Issue 13, Vol 142, The Brunswickan

Holiday preview // the local lowdown on the busy season >> PAgE 13

Volume 142 · Lucky Issue 13 · November 26, 2008

thebruns.ca

the brunswickan canada’s oldest official student publication.

Pinning down Success

UNB sports top notch wrestling athletes

SPORTS / PAGE 9

Losing Politeness

Is today’s world too rude and distant?

OPINION / PAGE 6

Kandahar Tour UNB prof aims to clear misperceptions of the Canadian Afghanistan tour NEWS / PAGE 3

Back to their winning ways Still more

to do, says new PSE minister Cameron Mitchell The Brunswickan

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

UNB’s Jim Cuddihy (#27) fires a shot at Dalhousie goaltender Josh Disher in AUS league play last Friday. Cuddihy notched a goal and an assist in a Reds 10-2 victory over the Tigers.

UdeM will play the Reds this Friday night at the Aitken Centre, before meeting rivals St. Thomas at the Lady Beaverbrook Arena this Saturday,

Impact of economy unclear, says UNB President Sarah Ratchford The Brunswickan

An especially urgent concern arises amid the hubbub over the current economic crisis: How will it effect universities?

The unstable economic situation may pose problems for both students and staff of UNB, including issues such as scholarships and pensions. President John

McLaughlin pronounces the situation as “a real concern, and something we have to deal with.”

“In a tight economic time with fiscal challenges, post-secondary education should be focused on. This is not a time to back off, it’s a time to reinforce what really matters,” he says.

In a recent report issued by the university, McLaughlin addresses the topic. Because the economic downturn has had an affect on the investment returns of UNB’s endowment and pension funds, fewer funds are available for spending from those accounts, which

may effect future pension costs.

The report goes on to share that UNB’s endowment was about $170 million at the beginning of 2008 – the second-largest university endowment in Atlantic Canada. The fund is comprised of donations made up of “gifts to UNB, donated generously by friends, alumni, corporations and foundations over decades.”

The university then invests the $170 million, and uses earnings to fund “the creation of scholarships and bursaries, research chairs and library acquisitions,” says the report.

Out of the earnings from this investment, UNB’s VP of Finance and Operations Dan Murray says that $3 million goes toward scholarships. Coupled with the other $3 million from the University’s $160 million operating budget, the university has a budget of $6 million per year to spend on scholarships and bursaries. When asked what effect might be had on the level of funds available, Murray responds that there are “no plans to change the operating budget at all.”

As far as the endowment, however, he

SEE ECONOMY PAGE 4

Rock with rhyme and reason Doug Estey

The Brunswickan

Slowcoaster and four local acts, including solo artist Andy Brown, will be hitting the Student Union Building this weekend, but it won’t be in support of new albums or band merchandise.

Fourth year kinesiology student Brian Beaudette is busy assembling the third annual Rock for Life concert.

The entire focus of the show is to

raise money for the Stephen Lewis Foundation, which in turn sponsors community programs that assist in “turning the tides on the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa.”

Beaudette started the program in his second year at UNB after discovering Stephen Lewis and his cause.

In his freshman year, Beaudette attempted to attend a lecture that Mr. Lewis was giving on campus, but didn’t manage to snag a seat due to the overwhelming turnout at the presentation.

“When I got there, it was packed.

There were still people that hadn’t made it in and there were like four

extra rooms for the overflow.”

Intrigued, he set out to discover just who this man is.

“I went back to my room and looked this guy up on the internet. Turned out that this guy is a huge, influential public speaker and he was trying to raise money for the AIDS crisis in Africa. I remember sitting there thinking ‘Wow, this guy is huge. What can I do for this?’ “ Inspired by international fundraising efforts such as Live 8, Beaudette got to work assembling something that could run each year instead.

SEE ROCK PAGE 12

Doug Estey / The Brunswickan

Brian Beaudette is organizing Rock for Life.

When Donald Arsenault was named the new minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour, he says the first thing he did was call all of the student group presidents in the province.

He called universities, community colleges, and technical schools to talk to the students and find out what the issues were that concerned them.

“On my first day, I took the time to contact each of the universities’ student presidents,” said Arsenault. “I also got in contact with all of the community college student presidents, because my number one priority is the students.”

“I’m the youngest minister here, I’m 33 years old. The messages that they’re telling me, I understand,” continued Arsenault. “I’ve been through it, I’ve been through it not that long ago.”

“Everything to do with post-secondary education has to revolve around students.

We have to put them at the forefront and include them in the process,” said Arsenault.

Arsenault will be taking over for former minister Ed Doherty. Doherty is the new minister of Supply and Services.

“We have to commend minister Doherty,” said Arsenault with a few kind words for the former minister.

“The issue of post-secondary education had not been talked about for a very long time, and I think it takes a lot of leadership to bring it to the forefront and have that debate,” concluded Arsenault.

However, Arsenault doesn’t want to be a carbon copy of the former minister. He wants to do things differently, and sees areas that can be improved. One of those areas is that of the situation regarding UNB Saint John, which was threatened for closure in Fall 2007.

“There was an independent commission that was brought forth to create a report and as we’ve all seen it was very controversial. It created a lot of emotions out there across New Brunswick, but the good thing about the report was that it created discussion,” said Arsenault.

“Some of those recommendations didn’t really seem to have the support of the community. Some of the recommendations were a little more controversial so another group was put together to look at some of those recommendations and see how some of them can be changed or adapted,” he continued. “We’ve come a long way but there is still more to do.”

Arsenault is the former minister of Natural Resources. During his time as Resource minister, Arsenault found

SEE MINISTER PAGE 4

brunswickannews

2 • Nov. 26, 2008 • Issue 13 • Volume 142 • news@thebruns.ca

AQ funding decision was democratic: STU SU President Josh O’Kane

The Brunswickan

The St. Thomas University Students’ Union handled the Aquinian’s request for funding as democratically as possible, says STU SU President Duncan Gallant.

The Aquinian is the official student newspaper of St. Thomas University, and has been autonomous since 1986.

On April 25, incoming Aquinian Editor-in-Chief Bailey White and incoming Managing Editor Chris Fox proposed a one-time fee increase to the 2008-09 STU SU to refurbish their newsroom at the cost of approximately $3,000.

After some discussion, it was agreed that the STU SU would fund the initiative out of their surplus, should the Aquinian follow a series of agreements, including seeking alternative sources of funding. Costs were whittled down to $1919.24 by mid-October, when Fox approached Gallant for approval of the proposal.

Gallant then told Fox that in order for the funding to go through, it would need to be approved by a twothirds majority of the STU SU’s students’ representative council (SRC).

The SRC met on Oct. 30 and voted against funding the initiative 9-3 with one abstention.

Fox says the Aquinian was not made aware of this step of approval.

“I got a call one night from Duncan explaining that this would in fact have to be passed by the SRC by two-thirds majority,” says Fox. “This is the first time that I’d heard that.”

Gallant says he hadn’t told Fox that the SRC would be the next step in the approval process.

“No, Chris was never told that this would have to go to SRC – I didn’t explain the entire constitutional power structure – but that doesn’t make the process or decision less legitimate. It in fact shows that we used the most accountable, legitimate and democratic process we could to make this decision.”

During the school year, the SRC is the official deciding body of the STU SU. At times when the SRC is unable

Kyle Albright / Special to The Brunswickan

The STU SU Students’ Representative Council voted not to provide funding for the Aquinian’s newsroom on Oct. 30. While STU SU President Duncan Gallant calls the decision process democratic, Aquinian Managing Editor Chris Fox believes the union is not accountable for their actions and that internal issues caused the council to vote down the funding. to meet, the executive council acts as the deciding body.

Fox says that had he known the proposal needed a two-thirds majority council vote, the Aquinian likely would not have taken the risk it did.

“That’s a risk, when you need a strong majority like two-thirds.

Regardless of the situation, that’s a risk we wouldn’t have taken had we known that,” says Fox. “But we didn’t.”

Had the final proposal been given to the STU SU in the summer, says Gallant, the executive would have made the decision by majority vote whether or not to accept or reject funding the Aquinian’s newsroom.

The decision was always destined to go to a vote, says Gallant – be it by the SRC or the executive, depending on the time of year.

“There was never any promise to unconditionally give the Aquinian $2,900 for office renovations.

“All relevant facts were discussed [at council], and in the end the majority of councillors – elected to represent all St. Thomas students – decided that it was not valid to hand over $1,900 of student money to the Aquinian,” says Gallant. “When it came down to it, the decision of whether or not they met the agreement or that the new facts regarding the financial situation of the Aquinian would impact that decision or evaluation, was up to the SRC.” The initial agreement to fund the office was subject to several specific agreements: that the Aquinian would make public their budget and constitution, grow their board of directors, and seek alternative sources of funding. The Aquinian was then to follow up with a second proposal, says Gallant, which was to be approved by the STU SU before granting the funding.

While Gallant says that the process by which the funding was declined

was fair and accountable, Fox disagrees with the process by which the union made its decision.

“I think it’s a black and white issue: if it’s a contract, you should honour it … I think it’s pretty apparent that it was internal issues as the reason that this was voted down.”

Internal issues, he says, include the accountability of the STU SU to students, given the verbal and written guarantee the student paper was given that was breached by the SRC vote.

The members of the executive, who voted in favour of the initial proposal on April 25, did not actually take office until May 1. Reasons like this, Fox says, are why councillors voted the funding down on Oct. 30.

Gallant disagrees that this was an issue, as the previous executive had been out of office for weeks and that conversations with the Aquinian over the summer mentioned the next step in approval. He also disagrees that

the vote was unaccountable – calling it, in fact, the most accountable and democratic method to deal with such a situation. Councillors discussed the Aquinian’s request at two meetings prior to Oct. 30.

Issues such as the legal legitimacy of the Aquinian – which was recently determined to be an unincorporated company – and the breakdown of their budget were also widely discussed before the vote on Oct. 30.

Fox called these discussions irrelevant at the meeting; however, Gallant says they were important issues to discuss in order to council to have made an informed decision.

Fox says that the Aquinian’s funding difficulties could become a universal issue.

“A lot of campus papers are funded in part by the university and a lot of them are in part funded in a similar way that we are, where we have to go to the Student Union for fee increase

approval. If they’re not honouring contracts with us, then this could happen anywhere… The union is just hiding behind this veil as if they aren’t accountable to students; as though they’re not supposed to report to students.

“I feel as though the most telling thing is that if the union had a good reason, and if they had a logical point, they’d be writing us letters to the editor and they’d be explaining it, because it’d be stupid not to,” says Fox. Gallant says that in the end, the STU SU followed all constitutional requirements necessary in the situation.

“We gave it as fair a discussion as possible. There were three meetings where it was talked about and several hours’ debate given to it. In the end, it had to be made by the accountable process we have, and that is a democratic vote. That is a fair and democratic process.”

brunswickannews

Nov. 26, 2008 • Issue 13 • Volume 142 • 3

UNB prof aims to clear misconceptions Sexuality Awareness Week about Afghanistan with new book in full swing Hilary Paige Smith The Brunswickan

The University of New Brunswick is hosting Order of Canadaappointed media personality and renowned sex educator Sue Johanson to highlight Sexuality Awareness Week.

Both UNB and St. Thomas host Sexuality Awareness Week with a series of informative workshops and presentations from Monday to Friday. The week opened with an Open House at the Sexuality Centre on Monday with a session on birth control in the morning and discussions about the basics of dating in the afternoon by Voices Against Sexual Aggression, as well as a presentation by Safe Spaces.

Free food, free condoms and information about sexuality were readily available throughout the day.

There will be a Fantasia party on Thursday night from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Sexuality Centre. Attendees at the Fantasia party can purchase products like adult toys, lubricant and lingerie. A sex museum is organized for Friday in the Blue Room with information covering everything from pornography and sexually transmitted diseases to sexual diversity and sexual health.

There will also be an information session about cyber sex at 2 p.m. in the Sexuality Centre.

Sarah Olsen, a student volunteer at the Sexuality Centre and organizer of the week’s events,

speaks about the importance of Sexuality Awareness Week.

“The goal of the week is to promote sexuality, healthy sexuality. We’re all about the health aspect. That is why we cover everything. We cover STI’s. That is why we go to Sue. That’s why we always bring free condoms to everything we do,” she says. “Even if we get one more person to drop by the centre, then that’s one more person that we’ve helped.”

Sarah Olsen and others from the Sexuality Centre have created an ally banner that will be on display at Talk Sex with Sue Johanson that reads “straight, but not narrow.”

This banner signifies diversity and openness about sexuality.

The workshops and information sessions are open to anyone and provide accessible, embarrassment free resources to students in need.

“Healthy sexuality is important throughout your life, so we make it applicable to everyone,” says Olsen.

Sexuality Awareness Week is highlighted by Sue Johanson’s appearance on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. in the SUB Cafeteria.

Johanson is a Resistered Nurse, author and former host of the Sunday Night Sex Show. She is notable for her light-hearted, yet informative approach to healthy sexuality and sells out shows in campuses across the country, answering the questions of students.

Olsen says, “I think that she will hit home in a funny, but educational way. The same things we’re trying to do. She always says never just let sex happen. It’s something you have to plan. It’s something that takes thought.”

NB Power CEO, Chair to speak to students Tony von Ritchter The Brunswickan

With the economy in turmoil, everyone is looking for a way to get ahead and the UNB Marketing Student Association (MSA) is bringing in two people who might be able to provide some valuable advice.

Today the MSA, in partnership with the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce, is hosting a discussion on competitive advantage with Francis McGuire and David Hay. McGuire is the President and CEO of Major Drilling, Inc. as well as the current Chair of the Board for NB Power. He has also served as the province’s Deputy Minister of the Department of Economic Development and Tourism.

Hay also works for NB Power and serves as the company’s current President and CEO. Prior to joining NB Power, Hay worked with Delgatie Inc. with Merril Lynch Canada, as well as in London, England with Merril Lynch’s Investment Banking Division. Hay has also been named as one of Atlantic Canada’s Top 50 CEO’s by

Atlantic Business Magazine.

Melissa McAllister, Interim Director of Academic Events, said that the group wanted to “set the bar high” with a speaking event and she feels that the group has achieved this with McGuire and Hay. “Each of these speakers have broad, comprehensive experience in corporate business, and attendees of this event can learn from their collective knowledge about business in New Brunswick and abroad.”

This is the third event of the semester for the recently created society. The MSA was created earlier this from an idea of Dr. Kirby Shannahan, a professor in the Faculty of Business Administration, who wanted to form a student group dedicated to help better connect students and the local business community.

That desire to better connect students and the business community is the reason for Wednesday night’s event.

“The purpose of Wednesday night is to help students network and meet key business figures in hope of developing relationships through which they can find future employment, internships, and co-op positions,” said McAllister.

The McGuire-Hay discussion is being held at the Crowne Plaza this Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Petitcodiac Room. The event is $2 for MSA members, $3 for non-members, and $10 for non-students.

news@thebruns.ca

Sgt Roxanne Clowe, DND, Combat Camera / Submitted

Vandoo Force Protection Company soldiers from the PRT secure a job site for an irrigation canal restoration project in Kalacheh south of Kandahar City. Restoring the badly damaged and neglected millenium-old irrigation system was the priority for rebuiding Kandahar and breaking the opium dependance of tenant farmers. This photo, among others, can be found in Kandahar Tour, of which UNB military historian Lee Windsor is an author.

Sarah Ratchford The Brunswickan

There are widespread misconceptions about Canada’s mission in Afghanistan, says UNB military historian Lee Windsor.

The mission, he says, is providing hope to the people of Afghanistan.

Windsor is Deputy Director of UNB’s Gregg Centre for the study of War & Society.

Many people think that Canadians are there to kill innocent people or hunt the Taliban, says Windsor. This, he says, is simply not the case.

In order to deflect some of these misconceptions and paint a realistic picture of exactly what is happening in Afghanistan, Windsor joined a six month tour of Kandahar with Canadian troops. He teamed up with David Charters and Brent Wilson to write Kandahar Tour: The Turning Point in Canada’s Afghan Mission.

Of the trip, Windsor says jokingly “it was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” He quickly became more serious, however, once he started to delve into the details of the trip. The active historian says that he was ambushed and came under fire with the Canadian soldiers, and was attacked by a suicide bomber.

He also says that “a lot of good people died in April of ’07.”

These situations, however, are what Windsor says he was prepared for. What he wasn’t prepared for was the ditch digging. The main focus of Canadian work in Afghanistan has been reconstruction.

In 2005-06, “diplomats started going to villages and asking what they needed,” he explains. The overwhelming response was that their irrigation system needed to be fixed.

“The Americans had been there for four years and weren’t doing reconstruction,” says Windsor.

He says that members of the Taliban are often drug lords, who are also landlords in some cases.

“I call it the Taliban/drug-traffic alliance. They are symbiotically connected,” says Windsor. As a result, the people of Kandahar lamented that “all we can grow is opium.” The Taliban made money from the sale of opium, and the people became, in Windsor’s words, “slaves – at best feudal serfs.”

If rent is not paid, people are often killed by their landlords.

There is, however, a light in this darkness, and that light takes the form of fixed irrigation systems.

If Canada is successful in helping to fix the systems, the people of Kandahar will be able to return to growing crops of wheat, almonds, and pomegranates, and leave opium behind.

“More than any bullet fired by any NATO soldier, the restoration of the road system and irrigation system and the return to traditional agriculture and traditional government will beat the Taliban,” Windsor believes.

“They seem to be biting back harder. One of the challenges is that this project has to take place in 34 provinces. It’s going well in Kandahar, although it’s being challenged.”

Windsor describes the mission as “providing hope to the people.”

The turning point mentioned in the title of the book refers to the fact that in 2007, reconstruction was really kick-started. Windsor says there was enough defeat of the Taliban that the UN could start to fully restore the irrigation system.

Another misconception lies in the perception people have of combat in Afghanistan, according to the historian. Windsor says that if attacked, Canadian troops will never return fire if there is danger of harming a civilian.

“The American troops killing innocent people is a bigger problem than the Taliban could ever be,” says Windsor.

“The people of Kandahar are the mission,” says Windsor. “If you kill civilians, you have mission failure.”

The historian says the idea for the book came about in the summer of 2006. UNB’s Gregg Centre had decided to conduct a research project on Canada’s military, aid and development mission in Afghanistan.

The findings were published in

the form of Kandahar Tour.

“People didn’t have a lot of information about ground reality…not a lot of info from the Prime Minister.” He says there was a “Six month blackout in ‘06” during which no communications were made regarding Afghanistan.

“This set the stage for uninformed discussion,” Windsor says.

Of the idea that military funding goes toward hunting Taliban, Windsor says that is certainly not the case. He says it goes toward having the military there to protect the restoration process.

Although Afghanistan has faced much strife, Windsor’s overall tone remains optimistic.

Efforts are being made to help restore Kandahar’s roads, irrigation and government, and the historian’s hopes are reinforced by the commitments of American president-elect Barack Obama.

Much more information can be found in Windsor, Wilson and Charters’ collective work, Kandahar Tour.

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brunswickannews

4 • Nov. 26, 2008 • Issue 13• Volume 142 •

Experience Economy’s impact on UNB uncertain Harsh financial times and age could be good for may aid universities new PSE minister Danielle Webb

CUP Atlantic Bureau Chief

FROM MINISTER PAGE 1

himself facing some strong issues and a lot of controversy.

“In my experience with natural resources, I had to deal with one of the biggest forestry crisis in the history of our province,” said Arsenault. “And at the end of the day, you didn’t hear the industry calling for my resignation. In my opinion that was because I learned to work with them through those difficult times, and I’m going to take that with me in my future experiences with students.”

Arsenault’s previous experience should help the transition into his new position as the minister of the Department of PostSecondary Education, Training and Labour. His experience as Natural Resources minister has him already acquainted with controversy. Arsenault is familiar with the cabinet’s dealings, which will help to put him in a position to deal with the inevitable list of issues that will face him in the upcoming months.

“I did two years at Natural Resources and it was a great experience,” reminisced Arsenault. “There were a lot of hot button issues in that portfolio, but it did prepare me to look at other issues as well.

There are a lot of emotions at the post-secondary level and I think that my experience as Resources minister will greatly benefit the work I am going to do.”

And there are a lot of issues facing the landscape of postsecondary education. Rising tuition costs, declining enrolment in universities, and a lack of funding have often left students on the outside looking in. But those are the sort of issues that Arsenault wants to deal with, and the kind of issues that he says he will not shy away from.

“I’ve always said many times that we can’t be afraid to discuss important issues,” said Arsenault.

Internet

The precariousness of the economy has left many people in uncertain situations. The impact is already being felt

by UNB, though long-term effects are not yet known.

FROM MONEY PAGE 1 speculates that earnings will go down and create a deficit. Hence, “we’ll have to find the money elsewhere,” Murray says. He says it is the number one priority of the Finance Committee to find the money from other sources.

“It’s pretty early to say exactly what we’ll do, but it’s our highest priority, and we’re going to pull out all the stops,” he says.

The university’s immediate financial situation is taken care of, but it remains to be seen how next year will pan out. A new budget coming into effect on May 1, 2009 is being worked out.

“We have time to plan for it, but its still a big challenge to determine those plans,” says Murray.

Regarding scholarships, President McLaughlin agrees with Murray. “I think the immediate challenge for us is the endowment fund and its impact on scholarships.

“In the near term that’s a major concern, and there’s pressure

to provide the same amount of scholarships as this year.”

The state of university’s pension plans is also up in the air. Murray says that those who are already retired are protected by provincial law from having their pensions impacted.

However, “whether or not it would impact anybody who might be retiring … it’s way too early to even speculate,” he says.

As far as concrete impacts, McLaughlin expresses deep uncertainty, calling the current economic state rather ambiguous.

He says that there is no way to determine what effect might be had on the university’s operating grant since the province will also be affected by the downturn.

Murray says that the university receives $95 million in operating money from the province on an annual basis, which comprises about 60% of its total operating budget.

“There have been news reports stating that federal and provincial finances are under pressure.

Because those two things are so important to us, we’re monitoring that very carefully as

well,” he says.

The university’s financial situation is evaluated every three years. The last evaluation took place in December of 2006, so the next formal evaluation should take place “in about a year,” says Murray. “Then we’ll know the implications. If it was done today, it would show that there needs to be more money put in or some change in benefits. It depends on what happens between now and December of next year.”

Murray does, however, venture to offer a cautious optimism in saying that sometimes when we have a poor economy, there’s a tendency for more people to go to university.

“This is happening with so much uncertainty on so many fronts,” says McLaughlin, summing up just how overwhelming the situation is becoming. “I don’t have that crystal ball.”

The bottom line appears to be this: “The university’s business includes a lot of funding from public bodies, and those public bodies are impacted,” says Murray.

ANTIGONISH (CUP) – The global economic crisis has extended to Canada’s universities, but depending on an institution’s ties to the market, this could be a good thing.

DalhousieUniversityinHalifax,N.S. is one institution hoping to capitalize on the recession.

“Some literature suggests that postsecondaryenrolmentincreasesinperiods of recession. People can’t find jobs, so they stay in or go back to school,” said Ken Burt, the Dalhousie’s vice-president of finance and administration.

“We’re watching our marketing dollars very closely to try and get the best bang for our buck. We won’t be cutting back on recruitment when developing our budget for next year,” Burt said.

“We’re cautiously optimistic.”

Meanwhile, some large universities have made sure that endowment funds - invested donations that are highly susceptible to the swings of the market – don’t figure into annual operating budgets, allowing them a degree of security.

Ivan Muzychka, associate director of communications for Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s, N.L., says his institution isn’t particularly concerned about the downturn of the market.

“We don’t rely on investments for our operations. Funding comes from the provincial government and tuition.

Despite the downturn, we don’t expect to experience any severe difficulties,” he said.

Muzychka says MUN plans to continue its national and international recruitment campaign because, in a declining market, some people see university as a good investment of their money.

But, Muzychka does admit that it may be difficult to recruit students from outside Newfoundland and Labrador if people have less money to spend.

Unlike MUN, however, some universities rely on investments of their endowment fund to operate their institutions. The profits are often used to fund scholarships, bursaries, or even faculty pensions. A hit to those funds could spell long-term restrictions for universities.

At the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown, the

endowment and donation funds were invested to a value of $19.9 million.

Faculty and staff pension plans were also invested. These investments had decreased in value by approximately 10 per cent as of the end of September – before the worst of the market plunges in October – costing the university up to $10 million.

But, even UPEI president Wade MacLauchlan is maintaining his confidence in the face of his university’s huge losses.

“The pension plan has absorbed this kind of loss before, but it takes a considerable period of rebuilding and careful management to regain the ground. The big question at this stage is: when we will begin to see more positive market results?” he said.

UPEI’s investment strategy has been cautiousandwelladvised,MacLauchlan says.

But not everyone is hopeful for Canada’s post-secondary institutions.

Roberto Martinez-Espineira, an economics professor at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S., says there are other ways the current crisis might affect students.

“Invested scholarship funds and financial aid could be reduced.

Universities might need to rely more on tuition, so [it] will rise, making it more difficult to pay,” said MartinezEspineira.

Students may also see a decline in part-time employment opportunities, he says.

MacLauchlan believes that as money becomes tighter across the country, so will donations to universities.

Philanthropic support makes up four per cent of UPEI’s budget and a decline will inevitably mean a cut to spending, he said.

“One way or another, there will be belt-tightening. We can be thankful that we enter into these challenging times with our fiscal house in order,” he said.

UPEI doesn’t have any debt and isn’t running a deficit.

On the bright side, MartinezEspineira suggests universities could take advantage of the recession by playing what he calls a counter-cyclical role.

“Universities could be doing a public service by spending money themselves. It’s a good time to invest in infrastructure because labour will be cheap, or find new faculty because the demand [for jobs] will be higher,” he said.

Of hate speech and the internet Cameron Mitchell The Brunswickan

The debate surrounding freedom of speech and hate speech has seemingly been around forever. There are those that claim that the right to voice an opinion is a cornerstone of a democratic society, and that there shouldn’t be any laws that prohibit freedom of expression.

However, expression can sometimes be dangerous and hurtful, and there are many people that believe we must have laws in place to protect against these crimes.

Professor Richard Moon recently visited St. Thomas University to talk about this very issue. Moon is a professor at the University of Windsor who teaches courses in private and public law. His studies focus on the freedom of expression, the freedom of conscience, and the freedom of religion.

Earlier this year, Professor Moon was commissioned to do a report for the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and Section 13 of the Human Rights Code which deals with hate speech on the Internet.

He was asked to do a study on hate speech and the Internet, and formulate some recommendations for how the Canadian Human Rights Commission should deal with these issues.

“It strikes me that there are a lot of recent hate speech cases that seem to involve religion,” said Moon. More often than not, the target of this hate is Islam and the Muslim community, he said.

“The best example of this is the

Mark Stein article in Maclean’s magazine,” said Moon in reference to the article The Future Belongs to Islam. “In this article, Stein argued that Muslims will come to dominate Europe through immigration and a higher birth rate, and that their goal is to make these countries Islamic.”

The article relied on exaggerations, stereotypes, and outlandish accusations. The argument lies in the question of whether or not Stein’s article should have been prohibited. “(This case) is difficult for the reason that all hate speech cases are difficult. There is significant disagreement within our society about whether or not there should be restrictions on hate speech, and what actually constitutes a restriction,” said Moon.

“How do we reconcile the freedom of speech, with any sort of restriction on hate speech?” he pondered.

Moon’s report largely dealt with this problem. And as he found out, the Internet has opened up a whole new can of worms.

There are many laws that protect newspapers and magazines. Freedom of speech is deemed important in today’s society, and these printed publications are seen as necessary for continued discussion of important issues.

But the laws governing the Internet are much different. When the Internet first started to gain in popularity, the Canadian Human Rights Commission caught wind of a problem with hate speech. Some users were using the Internet to spread hate, and the Commission was forced to crack down. Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights

code was created, and this section prohibited the spread of hate via the Internet or other telephonic communications. However, these new laws were different from the ones that looked after newspapers and magazines.

“Section 13 prohibits telephonic or Internet communications that are likely to expose an identifiable group to hate,” explained Moon.

Maclean’s magazine found itself in an interesting situation regarding the Stein article. Because the magazine is available on the Internet, an argument was made that the article should be bound by Section 13 and its more stringent codes. The tribunal did in fact hear the case, but it was dropped in the early stages.

So, once again, the issue of conflict between freedom of speech and hate speech has become an issue. People are wondering whether or not censorship can work.

“In the Stein circumstance, regulation might be justified or even necessary,” explained Moon. “The distortions of someone like Stein are particularly harmful because they legitimize widely held beliefs about Muslims. It is for these very reasons that censorship might be impractical or counter productive. It might be vital for people to respond to these sort of ‘crazy’ views, even if it’s difficult.”

The issue of hate speech versus freedom of speech is certainly a difficult one to handle, and Section 13 has made things even more complicated. As Maclean’s found out, the section has opened up newspapers and magazines to more stringent regulations and controls.

Nov. 26, 2008 • Issue 13 • Volume 142 • 5

brunswickanopinion

Nov. 26, 2008 • Issue 13 • Volume 142 • 6

editor@thebruns.ca

The great divide of UNB’s campuses Bring it on home

Editorial Board

Editor-in-Chief • Josh O’Kane Managing • Tony von Richter News • Sarah Ratchford Arts • Doug Estey Sports • Mitchell Bernard Photo • Andrew Meade Copy • Dan Hagerman Production • Christian Hapgood Online • Dave Evans Staff Advertising Sales Rep • Bill Traer Delivery • Dan Gallagher

Josh O’Kane

Maclean’s magazine recently named UNB as one of Canada’s top five nationally comprehensive universities.

This means a lot for such a small school; despite having little more than 10,000 students over two campuses, we’ve brought home a big prize.

The problem is that we only actually have one central campus.

One of the reasons UNB Fredericton students – as well as the administration – rallied so hard to “save UNBSJ” from becoming a polytechnic institution last year was because losing that campus meant losing UNB’s status as a nationally comprehensive university.

But how viable is it as a standalone campus?

There is no doubt that UNB as a whole offers a very comprehensive series of programs for students; UNBSJ, however, does not.

Students hoping to study engineering, natural sciences, kinesiology, non-concurrent education, forestry, and business concentrations such as marketing or finance simply cannot finish – and in some cases cannot start – their degrees in Saint John. While there are some exclusive UNBSJ programs, such as Health Sciences, the number is far smaller than in UNBF. Reasons such as this lead many first and second year students at UNBSJ to attend the Fredericton campus – or other universities altogether – for the rest of their degree.

Without a full cohort of upper year students, it’s difficult for a school to have sustainable growth.

Thanks to so many incomplete programs, UNBSJ is stuck in that rut.

Many people fought for UNBSJ last year with the claim that Saint John residents deserved a Liberal Arts education. I’ve always found

the brunswickan

Contributors Ashley Bursey, Chris Cameron, Sandy Chase, Alison Clack, Maggie DeWolfe, Josh Fleck, Nick Howard, Stephanie Lord, Brandon MacNeil, Colin McPhail, Cameron Mitchell, Nick Ouellette, Jens Ourum, Hilary Paige Smith & Alex Wickwire.

The Brunswickan relies primarily on a volunteer base to produce its issues every week. Drop by SUB room 35 to get involved.

File / The Brunswickan

Hundreds of community members rallied last Fall to support UNBSJ in times of trouble. While UNB has been declared one of Canada’s top comprehensive universities once again, a divide exists between the Saint John and Fredericton campus that has potential to be mended. this intriguing, because while UNB as a whole hung on to a reputation of having comprehensive programs, these people were openly admitting the limitations of the Saint John campus programs. How is that comprehensive?

If UNBSJ wants to be a standalone campus, it needs to actually stand alone – and work to offer more complete programs. Who wants to go to a university where you can’t finish your whole degree?

Offering more complete programs is a tactic that would not only retain more students on the Saint John campus, but would also put it on the map to encourage more students from abroad to attend the school.

Until these programs are offered, though, only students in select programs will be able to graduate from the school.

In an effort to save money – being from Saint John originally – the first year of my science degree was spent at UNBSJ. While there, I took part in

a dinner theatre there in 2004 where a core theme was the growth of the school, and how it had finally grown to shed its image as a mere satellite campus of UNB. Unfortunately, that image is still reality.

Even the UNB administration is designed to accommodate UNBSJ as a satellite campus. The four administrative VP positions include VP Research, VP Finance & Corporate Services, VP Fredericton (Academic) and VP Saint John. While one VP oversees all of Fredericton’s academic portfolio, the VP Saint John, Robert MacKinnon, is assigned to handle any and all campus duties with a series of associate VP’s to guide him.

If the central administration remains structured with Saint John in a satellite position, how can UNB grow its Saint John campus?

The administration has no doubt recognized the need to make its Saint John campus a focal point; various

members often travel between the two campuses, and some higherups reside mainly in Saint John. But shouldn’t more effort come from the top?

How much effort would it take – or how much effort would be worth it – to restructure the central administration to acknowledge UNBSJ as equal to Fredericton?

Even if it goes so far as opening up the university act to make the modification, this step is important to put UNBSJ on an equal playing field.

The presence of UNBSJ, both within UNB and at large, is greater than ever before. When I attended the campus, very few students cared for it – many, in fact, were admittedly there to save money to attend university because they couldn’t afford to go elsewhere. School spirit was virtually nonexistent.

When the school’s existence was threatened in Fall 2007, though, something changed – the school

was suddenly no longer taken for granted. Students and community members developed a passion for the school that was previously unseen.

The campus was more relevant than ever before; suddenly, UNBSJ was something worth fighting for.

UNBSJremainedopen,butitcould soon fall back into a comfortable lull.

It’s up to the administration of this school to do what’s right for it from the grassroots, by pushing for more complete programs and a relevant administrative structure.

Sure, this could be solved over time, but with UNBSJ more relevant than ever before, it’s the perfect opportunity to help the campus grow. Leave it alone again, and before we know it, UNBSJ’s existence could be threatened again.

Is UNBSJ fine as is? Probably. But it has potential to grow. UNB should embrace this while it has the chance.

Josh O’Kane is Editor-in-Chief of the Brunswickan. He can be reached at editor@thebruns.ca.

About Us The Brunswickan, in its 142nd year of publication, is Canada’s Oldest Official Student Publication.

We are an autonomous student newspaper owned and operated by Brunswickan Publishing Inc., a nonprofit, 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 10,000.

Letters Must be submitted by e-mail including your name, letters with pseudonymns will not be printed. Letters must be 400 words maximum. Deadline for letters is Friday at 5 p.m. before each issue.

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

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

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

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Politeness: The very (collapsing) basis of social order The Opinionator Nick Howard “Yes. please. No, thank you.”

These are simple words that make simple phrases. Yet, with little breath they allow us to convey great meaning. They portray such ideas as caring, social grace, and peaceful coexistence. Acts or words of politeness serve as a cushion or a buffer to prevent the collision of two egos. They are the very basis of social order and a fundamental part of our culture. I write now because I see this important part of daily life eroding from the foundations of our culture. Call me old-fashioned, but I still think it’s important to hold the door for someone, or to smile when passing by. These simple words and gestures are an acknowledgment of belonging; it shows that we can come out of our bubble to share a moment with someone else.

To understand what it really means for society to be plunged into “utter bloody rudeness” we must look to someone with better writing skills, if not more expertise. Lynn Truss, author of Eats, Shoots and Leaves, asks the question, “Why are people [today] adhering less to the Ps and Qs?”, in her hilarious book Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good Reasons to Stay at Home and Bolt the Door.

In this opinion piece of book-sized proportions, she fixes blame in all the right places.

Our rudeness comes from our computers and iPods and automated supermarket tellers and automated voices telling us how to pay our bills, Truss explains. She interestingly blames the entire “do-it-yourself”

mentality for much of the rudeness with which we are faced. The basic tenet is that as we minimize our contact with other people, withdrawing further and further into our bubbles while we cease to realize the effect we may have on the people around us.

Of course it must be said that even though we cease to notice or care about the effect we have, the effect is still there. We are unlearning basic abilities like courteousness so that our brief spouts of interaction are reverting back to caveman-like grunts and curses.

Of course, there is sympathy to be had for our plight. We are forced ever inwards with the demands placed on us. We are told what to buy, where to go, who to help, who to like and who to hate. We are told we can do everything ourselves, but only within very small parameters – any step outside of that is simply abnormal.

We are presented cold to each other, with nothing to fall back on, not even a “how are you?” to cushion the collision of two strange bubbles. Our self-interest is no longer wrapped in the reciprocation of civility.

We can take it back: our smiles and thank you’s, pleases and bless you’s. We can bring civility back as the rule of social interaction. I can open the door for you, and you can say thank you. I can bump into you and say excuse me, and you can offer a gracious smile. This tit-for-tat social interaction can keep us in touch and bound together. Though self-interest may still dominate it can once again be veiled by the responsibilities of civility.

This, dear readers, is the necessity of politeness.

The Opinionator is a weekly opinion column by UNB student Nick Howard, presentingano-holdsbarredapproachto current events or anything that smacks of unquestioned perspective. He can be reached at nphoward@gmail.com.

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

Friendly greetings like casual handshakes aren’t as common in today’s headphone-clad, computer-automated world, where person-to-person contact is easily and often minimized.

letters to the editor.

Dear Editor,

send your letters to the editor by friday at 5 p.m. to editor@thebruns.ca. maximum 400 words, please.

Reading your Brunswickan from Nov. 19, pages 7 & 8, I was very impressed with the depth & insight of all articles written by: Josh O’Kane, Nick Howard, Bethany Vail (hers was exceptional), Shannon Tien and Dave Evans (a little!).

It is good to see these students’ opinions (in some ways farreaching). Congratulations to all!

I grew up in Amsterdam, Holland from 1933 and up, went through the war and immigrated in 1955. My parents, looking back, seem to have been non-polluters, rode bikes (for 77 years), never

had an automobile, ate sensibly, always walked, laughed and went to birthday parties. They had sad and worried times too. They became 90 and 95.

Are we, the students, happy today? Often, I think not.

Sincerely, Nicolaas deVries

brunswickanopinion

Nov. 26, 2008 • Issue 13 • Volume 142 • 7

Reality check: Do you Falling through the cracks really need a laptop?

Tech Perspective Doug Estey How many times over the course of your university career have you or one of your friends been subject to the peril and devastation associated with owning a laptop computer?

Of all people, I’m probably the last person you would expect to challenge this. You, dear reader, make an excellent point (and my roommates will gladly disclose the number of computers that I own, even if I won’t.)

But alas, this isn’t some environmentally-motivated spiel about consuming less power on the planet (as serious of a situation as that is). The fact of the matter is that laptops actually consume substantially less power than ever before, thanks to a technologically-motivated race to create machines that burn through their batteries slower.

It might not be the most sound motivation, but it works.

We’re students, and we all need a form of mobile computing. It begs to be pointed out, however,

that almost every one of us immediately turns to a laptop – be it an Apple MacBook, Dell Latitude, HP Pavilion or Toshiba Satellite – as the one and only answer to our word processing, album torrenting and web browsing needs. They’re still hefty, they still weight in at up to 4 kilograms, and they continue take up valuable space in our backpacks.

So why haven’t we come up with something better?

I don’t know how many of my friends have dropped a great deal of their student loan for the year on a shiny new laptop only to have a renegade glass of milk or beer suddenly attack it without warning, but it’s more than I can count on one hand, and that’s a problem.

Economically, these are some hard times we’re facing. Ever considered, you know, not spending a full semester’s tuition on a notebook PC? There are alternatives, and they’re materializing much faster than you may think. At your very own UNB bookstore here on campus, you can actually walk in, spend $299 plus tax, and pick up an ASUS eeePC (or Triple E PC as they’re often called). No, they aren’t a portable DVD player. But these so-called

“netbooks” do offer wireless N networking, SecureDigital card reading support and a webcam.

Not to mention the fact that they weigh less than a kilogram and feature a near-full size keyboard and boot up in approximately twenty seconds.

In fact, there isn’t much these little machines can’t do, considering that the average student doesn’t need video rendering or disc burning capabilities on the go.

I’m not hating on laptops. I even own one myself. But I am seriously considering switching to a piece of technology that is easier on my back, less of an expense, and much more portable.

More portable than a laptop?

Oh yes. Let’s face it: you don’t see people whipping them out left and right unless they’re sitting down at a power outlet somewhere.

Next time you’re in the computer aisle at Future Shop, think again before splurging your student loan away on a full-size laptop. Netbooks just might be the way of the future, and along with wifi tablets and touch-based cellular smartphones, they could make your life a lot easier.

Doug Estey is Arts Editor of the Brunswickan. He can be reached at arts@thebruns.ca.

Student Beat Stephanie Lord

At a time when students who are new to UNB come closer to reaching the end of their first semester, and those in their last year are straightening out their final course requirements and tying up loose ends prior to graduation, many students are taking take time to reflect over the previous semester or their time spent here at UNB. A reflection upon the days, months, years spent at UNB has much to do about the memories, the friendships, the life skills and experiences you’ve encountered during your time at the institution but it also can release quite a bit of pent up frustrations or disappointments that one has suffered. The question is: is the “Only one U” marketing campaign for UNB, with the idea that this university is accommodating to yourself, the individual, true? With such a large administrative team and high teacher to student ratios, the question remains, shouldn’t someone be caring and looking out for you?

This institution is proud to call itself Canada’s oldest university and brags that it has been ranked so high on the Maclean’s annual rankings on national comprehensive universities

the brunswickan.

in Canada – but there are still so many internal issues that have led many students to fall through the cracks unnoticed.

With students saving their earnings from any and all jobs, taking out student loans or borrowing from their parents (which places them in a position where they are forced to surrender their independence), there is a lot to be expected when making such a major financial and time commitment. From glitches in academic requirements, to a lack of personal accommodations, to serious misunderstandings in communication between select students and different aspects of the university, it is little wonder why retention rates are suffering here at UNB. I have faced such difficulties, as I’m sure many others have. My issues however lie in the academic administration.

As a concurrent Arts/Education student with a double major and a double minor I am able to clearly see the divide between faculties, as well as the lack of support on behalf of the university to assist students with academic requirements. There is also little sense of accommodation, which I believe should exist when paying one of the highest Canadian tuitions annually. In order to assess and ensure that I am following the requirements needed to complete my program, I must speak with five individual departments, all of which insist placing priority on their own course requirements.

From my experience, it is evident that there lays a significant amount of disconnect between the individual sectors of the University of New Brunswick. During my most recent summer working with the Student Union, I dealt with a large number of parents as well as prospective and current students with complaints regarding information on separate aspects of the university.

A major problem is that there is no single place on campus a student can go to ask any questions of the university; for academics, you must speak to the registrar or the individual faculty or department; for residential problems, to ResLife; for questions of the health and dental plan, to the Student Union. Whatever the reason, something has to give and a change should be made.

There are many different people and sections of this university that accommodate individuals and do succeed; however, there is much room for needed improvement.

Perhaps the lack of school spirit at this university is due to the university’s lack of investment in students as individuals.

Take a look at your student number, reflect over your time here at UNB Fredericton, and consider if all those promises made to you in your high school by UNB scouts and UNB literature and ask: have you been treated like there’s only one U? Stephanie Lord is VP student services.

Student Beat is a weekly column by UNB’s student leaders examining issues pertinent to students.

if you don’t volunteer, our editors will fail out of school. please volunteer. 447.3388 / SUB room 35 / editor@thebruns.ca

help the bruns go green!

The Brunswickan has formed an independant committee to assess the newpaper’s pick-up rate and its ecological impact. The committee will make recommendations in January to the Board of Directors on steps the Brunswickan can take to improve its sustainability, both ecologically and in readership. If you are interested in helping define the future of The Brunswickan, e-mail your interest to:

gogreen@thebruns.ca

8 • Nov. 26, 2008 • Issue 13• Volume 142 •

iewpoint V

brunswickanopinion

The old man rant

the brunswickan.

a satire by Dave Evans

Question: How would you solve UNB’s economic woes?

“A Girlicious charity concert.”

Bradford Mckinney

“Dodgeball fundraiser.”

Brett McPhail

“Which economic woes?”

Frank Odeyuey

C

“Free parking.”

Julia Coleman

“Make a strip club and donate tips to UNB.” Matt Mason

“Eliminate the engineering differential fee.”

Mike Wies

“Don’t pin it so much on the students.”

Remi Gaudet

“I didn’t know there was any.”

Steve Christie

“The president should sell himself... for students.”

Vanessa Macdonald

ars today are just too damn fancy. They’ve got all these dials and knobs that would make even some NASA engineers shudder. But I want to bitch about one new thing in particular – one which I will never, ever support: OnStar. OnStar is that little button that rests above the dashboard and ruins the aesthetic value of the interior of your vehicle. It’s a GPS tracking device, or as I call it, a peeping tom device that lets some greasy teenager working in a call center act all “voyeur” and track your every movement. But here’s the real reason I hate it with every fibre of my being: the total lack of regard for Batman and his operations. They tried to make a mockery of him in a television commercial I saw a while back. Batman is driving through Gotham City in the Batmobile, acting all badass, when he presses the OnStar button for goddamn telemarketer assistance.

What the hell? Why would Batman, the most secretive of all superheroes, put an easily traceable GPS receiver in the Batmobile? Imagine this; some greasy slob at his desk at OnStar gets bored, figures out Batman uses OnStar and decides to track him. Then the guy starts thinking, “Jeez, this is weird, the Batmobile has been parked under Wayne Manor for the past two days. Maybe I’ll be a dick and alert the Gotham PD to this fact.” Give me a break! Show’s over, Batman is found out, DC comics goes out of business because of the lamest plot device ever in the history of – well, history. Usually I have some sort of witty way to end my column, but not today. I’m too disgusted.

OnStar, please go to hell.

Dave Evans is Online Editor of the Brunswickan. Feel free to contact him at online@ thebruns.ca.

editor@thebruns.ca

brunswickansports

Nov. 26, 2008 • Issue 13 • Volume 142 • 9

sports@thebruns.ca

Reds win three in a row The Brunswickan

Saturday, November 22nd Men’s Volleyball UNB - 1 Sherbrooke - 3 Women’s Volleyball UNB - 2 McGill - 3 Men’s Volleyball UNB - 0 Laval - 3 Women’s Volleyball UNB - 0 Montreal - 3 Hockey ACA @ UNB POSTPONED Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

The UNB Varsity Reds continued their current winning streak with a convincing 10-2 victory over the Dalhousie Tigers last Friday night at the Aitken Centre. Saturday’s match against Acadia was postponed due to the weather and will be made up at a date to be named later. with their healthy lead resulted in many bad penalties taken by the Tigers, and the Reds cashed in.

Bailey blasted a one-timer from the face-off circle for his second of the night and minutes later almost replicated the play for the hat-trick.

Joshua Hepditch scored another power play goal and Bailey tallied a fourth goal on a power play late in the game. As much as it looked good on ice, it looked even better on paper as UNB had 13 players reached the score sheet, nine with a multi-point performance, and a solid outing from goaltender Derek Yeomans. Robert Pierce and MacIntosh both added four assists.

The Reds’ power play was on fire

Natalie Doucette

Sandy Chase / The Brunswickan

Sport: Swimming Yr: 4

Sport: Swimming Yr: 1

Why did you choose UNB? My coach, Paula, called me personally to recruit me. I had not received this great of a treatment anywhere else.

Why did you choose UNB? I chose UNB because of the strong swim team, and because the campus is beautiful.

What is your desired profession?

I am applying to take my M.D. next year to become a doctor. As well, I am also applying at UNB for my Masters in Kinesiology to become a professor.

What are your pre-game rituals?

Listen to my iPod, eat snacks, and jump up and down a lot.

What is your pet peeve?

Ironically, people close to me with their shirts off.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received from a coach?

“Swimming hard can feel like being beaten by a stick. Would you rather get hit for 30 seconds or 29 seconds?”

What’s the one thing you can’t go on the road without?

My swim suit.

What was your first job?

Lifeguarding and teaching swim lessons.

Any nicknames?

Trooper at Aitken House, Sparkplug with UNB Swimming.

What is your personal goal this year?

To make CIS qualifying times.

as they scored on three out of four chances.

“It was a good consistent effort and I thought we had a great start.

It was a very confident effort from the group,” said UNB head coach Gardiner MacDougall. He stressed that consistency and depth are two key assets that helped improve the squad. “We’re getting a little bit better in key areas, our special teams have been better, our goaltending’s been better and a few players come back from injuries that helped us as well. I think the expectation level is high here and that’s what the players want. We’re excited about playing Moncton here on Friday night.”

While watching this performance, only one word came to mind: dominance. UNB’s speed, power, passing and offensive and defensive pressure is an arsenal that will get any Reds fan excited for the rest of the season.

“We’ve been consistently defensively as good as we’ve been in the last ten years. I think we’re only going to get better,” said MacDougall.

The Saturday night game against Acadia was cancelled due to the weather conditions. The teams are awaiting a makeup date.

The Reds are in action this weekend against their two bitter rivals. Moncton will arrive Friday

night, while Saturday will see the battle of the hill as they play St. Thomas in their last game before the holiday break. However, this Friday will be a special game for UNB as they will be shooting a video for their bid to host the CIS Championships next year.

They will officially send in their bid Dec. 2. The Reds would love to see everyone come out in great numbers and showing their UNB spirit by wearing red and cheering as loud you can. There will be special promotions and events during the game, which coincidentally is a very important one for the Reds as they look to catch Moncton in the AUS standings.

Taking down competition Brandon MacNeil The Brunswickan

For the most part, when thinking of university athletics, team sports come to mind. It’s uncommon to hear high profile stories on an individual sporting event as far as the CIS is concerned. Several wrestlers at UNB would like to change this trend – and they aren’t far from doing so.

Established in 1970, the UNB wrestling team is still going strong.

This year, the roster is complete with athletes that may very well be their best team ever, explains UNB head coach Don Ryan. “We have a very appealing team of wrestlers and coaches for recruiting new students,” said Ryan. “These kids get access to a personal trainer, a sports psychologist, as well as a physiotherapist. Having those pieces of the puzzle makes its easy for students to be attracted to our program.”

Among the UNB wrestlers is standout Vince Cormier. The academic all-Canadian has a hefty resume, athletically, as well as academically. Cormier is the defending national champion in his weight class, he is part of the senior national team, and according to coach Ryan, he is being targeted for the 2012 Olympics. To top it off, he has been on the Dean’s List since arriving at UNB. “He’s an unreal athlete,” explained Ryan. “To be able to keep marks such as his, but at the same time excel at this sport, it’s special to watch.”

Cormier isn’t the only UNB wrestler to have such success.

Krista Betts has been dominant as well in her weight class. At last year’s nationals, Betts came out with a bronze medal. Shawn DayeFinlay is a rookie at UNB, but has a strong track record as well. He is a member of the under-18 national team, and is a former silver medalist at the Canada Games.

At the beginning of October,

Sunday, November 23rd Men’s Volleyball UNB - 2 McGill - 3 Women’s Volleyball UNB - 2 Sherbrooke - 3 Women’s Basketball UNB - 59 DAL - 79 Men’s basketball UNB - 58 DAL - 74

Upcoming V-Reds Events Friday, November 28th Women’s Volleyball UNB @ SMU 6:00 p.m.

Hockey UdeM @ UNB 7:00 p.m. @ Aitken Centre Saturday, November 29th Women’s Volleyball UNB @ UdeM 2:00 p.m.

Women’s Basketball CBU @ UNB 6:00 p.m. @ L.B. Gym Hockey UNB @ STU 7:00 p.m.

Men’s Basketball CBU @ UNB 8:00 p.m. @ L.B. Gym

Sandy Chase / The Brunswickan

Members of the UNB wrestling team preparing for upcoming competitions during practice at the L.B. Gym last Thursday afternoon.

UNB travelled to Concordia for their first competition of the year.

With 17 wrestlers on the lineup, UNB managed three gold medals, three silver medals, and four bronze. They also beat out the other 14 rosters at the competition to claim the team title.

Since then, they have flown to McMaster University where Shawn LeBlanc reigned victorious in the tournament. He was also named most valuable wrestler. Krista Betts and Eric Feunekes also took home victories. This past weekend, four male wrestlers travelled to New York City to take part in a highlevel international tournament.

From there, Cormier is set to take off to France where he will continue to train and compete.

A notable variation between this individual sport and a team sport is the travel aspect. It is rare for every wrestler to travel to the same tournaments. It is usually a small group of a few select wrestlers that will compete each weekend.

“We don’t need to send them all to each tournament,” explained

Ryan. “We send each wrestler to the competition that will suit them properly. That’s the unique thing about this sport.”

Next semester UNB will take part in competitions at the University of Alberta, University of Guelph, as well as hosting a weekend tournament, before travelling to the University of Calgary for this year’s national championships. UNB will also play host to the high school national championships in April, where 800 athletes from around Canada will be taking part.

As far as expectations for his team this year, coach Ryan seemed very optimistic. “We have everyone back from last year, with a few stand-out rookies that have impressed me,” said Ryan. “I’m very confident we will have four or five girls, and at least seven or eight guys competing for a national title this year. I would love to see Vince repeat; he is definitely capable. Betts and the other ladies will be stiff competition as well. I’m excited to see the results.”

questions? comments? sports@thebruns.ca

Sandy Chase / The Brunswickan

Women’s Volleyball UNB - 0 Laval - 3

Men’s Volleyball UNB - 2 U of Montreal - 3

One-on-one with...

Brian Beaudette

Friday, November 21st

Hockey UNB - 10 DAL - 2

Colin McPhail

After slipping behind Moncton in the standings during the early stages of the season, UNB is roaring back with their third straight win. The Reds pulled off their biggest offensive onslaught of the season by hammering the Dalhousie Tigers 10-2.

The Tigers (3-7) arrived at the Aitken Centre just two points of last spot in the AUS. The Reds, who in previous games got off to slow starts, scored early and often. Lachlan MacIntosh opened the scoring as he chipped the puck in off a centering pass from Kyle Bailey only three minutes in.

UNB used their size and speed to overpower the Tigers’ defence and kept them pinned in their zone for most of the game. The Reds steady pressure paid off again as Jimmy Cuddihy potted in the second goal of the game off a rebound, and less than a minute later Ryan Seymour notched his first of the campaign.

The Tigers were able to get one back late with a power play goal from Tyler Dyck.

The teams exchanged goals early in the second. UNB made it 5-1 as John Scott Dickson came around the back of goal roofed it over Wall’s shoulder. Shortly after that, Hampus Enzell cut the Reds’ lead to three. Then the Reds absolutely shut the Tigers’ down. Dalhousie couldn’t escape their own end as UNB continued to show their superior cycling skills and precise passing. This offensive pressure was too much for the Tigers and Kevin Henderson regained the four goal cushion as he went short side on a two-on-one break.

UNB’s overall quickness coupled

V-Reds Results

brunswickansports

10 • Nov. 26, 2008 • Issue 13• Volume 142

Dismal Sunday for V-Reds Basketball

Ain’t no steel haven Balls to the wall Mitchell Bernard

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

UNB’s Amanda Sharpe (#13) attempts to take a shot over the Tigers defender. Sharpe added 20 points in the Reds loss to Dalhousie.

Alex Wickwire The Brunswickan

Snow came this past weekend, but it did not bring good fortune in any way to varsity basketball at UNB. Sunday was a long afternoon for UNB basketball as the Dalhousie Tigers were in town. Both the women’s and men’s teams had their work cut out for them if they wanted to gain some ground in the AUS standings.

The women’s team were the first to take the floor on Sunday.

The L.B. gym was packed with a stated attendance of 450 on Sunday afternoon. Staying with DAL on the scoreboard, while shooting 43 per cent, the women went into the locker room down by eight.

When the second half began, the wheels came off for the Reds.

UNB shot a dismal 28 per cent from the floor and committing 23 turnovers to the Tigers. UNB

fell 79-59 to DAL, placing them in fifth in the AUS standings with a 3-2 record.

The Reds were led by Amanda Sharpe’s 20 points, but the story of the game was ball control.

Committing 23 turnovers and allowing Dalhousie to post 14 steals made this a game to forget for the Jeff Speedy’s team.

The majority of the scoring was done by the trio of forward Amanda Sharpe, guard Tashina Van Vlack and forward Emma Russell.

This combination scoring points from the front and back court shows that the Reds have good variety on offence, but overall poor shooting is what kept them out of the win column.

Men still winless in season play Following the women’s match, the UNB men’s squad took to the court in hopes of providing a different result than the first game. Wasting no time, the Reds got straight into their fastpaced style of play, but missed opportunities.

Unorganized offence saw them fall into and

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

UNB will have to wait another week for their first win of the AUS season. The Reds fell to DAL 74-58 last Sunday at the L.B. Gym. early double-digit point deficit.

While unable to establish an inside presence, the team had to settle for perimeter play and a lot of shooting.

“You just can’t live and die by jump-shots,” said an obviously frustrated coach Brent Baker.

Shooting a mere 27 per cent from behind the arc, UNB couldn’t get it done with three-pointers.

Overall, UNB was unable to establish any presence inside the key. Dalhousie’s defensive style kept UNB to shooting threepointers all game which the Reds couldn’t deliver.

When the Reds would pound the ball inside, they were occasionally successful, but overall players were seeing more swats than lay-ups. At the final buzzer, the scoreboard read a 74-58 victory for Dalhousie.

“We showed flashes of what we can do,” added Baker, likely trying to find a silver lining in what was an overall ugly game.

The loss keeps UNB in the gutter of the AUS standings with an 0-5 record.

With nine players in their first year of eligibility this is a very

young and inexperienced team, but naturally it makes for a bright future. Flashes of excellent play, but overall inconsistencies were the story for the men on Sunday.

Both teams saw similar results, and both seem to have similar problems. Not breaking 60 points in either game, and completely lacking any positive game in the low-post, both teams will have a lot to work on this week in practice.

Next action for the basketball squads will be this coming Saturday when Cape Breton University comes to town to take on the Reds.

On the women’s side, CBU remains undefeated five games into the season, and will definitely provide tough competition for the ailing Reds. Game time is set for 6 p.m. at the L.B. gym.

In men’s action, Cape Breton is sitting in a tie for third place in the Atlantic division. UNB will try to take advantage of the Capers, who fell to SMU in a 7574 defeat this past Sunday. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. at the L.B. gym.

thebruns.ca

It’s tiny, small, and inadequate.

Let’s just get straight to the point on this one - the L.B. Gym weight room sucks. What’s worse is that nothing can or will be done before my time ends here at UNB. Construction continues on the Richard J. Currie Center, which currently remains a giant hole in the hill. It’s going to be a beautiful complex indeed.

In fact, this summer I had the opportunity to sit down with Dean of Kinesiology, Terry Haggerty, to discuss the new complex. To my surprise, he whipped out the blueprints and showed me every detail there was to know about the building (yes, that includes where each bathroom and janitorial closets are).

Of course, the Center has played a focal point in recruiting athletes for our varsity teams, and I’m positive that in the future it will stand as a deciding factor for some students that are still not certain about their university selection. In fact, my mouth even waters when I read about some of the facilities that the complex will offer: a human performance laboratory, a performance gym to host Varsity matches, and my favourite – a weight room 12 times the size of the current. It almost makes me want to apply to do a Masters program – if I had the money, of course.

But why has UNB kept its current facility the way it’s been for so long? How can a weight room of that size accommodate the vast number of students that attend UNB each academic year?

If you haven’t made it down to the weight room yet, let me take you on a guided tour. There are old dumbbells that desperately need repair or replacement, a limited number of mobile benches, and a universal in the middle of the room that is occupied every

minute of the day. In a sense, if you are a dedicated gym-goer, you might find it a little difficult to get in a sufficient workout.

To counter the cluster of students who enjoy slipping down for a workout at the same time each day, UNB has a primetime fee. Essentially, this means that you must pay $25 so you can attend the gym during the high traffic hours of the day (think supper time).

This may seem like a way to deter students or faculity from attending the gym at the same time, but it does little to counter this. When you factor in that most gyms cost $30-$40 a month in membership fees, paying a meager $25 is a steal.

And it shows – the prime-time hours aren’t so prime when you are engulfed by about 40 students in a room so small.

It’s intimidating. There are some pretty massive guys working out down in the gym. When you have to rub shoulders against them during your workout, it will ruin your motivation – especially when Johnny Lifts-a-lot is slamming down the weights from five feet up and grunting like a mad cow. It just doesn’t make for an appeasing environment.

Is there anything that can be done for the class of 2009?

Unfortunately, probably not.

Other students will benefit from the Currie Center, while we will have to continue waiting in line to use the flat bench.

What’s my advice? Find a bench and stick with it. Bring water so that you don’t have to walk to the fountain and risk someone stealing your gear. Listen to music to block out others in the facility and always have a backup exercise in case the equipment you want is in use. It’s not easy, but if you plan it well, there are usually ways around it for the time being.

It may not be the best facility, but it’s all we’ve got for now.

Well, as long as Johnny doesn’t send his 400 lb. dead-lift to the ground from knee height. In that case I’ll be less of cheap ass and spend money on a better gym membership.

Mitchell Bernard is Sports Editor of The Brunswickan.

Athletes of the week

Danielle Merasty Swimming 1st year, Bachelor of Arts Fredericton, NB “Danielle showed her racing strength and dominance in the conference this weekend at the AUS Invitational. She commanded her races and her swims where extremely impressive and will rank her very well amongst the best in the country.”

- UNB swimming head coach Paula Crutcher

UNB Media Services

Kyle Bailey Hockey 2nd year, Bachelor of Business Administration Ponoka, AB “Kyle has had an excellent first term, earning this, his second athlete of the week award. As a second-year player, Kyle shows great leadership both on and off the ice.”

- UNB hockey head coach Gardiner MacDougall

UNB Media Services

brunswickansports

Nov. 26, 2008 • Issue 13 • Volume 142 • 11

SPORTS BRIEFS Tough weekend in Quebec UNB swimmers eye CIS

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

An inside view of the dome that was erected over Chapman Field last week. It will be used for field-based sports this winter.

Dome erected at Chapman Field

The UNB Varsity Reds were in Montreal this past weekend to take part in the Quebec-Atlantic Interlock tournament, hosted by McGill University.

Arguably the toughest stretch of games the Reds will face this season, UNB were winless in the four games against their Quebec competitors.

UNB kicked off the tournament with a 3-0 loss to Laval on Friday. In a recent press release, UNB coach John Richard said he was not pleased with his teams play against Laval. “I thought our Laval match was easily our worst match of our season thus far and hopefully ends up being our worst match. We lacked energy, execution and emotion and without those three you can’t beat any team at any level,” said Richard.

The Reds followed much of the same pattern on Saturday with a 3-2 loss to the hands of host McGill, and 3-0 loss to the defending CIS champs from Montreal. They then finished off the tournament with a 3-2 loss to Sherbrooke.

“The Sherbrooke match was easily our best overall match of the weekend but couldn’t score from the wings when we really needed to.

After not playing much on Friday and not dressing all day Saturday, I thought Tanya [Paulin] really stepped up and contributed. After where we started on Friday against Laval, it was good to end on somewhat of a consistent effort. That being said, it is disappointing to walk out of here with no wins and our conference to walk out of here with only one,” said Richard.

UNB will be back in action this weekend when they travel to SaintMary’s and UdeM to continue AUS conference play.

Last weekend, the UNB swim teams travelled to Halifax for the AUS Invitational. Entering the weekend, only one UNB swimmer had qualified for the CIS championships, and the team only added one swimmer, Danielle Merasty, last weekend. Merasty qualified in both the 50 and 100 metre freestyle. Merasty nearly broke the invitational record, currently held by a former UNB swimmer, Carla Geurts.

“Danielle showed her racing strength and dominance in the conference this weekend at the AUS Invitational. She commanded her races, and her swims were extremely impressive and will rank her very well amongst the best in the country,” said UNB coach Paula Crutcher.

As well as adding an additional CIS swimmer, 90 per cent of the swim team posted lifetime bests. Patrick Adam, Shannon Donnelly, and Veronique Leger’s lifetime bests resulted with a few medals for UNB. Additional medalists included Danielle Merasty, Jen Acheson, and Morgan Millard.

Overall, UNB finished the weekend in second with 265 points. Host team Dalhousie claimed the Invitational championship with 767 points.

Finishing off the podium in third place was MUN with 221 points.

DAL’s numbers still dominate the AUS, but last weekend UNB swimmers broke personal best times that will need to be broken again in order to qualify more of the team for CIS positions. The team will have until late January to prepare for their next competition, where they will be looking to improve upon last weekend’s results.

This was the last CIS qualifying event before Christmas break for UNB.

Crews were busy this week erecting the bubble that will cast over part of the artificial turf on Chapman Field this winter. This year is the first year that UNB will be using the bubble, and men’s soccer head coach is exciting about the opportunities it brings. Giving his team a competition advantage in training, the dome allows for year-round training for his team.

“As you can imagine, when we built the facility it was to give field-based sports the ability and opportunity to train year around. Those field-based sports, obviously soccer, are going to be a big component of what goes on there in the winter,” said Pinsent.

Along with the Varsity soccer squad at UNB, other teams will be taking advantage of the facility. Groups such as field hockey, lacrosse, baseball, and rugby, to name a few, have all expressed interest in utilizing the dome.

One unorthodox use of the dome will be for golf. Students will have the opportunity to swing the clubs throughout the winter months on the indoor golf course installed in the facility. “There will be a driving range set up, as well as an indoor golf course. There are tee stations and there will be a target you have to hit. There is also a game set up where you use different irons to hit different targets,” said Pinsent.

Not only will the UNB soccer team benefit from the facility, they are also giving back to the community. Members of the UNB soccer team helped in the production and set up of the dome, and in exchange donated any money received to the Stephanie Burkitt campaign. Burkitt is a former Varsity Reds soccer player who was recently diagnosed with brain cancer and is continuing treatment to remove a tumor.

“Yeadon, which is the dome supplier, approached me last week about getting a workforce of about 20 guys to get the dome up, and that they were willing to pay us. So obviously, being the soccer coach, my first instinct was that I could get my guys to do it. So what we actually did was, Yeadon made the donation to our soccer program and my guys did all the work - just the lugging of the material and stuff because it’s quite the process just getting those large pieces of fabric in place,” said Pinsent. “In turn, what the guys did Sandy Chase / The Brunswickan was they donated the money that was given to our program, $3,000, and it is A member of the UNB swimming team makes a strong push during a heat at the AUS Invitational held at Dalhousie this past weekend. going to go towards the [Stephanie Burkitt] campaign.”

Outside the class Tony von Richter The Brunswickan

For most students, a midsemester trip to Toronto to watch hockey and football would be a nice break and good way to get away from everything. For the students in the Kinesiology faculty’s Sport and Recreation Management seminar, their trip was more like one extended class than a vacation.

Over six non-stop days, the class met with executives from organizations ranging from the Canadian Olympic Committee and NASCAR Canada, to Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment to the Toronto Argonauts.

Student Chris Mustakas said that the trip was greatly beneficial to those in the class.

“First and foremost we got contacts of executives working in our proposed field. It also got our names in their minds and now we’ve put the University of New Brunswick on the radar of professional and amateur sports.

We put our names out there and they understand where we’re coming from and now we have an understanding of where they’re coming from as well.”

“We saw what’s available in our field,” said Christine Hartnoll.

“I wasn’t really aware of exactly what certain jobs actually entailed, I had no idea what I could into after [school].”

Ian Reid, the professor in charge of the course, says that the trip was modeled after a similar trip to New York that the University of Oregon’s MBA in Sport Marketing program has been offering to their senior students.

This was the first time the course and trip were offered at UNB and it is designed to benefit both the students and the university.

First, said Reid, it allowed students “to personally interact with the leaders in Canadian sport and recreation. Second, to develop a personal network of these leaders who the students could access for course work, internships, and future employment. Third, to develop an internal view of the management of private and public sport and recreation organizations that is not available in textbooks or journals.”

The purpose of the trip for UNB and the MBA in Sport and Recreation Management program were somewhat different than the students.

The purposes of the program are to “first create brand awareness and equity. Second to create a team of professional leaders in sport and recreation who are aware of our MBA in Sport and Recreation Management program, and to involve these people in the program through quest lectures, internships and possible course offerings,” said Reid.

Although it is the focus of the

course, the trip itself is not the only component. Prior to leaving for Toronto, the class divided the companies amongst themselves to provide background info to the rest of the group and to make contact with the executives and form relationships before the meetings.

The group also put together an information package for the different organizations complete with resumes, contact numbers, and information about the program itself.

The students said that the despite the fast-paced nature of the trip, it was definitely a worthwhile experience that other programs should think about implementing.

“You learn stuff that you just can’t learn in the classroom. I knew that going in but it’s true,” said Brad Duquette.

“We had really busy days but the information that you’re getting is not necessarily about the type of work, or about the organization but it’s about the process that they took to get there. The life lessons.”

Submitted to the Brunswickan

Students in UNB’s Sport and Recreation Management program sit in the Toronto Marlies dressing room during a recent trip to Toronto.

brunswickanarts arts@thebruns.ca

Nov. 26, 2008 • Issue 13 • Volume 142 • 12

Annual charity fundraiser hopes to raise $5K FROM ROCK PAGE 1

“I started thinking about all these big events that happen once and then people kind of forget about them. They bring up all this hype about a charity, and then that’s it.

“I thought that maybe we could do something annual, something streamlined so that each year it can get more and more popular and more and more people will hear about the message. The idea is that hopefully, one day we’ll be national and make it Canadawide so that people will get it ingrained into their heads that we can’t let this be a one time thing, that we have to remain conscious about it,” says Beaudette.

Beaudette’s efforts to establish Rock for Life as a national campaign have already begun.

“The first year, it just started on campus. The second year I started talking around to people whenever I travelled. When people ask me what I do I would eventually start talking about Rock for Life. Eventually I ran into someone that was like ‘hey, wow, Stephen Lewis is my idol.’

They were from Miramichi.”

Students at NBCC in Miramichi were quick to respond to the cause.

“The guy I talked to pulled some strings and got a full bus of people to attend Rock for Life.

They raised $1,200 just on their own. So that kind of established the event on a provincial basis.”

Having started completely from scratch, and with very little resources to work with, the senior student has big plans

Dan Culberson / Submitted to the Brunswickan

Slowcoaster is the biggest act to appear at the annual Rock for Life event to date. Organizer Brian Beaudette is hopeful that their performance will draw out the biggest crowd yet. for this year’s Rock for Life.

“We’ve raised over $5,000 over the two years. This year we’re hoping to match that. It’s also why we have Slowcoaster on for this year. We’ve never had a name that big before.”

Another milestone Beaudette is pressing for is the future solidification of the event and

Wikipedia as an academic resource?

Yes, you can.

From The Tubes Doug Estey The all-inclusive open source information resource we’ve all come to know and love as Wikipedia has been the subject of high praise and steep criticism since its inception in 2001. As the largest community collaboration project in existence, with over 10 million articles to date, many university professors flat-out ban it as a citable resource.

Indeed, the openness of the live publishing platform upon which Wikipedia is based – MetaWiki – dismisses it as an unwavering reliable source for most purposes.

Research studies have shown that renowned Encyclopedia Br it a n n ic a andWikipedia walk the same line of accuracy – approximately 2.92 factual errors, omissions, or unclear statements per article for the former, and 3.86 for the latter, according to Nature magazine.

Reaching further into the study, an interesting fact arose: Wikipedia articles in the study were, on average, nearly 3 times longer than those of Britannica.

In the light of this, co-founder Jimmy Wales admits there are some serious quality issues with the free online encyclopedia.

Does this mean we should reserve the use of Wikipedia for personal interest? Of course not. What it does mean is that we need to be careful about its use, especially for

academic and (more importantly) professional standards.

Ruling Wikipedia out of bounds for research purposes would be a huge mistake.

The key lies in how one uses the online giant. First and foremost, Wikipedia – or any encyclopedia, for that matter – is not intended to be directly sourced as a primary reference for a paper, news article, essay, etc. It’s a starting point for the pursuit of further knowledge.

Instead of directly citing a random article that you might come across in your travels, use it as a road map for what you’re hoping to accomplish. The real beauty in Wikipedia lies in its inclusion of valuable links and external references. Through these, you’re bound to discover pertinent resources that will help you along the way.

While it’s a mistake that you’re much less likely to incur, be wary of the wik i-st yle editing that Wikipedia boasts: don’t use it as a an outlet for original studies or independent work. Instead, publish your original elsewhere – citing dependable, nonWikipedia references, of course – and then link back to it from the appropriate articles.

Depending on how you make use of it, Wikipedia can be your best friend or your worst enemy.

Hopefully, if you follow some of these guidelines we’ve so thoughtfully laid out for you, you’ll be able make good use of it as a helpful guide to making your life easier. I know that I have.

Doug Estey is Arts Editor of The Brunswickan.

more support from the UNB Student Union. In his final year at UNB, he’s trying to keep the tradition alive long after his graduation.

“I said look, every university does Shinerama – and it’s a great thing – but we don’t have anything specific to UNB. So right now there’s the possibility

of them taking it on next year as a UNBSU-specific thing.

Eventually I’d like to see this happen at the Aitken Centre.”

Rock for Life takes place at the Student Union Building on Friday. Doors open at 7 p.m. with opener Andy Brown taking the stage at 7:30, followed by Darwin (Beaudette’s band) as

well as locals The Harrisons (fronted by David Woodside) and Bullet Hero. Sowcoaster will headline the show. Beaudette has an important message for anyone who is unable to attend this year’s show.

“If anybody is going out of town for the weekend, the main thing to stress is that you

don’t have to go to the show to make an impact. There are representatives in each residence that have been appointed [for fundraising].”

The Paper Trail is selling tickets and accepting donations, which will also be accepted at the door. Rock for Life ‘08 can also be found on Facebook.

brunswickanarts

Nov. 26, 2008 • Issue 13 • Volume 142 • 13

the brunswickan presents

Planning your holiday season compiled by Alison Clack

It’s hard to get in the mood for the Christmas season when you’re stressing about exams and final projects.

However, for those of you who are full of the Christmas spirit or are looking to get into the festive mood, there are dozens of events around Fredericton to enjoy. Don’t get too tied up with work.

Performances: Dec. 1, 2008 (7:30 – 8:30 p.m.): St. Thomas Singers Christmas concert St. Dunstan’s Catholic Church (corner of Brunswick and Regent) Holiday Events:

Arts and Crafts: December 5 - 24, 2008: Upstairs in the Gallery Christmas Choice Gallery 78, 796 Queen Street Come visit the gallery and look for gifts for family and friends. Items will include small and affordable paintings, photographs, sculptures and fine craft by Gallery artists.

December 5, 2008 (12 – 9 p.m.) 34th Annual Christmas Arts & Crafts Show, part 2 Capital Exhibit Center, 361 Smythe St Come and see the amazing display of Christmas crafts!

There is something for everyone!

Cash and credit cards only please.

Nov. 29, 2008 (5:00 p.m.): Kinsmen Santa Claus Parade Starting and ending at the Fredericton Exhibition Grounds, through downtown and back.

Dec.5, 2008 (7:30 – 8:30 p.m.): Tree Lighting Ceremony NB Legislature & City Hall/Queen St The annual parade will depart from the Legislature around 7:30 p.m. and is expected to arrive at City Hall between 7:45 and 8:00 p.m. Hot chocolate and apple cider will be provided at City Hall. Santa will be passing out candy canes for everyone (provided they’ve been nice).

Shopping for your guy or girl Maggie DeWolfe The Brunswickan

Everybody knows the holiday season is mainly a time for giving. But what happens when you have no idea what to give? Buying the perfect present for your boyfriend or girlfriend can be the ultimate challenge. Do you go for something practical, something totally frivolous, or something sentimental? It’s hard to know for sure, unless your special someone tells you straight out what they want.

And let’s face it, that doesn’t usually happen.

So how do you know what to get them? How can you spoil them without going broke yourself? And, most importantly, how can you make your sweetheart melt for a gift (and you)? Here are some tips on how to find a great gift for your great guy or girl.

First, we’ll deal with the ladies.

Guys, when shopping for your girlfriend, always stay away from practical things. Sure, her microwave might be broken, but that is no excuse to waste an opportunity to dazzle her. 99.9% of women like jewelry, trust me. It’s romantic, and it tells us that you care enough to take the time to pick out something you think will look good on us. Also, you can give your lady jewellery at any stage of relationship; if your relationship is fairly new, get her a necklace. If you’ve been together between 2 and 6 months, go for earrings and a bracelet. Between 6 months to a year, think of getting her a ring; nothing serious, just something pretty and tasteful. And if you’ve been together for over a year, get her any of the above, but maybe something a little fancier. The last tip when it comes to jewellery would be this:

personalizeit.Findoutherbirthstone, and get her something in it. Even if it isn’t the real thing, knowing that you took the time to figure out her birthstone will earn you some major points.

Before we move on, just one more thing about buying jewelry. Now let’s be realistic, very few students are in a position to afford expensive jewelry. So here is a secret location where pretty jewelry can be found for very reasonable prices: WalMart. Not even kidding. Especially the Wal-Mart on Fredericton’s north side. They have a large jewelry department with dozens of different varieties, and very little over $50. A word of advice though: when buying jewelry from WalMart, don’t tell your girlfriend.

Find a fancy box to put it in, and hide the receipt.

Now for the men. Ladies, the best tip I can give you for getting a good present for your guy is to really know his interests. If you don’t already, find out his favourite sport, team, and player. Then find something to do with said team, like a hat, jersey, jacket, or other piece of paraphernalia. Helpful hint: Something fun to get a sports lover is a beer kouzy. It’s a little sweater type thing to put on beer bottles, and they come with a variety of team logos on them. It’s a great gift for a sports and beer loving guy; plus, acknowledging that he likes beer and you’re cool with that makes you look really awesome. Do the same with his favourite band; get him their new CD, a poster, or a t-shirt. By showing him that you know what he likes, it will let him know that you care about him and

understand his interests.

So, young lovers, here are five general tips to follow when shopping for your honey: 1. Pick up on subtle hints.

If your guy/girl sees something at the mall or on TV and says “wow, I like that”, keep it in mind.

There’s nothing better than being surprised with something you secretly wanted.

2. Get them something that suits their personality. If you’re in a relationship, it’s assumed that you know their likes and dislikes, so if they have a weird obsession or something they’re really into, get something related to it.

3. Do not, under any circumstance, get them a gift certificate. A gift certificate is totally impersonal, and shows them that you either forgot about Christmas and this was last minute, or that you really don’t care about them and put in a seriously half-assed effort.

4. Don’t get them something that benefits you more than them.

Guys, if you get a girl some sexy lingerie, make sure it’s accompanied by something purely for her. Girls, if you get a guy some sexy lingerie, make sure it’s accompanied by something very, very masculine.

5. Make a Christmas gift all about them. Christmas is a very romantic time of year, and even if you can’t afford to shower them with gifts, shower them with affection. Or just shower with them. This is someone you really care about, so whether or not it’s with a gift, let them know how you feel.

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Hopefully this will help some of you who are having trouble to find a nice, thoughtful gift for that special someone. Keep the tips in mind, and you’ll be rockin’ around the Christmas tree in no time.

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

The Christmas shopping season can be a stressful one. Shopping for loved ones is even more difficult.

brunswickanarts

14 • Nov. 26, 2008 • Issue 13• Volume 142

Winnipeg’s man behind the music Hagerman’s happy horoscopes

Aries (March21st - April 19th)

You may feel a change of heart this week, dear Aries.

A brain-controlling slug will latch onto your head and begin controlling everything that you do. But, on the bright side, you’ll never have to worry about making decisions again! All hail the brain slug overlords! Your lucky hand is right.

Taurus (April 20th - May 20th)

You may have partied a little hard lately, dear Taurus.

In fact, you will have partied so much that your parties will actually continue into your classroom or place of employment. Thankfully, your professors and bosses will all start partying with you. Yeah! Your lucky type of watch is analog.

The Uniter

John Paul Peters works his self-taught musical engineering magic on a wide variety of endeavours, from head banging hard rock to clean cut pop and everything in between.

The Uniter

WINNIPEG (CUP) – What do hardcore heavyweights Comeback Kid, pop-magicians The Waking Eyes, and Canadian Idol contestant Katelyn Dawn have in common?

All three acts have had their albums recorded by renowned audio engineer John Paul Peters.

Originally from Steinbach, Manitoba, Peters has played guitar in both The Undecided and seminal hardcore band Officer Down.

Peters says he got his first taste of audio engineering by recording rough demos in his basement.

“I just like being in the studio.

I loved recording, playing the instruments, and being under the gun – I love that part of it,” the 31 year-old said from the control room of his new studio, Private Ear.

record in 2003, Peters worked independently out of his basement.

With bands like Figure Four, The Ripperz, and Evil Survives knocking on his door, he made the decision to jump to a bigger workspace.

Peters is now part owner of the newly re-located and renovated Private Ear Recording Studio.

Located in an old chemical warehouse, Private Ear is unassuming from the outside.

Inside, the studio is like a hidden oasis. The heavy steel doors and concrete floors give way to newly built walls, decorative throw rugs, hardwood floors, comfortable lighting, and a control room that would make any band swoon.

With a brand new studio, Peters seems to have the perfect environment to complement his approach when it comes to recording.

“My philosophy is to help the artist realize their goal, not my goal for the project,” said Peters.

His role often varies in the studio – in some cases he is very involved with writing, arranging, and playing instruments, while in

other situations he remains behind the control board.

“I actually like being more creatively involved than being less creatively involved,” he said. “I prefer to have [more] responsibility.”

In either case, the final decisions are always left to the artist.

Neil Cameron, co-owner of Private Ear and an accomplished recording engineer himself, says Peters’ versatility and ability to fill numerous roles in the studio is what makes him such a unique engineer.

“He’s really, really good at a lot of different areas; he’s an excellent musician, he’s got great ideas, he works with people really well and he’s an absolute wizard on [music recording/editing software] Pro Tools,” Cameron said. “He impresses me every day.”

For Peters, it’s all in a day’s work.

“I try to bring everything I am capable of to every project, and to take everybody a step above of where they thought they’d be, and if I can do that than my job is worthwhile,” he said.

You may be feeling especially musical this week, dear Gemini. In fact, every time you speak, your voice will automatically sound like you’re singing everything you’re saying. This will turn your life into a musical. You will be nominated for a Tony award. You won’t win. Your lucky Citizen Cope hit song is Let the Drummer Kick.

Cancer (June 22nd- July 22nd)

You will, quite frankly, be rocking out too hard this week, dear Cancer. While playing in a band, your guitar will begin shooting lightning bolts, setting the stage and the first three rows of the audience on fire.

You will later discover that it was just because your guitar had a wiring short. Your lucky life replacement is World of Warcraft.

Leo (July 23rd - August 22nd)

Your skills at photography will produce unexpected results this week, dear Leo. Everybody you take pictures of will, soon after, win the lottery. Unfortunately, you will not appear in any pictures of that you attempt to take of yourself. Instead, where you were, there will be a picture of Seth Rogen. Your lucky non-bearded

member of ZZ Top is Beardy.

Virgo (August 23rd - September 22nd)

The upcoming winter months will leave you quite cold, dear Virgo. You should bundle up with as much clothing as possible in order to keep warm. This will have the unintended side effect of increasing your size into a large ball. On the bright side, you can now roll everywhere!

Your lucky mouse has three buttons.

Libra (September 23rd - October 23rd)

the brunswickan will be taking a hiatus for exams after the Dec. 3 issue, and will return to print on Jan. 7, 2009.

Curran Faris

When it comes to engineering, Peters is essentially self-taught.

Instead of going to an engineering school, he learned through heavy reading, practicing trial and error, and working as a studio apprentice.

“That’s the fastest way to learn.

Not that school isn’t a very valid way to learn, but I’ve always [believed that] you decide what you need to learn and then you make a way to learn it.”

Peters has been moving quickly.

He began his career working as a freelance engineer out of various studios in Manitoba. In 2003, he worked on his first internationally successful record, Comeback Kid’s Turn It Around.

When compared with cities like Toronto or Vancouver, Winnipeg appears at first to be a small market for an audio engineer.

However, Peters says Winnipeg is “a busy music place,” and he has no intentions of leaving.

He adds that he has been able to work as an engineer full-time for the last six years, supporting his wife and two children.

After the Comeback Kid

Gemini (May 21st - June 21st)

Technology will not be on your side this week, dear Libra. The internet will be so slow that you literally cannot function, even if you don’t have a computer.

The solution is then to get a computer and then talk to the internet nicely so that it will run faster for you.

Like a horse! Your lucky teeth are sharp.

Scorpio (October 24th - November 22nd)

You will be hungrier than usual this week, dear Scorpio. This may in fact be because you’re not eating real food. You are, in fact, eating imaginary food. Sorry to burst to burst your bubble, but unicorn toast is not real. Your lucky french fries are served cold..

Sagittarius (November 23rd - December 21st)

Playing too much Grand Theft Auto will have a profound effect on your psyche this week, dear Sagittarius. You won’t become desensitized to reality, however. Instead, you will have the overwhelming urge to wait around while the world around you loads into existence. Your lucky square is round.

Capricorn (December 22nd - January 20th)

Consuming energy drinks will have an unexpected side effect this week, dear Capricorn. You will receive the usual burst of energy; however, like Gambit, you will also gain the ability to charge everyday objects with energy as well. Please do not wear Gambit’s headband, though. Your lucky straw is bendy.

Aquarius (January 21st - February 18th)

Your advances toward someone will be rebuffed this week, dear Aquarius. Fortunately, there are plenty more fish in the sea. Just don’t go for anglerfish; those things are just damn freaky with their big teeth. Get a clownfish instead. Your lucky staples are sharp.

Pisces (February 19th - March 20th)

You will find the world to be a much crazier place this week, dear Pisces. It will not be crazier because it is more crazy than the previous week, but because it will be less crazy than usual, making it crazier. I think. Your lucky ketchup is red.

Correction Citizen Cope was never a member of Basehead, and previously only toured alongside Basehead, who is a solo musician. He has not been dropped from a record company, and continues to do business with RCA and Dreamworks on a regular basis. His song ‘Let the Drummer Kick’ was not a hit, in that it never charted significantly, though it is his top downloaded song on the iTunes music store. Incorrect information was published in the Nov. 19 issue of the Brunswickan. The Brunswickan apologizes for this misconstruance of information.

brunswickanarts

Nov. 26, 2008 • Issue 13 • Volume 142 •15

B.A. dishes out a bathroom performance

Fresh from the airwaves CHSR

Submitted

Jens Ourom / The Brunswickan

B.A. Johnston eloquently explained why “Everyone you date after me is a sack of shit” in his men’s washroom encore Saturday night at the Capital.

this week in brunswickanarts So many beards, just one concert Matt Mays and El Torpedo will be promoting their summer release, Terminal Romance, with a concert in the SUB atrium with the Sam Roberts Band. The bands will be joined

by In-Flight Safety. Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 the day of the show.

Keepsake iTunes “Single of the Week” Contrived, a super-group comprised of members from Wintersleep and Holy Fuck, may have a new hit on their hands. The single, Keepsake, off of their new LP, BlankBlankBlank, will be the iTunes single of the week starting November 25.

Winter Nature Book Launch Learning a little something about the local flora and fauna has just become a little easier. Winter Nature: A Guide to Common Mammals,Trees, and Shrubs of the Maritimes by Merritt Gibson and Soren Bondrup-Nielsen is being released December 11. The launch is being held at Acadia University, 7 p.m.

Share’s Weekend at the Capital Halifax band Share will host back-toback shows this weekend at the Cellar.

This Forward Music Group favourite will be joined by Smothered in Hugs on Friday night and the Slate Pacific on Saturday night.

Charity CD Release Grand Theft Bus, All of Green, Naked Days and Funky Juice are putting out an album in commemoration of the work done by Randy Cable. Cable worked to donate the proceeds of an album to cancer patients while undergoing his own treatment. The CD release will be taking place Dec 6, 10 p.m., in the SUB Ballroom.

IPN Last Class Bash The final Indie Pop Night of the year will be held on December 4. The show, which will be the Capital’s Last Class Bash, will feature great indie dance pop and drink specials. The show starts at 10 p.m. It is $5 at the door.

to

The Bruns

CHSR held their annual member meeting on Tuesday the 18th.

Elections were held and new executives were voted in. Alex Gamble was voted in by fellow members to become our new chair of the executives. Former chair Brad Doiron decided to step down from the position as he will be finishing his last year of school at UNB, and moving to Ottawa. The music librarian position was filled

by Noel Kippers. Spoken word coordinator was also voted in.

Zack Crow filled this position, and Julian Renaud is now our music production coordinator.

Our music director Sarah Robinson will be studying abroad and will be stepping down from her position as music director.

That position will be filled in the late spring of ‘09.

New to our team at CHSR is Nick Scott. He is our new program director, and will be handling all the programming and scheduling of our shows. Nick hails from Moncton. He studied at St. Thomas University, with a masters in sociology and a major in Native Studies.

We are extremely delighted to welcome Nick onto our team.

There is a special thanks going out to Tristis Ward for training Nick Scott. Tristis now has a seat on the Board of Directors at CHSR; she is now the Elected Member, which is voted on by the members of CHSR. Joining Tristis on the Board will be Joe Blades, who is another elected member.

Both will now be part of the Board to be representatives of CHSR members.

The Local Artists that charted on our top 30 are as follows:

1 * Laura Barrett - Victory Garden PaperBagRecords 2 Mogwai - The Hawk Is Howling Matador 3 * Chad Van Gaalen - Soft Airplane FlemishEye 4 Santogold - Santogold - Downtown Records 5 Tv On The Radio - Dear Science Geffen 6 Chemical Brothers - Brotherhood SinglesCollection-Virgin 7 JennyLewis-AcidTongue-Warner 8 * Stars - Sad Robots Ep - Arts & Crafts 9 * Snailhouse - Lies On The Prize Unfamiliar 10 *AngelaDesveaux&TheMighty Ship-AngelaDesveaux&TheMightyShipSonicUnyon 11 * B.a. Johnston - Stairway To Hamilton-JustFriends 12 DepartmentOfEagles-InEarPark -4ad 13 *TheOrgan-Thieves-Mint 14 Belle&Sebastian-TheBbcSessions -Matador 15 BlocParty-Intimacy-Atlantic 16 * Matmos - Supreme Balloon Matador 17 Clinic-Funf-Domino 18 JaguarLove-TakeMeToTheSea -Matador 19 TheSoundOfAnimalsFightingTheOceanAndTheSun-Epitaph 20 O’luge-Movements-LastGang 21 The Fratellis - Here We Stand Island 22 TheCure-HypnagogicStatesEpUniversal 23 FriendlyFires-FriendlyFires-Xl 24 JuanaMolina-UnDia-Domino 25 IronMaiden-SomewhereBackIn Time-TheBestOf:1980-1989-EMI 26 TheVerve-Forth-Parlophone 27 Thievery Corporation - Radio Retaliation-EslMusic 28 G.love&SpecialSauce-Superhero Brother-BrushfireRecords 29 *MonElectricBijou-Backstabber Blues-RoastRecords 30 Fort Knox Five - Radio Free Dc FortKnoxRecordings

16 • Nov. 26, 2008 • Issue 13 • Volume 142