The McGill Tribune Vol. 29 Issue 4

SONDRE LERCHE PLAYS TO THE HEART, PAGE 14

THE SEXLESS SEX COLUMN, PAGE 12

M c G il l Published by the Students' Society o f McGill University

TRIBUNE www.mcailltribune.com

Vol. 29 Issue 4 » Tuesday. September 22. 2()09|

Administration continues to face criticism over course pack delays Faculty members bemoan lack of communication THOMAS QUAIL Editor-in: Chief

The McGill administration scrambled last week to explain the course pack delays at the beginning o f this semester, amid sharp criticism from faculty members.

In a letter to the administration issued at last Wednesday’s Senate meeting, educa­ tion professor Alenoush Saroyan called on the administration to clarify the “contractual issues” that led to the delays, and to admit that M cGill’s decision to internalize course pack production was a mistake. The course packs were delayed between one to three weeks.

In an interview with the Tribune, VicePrincipal (University Services) Jim Nicell outlined the reasons behind the course pack delays, and touched on areas where the uni­ versity may have been at fault.

“We [did) everything we could to try and get the [course packs] delivered on time,” he said. “We had huge problems.”

Last spring, McGill decided against re­ newing their course pack contract with East­ man Systems. Since 1992, McGill had con­ tracted Eastman to scan, secure copyright privileges, and compile their course packs.

But a new piece of provincial legislation, Bill 17, would have obliged McGill to put the JOHN K EL SEY

McGill has faced transitional issues after ending its contract with Eastman Systems and internalizing production of coursepacks.

See NICELL on PAGE 4

MUNACA leads protest against proposed million-dollar benefit cuts Agreement restricts union to advisory role only STEVEN HOFFER News Editor

After presenting a petition in protest of a proposed $1 million benefit cut, the McGill University Non-Academic Certified Associa­ tion (MUNACA), along with other staff rep­ resentation organizations, is awaiting review by the Staff Benefits Advisory Committee, scheduled to meet September 30.

Although the health and dental benefit

decrease will potentially affect all McGill employees, regardless of their representative organization, MUNACA has spearheaded the protest against the proposed cuts.

Following a difficult negotiation process last Spring, MUNACA agreed upon a new col­ lective agreement with the University which was subsequently approved by the Board of Governors. This process coincided with the creation of an administrative task force in February aimed at lowering M cGill’s deficit and meeting the requirements of the universi­ ty’s funding agreement with the government.

On June 4, the Staff Benefits Advisory Com­

S O Friday, Septem ber 25th

mittee announced that following a cost experi­ ence analysis, McGill would be removing $1 million from the staff benefits program under the notion that the cutbacks would not nega­ tively affect university employees. A petition was then organized by MUNACA employees protesting the coverage decrease.

“Our position in human resources was that we did not want to affect anything that was preventative or the wellness of employ­ ees,” said Lynn Gervais, associate vice princi­ pal (human resources). “But it is still a million dollars, so there is going to be some impact.”

Despite discussions with legal advisors,

under its current agreement, MUNACA is constricted to an advisory role in the decision, and although it is granted the right to voice objections, the organization has no active veto power. Ultimately, it is exclusively the admin­ istration’s choice to proceed with decreasing benefits.

“Under our contract, they have to advise us that they are doing this,” said MUNACA President Kevin Whittaker, referring to sec­ tion 39.03 of MUNACA’s collective bargain­ ing agreement. “We can give our opinion, but

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McGill begins climb in research rankings after recent decline Funding from awards councils increases TRIP YANG News Editor

McGill has started to regain its status as one of the top research-intensive universities in Canada, after slippings in research rankings in the past several years.

Although the university brought in over $543 million in research revenue in the 20032004 fiscal year, McGill began a three-year slump where it ranked behind four other Ca­ nadian universities. McGill's research income bottomed out at $375 million during the 200607 fiscal year before climbing back to $418 million in 2007-2008.

Research revenue is defined as the in­ come the university brings in resulting from its research. This includes grants, foundations, and Chairs programs.

During the Board o f Governors meeting, Chancellor Arnold Steinberg stressed the im­ portance of acknowledging M cG ill’s struggles in securing reseach funding.

“When I arrived in the 05-06 school year, the results that appeared were disastrous,” said Vice-Principal Denis Thérien. Research and Development, who noted that it takes

roughly three years for funding levels to tie into research rankings.

“In the 2007-08 fiscal year, when the rankings started to reflect the changed mecha­ nisms and strategies, we saw a sharp increase in [research revenue].”

Thérien noted in his report that a major reason for M cGill’s recent decline has been a lack of funding at the federal level.

From 2002 to 2006, the Canadian Foun­ dation for Innovation, a federal corporation that funds research infrastructure, funneled less money into McGill research in compari­ son to other top Canadian schools. In the same period, McGill has also lagged behind in re­ ceiving awards from the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Council o f Canada.

Similar differences exist at the provin­ cial level. Since the provincial government matches CFI funding on a one-to-one scale, struggles with CFI funding results to less pro­ vincial funding.

Thérien pointed out that because schools are different sizes, comparison of absolute numbers is not the most revealing statistic.

“It’s more accurate to look at research in­ tensity, or the funding per faculty member,” explained Thérien. “Since McGill is smaller

than University of Toronto or Université de Montréal, it’s not surprising to see less fund­ ing for M cGill.”

Morton Mendelson, deputy provost (stu­ dent life and learning), explained the far-reach­ ing impact of an underfunded institution.

“The university budget is woefully under­ funded,” said Mendelson. “When our research brings in less money, we have less money for future research. There is a decrease in a pro­ fessor’s grant, and he supervises fewer grad students. This all relates [back] to students.”

Despite financial struggles in recent years, Thérien maintained that McGill is climbing back up the funding rankings. In addition to higher total research revenue in the 2007-2008 fiscal year, McGill had also received more awards from the Canadian Institutes o f Health Research and NSERC funding councils.

Thérien added that McGill still boasts a reputable cast of award-winning faculty mem­ bers, including 91-year-old neuroscientist Brenda Milner.

“You look at Charles Taylor winning the Kyoto Prize, Brenda Milner winning the B al­ zan Prize ... McGill faculty is still winning awards in all areas o f research,” Thérien said in his address.

Thérien’s Report on Research coincides with M cGill’s growing emphasis on attract­

ing more graduate students. With increased research revenue projected in the future, a significant portion will go towards advancing graduate level research.

While Students’ Society President Ivan Neilson acknowledges that the renewed focus on attracting graduate students can be finan­ cially beneficial, he notes that the funding strategy may have implications for McGill undergraduates.

“Since I am bound by my Code of Con­ duct to represent the best interests of the uni­ versity, I can’t say that McGill shouldn’t admit more grad students,” said Neilson. “However, I can make the case that if undergraduate pro­ grams are receiving less funding, fewer under­ graduate students are attracted, and that could be a concern.”

Thérien, however, doesn’t feel that un­ dergraduate students or research will take a backseat with the inclusion o f more graduate students.

“Not only is undergraduate research commonplace today compared to 20 years ago,” said Thérien. “Undergraduates also re­ ceive a reputational benefit from the research that professors and graduate students in their programs do.”

CAMPUS

McGill MBA Program to abandon provincial funding in Fall 2010 Tuition increases to $29.5k JAMES GILMAN Managing Editor

M cG ill’s Master of Business Administra­ tion program will be moving to a self-funded model beginning in fall 2010, the Desautels Faculty o f Management announced in an email to students last Thursday.

The move will see the faculty forgo fund­ ing from the Quebec government and cover all costs of the M BA program independently, mainly through raising tuition rates to $29,500 per year for the two-year MBA program. The increase in tuition will affect all students. Cur­ rently, Quebec students pay an average of $1,672.80 per year, while other Canadian stu­ dents pay $4,675.68 and international students pay $19,890.

By moving away from the governmentsubsidised model, the faculty will be able to avoid the province’s tuition regulations, which the faculty claims have been “the single most significant constraint on our ability to sustain and enhance the quality of our MBA program and deliver high-level student services.”

According to Don Melville, director of the MBA program, McGill has been subsidiz­ ing MBA students by about $10,000 each per year.

“This [move] will allow us to invest in the program and ensure that we’re the top program in Canada, and one of the top in the world,” said Melville.

The new tuition levels will only apply to new MBA students entering the program in fall 2010 and after. The program has around 120 full-time students and a few part-time stu­ dents. It functions with an operating budget of around $2 million per year.

According to Melville, McGill is be­ hind other leading universities in making this move.

“If you look at Canada, this is something that’s been in place for years,” he said. “And it’s something that’s in place around the world already.”

Melville added that the new tuition lev­ els are not particularly high for typical MBA programs.

“Even with the new tuition, we are still below comparable universities across Cana­ da,” he said. “For example, schools in Ontario such as Rotman [School o f Management], Queen’s [School o f Business], and [Richard] Ivey [School o f Business] charge $65,000 to $75,000 for their [programs].”

Rotman is part of the University o f To­ ronto, while Ivey is the University of Western Ontario’s business school.

Yet, according to Post-Graduate Stu­ dents’ Association President Daniel Simeone, the move goes against the group’s policy.

“The official PGSS policy is that the tu­ ition freeze be maintained, but that increases may occur with inflation,” he explained in an email to the Tribune.

Simeone added that the PGSS only found out about the decision when the email was sent out to students on Thursday. He also em­ phasized the importance o f consultation with student groups.

“As far as I know, the PGSS was not consulted during the process,” he said. “As tuition policy for a particular program can af­ fect the general tuition policy, it is vital that graduate students be broadly consulted.”

According to Ron Duerkson, director of marketing and communications for Desautels, the faculty has consulted with the MBA Student Association on the potential move to self-funding.

ADAM SCOTTI

Program Director Don Melville says new tuition rates are typical of MBA degrees.

“We have been talking to M BA students for years about the opportunities that would arise from a self-funded model,” he said.

“This past year, the self-funded tuition was discussed with the MB AS A as well as individ­ ual students, alumni, faculty and our Faculty Advisory Board.”

Duerkson added that the reaction from students as well as faculty and alumni has been mainly positive.

“M BA students know that this decision can only help to increase the quality and repu­ tation of the ... program world-wide, and in so doing, increase the value o f their degree in the eyes o f employers,” he said.

Regarding how the move would affect ac­ cessibility, Melville emphasized that an MBA

is a worthy investment, since McGill MBA students earn an average salary o f around $80,000 after graduating.

He also pointed out that the faculty is taking steps to ensure the program attracts top students.

“One thing that we’re doing to ensure that we have top candidates coming in is in­ creasing our scholarships [and] bursaries 10fold,” he said. “So we’re making a significant investment in our scholarships for students coming in.”

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Ontario’s Lottery System releases new purchasing policies Distributors prohibited from buying at own store LAUREN HUDAK Contributor

Ontario's provincial government and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation will ban lottery retailers from buying tickets at their own stores, effective November 3, The decision was made after the provincial om­ budsman's investigation reported that retailers were winnine almost twice the amount that % was originally estimated.

“If you go back over the last two years there has been some questionable ticket pur­ chasing by a very small group of retailers that were found to be taking advantage of their situation," said Dave Bryans, president of the Ontario Convenience Stores Association.

“The retailers were accused o f either stealing a ticket or cheating in the game."

According to Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin, the restriction is “efficient and inex­ pensive,” compared to the O LG ’s alternative policy, which proposed banning every retailer and their immediate family from playing the lottery at all.

Bryans explained that a complete ban would actually create a more corrupt system over the long term.

“We are better off asking our employees not to buy tickets in their own store,” said Bry­ ans. “This means that they can’t play in their

store but they can play in any other store.”

The “No Play At Work” policy, as the OLG has named it, plans to build customer confidence in the lottery and in the way gam­ ing is handled. It is part of the O LG ’s various initiatives to make the system more trustwor­ thy to all Ontarians by promoting the reliabil­ ity of the corporation and its operations.

“For the last three years, the OLG has made a commitment to strive for continuous improvement in the integrity of the lottery system and prize payments,” said OLG Senior Vice-President Greg McKenzie. “This new policy is the most recent step in what will con­ tinue to be an ongoing commitment and pro­ cess for OLG.” In research conducted in June, 77 per cent o f Ontario adults agreed that the policy would make the OLG lottery system “more safe and secure for lottery players” and 80 per cent agreed that the policy would “increase |their] confidence in the lottery system.” In addition, research demonstrated that there was much stronger support for restricting retail­ ers from playing at their own stores than for entirely prohibiting retailers from purchasing tickets anywhere.

“If you make the lottery more secure, then people can have confidence that when they play the lottery, if they don’t win, the money is going to public works,” said Linda Williamson, communications director for the Ombudsman o f Ontario. “But if you can’t trust the lottery, then [people] are not going

McGill looks to “tweak” benefits Continued from COVER it is only an advisory committee that we speak on. So in the end. [the university] can take it under advisement, but they are the ones who make the final decision.”

MUNACA represents approximately 1,700 o f M cGill’s non-academic staff, with 1,400 members participating in the health benefits program, while the remainder receive health insurance through a spouse on an ex­ ternal plan. Over 1,100 o f those employees signed the online petition.

Other organizations that will be af­ fected by the benefits cut include employees represented by the McGill University NonAcademic Staff Association (MUNASA), the trades union, professors, and managerial staff.

“I think it’s fair to say that the MUNASA executive is not pleased with the proposal and we are considering our response,” said Ron Critchley, MUNASA president. Critchley added that because MUNASA is not a union, it does not have the ability to organize collec­ tive action in the form of a petition or a poten­ tial strike.

Because all McGill employees are enti­ tled to a single benefits plan, the terms of that plan are not negotiated as part of any individu­ al organization’s collective agreement.

“We don’t want to be less competitive in terms of our benefits,” said Gervais. “We have very generous benefits, so we are trying to look at where we can do some tweaking in the design. Most certainly, we are trying to maintain a high level o f staff, but we have an obligation to reduce our budget as a promise to the government.”

Gervais added that the goal of these changes is to succesfully “reduce costs that would not unduly cause disruption in the life

of an employee.”

According to a statement released by

“I think it’ s fair to say that the M U ­ N A S A executive is not pleased with the proposal and we are considering our response,” — Ron Critchley, M U N A S A president MUNACA in response to the proposed cut. the organization would be willing to review the current benefits agreement and determine where expenditures could be removed in order to strengthen the plan. In addition, the state­ ment also criticized current projects such as the creation o f new departments, hiring of new manager-level employees, and the beati­ fication o f the McGill campus being executed during a period that the McGill administration claims that expenditures must be cut.

“Looking at the plan, we see where there is potential for making it healthier, but we are looking to maintain the plan itself, not to put these cuts in to save the University money,” said Whittaker.

He also mentioned that MUNACA would attempt to renegotiate their advisory role in similar proceedings during their next collec­ tive bargaining negotiations.

“We are hoping in the next negotiation that we will have more strength in the decision making because this impacts all of our mem­ bers and we should not just be advising.”

Following the Staff Benefits Advisory Committe meeting on Sept. 30, the adminstration will reconvene and reach a final decision by the end of October, which will then become active January 1,2010.

to play and those projects are going to suffer and the government’s revenues are going to go down.”

The OLG was founded in 1975 and has since generated over $28 billion for the sup­ port of hospitals, amateur sports, recreational and cultural activities, health care, and educa­ tion in the province of Ontario. To maintain this support, the OLG and the Ontario Con­ venience Stores Associations want to demon­ strate to the government, the media, and the

public, that they are serious about the respon­ sibility and security o f the lottery system.

“Maybe three years ago retailers thought that selling lottery tickets was a right, today it is an earned privilege, and you have to show everybody that you are going to be certified, that you are going to follow certain rules, or you will be one o f the few retailers that won’t sell lottery tickets,” said Bryans.

JOHN K EL SEY

Retailers have been accused of cheating the system by playing tickets intended for sale.

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4 » Tuesday, September 22, 2009

CAMPUS

Google, Rogers, Bell hand over professor identities to Y ork Controversy surrounds appointment o f new dean SARAH C R A M E R Contributor

York University has secured court orders for Google Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., and Bell Canada Enterprises, requiring them to reveal the identities o f the authors of an anon­ ymous and controversial email accusing York University’s president o f academic fraud.

The university started its investigation in May following an email from a group of anonymous faculty members who asserted that York President Mamdouh Shoukri had “perpetrated an outrageous fraud.”

In late January, following a secret selec­ tion process, Shoukri publicly announced the appointment o f Martin Singer as the founding dean o f the new Faculty of Liberal Arts and

Professional Studies, the largest faculty in Canada. In his proclamation, he claimed that Singer was “a renowned scholar o f Chinese history,” and that York “is fortunate to have attracted such a strong scholar.”

As part of the research, well-known Chi­ nese historian Arif Dirleck responded to an enquiry by history professor David Noble, which concluded that Singer “may be a dis­ tinguished administrator,” but “a renowned scholar of Chinese history he is not,” claiming his contribution to scholarship in the field is “negligible to the point of being non-existent,” with only one “scanty” publication during his graduate studies in 1971.

Noble’s findings sparked outrage among faculty members.

“This is an area where everyone is des­ perate to be published and scrambling to get their words in print because it is essentially ‘publish or perish,’ and here is a guy being

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appointed who hasn’t done any of it,” Noble said. “We felt insulted and violated.”

Anonymous faculty members then sent out an email from the Gmail account of the York Faculty Concerned About the Future of York University. The email asserted that “lying about scholarly credentials is the grav­ est offence,” and called for the President’s res­ ignation and a search for a new dean.

In a statement, Shoukri claimed that the misleading description had been an error on the part of media relations.

“How could he not have known of this man’s lack o f credentials?” asked Noble after reading this reply. “If he didn’t know that Singer was not a published and renowned scholar, then what kind of search for a dean was this?”

Subsequently, Shoukri and senior admin­ istrators took the issue to court.

Will McDowell, a lawyer for the uni­ versity, claimed that what was said about the University was damaging. He added that they were taking actions to discover who was be­ hind the accusations.

“You can’t expect to be able to accuse people o f criminal conduct and not get called out for it,” said McDowell. “When the email accused the president of fraud, it meant they were accusing him o f having an intention to deceive, and this is not the case. Just because the announcement was in error, doesn’t make it fraudulent."

York securred a court order in May for Google to turn over internet protocol address­

es associated with the Gmail account on the grounds that they were concerned about the defamation o f the school president. They then took similar action toward Bell and Rogers, revealed as the relevant providers, to release the customer names on the account.

Last week, Justice George R. Strathy of Ontario Superior Court granted them their wish, reasoning that it was a balance between protecting freedom of speech and protection from libel.

Dissatisfied with the decision, Noble ar­ gued that universities have a profound interest in free speech.

“Consider the optics,” he explained. “The third largest university in Canada, presum­ ably dedicated to free and open discussion is sending out an official court order that now becomes a legal precedent that restricts free speech. I guess that’s the game. We are all for free speech, but apparently not here.”

When asked whether they would take any legal action against these individuals, the Uni­ versity responded in a media statement, say­ ing, “Our actions going forward are still to be determined.”

Noble said that he is considering legal action against Bell for disclosing names and says that the order will potentially be chal­ lenged by the Canadian Association o f Uni­ versity Teachers, an umbrella organization for all faculty members in Canada.

Nicell cites contract difficulties Continued from C O V E R

ÜJHRT WILL THE WORLD B E L IK E IN 2050?

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course pack contract out for public tender, because the value of the contract was in ex­ cess o f $100,000. By law —with a few legal caveats —McGill would have been forced to accept the lowest bid. In accordance with Bill 17, a public contract must also be renewed every three years.

“It came down to this question,” Nicell said. “Should we embark on a process where we’re never sure who the winner will be? Or did it make sense for us to internalize the op­ erations here, which would allow us some de­ gree o f continuity—and less risk.”

McGill could have refused the lowest bid submitted in the tender process if "in the two years preceding the tender opening date, [the supplier] has been given an unsatisfactory performance report by the public body, failed to follow up on a tender or contract or had a contract cancelled because o f a failure to com­ ply with the contract conditions,” according to M cG ill’s web site regarding Bill 17.

Political Science Chair Richard Schultz was outraged by M cG ill’s decision to inter­ nalize course pack production. According to Schultz, the administration promised but failed to deliver broad consultation with the faculties on this decision.

“In the stealth of the darkest of night, [the administration] introduced this policy,” he said. “They were afraid, in fact, to debate it publicly and meaningfully with faculty.”

Nicell claimed that he didn’t engage in broad consultation with faculty members be­ cause the “decision wasn’t about changing a product, the decision was about changing the method for the creation of a product.”

Schultz, however, disagreed with this sentiment.

“Those involved in the administration en­ gaged in a campaign of disinformation, misin­ formation, and outright lies,” he said.

After deciding in the spring to internalize course packs entirely, McGill then engaged in two separate public tender processes over the copier contract and the production and print­ ing services contract. Those contracts needed to be finalized before course pack production could begin. And, according to Nicell, those contract issues set the course pack production back four weeks.

“Industry is not ready for [the public ten­ der process] yet,” Nicell said. “We couldn’t just sign the contract with the winning bids that came in for those contracts, because of the challenges that were being thrown at us by the external companies.”

The hardware and software was sup­ posed to be installed by July 1. But because o f the contractual issues, necessary course pack hardware and software wasn’t fully in place until August 3, a mere one month before classes.

Faculty members, according to Nicell, also played a role in the course pack delays.

Most professors, he said, didn’t submit their course pack requests on time. By the July 21 deadline, only 181 out o f a possible 441 course pack requests had been filed.

Nicell acknowledged that the administra­ tion could have been better at communicating the delays.

“The place we fell down the most was on the communication side,” he said.

—A dditional reporting by Tori C raw ford

Tuesday, September 22. 2009 • 5

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CAMPUS

Students unhappy with changes in residence meal plan system Concerns focus on prices TORI CRAWFORD News Editor

With construction underway at various residences, and a new meal plan account sys­ tem in place, many first-year McGill students have voiced concern over the value o f their dining plans.

Patrick Dibb, a first-year student living in McConnell Hall, recently started a petition to address what he and other students saw as inflated food prices at Bishop Mountain Hall, particularly for healthy foods such as salad and fruit. Although McGill Food and Dining Services did lower many prices by one or two dollars last week, Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Morton Mendelson ex­ plained that there are many factors that influ­ ence the price of food available on campus.

“You can’t compare the apple on the tray in the cafeteria with the apple at the market, because there is a whole range o f costs that

have to be covered, from food costs, to trans­ portation, to the operation o f the dining hall,” said Mendelson.

Prior to this year, meal plans for students living in Douglas, McConnell, Molson, Gard­ ner and Royal Victoria College operated on a system where each student was allowed a set number of meals per week. However, after many years of discussion and preparation, these residences now use a declining balance system similar to a debit card.

“The comments we got from many people about the old system was that with a set num­ ber o f meals each week, if you are a person who skips breakfast, for whatever reason, then you are losing money,” said Mathieu Laperle, director of McGill Food and Dining Services.

“So this is the beauty of the new system, you can eat at the moment you want and ... pay only for the items you want to eat.”

The declining balance system is the most popular form of meal plan at Canadian uni­ versities, and was already in place at the New Residence Hall. Laperle claims that the sys­ tem has already led to a reduction in waste.

JULIA W EBSTER

The new declining balance residence meal plan system is accepted at 21 locations.

Dibb, however, said that the system is not ideal for many students, particularly those

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“We pay $1,936 per semester, but if we were to buy full meals, which is the only rea­ sonable way to get a lot o f food, the meals cost respectively $5.95, $9.95, and $10.95. That still averages almost $30 a day,” said Dibb.

“If you do the math for the 93 days o f the se­ mester that we’re using our plans you only get $20.60 each day.”

Laperle believes that the declining bal­ ance program will allow students more options and flexibility in their meal choices, since they can spend 85 per cent of their balance at their home cafeteria while the remaining 15 per cent can be used at any of the 21 locations on campus that accept meal plans. However, due to construction at RVC and the delays in the completion of the cafeteria at Carrefour Sher­ brooke, students from these residences will be permitted to use 100 per cent o f their plan at any location for the first semester.

In addition, students living in Carrefour Sherbrooke will receive a $100 food card that can be used anywhere on campus, as well as a $250 rent reduction per month until the ongo­ ing construction in the building is completed.

“The delays in Carrefour were due to problems in the building that were discovered after we purchased it,” said Mendelson. “We knew there were renovations to be done, but when you start peering behind the walls there are always things that turn up.”

Following the upcoming election o f food committees in all residences, Laperle hopes to convene an ongoing food service advisory committee that will include students, staff and members of food and dining services. Men­ delson also emphasized the importance of dia­ logue between students and food providers on campus.

“The whole notion behind student life and learning is the constant concern about feedback from students, and how do we en­ gage with students, how do we consult with students, and this is also part of the ethos in Food Services as well,” he said.

Dibb said that he attempted to contact the manager of BMH, but no one ever got back to him. However, he is happy that food and din­ ing services has recognized some o f students’ concerns.

“O f course, we would like the prices low­ ered more, but we’re happy they have shown some kind of a commitment to students,” said Dibb.

mçgiUtribunexom

6 » Tuesday, September 22, 2009

CAMPUS

Dryden calls on university students to rethink Canada’s potential Talk part ofMISC series

“Our instinct [as Canadians] is not to fight, but to work things out,” he said. “In this post-empire, globalized world, power and might are not enough. As Canadians, we are crucial because we know how to get along.”

In addition to getting along, Dryden noted that other Canadian characteristics and values that often embarrass us are actually what will make the country matter more in the future.

“A huge land mass that is safe, secure, stable, clean, civil, modest, polite, and live­ able ... We have all of those things that the world is dying for,” said Dryden.

Dryden believes that in order for the country to break its pattern o f self-depreca­

TORI CRAWFORD News Editor

Liberal Member of Parliament and for­ mer Montreal Canadiens goaltender Ken Dryden called on university students across the country to rethink Canada’s story in a lec­ ture called “It’s Time for Canada.” The talk, which took place yesterday in Leacock 232, was part o f the McGill Institute for the Study o f Canada’s “The World Needs More Canada” lecture series. Dryden has been delivering similar speeches at post-secondary institutions across the country since last year.

Dryden, who received a law degree from McGill while playing in the NHL, said that although he’d thought about Canada’s unreal­ ized potential for many years, it was not until he entered politics in 2004 as an MP for York Centre that he really began to expand on the issue.

“We as Canadians have a wrong sense of ourselves as a country,” said Dryden. “This forces us to live under a ceiling far below what we can do politically, economically, or socially.”

According to Dryden, it’s the job o f poli­ ticians to understand the ambitions o f their constituencies and then deliver on them. How­ ever, it is up to the citizens to determine these ambitions, and in his view, Canadians have not reached high enough.

In fact, Dryden believes that Canada is perfectly positioned to make its mark in a glo­ balized world.

tion, Canadians need to find a common story.

However, he does not think that looking back to the creation of the country is the ideal meth­ od through which this could be accomplished.

Instead, he believes we need to look to more recent events as well as the future.

“We said no to Vietnam, no to Iraq, but yes to Medicare,” he said. “Our pride is that we did it, while the U.S. couldn’t, and to this day, still can’t.”

Dryden noted that the creation of this story o f Canadian identity will not be instanta­ neous, however. It can begin with discussions at universities around the country, which is what inspired him to begin his current lec­

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Liberal MP and NHL legend Ken Dryden meets students at Gert’s Monday night.

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ture tour. As the media becomes aware o f the talk on campuses, a national conversation will begin. When the public begins to make demands, parties will respond and compete.

Eventually the story will become part of Ca­ nadian politics.

At the end o f the lecture, Dryden used part o f his own personal history to explain the country’s skewed view of its potential.

“You don’t go into the playoffs for the NHL thinking, ‘Oh, maybe we’U come in tenth,”’ he said. “You can kill yourself with the wrong story. In today’s global world, we are totally well-situated to become an impor­ tant player.”

Following the lecture, Dryden headed to Gert’s for a question and answer session spon­ sored by Liberal McGill. Byrne Furlong, the group’s president, said that Dryden was very receptive when they invited him to make the extra stop.

“When we saw that he was coming to McGill to give a lecture we thought we would just approach him,” said Furlong. “1 think students can relate to him on more than just a political level.”

Nicholas Van Beek, Liberal M cGill’s vice-president campus relations, for whom Dryden was a childhood hero, was impressed by the former hockey player’s view o f Cana­ dian character.

“When he was talking about what Canada is, in terms o f identity, he talked about Aborig­ inal Quebec and British Canadians, and other groups of people,” said Van Beek. “I was glad that he didn't just discuss the FrancophoneAnglophone dichotomy but acknowledged other groups as well.”

NEWS IN BRIEF

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A p p ly O n lin e !

O M SAS

Quebec to crack down on white-collar crime The Quebec provincial government has announced a newly intensi­ fied effort to combat white-collar crime.

On September 13, senior government officials released details of a plan that would see more police officers assigned to deal with fraud, corruption and other white-collar crimes, as well as appointing three new crown prosecutors to deal with economic crimes.

“The government o f Quebec considers that economic crimes are serious, that they have serious impacts, and that’s why it wants stiffer sentences to apply to them,” said Justice Minister Kathleen Weil in a press release.

Weil also announced that she would ask the government of Canada to amend the criminal code to allow for stronger penalties for white col­ lar crimes.

The move comes amid the continued outrage surrounding Earl Jones, allegedly one of Canada’s worst fraudsters ever. Jones, a financial advisor, allegedly cheated his clients out of up to $50 million.

“Honest citizens, all too frequently seniors and retired persons, are seeing their life savings disappear because o f white-collar criminals,” said Minister o f Finance Raymond Bachand in the press release. “We cannot remain impassive faced with the dramatic situations people are suffering because of economic crimes.”

The province has committed to spending six million dollars on the new initiative.

“The measures announced today show that the Quebec government is firmly determined to fight economic crime and provide the best pos­ sible protection for savers," Bachand added.

www.ouac.on.ca/omsas/

Ontario Medical School Application Service September 15, 2009: Last day to register for online applications October 1, 2009: Application deadline

www.ouac.on.ca/olsas/

0 L SA S

Ontario Law School Application Service November 2, 2009: Application deadline for first-year English programs May 3, 2010: Application deadline for upper-year programs

TEAS

www.ouac.on.ca/teas/

Teacher Education Application Service December 1, 2009: Application deadline for English programs March 1, 2010: Application deadline for French programs

www.ouac.on.ca/orpas/

0RPA S

Ontario Rehabilitation Sciences Programs Application Service (.Audiology ; O ccupational Therapy, Physical Therapy/Physiotherapy, Speech-Language P athology

January 8, 2010: Application deadline —Ja m es Gilman

ONTARIO UNIVERSITIES' APPLICATION CENTRE CENTRE DE DEMANDE D'ADMISSION AUX UNIVERSITÉS DE L ONTARIO

170 Research Lane Guelph ON N1G 5E2 www.ouac.on.ca

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CAMPUS

Pregnant nurse denied early maternity leave despite H1N1 risk Hospital reverses decision LAUREN HUDAK Contributor

After considerable public outcry, Lakeshore General Hospital reversed its original decision and granted a six-month pregnant nurse maternity leave last week. Despite the recommendation of a West Island obstetri­ cian-gynecologist, the hospital had originally denied early maternity leave to the nurse who risked exposure to the HIN1 virus.

“You have a high-risk person taking care of high-risk patients. Once you are in the hospital, even if they reassign you, you don't know whom you have been incubating unless they have been tested,” said Dr. John Bray, the West Island obstetrician-gynecologist who met with the patient last month.

The nurse at risk had been working in the delivery room of the maternity ward. As a safety precaution, she was relocated to the

postpartum floor. Since the nurse was in the second trimester of her pregnancy, her risk of contamination with H1N1 was still high de­ spite the relocation.

Bray compared the nurse’s environment to that of a teacher, as both professions face a potential risk by coming in contact with indi­ viduals who may carry the disease.

"This isn’t just for H1N1. It also applies to influenza in general. Pregnant women have always been the highest risk group,” he said.

The precise date of maternity leave is decided on a case by case basis. A pregnant woman will first visit a doctor who gives a recommendation. This recommendation is submitted to the Health and Work Safety Com­ mission (C SST), which is then responsible for sending a certificate to the employer.

Pierre Turgeon, spokesperson for the CSST, explained that the certificate does not automatically mean the woman in question will no longer have to work until the end of her pregnancy.

“The program is called ‘For a No-Risk

Pregnancy,’ so it’s not the right to be retired from the workplace. It’s the right to have a pregnancy without risk,” said Turgeon. “So if the employer can relocate the woman to an­ other position, then the goal of the program is covered.”

Lakeshore’s recent incident sheds light on the severity of the H IN I virus, particularly for pregnant women. According to LouisPascal Cyr, a spokesman for the Lakeshore General Hospital and assistant to the execu­ tive director, all hospitals have been taking the same preventative measures to stop the spread o f H1N1 implemented by the Quebec govern­ ment.

“Information regarding H1N1 evolves on a daily basis. But what we know so far is that there is indeed some sort of concern of H1N1 with a pregnant woman,” said Cyr. However, keeping in line with the stan­ dard procedures at Lakeshore General Hospi­ tal, Cyr added that, “the original plan would have been to ask that worker to not address or work with any patients who were thought to

have H1N1.”

This statement, however, does not sit well with Bray. When asked if a pregnant woman is at the same risk to exposure on a post-partum floor as opposed to the case floor, he respond­ ed, “It’s almost the same dimensions.”

He further emphasized that her CSST certificate specifically stated that she should not be exposed to H1N1 at all.

“Most cases o f H1N1 are mild. If the woman is pregnant, her immune system is compromised. It is more likely that the mild flu-like symptoms will develop into pneumo­ nia,” said Bray. Subsequently, the sicker the mother, the sicker the child will become.

In order to prevent the spread of the dead­ ly virus, Lakeshore has decided to take extra precautions.

“In view of these things, we have decided to have that pregnant worker go on her ma­ ternity leave,” said Cyr. “We have decided to take the 100 per cent safe route.”

Studying Abroad in Winter 2010?

SSMU COUNCIL

Be P re p a re d ! A tte n d a U n iv e rs ity -W id e P re -D e p a rtu re O rie n ta tio n S e ssion

Monday, October 5,2009 5:00 pm - P len ary Session 6:00 pm - Reception 6:30 pm - R egional B re a k -o u t Sessions P ollack H all, Strathcona Music Building BI WU CHEN AND ALICE WALKER

Clockwise from top left: SSMU VP Finance Jose Diaz, VP External Sebastian Roderos-Morgan, President Ivan Neilson, and Councillor Sarah Woolf at the year's first meeting of SSMU Council last Thursday.

BIENVENUE AMONTREAL La reference pour les jeunes en provenance des régions

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TIME TO LEARN FRENCH R e Student kicked o f f STM bus f o r speaking E n glish” ( 15.09.09) As a bilingual international student, I would like to say to Muhammad Ahmad Munir, tant pis. Did the bus driver go over­ board in this situation? Yes. Was calling the police a bit too much? Maybe. Since Line 66 runs through the predominately Anglophone cities o f Westmount and Côte-Saint-Luc, shouldn’t the driver be able to speak some English? Probably. However, I will defend the bus driver’s actions, despite their irrationality.

I feel sympathy for Munir, however, he is at fault for not speaking French, and not the bus driver for not speaking English.

Québec is an institutionally unilingual French province, and Montréal is, by law, a unilingual French city. Too many students from English Canada and abroad forget that.

McGill is an Anglophone institution; how­ ever, once you leave the campus, you’re no longer protected by M cG ill’s English bubble.

Yes, the current reality o f Montréal is bilin­ gualism, and it’s rare to not find services of­ fered in both French and English, and often in third languages. But you’re not guaranteed services in English unless they’re provided by the federal government, or by the Québec government in matters o f justice, or health and public safety. It drives me crazy to hear students complaining about the poor quality of someone’s English outside of the McGill campus. The Francophone majority has the right to complain about a student’s lack of knowledge of the French language, not the other way around.

Again, I believe that the driver over­ reacted and I don’t agree with her actions, but I do support the message she was sending.

The Tribune’s article did not tell the full story.

In reading other accounts of the story, when the bus driver told Munir that she didn't speak English, Munir kept demanding an answer.

Gomolin’s article simply says, “Munir ob­ jected to her response,” while in the National

CANADA’S POINTLESS POLITICS As the summer comes to a close, polit­ ical enthusiasts in both Canada and the United States are having a hell o f a good time. Pol­ iticians in both Ottawa and Washington are engaged in partisan battles with uncertain outcomes—the difference is that one o f these battles will shape the future of millions o f cit­ izens, while the other is completely pointless.

In the U.S., this was supposed to be the summer of health care reform. Instead, it be­ came the summer of town halls. Designed to give constituents a means of discussing health care reform with their elected representatives, town halls quickly turned into spectacles that

Post’s account of the story, Munir responded to the driver in English saying, “you just showed me you do speak English,” then continued to harass her. The French responses that Munir didn’t understand could have been “avancezvous en a rrière” or “assoyez-vous m onsieur s ’il vous plaît,” instructing Munir to be seated, and his refusal to do so led to the police being called. In addition, if the bus driver really did point to the clock saying “Québec, Québec,” why did Munir not just read the digital clock she was pointing at and sit down? The Trib­ une makes Munir seem way too innocent, and hopefully the STM ’s official report will show the truth.

Do I believe that the bus driver’s ac­ tions were intended to make a point? Yes. If she didn’t understand his question, then she wouldn’t have pointed to the clock. The mes­ sage that she was trying to send is an undeni­ able fact: le fr a n ç a is est la langue officielle du Q uébec. Many people will argue, “Canada is bilingual so he has the right to speak Eng­ lish.” If that’s so, try pestering a bus driver in French in Toronto and see how far you get.

The bottom line is that the Trudeau vision o f a bilingual Canada is failing, and that’s the fault of the rest of Canada, not Québec. Almost half of Québécois are bilingual, with that statistic approaching 80 per cent in Montréal. In com­ parison, less than eight per cent o f Toronto­ nians are fluently bilingual (English/French), despite Toronto designation as a bilingual community under Ontario’s French Language Services Act. What a joke.

Julie Kouyoumdjian, an executive of the McGill International Student Network, is quoted in the story saying that, “every stu­ dent should try and immerse themselves in the Québec culture.” The best way to immerse yourself into a foreign culture is to learn basic phrases in their language. If Munir truly did choose "to pursue his post-graduate studies at McGill particularly for the French aspect of Montréal,” then he surely should know the ele­ mentary French expression: qu elle heure estil? That’s page one material in a Berlitz phrase book. In addition to normal course readings, I suggest that all Anglophone and Allophone students read The Charter o f the French Lan­ guage (Bill 101), and remind themselves that their Anglophone university is in the middle o f a Francophone metropolis.

TURNING IN MY GRAVE The late fo u n d er an d nam esake o f our institution requ ested that 1 let him use my a l­ lotted column sp a ce this w eek f o r a m essage to M cG ill students. Seeing no grounds upon which to refuse his request. I ’ve d ecid ed to take the w eek off. — Ricky Kreitner

Justin M argolis is a U3 Q u ebec Studies student.

Death can be so monotonous. The dull­ ness envelops you in a sadness and gloom, and throttles all hope for resurrection. One does not expect to suddenly awake one day and be thrown out of one’s grave and onto the pave­ ment in front o f the Arts Building, all agasp and sore. But that’s exactly what happened to me recently.

Obviously nearly everything I saw was unfamiliar, so I ’ll omit how puzzled I was with all your cool modern crap. Instead, let this be the beginning o f a conversation between you and me on the value of a serious education.

To be perfectly frank, this is not what I paid for. This university is a shadow of what I intended it to be. It is now primarily a busi­ ness, and has tailored its product to extract profit from a greatly expanded clientele, in all its celebrated diversity.

For example, an astonishing number of students these days seem to be investing their time and money in something called “cultural studies.” That this is the most stylish discipline on campus reflects the contemporary worship of the shiny and novel, and the neglect of the classical and foundational.

To be clear, I did not bequeath £10,000 and all my land to form a university in which people are given as many credits for study­ ing the “distinctly Canadian imagery” in the music o f The Tragically Hip as they are for studying civil engineering or Thucydides or the 18th century novel.

My generous endowment was intended to foster literacy among the young—by which I certainly did not mean “cultural literacy,” whatever the hell that is. Many programs and courses offered at this university strike me as abhorrently shallow compared to what I ex­

gave Jon Stewart an almost limitless supply of material.

For example, at a July town hall in Simpsonville. South Carolina, a local resident told Republican Congressman Robert Inglis to “keep your government hands off my Medi­ care.” The Medicare program, which provides health insurance for Americans older than 65, is, of course, run by the federal govern­ ment. Moreover, it was staunchly opposed by Republicans when vast Democratic major­ ities rammed the bill through Congress under President Lyndon Johnson in 1965.

As for Stewart, he seemed to particularly enjoy reporting on the protestors who showed up to town halls packing heat. He gleefully noted that at one Arizona town hall, two sep­ arate individuals had shown up with assault rifles.

As ugly and ridiculous as the town halls were, however, they represented perhaps the most significant American policy debate of the last few decades. Health care reform is an incredibly complex issue. While some Amer­ icans may be discussing reform in a juvenile

manner (the death panel rumours come to mind), no one can deny that a serious debate is taking place over how to deal with an incred­ ibly complex problem.

If only the same were true in Canada.

One would think that Prime Minister Ste­ phen Harper would command a much more stable position than President Barack Obama.

Unlike the U.S., Canada’s recession has been fairly mild. The country is running only mod­ erate deficits in comparison to its southern neighbour’s massive debts, and Canadian banks are routinely touted as models for the world.

Despite Canada’s relative stability, how­ ever, the country is teetering on the brink of another election this fall. Why? Because Lib­ eral leader Michael Ignatieff is single-mindedly chasing the ultimate goal of post-Chrétien Canadian politics: his very own minority gov­ ernment.

To achieve this, Ignatieff and the Liber­ als tried to capture the public’s attention with the issue of employment insurance, which they argued should be temporarily extended to

mcgilltribunexom

pected from the institution bearing my name.

"Chinese Action Film " would be a case in point.

Cultural studies might empower you to make a half-insightful remark about some toothpaste commercial, but is it really teach­ ing you anything o f enduring value? After four years o f cultural studies will you really feel endowed for life with food for thought? Will it teach you anything o f real worth about your­ self or others or what it means to be human?

It’s not that cultural studies has nothing relevant to say. I know it does. But it’s use­ less to study contemporary culture if one has not studied Aristotle, for instance. One o f the marks of maturity is the ability to recognize that everything one feels and thinks and ex­ periences has been felt and thought and expe­ rienced already. A traditional broad-minded liberal arts education equips the student with a less self-oriented perspective on life, which can only be a good thing.

But the present dominance o f cultural studies in the university is symptomatic, rather than the cause of, a larger societal self­ absorption.

I perceive among today’s students a re­ luctance to admit that anyone whose death preceded the birth of television has anything relevant to say about the human condition. On political matters, many students have adopted a cheap brand o f unearned cynicism. When pressed, they don’t care enough to sustain that position either, and a self-congratulating igno­ rance fills the vacuum left behind.

These students unconsciously worship at the feet of a half-baked god called Relativism.

For them it is an irrefutable fact o f the uni­ verse that the simple verbal enunciation of a person’s opinion endows it with validity and authority. Disorientation inevitably ensues.

It is essentially a problem of foundations.

If students are not educated in the basic un­ derpinnings of why things are the way they are, they will have no ability to engage in a serious discussion regarding what needs to be preserved or what dismantled.

As I retire back into my grave, know this: I ’ve got my eye on you fuckers. The future of civilization hinges on whether your generation can pull its collective head out o f its collective ass long enough to consider the implications of its own narcissism.

Ja m es M cG ill (1744-1813) was a furtrader, legislator, an d philanthropist.

more workers because of the recession.

Unfortunately for Ignatieff, there are two problems with this strategy. The first is that Canadians aren’t really dissatisfied with EL According to a June poll by Nanos Research, 60 per cent o f Canadians don’t think E l is a significant enough issue over which to force an election.

The second, much more serious problem is that Harper’s Conservatives introduced a bill to reform E l two weeks ago, shortly after the Liberals announced their intention to de­ feat the government. This effectively nullifies Ignatieff’s only real campaign issue, leaving him without even a weak excuse for bringing down the Tories.

The antics o f American politicians in the health care debate may seem ridiculous to Canadians, but there’s no denying that Demo­ crats and Republicans have very real differ­ ences on the issue. Harper and Ignatieff are feuding over no issues whatsoever.

Theo M eyer is currently studying a b ro a d at University C olleg e London.

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Communication breakdown, it’s always the same

Thomas Quail editor@mcgilltribune.com

MANAGING E D IT O R S James Gilman jgilman@mcgilltribune.com Carolyn Yates cyates@mcgilltribune.com

PRO D U CTIO N M A N AGER Adam Scotti ascotti@mcgilltribune.com

N EW S E D IT O R S Tori Crawford, Steven Hoffer, and Trip Yang news@mcgilltribune.com

OPIN ION E D IT O R Matt Chesser opinion@mcgilltribune.com

F E A T U R E S E D IT O R S Shannon Kimball and Brahna Siegelberg features@mcgilltribune.com

A R T S & EN TERTA IN M EN T E D IT O R S Kyle Carpenter and Laura Tindal arts@mcgilltribune.com

SP O R T S E D IT O R S Kailan Leung and Jon Rubenstein

Last spring, the McGill administration opted to change the way that they produce course packs. Longtime course pack provid­ er Eastman Systems, previously responsible for securing copyright privileges and then scanning course pack material, was kicked to the curb in favour o f in-house production

by McGill Ancillary Services. Predictably, some chaos ensued.

Due to nebulous “contractual issues” that delayed the installation of necessary hardware and software for producing the course packs, many students weren’t able to purchase their readings until the second or third week of school. The delay has caused considerable animosity towards the ad­ ministration, most notably from professors like Richard Schultz, who has accused the administration of engaging "in a campaign of disinformation, misinformation, and out­ right lies.”

While Schultz’s statement is slightly hyperbolic, he is correct in noting that the changeover process has been poorly han­ dled. Communication between administra­ tors and professors was extremely poor, and M cGill’s reluctance to volunteer any information about the delay has caused sus­ picion.

What’s more troubling, though, is that

amid the petty squabbling between profes­ sors and administrators, the people most af­ fected by this issue—the students—seem to have been forgotten.

We’re puzzled as to why students were not informed about the course pack delay in a broadcast email. Much of the animosity di­ rected towards McGill by frustrated students could have been avoided with an explana­ tion of the reasons behind the delay and a simple m ea cu lp a: “Circumstances beyond our control resulted in delays in the printing process. We're sorry for any inconvenience that this may have caused.”

In fact, until McGill senators and the campus press started asking questions, stu­ dents were left in the dark—forced to rely on piecemeal information from professors and bookstore employees. In this digital age, communication breakdowns are unaccept­ able. It’s disappointing that the administra­ tion chose not to communicate directly with students, especially when the means to do so are so easily available.

We’re also equally disappointed with some of the professors. According to VicePrincipal (University Services) Jim Nicell, approximately 116 course packs were sub­ mitted after the final printing deadline. This is inexcusable. Having a course pack ready

for the first day o f class isn’t a luxury, it’s a requirement. The administration and the faculties need to send a message to profes­ sors that late submissions will not be toler­ ated. It’s hard enough to stay up-to-date with course readings—lazy professors shouldn’t be making it any more difficult.

The Tribune doesn’t disagree with M cG ill’s decision to take on course pack production. In fact, the more we’ve learned about the move, the more we’ve become convinced that it may have been the right thing to do. Since McGill was already re­ sponsible for printing course packs, it makes sense for them to also take on compiling and securing copyright privileges. But a full and transparent consultation, with both profes­ sors and students, over the decision to switch away from Eastman, as well as a breakdown of the costs involved in course pack produc­ tion would have gone a long way towards dispelling the doubts that we still have over the administration’s decision.

We hope that the delays experienced with course packs this year were only start­ up problems—but because of the limited information we’re still not entirely sure. We all pay a lot to attend this school, and to buy our course packs—we at least deserve to know where that money is going.

sports@mcgilltribune.com

PH O TO E D IT O R S Alice Walker and Julia Webster photo@mcgilltribune.com

D ESIGN E D IT O R S Alison Bailey and Zoe Brewster design@mcgilltribune.com

C O P Y ED IT O R Carolyn Grégoire

A D V ERT ISIN G M A N AGER Dallas Bentley cpm@ssmu.mcgill.ca

YOUR CYNICISM MADE M E GREEN WITH ANGER

P U B L ISH E R

R e: “My p o in t... an d I d o have o n e: Green with anger, ” by M ax Silverman (15.09.09)

Chad Ronalds

C O N T R IB U T O R S Chen Bi, Sarah Cramer, Francesca Ferenczi, Maria Flores, Lauren Hudak, John Kelsey, Ricky Kreitner, Adam Levine, Alex MacDonald, Justin Margolis, Théo Meyer, Lukas Samuelson, Ryan Taylor, Karen Wilson

Having worked as a journalist, I under­ stand the need to find an angle. But I found Max Silverman’s “Green with Anger” sacri­ ficed a great deal for a cynical, tired, and un­ helpful “back in my day” attitude.

While I agree that much more needs to

be done, Silverman ignored many initiatives working to “change our disastrous course,” instead choosing to focus on the pitfalls of ill-researched “green” behavioural change.

If you’re talking about direct action, burn­ ing paper mâché globes isn’t exactly grand compared to the Rainforest Action Network’s 70-foot Tar Sands banner hung from Niagara Falls on September 14 or the Greenpeace action that shut down a Shell Tar Sands op­ eration the same day. Globally, Avaaz’s TckTckTck campaign will host over 1,000 “Climate Wake-Up Call” actions on September 21, and 350.org’s International Day o f Climate Action already has over 1,500 actions planned in 114 countries for October 24. In the lead up to this December’s UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen, millions of people around the world are making their voices heard. Or, closer to home, Silverman could have mentioned the 30-plus student groups at McGill that work, on green issues from composting and local food to developing faculty sustainability policy and

integrating sustainability into the curriculum (see www.ssmu.mcgill.ca/environment for more details). Or that McGill students are among key organizers of our nation’s biggest ever youth climate event. Power Shift Canada (October 23-26 in Ottawa).

Certainly some companies greenwash, and certainly environmentally-conscious deci­ sions need to be made carefully. But how does telling people that nothing is being done—and that their attempts to do their part are bound to be ineffectual—contribute to the task at hand: doing what we can to mitigate climate change and developing adaptation strategies for what we’ve already set in motion? Come off it, Max. Environmentalism isn’t dead just because it’s more politically acceptable—and since you’ve already got that canvas bag, you might as well make use of it.

—Maggie Knight U2 BA Sc Environment & Economics

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F le e in g p ersecu tio n : M cG ill o ffe rs s a fe h a v e n fo r B a h a ’i’ s tu d e n ts BRAHNA SIEGELBERG Features Editor

In Canada, the thought of being expelled from university for religious beliefs is unthinkable. But for Leila,* being a member o f the Baha’i faith in a country ruled by Islamic law forced her and her sis­ ter to seek higher education elsewhere—at McGill University.

Leila was a student at a major Iranian Univer­ sity* when she was told to report to the committee in charge of deciding who is eligible for higher edu­ cation. They informed her, along with several other students, that she was no longer a desirable candidate for university studies, and was ordered to withdraw.

“We were told at first by our family and friends /not to take this too seriously because we were never given anything official,” says Leila. “So, I continued going to university. But [slowly] I was prevented from going into my classes, then to the philosophy department, then to the entire university.”

While Leila had never personally experienced persecution for being Baha’i, she always knew that getting expelled was a distinct possibility, as Baha’is have been banned from receiving higher education since the Iranian Revolution in 1979. The year she applied to university was the first in which the en­ trance test did not ask students to check off their religion, but the change had more to do with interna­ tional pressure than it did with increased tolerance.

“I always knew this could happen,” says Leila.

“But I pretended it wouldn’t happen to me. But if you’re Baha’i in Iran you kind of have to expect any­ thing to happen to you.”

History of the Baha’i persecution Unlike other religious minorities in Iran, the Baha’i have been particular targets of religious per­ secution from the predominantly Shia Muslim popu­ lation.

Nadim Roberts, U3 political science student and former vice president o f external affairs o f the Baha’i Students Association, explains that Baha’fsm differs fundamentally from Islam in that it does not view Muhammad as the final prophet, which is a major point of contention.

Although the Baha’i have been the subjects of discrimination since the religion’s inception in the early 19th century, it was only after the Iranian Revolution in 1979—when the country officially became an Islamic state—that Baha’is gained an in­ ferior legal status.

“At the beginning o f the revolution, you had the most violent period of persecution,” says Payam Akhavan, a professor at M cG ill’s faculty of law.

“Beginning with 1979 and onwards, the leadership o f the Baha’f community was systematically arrested and executed in what was effectively an extermina­ tion campaign to decapitate the Baha’i community.

There were official pronouncements by the equiv­ alent o f the attorney general, who was a religious cleric, that Baha’is were “those whose blood may be shed with impunity.” So there became a legalized basis for the persecution o f Baha’is.”

It was at this violent and tumultuous time that many Baha’is—including Roberts’ mother—sought refuge in western countries like Canada.

However, many other families either could not, or chose not to, leave in spite o f the injustices they would face.

“Many people left after the revolution,” says Leila. “But my family stayed, and tried to make the best of the situation. It’s very hard to find a job as a Baha’i, especially since you are banned from univer­ sity. But still, we stay and we help each other.”

In the early 1990s, however, when Supreme Leader Ali Khamene’i wrote a famous letter to then President Rafsanjani telling him to relax the more violent forms o f persecution, the discrimination has not been as outwardly violent as it had been previ­ ously. It has instead been replaced by a more subtle campaign to suffocate the Baha’i community by de­ nying them higher education, desecrating cemeter­ ies, and nullifying marriages.

“It’s basically a war o f attrition and a battle of wills to crush these people’s spirits,” says Akhavan.

“Many still said, ‘This is our country, and we’re not going to compromise our beliefs.’ But they’ve paid a tremendous price—not just those who have been executed and sent to prison, but just the daily life of

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living in a society where you are hated and lies are constantly spread about you.”

The Ahmadinejad regime While the more “moderate” regimes of the 1990s reduced Baha’f persecution to a certain ex­ tent, under the current government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, tensions have once again escalated with rampant hate propaganda in newspapers, and increased incidences of destruction and violence.

“Ahmadinejad himself belonged to a radi­ cal group called the Hojjatieh whose sole purpose was the eradication o f the Baha’i community,” says Akhavan. “And his spiritual mentor, an Ayatollah by the name of Mohammad Mesbah-Yazdi, has openly fascist views, calling for the eradication of anyone deemed disloyal to the regime.”

Now, in addition to the denial o f education, there are increased incidences of Baha’i children being harassed in schools and humiliated by their teachers, renewed calls to remove Baha’i business licenses, and recently, there was an incident in which Baha’i homes in Semnan were burnt down. One of the better-known recent injustices was the detain­ ment of seven leaders o f the Baha’i faith on the basis of a supposed charge o f espionage.

While Baha’is have been facing renewed per­ secution since Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005, the situation has in some ways become even more precarious in light o f this summer’s events. Given the many protests in favour o f Ahmadinejad’s oppo­ nent and against the fraudulent election, the regime’s legitimacy was suddenly placed under serious scru­ tiny. According to Akhavan, in times of political tur­ moil, the Baha’i's have always been the people on whom the government can project hate in order to distract attention from their own failures. The fear now is that there might perhaps be a resumption of the kind of violent persecution they experienced in the days o f the Revolution.

“Without provoking the people to chant ‘death to America,’ ‘death to Israel, or ‘death to the Baha’is,’ the regime has nothing else to offer,” says Akhavan.

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The House of the Bab in Shiraz, Iran, one of the most holy sites in the Baha’i world, was destroyed by Revolutionary Guardsmen in the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

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Baha’i persecutions have escalated once again since the hard-lining Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office in 2005.

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The Baha’i Institute of Higher Education It’s part of a culture of hate mongering and paranoia, which sustains authoritarian power. They create an enemy and keep the people’s minds busy by saying that now is not the time to complain because we’re going to be invaded by foreigners.”

The youthful promise While the threat to the Islamic Republic has, on the one hand, increased the potential for extreme vi­ olence and persecution, it has also created the hope for a genuine effort at transforming the current state o f affairs.

"This summer’s events made the Baha’i situation more visible,” says Leila.

“Before, people were not sympathetic and couldn’t really see through the lies people told. But when it happened to the whole community, they sort of un­ derstood it better.”

The fact that so many people were willing to protest not only signaled an overwhelming desire for reform, but also enabled many Iranians to get a first-hand experience of the kind of violence the government was capable of unleashing on all castes o f society.

“Many Iranian democrats are beginning to un­ derstand that the emancipation o f the Baha’is is part o f the emancipation o f Iranian society as a whole,” says Akhavan. “When you are building an identity on hatred, you can’t just isolate it. The regime could theoretically stay in power through terror, intimida­ tion, and control o f the economy, but it will always do so with the consciousness that there is a majority which is deeply resentful, and given the opportunity, would get rid o f them.”

This summer’s events also demonstrated that there exists a youthful generation with a clear desire to break with the past, and to enact a government that can respond to its needs, create employment, and have at least minimal respect for human rights.

“Seventy per cent o f Iranians are under the age of 30,” says Roberts. “And they don’t feel the same connection to the revolution that the older genera­ tions feel. They watch these events on satellite tele-

vision and see what really happens, they read about the different'sides of the issue online.”

While the future is undoubtedly precarious, the Iranian people have made it clear that they will not stand for an oppressive regime. Not only have they made their thoughts known by protesting in the streets, but many—particularly the youth—have threatened the government simply by sharing their personal opinions.

“Iran has one o f the largest percentages o f blog­ gers in the world,” says Roberts. “And if you read these blogs, they’re intense. These kids are putting their lives at risk for what they want the world to know.”

Roberts also cites an online group called the Mid-East Youth—whose aim is to promote dialogue on issues such as Islam and its relationship to the west—as an example o f the growing number o f ac­ tive and aware youth. The group also started another website specifically to target the issue of Baha’i per­ secution in Iran.

“It is difficult to say exactly what the future holds for this regime,” says Akhavan. “But in a sense their days are numbered because you cannot stop this tidal wave of 50 million youth. The government has all the power of the state—revolutionary guards, weapons, torture chambers. But they are terrified of an 18-year old web blogger. The biggest enemy of the Islamic republic is the people themselves.”

The fate o f the Baha’i in Iran is not only a ques­ tion o f whether the government will decide to grant them their fundamental human rights: it is a ques­ tion of whether they will realize that these rights are the keystones of democracy without which no one in Iran is ultimately safe. If this overwhelmingly youthful generation can combat censorship, and use any capacity o f free speech they can to promote a world in which dialogue and understanding prevail over hate and violence, then perhaps there is hope for a better future., *T he student d o es not wish to d isclose h er real nam e o r the nam e o f the university sh e attended.

The Baha’i Institute o f Higher Education (BIHE), also known as the B ah âï Open University, is a university that was founded and run by the Baha'i community follow­ ing the denial o f education to Baha'is in Iran.

BIHE has grown and developed and now offers over 700 courses, many o f which are taught online through a global faculty of over 275 volunteers.

The 17 degree programs over three different areas being offered cover fields from civil engineering to psy­ chology, and even professors at McGill have been in­ volved in teaching some courses. fallowing the completion o f their degrees, many BIHE graduates have gone on to attend graduate programs at prestigious universities in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K.

Post 1979 Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, the newly founded Islamic government be­ gins firing Baha’i professors and expelling Baha’i students from Iranian universities as part of a larger campaign o f religious persecution.

1987 The Baha’i Institute for Higher Education is established to give Baha’i youth the chance to receive a university education.

1996 The Iranian government begins a series o f raids against vari­ ous BIHE facilities both in private homes and commercial build­ ings. Among the large amount of textbooks, copying machines, and other equipment destroyed, records and other information are also seized. These frequent government raids and arrests leave teachers and students without materials and the resources to con­ tinue education.

Now

BOSTON.COM

The government’s actions in supressing civilian riots over the contested election revealed the regime’s totalitarian tactics.

BOSTON.COM

Iranian protesters question the current state of their democratic rights asking, “where is my vote?”

With an average o f 1,000 students applying each year, and with just over 250 being accepted into each incoming class, the BIH E has significantly grown since its inception.

St u d e n t l iv in g

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S T A R T IN G S IM P L E Before I introduce myself, I should clari­ fy: I am a virgin.

This fact may be irrelevant for some.

But for others, it is an integral part o f being a woman. I am not some homy teenager on the brink of graduating high school with the fear of facing university sexless (I have been there, done that). I should also clarify that I ’m not ugly. I'm not being conceited, but you should know that I am neither pre-pubescent nor a 200-pound undergrad that should have stopped at the freshman 15 (or 40). My physi­ cal features are irrelevant other than the fact that my virginity is not due to a “lacking in the

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looks department” problem.

I was, however, a late bloomer; I was sweet 16 and never been kissed, though I was eventually able to begin my reign as Queen of the Make-Out Sluts. I ’m not shy either: I ’m out-going, funny, and extremely social. I’d say my personality is the real kicker when it comes to my good traits. So why am I still a virgin?

I could be religious (I’m not), or sav­ ing myself for marriage (God I hope not), or waiting for love (I could be 30 before I find that, and then they’d probably have to make a movie out of my love life). I am not a girl without standards, but I don’t believe they are unreasonable ones either.

My criteria?

1. Sexual attraction. If I ’m not feeling it in the loins there’s just no point trying to go there.

2. Trust. I have felt it in my loins before, but as you’ll soon learn I have had some ex­ treme self-control on nights where I ’ve want­ ed to just go for it but knew I would regret it the next morning. I want to know that when

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usually incorporate either my love life (or lack it’s all said and done, regardless o f where we thereof), me being a virgin, or me being drunk go from there, that he was a good guy and that (usually while wishing I wasn’t a virgin). So I felt relatively comfortable with him.

I was lying here in bed, thinking about—well 3.

Sobriety. I want to make the decision while I ’m sober. I f I choose to have a glass of I was thinking about something completely wine or two, so be it, but I do not want alcohol inappropriate but thus are the symptoms of being a virgin. Anyways, I was lying in bed clouding my judgment. and it struck me that there must be some un­ Three rules. Three little, teeny-itsy-bitsyderlying reason, something that has led me miniscule-so-easily-attainable-for-most-girlsto be perpetually sexless. And if I lay out my it-seem s rules. Now I ’m sure there are a few past perhaps it will jump out at me, and if it more side notes, and these rules are not set in doesn’t, perhaps it will jump out at you. If not, stone, but they are the reasons why I don’t just then I just embarrassed myself for no reason head to a bar and pick up the guy I think will other than for your entertainment. But that’s a be the best lay. regular Friday night out for me.

“It’ll happen;” “just wait, you’ll see, and So here we go. I hope you’re prepared. you’ll be so happy that you waited;” “serious­ You’re about to delve into The Virgin Chron­ ly, it’s really not that great.” I f you’re look­ icles. ing to convince me that being a virgin is great, trust me, I ’ve heard every excuse and you can The Virgin C hronicles is a new bi-w eekly just suck it. You go be celibate at university column. All nam es, including that o f the au ­ and tell me how it goes. thor, have been chan ged to protect the privacy Here’s the deal. I may have lived a rela-o f those involved. tively short life, but I have gotten myself into numerous compromising, ridiculous, and often incredibly entertaining situations that

DATING FOR DOUCHEBAGS

Soup: the real cure for swine flu Manners 101

How to act like an adult

Ingredients

ADAM LEVINE Contributor

It seems that everyone is obsessed with swine flu. I look around, and I see people vigorously hand-sanitizing, correct­ ly coughing into the crook of their arms, and debating, planning for, and laughing at H l N l . Needless to say, when I felt myself getting sick last week, I immediately diag­ nosed myself with swine flu. The only cure was to make chicken noodle soup.

Making chicken soup from scratch can seem daunting, because it’s the kind of thing you picture your grandmother slaving over for hours, or Rachel Ray producing in 30 minutes with mediocre results; but it can be far more wonderful than either o f those things.

Leaving my afternoon class, I saw the campus farmers’ market at Three Bares Park, and bought pounds o f celery, carrots, and a head of cabbage for less than $10.

Then I walked over to the butcher on Roy and St-Laurent, Alim-Pot, and bought a chicken for $5.84.

A note on the butcher: better meat comes from butchers, period. The meat is also much, much cheaper. At Metro or Provigo, a single chicken breast would have been more than the entire chicken from the butcher.

Another note on the butcher: make sure you ask your butcher to skin and quarter the chicken for you. I failed to do this, so when I went to make soup I found myself confronted with the unusual and vaguely medieval task o f skinning the chicken and removing its neck, innards, and back. The process was decidedly labor intensive, and involved some blood (the chicken’s, not mine), some tears (mine, not the chicken’s) and a few gag reflexes (also mine). I f you’re into culinary experiments of this sort, I ’d recommend a very sharp, heavy knife, a strong stomach, and a thor­ ough clean-up afterwards.

L

• • • • • • • • • •

SHANNON KIMBALL

1 chicken, pre-butchered 1 onion 2 heads of chopped celery 1 lb. chopped carrots 1 head of cabbage, chopped Uncooked pasta (adjust quantity to taste) 1 large clove of garlic 1 bay leaf 1 tbsp. black peppercorns Salt to taste

Features Editor

Hook-ups (sober or not) seem to be re­ placing good old-fashioned dating. While this is ideal for some sex-crazed teens, some stu­ dents are looking to get to know someone, and assess whether or not a healthy relationship is worth establishing. For those looking to go on an actual date, the process is complicated and intimidating. Here’s a list o f basic courtesies that have gotten lost in the hook-up age.

Directions For girls

1. With the chicken successfully butch­ ered. I layered a chopped onion, two heads o f chopped celery, roughly one pound o f chopped carrots, and one large clove of garlic in a stockpot. I then set the chicken pieces on top of the vegetables, and added one bay leaf and a tablespoon or so o f whole black peppercorns.

2. Fill the stockpot about two thirds of the way with water, Cover, bring to a boil, and reduce heat. Let the soup simmer for several hours, but do NOT let it boil again.

3. After an hour, check the chicken meat.

When it’s cooked all the way through, use tongs to pull it out and pull the meat from the bones. Set the meat aside and put the bones back in for an­ other hour.

4. When the liquid is golden and tastes heavenly, remove the bones and the bay leaf.

5. Add salt gradually (in increments of one teaspoon) and stir. Taste until you’ve reached the desired level of seasoning.

6. Add the chicken meat, and pour in chopped cabbage and noodles (I fa­ vour elbow macaroni, though many are partial to egg noodles). Let this simmer until noodles are cooked and the cabbage is tender.

7. Eat, and recover from swine flu.

• It’s a date, so wear something sexy.

• It’s, a date, so wear something that won’t detract too much front the conversation.

• Be on time. Mystery is good, but not if the mystery is whether or not you’ll show up. Chances are, your date won’t notice the hottest new shade of Chanel lip-gloss you’re sporting, or if your bag is a slightly different shade of brown than your shoes.

For guys • Chivalry: just do it. Your date may have grown up with strong role models who practiced chivalry, and if not, they might appreciate the pleasant surprise of some­ one else opening the door.

• Wear something that smells good. Better yet, wear deodorant (or shower) so that you smell good.

• Don’t brag about the 10 beers you guz-

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GRAPHICSHUNT.COM

zled with your buddies last week before the football game. Imaginations are pow­ erful, and your date might begin to won­ der where you learned to hold your liquor so well, and what (or who) you did while doing so.

• Listen. It’s a hard one, especially if your date talks faster than an auctioneer and their life seems more complicated than a Tolstoy novel. Pick up small details that you can remember, and keep asking questions.

For everyone: Don’t be a douchebag • Put away your cell phone. Your Facebook notifications are not as important as the person in front of you. I f you feel the need to text your friends with date status updates, then the date isn’t going well.

And you look like an asshole for not pay­ ing attention.

• Don’t get too drunk too early. This is a date, remember? Drowning your sorrows will just turn it into another hook-up.

• Follow table etiquette as if your mother were watching. It sounds stringent, but poor table manners are a distraction from good looks and pleasant conversation.

That means chewing with your mouth closed and holding in the temptation to burp the alphabet.

• Even if his face looks like the backside of a shovel or her constant talking exposes the spinach in her braces, be polite. Most dates won’t turn into relationships, but who knows, your date may have a cute friend.

• The check debate has gone on for ages, and will continue to do so. The easiest thing to do would be to always split it, but everyone grows up with different ex­ pectations and going Dutch isn’t terribly romantic. If you’ve asked someone on a date, assume that you will pay the bill — after all, you are asking for the pleasure o f their company. Checks will always be tricky, so whatever you decide, always bring enough cash to pay for the meal, entertainment, etc.

• Seal it with... well, whatever you feel is appropriate, provided the-beer goggles aren’t on and you won’t regret it the next day. However or whenever the date ends, make a genuine commitment to call or not to call. The games aren’t worth it.

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TRAVEL

A weekend on the rocky cliffs of the Cinque Terre in northern Italy Hiking an d dining on Italy’s coastline FRANCESCA FERENCZI Contributor

I would say that any day that I have pesto running down my chin is a good day. When I have the best pesto in Italy running down my chin, well then it’s a great day. But that's not the only reason I had three great days in the Cinque Terre. Visiting was on my to-do list from my first day in Italy, but in the blink of an eye I found myself most of the way through my year abroad and I still hadn’t been. The Cinque Terre, or Five Lands, is an area in northern Italy composed of five small towns studding the rocky cliffs of the Ligurian coast.

The main attraction is the nine kilometre hike through the National Park and the UNESCO World Heritage site. Usually a full day’s activ­ ity, the hike goes through each town from the northernmost Monterosso to the southernmost town o f Riomaggiore. Riomaggiore is a quaint and welcoming town, whose population of about 1,800 works to accommodate tourists.

Like the rest o f the towns, it is recognizable for small brightly colored buildings with dark green shutters, steep streets, and rocky beach­ es.

After arriving at our apartment style hos­ tel, Affittacamere Patrizia, my friends and I ran down the main Via Colombo for a swim.

The three o f us were speechless as we treaded

In Cinque Terre, five coastal towns provide a stunning backdrop for hiking, swimming, and epicurean delights. in the incredible Ligurian waters.

That night we treated ourselves to a local feast of frutti di mare stufati, a dish o f stewed fish, and seafood in a tomato sauce, and polpo e patate, an octopus and potato salad at La Grotta, one o f several restaurants in town that showcases a variety of local dishes.

We woke up the next morning invigorat­ ed for our hike. After a quick cappuccino and brioche we got on the train up to Monterosso (we considered taking a ferry, but it was eight euros and so we opted for the 1.20 euro train

instead). 1 am no hiker, but I found this one to be very manageable; we took our time along the way to enjoy the seascapes, towns, and plantlife and to take pictures. We were in Italy, where rushing is out of place. Halfway through our journey we stopped in Corniglia, the only town that is not directly on the water, for a lunch o f famous local focaccia and icecold gelatos.

The Via dell’Amore (a.k.a. Way o f Love), a tunnel covered with graffiti made by young Italians for their boyfriends and girlfriends,

welcomed us back into Riomaggiore. Once we arrived, we settled into the Bar Centrale— coffee and food bar by day, standard bar by night—and had an aperitivo, a classic Italian late afternoon drink. It was well deserved and much needed, and as we chilled we unani­ mously agreed that Cinque Terre is a must-see on a tour o f Italy. It may seem somewhat lost within the hustle and bustle o f the 21st cen­ tury, but even if it’s only for the pesto, give it a shot.

ii

ON VEUT TON TALENT Derrière la qualité de vie des Québécois, il y a des carrières pleines de défis.

7

Henna 7:30-10:30 p.m. ^■^Shatner, B-29 )

Join South Asian Women’s Aid and let your skin become a canvas for professional henna art­ ists, who will be applying henna designs for just $3 for members and $5 for non-members. Grab some samosas and chai, and hang out with friends while enjoying the festivities.

7

A

MOC Mountain Potluck 7:30-8:30 p.m.

Top of Mont-Royal

Join the McGill Outdoors Club for a potluck on top o f Mount Royal. Meet at the grassy knoll be­ hind the Chalet to talk about trips, play frisbee, and enjoy some tasty food! Learn about the club, trips, and getting involved.

CAMPAGNE ANNUELLE DE RECRUTEMENT UNIVERSITAIRE

AUTOMNE 2009 Tu termines tes études universitaires d'ici août 2010? Tu es titulaire d'un diplôme d'études universitaires et tu étudies toujours à temps plein? Les grands enjeux sociaux, économiques et culturels du Québec t'interpellent? Tu désires te réaliser tout en te sentant utile à la société? Ne manque pas la campagne annuelle de recrutement universitaire de la fonction publique québécoise, qui se déroulera du 14 septembre au 9 octobre 2009.

En plus d'offrir des carrières pleines de défis, le gouvernement du Québec te propose des conditions de travail avantageuses et de multiples possibilités : un aménagement souple du temps de travail, des activités de formation ainsi que la possibilité de travailler dans différents secteurs, ministères et organismes ou régions du Québec.

Political Issues Film / Screening A * T L * I A S p.m.

7

The Political Issues Club will be screening ‘Lost Boys o f Sudan’ which follows two Sudanese refu­ gees struggling to adapt to life in suburban America. We will be serving pizza and refreshments at 7:15 PM, screening the film at 7:30 PM and following it with a discussion.

^

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First Peoples’ House ’A 8th Annual Pow Wow Lower Field

Tu es talentueux et intéressé à apporter ta contribution... Pour en savoir davantage, viens rencontrer l'équipe de Recrutement Québec.

Le jeudi 24 septembre 2009,10 h à 16 h Management Career Fair, Centre Mont-Royal 220, rue Mansfield, Montréal

Show your pride in First Peo­ ples’ culture by joining the McGill and greater Montreal communities in the 8th Annual Pow Wow. Just follow the sound of the drums.

Le mardi 29 septembre 2009, 9 h 30 à 15 h 30 McGill University Technology Fair, New Residence Hall 3625, avenue du Parc, Montréal

ON T'ATTEND! CARRIERES.GOUV.QC.CA

Pour t'inscrire en ligne ou pour avoir plus de détails, consulte le site.

Tu peux aussi te renseigner auprès du service de placement de ton établissement d'enseignement.

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CONCERT

Norway’s Sondre Lerche releases his soundtrack of the heart New album is made with a little help from his friends LAURA TIN D AL A& E Editor

If you were at Petit Campus last Tuesday and didn't know anything about the singer on stage, I can imagine how unexpected the scene may have been. His fan base in Canada isn’t huge, but if you stumbled into his Mon­ treal show, you would have found an adorable, impish Norwegian, alone onstage, perform­ ing for an enchanted crowd that hung on his every word like scripture. During his croon­ ing pop, the audience remained silent—rapt— until asked to join in, at which point the room filled with a beautiful, ghostly choir of female voices, singing in perfect harmony, a hymn of enamoured worship.

This is Sondre Lerche, the Norwegian pop star whose heartfelt, love-struck songs— ranging from guitar rock to pure jazz to buoy­ ant pop—have delighted fans around the word since his 2000 rock debut F a c e s Down. 2 0 0 4 ’s Two-Way M onologue cemented his place in the hearts of fans with it's charming pop tunes, and D uper Sessions's jazz proved he was more than just a pop star. On September 8, Lerche released his sixth album, H eartbeat R adio, a mix of genres that pushed the boundaries of

his musicianship.

“For this album, I was mainly just inter­ ested in having no limitations,” says Lerche.

“For the last couple of projects I ’ve been very keen on exploring on e thing: recording a rock band live off the floor or a jazz quartet, or whatever ... For this record, I wanted none of that—I wanted no limitations, I wanted just lots o f time to explore and experiment with different sounds. It’s a pretty eclectic record in that sense; there's a lot of different stuff hap­ pening, different directions. And in that sense it sort o f sums up a lot of albums I ’ve been into.”

The album was recorded over the past year, with Lerche writing at his home in New York, and flying back to his original home in Bergen, Norway, to record at a friend’s studio.

Not wanting to take on the time restraints and stylistic limitations prescribed by a record label, Lerche put the album together indepen­ dently.

“I wanted to just do the record, and then go play it for labels, which of course either requires money or really good friends. And I had, luckily, some good friends,” says Lerche.

With the help of some pals in the Bergen mu­ sic-scene, H eartbeat R adio was born. A little more mellow than his previous pop albums, his smiling, earnest voice sings lyrics that are sweet and unexpectedly observant.

“In Norway, you don’t listen [to] lyrics

in pop music when it’s in English—although everybody speaks English there—you don’t listen in the same way,” says Lerche. “I was shocked when I first started playing here be­ cause people were really hanging onto every word. And lyrics that maybe I didn’t really feel were that profound or special, people re­ ally took seriously and it meant a great deal to them. That really opened my eyes to exploring deep possibilities more, and say, hey, you gotta pay attention, ‘cause it means something.”

Lerche’s lyrics have become more com­ plex since his early albums, but they still retain the simplicity that makes them both endearing and accessible. During his Montreal show, Lerche used this endearing charm to keep the audience wrapped around his finger. He inter­ acts with the audience with a confidence he disguises as confusion, pretending to be fully unaware o f the swooning girls or the excited giggles he elicits. He tells the audience about a half-naked man in a car eating noodles in Montreal, and pretends to tune his guitar in the middle o f shocking, fast-paced, finger-picking guitar solos.

Lerche also keeps an eye on the music scene back in Bergen, and is eager to share his excitement about his new favourite band, indie-beat-poets John Olav Nilsen & Gjengen. “They’re interesting because there’s a lot o f bands coming up now that are doing something really different in that they express

themselves—very heartfelt and really sort of raw and poetic—in their own dialect, in Nor­ wegian,” Lerche explains. “And that is some­ thing that really hasn’t been a tendency in Ber­ gen for years. When I was sort of branching out, the kind o f bands that were happening at the same time were all singing in English.”

When asked if he has considered writ­ ing more songs in Norweigan, Lerche replies, “I've never really considered it. When I grew up all the music I listened to was in English, and the stuff that wasn’t in English was in Bra­ zilian and Portuguese, which I don’t speak.

But to me it was always more natural to sing in English. And it may sound weird, but that was the language that my kind of music demand­ ed.” Lerche credits his international following partially to his English lyrics, which are more accessible to foreign fans than Norwegian.

That said, onstage at Petit Campus, Lerche caved to a heckler demanding he sing a Norwegian song. “Is it anybody’s birthday?” he asked, proceeding to sing the Norwegian equivalent of “Happy Birthday,” complete with an awkward spin and a self-conscious grin. The crowd went wild. Lerche just grinned. One thing’s for sure: this boy knows how to work a crowd, both with his music and without.

Heartbeat Radio is a v ailab le in stores and on iTunes.

ADAM

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Lerche holds a Two-Way M on olo g u e with the audience on Septem ber 15 at Petit Campus.

i ufj i m e i u n c NO A P O L O G IE S I love Kanye West. Not because I think he’s a particularly gifted musician (or pro­ ducer, or rapper, or whatever), but because he has the gumption and arrogance that I expect from the wealthy and successful.

His stunt at the V M A s—where he in­ terrupted Best Female Video winner Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech—has yet again set the whole world against him. Pity for Swift swelled immediately into Kanye-hatred. On the night of the scandal, I counted at least a dozen anti-Kanye posts on my Facebook newsfeed. Even Obama was mad enough to call him a jackass—and he deals with terror­ ists and nuclear arms dealers.

The only thing I ’m mad at Kanye for

is boosting Jay Leno’s ratings and trying to snivel, kowtow, and apologize his way back into the good graces of the oversensitive pub­ lic. I will not accept your apology, Mr. West, for I would sooner admit that I ’m lame and hate to party.

And you know why? Because I like a rock star, even if he’s a rapper. What hap­ pened to the bad boy musicians o f old? When did we start expecting men who make heaps of money playing music to be role models?

Wealthy and successful musicians have been forgiven for their egregious sins against sen­ sibility for decades. Forget drugs and mis­ treating women, nowadays we—and by “we” I mean everyone besides me— are chastising Kanye for basic bad manners. Personally, my rock stars should be like my beef: jerky.

Kanye handled this situation like a cham­ pion. He waltzed into the VMAs like they were no big deal (fitting, because they’re not) with a bottle of Hennessey that he swigged and shared with his famous friends. Then he got on stage when it wasn’t his turn and gave a sweet shout-out to his girl Beyonce. How is this wrong? He was the life o f the party!

Staged publicity stunt or not, Kanye has un­ deniable bad boy charm. Remember when he used airtime for a national disaster (Katrina) as a public forum to insult George W. Bush?

That was brilliant.

Celebrities exist to give the rest of us ordinary folk an outlet for all the outland­ ish and insane things that we want to do. It’s therapeutic to see somebody wear an icedout chain with their full legal name on it. It’s

LU K A S SA M U ELSO N great to see celebrities use public apologies as get-out-jail-free cards, and it’s damn ca­ thartic to see Kanye West march onto a stage he has no business being on and shout madly about which music video he felt was supe­ rior.

The fact that he stepped all over some naïve country singer’s feelings is just icing on the cake. Rock stars exist to act out our inner fantasies. Kanye is the raving, wealthy egomaniac who we all wish we could be.

So I say unto you, hypocritical masses: why should the public demand apologies and humility from a celebrity who should be cherished for being brash and supercilious?

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PHOTO

MUSIC

Polaris not without controversy Canadian music prize re­ peat nominees criticized RYAN TAYLOR Contributor

Now in its fourth year, the Polaris Prize sets out to recognize the best Canadian album of the year based solely on artistic m e r itregardless o f genre or commercial success— with a $20,000 prize.

This year’s short list included Elliott BROOD, Fucked Up, Great Lake Swimmers, Hey Rosetta!, K ’naan, Malajube, Metric, Joel Plaskett, Chad VanGaalen, and Patrick Wat­ son.

It is a lengthy process to make the short­ list. A grand jury of music journalists, broad­ casters, and bloggers vote on their top five albums o f the year, which are compiled into a long list o f 40 albums. From there, the long list is pared down to the 10-album short list, all o f whom are eligible for the grand prize which is voted on by a special 11 -person jury.

This year’s gala took place on September 21 in Toronto.

Though Polaris is generally respected among the music industry and music fans, it is not without its share o f critics. This year, much was made o f the seeming lack of diver­ sity, both musically and geographically, found on the short list. The first, and major, com­ plaint was that six o f the 10 artists were repeat nominees; the first time in Polaris history any artist has made the short list twice. K ’NAAN, Malajube and Metric were nominated in 2006 and Joel Plaskett, Chad VanGaalen, and Pat­ rick Watson in 2007 with Watson winning that year’s prize. Such repeats have caused critics to condemn the list as “predictable,” “famil­ iar,” and “too safe,” mostly because these acts are already well-established and do not need the exposure the prize has provided to the young up-and-coming bands it has recognized

in years past.

However, to focus solely on déjà vu is to miss the point o f the prize. “There may be a misperception that Polaris is about new or emerging acts,” founder Steve Jordan said in a press release. “[But] that’s just what’s hap­ pened in the past—it was never the mandate.

If there’s a common thread to these records, it's that each artist built on previous successes by pushing themselves into even riskier artis­ tic dimensions.”

Some repeat nominees, like Metric, have even had to defend their inclusion on the list.

“What people don’t realize is that we self-released our latest album, we release our own records,” Emily Haines told Eye Weekly after the shortlist announcement. “Metric is in line with the original premise of the award, it’s just that there’s this Canadian mentality that as soon as you become successful, you become locked out o f any artistic recognition in this country.”

Others lament that the short list does not accurately represent Canada’s musical geog­ ra p h y -a ll but one o f the nominees are from east of Manitoba (that would be Calgary’s Chad VanGaalen), and five acts are from To­ ronto alone.

However, regardless o f all the criticism, the importance o f Polaris cannot be underesti­ mated: it gives quality Canadian music expo­ sure and generates discussion. One only needs to look at the success o f past winners Final Fantasy, Patrick Watson, and Caribou to see how the prize can help an artist’s career.

“Even getting onto the long list can do huge things for a Canadian artist,” says C B C ’s Grant Lawrence. “It can create that buzz, cre­ ate sales, create success ... because it acts as that filter, that trademark quality and people want to seek out those records.”

ALICE WALKER

Ska-punk band The Johnstones played in Montreal last week to promote their first full-length album, C an ’t Be Trusted. “We tried to make it different, we took it back to the old hip-hop albums of the early 90s with the intros to some of the songs. It’s pretty ridiculous,” says Ryan Long, lead singer and drummer of the band. “In terms of musical direction, we’ve always had our own genre ... we’re good at making party songs, but at the same time we really wanted to step it up.”

The band is currently doing a headline tour across Ontario and Quebec, and hopes to escape the Canadian winter. Throughout the tour they plan to continue adding to their collection of YouTube videos, which can be viewed at youtube.com/phatbredrens.

GRAPHIC NOVEL

McGill alum draws up a graphic love letter to Montreal The Hipless Boy: semi-bisexuals, Swasticocks, and suicide interact CAROLYN YATES Managing Editor

The H ipless B oy is a collection of short stories in graphic novel format—the first graphic novel from Sully, a.k.a. Sherwin Tjia, who first penned The H ipless Boy as a McGill Daily cartoonist two years ago. With two poet­ ry collections (one of which was a finalist for the Quebec Writers Federation’s A.M. Klein Poetry Award), two comic strip collections, and an illustration credit on two children’s po­ etry books under his belt, it’s clear that the ball is just beginning to roll for the Torontoniantumed-Montrealer.

The H ipless Boy is a little bit more silly and sexy—and a lot less pretentious—than many other graphic novels, and for that it should be applauded. The art is clean, and all in black, white, and blue, and the plots are even-paced without being too busy or too slow. Sully’s skill as a writer as well as an art­

ist is evident in every frame. It takes unique talent to discuss organizing a strip spelling bee, bowel movements as a mode of revenge, and suicide, all without losing the reader.

The cast is simple but unforgettable— they’re all people you feel like you’ve met before. There’s Sully, a hipless boy living in a hipster neighbourhood, and Minerva, who is described as “a semi-bisexual private school dropout.” There’s also Owen, Sully’s artstudent friend who is always looking for new ways to offend, such as by creating a swasti­ ka-shaped dildo: “I ’ll make a silicone Swasticock™ sex toy that four people can penetrate themselves with at the same time! Then take photos!”

The format alternates page-long short stories paired with a page-long illustration with longer and more traditionally styled com­ ics. The stories are somewhat interlinked and chronological, and while the style leaves a few loose ends, they should go unnoticed by the casual reader.

Unfortunately, The H ipless B oy’s great­ est asset might also be its most problematic, at least if it wants to break into a wider audi­ ence. Montreal seeps from every frame, which

is fantastic and charming if you happen to live here, but could be problematic for non­ residents who might not be able to enjoy the subtle nuances of a certain intersection, stair­ case, or sculpture. The characters are more ac­ cessible, since nearly everyone knows an ec­ centric artist or two, but nevertheless leave the feeling that they need more o f an introduction than the one provided on the tequila-sunrisecoloured back cover.

The other problem is that, despite the lack o f what could conventionally be called a plot, The H ipless B oy wraps up with a “what’s happened to our heroes” section that effective­ ly closes most of the potential future intrigue surrounding any of the characters. Admittedly, the characters are based on real people, and as a result it’s understandable that there are some loose ends and unexplained events that can only be clarified by turning to the engag­ ing line-notes. But because those same char­ acters are based on real people, cutting off the potential for slowly and hilariously revealing their future exploits in future books is disap­ pointing.

CONNUNDRUM PRESS

Finally, a pair of hipsters that aren’t too cool to dance.

Connundrum P ress is launching The Hipless Boy on Septem ber 29.

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CD REVIEWS Greg Wood: G reg W ood Albertan guitar-rocker Greg Wood’s selftitled album sounds all too familiar. Although he may one day make a meaningful contribu­ tion to the Canadian grunge-rock scene, he must overcome the challenge of distancing himself from the music of his peers.

From the repetitive riffs to the clichéd lyrics, G reg Wood seems like a parody of the mainstream acts with which we’ve already become too familiar. Wood’s throaty, Nickelback-esque vocalizations go from bad to worse as the album progresses, culminating with the track “I Want A Girl,” in which he croons, “I want a girl with nice legs/ And a nice smile/1 want a girl who will make me cry/ When she

walks me down the aisle.” The snarling rock combined with romantic refrains makes you wonder if he’s being serious.

Instrumentally, Wood’s work can only be described as the dysfunctional love child o f Scott Stapp and Chad Kroeger—and by extension, a slew o f other early 90s bands influenced by grunge pioneer Eddie Vedder. While the music isn’t necessarily bad, it can’t be described as good either. At just over a half an hour, it is unremarkable and under­ whelming. The final lyric, “an old dusty road to nowhere,” serves as the best description of where this act is going.

Think About L ife: F am ily Think About L ife’s Fam ily is one o f the few records where the album art is wholly in­ dicative o f the music on the inside. There’s a fun, joyful nature on tracks like “Johanna.” and energy abounds throughout the album. But just like a family photo in front o f a flamingo backdrop, it’s hard to make sense of it all.

There are some downright odd choices.

The rap opening o f “Set You On Fire” —an otherwise strong electro-dance tune—is un­ necessary, and the playing-record-backward voice in the breakdown of “The Wizzzard” derails the entire song. Auto-tuned chipmunk­ like voices are abundant and your feelings about them will greatly shape your feelings about the record. For example, the refrain of

“Having My Baby” is a fantastic melody, but becomes grating underneath all o f the effects.

However, when Think About Life does something right, it shows. Take “The Veldt,” the lone “ballad” on the disc. Synths sim­ mer under the surface, and guitar lines dance around tasteful drumming. It succeeds because it shows some much-needed restraint lacking on earlier tracks. In fact, the last four tracks are the strongest on the album, using the best ideas of the earlier songs but in a more mature, less hyperactive way.

Fam ily can be a lot o f fun, but only if you’re willing to overlook sometimes glaring faults.

- Alex M acD onald

- Ryan Taylor

Co u ld Be G o !

2

September 22-28 Friday. Music. Deadm au5. To­ ronto D J Deadmau5 (pronounced “dead mouse”) plays a self-described blend o f techno, house,- and electro. If you’re into dance music or maybe just the trend o f D Js using gimmicky masks to conceal their identity—that means you.

Daft Punk—then Deadmau5 and his giant mouse head may be a good fit. @ Metropolis.

Friday. Film. I H o p e T hey S erve B e e r in H ell. Tucker Max, the found­ ing father o f the “Fratire” or “Dick Lit” literary movement has adapted his au­ tobiographical book into a feature film.

Hopefully it won’t disappoint.

Saturday. Music. She W ants R e ­ venge. There is something haunting about California duo She Wants R e­ venge; maybe it’s the keyboards, maybe it’s the words “I wanna fucking tear you apart.” Either way, imagine Interpol if their lead singer was really into Edgar Allan Poe. @ Le National.

WRITERS AD Are you interested in journalism?

Do you like writing?

What about taking photos?

Did you play semi-pro soccer in Brazil?

Do you dance to traditional Indian music?

CKUT 90.3 FM MCGILL'S CAMPUS COMMUNITY RADIO STATION

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 6 PM WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 7TH, 2009 LEACOCK #232. 855 SHERBROOKE STREET STUDENT ATTENDANCE REQUESTED FOOD WILL BE SERVED FOR MORE INFO; 514-448-4041 OR WWW.CKUT.CA

Are you afraid of Swine Flu/H1N1?

Do you enjoy pastries? (That was rhetorical. Do not bother attending if you dislike pastries.)

CDLUMBI Ar PI CTURES Invites you to a special screening of

Do you ask all the right questions?

If so, what better way to sharpen your skills, build your résumé, and meet new people than contributing to your campus newspaper?

The McGill Tribune is looking for contributors of all va­ rieties, and is holding its annual general writers' meet­ ing on Wednesday September 23, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Lev Bukhman room, on the second floor of the Shatner building.

The McGill Tribune: Curiosity Delivers

F O R A CHANCE TO WIN A DOU BLE PASS, E-mail full name to: cpm@ssmu.mcgill.ca Screening will take place: September 24nd, 2009 9pm

Cinema Banque Scotia 977, Ste-Catherine Street West Deadline for entry: September 22nd, 2009 MIDNIGHT Enter “SSM U Zombie" as the subject ONLY W INNERS W ILL B E CONTACTED BY EM A I M H t AVI Ni l Film is subject to classification

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REDMEN FOOTBALL - BISH O P’S 25, MCGILL 20

Redmen stumble late, can’t conquer Bishop’s in first home defeat Hamilton shines in hardfought loss JAMES GILMAN Managing Editor

On a night that felt much more like mid­ winter than the end o f summer, the Redmen football team appeared to freeze up in the final minutes o f the game. M cG ill failed to build on last w eek's impressive victory over Sher­ brooke as they fell to B ishop's University in the second annual “Fill the Stadium” game at M olson Stadium on Friday night, 20-25.

Playing in front o f a partisan crowd o f 3 ,0 9 1 — less than h alf the attendance o f last year's inaugural “F ill the Stadium” event— the Redmen ( I -2) gave a valiant effort as they kept up with— and at times outplayed— the Gaiters (1-2) for much o f the game. Unfortunately, it was the visiting squad that put its foot on the gas in the closing moments o f the match.

A six-yard touchdown pass from G aiters’ quarterback Jesse Andrews to receiver Olivier M ongeau capped an impressive 71 -yard drive, and gave B ishop ’s a seven-point lead with just over 13 minutes left to play.

“They made big plays, we did not,” said Head Coach Sonny W olfe. “We didn’t score when we had a couple o f chances, they had complete drives and we didn’t, [and] they

JOHN K E L SE Y

Strong crowd support and a huge game by running back Andrew Hamilton were not enough to lead the Redmen to victory.

made a couple o f big plays when it was op­

six yards in the first quarter.

M cG ill fought back in the second quar­ ter, with Collin finding wide receiver CharlesAntoine Sinotte for a five-yard touchdown following a field goal by sophomore kicker

portune.”

The Redmen started o ff poorly, taking a penalty for an illegal block o ff the opening kick before a pass by freshman pivot Jonathan

Austin Anderson. However, B ishop ’s struck back late in the half in the form o f a two-yard touchdown run, giving the Gaiters a 17-10 lead at intermission.

Collin was intercepted by the visitors, giving Bishop's prime field position at the M cG ill 18-yard line. Fortunately, the Redmen were bailed out by two dropped passes in the end-

second half as the Redmen coughed up the ball on downs four times, amassing a total o f seven turnovers for the game. Despite their

zone, with the Gaiters settling for a 25-yard field goal.

A difficult first quarter continued with two Redmen fumbles and a 6 1 -yard punt re­ turn touchdown by the opposition, giving the

turnover troubles, M cG ill cam e into the final quarter tied with the Gaiters at 17-17, after Collin strolled untouched into the end-zone on a play-action bootleg for a three-yard touch­ down run. The G reenfield Park native finished

Gaiters a 10-0 lead after the first stanza.

“We started o ff slow, and that ju st made the difference,” said M cG ill running back A n­ drew Hamilton, who was limited to running

the game with 4 9 yards rushing and completed 19-37 passes for 156 yards.

Ultimately, though, B ishop ’s touchdown in the final minutes proved too much for the

M cG ill’s turnover issues continued in the

“The coaches called a good game, we ju st need to go out there and execute, and try to get them next time we play them .”

The Concordia transfer— who recently

little over four minutes left on the clock, the

spent time on the M ontreal Alouettes practice

Redmen turned the ball over on downs, failing on three attempts to score from short yardage.

In keeping with the rest o f the night, M cG ill turned the ball over again with ju st over two

squad— now has 3 6 9 yards in two games for M cG ill, and is a key ingredient to M cG ill’s success.

“H e’s a great player, and he certainly gave

minutes remaining, as W olfe sent the offence back onto the field for a third down and three on their own 47. Hamilton was stopped just short o f the first down marker.

us a chance,” said W olfe. “He played real, real well. H e’s real important [to the team ].”

The Redmen, who travel to New Bruns­ wick next week to play M ount Allison, had a late scare as Hamilton took a knock and was slow to get to his feet. The M iami native, how­ ever, was quick to shrug it off.

“I ’m feeling good,” said Hamilton. “I t ’s

“W e ju st felt like it gave us a chance, and it didn’t work out,” W olfe said o f the call.

“1 mean, sometimes you roll the dice and it works [out] well, and we took the chance.”

Despite the loss, Hamilton put in another stellar performance in ju st his second game with the Redmen, rushing for a grand total o f 192 yards.

T II I R l ) M A N IN M O N E Y IN T H E B A N K W hen Juan M anuel Marquez tagged Floyd M ayweather Junior with a solid left hook on Saturday night, the self-proclaim ed “greatest fighter in the world” responded with the unlikeliest o f counterattacks: a smile. Grinning from ear to ear, M oney M ayweather took a second to gather him self before answering back with two lighteningquick hooks and a solid ja b that sent M ar­ quez reeling. A fter the match, the cam era panned over the two fighters. In one cor­ ner, Marquez could be found with his head down, cut cream all over his face, an ice bag pressed to his side. In the other com er, Floyd was still smiling.

Som e people, m yself included, can­ not stand M ayw eather's antics before, dur­ ing, and after a fight. He is arrogant beyond b e lie f— a spoiled little boy with a big bank account and an unwarranted persecution com plex. He is also the best in the busi­

“We had a great game plan,” he said.

Redmen, who failed to capitalize on any o f their fourth-quarter chances.

A fter a 3 1 -yard Hamilton run and a 15yard penalty for unnecessary roughness put M cG ill on the G aiters’ three-yard line with a

ness, outclassing every opponent he faces and never looking remotely challenged. All o f these traits— the talk, the swag, and the

could figure out a way to drop the attitude completely, h e ’d be the most popular fighter in the history o f boxing. W hile certainly

dom inance— are what make Pretty B o y who he is. They are also the traits that make him the most important individual to the sport o f boxing.

Every sport needs a villain as much as

true, any positive change in M oney’s per­ sona would wreck havoc on the current box­ ing industry. He is the man we all love to hate, and we need to accept and appreciate

part o f football.”

M cG ill will play its next home game on O ctober 17 when they take on the Saint M ary’s Huskies at one p.m. at M olson Stadium.

KAILAN LEUNG in style, and proved to the world that until someone forces him to step down, he is still number one.

B oxing analyst Dan Rafael has de­

him for that.

In one o f the last episodes o f “24/7” leading up to the Marquez bout, M ayweather addressed the barrage o f criticism he has re­ ceived for mouthing o ff about his superiority to every opponent he faces.

“Yeah, I got a big mouth,” he said. “Why don't you have somebody shut me up? If you can shut me up, then that’s what it is.”

scribed a potential match between M ay­ weather and Pacquiao as the biggest fight possible in boxing. As a diehard Pacman fan, I ’m a little nervous for Manny to go up against a fighter as skilled and cold-blooded as Floyd. However, I can also see the appeal o f this fight from a moral, as well as a sport­ ing standpoint. Pacquiao versus M ayweather would pit David against Goliath, humility against confidence, national pride against the glory o f the individual; in short, good versus evil.

to his own father— and seems to relish the bad guy role.

However, M ayw eather’s unattractive and unprofessional behavior also sells tickets

I hate to admit it, but he has a point.

Until another fighter proves strong enough to actually challenge M ayweather, let alone defeat him, Floyd has the right to talk all he wants, no matter how infuriating it may be.

The sport o f boxing, like much o f life, relies on a com bination o f good and bad to keep itself afloat. M ayw eather’s manners may make you want to vomit, but his return on Saturday was a much-needed injection o f

and makes him the most-sought after fighter in the sport. A friend o f mine pointed out after the Marquez fight that if M ayweather

Remem ber, M ayw eather’s victory on Satur­ day night marked his return to the sport after a two-year hiatus. He definitely cam e back

life to the sport. Hate him all you want, but right now, Pretty B oy owns the ring.

it needs a hero. I rem em ber watching H B O ’s pre-fight documentary,“24/7: De la Hoya vs.

Pacquiao,” and realizing that no matter how hard O scar de la Hoya tried to stir up animos­ ity between him self and Manny Pacquiao, it was all a farce. Watching “24/7: M ayweather vs. M arquez,” I felt a mild hatred towards Floyd ’s camp. He pisses o ff nearly everyone he com es into contact w ith— from the media

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PROFILE

From hoops to high jump, Jus Fly soars towards Olympic dream Dunk star Justin Darling­ ton is ready to take flight KAILAN LEUNG Sports Editor

M aybe it’s the flashy gold earrings.

M aybe it’s the long beard, or the fact that at 6-foot-4, he’s taller than your average M cG ill student. It could also be the way he walks; a lazy glide that’s one part confidence and two parts calm. Without a doubt, the accessories, the height, and the swagger make Justin Dar­ lington stand out in a crowd. None o f these traits, though, can even begin to hint at what makes the 2 1 -year-old Ontario native truly unique: he can fly.

Darlington— perhaps better known to the basketball world by his streetball moniker, Jus F ly — is a dunking sensation whose YouTube com pilations have garnered over half a mil­ lion views. Touring the world as part o f an elite group o f dunk specialists, he has accumu­ lated fans and followers from all corners o f the globe. Now, Darlington is choosing to leave the hardwood for a shot at something even bigger: the 2 0 1 2 London Olympics. Under the tutelage o f Montreal track coach Daniel St-H ilaire, Darlington is attempting to make the leap from streetball legend to high jump superstar, and represent Canada on the world’s greatest stage.

“I was shocked (about the possibility o f making the O lym pics],” said Darlington. “I ’d never really though about high jum p before. I did it once or twice in high school, and in el­ ementary I did every track [event], but I never thought about [continuing] high jum p.”

However, St-H ilaire had no doubts about where Darlington’s talents could take him when he stumbled upon YouTube clips o f the

dunker getting his entire head above the rim.

With over three decades worth o f high level coaching experience, St-H ilaire is convinced that his pupil’s dunking abilities can translate to success in multiple track events.

“T his year we will develop him as a high jum per as well as in a new event, the triple jum p,” said St-H ilaire. “I did a few tests with him for triple jum p, and he is as good as the best in the world [already]. How he does this year will decide whether we go for high jum p, triple, or both for the 2 0 1 2 O lym pics.”

Darlington’s athleticism was apparent early on in his childhood, and he began to sep­ arate him self from other athletes o f the same

only jum p o ff o f two fe e t’ ,” said Darlington.

“He ju st said not to worry, if [I could] jum p that high o ff two feet, [I should] be able to transfer it over to one. They say I picked it up pretty quick, but I still feel a little [unnatu­ ral].”

St-H ilaire knows that Darlington faces a steep learning curve, but is convinced that his pupil’s work-ethic and drive will allow him to master the high jum p faster than many expect.

Darlington’s natural humility is another asset that his coach believes will serve him well.

“I ’ve had no problems with him,” said St-

plete. „ “I played every sport. I ’ve been playing sports since I was bom ,” he said. “Basketball was the main sport, but I also played vol­

Hilaire. “H e’s a very down to earth guy, [and] very easy to coach. He knows that he has a chance to becom e great.”

Darlington and St-H ilaire can look to another basketball player-turned-high jum per for inspiration. Donald Thom as o f the Baha­ mas won gold in the high jum p at the 2007 World Championships, clearing an astounding 2.35 metres after only two years o f training.

St-H ilaire thinks Darlington can do better.

leyball and football growing up. I wasn’t the star [of the basketball team ], but they called me ‘The Highlight R e e l,’ [because] whenever something exciting happened I was usually in­ volved in it.”

“That guy is maybe 6-fo o t-2,” he said. “I saw him dunk and [he has] maybe six inches less vertical than Justin. He becam e world champion, so anything is possible. It ju st de­ pends how fast Justin [can] learn.”

o f guys in Ontario who jum p 2.20, 2.25, [and] I ’m trying to catch up. Hopefully in a year I ’ll be up to their level.”

St-H ilaire is not so much hoping for

The thought o f competing in the O lym ­ pics certainly trumps a breakaway dunk in high school ball, and Darlington knows that he will have to put in serious work if he wishes to reach the pinnacle o f athletics. Switching

Darlington will divide his time this year between training with St-H ilaire and com pet­ ing for M cG ill’s track squad. Having spent the past two years traveling the world as a profes­

and with the recent success that his pupil has found, it’s hard not to share in his optimism.

I f Darlington sticks to his co ach ’s prescription o f hard work, dedication, and a constant will­

sional athlete, Darlington admits that getting

from a sport that relies heavily on freestyle athleticism to one that centers on precision and technique, though, has not been without its difficulties. The most challenging aspect o f high jum p for Darlington has been learning to jum p o ff o f one foot, instead o f two.

“When Coach [St-Hilaire] told me he

used to school again—especially the requisite math classes— is going to take some time.

“Everything was okay until I got to my math class,” he said. “Trigonometry and alge­ bra? Not my strong suit.”

The marketing m ajor is certainly con­ scious o f the long-term benefits o f a M cG ill

ingness to learn, a trip to London in two years could very well be a slam dunk.

“People sometimes ask him how long it will take to learn the high jum p,” said St-H ilaire. “H igh jum p is only another dunk [that] he hasn’t mastered yet. He can do maybe 20 different types o f dunks. In his mind, high jump is the 21st.”

wanted me to do high jum p, I said, ‘Coach, I

degree, but in the short term, Darlington has

age when he entered high school. He dunked for the first time at age 16, and by the time he was ready to graduate, the metamorphosis o f Justin Darlington to Jus Fly was nearly com ­

d u n k c o n t e s t .f r e e . f r

Darlington continues to rise as he prepares for London 2012. his sights set on another goal.

“A fter about five months, I ’m jumping roughly 2 .10 [m etres],” said Darlington. “I ’m ranked first in Quebec but there are a couple

Darlington’s success as he is counting on it,

RED MEN SOCCER - UQAM 1, MCGILL I

Shorthanded Redmen blow lead, settle for draw against UQAM Graske ’s goal not enough to ensure McGill victory THOMAS QUAIL

handling a number o f simple deliveries.

Yet, with 10 minutes remaining and M cG ill’s victory all but solidified, Francis M olassoko lobbed a harmless ball into the Redmen box, catching M cG ill's central de­

Editor-in-Chief

fenders and goalkeeper flat-footed. The ball

The M cG ill m en’s soccer team executed its game-plan to near perfection on Sunday night: defend, exploit the wings, and counter­ attack. Unfortunately, one mental lapse— an SOth minute bouncing ball in M cG ill’s 18-yard

bounced once before being controlled by U Q AM striker Eric Vigar, who crisply scored from close range.

M cG ill’s Head Coach David Simon wasn’t “entirely happy” with his team ’s per­ formance, but was satisfied with the result.

He felt the draw accurately reflected how both

b o x — sealed a disappointing 1-1 draw with U Q A M at Parc Jeanne M ance on Sunday.

M cG ill’s Eugene Graske, a five-footseven fourth-year forward, opened the scor­ ing in the 60th minute. U Q AM turned the ball over deep in M cG ill’s end, and the Redmen pounced, feeding the ball neatly down the right sideline to freshman N icolas Gonzalez, who crossed it into the box. With U Q AM scrambling, Graske collected the ball and slot­ ted it into the back o f the net.

A fter that, it seemed, the Redmen were poised to walk away with the win. Until G raske’s goal, U Q A M had dominated M cG ill in the air, winning the vast majority o f balls in the midfield. W hile the Citadins had also controlled the tempo for most o f the match, they appeared to lose their focus after the Red­ men scored. U Q A M ’s com munication stalled abruptly with M cG ill’s goal, and Citadins keeper Alexandre Rouge looked shaky, m is­

teams performed. “ Both teams had chances,” he said. “And it’s a fair result when you look at the gam e.”

M cG ill and U Q AM brought two very different styles o f play to Sunday’s match.

The Citadins combined devastating physicality with horizontal passing, masterfully using the wings to create acres o f space. The Red­ men, on the other hand, defended fiercely and, when they managed to retain possession, did a good jo b releasing their speedy midfielders and strikers with the long ball.

U Q A M , the physically superior team, outmuscled the Redmen for much o f the first half. Nevertheless, M cG ill worked doggedly in order to stymie the Citadins’ onslaught.

U Q A M forwards Paul Darboux and Andrea Rom anelli combined blistering pace with in­ credible strength, and for most o f the first half it seemed likely that U Q AM would score. But

ADAM SCOTTI

The Redmen will play their next game on September 27 against UQTR. the Redmen defence and their U Q AM transfer goalkeeper, Jean-Lou G osselin, were up for the challenge. The backline cam e into the sec­ ond half energized and focussed, as Darboux and Rom anelli were rendered irrelevant by M cG ill’s dogged defence.

Yohann Capolungo, M cG ill’s star mid­ fielder, sat out the match with a sprained ankle. He was joined by Redmen captain Thomas Lucas and 6-fo o t-2 defender Graeme Tingey, both out with injuries as well. Consid­ ering the lack o f star power available for the game, Sim on was pleased with how his bench stepped up to the plate.

“I realize we have depth,” he said. “And despite the flurry o f injuries and adversity, we

managed to com e out o f the weekend with four points out o f six, which is good.”

The draw capped a successful weekend for the Redmen. On Friday, the squad domi­ nated the winless Concordia Stingers 3-1 at Concordia Stadium, with goals from Gareth Pugh, Sami Obaid, and Nicolas Gonzalez.

M cG ill now stands second in the Quebec University Football League behind the unde­ feated University o f Montreal, a team the Red­ men had on the ropes in their home opener a week ago. M cG ill returns to M olson Stadium on Septem ber 27, when they take on U Q T R at 3 :3 0 in the afternoon.

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