Issue 26, Vol 142, The Brunswickan

brunswickan Volume 142 · Issue 26 • April 1, 2009

canada’s oldest official student publication.

UNB

2 • Apr. 1 ,2009 • Issue 26 • Volume 142

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nationalchampions

Apr. 1, 2009 • Issue 26 • Volume 142 • 3

sports@thebruns.ca

V-Reds take home the cup

Above photo and front cover by Mitchell Bernard / The Brunswickan

Varsity Reds players, coaches, and management all pose for a team photo moments after winning their second University Cup in three years. The Reds defeated the third seeded University of Western Ontario Mustangs 4-2, with forward Lachlan MacIntosh’s three goals leading the way. For his efforts, MacIntosh was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

Mitchell Bernard The Brunswickan

For the second time in three years, the UNB Varsity Reds have been crowned the CIS men’s hockey champions. This past Sunday the V-Reds defeated the Western Ontario Mustangs 4-2 in a thrilling gold medal match-up to claim the top prize in the nation.

“It’s unbelievable,” said rookie goaltender Travis Fullerton. “I can’t describe the feeling I’m feeling right now. I wish this could last forever. We accomplished our goal here in this tournament and it feels good.”

Fullerton, a native of Riverview, N.B., backstopped the Reds in all three games played in the tournament. In the championship match, Fullerton turned aside 28 shots from opponents, a few of which occurred during the crucial final

minutes of the game.

“In the last minute, we were just scrambling. I was trying to find the puck and stop it. The guys did a hell of a job diving and blocks shots. It was really good,” said Fullerton, who was also named to the tournament all-star team.

The final turned out to be a nail-biter, something that the Reds were all too familiar with after falling to the Alberta Golden Bears late in the third period of the 2008 final.

“It was hard on the nerves, but we’ve been faced with that situation before.

With the group of guys we have, it’s just another third period,” said forward Lachlan MacIntosh, who led the tournament in scoring. “[Western Ontario] definitely played a hard-fought game. We knew coming that was going to happen,” continued MacIntosh. “After the first period they started to come back really hard, but we kept our emotions intact and we came through.”

In the gold medal match-up, MacIntosh opened the scoring in the final minutes of the first frame. From the top of the face-off circle, he put a

wrist shot over the shoulder of Western Ontario keeper Brad Topping to break the deadlock.

UNB carried the momentum from late in the first period into the following period as fourth-year forward JohnScott Dickson tipped a Jonathon Harty slapper from the point to put the Reds up 2-0. However, the Mustangs forced themselves back into the game as Patrick Ouellet fooled Fullerton to bring the Mustangs within one.

Like the Reds in the second frame, the Mustangs came out of the gate quick in the third as Kevin Baker wired a Jeffery Martens pass over the shoulder of Fullerton to even up the scoring.

But the tie was short-lived thanks to MacIntosh, who put home his second of the game for the Reds, just seconds after the halfway mark of the third.

MacIntosh continued his dominant play in the tournament when he iced the championship with an empty net goal late in the period, his fifth of the tournament. For his efforts, the Perth Andover, N.B. native was named tournament MVP, along with player of the game for the Reds in Sunday’s final.

“It’s a pretty great feeling,” said MacIntosh, a third-year forward. “I’d have to say a hat trick takes a back seat behind a championship. It’s definitely a dream of a lifetime and it’s great to go through with the bunch of guys we have here on this team.”

UNB head coach Gardiner MacDougall praised the efforts of MacIntosh.

“He just brought it. He brought it the first game against Alberta, brought it the second game against Lakehead, and then he just took it to another level tonight,” said MacDougall. “It was outstanding for a kid who has never played a game in major junior. He’s been getting better every year for us, and that’s what you need. You need complete efforts and you need those people to come through. He was outstanding for us.”

Hunter Tremblay, who tied for the most points during the regular season for the Reds, was sidelined for the first two games of the tournament with an ankle injury. However, after a pregame skate and a discussion with team trainers, Tremblay decided to give it a go for Sunday’s final, something that

helped motivate the rest of the Reds.

“It was unbelievable inspiration to see Hunter Tremblay come out there. For him to come out and play the way he did tonight just brought us to another level, and it’s nice to have him here to be able to celebrate with the rest of us,” said MacIntosh.

Coach MacDougall agreed.

“We had a lot of soldiers. I mean, what can you say about Hunter Tremblay? He was supposed to be out for a month and he’s back and he played outstanding for us [on Sunday night]. He just exemplifies what our team is all about.”

“To win a national championship, you need complete efforts from everyone.

But your best players have to be your best players, and our best players were our best players today as well.”

The victory is the second time in three seasons that the Reds have claimed the CIS championship. In 2007, UNB defeated AUS rivals UdeM in a thrilling overtime victory to claim the championship. The only other championship in the school’s history came in 1998 when Saskatoon played host to the tournament.

NEWS PAGE 6 / OPINION PAGE 11 / ARTS PAGE 15

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4 • Apr. 1, 2009 • Issue 26 • Volume 142

Two out of three ain’t bad

From on the ice to behind the bench Former Reds forward Lucas Madill finishes successful transition to Reds coaching staff

Tony von Richter The Brunswickan

Tip of the Cap. by Josh Fleck The obvious pick for this week’s Tip of the Cap is naturally the UNB hockey team. After falling in the AUS finals to the Saint Mary’s Huskies, coach Gardiner MacDougall told the press that the Reds got a mulligan. Well, just like Tiger Woods would use his mulligan, the Reds came through in the clutch and won their second CIS banner in three years.

After getting the toughest assignment in facing the number one seeded Alberta Golden Bears in the opening round, the entire team stepped up, especially third-year forward Lachlan MacIntosh, who only had nine goals in the regular season. MacIntosh contributed two goals and one assist in a 6-3 drubbing of Alberta.

Through the regular season, MacIntosh averaged 0.35 goals per game, but in the three tournament games at the Cavendish Cup he scored an astounding five goals. For his efforts on the ice, MacIntosh earned tournament MVP. Their on-ice success cannot be attributed to just one person, though.

The coaching staff, as well as every single player, was essential to the continued success of the team. It was no easy task to get mentally prepared after the loss to SMU, so a Tip inside the Tip goes to the coaching staff.

While I’m throwing out Tips inside my Tip, I’ll give one to Sportsnet for being so well informed throughout the tournament. I know it’s their job and all, but they did a bang-up job. The best quote of the weekend had to have been, “John-Scott Dickson has to be one of the smartest players in CIS hockey.” Those of you who know your stuff about hockey know that Dickson is rarely out of position, and is arguably the best defensive forward on the team. For this, he gets my vote for the “C” next year. But, then again, I am just a writer.

One of the hardest things for any athlete is handling the transition out of their career as an active player. For UNB Varsity Red Lucas Madill, the transition didn’t involve quietly slipping into retirement, but rather stepping behind the bench of his former team, becoming the student assistant coach for UNB. According to Madill, the switch this season from player to coach has been tough, but it’s been much smoother than he expected it to be.

“You don’t realize until the first game. Instead of preparing for the game for two hours beforehand, you’re sitting on your hands or twiddling your thumbs waiting for it to start.”

“I kind of thought in the beginning of the year that it was weird because you don’t know if you should be sitting in the room with [the players] talking or outside,” said Madill. “As a student assistant, you’re kind of like a median, you can hang out with the guys and also talk to [the coaches].”

The Varsity Reds have had student coaches for a number of years. Head coach Gardiner MacDougall offered Madill the position as he believes that the former forward brings a lot to the role.

“I think it’s important. A former player is a good buffer in the room because he has the respect and the trust of the group because he was in there last year. He gives us feedback from a different perspective; he has a player perspective as well as a coaching perspective, so it’s a double win,” said MacDougall.

UNB fifth-year captain Dustin Friesen agrees with his coach’s sentiments about the benefits of a recent player joining the coaching staff.

“It’s been a really positive experience for our players. Since he

played last year he knows where the players are coming from, he knows the coach’s perspective, so it’s a good line of communication, just making sure everything’s understood properly,” said Friesen.

While both Friesen and MacDougall are pleased with their youngest coach, Madill acknowledges that at times it’s been difficult trying to get points across to the players due to their close relationships.

“Sometimes I think when you’re talking to a coach you can usually interpret what they’re telling you as it is coming from a coach. Now, for me, sometimes they think I’m telling them what they want to hear as a friend, not so much as a coach.

“I think they give me the benefit of the doubt just because I’m in sport psychology. Maybe they think I have more wisdom than I do, or maybe they think I have less. I don’t know,” he said jokingly.

Madill is currently pursuing a M.Sc. in Exercise & Sport Science, focusing on Sport Psychology under renowned sport psychologist Dr. David Scott. Scott, in addition to his teaching duties at UNB, currently serves as the sport psychologist for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League.

In addition to his credentials as a former player and his knowledge of the game, the education in sports psychology is one of the biggest benefits of having Madill on the coaching staff, according to MacDougall. He says that it “widens the scope of our staff, what we can bring to our players.”

“The whole key [to coaching] is building confidence in players and you have to have adversity to continue to gain confidence.

He’s very good at one-on-one ... he can go up and talk to a guy, whether it’s on the ice or off the ice. He can try some things out that he’s learning in the sport psychology field and he’s got the background as a player as well, so it’s a good mix for him,” said MacDougall.

Hoping to graduate from UNB in May, Madill is interested in pursuing a Ph. D. or possibly a teaching degree, but hopes to further explore his new passion for coaching at some level of hockey.

“I really do enjoy it. It’s so much fun. I always thought I’d enjoy it, but I really do love it. It’s been great.”

Reds’ road to the cup GAME 1

GAME 2

6 3

GAME 3

3 1

GAME SUMMARY

4 2

GAME SUMMARY

GAME SUMMARY

First Period 1. UNB - Dion Campbell (Jordan Clendenning) 7:20 2. UNB - Luke Lynes (Lachlan MacIntosh, Kyle Bailey) 9:10 3. UNB - Lachlan MacIntosh (Kyle Bailey, Jonathon Harty) 11:10 4. ALB - Derek Ryan (Chad Klassen) 12:36 5. UNB - Jordan Clendenning 16:15 6. UNB - Jimmy Cuddihy (John Scott Dickson, Kevin Henderson) 18:05 Second Period 7. ALB - Derek Ryan (Eric Hunter) 7:21 8. ALB - Chad Klassen (Derek Ryan) 13:23

First Period 1. UNB - David Bowman (Dustin Friesen) 19:46

First Period 1. UNB - Lachlan MacIntosh 18:58

Second Period No scoring

Second Period 2. UNB - John Scott Dickson (David Bowman, Jonathon Harty) 1:02 3. UWO - Patrick Ouellet (Joe McCann) 8:57

Third Period 2. UNB - Kyle Bailey (Alex Aldred, Kevin Henderson) 3:12 3. UNB - Dustin Friesen (Kyle Bailey, John Scott Dickson)14:31 4. LAK - Andy Zulyniak (Andrew Brown) 19:34

Third Period 4. UWO - Kevin Baker (Jeffery Martens, Jason Furlong) 1:13 5. UNB - Lachlan MacIntosh (Kyle Bailey, Jimmy Cuddihy) 10:24 6. UNB - Lachlan MacIntosh (Kyle Bailey) 19:14

Third Period 9. UNB - Lachlan MacIntosh (Robert Pearce, Dustin Friesen) 13:02 1 2 12 13 UNB 12 8 ALB W: Travis Fullerton (26 saves) L: Aaron Sorochan (26 saves) Shots on Goal

Attendance: 2,421

3 7 9

Tot. 32 29

1 17 UNB 7 LAK W: Travis Fullerton (30 saves) L: Chris Whitley (37 saves) Shots on Goal

Attendance: 2,740

2 14 10

3 9 14

Tot. 40 31

1 10 UNB 1 UWO W: Travis Fullerton (28 saves) L: Brad Topping (33 saves) Shots on Goal

Attendance: 2,715

2 10 18

3 17 11

Tot. 37 30

nationalchampions

Apr. 1, 2009 • Issue 26 • Volume 142 • 5

CIS tournament format needs overhaul Jared Book The Concordian

All the talk around U.S. college sports this month has been about March Madness, the single-elimination 65 team men’s basketball tournament as well as the women’s tournament.

However, aside from the Final Four, there is alsoww the Frozen Four, which, if you can’t fathom a guess is the men’s hockey championship south of the border.

The Frozen Four has taken some of the storylines away from the big tournament because for the first time since the tournament expanded to 16 teams in 2003, the No. 16 seed (in this case Bemidji State – who have actually won six lower division titles) has advanced to the national semifinal.

That kind of story can never happen in Canada. Why, you ask? Because the CIS uses an outdated, potentially complicated round robin format.

The way the current tournament works north of the border is that the six qualifying teams are split into two pools of three teams each.

Each team plays two round robin games, and the result allows for a championship game between the winners of each pool.

This works out great when there are two 2-0 teams. However, this year, Pool B, which had McGill, Western and Saint Mary’s, had all three teams finish 1-1. In the end it was Western, armed with a 7-2 win against the Huskies in the pool’s final game, that advanced to the final thanks to their

goal differential, despite Western losing to McGill in their other round robin game.

Call me old-fashioned, but tournaments of this magnitude should never be decided on goal differential – at any stage.

Thankfully, there is a solution: expand the championship to eight teams and have a single-elimination tournament in the exact same format as the current men and women’s basketball championships.

People will immediately say no to this idea for several reasons. They will say the CIS field isn’t deep enough to have eight teams in a tournament.

They will also say that hockey isn’t supposed to be decided in a single game format. To the first one, I call BS. To the second, I say why not? The championship game is a one game championship.

To prove my first point, I will use numbers. You have been warned.

There are 33 teams in CIS men’s hockey and 27 teams in CIS women’s hockey (my proposal also stands for the women’s tournament which currently has the same format as the men’s tournament and that 27 includes UdeM which begins play next year).

Which means, with six teams, 18.2 per cent of men’s teams and 22.2 per cent of women’s teams make it to the championships.

Currently, that ranks them 2nd (women’s) and 7th (men’s) out of the eight major championships in terms of championship spots to total teams in action. Note that the four sports used for this are hockey, basketball, soccer and volleyball. Football is a different beast altogether.

With news that both the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments will be expanding to 16 teams (the women’s next year, the men’s looks

Mitchell Bernard / The Brunswickan

Some faithful V-Reds fans traveled to Thunder Bay to watch their team win its second University Cup in three years.

Would a format change bring more excitiment, and more fans, to the annual event? to be changing after 2009-10 if the coaches have their way), that would put them both at 37.2 per cent compared to their current 18.6 per cent.

There is no reason hockey couldn’t add two more teams. Again, allow me to use the men’s tournament as an example. This year, you had the customary two spots to the Atlantic conference, two to the Ontario/ Quebec conference, one to Canada West and one to the tournament host.

There is no reason not to think that Canada West couldn’t have added another team and the same to the Atlantic conference this year. If you put in a provision that the extra

spots get distributed based on who is hosting the conference, there will be no real problems.

If you expand to six teams on both sides, and taking into account the additions to the basketball ones, this would rank men’s hockey 5th (24.2 per cent) and women’s hockey 3rd (29.6 per cent).

Yes, the women’s number is a bit high (giving eight spots to 27 teams) but men’s volleyball currently gives eight spots to 28 teams, including a three-team Atlantic conference. No one complains about that.

People will complain that having four of the five top spots in percentage going to hockey and basketball is

unfair, but guess what? Those are the ones that most people want to watch on television. Sure, Sportsnet lucked out with the drama in the WesternSaint Mary’s game and the lopsided Western win that put them in the next day’s final. But this format will give the television partner two true semifinals where fans just have to worry about who wins and not how many goals one team has to win by to have a chance at the final.

Maybe it’s just me, but it’s a matter of time before this gets introduced.

After all, the only goal differentials that should matter are the ones on the scoreboard when the final buzzer sounds.

brunswickannews

Apr. 1, 2009 • Issue 26 • Volume 142 •6

news@thebruns.ca

Acadian bus terminal could leave downtown Bus terminal could move to the Kingswood Centre

Josh O’Kane The Brunswickan

Sarah Farquhar / The Brunswickan

UNB’s Neill House held one of their biggest fundraising events of the year this past weekend. Danielle Caissie and Rebeccah Briggs, pictured above, shed their locks in the name of the Canadian Cancer Society.

Neill raises hell and $1900 Cameron Mitchell The Brunswickan

Last Friday, Neill House raised a little hell – and over $1900 for charity.

The house’s annual Raise a Little Hell event raises money for the Canadian Cancer Society and is one of the most popular fundraising events on campus.

RALH consists of two main activities: Pie Your Proctor and the Head Shave.

Pie Your Proctor was the first event on Friday, and this year a record number of people volunteered to get “pied.” They included an assortment of house presidents, proctors, and student residents.

“This year we had 65 people sign up for the Pie Your Proctor [event],” said incoming president of Neill House, Andrew Healy.

The volunteers who signed up to

get pied went up on stage and then an auction began. The student audience started bidding for the chance to buy a pie that they could toss at their desired target.

“That event is pretty fun for anyone who wants to come and pie anybody that they really don’t care about,” said Healy.

Next year’s Bridges VP Megan Montgomery garnered the highest bid.

One student bid over a hundred dollars for the opportunity to pie her in the face.

The Head Shave was equally as successful. For this event, participants sat up on the stage and had their hair cut off by the hairdressers from Sub Styles.

“The girls have a chance to cut off some of their hair to donate to cancer,” explained Healy. “Or if guys want to fundraise then they have to raise a minimum of fifty dollars and then they get their head shaved. All of the money goes straight to the Canadian Cancer

Society.”

The star of this year’s Head Shave was first year Arts student Elise Clairmont, a Bridges resident. She was the only female that went all the way and had her head shaved, and she did it to raise awareness about cancer.

“What made me want to do it was that my dad had a tumor removed from his stomach last semester, and we just found out that my mother has breast cancer,” said Clairmont.

“I decided that it would be best if I tried to raise as much awareness as possible for this really big issue. With cancer, you see it everywhere and it’s really hard on families. So I just wanted to try and let people know what is going on and raise a little awareness about it, and hopefully help to find a cure if possible.”

Clairmont raised over $500 in pledges just by herself, and she credits the campus community for helping her raise so much money.

“What’s really great about living on campus is that you can start to get to know people from other houses,” she said of her fundraising. “What I did was I went around Bridges house and they raised a hundred dollars for me in the first night that I did it. And then all I did after that was walk around to the other houses and they raised over $500.”

On the actual day of the Head Shave, Clairmont didn’t know what to expect.

She knew that she was going to get her head shaved, but she didn’t know how people were going to react.

“I walked up on stage and they had the chairs and the ladies from Sub Styles up there,” she explained. “Then they asked me if I just wanted to get it cut or if I wanted it shaved. I told them that I wanted it all off with no protector or anything, right down to the skin.

“It was so great to have the amount of people that they had there. They were just so supportive ... it was an amazing experience altogether.”

The Acadian Lines bus terminal is moving from its Regent Street location, the Brunswickan has learned.

All tenants in the property at 101 Regent St., which is owned by Commercial Properties of Saint John, will be leaving the building by the end of September 2009.

A source has told the Brunswickan that the Acadian Lines service may be redirected to the Kingswood Park complex on the Hanwell Road, though a representative for the transit company was not available for comment on Monday prior to print.

Whether to Kingswood or not, the terminal will be moving out of its current location within the next few months.

James Ross, branch manager of Discount Car & Truck Rental, which also occupies the building, says the company was given a year’s notice to move at the end of last September.

Discount is looking for a new location for the branch and hopes to move before the busy summer rental season. The company is currently looking to move its branch to the Prospect/Hanwell area.

Moving “shouldn’t make too much of an impact,” says Ross. “The only impact I can see is an increase in customer shuttles. It should be a positive impact.”

While a representative for Commercial Properties was not available for comment on Monday, Ross says he believes the property could be slated to become a multi-storey parking garage.

“It’s understandable, knowing that they’re developing the new convention centre down here,” says Ross. “It’s going to be better revenue for the property owners, plus fill the need for more parking downtown.”

Bus pass declined by UNB undergrads Sarah Ratchford The Brunswickan

UNB undergraduates have struck down the possibility of a universal bus pass by a narrow margin.

A difference of only 47 voices stood between UNB undergraduate students and a universal bus pass on the undergraduate end: 908 students voted for the pass, while 955 voted against it.

The UNBSU held a referendum last week to determine whether or not students wanted a $100, year-long universal bus pass. The same bus pass would cost students $480 if obtained outside of university fees.

Fredericton Transit, however, was unable to offer the option of a pass optout, meaning that each student would have the $100 added to their fees with no choice.

Voting for or against the bus pass took place online through student e-services.

Thirty-one per cent of registered voters cast a ballot on the issue – 3.2% more than the number of people who voted in the SU general election, which determined who would represent students and be given the power to offer things such as bus passes in the first place.

“This is an important issue, and I’m glad we asked again,” says SU VP External and next year’s President-elect Jon O’Kane.

“This silences the question ‘What does this generation of students think?’”

On the last day to vote, an e-mail reminder was sent out to UNB webmail accounts. O’Kane says that 700 more votes were cast after this reminder.

“That was a huge spike. Results might have changed drastically,” he says.

The VP External continues to say that the SU expected to have difficulty in attracting a 15 per cent voter turnout, which was the minimum number required for the referendum results to be passed through. However, more than 15 per cent voted on each side of the issue.

O’Kane thinks that this could pose problems for students living far away from campus. He now plans to look for different places to live next year that are closer to campus than he initially intended, he says, since the pass will not be available next year.

Thequestforaffordabletransportation for students will not be laid to rest, however. O’Kane says there are a number of other options to explore.

“I got an e-mail suggesting a subsidized yearly bus pass,” he says. In this case, the pass might cost $200-300 and would not be mandatory.

“Almost 1,000 students want one,” he says.

“There are a lot of good things that can come out of more creative options.”

Ryan Brideau, next year’s VP External-elect, is already brainstorming to find solutions to the problem of student transportation.

“It’s obvious that there’s an issue with the bus pass thing, which is why people didn’t vote for it,” he says.

It is his goal to discover what these issues are and then formulate a plan to

rectify them.

Brideau also addresses student parking.

“There are projects at Memorial [University of Newfoundland] where there is reserved parking for people who carpool,” he says. “We could try to adapt that for UNB.” Lower parking fees for students could also be looked at, he says.

Brideau’s plan is to survey students first, as “they’re the ones who will be using it – they have the perspective to tell us what needs to be changed.”

The recently elected SU councilors and executive come into their positions officially on May 1, and Brideau plans to get started right away.

Results, statistics, and demographics of the referendum are available online at eservices.unb.ca.

brunswickannews

UNB’s own financial crisis Hilary Paige Smith The Brunswickan

The world’s economic climate has university leaders concerned.

John McLaughlin released the President’s Update on Economic Climate and Budget for the 200910 year on Mar. 23. UNB’s financial situation for the coming years appears grim.

UNB is expected to run a $30 million deficit over the next three years, causing numerous repercussions in other areas of the university community. The financial plight is due in large part to the global economic crisis.

The provincial government released its budget on Mar. 17 for the 2009-10 year , evoking jubilation from student lobby groups and concern from administration and faculty. A tuition freeze will be instated for the coming academic year, in addition to freezing the base operating grant funding for the university.

The potential money lost by the tuition freeze will be funded to the university – the equivalent of a 5 per cent tuition increase. It is the freezing of the base grant, though, that has the largest impact UNB’s projected deficit.

Operating grant funding accounts for 60 per cent of UNB’s operating budget. Student tuition fees account for 34 per cent, with 6 per cent of income from other sources.

According to McLaughlin’s budget update, the freezing of the base grant deviates from the Post-Secondary Education Action Plan drafted last year, shifting the original estimates for the budget by $4 million.

UNB’s VP Finance, Dan Murray, compares the operating grant funding to the costs of running a household, saying that if the university was a home, it would cover areas like insurance and groceries.

The VP Finance shares his outlook by saying that some aspects of the provincial budget are beneficial to the university community.

“They announced stimulus funding back in their December capital budget that provided $60 million of infrastructure renewal money for New Brunswick universities,” says Murray.

Murray also notes that the $1.4 billion in stimulus-based infrastructure funding for Canadian universities released in the January federal budget. This funding goes toward the renovation and upkeep of buildings on university campuses.

“We did an assessment a year ago about what we thought some of the biggest concerns were at UNB and infrastructure renewal was right at the top,” says the VP Finance.

McLaughlin also covered the issues with UNB’s trust and endowment funds in his budget update press release last week.

“As previously reported, the economic downturn has affected the investment returns of universities’ trust and endowment accounts, including those at UNB. For the year ending Dec. 31, 2008, the UNB endowment and long-term trust accounts investment pool experienced a market loss of 16.88 per cent, or a decline in value of nearly $30 million,” reads the release.

Budget groups have been working to assess funding for community members, with students deemed a high priority.

According to both Murray and the Presidential report, scholarships and bursaries will not be affected at present due to a short-term plan developed by university departments.

The plan involves providing an internal loan from department carryon funds to the endowment fund so that money remains for students.

The update says, however, that this is only a short-term solution and potential challenges lay ahead for coming years.

Murray also discusses what the current financial crisis has revealed about the university community.

“The recession has exposed some of the fragility in the existing university models. Universities are reliant on provincial funding and student tuition fee income. We’ve seen the fragility of that when the economy goes down,” he says. “The university system is going to have to find a way to become more flexible and fund itself in different ways going forward.”

The VP Finance concludes by saying that UNB is not the only university faced with financial difficulties.

“UNB is not alone. It’s a systembased issue and we’re all trying to figure a way through this.”

President McLaughlin was not available for comment.

Apr. 1, 2009 • Issue 26 • Volume 142• 7

Roll up the rim to destroy the environment Amy Minsky The Concordian MONTREAL (CUP) – The Concordia University community in Montreal trashes 3.9 million non-recyclable disposable coffee cups every year, according to Louise Henault-Ethier, the school’s environmental co-ordinator.

Each community member trashes, on average, about 75 disposable coffee cups on campus each year, she says.

“Students are addicted to coffee,” she said. “But this behaviour has a great impact on our environment.”

Two weeks ago, Sustainable Concordia, with the help of over 20 volunteers, sifted through 350 kilograms of trash – a small percentage of the garbage Concordia students, faculty, and administration produce.

For five days, trash was collected from over 100 locations on campus, including kitchens, hallways, auditoriums, offices, and classrooms.

Volunteers sifted through the garbage and separated the contents according to their composition.

The containers for plastic, metal, and glass were not as full as in previous waste audits. In fact, says Henault-Ethier, the total amount of plastic, glass, and metal items placed in the garbage decreased from 16 per cent to 15 per cent. This suggests more people are placing the materials in recycling, rather than in the garbage.

The amount of paper and cardboard thrown in the trash dropped dramatically, from 15 per cent to nine per cent of the garbage.

But, there was one disturbing statistic from the audit, Henault-Ethier says. The

fraction of disposable coffee cups trashed on campus increased from eight per cent of the waste in 2007 to almost 10 per cent in 2009.

This increase came despite campus-wide efforts urging students to forgo disposable cups and use reusable mugs instead.

This year’s co-ordinator for the audit, Sebastian Sanchez, was surprised at the amount of coffee cups he and the volunteers found in the trash.

“We had enormous towers of Tim Hortons cups,” he said. “We could have built buildings out of them. I’m sorry Tim Hortons, but it’s just because it’s Roll up the Rim. People are drinking all these coffees because they want to win. These kinds of competitions promote waste. It’s really too bad,” he said.

The incentive to purchase coffee in a reusable mug is usually a few cents off the regular price. These benefits aren’t great enough though, Henault-Ethier says.

She suggests selling disposable coffee cups instead of giving them away for free.

Disposable coffee cups were found in both the garbage and the recycling streams, despite the fact they are not recyclable.

Most disposable coffee cups, including those sold at Tim Hortons, are neither recyclable nor biodegradable because of

their non-biodegradable plastic or wax liners.

These linings prevent the cups from being pulped with other paper products; they can’t be recycled with wax-coated milk cartons either, since the two items don’t melt at the same rate. Styrofoam is not recyclable either.

Tim Hortons customers receive a 10cent discount when purchasing beverages in a travel mug. But by using a reusable mug, customers take themselves out of the running for a prize.

No one from the Tim Hortons communications department was available for comment. According to the company’s website, however, Tim Hortons is “always researchingalternativepackagingmaterials” that are recyclable, compostable or both.

Though the majority of sorting and recycling plants are not equipped to process disposable coffee mugs, there are facilities that can in Moncton, N.B and Windsor, Ont. The results of Concordia’s waste audit will be used to evaluate which areas of the university’s waste management need improvement.

“Just as important too,” Sanchez said, “is to see if the Concordia community has a sense of individual waste consciousness.”

brunswickannews

8 • Apr. 1 ,2009 • Issue 26 • Volume 142

Smart Skin sweeps awards by showing entrepreneurial zeal

Rachel Savidge / Submitted to the Brunswickan

terms, it’s pressure-sensitive. In layman’s terms, it reacts when you press on it. This reaction can be harnessed and used when you hook it up to a very simple electrical circuit.

Also, the level of reaction depends on the level of the force. Smart Skin can tell the difference between soft touch, hard pressure and anywhere in between.”

“The real beauty of the Smart Skin material is that it is flexible and scalable. You can make it really small or you can make it big,” he explains.

When asked about the unique properties and advantages of their material, Kumaran says that “our sensors will be cheaper than existing sensors, and because it uses carbon nanotubes, one of their properties is that it is extremely strong, making our sensor a lot more durable.”

While most businesses around the country are trying to weather the economic storm and others are downsizing their efforts, Smart Skin is doing just the opposite. It is out trying to secure investors, build a team, and trying to move its research into the entrepreneurial circle.

“It was all about finding the right people. I tried doing things myself and things didn’t work out, so this semester I have Irenia who is doing her MBA, and is helping us with business development, and Sabeer, who is doing his masters in electrical engineering. His specialty is reliability testing,” says Thillainadarajah.

The Smart Skin team feels there are numerous applications for their material. The team has been researching to find a suitable market for their product, and is focusing its efforts towards prosthetics and the video game industry.

The Smart Skin team has big plans for the summer. Members hope to establish their headquarters in Fredericton and apply for patents. In the next three years, the company hopes to create employment for about 20 New Brunswickers.

Smart Skin has also been on a winning streak. The company was a runner-up last fall competing in the undergraduate UNB CIBC business plan competition, it won first place at Atlantic Engineering Competition for innovative design, and it won the social awareness award at the Canadian Engineering Competition earlier this winter.

The big prize came this past week when the company pitched to the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation at its Breakthru competition. It swept the competition by winning the Best Presentation award, Best Student Venture award and Young Entrepreneur’s prize, equaling $60,000 in equity investments and professional services.

Smart Skin will be competing in the CBC’s Dragons Den this summer, having also won the Breakthru Audience Choice competition through CBC New Brunswick.

Smart Skin is an invention brought to life by a team of students from UNB. The “skin” is being developed into a product which could allow feeling for prosthetic limbs. Pictured above are Arpad Kormendy and Kumaran Thillainadarajah, two of the Smart Skin team members.

Smart Skin is a UNB-based as a project for the Institute of startup company comprised of both Biomedical Engineering (IBME), students and professors. Students to make prosthetic skin to cover involved in this venture are Kumaran prosthetic hands. Last summer, Zaheer Abbas Thillainadarajah, Sabeer Zaman, Chibante and Thillainadarajah The Brunswickan Arpad Kormendy, Irenia Roussel, discovered fascinating properties in and Imran Khan. They are assisted the material they were developing. by their mentor and integral team The Brunswickan met with the Smart member Dr. Felipe Chibante, Chair Skin team to find out a bit more about UNB professors and students are of nanotechnology in the Faculty of this venture. raising the bar and turning academic Engineering at UNB. According to Zaman, “In technical research into marketable ventures.

Technology management instructEntrepreneurs are always looking to ors Mike Oliver and Andrew Gaudes turn innovative ideas into profitable from UNB’s Dr. J. Herbert Smith Shoot for the loot winner announced business. One such entrepreneurial Centre have also been helping the venture which has created some students with business development After almost 2,000 votes, Brandon Ingraham, a third year kinesiology student, is the Fredericton winner of serious hype within the community is strategies.

UNB’s ‘Shoot for the Loot’ video contest.

Smart Skin.

Smart Skin was initially started Greg Knudson was the Saint John campus winner.

Both of the aforementioned contestants took home a grand prize of $2500 tuition credit as well as people’s TANNING SPECIALS choice awards of $250 mega pizza parties.

The contest had eight submissions. Winners were announced on Tuesday in the SUB at UNB Fredericton.

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brunswickannews

Apr. 1, 2009 • Issue 26 • Volume 142• 9

STU SU candidate Woodlot debate continues granted appeal Cameron Mitchell The Brunswickan

Hilary Paige Smith The Brunswickan

After a successful election appeal by presidential candidate Craig Mazerolle, STUSU students will be heading back to the polls for a revote – but they don’t know when.

Craig Mazerolle is one of two students vying for the position as SU President.

He lost the election by 47 votes to his opponent and current VP Student Life, Mark Henick, in early March.

Mazerolle encountered difficulties with the election when it was brought to his attention that some voting ballots printed his name irregularly, reading “azerolle.” Other instances show that his name was partially cut from the ballot, making it difficult to read.

The presidential hopeful approached election officials with his concerns and was granted a revote.

Results of the revote showed that only 18 ballots had been spoiled, with four of them partially cutting Mazerolle’s name.

Mazerolle, still dissatisfied with the spoiled ballots, submitted his request for an appeal. The appeal hearing took place on Friday, Mar. 27.

Mazerolle presented his case to the Appellate Board, followed by remarks from the Chief Returning Officer Ryan Baxter and then rebuttals from both parties. The Appellate Board recessed for a half an hour to come to their decision, according to the CRO. Mazerolle’s appeal for revote was successful, overturning Henick’s certification as President-elect.

Henick says that he was surprised by the results of the appeal, including that he disagreed with many of Mazerolle’s grounds for appeal.

Baxter’s feelings are similar to Henick’s, saying that he respects the decision of the Appellate Board, but does not agree with the verdict.

“I have full confidence in the election results and believe that the students of St. Thomas expressed their voice and expressed their will. However, I will certainly accommodate the board with the remedy sought and I do respect the

decision,” says Baxter.

Mazerolle, on the other hand, is content with the results of his appeal, saying that an injustice has been corrected and that students can now regain faith in their students’ union.

“This election really caused people to question the legitimacy of our electoral process, and now we can show students that we are able to hold a fair and democratic election. I feel like, regardless of the outcome of this new vote, what happened at the appeal hearing was a real victory for all students,” he says.

The timing of the revote is still unknown, and the STUSU is currently in violation of a bylaw that states that an election cannot be held between the last day that professors are allowed to test students and the end of the year.

Henick is hoping the revote will be held during the reading days prior to the exam period.

“If we were to hold [the revote] in the fall then there would be a different voting block. There would be new first year students and the graduating students would have left,” says the current VP Student Life.

If the election does not take place before this semester is out, VP Administration Corben McLean will assume the role of President until a revote occurs next fall.

In typical circumstances the VP Administration would assume the role of President and a VP Administration would be re-elected. The Appellate Board, as part of their decision, did not present this option.

Both Henick and Mazerolle agree on something: that the controversies surrounding the election have not been positive for students.

Mazerolle says that tensions must be put aside for student benefit, while Henick believes that the ongoing problems have shaken student’s confidence in the Students’ Union.

“Students have to think that their votes matter and that they are going through a fair process. Unfortunately, I think that this whole thing may have made them doubt that and for no good reason really,” says Henick.

An emergency STUSU meeting will be held on Apr. 1 to decide a time for the revote.

The Woodlot debate increased in intensity once again when President John McLaughlin was handed a petition with over 600 student signatures on Mar. 20.

The issue being questioned is the proposal to build a Costco on the Woodlot, on an area that is near to the wetlands.

Some students see this endeavour as a viable way to diversify UNB’s revenue streams, while others see it as an attack on the environment.

“I’m not opposed to construction on the Woodlot, but I am opposed to development near the wetlands,” says third year arts student Rodney Mann. “The wetlands are just like a giant sponge that helps to control flooding. We’ve had issues with flooding lately and we’re bound to have issues again this year.”

Others can see a benefit in developing the Woodlot. A new Costco will provide UNB with more money, and it may help curb a future rise in tuition.

“I think that the Woodlot is obviously important to the university,” says second

year engineering student Jake Kavanagh.

“But if they can make some money off of it right now to help out with some new buildings or whatever, then maybe that’s not a bad idea.”

The school’s current administration says it is committed to hearing from all sides of the student population.

“The Woodlot means many things to many people, so our challenge is certainly to balance those various interests,” says President John McLaughlin. “Everyone’s opinion is important to us as we continue to discuss the woodlot’s uses.”

A lot has changed since UNB announced its Woodlot Implementation Plan in 2004. The Implementation Plan included a strategy for commercial development that came to include Home Depot and Winners, but UNB’s Communications Manager Dan Tanaka says that plan was made for a different time in terms of technology and standards.

“If we’re going to look at developing this area of land, then maybe we should be doing some things differently from what we did before.,” he says.

Tanaka says that it is important that all voices are heard in order to reach a consensus.

The building of a Costco on the

woodlot may provide more ecomomic security for the university during this time of recession.

“All of the money that comes from [the Woodlot] goes straight back into general operating for the University,” explains Tanaka. “It’s really just an effort to diversify the revenue streams.”

There are many students that agree with this. Rising tuition costs have been a problem for UNB students in the past, and many students don’t want to see tuition going up in the future.

Tanaka assures students that the financial benefit of development is not compromising environmental concerns.

“It’s definitely not just about money,” he says. “The design standards are important to us and we’re going to do the best we can to balance that for everybody.”

The ultimate objective is to make everybody happy. That includes the students who signed the petition cautioning against development and the students who want to see the area developed to ensure their tuition doesn’t get raised.

“The trick here is about balance,” Tanaka says. “The Woodlot means so many different things to so many different people, and we have to hear what everybody has to say.”

brunswickanopinion

10 • Apr. 1, 2009 • Issue 26 • Volume 142

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brunswickanopinion

Apr. 1, 2009 • Issue 26 • Volume 142 • 11

editor@thebruns.ca

The schoolyard bully and forgetful child Global eye Sam Perlmutter It is amazing how quickly people can forget.

It was just 15 years ago that the apartheid regime in South Africa ended.

The African National Congress, led by Nelson Mandela, swept to power in the first free and fair elections in South Africa’s history, the culmination of a long struggle against injustice with support from the international community.

Fast forward to the present, and the ANC is still in power, and remain far and away the most popular political party in South Africa.

This past week, the ANC decided to turn their back on others fighting against injustice and persecution by refusing to issue the Dalai Lama a visa, preventing him from entering South Africa. The Dalai Lama was attempting to get a visa in the hopes of attending a peace conference.

In the lead up to the 2010 World Cup hosted by South Africa, the country was to host a peace conference featuring a number of Nobel laureates. The conference was intended to examine the ways that soccer could prevent xenophobia and racism.

Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, both previous winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, along with Nobel laureate and former South African president FW de Klerk were scheduled to attend. Also planning to be in attendance were the former president of Finland Martti Ahtisaari and Queen Rania of Jordan. Archbishop Tutu had invited the Dalai Lama, also a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, to the conference.

The Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, is campaigning for increased autonomy for the Tibet region of China.

He has been living in exile in Dharamsala, India, for 50 years following the failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule.

China maintains that Tibet is part of its territory, but Tibetans accuse the Chinese government of restricting their religious freedom and suppressing their culture.

Thabo Masabe, a presidential spokesman, said that it “would not be in the best interests of South Africa” for the Dalai Lama to attend. After this

Nick Howard We take our food for granted. Asparagus in February, tomatoes in January, and lettuce in December appear normal to us.

The systems which deliver these seasonal oddities are incredibly complex and all but unseen. As questions about climate change heat up, concern about these food systems is beginning to mount. Their fairness, stability, and reliability have been brought under question by many vocal individuals and groups. Many of the issues with food in a global, and local, context can be linked to this invisible system.

Many names have been given to the different ideas questioning our current food system; each differs in its focus. The two most common are food security and food

Editorial Board

Editor-in-Chief • Josh O’Kane Managing • Tony von Richter News • Sarah Ratchford Arts • Doug Estey Sports • Mitchell Bernard Photo • Andrew Meade Copy • Dan Hagerman Production • Christian Hapgood Online • Dave Evans Staff Advertising Sales Rep • Bill Traer Delivery • Dan Gallagher Contributors Zaheer Abbas, Stephanie Allen, Ashley Bursey, Chris Cameron, Kathryn Chase, Sandy Chase, Alison Clack, Maggie DeWolfe, Sarah Farquhar, Josh Fleck, Kennie Gathuru, Nick Howard, Simon Leslie, Brandon MacNeil, Colin McPhail, Cameron Mitchell, Angus Morrison, Nick Ouellette, Sam Perlmutter, Brian Savoie, Hilary Paige Smith, Ysabelle Vautour & Alex Wickwire.

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

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The Dalai Lama was declined a visa in South Africa last week, preventing him from being able to attend a peace conference. Several prominent attendees then pulled out of the conference, causing it to be cancelled. announcement was made, Archbishop Tutu and former president de Klerk pulled out of the conference. It has subsequently been cancelled.

China is South Africa’s largest trading partner, and accuses the Dalai Lama of beinga“splittist”andseekingindependence for Tibet. A Chinese spokesman said that allowing the Dalai Lama into South Africa would harm bilateral relations between the two countries. The Chinese government also provides substantial funding to the ANC. Unfortunately, it is very obvious, as was reported in the South African media following the decision, that when Mr. Masabe says that the visit “would not be in the best interests of South Africa,” he really means that it would upset the big bully China.

The ANC, for much of its existence, has served to fight against injustice and persecution. Without the support of the international community they may never have been able to overcome apartheid.

The Dalai Lama now is in a very similar position to the ANC pre-1994.

The persecution in Tibet is undeniable, as YouTube videos of Chinese police kicking

and beating unarmed Tibetan monks will attest to. The Chinese government also recently arrested 100 Tibetans, mostly monks, during a peaceful protest. The Dalai Lama enjoys great support around the world, and deserves the help of other governments in his peaceful quest for greater autonomy and religious freedoms for the Tibetan people.

It is a shame that South Africa has been bullied by China into forbidding the Dalai Lama from entering their country and participating in a peace conference. There simply is no excuse for sacrificing moral principles out of fear of reprisals from an oppressive trading partner. The actions taken by the ANC now are very similar to the ones by foreign governments that allow regimes like apartheid to continue for so long.

The support of the international community goes a long way to helping internal struggles against oppression. The international support behind movements in places like South Africa, Kosovo, and Ukraine played a large role in establishing peaceful independent states. In all of these cases there were groups campaigning internally against injustice, and the

international support they received helped lead them to success.

By denying this support, governments allow oppressive regimes to continue to persecute their people. It should be expected that sovereign nations would not be pressured into making decisions that compromise their moral integrity, and work against the principles these countries are founded on. The Chinese government has made it clear that human rights are not a priority for them. The government of South Africa should have the fortitude to make their own decisions, and not be dragged down through the influence of China.

The ANC had the courage to fight endlessly against apartheid to end persecution and injustice, but do not seem to have the courage to stand up to China and support the Dalai Lama in his quest to do the same. Let us hope that other countries around the world will not so willingly sacrifice their pursuit of what is right and just in the face of adversity.

Sam Perlmutter is the 2009-10 SU Renaissance College representative councillor. He can be reached at sam. perlmutter@gmail.com.

How secure is your food?

The Opinionator

the brunswickan

sovereignty. Food security focuses on the stability and reliability of our current system in terms of the methods used to grow and deliver our food. Food sovereignty addresses issues of food justice. On a global level food sovereignty addresses inequality in delivery and agriculture.

Wayne Roberts recently wrote a book entitled The No-nonsense Guide to World Food in which he breaks down the current food system. Along with the issues Roberts raises, he also discusses movements and groups which are attempting to deal with them. Most important, according to Roberts, is simply to recognize that problems with our food system exist: “The problems we experience can often be linked to an invisible food system that is ‘hidden in plain sight’. When we become aware of this food system, new ways of understanding food controversies and smarter ways of solving food problems start to become clear.”

Privatization of the fundamentals of agriculture is one of the major concerns of both food security and food sovereignty.

Corporations like Monsanto take the ownership of food production out of the hands of communities and farmers. By patenting genetically modified seeds, agrocorporations force farmers to buy particular chemicals and fertilizers, as well as seeds.

Seed saving and self-sufficiency are things of the past. As control of our food moves into the hands of massive corporations, food begins to looks like a privilege, not the fundamental right it should be.

Reliance on oil in our current food system undermines any real food security.

Oil is required not only for the excessive transportation and packaging of our food, but also for the fundamental act of farming.

Machines farmers use are fueled by oil.

The fertilizers farmers spray on their crops are petroleum based. Every single link in the food system chain is dependent on the timely delivery of massive quantities of oil.

Such a dependence on any other substance would quickly be labeled as unhealthy.

Unhealthy is exactly the kind of food our current system produces. Covered in chemicals and devoid of nutrients due

to soil degradation (the effect of overfarming and fertilizer use) our food can be compared only loosely to the food of previous generations. Our food system affects every aspect of our lives; right now the effect is unfortunately negative.

Wayne Roberts demonstrates the necessity of recognizing the effect of our current food system: “When food is of, by and for the people, then food security lies in food sovereignty.

When we understand global food traditions the ethic of community-based food systems and food sovereignty starts to become clear.”

We must recognize that we are failing in one of the most fundamental aspects of human life: food. By fixing our food system we will fix many other problems that plague modern life. We will build community and gain respect for the environment and our connection to it. We must reconnect with the meaning inherent in the production and consumption of food.

Nick Howard can be reached at nphoward@ gmail.com.

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

We are an autonomous student newspaper owned and operated

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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brunswickanopinion

12 • Apr. 1, 2009 • Issue 26 • Volume 142

Just start on something already Ysabelle Vautour Submitted to the Brunswickan

I have been wondering for what seems like way too long to be wondering anything. You know when it is no longer just wondering, but ruminating on how to start? I wanted it done so I got started.

I put one word after the other. I was not completely sure how I wanted it to turn out. But here I am writing. Often we just need a step or a small action to do to get the ball rolling. Hey, look at that, I have a paragraph already! All I had to do was try.

Sometimes we spend too much time watching, waiting and thinking when all we want is to do something. We sit in classes, watch movies, read and listen to our friends’ crazy and not-socrazy stories; these are all passive things.

Delaying your action, you can call it procrastination. We all face it. Avoiding and escaping. We imagine the ideal situation and then we get disappointed when it does not pan out the way it was “supposed to”.

What is it that gets us moving? What is it that makes us finally start and give it a shot? It is easy to get discouraged and to do nothing. People are not meant to stagnate. We have this notion that we can do anything, so when we do something we expect to succeed. Of course we all know we can’t be the best at everything, as long as we improve.

That’s what I tell myself. I keep learning and trying. Often we just stay still and don’t take risks. University is the place to explore that side of you. There are many changes and events that take place; it is hard to know who you are.

When these major life events happen we need to process what happens in order to organize it in our minds. In order to interpret how we will view it and figure out what it means to us. When we make decisions to change things in our lives, sometimes our old patterns linger.

It is like they haven’t gotten the memo about the change we want to take. I find myself saying things like “hey, wait a minute here. I am reacting to the way I used to think.” I don’t believe that I should be reacting differently anymore, and I eventually do. It just takes a bit more time than I would like. I find writing helps me figure out how my brain processes new information.

I have learned that people try and fail all the time, and that’s OK. That’s

how you get things done. When you fail you adjust your course and keep going.

Sometimes you get discouraged, but when you think about it you are always a bit closer. I think of the movie Zorro.

Zorro never got it right when he was learning sword fighting. He was so slow and kept doing it wrong. His teacher kept shaking his head and laughing at him. But his persistence prevailed and he became, well, freaking Zorro.

Sure you are going to screw up, you are going to feel like an idiot, you may quit something that is not working for you, and you may change – haha, who I am kidding – you will change your mind, and a lot. But you keep going.

Keep asking questions. And keep advancing. Why? Because you want something and you are just going to regret not having gone after it. So just start on something already. In his book on procrastination, Dr. Neil Flore talks about the importance of asking: “when can I start?” instead of telling yourself “I have to get this done”. Asking when you can start is giving you the power of choice, if you want to get all existential about it. You choose to do something.

Instead of feeling like a victim of ‘I have too.’ You don’t have to do anything.

Look at what you want and decide on the next action that will take you closer to it.

My two cents and a dime Jacques Landry Submitted to the Brunswickan

After being relatively quiet during the election period, why not give my two cents on what’s been written lately?

My first cent will go the opinion piece

by Sam Perlmutter published in the Brunswickan on March 18 (Volume 142, Issue 24). First off, I agree with you that the Bruns does not have much outside of UNB-relevant articles. What the Bruns does have, however, is a great opinion section where students can virtually write about everything. The Globe and Mail offers everything you need to know about the world. They actually have the resources to send people everywhere and write concrete articles on their observations. The great thing about the Bruns is that it provides something different; sometimes they even publish good news. Now I know what you are thinking: other universities

Sexy texts could leave teens serving time Julie McManus The Navigator

NANAIMO (CUP) – Teenagers are now using text messaging to flirt and view each other naked.

Since January, news reports have called this trend “sexting” and remain focused on the fact that it’s only teenagers who are involved in XXX-rated text messaging.

A study from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy in the U.S. says that up to 20 per cent of teenagers have admitted to sending sexy phrases and provocative images via their cell phones.

The media is glorifying a new form of

something that has probably been going on before telephones were even invented, but they might have a good reason for doing so this time, since digital images can easily fall into the wrong person’s hands.

Digital pictures are very easy to take, but not as easy to get rid of once a twosome breaks up.

The sexting phenomenon is leading to teens getting busted with the pictures, and strict punishments coming into play once the pictures fall onto the screens of unworthy cell phones.

Teens busted for digitally circulating naked pictures of their friends can be charged with distributing child pornography, despite the material being from someone of the same age.

The charges are serious and can remain with the accused well into their adult life, potentially ruining a horny and curious kid’s future.

The consequences are a bit more worrisome than being busted by mom and dad for making out with a partner behind closed doors when one isn’t supposed to.

Cell phones and the Internet definitely help people come out of their shells – and clothes – which is a convenience that is tough to talk people. especially kids, out of.

We could start by not buying cell phones for young teens.

The media spotlight is on teenagers for good reason this time, even though sexting is something adults are involved in too. Their naked bodies just aren’t legally old enough to be subjects of casual picture taking and distributing, even if it is just for or from a fellow teen.

The young adult generation is just as guilty of sexting, and even though our experiences seem more advanced and our

desires more defined, no one seems to care if university-aged kids are sexting or not.

Legalities mean we are left out of this one.

A Canwest news report from reporter ElaineO’ConnorinVancouversaysthat“in Canada, it is not a crime for two teenagers, both under the age of 18, to possess consensually produced nude pictures of each other for private viewing. However, the wider distribution of such pictures would fall under child pornography laws and the person who distributed it could be charged.”

So possession is OK, but distribution is considered to be breaking the rules. The reports highlight the effectiveness that good parenting skills can have, but even great parenting won’t be able to turn off a horny teenager who owns a cell.

Teens are going to see each other naked eventually; the phones are just making it easier for them to do it, leaving longer lasting images that are at risk of being seen by others.

like McGill do it. To that I’ll say that size matters: UNB and McGill are quite frankly not in the same league.

Second, the article raises a very valid point: the awareness level on international affairs at UNB is terrible. The SU should try to raise awareness alongside with the Bruns. Maybe even use some of that highly controversial $30,000 fund for self promotion to do it (even though no one shows up to budget suggestion meetings). However, if an organization representing all students is going to do this, they have to do it right. And by right, I mean not pick a side and bash the other. I still shake my head when I think of January’s SU Lockheed Martin motion that included calling Israel “aggressive and authoritarian.” Really?

That’s like saying Cuba is oppressing the US since they don’t trade with them.

What UNB lacks is a Van Wilder – someone to inspire the uninspired.

Perlmutter is bang-on when he says that we now live in a bubble. In fact, the iPod generation has created a bubble preventing us from knowing what’s going happening on the other side of the street. So what we need area few students to get the word out. Find a friend you always disagree with, pick a subject and both write on it. The result will be both sides of the story being told and a shot at engaging other students in the debate.

Now for my second cent, you guys remember the Dalhousie Gazette article the Bruns published in Issue 23 (on March 11)? You know, the one about a protestor being removed for being annoying at a job fair?

Imagine that, Lockheed Martin caused another protest trying to give high paying jobs to students during a recession. One student/protestor said she found it disgusting that they were there recruiting. Well I find it disgusting some people would rather force engineers to work for non-governmental organizations that might not be able to afford the paycheque, let alone the money that it carries. But you are still there, aren’t you?

Now I will tip my hat to Dal’s administration. We Canadians have the right to protest. We also have the right to recruit or be recruited.

Allowing, and keeping, the protest outside was the best move. If a student going in saw the protest, and if he or she wanted to know more, I am sure they could have asked a protester. In turn, once a student got inside and saw the Lockheed Martin booth, if he or she wanted more information on the company, they could approach a company representative who would without a doubt answer any questions.

In the end, that student had the choice to listen to whomever he or she wanted.

Dal got $2 millon dollars from Lockheed Martin. UNB got nothing, and students were deprived of the choice to be recruited by a small group of students, some of whom clearly do not have the support of 28.7 per cent of the student body.

As for my dime, I am giving it to Costco, hoping they put it towards the construction of a store in Fredericton.

Sure we have 2 Wal-Marts and other stores, but I want more. Imagine being able to get a sweet deal on a variety of stuff. And let’s not forget the jobs it will create. Sure, we will have to cut some trees down, but there are plenty more in New Brunswick. Besides as the Old Man Dave Evans said, less dirty gas will get burned to go get my 10 kg box of All Bran. What? I like to be regular. Don’t judge me for it.

brunswickanopinion

Apr. 1, 2009 • Issue 26 • Volume 142 • 13

Evolutionary thinking Danielle Webb CUP Atlantic Bureau Chief ANTIGONISH (CUP) – Federal Science Minister Gary Goodyear came under fire Tuesday for tactfully avoiding a Globe and Mail reporter’s question about his personal beliefs on evolution.

The Globe then ran a front-page story with a headline that read: “Minister won’t confirm belief in evolution.”

The non-committal response on behalf of the minister immediately elicited concerned cries from top scientists across this country.

So what if one man disagrees with a single scientific theory – one that hasn’t been proven to be fact? Since when is the acceptance of some theories as truth a requirement to be a scientist in this country?

For that matter, isn’t disagreement the very way in which we further our understanding of the world around us?

University students pride themselves on the ability to express opinions in an open and accepting environment.

Goodyear’s situation shows that this luxury might not be available upon

graduation.

Many scientific theories have been challenged over the years, and this has lead to several significant breakthroughs, effectively changing the way we think about science.

Take the atom, for example. Up until the 1930s, scientists believed it was the smallest particle that made up the entire universe. But in 1932, two of Ernest Rutherford’s students attempted – and succeeded – to split it, thereby discovering nuclear fission.

Scientists continued to build on this discovery, and in 1938, German chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann verified that bombarding uranium with neutrons creates an explosion.

Hahn was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1944 for the harnessing of nuclear fission which, was later found, could be used for both good and evil. Results included the atomic bomb, used on Nagasaki and Hiroshima to end the Second World War, nuclear electricity generators, and the subsequent Chernobyl disaster in 1986, and further scientific theories that are still unproven themselves, such as string theory.

If Rutherford and his colleagues had refused to challenge what had been interpreted as fact over 70 years ago,

we might still believe the atom is the smallest particle in the universe, leaving all of this research untapped.

Goodyear has since clarified his tightlipped response, saying that he does, in fact, believe in the tenets of evolution.

But he shouldn’t have had to clarify. He has every right to challenge scientific theory, and as a federal minister, he should.

Goodyear holds a position of scientific authority in this country, and any personal views he holds are determining factors in what research does or does not receive funding.

Goodyear most certainly doesn’t have to defend his personal beliefs to the media. Until evolution is proven as fact, Goodyear, and other scientists, should be questioning this and many other theories.

Questioning will only serve to verify or disprove, which is good for the scientific community.

Perhaps research dedicated to disproving evolution could bring a conclusion to the debate for good. Or maybe it could point scientists in an entirely new direction.

Wouldn’t that be more rewarding than calling it fact now and criticizing those who have oppositional views?

Like it or not, we’re still the bourgeoisie

Christian Hapgood / The Brunswickan

Is this university-aged normal gentleman a compelling example of the modern bourgeoisie?

Maia Britt Odegaard The Peak

BURNABY (CUP) – For many years, I’ve had a vision in my mind of the average college student: cheap beer, cheap food, cheap rent, and a strong opinion about social justice and environmental issues.

Whether it was Paul Rudd’s plaid-shirtwearing, Radiohead-loving character in Clueless, or my older cousin who lived in residence at the University of British Columbia and came to Sunday dinners, clad head to toe in MEC Gortex, this image was being reinforced in one way or another.

This image is not entirely unjustified; as a student I currently advocate many of the aforementioned pursuits, especially cheap beer, but what’s really puzzling me is how higher education went from being a bourgeois luxury to a Marxist struggle.

Historically, education was reserved for the elites, and they used it as a form of cultural and economic capital among the other members of the upper echelon. They could secure jobs and familial ties based primarily on their academic achievement.

While it can be argued that this is still the case – education is a privilege we pursue with the ultimate goal of transforming our diplomas into cultural and, hopefully, economic capital – many of those who attend post-secondary institutions are

strongly opposed to capitalist ideology and bourgeois behaviour.

How did something that was primarily for the “rich” become something so intrinsic to the “poor?”

I suppose at the root of all education there is still the desire for good oldfashioned knowledge. The more students learn about history and politics, the more they become starry-eyed at the idealistic equality that seems like a logical solution to the pain and suffering in the world.

Slowly, but surely, students transformed from the responsible, well-dressed, scholarly apprentices of yore, into the metal-waterbottle-toting, charity-auction-hosting kids we now see postering the halls of our academic institutions.

While it is incredibly honourable of my fellow student to bike across the continent, or shave her head to raise money for a charitable cause, I fear that the reputation of the starving student is more about saving the planet than it is about being able to one day walk out of here with a piece of paper that will open doors in the – dare I say it? – Real World.

I just don’t think that people like us, in this type of privileged position, should forget that we are participating in a great capitalist exchange. Maybe even the great capitalist exchange.

Furthermore, lately I wonder what the demographic of the university would be like if there were no such thing as the student loan.

I don’t think I would be here writing this for you, or at any rate, I wouldn’t be able to take more than one class at a

time, making my undergraduate degree a ridiculous – perhaps pointless – 12-year long endeavour.

What would ever possess a person to approach education that way is beyond me.

It’s a theoretical situation of course; the real answer is that I wouldn’t go to university unless I, or my family, could afford to pay for it up-front.

This might be the solution to my original query: Did the introduction of the loan change the structure of the student stereotype?

Once members of middle- and lowerclass society could borrow money from the government, and with it penetrate the bourgeois institution, the typical student became one with no money, huge debt, and a more aggressively egalitarian view of society.

The fact remains that these individuals are working toward a common goal of greater capital. It might be primarily cultural capital or it might be economic capital; I’m regularly reminded that my English degree isn’t useful per se, while the kids in the business classes are probably here just so they can make more money.

Any way you slice it, we’re here so we’ll have an advantage in society and we need to remember that.

Every time you hear someone on campus cursing the evil capitalists with their greedy, money-loving ways, remind them that all the fair trade coffee in the world won’t change the fact that they’re paying big bucks to a bureaucracy in order to get their very own capital-increasing piece of paper.

letters to the editor.

Premier best example yet of internet meme known as “epic fail” Dear Editor, I’m more than a little disappointed in Shawn Graham. Disappointed is the right word for how you feel when a child doesn’t live up to your expectations, right? Now, it’s not just his decision to shut down the Gagetown Ferry that’s got me feeling this way – but that plays a big part. Nothing I write here will change his decision. What do I hope to accomplish, then? I just want to complain a little and if you end up a little angrier at the Premier then all the better.

But first: A few weeks ago the Minister of Transportation, Denis Landry, was quoted in The Daily Gleaner referring to a small convenience store in Gagetown that might be inconvenienced by the termination of the ferry service. I can’t recall his exact words, but it was something along the lines of, “oh they have a corner store there, I think.”

Perhaps he would like to speak with someone at N.B. Liquor, because the store in question, K & W Meats, is the licensed outlet for the area. They are also much more than a corner store: they sell gas, groceries and even rent movies. I know it’s a small point to pick on, but it seems ridiculous that the people making these decisions don’t even bother to learn about the communities they are affecting. In fact, it’s outright stupidity.

The Premier needs to make sure his cabinet is fully informed on a situation before they speak with the press. This is just common sense, if not part of a basic propaganda toolkit.

The main reason I’m upset with the Premier is how he’s handled the public outcry to his decision. “Like a child” would best describe his behaviour at the legislature last week when members of the opposition directly challenged him. He stuck to his talking points extremely well, but I epically fail to see how spending more money on health care and education (which traditionally means zilch by the way, other than being a tasty sound byte) gets people across the river. Gagetown has had a ferry in one form or another for almost 200 years. The province has seen harsher times than these, yet it has continued to be a part of our heritage. Never mind that the Premier has spend thousands of our tax dollars promoting a scenic drive

that, by the time you read this, likely won’t exist.

Am I frustrated? You bet. Surprised?

Of course not. We elected this child, how could we expect him to act like an adult?

You may have noticed that throughout this letter I’ve referred to the decisions made as belonging to the Premier. Too often in politics one or more of those a bit lower down on the ladder take the blame. I want the Premier to stand up and be accountable for the decisions he has made. As top dog in the house, he is ultimately responsible for those decisions.

So when the time comes for his re-election, please remember that the Premier has the power to make, or unmake, the decisions that directly affect you. If you couldn’t care less about the ferry situation in this province, think of something else that’s bugged you over the last two or three years and lay the blame squarely at the Premier’s door.

Where it belongs.

In closing, and to paraphrase the great Jon Stewart, I’d like to ask the Premier to stop hurting New Brunswick. Please.

Just stop.

Brendan Doyle

CS representative-elect proud of faculty’s voter turnout Dear Editor, I’d like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank my future constituents of the Computer Science Faculty for showing a massive turnout in the recent Bus Pass Referendum. With an impressive 58 per cent voter turnout for CS SU members, we’re second only to Renaissance College’s close 60 per cent.

Many students in my faculty showed a keen interest in the goings-on of the referendum and sparked intelligent discourse in real life and on Facebook.

Thank you, FCS, for showing UNB that you’re not the stereotypical bunch that program in their moms’ basements until 3am. You’ve shown them that you’re as active and engaged as anyone else and have given the entire campus an example to follow.

Sincerely, Ash Furrow CS Representative-Elect, 2009-10 UNBSU

next week is this year’s last edition of the brunswickan. letters to the editor are still due by friday at 5 p.m. to editor@thebruns.ca.

iewpoint V

brunswickanopinion

14 • Apr. 1, 2009 • Issue 26 • Volume 142

the brunswickan.

Question: Now that there is no more bus pass possibility, what is your favorite awesome way to get to school?

“Fly on the wings of imagination.”

Ash Furrow

“A magic carpet.”

Bethany Vail

“A segway.”

Chris Gunter

“Continue to get my mom to drive me.”

John O’Neill

“A dragon.”

Jordan Thompson

“Fly.” Katie Ashworth

“Teleport.”

Kayla Lam

“Helicopter’.”

Ryan Bauer

“Conveyor belt.”

Sean MacKinnon

“On a chariot pulled by two naked men while being fed grapes.”

Stephanie Lord

brunswickanarts arts@thebruns.ca

Apr. 1, 2009 • Issue 26 • Volume 142 •15

CADENCE LOCKED AND LOADED Doug Estey The Brunswickan

Meet Rollie Pemberton.

He might just be the hottest thing out of western Canada since the oil boom, and in an age of exhausted Can-rock bands and overexerted indie outfits touring constantly across the country, the Edmonton native could be accurately described as a breath of fresh air.

Better known as Cadence Weapon, the rapper and DJ has been working on music for as long as he can remember.

“My dad was a DJ, so it was the kind of thing that only seemed natural. It’s a byproduct of the way I grew up. Then I started writing raps in math class and using the internet to fire tracks back and forth with people.”

Something that started as a mere hobby quickly evolved into an everyday thing for young Pemberton. As his efforts became more focused, he would sneak into open mic events at night clubs and sell demos out of his backpack.

“At that point I released Cadence Weapon is the Black Hand and from there I went in to full hustle mode,” he says. “Just doing whatever I could do get my name out there.”

With two albums and several mixtapes under his belt, Cadence Weapon’s latest release is a hot topic: dubbed Separation Anxiety, it’s available as a name-your-own-price digital download via his website and features tracks that are out-of-thebox, even for his own self-carved style.

“That was a conscious thing. I don’t want to be the kind of dude who makes the same shit all the time. I’m less and less interested in straight up rapping and more interested in things that can come from it. A mixtape is more of an outlet to do what I want to do outside the bounds of an album.”

Pemberton claims that he was originally planning on just releasing the mixtape entirely for free, but then

Submitted

Cadence Weapon’s Separation Anxiety demonstrates the rapper/DJ’s unconventional methods, released as a name-your-own-price digital download earlier this year. changed his mind when he believed that some people would dismiss the effort associated with it.

“I thought that maybe it would be taken more seriously if there was some kind of value atrributed to it; but at the same time, it’s not a cohesive album by any means. That’s when the decision was made to allow people to name their own price for it.”

Cadence Weapon’s identity has evolved rapidly, especially over the

last year. In March 2008 he released Afterparty Babies on the label ANTI- (a subsidiary of Epitaph) and toured for it relentlessly before releasing Separation Anxiety in January. He also collaborated Shout Out Out Out Out for “Coming Home” on their 2009 full-length, Reintegration Time.

“I included a demo version of “Coming Home” on Separation Anxiety; I kind of wanted it to be a behind-the-scenes view of the track.

The Shout Out dudes are some of my closest friends in town. We have so much in common, me and Nick, we DJ together pretty frequently and finally we just said fuck, we really need to do something.”

“Coming Home” has been the subject of both praise and skepticism. Pemberton, who keeps track of the latest hype on his music on blogs and other forms of social media, has his own observations.

“I think it turned out great, but I

think there’s a lot of misconceptions about it. I’m seeing things like ‘that song is a fuckin’ mess and the worst song on the album’ or ‘screaming “we do acid” is totally obnoxious.’

It’s those kind of people that just don’t get it; it’s a throwback to acid house.”

For more information about Cadence Weapon, and to get your hands on a digital copy of Separation Anxiety, visit www.cadenceweaponmusic.com.

this week in brunswickanarts Free Last Class Bash show with Sleepless Nights, Ruby Jean and Grand Theft Bus The school year might be winding down, but the live entertainment just keeps coming. East coast favourites from all over the Maritimes, including the Sleepless Nights, Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees, and Grand Theft Bus will be performing at the Student Union Building on Apr. 9 for Last Class Bash.

Admission is free for UNB/STU students and $10 for guests.

Homecoming tour for Share Share is back home in New Brunswick, with upcoming dates in Rothesay at the Shadow Lawn Inn on Apr. 9 and a show at the Wilser’s Room here in Fredericton on Apr. 12.

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees will join the Sleepless Nights and Grand Theft Bus at the Student Union Building on Apr. 9.

Music on the Hill presents the UNB Band & Chorale The UNB Band & Chorale will be performing a world tour spring concert on Apr. 7 at 8 p.m. in Memorial Hall, featuring pieces from Africa, China, Sweden, Scotland and beyond. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students.

brunswickanarts

16 • Apr 1, 2009 • Issue 26 • Volume 142

Photography: a cash-based battle?

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

Does having expensive equipment make one photographer better than another with limited gear?

From The Tubes Doug Estey

I spent last weekend in Antigonish, N.S. for the Atlantic Regional Canadian University Press Conference (ARCUP), where I witnessed a var-

iety of eye-opening seminars that got me thinking about journalism, new forms of media, and a passion of mine: photography.

Saturday morning’s first speaker discussed the challenges and techniques involved with shooting sports photos.

“Sadly,” he said, “a better photographer with inferior equipment will often produce much worse images than a bad photographer with superior equipment.”

As a student photographer, this stung me a bit, as I’m sure it did others in the room. I shoot Pentax; it’s not the most popular brand of SLR, but it suits my needs as a much cheaper

alternative that gets the job done. I understand, though, that under the intense circumstances of high-speed sports such as hockey and basketball, your equipment can make or break your shots.

Then I realized that there are many photographers out there who firmly believe in this concept – not just for high speed shooting, but also in all practical genres of photography.

I’m a strong proponent of the opposite, having seen some of my favourite photographs taken with a Polaroid or a disposable camera. The modern experimentation of up-andcoming professionals like Chase Jarvis and his “iPhone as Art” portfolio are

exactly the kind of thing I’m talking about. The primary limiter on what you can achieve in a photograph isn’t the megapixel density of the sensor, but instead the creativity behind the finger that presses the trigger.

“The best camera is the one that’s with you,” his website reads.

This isn’t exactly the kind of thing that manufacturers like Nikon would like you to believe in – Nikon’s highest-level camera, the D3x, retails for around $10,000.

These same kinds of principles apply not only with photography, but with consumer electronics – and, on a larger scale, products like automobiles as well.

So which is better?

It’s like saying that Porsche 911 Turbos will always outrun Honda Civics. While seemingly a fair statement, it’s not taking into account the skills of both drivers – or how much a certain culture of fast and furious enthusiasts can push a Honda Civic.

I don’t consider myself to be fast or furious, but I honestly believe that if you toss a D300 to an amateur and a D40 to a professional, it’s pretty clear who will come out on top.

Doug Estey is the Arts Editor of the Brunswickan, and he encourages you to either leave a comment or write him a letter about From the Tubes if it instills any form of emotion within you.

Boomers need to move on: Vaughan Alison Clack The Brunswickan

Baby boomers might be feeling a little affronted after the latest Christian Sabat Memorial Lecture.

The lecture, which was given by Toronto-based writer R. M. Vaughan last week, was a tongue-in-cheek look at the “negative” effect baby boomers have had on popular culture over the past forty-odd years.

Vaughan argued that the boomer generation is a “cultural phenomenon, not just an age-based one,” and that such boomers have had a pronounced effect on culture for an “unnatural” amount of time – something that Vaughan claims needs to be changed.

He proudly boasted his “post-

boomer” category and despite being a “near boomer,” he said there are marked differences between his Generation X and the boomer generation.

Vaughan commented on how the British invasion of the boomer generation was the Beatles; contrastingly, the British invasion of his own generation was the Sex Pistols.

Similarly, boomers gathered around the TV during their generation in celebration of the inception of colour TV. Vaughan pointed out that his generation gathered around for the inception and proliferation of cable TV. It’s not that Vaughan was arguing that boomers did not have good ideas at one time; instead, Vaughan argued that boomers cannot let go of their “echoes of misplaced nostalgia.”

Essentially, he said, boomers cannot let go of the good times and are desperately seeking a way to remain relevant in the world as they move past middle-age.

Vaughan jokingly described their behaviour as deplorable, and claimed baby boomers are the “most greedy,

bombastic generation since the pharaohs – who had similar afterlife plans.”

Among the cultural elements that Vaughan claimed boomers should put to rest is Leonard Cohen and his version of “Hallelujah” – although one audience member was quick to point out that Vaughan’s fellow Generation X’er, Rufus Wainwright, is partially responsible for the song’s survival.

Despite this, Vaughan remained adamant that Leonard Cohen is “the Kenny Rogers of boomer chic.”

It was clear that the audience was primarily made up of boomers, but Vaughan was able to keep them laughing.

And, to be fair, boomers weren’t the only ones getting a few verbal knockings during the lecture.

Not one to discriminate, Vaughan also called out the children of boomers, Generation Y. According to Vaughan, Generation Y (those born between 1979 and 1995) has been “bubble wrapped by their parents.”

The speaker laughed about the anecdotes he hears from his boomer

friends who say their children didn’t know how to do their own laundry – or even work a toaster.

Vaughan claimed that members of Gen Y have been spoiled by their parents and know relatively little about how to take care of themselves.

When one audience member brought up the issue of Generation X being strangled in the work force by boomers who refuse to retire and generation Y starting to enter into the workforce, Vaughan joked that he was not that worried.

“I’m competing with people half my age for jobs, but it’s okay because they can’t even tie their own shoes.”

Focusing his attention back on baby boomers, Vaughan said that society shouldn’t be worried about the fall of boomer influence. Vaughan looks at it as somewhat of a cultural renaissance – a time for “cultural renewal.”

The decline of boomer influence “should not cause anxiety; it should cause cultural renewal,” he said.

To the boomers of the audience, Vaughan also added that change could

be a good thing, and it is okay for them to let go of their nostalgia.

“Your nostalgia will be replaced by this crazy, crazy thing called contemporary culture,” he joked.

Vaughan ended his lecture with a few glib, final words for the boomers in the audience: “If you are a boomer stop. Stop working, stop acquiring, stop controlling your and my universe, stop going out in crocs, stop saying you’re going to stop and just stop!

“You’ve had a good run, flower children,” said Vaughan. “It’s time to relocate.”

R.M. Vaughan is a native New Brunswicker, having grown up in Quispamsis. Vaughan is also a graduate of UNB’s creative writing program.

He currently lives in Toronto where he works as a playwright, poet, author, and critic.

The eleventh annual Christina Sabat Lecture was held Thursday, Mar. 26 at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery. The lecture series seeks to encourage artists, writers, and critics to create works in a context that focuses on Canadian culture.

brunswickanarts

Apr. 1, 2009 • Issue 26 • Volume 142 • 17

Co-operative zombie killing fun The Final Score Dan Hagerman

Throughout the years, the Resident Evil series has been notorious for its tendency to have both bad acting and shoddy controls. I didn’t get around to playing the first game when it came out, but I did enjoy playing through a bit of Resident Evil 2.

It was a pretty tricky game if you’d never played anything like it before, both in terms of the “Where do I go/what do I do now?” factor, but also navigating around the zombies and various other threats was not made terribly easy by the designers. Controlling your character was a lot like controlling a tank, but I suspect controlling an actual tank might be easier.

Some of the horror factor in the early Resident Evil series came from cheap scares and having minimal supplies to survive with. These basic formulas, with a few helpful additions, mostly stayed in place from the first Resident Evil in 1996 to Resident Evil Zero in 2002.

With the release of Resident Evil 4 in 2005, Capcom decided to switch up their formula substantially. Instead of three-dimensional models on top of high quality two-dimensional backgrounds, Resident Evil 4 was entirely in three dimensions, had a new and improved camera perspective, and even made the “zombies” into more intelligent and threatening creatures that could wield weapons and move really fast. The controls were altered to resemble other third-person shooters, and context-sensitive actions made the battlefield more dynamic.

With the new Resident Evil 5, Capcom decided to take the road most travelled and has kept the same formula as it had just refined.

Resident Evil 5, at a glance, looks an awful lot like Resident Evil 4.

Granted, the graphics quality has been bumped up to high definition, but if you were to squint really hard, it would look pretty similar. What has changed?

Instead of Leon Kennedy, ex-police officer, you have Chris Redfield, exS.T.A.R.S. Instead of having Ashley Graham, the mostly-useless damsel in distress in Resident Evil 4, you have Sheva Alomar, a mostly-competent AI companion who helps you out both in terms of firepower and healing when you need it.

The item management is also different; unfortunately, it’s for the worse. You only have nine slots at any given time to put your items into, and I found that this was nowhere near as useful as the system from the last game.

The one advantage to the new setup is that you can quickly select between four items very quickly, as opposed to having to pause to switch guns, but this is about the only good thing. Having to struggle with your inventory while you’re being sliced in half or being axed is not exactly the most fun gameplay.

Through the game, you’ll still go from point A to point B while killing various monsters, but the most important thing is that this time you’ll be doing so with a partner. If you’re the social gaming type, you can even play with a friend on the same screen or online.

Tactics are very important when dealing with the “zombies” in this game; you can aim at specific parts of the monsters, and they react realistically to gunfire so you can then run up and knock them down instead of shooting and wasting ammo. However, later in the game, certain enemies even have shields and armour, so shooting them in certain places isn’t easy.

If there’s one striking feature of the game, it’s how good it looks. Just like Resident Evil 4 before it, Resident Evil 5 pushes the both systems’ graphical capabilities to make both the surroundings and the characters look extremely well detailed. The lighting effects are especially fantastic in both

Screenshot

Resident Evil 5’s in-game graphics are simply jaw-dropping. stark daylight or underground caves, and, for Capcom at least, the lip sync is not bad, either.

The game also gives you a lot to do in terms of scoring. At the end of each level, you’re scored on how many creatures you killed, your accuracy, how many times you died, and how fast you finished the level. Depending on how well you do, you’ll receive points which you can use to unlock special items like new costumes, collectable figures, or unlocking unlimited ammo for guns that you’ve completely upgraded.

Once you complete the main game, you’ll unlock a mode called The Mercenaries, which sticks you in one of a few different levels of the game with a given time limit and tasks you with killing as many monsters as you

SLOWCOASTER HITS THE CELLAR

Sandy Chase / The Brunswickan

Slowcoaster and Weak Size Fish came out to the Cellar on Saturday, Mar. 28 to a packed crowd of students.

can. Like the main game, you can either do this on your own or with a friend, but playing with a friend is always better.

Overall, Resident Evil 5 has a lot of value in it, both with the reasonable amount of time it takes you to finish the game, as well as the Mercenaries mode,

plus the ability to play through the entire game with a friend. Some of the design choices may seem a bit flawed, but for the most part it’s still fun to play with friends and pretty to look at – the way all games should be.

Dan Hagerman is Copy Editor of the Brunswickan.

brunswickanarts

18 • Apr 1, 2009 • Issue 26 • Volume 142

Hagerman’s epic horoscopes

KNIGHT OF THE BURNING PESTLE COMES TO UNB

Aries

Taurus

(March 21st - April 19th)

(April 20th - May 20th)

You will have the best day of your life up to now this week, dear Aries.

You will, in quick succession: win the lottery, spend all of your money on chickens, have a chicken hatch a golden egg, have a chicken hatch a platinum egg, and have a platinum egg hatch a gold bar. All of this will happen on your birthday. Your lucky rapper is Epic Mazur.

Gemini

Cancer

(May 21st - June 21st)

(June 22nd- July 22nd) You will become lost and pursued by evil armed men in an office building this week, dear Cancer. The walls will begin closing in and there will be no apparent exits. Since you always make your own rules (and exits!), you will simply jump straight up with enough force to smash through the ceiling. You will land on your feet on top of a shoplifter.

Your lucky poet is Dante Alighieri.

Leo

Virgo

(July 23rd - August 22nd)

(August 23rd - September 22nd)

You will personally prevent a 20-car pileup this week, dear Gemini. A car will speed towards 19 other cars, all of which contain cute babies, while you are walking through an intersection. Your quick reflexes and startling good looks, not to mention your understanding of subatomic particles, will allow you to divert the car’s path into a conveniently placed stack of pillows. Your lucky piece of music is “Lux Aeterna.”

Sandy Chase / The Brunswickan

arts@thebruns.ca

Theatre UNB presents Francis Beaumont’s The Knight of the Burning Pestle from Wednesday, Apr. 1 through Saturday Apr. 4, at 8 p.m. nightly at Memorial Hall on the UNB campus. Directed by UNB Director of Drama Len Falkenstein, The Knight of the Burning Pestle is a wild comic extravaganza filled with song and music, fearsome giants, treacherous villains, and very small dwarves. Tickets ($6 for students, $10 adults) are available at the door. For more information, phone 4473078.

You will impress your friends and family this week, dear Taurus.

While auditioning for a play, you will literally transform yourself into a young Marlon Brando. This will be even more impressive if you were female to begin with. This will be less impressive if you were a young Marlon Brando to begin with. Your lucky song by Faith No More is “Epic.”

You will reach a stalemate with some ninjas this week, dear Leo. Your skill will clearly be better than the ninjas, but the fact that you are fighting ninjas will leave you in such an awestruck state that you will not be able to focus as well. Thankfully, ninjas tend not to kill opponents who tie them in a game of chess. Your lucky film series is The Lord of the Rings.

Your luck will turn sour in a game of laser tag this week, dear Virgo. You will score some points against one opponent, but another opponent behind you will laser you immediately after. Since you were playing Epic Laser Tag, however, the lasers will sever your opponent’s arm and you yourself will lose an ear.

You will feel bad, but not as bad as them. Your lucky epic movie is NOT Epic Movie.

Libra

Scorpio

(September 23rd - October 23rd)

(October 24th - November 22nd)

Juggling flaming swords will go much better than expected this week, dear Libra. You will become distracted and will fumble the swords, but each sword will land point down on top of some very large bugs that were just about to attack you. Problem solved.

Your lucky cognitive architecture is Executive-Process/Interactive Control.

Driving your car will land you in hot water this week, dear Scorpio.

Unfortunately, it will land you in literal water. You will plummet off a cliff into a car-sized hot tub.

Thankfully, you will escape from your vehicle before it crashes, landing in a conveniently-located adjacent hot tub. Your lucky time period in India is the Epic India period.

Sagittarius

Capricorn

(November 23rd - December 21st)

(December 22nd - January 20th)

Aquarius

Pisces

(January 21st - February 18th)

(February 19th - March 20th)

You will amaze everyone with your mad guitar skills this week, dear Sagittarius. Interestingly, you don’t even know how to play the guitar. Instead, you will simply flail around wildly while holding a guitar with bad techno playing in the background. People will agree that it is still awesome. Your lucky game that uses Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 3 is Mass Effect.

Your dancing skills will save your life this week, dear Aquarius. When in a hurry to cross a lawn containing several bear traps and a sign labeled “Do Not Walk On Grass,” you will instead be able to dance through it. Your jig will trigger all of the traps and you will tap dance over all of them. Your lucky western is The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

You will walk away from watching the film Watchmen feeling particularly energized this week, dear Capricorn. Learning from the film’s example, you will now know how to use hairspray as a flamethrower; from the graphic novel’s example, you will learn how to hide in refrigerators. Your lucky church in Kansas is the Epic Church.

Outrunning evildoers will be especially easy for you this week, dear Pisces. With your hang glider in tow, you will jump off of a cliff, deploy your hang glider, and try to divert your foes with a combination of slingshot pebbles and scathing remarks critiquing their fashion sense. Your lucky skatepark is the Epic Skate Park in Birmingham, England.

brunswickanarts

Apr. 1, 2009 • Issue 26 • Volume 142 • 19

Radio takes a newer, richer direction Samantha Magnus The Martlet

VICTORIA (CUP) – Sarah Buchanan struggles with noise, like the sound of her neighbour’s weed-eater taking over her tapes.

“Now I am relieved that at least one interview will not be saturated with the terrible sound of lawn implements,” she said. “This is the brutal life of a podcaster.”

Buchanan is one of two University of Victoria alumni (now Vancouverites) who started their own radio podcasts this year. She and Elianna Lev have been posting shows online since February.

“It came more out of addiction than any great drive,” Buchanan said.

“I got the radio bug.”

Buchanan’s project, which has aired two episodes so far, is called Life After Radio. There are no ads on the website, but in the upper corner is a link to donate by Paypal that says, “Radio is dead, long live radio,” and underneath, “Support your

podcaster.”

Buchanan explains that friends and family didn’t think getting into radio was a good idea, financially speaking.

Indeed, Canadian broadcasting has been anything but a rock in the world’s financial storm.

“The situation is pretty dire for most of Radio One,” she said.

But is radio dead?

“It’s obviously not,” said Buchanan.

“We’re taking radio in a different direction.”

Lev is also optimistic about podcasting as radio’s next incarnation.

“It’s still a pretty new medium,” Lev said. “Rather than be frightened [of the shifts in our media outlets], I think we should be excited.”

Lev had been working as a professional journalist for five years when she was laid off by the Canadian Press last October. If that was a sour gift, then her podcast, the People’s Program Project, is the sweet juice she made from the lemons.

“I was always writing for other people, which was amazing,” Lev said.

However, the strict format and formula demanded by mass media didn’t suit her.

Look out for the special spoof edition of the Brunswickan, Wednesday April 8.

“It’s not who I am as a writer, as an artist,” said Lev. “I was more interested in the human side of things.”

As a radio freelancer, Buchanan’s experience was similar.

“CBC always had a very specific mission,” she said, explaining that all pieces had to be reigned into a certain clean tone. “I feel like it takes some of the warmth out.”

Buchanan says Life After Radio, on the other hand, is more local in scope and more community-based.

“I want to get across the feeling you get when you’re in a room of people sharing stories,” she said.

That, she said, is more easily done with radio than with print. “[The] sound is richer,” Buchanan said. “I always feel like something is missing when I write.”

For Lev, something was missing in her old radio work.

“I always had to put on a professional voice that didn’t sound like me,” she said.

Now that she has complete control over production, Lev is looking to find her own voice for the first time.

The People’s Program Project taught her as much about herself as other people.

“Now I’m doing something that is really me,” she said.

The Project started with interviews with friends and family about their quirky and moving stories – everything from crystal healing to traffic reports to the enduring numbness of soldiers. But Lev plans to expand her “storytelling vault” for future episodes.

Life After Radio’s two features unfold stories from old love letters and uncork strange brews in fermenters’ kitchens. Buchanan is confident that the show snuggles into its own niche.

Lev scopes out ITunes podcast for competition, and points out that the most popular show in her category is the Big Gay Sex Show.

“What are they doing that I’m not?” she said, laughing.

So far, each episode of the People’s Program Project has been downloaded about 100 times, says Lev. Although she knows that many friends and old co-workers are among the listeners,

she gets the odd international surfers from France or Sweden.

Life After Radio’s hits are also mostly from Vancouver, with landings from the reaches of Grenada, Scotland, and Mexico.

“People are scared of the Internet, but there’s a lot of potential,” said Lev. The world-accessibility is one such boon. Her own favourite podcasts include the big name This American Life, as well as local comedy-cast, Stop Podcasting Me. Buchanan names Radio Lab as her favourite, but links to Lev’s show on her website.

Despite their enthusiasm, it is hard to predict how Lev and Buchanan’s podcasts will fare as these journalists factor in their finances. Buchanan says she’ll need funding to sustain the time-intensive production of Life After Radio.

“It’s pretty important to me,” said Lev about her own show. “I’ll figure out a way to make it happen.”

Both shows are available any time online – free of cost and lawnmower noises.

brunswickanarts

Apr. 1, 2009 • Issue 26 • Volume 142 • 20