Issue 9, Vol 143, The Brunswickan

NEWS // nb power plans to sell assets to hydro quebec>> pG. 2 Volume 143 · Issue 9 • November 4, 2009

thebruns.ca

brunswickan canada’s oldest official student publication.

Should students plan to get the H1N1 vaccine?

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

The H1N1 vaccine is currently available in New Brunswick for priority groups only. The Student Health Centre expects to have the vaccine by mid-November, at which point it will notify students, staff and faculty via e-daily news, Twitter, and notices to be placed around campus.

Lee Larrett The Brunswickan H1N1 Immunization clinics have begun in New Brunswick, but the vaccine is only available to those in priority groups. People with chronic medical conditions under the age of 65, pregnant women, children under 18, health care workers, and First Nations are all high priority groups.

The Student Health Center does

not currently have the vaccine but Dr. JoAnne Majerovich, Director of the Student Health Centre said that the centre is “working with Public Health to hold H1N1 vaccination clinics on campus during the second half of November.”

The Student Health Centre can’t predict exactly when the vaccine will arrive, but once it is available the centre will inform students, faculty and staff using e-daily and Twitter, and notices will be put up around campus.

When asked if students are at high risk for the H1N1 flu, Majerovich explained that, “pandemic viruses in general tend to affect a different, and

younger, demographic group than seasonal influenza.” Although the exact reason why this virus targets younger people isn’t clear, Majerovich explained the medical community’s belief is, “that because pandemic viruses appear infrequently, they seem to more severely affect those whose immune systems have less overall experience, hence younger age groups.”

Another theory is that a pandemic in the late 1950s has given people who experienced that virus a cross-protection against H1N1.

Majerovich suggests that students get immunized in order “to protect themselves from getting H1N1 influ-

enza and possible adverse consequences from the flu.”

To quell some of the fears that students may have about this vaccine, Majerovich explained that the H1N1 vaccine is essentially a variation of the seasonal flu shot.

“Although the H1N1 flu virus is new and different, the process for making the flu vaccine is not. These processes have been used for many years and have lots of safety data to back them up. There is no reason to think that this vaccine is any less safe. It has already been administered to many thousands of people across Europe,” said Majerovich.

Majerovich also pointed out that the vast majority of side effects people experience from the vaccine are minor and temporary such as a sore arm at the injection site, or a mild fever.

“These are much less severe than influenza infection, and last for a much shorter time,” Majerovich pointed out.

Serious side effects occur very rarely, and the risks from contracting the flu are far greater than the risks associated with a severe reaction to the vaccine Majerovich said.

Information about vaccine clinic hours and locations is available at www. gnb.ca/flu as well as information about the virus and vaccine.

Annual Silver Wave film festival to take place this week Alison Clack The Brunswickan A giant wave is going to hit Fredericton, but not to worry; this wave is something to look forward to.

The wave in question is the NB Film Co-op’s ninth annual Silver Wave Film Festival.

And this year’s festival is promising to

be a big one.

Jim Lavoie, publicist for the NB Film Co-op, explains that this year is a big anniversary for the co-op. 2009 marks the coop’s 30th anniversary helping filmmakers in New Brunswick.

The event, which runs from November 5 to November 9, will open with the premier of a film truly from New Brunswick, the action-thriller, “American Sunset” at 7 p.m. in Tilley Hall.

“Traditionally our opening film has a

New Brunswick slant to it and this feature film has fifty New Brunswickers involved in the production of it – many in the crew but some in the cast as well,” says Lavoie.

Along side a number of cast members from NB is Bernard Robichaud, better known as Cyrus, from the cult hit, ‘Trailor Park Boys’.

In addition to numerous cast and crew from NB the film features some NB scenery.

“It was shot entirely in Fredericton and Moncton and that’s what it’s portrayed as.

This film is not trying to hide the fact that it was shot in New Brunswick – it’s promoting that fact. It shows locations outside of Fredericton like King’s Landing, and locations in Fredericton proper – and it’s the same with Moncton,” says Lavoie.

The film’s premier will be followed by an opening gala at the James Joyce Pub. Tickets for the premier will only be sold at the door. They’re eight dollars for students, nine dollars for adults. The gala cost is included in the tickets.

Other events at the festival include a midnight screening of horror films on Friday, Nov. 6.

The same event was held for the first time at last year’s festival and Tony Merzetti, the executive director for the NB Film Coop said it was incredibly successful.

“There were over 150 people who came out for it,” says Merzetti.

SEE WAVE PAGE 11

brunswickannews

2 • Nov. 4, 2009 • Issue 9 • Volume 143

NB Power potentially selling assets to Hydro-Quebec Sarah Ratchford The Brunswickan

The province of New Brunswick has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Quebec suggesting the sale of most of NB Power’s assets for $4.75 billion – the entirety of the utility’s debt – to Hydro-Québec, Canada’s largest generator of electricity.

The agreement, which was struck on Thursday, Oct. 29, is subject to legislation passing in the upcoming session.

Jordan O’Brien, director of communications for New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham, says the sale of the Crown corporation will be a good thing for New Brunswickers.

“The Premier has promised in the past to do what he can do to keep power rates as low as possible,” he says. “This is a solution.”

The MOU stipulates that the current rates for power in New Brunswick will stay the same for the next five years. Following that, O’Brien says, numbers will go up by inflation, making the costs “significantly less than in the past.”

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

Shawn Graham and Quebec Premier Jean Charest announced a proposal to sell NB Power to Hydro-Quebec. The deal, which depends on legislation being passed, is set to close on March 31, 2010.

O’Brien says this will be a good thing for New Brunswickers.

“Every year from now until forever there’ll be big savings for New Brunswickers on their power bills,” he says.

According to the MOU, if the agreement comes to fruition and NB Power is sold to

Hydro Québec, power rates will be frozen for five years. Following this, O’Brien says, rates will grow only by inflation.

“The average [annual] power rate increase has been 3.2 per cent,” he says.

Under inflation, he says, it will be a rise of 1.9 per cent.

“NB Power will still be called NB Power; the offices and call centre will still be in New Brunswick,” he says.

The MOU states that Hydro-Québec will give jobs to the people currently employed with NB Power.

The agreement has sparked responses from the other provinces in the Atlantic region.

Matt Lumley, a communications advisor with the Nova Scotia government, says things are up in the air for his province.

“What this means for Nova Scotia is still something I think we’re all trying to figure out. This is an MOU at this point, so I think until all those things are concrete, anything you might say about it is somewhat speculative.”

He does, however, point out that Nova Scotia has legislation in place to prevent the same from happening in that province.

“We have laws that basically ensure that the utility can have very limited out-ofprovince ownership,” he says. “The other thing is, although we have a private utility, it’s regulated by the utility and review board – anything the utility does is in the best interest of Nova Scotians. You can’t change electricity rates without their approval. It’s the same for large capital purchases.”

He says this safeguards Nova Scotia, and that “it could never happen, really. Nova Scotians would be able to weigh in on that.”

Newfoundland’s premier, Danny Williams, has been vocal about his opinions concerning the topic. Williams made his thoughts known in a letter to Graham on Oct. 28.

Williams’ letter begins by stating that he is disappointed that Newfoundland was not made aware of the extent to which New Brunswick’s negotiations with Quebec had reached.

He also expressed disappointment at the fact that Graham will not be attending the next Council of Atlantic Premiers meeting this month in Churchill Falls, N.L., at which the primary focus would have been “energy cooperation among Atlantic provinces.”

“I have great fears and reservations about the stranglehold that Hydro-Québec could put in place over the Atlantic region and I hope that you share this concern given your extensive statements on your desire to see your province as an energy hub,” Williams wrote.

Heather MacLean is the manager of media relations for NB Power; she declined to give a comment, except to say the company is “neutral on the activities.”

The New Brunswick legislature will reconvene on Nov. 17, and the sale of the province’s electric utility is expected to overshadow much of the session.

O’Brien says a committee will be struck then to look at the issue, and legislation will be brought to the table in late January based on the feedback of that committee.

The deal is expected to be closed by March 31, 2010.

“This proposed agreement is an exciting opportunity for New Brunswick, and in the public interest,” said Graham in a recent press release. “Homeowners will see rates much lower than under the status quo, and we will now share Quebec’s competitive industrial rates, which, coupled with our plan for lower taxes, positions us for significant economic growth. Moreover, the elimination of NB Power’s massive debt will help us attain self-sufficiency and relieve our children and grandchildren of this burden.”

Hydro-Québec was contacted but declined to give comment before the time of publication.

New Brunswick residents are encouraged to give feedback about the deal by going to lowerratesnb.ca or by calling 1-800533-3086.

send us your

letters to the editor. editor@thebruns.ca

brunswickannews

Name-calling gets ugly in the GSA Lee Larrett

The Brunswickan

On the morning of Tuesday Oct. 27 someone hacked into the GSA email account and sent a malicious email to all UNB Fredericton Graduate Students using the GSA Listserv. The email was one sentence long and was directly targeted at an individual who once held a position on the GSA Executive.

It called the person a “self-righteous little Socialist weenie.”

IT Services is investigating the incident to see if the message originated on campus or from a specific IP address.

“We immediately contacted the individual to reassure him that it wasn’t any of [the Executive] and that we were looking into it,” said Graeme Hall, President of the GSA. “[The targeted individual] initially was shocked, he was upset, but by later in the day he was rolling with it, making fun of the fact that it was trivial, very childish, low collar. A lot of the other GSA members had the same consensus that it was something that was childish,” Hall added.

After speaking with the targeted individual the GSA Executive got together and wrote a formal apology emailed to all students who had received the original message.

“I think the fact that we dealt with it very professionally and quickly people

knew we were taking it seriously,” Hall said.

The GSA has also changed the Listserv password.

Jason Edwards, VP Communications, explained that GSA Executives have always had an informal system for doing certain tasks, and not just the VP Communications has used the Listserv.

“We don’t really have an exact catalogue of who would have the password, but what we’re doing right now is making sure now that we’ve changed [the password], we know who has the password and access to the server,” said Edwards.

“We were able to kind of look back and see who were the suspected people who were on the Exec in previous years that would have some soft of hostility and would have also known what the passwords were,” said Hall.

The email was sent on the same day as the GSA elections. Hall and Edwards speculated that whoever sent the email may have thought the individual was running for a position and meant to discredit them. The individual targeted by the email was not running in the election.

Edwards said that most graduate students “don’t want to lend too much legitimacy to it by getting all up in arms.”

“There’s not much we can do, it’s been done, which is unfortunate,” said Hall.

Nov. 4, 2009 • Issue 9 • Volume 143 • 3

UNB doing asbestos they can Hilary Paige Smith The Brunswickan

Facilities Management and the University’s Asbestos Steering Committee are working to ensure that the presence of asbestos is not a problem for the campus community.

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral fibre that was common in the post-war building boom, a time in which the University underwent development. Variations on the material are used for thermal insulation, in floor tiles, cement piping, fire proofing and drywall jointing, among other uses. When asbestos was a commonly used material, people were naive to the dangers of airborne asbestos fibres. The material is capable of entering the lungs and causing a terminal disease known as asbestosis, the scarring of the lungs as a result of inhalation.

It has also been linked to lung cancer, colon cancer and stomach cancer.

Mike Carter, director of Facilities Management, said asbestos, in one form or another with varying levels, exists in 75 per cent of the buildings on campus.

“In some buildings there is very little.

In others, there are significant quantities.

We had it inspected as part of the asbestos management plan overhaul and it is in good condition. So there is little or no immediate concern,” he said.

Asbestos is problematic if it is exposed and becomes airborne. Asbestos management is necessary when renovating to ensure that the asbestos carrying materials are not exposed.

“Asbestos, if it is contained, is not a problem as such. Asbestos, for example, in pipe insulation in the equipment rooms, as long as it’s in good condition is not a problem. It becomes a matter of management. To teach our staff how to work in the area with the pipes, for example,” Carter said. He added

Facilities Management challenges UNB to go green Lee Larrett The Brunswickan

Facilities Management is challenging students, faculty and staff to make UNB a more environmentally friendly campus through the Greening the Campus Campaign.

“As we move forward in the reduction of our GHG emissions we all have to make a concerted effort … we’ve got to be proactive, we just cant sit back and expect our utilities to be reduced and our GHG to go away,” said Gladys Lacey-House, Energy Coordinator for Facilities Management.

The purpose of the Greening the Campus Campaign is largely to educate people on campus about what Lacey-House calls a “culture change” towards being greener.

“It’s a challenge for everyone, the real savings is going to be in getting the message out to everyone and getting them to really think about how they’re using energy and water and heating, it makes a big difference,” said Lacey-House.

Every campaign will be about energy

efficiency and reduction. “The campaign for October has been the Lights Out campaign, and we’d like to bring that awareness across campus. Take a look around you and consider what you’re using and what you’re not,” said Lacey-House.

Facilities Management is working together with a student project, Acts of Green, which uses the website www.unbgreen.ca to give examples of green acts and to track how many acts of green students, staff and faculty at UNB have been doing.

“It has a list of very basic acts like turning off the lights, doing laundry in cold water ...you don’t have to go out and buy a solar panel, it’s just very basic things that we can all do,” said Lacey-House. The residences are tracking their acts of green, and there is talk of having a competition between houses to see who can be the greenest, according to Lacey-House.

This challenge is for Facilities Management as well, which is working hard to reduce UNB’s energy consumption. Buildings are undergoing energy audits, with financial incentives from Efficiency New Brunswick helping to offset the costs. The audit finds inefficiencies in buildings which Facilities Management works to correct.

“We’ve done a very thorough sweep of the campus where we are re-lamping

buildings,” said Lacey-House. Smaller and lower wattage lamps are replacing the old T12- 32Watt fluorescent lights.

Bailey Hall and all of the Engineering buildings are currently being audited. The science buildings are next, followed by the other academic buildings.

“The science buildings are big users of both water and electricity, because of large scientific equipment,” said LaceyHouse. Scientific research is, “a wonderful thing but it’s a large draw on the campus electrically … we have to do it in the most efficient way possible because we don’t want to restrict people from research,” Lacey-House said.

Facilities Management is also looking at the heating systems in each building and the ventilation systems specifically if the dampers are closing tight or leaking heated air.

The use of scheduling has been important in energy reduction, according to Lacey-House. Scheduling automates heating, cooling and ventilation, ensuring that when the cafeteria is closed their equipment is not running and wasting energy, and on a holiday all buildings are using minimal energy. This campaign is part of UNB’s long-term commitment to making the campus more energy efficient.

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

Asbestos can be found in 75 per cent of the buildings on campus. Asbestos can be dangerous if it is exposed and becomes airborne. that the staff is trained to identify and handle the material.

“It’s only a problem, if you want to call it that, in so much as we have to train our staff and properly manage it.”

The university formed an Asbestos Steering Committee in 2006 to develop a new plan for asbestos awareness and maintenance, an effort that has been in effect since the early nineties. Employees in facilities management, campus security, maintenance staff and those in other positions with higher risks of exposure to asbestos have been trained in asbestos awareness.

Those who work with the material have been trained in asbestos encapsulation and removal procedures.

Different levels of training for community members have been occurring since July. Dwight Ball, committee chair for the Asbestos Steering Committee, said that training thus far has been focused mainly on campus staff, but that the general education program can apply to everyone.

“Dealing with anything that’s problematic, the first thing that you have to do is provide people with information and appropriate education so that they can deal with it from a point of proper understanding,” he said.

Carter said the asbestos management plan is a ‘manage in place’ model plan, in which asbestos is removed as it is needed to be for renovation and if it presents a risk to the public.

“I think the intent is always to work in that direction,” he said, referring to an asbestos-free campus in the future.

“But realistically, we only remove it when we have to do other work, let’s say we’re going to do a renovation. We would go in and first remove the asbestos. So we prefer to think of it as a manage-in-place type of asbestos management plan…Knowing full well and appreciating that there’s times when we will want to remove the asbestos in areas of higher risk or when we have to do a renovation.”

brunswickannews

4 • Nov. 4, 2009 • Issue 9 • Volume 143

Dr. Eddy Campbell guest at Student Council Lee Larrett The Brunswickan President of UNB Dr. Eddy Campbell made a special appearance at this week’s Student Council meeting to speak about the Strategic Planning Committee.

Campbell said that he is trying to learn about his new community through the strategic planning process.

Campbell explained that there will be a number of breakout sessions open to everyone at UNB, and the information gathered at these sessions will be distilled down into a plan. Once the plan is approved resources will be allocated, potentially fundraising programs devised, and the plan will be implemented.

The nine breakout sessions each have a different topic which all relate to the four building blocks of a strong UNB. Campbell suggested the building blocks for a strong UNB are building on student success, building better research & graduate studies, building a better province and ultimately building a better UNB. Building on student success includes improving the teaching and learning environment, improving student retention, examiningstudentnumbersandmix,andproviding financial support for students, Building better research and graduate studies will focus on quality, collaborations and partnerships, internal and external funding, and getting involved with the New Brunswick School of Graduate Studies (which allows Grad students to take learn at all NB schools).

Building a better province is about partnering with governments, the private sector and other Post Secondary Educational Institutions, and partnering with urban, rural, first nations, heritage and other communities as well as focusing on social, scientific, cultural, economic and artistic development.

Building a better UNB involves sup-

porting both campuses, all the people on campus, focusing on greening the campus, improving infrastructure and space, increasing resources and allocate them in a way that is transparent and accountable, and honouring UNB’s history and heritage.

Campbellsaidthatifthereissomethingyou are passionate about this is your oppourtunity tospeaktoit,hearwhatothershavetosayabout it,andgiveinputtothesteeringcommitteeand ultimately the plan for UNB. Campbell then took questions from council. Senator Hambrook asked if the University has considered what strain might be put on campus services when NBCC students move onto campus. Campbell stressed that shared services go hand in hand with shared costs, that NBCC would be contributing as it uses our services. Campbell also pointed out that in years of higher enrollement UNB has supported a campus with more students than there will be when NBCC joins campus.

Vice President External brought up the issue of parking on campus and Campbell responded by saying that parking is a problem every University faces. Campbell pointed out that new spaces will be paved when the NBCC building is constructed.

Campbell questioned whether it is right to encourage people o drive to campus and suggested looking into solutions to the parking issues that center around carpooling, bike sharing, and conversations with the city to improve the bus system.

Council continued with their agenda once Campbell had finished his presentation. Senator Hambrook gave an update from the Senate Library Committee which outlined two concerns. Firstly the floorplan of the NBCC building doesn’t include a library or a gym. The Library Committee is worried that the UNB libraries, which are already stretched for space and resources, will be expected to service NBCC students.

The second concern is that an inspection has shown that $2 million worth of renovations are necessary just to bring the Science Library up to code.

Co-CEO of EWB visits UNB

Nick Howard / The Brunswickan

The Co-CEO of Engineers Without Borders Canada George Roter spoke at EWB’s fifth annual Wine and Cheese.

Roter congratulated students from UNB for their leadership in local education on international development.

Nick Howard The Brunswickan

George Roter, the Co-CEO of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Canada, paid the Fredericton chapter a visit to speak at the EWB UNB’s fifth annual Wine and Cheese. The event provides an opportunity for students and faculty to network and discuss EWB’s activities, which range from local education about International Development to a range of overseas placements in four African countries.

The event, which took place on Thursday, Oct. 29, raises money through a silent auction, for EWB’s

short term volunteer placements or to support UNB Civil Engineering graduate Owen Scott’s long term placement in Malawi.

The Brunswickan had the opportunity to speak with Roter before his talk at the evening event.

Roter founded EWB Canada with Co-CEO Parker Mitchell nine years ago. While completing his Bachelor of Engineering degree at the University of Waterloo, Roter became aware of the “complex challenges facing three billion people around the world who live in poverty”. Out of this recognition he founded EWB to contribute to international development and mobilize engineers and their “unique problem-solving approach.”

Though EWB Canada has a fulltime national office to coordinate its Canadian and international work, Roter emphasized the role of students when discussing the organization.“The

core and foundation of [EWB] is its amazing network of students across the country.”Roter praised UNB’s chapter for being very active and was excited for the opportunity the Wine and Cheese presented to connect with students.

Roter described the driving idea of EWB nine years ago as “simple and audacious at the same time… We want to get engineers, and students in general, involved in ending world poverty.

The audacious part was ending world poverty, the simple part was getting students involved.”

He attributes the success of the organization, which is now collaborating with giants of the non-profit world like the Gates Foundation, to driven students across the country. He explained that through these engaged individuals EWB “has been able to drive some really interesting changes, all the way from the micro level to the international level”.

Roter mentioned the new addition of fair trade coffee at Head Hall as just one example of a meaningful change which EWB UNB was able to institute last year.

During his talk at the Wine and Cheese, Roter praised the UNB chapter for its leadership in local education on international development. EWB UNB was the first chapter to take EWB Canada’s model for education in standalone sessions and expand it to involve many trips back to the same classroom for a more in-depth experience with the students. This expanded model has since been used around the country with great success.

Through personal stories, Roter also described the positive impact EWB is having in Malawi, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Zambia where their overseas volunteers are located. During the interview he demonstrated EWB’s international success through a local rice marketing project started by a volunteer in Ghana which increased local rice sales by over 100 per cent.

Roter’s talk was passionate and personal as he invited everyone to “take the first small step toward the goal of eliminating poverty.” The silent auction raised over $200 this year for EWB UNB’s local and international work.

EWB meets every Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m. in Room C10 in Head Hall. All students are welcome. If you are interested in EWB or international development you can contact them at unb@ewb.ca or see their website at www.unb.ewb.ca

brunswickanopinion

Nov. 4, 2009 • Issue 9 • Volume 143 • 5

editor@thebruns.ca

No excuses: learn about the H1N1 vaccine

the brunswickan

Editorial Board

Editor-in-Chief • Sarah Ratchford Managing • Alex Duncan News • Lee Larrett Arts • Doug Estey Sports • Colin McPhail Photo • Andrew Meade Copy •Nick Howard Production • Christian Hapgood Online • Alison Clack Staff Advertising Sales Rep • Bill Traer Delivery • Dan Gallagher Contributors Zaheer Abbas, Stephanie Allen, Danielle Bodie, Chris Cameron, Kathryn Chase, Sandy Chase, Alison Clack, Maggie DeWolfe, Dave Evans, Sarah Farquhar, Josh Fleck, Kennie Gathuru, Dan Hagerman, Ayat Abed Isiad, Cody Jack, Jacques Landry, Brandon MacNeil, Cameron Mitchell, Matthew Murray, Sam Perlmutter, Jon Salmon, Brian Savoie, Hilary Paige Smith, Ysabelle Vautour, Alex Wickwire & Valerie Woodman.

The Brunswickan relies primarily on a volunteer base to produce its issues every week. Volunteers can drop by room 35 of the SUB at any time to find out how they can get involved.

About Us The Brunswickan, in its 143rd year of publication, is Canada’s Oldest Official Student Publication.

Sandy Chase / The Brunswickan

The vaccine for H1N1, or swine flu, is now being administered in New Brunswick.Vaccinations are currently being given to priority groups only right now, but will soon be available to students through the Health Centre. There are widespread misconceptions about the vaccine, some of which can be cleared up below.

The Opinionator Nick Howard

The negative press about the H1N1 vaccine springs from two sources: 1) a lack of understanding of influenza viruses and vaccines, and 2) the media’s love for exciting and sensational stories. The truth is far less exciting and much safer and more reassuring than the debate would lead us to believe. A little bit of research revealed the ridiculousness of most people’s concerns about the vaccine. I have been hearing all too often around the UNB campus that people are considering opting out of the H1N1 vaccine that our federal government has paid for in full. In the following paragraphs I hope to lay to rest, using fact and simple logic, many of the strange and ludicrous ideas about the vaccine which have found their way into mainstream media. Please, if you are not planning to get the vaccine read on; this is not just about your health.

• What is the H1N1 virus or swine flu and how is it different from the regular flu?

Influenza (flu) is a virus. Viruses are infectious agents made of either DNA or RNA (think DNA with only one strand, not the double helix). The flu is an RNA based virus; RNA is less chemically stable than DNA, and since the virus has no way of checking for errors in its RNA the flu virus is prone to changes or mutations, or something medical professionals call “drift”. These changes mean that your

body is less able to recognize the virus and neutralize it. To adapt to this drift, a new flu vaccine is created every year in Canada and around the world, to aid the body in recognizing the virus’s new mutations. It is also possible for the flu virus to “shift”. The flu “shifts” when two different types of flu combine to create an entirely new type; this is what happened to create the H1N1 flu virus.

So, H1N1 is still a flu virus, just a new and different type, which means that it responds to vaccines like every other flu virus. One of the major differences created in the H1N1 shift of the influenza virus is the age group it tends to infect in humans. Where seasonal influenza generally affects the more susceptible segments of the population-- the very young and very old-- H1N1 has also been affecting people aged six months to 25 years old.

• Isn’t the vaccine dangerous?

Can’t you get sick from the vaccine?

Vaccines are some of the safest and most effective drugs in the world today.

They work with your body’s immune system by allowing your body to develop antibodies to a specific virus. Antibodies are produced by a white blood cell called a plasma cell; they identify and neutralize harmful foreign objects in the body – the H1N1 virus for example. In a healthy body with a healthy immune system, as most 20-25 year olds have, there already exist antibodies to defend against the flu and a host of other infections. These have been passed down through your genes, or your body developed them when Johnny sneezed on you last week, passing on just enough of an infectious agent to allow your plasma cells to create infection-specific antibodies. Vaccines are necessary when a virus is dangerous enough, or new enough, that your body cannot adequately protect itself fast enough. In the case of H1N1, since the virus is a new type, our bodies haven’t had the chance to build up antibodies.

Vaccines work similarly to Johnny’s sneeze, but in a safer and more controlled way. The H1N1 vaccine contains dead H1N1 virus, a sterilization material called thimerosal and something called an adjuvant (a material which provokes a general immune response, allowing the vaccine to use less H1N1 virus but still get the body to produce effective antibodies).

• The Virus The H1N1 virus in the vaccine is dead and poses no threat for contraction. It is impossible to be infected by the H1N1 virus through the vaccine.

• Thimerosal Thimerosal is a mercury- based compound which is used to ensure that the vaccine is sterile. It is used to kill all living organisms in the vaccine. The vaccine contains five micrograms of mercury.

A can of tuna, on the other hand, can contain anywhere from 25 to 52.7 micrograms of mercury – maybe even more.

Forgo one can of tuna and get the vaccine if you are worried about mercury levels.

• The Adjuvant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the manufacturer of the H1N1 vaccine, used a substance called an adjuvant to provoke an immune response to the vaccine.

Because the vaccine had to be created quickly, GSK could not produce enough of the H1N1 virus to use as antigens (dead virus) in the vaccine. The use of the adjuvant (called AS03) ensures that the body produces antibodies to even the small amount of dead virus contained in the vaccine. The adjuvant contains shark liver oil (squalene), vitamin E and polysorbate 80 (an emulsifier used in ice cream which ensures that the parts of the vaccine do not separate). The controversy around the vaccine revolves primarily around the use of the adjuvant AS03 and the squalene component in particular.

In very rare cases the vaccine can cause autoimmune disorders such as GuillainBarré syndrome (GBS). This, however, is

not specific to the H1N1 vaccine, GBS can be caused by any vaccine. The Centre for Disease Control says that instances of Guillain-Barré or similar autoimmune disorders from vaccines are one in one million. Though AS03 was approved in the EU and some Asian countries for use in the H5N1 (avian flu) vaccine, it hasn’t been thoroughly tested for use with the H1N1 strain, though it has been approved based on some testing data and on the data received from AS03 in H5N1.

In addition, the similar adjuvant MF-59, which also contains squalene, has been approved by the EU for use in H1N1 vaccinations in Europe. Forty million of these vaccines have been dispersed in EU countries. The Canadian government has ordered 50.4 million doses of the vaccine, 1.8 million of which do not contain the adjuvant. The non-adjuvant doses will be given to pregnant women to avoid any possibility of complication.

The decision about whether to get the H1N1 vaccine should be based on an understanding of the vaccine and the principles of risk management, not on media sensationalism. Whether you get the vaccine or not is a choice which can affect many people. The fewer people who are vaccinated, the greater is the chance for widespread illness. For healthy, young immune systems infection with H1N1 may not be a question of life or death (though H1N1 has been affecting younger people more seriously).

But, for those with compromised or underdeveloped immune systems, death from H1N1 may be a serious issue. It is everyone’s responsibility to protect their fellow citizens; a safe opportunity to stop the virus before it can reach vulnerable populations is being offered to us by our government. Now that you have an understanding of the virus and the vaccine, unless you’re immunocompromised, there is no reason not to be vaccinated against H1N1.

We are an autonomous student newspaper owned and operated

by Brunswickan Publishing Inc., a non-profit, independent body.

We are a founding member of the Canadian University Press, and love it so. We are also members of U-Wire, a media exchange of university media throughout North America.

We publish weekly during the academic year with a circulation of 6,000.

Letters Must be submitted by e-mail including your name, letters with pseudonymns will not be printed.

Letters must be 400 words at maximum. Deadline for letters is Friday at 5 p.m. before each issue.

Editorial Policy While we endeavour to provide an open forum for a variety of viewpoints and ideas, we may refuse any submission considered by the editorial board to be racist, sexist, libellous, or in any way discriminatory.

The opinions and views expressed in this newspaper are those of the individual writers, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Brunswickan, its Editorial Board, or its Board of Directors.

All editorial content appearing in The Brunswickan is the property of Brunswickan Publishing Inc. Stories, photographs, and artwork contained herein cannot be reproduced without the express, written permission of the Editorin-Chief.

21 Pacey Drive, SUB Suite 35 Fredericton, NB, E3B 5A3 main office • (506) 447-3388 advertising • (506) 452-6099 fax • (506) 453-5073 email • editor@thebruns.ca www.thebruns.ca

brunswickanopinion

Do you want low-fat fries with that?

Rachel Sunter The Dal Gazette

HALIFAX (CUP) – This summer, McDonald’s, priest to the marriage of grease and salt, launched a new selection of mealsize chicken breast salads. Wendy’s has baked potatoes, side salads and yogurt and A&W recently started offering whole-wheat hamburger buns. It’s official: healthy eating has gone mainstream.

When super-size chains start preaching healthy alternatives to their beloved tradition of “Do you want fries with that?” you have to feel a little impressed, or even relieved.

My relief is still heavily tempered by skepticism.

When something becomes mainstream it has a tendency to reshape you to its liking.

No matter how hard you stand against it, Beyonce gets stuck in your head and UGG boots look cute.

Just the same, trendy words like “low,” “reduced” and “light” can contaminate our

ideas of healthy eating.

Over the past decade, public attention has been drawn to ballooning obesity rates and salt-related heart problems. Poignant documentaries like “Supersize Me” gave us somewhere to point the blame.

We frowned dutifully at McDonald’s, rethinking hamburgers and fries as guilty indulgences at best.

More studies came out analyzing the links between what we eat and how we grow, feel and act. Junior and senior high schools had their cafeterias revamped, carting out the soda machines and shipping in granola bars and milk.

It was only a matter of time before mass food producers had to respond to our complaints lest they drown in the rising sea of smoothies, tofu and sesame snaps.

Rather than fortify their products with vitamins and minerals, or really change their menus at all, food producers found the easiest way to please aspiring healthy eaters.

They chose to focus on fat. Not the fat in food, but people who are fat or people who are afraid of becoming fat.

It’s genius, really. If there’s one thing people want more than to actually be

healthy, it is to look healthy.

Just like that, health and nutrition become synonymous with weight loss.

Why have full-fat dressing when you could have the lighter version? Why eat a whole chocolate bar when there are pre-packaged 90-calorie versions down the next aisle?

Unless you have an unhealthy weight, losing weight won’t necessarily make you healthier. Cutting calories instead of boosting nutritional content will deprive you of what your body wants and needs.

Reducing calories often means substituting naturally occurring fats and sugars and replacing them with flavour and texture boosters, like aspartame and corn starch.

That way you get a similar flavour and texture to the original food, but fewer calories.

Even the language used to advertise lowcalorie food reinforces that fewer calories is a good thing. Instead of reading “with fewer calories,” many light foods read “without the added calories.” As if for years they’ve been adding artificial calories to every meal, but now, at long last, they’re giving us the real food in its natural, cornstarch and sweetener-infused state.

Sticking to lighter foods may cause weight loss, but this weight loss comes at a hefty price. By repeatedly refusing your body the true carbohydrates, fats and protein it craves, you may find your relationship with food start to change for the worse.

Depriving yourself of the foods you want and used to love as a kid may make you prone to binge eating. You know the drill – you rarely eat cookies, but last night you had a whole box.

Denying yourself your favourite foods can make you obsess over your food options as you pick your way between what you want and what you think you should have. In the end you may turn to the mirror as a way to validate and evaluate what you eat.

Salads at McDonald’s are great, if that’s what you dig. Sometimes I do. Other times, I just want a cheeseburger happy meal with a strawberry milkshake because that’s my favourite.

Four legs good, two legs better Jon Salmon The Brunswickan

Well I never thought that I’d see the day where pigs fly, but that is exactly what the world has come to. The swine has sky-rocketed to a household term, and is now soaring high above us on the wings of the media—the real swine that gave it birth.

March 18, 2009. The day Mexico officially announced their outbreak of the H1N1 virus, and will go down in the books as the day that rationality and reason died. From this day on, every tool of the media has been littered with reports of the deadly virus striking closer. Until it was no longer a foreign problem. The Canadian Medical Association Journal reported the first case of the flu in Canada on May 3. The major threat has claimed 89 lives in Canada, which pales in comparison to the number of citizens who bite the bullet due to the common influenza.

Every year, anywhere from 10 to 25 per cent of Canadians succumb to the flu.

The truth of the matter is that the real disease here is the media. They breed terror and this sickness travels infinitely quicker than any hooves

can. The Canadian public had no choice but to panic, the signs were all around them from the beginning that this would be the end of all things. I never thought it would be sparked by something I eat for breakfast.

And now, help has arrived in the form of a syringe. But wait, why isn’t the media content with this solution?

It is due to the simple fact that they need the opposite of a solution. They benefit from the state of fear that the public lives in day in and day out, and they therefore add fuel to the already raging fire. Rumor has it now that the vaccine, far from aiding the cause, results in a stiffening of the fingers, eliminating the dexterity of the human hand and making it behave much more like a hoof.

Where will Canadians turn for the truth?

Certainly the Canadian government can’t risk an extreme setback like the 1976 U.S. vaccination of swine flu, resulting in over a thousand paralyzed victims. Every Canadian knows that Stephen Harper wouldn’t let that happen to us-- but then again, I doubt robots are susceptible to any type of influenza.

Something must be done. There must be some end in sight for the Canadian public. Or are we doomed to simply be the most equal animals at the helm of doomed country?

We are indeed a Generation of Swine.

editor@thebruns.ca

6 • Nov. 4, 2009 • Issue 9 • Volume 143

brunswickanopinion

The old man rant a satire from Dave Evans

Nov. 4, 2009 • Issue 9 • Volume 143 • 7

The Obama effect Take My Word for It Sam Perlmutter

B

onjour mes amis. The big news everyone is yapping on about is that the Province of New Brunswick has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Hydro Quebec to sell most of NB Power’s assets. Since it’s such a big issue and everyone is shooting their mouth off about it, I’d like to give everyone on both sides of the debate a word of caution: until you actually sit down and read the entire agreement, shut your damn mouth.

On one hand, you have people supporting the government and talking about how great an opportunity it is. Why is a great opportunity? Can you tell me why it’ll benefit us, other than the spin the government press releases say? I want some hard economic projections; I want some sort of concrete restructuring plan. Surely there’s more information other than the reduction of debt and freezing of residential power rates.

If you want to listen to some real winners though, the people arguing against the deal have demonstrated no semblance of logic, no ability to debate the issue and haven’t offered any alternatives to the sale. I recently decided to connect to the Interwebs and look at this Face-book thing the kids talk about, and there are tons of groups dedicated to taking sides on this issue. Someone posted a comment on a pro-sale board, taunting the relatively low numbers of group members; sure enough, when I went to the anti-sale group, there was a pretty big following. However, the comments there either made no sense or demonstrated no research into the topic. Here are a couple of choice gems: “shawn graham shud step down f..king loser just puting more$$$$$$ in pocket f..k”, or, “this is the biggest hypocrital,govermental bull shit ever herd of,N.B.has just been stripped of it’s own soul :S fight back people 4 what is rightfully yours!”

I really don’t think that people understand what the alternatives would consist of. They talk about the potential jobs that will be cut while at the same time advocating for a restructuring of NB Power, which, given my limited knowledge of corporate restructuring, usually “trims the fat” aka jobs. Another subset of the protesters likes to harp on that they need to cut management salaries and “fat cat” positions. Again, stop and think for a minute! You have to have people to run the company, but no, let’s offer terrible salaries which won’t attract talented people to New Brunswick. Seriously, NB Power is almost FIVE BILLION dollars in debt, so saving a million bucks a year by cutting salaries and wages won’t even make a dent. Power rates have increased exponentially over the past few years to a point where a lot of New Brunswickers can’t afford to heat their homes, so heaven forbid an opportunity arise to freeze those rates.

You know what else people seem to forget? The telephone/internet infrastructure is a utility that the government doesn’t own, but I don’t hear anyone complaining about that. Pretty sure Aliant and Rogers are the service providers there, and neither one is headquartered in New Brunswick.

The whole point I’m trying to make here is that a lot of hot heads seem to be taking centre stage over the cool ones. If you plan on contributing to the debate, do your research beforehand so you don’t come off looking like an asshole. And for God’s sake, remember that they’ve only signed an MOU, not a sale agreement. This still has to go before the legislature, laws have to be changed and debate will take place. It’s entirely possible that some angry Liberal backbenchers could spoil the deal.

Finally, if you’ve read this and I’ve put you in a bad mood, I’ll leave you with a humorous aside: at least you’ll be able to know which New Brunswickers are members of the Anglo Society by the sudden appearance of solar panels and windmills in their backyards.

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time.

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

We are the change we seek.”

Those were the words spoken by Barack Obama in February 2008, following his victory in primary elections on ‘Super Tuesday’. That marked the beginning of Obama’s ascent from virtually unknown Illinois Senator to the most powerful head of state in the world. Since then Obama has worked tirelessly to turn these words into reality, and the impact of his words and actions are being felt all over the world.

Approaching the end of his first year in office President Obama is still faced with much adversity. His approval rating is down to 55 per cent, his country is engaged in two separate insurgencies, and he has to contend with a volatile economic and political situation domestically.

Despite all this, Obama’s accomplishments to date are remarkable.

He has redefined American foreign policy with his emphasis on engagement and diplomacy, and he has been able to achieve significant and tangible results. In less than a full year on the job, Obama is quickly on his way to reestablishing the United States as the premier foreign power, accomplishing

things in months that George Bush failed to do in years.

In Iraq, Obama has created a timeline for the removal of American troops, handing over full control to Iraqi authorities. He just signed off on a $7.5 billion aid bill to Pakistan. Unlike in the past this is non-military aid, and is conditional on the government fighting al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The Pakistani government, with much encouragement from the US, just began an offensive to root the Taliban out of South Waziristan, a long-time Taliban stronghold in the lawless tribal region, which follows earlier efforts to force the Taliban out of the Swat Valley.

After George Bush dubbed Iran, Iraq, and North Korea the “axis of evil” and refused to engage them diplomatically, Obama has reached out to these nations. Iran is now negotiating a deal to export their uranium to Russia and France, as well as allowing IAEA inspectors into its nuclear facilities, allaying Western fears of their nuclear ambitions. The North Korean government has expressed an interest in resuming bilateral talks about their nuclear program as well.

Obama is also attempting to use American power and influence to resolve conflicts in the Middle East and Sudan.

George Mitchell, who helped negotiate peace in Ireland, has been appointed the American Mid-East envoy. He has met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in efforts to negotiate peace deals. To help deal with genocide in Sudan, Obama appointed Scott Gration and the US is attempting to offer incentives to encourage a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Many of Obama’s foreign policy initiatives have not yet been completely

successful, but they still represent an important change from the Bush era and are setting the stage for future progress.

Obama has successfully moved away from the many divisive Bushisms (i.e. “you’re either with us or against us”, and the “axis of evil”) that characterized American foreign policy; instead he is embracing a more inclusive and engaging model.

Under Obama’s leadership, American foreign policy has changed from being only unilateral words and actions to actually attempting to work with the countries and parties they are attempting to influence.

Obama has finally recognized that the United States cannot operate its foreign policy as the world’s dictator - Bush tried that with no results. If you want Iran to curb their nuclear ambitions, you will need to diplomatically engage them. In order to reach its aspirations as a ‘moral authority’ internationally, the US must work to engage and involve all parties, something Obama clearly recognizes.

What makes Obama’s accomplishments even more impressive is that he has done this through a global recession, a record setting domestic deficit, and a partisan Congress featuring Republicans who will blame Obama when it rains.

Throughout all this Obama has stuck with his vision for foreign policy, and the United States are now actively engaged in resolving many of the world’s biggest conflicts. It is not reasonable to expect Obama to achieve world peace within a year in office, but he has begun taking action to involve the US in many of the major issues and conflicts, and is effectively using American power and influence to achieve positive results abroad.

Now imagine what he can do in the next three years.

brunswickanopinion

8 • Nov. 4, 2009 • Issue 9 • Volume 143

Student

Viewpoint.

What do you think about the H1N1 vaccination?

Let everyone know whats on your mind.

“It’s a government money grab.”

Adam Thorne

Brendan Lord

Evan Storey

“Ill wait and see.”

Jarred Briggs

Brian von Richter

“I don’t know why you wouldn’t.”

“I don’t believe in it.”

Dina Kuvandykova

“I don’t have swine flu, I’m a vegetarian.”

“Better safe than sorry.”

“Already got it.”

Felicia Giberson

“I’m already vaccinated.”

“It’s very needed.”

Justin Noble

Kayla Phinney

brunswickaninternational

Brazilian students against Olympics Danielle Bodie The Brunswickan

Over the years, the Olympic Games have been held in cities such as Sydney, Australia and Beijing, China. The venue that has been chosen for the year 2016, however, has created some mixed emotions.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s has been quoted on many news stations during the voting for the venue, saying “I honestly believe it is Brazil’s time. Our rivals today have all hosted the games in their countries before. For them it will be just one more Olympics. For us, it will be an unparalleled opportunity.”

Rio de Janeiro budgeted $14.4 billion to prepare for the games, the largest amount offered among the four cities vying for the event. It won the honor to host the games in their country. The day was announced by President Lula as a holiday to allow the country to celebrate the victory. As the celebration wore off however, Brazilians began to wonder if the Olympic games would bring lasting progress to their country.

Fourth year economics student Sabrina Fernandes, who hails from Brazil, was a little less enthusiastic about the decision.

“The fact that Rio is hosting the Olympics means that it is the first time the Olympics has been hosted in a Latin American country. That is a big deal. It is important because you are recognizing that that part of the world exists. It is an honor for Brazil to be picked for [the Olympics]. But I have problems with the way that it’s being portrayed and the amount of the investment,” says Fernandes.

President Lula promises that the Olympics will bring about improvement in the country’s infrastructure and tourism. Brazilians, however, are wondering how true these promises are. President Lula is promising a better transportation system in Rio. Fernandes says that this plan won’t be helping those really in need.

“The day that the Olympics was announced; the plan for the transportation system came out and it completely ignored the poor part of Rio. The people may be really happy about the Olympics because they are hoping that the government will be making some improvements in our city that we can use after the Olympics too. Somehow, everything caters to the tourists but it does nothing really for the people,” she says.

Third year student Maisa Leibovitz, who also hails from Brazil, was very shocked by the decision, and she expresses mixed feelings.

“Third World Countries should not be allowed to be in the running, if you ask me. They have better things to spend their money on instead of digging further into an insane financial hole of debt.

Of course, it can be positive. It attracts tourism and that is good, but otherwise, the cost of construction and building infrastructure is just too much. It really does outweigh the good,” says Leibovitz.

Ayat Abed Isaid, fourth year journalism student spoke about the economic growth that may come with having the Olympics in Rio. “I have always thought that Brazil is a country without a stable economy, so I thought to myself, ‘Why would someone host the Olympics there?’ However, after doing some research I have noticed that Brazil is becoming one of the most powerful countries. Now I think the Olympics will make Brazil a more compelling investment destination than it has previously been. Both security and transportation will have to improve in the city however; because the daily life of the people in Rio is very difficult,” says Abed-Isaid.

Fernandes isn’t convinced. She feels that the money is better spent on social investments other than the Olympics.

“In comparison to other countries, we need help with healthcare or education.

Brazil has made a lot of progress lately but there are still huge lines outside of hospitals, many unpaved roads or people who still don’t have proper sanitation. We still need clean drinking water. It is ridiculous.

Imagine what you could do with 14.4 billion dollars in all these different areas, how much permanent improvement you could make. Whatever is done at the Olympics is just a small share of improvement for the people,” she says.

Nov. 4, 2009 • Issue 9 • Volume 143 • 9

International recipe of the week Lahmajhun

Lahmajhun was my first introduction to Turkish cuisine. It is one of the most common and loved dishes in Turkey. It is originated from southeast of Turkey. Reassembling a cheese-less pizza, this is sure to be a crowd pleaser and two hours on a weekend to give you delectable lunches for over a week (if you can resist eating them).

Ingredients: For meat spread:

•

3 big tomatoes, petite diced 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped 2 big onions, finely chopped 1 pound ground lamb or beef 1 tsp black pepper 1 tsp salt ½ tsp crushed red pepper 1 tbsp pepper paste

•

1 tbsp tomato paste 2-3 tbsp oil (if your ground beef doesn’t have enough fat) 1/4 tsp allspice For dough

•

1 cup lukewarm water 2 tsp dry yeast 2 cups packed all-purpose flour 1 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar Extra flour for rolling the dough

Preparation: Preparation time: 30 minutes to knead and roll the dough completely20-25 minutes for filling. Cooking time: 1 and ½ hours for all lahmajuns Makes: 20 lahmajuns Dough: Sprinkle dry yeast over 1 cup lukewarm water and let it rise. When it rises, sift the flour and salt together, and gradually add to water & yeast mixture.

Knead it evenly, cover bowl with saran wrap and set aside to rise.

Filling: Place ground beef in a large mixing bowl, add finely chopped onions, parsley, petite diced tomatoes, pepper paste, salt, pepper, allspice, crushed red pepper and mix them evenly. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350F Get the dough again. Divide the dough into 20 equal pieces and give them a ball shape. Roll them into small circles with a rolling pin just like the smallest tortillas.

When you finish rolling all the balls, spread the meat filling all over one of the round dough just like pizza. Grease the baking sheet and place a few lahmajuns and bake them for about 15-20 minutes.

Bush ignites protest with visit Sean Steels The Gateway

EDMONTON (CUP) – While over 200 protesters greeted George W. Bush’s arrival at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton last week, a few University of Alberta students took the chance to make a similar statement down the side of one of their campus’ most prominent buildings.

The words “Arrest Bush” hung visibly from the side of the upper façade of U of A’s Tory Building throughout the day of the event, Oct. 20. And although the students who hung the sign were not directly affiliated with the groups that gathered at the event itself, they too protested against the taxpayer expense resulting from Bush’s visit, and human rights violations they claim the former president is guilty of.

“One of the reasons we’re rallying against him and doing this initiative against him is that Canadian taxpayers are paying half a million dollars for the security for his four or five engagements in Calgary, Montreal, Edmonton, and Saskatoon,” said Siavash Saffari, a U of A political science PhD student.

Not forgotten in the fiscal worries, Bush was also under fire from protesting groups such as the Edmonton Coalition Against War and Racism and the Palestine Solidarity Network for his human rights record, predominantly for his government’s involvement in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, which began in 2004.

“We have a standard for war crimes and we apply it to some people. For example, we apply it to Augusto Pinochet from Chile, Omar al-Bashir from Sudan, or Slobodan Milosovic from Yugoslavia,” Saffari said. “We’re saying we should apply the same principle

consistently, which would apply to anyone who commits war crimes under international law.”

Saffari backed up his claims with the accusations of various human rights organizations against Bush.

“By all accounts, if you look at the definition of war crime, he definitely fits that definition,” Saffari continued.

“Amnesty International thinks that he has committed war crimes, Human Rights Watch thinks he’s committed war crimes. Lawyers Against the War think he’s committed war crimes.”

Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch singled out Abu Ghraib as an egregious human rights violation on the part of the Bush government in 2005, and Lawyers Against the War went so far as to ask the Canadian government in an open letter to the prime minister that Bush be barred from Canada, and have also requested the RCMP war crimes program investigate Bush.

brunswickaninternational

10 • Nov. 4, 2009 • Issue 9 • Volume 143

An international Halloween Culture Shock Danielle Bodie

Halloween is a celebration filled with scary stories about ghosts and goblins, scary costumes, and sweet treats. A day when little kids get to be their favorite super hero or cartoon character and live their wildest dreams just for one night.

A day filled with excitement, fear, and tummies anxious for candy.

But is this excitement for Halloween shared at all ends of the earth? Do little kids from Ethiopia or Ecuador feel the same excitement when Oct. 31 rolls around? Unfortunately this is not the case. The international students of St. Thomas University all observe as the

Fredericton community prepares for Halloween. In Asian countries Halloween is considered a western influence. There is no ‘trick or treating’.

In countries closer to the western side of the world like the Caribbean, Halloween has had more of an influence.

Halloween isn’t really celebrated in my country, but some people do dress up.

When I was younger I remember dressing up for Halloween for school but I never went Trick or Treating.

Nowadays churches preach against Halloween and it is considered to be “the devil’s Birthday’ which makes it an unholy day so it would be taboo to celebrate it. Some churches allow the young children to dress up as Bible characters to give them something fun to do. Most international students are willing to set aside their preconceptions of Halloween and celebrate it anyway.

Others may just observe. I feel that ‘When in Rome do as the Romans do’ is the best policy. Just don’t lose your values.

The perils of technology

Flickr CC

Technology has run rampant over the human race, with new inventions cropping up every day to make our lives easier.

Sometimes, though, we fail to envision the potential ramifications of those advancements.

Speak Out Ayat Abed Isaid Although people love to play around with various forms of technology in order to make life easier for themselves, the effects of our technology can often be detrimental to both our planet and humanity as a whole.

Technology is a powerful force in society today, and it comes with a com-

plicated array of social, ethical, and legal issues. Technologies are invented to make our lives easier. The difficulty that we are facing now is the question of how we can control the impact of technologies when we as humans don’t have the ability to predict the future. We also lack the ability to control the effect of technologies. All of our technologies are unpredictable. I think technologies are made to simplify our lives, not to make them worse, but this isn’t always what happens.

The paradox of futurist prediction was that it had a terrible effect on the lives of humans who had depended on technologies for survival. Let’s take a look at the computer, as an example: scientists predicted that the computer would lead to create a society that is paperless. On the contrary, the unintended consequence of inventing it was creating a society that uses more and more paper. We don’t trust the computer. It can crash at anytime and cause a loss of all of our important files and data. That is why people now are printing out more paper – to prevent the loss of that important information and save them in a secure place where no damage can be caused.

Iran, Israel and Pakistan are essential examples of countries that use technology

for the sake of their own security – the invention of nuclear weapons. Do they bring security to us? Are we aware of the unintended consequences that this technology might bring to us? Weapons do not bring security!

Any use of nuclear weapons or weapons that are banned by the United Nations is considered to be a crime against humanity. The very idea of a weapon is to kill massively. Is that what we intended to have from our new “technology”?

This technology does not only affect the people themselves by leading them to death, but it also has severe social and economical consequences.

Weapons aren’t about security, they are about power and they are the most vivid expression of war. Weapons assault the planet itself. They are evil because they destroy the process of life.

We always should be aware of our technologies and we should try to make them as simple as we can, and only for the sake of doing the “good”. We don’t have to play with forces that are far beyond our understanding and will destroy our society, leaving us terrified of our future. We should be able to avoid any complexity resulting from the misuse of technology to create a society that is safe and secure.

brunswickanarts arts@thebruns.ca

Nov. 4, 2009 • Issue 9 • Volume 143 • 11

Avoiding brown paint: death country in the capital Doug Estey The Brunswickan

“When it comes down to it, less is more,” explains Mark Sasso.

From its beginnings, he and his band have been focused on keeping things simple.

“It’s like painting. Some people like to use a lot of different paint; they’ll choose a huge number of colours. But the problem is that doesn’t always look so great. You can always add too much, and then you have an ugly brown.

We get asked all the time if we’ve considered expanding the size of the band, but everything has its place and we like where we’re at right now.”

Sasso, along with good friend Casey Laforet and producer-turneddrummer Stephen Pitkin are known as Elliott Brood; self-described as “death country” and recognized the world over, having toured with such acts as Corb Lund, The Black Crowes, Wilco and Blue Rodeo.

With the critical acclaim of Elliott Brood’s latest release, Moving Mountains, the group was shortlisted for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize, pitted against the likes of Joel Plaskett, Chad VanGaalen and Hey Rosetta!, an experience Sasso describes as one where “everybody wins.”

“I think [Polaris] is an amazing award. The Junos are great and everything, but there’s something that’s so much better than Polaris. It’s actually judged by music critics, and you never can say who’s going to win.

Another great thing is it’s not all about sales. Polaris celebrates music and the creation of music. They give love to everybody, win or lose. Every-

Ivan Otis / Submitted

Elliott Brood’s Moving Mountains was released in 2008 to critical acclaim and scored them a spot on the shortlist for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize. one is celebrated. Everyone wins. It’s pretty great, and for us to get nominated was a humbling experience.”

Moving Mountains showcases Elliott Brood’s love for uncontrolled creativity in their recordings, with the band making use of halls and various other “studio” spaces throughout the development of the album.

“It’s not like we don’t ever use conventional studios, but we like doing things the old way when we get the

opportunity,” admits Sasso. “Sometimes when we’re sitting in the studio, and we’ll be adding a reverb effect like ‘grand hall’, it’s just like ‘why don’t we go to an actual grand hall’? And then we’ll actually go and do it if we have a chance.

There’s something about it that’s chemical. You aren’t in complete control. The same ideology applies to life in general. It’s those little moments and imperfections that you can’t cre-

Silver Wave Festival is back in town FROM WAVE PAGE 1

“One of the people who’d shown a film that day set up an exhibit in the hallway that people could get there photo taken with. There was a chainsaw and blood everywhere.”

Another feature event at this year’s festival is the Cultural Capital Film Gala Showcase.

The showcase begins on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Le Centre Communautaire Sainte-Anne Theatre. The event will feature eight different films (of about 20 minutes each) that center around various significant historical periods in Fredericton’s history.

“These movies are rich in detail and recreated to perfection – I speak with some bias here, but they really are. Great attention to detail was paid,” jokes Lavoie.

Lavoie implores everyone out to see the once in a lifetime showcase, because, it really is a one time event.

“This aspect of the festival will never be done again, because obviously this will be the one and only time we are designated [a cultural capital].”

Following this event will be another gala (again at the James Joyce Pub) celebrating the 30th anniversary of the co-op.

Saturday will feature various films throughout the day and evening showcases of short films. The night will end with the final gala, which is (also) at the James Joyce

ate anywhere else, and it’s those same moments that get blocked out by a studio.”

So how does a recording as rich and authentic as Moving Mountains transfer to a live performance?

“One of our favourite shows, among whole bunch, was when we played in Ireland for a festival in this packed house of 250 people. We played for two and a half hours, and these people could barely move it was

cd reviews by andrew olsvik.

Australia’s best musical export Nick Cave continues to dazzle those who bother to listen in this collaborative effort with Bad Seeds and Grinderman member Warren Ellis. White Lunar compiles music composed by the pair for the soundtracks to The Preposition (2005) and The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (2007) as well as snippets from the soundtracks to The English Surgeon (2009), which documents Dr. Henry Marsh’s struggle to bring neurosurgery to post-Soviet Ukraine and Matthew Watson’s The Girls of Phnom Penh (2009). Ellis recommends to “listen to it as you might listen to an instrumental album”.

Submitted

Fredericton’s annual Silverwave Festival, hosted by the NB Film Co-op, runs this week.

Pub. Lavoie believes that beyond being a showcase for NB talent the festival is an example of how far New Brunswick has come in the realm of filmmaking.

“There are two sides to the film industry which are: the commercial, and the independent – which is what the NB Film Coop is all about.

“Collectively, and through the universities as well we have built quite the infrastructure in New Brunswick that we are now able to staff most of the positions that are required in a major production. So,

now NB is not only being recognized as a beautiful shooting location, we are now also recognized as having the expertise in the crew positions and cast positions,” explain Merzetti.

A festival pass (which gets you into all 111 films and the three galas) is $40 at the door, and $20 for students with a valid student id. Passes can be purchased at the NB Film Co-op building on 732 Charlotte Street.

For more information on the individual screenings go to: http:// s w f i l m f e s t .c om/ i ndex- e . ht m l

so packed, but they stayed, hollering and screaming and genuinely enjoying themselves. It’s great to see your music translate, and it’s humbling that anyone wants to listen to your music at all.”

Just like their last time here in Fredericton, Elliott Brood will perform at the Capital Bar on November 10.

Unlike the last time here, drummer Stephen Pitkin will be present for the show.

It’s difficult to get excited about the Strokes’ upcoming album while the members continue to release complete heaps of trash. It’s becoming more and more likely that Albert Hammond Jr. is the only dude in the band with an actual talent for writing songs. Casablancas’ attempt at some kind of disco infused synth rock is embarrassing and an insult to those who hold The Strokes’ first albums as modern classics. As Nickolai Fraiture’s Nickel Eye project hinted at earlier this year, and as Phrazes For The Young definitely confirms, the upcoming Strokes album better rely completely on Hammond Jr. or it won’t even be worth torrenting.

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis White Lunar Released September 21, 2009; Mute

Julian Casablancas Phrazes For The Young

Released November 3, 2009; Cult Records

brunswickanarts

12 • Nov. 4, 2009 • Issue 9 • Volume 143

Why your band doesn’t need an iPhone app

this week in fredericton.

Silver Wave Festival @ Tilley Hall November 5 to 9

The ninth annual Silver Wave Festival showcases 111 Canadian and international films and 64 films from New Brunswick filmmakers. Festival passes are $20 for students and can be purchased at the NB Film Co-op.

Paul Healy exhibition @ Gallery 78 November 6 to 29

Canadian rock ‘n roll favourite Attack In Black will appear at The Capital Bar on Friday with Bruce Peninsula and Yukon Blonde. Cover is $8 in advance, with tickets available at Reads Newsstand.

Monday Night Film Series @ Tilley Hall November 9

This weekly series put on by the NB Film Co-op will feature the film, “Bright Star” by Jane Campion. Tickets can be bought at the door. Price is $7 or $3 for members.

Elliot Brood with Deep Dark Woods @ The Capital November 10

This three piece folk band out of big-city Toronto is coming back to the Capital this week. Advanced tickets are $12 at Backstreet Records and Read’s, or at the door.

Daniel MacIvor’s Marion Bridge @ Memorial Hall November 12 to 14

Nasty Shadows Theatre Co. (in cooperation with TUNB) presents this adaption of “Marion Bridge”, a touching play set in Cape Breton. Tickets are $8 for students at the door.

Westerberg Suicides @ The Capital November 7

A folk-rock performance from Westerberg Suicides will take place with JJ Ipsen and Chris Velan at the Capital Bar on November 7.

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

Software engineering is all about progress, so what we’re going to do now is create an application that does everything that other applications can already do - except with less functionality and only pertaining to a single group of interest.

From the Tubes Doug Estey I have a serious beef with marketing and PR outfits all over (mostly) North America right now. It has recently come to my attention that record labels have started releasing iPhone applications for (in some cases) almost every band on their label, big and small.

Bad iPhone applications.

These are apps that, I’m sure, make other iPhone app developers cry while they toss and turn, losing countless hours of sleep on a nightly basis.

The basis of my argument, despite what you are about to read, is not entirely against the concept of developing an iPhone app for a band. It’s more about the premise of ignoring progress some developers.

Why is it that a large number of bands and/or their associated staff feel to need to exploit the most abstract, useless and downright impractical methods of communicating to the masses?

Before I get too far ahead of myself: why is an iPhone application for one specific band a poor concept? Let’s look at an app recently released for a “five-piece metalcore band from Burlington, Ontario.” It takes videos of the band from YouTube, tweets about it from Twitter, entries from the its blog, songs by the band from its website and the band’s wall feed from Facebook. Oh, and it tries really hard to get you to purchase the band’s music.

This all sounds well and fine if you listen to one band. But what happens when you diversify a little bit? Toss in some punk rock, some jazz, and - god-forbid - some country rock?

You, my friend, have a lot of apps to download. And guess what? Every time one of those bands decides to write a blog entry or - worse - one of their fans decides to gush all over their wall, you receive an instant, push notification of the event.

Man, this is a great idea! Oh wait, people don’t listen to the same bands all day every day.

Four years ago, major browsers incorporated the use of RSS - “Really Simple Syndication” or “Rich Site Summary” for those who don’t like cool and slightly vague acronyms. The point of this technology, as defined by beloved Wikipedia, is to “publish frequently updated works—such

as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format.” Say - it’s already getting fairly easy to see where I’m going with this here now, isn’t it?

I know at some point along the line you’re going to discover my love for Google and its products, but seriously, have you ever heard of Google Reader? Used Mozilla Thunderbird for more than a day? Played with Live Bookmarks in Firefox? Then you know what RSS is. It essentially lets you subscribe to RSS feeds for anything on the Internet that you like - YouTube channels, Twitter timelines, Facebook news feeds, blogs of any kind, even recipes. Even better, it’s painfully easy (and, in most cases, free) to set up your own RSS feed So whether you’re say, I don’t know, a band, a podcaster or a poet, you can publish yourself all over the world and allow people to subscribe to your self-publication for free, without hiring someone to write an app for you.

And if you’re someone interested in subscribing to one of those things, you can pick and choose the feeds you want and syndicate them to a client of your choosing - whether it be Google Reader or an app like NetNewsWire for iPhone.

Or you can ignore everything I’ve just said and be one of dozens of musicians who have already shelled out big bucks for an app.

The Cat Empire struts back Justin Doyle The Nexus

S ka, funk, reggae, rock, acid-jazz, hiphop and salsa are just a handful of genres that have been used to describe The Cat Empire. Whatever genre the band is, they’ve certainly come a long way from their humble beginnings in Melbourne, Australia.

After six years together, records that have reached multi-platinum status in their homeland and 700 shows scattered through every continent – except Antarctica – this group of cool cats will be returning to North America to demonstrate the definition of stage presence.

The band will be strutting their way through large and small venues from Victoria to New York to celebrate the success of their recent release, Live on Earth, a collection of tracks recorded live

all over the world, and gives a genuine taste of the live Cat Empire experience with upbeat rhythms and spontaneous jam masterpieces, the longest of which is 25 minutes.

“The best shows we’ve ever done are the ones we didn’t rehearse,” says Felix Reibl, one of the band’s two lead singers.

“Our chemistry really lets us get carried away. When you’ve got a song that people know and it goes to a place that they don’t know and we don’t even know . . . I think that’s why we’re still around.”

The Cat Empire has always been known for memorable performances.

The band, with just six core members, has often been found on stage with up to 30 other musicians, playing every instrument imaginable – not to mention non-musical guests like circus performers, streaking fans, or the entire audience.

“Way back, we played in the Edinburgh Festival for three weeks, always at 3 a.m.,” Reibl says. “It was the first time we played there and there were only 20 people in the audience so we invited them

all up on stage for the whole gig. By the end of the week there was a lineup down the street.”

It’s the reputation for performances like that, and touring for so many years, that has given The Cat Empire an opportunity to play shows with everyone from Snoop Dogg to the Buena Vista Social Club to the late legend James Brown.

“Yeah, I’d say Brown was one of the funkiest men I’ve ever met,” Reibl says.

“The way he spoke, it was almost impossible to understand his words, but you knew what he was saying through his nature and his body language.”

The funk king gave the Cat Empire – through an impromptu translator – what turned out to be one of the hugest compliments of the band’s career.

“At one point we weren’t sure what he said, but his bandmate told us James said we were funky on stage, so that was a really big moment for us.”

Even after such high praise from respected musicians as well as global success, Reibl still has both feet on the ground.

“Honestly, when I’m not playing, I’m writing songs . . . and traveling and catching up with precious people, but those go hand in hand with writing,” he says.

And while he’s writing are songs many music fans find so difficult to categorize, Reibl sums it up quite easily.

“It’s our music,” he says. “It’s Cat Empire.”

brunswickanarts

Nov. 4, 2009 • Issue 9 • Volume 143 • 13

This game is off the charts! (yes, I went there) The Final Score Dan

Haggarman

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3) I’m always on the hunt for awesome Playstation 3 games to show to people that prove that the system is a real system and not the butt-end of some joke. The original Uncharted was most certainly an example of this, sporting slick looks and smooth gameplay. Well, Naughty Dog, makers of the game, have done it again with Uncharted 2. Except better.

The first thing that you will notice upon starting a new game of Uncharted 2 is that it is pretty. No, seriously, it’s REALLY fricking pretty. You will watch the opening cut scene which finds Nathan Drake (the protagonist) badly injured and hanging off a railing on a train car that’s vertically hanging off the side of a cliff. You’re going to sit there for about 10 seconds before you realize that what you’re watching is not a cutscene anymore and you can actually move around, and the game remains incredibly good looking.

The original Uncharted looked pretty snappy as well in its jungle locales, but Uncharted 2 takes place in almost photorealistic cities, monasteries, mountains, and even the fabled Tibetan valley of Shangri-la. When you step into water, your clothing gets wet exactly up to where you’re standing (stand in kneedeep water, and only your knees will show up wet). When you’re in the snow, you’ll see a bit of the powder on you, but fall down and you’ll be covered in the stuff.

The characters in the game look even better, because not only do they have perfect lip-sync, they also have entirely

Screenshot

Uncharted 2 is good-looking to the point where at certain points, you can’t tell the gameplay from the cutscenes. natural and believable facial expressions, brought to life even more by surprisingly capable voice acting.

If the main character sounds familiar, it’s probably because you’ve heard him EVERYWHERE lately. Nolan North voices the protagonist, Nathan Drake.

You’ve also possibly heard his voice in Assassin’s Creed 1 and 2, Shadow Complex, Prince of Persia, all 3 Halo games for the Xbox 360 and the newest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film as Raphael. North uses a very believable “witty everyman”type voice here, and makes the main character a likable kind of jerk on the outside, but also sensitive and caring as

well. If the player is in a situation and is thinking about something, it’s a fair bet that Nathan Drake will say it aloud.

The other actors and actresses fare just as well, be they supporting allies or insane villains. They’ve got their work cut out for them though, because Uncharted 2 tends to be a loud game as well, with all the gunshots and explosions ringing out quite nicely whether you have a regular stereo setup all the way up to epic surround sound rigs.

The gameplay of Uncharted 2 will seem instantly accessible to most seasoned players, more so if they played the original Uncharted. When in combat, you

Low budget horror on the big screen Aren Bergstrom The Sheaf

Hailed as this decade’s “Blair Witch Project” and inspiring independent filmmakers everywhere, “Paranormal Activity” is an ultra-low budget, shaky-cam horror film chronicling the haunting of an ordinary American couple.

“Paranormal Activity” follows Micah and Katie (Micah Sloat and Katie Featherston), a couple in their 20s living together in a two-storey house.

Katie is worried that she is being haunted by otherworldly beings and Micah has purchased a high-definition video camera in order to capture on film what exactly is behind it. That’s it, a very simple framework upon which director Oren Peli weaves an exquisite showcase of unbearable tension and horror.

The footage in “Paranormal Activity” is supposedly that of Micah’s video-documentation of what is happening to them while they sleep. Every day, the camera records Katie and him bickering about how to approach the latest problem in their relationship and every night it is positioned in the corner of their master bedroom, recording the anomalous activity that is unsettling their lives.

The nighttime scenes are what make the movie. The horror begins slowly, with odd yet amusing things occurring such as the swinging of a door or a thumping downstairs. Peli eases the audience into watching exactly what is occurring on screen; his choice to make the camera static was brilliant, adding an unwarranted amount of realism to the scenes, as well as forcing the

Internet

audience into witnessing everything that unfolds.

Like slowly boiling a frog in a pot of water, Peli tricks the audience into accepting every layer of tension he builds until the emotional strain becomes almost unbearable. There are no cuts to relieve tension, so when Katie’s leg is mysteriously lifted from the bed and she is dragged kicking and screaming down the hallway, the audience is forced to witness the entire scene.

There are no musical swells to alert the audience of danger, no Bernard Herrmann strings to emphasize the thrills or cheap jump-scares to unnerve the audience; every scare in “Paranormal Activity” is earned through ever present tension, and an expert manipulation of innate human fears.

“Paranormal Activity” draws its horror from the most instinctive of those fears – nighttime, demons and the unknown. Peli wisely draws upon the films of Val Lewton, making the source of the disturbance continually mysterious, allowing the horror to

swell inside the audience’s mind, letting their imaginations run wild and distort the fear into something more than it is.

Of course there are some shortcomings to “Paranormal Activity.” Its filmmaking is uneven and it often shows that it was made for a scant $15,000; occasionally, it even has poor dialogue and weak acting. However, the nighttime scenes are so expertly crafted, so brilliantly framed, so inherently scary – especially for a low-budget horror film – that they make the film’s other flaws negligible.

Much like comedy, horror is an extremely subjective genre. “Paranormal Activity” might not scare you, but, on the other hand, it could easily be one of the most terrifying and exhilarating experiences at the theatre in years, and one that comes recommended to everyone – unless you have a weak heart.

See it with a crowd. Don’t go alone.

can move around from cover to cover, shoot people, throw grenades and the like. When not in combat, you can run and climb up buildings with the best of them, exposing the game’s amazing vistas while trying to figure out how to jump from one collapsing building to another or maneuvering through underground crypts. All of the above animate smoothly and are very forgiving to the player.

A new copy of the game will set you back about $60 at the moment, but rest assured there’s a lot of value in here.

For starters, the game is a lot longer than you’d think, and that’s only going through on one difficulty without col-

lecting any of the game’s 100 hidden treasures.

On top of all that, they throw in some pretty awesome multiplayer action as well.

There are a standard array of deathmatch and capture-the-loot type modes, but there’s also small co-op sections that you can play through with two other people as well against the computer. The only trouble with online play is that sometimes it takes awhile to connect to other people, but aside from that it’s a blast.

Uncharted 2 is fun, pretty, and a blast to show off to people, and it shows what the Playstation 3 is capable of. What’s not to like?

brunswickansports

Nov. 4, 2009 • Issue 9 • Volume 143 • 14

sports@thebruns.ca

Reds remain undefeated

Colin McPhail The Brunswickan

The UNB men’s hockey squad has added to the undefeated streak in this early 2009-2010 AUS season with another couple wins over St. Thomas and Acadia. The Reds now sit atop the AUS standings with a 6-0 record.

Last Wednesday night, the Tommies hosted the Reds in the 167th playing of ‘the battle of the hill’. The Reds demonstrated their superior skating and passing power as they created chance after chance, but were turned away by STU goaltender Charles Lavigne. Motivated by their netminder’s impressive performance the Tommies opened the scoring midway through the second as Jason Cassidy put one behind UNB goalie Travis Fullerton with Maxim Chamberlan and Devan Praught adding helpers. UNB was not to be outdone and kept up the furious pressure.

Finally after 28 shots, Taylor Procyshen solved Lavigne squaring the match at one with a period to go. The third was no different as the Reds outshot STU 11-3, but the story of the game was Lavigne, who stood on his head and forced the game into overtime. However, 44 seconds into the extra frame veteran John Scott Dickson ended it and kept their perfect record intact. Kyle Bailey and Ben Shutron added the assists.

Acadia visited the Aitken Centre on Friday hoping to avenge the 3-2 loss at the hands of UNB the weekend before. Unfortunately for the Axemen, the end result was the same. The Reds used their size and speed to jump to a early two goal lead with power play markers from Kyle Bailey and Luke Lynes. Acadia’s Jonathan Laberge would cut the deficit in half towards the end of the first, but UNB’s Chris Hodgson, Lachlan MacIntosh and Nick Layton would score the next three making 5-1 with under a period to play. Acadia would make it 5-3 off a couple quick goals, but that is as close as they would get. Luke Gallant added an empty net marker and Hodgson added another for good measure making the final 7-3. Derek Yeomans stopped 16 out of 19 for the win.

UNB’s offensive power has been overwhelming the rest of the AUS. They lead the way in goals for with 38 in six games giving them an

Football: The UNB Red Bombers fell to the hands of the Moncton Raiders 35-26 this past weekend. UNB finishes their first AFL season with a 2-2 record. The 1-2 Raiders will face off against the 3-0 Saint John Seawolves this weekend in the final regular season match. Moncton and UNB will play in the semi-final on Nov. 14 as the Seawolves have already secured a bye to the finals. The final will be played on Nov. 21.

Soccer: The UNB women’s soccer team ended the 2009 season with a 2-2 draw against Acadia and were defeated 3-2 by Moncton. Overall, this was a disappointing season for the Reds. They finished at the bottom of the table with a 2-10-1 record and out of the playoffs. The Reds have missed the post season five out of the past six years.

Gary Manning / Special to The Brunswickan

The Reds have outscored their opponents 38-13 in their first six games of the season and can boast a perfect 6-0 record. incredible average of six goals per game. They also have three players in the top five of scoring.

Hunter Tremblay and Gallant share first place with UPEI’s Matthew Carter at 13 points. Saint Mary’s Marc Rancourt sits fourth with 11 points and is followed by Dickson who tallied 10 so far.

UNB has seven players in the top 21.

Head Coach Gardiner MacDougall explained why this depth is important.

“We need everybody to help and contribute.

It’s takes all six [defencemen], 12 forwards and two goaltenders and that’s one of the benefits of the team so far. Team moral has been stupendous and on any given night different people can step forward and help our team be successful.”

“I think it starts with a foundation of work ethic from the group. There has to be a certain

the brunswickan presents

the panel voice your opinion

amount of talent and we are fortunate we do have a good talent base and I think its the synergy between players. You have to give the group credit.

Their practice habits have been exceptional. It’s all about getting better everyday and that’s the philosophy the group has.”

Keeping the puck out of the net is as important as putting it in and Travis Fullerton has done his part so far. The UNB netminder leads the league in wins, goals against average, shutouts, and save percentage.

UNB was supposed to play SMU on Saturday night, but the game was moved to a later date due to flu problems circling the Saint-Mary’s squad.

The Reds look to continue their winning ways as they travel to St.FX and Dalhousie this weekend.

Volleyball: It was a rough weekend for the UNB women’s volleyball squad they dropped their first four league matches of the 2009-10 season. The Reds, occupying the 10th place in the CIS rankings, were defeated by 14th ranked Sherbrooke three sets to one to start the weekend. They also lost to second ranked Montreal 3-1, ninth ranked McGill 3-0 and, finally, fifth ranked Laval 3-1.

However, the Reds do not need to worry as Cape Breton, Moncton and Memorial all finished the weekend winless as well. The rest of the AUS teams will face off against the four Quebec squads later this month. Acadia will visit the Reds this Saturday.

Which Olympic sport are you looking forward to the most?

Colin McPhail

Tony von Richter

Valerie Woodman

Hockey and speed skating. Canadians are always defintite threats in these sports. There’s just something about people flying around on ice.

Luge. Ok, not really, because as fun to watch as luge is there is no way anything will top the men’s hockey tournament. The Olympic tournament is good anywhere, but put it on Canadian ice and it will probably be the sporting highlight of the year, no matter who comes out on top.

Hockey. It’s going to be the most exciting competition. It’s Canada’s sport.

Sports Editor

sports briefs.

CUP Sports Bureau Chief

Sports Fan

Richard Macaulay Varsity Red

Snowboarding. I snowboard and it’s a lot of fun to watch.

brunswickansports Upcoming V-Reds Events Friday, November 6th Women’s basketball Dal @ UNB 6:00 p.m. @ LB Gym Men’s Basketball Dal @ UNB 8:00 p.m. @ LB Gym Hockey UNB @ StFX 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, November 7th Women’s basketbal StFX @ UNB 6:00 p.m. @ LB Gym Men’s basketball StFX @ UNB 8:00 p.m. @ LB Gym Hockey UNB @ Dal 7:00 p.m.

Swimming AUS Inv. Meet @ Dal Men’s volleyball Memorial @ UNB 2:00 p.m. @ LB Gym Women’s volleyball Acadia @ UNB 4:00 p.m. @ LB Gym Sunday, November 8th Swimming AUS Inv. Meet @ Dal Men’s volleyball Memorial @ UNB 10:30 a.m. @ LB Gym Friday, November 13th Hockey StFX @ UNB 7:00 p.m. @ AUC Women’s volleyball UNB @ Dal 6:00 p.m.

Men’s volleyball UNB @ Dal 8:00 p.m.

Women’s basketball UNB @ SMU 6:00 p.m.

Men’s basketball UNB @ SMU 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, November 14th Men’s volleyball UNB @ Dal 1:00 p.m.

Women’s volleyball UNB @ SMU 2:00 p.m.

Hockey Dal @ UNB 7:00 p.m. @ AUC Men’s basketball UNB @ SMU 8:00 p.m.

Women’s Basketball UNB @ SMU 6:00 p.m.

Nov. 4, 2009 • Issue 9 • Volume 143 • 15

Dalhousie rugby tries, but fails Sandy Chase The Brunswickan

On an overcast Saturday morning, two rivals met at college field to compete in the Maritime Rugby Championships.

For the second time in two years, the UNB and Dalhousie women’s rugby teams stood face to face in the finals for the Maritime Championships, and for the second time in two years, UNB emerged victorious.

UNB set the tone of the game early, with fifth year veteran Allex Stacey scoring the first try ten minutes into the game. The women continued to keep up the pressure, with Team Captain Emily Corey scoring a second try

a few minutes later. UNB kept the Dal women on the defensive for the rest of the half with another try by Stacey and one by Kara Haslam.

Dal came back into the game in the second half with a new wind, scoring two tries, but wasn’t able to comeback from the first half.

The 29-10 win over Dal gave the team a perfect season and their second championship in a row after only losing one game in the last two years.

“Four years ago, I never would have believed that this would have happened,” said Team Captain Christy Colpitts , “and now, two years in a row, unbelievable.”

“It was a tough season, very tough season” said Coach Matthew Barry “We had injuries throughout and a lot of the girls had to play multiple positions” “It feels amazing. The skill level of

Sandy Chase / The Brunswickan

Team Captain Christy Colpitts, one of the major forces on UNB’s team, is seen giving a nasty stiff-arm to an opposing Dalhousie player. these girls has improved over the seasons and it’s fun to watch, and that’s what I think I’m most proud-- of the fact that these girls want to learn and they want to try and they’re doing things that I don’t even see in other teams,” Barry added.

MVP of the game went to Allex Stacey, who had two trys. Kara Haslam also had three conversions for UNB for a total of fourteen points.

Up next for the team is a trip to Argentina in April, where the women will be playing in a international tour.

brunswickansports

16 • Nov. 4, 2009 • Issue 9 • Volume 143

Swimming with the Torch

Men’s soccer wraps up season with strong finish

Alex Wickwire The Brunswickan

Alex Wickwire The Brunswickan

The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics are just over one calendar year away, and the Olympic Flame has touched down in North America. Richard Macaulay is a second year arts student here at UNB and will run with the flame through Dartmouth, Nova Scotia on Nov. 18.

Macaulay is a Varsity Reds swimmer who also coaches the Fredericton local club swimming team. “I’ve swum competitively 12 or 13 years, I think it’s 12,” said Richard during an informal interview in the SUB cafeteria.

The honour of carrying the Olympic torch was advertised in contests from big businesses like Coca Cola and CIBC and Macaulay originally didn’t believe it when the Vancouver 2010 top dogs emailed him with a message of congratulations. “I deleted the message, but the next day I got a phone call, they left a message on my machine and then I realized it was real.”

The final details still need to be worked out and Richard’s name isn’t available on the torchbearer website yet. However, it is confirmed that he will carry and he’s dedicating this run to his brother. Richard’s older sibling swam for McMaster and was a promising CIS competitor until he developed FSG, a degenerative kidney disease, forcing him to leave McMaster and come back to the east coast. He also had to temporarily quit swimming. Not

Sandy Chase / The Brunswickan

Varsity Red Swimmer Richard Macaulay, will carry the Olympic Torch on Nov. 18 in his hometown of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. wanting to stay out of the athletic lifestyle, he worked as a swimming coach and fitness activist.

“I think it’s called SOGO, it’s an active lifestyle fundraiser thing my brother helps run.”

Through an organization promoting healthy living and with the aid of some of Vancouver 2010’s main sponsors, Richard was selected to carry the torch in his home province of Nova Scotia.

With the Olympics back in Canada, the constant question is “Will we win a gold medal?” and Richard’s answer was “That’d be sick! I’d say hockey.” referencing the months and months of labour and media coverage being put into the Canadian national hockey squad.

Because of the popularity and marketability of the 2010 games, sponsors like McDonalds have been running ad campaigns featuring athletes dining on cheeseburgers. “It’s great that they’re supporting it, but it’s their business. You won’t really see athletes eating McDonalds often,” commented Richard.

W hen asked what his overall thoughts were on having the honour of carrying a torch bearing a flame that hasn’t been out in hundreds of years, Macaulay answered “It’s awesome to be a part of it! It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Vancouver 2010 is quickly approaching, get excited Canada.

The Brunswickan Annual General Meeting Monday, November 9 5:30 pm Room 26, SUB

Undefeated at home and third in the Atlantic University Sport standings, the UNB Varsity Reds Men’s Soccer team finished a successful 2009 campaign over the weekend with a 2-0 win over Acadia on Friday and a 4-3 win over the Universite de Moncton two days later. Sunday’s high scoring match saw Captain Ken Morrison net his team the fifth goal of the year and fullbacks Brad Coperthwaite and Karel Pickett scoring their first of the season.

On paper the Reds finished 7-2-4 with both losses coming within an eight day period. When the season began, the UNB squad struggled with ball possession and won the majority of their matches because of superior strength and speed from their players.

This kept them undefeated until the last weekend in September.

Once their poor execution caught up with them, the Reds dropped a game on Sept. 26 and lost again on Oct. 4.

As the season went on the team began to play a more tactical and calculated style and after their two losses, the team started to function at a much higher level. From early October and for the rest of the month the Reds won four of their next five matches, the only blemish on the second half

of the season was a draw at Memorial University on the Oct. 24.

Attending matches at Chapman field was always a positive experience this year. Mainly because the Reds did not lose a game at home all season. The high winds at Chapman usually made for interesting ball movement on long passes and the Reds pre- game music playlist blasts the “ACDC - Thunderstruck Crookers Electro Remix” at least four times and wrenches it into your brain for the rest of the day. The techno was off during the action but still synced up well with the electric plays Amir Razak liked to make in midfield and down the touch line.

Aside from Razak’s entertaining dribbling, other V-Reds who emerged as players to watch were center forward Galen Smith and goal keeper Matt Lally.

Matt Lally the undisputed top net minder on the team earned six clean sheets in his final year guarding the UNB goal while Smith would use his height and strength to give center defenders a scare every time Lally launched a volley from the 18 yard box to the opposing semi circle.

Looking forward to the AUS playoffs, the road to the championship looks very difficult but not impossible.

Sitting in third puts the Reds at the top half of the playoff picture, only Dalhousie and Cape Breton University outrank them, and only CBU has beaten them. It’s likely that on Nov. 6 the Reds will host the UPEI Panthers in the first round of the AUS playoffs, the only other team aside from the Capers to beat the Reds this season.