The McGill Tribune Vol. 26 Issue 16

M C G IL L D E S T R O Y S C O N C O R D IA

B U ST IN G M Y T H S A B O U T N U T R IT IO N , PA G E 10

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O N C A R N I V A L N I G H T , P A G E 17 ° N C A R N I V A L N I G H T ' P A G E 17

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Published by the Students' Society of McGill University

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Volume 26 Issue 16 • January 16,2007

E x e c u tiv e s d r o p p a n ts fo r lo w e r tu itio n SSMU and CFS collaborate to attack ancillary fees, rising student debt K a t e S p ir g e n Last week McGill students stripped down to their shorts and headed outdoors, braving the cold in hopes of raising student awareness of a collective effort by the Students'Society and the Canadian Federation of Students to make sec­ ondary education affordable for everyone.

Freezing for the Freeze participants were hoping to get more than just frostbite vyhile handing out pamphlets and buttons in order to educate students on the rising cost of secondary school tuition and inspire activism for the panCanadian Student Day of Action on Feb. 7.

"Right now our focus is on getting more government funding and less reliance on tuition fees or other fees to pay for education," said CFSQuebec organizer George Soule. "The govern­ ment, in the last io or 15 years, has been receding from their role in funding secondary education and a greater reliance on students to pay tuition fees. What students need to realize is that higher tuition fees lead to lower government funding, so they'll be paying more and getting less."

Activists are hoping to extend the tuition freeze to all students and eventually lower the price of education as well as lobby for more grants and fewer loans by drawing attention to what they call unreasonable tuition and ancillary

fees tha t lead to student debt.

"We don't th in k it's appropriate for students to go into ridiculously high levels o f de bt for som ething th a t is a good th in g for society," said participant Kyle Bailey, SSMU Clubs and Services representative.

According to a 2004 Statistics Canada study, the average Canadian university student owes $20,000 to various sources at their date of gradu­ ation.

"Because the governm ent hasn't been fu n d ­ ing education as much and because there's a governm ent freeze on tu itio n in Quebec and it's governm ent regulated for other students, [uni­ versities] started to p u m p up otherfees and make up other names,"Soule said.

Ancillary fees are those separate from tu itio n and provide for services such as a registration fee, technology charge and health and dental insur­ ance. According to the inform ation pamphlets, the ancillary fees are "tuition fees called by an oth­ er name to avoid governm ent regulation."

According to an accountant in charge of Stu­ dent Accounts Mary Jo McCullogh, arts students pay $1,378 every year in ancillary fees, including Students' Society fees.

"We report all ancillary charges to the gov-

See STUDENT on page 4

Our dedicated SSMUshies Max Silverman and Kyle Bailey freeze for the freeze—if only students cared enough to take a button. Luckily, they didn't get snow in their shoes.

T a s k f o r c e p r o p o s a ls a w a it a d m in , r e s p o n s e Lack of consideration for cost will make implementation difficult K ayvon A

fsh a ri

Every student knows all a b ou t th e lack o f advising, excessive red-tape and bureaucracy at McGill. Now, after alm ost tw o years o f study, McGill's adm inistrators do too.

After m uch anticipation, th e final report o f th e Principal's Task Force on Student Life and Learning at McGill, an exhaustive list o f student-centred recom m endations, was presented to the University Senate in early December.

The goal o f the report, w hich analyzes and makes recom ­ m endations on the issues o f academic advising and m entoring,

resources and space for students and building a "learning com ­ munity."

It also aims to "provide students with support and oppor­ tunities they need to achieve their full potential while at McGill and to ensure that all members of the com m unity share in this goal." However, the members of the task force were not meant to take McGill's finite resources, nor its oft-referred to 15 years of under-funding, into consideration when formulating their rec­ ommendations.

"We didn't say that we're making recommendations given the fact that McGill has'x' number of resources," said anthropol­

og y d e pa rtm e nt chair Michael Bisson, w h o sat on th e task force.

"A num ber o f m embers o f the task force are w aiting to see the actual im plem entation o f this.

Bisson indicated th a t they have set forth a set o f guidelines, b u t it's up to th e university to fo llo w through.

W hile th e task force set o u t to com e up w ith suggestions for ho w to make McGill an excellent "student-centred, research­ intensive” university, prioritizing and im p lem e ntin g the recom­ m endations is up to the adm inistration. Their response to the

See UNIVERSITY on page 5

I b i s W e e k In M c G ill Athletics: H O C K E Y

FridayJan.19thREDMENvs. Concordia7PM SaturdayJan. 20thREDMENvs. Ottawa7PM McGill SundayJan21st. MARLETSvs.WYUL(94.7HitsFM)1PM • S p r i n g B r e a k T r i p G IV E A W A Y - U L T I M A T E M c G I L L F A N C O N T E S T

ATHLETICS

All Barnesare playedattheMcCwinell Arena

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COVER PHOTO BY KATESPIRGEN

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C o n c o r d ia reacts to fa ls e a la rm o n c a m p u s Administration and police more than prepared for evacuation E m il y B a r c a % A section of Sherbrooke Street West was closed off and some classes evacuated at Con­ cordia University's Loyola Campus last Tuesday in response to a suspected armed intruder who was actually carrying a martial arts stick.

Police received a call at 930 a.m. from a uni­ versity employee who reported seeing a student dressed in camouflage carrying a bag contain­ ing what appeared to be a firearm. About 50 police cars and a riot squad arrived on the scene and went door to door in the science complex, where the incident had occurred, telling those inside to stay in their offices and classrooms.

Concordia University spokesperson Chris Mota said that while viewing a security surveil­ lance tape, police noticed that the student in question had placed the bag in a locker.

Stephanie Tsirgiotis, a third year journal­ ism student, was in class when the situation oc­ curred.

“Our professor told us there was a situation," Tsirgiotis said. "Our classroom windows look out over Sherbrooke and we all turned around to look outside and saw so many cops. Everyone started freaking out."

While trapped in their classroom for three hours, students in Tsirgiotis's class snuck into the attached computer lab to listen to the radio.

Second year psychology student Anna Canter also received information from outside the school. After being ushered into a classroom

by security guards, she called her parents from her cell phone.

"My dad was listening to the radio. He told me that my building was about to [be evacu­ ated] and he advised me to leave,"she said.

Canter said that while there was much con­ fusion, she wasn't terribly concerned with the situation.

"If there was really something happen­ ing people would have blown it up more. The people in my class were just trying to figure out what was going on."

Seema Ambareen, second year biochemis­ try, was part of the evacuation.

"I was in the library at 11:00 a.m. and they asked us to leave. All the people I was with were scared. We weren't sure if he was hiding in the building. We didn't want another Dawson shoot­ ing," Ambareen said.

The events that occurred at Dawson Col­ lege last September, when Kimveer Gill's shoot­ ing spree killed Anastasia Rebecca d'Souza and injured 20 others, were also on the mind of Concordia psychology professor Jim Pfaus, who called Dawson "a wake-up call" and recognized the challenges faced by police that day.

According to Pfaus, the police's actions at Concordia were overall well orchestrated.

"It turned out to be a really good strategy," Pfaus said, "if you were to think of it as a drill, it was pretty damn good. Little by little, areas vfere evacuated."

Tsirgiotis was also pleased with how the

university adm inistration handled the situation.

"The secretary o f journalism kept com ing in to our class and giving us updates and our teacher was trying to make jokes."

Mota explained th a t the university has a telephone chain in place for em ergency situa­ tions.

"After the Dean is notified, he notifies the departm ental chairs-who notify the professors."

According to Mota, the university is review­ ing Tuesday's events to com e up w ith new strat­ egies for dealing w ith similar situations.

"We had a debriefing Wednesday m orning and w e had a lo t o f new ideas com e through." ■

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW— LIBERAL MP IRWIN COTLER

L e a rn in g fr o m th e le s s o n s o f h isto ry Mont-Royal MP reflects on the past and predicts headlines for 2007 After nearly a year in time out, the Liberal Party o f Canada is rebuilding in hopes o f forming a government in the next election. Local Member o f Parliament and former justice minister Irwin Cotier updates on the state o f the party since Stéphane Dion took over as leader, as well as some o f the emerging issues facing the country today.

In terms of Canadian politics, much has changed over the last 12 months. What issues do you see becoming relevant in 2007 ?

I think that the environment is going to be one of the major issues, if not the major issue on the Canadian agenda. Stéphane Dion's as­ cendance to the leadership of the Liberal party will bring even greater focus on this issue.

The second one is at the same time [Prime Minister Stephen] Harper announced a $13.2billion surplus, he regrettably announced cuts in a whole series of social programs ranging from literacy to youth employment to aborigi­ nal issues. So I think that social justice will be on the agenda.

Turning to the foreign policy agenda, I would put at the top for me the whole question of the genocide in Darfur. It's painful for me to have to repeat these words. I first spoke of them in the Save Darfur rally on Sept. 17th, which was also the first anniversary of the adoption by the UN General Assembly of the responsibility to protect. Tragically, the genocide in Darfur has moved into high gear. This [indifference] is be­ traying the people of Darfur and the enduring lesson of history is that the genocides occurred not only because of ideologies of hatred but also because of indifference and inaction.

Have you experienced any substan­ tial changes in the operation of the Liberal party in 2006 ? To what extent has your

party changed?

I think the changes have com e about by having a new leader. Bill Graham did the best job he could under the circumstances, but you need the party to elect a leader, which is what it did. You also need to have the kind of leadership race which I think created a better appreciation of a collective leadership.

We will be introducing one of the best political party platforms that any party has ever produced. We don't have a Martin faction or a Chrétien faction. That is part of the past. My sense is that we're going to see a unified, dy­ namic and exemplary leadership from the Lib­ eral party both in terms of policy and practice.

Regarding the party's election readi­ ness, how do you feel about the Liberal's chances in the next election and are you planning to run again?

I think the chances of the Liberals winning the next election are good, although I think the notion of an elec­ tion com ing soon is less so.

The chances are good be­ cause whether we talk in terms of the environment, social justice or the econo­ my, we've got an advantage.

We've left them with a great econom y and that does not ap­ pear to be sustained under the current government. If you add the protection of the vulnerable and you add as well to that the fact that the government has been promotive or protective of the Charter of rights, I

th in k the Conservative party is vulnerable.

As for myself, I've g o t the priva lege o f repre­ senting a w o nd erful riding and so long as I have the support I've had [in the past] I'll continue.

What does the recent crossing of the floor of Liberal MP Wajid Khan, now in the Conservative caucus, mean for your party? i don't th in k it's a setback. If anything it's a setback for the principles o f accountability. I th in k if a person is elected on a particular party ticket then they should represent the constitu­ ency th a t elected them . If the y wish to cross over, they should seek another mandate. I'm opposed to crossovers from whatever party to whatever party.

You've been given the task in opposi­ tion as the critic for public safety. In your view, how is Stockwell Day managing the portfolio?

There are a num ber o f issues w ith respect to the Conservative party and Stockwell Day [particularly] dealing w ith gun control and th e firearm reg­ istry. I th in k it has proved itself in terms o f th e reduction in the num ber o f hom icides in firearms. It's been sup­ ported across the cou ntry and more recently [by] the families of-the Daw­ son College students. W hen they came to Ottawa, they made a very com pelling case on w hy w e need a firearms registry for saving lives.

You've recently called for charges to be laid on the Iranian president for incit­ ing genocide. Often, we see these types of leaders tried

in court well after they've left politics. Do you think this is possible while he contin­ ues to sit in office?

My view is that when we used to speak about bringing Milosevic to justice or Pinochet, what history has taught us is that sustained in­ ternational juridical remedies can bring about the indictment of seemingly immune dictators and leaders of countries. So this is an oppor­ tunity for countries to exercise leadership with regard to one of the most important threats we're confronting. It is possible to bring them to justice and there's no reason why the person whose engaged in the most sustained public and direct incitement of genocide should not be himself held personally and criminally re­ sponsible,in the International Criminal Court.

Later this month you'll be deliver­ ing the Raul Wallenberg lecture at McGill.

What are some of the issues you'll be dis­ cussing?

I think I'll be discussing the man himself.

He's the person whom the UN called the great­ est humanitarian of the twentieth century. He saved thousands of people and he also warned the Nazi generals who were about to blow up the Budapest ghetto that they would be held accountable for their crimes.

I'll also be speaking about Darfur, what can be done in Iran and the role Canada can play and the relationship between terrorism, secu­ rity and human rights. The final thing I'll discuss is defending political prisoners. I'm going to use a case involving a Muslim Bangladeshi journalist about to be tried for treason, sedition and blas­ phem y for doing nothing other than promoting an interfaith dialogue and speaking on the rela­ tionship between Bangladesh and Israel.

— compiled by Ma tt Campbell

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16.01.07 • The McGill Tribune • 3

SPEAKER PREVIEW

CAMPUS

M cG ill d o c t o r to s p e a k o n

D e b a t e r s p la c e

civil w a r in B u ru n d i

sixth in w o r ld

Media attention could help resolve crisis

McGill alumnus named 'World's Best Speaker'

K r is t in M

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The present humanitarian situ­ ation in Burundi is a "chronc silent emergency," according to Doctors Without Borders member, Dr. Raghu Venugopal.

Venugopal, a fourth year McGill resident specializing in emergency medicine, will be speaking to stu­ dents this week on behalf of DWB. He claimed that the lack of media atten­ tion on Burundi's civil war is the rea­ son for the group's presence there.

"The conflict is largely unheard of by Western media - most people don't even know where Burundi is," he said.

Civil war based largely on H utuTutsi rivalry has engulfed the small African co u n try for over 15 years.

"Burundi has a brutal, bloody history,"Venugopal said.

He pointed out that these con­ flicts are very different from largely unnoticed silent conflicts, such as those in the Democratic Republic of

th e Congo, Angola and Burundi.

"I th in k [the silence] is due to th e fact th a t those affected are poor peasants, w ith little geopolitical sig­ nificance to the West and so [the conflict] receives very little atten tion from governm ents, aid agencies and th e media,"he said.

Venugopal, w h o spent 9 m onths in Burundi as a volunteer, explained th a t th e goals o f DWB in th e cou ntry are tw ofold. "[DWB] is there prim arily to try to alleviate suffering and save lives in a collapsed health care system. Sec­ ondly, w e try to talk ab ou t w h a t we see - ab ou t th e intolerable suffering occurring there."

The group is working closely with the Burundi governm ent to support their initiatives, according to Venugopal. The country adopted a constitution at the end of the war in 2003, but there is still sparred shell­ ing. "[The country] is no w entering a post-conflict transitional period,"he

said.

DWB McGill Vice-President Com ­ munications Sarah Kawaguchi said that Venugopal's speech about his experiences would be educational for both students and himself.

"It's a big adjustment com ing back here [from Burundi], so it's good for him to be able to talk about it and it helps students too, especially sci­ ence students w ho are hoping to get as much information they can about m edicine as they can.”

Ultimately, Venugopal also hopes to show the importance of DWB's presence in Burundi.

"With the country on its knees and barely emerging [as a state]... it cannot care for itself" he declared. "[DWB] is about one person taking care of another person who is suffer­ ing." ■ Students can hear Dr. Raghu Venugopal speak Wednesday, Jan. 17 at 6 p.m. in the Otto M aass Building, Room 217.

NATIONAL

M u s ic p r o f e s s o r e x p lo r e s t u n e s a n d y o u r b r a in Prof. Daniel Levitin pens best selling book J o sh S tark Have you ever wondered what makes listening to music feel so good? McGill Professor Daniel Levitin has recently written a book that may help answer that ques­ tion.

This is Your Brain On Music: The Science o f a Human Ob­ session takes a critical, scientific look at the effects of music

on the brain and involves a variety of topics including clas­ sical music theory, psychology, evolutionary development and neuroscience. However, it is more than approachable ,even for someone who doesn't know the first thing about music. "[The book] is absolutely aimed at the proverbial 'educated layperson,"'Levitin said. "That is, no background in psychology or music is assumed. In fact, the first two chapters are a sort of crash course in music theory for non-musicians, defining everything from what a 'note' is to what is the meaning of terms like'meter'and'tempo" The book also discusses music's role in human soci­ ety— both past and present. Levitin, makes the observa­ tion that in Western societies music has become much more of a "spectator activity," whereas in most of the world it is much more com m unally based, as it has been for thousands of years..

One of Levitin's favourite parts of the book deals with how our brains react to music.

"I particularly like the story about how the brain reacts to pleasurable music - the cascade of neural activations, the exquisite orchestration of neurochemical release and uptake that accompanies listening to music we like. And it doesn't matter what kind of music it is, every individual has their own favourites."

Levitin also has some interesting predictions for the future.

"In five years, you will be able to own every song ever recorded in the history of the world on something the size of your pinky," he said. You won't need [peer-to-peer] for downloading because there won't be downloading. Why download if you have the capacity to own everything?"

Levitin went on to make predictions about music

V

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W hile most students were enjoy­ ing turkey dinners and shinny hockey during the w inter break, six McGill students had to cut their fam ily tim e short to com pete in the W orld Univer­ sity Debating Championships held in Vancouver from Dec. 27 to Jan. 3.

After several round-robin de­ bates, U1 students Leon Grek and Vinay Kumar Mysore advanced to the elimination rounds in sixth place. The pair's results made McGill the highest placed Canadian school in the com ­ petition and they were the only Cana­ dian team competing in the elimina­ tion rounds. Unfortunately, they were eliminated after the first round.

As this was their first time partici­ pating in the WUDC, both Grek and Mysore did not expect to do as well as they did.

"Doing sixth was incredible," My­ sore said. "It was really nice because [the Canadian teams] were all sitting at this table and they were all cheer­ ing. It's kind of nice when everyone cheers for you."

More importantly, the pair felt that the tournament was a great learning experience due to its large scale of over 1,000 participants from over 200 schools, as well as its unique style of debate.

"There are a lot of nuances in the mechanics of how the debate works.

It's different for different parts of the world," Mysore said. "Leon and I have been debating for two years and a lot of teams that were at the competi­ tion have been debating for more than for four or five years at the uni­ versity level, so it's like any other sport or any other activity, experience plays

a huge role."

McGill Debating Union President Bryan Badali also felt that the com pe­ tition was a fun learning experience, even though he had already been to WUDC 2006, held in Dublin.

"There were schools from all across the world and all across Cana­ da," he said. "I had a great time meet­ ing people from around the world and I also felt a sense of Canadian pride, because of the number of Ca­ nadian schools that were there."

In addition to Grek and Mysore's impressive results, McGill alumni Jess Prince and Alex Campbell placed third in the round robin as representatives from Oxford but failed to advance to the quarter-final. However, Prince went on to win the title of "World's Best Speaker."

Grek, Mysore and Badali all knew Prince quite well, as she was a sea­ soned member of the McGill Debat­ ing Union last year and were proud of her win.

"Everyone from Canada went nuts when it was announced that she'd won," Grek said.

McGill debaters were pleased with the overall results.

"The only Canadians who made it to elimination rounds at Worlds were from McGill, either current students or alumni, which I think was a good thing for the school," Mysore said.

Badali and his partner Alexan­ dra Swann placed 121st in the com­ petition, while the third McGill team, Laura Berman and Alice.Tsier, finished in 152nd place. In addition to the de­ baters, two additional students were sent to the competition as judges. Ul­ timately, a team from the University of Sydney won the competition. ■

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Students are invited to enter by February 9,2007

JENNY GEORGE Levitin adjusts the nation's EQ with his latest book. technology in the com ing years.

"The real big money will be in so-called 'smart play­ list' programs that will play you an uninterrupted stream of music that you like, based on your current mood, time of day and so on."

Previous jobs such as a musician in several bands, a record producer, a music consultant for films such as Good Will Hunting and even stand-up com edy have taught Levi­ tin a lot.

"I think that working as a musician and producer sen­ sitized me to what some of the interesting questions are about music and the interface between music and the mind. Definitely being a comedian helped me with teach­ ing. I'm only half terrified when I stand up in front of a class now."

Professor Martin Grant, dean of science, had positive things to say about the book.

"The book brings home to me the fundamental strangeness of music, the strangest of all our arts and how music is a direct path into how the brain works," he said. "I think it is unusual for a popular science writer to also be an internationally-renowned scientist. That's Dan." ■

★ * ★ ★

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* ★ * Win a trip to Europe For fu rth e r inform ation about the Young Journalist Award Contact: (613) 2 3 8 -6 4 6 4 info@eucanyja.ca www.eucanyja.ca

4 -N e w s-16.01.07

S tu d e n t m o v e m e n t unites

D o you suffer from ASTH M A?

fo r a ffo r d a b le e d u c a tio n Unions plan to rally support for more grants during upcoming Day of Action Continued from COVER ernm ent on an annual basis,"she said.

"There's a com m ittee th a t determines [the student services fee] every year and that's made up equally o f stu­ dents and staff, so the y do have a say."

The Student Day o f Action was originally organized by the Canadian Federation o f Students, b u t includes Concordia, w hich is a m em ber o f both la La Fédération étudiante uni­ versitaire du Québec and CFS. The University o f Montreal and UQAM, neither o f w hich are members o f CFS are also involved, along w ith various CEGEPs. "We're ge tting participation from all those schools w hich is really excit­ ing," said SSMU Vice-President Exter­ nal Max Silverman. "We've been able to bring everyone tog ether around this day. Hopefully it w ill be one o f the first united actions o f the student movement."

The event is part o f Silverman's larger campaign to educate th e cam ­ pus on issues o f im portance in sec­ ondary education.

"The main one th a t we're focus­ ing on is the freeze,"he said."Ultimately w h at w e are going for is a reduction for out-of-province and international students because w hat they're forced

to pay rig ht n o w is ridiculous, espe­ cially international students."

Soule agreed, adding, "W hat we need is lower tu itio n fees and a na­ tional system o f need-based grants."

Freezing for the Freeze w ill con­ tinu e every week until the d e m on­

Y ou m ay

b e e lig ib le to p a r tic ip a te

in a c lin ic a l re s e a rc h s tu d y o f

stration on Feb. 7.

"People need to understand th a t there are ways for them to get involved," Soule said. "Sign a pe ti­ tion, wear a button, g e t involved. If we're united, w e actually can make a ch a n g e "■

a n in v e s tig a tio n a l m e d ic a tio n fo r th e tr e a tm e n t o f a s th m a .

You ma^qualify If you: • Are 18 years of age or older * Have been diagnosed with Asthma for at least one year

Qualified participants will receive: * Study related medical exams * Study related medications * Compensation for time & travel

I f y o u h â v e a n y q u e s tio n s o r w o u ld lik e m o re in fo rm a tio n p le a s e c o n ta c t: G L O R IA

Don't worry, he wasn't panhandling for a new coat.

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www.mcgilltribune.com

News Briefs

U n iv e rsity can m a k e s o m e

Medical students return to hospitals Quebec's medical students have returned to hospitals and their clinical rounds after the resolution of a labour dispute between the Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec and the Quebec government late last De­ cember.

As a means of protest, Quebec's medical specialists refused to instruct or supervise medical students for nearly one month but have since resolved to refrain from using such pressure tactics until 2010.

The impact of many weeks of lost education on McGill's medical students is uncertain. Medical students in clinical trials rotate through various specialties and losing two weeks of one specialty rotation might not affect their career should they specialize in something else.

"Some damage has occurred but it's not going to be detrimental to the individual's future," said Timothy Lussier, president of the Medical Students'So­ ciety. "In general, a loss of a little time in a few areas will not have a severe impact on their education or ability to obtain a desired residency.''

According to Dr. Joyce Pickering, associate dean of medicine, only about half of the classes were affected by the situation.

"Most [students] have taken extra call and in some cases extended their rotation by a week to cover the material. In other cases we ran extra sessions at our Simulation Centre to compensate. All students...have the same evaluation criteria exam to take, so we feel that we have been able to maintain a certain standard." Mikael Katz-Lavigne, third year medicine, missed two weeks of his inter­ nal medicine rotation. As a result, he had limited interaction with specialists in internal medicine, making it very difficult for him to obtain any references from specialists.

"I've been exposed to fewer patients and thus have less clinical knowl­ edge and I've done fewer medical procedures on patients," Katz-Lavigne said.

Pickering agreed that the loss of clinical exposure may not affect the stu­ dents'exams, but the lack of clinical experience would be detrimental.

"It can be difficult to quantitate clinical experience and I feel that in some cases, in spite of the student passing the exam, their clinical exposure was not as good as it would have been if they had been allowed to continue their clini­ cal rotation during the strike period."

c h a n g e s w it h o u t s p e n d in g Students' Society involved, but upset over lack of official representation Continued from COVER report is likely to be released in pre­ liminary form in February and in final form in September.

Despite the constraints that will ultimately be imposed upon the report's recommendations, Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Morton Mendelson, who served as vice-chair of the task force, felt that this did not degrade the task force's worthiness.

"There are always constraints, but there are two things you have to do," Mendelson said. "You have to have a clear idea of vyhere you are and a clear idea of where you want to be.

Certainly, some recommendations can be implemented very quickly and some will not take money; they will just take will or doing things in a dif­ ferent way. Other recommendations will require money and they may only be implemented in part form early and then with time as more funds become available, they will be im ple­

mented fully."

Students' Society Vice-President University Affairs Finn Upham, said that while the report's ideas were "good," the implementation and ad­ ministrative response will be a better indication of whether students are a priority to McGill.

"The language is idealistic and there are a lot of ideas that reach re­ ally far," Upham said. "Now it's a mat­ ter of making sure that that reach is backed up by the university because we probably aren't going to get the student-centred university that they claim themselves to be. To get there we're going to have to prioritize stu­ dents over other things, which they have not been good at before."

Upham pointed to the report's recommendation that every academ­ ic unit should have a professional ad­ visor as being a great idea that would be a "huge hassle in practice."

While SSMU, among other stu­ dent groups, was frequently con­

sulted by the task force and offered input, it was not allotted an official representative to the committee nor was it involved in the process of se­ lecting students who would sit on the task force.

"In some ways, it showed a lack of respect to not ask for even one of the students to be designated by SSMU," Upham said. "That was a bit of a surprise and it was uncomfortable for SSMU to be left out of that pro­ cess.”

Mendelson disagreed, arguing that the purpose of the task force pre­ cluded a representative from SSMU. "This was not a lack of respect," Mendelson said. "The members of the task force were not representing constituencies. People were meant to be there to help, as a group, under­ stand what we're doing right, what we're doing wrong and what might be done to correct it. So the princi­ pal purposefully decided not to have representative groups." ■

— Ken Sun

McGill Administration loses familiar face On Dec.15,2006, MortyYalovsky officially announced his resignation from the position of Vice-Principal Administration and Finance. During his tenure Yalovsky was often the administration's voice when dealing with unpopular is­ sues, such as the removal of the Muslim Students'Association from their prayer space, because of his office's role in preparing budgets and enforcing adminis­ trative policies. In recent years he has appeared less often in the student press, as an ongoing reorganization of the senior ranks has seen many of his respon­ sibilities transfered to the Provost and other offices.

"He is broadly recognized for his devotion to his university, his hard work and his strong collegial manner, sustained over 33 years of service with McGill to date,"said Principal Heather Munroe-Blum in a faculty-wide letter.

Arts Senator Jake Itzkowitz speculated that Yalovsky was pressured to re­ sign by Munroe-Blum's administration.

"She's moving this university very much into a corporate model. She is gathering all the power to herself and she has pushed out the VP Adminis­ tration and Finance," Itzkowitz said. "These are just allegations, but I'm pretty confident the resignation was a direct result of Munroe-Blum and her adm in­ istration."

After taking a year off Yalovsky will return to a teaching and research posi­ tion in the Desautels Faculty of Management in Jan., 2008.

— KS

Political science students struggle with future Everyone has heard that Arts degrees are worthless, but thanks to a recent student panel discussing what to do with a political science degree, graduates might.have a chance at a real job after graduation.

Organized by the Political Science Students Association and Career and Placement Services as part of Career Month, the panel was composed of McGill graduate students in political science, history and law, giving students ideas for direction in their careers and advice on what to do after graduation.

Owen Ripley, first year law, strongly recommended the honours diploma and law school.

“Law is something you can apply to so many different areas, it has pro­ vided me with the tools for the type of career I want to pursue."

Ned Richardson-Little, second year MA history, offered three pieces of ad­ vice: get to know at least three professors to ask for references, take one year off to do an internship after finishing undergraduate work to decide what you truly want to do and learn a second or even multiple languages.

Arnav Manchanda, second year MA political science, suggested that students seek summer jobs in research to get some experience, do extra-cur­ ricular and volunteer activities related to their field and get a minor in another social science.

"I really got a lot out of this. I had been wondering about my options since my first year,” said Ruiko Suzuki, U2 political science. "Thanks to this panel, my direction is now clearer because many of my concerns were addressed."

History department graduate coordinator Karen Connors also gave ad­ vice on what to do when applying to graduate school.

"The letter of intent carries a lot of weight; a high GPA will not necessarily get you in," she said.

— Isis Ortiz

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Travelling is stressful, but imagine getting on a plane and ending up 1300 km from your original destination. A German man did just that when he mistyped "Sydney" into an online ticket booking Web site and ended up in chilly Sidney, Montana instead of the land down under. "I did wonder, but I didn't want to say anything," said the confused man. • Kissing is a crime in the courtroom. Lawyer Ralph Crozie was arrested with a $ 10,000 bond last Thursday for kissing a female judicial marshall, which he claims was a "Christmas greeting.'The marshall apparently would have preferred a handshake. • You thought that James Bond had cool gadgets, but today's spies might have something even better. The US Defense Department has put out a warning on mysterious Canadian coins found with radio frequency transmitters inside that could possibly track the movements of the carrier. Suspected producers of the coins include China, Russia and France but not Canada. • People will buy almost anything, including snow. A Colorado couple is selling blizzard snow on E-bay and has gotten offers as high as 50 cents. "We just wanted to give folks a laugh," said the seller. • A South Dakota college may have the ultimate bird course. Their newest class, "Finding Dates Worth Keeping," will have classes on infatuation and when it's time to break up.

According to instructor Laurie Chaplin, "Our love relationships impact us more than anything else," and hopes to educate students on life outside the classroom. • A woman died in Sacremento, Califormia of water intoxication after competing in a radio contest dubbed "Hold Your Wee for a Wii.'The PS3 may be worth a fist fight, but surely the Wii isn't worth dying for.

— Sources: CNN.com, USA Today, CTV.ca

T h e T r ib u n e is

CENTENARY FOUNDER S DAY

lo o k in g for co lu m n ists for th e O pinion sec­ t i o n . If y o u 'r e i n ­

F e b ru a ry 8 , 2 0 0 7 , 1 0 : 0 0 A M C e n te n n ia l C e n tre M a c d o n a ld

B a llro o m ,

C a m p u s

te re s te d , s e n d u s a co lu m n th em e, sam p le co lu m n a n d five id e a s for future

YOUTH ENGAGEMENT AND THE ENVIRONMENT J u s t in T r u d e a u

colum ns.

opinion@ mcgilltribune.com

(Macdonald classes cancelled from lOhOO to 13h00) For information: 514.398.7707 Other Founder’s Day events can be found at w ww. mcgi 11.ca/macdonald/centenary/events/

O p in io n ^

S

THE HELPLESS ROMANTIC

Lo o k for th is o n e on Y o u T u b e

OFF THE BOARD

D o w n w ith d o w n

R ic h a r d T s e n g R ICH TSEN @ G M A IL.CO M p re se n t to y o u a p la y in o n e act:

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om e might consider me crazy, hav­ ing survived the past two winters here with barely anything more than sweaters and oh-so-shiny blazers. Now don't get me wrong; as a management student m y wardrobe is stereotypically but impeccably filled with all the neces­ sities for a Canadian winter. When dras­ tic needs call for desperate measures (in other words, anything below -30°C— that's -22°F for you Americans), I'll stay at home— I mean, of course I will still go to class. But back to the point: Those who consider me crazy, I consider to be short­ term thinkers.

I recently discovered that despite McGill's international reputation for being home to one of the most diverse student bodies, our most underrepresented re­ gion is South America. W hy? Sim ply put, a flat-out refusal to entertain the idea of living through a Canadian winter.

Never fear fellow students, it's not like that movie Cool Runnings. Winter here isn't th a t bad. Perhaps this explains a lot (or maybe nothing at all), but hailing from Alberta, I have definitely suffered through constant temperatures much colder than what's served up daily here in Montreal.

You go and spend a winter (or maybe 15 of them) in a viciously dry climate where you're still craving a slushie in -25°C weather and will still walk to the dep to get one, then let me know what Montreal winter feels like to you. On a more prac­ tical— and therefore much more impor­ tant— note, here's why w inter jackets are a waste of my time.

For starters, it is a ridiculous pain to have to pull on backpacks and the like

S

over im m ensely puffed shoulders, caused by both excess fabric and feathers alike.

Assuming you made it past this struggle, bundled up looking like a toddler in their first winter and have safely navigated the dangerously icy sidewalks to reach school, now what? Shedding the layers and making it all fit into your cramped seat is nearly as difficult as getting it all on in the first place. Not to mention, with the entire school population having traipsed through dirt and snow creating, gasp, dirty snow, sleeves and other necessary acces­ sories are notorious for tum bling into the puddles of melted outdoor sewage. Don't even think about getting me started on umbrellas.

Moreover, numerous classrooms at McGill are painfully lacking the technol­ ogy to moderate temperature and/or to hang your coat. I know you know what I mean. While we obviously can't blame the historically rich buildings themselves, it is still difficult to find and maintain ho­ meostasis when you're either boiling or freezing. Fortunately, my options tend to range far greater than just a single t-shirt or a down-filled jacket.

The next time you see me prancing around cam pus in my decidedly more convenient sweaters and blazers, sans fur-lined (real or fake) hoods or plumage, consider that instead of downright insan­ ity, I'm actually a super genius planning my immediate future. Alright fine, maybe I do have a hint of lunacy in me. If there's only one thing you take from this, let it be the following: All you need is a good pair of gloves and a warm scarf to survive the winter. ■

(Curtain Rises) Two men are standing beside a ph oto­ copier against an all-white background. The first (Anthropomorphic PC) is a portly, bespectacled man dressed in a brown suit. He is a little behind, the times and rather nerdy. The second (Anthropomor­ phic Mac) is a young hipster wearing a hoodie and jeans. His hair is worn long and appears geeky but in a cool way; he is listening to a white iPod. Mac: H ello , I'm a M ac.

PC: A n d I'm a PC. Mac: You're lo o k in g really h a p p y today.

PC: W ell, th e fu tu re h as a rrive d ! N o m o re o f th o se s n id e c o m m e n ts fro m y o u — to d a y is th e d a y I p u t a n e n d to th is te d io u s s o -c a lle d d ia ­ lo g u e for g o o d !

Mac: W h a t d id y o u ju s t say?

PC: O h n o th in g . Say, w h a t are y o u liste n in g to ?

Mac: T h e e n tire d is c o g ra p h ie s for A rca d e Fire, th e Stars a n d C o ld p la y , it's great! S in c e m y m e d ia p la ye r d o e sn 't re q u ire c o p y rig h t p ro te c­ tio n , I d o n 't n e e d to b u y m y s o n g s b efo re tra n s­ fe rrin g th e m .

PC: S o yo u b a s ic a lly b e c a m e a n a c c e s s o ry to p e o p le s te a lin g s o n g s a n d d o w n lo a d in g th e m to p o rta b le form at.

Mac: Yeah , isn't it g re a t? I g u e s s th a t m ak e s m e a b it o f a pirate. Arrr! H ah a!

PC: In te r e s tin g ... C a n I se e it for a s e c o n d ?

M ac: This? Oh sure, it's an iPod, the best por­

table media player on the market. It can play all sorts of MP3S, movies, games and stores up to 80 GB. Do you have anything like that or are you just going to keep mooching off Apple?

PC (puts iPod under photocopier and selects copy): I w ill so o n . I've c a lle d in a fe w favors from m y frie n d s a t M icro so ft a n d w e 've d e c id e d to c o p y y o u r n ifty features, th e n im p ro v e th e m .

(PC reaches into the o u t tray and pulls o u t a similar device that is black instead o f white.)

PC: T h is is th e Z u n e , it h as all o f y o u r featu res a n d m o re, in c lu d in g W i-F i c o m m u n ic a t io n a n d

near-instant song exchanges: if I want to listen to a song, I can just get it from a fellow Zune user.

Mac: What!? You can't do that! That was our idea! It's intellectual property theft!

PC: Kind of like online piracy, isn't it?

Mac: O oo h... you'll be sorry! I'm going to sue! It'll be so long and arduous that you'd rather be fixing Windows.Vista bugs because I'm going to make it as painful for you as possible.

PC: Actually, your boss already tried that in 1994- Apple said Microsoft copied Mac OS, but then Xerox said you copied theirs.

Mac: I remember Xerox! I wonder where we buried th a t loser...

Enter Bill Gates Bill: That's right, and then I offered to prop

Apple up with $150 million when they were struggling in 1997, on the condition that they'd stop whining, drop the case and start innovat­ ing. Anyway, now that both Mac and PC run many Microsoft programs, I was wondering if you could grab your left foot with your right hand, hop on the other, bend over and pat your head simultaneously.

Mac: Is this a metaphor for how the Mac's multi-tasking abilities are way better than the PC's?

Bill: Naw, just emphasizing that I own a ll you bitches. But keep up the hipster anti-establish­ ment thing; consumers love that.

Mac: Hey! Bill: Aw, Don't feel so bad. Here, have some bling (hands them each gold knuckle-dusters).

You're going to need them in the fight against our common enemy.

Enter Stardock, who wears a greasy white shirt, worker's overalls and carries a wrench.

Stardock: Hi, I'm Stardock, the fully-customizable graphic user interface. Use me to create and download new applications or desktop en­ vironments that look and feel just like Windows Vista or OS/X. Can I hear you two say obsolete?

Bill: Sic'em boys!

(Curtain Falls) ■

WET PAINT

D o ve H unting D

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D O M IN IQ U EZIPPER @ GM AIL.CO M

have always regarded New Year's resolutions as hailing from the same realm as Bridget Jones and wom en-only gyms. The ubiquitous do-gooder decision always seemed a marker of a life gone dreadfully awry, where certain plea­ sures had not only been replaced by a focus on an entire year of a new nutrition regimen, but a focus doomed to un­ abashedly fail by mid-February. I feel safe admitting to this judgm ental view because I've always been exempt from the older demographic targeted by the marketing trope of January's gym -m em bership specials.

Hence, neither I nor my friends have explicitly made any real resolutions, save maybe waking up early enough to pack a lujich for the day. Yet perhaps our holiday rumination should have focused less on sugar plums and more on find­ ing some semblance of discipline; for along with my holiday feasting came the realization that an exceedingly dispropor­ tionate number of my female friends had cheated on their boyfriends at some point. And bear in mind that my friends are not the Pussycat Dolls— this com m on cheating spans a very wide spectrum of personalities, lifestyles, beliefs and relationship statuses. What's more, from what I can tell, Eve seems to be beating Adam at this game.

I

O v e r th e break, o n e frie n d la m e n te d , "The p ro b le m is, o n c e y o u realize y o u c a n g e t a w a y w ith it o n c e , it's so m u c h e a sie r to d o it again." A s trifles o f re lie f flo a te d u p in to th e a ir

c u rre n t b o y frie n d s in d iffe re n t c itie s p u ts it, "Long d is ta n c e is re a lly hard a n d I'm ju s t y o u n g a n d h a v in g fu n . I'll settle d o w n later."

a n d a m u tu a l "Exactly" re so u n d e d t h ro u g h o u t th e ro o m , sh e

T h e re is a se n se o f e n title m e n t lu rk in g in th is state ­

c o n tin u e d , "It g e ts e a sie r e v e ry tim e . T h e g u ilt kin d o f fad e s

m e n t a n d w h e n it fa d e s— re g a rd le ss o f w h e th e r she's fo u n d

a n d th e n you're like ,'M e h , w h o cares."'

T h a t ru les o u t a la ck o f d is c ip lin e as th e catalyst. In a d ­ d itio n , o u r a p p a re n tly sin ful a cts d e fin ite ly fail to e lic it a n y o f th e p o s t-C h ris tm a s g u ilt e x p e rie n c e d b y o u r fo re m o th e rs

o u t— Ms. T w o -T im e r m ig h t feel like a b it o f a failu re (in te rm s o f tre a tin g p e o p le th e w a y h e r m o th e r raised h e r to).

B ut p e rh a p s w e've d e c id e d th a t o u r m o th e r le a rn e d th o se G o ld e n Rule le sso n s from s im ila r e x p e rie n ce s, ru lin g o u t th e

u p o n g a z in g at th e ir m id -s e c tio n s in m id -Ja n u a ry , y e t th e se

B ib le a n d Reader's Digest o f co u rse . T h e B ib le te lls y o u th a t

g irls do profess to lo ve th e ir b o yfrie n d s, ju s t as th e h o lid a y g lu tto n professes to lo ve h e r fig u re ; o b v io u s ly n e ith e r loves

Eve to o k th e le ad in th e fo rb id d e n fru it b u ffet a n d Reader's Digest p ro b a b ly m e n tio n s th e m ilk m a n , so c le a rly th is ra m ­ p a n t g irlfrie n d -c h e a tin g tre n d isn't th a t n e w — it ju s t c a m e

e ith e r o n e q u ite as m u c h as th e y lo ve th e ir lib id o s a n d th e ir taste bu ds.

But let's ta k e th e fo cu s o ff o f our d e sire s for a s e co n d .

W h a t h a p p e n e d to d o w n -h o m e , s tra ig h t-u p m o ra lity ?

It's cle a r th a t th e p ro b le m d o e sn 't lie in o u r u n d e rs ta n d ­ in g o f th e tu rm o il o u r b o y frie n d s w o u ld e x p e rie n c e w ere

o u t from u n d e rn e a th its p o o d le skirt to se e th e lig h t o f free co n ve rsa tio n .

A s o n e frie n d s ta u n c h ly p u ts it,"It's gonna h a p p e n . W h y n o t ju s t g e t it o u t now , b efo re you're m arrie d w ith kids?"

A m I to u n d e rsta n d from th is th a t w e all h a ve a ce rta in

th e y to b e c o m e p riv y to o u r exp lo its. M oreover, w e're p er­

a m o u n t o f c h e a tin g ju ic e in us th a t n e e d s to b e e x p e lle d

fe ctly c a p a b le o f e x p re ssin g th e s h e e r h u rt w e'd feel if w e w e re o n th e re c e iv in g e n d o f s u c h b lin d d e ce it— a friend's "D evastated" suffices. But as a n a c q u a in ta n c e w ith tw o c o n ­

fe tch b ra n c h e s a n d c o o ? It's a stra n g e id ea, I know , b u t th e n w h y d o w e b e h a v e as if th is is th e c a s e ? Is it? ■

before w e ca n b e h a v e like th o se m o n o g a m o u s d o v e s th a t

16.01.07 • The McGill Tribune • 7

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www.mcgilltribune.com

EDITORIAL

A little less c o n v e rsa tio n , a little m o re a ctio n

E ditor- in- C hief

ast week, after a year and a half of consultations, McGill released the final report on the Princi­ editor@ mcgilltribune.com pal's Task Force on Student Life and Learning.

The main goal of the report waS to get students and M anaging Editors David Blye faculty involved in determining the university's future direction by coming up with a number of recom­ Traci Johnson mendations on how the administration could im­ seniored@mcgilltribune.com prove McGill. Principal Heather Munroe-Blum should be commended for recognizing that students and P roduction M anager faculty deserve input into this process and making Tiffany Choy an effort to include them in planning the university's production@ mcgilltribune.com course.

Unfortunately, despite the lengthy process, nei­ N ews E ditors ther the concerns brought up in the report nor the Kayvon Afshari recommendations meant to address them were par­ M att Campbell ticularly ground breaking; a half-hour conversation Kate Spirgen with almost any McGill undergrad or graduate stu­ ’ news@mcgilltribune.com dent would probably yield very similar results to the taskforce's 18-month investigation.

O pinion E ditor In fact, this is not even the first time that McGill Adam Smith has commissioned a report like this: Professor Rod opinion@ mcgilltribune.com MacDonald, who worked with the latest task force, prepared a report in 1993 entitled "Toward a ServiceFeatures E ditors Oriented Culture and a User-Friendly Environment for Rachel Melnik Elizabeth Perle Students." Many of that report's recommendations were never implemented, which isn't an encouraging features@mcgilltribune.com precedent. It is now up to the administration to show students and staff that they are taking the report seri­ A rts & E ntertainment E ditors ously, so that it does not fall by the wayside like previ­ Crystal Chan ous efforts at reform.

Ben Lemieux When the administration releases its prelimi­ arts@mcgilltribune.com nary response to the Task Force's report in Feburary, we hope that it contains more than platitudes noting S ports E ditors the report's concerns and bland promises of action at Charlie Blore some point down the road. McGill's top brass should Aaron Sigal do their utmost to show that they plan to follow sports@mcgilltribune.com through on the Task Force's recommendations.

While a number ofthe recommendations, such as P hoto E ditors increasing the funding available to graduate students, Lukas Bergmark will require a substantial amount of new money and Lee Tipton take time to implement, the administration should photo@mcgilltribune.com move quickly to implement others— not just on their own merit, but to demonstrate to students and fac­ C opy E ditor ulty that they intend not to let this report go to waste.

Terri Alderfer Thankfully, a few of the Task Force's ideas require little copy@ mcgilltribune.com effort to put in place. For one, simultaneously offering admission and funding decisions to graduate appli­ D esign E ditors cants should not be difficult.

Samantha Chang The report also suggests that all McGill students Andrew Frankel should have access to all public computers on cam­ Jessica Shapiro pus; regardless of their faculty. This is sensible— why design@ mcgilltribune.com should a Science student not be able to use the com­ puters in Leacock to check his email'after his biology A dvertising M anager 100 class is over? Here, the administration has already Paul Slachta

James Gotowiec

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indicated that it is in favour: Provost Tony Masi has ad­ vocated this since he was installed as McGill's Chief Information Officer in 2001. He should move quickly to implement this in time for the fall semester.

One of the report's most important focuses is advising. This is one area where McGill performs par­ ticularly poorly: According to the report, depending on the faculty and department, the ratio of advisers to students ranges from 1:600 to 1:1,100, well behind the national standard of 1:400. The report argues that McGill should bring this ratio in line with this stand­ ard and while that would be an improvement on the current situation, we believe that the administration should set its sights even higher. A university that as­ pires to be a world-class learning community should be better than average in such an important area.

Granted, hiring dozens of new academic advis­ ers will again require considerable time and lots of money. Even so, there are ways in which advising could be improved quite quickly. For instance, theTask Force recommends that all academic staff"should be encouraged to contribute to the enhancement ofthe life and learning of students outside the classroom."

Thankfully, words are cheap, so McGill should have no trouble doing this. Additionally, while not recom­ mended in the report, all academic advisers should receive training— even if only as little as a half day during the summer— to inform them of stùdents'op­ tions within their department. While it is not true for all advisers, many of them are woefully uninformed as to the goings-on even in their own departments, be it the courses offered or who is teaching them.

Ultimately, the long-term success of the task force's report will depend not on the few easily-im­ plemented recommendations, but on the more sub­ stantial ones. Finding more space for both classes and non-academic uses, increasing the funding available to graduate students and ensuring that all students have access to a professional departmental academic adviser cannot be accomplished either overnight or for free. Accomplishing these goals will take focus and effort from the administration. Munroe-Blum deserves credit for initiating the process, but we encourage the administration to tackle these issues with enough gusto that the report does not end up consigned to the dustbin like previous efforts. ■

advmgr@ssmu.mcgill.ca

OFF THE BOARD A d T ypesetter

M ore of the same from Dubya

Vladim ir Eremin P ublisher

T raci J ohnson

Chad Ronalds

Contributors Laura Anderson, Emily Barca, Magda Goncalves Baptista, Naomi Brodkey, Steven Campbell, Liz Cooper, Mallory Dash, John Dingle, Valerie Gordon, Adam Heller, Kristin Maich, Meghna Marjadi, Bethann McClaren, Dan McQuillan, Oliver Nguyen, Isis Ortiz, John Semley, Josh Stark, Ken Sun, Shiran Teitelbaum, Rich Tseng, Vincci Tsui, Mike Vallo, Trip Yang, Dominique Zipper

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lthough dressed up in a new package and labeled a "surge," the new course in Iraq that U.S. President George Bush revealed last week bears much resemblance to the administra­ tion's old stay-the-course plan. Bush wants a 21,500strong troop surge to turn the tide on his m ultibillion-dollar botched attempt at nationbuilding in the Middle East. While there is a slight chance— in one very scientific study, a 0.01 per cent chance to be exact— that the insurgency in Iraq can be stopped by only a 15 to 20 per cent increase in troops, Bush's surge will almost certainly fail, much like the ill-fated Coca-Cola soft drink of the same name.

In the mean time, U.S. congressmen fret am ongst themselves about the semantics of the "new” Iraq course and the media dutifully indulges them. Some wonder if it is truly a surge, or sim ply an escalation. Others insist the term "heavier foot­ print" is a more accurate descriptor. No matter how many different nouns are used, the basic meaning remains: more American soldiers in Iraq. The prin­ cipal flaws in this plan of action are that a) there aren't too many gung-ho Americans left lining up

A

outside army recruitment offices and b) the effec­ tiveness of U.S. forces in Baghdad is extremely lim­ ited by the fact that the Iraqi citizenry doesn't want them there.

In a 60 M inutes interview that aired Sunday, Bush argued that the Iraq invasion was justified because Sadaam Hussein "was a significant source of instability." Bush went on to say that the "Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude." Exactly what should the Iraqi people be thankful for? It must be the bitter civil war and sec­ tarian violence sparked by the American dism an­ tling of Sadaam's unstable regime. Yes, that must be it. O f course the people would welcome and sup­ port more foreign troops in their country.

Even if this line of reasoning were logical, a troop surge would rely on the support of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. However, al-Maliki's support for more combatants is tepid at best and his capacity to support American policy even more doubtful, given that he's beholden to radical Shiite leaders for political support. The New York Times reports that al-Maliki in fact wanted the opposite of a troop surge: a lowered American profile.Tellingly,

the Prime Minister did not appear at a planned news conference and gave no public com m ent fol­ lowing the troop surge announcement.

A few disillusioned members of Bush's own party may mistake his stubbornness for admirable resolve, but the now Democrat-controlled House and Senate should not be so easily duped. It's time to cut off the money for more rolls ofthe dice in Iraq and bring to a halt the Bush administration's gross mishandling of a civil conflict it treats with as much caution as a gam e of Risk. To do that, Democrats will need to overcome party divisions and stand up to the administration's scare tactics. One example: White House Press Secretary Tony Snow's assertion that the President "understands there is a lot of public anxiety," while adding that Americans "don't want another September n" in the same breath.

No one wants another September 11. No one wants another Vietnam either. The U.S. Congress has the power to declare war and it also holds the purse strings when it comes to funding said war.

Until it decides to exercise that prerogative, disillu­ sion and deeply misguided strategy will continue to constitute the course in Iraq. ■

8 -The McGill Tribune* 16.01.07

VOX POPULI

Letters to the editor

B ath ro o m v a n d a ls h av e it w ro n g

Be it love or hate mail, w e like to g e t letters from you, so send th e m to us.

Ietters@ mcgilltribune.com

M ike Shortt MICHAEL.SHORTT@MAIL.MCGILL.CA

L

ast w e e k, for at least th e s e c o n d tim e in as

u n fa ir ste re o ty p in g is e x a ctly th e kin d o f h o stile a t­

m a n y years, th e ad s p a c e in th e S h a tn e r b a th ­

titu d e th a t le a d s p e o p le to tak e "radical actio n" in th e first place.

ro o m s w as v a n d a liz e d . O f co u rse , last tim e

1 3 6

1

2 5

po sters in stead . A p p a re n tly n o t e v e n th e n o b le st o f c a u s e s c a n e s c a p e th e tain t o f c o rp o ra te a ss o ­ c ia tio n a n d th e v ig ila n te ju s t ic e th a t is m e te d o u t in resp o n se.

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th e re w eren 't m a n y a d s to v a n d a lize , s in c e Z o o m M e d ia w a s h a v in g tro u b le lo c a tin g b u ye rs. Fo rtu ­ n a te ly for th e rest o f us, M cG ill's c u ltu re -ja m m e rs rose to th e o c c a s io n a n d d e file d A ID S a w are n ess

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It's a lot h a rd e r to g o t h ro u g h th e le g itim a te d e m o c ra tic c h a n n e ls th a n it is to sla p a p o ste r to ­ g e th e r in P h o to sh o p a n d stic k it so m e w h e re th a t it d o e sn 't b e lo n g , b u t it is a lso a lot m o re re ason ab le , ju s tifia b le a n d w ill u ltim a te ly lead to m o re d u ra b le c h a n g e . T h o s e a d s w ill b e re p la ce d in a c o u p le o f d a y s a n d w e ll b e b a c k w h e re w e started. If o n th e o th e r h a n d , th e w o u ld -b e lib e rato rs h ad tak e n th e

T h is y e a r th e p e rp e trato rs left th e a rtw ork b a n n e r a lo n e a n d re p la c e d tw o a d v e rts w ith p o st­ ers o f th e ir o w n d e sig n . O n e has a p lu m e o f sm o k e a n d th e w o rd s "eyes a lw ays o pen;" th e o th e r b ears a ze b ra a n d th e s lo g a n "this is o u r space." A p p a r­

tim e to lo b b y SSM U , th a t c o n tra c t m ig h t n e v e r h a v e b e e n s ig n e d in th e first place.

e n tly th e se s e e m in g ly h a rm le ss a d v e rtise m e n ts

p ro b le m w ith th e S tu d e n ts 'S o c ie ty b e in g p a id to

U ltim ately, it's -a b lo o d y poster, n o t a Jedi m in d trick a n d n o a m o u n t o f c o u n te r-c u ltu re p h i­ lo s o p h iz in g w ill c h a n g e that. If y o u h a v e a se rio u s

4

are a d e e p ly d islik e d v io la tio n of"o u r"sp ace. B ut ex­

p u t u p a fe w sq u a re feet o f co lo u rfu l paper, at least

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a c tly w h o is in c lu d e d in t h is 'b u r ?" C e rt a in ly n o o n e b o th e re d to a sk m e a n d if th e y had, I w o u ld have to ld th e m th a t I d o n 't h a v e a p ro b le m w ith cle v e r

c h o o se a re sp o n se p ro p o rtio n a l to th e s u p p o s e d crim e . S ave th e "radical so lu tio n s" for a n o th e r d a y a n d a n issu e th a t a c tu a lly m atters.

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c o n d o m a ds o r po sters a b o u t th e d a n g e rs o f HPV.

In th e e n d , w h a t h a p p e n e d last w e e k w a s th at

I w o u ld a lso g u e s s th a t o u r e le c te d re p re se n tative s w eren't in o n th e jo b e ith e r— th e ir p re d e ce sso rs

a sm all g ro u p o f p e o p le d e c id e d th a t th e y kn e w w h a t w a s b e st for th e rest o f us. For a rg u m e n t's

w e re th e o n e s w h o in ke d th e d e al in th e first place, after all. S o w h o re m a in s o n th is s te a d ily -s h rin k in g list o f s u s p e c ts ? Th at's a n in te re stin g q u e s tio n a n d it d e se rv e s a n in te re stin g answ er.

It w o u ld b e n ic e if, S h e rlo c k H o lm e s-sty le ,

sake, let's a ss u m e th a t th is s e lf-a p p o in te d e lite w as c o rre ct in a s s u m in g th at e v e ry o n e h ates th e a d s as m u c h as th e y d o — th ey're w ro n g , b u t let's g iv e it to th e m a n yw a ys. Th ere's still o n e t h in g th e y o ve r­ lo o ke d in th e ir c a lc u la tio n o f o u r so cia l w elfare:

I c o u ld

SUDOKU'S BACK! FILL EACH COLUMN, ROW AND 3 X3 SQUARE WITH THE NUMBERS 1 -9 , WITH NO REPEATS. IF YOU LOVE SEEING THESE PUZZLES, LET US KNOW. EMAIL opinion@mcgilltribune.com

m o tiv e s to th e

m o n e y. Flo w are w e s u p p o s e d to afford "o ur"sp ace

suspect(s). A n y o n e w h o take s se rio u s o ffe n ce to an a d th e y c a n lo o k a w a y fro m or ig n o re p ro b ­ a b ly fits a v e ry d is tin c t M c G ill profile: arts stu d e n t, u p p e r m id d le class, d re a d lo c k s or C h é t-sh irt, reads C h o m s k y a n d w a tc h e s M ich a e l M o o re film s, sh o p s o rg a n ic, etc. U n fo rtu n ate ly, th a t so rt o f b la ta n tly

e x trap o late fro m

th e

if w e c o n tin u a lly a lie n a te c o m m e rc ia l su p p o rte rs?

A d s are a n e a sy w a y to m a k e m o n e y w ith o u t im ­ p o s in g a d d itio n a l co sts o n stu d e n ts a n d if p e o p le a c tu a lly d islik e a d s th a t m u c h , th e b est w a y to stick it to th e m a n is a c tu a lly to let h im w a ste more m o n e y o n a d v e rtis in g in th e S h a tn e r b u ild in g . ■

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S ig n u p a n d s a y : “ T h e M c G ill T rib u n e ” w h e n a s k e d .

The McGill

in partnership with

worldline

big iiu m t is om

C a m pu s SILHOUETTE

CHATTERBOX

S u p e r c o o l re d v e s ts s ig n a l

M iss A m e ric a a n d

c a m p u s secu rity

A rt o f Listening?

Walksafe helps the McGill community navigate Montreal streets

Lloyd Whitesell discusses his life as a music professor

Liz C

o o per

Whether it's after a late eve­ ning in the library or a beer-filled pub birthday party, walking home alone through Montreal's downtown neighborhoods is probably not a good idea for the average McGill student. That's w hy Walksafe pro­ vides the McGill com m unity with an invaluable service. Now in their 15th year, Walksafe sends qualified volun­ teers to escort students at night.

W alksafe

e x te rn al

affairs

re p ­

resen tative, S arah G ille sk i, c a lls th e se rv ice "an e m p o w e rin g a lte rn a tiv e to w a lk in g or ta k in g p u b lic tra n s p o r­ ta tio n a lo n e at nig h t.” W alksafe h ad

about 100 walks last semester. This semester, the executive is hoping to break that record by engaging more volunteers.

Even in a relatively safe urban setting like Montreal, walking home alone may be rather daunting for some. Areas in the city that are per­ fectly respectable during the day­ light hours can seem, well, sketchy late at night— think east of St-Laurent or Ste-Catherine— and having two more people around makes it seem less so. Then, of course, there is the inevitable drunken night when you're the only person in the group who is ready to head home, except when you stop and think about it,

VLADIMIR EREMIN Too sketched out to walk home alone? Who ya gonna call?

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D z

Faculty of Medicine presents:

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Doing Time, Doing Vipassana Jan 16 @ 7 p.m., Moyse Hall,

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Arts Building

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Lloyd Whitesell's awkward giggles are contagious and so is his love for m usic. Although his classes (The Art o f Listening and Queer Identity) m ay be a bit unconventional, his engaging and interesting lectures fail to put his stu­ dents to sleep.

Who is your hero or role model and why?

This question makes me feel like Miss America! I have a couple differ­ ent heroes but one that sticks out is one of my graduate school music his­ tory teachers. She was a really strong role model for me because she was very generous with her time and took care to learn about people's personal situations. She went out of her way to give support but at the same time was kind of rigorous as far as stan­ dards and what she expected of her students.

Was there an overseas experi­ ence that changed your life in any way?

Sure. I was studying piano one summer in Austria and I was still quite unsure about what I was going to do with my life. It was just very fun to be somewhere new and surrounded by other musicians who were young and excited and very passionate about what they were doing. That was sort pf a revelation for me of what being a performer could be, although I didn't end up going into it at the end.

What is something you've wanted to do for years but haven't done yet?

I'd like to travel more, particularly to Greece and Rome.

If you could teach everyone one skill, what would it be?

I guess reading, just something as simple as reading books. That is something I hold really, really dear. I use it as an escape somètimes and I think everyone should know how to read.

Friday

Thursday

EUS/SUS Blood Drive Engineering Com m on Room (McConnell Basement) Jan. 15-18,930-5:00 (Mon, Tues, Thurs), 930-6:00 (Wed). Contact: blooddrive@mcgilleus.ca for info or to volunteer

LU <

Walksafe can be reached at 514398-2498 (it also flashes on cam pus payphones), and you can check out the Web site www.walksafe.ca for a ll their inform ation.

Wednesday

Tuesday

M onday

you only vaguely remember where home is.

In any such situation (cue Su­ perman sound effects), Walksafe will com e to the rescue! Volunteers travel in pairs that are either mixed gender or two females. They wear vibrant red vests so that you look really cool walking home with them and they are also willing to take off the very attractive vests if a student is embar­ rassed.

Walksafe extends far beyond the McGill "bubble." Although the organi­ zation's name involves walking, vol­ unteers are also willing to ride public transportation to take anyone, McGill affiliated or not, to where they have to go. Gilleski explains that this bene­ fits Walksafe volunteers as well as the people they accom pany home.

"You really get to know the city," says Gilleski. "Volunteers help not just the McGill com m unity but also get acquainted with the broader areas of Montreal."

O f course, there are other re­ wards to becom ing a Walksafe vol­ unteer besides a better knowledge of Montreal's nether regions. There's the warm and fuzzy feeling that re­ sults from helping fellow students and volunteers also get free goodies.

Walksafe has set deals with Second cup and Subway, who hand out free treats to volunteers during their latenight prowls. Another pleasant perk is that volunteers can choose who they walk with, so if you join with a friend you can treat it as late night bonding time that would otherwise be spent watching TV. Walksafe operates out of the Shatner building most evenings be­ ginning at 8 or 9 p.m.. Not excited about a nighttime walk of shame home?"Save money on a cab and call Walksafe," insists Gileski. Volunteers will be happy to see you safely home, no matter your level of sobriety. ■

OWEN EGAN Professor Whitesell is passionate about Maurice Ravel and Joni Mitchell.

What instruments do you play personally?

I started taking lessons when I was 10 years old.Then I went on from there to get my undergrad degree in piano. After that I was accompanying vocal performers, working with an Opera company. That is what I was doing with my piano at the time, be­ fore going into a scholarly degree.

If you could meet one performer/composer that has passed away, who would it be?

Only one! That's really hard. I'd really like to meet Maurice Ravel, just because I love his music so much.

He's done some historical work and there are questions I'd like to ask him.

I find him fascinating personally and as a composer as well.

If you could play another in­ strument that you can't play now, what would it be and why?

Guitar. For instance, I love Joni Mitchell and I'm working on a book on Joni Mitchell's work. It just kills me that I cannot play guitar and don't know anything about it. I feel like a blind person when I write about the guitar. ■ — com piled by Jessica Shapiro

Sunday

Saturday

Oxfam McGill presents: The United Students Against Sweatshops Canada Film and Speaker Tour, Jan. 18 , 6 p.m. Leacock 219

Anti-sweatshop activist speech and screening of the documentary film El Contrato.

McGill Model United Nations (McMUN) Staff Recruitment Jan. 18,6-8 p.m.

Shatner, Room 302 Free Pizza!

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Want to advertise in the Campus Calendar? For just a toonie you can advertise your event up to two weeks in advance.

Email calendar@mcgilltribune.com for more information, or drop by the Tribune office in Shatner 110 .

F EATURES L o o k in g b e y o n d th e la b e ls How does the

food industry treat Canadian consume Elizabeth Perle

While Smarties, Nanaimo bars and the caloric goodness of Tim Horton's may be closely associated with the Canadian identity, Canadi­ ans still manage to be healthier eaters than our neighbours south of the border. According to Statistics Canada, we eat more fish, fruits, veg­ etables and drink more two per cent (as opposed to whole) milk than Americans.

But, at the end of the day, who can deny that frozen Lean Cuisine meals are not a fast and easy alternative to cooking up a complicated dinner concoction after a long day of classes?

When buying processed food such as Stouffers' meals, we often scan the shelves for words that say "healthy option" or "low in fat." But how accurate are these lables? And, more importantly, is there a national standard that oversees the accuracy of the elusive "nutritional informa­ tion" box -- something that so many of us depend on when making the most of our low budget shopping sprees?

Nutrition, eh?

But what does "% Value" actually mean?

The Daily Values that appear on nutrition labels are based on expert dietary advice about how much, or how little, of some key nutrients you should eat each day, depending on whether you eat 2,000 or 2,500 daily calories.

For example, if a label on a bag of chips lists 15% of the daily value for fat, it is referring to the percent of the recommended amount contained in that specific serving. It is not the amount of fat contained in the entire product package.

—Source: CBC

According to a 1999 National Institute of Nutrition study, more than half of consumers believed an ingredient was not in a food if it wasn't listed on the label.

Transparency within the food industry is essential in order for consumers to make truly informed eating decisions in relation to their health. With this in mind, perhaps one could attribute Canadians'inclination towards healthier foods, in part, to the country's rigorous labeling system. Canada currently boasts a more stringent system than those in the only other countries that have mandatory food labeling: the US, Bra­ zil, Australia and New Zealand.

"I don't always look at labels. I know what J am getting myself into when I buy processed food. I think most people do," says Ronak Mallik, U3 Psychology and Computer Science. Mallik, however, also insists that nutritional labeling is a necessity in our society as a consumer's right, rather than in its actual pragmatism.

"I feel like I would stand outside and protest if there were no neces­ sary labeling!"he jokes."We would be a stupid, placated public who have no idea what is going into their bodies."

M allik w a s sh o c k e d to d isc o v e r th a t su ch la b e lin g laws have o n ly b e e n in p la c e in C a n a d a for less th a n five years.

Under Canada's new labeling laws, established in 2003, pre-pack­ aged foods and drinks must bear a Nutrition Facts box listing the calorie count and 13 ingredients deemed important by health professionals, sci­ entists and consumers.

“It's th e b est m o d e l o u t there," Bill Jeffery, n a tio n a l c o -o rd in a to r o f th e C e n tre for S c ie n c e in th e P u b lic Interest o f C a n a d a , to ld CBC News Online. "It g iv e s th e m o st in fo rm atio n a n d C a n a d a w as th e first c o u n try to in c lu d e tran s fat."

28 grams of prevention The federal government projects that the rules re­ quiring mandatory nutrition labels on food products will save the country ss-billion in health-care costs over the next 20 years. Essentially, these labels are meant to help Canadians lose weight, as well as reduce in­ stances of cancer, diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke.

A similar mandatory labeling program has been in place in the US since 1994, however, and the nation-wide obesity problem has been anything'but decreasing.

In 2003, Health Canada allowed diet-related claims on

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$ really b e tte r fo r you?

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M arjadi

So you've been checking the labels for the word or­ ganic, hunting the aisles for pesticide-free and forking over extra money for natural foods. But is it really worth it?

Over the last decade the natural food market has grown profusely with support from customers who are begin­ ning to encompass more than just the hippie earth loving market. In response to the rapidly expanding organic food market, the Canadian government issued new organic food regulations in Decem ber of 2006 in order to stream­ line production.

Just w hy are people turning to organic foods? The most popular answer from customers at The Garden of Eden health food store on Avenue du Parc is that organic foods are better for you. This theory is centered on the hy­ pothesis that pesticides used during conventional farming practices remain on the fruits and vegetables and other crops that are later sold. Ingesting these pesticides, accord­ ing to a few thought-provoking scientific studies, can cause developmental problems in children and has the potential

food labels for the first time.

Currently, carbohydrate-reduced products are flying off the shelves of supermarkets, following the popularity of the Atkins diet (and similar regimes) across North America. The radical Atkins diet has fallen out of favour, but low-carb choices keep popping up, even in product lines as integral to the Canadian (and university) lifestyle as beer. Molson intro­ duced its low-carb version, Molson Ultra, which had 2.5 grams of carbs per bottle in 2004.

In fact, about 61 per cent of Canadians have tried to cut back on carbohydrates to avoid gaining weight, an Ipsos-Reid survey suggests.

Health Canada maintains that there remains no clear scientific evi­ dence that carbohydrates are a dietary problem. The new rules (which large companies had until 2005 to com ply with and smaller ones until 2007) would force manufacturers to pull these products from the shelves or re-label them, especially if they imply that low carb intake boosts health.

"In an ideal world, you should stay away as much as possible from all food that has labels, because that means that it is processed. You are better off sticking with fresh food," says Dr. Ariel Fenster, one of the professors of McGill's popular World of Chemistry: Food course. “But, of course, in our society, this is difficult."

Fast Food Nation O n e c ritic ism o f C a n a d a 's cu rre n t le g isla tio n re latin g to fo o d la b e l­ in g is th a t it d o e s n o t re q u ire fast food o u tle ts to lab e l th e n u tritio n al c o n te n t o f th e ir p rod u cts.

H ow ever, m a n y m a jo r re stau rant c h a in s h a ve ste p p e d fo rw ard an d h a ve v o lu n ta rily c o m m itte d to p ro v id in g n u tritio n in fo rm atio n to th e ir cu sto m e rs. T h e y are d o in g so th ro u g h th e u se o f p a m p h le ts, tray liners a n d W e b sites u n d e r g u id e lin e s e sta b lish e d b y th e C a n a d ia n R estaurant a n d F o o d se rv ice s A sso cia tio n .

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A diet low in saturated and trans fat reduces risk o A diet with adequate calcium and vitamin D, alone osteoporosis.

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The restaurant at the tip of everyone's tongue when the subject of fast food comes up, however, has yet to do so.

McDonald's Canada announced in September that the fast-food company would delay posting nutrition information on its packaging, despite the fact that it had enthusiastically revealed plans to do so back in October 2005..

The company said it plans to unveil the new packaging in Canada next year.

McDonald's, however, has been struggling with the same problem many companies in the food industry have already been facing: finding a sustainable supply of trans-fat-free oil.

"Denmark has banned trans fats entirely and it's going to be banned in New York City as well," Professor Fenster explains, implying that Canada is not far behind these movements. This means that if a solid alternative to trans-fats is not established soon, many Canadian businesses in the food industry are going to find themselves in a tough situation.

"It's a bit hypocritical, because at the same time we continue doing

to c a u s e o th e r h e a lth p ro b le m s in a d u lts. H ow ever, th e e v id e n c e for th is is far fro m a b s o lu te a n d a lth o u g h o rg a n ic farm e rs c e rta in ly use le s s -c h e m ic a ls th a n th e ir c o n v e n tio n ­

certification of organic food is relatfi try.

al co u n te rp a rts, c u rre n t sta n d a rd s d o in fa c t a llo w th e use

I buy for the Enviror

o f ce rta in p e sticid e s o n o rg a n ic farm s, fu rth e r b lu rrin g th e

Buying organic products clearl) ment. Pollution from farms presenl form of run off. Rain that falls into i with chemicals and lacking in hoi chemicals with it into surrounding I, run off can cause algal blooms and water quality. Organic farms use org crease the fertility of soif and therefo capacity. Unfortunately, organic ferti answer. According to Joann W haler ence with the McGill faculty of agri delicate balance of nutrients and too nitrogen (found in manure and conr sorbed by the soil and will instead ri into surrounding water bodies. Wha that no matter what they use on th have to use it in the right amounts, ble.

d e b ate . Face d w ith c o n fu s io n in s tu d ie s a n d stan d a rd s, th e a v e ra g e s tu d e n t co n su m e r, w ith a m e a s ly s tu d e n t b u d g e t to m a n a g e , is left in a q u a n d a r y .T h e fo llo w in g m yth b u st­ ers s h o u ld b rin g so m e c la rity to g ro c e ry day.

I want to buy organic foods, but w hat is Organic?

O rg a n ic fo o d is g ro w n w ith m in im a l u se o f p e sticid e s a n d o n ly n atural fertilizers, b u t rig h t n o w th e re is n o w a y to tell if p e s ticid e s h a ve b e e n u se d . O v e r th e n e x t tw o years th e C a n a d ia n g o v e rn m e n t w ill b e p h a s in g in a n e w syste m u n d e r w h ic h a n y fo o d la b e le d "C a n a d a O rg a n ic " o r" B io lo g ig u e C a n a d a " is ce rtifie d as o rg a n ic b y th e C a n a d ia n Fo o d In s p e c tio n A g e n c y . T h is is an im p ro v e m e n t fro m th e p re v i­ o u s re g u la tio n s a n d w ill a llo w c o n s u m e rs to k n o w rig h t a w a y w h ic h p ro d u c ts are tru ly o rg a n ic . W h ile in d e p e n d e n t fo o d re g u la to ry b o d ie s exist, w ith w h ic h o rg a n ic farm e rs c a n c h o o s e to a sso c ia te th e m s e lv e s , m a n d a to r y n a tio n a l

16.01.07 • The McGill Tribune • 11

The BuzzWord Bible

Next time you're navigating the grocery store aisles, the following definitions will make you a smarter shopper: • Calorie-free - fewer than five calories per serving.

• Fat-free - less than half a gram of fat per serving.

• Light - must contain one-third fewer calo­ ries than the regular version of the same product.

• Low fa t- no m ore than three grams o f fat per serving.

• Low in Sodium - no m ore than 140 m il­ ligrams o f salt per serving.

• Low in Cholesterol - no m ore than 20 m il­ ligrams o f cholesterol or tw o grams o f satu­ rated fat per serving.

Are there cackling scientists in a large, white room poisoning our precious fruits and veggies? Despite the stigma surrounding "unnatural"food products, they are not necessarily harmful to your health.

— Source: FDA

things that are more dangerous, like smoking, for instance," he notes. "The problem in North America is that our diet is just too rich, not that we are eating trans fats specifically."

In June 2006, Health Canada and the Heart and Stroke Foun­ dation of Canada chaired a joint task force on the issue of trans fat. The task force noted that 22 per cent of the average trans-fat

organism.

Genetically modified products are often engineered to resist disease or eliminate the need for pesticides. Desired characteris­ tics (for example, a hardier texture, faster growth and even higher nutritional value) are chosen to produce a "higher quality" line of food.

Advocacy groups such as Greenpeace and the Council of Ca­ nadians argue that GM foods are a serious health risk. They assert that the food industry needs to make its actions and intentions t disease. more visible in its creation and testing of GM foods. These groups regular physical activity, reduces the risk of also stress the fact that there are no long-term studies on the ef­ fects of modified foods on human health. As a potential solution, they suggest an independent testing agency to monitor the ef­ /pes of cancer, fects of GM foods.

"Food should be labeled with respect to its content," asserts of high blood pressure.

Fenster. "When it comes to genetically modified food, you are la­ beling the process, which is a tricky thing." —Source: CBC Fenster maintains that labeling GM foods would open a in take is p ro v id e d b y fo o d s c o n s u m e d a w ay from h o m e , u su a lly in "whole other can of worms," and that while he does not oppose fast-fo o d restaurants. Tran s fats raise th e lo w -d e n sity lip o p ro te in the idea of such labeling in theory, the food industry would have (LDL) or "bad" ch o le ste ro l in th e bo d y, w h ic h in creases th e risk o f to be wary because, he says, "when you start labeling one thing, h e a rt d isease. you have to label everything," including non-GM products.

"By picking on genetically modified food, it implies that auto­ If the genes fit... matically there is something wrong with it," he adds. "Scientifically, Some research firms estimate that currently around 30,000 there is no evidence that there is anything wrong with [genetically different products on grocery store shelves have been "modified" modified food]." in some way.

Consumers in Europe, however, have put enough pressure on "And some say that about 60 per cent of all processed food • their governments that companies such as Nestle UK and Unilever contains some genetically modified ingredient," Fenster says.

UK have dropped GM ingredients from their products entirely.The T h is statistic ca n b e a ttrib u te d to th e h ig h a m o u n t o f so y North American branches of these companies have yet to do so. fo u n d in p ro ce sse d fo od s: Cu rren tly, h a lf o f N orth A m erica's so y Moreoever, at least 35 countries have adopted mandatory la­ c ro p is g e n e tic a lly e n g in e e re d . beling for any product that has been genetically modified.

T h e te rm "g e n e tically m o d ifie d " refers to th e alte ratio n o f g e ­ In Canada, a free vote in Parliament on October 17,2001, de­ n e tic m aterial in an o rg a n ism . S p e cifically, it m e a n s th at th e g e n e s feated a bill by Liberal MP Charles Caccia that would have required o f o n e o rg a n is m h a ve b e e n re m o ve d a n d in serted in to a n o th e r mandatory labeling of genetically altered foods. ■

/to the indus-

:s the environmostly in the soil, saturated pacity, carries i streams. This ireats to local tilizers that inase its holding ? not a perfect sor of soil scithe soil has a phosphorus or i/ill not be ab/ith rain water ; her students re farms, they 5 will be trou-

Fruit: fat-free or low fat?

w h y is it so d arn e x p e n s iv e ? O rg a n ic fa rm s are o ften

I buy to avoid pesticides

fa m ily -o w n e d a n d run. M o st o f th e m are m u c h sm a lle r

C o n tra ry to p o p u la r belief, s o m e p e sticid e s are a l­ lo w e d b y th e o rg a n ic fa rm in g re g u la tio n s in C a n a d a a n d th e U n ite d States. A c c o rd in g to Professor Jo h n H e n n in g ,

th a n c o n v e n tio n a l fa rm s a n d h a v e to p a y a lot in tra n s­ a c tio n costs. For e x a m p le , th e y h a v e to p a y p e o p le to tra n s p o rt th e ir g o o d s in ste ad o f e m p lo y in g th e ir

th e p ro g ra m d ire c to r o f A g ric u ltu ra l E c o n o m ic s w ith in

o w n trucks. T h e y a lso d o n o t p r o d u c e as m a n y c ro p s

th e fa c u lty o f A g ric u ltu re , th e d iffe re n ce b e tw e e n c o n ­ v e n tio n a l fa rm in g a n d o rg a n ic fa rm in g , w h e n it c o m e s to

as c o n v e n tio n a l farm e rs, so th e y h a v e to p a y m o re p e r item o f fo o d in e a c h tru c k a n d h a v e tro u b le g e ttin g

p e sticid e s, is th e w a y in w h ic h p e sticid e s are used. O rg a n ic

s h e lf sp a c e a t b ig g ro c e ry c h a in s . O rg a n ic fa rm e rs

farm e rs w ill o n ly e m p lo y th e u se o f p e s ticid e s w h e n a p est is cre a tin g a p ro b le m a n d w ill th e n o n ly sp ra y th e p lan ts th a t are affected. M e a n w h ile , a c o n v e n tio n a l fa rm e r w ill in d is c rim in a te ly s p ra y all th e crops, e v e n b efo re a p ro b ­ lem is e v id e n t, w ith c o p io u s a m o u n ts o f p e sticid e s. S o m e

also h a ve to s p e n d m o re m o n e y re se a rc h in g w a ys

*

to k e e p th e ir farm s o rg a n ic a n d u p to n a tio n a l stan d a rd s.

To a v o id g o in g b a n k ru p t b e c a u s e o f g ro c e ry co sts, try to b u y th e o rg a n ic p ro d u c ts at P ro vigo. N o t all o f th e m are as h ig h ly p rice d as th o s e at h e a lth fo o d stores.

c o n v e n tio n a l farm e rs h a v e e v e n m a n a g e d to g e n e tic a lly e n g in e e r p e s ticid e s in to th e p lan ts th e y are m a rk e tin g , m e a n w h ile o rg a n ic farm e rs d o n o t g ro w g e n e tic a lly m o d i­ fied fo o d at all.

I spent all my money at the bar on Thursday S o o rg a n ic fo o d b e n e fits th e e n v iro n m e n t, c h a n c e s are it ca rrie s fe w e r p e s ticid e s th a n c o n v e n tio n a l fo od , b u t

Why can't I find all my organic stuff at Provigo?

"Organic food is still a niche market,” says Henning.

However, the organic food market has been growing 20 per cent per year for the past couple years and should continue with this growth pattern. Will farming become completely or primarily organic? "The consumer will de­ cide," Henning maintains. ■

STEVEN CAMPBELL Apples are coated with shellac and carnauba wax to improve their shine because consumers prefer to buy shiny apples. These coatings are not harmful, but you should always rinse your apples with soap and water or with vinegar before you eat them.

S t u d e n t L iv in g X VS Y

W h o s e " n e w s " b r ie fs d o y o u p re fe r?

Stewie and Colby duke it out for your late-night vote THE DAILY SHOW

THE COLBERT REPORT Interview Style: Stephen can't seem to let go of his megalomaniacal char­ acter long enough to give a serious interview, which makes them hard to follow and kind of annoying. He never lets the interviewee answer a question and constantly cuts them off with his own quips, which are sometimes funny but mostly just awkward.

Interview Style: Jon Stewart manages to be funny as well as informative. Al­ though The Daily Show is mostly comedy, Stewart's interviews ask thoughtprovoking questions and stir interest­ ing discussions on relevant issues with high-profile guests such as Bill Clinton, Colin Powell and Howard Dean.

Achievements: Besides

being Time magazine's Entertainer of the Year in 2004, Stewart can boast nine Emmy's, two Peabody Awards and a best-sell­ ing book. His appearance on Crossfire sparked a left vs. right brawl in the media that was responsible for CNN's decision to fire Tucker Carlson; a feat that is wor­ thy of a trophy in itself.

Sense of Humour: Stewart's self-depre­ ciating and sarcastic jokes are a hilari­ ous change to the self-important news anchors you see every day. He usually has perfect com edic timing and even when he makes a mistake he can still get a laugh from making fun of his own screw-up.

Looks: Jon Stewart is hot.There's not much else to it. He has that gray-haired, distinguished look. Perhaps the guy is a wee bit short. But you don't notice that minor detail when he's behind the news desk.

Achievements: Colbert loves to make up words, but unlike Bush's, his are catching on. "Truthiness" has become a national phenomenon and was voted the number-one word of 2006 by the American Dialect Society and the Merriam-Webster Web site. Colbert's award shelf also includes three Emmy's for his work on The Daily Show with Jon.

W inner: The D aily Show with Jon Stewart.

The original just can't be beat, no matter how good Steve's spin-off is. [ED note: the writer's opinions do not reflect the preferences of the Features editors.]

Sense of Humour: Colbert, instead of ALISONPACE.TYPEPAD.COM shying away from pundit stereotypes, goes for the over-the-top, openly self-involved Conservative-Republican persona that makes him so popular. His puns, especially during The W ord, are priceless and exceptionally witty. Even though his excessive ego seems to get in the way sometimes, it's the drive of the show and is always g o o d for a laugh when all else fails.

Looks: Don't even try to deny it: the glasses are damn sexy. While his s u p ­ posed lack of pupils may make Colby look a little bit possessed, his conserva­ tive attire and sleek hair makes us want to just, uh.Joosen him up a little.

— com piled by Kate Spirgen

PERSPECTIVE

B eco m in g M iss M o n treal: A p assio n fo r fash io n Despite the cold weather, former LA resident releases her inner fashionista lavishly bedecked. Fancy? I would mutter, stupe­ fied. Looking down at m y outfit, jeans and a sim­ ple t-shirt, I had no idea what they could mean.

In Los Angeles, if frilly skirts are in season, Then some Maritime peer would point out that every gal, her mother and seven-year-old sister will my chandelier earrings had crossed the threshold make it their business to own a small collection. of appropriate New Brunswick morning-wear. At Hippie skirts that were all the rage scant months Mount A., I seldom saw anyone wearing anything ago become so last season that the only place for more ornate than a pair of sweats and a match­ them is in mothballs or on a Salvation Army rack. ing toque. I was also frequently shellacked for It wasn't until I left California for Canada— and es­ pecially until I settled down in Montreal— that it wearing Uggs, which really vexed me right down to my laced leggings. My preference for these dawned on me just how utterly I had fallen under boots grew out of a modest desire to keep my the thumb of the local fashionista tyranny. toes from snapping off from Luke Skywalker-style In La-la-Land, the rigid rules of what one can , frostbite. Girls in California wear these boots with or cannot wear leave little room for personal ex­ mini-skirts when it's 30 degrees celcius. But Sackperimentation. Yet somewhat ironically, dressing ville is not Santa Monica. Not that this mitigated in style is not restricted to the rich and famous the endless wisecracks. I became known as Holly­ Nicole Richie types cruising the big-label em ­ wood, with her boots. I spent the rest of my tenure poriums along Rodeo Drive. Knock-off clothing, there shrinking into the less accessible recesses of accessories and shoes make for the possibility of black long-sleeve t-shirts from Old Navy. mass participation in an ostensibly democratic After transferring to McGill, the local fashion orgy of consumerism. Was I impervious to these scene threw me for another loop. Checking out sudden convulsions of irrationality? As IF! Any the city, I observed women sporting outfits lifted time during my high school years that I was not straight out of Vogue. Yet heedlessly standing their quite feeling up to my self-appointed image as ground alongside all this expensive couture, I no­ Little Miss Sunshine, it was another mad dash ticed happily disheveled girls, their hair in buns, down to Melrose Avenue for a quick spiritual fix thoroughly sans makeup, sporting sweatpants. at a trendy boutique.

Did they not feel compelled to load up their faces Attending university in Atlantic Canada did with gunk, I wondered. Amid all this ornam en­ not jibe well with such couturial excess. At Mount tal frippery, could appearance be taking a back Allison's meal hall, m y new friends would inces­ seat to comfort? Even my professors' ensembles santly ask me why I showed up for breakfast so

S hiran T eitelbaum

left me scratch­ ing my head: wool tights, a sweater dress, a men's suit jacket from the 90s, clunky black heels. These are the outfits that regularly make it into Us Weekly's 'W ho Wore it Worst," but not in Montreal.

In this city, mixing, match­ ing and experimenting are the iron laws of attire. Within a few months, my oncem undane closet had become my new fashion playground. Suddenly, I was pairing off turtlenecks with Cali weather tanks and wearing knee-length skirts as belted dress­ es.

Who would have guessed that moving to the Great White North would bring out my own inner fashionista? It may not say so in the Lonely Planet guidebook, but this place is Shmatteh Wonderland. There's just one prob­ lem. Most of the time, it's just so darned cold you have to hide your off-the-cuff ensembles under several layers of industrial strength winter-wear. Thank god for global warming.

Stick around this town long enough, and someone will eventually see you as nature, and Project Runway, intended. ■

AVIVA TEITELBAUM

16.01.07 • The McGill Tribune • 13

FASHIONOLOGY

Bundle up in style

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To build on his education and get the skill set employers were looking for, Andrew earned his Postgraduate Certificate in Public Administration from Humber in only 3 semesters.

He now works for the Ministry of Community and Social Services. We think he’s found the meaningful career he always wanted.

Gap: Puffer Bomber Jacket Silver and Brown $98.00 no w $73.00 Down-filled, detachable I fur hood, zipper pockets

Public Administration, Postgraduate Certificate

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H U M B E R

G e t w h a t y o u w a n t, A p p ly no w .

The Business School

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“I earned m y u n d e r g r a d u a t e d e g r e e ,

now i want American Eagle Outfitters:

ap

Featured item W hite and black 100$ nylon $140.00 Long, snap b u tto n close Duck do w n filled, fur hood snap on

"Oh Sailor," Fiona Apple "Death o f an Interior Decorator," Death C a b fo rC u tie "The Waitress,"Tori Amos "Superman," Five for Fighting "Painter Song," Norah Jones "The Acrobat,"Johnathan Rice "Pinball Wizard,"The W ho "Hairdresser on Fire," Morrissey "W arrior King," Lou Reed

ie c e the

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Songs for the job you've always wanted, be it a scientist or a pimp daddy

"P.I.M.R"5o Cent "Cracked Actor," David Bowie "Are You a Hypnotist?"The Flaming Lips "Funky President,"James Brown "Call the Doctor,"Sleater-Kinney "Paperback Writer,"The Beatles "I am a Scientist,"Guided By Voices "Buffalo Soldier," Bob Marley "Art Star,"Yeah Yeah Yeahs "God Fearing Man,"Ben Harper "Playmate o f the Year,"Zebrahead “Crazy Mama," Rolling Stones "The Alcoholic,"Adam Sandler "Here I Dreamt I was an Architect,"The Decemberists "Mr. Spaceman,"The Byrds "To a Teacher," Leonard Cohen "Tip Your Bartender,"Glassjaw

p .m .

“I earned m y u n d e r g r a d u a t e d e g r e e ,

Long Nylon Puffer Jacket Comes in red, black and g $165.00 Hooded, zipper, snaps

What will you be when you grow up?

CAPS does n o t always have the answers. If you're hav­ ing troub le choosing a post-graduate career path, fear no more. Here is an iPOD playlist to help you discover your ideal vocation:

5 :3 0

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R a c h e l M eln ik

F e a tu re s !

M e e tin g : T u e s d a y

A guide to Montreal's best winter jackets A lthough the experts warn us o f the dangers o f g lo b ­ al warm ing, Montreal is still frigg in ' cold. W ith real w in te r threatening day after day, shopaholics and broke students alike need to find a w in te r jacket th a t offers a good bal­ ance between fu n ctio n and fashion. W inter coats are in high dem and in Montreal, so it's im p o rta n t to know w h at to look for and where to fin d them . W hen the snow finally hits, everyone w ill w a n t to be bundled up.

Unfortunately, no w in te r jacket w ill show o ff the curves you've been w orking on for the last semester, so the first th in g to keep in m ind is th a t jackets don't fit like swimsuits. Nevertheless, there is a difference between looking like a puff-ball and appearing svelte and sophis­ ticated. Find a jacket th a t fits th e latter description, and w in te r w o n 't be as unbearable this year.

Dow n-filled w in te r jackets, if your b u dg et allows, are your best protection against old man winter. A m ixture o f goose or duck do w n is sometimes used to fill duvets and pillows. It is very com fortable, lig h tw e ig h t and most im portantly, warm. A ltho ug h this makes the price o f your w in te r jacket steeper, it's w o rth every penny.

Because Montreal is a city th a t rains as well as snows, every good w inter jacket should com e fully equipped w ith a hood. W hether the hood is lined w ith fur, fleece, or nothing at all, you'll be thankful its there, especially after spending hours doing your hair.

If you've started shopping around already, you p ro b ­ ably know th a t jackets have an assortm ent o f belts, bows, buckles an d/or buttons.These add-ons should be chosen according to personal preference, b u t on any good quality w in te r jacket a zipper mechanism, along w ith a buttoned pane o f fabric covering it, is obligatory. On those w indy days where some struggle ju st to keep the ir balance, an uncovered zipper is a clear invitation to th e cold.

W hile M ontreal has many great places to shop for the perfect w in te r coat, franchise favourites may be the best place to shop w ith o u t fear o f spending next month's rent money. Urban Outfitters, Gap and Simons all carry w inter apparel, long or short jackets ranging from $98 to $165.

For conventional types, black or brow n are both classic and safe colours for a w in te r jacket th a t w ill carry you throu gh the cold, year after year. However, these coats also com e in colours like green, silver, red and w h ite for those creative souls who'd like to brave the w inter w ith a sense o f humour. ■

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To get the specialized focus that would help her zero in on her goals, Denise earned her Postgraduate Certificate in Marketing Management from Humber in only 2 semesters.

She now works for one of Canada’s top weather networks.

We forecast a great future for her.

Marketing Mangement, Postgraduate Certificate

H U M B E R

G e t w h a t y o u w a n t. A p p ly no w .

The Business School

V is it u s a t w w w .b u s in e s s .h u m b e r.c a

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M e e t S a n ja y .

To get the practical knowledge and real world experience to help him go global, Sanjay earned his Postgraduate Certificate from Humber in International Marketing in only 2 semesters. He now works as Director of Marketing for a major Multinational Food Services Management company.

We think he’s going places.

International Marketing, Postgraduate Certificate

H U M B E R The B usiness School

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THEATRE

No toil and trouble liking this Scottish play

Director Stigler aims to entertain through murder as well as enlighten B ethann M c C laren

is alm ost unheard of. When asked ab ou t th e reasoning behind this casting decision Stigler answered, "I didn't w a nt to see another production w hich focused, even tangentially, on evil w om en te m p tin g Macbeth."

Boersma is exceptionally convincing in this un­ usual interpretation o f the Second Sister. Along w ith being gifted actors, Boersma and fellow sisters Sarah Acker and Leah Roth are talented dancers w h o incor­ porate elements o f m odern dance in to the ir roles as the witches.

A lthough the Shakespearean play has been a fa­ vourite o f theatre-goers for hundreds o f years, director Nat Stigler's refreshing and original interpretation o f this canonical play is not one to be missed, regardless o f how many different productions o f M acbeth you may have already seen. Put on by McGill's Players'Theatre, this version features a pared-dow n cast o f nine actors, each o f w h om delivers a forceful and m em o­ rable interpretation o f the ir respective roles.

Especially n o tew o rth y are David W inrim and Jes­ sica Rodrigues, w h o share a distinct chem istry in the central roles o f Mr. and Mrs. M:; the duo renders the murderous pair both terrifying and surprisingly sym­ pathetic. Seasoned thespian Fraser Dickson, w h o was last seen as Rochester in Playhouse Creatures, delivers a pow erful perform ance th a t especially enhances the production as Duncan and later as Macduff.

Alistair Morrison, w h o plays Seyton, describes the play as an "intense and rigorous" process th a t began back in November. The intensive hours o f w ork put in to this play are evidenced by the polish and quality o f the final production. A lthough Morrison has acted in other Shakespearian plays, he claims th a t preparing for Macbeth was a com pletely different experience due to Stigler's directorial finesse.

Despite having never directed a Shakespearean play, Stigler's production entranced the crow ded audi­ STEVEN CAMPBELL ence, and his production very quickly gets under the The Weird Sisters pervade the play in this staging. skin o f its spectators.

Stigler claims tha t one o f his motives behind this As Morrison attests, "He really knows w h a t he is reinvention o f the Weird Sisters is to "[create] narrative doing." for all the un told characters." A ltho ug h the witches W hile M acbeth has never been considered cheer­ are the marginal characters m ost obviously expanded ful, it is rendered darker still by Stigler's interpretation upon, the role o f Seyton is also em bellished and reino f the play. He unconventionally expands the roles of the Weird Sisters, granting them an alm ost continual , vented. Stiglertransforms Seyton from Macbeth's lowly arm ourer to a character th a t is half-porter, half-Satan. stage presence. A lthough the original Shakespearian W hile Stigler's production makes several brazen language remains intact, the witches'roles extend into changes to the traditional rendition o f Macbeth, the scenes in w hich they are not traditionally present. The director insists th a t he was not "necessarily apprehen­ witches orchestrate most o f the play's events, a direc­ sive ab ou t the adaptation” and th a t th e play still thrills torial move th a t sheds new lig h t on the old question him every tim e he sees-it. However, he was concerned o f Macbeth's free will. Contrary to the custom ary end­ w ith th e audience's reception o f the play. He explains ing, it is the Sisters, and not Malcolm, th a t conclude th a t his "goal was to prim arily entertain." In th a t vein he Stigler's version o f the play. succeeded, as Players'Theatre's M acbeth is a provoca­ Another particularly unortho do x elem ent o f this tive interpretation o f one o f Shakespeare's best-loved production is tha t male actor M artin Boersma plays the STEVEN CAMPBELL Second W itch. A lthough m odem audiences are accus­ tragedies th a t is certain to both entertain and chal­ Hold me, kiss me, you murderous Scotsman. have a thing for dangerous men. tom ed to seeing females cast in male roles, the reverse lenge the audience. ■

POP RHETORIC

P la te -s p in n in g a b o u t c in e m a : H o w t o (n o t) ta lk a b o u t a r t / / 1 A / riting about music," Elvis Costello once remarked, \ / \ / "is like dancing about architecture." Well, in the dehydrated wake o f several recent conversations about th a t very top ic (music, not architecture), I w o uld like to take this o p p o rtu n ity to contribute to the misdirected dogand-pony-show discourse o f popular music.

Personally, I make an effort to n o t discuss music w ith strangers. Because the top ic hinges so crucially on the oftenobstructing necessity o f taste, it carries w ith it the same con­ versational taboo as the more oft-cited dialectical non-starters o f religion and politics. No m atter how well-versed both parties may be— both in the arts o f persuasion and the labyrinthine annals o f contem porary music— the conversations w ill ty p i­ cally result in "fundam ental disagreements" (to borrow a phrase from a friend o f mine). This is the po in t when the stream o f discussion and argum entation negates itself, resulting in sen­ tences beginning w ith phrases such as "I see your point, b u t. .."

The main problem, as I've said, is taste. I can rant on until m y eyes bleed about w hy the Talking Heads are one o f the m ost significant bands o f the past 50 (or at least 25) years, but if the audience o f my polem ic doesn't particularly care for their music, I'll never receive much more than a half-hearted vindi­ cation o f my ow n enthusiasm. But I'm not w riting about the

V V

Talking Heads. I'm w riting about music.

The p o in t is th a t w hile I can cogently make a case for the Talking Heads, doing so is like spitting into the wind. I've had people espouse to me before w hy Dave Matthews or OAR or Coldplay or whoever is the best th in g under the sun but I never buy it. W hat has to be remembered when discussing the merit o f music (as opposed to the industry or some other ancillary facet) is that it is, at best, art.

When gauging music, as art and not mere artifact, you cannot rely on some spurious criteria. A lot o f record reviews suck because "rating" som ething o u t o f however many stars or thum bs fails to capture the irreducible essentialism that differ­ entiates the good from the bad. Saying that a band is good be­ cause it harmonizes well, the rhythm is tig h t and the singer can actually sing is inadequate. That's craft, not art. If we used such quantitative lexicons to discuss and assign the m erit o f visual art (paintings), a Bob Ross w o uld be impossibly more valuable than a Modigliani.

The im p ortan t thin g about music and anything tha t can be believably referred to as "art," is its function in the real. My abovem entioned example o f using stars or scores to qualify (let alone discuss) art is ju st a bizarrely inverted reinforcement o f the symbolic order that art, in its m ost laudable form, is

J o h n S em ley

working against.This may sound abstract, but I guess that's the point. The kernel o f artistic truth and in turn quality, rests in abstraction— in the baffling, wonderful and purely quantum quintessence tha t transcends the actual music, th e album and maybe, the artist.

This tru th exacerbates the schism o f differing tastes. De­ bating someone on the m atter o f which band or artist is better: the one you find entirely listenable and enjoyable (Oh No!) or the one you emotionally, conceptually and unknow ingly con­ stitute yourself through is like arguing the superiority o f Pepsi over oxygen, or vice-versa. The prudent conversations about music should be taking place on the level o f that iridescent and inexplicable construct o f the real. Call it the rupture o f the symbolic order; call it serendipity; call it the hand o f God Al­ m ighty socking you in the solar plexus o f your soul; but w hat­ ever it is, it's the essence o f quality, the root o f taste and the foundation upon w hich a discourse o f respectful m utuality can be established.

O f course, the constraints o f language inherently and in­ cessantly hamper our linguistic navigation o f the real and thus render such abstract conversations nearly impossible beyond mere acknowledgem ent. But whatever. We shouldn't even be talking about music anyways, right? ■

16.01.07 • The McGill Tribune • 15

LITERATURE

P re v ie w s

P o r tr a it o f a P M a s a y o u n g m a n

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Few Canadian politicians (or Canadians, period) have been w ritten or talked ab ou t so extensively as form er prim e m inister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Serving tw o terms in the 24 Sussex Drive office— 1968-1979 and again from 1980-1984— Trudeau was renow ned for his im plem enta­ tio n o f th e War Measures A ct during Quebec's infamous O ctober Crisis in 1970, his repatriation o f the Canadian constitution in 1982, his long-standing friendship w ith Cuban President Fidel Castro and for being Canada's first b o n a fide"celebrity politician."

John English, Liberal m em ber o f parliam ent from Kitchener, O ntario (1993-1997) and author o f biographies on Canadian prim e ministers Robert Borden and Lester B. Pearson, began researching Trudeau's life at the request o f the latter's family. W ith full access to a lifetim e o f diaries, notes and correspondence, English spent roughly four years researching and w riting the first o f tw o volum es on Trudeau's life. Citizen o f the World: the Life o f Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Volum e 1: 1919-1968 was published in O ctober 2006. John English sat dow n w ith the Tribune to discuss his research on Trudeau and his tho ugh ts on the Canadian icon's career and early life.

swering tha t question and it too k him a long tim e to find a political party he could join. It too k him a long tim e to really know w h at his con tribu tion was going to be.

It was interesting to see him gro w up, to see this very unusual and brilliant person try to fin d his w ay in the world. Where do you actually fit? He had a hard tim e an­

W Ê

WÊmmam,

Theatre. Sex a n d La Cité: Part Deux, Until Jan. 20; The CentaurTheatre (453 St. Francois-Xavier). A sequel to last year's hit spoof o f th e HBO cultural phenom enon th a t soaked up both critical ap­ praise and audience love at comedy, fringe and GLBT festivals, Sex a n d La Cité: Part D eux is another row dy crow d pleaser. In this production, like its predecessor, the shoe-loving gals relocate to Montreal. This episode sees Carrie struggling w ith her engage­ m en t to Big, Samantha scrambling to fix her boytoy's career, Charlotte com ­ ing to term s w ith her pregnancy and Miranda discovering a new fetish. If this means anything to you, then you're sure to be rolling in the aisles. Tickets are $10.

Many of his close friends and people around him described him as somewhat stoic or withdrawn, yet he is known as one of the most vibrant and emotional leaders in our history. How do you define this paradox?

He was very shy, very em otionally reserved, w ould not share his emotions. W ith the w om en it was interest­ ing because, w ith lovers, he pours o u t em otions and then holds back. He becomes very em otionally involved and then covers him self once again. He was afraid o f a very close co m m itm e n t and w h at it w o uld entail, so he kept much o f his early life private, even from [wife] Margaret.

And the paradox ab ou t him was th a t he loved the public theatre. He loved politics. He loved being prim e minister.

But he tried to keep as much hidden as possible, so to that extent he became an actor and planned things such as the pirouette behind the Queen, things th a t seemed to be spontaneous.

Music. Joel Plaskett, Jan. 20 at 8 p.m.; La Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent).The indie rock man behind such glued-inyour-brain tunes as "Nowhere W ith You" ("Hey good looking, w h y the frow n?/Y ou always look better when it's upside down") is in to w n this Saturday. He w ill be playing sans backup band Emergency in a solo acous­ tic show. Tickets are $20. Call (514) 284-0122 for tickets and more inform ation.

Film. The Painted Veil, opens Jan. 19. Two hours o f haunting land­ scape and achingly significant glances across the room await you in The Painted Veil, the newest from director John Curran o f that other human relationships drama, We D on't Live Here A nym ore. The Painted Veil is actually a genuine, albeit quietly m oving, film . Beau­ tifu lly crafted around W. Somerset Maugham's novel o f the same name, the film follows the spiritual transformation o f a young so­ cialite in the tw enties (Naomi Watts) w h o is at first spoiled, bored and adulter­ ous b u t finds em otional shock and change throu gh her husband's (Edward Norton) move w ith her to a rem ote cholera-infested ou tpost in China where he serves as doctor.

POINT, CLICK, SHOOT W a n t to

He was definitely one of the most loved Canadian prime ministers but likely also one of the more hated.

Was this a function of his rather brazen attitude or per­ haps a number of his more controversial policies?

What was the most attractive or interesting part of researching and writing this biography?

M ilH

Cartier Quay, Old Port (Metro Champ-de-Mars). A w ild and w in try party takes place this weekend in the Old Port.There w ill be ice bars, music, dancing and the general good ol' debauchery associated w ith clubs, all am ongst snow and igloos. Make sure to check o u t the free ice sculpture exhibit also on display at the Bonsecours section o f Old Port.

In political terms, at the Liberal leadership conven­ tion, th e num ber o f tim es we hear th a t they're 'looking for another Trudeau.'Somehow or other he's a touchstone o f political success in the last half-century. In personal terms, the prim e ministers before him were rather grey, older, generally in their 60s or even the ir 70s w hen the y were in office. [Trudeau] was a much younger man, very vital, very athletic, charismatic w ith o u t do ub t; even before he became th e prim e m inister he attracted attention by the kind o f things he did. He was the kind o f person a Cana­ dian w o u ld w a nt to be.

English— biography master.

*

J jS L * I R lfa ff % H K ip

Innumerable biographies have been written about Pierre Trudeau and there seems to be endless media and public interest in his life and his politics. Why do you feel he has become such a notable figure in Cana­ dian history?

It's hard to be neutral towards him; he's such a large presence. His flam boyance attracted and yet it offended too. In term s o f policies, the policies o f the Trudeau era were developed during a period w hen Canada was going throu gh an enorm ous crisis in its history, m ainly the question o f w h ethe r or not to stay tog ether as a nation.

So Trudeau had to take sides m ore than other Canadian prim e ministers did. Any Canadian prim e m inister in the War Measures Act crisis was likely to make a decision tha t w o uld be regarded as controversial, historically. The times were so tu rb u le n t and people too k sides, w ith in families in Quebec over the issue o f separation. And in English Can­ ada you had the English Canadian fam ily divided over th e ques­ tio n o f Alberta's oil wealth, and todayw e'regoing back to th a t same question and w e tru ly see how divisive it is.

Can you allow 10 or 11 per cent o f th e population to becom e tw ice or three tim es as w ealthy as the Canadian aver­ age? It's a tou gh question for any COURTESY RANDOM HOUSE politician.

IMMM

Festival. Igloofest, Jan. 19 to 20 from 5 to 11 p.m; Jacques-

John English's C i t i z e n o f t h e W o r l d is a nostalgic recount of Pierre Trudeau's life B

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In the jacket of the novel, there is a sentence that notes the importance of the women in Trudeau's life, yet in the early chapters of the novel you provide great background on Trudeau's father, presenting him as a man of great pragmatism in a time when pragmatism was required to survive. How important is Trudeau's father in a reader's understanding of his character and later life?

Diary entries and such indicate tha t the relationship he had w ith his father was strong, th a t he missed him enorm ously and th a t he had an im p o rta n t influence in tha t he ta u g h t him to be independent and to go against the grain. His father was a French-Canadian businessman and a very successful one, w hich was very unusual [during the Depression] b u t he did drink a lot, he did stay o u t late at n ig h t and he died at age 45 o f a heart attack, w hich suggests th a t this lifestyle affected him. Trudeau gained a certain perspective from that. He loved his father but he didn 't love his father's life. So he picked up a sense th a t business can destroy the soul, or not leave enough tim e for things o f the soul. He says in one o f the entries in his diary th a t his father didn 't have enough tim e to read, to enjoy the arts— w hich [Trudeau] loved— to develop that side o f life. So w hen [Trudeau] was raising his ow n kids, so I was told, he w o uld make certain th a t there was th a t cul­ tural, sense. His father's influence was major, b u t it comes up in places you w o u ld n 't expect. He had th a t sense th a t his father stood by him self and th a t gave Trudeau a sense th a t he m ust stand alone, he m ust depend on no one but himself. ■

M e e t

M e lis s a .

To get the field experience and practical skills to go the distance, Melissa earned her Postgraduate Certificate from Humber in International Project Management in only 3 semesters. She now works as a Program Officer for an International Humanitarian Organization.

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16 • Arts & Entertainment • 16.01.07

FESTIVAL

FILM

A celebration of all things artistic

I have a dream: that one day there'll be a dance-off

ARTifact festival showcases McGill talent V alerie G ordon The Tuesday N ight Café theatre com pany presents its second annual ARTifact festival, featuring th e unique artistic talents o f McGill students, this week in M orrice Hall. The showcase offerings range from th e musical to the dram atic in a five-day presenta­ tio n o f artistic endeavours.

The m ost distinctive aspect o f this festival is its capacity to expose McGill artistic tale nt th a t m ig h t o th ­ erwise be overlooked. Away from the pressure and intensity o f th e music faculty at McGill and th e co m p e ti­ tio n w ith in th e drama departm ent, th e ARTifact festival is an o u tle t for artistic expression. The musical per­ form ances occur on Jan. 15 and 16 and include everything from rock bands to jazz vocals, w ith some spo­ ken w ord th ro w n in to th e mix. The performers, are n o t constrained by th e m e or genre requirem ents and as one o f th e tw o coordinators o f the festival, Lily Dionne-Jermanovich says, it is sim ply "artistic expression for the sake o f art."

The series o f plays en titled The Genre Theory includes works by four different writers w h o either currently or previously studied drama at M c­ Gill. Directed by Liz Singh, a graduate o f McGill's cultural studies depart­ m ent, the plays cover various topics, including such gems as "H ow w ould one sm uggle crack in a potato?" and "Where do broken hearts go?" There may or may n o t be answers to these pressing questions, b u t to satisfy any burning curiosities, one m ust attend The G enre Theory.

W hile quality theatre peformances are a hallmark o f ARTifact, gallery enthusiasts and music buffs alike w ill aprreciate th a t the show­ case has undergone a b it o f a facelift in th e past year, adding m ore visual art displays and allow ing spots for

m ore musical performances. There is a gallery o f photographs, sketches and paintings set up outside o f the theatre for th e audience to view as it pleases. The artists featured in the showcase are from all different facul­ ties and represent th e diversity o f the McGill student body.

The last and m ost intense sec­ tio n o f th e festival is th e 24-hour playw riting com p etitio n. Beginning on th e evening o f Jan. 18, tw o play­ w rights w ill be given th e first and last lines o f a play th a t th e y are to w rite over th e next 2 4 hours. They scramble hom e and begin to w rite as quickly and im aginatively as possible.

This year th e playw rights in th e c o m ­ p e tition are Kara Fletcher and Nikki Shaffeeullah, bo th McGill students and experienced writers. Shaffeeul­ lah is also one o f th e writers for The G enre Theory series and Fletcher has w ritte n m u ltip le plays for th e D o ug­ las Theatre Company, w h ich consists o f m ostly first-year students at M c­ Gill. These tw o talented writers w ill present the ir im p ro m p tu works to an audience on Jan. 20 at 8 p.m .The c o m p e titio n w ill be ju d g e d by tw o professors o f drama at McGill w h o w ill award prizes in the end.

For bo th The G enre Theory series and th e 24-hour playw riting c o m p e ­ titio n , actors perform on the spot, in fro n t o f a live audience. Many o f th e actors involved are n o t experi­ enced, b u t the y are given a chance to showcase the ir artistic capabili­ ties and at th e same tim e are able to perform new (in the case o f th e 24hour c o m p e titio n brand-new ) works by student playwrights. M em orable m om ents, com ic flubs and flashes o f brilliance are sure to result. ■

S to m p

th e

Y a r d

delivers heartwarming cheese

Laura A nderson In one's existence, there are certain m om ents th a t are so life-altering th a t one cannot help b u t contem plate how the y w ill ever be topped. For some, this m o m e n t is granted by th e b irth o f a child; for others, perhaps by the ir w e dd ing day. For this reviewer, it was seeing S tom p the Yard. It m ust be all d o w n hill from h e re ...

Seriously speaking, considering h o w ridiculous this m ovie appeared in th e trailer, th e finished pro d u ct ended up being m ore than a pleasant surprise. A ltho ug h th e in­ herent corniness and pre dicta bility o f S tom p the Yard may ruin it for some, it's still unbelievably hard to dislike. Direc­ to r Sylvain W hite clearly wasn't aim ing for an Oscar pic­ ture, b u t his m odest intentions produced an innocently crowd-pleasing film , his success evidenced by earning to p box office dollar this week— $22 m illion in opening w eekend grosses.

Thefilm 's premise is inarguably ridiculous. Protagonist DJ (Columbus Short) is forced to m ove from Los Angeles to Atlanta after a run-of-the-m ill dance battle goes awry and spurs a bloo dy street fig h t resulting in his brother's death. Under th e guidance o f his tough-as-nails uncle, DJ is enrolled in Truth University (cue cheese-induced w in c­ ing). The school is practically run by tw o rival fraternities, to w h o m "stepping" (the same typ e o f rhythm ic dance th a t resulted in th e un tim ely death o f his brother) is no laughing matter.

Once the frat leaders learn o f DJ's dance skills, he is th ro w n in to th e com p etitive w o rld o f high stakes dance battle once more. His life is com plicated fu rth e r w hen he falls for girl-ne xt-d oo r April (Meagan Good) w h o happens to be th e sweetheart o f one o f th e m acho frat leaders.

Predictably, DJ struggles in dealing w ith th e death o f his brother, w in n in g over April, excelling at Truth and o f course, perform ing a w h ole lo t o f choreographed dance routines.

Being a film centred on dance, there are naturally m ore than a few montages, in th e end, th e MTV-style e d itin g takes away from the tale nt o f the dancers and leaves th e viewer feeling woozy. Contrastingly, w hen it comes tim e to show o ff th e leading lady's bod, the cam ­ era doesn't seem to have any tro u b le focusing. These gra­ tuito us shots may be detrim ental to th e film b u t certainly n o t as m uch so as th e constant references and com p ari­ sons m ade to th e civil rights m ovem ent. Even the naive high school students w h o com prise this film's targe t au­ dience w ill fin d it d ifficu lt to believe th a t DJ's struggles th ro u g h th e w o rld o f com p etitive dance are on par w ith th a t o f figures such as M artin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and Esther Rolle (all o f w h o m are m en tion ed at least once).

S tom p the Yard is at its best durin g the genuinely im­ pressive dance scenes as th e acting, alth ou gh n o t terrible, is certainly n o t a m ajor draw for th e film . The dialogue is laughable at times, w ith m any intense pse ud o-in tim id at­ ing confrontations taking place betw een DJ and assorted fraternity big shots (w ith priceless lines such as "I've al­ ready schooled you once today, ho w m any m ore lessons do you wanna learn?").

W hile not for m ovie buffs, th e film may w in over those w h o enjoy a so-bad-that-it's-good m ovie every once in a while. If you're do w n for some elaborate dance routines mixed w ith a teen-dram a storyline and schmaltzy dialogue, do yourself a favour and set aside an afternoon to be schooled in Truth. ■

DJ (Columbus Short), your typical angsty young man with a repressed but prodigious street dancing talent, moves and shakes his way up to the top and sweet recognition.

Stom p the Yard plays at P a ra m oun t Theatre (977 Ste-Catherine St. West).

ARTifact runs a t the TNC Theatre, lo ca ted in M orrice Hall, from M o n d a y Jan. 75 to S aturday Jan. 20. Tickets are $6 fo r students a n d $8 for adults.

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HOCKEY— REDMEN 7, CONCORDIA 2

Carnival feeling powers Redmen to victory McGill offence explodes for seven goals, delighting a packed house D an M c Q u illan McGill students came o u t in droves for the Redmen's tilt w ith cross-town rivals Concordia and the hom e team delivered a high scoring, entertaining 7-2 romp.

Despite the lopsided final score, th e result o f this match was n o t clear at the outset. The fifth-ranked Redmen had high quality chances in the opening fram e but were n o t able to p u t any by acrobatic Stingers goaltender Patrick Lepage. A lthough th e Red 'n'W hite have often had troub le p u tting th e puck in the net this year, the offensive machine was hum m ing in the second period, finally dis­ playing the w ide array o f tale nt on th e McGill squad that to o often plays dow n to the level o f inferior com petition.

"We are challenged to bring our'A'game,"head coach Martin Raymond said."I th in k because o f ou r quickness we have a tendency to cheat. This is the challenge o f a team w ith speed."

And for m ost o f the night, the Redmen used their speed to the ir advantage. McGill fle w up and dow n the rink o u t shooting Concordia 41-16, including a 22-5 differ­ ence in the second period.

Big Red Machine gets rolling After a slow and frustrating first period, the floodgates were throw n w ide open in the second. Forward Lucas Madill opened the scoring 56 seconds in to the frame when he ju m p e d on a loose puck ih fro n t and fired it low to the blocker-side past a screened Lepage. The Redmen w ould go on to add three more goals before th e m id p o in t o f the period, giving them four goals in only 8:55.

McGill's second tally came when centre Sam Bloom snapped a w rist shot over the again-screened Lepage on the powerplay. Just over tw o m inutes later, sniper Shawn Shewchuk tipp ed in a p o in t shot on yet another man ad­ vantage. Captain Benoit Martin added his team-leading ten th goal o f the season before Concordia forward SimonPierre Sauve pulled one back for th e visitors.

The team's leading scorer, forward Eric L'Italien, had another productive ou ting as he tallied three helpers to bring his scoring total to 22 points in 18 games this season.

Like the rest o f the team, L'Italien seemed to have some extra fire on the n ig h t thanks to the rowdy, sold-out M c­ Connell Arena crowd.

"We try to face it as a normal gam e b u t w e also w ant to use this energy as positive reinforcement," L'Italien said.

"It's great to see the encouragem ent. There w o n 't be any­ thin g like this for m ost o f us a few years from now.”

ready to make noise.

Buoyed by the increasingly inebriated and boisterous fan base, the Redmen w e n t on to add another three goals in th e third period w hile Concordia could only manage one against the underworked Jean-Michel Filiatrault. After Shewchuk added his second, it was Louis-Simon Allaire w h o continued the onslaught as he walked in from the po in t on the power-play and th re w a well-placed back­ hand over Lepage's glove.

"You have to take chances," Allaire said. "I saw an opening and I w e n t forward. I g o t a little lucky; it w e n t in o ff the post."

Defenceman David Urquhart chipped in w ith three assists o f his ow n and is now tied for the OUA lead in scor­ ing for defencemen. It was a m ilestone n ig h t for freshman forward Leonard Verrilli as he po tte d his first career McGill goal.

Special teams again proved decisive in the Redmen victory as McGill tallied four power-play markers and did not allow one on the penalty kill. The penalty-kill unit, w hich has been stellar this season, killed o ff tw o long tw o man advantages, giving up a single shot in the do m in at­ ing display.

The w in was only McGill's third in its last nine games b u t as the second half o f the season gets underway the Redmen are still in a good position, trailing the University o f Quebec at Trois-Rivières by a single po in t in the OUA Far East division. The Redmen are at hom e next weekend w ith games on Friday and Saturday n ig h t against Concor­ dia and O ttawa respectively. ■

McConnell Arena packed to the rafters The announced sell-out crowd o f 1,523 looked much larger, w ith many sitting in the aisles, as M anagem ent Car­ nival students came o u t in force, dressed in puke suits and

LUKAS BERGMARK

Shawn Shewchuk led the Redmen drive with two goals.

OLIVER NGUYEN

A Fields Medal worthy equation.

THIRD MAN IN

F lo r id a a n d v o t in g j u s t d o n 't m ix T rip Y an g fte r a hectic week o f Bowl C ham pionship Series ac­ tion, one th in g has been m ade apparent: NCAA fo o t­ ball needs a playoff system.

The results o f this year's regular season schedule and bow l games make ranking th e teams virtually impossible. A week ago, O hio State was undefeated and seemed poised to capture th e all-too-rare title o f undisputed national cham pion. But th a t dream cam e to a crashing halt when the y suffered a 41-14 shellacking at the hands o f th e Univer­ sity o f Florida Gators in th e BCS National Title game, a team th a t m any felt was only th e th ird best in the country.

The team some writers and coaches ranked ahead o f Florida go in g in to the Fiesta Bowl was th e University o f M ichigan. They w e n t 11-1 in th e regular season, w ith the ir only blem ish being a three p o in t road loss to th e unde­ feated Buckeyes. Yet in th e Rose Bowl, the University o f Southern California destroyed th e W olverines 32-18. Up to th a t point, th e Trojans had g o ne 10-2 w ith losses to un­ ranked O regon State and th e University o f California at Los Angeles.

Boise State was the o n ly team left undefeated at the

A

end o f th e year and despite a m em orable and em otional victory over high ly-touted Oklahoma, th e Broncos were ranked fifth in th e final Am erican Press poll.

In the bow l system, teams are ranked based on the ir record, m argin o f victory, strength o f conference and, un ­ fortunately, national hype and legacy. This last factor gives traditional powerhouses such as USC and O hio State the inside track every year w h ile young upstarts such as Boise State often get shafted. The problem is th a t w ith so m any division 1-A teams (over 120 in all) and so fe w games to play, th e bow l system is subjective. A t the end o f th e regular sea­ son, the tw o teams playing for th e national title are decided largely by a series o f statistics being run th ro u g h a num ber o f algorithm s instead o f on th e field as it is in oth er sports.

The rankings generally fall w ith in reason— it's hard to argue Florida doesn't deserve the title after massacring O hio State in th e title game. But w hen it comes to dissect­ ing the ranks and analyzing every spot, a m b ig u ity rears its ugly head. Sure, USC and Louisiana State University both had d o m in ating bow l gam e perform ances against to p teams b u t ho w can w e kno w if LSU w o u ld beat USC if they

never faced each other? Boise State was ranked be lo w USC, LSU, O hio State and Florida b u t w o u ld those fo u r teams necessarily have beat Boise State, this year given th e fact th a t th e Broncos remained th e sole undefeated team?

So w h y is NCAA football th e only m ajor N orth Am eri­ can athletic c o m p e titio n not decided by a tournameiTtbased playo ff system? The answer is partially ab ou t tradi­ tio n b u t m ostly ab ou t profits. Outside o f th e five BCS Bowl Games, the NCAA hosted 27 other bowls this season, some significant, m any n o t— ever heard o f th e Meineke Car Care o r P apaJohn s.com Bowl? Each bo w l generates revenue and media a tten tion for th e organization hosting it as w ell as th e programs participating. Unfortunately, this has turned college football in to som ething o f a corporate gam e and ultimately, has prevented a true playoff system from being instituted.

Corporations and college presidents may disagree but for the players and th e fans, it's tim e to end the subjective, am biguous, pro fit-m o tivated bow l system and go for a m ore com p etitive approach— one w h ich leaves no d o u b t th a t th e best team w on. ■

The McGill Tribune

18 • Sports • 16.01.07

SPORTS BUSINESS

SHOOTING OUT THE LIGHTS

The Becks factor

L et u s o u t

Beckham signing sets new precedent M ike V a llo Last Thursday's signing o f superstar David Beckham by the Los Angeles Galaxy o f Major League Soccer sent shockwaves th ro u g h o u t the sports world, w ith players, owners and fans left w ondering ju st how m uch one athlete is w orth.

W hile in the past few days MLS has had m ore coverage than any p o in t in its previous n year history— b y the way it's MLS not MSL (I'm looking at you,TSN)— the im pact o f the Beckham deal goes w ell beyond soccer and could have a massive im pact on profits, player payrolls and ticket prices in all professional sports.

Beckham's contract has been reported as a record $250m illion, b u t th a t figure is m ore than a little misleading. Beckham w ill receive about $io-m illion a year (all figures US), for five years from the Galaxy, w ith the rest o f the $250-million being an es­ tim atio n o f his potential earnings from endorsem ent deals and other m oney-m aking avenues.

Another, more innovative clause w ritten in to Becks'contract is one th a t w ill see him earn a portion o f the club's jersey and ticket sales. Golden Balls— as Beckham is know n— w ill report­ edly receive half o f the team's jersey sales and an Undisclosed percentage o f its gate receipts.

Apart from the staggering am ount o f cash, what's signifi­ cant is that, conceivably, Beckham's deal could lead to a revolu­ tio n in the way contracts are negotiated for m ajor stars in all sports. One need only look back over the last decade or so to see th a t athlete contract negotiating is a copy-cat game. Until Alex Rodriguez and th e Texas Rangers agreed to terms, ten year contracts were ab ou t as com m on as Chicago Cubs cham pion­ ships. Since then, w e have seen the m odel replicated by th e likes o f Manny Ramirez, Alexei Yashin and Rick Dipietro.

For some, the recent hoopla may bring back memories o f the arrival o f Pele to the now defunct New York Cosmos o f the equally m oribund North American Soccer League. Many other stars follow ed Pele to th e NASL, leading to th e "Golden Age" o f soccer in North America.

W hile it remains to be seen if Beckham's signing w ill have the same kind o f galvanizing effect, there is a huge difference betw een the tw o transactions.

Pele is arguably the greatest soccer player o f all tim e and even in the tw ilig h t o f his playing days could make the best o f opponents look like th a t fat kid on your youth team w h o the coach always p u t on defence.

On the other hand, any knowledgeable soccer fan w ill tell you th a t Beckham, even in his prime, was nothing m ore than a better-than-average player blessed w ith outstanding set-piece prowess and th e ability to pull o ff any hairstyle.

Beckham is receiving his fortun e not for his skill b u t for his marketability. W hile Beckham's rig ht fo o t remains impressive, his marriage to Posh Spice and outrageous haircuts are w h a t really make him a superstar and convinced the brass at MLS th a t he could be the league's saviour.

The Galaxy did n o t make this move because they believedthis was the best player they could afford for $io-m illio n a seaspn; they did it because David Beckham w o uld maximize inter­ est and exposure in the team and th e league as a whole.

W hat does a deal like Beckham's do to a player's approach to the game? It suggests tha t a player's m arketability— w hich encompasses everything from the ir style to the ir crim inal record to w h o they're da ting— has as much to do w ith how much they can expect to earn and how long the ir career w ill last, as w h at the y can do on th e field does.Take Anna Kournikova.The blonde bom bshell never w on a single Women's Tennis Association to u r­ nam ent and yet was the biggest name in th e sport for nearly a decade.

In a new age o f athletics, good looks or the popularity o f a spouse could be ju st as im p o rta n t as a player's batting average or QB rating in determ ining where and for how much m oney they play. W hile some m ig h t argue th a t Becks is ju st an excep­ tion, only tim e w ill tell if the line between sports and entertain­ m ent, between athletes and pop stars, has becom e inexorably distorted. ■

VOLLEYBALL— MONTREAL 3, REDMEN 1

McGill scores moral victory Players pleased with their performance in loss J ohn D ingle W hen the going gets tou gh, even small victories need to be celebrated.

After Friday night's volleyball m atch-up between the McGill Redmen and the vis­ iting University o f Montreal Carabins, you can bet there was a bit o f th a t going on for th e first tim e in years.

Though the Carabins too k the bestof-five set match by a score o f 3-1 (21-25, 25-17,25-21,25-21), the Redmen were m ore than satisfied w ith how the y performed.

Playing against a strong Montreal team and w ith their last victory against a Q ue­ bec Conference o p p o n e n t com ing all the way back in 2002, w inning even a set could be seen as a step in the right direc­ tio n for th e Redmen.

"It was by far our best game," said veteran Louis Grenier, w h o finished the gam e w ith five kills and a team -high eigh t digs."Our first set was amazing: there was em otion and w e played as a team. We didn 't win, b u t it's something."

Redmen come out firing Drawing energy from th e crowd, the Redmen surprised the favoured Carabins to take the first set. Powerful serving was the key to the Redmen's success in the set, w ith Vincent Jazeron, Daniel Legge and Grenier leading the way w hile Thom ­ as Fabian chipped in w ith a couple o f key blocks late in the set to help seal it for the Redmen.

"In the first set, w e served really well," said head coach Simon Berleur."Montreal was n o t passing well because we made some good serves. We also stuck to our

plan in term s o f blocking, so those tw o things w e n t really well.”

Brimming w ith confidence and energy after the ir first set suc­ cess, th e Red 'n'W hite led for much o f the second. Though Montreal's pow er advantage was beginning to show, good hustle and team w ork earned th e Redmen a 17-16 advan­ tage and had the crowd sensing a m ajor upset. But McGill could not find an answer to the devastating serves o f Carabin attacker Dm itri Edouard and gave up a nine -point run w hich handed the second set to the Carabins, 25-17.

The third and fo u rth sets were more o f the same for McGill as they managed to keep the score fairly close only to have Montreal pull away a t the end and w in both by a score o f 25-21.

Building for the future In spite o f the final score, the Redmen were quick to fin d posi­ tives in the ir perform ance and w h at it revealed , about how th e young team is developing and com ing together.

"I th in k it's one o f the best games we've played so far," Jazeron said, w h o led the team w ith 10 kills, tw o aces and three digs. "Today w e acted lik e a team, w e worked together, and it's really th e first tim e we've done that."

At 0-11, the Redmen have nowhere to go b u t up. For their parts, the players are positive th a t if they can play the way

they did against Montreal th ro u g h o u t the rest o f the season, they w ill do ju st that.

"It's really looking up," said setter Ryan Brant w h o racked up 20 assists in the game."Everyone showed up ton igh t, it was great. Now w e need th a t on a n igh tly basis. If w e do that, I th in k we can surprise some teams." ■

■ Ù .

io f th e d ark

A dam H eller hy are games blacked o u t on television? W hat Toronto-transplant hasn't been sitting at hom e browsing through the sports channels and stum bled upon the "Leafs Region Only" banner— or as Rogers Sportsnet prefers to broadcast, a black screen— w hen trying to tun e in to a regional game?

And w h o hasn't tried to tu rn on a football game only to be inform ed th a t unfortunately, since the gam e did not sell out, it w ill not be broadcast in the team's pri­ mary geographic area? Not only does it not make any sense from a fan's perspective, it is annoying as hell.

Imagine bringing cash to a supermarket and seeing a huge m ou nd o f ju ic y steaks, b u t being to ld to keep your m oney because the steaks are being saved for other customers w h o may or may n o t show up.

It seems ludicrous, especially in the case o f the NHL w ith its disastrously lo w television ratings in the U.S., tha t any fans, including those in Canada, are p re ­ vented from view ing the product. Not only are they lim ited, b u t th e lim itations are made w ith extreme prejudice. When Rogers has to black o u t a game, it isn't bum ped for better program m ing; rather, the regional channel is filled w ith darkness. The NHL w ould rath­ er have three quarters o f Canada stare at absolutely nothing than show the m an out-of-region game. I am sure some clever m arketing executive has figured that m aking fans loyal to a hom e team w ill som ehow trans­ late in to m ore butts in th e seats b u t th e reasoning ju st does n o t hold up.

No fan— at least no true fan— is going to change or cem ent their loyalties because the y can see their regional team m ore than another. Just because I can't w atch the Leafs, does not mean th a t I've converted to the Canadiens. I ju st listen to the games th ro u g h Inter­ net radio. Yes, you can listen to out-of-m arket games b u t cannot w atch— figure th a t one out. If "blacking o u t" was really m eant to be successful, then w h y not banish all media coverage o f any team besides the hom e squad in O rwellian-style inform ation m anipula­ tion? The NHL, m ore than any other league, is in no position to fiddle w ith the fragile loyalties o f its 32 fans in the United States or the huge base in Canada.

Yet, it is not only in the NHL where fans are barred from paying to w atch a certain team. In th e NHL,"pay­ ing" means w atching advertising during the games on television. Just this past weekend, however, there was a case o f NFL teams barring patrons from a ctu ­ a lly p a y in g — as in th e transfer o f m oney for goods and services— for game tickets. The San Diego Chargers prohibited anyone from outside California and the sur­ rounding area from purchasing tickets for their playoff gam e against the New England Patriots. There was fear, apparently, th a t native Bostonians n o w located in the sun-drenched West, were going to descend upon Q ualcom m Stadium in the tens o f thousands to sup­ po rt their team. To be clear, I do n't disagree w ith this in principle. In the same situation, I w o u ld n 't w a nt my hom e tu rf invaded by the enemy's fans— hom e-field advantage should be protected. But from an outside, disinterested perspective, the Chargers are stopping football fans from com ing to games in favour o f their ow n lesser and maybe even non-existent supporters.

Why couldn't Chargers fans buy up those tickets as fast as Patriots fans?

It goes w ith o u t saying th a t th e NFL is in a much better financial situation and m uch better supported than the NHL.The Chargers'games could probably sell o u t a couple tim es over, w hile the NHL can't break 50 per cent capacity in W ashington despite featuring one o f th e m ost dynam ic young players o f th e last tw o de­ cades in Alexander Ovechkin.

The bo tto m line is tha t fans should have the free­ dom to choose. The NHL, the teams, th e networks or whoever makes th e decisions on blackout restrictions should reconsider the ir strategy. After all, the the m e o f the "new NHL"is“My NHL"— a supposed opening up o f the league to the average fans. A good and seemingly logical start w o uld be letting us w atch some g a m es.*

W

www.mcgilltribune.com

16.01.07-S p o rts -19

S p o rts B riefs

L a st C all

Martlets shock tenth-ranked Laval on the court Sophom ore PG Christine Kennedy scored a gam e and career-high 22 points as McGill upset visiting Laval— the tenth-ranked women's basketball team in the country— 63-51, at Love C om petition Hall. The Martlets (4-3), w h o were playing w ith a reduced bench due to a rash o f injuries, w on for the fou rth tim e in five games and handed Laval (6-1) its first loss o f the season. The result ended McGill's 10-game losing streak to the Rouge et Or dating back to Feb. 13,2004. Kennedy shot only 4-for-n from th e field w ith one three-pointer, b u t sank 13 o f 14 free-throws. She was also credited w ith five rebounds and a pair o f steals. McGill also received a doub le-d ou ble from forw ard Catherine Parent as she netted 17 points and grabbed a gam e-high 13 rebounds to g o w ith a pair o f steals.

STANDINGS Hockey (W)

W

L

T

OTL

p

Hockey (M)

W

L

T

OTL

p

Volleyball (M)

W

L

GW

GL

P

McGill

11

0

0

0

22

UQTR

11

2

2

3

27

Laval

10

2

32

9

20

O ttawa

7

5

0

0

14

McGill

10

4

3

1

24

Montreal

8

4

26

20

12

Carleton

4

7

0

0

8

O ttawa

5

9

3

2

15

Sherbrooke

4

8

20

25

8

Concordia

1

9

0

2

4

Concordia

4

13

2

O

10

McGill

0

12

2

36

0

ON DECK

BOX SCORE

Redmen Hockey— Concordia Stingers at McGill Redmen; Friday, ^ p.m., McConnell Arena

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I Here w e go again. In case some m anagem ent bastard b o ug ht i up th a t ticket you were eyeing or if you ju st couldn't see over th e masses o f hum anity crow ded around th e glass at last Frif day's tilt, here's your chance to make up for it.The Stingers g o t j spanked 7-2 and things g o t testy in the last m inutes so look for I sparks to fly in this one.

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I Redmen Basketball— McGill Redmen at Concordia Stingers; Friday, 6 p.m., Concordia Athletics Complex

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The Redmen split their weekend games, beating Bishop's 6 6 57 b u t losing the next day to Laval by a score o f 76-67. That leaves McGill at 4-3 and right in th e thick o f things in th e Q uebee division o f the CIS.They w ill be in to u g h against Concordia w h o are sitting pretty e t 7-1. The Concordia Athletics Complex is easily accessible by the #105 bus w hich runs frequently from the Vendôme M etro station.

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Expect most o f the prognosticators to pick the Saints in this j j one. Rex Grossman was equal parts impressive and reckless in the Bears w in w hile the Saints offence looked strong and dom in ant against the Eagles. But as it was this past Sunday, w inning a playoff gam e in Chicago is ab ou t pow er running, t defence and special teams. Advantage Chicago.

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NHL Hockey— Calgary Flames at Dallas Stars; Wednesday, 8:30 p.m., American Airlines Center,TSN * Two o f the to p Western Conference teams go head to head, I ; The Flames have w on five straight and seven o f the ir last eigh t | : b u t seem to disappear on the road. Dallas, for its part, started J j the season like gang busters b u t has since slowed dow n and I ] is in the m iddle o f a little slum p having lost five o f its last six. If you need any m ore reason to w atch there's always the outside shot th a t Dion Phaneuf w ill end w h a t little there is left o f Eric |S Lindros'career.

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NFL Football— New England Patriots at Indianapolis Colts; J Sunday, 6:30 p.m., RCA Dome, CBS W hat do you suppose was running throu gh Peyton Manning's I l m ind w hen Nate Kaeding's last second field goal fell short, put■ (tin g the New England Patriots in to th e third round o f the NFL j | playoffs? "Oh God not again?" Possibly. But if he's a true com 2 pe titor th o u g h — and I suspect th a t he is— he probably realizes this is a unique o p p o rtu n ity to g e t the m onkey o ff his back and slapTom Brady right in his w inning smile in the process.

BOX SCORE Saturday, January 1 3 ,2 0 0 7 McGill Martlets 5 vs. O ttawa Gee-Gees 2 O ttawa University Sports Complex SCORING SUMMARY FIRST PERIOD: 1 . McGill - C. Hartnoll (V. Paquette), 2:20 2 . McGill - R. M artindale (J. Sheehan, V. Davidson), 16:14 SECOND PERIOD: 3 . McGill - S. Denis (V. Paquette, C. Hartnoll), 13:51 4 . O ttaw a -T. Thomas (S. Balch), 16:47 THIRD PERIOD: 5 . O ttawa - M. Duhamel (K. Blain), 3:06 6 . McGill - R. M artindale (A. Charmichael,V. Davidson), 11:47 7 . McGill -V. Davidson (R. Martindale, J. Sheehan), 17:32

Ottawa: Megan Takeda (start, L, 2-1 -0 ; 4 GA, 17 saves ; 5 4 :3 5 ) Julie Lalonde (ND, 1GA, 4 saves, 5 :2 5 )

Friday, January 1 2 ,2 0 0 7 McGill Redmen 7 vs. Concordia Stingers 2 McConnell Arena

There's gold in them Sherbrooke hills Freshman Aly McPhee w on a pair o f gold medals as the McGill Martlets finished second o f sixteams at Saturday's Vert et Or Invitational track and field m eet in Sherbrooke. McPhee fin ­ ished first in the high ju m p w ith a height o f 1.55m and anchored the w in n in g 4x200m relay team, w hich clocked in at 1:51.31 sec­ onds. Joining McPhee on the 4x200 relay were Fatihat M om oh, Sabrina Lavoie and Hilary Kellar-Parsons. The Martlets, w ho captured four golds and six silvers, scored 79 total points, plac­ ing second behind m eet cham pion University o f Maine (115).

On the men's side, the Redmen placed fou rth over­ all, anchored by sprinter David Faille's breaking o f a 20-year-old school record in the 60m dash. Faille finshed second, clocking in w ith a tim e o f 6.83 seconds.

Podium finishers also included second-place finishers Adrian W alton (1000m, 2:33.03), Patrick M cAuliffe (1500m, 4:06.43) and Maxime Beaumont-Courteau (pole vault, 4.40m). The lone bronze w e n t to form er Redmen basketball player Keith Esch (high ju m p, 1.92m).

SCORING SUMMARY FIRST PERIOD: (no scoring) SECOND PERIOD: 1 . McGill - Lucas Madill (E. L'Italien, G. Demers) - 00 :56 2 . McGill - Sam Bloom (E. L'Italien, L. Madill) - 3:01 (PP) 3 . McGill - Shawn Shewchuk (D. Urquhart, L.S. Allaire) - 5:07

(PP) 4 . McGill - Benoit M artin (D. Urquhart, M. Leclerc) - 8:55 5 . Concordia - Simon-Pierre Sauve (J. Beliveau, R. Tremblay)

- 16:40 THIRD PERIOD: 6 . McGill - Shawn Shewchuk (E. L'Italien, D. Urquhart) - 0:53

NFL Football— New Orleans Saints at Chicago Bears; Sun­ day, 3 p.m., Soldier Field, FOX

GOALTENDERS: McGill: Charline Labonté (W, 10 -0 -0 ; 2 GA, 23 saves; 6 0 :0 0 )

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COMPILED BY CHARLIE B l ORE AND AARON SlGAL

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(PP)

Martlets hammer G ee-G ees......... again Sophom ore forward Rebecca M artindale tallied tw ice and added an assist as top-ranked McGill disposed o f fifth ranked O ttawa 5-2. Saturday's w in im proved McGill's record to.

11-0-0 in the Quebec conference and extended its undefeated streak to 20-0-1 against Canadian university opponents, dating back to a bronze-medal victory at the CIS championships last spring. Also scoring for the Martlets were Vanessa Davidson w ith one goal and tw o assists and both Shauna Denis and Christine Hartnoll w ith a goal and helper a piece. Standout rookie netm inder Charline Labonté, made 23 saves for the win, including a penalty shot stop.

7 . McGill - Louis-Simon Allaire (G. Demers, S. Bloom) - 12:22 8 . McGill - Leonard Verrilli (B. Arsenault, B. Gazdic) - 17:10 (PP) 9 . Concordia - Dim itri Toupikov (B. Gager) - 17:43

GOALTENDERS: Concordia: Patrick Lepage (L, 2 -8 - 2 ; 7 GA, 3 4 saves, 6 0 :0 0 ) McGill: Jean-Michel Filiatrault (W, 4 - 1- 1; 2 GA, 14 saves, 6 0 :0 0 ) GOALS BY PERIOD TEAM ' 1 2 3 -T o ta l Conc'dia 0 1 1 - 2 McGill 0 4 3 -7

SPORTS * PENIS

SHOTS BY PERIOD TEAM 1 2 3 -T o ta l Conc'dia 5 5 6 16 McGill 10 2 2 9 - 4 1

WRITE FOR SPORTS.

PENALTIES (No/Mins.): McGill 1 2 /2 4 Concordia 1 8 /6 8

CONTACT US AT SPORTS@ MCGILLTRIBUNE.COM

ATTENDANCE: 1,523 (sellout)

SACK OF THE WEEK

FITNESS TIP

The Week's Winner: Barry Bonds — Home run King*, San Francisco Giants Oh Barry. We all knew you were a terrible teammate, but really, this one caught us all offgu ard.

In case you missed it, last week the media caught w ind o f a failed drug test by Mr. Bonds over the summer. It appears Sertor co n la ca beza g ra n d e has som ething in com m on w ith 17-year-old girls after all: he's dabbled in.speed.

The fact th a t num ber 25 has partaken in the forbidden fru it should com e as no surprise to anyone w ith even the slightest fam iliarity w ith baseball and the massive drug prob­ lem it's rapidly com ing to grips w ith (hey Big Mac, feel like talk­ ing about th e past yet?).

W hat did com e as a surprise th o u g h was the fact that w hen Barry was confronted w ith his positive drug test he reacted by saying, "It m ust be som ething I g o t from [Mark] Sweeney's locker."

Sweeney o f course was com pletely innocent o f any w rongdoing, as Barry later acknowledged. But the damage is done. I can only im agine th a t as a player it's good to know w hen you are lining up beside a guy whose first reaction when th e shit hits the fan is to th ro w you under the bus. This aught to do w onders for the team's chem istry— no pun intended. * I th in k w e all know w h at this asterisk is for.

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Building an effective lower body workout Lunges are fantastic exercises to increase endur­ ance and strength in the legs. They are perfect because they don't require the use o f equipm ent to be com pleted and can be perform ed in the com fort o f your hom e as well as at the gym. For the ladies w ho w ould like to tone up their legs, perform ing lunges at least tw ice a week w ill greatly Im prove their leg image and certainly will be beneficial when doing daily tasks-such as clim b­ ing staircases or when participating in athletic activities.

For the guys w h o w ant to increase their overall fitness level or enhance the ir performance in lower body in­ tensive sports such as hockey, soccer or basketball, this exercise is also very beneficial and should be also perform ed once or tw ice a week. First, for a prop­ er lunge, tw o simple rules must be kept. Num­ ber one: Remember to form three 90 degree angles, th e first one being at the hip jo in t where the tw o legs separate, the second one being at the knee jo in t where the back leg stands and the last one in the forward leg once more at the knee jo int. Number tw o: Push w ith your heel from the fo o t th a t is standing in fro n t to bring your body in an upright position.

— M agda G oncalves B aptista is a p erso n a l tra iner w ith M cG ill Athletics.

(Editor's note: The Tribune w ill b e ru n n in g fit­ ness tips as a reg u la r w eekly feature sta rtin g this w eek.)

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