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Re ri o JohnSweeney recognized for his commitment to Kitchener-Waterloo (b

SUSAN BUBAK Imprint staff

nJuly 11,St. Jerome's Uni.versity was closed from 9 a.m. to 1p.m. inmemoryof chancellorJohn Sweeney,who passed away at the age of 70 on July 7 at St. Mary's Hospitalin Kitchener.Friends and family, colleagues and students paid their respects at Sweeney's funeral, which was held at St. Mary's Catholic Church on July 11. After suffering his fourth heart attack on May 4, Sweeney returned to his home in Kitchener, but was readmitted to hospital last week. He will be remembered as an active member of the university community. "We were blessed to have him as chancellor," said Harry Froklage, director of development and graduate affairs at St. Jerome's. "He was a man of great integrity andvision. He had a sense of what was the right thing to do, and he knew how to accomplish those things." UW history professor and former Liberal MP John English knew Sweeney for 25 years on a personal and professional level. According to English, Sweeneywas known for his

"extreme energy and commitment." He put his heart into everything he did. He wasa ~ersonofstrong beliefs, but he never pushed his beliefs on other people. Before Sweeneyjoined St. Jerome's in 1991,he was involved in politics for 15 years. In 1975, he was elected to represent the Kitchener-Wilmot riding in the provincial legislature.He became amember of the provincial cabinet under Liberal Premier David Peterson in 1980, and later served as minister of community and social services, municipal affairs and housing. He retired from politics in 1990. In 1991, Sweeney became the firstlay chancellor of St. Jerome's, and was reappointed to the position in 1995 and 1999,servingthree consecutivefouryear terms. While serving as chancellor, Sweeney also instructed at UW's school of urban planning. Froklage described Sweeney as a "strong advocate of a liberal arts education" who stressed the importance of the humanities and sodial sciencesina world that revolves around technologyand computers. Sweeney Hall, the women's residence at St. Jerome's, was named after John and his wife Kay in

1997 in recognition of their continued support. This September, St. Jerome's University will present the first annual Chancellor John Sweeney Award for Leadership in Catholic Education in his honour. Sweeney displayed a strong commitment to the community by serving in a wide variety of organizations. He served as chairman of Habitat for Humanity Canada, and was a member of the St. Mary's Hospital Board of Directors and the Premier's Council on Health, Well-Being and Social Justice. In addition, Sweeney chaired the Waterloo Regional Government Review Task Force, which focused on restructuring municipal government in Waterloo. He also led the Ontario School Board Restructuring Task Force, which made recommendations on how to reduce the number of schoolboards in Ontario. Sweeney dedicated his life to his work, but his family was his top priority. "He was a great example of what it is we're trying to promote," said Froklage, "He lived his life with integrity and incorporated his faith into his everyday activities."

sed Bookstore has grand A bad move for reopening, but not online architecture? RYAN MATTHEW MERKLEY Imprint staff

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fter over two months in operation at their new location, the Feds' Used Bookstorehad its grand opening on July 5. Relocated ro the rear corner of the lower level in the SLC, adjacent to Aussie's, the UsedBookstore will benefit from an additional 750 square feet of space and improved lighting. The new location became available after renovations to the Cove were made to allow for the new space. The old bookstore location will be used as additional space for the drugstore already located on that level. Feds vice-president of finance, Dawn Phillips, says the new location will be good for business, and is unconcerned about students' ability to find the store. "The used bookstore is what we call a destination location," said Phillips. "People come down here to go here." Unfortunately, the new store does not yet feature anonline system for students to purchase their books, or a direct deposit system. Currently, the Used Bookstore issues cheques once a term that students must pick up. "We do $1.2 million in textbook [sales]alone," said Used Book-

store manager Jon Jongerius. "We do $75,000 in exports, and about $30,000 in sale books." Sale books, or dollar books, are texts that have since been replaced on professors' book lists with more current editions, making the old editions almost worthless. It's an unfortunate reality, and one that Jongerius admits is frustrating for everyone. Jongerius' greatest point of frus-

Three Feds, one ribbon, nocontest.

tration is the bookstore's inabilityto find a suitable software product to allow them to operate an online system. "I'membarra~~ed we don't have it, but in the same way it isn't like we haven'ttried-we are trying. Online is the way it shouldbe,"saidJongerius, "It's somethingwe've been strivplease see page 5

C H R I S EDEW Imprint Staff

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he news that the school of architecture is planning to leave its Environmental Studies Two home for greener pastures, and much needed space, in Cam- , bridge has been bandied about for several months now. The news was met with unrestrained enthusiasm from the city of Cambridge, with cautious optimism by the school of architecture and with a certain level of confusion on the part of architecture and other environmental studies students. While many are excited about the opportunities that the new facilities will provide, important issues such as the certainty of provincial funding, the division of shared resourceswithin environmentalstudies and the effects that the move will have on other programs, most notably planning, are as yet unresolved. The principal reason behind the move, according to school of architecture director Rick Andrighetti,is a desperate need for more space for both undergraduate and graduate students in architecture. "We have a definite need for new facilities,which we have been seeking for well over a decade." Relative to other architecture programs in North America, architecture students at the Universitv of Waterloo are seriouslvunderprovided, and the recent addition of

a graduate program has stressed resources even further. Andrighetti explained that several ideas, including expansion of the existing facilities, had been discussed with UW officials, but the tight financialsituation of the universitythroughout the 1990s precluded any action. Other projects such as the Centre for Environmental and Information Technology building,may have overshadowed other construction requests on campus. Andrighetti confirmed that the university had tried very hard to meet the needs of the school. When the idea of moving the entire school to downtown Cambridge first came up, Andrighetti was skeptical. "I didn't think it was going to work," he said. The city was very interested in having a leading postsecondary institution as a cornerstone of its efforts to revitalize its downtown, and was ready to spend millions to make the idea a reality. In late 2000 the pieces began to fall into place. The site of the proposed building, located on the eastern bank of the Grand River between the railway bridge and ParkHill Road West, was donated by an Austrian architect. The city of Cambridge pledged $7.5 million, and a private consortium of Cambridge businesses has guaranteed a further $10 million in funding. The remainder of the $32.5 please see page 4


NEWS

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Imprint, Friday, July 13, ZOO l

To some, Cambridge Two men, one dream for is not the way to go a field lacrosse team continued from page 3

million needed to construct the building and facilitatethe move is to be split evenly between +e provincial and the federal government. The two senior levels of government have yet to commit to the project. RossNewkirk, director of the school of planning, is quite confident that the federal fundingwill come through, but he said "[the idea] sinks or swims with the provincial decision. We're all sittipg waiting." Andrighetti feels that the move is a great opportunity. "[Cambridge has a] very fine piece of urban landscape, and a remarkable stockof heritage buildings.. .The opportunity is too good t o m r n down. We have been offeredspectacularresources, and there is much enthusiasm in Cambridge. People have been calling [the proposed move] the most important thing for the city since Toyota arrived." Architecture students agree that the move offers many opportunities, but it is not without risk. Second-year architecture student Anya Moryoussef commented, "I think it's a good thing, risky, but it is necessary." Farid Noufaily, also a second-year student, agreed that the Cambridge option is the only way for the architects to get the space they need to maintain a high quality program. He also added that he does not believe that the school of architecture will be the only post-secondary institution in downtown Cambridge in the long run. Alarge issue is that of the resources architecture currently shares with planning, geography and environment and resource studies in the environmental studies faculty.The University Map and Design library is shared by all four 1

programs, and its final division remains to be negotiated. Newkirk said, "The main design library will be located in Cambridge, but there will still be one here and core books will be duplicated. There will also be a courier servi-ce [betweenthe libraries]." He added "It's not just architecture [that has space problems], every unit in ES has been cooperating in the space shortage. Planning is short 8,500 square feet." He feels that the space that will be opened up by the move and can be put to good use by the three remaining programs. Some students are concerned about the negative impacts that architecture's departure may have on the rest of the faculty. Planning student David Capper described the move as "tearing apart a facultyn and that when "one program moves, other programs may suffer." y e is also concerned that the remaining ES programs could lose out on present and future resources. As well, Noufaily commented that the move was "presented as our only solution." Capper was disappointed about the lack of student involvement and consultation.

JOHN SWAN

w

lmprint staff

hen it comes to the game of lacrosse, Kitchener-W.aterloois considered one of the major centres of Canada's national sport. Granted, we are not as fanatic as say, Orangevilleor Whitby, and the Kitchener-WaterlooBraves have been stinking up the floor worse than ever, but with the minor system doing well, the twin cities are supporting this aboriginal sport. Yet, the University of Waterloo does not have a field lacrosse team. Laurier's got one, and they d1ayed quite well in the OUFLA. But now, two men, Mike Mashmore and Marc Aucoin, wish to bring the game of field lacrosse to the University of Waterloo. Many people who have watched the Toronto Rock probably know what box lacrosse is like. The rules of field lacrosse are a little different. From the rules that were enforced during the 1998 World Games in Baltimore, the field is 60 yards by 110 yards, there are 15

minute quarters, stickchecking is more limited than in box lacroise and sticks are a bit shorter than in box lacrosse.The actionisstill as intense as in box game and the game can get rather violent. The University of Waterloo, while not an original member of the OUFLA, joined the league in 1986 in the Western division. There, the Warriors played in the University Cup and continued until 1992, when the team folded. It was at this time the Baggataway Cup was formed to determine the championship of the OUFLA. The rules were also reformatted to include a second division cup known as McDonald Cup. Last year, the University of Guelph Gryphons won the BaggatawayCup by defeating the Brock University Badgers 13-11 in what was agreat game, while Wilfrid Laurier Universityedged the Queen's University Golden Gaels 8-6 for the McDonald Cup. For more information about this team or if you want to play for the field lacrosse team, you can contact mashmore7@hotmail.com or maucoin@engmail.uwaterloo.ca.

What else is going on around here at UW? St. Jerome's to host ceili

Canada Day festivities a success

Once again, the Canada Day celebrations at Columbia Lake were held and despite the frigid and windy weather, they were , quite successful. The volunteers, consisting of students Scenic f l e n k C % ~ f ~ from many different faculties, helped to entertain the kids (Hight %wining and to ensure that everything , ran smoothly. Several local. Learn to Fly, :ou handle the controls! bands also played during the the Motor Introductory light Lesson ...................................................... $45 Booty Affair,aseven piece funk Flight to CN Tower and Downtown Toronto ................... $125 Flight over Niagara Falls ...................................................... $250 band playing '60s and '70s covers. Agood time was had by all, Flight Instructor/CommerciaIPilot ah Vossoughi despite an individual who went 4 (519) 501-7488 for an impromptu swim in Co1urnbiaLakewhilethe fireworks were on.

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Are youa bit Irish?No? Well, even if you're not, St. Jerome's will be hosting a ceili -the Irish word for festival -on July 14 at 7:3O p.m. The ceili will help people to learn the basics of Irish dance. Expected to appear include expert caller Maureen Mulvey and champion dancers from the group Rinceoiri Celtica. Tickets sell for a meagre $12.

Alumna given "Top 30" award On July 5 , PhD student Rose Turvey was chosen by a committee from Canada WorldYouth to receive a "Top 30" award. Originallyfrom the Phillippines, she came to Canada in 1974. Later, Turvey worked for the civil service before returning to Waterloo for her Master's thesis in geography. She has

also worked for the United Nations Office for Project Services.

Haas honoured Ralph Haas, a longtime prof in the civil engineering department, has been elected to the Royal Societyof Canada, which honours people in the fieldof academics.Haas, who joined the university in 1968, has authored 10 books and 300 technical papers. Despite retiring in 1996, Haas is still making an impact in the field of civil engineering. He will be honoured in a special ceremony scheduled for November in the nation's capital, Ottawa.

Just a reminder On July 27, the last issue of Imprint will be published. The first issue of the Fall term will be but on September 1.

FREE MOVE 7fCUE7S

Imprint Wants to Help You Find A Place to Live lmprint is putting together a special supplement of housing classifiedsfor our July 27 issue. Friday, July 13 to 18th

Come to the Imprint Office, Student b i h Centre, room 1 1 16 to receive your FREE tickets on July 13 between 9 a.m. ti 5 p.m.

UW students (with ID) receive ONE FREE (20 words in length] housing cfassifieds ad (per rental unit) for that issue. Non-studentsare welcome with a fee of $10 per ad.

ca e-mailyour ad to houslng@'imprInf.uwaterfo~. Subrnisslon deadline 1s Monday, July 1 6


Imprint, Friday,

J U I ~t

NEWS

3, ZOO I

5 University of

Waterloo JON W I L L I N G Imprint staff

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have a new reason to restore my faith in this university as being a technological pioneer. There certainly is optimism with the appointment of Arnit Chakma as the new provost of academic affairs, the launch of QUEST (the online registrar's office), and the reincarnation of Web Access. Apparently, we are trying to get back on track as a model of technologicalinnovation. I read with great delight Impint's interview with Chakma last issue and his reassurance that "we have the opportunity to be leaders of this country, and hopefully the world." To be leaders, said Chakma, we must embrace technology in the classroom and in distanceeducation. A report from UW's Learning and Teaching Through Technology (LT3) examined the usage of the Web in 681 courses last summer. Of the courses studied, only 25 per cent used the Web to post some sort of information. Unfortunately, however, most coursesthat used the Web in some way only used it to post

ber to register as a result. coursesyllabi. Speaking of Access, CECS and We can onlyhope that Chakma will give instructors a subtle kick to IST are apparently ready to relaunch embracethe Web as an integral teach- a full working version of the Web ing tool -a tool that can be used far application in 2002. The problem with the firstWebapplication, which better than it is presently. With changesin classroomlearn- was killed in January, was that the ing came the need for looking at the system that could only handle 3 0 way UW offered administrative serv- users at a time. The new Access will ices toitsstudens. OnJuly 16,QUEST reported accept 200 users at a time. Although I've called for a Web(http:ll~~~.quest.uwaterloo.ca), based co-op system in the past, I'm UW's online solution to registrar's office lines, will go live, accepting beginning to wonder what use it reregistrations for the winter 2002 ally has. Telnet does a fine job of term. My feelings have been well- trackingjob postings, interviewsand documentedon UW's Ludditism, but applications.With alittle tweaking,it now I have a little more faith that could also provide co-ordinator inthings are changing,beginning with terview times and comprehensive matching information. the launch of QUEST. Usually sequels are good, like Students can now make registration changes online, regardless of Back to the Future or Empire Strikes not being physically on campus. Of Back. Hopefully Web Access isn't a course, we are yet to see if this system JurassicPark I1 in the making. With Chakma at the helm and will end up like Web Access 2000, which was a disaster the day it went the launch of QUEST and Web Access 11, UW seemsto beserious about live. On an aside, why are we only innovation,or at least trying to make given a four hour "online appoint- an impact on the Maclean's 2002 ment" to select our courses? I pity the rankings. There are only two things fools who miss their appointment that really keep UW on the national slots -you have to wait until Octo- stage: co-op and technology.

Controversy arises with the Sir Issac Newton contest MELISSA

GRAHAM

Imprint staff

I

n May almost3,700 studentstook part in the Sir IsaacNewton physics contest. This year, nine students tied for first place with perfect papers. Approximately 500 schools took part in the exam from across Canadaand abroad; most were from Ontario. Of the top nine students: six were from Ontario, one each from Quebec, British Columbia and Latvia. The top 250 tests are marked by hand to ensure accuracy.According to physics Professor John Vanderkooy, although the number of perfect papers this year is high, "Pretty well each year we have someone that gets the test perfect, but not every year. I'd say it's about half the time we get someone with a perfect test.'' There has been some controversy this year. The number of perfect scores has led to questions regarding this year's changes and the intended role of the test. According to Vanderkooy, the test was made easier with more straight-forward questions. What constitutesa straight-

forward question still remains should a question provide all the details within the actual problem, so that even if a student has not been taught something, he or she will be able to figure it out?In the past,many questions would not have included as much instruction on how to do the question, particularlywhat concepts or factors to take into account. The big difference over past years seems to be the philosophy behind the SIN test. This philosophy has either changed or the test has become more in line with that philosophy over time. Commenting on the goal of the contest Vanderkooy said, "Our exam is sort of meant to catch a few prize students and offer scholarships, but it's really meant to bring out to the high school community the up-beat nature of physics." The questions on the exam really depend on the nature of the exam and the objective. "If the SIN was meant to catch the top students and offer them a big scholarship, then it should be tougher. But if it's meant to really bolster the teaching of physics in the schools and give students something to look forward

to, then it should be easier and do that." It is the latter objective that is now being met with the changes to the exam. Professor Vanderkooy believes that students today are just as good as they were 30 years ago, they just receive different preparation now, than in the past, because there is so much more that students have to learn. In order to assess how prepared students who come to U W are t o meet the challenges of the physics program, the department will be administering a test this fall designed to gauge the student's skill and then offer tutorials to help bring those who need help up to the level required. Overall, the SIN test is meant to be fun and itis being used as apromotional and marketing tool, for physics and UW,more than one designed to weed out all but the best and brightest students. "Pretty well every high school student that has some physics interest knows about the SIN exam and they know about UW so we hope it helps better students come here. You know, that's the whole point." 0

Used bookstore reopening continued from page 3

ing for for a couple of years. All the research we've done with other people who have tried to sell us packages, nothing is as good as what we already have. The big thing that I want is direct deposit." Phillipssaysthe project has been in limbo for some time now.

"Before I got into office, Shannon willis, Feds VP finance 200020011 was talking to some people about doingthe s o h a r e for us. They were UW students, and it seemed optimistic that they would be able to do it, but unfortunately they said they didn't have time. So we're sort of back to the drawing board now." "I've been sort of researching it

on the Internet, trying to find companies that write software like this but there aren't very many," said Phillips. According to a recent story on uwstudent.org,the companyin question, BrightBlocks, dropped the project due to limited resources, but is planning to meet with the Feds to reconsider the contract.

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forum July 13,20Ol,Volume24,Number6 StudentLifeCentre, Rm 11 16 University ofWaterloo Waterloo, ON, N2L 3GI

P: 519.888.4048 F: 5 19.884.7800 impMt.uwaterloo.ca

Editorial Staff Editor-in-chief,Ryan Matthew Merkley editor@imprint.uwaterloo.m

Assistant editor, vacant News, John Swan Forum, Geoff Eby Features, Rachel E. Beattie Science, Jeff Bueckert Sports, Greg Macdougall Arts, Lisa Johnson Photos, Brian Code Graphics, Chris Inch Web, Jon Niemi Systems admin., vacant Lead proofreader, vacant Proofreader, Emily Collins Proofreader, Chris Edey Proofreader, vacant Proofreader, vacant Contributors Susan Bubak, Ryan Chen-Wing,Bruce Davison, Leo Dominguez,John A. Drumrnond, Alastair Farugia, Kevin Gill, Adina Gillian, Melissa Graham, Maria Ibarra, Joanne Laws, Jeffrey Malecki,Marcy McCrae,HughMerz, Mr. Mike, Krista Ranacher, David Robins, Katherine Schwass, Kourtney Short, Kevin Szeto, Jon Willing,James Wong, Felix Yip Office Staff Business manager, Cathy Bolger cathy.bolser@imprint.uwtedoosa

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President, Jesse Helmer Vice-president, vacant Treasurer, AndrC Cousineau Secretary, Melanie Stuparyk Staff liaison, Adina Gillian slaff~@irnprint.uwaterloo~

Revelations on the Common Sense Revolution I

t might be useful for future students of Canadian politics to circle June 29, 2001 on their calendars as an important date in the history of provincial politics in Ontario. The day that premier Mike Harris appeared before the Walkerton inquiry and announced to the entire province that his government was accountable for the massive cuts made to the ministry of the environment but not responsible for the tainted water tragedy in that small farming town, will be remembered as the moment that the true implications of the Common Sense Revolution were finally exposed for all to see. Harris' revolution is nothing more than a mean-spirited attack on the public service, unions, teachers, the poor,environmentalregulations, social programs and everything else that in the Tories' view was weighing down the ability of businesses to make money in Ontario. In the six years since the launch of the revolution many businesses have made a great deal of money; however, the public schoolsare in chaos, use of homeless shelters and food banks hassoared, Ontario has become adurnping ground for American toxic waste and the water may or may not be safe to drink. In the initial flurry of activityundertaken by the Harris government after its 1995 electionvictory, the concernsof senior members of the public servicewere routinely brushed aside by a government completely blinded by the ideology of its misguidedcrusade. Considerthe case of Dr. Richard Schabas, Ontario's former chief medical officer of health. In May 1997 he warned Harris and the entire Tory cabinet that the elimination of provincial funding for regional public-health boards would be dangerous. His own words describe the reaction of the man charged with governing for all Ontarians.

"The premier looked at me, and I was quite certain he was hearing what I was saying. We weren't more thana few feet apart and then he basically turned away from me, and as far as I was concerned, the premier was turning his back on public health." Shortly thereafter the doctor was asked to leave the room and the decision to eliminate fundingwas made. This is but one example of the contempt that Harris and his colleagues had for anyone who dared to point out the undesirable results that their actions were producing. Then camethe massive spendingcutswhich were to serve as the centerpiece for the Common Sense Revolution and make a 30 per cent cut in personal income taxes possible. The ministry of the environment and the Ministry of natural resources had their staffing levels and budget reduced by 40 per cent over the first three years of Harris' initial mandate. The MOE cuts were made under the direction of a junior minister, Brenda Elliott whose enthusiasm for gutting her own department actually became an embarrassmentto the government. Once again repeated warningswere made, but no one listened. MOE deputy minister of regions, Sheila Willis, wrote in 1995 that the environment ministry may not be able to fulfill its mandate to protect the environment. The cuts were made regardless of this and other protests. Harris himself tookspecialpride in the Red Tape Commission,which was described in the Tories own words as an 'attack dog' to conduct a sweeping review of all government rules and regulations with the ultimate goal of clearing a path for business. The co-chairof this commission, Frank Sheehan, is remembered for reaming out former Minister of the Environment Norm Sterling for daring to fine a

company with a track record of disregarding MOE directives $5,000 for an environmental infraction. Ontario was open for business, and nothing so trivial as the environment was allowed to get in the way. The methodical elimination of safeguards and reporting requirements in water quality testing set the stage for the fateful events in Walkerton last spring. The private lab tested Walkerton's water, found e-coli contamination, and notified Stan Koebel, Walkerton's public utility manager, but not provincial health authorities,who would have been immediately informed of the contamination under the old system. Everyone now knows the tragic results that followed. More than a year later Mike Harris sat on the witness stand at the inquiry and said, "If any of the potential risks [of our actions] had been felt to be real, we would not have proceeded." If anyone can seriously believe that the agencies and regulations that protect Ontario's environment can be gutted without any negative effects on public health then they are idiots, and certainly not qualified to be premier of Canada's most populous province. How could a government so fanatical about testing teachers disregard the importance of testing people's drinking water? Harris and his associates were repeatedly warned about the consequences of their actions but were so caught up in their ideology and revolution that they quicklydismissed the warnings as the knee-jerk reactions of those opposed to 'common sense' governance. In Walkerton, the resultsspeak for themselves -the ones that are still alive, of course.

-ChrisEdey 3B planning

Impin; is the official student newspaper of the University of Waterloo.It is aneditorially independent newspaperpublished by ImprintPublications, Waterloo,acorporationwithout share capital.I@rintis amernberof theOntarioCommunity Newspaper Association(OCNA). Editorialsubmissionsmay beconsideredforpublicationin any editionofl@rinLI@brint may also reproducethematerialcornmerciallyin any format or medium as part of the newspaper database, Web site or any other product derived from the newspaper.?hosesubmitting~torialcontent,including articles, publication letters, photosandgraphics,willgrantImpri~ficst tights of their submitted material, and as such, agree not to submitthesameworktoanyotherpublicationorgroupuntilsuch timeas thematerialhas been distributedinanissueofImprint, orhnprintdeclarestheir intent not to publish thematerial.The full text ofthisagreement is available on request. While weendeavour to accept allsubmitted materia1,lmprint does not guarantee to publish articles,photographs,letters or advertisingthat is submitted,Materialmay not be published,at thediscretion oflmpinr, ifthat materialisdeemedtobe libelous orin contraventionwithI~int'spolicieswithreferencetoour codeofethicsandjournalisticstandards. I*M ispublishedevery Friday duringfalland winter terms, and every second Friday during thespring terrn.Imprintreservesthe right toscceen,edit and refuseadvertising.lmprint ISSN 07067380. Imprint CDN Pub Mail Product Sales Agreement no. 554617.

COVERDESIGNBYCHRISINCH

Imprint joins the pornographers I

n 1926, inventor Lee DeForest said "While theoretically and technically television may be feasible,commercially and financiallyI consider it an impossibility." We all know how that one turned out in the end, but that hasn't stopped the critics from saying the same thing about the Internet. This time, they're probably right. Salon.com recently reported that last year, over $3.1 billion dollars was spent on off-line advertisingalone for Internet companiesvying for brand loyalty. And this week, Internet grocery-delivery company Webvan shut things down and brown-bagged their office supplies out the back door. Webvan's closing wouldn't be much more than a blip on the map of Internet failures (dotbombs is the inane term they're using) except for one small detail: the company managed to raise -and spend-over $1 billion dollars in venture capital before they went under. Why are we all soshocked?I'mnot. Maybe it's the pulsating media machine that has been cranking out meaningless propaganda about the state of the Internet economy (or dotconomy, depending on your ability to stomach stupid terminology). Arecent study by the Markle Foundation, a "non-profit technology thinktank," found that nearly half of the 2,000 Americans they

surveyed think of the Internet as a library more than a shopping mall or bank; 70 per cent had said they "question most things on the Internet." Sincethe entire economy is based on consumer confidence (that's what econ prof Larry Smith told me), I guess that means that those crazy kids running the Internet-or as I like to call it, the largest mail-order catalogue in the knownuniverse-are in for a rude awakening.

They should all be congratulated for reinventing the Sears catalogue. They should all be congratulated for reinventing the Sears catalogue. That leaves two distinct groups to rule the online domain: the online content providers, and the pornographers, who have always been good at profiting from new technologies. Here at Imprint, we've been servingup our words and pictures online for over five years, and only now are we beginning to realize the

size of our digital footprint. Last week, Imprint Online had over 5,000 readers (a statistic derived from the number of distinct hosts served, which is something of a low ceiling). considering we only print 6,000 copies a week during the spring term, that's impressive. So no one accuses us of being too proud of ourselves, I should note that in contrast, The Onion -my favourite online satire mag-gets about 1.5 million readers a week. So, egos in check and readers surveys under our arms (a copy can be found on page 10, or you can fill it out online) we've set out to redesign our Web site. The new and improved Imprint Online will contain not only the regular newspaper content, but exclusive online content, special features, multimedia and a couple of things we're keeping to ourselves for the time being. So for your venture capital dollars, we're making an attempt to give you some return on your investment. At least we're not engineering our own rocket in order to launch ourselves into outer space. See page 11 for the explanation to that insidejoke.

-Ryan Matthew Merkley editor-in-chef


Commercialism Tothe editor,

I

wasn't sure whether to laugh or shake my head in disbelief after reading Greg Macougall's article last wsek. I've graduated from Waterloo, but I see the same nonsense still graces the pages of Imprint. First, there's the claim that protestersin QuebecCitywere 'silenced'. How melodramatic,but utterly false. The protesters recieved enormous amounts of media coverage before, during and after the summit. CBC covered the activities of the protesters live the entire weekend. When Sarah Polley and friends held a press conference to bitch about the perimeter fence, it was on the cover of all the newspapers the next day. The protest groups received media attention and analysisthat is way out of whack with the tiny percentage of the population they represent. Yes, there was violence at the summit. Isuppose the protestorswere just making nice while they were breakingwindows and setting things on fire, right? I have no place to comment on the severity of the police response, I wasn't there and didn't see it. Rut what did you expect? Nerf guns and silly putty? After some more ranting, Mr. Macdougall trots out the line that "Our minds are molded like putty in the skilled; experienced hands of media and marketing people." Yes, yes, we are all puppets in the hands of corporations, dancing to the tune they play. Bollocks. People were chasing gold and silver long before

DeBeers was around, people were dressing in silks and velvet long before the Gap was making inane commercials; Products are introduced, and fail miserably, all the time. If manipulating people was so easy, than why do products ever fail? Shouldn't a corporation just have to pump out a bunch of commercials and voila, instant profits? It's not quite that easy. New Coke was a massive flop, so was the Apple Newton, etc. The reason why corporations make so much goddamn money is that they are very good at giving people exactly what they want. People like drinking cola and driving around in SUV's, and it doesn't have a thing to do with advertising.People like consuming things -they have since the dawn of time and they always will. Corporations don't discourage our materialism,and they do all they can to encourage it, to create an ever-expanding universe of desires. But materialism was around long before corporations were. Buddhism was founded 2,500 years ago preaching that enlightenment consists of letting go of your desires, including your material desires. So why all this rage against "corporations"? Simple. Thisgivesa nice, abstract target for leftistrage. It's not ordinary people that are the problem, buying whatever they can afford; it's corporations! They are the real evil-doers, not the millions upon millions of people who go to McDonalds every day of their own free will, or buy cases of Cokeof their own free will, you get the idea.

I'm so sick of hearing this line trotted out that "corporations" are responsible for all the evil in the world. Corporations only exist because people are all too eager to consume whatever products are shoved in front of their faces -and they had been around long before the world even knew what a commercial was. Discuss amongst yourselves. -ChistopherPrice UWalumnus

Response to a letter Totheeditor,

w

hile sitting at the SLC patio last week, I chose to pick up the recent edition of Imprint to burn some time between classes. I turned almost immediately to the "Letters to the Editor" section, as it always provides some humour and commentary. I am not one to critique people for their opinions or methods of expressing their views but I was tremendously taken aback by Peter Yoon's destructive commentary of both Imprint and Ryan's picture essay of the UW campus. Firstly, Mr.Yoon, please take some time to think about what you are going to say before youspeak (or write). For instance, you introduced your arguments by stating that our campus was "cold, boring. :. ugly." However, you then proceeded to contradict yourself by stating that you have pictures that have captured the true "beauty" of our campus. Now I am not saying that we

have the most beautiful campus (we have a lot to admire from both Queen's and Western) - but, on a sunny summer afternoon, the UW campus does provide a breathtaking backdrop. Just out of curiosity have you ever considered transferring from environmental studies to optometry? Secondly, Mr.Yoon, please read over your articles before you submit them for publication. For instance, you were quite aggressive in attacking Ryan as a "bad writer," the Imprint as "lacking simplicity," and claiming that Imprint writers are "filled with hot air." Let me see, where should I start?Now, I am not the best writer by far; however, the amount of contractions you used in your article was just ridiculous remember boys and girls, your writing is a reflection of your intelligence. Next, you claimed that the Imprint

special to Imprint

S

special to Imprint

S

ketchiness describes mate of mind in many shapes and forms, sometimes drug-induced, and sometimes, well, that's just how the person really is. I was once asked to explain the word "sketch" and its related terms and I couldn't do it with an Oxforddictionary definition. So I decided to share my Toronto Pride weekend experience since it was nothing but wholesome sketchiness. Coming out of a house party all drunk and fabulous, five sketch queens we were, strutting and sashayingdown the Village hand-inhand, two of us even had feather boas and see-through mesh pants to match. While proudly declaring: "I'm getting a drink at four in the morning, why? Because I can!" That's pure sketchiness. As the next party continues on the dance floor at 3 a.m. at Unity, some of us were winding down feeling sketched out. Rob decides to go get water while Mike bitches that his song wasn't long enough and threatened to leave. Before Mike could fin-

ish touching up his eyelashes for his grand exit, he screamed "Wait, oh my god! That's our song! I have to find Rob!" Can you saysket-chi-ness? - Though Matt managed to find us as he emerged from a sea of over 5,000 gyrating circuit boys with his new found beau all giddy and giggly from E asking me: "Do you mind if Dave and I go sketch out at his place in a bit?" and gave me a big hug. We all know what that means. Not that I haven't been sketchy while being sober. One time I was helddown and soaked by three beautiful studs in the middle of Church Street equipped with Supersoakers and backpack water tanks. But the grand prize goes to this guy seated behind me on the bus when I was returning home from Toronto. I couldn't help but eavesdropping into his half-hour-long phone conversation: " . . .I just found your number an hour ago and I just wanna call and say hi . . . yes you gave me your number a month ago remember? In a rave? Yeah in Toronto . ." " ...I was wearing baggy pants and a white T-shirt with a monster logo in the front.. .Yes, I'm sure you

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would remember me if we were in the same room wearing what we were wearing. . ." " . .. Look, I didn't notice what you're wearing because all I remember was how cute and adorable you were... you're not too tall, not too short, not too skinny, not too fat. "This is Peter I'm speaking to right? Think about it, how do I know all these things if we didn't actually meet? Am I bothering you? Because all I wanted was to call and say hi .. .I'm Michael. ..What?You don't go to raves?" I literally choked when I heard: " . . . SOyou wanna meet tomorrow outside CityTV just to be sure we actually met each other? It'll only take like 2 minutes . . . You're not bullshitting are you? I'll be wearing. Sketchiness at the zenith. It wouldn't be a fantastic weekend without the company of sketch queens, however. As gaybonics like these keep slowly slipping into our vocabulary,I can't help but think that the once subculturewill become mainstream, and no doubt, the phenomenon of sketchirization will surely take place. Now there's a new word for you.

.."

. ."

-Reggre George 3Bartsaccounting

The Forum Section enables members of the University of Waterloo community to present views onvarious issues throughletters to the editor and longer comment pieces. Lettersshouldnotexceed350wordsinlength. Lettersmustbesigned, includmg a phone number. Letterswillnot be printedif the Editor-in-Chief cannot identify the author. T h e y c a n be submitted to: letters@impnnt.uwaterloo.ca. Letters receivedinelectronicform (e.g.fax &email) will not be printed unless a phone number for verification is included. All material is subject to editing for brevity and clarity. The editor reserves the right to refuse to publishletters or articleswhichare judged to be libellousor discriminatoryonthe basis ofgender, race, religionor sexual orientation. '" ' The opinions expressedthroughcolumns,comment pieces,letters and , other articles are strictly those ofthe authors, not the opinions oflmprint.

ALASTAIR F A R R U G l A

JAMES WONG

lacks simplicity -Mr.Yoon, we attend the most distinguished university in Canada, I do not feel that our schoolpaper should be targeting the lowest common denominator-read The Record if you need simplicity. Finally,you slammedthe Imprint staff and Ryan. I do not have any affiliation with the aforementioned; nevertheless, perhaps youshould take a proactive approach: join the Imprint staff and write some exceptional articles so that we can proudly claimthe Imprint as our paper. The future is yours Mr.Yoon, so st:p complaining and get involved. I am not here to turn your negative into a positive-I am here to tell you that your negative is just plain wrong! Have a very beautiful day, Mr.Yoon.

how me the money! Or rather, show me where the money is. More and more investors are asking whether their savings are invested with firms that have good worker relations and environmentally sustainable processes or companiesthat use sweatshops,employ child labour or sell military equipment to oppressive regimes. Socially responsible funds have grown as a result -as of June 2000, they represented $49.9 billion (3.2 per cent of the total) of Canadian mutual funds and institutional investments.Sociallyresponsible investing uses positive or negative screens to either rule out certain companies altogether (tobacco, nuclear, military etc.) or actively seek out those with, say, exemplary employee and environmental practices. The investors may also use their position as shareholders to bring about change in company practices. Or money can be put into communitydevelopment or microerlterpriseinitiatives, rather than the stock market. Socially responsible funds can perform just as well as traditional ones; for example, the Domini Social Index -400 US companies selected on social responsibility criteria grew 32.3 per cent annually in '97, '98 and '99, compared to the S&P 500 which grew 27.6 per cent annu-

ally in the same period. This may be because companies with good social and environmental practices have more satisfied employees and fewer lawsuits. One of the companies that ethical investorstry to avoid is Talisman, a Canadian oil firm that Amnesty International (AI) has twice linked to human rights abuses in Sudan. Serious violations have been committed in Sudan to clear areas for oil exploration-civilians have been displaced from their villages, and many killed by government troops and allies. A1 is actually not calling on oil companies to pull out of Sudan so long as they ensure their operations do not contribute to human rights abuses, but would you invest your money in Talisman? For faculty or staff who contribute to the UW pension fund, the truth is that some alreadydo (about $470,000 as of last October, out of around half a billion dollars in pension fund assets). If you pay into the pension fund and are not happy about thissituation, let the pension committee know (you can reach Trenny Canning by e-mail at tcanning@secretariat.uwaterloo.ca). The Federation of Students has about $35,000 in savings; if you're a student and would like this money to be invested ethically, e-mail Yaacov Iland at fedpres@feds.uwaterloo.ca to let the FEDS executive know that you are concerned about this matter and what they do.


FORUM

8

Imprint, Friday,

J U I ~13,

2001

In a recent Echo readers survey, UW was rated as the best place to meet straight guys and first runner-up as th. best place to meet straight girls.

Where do you go to pick up? by John A. Drummond

"Anywhere on campus the guys alwayscome to us." Chrissy & Karin 3B poly scil4B poly sci

"The right angle cafe in the math lounge." Karoline, Marsha & k i y a 2B biology

"Health Services."

"Off campus."

"WilfridLaurier."

Kyle Homes 4B arts

Keith Allen 1B computer science

Nolen Evans 1B chemistry

" A H S or EL, depending on sexual orientation." Tim Hunt 2B A U S

"Phil's - because the people there are easy." Suly Luu 2B applied studies

"Residencecafeteria at night -to 'help' out the girls." Christian 1B biology

"FedHall -lots of firstyear students looking for . . ." Valerie 2B history

"Bomber -drunk students will do almost anything." Millie the Duck ZA ES

WATERLOO 35 University Ave. E.

CAMBRIDGE 600 Hespeler Rd.

(between King & Weber)

good times, goad friends

TUE ARE STUDEN DAYS! at DOOLY'S in WATERLOO & DQOLY'S in CAMBRIDGE

Qo

E

from II a.m. t i 1 close

NOT VALID WITH ANY OTHER OFFER SHOW YOUR STUDENT ID

GREG

MACDOUOALL Imprint staff

A

short time ago I was involved in a discussion about language and its use. It all got going with talk of using 'their' as a replacement for 'his,' 'her' or 'his/ her.' While it may not be grammatically correct, many people will use 'their' when speaking of the singular, as it is a gender-neutral term. Our discussion turned to the use of the word 'man' to represent the whole of the species, both on its own and in words such as 'chairman,' and also whether it is more important to work at changing words or educating people about words. I think that using 'man' to denote either sex, and then to also have it stand for just one sex, is not justifiable and, even worse, is in fact harmful. Using the word 'man' to refer to the entire human race unconsciously enforces an implied superiority of the male. When used in reference to all people, it is a limiting word; it stimulatespreconceivednotions and ideas you may hold of the word 'man.' This will inadvertently affect your personal interpretation and perception of what you're hearing or reading. The way that 'man' is used, the following can be said: "man is man absoltltely,woman is man (sometimes),but woman is not man (other times)." That'sgot to be crying out something to us, even if we aren't noticing it ourselves. The way we use language helps define our reality. So I think it's pretty important to make the best use of the language that you can in order to strive towards the best reality that you're trying to create. If you can visualize it and verbalize it, you're well on your way.

Our discussion on this topic%turnedto looking at which activity would be time better spent: changing the language or educating about the language. Education is a very powerful tool; as I learn to see language for what it is and become more conscious of it, I learn to escape from the restrictiveness that language imposes. I would say that actually bringing about changes in the words we use would be more liberating; representing more on an unconsciouslevel. While I may be consciouslyaware of what I see in language, there's bound to be so much more of which I am not aware. There are all the attachments of meaning that cultural conditioning has created and stored beneath the reach of my awareness. You can view this in the patterns of discrimination (of all gpes) that continue to happen in our world. Are they more a result of people's conscious decisions, or is it due to subtler, more ingrained societal beliefs and values that live beneath the surface? While it is likely abitofboth,in my view it is the structural workings of our societythat act as the larger change-blockers - that keep regenerating the same inequalities. I would argue it is language that could be the greater force for change. How have we arrived at this situation where we have 'man' (all of us), 'man' (some of US),and 'woman' (not even its own word, only man with a prefix)? What does it mean that womyn don't even have their own noun, and are only a special case of the base noun 'man'? And what does it mean when the words used to describe 'transgendered' aren't even a derivative of 'man'? Does this imply, on some level, that they are not of the species 'man'?


Health benefit or cult? R A C H E L E. B E A l T l E Imprint staff

T

he Chinese government has been in uproar over the practice of FaIun Gong. Gallons of ink have been spilled in the staterun media about the evils of the group. Hundreds of followers are arrested daily for simply practising Falun Gong. So what is this practice that the Chinese government has branded as an "evil cult"? According to the group's literature, it is "an ancient cultivation practice." In it, "Practitioners cultivate or improve, their mind, body and spirit by incorporating into their daily lives the teachings of Falun Dafa." The three main principles that the practise extols are, "Truthfulness, compassion and forbearance." Falun Gong, asserts the group, is not a cult or a sect, but a meditation practice with spiritual aspects. Falun Gong comes from the tradition of Qigong, which is a form of deep breathing exercise and meditation. Falun Gong, or Falun Dafa, consists of five exercises "that span from slow-moving standing postures and stretches to sitting meditation." Unlike other Qigong practices like Tai Chi, Falun Gong has a spiritual dimension. Practitioners work on improving their "mind and moral quality" as well as health. "Moral quality" is defined as adherence to

JOANNE LAWS special to Imprint

I

often speak with students who want to file petitions or appeals but they are unsure of what each word means and how each process is meant to work. Before explaining these terms, I want to stress the importance of discussingyour concerns with the appropriate decision-makers before you take any formal action. For example, if your concern is an academic one, you should first speak with the professor or instructor. If you are unable to resolve the matter at thisstage, youshouldspeak with is the associate dean or chair of the department. If you are still dissatisfied, speak with the dean or chair. You may also want to discuss the matter with your academic advisor and/or the ombudsperson for guidance through this process. It is agood idea to make an appointment to ensure you have enough time to discuss your concerns. The vast majority of issues are resolved at this informal discussion stage. For the rare situation that has not been resolved informally, the formal action of petitions or appeal will still be available. A petition is used when a student wishes to be excused from conforming to a general academic rule or regulation. The student acknowledges that she has violated a regula-

the three main principles. Falun Gong was introduced to the general public in 1992 by Li Hongzhi. The Chinese government has accused Li of everything from holding himself up as agod to taking part in an anti-China conspiracy.Editorials in state-runnewspapers draw frequent comparisonsto the likes of Jim Jones and David Koresh. The Chinese government has charged that supporters refuse medical treatment because they expect Falun Gong to heal them. This was one of the reasons the government gave for banning of the practise on July 20,199 9. Falun Gong denies this charge and says the practise will help practitioners improve their health, but it is not meant to be areplacement for medicine. Falun Gong counters that the Chinesegovernmentbanned the practise because it was growing too popular and its basic tenants went against Communist party dogma. Whatever the reason for the ban, Falun Gong has been illegal in China since 1999.Since thattime, bothFalun Gong supporters and third-party groups like the United Nations and Amnesty International have accused the Chinese government of numerous human rights abuses againstpractitioners of Falun Gong. Accordingto aUnitedNations report, "Falun Gong practitioners have been given extremely harsh sentences of up to 20 years, some 50,000 are reported to

tion (i.e. missed an exam) or failed a course but the circumstancesare extenuating. Such circumstances include, but are not restricted to, a death in the family,a serious illness or an unforeseen and major disruption in the student's life. You must provide proof of the event such as a death or doctor's certificate,as well as any other evidence or information on which you wish to rely. Petition forms may be obtained from the Registrar's Office at Needles Hall. Complete the form, attach all of your supporting documentation and return it to the Registrar's Office. A standings and promotions committee, which meets on a regular basis, will review your petition and advise you of their decision. Each petition is reviewed and considered on its own merits. The decision is usually final. Unlike petitions where one acknowledges she wants to be an exception to a regulation, appeals are appropriate if one feels she has been wronged in some way. These grievances are divided into two classes: academic and procedurallother. Policy 70, student grievance, provides that the "fundamental criterion for initiating a grievance is that a student believes that a decision of a university authority or the action of a university member affecting some aspect of hislher life has not been

,

have been detained and over 90 individuals have allegedly died in custody." Falun Gong members report on their Web site that over 200 people have died while incarcerated in Chinese labour camps. This number, contends thegroup, grows weekly. RecentlyYing Zhu, a Concordia student, was arrested upon returning to China to visither ailingmother. Zhusays she was tortured and brainwashed while being held without ever having a trial. She was released earlierthis month. Falun Gong members says that Zhu's case is typical of what has happened to thousands of practitioners, except many were not as lucky as Zhu to be released from prison. Amnesty International's annual report on human rights cited the case of Chen Zixiu, a Falun Gong practitioner in her 60s who died in a ChineseJabour camp. The report said: "According to her daughter, when the family came to fetch Chen Zixiu's body, it was coveredinbruises, her teeth were broken and blood was coming out of her ears. Local police reportedly later claimed that she had 'died of a heart attack."' The Chinese government denies any wrong-doing. They insist that those Falun Gong practitioners who have died in custody either committed suicide or died of natural causes. Falun Gong members counter that they practise Falun Gong to

reasonable, just or fair." It is important that you attempt to resolve the matter informally. Discuss your concerns with the individual whose actionsyou believe are unfair. Failing a resolution at this stage, you should then discuss the matter with other persons who have the authority to bring about a resolution. If youare dissatisfied with the outcome of this informal stage, you may initiate a formal review by setting out your concerns in writing to the appropriate authority. If you are not satisfied with outcome of the formal review, you may wish to initiate the final stage, an appeal. An appeal is initiated through the Secretariat's Office, also located in Needles Hall. If you are launching an appeal you should read and understand the University's Policy 70 on student grievances and Policy 71 on student academic discipline. Speak with your academicadvisor, your ombuds-person andlor the Office of Ethical Behaviour and Human Rights for guidance. You can contact your ornbudspersonat SLC, room 2 128, at extension 2402 or at ombuds@uwuterloo.ca. You can contact the Office of EthicalBehaviourandHumanRights atMC, roorn4049, at extension 3 765 orat mericksn@uwatevloo.cu.

LLVUOMI~U

FalunGongpractitioners inWaterloo protestpersecution. improve their health and well-being and therefore suicide would be counter productive. It is hard to decide who is telling the truth. Are the Falun Gong members exaggeratingthe fatalitycount? Is the Chinese government trying to cover up human rights abuses? The media is severely censored, so it is impossible toknow anything for sure. However, many outside human rights groups agree that Chinese authorities have used excessive force against the peaceful group. A United Nations report said, "Defendants and suspects continue to be deprived of their right to due process, including access to legal counsel, the right to remain silent and the right

againstself-incrimination." On July 11, local Falun Gong practitioners began a walk to show support for fellow practitioners in China who have been arrested. The walkers will travel from Waterloo to Toronto, making stops at Cambridge, Hamilton, Burlington, Oakville and Mississauga. When they reach Toronto the walkers will join Toronto practitioners and head to Washington to mark the two-year anniversary of Falun Gong being banned.

MARCY M C C R A E

Spoon some of the excess mixture over the apples and onions. If you do not have a cast-iron frying pan, then you need to place the chopslchicken in an oven- proof baking dish (itcan be a casserole dish, a pie plate or something with high sides so the liquid doesn't spill into your oven). Then add the soup mixture, the onions and apples, making sure some soup mixture is covering at least 40 per cent of them. Bake in oven at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes. If the chicken is reallythick, check with a fork and knife to make sure there are absolutely no pink parts. When checking, test the chicken at its thickest part. Serve this dish with such things as boiled new potatoes, with butter, salt and new peas. If you want to jazz it up a little, smear a tablespoon of Dijon mustard onto the meat after searing it and just before you add the soup mixture, onions and apples. Remember, don't salt the meat until after it's done cooking. If youdo, you will make the meat tough.

special to Imprint

Pork (or chicken) Lyonaise 4 boneless pork chops ( or chicken breasts) 114 cup chopped onion 1 cup peeled, chopped apple 1 can mushroom soup half can of milkicream 2 tsp olive oil salt and pepper Saute the onions and apples over medium heat in half of the olive oil. When the apples are slightlysoft and the onions are limp remove them from the pan and place on a plate or dish. Keeping the same pan, place the rest of the oil in the warm pan and then add the pork or chicken. Sear both sides of the meat until a little bit browned on each side. Meanwhile, mix the mushroom soup and milk or cream together until smooth in a bowl. Cream will taste better, but the milk is lower in fat. Add a dash of salt and pepper to the soup mixture and stir that in. If you have been using a castiron frying pan, simply add the soup mixture to the chopslchicken breasts and spoon over. Place the onions and apples over the whole thing.

To find out more about Falun Gong, visit their Web site a t www.falundufa.org. The UWchapter ofthegroup meets Thursduysat 4 p.m. in Studio 1in the PAC.

There was an error in'last issue's recipefor Ffiedfish. The recipe should have calledfor 112cupofbreadcrumbs but instead called for 2 cups of breadcrumbs. Iapologize for any inconvenience.


Give us your ideas and you might win a $25 prize from the

Bookstore. U N I V E R S I T Y OF W A T E R L O O

I

t's beenalmostsix years since we've asked our readerswhat they think about the work we do here at lmprrirt.In order to serve our students better' we're askingyou to tell us how we're doing.It's all stuff that we want to know and (hopefully) you want to tell us. In case you're not convinced ofthe value of ~omttxtivecriti~ism, m'&weetened thep t withfive $25giF certificates/+om the UWBookstmefor some randomlyselected reader responses. Thereare lots of prizes because we want lots of feedback. So go ahead, tell us what you think.

Readingpatteryls Please answer the following questions based on your regular reading patterns over the course of this term.

1. I have read (all/most~some/fewlnone)of the issues.

Completed surveys curt be dropped off at Imp'sirt (SLC1116) matthe TurnkeyDesk (SLC).AltarpratttarPrattve1yy andfmthefirsttime in I-irtbistory, the survey can be completed online -visit us attuurur.imprint.utuaterfoo.ca.

2. 1 read -per cent of the stories

3.

-I read the paper in one sitting

It takes me a couple of sittings before I'm through 4. When I'm finished reading it, the paper is: -returned to distribution location -left out on a table or equivalent somewhere - passed on to someone else -recycled -taken homelkept

From section to section For each section, please tell us how much you read.

5. 1 most often pick up the paper from:

News

Forum

Features

Science

Completely devour Get a good mouthful The odd taste Pass it over Initiate a gag reflex

Sports

Arts

Campus Bulletin

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-

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6. Where do we drop off too many papers?

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Section coverage Please rate our coverage in each section, on a scale of one (horrid) to five (world class). Add a plus sign (+) if we should increase our coverage in that department, or a minus sign (-) if we should have less.

News: University news Campus clips Community news National news International news Ready and Willing

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Letters to the editor Crumble an' Erb St.

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Forum: Opinion pieces Outlook Comics Campus question Remember earth clearly WPlRG

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Features: Feature articles Photo essays Imprint cooks Ask the Ombudsperson

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Science: Feature articles Micro files

Health and fitness Desportivos Campus RecILeaders Arts: Interviews and features Event previews Event reviews CD reviews Movie reviews Book reviews AirheadslCKMS Top 10

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7. Where do we need to drop off more papers?

8. Which version do you prefer to read? Web or paper? -I only read the paper -lots paper, a bit lnternet 50-50 -paper less, Internet more t o t a l l y virtual, baby (www.imprint.uwaterloo.ca) 9. 1 read these traditional print-style newspapers: - National Post - Globe and Mail - Toronto Star -K- W Record - Echo Waterloo Chronicle BlindSpot

Other: -

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10. 1 read these online publications:

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Sports: Varsity coverage

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Campus Bulletin: Classifieds 11. What do you feel are the most important differences between a newspaper and a newspaper's Web site, as far as lmprint is concerned?

For each section, please comment on on what you like, what you don't, and what we could do differently:

Please never change:

I can't stand:

What we should do:

News Forum

12. Any further comments on Imprint's Web site?

Features

13. What would you add or remove from the paper? Science Sports Arts Graphics Photos Any additional comments (attach additional pages if necessary):

14. What do you think is the best part of Imprint?



SCIENCE

12

Rocket ready for launch continued from page 11

48.3 krn.This altitude is just short of the edge of the stratosphere and at an altitude of48km, Walker will have 99 per cent of the Earth's gas atrnosphere below him. While this is not technically space, it will break the current world record for maximum altitude achieved by a private citizen. In his current launch configuration, Walker is going to attempt an initial launch from an air launcher that will propel his rocket with an initial acceleration of 4G. After this unconventional launch, the main rocket will ignite and will provide the additional thrust required to propel the craft to an altitude of 48km. By utilising this launcher,Walker will be able to travel much higher since he will not have to include as much fuel

in the rocket. The rocket design currently operates by ejecting 90 per cent pure hydrogen peroxide through asilver catalystscreen. The screen aids to decompose the gas, which then ejects it as a high-pressure, non-combustiblesteam exhaust. While hydrogen peroxide fuel only supplies about one third the energy of liquid hydrogen and oxygen (conventionalrocket fuel),it is much safer because it does not combust. Oncethe rocket reaches its maximum altitude, the one-man personal capsule will detach from the main rocket and will begin its plummet to the earth. It will deploy a parachute system in order to slow its descent and Walker should reach Earth in one piece. Walker has designed a doubly redundant parachute system on the capsule and will be wearing a

Green Cyclists continued from page 11

dependence on fossil fuels. The caravan riders will be meeting with community groups in a publicforum todiscusslocalinitiativesto reduce greenhouse gases. K-W supports a number of projects that will

help limit the use of fossil fuels. Those interested in meeting the riders, and findingout what the local community is doing to reduce fossil fuel dependency, can come to the SLC at 1p.m. on July 27. The riders will be distributinginformationabout how to reduce the use of fossil fuels.

- The Toronto Sta~

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~~*~~~ttp://princess.sentex.net 6 Princess Street West 885-2950

cosmonaut space suit with two personal parachutes. When asked about his confidence in the system, Walker replied, "I'm tryingto eliminateas best as I can everything that would actually kill me.. .you knowthere'salot of things that could prevent this mission from coming off as 100per centsuccessful, but the goal is to eliminate anything that may actually kill me. If anything went wrong. after the first five to eightseconds, I'd be high enough up to separate the capsule from the fuel tank and emergency parachutes would deploy. If I can get clear of the first five seconds, I should have no problem as far as being able to walk

Imprint, Friday, j u ~ yI 3, ZOO I away alive. Every second after that point, the higher I get the more of a safety factor I make for myself" Actually achieving the marker of 48km is not that significant to Walker, "I can always go again, and if it onlygoes48km instead of 56km .and I come down and walk away I'm going to be just as thrilled. If it only goes 32km I'm going to be just as thrilled as if it went 48km." It is not so much the altitude that is pushing Walker; it is more the senseof accom~lishinga singlemanned rocket flight to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere and fulfillingapart of his childhood dream. Another aspect of this project that Walker didn't take into

account was the public fame that such a sensational event would garnish. "I've become something of an icon now, for people who are sick and tired of looking to athletes, entertainers, musicians and movie stars as the people to focus attention on." Besidesthe hundreds of e-mails that Walke~receives each week, he has participated in a great deal of radio and television interviews, has had numerous print and Internet articles written about him, Walker even has a book is in the works. If you are interested in following the progress of the Rocket Guy, visit his Web site at www.rocketguy.com.

Climate change: the ongoing debate BY BRUCE DAVISON Imprint staff

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s the Earth's climate changing? "The answer is unequivocally 'Yes',? according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The IPCC is a United Nations organization, establishedin 1988, to review and assesspublished and peerreviewed technical literature from the scientific community. They state "there is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observedin the last 50 years is attributable to human activities." Not everyone agrees with the IPCC. The Science and Environmental Policy Project is one such group. S. Fred Singer,an atmosphericphysicist andaprofessor emeritus of environmental science at the University of Virginia, founded SEPP in 1990. Singer, in an article written in the April 20, 1999 issue of EOS, a publication of the American Geophysical Union had the following to say. "Highgovernment officialshave declared repeatedly that climate science is "settled" and "compelling." The clear implication is that we know enough to act; any further research findings would be "policy-irrelevant" and not important to the international deliberations of the parties to the climate treaty . . . the observa-

tional evidence. ..suggests that any warming from the growth of greenhouse gases is likely to be minor, difficult to detect above the natural fluctuations of the climate, and therefore inconsequential." The SEPP Web site also claims that the "data from weather satellitesand balloon measurements show no warming whatsoever." The latest IPCC report seems to addressthe issue of surface dataversus satellite and balloon data. "Surface, balloon and satellite temperature measurements show that the troposphere and Earth's surface have warmed and that the stratosphere has cooled. Over the shorter time period for which there have been both satellite and weather balloon data (since 1979), the balloon and satellite records show significantly less lower-tropospheric warming than observed at the surface." In other words, the troposphere (the bottom 10 kilometers of the atmosphere) seems to be warming while the upper atmosphere seems to be cooling. At the heart of the whole climate change debate lies the question of "scientificconsensus." Politicians, the media and the public assume that the IPCC represents a unified voice for the scientific community. The SEPP Web site suggests otherwise. On November 10, 1995, a group of climatologistsmet in Leip-

zig, Germany to talk about climate change. At this meeting, they produced the "Leipzig Declaration" that questions the idea that we need to stabalize atmospheric greenhouse gases. The strong language of the declaration clearly states their view. "In a world in which poverty is the greatest social pollutant, any restriction on energy use that inhibits economic growth should be viewed with caution. For this reason, we consider "carbon taxes" and other drasticcontrolpolicies-lackingcredible support from the underlying science -to be ill-advised, premature, wrought with economic danger and likely to be counterproductive." Environmentalists have a different view. David Suzuki, in a June 27 article posted on CNEWS, says that "by pumping massive quantitiesof greenhousegases into the atmosphere and altering vast areas of the planet's surface, we are conducting a global experiment of unprecedentedscale.'' Suzuki and other environmentalists see the continuing trend of pumpinggreenhouse gasses into the atmosphere as troubling. As his article concludes, "we are experimenting on the only atmospherewe have." On the status of climate change, the air is far from clear. For further information, the IPCC and SEPP Web sites can be found a t www.ipcc.ch and www.sepp.org, respectively.


SCIENCE

Imprint, Friday, juty 13, 2001

Would you like to have your work printed in a publication that will be seen by all of UW? The Federation of students are looking for artists of a31 types to s mlt images o f t In this years student handbook There is Itmiteti space so inquire soon! For more informati~lrs please contact Dean Wanvlck / Handbook Co-ordinator dcwamic@feds.uwaterloo.caj 888.4780

Cettingthe trainout ofthe station is theeasy part.

real paln Dave Robins discusses the ups, downs and sleepless nights involved in what is arguably one of UViPs most frustrating courses: CS 452, DAVID ROBINS special to Imprint

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ealtime. The trains course: CS 452, one of the "big three" computer science courses at UW -the other two being graphics, CS 488, and compilers, CS 444. The lab on the third floor of MC that once bore the "All hope abandon, ye who enter here" sign over the door. Goodbye life (nota big sacrifice if you're already in math ), goodbye free time. With the possible exception of just after a due date- when students are catching up on much needed sleep -the lab is never empty. The goal of the course is to write an embedded operating system (almost) from scratch, which will be used to control model trains. Windows is (cough) an operating system; so are Linux, the various BSDs, Solaris (hello undeqqad), MacOS, and the list goes on forever like Bilbo's Road. The operating system's job is to act as a mediator between applications -such as programs like word processorsand web browsers-anddevices-screens, printers, keyboards, mice, networkcards, etc. It providesa 'layer' of abstraction; for example, an application can print amessageand not have to worry about the exact display hardware being used. The 'realtime' in the course name concerns the time constraints involved. If, in Windows, you're running a program to do something useless like calculatelarge prime numbers in one window which is slowing down the response from the game of Red Alert 2 that you're playing in another window, it's no big deal. But if the system is not your home computer but rather a device controlling a hospitai's power supply and it takes too long to notice the power outage and switch over to the backup generator, people die (you do not want Windows here). Embedded realtime systems are found in many different areas, such as in cars (ABS brake:;, microwaves, space shuttles and manufacturing robots. The most important device to 'satisfy' in CS 452 is the train controller. It must get lots of CPU time so that mishaps like train crashes or derailings don't occur because switches are set incorrectly. The keyboard is another device that must get sufficient CPU attention so that a program can respond quickly to user commands. Physically, the lab has a bunch of terminals like the regular Unix labs; these are used for

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programming and compiling your kernel the 'brain' of a operating system. When you think you have something that might possibly work', youcan 'post' it to the four Intel 486 test machinesand then get in line to run it (although I'm not old enough to have used them, submitting punched cards must have been a similar process). When your turn comes, you select your kernel and watch it run or die horribly. It will crash more often than not, so smart people quickly build agood debugger that, at the very least, prints out a stack dump that one can use to find out the exact spot where a program crashed, and fix it (lather, rinse, repeat). In hopes of alleviatingthis bottleneck, I've written code to let people use their own PCs at home to write (non-train parts of) their operating system; see http://www.403 l.net/code/os/ cs452.html for further information. In critical code, used when switching between running programs, or in an interrupt, or settingup paged memory if one is so ambitious, sometimesthings are so bad that there are only two indicators. If the machine reboots, it failed. If it froze, it got to your choke point, and you move the freeze command forward to narrow down the location where it died. Heisenbugs, named after a physicist who couldn't measure accurately and then went on to prove that it wasn't his fault, are nasty little bugs that manifest only occasionally, usually when you're giving a demo. It's all very weird and not conducive to eithersleep or sanity. Don't gawk, we'll get you. The final project involves doing something neat with the trains. At the very minimum, one should be able to pick two points on the track and program a train to calculate a path between them and then take it, setting switches on the way. The next step is getting multiple trains to run (i-e.collisiondetection,so that trains with low priority back up or wait or 'go around' if a higher priority train comes at them). A standard idea is a sort of 'taxi' program: the track is shown on the monitor with several stops marked, and the computer generates virtual passengers that the train must pick up and drop at certain destinations. Adding things like priorities -taking someone to hospital supersedesother trips, for example-can complicate things further. A variant actually submitted (no, not by me) was to have various animals wandering around the track; the object was for the train to hit them and rack up points (see?'trains' warps your mind). Nevertheless, I loved it. Maybe it was the power (complete control over the machine! bwahahaha!), but trains was probably my favouritecourse (secondwas compilers). If you're in CS and have an interest in the subject, I encourage you to take 452; you'll put a lot of time in but you'll get agreat feeling of aaccomplishmenr out of it, plus make new friends with whom you'll get to spend nearly every waking moment.

MONGOLIAN GRlLL AND THE FEDERATION OF STUDENTS PRESENT Employee of the Month If you've been by Scoops this month chances are you've met Ashle Her srnilin face greets you at Scoops even on the dam est of da . is the on& returnin! staff member from last term and Ras !one t& extra mile to su port the newcomers. She has put in extra time and effort to nsure that R e new staff is correctly trained and comfortable with their Lties She is very re!iable, punctual and responsible bu! mor; impofantly has a wonderful amtude and exceptional customer serv~ceskills. It IS a riv~lee to have Ashle on our team and my pleasure to nominate her as !he ~e!s ~rn~loyee of i e month.

hey

Volunteer of the MI3nth

,-.'*-c+ S r u n a n

Inrum#

Ashley Williamson Scoops/ Aussies

Stu was a member of the Canada Day steering committee as the operations person responsible for securing all materials needed to run all the events. Stu spent countless hours ensuring that all Canada Day events could run smoothly. In addition Stu has volunteered his leadership skills to assist in the plannin of the Federation Orientation Leadersh~pConference. As a guest spea&erl Stu has helped to create a new activlp that will end this years conferene with an exclting new twist. W~thouth ~efforts s on both these prolects nather would have reachedthe level of successthey have. Stu Doherty Canada Day / Federation Orientation Leadership Conference


Explore some Kitchener running trails Peter van Driel points the way to the great outdoors trail scrambles up a steep slope and becomes a rugged dirt trail right at the edge of a high cliff, 20 to 30m above the river. Probably the most exciting trail in Kitchener, this portion is wedged between the cliff and a cattle farm, and goes up and down the cliff where side creeks feed in. (Use extreme caution, not all the bridges are sound). The trail eventually descends this cliff as the valley opens up, and leads through grassy fields. The trail also improves again to a gravel path, leading to the end of Zeller Road. Although I haven't explored past Zeller Road, I have heard the trail extends further to the Chicopee ski area, along the riverbank.

umrner's here and there's no better time to get outside and explore your surroundings. There are many great places for you to visit right around campus where you can enjoy what summer was meant for -trail exploring! The attached map includes the Resurrection Trail, as well as the Iron HorseTrail, beginning in Waterloo on Caroline just north of John Street and running through Kitchener just south of Ottawa Street. The remaining two maps can be found at Cyclepath in uptown Waterloo.

Resurrection High School to Victoria Park, Kitchener

The Hydro Cut

Following Henry Sturm Creek from Resurrection High School eastwards, this trail runs through the Monarch Woods conservation park, leading to Victoria Park in downtown Kitchener. This is a wide gravel path, with additional side trail options, passing mainly through open parkland and underpasses at Fischer-Hallman and Westrnount Roads. Although there are access points at all major streets, the true beginning (or end) is from the athletic fields behind Resurrection High School, located on UniversityAvenue West, about 5OOm west of FischerHallman Rd. While I will leave it up to you to navigate the trail, the highlights are the Monarch Woods conservation park, a beautiful forested valley, and the more landscaped and popular Victoria Park in downtown Kitchener.

The Grand River Trails Much longer and more challenging than other trails, the Grand " River trails follow the west bank of the Grand River through KW. Although further away from campus, these trails are certainly worth the trip, especially for hikers, runners or mountain bikers looking to live 'on the edge'. There are actually two sets of trails along the Grand River's west bank: one extending from Bridgeport to Bingeman's Park, and another further downstream fromForwel1Drive (south ofvictoriastreet) to Chicopee ski area. The first stretch is accessed from Bridgeport Road and Riverbend Drive, and starts out as a relatively tame gravel pathway following the rim of the bluffs along the Grand River.

The trail soon heads down a hill where you have to cross a culvert, and enters the wilds. Some of Kitchener's most challenging mountain biking or hill climbinglies here, extendingthrough to Bingeman's Park, including a steep hill so overgrown by roots that it looks like a staircase. The trail gradually heads down to river level and becomes more tame towards Bingeman's, where it enters the park at a campground. To get to the second portion of trails, continue eastwards along Victoria Street to Forwell Road, which is just before the Kitchener city limits (atthe GrandRiver).Headsouthon Forwell Road, where the road will lead to the trail head. Again, this trail system begins as a friendly gravel path along the west bank of the river, but this trail is at river level. After about a kilometre, the

Waterloo's greatest escape, the Hydro Cut trails lead westward from the end of Glasgow Street into Wilmot Township, towards St. Agatha. The main trail follows a powerline through woods and rolling farmland for over 4km, with innumerable side trails leading off into the backwoods. Perhaps the longest unbroken trail in the region, it is also the best trail to explore without worrying about getting lost, because you can always find your way back to the powerline and out to your exit. As a generalnote, the Hydro Cut trails are primarily used by mountain bikers, and get very slippery and muddy when wet. There are three main access points to this trail, suitable for runners, hikers and mountain bikers. The best access, if coming from UW is to take University Avenue weswards to its end at Glasgow Street. Turn left onto GlasgowStreet and follow for about 300m to where you cross under several power lines. The access trail heads off to the right under a row of wooden telephone poles, through farm fields, back to the main Hydro Cut trail. The main Hydro Cut trail follows a single hydro line which leads westward between forests. Note that there is no parking at this access point, so if you're driving, it's best to park at Resurrection High School and go from there. Asecond access,with parking available is on Regional Rd. 12 in Wilmot Township, marking the other end of the trail. To get there, take Erb Street West out to St. Agatha, and turn left at Regional Road 12, at the stop light. The parking lot appears just after you cross under the powerline, approximately 1.5km south of Erb Street.

Leaders of the week Heidi Prins

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J O H N SWAN Imprint staff

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irst it was postponed for a year be cause of a kidnapping of the head of Colombia's national football federation. Then, just as suddenly, the nations of the Confederacih Sudamericana de Fiitbal (CSF) decided to reinstate the schedule. Now, Canada and Argentina will not be arriving to the land where scoring on your own goal can be hazardous to your health.Yes, just as you thought this year's Copa America couldn't get any more screwed up if it was held in a war zone, the CSF does a complete about-face and the confederations have been sent into a dither, to say the least. And some nations, it seems, are paying the price. As many folks know, Colombia has a very valuable drug trade that has been plaguing the country ever since the U.S. declared war on drugs. As a result of this drug trade, there is a civil war happening between the government under Andres Pastrana and the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia that has been in the headlines, particularly concerning the brutality of this war. Surely when the CSF considered where to hold

this year's Copa America, they had to consider what was happening in Colo'mbia and name another country as an alternative. Indeed, Brazil and Argentina considered themselves likely candidates for the Copa America. Even Mexico would have been a good applicant, considering they replaced Colombia as the host of the 1970 World Cup after an earthquake hit the South American nation hard. But the breaking point was the kidnapping of Hernan Mejia (Colombia's football federation's head) by FARCguerillas and urban bombings one month earlier in cities like Cali, Bogata and Medellin. As a result of these events, nine members of the CSF met in Buenos Aires to discuss what alternativeswere present and the best course of action. Despite the release of Meija, the CSF decided to postpone the Copa, but it would still be held in Colombia. While it was a good idea to keep it in Colombia, the postponement seemsto be a bad idea. After all, on September 5, 1972,were the rest of the Olympicgames in Munich cancelled or postponed when a bunch of terrorists decided to end the lives of 11fine Israeli athletes?As I recall, I didn't think so. And were the 1970

World Cup qualifiers postponed for a year when El Salvador and Honduras had their little football war? No, they weren't. Luckily, the CSF has found their footballs once again and decided to drop this postponement. After all, if games were not played because of fear that violence would break out, there would be no CelticIRangers matches, nor would there be any games in Brazil, Croatia, the Netherlands, Italy or England. As for Canada not making the Copa America, 'tis a shame indeed. Sure, the current group of lads making their living in Europe couldn't get a goal even if they had the GDP of the United States of America from 1950 to the present day, but Holger Osieck could call up players from either the MLS (aka the Geritol League) or from the Toronto Lynx, Montrial Impact, Vancouver Whitecaps or any other players in the A-League. After all, Canada did qualify for this tourney by winning the Gold Cup, so our boys should at least be there. And quite frankly, I don't think that there will be much of adifference, given our performances in the 2002 World Cup qualifying, the Confederations' Cup and the Under 20 FIFA World Cup. .

Heidi works at the PAC pool as a lifeguard &swimming iristructor. Along with spendingmany hours guarding and instructing, Heidi is an active member of the UW guard team. This summer Heidi and her team are preparing for competitions and looking forward to taking part in the provincial lifeguarding competition in Markham in August. Good luck!

Heidi Prins smilesfor thecamera.

Pat Brown Pat has done an awesome job this summer as convener of the soccer league. The 43 team league ran very smoothly even with many games rescheduled due to rain. Even though Pat suffered a soccer injury and was on crutches for most of the term, he still managed to make it from field to field to supervise the games. Thanks for your hard work.

A word on campus rec broomball Another exciting and action-packed term of brooinball has ended, and the playoffs are set to begin. "Competitive" broomball lived up to its name as there were many, close, hard-fought contests decided by just one goal. The "Stallions," though undefeated, escaped with three such victories. The three new league teams all showed great improvement and the majority of games were penalty-free. Good luck.

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Imprint, Friday, juty 13. 200 I

More realitv than fantasv Final Fantasy directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi RYAN MATTHEW MERKLEY Imprint staff

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hair and vein below the skin is perfectly rendered. The attention to detail in this film is stunning, and a credit to the team that created it. Too bad that, like many films that came before it, Final Fantasy gets mired down with self-congratulatory effects and not enough plot. The plot, unlike the stunning visuals, requires a lot of faith from the audience. The story, written by A1 Reinert (Apollo 13), Hironobu Sagakuchi (producerof all nine Final

tar Wars creator George Lucas is known for his dislike of working with actors. In an interview last year withSalon.com7sJim Pau1,Anthony Daniels, the actor who played C3 P 0 said, "I think George would like to freeze a lot of people and bring them out occasionally." Lucas is often quoted as saying he would rather work with computer animations than real actors. With this week's release of Final Fantasy:7heSpirttsWithin, I think George Lucas got his wish. What began with 199S's Toy S t o has ~ Looks like a real guy to me. moved light years into the future with Final Fantasy. The Fantasy games) and Jeff Vintar, feels film comes closer than ever to deliv- as if it were written in Japanese and ering a 100 per cent computer-ani- then translatedintoEnglish, or maybe written in English, translated into mated, photo-realistic movie. What the viewers experience in Japanese, and then back again. The film borrows heavily from this film is completely breathtaking. We are treated to dozens of close- the Aliens trilogy, with space-alien ups of the characters, demonstrating phantoms invading a desolate Earth that each weave of fabric, strand of in the not-so-distant future. Dr. Aki

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Ross is on a mission to collect eight spirits - part of a puzzle hidden within the living remnants of Earth's flora and fauna - in order to fight what she believes is an extraterrestrial infection of the Earth spirit,Gaia. Fans of the original video games will be disappointedwith Final Fantasy because very littleseems to be left to magic. The creatorsinstead choose to side with high-tech weapons and machine-gun fire. There's no shortage of violence, and the film takes full advantage of its PG13rating. In between a poorly-developed romance and tonnes of incredibleactionsequences,Aki does her best to try to save the world. Star voices Alec Baldwin, Steve Buscerni,VingRhames and. Peri Gilpin (Frasier's Roz) make the best of their lines, and their digital characters are wonderfully rendered -the mouths even match the dialogue, although some instances are better than others. One video-game magazine reported the that the Japanese government released investment bonds to help finance the $115 milliondollar film. It's too bad no one came out to help them write it.

The "real" Edgefest continued from page 15

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Gonna Take It." Not so romantic anymore. Next up: Gob. People literally ran to the stage, and this is when the real Edgefest got underway. Once there, most people did not leave the stageuntil the last song by Tool. They stood there through 3 Doors Down, who had agreat set, performing most of their current album, The Better Life, and a few new tunes. The crowd remained for Finger Eleven and the band's crazy guitar player who insisted on jumping, running and basically going crazy. Despite the cool weather, most of the crowd was hosed down after the amazingFinger Eleven set. Then they stayed there for Big Wreck's hit, "That Song," and the rest of their set. In between Big Wreck and Tea Party, I headed over to Merchant Village to try to find a blanket or something other than the thin sarong I had purchased earlier in the day. There was nothing to be found, but I was struck by the fact that most of the merchants hadn't planned for the weather either, offering fantasticallycoloured bikinis insteadof wool blankets.

Merchantsweren't the only ones with booths and musicians weren't the only artists at Edgefest - the Dark Artists Guild had a boothset up displaying their art. When asked how they got into Edgefest, the one guy replied, "We wanted Tool tickets and they said they wanted artists." It was a win-win situation for members of the guild, and as the sun went down, Merchant Village closed up, sending the overpriced merchants scurrying away from the dark. Tea Party was just heading up on stage as I returned from Merchant Village with my candy, which I had to chew to stop myself from grinding my teeth because I was so cold. The set was pretty standard for them, but served the purpose it was meant to, and that purpose was to get everyone ready for Tool. Tool's stage setup was certainly the most elaborate of all, featuring video screens, much better lighting effects that the previous bands' and, of course, the antics of Maynard James Keenan, who never once turned to face the crowd. The energy-filled set included the band's latest single, "Schism," and they were certainly the highlight of the day.

So with a few fireworks to cap off the night, Edgefestwas done for another Canada Day and people started heading home. Thankfully, unlike the drive into Molson Park, the drive home was much easier and alot less stressful.

Artist

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Clear Channel clear-cutting MR.

MIKE

special to Imprint

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here has been an interesting little series of articles being by writtenby Eric BoehlertonSalon.com about the effects of the changes of the TelecommunicationsAct on the radio business in the United States. At the bottom of that act was a provision that lifted ownershiplimits for radio stations. Prior to this law, broadcasters could own just40 stations nationally, and only two in a given market. Suddenly, without the Federal Communications Commission's input or any publichearings, ownershipof the air became deregulated and corporations could own what they pleased. Part of the point of this deregulation was to help stations cover costs by expanding their listener base. At the time, many stations were struggling to turn a profit. The idea was that adding more stations to a company's roster might spread the costs a little. Instead, two companies, Clear Channel and Viacom Infinity, bought as much as possible and now dominate the American commercialradio market. The result has been the degradation of commercial radio as a creative, independent medium. About a third of the American radio landscape now has essentially two points on the dial. In the interests of amassing the greatest number of consumers at the lowest cost, these monolithshave learned to stamp out their contentproducts with uniformity (ever thought a lot of stations sound similar?) and an aversion to controversy. "Just as McDonald's fries taste the same in Bakersfieldas they do in Bangor, so do these corporate news products," offers Boehlert. According to critics, local competition nearly vanished from radio

in the wake of the deregulation. This has cleared the way for automated, cookie-cutter programming, almost no local news, and an estimated loss of 10,000 jobs. "It's been fabulous for shareholders, but terrible for listeners and employees," says a former broadcast group chief (understandably not named). Anyone who ever reads my columns knows that I am forever going on about the negative effects of corporate control of radio. This is why I believe in community stations like CKMS, because they are the last truly open-format broadcasters and the last bastion of hope for anyone who's grown tired of hearing t o p 4 0 music surrounded by a steadily increasing number of commercials. Boehlert points out that it's vitally important for the independent stations to keep an eye on the corporate radioscape: "Fox News is not likely to alert the public to the dangers of Rupert Murdoch's taking control of satellite television. Don't wait for CNN to crusade against the dumbing-down effects of media synergy." I did a little research of my own, and I see that Clear Channel has yet to expand its broadcast influence to the north (though it is present in a great deal of Europe, Australia and Asia). But don't kid yourself, we all know that the Canadian bandwidths are thrivingon mimickingthe American business model, creating such awful ideas as Mojo radio. And so I end this diatribe with a familiar call: support Canadian independent radio, the last stop for honestly creative programming of all genres. ..and we take requests. Read more at www.salon.com by searching for "Clear Channel." Mr. Mike does the talkin'andMr. Tim does the rawkin' on Igneous Rawk, every otherFrrday at I I p.m. on CKMS 1OO.3FM.

Album

Zen DJ Krush Discosis # Bran Van 3000 Critical Bandwith Various Artists In the Belly of a Whale # Danny Michel Brothers & Sisters, Are You Ready? 5 f/ Big Sugar Open 6 f/ Cowboy Junkies Signs 7 Badmarsh & Shri Sing. ..Jonathan David 8 Belle & Sebastian The Lower Abdominals 9 Various Artists 10 Weights & Measures Poses

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Label Sony Virgin Nettwerk Independent Universal Universal Nettwerk Matador Nettwerk Matlock


Imprint, Friday, July 1 3, 200 1

Choke

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Chuck Palahniuk Doubleday BRIAN CODE Imprint staff

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hoke, Chuck Palahniuk's latest book, following the celebrated Fight Club, continues with the tradition and evolution of his unique style of dark humour and chaoticcircurnstances.The fast-pacedstylelends itself well to the low attention-span generation. The author revisits the support group phenomenon found in Fight Club, with the protagonist, Victor Mancini, attending a sex addict support group -not to recover, but to indulge his addiction. Although the support

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group scenario is an excellent way to explore the human psyche, the concept grows a little boring, especially after reading Fight Club. Victor's mother Ida, who has Alzheimer's disease,lives in a care home, which Victor visits regularly. Ida does not recognize Victor as her son, but as a happily married lawyer named Fred Hastings. Also, while visiting, Victor gives closure to other residents' past lives by becoming exactly who they accuse him of being. He accepts various charges - such as dog killing and molestation -from the senilecommittees. By being acharneleon,Victor is able to feed his selfloathing behaviour and live by the mantra, "What would Jesus not do?" The care home visits to his mother are Victor's attempt to figure out his childhood

roots and potentially divine lineage. Childhood flashbacks lace the narrative, featuring foster home experiences and his being "rescued" by his birth mother. The rescues are usually some crazedrunaway jaunts to avoid the police, orchestrated with Victor's co-operationand Ida's direction. To support his ailing mother, Victor works at an 18th century re-enactment farm where anything that did not exist at the time is outlawed and the punishment is time in the lock stocks. Of course, the minimum wage job, originallytaken to pay for medical school, does not provide enough income for Victor to fully support his mother. As a result, Victor turns to other means - pretending to choke on food, getting saved and feeding off his saviours' charity. By choking enough times in many different places, Victor receives a steady flow of income and birthday cards from his compassionate lifesavers. "Everyone wants to be a hero,"Victor believes.

Since Victor is a medical school dropout, he is hypersensitive to health issues. Yellow skin: hepatitis. Irregular shapedmole: cancer. Meanwhile, Victor's Colonial Dunsboro colleague, Denny, who spends many a day locked in the stocks, deals with his own addiction to alcohol. By channellinghis energy into rock collecting, Denny is able to avoid the bottle-shaped siren. Denny provides a lame juxtaposition to make Victor seem like less of a loser. Palahniuk reuses his literary devices over and over to portray the feel of an uneasy, recurring nightmare, while maintaining a trance-like rhythm in his prose. At times some of his techniques are overusedsimilar to Douglas Coupland's "randomness." Choke is definitely a good read, but not a literary landmark. It does what it needs to do: entertain and make you feel better about yourself because you'renotascrazyasVictor Mmcini.

Palahniuk


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Kristin Hersh Sunny border blue 4AD RACHEL E. BEATTIE Imprint staff

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Sunny border blue, the latest release from ex-Throwing Muses frontwoman Kristin Hersh, has been haunting me since the first time I put it inmy CD player. Maybe it is Hersh's distinctive voice, not quite smoky, but not clear either. Maybe it is the evocative lyrics, like "Peeling mangoes on a fold-out couch/I'm scooped out you're inscrutable, you're all mine." Or perhaps it is the strippeddown guitar. Whatever it is, this CD has been impossible to shake from my mind. It hides around the peripheries of my thoughts. Certain lyrics float intomy consciousnessevery once in a while, such as the following: "I don't know where I am/ Plus I don't know when I am/Tame youinsiston using fucked

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up military time/ 'Cause you're better off alone." Sunny border blue isHersh7sfifth solo CD, and on it she doesn't seem to be a particularly happy camper. Themes of drug and alcohol dependancy -chemical and otherwise -flow throughout, combined with sour love songs. On "William's Cut," Hersh sings, "I lost every hope I ever had/ 'Cause I like it too mucw And junkie hearts are broken." A whole CD about drugs and messed up relationships could get old really fast, but Hersh's precise songs resist cliche. Hersh includes personal details, such as in "37 Hours": "I dropped a cigarette in my shoe and dove in the water1 Then I swam 'ti1 my hair dreaded/ Like flying on fire." Hersh also has some great little aphorisms. In "White Suckers," she quips, "We were a match made in purgatory.'' Sunny border blue is beautiful and heart wrenching. The music is simple and evocative, often consisting of only an acousticguitar.On the final song, "Listerine," Hersh seems to be making a comment about her former band, Throwing Muses, and life in the music industry. In it she sings: "How did I sleep through a kidnapping?/ How'd I trust a band who'd leave me one by one?i I only wanted your hearts." Well, she has mine anyrime she wants it.

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LISA JQHNSON Imprint staff

Hobo-erotica. Old-timeaphrodisiac. That's how the Be Good Tanyas described their musicat the July4 show in Guelph. Bluegrass is probably a better description, especially since the soundtrack to Oh Brother Where Art Thou? has made countrybluegrass not only a profitable, but a fashionable musical style. But this Vancouver trio is by no means hopping on any bandwagons - hay-covered or not. The band's roots music has such an authentic sound that at times it is difficult to differentiate between the original songs and the traditional Appalachian folk songs, which have almost equal representation on the album. BlueHorse is an extremely strong debut, and it's no surprise that the Be Good Tanyas are currently being wined and dined by major labels. The band consists of Frazey Ford (guitar, vocals), Samantha Parton (guitar, mandolin, banjo, vocals) and Trish Klein (electricguitar, banjo, vocals). The layering of acousticguitar,banjo, mandolin and additional fiddle and double bass provide the aforementioned authentic bluegrass sound. The vocals are about as original as they come, with equal parts yielding whispers and audacious snarls. The killer ingredient in this sumptuous stew, though, is the three-piece vocal harmonies, best illustrated in

Imprint, Friday, July 13, ZOO l

reminded me of Delerium'sPoem, at least in terms of musical arrangement. Despite good, multi-layered leadvocals and and harmonies, what the songs seem to lack are strong, memorable melodies. With the exception of maybe the title track and "Look Around," Baron-Reid'ssongs do not capture my aftention. Alot of the tracks start off with potential, but then become disappointingonce they reach the chorus. What I actually find commendable here are the lyrics. This album explores several universal themes, such as love, freedom and forgiveness. The poetic nature of the lyrics renders this album more impressive than the average pop song on the radio.

the aching "Only in the Past." The album has its fill of backporch, torch-light songs, such as "Rain and Snow," "Momsong" and "Lakes of Pontchartrain," which is yet another ofNanci Griffith'sgems. There are also a couple of songs that break through the album's murky (butbeautiful) waters. These infectious numbers are "The Littlest Birds," "Light Enough to Travel," "Up Against the Wall* and the borderline folk-rocld hillbilly hiddentrack. Blue Horse is such an appealing album because it harkens back to a musical genre too long forgotten. Now you can put this disc in your CD player and be taken back in time to the deep south. All you'll need to complete the feeling is a bottle of moonshine.

Magdalene's Garden

Alien Ant Farm ANThology

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New NoizelDrearnworks

Colette Baron-Reid

KEVIN

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special to Imprint

special to Imprint

What can be said about this clairvoyant's debut album?Canadian Colette Baron-Reid attemptsto explore ideas of love, free will and mercy -with lukewarm success. This is essentiallya pop album, but it subtly incorporates other musical genres, including dance, trance and Celtic. Heard throughout most of the work are keyboards, a mix of programmed and acoustic percussions, guitars and strings. You won't find too much variety here, as many of the songs sound very similar. After a first listen, many of the tracks

ANThology is a cool album - the songs are catchy and they have bass linesthat drawlistenersinto the music. Alien Ant Farm is a blend of Nine Inch Nails and Mathew Good Band, and this makes for interesting music. The tracks are catchy and they grow on you over time. Something tells me that we'll hear more from Alien Ant Farm in the future. I wonder what the next six-legged insect will be to tackle the music scene? Perhaps some sort of praying mantis? It would be the next evolution in insect-band development.

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Five volunteers needed to join a "Scholarship CommitLaurie-Ann at 571-012 1. tee," 10 to 15 hours during August and September. Responsibilities include reviewing applicants and choosing scholarship recipients. Knowledge of co-operatives and not-for-profit business an asset. Submit a resum6 Voluntary Semce Overseas Canada is recruiting for 2and interest letter to Waterloo Co-op Residence, 268 year math/science/education teaching placements overPhillip Street, Waterloo, ON, N2L 6G9 or fax 888-6398 Heas and for 6-month overseas youth IT internships. For by July 20. E-mail: mailto:membe.rservices@wcririorg more information, visit o u r Web site at or memberservices@wcri.org for more info. www.vsocanada.org or call 1-888-876-29 1 1. R6sumC Builder friendlv volunteers are needed to provide companionship to people who have Alzheimer's Disease. One to four hours a week commitment. Training program provided, (with certificate upon completion). Call Alzheimer's Society at 742-1422. Volunteer tutors are needed to tutor students on a oneto-one basis in written and oral English. Tutors meet students on campus for one term, usually once a week for Attention Undergraduate Students - interested in vlath tutoring available from senior mathheaching Room for rent foraquiet individual in aquietdetached one to two hours. If you havea good working knowledge applying for undergraduate scholarships, awards or tudent. Experience as TA, tutor, high school teacher. house. Parking and all amenities. Please call 725-5348. of English, are patient, friendly, dependable, and would bursaries? Check out the Bulletin Board on the Student ;15/hour for individual or groups up to 3 - help you Great houses! Good locations! Cool landlords! Now like to volunteer, register at the Interntional Student Awards Office home page at: http:ll earn how to learn. Greg 880-0257. renting student housing for September. Close to both Office, NH 2080. For more information about the prowww.adm.uwaterloo.ca~infoawards/ for a detailed list universities. 746-141 1b r w - . ~ a n e ~ ~ ~ . c o m . gram, call ext. 2814 or e-mail of awards open for application this term. Further infordarlene@admmail.uwaterloo.ca. mation is available in the Student Awards Office, secFor more information about any of the following ond floor, Needles Hall. volunteeropportunities, please call the Volunteer Action Canadian Undergraduate Technology Conference Female models needed for nude photography. Good Centre at 742-8610: 2002: Talent needed! The CUTC has grown so fast nav Serintrs renlies nnlv Call 742-4284. FUN IN THE SUMMER ... #1045-10977 ... K-W Ac(nearly 400 delegates) we need more organizers: any cess Ability is planning a summer with lots of activities program, year, or commitment level! Contact such a s bike captains, aquatic assistants, events assist&tc@canada.com or http://www.cutc.ca/. ants for BBQs, movies, etc. Join in on the fun! 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