Issue 14, Vol 143, The Brunswickan

Boot camp // a look at a varsity reds training camp >> pG. 14 Volume 143 • Issue 14 • January 6, 2010

thebruns.ca

brunswickan canada’s oldest official student publication.

Vlogging their way to the Olympics

The Varsity Reds enter the second half campaign Colin McPhail The Brunswickan

Hilary Creamer, a third year UNB student, and Tara Correia, a third year St.Thomas student, have won a fully funded trip to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics through the Samsung Mobile Exolorers Contest.Their ticket? Blogging. Kendra Correia / Submitted

Sarah Ratchford The Brunswickan Two Fredericton university students will have plenty to smile about between Feb. 10 and March 1: namely, a free trip to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Hilary Creamer, a third year UNB student, and Tara Correia, a third year student at St. Thomas, are headed to Vancouver through the Samsung Mobile Explorers Contest.

Correia got the idea to enter when she saw an ad for the contest on YouTube; she and Creamer came up with the idea for their team name, Two Peas in a Vlog.

“The requirements were that they wanted people who used social networking and are media savvy. Twitter, Facebook, stuff like that,” Creamer says.

The contest, which took place in Canada, the US, China and Russia, sees winners blog, tweet, post, and tape about the Games.

“Two days after Tara saw the ad, we submitted an entry and we worked through the night. This was all during finals,” Creamer laughs.

Despite the crunch to submit by the deadline, the Two Peas in a Vlog video was submitted, and Creamer and Correia found out on Dec. 21 that they’d be going to Vancouver.

Creamer attributes the success of the duo mostly to Facebook. They made a group where people could view their submission and rate it, and they made the top ten. Then a panel at Samsung decided they’d made it through.

Creamer and Correia aren’t yet sure exactly what they’ll be doing in Vancouver. Creamer says she and Correia will be “attending events, not necessarily just sports, but events all over the city and in the village.” The two will also be writing articles, and possible even interviewing the Olympians themselves.

Correia says no matter what they’ll be doing, she’s excited about the experience.

“I can’t even think of one thing that’s going to be the most exciting.

I’ve never been out west, and how many people get to experience the Olympics in their lifetime?”

She says she’s also excited about the opportunity to network.

“I’m going to meet so many people and learn so much about journalism and blogging. I think I could end up liking it so much that I’ll wind up doing it. I think it’s going to open a lot of doors.”

Creamer, who is pursuing a double major in English and Media Studies, is also excited about the new career opportunities she’ll gain from the experience.

“This pertains directly to both of my degrees. It’ll help my writing skills obviously. It’ll also help with my media skills, which I’ve already been using to do our webpage.”

As per the requirements of the contest, Correia is also a self-described techie. She’s been interested in technology since she was a little girl, and she’s been interested in video editing for a while now as well.

“When I got my Mac in August I started doing iMovie, and I just got Final Cut Express, which is an apple video editing program one step above iMovie and one step below Final Cut Pro. A lot of films use it. I think we’re going to be using that to edit the videos,” she says.

Both Creamer and Correia will

be outfitted with Samsung’s Omnia phone, which is a touch screen smart phone similar to the iPhone. The phone has a Wireless Olympic Works (WOW) application that outlines all of the sporting events, their times, and after the event, who won gold, silver and bronze.

Once they get to Vancouver, the ladies will complete two days of orientation where they’ll meet the 47 other teams competing.

“We’ll be competing with the other four Canadian teams. The blog that gets the most views, has the best visuals, and is just really good quality wins. Samsung will look at who did the best job, and the members of the winning team get $5,000 each,” Creamer explains.

While Creamer and Correia don’t yet have the url for their official blog, they do have a website up and running, and their blog will be linked to that once they get their url from Samsung.

In order to win the contest, they need their blog to get the highest number of votes. You can check out their endeavor, and eventually vote for their blog, at www.twopeasinavlog.com.

“It’s really important that we have UNB behind us,” Creamer says.

After an outstanding first half the 2009-10 AUS season, the UNB Varsity Reds men’s hockey team kept the good times rolling with an impressive display in the Pete Kelly Tournament over the break. Head Coach Gardiner MacDougall and the rest of the Reds’ organization are looking forward to keep their winning ways going in 2010.

At the end of the first half, UNB sits atop the standings with a perfect 15-0 record and an incredible 84 goals for with only 29 against. However, the stellar start was not as perfect as it seems. Five out of their 15 wins were by one goal, four being in overtime. Even though the Reds were able to squeeze through a few close games and remain undefeated, MacDougall still sees room for improvement.

«We got off to a very good start and the exhibition season and non-conference schedule and the U.S. teams in the American league was very beneficial. I think it was a strong first half for our group, but I think the whole team effort can get better and i think we can improve our skill level and our team play. We obviously found a way to win a lot of one goal games as well.»

The Reds picked up where they left off with two strong wins in the Pete Kelly Tournament. UNB opened with a 5-1 win over the University of Toronto.

Daine Todd led the way two goals and an assist. Taylor Proceshyn, Josh Kidd and John Scott Dickson added the other markers, while Travis Fullerton and Derek Yeomans split the workload in goal, stopping 11 out of 12 shots for the win. In the second match of the Tournament, the Reds defeated UdeM 4-1 with goals from Jonathan Harty, Hunter Tremblay, Jeff Lee and Chris Culligan with Ben Shutron adding three helpers. Fullerton and Yeomans split the match again stopping 14 out of 15 shots.

MacDougall, looking toward the second half, saw the tournament as a great way to stay on form.

SEE HOCKEY PAGE 14

2 • Jan. 6, 2010 • Issue 14 • Volume 143

brunswickannews

Harper hits pause on Parliament through another prorogue

editor@thebruns.ca

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has opted to prorogue Parlaiment for the third time.The third session of the 40th Parlaiment is set to begin on March 3. Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

OTTAWA (CUP) – Government business has ground to a complete halt as Prime Minister Stephen Harper made the move to prorogue Parliament on Dec. 30.

The Prime Minster’s Office announced the move on Dec. 30, indicating that Harper had spoken with Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean over the phone that day about the matter and that she agreed to suspend Parliament until after the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games in February.

“Our priority in the new session of Parliament will continue to be rapid and effective implementation of Canada’s Economic Action Plan to benefit communities, workers and businesses,” the Prime Minister said in a press release on Wednesday.

“At the same time, we are already looking ahead to future challenges.

These include restoring a balanced budget once our economy is fully recovered and building a strong foundation for our economic future.”

MPs have been on break since Dec. 10 and were originally scheduled to return to Ottawa on Jan. 25.

Along with halting regular House of Commons and Senate business, prorogation stops any bills making their way through Parliament and additionally brings all committee business to a standstill.

This includes the committee investigating the Afghan detainee issue, which has plagued the Harper government with controversy for over a month. In November, former senior diplomat Richard Colvin told parliamentarians that some detainees who were transferred to Afghan prisons

by Canadian troops had likely been tortured by Afghan forces.

Opposition parties have actively voiced their displeasure with the idea of stalling business such as this, according a QMI Agency article in the Toronto Sun on Dec. 30.

“If the government attempts this manoeuvre, it’s a shocking insult to democracy,” said Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale in the story. “The government is in a very sticky place with respect to Afghan detainees and they’re running from accountability here – this is a cut and run government.”

Prorogation also clears several government anti-crime bills off the table – including bill C-27, the anti-spam bill that has successfully passed through three readings in the House, two readings in the Senate, and has now been referred to committee.

Harper has prorogued Parliament twice previously. In Sept. 2007, the prime minister chose to reset parliamentary business and began the second session of the 39th parliament with a throne speech that October.

Suspending Parliament also will give Harper more time to name five new senators, which would create a Conservative majority on the new Senate committees, thus making it easier to pass Conservative legislation.

Following the re-election of his minority Conservative government in October 2008, and facing a nonconfidence vote that could have led to a potential Liberal-NDP coalition government, Harper asked the Governor General to suspend Parliament once again in December 2008. The second session of the 40th Parliament has lasted since late January 2009.

A throne speech will kick off the third session of the 40th Parliament on March 3, with a budget to be released on March 4.

have a story?

Emma Godmere CUP Ottawa Bureau Chief

brunswickannews

Jan. 6, 2010 • Issue 14 • Volume 143 • 3

H1N1 clinics wrapping up in Fredericton Hilary Paige Smith The Brunswickan The New Brunswick government’s last mass H1N1 vaccination clinic wrapped up on Dec. 19.

According to data collected by the Department of Health throughout the mass vaccination period which began in early October, 62 per cent of New Brunswickers, or 460,000 people, were immunized against the virus.

“Sixty two per cent is a very, very good outcome from our vaccine program,” Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eilish Cleary said at a press conference on Dec. 17 in Fredericton. She continued by listing vaccination numbers for age and ethnic groups in the province.

“We saw about 2,000 laboratory confirmed cases since the beginning of the onset. We had 169 hospitalizations that we confirmed to be due to H1N1. We did have 35 people that were severe enough to be hospitalized and admitted to ICU and seven deaths.

It’s impossible to predict actually how many would have died if we hadn’t had the vaccine program, but it could have been in the hundreds, certainly thousands across Canada,” she said.

Though mass clinics are no longer taking place throughout the province, vaccinations are still available through organizations like the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON), centralized clinics and some family physicians.

Judy Bursey, a registered nurse with the Victorian Order of Nurses, said the

VON location in Saint John administered 62 shots alone on Dec. 31. She said that larger clinics held through the organization will depend on demand for the vaccine.

“It just depends on the demand because we still have vaccine and, of course, you probably know that there was a young man who died a few days ago and that will increase the demand.

We basically will provide clinics as there is a demand,” she said.

The H1N1 virus claimed the life of a 27-year old New Brunswick man from Rothesay on Dec. 28. The individual had a history of asthma and pneumonia, with breathing troubles prior to contracting the virus.

“They told us things were winding down, but now, this boy has died. We don’t know for sure. It’s still important for people to get immunized, people who haven’t been immunized, because it’s affecting young people,” Bursey said.

As for the other 38 per cent of New Brunswickers who have yet to be immunized, Bursey speculated that older people who were initially told that they were not susceptible to the virus and young men in their late teens and early twenties are among that number.

“Also, they’re saying that young men are really the predominant group that have not gone for the vaccine. They are people that really do not usually look after their health anyway. They don’t see any need to be vaccinated because they are young and healthy. I think that’s the reason and I think that’s the group that should really be pushed [to

news briefs.

In memory of Michael Joseph McAloon It is with great sadness that The Brunswickan reports on the loss of Michael Joseph McAloon.

Michael was a student at UNB Fredericton, and he passed away on Dec. 30, 2009 in a car accident.

“Michael had a strong passion for music, his family and the universe. He was from Saint John and worked as a tour guide for the UNB Physics Observatory,” Dr. Campbell noted in a UNB press release.

He was a second year student pursuing a master of science degree in physics.

Students can call for counseling services at 453-4820.

As opposed to sending flowers, donations may be made to the Saint John Arts Centre or to a charity of the donor’s choice in Michael’s memory.

New Brunswick Justice Minister resigns New Brunswick Justice Minister Michael Murphy has resigned from cabinet a week before the legislature resumes.

As reasons for his resignation, Murphy stated that he wants to “return to my practice and my family,” the CBC reported on Monday, Jan. 4.

Although Murphy’s resignation has been officially announced, he will remain in his seat in the legislative assembly for the next five weeks to allow time to tie up loose ends.

He will, however, have left by the time before a final vote has taken place on the possibility of NB Power being sold to Hydro Quebec.

“Under the province’s Elections Act, a byelection must be called within six months of a vacancy being declared in the legislative assembly,” the CBC reports.

Kelly Lamrock, the province’s Social Development Minister, will fill assume the duties of attorney general, Bernard LeBlanc will cover justice and consumer affairs, and Finance Minister Greg Byrne will become government house leader.

After all of the hype over the H1N1 virus, or “swine flu”, clinics are winding down and people are calming down. Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan be vaccinated],” she said. Bursey herself has a son who is 23. She encouraged him to get the vaccine, but said there “probably weren’t many of his friends who got [the vaccination].”

According to data collected by the

Department of Health, only 37 per cent of men over 19 were immunized.

Though clinics are wrapping up and pandemic panic is winding down, Public Health still encourages everyone to take appropriate flu prevention

measures such as staying home if you are sick and washing your hands often.

For more information about H1N1 by calling the 24-hour H1N1 line, at 1-800-580-0038 or visiting gnb. ca/flu.

Stockings, pockets emptied Hilary Paige Smith The Brunswickan Getting by on a student budget can be difficult. Getting by on a student budget following the Christmas season of spending can seem impossible. The Brunswickan sat down with a number of students to discuss their money matters.

Post-secondary education is expensive.

At the University of New Brunswick, tuition and fees for the year come to $6,180 per student. Students living in UNB’s traditional residences with a 14-meal plan from week-to-week can expect to pay $7,864 in residence and meal plan fees.

According to a Statistics Canada survey completed in 2002, 53 per cent of students revealed that they had savings put aside for university, whether it came from their own pockets, family or government funding. 43 per cent reported that their parents had been saving for them and 23 per cent said had savings put aside that were self-earned.

Cailean Fallon, a second year science student, budgets $50 per week for her living expenses outside of residence life. She also drives a vehicle and said the majority of her money goes toward gas, food and alcohol. Fallon believes that the majority of students spend most of their money on food and alcohol in an average week.

Rachel Hogan, a third year nursing student, lives at home and has a part

time job as a swimming instructor. She said the money she earns in the run of a week mostly goes toward food and going out for meals.

“For me [saving money] should be more important than it is. I need to save up money for Thailand,” she said, referring to a month-long trip to the country planned for this summer. “If I don’t save, then there is no way I can do the travelling I want to do.”

Saving money for travelling during summers and following graduation is also a common goal for students. Second year arts student Emma Pinfold plans on travelling through Europe following graduation. Also a part time worker, Pinfold is very cautious with her money and spends it mostly on social occasions like going out to a bar or to dinner with friends.

“I think it’s important because school’s just not about academics. It’s about get-

ting out and knowing people and being involved in the social activities around you,” she said.

“Some people save, but a lot of people spend a lot. I think most people spend money on food and gas for vehicles and stuff like that.”

Fallon does not believe that students pay much attention to spending or outlining a budget for themselves.

“The majority of students I know rely on their parents when their bank account balance dwindles. Those that do have budgets also have jobs. I think the responsibility of having a job and making your own money forces you to take control of bank balances,” she said.

Fallon added that she plans to take on a part time job this semester.

For students looking to organize a budget for themselves or see where their money is going, visit www.youcandealwithit.com/budgeting_tools.

brunswickannews

4 • Jan. 6, 2010 • Issue 14 • Volume 143

NBCC CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY

The University of New Brunswick and St.Thomas University are soon to share their territory with another PSE institution: NBCC. Space was cleared over the break behind the Wu Centre in order to make room for the college, which is set to share amenities with UNB and STU. Final details of when the college will open are not yet finalized. The 4,552-sq-metre facility will offer courses in health, information technology, business administration, social services and engineering technology. Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

Copenhagen climate accord avoids legally binding goals Andrew Bates CUP Western Bureau Chief KELOWNA, B.C. (CUP) – While the Copenhagen Accord, released to the world in December, recognized the problem of climate change, it contained no legally binding emission reduction goals and was not formally adopted by participating countries.

The Copenhagen Accord was the result of the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). COP15 represented the result of two years of planning and pre-negotiations, and took place Dec. 7-18 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The agreement aims to reduce and limit carbon emissions worldwide so as to limit the rise in global temperature to two degrees Celsius. It also aims to establish a global fund to aid the efforts of poor nations dealing with climate change.

The completion of any sort of deal whatsoever looked almost impossible heading into the conference’s final day, the Globe and Mail reported at the time. A negotiation deadlock meant there was no significant document for leaders to sign, as many of them arrived the day before. This forced world leaders to negotiate directly; an unusual occurrence, said Robert Orr, the UN assistant secretary-general at a press conference after the meeting.

The text of the Copenhagen Accord

was negotiated mainly between the U.S., China, India, Brazil, and South Africa, and presented to the plenary, where delegates voted to “take note” of it. The UNFCCC cannot formally adopt an accord without unanimous support from its members, which some developing countries refused to give.

The accord is therefore not legally binding and does not make any official commitments to reduce emissions. It is expected, according to TIME magazine, that next year’s COP meeting in Mexico City will largely be concerned with adding details and structure to the document.

Canada’s chief negotiator, Environment Minister Jim Prentice, told the Canadian Press that the accord was a success. “It sits within the principles we put forward as a Canadian government and it essentially achieved all our negotiating objectives,” he said.

In a statement, Prime Minister Stephen Harper claimed Canada played a “key part” in the negotiation of the accord.

But Canada and the Conservative government have faced criticism on this issue. Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff attacked Harper’s importance on the international stage after the prime minister wasn’t invited to a 20-nation emergency meeting of world leaders. ““For decades,” he said in a press release, “the world has looked to Canada as a broker on progressive matters of international importance – regardless of the party in power. Now we are no longer even at the table.”

The standard measure of emissions reductions being used is the difference between annual emissions in the year 1990 versus the year 2020. Unlike many other nations who support the 1990 benchmark, Canada wants to establish 2006 as the year for comparison. That “would wipe out any obligation to deal with the country’s 26 per cent rise in . . . emissions since 1990,” according to an article by Jonathon Gatehouse in Maclean’s Magazine.

Canada’s current emissions reduction targets are equivalent to three per cent below 1990 levels by the year 2020, which is much less than targets of 25 per cent set by Russia and Japan.

Many provinces have targeted their own emissions cuts, according to the McGill Tribune, including a 20 per cent cut from 1990 levels in Quebec, 15 per cent in Ontario, 11 per cent in British Columbia and 10 per cent in New Brunswick. However, oil giant Alberta’s climate goals are simply to stabilize emissions by 2020, according to Maclean’s.

Canada was presented the “Fossil of the Year” award by the global Climate Action Network after COP15.

“Canada’s performance here in Copenhagen builds on two years of delay, obstruction and total inaction,” Ben Wikler, the U.S. campaign director of the global action movement Avaaz, said during the announcement. “This government thinks there’s a choice between environment and economy, and for them, tar sands beats climate every time.”

brunswickannews

Jan. 6, 2010 • Issue 14 • Volume 143 • 5

the brunswickan presents

Minding your Manners.

By Emily White (The Concordian)

MONTREAL (CUP) – Etiquette may seem outdated, or even antique to most of today’s students. Nowadays, it’s associated with knowing where the salad fork goes in relation to the water glass, or with handwritten thankyou notes. But the truth is that there is a lot more to what is now commonly referred to as business or social “civility” than the placement of dishes.

According to certified self-employed etiquette coach Julie Blais Comeau, proper etiquette is about making others feel comfortable and respected.

“This is easy enough to do,” says Blais Comeau. “If you use your judgment, if you think about respecting others then you will probably make the right decision.”

Learning some rules of etiquette is unlikely to appeal to students who probably last learned about manners from Barney. Still, there are certain things we should all learn to ensure we are respectful citizens. Besides – with the uncertain job market, it never hurts to have superb manners.

Tipping Rules Tipping is another area many students struggle with when going for dinner or drinks. It isn’t always easy figuring out how much to leave, but Blais Comeau says all this pressure is unwarranted.

“The tipping guideline is 15 per cent before tax,” she says. “This applies not only to restaurants but to bars and even salons.”

Nevertheless, you can tip more or less depending on the service you receive, says Blais Comeau. She acknowledges that a student’s budget does not always allow for the large tip a server may deserve.

In that situation, Bayer advises it’s best to be very nice and thankful.

“Most people understand students are struggling money-wise, but it is still expected that social protocol applies; 15 per cent is the norm, and would be particularly welcome when the service-person is another student,” says Bayer.

“And if you are only going to tip five to 10 per cent because maybe that is all you have, at least be polite and don’t give the waiter a hard time.”

If a situation arises where you feel you received worse service because you’re a student and it seems the server assumed your tip would be minimal, there are certain steps to take. Blais Comeau’s advise is to approach the management discreetly and tell them your situation rather than leaving a small tip which will confirm their original belief.

In terms of tip jars at cafés and eateries with counter service, Blais Comeau says it’s to the discretion of the student and not at all mandatory to leave a tip.

“The situation is different than that of wait staff who receive less than minimum wage since tipping is expected and included in their income,” explains Blais Comeau. “In the case of a counter service the employees will at least be paid minimum wage and tipping is therefore not obligated. It is up to the student.”

“From an etiquette perspective, soliciting tips by putting a tip jar out on a take out counter is actually not appropriate and in my etiquette opinion, is quite rude,” says Bayer.

Cell Phones and iPods in Public It is almost cliché to discuss how attached our generation is to technology, but it’s an unavoidable topic when considering etiquette. Being on your cell phone in public places is generally inappropriate whether you’re in the company of strangers or close friends, says Bayer.

“It really is selfish and I think often misplaced or over-estimated sense of self-importance to think that people are impressed by how often your phone rings,” she says. “If you want to impress people, focus on making them comfortable instead of chatting on the phone.”

Bayer explains it’s especially important to be conscious of how accepting a call may leave whoever you are with sitting alone listening to a one-sided conversation. Doing so is also rude to your server, who may be ready to take your order but is now forced to wait until you have finished. In short: put your phone away, or on silent, she says.

When in the company of strangers, Blais Comeau says the best thing to do is to make sure you are at least two arms length away from other people so as not to disturb them with your phone call. Even if you are at this distance make sure to keep your conversation short.

“Unless you are alone in your home,” says Blais Comeau. “You should not be having lengthy personal phone calls.”

Bayer explains that doing so is what she calls social dandruff.

“Talking loudly on the phone about personal or private things when the other people are close by is wrong,” says Bayer. “Because they can’t really not listen, they are now forced to hear all your personal information and have all your personal stuff impinged on them.”

Blais Comeau is quick to admit that there are a few exceptions to this rule – for instance, if you’re waiting for someone to meet you, or are expecting an urgent call. If this is the case, make sure to inform your company as to why you may need to answer your phone but keep the phone out of sight and have the ringer off regardless.

The same discretion applies to music players. The person next to you does not need to be able to hear all the lyrics of a song nor should an employee be forced to serve you while you have headphones in your ears.

Café Studying With exams right around the corner, many students find solace studying at coffee shops. For those who deem the silence of a library intolerable, a café not only gives you a room with some noise, but easy access to caffeine and WiFi. But have you ever stopped to wonder how appropriate your habits are? Is your three-dollar latte really worth four hours of studying? Or, how about if the two tables your books take up discourages other customers from sitting down? What about if it’s right that your friend who came to visit didn’t even bother to buy a drink?

According to Lewena Bayer, president of Civility Experts, an international etiquette training company – the answer is probably no.

“The idea is that we need to be respectful of public spaces and remember that they are public,” says Bayer. “We need to monitor how much space we take up, the noise levels we create and if there is any inconvenience to someone else.”

Bayer explains that around universities, businesses tend to be a little more understanding of students and the lifestyle they lead – but this does not mean that come exam time, one can move into the coffee shop next door to school.

She points out a student has to remember employers are trying to earn a living, and making their business your personal living room is not helpful.

“I am running a business,” says Chris Coughlin, owner and manager of the Second Cup near Concordia University’s Loyola campus in Montreal. “Most students are aware of this and will ‘pay their rent,’ but there are those who will buy one tea and take over three tables with their books for hours.”

Coughlin says when this happens, he will approach a table and ask them to leave or confine their books. He says most of the time students are understanding and willing to leave, separate their tables or buy more coffee.

According to Bayer, there is no rule that determines how much money should be spent per hour. In a coffee shop, she says a business owner would presumably hope to make at least the price of a coffee per person who can fit at the table per hour, though that depends on store traffic.

Since Second Cup does not have a policy limiting the time one can spend there, Coughlin says it sometimes makes it hard to ask people to leave. Recently, he met with other franchise owners to discuss implementing a time limit policy ranging between a maximum of one to three hours between purchases.

Bayer agrees that one to two hours is an appropriate amount of time, though more importantly, she stresses that you be aware of your surroundings and your actions so they don’t cause discomfort or inconvenience for someone else.

Sometimes café studiers make it uncomfortable for people who are there to socialize and speak, says Bayer.

Those socializing expect to be able to talk and laugh and someone trying to study may be glancing over or giving a glaring look to noisy patrons, but this is not fair to them.

brunswickanopinion

Jan. 6, 2010 • Issue 14 • Volume 143 • 6

editor@thebruns.ca

Is Harper playing hooky?

the brunswickan

Editorial Board

Editor-in-Chief • Sarah Ratchford Managing • Alex Duncan News • Lee Larrett Arts • Alison Clack Sports • Colin McPhail Photo • Andrew Meade Copy •Nick Howard Production • Christian Hapgood Online • Doug Estey 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.

Pictured above is an empty Parlaiment. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has recently decided that it will stay that way until early March.This is his third time deciding to prorogue Parlaiment, and he’s faced a fair amount of criticism for it. Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

The Opinionator Nick Howard As much as we complain about politicians, not working doesn’t seem like a productive answer to public dissatisfaction. Quitting, however, is Stephen Harper’s answer to public and Parliamentary outrage. When the going gets tough, the Conservatives quit. Is proroguing Parliament to wait for a less heated time to answer difficult questions a smart political move? Probably. Is it a move that instills confidence in government and convinces the public of the existence of the mythical Conservative backbone? No. Definitely not.

To be fair, however, Ignatieff’s ironic lack of opposition is proof of a lack of backbone – proof that the Liberal’s cannot afford at this weakest of moments.

An Ignatieff spokesperson told the Globe that they are not interested in “mock Parliaments”. I concur, I would prefer real Parliament too; Harper, however, is making things difficult. I have to say that I am more than a little disappointed in our opposition caucuses; they seem to be taking the prorogation as an opportunity for a little extra vacation time.

I understand that most of our MPs work hard, but that’s the job they signed up for.

Even though Harper’s decision is within his legal rights, the law should not prevent outrage at the transparent cowering that this round of prorogation actually is.

If the past decade has taught Canadians anything, it is that there is no effective check on Prime Ministerial

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power anymore. Public opinion and the opposition parties no longer have the desired stopping power on our leaders and thanks to overused prorogation powers, confidence votes don’t work either. Bali, Copenhagen, Iraq and now Afghanistan have shown that the PM is out of control. How many Canadians and MPs would vote for a prorogation of Parliament at the moment when the Conservatives were being asked to atone for their Afghan sins?

Many facebook groups, twitter feeds, media outlets (from local to national) and MPs are railing against the most recent prorogation. But, to no avail. Oddly, every major party but the Conservatives and NDP have a post on their website berating the prorogation. Instead, the Conservatives have a little blue ad which says “Moving Forward”, depicting two of the oldest people in Canada; clearly Conservative Senators. Rarely can so much irony exist in a single place without some kind of supernatural smiting.

I like to compare the current prorogation to non-political real life. Imagine, if you will, that you are at work and you

decide to hide crucial information from your clients. This lack of information, even if indirectly, results in the mutilation and death of many people. Then your bosses find out. So, you decide to stop coming to work for a few months until you can find something shiny and new to distract them with. What do you actually accomplish? You make your bosses, who are now angrier than ever, look very, very stupid. You look like a coward who can’t own the mistakes you’ve made. We are the bosses, we just need a leader to stand in the Halls of Parliament to demonstrate how ridiculous the entire situation is.

Preston Manning, however, knows how painful that can be; it seems that every MP has some political skeletons.

Honestly (and this is rare), I’m at a bit of a loss. If the governing party won’t listen to public opinion, isn’t being opposed by its opposition parties and the only other competitive party is no longer competitive, where do we turn? Dear readers, please write in, tell us all how we can put an end to the farce. Maybe if we put our heads together we can bring some light to the dark side of politics.

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

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.

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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.

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brunswickanopinion

Jan. 6, 2010 • Issue 14 • Volume 143 • 7

Student

Viewpoint.

What is your New Years resolution?

Let everyone know whats on your mind.

“To make no more resolutions.”

Aaron Lougheed

Brendan Leeyung

Cedric McIntosh

“Get back in the gym.”

“Quit smoking.”

Linton Mitchell

Samuel Hewlett

“Finish my degree.”

Shi Yin Liu

Musings on a new decade

Want to write for the Bruns this semester? Drop by story meetings on Wednesdays at 12:30.

but it somehow seems like a stretch to me.

Oh well, back to the drawing board we go.

The snow seems to be coming down with a relentless fury that we may be unlikely to rid ourselves of for the remainder of the season. The celebration and the eggnog hangovers are behind us for another year, and all that remains is the end of a bleak, cold winter. But wait! That’s depressing talk, and this, my friends is a brand new year. A brand new decade at that. And this could very well be the Year of the Canuck.

The World Junior Hockey Championship is looking promising, once again for the young Canadians. And with the Russians being undermined by the Swiss, they have no excuse for failure.

This is a warm-up to the sense of national unity that we all should feel come February. Is this the year that the Canadians become a force to be reckoned with on the Olympic stage? We must after all create a better reputation than we did the last time the games were held in Canada (in 1988 where we amassed a count of 15 medals).

“Not drinking or smoking.”

Rohan Bendekar

Rainier Henrey

“I didn’t make one.”

Jonathan W. Salmon The Brunswickan In all honesty, my goal on the eve of this new decade was to have a night so spectacular that the story would write itself. But I have learned something quite important in this year of our Lord, 2010: memory fails at times of the greatest importance. The night is a complete blur, as I’m sure it was for many of you out there. But that leaves me with one problem: I am without a story to open this new space of time with.

Looking for inspiration in the words of Jim Morrison is an excellent idea much of the time, but his lyrics of Los Angeles and the heat is hard to equate into the climate of the North Country, especially when the biggest storm of the year is manifesting itself on the other side of the window. “There was rain in our window…” could be translated into “our window was frozen shut with a deathly cold mix of wind and snow,”

“Get more organized.”

“Be healthy and work hard.”

Perhaps, yet the promising young ski team has already become plagued with injuries.

But the question is, whether that will be the deciding factor between a good showing, and simply a showing upon our own soil.

The Canadian hockey team that will take the ice in February has a promising roster that will surely not disappoint. When the debate is which goalie should you start because they are both such a wall between the pipes, there should be no problems in that department. However, the Red Russians will be showing up to play high-end ice hockey, and if the Canucks treat these Olympics like the last games held in the winter, us spectators could be in for a rude awakening behind the television.

Nonetheless, this year is looking bright for those above the 49th Parallel, and with the Superbowl and March Madness coming up to divert our attention from the horrors and stress of real life, if we can simply get through this semester, the rest will be smooth sailing.

Mazal Tov.

“Go to the gym more.”

Trevor Bringloe

brunswickanopinion

8 • Jan. 6, 2010 • Issue 14 • Volume 143

There’s more to the penis than size Nathan Downey The Muse ST. JOHN’S, N.L. (CUP) – Few things fuel the male ego more than the penis. This appendage, designed for the fairly rudimentary tasks of excretion and procreation, has accrued a cult of obsession more so than any other body part in the history of body parts.

(Yes, more than Peter Gallagher’s mythical eyebrows, believe it or not.)

It’s one of the oldest clichés in the book to ponder penis size. A torrent of axioms and placatory platitudes are instantly called to mind: Size matters or It’s not the size of the brush, but the quality of the painter’s titanium-white paint you get the idea.

The truth is, though, the issue of size is less black and white and more shades of flesh tone.

First, let’s get one thing straight: Males, take a long, hard look at your dick. Unless you’re 14 and reading this by some happy accident, chances are your junk is as big as it’s going to get. Period.

You know those ads you get in your email?

“WOW!” the emails read. “New herbal formula discovered by Benedictine friars GUARANTEED to increase penis length by four inches AND make you piss single malt scotch!!!11!”

If you’re giving serious thought to forking over cash in a desperate bid to enlarge your bulge, congratulations.

You are one pathetic, gullible fuck.

After all, it’s generally common sense that no hokum magical formula is going to do anything but drive you further into a four-inch funk.

Oh yeah, and that guy from Nigeria is totally not going to make good on his offer to split those millions of pounds worth of pilfered funds from

the treasury either.

Other enlargement methods that actually have some plausible junk science thrown behind them are equally dodgy. One of these, known as “jelqing,” involves constricting the base of the penis and squeezing the semi-erect shaft in an attempt to expand the spongy corpus cavernosa and thereby increasing the penis’s girth.

Risks associated with this practice include burst blood vessels, urethral bleeding or permanent erectile dysfunction. Also, it doesn’t really work.

Surgical options typically involve severing the ligament that keeps the internal part of your junk, you know, inside you where it belongs. The problem with this is that, in general, it only gives you an increase in flaccid length. There are the usual surgical risks present – infection, slipped scalpel – but in this case you’ve elected to have a surgeon wield a sharp knife near your penis, so the amount of sympathy you’ll get is likely to be very low.

The long and the short of it is that whatever you’ve got in your pants, you’re pretty much stuck with, so get the fuck over it.

If you do have a small penis, the best advice is to admit it to yourself and be prepared to admit it to your sex partners. There’s nothing worse than having dick size be the pygmy elephant in the bedroom.

No matter what you might have heard – and Sue Johanson, bless her heart, is a big proponent of this – penis size does matter to some degree. Most people indicate that penises need to surpass a certain girth and length standard in order to be worth a ride, and that’s a fairly unanimous opinion.

If your disco stick is more like a disco toothpick, it doesn’t automatically disqualify you from having quality sex.

There are many myths surrounding the male sex organ. Size matters, size doesn’t matter, etc. Perhaps it simply boils down to attitude.FlickrCC However, in order to maintain your partners’ interest, the best thing to do is master other aspects of sex: oral sex, digital stimulation, erotic massage – basically, all the non-penetrative elements that comprise a healthy and diverse sex life.

Focusing the majority of your efforts on getting good at all the peripheral aspects of sex means you’ll probably end up being better at it than someone with a normal or large penis who practices less and penetrates more, and that’s

the key to satisfying a partner in the long term. Having a healthy, realistic attitude about your endowment is way sexier than being insecure and denying your shortcomings.

If you’re sitting there, smugly reading this and sanctimoniously patting your above-average bulge, stop and think: Do you think of your plus-sized penis as a sort of ticket past foreplay’s velvet rope? If so, you’re a bigger dick than what’s lurking in your pants.

The biggest complaint I have heard

is that guys with big penises think they’re exempt from any other aspect of sex than penetration. Fact is, it’s possible to be a shitty lover no matter what kind of anatomy evolution threw your way.

One last admonition before I go: If you were blessed with a beastly phallus, it’s totally lame to brag about it. Unless you’re willing to drop trow and prove it, chances are people will think you’re lying, exaggerating or generally being a big dick.

Texting and gourmet coffee: english is getting ambiguous Martin Wightman The Argosy SACKVILLE, N.B. (CUP) – Have you noticed how Starbucks is constantly making up new kinds of specialty coffee?

A cursory glance at their menu tells me nothing. I have no idea what most of the menu represents, and that’s okay with me. There was a time when you could feel trendy and modern when you bought specialty coffee. I’ve even purchased Jones Soda at Starbucks in Regina and felt very bohemian.

Urban theorist Richard Florida uses proxy measurements for quantifying cool, but I think specialty coffee should be the standard. The problem is that you always have to up the ante to stay ahead of your lame suburban friends who also enjoy deuterated caramel mocha matcha chai frappucinos on their commute to work. Once upon a time, if you drank espresso, that was enough.

Truth be told, though, there is a huge problem with espresso and it’s not that the beans aren’t properly ground or the water isn’t hot enough. The problem is with the pronunciation. I have heard far too many people refer to this overpriced ebony nectar as “expresso.”

And it doesn’t stop there: the last five or six times someone has used the term ‘et cetera’ in my presence, they’ve said “ex cetera.” During the Bush years, “nuclear” routinely became “nuke-ular.”

Heck, even pronunciation becomes “pronounciation” at times. Leaving that aside, the invention of new words is always a good time. “Irregardless” is my favourite. “Unthaw” and “dethaw” are equally hilarious.

One would do well to ask, with what we are replacing our decreasing capacity to speak English? And the answer, this year, is clear: text messaging. For some reason, “texting” – also not a word – is

popular in a new way this year. You have to keep your head up walking around campus to avoid running into someone who is texting.

The quality of the text communication is mind-numbing. It’s like grade six kids on MSN Messenger. However, the texting, the mispronunciations and the invented words really aren’t the biggest problem. A new, less personal style of communication is pervading our lives.

We assume that we can do two things at once. We give our cell phones more attention than the people in front of us.

Occasionally I’ve been asked if I’m paying attention to what someone is

saying. I, and many people, tend to get a bit defensive and embarrassed, but I think it’s a good question. I’ve certainly been guilty of trying to send a quick email while talking on the phone. My mom can always tell, though. And that’s because when I’m not really present in a conversation, I’m not really present in that conversation.

At a certain point, you must ask yourself whether the person across the table from you matters. And if they do, they deserve your physical, mental and emotional attention. Eye contact is hard to find, as is someone who will take twenty minutes out of his or her day to ask about yours.

Small talk, on the other hand, is easy to find in a vibrant university setting, but I’m concerned that real communication is being lost in the shuffle. Deep understanding requires deep communication, and an investment of time and energy.

We all long for someone to understand us deeply. That’s hard to find when the land is littered with text messages about nothing in particular.

In most cities people often don’t really know anything about their neighbours, but they will ride the bus or drive across town to meet someone they have known for a long time. New friendships, it would seem, take too much time. We’re too busy

texting our buddies to figure out where to meet to notice that our neighbours are having trouble moving a freezer up the stairs.

In the end, it’s not texting itself that I am decrying. The real problem is that it seems to be allowing us to ignore the human beings walking next us. Depths of friendship, love and understanding won’t drop in our laps. We have to work for them. Multi-tasking won’t work this time. It takes intentionality to sacrifice your time and energy investing in communication. But maybe it’s time that intentionality becomes the new buzzword.

Just don’t mispronounce it.

Life here in 2010 is a fast-paced thing of convenience and instant gratification. We are driven by the need to be in constant communication with others, but in that obsession for constant texting and tweeting, are we forgetting how to really communicate? FlickrCC

brunswickaninternational

Jan. 6, 2010 • Issue 14 • Volume 143 • 9

International students have travel fears after terrorist attacks

Danielle Bodie The Brunswickan Several years after 9/11 many people still find travel difficult. Since the events there has been a high increase in security measures during preboarding. Some international students say that the increase in security doesn’t make them feel safer; rather, it actually causes more anxiety. Third year student Paola Beneras has to travel regularly to get home after each semester; she finds flying difficult each time.

“I know I shouldn’t be worried about these things years after they have happened, but it still bothers me especially since it is still possible for these things to happen,” says Beneras.

On Christmas day a Nigerian man attempted to bomb a plane headed to Amsterdam en route to the United States. He was able to quickly move through airport security because he checked no luggage. Before the plane landed the bomber was spotted trying to ignite the bomb that was strapped to his body. After this incident, airports all around the world went into high security alert.

Students who have to travel back to school for the winter semester now have to travel through the high security alert caused by this most recent terrorist attack. Third year student Yi Nuo Tao doesn’t look forward to this experience.

“I think this could have all been prevented if they had taken the proper security precautions in the first place.

Time may have passed since 9/11 but the times have not changed, therefore

Due to the fear of terrorist attacks induced by 9/11, traveling has been quite a hectic, irritating process for the past nine years. An attack on Christmas day has only heightened this fear, and international students have found it difficult to travel. FlickrCC security needs be strictly enforced. I could only imagine the hassle of travel now.”

The incident has led to a worldwide change in perception about security procedures. Any flights through the United States will be under strict security enforcement, which can create more anxiety for students returning

to school.

“When heading back to complete a school year the last thing I want to worry about is a terrorist attack,” says Beneras.

When getting ready to travel back to school, students should follow airline regulations completely and be aware of their surroundings at all times.

Ousted Afghan MP calls end to war Laura Conrad The Dalhousie Gazette HALIFAX (CUP) – Speaking through a megaphone to a crowd of over 100 people outside Halifax’s Westin Hotel, suspended Afghanistan MP Malalai Joya made her anti-war message clear.

“The U.S. and allies occupied Afghanistan under the name of ‘war on terror,’ but today they themselves are terrorizing Afghan people, and have deep hidden deals with terrorist groups,” she told the crowd Nov. 21.

“We Afghans can’t expect freedom to be donated to us by the U.S., which itself is the biggest terrorist country in the world, and has imposed war, destruction and mass-killings in countless countries since World War II. Afghanistan and Iraq are just two of the most recent examples.”

Joya, deemed “bravest woman in the world” by BBC, was suspended from the Afghan parliament in 2007 because she was accused of insulting other representatives. She’s known for speaking out at political meetings and opposing other members, and her controversial positions have received much international attention and criticism. Joya has survived four assassination attempts and now travels with bodyguards.

She stopped in Halifax during a twoweek tour across Canada giving public talks on freedom, democracy, and peace, while promoting her new memoir, “A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice.”

Joya happened to arrive in Halifax on the same weekend of the International Security Forum. The forum included discussions of Canada’s future role in the Afghanistan mission, piracy and Arctic security. Some of the speakers who attended the conference included Canadian defence minister Peter Mackay, U.S. Secretary of Defence Robert Gates and Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Joya was denied an invitation to attend the conference. In response, she addressed the public protest outside the

Westin Hotel where the conference was being held.

She explained her reasons for opposing NATO’s mission in Afghanistan, which are also outlined in her book.

“The Western governments not only betray Afghan people but their own people too. They are wasting taxpayers’ money and their soldiers’ blood for a war which only safeguards the interests of the big [corporations]; not only did it not defeat terrorists but made them more powerful, and today the world is more dangerous than it was in 2001.”

Little information about the future of the NATO mission was released from the International Security Forum. Joya told the people of Halifax the mission is doing more harm than good.

“We call on the withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan because they are making the situation more complicated day by day. It is the duty of our own people to fight for their liberation, even if it will require a hard, long and decisive struggle. Let our people decide about

the future.”

Joya also told the Halifax audience how grateful she was for public support of freedom, democracy and peace.

“I would like to extend my salutations and deep thankful regards to anti-war movements around the world. I see a huge difference between the war monger governments of the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and other governments involved in Afghanistan, and the support and sympathies of justice-loving people of these countries.”

Despite uncertainty about the Afghan mission’s future, she says she’ll continue to oppose it.

“I will never stop to say again and again that no nation can liberate another nation. History has no such example. My people throughout history have fought for their independence, and are now on the verge of rising up against the U.S. and NATO.” Joya also spoke at the national general meeting of the Canadian Federation of Students at the end of November.

Suspended Afghanistan MP Malalai Joya spoke in Halifax recently, and she spoke of anti-war movements and the need for Afghanistan to make its own peace. FlickrCC

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brunswickanarts arts@thebruns.ca

Jan. 6, 2010 • Issue 14 • Volume 143 • 10

No rest for the wicked (or saints)

Tegan and Sara’s critically acclaimed, sixth studio album, Sainthood, was released in late October 2009.The album was produced with renowned Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Chris Walla in LA at Sound City Studios. Submitted.

Andrew Olsvik The Brunswickan Tour is a word that Canadian indie pop duo Tegan and Sara know inside and out.

Since they first started playing and recording music together in the late nineties, the twins have toured relentlessly, sharing the stage with the likes of Neil Young, Ben Folds and Death Cab for Cutie, and travelling across North America, Australia and Europe.

This month, Tegan and Sara will embark on a cross-Canada tour taking them from Vancouver to Halifax in support of their latest album Sainthood, their most critically acclaimed album to date, which includes a sold out show at the Fredericton Playhouse on Jan. 26.

While not straying too far from the sounds that we have come to expect from

Tegan and Sara, Sainthood certainly feels much more focused and polished than their previous records.

“I think we tried to make an album that would have the same energy as our live show,” Sara told The Brunswickan, “so there was a focus on tempo and melody in a way there wasn’t on our previous records. I love pop music, and I grew up listening to it and loving it.”

Sainthood also marks a break from the duo’s previous albums as it contains the first collaboratively written songs.

“We have contributed to each other’s music on previous albums, but generally we would only contribute background vocals or instrumentation once the song was largely completed,” says Sara.

The sisters set aside some time together to work on collaboration in the early stages of the song writing process.

“Trying to actually write a song from the ground up while in the room together was a completely new experience for us. It was great.”

As with past albums, Tegan and Sara brought in an all-star cast to help record Sainthood including Death Cab for Cutie drummer Jason McGerr, ex-Decemberist Petra Haden on violin and AFI bassist Hunter Burgan.

“Hunter and Tegan wrote ‘Hell’, ‘Don’t Rush’ and ‘The Cure’ together for a side project,” Sara says. “I felt that the songs were terrific and when we were submitting material for this album I asked Tegan to consider those collaborations with Hunter for our record.”

The twins also brought back Howard Redekopp, producer of their 2004 album So Jealous, to assist Chris Walla with production duties.

“He shared a similar vision for our project,” says Sara. “It was amazing having two really great producers who could swap roles and support one another. A lot of the recording was done as a live band and because Chris Walla was also playing bass, it was amazing to have Howard on board to just listen.”

As with most artists, Tegan and Sara struggle to find the balance between creativity and business.

In recent years the music industry has been plagued by troubles with album leaks which have affected profits. While Sara says this concerns her she is interested to see the shift to a new culture where we don’t assign the same kind of monetary value to albums.

“I personally think that spreading songs and music online has done serious damage to the record industry,” says Sara.

But at the same time the singer says that the shift could also have an upside.

“It’s helped trim some of the excess of the ‘80s and ‘90s, forcing artists and bands out of studios into live music venues.”

And the future of Tegan and Sara?

“It’s an exciting time,” exclaims Sara.

“I love the idea that people share songs and this helps raise awareness about a band, but as someone who grew up in a different (internet-free) time...it’s sad for me that people don’t buy albums that they love. We don’t really make money from those sales, but as an artist of a certain age, I still like to think of our albums in people’s music collections.”

Tegan and Sara will be playing to a full house audience at the Playhouse on Jan. 26. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.

Their album, Sainthood, was released in October 2009.

Hagerman’s top 10 games of 2009!

The Final Score Dan

Haggarman

The vast majority of 2009 saw fewer blockbuster releases compared to previous years. However, like any other year, the holiday push saw a great number of pretty awesome games thrown at us, and being the slave to all things shiny that I am, made it a point to play an awful lot of them.

So, in no particular order, my favourite games from 2009!

1. Batman: Arkham Asylum (Xbox 360/PS3/PC): This was my favourite surprise of the summer. Pitting Batman against a slew of thugs, Poison Ivy, Bane, the Joker

himself, and even Batman’s own fears, Arkham Asylum gave fans everything they wanted out of a Batman game and everybody else what they wanted out of an action/adventure game. Amazing graphics, slick controls, and challenges galore kept me coming back to this one for quite some time. There has already been an announcement of a sequel on the way, so be prepared for even more greatness.

2. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3) The Uncharted series has shown that, given a talented development team, the Playstation 3 can graphically blow the socks off of any 360 game out there.

With detailed environments and animations, top-notch voice acting, and epic set pieces, Uncharted 2 demands that you be impressed. It certainly doesn’t hurt that in addition to its looks and presentation, it’s also a really fun game underneath with a pretty engaging online mode to boot!

3. Metroid Prime Trilogy (Wii) Gamecube owners have known that the Metroid Prime series has been

amazing since 2001. Metroid Prime Trilogy packages Metroid Prime 1 & 2 for the Gamecube as well as Metroid Prime 3 all together on a single Wii disc.

Metroid Prime 3 has been left pretty much untouched, but Metroid Prime 1 & 2 have both been given a little extra gloss, a widescreen presentation, and tuned to the Wii remote for extra-precise aiming and movement. Considering that each game will clock you in at 20-30 hours on your first try, you’re looking at a ridiculous amount of content for very little price. It doesn’t hurt that after all this time, each game still looks pretty good too.

4. Flower (PS3) Wow, where did this game come from?

Flower is a game that puts you in the role of a flower petal. You control the wind by pressing a single button on the controller, and control how you move simply by tilting the controller. By doing this, you can collect flower petals scattered about the levels. That’s it. That’s all you need to know to be able to play Flower. There’s

a lot more to it than just that, though.

The graphics, for instance, are incredible, with multiple thousands of blades of grass on the screen, making for huge environments. The music is incredibly soothing, with even the simple act of adding a flower petal playing a single note on a flute or guitar string. It may not be the longest of games, but it’s an incredibly relaxing and enjoyable experience.

5. Left 4 Dead 2 (PC, Xbox 360) For those of you looking for an experience that is the exact opposite of relaxing, look no further than Left 4 Dead 2. Set in areas from the southern United States and starring a new cast of four survivors, Left 4 Dead 2 takes everything from Left 4 Dead and bumps it up a notch or 20. It’s still the same four-person co-operative experience with shooting lots of zombies (or “infected,” if you prefer) and running like your life depends on it. L4D2 adds melee weapons, more varieties of weapons and items in general, lots more gore, new uncommon infected, new special infected, five campaigns, and new

game modes like Realism and Scavenge.

Those worried about a lack of content for a full-priced game should snap out of it and just play this game, because every moment is a thrill and games promoting the killing of zombies are still too few.

6. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PC, Xbox 360, PS3) Those of you who have played it are not surprised to see it on this list. Those of you who haven’t played it either want to play it or decided not to like it long ago. At least, that’s what the hype and sales of this game would have us believe anyway. Modern Warfare 2 is, in many ways, very similar to its predecessor. Is that a bad thing? Heck no! The original was a lot of fun! The single player campaign has just as many epic moments as the original, with an improved graphics engine no less, and the multiplayer is just as addictive and has about twice as

SEE GAMES PAGE 12

brunswickanarts

Jan. 6, 2010 • Issue 14 • Volume 143 • 11

A decade in review: fashions of the double 0s

Alison Clack The Brunswickan While we may take fashion for granted in its cycles of reinvention, our clothes remain one of the iconic marks of each decade.

The 80s spawned acid wash jeans and neon colours, the 70s had bellbottoms, and the 90s will be remembered for plaid and Doc Martens.

What fashions will people remember in 20 years from the ‘00 decade?

We’ve adorned ourselves with a number of fashion trends over the past ten years, good and bad, but some had sticking power that could glue them into our memories for decades to come.

In no particular order, here are some of the top fashions of our decade which will most certainly be remembered: Big Purses: With new technology like smartphones and iPods coming out this decade it seems natural that women would need a larger accessory to carry around all their stuff. For this and likely many other reasons, purses on steroids were all the rage this past decade.

On the skeletal frames of some Hollywood starlets the tote-sized purses seemed a bit ridiculous, but the smaller commercial versions were surprisingly functional.

Feminine Men: One of the biggest changes in fashion over the past decade was the feminization of men. Over the course of the decade it became popularly accepted for men to dress in a more traditionally “feminine” way than in previous decades. Colours previously associated with women, like purple and pink, became accepted colours for men to wear.

The 00 decade also gave birth to the practice (or, at least newly open practice) of ‘manscaping’. Hair straightening, eye brow waxing, and an eschewing of 90s grunge gave men a slightly more polished look this past decade.

Headbands: Hair accessories of every form could be seen throughout the double 0s, but none had the presence and longevity that headbands did. Shows like Gossip Girl gave birth to preppy styles which included the infamous hair band. From thick to skinny to the multi-stranded hippie bands of 2009, the headband has evolved throughout the decade.

Comfy Shoes: Maybe it’s because we’ve spent the past decade running around between work, coffee with new friends, drinks with old friends, the gym, and every other demand we have on our time, but our footwear in the past decade has taken a drastic turn

‘Twilight’ loaded with prolife, abstinence-only themes Elizabeth Hames The Martlet VICTORIA (CUP) – Warning: may contain scenes of sexual violence, intense passion and strong messages of . . . abstinence?

“Why am I covered with feathers?” asks Bella, the female protagonist of the popular teen-lit series, “Twilight,” in the final novel “Breaking Dawn.”

Bella has just had sex for the first time with her vampire boyfriend Edward. In the midst of their passion, they’ve torn apart pillows and sheets, and the bed is broken.

The story’s message – that sex is violent – is just one of the series’ recurring themes that demand attention and discussion, according to Dr. Janni Aragon, a University of Victoria political science professor.

“Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer markets herself as a literary-minded Mormon mother. Aragon said that Meyer’s politics are threaded within the pages of the plot, and the abstinence-only and pro-life messages are apparent.

Unlike other vampire fiction, the “Twilight” novels and movies are not about the undead stealing the virginity of the lusty, young female.

“In here, Meyer put this on its head,” said Aragon. “Edward loves [Bella’s] humanity.”

Warning: spoilers to follow.

Although Bella urges Edward to have sex with her, he doesn’t. Aragon said that this is an obvious message to young girls to abstain from sex. When Bella finally does convince Edward to mess the sheets, she becomes pregnant. Just as is the case with vampire sex, vampire pregnancies are violent as well.

“Her ribs get broken,” said Aragon. “The baby is essentially killing her.”

Despite the suggestion from Edward and others that Bella terminate her pregnancy so she can live, she refuses to do so.

“So what does that tell you?” Aragon said. “Not only should you be pro-life, but even if the baby is going to kill you, you should still try to keep the pregnancy.”

“Twilight” also contains a slew of sexist stereotypes, such as a protective male with uncontrollable urges and the helpless girlfriend who is incomplete without her lover and becomes reckless when he breaks her heart.

“In the first book, in particular, she’s so darn needy,” said Aragon. “And in the second book as well, when she’s so depressed that she’s catatonic.”

Aragon said that for those who are not as self-aware, like some tweens and teens, they

may think that this behaviour is normal.

“You get your heart broken, go cliff diving,” she said.

Aragon said she was surprised to discover a racist stereotype in the books, as well.

Because the shape-shifting characters (werewolves) are all aboriginal, she notes they are frequently referred to as dogs or mongrels and that they smell.

“Typically, referring to someone as a ‘dirty Indian’ is racist,” Aragon said. “Why aren’t we talking about that with this book?”

Despite being irked by some of the imagery, Aragon said she liked the books; but more than that, she liked the teachable moments that the story’s themes provided for her 10-year-old daughter.

When she recognized that it is not just teen girls that shriek at the mention of Edward and Bella, but that many university students are also intrigued by the series, Aragon decided to expand those teachable moments to her classes.

“Twilight” was included in the syllabus for her gender and politics course this semester, and in her introduction to women’s studies class last year.

Aragon said discovered that when she involves popular culture in her lectures, her students stop texting and actually pay attention.

“When they found out they could write on Harry Potter, they were excited. But with the Stephenie Meyer books, it was euphoric.”

Aragon has recently been interviewed by the Victoria Times Colonist and CBC Radio about her feminist critique of the “Twilight” series.

She said she has faced a lot of criticism from parents for her views, but argues that she is not for censorship. She said the books are positive if they get people reading – and then reading more.

“I’d rather have people read things and talk about them than not read them,” she said.

Aragon said she hopes to publish something on the vampire genre and the “Twilight” series by next summer, around the time the third movie in the series is expected to open in theatres.

The second movie, “New Moon,” premiered on Nov. 19.

Aragon believes the Twilight series is popular with teens because it’s romantic.

“The books remind me of Harlequin novels, but for girls,” she said. “They’re just dripping with drama and dripping with chaste love.”

The past decade has featured relaxed and functional fashion for women as well as a more feminine look for men. FlickrCC toward the comfy.

From the socially-outcast crocs, to the plain but socially acceptable Uggs and Emus, our shoes have moved toward simplicity and comfort.

Less comfy shoes like gladiator sandals (or their high heeled form) were a blip on the fashion radar compared to the longevity of their comfier counterparts.

Scarves: Whether made of cotton, wool, or silk, and whether they’re worn around the head or around the neck, scarves and their larger cousin, pashminas, have sneaked their way into everyday fashion around the world.

Both men and women have embraced this dominating fashion trend of the double 0s.

When done right, scarves can add an extra punch to any outfit while having the added functionality of keeping the wearer warm.

Oversized Sunglasses: Maybe the stress of Y2K left bags under ours eyes for the rest of the decade because in the double 0s we’ve been hiding behind our sunglasses. From the face-swallowing hoe-globes of the first half of the decade to the aviators and wayfarers of the second, oversized sunglasses have dominated our summer wear for the past ten years.

Clothes in Distress:

This decade we seem to have taken to paying money for pre-mussed clothes.

Just one example of this is the all-too-wellknown distressed designer denim. This doesn’t mean distressed as in the designer was stressed about the wrong Italian silk being used; this means people handing out wads of cash for clothes that are already ripped, torn, and/or stained.

Stores like American Eagle and Abercrombie & Fitch made a killing on selling pre-ripped jeans to hordes of trend-whores over the past decade. For some reason we couldn’t help but get stressed over having distressed denim.

brunswickanarts

12 • Jan. 6, 2010 • Issue 14 • Volume 143

Inspiration from the grassroots

Foodclothingsheltermusic is a collective of musicians and friends based out of Halifax and Fredericton.The group strives to create a support system for each other that will benefit and inspire everyone involved to create beautiful music, something that they consider as important as food, clothing, and shelter to life. Christian Hapgood / The Brunswickan Andrew Olsvik The Brunswickan I see more and more exciting and inspiring things at every new show I attend and the more involved I become with the music industry.

For one, the allure for artists to sign to a major label or to become involved with industry goons is becoming increasingly diminished and alternative. Homegrown labels and collectives are popping up all over the place with great success.

While a handful of suits in a metropolitan high-rise discuss sales charts and conjure up imaginary numbers designed to reflect the amount of money they have lost because of piracy in an attempt to save their salaries, a very different group of individuals from the East Coast have constructed an organization with a more reputable goal in mind – to offer a nurturing community for struggling artists and to participate in stimulating the East Coast music scene.

Foodclothingshelter, a collective of

like-minded artists, musicians, friends and family, effectively demonstrated these goals during their showcase at the Capital Complex over the Holiday break.

Featuring members the Belle Comedians and Scott Mallory and supported by Crissi Cochrane, the showcase was an enormous success and encapsulated the virtues of Foodclothingshelter perfectly: community, diversity and most of all, great music.

Unfortunately, the hordes of Belle

Comedians fans who arrived after Scott Mallory left the stage missed out on Scott’s gentle strumming and inspiring messages as well as a beautiful performance by Halifax folk/pop songstress Crissi Cochrane.

Cochrane’s upcoming debut album was recently recorded in Chicago with Mike Kinsella of Owen and American Football fame and serves as a great example of the possibilities available for East Coast musicians.

A suited up Ben Ross, though likely

inspired more by Arcade Fire’s Win Butler than by RIAA President Cary Sherman, took the stage for a handful of solo tunes before joining the rest of the Belle Comedians featuring Scott Mallory on guitar and fellow Foodclothingshelter member Owen Steel on bass.

Despite dropped picks and yard sale keyboards, the Belle Comedians brought the crowd to life with their alt-country tinged rock while those metropolitan suits lay asleep having nightmares involving album leaks and pie charts.

Holiday push means great new games FROM GAMES PAGE 10 many features, and that’s all before you get to Special Ops mode. Special Ops mode is playable by one or two players (preferably two, of course) that puts you into special scenarios that just wouldn’t fit into the regular campaigns. They can be hard on the highest difficulty, but that doesn’t stop them from being incredibly fun, either. What makes it even better is that you can play it split-screen on the same system instead of being forced to play it online.

7. Wii Sports Resort (Wii) Wii Sports Resort introduced many of us to the Wii MotionPlus add-on to the Wii remote. This little attachment increases the range of motion that the Wii can detect from the Wii remote to being almost exactly a one-to-one representation of how you move the controller to what you see on the screen. For games like sword-fighting, golf, Frisbee, or even bowling, this changes how you play. There are also air sports, basketball, wakeboarding, and even archery. If this game can be exciting for my videogamehating girlfriend and I, it can be exciting for you too!

8. Shadow Complex (Xbox Live Arcade)

Once upon a time, there was a game called Super Metroid for the SNES. Once upon a much later time, some game designers took the Metroid formula and applied it to a science fiction universe created by Orson Scott Card. This game has some of the best looking graphics for a downloadable Arcade game; non-linear item collection, an intriguing story, a range of methods to navigate environments and take out enemies, as well as a really hard challenge mode that will put your Shadow Complex skills to the test.

I sure hope there’s some sequel action coming soon, because this game was too hard to put down.

9. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 (PC) I must admit that my knowledge of the Warhammer 40K universe was pretty limited before I played Dawn of War 2.

Thankfully, you don’t need to know any of that to see that Dawn of War 2 is an exhilarating and beautiful game. The game is supposed to be a Real-time Strategy game, but the campaign mode is more of an action-strategy than anything. Those tired of normal RTS conventions that just want to jump in and blow up some aliens will greatly enjoy the campaign, especially because it can be played cooperatively online with a friend! If you’re looking for more traditional RTS action,

visit us on the tubes!

the game’s multiplayer mode allows for anywhere between 1-vs-1 all the way up to 3-vs-3 matches to test one’s skills. A free update also introduced “The Last Stand,” a mode where you and two other people each use a single hero to fight a never-ending swarm of enemies to see how long you can last. An expansion is coming within the next few months, and I can’t wait to get it.

10. Scribblenauts (DS) The title screen of Scribblenauts caused me to giggle like a schoolgirl for about 20 minutes. Scribblenauts is a puzzle game at its heart. Its hook? It allows the user to type in hundreds, if not thousands, of words onto the screen. That thing will then appear and can be used by the character to attempt to collect the piece of Starite needed to complete the level.

A piece of Starite stuck in a tree? Type in “Axe” and chop it down! Or, type in “Lumberjack” and *he’ll* chop it down!

Or, type in “Pyro” and he’ll burn it down! Or, type in “Ladder” and climb up and get it yourself! In a tech demonstration, a user was able to put God and Cthulhu in a fight (God won)! You get the idea. The game is only limited by your imagination and your ability to suppress the giggles. It may be a little tricky to control at times, but it’s a lot of fun to try with a friend.

thebruns.ca

brunswickansports

Jan. 6, 2010 • Issue 14 • Volume 143 • 13

sports@thebruns.ca

Women’s volleyball look to turn season around

After a lenghty hiatus, the Varsity Reds women’s volleyball team got back into the swing of things with an intense training camp and four exhibition matches in Toronto over the break. Head Coach John Richard is confident that his squad will come out strong in 2010. File Photo / The Brunswickan Christopher Cameron The Brunswickan After five weeks off from on court training the Varsity Reds women’s volleyball team met over the break for six days in Toronto. The team played four exhibition matches alongside three days of training.

After beginning the regular season at 1-5, the Reds went 2-2 at the Toronto tournament, defeating Ryerson and the University of Winnipeg, while losing matches to Toronto and Brock.

Coach John Richard is happy with his team after the extended break, something he believes was necessary.

“Seven of our athletes were involved

in the Canada Games last summer, which meant training all summer leaving only eight days off before we started training,” said Richard. “A lot of the players were exhausted coming into the semester, so even though this is the first time I’ve done this, we felt our girls would benefit from the break and come back in a better state of mind.»

In the upcoming months the Reds have twelve matches remaining, all against Atlantic Canadian teams.

“I’m confident in our team that we’ll win 8-10 of those twelve matches as the 1-5 record after the first semester includes the interlock, some of the best teams in the country,” said Richard.

After the time in Toronto Richard believes his team is in the right state of

the brunswickan presents

the panel voice your opinion

mind to push towards the AUS Championship, but he acknowledges the need for some fine tuning.

“I thought our first two training sessions were average, which was expected after taking so much time off,” said Richard.

“Against Toronto I thought we looked pretty good at times, especially down the middle, but struggled on first contact for about 70 per cent of the match and our ball control overall wasn’t very impressive. The Ryerson and Brock matches looked better at times, but we still need lots of work to put things together and maximize our level of potential. Winnipeg was our best effort as several girls stepped up including our younger players who

continue to impress.”

The Reds first regular season action of 2010 is Jan. 9 at Saint Mary’s, followed by Dalhousie on Jan. 10.

During the break, the Reds welcomed two recruits, Amanda Bakker of Winnipeg and Celina Abba of Fredericton. Both will begin play for the V-Reds starting in September 2010.

Bakker is a left-handed setter who was the University of Winnipeg’s regular starter in her rookie season last year. She attended the University of Winnipeg in the Fall semester before transferring to UNB in January to enroll in school and train with the Varsity Reds second term.

Abba is a middle player who currently plays club for the Moncton Bleu et Or 18U program within the Sport Studies

Was the inaugural season of the AFL a success?

Colin McPhail

Tony von Richter

Alex Wickwire

I think its an ingenious idea. It opens a door for players who want to continue playing football and even gives them some exposure as well.

Minus a few hiccoughs along the way, the season was successful and peaked the interest of surrounding schools. The league has the ability to grow, prosper and become a large spectacle within the Atlantic provinces.

Simply based on the high attendance figures the season has to be considered a success, at least here in Fredericton. The quality of play could have been better, and Moncton’s forfeit of the semi-finals was a bad situation, but the league should improve with time and will hopefully continue to grow.

The AFL accomplished all their goals, I believe it was a success and an excellent step in the direction they want to go in. It’s a total positive for the province and will be a great help when Moncton tries to get a CFL team.

Sports Editor

program. She was the only 17 year old athlete selected to play for Team New Brunswick’s Canada Games 20U Team this past summer and is a long time member of Volleyball New Brunswick Provincial Team Program.

“Getting a commitment from two quality student-athletes such as this will allows us to continue growing our program,” said Coach Richard.

“Celina’s athletic ability and upside is very impressive and given opportunity and experience we anticipate seeing big things from her. Amanda is very dynamic and has shown she can play at this level starting as a rookie in Canada West in addition to having a very impressive resume from club and provincial team volleyball.”

CUP Sports Bureau Chief

Sports Reporter

Christopher Cameron Sports Writer

The first season was definitely a success, but in order for it to continue it needs one thing, more teams. When you see the same two teams play against the Bombers it doesn’t add too much excitement to attending the games.

brunswickansports

14 • Jan. 6, 2010 • Issue 14 • Volume 143

Reds to stick to typical UNB hockey in 2010 FROM HOCKEY PAGE 1 “I think it’s a good opportunity with the way the schedule is in our league with this break at Christmas. So, really you’re starting over and the Pete Kelly Tournament here will provided us with a good foundation to start the season this Friday night.”

MacDougall still knows that even after an impressive start he has to keep his team focused, but isn’t worried about the over-confidence factor and is going to stick to the typical UNB hockey that has been consistently working for the past few years. The mentality is to play Reds hockey and force the opposition to adapt.

“A key thing for a hockey player is confidence and I’d rather have to deal

Training camp: V-Reds style

with over-confidence. I think our group has a certain confidence level as a hockey club which we need to be successful and I think that’s the culture of the room and the culture of the program,» he says.

“With that being said, I think it’s going to be a competitive second half and we’re starting at ground zero again. We’re going to do the things that work. We’re going to use our speed and the puck pressure on both sides of the puck. We just have to get better at those things.”

The action will start up again as the Reds will host St. Thomas on Friday Jan. 8 and then travel to UPEI for a Saturday night match. Setting aside the previous successes, the Reds are still going to focus on the game plan and strive to achieve their New Years resolution - “win the last game we play.”

Varsity Reds swimmer Antony Hickey trains during the squads training camp in Puerto Rico over the break.The Reds’ experience was one full of intense training, camaradie, and enjoying a beautiful country.

Sandy Chase / The Brunswickan

Sandy Chase The Brunswickan 80 000 metres in 8 days.

Quite often, when friends hear that a team is going away to a training camp, they can be jealous of those escaping the cold Canadian winter. Training camps, which usually take place in exotic and sunny locations, are sometimes perceived as vacations by the unknowing outsider, but in reality they are one of the most exhausting weeks of an athlete’s life.

This year the UNB Varsity Reds swim team traveled to Puerto Rico over the holiday break, and although the planes didn’t touch down until Dec. 28, the training camp actually started almost a month before.

Throughout the month of December, the practices grew longer, averaging around six kilometers swum per practice, to get the team used to the higher training volume. Although the intensity remained moderate, the team was mentally preparing for the tough sets to come.

Practices continued through exams, as the athletes balanced their regular training schedules with studying. As members of the team went home for the holidays, they trained with their old club teams until they boarded their flights for sunny Puerto Rico.

Training camps are often misunderstood by the outside observer. People will wonder why a team has to travel south to do the same work that could be done at home; after all, there’s a perfectly good pool in Fredericton. UNB swimming coach Dan Monid explains, “Physiologically, there’s no difference.

You can do the meters anywhere you have a pool... however, having it in a 50 meter pool instead of a 25 meter pool requires you to have a better aerobic system. It forces you to swim it differently depending on the length of the pool.”

Now one can argue that there are also some very nice long course pools in Canada, but there’s more to the training camp than first meets the eye.

“The number one reason to go to camp is that it unifies the team. Everybody has to be there and make every practice, no excuses,” added Monid.

“It isolates people away from distractions so you don’t have to deal with family, friends, phone calls, e-mails, stuff like that. So that is a huge advantage because all you have to do is focus on one thing.”

Monid also added that because the team is isolated, all the members are taking on the same challenges, which can make the hardest parts of the camp easier and more enjoyable. The shared challenges and successes make training camp a great teambuilding experience as elite athletes experience the camp as a team.

More than just being able to focus better on the camp, there’s another big psychological advantage to heading south for a week of training. Being able to relax between sessions is a key factor in being able to succeed at camp.

“Driving down to a morning practice, doing dryland, team breakfast together and then coming back at night and to start again, it’s mentally tiring,” said Brian Beaudette, who is in charge of recruitment and a former men’s team captain.

“Coming here, you get to watch the sunrise over your lane, which is really amazing. You get to spend the day in the sun and the heat together which is a reward in itself,” Beaduette added, noting that even with the rain the 25 degree weather is still awesome.

“Doing a night practice and not seeing the darkness and not being in the cold at five o’clock at night, it just does so much more for you.”

The final advantage of going away for camp is that the training times are more flexible. Often with long course pools closer to the equator, many teams will come to the same spot to train. Over the course of the UNB camp, six other swim teams from Canada and the United States were staying at the same resort, including the Laval Rouge et Or. With the eight lane pool, all the teams had access to the necessary pool time.

UNB swimming completed over 80,000 meters in their week in Puerto Rico, with runs, circuit training and dryland exercises on top of their time in the pool. Eighty kilometers over eight days may not seem like a long distance in other sports, but it a significant amount for swimmers.

“If you want to put it in perspective, a marathon race in swimming is five kilometers, so when we swim 10 kilometers in a day, that’s a marathon in the morning and a marathon in the evening,” said Monid.

“But that’s the conditioning it takes to build up to do this, none of us could run two marathons in a day, but that’s because we’re not runners. Nobody can do what we do...Just talk to the people who are training.”

Although training was the dominant focus of the camp, there was plenty of

time for the team to relax and explore Puerto Rico, including a chance to explore old San Juan and a trip to the rain forest.

“We got to go up a mountain, which was such a good opportunity, but of course we made it into training. We ran up and it killed the legs, but the view at the top was worth it,” said second year swimmer Natalie Doucette.

“You can’t really put a value on what we gained from this trip...you can’t pay for these experiences. You can pay to get down here but what we do down here is invaluable,” added Doucette.

One feeling that was unanimous throughout the group of students was that they all felt closer togther because of the camp. According to Doucette, homesickness doesn’t happen at camp because the swim team acts like a second family, a feeling that is shared with many of her teammates.

Tiffany Cook, a first year swimmer, added that the Coaches were responsible for the success of the trip. “[The coaches] are amazing. Training camps back home were good, and going away is good, but the sets are all perfectly planned. Dan and Aaron did so much work on this ,” said Cook.

Monid, also a former UNB swimmer, added that one of the great things about the camp is the memories.

“You work your ass off, you push yourself to the limit, fail then get back up and do it again. And between that you’re in the sun, you’re sleeping, you’re with great friends and you’re seeing new places. You couldn’t ask for a better set of memories.”

When Cook and Doucette were asked what they were most likely to remember about the camp, they both recalled two different practices.

“Training in the rain,” said Cook, referring to one particularly tough set.

“Going out and doing dryland on a grimy, scuzzy basketball court with stray dogs running around, and cheering each other on in the rain. And we’re all just working so hard even though it’s downpouring while you’re lying on your back,” she recalled with a smile.

Doucette had a slightly sunnier memory from earlier that day.

“Being able to train in an outdoor pool. Like Dan said at the end of practice today, just take a few minutes to enjoy it.

Swim on your back, enjoy the sunshine.

There’s a cliff face that hangs over the pool, and the sun was just shining over that, in the open air, it’s just beautiful.”

brunswickansports

Jan. 6, 2010 • Issue 14 • Volume 143 • 15

Keep your New Year’s resolution

Behind the Red: Tashina Van Vlack

Christopher Cameron The Brunswickan

One of the more popular New Year’s resolutions is to quit smoking. However, going cold turkey isn’t as delicious as it sounds. Giving up smoking or starting a new fitness regiment isn’t easy.You must gradually ease your way into the resolution and be patient. Flickr CC / The Brunswickan Nancy Ward The Brunswickan It’s that time of year again; we have high hopes for our New Years resolutions that we never really keep. So the question is, how can this year be different? The most common resolution people make is to ‘get fit’ or ‘stay healthy’, but few people are actually able to reach these lofty goals. If you are trying to make this year the exception, then there are a few things you should evaluate.

One of the biggest issues that people run into is being realistic. If you do little or no exercise now then there is a slim chance you will just magically start going to the gym every day. Or, if you are trying to go “healthy” and

currently hate vegetables and chow down on fast food all the time you are not likely just going to switch your mindset and now love health food. Being realistic will help you avoid frustration by setting achievable goals. Start off with small goals and gradually add to your activities. Also, try and find exercises and activities that suit your preferences; for example, if you don’t like running find a friend and sign up for a dance class.

Once you have found an activity and the amount of time you are capable of doing it all comes down to self discipline. Treat your new fitness or healthy ways like you would a job or school. They are things you have to do, so make exercise and healthy eating things you must do too and fit them in your everyday schedule. What you

are capable of doing depends on your mindset; keep in mind that it usually takes two to three weeks for new habits to stick. To keep yourself going there are several ways to stay disciplined; try having a friend commit with you, or finding new ways of exercising.

Lauren Rogers, the UNB Fitness and Wellness Coordinator, gives an easy way to assess your resolutions using SMART. Specific - know what your goal is. Measurable - have an achievable method of meeting your goal. Attainable - a time that your goal will see results. Realistic- set goals that can be achieved. Timely- an attached time frame will keep you on track.

In the end it all comes down to your self-discipline, but remember if you fail the first time, any day can be a good day to start a New Years resolution.

In her final year at UNB, women’s basketball star Tashina Van Vlack is the first installment of Behind the Red for 2010.

Hailing from Golden, BC, Van Vlack joined the Varsity Reds after two years of college in BC. She is currently finishing a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology, with hopes of continuing her education in physiotherapy at UBC. Van Vlack discusses her time spent at UNB and what the future holds after her final year.

Brunswickan: What brought you to UNB? TVV: I was recruited by Coach Speedy and it was just the best opportunity for me because I did not want to restart my degree. School was good and the basketball program was a good fit. I fit in well with what they wanted and needed and where I wanted to go with basketball. It was also nice when looking at possible schools to know that UNB had a personal approach to their athletes. As much as it is important for Speedy to see us play basketball, he wants us to do great in school and gets excited to know you’re doing well outside of basketball academically.

B: When did basketball start for you?

TVV: My dad took me and my sister down to the gym one day and told us to not feel any pressure to play, just to check it out. My sister and I signed up for Biddyball,

a mini league in the Golden Basketball Association. It was a co-ed league and I played co-ed until grade 10.

B: Where is your basketball career going after this year?

TVV: My basketball career is coming to an end, but I can’t imagine having played only four years, I’m really glad I did five.

B: How do you feel about your basketball career coming to an end?

TVV: I know that physically I would not be able to play anymore at this level. I’m really excited about doing other things, but I hope to be able to play just for fun.

B: What is your most memorable moment as a V-Red? TVV: Last year when I came back from surgery, I had just started practicing and I beat my defender and dribbled and did a layup and I got it in. People were excited, but Speedy stopped all of practice and ran over and gave me a big hug in front of everyone.

B: What was your surgery for?

TVV: It was my third knee surgery. Just because everyone talks about it, I’ve come to terms with it as being my story. It is kind of obvious because of the giant knee brace.

B: What has being part of the UNB community done for you as an individual?

TVV: I feel like this is home for me. I haven’t been home in the summers besides a few weeks and I’m going home for Christmas, but having the team here not seeing them for two days, I miss them. Having that support group there is just great because we’re all busy and can all relate to each other and we’ll all be friends for life.

16 • Dec. 2, 2009 • Issue 13 • Volume 143

brunswickanhealth