Issue 17, Vol 141, The Brunswickan

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ews looking at a new jones house pg.3

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ports skills comp nothing to write home about pg.11

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rts scrapbooking goes mainstream. almost pg.7

The Brunswickan

Volume 141 Issue 17 • Canada’s Oldest Official Student Publication • UNB Fredericton’s Student Paper • Jan. 30, 2008

Student Union votes to oust no-show councillor

by Jennifer McKenzie

UNB Student Union Faculty of Engineering Representative Lionel D’Sa is no longer a member of the Union’s Council after a motion from Vice President of Finance Mike Stockford lead to his removal from the body last Thursday.

The dismissal was based on section 15 of the Student Union by-laws, which

‘Rock the Hill’ to rock campus

permits the dismissal of councilors if they fail to attend three or more union meetings. There must be a majority vote to pass the motion and inevitably remove the councilor.

Brad Mullins, Student Union President, felt the motion would be beneficial to the union. “Council, for the most part this year, has been absolutely fantastic. It’s just because we have a full council and so many conflicting schedules that it’s difficult to meet quorum.”

D’Sa could be considered a senior councilor, having been a member of

the union, on and off, since 2004. Last spring, D’Sa was elected as one of two Faculty of Engineering Reps., along with Melanie Lambert. Lambert was elected with 100 votes, D’Sa with 66; 267 votes were cast in total for the position.

After some discussion, Thursday’s motion passed, with over two-thirds majority of councilors voting in favour of D’Sa’s removal.

“The motion brought forward was essentially saying if this councilor is not going to be attending, it’s making our

quorum harder to achieve and he’s not meeting his responsibilities,” explains Mullins.

Student Union veteran Nick Ouellette says the decision was a longtime coming. “It’s unfortunate the council had to resort to dismissing Mr. D’Sa, but when it comes down to it, he wasn’t doing the most basic job of representing the interest of his constituents and tying the hands of the council by preventing it from achieving quorum. No-show councilors who get elected and then don’t contribute only hurt the union.

the decision by council.

“The only thing I can indicate is that he did seem a little surprised by it, in his first response, and then his second he didn’t seem overly bothered by it, he stated that he was busy. I’m not sure which e-mail represents his true feelings, however.”

“It really is an unfortunate situation… I was one of the small majority of councilors who voted against the motion, however I do see the reasoning behind the motion and why it was brought forward and necessary.”

UNB Climbers host international film festival Banff Mountain Film Festival will play on all seven continents

by Bruns News Department

UNB’s Student Union is bringing in seven bands for the February 7 “Rock the Hill” event. The oneticket, all access event, is being produced in conjunction with the ECMAs. Wintersleep, The Trews, Two Hours Traffic, hey Rosetta, Tom Fun Orchestra, Slowcoaster, and Grand Theft Bus are all listed to play sets in the Ballroom and the Atrium.

“The plan is two stages, one in the Ballroom, one in the cafeteria; seven bands; one all access ticket,” Brad Mullins, Student Union President, explains.

“It’s a 19+ show for non-students, and all-ages show for UNB and STU students, with a valid – emphasis on valid – student ID.” And don’t worry; SUBS Inc. will have two bars set up, one for each of the stages. Lyle Skinner, President of SUBs Inc. is excited “Rock the Hill is the first time The Cellar is operating two bars at two simultaneous concert venues.

“We have all Cellar employees working that night to ensure that all students enjoy themselves at the event.”

This is the first of this type of event UNB’s campus has seen in a few years and security is clearly a concern. SUBS Inc. will be hiring a private security company, and city police will also be on hand.

“We are spending more on security for this event than any other event during the ECMAs. It’s our top priority. We want students to have a good time, but we want to make sure everyone is safe at the same time,” explains Mullins.

Another bonus to the show is the CBC is coming in to film the Wintersleep show, which ends up lowering the cost of the show for the union.

“The entire event ends up costing the union about $7,500, which seems like a lot of money. But when you look at what it costs to bring in one of these acts, it really is a great deal. And this is all assuming we’re not going to make any profit on this.”

The union wanted to make sure the show was student friendly. UNB students will be paying $20 for tickets, general admission, including STU students. Ticket pricing is $25.

They give students a false sense of representation and risk creating situations in which important considerations for some students will never make it into discussions.”

As of press time, D’Sa could not be reached for comment.

Mullins officially informed D’Sa of his dismal via e-mail after Thursday’s meeting and has since received two responses from the fifth year student.

The first, Mullins said, seemed to have a tone of surprise, while Mullins believes that in the second, D’Sa was resigned to

by Brian Munn

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

A group of St. Thomas students were trying out the facilites at the LB Gym last Friday. In addition to the Banff Mountain Film Festival, the UNB Rock and Ice Climbing Club hosts numerous community and student groups at the climbing wall each year, offering after school programs, birthday parties, and outdoor climbing excursions.

According to John Bowles, this weekend is about getting “excited and psyched about climbing.” Bowles is the president of UNB’s Rock and Ice Climbing Club, which will be hosting the Banff Mountain Film Festival February 1-3.

The film festival, a touring event that UNB has hosted annually for more than decade after hosting the original show in 1986, features a huge selection of international mountain culture films; short films on anything from base-jumping to biking, skiing, paragliding and kayaking are featured.

After a festival in Banff selects a number of winning films, the show goes on tour around the world – it plays in 11 provinces and territories, 39 states, and in over 30 countries – including the likes of Taiwan, Scotland, Nepal, and South Africa. It plays on all seven continents, including two stops in Antarctica. The stop in Fredericton is one of three stops in Atlantic Canada; the festival also makes stops in Halifax and St. John’s.

“[The film festival] is our primary event of the year,” commented Bowles.

“It’s a weekend-long festival, and it’s something all our members look forward to.”

The Rock and Ice Climbing Club are adding their own touch to the weekend, adding a local climbing competition to the festivities. The competition is geared towards beginner and intermediate climbers, with a focus on promoting the sport.

The festival will kick off Friday night at 7 pm at MacLaggan Hall. The climbing competition will run Saturday from 11 am-3 pm, before a second round of films.

Tickets for the film festival are on sale in advance for $11, and are available at both the climbing wall at the LB Gym and downtown at Radical Edge. Tickets are also available at the door for $13.

Added Bowles, “While [the festival] is our most financially profitable event, it’s about getting people interested in climbing.

“Because we see films about things and places all around the globe, it’s a way to keep us connected with climbers around the world.”

The Rock and Ice Climbing Club is one of the oldest clubs on campus, having run for 31 years. According to Bowles, the club has over 200 members both on campus and in the community.

In addition to being available for students interested in climbing, the club

see Climbing page 11

Lenin, Joyce, and Ernest walk into a bar...

by Ashley Bursey

“It may be nonsense, but it’s clever nonsense!”

And that, in a line, sums up the masterpiece that is Tom Stoppard’s “Travesties,” a surreal yet genius peek at the lives of V.I. Lenin, James Joyce, and Henry Carr, which UNB’s English 3170 class will be staging at Memorial Hall from January 30 to February 2, 2008. “[Travesties] was the first play I ever saw in London,” Director and Professor Len Falkenstein admits, sitting amongst half-used paint tubes and tech gear as the cast prepares for the first of three dress rehearsals. “I’m a big fan of Stoppard. It’s a great play in a university setting because it’s all about the art, the life of the mind, intellectual issues, debates that have ranged throughout history.”

And the real wit of the play, he adds, lies in its dense, highly-referenced

material.

“We’re still discovering things in the play, like, I just got another joke today,” he says.

According to a press release, “Stoppard’s play was inspired by two fascinating historical discoveries: That Lenin, Joyce, and Tristan Tzara, one of the founders of the anti-art Dada movement, were all living in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1917. While in the city Joyce helped stage a production of Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ and later ended up embroiled in a lawsuit with one of the actors over a pair of trousers. Joyce got revenge on that actor, Henry Carr, by turning him into a disagreeable minor character in his novel Ulysses. Stoppard chose to turn him into the central character of a play in which he reminisces (somewhat less than accurately) about the time he rubbed shoulders with all three great men in Zurich.”

But the play isn’t too high-brow for those of us who perhaps aren’t quite as fluent in our classical lit or Russian history. Slides depicting central characters

Ashley Bursey / The Brunswickan

From January 30 to February 2, UNB’s “Travesties” will run at Memorial Hall (think “The Da Vinci Code”’s illustrated companion) and brilliant acting bring the story to life for even the most unread of audiences.

And, even if you don’t salivate over “The Importance of Being Earnest,” the sheer momentum of the play will propel

you into the lives of its characters and their own earnest, jumpy speech, with a full scene done in limerick, a musical number or two, and perhaps even a striptease.

“It’s Oscar Wilde-an in style,” Falkenstein says. “The humor is light and satirical. It’s comedy that’s comedy, but is still utterly serious. They say vapid things, but with an utter seriousness.”

This is never more evident than in the second scene, in which Henry Carr (played by the brilliant Jordan Dashner) launches into an unequivocally genius spiel and is interrupted by his butler (several times, in fact, with a sort of ‘Choose-Your-Own-Adventure’ ending each time) to chat about the conditions of the ongoing war.

And the scene – like many others in the piece – is campy, riotous, and downright delicious for both the veteran thespian and the ingénue theatre-goer alike. Dashner’s mastery of word and movement, from every finger crook to eyebrow raise to head tilt, is indicative of a tautly-choreographed dance that plays beautifully off Stoppard’s elo-

quent, twisting words. Just watch for the cheese: “Even the cheese has holes in it,” he says, but keep on eye on that slice. As a famous theatre critic once said, “Don’t put a gun on the mantelpiece in scene one unless you expect it to go off before scene three.”

Although the actors – Dashner in particular – are quite talented, the lighting and set are not to be forgotten, either. The slideshow of images and factoids complements the acting, instead of distracting from it. Superblyexecuted lighting changes within and between scenes, accompanied by sound effects (think cuckoo clocks indicating a change-of-state for the actors) help the piece flow smoothly while further enhancing the air of surrealism propagated

by Stoppard’s dreamlike script.

“It’s a real smorgasbord,” says Falkenstein. “I think it’s going to go well.

If the cast wasn’t as strong or the production wasn’t as visually engaging, people might lose interest...but it’s a very strong cast, and it’s hard to mess up Stoppard’s stuff because he’s so funny.”

News

2 • January 30, 2008 • Issue 17

UNB research: fighting World of Warcraft addiction

by Josh O’Kane

To some, video games are a pastime.

To others, video games run their lives.

UNB student Cory MacLeod has lived both scenarios.

Now, he’s working on a psychology honours project to crop video game addiction.

An undergraduate researcher with the Nicki Research Group in UNB’s Psychology Department, MacLeod has helped with other studies of behavioural addiction. In his own study this winter term, MacLeod hopes to curb addiction to the endlessly popular ‘World of Warcraft,’ a “Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game,” or MMORPG. World of Warcraft has been no small part of MacLeod’s life.

“I’ve been playing RPGs for a while,” says MacLeod. “I started off playing ‘Diablo,’ then I played the original ‘Warcrafts.’ They were online too, but it was a different game. When World of Warcraft came out I couldn’t wait to get it. It was a lot different of a playing experience.”

Having seen the detriments of playing the game too frequently, MacLeod decided to study the possibilities of ending such drastic game play. The game, he says, requires an immense dedication and investment to play.

MacLeod thus designed a project based on two former studies done by the Nicki Research Group. The first used a technique called “stimulusexposure response-prevention” to extinguish Video Lottery Terminal (VLT) addiction, by Brent Symes and Richard Nicki. This method repeatedly immerses a person in the environment where they would perform their addiction, without having them perform the addicting behaviour. The technique proved successful in extinguishing VLT addiction.

The other previous study was performed by Jordan Kinden of the Nicki

Research Group, who studied variables that affect World of Warcraft play for an undergraduate honours project.

With these two previous studies in hand, MacLeod designed his to extinguish World of Warcraft addiction.

“My study is based on the principles of learning,” says MacLeod. “When a person engages in a behaviour, they become conditioned to environmental stimuli around them, and their physiological reactions. In the absence of the stimuli of playing, they can actually still experience these conditioned responses.”

He likens the experience to the original conditioning experiment performed

by Pavlov to make dogs salivate to the sound of a bell.

“Think about what happened when he took the food away and continually exposed the dog to the bell. The dog would salivate, but it would decline until it wouldn’t happen at all. In terms of World of Warcraft, you can take away the game but present the stimuli, and make them pay attention to stimuli.

After a while, the person would not feel the urges to play anymore.”

MacLeod plans to find three UNB students for his experiment, to be able to effectively monitor progress and to examine the efficiency of the process on World of Warcraft addiction versus VLT gambling or smoking addiction.

Stimulus-exposure response-prevention has been effectively used to cease addiction of those two actions in the past.

Dr. Richard Nicki is in charge of the research group, which is interested in why certain behaviours occur at an excessive rate. He says that gaming addiction is one that certain individuals have a hard time overcoming.

“We’re interested in why certain behaviours occur at an excessive rate,” explains Nicki. “Through personal experiences at counseling services, there are indeed some individuals who play that game and other games like it to an excessive degree… With respect to Cory’s project, we were looking to see if we could reduce some of this excessive play in people who were afflicted with

a behavioural addiction.”

Nicki hopes that the procedure and the application of the response prevention will not be too trying on participants.

“We’re just hoping for a positive outcome and we hope that we can normalize this play of World of Warcraft, and other games like that. The outcome isn’t necessarily that participants would never play the game, but maybe we can actually reach a level where the level of play is more controlled.”

MacLeod says that in some cases, players of World of Warcraft and other MMORPGs let the game take over their lives.

“People flunk out of school. Some people leave their microphone on, scream and tell their children to shut up and go to bed while not leaving the game. I’ve heard of people peeing in a bottle while doing a 25 or 40 man raid rather than stopping the raid to go to the washroom.

“That’s what made me think it’s a bad thing to do… There are a lot of negative effects it can have on social relationships, your own health, everything in your life.”

MacLeod still in fact considers himself to be addicted to World of Warcraft, but has learned to take it in stride, and only play when he has the time – and knows when to stop. The situation is different than it was in the summertime, though.

“In the summer, I worked an eight to five job, and I didn’t have too much else going on since my girlfriend was home for the summer. I would play from when I got home from work until two or three in the morning… I don’t like looking at the numbers.”

The game allows players to see how many actual days of play they have logged with the characters they create.

MacLeod’s two main characters have 25-35 days logged on each – which to some players, is child’s play.

“One guy has 280 days on his warrior. And the game’s only been out 4-5 years now. That’s a good chunk of his life.”

50 Years of Aitken

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

Various residents and alumni of Aitken gathered Saturday afternoon for a career fair that was part of the house’s 50th anniversary celebrations. After the house faced closure last year, the Men of Aitken had a lot to celebrate last week.

by Josh O’Kane

Almost a year ago, Aitken House was on en route to be converted into a Student Services building. Emotions were high as 100 people faced the fact that they were losing their home. As a house with strong spirit, Aitken fought back, and after several months of doing so, the house remained open.

This year marks two milestones for the house. Not only has it been okayed by UNB Res Life to stay open for more than just this year, Aitken is also celebrating it’s 50th year as a UNB residence.

Last week, men of Aitken of the past and present gathered for a weekend of sharing traditions and memories.

Brian Beaudette, President of Aitken House for this 50th anniversary year, says it was an incredible time shared by all.

In fact, the Friday night event, where Aitken residents and alumni filled the Social Club, was “definitely my greatest night at UNB,” says Beaudette.

“It was just ridiculous, the amount of people. Aitken guys back and forth, singing our chants, introducing people from the 1970s... There was one guy who was president at the 40th anniversary, he said it was the best night he’s had in 10 years – the last time was when he was here, doing the 40th.”

Beaudette estimates that there are at least 150 Aitken alumni in town for the weekend’s events.

The week began with traditional house week activities for residents of Aitken, including a special history of Aitken event where residents got to learn about the house, the namesake, the traditions, and more. The alumni events kicked off Thursday with a house versus alumni hockey game, where the alumni narrowly edged the residents out 5-4 in overtime.

Friday began with registration and an open house where alumni could retrace their steps, followed by dinner and a UNB-STU hockey game. Afterwards, the group headed to the Social

Club to mix and mingle. Saturday had a career fair, where Aitken alumni’s companies could show off what they had to offer and give residents and alumni chances to work with other alumni.

Beaudette says he’s working with various alumni to establish a website where Men of Aitken can post job opportunities and résumés, so that they may continue to network and offer opportunities to other Men of Aitken.

An open mic night was also held Saturday night, where the alumni and residents were able to share their greatest memories of Aitken. Beaudette says that weekend meant a great deal to everyone involved.

“This will probably be the weekend they’ll remember throughout their entire university career,” says Beaudette of residents’ experiences at the anniversary.

Aitken is no longer at risk for permanent closure, at least in the next few years. James Brown, Executive Director of Residential Life, Campus & Conference Services, says that the permanent closure of another residence is not in the immediate future.

“We’re looking at a number of options, but we’re not looking at an option that includes a permanent closure of Aitken,” says Brown.

The Daily Gleaner incorrectly reported on January 23 that the decision to keep Aitken open had been recently made. However, in the first issue of this school year’s volume of The Brunswickan, Brown was quoted as saying that Aitken would remain open beyond this academic year. The Gleaner article also stated that Aitken’s fate was to be boarded up, when in fact its intent was to become rededicated.

Brown says that in the future, “there could be cuts with another building… but I don’t have any particular prospects for that now. The one prospect that was present was the university’s need for Student Services space. That opportunity has already been filled.”

Jones House is currently being rededicated as the new Student Services Building. After a year of closure in 2006-07, it was announced the building would no longer function as

a residence.

If another residence building were to be considered for closure, Brown says that he would need to run through another extensive consultation process with the university.

“I have projections for enrollment for next year; we’ve already done a preliminary budget and in the preliminary budget there are no closures,” says Brown.

“The university projections are that UNB enrollment would be down by about 200 full-time equivalent students from this year. That would drive a reduction by about 40 applicants to residence; that’s not a large enough reduction to drive a building closure.”

Brown is currently involved in preliminary discussions about how to restructure residence – without permanently closing a building – to compensate for the steadily declining enrolment at UNB and in residence.

In the meantime, Beaudette says that the celebrations last week have had a tremendous emotional impact since Aitken was saved from closure.

“Its everything we fought for,” says Beaudette; “the emotions that ran last night were ridiculous.”

“Now that we’re open, we have a very, very positive outlook… I talked to President McLaughlin at an awards banquet, and he said he felt he made a good decision. I said, ‘We’ll still have good news for you for years to come, and we should start planning for the 100th anniversary.’”

He says the alumni have said they feel the years they spend away from the house go by in the blink of an eye, and that when they can come to events like this, it’s more important than their everyday lives.

“It may sound hokey, it may sound stupid, but what this house does to people is unreal.”

Beaudette, whose presidency ends soon, still wants to give back to the house when he’s done.

“I’m applying for proctorship and I’m trying to advertise as much as possible that I want to live in Aitken, That would be the next role I’d be able to take in the house. It’s my last year at the school, and I’d like to end it there.”

News

Issue 17 • January 30, 2008 • 3

Jones House gets a fresh look

by Lauren Kennedy with files from Jordan Gill

by Lauren Kennedy

When coming up the hill from the bottom of campus, a prominent building stands tall and empty where Jones House once was. Now empty and waiting for new occupants to move in since it closed in the fall of 2006, there will finally be some activity happening within the building as key facilities on campus will be moving into Jones House The Executive Director of Student Affairs and Services, Anne Forrestall, explains what is happening to the former residence building.

“When I first came into this department, my first priority was to find a new space for the Student Health Clinic, which has outgrown its space. The waiting room is too small; the physicians only have one examination room each, slowing the process down; and it is located on the second floor of Tibbits East, which is not very accessible to some people,” she said. “So when I found out that Jones House was closing its’ doors for good, I put together a proposal to house some locations of student affairs and services into one building.”

There is enthusiasm around the idea of moving locations, says JoAnn Majerovitch, Director and Physician of the Student Health Clinic.

“We are all very excited at the Health Centre about the possibility of the move,” she explained, as the plan is for the clinic to be moved from its current location to the third floor of Jones House. Counseling services would move from where it is now to the second floor of the house, and the first floor would become various offices of student affairs: financial aid, the student advocate, the development coordinator, and others.

At this point, two areas of student services that will not move from their current placements is the Student Accessibility Centre, which is now in Marshall D’Avery Hall. The education department that is housed in the same building has close ties to the centre, and it is very valuable to have both entities

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

Student Affairs and Services Executive Director Anne Forrestall stands next to the former all male residence, Jones House. Older facilities on campus such as the Student Health Centre will be moving into the house. in close proximity together. The other area is Student Employment Services.

Although not very accessible for some, it has the advantage of having small rooms for interviews and such.

Presently, phase one of the development plan is in the works. The goal of this phase is to make the building more accessible.

“The first phase of the renovations is to make the building more accessible.

Right now it doesn’t have an elevator, and one will be installed – that should be starting in a couple of weeks. The front of the building only has two steps right now to get inside and that will be fixed so there is a slope instead of steps,” said Forrestall.

She sees this new movement of services as very beneficial for everyone who is a part of it.

“The benefits for students will be really wonderful. It’s hard for us now to be in a different building and it will be nice to have a cohesive service for the students. A lot of what we do now is referring students form one service to another, but with this move everything will be interconnected once we are close to each other and it will be a great advantage for students.”

Forrestall would love to see everything moved by September 2008, but she says realistically, it will probably be January 2009.

With the movement of all the new services into the building, the question is whether the building will still be named Jones House.

“We haven’t decided on that yet. I’ve talked to a past president of Jones and we certainly talked about the recogni-

tion of the house, whether it is a plaque in the entranceway to be aware of the community that was once there, but we haven’t decided on anything yet,” she said.

She feels that having this structure visible as soon as someone drives from the entrance gates will show that students are number one.

“This is going to be great visually; it will help show that students are at the centre of our universe and it’s a wonderful representation of having a student-centered environment.”

Jones House was an all-male residence, which opened in 1958 and closed because it had the least number of returning students applying to return that year (2006). Only 25% of returning students applied, prompting the residence to shut down.

A chance to win the wedding of a lifetime The Delta has partnered with Capital FM and The Fox to bring a contest that offers a free $15,000 dream wedding to a deserving couple.

by Naomi Osborne

Internet

It began with 150 couples and the winning duo will be chosen on Valentines day.

For couples ready to tie the knot, this contest may just win them the wedding of their dreams. The Delta has partnered with Capital FM and The Fox to create a contest that gives 150 couples the chance for a free wedding, valued at $15,000.

Amanda Brown and Joey Carr have been together for five years and have jumped at the chance to have a dream wedding when they saw the free package.

Amanda is graduating from Renaissance College this spring, as well as her fiancé Joey who is graduating from nursing at the University of New Brunswick.

Winning this prize package would assist them in paying for their wedding.

“We both still have student loans, so this would be amazing,” said Brown.

The contest has been narrowed down to 50 couples, and the number of votes each couple receives via Internet determines the winner.

The contest is set up so that people can vote for their favourite couple just by going to the Capital FM or The Fox website. Everyone is able to vote once a day, everyday.

The contest began with 150 couples

Whole new world

when the Delta first approached the radio stations, and since then it has been broken down into three stages. The Promotions and Marketing Director for Astral Media Radio Atlantic, Jennifer Cox, has worked to make this contest possible for viewers to vote.

“The Delta first approached us to help put together a prize package and come up with the sponsors, that’s how we got $15,000 worth,” said Cox. “We opted to make it more interactive and put it on a website.”

The contest was broken down into three stages. A random draw was done with the original 150 couples, from that only 50 were drawn and those couples advanced. Those same 50 couples are now the ones that people are voting for on the website.

On February 1, the bottom 25 couples that have the least votes will be eliminated, while the other 25 will resume the contest with votes reset back to zero.

Every time couples are eliminated, the votes are reset back to zero, so it is important that people vote for their favourite couple everyday.

February 8 is the final elimination

before the draw; it will be narrowed down to only five couples and the votes will be reset.

The winning couple will then be announced on Valentine’s Day, and the Delta along with the sponsors help the couple plan their dream wedding.

“They chose Valentine’s Day for two reasons, because it is the most romantic day of the year and because this is the time of year that couples start planning their weddings,” said Cox. The Delta originally decided to start the contest in an attempt to increase the traffic at their wedding show, explained Cox. The way it works is that each sponsor

contributes something, whether it is the photographer, the cake, the dress, the tuxedos, or anything else – the couple has to use what the sponsors have provided. This has caused some issues with other couples in the contest already.

“There are certain requirements if you win; they only pay for 100 guests, and if you want more then you have to pay for it on your own,” said the bride to be. “You also have to use their photographer and one couple has already dropped out because of that.”

The issue is that most couples have been planning their wedding for a long time and already have most of the details worked out. And for some couples, money isn’t as big of an issue as it is for students.

If Brown and Carr won, they would move their wedding date from August to April 19 (as per the contest regulations), mainly because it wouldn’t take as long to plan.

“The whole point of it is to help out a couple who maybe couldn’t afford to have a big wedding,” said Cox. The contest is almost over, but in the meantime, all couples can do is wait and hope that people will vote for them. If the contest is successful this year, the Delta may just make it an annual event.

“If people could vote for us that would be the greatest thing!” said Brown.

Some students may never get to experience what these few have done in 12 weeks.

The University of New Brunswick Centre for Property Studies works with students of any faculty to send Canadian student interns to parts of South Africa and Malawi under the AUCC (Associations of Universities and Colleges of Canada) program funding these internships. While living in these regions, students work with partnering universities in a university-to-university exchange, developing governance and working with land management, forestry, and legal structure.

“It’s a 12 week program in a developing country earning three credit hours, either in the summer or the fall. We establish before hand what our partners want and what we can provide and then a proposal is written. When the proposal is accepted, we do a search for students and chose the best candidates to work with our partners. Essentially, this year we are sending students to build on the success of past interns,” explains the Project Coordinator for the Centre, Veronica McGinn.

In 2006, Robbie Kingdon and Erin Riley traveled to Malawi to do such an internship at Mzuzu University, and truly experienced what life was like outside of Canada. While there, Kingdon explains that he did a lot more than what he expected.

“What I learned in Malawi is that things can happen very quickly. On the second day I was there, I was introduced to the Vice-Chancellor of the university and we quickly got talking about our projects. I found out there were some problems with some control points in a survey project, so I suggested a differ-

ent system, and the next thing I knew I was working on this great project,” he described.

McGinn takes pride in the lessons that students learn while in developing countries. She says that the students who take on these internships have expressed a love for the work they participated in.

“A lot of people can’t afford to take off and go with their own money so that is where this program helps out.

The experience of the students is just incredible when they come back, they see everything in a different light,” she said.

Adam VanderLinde and Brent Langille are students who travelled to Pietermaritzburg, the capital of the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal.

There, they experienced working with land rights and land reform.

VanderLinde explained that their job was to work with the newly passed Communal Land Rights Act, which would transfer all ownership of land to the Zulu communities who would then decided whether to keep the land as their own communal land or have it as private property.

At the end of the day, all the students that went felt like they really made a difference in the lives of the people who lived in these places and within the communities as well.

“I’ve never been to the African continent before. Much of the news you hear about from the Western media tends to be depressing and horrific, but for me, it was a fantastic experience. It was just great!” said Langille.

“A lot of students on campus are interested in international work. Until you actually do it and get a feel for it, you don’t know what it’s really like. I’ve had some students go and it changes their lives,” said McGinn. “It gives you an opportunity to see what life is like outside of Canada and you get a whole different prospective.”

Submitted by UNB Centre for Property Studies

Robbie Kingdon shows a student how to use Survey equipment.

ATTENTION UNB - FREDERICTON UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS TENTATIVE APRIL 2008 EXAM SCHEDULE THE TENTATIVE APRIL 2008 EXAM SCHEDULE WILL BE AVAILABLE ON THE WEB ON FRIDAY FEBRUARY 1st, 2008 FROM THE UNB HOMEPAGE OR AT THIS URL:

http://www.unb.ca/schedules/exam/ The tentative schedule is also posted on faculty bulletin boards. It is expected that the Final Exam Schedule will be available by February 15th, 2008.

Students are reminded that they are expected to make themselves available for examinations until the last possible day of the examination period, ie April 24th, 2008. Therefore, travel arrangements should not be finalized until the final examination timetable has been released. Deferred exams will not be granted for reason of travel arrangements.

eic@unb.ca • January 30, 2008

Comments & Letters

Failed Leadership: Who will fix it?

Rousing the Rabbles by Nick Ouellette

Obama. Clinton. McCain. Romney.

Kucinich? Primary season is sweeping the US in the race for the presidency.

Harper. Layton. Dion. Duceppe.

May? Parliament reconvened this Monday with more uncertainty that comes with every minority government: When will it fall? The fever has once again taken hold of North America, and political junkies and pundits are invading the airwaves, newspapers, and blogosphere.

What they are not invading is The Brunswickan. Little wonder, though.

Few would know it, but the Student Union annual general election starts soon. Nominations open Friday. Will you run? Most will say, ‘No.’ What’s worse, they’ll follow that with ‘I don’t care,’ and why should they? The SU hasn’t shown them anything that would make them care. Lacklustre performance emanates from the SU offices, and one of those offices in particular is the focal point of this dying star.

Despite successful VPs, the Union continues to struggle to relate to students. The Book Buy and Sell that VP Academic Bethany Vail organized has been the most successful story so far this year, more than tripling what students earned in the previous year.

VP Student Services Keely Wallace has also brought innovation by tackling the re-establishment of the long-ago famed UNB Winter Carnival and starting a new program to help students cope with mental health issues. She’s done something really amazing in her portfolio.

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

Members of the UNB Student Union have not worked to their potential this year, according to columnist Nick Ouellette.

Externally, VP Jordan Graham has The issue is one of leadership. There SU struggle with each of a six-figure anhis hands full with the fallout from isn’t much of that happening at the nual deficit; consistent electoral turmoil; the PSE Commission report and the Student Union now, and as successful a lawsuit from a Vice President who proposed closure of UNBSJ, but he’s as each of the VPs has been in their was dismissed questionably; near-revolt managing it as well as can be expected portfolios, it is clear that there is little when club funding was scaled back and in a government that has shut him out to no coordination between their ef- attached to conditions those groups of the debate. His pedway issue is also forts. Each of their success stories has had never before experienced; and a important. Meanwhile, Mike Stock- come about as the result of the initiative corporate war with the company that ford has had an easy job managing the and determination of the person whose runs the only truly-owned student bar Union’s money. The two previous Vice name is attached to the project, not any on campus, The Cellar.

Yet even then, the Union managed to Presidents’ Finance & Operations were coordinated, long-term plan. cut costs to help pay off the Union’s In working as a Senator, I spend a lot remain relevant and advance its interests. outstanding debt so well that they of time observing what happens on the Even when political controversies and produced healthy surpluses that are second floor of the SUB. One thing has scandals screamed across the front pages now being used to establish a scholar- become abundantly clear to me: there of The Brunswickan, the President was ship fund and an environmental trust is no vision and no organization at the able to control their organization and fund, among other things. At least for Student Union, and there is little hope mould it in their visions. Those here long enough will recall that I disagreed now, the days are long gone when the of it changing soon.

SU has had to rely on the University The responsibility for these short- on a number of points with former to bail it out. comings rests squarely on the President, President Greg LeBlanc, particularly But awash as the Union is in cash, it Brad Mullins. His term offers little when it was discovered that his execusuffers from a chronic deficit: relevance. solace to a writer who has observed the tive had overspent by about $130,000.

But Greg had a vision, and he pursued it. And the Union, as indebted as it was, benefited.

And that’s what it all comes down to: Vision. Vision instils goals and induces planning. It spawns success. But vision is not what we see today. Students routinely lament that the SU is useless, and only a handful will identify one or two good aspects of the SU. This is far from enough. The organization can positively influence every aspect of life at UNB. But it appears that this year is treated as a caretaker year, with the status quo maintained and an apprehension for innovation.

Even the most ambitious goal this year- the creation of a committee to examine how the Union communicates with students- is destined to fail. It was struck in September, but has met only once- in December- and nothing has been acted upon. When asked last week about this, President Mullins responded that he was planning a meeting soon; there was no update on progress. A notice of meeting still has not been issued.

This is not surprising. It is consistent with the lack of organization since May 1st, when Mullins took office. Weekly meetings of the President and Vice Presidents did not occur for the longest while, and are now scheduled on what appears to be an ad hoc, last-minute basis. It is both unfortunate and regretful, because the caretaker President is himself the problem.

Yet the hands of the Council are not clean in this deference to inaction. Few Councillors routinely pose questions to the Executive to determine what the Union is doing or could do better. It has passed two sets of by-law amendments with nary a word of debate, even though they radically altered election campaign regulations. They receive and often approve financial proposals without much thought and critical analysis, and complacently accept the lack of reporting from the Executive to the Council. Executive reports routinely arrive late or not at all. A complete sum-

mary of summer activities has yet to be received, and weekly updates were rarely issued. Activities were stalled while the Council struggled to hire its most basic and important positions: Chairperson, Secretary, Chief Returning Officer, and Deputy Chief Returning Officer.

The Council willingly accepts its own shortfalls, and has difficulty even holding a meeting. It is always an open question whether quorum is present, and its only solution was to dismiss a councillor who wasn’t attending in order to lower quorum by one.

How can this Council hope to ensure that the Executives act prudently? The Council itself is imprudent. Inaction, once the exception, is now the general rule. Induced by and compounded by Mullins’ lack of leadership and vision, the SU is in a freefall from relevance, and is at a critical juncture.

This Friday, nominations open for new Councillors and Executive members. Will you run? This plea is to students who have noticed that their SU is not representing them. Recognize the opportunity, embrace it, and put your name forward, but the halfhearted need not apply. Another year should not pass where wonderful Vice Presidents like Vail, Wallace, Graham, and Stockford fend for themselves in unorganized disarray. Real leadership is needed in the Presidency, and nothing less than a Council willing to vigorously hold him or her to account is desirable.

The SU can become relevant to students again and return itself to a status that provides entertainment, value, and advocacy for students under a real mandate. It can be something that students look to with pride, not scorn, but only if the right people, with vision, are elected.

Are you one of those people?

Nick Ouellette, a UNB law student, has served on the UNB Student Union Council and the UNB Board of Governors, and now serves on the UNB Fredericton Senate and as an Assistant Don in UNB’s Residence Community.

BRUNSWICKAN STAFF MEETINGS WEDNESDAY 12:30 PM SUB ROOM 35

Comments & Letters The Brunswickan Why don’t we celebrate UNB? Editorial Board

Editor-In-Chief • Jennifer McKenzie Managing Editor • Tony von Richter Co-News Editor • Josh O’Kane Co-News Editor • Lauren Kennedy Arts Editor • Ashley Bursey Photo Editor • Andrew Meade Sports Editor • Brian Munn Copy Editor • Alicia Del Frate Production Editor • Ed Cullinan

Bethany’s Briefing by Bethany Vail VP Academic

Staff Advertising Sales Rep • Bill Traer Delivery • Mike Lee Contributors Christian Hapgood, Brad Conley, Alison Clack, Jordan Gill, Doug Estey, Dan Hagerman, Sean Horsley, Dave Briggs, Melanie Bell, Naomi Osborne, Mitchell Bernard, Ed Bowes, Jason Henry, Nick Ouellette About Us The Brunswickan, in its 141st 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, independant 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 200 words maximum. Deadline for letters is Friday at noon.

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.

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

As humans, we have a lot to get excited about and a lot to celebrate. There are birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, and job promotions to name a few. We are proud to celebrate our mothers by giving them flowers on Mother’s Day, proud to graduate, and proud to get the big career job. We all have an inherent need to feel a part of our day to day activities and be glad we are where we are. So as university students we need to feel included, proud and celebratory of our school. When was the last time you felt that about UNB? Probably your first experience of celebrating the unity of our institution was back in the days of your first year. Good ol’ Frosh Week. You were proud to be part of your residence (or house) and excited to be there. There was a week jam packed with activities just to celebrate your arrival at what is promised to be the “best years of our lives”. From bonding with your new room mate, to dancing the night away, to winning prizes at the Orientation Game Show, it was great to celebrate joining team UNB. Fast-forward four years and you are celebrating once again: this time the fact that you’re time is up and you are heading into the “real world”. There is a grand ceremony, a gown, lots of pictures, and the SUB Atrium booked and filled with delicious finger food all in honour of you.

But wait a minute. Aren’t we missing something here? What about all those years in-between? What else have we celebrated besides arriving at and leaving UNB? I suppose we have celebrated in our individual faculties and residences.

But what have we celebrated as UNB as a whole? I believe there needs to be something more. There needs to be an annual celebration to show that we are all proud to be part of UNB. We

STU BEd speaks out To whom it may concern: We are writing on behalf of the students of the 2008 Bachelor of Education program at St. Thomas University. We feel that, regarding the ongoing labour stoppage, no one has addressed our unique circumstances and concerns.

Our main purpose is to make everyone aware that, as students enrolled in a professional program, our experience differs from that of other students. Our tuition is significantly higher than the regular undergraduate program, and our academic year is divided into three distinct terms that do not coincide with

the undergraduate calendar. Our second semester classes begin in January and end late February, in contrast to the end of April for most other students; this means that as of today, we have already lost almost half of our semester.

As a class, we would like to ensure that all parties involved consider the special impact the labour stoppage has had on the students of the Bachelor of Education program.

We appreciate your time and consideration, St. Thomas University BEd Class of 2008

Tooth Paste for Dinner www.toothpastefordinner.com

BrunswickanViewpoint

Issue 17 • January 30, 2008 • 5

need a day where every student and faculty member can feel united as one and showcase the great achievements of this institution.

This vision isn’t so far fetched, as there are many universities have a day where they celebrate their institution.

St. Thomas University has “Chancellor's Day”. St. Francis Xavier has “The Feast Day of St. Francis Xavier,” which is held the first Monday of every December. It’s an annual celebration where students also receive their long awaited “X-rings”. The X-rings are given to graduating students to welcome them into the STFX family in an elaborate celebratory ceremony where all graduates are draped in black robes. It makes students there feel special and proud to be a part of STFX. There was once a day to celebrate UNB too, called “President’s Day,” but it was eliminated back in 1969 for reasons mostly unknown. The UNB Alumni holds a “Proudly UNB Dinner,” but it is not open to everyone.

Since the ending of “President’s Day”, there has been no special time or date set aside for us to reflect and celebrate UNB as a whole.

I would like to see UNB once again have at least one day where we take time out of our busy schedules to celebrate – administration, faculty, students united.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to cancel classes for the day, but it would certainly be nice to have this day recognized in the University Undergraduate Calendar. There should be an event, such as a dinner, where everyone is welcome and we can all sit down together. We could reminisce about the accomplishments of UNB and really get to know each other. It would make us realize that we are a community at UNB and what we do affects each other.

If we are able to create a day where everyone at UNB can feel united as one, I believe we will see a higher boost in moral at this institution. UNB is a nationally comprehensive university with consistently high rankings among other universities by such critics as MacLean’s Magazine - let’s celebrate this. Let’s celebrate the great research done here, the excellent teaching, the hard-working, exceptional students. Let’s celebrate us by having a day to celebrate UNB.

The

Question: What is your favourite SuperBowl snack?

Chili Alicia Chaisson

Wings and Nachos Gabe Bursey

Nachos Hessel Altenburg

I don’t watch the SuperBowl Jessica Prescott

Chips and Dip Lacey Waite

Popcorn Morgan Millard

Cheetos Nicole Gillis

What’s the SuperBowl?

Rob Bowie

Beer Tyler Folkins

6 • The Brunswickan

January 30 •2008

Arts & Entertainment

bruns.arts@gmail.com • January 30, 2008

Giving up friends and taking up scrapbooking

by Jennifer McKenzie

Christmas is over; you’ve been back from an amazing vacation for a while.

Now, Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and you want to put something spectacular (and über cheesy) together for your special someone. Well, nothing is cheesier than a scrapbook. I promise.

I’m clearly not one of the cool kids.

In my first few years of university, I was a fairly social person. I lived in residence, and went out regularly; even after I moved off campus, I stayed social. I had friends and a life. And then I discovered the joys of scrapbooking.

Now, I spend my free time cutting and gluing. Instead of spending my extra $20 on a quart, I spend it on paper and stickers.

I only started scrapbooking about a year ago, for a special occasion. What started as a one-time thing (I swear) has progressively turned into a full time hobby. And yes, I realize that I lack direction.

I scrapbook. Furiously. I look forward to nights off so I can watch some primetime TV and put together a page or two. Saturdays are exciting because the Michaels flyer comes in… clearly not everyone is going to be as hardcore as I am.

Getting started If you’ve got some photos and a special occasion coming up, putting a little something together might be a good idea. Here are some simple starting points.

1. Pick your photos. Get a few photos

of the same event or person together to put on your page. Have a theme, don’t have a theme, whatever.

2. Get the paper you want to use as your background (scrapbook albums are usually 12x12 or 8x8, but use whatever size paper you’d like. You can find an album to fit just about anything). Pick a sheet or two of coloured paper, or themed paper.

3. Pick a few embellishments. Little stickers, ribbons, buttons, whatever you want to put on your page.

4. Crop your photos. Cut them to fit your page, or cut them into shapes.

Make them fancy looking.

5. Plan out your page. Decide where the doodads and pictures go.

6. Stick them to your page. Use glue or double-sided tape.

And you’re done.

A few things to remember

1. Always make sure you’re using acid-free products (glue, paper, embellishments). In the end it matters: the acid wears down photos and eventually destroys them.

2. When you’re cutting a photo, don’t cut out anything that might date the photo. Leave in cars, or anything that might show the season, or anything else that may date it – clothing, for example.

Who knows what may be as ridiculous as a baby blue tux in 20 years.

3. Use things that are not photos.

Movie stubs, concert tickets, hospital bracelets… Anything that evokes a memory works well on a layout page.

4. Try to include dates on pages. It may be completely clear to you now that it was November 2007, that night you went apple picking. However, 20 years from now, it won’t be so clear. A little tag dated “Fall/Winter 2007” or “Nov.

2007” will be appreciated in the end.

5. On the same token: that hilarious inside joke from the other night.

The one that even a month later, still makes you laugh? Next year, you will forget. Write it down with the picture it goes with; this is one of those times journaling is a nice touch because you can tell the story behind the joke and the photo.

Themes Obviously, holidays are an easy and likely theme with bundles of occasions for taking pictures. Plus, there are a lot of scrapbooking accessories for the holidays. So really, holidays are a good theme to start with. Or, colours are another simple way to a quick and complete page. Pick a colour scheme that fits with your photo, and stick with it when picking your paper and embellishments. Colours can either draw from

your photos, or remind you of the theme you’re after. Let’s say it’s for a new baby girl. Clearly pink is a good colour theme.

Or if it’s photos from summer, bright yellows and oranges would provide the look you’re going for.

Your theme can also be built around the paper you use. Cars, flowers, football, or Disney princesses, for example.

It really depends on your pictures and what interests you.

You can also pick one theme for your entire album – say “Friends” (scrapbookers have so many) or “Things I love.”

Supplies you need to get started 1. Paper 2. Photos 3. Scissors 4. An album and protective pages 5. Glue or tape 6. Pens or markers Supplies you want sooner rather than later 1. 12” paper trimmer 2. Embellishments 3. Embellished letters 4. Scrap magazines (for ideas) 5. Cardstock paper Supplies you will want to add to your wish list 1. Cuttle-Bug (one of those supercool and kind of expensive cutting machines) 2. Cricut (a cooler and more expensive cutting machine) 3. Circle and oval trimmers (paper trimmers to cut your photos and mats) 4. Stamps and stamp pads What it comes down to is that it is the socially acceptable way to craft as an adult, and we all know how much fun crafting was as a kid.

Terms 1. Acid-Free: Only products marked “acid-free” are safe to use in scrapbooks and memory albums.

2. Journaling: The writing on a page telling the story behind the pictures.

For some, it’s the most important part of a memory album.

3. Photo-Safe: These products are also safe to use in scrapbooks and memory albums 4. Sheet protectors: Plastic covers to slip over finished pages.

5. Albums: Where you keep your pages when you’re finished.

6. Die Cut: A shape or letter cut from paper or cardstock. You can buy these or cut them yourself, after buying a super expensive and super cool diecutting machine.

7. Cropping: Cutting a photo to fit your page or layout. Cropping is also done to improve your photo.

8. Eyelet: Embellishments or decorations for your layout. They look just like the metal circles used to thread shoelaces through in your sneakers.

9. Corner Rounder: A paper punch which rounds the corners of photos and paper.

10. Mount: A verb. The act of placing a photo on a scrapbook page.

11. Mat: The backing behind a photo for decoration. Usually cardstock or coloured paper cut slightly larger than your photo.

12. Adhesives: Anything used to attach something to your page. Glue, tape, double-sided tape, photo tabs, photo corners, spray glue, etc…

13. Trimmer: A cutting tool used for cropping photos and cardstock.

Ten things that have to stop now episodes of 30 Rock and Entourage, and that just ain't right.

Rip by Sean M.H.

1. American Idol. This shit has been going on far too long. It's stupid, degrading, shallow, and Simon Cowell does not deserve to be a celebrity.

2. The writer’s strike. Normally, I wouldn't mind. But I'm missing new

Can we really trust a guy that went to the University of Tulsa on a football scholarship?

3. “Worst… Ever.” You know that Comic Book Guy on The Simpsons that started saying that? It was funny twice.

Stop saying it.

4. Joke-repeating. If we're watching something together and I'm not laughing, it's not because I didn't get it. Repeating the joke while you're laughing at it is not going to make me think it's funny.

5. Checking to see if I’m laughing.

This is kind of on the same page as number four. If something is making you laugh, don't turn your head to see if I'm laughing, too.

Internet

Worst repeated joke ever.

6. The makeover. Just a cheap offshoot of the reality show. It's done to death. A makeover should not be a lifechanging thing. If you’ve ever received one, I hate you.

7. Dr. Phil. This pompous blowhard has his dumb-ass wife on his show, now.

It's like Donny and Marie, only creepier.

8. Steve Carell. OK, the first two seasons of “The Office” were good, and “The 40 Year-Old Virgin” was all right.

But he should quit before he makes another mistake like “Evan Almighty” or “Dan In Real Life.”

9. Facebook. You guys are all nosy perverts.

10. Writing complaint letters. My editor never gives them to me. She just tells me about how many I get and then I laugh about it while I'm drinking beer and watching Richard Prior movies. (Editor’s note: We publish them instead.)

Arts & Entertainment

8 • January 30, 2008 • Issue 17

“Never give in and never give up” A local writer returns to New Brunswick with a new book and some words of wisdom

by Mitchell Bernard

The life of an author can be a tough one, especially on the wallet. For Newcastle, New Brunswick-born author David Adams Richards, penning novels and poetry has given him a successful career, but he admits, “Sometimes … I thought it would be better if I were a plumber, but I wouldn’t be very good.”

Richards, who has a long list of accolades to his name, including the Giller Award and the Governor General’s Award, recently released his latest novel, “The Lost Highway.”

Often using dark subjects for his novels, Richards tells the tale of what happens to men and women when moral questions become matters of life and death.

Richards keeps the reader absorbed with his raw and suspenseful style of writing. Already receiving rave reviews from the Globe and Mail, he is “as powerful a writer as any you can name.”

To commemorate the release of the novel, Richards will be at Chapters in Fredericton on January 31 at 7 pm to sign copies of his latest release. Fredericton fans will have the chance to meet and listen to one of Canada’s best writers, a former Giller Prize Award winner for his 2000 novel, “Mercy Among the Children.”

In an earlier interview, Richard said most of his novels are “about living in New Brunswick, the Maritimes, and how the people deal with things in their lives. The problems they have, the happiness and the sorrows they have.”

Richards has said that his inspiration for becoming a writer came at age 14, when he read Charles Dickens' ‘Oliver Twist.’ Among the other literary influences for his writing are Faulkner, Buckler, Pushkin, Alden Nowlan, and Dostoevsky.

Richards attended St. Thomas University for three years before finally dropping out to dedicate more time to his writing. He wrote his first book when he was 21 and was published for the first time at age 23.

His first publication was “Small Heroics,” written in 1972 during his first year at STU. The book was a collection of poetry and was a limited release.

In a prior interview, Richards was asked what advice he would give to young, aspiring authors.

“I would give the same advice Winston Churchill gave the people of England during the Second World War,” he said. “‘Never give in and never give up’, because [writing] is very, very, very difficult. Most of the time you are swimming uphill and most of the people you take your work to are not going to be receptive to it at first. It is going to be very hard to break in unless you are very lucky.

“I would say if you feel that you want to be a writer, then you have to let all that go and keep doing what you do. It doesn't matter what they say about your work and it doesn't matter the criticism you get, you just have to sit down and do the work. Also, I would say write how you feel, not how people tell you how you should feel.”

He added, “There are a lot of people who will tell you, you should feel some way about something when you feel the exact opposite way. If you feel the exact opposite way, then you are morally bound to write the way you feel about it. It might be difficult and people might not pay attention to you for a while, but I think you will be better off in the long run if you write the way you think rather than the way people think you should think... that is my advice.”

Richards is also involved in screenplay. His screen-writing career was launched in 1987 with the premiere of the film “Tuesday, Wednesday,” produced by the New Brunswick film company Capitol Films. The screenplay for “Small Gifts,” first aired on the CBC in December 1994, and received international acclaim at the New York Film Festival.

Each year, the Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick hands out the David Adams Richards Award for fiction.

“Yes, I think it is rewarding,” said Richards in a prior interview. “I think it is frustrating; I think it is like anything else. I think some days are great and some days are not so good. The most rewarding thing doesn't come with the attention you get or if your name is in the paper.

“What's rewarding is if you know you're working well and you're writing well. At times you don't write so well and things go wrong, but when you're writing well I think it is rewarding.”

Borderless bossa-nova

by Ashley Bursey

At first listen, the bizarre clash of French lyrics and Brazilian-style rhythm is disconcerting – a global mishmash of sounds that doesn’t quite fall in that typical harmonic line. But give it a few seconds and you’re bopping along to the beat, nodding your head to a true fusion of dynamic, catchy bossa-style guitar and blues-tinged vocals.

The heritage of “People Project”’s four core members lends the music its multiplicity: Gabriel Bronfman and Maria Emilia Martinez hail from Mexico, while Philippe Lafreniere and Steven Patterson live in Ottawa. The songs steal notes from Bronfman’s Brazilian and Argentinian heritage, and Lafreniere’s French background and love of jazz and blues.

“I was exposed to many different kinds of music [all my life],” says Bronfman, who’s joined the band in Ottawa tonight to begin a national tour. “I was always influenced by black culture, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Colombian, AfroVenezuelan. I am learning a lot about blues and folk [now]…

“So People Project is like our laboratory of mixing [sounds]. That's what makes it so rich as a concept but so hard to create, to play in huge festivals or that kinds of stuff. It’s difficult music, even though it's really simple. It's not for everybody, in a way that not everybody is prepared to look for a project that has

Submitted

“People Project” take over the Cellar on January 30 a non-specific [genre] of music.”

He could not have said it better: just a listen to the band’s MySpace page shows a series of songs in French, Spanish, Portuguese, and English, with everything from the velvety lyrics and mellow guitar of “People,” to the jumpy finger-picking and jarring French lyrics of “Mélancolie.”

It’s all a quest, says Bronfman, for “honest music.”

“When we refer to honest music, we are not using so much the tools of the new music era, like trying to create all our music on a loop that we didn't record ourselves,” he says. “It's funny that we say that… [But] there are a lot

of people using a lot of editing. What we're trying to say is, what you're hearing in the record is what we are, almost no editing at all…

“If it's good or not so good, it's a picture of the moment we're living in right now. We don’t want to fool anybody.

It's imperfect music, because it's what I really love. It doesn't matter about the quality of the recording. You play to keep the real meaning of the song.”

And in the same vein, Bronfman’s idea of honesty in music involves sharing the tunes with the world – inviting artists from all stretches of the globe to come onboard and record with the band, lending the record a rich diversity.

Neill House Coffee House

“Everybody turns into a more creative musician when you share your music with somebody else, when you find somebody special.”

For People Project, that someone special surfaced in the fateful meeting of Bronfman and Lafreniere. They met in Mexico, and Bronfman invited him to play with his band at the time. Another trip – “I invited him to stay in a place he’d [only visited once],” Bronfman laughs – was all about the “trust and confidence in the music.”

Eventually, the group hopes to form a sort of music collective, pulling in people from all walks of life and all aptitudes: management, lighting techs, and a whole grocery list of people skilled to work in the music industry.

For People Project, the idea of “borderless music” is prevalent.

“Generally, people love the idea [of a collective]. The problem is, it's not something you can force. People have to approach it by themselves because they feel that calling. It's still a small project with lots of dreams...which is really, really good. We have a lot of energy now.

Even though we are making music for many years, as in my case, this is one of the things that is really different from everything else.

“We're trying to think as citizens of planet earth, [as to] how we're feeling, and use the music as a bridge to connect with other people and how we're thinking about [music]. Not as a teacher, but as a human being saying things we're feeling.”

People Project plays at the Cellar on January 30. Check out www.myspace. com/peopleproject for more info.

Monday Night Movie Series Death at a Funeral February 4, 2008: 8 pm Room 102, Tilley Hall

Aidan McKenna / The Brunswickan

Local folk, rock and blues artist Jens Jeppesen performs last Friday, Jan. 25 at Neill House’s annual Coffee House in support of the Canadian Cancer Society. Thanks to some stellar performances and great support from the UNB community, it was once again a success, raising over $1,600. Every year, Neill House holds various fundraisers to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society. So far, they have raised over $6000, and are well on their way to reaching their $15,000 goal. The next event they are holding is their annual Camping on the Roof weekend, which takes place at Nicky Zee’s on February 22, 23 and 24. It is an event where five students from Neill bear the winter weather and pitch a tent on the deck of Nicky Zee’s to camp out for two nights. Head down to Nicky Zee’s that weekend and show your support for those students, and for the Canadian Cancer Society. Contact President Dustin Eisenhaur at m9120@unb.ca for more info.

Fresh off the international film festival circuit, acclaimed director Frank Oz (“In & Out, Bowfinger) continues to wow audiences with his dark, award-winning comedy “Death at a Funeral.” The film professes a stellar cast bursting with genius humour that is at once sophisticated and fun.

The film opens with the somber delivery of a coffin to the home of the deceased's son Daniel, a blocked writer played by Matthew Mcfayden (Pride & Prejudice), who discovers that the body inside is not, in fact, his father.

So begins a string of comedic errors as a second coffin is delivered to the mourning family. Amongst them is the second son, a pretentious and famous author Robert (Rupert Graves, “V for Vendetta), their cousin Martha (Daisy Donovan, “Millions”), and anxious fiancé Simon (Alan Tudyk, “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,” “Knocked Up”). The plot thickens as Daniel's wife's disdain for his family becomes evident, and Simon's hopes to make an impression upon his severe fatherin-law cause him to seek relaxation via pharmaceutical drugs; only he discovers he's ingested hallucinogens by accident.

In addition to the family, a motley crew of characters continues to join the proceedings, including an inexplicable guest Peter (Peter Dinklage, “The Station Agent,” “Underdog”) and a group of British eccentrics, hypochondriacs, and the foul-mouthed elderly.

The hilarity ensues in direct correlation to the sibling rivalry intensification.

Daniel's apparent effort to prepare a eulogy ends up in disappointment as the family realizes their eloquent and published relative won't be delivering it. Simon's hallucinogenic trip allows him to shed more than his inhibitions when he's discovered on the roof top without his clothes on. Finally, family secrets are almost revealed as Peter's mysterious presence and relationship to the deceased is discovered. These combined elements soon force the two brothers to work together in desperate hopes of not only burying their dad but also the family skeletons.

The impeccably performed medley of characters is one remarkable element among many in this inordinately hilarious British comedy, comparable to the hijinks-laden Peter Sellers films and reminiscent of “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” Fun from start to finish.

Arts & Entertainment

Issue 17• January 30, 2008 • 8

“The Iraq, and like such as...” The ‘down-there’ generation “The Vagina Monologues” celebrate its tenth anniversary in Fredericton this February

by Ashley Bursey

I spent the majority of Saturday night hunched over with my mouth wide open. And get your head out of the gutter – I was definitely, unfortunately sober and doing something way less amusing than whatever you had in mind.

In fact, I was watching the newly revamped Miss America pageant. You know, the old patriotic standby pageant, with the typically airbrushed glamour girls and the staid bikinis and the tired old hosts crooning, “Isn’t she lovely?” as the weeping queen blew kisses through her French manicure and teetered on tiny heels as she pigeon-walked across the stage.

No longer. Some idiot let TLC get a hold of Miss America and suddenly it’s gone all Stacey-and-Clinton on something that, once upon a time, was actually decently respectable, if maybe a teensy bit boring.

It started with the reality show. On a channel that’s famous for coming up with motley makeover shows and horrendous reality television, the pageant producers decided to pit 51 girls against each other in a surreal “how to be a beauty queen” ten-day boot camp in what looked suspiciously like the mansion from The Bachelor.

And compete they did, being forced into grueling stunts like (gasp!) removing their makeup and (oh no!) cutting their hair.

And then, trying to boost ratings for a dying franchise that’s been engulfed by the Trump-branded Miss USA, they played the reality show for the month leading up to the actual pageant, which, as we’ll see shortly, has become the biggest mockery of pageantry since – well, since ever.

First, I’ll start off with the reason I can be such a blowhard about pageants: I’ve competed before. I’m no expert, but I’ve seen the behind-the-scenes and I know a thing or two about pageant politics.

And those girls, God help the poor misguided things, have just been exploited to shit by a television station that gets its ratings from taking other misguided souls and tearing them to shreds on national TV for a few yucks

by Naomi Osborne

Internet

Michigan took the Miss America crown on Saturday night in typical Pageant Patty fashion. So much for reinvention. a week.

It was like that disaster that somehow became “The Stacey London Show.”

As my pageant compatriot said as we munched Double-Stuff Fudgeeos on her bed, “It’s like when you’re a kid and you’re hanging out in your basement playing pageant. That’s what this is.”

Reality show aside (anyone who’s agreeing, two months before a huge national pageant, to chop all their hair off is plain crazy), the pageant was a disaster. They turned it into a game show, resplendent with gimmicky comments (“From the home state of McDreamy, I’m Miss Maine!” or “The only place you can have a Southern accent and a college degree!” were just two of the jaw-flappingly horrendous introductions the girls gave).

Then, the host asked all the losers (read: non-top-15 girls) to sit on the stage during the entire show (generally, they get a chance to at least wear the evening gowns and swimsuits they shelled out big bucks for in a general parade) where Clinton from “What Not To Wear” toasted them with “Carbs!

Girls, come eat some carbs!”

And, to ice this tiara-sporting cake, instead of calling a top 10 and a top five, the host instead announced who would not be advancing. As my friend Anna declared, “The tribe has spoken,” and

it certainly had.

But the real shocker was question period. Generally, in a pageant, the top five girls are asked to come forward one by one and draw a question from a list. In this pageant, a video question from an average Joe was broadcast and the girls had to race to – get this – raise their hands to be the first to answer that particular question. It was juvenile, inane, and downright offensive to anyone who’s ever been involved in the pageant world.

I admire Miss America’s goal to modernize the pageant and make it more accessible to a non-traditional audience.

But seriously, the whole thing was a farce. I would be ashamed to show my face on that stage, let alone wear a tiara all year that claimed I was winner in such a goddamn joke.

Really, the only thing that redeemed the pageant (in my highly biased opinion) was the fact they chose two blonde titleholders in a row – a variation from Canadian pageantry, where the last few years’ winners have been immigrants with citizenship and dark-haired, exoticlooking European beauties.

Really, just one thing could have made Miss America even better: to pull in Bob Barker as host – “Miss Wyoming – I mean, Miss Wisconsin…come on down!”

Playwright Eve Ensler put it best: “Looking at your vagina,” she wrote, “is just too much work…[we] need a context of other vaginas – a community, a culture of vaginas.”

And on February 1 and 2, vaginas of Fredericton can unite in unparalleled solidarity with the tenth annual showing of “The Vagina Monologues,” a series of short skits by Ensler that shed light on domestic abuse around the globe and encourage women to take a peek down south and celebrate their femininity.

The Monologues is a series of personal monologues, taken from interviews of hundreds of abused women.

Ensler created it by taking the most prevalent issues from these interviews and putting them down on script.

Some are hilarious, while others are of a more somber note, describing individual instances, including a Bosnian survivor of rape, a six-year-old girl, and an aging New Yorker.

In fact, the New York Times tips its hat to Ensler, calling her the “messiah heralding the second wave of feminism,” and “a brilliant comedian.”

Students at UNB will be presenting a benefit production of the Monologues as a part of the V-Day College Campaign, which is done to raise awareness about female abuse and help support local organizations who are working around the clock to put an end to violence against women and girls.

According to statistics on the website, www.v10.vday.org, every three in four family violence victims are female and in 2002 there were 20,000-30,000 Vietnamese women sex workers in Cambodia.

And in South Africa during the

late nineties, 40% of all reported rapes involved girls younger than 17 years of age. This percentage is far too high and that is why people like VanGenne are working to make a difference for women everywhere.

The Monologues will be showing at The Playhouse, as a spotlight fundraiser where the proceeds from every show go to help women in need. A percentage of each of these campaigns goes to help women from Hurricane Katrina.

Director and producer of the series, Kathy VanGenne feels that having the play just before Valentine’s Day helps remind people how some women do not receive the sort of love that we typically associate with the holiday.

“We look at Valentine’s Day as a time of caring and sharing, and that’s not the case between some men and women,” said VanGenne. “We don’t

Internet

The Vagina Monologues open at the Playhouse on Feb 1. always realize how fortunate some of us are to have loving and caring relationships.”

VanGenne is also an English teacher in performing arts and theatre arts at Leo Hayes High School. She got involved in the program two years ago when she went to Alberta as an employee with a women’s transition house. It was there that she worked for the HIV/ AIDS society and decided to direct and produce the Monologues.

“I’ve always wanted a chance to give back to this community, and this was the perfect way,” said VanGenne.

The monologues are mostly directed at women, but they don’t bash males in any sense, assured VanGenne. The monologues provide a male perspective on ending violence against women.

“It’s not simply a show for women; many men have been moved at the show as well,” VanGenne added. “We have psychologists on hand at the show in case some of the Monologues affect some people.”

Fredericton is just one of the many cities that the play will hit during the maelstrom of monologues taking the stage before Valentine’s Day. The play is also performed in over 120 countries throughout the world and in over thousands of colleges and communities each year.

On an international scale, V-Day is featuring global performances at the “V to the Tenth” event taking place in New Orleans on April 12. This event, a few months later than the traditional cupid’s celebration in February, includes The Vagina Monologues and various musical guests from across the world.

Famous faces such as Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Hudson, Ashley Judd, Ellen DeGeneres, and Salma Hayek, amongst others, are also supporting the event. The proceeds of the benefit will be going to women and girls all around the world.

The event also has many big-name supporters, including The Rockefeller Foundation and the NoVo Foundation, which gives large grants to worthwhile causes. The sponsors help to make the performances and the whole fundraiser a success.

But for years there has been a lot of controversy over the title of the play because of it’s seemingly naughty language: the word “vagina” strikes a chord with some viewers, who take the outdated opinion that it should forever come packaged with a negative social stigma.

In some cases, cast members have actually been forbidden to put up posters for fear of repercussions in the community, explained VanGenne.

All of the actresses in the Fredericton show are local women, some veteran actresses and some coming onboard for the first time in an effort to help the community.

The show plays February 1 and 2 at The Playhouse in Fredericton.

10 • The Brunswickan

January 30 •2008

Classifieds

Classifieds are a FREE service for members of the university community. Please try to limit submissions to 35 words or less. Your name, student number, and phone number are required at submission, but will not be published. We can accept them at Room 35, SUB, 453-5073 (Fax), or e-mail: bruns-ad@unb.ca. Please do not submit by phone. We reserve the right to edit or refuse publication. All classifieds are subject to available space. For display advertising contact Bill at 447-3388. Classified deadline is Monday at noon.

WANTED

Samuel & Co., Kings Place is currently hiring part-time sales associates.

Please apply in person with resume and list of availability.

FOR SALE Double bed, box spring and mattress, metal frame $99. Three seater sofa and chair, wooden frame $90. Computer chair, black with armrest, arms swivel, on casters $45. Wooden student desk, two drawers on either side $50. Four drawer metal filing cabinet $45. Black and brass coffee table with glass top

$35. Four ft toboggan $25. Childs wooded sleigh for hauling child $25.

Please phone 455-6450.

Boys Columbia one piece snowsuit for sale, size 7/8, is navy in color with red/green on the shoulders. Paid $130 and asking $50. Worn only once, excellent condition. Moffatt Platinum washer and dryer for sale.

Approx 12 years old and is in good working condition. $75 each. Call 454-4411.

Four foot wooden toboggan; $20 child’s sleigh (wooden)$20. Six drawer dresser with large mirror (wood)

TANNING SPECIALS

3 LOCATIONS

2 FREE TANS

530 Queen St. 458-9771 1113 Regent St. 454-8267 154 Main St. 472-5048

20% OFF 02/15/08

Main Street Bowl-A-Drome 301 Main Street 472-2361

1 FREE GAME

• Shoe Rental Included • Birthday Parties a Speciality • Restaurant – Licensed Lounge • Air Conditioned • Student Rates

Student I.D. Required.

Valid Until April 15/2008

Limit 1 per person per day. During public bowling times.

Cannot be combined with other offers. Not valid with group booking. No cash value

$65. Small round kitchen table and two chairs (not wood) ideal for small apt $45. Computer chair black swivel with arms and back rest, different elevations $45. Small wooden desk with world atlas on surface (drawers on either side $50). Please call 455-6450 and leave message.

ACCOMMODATIONS Wanted, one bedroom apartment to sublet from start of May to End of August. The closer to Prospect Street the better. Please Contact Julie at 260-9694 or e-mail: p8z2l@unb.ca.

A nice spacious four bedroom apartment on Graham Avenue available for rent. Three minutes to campus.

Laundry, parking, and air exchanger.

One year lease. Please call 459-5465.

One bedroom available in three bedroom house $400 (Negotiable) a month Everything included (but phone). 15 Minute walk to campus, parking spot available for vehicle, mature female student wanted (2nd year and up), The new roommates will help you move in for free. The biggest bedroom in the house, now until end of April (or until August if interested) A five bedroom house available for rent. Very close to campus. Laundry and parking available. One year lease from September 1st, 2008. Please call 459-5465.

Five bedroom, two bathroom, house for rent on Hanson. All hardwood, large backyard and deck, newly renovated basement, parking spaces. No smoking. Available May 1st, one year lease. Could be furnished. $450 per

person (individual lease), everything included call Sean at 476-4759, after 5:00 p.m.

A nice spacious four bedroom apartment on Graham Avenue available for rent. Three minutes to campus.

Laundry, parking, and air exchanger.

One year lease. Please call 459-5465.

Rare vacancy in open concept one bedroom apt available immediately.

Separate entrance, parking and own laundry. Freshly painted in a very quiet neighborhood. Will only rent to mature quiet adult. No smoking or pets. $575 heat and lights included Call 455 – 0289.

A five bedroom house available for rent. Very close to campus. Laundry and parking available. One year lease from September 1st, 2008. Please call 459-5465.

Room for rent in private house, furnished, heat and lights included, internet, parking, TV, frig, apt size frig, microwave, toaster, privacy, telephone jack, two bathrooms, non smokers.

Rent $350 monthly. International students welcome. Phone 455-6450.

Room to rent: Intersession and summer session – May to August – serious, mature students only— furnished bedroom, separate kitchen, bath, laundry and entrance. Utilities included. Cable and Internet available. Five minute walk to UNB. Five rooms available on Kitchen St. $90 per week. Phone 455-1979 or 451-2979.

Spacious four bedroom apartment on Graham Avenue for rent. Three minutes to campus. Laundry, parking, air

exchanger. Available May 1. One year lease. Please call 459-5465.

Available immediately. Furnished room with heat, lights, laundry, parking and kitchen and bathroom privileges. On bus route. Centrally locates. Quiet home. No smoking. Call 454-4550.

Room for rent. Small bedroom.

Shared kitchen, bath and laundry with two others. Completely furnished. Near universities. Mature student wanted. $275 per month. Call 459-0002.

Rooms to rent: Now taking deposits for rooms for the college year 2008-2009 commencing Sept. 1/08 and ending April 30/09 – serious, mature male students only— furnished bedroom, separate kitchen, bath, laundry and entrance. Utilities included. Cable and internet available. Five minute walk to UNB. Five rooms available on Kitchen St. Phone 455-1979 or 451-2979.

Three bedroom apartment on Albert street just minutes from UNB/STU. $1200 per month. Heat, lights, wireless internet, fridge, stove, washer and dryer included. Parking for one vehicle. Please call 470-5422.

Room for rent: Graduating student leaving in December/07. Furnished room available January 1/08 in private supervised home on Kitchen St. All utilities included. Share bath and kitchen with one other student.

Five minute walk to campus. Call 455-1979 or 451-2979.

PSAs Youth Addiction Educational Awareness Course. Positive Heart Living Inc. is hosting this event. This is to help learn about addiction awareness and interventions including the value

of Neighborhood Policing. You will also learn about Conflict Negotiation and positive choices for helping others. This event will be held Feb 02 at 3:00-7:00 at the Victoria Health Center, 65 Brunswick Street. The cost is $15. Bring a lunch. For app. and info call 458-8678 or positiveheartliving@ yahoo.com. This event is sponsored by the Devon Police Neighborhood Action Team and the PHL Positively Balanced Youth Group.

Snowarama 2008 & Guinness World Record Attempt. Come out and help us set a Guiness World Record® of more than 820 snowmobiles traveling in a single line! Remember, bring a friend with a snowmobile. Easter Seals NB and the New Brunswick Federation of Snowmobile Club’s are inviting all NB Snowmobile enthusiasts on Saturday Feb 16th to Mactaquac Provincial Park. A carnival of winter fun for the whole family awaits: cross country skiing, skating, snowshoeing, sliding, sleigh rides all free of charge.

All proceeds raised stays in NB and helps open doors for children with disabilities. For more information, please call ESNB (506) 458-8739.

Fredericton Transition House will be hosting a performance of The Vagina Monologues on February 1 and 2, 2008, 8:00 p.m. each night, at the Fredericton Playhouse. Tickets are $30 each and available at the Playhouse box office. All proceeds will be in support of Women In Transition House, Inc. A Special Evening with David Adams Richards. The Lorenzo Reading Series and Doubleday Canada proudly award-winning aupresent mutli- thor David Adams Richards reading from his brand new novel, “The Lost Highway”, on Friday, February 1 at 7 pm, Ganong Hall Lecture Theatre, UNB Saint John.

Sports

brunswickansports@gmail.com • January 30, 2008

Skills competition doesn’t live up to the hype

by Mitchell Bernard an opinion Even my Ovechkin-fanatic roommate was let down.

“That’s it?” he asked, as the annual NHL Super Skills Competition came to a close.

“Wow. Well that was worthless,” he said in disgust, still dawning his Ovechkin jersey proudly.

This past Saturday I sat down with my roommates to watch the annual NHL Super Skills Competition. A new format for the competition promised to be a more fan-friendly design in hopes to increase the ratings for the event.

The new design didn’t help.

Unlike previous competitions, this year’s show began with an obstacle course relay. If you even so much as blinked, you could miss an entire round.

What hurt most was players, such as Jason Spezza, were limited to stick handling through a few markers before passing it off.

Is that really a display of talent? Is that really what the fans want to see?

After a number of obstacles including a saucer pass and a one-timer, the obstacle course finished with the goaltender attempting to score from the opposing end. This isn’t the first time the NHL introduced the goaltending scoring competition, but it should be the last.

Sure, some goaltenders like Rick DiPietro have a great shot. But when Tim Thomas couldn’t even make it to

Internet

Despite a major program overhaul, the NHL All-Star Skills Competition fell short of many fans’ expectations. the opposing end, it doesn’t make for great television.

The fastest skater event has always been a captivating event of the past, as two players go head-to-head in a battle around the rink. Whichever player can keep the momentum going around the net has a great shot at the title.

This year, however, the NHL introduced the fastest skater competition as a race from the goal line to the opposing blue line. It took about four seconds for the race to end, so if one player was slow out of the gates they really had no chance of winning. It was too fast for the fans to enjoy. Apparently it is no longer a skill to be able to make great cuts around the net while maintaining speed.

To give the players a break during the

competition, the NHL placed the Young Stars challenge during the festivities.

Previously, the Young Stars game had been played the day of the All-Star game in front of about 8,000 fans.

What did this do for the competition? Absolutely nothing. I don’t think I even remember the score. In fact, I think that part of the competition was a bit of a break for all viewers, not just the players.

The NHL was able to keep the accuracy shot competition intact, and finally I was content. Tomas Kaberle of the Toronto Maple Leafs went four-for-four to win the event.

Skills competition or not, this was a glimmer of hope for my Leafs. Hey, we need at least something to brag about,

don’t we?

The final event of the evening was the Breakaway Challenge. The new event is quite similar to the NBA Rising Stars Slam Dunk competition. How close is it to the NBA’s rendition? Dominque Wilkins, two-time slam-dunk champion, was a judge in the NHL version.

I will admit, I was quite excited for the event. With names such as Pavel Datsyuk and Alexander Ovechkin slated to participate, I was hoping for some great entertainment.

But the Breakaway Challenge didn’t live up to the hype. The players didn’t seem to have that creative spark that would have made the competition an amazing event. Players were given points for sliding on their knees? For missing

the puck?

At least in the NBA competition you have to get the ball in the hoop to receive good scores. Can you imagine someone winning the slam-dunk contest, even though they missed the backboard completely?

But to give the players credit, the goaltenders weren’t really giving them a fair chance to display their talents.

The poke checking took away from the competition and as one broadcaster said, it should really be looked at as an adjustment to next year’s competition.

The NHL attempted to make the Super Skills Competition more for the fans and not so much for the players. Why then would they use cameras following the players during a breakaway? I really didn’t get the angle they were trying to portray. It’s hard to enjoy what the athletes are doing when all you have is a view of their back.

Maybe I’m just a classic kind of person. I enjoyed the skills competitions from the ’90s. The new introductions took away from the actual skills of the athletes, and it seemed as though most of the players were even uncomfortable participating in the event.

The NHL absolutely has to alter the All-Star weekend. Even the classic version of the competition wasn’t great entertainment. They are on the right track, but more changes are needed to keep fans wanting to watch the show year after year.

I don’t think copying the NBA Skills Competition is the way to go, though.

Things don’t translate well from hardwood to ice.

Who wants my Bud Bowl tickets?

The Fifty Mission Cap by Brian Munn

Sports fans far and wide were pretty excited for last weekend. After all, the NHL All-Star skills competition and game were held in Atlanta, the Red Bull Crashed Ice finals were shown on TSN on Saturday night, and right here in Fredericton we had a spectacular VReds/Tommies game at the LBR. But for this fan, the weekend was only

about one thing: Baseball.

That’s right. Even though it’s still about two weeks before pitchers and catchers will flock to Florida and Arizona for spring training, the Boston Red Sox put tickets up for sale at 11 am sharp on Saturday.

So I sat at my desktop, with 24 Internet Explorer pages opened to the Red Sox “Virtual Waiting Room.” And just for good measure, I opened 24 more pages on my laptop. So with 48 pages waiting to get into the ticketing site, I figured I had a 20 minute wait – half an hour, maximum.

But soon it was noon, and I had no tickets. Then it was 12:30, and 1 pm.

Games were slowly selling out.

2:00 came and went, then 3:00, then 4:00. The Milwaukee tickets were gone, and things weren’t looking good for the series against Cleveland.

Finally, at 4:30, after I had stared blankly at two computer screens for

BUD BOWL

CONTEST about five hours, I realized I might have a problem. Who cares that much about a sports team?

So I put on my Red Sox jacket and my Red Sox hat, and headed off to my

girlfriend’s house.

And as soon as I got there, I opened up another 30 Internet Explorer pages to that God-forsaken Virtual Waiting Room.

It was 6:43, and after nearly eight hours I was ready to give up.

“Perhaps,” I encouraged myself, “I’m just not meant to go to Fenway this year.” I finally gave in to just spending the money I had set aside for tickets on the MLB Extra Innings package for the summer.

But as I was about to give up on my tickets, I noticed one of the 30 pages on my girlfriend’s computer had broken through the best defenses of the Red Sox ticket offices.

Finally, tickets were mine!

7 hours and 43 minutes of my Saturday. That’s sacrifice, friends. It’s not a

five mile line in the -27 degree weather outside Lambeau Field, but then again, technology has made us all just a little bit softer.

So what would you do for the tickets?

The Brunswickan Sports Department has recently acquired two tickets to this weekend’s Bud Bowl celebration at Sweetwaters, and I want to give them away.

My email address is brunswickansports@gmail.com, and I want to know what you would do for these Bud Bowl tickets.

If you can impress me, the tickets are yours. And despite being a Leafs fan, I’m not easily impressed.

So this is your chance to do what the Indianapolis Colts couldn’t, and win your way to the Super (Bud) Bowl (party).

Local competition highlights festival from Climbing page 1 also has several community outreach programs. They host private events, school groups, community groups such as Youth at Risk, and birthday parties, in addition to a popular junior afterschool program. The club hosts between 12-30 kids, mainly from elementary and middle school, every Monday.

The club also hosts an annual “Rock School” and “Ice School,” which has two-day trips into the New Brunswick wilderness for climbing excursions. The Rock School runs in autumn with 40 people, while two groups participate in the Ice School each February.

“Community outreach is crucial,

because as a university club we have to create a viable atmosphere in which students and the community can participate,” said Bowles.

“By reaching out to the community we form a mutually beneficial relationship, which is very important to us.”

Bowles added that one of the most important aspects of the relationship the club has with the community is that the financial support the club receives allows them to subsidize all costs for students.

“Community outreach is integral in the financial aspect. Both the community members and the university community benefit, but the funding benefits students.”

V-Reds Results Wednesday, January 23rd

Men’s Hockey UNB – 6 STU – 1 Friday, January 24th Men’s Hockey UNB – 4 STU – 3 Saturday, January 25th Men’s Volleyball UNB – 3 MUN – 0 Women’s Volleyball UNB – 3 MUN – 2

Women’s Basketball UNB – 55 MUN – 69

Women’s Hockey UNB – 5 UPEI – 2 Men’s Basketball UNB – 90 MUN – 75 Men’s Volleyball UNB – 3 MUN – 1 Sunday, January 30th Women’s Volleyball UNB – 3 MUN – 2

Women’s Basketball UNB – 64 MUN – 73

Men’s Basketball UNB – 86 MUN – 65

Upcominig V-Reds Events Wednesday, January 30th Women’s Hockey STU @ UNB 7:00pm @ AUC Friday, February 1st Women’s Volleyball Dal @ UNB 6:00pm @ LB Gym Men’s Hockey Dal @ UNB 7:00pm @ AUC Men’s Volleyball Dal @ UNB 8:00pm @ LB Gym Saturday, February 2nd Wrestling UNB OPEN 12:00pm Women’s Basketball St. FX @ UNB 1:00pm @ LB Gym Women’s Hockey UPEI @ UNB 2:00pm @ AUC Men’s Basketball St. FX @ UNB 3:00pm @ LB Gym Women’s Volleyball Acadia @ UNB 6:00pm @ LB Gym Men’s Hockey Acadia @ UNB 7:00pm @ AUC Men’s Volleyball Dal @ UNB 8:00pm @ LB Gym Sunday, February 3rd Women’s Basketball SMU @ UNB 1:00 @ LB Gym Men’s Basketball SMU @ UNB 3:00pm @ LB Gym

Athletes of the Week

Rob Hennigar Men’s Hockey

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

The climbing wall at the LB Gym will host beginner and intermediate competitions as part of the Rock and Ice Club’s Banff Mountain Film Festival weekend. The club has hosted the annual event for over a decade.

Barb Vriends

Women’s Volleyball

Sports

12 • January 30, 2008 • Issue 17

GAME 1: JAN. 23

V-Reds roll over Tommies... Twice

6 1

4 3

GAME SUMMARY

First Period 1. UNB – Rob Pearce (Kyle Bailey, Lachlan MacIntosh) 12:26 PP Second Period 2. UNB – Josh Hepditch (Denny Johnston, Kyle Bailey) 15:08 3. UNB – Rob Hennigar (Hunter Tremblay, John Scott Dickson) 15:41 Third Period 4. STU – Jean Bourbeau (Matt Seymour, Paul Giallonardo) 3:55 PP 5. UNB – Kyle Bailey (Rob Pearce, Lachlan MacIntosh) 6:13 6. UNB – Justin DaCosta (Rob Hennigar, Hunter Tremblay) 10:34 7. UNB – Rob Hennigar (John Scott Dickson, David Bowman) 13:44 1 2 3 Tot. 13 11 11 35 UNB 6 6 7 19 STU W: Mike Ouzas (18 saves) L: Matt Davis (29 saves) Player of the Game: Rob Hennigar (2G,1A – 3Pts) Attendance: 3042 @ Aitken Centre Shots on Goal

GAME 2: JAN. 25

GAME SUMMARY

First Period 1. UNB – Rob Hennigar (John Scott Dickson, Brad Efthimiou) 4:03 2. STU – Corey Banfield (Maxime Chamberland, Ryan Lehr) PP 6:06 3. UNB – Rob Hennigar (Alex Aldred, John Scott Dickson) 13:37 4. UNB – Brad Efthimiou (Alex Aldred, Rob Hennigar) 15:27 Second Period 5. STU – Justin Roy (Jeremy Turgeon, Ryan Murphy) 4:05 6. STU – Justin Bowers (Justin Roy, Anthony Butera) 7:47 Third Period 7. UNB – David Bowman (Rob Hennigar, Kyle Bailey) 0:54

The Varsity Reds trounced their crosscampus rivals 6-1 on Wednesday night in the annual Mark Jeffrey Memorial Game, before winning a close 4-3 game at the LBR on Friday when the Tommies honored former player Lou Chabot, raising his number 26 to the rafters. Reds goalie Michael Ouzas recorded both wins, turning in a particularly impressive 18 save performance on home ice. Rob Hennigar led the UNB attack on both nights, scoring seven points – including four goals – to claim Player of the Game honors on both nights. The effort by Hennigar opened up a five point lead for him in the both the AUS and the CIS scoring races.

1 2 3 Tot. 18 11 11 40 UNB 9 10 6 25 STU W: Mike Ouzas (22 saves) L: Matt Davis (36 saves) Player of the Game: Rob Hennigar (2G,2A – 4Pts) Attendance: 1293 @ Lady Beaverbrook Rink

Shots on Goal

Jennifer McKenzie / The Brunswickan

Born in the swamp: Gatorade becomes drink of champions Water sucks.

It really, really sucks.

by Ed Bowes

It was early in the summer of 1965, and the University of Florida lay beneath the sweltering sun of Gainesville, Florida – an unforgiving climate for any athlete. For coach Ray Graves’ Gators football team, the environment had proven especially demanding.

Beneath a layer of heavy equipment, players had been dropping like flies while succumbing to the cruel conditions. With the health of his players and future of his season deeply in mind, Gators assistant coach Charles Smith sat down with a team of university physicians and asked them to determine why so many of his players were being affected by the heat.

The research team – consisting of Dr. Robert Cade, Dr. Dana Shires, Dr. H. James Free and Dr. Alejandro de Quesada – quickly discovered two vital factors which played a significant role in the heat exhaustion and lack of energy of the Gators team.

It was revealed that the fluids and electrolytes the players lost through sweat were not being adequately replaced, and that the carbohydrates the players’ bodies used for energy were not being replenished. The combination of the two was a true

recipe for disaster.

With their new findings in hand, the researchers were able to formulate a new, precisely balanced, carbohydrate-electrolyte beverage with the power to adequately replace the components lost by the Gators players through during a game.

The concoction was aptly named

Gatorade, after the team for which it was made.

So how does it work? When athletes sweat, they lose electrolytes such as sodium, potassium, and chloride

that are essential to hydration and muscle function. Unlike water, Gatorade is lab-tested to ensure it replenishes the electrolytes lost in sweat while maintaining thirst so athletes will adequately ingest enough fluid and electrolytes to stay well hydrated. Giving pure water to such a person is not the best way to restore fluid levels because it dilutes the salts inside the body’s cells and interferes with their chemical functions.

This can lead to water intoxication.

Not long after Gatorade made its first appearance on the sidelines, the Gators began winning. With their new secret weapon, the team was able to outlast a number of heavily-favored opponents under the blazing Gainesville sun and finish the season with a 7-4 record – their first winning season in more then a decade. The team was even more successful during the next season, finishing the season with an impressive 9-2 record. They also won the Orange Bowl for the first time in the school’s history.

It was becoming quite apparent that there was no denying the power of this revolutionary sports drink.

Word about Gatorade quickly began to spreada, and both the University of Richmond and Miami of Ohio, began ordering batches of Gatorade

for their football teams. Shortly after, orders from other college football programs across the country began to pour into the Gatorade labs. Playing without the orange and green drink containers on your sidelines began to be likened to playing with just ten men on the field.

In the summer of 1969, just four short seasons after the creation of the drink, Gators coach Graves suggested to the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL that they should test Gatorade during summer training camp.

The Chiefs staff and players were so impressed with the re-hydrating power of the beverage that they kept it on their sidelines throughout the entire season – which concluded in dramatic fashion with an unbelievable victory over the heavily favored Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV. In the following years, NFL teams began placing Gatorade on their sidelines, and in 1983, Gatorade

was introduced as the official sports drink of the NFL, an impressive title it holds to this day.

Two decades after Dr. Cade and his dream team worked diligently to develop the optimal hydration formula that would become Gatorade, the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI) was founded to conduct scientific research in the areas of exercise science, hydration, and sport nutrition. Shortly after its creation, the lab was expanded to provide advanced testing for athletes, new Gatorade products and flavors, and to develop education materials for sports health professionals around the world.

In 2001, the Gatorade research staff made another important breakthrough. After determining that professional racecar drivers were not staying adequately hydrated throughout the duration of their races, Gatorade and GSSI begin working with auto racing organiza-

tions to develop a hydration tool that could withstand 130-degree temperatures and keep drivers hydrated safely throughout the course of a race. The result of their research was the development of GIDS, the Gatorade In-Car Drinking System, which is now considered an essential piece of racing equipment.

Today, Gatorade’s domination of the sports world is impossible to deny. Gatorade can be found on the sidelines of more than 70 Division I colleges as the official sports drink of their men’s and women’s intercollegiate sports. It is also the official sports drink of the NBA, AVP, PGA, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, and numerous other elite and professional organizations and teams. With such widespread influence, it is safe to say that the ’65 Florida Gators and their team of research scientists have marked their place in sports history.