The McGill Tribune Vol. 27 Issue 6

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Volume 2 7 Issue 6 •O ctober 10th, 2 0 0 7

General Assembly loses quorum; adjourns early Protesting students walk out K a t e S pirgen

This semester's General Assembly was cut short yesterday when quorum was lost in the midst of debate over McGill's capital­ ist campaign. In order to meet quorum, 100 students from four different faculties must have been present, none of which could claim over so per cent attendance.

Members of the Management Under­ graduate Society organized a block of stu­ dents leaving the GA in order to prevent passage of the motion.

"We just walked out of a room filled with just one interest group," MUS repre­ sentative to Council Barbara Dourley said.

"The only way to exercise our opinion was to walk out and break quorum."

MUS President Kelly McAndrew was also involved with the walkout, and cited the unfair nature of the GA as the reason behind this action.

"We didn't want to participate,"she said.

"The walkout was not staged fin advance].

We were looking at quorum numbers and we realized it was our only chance."

Students' Society Vice President Uni­ versity Affairs Adrian Angus and Arts Sena­ tor Daniel King were also urging students to

leave, though both declined to comment.

One student raised his placard and stated, "It was pretty obvious that all of [VP Finance and Operations] Imad [Barake's] friends just left," but according to Speaker Yahel Carmon, there are no rules about in­ fluencing quorum during the GA. Barake stated that the speaker was mak­ ing false accusations without any proof.

Two motions were passed before quo­ rum was lost, including the motion urging a SSMU boycott of American Eagle and a mo­ tion to give students priority when consid­ ering space in the Shatner Building.

In an attempt to rid the GA of its repu­ tation as partisan and hostile, Speaker of Council Yahel Carmon made an opening speech during which he urged participants to be respectful and foster open debate, adding that he would enforce decorum if necessary.

The UNITE-HERE motion was put for­ ward by GRASPé member Jacob Feygin, U2 political science and history, who asked that SSMU as a governing body adopt the boy­ cott, its pledge and distribute information about it, "in light of an international cam-

See SPEAKER on page 7

This is what happens when pop meets policy Popular McGill professor delivers much-anticipated keynote address Leona T

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Pop Montreal dimmed the lights last weekend and set the stage for the informative and opinionated symposium of the Schulich School of Music and The McGill Centre for Intel­ lectual Property Policy, Pop and Policy. Instead of attending traditional academic lectures or studying for imminent midterms, many young musicians and music fans were welcomed into Pollack Hall by a giant screen displaying Will Fer­ rell in a painfully tight brown shirt, exposing his less than pleasant midriff and brandishing the ever coveted cow bell. While the Saturday Night Live skit played on a loop, two more screens and two guitars— one traditionally electric and one of the "Hero" variety— occupied the rest of

the stage. Though one might not expect such a set-up for a presentation by Columbia Univer­ sity's Rick Karr or McGill's own Daniel Levitin, it proved the point that music can no longer be defined by traditional means. Having surpassed the stereotypes of passive enjoyment, music has entered the world of technology and reached through cyberspace to enrich many aspects of everyday life.

Pop and Policy, which started as a single musician-centric lecture about indie music, has now swelled to become a complete set of conferences. Though this is the event's first full scale appearance in Montreal, its themes and concepts were reminiscent of last year's Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit. Although the FMC conference chose to return to its Wash­

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ington, DC roots this year, the issues and spirit it brought to light have been kept alive here in Montreal.

Though a name like Pop and Policy might bring to mind images of obsolete government officials preaching about the lack of conformity in current musical trends, Levitin's Thursday night kenote speech, "This is your Brain on Music: Sci­ ence and Technology from Synapse to Sibel­ ius," illustrated that this was not the case. Like so many other mega-successes, Levitin began his journey by dropping out of university in his freshman year. Although he did not start a multibillion-dollar software company or an autumn fruit honouring computer giant like two other notable college dropouts, he did live the dream of many young musicians and day-dreamers: he

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joined a rock band. After much musical experi­ mentation and band-.ohopping, Levitin finally settled down and finished his first degree.

Beginning his address by revisiting ideas such as Noam Chomsky's language theory, which holds that children learn language by extrapolat­ ing linguistic rules from continuous streams of ex­ posure, Levitin claimed that these principles can be also be applied to music. It is even possible that our musical inclinations have already begun to form while in the womb, he said. From zero to eight years of age our brains lay the ground­ work and connections that dictate musical preference and by the age of n the brain can only prune and hone these connections, thus

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CFS wants input from Quebec chapter SSMU pushes referendum date back in show of good faith K a t e S pirgen

With the Students' Society's 12-month prospective member­ ship in the Canadian Federation of Students coming to an end, SSMU is contractually obligated to hold a full membership referen­ dum, but legal issues surrounding CFS-Quebec have pushed the referendum into the next semester.

According to SSMU executives, CFS has claimed that the input of currently suspended provincial group CFS-Quebec is nec­ essary to set the terms for the referendum. CFS Deputy Chair Brent Farrington stated that because national membership in CFS auto­ matically includes membership in the provinical group as well, the provincial component usually runs the referendum and, in most cases, signs off on the referendum and works on the oversight committee, although it is never explicity stated in their bylaws.

"We never proceed with a referendum until the provincial component has signed off" he said. "Unfortunately with where we are with CFS-Q, we have no right to move ahead with adding members of CFS-Q without CFS-Q agreeing to do so."

As an act of good faith, SSMU has signed a contract with CFS to push the necessarily separate referendum to some time be­ tween Jan. 21 and Feb. 21. and run between 10 and 14 school days.

"We were happy to extend it as long as we could sign on dates within this academic year and as long as it's during [the term of] the same [SSMU] executive," said SSMU President Jake Itzkowitz. “What we didn't want was to have the referendum postponed indefinitely and then have us sort of in leeway as prospective members."

A referendum committee of two CFS members and two SSMU members must be created to set the terms of the referen­ dum in accordance with CFS's referendum stipulations, and tradi­

tionally one member is of the provincial CFS group. Flowever, due to legal issues that involve a pending lawsuit surrounding the two executives elected by McGill's Post Graduate Student Society and Concordia's Student Union, CFS-Q is unable to meet.

The referendum committee will consist of Vice-President Ex­ ternal Max Silverman, Elections McGill Chief Electoral Officer Corey Shefman, CFS Organizing Director Lucy Watson and CFS National Treasurer Ben Lewis, and will mediate the requirements of CFS and SSMU's constitutions to make sure that both organizations'condi­ tions are met.

"We don't intend to give up much of anything from our by­ laws and we've made it clear to CFS when we joined that [outside campaigning] is something we're absolutely not budging on," Sil­ verman said."It's not an option in my mind."

Motivations for joining the organization last year centred on the possibility of finding federal representation and fighting the tuition freeze. Flowever, Silverman is no longer confident that this can be done effectively through CFS. "It's really disconcerting that one of the reasons [CFS-Q] ul­ timately ended up in court is that people are opposed to CFS-Q having a campaign against the defreeze," he said. "So I'm less cer­ tain about the role that CFS can play in fighting the defreeze."

Farrington maintained that fighting rising tuition is extremely important to CFS, calling it a "primary mandate of the organization" and a "huge concern."

"We're planning to do a lot of our interactions through what's called the Grand Coalition in Quebec, which is all the different student associations. Unfortunately, McGill decided not to join so well have to figure out some kind of solution for them."

SSMU is currently involved in a coalition with University of Laval, some faculties from UQAM, and possibly a few members of

the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec who might join our coalition instead of the FEUQ coalition.

“For this year we have a strong political coalition that I think will more than represent our need provincially and I hope that coming out of that coalition we see some sort of formation," he said. "I think this coalition is more than well-situated to fight the defreeze."

However, Silverman did state that SSMU will be lacking in federal appeal but reassured that provincial lobbying is the most important.

Itzkowitz stated that he does not view CFS as a worthwhile organization for McGill students and Silverman also cited prob­ lems within the group.

"In the spring, I was of the mindset that there were problems with it and we should worktowards changing those problems and ultimately as the only effective group at the federal level it was probably worth our while to be part of it," Silverman said. "Since then I've kind of come to realize that change inside the organiza­ tion or at least debates about change are much harder to have than previously thought."

Farrington attributed this to the fact that policy is set by all members of the organization.

He went on to say that the ultimate decision will be whether McGill students want to be involved at the federal level, "even if there are all these problems, and given that many groups are leav­ ing it for the same problems that we've identified."

If the student body votes not to take up full membership with CFS and CFS-Q, SSMU will continue though the year without any official federal or provincial representation.

"If we don't move to join CFS we'll be pretty much indepen­ dent across the board," Itzkowitz said. ■

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW— TARIQ ALI

Why the U.S. is a self-serving empire Political activist calls American foreign policy interests 'fundamentalist' Tariq Ali has had a long and varied career as a political activist, editor o f New Left magazine, documentary filmmaker, fiction writer, journal­ ist and Mick Jagger's muse for the Rolling Stones' song "Street Fighting Man"back in 1968. And while he might not "shout and scream," "kill the king" or "rail at all the servants," he did sit down with the Tribune to discuss the finer points o f his work.

As a vocal critic of U.S. policy in general, do you think that the United States too often compromises with authoritarian regimes at the expense of supporting democratic m ove­ ments?

The United States basically doesn't think like that. It thinks in terms of who serves its interests the best. If it's a democratic regime,

they'll work with that; if it's a military regime, they'll work with that; if it's a monarchy isolated from its people, they'll work with that. There are all sorts of regimes they'll work with. They have one determinant: Is this helpful to us or not? I believe in increasing and enhancing democracy and democratic accountability on every level, but that is not the way of the world at the mo­ ment.

In your book The Clash o f Fundamental­ isms, you framed post-9/11 global terrorism as a clash between tw o different fundamentalist ideologies: the Islamist jihadists and a radical imperialistic American foreign policy. Can you elaborate on these ideas?

U.S. foreign policy has essentially helped

to produce the people that it is now fighting.

The crucible that formed most jihadist leaders was the U.S.-backed jihad against the Russians in Afghanistan in the late 80s and early 90s. It's difficult to understand the anger of the jihad­ ists with the United States unless you know that part of the anger is a result of being dumped by the United States. They used to be armed and funded by the United States, and when that stopped happening after the collapse of com­ munism, a lot of the jihadist moved to other directions and decided they were going to take on the United States.

Can you expand on what you call "funda­ mentalism" in U.S. foreign policy?

What I'm talking about is the concept of imperial fundamentalism. Empires act in their own interests and like to project these inter­ ests as the interests of Western civilization. That gives their actions a fundamentalism— that be­ cause they're doing it, it's got to be right. That certainty, which is the hallmark of most imperial fundamentalism, which you see mostly clearly in [American Vice-President Dick] Cheney and [former American Secretary of Defense Donald] Rumsfeld is something that is very similar to the divine inspiration that religious fundamentalists claim.

You had a quote from The Clash o f Fun­ dam entalism s that was rather controversial which stated, "The subjects of the Empire had struck back," in reference to 9/11. Are you suggesting that U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War period was responsible for the events of 9/11 and late 9 0 s terrorism?

NEBOJSA PETROVIC

Float like a butterfly, sting like Ali.

It's hardly a controversial view. A very prom­ inent U.S. historian, formerly a consultant to the U.S. intelligence agency, wrote a book called Blowback, which was published in 2001, in the middle of the year, in which he said sooner or

later there was going to be a terrorist attack on the United States because of what they were up to. The book was completely ignored until 9/11, so what I'm saying is not that controversial.

Some have claimed that U.S. foreign policy is driven by liberal ideology, while oth­ ers emphasized resources. Which paradigm do you think is a better explanation for U.S. policy?

The U.S. wanted to occupy Iraq and change the regime in order to assert its global hege­ mony. It's not that they needed [oil], but they wanted to establish some control on it, vis-à-vis the Chinese and some of the eastern players.

I don't believe in any of this liberal nonsense about invading a country and making it into a democratic model. Why hadn't they done that with Saudi Arabia and Egypt— countries that have been their allies for a long, long time?

One of your books is subtitled "The recol­ onization of Iraq." Can you explain this recolo­ nization dynamic that you see in the current war in Iraq?

If you decide to occupy a country, change its government and put your own regime in power, that is essentially a process of coloniza­ tion. Why I said "recolonization" is because Iraq was created as a British colony under a U.N. mandate, and I was explaining in the book that the Iraqis have a historical memory. They'd re­ sisted the British and fought them off, and they would do the same to the United States, which is exactly what happened at a time when your so-called 'liberal interventionists' were insist­ ing [the Americans] would be welcomed with sweets and flowers. That is why I used the re­ colonization formula— if you try to recolonize a country, you create a resistance, and that's ex­ actly what's happening in Iraq. ■

— Compiled by Byron Tau

10.10.07 «The McGill Tribune • 3

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SPEAKERS ON C A M PU S

Scientists debate origin of life

Primordial soup or spontaneous generation?

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“We lack an all-embracing, generally agreed upon definition of the origin of life," evolutionary biologist Antonio Lazcano said, kicking off the third annual Lome Trottier Public Science Symposium in front of a crowd of science-lovers crammed into Leacock 132 last Thursday. The lecture brought together four of contemporary science's brightest minds to discuss the origin of life on Earth.

"The origin of life is a problem that attracts some of the greatest scientific minds," said discussion moderator Christopher McKay, an American scientist from the NASA-Ames Research Center.

The panel consisted of Lazcano, organic chemist Robert Shapiro, chemist Steven Benner and biologist Stuart Kauffman. The lecture allowed each sci­ entist a set amount of time to present their thoughts, followed by question period from the audience.

The scientists presented four unique and cogent interpretations of the origin of life. Lazcano argued that ribonucleic acid dominated the transfor­ mation from primordial "soup," which is the random mixture of fundamental organic molecules such as lipids, nucleic acids and proteins, to primordial heterotrophs, which eventually evolved to modern life as we know it.

Shapiro countered this argument with a "metabolism-first" origin of life theory based upon energy-releasing chemical reactions. He stated that the chemical nature of both RNA and DNA are far too complex to justify such a spontaneous creation from that of a primordial soup.

"Life was an inevitable consequence of the working laws of nature, not just a 'freaky event,'"Shapiro said.

Benner, however, presented his thoughts against Shapiro's assertions, stating that experimentally, "it is difficult for linear strands of RNA to self-rep­ licate in water."

Benner continued by discussing the possibility for elemental boron to have played a significant role in the origin of life.

Lastly, Kauffman spoke about the possibility of life having originated as a deeply complicated chemical system, sustaining itself through a diverse set of reactions.

Daniel Shapiro, U1 mathematics and computer science, found the prob­ lem with the question of the origin of life to be that, theoretically, a closed system such as Earth should tend towards randomness.

"What was fascinating was that all of the speakers had to explain a mecha­ nism for the origin of life in spite of entropy,” he said.

The lecture was well received by students across the faculty spectrum, including JeffVavasour-Williams, U1 history.

"As an arts student, much of the time I live under the assumption that science has it all figured out. The lecture showed me the extent of uncertainty and the variety of hypotheses that fundamental scientific problems face." ■

SARA YOUSEFNEJAO

Lazcano's soup is a bit livelier than Campbell's

NIKI HYDE

The Native Women's Association of Canada staged a peaceful protest on Oct. 4 to raise public awareness of the alarmingly high rates of violence against Aboriginal women.

C A M PU S

Rowers sport spandex to raise funds for Nationals

Athletics fails to pay for travel fees A

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Last Thursday, McGill rowers donned their spandex and continu­ ously exercised on a rowing machine, called an ergometer, at the Milton gates in an attempt to send their team to Nationals.

The McGill University Rowing Club, aTier II varsity team, receives par­ tial funding for 18 athletes. But smaller varsity athletics teams, including row­ ing, have been forced to resort to al­ ternative fundraising measures to deal with increased costs of competition.

Due to the recent travel policy imple­ mented by new Director of Athletics Drew Love, partially funded teams are unable to afford increased travel costs to athletic events.

The rowing team has been detri­ mentally affected by the travel policy, as two events that the team attends every season are now going to have to be funded exclusively by the team's own fundraising efforts. The club will visit both southern Ontario and Bos­ ton for the Canadian University Row­ ing Championships and the Head of the Charles regatta.

The Rowing Club relies primar­ ily on alumni donations for equip­ ment— the team's largest cost— but the additional costs of coaches, rent­ als, repairs and entry fees all make the lack of funding a real problem.

"These buses can cost approxi­ mately $3,000 for just the weekend, plus the cost of giving the driver a hotel room,” said MURC Head Coach Mark Wismer.

The travel policy imposes a 15 person limit on van transportation.

Any group above 15 requires the team to shell out extra cash in order to rent a bus. Since the rowing team has an 18-26 athlete roster for races, President of the Rowing Club Tony Genna ex­ plained that they end up paying up to

$170 per athlete.

Other small teams are finding themselves in similar situations.

McGill Figure Skating, a Tier III team, is entitled to a mere $400 at the end of the school year if the team follows all the rules laid out by McGill Athletics, as a sort of reward for good be­ haviour. While this has hardly been enough to cover the regular costs of the team, which include ice time, uni­ forms and entry fees, Figure Skating Team Captain Chanel Kwok suggested that the new travel policy will in reality incur even more costs.

"This year, because of the new travel poli­ ALLI MACISAAC cy, we need to make at Man in tights works the ergometer least $4,000 more than previous years to cover bussing costs, does not hold rowing champion­ bringing us up to about $6,500," she ships.

Insufficient funding remains a said."Can we sell that many samosas?"

Currently, McGill Athletics funds serious concern, even a deterrent, for teams based solely on size, regardless student athletes.

"Athletes should be focused of their level of success. Rowing is one on their sports, not worrying if they small team that has been doing quite well in competition, but is unable to have enough money to participate in events," said McGill rowing alum Jor­ afford its accomplishments.

"In the past three years at Nation­ dan Howard. "Athletes at McGill need als some of our boats have consistent­ [to receive] more credit for their sacri­ ly placed in the top five-even as high fices, and more should be done by the as second [place],"Genna said. "At [the university to-assist all athletes in their Ontario University Athletics champi­ endeavours."

For the time being, teams will onships] a number of the men's boats have to continue fundraising in order have come back with gold, silvers, and bronzes— the men's varsity won OUAs to compete.

"With so many restrictions, in­ two years ago and placed second last cluding those on facilities, [the univer­ year."

The team competes for the On­ sity is] making it harder for the clubs to tario championship because Quebec survive,” Kwok said. ■

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10.10.07-News-5

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News Briefs

sp e e d

Students pull the plug on pollution

An amputee in North Carolina is currently in a legal battle with the man who bought a barbecue smoker that the amputee had stored his leg in. Apparently he had fallen behind on payments for the storage facility where he usually kept his leg, which hed been saving so as to be buried as 'whole.' • McDonald's Corp. has been ordered to pay a customer who said that a phony police officer forced her to submit to a strip search in a McDonald's back of­ fice. The jury awarded the woman $6.1 million. Exotic dancers are currently flocking to McDonald's locations across the country.‘ Speaking in defence of his CIA program last week, George W. Bush declared that the U.S. govern­ ment "does not torture people."Guantanamo inmates were told to applaud, or else. • A Michigan policeman saved the life of a skunk that had its head stuck inside a Caesar salad dressing container last Thursday. He was nervous about approaching the stinky animal, and so shot the jar with a BB-gun. Lucky for the skunk, Michigan police of­ ficers must carry a variety of guns, real and toy. • A woman was forced to remove her bra before entering an Idaho courtroom last week when it set off a metal detector. She was surprised, but even more shocked when security refused to let her go to the bathroom to do so. Perhaps if it was a McDonald's-owned courtroom, she could have made $6.i-mil too. «Californian burglars made off with $44,000 worth of erotic costumes after robbing an Orange County specialty store. The thieves also took some of the owner's sentimental items including gowns she had worn to the Sex Maniacs Ball, where she was crowned Queen alongside King Hugh Hefner.» Last Friday, a man in Georgia was taken to the hospital after his iPod Nano burst into flames in his pants pocket. He said he was just glad no one thought he was a terrorist, since he was at work at the time. • A strip of land alongside the Interstate in New Hampshire was confiscated by police when they caught the owner watering the marijuana plants that occupied the area. The man was confused by all the hub-bub, thinking that the "high-way" meant just that.

— Sources: BBC, CNN, Fox News

Following the lead of environmentally-conscious Melbourne residents, McGill students went without power for 24 hours this weekend, beginning at 8 p.m. on Oct. 6.

The energy boycott known as the Big Switch Off challenged participants to refrain from creating greenhouse gas emissions for an entire day.

Participants pledged the number of hours they planned to give up power and at which level they would like to participate at. The first level entailed com­ pletely shutting off house electricity and battery-powered devices, giving up the car for the day and not entering any electrically powered buildings. These participants resorted to use only public transportation and petroleum-free candles. The second level allowed a more lenient policy in which participants would use energy only when absolutely necessary and could commit to fewer than 24 hours.

Participant Alec Ellsworth, Ui environment, hoped for wider participation on campus.

"It would be nice if McGill participated in this event to show that they care, even ifjust for a few hours," he said. "I know they have safety codes, but it would be really exciting if teachers and students participated. Small gestures can be a big way to add momentum."

Inter-Residence Council Vice-President Environment Charles Depman claimed that university-wide participation is not feasible, but had some sug­ gestions for reducing power consumption in the long-run.

"[Things like] not leaving your computer on, shutting off lights [would help]," he said. "In residences, the hall lights stay on 24-7; they could shut them off to save some energy."

T h e D ep artm e n t of J e w is h S tu d ie s C a ll f o r S u b m i s s i o n s :

BLACHERAND GLASROT FAMILIES MEMORIAL AWARD FOR HOLOCAUST RESEARCH ■ :

... .

While there is room for improvement in some areas on campus, McGill has made progressive steps elsewhere.

"McGill has decreased their greenhouse gas emissions,"said Science Sena­ tor Kyle Bailey. "The big generator behind the Leacock [building] was restored with natural gas; that alone made an incredible difference. There has also been a culture change around McGill concerning energy conservation and environ­ mental awareness."

Ellsworth pointed out that while saving one day's worth of energy might not affect global energy consumption as a whole, there is much to gain from wider participation in these events.

"One small action on a global scale doesn't make a big impact, but I think if everyone would take these small actions, it would make a huge difference," he said.

...............

— Lena Gayraud

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stablished in 2 0 0 0 by Mr. and Mrs. Jo s e f Glasrot, survivors o f the H o lo cau st an d resid en ts o f M ontreal. O p e n to any studen t at M cG ill U niversity, th e aw ard is p re se n te d fo r e x c e lle n c e in research in H olocau st and related studies, and particularly o n the history o f the ghettos o f W arsaw and K ovn o [Kaunas]. Essays prepared in any co u rse o r in d ep en d en t research m ay b e co n sid ered . T h e aw ard is adm inistered by th e D epartm en t o f Je w ish Studies in co o p eratio n w ith th e Je w ish Com m unity Foundation. T h e award will b e p resented during th e C losing E xercises o f th e D epartm ent o f Jew ish Studies in Ju n e , 2 0 0 8 .

T h e value o f the B la th e r and G lasrot Fam ilies M emorial Award is $1000.

• T h e c o m p e t it io n is o p e n t o u n d e r g r a d u a t e a n d g r a d u a te s tu d e n ts a t M c G ill U n iv e rs ity .

• S tu d e n ts m u s t s u b m it 2 t y p e d c o p ie s o f t h e ir e s s a y s to g e t h e r w it h f u ll c o n ta c t in f o rm a tio n .

• E s s a y s c a n b e b a s e d o n p r i m a r y o r s e c o n d a r y m a te ria ls a n d w o r k in a ll re la te d d is c ip lin e s w i l l b e c o n s id e r e d .

• E s s a y s u b m is s io n s m u s t r e a c h th e D e p a r t m e n t o f J e w is h S tu d ie s O f f ic e , 3438 M c T a v i s h S tr e e t, n o la t e r t h a n A p r i l 11, 2008.

New research position given to former Queen's employee

In order to better organize McGill's many research units, the office of VicePrincipal Research and International Relations has created the position of Assis­ tant Vice President Research Operations. Current Queen's University employee Sandra Crocker will take on the job beginning Nov. 1.

According to Denis Thérien, vice-president research and international relations, Crocker will be primarily responsible for the synchronization of all research units at McGill.

"Researchers will report to both of us," he said. "But she will be responsible for the organizational part."

Crocker said that her new position will enable McGill to increase external activities and increase research support on campus to create the best possible systems and processes for the conduct of research. "[We will] strive to increase the physical and financial resources needed and reduce or remove barriers to better enable faculty and students to under­ take their research,"she said.

Crocker was drawn to McGill because of the opportunities it provides for researchers.

"McGill has an excellent research record and profile and offers a unique opportunity for me to expand my knowledge about the Quebec context in an immensely stimulating research environment,"she said."Montreal has a cul­ ture, an identity and persona that captures my imagination."

— Kate Mattocks

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6 • News • 10.10.07 C IT Y

P r o t e s t o r s s h o w s u p p o r t fo r B u r m e s e m o n k s Collective gathers in solidarity against oppressive military junta C hristie L ee In one of many rallies around the world supporting the Burmese struggle, the Burma Solidarity Collective gathered Montrealers at the Roddick Gates last Thursday evening to em­ bark on a peaceful protest against the military junta govern­ ment that opened fire on hundreds of monks last September during a demonstration calling for a democratic Burmese gov­ ernment.

"China, as Burma's neighbouring country, should take a stronger stand and impose diplomatic sanctions against Burma,"said participant Yifei He, U2 economics. "It's about time we change our roles from passive recipients of history to re­ sponsible citizens in the global village."

Upon reaching their final destination, Le Square Phillip, the protestors gathered around a projector and watched in silence as the plight of the Burmese people was shown on a large screen.The Burma Solidarity Collective also held a candlelit vigil and handed out petitions for supporters to sign.

Genevieve Trudel, U3 art history at Concordia, was horri­ fied by the crackdown.

"I find it unbelievable that something like this is happen­ ing in this world,"she said. "Although we, as students, have very limited power, I think it's better for people to organize events and talk about it rather than be passive onlookers."

He said that he believes in the importance of student awareness about world events and admitted that he was skep­ tical about the students' power at first, but noted that after wit­ nessing how many people a single protest can garner, he held out hope for the Burmese cause.

"An event like this should be within the interests of every Canadian if democracy plays such a crucial role in our political system."

Results from Burma's 1990 national election were nullified by the military government in power and led to the house ar­ rest of the victor— democratic campaigner, Aung San Suu Kyi. While internationally recognized as the Burmese Prime Min­ ister-elect, Nobel Peace Laureate Suu Kyi still remains under house arrest, despite years of international outcry.

Burma Solidarity Coalition member Duleepu Wijayawardhana said that the time has come for global citizens, including students, to take action, regardless of how long it may be be­ fore the results are seen.

Protestors march along Ste-Catherine's in an effort to show support for a democratic Burma.

inviteyoutohelpkickoffMcGill’smost ambitiousfundraisingcam paigneverwith adayofcelebrationonOctober18,2007 ACTIVITIESINCLUDE: » HealingOur World, aninteractive symposium addressing some of the major issuesthat concern us all: poverty, healthandthe environment » Community Barbecues onbothcampuses » Spotlight onSchulich, agala concert showcasing some of the SchulichSchool of Music’stopyoungstars For more informationandto register, please visit www.mcgill.ca/campuscelebration.

Please note that registration is required.

If youcan’t join us inperson, check out www.mcgill.ca on October 18to see a live webcast of manyevents.

“I believe that there is an end to every kind of oppression," he said. "Despite the peril the [Burmese] nation is facing now, I'm optimistic about change. Just consider the time it took for Ghandi to gain independence for India— 40 years!"*

-g

M c G ill

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10.10.07 • News • 7

A L L N E W S IS G O O D N E W S . P A R T IC U L A R L Y IF IT IN V O L V E S F R E E F O O D .

C O M E T O O U R N E W S M E E T IN G S O N T U E S D A Y S A T 5 : 3 0 P .M . IN T H E T R IB U N E O F F IC E

Upcoming MISC Events B o ok L au n ch

"S V

V

V V;

Vk V V*

O cto b er 16, 2007

John A : The M an W ho M ade Us

by R ich a rd J. G w yn Faculty Club Ballroom at 5:00 p.m.

Co-sponsored with the McGill Bookstore and Random House of Canada B o o k L au n ch

N ovem ber 6, 2007

B a p tis m o f F ir e : T h e S e c o n d B a ttle o f Y p re s a n d th e F o r g in g o f C a n a d a , A p r il 1 9 1 5

by Nathan M. G reenfield McGill Bookstore Cafe at 5:00 p.m.

Co-sponsored with the McGill Bookstore and HarperCollins Canada.

The Eakin Lecture in C a n ad ia n S tu d ie s

N ovem ber 15, 2007

O c t o b e r C ris is N o v e ls o f th e 1 9 7 0 s

C eri M organ (Eakin Visiting Fellow in Canadian Studies, McGill Institute for the Study of Canada and Lecturer, Department of Modern Languages, Keele University, UK.) Faculty Club at 4:00 p.m.

Fulb rig h t Lecture

N ovem ber 22, 2007

E th ic s a n d D is c r e tio n : D e c is io n - m a k in g in th e G a p s b e tw e e n th e R u le s

Raym ond W. C o x III (U .S.-Canada Fulbright Visiting Research Chair and Professor, Department of Public Administration and Urban Studies, University of Akron, Ohio) Faculty Club at 4:00 p.m.

2008 A n n ual C o n fe re n ce F eb ru a ry 13-15, 2008 A re w e A m e r ic a n ? C a n a d ia n C u ltu re in N orth A m eric a www.mcgill.ca/misc/culture McGill Institute for the Study o f Canada 3463 Peel Street Montréal (QC) H3A 1W7 (514) 398-8346 misc.iecm@mcgill.ca www.mcgill.ca/misc

it

S p e a k e r o v e r r u le d o n S h a t n e r is s u e Three motions left unresolved Continued from COVER paign to put pressure on [National Lo­ gistics Services] for their strike break­ ing practices."

Adam Cytrynbaum, U2 mechani­ cal engineering, argued that UNITEHERE attempted to unionize, lost the vote and claimed instead that the management used union busting. He also stated, "Nowhere was American Eagle involved in this situation other than [that] they are a large client of NLS." He suggested that references to American Eagle be replaced with NLS, but this was moved out of order as it changed the meaning of the motion.

After further debate on the specifications of the motion and what actions it would require of SSMU, Sci­ ence Senator Kyle Bailey and Clubs and Services Representative to Coun­ cil Chiara Klaiman spoke in its favour "While we are called the SSMU, we are actually a student union and as such I feel quite strongly that we need to support unions— we're all on the same side on this thing," Klaiman said, pointing to last year's adoption of a motion mandating SSMU to sup­ port worker solidarity.

The motion passed "quite clearly," according to Carmon.

A motion to prioritize students when considering space in the Shat­ ner and that the space be contracted to companies that are socially and

environmentally responsible was mo­ tivated by Derek Lappano, GRASPé member and U3 philosophy.

"We want to make sure that the first priority goes to students so that we don't feel like visitors in our own space," he said.

Elections McGill Chief Electoral Officer Corey Shefman called the mo­ tion out of order and was backed by Carmon on the basis that it deals with finances. According to the SSMU Con­ stitution, GAs may establish, amend or rescind any policy of the Society with the exception of the constitution, the composition of staff or "membership fees or other financial matters of the Society."

Cannon's decision was eventu­ ally overturned and debate turned to the third motion on McGill's capi­ tal campaign. It was at this time that quorum was lost.

During debate, the GA lost quo­ rum by an estimate of 30 students and a debate was allowed to continue al­ though no binding decisions could be made All items left on the agenda will be carried over to the next GA unless another one is called, which would require a petition signed by eight councillors or 200 students from four different faculties, with no more than 50 per cent from any one.

A motion to adjourn was made

by Tribune editor Byron Tau and passed by a very close margin. ■

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School daze

J osh F isher JOSHADAM FISHER@ GM AIL.COM

K at G ibson KAPPALETTA@ HO TM AIL.COM omewhere amid the multitude of bad, boring and forgettable high school teachers, most of us remember those rare exceptions— those teachers who were different, the ones who were interesting and maybe even deserving of that Hallmark catch-all description: "inspiring." Many of us have probably re-visited the memory-laden halls of our high schools, stopped by for a visit with the favourites and left with that fa­ miliar bittersweet feeling of loss and growth. I recently made the trek myself, but the sweet­ ness in my feelings was entirely usurped by bitterness, as my favourite teacher has made the reprehensible decision to resign from teaching forever.

The issue that he thought justified the abandonment of his students was the intro­ duction of the International Baccalaureate program to my former high school, a pro­ gram that he perceived as elitist, and which struck him as irreconcilable with his admit­ tedly rigid principles. The program has been set up so that it does not cost students any extra money nor does it require an entrance test or a minimum grade point average. The presence of either as entrance criteria may have justified my former teacher's indigna­ tion, but in their absence, he is left with the simple fact that the IB program is difficult, and therefore not every student would be able to succeed.

So he decided to give up on education in general? I'm sorry, but that's just downright absurd. Get your indignation hats on my friends, I'm about to say something "elitist." It's a simple fact that even given the same op­ portunities, some individuals will excel aca­ demically beyond others. That's no reason to tear down the programs designed to foster academic excellence and sacrifice advance­ ment for the sake of uniformity!

For. those not too distracted by my snobbery, let's recognize that the IB program was instituted in order to give students an

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advantage, to advance their learning and to prepare them for an increasingly competitive international market place, not to oppress the Proletariat. I am completely in favour of any attempt to provide equal opportunity for learning and I firmly believe that everyone deserves the same chance to excel, but can we please try to call it like it is here? Some people are better equipped to succeed in an academic setting and they should be given the opportunity to flourish to the very best of their ability, even if it requires offering them an academic program that not everyone will be able to handle.

Evidently, my former teacher did not agree. It seems to me that he has been dis­ tracted by self-inflated pretensions toward absolute equality and has given up the thing he excelled at above all else. What student did he help by quitting? Who benefits from this type of rigid adherence to principle?

Don't get me wrong, standing by your principles is an admirable quality, and many could learn from the courage it takes to do so, up until the point that these principles in­ hibit your capacity for reasonable action. I'm pretty sure equating difficult academic pro­ grams with blatant elitism falls into the latter category. But who knows? Maybe we should abolish the IB program, and while we're at it, get rid of those pesky AP classes as well, along with any method of separating high school students into basic or advanced class­ es. Also, I am pretty terrible at calculus. I had a hard time with that class in high school, and I know many people failed. So what's the so­ lution? Abolish calculus! Has anyone tried to read Heidegger? God, it's a bitch. I'm certain that my math-inclined roommate couldn't make any sense of it, so we should probably get right on taking that off every syllabus.

Moreover, it goes without saying that every last one of us needs to drop out of McGill and apply to schools with lower standards— may I perhaps suggest Queen's? ■

rguably the greatest players ever in their respective sports, golf's Tiger Woods and tennis's Roger Federer have remarkably similar records.

Federer has won 12 grand slam events to Tiger's 13 majors. They are both among the only athletes to have ever won three major events on three separate occa­ sions in their respective sports— Feder­ er has done so three times in the same calendar year. They both have the sec­ ond most major titles in the history of their sport— Woods trails Jack Nicklaus and Federer trails Bjorn Borg. Federer is the only player to have won four con­ secutive US Open and Wimbledon titles in the same years (2004-2007). Woods holds the record for most consecutive weeks at number one in golf rankings.

Federer is the first in his sport to win at least 10 singles tournaments in three consecutive years (2004-2006) and has been ranked number one in tennis for a record-holding 192 consecutive weeks.

But Woods is unquestionably the more dominant athlete. Golf is intrinsi­ cally more difficult to dominate than tennis; it requires beating the entire field, where each golfer's performance is relatively unaffected by that of their competitors. In tennis, a champion nor­ mally has to beat only seven others, and their play has tremendous influence on that of their opponents— weaker play­ ers are forced to play balls hit by their stronger opponents, and the schedule of play is organized such that the best players could only play against each other in the closing matches of the tour­ nament.

This brings up a popular argument by tennis proponents, who argue that golfers get to prepare for each shot and hit a motionless ball, whereas tennis re­ quires constant movement and hitting

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a fast-moving spinning ball.This was ad­ dressed by legendary golfer Sam Snead in an old debate with former baseball great Ted Williams, who raised the same point. Snead countered by pointing out that when Williams hits a foul ball, he just stands there and the pitcher throws him another one, but when a golfer hits an errant shot, he has to go find it and hit it from where he put it. Tennis is also played on only three different types of surfaces— hard court, grass or clay, while golfers compete on differ­ ent courses each week and are subject to the elements such as wind and rain from which tennis players are sheltered.

But what does Tiger think of the comparison? "What he's done in ten­ nis, I think, is far greater than what I've done in golf," he said about whether he deserved to be named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year, as he was in 2006 for a record-tying fourth time. Golf­ er Fred Couples acknowledged Woods's achievement at the time, but added, "You would think if you're Roger Federer and you didn't win it this year, you don't know what else you could possibly do."

What Woods and Couples didn't talk about was the intrinsic differences between golf and tennis, which makes the latter easier to dominate.

In short, both athletes have each recently wrapped up another year of dominance in their field. Woods won seven PGA Tour events, including a major. Federer won six tournaments, including three grand slam events.

When the 2007 AP athlete of the year is announced next January, it is likely to be one of these two. In the meantime, turn to hockey and watch as Patrice Brisebois emerges as the most domi­ nant player in the NHL., where the drive for 25 is alive. ■

±40°

Wank it out to crank it out D avid L evitz D AVID.LEVITZ@ M AIL.M CGILL.CA f you're anything like me you've barely even cracked a book yet this year. As we reach that point in the semester where the assignments start to mount up, the question arises with greater urgency each day: Will today be the day I start my work? Strange, though, how the more schoolwork I have, the more I notice the dust on my floor, the plants that need watering and the dirty litter box waiting for me in the hall.

Feelings of guilt and anxiety plague most procrastina­ tors, including me. And yet, cleaning my room instead of writ­ ing a paper seems to make me feel less guilty than going par­ tying instead. This productive sort of procrastination, while still a device of distraction and avoidance, plays a central role in many students' lives. So, while I could try to give advice here on how to break the vicious cycle of procrastination— advice that I myself am in desperate need of— I recognise that without productive procrastination, many would never have clean rooms, dishes, or clothes to speak of. In the end, schoolwork, or avoidance of schoolwork, fuels our initiative, allowing us to accomplish so much that we could otherwise never get done.

While I haven't been cleaning up much this semester, I have gotten quite a bit done. I've taken advantage of the weather to work on my tan, for example. In lieu of reading

I

coursepacks I've made some quality three course meals; a good salad alone takes about a half an hour to put together.

I've redevoted the weekend days I had originally set aside for researching term papers to researching instead my prospects after graduation— like becoming a massage therapist on gay cruises or finding a city to move to which has the magic com­ bination of warm weather, liberal politics and adequate bike paths. Between these bigger projects I read up on traditional Iranian adobe houses on Wikipedia.

But when I really have work to do I catch up on cur­ rent events. "When was the last time I read the Times?” I work out, "How am I supposed to concentrate when I can feel the rolls forming?"! also tend to shower.This may not sound like procrastination to most people who already shower once or twice a day but when you're habitually unwashed like me, it's the exception, not the rule.

I'm not alone either. My friend Jen, the worst procrastina­ tor I know, regularly puts off starting papers until 3 a.m. the day they're due. In an effort to improve the situation, Jen's mom bought her a self-help book on how to beat procrasti­ nation. What do you think Jen read when finals came around?

Definitely not her schoolbooks.

After surveying a couple of friends I learned that clean­

ing one's room is the number-one form of productive pro- | crastination, followed by masturbation at a close second.

One friend told me that when she has a paper to write she masturbates "up to five times a day... no, wait, six.”

"Yeah, but I'm not really sure that counts as produc— " j "Yes it does!"

Others have confirmed this statement:"It makes you feel better. It's like yoga."

"It gives me motivation when I'm writing a paper. I tell myself, I'll jack off after two more pages.'Then, after about a j page and a half, I'm like,'OK, whatever.'"One friend is even of | the opinion that masturbation and room-cleaning go hand in hand.

This is all well and good. Eventually, though, I aspire to take my productive procrastination to a level above and be- j yond simple masturbation and household chores. Sitting in classes where I'm asked to do everything short of applying Foucault and Lacan to Saturday morning cartoons I watched ! as a child, it occurs to me that there are people in the world in desperate need of food, wells, medicine and literacy. For now my own procrastination has not yet led me to do anything truly exciting or charitable, but kudos to those do-gooders who procrastinate humanitarianly. ■

www.mcgilltribune.com

T rtbitnf

10.10.07 «The McGill Tribune • 9

E D IT O R IA L

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The rank and file

Editor-in-Chief Tiffany Choy e d ito r@ m c g illtrib u n e .c o m

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n Sept. 24, Maclean's magazine released its first annual ranking of Canadian law schools.

The rankings are based upon a formula de­ vised by University of Texas Law professor Brian Leiter. Law schools are ranked on four criteria: fac­ ulty journal citations, which was weighted at 50 per cent, elite firm hiring at 25 per cent, national reach at 15 per cent and and Supreme Court clerkship at io per cent.

Since the publication, 11 Canadian universi­ ties have signed and addressed a statement to Maclean's saying that they will not participate in this year's survey because of concerns about the validity of its method of evaluation. In a letter to the magazine's managing editor, the universities stated they have expressed "considerable reservations" to Maclean's for some years, but to little avail. The rank­ ing schemes continue to flourish, becoming ever more popular.

Osgoode and the University of Toronto are among the schools that protested. Both schools scored well in the law school rankings, but opposed them on principle. McGill, however, has been mute on the Maclean's system thus far, basking in a high rank and refusing to condemn a system that places it among the elite.

The problems with the magazine's law school ranking system are numerous.The biggest criticism of the list of institutions concerns the category of "elite firm hiring." Public interest law, for example, has been left out of the criteria for measuring an

O

institution's success in training attorneys. Rankings assume that all law students aspire to be highpowered counselors in Bay Street private firms.

However, in reality, students often pursue careers as public defenders or environmental lawyers, forsak­ ing high-earnings to pursue their passions or the public good.

Further, law school rankings make little sense in a Canadian context. In the United States, such rankings often act as tools through which students can research and investigate the plethora of schools from coast to coast. There are hundreds of law schools in the States to choose from, and employ­ ers have a large field of top graduates to choose from. However, in Canada, there are fewer than two-dozen law schools in total. The admissions competition for all schools is fierce, and almost all graduates have excellent job prospects. The law school that students attend is less important than the law degree itself.

The problems with Maclean's rankings aren't limited to the law school scheme— rather, they extend to the undergraduate list, as well. Canada's pool of undergraduate institutions is tiny com­ pared with the thousands of liberal arts institutions and research universities that make up the vast U.S. post-secondary system. Further, Canadian students do not take a standardized test like the SATs. For ex­ ample, Alberta has province-wide exams, while O n­ tario and Quebec do not.Thus, the grade point av­ erages of incoming students— an important factor

in the undergraduate rankings— cannot be mean­ ingfully compared. The SATs may be a flawed test, but can act as a national standard, and a basis from which U.S. schools and students can be ranked.

Any university ranking system will be some­ what arbitrary. Bachelor's degrees are fairly cognate from institution to institution, and such rankings are ultimately trying to quantify the value of that de­ gree. What are often overlooked are the intangible factors that make-or-break the student experience.

It's true that the quality of an education could po­ tentially be reasonably approximated by compar­ ing data on faculty-to-student ratios and curricu­ lum variation, among others factors. Such compila­ tions, however, neglect other more abstract factors, whether it be a vibrant campus life, the booming social scene and or opportunities for student-fac­ ulty interaction. University, for many, also marks an important phase between adolescence and adult­ hood; the life experiences gained are not second­ ary. Rather, the education and the life experience are two sides of the same coin.

It is simply not possible to create a formula to arrive at a number that objectively speaks to the quality of Canada's universities, though publica­ tions such as Maclean's will tirelessly continue to try.

But if they can do it, perhaps the Tribune can too.

350 tenured professors / 23,000 students + 6 cafeterias / 5 courses a semester x 7 floors to the library - the Architecture café = good school.

We swear. ■

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O FF TH E BO A R D

Offline and off the wall T iffany C hoy have an addiction. Actually, I have a lot of addic­ tions. Some are healthy, others not so much. But the one that has forever consumed the daily op­ erations of my life is the Internet. I am incessantly refreshing my e-mail, downloading course notes and submitting my CV to as many online job post­ ings as possible. When my Internet service goes down, I am paralyzed with withdrawal symptoms like a crack addict gone cold turkey. Immediately pressing "2" on the phone for English instructions with 24-hour tech support, I'm prompted by an au­ tomated recording: "For faster service, head to our Web site at.. ."That's all well and good, but if I had Internet, why would I be calling you? The power of Google search has proven to be more useful than dialing a 1-800 phone number.

If there's one thing my experience with cus­ tomer support has taught me, it's that whenever they try to tell you the company has improved their customer service, they're lying. With all the advances in technology like touch-screen cell phones and the ability to replicate human dis­ eases in mice, you would think that developing reliable voice recognition software with more lines than "I'm sorry, I did not understand you," would

be feasible. In some twisted way, companies have attempted to streamline their service efficiency, but have failed to realize that the easiest solution would be to connect you with a real live person.

Finally having hit"o"enough times to reach to a service representative (the colour is now fading from the numeral on my phone), you describe your problem and they tell you they can't help you. Or worse, they tell you to try the obvious: press reset on your device."Please press reset again." Pressed it twice."It's still not working? Press it again.'lf it didn't work the first time, why would it have worked the third?

Realizing that the problem goes beyond his capabilities, the agent shuffles you off onto some other incompetent schmuck. If that was all they were brought on to do, I'm not sure what's more sad— the fact that the company needs someone to filter out customers who don't know how to press reset, or that this individual was hired in the first place. But let's not forget, we live in a capital­ ist world. Before you're passed off, the agent kindly informs you of new upgrades available for a nomi­ nal rate. Hang on a second here. Basic math tells me that doubling my downloading speed of zero

is still zero. I just want my normal service back. If you can't even fix the products and services that I'm already paying for, why would I be willing to waste more money on the upgrade?

Transferred to yet another agent, you're forced to repeat the entire situation along with whatever damage the other rep did to you. This step is re­ peated until you're so disgusted with explaining your problems that most will eventually give up and adapt to a life of sub-par services. At the end of the line, a "senior"tech support agent informs you that "the problem with your connection is at the head office, and since we're past business hours, we cannot fix it for at least another 24 to 48 hours."

Peachy keen.

One hundred and forty-four hours later, I am still disconnected. Though the withdrawal symp­ toms have finally subsided, the addiction has been compensated with a higher intake of caffeine as I surf the Web at alternative locations. I may have missed a few job posting deadlines while I wasted precious minutes on the phone with tech "sup­ port," but at least I know I'll always be qualified for a deskjob with a headset phone telling individuals to push the reset button.■

The McGill Tribune is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the Students'Society of McGill University in collaboration with the Tribune Publication Society. Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of the Students'Society or McGill University. Letters to the editor may be sent to letters@mcgilltribune.com and must include the contributor's name, program and year and contact information. Letters should be kept under 300 words and submitted only to the Tribune. Submissions judged by theTribune Publication Society to be libellous, sexist, racist, homophobic or solely promotional in nature will not be published. The Tribune reserves the right to edit all contributions.

Editorials are decided upon and written by the editorial board. All other opinions are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions ofth e McGillTribune, its editors or its staff. Please recycle this newspaper.

10 «The McGill Tribune • 10.10.07 O F F TH E B O A R D

V O X PO PULI

J ake Itzkowitz and M arc W einstein

Reduce, reuse and refuse!

PRES@ SSM U.M CGIL.LCA

B yron T au

Blum's alums n Oct. 18, McGill will publicly launch the largest fundraising campaign in its history.

To mark its start, the entire university com­ munity has been invited to celebrate the kick-off with a symposium and barbecue. But, aside from the free food, why should we care? What role does philanthropy really play at McGill?

In today's world, most universities look to private donations as a way to increase the impact they can have on the world by funding the best people and programs. It helps complement the government subsidies provided by Ottawa and Quebec City, and we need to do more to increase funding on both fronts.

Such a campaign, when done properly, also allows a university to reflect upon what makes it special and to carry these aspects into the future.

So what's special about McGill? Most people would say it's the dedicated, smart students, fac­ ulty and staff. That's why McGill's new campaign is about our people and providing the support that will help them improve world health, protect the environment, build prosperity, create the next gen­ eration of science and technology, and strengthen culture and civil societies both here and around the world.

Arguably, students stand to benefit the most from this campaign. It will fund new scholarships, bursaries and fellowships, and improve the student experience. Currently, prospective undergraduates need a 96.5 per cent average to be eligible for an entrance scholarship. About 40 per cent of graduate applicants who tell us why they are turning down McGill's offer of admission cite inadequate funding as the reason.That has to change, and it can.

This campaign will help the University carry out the recommendations of the Principal's Task Force on Student Life and Learning, leading to better advising, less red tape, a stronger connec­ tion between teaching and research, and a more inclusive student experience. Some of the money raised will be used to upgrade the library system, the athletics programs and the teaching and re­ search facilities. New endowed chairs and profes­ sorships will give students access to more great professors attracted to McGill from the world's

O

leading universities.

Philanthropy is nothing new at McGill. In fact, James McGill's bequest of a 46-acre estate and £10,000 established the University in 1821. Since then, generations of alumni and friends have shared his vision. In the late nineteenth century, Lord Strathcona made substantial investments at McGill, notably in the education of women. Sir William Macdonald, in addition to establishing the Macdonald Campus, supported Sir Ernest Ruth­ erford and his graduate student Harriet Brooks, which led to a new understanding of the atom and radioactivity. Richard Tomlinson's recent do­ nation of $64-million, the largest in McGill's his­ tory, went mainly to support students. Hundreds of thousands of alumni, staff and students have pitched in over the years to make McGill, and the world, a better place.

Obviously, students often have real concerns with the idea of such a campaign, and it is the Students'Society's policy to work against negative corporate influence on campus. However, corpo­ rations gave a scant 95 per cent of donations last year, and corporate giving comes with no strings attached due to McGill's rigorous policies that gov­ ern private donations. In fact, the vast majority of gifts come from family-run organizations or indi­ viduals (alumni and friends), who believe that Mc­ Gill can make inroads into the most difficult social problems. Alumni also give because they feel the University laid the foundation for their success and they want to pass on that opportunity to today's students.

Whatever the motivation of donors, philan­ thropic giving has supported people and their great work at McGill for more than 185 years and it is here to stay. So why not come along on Oct. 18 to celebrate the great community it has helped bring together?

On Thursday, Oct. 18, Principal Heather Munroe-Blum and the Board of Governors invite students, faculty and staff to fête McGill's achievements at a campus community celebration. For more informa­ tion or to register, please visit www.mcgill.ca/cam-

puscelebration. ■

Letter to th e ed ito r

orth Americans love a quick fix. From diet drugs to George Forman grills, our soci­ ety is built around the progressive no­ tion that there is a fast and practical solution to almost every problem. Recycling feeds into this impulse. People concerned with global warming, deforestation, landfills and a whole host of other environmental problems are more than happy to separate cardboard, paper, pjastic, glass and metal from their other refuse. In short, recycling is easy; and better yet, it just feels good.

But in recent years, economists, scientists and commentators have begun to doubt the environmental effectiveness and economic ben­ efits of recycling. Unfortunately, this is a bitter pill to swallow; society has been weaned on the idea that putting recyclables in the green or blue bins at the corner is our small contribution to saving the planet.

Glass, for example, is a simple enough sub­ stance to recycle— after all, it can be melted back down. However, most glass received by recycling plants is tainted, marred or improperly sorted. Just one broken bottle of brown glass in a bin of white glass spoils the whole process. And beyond the difficulties in recycling glass, there's also an economic consideration: countries like Britain and the United States import too much green glass. Excess recycled green glass then gets turned into sand. However, the process used to convert green glass into sand is environmen­ tally damaging. It is far better for the biosphere to simply throw away green glass in a country with a surplus of glass imports.

Paper seems like another straightforward case. Trees help take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and paper literally consumes trees.

However, the case of paper is far more complex.

According to Freakonomics co-author Stephen Dubner, paper is produced from tree farms which are subject to tight environmental regula­ tion and reforesting. Dubner maintains that these tree farms actually have a net positive effect on

N

the environment. Further, the process used to convert post-recycled paper into new recycled paper inevitably involves the consumption of fossil fuels, a non-renewable resource, in order to preserve a renewable one. Trees can be refor­ ested and replanted, whereas the fossil fuels used in order to recycle simply cannot. When paper is initially produced out of new trees, much of the energy comes from wood byproducts rather than fossil fuels.

Dubner also argues that recycling plastics is also environmentally damaging. First of all, plas­ tics are actually made out of petroleum, a limited fossil fuel. Second, though the possibility remains that they could leak toxins into the groundwater, most modern landfills are lined with clay to pre­ vent this, and operate under stringent govern­ ment regulation. In contrast, the process used to turn recycled plastics back into useable plastics is expensive and environmentally harmful.

Even seemingly straightforward issues like styrofoam vs. reusable mugs are not so clear-cut.

The old line is that styrofoam takes thousands of years to decompose. However, in landfills, even biodegradable materials don't technically de­ compose anyway. Further, the polystyrene in a styrofoam cup is incredibly cheap and incredibly easy to produce, unlike a reusable mug. A Univer­ sity of Victoria chemist estimated that you would need to use a reusable mug 1,000 times before the energy consumption-per use of the reusable mug equals the energy consumption-per use of the polystyrene cups. If your mug doesn't last 999 brews, you'd be better off using styrofoam cups.

As New York Times columnist John Tier­ ney once observed, "Recycling does sometimes makes sense-for some materials in some places at some times. But the simplest and cheapest option is usually to bury garbage in an environ­ mentally safe landfill.” Reducing and reusing are worthy goals of the environmental movement.

However, our recycling fetish is a false quick fix.To quote Tierney again, "Recycling... is garbage."*

Schulich

MEDICINE & DENTISTRY

Mak's a partisan hack, says Liberal McGill While it's encouraging to see that the Conservative Party of Canada has a regular column in the Tribune, I have to say I'm a bit disappointed with the end result. I had expected bold, progressive ideas on how to chop social programs and ban gay marriage, maybe with some juicy political gossip about Peter MacKay's fascination with dogs. After all, Mr. Mak is a Conservative insider, right? But he chose to leave out the good bits, and now we have a blather of stale, lazy attacks and commentary on the Liberal Party of Canada. And well, it's pretty awful.

If you're looking for laughs, Tim, here's one courtesy of the Depart­ ment of Political Science.Think back to the 1992 election which deci­ mated Mulroney's Tories just after his departure.

Q. How is a Corvette like Mulroney's Conservatives?

A. They both have two seats.

And a very clever column title too, named after the big chin him­ self. You know) in this country's history many political parties have tried to push the yard stick of social responsibility.The Conservatives, rather, have continuously dragged their feet.They fought gay marriage, Kyoto and most progressive ideas to come to the House. And to top it all off, now they have a party hack telling women when and when not to be insulted. All this after slashing funding for the Status of Women, no less.

Mr. Mak, the party line is fine for staffers, but if you're going to ad­ dress McGill students on your soap box as if they were idiots, ditch this gig and start a blog. Although, if it's true that your opinion of Mulroney went up after reading Newman's tapes as Facebook suggests, you may be a lost cause.

— Matt Campbell Co-President, Liberal McGill U3 political science, economics

THE TRIBUNE ACCEPTS LETTERS (AND COLUMNISTS) FROM ALL OVER THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM. SEND MAIL TO LETTERS@MCGILLTRIBUNE.COM

The University of Western Ontario

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Tours available. Refreshments will be provided.

Western Graduate Studies Showcase to follow at the University Community Centre, from 1 to 4 p.m.

Programs visit

TO REGISTER, VISIT GRAD.UWO.CA :

For more information on Schulich Medicine & Dentistry Graduate and click on Graduate Studies

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Y O U C O U L D PLAY

Are you in your first y ear at McGill?

R U S S IA N R O U L E T T E W IT H S IX B U L L E T S IN

S IL H O U E T T E

Do you want to leave your m ark on cam pus?

TH E C H A M BER.

S w in g K id s

Run for a position on First Year Committee of Council!!!

OR YOU COULD W R IT E F O R

E le c tio n s M c G ill is cu rre n tly a c c e p tin g n o m in a tio n s for:

It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing

FEA TU R ES.

M eghna M arjadi and C arolyn Yates

• • • • • •

P re s id e n t V P A c a d e m ic V P C o m m u n ic a tio n s V P F in a n c e V P Internal V P E x te rn a l

If you've seen the movie Swing Kids, you know what these guys are ail about. Mcgill's swing dancing club, The Swing Kids, holds dance lessons that can help you crank it up to those old records gathering dust in your grandparents'attic. Ifjiving in a poodleskirt sounds like more of your kind of thing than a night at Tokyo, this club might just be your calling. McGill's Swing Kids club can connect you to Montreal's thriving swing dancing community by introducing you to the best swing clubs in Montreal.

Swing Kids was established in 2000 and has gathered quite a following, in part by encouraging people who have never danced before and are total beginners to join. When the club first started there were roughly 100 members attending the Tuesday night dance lessons; now there are still anywhere from 50 to 100 members and seven to eight execs present at lessons. While some students have backgrounds in other styles of dance or have been exposed to swing dancing don't worry, most members are not competitive dancers who would make you look like some sort of flailing doll by comparison.

Tuesday evening lessons are followed by time for a social dance.

"Basically we put on swing music and people just go for it," says Robyn Penney, VP commu­ nications, U3, psychology. While for normal weekly dance lessons people dress casually, there are chances to get dolled up on the social nights.

"People really get into it,"says Penney. Swing Kids holds social dances at Gert's and 'pizza nights' PHOTOCREDIT during which members meet. upSwing dancingbrings on campus and then proceed toood|e so f pood|es; one of the four or five local swing clubs in Montreal, such as Cat's Corner, near the McGill metro. "[The club 45] very friendly, very laid back,"explains Penney. “The one thing people don't realize off the bat is that it's not just about the lesson and learn­ ing the dance, there is a whole community in Montreal and across the world of swing dancers, it is the introduction to that. It is very much about the social aspect. [Swing dancing] becomes an alternative to the traditional club or bar scene."

One of the best things about Swing Kids is that it strikes a balance be­ tween competition and recreation.

"A couple of people have performed before, but [it's] not really a com­ petitive thing. The club does have [a] troupe who might perform either in the studios or in a talent show night or something at McGill," says Penney. "It is a flexible commitment, [we] don't have regular practices. [Swing Kids is] more about having fun and learning something new."

For the most part, Swing Kids is about getting to know the swing dancing community and having some fun with an old dance style. Membership is only a measly$5 a year and provides member discounts to many swing clubs across Montreal as well as access to lessons and club events.

To swing with Swing Kids, check out their meetings:Tuesday nights at 730 for the lesson and 8:30 for the social dance, at the Diocesan College on Univer­ sity. For more information check out the Swing Kids' MySpace website which features swing dancing videos as well as information on the latest Swing Kid event at http://www.myspace.com/mcgillswingkids or email mcgillswingkids@

M E E T IN G S A R E T U E S D A Y S , 5 :3 0 , AT G E R T 'S .

O R E M A IL U S

Pick up a nomination form from the Elections McGill office (Shatner 405) or online at www.electionsmcgill.ca

AT FEA TU R ES® M C G IL L T R IB U N E .

COM

N O M IN A TIO N S D U E O C T O B E R 18T H

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Study LAW at uOttawa's Faculty of Law a n d y o u c a n e a r n t h e s e p o w e rfu l jo in t d e g r e e s * :

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Application deadline: N o vem b er 1 ,2 0 0 7

Section de common law Common Law Section

hotmail.com. ■ —Additional reporting by Joanna Reznick

CAMPUS CALENDAR

S!

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

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W a n t t o a d v e r t is e in t h e C a m p u s C a le n d a r ? F o r ju s t a t o o n i e y o u c a n a d v e r t is e y o u r e v e n t u p t o t w o w e e k s in a d v a n c e .

E m a il c a l e n d a r @ m c g i l l t r i b u n e .c o m f o r m o r e in f o r m a t io n , o r d r o p b y t h e Tribune o f f ic e in S h a t n e r 110 .

S tudent L iving

H OW TO

G e t t in g o r g a n iz e d a n d s t a y in g t h a t w a y A guide for the exceedingly perplexed J anet M c M ullen Are you terrified to open your backpack, knowing that what awaits you inside is a haphazard collection of school papers, tele­ phone bills, reminders scrawled on gum wrappers and remains from last night's oh-so-delicious study snack? If this sounds familiar, don't panic yet— there are solutions to your disaster.

Dr. Ted Baker, director of counselling and tutorial services at McGill, sees the effects of poor organizational skills on students year after year, especially as they near the busy end of the term.

"Students come in, stressed and anxious, finding that everything has caught up to them and they're looking to get exams deferred," Dr. Baker explains. In extreme situations, lack of organizational skills throughout a term can ultimately lead to what he refers to as "sur­ render," a condition in which students feel like they simply can't do anything to fix their situation. Not only is this troublesome in the short-term, causing failing grades, but this type of situation can

lead to long-term drops in self-confidence.

The good news is that it's never too late to start improving your organizational skills. Dr. Baker believes that solid organization goes hand in hand with time management and that all students are capable of developing time management skills. "Time manage­ ment is a learned skill; some students have a natural instinct for it, but most do not," Baker explains.

To begin a smart approach to organization and time manage­ ment, Dr. Baker recommends looking at the big picture. Map out your whole semester using a large desk calendar, available at the McGill bookstore ($9-95 for a large one, $3.98 for a smaller one).

Write in all exams, deadlines, events and regular commitments.

Once you have this set up, break down your semester into monthly, weekly and daily goals by working backwards along a timeline.This will make it easier to pace yourself.

If you've tried everything and it seems you can't master any organizational techniques, Dr. Baker recommends that you "treat

school as a job." Most students start the year off slowly and feel overwhelmed when midterms approach. A more consistent ap­ proach to work means you're less likely to get caught under a mountain of stress.

At the very beginning of semester, devote approximately 35 hours per week to your schoolwork. Regardless of when your classes are, wake up early in the morning and use free time during the day to complete any readings, assignments, papers or problem sets on your checklist. According to Dr. Baker, if you use your time wisely and work for a solid seven hours a day, you will probably find yourself with free evenings and weekends, just as if you were working a full-time job.

If you are still feeling overwhelmed or need more guidance, visit the Counselling Services office on the fourth floor of the Brown Student Services Building during their drop-in hours, any day of the week from 1-4 pm. Also, check out www.mcgill.ca/counselling/ workshops. ■

TELUSSTORES &AUTHORIZEDDEALERS ______ MONTRÉAL

FO O D FO R TH O UGH T Recipe adapted from Anne Lindsay's Lighthearted Every­ day Cooking

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No leftovers L indsay F rank Leftovers are great, but when Monday night's casserole is still around for breakfast on Thursday, you should slowly back away from the pan and open yourself up to other possibilities.

This lamb and vegetable pilaf com­ bines all the necessities for a balanced dinner and makes enough for more than one serving. You can substitute any kind of meat, raw or pre-cooked, for the lamb, and by changing the vegetable component, this dish can taste different every time you make it.

Ingredients 7 tsp olive oil V2 medium onion, finely chopped ’A cup (about 50g) tender boneless lamb, cut into small cubes ’A cup brown rice 1 tablespoon chopped dried fruit (apri­ cots, cranberries, raisins) V8 tsp allspice ’A bay leaf ’A cup chicken broth, heated to boiling % cup frozen mixed vegetables, thawed 1small tomato, chopped Salt and pepper

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Steps 1.

2.

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Sautee onion and lamb with olive oil in a small saucepan or skillet, cooking over medium heat until meat is browned and onions are tender (about 5 min­ utes).

Add rice, dried fruit, allspice and bay leaf; pour in boiling broth and stir. Cover and let simmer for 15-20 minutes, until most of the liquid is gone.

Stir in thawed mixed vegetables, tomato, and salt and pepper to taste. Discard bay leaf and cook for 1 minute or until vegetables are hot and rice is tender. (Makes 1 serving). ■

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www.mcgilltribune.com

10.10.07 «The McGill Tribune • 13

H E A L T H Y LIV IN G

E n v ir o n m e n t a lly - f r ie n d ly c le a n e r s Because you can't, and shouldn't, use Windex for e v e r y t h Wonder-compound solo acts Microwave: Add baking soda to a damp sponge. Scrub.

Coffee pot: To those who live on caffeine during exams, let the E mma C abrera-A ragôn Mold in the bathroom, streaks on the windows, mysterious odors emanating from the sink— the gold­ en period of living on your own is over and it's time to face the cold reality of cleaning up after yourself.

But don't take your displeasure out on the planet by using toxic chemi­ cals, particularly now that there are so many cleaning alternatives that don't film over lakes or release toxins both difficult to pronounce and dif­ ficult to clear away.

For the hard-core environmen­ talists or for those just looking to save a dollar or two, making your own cleaning prodcts is a great al­ ternative to using CLR or Windex.

Baking soda can be used for ev­ erything from coffee pots to toilets and hydrogen peroxide has all but replaced chlorine bleach, due to its much lighter environmental foot­ print. Common uses of these house­ hold remedies for household grime:

pot soak in one quarter cup baking soda and one quart of warm water, then wash those finals stains away. Also works on tea stains.

Laundry: Instead of chlo­ rine bleach use a cup of hydrogen peroxide (3%) on your whites. It's bet­ ter for the fishies, too. You can also buy toxin-free products from websites such as Tree o f Life, Ecovar and Seventh Generation, or cut down on energy use by using Tide Cold Water or Arm and Hammer Es­ sentials detergents.

Water, salt and vinegar Toilet: Mix one cup of vinegar with a quarter cup of baking soda and pour it into the toilet bowl. Let it sit for five minutes, and then scrub and flush.

Sink drain:To unclog and deodor­ ize your drain, pour three quarters of a cup of dry baking soda down the pipe followed by half a cup of vinegar. Cover it up, let it sit for 30 minutes, and then rinse away with hot water.

Carpet stains: Mix equal parts white vinegar and water in spray bottle. Spritz the stain and let sit for a few minutes before scrub­ bing away with a brush and warm soapy water.

One part water, one part 3 % hydrogen peroxide Place the mixture into a spray bottle and douse the questionable growths in the bathtub, on counter-tops or cutting boards. After an hour, rinse away.

Don't buy cleaning products— make your own!

Salt, alcohol and lemon juice (not a margarita) Rust: Sprinkle on salt, and lime juice. Leave it for a few hours, and then scour with lime rind.

Glass-cleaner: Good for mirrors or windows. Add together one cup rubbing alcohol, one cup MICHELLE GEESAMAN water and one tablespoon of vinegar. Place in spray bottle and wipe with newspaper or cotton cloth. ■

Don’t let your recyclables go to waste.

J

in g

oin us in learning about w aste reduction

PO D PEOPLE

Best use of parenthesis (in a song)

strategies for on-campus activities!

Quest for less: inter-cafeteria lowest waste race > Greatest % material recycled wins!

Trash talk > Keep a “garbage diary” about your efforts to reduce your waste: best ones win a prize! > Submissions due midnight, October 22,

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

2007

October 17th Eco-expo: Leacock Hall > NGOs and movies and eco-chic and more,!

8.

9.

> Presentations in Leacock 232 > Afterparty with trivia game.

Waste audits

10.

11.

>How well do we recycle?

12.

See website for full schedule and details.

Win prizes. Have fun. Help save the planet.

13.

14.

15.

(Nice Dream) - Radiohead DooWop (That Thing) - Lauryn Hill Comment (If All Men Are Truly Brothers) - Wilco Its Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleed­ ing) - Bob Dylan Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) - Marvin Gaye Train in Vain (Stand By Me) The Clash Eggs and Sausage (In a Cadillac with Susan Michelson) - Tom Waits Think (Freedom) - Aretha Franklin Rebellion (Lies) - The Arcade Fire The Devil May Care (Mom and Dad Don't) - Brian Jonestown Massacre A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I was Lyndon Johnson'd iSubmission) - Paul Simon So Stark (You're a Skyscraper) - Pavement I want you (To show me the way) - Peter Frampton Norweigan Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - The Beatles Get It On (Bang a Gong) - TRex — Byron Tau and John Semiey

:

F EATURES You won't find these ingredients on the label C arolyn Y ates Consumers are paying more attention to what they eat, but despite increases in regula­ tions, producers don't seem to be. Nutritional labels are now required on most products and ingredient lists have been standard for years.

But you might not find everything in your food listed on the label— in the food industry, the chance of contamination is high, and micro­ biological and chemical contamination is more common than most people realize. "It's pretty disturbing, but I guess there's nothing you can do,"says Nadia Sayed, lb management.

The organization that regulates domestic and imported food in the Canadian market, is the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Canada's version of the FDA, the CFIA regulates, monitors and works to protect the food quality across the country. However, in many ways, the real power over our food seems to be somewhere else— in

spinach, romaine lettuce, cabbage, butter let­ tuce and more) are one of the high-risk prod­ ucts we import and with over 20 documented instances of contamination in the past to years, it's easy to see why everyone from manufactur­ ers to border control are concerned. Aside from the infamous spinach recalls of last September, there have been other more recent recalls, as both August 28 and September 17 were graced by microbiologically contaminated greens. For anyone bringing home salad from the long weekend, check your packages; The Nunes Company, Inc., issued an October 8 recall on their Foxy brand lettuce, on which a strain of E. Coli was found.

Cantaloupe, California leafy greens, and some varieties of berries all have particularly high risks of contamination and therefore have their own specific import policies.

Sometimes, however, regulations and poli­ cies aren't enough to prevent contaminated

C a rro ts O n A u g u s t 2 0 ,2 0 0 7 , t h e C a n a d ia n F o o d In s p e c tio n A g e n c y w a r n e d t h e p u b lic n o t t o c o n s u m e L o s A n g e ­ le s S a la d C o m p a n y B a b y C a r r o ts , w h ic h m a y h a v e b e e n c o n t a m in a t e d w ith S h ig e lla . S y m p to m s in c lu d e b lo o d y d i a r r h e a , f e v e r , n a u s e a a n d v o m i t i n g l a s t i n g f r o m f o u r to| 1 4 d ay s.

the hands of the food company giants.

Don't cha put it in your mouth,'till you've found out where it's been...

The CFIA divides imported foods into cat­ egories with specific regulations. Dairy prod­ ucts, fish products, food additives, fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, grains, honey, margarine, meat and poultry, sports nutrition products and 'novel foods'each have their own guidelines and requirements. Regulations cover quality, labeling, packaging, grading and health and safety requirements, and also involve a va­ riety of documentation and inspections before or after arriving in Canada.

In the case of meat and poultry, the export­ ing country must be approved by the CFIA and must meet the regulations and standards that are at least equivalent to Canada's. The product itself is subject to strict guidelines covering ev­ erything from hygiene to emergency protocol.

Recently, there have been multiple in­ stances of contamination in the Canadian mar-

This dish just might bring death by salad.

products from being shipped to our local gro­ cery stores.

Add spice to your salad with microbiological contamination Most companies have measures in place to prevent contaminated products from reach­ ing consumers. Dole Food Company has been the subject of several recent recalls, first for E. coli-infested spinach in September of last year and then for E. coli-infested "Hearts Delight" this September.

"The CFIA filed a very isolated problem in one bag, so they issued just an advisory to people, saying they should be careful with that particular product [...] we voluntarily recalled just to be safe," explains Marty Ordman, vicepresident of marketing and communications at Dole. "We pulled [Hearts Delight] in the United States too, just to be safe. [...] Pretty much every grocery item has a manufacturing code, so any manufacturer can trace that product back to where it was processed in their facility, what dav. what shift." It is these manufacturing codes that allow com­ panies to issue success­ ful recalls.To ensure the facilities are not at fault, they have frequent in­ spections.

"Internally, they're inspected daily," ex­ plains Ordman."For out­ side authorities, it just depends. With the new California leafy greens, they're inspected a number of times a year by the California health people, but I don't know about the other ones." , i in in i r r r m im i As a multi-national MICHELLE GEESAMAN „

corporation, Dole has to be careful about their

Y ou m a y n o t b e lie v e h o w d a n g e r o u s e ig h t to te n s e rv ­ i n g s a d a y c a n b e . C o n t a m i n a t i o n o f p r o d u c e is r e p o r t ­ e d a ll t h e t i m e . H o p e f u l l y r e a d i n g t h e s t a t s w o n ' t p u t y o u o ff e a tin g y o u r v e g g ie s .

-Compiled by Ariq Emtenan and Carolyn Yates, with information from www.inspection.gc.ca.

products.

"They're all tested before they're harvested for pathogens. If something comes back posi­ tive, then we would not harvest that product.

It'd just be plowed under and taken away,"Ord­ man says. "We have food scientists on staff, and there's an incredible amount of testing and pro­ tocol and analysis that's used in microbiological testing. We have a very thorough program in that regard.This whole industry does."

Products that pass the contamination tests, which are conducted by a third party, are triple-washed in a chlorine-based solution be­ fore they're packaged and sent to stores.

It's the attack of the killer tomatoes Safe levels of chemicals are determined

by Health Canada and enforced by the CFIA. "The levels that are established are based on a kind of conceptual individual over the course of a lifetime to X amounts of contaminate, and whether there'd be health risks," explains Paul Duchesne, a representative for Health Canada.

"We have those limits and the CFIA applies them."

The Fruits and Vegetables Program is the part of the CFIA that deals exclusively with fresh fruits and vegetables. As part of their mandate, they take over 3,000 samples that are tested for over300 compounds a yearfrom products avail­

have evidence the product is not safe for con­ sumption," Cardinal explains.

Despite detaining contaminated ship­ ments, the CFIA doesn't issue recalls.

"We would issue a recall for micro-biologi­ cal contamination, because that's an immedi­ ate health risk," says Cardinal. "Chemical residue is a long-term risk. It's not acute...because the quantity of chemicals that is above the limit will not make people sick immediately, it's chronic. If a product is always in the market, always above the limit, it would trigger chronic health risks."

The CFIA issues class one and class two recalls. A class one recall would be for product contamination that might result in death. A class two recall would involve a product that would only pose serious health risks to the medically infirm. Healthy people exposed would face a few days of bowel or gastronomical illness. But even in the case of a class one recall, the CFIA is relatively powerless to control company action.

"All the recalls are voluntary," Cardinal ex­ plains. "However, if the company refused to cooperate, the Minister of Agriculture has a mandate to impose a compulsory, mandatory recall. The majority of them are voluntary, and the company cooperates to recall the product."

"That makes [the CFIA] pretty useless as far as I'm concerned," says Sayed. "If they can't pro­ tect the Canadian public, why are they there?"

B a b y s p in a c h In S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 6 , t h e r e w a s a l a r g e o u t b r e a k o f E . c o l i i l l n e s s e s in t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s . T h i s w a s d u e t o c o n t a m i ­ n a t e d f r e s h C a l i f o r n i a n b a b y s p i n a c h a n d r e s u l t e d in 2 0 5 c o n fir m e d c a s e s o f f illn e s s a n d t h r e e d e a t h s .

able for sale on the Canadian market, whether domestically produced or imported.

"If we find some violations, we take fol­ low up actions," explains Cardinal. "We place [the shipper or grower] on the surveillance list and after that we target those individuals that have been in violations for further testing. If after five shipments they're fine, they go back to their own monitoring program. However, if they are found in violation again, the grower or shipper has to prove to us that the product they are shipping to us for market within Canada is compliant with regulations."

But even when they find violations, the CFIA seems to have very little power. "During the monitoring program, we don't detain the products. Because it's routine tests, it's more to see what's happening on the market. But when the compliances fail, the product is detained or is not entering the Canadian market until we

Getting your 8-10 a day and living to tell the tale If you've bought a product that’s been re­ called, toss it. Even when the product arrives in your kitchen uncontaminated, improper han­ dling can result in chemical and bacterial infes­ tation. The Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education, a program that works with representatives from Health Canada, rec­ ommends four steps to reduce the risk of foodborne illnesses. Clean hands and surfaces; sepa­ rate to prevent cross contamination (don't mix raw meat and vegetables); chill food as soon as possible to prevent bacterial growths; cook food at proper temperatures. ■ For more information on what you can do prevent contamination, check out www.canfightback.org.

www.mcgilltribune.com

10.10.07 «The McGill Tribune • 15

T o x in s , t o x in s e v e r y w h e r e !

Organic doesn't necessarily mean safe M eghna M arjadi The fruits and vegetables that we consume and herald as sound and safe are more mysterious and dangerous than we give them credit for. Plants produce countless defensive toxins to combat disease and parasites. Some of these toxins can be harmful to human and animal consumers. When plant toxins don't do their jobs and microbial diseases are able to colonize plants the microbes

F re sh le a f le ttu c e In 2 0 0 6 , t h e r e w e r e o v e r 4 0 i n s t a n c e s o f e n v i r o n ­ m e n t a l a n d i n d u s t r i a l p o l l u t a n t s in d o m e s t i c f r e s h le a f le ttu c e .

themselves secrete toxins that can be harmful. It may be possible that natural toxins are more harm­ ful than those stigmatized pesticides.

Everyone has swallowed a cherry seed at least once in their lives. Although you won't grow a cherry tree inside of your stomach you may be exposed to low levels of cyanide. Peaches, cherries, plums and other stone fruits contain cyanogenic glycocides.These chemicals are contained in the kernels of the fruit and apparently if you chew on the kernel the cyanogenic glycosides will become cyanide. According to research done by Cornell University, high concentrations of the cyanogenic glycosides themselves were shown to cause gastrointestinal inflammation and problems with cel­ lular respiration in animals and humans who were subject to them.

Potatoes and tomatoes contain glycloalkaloids.These compounds are said to cause a burning

G reen b e a n s O n A u g u s t 2 , 2 0 0 7 , t h e C F IA a n d L o b l a w s I n c . w a r n e d t h e p u b lic n o t t o c o n s u m e t h e N o N a m e F r e n c h C u t G re e n B e a n s , b e c a u s e th e y m ig h t h a v e b e e n c o n t a m ­ in a t e d w ith C lo s tr id iu m b o t u lin u m . C o n s u m p tio n o f fo o d c o n t a m in a t e d w ith t h e to x in c o u ld c a u s e n a u ­ s e a , v o m itin g , f a t ig u e , d iz z in e s s , h e a d a c h e , d o u b le v is io n , d r y t h r o a t , r e s p ir a t o r y f a ilu r e a n d p a r a ly s is a n d , in s e v e r e c a s e s , d e a t h .

sensation when eaten. This burning sensation does not disappear after the potatoes are cooked.

Potatoes with these compounds may have some greening, which can often be obscured by the color of the potato itself. It may be hard to pick out a burning potato from the bunch but if you feel a fire in your mouth it's nota good idea to finish eating that potato. The compounds in these pota­ toes have the potential to cause depressed central nervous system activity, kidney inflammation, birth defects, reduced iron uptake and all of to these chemicals are carcinogenic.

If you've bypassed stone fruits and potatoes, rest assured that most of the remaining fruits and vegetables in your salad are full of phenols. Phenols are also found in soybeans, coffee, tea and marijuana; they work as neurotransmitters and are fat-soluble antioxidants. Despite the good name of phenols, consuming too many can lead to increased cholesterol and destruction of the amino

Hallucinogenic mushrooms are full of hallucinogenic alkaloids. It seems saintly fruits and veggies may be the devil in disguise.

Natural toxins can also be produced by the microbes that colonize plants. Professor Ajjamada C. Kushalappa, Phd, is an associate professor at the department of plant science.

He has worked on the various toxins produced by microbial organisms. The two major toxins Kushalappa has worked on are aflatoxin, which is produced by species of aspergillus fungi and deoxynevalenol ( d o n ) which is produced by the fusarium headblight fungus. "Aflatoxin is a serious problem in peanuts, ground nuts and also in pista­ chio nuts. The toxin may or may not be visible but it produces toxins. Aflotoxin is one of the most toxic compounds naturally produced," explains Kushalappa whose current work is focused SARAYOUSEFNJAD on d o n , which is found in wheat, Drink up— in 2005, tests discovered chemical sanitizer in barley and oats, d o n is produed by the fusarium fungus.The d o n toxin can find its way into animal feed since it is usually diverted from human foods. It is extremely toxic to pigs and can cause them to have miscarriages or fewer off­ spring. If tainted plants get into food they can have harmful effects on children and cause stomach disorders. The d o n toxin has been causing so many significant problems in crops that there have been conferences held in North America with the sole purpose of dealing with the fusarium.

Kushalappa is currently working on trying to temper the problems with d o n toxins. "Plants have many genes which produce several compounds. There is one compound which kills the fungi. That is the one we are detecting,” he explains. Breeding the wheat plants to produce more of this compound would save crops and prevent poisoning of those who eat them. Kushalappa assures that increased concentrations of the mi­ crobial fighting toxins will not be C a n ta lo u p e toxic to humans because they are not present in the things that we eat. "Outside of the seed is an outer F resh c a n ta lo u p e s h a v e b e e n layer. It is a husk which has lots of a s s o c ia t e d w ith o v e r 8 0 0 f o o d chemicals; the seed itself doesn't have these. The seed is inside grow­ b o r n e i l l n e s s e s in C a n a d a ing; the outer layers produce all kinds of toxins," he explains. The health a n d t h e U .S . s i n c e 1 9 9 0 . In risks posed by natural toxins may A p r il/ M a y 2 0 0 1 , M e x i c a n c a n ­ well be as dangerous as those posed by pesticides. "The natural toxins t a lo u p e s c o n t a m in a t e d w ith cause different problems but they S a lm o n e lla P o o n a c a u s e d tw o are equally dangerous. For example aflotoxin is as toxic as pesticide. I will d e a t h s in t h e U .S ., a s w e l l a s say that they are equally toxic" says Kushalappa. m u ltip le illn e s s e s .

Don't panic yet. Plant produced, naturally occurring toxins in natu­ rally produced fruits do not contain enough toxins to harm anyone.

There are fears that genetically engi­ neered foods are prime suspects for harbouring toxins, but there are also chances that naturally produced pre-genetic-engineering pro­ duce may have natural toxins. Farmers may breed their plants in such a manner that they resist dis­ ease more efficiently.The reason the plants resist disease more efficiently may be thatthey produce a particular natural toxin that wards off that disease. The toxin may be able to harm the disease as well as our insides. It seems however, that presence of a plant disease would be far more harmful to our bodies than the toxins the plants use to fight it. A balance between prevention of disease and production of plant toxins and use of pesticides may be the best way to keep toxins at bay. ■

A p p le s In t h e c a t e g o r y o f e n v i r o n m e n t a l a n d i n d u s t r i a l p o l l u t a n t s , t h e U .S . h a d 1 5 v i o l a t i o n s in 2 0 0 6 w h e r e a p p le s w e r e c o n t a m in a t e d w ith b o r o n a n d n ic k e l.

With chemical contamination, rotting is the least of your worries.

MICHELLE GEESAMAN

A rts & E ntertainment bo o k s

C h a s in g t h e c a r e e r o f h e r d r e a m s McGill Alumnus shares her authorial secrets S hiran T eitelbaum Clutching newly purchased cop­ ies of Spells and Sleeping Bags, the latest in the Bras & Broomsticks series, pre-pubescent female fans lined up for some book-signing and bonding at Jack & Jill kidlit emporium earlier this month with their favorite home­ grown author, McGill alumnus and former Tribune columnist Sarah Mlynowski. While standing in line, they raved about their affinity for 'Harriet Potter,' aka, Rachel Weinstein, the se­ ries' bewitching heroine, who must cope with the cruel fact that her younger sister inherited supernatural powers from their mom, leaving mor­ tal Rachel with the short end of the proverbial broomstick.

Mlynowski hasn't always writ­ ten for teens, however. Grown up women will probably relate to the protagonist's dilemma in her latest adult chick lit book, Me Vs. Me, with

the same fervor exhibited by Bras & Broomsticks aficionados: Gabby Wolf must choose between life with Prince Charming in Phoenix or a dream ca­ reer in the Big Apple.

But Mlynowski's own career is at least as fabulous as those of her characters. How did this charming woman, barely 30, become a fulltime, New York-based writer? One who can show up for work, moreover (after a commute, she said, of only 11 sec­ onds) in her pajamas, while Law & Order reruns play in the background.

If Gabby Wolf could have her say, she'd probably consider a third op­ tion—swapping lives with her creator.

Before publishing her first adult novel, Milkrun—an international hit with over 700,000 in sales—Mlynowski studied honours English literature at McGill. While immersing herself in the classics, she also availed herself of local writing opportunities.

Mlynowski describes writing for

theTribune as her first real stab at writ­ ing comedy. Her column, "S-Files,""ru­ minated on such important subjects as sloppy roommates, the sociologi­ cal implications of the end of Seinfeld, and how to get frat boys to buy girls drinks," she recalled. Mlynowski also served as an editor of Scrivener, one of McGill's creative writing journals.

After graduation, she took off for To­ ronto to pursue additional work in English language publishing, noting "there weren't too many options in Montreal." Enrolling in courses at Ryerson University, Mlynowski eventu­ ally landed a marketing job at Harle­ quin Enterprises, the renowned pur­ veyors of romantic fiction for women.

At Harlequin, she overheard plans to launch City Girls, a new line of chick lit books. According to Mlynowski, chick lit is not just about single twen­ ty-somethings and their addiction to shoes. In her 2006 book See Jane Write: A Girl's Guide to Writing Chick Lit,

she defines the genre as "upbeat and funny fiction about female characters and their everyday issues."

SHIRAN TEITELBAUM

Harry Potter, eat your short pants!

"Chick lit can be about any­ thing," she writes, "first jobs, bosses from hell, assistants from hell, dates from hell, falling in love, falling out of love, break-ups, divorce, hav­ ing a baby, losing a baby, losing a parent, losing a spouse... and even getting through university."

After completing a proposal and the first three chapters of Milkrun, an edi­ tor in the UK encouraged Mlynowski to finish the book. Getting the job done was no mean feat.

"Writing an entire novel was definitely intimidating," she said. "I set small goals so I didn't get over­ whelmed. i concentrated on one chapter at a time. I wrote a first draft, then edited, then edited again. I had no idea where the novel was going,

SHIRAN TEITELBAUM

Accesorize girls! Mlynowski's book goes great with gear. but eventually I finished it." It took how she currently manages to juggle Mlynowski eight months to complete three projects at the same time: How Milkrun, but the $7,000 advance Har­ to be Bad, a teen novel she co-wrote lequin paid was well worth the effort. with 'Young Adult' authors E. Lock­ She gives this advice to aspiring chick hart and Lauren Myracle, about three lit authors: "Don't assume that chick girls on a road trip, Parties & Potions, lit, or romance, or any type of genre the fourth book in the Bras & Broom­ fiction, is going to be easier to write sticks teen series and Gimme a Call, a or sell because it's genre fiction. It's new book about a girl who finds a not. You have to write what you love magic cell phone and speaks to her­ to read. Only then will you know your self in the future. When asked about the respite from writing for adults, target audience—you."

Mlynowski said, "there's nothing like Now, Mlynowski can sell a new getting an e-mail from a 12-year-old book after completing the first three reluctant reader who read—and chapters— another perk of being a likes—your book."* published author. Maybe this explains

P O P R H E T O R IC

Clim bing back up the rabbit hole T ash K assam

A

s little more than a puppet on strings, I hang useless­ ly, waiting to be told what to think. Lift left leg and right arm, lose innocence. Jump through hoops and wave arms, grow older. Walk forwards, or rather backwards, become disillusioned. Clichéd? Definitely. Over-dramatic? ' ' Perhaps. Nonetheless, the walls of my literary paradise are i j j j crumbling around me, and that's enough to start panicking.

Treasured moments of my childhood are being stolen as I write, as I discover that my favourite literary child, Alice, was written by a potential paedophile, and Tolkien was racist h | and misogynistic, the treasured Shire littered with excessive T * phallic symbolism. The result? I must question the lifelong adage that the pen is mightier than the sword.

Does this mean adulthood: 1, childhood: 0? It is with great sadness that I relinquish a time where the worst thing I could imagine was boys who pulled at girls' hair or wouldn't share the merry-go-round? A time when evil only existed in monstrous beings who had eyepieces and walking sticks and a ‘muhahahha' laugh? This concession to reality came faster than expected—I was out of diapers, out of middle school and out of New Rez before I even noticed. And now, adulthood and its associated logic and critical thinking is at­ tempting to take literature away from me as well.The ques­ tioning of the centre of my childhood and the foundations

of my upbringing was exacerbated when The Da Vinci Code claimed Disney was about sex, and now culminates in the written world losing its power.

Words used to contain all that was right with the world; there was inherent beauty in the life lessons which authors conveyed. The mark of a great writer is to invoke experi­ ences of love and life and loss before the world stamps us as jaded. I believed that the potency of language, with all of the imagination it required and simultaneously inspired, was enough to cure what was wrong with the world. I couldn't understand why governments did not read Orwell and rectify situations immediately. J.D Salinger made me, and presumably every other thinking and breathing individual, want to be the'catcher', and do something 'real'in this'pho­ ney'world. What other choice did Holden leave us? Narnia made me believe in the empowerment of children, and to always believe in yourself, until I found out it was a product of Christian indoctrination and aimed to repress sexuality in women. Questioning all that I learned from the power of the novel, I may as well question my entire being.

It is perhaps my last glimmering hope that I read J.K Rowling and loved it, but I recognise the darkness, I lack that blissful ignorance of children who read Harry. I also recog­ nise the multimillion-dollar franchise, and I feel dirty with my

love for the Harry books. Cynicism has pervaded every pore of my being; no longer can literature be of quality without a bank balance forcing me to question its motives.

Having reluctantly emerged.from the Land of Oz, I see words in the cold, harsh light of adulthood. I feel sorrow and pity for the great writers, for all that they have taught us has fallen on blind eyes: genocide continues, war rages, and evil continues to herald'The NewWorld'into yet another painful century. Over-stimulated by the visual, we are desensitized to violence, famine, poverty, rendered immune to suffering.

Why read the book when you can see the movie? The pen is not so mighty after all. There are too many pens in too many hands, and there are never enough readers. My words alone cannot bring food and water to the poverty-stricken masses. Words mean nothing. Reality bites, and the pen cannot defeat the sword, and all of its war and bloodshed.

Furthermore, I blame the pen; it is guilty by association, by association with imperfect people, with their opinions and diversity. Words cannot now, or possibly ever, be untouched by prejudice.

I cannot pretend to be objective—the pen and I go way back. We've been a team for years. I cannot begrudge a disdain for the pen when perhaps, others, in other situa­ tions, other lifetimes, have only known the sword. ■

10.10.07 • The McGill Tribune • 17

Previews

FIL M

W h o w o u ld J a n e d o ?

A u s t e n

B o o k

C lu b

Robin Swicord has transformed Karen Joy Fowler's novel The Jane Austen Book Club into yet another chickflick destined to peter out of existence in but a few months.

The movie portrays five women and a token male who form an ad hoc support group which revolves around discussion of the six big novels of Jane Austen, in just over an hour and a half they realize that life without a lover isn't worth living and begin to play out a mod­ ern Austen novel amongst themselves. (Don't worry, the film avoids saying that women need men by having a lesbian protagonist.) At the turning point of the film, a street lamp asks Prudie (Emily Blunt) "what would Jane do?" Perhaps it should have simply asked, "who would Jane do?"

Beginning in December, a winter of their discon­ tent, the film explains love lost via the bungling of two husbands: one adulterous, the other clueless, and the death of a dog. Indicative of further bestial undertones, the movie in fact opens with a state funeral for Jocelyn's (Maria Bello) pure bred sire Ridgeback (and no, it wasn't Norwegian). Continuing the theme with statements about dogs filling in for sexual partners and a quick quip about Jocelyn needing dogs rather than men, the film offers a choice bit of perversion.

Unlike Fowler's book, however, the film attempts too many story lines and casts too many unskilled B-list actors to allow for any substantial character develop­

EZRA g u n t er

Theatre. Legend o f the Barbarian. Oct. 10-13 and 17-20 at 8:00 p.m.; Theatre SteCatherine (264 Ste-Catherine E.). From the comedic creators of Space Jail and

lame and tedious.

W illiam R obinson

c o m p il e d by

ment. Though we are given glimpses into the person­ alities and interests of a dozen different characters, they ail end up as part of a game of compare-the-desperatesouls-in-the-dating-section-of-the-newspaper-to-seewho-should-pair-up-with-who. Perhaps the only dynam­ ic character worth noticing is Grigg (Hugh Dancy) who enters the movie explaining to one of our ladies that he has just attended a Buffy the Vampire Slayer conference (fittingly enough Buffy's boyfriend from the fourth sea­ son, Marc Blucas, plays another suitor). Grigg offers the only male perspective in the book club and contributes some of Ursula K. LeGuin's sci-fi literature.

As for music, the soundtrack is a lot of fun and in­ cludes Aimee Mann's "Save Me" and "You're All I Have"

by Snow Patrol. Along with the pleasing look of the film and lack of exceptionally embarrassing scenes, the soundtrack prevents it from becoming painful to watch.

Overall, however, while the film does have some comical lines such as, "reading Jane is a freaking minefield!,"it isn't very funny and, for such a high number of relationships going on, not that romantic.

In keeping with the tradition of Austen and much to my dismay, there is a disappointing lack of nudity and sexuality, especially for a film based on romance, love and, as Jimmy Smitts repeatedly states, "sex." If I had to invent a phrase to describe the film it would be: Skinnocuously Hollywood, hold the wood. In the end, The Jane Austen Book Club is really a movie to see with your younger sister or perhaps on a first date, if you really must see it at all. ■

C R IT IC IS M O F C R IT IC IS M (O F C R IT IC IS M )

Shit Job comes one man's epic journey from slave to warrior king. Featuring "a savage warrior, a beautiful concubine, a powerful sorcerer and a wrathful god," Legend o f the Barbarian promises to be “the greatest play the world shall ever know." For ticket info call (514) 284-3939.

Film. Festival de Nouveau Cinema. Oct. 10-21. The 36th edition of Canada's old­ est international film festival includes works by up-and-coming international film makers in the running for the prized Louve d'Or as well as new films by established artists such as Denys Arcand, Guy Maddin and Brian de Palma. For tickets and information call (514) 844-2172 or visit www.nouveaucinema.ca.

Music. Elliott Brood. Oct. 11 at 8:00 p.m.; Casa del Popolo (4873 St-Laurent). Hav­ ing recently released their first full-length album, Ambassador, thisToronto folkrock trio hits town as part of the Wood, Wires&WhiskeyTour. Call (514).284-0122 for ticket info.

Festival. Romani Yag Gypsy Festival. Oct. 11-14. Featuring over fifty international artists and speakers, including French gypsy jazz band Am Ketenes Swing and 7-string Russian guitar virtuoso Vadim Kolpakov, this Romani culture festival in­ cludes shows, master classes, conferences, exhibitions and films. Call (514) 846 9017 for information and reservations or visit www.romaniyag.com.

Literature. Column McCann. Oct. 12 at 7:30 p.m.; De Sève Cinema, McConnell Library Building, Concordia University (1400 Maisonneuve W.). Co-sponsored by The Centre for Canadadian Irish Studies, the Writers Read at Concordia Series will host internationally best-selling Irish author Column McCann. McCann's fiction has been published in 26 languages and he is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes including an Oscar nomination. Admission is free.

Visual Art. Looking Around: New Paintings and Photos. Until Nov. 24; General 54 (54 St-ViateurW.)This Mile-End inspired exhibit features local artists Dan Buller and Mark Slutsky. To purchase works, make sure to show up for the vernissage on Oct. 11. Call (514) 271-2129 for more info.

In which the Tribune pays Tribute to notable critics o f the past.

■■■

Lester Bangs "Last ofthewhite nig ï

-

B O O K FAIR

REDPATH HALL, 3461 McTAVISH (TERRACE ENTRANCE) I Price* start at 25 cents

J ohn S emley

W

hat this book demands from a reader,” Greil Marcus wrote of Main Lines, Blood Feats and Bad Taste, the second anthology of rock crit­ ic Lester Bangs'writing, "is a willingness to accept that the best writer in America could write almost noth­ ing but record reviews."

Other prominent music journalists have done well to shore up the import of the medium's most vulgar garbage by placing it within broader socioaesthetic contexts, but none ever spoke so fittingly on the affective impact of rock music as Lester Bangs.

From his first published piece, a review of the MCs's debut record for Rolling Stone, to a retrospective of "Bozo Dionysus” Jim Morrison, an analyses of racism in the NewWave scene ("The White Noise Suprema­ cists”), to his last article printed in his lifetime, 1982's “If Oi Were a Carpenter"(in which he defines hardcore and oi-punk as "two continents, two masses of disaf­ fected youth, two musical forms so redolent of the Zeitgeist!"), he observed the ever-fluctuating forms and fashions of popular music with hawk-like acuity.

Though he adored rock music, and forthrightly picked favourites (Don Van Vliet, Richard Hell, the Stones, Lou Reed—whom he often called, with equally measured quantities of admiration and deri­ sion,"Papa Lou"), Bangs was no patsy of the medium.

He never hesitated in running his idols through the gauntlet, whether calling Miles Davis a "worthless wretch," Bowie a "no-talent asshole"or (sin of sins!) desanctifying the memory of John Lennon in the weeks following his death by rightly calling him "just a guy."

Some people will try to tell you that Bangs's writing has more in common with the wild abandon of Kerouac or Burroughs than with his journalistic contemporaries. There's some truth to this assertion, even if it rests largely on the comparably propellant dynamism of Lester's prose (and in his liberal ap­ proach to punctuation). But there is an elementary disparity between him and the beats. Bangs dabbled in romanticism only fleetingly and unlike the beats (weary experience-whores, all), he found meaning in "books, records magazines and media, experience in the world being something for hippies and already known."What's more, he often made a point to orient himself antagonistically to those whose stylistic lega­ cy he allegedly inherited:"! was obviously brilliant,"he

wrote late in his life,"oneofthefew people who actu­ ally understood what was wrong with our culture and why it couldn't possibly have any future...perhaps a contender if not now then tomorrow for the title Best Writer in America...who was better? Bukowski?

Burroughs? Hunter Thompson ? Gimme a break. I was the best."

Primarily, Lester Bangs was concerned with rock's potential to articulate a seemingly authentic experi­ ence. Whether in his contention that the Stooges "carry a strong element of sickness in their music, a crazed quaking uncertainty, an errant foolishness that effectively mirrors the absurdity and desperation ofourtimes"or in his description of the Talking Heads' Fear o f Music as espousing David Byrne's"basic philos­ ophy of existence: To feel anxiety is to be blessed by the full wash of life in its ripest chancre—everything else is wax museums," Bangs saw rock not only as the logical product of a world gone largely askew, but also as its best hope: as a last-ditch stab at sincerity in an epoch where artifice was the dictating ethos.

Probably the best known rock journalist— though this doubtless has less to do with his prolific output (he was published in Creem, Crawdaddy, Roll­ ing Stone, The Village Voice, Playboy and elsewhere) as it does with RS. Hoffman's nasally portrayal of him in Almost Famous—the nucleus of Bangs's writ­ ing emerges in his constant ability to apprehend so transparently the essence of music. Despite its fleet­ ing, nonrepresentational nature, Bangs penetrated the interior of the medium, kicked off his shoes and inhabited every lyric, melody, countermelody and noisy spasm of guitar feedback not as guest, but host.

Like so many other rockstars— and to be sure, he's as much an incarnation of pure rock 'n' roll as chicken struttin' Mick ever was— Bangs died before his time. Content to burn out at age thirty-three, it was a drug overdose that drove his headlong stagedive into the hereafter on April 30,1982. (In either an uncharacteristic lapse in intelligence or an all-too typical seif destructive impulse, he decided to treat a cold with a gravely potent combination of Darvon and Valium.) A fitting final number for someone who, from the onset, seemed destined to bogusly conse­ crate himself as just another rock fatality. ■

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Thursday, October 18, 2007 11:30 am - 1:30 pm Room3001, Brown Student Services Building, 3600 McTavish, McGill University Wednesday, November 14, 2007 11:30 am - 1:30 pm Room3001, Brown Student Services Building, 3600 McTavis, McGill University

The McGill Tribune

18 • Arts & Entertainment • 10.10.07 M U S IC

M u s ic to m e lt y o u r s t u p id je r k f a c e Metal heavyweights High on Fire descend on Montreal John

S emley

With four well-extolled albums since 2000, the rapid guitarwork of Matt Pike (formerly of seminal stoner metal trio Sleep), ground-shaking rhythms and consummately bombastic lyrics about yetis, masters of fists and dudes getting hung, drawn and quartered, High on Fire has earned a principal position atop the metal pantheon. And though the band experienced some person­ nel changes over the years, the lineup has now settled with Pike, bassist Jeff Matz (formerly of the hardcore punk band Zeke) and drummer Des Kensel.

The metal juggernaut's tour to support their latest release, September's Death Is This Communion, is basically a roaming cav­ alcade of ear-crushing noise. Supported by grindcore label-mates Coliseum, neo-Blue Cheer hard-rock revival outfit Panthers and thunderous Japanese post-rock band Mono, High on Fire drops the hammer of the gods at Les Saintes this Saturday.

"It's a pretty awesome package," said Matz of the lineup. "It's not like typical, predictable metal tour." And he's right— though Coliseum and High and Fire may have,more in common than a contract with Relapse Records, the garage-punky (and once ex­ plicitly political) leanings of Panthers and especially the cerebral instrumental experimentation of Mono seem rather incongruous with the climate of a crushing heavy metal show. The unifying ra­ tionale, it would seem, is volume. Fuck 11. All the bands on this bill are more than content to turn it up to 12 (well, Panthers might be

more of a 10.8, but whatever). It's no surprise then that Matz de­ scribes the live show as "total sonic annihilation."

Though High on Fire have laid theirfoundations on the speedy guitars, driving rhythms and howling vocals doom fans have come to expect, the exploratory bends of Death Is This Communion may mean new things for standard heavy metal boilerplate. The tracks "Khanrad's Wall" and "Waste of Tiamat" see Matz playing an Iranian lute, which lend the songs perceptible shades of Middle-Eastern influence.

"I've been listening to a lot of traditional Turkish spiritual music," Matz said. While the notoriously fick­ le metal audience may find such sur­ plus instrumentation confounding, Matz remains confident."It's the new wave of camel metal!" he exclaimed, poking fun at the tendency of more fastidious metal fans to obsessively stratify and compartmentalize any sudden deviations in subgenre formulae.

Another track, "Rumors of War," adds mellotron and keyboards to the band's mix in its ambitious denouement. "We wanted to make the end part [of"Rumours of War"] just really epic," said Matz.

"We obviously can't afford to hire an orchestra, so we found the

O n t h e o t h e r s id e o f m u s ic solidifying our musical inclinations. In adolescence, Levitin continued, music plays a key role in social bonding and creates an outlet for emotions and expression.

Here at McGill it was recently proved that the plea­ sure centre of the brain already commonly known to be triggered by drugs and aphrodisiacs can also be activated by music. In order to statisfy the mind's desires, a success­ ful song must maintain a careful balance between novelty and familiarity and complexity and simplicity.

The conference also addressed one of the music industry's most pressing issues, creative compensation.

Although this has been a hot topic in recent years, the fundamental problems have yet to be solved. When the CD was released, Levitin explained, 3,000 songs would oc­ cupy three cubic feet and now iPods have allowed 3,000 songs to be stored in less than five cubic inches includ­

ing a screen. As the physical space for music storage ap­ proaches zero Levitin predicts that it will be possible for everyone to possess "every song recorded in the history of music."With accessibility to that magnitude of information, buying any music at all will become obsolete, he argued, thus causing the cost of distribution to approach zero as well. As music becomes more available, companies that once distributed music will regress, withholding music using copyright law.

The challenge of our generation, Levitin remarked, will not only be to devise a way to compensate artists and encourage continuing musical growth, but also to devise a means of sorting through information so that one can still find songs that satisfy individual musical appetites.

After all, when we possess a personal database of every song recorded in the history of music, it would be nice to be able to find your favorite album without having to scroll through a list for four days. ■

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This is your brain on Dan Levitin Continued from COVER

one studio in Seattle that has a working mellotron from the sixties."

Matz even enlisted his father, an accomplished organist to play on the track, adding a second generation to High on Fire's metal empire. "None of us are very good keyboard players," he said. "So we called my dad... and he came down to the studio and laid it down."

The result of such apparently arc-metal instrumentation is an album that is more varied and eclectic than anything in High on Fire's catalogue."We were fortunate on this record to have enough time in studio to really mess around," Matz said. "We had time to write some musical interludes... to make it more of a cohesive album that flows, rather than just eight songs or whatever."

Though mellotrons, keyboards and Iranian lutes may stun the sensibilities of many metal aficionados (while downright offend­ ing those of others), High on Fire have not lost any of their trade­ mark heavy metal devastation. And the refined sound of Death Is This Communion is just the beginning for the band's consistently evolving brand of noisiness.

"The material that's on the new album is just scratching the surface of what we came up with," Matz said. "We probably have 100 other riffs on tape at home... but for the meantime we're just going to be touring ourselves into the Stone Age." ■

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Reviews

BOO KS

Y o u r in n e r s o c c e r m o m

■■

The Fiery Furnaces. W idow City. Long story short: Kurt Cobain got it right, the Fiery Furnaces didn't.To paraphrase Neil Young, it was Æ 1 W linntftf much better for the Nirvana frontman to go down in a blaze of glory ^ i i ( w e l l , shotgun blast) than grow old and wither. But the Fiery FurJ p a M I | . w ll ¥ naces don't get it. Their debut Gallowbirds Bark was infectious and ~~ ~ 5 wTty, while their magnum opus Blueberry Boat was a quasi-narrative , VSBS& coming of age tale, told through a hodgepodge of different musi■ 3 S cal styles. Their post-Blueberry Boat live show was a smorgasbord ~ —s £ 5 of songs—a continuously medley of energetic music that recalled both the Who's frenetic rock operas and Dr. Seuss'childish wordplay and outrageous storytelling. But in the aftermath of such success, the Furnaces have only disap­ pointed with a string of unlistenable albums. Rehearsing m y Choir resonated like a bad Cultural Studies project, with the lead singer's grandmother taking over vocal duties, and Bitter Tea saw the band experimenting with playing their tracks backwards, albeit with disastrous results. Their latest effort is another step in a slow decline into indie-rock oblivion. W idow City is tedious and boring. "The Philadelphia Grand Jury" is another stab at the rock operetta-style that propelled them to Pitchforkmedia-stardom, and it mostly-succeeds, but the rest of the album is mired in the banal experimentalism-for-the-sake-of-experimentalism, and bizarre wordplay about "Navajo basketball coaches and blonde ladiesf'lf the Fiery Furnaces had died a tragic death post-Blueberry Boat, they would have been hailed in the same breath as My Bloody Valentine, and Neutral Milk F-lotel. Instead, they're following the well-worn path towards oblivion. Don't follow the Furnaces to W idow City: it's a dreary place.

Recipes inspire readers

the book less expensive and more accessible.

Unlike most cookbooks, which are divided based on type of dish (i.e. appetizers, soups, main Although its target audience is the multi­ tasking soccer mom, Canadian Living magazine dishes, etc.), the sections in MakeitTonight cater to can still appeal to people who don't have 2.5 kids different "lifestyles.'These lifestyles centre around and a white picket fence. It consistently highlights the reality that Canadians are busy people, with products that are innovative and appeal to a vari­ separate chapters for recipes that can be made ety of lifestyles, and it presents health and nutri­ under 20 or 30 minutes, that use five ingredients tion articles that are current, easy to understand or less, or that can be frozen for later. The book and apply to everyday life. Despite all of the in­ also encourages students to dust off those weird formation contained in its pages, the magazine's appliances that their parents sent them to uni­ main draw has always been its recipes, all of which versity with by devoting separate sections to the are "tested till perfect" by the Canadian Living toaster oven and the slow cooker.

"I want to keep people cook­ Test Kitchen. ing," said Baird. "We really think Executive Food Editor Eliza­ that's an important goal because beth Baird has been working for if you actually cook, you will make Canada's #1 monthly magazine healthier choices. The food will for the past 20 years, ensuring taste better; you will have control that the recipes are continuously over the ingredients, so you will evolving to satisfy the country's know that they're fresh and ap­ changing tastes.

"More women are working, propriate to your tastes."

While Make it Tonight deliv­ which affects the way people ers on its promise to provide "de­ eat at home.There are a lot more DelfijjcoWBHbs licious, no-fuss dinner solutions fast foods and fast selections; 1 d inner-solutions (everycook you would never have to cook if for every cook", it does have its flaws. Sidebars containing help­ you didn't want to," said Baird in ful tips, such as "Essential fridge a recent interview.“Somehow we have to steer a course through all CANADIANLIVING.COM and freezer staples" or "The three knives you'll ever need", are scat­ of this that makes recipes easy, A guide to timely cookery. approachable, and use ingredients that people tered throughout the book, making them difficult are familiar with so they know at least they can to find and take advantage of. Also, whereas some cooks will welcome the multitude of methods for get it at the supermarket."

Baird and her team have recently compiled preparing boneless chicken breasts and fish fillets, some previously published recipes into a collec­ those who are more experienced in the kitchen tion titled Make it Tonight. Baird justified her deci­ would wish that it featured a greater variety of sion to not include any new recipes by saying that types and cuts of meat.

All in all, however, rookie cooks and seasoned it will introduce non-subscribers to the magazine, while subscribers will find it convenient to not chefs alike are sure to benefit from the recipes and have to flip through previous issues to find the tips in Make it Tonight, and add creativity and fla­ recipes they want. It also kept costs down, making vour into their weeknight dinner repertoire. ■ V incci Tsui

Make It ^ “Tonight

— Byron Tau

Film. The Seeker: Dark is Rising. Meet Will (Alexander Ludwig). He's the second youngest in a family of eight that has just made the move to England: a seemingly normal kid with the normal issues endemic to ad­ olescence and the first stirrings of sexual awakening. As the storyline of The Seeker unfolds, however, he finds out that he is the last in a long line of elders whose job it is to ensure the delicate balance between light and dark—"I'm supposed to save the world? I don't even know how to talk to a girl!"Will exclaims. As the last of these elders, Will is compelled to seek out six relics hidden throughout time, within which are contained the only magic capable of defeating evil. With only five days to com­ plete his task and darkness itself on his tail, calling Will's predicament a race against time would barely be scratching the surface. Directed by David L. Cunningham, The Dark is Rising is based on a book by Susan Cooper and the inability to compellingly translate the source material shows. Although the acting has its moments, the plot's countless tangents are neither fully developed nor incorporated into the main story line. All that matters is whether Will has got the balls to pull it together—balls being the keyword, because ap­ parently he's no brainiac.The ineptitude of the protagonist hinders the action, as the keen viewer is likely to figure out the location of the sixth relic before the film's hero has even started searching for first one. Such blatancy points directly to the unwavering predictability of The Seeker. The bot­ tom-line is that there's nothing exceptional about this film.

— Samuel Drory

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P R E V IE W — R E D M E N H O C K E Y

R e d m e n f o c u s o n r e g a in in g s u p r e m a c y After a disappointing season, McGill has eyes set solely on a title Pa u l S c h w a r tz m a n

While the Canadiens will forever command Montreal's full at­ tention, McGill hockey has been part of the city's sport's conciousness for 132 years and in recent seasons the program has certainly lived up to its pedigree. However, a 2006-2007 campaign in which the Redmen seemed to slip aroused worries that squad was revert­ ing back to its previous losing form. Yet this year the Redmen re­ turn renewed and intent on regaining its berth in the CIS national finals from two years ago and re-establishing its spot in Montreal's hockey pantheon.

Last season, the Redmen fell four points short of winning the OUA Far East and were shockingly ousted in the second round of the playoffs by theToronto Varsity Blues, being shut out in back-toback games in the process. This season's squad—now seasoned with disappointment—is more focused on taking a game-bygame approach and believes that the regular season is ultimately used as a preparation tool for the playoffs.

"The goal is the same", newly elected captain David Urquhart said. "The championship comes down to what you've done up to that point. You need to build on what you've done in the past."

Despite his team's desire to get back to the postseason and redeem their poor performance, Head Coach Martin Raymond— entering his thirteenth campaign at the helm of the program— stressed that the players should not put too much pressure on themselves as it could prove detrimental in the long run.

"We're not coming into this season with performancebased expectations," he said. "We suffered from them last year. We want guys to play hard but also make sure that they're enjoying it too."

A typically potent offence McGill's strength is mostly on offence as its explosive, core of forwards is still intact. Winger Shawn Shewchuck, last season's points leader with 32, returns for his fifth and final year with ex­ pectations to lead the offence once again. Shewchuck will not be alone, however, as he is complemented by the speedy F Eric L'Italien and power forward Mathieu Leclerc, a combination that tallied 54 points and 19 goals in breakout campaigns, and two blos­ soming stars in sniper Sam Bloom and the playmaking Guillaume Demers. Fans will also want to keep a close eye on a promising contingent of rookie forwards including Simon Corellas, Guillaume Doucet, Evan Vossen and Simon Marcotte Legare.

Tve been here for a few years and we've always had great in­ coming talent to compliment the returning guys," Urquhart stated.

"But this is the best crop of rookies I've seen yet in four years includ­ ing one guy from the [QMJHLJ."

The Redmen find their complete blueline returning for an­ other crack at glory, thus giving this group crucial chemistry early in the season. The defence corps is led by Urquhart and toughas-nails rearguard Ken Morin, along with veterans Yan Turcotte and Steve Pearce, although the latter will likely have to miss the first half of the season due to a knee injury. Still, the Redmen pos­ sess enough blueline depth to remain unconcerned about their defensive prowess.

goaltenders can remain healthy and focused, opposing teams will struggle to outscore McGill's potent offence.

Quick start The Red 'n'White have already jumped out of the gates to a solid i-i-o record and sit tied with three other teams atop the OUA Far East division with two points. This past weekend, McGill host­ ed Guelph on Friday night and Brock on Saturday evening as the Redmen split their first two regular season games, downing the Gryphons 4-2 but slipping to the Badgers 3-2. Poitras recorded the win in the first match while Filiatrault was victimized in the second clash and credited with the loss despite a 33-save performance.

The team will now head on the road for a titanic early-season tus­ sle with perennial rival and powerhouse UQTR, before returning home to host the Carleton Ravens at McConnell Arena and then participating in the annual Corey Cup against Concordia, to be held at the Bell Centre on October 21. ■

Goaltending questions While no one wants to admit it in the Redmen camp, it does seem that McGill has an elephant in their dressing room—an oldfashioned goaltending controversy. Just two years ago Mathieu Poitras lead the CIS in goals against average (140), save percent­ age (.947) and wins (14) while also setting a CIS record for most shutouts in a season (7), receiving the Bill L'HeureuxTrophy as the most outstanding player in the OUA and seemingly cementing his legacy as one of McGill's best keepers ever. How­ ever, last season Poitras struggled at times, lead­ ing to in-house rival Jean-Michel Filiatrault being given increased crease-time to which he responded impressively by posting a 6-2-2 record, a 2.07 GAA and a .915 save percentage.

Rliatrault played so well that he ultimately unseated Poi­ tras in the CIS playoffs.

This year Raymond re­ fused to name his num­ ber-one netminder, stat­ ing that both goalies will play on a rotational basis although he does read­ ily admit that Filiatrault would be a clear starting goaltender at any other program. Even if neither goalie can lay sole claim to the starter's title, the ADAMSCOTTI Redmen still clearly own the best tandem in the McGill LW Shawn Shewchuk shows off his dangles, as Guelph Gryphons G Andrew Arklie and D CIS and as long as both Jeff Oginski do their best to slow down the elusive Redmen forward.

T H IR D M A N IN

Scarlet Knights should be red in the face T rip Y ang rate sponsorships from football games, where is the sense of justice?

It's important to note that contrary to the Athletic Di­ rector's claims, Dowling never made any racist comments.

Closely read how Dowling responds to a question involving minorities. He is referring to the fact that the vast majority of Rutgers' sports teams are composed of minority athletes.

Dowling's comment about minorities fits into the context of what he is preaching—instead of providing assistance to mi­ norities on the football field lacking academic achievement, help out those minorities who are studying hard and doing well in school, without taking athletic status into consider­ ation. Keep in mind that since the reporter, not Dowling, brought up the issue of minority athletes, Dowling could not have possibly answered the question without bringing up race.

Dowling's message is short and simple. Stop providing preferential treatment for sports stars that lack the grades. In­ stead, financial assistance should be reserved for those who do well in school, regardless of whether or not they light up the scoreboards on Saturday nights. If universities are to pro­ The more I read Dowling's quote, the more I find myself claim that their first priority is education, then they must fulfill agreeing with him. It's an unwritten rule during the Divison-I that end of the bargain, and if that star quarterback with the college admissions process that students with unbelievable 2.0 high school grade point average must be passed for that athleticism and poor grades have a higher chance of admis­ prep school valedictorian with the perfect SAT score, then sion than students with average test scores and no athletic that's the right thing to do. ■ skills. This is especially true of schools with highly profitable UÊÊKI/SSÊBÊÊÊÊBÊÊÊKÊÊBÊÊSÊSÊSÊSBKSÊtÊÊSÊ^^JtiXl^KÊ^ÊÊÊuÊbsKmKÊKÊtÊÊÊIÊKÊÊStÊÊBi ÊÊÊÊÊKÊÊÊÊSKÊKÊÊÊÊKKÊÊÊÊÊÊÊKKKÊSÊIÊIÊÊKKÊIKÊÊIÊÊÊÊKÊÊÊKÊKÊKÊÊSÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊKÊÊM mmÊÊÊÊÊBÊmmmmiBmmamÊmmmBÊemÊmmÊmmmmmmÊmÊMm

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hen asked about Rutgers University’s surging foot­ ball program, tenured English professor William C. Dowling criticized the athletic program as flawed, counterproductive and exploitative of student athletes who otherwise wouldn't have gained admission. Dowling subse­ quently took massive criticism himself, with Rutgers President Richard McCormick dismissing the comments as "inaccurate and inhumane" and Rutgers Athletic Director Robert E. Mulcahy III criticizing Dowling's statements as “blatantly racist."

In an interview with the New York Times, Dowling ques­ tioned the direction of Rutgers' Scarlet Knights athletic pro­ gram and the integrity of the university's admissions process.

In response to arguments that preferential policies provide opportunity for low-income, minority student-athletes Dowl­ ing refuted, "If you were giving the scholarship to an intellec­ tually brilliant kid who happens to play a sport, that's fine. But they give it to a functional illiterate who can't read a cereal box, and then make him spend 50 hours a week on physical skills... If you want to give financial help to minorities, go find the ones who are at the library after school."

teams, such as Rutgers', whose recent gridiron success has earned millions of dollars in merchandising revenue, gate ad­ missions and TV contracts.

From a university's standpoint, it's reasonable to see why there's a premium on students with athletic talents. There are plenty of quality academics to recruit from—not so many quality quarterbacks. So while scoring 2,200 on the SAT is rel­ atively commonplace at upper level universities like Rutgers, being able to throw a pigskin sixty yards downfield is not.

Dowling's point is that we must draw a line somewhere in this preferential treatment of athletes, no matter how dis­ tinguished they are on the field. Fie has no problem awarding athletes with full scholarships—as long as they perform well in class and not just on game day. Rather, he is drawing at­ tention to Rutgers' policy of awarding acceptance letters and scholarships to student-athletes who wouldn't have gotten in without their sporting prowess. In Dowling's words, these student-athletes are being exploited for their abilities as"none of these kids would have been able to get into Rutgers if they hadn't been able to throw something or kick something or slam dunk something."

Beyond amateur athlete exploitation, there is something very flawed with preferential policy. Awarding scholarships to athletes with no academic ability takes away scholarships from high achieving non-athletes. Since the very purpose of a university is to teach, not to reap the benefits of corpo-

10.10.07-Sports-21 L A C R O S S E — R E D M E N 1 1 , B I S H O P 'S 1 0

M c G ill o u t la s t s G a it e r s in n a ilb it e r a t F o r b e s First win against Bishop's has Redmen leading division E lizabeth P erle After years of embarrassing shreddings at the hands of a strong Bishop's program, the Redmen lacrosse team, in the midst of an invigourating 3-1 start to the campaign, was foaming at its collective mouth for a chance to test their mettle against the tra­ ditional divisional powerhouse, in an epic 11-10 win Thursday on Forbes Field, McGill upset a Gaiters side intent on maintaining their strangle-hold on the Red 'n'White and, in the process, exor­ cised some lingering demons.

"This is a real milestone for us," Flead Coach Timothy Mur­ doch gushed. "This is a team that has always been our nemesis.

They beat us on this field 29 to zero just four short years ago."

The game marked the first time the Redmen have beaten Bishop's since the lacrosse program's inception in 2002, ending a nine-game winless streak against their opponents from Lennoxville, and propelling the team to first place in the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association's East division with a blaz­ ing 4-1 record. Though Bishop's raced out to a promising start, claiming the first goal in only the twelfth minute of the game, the Redmen replied a few minutes later, netting markers on back-toback shots to steal the lead. While the two teams remained tied at the end of the first period, it was the Redmen that came out flying in the second frame and held the run of play for the follow­ ing two periods.

Redmen pull away The Gaiters, however, drew close again in the fourth quarter when Bishop's midfielder Josh Crone fired home a goal within two minutes of the restart. But as they had all game, McGill seemed to find an extra gear when needed as resident speeddemon Lukas LaCava found the bottom right corner of the Bishop's net for the game-winner with under ten minutes to play in regulation.

Among the Redmen's strongest performers were attacker Nick Moreau, who posted four goals and one assist, midfielder Brendan Simeson, who added two goals and a pair of assists, and goalie Guy Fox, who was spectacular in grabbing loose balls and acted as a sterling safety net for any defensive lapses.

"This time, we came out on top,"an exuberant Fox said.

"We worked our asses off and it paid in the end."

Though maintaining that the win was not due to any major tactical changes on his part, a modest Coach Mur­ doch passed the kudos on to his new offensive coordinator, Sean Steinwald, who was hired only two weeks ago.

"Elis work has made a huge difference," Murdoch said. "[Steinwald] re-tooled our offense in just two short weeks. I was coaching 35 guys alone until he came in.

He's a two-time All-American at Cornell and is obviously very knowledgable."

Redemption On September 20th, the Gaiters squeaked by McGill with an 8-7 win in their Lennoxville home opener. Despite Bishop's victory in that clash, it was clear to the Gaiter coaching staff that the Redmen had closed the competi­ tive gap and that the battles would be much more fiercely contested in the future.

"This was the reverse of the last game," said Bishop's head coach Damien C. Roy."[The Redmen] are an improving squad every year. They played well. We had a little let down in the second quarter and that makes the difference."

The Redmen team captain, defenceman Peter Kelly, reflected the team's overwhelming excitement at the win.

"This was a culmination of four years of pain against these guys," he said. "We've been embarrassed in the past and then finally, we took the extra step today. It feels amaz­ ing to finally beat these guys."

Although buoyed by a milestone victory, McGill couldn't maintain its momentum as the team slipped 9-6 in a Saturday match against its first-ever NCAA opponent, St. Michael's College. The squad did manage to regroup, how­ ever, and later in the day defeated a McGill Redmen Alumni side 6-5 in another exhibition tilt. The current edition of the Redmen are ranked fourth in Canada and surprisingly sit atop lacrosse's Quebec division as the team prepares to head to Guelph and Western this weekend. ■

Bishop's F Andy Barber plays piggy in the middle with the McGill defence.

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2 2 -Sports - 10.10.07

The McGill Tribune

P R E V IE W — M A R T L E T S H O C K E Y

M a r t le t s lo o k t o s p in g o ld f r o m s ilv e r Stacked McGill squad aims to claim first national title... finally M att C hesser Athletes and coaches are always coy about pre-season predictions. In an attempt to limit message board fodder for other teams, athletes will hem and haw about their chances, and coaches will try to avoid saying anything remotely inflam­ matory. But for the McGill Martlets hockey team the reality is simple: Anything less than a national championship would be a huge disappointment.

Coming off a season in which the team went 17-1-0 in the Quebec conference, and outscored their opponents by an av­ erage of nearly four goals per game, this year's edition of the Martlets should be even better than the last. The team lost no big names to graduation and returns three All-Canadians, as well as adding an impressive crop of freshmen players. The ex­ pectations are rightfully sky-high for the best team on campus.

"Certainly our ultimate goal is to win the national champi­ onship," Head Coach Peter Smith said. "Having said that, that's the end of that type of talk. We have to focus on being more consistent and building on the habits we taught [the team] last year. They have that experience, and they know what it takes to compete at this level."

And McGill shouldn't lack motivation. After storming through the regular season and sweeping the QSSF finals, the Martlets defeated two opponents by a combined score of 12-1 in the round robin portion of the national championships. The team looked poised to capture McGill's first CIS women's title in

any sport, but played poorly in the gold medal game, losing to the University of Alberta Pandas 4-0. The silver medal finish was a bitterly disappointing ending to an incredible season.

"I think we can use the ending to last year's season as mo­ tivation," goaltender Chariine Labonté said. "It was the worst thing in hockey that's ever happened to me. We all know how it feels and we don’t want to repeat that feeling."

Labonté, a 2006 Canadian Olympic gold medalist, gives the Martlets plenty of security between the pipes. She posted 10 shutouts in 18 regular season starts, and boasted a remark­ able .958 save percentage last season, en route to earning firstteam All-Canadian accolades as a freshman. The defence in front of her will be anchored by fellow sophomore Catherine Ward, who set McGill records for most goals, assists and points by a defenceman in a single season.

The offence will once again be electric for the Martlets, who have an embarrassment of riches up front.Their fast-paced attack is spearheaded by third-year forward Vanessa Davidson, who led the Quebec conference in scoring last season, with 31 points in 17 games, and picked up the QSSF Player of the Year award for her dominant play. She is joined by a stellar support­ ing cast that includes second team conference All-Star and team captain, Shauna Denis, Canadian national under-22 camp invitee Caroline Hill and CIS All-Star Alyssa Cecere.

"Experience is going to be the biggest differences for us this year," Denis said. "Nine of our players had never played in nationals and none of us had ever played in a gold medal game.

Passionate about the IsraeliPalestinian conflict?

Then write for sports. Next week we are doing an exposé on both sides of the issue— just replace "Israel" with Cleveland, "Palestine" with Boston, and conflict with "ALCS." Email us at sports@ mcgilltribune.com to start your sports journalism career.

I think just having come so close last season is going to make a big difference."

Opponents will also have to deal with a star-studded class of new recruits, as Smith's clout as the new Canadian national team head coach has attracted a couple of marquee rook-

ally good depth e J pecially with the new crop of rookies," Smith said. "We've got 13 forwards, six defence and three goalies, all of whom can all play at this level. I expect ADAMSCOTTI great things from all In the NHL this would be a penalty. of them." ■

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Last Call

S T A N D IN G S Football GP

Sports Briefs

compiled by M att C hesser and A aron S igal

W

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88

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3

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53

Concordia

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90

108

UQAM

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133

148

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190

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1

5

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4

4

ON DECK Women's Basketball— UPEI Pathers at McGill Martlets; Fri­ day 6 p.m. at Love Competition Hall The McGill Redbird Classic kicks off with the host team taking on the visiting University of Prince Edward Island Panthers.

Both sides are looking to round into regular season form with the start of the year drawing near, so the basketball should be fast-paced and exciting. The Martlets will try to snap their dubi­ ous stretch of losing seasons this year, and may have the squad to pull it off. Keep an eye on PG Christine Kennedy, G Nathifa Weekes and prize recruit F Kelsey Binns if you want to see why this year's team might be better than the last.

Men's Basketball— Windor Lancers at McGill Redmen; Sat­ urday 7 p.m. at Love Competition Hall Basketball fans will enjoy this year's incarnation of the Redmen, an undersized squad that plays with an admirable amount of heart. The non-conference game against the Lancers should be a good indicator of McGill's potential as Windsor enters the season as the eighth-ranked team in Canada. If the Redmen can compete, look for them to improve on last season's record.

Watch fearless F Sean Anthony and talented rookie PG Samuel Goulet, both of whom Redmen fans are going to grow to love.

MLB Playoffs— Cleveland Indians at Boston Red Sox; Fri­ day 7 p.m. at Fenway Park, FOX The American League Championship Series kicks off on Friday night as the red-hot Sox take on the impressive Indians. This one is tailor-made for watching at a sports bar, even if you're not a fan of either team. Just head to a watering hole with a couple of your friends, and spend the entire night bashing the obnoxious Boston fan who'll be sitting by the bar—there's al­ ways at least one. Just make sure he doesn't look like an extra from The D ep a rted before you start ragging on J.D. Drew. Oh, as for the game, it should be a beauty as the two leading can­ didates for the AL Cy Young Award go toe-to-toe. Josh Beckett will probably get the start for Boston, after an amazing four-hit shutout in game one of the ALDS, while Indians'ace C.C. Sabathia should get the call after a brilliant regular season and solid outing against the Yankees. Boston's power hitting makes them the favourites, but that just makes it even more fun to cheer for Cleveland.

NHL Hockey— Pittsburgh Penguins at Toronto Maple Leafs; Saturday 7 p.m. at the Air Canada Centre, CBC While one of the sports editors hates endorsing anything to do with Toronto, he does concede that their home game on Saturday is the one to watch. The Buds might have already flipflopped on VesaToskala's status as the number-one goaltender and, much more importantly, this will be the first nationally televised game for Jason Blake after the Leafs' star went public with his leukemia diagnosis. No matter how you feel about the Leafs you can't help but root for Blake, the diminutive forward who has managed to remain extremely likable even when [dealing with Toronto's schizophrenic media. Oh, and that CrosI by kid comes to Canada for the first time this regular season on ÎH N IC in the nation's biggest media market—doesn't get much (better than that.

BO X SC O RE Redmen fall just short of major upset Gaiters' running back Jamaal Lee rushed 22 times for 181 yards and a touchdown as Bishop's survived a scare, edging McGill 30-25 in Quebec University Football League action, Saturday.The game was played in a steady downpour before SCORING SUMMARY 1,279 at Coulter Field in Lennoxville. The eighth-ranked Gai­ ters (4-1) jumped out to a 22-0 lead that eventually became FIRST PERIOD 30-6, and then withstood a furious Redmen rally to win their 1. McGill, G. Doucet (1) (S. Shewchuk, Y. Turcotte) 10:01 fourth straight contest, their highest win total since 1998. Mc­ Gill, on the other hand, dropped to 0-5, their worst start since Penalties 1966 when they went 0-6. The injury-plagued Redmeri, who Y. Turcotte Meg (boarding) o a o , M. Heck Guel (hooking) 5:07, C. featured a lineup with a school record 14 freshmen, gener­ Gibson Guel (roughing) 11:17, G. MacArthur Gue! (roughing) 11:17, B. Arsenault Meg (roughing) 11:17, C Churchill-Smith Meg (rough­ ated 398 yards of net offence and 26 first downs compared to 428 and 18 by Bishop's, respectively. Quarterback Matt Con­ ing) 11:17, K. Morin Meg (roughing) 11:17, D. Knowles Guel (interfer­ nell was sacked nine times in the game but completed 30 of ence) 17:25 41 passes for 371 yards with threeTDs and one interception in a losing cause. It marked Connell's 11th career 300-yard game, SECOND PERIOD: a milestone that has been reached only 17 times in school 2. Guelph, D. Knowles (1) (D. Volpe, M. Nelson) 2:02 PP history. Connell's favourite target on the day was Charles-An­ 3. McGill, S. Bloom (1) (S. Courcelles, D. Urquhart) 7:51 PP toine Sinotte, who established McGill and QUFL single-game 4. Guelph, J. Jenish (1) (D. Volpe, T. Laplante) 15:51 PP records for most receptions. He hauled in 18 for 215 yards and two touchdowns. It was the second-highest reception total Penalties L. Allaire Meg (hooking) 0:56, Z. Lillie Guel (roughing) 7:14, K. Belan in Canadian university history, falling one short of the CIS mark set in 2000 by Laurier's Andre Talbot, who now plays for Guel (roughing) 8n8, K. Belan Guel (roughing) 1025, C. Churchillthe CFL's Toronto Argonauts. Sinotte, who leads the CIS with Smith Meg (roughing) 10:25, K. Morin Meg (tripping) 1536,V.Lam45 receptions for 584 yards and three TDs, also tied the McGill bert Meg (holding) 19:00, D. Urquhart Meg (slashing) 19:10 single-season record for catches set by Glenn Miller in 1984.

Sinotte needs 16 more over McGill's three remaining contests THIRD PERIOD: To break the QUFL record. Erik Galas caught McGill's other 5. McGill, B. Arsenault (1) (C. Churchill-Smith) 6:14 TD and finished the day with 96 yards on six receptions. The 6 . McGill, S. Shewchuk (1) (B. Gazdic) 1936 EN other bright spot for McGill was starting cornerback Schuyler O'Brien, who was credited with 12 total tackles and 148 all­ Penalties D. Douglas Guel (slashing) 9:18, G. Doucet Meg (slashing) gn8, M. purpose yards, including a long 55-yard interception return forTD. He also added 83 yards on eight punt returns and 10 Heck Guel (boarding) lira, D. Volpe Guel (10-minute misconduct) yards on a kickoff return. For the Gaiters, quarterback Jesse 19:58, C. Churchill-Smith Meg (roughing) 19:58 Andrews went 13 of 19 for 211 yards, two TDs and one pick.

Linebacker James Yurichuk led the Gaiters defence with 13.5 SHOTS tackles, four sacks and a forced fumble.

Guelph: 113 6 (20) McGill next "travels'To Concordia (3-2) for the 21st annual McGill: 101010 (30) Montreal Shrine Bowl.

Friday, October 5,2007 McGill Redmen 4 vs. Guelph Gryphons 2 Illp a illlll McConnell Arena

T H E S P O R T S S E C T IO N IS L O O K IN G F O R A N E W C O L U M N I S T T O FIL E A B I-W E E K L Y A R T IC L E .

IF Y O U A L R E A D Y S U B M IT T E D A N A P P L IC A T IO N , W E A R E C O N S ID E R IN G A N Y R E S U B M I S S I O N S . IF Y O U H A V E Y E T T O A P P L Y , T H E T R IB U N E N E E D S A C V , A C O V E R L E T T E R , T W O ID E A S

NFL Football— New England Patriots at Dallas Cowboys; Saturday 4:15 p.m. at Texas Stadium, CBS Is it too early to start talking about a 16-0 season for the Pats?

New England has roared to a 5-0 start and hasn't been chal­ lenged yet this season. The undefeated Cowboys are one of the few teams in the NFL who look like they could actually pose a threat to Brady and the boys, though it depends on which Tony Romo shows up. If it's the one who threw five intercep­ tions against the Buffalo Bills'banged up defence then the'Boys aren't going to last long. But if Romo can play as well as he did in the dying minutes of the fourth quarter—where he led Dal­ las to nine points in the final 20 seconds—then things should get interesting in Texas. If the Cowboys can't stop the Patriots, the next real challenge for Belichick's squad would be a week nine showdown with Peyton Manning and the Colts.

Jaworski leads Martlet drubbing of Huskies Centre-half Maria Jaworski tallied three tries as visiting McGill handed Saint Mary's a 34-12 thrashing in a women's rugby non-conference game at Halifax, Sunday. The Martlets, who led 25-5 at halftime, also got tries from Kathleen Deckert, Rachel Oryema and Melany Waring, a third-year scrum-half.

Lauren Rudko and Cindel Chartrand added one conversion apiece for the Martlets. McGill improved to 5-2 overall includ­ ing a 3-1 record in league play and resumes their regular sea­ son schedule on Oct. 11, with a crucial home game against second-place Concordia (4-1). The Stingers, who sit two points ahead of the Martlets, need a win or tie to clinch sec­ ond place. A McGill victory would clinch second place for the Martlets and would set-up a semifinal showdown against the Stingers on Oct. 20.

FO R A CO LU M N TH EM E AN D O N E S A M P L E P IE C E O F JO U R N A L IS T IC W R IT IN G .

E M A IL A P P L IC A T IO N S T O U S A T S P O R T S @ M C G IL L T R IB U N E .C O M O R D R O P BY SH A TN ER 1 1 0 FO R M O R E IN F O R M A T IO N .

McGill downs UQTR in crucial soccer tilt Striker Gareth Pugh scored the game-winner and vet­ eran forward Jamie Scholefield added an insurance marker as blanked UQTR 2-0 in men's soccer at Molson Stadium, Friday.

The result extended McGill's recent undefeated streak to 2-0-2 and vaulted the Redmen into fourth place with a 3-2-2 record, one point ahead of UQTR (3-3-1) in the seven-team Quebec conference. Pugh converted a pass from Shawn Amarasekera in the 13th minute of play. Scholefield then made it 2-0 in the 33rd minute of play. The Redmen thoroughly dominated from start to finish, holding a commanding 18-6 margin in shots directed towards the net, including a 6-1 edge in shots on target. Olivier Boulva was called upon to make only one save for the shutout, his first of the season. McGill has a return date with UQTR in Trois-Rivières on Oct. 12.

McGill cagers demolish Memorial in pre-season Sean Anthony scored 21 points as McGill routed Memorial University of Newfoundland 97-47 in a men's preseason basketball game at Love Competition Hall, Thursday. It was the first win of the campaign for the Redmen, who were playing for the first time in a month after dropping two non-conference games to NCAA opponents Alabama and Illinois. The 50-point margin of victory was McGill's largest since defeating Laval 105-55 on Feb. 10, 1995. Memorial committed 24 turnovers to only nine by the Redmen, who never trailed in the game, leading 30-4 after the opening quarter, 47-24 at the half and 69-42 after three quarters. Anthony, one of four McGill players to reach double figures in scoring, made 10 of 15 shots from the field.

The 6-foot-4 forward also tied Yannick Chouinard for a teamhigh six rebounds, and was credited with three assists and a steal. Forward Michael White and G Moustafa El Zanaty each added 16 points for the Redmen while PG Matt Thornhill had 14 in with a team-high 29 minutes of court time.

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