The McGill Tribune Vol. 19 Issue 24

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McGILL TRIBUNE P u b l i s h e d b y t h e S t u d e n t s ’ S o c i e t y o f M c G ill U n i v e r s i t y

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Great plans for Lachine Canal

By Y ona Reiss________________ If you are an avid cyclist, you may have already experienced the beautiful and scenic bike path that runs along the Lachine Canal.

But the bike path is only the beginning of an ambitious project that is underway by federal and provincial governments with great expectations for the City of Montreal.

In January 1997, the Minister of Canadian H eritage Sheila Copps, along with the Mayor of M ontreal, Pierre Bourque, announced a project that would see $82 million spent on the re-opening of an important historic and economic sight, the Lachine Canal.

Their predictions for this undertak­ ing were im pressive, and the rewards they expect the City of Montreal to reap seem to be well worth the great expense and effort.

“This project will create 4,000 jobs, and, by the year 2002, the canal will attract 1.2 million visi­ tors each year,” Copps said.

The plans for the seven kilom eter-long site are am bitious.

Included is the re-opening of the canal to boating traffic, landscap­ ing of the ca n al’s banks, and improving access to the waterway and the Old Port from downtown Montreal.

The canal's history The Lachine Canal is an area credited with playing a leading role in the birth of the Canadian manufacturing industry, and is considered a National historic site.

The original construction of the canal was completed in 1825, and because it fulfilled the objective of allow ing boats to bypass the Lachine rapids, it greatly simpli­ fied navigation for the area. In the mid-19th Century, the Lachine Canal helped to establish the area as a dense industrial sector and Continued on Page 20

Mike Colwell

M o w in ' b u b b le s o v e r t h e w e e k e n d a t t h e 1 7 6 th a n n u a l S t . P a t r ic k 's D a y p a r a d e

Education reaps windfall in provincial b u d g et McGill officials, student representatives are disappointed McGill didn't get more

By Jonathan C olford M cG ill and the S tudents' Society of McGill University had mixed reactions to the provincial budget presented by Finance min­ ister Bernard Landry last Tuesday.

The budget calls for a total of $4.5 billion in tax cuts over the next three years, $2.1 billion being added on top of cuts announced in the 1999 budget. Health care and education will receive a $3.7 bil­ lion injection of funds, with $1.15 billion allotted to education.

Q uebec universities will receive $600 million from the $1 billion Quebec Prem ier Lucien Bouchard promised to education at last m onth's Q uebec Youth Summit, and $100 million of the additional $150 million promised in last week's budget. In total, uni­ versities will obtain approximately 61 per cent of provincial funds destined for education.

In a press release, McGill's

acting VP A dm inistration and Finance Morty Yalovsky and VP Academic Luc Vinet expressed their satisfaction with the new monies for universities, indicating that the Quebec governm ent's commitment would absorb operat­ ing deficits over the next three years and allow post-secondary institutions to begin re-investing in themselves.

Y alovsky and V inet were concerned, how ever, that the promised amounts would not be enough to allow Quebec universi­ ties to remain competitive with other Canadian institutions.

"Despite the m agnitude of this amount, we remain concerned that this falls short of the $650 million required annually to per­ mit Quebec un iv ersities to be competitive with their Canadian peer in stitu tio n s," V inet and Yalovsky said in their statement, focusing on the promised increase in funding to post-secondary edu­

cation, w hich is scheduled to reach $335 million per annum in 2002.

They were also disappointed that the government did not set aside funding in its budget to address deferred building mainte­ nance. They did, however, "wel­ come" the government's initiative to have future funding for post­ secondary education tied to matching goals set out in "perfor­ mance contracts" between the uni­ versities and the government.

SSMU VP Community and G overnm ent A ffairs W ojtek Baraniak had mixed feelings about the budget. He too was optimistic about the funding increases, including a decision not to tax undergraduate scholarships up to $3,000 of th eir value, and to refrain from taxing graduate scholarships. Graduate students have benefited from a $24 million increase in the budget as well.

Baraniak pointed to a lag still

existing between levels of funding in Q uebec and in the rest o f Canada.

“One m ust recognize that Quebec students are still receiving less than their Canadian counter­ parts,” Baraniak said. “And on top of that, this budget does not men­ tion anything about the universi­ ties’ crumbling infrastructure.

Other budgetary initiatives Perhaps the most dominant feature of the 2000 budget were the sweeping tax cuts proposed by Landry. The cuts will average 13 per cent for 2.4 million tax-paying households in Quebec..

For instance, full-professors at McGill, who average $75,000 in salary, will see their basic tax rate drop from 26 to 24 per cent. If they are single-m em ber houseContinued on page 5

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Page 2 N e w s

The McG ill Tribune,Tuesday, 21

march

2000

P rogressive C onservatism — th e voice for th e fu tu re?

Jo e C la rk sp e a k s on d em o cracy, trad e and ed u catio n

By M

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Bargav

The Shatner Clubs and Services lounge swelled with Progressive Conservative rhetoric as former Canadian Prime Minister and current head of the PC party, Joe Clark, addressed McGill students on what political issues concern today’s young Canadians.

Arriving 20 minutes late for the lecture last Tuesday, the former Prime Minister whimsically quipped that “when you are as charismatic a person as I am, the media hounds you wherever you go.” C lark’s address discussed three major weak­ nesses in the democratic system, Canada’s economic challenges and the problems of higher education.

Clark spoke passionately about the cynical political climate among Quebec youth, where 72 per cent of those surveyed expressed that they had no trust in the government or political parties.

“Political institutions haven’t kept in touch with the needs of vot­ ers. The cynicism that people have [towards] politicians has to be bro­ ken... [D]emocracy can’t function with people opting out of the sys­ tem,” said Clark, placing the onus on political parties to better cater to a broader voter base.

Clark applauded the nation’s youth for its growing desire to express political viewpoints, while accusing the current government of

not welcoming this growing climate tem of trade protected by geographi­ corporate tax rates in both the OECD cal limitation. Now we have to fight and the Group of Seven countries. of political expression.

“The issue now is not trade bar­ “Institutions have to become for every inch of ground we gain — more open. At a time where the pub­ that’s what it means to be in a com­ riers. The countries that have the lic wants to participate more, politi­ petitive economy. We have to resources we have, have tax systems cal institutions are becoming more change fundamentally the capacity of that are better than we have. Canada has fallen behind exclusive,” said Clark. The for­ in a world of competitive tax mer Prime policy. We have Minister further to put Canada noted that with­ first. We need to out involvement be in the fore­ of the citizenry, ground of com­ standards cannot p e titiv e n e ss,” be set in govern­ said Clark. ment.

Clark fur­ “ When ther attacked the there is no scruti­ Liberal party for ny, things go not attracting wrong, and arro­ more investment gance builds on to Canada. part of the gov­ “ T h e ernment. One of Chretien govern­ the weaknesses ment hasn’t of the public sec­ made a single tor is that there is important policy no bottom line.

We need to W i t h m a p l e l e a f i n h a n d , J o e C l a r k d i s c u s s e s C a n a d a ' s P a b h R odriguez decision. They have prospered apply more from an econo­ information to f u t u r e i n a g l o b a l e c o n o m y my flourishing develop systems under free trade,” said Clark.

Canada,” said Clark. that will set a bottom line.”

The final portion of Clark’s Clark spoke with regret about Concerning Canada’s future in an increasingly competitive global the Canadian corporate income taxa­ speech addressed the role of govern­ economy, Clark’s solutions to the tion system, which is second highest ment in educational reform and fund­ disparities in Canadian fiscal policy among the Organisation for ing. Clark advocated more responsi­ toted the familiar conservative agen­ Economic Co-operation and ble government with respect to edu­ da — cut taxes and lower interest Development countries, and is pre­ cational priorities, and with clearly dicted in the next five years to keep set responsibilities, standards and rates so big businesses can grow.

“For a long time we had a sys­ its place among the highest statutory' goals.

“I am sure we can set national standards on how we deal with edu­ cation. Our standards are not up to those of countries we compete with.

We have to form standards that give us a competitive edge in post sec­ ondary education,” said Clark, adding that “if we create a sense of urgency for change we can reach some standard very fast.”

The former Prime Minister’s educational platform was two-tiered, addressing both the issue of improv­ ing education from the government side, and mitigating tuition burdens faced by students.

“If banks want out of the loans program, it is fine. More important is a plan that eases the burden of high cost and makes it possible for people of low income to contemplate post­ secondary education. This will be done by fully restoring the money recently taken from education an health services, and helping students in debt through payment plans, and tax deductible interest on tuition,” Clark explained.

Clark objected to the idea of direct transfers, however, such as the Millennium Scholarship Fund, call­ ing for more concrete and universal reforms to post secondary funding.

“The Millennium Scholarship was a mistake. Whatever benefit it brought to students was overridden by the climate of contest it created.”

Students and McGill figure o u t how to spend LIF dough B y S h eh r y a r Fa zli

Having received one million dollars to spend on resources, M cG ill’s Library Improvement Fund has begun to send a message to concerned students: there is hope for McGill libraries.

A contribution of $500,000 from the McGill Student Fund, passed via referendum in the spring of 1999, and matched by the University’s Development Fund, brings the total benefit to universi­

ties at one million dollars.

Distribution of the funds has been planned by the Library Improvement Fund Committee.

Committee chair Xavier Van Chau, VP university affairs for the Students’ Society of McGill University, explained that special attention has been paid to ensure proper distribution of the funds.

“With the Library Improvement Fund, we’ve always been very careful about the way we spend the money,” he said. “We want to ensure that what we do is

IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR WORK STUDY STUDENTS Due to popular demand, modifications to the Summer Work Study Program have been made.

Accepted Students_______ • Students currently participating may work part-time in the summer if continuing their studies in the fall of 2000, in the same program.

• Summer registration is not mandatory.

• Eligible students must obtain a valid summer authorization at the Student Aid Centre, starting the first week of April.

NewApplications________ • Applications are now being accepted for the summer session.

• The deadline is May 1,2000.

WORKSTUDY DOES NOTSUPPOR1 STUDENTS IN THE POST-GRADUATION PERIOD ALL OTHER CONDITIONS APPLY. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT THE WORK STUDY ADMINISTRATOR McGILL STUDENT AID CENTRE, WILLIAM & MARY BROWN STUDENT SERVICES BUILDING 3600 McTAVISH, SUITE 3200 OR CALL (514) 398-6015

value added. It’s important not to system that would replace the cur­ libraries are growing.

“T hey’re growing in their just throw the money at the rent MUSE system. The final University and say, ‘Okay, go and $100,000 will be spent towards the infrastructure, they’re adding more do whatever you want with it.’ No, maintainance of a 24-hour study electronic resources and, of course, we want to make sure that the space, and renovations and books are published at a very rapid money we spend is spent usefully improvem ents of the Redpath rate,” Green continued. “But we and in the most value-added way for Library area. Students can expect to have, I think, the basis of a very see these changes this coming sum­ good support for the libraries.” students.”

“I think this effort is unprece­ To arrange a method by which mer. to disburse the funds, members dented, where the students of the Library Improvement have decided specifically what they want to see in the Funds Committee considered library, and have been able the opinions of a number of to get the funds that they people they believed could give need.” an accurate assessment of the library’s many needs.

Marium Mani, a “We’ve worked with stu­ McGill student who works at the Redpath Reserves dents and full-tim e McGill Desk, expressed sim ilar staff.” Van Chau said. “[Staff enthusiasm at the news of members] give us a lot of ideas about what’s going on within the fresh funds. the libraries, not only at McGill, “I am thrilled that the library is going to see great but libraries [in general] today — as in: what are the big issues improvements, especially in regards to more books, and in libraries, and kwhat do libraries need to evolve? It has the possibility of a 24-hour T h r o w t h e b o o k a t 'e m !

M a x L ew k o w sk i been very educational.” study space,” Mani said. “I Building on the ideas of think students really need these staff members and students, and want to see such changes and the committee has laid down the Important support base I’m glad that they finally will.” blueprints of a distribution scheme.

The poor state of McGill Of the one million dollars, W hether or not an extra libraries has given some the idea $700,000 will be directed towards $120,000 per semester is enough to that, in an increasingly electronic books and journals. Of that, allow McGill libraries to catch up to age where inform ation can be $350,000 will be allocated to the those of competing universities, it is accessed by home computers, the faculties of Arts, Music, certainly a step students and staff library’s role in the University will Management, Education, Religious have been waiting for and are enthu­ dwindle. Groen, however, rejected Studies, and Islam ic Studies; siastic. Frances Groen, director of this view.

“I have no question that the $315,000 will go to the faculties of libraries, believes that the increased Science, Medicine, Engineering, allotment marks a turning point for library is going to continue,” she Agriculture, Architecture, Dentistry, the University. asserted. “The library has an icono­ Nursing, and Physical and “It’s just extraordinary,” she graphie value to it; students congre­ Occupational Therapy; and $35,000 remarked of the effort made by the gate here because it represents is earmarked for the Law Faculty.

University Affairs Committee. “It’s learning. That is not going to stop, Of the remaining funds, nothing but positive. I can’t tell you especially with the improvements $200,000 will be devoted to sup­ how happy I am... [t]his is putting that this University’s libraries are porting a project titled the McGill us in the right direction. The library going to see.”

University Library Digital is going to be very much M illennium Initiative, which improved...[I]n a sense we never involves setting up a new interface have enough money, because

The McG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 21 March 2000

N e w s Page 3

Students may fork over $150 to fund information technologies B y R hea W o n g

A new student fee of $150 imposed by the University for every undergraduate student was announced at last Thursday’s Students’ Society of McGill University’s council meeting. The fee will fund information technology and student services in the wake of insufficient government support.

The announcement was made in a session with VP Academic Luc Vinet and VP Administration and Finance Morty Yalovsky. Though the fee has not yet been finalized by the Board of Governors and Senate, the sentiment is that the outcome is a forgone conclusion.

“Based on the information that we have recieved to date, the [provincial] budget released is not going to be that substantial. For us to go ahead and introduce more ser­ vices to the students we are going to have to go ahead and find funding through increased fees,” VP Yalovsky explained.

Information augm en­ tation The roughly 3 million dollars in increased ancillary fees will be directed specifically towards the Banner 2000 project which has already run over cost. The Banner project is a tripartite plan designed to update the services available to stu­ dents by offering services such as

more easily accessible registration online and better accessibility to grades on the website.

"The [monies] would be direct­ ed toward information tech­ nology registration.

[MARS] is a nice system, but there are newer tech­ nologies we would like stu­ dents to register with,” VP Yalovsky said.

sity becomes more expensive, it’s becoming less accessible to people and that’s unfortunate.”

Yet, Law Students Association

Dissent among the ranks Various SSMU coun­ cillors butted heads over the necessity of the student fee.

VP University A ffairs' Xavier Van Chau felt that looking to the students for money now seemed to be the only option available in M c P ic k p o c k e tin g s t u d e n t s Zoe Logan light of cutbacks to educa­ tion and limited corporate monies.

“My personal feeling is that [the VP External Francois Tanguaynew fee] is regrettable, but I under­ Renaud felt that squeezing the stu­ stand it and the need for it,” Van dents for more money was not the Chau said. “I don’t think it’s the best solution and pointed to other University’s fault because the money possibilities presented by alternative should be coming from the govern­ budgets.

“First of all, this has been ment and obviously it’s not. The planned out for a long tim e,” University needs to find alternative sources of funding to keep up with Tanguay-Renaud commented. the cost of the quality of its pro­ “There’s been talk about it for quite grams and maintanence of order. a while and the ‘solution’ that the Obviously, the government isn’t giv­ University has come up with is not ing us the money, and with the vote- the right one. They shouldn’t be down of the CBA, we are not getting looking to the students to bear the corporate help, so somebody has to burden on their shoulders. We need pay the price. But every time univer­ money, we’re all agreed, but before

we start asking students for ancillary fees, which a lot of them can’t pay, alternative budgets should be explored. There are alternative bud­ gets around that present ideas such as instead of reinvesting the endow­ ment, less money should be invested and more should be spent.

“I found it weird that when the administrators were presenting it, they were sitting next to Andrew Tischler and he had this smile on his face,” Tanguay-Renaud further noted. “There seems to be this part­ nership with SSMU and the adminis­ tration and when they announced this, they [SSMU executives] didn’t exactly burst into criticism. On the contrary, there was full assent .and resignation. The role of the student leader is to defend the students in these sorts of cases.”

of student services. We're really behind other universities right now.”

Van Chau agreed that that the Board of Governor’s Budget Planning Group based their decision more heavily on the outcome of the provincial budget.

“If the provincial budget had been higher, perhaps the Budget Planning Group would have held back on this for a couple of weeks.”

Van Chau later added. “[As for the CBA], I don’t think there’s any direct correlation, it’s simply a finan­ cial reality.”

Tanguay-Renaud commented that he felt the provincial budget was merely an excuse to levy the fee on students and that the University should look at its own practices before looking in student pockets.

“For those of them who say that this is a direct result of the CBA, it’s not at all. This was planned at the CBA and provincial beginning of the year and was await­ budget money ing the budget. It was well-suited to All were in agreement, howev­ that, so they could look at the budget er, that this fee had nothing to do and then announce the new fees with with the student rejection of the Cold some sort of legitimacy.”

“The first step is to look in our Beverage Agreement and the Coke monies and much more to do with own backyard. The administration the amount of money provided by should look at the alternative budget the province in the provincial budget and look at how the money can be redistributed,” asserted Tanguayreleased last week. “ The CBA would have helped, Renaud. “For example, can the cost but this fee was necessary anyway,” of eliminating the wine and cheeses SSMU VP Operations Kevin go to pay for one more teaching McPhee said. “The fee will generate assistant? It’s a matter of how we are 2.4 million dollars, which is much running a university and how it more than the CBA would have gen­ should be run.” erated. It is really going to the areas

Strong showing at Management competition by McGill team B y M ich elle L ee

McGill Faculty of Management students placed a strong second at the recent Marshall International Case Competition at the University of South California. The win comes after this year’s founding of a Management case analysis class designed to prepare students for competitions.

The fourth annual case competi­ tion welcomed eighteen top business schools from the United States, Hong Kong, Hungary, Denmark, Chile, Mexico, Australia and Canada. Students Shemina Jiwani, Nathan Trenholm, Joel Unruch and Michael Fine were presented a Harvard Business School case deal­ ing with the allocation of health resources and technology. The busi­ ness problem included background company information as well as issues or objectives that had to be resolved. Participants were given 35 hours to prepare detailed analyses, recommendations and an implemen­ tation plan. A panel of 19 judges chosen from CEOs, top management executives, consultants, and acade­ mia, evaluated each team’s presenta­ tion and then engaged the students in an intense question and answer peri­ od. Marks were awarded on presen­ tation skills, quality of analysis, per­ formance in the question and answer period and overall impression.

The host university, USC’s Marshall School of Business, won the coveted Marshall Cup. The University of Michigan was die sec­ ond runner-up after McGill, and Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business was third runner-up.

Other schools participating in the event travelled from as far as Budapest, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and Mexico.

M cGill’s relatively strong showing in case competitions this

year, including the Commerce Games and the Intercollegial Business Competition, can be par­ tially attributed to the new Case Analysis and Presentation class that was offered to Management students earlier this year.

“The main reason for the course,” said Professor Donovan, the instructor, “was to give students the tools and techniques to break down cases and problem solve. The sec­ ondary benefit was to produce a pool of talent from which to pick teams for case competitions.”

The case course began as a joint initiative between Zoe Beaudry, Management Undergraduate Society VP external and Professor Donovan.

The idea was presented to several committees early last year and final­ ly approved for the fall semester.

The course itself consisted of five group cases, one presentation, a midterm and a final exam. McGill is apparently not the first to offer such a course. Concordia University has had a Case course in their curriculum for some time.

In previous years, McGill’s per­ formance at such competitions has been fairly modest.

“McGill’s poor showing at past case competitions could possibly have provided the impetus for course approval,” commented Donovan.

The twenty-nine graduating stu­ dents enrolled in this year’s course provided both positive feedback and recommendations for course improvement for the following year.

“The Case Presentation and Analysis class helped to improve presentation skills and style as well as the organization of ideas,” said MUS VP Academic and competitor Jiwani. “It was a good way to practi­ cally apply what we’ve learned.”

“We did provide suggestions for course improvement for next year,” said competitorUnrich. “For

example, I think in a class such as this, students should be presenting cases much more frequently.”

The added benefit of having McGill perform well in national and international case competitions, of course, is the recognition that it

brings to the school.

“Case competitions are good PR for M cGill,” said Donovan.

“They help us to recmit students and get them involved while boosting McGill’s name.”

Jiwani is currently working

closely with Donovan to present the Dean of the Faculty of Management with a budget which will allow McGill to enroll in more case com­ petitions next year.

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The McG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 21 March 2000

N E W S b rie fs In c r e a s in g t r o u b l e AUS WEBSITE

w it h

Delays this fall and a dispute between the Arts Undergraduate Society and their former webmaster have left the AUS without a website and facing a possible lawsuit for unpaid wages.

Vittorio Cheli began working on the web site in the fall but, due to a disagreement over the terms of his agreement with the AUS, Cheli is no longer acting as webmaster.

Cheli had been the webmaster for the AUS since January of 1998.

As AUS procedure dictated, Cheli reapplied and was hired by the AUS for the 1999 - 2000 school year.

“We set out the monetary terms and agreed that the other terms would be drawn up with the contract,” Cheli said.

The AUS refused to comment on the issue.

Despite the fact that no written contract came into existence, Cheli states that he began work on the website in the fall of 1999. This was not extraordinary as he had not had a written contract with the AUS in previous years.

“I’d worked with this organiza­ tion before,” Cheli explained. “I worked on good faith. There were informal terms. We’d agreed that there would be certain deadlines for the consignment of information.

There would be departmental write­ ups from each of the student associ­ ations. The deadline kept being pushed back, so I never had any information to work with.”

Cheli said that he posted the information he received, but by November only one member of the executive and three departmental

student associations had given him information. The AUS and Cheli then discussed the possibility that he finish the site over the holiday break. According to Cheli problems began after that time.

“There was a subsequent meet­ ing where some of the key terms of the working agreement that we had were changed. I said sorry, we have an agreement which they had accepted.”

When no agreement could be reached between Cheli and the AUS, Cheli sent the AUS a letter stating his position. Although he got no prompt response he added that eventually, “I got it in writing that they wouldn’t negotiate.”

Currently, the AUS web page is inoperational and Cheli is in the process of filing a lawsuit against the AUS for back wages.

— by Tasha Emmerton

CRO DECLARES CBA REFER­ ENDUM VALID

Chief Returning Officer Paul Flicker released his report acknowl­ edging campaign violations by both the “Yes” and “No” committees for the CBA agreement, but accepted the results of the CBA nonetheless at Thursday’s Students’ Society of McGill University council meeting.

In his report, Flicker acknowl­ edged both the offences and alleged but unsubstantiated offences brought to his attention of the Electoral and Referenda Regulations.

Despite the violations, Flicker decided to accept the referendum as valid which he explained in his report.

“The CRO accepts the results

of the CBA referendum. Although there were violations on both sides of the issue, and, indeed, the viola­ tions by the ‘No’ Committee were of a larger scale than those of the ‘Yes’ Committee, the CRO is not convinced that the outcome of the referendum was ‘adversely affect­ ed.’

“The CRO has faith in average student to cast an informed vote.

While he in no way approves of the tactics employed by the committees, he cannot in good faith overturn the referendum,” the report stated.

Violations of the By-Laws included the “Yes” side never sub­ mitting a list of members, and the “No” side not submitting one until after the advanced polls. Both sides also placed too many posters in the Shatner building and violated By­ laws by placing ads in McGill newspapers. The “No” side also defaced property in the Leacock building by placing stickers on desks and elevators.

Following this report, which has currently been tabled before being ratified by SSMU council, Flicker has requested an Electoral Inquiry into the actions of Elections McGill, to be conducted by Ms. Leeanne Bourrassa, a justice with the SSMU judicial board.

“Leeanne Bourassa... [a] for­ mer chief returning officer [for] the Law Students’ Association will look into the way Elections McGill handled the whole CBA affair. I asked her on behalf of Elections McGill because there are allega­ tions by SUS and EUS [concerning] the independent stance of impartial­ ity of my office. So that’s a third body to handle this whole thing,” Flicker said concerning why he called for an independent inquiry.

“I just feel that the office of the CRO should be open and I’m will­ ing to entertain the idea that we made a mistake and I would like someone to look into it and make recom m endations for future CRO’s,” Flicker said.

The report submitted to the SSMU Council by Ricker concern­ ing CBA campaign violations will be reviewed and a vote will be taken on it at the next SSMU coun­ cil meeting.

The inquiry into the CRO’s actions during the campaign will be held in the Moot Court at Chancellor Day Hall at 6 pm on March 23, 2000.

S U S E le c tio n

MUS Election Results

R esu lts

— by Asch Harwood W alkout by council members

A tardy start, late council doc­ uments and inadequate advance notice of the council meeting prompted a number of councillors and representatives to walk out of Thursday’s Students’ Society of McGill University’s council meet­ ing.

Hugh Sturgess, Management representative, was the first to walk out because he claimed he had other plans having not known about the meeting beforehand.

Claire Jennings, clubs and ser­ vices representative, who also walked out of the m eeting, explained the usual protocol.

“Documents are supposed to be in by 5 pm Tuesday. The recording secretary then has time to photo­ copy them and put them in our mailbox. I usually get them by Wednesday afternoon, and that gives me 24 hours to read them.”

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On this occasion the represen tatives only received their copy of the documents several minutes before the start of the meeting, which the councillors claimed was insufficient time to review them.

Francois Tanguay-Renaud, Law Students Association VP exter­ nal, was irate. He felt that he could not vote for anything he had not read or considered beforehand.

“We are supposed to get the SSMU council documents two days before so you can go back to your faculty council” Tanguay-Renaud explained. “ We always have a fac­ ulty council meeting the day before.

I can’t vote in a conscientious man­ ner on behalf of all Law students before seeing what we have to vote on.”

He continued to explain why they simply could not accept Thursday’s lateness.

“It’s been occurring repeatedly today was the worst. Important mat­ ters were brought up... we didn’t know there would be a session with the Vice P rincipal’s Vinet and Yalovsky. It [was] quintessential to know this,” Tanguay-Renaud con­ tinued.

The meeting was shortened as most issues were left for next week when another council meeting will be held.

“I don’t know how we will handle this next week.” Jennings said. “We talked about this before and the Speaker has laid down the law that [the documents] arrive on time, but it apparently has had no effect. I hope that by walking out today that we made it clear that we are really unimpressed.”

— by Bikalpa Khatiwada

NETWORKbrief 1 1i If you want to study law at < I

A tuition hike for law students

\ 3 fj

^ ^ ^ P e n k a Polileeva

Æ iE xternal

a s iilii

Nadir Nurmohamed

A ^^lnternal Anson Le

c 1 ; The Queen’s Law School web-

•^Internal Jayne Gardiner

STUDENTS WANTED

^^F in an ce Suzanne Baptista

^^F in o n ce Alex Grigoriev

^^C om m unications Jeanette Langdon

MUS Rep to SSMU ^ C o m m

unications

Dan Kapeluto

D u m m l e s i H c e s C eitre of C i n d a l i r s t u d e it s

1001 d e M a is o n n e u v e E ast, 4 th flo o r Berri-UQAM m e tro

S c i e n c e R e p s to SSM U Aanan Misra Judy Kwan

(514)496-9040

All referendum questions passsed

Mathieu Surprenant

MUS Rep to S e n a t e A.J. Silber

3 rd y e a r class Pr esi dent Emmanuelle Khoury

2nd y e a r class President Thierry Harris

Youth f Stratégie Employment f emploi Strategy Jeunesse

1st y e a r c l a s s P r e s i d e n t to be elected in September 2000 C anada

I !

1 i 1 l Queen's automatically alio < s 30 per cent of any tuition to : 1 ;ary fund for students. In 1998 1999, over 50 per cent of law stu 5received bursary assistance. i Even after the tuition hike j ;n’s fees will be less than tin $8,000 paid by those high LSAT scorers at the University of nto.

-with files from the Queen \v Journal

J

The McGill Tribune, Tuesday, 21

march

2000

Debating Union has good showing at nationals B y Ja m e s G

N e w s Page 5

Debating highlights for 1999-2000 C U S ID C entral R egion N ovice C h a m p io n s h ip s at W este rn Ontario- October 1999

4th place team : A n d re w and Sacha 1st place speaker: D e n a V a ra h 4th place speaker: M ik e Ja n cik 2 n d p lace p u b lic speaking: A n d re w

3 rd place team : M a tth e w Le vin e and R o b e rt Sam pson

il m a r t in

Z ad e l

4th place team : D a ve G e rm a in and

C U SID -A P D A N orth A m erican D e b a tin g C h a m p io n s h ip s at Queen’s U - February 2000

A d ria n Leipsic

The McGill Debating Union showed its strength two weeks ago at the N ational D ebating Championships. McGill’s groups ranked fifth and sixth overall and Dena Verah, the Winter Carnival tournament director, took third in the country at this year’s contest at the M em orial U niversity of Newfoundland.

D ebating Union P resident Christina Bagatavitius, enthusias­ tically described this year’s suc­ cessful team.

“The D ebating Uni on has done really well... [it is] the best that it has been in years. [We’re]

NETWORK briefs U OF A PAPER SEIZED The University of Alberta stu dent newspaper, The Gateway, was seized by the University’s Students’ Union after an editorial endorsed an election candidate in the race for vice president External.

The candidate discredited in the editorial charged The Gateway with libel. Although Chief Returning Officer Stacy Prochnau ruled that The Gateway’s editorial violated a bylaw stipulating that clubs and individuals cannot pub­ licly endorse election candidates, she was unconvinced that the viola tion took precedence over another by-law which guarantees The Gateway editorial autonomy. She nonetheless locked up 9,500 copies of the Gateway’s total print run of 10,000.

In the aftermath of the seizure, the complaint was handed to a board responsible for the interpreta­ tion and enforcement of the bylaws.

They result was a 2-2 tie, with a tie­ breaking vote by the board chair­ man supporting The Gateway’s edi­ torial autonomy.

Gateway staff distributed their issue on foot after the board’s deci­ sion.

-with files from the University of Calgary Gauntlet

Queen’s student to vote online

Beginning next fall, Queen’s students will be voting in referen dums on-line. This may soon trans­ late into electronic voting for candi­ dates running for positions at the Alma Mater Society, the Queen’s student union.

Representatives of the AMS believe that on-line voting could increase voter turnout. The new system will cut down on the num­ ber of electoral officials needed to man polling stations, count ballots and tabulate results. The result is expected to considerably reduce the costs of administering plebiscites.

-with files from the Queen’s Journal

XXVI H art H o u se In v ita tio n a l D e b a tin g T o u r n a m e n t (9 9 ) October 1999 1 st

p la c e

te a m :

6 th p la c e te a m : D e n a V a r a h a n d A n d re w Z ad e l

C h r is t in a

Bagatavicius a nd A n d re w Z ad e l

4th place speaker: D e n a V a ra h 1 st p la c e p u b lic sp e a k in g : M a r k

2 n d p lace team : Sacha B h a tia a n d

B ig n e y

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2 n d p la ce p u b lic sp eakin g: A n d re w

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4th place team : A r v i Sreenivasan and D e n a V a ra h

D e b a t in g U n io n e n jo y s s u c c e s s f u l y e a r

one of the most competitive teams in Canada.”

Bagtavitius reported that one of the toughest opponents this year was the U niversity of Ottawa, but attributed Ottawa’s success to th eir experienced debaters who attend graduate school, unlike M cG ill, whose team is made up of mostly under­ graduates.

A ccording to Bagtavitius, the Debating Union has an am iable atm osphere in whi ch one can i mprove their social and oratorical skills and build self-confidence.

“There is a really nice social setting in the debating union. It is a great way to travel and meet people,” Bagtavitius said. “It is a great way to improve speaking

Pro-AmsYork Pro-Am D ebating Tournament - February 2000

3 rd place speaker: A n d re w Z ad e l 4th place speaker: Sacha B h a tia 1 st p la ce p u b lic sp ea kin g : A n d r e w

www.ssmu.mcgill.ca/debate

skills and confidence.”

Verah likened McGill’s team this year to the Chicago Bulls of the early nineties, with Michael Jordan.

“We have old members and promising young members too...

We have a team in the elimination round every tournament.”

Union Secretary Meghan Lau stated that the club had a really solid base of 30 members though, officially, it had 100 members.

Some interesting topics debated this year, according to Lau, have included the Catholic C hurch’s stand on apologizing for the cru­ sades, prison system reforms and native rights.

2 n d place team : L y n n e C h la la a nd C o u rtn e y T o o m a th

Z ad e l

2 n d p la c e n o v ic e sp e a k e r: B o b b y

2 n d p la c e p u b lic s p e a k in g : A r v i

Sam pson

Sreenivasan

2 0 0 0 CUSID National D ebating Championships at Memorial U of Newfoundland - March 2000

C U S ID C en tr a l R eg io n C h a m p io n s h ip s at th e R oyal Military College - October 1999

5 th p la c e te a m : D e n a V a r a h a n d

3 rd p la ce team : Sacha B h a tia a n d

A n d re w Z ad e l

M ik e Ja n cik

6 th p lace team : L y n n e C h la la a n d

1st place speaker: M ik e Ja n cik

K a rim Jaffer

Q ueen’s 1999 Chancellor’s Cup

3 rd place speaker: D e n a V a ra h Top novice team : A d ria n Leip sic and

1st p la ce tea m : M a r k B ig n e y a n d

B o b b y Sam pson

M ik e Ja n cik

Top novice speaker: A d ria n Leipsic

4th place team : A m y L a n g s ta ff a nd A r v i Sreenivasan

(C U S ID stands fo r the C anadian U n iversity Society fo r Intercollegiate D ebate.)

2 n d place speaker: M ik e Ja n cik

Ottawa W orlds Prep - November 1999

Statistics are fo r team, speakers, and p u b lic speaking.

1 st p la c e te a m : M ik e J a n c ik a n d Dena V a ra h

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M c G IL L T R IB U N E

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The T r ib u n e is seeking talented and driven applicants for the 2000 - 2001 editorial board.

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available positions:

News Editor Assistant News Editors Features Editors Entertainm ent Editors Sports Editor Assistant Sports Editors

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T he Mc G ill T ribune, T uesday, 21 March 2000

N ew s

Page 7

L a w s tu d e n ts w in b ig a c ro s s th e c o u n tr y B y

S t e f a n ie

L ig o r i

McGill’s Law students proved to be among the best in Canada as four of McGill’s moot teams cele­ brated recent success at national competitions. McGill’s teams com­ peted in the Laskin, Jessup, Sopinka and Rousseau moots.

A moot is a competitive debate of a hypothetical court case.

The Laskin moot dealt with Canadian public law and the legal issues in the area of bioethics. The McGill Laskin Mooters, Jeanette Gevikoglu, Robert Leckey, Eric Mendelsohn, and Eric Ward, won a long list of awards at this year’s competition at Queen’s University on February 20.

The team triumphed in the final round against Queen’s.

McGill won the best factum award.

In addition, Mendelsohn, who pleaded in French, and Gevikoglu won first and third place best oralists respectively and the pair also won the best respondent team award.

“We tried to be absolutely clear about the two or three simple ideas that the judges needed to accept for our position to prevail,” Mendelsohn said of his team’s preparation. “In writing our factum and in rehearsing our oral argu­ ments, we always tried to be as

focused as possible on winning those basic points.”

McGill was also well repre­ sented at the University of Calgary on February 20. Cara Cameron,

team, we were second to none.”

Commission summed up the reason for McGill’s success this year.

“The ultimate success enjoyed

L a w s tu d e n ts ta k e th e ir case to th e N a tio n a ls a n d w in

Jeffery Commission, Gleider Hernandez and Ariane West Pernica won the Canadian National round of the Jessup International Law Moot, in which students debated on the responsibilities of states to oversee the acts of their corporations in other states.

“Of the twelve judges we faced, we convinced eleven,” Hernandez said. “What brought us to the top was the fact that, as a

phmP Trippenbach

by our team can be attributed to both the resources and assistance provided by McGill and the past McGill Jessupers and most signifi­ cantly, teamwork,” he said.

Milton James Fernandes, one of McGill’s Jessup team coaches and former mooter, said McGill had a reputation for success at this competition.

“It is noteworthy that McGill has won every single round in the

Canadian Jessup over the past three years [and] has gone on to repre­ sent Canada at the International rounds in Washington, DC,” he points out. “To my knowledge, this streak is unprecedented.”

McGill, along with Dalhousie, will represent Canada at the International Jessup round in April.

The national round for the Sopinka moot competition was held in Ottawa on March 3 and 4.

The Sopinka Cup is unique among moot competitions in that it is con­ ducted as a trial, whereas other moot competitions are appeals. iThis meant that participants exam­ ined and cross-examined witnesses, and presented evidence, in addi­ tion to pleading their legal argu­ ments.

The McGill Sopinka team was divided into two: the prosecution — Natalie Boucratie and Antoine Motulsky — and the defense — Jennifer Budgell and Nanci Ship.

Boucratie and Motulsky were awarded best opening and closing statements, respectively. The Sopinka Cup, however, was award­ ed to Dalhousie.

Motulsky said judges were impressed by how naturally the McGill team acted.

“One of the assessors [at the provincial level] told us that what made us win was our natural

demeanor or the naturalness of our pleadings,” Motulsky explained.

“The jury will believe someone who appears to believe what he is pleading. You can’t fake believing, you just have to be natural.”

The Rousseau moot competi­ tion took place at McGill in front of a large crowd of spectators on March 4. It is similar to the Jessup moot, but all the pleadings are done in French. The moot deals with public international law and this year’s debate concerned the laws governing the sea.

The Rousseau mooters — Mark Toufayan, Sylvan Gagnon, Robert Keller and Pierre Trottier — beat out participants from the University of Montreal to take home the title. The team also won the award for best memorial.

Gagnon and Toufayan won the first and second best oralists, respec­ tively.

The team will travel to Germany to represent Canada at the International level of at the Rousseau moot in May. Fernandes emphasized the preparation that shapes mooters in these competitions, “For pleaders, like athletes, preparation boils down to a series of intense performances,” he said.

And that’s a moot point.

A U S re je c ts th e re s u lts o f C B A re fe re n d u m B y

S h e h r y a r

F a zli

The Arts Undergraduate Society passed a motion stating that it does not accept the final results of the Cold Beverage Agreement, owing to the large number of refer­ endum campaign infractions com­ mitted by both the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ sides.

According to a document pro­ duced by Elections McGill, a total of twelve articles and by-laws (in relation to the elections) were vio­ lated by both sides, including the illegal solicitation of votes.

Daniel Artenosi, president of AUS, believes that such violations invalidate the results of the referen­ dum.

“I personally am of the opinion that the by-laws that govern and regulate referenda in elections are out in place for a reason,” he said.

“Once those rules are broken we have a responsibility to enforce punishments, or take appropriate measures to address the wrongdo­ ing.”

Artenosi also commented on the possibly detrimental conse­ quences of accepting the results of a referendum question that has been plagued by infractions. “[If] we allow this, if we set the precedent now that this type of campaigning is acceptable, than we're setting a very dangerous precedent. The by-laws are there to protect students. I don't think we should turn our backs on this, because then you're saying to any other referendum campaign com­ mittees in the future that, 'Sure, go ahead, it’s been done in the past and the [Chief Returning Officer] didn't pull the question, so it's allowed.’

And if we do that, we're making our students vulnerable to those types of practices. I'm against that person­ ally, and so is AUS council.”

The AUS, while standing behind its decision to counter the results, does however encourage the Students’ Society of McGill University to hold another referen­ dum.

“It's not the principle of a ref­ erendum that the AUS opposes,’’Artenosi said. “The fact of the matter is that [it] is the most democratic way that we could have gotten consensus of the students...

We object to the way in which it was administered.”

D is a g re e m e n t o v e r de cisio n The AUS' motion to oppose the referendum results, brought before its council at last Wednesday's meeting, has been met with controversy around McGill.

The Law Students' Association, for example, has expressed great disap­ proval at any rejection by faculty councils of the referendum's out­ come.

“This shows a shocking disre­ gard for the mechanisms of public consultation,” said Elizabeth Drent, president of the Law Students' Society. “This just contradicts the principles of democracy and elec­ toral accountability. If there is to be a discussion about whether the results are valid or whether there have been excessive violations then the proper forum for that discussion would have been the SSMU coun­ cil. For the AUS, or any faculty association, to embark on a discus­ sion about the SSMU's referendum,

for me, it's just bizarre. It doesn't fit with the structure of politics here at McGill.”

Matthew Erskine, president of the Medical Students' Society, while also disagreeing with the AUS' decision, is more understand­ ing of the AUS council's position.

“I understand [the AUS'] point, that they're worried about preserv­ ing the integrity of the referenda system,” he said. “And that's fine. I wouldn't say the AUS is being dis­ respectful to the [democratic] process. I think their view on it is that violations were made and that therefore the results shouldn't be respected.”

Nevertheless, Erskine believes that the issue to be considered here is the extent to which the infrac­ tions affected the outcome.

“From what I've heard, it does­ n't seem as if any of the infractions really influenced the results enough for the whole legitimacy of the ref­ erendum to be called into ques­ tion,’’Erskine contended. “If that were the case, then by all means something would have to be done.

But given the results, I think it's clear that the students who did vote, are not in favour of the CBA. I think that has to be respected, and then subsequent to that I think maybe changes may have to be made to the referendum procedures, but that's a separate issue... I think it just comes down to a disagree­ ment about the degree of the infrac­ tions.”

To Artenosi, the degree of the infractions is more significant than what Erskine or Drent may believe.

“I honestly think that the infractions did manipulate voters,”he insisted. “For example, I

sat down with a student and asked him his reasons [for voting against the CBA], and the student started citing particular clauses in the con­ tract... My question to the student was, ’Well, the ’No’ side is saying [it] is a completely private con­ tract... how is it that you're actually able to cite quotas?' It didn't make sense.”

In response to Drent's assertion about rejecting the principles of democracy, Artenosi gave a some­

what alternate view on the subject.

“I don't think it's true that we’re undermining the democratic process,” he explained. “I think there are two sides you can take when bringing democracy into it.

Even in democracies we have rules.... When somebody breaks those, rules, there are consequences for that. You could make the argu­ ment that in fact the democratic process in this case was skewed.”

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__________________________________________ N e w s Page 9

T h is lit t le p ig g ie w e n t t o m a r k e t, t h is lit t le

P ro v in c ia l b u d g e t

p ig g ie w e n t t o m a r k e t...

a d is a p p o in tm e n t

First successful p ig clo n in g b rin gs bo th potential and con troversy B y

M

A y les

ic h a e l

It was only four years ago that a sheep named Dolly brought the tech­ nique of cloning from the pages of science fiction into reality. The sheep, a result of the combined efforts of the Roslin Institute and a biotechnology firm called PPL Therapeutics, sparked debate over the legal and ethical implications of cloning technology.

Now, the Edinburgh-based PPL Therapeutics has sparked new con­ versation with the introduction of five piglets named Millie, Christa, Alexis, Carrel and Dotcom, born early this month in Blacksburg, Virginia.

These pigs may appear ordi­ nary, but they are actually children of a cloning technique called nuclear transfer. Their existence represents not only a significant advance in the field of genetics, but also a potential solution to one of the most critical medical problems in our society: the shortage of replacement organs for people needing transplants.

While the cloning of mammals has been possible for some time, pigs have proven more difficult to work with than many other species.

Despite the difficulties, geneticists have felt that the rewards of success­ fully cloning pigs would far out­ weigh the costs of doing so.

P a rt h u m a n , p a rt p ig The enthusiasm surrounding this event is rooted in the fact that pig organs are very similar in size to human organs, and could be readily used to replace our own in case of failure. This sounds to most like good news, given that there are over 68,000 people awaiting heart trans­ plants in the United States alone.

The main difficulty with animal to human organ-transplants is that animal organs are often rejected by human bodies, sometimes within minutes after insertion. To get around this problem, geneticists hope to inactivate some of the genes in the pig that cause the human body to identify organs as “foreign.”

By hiding these genes from the body’s sight, scientists hope to make successful transplants possible.

Once a pig has been engineered with human-compliant organs, it can sim­ ply be cloned to produce a limitless supply of replacement organs for transplant.

BASIC I

■■■

This plan, however, is rapidly country to the forefront of cloning For Baraniak, the budget Continued from page 1 becoming the center of a large technology within a few years. indicates that the government is amount of controversy. People argue Others are adopting a wait-andrecognizing that education is that humans have no right to alter the see attitude. Charles Scriver, a holds, their tax bill will be $626 lower in 2000, $844 in 2001, and important. However, he expressed genetic code of another species. McGill University professor of Some believe that it is unwise to sti­ human genetics, falls into this cate­ $1,422 in 2002, compared with disappointment that it did not rank higher than tax cuts in impor­ fle the genetic diversity of a species gory of critic.

1999. tance. through extensive cloning. Others “As with any new technology, For students, the government “ [Cjutting $4.5 billion in are concerned that animals raised for the work will progress,” explained has set aside $ 11.4 million to cre­ transplant purposes will be treated Scriver. “We will find its advantages taxes... is substantially more than ate summer internships, as well as cruelly prior to the removal of their and disadvantages in due time.” what the federal government did," partnering with the Fonds de soli­ organs.

There are still concerns that he said.

"In this province there darité des travailleurs du Québec The greatest concern, however, cloning technology has not been weren’t many shouts to cut taxes, is for the well-being of our own examined thoroughly enough for to create an additional $20 million more like cries of desperation to species. Margaret Somerville, of the common usage. Many questions worth of internships. reinvest in health care and educa­ McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics remain unanswered, and more still For youth, the government tion.

However, at the same time, and Law, has some reservations remain unasked. has created in conjunction with McGill University will receive about the dangers posed to humans “A non-scientific friend of mine the private sector a Youth Fund of by cloning. In particular, the threat made a very astute observation $240 m illion, with half that more money and these monies are that cloning could introduce new recently,” Scriver said. “Considering definitely needed and there should amount going in this year. The viruses that attack humans has her the premature aging exhibited by be a noticeable impact on our uni­ and many others concerned.

Dolly’s cells, my friend wondered if government further set aside $95 versity lives.”

“We’re doing things that have perhaps pig organs transplanted into million to broadly aid youth, as never been possible before,” humans would have an unnaturally well as $160 million over the next explained Somerville, “It is nearly short life-span.” three years to renew the Fonds de impossible to predict some of the There are many voices on both lutte contre la pauvreté. consequences of our actions.” sides of the debate, and it seems that Somerville cautioned that a by and large, no one is entirely cer­ Q U E E R M Ç G IL L E L E Ç T IQ N S recipient of a pig organ could poten- tain on how to go about regulating tially obtain a virus from it and cloning. Somerville advises that as transmit it to other people. Similar we progress, we should err on the M A R Ç H 2 9 T H 5 :3 0 P M viruses have occurred before with side of caution. devastating results, notably HIV and “People are trying to be respon­ Q U E E R M Ç G IL L O F F IÇ E mad cow disease, both of which are sible, but mistakes are still being thought to have originated in ani­ made. We’ll simply have to hope S H A T N E R R o o m 416 mals. that this technology will not be “We’re not calling for a stop to abused.”

C9M E RU N F9R o r H ELP ELEÇ T cloning, we simply believe that A N E W E X E C U T I V E C O M M IT T E E researchers should proceed with cau­ tion,” she said.

F Q R IN F O Q A L L 3 9 8 - 2 1 0 6 Q R Q U E E R L IN E 3 9 8 - 6 8 2 2 Some experts suggest that to avoid such problems, studies should be done where organs are transplant­ ed from one species of animal to another. Other people are worried about the dangers of rushing this L 'U N I V E R S I T E D E S H E R B R O O K E technology to the market. They sug­ gest giving the transplants to small Programmes de maîtrise groups and monitoring their progress et de doctorat for up to 30 years to look for latent Adaptation scolaire et sociale viri.

Administration “We must ask ourselves, ‘Who Administration des affaires (M.B.A)* will be placed at risk through this Biochimie Biologie P lu s d e 1 2 0 0 c h e r c h e u s e s e t c h e r c h e u r s o e u v r a n t technology?’ Furthermore, are they Biologie cellulaire d a n s c e s d o m a in e s d e r e c h e r c h e : s c ie n c e s p u re s , willing to take this risk?” Somerville Chimie g é n ie , s a n té , le ttr e s e t s c ie n c e s h u m a in e s , é d u c a asked.

Droit de la santé tio n , d ro it, a d m in is tra tio n e t th é o lo g ie It seems that the answer, in this Économique* Enseignement case, is the population at large, and Environnement D e s i n s t i t u t s s p é c i a l i s é s , d o n t l 'I n s t i t u t d e p h a r m a ­ that many are not prepared for this Études françaises c o l o g i e d e S h e r b r o o k e , l 'I n s t i t u t d e r e c h e r c h e e t technology. A recent study in Fiscalité d ' e n s e i g n e m e n t p o u r l e s c o o p é r a t i v e s e t l ' I n s t i t u t Britain found that 68 per cent of peo­ Génie aérospatial Génie chimique d e m a té r ia u x e t s y s tè m e s in te llig e n ts ple polled did not favor animal-toGénie civil human transplants. Somerville Génie électrique • U n é v e n ta il im p o s a n t d e g ro u p e s d e re c h e rc h e e t pointed out that there is not such a Génie logiciel c e n t r e s d ' e x c e l l e n c e a i n s i q u e p l u s i e u r s c h a i r e s Génie mécanique strong opposition in Canada, and that Géographie this could potentially bring this

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T he McG ill Tribune, T uesday, 21 March 2000

Page 10 O p / E d

EDITORIAL

S

“Misfortunes one can ensure — they come from outside, they are accidents. But to suffer fo r on e’s own faults — ah — there is the sting o f life. ” — Oscar Wilde

Blind to the reality B y

Je r e m y

K u z m a r o v

___________________________________________________ _______________________________ ;

Not much oldet then the average university student, Bryan Berard's outlook on life has taken a dramatic turn over the past week.

Up until last Tuesday, the 23 year old Berard, was an up-andcoming standout defenceman for the Toronto Maple Leafs with aspirations of hoisting a Stanley Cup and winning the Norris Trophy as the league’s top rear-guard. Today, Berard sits in a far less enviable position.

Probably blinded in his right eye for the rest of his life, Berard's hockey career is prematurely over after he was struck by an errant Marian Hossa high-stick. In light of the severity of the contusion, Berard can only be thankful that it was only his right eye which was affected, and that he has any vision left at all.

The saddest part of Berard's tale is that it all could have been avoided.

By simply donning a protective half-faced visor, Berard's cur­ rent miseries could have been a mere afterthought to a typical shift in another regular season NHL game. If only the NHL had imposed a much-overdue regulation requiring players to wear visors, then Berard wouldn't be in the tragic position that he is.

Of course, Don Cherry will tell you otherwise. The xenopho­ bic Hockey Night in Canada commentator w ill argue that the increased use of visors has been a detriment. He will attest that because many players wear protective visors, the element of respect has been taken away from the game, and that players are more instinctive now in violently using their sticks.

This argument, despite its allure to nostalgic hockey fans harking back to the days when helmets weren't mandatory, is inane. Hockey by its very nature is a rough and violent game where the susceptibility to injury is paramount. Even in a local beer league, playing without a face mask, like bicycling without a helmet in traffic, is tempting fate. There is a reason why minorhockey and even university hockey players are required to wear visors — full ones.

At the National Hockey League level, where the intensity level is extraordinary, these risks are even further magnified. With guys fighting for their jobs and clutching and grabbing for their next pay-check, it isn't surprising that most NHL stars don't work on the side as GQ models. In light of the fast-paced nature of the NHL game, it is entirely unrealistic to expect players to make dis­ tinctions between those wearing visors and those without, and to limit their stick-work according to the amount of protection their opponent is wearing.

With slashing and high-sticking a part of the game, it seems foolish for NHLers not to protect the most important part of their faces - their eyes and heads — with a half-visor. These players are simply taking a risk every time they step on the ice.

While some might consider it sissy-like, many of the league's top stars — like Raymond Bourque, Teemu Selanne, and Pavel Bure, for example — have smartened up and decided to don a visor on their own accord. And besides, even if players are stig­ matized as being soft if wearing visors, the question immediately comes to mind as to what is more important; a players outward persona or his vision and long-term health?

I’m sure Bryan Berard has thought long and hard in the past week about his answer to that one.

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E d u o r - in - C h ief P au l C o n n e r A ssista n t E d it o r - in - C h ief R e b e c c a C a tc h in g A s sista n t E d it o r - in - C h ief Jo hn S a llo u m N a t io n a l E d it o r N ilim a G u lr a ja n i

News Editors Karen Kelly Jonathan Colford Rhea Wong Features Editors Paul Cornett Stephanie Levitz Entertainment Editors Sandon Shogilev Maria Simpson Science Editor Aaron Izenberg

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I write in response to Michael Players continually ignored the fied to referee she would not have Hazan’s Under Scrutiny article instruction of the referees to return been on the ice with me that night.

Mr. Hazan further states, “intra­ (“When friendly competition goes to the bench when an altercation wrong,” March 14). Mr. Hazan broke out. Players continued to ver­ mural programs are supposed to fos­ friendly competition.” describes a hockey game in which bally berate the other team. Players ter Unfortunately, he does not march to showed contempt for my partner many incidents occurred, leading to the expulsion of his team for the rest because of her gender. This is not the same tune, as he was one of the of the intramural season. I was one acceptable. Should I have to spend players on the ice who continually of the referees in that game. Instead an hour the next morning explaining provoked the opposition, even while of realizing the facts, that neither to my superiors why the captain of in the penalty box!

Intramural hockey is about fun team followed the rules, thus they Mr. Hazan’s team wrote, “the and sportsmanship, unfortunately were expelled, Mr. Hazan attempts female ref sucked” on the score this incident is just one of a plethora sheet when he signed it at the end of to come up with a series of excuses to explain the behaviour of the two the game? As far as I am concerned, that have demonstrated to me over teams. Excuses such as the dressing gender should have nothing to do the last few years at McGill and in rooms were side-by-side, one refer­ with hockey. Once we step on the my 17 years of involvement in ice ee was female, and the like are ice we are hockey players, not men hockey that there is something unacceptable. Although Mr. Hazan or women, just players there to play wrong with the game. I don’t know realizes that, regardless, each player the game that we all love so much. where it comes from, but I wish it is responsible for their own actions, Mr. Hazan says that the female ref could be stopped for the sake of all on and off the ice, he still attributes was not one of my “regular crew- of us who still have some enjoyment blame to McGill Campus Rec and mates.” In my ten years of referee­ left in a game of hockey. The key ing ice hockey, anyone who referees word being GAME. the referees.

The fundamental issue here is with me is one of my crewmates and Jaime Stein respect. Respect for the game, deserves the same respect as would Intramural Hockey Referee be attributed to anyone else wearing respect for the players, and respect for the officials. None of that existed the stripped shirt.

Had she not have been quali­ the night of the game in question.

F a ir l y

t r a d in g

co ffee

At the SSMU candidates’ debate on Thursday, March 2, VP Operations candidates Jay Antao, Arif Chowdhury, and Kevin McPhee were asked what they would do next year to increase availability and promote awareness of fair trade products, such as cof­ fee, on campus. Although the elec­ tions are over, I would like to clarify some information about the devel­ opments that have been made this past year with regard to fair trade coffee with the co-operation of VP Operations Kevin McPhee and the SSMU. First of all, for those who are not familiar with it, fair trade is an alternative form of commerce. The conventional trade route is com­ posed of many steps and middlemen and the workers in southern coun­ tries who pick the coffee beans wind up with the short end of the stick — being paid exploitative wages, being exposed to harmful pesticides, not receiving adequate health and edu­ cational facilities... the list goes on.

Fair trade, on the other hand, is characterized by democratically-run co-operatives of farmers which sell their product to alternative trade organizations at a fair price. There are fewer middlemen involved and farmers get decent wages that they

is a n e d ito ria lly au to n o m o u s n e w s p a p e r p u b lish e d b y th e Stu d en ts' S o c ie ty of M c G ill U n iv e rs ity

Sports Editor Christian Lander Assistant Sports Editors Jeremy Kuzmarov The Minh Luong Photo Editors Mike Colwell Wei Leng Tay On-line Editors Andre Nance Mildred Wong

Production Editors Nick Brandon Eric Oest Advertising and Marketing Manager Paul Slachta Ad Typesetters Dom Michaud Sean Jordan

S taff: Mike Bargav. Dave Bledin, Kiki Dranias, Tasha Emmerton, James Empringham, Nema Etheridge, S. Farrell, Shehrya Fazli, James Gilmartin, Kent Glowinski, Dave Gooblar, Asch Harwood, Gabby Jakubovits, M ark Kerr, Bikalpa Khaiwada, M. Lazar.

Michelle Lee, Stcfanic Ligori, Zoc Logan, Olivia Pojar, Yona Reiss, Amira Richler, Pablo Rodriguez, M arie-Hélène Savard, Jake Schonfeld, Karen Steward, Philip Trippenbach, Barbora Vokac, Crystal W reden.

can invest back into their own com­ munities to improve their standard of living. There is more economic security for workers as they develop long term trade relationships and can receive credit at affordable rates.

Last summer, several McGill cafeterias signed a contract with a new distributing company, a con­ tract that stipulated that all of the signatories would serve fair trade coffee. This came about thanks to a campaign organized by A Just Coffee, a working group of QPIRG McGill whose aim is to promote awareness of fair trade. Hundreds of concerned students signed petitions and wrote massive quantities of emails to put pressure on SSMU, voicing their opinion that McGill cafeterias ought to offer an ethical alternative to conventionally traded coffee.

Unfortunately, this contract has not been upheld; only the cafeteria in the Student Services Building currently sells fair trade coffee, and at a price twenty cents higher per cup than conventionally traded cof­ fee. This discourages students from choosing an ethical alternative when buying coffee and there is absolutely no reason why the fair trade coffee should be sold at a higher price.

A similar situation can be seen at Sadie’s in the Student Services Building where fair trade coffee is, at long last, being sold, but at an inflated eight dollars per half pound.

At the debate on March 2, Kevin McPhee stated that fair trade products are now available on cam­ pus and all that is needed now is promotion. However, as I have said, fair trade coffee can now only be bought in one of the cafeterias where it should be available, and Mr. McPhee’s comment that “all that is required at this point is more promotion” is an affront to the dozens of volunteers who have put in hundreds of hours this year actively promoting fair trade across campus and the 2000 students who signed the petition. We have done our part in the way of promotion, but there is only so much we can achieve without the full co-opera­ tion of SSMU. The members of A Just Coffee sincerely hope that in the upcoming year SSMU upholds its obligations to McGill students by doing its utmost to promote fair trade and to provide students with affordable access to fair trade prod­ ucts on campus.

Mimi Ghosh U2 Arts

Letters must include author's name, signature, identification (e.g. U2 Biology, SSMU President) and telephone number and be typed double-spaced, submitted on disk in Macintosh or IBM word processor format, or sent by e-mail. Letters more than 200 words, pieces for Stop the Press more than 500 words, or submis­ sions judged by the Editor-in-Chief to be libellous, sexist, racist, homophobic, or soley promotional in nature, will not be published. The Tribune will make all rea­ sonable efforts to print submissions provided that space is available, and reserves the right to edit letters for length Bring submissions to the Tribune office, FAX to 398-1750 or send to tribune@ssmu.mcgill ca.

Columns appearing under Editorial' heading are decided upon by the editorial board and written by a member of the editorial board. All other opinions are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The McGill Tribune, its editors or its staff. Please recycle this newspaper.

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T he Mc G ill T ribune, T uesday, 21 MARCH 2000

Letters P l a y e r ' s

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I just want to put some per­ spective to the “Fahmy vs.

Players’ Theatre” debate. This isn ’t about Kareem Fahmy’s motives, or bashing the theatre’s executive. It’s about a status quo that has been around for years, that a lot of people have noticed, and that no one except Fahmy has bothered to do anything about. So, let’s all do Phil Graham [sic] a favour, stop acting like we’re in high school and put the emotions aside. What it comes down to is whether or not the theatre’s execu­ tive should be allowed unlimited participation in their own produc­ tions. And let’s face it: we’re not all going to agree. Fahmy brought up two points: 1. It’s a conflict of interests for members of the com­ mittee selecting the plays to be put on the following season (in other words the executive) to make pro­ posals, and, 2. Over-involvement of members of the executive in one production can be unfair to those involved in the other pro­ ductions going on at theatre around the same time. Players’ disagrees on both issues. Well, that’s OK. This isn’t high school.

This isn’t “Fahmy vs. Players’ Theatre.” This is an issue that involves every member of the G

McGill theatre community, and we’re all sick of how personal this has gotten. We just want our say.

All you people that have been involved with Players’ this year: Do you even realize you’re all vot­ ing members? Do you know that elections are coming up for next year’s executive, and that you’re not only allowed to vote, but to run?

I have two suggestions. To Players’: Forget about Fahmy, and put your personal issues aside.

Why not include a question on the election ballots asking us if we think there should be some sort of limits imposed on the nature and amount of involvement the execu­ tive can have? And to all the members of Players’ Theatre: The elections and a general meeting are going to be held Monday March 27th, at 5 pm, in the Shatner Building. Let’s stop using this paper as platform to express our problems with or support for the theatre. Why not get right to the source? What is everyone so scared of? I mean, after all, we’re in this together...

Talia Hoffstein U2 Psychology

fa cts

I thought I had more faith in the mental faculties of students benefiting from post-secondary education. Unfortunately they have yet to attain those critical thinking skills w e’ve all been trained to utilize, or some form of brain worm is loose in the Plateau.

I write this because of the endless barrage of misplaced letters to the editor and op/ed columns that fill our already weak student newspa­ pers dealing with half-assed emo­ tional responses to issues that need to be looked at in a more level-headed fashion. I am refer­ ring especially to the CBA and this whole brouhaha over Professor Kuhner. First, the CBA is (was?) an exclusivity contract that trades cash for cola rights.

Sure there were probably a few strings attached (quotas and what­ not) but all this fear mongering over a loss of rights, loss of free­ dom, and loss of personal well

being may be a tad far flung. My personal favourite is publications furious that they may not be able to get any future anti-coke articles in print — because there have been a lot of those popping up in the Tribune, Daily etc... for the past 20 years. And the Kuhner Kontroversy. People take the fact that a replacement professor has finished his contract and is now moving to greener pastures as a symbol of McGill being heartless, cheap, and hip deep in some sort of firesale. Obtain the facts, be sure you know of what you speak, and have some tea before you write letters and stage protests and throw bricks at Sadies.

Rich Retyi ex-fearmonger U3 Arts

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A s s is ta n t S p o r ts E d ito rs P h o to

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Y ’all should know that those “Harvard; America’s McGill” tshirts ain’t 100 per cent original.

When I was at Adelphi University down south over a decade ago, Adelphi’s PR crew ran adds in The New York Times that read “Harvard: the Adelphi of Massachusetts.”

Also, Kent Glowinski gets my vote for the Victoria Cross for bravery in combat. You have to admire someone who takes all that punishment, and STILL manages to get his shoulder up before the three-count the following week.

It’s like R. Lee Ermey said in Full Metal Jacket: “He’s got guts, and guts is enough!”

Thank you, Joe Fernandez Columnist, Chair Shots R

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It seems as though the Arts and S cien ce annual “Red & White” grad ball has done it’s best to keep in tune with current M cGill trends. (N o, I’m not referring to this year’s Mardi Gras theme). I’m talking about the 65 smackers chaque billet is costing us, up $ 10 from last year.

Included are the dinner and dance, as well as two (yes, count ‘em two) drink tickets.

Noticeably absent are the bottles of wine that were furnished last year. And while there will be ten bars, I have been assured that drink prices will rival those of 737. Both AUS and SUS are tak­ ing a page out o f Principal Bernie’s playbook, making us pay more for less, all the while trying to convince us how lucky we are that things aren’t worse.

One organizer commented to me that the price tag was higher because this year’s Red & White is a “classy affair being held at a classy h o tel.” Check out the menu for yourselves and see that it’s no classier (and probably no tastier) than a hasty supper at Tutto Pasta. Another Society executive assured me that their respective society was “making no money off of Red & White.”

They better damn well not make any money o ff o f it!! In fact, they should help foot more of the bill and give back some of the money they’ve filched from us over the years (Arts Students’ Employment Fund, anyone?). I believe Red & White is a great event that the will leave priceless grad memories forever etched into my mind; but why should I have to eat Kraft Dinner for two straight weeks afterwards?

Kenneth Banya U3 Geography

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For d eta ils, visit: http://tribune.mcgill.ca/apply

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I would like to express my disappointm ent and concern regarding the current situation of Jeffrey Kuhner, a professor of art history at McGill University.

Professor Kuhner has been offered a higher-paying job in the USA, but would prefer to stay at McGill at his current salary. All that he seeks in return is stability, in the form of a long-term con­ tract.

Professor Kuhner is one of the most highly regarded profes­ sors at McGill. He has a passion for his work which animates his lectures and keeps the students interested and excited. He has the rare and seemingly magical skill of making history “come alive.”

His passion for teaching is only matched by the concern and interest which he shows in his students. Despite the fact that his popular courses often draw between 150 and 200 students,

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Professor Kuhner makes an attempt to know the name and story of each one of his students, and to give personal feedback regarding every test and assign­ ment. It is nearly unanimous among his students that he is among the fin est professors whom they have ever known, and has greatly enriched their educa­ tional experience at McGill.

If McGill University is to remain a viable and adequate academic institution, let alone a superior and respected one, it is imperative that it keep its top professors. It is increasingly rare that anyone at the top of his field would prefer to stay in Canada. It would be a shame if McGill pre­ vented this from happening in Professor Jeffrey Kuhner’s situa­ tion.

Elliot Zweig Ul History and Political science

r h e t o r ic

Duncan Reid is quick to crit­ icize Tamana Kochar for running for the SSMU Executive three times and failing to win. Mr. Reid, with his usual urbane wit, subsequently states that she is on track to eventually win in 2002.

It seem s as though Mr. Reid practices what he preaches as he, himself, is on pace to graduate in about 2002, sadly missing Ms. Kochar’s term in office!

Neither myself, nor anyone else is interested in hearing his rhetoric anymore. Mr. Reid is right about one thing, however: It truly is time for the past “gen­ eration” of student executives to fade away.

Nivram el Sanh U3 Philosophy

It’s not too late to write for the T r i b u n e .

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Page 12 O p / E d

B e f o r e I n t e r n e t p o r n , t h e r e w a s ...

N e w s p a p e r My friend Jerry is an unas­ suming guy. He’s light-hearted and kind of goofy. He goes to McGill, studies linguistics, and works his arse off. Why am I telling you all this? I’ll tell you why. I am using this description to create what psychologists call a “garden path”. I’m creating an image that I’m about to shatter, by telling you this: Jerry works in phone sex.

If you previously had a con­ cept of what someone who works in this industry is like, my man Jerry is probably not it. None the less, as you can probably imag­ ine, he has some interesting sto­ ries. This week I thought I’d play the reporter, sit down with Jerry, and pump him for some salacious workplace vignettes. [Note: For the rest o f this article, I w ill refrain from using phrases such as “pump him”, for obvious con­ textual reasons.]

The following are excerpts from our conversation: “I started out working in the ‘customer service’ department.

Basically this meant that 1 took calls from angry mothers and wives who had gotten thousand dollar phone sex bills that their husbands or kids had racked up.

They usually started out by

screaming ‘No one in this house made these phone c a lls !’

[Laughs] But the great thing was, whenever people call our lines, they have to leave a recording stating their name and where they’re calling from. So Mrs. Joe

shit. I once literally had a lady tell me ‘That’s it, I’m filing for divorce’...

“After a while in customer service, they actually put me on the lines. All the lines at [names company] are either group chat

T a le s o f th e R id ic u lo u s

J a s o n M c D e v itt

Schmoe will call up, screaming bloody murder that this is fraud, blah blah blah [Note: Jerry and M cPhee do NOT know each other.] And then I’ll play her a tape of her husband going ‘This is Joe Schmoe calling from Little Pumpkin, Arkansas’ or wherever they live. It’s hard to claim fraud after that... “...sometimes, though, you just get a glimpse of the fact that people’s lives are fucked, and that’s depressing. Like, some­ times, people don’t say just their name like they’re supposed to.

They’ll say shit like ‘Hi, this is Jim, and I’m looking for a cute guy for some hot oral action.’

And playing that for the girl­ friend or the grandmother or whatever was sort of touchy...I saw marriages break up over this

lines, or two callers one-on-one.

There aren’t any, like, profession­ al phone sex people...My job is to monitor the different lines, make sure no o n e’s harassing any­ one...There are different lines based on sexual tastes, so there’s the S & M line, the gay line, all that. I just basically have to listen in, and I’m supposed to, like, get things going if conversation is lagging. That’s pretty fun.

[Laughs] I usually say stuff like “What’s the biggest dick you’ve ever seen?” and people will talk for an hour. That one doesn’t work too well on the lesbian line, though. Actually, I’m not really even supposed to talk to that line...

What I took away from talk­ ing to Jerry is that his job is inter­ esting, because he gets to see a

side of people that they rarely show to the world. Although the parts of our conversation that I have provided above might make it seem like only dirty old men call, he says that it’s about fiftyfifty men to women. He also says that, although a good percentage of the callers are from Indiana (?), it’s not all redneck pervs that call. In fact, he maintains that there are a lot of middle-class, professional people who call. (No wonder. At $2.99 a minute, us poor folk are pretty much stuck searching for free internet porn.)

Oh, one last thing that might interest y ’all (even if you’re not from Indiana). The company Jerry works for is always hiring.

Qualifications?: Good with peo­ ple, not easily offended, and a “pleasant phone voice”.

Ok, I have to go now. Jerry’s getting me fifteen free minutes on the “Bestiality Loving Amputee Midgets” line. All in the name of journalism, of course...

You can reach Je rry at jmcdev @po-box. megill, ca

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The SSM U is now taking applications for the stu­ dents interested in representing our concerns to the M cG ill community; through service on M cG ill Senate com m ittees.

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F o r m o r e i n f o r m a t io n c o n t a c t t h e V P U n iv e r s it y A ffa ir s a t 3 9 8 - 6 7 9 7 o r u a @ s s m u . m c g i l l .c a .

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A m e r ic a n s t u d e n t k ille d in A m e r ic a The as yet unexplained murder of two American college students in the relatively secure nation of Costa Rica has, predictably, pro­ voked much wringing of hands south of the border. Parents are becoming increasingly nervous about sending their best and bright­ est abroad, and on the surface one can hardly blame them.

The two women killed were students at Ohio’s Antioch College, an institution known, to the extent that it is known at all, for the num­ ber of its scholars who pursue study opportunities overseas. And while Antioch officials are stress­ ing the relative safety of their pro­ grams, American journalists are hot on the trail of a bigger story — namely, that the world outside the United States might be an ugly place, decidedly unsuitable for their young men and women.

So, in the March 16 Cincinnati Enquirer, I read that fully 33 stu­ dents from the University of Cincinnati will be venturing abroad this semester to such treacherous locales as France, Spain and the Czech Republic. Missionary work, I assume — building adobe huts, digging latrines and the like.

Cincy’s administrators certainly seem to have succeeded in their desire to steer students away from “political hot spots, or... countries that have crime problems.”

The Enquirer does relate the

genuinely frightening story of a group attacked by rebels in Uganda, but immediately thereafter adds the decidedly un-frightening story of a group visiting Cuba dur­ ing the Elian Gonzalez fiasco.

These men and women seemed sur­ prised to have escaped harm from the island’s comrades, whom as far as I can see spend the majority of

course, a safer place to live than the United States. Costa Rican crime statistics are somewhat hard to come by, but allowing for some margin of error, its murder rate in 1994 was about 5.2 per 100,000 population (UNCJIN). This is sig­ nificantly better than the US’s 9.0 (US Census Bureau) — slightly better, even, than the Buckeye State’s positively soothing 5.4.

Still, I can T h e S ly C h is e le r hardly blame a woman quoted in B y C h ris S e lle y the Enquirer for breaking a sweat over her son’s upcoming their days scraping together pen­ trip to Colombia. That nation of 39 nies for bread. One can only hope million saw a breathtaking 27,079 that those students visiting Prague homicides in 1994, for a murder will be so lucky, considering its rate in the neighbourhood of 69 per apparently alarming proximity to 100,000. “the troubled Balkans.”

And for the record, that’s I guess American xenophobia roughly the same as Washington, isn’t much of a scoop. Sorry about DC. that. But wading through the This refusal to see the outside earnest reams of journalism flow­ world as what it is — safer than the ing out of Central Ohio has made United States —- does not anger me me realize that the American fear so much in itself. Self-delusion is of the non-American is incredibly an inalienable human right, one of unspecific. To many of them, the which even Canadians occasionally outside is sort of like a Risk board avail themselves. Patriotism is, at — vague political boundaries, and its core, the illogical elevation of lots of war. one’s own country over all others, When I referred to Costa Rica even in the face of overwhelming as “relatively secure” I was com­ evidence to the contrary. paring it to the rest of Central No, my objection is when we America. But Costa Rica is also, of allow American fantasy to dictate

Canadian policy. I speak of contin­ ual efforts by certain politicians to fortify the 49th parallel, ostensibly because Canada is aiding and abet­ ting terrorists bent on wreaking havoc in the States.

And when these corn-fed rubes fire warning shots over our bow, what do we do? We cringe at the thought of controversy. We try to justify our immigration policies, try to reassure them that we pose no threat to their security. We beg them to reconsider.

Here is what we should be doing instead — there are two choices. One: point out to the politicians in question that nearly every recent act of terrorism com­ mitted on US soil, though attrib­ uted initially to random groups of non-Caucasians, has been the byproduct of home-grown militias and sundry other maniacs, armed to the teeth by a fossilized constitu­ tional amendment. We tell them to bugger off and solve their own problems.

Two: we ignore them. If any­ one ever actually puts a price tag on Mexican-style border patrols across the wilds of western North America, the project will die the quick death it deserves. And as for those brave souls off to France, Spain and the Czech Republic, I can only offer these few words of advice: don’t let your guard down when you come back.

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Svend Robinson M P

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In t e r n a t io n a l A f f a ir s a n d

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Co-sponsored by: “ G a y

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L e s b i a n a n d

L i b e r a t i o n :P r i d e

P r e j u d i c e ”

Part of Queer McGill’s Gay Pride Week

McGILL

W e d n e s d a y , M a rc h 2 2 1 2 :3 0 p m

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Across I. Dead white blood cells 4. Canyon 9. Spice #1 10. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, e.g.

II. Elsewhere 12. Homes 13. The host of that millionaire show, to his friends 14. Standardized tests to get into Grad school 15. Folded 18. Grows (out of the soil) 22. Everybody’s favorite Jackson 24. New York Giant pitcher Maglie 25. Palindromic method of detec­ tion 26. Buena Vista Social Club setting 27. Attentive 28. Spice #2 29. Spice #3 30. Sneaky, or Stallone

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16. Beatles biopic?...____is Bom 17. Spice #5 19. Routine, expected 20. Type of cat 2 1 .

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22. Powdered mineral 23. Notion 25. Sun Gods?

26. Letterman’s network

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Signed, Supportive Friend

Dear Supportive Friend,

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Dear S&M, Recently one o f my friends came out o f the closet. We are really close and I am happy fo r him, but one thing is bothering me about this. My friend has not actually come out to me. All o f our mutual acquaintances know, and it is upsetting me that he has not men­ tioned it to me. I always turn to him when I need to talk, and I am alw ays there fo r him when he needs to talk. I hope he is not try­ ing to keep it from me. Should I ask him about this, or let him talk to me about it when he is ready?

last w eek’s answ ers

Down 1. Hydro Quebec’s product 2. Habitual use 3. Reserved 4. Spice #4 (not anymore) 5. Go too far 6. Levitate 7. Acquires 8. The nineteenth letter, phonetical­ ly 9. Bleury, north of Sherbrooke

o o o

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p u b lis h in g y e a r .

C a r to o n is ts , g r a p h ic d e s ig n e r s , la y o u t p e o p le ... v is it h t t p : //t r ib u n e .m c g ill.c a /a p p ly f o r m o r e in fo .

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Perhaps you should not assume that your friend is trying to keep his sexual orientation from you. Obviously he does not seem concerned that your mutual acquaintances might tell you, so he cannot be bothered by the fact that you will find out. However, we at S&M think that you should give your friend time to mention it to you.

It is quite possible that your friend does not even consider it an issue that he needs to bring up

with you. Your friend probably does not think that it will effect your friendship, since you are so close.

Also, sometimes it is easier to tell acquaintances of life changes before telling close friends, because their opinions will not matter to him as much. But one good thing about close friends is that they always tell each other things, when they are ready.

Let your friend bring up the issue. He is probably waiting for the right moment to mention it, one where you both can discuss it without time constraints or other issues clouding the conversation.

But it will be at a time when he is ready to tell you. So do not be concerned about the fact that he hasn’t told you yet.

It sounds like you truly care about your friend, and that his happiness means a lot to you. All you can do is be there for him, whether or not he decides to actu­ ally sit you down and say that he is gay. We are sure that your friend realizes how much you care about him, and even though it may bother you that he hasn’t told you face to face, continue being there for him when he needs you. When and if he feels that he needs to tell you, he will. Until then, enjoy being his friend.

Want advice? mlazar@ pobox.mcgill.ca

of the Susan B. Anthony dollar. long ago, a six-foot tall statue of Placement of Susan B. Anthony’s Ronald McDonald has been stolen likeness on the new dollar repre­ from the former Soviet Georgia.

— COMPILED BY JOHN SALLOUM sented the first time that a woman, j Ronald was reportedly attached to other than a mythical figure, his bench with a metal chain, but ‘handful’ of students [Walker] the chain was cut. [One has to won­ S tric t Rez p o lic ie s appeared on a circulating coin.” called ‘loyal fans’ from class to - “The United States $1 Coin der where exactly a thief can put a attend an away basketball game j According to the University of Act of 1997, dated December 1, curly red-haired world famous stat­ during the regular season,” report­ Virginia Cavalier Daily, Arizona j 1997, dictates that the new coin be ue without it attracting much atten­ Rep. Jean McGrath (R) recently ed The Reveille. put into circulation when the exist­ tion... especially in Georgia where “The tournament was a special there is only one McDonald’s. proposed a bill disallowing oppo- J ing supply of coins are eliminated. time,” Walker said. “The team real­ Collectanea will continue to keep site sex visitors to university and A m e ric a n d o lla r coin ly wanted to have some of their you informed of other missing college residence rooms in the state. Immediate family members fans there.” mascots.]

B re a kfa st p a n ic The US government is in the But, William Dickinson, the were reportedly exempt. But the recipient of one such letter, said he process of unveiling an American representative went further: she Did you know that eating thought Walker’s reasoning for dollar coin, destined to eventually D N A c h a rg e d w ith also proposed a law to prohibit stu­ poppy seeds could get you banned allowing the students to miss class replace the current dollar bill. sexu a l a ssault dents from visiting sexually explic­ from professional sports?

A flight Some background: it Internet websites on university was “ludicrous.” crew on their way to Copa Brasil - The new dollar coin will only “If that’s an excuse to miss A court in the United States of computers. Both laws were intend- j be available, initially, at US banks found out the hard way when the class, then every student at LSU America has recently charged a ed to combat an alleged immoral General Manager of the Flamengo would be free to miss class for and Wal-Mart. [Now that’s monop­ environment that was causing larg­ man, described only by his DNA, soccer team jumped to his feet after games,” said Dickinson, Manship | oly power, eh?] er social problems.

- According to a US Mint seeing bread rolls with the evil ker­ with sexual assault. The court does chair in mass communication. not know the name of the man, nor “There weren’t large numbers press release, “The word ‘dollar’ nels being distributed to his play­ his location. Dubbed the “East Side ers.

Drug tests for the sport appar­ of students who wanted to do this,” originates from the German word Rapist,” police had a number of S k ip class fo r ently read the substance as a j ‘Thaler,’ the name given to the first Walker said. samples from three or four cases, th e g a m e banned drug, causing scandals and j She said she spoke with large silver coinage established in which were used to indict. DNA Chancellor Mark Emmert about the Europe. Thaler is a derivative of ! unnecessary player suspensions. ' matching is reportedly accurate to Students at Louisiana State situation, saying he agreed the the word ‘Joachimsthal,’ the name University found an unlikely ally one person in billions.

University could provide an excuse of the Bohemian mining town supported their absence from class M o re m ascots m issin g which, before the discovery of sil­ Sources: dailynews.yahoo.com recently. Vice-Chancellor for for this “one-time event.” ver in the Americas, produced the Student Life and Academic For loyal Collectanea readers j Sources: U-WIRE - Cavalier greatest amount of silver.”

Services Bobbie Walker reportedly | who remember Thomas the Tank “Legislation dated October sent letters to a number of profes­ Daily and The Reveille 10, 1978, provided for the issuance Engine’s disappearance not too j sors, “asking that they excuse a

C o lle c ta n e a

FEATURES T he M c G ill T ribune , T uesday, 21

march

2000

To procreate or

was in Waterloo, I’d get up and walk outside at 2:00 am having woken-up sweating. I talk about it now; but I feel guilty for W ondwossen’s r e d e m p t i v e h i s t o r y

By D ave Bledin_________________________ death. He was a prayer child and his father thinks I talked him into joining the guerril­ In a lecture entitled “Can having chilA fte r f a m in e a n d w a r E th io p ia n a u t h o r las.” j dren be unfair on the child?” professor t e lls h is s t o r y o f p a in a n d h o p e Combining the autobio­ Bonnie Steinbock, of the University of graphical and social history Albany, took a swipe at the miracle of cre­

By Paul Cornett was a trial that Mezlekia was ation. Speaking at McGill last Friday, she - « aware of from the beginning. considered whether there are times when ' «S <£t Taking a seat around a “Weaving the historical | reproduction may actually be more harmful t / ,s « , ♦ : sV # small table in a CKUT part and making it seamless * /< > to the child than if it had never been born in .* 4 t »V * • room, it still hadn’t dawned with the autobiographical the first place. on me that Nega part was a challenge,” he ** « • » With the rise of fertilization techniques *A « » Mezlekia’s very own life said. in the last decade, the fortunate (or unfortu% * * inspired his book Notes * f , 4 ♦ The account of his I nate, in some cases) reality is that nowadays ♦* ♦ « , .. %: at m- , from the Hyena’s Belly. childhood in the first chap­ almost anybody can have a baby. That 63Mezlekia is the one ters reads more like creative j year old grandmother down the street, she who, in his childhood, had W ' X- * I1_'' v_ ® w X * > ’X > * fiction. Mezlekia’s imagina­ can have one. By retracting sperm from the at w ‘ 1 * » «. the vengeful pleasure of tive language doesn’t obey dead body of an accident victim, he too can squirting a chili pepper the laws of realistic writing. j join in the reproduction process. These two X X X * V I X : l a t l i t i solution into the rear-end In one childhood account, scenarios, similar to real cases which have of cows belonging to his classroom discipline takes on hit mainstream media, have left in their infamous Teacher of morali­ vivid imagery. Bad students I wake many shaking heads and raised eye­ * * «y**# i ty, Mr. Alula, causing a '■<6 v are punished with “The brows. r~ * \ i< ■ neighbourhood stampede. ■ i « v Snake, a two-tongued whip ' 'Mif t><:. -fi Artificial fertilization also poses a sec­ He is the man who, in his fashioned by Satan himself è i-fÉ ill fa ^ ond ethical disturbance: parents’ ability to teenage years, lost his best r « ■ in his own spare time.” To customize their children with respect to their %. % a friend Wondwossen after i | *a ;4 > create an appealing child­ ?1< appearance and ability. Steinbock introduced the two had joined the hood account, he also had to 4? ■ -, IS an extreme case where a man was hawking guerrilla forces rebelling fiddle around with narrative • »• . r *Z ' models’ eggs from a web site to the highest » M ■■ against Ethiopia’s military perspectives to capture the • * » ^- • tt bidder. Another couple offered five thousand junta. Nega is the one who mind of the boy he once was.

• *» » V * * * * 9» dollars for the egg of any woman who was * *„* ** 4 « Si witnessed the Red Terror “What’s so appealing is over 5” 10, athletic, and had scored a grade kill over 100,000 people, reading about that mischie­ of over fourteen-hundred on the SATs. and who lost his father to vous boy who would plot “What harms will occur,” Steinbock revolutionaries whose revenge against his teacher, asked, “and how bad will they be?” political “progressiveness” whom he knew to be the Steinbock made a strong distinction compelled them to execute devil.” between two different harms that can arise , ■?; ÿ « ' «<* * X ts * f! - a c I suspects without trial or Personifications of with a mother carrying a child. The ‘mater­ questions. nature run throughout the * nal-fetal conflict’ is caused by the mother’s Though reading his narration complementing the 4s*"»i **«*!* Mb. behaviour while developing an embryo, such account of childhood and * a»«r «I illustrations of Ethiopian C "^ w À ' as excessive drinking leading to fetal-alco­ Ethiopian history was a folklore and myth. Animals, hol-syndrome. These harms are preventable awareness booster of Third from dogs, to camels and ^ 1 ». by the mother changing her course of action World events, all the ques­ hyenas, make their own ' T s s: and are easily reconciled.

9* > *» fa .* » tions that rose out of read­ comments about the human Steinbock focused on the second harm, ing the book took on a world they live in. on the ‘genesis problem’ — “when the more profound and vivid Once out of his child­ <-„r v / * + A meaning upon meeting the hood however, the Notes \ harmful condition is conditional on the real live person. The fiction from the Hyena's Belly reads { child’s existence.” %4 ' 'V## | Take the cases noted above. The harm Mezlekia had created paled more like a really interesting !

■■ ■ " * associated with child-rearing under these cir­ in comparison to the intan­ history book, and the reader ■ytv> * 'tac'/* '--cumstances is somewhat vague. The majori­ gible experience of meet- . . . . . only gets flashes of the ing the person who incar- Mezlekia weaves h,story and autobiography Book Cover author’s involvement. ty would agree that there is harm associated nated, through his personal history, the disil­ conception of African politics, and their fail­ with a child being born to a 63-year old Mezlekia goes all the way back to the lusioning experience of war, and the ever ure to recognize their own involvement in eleventh century to explain the roots of tribal [ woman. We would think it slightly trauma­ present desire for a better world. tizing for a child to go to sleep every night warfare in Ethiopia, but concentrates more on them.

Despite the scars of his life, family and the effects of European colonialism and the wondering if her mother will be alive in the “People here think that Africans fight country, Mezlekia wrote the autobiographi­ just for the sake of it, but they don’t realize absurdities of Ethiopia’s monarchy. Through morning, but is the child truly harmed? And cal, yet very political, N otes from the that the outside world has its fingers involved his lens, the reader discovers that the devas­ what of the cases of fetal customization?

Hyena's Belly with an optimism and faith in our wars,” he said. tating famines that have plagued Ethiopia in Where is the harm in your child looking like that there is hope. When asked what he want­ the last forty years were almost exclusively | a supermodel? ed to accomplish through his book, he said due to politics, and not natural disasters.

Steinbock mentioned the extreme opin­ S e a rch in g fo r th e the principal aim was to foster an awareness Witty sarcasm permeates the novel, ion of an associate, John Robertson, a law of Ethiopian and African history. especially in its political commentary. For a u th o r's pen professor at the University of Texas.

“Over the years, I’ve met a number of example, referring to political leaders’ intol­ Robertson is an upholder of the nonexistence Canadians who are open-minded, but their An engineer by profession, Mezlekia erance of dissent, Mezlekia bitingly com­ principle, which simply states that nothing is knowledge about what happened in Ethiopia didn’t have much experience in writing ments on the complacent attitude of authori­ worse for a child than its own non-existence. was very, very limited. When I tell them before he decided to pen this book. In fact, ties towards the widespread problem of pros­ Steinbock summed it up: “There is no about the Red Terror, they are just stunned; when he gave his first draft for a copy-editor titution. alternative for this child; there is life like this they have a hard time believing it... you may to read, the person said the book wouldn’t see “[WJantonness was officially recognized or no life at all.” as well have grown-up in a different uni­ the light of day. Notes from the Hyena’s as the most affordable form of democracy-the This argument applies when adapting it verse.”

Belly ended-up being bought by Penguin and only form of public intercourse, in fact, that to justify children growing up with minor Integral with this knowledge of history, has already received lots of positive attention didn't send the regime into one of its violent mental impairment or physical disabilities. tantrums.”

Mezlekia wants for people to actively from reviewers.

Although society often looks at these cases respond to it.

Much of the content being heavy laden In light of the autobiographical nature of and sees the disadvantages and potential for “I’m hoping for people to open-up their the book, one could wonder what he sought with the outcome of civil war, Mezlekia depression, Steinbock suggested that many minds...I want people to talk about it and feel to achieve for himself in writing it. His didn’t want it, however, to be a book of of these children, in their eyes, do not lead a moral responsibility. International politics response revealed the need to be reconciled lamentation and woe, so he made recourse to such miserable lives, especially when com­ light humour as a key narrative standard. are an interest of mine. I feel I need to be with his own life story. pared to the alternative of having no life at aware of what’s going on. I should feel con­ “Lamentation doesn’t work. I have to j all.

“Personally,” he said, “it’s cleansing. cerned about what’s happening.”

For so many years I tried to forget the death find my reader, and then that audience should Even so, Robertson’s non-existence Mezlekia lightly lamented the Western of [my mother] and Wondwossen. When I be able to deduce something...I want the Continued on page 20 reader to come to their own conclusions.”

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The M cG ill T ribune,T uesday, 21 March 2000

F e a t u r e s Page 17

F e m in is t f r e q u e n c ie s h it t h e a ir a t C K U T B y

G a b b y

Ja k u b o v it s

“No, there shouldn’t be an international men’s day... every­ day is international men’s day,” said CKUT’s Nathalie Pilon, halfjokingly. International Women’s Day was March 8.

Pilon is a volunteer program­ mer with McGill’s radio station, where she hosts a weekly show named “HerSay”. Around this time last year, she and on-air part­ ner Shevaughn Battle organized what was then “Radio A ctive Estroge,” a week-long celebration of feminism incorporated into most of the regular programming oscillating at 90.3 on the FM dial.

This year’s radio event was re­ baptized to make its mission a lit­ tle less confusing, and hit the air beginning March 6, under the title “Feminist Frequencies.”

The two organizers wanted the word “feminist” included in the name of their brainchild “to foster discussion around the word,” said Pilon. Before the birth of this two-year old tradition, CKUT broadcast special program­ ming every year on March 8. But Pilon realized that a single day dedicated to IWD was easy to miss - if you didn’t happen to turn on the radio, the final product of the organizer’s lengthy prepara­ tion disappeared into thin air.

“Expanding the programming to one week increased the chances of people tuning in,” she said.

SM U usiastic

The new format has another advantage, Pilon noted. “It is ben­ eficial to have a greater variety of

C K U T e m p o w e r in g w o m e n

people’s perspectives.” Nearly 90 per cent of CKUT’s regular spo­ ken-word and music shows partic­ ipated in “Feminist Frequencies” this year, she added. Pilon and Battle asked every programmer to focus on women’s issues. The out­ come was a wide spectrum of dis­ cussions on issues, from midwives

in the Amazon to women com­ posers and DJs. An African news show featured an interview with an AIDS activist from the continent.

On Monday, DJ Mouse, a prominent female DJ in Montreal, had her say on the air. Another Monday show focused on exw ives of gay men and ques­ tioned the pre­ conceptions of people, includ­ ing gay men, about these women.

W h e n asked about differences in m en’s and w o m e n ’ s shows, Pilon replied that they were bare­ crystal wreden ly audible. The majority of programmers, includ­ ing men, “were eager to partici­ pate.” But she added that the men sounded “somewhat apologetic.”

It was a very positive experience for them. Unlike women, who “dealt with issues that touch their everyday lives, the men had to step out of everyday reality and go

looking for the issues.”

C K U T seeks o u t w o m e n 's g ro u p s CKUT also sent out calls for submissions to various women’s groups, but none replied, partly because, as Pilon admits, “We didn’t give them enough time.”

But the organizers plan to build links with these in the future. They are hoping to receive submissions in the next while, and are antici­ pating a look at women’s groups in Bosnia, and women in comedy among others. The station received some submissions from outside sources, and broadcast a radio play and two pieces on women in Egypt and in Sudan.

CKUT’s usual programming, which is an eclectic mix of alter­ native news, community views and music, serves as the ideal medium for examining feminist influences and the past, present, and future of the once revolution­ ary ideology.

Pilon hopes that CKUT’s efforts “will contribute to bring women’s issues back in the spot­ light,” saying that the topic has been put on the back burner. The lack of interest in International Women’s Day in North America is disappointing. The day is simply mentioned on the (mainstream) news; and there is a sort of “tokenism” about it, according to

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Pilon. Perhaps the week of “Feminist Frequencies” will open up discussion, and promote critical thought and action around IWD. The event has a history reach­ ing as far back as 1908, when socialist women in the U.S. initiat­ ed the first Women’s Day. The proposal for an international women’s day sprung up at the 1910 International Conference of Socialist Women in Copenhagen, and a year later the first IWD was held in Europe. The United Nations officially recognized the day during International Women’s Year, 1975. Over the years, IWD has been the date of choice for conferences and public cere­ monies linked to women’s issues, which lead to both its populariza­ tion and to obscuring the tradi­ tion’s radical beginnings. One of the most empowering March 8 outcries of feminism took place in Iran, where women discarded their veils on International Women’s Day in 1982.

To commemorate the battle of feminism and explore its many facets, CKUT’s “Feminist Frequencies” spread sincere, thoughtful, high-quality waves around the community. CKUT also plays some great music. In the words of Nathalie Pilon, “People should tune in because there’s great stuff happening all the time.”

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T he Mc G ill T ribune, Tuesday, 21 march 2000

Page 18 F e a t u r e s

M c G ill G a y P r i d e w e e k : W h a t 's t h e r e t o b e p r o u d o f ? we a community that puts the value of sex and physical aesthet­ When I first realized I was ics above that of emotions and gay, I was lucky enough to have committed relationships? While one very close gay friend, John. It many correctly argue that was John who introduced me to Christianity and neo-conservasome of the sad realities of the tives have played a major role in gay community, or rather, what he reinforcing negative stereo­ types of homosexuals, they have nonetheless uncovered S o m e w h e r e O v e r th e R a in b o w an ongoing debate within the Kent Glowinski gay community itself: are the stereotypes they advance real­ ly all that misleading?

This debate is no real surprise referred to as “gayw orld.” Tommy underwear? Often behind According to John, gayworld was these flashy “pride” displays of to most gays. Despite the claims a place of promiscuous sex, moral gay culture and “sex positivism” that the ‘promiscuous gay’ is a deficiency and unhindered hedo­ is hiding a very dark, depressing unfounded stereotype forwarded nism. Being both young and naive underbelly of the gay reality. as a way to discredit the gay rights at the time, I couldn’t accept that; Behind the pride parade floats and and gay marriage movements, I was ready to go out and find ‘the banners lies a community whose there is enough substantive proof to show that many gays do indeed man of my dreams’ and other peo­ engage heavily in promiscuous ple who would prove that gay­ sex. When one looks at the sur­ world was a place of values and The Master said, In vain veys and statistics regarding gay committed relationships, not a relationships, this becomes less world of sex and superficiality. To have I looked for one whose and less surprising. Surveys of this day, I haven’t been able to desire to build up his moral gay men in relationships across refute what John has said about North America consistently indi­ gayworld. Gayworld can be a very power was as strong as sex­ cate that 40-50 per cent of gay sad and sick place. ual desire. relationships begin in an environ­ This week’s article is more - Confucius ment geared toward alcohol, personal and less political than drugs, and sex — the gay bar. earlier weeks. It’s about a naive optimist who learned the harsh morality and values are question­ Even more telling are the statistics which indicate that the average realities of what gayworld is real­ able. ‘long-term’ gay relationship is Although it can be easily ly about. It’s about someone who sees close gay friends and argued that neo-conservatism and one-year: hardly long-term or acquaintances giving up caring, Christian religion have been the indicative of commitment. supportive, stable relationships for main opponents of the gay com­ Perhaps conservatives have made a life which revolves around gay munity, they have raised some valid criticisms of gayworld. bars, circuit parties, and one-night pertinent questions. Conservative stands. It’s about someone who opponents have brought to light A step forward or looked for depth, sincerity and issues which the gay community backward? commitment in a culture which must address: in being so “sex positive” are we putting ourselves, favours insincerity and instant I would further argue that the as gays, in a moral vacuum? Are gratification.

As we reach the heart of McGill’s “Gay Pride” week, we should really consider if there’s much to truly celebrate. I pose the question: what’s there to be proud of? M ultiple sexual partners?

Unity dance club? D iesel or

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can sincerely separate sex and love are unfortunately very shal­ low, morally-deficient, and high­ ly irresponsible people. They are unable to truly respect the value of others.

Given the imperatives This is not to place my views about consumption and the on a morally-superior level — it is to lament the moral decay of an virtually unquestioned entire community. We are in an age when we can have everything value attached to the we want, whenever we want: fastexpression of self, how food, sex, anything. Sometimes, the endless amount of choices could sexuality not have themselves become destructive as come to be, for some, a con­ they divert us from what’s really sumer option: an exercise of important; sometimes the simple denominators of human respect liberty, of increased mobili­ and dignity get forgotten in our complex world of consumption, ty, of the pushing back of lust, and greed. limits...risk-free sexuality is Although being gay is an inevitable reinvention of becoming more and more accept­ ed, morality is less and less val­ the culture of capitalism... ued. In this gay society which is - Susan Sontag, from AIDS morally adrift, hedonistic and val­ ues aesthetic beauty and instant and Its Metaphors (1988) gratification over respect and commitment, I advocate a shift to stable, monogamous gay relation­ brate and embrace how “sex posi­ ships. In doing this, we can truly tive” gay society has become. In claim to be proud. This means, becoming ‘sex positive’ we basi­ however, that each and every one cally enable ourselves to com­ of us, as individuals within our pletely separate sex and love, see­ greater community, must become ing sex as a wholly isolated, phys­ more conscious and responsible ical act without the emotional nui­ for our actions. Not only believing sance involved. Today, believing in monogamy and commitment in that sex and love are intimately response to a community still interdependent is seen as passé in affected by AIDS, but in response gay circles. The current gayworld to a community which seems to creates an environment which have forgotten the importance of favours multiple partners to whom values and limits. Take a walk one has no emotional connection through the Gay Village any day, nor responsibility; those in com­ see the amount of sadness, and mitted, monogamous relationships ask yourself: what’s wrong with are often written-off as archaic, or this empty existence called gay worse, heterosexist. In reality, it’s world?

Let’s fight for a change. Let’s these relationships that provide unmatched emotional and moral fight for strong, stable relation­ support and strengthen the fabric ships that confirm and nourish our emotional and human worth; and of society.

In being gay, we need not let’s fight against those in the gay reject all that is seen as heterosex­ community who believe that hav­ ist. The reality is, those who advo­ ing values and believing in digni­ cate open relationships (a.k.a. ty, morality, and respect is exclu­ fucking around) are advocating sively heterosexual. If we truly relations which reduce the inher­ want to be proud, we must ask ent human worth of a person to a ourselves what kind of communi­ series of orifices. It makes me ty we want to live in, then fight to truly sad: those individuals who create it.

sexual revolution has been terrible for the state of gayworld. Many contemporary queer theorists cele-

T he M cG ill T ribune, T uesday, 21 March 2000

G u y K ay o n is s u e s o f a r t a n d

A little s o m e th in g

m o r t a l i t y a t p la y in h is n o v e ls

b e s id e s th e p o m B y

B y

___________________________________ F e a t u r e s Page 19

Jo n a t h a n

C o l f o r d ___________________

Issues revolving around mor­ tality are of interest to characters in notable Canadian fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay’s new novel.

Lord o f Emperors is the second volume in the two-part series The Sarantine Mosaic, and was released in bookstores March 4th, two years after Sailing to Sarantium, the first book, was published.

The basic plot of the series involves a mosaicist, Crispin, who, answering an imperial summons, travels to the Sarantium, capital of the Sarantine Empire, to build a great mosaic on the dome of the emper­ or’s new temple. Once there, he becomes embroiled in the twisted politics of the city, which take up the latter part of the first novel and all of the second.

M o m e n ts in tim e “I’m very interested about all processes about how we are remembered, what do we do to say ‘yes I was here.’ The book is very much about that.”

F a m e -o rie n te d s o c ie ty The society of the Sarantine empire, a virtu­ al carbon-copy of sixthcentury Byzantine society, is one where people are concerned with issues of fame. According to Kay, the characters express the desire to “leave a memory of some sort that says ‘we were here, we lived, we existed.’”

The Emperor Valerius, for instance, seeks to build a great domed temple to the Empire’s god, Jad, as well as to recapture the western part of the realm, taken by “barbarians.” Crispin has an oppor­ tunity to work on something greater than his usual commissions, which include murals for private homes and local administrative offices.

Other characters express such a desire through wanting to have children, to win the big chariot race, to make some kind of impres­ sion on their world that would earn them fame.

Kay explained that this desire is natural.

“For most people, that plays itself out through children — the idea that your child or your grand­ child will carry your name, that your children remember you and tell their children about you, and maybe down the generations there’s an anecdote about greatgreat grandfather so-and-so,” Kay said. “For most people that’s the closest they ever get to leaving a name that goes down through the ages. Some people have a chance, we all struggle to do that, but peo­ ple want to leave a footprint in time, and the book is about differ­ ent ways in which the characters, many of them, are trying to leave that footprint.”

In contrast, some characters, such as the queen of the barbarian Antae tribe and Pardos, Crispin’s apprentice, are not so concerned with leaving a mark on their world.

Kay is interested in transitory art forms as well: dance and chariot racing are part of a major sub-plot within the novel. “[I am] fascinated by the art forms that don’t last, by which I mean something like dance, or indeed the chariot races, the art of sport, the artists of sport. If you think about it, today as long as any­ one has a video camera, they know what Michael Jordan was all about and they know what Barishnikov was all about. We can still see them. But if you go back a hundred years we have no idea what the great dancers, or singers, or actors were like. We don’t know what Richard Burbage was like playing Hamlet, we know he was Shakespeare’s Hamlet, but we have no idea how he performed. That art form is gone as soon as it’s done.”

“The dancers and the chariot racers embodied the idea of the art that’s lost as soon as made, but the mosaicist is trying to make some­ thing that lasts, and that’s also what a lot of the subtext of the book is all about.”

Kay's n o ve ls Kay him self has become famous in the fantasy scene. But the University of Toronto Law school graduate does not even have his own official web site, although many sites do exist promoting his works. Kay expressed no eagerness to have such a “monument” erected

to him.

“There’s a famous quote I always use, I use it when people ask me why I don’t have a web site, and I quote Cato the Elder, the Roman sage, who said “I would rather the Romans asked why there are no statues to Cato than why there are.”

Kay’s novels are richlywoven tales taking place in real-world historical periods which he fictionalizes. The Sarantine Mosaic replicates the sixth century Byzantine world, complete with muchmore-civilized-than-expected barbarian tribes, apathetic aristocrats, plagues, and increasingly powerful nonByzantine societies like the Bassanids (a Persian-type empire). The plot itself works the themes of art and power, fame and mortality, into the story.

“I tried to write a pageturner that tries to give you something to think about when you’ve finished turning the pages,” Kay said.

Kay is a minimalist • when it comes to traditional fantasy elements in his work.

He believes fantasy elements should only be used when the situation warrants it and resists being labeled a “fanta­ sy” writer.

“The use of magic and the supernatural is a tool for the writer if the material suggests that it requires it. I don’t see fantasy as being defined by magic; I see magic as an element that can be used in writing fantasy. So in my last book before these, The Lions of Al-Rassan, there’s virtually no supernatural element at all because the story didn’t want it. It would have been gratuitous. Gratuitous magic is as bad as gratuitous sex, if the story doesn’t need it.

“In this one, if you read Yeats’ poetry, the idea of Byzantium as a place of mystery, quasi-supematural magic, the magical birds are sug­ gested by Yeats,” he continued.

“The idea of a bird with a soul on a golden bough singing to lords and ladies of Byzantium is in the poet­ ry. The poetry talks about flames in the streets that no one knows how they got there. All this ‘floating around mysticism’ is part of how we visualize Byzantium, so it felt appropriate, even necessary, to incorporate it into the story because it fit the subject matter. For me that’s always the task: does the idea fit the subject matter I’m working with?”

Lord o f Emperors Book 2 o f The Sarantine Mosaic

By Guy Gavriel Kay Penguin Books $32.99 (hardcover) Sailing to Sarantium Book 1 o f The Sarantine Mosaic

By Guy Gavriel Kay Penguin Books $9.99 (trade paperback)

D a v e

without going through the web site.

Upon registration (which is free and performed under the privacy act, where the distribution of user infor­ mation is strictly forbidden), three dollars is automatically donated to the charity of your choice.

Additional funds are donated when purchases are made through the par­ ticipating sites and by clicking on sponsor banners (although the nomi­ nal donation rate for each click — one cent for a maximum of five cents a day per user).

The site, designed by PlanitDesign, is extremely techno­ logically advanced, although slightly quirky. A registered user can chart their charity’s cumulative progress,

B l e d in

It commenced as ARPANET, started by the U.S. Department of Defence for research into networking sometime in 1969.

Thirty years later, the internet has evolved into quite the den of sin — with hormone-laden adolescents surfing for cyberpom and long-dis­ tance friends sending out the same doltish e-mail forwards they sent two weeks before. One is left feeling illat-ease, and wonders if there is any hope for humanity within this cesspool of sleaze and foolishness.

There is hope, though. With one deft click, Naughtygirls.com becomes Consumersaints.com.

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and can monitor cheques being dis­ tributed by Consumersaints.com.

The user can also make use of an advanced messaging system that allows for the motivation of other users donating towards the specific charity (“..come on guys... one more book and we’ve got Johnny a new liver...”).

The benefits seem to be numer­ ous for all parties involved.

Consumersaints.com receives a small commission off each purchase made by its users as well as from sponsors advertising on its web page.

Participating e-commerce sites gain increased consumer awareness and the extra sales, albeit with slightly lower profit margins. And you. well, you get your books and stuff and that warm, fuzzy feeling that comes with getting Johnny a new liver. It’s a win-win situation for all.

Consumersaints.Com, founded by 19 year-old commerce student Nick Koutsoukis, is enough to get any die-hard shopper a little hot under the covers. The concept is unique and ingenious — shop online at a plethora of popular e-commerce sites and be rewarded by having a percentage of your purchases being donated to a charity of your selec­ tion.

The catch? After a carefully perusal of the site, it appears there is none. Consumersaints.com has a large mall of participating sites including giants such as Amazon.com and Dell Computers, with each site having a pre-selected donation margin off the sales prices ranging from 0.5 per cent (that’s Dell) to 30 per cent. There is no markup; the prices stay the same at Consumersaints.com as they would

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T he M cG ill T ribune, T uesday, 21 March 2000

Page 20 F e a t u r e s

R e c re a tio n a l s p a c e ta k in g o n a n o th e r fa c e Continued from page 1

public parks and roads to amelio­ rate access to the canal and its adja­ cent neighbourhoods.

The other important focus of

canal and building foot bridges for pedestrians. Currently, the repara­ tion of lock gate number five is underway, and an inauguration to

allowed for a working-class neighbourhoold to flourish in Little Burgundy. But with the completion of the larger St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959, the canal stopped serving commercial shipping traffic.

Eleven years later, both ends of the canal were dammed up and all boating ceased.

At the project’s intro­ duction in 1997, Copps was both reminiscent and hope­ ful about the canal. “The revitalization of the Lachine Canal is about forging the wonders of history with the pleasures of human recre­ ation,” she said.

Laila Djiwa, a commu­ nications officer for the Lachine Canal National Historic Site, explained that the main objectives of the project were to keep the canal as a valuable asset to Montreal.

“The Lachine Canal played a leading role in B o a ts , c a fé s , a n d m o r e w i l l s o o n g ra c e th e establishing industry in Canada and Montreal. [We celebrate its completion is in the wish] to conserve and preserve this works. heritage and make it an active part The second phase will occur of people’s lives by bringing life to after the Canal’s official opening, the canal. This will benefit the and will focus on the historic southwestern area of Montreal and, aspects of the area. It will include in turn, the whole city,” Djiwa said. information booths as well as an interpretation centre where people C o m p le tio n in stages can learn about the canal and its history.

Landscaping and improve­ ments to a bicycle path which runs E co n o m ic s p in o ffs fo r the length of the canal have been s o u th w e s t M o n tre a l underway for several years. But the grand project has only been under­ The overall program to re­ way for the last year. open the canal for pleasure boating The first phase of the project is focused on returning the canal to its is being undertaken by Parks former glory and is expected to be Canada, the official owners of the completed in the year 2002. This canal and its surrounding land. The entails preparing the bridges and City of Montreal, however, is locks for pleasure boating, restor­ responsible for the improvements ing walls of certain areas of the alongside the canal including the

L a c h in e C a n a l

the project is its potential for boost­ ing the economic prospects of the area. Mark London of the City of Montreal Garden and Green Spaces, explained that, “The clos­ ing of the canal precipitated the shut-down of many surrounding factories — older industries that would not necessarily operate the same way today.”

Today, the focus is on contem­ porary industries and methods of drawing them to the empty land that surrounds the canal. London explained how the objectives of this project target growth within a variety of economic sectors. “[The] best way to get economic develop­ ment [now] is not with the heavy industry but with a mix of people related-industries.”

Mayor Bourque, for his part, wrote an article on the Canadian

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Heritage website arguing that other countries have benefited from cre­ ative urban planning.

“Many industrial nations have used their aging canals as a nucleus for suc­ cessful urban renewal and eco­ nomic develop­ ment projects.

This is the chal­ lenge the part­ ners in this pro­ ject representing both the public and private sec­ tors have taken up.”

Funding for the project came mostly out of the pockets of the City of Montreal, which built a $44 million expendi­ ture into the February 1997 fiscal budget.

Other large con­ Pablo Rodriguez tributors are the Department of Canadian Heritage with the amount of 18.5 million, FORD-Q, in the amount of $14.5 million, and an additional $5 million from other partners and other cities such as Lachine.

Easy access to canal fro m d o w n to w n

the re-opening of the canal and are devoted to developing the economy in the area. One of these is the completion of a viaduct connecting the bottom of Peel Street with de la Commune Street at the eastern­ most section of the canal. This addition will allow for easy access to the canal and all its activities right from the heart of downtown Montreal. There are also plans to re-excavate a former turning basin of the canal at the foot of Peel and create a small marina for pleasure boating.

Another ambitious and poten­ tially lucrative scheme is to enlarge, reorganize and re-landscape the Atwater Market, thereby turning an already popular attrac­ tion to face and focus its activities on the canal. The architects of this plan anticipate that it will result in an area of outdoor cafes and stores at the foot of Atwater Street where it meets the canal. This will create job opportunities for many resi­ dents as well as add another beauti­ ful tourist attraction to the city of Montreal.

The expectations for this pro­ ject are ambitious, the cost is sub­ stantial and the exact time needed is unknown. But for anyone who has appreciated the beauty and excitement of a Montreal summer, the re-opening of the Lachine Canal can only be seen as a posi­ tive addition that has the potential to enhance not only tourist-related industries, but the greater economy of the city as well.

There are many mini-projects underway which are spin-offs of

N o n -e x is te n c e Continued from page 15 principle does not seem to possess the final solution for Steinbock, who presented a harsher example of a child being born simply for its organs. The detailed example described a family giving birth to a first­ born whose health is con­ stantly chal­ lenged.

In order to assist the first child with his diffi­ culties, the parents bore a second child, “who [was] kept in the c e l l a r , ignored, and fed just enough to keep it alive for its replace­ ment body parts.” According to Robertson, this child should have been born, simply because the alternative (non-existence) is worse than the life it has living in the cel­ lar.

Steinbock, like many of us, is troubled by this answer. “There has to be something else,” she said, “because you have to reject that having a truly rotten life is better than no life at all.” After some

philosophical brooding, she has developed a theory of her own — that of a decent minimum standard for existence. This standard, deter­ mined by society at some level above the non-existence standard, would answer the question ‘to pro­ create or not to proc r e a te . ’ Although there are very few babies which do fall below this decent minimum standard, if a physi­ cian could tell in a d v a n ce that a baby, for instance, Zôe Logan would have a horrendous disease which caused immense suffering as soon as it escaped the womb until it per­ ished a few days later, then Steinbock would advise a halt to the reproduction. In this child’s case, its unbearable existence must be placed below non-existence, where at least the unborn child is prevented from having to go through such intense trauma and pain.

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M a r ie - H é l e n e

S a v a r d

The formerly vacant space at the cor­ ner of Bleury and Ste-Catherine houses an exhibit on graffiti. Tags, like tree leaves, flourish in the springtime, as snow melts and uncovers fresh wall space — the tim­ ing couldn’t be better.

The Out For Fame G raffiti Exhibit 2000, presented by Urban X-Pressions and Absolut Vodka, has something for every­ one. Its lack of elitism allows neophytes to get acquainted with the vocabulary, origins and im plications o f graffiti thanks to incredibly informative panels describing in simple, poetic terms, the complexity of the underground scene. It’s a privilege to be offered a glimpse into such a guarded world, and the organizers have devised thematic areas to ensure that everything is covered, from photographs o f the old Redpath Sugar Refinery to an impressive collection of graffiti art magazines.

Judging from the crowd at the opening last week, experienced taggers also appre­ ciated the exhibit. High school boys were walking around with their sketchpads, try­ ing to identify the exhibited works they recognized and using them as inspiration

for their own drawings. Pictures York City subway trains from 1982 by Henry Chalfant and Cooper, authors of Subway Art,

of New 1980 to Martha were of

Tell me how to read the writing on the wall particular interest to them. Although the exhibit does include a fragment of a wall, most graffiti is represented pictorially.

Pictures of graffiti aren’t always exciting,

but Other’s drawings and texts on freight trains were quite captivating. While most freight train work consists of a signature, Other draws strange animals, people and objects on wagons. He also adds text describing the plight of the graffiti artist (“Way too old for this shit out here in the tundra”), or adding a per­ sonal dimension to his drawings ( “When you phone I get all sap. Not cause I m iss you, not cause o f memories or good times but cause of the sorrow you spew”).

Even those who view graffiti as vandalism should stop by the Transart space to get a glimpse of what graffiti artists can do without Pablo Rodriguez spay Cans.

As one of the panels explains, “Graffiti writers possess a higher level of awareness for things that the gen­ eral public tends to ignore.” By trading spray cans for a camera, Flow offers us

shots of Montreal’s bridges, trains and decrepit walls as we’ve rarely seen them.

Groznik and Prism prove to be talented furniture sculptures, and Thesis from Halifax exhibits a spray paint and metal objects on canvas work that should be snapped up by serious art buyers. If this exhibit doesn’t convince critics that graffi­ ti writers are legitimate artists, nothing will.

Overall, Out For Fame is well struc­ tured, enlightening and should succeed in attracting a crowd that may have never stepped in a gallery before.

For amateurs and experts alike, this exhibit will likely inform and sensitize you to the issues surrounding graffiti art. The exhibit raises questions regarding the respect of individual property and the evo­ lution of the Montreal scene. Hopefully Urban X-Pressions will put together anoth­ er exhibit with some additional insights into the urban artistic experience.

Out For Fame until March 31 at Transart, 307 Ste Catherine W„ Saturday through Wednesday 12-6 p.m., Thursdays and Fridays 12-8 p.m. For info, cail 7693585.

S o m e th in g g o o d fo r y o u r b re a k fa s t to a s t £ f -

works crowd at Le Swimming

upbeat rhythm.

Front-man Drew Stewart was Jazzberry Ram is one of, if not also a big factor in the audience’s the hardest working bands in Canada quick acceptance of the band. When when it comes to touring. The four- he plays it's hard to catch Drew with­ man band out of Vancouver B.C. out a smile on his face and his happy spend a total of nineteen weeks on mood is contagious. Says Stephen, the road each year traveling all across “Drew is a really great front-man, he Canada from Vancouver to Halifax. puts on a good show and he really They also do tours in the States and gets into the m u sic...the crowd of ski resorts around the BC/Alberta enjoys being with him.” area. And for a small independent Drew certainly did put on a good band with no huge tour bus or plane show, constantly jumping up onto the tickets, that’s quite a feat. highest thing he could find on stage According to Stephen Stewart, and once nearly falling onto his Jazzberry Ram’s keyboardist, touring brother Stephen’s keyboard. Also is a very important part of Jazzberry putting on a good show were the Ram. “The way we develop our audi­ other two band members, Allan ence is obviously through touring and Machines on bass and Colin Stobie word of mouth,” he explains. He cites on drums, who both put lots of ener­ the fact that they do not have record- gy into the music. label support or any real radio airplay Watching Jazzberry Ram, it is as reasons for such consistent tour­ obvious that they’ve been playing ing. Stewart also adds “I think people together for years. All four members really appreciate our live shows; contribute to vocals and as Stephen we’re quite proud of our live show.” explains, “we have to be thinking all If the crowd on Saturday night at the time. We have to be somewhat on Le Swimming serves as any sort of top of it because of the high pace and gauge for audience appreciation, one because of the different types of would have to say Stewart is right. music we play.”

The audience was a mix of a fair Their music is definitely differ­ number of Jazzberry Ram fans and ent, incorporating elements of pop, many people new to the music rock, ska, funk, and even some stylings of the boys from BC. ‘white-boy rap.’ However, despite However, despite the absence of these contrasting elements, the music large numbers of fans, it only took is enjoyable and great to dance to. two songs to fill the dance floor. The “We never tried to restrain our­ crowd pleasing "All I Think About Is selves in what type o f music we Sex" drew in the dancers with it’s play,” says Stephen, “we like to keep B y

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ourselves amused.”

In a music scene containing mostly Lilith Fair women and whiny rock bands, Jazzberry Ram comes as a nice surprise in Canadian music.

Their high energy songs and impres­ sive live show are a welcome change from Raine Maida or Sarah Maclachlan whining in your ear about how hard life is as a big rock star.

Jazzberry Ram may not be whin­ ers but Stephen admits that besides the good times, touring can get hard. “[There are] the times when you real­ ly are very angry,” he sighs. Also, he says that there are occasions where the audiences completely ignore the band. “[No reaction] is the worst," Stephen laments. "When we’re just playing and no one’s even looking at you. No one cares and that just sort of sucks the life right out of you.”

Thankfully, the crowd definitely took notice o f Jazzberry Ram on Saturday night. Providing great music that is fun and easy to dance to made the band memorable and worth see­ ing again. Next time they’re in town, which shouldn’t be too long consider­ ing their touring habits, go see the show and support a great Canadian band.

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Page 22 E n t e r t a i n m e n t

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T he M c G ill T ribune , T uesday, 21 M arch 2000

e x p lo r e s t h e liv e s o f tw o J a m a ic a n w o m e n

rated by distance but who share a common bond o f culture, and Debbie Young and Naila experience. The narrative goes Belvett’s Yagayah, a rehearsed back and forth in time, brilliantly reading presented by Black juxtaposing the girls’, childhood Theatre W orkshop’s The N ext experiences with their young Stage, is a revealing insight into adult lives.

W hile Imogene leaves the complex worlds of two Black women. Held at the cozy and Jamaica with her fam ily for informal infinitheatre, Yagayah Canada during adolescence, Mary was part of a series of works in remains. The two friends keep in developm ent that address the contact via mail. Imogene writes Mary a letter, griping that life in a Black experience.

The central narrative foreign country is not exactly a revolves around Mary and storybook existence with beauti­ Imogene, two young Jamaican ful homes and white picket women played by Young and fences. Instead, crime and poverty Belvett. Both women are griots- engulf her. Forced to quit school acting as poets, musicians and and find a telemarketing job, storytellers in the tradition of Imogene is consumed by the daily struggle to survive. Whites barely Western Africa.

The play’s opening involved acknowledge her presence. To an intimate banter, mixing local them, she is not a person, but a dialects with North American black female. Meanwhile, Mary English phrases; for these ten defensively claims that she will minutes, it seemed that only a make something o f herself in handful of people in the audience Jamaica.

The women then reenact a fully understood the discussion.

What soon emerged, though, was happy and seemingly innocent a tragic and telling tale of two childhood filled with fun, games, best friends whose lives are sepa­ and closeness. That’s why the A mira R ichler

audience is shocked at what hap­ pens next: Imogene recounts how at the age of seven she was brutal­ ly raped by her uncle. When she goes to school covered in blood, her classmates jeer at her. Her suffering and shame are so acute that one wants to reach out and comfort her. “All I feel is pain again and again...Mama says I shouldn’t let him touch me there.”

Because she cannot (really) stop the rapes, Imogene fantasizes about killing her uncle.

During the second half of the play, Mary is mortified when she becomes aware of her impending pregnancy. Like Imogene, she is overwhelmed by shame. Mary feels she screwed up by getting pregnant. She is extremely angry with the young man who got her into this mess, sweeping her off her feet with his sweet words.

The end of the reading was by far the most emotional and compelling part of the evening.

The women communicated most­ ly through song and poetry, rather than dialogue. Their pain and anger, magnified by beautiful

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lyrics and haunting m elodies, brought tears to my eyes.

Constant repetition of words and sentences transported their trauma into the hearts and minds of lis­ teners. Protesting against the exclusion of black women from society, Imogene wails that “dark­ ness is the absence of white skin.”

She mocks white liberal feminists like Betty Friedan who fail to understand the plight of black females. Although whites may believe her culture is “cool”, they still disrespect her, labeling her a “Nigger and welfare kid.” She laments how she misses Jamaica.

Looking in the mirror evokes feelings of fear and self-hate.

Mary is also depressed and lone­ ly. Surrounded by happy people, all she wants to do is run from her problems.

During the final phone con­ versation, Mary and Imogene gain newfound insights about each other’s lives. “I saw your children sold in bondage,” Imogene says to Mary. Mary responds, “I saw you cook, clean, work late and rise early.. .your father didn’t give

a damn.” They are tormented by societal images of beauty that encourage them to feel like com­ modities. Hating herself and her culture, Mary cries, “Why didn’t you cover your face? You come from an ugly r a c e ...” Both women are bound by five hundred years of oppression.

When the artists invited the audience for comments, publicist Janice Kirschnir was somewhat critical of the production.

“I think that there are things that can be added...I would have liked to seen more music earlier.

The style was too spread out.”

Yet the form of the narrative itself didn’t bother most members of the audience. One young woman said the reading had universal sig­ nificance, remarking that “I felt really satisfied. I know it’s going it’s going to mean a lot to young women of colou r.” Others claimed to be riveted by what came across as'a genuine bond of friendship and energy between the two females.

and though not straying far from s e n tim e n t a lity , th ey are upbeat enough to coax th e l i s t e n e r to h ea r th e n e x t tu n e and th e tu n e a fte r th a t. T h is is due to Jack sou l incorp oratin g the v a r io u s m u s ic a l b le n d s in to th e ir tu n e s , to k eep t h is a lb u m fr o m g e t t in g p o n d e r o u s and m e lo d r a ­ m atic.

A c id j a z z is a m u lti f a c e t e d g e n r e o f m u s ic ; th e r e are no f i x e d r u le s , w h ic h e n a b le s a band to Jacksoul exp erim en t, and to exp lore S le e p le s s v a rio u s b ea ts. The sou nd s V iK /B M G may be drawn from L atin, drum & b a ss, R & B , s o u l, and funk; it really does not T h is is d e f i n i t e l y the m a tte r . W h at m a tte r s is kind o f album you have to h o w th e s t y l e s are c o m ­ l i s t e n to m ore th an o n c e b in ed to c r e a te a d is tin c t fo r it to r e a lly grab you r s o u n d , and n o t a m ish a tte n tio n . A t fir s t g la n c e mash o f many elem en ts for the listen er m ight not rea l­ th e sa k e o f e x p e r im e n ta ­ ly be q u ite su re a b o u t tion.

S le e p le s s , the tunes m ight T he band u t ilis e s th is se e m a l i t t l e b la n d , th e them e to its fu ll p o ten tia l, tracks a lit t le too syru p y. and so this album is p le a s­ The a c id ja z z -fu s io n an t e n o u g h , to g a r n e r a sounds o f so u l, funk, R&B, s e c o n d and e v e n a th ir d and h ip -h o p m igh t in d u ce l i s t e n . O ne d o w n f a ll is som e you into m otion , but perhaps that som e m ight be not quite into a fu ll blow n in c lin ed to find the album o u t g r o o v e s e s s i o n d ea d s o u n d s a w e e - b i t to o sm a c k in th e m id d le o f p o p p y . Y ea h , w e ll m ayb e your liv in g room. it d o e s ! H o w e v e r , n o t N o , th e tu n e s on th e ev eryth in g in life is meant S le e p l e s s albu m e a s e th e to be too serio u s, after a ll, l i s t e n e r in t o a s lo w e r s o m e t h in g t h in g s are g r o o v e , a m o re v e l v e t y m e a n t to b e c a t c h y and g lid e across the floor; this fun, and th is album m igh t is d e fin ite ly lou n ge m ater­ be a ll th a t, d e p e n d in g on ia l. T h e re are so m e n ic e what your groove is. s u r p r is e s on th is a lb u m .

T h e o p e n in g a c id j a z z in s t r u m e n t a l title d — by K ik i D ra n ia s “ S l e e p l e s s I n t r o ” is an in te r e stin g m u sica l e x p lo ­ ra tio n . The ly r ic s o f "Let me c a ll you Baby" and "I m iss U" are m e llo w , s o ft,

T he McG ill T ribune, T uesday, 21 March 2000

E n t e r t a i n m e n t Page 23

H o t, d ir ty a n d s w e a ty : D a n k o J o n e s ro c k s h a r d B y

M a r ie - H é l e n e

S a v a r d

Danko Jones, the man, isn’t the most humble musician. In interviews, he regularly points out Danko Jones, the band, is the best in Canada. Their gig last week at Foufounes Electriques provided us with the opportunity to check if he was full of it, by comparing what he said to what he did.

If you’ve seen the Bounce video, you’ve probably noticed Jones’ uniform: black dress pants, crisp red shirt and black fedora.

The outfit isn’t the only thing that

bands these days have adopted the “if I look really bored, maybe they’ll see how cool I am” men­ tality, having forgotten that when we buy a concert ticket, we

"You can call me the humidifier, the salt and pepper shaker" The “you can call me” rant preceding “Mango Kid” made lit­ tle sense, but it also revealed a part of the Danko Jones experi­ ence that’s m issing from the video and the EP’s: he can be funny as hell. The highlight of his between-songs banter was a hilar­ ious two-part spiel, the'first half directed at the women in the audi­ ence, predicting their starstruck reaction if they ever met him on the street, and the second part directed at all the guys in bands thinking they know more than him about music.

"When we rock, we rock shit hard" There’s no doubt that Danko Jones’ music is of the rock and roll variety. Accom panied on stage by bassist JC and a drum­ mer, Jones delivered an hour’s worth of rock infused with soul, punk and r&b. He sang about making out with girls in cars with the boyfriend locked in the trunk, about being raised as a devil child, about heartache. The result was raw and dirty, not unlike the venue.

"I'm the blueberries in your white, plain yogourt"

H o w a b o u t a s p a n k o fro m D a n k o

C h r is t ia n

La n d e r

There’s no coincidence that the words Hi-Fi are usually found on the back of a video box. This film, like its sound recording namesake, is destined for VHS. The movie follows record store owner Rob Gordon (John Cusack) as he makes his way through the hardest breakup of his life with girl­ friend Laura (Iben Hjejle). To help deal with process of grieving, Rob speaks to the camera about his top five most difficult breakups and we are given a flashback for each respective girlfriend.

After some more difficulties with Laura, Rob decides that he’s tired of being dumped and goes about finding each of those five for­ mer girlfriends, figuring out what he did wrong and why he is destined to be alone.

While Rob is on this quest to understand his solitary destiny, the film uses a lot of quick story cuts to reveal more and more about the relationship between Rob and Laura. Of course, all of this infor­ mation is used to interrupt our sym­ pathy for Rob and help us under­ stand that he’s really a jerk.

After this understanding has manifested itself, both characters fall into rebound relationships.

Laura moves in with Ian Raymond, a middle aged hipster played beauti­ fully by Tim Robbins. A disen­ chanted Rob starts calling Ian’s house and pestering Laura to try and force some kind of reconciliation.

After Ian gets wind of this, he con­ fronts Rob in his record store and the scene that follows is hilarious.

Rob, in his desire to recover from Laura, engages in a one night stand with musician Marie De Salle (Lisa Bonet). The entire sequence between this two is absolutely use­ less to the plot, and only seems like another opportunity for director Stephen Frears to indulge his eight­ ies fetish by casting the former Cosby kid. His penchant for the eighties is revealed in a reference to

Press Shot

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stands out on stage. Jones prowls around, stares at the audience, wiggles his tongue, and shakes his head so much you feel dizzy just by looking at him. Many

T h e a ll n e w a d v e n t u r e s in H i-F i B y

enjoy the performance. Think James Brown fronting the Ramones. By comparison, most bands are indeed like plain yogourt.

Echo and the Bunnymen, but partic­ ularly in the fact that every slightly emotional scene involving John Cusack has him standing in the rain (see Say Anything).

The movie is basically a collec­ tion of a few wonderful scenes that never really tie together into one solid unit. The best of those scenes come from Jack Black, a star in waiting who most recently played the lead role in Beck’s “Sexx Laws” video and Chip from The Cable Guy. He is perfectly cast, a cocky sharp-tongued employee at Rob’s record store. His introduction to the film where he puts in his “Monday morning tape,” is almost worth the price of admission. He is a true scene stealer and should be able to use this film to propel him to comic stardom.

Aside from the introductory scene, the film takes forever to develop and Hjejle’s struggle to keep up an American accent can get frustrating. The film tries to make a brief explanation when we see a Danish flag in the background of her parents’ home, but you are left wondering why they couldn’t have let her work with the speech coach for an extra week.

There is one part of this film, however, that stands out. The soundtrack is surprisingly good. In a movie where music and a record store play a central role, you would expect the producers to be incredi­ bly self conscious over which songs to put in the record for fear of look­ ing uneducated or pretentious. But, they succeed in choosing the right level of bands, not too obscure but still not fully mainstream, to make the soundtrack just about perfect.

Belle and Sebastian and the Beta Band are two notable appearances.

This will be a great rental, but paying full price to see this movie could be a mistake. Of course if you are dying to see Black, or are a die­ hard Cusack fan, you should check it out. Otherwise, wait three months and be sure to rent it because it’s definitely worth seeing.

expect more than what we can already find on their record.

Jones’ show was a refreshing change in that even if you hadn’t heard the record, you could still

"I am your employee. I will work overtime for y o u . For free"

in a snowstorm just to get to play 15 minutes in Montreal. That’s dedication. There’s nothing more satisfying, as a concert-goer, than a performer giving everything he has on stage. By the second song, Jones was already sweating buck­ ets, clearly having a good time.

His enthusiasm has been reward­ ed over the years with opening gigs for Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Nashville Pussy, and more recently Beck and Sloan. I don’t know what they were think­ ing.

After last week, Danko Jones would be the last person I would have chosen as an opening act, because he upstages every one.

Who wants to have to follow the most exciting act in Canada? As last week’s show revealed: when Jones declares he’s the best, he’s just stating the obvious, “not boastin’, just truthin’,” as he says.

So next time Danko Jones comes to town, do yourself a favour and let him entertain you. You’ll walk away thinking hum ility is an over-rated quality.

There is a tale circulating that Jones once drove for eight hours

T h e r h y t h m ic a n d s o u lf u l s o u n d s o f " J a c k s o u l" B y

K ik i

D r a n ia s

Acid jazz is a frequently mis­ understood genre of music-and quite rightly so. There are no fixed rules to acid jazz as Jacksoul demonstrated for the audience at Le Swimming Wednesday night.

The crowd was small in numbers, which enhanced the show's appeal; it made for an intimate affair, for a select and privileged few — a sort of private tour into a world com­ prised of dynamic synergy between band members and a showcase of rich and melodious vocals from front man Haydain Neale.

Jacksoul was relaxed and friendly on stage. The single "Sleepless" opened the show and the sounds of Jacksoul were as smooth as velvet to the human ear.

However, it was a little difficult to discern Haydain Neale's vocal attributes for the first couple of songs due to the overbearingly loud public address system in the acoustically inept venue.

Judging by the way the audi­ ence was groovin'; they were enjoying the experience, regard­ less.

Another sincere tune titled "Never say Goodbye" was remi­ niscent of a slinky, low-key, soul­ ful stroll, and this sedate, yet potent touch continued with anoth­ er spicy melody titled "She's gone." This composition was exot­ ic with a driving beat and a multi­ tude of intermingled melodies.

Whether their musical sounds were drawn from Latin, drum and bass or soul and funk, it was var­ ied and sprinkled with a generous dose of dedication to originality.

Jacksoul really cannot be catego­ rized, and according to band's press release, that's the way they like it.

Nevertheless, you can proba­

bly call the sounds of Jacksoul, the all encompassing acid jazz, funk mixed with hip-hop, or still yet, soul with a blend of fusion and R&B. This ultimately depends on your own personal wealth of knowledge to the different ele­ ments that envelop musical genres.

But to a simple and humble listen­ er, the sounds of Jacksoul are sim­ ply a unique and daring attempt by a group of young musicians exploring yet another path of a sure to be long-term musical career.

Joining Haydain Neale on his soul trip this evening, were his band members, dubbed the best musicians Neale could possibly hope for. Jacksoul was definitely in sync on stage; the unity was tight, yet free flowing and unre­ hearsed. Drummer Davidé Direzo and Ron Lopata on keyboards jammed well together. The sweet and consummate Adrian Eecleston on acoustic guitar provided a nice initiation into the style of their playing.

"We really are lucky, we play well together,” said Neale and Jacksoul bassist Dave Murray, seated in a cubicle of an office which served as the official inter­ view headquarters. When I asked Haydain Neale where the inspira­ tion comes from, he replied with pensive sentiment, "It comes from soul in the heart, the music cas­

cades from experience, you can not write about something that feels foreign to you as an artist."

Sleepless, is Jacksoul's second CD, however it is their first with ViK Recordings, the domestic imprint of BMG Music Canada.

Their debut album, ABsolute was independently recorded by Jacksoul, and re-released by BMG, which garnered the band a Juno nomination as Best R&B/ Soul Recording. This album which evi­ dently established them as a band driven by a devotion to the power of experimentation and the exploratory of music, to create their own particular sound. Several tracks on Sleepless were co-written with Neale's song writing part­ ner from A B solute, Brent Setterington. As well Neale col­ laborated with multi-instrumental­ ist John "Rabbi" Levine from the Philosopher Kings, and program­ mer James McCulloch from Prozzac.

Whether Jacksoul, will be a short fused musical flash in the world of pop music, ultimately depends if they provide their lis­ tener's with lyrics that are emo­ tionally charged as they did tonight, and not filtered for the sake of selling to the masses. That and perhaps a better choice of a venue the next time they roll into town.

MIS ELECTIONS NOTICE T h e A U S e le c t io n s a d v e r t is e m e n t w h ic h r a n in t h e M a r c h 1 4 t h

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T he Mc G ill T ribune, T uesday, 21 March 2000

Page 24 E n t e r t a i n m e n t

O p e r a M c G i l l 's B l a c k B o x F e s t i v a l c l o s e s w i t h B y

N e m a

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K a r e n

S t e w a r d

Redpath Hall reached its maximum capacity Saturday night as over two hundred people filed in to see Opera M cG ill’s final production of The Crucible. A part of the organization’s annual Black Box Festival, the event showcased the talents o f over twenty student performers under the direction of McGill professor Guillermo Silva-Marin.

Adapted into an opera by Robert Wagner, both the charac­ ters and the story line remain the same as those originally devel­ oped by playwright Arthur Miller.

The opening scene introduces the main characters of the production and sets the premise for the mys­ tical, half-crazed Salem witch­ hunt. The audience is first intro­ duced to Betty Parris, daughter of the local town reverend, bed-rid­ den after having been caught “dancing with the devil in the woods.” Despite the fact Betty is visibly ill, moaning and rolling under the bedcovers, various town residents pour into her bedroom to offer their opinions on the situ­ ation.

“If this is the devil’s work,” remarks one character leaning over her bed, “we’ll seek him out, then we’ll rip him out.” The chaos

T h e

The idea of a mob mentality, another “transcendental” theme of The Crucible, is also portrayed very well in this same scene. If the stage is not split by gender, then the group unites to ostracize one individual, instead. This scene is particularly interesting as the crowd groups together three different times, creating a new outcast each time. First, Abigail is attacked by the group, then Elizabeth is pointed at and cri­ tiqued, and finally John is the last to be excluded. Each character is removed from the group and liter­ ally left standing alone in the middle of the stage, illustrating the ever-changing, ever-powerful mind of the mob.

In both these ways, the play blended powerful imagery with forceful music to create memo­ rable scenes and evoke strong emotions.

ernment abused its power against communists in the early fifties, a partriarchical system abused its power against women in the late 1600s. This recurring theme in the opera is illustrated well by Silva-M arin’s stage direction.

Men throughout the produc­ tion are depicted as bullying, brutal, and very intolerant of women. Even John Procter, whom professes his ever­ lasting love and worry for the fate of his accused wife, is very belligerent toward female characters through­ out the opera. This double­ sided character reaches his bélligerent peak when he treats women as if they were objects, handling them roughly, grabbing their arms and threatening them with whips.

The division between the men and women, or those with power versus those without is also clearly A fr ie n d ly lo o k in g b u n ch e xp lo re s th e a buse o f p o w e r in The C ru cib le Nema Etheridge portrayed near the end of the opera, in the courtroom “We’re talking about deceit, scene. When Elizabeth and other audience involvem ent in the opera, it also illustrates a breaking w e ’re talking about betrayal, “questionable” women have been point for the building tension of we’re talking about the abuse of brought to court to be judged by pow er,” says Silva-M arin. the dominating McCarthy-like certain scenes.

Although Miller’s play uses “We’re doing a production that’s Mr. Danforth, Silva-Marin posi­ characters from the Salem witch not set specifically in 1692; it’s tions all the male characters on the right side of the stage and all trials of 1692, it was written in done in transcendental times.”

Just as the United States gov­ the female characters on the left. the 1950s during an anti-

in this scene heightens when Betty, screaming and crying, sud­ denly jumps out of her bed and runs down the centre aisle of the theatre. Silva-Marin uses this technique several times through­ out the play, and while it expands

Communist period in the United States. The era of McCarthyism no doubt had an influence on Miller’s work, and Silva-Marin is quick to point out many of the universal themes that abound the opera.

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The Crucible was performed in conjunction with American Opus, a collection o f excerpts from twentieth century American operettas. Both productions were apart o f a four-day festival spon­ sored by students and p a rtic i­ pa n ts o f Opera M cGill, which occurs annually in March.

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By C hristian Lander

After last season, it looked as though the Redmen got lucky by scoring one impact rookie in Kirk Reid. Following this season, it looks like the Redmen have struck gold by finding two. Domenico Marcario and Frederic Bernard have been playing against each other since CEGEP. Finally united as teammates they are at the core o f the revitalized Redmen, who are on the verge of becoming a power in Quebec bas­ ketball.

Bom in St. Leonard, Quebec, Marcario played baseball and football before finally settling on basketball in the seventh grade at Jean Eudes High School. He played so well that the following year saw him jump a full age class to play with kids a year older than him. When he finished his high school career and the CEGEP recruiters came calling, he had his pick of schools.

“I got recruited by Montmorency,” says Marcario. “I picked them because they had just won a Canadian national title and my goal was to win one. But things didn’t work out that way, we went to the provincials in my first year, I didn’t play much though. In my second year I played more and we got to the provincial finals again. We went three straight times to provincials and we lost all three to Dawson College, to Fred.”

As a forward on those strong Dawson teams, Bernard would indeed go on to beat Marcario three straight years at the provin­ cial level. Of course, being on opposite teams didn’t make fast friends of these two, but it did cre­ ate an acquaintance that would prove to be helpful in the summer of 1999.

Growing up in Laval, Quebec, Bernard took a little bit of a different path towards the hardwood. Competing in gymnas­ tics and handball for most of his

1999-2000 Marcario Bernard

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childhood, Bernard finally found his way to basketball in high school at College Laval. He did, however, take a little while to take to the game.

“I sucked in the seventh and eighth grade,” says a brutally hon­ est Bernard. “But I kept playing and eventually we won the provincials. I didn’t really take basketball that seriously until my last year of high school when

CEGEPs started recruiting me.

Then I knew I could play that’s when I really started to work on my game.”

His choice o f Dawson College would be a fateful one for Bernard and McGill basketball.

The bulk of his career was spent on the floor with current team­ mates Louis Vigneault and Redmen captain Kirk Reid. When time came for him to choose a university, those friendships would be vital in helping him select.

“Kirk was one of the reasons why I wanted to play for McGill,” says Bernard. “When I got to McGill I didn’t know anyone on the team besides Kirk, Louis and Domenico. Those guys helped me choose McGill. I got some recruit­ ment from Toronto, Guelph, Windsor, and Concordia came once but the guy never called me after that. I got a few letters from the University o f Buffalo and some division II schools, but they didn’t offer me a scholarship.”

Another factor that brought both Bernard and Marcario to McGill was assistant coach Nevio Marzinotto. As a coach for Team Quebec, he was able to see both players up close and successfully convince them both to stay in the province and play for McGill. It would prove to be yet another place where these two players intersected careers.

Last summer, when Marcario found out that Bernard was com­ ing to McGill, he called up his Dawson College rival in hopes that the two could use the summer to get used to each other’s style of play.

“We had always been oppo­ nents on the court and I didn’t really know him that well,” says Marcario. “I called him up and asked him if wanted to play in some tournaments with me this summer. We played together and won a lot, so I said ‘we’re playing so well let’s do this at M cGill’ and it worked out.”

FG 73/159 42/78

FG% 46% 54%

FT 19/25 41/62

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summer league games and report­ ed to McGill, neither really knew what to expect. Both had found the game to move a little slower than in CEGEP, but they could tell that from the stands. What they learned on the court was that the defence and the strength of the players was well above that of CEGEP.

point guard I wasn’t scoring,” says Marcario. “I was just passing and running the offence. It wasn’t really my game. But since Fred expressed how much he wanted to play point guard, the coaches tried it once. I got to play on the wing and it opened up my game and I started scoring again.”

“This summer I worked hard

R e d m e n r o o k ie s D o m e n ic o M a r c a r io a n d F re d e ric B e r n a r d

“I knew the guys were bigger and stronger,” says Bernard. “But I really had no clue how things really were. The defence was real­ ly strong, I learned quickly that moves that worked in CEGEP didn’t work in university.”

One thing that both players found that carried over from CEGEP was the autocracy of the coaches. Coming into this season both players had wished to play a different spot than they were assigned. Over the summer, Marcario further fed his desire to play on the wing at shooting guard or small forward, and Bernard

FT% 76 66

“Those were some ghetto tournaments,” says Bernard of the summer game. “The refs were not really qualified; I don’t know where they got those guys. But it didn’t matter, Domenico and I always had a good team and we just learned how to play with each other in those games. I think it made us play better together this season.”

When the two ended their

T r ib u n e , T u e s d a y , 21 M a r c h 2 0 0 0

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increased his need to play at the point. At McGill, both players had to accept some major role changes, the 6 ’4” Bernard was asked to play forward, and the 5’ 10” Marcario was asked to play the point, since McGill already had a shooting guard in Kirk Reid.

But when the team opened the season 0-4, the coaches were ready to try something new.

“When I started the season at

on ball handling,” says Bernard.

“I wanted to play the point again, but when I got here they wanted me to play forward. Late in the year, when I started playing the point I was so happy to be out there. It’s the position that I really love.”

Once Dom enico was entrenched as a scorer and Bernard as the point guard, the team finally had a set lineup and the wins started coming. After fin­ ishing the season with some big wins over Laval and Toronto the team went on to beat Bishop’s in the semis and force a third game with Concordia in the Quebec Student Sport Federation finals.

That loss and the fact that both players were shut out of the QSSF awards this year have set the goals for next season.

“We’re going to win Quebec next year,” says Bernard. “My goal is to get a national final before my fourth year and I think it’s a realistic goal with this team and the talent that is com ing.

Also, if we start winning that will bring better players and we can really make this program a power­ house. Personally, I want to win defensive player o f the year. I wanted to get that award this year and I was disappointed that I didn’t get it this year. I’m going

Page 25

to work hard to make sure that I get it next year.”

“Once we get a big guy to replace Mark [Rawas] we’ll be set to win Quebec,” says Marcario.

“We can run the floor, we’re real­ ly quick and we’re returning a lot of guys, we can make it to nation­ als. My goal for m yself is to improve my three point shot and

Nema Etheridge

my dribbling. I really just want to work on everything. I wanted to be Rookie of the Year, I though I could have had it, but it just wasn’t mine, I guess. Next year, I want to progress to a first team all-star and hopefully an A llCanadian eventually. But more than anything I just want to be recognized as a good player and leave M cGill with a positive image.”

Finally the paths of Marcario and Bernard have merged and share a collective goal; winning Quebec and eventually a national title. But the two players hope they will have on more chance to play on opposing teams.

“I want to play as long as I can,” says Bernard of his career after McGill. “I hope I can go to Europe and play whatever and wherever I can, basketball is my passion.”

“My dream is to play in Europe after M cG ill,” echoes Marcario. “I’d love to raise family in Italy and play pro ball in Europe, that’s why I want to win and be recognized so I can play in the pro level.”

With any luck, Domenico will get a chance to avenge those CEGEP losses.

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S p o r t s Page 27

T h e u n l i k e l y h e r o o f M c G ill t r a c k a n d f i e l d C h ris tin e L a g a rd e earns all C a n a d ia n status a fte r a s ilv e r m ed a l in th e 60m h u rd le s

By T he M inh Lu o n c

Stepping into the starting blocks with seven of the nation’s top hurdlers to her left, and no one on her right, Christine Lagarde seemed to be a longshot to win a medal at the recent CIAU cham pionships held at McGill.

However, 8.94 seconds after the starter’s pistol fired, the 20 year-old from Laval had estab­ lished herself as an All-Canadian when she reached the finish line before everyone except former Olympian Sonia Paquette.

Along with Sarah Ali-Khan’s win in the 1500 metre race and the men’s 4x800 m relay’s silver medal, Lagarde’s silver medal in the 60 metre hurdles was one of the highlights for the host McGill track and field team at the nation­ al meet. After holding a relatively low tenth-place ranking before the meet, Lagarde’s performance also turned out to be one of the biggest upsets of the weekend.

“It was surprising, nobody thought she would win a medal, though she looked good in her sem i-final heat,” said M cGill head coach Dennis Barrett. “She ran an excellent race, she peaked at the right time.”

Qualifying for the finals with the seventh fastest time, Lagarde was in the outside lane and couldn’t see any of her competi­ tors. After the race, she knew that she had a personal best time, but had no idea that she had won her first national medal. Apparently, neither did anyone else.

“I knew I ran really fast, but I didn’t know where I finished,” said Lagarde shortly after receiv­ ing the medal. “I knew all the (qualifying) times were close, so I had a chance. Then, (teammate Celia Economides) went to post the results, she told me I was sec­ ond, I thought it couldn’t be true.

When I went to the computer room to see the photo finish, I saw the second to seventh finish­ ers were all in a line. It was an amazing race.”

As expected, though, the accolades have come in from across campus over the week for the unexpected medallist.

“All week, people were con­ gratulating me and introducing me as a silver m edallist,” said Lagarde later in the week. “On Monday [after the meet], the prof posted the Gazette article with my result in front of my math class.

It’s been a great week.”

All the attention is relatively new to Lagarde, who has quietly improved over the course of the

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season after getting off to an admittedly slow start. This season, before the nationals, she was unable to top her personal best mark of 9.02 seconds set at last year’s provincials. Though her success wasn’t limited by her slower times, she still won a silver in this year’s provincials with a time of 9.09 seconds. Under the constant guidance o f her personal coach Daniel Taillon, as well as McGill coach Barrett, she was able to put it all together at the end of a gruelling season.

“I was in pain the week before the Nationals. The physios really helped me out, I was totally ready for the race,” said Lagarde. “My times w eren’t that good [earlier this season]. My coaches had planned for me to improve every week, and I just peaked at the right time.”

Lagarde already has eight years of track experi­ ence with her club team, Le Club Athlétisme Dynamique de Laval. After competing extensively in gymnastics as a youngster, she decided to join the track club that was conveniently located near her high school, and started out as a long distance run­ ner. Lagarde soon switched specialties after Taillon, a L a g a r d e is a l l s m ile s a f t e r h e r w in in th e former hurdler who compet­ ed in the 1976 Olympics in Due to the lack of a hurdles Montreal, saw she had a knack sp ecialist on the track team for hurdles.

Lagarde receives all her training “I started hurdling before programs from her personal sprinting. I already had a lot of coach. Still, she enjoys practicing the flexibility you need for hur­ alongside her McGill teammates. dles because of gymnastics,” she Even though there isn’t much said. “There’s a lot of technique overlap between the training involved in running hurdles; I schedules of Lagarde and the rest spent a lot of time this year work­ of her team, she clearly enjoys ing only on technique.”

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being a part of the McGill track team.

“At the club, everyone is more independent; they train by themselves and are more focused on individual results; here [at McGill] we all work together and have a lot of team spirit. I love it here because you are close to your teammates and they are all

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cheering for you when you com­ pete.”

Lagarde chose to come to M cGill in 1998 after being accepted by several Quebec uni­ versities. She started out but with a semester of exhausting cross­ country, and also ran some relay and 300 metre events last year, but Lagarde’s athletic focus is now with her familiar 60 metre hurdling. In that first season of McGill track, she won a silver medal in the 4x200 relay and a bronze in the 60 m hurdles at the provincials, and finished ninth in the hurdles at the CIAU nationals.

With her new All-Canadian status and two years left in her elem entary education degree, Christine Lagarde will be counted on as one o f the leaders o f a promising McGill track team.

“We hope they’ll be there again so w e’ll be a force to be reckoned w ith ,” said coach Barrett about his up and coming athletes. “I hope that Christine continues to improve. It’s diffi­ cult to look down the road, but in the direction she’s been going in hopefully she’ll achieve some­ thing more.”

Lagarde’s long-term athletic aspirations are to com pete in international events such as the Pan American or Commonwealth Games as a member of the nation­ al team. She’ll see where she stands after competing in this summer’s Senior Nationals.

“It will be very hard to make it to that level. I’ll have to keep on working hard,” said Lagarde about her chances about making the national team. “The results from this year are really encour­ aging. It shows that I’ve improved a lot.”

If last weekend’s result is any indication, you can’t count her out.

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T he M cG ill T ribune, T uesday, 21 M arch 2000

Page 28 S p o r t s

S p e c t a t o r s p o r t s a t M c G ill: S t a g n a t i n g rTn he old photos seem to get a little grainier each year. ^ There was a time when M cG ill University decided that 10,000 seats were not enough for Molson Stadium.

A n upper deck was added, doubling capacity and, finally, meeting the demand Redmen football fans created.

The black & white photographs from before 1970 show a football team cheered on by a full or nearly full stands.

“My mother used to go to all the games back in the twenties,” said Redmen football head coach Charlie Baillie. “She didn’t like football at all; it was just the thing to do. People went to watch the McGill football team Saturday afternoon, win or lose.”

Today, that’s not the case.

McGill’s ‘big four’ sports, men’s football, men’s hockey, and women’s and men’s basketball, drew a total of 10,215 fans this year. There is a problem evident there, there’s no denying it.

The numbers have dropped steadily in some sports while remaining stagnant in others.

In the face of budget cutbacks and falling attendance over several years, the Department of Athletics R

edm en hockey a tt en d a n c e

Season 1999-00* 1998-99 1997-98* 1996-97* 1995-96* 1994-95* 1993-94

Home dates 18 15 15 17 14 14 13

Average fans 192 175 171 243 162 .

220 186

* post-season hom e games played

made a proactive decision two years ago, creating a marketing and promotions manager in the person of Denis Kotsoros.

The objectives, according to Bob Dubeau, Director of Athletics, were twofold.

“The first and most important goal was to increase our sponsor base,” said Dubeau. “We felt that there was a fairly large void in that area...[T]he number and values of sponsors at that time were not great.”

The second goal, he explained, was to increase attendance at inter­ collegiate events. “[W]e felt that with some interesting promotions R

ed m en fo o t b a ll a t t e n d a n c e

Season 1999* 1998 1997 1996* 1995 1994* 1993

Home dates 5 4 4 5 4 5 3

Average numbers 969 1160 1315 1963 1554 2478 1690

* post-season hom e games played

we might be able to bring in more people to our games,” he said.

And thus was born the new position. But attendance numbers have continued to waver, despite increased advertising and occasion­ al promotional engagements.

This season, the Redmen foot­ ball team had its lowest average attendance in at least eight years.

Down from an average of nearly

2,000 fans a game as recently as 1996, last season’s squad drew only 969 fans per game.

Kotsoros, entering his third year with this post, admitted that overall attendance has improved at a slower pace than he would have hoped.

“We did an analysis and real­ ized that we had some shortcom­ ings [with respect to promotions],” he said. He argued that an overall package, including a new web site, more aggressive postering, and the introduction of Athletics magazine to promote the department have had some positive influences. “[Focus groups] have shown that awareness has built up. But awareness has not translated into attendance,” Kotsoros said.

Baillie, entering his 31st sea­ son as head coach of the Redmen, was more direct.

“You’d think that with a spe­ cial marketing and promotions department that it would improve,” he said. “I think that generally speaking, the team could have done better, but I don’t think that’s the answer to getting crowds. You have to have some exciting players - and we do - that they could hook onto if they publicized it right. You can start to build heroes...— Michael Jordan types in the ama­ teur ranks - if you do the right thing. I don’t think we do a very good job of that.”

An important factor, Dubeau noted, is the fact that the Queen’s Golden Gaels, McGill’s chief rival, have not visited Molson Stadium in three years. “[The numbers] change depending on whether Queen’s comes to down or not,” he said.

‘The Queen’s game can sometimes be 20-30 per cent of the total gate for the year.”

For both football and hockey, stadium location and a dearth of parking play an important role as well. With poor access to public transportation nearby, McConnell Winter Arena is especially uninvit­ ing. But Dubeau didn’t hide from the poor numbers.

“I would not be telling the truth if I said I was happy with the attendance at McGill intercolle­ giate events,” he said. “It’s increased to a certain extent over the past couple of years, but not necessarily in leaps and bounds.

[But] our hockey team this year was very competitive, and our crowds increased quite a lot if you look at the statistics.”

Average attendance at hockey games is up. But the numbers are unimpressive. After the team’s 1996-97 playoff run, wherein by season’s end they were averaging 243 fans a game, the numbers dropped off. The next season, just 171 fans a game showed up. This year, with one playoff game again

bolstering the numbers, the Redmen averaged 192 per game.

Clearly, at least in bas­ ketball and hockey, whether a team makes the playoffs or not has a s ig n ific a n t T h in g s s u re h a v e c h a n g e d s in c e 1 9 7 0 a t M o ls o n S ta d iu m effect on overall average attendance. For the of his classes.

“We found that a lot of stu­ 1996-97 hockey team, three post­ dents were not aware of McGill season games meant a 75 personevents,” he said. “We found some per-game jump in the average. For people didn’t even know we had a this year’s basketball squad, one rink at McGill. We found that peo­ playoffs matchup against ple in phys-ed were generally Concordia boosted the average aware, but on lower campus, from 109 to 137. there’s none.”

Darche was, regrettably, a M a k in g a g a m e o f it player few people got to see in his time at McGill. In the process of Both B aillie and Kotsoros leading his team to one of best sea­ agreed that games have to be more sons in 60 years, he captured the of an event than they are at present. national scoring title. His linemate Kotsoros put forward the idea of Dave Gourde, despite missing the showcasing rising musical talent at last two games of the season with a football games to go along with the broken leg, finished third in scor­ plane ticket and pizza giveaways ing. Defenceman David Bahl com­ currently in place. pleted the triumvirate, topping all “Last year, we went into the other blue-liners in the point-race. intramural programs with free tick­ “Often, I looked for [posters] ets [to a Redmen & Martlet basket- on campus, and found nothing,” ball game], and nobody took Darche continued, referring now to them,” Kotsoros noted. “Here they this season. “For our game with are playing intramural basketball Trois Rivières, each time I walked and they wouldn’t take free tickets. by a billboard I looked to see if It comes back to the fact that it has there was something up, and I to be entertainment for the fans.” didn’t find any. And I was looking Baillie suggested that, follow­ for them. Imagine somebody who’s ing an older model, the games not looking for them.” should be only one pieee of an Dubeau disagrees with those afternoon’s activity. “If we did statements. He stated that he is things the way they should be pleased with the department’s pub­ licity campaign this year.

B a sk etball a t t en d a n c e “There are some people around campus who say they don’t Average Home Season know about the games. Well, if Numbers dates they don’t know about the games, 137 1999-00* 14 they’re blind, or they don’t listen, 154 13 1998-99 because the information’s every­ 136 13 where. If you read the Tribune, you 1997-98 know what’s going on,” he said, 191 1996-97 14 referring both to coverage and to 187 1995-96 13 weekly colour advertising. “But we 13 254 1994-95 also have a program where we put 158 1993-94* 13 information on a poster board in all * post-season hom e games played the major buildings. We have ban­ done, there should be an activity in ners on lower campus. We’ve got the gym every game.” sandwich boards at the entrances.

He went on to say that for him, You have to be blind...or absolute­ event advertisement has been lack­ ly [not] care not to know that ing on campus. there’s something going.”

“I don’t think that we do a For Darche, that’s simply not good job of promoting the games,” true. he said. “Probably half the students “Maybe he’s being told that don’t really know if there’s a game that’s what happens, but I don’t see being played on Saturday or not.” it on lower campus very often. The Mathieu Darche, a U3 market­ only ones I see are 81/2 x 11 ing student and captain of the posters on a billboard with 10,000 Redmen hockey team, agrees. A others and they don’t stand out at year ago, he and a colleague com­ a ll,” he said. “You have to be pleted an attendance study for one proactive in finding them. People

don’t just walk on campus and say ‘oh yeah, there’s a hockey game tonight, let’s go.’”

However, there is both reason for hope and room for improve­ ment with respect to attendance at McGill-hosted events. Despite the poor figures, there have been a few instances in the recent memory where fans have turned out in droves. In football, the last big event was in 1996, when 4885 peo­ ple showed up to see the Redmen played host to the Golden Gaels on a day that was both the Shriner’s Hospital Bowl and the Homecoming game.

And just two weeks ago, aver­ age game attendance nearly quadrupled as the Redmen basket­ ball team played host to Concordia in the playoffs. Martlet basketball coach Lisen Moore, discussed how the crowds, combined with an impromptu quartet of drummers at the game affected the atmosphere.

“With those boys beating on the drums, how [much more] excit­ ing it can be? Any time you can get more people in, the reward for everybody goes up.” The key to creating a real sense of excitement, she argued, is to give indepedant students the means to do it on their own.

“These guys coming in and banging on the drums is the best thing that ever happened to our department. They really add a cer­ tain spirit which we need to build off now and not just have these guys graduate in two years and be back at square one.”

Eyal Baruch, assistant facili­ ties and events manager at McGill explained that while the marketing department has done a good job working with sponsors, the time has come to focus more on event promotion.

“It’s more than just putting it on the web page and hoping people show up,” he said, adding that he expects to see attendance numbers rise next year. “It’s almost getting out there with a bull horn and say­ ing ‘come see the gam e.’ The posters don’t work anymore; peo­ ple don’t read posters anymore.”

The Mc G ill T ribune, T uesday, 21 M arch 2000

S p o r t s Page 29

T h e p r e s e a s o n g u id e to b a s e b a ll a c c e s s o rie s O u r choices o f th e to p b a se b a ll m o vie s, v id e o g a m e s a n d b o o k s o f all tim e by

C hristian Lander____________

T o p F ive b a se b a ll m o vie s 1. Major League (1989) It isn’t even close. Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn, W illie “Mays” Hayes and the rest of this collection of misfits that shock the world and win the American league east pen­ nant in the best baseball movie of all time. It didn’t receive any criti­ cal acclaim, but it is impossible to find a movie that could get you more excited about the start of sea­ son. Filmed in 1988, the movie was made during the best baseball years of this generation. To see the old uniforms and stadiums can fill you with nostalgia for the late eighties.

The story itself is remarkably engaging, and powerful enough to get even the most cynical viewer to be cheering for Pedro Cerrano in his final at bat.

T o p Five B aseball V id e o G am es 1. High Heat 2001 - PC This new release from 3DO is simply the best all around baseball game ever made. The actual gameplay is probably the most realistic ever. On the offence, your strikeout and walk totals are pretty much in line with those of the major leagues. Hitting is appropriately difficult, but the better and more powerful batsmen reveal them­ selves after only a few games.

There are also the little details like the ability to throw at a batter, and the consequence of getting thrown out of the game for playing head hunter. The graphics are stunning with motion-capture players and perfectly rendered stadiums (including the new Pac-Bell in San

2. The Sandlot (1993) A big surprise at number two considering that it doesn’t involve the majors. This movie is vastly overlooked by a lot of fans, but is well done and fun to watch. It’s extremely sweet without being overly sentimental, and there are some legitimately funny parts. It’s quite a shock that a G-rated movie could be so good. Dennis Leary gives a great performance as the stepfather of the main child.

3. Eight Men Out Perfectly filmed to capture 1919 Chicago, this movie is best suited to people with an interest in baseball history. Keeping things historically accurate allows the film to serve as a real window on base­ ball’s early years and first big scan­ dal.

4. The Bingo Long Travelling All-Stars and Motor Kings (1976) A movie that generally goes overlooked by most fans, this story of a 1939 negro league team is an entertaining comedy that is well worth watching. The cast reads like a laundry list of the best black actors of the 7 0 ’s: Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones, and Richard Pryor. Based loosely on the legends of Negro League stars Satchel Paige, Josh Gihson and Cool Papa Bell.

5. Ken Burns’ Baseball Obviously it would be tough to watch all 9 ‘innings’ of this 18 hour documentary, but it is highly recommended that you try to make your way through at least two of the innings before the season starts.

The sixth and seventh inning focus mostly on the the 50’s and 60’s are the definitely the most interesting serials.

R B I B a s e b a ll fe a tu r e s e ig h tie s s ta r s

Francisco, and Enron Field in Houston). The strongest part of this game, however, is the career mode.

When you take control of a team, you are able to manage them over the course of multiple seasons. Not only are you responsible for the big league club, but you are able to keep tabs on all three levels of your minor league system.

2. Triple Play 2001 - PSX With the obvious limitations on memory and disk space that come with platform games, Triple Play makes excellent use of its resources. The graphics are the best yet on a console system. The play­ ers all look fabulous and propor­ tional to their size in real life. In

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other words, Mark McGwire and Rey Ordonez do not share a body type. Players with distinct batting stances are also acknowledged by the game, Chuck Knoblauch’s crouch and Nomar Garciaparra’s obsessive compulsive pulling on his batting gloves are two notable additions. The game play itself is paced at exactly the right speed.

Fielding and hitting are both set a realistic difficulties and the control is near perfect. The game does have some flaws like the stupid cartoon rocket noises that accom­ pany every hard throw or home run. Fortunately, that is the only draw back in the best console base­ ball game on the market.

3. Tony LaRussa II - PC An old game to be sure (released in 1992), this game was a true forerunner to the hyper realis­ tic games of today. The graphics have the players looking more like cartoons than ballplay­ ers, but the stadiums still look great, and if you are lucky enough to have this game you can still access Cleveland Munici pal stadium, Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, and other old ballparks.

As for playing it, Tony LaRussa II is an absolute joy. It’s fun, engag­ ing and almost totally realistic, save for the fact that there are almost no walks other than inten­ tional in the game. The game was the first to feature a fantasy draft.

This coupled with a quick simulat­ ing season makes the game incredi­ bly addictive. You can also find past seasons with full rosters on the web and import them into the game. Sure, there are some lacking features (No Major League License so no Yankees logos, and no career mode) but this game is still one of the best there ever was.

5. RBI Baseball - NES With real Major League play­ ers from the 1987 game, this game was an instant success. Of course they didn’t include every team (Blue Jays and Expos were notable exceptions), but that didn’t seem to matter. You could use George Bell with the American League all-star team and Tim Wallach with the NL all-stars. For the first time, the players were real. They had the real

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T o r tfie f a s t s i x y e a r s , o u r s t u d e n t c fie n te fe fia s

3 E A S Y W A YS TO G E T Y O U R R E FU N D

Call Us: Email Us: Website: Stop by:

(514) 744-8070 info@clarkedefour.ca www.clarkedefour.ca McGill University, February 28 - April 28 * Monday - Friday

* Shatner Building 3480 McTavish 11:00 am - 5:00 pm * McConnel Engineering Building (Ground floor) 11:00 am - 5:00 pm * Leacock Building, 855 Sherbrooke St. West (Ground floor) 9:30 am- 5:00 pm

T o p F ive B aseball B ooks 1. Babe by Robert Creamer 2. Diamond Dreams by Steven Brunt 3. Season Ticket by Roger Angell 4. Total Baseball 5. Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever by Satchel Paige

WHERE: Leacock232

Robert Benoit, MNA (PLQ Environment Critic) @ 3PM

Come see environmental displays from the Departments of: • McGill School of Environment • Chemistry • Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering (Macdonald Campus) • Geography • Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics • Biology

r e p a r a t i o n

$400

H onourable m entions: Baseball Stars (NES), Baseball Stars II (NES), Tony LaRussa 3 (PC), Old Time Baseball (PC), Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball (SNES).

KEYNOTESPEAKER

“We believe in m axim izing yo u r incom e tax re tu rn s ”

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names with the real stats. The play­ ers may not have looked like their big league counterparts, we all know that Lee Smith wasn’t a short, fat white man, but we over­ looked that and enjoyed the game anyway. If you still have a jones for this game, then you can find a version on the Internet that can be played on your computer via an emulator.

MARCH 27, 2000

llE F O U K

r e c e i v e d t a x r e f u n d s a v e r a g in g $400

Omit. Field of Dreams Yes this is a fabulous baseball movie, but it is so much more of a fdm to watch during the season. It lacks the necessary comedy and aura that makes you excited for opening day.

4. Earl Weaver - PC The start of it all. The first game with real stadiums, manageri­ al options, roster editing, and clas­ sic baseball teams. This game is the most classic computer baseball game of them all. If you’ve never played it before, it’s senseless to try and pick up a copy now and start managing against Earl. It has been improved on in every area by games like High Heat, Hardball and the Tony LaRussa series. But if you played this game when you were a kid, you could never leave it off your top five list.

Also see displays from: • • • •

Environmental Law McGill Eco-Quartier Greening McGill Chabad House

Food and coffee provided by: • •

Un Juste Café Earth Save

Brought to \ ou in part In SS.\1I and ( ) l’ lKG For more info call 398-188 1 or em ail ssm ucm iro(" holm ail.com

Page 30 S p o r ts

T he Mc G ill T ribune, T uesday, 21 March 2000

F i e l d h o u s e is h o m e t o Q S S F i n d o o r s o c c e r c h a m p i o n s h i p s T h e R edm en p la y ro le o fg ra c io u s hosts b y d ro p p in g tw o in th e to u rn a m e n t

By James Emprincham

Trois Rivières head coach Pierre Clermont admittingly con­ cedes, “the importance of winning this tourney isn’t very much.” But that’s exactly what his team did last Saturday night at the McGill Fieldhouse.

The Patriotes played two rela­ tively mistake-free games versus the McGill Redmen in the semi­ final and the Sherbrooke Vert et Or in the final, and earned the right to call themselves the win­ ners of the University Cup Indoor Soccer Championships for the 9900 season.

The night of soccer saw the Patriotes need penalty kicks to defeat second seeded and defend­ ing indoor champs McGill 1-0 in the semifinals, and set up their final with Sherbrooke which the Pats took in a lopsided contest 4-0.

Sherbrooke, who earlier had defeated Concordia 2-1 in the other semifinal, was the tourna­ ment’s first seed but after the final no one was talking upset.

“The indoor game is a totally different one that the outdoor,”

explained McGill defender Gino Lalli. “In the indoor game it real­ ly just comes down to who wants

it more.”

Lalli, summed up the McGill effort in the tournament by adding

that, “we came with everything but the kitchen sink, but the teams are so equal that every game can go either way.”

The consolation final had Concordia taking it to McGill early, going up 2-0 within the first five minutes of the game. McGill responded with its lone goal of the tourney, when Lalli put one past the keeper in the 28th minute of action. Concordia quickly added another one in the 39th minute and the game was all but over. After the game McGill head coach Pat Raimondo wasn’t offering the excuse that Concordia might have been more rested than the Redmen, having played their semifinal one hour earlier.

“Fatigue wasn’t a factor at all.

Our effort was good but you’re just not going to win too many games when you only score one goal in eighty m inutes,” said Raimondo.

Should the Redmen’s fourth place finish worry the team ’s fans? Raimondo explains: “There’s really no compari­ son between the indoor and out­ door season. The indoor season is

a good opportunity to work on things as a team and stay in shape.

The outdoor season is what’s for real, it’s why we’re here.”

Undoubtedly though, the indoor season does serve some important purposes. It is the best chance for a coach to see his rook­ ies in action, who may not receive much playing time outdoors. It’s also the only university level com­ petition available to the players during the long off-season.

Despite the Redmen’s poor show­ ing at the tournament, there is no reason to believe that they are not prepared to defend their Quebec University title next season.

“We’re off until after exams, but we’re very excited to get back in September,” said Raimondo.

“We have some unfinished busi­ ness to take care of at the nationals in McMaster next season.”

The team only stands to lose five of its players to graduation this summer, so the excitement surrounding next year’s campaign is legitimate. After Saturday’s tourney the Redmen are just happy the real season is outdoors.

M c G ill h o s t s Q S S F c h a m p i o n s h i p o f b a d m i n t o n U n iv e rs ité de M o n tré a l has v e r y s tro n g s h o w in g b y w in n in g p ro v in c ia l title B y

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McGill did not have the luck of the Irish at the Quebec Student Sport Federation badminton cham­ pionships held at the Currie Gym over the St. Patrick’s Day week­ end. But it was high calibre play and not a lack of horseshoes which led to no hometown athletes par­ ticipating in the finals on Sunday.

“The draw was very tough,” acknowledged McGill coach Robbyn Hermitage. “Some of the competitors today are playing at the national level. We are mostly a university or provincial team.”

Impressive skill levels provid­ ed for some exciting final match­ es. Great rallies and hurtling shut­ tlecocks distinguished this compe­ tition from the leisurely bad­ minton of family reunions.

Despite not participating in the final day of competition, sev­ eral McGill athletes had strong showings on Saturday. Among them were the women’s doubles pair of Merryn Roberts and Anne Lefebvre. The group advanced to the third round by defeating McGill teammates Tristany Tang

and Clarissa Yang. The duo lost out to eventual finalists from Université de Montreal.

“They know your weakness­ es. However, you’re less nervous playing,” said Tang on the drawbacks and be ne f i t s of competing against teammates.

I n wom en’s singles action, Jenni fer Wu won her first round match only to be upset by Lysa Guillemette of Laval in the second round. Christina Simpson also advanced to the second round with a victory.

Yang teamed up with Darshan

Prabhu in the mixed doubles com­ petition. The team recorded a vic­ tory but was unfortunately defeat­ ed by another strong Université de Montreal pair.

“We had some of our best results of the season ,” said Hermitage after her team’s effort on the weekend. “We have improved a lot from the start of

the season.”

Although badminton is an individual or duo sport, there is still a sense of “team”. When asked to comment on the bright spots of the tourna­ ment, Hermitage pointed to the constant cheering and encour­ agement of the players by their teammates.

“The team spirit was really good, there was a lot of sports­ manship — best sportsmanship team in the league,” boasted Hermitage about the McGill athletes.

In other action, Jonathan Bolduc of Laval had a strong day. He won the men’s singles competition, and he also combined with Dominic Poulin to take the m en’s doubles event. The women’s dou­ bles went Bolduc and Poulin’s Laval teammates Lysa Guillemette and Sophie Joubarne. On the sin­ gles side, l’Université du Québec

à Trois Rivières’ Karine Lachance survived a close match with Amelie Felix from l’Universite de Montreal to win the event.

In the overall team competi­ tion, Université de Montreal and Laval advanced to the finals by defeating Sherbrooke and UQTR respectively. The Carabins defeat­ ed Laval on Sunday by winning three of the five events.

The QSSF championship marks the end of the season for McGill’s badminton team. Coach Hermitage sees varied opponents as the key for continuing improve­ ment next year. With only thirteen players on the roster, practice can only be beneficial to a certain point.

“We need a lot more match play,” said Hermitage. “Playing against better teams will bring our level up.”

This formula should keep M cGill’s badminton players in search for the gold at the end of the rainbow.

The Mc G ill T ribune, Tuesday 21 M arch 2000

M c G ill w i n s S k i t i t l e

Fe m a le M c G ill-a d id a s A th le te o f th e W e e k

W o m e n 's te a m w in s p ro vin c ia l c h a m p io n s h ip Thanks to a silver medal finish in the final race of the season from Lauren Head, the McGill women’s alpine ski team clinched the overall season title over the weekend. The title was the first championship won in skiing by the w o me n ’s team since 1994.

McGill (5, 483. 20 points) ended up winning the champi­ onship by 49.76 points over the l ’Uni versi té de M ontréal (5,433.44), which works out to a combined total of three seconds out of ten races over the season.

Bishop’s was third with 5108.84 points.

The performance from indi­ vidual champion Brianne Law’s was key to the Martlet victory, as she won a gold and silver in separate giant slalom events.

Law, a freshman from Hamilton, ended up winning six out of the ten races she compet­ ed in. Teammate Shaunna Burke was second in the final individ­ ual standings, giving McGill the top two spots in women’s skiing Over the weekend, Burke won a gold and silver in the identical races that Law raced in as the Martlets took the top two podi­ um spots in both giant slalom events. Head, needed a top fin­ ish in the final race for the

Martlets to win the champi ­ onship, and her silver medal win in the slalom event clinched the title. In two separate races, she finished only 0.30 seconds in cumulative time behind the win­ ner.

The men finished in third place out of eight teams in the province, behind Montréal and Bishop’s. McGill’s most consis­ tent skier, Dave Prchal, had a 12th place finish and was sev­ enth in the final overall stand­ ings - C hristian L ander

W atch th e T ribune

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Alpine Skiing Birthplace Hamilton, Ont. Faculty Science, U1

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A lso , look for the T ribune A th le te o f th e

Achievem ent Law won gold and silver medals in seperate slaloms at Mont Original.

Her performance was a big reason why the team won their first alpine ski championship since 1994. So far this season she has won six of her ten races, and claimed the invididual title by earning 1197.79 of a possible 1200.

M a le M c G ill-a d id a s A th le te o f th e W e e k

S p orts section n ext w e e k

Paul C on n er's in v e stig a ­

S p o r t s Page 31

Age 22

Birthplace Ile-Bizard, Que. CEGEP Marianopolis College Faculty Electrical Engineering, U3

Achievem ent Gino Lalli scored one goals in each of two games that the Redmen participat­ ed in over the weekend. As a defender on the men’s team he has been one of the team leaders and a major reason for their championship during the out­ door season.

y e a r finalists a n d vote o n lin e starting n ext w e e k at: h t t p : / / tr ib u n e , m cg ill. c a

S C H N E ID E R S Q U IC H E S s e e varieties in store, 200 g

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Imported beer

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P R 0 F H S 10 N : E P I ( IE R G rocers by p r o f e s s i o n

METRO

AVENUE DU PARC

J a n e J a c o b s w ill b e a t th e M cGill B o o k sto re C afé ( 2 nd floor) T u esd ay, April 4 th , 6 :0 0 pm

IMAGINING BASEBALL

by David M cGim psey

BOOK LAUNCH

M cG ill Bookstore Café W ednesday, April 5th 5:30pm

This book is a conversation about how “Americas Pastime" is fictionalized in a variety of cultural products. Moving from traditionally “high brow" novels to pop culture artifacts, it offers an appraisal of baseballs cultural allure. Acknowledging the tie between the fans and the cultural critic, between the business of baseball and the poetry of the green fields.

Jane Jacobs isfh e p u th o r qf severalJpooks, including the

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• White Ink Jet Labels • Ink Jet Media Labels • Business Cards/Name Badges • Ink Jet Specialty Labels • Specialty Labels • Index Dividers

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11:00am - 12:00pm 12:00pm - 1:00pm 4:00pm - 5:00pm 5:00pm - 6:00pm

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