Issue 18, Vol 145, The Brunswickan

arts | put your heart into it

news | winter carnival

opinion| how will pipa affect you sports| moving up in the aus

Volume 145 · Issue 18 • January 25, 2012

www.thebruns.ca

brunswickan canada’s oldest official student publication.

Barb Nicholson talking with Andrew Daley and Michel de Jocas at the Wu Centre, where a series of sessions will be held on teaching and learning spaces on campus.

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

UNB classrooms in need of upgrades

Alanah Duffy News Reporter Some University of New Brunswick classrooms will be getting facelifts over the next few years.

A teaching and learning committee, consisting of about a dozen UNB staff and faculty, are developing a planning framework to update teaching and learning spaces on campus.

“Over the past two years, we’ve had a desire towards improving the learning environment at UNB,” said Barbara Nicholson, associate vice-president of Capital Planning and Property Development at the university.

“The committee recognized that there are so many needs in our classroom space that ideally, it would be better if we had a planning framework, something that would help guide us

as we prioritize upgrades in our classrooms.”

Nicholson said that typical upgrades include new furniture, lighting fixtures, paint colours, and the way the space is arranged.

To help the committee develop a planning framework for classroom upgrades, the committee planned four “world cafés,” wherein students, faculty and staff meet to discuss what they would like to see in a classroom.

Nicholson hoped to get about 40 people present for each session, which took place Tues., Jan. 24 and Wed., Jan. 25.

“The information [from the world cafés] will go into a planning framework, as well as some other information,” Nicholson said. “Out of that, we’ll have a document which will prioritize how to perform with our

upgrades.”

Inventory from current classrooms has already been taken, so the committee is aware of what state classrooms are in and how they’re being used.

To help with this initiative, UNB has employed Educational Consulting Services (ECS), a Toronto-based company specializing in campus building and planning strategies.

Nicholson said the cost of employing ECS is approximately $70, 000.

“It ($70, 000) is jointly funded from strategic initiative out of the office of the vice-president academic and out of my office,” she said. “They were allocated funds in this current years budget.”

With regards to classroom upgrades Nicholson said that the cost of upgrading a classroom depends on the size. The university previously

updated three large auditorium-style classrooms, located in McLaggan Hall, Head Hall and Tilley Hall, at a cost of one and a half million dollars each.

The budget set aside for upgrades is much less than this amount.

“Historically, I think the faculties had somewhere around probably $400,000,” Nicholson said.

She added that the three classrooms were renovated under the university deferred maintenance program and received provincial funding.

Shirley Cleave, associate vicepresident academic, said that this initiative is in the planning stages.

“Obviously, the plan hasn’t been developed yet, but we will be using resources that we typically use to renovate classrooms in the past. More strategically, the money from alternations and renovations will be dedicated to the

new planning framework,” Cleave said.

Cleave added that a better estimate of the cost of this project will be looked at after the world cafés have been completed.

“I have no idea,” Cleave said when asked about the cost. “We’re waiting to see what the plan will provide. It will depend a little bit on what’s been done to that classroom and what the classroom looks like.”

Despite the high costs of the teaching and learning initiative, Nicholson said that students shouldn’t see an increase in their ancillary fees.

“That certainly hasn’t been talked about,” Nicholson said.

The classroom renovations are a long-term project and part of UNB’s strategic plan. Cleave estimated that the development plans will take five to ten years to complete.

brunswickannews

2 • Jan. 25, 2012 • Issue 18 • Volume 145

Union tensions still unresolved Alanah Duffy News Reporter Tensions remain high between the University of New Brunswick and a group of university employees who are forming a union on campus.

The unionization drive, which is being managed by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), began formation in late 2011.

The union will represent 500 professional and technical support staff members on the Fredericton and Saint John campuses of UNB. When interest in the unionization drive first became apparent on campus, PSAC and interested employees told media outlets that the university was thwarting attempts to hold the unionization drive.

In one case, union organizers had booked out a meeting room for presentations and information sessions; the university cancelled the booking for the room so that the meeting could not occur.

In November, one staff member told the CBC that uniformed security guards greeted him at the doorway to a meeting and told him

that the meeting wasn’t allowed to happen.

In early December, the unionization drive was in its card-signing stage. In this stage, eligible employees sign a card stating whether they support the union and pay $1 as a symbolic gesture to demonstrate that they have signed on their own accord.

Under the New Brunswick Industrial Relations Act, unionization drives must collect potential membership information within a threemonth period. If the drive receives 60 per cent of signed membership cards, it can apply for automatic certification. If it receives between 40 and 60 per cent, it must hold a representation vote.

Should a representation vote happen, the Labour Board conducts a secret-ballot vote. A majority of voters must vote in favour of the formation to be granted a certificate that declares PSAC an official bargaining agent. At this time, union organizers begin preparing for negotiations.

After passing a motion supporting the union, in response to the number of votes received, PSAC filed a mo-

tion on Dec. 15 to become a certified bargaining agent.

Last week, there was a day of hearings in front of the Labour Board, but nothing was resolved during this time.

Representatives of PSAC could not be reached for comment for this article. The university released a statement to the Brunswickan, which reads: “The disagreements between the administration of the university and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) remain to be adjudicated by the New Brunswick Labour and Employment Board and so we will not be commenting further.

However, the university has now received notice from the Labour and Employment Board that the PSAC made application on Dec. 15, 2011 to become the certified bargaining agent for a group of full- and parttime administrative, professional and technical employees. The university filed its response to the application on Jan. 16, 2012. The Labour and Employment Board has not yet schedule a date to consider the application.”

looking to inform students of what’s going on campus? e-mail: news@thebruns.ca

this week in brunswickannews SU holds open budget meetings The UNB Student Union is holding a series of budget meetings for students to share their input on the SU budget.

The meetings take place Jan. 30 and 31 in SUB 103. On Jan. 30, the meeting takes place from 2 to 3 p.m. On Jan. 31, the meeting takes place from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

By-law changes The UNB Student Union is changing their by-laws to make liaison positions voting positions.

Their titles will also change to “representative.” The change is meant to increase representation from the student body, increase quorum and grant more opportunities. The by-law will undergo it’s third reading before council on Feb. 4.

Election period about to begin The UNB Student Union annual general election nomination period begins on Feb. 3 and continues until Feb. 10. Forms will be available in SUB 102. All positions, including executive positions, will be open. Email chief returning officer Cassie MacKlinlay at cro@unb.ca.

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

brunswickannews

Jan. 25, 2012 • Issue 18 • Volume 145 • 3

“Not enough attention is being given to learning in the province.”

Damira Davletyarova The Brunswickan A series of public discussions on learning are exposing new ideas and bringing up old concerns in the province.

“Learning: Everybody’s Project” is a series meant to engage New Brunswickers on the subject of learning.

Andy Scott, one of the co-chairs of the project, Andrews Senior Fellow in social policy at UNB and executive director of New Brunswick Social Policy Research Network, said while many issues are important to the future of the province: from health-care to social justice, the primary focus should be on educating the province’s population.

“We felt not enough attention is being given to learning in the province,” Scott said.

Future generations must be able to participate in society and in the government, improve quality of life and support the economy. Industrial New Brunswick is in the past; future generations must constantly learn to compete with a fast-changing world.

“Over history, education was not a prerequisite to being successful in resource industries - that’s all changing, those industries are changing,” Scott said.

“There is an imperative for people to be more skilled, to have more training.”

Yet before introducing any public policy, project leaders decided to engage residents across 19 communities to hear their opinions on becoming a learning

society. Growing a knowledgeable generation is not just a responsibility of the government, but of families, schools, employers, and community, Scott explained.

When Scott was reached on the phone, he was on his way to another discussion in Campbellton. By that time, project leaders had already met with public in Fredericton and Bathurst. So far, Scott said, the organizers are quite pleased with public turnout and participation.

“We are happy with the level of discussions. There were wonderful ideas,” Scott said.

“One of the suggestions was that we should do a much better job celebrating the places in the province where a learning project is being very creative, successful and cutting-edge, maybe even have an annual celebration of learning, and awards would be given.”

But the public also expressed some concerns about the current education system.

“There are people with kids, who haven’t had opportunities, from socioeconomic perspective, to have access to the same support system in their homes. So when they are first exposed to school - they start out behind,” Scott said.

Parents also said there are still problems like getting their children into preschool, receiving child-care and accommodating children with special needs. They were worried whether in the future their children would be able

Andy Scott is one of the chairs of the project and Andrews Senior Fellow at UNB. Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan to receive post-secondary education.

But overall, the public is positive.

For example, one senior resident shared a story of how he had noticed that his eight-year-old grandson living in Quebec had an inadequate reading level for his age. The senior installed Skype software on his computer, so his grandson, via webcam, could read him a book every evening.

Mr. Scott said with such simple

creative ways people can cultivate value and culture of learning in society.

“We have to ignite passion for learning in kids, we have to re-ignite curiosity in adults, we have to place learning at a higher level,” Scott said.

The project was initiated as a result of Roundtable NB2026 in March 2009, when Premier Alward, opposition leaders, institutions, non-profit organizations, and community leaders gath-

ered to share their views on what New Brunswick should look like in 2026.

Public discussions started on Jan. 11 in Fredericton and will continue across New Brunswick communities, concluding on Feb. 23 in Caraquet.

Discussions are held in both official languages.

For the full schedule, visit the project’s website: www.learninginnb.ca.

Students get inspired to take a stand after presentation on tuition rates

The Occupy Tuition Facebook group already has more than 250 members. Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan Cherise Letson The Brunswickan With New Brunswick students now paying the highest tuition in the country, two St. Thomas students are determined to have student voices heard and push for change.

After attending a lecture called Occupy Tuition, a part of a ser-

ies of lectures about the Occupy Movement on campus, students Sarah Hunt and Alexandra Cole got inspired.

“The things he said really got to us. It really brought the point home.

So we decided that we needed to do something about it,” Cole said.

Hunt and Cole created a Facebook group called Occupy Tuition, a

group that now has more than 265 members. The goal of the group is to get students engaged and to organize events and plans for action.

The group’s first event took place Tuesday at the Maritime Forestry Complex, where Minster of Finance Blaine Higgs met with students to hear their opinions.

Though the provincial govern-

ment decided to raise tuition this year despite last year’s student protests, Hunt says it’s important for students to keep pushing.

“I think perseverance is key. If we keep driving the message home, they can’t ignore us forever, even if it takes three years … and the more people we get, is strength in numbers,” Hunt said.

So far, Hunt and Cole say they have received a mostly positive response from people about the group, and they try to use any negative feedback as an opportunity to explain their cause.

“We have had some negative comments, but if they had any ground, or an actual argument or point to make, we were able to show them what we were talking about and why it’s an issue,” Cole said.

Hunt and Cole also said although the Facebook group is called Occupy Tuition, there is no direct relation between the group and the Occupy Movement.

“We are not really the Occupy Movement, we are separate from that. We respect what they did. We thought it was important, but we are our own facet. We have one really important point we want to drive home, where as the Occupy Movement was very broad and wanted to

change everything. We’re focusing on tuition, because that’s what we know a lot about, and we think that we can do something about it,” Cole said.

Hunt and Cole said that even if their voices are not heard, tuition hikes will be a reoccurring issue that will not go unprotested.

“This is something that the issue is not going to go away by itself either. Even if no one listens to us and no one hears us, there are going to be people down the road who are going to bring this up again and again, until someone finally decides that something needs to be done,” Cole said.

After Tuesday’s event, Hunt and Cole said they would like to focus on getting more students involved in the cause. They said it’s important for students to get proactive, because tuition increase is an issue that affects not only students, but those around them, including their families.

“This is our time. We are the ones who can change this. We’re students.

They’re going to listen to us. They’re not going to listen to a bunch of adults. They’re going to listen to us. It’s our voice. So if nobody steps up, then nothing is going to ever change,” Hunt said.

brunswickannews

4 • Jan. 25, 2012 • Issue 18 • Volume 145

Beating the winter blues

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Chantel Whitman is hoping a lot of students will turn up at this year’s events.

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan Heather Uhl Staff Reporter The UNB Student Union attempted to reach all students with its Winter Carnival this year.

The week-long festivities feature a wide array of events, chosen with the hopes that all students will partake.

“I just want people to enjoy the events,” vice-president student services Chantel Whitman said in an interview. “I’m not just going for one specific group of people; [I’m looking for] something for everyone.”

“So hopefully people show up to these events.”

The Student Union welcomed hypnotist and illusionist, Wayne Hoffman on Monday, and on Tuesday a mechanical bull was featured in the SUB Cafeteria.

The bull was part of a contest, where the rider who stayed on the longest won a trip to New York City for March Break.

Other highlights include a free movie night at Empire Theatres for a showing of ‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close’ tonight, though there is limited seating, and the Arkells show in the SUB Ballroom at 9 p.m. on Feb. 1.

“I just wanted to make it bigger than it’s

been in the past few years,” Whitman said.

“I know a lot of schools have a Winterfest or Dalfest. It’s just more of a whole weeklong of activities to do for students.”

“I’m just trying to make it the best that it can be.”

Of the events planned for the Carnival, only three come with a price tag for the students. All other events are free to UNB students.

The event does not break even, financially, Whitman said; they lose money hosting it. “It’s not a revenue making event … It’s for students to enjoy.”

With this looming loss, Whitman hopes for high participation from students.

“I know that for past events that I’ve had, I’ve always been worried that students won’t be engaged but they’ve shown up, which surprises me.”

“So I’m hoping there’s going to be a lot of people showing up to these events too.

We’re trying to get students engaged and getting the word out there on what’s coming up for this weekend, for the semester, for the future. We’re trying to promote everything as much as we can.”

While there have been anywhere from 500 to 800 students at the concerts last semester, Whitman acknowledges that

different events draw different people. This acknowledgement was influential on the designing of the Winter Carnival.

“Not every event is for everybody.

That’s why I did a variety of different things this term and for the Winter Carnival. So, hopefully, it will attract more people and get them involved,” Whitman said.

The Student Union sent out an email on December 15, asking students what they wanted from the events. According to Whitman, students were looking for more laid-back events such as movie night.

To combat rumours that the Student Union doesn’t provide enough events, they upped the entertainment budget and brought in two concerts last semester and other activities including Yuk Yuks.

This semester, besides Winter Carnival, they hope to bring a major concert to campus.

The Winter Carnival wraps up on Feb. 1 with the Arkells concert in the SUB Ballroom. Tickets are $15 in advance and $25 at the door for students. This is a wet event.

For more information about the Winter Carnival, please go to: http://www.unbsu. ca/content/246161.

Chilly dip for charity Derek Ness The Brunswickan Campus community members are getting ready to brave the cold for a cause.

The annual Bridges House Polar Dip takes place on Jan. 28 in the SUB quad. The event supports the IWK Children’s Hospital in Halifax.

Bridges has a close partnership with the IWK as the result of a student who previously lived in the house and spent a fair amount of his youth at the IWK. Gary MacDonald has been the don of Bridges for five years. Since his arrival at UNB he has been witness to many spectacular and rewarding fundraisers.

MacDonald estimates that the annual Bridge’s House Polar Dip has taken place for about 20 years.

“When it began,” he said, “the students used to gather down at the Saint John River, where a hole would have been cut in the ice, and they would take turns jumping in.”

For the past ten years, however, the event has taken place in a pool that is set up in the SUB quad.

Suffering from cerebral palsy, Jeremy Murray, a first-year student at UNB, has benefited from the services and care offered through the IWK during annual visits to the hospital.

Murray said, “I’m very happy to hear that students can fundraise for such a great cause, where funding is always needed and welcomed.”

This year the Bridges House committee has decided on a minimum fundraising achievement of $25 for those who wish to be eligible to participate in the event.

While she has yet to participate in jumping, Chantel Whitman, a former resident of Bridges has watched the event in the past. She described the event atmosphere as “fun, inviting, and cold, and, most of all, rewarding.”

She is pleased to see students willing to give back to their community.

“I’m a proud supporter of the IWK because I know several kids who have benefited from the care given there,” Whitman said.

For Whitman, the requested $25 of fundraising is “a minimal request for helping to save so many young, precious lives.”

“The entire [Student Union] executive is planning to take the jump this year, in addition to advertising the event.”

Students often dress up to make the event more engaging for those who

come to watch.

“There is always an audience, regardless of the temperature on the day of the event; not only is there an audience from within the residence community, but the greater Fredericton community as well,” MacDonald said.

In addition to the funds raised through the dip, Bridges also collects funds through other avenues. “We have a BBQ set up on the day of the dip, where we’ll set hot dogs, hamburgers, beverages, and bracelets,” MacDonald said.

MacDonald said that for him, the event is very worthwhile.

“Because as a house or community, we are able to all pull together in one direction to make a positive effort to help children who are sick as a result of an illness from birth or from a young age.”

Last year’s UNBSU Executive takes the plunge in the Polar Dip. Sandy Chase / The Brunswickan

brunswickanopinion

Jan. 25, 2012 • Issue 18 • Volume 145 • 5

editor@thebruns.ca

Your reading may not get lighter, but your backpack will

SO-what?: And who’s trying to regulate the Internet?

Jennifer Bishop An Opinion

Kobo e-reader. I am I.A.M. / Flickr CC Pride and Prejudice, amongst a million more makes it a cheap way to get your hands on many classic books for the To the Point price of your e-reader, as they are free Christopher to download.

Cameron Although you may not be taking an English survey course where these titles are examined, you may want to do some I don’t even have one, but I definitely casual reading.

Odds are you don’t have a lot of wish I did.

E-readers are the new thing that money kicking around to buy books after paying for tuition and your semeseveryone needs to get their hands on.

Recently I realized that they are ters’ worth of textbooks, so you’ll be something that every student should looking to save money wherever you can.

The great thing about downloading have if they’re in the arts faculty or books on your e-reader is that they are simply enjoy reading books.

Although you lose the physical part approximately 50 per cent cheaper to of picking up a book and being able to download then they are to buy at a flip through the pages, these devices save bookstore.

If that doesn’t sell the e-reader to you, you money on books that you could buy at Westminster Books, Chapters, or at then I don’t know what will. (I should be working for these companies). the UNB Bookstore for a course.

I just have realized that Kobo eReadTitles like Anne of Green Gables,

Christopher Cameron is the Editorin-Chief of The Brunswickan and can be reached at editor@thebruns.ca or in SUB room 35 throughout the work week.

Amazon Kindle. Kodomut / Flickr CC

the brunswickan

About Us 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.

The Brunswickan, in its 145th 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 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.

ers and Amazon Kindles are getting things right and moving from the print format to the digital format in an effective manner.

You can buy the Kobo eReaders for $109.99 at the low end or $199.99 for the tablet version at the higher end of the price range.

The Amazon Kindles range from $79 to $199.99 in price.

The more expensive readers have the capabilities to do more than simply hold your books, but if you want to buy a cheaper tablet than an iPad they may be more up your alley.

One final thing that is great about them is that you can search within a book. If you’re doing a paper on a certain novel, you can simply search words that are similar to your topic or search the character’s name that you’re writing about to get every section of the book the character or topic is mentioned in.

Highlighting things is also easy on an e-reader. Not only do you have the ability to find information more easily, but you can also keep track of it easier. The one downside is that if you highlight a lot of things in one book, it takes longer to load the book each time you open it.

I hope that I’ve given some great insight into how students can save money and make reading easier. Maybe I’ll save some English students from having back problems because they’ll be able to carry around all their books in a small and compact format from now on.

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 or on thebruns.ca is the property of Brunswickan Publishing Inc. Stories, photographs, and artwork contained herein cannot be reproduced without the express, written permission of the Editor-in-Chief.

Most people don’t know what SOPA or PIPA are. If you do, it’s probably because you tried to use Wikipedia last week and instead of getting the page you were looking for, you got a blackout screen.

SOPA stands for the Stop Online Privacy Act. It is a bill that was started by the U.S. House of Representatives. PIPA stands for the Protect IP Act and was introduced by the U.S. Senate. These Acts will give congress power to censor the Internet.

You might be thinking, ‘that’s in the U.S., not in Canada,’ but it will affect any website coming out of the U.S. and will block access to it all over the world.

If passed, PIPA will allow the government to block websites and pursue legal action against content providers. SOPA will go after web operators, advertisers and Internet service providers.

This means that websites like Wikipedia and YouTube will be largely affected because they have so much content that may or may not fall under a copyright infringement.

And who doesn’t use those websites?

Now that you have some information about it, let’s go back to the blackout. Many websites followed suit with Wikipedia and either completely blacked out their content or displayed a message saying they don’t support either of these acts.

Last week Wikipedia blacked out their content to show they did not support the acts the U.S. House of Representatives are trying to pass currently. Philip Stearns / Flickr CC / The Brunswickan

21 Pacey Drive, SUB Suite 35, Fredericton, NB, E3B 5A3 main office • (506) 447-3388 advertising • (506) 452-6099 email • editor@thebruns.ca twitter • @Brunswickan www.thebruns.ca

Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief • Chris Cameron Managing • Liam Guitard News • Hilary Paige Smith Arts • Alex Kress Sports • Bryannah James Photo • Andrew Meade Copy • Kathleen MacDougall Production • Sandy Chase Online • James Waters Staff Advertising Sales Rep • Bill Traer Delivery • Dan Gallagher

W i k iped ia’s blackout caused roughly 160 million people to see their message about SOPA and PIPA and Google started a petition against the acts that grabbed over 7 million signatures. Arguably, this blackout was a success. But how many people who saw the message actually read it and researched the cause? If you ask around, there aren’t many.

What is the U.S. government trying to accomplish with all of this and exactly who is it going to affect? If they decided to go after everyone who downloaded music, or posted a photo as their display picture on Facebook, the Internet would shut down. Every Tom, Dick and Harry would be infringing the law and that would cost the government a whole lot of time and money.

Maybe it was because of people’s upset over the Bills or maybe it’s because the U.S. government rethought what they were doing, but they decided to put the Bills on hold for the time being. They have proposed a new act called the OPEN – or Online Privacy Act – that will still monitor the Internet, similarly to the other two Acts, but in a less intrusive way.

That being said, should anyone be monitoring the content of the Internet? If a bill like this passes, how long will it be before other democratic countries follow suit, or will it even be necessary if the U.S. really does crack down?

Contributors Mike Erb, Cherise Letson, Josh Fleck, Haley Ryan, Sean O’Neill, Alanah Duffy, Nick Murray, Tova Payne, Colin McPhail, Jennifer Bishop, Sarah Vannier, Bronté James, Damira Davletyarova, Amy MacKenzie, Luke Perrin, Lee Thomas, Susanna Chow, Ben Jacobs, Sarah Cambell, Brandon Hicks, Heather Uhl, Adam Melanson, Derek Ness, Lindsey Edney, Jonathan Briggins, Brad McKinney, Patrick McCullough, Leonardo Camejo

6 • Jan. 25, 2012 • Issue 18 • Volume 145

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brunswickanopinion

letters to the editor tell us what you think Another open letter to the UNB Student Union Dear Editor, I read in today’s Brunswickan (I17.V145, dated Jan 19, 2012) that the UNB Student Union has approved and granted funding for a “pro-life” student group called UNB Students for Life. Part of their mission statement, as quoted in “Open Letter to the UNB Student Union” (same issue) is to “educate the students and faculty of UNB ... directing them to pro life resources such as crisis pregnancy and post-abortion counseling services.”

(Jason Retallick, pg 6) I am extremely appalled and ashamed that such a group would be approved for f u nd i ng f rom UNB’s Student Union. As aptly explained by Retallick, crisis pregnancy centres exist solely to control the personal, life-impacting choices of women. Through shaming tactics and invalid medical information, these centres negatively affect the mental and physical wellbeing of millions of women. They are not sta f fed by l icensed med ica l or counseling professionals, and staff at these centres purposefully spread misinformation and employ devastating emotional manipulation.

It is irresponsible of the UNB Student Union to legitimize the above actions by approving a student group that will send students to visit such centres. The SU exists to protect the health and wellbeing of its students, not expose them to fraudulent medical advice. At UNB, I take pride in our diverse cultural backgrounds and richly varied opinions. I believe it is wonderful that we offer many clubs and societies that are based around beliefs, such as the many religious groups on campus.

However, “pro-life” groups do not contribute to the richness of culture and respect that UNB seeks to foster. Instead, they intrude upon the safe space, which our university has proudly nurtured, by exposing pregnant women to a harmful culture of shame and dangerous medical advice. I will be sorely disappointed if “Students for Life” remains a sanctioned UNB club.

Samantha Routledge

UNB Students for Life To whom it may concern: I have followed the Brunswickan’s coverage of the Students for Life Club and the subsequent letter by Jason Retallick with some dismay but little surprise. The question of when personhood begins and basic human rights (i.e. to continuation of one’s life) is a philosophical question with important ramifications, and this group (with which I am not associated, but am sympathetic to) presents a position, which is underrepresented on campus. Mr. Retal-

lick has presented arguments for the negative impacts of that position - in response to those I will say that I also oppose misinformation and pressure tactics, but do not believe the methods of some supporters of the pro-life position to have bearing on the philosophical validity of that position.

I argue that at the very least this position deserves public discussion.

The choice of birth over conception for granting of human rights is essentially arbitrary, but has serious ethical implications. If embryos are people with rights, then they are the most marginalized people group on the planet, lacking even voices to speak. If embryos are people, then abortion is state-sponsored execution. If embryos are people, then Students for Life is standing up for the rights of those our government doesn’t.

Now, the pro-life position is often claimed to conflict with women’s rights - I think this need not be.

Modern birth control methods are reliable and effective, and as such, can make pregnancy a choice in all but a small minority of cases - I think all women should have affordable, government-subsidized access to such birth control. I also fully support both women’s and men’s rights to choose with whom they have sex, as well as under which ci rcu msta nces a nd usi ng what methods of birth control. However, if children are conceived due to the choices of their parents, I believe that both those parents have a responsibility to uphold the rights of the person they have formed.

Sincerely, Aaron Moss

Response to January 11th “Appalled at how much students care” Christopher Cameron, I am emailing you with regards to your To the Point article in the January 11th issue of the Brunswickan, “Appalled at how much students care.” After reading it, I was driven to respond to you. Being in my third year of political science, I have passion for democracy.

I deeply believe in the importance of participation and engagement to improve the environment in which we live. I wish your photographer had approached me and some of my friends about the UNB Students for Life club, as we have very passionate views regarding its ratification.

First of all, for the record, I have no issue with people whose opinions differ from mine. I believe diverse views are healthy and beneficial in any society. The only time I ever become concerned is when someone’s views have the opportunity to harm others.

Although the UNB Students for Life group claims to not be a “political or religious” group, the name they have chosen for themselves

is a very politically-loaded term, and that term represents political pressure groups in Canada and the United States. These groups have caused disturbances on campuses elsewhere in Canada, such as the five students on Carlton University campus who were arrested for displaying graphic images of fetuses in a demonstration last October (Ottawa Sun, October 4, 2010). Displays like this could be extremely hurtful to any woman on campus who is facing or has faced unexpected pregnancy and the difficult decisions that come along with it. Also, I am greatly concerned about what type of information they would be distributing to women in these “information booths” they plan to set up around campus. They have a biased view on abortion, which creates an interest for them to distribute biased misinformation, in the place of facts. Another reason I am dissatisfied with UNBSU’s decision to ratify the UNB Students for Life is the repeated rejection my favorite society has received on the ratification front. I have been a sister of Iota Beta Chi sorority since March of 2011. Iota Beta Chi has been a presence on the UNB and STU campuses since 2001, and after repeated requests, our petition for ratification at UNB has been denied.

The reason for this is the UNB administration is staunchly against sororities and fraternities, but this view is based off of old stereotypes made worse by Hollywood movies. Our sisterhood is completely against all forms of hazing. We raise money for various charities in the Fredericton community, such as Best Buddies, prostate and breast cancer, the food bank, and the local women’s shelter. We would also embrace with open arms any man who wished to join our sorority, as there are no fraternities in Fredericton for men to be a part of a Greek society.

We are not a bunch of cliquey, drunken, ditzy university girls; we have academic and philanthropic specifications to be an active sister, and we accept anyone who wishes to join. In fact, we are the only group on campus that provides bursaries to its members, and maintains a GPA requirement for membership.

However, we are restricted in our advertising of events and receive no funding from the university. We are unable to be ratified as we are seen as a group of friends, however, we are a special interest group. That special interest is continuing our philanthropic work in the community of Fredericton. Our organization has been doing good in this community and proving ourselves for over 10 years and we can’t get ratified; yet a controversial group like the UNB Students for Life, unproven and untested, can receive ratification in two months?! To me, this is outrageous and unfair. I hope you can see that not all students are apathetic about Student Union issues, and since your photographer never got the chance to hear my opinion, I have stated it for you here. If the SU is going to just hand out those ratifications, then Iota Beta Chi should be next in line.

Tia Marie-Eve Beaudoin

brunswickanopinion

Jan. 25, 2012 • Issue 18 • Volume 145 • 7

The zombie apocalypse is really not that far-fetched And if it arrives, will the airlines care?

Hillary Sinclair The Link (Concordia University) MONTREAL (CUP) — On Jan. 14, the scene at the annual Canadian University Press national conference, NASH 74, played out like a clichéd zombie flick, dirtying bathrooms and Twitter alike in Victoria.

Delegates from around the country had come to hear top journalists speak about their profession from Jan. 11–15, but they got more than they bargained for. The conference’s title, Archipelago, was re-christened #archipukeago by tweeting casualties as what it assumed to be norovirus (formerly known as Norwalk virus), a highly communicable gastroenteritis-causing bug, visited dozens of CUP delegates at the Harbour Towers Hotel and Suites like a cruel, stomach-haunting ghost.

It was gala night at #barfipelago, and the room was filled with attractive, intelligent 20-somethings listening to smart-ass ESPN and Esquire writer Chris Jones recount a story of the time he bled on George Clooney’s couch. Jones also declared his preference for putting two hard cocks in his mouth and banging them around like microphones rather than doing a story on his college nemesis.

While many in the crowd felt their guts busting with laughter, others’ guts were busting in a different way. The crowd slowly began to lose members as journalists slipped away to the bathrooms. They managed not to raise a fuss, though; so, as planned, about 300 student

journalists piled onto yellow school buses to make their way to the gala.

At this point, no one knew that norovirus was making the rounds on these sunshine-coloured wondermobiles. Buses are the best places for widespread, inexplicable vomiting, and the virus becomes airborne when puked up. These buses were just glorified disease vectors.

Upon arrival at the scheduled drunk-fest/dance-off, more puking ensued — but, strangely, the puking came before the heavy drinking, not afterwards.

For those not immediately affected, it was a waiting game. And like any good zombie movie will show you, no

matter how careful you are, resistance is futile.

Zombif ication comes for you slowly, inexorably, as members of the group experience the magic of the disease one by one. Approximately 70 delegates were hit with the virus within the first 12 hours, with others succumbing in the following days.

But the real tragedy of #pukeipelago was not the actual puking. It was the red-tape geniuses at WestJet and Air Canada, whose response to the outbreak seemed ripped right out of the script for Contagion.

As generally responsible members of society, many at #pukegate decided to push back their departure dates, not wanting to re-create the earlier school bus scenes while airborne. The airlines, however, were slightly less concerned about the transfer of a virus that could make people poop uncontrollably within half-an-hour of contact.

When contacted during the early stages of the outbreak, WestJet didn’t advise infected delegates against flying, which is weird considering that the Vancouver Island Health Authority made it clear that those very same people should remain in their hotel rooms.

As a result, many of the infected were forced to choose between their wallets and the well-being of their fellow humans. When you switch a flight, you have to pay a “change of flight” fee, and you also have to pay the difference in cost between the original flight and the new one.

So the airlines — first WestJet, then Air Canada — decided to waive the “change fees” for infected persons, which is really tricky language, as it implies that changing the flight would have no costs associated with it. Wrong.

It was a huge expense to those among us who didn’t relish the prospect of 200 people all trying to fight the virus in a tin can with one

bathroom 20,000 feet in the air.

The Link spent a total of $1,066.48 on change of f light fees for four delegates. After the situation was explained to WestJet, the $50-perperson change fees were waived, but the paper still had to pay the difference in fare. No refunds were offered.

Aside from essentially forcing sick people to board planes, it appears that airlines do not even have a contingency plan to deal with viral outbreaks that may or may not turn the entire population into braineating zombies.

In a tweet, WestJet said, “We do not encounter this very often. We always team up with health authorities to determine the best course of action.”

That’s, if you will, hard to stomach. What about SARS, the bird flu, and H1N1? Were there no contingency plans for those situations?

It’s frustrating to see a big corporation like WestJet tacitly encouraging people to turn their Boeing 737s into flying toilets, but it’s worse when one considers what the ramifications would be like if the virus had been a more dangerous one.

The moral of the story? The zombie movies were right — the real villains aren’t the affected, but those who make the spread possible.

One way or another, the end of the world will come down to money matters.

As for the delegates filtering home? Well, just call them the #NorwalkingDead.

Paku Daoust-Cloutier / The Link

brunswickanopinion

8 • Jan. 25, 2012 • Issue 18 • Volume 145

Student

Viewpoint.

What do you think about the quality of UNB classrooms?

Let everyone know what’s on your mind.

Alexa MacDonald

Reid Macaulay

Robyn Hamilton

Alex Mackenzie

“I like the theatre in Dineen.”

“McLaggen 105 is nice.”

“Bailey auditorium is falling apart, but McLaggen is nice.”

“There’s nothing too bad.”

Chris Leblanc

Cameron Moseley

Scott McIsaac

Connor Delong

“Some classrooms are good, some not so great.”

“There’s a range of quality in them.

Tilley and Singer are fine.”

“McLaggen 53 is the shit.”

“Head Hall is confusing.”

brunswickanarts arts@thebruns.ca

Jan. 25, 2012 • Issue 18 • Volume 145 • 9

The best kind of Shivering

Haley Ryan Arts Reporter It’s time to get intimate... in a church.

Next weekend, the Wilmot United Church will fill up with music and laughter as the Shivering Songs festival brings local favourites and legendary artists to the stage.

Although the festival is only in its second year, the festival is poised for a warm reception after tons of positive feedback from concert-goers last winter told The Olympic Symphonium that their hard work had paid off.

Kyle Cunjak, one of the band members, said the three Symphonium guys wanted to make the release of their third album a special one.

They invited all the bands they enjoyed personally, or had worked with professionally, for a two-day event to celebrate the softer side of music. The event was a success, with many of the shows full to the brim, and at one they actually turned people away at the door.

“It’s a music festival that’s the opposite of what you’d expect,” Cunjak said. “Having a quiet experience and a nice, warm place to get out of the cold resonated with us.”

A highlight in the weekend full of amazing artists is sure to be Mark Kozelek’s performance Saturday night.

Cunjak said the veteran folk artist, of bands Sun Kil Moon and the Red House Painters, was on their wish-list last year, but asked him to come too late.

This time, they lucked out thanks to a package deal with Sonic Concerts, which offered Kozelek some gigs in Halifax to make the Maritimes a worthwhile stop.

“I heard the confirmation and just was like, ‘oh my God, I didn’t think this was

The Olympic Symphonium’s festival creation is about to kick off its second annual event. Submitted going to happen,’” Cunjak said.

Speaking of unexpected favourites, Hot Toddy, Fredericton’s own award-winning folk/blues trio, is reuniting at the Wilmot next Friday night to perform their classic album, Shoe Factory.

It’s been a few years since the band has played together in its hometown, and this is one act Brendan MaGee, media organizer for the festival, is excited about.

This year, Shivering Songs has expanded its lineup to more than 20 musicians, and added a couple of venues besides the Wilmot.

The Cedar Tree Cafe will host free entertainment Saturday afternoon, and The Capital Complex has great acts like Owen Steel, Gypsophilia and Snailhouse performing catchy music at the end of each day.

To finish off the festival, head down to

Haley Ryan Arts Reporter

Megan MacKay invites guests to put their heart into Fredericton art.

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

the Farmer’s Market Sunday morning for lots of beer, brunch and bluegrass.

“Sunday morning bluegrass, with Picaroons,” said MaGee with a grin. “It’s kind of what I’m most excited for.”

If you’re thinking about buying a weekend pass (only $60) but don’t recognize some of the musicians, Cunjak says not to worry since they’ve all been chosen because the organizers thought they’d do well in

Fredericton.

“We wanted to help them develop an audience here, and we know what people respond to,” Cunjak said. “It’s all bands we’ve been impressed by.”

To see the full schedule of events, go to shiveringsongs.com, where tickets for individual shows and passes are available. Read’s Newsstand and Backstreet Records are also selling tickets for the Feb. 3-5 festival.

The heART of the matter

This Valentine’s Day, you might find a gift for that special someone in an ordinary old balloon.

In a couple of weeks, Gallery Connexion is having its first “Put Your Heart Into Art” fundraiser since the non-profit centre moved to the York Street location.

In the past, the event has drawn huge crowds because of the opportunity to give back to Fredericton’s only artist-run gallery. Megan MacKay, education and outreach coordinator, has high hopes for a good turnout this February.

“It’s been on vacation for a while,” MacKay said, “but it gives great exposure to the artists in the community, and it’s a good party too.”

On Feb. 11, one of the walls in the venue will be filled with balloons, which all have a slip of paper attached to them that corresponds with a piece of donated artwork.

You can buy a ticket for $75, grab yourself a dart and take aim for whatever

balloon you like. Then, retrieve your slip of paper from the popped balloon, and head over to a counter to get your piece of art.

This is where the fun begins; however, you can choose to keep your artwork, or trade with someone else, kind of like in a Yankee Swap.

MacKay said since more than 50 artists responded to the call for art pieces, with some donating more than one, there is a great variety of mediums to chose from and swap.

With a fundraiser like this, an added bonus of buying a ticket is that you might just run into the artist who made the piece you take home.

One of these talented locals, Ann Manuel, is donating a print made from a copper etching, worth a lot more than what you’ll pay for a ticket.

However, Manuel said she’s glad to support the gallery, and encourages everyone to do the same because she considers Gallery Connexion a valuable resource.

“They fulfill a need not met by any other gallery,” Manuel said. “You’re going to see ... work that’s supposed to challenge

your thinking, and we’re a richer community for it.”

If photography is more up your alley, you can keep a look out for three nicely framed pieces from WhiteFeather Hunter’s latest series, entitled “Ossa.”

All of the shots are black & white and most show bones, leaves, or deceased animals. Although perhaps not a traditional Valentine present, and done in the memento mori tradition, meaning “remember you will die,” the photos are striking and unique.

If you don’t have $75 for a balloon, but still want to support the gallery, you can come for the party and only pay $20.

There will be food, wine and music, so there’s a lot to do if you want to have fun and look at great art.

“If you can offer people a really enjoyable night, I think they’ll come out,” Hunter said.

You can buy tickets for “Put Your Heart Into Art” at Gallery Connexion, which is located downtown in the Chestnut Complex on York St. The event begins at 8 p.m. on Feb.11.

UNB Dance competing for enrichment Brandon Hicks The Brunswickan Dancers deserve better than to endure bouncy cheer mats as a stage for their passion.

In Atlantic Canada, university level dance competitions are scarce -- basically non-existent.

“There’s a competition in Halifax, but it’s really a cheer competition that just sort of tacked on a dance division,” said Ashley Thompson, president of the UNB Dance club.

“So we’re dancing on the cheer floors, which are super-bouncy. Not

ideal for dance.”

Because of this, for the first time, Thompson and the UNB Dance club have assembled teams from six schools to come to the Lady Beaverbrook Gymnasium to participate in their inter-collegiate dance competition.

One of the competing schools is the University of Maine, technically making it a international competition.

Ashley Thompson has been involved with UNB Dance for four years, and is now its president. She has put a lot of work into making dancing at the university level, a serious and competitive pursuit. The

UNB Dance club is geared towards people who have an interest in dance at an advanced, competitive level.

Although a young group with only five years of being internally run by UNB, the club features extremely talented dancers, and participates in various shows at both UNB and St. Thomas University, as well as all around Fredericton. However, with room for only 15 to 20 people, the club is selective with who they accept, often turning away as many as 25 people any given year in tryouts.

Apart from the thrill shows and getting some practice, though, the

dancers were unable to do much with their talent. They wanted more.

The upcoming event is not just the competition. In the afternoon, Matt Marr (UNB Dance alumni and second runner up in So You Think You Can Dance Canada), and Sarah Butler (UNB Dance club’s former president) will provide a workshop, also at the LB gym. This is open to the public for $75 (although registration is now closed) so that advanced dancers who are not a part of UNB’s club can also benefit.

“Not only do these dancers get to come in and compete, they can also

participate in this workshop. This way they can take something away for the experience, rather than just competing.”

The club is also looking for volunteers to help organize the event, run concession, take admission at the door, etc. If you’d be interested in being a volunteer, you can sign up at www.acdcompetition.net.

The event will take place on Feb. 5 at the Lady Beaverbrook gymnasium. The competition will run from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m., followed by the workshop from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Admission will be $5 at the door.

brunswickanarts

10 • Jan. 25, 2012 • Issue 18 • Volume 145

Who is Tommy Wiseau?

The UNB Tommy Wiseau Appreciation Society is holding its first event on Feb. 10.

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan Lee Thomas The Brunswickan “It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” So spoke Winston Churchill in 1939. The British Prime Minister was talking about Russian national interests, but today, he could

have easily been describing director Tommy Wiseau.

Wiseau is the actor/director most famously known for his notoriously awful masterpiece The Room, which was released in 2003. The film became an instant cult classic, with costumed audiences hurling plastic spoons at the

screen and shouting at the characters.

Wiseau himself has remained shrouded in mystery, from his birthplace to his genuineness to how he managed to accumulate the six million dollars that funded his film production. Enthusiasts of his work can be found worldwide, including here in Fredericton in the

membership of the newly established UNB Tommy Wiseau Appreciation Society.

“When I first saw [The Room] I thought it was a parody, just some terrible comedy routine,” admitted vice president Sarah Farquhar.

“But I think that [Wiseau] genuinely thinks that what he’s doing is good. He thinks it’s art.”

“People do emphasize the awfulness,” said Victoria Clowater, one of the club’s founding members, “but there is a story.”

“It’s an epic love story and epic story of loss, but in the funniest way. Tommy Wiseau actually submitted The Room as an official selection for an Oscar Best Picture [award]. He thought it was the best. He’s so... It’s so...” She laughed, at a loss for words to describe the film’s special quality.

Two minutes of viewing the film’s trailer on YouTube gives a good indication of what The Room has to offer viewers: clichéd lines, infinite plot twists, lots of sobbing, and juniorhigh-theatre quality acting. It’s easy to see how the movie rocketed into the heralded territory of so-bad-it’s-good.

“It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever!” Clowater said, with great enthusiasm.

“But that’s what makes it interesting. You’re just watching it, and you’re staring in horror, and you’re trying to think of how anyone can come up with

this kind of stuff.”

The group, which describes itself as “A club with the passion of Tennessee Williams,” is hosting its first event in February: a screening of The Room, complete with a game of tuxedo football – a game played, inexplicably, by the characters in one scene.

Fans of Wiseau’s work will certainly flock to the screening, but Clowater also encourages the uninitiated to attend.

“I think it’s something that all people can come together and share in laughter,” she said.

“Prepare your mind to be blown by the sheer stupidity of everything that happens on screen.... Definitely expect an adventure. Anything can happen.”

“Brace yourself,” Farquhar said.

Although the society is still in early stages, Farquhar hopes that in the future, events such as this can help support aspiring local directors and film artists. Clowater adds that the future of the society will be influenced by its membership, and could possibly expand into showing other comically awful cult classic films, such as Plan 9 from Outer Space and Samurai Cop. The club’s screening of The Room will take place Feb. 10 at 9 p.m. in Tilley Hall 102, with $5 admission.

More information about the group and its events can be found on the “UNB Tommy Wiseau Appreciation Society” page on Facebook.

this week in brunswickanarts A Place Called Chiapas: A Documentary A Place Called Chiapas is a documentary about the Zapatista uprising in Mexico.The film was produced by a Mexican/Canadian crew, and takes an intimate look at the ceasefire and growing tensions that have risen as a result.

Cinema Politica screenings take place every Friday evening at 7 p.m. at Conserver House at 180 St. John St. Admission is free, but donations are suggested.

Printmaking at Gallery 78 Gallery 78 presents: Printmaking: Process and Effect.

Atlantic Canadian artists are continuing to produce work via these labour intensive methods.

Visit Gallery 78 to learn more and discuss the artists’ techniques with them, watch a video presentation, and see posted descriptions and photographs.

The exhibition continues until Feb. 12.

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brunswickanarts

Jan. 25, 2012 • Issue 18 • Volume 145 • 11

‘I’m not about being men’s sexual dream-come-true’ Investigating bisexual experience and identity Olivia Messer and Joan Moses The McGill Daily (McGill University) MONTREAL (CUP) — “Don’t fucking call me biphobic,” says Sarah*. We’re outside Café Santropol, where we’ve just spent the afternoon drinking soy lattes and chatting about her sexual identity. Sarah is a self-identified queer woman studying physics at McGill, and though she’s attracted to both men and women, she’s uncomfortable using the term “bisexual” to describe herself.

She explains that she’s not against the principle of calling oneself bisexual, per se. But she does feel that “bisexual is a term that went with these girls who were maybe kind of crazy and slutty or experimenting” — a term that just didn’t seem to apply to her. “The way that it’s portrayed by the media and really largely in society is just really different from how I see myself,” she says.

It turns out Sarah is not alone in feeling this way — far from it. Many women with romantic partners of more than one gender are reluctant to use the term “bisexual.” There’s a stigma attached to the word that’s emblematic of larger misconceptions about gender and sexuality.

In our interviews for this story, we spoke to selfidentified bisexual women in their late teens and early twenties about their sexual identities and experiences.

We decided to focus on female bisexuality, as male bisexuality is associated with a distinct set of stereotypes and experiences (that would take a whole other feature to delve into). While the lives of all the women we spoke to were distinct, several common themes emerged from the interviews.

The term Robyn*, a female self-identified queer studying geography at McGill, echoes Sarah’s concerns about the word. When speaking of her identity, she says, “usually I just say queer, but if I had little checkboxes [and queer wasn’t an option], I would definitely check the bisexual option.”

Still, she says that she feels more comfortable with queer; perhaps, she admits, because of “how I’ve internalized the stigma about bisexuality and what the word brings to mind, for myself and for a lot of other people.”

Like Sarah, she has seen bisexual as a label that signifies “high school girls who make out with their friends at a party and then the next day are like, ‘Oh, I’m bisexual, but I actually only date boys.’” For her, it doesn’t conjure up the image of someone who genuinely desires people of more than one gender.

Robyn concedes that she justifies her reluctance to use the label. “[I say] that, ‘Oh, I don’t believe the gender binary, so I don’t like the bi part.’”

But she admits a deeper feeling about the word.

“It’s really less about that than just self-consciousness,” she says.

This is precisely in line with Margaret Robinson’s research. Robinson, director of the Bisexual Mental Health Project in Toronto, found in one of her studies that a quarter of the bisexual women she interviewed preferred to identify as queer rather than as bisexual, “because they saw it as both more political and more socially accepted.”

The stereotypes

The stigma around the term bisexual, though, seems to be only a facet of a larger problem. The tropes associated with the term bisexual do not remain on the level of language; they cling to the lives of those that have desire for individuals of more than one gender.

The stereotypes of promiscuity, experimentation and

sexual frivolity affect bisexual women in a specific way, impacting their relationships and their experiences of sexuality.

“At their root, stereotypes of bisexual women as experimenting, or attention-seeking, or hypersexual are also homophobic since they assume that young women’s sexual experiences with other women are less important than those with men,” Robinson wrote in an email.

Taylor*, an English literature major, speaks to how these stereotypes are played out in her experiences with different communities. “I’ve heard, ‘She’s not bi, she just doesn’t know she’s gay yet.’ There’s also the ‘She’s just a straight girl playing gay.’ And, ‘It’s just a phase’ — that’s something that comes from both the queer and straight community.”

Cheryl Dobinson, a bisexual and feminist advocate, writer, and researcher based in Toronto, spoke to this when interviewed by phone. According to her, the tropes surrounding the gender and sexual identities of bisexual women may interact to form a sexualized image of these women.

Dobinson says that this has been perpetuated by mainstream culture. “Female bisexuality is really sexualized through pornography, through ideas of it being something that’s there to please men, and not something that actually could have to do with women wanting to have relationships with other women.”

Indeed, Dobinson even describes herself as “feminist in relation to bisexuality” in order to reinforce the fact that she does not fit this stereotype. “I am a feminist bisexual,” she affirms. “I’m not about being men’s sexual dream-come-true. I’m about something [else], another kind of bisexuality.”

This notion of bisexuality being linked with promiscuity impacts personal relationships too, she says.

“I’ve certainly had the classic experience of lesbians who don’t want to date bi women and think, ‘Oh, that’s no good for a relationship,’ and some straight guys, too, think that bi women are good for sexy-fun but not to settle down with.”

`

The binary

The socially constructed binary of gay and straight identities, so often taken for granted, can shape the acceptance or dismissal of bisexual identity. This notion of an either-or sexuality has deeply ingrained itself into our culture, and can make it difficult for bisexual women to recognize or accept their attraction to other women.

Sarah, for example, says that she had been attracted to women in high school, and had b een “ t he type of girl that would go to parties and be ver y w i l l i ng to make out with other girls,” but that she had not seen this as a serious part of her sexuality. “Up

until recently I’ve never considered myself as having a crush on a girl.”

She continues, “I think that’s just the way that our daily social habits affirm things. When you’re going around the playground in fourth grade, and they ask you, ‘Oh, which boys do you like’ and you’re like, ‘Oh, well, Steven was looking kind of cute yesterday,’ and then they ask, ‘Oh do you like him? Are you going to talk to him?’ And then, the next day in class, someone comes up to you and goes, ‘Oh, Steven’s looking at you’, and you’re like, ‘Oh. Man, that’s awesome. I kind of like him.’ And so it’s constantly affirmed.”

Meggie, a bisexual woman and an undergrad at McGill, explains how this has played out in her own life.

She was mostly confused by the fact that she could be attracted to women, yet still experience feelings for men as well. “When I was confused in high school, I think the main thing I was trying to do was pin myself down.

I thought about it for ridiculous quantities of time — I remember sitting and reading erotica and thinking, ‘How am I reacting to this? How am I reacting to that?

What does this mean? I’m just reacting to everything, oh my god.’ I’d fixate on it, you know?”

Meggie wonders if this idea of a restrictive binary isn’t also relevant to other sexual minorities. “It’s just like gender. People are raised to conceive gender as being male or female — and no in-between space.”

Meggie continued, “Somebody who’s been raised to believe that there are only men and women in the world, and then they meet a [non-binary gendered] person, it can be hard to wrap your mind around because you’ve never been exposed to the idea that there’s more than just two genders. Bisexuality could be similar in that way.”

Robinson explains that bisexual women often encounter the misconception that bisexuality is a stepping-stone to an identity that fits within this binary. As Meggie explains, “A lot of people that I know identify as gay now, identified as bisexual at some point.

It’s just frustrating that people don’t see that it can be an endpoint also.”

For some lesbian women, bisexuality is a stage in the coming-out process. But, for many, bisexuality is a stable and permanent identity. The assumption that bisexuality is a stage is “an expression of biphobia in that it assumes bisexual identity is less real or authentic than lesbian identity,” Robinson says.

The coming out process Bisexual women, unlike lesbian women, have the unique situation of being able to “pass” as either straight or queer, depending on their relationships and surroundings.

Accordingly, the coming out process is anything but simple.

Because of the binary of straight and gay, parents and

Artwork by Edna Chan / McGill Daily

friends may not understand their bisexual identity.

Meggie, for instance, is back in the closet at home.

She just hasn’t discussed the subject with her parents since she came out at 17. “[My parents] didn’t understand why I was in a relationship with a woman if I could be in a relationship with a man — I think it’s one of the things that people don’t get. It’s like, ‘Why are you making life harder for yourself?’ But it’s not like — obviously, I mean I’m going to sound like some kind of self-help book — but it’s not a choice, right? You fall for somebody and you just want to be with them.”

Meggie feels like her experience was very different from her partner’s, in this sense. Because she’d expressed interest in men, her parents never would have guessed her sexuality. “I feel like they didn’t pick up on it at all — or barely — and then when I actually did come out, they were having trouble with the idea that I’m comfortable with things going either way, which is something that’s different than coming out as a gay person. My partner is gay, so for her, it would be like telling her family, ‘This is what it’s going to be, and this is all its going to be if I’m going to be happy,’ whereas for me, it’s sort of like, ‘Well, either way I could be happy,’ which is a really weird thing for parents to accept.”

Coming out to uninformed straight friends can be equally difficult, partially because of the confusion about what a bisexual or queer identity means. This coming out may take, in Robyn’s words, “a lot of explaining.”

“I remember coming out to a straight friend from home,” she says, “and she was like, ‘So, are you bisexual?’” When Robyn explained she preferred the term queer, her friend replied, “Isn’t that a bad word?”

However, despite the challenges of coming out, Meggie explains that she still feels like it’s important that her partners, and everyone else, recognize that all aspects of her sexuality are still intact. “Even when I’m in a relationship with a woman, sometimes I feel like the straight part just sort of dies away or people don’t notice it as much,” she said. “I feel like it’s important to be open with my partner about the fact that that still exists and not to let it, sort of, fall off a cliff — because it is a part of me.

“One way or another,” she adds, “it’s frustrating for people to perceive you incorrectly.”

Spaces of acceptance

Despite the challenges of maintaining a bisexual or queer identity, there are spaces where the binary of gay and straight can be broken down, and where bisexual or queer women can find acceptance.

For Sarah, this acceptance comes from her friends at university. She speaks of one friend that identifies as bisexual who assuaged some of Sarah’s doubts about her own sexuality.

She explains that she had been feeling curious about girls, but worried that it was just a phase. Her friend told her, as they sipped two-for-one pints, that “no, it’s not a phase, it doesn’t have to be a phase, I felt that exact same way.’”

“That was affirming,” Sarah continued, “to just know that it was ok to have these feelings.”

Moreover, the larger queer community seems to be growing more accepting of female sexualities that break down the binary of straight and gay.

“I feel like there’s more acceptance of bi people in queer communities than there was even ten years ago,” says Dobinson. But she maintains that “we’re still experiencing biphobia,” and that there’s still a need for creating an accepting and supportive social space.

Robyn is an optimistic and active participant in this evolving and accepting queer community. She finds the Montreal and McGill queer communities, “the explicitly queer communities, at least … to be pretty open about these things.”

Despite the progress that has been made, complete female bisexual acceptance — in both the queer and straight communities — has yet to be accomplished.

As Meggie says, “the idea of bisexuality as a solid, permanent identity is still very far away.” *Names have been changed as identified sources have not publicly disclosed their sexuality

brunswickanarts

12 • Jan. 25, 2012 • Issue 18 • Volume 145

Vibrant winter wardrobe

When sex research misses the mark

Embrace colourful socks as the perfect accent to a professional outfit. Bockstark Knits / Flickr CC route, make sure the socks match the pants Susanna Chow in the same shade – the pairing of faded The Brunswickan black socks with fancy black trousers has Don’t use the dreary winter weather as no place in this world. It’s helpful to match an excuse to downplay your wardrobe; it the texture and fabric of the socks with the should signal the perfect time to add some pants as well. In this vein, it’s safer to mirror the socks with the pants and not the shoes colour.

If shoes indeed make the outfit, let because shoes are undoubtedly in a distinct us also pay attention to socks. Many job category – their impact is best left alone (the interviewers advocate banning white socks colour need not be extended by socks).

At a recent Zegna fashion show, the altogether, and I can’t agree more – socks extend the outfit. They help elongate owner sat in the front row with a royal blue the body by being discreet and thereby suit and navy socks. If he had worn the same emphasize one’s attention to the outfit shade of royal blue socks, it would have been too much. The royal blue was fitting for the and the face.

A note on white socks: they might be occasion (when you want to stand out), and best left for exercising, unless you can really the low-key socks added a touch of humility. make them work with your outfit. This is It also connoted thoughtfulness – he did tough to do. The reason is that bright white not rush and carelessly donned whatever he socks pop, and why would you want them had in his closet. This is an example of the to take over the outfit? Also, they could power of a monotonic attire: it often sends wash out, and off-white dress socks are a serious vibe and ages the wearer (think funerals), or, a very loud message (think difficult to incorporate.

There are exceptions, of course, and fashion shows).

One might think: who would notice particularly for men. Socks can be noticeable for men, but not too ostentatiously. For such a detail when the pants normally cover instance, a neutral suit can be supplemented the socks? This is one fascinating aspect by subtly patterned socks (say, black socks of fashion – that little things in the right with olive checkers), but not brilliantly place can speak volumes. Think of a plain, coloured socks. This will evince a sense of elegant, beige sweater covering a narrow, style and fun – appropriate for dates. Also, crimson, leather belt. The belt is not seen, bright and vibrant socks are best for parties. but when others do catch a glimpse of it – Conversely, a black suit with black and they will – it makes a stylish statement socks denotes earnesty – appropriate for about the person. It is often one thing that job interviews. If you are going down this alters the entire outfit.

Did the quotes capture different aspects of sexism? Again, without having more information, it’s difficult to draw conclusions about the Sarah actual overlap between the content Vannier of men’s magazines and interviews with rapists.

A recent study that just came out of Second, there is a problem with the U.K. is receiving a whole lot of the way the authors asked men about media attention. Miranda Horvath how much they identified with each and her colleagues wanted to look statement. Men were asked to rate at the role of men’s magazines in the degree to which they identified promoting sexist attitudes. To do with each of the quotes. Ratings this they picked quotes from several ranged from one (do not identify at mainstream men’s magazines, as well all) to seven (identify strongly). as quotes from interviews Although the authors with rapists, and asked a Are there men (and women) out there who go on to talk about how group of young men to men “identify more” with identify with sexist attitudes? Of course! report how much they certain types of quotes, Is sexual violence a legitimate problem? identified with each quote. they completely skip over They also asked men and Absolutely. But research that is designed to the fact that the average women if they could figure sensationalize a problem isn’t helping. scores on the scale are in out which quotes came from the two or three range. magazines and which quotes came a lot of problems with this research This means that overall, most and with the authors’ conclusions. from rapists. men are NOT identifying with the First, let’s talk about the quotes. quotes. Furthermore, when parSo what kind of quotes are we talking about? Examples from men’s To get the magazine quotes the au- ticipants were asked to categorize magazines include such gems as thors pulled out eight sentences from the quotes as degrading or non“girls love being tied up … it gives four dozen magazines. Unfortu- degrading, the majority identified all them a chance to be the helpless vic- nately, they don’t give us very much but three of the quotes as derogatory. tim” and “I think girls are like plas- information about how they chose Unfortunately, nowhere in the ticine. If you warm them up you can these quotes, or about how reflective article do the authors acknowledge do anything you want with them.” the quotes were of the rest of the the fact that on average men did not Quotes from the rapists included content in the magazines. For ex- agree with any of the statements lines such as “There’s a certain way ample, the authors might have picked (regardless of what source they came you can tell that a girl wants to have the most extreme quotes. Now the from.) They conclude that includsex … the way they dress, they flaunt fact that these types of quotes are ing this content in men’s magazines themselves” and “What burns me up even in magazines is definitely a may normalize dangerous sexism sometimes about girls is dick-teasers. problem, but without knowing how for young men. Their data, though, They lead a man on and then shut the items were chosen, it’s hard to actually suggests that young men do draw conclusions about the study. him off right there.” not see these types of statements as Similarly, to get the rapist quotes normal or something they endorse.

So what did they find? First, neither the men nor the women were they chose eight sentences from a Overall, this research frustrates able to accurately identify where the book that included 15 extended me. Are there men (and women) out quotes came from. This means that and detailed interviews with men there who identify with sexist attithe rapist quotes and the magazine convicted of rape. Did they choose tudes? Of course! Is sexual violence quotes sounded very similar. Second, the most extreme quotes? Did they a legitimate problem? Absolutely. the authors reported that the men choose quotes that reflected ideas But research that is designed to senwere more likely to identify with the that many different men expressed? sationalize a problem isn’t helping.

The New Position

“

quotes from rapists than from men’s magazines.

Horrifying right? The authors conclude that including this type of content in magazines is normalizing sexist (and predatory) attitudes among young men. The underlying message, and the message that is being reported by some media, is that men have been socialized into being sexist, hostile towards women, and are walking around secretly identifying with rapists.

Although this study has received a ton of media attention, there are

”

thebruns.ca

brunswickansports

Jan. 25, 2012 • Issue 18 • Volume 145 • 13

sports@thebruns.ca

The wheels haven’t fallen off yet, but they’re struggling to turn

Christopher Cameron Editor-In-Chief They’ve lost four of their last five games. They’ve been outscored 21-18. They’re seven for 32 on the power play in the last five games, yet head coach Gardiner MacDougall is not concerned.

“There’s so many positives we can take as a group,” he said. “If we can refine some things it can define us as a group. When you come from that far back (down 6-1 to UPEI).”

“We wanted energy tonight, we got energy. We wanted more offense and we got more offense … when you have the situation that we’re in ... I’ve been here 12 years and to have both starting goaltenders hurt twice this year, both of them, it doesn’t happen.

It’s the cards we’re dealt.”

This was his reflection after Saturday’s 8-7 loss to UPEI at the Aitken Centre, only their second loss on home ice this season.

It all started eight minutes into the f irst as UPEI’s power play clicked on their first attempt, with Matthew Maione beating UNB’s Dan LaCosta blocker side to put his team up 1-0.

The Panthers would find the back of the net again on their next power play, with Reggie Traccitto going blocker side again to beat LaCosta and silence the Varsity Reds faithful.

Nick MacNeil would get his team to within one with a goal at the 16:24 mark of the first, but would take a late penalty that UPEI would capitalize on again, with Chris Desousa finding another hole in LaCosta with a slapshot from the faceoff circle.

The Panthers would lead 3-1 at the end of the period.

A crazy second period would ensue as there were nine goals scored between the two teams. Matt Davis would take over for LaCosta after tweaking his groin muscle the night before in Moncton.

UPEI would score two shorthanded goals and an even strength goal before UNB’s Dion Campbell kick started a comeback with a power play goal.

Varsity Red Stefan Salituro is headed to the net in hopes of securing his second goal of the night for the Reds . Tim Lingley / The Brunswickan The Varsity Reds would score two more power play goals and two even strength goals, while the Panthers found the back of the net once more.

After two periods, UPEI led 7-6 in a game that was far from over.

Opening up the third, UNB Varsity Red Daine Todd would take a penalty in the first two minutes to put the lethal Panthers’ power play back on the ice. Rather than them converting though, Luke Gallant would tie the game up for UNB, firing a slapshot from the top of the faceoff circle through Mavric Parks’ legs, bouncing over the line.

the panel voice your opinion

For the remainder of the period, both teams went back and forth looking for the go-ahead goal, but it wasn’t until 18:10 when Jared Gomes cut down the left side of Davis, putting a backhand on goal, which handcuffed Davis. The puck fell through him and trickled into the back of the net.

The Panthers would hold on to win 8-7.

MacNeil says the team is focusing on the positives of the game, rather than dwelling on the negatives of losing.

“Obviously we’re going to take the

positives out of this one tonight,” he said. “I think our team showed a lot of character and we battled through adversity all night.”

“We never gave up at all and I think that’s the main thing we can take from tonight’s game. We definitely learned a lot tonight and thought we got better as a team tonight and that’s something you’ve got to be positive about.”

Although most teams would be panicking after recent struggles like this, MacDougall knows that things are looking up, especially in the goaltending department where they

Do you think the UNB men’s hockey team be able to get back on track this weekend?

K. Bryannah James

Christopher Cameron

Josh Fleck

I think with the back-to-back losses against UPEI and Moncton, UNB is going to come out fighting this weekend against Dal and Acadia to regain the first place seat they lost. Granted, with two goalies who aren’t at 100 per cent, it may be a struggle but I think we’ll see a little redemption on Friday and Saturday.

Loss to Acadia. Win over Dal. Matt Davis is a strong goaltender, but that is when he is playing a lot and is not a third-string guy behind LaCosta and Fullerton. Until one of them is back to 100 per cent health or the players in front of them are all 100 per cent, UNB will not be able to beat top teams like Moncton and Acadia.

I wouldn’t be surprised if UNB lost both games this upcoming weekend, but they will probably beat Dalhousie.

UNB has always won because they play like a team, and never stop moving their feet. In their loss to UPEI they didn’t play like a team, it looked like individually they were playing to be the next Hunter Tremblay. If they are going to win, Coach MacDougall is going to need to get them playing like they used to.

Sports Editor

have been injury-plagued.

“Travis (Fullerton) started skating this week,” he said. “He’s got a brace (knee), so we’ve got to be sure of that. It’s gotta go through the process of healing. Danny, the same thing. He tweaked (his groin) yesterday (Friday) and we tried to get a period out of him today.”

“Hopefully the trainers can work some magic this week.”

This weekend UNB will take on Acadia (now first place in the AUS) Friday at home, followed by Dalhousie Saturday night.

EIC

Sports Writer

Heather Uhl Sports Writer

I doubt we’ll get both wins. Acadia is in good form and, unless something changes in our V-reds, is going to walk all over us. But I remain optimistic about the game against Dal. We might not get both wins, but either way they’re going to be some fun games to watch.

brunswickansports

14 • Jan. 25, 2012 • Issue 18 • Volume 145

Women’s hoops for the win

UNB’s defense axe the axewomen’s offensive as they drive to the hoop. Tim Lingley / The Brunswickan Sean O’Neill The Brunswickan The dividing of the AUS women’s basketball standings into haves and have-nots has not, or will not change any time soon.

While Acadia, Saint Mary’s, Memorial, and Cape Breton are playing for first-round byes in the playoffs, UNB, Dalhousie and UPEI are battling for a spot in the dance, with StFX already having a postseason berth, due to hosting the tournament.

This made the team’s game against the last-place Panthers all the more important.

Head coach Jeff Speedy, while happy that they the team did pick up an 82-67 win, he kept the victory against the worst team in the league in perspective.

“When you’re 3-7, winning a

game to go 4-7, any win is a nice win,” Speedy said.

“It’s a four-pointer, it’s on the road, but we’re just trying to get better and hopefully getting better will produce a win or two.”

As usual for the Reds, Claire Colborne led the team in scoring with 22 points at an improved 53 per cent clip from the field. Rookie Colleen Daly came off the bench firing and nailing all five shots, including three from three-land, for 13 points. The Panthers had four players in doubledigits in the loss.

Not only did the team pick up the win, they held UPEI below 70 points for only the fourth time in 11 league games this year.

The defence, which was once described as terrible by Speedy himself, has made for now a minor improvement.

When asked how his team has

improved from the start of the year to now, Speedy paused and thought long about the answer, which might be an answer in and of itself.

“I think they’re playing more together and at times I think they’re more committed to doing things we’re asking them to do to have a chance to be successful,” Speedy said.

“I think there’s still a long way to go and doing a better job of doing some of those things some of the time is better than hardly at all which is where we were before Christmas.

So definitely better, but I’m not patting ourselves on the back yet.”

The Reds travel to Sydney next week to play Cape Breton. At the start of the season, Speedy said if the whole team was healthy he expected them not to lose a game.

But the injury bug hit the Capers hard with starters Victoria Thistle and Jahlica Kirnon being sidelined for most of the first half and are tied for third with 20 points from a 7-5 record.

Whatever Speedy and the team learned about its split against CBU in November is essentially irrelevant now.

“They’re a much different team at home than on the road,” Speedy said, “and they’re a much different team than the one we played here in November just because now they’re healthier.”

“I expect a very different team than the team we played in November. I expect to see the team that we prepared for in November because we didn’t know that they were hurt.”

Tipoff from the Sullivan Field House is Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. and the next day at 1 p.m.

Superstitions and athletes Nothing but Net Bronté James Michael Jordan wore his university shorts under his uniform his entire career.

Serena Williams bounces the tennis ball five times.

Even UNB’s Matt Daley tucks a red Right to Play bracelet in his left shoe, but why is it that athletes believe these routines will lead them to a victory? Is it a silly superstition, or is it psychological?

Many athletes, myself included, believe that a particular routine before each game will ultimately lead you to a win. Whether you go the traditional route of not washing your uniform while on a winning streak, or something a little odder like Turk Wendell brushing his teeth between innings, everyone has something they believe will bring them luck.

As a goaltender, I have one of the most psychologically stressful positions on the soccer field. When I am out on the field I have many routines I perform which I believe helps put me in the proper mindset of the game, such as tightening my gloves each time I touch the soccer ball, or singing one lyric in my head the entire game.

Do I truly believe this will help me win, or am I forcing myself to believe it will affect my game? Whichever is true, I have the same routine each game, and it has simply becomes second nature. Standing 5’3” and playing net, I am amazed I don’t have more superstitions, to be honest.

In an article by Wesley Mayberry, in Psychology of Sports¸ Dr. Richard Lustberg is quoted, saying “Superstitions are a coping mechanism to deal with the pressure to succeed. Athletes begin to believe – they, in fact, want to believe – that their routine

of choice is enhancing their performance.”

“As a result, the player’s confidence will rise, and this increased confidence allows the player to perform at a higher level,” Lustberg said.

Although superstitions are not only found in athletic scenarios, they are found among athletes the most. With the stress of performance in professional level sports, there is a need to be able to attribute your success or failure to an external factor.

Michael Jordan, having led his university team UNC to the NCAA Championship in 1982, believed his luck came from his shorts which he continued to wear his entire career. Whether or not people agree with this, it allowed him to blame any failures on the shorts rather than placing more pressure on himself mentally.

When my sister and I played on a women’s summer soccer team together, she would always wear her aviators before a game, and I’d be in charge of music while we drove to the field. It’s silly, but that was our routine.

It doesn’t matter if you’re an athlete, musician, dancer, or in any other position where you perform in public situations, you are going to have a routine whether or not you recognize it.

I think superstitions are a good thing. It gives you something to put yourself in the right mindset for the game, and it prepares you, energizes you, and calms you. Your routine could get out of wack, and freak the living hell out of you until you find that smelly sock, lucky charm, or repeat the same pre-game PB&J sandwich before a game, like Crosby.

When its done, though, it makes you feel like you have nothing left to do, but play.

I make sure I listen to a song I know well so that I can recite a couple lyrics in my mind the entire game to help me focus. Crazy?

Perhaps. But it’s better than not washing my gear for every game, right?

brunswickansports

Jan. 25, 2012 • Issue 18 • Volume 145 • 15

Men’s basketball struggles continue over the weekend Sean O’Neill The Brunswickan In the book Scorecasting, Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim and economist Tobias Moskowitz debunk many myths in sports including the favoured broadcasting cliché of home-field advantage.

According to their math, combining results from the NCAA, NBA and WNBA over the past 10 years, the home team in basketball has won 63.6 per cent of games.

This is a much lower ratio then one would expect.

But if the authors wanted the ratio to go higher, then it would have added the UNB Varsity Reds men’s hoops team to the equation.

In its first four league games outside of the province, the Reds have gone 0-4, giving up an average of 90 points while scoring only 64. This is compared to the Reds’ 3-3 home record, where they score 77 a game and give up 83.

How does head coach Brent Baker explain the discrepancy?

“When you have Dan Quirion not playing,” Baker said, “it’s a pretty big void in your defence.”

“We’re horrible at the defensive end and we need to fix that up.”

After splitting last weekend’s set at the Currie Center, including taking a massive four-point game against surprise outfit UPEI, UNB went on the dreaded road again to take on the Panthers in Charlottetown.

PEI has shocked most observers this season going from a non-playoff team last year to 8-3 heading into the Reds game under first-year head coach Tim Kendrick.

Kendrick – who had no previous coaching experience above high school – and a number of fourth- and fifth-year players are scoring 14 more points per game compared to last year. They have essentially locked-in a postseason berth and Kendrick is the oddson-favourite for Coach of the Year.

In the previous game, UNB sank a number of clutch free throws down the stretch to hang on for an 80-77 victory.

The Varsity Reds are having a little trouble getting their footing on the court with both Dan Quirion and Will McFee out with injuries.

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan It was a different story entirely in the land of the red sand. Playing without starting two-guard Dan Quirion – who missed his fourth straight game with a bone bruise in the ankle – and guard Will McFee – who hurt his ankle last week in practice – the Reds were shot off the court by the Panthers as they won 99-76.

UPEI shot 50 per cent for the game, compared to UNB’s 37. Manock Lual led the Panthers with 27 points and 11

rebounds, six of which were offensive; Jon Cooper scored 16 with seven boards; and Terrance Brown, Geoff Doane and Jermaine Duke had 15, 14 and 11, respectively.

Alex DesRoches led UNB with 25 points, but shot eight of 22, and eight rebounds.

“They had a packed-house and our younger guys got caught up in the noise and didn’t handle the adversity well and that’s all she wrote,” Baker said comparing

the performance of the home win to the road loss to the same team.

With nine games left in its schedule, the Reds are lucky that five are at home with 12 points on offer.

But before StFX comes to Fredericton, UNB is off to Cape Breton for two more road games against the Capers.

CBU star guard Jimmy Dorsey missed last week’s games. His status for this weekend is unknown.

The Varsity Reds abysmal road record has left the team outside of the six AUS playoff spots heading into this weekend’s games.

UNB is behind Dalhousie by two points and still have all four games against the Tigers in February, which will essentially make or break its playoff hopes.

Baker hopes that both Quirion and McFee will be ready to play next week. The first game against CBU is Jan. 27 at 8 p.m., and the following day at 3 p.m.

UNB go 2-1 in final Interlock; preparing for AUS championship Heather Uhl Staff Reporter The Varsity Reds may have gone 2-1 over the weekend, but still haven’t figured out the secret to beating the powerhouse that is Laval Rouge et Or. The weekend began for the VReds with a 3-0 win against Sherbrooke (25-21, 25-20, 25-15). There was trouble at the beginning of the match when the Varsity Reds seemed unable to get their acts together.

“We dodged a bullet the first two sets against this team,” coach Dan McMorran said. “We started very slow out of the gates; we made unforced errors against a lot of teams.

Sherbrooke has the potential to be real big and we actually were able to stop the bleeding midway through each set.”

Third-year Julio Fernandez hit his groove in the match.

“I started pretty slow but I know that with this team you start going the whole time otherwise they’ll get on there,” Fernandez said.

Despite a slow start, Fernandez delivered 17 kills for the team.

While Fernandez’s attacks are a crowd-favourite, coach McMorran was impressed with the other aspects of Fernandez’s play.

“I’m more happy for his serving and defensive today than I am for his attack,” coach McMorran said.

And McMorran and Fernandez have a lot to be happy about, as Fernandez is ranked among the top five left-side hitters in the country, coming in at number two.

The following match was against

Montreal the next day. It was a tight game but the V-Reds pulled ahead for a 3-1 win (25-20, 15-25, 25-22, 25-19). In the previous Interlocks of the AUS and RSEQ divisions, UNB defeated Montreal 3-0 both times.

UNB’s last match of the Interlock was against heavy-hitters Laval Rouge et Or. The Varsity Reds lost the match 0-3 (12-25, 18-25, 19-25).

“I’m expect ing a close game against Laval,” coach McMorran said. “This is the kind of thing I talked about a few days ago. Great team [Laval] over there and to play with a team like that you got to keep that intensity up.”

“We were in the third set when we actually started to play a little volleyball and start siding up with them.

A couple of unforced errors seep in there and it’s just not maintaining that level of intensity throughout.”

Similar to the game against Sherbrooke, the V-Reds struggled to get their footing in the first two sets. It was only midway through the first sets that UNB was pulling together enough to score points.

Unfortunately, against a team like Laval, the midway point it is far too late to completely recover the ground lost. The V-Reds just weren’t quite fast out of the gate and Laval took that advantage and ran with it.

Laval’s team holds players Micael Girard and Karl De Grandpre and is the fourth-ranked team nationally in men’s volleyball.

“Karl [De Grandpre] is a worldclass player. Karl played international for Canada here and he’d been with the national team for last number of years,” coach McMorron said. “I

The Varsity Reds men’s volleyball took two of three games during weekend Interlock play at the Currie Center last weekend. Tim Lingley / The Brunswickan mean, Karl is going to get his kills.”

“Karl actually hit some very smart balls. When other players would be trying to put it straight down, Karl hits the ball deep in the court. So it’s a good example for our younger hitters as to how you have to use the ball at the CIS level.”

“You can’t be going with your high school shot. Karl’s a fantastic player and I think he’s a good learning tool for our young players.”

The past weekend’s Interlock between the AUS and RSEQ division was the third of three. UNB will have four more matches - two

against Memorial and two against Dalhousie - before the conference championships.

The next two matches will be home games against Memorial at the Currie Center, 4 p.m. on Jan. 28 and 12 p.m. on Jan. 29.

brunswickansports

16 • Jan. 25, 2012 • Issue 18 • Volume 145

Women’s volleyball can’t spike in AUS standings K. Bryannah James Sports Editor The UNB women’s volleyball team was better – last year. Right now the team is at the bottom of AUS standings, with a 0-3 losing record at home, a 1-8 record on the road with a sets won of 7 and sets lost of 33 with only two points.

Now, with only one win in 12 games, one of the losses being handed to them this weekend against Acadia, the question begs to be asked – when will last years’ AUS championship team show up to the court?

The last time UNB played Acadia it was at the Richard J. Currie Center, where they pushed the Axewomen to a five-set match, winning only two sets and finishing with a loss.

“I think our group’s smart enough to know, you know, what we’re up against with some of the injuries we have and the youth of our team. So, we just need (to catch) a break and we’re not getting one,” said UNB head coach John Richard.

This past weekend, the Reds lost all three sets against the Axewomen (10-25, 22-25, 29-31), however, the final two sets saw a closer match than the first one, maybe even showing some signs of the team they were last year.

“We were really slow off the bus and got kind of cranked the first game 25-10, but then really played well I thought. You know, losing 22 and then we held game point two or three times in the third game before we lost 31-29,” Richard said.

“We had a couple opportunities in that Acadia match to prolong that match and just didn’t get a call when we needed a call and didn’t find the floor when we needed to find the floor.”

As Richard said, the team didn’t have

a lot of fight or emotion during the first set, leaving room for some seniors on the team to help “rally the troops.”

“To be honest with you, 25-10 is actually a little better than it could have been. I think they had us 10-1, they had us 16-3, they were going and we weren’t even in the gym yet.”

“But we kind of flicked the switch and all of a sudden we were at a 25-22, 31-29 game. The downfall, as I told our team, is the second set needed to be the first and the 29-31 third set needed to be the second,” Richard said.

“And if we could have started it that way we might have been able to prolong that match.”

Even with another loss handed to the V-Reds, Richard is looking at it with optimism.

“I don’t think it’s too bad. I mean all things considered, it’s a challenging year obviously.”

The Reds started off this season on shaky ground to begin with; they have a young team and their key players from last year either graduated or signed contracts in Europe. Amanda Bakker is no longer with the team to add to those two major factors.

That being said, the youth of the team isn’t necessarily a bad part of the team; it is a rough aspect, though. Richard is looking to help the team, so no repetition of this year will filter into the next season.

“It’s not easy, I’m not going to lie to you,” Richard said. “It’s a little bit different from what we’ve been used to, what I’ve been used to for the last, you know, half-dozen years or so. We usually at this time are gearing up to try and grab a bye or something, where we’ve been the last several years.” “[Or] Challenge for a top two position.

But unfortunately that’s not where we’re at. We’re just trying to take it point by

point and game by game.”

Some of the wins, Richard said, are due to a change in player position.

Their losses, however, can also be attributed to injuries sustained during the season. Key players have been injured, including Katarina Legutky who was injured during a match on the Rock, which has left her out for an undetermined amount of time.

“That’s challenging and frustrating too, the fact that she’s not in our lineup, for the near future.”

But where there is darkness, there is also light, and that light on the team right now can be found in Vanja Mitrovic, as the first-year right side helps the team and builds seniority even in her early years as a V-Red. “Vanja Mitrovic continues to, most days, lead us in scoring or be right to the top. So that’s obviously a positive for the future. And than [Rebecca] Glancy, [Emma] Hunt, [Monica] Jones, those players continue to be competitive and grow their game every day.”

The Reds are on the road more than they’re home, but the luck may switch in their favour with back-to-back weekends with a home-court advantage.

Next weekend Moncton will make the trip up to Fredericton to play the Reds.

“My final home game as a coach will be in two weeks there and we’ll try and hopefully put ourselves in a position to win a couple of those.”

This weekend Cape Breton University, who stands at a respective 12-8-4 thirdplace ranking with a 5-1 home record and a 3-3 road record and a sets won of 26 and loss of 18; and StFX with a 12-5-7 and a fourth-place ranking with a home record of 3-4 and a road record of 2-3, with a sets won of 19 and sets lost of 26 will come to the Currie Center to take on the Varsity Reds.

The women’s volleyball team is battling both injury and youth this season as they try to make playoffs. Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan