The McGill Tribune Vol. 28 Issue 10

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____ __The McGill

T r ib u n e iblished by the Students' Society of McGill University

www.mcgilltribune.com

Volume28 Issue 10• N ovem ber^2008

Zampus Democrats, Republicans push hard lanadians and Americans at McGill join in last-minute election efforts T ori C

ra w fo rd

Although they have chosen to study in Canada, American students at :Gill are far from apathetic about Tuesday's presidential election.

Three campus groups, McGill Students for Obama, McGill Democrats >road, and McGill International Republicans, have been active since the ginning of the semester in registering American students to vote as well obtaining absentee ballots.

"We registered close to 200 people, which greatly exceeded our exctations," said Amelia Lenke, president of McGill Democrats Abroad. "We ow there are a lot of American students on campus, but we were very ppy to see that number come to us."

McGill International Republicans President Arieh Bloom acknowledged at support for his party is quite weak at McGill. However, this did not stop 5 group from encouraging students to vote.

"This is Montreal. It's more left-wing than American politics," said Dom. "The most important thing to us is that people vote, regardless of >w they vote. We believe in the constitutional right for people to express eir general or common will. With technology today, it's very easy for stu;nts abroad to vote." :e GROUPS on page 3

Zharest poised to :all an election

iconomic t u r m o i l m a y s o o n e n d Quebeckers to polls A

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Rumours are swirling that Jean Charest, the premier of Quebec and ader of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ), will call an election as early as 'ednesday. Charest has claimed the party needs a stronger mandate id the province needs a majority government to weather the economic orm.

"The economic crisis is what we need to focus on," said Alexandra lendich, a spokesperson for the Liberal Party. "We need the best possible overnment to weather this crisis."

The timing for an election call may be ideal for Charest, as two polls ime out last Tuesday indicating that the PLQ are leading in popularity y at least 6 percentage points over their main contender, the Parti Queecois (PQ).

The CROP poll, published in La Presse, placed the PLQ at 38 per cent of ie popular vote, the PQ at 32 per cent and, the Action Démocratique du uébec party (ADQ), the official opposition, whose popularity has fallen

Americans will decide today whether Senator Barack Obama of Illinois or Senator John McCain of Arizona will become the next president of the United States.

ee QUEBEC LIBERALS on page 2

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COVER GRAPHIC BY NIKI HY

PROVINCIAL

Quebec Liberals riding high in public opinior McGill law professor Tetley warns of election weariness, however Continued from COVER

dramatically in recent months, at 17 per cent. The Léger poll, published in Le Journal, placed the PLQ in the lead with 42 per cent, the PQ trailing at 34 per cent, and the ADQ at 14 per cent. Both polls have a sample size of approximately 1,000 and a margin of error of three percent 19 times out of 20.

Rumours of a December election began last week after Charest cancelled an economic trade mission to China, cit­ ing the need to remain close to home during the emerging economic crisis.

PQ leader Pauline Marois and ADQ leader Mario Dumont submitted a motion to the National Assembly last Wednesday affirming the opposition's willingness to work with Charest and asking the government to hold off on calling an election until after the economic crisis has passed.

The Charest government responded with claims that the opposition motion is not persuasive.

"They can tell us [they will work with us], but, in a week and in a month will that still hold?" asked Mendich. "[We] can't rely on other parties even if they say they are willing to

work with us."

Despite his popularity in the polls, Charest's claim that he needs a stronger mandate in order to contend with the looming economic crisis appears to be falling on deaf ears.

According to last Tuesday's CROP poll, 70 per cent of Que­ beckers do not want an election at this point in time.

"People are tired of elections, and the American one is wearing us out, too," said William Tetley, a McGill law profes­ sor and former Quebec cabinet minister in Robert Bourassa's Liberal government. "People want the government to keep its eye on the ball."

Tetley believes that, for the most part, Charest's claim that he needs a majority government is unfounded.

"Jean Charest justifiably would like a majority, but in the circumstances of today—[the] economic crisis-so m e voters may feel that he should face the crisis and call the election after it has passed. Others may believe that it is necessary to have a majority,"Tetley said.

Under Quebec law, the Premier is required to call an

election at least once every five years. A December elect would come only 21 months after the last election held February 2007.

Quebec student politicians will closely watch the i coming provincial election, as a change in government rr have serious implications for tuition policy.

"In terms of the three political parties in the province, a question of bad or worse," Students' Society Vice-Presid< External Devin Alfaro said. "None of the parties have progr sive policies in education."

Alfaro worries about rising tuition fees in the provin something the Charest Liberals set in motion when they 1 froze tuition after the 2007 election.

The PQ, in contrast, has always maintained that tuiti fees should have remained frozen. They intend to re-free them if elected to government. Nevertheless, according Alfaro,"the PQ is only marginally better in terms of educati issues." ■

CAMPUS

Amid controversy, SSMU Council approves Choose Life

Where do ideas that change the world come from?

Pro-life club attracts large number of opponents, sparks two-hour debate T homas Q uail The Students' Society's Legislative Council ap­ proved pro-life club Choose Life's interim status last Tuesday with 21 votes for, two against, and two absten­ tions.

Clubs and Services Committee member Hanchu Chen said he saw no reason to refuse approval.

"There was nothing [in their application] to pre­ vent them from being a club,"Chen said."In committee, it was clear to everyone, that, in our eyes, [Choose Life] had a mandate that was both unique and valuable to student life."

Interim club status lasts three months, during which the club must hold three events to become elligible for full club status. As an interim club, Choose Life does not receive SSMU funding or priority in room booking.

Councillor Jose Diaz, another member of the Clubs and Services Committee, supported Choose Life's appli­ cation for club status because of his experiences with the silencing of the abortion debate in his home coun­ try.

"I come from Panama, where abortion is illegal under our constitution," Diaz said.

According to Diaz, the Panamanian government has tried to censor the pro-choice groups. He saw the opposition to Choose Life's application as suppressing the other side of the debate.

According to Chen, members of the committee did not anticipate the two-hour discussion of the issue.

"We felt there was going to be some debate, but not as extensive as it was,"Chen said.

Choose Life defines conception as the moment fer­ tilization occurs. According to their constitution, they promote and respect human rights and human life from conception.

The group intends to foster discussion about abor­ tion on campus. They will also provide post-abortion support for students seeking a pro-life perspective.

Councillors raised concerns about having a pro-life presence on campus. Two years ago, Carleton Univer­ sity's Carleton Lifeline, a pro-life group, displayed pic­ tures of aborted foetuses around their downtown cam­ pus. But, according to Chen, Choose Life would be, like

all SSMU clubs, innocent until proven guilty.

Nathalie Fohl, a Choose Life co-founder, said that the club was against the circulation of graphic pictures or abortion literature.

"We're not out to change laws ... We just want to reintroduce the [abortion] debate back onto campus," Fohl said.

Vice-President Clubs and Services Samantha Cook said that Choose Life was still bound by the SSMU con­ stitution.

"If Choose Life were to contravene the SSMU con­ stitution in any way, we would re-evaluate their club status,"Cook said.

Students affiliated with the Quebec Public Interest Research Group and the Union for Gender Empower­ ment attended the debate. They lobbied against the approval of Choose Life's interim status.

"This club is actively disempowering women in terms of their right to choose," said Sarah Golightley, U3 sociology.

In addition, U3 women's studies student Andrew Thorne claimed that the approval of Choose Life insti­ tutionalized violence within SSMU. "The pro-life ideology is a form of systemic vio­ lence against women ... It is not our typical notion of violence, it's invisible, and much harder to pinpoint," Thorne said.

Thorne added that he was ashamed of Council for approving the club's interim status.

Fohl, however, implored Council to vote objec­ tively.

"I'd like to ask Council to treat Choose Life like any other club,"she said.

The main bone of contention among councillors was with Choose Life's constitution. VP Internal Julia Webster suggested referring Choose Life's application back to the C &S committee to discuss changes to it.

Chen advised Council against referring the applica­ tion back to committee.

"I'm sure I speak for the committee when I say that if we do end up referring this back to committee, in 16 days time, we will have a report that says the clubs and services committee approves Choose Life's appli­ cation."* —Additional reporting by Theo Meyer

Where science fiction becomes medical fact When arthritis or sports injury hits, so does the breakthrough work of Dr. Steve Waldman and his team at the Human Mobility Research Centre.

By creating 'neotissue'—artificial cartilage made in the lab—and working with proprietary computer programs, their work creates treatments that are less invasive and more effective than conventional procedures.

This is the caliber of talent and challenges you'll work with every day as a Queen's graduate student.

A soaring atrium at the back of the HMRC is one of Dr. Waldman's favourite places to go to for inspiration. If you're looking for a cutting-edge place to develop your ideas, there's a place here for you, too.

To learn more about Queen's Graduate Studies, or to apply, visit www.queensu.ca/sgs

REATE A IMPACT

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04.11.08 • The McGill Tribune • 3

LECTION '08

ELECTION '08

_S . campuses vote Obama Groups push to get itudents strongly support Democrats out the vote Trip Yang With young and first-time voters projected to jrn out in record numbers in today's U.S. presilential election, electoral excitement is sweeping -trough many American college and university |ampuses.

As of mid-October, Rock the Vote, a nonpartisan "get out the vote" organization, had agistered over 2.3 million new voters during this |lection cycle.

"I think students and new voters are definiteenergized by this election process, especially the last week. [Democratic presidential candi­ date] Senator [Barack] Obama has electrified the j)emocratic base like no other presidential candi­ ote in recent memory,"said Bill DeBaun, director ^f American University's Kennedy Political Union, non-partisan student-run speakers'bureau.

In Pennsylvania, the number of registered )emocrats has increased by 13 per cent, reflectig both the state's large student population and Ihe party's advertising focus on younger voters.

1any universities in the state are holding large, [lection-based events, such as the University of Pennsylvania's competition with Dartmouth Colage to see which school will have a higher voter lurnout.

"Many campuses are excited about this eleclion, and are organizing rallies and campaigns to gather support,"said Avi Edelman, media director pf Columbia University's College Democrats. "We pad 130 students show up for an Obama rally in /irginia, more than double the turnout from any bther year. Columbia student groups have also )rganized trips down to Ohio and Pennsylvania, there is unprecedented enthusiasm for Obama's pampaign, comparable to any sports event."

Obama's strong support among student vot­ ers has given him a sizeable advantage over Resublican presidential candidate John McCain on Vmerican campuses, leaving Republican students feeling isolated.

"At New York University, Obama supporters

outnumber McCain supporters roughly 85 to 15.

McCain doesn't have a large core of supporters here—it's like one guy surrounded by a ring of Obama fans," said Wesley Chan, a member of the NYU College Republicans.

In a September Gallup poll, 62 per cent of young voters supported Obama, while 32 per cent supported McCain. Enthusiasm for Obama isn't exclusive to campuses located in tradition­ ally Democratic "blue" states—it also extends to regions that are supposedly Republican strong­ holds.

"Obama advocates vastly outnumber McCa­ in fans here at the University of Texas, Austin. It's almost a surreal feeling because when you step outside campus, the political affinities are visibly different," said Justo Montoya, a member of the University of Texas' Libertarian Longhorns.

While the majority of American students traditionally vote Democrat—a trend that hasn't changed this election year—many colleges and universities still boast large Republican elements.

"Here at American University, there is a very visible McCain base. For an outnumbered group, they are very well organized. It's good to see indi­ viduals going against the popular sentiment and standing up for their candidate," DeBaun said.

An October Gallup poll showed that, despite a small increase in the number of registered vot­ ers, there was no change in reported interest and intention to vote.

"Not everyone is politically active, so despite their claims of excitement, they may not be as in­ volved in the election process as they could be.

There is definitely room for more participation," Edelman said.

Regardless, there is a general consensus across American campuses that this year's elec­ tion has attracted tremendous interest, and will have far-reaching consequences.

"This election should be a benchmark in voter turnout, in how elections are organized, and maybe even a benchmark for the nation his­ torically," DeBaun said.■

Students agree Obama will likely win the presidency Continued from COVER

According to McGill Students for Obama President Kevin Grumberg, McGill Uni­ versity has the highest concentration of Americans anywhere in Eastern Canada. His organization has worked closely with McGill Democrats Abroad to promote voter reg­ istration.

However, the two groups did not limit themselves to on campus efforts. Both worked with American Democratic organizations to promote Obama's message.

"We work with Campaign for Change, a group from New Hampshire. We've been sending volunteers down there since September to knock on doors,"Grumberg said.

McGill Democrats Abroad is sharing resources and volunteers with Grumberg's McGill Students for Obama group. For the past two weeks, the group has been calling undecided voters in both Ohio and Pennsylvania and encouraging them to consider Obama.

Together, McGill Students for Obama and McGill Democrats Abroad made one final effort last weekend in New Hampshire.

"We are sending a little more than 50 students to Claremont, New Hampshire ...

Part of that group will be staying until Tuesday to help with polling and just support­ ing Obama on election day,"said Lenke last week.

Grumber, Lenke and Bloom agreed that Obama will likely be elected today. How­ ever, with regards to the impact of this on Canadians, they were divided. Grumberg argued that Obama is the right person to guide the country through the economic crisis and emphasized the strong connection between the Canadian and American economies. Bloom questioned Obama's desire to reopen the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"Obama wants to renegotiate American labour workers' rights. This will be very detrimental to Canadians due to the proposed protectionist policies," Bloom said.

Bloom also stated that if protectionist policies are introduced, they would have a negative long-term impact on American students at McGill who are planning to return to the United States for their career, due to an increase in the prices of com­ modities. Grumber argued that American students at McGill would benefit from an Obama administation that may increase financial aid.

Both Lenke and Bloom were eager to discredit the idea that American students studying in Canada aren't interested in the politics of their nation.

"American students have heard a lot of criticism of U.S. politics in the past three years. Most American students here are not trying to escape the United States," said Lenke. "The fact that so many Americans have become involved [with our group] shows that we really do care about our country even if we are studying here in Can­ ada." ■

■LECTION '08

nalyzing the trends in a long campaign 'bama's edge in financing and organizing give him an advantage Elizabeth Perle Over the past few months, the American presidential race etween Republican Senator John McCain and Democratic enator Barack Obama has intensified. After a series of widelyelevised debates, Obama's campaign has seemingly pulled ahead—he has a lead of nine points over McCain in both the most recent ABC/Washington Post and CBS/New York Times polls.

Both campaigns have diverted their energy to ten swing states in the past few weeks, as they make the final push be­ fore today's election. The candidates must win these "battle­ ground" states to receive enough electoral votes to win, as these votes are awarded by state. Obama has been spending time in states usually won by Republican presidential can­ didates, such as Virginia, Nevada, and Colorado, where polls show Obama pulling slightly ahead of McCain. In contrast, Mc­ Cain has been attempting to maintain momentum in bigger swing states such as Florida and Ohio, which the Republicans won in both the 2000 and 2004 elections.

Julie Mason, a White House correspondent for the Wash­ ington Examiner, believes there has been a significant change in the Republican campaign strategy over the last few weeks.

"McCain certainly stepped up his criticism of Obama in the final days. He tried changing the subject to national security, which is one area where Republicans still perform well among voters. The key was playing on voter fears about Obama being young and untested,"she said.

Mason suggested that the Republican campaign has gained some momentum by focussing on voter anxieties— particularly in the wake of the financial crisis.

"The one thing people care the most about in this elec­ tion is the economy,"she said."McCain really hit hard on claims

Obama would raise taxes and the whole 'spread the wealth' message, which really played on voter anxieties about how they would do financially under an Obama administration."

Clyde Wilcox, a professor in the department of govern­ ment at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., also noted McCain's increasingly negative campaign and added that Obama's campaign has gone in the opposite direction.

"The McCain campaign has run a primarily negative set of ads and phone calls the entire campaign, but before the debates they did occasionally have a positive ad," Wilcox said. "Obama has gotten a bit more positive in the last week or so, since he is assuming that he is winning."

Recent weeks have also been characterized by another major election issue: campaign spending. McCain opted to re­ ceive $84 million in public financing, while Obama chose pri­ vate financing. Obama has raised more than $600 million pri­ vately. More than $1.5 billion was raised by presidential candi­ dates in the primary and general elections this year—the first time candidates have surpassed the $1 billion mark. However, according to a USA Today-Gallup poll, most Americans don't know which candidate used public financing in this race. The survey also found that most of those polled supported limits on campaign spending.

McCain is a vocal supporter of enforcing tighter restric­ tions through campaign finance reform (though he refused to sponsor bills that would have done this in the past few years), while Obama became the first major party candidate to opt out of matching federal funds for the general election since the option was introduced in 1976. This meant that McCain could not accept private donations while Obama could.

The campaign financing discrepancy between the two candidates was illustrated last Wednesday night, when Obama aired an expensive 30-minute political ad on seven primetime networks that drew more then 33 million viewers.

According to Mason, the additional campaign funding has helped Obama bolster an already significant amount of support in the final stretch of the campaign.

"Obama had so much money this election, he was able to completely swamp McCain in advertising. Television ads are among the most expensive items any campaign has to pay for, and Obama was just blitzing every market in the battleground states,"Mason said."Then, he came out with that 30-minute in­ fomercial that just won huge raves—mostly from Democrats, but still. The point is it didn't backfire. And McCain just didn't have the resources to counterpunch."

Susan Page, Washington Bureau chief for USA Today, also believes Obama's financial advantage over McCain has had a big effect.

"Obama has had the resources to air ads even in such long-shot states as Montana and Georgia. He's been able to deploy an unprecedented network of field offices and organiz­ ers," she said. "If Obama succeeds in expanding the electoral map—winning such traditionally Republican states as Virginia and Colorado—his deep pockets will be one of the reasons."

However, Wilcox argued that the campaigns' focus on spending in recent weeks has not brought significant results for either party.

"Obama has swamped McCain with ads over the past month, but, they do not appear to have changed anyone's mind," Wilcox said. "The McCain negative ads and robocalls have actually lowered positive evaluations of McCain, not Obama. So, overall, there is a lot of spending that seems to be having little effect."

In contrast to the inefficiency of advertising, Wilcox pointed to the debates as "pivotal" to the election. "They really showed Obama's flexibility and good humour, and McCain's anger," he said. ■

The McGill Tribune

4 • News • 04.11.08

SPEAKER ON CAMPUS

Petrou discusses the Spanish Civil War Journalist's lecture is the latest in series on the left in Canada T heo M eyer Noted journalist and historian Michael Petrou spoke at the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada on Wednesday, giving the latest lecture in a series on the history of the Cana­ dian political left.

Petrou, a senior writer for Maclean's and an Oxford-edu­ cated historian, spoke about his new book entitled Renegades: Canadians in the Spanish Civil War. As the title suggests, the book focusses on the nearly 1,700 Canadians who fought in the conflict during the late 1930s.

In his lecture, given to a group of roughly 30 students and professors, Petrou described the Canadian veterans of the Spanish Civil War as a diverse and often marginalized group of immigrants and idealists who suffered heavy casualties in a foreign conflict.

"These Canadians, numbering 1,700, of whom more than 400 died, [do not have] marked graves. [There is no] place where family members can visit and pay their respects," Pe­ trou said."Hundreds among the survivors were wounded, but none of them received the medical care normally allotted to veterans. And although the survivors never posed a threat to Canada, they were ... spied on by the RCMP for 50 years."

The Spanish Civil War was a drawn-out conflict eventually won by General Francisco Franco's fascist rebel faction, which pitted them against the leftist Spanish republican government.

Though ostensibly a domestic conflict, the war quickly turned into an ideological struggle between Europe's fascist govern­ ments, and communist governments around the world.

"A revolt was started by Francisco Franco and several other generals in North Africa, and they expected very quickly to overthrow the government. They had help right from the beginning from Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Hitler's air force, in fact, ferried Franco's foreign legion from Spanish Mo­ rocco onto mainland Spain," Petrou said.

According to Petrou, the republican government in Spain was left-leaning, but not communist. The U.S.S.R.'s support for the republicans, however, cast suspicion upon the Canadians who volunteered to fight in the conflict, and led the RCMP to spy on them for decades.

While many of the Canadians who volunteered to fight in Spain, especially recent immigrants from Eastern Europe, did have communist sympathies, others went to support the republican government against the forces of fascism. Petrou interviewed Maurice Constant, a veteran who went for ideo­ logical reasons six weeks before his death. "[Constant] was a 22-year-old student at the University of Toronto and he described ... a very politically charged environ­

ment at U of T in 1936. And André Malraux, the French author, was also a pilot in the republican air force. He was scheduled to come to speak at the Hart House Theatre ... [Constant] was enraptured by what Malraux said, and made the deci­ sion in his mind to join him.

Malraux afterwards was out having a cigarette by one of the antique cannons outside the Hart House Library with the French blonde woman beside him and Constant said 'I'm going to volunteer for Spain' and he did," Petrou said.

Petrou also briefly dis­ cussed Norman Bethune, perhaps the most famous Canadian to volunteer in the war. A doctor and for­ mer McGill faculty member, Bethune became famous for introducing mobile blood transfusions and saving countless lives on the battle­ fields.

While open to the pub­ lic, attending the lecture se­ ries is required for students in CANS 501, a Canadian Studies seminar dealing with the history of the Cana­ dian left.

Fred Burrill, U3 French language and literature, said that Petrou's focus on indi­ vidual Canadians in the war was a refreshing approach.

"I think a leftist sensibil­ ity is grounded in people's personal experiences—it's not just grounded in ideology," Burrill said.

Pat Boily, U3 Canadian studies and political science and member of CANS 501 the class, said that Petrou's lecture and

the rest of the lectures for the class illustrated that the Canadian political left was never a united force, but rather a disparate collection of idealists.

"There have always been clashes within the left itself, it struggles to define itself," Boily said. ■

CAMPUS

SSMU clubs still waiting on annual funding Financial Committee members' schedules leaving clubs in the dust A lana L evine Many Students' Society clubs are still waiting for their an­ nual funding—which is now months late—from the SSMU Fi­ nance Committee.

The Financial Committee is made up of the Vice-President Finance and Operations, the Comptroller (responsible for busi­ ness operations and accounting on campus), the VP Clubs and Services, and three councillors, each of whom participate in the decision-making process. Each year, the committee meets to discuss and deliberate the proposals submitted by the vari­ ous student clubs on campus. These proposals include a tar­ geted budget, as well as a defence of the budget which pro­ vides reasons why SSMU should grant financial support. After deliberations take place, the clubs and services budget is allot­ ted according to the requests made. Typically, this process is completed by mid-fall. This year, the process has yet to begin.

Joshua Stark, head of McGill's Debating Union, described the situation that his club faces now that it is already Novem­ ber.

"Since we have yet to receive any money from SSMU, we are getting by through a combination of a tremendous amount of fundraising efforts along with simply putting our­ selves into personal debt," Stark said. "Before last year, the sub­

sidies were usually available sometime in early to mid-Octo­ ber. We budgeted for a worst case scenario of not seeing our SSMU subsidy until mid-November, which as it turns out, looks to be accurate."

Samantha Cook, SSMU VP Clubs and Services, said that busy schedules have slowed the process considerably.

"Clubs have not received funding yet because the Fi­ nance Committee has yet to meet due to scheduling conflicts between the members. While the committee has not yet met, the applications are all organized, categorized, and ready to go," Cook said in an email to the Tribune.

Along with time constraints, talks of budget cuts have also brought some stress to the financial situation—some clubs faced budget cuts last year due to Haven Books. Cook said that there may or may not be funding cuts this year.

"The cuts made will depend on how much money each club has asked for and how much each club's financial needs can be accommodated by the club fund," said Cook. "Clubs re­ questing very large amounts may not get all the money they want."

Clubs, however, do have the option to apply to the Cam­ pus Life Fund and the Green Fund for specific events. These funds were created over five years ago to provide extra fund­ ing for clubs that require additional financial support.

Even with these funding options, clubs like the Debat­

ing Union still have had to cut down on the number of tour­ naments they attend and the amount of people that can be sponsored to go. Fees such as room rentals on campus and vans for transportation have all set the club back greatly.

"We have seen a tremendous amount of interest in the Debating Union this year, and part of the problem has been that we have only been able to send half of the people we wanted to send to a given tournament. Due to a lack of money, we were only able to send 28 people to the first tournament of the year, when we had over 50 people sign up," Stark said.

With over 200 clubs requesting budget approvals, the Fi­ nancial Committee has some difficult decisions to make. Cook said that the committee may take more than one meeting to figure out how to allocate all the funds due to the great num­ ber of applications.

"Trying to balance different clubs' needs is a complicat­ ed task," Cook said. "However, when the committee meets, it should be relatively easy to allocate a lot of the money, par­ ticularly to groups not asking for a lot, or to groups that have only applied for the fall semester."

Plans have been made to hold the committee meeting today, followed a meeting on November 13 in which SSMU Council will ratify the committee's decisions. ■

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04.11.08 «The McGill Tribune • 5

CITY

CAMPUS

Ben's Deli set for McGill prof awarded grant G a te s F o u n d a t io n g iv e s G e a ry $ 1 0 0 ,0 0 0 demolition Organizations unable t o save historic building B rittany Paterson

The historic Ben's Delicatessen is currently being demolished, despite many local organizations' best efforts to save it.

Opened in 1908 by two Latvian immigrants, Ben and Fanny Kravitz, the restaurant is located on the corner of Maisonneuve Boulevard and Metcal­ fe Street. The three-storey building, designed by McGill graduate Charles Davis Goodman, was fashioned in the Streamline Moderne style of Art Deco architecture. "[Ben's Delicatessen] was a carefully conceived composition,"said San­ dra Cohen Rose, the president of Art Deco Montreal. "[Its demolition] will be a great loss to our city's architectural integrity."

Ben's officially closed its doors in December of 2006 after a protracted labour dispute and strike. Quebec developer SIDEV bought the property and acquired a building's demolition permit for $1,925.

The committee that decided that SIDEV could demolish the building was made up mostly of architects.

"Architects are not the right people to consult because they are not engrossed in history,"Cohen Rose said. "They want to build new [buildings] and leave their own stamp."

Fragments of the famous delicatessen are now on display at the Mc­ Cord Museum. Before the demolition began, photographers took pictures and removed certain artefacts to maintain Ben's legacy. "[McCord's exhibit] should have been an indication that the whole building itself should have been preserved" said Cohen Rose. "There is no reason why [SIDEV] could not have integrated Ben's into the building."

Ben's was not only "the total environment of the Art Deco period," but "the space itself was very attuned to the people who spent time there— people like Leonard Cohen and Pierre Elliott Trudeau," Cohen Rose said.

Ben's Delicatessen was on the Canadian Heritage Foundation's top 10 list of endangered sites.

"It's unfortunate that [SIDEV] did not see the merits in preserving Ben's," said Cohen Rose. "You wouldn't take another art form, like a Picasso, demolish it, and try to make something that looked like it. It just doesn't make sense." ■

G reg O sadec

The McGill Institute of Parasitology's Director Timo­ thy Geary has been awarded a $100,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to establish a sus­ tainable drug development program in Africa.

"Over the years, [pharmaceutical] companies and [other] organizations have gone and collected African resources and sometimes used the Africans to collect them ... [but] the Africans were cut out from the pro­ cess at that point,"Geary said.

According to Geary, this made it difficult for Africans to collect on the revenue generated by new drugs.

"One of our driving forces is to put the control for the discovery of drugs for local diseases into local hands,"Geary said.

According to Geary, previous attempts to establish drug-discovery research in Africa have run into prob­ lems due to their reliance on Western technology. While the equipment can be transported to and operated in Africa, issues arise due to maintenance and reliability. "[The] problem is not bringing equipment to Afri­ ca, but, when something breaks, getting it fixed," Geary said.

Geary's approach draws on the resources available in Africa rather than relying on imported western tech­ nology.

"Our technology actually relies on engineering mi­ crobes, yeast, and e. coli bacteria, to produce parasite proteins," he said.

This, Geary believes, could lead to the develop­ ment of anti-parasitic drugs.

He hopes to "foster the assembly of a collection of chemicals produced and characterized by African natu­

ral products chemists.These will be chemicals obtained from botanical sources, and that's a very rich source of new leads for drug discovery that's currently probably undervalued by the western pharmaceutical industry."

With Africans in control of the chemistry, they will hold the intellectual property rights, and should be able to license it out to create a revenue stream that will make the operation self-sustaining.

The project was conceived with the help of Eliane Ubalijoro—originally from Rwanda—of McGill's Centre for Developing-Area Studies, who continues to work closely with Geary.

"For me, it's really a holistic development tool," Ub­ alijoro said. "One of the issues that's sometimes over­ looked is how the issues around climate change and de­ forestation are depleting biodiversity in Africa. If there's an understanding that as we preserve our biodiversity we are also preserving the sources of new medicine for the future, and these medicines ... can also bring in in­ come and help for local populations."

Geary said they were "pretty much shock[ed]"when they heard they had received the grant from the Gates Foundation.

"We knew going in the chances were very low," he said. "I think they had about 4,000 applications."

Geary believes McGill will benefit from the recogni­ tion of the Gates Foundation.

"I think [the grant] provides a compliment to what McGill is really focused on: international work."

The project itself will immediately benefit the uni­ versity as well.

"It's going to open up opportunities for training and exchanges with African countries that perhaps we don't currently have," Geary said. ■

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The demolition of Ben's Deli began last week.

NATEVANDERWEERD

O pinion COUNT HER FEET

NOT A N Ô ^H fH STUDENT POLITICIAN

Morning people and cultural imperialism

Making McGill better, one fee at a time RJ K elford

Riva G old

RJKELFORD@GMAIL.COM

YOURCOLUMNISHURTFUL@GMAIL.COM

Y

ou know what really grinds my gears?

Student fees. As a student putting my­ self through McGill with loans, scholar­ ships, and employment income, I reserve the right to complain about fees. Our fees are sky-high because the university is using them to supplement stagnant tuition income. I'll end up paying over $1,000 in athletics fees by the time I graduate. That money could have bought a lot of ramen. For Quebec-stu­ dents, ancillary fees are almost as expensive as tuition—they can cost nearly $1,500 per semester, depending on your program. For students in financial need, this easily adds up to a few months' rent.

At McGill, just looking at your list of fees is hellish. If you're an arts student, you pay the Arts Information Technology Charge, the Arts Improvement Fund fee, and the Infor­ mation Technology Charge. Those three fees ostensibly do the same thing: provide cam­ pus IT for students. So why do we get triple­ billed? There may be a good answer to that question, but it's hard to find. Last year, the Students'Society published a nifty pamphlet about some fees, but it would take a small book to explain them all. McGill's fee infor­ mation is even harder to find, and not all fees are adequately explained.

The athletics fees are a particularly sore spot for me. I've discussed them at length with others (and softened my views a bit) but, at the end of the day, I'm still paying roughly $1,000 over the course of my five-year McGill career for athletics. These fees subsidize the gym facilities and our intramural program, and bankroll many athletics-related jobs for students. But how is my money allocated?

How much of my $107 (per semester) goes towards any particular program? For that large a fee, which I can't opt out of, I deserve an allocation pie chart. In fact, I deserve pie charts explaining all of my fees. If I'm forced to pay money—which I haven't even earned yet—to the university, it's my right to know exactly how it's being spent.

Fees in Quebec are so bad that earlier this

year, the provincial government announced regulations specifically targeting these fee increases. Students must now approve any ancillary fee increase whose combined cost exceeds $15. This policy has had the larg­ est impact on McGill because our fees put other universities in the province to shame.

However, this new legislation was shortly fol­ lowed by the deregulation of international tuition, so don't send any "thank you" cards to the provincial government just yet.

But at least there's hope for reigning in these exorbitant fees. Quebec's new regu­ lations give a fantastic amount of power to student executives. SSMU and the faculty as­ sociations have decided to share this power, and have committed to letting students make fee decisions. When a new fee is pro­ posed, it will go to either a faculty associa­ tion referendum or a SSMU referendum, de­ pending on who it affects.

This is great news for students. The McGill administration's position on fee in­ creases is reasonable: they "provide services to students; without the adequate funds ser­ vices will suffer." But students shouldn't take this argument at face value. McGill must jus­ tify their fees to us, and explain why they're necessary. They need to convince students that increases in expenditure are legitimate by justifying fees as they stand now, and as they're increased.

For this system to work, all of our stu­ dent associations need to demand more feerelated information from the administration.

We need students to act boldly and run "no" campaigns against fee increases. We need students to reject the fees on their ballots until the administration makes clear the real value of their proposals. When referenda on fees appear in the coming years, the burden of proof is on the administration. If you're not certain that a fee increase will benefit stu­ dents, vote it down. This is our opportunity to demand transparency and accountability from the administration. Let's not squander it. ■

I

ore dangerous than Dick Cheney with a shotgun, and more offensive than dressing up as Osama bin Laden for Halloween, they're the last bastion of un­ challenged systematic oppression. For brev­ ity's sake, we'll call them "morning people."

What makes a policy discriminatory?

When it systematically disadvantages peo­ ple because of an innate characteristic. A person's biorhythm—like their ethnic back­ ground or height—is a characteristic of this nature. Scientific research into sleep patterns shows that our predispositions are rooted in biology. And given that it's almost impos­ sible to change when your best hours occur, I'm sick of the accusation that night owls are lazy.

Many night owls work hard very late into the night. We tend to be more productive and energetic as the day progresses. Con­ versely, morning people lose their steam and cognitive abilities late in the day. But they're not forced to stay awake late at night and condemned for their lack of evening produc­ tivity. If it's wrong to discriminate on the basis of height, weight, or age, I see no reason for the smug prejudice against late sleepers.

Universities are prime perpetrators of what I call "mornocentrism." A quick glance at McGill's course calendar proves my point.

Far more courses are offered in the morning, and many mandatory classes are deliberate­ ly scheduled at 8:30 a.m. The result? A class half-filled with bleary-eyed students, relying on their coffee and the light emanating from their laptops to stay awake. Many tired stu­ dents simply stay at home and sleep. (Unless, of course, the class is in Leacock 132, where people just sleep in the lecture hall.)

To make matters worse, exam sched­ ules, office hours, and even the McGill Health Servces clinic are mornocentric. Testing, learning, and consultation with academic and medical professionals are all scheduled in the wee hours of the morning. For students who don't feel alert before noon, this system im­ pedes learning and academic performance.

The workplace is even worse. How man; people are considered lazy, apathetic, or in competent simply because they arrive a work later in the day? Many night owls an just as productive as early risers, yet receivi far less recognition and praise. It's both sill and unfair to judge a person's character b their biorhythm. And apart from being dis criminatory, mornocentrism is an inefficien use of human capital. Why should we fore people to sit idly at their desks during th> hours that are least productive for them?

Of course, institutions aren't the sole cul prits (despite Foucault's attempts to convinc you otherwise). Mornocentrism pervades th very fabric of our young, liberal, tolerant soci ety. When is it considered polite to call some one on the phone? Between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Despite my attempts to dissuade them many of my friends and family members us this guideline when calling me.Their unapo ogetic criticism, that I "ought to be awake," getting (pardon the pun) really tired.

I haven't even mentioned the concep of "quiet hours." In residences, apartment: and out on the street, the hours during which people can be loud are catered to the desire of morning people. I find this particularly bi zarre in the McGill ghetto, where night owl aren't a small minority.

Short of a complete overhaul of the sys tern, we can take some steps towards reason able accommodation. Better online resources and more recorded lectures would be a nice start. Students shouldn't incur academic pen alties because of biorhythmic drowsiness And at a societal level, people should stop acting like jerks. Instead of sticking with the mornocentric hours society keeps, ask peo pie about their sleeping habits and don't be nuisance to them.

It's time to re-evaluate how we treat in nate differences in the modern world. The cultural imperialism of morning people is a holdover from a time before electric lighting, and must be challenged if we'te to progress as a liberal society. ■

FOOT IN MOUTH

Cheap gimmicks shouldn't be so expensive Eric W eiss ERIC.WEISS@MAIL.MCGILL.CA

L

et's play a game. It's called "one of these things is not like the others:" FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FCUKFUCK. Did you spot it? It's subtle, but there are eight FUCKs and only one FCUK. And I fucking hate FCUK. I've never worn a FCUK shirt. In fact, I've never even been inside an FCUK retail outlet, so this isn't a horror story about a snarky dressing room attendant on a power trip. I hate FCUK because the non-ironic popularity (and elevated price tag) of the brand reflects the dangers of an unexamined herd mentality in our society.

As most people know, FCUK is an acronym for French Connection United Kingdom. At least, that's what their mar­ keting department wants people to believe. The truth is that FCUK is nothing more than an anagram of FUCK. At its core, FCUK's brand is a gimmicky attempt to be pseudo-provoca­ tive by choosing a name that looks like a swear word. Unfortu­ nately this gimmick is only mildly clever, so the novelty wears off after a few seconds. There are only so many times you can say, "Hey, that guy's shirt looks like it says fuck, but it really says FCUK!"

To my knowledge, there is nothing particularly French or British about the clothes sold by FCUK. And with Gene Hackman nowhere to be seen, I don't quite understand how over­ priced nightclub shirts serve as a French Connection to any­ thing. The FCUK moniker slaps together two country names chosen for their effect on a gullible consumer audience. The name was chosen because it sounds European (read: stylish, pretentious, and over-priced) and because it fits the FCUK ac­ ronym.

Don't get me wrong—I love gimmicks. But gimmicks are merely fleeting diversions from our otherwise routine lives.

They're inherently novel, yet insubstantial. Turning a cheap gimmick into a marketing phenomenon assumes that people purchase clothing in the same way that lemmings take swim­ ming lessons.

Unfortunately, FCUK's popularity shows that this assump­ tion is sound. Consumers fail to recognize that FCUK offers nothing more than a tired gimmick, and now the brand gets by on name recognition alone.

Granted, the rise of a single clothing line seems relatively

harmless when compared with global warming, nuclear war, or Ryan Seacrest. However, FCUK's success shows that many consumers are unwilling or unable to see through the shal­ low pretensions of a marketing campaign. The broader impli­ cations of this lack of scrutiny trouble me. If people act like zombies in the marketplace, then why should we expect them to act differently when thinking about politics, religion, or ide­ ology? It's as if people enjoy being manipulated.

FCUK's success probably wouldn't bother me as much if their products were reasonably priced. I don't mind spending $10 on a silly t-shirt. I gladly ponied up the dough for a couple of those "Harvard: America's McGill" t-shirts a few years ago.

But I can't believe that so many people pay absurd sums ($38 for a cotton t-shirt) so they can pretend to swear—while ad­ vertising for a massive corporation.

I'm not anti-establishment, anti-capitalist, or even anticonsumerist. I like stuff, and I knowingly spend my money on it. But I try to be aware of manipulative advertising, and I wish that more people would stop and think before buying into a scam. ■

04.11.08 «The McGill Tribune • 7

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T

EDITORIAL

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Stop accomodating xenophobic politics

T

here's something rotten in the province of Quebec. Last Wednesday, the Charest government announced that all new immigrants to the province must sign a pledge to "respect the common values of Québécois society." It's a seemingly harmless statement, but the new policy reflects a disturbing trend in provincial politics.

In and of themselves, the pledges are innocuous. The "common values" re­ ferred to—including gender equality, the rule of law, and the separation of church and state—are already well established in Canada. The pledges are largely a reit­ eration of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In practical terms, they're just another piece of superfluous paperwork in the immigration process.

But the impetus behind the pledges is far more sinister. In recent years, "rea­ sonable accommodation" has been a hot topic in Quebec politics. The term refers to the interpretation of the Charter of Rights, and the extent to which the prac­ tices of ethnic and cultural minorities must be accommodated in Canadian soci­ ety. In Quebec, the debate over reasonable accommodation has revolved around the assimilation of immigrants. It hit a fever pitch last year when Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois tabled a bill requiring language tests for participation in provincial politics.

The new immigration pledges arejust the latest flare-up in this old (and tired) debate. And it's a debate that, in practical terms, is totally irrelevant to the vast majority of Quebeckers.

So why is everyone talking about it? Because the reasonable accommodation debate is every demagogue's wet dream. It's an opportunity to dress up xeno­ phobia in the lexicon of liberalism and democracy. And the abundance of reason­ able accommodation issues over the last two years—hijabs, Hérouxville, and the Bouchard-Taylor commission—shows that xenophobia springs eternal. Stirring up vague and unwarranted fears of "unreasonable" immigrants has been a key strategy for the PQ, the ADQ, and—if the new pledges are any indication—the Liberals.

In the country with the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, and where multiculturalism is an official policy, it's dispiriting to know that people still fear "foreigners." It's even worse that reasonable accommodation will be a central issue in yet another provincial election. There's no shortage of real issues, with broad implications, that need to be debated in Quebec. But instead of discuss­ ing how to best manage the economy, protect the environment, or work with another Harper minority, Quebec's three major parties will once again pander to anti-immigrant sentiment.

It's time to condemn politicians who rely on xenophobic rhetoric. Montreal— where most immigrants to Quebec will end up—is a perfect example of the power of diversity. The city's flag features English, French, Irish, and Scottish emblems.

They're a reminder that Quebec has never been homogenous, and has benefited tremendously from a diverse influx of immigrants—none of whom signed pledg­ es when they arrived. ■

Letters to the editor Klein and Silverman are both wrong

Re: "Friedmanism is bank­ rupt in every possible way" (28.10.08) Congratulations Mr. Silverman, you've read Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of DisasterCapitalism. However, in the future, I would advise you to do some research on ideas before you plagiarize them.

Your (her) argument is like many that emerge from the left which make the misconnection that what we have now is freemarket, small-government cap­ italism, and what we have now has led to a clusterfuck in the market, therefore capitalism is bad. You write that the current economic crisis must make us supporters of free markets re­ consider our ideology, because it has been the direct cause of said crisis.

The problem in this ar­ gument is that free-market capitalism does not exist in the United States or elsewhere in the world. You write of the bankruptcy o f Friedmanism (what the hell is this made up term by the way? You prob­ ably mean monetarism) but Friedmanism is not the eco­ nomic theory which has been employed in the U.S., not by Richard "we're all Keynesians now" Nixon, and not by George W. "biggest increase in govern­ ment spending since the New Deal" Bush.

On another note as to where you should have checked the opinions you stole, Fried-

man was not one of Augusto Pinochet's chief advisors. Rath­ er, Chile was guided by mone­ tarist graduates of the Chicago school where Friedman taught.

Friedman's encounter with Pi­ nochet was limited to a brief meeting, and Friedman later publicly condemned the ruling junta, and defended his role in Chile as part of an attempt to instill free-market policies which would soften the role of the state. Also, Chile's economy has been incredibly successful not only recently, as you claim, but for the past 20 years.This is also not due to massive state in­ tervention but an adherence to relatively free economic princi­ pals. According to the Index of Economic Freedom, Chile has only become increasingly free economically over the years.

Listen, I don't mind a good pinko argument every now and then. People are entitled to whatever view they like and should feel free to try to impress it upon other people.

But you, Mr. Silverman, you just lie, and plagiarize. If you want to put together a good argu­ ment for your socialist cause, have the decency to do some research, don't just crib notes from a recent best seller. That's the kind of thing a plagiarizist (look I can make up words by adding "ism" to the end of them too) would do.

—James Hirsh U1 political science and North American studies Continued on page 10

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OFF THE BOARD

The digital giveth, and taketh away

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I

n our post-modern world, the optimistic rhet­ oric surrounding technological progress is unique. Our economy is flagging, our schools are a mess, and the polar ice caps are melting.

But apparently computers are still getting bet­ ter—and saving our economy, education sys­ tem, and planet, too!

Technology supposedly achieves this through the power of more. Digitization is pre­ sented hand-in-hand with more: more informa­ tion available to more people. But new technol­ ogies never create more content—they're just new ways to transmit content. As Henry David Thoreau put it, technology is "but improved means to an unimproved encL'To make matters worse, digitization appears to be watering down content. Cue the digital archival projects.

All around the world, untold sums are being spent to shift everything—the written word, music, business, human interaction, art, and more—out of the analog realm and into the digital. Take the McGill archives, for example: the physical archives stopped putting out an­ nual reports in 1980 (presumably since there was nothing much to report) and funding has been channelled into making sources available digitally.

The benefits of online academic journals aren't lost on me, but digital archives should be a backup, not a substitute. Yet McGill, along with most libraries, museums, and hubs of cultural preservation, see things differently. Records, audio cassettes, VHS, film reels, and the equip­

ment that plays them are being sold or thrown out. More books than ever before—even those that have not been digitally "preserved"—are meeting a similar fate. Print media archives are being phased out because they're available on­ line. And so on, and so forth.

This raises a difficult question: which docu­ ments are worth preserving? And which things are not worth preserving physically, but pass the bar for digital preservation? Digitization in­ volves a process of elimination, which ironically contradicts the ideology of more. We may have access to chosen objects at the click of a button, but we lose the others. And with another click, even the digitally "preserved" can vanish.

Our reliance on technology also comes with a new elite: the technologists. Carl Sagan once warned that "We live in a society exquisitely de­ pendent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.... This combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces."Our education system teaches how to use technology, but not how to understand it. The ignorant majority depends on a new class of"experts"to manage the digital world—and decide which movies, books, textbooks, or songs are worth our time.

Digitization doesn't necessarily make edu­ cation and information more accessible, either.

Computers are more expensive than books—a problem some schools struggle with in the move towards computerized classrooms. And

instead of offering more, technological learn­ ing tends to compact information. Nuance and hands-on understanding is lost in the process.

Learning to read with a computer program may teach you letters of the alphabet, but it pales when compared with flipping through a book, which is what you're ultimately learning to do.

Clearly, something is lost in the switch from analog to digital. Besides, skills like read­ ing a real book are still relevant. And we have to give media theorist Marshall McLuhan some credit. The medium is the message, and we still attempt to physicalize the digital. E-book read­ ers are a prime example: consumers apparently want their digital words bound in a package as similar as possible to the original. There's also the perceived difference in experience. Music is a good example, since •anyone can hear the dif­ ference between the original sound and an ana­ log recording, or the similar downgrade from analog to digital, where you literally hear less of everything since so much is lost in the MP3 compression process.

You may assume I'm an old fogey who caught a bout of the willies after watching The Matrix too late at night. But I'm writing this on a computer, and I realize that technological progress is inevitable. Nevertheless, we should take a cue from Neil Postman and "use technol­ ogy rather than being used by it." In going digital and yearning for more, we're turning a blind eye to the destruction of the analog. And someday, we may want a physical copy of Walden. ■

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 the Tribune 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 of the McGill Tribune, its editors or its staff. Please recycle this newspaper.

8 • The McGill Tribune • 04.11.08

Letters to the editor Continued from EDITOR, page 9

LETTERS

TO

THE

The means to the end—of history

Re: "Diamond talks democracy" (28.10.08) Francis Fukuyama wrote nearly two decades ago about "the end of history," which he described as the final triumph of liberal democracy over all rival forms of government, most recently fascism and communism. Fukuyama made a point, however, in distinguishing between theo­ retical triumph in the realm of ideas and practical triumph in the realm of interna­ tional politics. In light of that disparity, Fukuyama declared the West victorious in theory but still vying for universal accep­ tance in practice.

In reading the article regarding Larry Diamond's October 23 lecture, "The Spirit

of Democracy: The Global Boom, Reces­ sion and Renewal," although I did not at­ tend the lecture itself, I was struck by Dia­ mond's surprising myopia. Was he really saying that the financial crisis caused by a few greedy souls at the top of the food chain poses a real and dangerous threat to the prevalence of liberal democracy as we know it? Diamond is doubtlessly aware of the minor setbacks to be expected along the way to democratic utopia, so I cannot fathom exactly why the the Stanford pro­ fessor would recklessly raise such a false spectre as a "democracy recession."

If such a disparity exists between the supremacy of democracy in theory and in practice, it should be abundantly obvi­ ous that the moral priority of the West is to spread liberal democracy throughout the world, so as to achieve the final end of history and enduring freedom for all

mankind. However, all that Diamond rec­ ommends is "an overhaul of development assistance programs in order to spend more on civil society actors, rather than on corrupt governments."Okay. But let's leave the micro-financing strategies to Natalie Portman. Anyone who is not getting as healthily paid as Diamond to deny such a truth would surely admit that the cause of liberal democracy deserves to be pro­ moted by more direct means than a few strategically placed dollars.

—Ricky Kreitner Uo humanistic studies Pound-for-pound, Richard was wrong

Re: "Pound caught in 'sauvage' storm" (28.10.08) The racist comments made by McGill Chancellor Richard Pound about the First Nations peoples not only offended them

but shocked me and I am sure many oth­ ers. There are many aspects to this story.

Firstly, the indefensible awarding of the Olympics to a nation with a fascist govern­ ment. Secondly, a non-apology only after McGill's distinguished Board of Governors properly issued an ethical statement dis­ tancing themselves from this atrocious comment.Thirdly, there was no misunder­ standing the unconscionable statement was reported by La Presse, which can rightly claim to be Canada's finest news­ paper.

As far as resignation goes, my mother was fond of often statin^ with great ad­ miration that Sir Anthony Eden resigned when the world failed to do anything about the Italian invasion of Ethiopia.

Those days of honour are most regrettably gone, and we are much the worse for it.

—David Sommer Rovins, BA 1971

( --------------------------------- \ CORRECTIONS In last week's article "Let's do the time warp again, Mon­ treal style," Rocky Horror Picture Show Ball producer Philippe Spurrell's name was misspelled.

Also, in the column "Friedmanism is bankrupt in every possible way," Milton Friedman was incorrectly described as one of Chilean President Augusto Pi­ nochet's advisors. Although the two men had met and discussed economic policy, Friedman did not serve in the Chilean govern­ ment in a formal capacity.

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TRAVEL

A mountain utopia awaits Bhutan, the country that measures happiness N a d il a A li

Bhutan, an isolated little country situated amongst the :rooks and crags of the Himalayas, is alternatively charmingly jeautiful or dreary—at least for those who need their Internet, fowever, it is one of the few places on Earth that has (somevhat) resisted the temptations of modernization and retained ts unique culture.

To reach the "Switzerland of Asia" you must first go to ndia, Bangladesh, Nepal, orThailand—the only countries Bhuan has official diplomatic ties to. The other option is illegally :rossing the border with smugglers from Tibet. If you choose he more conventional route, you can hop onto Druk Air, the loyal Bhutanese Airlines, and fly into Bhutan's only airport, in ’aro.

Once in Bhutan, remember to visit the various Tzongs, )r fortresses, which serve as social centres for the Bhutanese leople. Within these unique structures there is a huge variety )f art, from elaborate paintings of Buddha to Hindu swastikas iymbolizing the circle of life. A crucial site to visit is the Takshang Monastery, or Tiger's Nest. Nestled 700 metres above ’aro, the climb to Taktshang can be exhausting. Nevertheless, he walk is worth the site that waits on top. Along with the Running view, colourful prayer flags flutter in the breeze.

Bhutan's exoticism extends to the culinary world as well, iver heard of eating chilies as a vegetable? The national dish, :omprised of chilies and melted cheese, is delicious, yet gastrolomically hazardous. Even so, no one should leave the country without tasting it!

cludes lodging, food, transportation, and a travel guide, with a 25 per cent daily discount for full-time students. Average room prices at the low end of the scale are about 150 to 350 ngul­ trum, or three to seven dollars per night. However, don't ex­ pect personal bathrooms, heating, or any sort of "luxury."

If you're loaded: If you're willing to spend a little more on the comforts of home, it costs roughly $400 a night to stay in a hotel such as the Olathang, which was built to accommodate guests for the current Bhutanese king's coronation.

With marijuana growing freely in the forests and crystal­ line streams flowing down mountains, Bhutan is the ultimate hippies'paradise. Enjoyment of the mountains extends beyond pure streams and cannabis, though. Hiking trails lead to remote mountain-top temples and are ideal ways to explore the Hi­ malayas and relieve yourself from the stresses of the "modern" world. If you are looking to get away from conventional tourist spots and want to visit the only country where Gross National Happiness is measured, Bhutan is the ideal place for you. ■

If you're frugal: Unfortunately, getting to Bhutan is ex>ensive—Bhutanese law enforces a minimum tariff on tourists letween $165 and $200 depending on the season, that must be paid before arrival in the country. Fortunately, this tariff in­

Université d'Ottawa

Reading of the Names When: Nov 4 -10 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Where: lower campus crossroads Hillel McGill is holding a "Reading of the Names" in I memory of the victims of the Holocaust. There will also be | information, stories, and poems relating to the Holocaust.^ Closer

When: Nov. 6-8,13-15 at 8 p.m.; Nov. 8,15 at 2 p.m.

Where: Player's Theatre (Shatner) Four lovers become entangled in a web of love, lustj sex, and betrayal. To reserve tickets, please call 514-398-I 6813 or email foh.players@gmail.com. Leave your namef number, and the number of tickets you would like.

SUS Professional and Graduate Schools Fair When: Nov. 7,11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Where: McConnell Engineering, Burnside, and Lea-| cock hallways Thinking about med or grad school? Come meet rep­ resentatives fom a wide range of programs nationally and I internationally to get a head start on admission require­ ments. See the Facebook event "SUS Graduate and Profes-1 ^sional Schools Fair"for more information.

The MBA Tour When: Nov. 10,4:30 - 9 p.m.

Where: 2200 rue Mansfield The MBA Tour offers MBA candidates the chance to I meet with admissions directors, take part in presentations and discussions, and hone networking skills. Registration | is $5 online at www.thembatour.com or $10 on site.

Advertise your event for free by sending the 1 name, date, location, and a short blurb to features@mcgilltribune.com with "event" in the subject line.

NADIHA ALI

University of Ottawa

When it comes to planning our future, we often think in general terms. Does being a generalist mean we can keep a broad perspective? Or will becoming a specialist allow us to focus on our talents and strengths?

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Despite, or maybe because of, the failing economy, the whisky industry is ex­ periencing a recent boom in demand—one which distilleries are struggling to keep up with. With the demand comes an influx of organizations dedicated to the consumption and appreciation of a beverage that's back in style after years of vodka domination. Regardless of how long the boom lasts, one thing is certain: becoming an alcoholic has never been so satisfying.

M eghna M arjadi Last year, liquor giant Diageo—the force behind Bailey's and Smirnoff—experienced a 16 per cent net sales growth for Johnnie Walker, their world-renowned scotch whisky.

In September, they announced the construc­ tion of a new distillery in Scotland to meet the unprecedented demand for whisky.The recent increase in sales is what industry pundits refer to as a "whisky boom," and while it is uncertain how long it will last, at the moment, the op­ portunities for new whisky afficionados are endless.

"I believe we're seeing a renaissance in the so-called "brown spirits," like whiskies and rums," says Mark Gillespie, producer of Whiskycast, a weekly podcast about industry enthusi­ asts. "People are looking for drinks with more flavour and character than vodka, and that's led them to whisky."

In Quebec, this interest may be due to ad­ vertising campaigns promoting consumption of whisky in different situations. For example, pairing whiskies with different foods or simply enjoying it for what it is. Several years ago, the

wine industry used a similar marketing tactic which promoted the consumption of wine not only with meals but also as a beverage to ap­ preciate.

"The big boom that happened in wine many years ago ... has now carried over to the whisky market,"says YannisThemelis, president of the Montreal chapter of Companions of the Quaich, a national society for the appreciation of whisky.

Evidence of increased interest in whisky can be seen in the increased number of outlets currently devoted to appreciating it—primar­ ily websites and societies. Gillespie's podcast, which he started in 2005, is one such outlet. "[It's] a way to bring others along with me in my own whisky education," he says. "I've been a working broadcast journalist for many years and came up with this idea as a way to have some fun, explore my passion for whisky, and do something that others might find inter­ esting and educational."

The Quebec Liquor Corp (SAQ) is scram­ bling to meet the demands of a new genera­ tion of whisky drinkers. The problem originates with the distilleries, which are currently build­

ing more warehouses to keep up with the increased demand. There are also problems with the SAQ itself, most notably restrictions on importing whisky—Canadian companies can only import bulk spirits if they blend them with Canadian alcohol. "[Meeting demand] of this new wave of whisky enthusiasm is going to take time," says Themelis. "I think Quebec is—in terms of mar­ keting—traditionally a wine territory. Whisky has been slower to take off here, although there is quite a bit of demand given the exis­ tence of two or three whisky bars in the city."

Evaporating money Meeting the demands of an expanding market is especially difficult due to the length of time whisky production takes. It involves five major phases—malting, mashing, fermen­ tation, distillation, and maturation. While the first four steps are not particularly time con­ suming, maturation can take anywhere from the legal minimum of three years to over 25.

During that time, a portion of the whisky evaporates naturally, and as a result, product is lost. There is some speculation that climate

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What to choose: Anything you can afford. Trying different types of whis­ ky is half the fun. If it's your first dramm, try a scotch-whisky like Glenlivet 12 year-old or Glenfidditch 12 year-old and avoid anything too 'peaty' like Like Laphroig.

Get the right glass: In order to get the fullest sense of the complexity of any spirit and discover its full flavour profile, use a cognac glass. A proper whiskey glass will have a large surface area on the bottom, round out at the middle, and taper in at the top, which helps concentrate the aroma at the nose of the glass. In addition, remember to hold the glass by the stem, or the temperature will change and affect the aroma.

Just add water: Pour an ounce of spirit into the glass and add an equal amount of room-temperature water (cold water or ice will dull the flavour, and chorinated water will spoil it). Swirl the glass to combine them. Sniff gently, keèping your mouth slightly open, and look for smells from the kitchen, garden, or surrounding environment. There are no wrong an­ swers to what you smell—everyone has a different interpretation. ■

.0* emperature^ater

04.11.08 «The McGill Tribune • 11

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ALL PHOTOS AND GRAPHICS BV NIKI HYDE

J o h n n i e has 9r°»n so much that th change has contributed to an increased rate of evaporation in recent years. In order to combat loss of whisky by evaporation, some distilleries in Scotland are wrapping casks in saran-wrap.

"From the results they've had so far, it re­ duces the evaporation a lot and it makes no dif­ ferences to the flavor of the scotch," says Profes­ sor Donald Niven of the faculty of agricultural and environmental sciences at McGill. "It saves them a fortune."

Even though distilleries and retailers are doing everything possible to increase their pro­ duction of whisky, there is more demand than supply and a crash is predicted.

"Right now, demand is outstretching sup­ ply, but my concern is that we're going to have too much supply and no demand, and that's a concern in the industry as w ell.... As the pun­ dits are saying, you might as well stock up on your [brand of] whisky now because who is to say that in five years it will still be around," says Themelis.

Whisky lovers unite While distilleries are working around the clock to stock store shelves, societies are at­ tempting to accommodate new whisky afficionados.

In order to address the new wave of whisky enthusiasm in Montreal and provide whisky lov­ ers with forums for discussing whisky, Themelis and his wife Sarah Cavanagh started a Montreal chapter of Companions of the Quaich.

"We wanted to create an opportunity for whisky enthusiasts to get together, enjoy whis­ ky and talk about whisky ... [in a setting] very similar to how wine clubs gather," says Theme­ lis.

Plans to start the Montreal chapter were made a year ago, but restrictions on import­ ing uncommon whiskies and acquiring a liquor license made launching it difficult, especially since Themelis wanted to introduce society members to an array of whiskies that are not always readily accessible.

"Whenever you start a wine or spirit soci­ ety there's a lot of leg work involved to get it off

Whisky is made in five basic steps: malting, mashJ ing, fermentation, distillation, and maturation. Aspects of each of these steps can influence the flavors of the resuiti ing whisky, as can everything from microorganisms in the j distillery to the moisture in the air around it.

One of the most influential factors is the water from j which the whisky made.

"The water is supposed to be very, very important," I says Donald Niven, a professor in the faculty of agricul­ tural and environmental sciences at McGill. “Other things that can make a difference include the source of the bar­ ley and the cultivar of the barley [and] the size and shape i of the still."

The combination of unique factors at each step of the I process is what gives each brand of whisky its own unique flavour and ambiance.

[1. Malting For Scottish malt whisky, the brew is started with barj ley, which is spread on the malting floor, moistened, and I allowed to germinate. Once the barley has germinated, it is dried, usually by forced air or a peat fire.The chosen dry­ ing method can impact the taste of the final scotch. For example, in Islay, Scotland, the way the malt (which is the

th e ground," says Theme­ lis. "One of the things we wanted to do was to offer our members whisky that's not tradition­ ally available on SAQ shelves, and doing that requires a lot of work to [learn] how the SAQ functions, in terms of importing whisky."

Though there have been bumps along the way, the society is ready to launch, although will not be exactly what the pair initially envi­ sioned.

"We want to launch [the chapter] but be­ cause of the difficulties with spirit importation, it will have to be a different type of society than what we were hoping for originally," says Themelis. "It will still be a place for people to get together and chat about whisky—and it's not only for whisky enthusiasts, but for those people who are new to whisky appreciation and for those who would like to learn more."

Unless Companions of the Quaich finds its feet soon, whisky lovers will have to make their own efforts to find each other. There are no well known whisky-tasting classes or whisky discussion forums in Montreal. Until the SAQ

and other organizations can meet the growing demand, whisky lovers will have to make do with the few whisky bars in the city. Themelis cites the Whisky Café on St. Laurent, Lille Noir on Ontario Street, and The Distillery on Ontario Street as good examples.

However, the most cost effective way to enjoy whisky as a student is to go to your favorite bar and order a whisky instead of your regular drink of choice.

Gillespie suggests students avoid heavier, peaty whiskies.

"I recommend lighter, more floral whis­ kies for beginning whisky drinkers," he says.

"For most students, their first experience with whiskey is doing shots of Jack Daniel's at a bar or party—in fact, that was one of my first ex­ periences many years ago. The most important thing to keep in mind is to drink in modera­ tion."

For any journey into the whisky world, the best advice is drink slowly, conscientiously, and try as many different things as possible. ■

proper name for the crushed barley) is dried depends on where it is going.

"Sometimes it will be dried over a peat fire, and then the peat smoke will permeate the barley as its being dried, which may also influence the flavor of the scotch," says Niven.

2. Mashing After drying, the malt is put into a vessel called a mash tun, and hot water is added. The resulting liquid is referred to as the wort, and is transferred to the washback, a container constructed from Oregon pine, to begin the third step in the process: fermentation.

3. Fermentation Unlike in breweries, which boil their wort, distilleries allow microorganisms that survived the mashing process to be present in the fermentation process. This results in a mixed fermentation involving both yeast and bacteria— and since each distillery has a unique bacterial combina­ tion, the whisky produced contains a unique concoction of organic acids, that create flavour. Of those microorgan­ isms yeast and lactic acid bacteria have the most influence over what the final result will be like.

"Each distillery has its own mixture of lactic acid bac- 1 teria, as part of the normal flora," says Niven. "The distill­ eries differ with respect to the organisms involved in the fermentation and a different mix of organisms will give a different mixture of organic acids being produced; the final flavor of the scotch may be influenced by these dif- j ferent mixes of acids."

At the end of fermentation, distilleries are left with what is known as the wash, which is typically eight per j cent alcoholic and is similar in consistency to beer.

4 - Distillation

The wash is transferred to the spirit still, where it is j heated to remove impurities. The clear liquid that results is collected in a cask for maturation.

5. Maturation The last stage, maturation, is the most time consum­ ing. By law, spirits can't be called scotch whisky with a j maturation period of under three years.

"The way the whisky is aged influences the flavor of j the scotch. It's usually matured in sherry casks. The sherry casks that they use are usually made of American white ] oak,"says Niven. ■

Student L iving FOOD GURU

MISCELLANEOUS

Grab and GO Kraft Dinner, meet veggies Be ready for anything Pumpkin mac'n'cheeseforthe budding gourmet Pinch of nutmeg 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp. Dijon or whole-grain mustard Salt, to taste

C arolyn G régoire & A dam L evine

C arolyn Y ates A recent incident at McMaster University, in which a residence burned down in a homecoming celebra­ tion, shows that disaster preparation is important and frequently overlooked. Students wandering the streets without phones, ID, cash, or laptops are a sorry sight at four in the morning, and while there's no way to prevent a problem, there is a way to lessen the personal impact.

Packing a GO bag is high on the list of ways to pre­ pare for an emergency. The GO bag is a small bag of es­ sentials that you can grab if you have to leave quickly, as in the case of a police emergency or fire. The bag should be waterproof, easy to carry, and kept in an accessible location near the front door. Items in the bag should in­ clude:

A few weeks ago we hosted an autumn potluck. It was cold and rainy outside, and everyone arrived dressed in cozy sweaters and ready to eat. For our contribution to the fall feast, we served pumpkin macaroni and cheese—an autumnal twist on a childhood favourite that is both delicious and easy to pre­ pare. It vanished almost instantly, and went well with a tender roasted chicken and hot apple cider with rum.

Guests loved how this mac'n'cheese was both comforting and creative. We're both avid food blog readers, and this dish has made several appearances on the gourmet blogosphere, making it fall 2008's "it-dish." But despite its gourmet leanings, it is enjoyable, straight-forward, and quick to cook.

• Copies of important documents (including birth certificate, passport, photo ID, insurance, proof of address, a list of emergency numbers, prescriptions, etc) in a portable waterproof container • An extra set of keys • A credit card (or credit card number and informa­ tion) • At least $50 in small denomination bills, and change for payphones • Bottled water and non-perishable food (e.g., grano­ la bars) • Enough personal toiletries and medication for a week • A small first aid kit • Extra contact lenses or glasses (such as a previous pair) • A pen and notepad • Several bags (grocery, zip-lock) • Toilet paper • A foil emergency blan­ ket • A whistle • A flashlight with bat­ teries • A USB key with es­ sential documents on it (class notes, any w o rk s-in -p ro g re ss, etc.) ■

Ingredients 2 Vi tbsp. butter 1 Va cup milk 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour 1 can pumpkin puree 1/3 cup breadcrumbs 3/4 cup mozzarella, grated 1 Va cup sharp cheddar, grated 1 pound regular or whole-wheat rotini, cooked al dente Vi tsp. black pepper Pinch of red pepper flakes

1.

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5.

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7.

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9.

Directions Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add spices and sauté over high heat until aromatic (less than one minute).

Reduce heat to medium and add one tbsp. all-purpose flour. Whisk. This mixture shouldn't be too dry—if it is, add a small amount of butter.

Sauté until the mixture is golden.

Add 1 Va cup of milk. Whisk furiously.

Leave to cook for approximately eight minutes, stirring often. At this point, the sauce should have thickened to a gravy-like consistency.

Add one can of pumpkin puree and mix well.

Add half of the grated cheddar cheese and all of the grated mozzarella. Season to taste with Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and salt.

Combine mixture with one pound cooked rotini pasta and pour into a standard 9" x 13" baking pan. Top with the remaining cheddar, followed by the breadcrumbs (optional: distribute small pats of butter across top).

Bake at 450°F until golden brown (around 10 minutes).

Serves 6 - 8 . ■

Source: Industrial Acci­ dent Prevention Association IAPA

NIKI HYDE

CASH AND CAREERS

How to cope with long-term student debt B a b y , y o u c a n m a k e m y m o n t h ly in t e r e s t p a y m e n t s E mma C abrera -A ragon The undergraduate class of 2000 had an average stu­ dent debt of $11,618. By 2005, slightly more than 60 per cent of that class still owed money to non-government sources, and 51.3 per cent were having difficulty repaying govern­ ment student loans. Today's graduates face a difficult econ­ omy and are likely to have even greater troubles when the time comes to repay student loans.

There are two types of debt: secured and unsecured. Se­ cured debt has physical collateral attached to it, while unse­ cured debt relies solely on credit history to ensure payment.

A mortgage is secure debt; a credit card is not. Unsecured debt is the kind of debt most students will have when they finish university. While relying on lines of credit from the bank to supplement student loans, it is possible to amass be­ tween $22,000 and $40,000 of debt while completeting an undergraduate career. The most common way for students to incur such a large amount of debt is by only making the

minimum payments on their credit line—monthly interest payments. At most Canadian banks, a student can continue to do this until one year after they have graduated. The mini­ mum payments allow students to live relatively stress-free financial lives while in school, but putting off payment in full catches up.

So how do you get rid of debt? It isn't an easy thing to accomplish, and the answer varies with the amount of debt and the institution to which the debt is owed. Flowever, there are a few basic ground rules that help reduce, and ultimately eliminate, debt from your post-graduate life.

First, start thinking about debt early on. Instead of fall­ ing into the trap of credit debt, budget to only spend money that you can forseeably pay back. Reduce expenses by eating in instead of at resturants, drinking coffee at home instead of at Starbucks, and taking up running to avoid a gym member­ ship (cheap as McGill's may be).

There is, of course, only so much that can be done to cut back—but that doesn't mean the situation is hopeless.

Student debt is a common problem for university graduates, and banks and Canadian student loans programs have rpograms to help. For Canadian student loans, you can apply for debt reduction in repayment up to three times for a total of $26,000.

A bank advisor can also help plan out a debt repayment schedule fitted to your income and financial needs. It takes effort and dis­ cipline, but paying back debt is pos­ sible and doesn't need to be done alone. ■ KIV.COM

rts USIC

& E ntertainment

Id-school indie rock for depressed children ladyhawk and Attack in Black swoop onto the Canadian music scene second one and were playing it live."

This overlap helped give Shots a more polished, con­ With more next-best-thing bands coming out of the Mari­ fident feel compared to their debut. "By the time we re­ es than you can fit on a 30-gig iPod, it's good to see some corded the second one ... we knew we were just going in and-comers springing up west of Montreal, for a change, to record songs we wrote, and we were a little more confi­ ding the way is Ladyhawk, a new indie darling from Kel- dent with ourselves,"says Hancock.

Having toured with The Constantines in the past, Lady­ aa, B.C., whose style mixes old-fashioned rock'n'roll with a vier indie flair, and who are getting people dancing across hawk is now making their way east with Attack in Black— country. Formed by Duffy Driediger, Darcy Hancock, Sean the new kids from Welland, Ontario, whose softer rock 'n' ryluk, and Ryan Peters, the band came into being almost roll is the perfect counterpart to Ladyhawk's darker blend. identally. Its members had known each other in the Kelow- Harking back to what good rock should be, Attack in Black are being hailed, somewhat facetiously, as the best thing Vancouver music scene for years before getting together.

"It just kind of happened,"explains Hancock, Ladyhawk's to come out of their hometown since the Welland canal.

"There are definitely other bands [from Welland],"lead d guitarist. "Duffy had songs—I think both me and Duffy re playing a solo show actually—and we just decided to singer and guitarist Dan Romano clarifies. "There was a big sort of thing going on there- well not big, but I m ean|ck him up for a couple songs. And then it was a band."

Since that makeshift formation, Ladyhawk has released there was a whole bunch of bands and good shows hap­ Ladyhawk: not so ladylike.

JAGJAGUW AR o albums—Ladyhawk and Shots—which were both well pening all the time, maybe two years ago. It was more of a est instruments that we had," Romano says. eived by critics and concertgoers alike. Hancock describes punk and hardcore kind of scene ... It's starting again in a The boys haven't taken a break since then. In late Feb­ |th records as simple rock albums with a dark theme, but better kind of a way, more roots-y."

It was during this boom in the Welland music scene that ruary, the band will be releasing their third album, a 16-track s Shots is "more childish. Child depression. The first one brothers Dan and Ian Romano (drums), as well as Ian Kehoe record called Years by One Thousand Fingertips. ing more adult depression."

"Whenever we're home we're recording or writing or The band recorded their self-titled debut themselves, but (bass) and Spencer Burton (guitar), fell into a band together. whatever, so it kind of happens pretty quickly," Romano ex­ re quickly scooped up by indie label Jagjaguwar. "Jagjag- "[Ian Romano] was in a band, and I was in a different band, and plains. actually Spencer and Ian [Kehoe] were also in a different band, ar liked the songs and thought we should rerecord it, so With recent tours in Europe and the United States, as well did," says Hancock. "But it was really annoying because we and those three bands played together every now and again. as their current Canadian tour, Ladyhawk have also been feel­ And all those bands sort of fell apart at the same time, so we n't know if it was better than what we'd already done or the ing the strain of how much time and effort goes into becom­ |es we'd been playing. Because by the time we recorded the just merged from that,"says Dan Romano.

Burton grew up in Kelowna with the members of Lady­ ing the next Canadian 'it' band. To record their recent album, the second time ... we had already written most of the hawk, and the friendship between the bands has been the band isolated itself in a farmhouse in Kelowna with no a motivating factor in touring together. "They're good plumbing, a pee bucket, and lots of Sangria. "[We were] next to someone's property that hadn't been friends," Hancock says of Attack in Black. "We toured with them last year, just a couple shows out East... They developed into condos or whatever yet, so we didn't really come to Vancouver a lot and we sit around or talk ... We want to go pee on the main road outside. So we had to use the bucket," says Hancock. "It was pretty gross. I never emptied it try to hang out as much possible."

But with the amount of work that Attack has been myself. But there were masks involved."

According to Hancock, the boys are ready for a break after doing, it's impressive they've had time to hang out at spending so much time together, but it doesn't look like that all. Between gigs, Attack in Black released two albums in 2007, with Marriage in July and then Curve of the Earth will be an option anytime soon. Ladyhawk, Attack in Black, and in November. Not originally planning two releases in a New Brunswick shoe-gaze favourite Shotgun Jimmie are cur­ year, Curve materialized spontaneously one evening rently putting together a video tour blog, which can be seen when the guys got together, having written a couple on their Autumnal Tour 2008 MySpace page. Recent Canadian shows have been packed with fans excited to experience a songs each.

"Songs sort of got written on the spot, and I think good ol'fashioned rock show, and that's what both Ladyhawk on the first night we ended up with six songs. And then and Attack in Black have been delivering. ■ we made the idea to write three songs each and have 12 Ladyhawk and Attack in Black will be playing at Les Saints songs. We just did it in the back of Spencer's sunroom. on Nov. 7, with Shotgun Jimmie.

SOUNDASLANGUAGE.COM And that's kind of why it's more quiet; it's because his tack in Black go on the offensive. mother was sleeping upstairs. So we just used the quietL aura T indal

POP RHETORIC

Material girl goes philosophical? relished in the opportunity to see Madonna's latest dis­ play of artistic genius, this time on the screen with her directorial debut, Filth and Wisdom. After three decades in the entertainment industry and constant reinvention, I figured the"Material Girl"was bound to have some poign­ ant insights in the film that she wrote and directed. How­ ever, as the cancellation of the film's theatrical release in Montreal confirmed—it did not.

For one thing, the film simply reeks of Madonna. Filth and Wisdom is about Andrly "A.K." Krystiyan, a Ukrainian immigrant who makes his living as a cross-dressing dominatrix in order to achieve his dream of superstardom with his gypsy punk band, "Gogol Bordello." A.K is a self-pro­ claimed philosopher who asserts,"the problem with hav­ ing a cash box in your body is that when it is full, you feel the most empty."Coming from the woman who made mil­ lions off of wearing a cone-shaped bra and singing about virgins being "touched for the very first time," it's rather difficult to take this message seriously.

Meanwhile, A.K.'s two female roommates share simi­ lar predicaments—Holly is an aspiring ballet dancer who turns to stripping for extra money, while Juliette works at a drugstore pharmacy under the watchful eye of her wooing middle-aged boss in order to achieve her goal of

I

saving children in Africa. One need not look deeply to find Madonna in the performer, the dancer/stripper, and the humanitarian. But what is the point she's trying to make?

The film's viewpoint on A.K.'s sadomasochistic past­ time is just perplexing. His line of work is supposedly just a means to an end, yet there are scenes of A.K. laying out his objects of "filth"—whips, paddles, and police uni­ forms—with the utmost care and precision, as if his job is more important to him than he lets on. It's also implied that A.K. had an abusive childhood—suggesting that his job is a means of reversing a submissive past. Similarly, Holly starts out with the view that stripping is degrading, but ends the movie with a wad of 20-dollar bills and a surge of confidence. Is Madonna using her own life les­ sons to demonstrate that having a "cash box in your body" can lead to emptiness? Or does she counter this by dem­ onstrating that these boxes are the only routes to fulfill­ ment?

Rather than espousing the cliché that in order to get to the top, you have to scrape rock bottom first, the les­ son here seems to be that once you hit the bottom, you might just decide to stay there. It seems unsettling that Madonna would end her movie without showing any of the characters actually rising above the "filth." I was left

B rahna S iegelberg

uncertain as to whether Madonna wanted us to see her characters as tragic or triumphant figures.

Madonna ensured her own failure by citing names like legendary filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard as inspiration.

Like her muse, Madonna poses existential life questions, embodied in A.K.'s philosophical wonderings; he begins the movie by stating, "Life is a paradox. And if you want to go to heaven, you have to go to hell first." Unlike Godard, there is no subtlety here. The main message—that filth and wisdom are simply two sides of the same coin, with one inevitably leading to the other—is revealed to the viewer in the film's opening remarks. Madonna not only advises us to embrace our inner whores because it will lead to self-understanding, but she tells us this with little depth of wisdom.

In an interview, Madonna said, "I have always ad­ mired the ability to tell a good story." Though an admi­ rable effort, if she were just "looking to tell a good story," she should have stopped trying to be as philosophical as Godard and acknowledged what she's really good at— entertainment. Gogol Bardello's music is electrifying, Hol­ ly's stripper scenes are a sure win, and Juliette's moments with her boss are hilarious. So if you see the film, enjoy it for its filth—but not for its wisdom. ■

The McGill Tribur

14 ■Arts & Entertainment • 04.11.08

CD Reviews

DID YOU RECENTLY HEAR THE WORST INDIE ALBUM EVER MADE?

of Montreal. Skeletal Lamping. "I want to make you cum 200 times a day," Kevin Barnes proclaims in "Gallery," a single off of Montreal's latest album, Skeletal Lamp­ ing. The lyrics featured on these tracks are a far cry from of Montreal's previous CD, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? Barnes channeled all his former angst and re­ sentment into an extremely suggestive and sexually charged new album. Some have accused Skeletal Lamping of being too choppy and almost schizophrenic in its composition, yet these same critics seem to forget that Barnes'total dismay for musical conventionalism is what made of Montreal an iconic indie band.

Skeletal Lamping stays true to the band's pop-rock roots in such songs as, "Non­ pareil of Favor,"the track which opens the CD with of Montreal's signature infectious chorus and unusual arrangements. However, "Touched Something's Hollow," which is over almost as soon as it starts, is the most out of place song on the album. With only a piano in the background, Barnes laments, "Why am I so damaged girl?"Though the song is admittedly misplaced on this otherwise upbeat, playful album, listeners can appreciate the fact that even without of Montreal's unusual arrangements and full band backing, Kevin Barnes is fully capable of carrying a song. While Skeletal Lamping has not surpassed Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? In terms of quality or cohesiveness, true of Montreal fans will be grateful for select gems on the album, reminding us all that the band has hardly reached the height of its creative capabilities.

STOP WHINING TO YOUR ROOMMATE AND VOICE YOUR MUSICAL OPINIONS WHERE THEY'LI ACTUALLY BE HEARD. I WRITE FOR A & E. MEETINGS EVERY MONDAY AT 5:30 AT GERT'S.

Su zanne Fortier, Ph.D .

President Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

-Arielle Frank Michael Franti & Spearhead: All Rebel Rockers. Michael Franti the political activist will tell you about the things he does not like: mass media, war, crimes against hu­ manity, and poverty. Franti the musician will tell you the same, but will do so behind a veil of enthusiastic and addictive hip-hop beats that transform into a reggae, funk, rock, and jazz fusion. On All Rebel Rockers, Michael Franti & Spearhead bring back their politically charged, feel-good dance songs that plea for peace and social jus­ tice. This album differs little from Spearhead's previous releases, including their last CD, Yell Fire, but Franti's loyal global fanbase will hardly mind. His songs are meant to inspire and genuinely spread the love, which these tracks succeed in doing.

Michael Franti's female accompaniment on several of the tracks disrupts the flow and seems out of place on the songs, making them a little too old-school, SaltN-Pepa-esque. Franti just wants everyone to feel good, but he sneaks a little political conscience to the listener through lyrics driven by steal drums, ripping guitar riffs, and piano solos in songs like "Say Hey! (I Love You)."

Michael Franti is an act best experienced live, as some of the tracks that appear lyrically simplistic and repeti­ tive on the album transform into hypnotic, dance songs that create a sense of community when fans sing along.

With just the right beats, Franti will be able to coax even the worst dancer out onto the dance floor.

Images and

Imagination November 7, 2008 Lecture 2:00 PM Amphitheatre Lyman Duff Medical Building

-Margot Bishop Steve Singh. Heavy Metal Sunset. Steve Singh's first album, Heavy Metal Sunset, is like a mixture of Pixy Stix and Jell-O. It's a weird concoction of syrupy sweet pop songs, mixed with with wiggly chunks of electronica.The majority of the tracks also feature a noticeable folk flavor. It's one big hodge-podge, and none of the songs on the album show too much thought or order.

Singh's music is overwhelmingly upbeat.Think puppies, sunshine, and a strong economy. Though the title track is entertaining, the super-happy electronic pop gets obnoxious soon afterward. Despite the album's civilized 26-minute length, it's easy to get sick of the sound by the end since each track—although cheerful—sounds pretty much the same.

To understand Steve Singh, look no further than the description of his music on his MySpace page, "OtherOfherOther." Well I agree, the album is OtherOf/ierOther than something spectacular.

Steve Singh may have talent, but Heavy Metal Sunset doesn't display any. That being said, if hyper-upbeat pop is your cup of tea, then you'll at least get some minimal enjoyment from the tunes.

-Lukas Samuelson

3775 rue University M ontréal, QC

LEADERSHIP TRAINING PROGRAM Leadership Skills Development Workshops

Leadership 1VJJL

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Leadership Training Program First-Year Office

CONCERTS

If you are a student involved in campus activities as an executive, organizer or event planner, you qualify for the Leadership Training program’s FREE Skills and Development Workshops.

Develop and build your leadership skills. Attend a minimum of five workshops throughout 2 0 0 8 -0 9 academic year and receive a certificate of completion.

Th is November, check out...

* Balancing Act of School, Work & Social Life Tuesday, November 4, 5 :3 0 -7 :3 0 pm Having a tough time juggling all of your different school, work and social commitments? Take steps towards a more balanced life by attending this practical workshop focusing on time management tips and strategies.

* Communications Skills for Dealing with Different Personalities Thursday, November 13, 5 :3 0 -7 :3 0 pm Is there a clash in personalities in your organization or club? Learn techniques and strategies that will allow you to handle difficult conversations and difficult people with skill and confidence.

Registration for Workshops: In person, one week in advance, on a first-come, first-served basis, in the First-Year Office.

Of Montreal painted the town (and lead singer Kevin Barnes) red last week, in a show that was as much a theatre production as a concert.

ADAM5C0TTI

!

For more info, drop by the First-Year Office in the Brown Building, Suite 2 1 0 0 , or call 5 1 4 -3 9 8 -6 9 1 3

04.11.08 • The McGill Tribune • 15

ww.mcgilltribune.com

HEATRE

iegal production lands on its feet 'en nes see comes to Quebec with Caton a Hot Tin Roof DANIELLE CHERKAS

What is the best quality of the Segal theatre's adaptation of ton a Hot Tin Roof? Honesty.

Winningthe 1955 PulitzerPrizefordrama,playwriteTennessee illiams constructed the Pollitt family to explore universal issues such love, death and the quest for truth. Director Greg Kramer effectively nsitions his scenes with blues music establishing thetranscendental lalities of truth common to the audience, the members of the Pollitt ily, and the musicians. As Kramer sees it, "the blues is truth." For /t h e blues is the voice of those who have learned that the ways the world are filled with sadness and loneliness, and through that sdom comes the iman will to survive." le music, meticulous t, and first-rate actors mbine with the hness of Williams's ript to create a eply self-reflexive id emotional theatre ing experience.

John C. nning's thoughtfully afted set replicates e bedroom of a 1950 s antation home to the ost minute details, ith antique furniture at couches most the interactions stage.

Because e Segal heatre is latively small, a sense intimacy settles in ith the haze of sticky ver3n theU1^Southern

Severn Thompson shines as Maggie, "The

mosphere. The audience will feel as if they are lingering on the raparound porch of the Pollitt manor, peering in on the innerorkings of the family. This voyeuristic feel illuminates ideas of private nd public space, which the play thematically explores in great detail, udience members spy on Mai and Gooper, who are spying on Big iaddy and Brick. As is evident, the outcome makes for a vividly omplex experience.

The opening scene is virtually a one-man, or in this case, a ne-woman show. Severn Thompson delivers a poignant performance s Maggie "The Cat," tirelessly delivering an onslaught of dialogue to er indifferent husband Brick, played by Todd Sandomirsky. While xcessive dialogue often loses the audience's attention, Thompson tanages to entice with Maggie's hard driving sense of purpose, hompson is blocked in a way which appeals to the implications of

her feline persona, "The Cat," slowly slinking around the stage in her negligee, lying on furniture, and subtly pouncing at the mirror. She flawlessly captures the vivacity of Maggie's character and relays the quiet desperation of a woman longing to be desired by her husband.

Sandomirsky's portrayal of Brick was not as exquisite, but then again neither is the character himself. Brick is a highly complex character, plagued by his best friend's death and his self-anesthetizing alcoholism. Undertones of his possible homosexuality are explored throughout the play. Sandomirsky possesses the numb essence of Brick in his hollow gaze, with eyes that are almost transparent as he rests them on the audience. This subtle quality, accompanied by his heavy, tired gestures, and the lack of inflection in his voice, allow the audience to become invested in his apathy.

However, Sandomirsky's performance falls short in its display of Brick as an alcoholic. In one particular instance, he stumbles onto the bed, speaking incoherently, and in one fell swoop regains his sober tone of voice, and is standing upright without any wavering.

In this respect, there are some inconsistencies in his performance, but their effect on the play is minimal.

An excess of talented actors creates an honest and relatable performance of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Jesse Todd ■at„ brings the bumbling and tactless Reverand Tooker to life, while Sharon Bakker grasps the essence of Big Mama in her desperately shrill voice. However, the clear star of the play emerges in Barry Flatman's portrayal of Big Daddy, the vulgarand brash plantation millionaire,faced with his own mortality. From the hardness in his voice and total commitment to the vulnerability asserted by his frequent and gravely laugh, Flatman becomes Big Daddy in a performance that is a pleasure to behold. Transport yourself back to the Pollitt family plantation and be ready to chip away at your Brick-like exteriors and expose those inner truths lurking beneath the surface. ■ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof plays Monday through Sunday evenings at the Segal Theatre (5170 Côte St. Catherine) with matinees on Wednesday and Sunday. Student fare is $22.

C O U LD BE

GOOD November 4-10

Tuesday: Art. The Body in Glass. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Come check out a recent gift to the museum consisting of 100 exception­ al glass sculptures. The only exhibit of its kind in Canada.

Wednesday: Music. Michael Franti & Spearhead. Metropolis. Social crusader and reggae-rock king plays his eclectic funk music laced with social conscience. In a display against poverty Franti hasn't worn shoes for about eight years—so maybe don't get a spot right in front of the stage.

Thursday: Music. Matt and Kim. II Motore.

The Brooklyn duo bring their intense dance party to Montreal. Electronic indie-pop that cannot not be danced to leads to shows that apparently get pretty wild, so be prepared.

Friday: Theatre. Almost Blue. Mainline Theatre. Enjoy the opening night of this work of "stage noir" by Keith Reddin, which tells the story of four people caught in situations that they're desperate to get out of. Like a soap opera but better—indulge your guilty pleasure for watching webs of lies and mind games.

Saturday: Film. Role Models. Scotiabank Theatre. Paul Rudd and Sean William Scott play two immature and inappropriate losers who are forced to act as mentors to children for com­ munity service. It seems probable that by the end of the movie they will have learned a heart­ warming lesson from the kids, but who cares: Paul Rudd could read a phonebook and make it funny.

Sunday: Music. Shortpants Romance & Comme Un Homme Libre. I'Escogriffe. Watch these new Montreal punk-alternative rockers play on St. Denis before they get big and start playing Metropolis. Guitarist Ralph Elawani is an English Lit student at McGill—come rep the Faculty of Arts and show your support for McGill musicians.

Monday: Music. Divine Brown. Cabaret.

Let this R & B songstress woo you with her soul, pop, and jazz fusions.

i/IUSIC

f Beethoven had a turntable Classical meets contemporary at the CBC/McGill Concert Series E mma Q uail

The CBC/McGill Concert Series celebrates its 30th season his Thursday, with a concert featuring McGill professor and inernationally acclaimed cellist Matt Haimovitz, pianist Geoffrey Jurleson, and DJ Olive. The concert will launch Haimovitz and lurleson's new CD, Odd Couple, which consists of four piano ind cello pieces by American composers Elliott Carter, David Sanford, Samuel Barber, and Augusta Reed Thomas. In addi:ion to the CD's launch, the show will celebrate the evolution )f a new musical genre. It will feature two duos for cello and jiano by Carter and Beethoven and two duos for piano and urntable by Tod Machover and Montreal composer Nicole .izée.To bridge the gap between the pieces, Burleson, Haimo/itz and DJ Olive will play together through improvisation; ihallenging conventional concert norms. With such innovaion, the concert is meant to establish the individual qualities and characteristics of each instrument, while showing how they can work together in original ways.

DJ Olive is an American disc jockey, credited with being an improviser who displays a great sensitivity towards music.

'DJ Olive can't do the same thing twice—it goes against his belief," says Haimovitz.

Through an experimental and modern approach, Haimo­ vitz involves himself in innovative collaboration and has re­

corded inspiring work both inside and outside the classical realm. To maintain his fresh approach to music, Haimovitz has started to collaborate with DJs—moving beyond the typical combination of pianists with cellists. He compares the dif­ ference between piano and cello to the difference between piano and turntable, in that both aren't particularly well-suited to each other.

"I've spent a lifetime with the repertoire for cello and piano, but I have never been particularly fond of the combina­ tion," says Haimovitz.

He claims that the cello feels far more comfortable play­ ing with violin, viola and other members of the string family.

But if this is true, then why is the piano and cello combination so widespread?

"The reason that this combination exists is because of Beethoven," Haimovitz explains. "Beethoven saw the opening and said 'Let's make some history here.'The romantic compos­ ers like Brahms had to respond to what Beethoven had started and there you have a genre."

Although he emphasizes the dissimilarities of the piano and the cello, Haimovitz certainly does not discount a com­ poser's ability to overcome the challenge of putting the two instruments together. In fact, the Odd Couple concert is meant to celebrate composers such as Beethoven and Carter, who by bringing the two instruments together are able to emphasize

the individuality of each.

"This project looks back at the origin of this combination and thinking about the challenges some of these composers had to overcome in order to make it work between these two very different instruments," explains Haimovitz.

Haimovitz then attempts to do the same as these com­ posers through the mixture of cello and turntable, which he believes have more in common than the piano and cello. For instance, it is possible to change the pitch on a turntable, whereas the piano has only a fixed intonation. Also, the vibrato effect on the turntable blends nicely to the vibrato of the cello.

Like Beethoven, Haimovitz's collaboration with a turntable is the creation of a new genre of music.

After the concert in Montreal, the musicians will take their set list to The Black Sheep Inn, located in Wakefield, Quebec and to New York's Le Poisson Rouge on November 13. Haimo­ vitz plans on continuing the collaboration, specifically with another piece by Nicole Lizet.

"I think it could be really interesting to kind of expand this repertoire and collaborate with some composers and get some different reactions to this combination." ■ The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. on November 6 at Pollack Hall (555 Sherbrooke W.). Tickets are $15, $10 for students and sen­ iors, and are available at the Pollack Hall box office.

16 • Arts & Entertainment • 04.11.08

The McGill Tribur

BOOKS

Bestselling author Irène Némirovsky doesn't drop Le Bal with her collection of novellas H i s t o r i c a l f i c t i o n f o l l o w i n g Suite Française l i v e s u p t o h i g h e x p e c t a t i o n s J oshua Rosenblatt If you haven't read Irène Némirovsky's critically ac­ claimed wartime epic Suite Française, which surged to the top of best-seller lists a few years back, chances are you've at least heard mention of it. Discovered over half a century after Némirovsky—a French writer of Jewish Ukrainian origin— died of typhus in Auschwitz, Suite Française was first published in French in 2004, and was translated into English shortly thereafter. In almost no time at all. Suite Française has posthu­ mously propelled its author to great new literary heights and helped her win over a new generation of readers.

Fresh off the international success of Suite Française, trans­ lator Sandra Smith has recently compiled two of Némirovsky's earlier works into one volume, entitled Le Bal. Named after the first of the two novellas, the collection is a detailed snapshot of pre-War Paris and an exceptional piece of historical fiction.

Sticking to the subjects and themes that she knows best, Némirovsky poignantly examines familial relationships and the plight of the White émigrés (Russian refugees) living in France in the wake of the October Revolution.

Set in Paris during the 1930s, Le Bal introduces the reader to angst-ridden 14-year-old Antoinette Kampf, whose nou­ veau-riche family can only be described as dysfunctional. An­

toinette clashes with her mother, a nasty piece of work deter­ mined to be accepted by the social elite. Tired of feeling like a burden and desperate to be treated like a young woman, Antoinette exacts revenge on her mother by sabotaging her one and only shot at climbing the social ladder.

Told from the perspective of loyal nanny Tatiana Ivanov­ na, the second novella, Snow in Autumn traces the decline of the Karine family from opulent landowners residing in a large estate in the Russian countryside to poor tenants occupying a shabby apartment in Paris. Forced to flee their home and country in order to escape Bolshevik persecution, much like Némirovsky's family, the Karine family soon discovers the steep price of starting over.

All this is not to say that Le Bal succeeds solely on an fac­ tual level.Though historical elements certainly factor into the plots of both stories, the narrative is by no means bogged down by unnecessary detail. Némirovsky never loses herself in nitty-gritty historical facts, and makes it clear from the start that her purpose is not to give a history lesson. Instead, a fas­ cinating period in European history serves as the colourful backdrop against which the action takes place.

All things considered, Le Bal is well worth a read. The writing—sharp, clever, and concise—will satiate any literary appetite. What is most remarkable about this book, however, is its emotional depth. For such short stories, Le Bal and Snow

in Autumn evoke the sort of strong emotions that one would expect from an epic novel. This is largely because expert charac­ terization drives much of the sto­ ries' action forward.

Némirovsky has a remarkable talent for giving the read­ er characters that really get under the skin. With her two powerful and sensitive novellas, Némirovsky is right on the Bal. ■

IRENE

NEMIROVSKY

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After reading Ambrosia: About a Culture—An Inves­ tigation of Electronica Music and Party Culture, the latest release from Montreal author and McGill grad student James Cummins, readers immediately discover that electronic music culture extends far beyond kids doing drugs and partying all night in warehouses.

Cummins's book provides a broad overview of the history of the electronic music industry, the surround­ ing culture, and its place within society today. While his analysis is often very detailed, Cummins has the tendency to spend insufficient time delving into highly complex topics. Instead, the reader is offered a quick taste of everything; in many in­ stances, this only unsatisfacto­ rily scratches the surface.

Music is a very difficult topic to cover in print for the obvious reason that the reader can't actually hear the sounds that the author is attempting to describe in words. Conse­ quently, though you may read about the differences between house, trance, jungle, and trip hop, the meaning is for the most part lost without hearing them. Cummins addresses this problem early on, writing, "You do not need to know every­ thing about electronica, nor do you need to know the differences between the different sub-genres to be able to enjoy it."While this is very true, a helpful description of basic electronica genres would have made this book more accessible and enjoyable.

Ambrosia is a modest 191 pages, which isn't enough space for Cummins to cover many of his topics in depth.

The book's main weakness is that readers who have a

background in, or a passion for, electronic music Ion for deeper insight. Meanwhile, laypersons without a electronica background are much less likely to be intei ested in these same subjects.

Ambrosia does have its strengths. For one, Curr mins accumulated a wealth of original interviews wit many of the world's top DJs and leaders in the field. Thi brings an authenticity to the writing which would be los if the discussion were primarily theoretical. One of th most interesting themes of the book is the conflict be tween electronic musicians ant the music industry. He reveal the tumultuous relationship be tween the two—while some DJ opt to keep their music as thei way of personally connectint with the audience, others be lieve in spreading their sound tt the world whichever way the; can, which often means signinc with record labels. An interviev with DJ Jason Nevins illustrate: the nature of this relationship Nevins remixed Run-D.M.C.'s "It': like that," and the song becam< a huge dance hit. When askec about his worst experience ir the industry, he replied, "[Tht record company] made twent\ million dollars and only paid m< ten grand ... people take advan tage of the fact that artists do ar for the sake of art ... I think al record labels take advantage o their artists."

The overarching purpose o Cummins' study is simple: for electronica to be docu mented and taken seriously as a musical genre. Cum mins has assembled a mass of information which sup ports electronica as a progressive cultural movemen and not a fleeting trend*Yet despite the evidence, Cum min's argument may leave the reader unconvinced. ■

PO R T S ACROSSE— REDMEN 13, BISHOP'S 7

Redmen head to Hamilton with victory

/Vin over Bishop's in quarterfinal propels McGill to Bagattaway Cup about the win and our squad."

McGill controlled the game from the open­ ing face-off, dominated ball possession for large The McGill Redmen were not about to let a somewhat stretches of the first half, and had a 9-3 lead by jcky season come to an end on Saturday night. Playing halftime. Attackman Jacob Safarik opened the scor­ Igainst the Bishop's Gaiters in a Canadian University Field ing for the home side only minutes into the game lacrosse Association Eastern Conference quarterfinal at when he received a pass from behind the net and jorbes Field, the Redmen jumped out to an early 4-0 lead put a quick shot past Bishop's goaltender Brennan |hat they never relinquished, en route to an unexpectedly Durovick. McGill scored three more goals before the )psided 13-7 win. With the victory, the Redmen are one of Gaiters finally answered back with two goals of their |>nly four teams who will play for the National Champion­ own, making it 5-2 at the end of the first quarter. But ship in next weekend's CUFLA Bagattaway Cup in Hamil- a three-goal deficit would be as close as Bishop's |on, Ontario. would get, despite picking up their game in the sec­ I think if we play like we did tonight, we can win [the ond half and making the match more competitive. «lational Championship]," said McGill Head Coach Tim Mur­ "It was a great game for us tonight," said McGill doch. "It comes down to execution. Across Canada it's very attackman Scott Bailey, who recorded a hat-trick in flose, a lot of one-goal games, but for us to come out to- the victory. "Bishop's is always a very strong team aight and beat a very good Bishop's squad by six goals is an but we brought a lot forward when it counted.

Excellent foundation for next weekend."

We're just going to have to do pretty much the The quarterfinal match-up was expected to be much same thing next week as we did tonight in order to floser, considering the teams split the season series. In early win [the National Championship]."

September, Bishop's defeated McGill 11-9, but the Redmen The Redmen had a five-goal lead early in the answered back with a closely contested 7-6 victory a month third quarter when Murdoch called for a stick mea­ later. surement on Gaiters midfielder Jimmy Southall "Bishop's is a team that has always given us some after he scored a flashy goal to cut the lead to 9 ~5aroblems," said Murdoch. "It's always been close when we After much deliberation, the referees ruled South­ alay but we beat them soundly, so I'm feeling very good all's stick to be illegal, and the goal was disallowed.

Victory seemed certain for the Red 'n'White by the fourth quarter, and the home squad played a safe game until the clock ran out.

After the game, Murdoch was quick to deflect praise.

"I've got to hand it to my JOHN KELSEY coaching staff," said Murdoch. "[As­ Despite two close games between the two earlier in the season, the sistant Coach] Sean Steinwald was Redmen coasted to an easy victory on Saturday night. an All-American at Cornell who re­ tooled our offence. Also, [Assistant Phillips, and Mike Ting also scored for McGill.

Coach] Brendan Simeson, who was "It was a total team effort, but I'd say the seniors led the ourthree-time captain, was helping all year.

Those two guys have been instrumental in charge," said Murdoch. "Guys like Jake Safarik, Arthur Phil­ our success this year. "Without them there lips, David Pinckney, and Ben McBeth played so intensely would have been no way we would've got­ as this [season] is their last chance to play."

McGill will face the Brock University Badgers in a na­ ten this far."

McGill attackman Nick Moreau tional semifinal in Hamilton this Friday, with the winner JOHN KELSEY matched Bailey's output with a hat-trick of facing either Trent or Guelph on Saturday. The Badgers de­ Jonathan Zimmerman and his fellow Redmen defenders held the his own, while Safarik and Luke LaCava each feated the McMaster Marauders 9-8 on Sunday in a West had two goals apiece. Will Edwards, Arthur quarterfinal, and finished atop the CUFLA West standings highest scoring team in the country to only seven points. with a record of 8-1 this season. ■ S teve B eirness

THIRD MAN IN

The statistic quo 1

B

efore last week's Steelers-Giants NFL game, the ana­ lysts predictably debated, "Who's the better quar­ terback? Eli Manning or Ben Roethlisberger?" And equally predictably, the first method of comparison was, "How many championship rings do they have?"

The use of championships to measure an athlete's greatness doesn't make sense. We hear over and over that a player has plenty of talent, but can't be called great un­ less he's won a title. But by evaluating athletes based on their championship rings, many equally important aspects of athleticism are ignored. This is especially true of team sports, where these debates about relative greatness are the most subjective.

The greatest athlete in a team sport might never have a chance to play in a championship, because with every passing year, there's a greater degree of parity across team sports—the supply of quality athletes is expanding. Thanks to advances in training, kids are ready for professional leagues sooner, and careers are being stretched longer and longer as veterans can keep their bodies in top condi­

tion.This increased pool of talent means more competition across the board.

With this increased parity, the winner of a champion­ ship comes down to many factors that are outside the con­ trol of any individual: the referees, weather conditions, and coaching adjustments, to name a few. Granted, both teams are equally susceptible to these factors, but there's no de­ nying that the best team doesn't necessarily win every sin­ gle championship. Winning at the highest level, therefore, requires a healthy helping of good fortune, in addition to dedication and talent.

Furthermore, how can a team's success or lack of suc­ cess be a reflection of one person? Comparing quarter­ backs based on Super Bowl victories is far too simplistic a way to look at sports. A quarterback is only as great as his offensive line, receivers, running game, and coaching staff allow him to be. The same goes for any team sport. A championship is won or lost by the team as a whole, and the connection of team success to individual greatness is tenuous at best.

H aruki N akagawa

Sports aren't meant to be read about or written about—they're meant to be seen. Greatness, as a result, should be measured by how an athlete makes you feel when you watch him perform, not by what his stat sheet says. Statistics, even wins and losses, can also be mislead­ ing. And when an athlete only gets a few chances to play in a championship, those few games are far too small a sample size. Yet, an athlete's number of victories is often the be-all, end-all for determining his placement among the greatest of all time. An athlete's championship victories should be merely a piece of a much larger puzzle, not the absolute truth as is so often argued today.

Being an athlete is a results-driven job, but to lose sight of an athlete's artistry is to ignore what it is that cap­ tures the imagination in the first place. A child watching Michael Jordan, Ronaldo, or Barry Sanders play for the first time doesn't care about how many trophies they have.

What matters, what resonates, is the amazing things that athletes can do, and the exhilaration of bearing witness to greatness. ■

The McGill Tribi

18 • Sports • 04.11.08

Sports Briefs

HOCKEY— UQTR 7, REDMEN 3

McGill remains winless in young hockey season W o e s c o n t i n u e for struggling R e d m e n M ichael D ean

The UQTR Patriotes took control early and never looked back as they defeated the Redmen 7-3 at Mc­ Connell Arena on Friday night, dropping McGill's record in the Ontario University Athletics league's Far East divi­ sion to 0-4.

The Redmen struck first in the opening period— which featured six goals and seven penalties—when forward Marko Kovacevic opened the scoring on a re­ directed slapshot by forward Alexandre Picard-Hooper during a power-play in the second minute. But UQTR responded with four goals in the next 12 minutes. The Patriotes took a commanding 4-2 lead into the first in­ termission, and the Redmen never got any closer.

"We were silly at times with our penalties," said McGill Head Coach Martin Raymond. "But you need to kill those penalties, and unfortunately our penalty kill­ ing tonight really struggled."

McGill's penalty kill improved over the course of the game, as they killed off four of the last five power-plays, after allowing goals on three consecutive UQTR man-advantages in the first period. But their failure to capitalize on scoring opportunities plagued them throughout the contest, most notably in the third period, when rookie forward Francis Verrault-Paul was robbed on a break­ away by UQTR netminder Jean-Christophe Blanchard, who finished the game with 27 saves.

McGill's power-play displayed early signs of life, going 2-3 in the first period, but was eventually shut down by a strong Patriotes defensive core which has

allowed only 17 goals—second-best in the OUA—in seven games. McGill has also allowed 17 goals, but the Redmen have only played four games.

"We need to play better defensively,"said Raymond.

"Our strength has always been a good defence and we need to be able to do that to win games."

McGill's shaky defensive performance was com­ pounded by an ineffective breakout marred by fumbled puck movement. Redmen goaltender Danny Mireault faced a total of 41 shots—including 22 in the second period.

McGill took control of the pace of the game in the third period when the Redmen out-skated and out-shot the Patriotes, but were unable to solve Blanchard until the final minute of play. Fourth-year centre Sam Bloom got the energy flowing after some highlight-reel dekes through the entire UQTR defence, and snuck a shot over Blanchard's right shoulder in the final minute. But Bloom was aware of the areas in which the Redmen need to improve.

"It comes from the defensive end," said Bloom.

"We've got to be able to get pucks out faster and be more effective on the boards. Overall, I think it's our awareness and our defensive game that has been a problem. We got the first goal and gave [the lead] up right away. We've got to be better after we score and after they score."

The Redmen have a chance to redeem themselves and turn their season around when they square off in a rematch against UQTR in Trois-Rivieres this Wednesday at 7 p.m. ■

Déjà vu in the playoffs

The Martlets found themselves in a familiar position on Friday night: facing the University of Montreal Carabins in a Quebec wom­ en's soccer semifinal at CEPSUM Stadium. And though they were more competitive than in last year's 3-0 loss, they fell just short of an upset, losing 1-0.

McGill was the only team to defeat the Carabins this season, win­ ning 2-0 at Molson Stadium on October 12. But that past experience proved inconsequential in the playoffs.

Carabins forward Marylise Monchalin took a long pass from mid­ fielder Véronique Maranda in the 75th minute and bounced it past Martlets goalkeeper Anne-Catherine Huot, who made four saves. The Martlets were held to only two shots by a strong Carabins defence, and goaltender Martine Julien made sure that those two did not hit the back of the net.

The blow of a Martlets' loss was softened, however, by a number of singular achievements. Midfielder Vanessa Salasky, in her last year with the Martlets, was named to the QSSF first-team All-Conference squad. Rookie defender Katherine Green was named the conference's Rookie of the Year, and was also named to the conference's second team, along with forward Magalie Kolker. Maranda was named confer­ ence Player of the Year.

Though the Martlets will lose the services of Salasky, Kolker, and defenderTania Giannone next season, the future appears bright. Marc Mounicot's squad features 12 freshmen, many of which saw signifi­ cant playing time this season, including defender Kathleen Wakeling, midfielder Laura Gibson, and forward Alexandra Morin-Boucher—a striker who led all rookies in the Quebec league with six goals in her first season. And with the Rookie of the Year complementing a highly skilled class of freshmen, the Martlets should continue to be a force in the QSSF for years to come.

THE MCGILL TRIBUNE SPORTS SECTION IS LIFE THE REST IS JUST DETAILS SPORTS@MCGILLTRIBUNE.COM

SOCCER— LAVAL 3, REDMEN 1

Familiar foe upsets Redmen in semifinal

With trip to nationals at stake, Laval ends McGill's season prematurely J acob K anter

Perhaps it was because starting defender Graeme Tingey was suspended for the game, having drawn a red card in last week's game against Concordia. Perhaps it was because the home field advantage was nullified by a Laval-partisan crowd.

Or perhaps it was because it was Halloween. Whatever the reason, an ominous aura hung over Molson Stadium on Fri­ day night and the Redmen couldn't overcome it. The seventhranked men's soccer team was upset by the Laval Rouge et Or in a Quebec semifinal by a score of 3-1.

Recent history had favoured the Redmen, who had sur­ prised many by finishing second in the Quebec league at 7-1-4.

McGill outscored Laval 3-0 in two wins during the regular sea­ son, and won both games on the strength of their defence. But the playoff pressure, combined with Tingey's absence, yielded a different outcome.

"We weren't good enough for the playoffs," said McGill goalkeeper Olivier Boulva, one of only a few Redmen who played all 90 minutes. "They outplayed us. They played a great first half, and we didn't show up like we should have."

One great half was all Laval needed. First-year midfielder Julien Priol matched his output for the entire season, scoring three times in the first half, and sending the shocked Redmen into the locker room at halftime down 3-0.

In the 10th minute of play, Priol scored his first highlight reel goal, after taking a long pass just past midfield. As the Redmen defencemen pleaded for offsides, Priol pulled away, and with a convincing stutter-step, caused Boulva to dive to his left, leaving a wide-open goal for the freshman. 10 minutes later, forward Gabriel Moreau flicked the ball to a streaking Priol, who didn't have to work hard to maneuver to find some free space to shoot the ball past a scrambling Boulva. The Redmen once again were caught off-guard with their hands raised, begging for an offsides call. The linesmen never came to their rescue.

"Our defence didn't play well at all," said McGill Head Coach Philippe Eullaffroy, who earlier in the week was named Quebec Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season.

"There was miscommunication, or no communication at all. ... Laval communicated much better than we-did, and they deserved to win. There is a difference between willing to win

and showing that you want to win. And that was the differ­ ence between the two teams."

Being named Coach of the Year did not provide Eullaffroy with much solace.

"I'm doing this job in order to win games," said Eullaffroy.

"Coach of the Year does not give me a victory. I would easily switch my Coach of the Year title for a win tonight."

Priol added his third goal one minute before the end of the half, and all hope seemed lost for the Redmen. Every time they attempted a long pass, the Rouge et Or would either in­ tercept or redirect the ball, stifling McGill's attack. As a result, the Redmen had few scoring opportunities in the first half.

But the second half proved different. Eullaffroy removed most of his starters as the half progressed, and the differ­ ence in energy showed. Twenty-five minutes into the half, the Rouge et Or defenders were caught napping—the ball skipped towards the middle of the box, and Laval goaltender Vincent Cournoyer could not recover in time to stop forward Peter Valente's shot. Despite firing from point-blank range, Valente, who had subbed in at halftime, sent the ball sailing over the goal. Forward Michael Stein, a normally sure-footed fresh­ man who shared the team lead with four goals on the season, missed a similar opportunity 10 minutes later.

"We missed a couple of chances to get back in the game in the second half, and we could have changed the game, but we weren't the same team that had played the whole season," said midfielder Shawn Amarasekera."l knew it was going to be tough, down 3-0, b u t... even at the end, I really believed that we could have done something. We had a really fighting spirit throughout the season. We just missed our chances [tonight]."

The Redmen kept the pressure on despite their missed opportunities, and got a penalty kick when Laval was called for a hand-ball in the box. Midfielder James Scholefield con­ verted the penalty kick with seven minutes to play. The clock wound down, however, and the Redmen were left stunned when the final whistle blew.

"All season, we've done the same thing. We were solid at the back. For some reason, in the first half, it just wasn't there," said Amarasekera."You win some, you lose some.That's soccer.

That's life."

Though it certainly didn't take the sting of watching from the stands away from Tingey, whose presence was sorely

McGill's Peter Valente gave chase, but the Rouge et Or ran away from the Redmen in the second half.

missed, the sophomore was named to the All-Conference fir team, along with Scholefield and midfielder Thomas Luct Boulva was named to the second team, along with midfielde Yohann Capolungo and Axel Dovi.

"We'll grow from it," said Boulva, who is in his last ye along with Scholefield, Amarasekera, defender Omar Joh and forward Gareth Pugh. "It's a great bunch of rookies, ar they learned from it. We've built up a great program for yea to come." ■

04.11.08 • Sports • 19

ww.mcgilltribune.com

UGBY— REDMEN 41, CONCORDIA 0

Easy win earns Redmen date with Bishop's in final

McGill overcomes rough first half in win H aruki N akagawa The McGill rugby team sputtered early against its oss-town rival Concordia Stingers, but roared to life the closing stages of the game to win their Quebec imifinal 41-0. With the victory, the Redmen are poised r a return to the Quebec Rugby Final, where they will ; the favourite to repeat as champions.

The Redmen were unable to gain any early moentum due to a multitude of penalties and mistakes, lowing a vastly inferior Concordia side to control much the possession and territory. When McGill did have 1e ball, they struggled to keep pressure on the fragile oncordia defensive line. The Stingers had a chance to ke the lead after nine minutes, when a McGill penalty ive Concordia a very close penalty kick. Fortunately for îe Redmen, the kick sailed wide right, and the Stingers ever threatened again.

The longer the game went on, the more the Redlen took control. Strong forward play by the Redmen ut Concordia under sustained pressure, and led to the pening score of the game: a penalty kick converted by ?ntre Samuel Skulsky 25 minutes into the first half.

Strong play on the edges of the ruck allowed flyalf Ian Turner to dive into the try zone for McGill's first y. Turner also set up the Redmen's second try, as he îovelled to Michael Davis for a try early in the second alf. Davis led the Redmen with three tries.

The talent of the Redmen began to show on both des of the ball, and the final 20 minutes were a flurry f tries. Any hope of victory for the Stingers was stifled

after they received a yellow card for repeatedly playing the ball off of their feet. The final nail in the coffin was hammered in seconds after the Concordia yellow, with a strong run for a try by prop Matthew Edwards. Cayse Ruiter and Mathieu Sidoti each scored one try to com­ plete the scoring for McGill.

"It was a hard fought game, and we took too many penalties, which made it difficult," said McGill Assistant Coach Craig Beemer. "But we were disciplined today, and stayed within our system.... We just stuck with the game plan and eventually wore them out."

Following the win, the Redmen head into the Que­ bec final against the Bishop's Gaiters with plenty of con­ fidence.

"We expect to win this league, and anything less than a championship would be a disappointment," said eight-man Rupert Common. "Before the loss to Sher­ brooke [last week], we were too loose and cocky in training and just in general. But this last week we really woke up, had a great week of practice, and came out ready to play today."

"They were a lot more focussed in practice this week," said Beemer of his team after their only loss of the season. "The loss to Sherbrooke was a big wake-up call for us."

Bishop's beat Sherbrooke 11-9 on Friday to set up the Quebec final between the Redmen and Gaiters, to be played this Saturday at Molson Stadium ati p.m.The winner of that game will play the Atlantic League cham­ pion one week later. ■

Different shades of red didn't confuse the Redmen on Sunday.

UNIVBRSITY

Where do ideas that change the world come from?

4

P r in c ip a l H e a t h e r M u n ro e -B lu m

invites M cG ill Students, Big Brother is watching you.

Faculty and Staff to an open forum to discuss issues of relevance to the M cG ill community.

Identity theft. Cyberstalking. Spy satellites.

Surveillance cameras. These are among the most critical issues facing 21st century life. For Emily Smith, an M.A. graduate of Sociology and Research Associate on Queen's N ew Transparency Project, the answers are sometimes found on an inspiring waterfront walk.

Emily chose Queen's for her graduate work because of the close interaction between faculty and students, and the high level of academic discourse that comes from it. "Your eyes get opened to a lot of new perspectives", she says.

Looking for a place to put yourself and your ideas to the test? Come to Queen's.

f McGill

To learn more about Queen's Graduate Studies, or to apply, visit www.queensu.ca/sgs

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IMPACT

Peaceful Photos from a Troubled Border

Prior to the resumption of hostilities between the DRC Armed Forces and the Tutsi-led rebel force (The National People's Defense Congress) in the Eastern Region of Rwanda, Photo Editor Adam Scotti visited the tumultuous region and took these photos.

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