Venice.

Between the towns of Belmont and Venice, in 16th century Italy, Antonio [|eremy Irons) fights to save his life, after agreeing to surrender a pound of his flesh to the loan shark, Shylock. M eanw hile, Bassanio (Ralph Fiennes) competes for "a woman richly left," the fair Portia. This long overdue screenplay about love and tolerance is not one to miss, packed with powerful performances and a complex storyline that is effectively conveyed by director M ichael Radford.

THEATRE. The Rape o f Lucrece—Theatre SteCatherine—26 4 rue Ste-Catherine E .-u n til January 29

CHEtM SFORDfllM CLUB.UK.ORG

from revealing the ugly, shocking, or beautiful qualities of his characters.

Bernal shines in his performance since he too has the ability to make a fictional character seem exceptionally real. This is not the first time that Almodovar has cast young Latin actors destined for stardom; both Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas achieved Hollywood fame only after appearing in Almodovar films.

The combined talents of Pedro Almodovar and Gael G arcia Bernal in Bad Education make for a film that is both entertaining and thought provoking. The legendary Almodovar does not disappoint, delivering the innovative cinematic experience for which he is famous.

You can catch Bad Education at Cinéma du Parc until February 3. However, if you prefer to avoid controversial topics or subtitles give you a headache, you might be bet­ ter off choosing a tame romantic comedy and steering clear from Almodovar. ■

Unique exhibition inspired by the Amazon Layers of colour and canvas publicize a rainforest journal CELIA D'ANDREA atrycja Walton's current exhibit, Amazona, was clear­ ly inspired by her voyage along the Amazon River.

The paintings are her visual journal of the rainforest, capturing the isolation of the Amazon's mist, rain, humidity,

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and tropical heat.

W alton displays quite a distinctive collection. The artist does not work from any photographs, pre-conceived designs, or even sketches. To create her finished product, all work is done directly on the canvas from scratch, for the first time. This technique can be truly observed in each painting's raw honesty. Further adding to her bare truth is her choice to neglect any inclusion of frames around her canvases. She believes that using frames makes the art seem “too contained," as though the piece of work is in a prison of some sort. Clearly, works reflecting a rainforest cannot be held in captivity.

W hile sorting through all the different techniques W alton uses, witnessing this particular collection becomes a unique experience. O ne noteworthy piece, Letters from the Amazon," has the word "Amazona" written continuous­ ly across a huge canvas, with pieces of newspaper floating sporadically around it. N o t only for its sheer size but for its

In case Shylock didn 't provide you with your fill of Shakespeare for the month, you can still see G ravy Bath Productions' Gareth Potter bring the Bard's The Rape o f Lucrece to the stage. Playing until Saturday (8pm each night), w e should anticipate an intriguing perform ance from the John A bb ott College alum, as this is one of Shakespeare's more controversial and dark sonnets. Based primarily on the writing of the Roman O vid, The Rape o f Lucrece tracks the fate of Tarquin, w ho becomes enraptured by the beauty o f his friend, Collatinus' wife, Lucrece, brutally raping her, leading her to commit suicide, and eventually reveal the truth to her hus­ band. Tickets are $ 1 0 for students. C all 2 8 4 -3 9 3 9 for information.

brilliance in capturing the essence of Walton's journey so concisely, "Letters from the Amazon" is the painting that stands out most in her entire collection.

In contrast to the above, W alton also includes darker works, such as "Amazon # 6 " and "Jaguar." Using shades of orange, brown, and yellow, “Amazon # 6 appears to be an uncontrolled fire, representing the w ild spirit of the Amazon rainforest. In “Jaguar," W alton uses darker colours black, grey, and green to portray a predator eerily pounc­ ing at the viewer from behind the canvas.

Throughout all of her pieces, W alton incorporates drip­ ping, stamping, and scribbling techniques as well as the integration of text onto the canvas, using acrylics, inks, glazes, pastels, watercolours, and collage to create her portrait of the Amazon. For some pieces, W alton borrows fragments of written correspondences, maps, atlases, pen­ cil marks, stamps, cut-up pages of old books, as well as potato printing in order for each work of art to truly reflect her every emotion and experience during her time away.

Amazona is on display at the W ilder & Davis Gallery [2 5 7 rue Rachel E.) until March I I . The gallery is open M onday through Saturday from 9:30am to 6pm. For more information, call 2 8 9-0 849 . ■

ART. Eternal Egypt: Masterworks o f Ancient Art from the British Museum—Montreal Museum of Fine A rts— 1380 rue Sherbrooke O .—begins January 27 The Museum of Fine Arts shifts gears on the his­ toricity of Ancient Egypt, focusing attention in the months to come on the artistic value o f one of the oldest lands in the w orld. Art history majors, lick your chops: this innovative exhibition features over 1 5 0 chronologically arranged works, including some famous masterpieces, as w ell as several littleknown treasures. Leave your problems in the Common Era as you stride through centuries of priceless artwork, beginning in the O ld Kingdom, up until the Late Period, ending in 6 4 2 A.D. For more inform ation about the exhibit, visit the Museum's W e b site at mmfa.qc.ca.

CREDITS: TH R O W B A C K O N L IN E .C O M ; S O N YC LA SSIC S.C O M ; M O G O O D W IN .N E T AAM FA.QC.CA

1 8 a&e | 25.1.05 | th e m cgill tribune

^Jlusic ^ ^ u s ic

Scratching, not stabbing

Matisyahu drops reggae-w ith a twist Former Phish-head preaches peace, love

M r. D ib b s a n d c r e w h e lp a b r o t h e r

CORY STERLING hose who were fortunate enough to see Matisyahu last Tuesday at Cabaret (2111 boul. St-Laurent] will be sure to tell you that it was an experience they will not soon forget. Matisyahu, born Matthew Miller, is an innovative reggae artist with an original twist— he's a Hasidic Jew, and proud of it. But do not let his appearance mislead you, because he knows how to perform.

Perhaps the most unique aspect of the concert was the atmosphere. It seemed, if only for two hours, the tight-knit Cabaret venue was transformed into a spiritu­ al spacecraft flying through the sky, navigated by Matisyahu's energy and powerful lyrics. This incredible feeling was acknowledged by the show's captain when he declared "it's cold outside, but warm in here" which served as an excellent microcosm for the karmic feeling that night.

However entertaining Matisyahu was, much cred­ it needs to be given to his supporting cast, which was comprised of Jonah David on drums, Aaron Dugan on guitar, and Josh W erner on bass. This trio, known inde­ pendently as Fire and Heights, have an abundance of musical ability and integrity—most notably David on drums, who showcased his talent during an intensely difficult seven-minute drum solo.

As for Matisyahu's performance, it was priceless.

His voice, resonant and colourful, is incredibly smooth, covering infinite tonal ranges in seconds. His lyrics are powerful and influential; they speak of spirituality, love, and faith. O ne line that struck the audience most, "Burn a w a y my brain no w a y /m y brain - is too compound/Torah food for my brain let it rain till I drown," symbolizes of everything Matisyahu stands for.

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THEHURRICANEONLINE C O M

MICHAEL ICHIOKA omorrow, three members of the leg­ endary 12 0 0 Hobos DJ crew —Mr. Dibbs, Sixtoo, and Skratch Bastid — will come together to drop quality hip hop on w elcom ing Montreal heads.

Unfortunately, the reason for their reunion is less than happy.

Back in November, Mr. Dibbs' younger brother, Chris Alsip, was stabbed in a Cincinnati club. Donald Germany, a club bouncer and football player for the University o f Cincinnati, allegedly stabbed Alsip with a knife he had confis­ cated from another club patron. Germany admitted to having the knife, but denied the stabbing charges. He was released from custody the day after the incident.

Alsip—who nearly die d —was hospital­ ized and underwent surgery for torso wounds, and he is now facing a charge of felonious assault for allegedly punching Germany in the face.

Wednesday's show at Foufounes Electriques is a benefit for Alsip, with all rofits going to pay his medical and legal ills. O n the montrealshows.com message board, Sixtoo wrote, "A good person got stabbed by a bad person. That person is a standup guy who generally doesn't go

T

BENUI FELDMAN

Matisyahu endears himself to the audience by dishing out props to the crowd, and even pulled a fan onstage who bore an Israeli flag. For an encore, the Hasidic reggae virtuoso invited several lucky fans onstage to dance the Horah in unison.

This young, unique musical phenomenon put on an incredible show and deserves much credit for his tal­ ent, stage presence, and courage, as he truly embod­ ies the credo that with positive intentions and love, you can accomplish anything. ■

around fucking with people. O n top of that he is the victem [sic] of a very com­ mon power struggle in M idwestern America (anyone been to a punkrock show in any club in Ohio? bouncers think they can beat the shit out of anyone... know why? because they can and fre­ quently do)... I think it might be okay to support a stab victem [sic] who happens to be a good person in a bad situation."

If a good cause isn't enough for you, what about great music? Mr. Dibbs, prob­ ably best known as Atmosphere's tour deejay, is infamous for both his hiph o p / metal mash-ups and his onstage antics. D eejay/em cee/producer Sixtoo recently released an album on Ninja Tune, and has worked with everyone from Buck 6 5 to Sage Francis. Last but not least, Skratch Bastid's precise cuts and clever juggles have consistently earned him accolades in deejay competitions from the Canadian DMCs to Cincinnati's own Scribble Jam. For more information, visit mrdibbs.com, sixtoo.net, and skratchbastid.com. ■ Benefit for Chris Alsip: Wednesday, January 2 6 @ Foufounes Electriques [8 7 rue Ste-Catherine E.j, $10.

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TR A V EL C U TS

S' nm n p n c a fin n F u n H are n r v f iIn n H i i d oedd Price subject to change w ithout notice.Taxes, surcharges and the contribution to the» ncom pensation Fund not clud

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th e mcgill tribune | 2 5 .1 ,0 5 | a & e 1 9

ulture

REVI EWS BOOK. Breathing Fire 2, edited

by Lorna Crozier & Patrick Lane.

Breathing Fire 2, an anthology of new Canadian poets published in 2 0 0 4 , transforms readers into close acquaintances of the word "dusk." In this collection of young, contemporary poets, the "to-be" of Canada's future and current laure­ ates are introduced. It is the decennia of the original Breathing Fire, and so due was a reassessment of our new poetic talent. Those who doubt the literary prowess of the Canadian canon can put their fears to rest after one read through this anthology of new talent.

Form has become looser form over time, evident in the lack of a real stan­ dard within Breathing Fire: neither categorical separations nor any discernable order of the poets' works. Visual presentation was utilized by many, offsetting one line from another, to one purpose or another—sometimes for pause, oth­ ers for distance, and some still for expressive emptiness.

Despite my inner wariness, the natural flow in the lines was immediately clear. There was no laziness in the crafting of the poems. Through familiar lan­ guage, a w ide sect of Canada is represented, with British Columbia seeming­ ly the predominant backdrop of poets. I was well-contented to read the words of those with a similar cultural background who've taken divergent paths from

Party with poetry G e t t i n g d o w n w it h t h e E n g l i s h - e r s a t M c G i JULIE PETERS

I t is a

common assumption that poetry readings are boring and pretentious, with attendees seated cross-legged on the ground, snapping their fingers in appreciative rapture. Not so at this fine institution we call M cG ill.

Our literary community has some great parties, often involving some variation on wine, beer, tea, poetry, a n d /o r cheese—the real and figurative kind. Case in point: Scrivener magazine's benefit last Thursday at Casa Del Popolo (4873 boulevard St-Laurent).

People slowly trickled into the bar to crowd the s ta g e pints in hand—and strain over the roar to hear people like current Scrivener editor Lucas de Lima, poet Peter Tiegland, and musician Ben Hammond. Clutching their drinks but lend­ ing their ears, listeners heckled their friends, falling into silence (well, mostly) before the beer took over the noise level later in the night.

Notable performers included Jessica Wolfe, who led an audience-participation "alphabet piece," and spoken word artist G abe Gorman, who blew the house away with equal doses of cadence and w it about people who "just really piss [him] off," among other subjects.

W alking in, the sense of camaraderie was immediately apparent, likely created by the truth that if you attend any of the events within the literary community at McGill, you will see—or be—a familiar face. Though there were plenty of people there, despite the event coinciding with the illustrious open bar at Gert's, Scrivener's coordinating editor, Daniel Huffaker, admitted he was "very surprised" at the turnout. The literary community at M cG ill is certainly alive and thriving, but according to Huffaker, it is also a bit disconnected and lacks student support.

Scrivener is M cG ills only nationallydistributed maga­ zine, in print since 1982. It is one of the vital organs of M cG ills literary body, including Montage, Steps, the newbie magazine Stationaery, and the English organization DESA, which organizes and often warns the populous of upcoming events.

Well, not really the populous—mostly just English stu­ dents. More specifically, only English students who have signed up for the DESA mailing list, or have seen the random

ARTS.MCGILL.CA

posters scattered on the walls of the Arts building.

Though Scrivener can be found in actual bookstores across Canada and not just on tables in the Leacock build­ ing, the sales within the school are disappointing.

"I'd like to see the student body care more about Scrivener, and buying more of Scrivener," says Huffaker. A student audience is not always a profitable one. Scrivener is a pretty magazine, with glossy pages and well-presented art­ work. "It's a prestige thing," Huffaker says. "Students aren't willing to drop $ 7 on that."

Getting involved in the literary scene is easy, if you know how to access it. And once you do, consider it pretty cool to be a part of the legacy that spawned the works of Leonard Cohen, Irving Layton, and A. M . Klein at M cG ill in the 1940s. It's also a good w ay to get to know people and feel a little less like a number in McGill's unnamed population.

Huffaker offers his advice to students wishing to help strengthen the support of the universitys literary community: "W hat people don't realize is that they are the community," he laments. "You are the community! You need to be there, and be a part of it, so submit, and contribute."

N o finger snapping required. ■

my own.

Despite its beauty, Breathing Fire 2 does not relieve poetry of its continu­ ously depressing aura. Subject matter oscillated like a one-legged manikin; there was not a well-at-ease heart in the bunch. The world of these poets is locked in a transient halfway point, adding that dreamlike superimposition on top of the world. O ne wonders whether they see in Technicolor—or if maybe w e do.

—Paul Goertzen CD. Before the Poison by Marianne Faitfifull.

From the opening minor strums on "The Mystery of Love" to the deli­ cate, breakable sense of "City of Q uartz," Marianne Faithfull's latest spins a w eb around the listener's ears, holding them captive for every emotion. O ne can push the play but­ ton and enter Faithfull's world with ease, but even hours of silence after the closing notes w on't make the exit easier to find. Before the Poison is one of the most beautiful—and most dangerous—albums to fall onto the record store shelves in a long time.

Faithfull's collaborative efforts with PJ Harvey and N ick Cave create the image of a paranormal trio, conjuring secrets from somewhere deep within the confines of a recording studio. Harvey's presence is especially noticed and welcomed on tracks like "M y Friends Have" and "N o Child of M ine," where her distinctive background vocals blend with Faithfull's telltale smoky lead into a tempting cocktail.

Despite Faithfull's 4 0 y e a r recording career, Before the Poison is as orig­ inal as any album. From the haunting stare on the cover to standout, chilling lyrics like "It's not a love song/lt's the last song for you" and "I have no time for hate or lying/H ey, child, you're no child of mine.

Don't expect this album to be a background player—you will hear and you will listen, because somehow, M arianne Faithfull knows exactly what your worries are and she'll tell you. Candles and incense are optional.

—Lise Treutler CREDITS: BOTH FROM A A A A Z O N .C O M

SPEND SPRING BREAK IN

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HOCKEY

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REDMEN

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C O N C O R D IA

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Redmen thrill fans by trouncing Stingers Poitras turns aw ay 37 shots in shutout win M cQ u i l l a n

dan

The bitterly cold weather Saturday night was not enough to keep a throng of fans aw ay from McConnell Arena, but it sure cooled off the previously red hot Concordia Stingers.

A standing-room only crowd of 1 ,3 2 4 —the largest home attendance figure for the Redmen since 1 9 8 8 saw the finely-tuned Redmen outplay Concordia at every facet of the game, as M cG ill emerged with a 3-0 victory over a team that had gone 7-2-1 in its previous 10 league games. The win also broke the tie between the teams in the standings, with M cG ill now moving into sole possession of second place in the O ntario University Athletics Far East division.

The game was fast paced and hard-hitting from the beginning, but it was not the eventual victors that had the best chances early on. Concordia had three chances to beat M cG ill goaltender Mathieu Poitras from point blank range at the four-minute mark of the first, but Poitras dropped down into a controlled butterfly and made the tough stops.

Following the saves, the Red 'n' W hite were able to shift the momen­ tum, in large part thanks to forward Teddy Kyres. The rookie put M cG ill on the board m idway through the frame with a brilliant individual effort, rolling out from behind the net into the slot untouched before unleashing a fierce wrist shot, which was postmarked for the top right corner. Kyres then fol­ lowed up his marker with a bone­ crushing hit on an unlucky Concordia defenceman along the end boards.

THE

RED

Plead Coach Martin Raymond credit­ ed the Westminster native with waking up the team after a bit of a sluggish start.

"W e thought that w e didn't start the game pumped up, but Teddy Kyres's goal and hit got the boys going," he said.

For his. part, Kyres attributed his and the team's keyed up performance to three things: the fact that M cG ill and Concordia were tied in the stand­ ings, the Redmen's tough 3-2 loss the night before to Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, and the age-old cross­ town rivalry between the two schools.

Fans and goaltending make the difference As the goal and the hit ratcheted the M cG ill fans up to full intensity, the usual derogatory chants were broken out, and ribbing of individual Concordia players was more the rule than the exception. Raymond noted that the large number of spectators had a positive effect on his team.

"W e play really well in front of big crowds," he said. "I think we're undefeated in front of big crowds this season. The players enjoy playing in front of them."

The Redmen fed off the fans and kept up the their efforts in the second period, recording a number of scoring chances while ensuring that most of Concordia's efforts around the M cG ill net were relatively harmless.

Defenceman Daniel Jacob con­ verted one such opportunity with just under seven minutes to go in the frame, firing a howitzer from the point that froze Concordia goalie Patrick Lepage, who remained in his butterfly stance for several seconds after the

IW O N A LINK

Teddy Kyres (11) sparked the Redmen with an early goal and punishing physical play, registering 16 hits. puck entered the net, seemingly in dis­ belief, as the crowd erupted.

Mathieu Leclerc rounded out the scoring on a third-period power play—recording the Redmen's second goal of the night with the man advan­ ta g e —when he tipped Alexandre Pagé's shot past Lepage for his fourth goal of the season.

The rest of the game was spent on the defensive front, preserving Poitras's shutout. Throughout the con­ test, the rookie made big saves when called upon, but M cG ills solid play in

its own zone was effective at limiting Concordia's offensive sting. Kyres noted that blanking the Stingers will help to buoy the Redmen down the road.

"This was great for our confi­ dence," he said. "W e didn't give up a goal against a very [good] offensive team."

Raymond agreed, lauding his netminder and team veterans like Doug O rr—who recorded tw o assists to move into a tie for fifth place in league scoring—for their role in the

team's dominant performance.

"It starts with goaltending, and Poitras played great," he said. "Then our leaders stepped up to the plate; goaltending and leadership came through."

Indeed, it was a great night for the entertained fans, the players, and the coaching staff. All left McConnell Arena with w ide grins and rosy cheeks on this cold January night, fending off the far-below-freezing temperatures with the warmth provided by a Redmen victory. ■

Z O N E

Steroid plan to produce scapegoats and results JOSEPH GILGOFF ajor League Baseball recently unveiled a new and tougher steroid policy, a plan that has been met with skepticism. The penalties still aren't harsh enough, critics say, so it will remain ineffective. People who slam the plan for lacking teeth are completely missing the point though.

Strengthened by the downfall of N e w York Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi, who recently admitted to using steroids throughout his career, the plan will usher in a new era in base­ ball, one with less inflated power numbers and more clean players.

The new plan features random testing of players, includ­ ing in the off-season, and penalties for positive results of unprecedented severity. A first infraction will automatically result in a 10-game suspension, followed by increasing bans of 3 0 games, 6 0 games, and the entire season for repeated offenders, all without pay. A five-time offender faces the com­ missioner, and presumably, expulsion from baseball.

Criticism of the policy has been voiced on many fronts.

Some laugh at the number of offences if takes a player to get suspended for a year while others think that excluding amphetamines and other substances from the policy is insuffi­ cient.

"The new baseball drug policy is still a joke," said one

M

such detractor. "It is like attempting to reduce crime by ban­ ning the use of handguns, but still allowing criminals to use rifles."

The man supplying this masterful gun analogy is none other than Victor Conte, whose Bay Area Laboratory Co-oper­ ative is at the centre of the steroid storm. Conte is currently awaiting trial for distributing designer steroids to Barry Bonds, G iambi, and several other stars. Some might say this makes him an expert on the matter. O r it makes him bitter that his business, and maybe his life, is now in ruins.

Supporters of the plan include politicians, managers, and players alike. Senator John M cC ain |R-Arizona) has voiced his satisfaction with the plan, as have prominent base­ ball people, like Tony La Russa and Tony Gwynn. M ore impor­ tant than the figures that support the plan are their reasons.

"The steroid user needs to realize it isn't just about him now," argued Gwynn. "A 10-game suspension will impact his teammates and his organization. And being known as a steroid user will tarnish his image."

Here lies the reason why the steroid policy will work: If a player gets caught, his reputation will be destroyed, and when that happens, so do the big contracts and endorsement deals. There w ill still be pressure to shoot up and jack an extra

few home runs, but the logic against it will simply be too over­ powering to ignore.

Fans are angry about steroid use in baseball, as are players not on the juice. Future steroid users will be vilified by fans, resented by their teammates, and shunned by profit-hun­ gry owners weary of bad publicity.

A case in point is G iambi. W hen Bonds and G ary Sheffield claimed that they took steroids by accident, Giambi conceded. N o doubt his steroid use has contributed to the health issues he has encountered in recent seasons, which are too numerous to list. The former MVP has become an outcast in N e w York, and ownership is working diligently to void the rest of his seven-year, $ 1 19-million contract. He has become the scapegoat for an embarrassed league, and the poster boy for the detrimental health effects of steroids.

So who wants to become the next Giambi? Body break­ ing down, fan support shot, paycheques halted. The answer: almost nobody.

The next few years will see a real and significant decline in steroid use in baseball. Whether the end of inflated statis­ tics that they produce will prove to make the sport better and more popular in the long run is, as the saying goes, a whole other ball game. ■

H O C K E Y

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M artlets

2,

St.

Francis

Xavier

the mcgill tribune | 25.1.05 | sports 21

0

Martlets dom inate undefeated X-Women

O FF

THE

McGill stuns fourth-ranked squad in non-conference tilt A D A M

H ELLER

O n paper, the matchup between undefeated St. Francis Xavier and reel­ ing M cG ill hardly seemed fair. But it was the fourth-ranked X-Women who departed McConnell Arena Friday night with the first blemish on their record, as the 10th-ranked Martlets exploded out of the gate on their w ay to a resounding 2-0 victory.

The final score gives the visiting squad more credit than it deserves.

The Martlets pounded the X-Women's defence all night, leading 16-5 and 35-7 in shots on goal after the first and second periods, respectively. St. F.X., who won its last two conference games by a combined score of 2 0 0 and beat M cG ill 4-1 in November, simply could not keep up.

Alternate captain Katherine Safka summed up the importance of the triumph for the Martlets, who had lost seven of their previous nine head­ ing into Fridays match.

"This is a big one," she said.

"W e haven't been winning lately so this is a good turn-around. W e've had a couple good weeks of practices and talked about what w e need to do to learn from our mistakes, and this is one of those games that w e put it all together for 6 0 minutes."

Indeed, the Martlets asserted their dominance early, as St. F.X. got into penalty trouble. Two needless infractions in quick succession gave the Martlets a five-on-three shortly after the puck dropped, and although M cG ill could not capitalize on that two-man advantage, it helped get the Red 'n' W hite on a roll. They kept it up as the first period progressed, and finally found paydirt when Shauna Denis cut in off the wing and beat St. F.X. goalie Crystal Stewart top corner at 18 :0 8 of the frame.

The second-year forward felt that the Martlets' unwillingness to take retaliatory penalties and sacrifice their grip on the game's momentum worked

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out for a team that had recently strug­ gled with this facet of the game.

"W e were defi­ nitely trying to be more disciplined this game," said Denis.

"And I think that it paid off in terms of getting more five-onthrees and five-onfours and getting more shots on net."

Annual residence ski trip never disappoints ZEN A H

SURANI

ou may have seen large, boisterous groups of beer-toting firstyears loading onto a row of coach busses along rue University two Fridays ago. These students were on the threshold of para­ dise: a nonstop party for some and an intense weekend of moguls and bunny hills for others. The occasion: Snowbash, McGill's annual resi­ dence ski trip to Mont Ste-Anne, just outside of Quebec City.

"Let's do the Forêt Enchanté to warm up," suggested my friend.

This "enchanted forest" was marked out as a green circle (beginner) run. Yeah, some warm-up. The trail was narrow, icy, and sprinkled with large jumps. The Forêt Enchanté was aptly named, since it seemed endless and I thought I'd be lost in it forever. W e eventually reached the bottom, and retreated to the warmth and safety of the lodge.

After an hour of stuffing ourselves with poutine and hot chocolate, we were ready to venture outside once again. Reaching the top of the hill, we were greeted by clouds of blowing snow on the main trail.

Because of the weekend's mild weather, Mont Ste-Anne was forced to resort to artificial snow so that w e could enjoy the mountain without skiing over bare spots and ice patches. Some of the international kids in the crowd couldn't believe their eyes. "You mean they can make snow?!" they asked in disbelief. The next few runs were nicer than the first. It wasn't powder, but hey, it sure beat ice.

The number of snowboarders on the trip still boggles my mind.

As a skier, I'm definitely biased, but I must admit that my respect for snowboarders has grown recently. Sure, they can be menaces on the

Y

Defensive dominance

VIADIMIR EREMIN

McGill's drive did not wane after the first period, and the Martlets' dom­ inance of the defensive zone resulted in goalie Catherine Herron seeing only two shots in the second period.

The grind line of Véronique Sanfaçon, M a ry M a g lie ri, and N a ncy M acdonald consistently cycled the puck and wore down the X-Women's defence, while the other lines fol­ lowed their lead, out-hustling and outshooting the sluggish St. F.X. squad.

The upshot of this effort was Martlets' leading scorer Katherine Safka netting her 17th goal of the season on a delayed penalty call near the halfway mark.

The two-goal lead would be more than enough, as the Martlets' defence continued to clamp down in the third period. Although the XW omen did apply pressure during the last few minutes, Herron stood strong when tested.

"Catherine had a phenomenal game," said Denis. "It was a great shutout, she definitely deserved it and she played really well. Everyone on the team played really well."

Safka got her 17th goal in the win. equalled her own M cG ill single-game points record with a goal and four helpers. Kalie Townsend made 2 0 saves for the victory, as the Martlets outshot Dal 48-22.

The Martlets followed that up with a victory over another top team on Sunday, this time beating ninthranked St. Mary's University 3-2.

Laura Ruhnke scored the gamewinner at 7 :2 0 of the third period, while Herron withstood 34 Huskies shots to earn the win.

H eading into the matchups, Head Coach Peter Smith had chal­ lenged his team, noting the stretch of games is comparable to what the Martlets will see at nationals, which M cG ill is hosting in March.

"W e are trying to treat this week­ end as a little bit of a warm-up for the national championship in terms of playing three games in a short period of time," Smith said. "The girls know that, and that's what they are trying to accomplish."

W ith this impressive three-game sweep under their belts, the Martlets hope to have turned a corner as they get back into Quebec conference play and make their national title drive. ■

Capping off a perfect weekend O n Saturday, the Martlets avoid­ ed a letdown by blowing out the Dalhousie Tigers 7-2. Safka notched a hat trick, while Véronique Lapierre

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PATH

Snowbasht the thrilla on the hilla

A S E Q S t u d e n t S p e c ia l

Mo n t r e a l

BEATEN

Ot t a wa • Wi n d s o r

K i n g s t o n 11 T o r o n t o • N i a g a r a • Cal gar y • Vancouver

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hill, clogging the lift entry and exit areas by sitting down.to adjust their bindings, forcing skiers to manoeuvre around them, and wearing out the snow with the edges of their boards. But as a fairly weathered skier who tried snowboarding for the first time last winter, I'll never look at snowboarders the same condescending w a y again.

Snowboarding demands patience and discipline, and is the fastest growing sport in North America for a reason. After falling every few minutes, and aching for a week afterwards, I decided to stick to ski­ ing. But I have to say, it's pretty damn cool to watch snowboarders fly almost effortlessly up and down the half-pipe.

Ski or snowboard, though, there's just nothing like racing your friends to Mont Ste-Anne's renowned Sugar Shack at breakneck speed. Ah, the sweet taste of victory—literally. The Sugar Shack, a rus­ tic log cabin akin to something out of a fairytale, is located to the side in the middle of a trail called La Pichard. Outside the cabin was a trough-like wooden structure, with packed snow in a hollowed out sec­ tion of the wood. There, people of all ages congregated with a sense of excitement and elation; their skis, poles, and boards strewn to the side and momentarily forgotten.

I gave the man in the cabin a toonie, and he handed me a Popsicle stick. As if reading my mind, or at least my blank expression, he said, "Man will bring maple syrup," in a heavy Québécois accent.

Sure enough, a man in a heavy red plaid sweater, straight out of a Brawny ad, emerged carrying a pitcher of maple syrup. He poured three strips of it onto the snow in the hollow and instructed us, W ait one minute." W atching others excitedly w rap their own cooled maple taffy around their sticks and experiencing the delightful aroma of the fresh, hot maple syrup, that one minute felt like an eternity. Upon first taste of the extremely sweet stuff, my taste buds seemed to scream in delight and anguish at the same time. Somehow all the eating man­ ners I had acquired in my youth simply vanished as I devoured the stick of maple taffy, licking it, rolling it in the snow a bit more, and gob­ bling up the heavenly combination of warm pure sugar and the frosty snow.

There w e were, standing outside a cabin on a ski trail, sucking on maple sugar in the bitter cold. I took it all in, and thought to myself: Sure, tne slope conditions weren't ideal and it was a bit disorganized, but all in all, Snowbash made for a grand ol' Québécois time: ■

REDMEN

HOCKEY

Leading scorer takes the money and runs C o a c h left hanging as Daoust signs with sem i-pro te a m ADAM MYERS M att Leinart, University of Southern California's Heisman trophywinning quarterback, turned down the opportunity to go pro this year, foregoing several million dol­ lars in order to finish his degree and enjoy the fun that uni­ versity has to offer. Unfortunately for the M cG ill Redmen hockey team, leading scorer Jean-Michel Daoust did not make the same decision, and his actions have Head Coach Martin Raymond steaming mad.

Earlier this month, the highlyrecurited winger—who came to M cG ill from the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec M ajor Junior Hockey League—left the Redmen, signing a semi-pro contract with the Sherbrooke SaintFrançois of the Ligue Nord-Americaine de hockey. This broke the promise Daoust made when Raymond recruited him—specifically, that he would stay with the Redmen for at least his entire first year at M c G ill—and the coach is under­ standably displeased.

"If he wants to go, then get the hell out of here," says Raymond. "If he doesn't care about the team, then it's better that he leaves."

Although Raymond knew that Daoust had no intention of graduating, he was surprised by Daoust's departure, especially after the Valleyfield native went on the team's European tour over the winter break. But after returning home, Daoust decided to head in a different direction, with­ out even informing Raymond.

"I was disappointed that I found out through a W eb site rather than through him," the coach says. "M y top recruit was now being advertised on a semi-pro W eb site."

Daoust played his first game with the Saint-François on January 12, recording a goal, and as of Sunday, had totaled three points in five games.

Signing with Sherbrooke was not Daoust's first brush with the pros this year. In training camp, he received an offer from an agent to play for a team in Italy. Raymond attempt­ ed to explain to his star that the offers would still come after he completed his academic degree, and Daoust did remain with the team at that point, but the bench boss realized then that "his heart wasn't really there." A source also informed the Tribune that Daoust's father was not keen on him playing

VLADIMIR EREMIN

Paul Grinvalds (10) was named the Athlete of the Week after leading the Redmen to two victories over their AUS opponents on the weekend.

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university hockey, and may have pushed Daoust into the decision to go pro.

Raymond is most upset that Daoust came on the trip to Europe, which was designed to develop team chemistry as the squad got ready for the second half of the season.

According to Raymond, Daoust had told other players on the team before the trip that he was planning on leaving, yet he still came anyway, which now leaves the Redmen at a dis­ advantage.

"I used J.M. and sat out other players," who will now have to play more critical roles in the final leg of the season, Raymond says.

Although the Redmen are now preparing for the stretch run and a battle for first place without their leading scorer, Raymond still feels quite confident in his team's chances.

"The void in terms of offence can be picked up by oth­ ers, including [current leading scorer] Greg LeBlanc," he says.

Raymond believes the team is in a stronger position without the distraction that accompanied Daoust. He notes that he used Daoust in several critical game situations, and that outcomes could have been different had the player been fully committed to the team.

"He was a question mark in the lineup that we don't have anymore," Raymond says. "His heart was not all here.

W e could have a better record had we known earlier."

Other players also feel that the loss of Daoust won't present much of a problem.

"W e have a pretty solid team with lots of depth," claims left winger Lucas M adill. "Guys will pick up the slack."

As for Daoust himself, he is making a share of the Sherbrooke teams $ 2 5 ,0 0 0 per week payroll—which is divded up among 23 players and the coaching staff—but he has had to scale back his M cG ill course load, meaning a loss of up to $ 8 ,5 0 0 in bursaries in the process.

Regardless, the M cG ill players are sure to put him out of their minds shortly. Backed Dy Raymond's fighting spirit and his willingness to steer them past Daoust's defection, the Redmen are already back on track for playoff success. ■ —Additional reporting by Dan McQuillan, Andrew Segal, and M ohit Arora

Call 416-675-6622, ext. 5032 or em ail rupen.das@humber.ca fo r fu rth e r information.

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T W O -P O IN T

Seating is Limited!

The year of the labour dispute

CO NVERSIO N

CORY STERLING

Daoust after dashing to Sherbrooke.

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W W W . M C G IL L T E C H F A IR -1 N F O

Hockey and alcohol lovers unite.

W e are currently making history as the first batch of university students to attend school with neither booze nor our national game. Has anyone ever been forced to pursue an education under such adverse conditions? Surely this sce­ nario is unprecedented.

The NHL and SAQ are unrelated establishments, but combined, they have a major stake in almost everything that is Canadian culture. Hockey and alcohol have been married in the eyes of Canadians for as long as we can remember, and simultaneously losing both has been staggering. And so, please join me as w e communally mourn their absences.

Throughout my entire M cG ill career, I always looked forward to Saturday nights, as it meant a time of celebration, sport, and intoxication. But those days of Jack Daniel's shots, Bryan M cC abe can-openers, and senile Don Cherry remarks are long gone. And though the transition was difficult and emotionally straining, I have finally become accustomed to the "new" Saturday nights. These typically start with a bottle of the finest dépanneur Porte D'enfer white wine instead if JD. Then, I tune into FrenchCanadian radio programs and the hottest action that the QMJHL has to offer, which should explain all the wine.

Weekdays are no exception to changing circumstances either. An aver­ age of two M aple Leafs games a week usually kept me busy and helped me stay out of trouble, but now that my weeks have been freed up, I find myself committing crimes of passionless bore­

dom, like intently watching Golden Girls marathons.

But unlike the NHL and SAQ, I do consider the effect this situation has on others. I can only imagine being Ed Belfour or Théo Fleury, each perennial drunks and infamous NHL all-stars who essentially have no reason to live a n y more because both their occupation and their source of happiness have left them. Other innocent victims are the hard working SAQ employees who were forced to flee overseas to work in the elite SAB—Société des alcools du Belarus—and find it difficult to maintain their alcohol-selling skills in this weaker setting.

But enough about others, let's bring the focus back to us. The worst part about the labour situations is that we, the university students of Quebec, lose out the most. W e are at a point in our lives where we can get drunk and engage in meaningless fights about hockey rivalries—a privilege that has been taken from us.

And it's not only Canadians that are hurting from the dual disputes.

Giovanna Estrella, a second-year exchange student from M exico City, expressed extreme displeasure in the current situation. She confessed, "One of the reasons I chose M cG ill was for its lenient alcohol policies and great NHL atmosphere, both of which I have yet to enjoy."

I may have accepted this situation, but no matter how I try to spin it, it still sucks. The long, cold winter months seem infinitely longer and colder. W e have been deprived of our national pas­ time, and maybe worse, w e have been deprived the opportunity to forget about the loss of our national pastime. N o w is certainly the winter of our discontent. ■

the mcgill tribune j 25.1.05 j sports 2 3 S T A N DI N G S HOCKEY (M)

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B-BALL (W) PLAYOFF QUALIFICATIONS Men's hockey—top two teams in each of the BISHOP'S ; Far East and M id East, and the two next IAVAL best teams, regardless of division. | C O N C 'D IA Women's hockey—top three teams Men's and women's basketball—top four | UQÀM teams

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Red 'n' White represent at Laval meet

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McGill Martlets 7, Dalhousie Tigers 2 REDMEN A N D AAARTLETS TRACK & FIELD—M cG ill Invitational meet, Friday and Saturday at Tomlinson Fieldhouse M cG ill is home to one of Canada's best and fastest tracks, so teams from all over the country flock to Tomlinson. One of the biggest meets in Canada, the M cG ill Invitational is very competitive, and will likely produce very fast times.

Satuday, January 22 @ McConnell Arena

REDMEN BASKETBALL—Concordia @ M cG ill, Saturday, 8pm at Love Competition Hall Point guard Denburk Reid needs 25 points to become M cG ill's alltime scoring leader, so look for his teammates to find him early and often in an effort to allow him to get the record at home.

18 :2 4 3. M cG ill - Véronique Lapierre (unassisted), 1 9 :4 7

N B A —Sonics @ Lakers, Tuesday, 10:30pm on The Score The Kobe-less Lakers take on Northwest division-leading Seattle, who always threatens to shoot the lights out on any given night.

W ithout Bryant, Lamar Odom gets to let loose instead of playing second fiddle for a change.

N B A —Heat @ Raptors, Wednesday, 7pm on Sportsnet M iam i takes its Eastern Conference-leading record on the road and heads north of the border to take on the pride of Canada. The Raptors have been winning lately, but let's see if they have any answer for Shaq, W ade, and Co.

SCORING SUMMARY First Period: 1. Dalhousie - Leah Kutcher (unassisted), 7:01 2. M cG ill - Katherine Safka (V. Lapierre, C. Smith),

PENALTIES: Dalhousie - K. Zimmerman (interfere), 8 :2 2 Dalhousie - L. Kutcher (slash), 13 :5 9 Second Period: 4 . M cG ill - Christine Hartnoll (V. Sanfacon), 11 :18 5. M cG ill - Katherine Safka (V. Lapierre), 12:23 6. M cG ill - Brittany Privée (L. Ruhnke, P. Mason), 15 :03 PENALTIES: Dalhousie - L. M cCarvill (cross-check), 4 :3 5 M cG ill - V. Lapierre (hold), 8:11 Third Period: 7. Dalhousie - Kimberley Carcary (R. deVries, B. Whyte), 3 :3 7 (pp| 8. M cG ill - Katherine Safka (V. Lapierre, V. Paquette), 9 :2 7 9 . M cG ill - Valerie Paquette (V. Lapierre, K. Safka), 15 :43 (pp) PENALTIES: M cG ill - B. Privée (high-stick), 3 :2 5 Dalhousie - R. deVries (bodycheck), 6 :1 5

M cG ill - B. Privée (trip), 16:02 M cG ill - S. Denis (bodycheck), 17:13 Dalhousie - L. Merkley (bodycheck minor, game miscon­ duct), 18:31 GOALTENDERS:

Andrew Brown ♦ U3 Biochemistry ♦ Track & Field» Markham, O N

Q: Elaborate on the con­ cept of standard times A: There are three ways to qualify for the CIS champi­ onships. You get in by winning provincials, being ranked in the top 1 2 in the country, or by running a standard time based on the top finishing times of previous years. The last w ay is the simplest, but it's also the hardest. These are fast times to Q : W h a t should we run, and those who do are expect from this weekend's ususualfy challenging for the provincial championship any­ M cG ill Invitational?

A: O ur meet is one of the way. biggest in C a n a d a —maybe Q : Is it true that you were the biggest aside from the national championship. M cG ill only the second-best football has one of the fastest tracks in player on your team in high Canada, and w e spread the school?

A: Yeah, there was anoth­ track events over two days, so everyone has a chance to run er guy who was better. He standard times, even if you're actually looked a lot like you.

Q : ‘ Coughs* competing in multiple events.

Q: W hat is the atmos­ phere like with the relay teams, with five or six runners working together, but only four compet­ ing at a time?

A: W e work together and try to improve as a team, but it is in the back of your mind that you're competing against these guys, too. It's a tough balance, but w e manage.

M cG ill: Kalie Townsend (W, 6 0 :0 0 , 2G A, 2 0 saves) Dalhousie: Kristen Ladouceur (start; L, 3 2 :2 3 , 4G A , 16 saves) Jen Smith (2 7 :3 7 , 3G A, 25 saves)

TIGER

Redmen cagers drop two on the weekend

McGill's men's basketball team squared off against two division rivals this weekend, but fell short in both games. The Red 'n' W hite hosted the Université du Québec à Montréal on Friday, falling 75-70, before traveling to Concordia the next night and getting thumped 79-58.

In Friday's game, the Redmen held a 34-33 lead at half­ time, but were undone by poor three-point shooting, as they were just one of nine from beyond the arc. Greg Rembeyo led M cG ill with 2 0 points, while Derek Armstrong added 15.

Saturday's game wasn't nearly as competitive, as the Stingers, tied for first in the Quebec University Basketball League with Laval, dominated M cG ill down low, tallying a 40-21 edge in rebounds. The game was actually reasonably close until Concordia exploded, going on a 16-0 run near the end of the first half.

Armstrong was one of the few bright spots in the game for the Redmen, leading all scorers with 23 points. Denburk Reid, closing in on McGill's career scoring record, was held to just five points in the contest, leaving him 25 short of cur­ rent leader W illie Hinz.

Martlets' home futility streak continues

The M cG ill women's basketball team continued to strug­ gle at home this season, dropping a 5 9 -3 6 decision to U Q À M on Friday night, before getting thrashed 67 -38 the next night at Concordia.

Poor shooting plagued M cG ill throughout the match, as the Red 'n' W hite shot only 3 0 per cent from the field (1 2 of 40), including one of nine from three-point land. Marie-Eve Beaulieu-Demers and Julianne Noseworthy led the Martlets with eight points apiece in the match.

The loss to U Q A M was especially tough because the two teams are currently fighting for the fourth and final playoff spot. U Q À M now sits two points ahead of M cG ill following the victory.

M cG ill's troubles continued the next night, as the Martlets were easily disposed of to the tune of 70-42. In that contest, Amanda Costa registered 1 1 points to lead M cG ill, and Alisen Salusbury added 10.

Redmen V-ball split interlocking games

M cG ill - K. Leuszler (trip), 10 :4 6 Dalhousie - L. Merkley (interfere), 15 :18

IW O N A LINK

The M cG ill track and field team competed at the Laval Rouge et O r Invitational on Saturday, racking up four gold and 17 total medals in the meet. The Laval Invitational has no team scoring.

For the Redmen, Jeff M cC abe finished first in the 1500metre event in a time of 4 :0 5 .1 1, and Dan St. M ichael took home the gold in the high jump after a 1.90-metre leap. On the women's side, N icole Koenig paced the Martlets with a gold and bronze to add to her mantle. Koenig won the 6 0 0metre event in a time of 1:4 2 .7 9 , and added a third-place finish in the 300-metre race, finishing in 4 5 .4 0 seconds.

W O O D S

Quebec hosted teams from the AUS this weekend in interlocking, non-conference play, and M cG ill took two of the four matchups against teams from the East.

Tym Frank was named McGill's player of the game after racking up 1 8 kills in leading the Red V W hite to a five-set (25-15, 25-15, 19-25, 19-25, 15-8) victory over Memorial University. M cG ill then accomplished what it hasn't done in several years, winning consecutive regular season matches by sweeping Moncton in straight sets (25-22, 25 -13 , 2521 ). This time, Paul Grinvalds led the w ay for M cG ill, slam­ ming home 17 kills.

M cG ill was unable to make it three in a row, as Dalhousie swept the Redmen on Sunday (16-25, 17-25, 2125). The Redmen then dropped a four-set decision (25-16, 18-25, 17-25, 23-25) to UNB, eliminating M cG ill from playoff contention. Grinvalds had nine kills in the loss.

INTRAMURALCORNER

TRIVIA Bad Mamma Jammas fall short against Squids Celebrate Tiger Woods's first PGA strokeplay win since October, 2 0 0 3 with the following trivia questions: 1. At what age did Tiger W oods make his national televi­ sion debut?

2. Tiger Woods's mother, Kultilda, is from what country?

3. Tiger W oods made his PGA debut in the Nissan Los Angeles Open. How old was he?

4. True or false: Tiger W oods holds or shares the scoring records for all four Majors?

5. How many USGA amateur national championships did Tiger W oods win? xig ç ami p Q[

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McConnell Arena hosted epic DHL hockey Sunday night, as the Bad Mamma Jammas and Squids faced off in intramural D-league action. The game was high scoring and fastpaced, and when the dust settled, the Squids snuck aw ay with a 6-4 win.

The BMJs were slow coming out of the gate, literally, as many of its players were once again stymied by that pre­ game custom of getting dressed. The Squids took advan­ tage of the disheveled BMJs and quickly built a 3-0 lead.

The BMJs got on the board late in the half when assis­ tant captain Derek Smith stole the puck and beat the Squid goalie on a breakaway.

The second half saw both teams trade goals, but the BMJs were never able to complete the comeback. Smith added two more highlight-reel goals for the hat trick, and Scotty M a o added a goal late to make the game close, but the Squids held off the hard-charging BMJs for the win.

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