Issue 14, Vol 144, The Brunswickan

news // Green issue >> check out our exclusive sustainability content Volume 144 · Issue 14 • January 5, 2011

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ROAD TO THE UNIVERSITY CUP BEGINS FOR THE REDS

UNB forward Chris Culligan searches for the rebound during Saturday night’s 3-1 victory over Providence. Despite Sunday’s 1-0 defeat, the Reds still captured the Pete Kelly Cup Challenge through goal differential.The Reds also downed Quebec rivals McGill 7-1. Full story on pg. 9. Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan.

Traces of lead found in UNB water system Colin McPhail Editor-in-Chief Get the lead out, UNB. That’s the sentiment shared by an environmental and natural resources project group. Their recent study into water fountains on campus showed concentrations of lead exceeding the health advisory level.

The group’s study displayed high levels of lead and iron in fountains found in Bailey Hall and the Forestry and Geology Building. The study was conducted through a water conservation class in the Environmental and Natural Resources faculty as a term project. However, as fourth-year student and group member Jennifer Nicholson explained, the results were unexpected.

“The goal was to go around and check all the water fountains and prove that they are just as good as bottled water, but the results came back a little different

than what we thought they would be,” Nicholson said.

“They were a few water fountains in the older buildings, Bailey and Forestry, that showed high levels of lead and iron.

We retested the ones that were over the health advisory level and all of them came back under the health advisory level except for one fountain in Bailey Hall.”

The sample showed a concentration just over 0.0015mg/L, the level advised

by Canadian health officials. The study group cited old pipes found in the older buildings on campus as reasons for the higher concentration of metal.

Although the levels found in the majority of fountains are nowhere near fatal, third-year student and group member, Amos Champion noted that time plays a factor.

“It’s the higher concentrations that are the worse. You need so much iron a day, but when you drink eight cups of water a day and these fountains have high concentrations of iron, so there might be

a problem after awhile.”

In checking for consistency in their samples, the group came across a rather interesting occurrence upon running the water.

“We sampled differently then what we did the first time,” explained second-year student Hannah Bradford. “We used a time sequence. We took a sample at five seconds then took a sample at two minutes then we took a sample at five minutes after letting the water run. We found that the levels of lead and iron decreased dramatically within the first two minutes.”

Champion recommended students, especially in the morning, run the water to flush out the pipes before filling up their water bottle.

The group immediately brought the study to the attention of the university before the holiday break.

Mike Carter, director of facilities management for UNB, said the university is committed to ensuring there is a high

quality of drinking water on campus and launched investigation upon hearing the recent developments.

“To date we have had discussions with the NB Dept. of Health, the Dept. of Environment and the City of Fredericton on this issue and are retaining the services of a consultant to help us investigate. I have now received the results of the sampling done by students in Bailey Hall and will use them in the investigation over the coming weeks.”

Along with informing the university about their findings, the group made three recommendations. Firstly, to have employees go around and flush out the fountains for five minutes every morning.

Secondly, put filters in every fountain to help catch the metals. Finally, the university should ultimately replace the pipes in the older buildings.

The group is also promoting the installation and use of hydration stations around campus. These new fountains allow students to easily fill their water

bottles, while eliminating the appearance of metals due to a high-level filtration system. The new stations are also more accessible.

“The new fountain installed near the UNB Science Library included the installation a filling station to provide refrigerated filtered water, but it also has an accessibility benefit as well,” said Carter.

“A bi-level fountain was chosen for this location to make the lower fountain barrier free for people accessing it from a wheelchair.”

Carter is currently monitoring the popularity of the fountains to gauge the possibility of further installations.

“The popularity of the water bottle filling stations will determine if they will be added to future fountain installations, of course pending funding approval. The cost to supply and install one refrigerated water fountain with a bottle filling station can cost in the order of $5,000 to $6,000 depending on the location where it is to be installed in the building.”

brunswickannews

2 • Jan. 5, 2011 • Issue 14 • Volume 144

UNB becomes energy efficient Hilary Paige Smith News Editor It ain’t easy being green, but the University of New Brunswick is trying its best.

In recent years, the university has outlined energy management and “greening” the campus as one of its primary objectives.

Creating a greener UNB was also outlined as a priority in the recently released Strategic Plan, meant to guide the university into a more sustainable future.

Paul Holt, energy manager with Facilities Management at UNB, is responsible for the Central Heating Plant and tunnels, as well as the Energy Management Program on campus. He broke down UNB’s energy numbers for The Brunswickan shortly before the break.

The university is currently in the middle of a $7 million program to make campus more energy efficient, building-by-building.

This program involves monitoring each building for energy usage, seeing where trouble areas are and where renovations and funding should be allocated.

“Once the project is complete, we then compare the consumption figures for the buildings as compared to the original consumption figures and, so far, we’ve successfully reduced electrical, steam and water consumption in all the projects that we’ve carried out,” he said.

Because energy and steam usage are being reduced at UNB, Holt said the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by campus is also reduced.

Every month, Holt and his team at Facilities Management take readings of the university’s three consumption areas. They also release a yearly report.

“We’re constantly updating and keeping an eye on the figures throughout the year,” he said.

The team also keeps an eye on irregularities in their numbers. For example, if an athletics building has a high level of energy consumption, the team checks for an increase in building use to ensure the two are connected.

There is also a public education program associated with energy managment at UNB. “A lot of improvements can also be gained by improving the education of the participants of the building. For example, if it’s not automated lighting, when class is finished for the day, that people switch off the lights,” he said.

The university also has a complex heating and ventilation system in place in most buildings to ensure that classrooms and other rooms that are not being used are not being heated unnecessarily.

Despite the measurements put in place, UNB is a large campus with old buildings and consumes a lot of energy.

For the 2009-2010 academic year, UNB consumed 26,694,322 kWh of energy.

“We are a large size. That is a lot of energy consumption, yes… Consumption figures themselves since 1990, although we show a 3 million kWh increase, you’ve got to bear in mind teaching techniques have changed dramatically in those years,” Holt

said, referring to the way teaching is largely electronics-centered nowadays.

“People’s habit and where teaching’s changed dramatically, if we hadn’t carried out our energy projects over the last 10 years, it would be easily 30 or 40 per cent (higher).”

To compare UNB to another New Brunswick university, Mount Allison in Sackville consumed over 11 million kWh in 2007, according to their most recent energy audit.

Because UNB’s numerous buildings are so physically different in age, structure and use, it is almost impossible to compare them in terms of consumption. Based on figures from the 2009-2010 academic year, Head Hall consumed the most energy out of all the buildings at UNB. It is also one of the largest buildings on campus and full of high-energy labs.

It consumed 2,462,400 kWh that year alone.

The Student Union Building consumed 972,444 kWh from 2009 to 2010.

Head Hall’s energy-saving renovations were just completed in December.

At this point in time, UNB has completed 61 projects in their overall Energy Management Program, with more projects to come.

Annually, the university has reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 3,300 tonnes. So far, more than $3 million has been spent on various projects and retrofitting, with UNB making an annual return of $675,000 in energy saving.

The campus-wide retrofitting program is expected for completion by 2016.

Reslife goes green Hilary Paige Smith News Editor UNB’s red-bricked residences are looking a little greener this year.

When new students enter residence life for the first time, and every year after that, the importance of conservation is stressed.

Signs encouraging students to turn off lights when the leave a room, reduce water consumption and recycle are posted throughout residences. In addition to this, in recent years students have been participating in green challenges to promote sustainable living and conservation.

In the fall, a class in Renaissance College organized a water conservation challenge for residences.

In the end, the Suite-Style residence conserved the most and won a flat-screen television provided by Residential Life, Campus and Conference Services.

Last year, Aitken House topped 37 other residences at six university campuses across Atlantic Canada for their energy saving prowess.

“These things really do engage students and I think it’s the most effective way of learning about that stuff,” James Brown, executive director of RLCCS, said.

Brown thinks some students at UNB truly care about conserving

and keeping UNB green, and that all students are exposed to these philosophies.

“Some students care a lot about it and we try to create circumstances so that those students are as effective at getting that message out as possible.”

There is also a Green Team in the residence community. Led by Kate Van Rooyen, the team is in charge of promoting green initiatives and awareness as well as working on a special project each year. This year’s project is getting blue recycling boxes installed in all residences. These boxes will house products that are not refundable.

The residence community entered into a five-year project just this year to bring better energy and water saving practices to campus.

The project includes $1.5 million in upgrades. Energy efficient lighting, heat recovery from the exhaust air stream, energy management controls and kitchen hood controls are all areas of the project. Brown said the investments will prevent 1,113 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year from escaping into the atmosphere.

As of this year, there are also two “Hydration Stations” on campus, one in the SUB and the other in McConnell Hall. The stations are essentially water fountains that calculate the number of water bottles they’ve saved.

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brunswickannews

3 • Jan. 5, 2011 • Issue 14 • Volume 144

A look at UNB’s green leader

A long road ahead for Fredericton’s environmental sustainability effort Colin McPhail Editor-in-Chief Is Fredericton an environmentally sustainable city? The city of Fredericton says yes. The Conservation Council of NB says no.

The conflicting responses are brought about through a wide variety reasons, most of which focus on the actions of political leadership and community members.

When asked the question, David Coon, the executive director of the Conservation Council of NB, simply responded “not right now.”

“Number one, people are too dependent on cars to get around,” continued Coon. “Number two, it requires its food to come from very long distances and that just can’t be sustained. A third reason would be maintaining the integrity and resources of ecosystems within the city are not a part of their municipal planning, goals and objectives.”

Coon asserts having political leaders who are engaged and environmentally conscious is imperative to creating a sustainable community. Unfortunately, he feels that the municipal officials do not fit the bill.

He said the Fredericton public transit system is one of the many problems hindering the sustainability movement. Unlike the majority of other Canadian provinces, New Brunswick does not support the municipal transit system, which impedes the city’s ability to generate revenue and develop initiatives for a more convenient and accessible transit system. The encumbered system is not set up to help people replace their cars and offers no disincentives to driving.

“There’s no need to have their cars in the centre of the city if you had a decent transit system,” said Coon.

“We don’t have a provincial movement in this direction despite commitments made in the Climate Action Plan to implement a provincial transportation strategy.”

However, Coon noted that community is also at fault.

“People haven’t been banging on the doors and demanding this from the political leadership in the city.

That suggests that it’s not a number one priority for a lot of people. It’s not a question of reinventing the wheel, but the will has to be there to move in that direction.”

Alycia Morehouse, Fredericton’s climate change coordinator, would disagree with that statement saying the will has been there for over a decade.

“We still have a long way to go, but we’ve achieved a lot over the past decade.”

Morehouse said Fredericton has been advocating environmentally conscious policies and practices for nearly two decades. The city also joined the Partners for Climate Protection in 2000 in effort to reduce greenhouse gases. Since joining, the community has reached all five milestones for the corporation and four out of five for the community within the PCP milestone framework.

Cherise Letson Staff Writer

While city hall boasts an impressive resume when being environmentally conscious, others question whether the city is actually environmentally sustainable.

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan For the following seven years, the majority of Fredericton’s environmental sustainability efforts were internal until the creation of Green Matters in 2007. “[Green Matters] was designed as a public education,” explained Morehouse. “We wanted to provide a community outreach program to educate about all the different things we could do.“ The program promoted more efficient methods of waste reduction, water conservation and energy consumption.

“Green Matters was the public face of what the city wanted to achieve,” continued Morehouse. “What we’ve seen through that is more people get involved in environmental initiatives. I think the reception was positive.

The following year the Green Shops project was created in an effort to reach the Fredericton business community. The programs were just one of the many initiatives put forth in an effort to inform the community how to reduce their environmental footprint.

Morehouse believes the initiatives and engagement from the city and its constituents were essential in being recognized by the Livable Communities Awards last October.

She is, however, in agreeance with Coon in saying that the community cannot become complacent in respect to the environment. Whether deeming Fredericton environmentally sustainable or not, both Coon and Morehouse agree that the city has a long road ahead.

Andrew Holloway is a real green leader at UNB. Holloway is UNB’s sustainability officer, a position that involves being the “middle man” between students and administration with environmental issues on campus.

He is also the man to go to if students want to apply for funding for environmental initiatives and to get involved with developing environmental policy.

Holloway is from Nova Scotia where he got his undergraduate degree at Dalhousie University. In his third year, one of his professors inspired him to pursue his interests in the environment. After the completion of his degree from Dalhousie he came to UNB to get his Masters, where he studied both physics and practical environmentalism.

As to why Holloway got into his line of work, he used plastic as an example.

“We know that plastic is made from not the most green ways on the planet, but I am a Type 1 diabetic and use close to about a quarter pound of plastic from syringes to keep my insulin going … there’s no way that you can ask anyone who lives with these things to give all that up,” he said.

“That’s kind of why I got into all of this, to help people wrap their heads around this and help an institution such as UNB do this,” Holloway said.

UNB has made big strides in terms of being “green” and sustainable. On the most recent College Sustainability Report Card, UNB received an overall grade of an impressive B+. The campus received As in the Climate Change, Energy, Food, Recycling and Student Involvement categories.

UNB also has its own bicycle rental program, a program that Holloway says is the best partnership they have between the Student Union and the administration. The program has also become sustainable on its own and no longer needs funding.

Despite of the major strides UNB is taking, there are still many things Holloway would like to see done, such as a high yield recycling program.

However, a lot of these goals require outside help, something Holloway is working towards.

“We are engaging more with the city to see if there is some way we can work together to solve the problems,” Holloway said.

Another major issue that Holloway says the university itself will be dealing with in the future will be water; water for profit and the water the university uses as a whole.

There are obstacles that come with being a sustainability officer. The biggest Holloway says is overcoming the “disconnect” between policy, what the students want and what the administration thinks it can afford.

“It’s overcoming these small little hills that all add up at the end, and try to get some sort of fluency and consistency throughout both campuses [UNB and UNBSJ],” Holloway said.

Throughout his three years at UNB, Holloway has seen the campus make many improvements; however, he says that it is going to take a while before UNB goes “completely green.”

“I think the thing for UNB right now is that each year we are striving to make improvements, which is the main thing… Will UNB ever be 100 per cent perfect? No. You can’t expect that from any corporation or any person, but we as an institution are enacting things that will make us better from year to year,” Holloway said.

So does Holloway plan on staying in this line of work in the future?

“I’m 29, so anything can change. But I love my job, I generally really get a lot of joy out of engaging students… It’s like any other job, there are challenges to be faced... It’s a job where the challenges come with great rewards, and I take a lot of pride in the small steps I’ve done and the people who I work with have done to make UNB a better school for the students in the end,” he said.

brunswickannews

Jan. 5, 2011 • Issue 14 • Volume 144 • 4

Profile: Martine Coulombe

Alanah Duffy Staff Writer Former hair salon owner Martine Coulombe was sworn in as Minister of PostSecondary Education, Training and Labour on Oct. 12, 2010.

As an MLA, she represents Restigouche-la-Vallée, a predominantly French speaking community in the northern part of New Brunswick.

Coulombe steps into office at a difficult time: the tuition freeze imposed by Shawn Graham’s Liberal government is up this year, and many are wondering if the new Conservative government is going to continue it.

Coulombe said her plans include financial planning with New Brunswick’s universities and colleges.

“We have committed to establish, within our mandate, four-year rolling grants to our province’s publicly funded universities and community colleges to provide for long-term financial planning and growth,” she said in an interview via e-mail.

“We will also request universities and community colleges to establish a rolling four-year tuition schedule so that students can plan for the full cost of their post-secondary education.”

Submitted Rolling funding means that the funds apply to a four-year post-secondary degree instead of calculating the money on a yearto-year basis.

Coulombe is one of five women in David Alward’s 15-member cabinet. As the minister of post-secondary education, she oversees the province’s four publicly chartered universities, including the University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University.

However, Coulombe is not a university graduate; she studied hairdressing at Collège communautaire du NouveauBrunswick in Campbellton, graduating in 1974. After graduation, she started her

own hair salon, which she ran for 35 years.

Despite her lack of a university degree, Coulombe said she feels confident as a post-secondary education minister.

“My three children have attended postsecondary institutions, so I know what challenges they face and am dedicated to helping the students of this province.”

She adds that universities play an important role in the province’s economy.

“We recognize the tremendous value the universities, and their students, bring to our province and the positive socio-economic impact they have on our citizens and our communities.”

“In what is a difficult economic context,

it is critical for us to take advantage and support our world-class post-secondary education institutions.”

Finance Minister Blaine Higgs released a $592.9-million budget for 2011-2012, but it is vague how much money will be allotted to post-secondary education. Higgs will release an operating budget in March.

Coulombe hopes that budget consultations will be an opportunity for students to get involved.

“Through these consultations, we will engage in a dialogue with our citizens to tackle this fiscal challenge together and ensure we make the right choices over the next four years. I encourage our students to become engaged in this process,” she says.

“We are hopeful that citizens will seize this opportunity to have their voices heard on issues that are important to them.”

While it is unclear what the Conservative government’s operating budget will have in store for New Brunswick’s postsecondary institutions, Coulombe said that her department understands the needs of students, one of the reasons why she decided to run for provincial parliament.

“I got involved in politics because I felt that I had something to give back to the community and to the province.”

Renewable energy at UNB Alex Kress News Reporter Renewable energy is growing rapidly and the Sustainable Power Research Group at UNB potentially has the power to generate electricity.

The group of graduate students led

by Dr. Liuchen Chang of Electrical and Computer Engineering are producing electricity based on renewable energy resources, while also working on smart grid technologies as infrastructure to provide more efficiency. Smart grid technologies integrate new technology into older, conventional power grids to enable their continued functioning.

Generally, the focus of the group’s research is on applications for electric power.

Graduate students are doing innovative research on power conversion. Power converters are devices used to interface renewable resources and electric grids.

Chang said the group is working with power conversion associated with control protection and communication technology. The focus on power conversion is important because wind and solar power fluctuates. A control device is necessary to ensure stability within the system.

The generation of power in large wind power plants fluctuates and the load varies.

The control system within the power system ensures the generation of power and the load is in equilibrium.

“It is a very sophisticated, complex manmade system that will always maintain the balance,” Chang said.

In the past, the conventional generators balanced the load, but there are new variations with renewable energy resources.

In order to maintain the balance, the current technology uses conventional generators to help, but more fossil fuels are used and release more greenhouse gas emissions.

Chang said a project in collaboration with five utilities in the Atlantic region exists on technology development and the implementation of smart grid infrastructure. He said the project is assessing current power loads so they will be able to incorporate more wind energy and decrease the use of fossil fuels.

He explained renewable energy is growing very fast and has significant potential, yet is still a very small percentage in Canada. It is only about 3.5 per cent, and includes wind, solar and biomass energy.

Chang said this is because the cost is simply too high.

New Brunswick uses fossil fuel operated conventional generators, nuclear power and hydro generators. The generation cost is around five cents per kilowatt hour.

With renewable energy, it is closer to seven cents per kilowatt hour. Renewable energy resources are also mostly intermittent and tend to vary a lot, which is another reason for the small percentage being used.

Previously, the federal government has given a one cent production credit.

On the provincial side, Chang said, there are different incentives. Ontario seems to have the most generous incentive, where a generator using wind power gets 11 cents per kilowatt hour.

Chang is the Principle of the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Wind Energy Strategic Network (WESNet). The project is a group of 39 researchers from 16 Canadian universities focusing on wind resource assesment, wind energy extraction, wind power engineering and technoeconomic modelling and optimization of wind energy systems.

“Wind energy will continue to grow for several reasons,” said Chang.

“Industry is reducing the cost of wind energy through innovation and through the volume of production. Wind energy is regarded as a prominent contributor to renewable energy electricity generation and it’s going to grow around 25 per cent over the next 10 years.”

brunswickanopinion

Jan. 5, 2011 • Issue 14 • Volume 144 • 5

editor@thebruns.ca

Word to the gooney bird

the brunswickan Editorial Board

Contributors Alex Kress, Matt Belyea, Brian Savoie, Mike Erb, Rob Williams, Cherise Letson, Josh Fleck, Amy Page, Ryan Brideau, Nicole Vair, Jared Morrison, Viola Pruss, Haley Ryan, Maggie DeWolfe, Shawn O’Neill, Justin Gaudet, Bryannah James, Ben Hicks, Nancy Ward, Oussama D. Hamza, Alanah Duffy, Ashley Theriault, Tomi Gbeleyi, John Robb, Jennifer Bishop The Brunswickan relies primarily on a volunteer base to produce its issues every week. Volunteers can drop by room 35 of the SUB at any time to find out how they can get involved.

About Us The Brunswickan, in its 144th 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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Mark Alexander MacDonald An Opinion Crows are awesome.

Part of me wants to say the albatrosses are more awesome, but a larger part of me is conflicted with guilt at the thought of ranking living things in a ‘Hot or Not’ fashion. This article, however, is not about my self-guilting. It is about how wonderful a creature the crow is and how absolutely lucky you are to witness their murders.

It is difficult not to notice the hordes of crows joining ranks every evening here in Fredericton. They seem to pour out of every part of the city forming long lines of calling birds as they make their way to their nightly roost. Group roosting in this part of the world is a winter phenom and a tactic to battle chilling overnight temperatures. It is, sadly, the hundreds of birds in these murders that people find chilling, creepy, noisy, messy or annoying.

Crows are smart. Not smart as in the way we consider our dogs to be smart but truly intelligent. Dogs can be trained to obey and perform tasks which is all very well but crows have the ability to problem solve which is a level of intelligence all its own. Any fan of the BBC nature series has now seen the footage of wild crows in Japan. Not only do they use street traffic to crack open stubborn nuts but then wait for the lights to change so that they may retrieve their prize in safety. Tool use behaviour in crows has also been widely documented including tool improvement and the use of a sequence of tools to overcome multiple obstacles. It is said that, short of humans, no other animal has as sophisticated use of tools. Not bad for a pea brain!

I conduct my field research on isolated, uninhabited bird colonies far out in the Pacific Ocean. I have spent as long as seven months at a time on these islands with only a couple other people in the research team and close to a million albatrosses, shearwater, petrels,

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terns, boobies (don’t), and frigates. We slept when the sun went down and woke when the sun came up. There wasn’t a day that went by that I couldn’t tell you what phase the moon was in. We witnessed the life and death struggles birds stoically endured. To return home to the asphalt, telephones, plastic, white noise and everything else processed was culture shock to say the least. Yet in the middle of all that craziness you can look up to see nature still doing as nature has done long before any people ever came to this area. When I look at a murder of crows, I feel a connection to a life I have only had the privilege to live briefly.

Ever hear of the passenger pigeon?

You probably haven’t or if you have they were likely used as a cautionary example of how nature’s seemingly limitless bounty does, in fact, have a tipping point when faced with relentless human impact. The passenger pigeon, you see, numbered in the billions here in pre-European North America. Imagine the sight of these birds blacking out the sky in great migratory flocks hundreds of kilometres long. How does one picture a flock of birds over a billion

Mark Alexander MacDonald / The Brunswickan strong? We can’t. Today the passenger pigeon is extinct due to hunting and habitat destruction in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The single greatest wildlife spectacle in North America hasn’t been seen in a century because it was a cheap source of meat.

A murder of crows can’t rival the albatross colony of Laysan Island nor

can they be expected to impress the way a flock of passenger pigeons would have. They are, however, a remnant of what this area once was and a reminder of a world we have largely left behind.

A murder of crows on our campus or in our town presents an opportunity to appreciate and enjoy something we have been missing in our day to day lives.

brunswickanopinion

6 • Jan. 5, 2011 • Issue 14 • Volume 144

Student

Viewpoint.

What is your New Year’s resolution?

Let everyone know whats on your mind.

“Have more nude editors on the front page.”

“Quit smoking.”

Mike Bell

Colin McPhail

“Achieve zen.”

Joseph Doran

Andrew Meade

“Attend class without it cutting into my drinking or sports watching time.”

“Cure the disease, not the symptoms.”

“Drink less coffee.”

Alison Clack

Christopher Cameron

“Not be in viewpoint.”

“More rock climbing.”

Christian Hapgood

“To be better at sports.”

Franklin C.

Josh Fleck

brunswickanarts arts@thebruns.ca

Jan. 5, 2011 • Issue 14 • Volume 144 • 7

Daft Punk is playing at Disney’s house

Who would’ve thought that the end of 2010 would see Daft Punk composing a Disney soundtrack? Expected or not the French duo do an impressive job writing the score for Disney’s sequel, Tron: Legacy. Fabio / Flickr.

Alison Clack Arts Editor The end of 2010 unveiled one of the best gifts from the film industry all year.

Disney not only released a liveaction, 3D film with December’s Tron: Legacy, a rarity in their film-making history, but they also signed on French, electronic power-duo Daft Punk to write the score.

Disney is no stranger to enlisting celebrities to write songs for their soundtracks, 1999’s Tarzan featured a soundtrack written by Phil Collins; however, the instrumental score was by another musician. In the case of Tron the entire film score was done by Daft

Punk’s Thomas Bangalter and GuyManuel de Homem-Christo.

Appearance-wise the band seemed the perfect fit for the visually stimulating film. Their already futuristic, robot look only needed minor tweaks to make the cameo appearance mid-way through the movie. Their heavy electronic sound was a bit of unusual pairing with traditional orchestral scores but the duo, collaborating with Joseph Trapanese and the London Orchestra melded together the opposing music styles beautifully.

The collaboration wasn’t a weekend’s work either. Blending the scores took a lot of thought and nearly two years of work from Bangalter, Homem-Christo and Trapanese.

The most apparent of the blending

of the styles come from “Son of Flynn” with its haunting electronic arpeggios and lonesome full brass as well as in the credits’ score “TRON legacy.” Nearly all the songs on the first half of the soundtrack feature the ominous power of an 85-piece orchestra while keeping the score feeling futuristic and fresh with the electronic beats and melodies weaving between.

The second half of the soundtrack features more traditional Daft Punk beats that with a bit of tweaking could easily be released as a single on not just a soundtrack or score.

“End of Line” works perfectly as a chill but futuristic score where in the movie the Grid’s programs can be found having a drink at Zuse’s bar

while also making for an interesting listen as a single on the soundtrack.

“Derezzed,” which you likely heard in most of Tron’s trailers, is another song that with a bit of tweaking to make it longer (it’s only one minute and 44 seconds) could be another Daft Punk single.

The soundtrack, while one of the most noted, isn’t the first collaboration between Hollywood and the music industry. Earlier in 2010, Karen O helped write the soundtrack for Where The Wild Things Are, releasing a soundtrack that features a children’s choir and members of The Raconteurs, Deer Hunter and some of Karen O’s Yeah Yeah Yeahs bandmates. And years before both soundtracks another

French electronic duo, Air wrote the soundtrack to Sofia Copolla’s The Virgin Suicides (1999).

Tron: Legacy (the soundtrack) is an impressive work put forth by the Daft Punk boys. It seems to be a testament to their talent that after 17 years creating music together the group can still evolve and move on to different genres and styles of music writing.

While the soundtrack definitely has some catchier and single-like songs on it, don’t go listening to it expecting it to be a Daft Punk album. However, if one looks at the release as a score and compliment to the movie the work is more than impressive. As an album it gets a 2/5 as a score Daft Punk’s impressive effort gets a 4.5/5.

Using your brain instead of your wallet: films of 2010 Matt Belyea Arts Reporter It can be hard to discern good from bad with today’s film trailers. Sometimes the flashy effects and score can grab you.

It’s an easy trap and I am guilty more than anyone. As long as I have popcorn with extra salt and vinegar, a large coke and a good seat I’m happier than a fly on shit.

The movies can be considered by many people as an escape from day to day life as.

This past year saw an abundance of films that entertained, satisfied and left us starring dull eyed at a bunch of unrecognized characters called credits. With award season approaching it’s only fair that we look closer to see which films will rise to the top and be called the year’s top films.

2010 had a notable increase in 3D technology. After the release and commercial success of Avatar (2009) there was an explosion of 3D films including Alice in Wonderland 3D, Jackass 3D, Saw 3D, Clash

of the Titans and the highest grossing film of the year Toy Story 3.

These films, like any other commodity, are comprised to offer a temporary satisfaction to a consumer audience. 3D technology is a flattering and an entertaining medium, but it’s also a way to resell the same movie twice. Avatar had a strikingly similar plot to Disney’s distorted interpretation of Pocahontas in 1995. So when looking for a film with vision and merit its best to exclude these films from the beginning.

2010 was the first year to see more than one film gross over a billion dollars. The top ten money maker films of the year came from five studio producers including Warner Bros., Disney, Universal Pictures, DreamWorks Animation, and Summit Entertainment.

The reality is that the American Hollywood film industry is a business that tends to exclude instead of include good film. If a Hollywood director wants to do something that transcends the boundaries of a com-

modity he must simply disguise the film as a commodity. This is where directors like Quentin Tarantino and the Coen Brothers find their niche. Their heavily satirical films satisfy the wants of the consumer while packing a critical punch. Pinpointing and predicting good films might be challenging, but your best bet is to look for directors, not films. Unfortunately the film awards just like the industry itself are not always looking to award art.

I have a love/hate relationship with film.

Although I remain highly critical about clichés of the film industry, I sometimes still manage to leave the theatre surprised.

This year was no exception, and as a regular moviegoer there were a number of movies I found both entertaining and fresh.

I’m not a fan of romantic comedies. Out of all the genres of film I think romantic comedies are the all time worst. So when I went to see Going the Distance directed

by Nanette Burstein starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long, I wasn’t holding

high expectations. I actually liked the film and thought it was a funny and an honest portrayal, or more honest than most films of that genre. The hook for me was the vulgarity of the comedy and the ending, which you will find, isn’t picture perfect.

How To Train Your Dragon directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders is another fun movie that was fresh from the get go.

It’s an animation story about a boy and his misguided assumptions, which is of course an old tale. The film was also made in 3D, but I’m sure it will ring in an award somewhere.

The Town directed by Ben Affleck was another film that kept me interested and seemed to evoke a story despite its sentimentality. Like a modern day Bonnie and Clyde this film is interesting because it guides the audience’s sentiment in favour of the thief.

The Social Network directed by David Fincher about the founder of Facebook was a decent and quirky film. I liked it because it portrayed Mark Zuckerberg as he probably

is; a rich asshole. The film is sure to win an award, even though they weren’t smart enough to pick a better title.

Last and definitely least is Inception directed by Christopher Nolan. The film wasn’t bad, but I believe it was definitely stolen from a better writer and director.

Look at Canadian director David Cronenberg’s film eXistenz (1999) for a much better version.

Next on my list to see is True Grit directed by the Coen Brothers. Although I can’t comment on its quality yet, the film has promise when considering directors and their previous critical and commercial success.

2010 was jam packed with movies that I didn’t get to and couldn’t afford to see, so I’m just as excited as you to hear what films emerge as pictures of the year. But as a rule of thumb remember that art and entertainment can contrast, and it’s keen to be critical of not only Hollywood but also the awards those films win.

brunswickanarts

8 • Jan. 5, 2011 • Issue 14 • Volume 144

Fur is ‘eco-fabulous,’ says council

this week in arts.

International Arts Exhibition @ Cedar Tree Cafe Now - Feb. 28

Artwork by female artists from around the world will adorn the walls of the Cedar Tree Cafe for the next month. All featured paintings are less than 14x14 and are available for purchase on Pay Pal.

B.A. Johnston @ the Capital Jan 20, 10 p.m.

The Hamilton native who sings songs about his deep fryer and being a hobo will be making a very special stop at the Capital Complex this month. The energetic stage presence will be sure to entertain with a special birthday performance Thursday night.

Julie Doiron @ Gallery Connexion Jan. 26, 8 p.m.

Sackville native, Julie Doiron will be visiting Fredericton in the upcoming weeks. She’s joined by acts Baby Eagle and Moonsocket for the show at 440 York Street. The event is wet/dry.

Late Nite Catechism @ the Playhouse Jan. 28, 8 p.m.

No, it’s not mass at the Playhouse, a comedy show will be running at the Playhouse Friday night featuring comedian Patti Hannon as a sharp-witted sister. The show is appropriate for all ages. Tickets are $22; it is a Student Rush show.

Dr. T. Wayne Lenehan Dr. M. Michele Leger

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Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/brunswickan FLOODING IN NEW BRUNSWICK

Flood waters may be receding, but the struggle continues for hundreds of New Brunswick families who have damaged or lost property. The 1st Rivorton Rover Scouts, a group of university students dedicated to serving the community, are taking action to help those in need. A donation box has been established in the lobby of the Student Union Building on the UNB campus (21 Pacey Drive) for non-perishable food items, new clothing, new toys, and anything that will help affected families get through the winter. All monetary donations will go towards Red Cross relief efforts, and all in-kind donations will be distributed by the Lions Club in Charlotte County to the families that need it most. No donation is too small - every little bit helps. For more information, please visit http://rovers.scoutsrivorton.org/flood.php.

Kadie Smith The Martlet (University of Victoria) VICTORIA (CUP) — The Fur Council of Canada has launched a campaign claiming that animal fur is eco-friendly. But anti-fur advocates are arguing this claim is not only false, but irresponsible.

For Niilo Van Steinburg, founder and co-director of the University of Victoria’s Vegan Association, the question of whether fur is environmentally friendly does not even compare to the ethical obligations we have to animals.

“Unnecessary suffering is what we should be preventing,” he said. “What we try to do [at the UVA] is put things into the human context. We would not impose harm on humans to help the environment; therefore, we should not impose harm on other sentient creatures.”

Everything’s gone green These days it seems as though every marketable and consumable product and service must be green, natural or biodegradable. Consumers often find themselves reaching for the brightest label that reassures them that they are indeed responsible shoppers.

In 2008, the FCC launched their Fur is Green campaign and asked Montrealbased writer Alan Herscovici, who is also the group’s executive vice-president, to spearhead the project. His mission was to tell people that animal fur is really a “green” product.

“I thought it was important, at a time when we’re all talking about green living, that it was a good time to talk about some of the environmental aspects of the fur trade,” said Herscovici.

Today, the FCC’s website tells people to “buy fur with confidence.” The group’s Facebook page says fur is “eco-fabulous.”

The site offers to educate those who will listen “about the ecological and ethical values of fur.”

These claims present a stern challenge to the responsibility of the average consumer.

What does “green” really mean? And can the environmental advantages — if they do in fact exist — outweigh the long-running ethical debate surrounding fur?

The great fur debate The debate over fur is one that has remained relevant since the early ’80s when PETA moved to the forefront of media attention with shocking and often gruesome ads slamming the industry. PETA’s “I’d Rather Go Naked” ad campaign is still going strong today, featuring supermodels like Cindy Crawford and Kate Moss proudly bearing their bare behinds and telling the world they would rather go naked than wear fur.

In comparison, the FCC website includes a star-studded photo gallery of pro-fur celebrities including Kanye West, Lady Gaga, Naomi Campbell and Victoria Beckham.

Since then, the issue has ranged from discussions over the use of leg-hold traps to the more extreme debate over the use of animal products at all. But rarely, if ever, before has the discussion stepped outside the realm of animal rights issues. The FCC’s argument consists of three main points: Fur is sustainable and biodegradable, fur processing does not use petrochemicals, unlike the production of synthetic fibres, and fur is renewable, unlike synthetics.

“Eighty per cent of the clothes we wear in Canada come from synthetics, basically another form of a plastic bag, and we all know how bad plastic bags are for the environment,” said Herscovici.

Herscovici is not far off. Synthetics made from petrochemicals do account for a large amount of pollution and can take hundreds of years to breakdown in a landfill. The problem, however, is sorting out whether that pollution comes from synthetic clothing or from the countless other petrochemically processed products — such as products made from plastic — as they all fall under the umbrella pollutant known as petroleum.

What is clear is that synthetic fabrics are made from petroleum, and the production of petroleum is inherently harmful to the environment. What remains to be determined,

The hotly contested debate over the sustainability of the fur industry rages on. Andrew Stawarz / Flickr however, is whether the statement “fur is green” really lives up to its claim.

Making fashion out of fur “It’s such a controversial claim to make,” said Kristen Barnes, co-ordinator for the Victoria branch of the B.C. SPCA. “To use the slogan ‘Fur is green,’ I mean, obviously that’s an attempt to garner attention, and they have to expect that people are going to try and challenge it.”

And garner attention it has. Several comments on the Fur is Green website have been left by anti-fur activists, appalled at the FCC’s claims and the organization’s supporters.

Adrian Nelson of the Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals also argues against the “fur is green” claim.

“This claim is not substantiated by any third party; it’s irresponsible and selfproclaimed,” said Nelson. “The fact of the matter is fur is not an environmental choice.”

Fur in its natural state — on an animal’s body — is 100 per cent biodegradable, says Nelson. However, in order for the pelt to be harvested and used, it must be processed using chemicals and dyes.

“We’re talking about the skin of an animal that has to be literally stopped from decomposing,” said Nelson. “It takes a harsh amount of chemicals to do that. Formaldehyde, chromium, these things are actually listed as carcinogenic. Fur processing [was] listed as the third most pollutant industry, according to the World Bank [in 1995].”

Processed fur is first pickled in a compound of either potash alum or ammonia and salt, which is then treated with sulphuric acid. Rinsed of this material, the fur goes through a complex process of beating, washing and tanning before it is moved on to the dyeing process. The purpose of dyeing increases the lustre and the value of the fur.

Often furs such as lamb, fox and rabbit are made to better resemble the fur of another animal, usually mink or chinchilla. In this process, a kitchen cupboard’s worth of dyes are used to treat the fur: Wood dyes, potassium permanganate, anililne and coal-tar dyes are among those most commonly used.

Nelson says that formaldehyde is also used in toxic quantities in the fur tanning process, but Herscovici disagrees. While the Fur is Green website does state that a small amount of formaldehyde may be used during dyeing, Herscovici says that “the main ingredient in dressing a fur pelt is alum salt.”

“What [anti-fur advocates] are referring to when they cite harmful chemicals all has to do with the processing of leather, not fur,” Herscovici said.

A matter of definition The Encyclopaedia of International Labour Organization says that hydrochloric and sulphuric acid, formaldehyde, lead acetate and three-valent chromium — all potentially toxic and harmful — are chemicals used commonly in a normal fur processing plant.

Chromium has been linked to increases in testicular cancer, and a 1999 study from the New York Department of Health found that nearly 50 per cent of the state’s testicular cancer victims worked in the fur-tanning industry.

Fur is Green, however, says the only products used are alum salt, water, sawdust, cornstarch, lanolin and “other natural chemicals.”

In 1991, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warned the public about the potential harm caused by the fecal waste of fur-farmed animals, stating that they “may cause respiratory problems and are listed as possible carcinogens.”

Herscovici, however, notes that the warning was released almost 20 years ago, and the fur industry, like all other industries, has come a long way since then. “The fact of the matter,” said Herscovici, “is that fur is an excellent example of the sustainable use of renewable, natural resources, and synthetics are not.”

For Barnes and Nelson, the problem is not whether or not synthetics harm the planet; the problem is that the FCC has made the claim that fur is eco-friendly when this remains unclear.

“What the FCC and Fur is Green are doing is playing on people’s very real desire to be environmentally conscious and manipulating them with words like ‘natural’ into thinking that fur is somehow an environmentally friendly choice,” said Nelson. “It’s so dangerous. It’s dangerous and it’s scary.”

For Nelson, the claim becomes dangerous because we are no longer talking about a bottle of bleach or a plastic bag; we are talking about an issue that runs very deep for a lot of people.

“What kills me the most is that they throw this claim out there without any study or backup and it’s so irresponsible,” said Nelson. “The majority of consumers, we’re not going to do that kind of research, so we take it at face value.”

In search of proof Is there a real answer as to whether fur is eco-friendly, or at least more eco-friendly than synthetics? The exact level of toxins used in processing furs is unclear, as are the pollutant levels of synthetic fibres.

Also unclear is how energy consumption compares between the two. There was one study done at the Ford Motor Company’s research facility that showed it took 3.5 times more energy to make a wild-fur coat than a synthetic coat and 15 times more energy to make a farmed-fur coat. That was in 1976.

Since then, there has been no further study on the environmental impact of synthetic or fur products. Some, however, say the level of toxins, pollutants or energy consumption is not, in fact, the issue.

“Whether fur is environmentally friendly or damaging, it really doesn’t speak to our ethical obligations towards non-human animals,” said Van Steinburg. “One of our biggest concerns environmentally is the overpopulation of humans, yet no one would soundly suggest we impose any harm to humans to combat that.”

Van Steinberg points out that synthetic fabrics or fur are not the only options and says we should never be lead to believe that it is one or the other. He suggests recycled and organic-hemp alternatives.

“There’s no shortage of options for us in terms of clothing without having to go to these either unethical or environmentallydamaging choices,” he said. Other potentially eco-friendly options for clothing include organic wool and cotton.

The reality is that as the popularity of eco-friendly products continues to grow so, too, will the responsibilities of the consumer.

brunswickansports

Jan. 5, 2011 • Issue 14 • Volume 144 • 9

sports@thebruns.ca

Healthy and prepared for second half of the season

Christopher Cameron Sports Editor After a first half of the AUS men’s hockey season that had its ups and downs for the UNB Varsity Reds, the holiday break was exactly what the team needed.

An injured squad going into the break, the Varsity Reds welcomed back Josh Kidd, Luke Gallant, Taylor Procyshen, and Ben Shutron into the lineup during exhibition play.

UNB kicked off their play over the break hosting the McGill Redmen on the Dec. 30, skating to an easy 7-1, following this with the Pete Kelly Cup Challenge against the NCAA’s Providence College Friars.

On Saturday night UNB took it to the Friars with a goal 33 seconds into the game by Dion Campbell, with Providence evening the score midway through the first. The Varsity Reds shut down the Friars the remainder of the game with a power play goal in the second and third periods, en route to a 3-1 win.

Sunday night with the Pete Kelly Cup on the line the Friars came out with a new game plan, showing they can adjust to keep UNB off the score sheet, doing exactly that, shutting them out 1-0.

Although UNB lost the second game they still took the challenge as they had three goals for over the weekend, while the Friars had two.

UNB forward Dion Campbell was pleased with the result from the weekend and knows the two games against Providence will be a good help for the team.

“I thought both teams played really well. They were a great test for us,” said Campbell. “They are a fast paced gritty team a lot like our style. I think they’re going to make us a better team in the long haul.”

“These guys are a great hockey team. I’m really glad we got to play these guys this weekend. It was a good test for us and it’s a stepping stone for us.”

Not only were the games against Providence College a good test on ice, but TV timeouts were put into the

After finishing the first half of the season with an 11-4 record, the UNB men’s hockey team hosted three exhibition games over the holiday break, defeating McGill 7-1.They followed up the big win by taking the Pete Kelly Cup Challenge with a 3-1 win and 1-0 loss against the Providence College Friars.The Varsity Reds are back in action this weekend with games on Friday and Saturday. Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan games and game times were scheduled around the model for the CIS championships being hosted here in March.

“Coach put the TV timeouts in for down the road in March so I think it’s a building block on what we want to achieve,” said UNB goalie Derek Yeomans. “I think that is what everyone had in mind when they planned it like this. I think our guys responded pretty well. Obviously we need to get

the panel voice your opinion

a couple more goals in March in that final game.”

Overall, UNB head coach Gardiner MacDougall was pleased with the three games over the break, but also knows it helped point out some things the team needs to work on.

“We had lots of emotion against McGill. Last night was a good game and tonight was a good game,” said MacDougall. “There were a lot of 50-

50 battles and we need to win more of the 50-50 pucks and created odd man situations and we didn’t get enough pucks in the blue paint.”

“The whole thing is a little bit of a trial run for our regular season. I think there is a lot more positives, but there’s some things that we need to get better at too.”

MacDougall also discussed the scheduling of the games and how this

In lieu of Seattle’s 7-9 playoff berth, should the NFL incorporate a new seeding structure?

Christopher Cameron

Colin McPhail

Josh Fleck

Most definitely. I know there are rare cases where it could happen in other sports, but I think the NFL has some tough divisions with teams that are in third in their division that would be better competition in the playoffs than Seattle.

How to fix it I’m not certain, but figuring out something new would be nice.

As aggravating it is for Giants and Bucs fans that a 7-9 team will play in the postseason and their team won’t, that’s life. It’s an isolated incident and there’s no point changing the rules unless this trend continues.

Absolutely not. You have seen fuetility between the divisions before. San Diego made the playoffs a few years ago at .500. The seed is fine. It’s the same as all sports.

Division winners make the playoffs.

Sports Editor

EIC

Sports Writer

will prepare the team for what it will feel like in March.

“It gives you an opportunity,” he said. “The thing is when you get to nationals you need to win your first game and you have to win your second game and then you’re going to play a team that has already won two games.”

UNB is at home this weekend as they host Dalhousie on Friday and Acadia on Saturday.

brought to you by:

Rob Williams Sports Writer

Unfortunately, there is a weak division in the league; it doesn’t mean the division will be weak every year. You have the top teams from each division and the two wildcard teams from each conference, it’s a straightforward way to do it. A weakness in a division just means that a weak team is included in the playoffs. Maybe it will make for a Cinderella story and a historic Super Bowl XLV.

10 • Jan. 5, 2011 • Issue 14 • Volume 144

Green; inside and out Hilary Paige Smith News Editor Being green isn’t just about taking care of your world.

You also have to look out for your body and mind.

In recent years, naturopathic clinics across the country have seen an increase in the number of people seeking more natural remedies for their health concerns.

The Fredericton Naturopathic Clinic is no exception.

The clinic is run by Drs. Parissa and Judah Bunin, a married couple who are both certified naturopathic doctors. They see patients for everything from acupuncture and lifestyle counselling, to herbal remedies and diagnostic testing.

In general, Judah Bunin said, people see naturopathy as a safer, gentler approach to their health.

“A lot of people are also attracted by a different philosophy. The thing about naturopathy is really trying to get to know a patient as an individual and try to get at the heart of their concerns and the cause,” the doctor said.

The Bunins don’t see a lot of university students walk into their north side clinic, but say naturopathy can be beneficial to students in terms of dealing with stress.

“I think that student life is stressful for many different reasons and, once again, unless the effects are very severe, in most cases I wouldn’t suggest a prescription medication would be necessary… This is where it’s an excellent opportunity for naturopathic medicine,” Bunin said.

Even just being able to sit down and talk to a professional about stress management can be beneficial to a student patient.

Naturopathic doctors can also train their patients in how to support a healthy life with

brunswickansports Weighing in on being a vegetarian: pros and cons Brian Savoie Sports Reporter

Dr. Judah Bunin said being green goes past recycling your trash. It is also something to be considered when looking at naturopathic treatments of health problems. Andrew Meade/The Brunswickan a healthy body. Patients seeking natural remedies are often prescribed a healthy, organic diet or acupuncture, the practice of inserting needles into certain pressure points on the body for therapeutic purposes.

The Bunins also prescribe “green” medicines like herbal and botanical blends.

“Chronic stress can really impact the adrenal gland and there are a lot of herbs specifically for adrenal support,” the doctor said.

“A lot of people are under chronic stress these days and we work with that on a daily basis.”

Students who are covered under either their parent’s health insurance or their student health plan are guaranteed a certain amount of free coverage per year if they decide to pursue naturopathic remedies.

When Judah Bunin was first looking to break into the medical business, he was drawn to naturopathy for its connection to the environment.

He has a background in ecology and environmental studies.

“Naturopathic medicine, there’s a lot of beliefs and values with the environmental

movement. First and foremost, it’s based on a deep respect for nature and the belief that we, in our own bodies as well as the natural world, we have the capacity for healing and in nature, we’re provided with a lot of tools for healing,” he said.

As far as being green and sustainable, prescribing an organic diet and cultivating herbal remedies has a positive environmental impact.

“We promote organic foods quite vigorously just for the health impacts on the individual, as well as the health impacts on the environment,” Bunin said.

The environmental benefits of naturopathic medicine extend past the individual.

Bunin said promoting a healthy environment and living green has its health benefits by making the world a cleaner, safer place to live.

“We can’t be healthy individuals with a sick environment. We rely on ours for nutrition, in the case of naturopathic medicine, we rely on it for herbal treatments… We need to protect the environment if we want to have healthy treatments as well.”

Vegetarian, Vegan, Ovo-lacto, Semi-Veg, all these terms are used to describe varying levels of commitment to a similar cause; the removal (to some degree) of animals or animal by-products from the diet.

So why do people feel compelled to do this? Well there are a variety of arguments to be made in regards to limiting or even removing meat and animal by-products from your diet. The arguments range from environmental, to personal health and to animal rights.

The environmental reasons for becoming vegetarian are fairly clear cut and dry. Removing meat from your diet will give you a much smaller ecological foot print.

Animal rights or animal cruelty is in a bit of a grey area depending on personal belief and the source of a person’s animal by-products.

But what about someone’s health? Are there real benefits to someone’s well-being if they switch to vegetarianism or veganism?

Ellen MacIntosh, a registered dietician who works part-time for UNB discussed some aspects regarding the health impacts of becoming a vegetarian or a vegan.

“Research does show that vegetarians tend to have a lower rate of obesity and being overweight,” said MacIntosh. “They do have nutritional advantages of lower cholesterol, lower incidents of heart disease and lower blood pressure levels. “ She continued discussing nonmeat sources of protein.

“Non meat sources of protein are also protective of the kidneys in terms of kidney disease.”

MacIntosh was also quick to say that becoming vegan or vegetarian isn’t a cure-all solution to the obesity and nutritional issues that today’s

societies are struggling with.

“When we look at the problems of obesity in society, we don’t see eating meat as a contributing factor.”

She also mentioned that the overall problem is caloric intake, not specifically the meat or animal by products in the diet.

MacIntosh says that 15-20 per cent of the clients she sees are vegetarians.

When asked about challenges that they face she said, “Most often it is iron or B12 deficiency that I’m look at. [I’m] helping them to increase those foods that are rich in iron or B12.”

This is a common theme for many vegetarians or vegans; removing meat from the diet adds certain challenges to insuring that the body receives enough protein, iron and B12. The consequences for the body if it doesn’t get enough of them, is extreme fatigue, anemia and even a compromised immune system.

Although it is fairly easy to incorporate alternative sources of protein and iron into the diet, B12 is the real challenge. The only source of B12 that humans can naturally absorb is found in meat and animal by-products like milk.

There are “fortified” foods out there that have had B12 added to them artificially but, even then, MacIntosh recommends taking supplements or a multivitamin. There are still absorption issues in fortified foods and people may not be getting all of what the label indicates.

The bottom line is that deciding to become a vegetarian or vegan to simply “improve your health” is not a justified reason. The problems that people are dealing with health wise are not because of the meat they are eating; it is the sugar, the excess fat and the overall consumption of too many calories. Meat and animal by products, when consumed in moderation, can be a healthy part of your diet.

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brunswickansports Black Bear wrestlers prepared Lessons learned both on and off the court for tough road ahead

Jan. 5, 2011 • Issue 14 • Volume 144 • 11

Christopher Cameron Sports Editor The first half of the wrestling season may be over, but the important competitions are just about to begin for the UNB Black Bear wrestling team.

After the men’s team being ranked number one in the CIS prior to the break, the Black Bear team, although happy with the rankings is working hard to ensure things stay that way.

“Right now the rankings are great.

We’re happy,” said head coach Don Ryan.

“We finished second overall last year and we have the same team back with three new athletes. It was a nice surprise to see us ranked (number one), but we aren’t going to sit back now that people know where we are and with people watching us more at tournaments.”

With the added pressure of teams now watching out for the tough UNB squad, the team held their annual camp over the break from Dec. 28-30 in preparation for a tough second half.

The camp included top high school athletes from Atlantic Canada as well as both UNB teams taking part.

Coach Ryan knows this camp is a great springboard to get the athletes ready for the first weekend in January, but also for the future of the program.

“We’re going three times a day on the mats and it is great for the team for recruiting with them being able to meet me and have a chance to see the athletes we have here and see the facilities we have to offer,” said Ryan. “We invite the top high school kids from around Atlantic Canada to come in and obviously we have our men’s and women’s teams back to kick-start and get ready for the second half.”

“It’s great for our UNB athletes with their intense camp before we hit the ground running in the second half with a very busy schedule.”

Ryan was modest in describing this half of the schedule as busy. After a somewhat relaxed schedule before Christmas the team is now in crunch time before the university nationals.

This weekend the team is at the University of Alberta for the annual Golden Bears Invitational, the same

tournament the team won last season.

Coach Ryan expects his team to fare well and hopefully to come away with the same result.

“Last year we went out there. We showed up just in time to wrestle due to weather,” he said. “We basically went right from the airport to the mats. We won the tournament, so we’re going out there (this year) with the same attitude.

We’re looking to go out there and perform at our top level.”

“We’re out there to win matches and get the ball rolling towards winning our first national championship.”

After this weekend the team will have a few breaks as they have the next weekend off before the Guelph open, followed by the UNB Open Jan. 29-30 before the AUS qualifier and finally the CIS Championships at Lakehead University Feb. 25-26.

Ryan knows this will be a tough schedule, but is confident in his team’s ability to perform.

“It is coming up quick,” he said. “It’s only about seven weeks away from the nationals. The team is ready to roll and all the injuries are looked after right now.”

This team is also star filled with Eric Feunekes (Commonwealth Games) and Ben Sayah (FISU games) having competed at such a high level before the break.

Both athletes are back and ready to perform and win the national title.

Although both had great success first semester coach Ryan knows they brought the experience back with them and are focused on the CIS championship.

“Eric is pretty grounded,” said Ryan. “He understands he cannot look past the university nationals right now. He’s looking to compete at nationals afterwards, but knows the CIS championship is first. He had a break after the Commonwealth Games and is ready to go.”

“It is the same thing with Ben. He went to Torino and took a bit of a break.

They are well grounded and know they still need to focus on training and being prepared for what this semester will throw at them.”

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The women’s basketball team travelled to Cuba over the break for a pair of games and some practices against a Cuban university team as well as some team bonding in the community.

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan Christopher Cameron Sports Editor Unlike most teams that travel within Canada to tournaments over the holiday break, the women’s basketball team traveled to Cuba for a pair of games and other events off the court.

Although practicing and playing games was an important part to this trip for the team, they also were able to bond as a team and learn about another country while being there.

Women’s basketball head coach Jeff Speedy was pleased with what he saw on the court to begin with, as that was one of the main focuses.

“The trip was great. We had three practices and two games with a university team from Cuba,” he said.

“I think their skill level was very similar to ours. I expected it to be a lot greater. That was a little bit of a surprise.”

“The interaction with them and playing with them and against them was a pretty awesome experience for the girls for sure.”

When the team was not on the court the team played tourist, but also traveled to a local orphanage.

“Off the court we played tourist a little bit, but we also got a lot of life lessons on how great we have it to how a 20-year old student athlete in Cuba has it. That was

obviously a good experience to have,” said Speedy.

“We also visited an orphanage where we took a lot of clothes, toys, food and bathroom supplies and played with the kids for the day. I think that is something that none of us will soon forget. It was a pretty surreal experience in a positive way.”

Any time a team travels and spends time with each other there is always bonding that takes place. Speedy knows this trip was huge for his team growing closer together.

“We were a pretty close group before we went, but I’ve rarely seen a group of 14 young women being forced to spend this much time together in a week without any issues at all,” he said. “We definitely came back as a closer group and some people opened up that were a little bit shy, but everybody did their part, when we were learning how to salsa dance or do karaoke.”

“You definitely cannot measure the benefits on the team building side, which will help us when we face adversity in the second half. The fact we will be a close group will definitely help.”

When looking at the trip, Speedy said there were two moments that stood out amongst the rest.

“There was one where one of our players who is fairly shy and we’ve been trying

to get her out of her shell all season,” he said. “To see her grab the microphone when we were doing karaoke and get up in front of the whole team and sing, considering she sometimes won’t answer a question at practice was a pretty cool moment for everybody.”

“Another would be a couple players that I would say tolerate kids, but don’t necessarily love them. To see them at the orphanage with young Cuban girls that are nine years old that cannot speak crawling all over them and doing their hair and makeup and taking their pictures and a whole lot of back and forth. That was a pretty special moment too when you realize that even if it is only for a couple hours that we helped out there.”

Although the team did not go into this trip with a goal, they came away from it with lessons learned and are prepared for the second half of their season.

“I didn’t know what to expect, but I certainly wanted us to get better as a basketball team and I wanted us to have an amazing life experience and hopefully get the girls really excited about the game of basketball and how fortunate they are to be part of this program. Those are things that we hoped would come from this trip and they definitely did.”

The Varsity Reds are back in action on the road this weekend when they travel to Memorial for a doubleheader.

briefs Men’s Basketball team struggles in Toronto The UNB men’s basketball team was in Toronto over the break for the Ryerson Tournament.

The Varsity Reds picked up a win over Waterloo 81-74, followed by two straight losses, 71-62 to Ryerson and 84-83 to Toronto in the bronze medal game. The open up the second half this weekend on the road at MUN.

Women’s volleyball look to get back to winning ways Unlike mostVarsity Reds teams over the break the women’s volleyball team did not play in any tournaments.

After finding themselves in first place the team struggled, losing all games at the Interlock before the break.This weekend they are at home against the first place Huskies and the Acadia Axewomen, who are currently in second last place in the AUS.

brunswickansports

12 • Jan. 5, 2011 • Issue 14 • Volume 144

Men’s volleyball finally clicking on the court Team finishes second at York Excalibur tournament

Christopher Cameron Sports Editor After an inconsistent first half from the UNB men’s volleyball team, they showed up to the Toronto tournament over the break with things finally clicking.

Head coach Dan McMorran knows that the main thing right now is some of the younger players playing to their potential aside from the experienced players on the team.

“We’ve got a couple of older guys on our squad who are getting a lot of the minutes and a few young guys that are getting a lot minutes too,” said McMorran. “I think in the setting position we are still relatively young. Stephane Fontaine set four out of the five matches we played. He’s starting to improve as a setter and things are just starting to finally click together.”

UNB finished second in the tournament losing 3-1 to Western in the final after a great tournament dropping Ryerson 3-0, Montreal 3-0, Western 3-0 and Windsor 3-0.

“We probably haven’t played that well all season. I think the guys are starting to do and realize we have to play a certain way and we have to play the way we’ve been directed to play and when we do that, good things happen,” said McMorran.

He attributes his team’s success to their fitness level.

“I think we’re in better shape than the teams we faced up there and it is a difficult tournament. We didn’t practice again really before the tournament. Basically every team went there without training just beforehand. Even though we weren’t on court the guys were at the Aitken Centre doing their Christmas training.”

He continued discussing their improvements with their serving, making their style

V

The men’s volleyball team finished second in Toronto over the break.

Dan McMorran says the team is beginning to click on the court and is prepared for the second half. Christopher Cameron/The Brunswickan of game easier to control.

“We started to play a patient, disciplined form of volleyball. We didn’t miss as many serves as we did the first semester and made our job easier in those departments and when that happens other things start to fall into place.”

Although the team saw success over the break McMorran knows they can continue this in the regular season if they keep up the work they have been doing off the court.

“We have to continue what we’re doing off court,” he said. “We have to commit to being in the weight room with Ken Seaman. Looking forward to the second half we have more matches then the first half. We have to play with a fire in us every time we step out on the floor.”

Keeping this up may not be enough to beat Dalhousie though, something McMorran has recognized although he does believe they should be beating the Tigers.

“Before the last interlock we played two

matches against Dal and we had opportunities to win both those matches,” he said.

“We went to the Interlock tournament and we came away with a 2-1 record losing to the number one team in the country in the fifth set and Dal came out of it with a 1-2 record. If you look at that people are saying that there is no way we should not be beating Dalhousie right now.”

“I would be in the same boat where when we match up well against a team like Laval then we should be able to do the same against Dal. They are a top team in the country, but I think there is a bit of a roadblock mentally with the Tigers. I’ve said that if UNB plays the same level Dalhousie plays at, Dalhousie wins 10 out of 10 times just because they have that experience and that history behind them that they’re winning in those situations.”

The Varsity Reds will not face Dalhousie until Feb. 12 and 13, but will kick off the second half of their season this weekend at home against MUN.

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