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SSMU 'insensitive' — BSN By S hehryar Fazli
Canadian Fortes Private Anelas bows his head during a Remembrance day ceremony in Dominion Square on Saturday
Patrick Fok
The Black Students’ Network questioned the Students’ Society of McGill University’s sensitivity towards minority issues when the Students’ Society chose not to rati fy the group’s constitution in coun cil last week. One month ago, the BSN unanimously passed its new consti tution before its general assembly. Expecting the constitution to then be ratified by SSMU, the organiza tion was caught off guard last Thursday when the document was excluded from discussion at SSMU council. According to Akin Alaga, chair of the BSN Constitutional Committee, SSMU articulated that it chose not to approve the BSN constitution on the grounds that its preamble is inflammatory in its ref erence to James McGill, the University’s founder, as a slave owner. Alaga explained that he was also told that the student gov ernment believes the preamble conveys an impression that the group is exclusionary in a fragment that reads: "...we are dedicated to fully assume our responsibilities as Blacks on the McGill campus." SSMU’s argument, according to Alaga, was that the BSN was liable to give non-black students a feeling of being unwelcome in the club, if the preamble claimed that black students have unique respon sibilities to be fulfilled at the University. Jeremy Farrell, SSMU VP community and government affairs and a member of the BSN, expressed his concerns about the constitution. "The constitution, on the whole, is great, but... the preamble is problematic," Farrell stated. "The preamble is supposed to be a document alluding to what the con stitution is about. It should be a lit tle more clear and concise. This one isn’t, and at times, it sounds like the BSN is really only for black students, and it’s not, it’s to deal with the issues of a black stu dent. [The premble] sounds a little too inflammatory..." Alaga rejected the notion that the preamble would have been more appropriate if it had been
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more carefully worded. "Rewording of the preamble would amount to the repression of the Black experience of McGill students and the suppression of Black history in Quebec," he said. "In fact, if the notion of unique responsibilities was exclusionary, then indeed the whole notion of a Black Student Network must be called into question." SSMU Equity Commissioner Amarkai Laryea also spoke of the sense of identity that the fragment emphasizes, and argued that it is exactly this sense of identity that clubs like the BSN are founded upon. "[SSMU] has not provided a critical race analysis," he said. "It has failed to look through the eyes of a racial minority to [determine] how the constitution looks through their eyes... If the constitution did not state such a thing, it would be just like any other network, and not the Black Students’ Network." Both Laryea and Alaga stress that the body of the constitution specifically states, in Article III, that: "BSN is a resource center that is open to the entire McGill com munity. While the mandate of the Network is dedicated to addressing the needs and interests of Black peoples, all interested parties irre spective of race, culture, or creed are encouraged to participate in the organization." Contrary to Farrell’s point of view, SSMU VP Clubs and Services Chris Gratto argued that Alaga misinterpreted SSMU’s motives, maintaining that the stu dent government’s decision not to ratify the proposed BSN constitu tion was strictly related to proce dural considerations. "Normally when a club that is established changes their constitu tion, I get a letter from the President, or Coordinator, or exec utive to say that quorum was met... and [that] procedure was followed," he explained. "I didn’t get this letter [from the BSN]." According to Gratto, the docu ment was returned to the BSN, and some suggestions were made on how to improve upon the docu m ent’s provisions to make it C ontinued on Page 2
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The McG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 14 November 2000
International stu d e n ts concerned a b o u t skyrocketing fees Tuition increases no longer bound by governm ent regulations By S hehryar Fazli
McGill’s recent deregulation of international student fees has caused concern around campus about the impact on international students of a system that enables the University to raise their tuition by however much it pleases. In April of this year, the University decided not to ask the Quebec government to subsidize newly registered undergraduate international students. In a system where the Quebec government sub sidizes international students, the balance McGill receives from inter national student fees are remitted to the government, which then returns roughly 50% of that balance back to the University. As a result of the partial deregulation, the University will retain control of money that it receives from newly registered international students’ tuition, gen erating an estimated increase in rev enue of at least $2 million over the course of this academic year. While the financial advantages of the new arrangement are clear, one drawback to deregulation is that the University is no longer bound by government regulations restrict ing increases of international stu
dent fees, leaving McGill with the authority to change these rates as it pleases. While the government retains control over minimum tuition fees, the University now controls the maximum limit. According to M cGill’s VP Administration and Finance Morty Yalovsky, deregulation affected international students neither acade mically nor financially. Yet while the University decided not to modi fy international student tuition fees for the current academic year, it has yet to articulate its plan for future years to the student body. This lack of communication on the part of the Administration has left some stu dents disconcerted. “No information is ever dis seminated to the students,” said Jennifer Bilec, president of the McGill International Student Network. “[There is] a complete lack of disseminating information to international students about fee deregulation... The University should be consulting its students. Very few students know about deregulation, and the fact that I’m finding out about it so late makes me a little nervous.” One of Bilec’s chief concerns is how the new revenue is going to be distributed by the University.
“The money is coming from international students,” she said. “I’d like to see some of that money go back to international student ser vices.” In trying to learn more about the University’s plans regarding distribution of the tuition revenue, Bilec approached the Administration. Her efforts, howev er, did not generate the response she was seeking. “[It was] really frustrating. Since September I’ve been going round and round and round in cir cles. Whenever I ask the Administration, they have no clue about it. And if they do have any idea about what I’m talking about, they have no information. I’m always hit with a brick wall when I meet someone who might have information [when they say] ‘I’m sorry this is confidential.’” Bilec has been working with the President of the Students’ Society of McGill University, Wojtek Baraniak, towards making information pertaining to deregula tion more accessible to international students. The two will be meeting this week to finalize an action plan that will dictate how the MISN and SSMU will proceed in representing international student concerns
The Departm ent of Italian Studies presents
D a n t e A lig h ie r i N ic o lo M a c h ia v e lli F e d e r ic o F e llin i DANTE AND THE MIDDLE AGES 132-355B (3 credits) Instructor: Prof. Elena Lombardi This course traces D ante’s personal, theological and poetic journey in the Divine Comedy and covers major episodes from Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. D ante’s m asterpiece is located w ithin the background of M edieval history, philosophy and litera tu re and issues such as autobiography and conversion, lan guage, intertextuality, authorship, the body etc., are examined to highlight the qualities that make Dante’s poem one of the masterpieces of world literature. Schedule: Monday and Wednesday, 13:30 -15:00 DIRECTOR IN FOCUS: Federico Fellini and the Circus of Life 132-377B (3 credits) Instructor: Dr. Eugenio Bolongaro Federico Fellini is w ithout a doubt one of the m ost acclaimed and influential film directors of all tim es. Spanning the second h alf of th e 20 th century, Fellini’s oeu vre plays a crucial role in the evolution of the contem porary cinema. This course will focus on Fellini’s highly personal vision and will rely on the rich metaphor of the tightrope and the circus to guide us to the core of his fictional world. Schedule: Monday and Wednesday, 15:30 - 17:30 MACHIAVELLI 132-464B (3 credits) Instructor: Prof. Sergio Gilardino Through a reading of The Prince as well as selected plays, letters and other writings, this course will delve into some of the reasons for Nicolo Machiavelli’s renown as well as the trem endous controversy surrounding his ideas. Schedule: Tuesday and Thursday, 16:00 -17:30 For further information, please contact the Departm ent of Italian Studies, 688 Sherbrooke, rm. 441,398-3953, italian@po-box.mcgill.ca
regarding deregulation. They hope to persuade the Administration to set conditions on tuition hikes, and suggest a process whereby the University must inform internation al students of any increases at least four to five months before imple menting them, either via an open forum or through student groups like the MISN. “We want to inform [students] that this change has happened,” explains Baraniak. “The next step will be gauging the reaction of stu dents... and [try] to answer their questions, [such as] ‘Does this mean that my tuition is going to skyrocket?’ so on and so forth.” A number of international stu dents addressed the issue, display ing a blend of displeasure and uncertainty. “This is another situation where McGill has chosen to do
something without integrating the students [into the process],” said Ali Jamshaid, an international student in his third year at the University. Another international student, Oko Shio, expressed similar wari ness towards the Administration’s failure to effectively inform interna tional students about deregulation. “Does this mean that when McGill decides it needs more money, it can just say, ‘Hey, we’ll take it from international stu dents’?” she asked. “It would be a little more comforting if we knew what the [University’s] plan is.” So far that plan seems to be still at the drawing table. According to Yalovsky, while the Administration is in the midst of developing next year’s budget, no has been made with respect to the rate of tuition for international stu dents.
Law an d social justice By S hehryar Fazli
Lesra Martin, whose fight to free Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter is documented in the best selling non fiction book, Lazarus and the Hurricane, and in the movie, The Hurricane, spoke at this year’s inaugural seminar of the Pro Bono Students of Canada. The seminar, part of “The Power of Making a Difference” series took place at the Faculty of Law last Monday to promote the group’s mandate of advocating pub lic service work. The Faculty of Law of the University of Toronto established PBSC, a network that links law stu dents who wish to do volunteer work with community organiza tions, in September 1996. Since then, several chapters have opened up around the nation, McGill’s being the fourteenth, and first in the province of Quebec. PBSC National Director Pam Shine also addressed the group, talking about the importance of an impartial justice system in society, and of organizations such as PBSC in advocating such a system. “The rule of law is central to democracy,” said Shine. “[There is] too little information about how to use a law degree to fight social injustice. I believe you can use a law degree to make change.” Shine also commented on the role of pro bono (volunteer) organi zations in promoting an equitable
environment where all groups have similar access to the legal system. “There is a gaping need and no supply unless we turn to...pro bono services,” she said. “Pro bono [work] is a critical piece of public interest legal services. Without it we will risk falling into the sce nario... where access to justice is still limited as to endanger our social and political system. Pro bono is an essential piece of the public, and Pro Bono Students Canada helps to fill the gap of unmet legal needs, not in any way to replace legal aid or pro bono ser vices by lawyers, but to supplement it. And importantly, at the same time to give students practical expe rience, community connections and meaningful work as well as a pro bono ethic that [can be carried] to work beyond law school.”
Martin fights the good fight
kc Bolton
Martin, who was functionally illiterate until the age of fifteen when he left his home in New York to move to Toronto where he was taken care of by a Canadian family C ontinued on Page 3
BSN 'confused' — Gratto C ontinued from Page 7
appear more inclusive. Gratto explained that these suggestions could have been misinterpreted as being the reason SSMU returned the draft constitution. "I think [the BSN] got con fused," he said. "I think they thought [that requesting] a letter is something abnormal when it’s just a standard, something that’s always been done." Alaga stuck to his claim, how ever, that SSMU’s original objec tion to the document was related strictly to its content, and asserted
that arguments against the proce dural method of the Committee’s drawing up of the constitution emerged only after the BSN made clear that it would publicly fight SSMU’s decision. He will be advo cating sensitivity training for SSMU executives in the coming weeks. Gratto rejected Alaga’s claim, and stated that if the same docu ment is presented before the next SSMU council meeting, and that the procedural conditions are met, then it will be ratified.
The McG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 14 November 2000
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Panel discusses M iddle East
Pro Bono
Non-partisan forum addressed Arab-lsraeli issues in an educational atmosphere
C ontinued from Page 2
By M ike Bargav and N ema Etheridge
In recent weeks, demonstra tions, rallies, and vigils decrying the conflict in the Middle East have become a commonplace occurence at McGill. The Arablsraeli forum which took place November 8 however, represented the first non-denominational, non partisan discussion forum at McGill. It was orgainized by a group of five concerned McGill students and supported by featured speak ers, Rex Brynen, political science professor specializing in the Middle East, and Peter Leuprecht dean of Law. Discussion on the conflict was placed in the context of many of the legal and political issues that plague it. Participants were allowed to table questions to the floor pending screening, and upon invitation, raise interven tions, in order to create a con trolled discussion. Dean Leuprecht opened the forum and set the tone for discusson. “First of all, I want to remind you where we are. We are in a uni versity,” he said. “ A university is not only a place of professional training, but education in the noblest sense, and we have to learn to think critically. The first casual ty of war is truth [quoting Kipling], and we should all try to get closer to the truth.”
Human Rights At the forefront of issues addressed was the role of human rights violations in the region, and the necessity of reducing these vio lations if an enduring solution is to work. “I think peace and justice in the region will depend on the respect of human rights,” said Leuprecht, adding that “human rights do not concern only funda mental rights but belong in a broader conception. Liberation from fear and liberation from wrong.” Leuprecht further explained
that within the human rights issue was the bi lateral breach of international law. “Unfortunately there are well documented vio lations of not only internation al human rights laws but also Geneva conven tion human rights stipula Organizers of the forum Nema Etheridge tions. But it is intense have fair to say that the violations are resulted in stability.” not only by Israelis but also by Brynen voiced similar opin Palastinian authorities.” ions. “The Arab-Israel conflict Brynen however pointed out barely compares in human brutali that although human rights is an ty to a history of brutal European important issue that should in no conflicts.” way be ignored, in the face of political positioning, human rights A Political Solution? arguments can be unsuccessful. “You can cite international Brynen tabled the notion that law until the cows come home, but a solution to the Arab-lsraeli con if the other side says ‘so what?’, flict can only be political, since the it’s useless. When you sit down violence has been an attempt to with a hard-nosed Israeli delegate, gain both international and domes you can cite articles but they are tic political power. not very useful. But at the same “There was serious progress time, they should not be aban made by both parties [in Camp doned.” David II], but they did not come to an agreement, and found them Like Phoenix from selves jockeying for both domestic the ashes? and international positions,” he said. “In the context of an end Both panelists set the general game, of parties desperately trying theme of optimism, arguing that to position themselves, the vio even though the current situation is lence at West Bank erupted. The deplorable, progress and peace violence was clearly a Palastenian have resulted after even more bargaining tool, to increase the deplorable situations. pressure on Israel. It was also a “What happened in Europe result of a heavy-handed Israeli after the war is an example of what response. Attempts have been should happen in other regions. made to put the genie back in the Based on historical evidence, it bottle, but the genie does not fit seems that human rights have into the bottle any more.” made great progress following acts He furthermore explained that of great violence. I am an optimist, despite current outbreaks of vio and perhaps in the region we are lence, a significant amount of talking about, peace will come to progress has been made over the progress after violence,” said years, with both parties entering Leuprecht. “For those who think of into increasingly flexible bargain peace as impossible, we have ing positions. examples of much more brutal “We are closer to a consensus conflicts reaching resolutions. than at any point when I worked Conflicts that have been more on the issue. The vast majority of
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Was the forum a success? Early organizational problems occurred largely from caveats inherent to a forum of contentious and emotional issues. Barriers stemming from the unwillingness of clubs to officially sponsor this event, the difficulty of finding pro fessors willing to act as mediators, and the McGill adminstration’s trepidations as to security raised questions as to the feasibility of the forum. “I’ve been told that other peo ple have tried to organize this event in the past, and it’s never happened. So I’d say, that if this is one of the first shots in a long time, it went pretty well,” said HarshaWalia, head organizer of the forum. “People before were concerned before about security and violence and none of that hap pened. And there obviously were some statements that might have been... rhetorical, but I think that was very, very good. It wasn’t meant to be objective at all, but it was to present both sides in a respectable manner. Harveen Singh Narulla, anoth er organizer of the forum, explained that the intent of the forum was not to solve conflicts, but to discuss them in an educated and non-confrontational manner. “There is a way forward and [individuals] need to recognize the legitimacy of other people’s view points,” he said. “Some things seemed to bor der a bit on the provocative, but I’m glad they were said,” he con tinued. ’’People need to know that viewpoints like this exist. And I’m glad that the things that needed to be said were said in a controlled academic setting, because if there has to be discourse, then let it be such that no one gets hurt.”
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public opinion agrees that there ultimately has to be a political solution to the conflict. The useful starting point is that these people are fated to live together.”
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that provided him with access to a proper education, discussed the importance of commitment in pur suing positive change. Martin referred to his own experiences as a teenager when he fought for the release of the wrongfully impris oned boxer, Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter, often citing scenes in the recent Hollywood portrayal of the long legal battle. “The Hurricane is a hard dose of reality,” he said. “What hap pened to Carter happens far too often in our country. Wrongful con viction is not just an American phe nomenon. What we need is to be equally vigilant today about pro tecting the rights of those accused of crimes in our society as we are about safeguarding our community against crime and violence.” Martin pointed to the problem of education today as a leading fac tor of problems such as the social and racial inequality to blame for Carter’s wrongful conviction. He claimed that although more teach ers and instructional facilities are needed in Canada today to cater to increased numbers of people need ing proper education, an increasing number of teachers are turning away from the field of education, exacerbating the gap between the educated and the uneducated. “I don’t care if you’re white, yellow, green or purple, there’s no reason why a mother, a citizen of the world, should ever have to give up her child to provide that child with a proper education,” he said. “And yet, that is exactly the choice my mother had to make. “Illiteracy is certainly a major contributor to crime, to poverty, to unemployment, to irresponsible cit izenship, to lack of community involvement and low self-esteem,” he continued. “I know this first hand. There should be no shame in us talking about these social prob lems today; the only shame that there should be is us not doing something about such problems when we have the resources to do so.”
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The McG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 14 November 2000
Unionworkersprotestoverwageequity B y Jam es G r o h s g a l
Representatives of the McGill Physical Plant Workers Union have been discussing pay parity issues with the administration, while at the same time stepping up demonstrations on campus. Protesters from the 140-member union of carpenters, electri cians, plumbers, and others, demonstrated in front of the Roddick Gates November 7, and will again today, in order to raise public awareness of their con cerns. The Physical Plant Workers, members of the Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux are respond ing to the recent settlement of a grievance between the University and the Service Employees Union, which gave the latter group a larg er pay increase. Ruth Harvey, CSN spokesperson for the plant work
ers, says that pay parity was an im plicit part of the collective agreement reached with the University in the spring of this year. “We were told that our settle ment would be no worse than any other union,” said Harvey. “The University didn’t negotiate in good faith. Our collective agree ment implied parity.” However, Robert Savoie, director of M cGill’s Human Resources Department, says that during the course of negotiations of the collective agreement no promise of pay parity was ever made, either verbally or in writ ing. “No such promise was ever made,” said Savoie. “My goal is not parity. My goal is fairness and equity. We’ve promised parity to no one.” Jacques Sztuke, associate director of Human Resources, says
that a retroactive pay raise is entirely out of the question because of the difficult situation that McGill is in. “The difficulty is that we have not renewed the expired SEU contract,” explained Sztuke. “In that expired contract there is a commitment to follow government wage increases for 1997 and 1998. We didn’t give anything more to anyone else that they didn’t already have. We had the choice between either respecting their existing contract or having an arbitrator telling us to respect it. In the other negotiations, we couldn’t afford that, given the financial sit uation of the university. We didn’t have any choice but to honour the commitment [to SEU].” The deal cut between McGill and SEU will have large ramifica tions for other unions on campus. Allan Youster, the president of the McGill University Non-Academic
Certified Association (MUNACA), has already changed his union’s wage proposals to McGill. Although MUNACA has a collective agreement with McGill, they feel that if there is more money on the table, it should be distributed equitably. “We’d put our proposal in, and the news came out about the [SEU agreement], and we had to adjust our offer,” said Youster. “W e’ve adjusted our proposal based on the new information... We don’t think that we should get less money than other groups. They’ve changed the landscape and we’re adapting to it.” Youster also said that he was upset that the plant workers don’t care about McGill’s financial trou bles. “I was a little disappointed that CSN said they don’t care about the money,” said Youster. “I know that every staff member,
union and non-union, is concerned about the budget and the deficit.” The Human Resource depart ment negotiates with the unions, but does not have the power to give wage increases. The depart ment reports to the VP Adm inistration and Finance, which, along with the Principal, has the ultim ate authority on whether to give wage increases to the parties requesting them. “W e’ve got to look at the whole university,” said Savoie. “Before we do anything, we have to look at the costs that are applied. At the end of the day it’s a choice between deficits and cut backs. We’re not going to ignore [the plant workers]. It has to be discussed at the senior level. The solution is not necessarily mine.”
UN ambassador addresses Arab issues at Concordia B y N e m a E t h e r id g e
Current issues facing the Middle East were addressed last Friday night at a Concordia University lecture hall in an infor mation session led by Dr. Hussein Hassouna. Dr. Hassouna, the Arab League Ambassador to the United Nations addressed many issues that dominate Middle Eastern poli tics in this event, sponsored by the Students’ Society of McGill University and the Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights. Dr. Hassouna began by outlin ing some of predominant chal
lenges with which he sees the Arab world struggling. “The Arab world today is fac ing a number of challenges — political ones, economic ones, social ones and cultural ones,” he said. Specifically, Hassouna dis cussed the Arab position on such issues as globalization, economic integration, economic sanctions, changing social and cultural val ues, as well as the search for an ultimate peace in the Middle East. He explained that human rights would be respected in the Arab world as long as they were not used as a guise for something
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d a y s in B arbados... a n d ea rn 3 cred its! In a h olistic m anner all a sp e c ts of the Agri-Food-Environment System of a small island tropical nation will be explored. Site visits, quest experts and team projects are all included in this exciting hands-on experience. Join our team of students interested in international development, environmental, social-econom ic and political issu es in this developing country. W e will stay at McGill's Bellairs Research Station April 2 1 -3 0 , 2001 ai id visit a variety of business and government operations and examine the sustainability of the system. Limited enrollment. Approximate cost $ 1 8 0 0 .
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else. “We are ready to observe uni versal standard of human rights, but we are also not ready to accept interference under the pretext of protection of human rights,” he explained. Arab nations want to change in accordance with the developing international system, Hassouna explained, but only as long as their individual cultures are preserved. “The Arab world today is ready to move toward globaliza tion, to adapt a universal standard of values — while retaining its own position, own values, and own cultural and religious inheri tance.” Hassouna also explained the Arab stance on democracy. “We’re ready to develop the return of institutions, [in order] to move toward a more democratic society. But we are not ready to copy the democratic systems like in other parts of the world, [We want] to develop our own.” Dr. Hassouna also addressed the issue of peace in the Middle East. He touched on the role the United Nations plays in the Middle East, citing past resolutions. Also, he examined the US position in the area, and explained why other countries should participate in facilitating peace. “There is now a feeling around the world that the U.S. role is not enough in the area,” he said. “It cannot play the role of honest worker because its ties are too close to Israel.” Despite Yasser A rafat’s recent arrival to New York City, Hassouna believed this lecture in Montreal was one that could not be broken. “I committed myself,” he ini tially explained. He later added that the Arab League office that was once open in Canada closed several years ago, and left the area without much formal representa tion.
“I feel that there should be more of an Arab League presence here and voice to try to explain and so on,” he explained. “Of course, you have Arab ambassadors, but sometimes am bassadors have their own line of policy. When I speak, I speak on behalf of all the countries... That is why I thought it was important for me to come.”
Mixed Reviews Omar Tabba, president of the Arab Students’ Association and organizer of the event was pleased that Dr. Houssana’s lecture could inform students, as well as attract dignitaries. “I ’m very happy because a number of Arab diplomats were in attendance...” he said. “The Syrian ambassador was here, the Palestinian ambassador was here, the Moroccan ambassador was here. A person from the Egyptian consulate was here. “And for the students that attended, it was very important that they see a person well versed in diplomacy and in real legal issues and UN resolutions, espe cially on human rights...” he said in reference to Hassouna. “Arabs have a tendency to become very emotional and lose sight of what is real and what is possible to achieve, so I think [his was] a very important perspective.” Kahina Tazerout, a Masters student at McGill, enjoyed the lec
ture, but found that she learned very little from Dr. Hassouna. “I think it was very informa tive, but since I’m an Arab person, I know most of the things that he said. So, for me, personally, it wasn’t very informative. It was things that I knew,” she explained. “I think it was more directed at a Canadian audience... for anybody that doesn’t really know the Arabic history and what actually happened in Palestine — and the history of Israel — it was really very informative.” Saif Husain, a concerned Montrealer that attended the lec ture believed that more ideas would have been shared had there been a greater variety of people at the lecture. “I would like to have seen a more diverse crowd,” he admitted. “95 per cent of the people there probably knew a great deal about what he said.” “I’ve been to a couple of demonstrations...” he continued, “and what I see is Arabs, Muslims, and a sprinkling of non-Arabs... I think the cause would be more effective if there were 1000 Arabs and 1000 non-Arabs.”
The McG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 14 November 2000
N e w s B r ie f s New e-m ail a d d re s s e s a t McGill A new email address system is now be available to McGill staff and students. Under the new system, stu dents have been provided with email addresses with the general format firstname.lastname@mcgill .ca. The change allows people to determine users’ email addresses knowing only that they are a mem ber of the McGill community. The email address will also remain available for life to graduates from the year 2000 and onwards. Old email addresses will continue to function. More information is available at http://www.mcgill.ca/cc/atmcgillca P ro fe sso rs h o n o u re d d u rin g c o n v o c atio n M cGill’s former Vice Chancellor and Principal, David Johnston, and alumnus Milton K.H. Leong, both received hon ourary degrees from the University at the convocation ceremony on November 9. David Johnston was the four teenth principal and vice-chancel lor of McGill University from 1979 to 1994. He is currently the President of the University of Waterloo. He was awarded an honorary doctorate of law. Milton K.H. Leong first arrived at McGill as a student, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in 1966 and M.D. in 1970. He was coordinator of student teaching for the Department of Obsetrics and Gynaecology from 1975 to 1979. Since 1996, he has been the President of the McGill Society of Hong Kong one of the University’s most active alumni branches. He is currently director of the IVF Center at the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital. He was awarded an honourary doctor ate of science. Also at the convocation, the following six professors were pro moted to emeritus status, the high est distinction bestowed upon aca demics: • Michael Barr, Redpath Emeritus Professor of Pure Mathematics; • Rabindra N. Kanungo, Emeritus Professor of Management; • Bard B. Mukherjee, Emeritus Professor of Biology; • Darko R. Suvin, Emeritus Professor of English; • Jeanne Mary Wolfe, Emeritus Professor of Urban Planning; • Martin Julius Zuckerman, MacDonald Emeritus Professor of Physics. D e b a tin g U nion h o s ts to u rn e y The McGill Debating Union welcomed 180 high school debaters and attracted over 100
McGill volunteers as it hosted its 38th annual high school debating tournament at the beginning of this month. The event attracted student teams from all over Canada and the United States, some as far away as the M aritimes, the Prairies, British Columbia, and even Oregon. “It’s one of the largest high school debating tournaments in North Am erica,” explained Michelle Dean, tournament direc tor. After the weekend long event of prepared and impromptu debates, a high school team from Halifax went home with the win ning trophy. First b lac k p r e s id e n t in th e Ivy L eague n a m e d (U-WIRE) PROVIDENCE, R.I. The Brown Corporation voted unanimously on Thursday to elect Ruth J. Simmons, the current pres ident of Smith College in Northampton, Mass., as the presi dent of Brown University. The 12th daughter of share croppers in the Jim Crow-era South, Simmons makes history as the first black president to lead an Ivy League institution — a posi tion she will assume on July 1. She is also Brown’s first permanent female President, and only the sec ond in the Ivy League. Calling Simmons’ election “a historic and momentous occasion not only for Brown but for the entire Ivy League,” Chancellor Stephen Robert introduced Brown’s next President to the University community at an assembly Thursday afternoon. Simmons gave her vision for the University in her address to the assembly. “Higher education today is caught in an ever-widening dilem ma in which silver and gold domi nate our thinking and our plan ning,” she said. “In the lure of this gold are the seeds of irrelevance, self-satisfaction, and loss of public trust. Universities exist not to amass wealth but to release minds and to amass knowledge.” Simmons was chosen after a nine-month national search. She will follow E. Gordon Gee, who left the University abruptly in February to take on the chancellor ship of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. — with files from Katherine Boas, Brown Daily Herald (Brown U.)
N e w s Page 5
New president will face divided nation B y Jenny L. A llen Independent Florida A lligator (U. Florida)__________________
(U-WIRE) GAINESVILLE, Fla. — While Americans wait for the final results of who the next president will be, there is certainty in the fact that the race was one of the closest in history. The popular vote balanced on no more than a few hundred votes in the closely contested race in Florida. But because Florida law requires a recount when the initial count shows a margin of victory of less than onehalf of 1 percent, a recount began early Wednesday morning. Results are expected on November 17. The difference, prior to the finalized recount, stood at about 1,700 votes in George W. Bush’s favor. And even though some people still believe A1 Gore may take the state, Michael Munger, Duke University’s chairman of political science, predicted Wednesday after noon that “it’s a certainty Bush will be named president.” “The recounts in Florida might change the race, but I doubt it,” Munger said. “I think for the most part the race has been decided.” Munger predicted Bush to win the Electoral College votes while Gore would take the popular vote. That has happened only three times in American history — in the 1824, 1876 and 1888 elections. “And each of these times the president was only in office for one
term, which is highly unusual,” Munger said. “The public will feel like the results were tainted, even if they weren’t.” However, University of Florida Provost and political expert David Colburn said that if the winner does not take both the electoral and the popular vote, it could cause the death of the Electoral College. “But I don’t think it would be,” he said. “It shows they are definitely not on the same page.” If the two contenders end up in a tie in the electoral votes, the House of Representatives will make the ultimate decision. Though the presidential elec tion has never before been tied, the decision went to the House once in 1824 because there was no clear-cut majority among the four candidates. That year, John Quincy Adams lost the popular vote and in the Electoral College, but won in the House by a single vote. The last time a race was decid ed by such a close margin was in 1960 when Democrat John F. Kennedy narrowly defeated Republican Richard Nixon. The popular vote was split by two-tenths of a percent. Kennedy received 49.72 percent of the vote, or 34,221,344 votes, to Nixon’s 49.55 percent, or 34,106,671 votes — a difference of 114,673 votes. The difference in Electoral College votes was much larger. Kennedy received 303 votes to Nixon’s 219. In 1960, Florida did not play a
role in deciding the winner — Nixon won Florida’s 10 electoral votes. Now, Florida has 25 electoral votes at stake. In the election, the vote in Florida was fierce and twisted back and forth between the two candi dates late into the night. The contro versy continued through the follow ing days as officials questioned the validity of some Palm Beach County ballots. Some voters claimed the place ment of the presidential candidates on the ballot was confusing. Many said they mistakenly voted for Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan. UF law professor Joseph Little said legal action is likely to occur before the winner is announced by the Electoral College in December. “I think it’s a mess,” said Little, adding that he has never seen a situ ation like this develop in Florida. “It looks like there’s a big dispute as to whether or not the results were properly conducted.” While voters remain in the dark about the results, Marilyn Roberts, an assistant dean in the College of Journalism and Communications, said it has been a historic election, “one we never dreamed would come this close.” “I think no matter who is elect ed, it appears it’s not quite over yet,” Roberts said. “The next presi dent truly is inheriting a divided country.”
S S M U O p e n M e e tin g
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Letters to the editor
EDI TORI AL “No American will ever again be able to seriously say: My vote doesn’t count.” — Bill Clinton
Full storypage3
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o r e
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P A C K A G IN G
In reference to the editorial enti tled “The Fool and the Knave" by André Nance which appeared in the November 7 issue o f The McGill Tribune. Dear Son, How you can pick packaging over content, I cannot imagine. Bush is likely to win, but I pity the country and the world if he does. If you think raping the Alaskan wilderness for no good reason, rolling back years of envi ronmental measures that still fall short of necessity, destroying edu cation and a woman’s right to choose, withdrawing from the global responsibilities that come with being a superpower, and giv ing tax breaks to the rich are all fine and noble goals, then Bush is your man. Gore is no saint but at least he is informed, intelligent and gives a shit about the issues that matter. Bush sure as hell doesn’t!
B y E r ic O e s t
This past week, it seems that much of North America has been captivated by the outcome (or lack thereof) of the United States presidential elections. Aside from the news reports in the paper and on my TV, I'm finding that U.S. election updates are even dom inating a good portion of my daily conversations. Personally, I'll admit that I have followed these elections just as closely as the next guy and I think that it is a good thing. After all, the U.S. election is rather newsworthy and judging from the insightful and accurate coverage received from the media thus far, random opinions and figures given to me from my peers could, potentially, be just as reliable. My only concern stemming from this U.S. election bonanza is that this is yet another incident of American news compromis ing the Canadian equivalent. Watercooler conversations across Canada are fixated on the series of botched counts in the Sunshine state and, in order to satiate this need, our compliant national media has shirked its responsibility of bringing Canadians domestic news and, instead, opted to bring the American election circus across the 49th. In any other season of any other year, I would concede that this cross-border love affair is nothing more than the regular dis Signed, Dad (R. Damian Nance) semination of our Canadian identity, but in this instance the Professor of Geology, implications can, perhaps, prove to have a more profound effect. Ohio University On November 27, we will head to the polls and exercise our right to vote for a new government. Despite fairly compre hensive coverage from a handful of responsible media outlets, a j Foreign policy dubious large majority have given the Canadian elections second billing, relegating them to the dreaded page 3. Consequently, the The article on Bush and Canadian public is ill-prepared for the ensuing election. Not J Gore’s foreign policy (Bush and including the participants and their friends and families, the Gore on foreign policy, what’s in it election debates last Tuesday and Wednesday were watched by for us?, Issue 10) was very dubi only a minority of people. What's worse is that only a slightly ous. The results of Clinton’s armed larger number of people knew that these debates were being J intervention have not resulted in a conducted. Still, it's not like these debates mattered. Thus far, ‘mixed bag’ at all. Kosovo was a any conversation that I've had regarding our own elections has complete and utter failure. been reduced to nothing more than conjecture regarding the Millions were spent, it created the personal habits of the five party leaders. In conversations I have biggest refugee crisis since WW2, had with various friends, I have found that little is known about Milosevic was still in power many the platforms of the various parties (aside from their most basic months after they withdrew and party tenets) and, in response to this ignorance, most claim that the invincible stealth bomber was shot down by a peasent farmer it's silly to care because the Liberals are going to win anyway. with his rifle. Action against Iraq This apathy towards our own elections is partly due to an irresponsible population but also has something to do with our has stained America’s reputation and has created a supremely insane national media. Tales of corruption and hi-jinx in the United States has served to lure Canadian viewers from an election that humanitarian disaster. And the Middle East has gone from bad to w ill have a decidedly greater im pact on their lives. Using worse. Perhaps for the mercy of Canadian news as a garnish for the beefier albeit sensationalised American pulp will, ultimately, further marginalise an already the world it is better that American [sic] becomes a fortress. ghost-like electoral process. Charles John Baker U3 Political Science Student
the
M cG ILL TRIBUNE
Editor-In -C hief John S a llo u m
Assistant Editor- in -C hief S te p h a n ie L e v itz
Assistant Editor- in-C hief R h ea W o n g
C ampus Editor Jo n ath an C o lfo rd
is an e d ito r ia lly a u to n o m o u s n e w s p a p e r puDlt-----b y th e S tu d e n ts ' S o c ie ty o f M c G ill U n iv e rs ity
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Excluding religious CAMPUS IS BORING
icons from
Regarding a Letter to the Editor printed in Issue 10 (The McGill Tribune, November 7), Mr. Cohen, no doubt, has good intentions in his argument con cerning the Christmas tree atop the Arts building. However, constant ly attacking others for their insen sitivity is the easy way out, and perhaps he could think up solu tions rather than condemning McGill as “exclusionary.” I believe the result Mr. Cohen is looking for is the exclusion of all religious icons and celebrations from campus. How awfully bor ing. Instead, why don’t we try to incorporate as many of these as possible into every season? I don’t know if anyone has ever attempted to approach McGill about this, but maybe someone should. Besides the beautiful dis play it would be, what better way to educate the student population? I think celebrating everyone’s her itage is really representative of McGill’s spirit. Montreal, too, is bursting with diversity, and those of us from other (perhaps mindnumbingly stale) places can soak it all up. So, Mr. Cohen, why don’t we leave our political correctness at home and go out and see who can party the hardest? Geoff Makad Ul, Arts C o r r e c t io n
A n in c o r r e c tly tit le d L e tte r t o t h e E d ito r a p p e a r e d in t h e N o v e m b e r 7 (Is s u e 1 0 ) is s u e o f t h e T rib u n e . T h e l e t t e r t i t l e d "Air In d ia c a s e c lo s e d " s h o u ld h a v e b e e n t it le d "Air In d ia a r r e s ts g iv e c lo s u r e ." W h ile a r r e s ts h a v e b e e n m a d e in t h e c a s e , it is n o t y e t c lo s e d . T h e T rib u n e r e g r e ts t h e e rro r.
A M inute O f Silence for Veterans, a M inute o f Silence for D iscrim ination: N ever November 11 is supposed to be a time of remembrance for our veterans who fought for our free dom, but what if you’re a Sikh or a Jew? What kind of Remembrance Day will you be having when you can’t be admit ted into one of the 1,700 Canadian Legions across Canada? Jewish and Sikh war veterans aren’t allowed into a Canadian legion unless they remove their turbans or yarmulkes, as they are considered hats. This blatant ignorance to the fact that it’s not a hat, but part of their religion is preposterous. In this day and age Sikhs and Jews are never told they can’t go any where because of their religious beliefs. The Royal Canadian Legion is being discriminatory towards veterans, their own brothers in arms, because of their religious beliefs. Last week, poppies were being sold for the Legion at Sadie’s in the Shatner building. Sadie’s is part of the SSMU, the same SSMU which outlines a clear position in their charter that any association with racism, dis crimination, sexism and homo phobia is unacceptable. At the same time Sadie’s sold poppies for a group that discriminates on the basis of a persons religious beliefs. This Remembrance day I didn’t wear a poppy; it was the first time since I can remember and I do feel ashamed. Ashamed of the fact that I can’t pay proper homage to those who paid the ulti mate price for my freedom, because at the same time I would be supporting a group that advo cates discrimination towards Sikhs and Jews, who did the same. Seth Leon U2 Political Science
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 tBM 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. Subscriptions are available for $30.00 per year. Advertising O ffice: Paul Slachta, 3600 rue McTavish, Suite 1200, Montréal, Québec H3A 1Y2 Tel: (514) 398-6806 Fax: (514) 398-7490
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O p / E d Page 7
9723177mobilizesundergraduateelbowgrease to recall my face, that draconian at first, but let’s be hon one’s general attitude and sense of we’ve never actually est with one another: how many self-worth, while others work in the met. I did catch a times have you and I walked down opposite way. And I’m sure you glimpse of you this the street (not together, mind you) would agree with me that McGill summer, though, when after getting a trim or having an old should strive to foster goodness I spotted an extremely tattoo painfully removed through and uprightness in its students in fetching photograph in laser surgery and thought, "I am fit every way possible. A m y L a il g s t a £ f the Post of you and our to live among my fellows!"? Many, To that end, I feel it my duty ma r a t h o n - r u n n i n g I think. to report that there is one place on To: Principal Shapiro benefactor Richard H. Tomlinson I have noticed that in its own McGill campus where I feel an From: Amy Langstaff trotting along together in a kind of way, McGill too has been attempt oppression of the spirit so heavy Re: Undergraduate Elbow Grease victory lap, celebrating his $60- ing to foster a certain self-respect that I can scarcely endure it. The million-plus gift to McGill. Do you among its students. Do you remem place that causes me to feel so dis Dear Principal Shapiro: know what I thought to myself ber The Alley? What a hellhole it heartened, so downtrodden, so when I saw that fine picture, used to be - dark, grimy, licensed, devoid of that powerful "I am, I 9723177 here, just writing to Principal Shapiro? "Such citizens!" full of cynical kids smoking and can" we discussed earlier is say Hello. I must admit, this letter I thought. Tomlinson the benefac carrying on. Somewhere deep in McLennan Library. I should clarify was prompted by a bill I received tor, and you the captain of our still- the basement of their collective that this feeling is generated not by in the mail today asking that I pay proud academic ship, engaged in unconscious, you and I both know the dearth of resources, not by the my sixty-dollar "Graduation Fee" no less healthful an activity than that "Famous Blue Raincoat" was duct tape on the worn carpets, not with all haste. At first I was puz jogging, smiling broadly and easily on continuous loop. Needless to even by the fact that there are zled, having assumed that the thou for fans and journalists alike. Such say, this was hardly a dignified always plenty of security guards sands and thousands of other dol citizens. state for the establishment or its roaming about to scold one for tak lars I’ve paid McGill over the past I remembered that picture patrons. Look at The Alley now, ing a sip of water or dozing off four years might cumulatively be when the CBC recently told me though. It’s been painted yellow, momentarily but never ever ever construed as a Graduation Fee of that Ontario M inister of it’s been aired out, the taps have anyone to help one find anything. sorts. But upon further reflection, I Corrections Rob Sampson has been been removed and the mopey kids No, it’s not any of these things that decided to interpret the bill as a considering the prohibition of long have dispersed. Granted, it’s closed have been driving me from the edi signal not just from the Accounts hair and earrings in the province’s at the moment, but when it reopens, fice which promises Miltonically Office, but also from the cosmos prisons for men. Mr. Sampson and this venue may be deserving of a that it will afford space in which a signal telling me to make today his colleagues believe very firmly sunnier name. Perhaps "The Nook" we all might "[Behold] the bright the day I put to you a challenge that one simply can’t generate that or "The New Friends Café"? But I countenance of truth in the quiet I’ve been considering for some special feeling of "I am, I can" so forget myself. and still air of delightful study." time. crucial to successful citizenship if Principal Shapiro, my point is (N.B. Just how still air can become Before I come to the chal one is shaggy on top and lacking at hand. I think we’ve established is perhaps better known to users of lenge, I ought to admit, lest you epidermal integrity below. The that some environments and modes McLennan Library than to the should feel guilty for not being able potential edict may sound a little of comportment serve to improve author of those lines, long resident
Op e n Letter
Bush, Gore, Duceppe... and the poutine connection W i s c o n s i n what if you applied the ‘Dinner suit, and they might just toss him fast-food joint Test’, specially adapted to our back out on St. Denis. Good rid or the guy in needs, to the leaders currently dance, I’d say. No Alberta beefthe Missouri vying for Canadians’ affections? jerky-bits in my poutine, thank I n d i f f e r e n c e garage who Would Prime Minister Chretien you very much, and I don’t want told the inter win in 2000? Would he be the to have to say ‘Grace’ with Stock D u n c a n R e i d viewer that first choice of voters among the either. they would leaders to share a poutine? Here’s prefer Bush because he seems like what I’d say on TV if I happened Alexa McDonough? [If What is it about the ‘regular the sort of guy he’d, you know, to be nabbed by an interviewer on indeed the regular guy thing isn’t guy’ that Americans are so infatu like to have dinner with. Now St. Laurent: as sexist as it seems.] I’m not sure ated with these days? Just look at that’s news. With the collective I’d want to hear her monotonous Bush and Gore: these are certainly weight these sorts of opinions M e: For me, it all comes rants in person. Besides, she not men of magnetism and pas were given, I’m still marveling at down to who I’d want to share a might spoon off some of that deli sion, these are men who carefully poor A1 Gore. poutine with at Lafleur’s over on cious gravy - I’ve heard that she’s craft their appearance to seem like The essence of 21st century St. Denis. really opposed to people getting to regular guys who - wow! - got leadership, as distilled from the keep too much of it. sideswiped with this unique oppor all-important U.S. TV media, is Chretien? He doesn’t seem tunity to be the most powerful per that we should forget insight, intel like the kind of guy I’d invite - too And Gilles Duceppe? Well, son on the planet. They’re just ligence, and experience, and focus arrogant. And what if he grabbed he seems like a regular guy who good southern boys who’ve ‘done on who we would want to share a it off the table, fending me and my reads the Journal de Montreal just good,’ and tried to communicate burger and a Bud with. This wis fork off with that neck-grip that he like me, and he’s also my MP in that with their ‘fellow American’ dom from the ‘heartland of likes, while sending our poutine Laurier- Sainte-Marie. in as few syllables as possible. Am erica,’ as presented by the off to his Shawinigan riding for a The American ‘Dinner Test’ media, will be the key message few buddies? As if they don’t Interviewer: Really? reveals the core of the ‘regular that I’ll remember from this elec have enough poutine in guy’ bias. It’s really a shorthand tion, regardless of whether those Shawinigan. And what if he Me: Yeah. And as long as he assessment of charm and trust that cataract-suffering octogenarians in insisted on putting pepper on the leaves the hair net at home, he functionally makes intelligence Palm Beach end up electing poutine? No thanks, Jean: pepper, seems like a decent, average kind and experience optional. What is George W. Bush. I leave it in the shaker. of guy. Never mind that he might the Dinner Test, exactly? Simple: This is perhaps not my keep asking for a larger portion of just ask yourself which candidate favourite method of selecting a Interviewer: So what about our shared poutine... yep, I might would you rather have dinner with. political leader, but I’m willing to the other leaders? just cast my vote for Gilles. ‘Regular voters’ in ‘regular places’ give it a try - for the Canadian who asked themselves this pene election. Me: Joe Clark? He seems Yeah, right, that’s how I’m trating question seemed almost nice enough, but a little scary - I going to make my voting deci sure to get on the air in the U.S. mean, no regular guy has jowls sions, and while I’m at it, here’s to election. I’m sure some people like those. Céline Dion for Premier and Don shared some interesting policy Cherry for Governor-General. So, The Poutine Test opinions, but TV editors don’t get Stockwell Day? Well, first of very excited about that sort of Canadians seem to be slightly all, the real regular guys at thing. (but only slightly) more discerning Lafleur’s might not think much of The sure bets for the news about our leaders this year. But this skinny little guy rollerblading segment: the woman in the through the front door in his wet
Depraved
in a no-doubt-very-still grave.) The things that irk me about the library, Principal Shapiro, are the windows. They are so encrusted with grime and water stains that they admit almost no natural light. Their nearly-opaque greyness is such that they might as well be made of con crete like the surrounding walls. How, I ask you, is one to behold the bright countenance of truth while enduring such a fenestral affront? Impossible! But please do not imagine that I write only with idle complaints. I’m ready to help. I understand that funds are scarce these days (which reminds me: the cheque for my Graduation Fee will be along short ly), and that window washing is not at the top of any practical administrator’s list of priorities. But Principal Shapiro, we can do this on the cheap. My proposal is this: if you will hire a crew to clean the outsides of the windows of McLennan, I will amass an army of helpers to clean the insides. Together, Principal Shapiro, we can let the sun shine into McLennan as surely it did in days gone by. Together, we can restore dignity to the library and its users. Squeegee in hand, 9723177
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The McG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 14 November 2000
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• • • E l l i p s i s * * * ———
G a m b l i n g , J e w e l s a n d Sex! J u s t K i d d i n g . N o S e x .
R ecip e
C ro ssw o rd
ByOne of the LovelyRecipe Columnists, whichcolumnists will have aname (andmaybe evenalogo) soon, believeyoume.
By Gooblar
h i s t i m e o f y e a r w i t h t h e w e a t h e r g e t t i n g c o l d e r , s o much work on the horizon and a perpetual sniffle everyone craves good home cooking. I can’t promise to fly in your mother, but I will help you create one transportable comfort of home—homemade soup. This carrot ginger soup is actually unbelievably easy to make and tastes like you put in a lot of effort. I first concocted it for Thanksgiving this year and everyone seemed pleased (I also baked the best chocolate pecan pie ever, but for the sake of everyone’s health I won’t spread that recipe around). The best part is that it makes a lot so that you can stick it in your fridge and not have to worry about meal ideas for a few days.
T
Recipe 4 cups of chicken broth 1 cup chopped onion 3 cloves of garlic 4 teaspoons of grated ginger (Ginger is the knobby looking root in the produce section, in case you were wondering)
1 big bag of carrots Pinch of thyme Half a cup of orange juice Half a cup of butter milk Pinch of black pepper
Instructions First, bring half a cup of chicken broth to boil. Add onion, garlic and ginger and cook for about 5 minutes. Stir in remaining broth, carrots, thyme and orange juice and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat down to about medium-low and simmer until the carrots are mushy. Now you have two options: you can strain the carrots out of the soup and blend them in a blender until they resemble baby food or you can grab a potato masher (or some other dull kitchen tool) and smash the soup manually (personally I use the latter, because transferring the car rots to and from the blender makes a huge mess). When the mixture has reached your desired state of smoothness, reduce heat down to low and add buttermilk and pepper. DO NOT LET SOUP BOIL! If the buttermilk gets too hot there are serious risks of curdling. Now just stir and serve. Done. You’ve just made your own pot of soup—go call your mom.
Across 1. A tune or a scrap of cloth 4. Borscht base 9.Originally played by Richard Roundtree 14. Pitching stat. 15. First name of Rock n' Roll 16. First name of modem art 17. Mess up 18. Follow (the rules) 19. Famous cow 20. King of the surf guitar 22. Leader of the Chipmunks 23. Princeton, Yale, Harvard 24. Vigor 26. Rend 27. Ready to go 30. Definite article 31. Ubiquitous Montreal brand 33. Fire's results 35. Bird 38. Everyone’s favorite Patsy 39. Windy 40. Over, poetically 4L 80's band; covered "Signs" 42. Myth 46. Wanders into a higher clef? 49. O'Riley and Ganoush? 50. Homeric epic 51. Austrian composer 54. In a cold manner 55. Wall painting Last week’s answers
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56. Partner of Nay 57. Stove 58. Dot com letter 59. A small newt 60. Novelist Horatio 61. With honor 62. Artificial color Down 1. Look over again 2. Show up 3. Gabriel Marquez's middle name 4. Hippie accessory 5. Napolean's place of exile 6. Sinister 7. Detergent 8. Direction, abbv. 9. Spelled, spelled wrong 10. Cut in two 11. The green fairy 12. Loser in the game of chicken 13. Foot finger 21. My girlfriend's last name (hope you know it!) 22. Modem pop music, abbv.
24. Distant friend 25. Last word of Joyce's Ulysses 27. Right angle 28. Speeches directly to the audi ence 29. Those who act 32. It's in mines 33. Undefinable concept 34. Space station 35. Secretarial adjective 36. Someone to do the dirty work 37. It's AFA (Hey, I'm on a roll) 38. Makeshift bed 41. Senator Kennedy 43. Followed (orders) 44. Exalt 45. All your possessions 47. Stupid talk, nonsense 48. One who works with bricks 49. The big kid 51. Denotes fat wrestling 52. Shellfish 53. Big sleet 54. Investment plan, abbv. 55. Can anyone come up with a clue for 'men'?
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AP E O Dc E M AL P HA C0 L " o LG A RARE R H o L Y R 0 MA N E M P 1 R E E R A S E R D 1 A L MB A ABE ACO AS S [l 1 T T L E R 1 C H A R D
C o llectean a Less than usef ul facts about less than i mport ant thi ngs a s e d o n a c r y p t i c c r o s s w o r d c l u e (if you can believe that) from a couple of weeks ago, Collecteana has become very interested in Jai Alai, the world’s fastest ball sport, and one that Collecteana knows almost nothing about. Let’s learn together, shall we?
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Jai Alai was invented around four hundred years ago in the Basque region of Spain. Jai Alai is actually a Basque phrase that means something like ‘merry festival’. Most peo ple who know anything about Jai Alai know about its speed and intensity. The ball, known as a pelota can reach speeds up to 180 mph, which is pretty fucking fast, if you ask Collecteana. The pelota itself, about three quarters of baseball size, is made out of rubber, layered with nylon and covered with a goatskin cover - not unlilke the general construction of a baseball, except a pelota is significant ly harder. In fact, the walls of the Jai Alai court, called a cancha, must be made out of granite because it’s the only substance that’s hard enough to withstand a rock-hard
ball being thrown at it at such idiotically high speed. {Theoretically, one would think that dia mond would be hard enough, too. In fact, one would know this for a fact, if one were interested in such subjects as petrology and minerology, which is what Collecteana did our grade two science project about. [To be specific, rocks and minerals are measured on a scale called the Mohs scale, which actually measures hardness by virtue of their scratchability. For your ‘interest’ here’s the scale: l Talc Pencil Lead 2 Gypsum Fingernail Copper penny 3 Calcite Iron 4 Flourite Tooth enamel, knife blade 5 Apatite 6 Orthoclase Steel file Scratches glass 7 Quartz 8 Topaz 9 Corundrum Saphire, ruby Synthetic diamond 10 Diamond The second column is the definition mineral and the third some common examples].
However, if one were interested in subjects like money and jewels (and isn’t everyone?) then one would know that dia monds, being significantly rarer than gran ite, would be prohibitively expensive in the quantities required to contstruct a court that measures 40 X 40 x 172 feet.} But I digress. Speaking very basically, Jai Alai works something like squash. The court has three walls made of granite and a fourth made of wire (for those who like to watch), and the idea is to get the ball to bounce off the end wall so that your opponent can’t reach it and return it before it bounces twice. Instead of racquets, the Jai Alai players catch and return the ball using a cesta - a wicker basket that looks like this:
and that the player attaches to his hand, to become an extension of his arm. The scoring in Jai Alai is usually done in a fomat called quiniela - basically, the first score is worth one point, subsequent scores are worth two points. A big part of Jai Alai is betting. Betting in Jai Alai works like in horse racing, where you bet for a player or team, and everyone who bets for the winner splits the winnings amongst them, minus a small (yeah right) percentage for the house. This type of bet ting, called pari-mutuel, is the same kind used in horse racing. Collecteana hopes that you have some sort of feeling of how cool Jai Alai is. It’s obvi ously significantly more complicated than we’ve made it out to be (think lines all over the court, and byzantine rules about which lines the ball is supposed to land between). If you actually know anything about Jai Alai, or have ever played, I apologize.
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T he M c G ill T ribune, T uesday, 14 N ovember 2000
D epression: cold facts, h a rsh reality By Elizabeth Z alman
Do you know what depression is? If you had symptoms, would you realize it? Surprisingly enough, many students are unclear on the concept. You may be one of them. Depression is defined in the Merriam-Webster online dictio nary as “a psychoneurotic or psy chotic disorder marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty in thinking and concentration, a sig nificant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopeless ness, and sometimes suicidal ten dencies.” It is likely that at some point, everyone has experienced some of the aforementioned symptoms. The question is, at what point does a person cross the line from upset to depressed? Since depression is a unique and personal beast, the transition can be difficult to distin guish. There are, however, some general guidelines that counselors and psychiatrists use, placing symptoms into a few major cate gories: thoughts and feelings, activities and personal relation ships, physical symptoms, and sui cidal urges. One U2 student, wishing to
remain anonymous, recognized his depression and sought help of his own volition. The student described a countenance where “general things (were) getting to me. I did not relate as well with people.” Ultimately, this undergraduate could not deal with his problems alone, and sought a psychiatrist outside of McGill. Aside from seeking external aid, students can turn to McGill, which offers a wide range of ser vices to help combat depression. There are two places available, Mental Health and Counseling Services. The difference between them is that Mental Health is com posed of psychiatrists able to pre scribe m edication, whereas Counseling Services are made up of six counselors and four in-train ing graduate interns. In addition to depression,the department also helps with schoolwork, transitional problems, and career planning, and emphasizes exploration, self understanding, and problem solv ing. Dr. Ted Baker, the director of counseling, emphasizes that selfawareness is the most important factor in warding off depression. “We try to get people to become aware of their own signs
by learning signals, so they can stave it off. Recognition is most helpful. We also try to help people who have distorted thinking pat terns that contribute to feelings of hopelessness, to see the world in a positive light,” he explains. The counselors attempt to teach positive goals and methods of staying hèalthy. Especially important in staying mentally healthy is stress reduction and maintaining balance, as Baker points out. “ [Make] sure that people [with whom you interact] are in positive relationships.” If you are unsure which ser vice is for you, Baker recommends simply choosing whatever service you feel more comfortable with. At both departments, there is a considerable wait for an appoint ment. However, in an emergency situation, both have immediate help available. Mental Health has an emer gency service from 8 am to 4 pm, and Counseling Services offers a walk-in clinic. However, problems do arise in getting an appointment when exam times come around. Baker contends that the amount of time available depends upon the time of the semester. At the begin ning of the year, appointments are
easy to come by, but bookings become increasingly difficult through midterms and “come to a crescendo with finals,” he admits. Group services are limited, as depression is individualistic, but there are workshops available for other disorders and anomalies. Additionally, the Mental Health clinic offers something pretty neat: a sun lamp. Since depression has been known to be seasonal, doc tors understand that sunlight may affect a person’s mood. Therefore, the clinic provides the lamp for those whom they feel can benefit. Chris Farrell, a U2 student, says that he has never been clini cally depressed. “I think I would know if I had gone past reasonable depression,” he says. When asked about seeking professional help, he asserts that “I would definitely seek help if I had gotten to a point where it was affecting my life and I could real ize that, yes.” Farrell, like most of the stu dent body, is aware that McGill offered services, though not to what extent. However, he was quite cynical as to their competen cy. “The administration and peo ple working at McGill are not nec
essarily the most qualified or car ing around. I think McGill is a great institution, but not necessari ly geared toward students. Here you’re very individualistic and it’s very hard to expect anything rea sonable from [the administration] when it comes to that. If I had monetary problems and no other choice, then yes, I would use them,” relates Farrell. “I would assume that the doc tors and counselors aren’t neces sarily the best doctors and coun selors. There are obviously mone tary constraints. For me, the ques tion of going to McGill mental ser vices would be whether that was my only alternative. I am more inclined to seek help on my own,” he says. Is it possible to seek help out side of McGill if you feel that they are not qualified? For Canadian students, the health care system insists upon a referral form from your doctor in order to see any specialist. For those nonCanadians, the obligatory International Health Insurance plan from Blue Cross, covers men tal health services up to a maxi mum of $3,500 CDN. Those ser vices may only be secured providC ontinued on Page 12
The o th e r peace process: N orthern Ireland's tribulations By Joseph Q uesnel
There is an interesting calm in Northern Ireland today. Gone are the bombs, threats and omnipresent British patrol guards. However, since the area was divided from Ireland proper in 1920, has there even been real peace? It is often said that peace is not simply the absence of war. Nowhere is this more evident than in Northern Ireland. Deliberately settled by English and Scottish Protestants in the 16th century in order to overwhelm the native Irish community, Northern Ireland has been characterized by sectarian conflict since it was retained by Great Britain when Ireland gained independence. With a Protestant majority amidst a sea of Catholic Irish, the area has been divided between those who want to stay with Britain and those who want to join republican Ireland. M ilitant Irish nationalist groups, particularly the Irish Republican Army, have waged a guerrilla and terrorist campaign against the British presence in Northern Ireland since partition. In response, unionist groups have formed paramilitary units designed to preserve the union with Great Britain. In 1998, the Good Friday Agreement was signed in an attempt to redesign the government of Northern Ireland to bring both Unionist and Irish nationalists
together. However, a lack of progress on the de-commissioning
of weapons scheduled for May 2000, has caused the talks to fall apart. Brendan O’Leary, a professor of government from the London School of Economics discussed these issues in a recent visit to McGill. In a lecture entitled “A The British-Irish Agreement: Is the Darkest Hour Just Before the Dawn?” O’Leary described just how fragile such a peace is. In order to fully protect both minorities, O’Leary sees the absolute necessity of a government that includes guaranteed propor tional representation of each group. This type of consociational govern
ment places more value on social peace than majority democracy. With the Catholic nationalists as a numeri cal minority, they should be protected. The Good Fr i day Agreement creates an As s e mb l y a n d Exe c ut i ve that require equal repres e n t a t i on from the unionist and nationalist camps.
W hat happened to the peace process? One of the main reasons lead ing to the breakdown of the peace process is the lack of police reform. Part of the move to make Northern Ireland more inclusive of national ists is to make the police force more representative of both com munities. As is, the Royal Ulster Constabulary is largely dominated by Protestants. The Patten Report was an effort to change the image of the RUC. By removing royal symbols and changing its name, it
was hoped that the force would become more an upholder of law than an arm of the state. The lack of complete implementation of the reforms in the police force is blamed for nationalist resistance to disarming. Many unionists don’t want to give up that easy on this issue. The RUC is a source of pride and has stood in the forefront of the battle against IRA terrorism for thirty years. To deprive them of this pride would demoralize the police force and endanger the fight against ter rorism. It is also seen as one step in the diminishing of the distinct national idehtity of Northern Ireland and eases the move towards unification with Ireland. Brian Lewis is a professor of early modern British history at McGill. He agrees that this change is not an easy step for the unionist side. “It seems to [the unionists] that this Report attempts to demol ish one of the institutions in which they have had a great deal of pride,” said Lewis. Many police officials oppose the reforms because it entitles the political wing of the IRA, Sinn Fein, to two members on the pro posed police board to which the Chief Constable is accountable. Many policemen find it offensive to be accountable to people whose terrorist associates they have fought for years. David Trimble, leader of the
Ulster Unionist Party, is believed by some to have played a role in the breakdown by immediately rejecting the Patten Report as a means to appease hard-line union ists elements. Lewis sees this move as not entirely necessary. There was already a consensus within the unionist population on the agree ment and moves to appease the hardliners were not necessary. “By making concessions to unionist hardliners in his own party, he has not so much appeased them as strengthened them,” said Lewis. By seizing the moment for strong leadership, Trimble could have accepted the reforms and show a more united stand for the agreement within the unionist camp. “If he taken a more coura geous stance, he might have been able to bring the bulk of his party with him.” But placing all the blame on the unionist side and its divisions for the breakdown of the agreement does not do justice to the actual events. Unionists point to the lack of de-commissioning of arms on the part of the IRA as a main issue. They would feel better if they actu ally saw the destruction of arms, rather than verbal reassurances that the IRA has renounced violence. Seeing that the IRA has still not disarmed, to them, is further evidence that the IRA never intended to get C ontinued on Page 12
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The McG ill T ribune, Tuesday, 14 November 2000
Let th em e a t cake - th ey probably will anyways! Trying to keep nutritionally sane in a world full of fast food By Raquel Kirsch
Pita, poutine, milkshake, chocolate...is your mouth watering yet? W e’re not talking about a Friday night binge with your friends after a long week. We’re talking about the food available on McGill campus. One thing that our campus cer tainly does not lack is a variety of food. Aside from the numerous cafeterias in lecture buildings, we boast a Tim Horton’s, Franx Supreme, two Veggiramas and a Tiki Ming — not to mention the fact that we’re a heartbeat from the food courts at the Eaton’s Centre and Place Montreal Trust. All this food is enough to make any student go beyond the ‘freshman 15’. In fact, sometimes it seems more like the ‘freshman 50’. With long school days and lit tle time to prepare meals in advance, eating right can be a chal lenge, admits Sabrina Percher, a U1 Industrial Relations student. “We’re here from 8:00 to 6:00. I eat a lot more between classes, and I eat a lot more fast food,” she says. Amanda Lambrines is a first year Psychology student. She believes that her eating pattern has gone out of synch now that she’s at McGill. Exams, stress, and virtual ly no time between classes for a healthy meal are in the way of eat ing well. “Now I eat a whole lot more. I usually go for the junk -chips, cookies , packaged food,” she says. “It’s easy to put in your bag and take around with you.”
So you think that the easy way to shed the extra pounds is to go to the gym more often, right? Ideally, eating more would mean that you’d exercise more. But working the gym into your schedule, acknowl
meals available. “I usually eat Uncle Ben’s rice and Campbell soup. If I don’t feel like cooking I’ll make Cheerio’s,” she confesses. Though the temptation of fast
edges Percher, is a difficult task. “I used to go to the gym,” she says. “But instead of going 3 times a week, now I go once. I walk up to Dr. Penfield a lot, and when I get home I’m too tired [to go].” Another reason why students don’t eat properly, says U1 student Gena Magill, is that cooking for one person is too bothersome. Going through the hassle of chop ping veggies and slaving over the stove is unappealing when there is a fine assortment of ready-made
food abounds on campus, some stu dents have found places to eat that cater to their more health-conscious needs. This year is music student Emma Culpeper’s fifth away from home, and she’s become accus tomed to eating well, even on a time budget. “I ’m in the music building right across the way from Optimum, a health food store. It’s easy for me to go across the way and pick up food from there between classes.”
But regardless of how hard believes that a large part of stu you try to eat well, exam time dents’ eating problems stem from stress is likely to catch up with the the fact that they try to eat healthy your stomach. When you’re study and on the go. ing, sometimes there isn’t even “If you have to [prepare] at the time for a bathroom break, let last minute, you’re likely to go for alone time to prepare a meal, vending machine food. Cut up shares Magill. fruits and veggies in your fridge so “During exams, I’ll eat a bowl you can grab and go,” she recom of cereal and a granola bar,” she mends. “Also, try to cook ahead of says. “I’m so wrapped up in my time and freeze [the food] in single work that I can’t even think about Tupperware containers. Then when how to turn the stove on.” you get home you can just thaw out Exams often bring out the the food and eat it.” worst in student eating. A big prob Preparing food in advance is a lem, say many experts, is a lack of great tip for students living on their protein in student diets. Sticking to own. But for those living in Rez, a well-balanced three-meal-a-day food becomes an even trickier regimen is hard enough, but mak issue. Many students pay for a ing sure you eat the right foods is meal plan, which covers their another story altogether. meals during the week. Nutritionists stress incorporating Unfortunately, says U0 student meats and dairy products into Lindsey Wallace, the food they meals, and moving away from serve isn’t always to the student’s those ever-so-addictive carbohy delight. drates, which, while they provide “The food is pretty gross. I for energy, usually have little nutri usually end up eating noodles and tional value. sauce every night, because I just For many, food is more than a don’t like what they serve,” she necessity during exam time. It can laments. become a reward, like getting a Another problem with Rez Mars bar when you finish reading a food is that it’s served on a sched chapter in your textbook. ule. This means that if you miss a Psychology student Mariasabrina meal, you’re on your own. Douglas Mangione uses food as a study resident Elan Gershoni admits that break. this doesn’t always lead to eating “If I need some food, I’ll stop the most well-rounded meal, [studying], and go grab something. “If I want to get breakfast, I I won’t eat and study at the same have to wake up early. If I miss it, I time - it’s distracting. It’s a pro usually just buy a hot dog from the crastinating device.” guy [on campus],” he says. “It’s Janice Cohen is a dietetics stu annoying that there’s only a certain dent at MacDonald campus. She time that the cafeteria is open.” understands the challenges of Regardless of where you call maintaining a balanced diet. She C ontinued on Page 12
Onthenatureofsmell removal o, no dear reader. Relax. We aren’t talking about body odours and how they can be removed. There is a plethora of deodorants available in the mar ket place that could help you with that problem. I speak of a subtler, more widespread case of smellremoval. How do you remove smells from your shoes? Well, to put it simply, it’s all about the acids. Most unpleasant odours come from either strong acids (like sour milk) or strong bases (spoiled fish). For those of you who still suffer
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from post-chemistry 101 trauma, I’ll try to make this explanation as simple as possible. Most deodoriz ers work by replacing the unpleas ant smell with another smell. However, there are time restric tions in these products and after a while the perfume wears off and you are stuck with the bad smell. The key to smell-removal then, is to cancel out the smell by neutralizing the acid or base that caused it. As all of you probably knew at one point in your lives, acids are neutralized by bases and vice-versa. Therefore, what we need is a substance that has two components, one of which neutral izes acids, and the other, bases. Of course, the two components must not neutralize one another. This rules out a mixture of a strong acid
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and a strong base. Thus we use a ions (positive hydrogen ions, H+) mixture of weak acid and weak and strong bases behave as hydrox base, and this mixture, which has ide ions (negative ions, OH-) in the ability to neutralize both strong reactions, they can be used as sam acids and strong bases without get ple strong acid and base in the fol ting used up in the process, is lowing reactions: called a buffer solution. This is pre cisely where baking soda (other N aH C03 + O H - Æ N a C 0 3 -+ H 20 wise known as sodium bicarbonate, N aC 0 3- + H+ Æ N aH C03 + H 20 NaHC03) comes in. Now, what is baking soda? In the first reaction above, the Sodium bicarbonate is a naturally baking soda functions as a weak occurring substance that is present in all living things. It helps us acid (NaHC03) and neutralizes the maintain the pH balance necessary strong base (OH-), to produce the for life, in the same way that it weak base (NaC03-) and the neu helps us remove odours from tral water molecule. In the second shoes, i.e. by neutralizing strong reaction, the weak base (NaC03-) acids and bases. Baking soda can reacts with the strong acid (H+) to be made from soda ash, also known produce the weak acid (NaHC03) as sodium carbonate. It is dissolved and the neutral water molecule. into a solution through which car Since an acid neutralization results bon dioxide is bubbled, and sodium in the production of the weak base, bicarbonate precipitates out, form and a base neutralization results in the production of a weak acid, the ing baking soda. Baking soda deodorizes by sodium bicarbonate buffer replen bringing both acidic and basic ishes itself, and is never used up. In summary (and specially for odour molecules into a neutral, those who cheated by skipping the more odour-free state. The ability to do this arises from the unique reaction mechanism), to remove chemistry of sodium bicarbonate. the smell, generously sprinkle the This compound functions as a insides of the shoes with sodium buffer, and thus has the ability to bicarbonate or baking soda, while donate both a weak acid (NaC03-) making sure to keep the sun and and a weak base (NaHC03). Since moon gods in mind. Leave them strong acids behave as hydronium overnight with a brilliantly colored
shoelace for the shoe fairy, and shake the shoes out vigorously before wearing again. In case you were wondering, yes, baking soda can also be used in numerous other ways around the house. It stops grease and oil fires, deodorizes furniture, removes stains, and even absorbs kitty litter odours. Yes, dear readers, you heard right, even kitty litter odours. We have also heard unconfirmed reports (through the use of our elite secret agents) that in some remote regions of the world, baking soda may even be used as a leavening agent in a weird and obscure process called baking. On another note, if fashion dictates that you wear your shoes without socks, pour a bit of talcum powder in your shoes to help absorb the sweat Until next time, remember: clear pee, odour-less shoes, and smooth sailing. Every week the Tribune’s resi dent Know-It-All’s tackle one of your burning questions. Is there something you ’re just dying to know? Send you’re questions to the Tribune - call 398-DOOM or email tribune@ssmu.mcgill.ca
The McG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 14 November 2000
F e a t u r e s Page 11
Unlockingthe secrets of dreams throughTetris By Jennifer C ioffi T he D a ily Free Press (B o s t o n U .)
(U-WIRE) BOSTON - Forget Freud. According to Harvard University researchers, the mys tery surrounding dreams can be unlocked through a game of Tetris. Robert Stickgold, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and colleagues have successfully controlled the content of 17 different people’s dreams after the first hour of sleep. Twenty-seven test subjects played Tetris on Nintendo sets for three days, with a two-hour morn ing session and a one-hour evening session the first day, and a one-hour morning and evening session the following days. Of the 27 people, 12 were beginners to the game and 10 were experts. Five of them were amnesiacs as well. The subjects’ dreams were then observed on the first two evenings. Seventeen members of the group recalled dreaming of falling Tetris pieces at least one hour after falling asleep. Most of the dreams occurred the second night, sparking intrigue about the gap between the intense Tetris session and the second less-intensive one. “I t’s as if the brain needs more time or more play before it decides, ‘Okay, this is something that I really need to deal with at sleep onset,”’ Stickgold said. According to Stickgold,
learning may have an important role in stimulating the brain to conjure dream content. Researchers found that the novices who saw the Tetris pieces in their dreams did not perform well in the initial two-hour train ing session. “It’s as if the more work you have to do the more likely you are to get the imagery,” Stickgold said.
The experim ent Two expert subjects, who had played between 50 and 500 games, reported seeing the Tetris pieces in color and accompanied by music, contrary to the experi mental black and white, no-sound protocol of the study’s Tetris game. This deviation proves how creative the brain is as it searches for past events and memories to incorporate into dreams, Stickgold said. “It’s actually hunting around and finding other relevant infor mation to connect to, which is the integrative process, which over time, I would agree, is a critical function of sleep,” Stickgold said. Three of the study’s five amnesiacs experienced the same dream pattern as normal subjects, which supports the previous notion that learning, even at the subconscious level, is important in manufacturing dreams. Amnesiacs dream, but during the course of their sleep they for get the events of the prior day; the
majority of amnesiac subjects in Stickgold’s study forgot how to play Tetris during the course of the night. Stickgold thought this would become evident because most sleep-induced dreams are linked to daily events. Dreams that occur during deep REM sleep contain less episodic sequences. Stickgold believes the memo ries of the Tetris dreams also affected the am nesiac’s daily behavior. The amnesiac subjects showed marginal improvement compared to the other subjects because they had to be re-taught how to play Tetris daily. One amnesiac subject, however, placed her fingers instantly on the three keys needed to play the game on the second day of training. “She did not quite know what she was doing, and yet she did know what she was doing,” Stickgold said. “In a way, this is Freud’s unconscious things acti vated in our brain, which are in fact memories that guide our behavior but are not conscious.” Stickgold says the mind-body connection is a primary aspect of the study. “We think of our mind as being ours. But there are real ways in which the brain has a set of rules of its own,” Stickgold said. “We’re getting an idea of what the brain uses as its rules for picking out cortical memory traces to reactivate and bring into our conscious mind, and we’re trying to see across wake-sleep cycles as to how that process hap pens.”
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In order to assist in its deliberations, the A dvisory C om m ittee w ould welcom e any com m ents by m em bers o f th e M cG ill co m m u n ity w ith respect to the renewal o f M s. G roen’s ap p o in tm en t. All com m ents will be treated in the strictest confidence by the C om m ittee, and they should be addresed to:
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O t h e r : -------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Please re tu r n th e s u rv e y by cam pus m a il to : G in e tte S anfacon, M a c d o n a ld -S te w a r t Building, Room M S 2 -0 1 9 (M a c d o n a ld Cam pus)
Professor A nthony Masi [Acting] Vice-Principal (Inform ation Systems and Technology) M cGill University 845 Sherbrooke Street W est M ontreal, Q C H 3A 2T5 by N ovem ber 30, 2000
Page 12 F e a t u r e s
The McG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 14 November 2000
C om batting dep ressio n is possible
Fast food phenom ...
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Peter Sitati
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home from September to April, eating well at school is not easy. A lunch consisting of a Nutri-Grain bar, a diet coke, and some fruit flavoured candies from the Leacock dépanneur may not seem
complete, but it may be all the time you have that day. Although it’s still not too late to try and pick up some good habits, even if it means putting a slice of lettuce on that triple cheeseburger.
ed the student is referred for such treatment by McGill. In other words, you need to see someone at McGill before you can claim your insurance funds. Some students challenge Farrell’s opinion on the competen cy of McGill mental health staff. A U3 student, who wishes also to remain anonymous, sought help at Mental Health this summer and is continuing with a weekly regular session. She has clinical depres sion, which began in response to the stress of school. “The doctors were extremely helpful and friendly and non threatening,” she said. “It is a very comfortable environment in the new building. [I was] very impressed with the quality of ser vice.”
T h o u g h ts a n d F e e lin g s
McGill services were institut ed to help you, and you pay for them out of Student Services Fees, so you might as well give them a shot. “Most students lament the fact that they never used the ser vices available, nor were aware of what was possible,” adds Baker. Sources cited include the 1980 edition of the BDI test creat ed by Dr. Aaron Beck of Feeling Good, as well as The Guide to Student Services: 2000-2001, the Group Insurance Plan printed by McGill University and Québec Blue Cross
• International Health Insurance FAQ’s: 398-6012 or 3600 McTavish, Suite 3215 • Counseling Services 3600 McTavish, Suite 4200: 398-3601 www.mcgitt.ca/stuserv/coun/coun.ktm (for FAQ’s and an overview of services available) • Mental Health 3600 McTavish, Suite 5500 398-6019 • McGill Nightline: 398-6246 • Depressed Anonymous: 278-2130 • Kids’ HelpLine: (800) 668-6868 • Shalom Line: 343-4343 • Suicide Action Montreal: 732-4000 Tel-Aide: 935-1101 Tel-Jeunes: 288-2266
V Feeling unhappy or sad V Num erous uncontrollable crying spells V Discouragem ent V H o p elessn ess V Low self-esteem V Lo neliness V C om placency
A c tiv itie s a n d P erso n a l
G E O R G E S
L A O U N
V Apathy towards aquaintances and relationships V L o ss of pleasure and satisfaction in daily life
R e la tio n s h ip s
O P T IC IA N
Eyes exam ined
by optom etrists
Y o u r fr ie n d ly n e ig h b o u rh o o d e y e g la s s s h o p s .
S u ic id a l U rg e s
P h y s ic a l S y m p to m s
V Wishing to end one’s life V Having plans to end one’s life
Sf Tired ness V Insomnia V L o ss or increase in appetite V Anxiety about one’s health a/ L o ss of se x drive
Northern Ireland: a hostile peace in progress
Cool glasses, nice people, good prices, great art and a
C ontinued from Page 9
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serious about peace Lewis, however, feels that nationalists can rebut that disarma ment was never a pre-condition for the establishment of an executive in the Accord. “According to the Good Friday Agreement, once the new assembly and executive had been established, the de-commissioning of weapons was supposed to take place within a two-year period, so by May of 2000,” he says. “So, the IRA and Sinn Fein retort that if an assembly and execu tive was up and running from the start, then de-commissioning would have taken place.” The only tangible move the IRA has made towards disarming is allow ing international inspectors into their arms dumps. Both sides blame each other for betraying either the spirit or the letter of the Good Friday Agreement in
their arguments. With the failure of many multinational federations like Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union and our own problems accommodating Quebec, should we sink into cyni cism? Lewis feels that the central part of the agreement is its protection of each all groups, particularly the Catholic community. Neither side can gain the upper hand on the other. Professor John Hall is a profes sor of sociology at McGill, interested in multicultural ism and nationalism. He suggests that another form of power sharing may be the best answer for Northern Ireland. “Consociationalism is an agree ment whereby blocs of power are allowed in various ways to participate in government on a proportional basis. They’re allowed to block legis lation so that their community is pro tected,” he said. “The fundamental idea of conscionationalism is that 51 per cent of the country cannot literal
ly do what it wants over the other. It is against the idea of a democratic tyranny.” The new government to be established will be based on the idea of a “double protection.” Legislation must meet the approval of all repre sented groups. The controversy over the idea comes from its complete departure from the concept of democ ratic majority rule. A perceived strength of the Agreement is that is forces two groups to live together on an equal basis. With the minority status of the Catholic community, Hall feels that such an arrangement is necessary to prevent more violence. As with all new government, conventional or otherwise, transi tion is never smooth.
The McG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 14 November 2000
F e a t u r e s Page 13
Napster-BMG: Building a cyber monster one b rick a t a tim e B y Ia n S p e ic e l
“Hey its not Napster’s fault that they got the crap kicked out of them in court. Damn, they are just trying to survive... I don’t think of them as greedy, but I do think they sold out... But then.. I ’m not the one getting sued... As long as Mp3 's exist, there will be a way to share them., for free. Long live the open source!” -Q ueylude99 (from a N apster chat room )
Queylude99 posted this mes sage three days ago at 7:35pm. At 7:37pm, the first response rolled in, submitted by Blamo21. The bulk of Blamo21’s mes sage was delivered as a deluge of really nasty expletives. However, Blamo21 did manage to include slightly softer vocabulary, caress ing the forum with words like ‘sell-out’, ‘shove’, ‘ass’, ‘corpora tion’, ‘whoring’ and ‘gun’. Though the details and rea sons of Blamo21’s outrage were somewhat lost in his metaphorical prose, his loathing of Napster’s recent actions is unquestionable. Quelude99, in contrast, seems to indicate a more conciliatory and understanding opinion towards Napster’s state of affairs. A quick scroll though Napster’s chat rooms reveals that Queylude99 and Blamo21 have scores of sympa thisers, though many have slightly different takes on the issue at hand - namely, the Napster-BMG alliance. So why has this alliance, which isn’t even a formal merger, become the impetus for so much discussion? The answer lies not in the fact that Napster now has approximately 38 million mem bers, or that BMG is among the five biggest record labels in the world. Rather, it’s that the new alliance represents the inklings of a romance between a capitalistic (some might say greedy) bricks and mortar company and an altru istic dot.com, which has yet to make a dollar in profit. A cursory glance at the facts might show that Napster’s socialist backbone has yellowed in the face of a multi million dollar law suit. But, did Napster really sell out? It a ll s t a r t e d ... Napster, as the fable goes, was created by a student of Northeastern University, named Shawn Fanning. Fanning wrote the software to enable free exchange of mp3s (compressed digital music files) via the Internet. Unlike other file-swapping medi ums like Gnutella, Napster makes use of a central server to connect one user to another. Server upkeep is not free, requiring a constant cash influx. “The sociological phenome non is one thing,” states Andrew Brouse, professor of music tech nology at McGill, “but Napster is actually a company itself. It has
financial backers, apart from the guys who started it.” It was those financial backers who made it possible for this soci ological phenomenon to occur. It manifested itself as a mindset among Napster community mem bers whereby access to a superior quantity of free music, being only a couple clicks away, was taken for granted. This was a significant contrast to conventional means of music acquisition. “Vinyl records used to cost a couple dollars a piece to produce, and they would sell for, in the day, eight to maybe twelve dollars tops. CDs cost, in mass, as low as 20 cents, (if not) lower, and they sell them for twenty dollars,” Brouse recollects. Understandably, net users took quite readily to the prospect of free music, not perturbed in the least that they were sticking it to the record companies in the process. As Diggs Dorfman, a third year student points out, “Napster was simply an epitome of the Internet, which, for a long time, was a wild wild west. There were all sorts of scams.” That was a short-lived, if golden, era of unfettered Internet music acquisition. Record labels were quick to gather that their livelihood, a $40 billion a year business squeezed from an increas ingly obsolete paradigm, was being jeopardized. They saw decreases of over 50 per cent in CD sales around university and college campuses and they decided that online distribution was a direct threat to their existence. “The record companies have been stupid. Somewhat in the sense that, maybe five years ago, Microsoft didn’t understand the Internet, and was left behind at that time. The record companies have been the same. They didn’t realise the possibilities of online music distribution,” muses Brouse. Q u e u e c la s s a c tio n About a year ago, Napster was sued by Metallica’s drummer, Lars Ulrich, and Dr. Dre. Ulrich and Dr. Dre were successful in court, and approximately 500,000 Napster members (those who had downloaded Metallica and Dre songs) were exiled from the Napster community. Ulrich and D re’s success buoyed several major record labels (Sony, EMI, Universal, Time Warner — hence forth referred to as ‘the Axis’) to serve Napster and other file swap ping sites like Scour.com with a class action suit. Unlike the previ ous suit, the record labels were aiming to shut Napster down, not simply kick off a few members. The argument brought forth by the Axis charged Napster with violating copyright laws. As per a year ago, explains Brouse, a court ruling established that “all recordings are work for hire.” Thus, an artist signs a deal to record a song for a stipulated
amount, and the record label is then granted legal propriety of that song. Napster, the Axis argued, was actively distributing songs that legally belonged to the Axis; hence, copyright violation. Napster countered by insisting that they were simply a medium for exchange, with the copyright infringement being enacted by the users themselves. A spurious argument, indeed, if one considers that every aspect of the Napster site is geared towards smooth and efficient transfer, organisation and playing of mp3s. Napster knew it would not win a ruling based on this argu ment alone, which is why they also argued that, regardless of how the technology is currently used, its latent potential for a beneficial and legal function must be factored in to consideration. The same argu ment was used by Sony about 25 years ago in defence of its thennew Betamax VCR. And after a nine-year battle, Sony won. (Ironically, by the time they won the court case, they had lost market share to a worse technology VHS) So h o w c a n N a p s te r c h a rt a le g a l c o u r s e ? If a song is the legal propriety of a record company, then obvi ously the company must be com pensated when that song is distrib uted. That’s why tapes, vinyl’s and CDs aren’t free. Consider that Napster is acquiring 250,000 new members a day (thanks, in large part, to the publicity they have garnered from the lawsuits) on top of the 38 mil lion members they already have, and that each member downlaods hundres of songs, and the possibil ity for profit should be slapping you in the face. Despite a laudable pain threshold, it appears as though one of the record companies finally smelled the glove. About two weeks ago, Bertelsmann AG (an international media corporation which owns BMG) announced a strategic alliance with Napster, thereby ter minating its pending lawsuit. The alliance entails a $50 mil lion investment on the part of BMG to Napster. The money, states Napster, will be used to research and develop a credible business model for online mp3 dis tribution. Brouse speculates on the likely model: “Some sort of subscription service, where people pay a certain amount of money and they get [access] to new releases. It would have to be between 5 and 10 dol lars a month.” Is it likely, however, that such a scheme would fly? Professor Liette Lapointe, who teaches a class in information systems, recently centred a class discussion on this very topic. “My feeling (from class dis
really. There’s no other choice,” says Brouse. Queylude99 understood this inevitability, though he placed his faith in the fact that there would always be some other way to share mp3 files for free. And with soft ware like Gnutella, which doesn’t use a central server, Queylude99 is probably right, though he may be missing out on a selection, which could possibly include “all the music in existence”. That said, it woudn’t be shocking to find Queylude99 subscribing to online music. Blamo21, however, is not so softhearted. Whether he’s just a greedy kid whose free candy is being taken away, or a conscien tious protestor of a business that has been gouging artists and the public since its inception, it is clear Blamo21 is perturbed. He’s unlikely to fit into the “will pay for Napster” category. Thus the question at hand: Of the 38 million community members, who represents the minority, Blamo21 or Quelude99? More to the point, just how big, and what role will that minority play? Stay tuned.
cussion) is that people who are heavily using the site would be ready to pay if they get a better technology and a better transfer and better quality,” she said. Dorfman, a user, would not necessarily agree. “I can’t see that (model) being too realistic because not every thing I want can be found on the BMG label. If I could pay a monthly fee and get access to all music in existence, I would be all over that,” he states. Obviously, the need for collu sion between the Axis, and increased transfer and distribution quality is imperative if NapsterBMG wants to be successful. Although the other major labels have not dropped their suits against Napster, BertelsmannBMG has been working behind the scenes. “We [Bertelsmann] invite other record and publishing com panies, artists and other industry members to participate in the development of a secure and mem bership-based service,” reads a recent press release. Given the ease at which distri bution can occur, and the size of the market, a partnership between off-line and online music compa nies seems more than logical. “Napster is going to become an online store. It’s inevitable S h a tn e r
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NolongerwaitingforGodot Nosalutefor Menof Honor
A rray o f B eckett so undbites go so fa r beyo nd 'ab su rd ' th a t it's n o t even fu n n y
is the first black man to be admit ted to the Navy Dive School and What could have been a har thus is left to fend for himself rowing tale of a real life hero against the threats of his fellow becomes a typical triumph-over officers. He is pushed to the limit evil flick in Men of Honor, a movie by Billy Sunday, who assumes that as banal as the previews make it he will break under the pressure appear. and quit the school. But that isn’t It doesn’t take long for the Brashear’s style. He is determined audience to start wishing that they to prove that he can make it to his were somewhere, anywhere, else. goal, especially since “they told The film is inspired by Carl [him] that [he] couldn’t”. Brashear, whose landmark naval By the way, layers of melo career improved the prospects of drama and predictability aside, African American men in the ser there is a big problem with the vice. Unfortunately, fiction is far film: it is only a shell. There is lit more convenient than reality and tle character development and most the filmmakers take many liberties. of the subplots come across as a Directed by George Tillman, mere afterthought. All the basics Jr. (Soul Food), Men of Honour is are present: a hero, an antagonist, a set in the 1950s. The US Navy is girl, a goal, an iron will, and a newly desegregated and the vast father that doesn’t want his son to majority of the black men who turn out like him. have signed up to serve are given But alas, the outline never gets positions of the lowest rank, with filled in, the characters don’t no real chance for upward mobili develop much past their first scene ty. In marches our hero, deter and the audience is left with a mined to work his way from stew strong desire for the film to end. B y J e n n a R in a s
B y S o p h i a - K a t e S m it h
Think Beckett. Thinking bleak? Grey, despairing or boring? This year’s mainstage produc tion of More than Godot might make you think again. A cast of ten students directed by Bryden MacDonald present eleven of Samuel Beckett’s shorter plays in a dynamic celebration of theatre. One of the dangers of a show created out of different pieces, is the fact that the show can come off as nothing more than a collection of various parts. MacDonald, cast and crew avoid this danger bril liantly, providing a complete and organic production that would transform the most stubborn of Beckett critics into a Beckett groupie. I’m one of those critics. Thus far, I’ve never been a Beckett fan. I like to think of myself as an optimistic person, and I like optimistic shows. I didn’t like Endgame or Waiting for Godot (the play that some audience members seemed to think they would be see ing). However, the McGill English Department’s production of More than Godot has prompted me to reconsider my opinion. The production starts on what initially seems to be a humorous note, with a man (played by Dave Bowles) thrown onto a bare stage from the wings. Our protagonist tries to exit from whence he came, only to quickly discover that he can’t leave. We laugh at his attempts to make sense of his predicament. As the piece pro gresses the laughter ceases to flow so easily. Without uttering a word (hence the title ‘Act without Words I’), Bowles nimbly communicates frustration and despair through stylized movements and an awe-
filled face. In stark contrast, the charac ters of the following scene have no choice but to talk, enclosed up to the neck in giant urns. Actors Anna Leventhal, Amy Pagnotta and Jonathan Black demonstrate an extraordinary sense of timing, beginning the scene with a bout of chatter that starts and stops sim ul taneously. A swiftly switching spot (deftly handled by Ben Sargent) cues the characters’ rapid semi explanations of their mundane lives. Repeating the text a second time at break-neck speed, one par ticular idea hits home: how insignificant our cares can be. As if to allow the audience a pause for breath, ‘Come and Go’ provides a stillness. Katy Pedersen, Stephanie Axmann and Vanessa Guillen play three back-stabbing women, who gossip as they come and go. A short scene, but one that lingers due to the beautiful picture painted by carefully deliberate movement (choreographed by Annick Brisindi) and striking cos tume design (Catherine Bradley, and crew). The subsequent piece, ‘Rough for Theatre I’, depicts the encounter between a blind man (Simon Philips) and a cripple con fined to a wheelchair (Laen Hershler). Both actors achieve a delicate balance between caricature and subtlety, with profoundly mov ing results. In a resoundingly mem orable moment of theatre the blind man offers to tuck in the other man’s foot. The cripple responds in absolute shock to the possibility that one human might offer a ser vice to another with no guarantee of recompense. But the scene does not end with such altruism. Rather, having bared their hearts, the two strike at each other and the lights
dim. In previous scenes, characters never seem to experience hope; this scene offers you a glimmer, only to snatch it away again. The first act closes with “Not I”, a monolith of a monologue expertly delivered by Vanessa Guillen. Mouth, the female protag onist who can’t stop talking, spews a fragmented story to her auditor (Stephanie Axman), while refusing to recognize herself in the first per son of that story. Guillen, raised and almost immobile on a podium several feet off the stage, stands shrouded in black except for the | red of her mouth. The curtain low ers with Mouth still mumbling. Just as it stretches the defini tion of theatre, More Than Godot stretches the definition of intermis sion. Halfway through the break, house lights dim to half and a masked character in a flowing white robe strides onto the stage. Thus begins the mathematical may hem of ‘Quad’. Four actors, four colours, four sounds... Don’t ask me to describe it because I can’t. All I know is that by the time it ended, the house was completely dark and the second act was begin ning... With movement that echoes the era of comic silent film, Ben Sargent and Katy Pedersen lay bare the monotony of daily life in ‘Act All shell and no substance make this a dull film. Press Shot Without Words II’. Monotony con tinues in a minor key during ard to his ultimate goal of Master De Niro, armed with regula ‘Rockabye’, where a dying woman Chief Diver. tion props, manages to bring some waits in her rocking chair for the Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as Carl semblance of depth to his charac end. Her performance fragmented Brashear; strong, defiant, and ter, an astonishing feat considering into moving body and pre-recorded extremely goal oriented. Robert De the paper-thin sketch provided by voice, Stephanie Axman rocks and Niro plays Billy Sunday, the main writer Scott Marshall Smith. De responds to the monologue of her antagonist and Brashear’s diving Niro even delivers a collection of inner self. Continuing in a similar instructor. solid one-liners. But on the whole, tone, ‘Footfalls’ presents us with a The story follows Brashear’s he overacts his way through the woman’s obsessive pacing, as she rise through the ranks. At each dubious project. stage he is met with opposition. He C ontinued on Page 21
C on tinu ed on Page 21
The McG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 14 November 2000
C
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— light an d fluffy fun tu rn s dry
B y J u d it h D r o r y
Chutney Popcorn is an MTV-style movie that explores the relationships between traditional Indian beliefs and customs and those of the les bian lifestyle. This is the debut feature from Canadian director Nisha Ganatra who also plays the lead character, Reena. The film has a very personal depth to it, no doubt steming from Ganatra’s ability to direct her char acter effectively. Reena comes from a traditional Indian family, where her staunch mother, Meenu (played with comedic flair by Madhur Jaffrey), favours Reena’s older, just married sister Sarita (Sakina Jaffrey). Meenu sees Reena's sexual orientation as a temporary thing which can be cured once she finds the right man. Reena is an amateur photogra pher and henna-tattoo artist who lives with her girlfriend Lisa (Jill Hennessy of Law and Order fame). Lisa is free-spirited and convincing as Reena’s girlfriend. She adores henna-art, an Indian custom that we see from a different perspective when the application of the dye becomes a sexy ritual that occurs between the two lovers. The film portrays many of Reena’s photographs of henna, which further indicate the confu sion and anger Reena feels as an outsider in her own family. It is also powerful because it weaves traditional Indian customs in with those of the lesbian world. This movie skillfully portrays lesbian couples with ease and com fort. Chutney Popcorn does not set out to be a "lesbian film". Rather, it often shoves any inci dence of lesbianism to the back burner and focuses more on the relationships between all the char acters in this movie, preventing any romanticized ideals or perpetu ation of stereotypes. Chutney Popcorn's main story lies within the family relationships between Reena, her mother and her favoured sister, Sarita. When Sarita is unable to conceive a child, Reena steps in and offers herself as a surrogate mother. Some of the most comedic moments happen during Reena’s attempt at getting pregnant. While good intentions perpetuate the pregnancy, the inevitable happens. Sarita changes her mind and real izes motherhood is not for her, her husband Mitch still wants the baby and becomes estranged from Sarita. Reena’s girlfriend can’t handle having a pregnant girlfriend and leaves her. It is at this point that the plot begins to wear thin. While the film is an enjoy able, lighthearted fare, eventually you realize that this popcorn has been overcooked. It falls victim to one cliché after another. The once overbearing mother suddenly warms up to her pregnant gay daughter. The once friendly, lov ing sister becomes disenchanted and annoying. In fact, this movie is all about role reversal. The gay sister becomes the loved sister; the once traditional sister falls way-
E n t e r t a i n m e n t Page 15
Pregnant lesbian henna-artist and friends in New York.
Press Shot
ward. The husband, who is por trayed as all knowing and closedminded, is suddenly loving and accepting. Even Reena’s scared girlfriend comes running back hav ing realized that she can, and in fact wants to, become a parent. When you set all this against a young, fresh cast with a funky New York backdrop and stylish music, it gets tiring. It reminded me of watching a predictable Dawson’s Creek episode where you can’t relate to the characters and find that their stories lack
credibility. Dedicated to moms, this film shows the many faces of mother hood and has a subtle female empowerment edge which is refreshing. Despite this, while light and often funny, Chutney Popcorn falls into the same old, oft-trodden territory of the clash of cultures within a family. Chutney Popcorn opens at Cinéma Du Parc on November 17.
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g to b e a n d m a il.c o m W ith all t h e W eb s it e s o u t th e r e , w h e re do you tu rn to fin d t h e im p o r ta n t in fo rm a tio n you n e e d to s u rv iv e a n d th riv e on c a m p u s ? T he a n s w e r is g l o b e a n d m a i l .c o m / c a m p u s . It’s t h e n ew s it e fo r C a n a d ia n u n iv e rs ity a n d c o lle g e s t u d e n t s w ho w a n t: ► u p - to - th e - m i n u te n e w s a n d in fo rm a tio n ► a p la c e to in te r a c t w ith o th e r s t u d e n t s ► a s n a p s h o t of c a m p u s e s a c r o s s t h e c o u n try from o u r R oving R e p o rte rs So m a k e s u r e you k eep c o m in g b a c k to s e e w h a t ’s n ew a n d how you c a n g e t h o m e fo r t h e h o lid a y s by e n te r in g o u r o n lin e c o n te s t!
t h e s t u d e n t p la c e in c y b e r s p a c e
The McG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 14 November 2000
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Brave n ew brew s a n d b e a ts a t B rutopia By J eff H all-M artin
Last Tuesday, while most people were glued to CNN watch ing latenight US election cover age, I chose to get a life and leave the television in search of some thing a little more stimulating. If anyone had told me that I was going to find good music on Crescent street I would have thought that they had confused one form of aural pleasure with its homonymie alternative. But as it turns out there was something of value nestled amongst the meatmarkets. South of Ste Catherine lies a small, unassuming bar named Brutopia. While it is better known to Concordia students, Brutopia does attract patrons from this side of the tracks. Perhaps it is their extensive selection of beer on tap, or perhaps it is their initiative in promoting music that might seem out of place on Crescent Street. Tuesday night featured two acts that both combined diverse musical elements to create distinct and innovative sounds. First up was the downtempo drum and bass act known as dB or decibel. Comprised of three keyboards, one computer, two guys and enough
electronic toys to do some serious damage, dB bring fresh ideas to the Montreal electronic music scene. They mix complex break beats with melodic keyboards and reverberating bass to produce a sound akin to artists like Autechre or Boards of Canada. In addition to relying on electronics at times, they add live bass to give their music a warmer, human feel. After their impressive open ing set dB were followed by a band in the more traditional sense of the word. Ice9 is a group of musicians that is hard to pigeon hole into a particular style. They mix distorted guitar riffs with solid drum rhythms and bass lines. The lead singer’s diverse voice and haunting lyrics bring the sound together. Her wide-ranging singing constantly plays off the sonic background created by the other three members. Overall Ice9 bring a progressive attitude to tra ditional instrumentation that fits well with the more electronic feel of dB. For those in the need of some genre-bending midweek lis tening dB and Ice9 perform again on Nov. 21 at Brutopia with King Rizla.
Tuesday Night Café__________________ November 15-18 / 22-25. 2 Plays. Regular admission: $8, students/seniors: $6 Morrice Hall, 8pm. Info: 398-6600
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M cG ill H ellenic S tu d en ts A sso c ia tio n w eekly debates on so cial topics. Shatn er 2nd floor food court.
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7 LOVE YOU!" Veal lead singer bonds with his instrument.
By A ndré Ligaspi
Veal. It can be prepared in a number of ways. It can be slathered in tomato sauce topped with parmesan cheese in a hero. You can mix it in with pasta, or you can even have it plain. But if you like it with some country flavor blended with some edgy hard rock, then Winnipeg has what you want. Veal, a trio from Manitoba, recently served up unique music that left those in Jailhouse Rock wanting more. As it reached the scheduled start of 10:30PM, it seemed that Jailhouse wasn’t going to reach its maximum capacity. Other than my friend, the photographer, and me
Jenny George
there was just the bartender, a waitress and a couple worthy of a senior citizen’s discount. But it didn’t bother Veal one bit. They appeared on-stage unassuming, like a run-of-the-mill garage band play ing its first gig. But lead singer Luke Doucet erased those thoughts with his blues guitar and some hard chords. The small crowd was quiet, expect ing twangy country ballads pouring out of his guitar, but Doucet used unique methods that made the music sound more like the Violent Femmes with the vocals of The Eels. Starting off with AC/DC-like licks, Veal quickly got the attention of all 7 people in the audience.
G e t In v o lv e d 2 Student Reps are needed for the SSMU Media Advisory Board. Resumes and cover letters can be dropped off at the SSMU Front Desk. Attn: Chris Gratto.
G e rt’s F re e J a z z & P o o l N igh t, 10 p m
■ S S M U O p en M eeting Shatner Building, Rm 3 0 2 , 1:30 -2:30 p m . Info: Mark C h od os at ce@ ssm u.m cgill.ca ■ M c G ill O u tin g C lu b W eekly Meeting Leaco ck 26 ■ W o m e n ’s U n io n S e x T o y s P a rty Shatn er 4 18 , 6pm. Info: wunion@ssmu.mcgill.ca
■ TN T G ert’s Pub, 9pm ■ E n tre p re n e u rs C lu b G u e st sp eaker: Je an Fahm y, M cGill G rad uate running a su cce ssfu l internet b u sin ess. Bronfm an, 5pm. Info: Jo rd an na at jloebl @po-box.mcgiil.ca
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G e rt’s F re e J a z z & P o o l N ig h t, 10 p m
■ S a v e the C h ild re n B a k e s a le 9am -4pm , Leaco ck 1 3 2 Lobby. Info: S h u g h a n y a at wunion@ssmu.mcgill.ca
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F re e N o o n -H o u r O rg a n R e c ita l S e r ie s Redpath Hall, 12 :15 p m A C a p p e lla E x tra v a g a n z a with To n al E csta sy. B irks C h ap e l, 3 5 2 0 University, 7pm . Info: Matt at 28 8 -2 6 36
S a tu rd a y 1 8 ACappella Extravaganza
with Effusion. Birks Chapel, 3520 University, 7pm. Info: Matt at 288-2636
Sunday 1 9
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W e d n e sd ay 2 2 ■ M c G ill O u tin g C lu b W eekly Meeting Shatner 30 2
Just as we thought the song would reach its pinnacle, Doucet dropped the tempo to a sluggish, sing-songy ballad that could almost be consid ered pop-rock. Each song was a separate story, from inane acci dents with bicyclists to trips to Texacos in Mexico. As cheesy as was the frilly lampshade (complete with VEAL etched across it) that graced the stage in full shag splendor, it worked. The band was having fun and didn’t care how many people were watching. Doucet forgot to introduce some of the songs’ names, but it didn’t matter. By the end of the night, Jailhouse filled up with several more people. Everyone was inter ested in the kind of story Doucet would tell next and how he would tell it. One “story” required the use of the good ol’ scream-into-thebody-of-the-guitar trick (see photo). It’s doubtful that any other band would have combined screaming and country as well as Veal. Their versatility is what makes Veal stand apart. Rather than hav ing the same monotonous sound that carries mainstream bands like Third Eye Blind and Matchbox 20, Veal isn’t afraid to experiment. Think of them more like the “meatloaf surprise” from the caf back in high school: you might be pleasant ly surprised.
SSMUand T he 5 h a tn e r Molson Dry J a m present: P r e - E x a m Nov. 24th. 2 Floors. Specials all night. Info: MarkChodos at ce@ssmu.mcgiU.ca L_______
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■ TN T G e rt’s Pub, 9pm
■ W o m e n ’s U n io n S e lfD e fe n c e W o rk s h o p 6-8pm , location T B A . Info: wunion@ssmu.mcgill.ca
M onday 2 7 I i l M cG ill H ellenic S tu d en ts A sso c ia tio n w eekly debates on so cial topics. Shatner 2nd floor food court.
G e rt’s F re e J a z z & P o o l N ig h t, 10 p m
■ W o m e n ’s U n io n S e lfD e fe n ce W o rk s h o p 6-8pm , location T B A . Info: wunion@ssmu.mcgill.ca
M cG ill H ellenic S tu d en ts A sso c ia tio n w eekly debates on social topics. Shatner 2nd floor food court.
D are-to -b e-d ifferen t band serves up a m eaty set
T u e s d a y 1 4 . 1W e d n e s d a y 1 5
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Veal as g o o d as Swedish m eat balls!
■ F re e N o o n -H o u r O rg a n R e cita l S e r ie s Redpath Hall, 12 :15 p m
Sunday 19
W e d n e sd ay 2 9 Ki M c G ill O u tin g C lu b W eekly Meeting Shatner 30 2
T h u rsd a y 3 0 ■ TN T G ert’s Pub, 9pm
M cLennan/Redpath Library ♦ As of N o v e m b e r 1 3 th , th e M c L e n n a n L ib ra ry is o p e n daily for study until 1 a m • T hanks to SSMU’s L ib ra ry I m p r o v e m e n t F u n d , th e 2 4 - H o u r study s p a c e in R edpath Library runs from N ovem ber 28 to D e c e m b e r 21. A c c e s s is limited to th o se with a valid McGill ID.
The McG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 14 November 2000
E n t e r t a i n m e n t Page 17
Drugs are g o o d for you — I know becau se I saw it on TV Read between the lines B y B en S a s s o n b u t n o t t h e M c Gi l l S p e c i a 1 I n v e s t i g a t i v e T ea m The following in no way represents the views of the McGill Special Investigative Team oday I’m rebelling against that illustrious organization I’ve served for the past two months. That’s right: for once, rather than simply acting as a mouthpiece for them, I’m going to use this space to air my grievances against the McGill Special Investigative Team and to com ment on a very serious issue which I might not ordinarily address. You see, I’ve recently had a falling out of sorts with my investigative comrades. They think that I’ve been abusing drugs. Not that it’s any concern to them, or the reader, but this allegation is untrue. Still, in this bizarre media climate which we currently live in, I’m beginning to think maybe a little drug abuse is exactly what I need to take my proper place in society. Have you seen, dear reader, those new Dentyne Ice commer cials? You know, the ones set in that “rave” dance party setting. There’s the guy buying water. The camera work is jittery and ellipti cal, emphasizing the throbbing music and lights in the background.
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You see these close-ups of the guy to go before we’re all enslaved by touching the water girl’s face in the tandem use of corporate-spon this highly sensualized way. sored happy pills and immersive They’re embracing, they’re chew sensory-overload films? My Cultural Studies professor ing gum, all the while computeranimated “vapors” stream out of claimed this past week that the their mouths. It’s a very unsubtle counterculture films of the 60’s and allusion to drug use - namely ecsta- ! 70’s had forever lost their mind sy - at raves and it asks the viewer expanding powers over contempo to make the unlikely connection rary viewers because most of the that gum and ecstasy are somehow values they proselytized have equally precious commodities in | become a part of the dominant the ultra-hip electronic dance music North American worldview. Tuning in and dropping out, setting scene. Is it just me, or is this a really your mind free, all that good stuff weird way to sell gum? I don’t that we salivate over when we hear have a problem with raves or ravers our parents talk about it, on some or ecstasy. What I do have a prob level that battle was won and now lem with is seeing these things co it’s old news. We can’t personally be moved opted into the mainstream with the sole purpose of making money. As or shocked by, say, the virtuoso I understand it, the rave scene, as psychedelia of Kubrick’s 2001 or huge as it is, still has in many ways the biting Cold War satire of Dr. the connotations of an “under Strangelove because society on a ground movement.” This is youth whole has already been shocked counterculture - the very stuff the and moved and now they’re over it. I don’t believe this. I can’t dreams of the oppressed are made of - at its finest and it’s being sold believe it for I’ve seen enough in the world around me to realize that wholesale to the highest bidder. just as much as the aesthetic trap Doesn’t anyone care? I’m not taking a stance against pings of the 60’s and 70’s have drugs - far from it - but I just can’t been assimilated and popularized, fathom how it is that rave culture ! the accompanying ideologies have has gotten so popular that even the largely been forgotten. Okay, drugs that it has popularized can be maybe forgotten is the wrong word, used as a marketing device. Was but they’ve changed and become in Aldous Huxley really that far off many ways, the complete opposite when he wrote Brave New World? of what they originally stood for. I How much farther will our media know that hippie culture was used and pleasure-obsessed culture have as a marketing device in 60’s and
n o t re a lly such a t r ip th r o u g h H e ll
By Kiki D ranias
I am sure there are those who can appreciate and relate to the kind of zany characters Adam Sandler brings to life, but they must be either too young or too immature for me to exchange bullshit rhetoric with. Having said that, you probably expect me to cut Sandler’s latest, Little Nicky, to shreds with a cleaver. Well, I, like many other reviewers present at the press screening, laughed many a times out loud, and without a hint of shame. Maybe it was the raunchy humor, or that annoying Sandlers voice that triggered the chuckles, but if it slowly tickled my funny bone awake at 9:30 a.m. on a Monday morning, chances are diehard Sandlers fans will laugh themselves into frenzy. The cast and the guest cameos were extremely stimulating. The story has Little Nicky's dad Harvey Keitel (a.k.a. the Devil) literally falling apart to the point that all that is left of him is a sarcastic frown belting out one-liners that Valley girls across the land only dream of uttering at the mall. Quentin Tarantino plays a blind southern preacher roaming the streets of New York to warn of the perils of hell if people do not relinquish their evil ways. Folks, be very unafraid because in this movie, hell ain't so bad after all. You should see the kind of people who hang out there; it makes Saturday night cannibal feasts look like meager snacks.
Rodney Dangerfield plays Lucifer, (the Devil's dad). Hell is not really his domain to rule: it really belongs to his son. His wife was the inspi ration behind the burning inferno. Their divorce is so messy that Lucifer has to contend with the likes of Judge Judy to keep his exwife from running the family busi ness. Little Nicky must wander the streets of New York to search for his two brothers after they escape to the Big Apple when someone forgets to lock Hell's gates. Beefy, a bulldog decked out in a spiked collar, serves as his talking tour guide. With lovable crudeness and
Sandler's hellish hair day
an over-the-top spin of "tell it like it is" reality, Beefy should be the new contender for spokesperson of Taco Bell. The two split up long enough for Nicky to fall in love with a
sweet and simple-minded Parson's student (Patricia Arquette), whose sole ambition in life is to make really pretty things. Don’t think for a moment that Beefy gets left out of the romantic action: he finds his way uptown to visit his girl friend, a sewer rat. Romantic oneliners from Beefy include, "tell me who’s your daddy" as he romances his sweet thing, doggy style. Before giving away every piece of delirious and ludicrous toi let humor from this movie, I want to warn the potential audience that Little Nicky’s beginning is tortur ous. It quickly manages to repent for its sins with special effects and chaos worthy of a US Presidential Election. Little Nicky, for all of its coarseness, is a surprisingly cheeky comedy, and its ensemble cast, complete with Henry Winkler and Ozzy Osborne. A final element worthy of inclusion is the bonus of a head banging soundtrack. It is packed solid with heavy-metal tunes from an era all devil worship pers can recall. Besides the bat man’s raspy voice urging us ‘No More Tears’, we also hear AC/DC’s Hell's Bells chime, as they ring down the ‘Highway to Hell’ and Cypress Hill reminds us of who really is a ‘Rock Superstar’. Little Nicky opened on November 10. Check local movie listings
70’s too, but at least then it could be compared to the real thing. Now people hear about the 60’s and they think about those lame Starburst ads where the psychedelic arrangements of fruit are shown while a rambling stream-of-consciousness voiceover blathers about the terrors of karaoke and the “high” of real fruit juice. It’s a depressing prospect. I don’t want to believe that the crowning cultural achievements of my generation will be the chewing gum advertisements of the next one. I guess it all depends on how you look at it. A lot of people argue that counter-cultural content in mainstream media subverts the system and helps the viewer to be less of a capitalist lackey. Many critics argued that the beauty of The Matrix was that it subverted the hollow genre of the Keanu Reeves action movie and made the viewer, quite against their own will, consider deep philosophical
questions. My problem with this is that no matter how enlightening an action movie gets, it’s still an action movie. Even if that Dentyne commer cial makes some kid decide to step out from under mommy and daddy’s protective boot heel and see the larger wold with its won drous music and drugs - which doesn’t seem that unlikely - even then I have my reservations. That kid should be dreaming his own dreams, not getting them from a commercial. He shouldn’t have to grow up in a world so dislocated that the most authentic picture he can get of liberated, carpe diem youth shenanigans has to come from an advertisement for chewing gum. That poor little bastard, I can almost hear him sniveling... Man, am I thirsty. These tranquilizers I ’ve been taking sure give you awful dry mouth. If only I had some gum...
SPRING BREAK & NEW YEAR’S TRIPS! D a y t o n a B e a c h , A c a p u lc o , M o n tre a l & Q u e b e c fro m
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Vartan Gregorian's visit to Montreal is co-sponsored by the Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society.
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C o m p u te r T h u rsd ay N o ve m b e r 1 6 ,2 0 0 0 6 :3 0 p.m. Fie ld h o u se A u d ito riu m , Le a co ck B u ild in g
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The McG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 14 November 2000
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Redford's three-hour golf movie way over par B y R e b e c c a D o ir o n
If golf is the most boring sport ever invented, it would follow that a movie about golf would be a snoozefest. The Legend of Baggar Vance, directed by Robert Redford, depicts the yawn-worthy struggle of one man, Rannulph Junuh (Matt Damon), who has the gift, loses it, and gets a little help trying to recover it. Junuh has it all: youth, talent, fame, and a beautiful (not to men tion rich) young bride. He is at the top of his golf game, winning tour naments all over the southern United States. When World War I sweeps the globe, Junuh, being Captain America incarnate, volun teers to lead his southern brothers into battle. It turns out that trench warfare isn’t his cup of tea, and being emotionally and psychologi cally shell-shocked, the boy toy wanders the earth for ten years. Meanwhile, little miss debu tante, Adele Invergordon (Charlize Theron), sits at home, waiting and wondering, never hearing a word from her husband. Her father, a regular Daddy Warbucks with a passion for golf, decides to build what he believes is to be the world’s best golf course and resort. Right as his heaven on earth is completed, the Great Depression is thrust upon the nation. Mr. Moneybags goes belly-up and commits suicide.
Adele, in a southern fury, decides to avenge her father’s death, and fulfill his dream. She sells all of her assets to amass a $ 10,000 prize for a tournament she believes will put her golf course on the map, and consequently restore her financial wealth. Miraculously, she snares two top golfers AND the drunken, gambling Junuh (recently returned to the city, but not to her) to compete. This all in the first half hour, which incidentally, contains more plot than the remaining two and a half. Junuh has lost his swing in the trenches. Petrified to reveal his inadequacies, he drowns his selfpity in a bottle of whiskey. His downfall is hard to swallow given that he makes for just about the prettiest drunk I’ve ever seen— he’s still tanned, muscular, neither slurring his speech nor stumbling. His hitting bottom seems strangely like a break for cold beer after the ninth hole. Putting that aside for the moment, the story continues as the young drunken master gathers up enough motivation to try playing golf, and heads out to hit some dri ves into the cricket-chirping dark ness. He clips every swing off cen tre. As he’s busily winging ballis tic golf balls into the night, Baggar Vance (Will Smith) walks right up to him, divinely avoiding all pro
jectiles. His saviour has arrived. Hallelujah. Baggar Vance, is also a born golfer (as evidenced by the one swing he grants us for the whole movie, coupled with his two-or-three recommendations). His heal-the-person, fix-the-game approach puzzles everyone, but perhaps that’s why he only asks for a five dollar fee. To tell the truth, in The Legend of Baggar Vance there isn’t much of a legend, and there isn’t much of a story. The sub-plots dwindle and the film ends with them unresolved. What happened in the war to so severely wound Junuh? Why does Adele take Junuh back after ten years of abandon ment? Who exactly is Baggar Vance and what is his story? The film may inspire some viewers to try golf, because of crazy camera angles and the unre alistic portrayal of golf as a fastpaced game. Sadly though, the story falls short on many counts. The characters are not believable. Their motivations require signifi cant suspension of disbelief to swallow. It is neither a touching love story, nor a motivational tale of overcoming an obstacle. Perhaps if an hour and a half were shaved off, it would seem like less of a slow crawl. All in all, The Legend o f Bagger Vance is relatively enter taining, but only as a rental.
Canada's horror m agazine goes against the grain - and succeeds
BOO! Fill your personal Cancon quota with spooks and screams. B y P e ter K o v e n
Trying to make a living writ ing and promoting an independent magazine is a very humbling process indeed — mostly involving begging other people for funding. The editors of these things are probably the only group in the country who can lay claim to com plaining about lack of government funding more than Olympic ath letes do. Seriously. On top of all this, most of these “publications” are truly awful, with incredibly poor presentation and lack of any sort of intriguing content or cre ativity that stretches beyond, “Well, we’re independent so we’re better.” That’s why it was an amazing ly refreshing experience for me to discover Rue Morgue, an indepen dent Canadian release currently celebrating its third successful year, thanks to an outstanding product and inspired effort by its founder and editor, Rod Gudino. This magazine goes entirely against the grain of the thousands of other independents I’ve seen spring out of decrepit offices on St. Clair Avenue in Toronto: beautiful presentation, nice visuals, some way cool art and photography, and most importantly, some great and truly inspired writing (!). If you’re not familiar with Rue Morgue, here’s the rundown. It’s essentially Canada’s first and only successful “Horror” magazine. Even though it tries to sell itself as such, and is currently in the middle of a huge advertising campaign (it being the magazine’s anniversary and the Halloween season and all), its roots actually go much deeper, thank God. Rue Morgue deals more with our natural morbid fas cination with that whole under ground “culture,” so to speak. I hate to say “Goth,” because that really doesn’t cover it. Sure, they have reviews of horror books, Sleepaway Camp movies and
Kevorkian Death Cycle CD’s and whatnot, but the delivery of it somehow doesn’t seem obnoxious or contrived in the least - Gudino is not simply trying to appeal to the Goth kiddies. The writers here, while taking their topics deathly seriously (pardon the pun), nonetheless write with such enthu siasm and wit that it’s truly infec tious for the reader. No matter what your opinions regarding the magazine’s focus, you don’t want to put the thing down. One gets the feeling that Gudino is trying hard and has a real passion for this stuff, and it’s oddly appealing in an era where the writers of these things typically act like they’re too cool for the subject matter involved. Oh yeah, and the content is pretty decent, too. Although Gudino claims to take a Canadian perspective in his magazine, there is no clear indication of it. The very fact that Rue Morgue is cur rently enjoying success on an inter national scale establishes the fact that people really don’t care that much. Gudino remarks, “Journalism has been about assessing art, not just about promoting it and, more than anyone else, Canadians under stand that.” Whatever. But “Canadian” perspective or not, the writers do an outstanding job of assessing their material and show ing a genuine love for it. The content is pretty much what you’d expect: book reviews, movies, comics, Halloween, music, and anything and everything else that has any remote association with dark culture. And it’s really fun to read, whether you care about this sort of thing or not. Although I think I ’ll pass on one of the writer’s suggestion that you should get all your friends together, get really drunk, and watch all three Carnosaur movies back-to-back. I guess trying to be a Goth is more painful than it looks.
The McG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 14 November 2000
E n t e r t a i n m e n t Page 19
Jaffa's weak performance won't help Elevgo u By D an Z acks
By all accounts, Jaffa’s live show, last Wednesday night at Living, ought to have been very impressive. The project of Montreal key boardist David Kakon, Jaffa has a sound on the down tempo tip of dancefloor electronica. The easy on the ear melodies of a Fender Rhodes keyboard are Jaffa’s most defining aspect, and when joined with beats and bass for Elevator, Jaffa’s first release, make for a solid album. So solid, in fact, that Jaffa occupies second position on the German club charts, has been remixed by the likes of Fila Brizilia, Herbaliser, and MAW, and made an acclaimed European debut by playing at the prestigious Café del Mar in Ibiza. This forces me to give Jaffa’s remixers the benefit of doubt and attribute Wednesday’s performance, only Jaffa’s second hometown show ever, to an off-day or perhaps tech nical difficulties (there were plen ty) because Jaffa was disappoint
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ingly mediocre. Kakon’s keyboard stylings were cloyingly saccharine and completely devoid of soul. I have no doubt as to Kakon’s tech nical proficiency, but it was as if he lacked any feeling for what he was playing. This discord was fur ther exacerbated by his ridiculous Jerry Lee Lewis impressions. Keyboardists of the world: stay seated! Nobody wants to see you doing ridiculous and embarrassing contortions as you play. Ugh. Fortunately, our pain was min imised by decent percussion, an excellent guitarist and the overall shortness of the set. It should be noted that although Jaffa was a letdown, the evening (and the ten-dollar cover to Living) was still worthwile. Why? Simple: resident DJ Bruno Brown gave us an hour or so of some brilliant deep house. There may not have been many people from the crowd of late twenty-something wannabe hipsters dancing, but wow, that DJ laid down some solid tracks. Check him out, Wednesdays at Living.
Prizes include Dido T-Shirts, p o ste rs and a R osw ell P r iz e s c o u r t e s y o f B M G M u
All in th e Family The Brotts and the McGill Chamber Orchestra work together harmoniously By D avid Schipper
The McGill Chamber Orchestra gave its third concert of the season last Monday night at Theatre Maisonneuve. The pro gram included Albert Roussel’s Sinfonietta fo r Strings, Op. 52, Rodion Shchedrin’s arrangement of Georges Bizet’s Carmen Suite, Gustav Mahler’s “Adagietto” from Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp Minor, and Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade for Violin, Strings and Percussion. The young Canadian violinist Juliette Kang was the featured soloist during Bernstein’s Serenade. Boris Brott, the conductor and music director of the orchestra, is the son of Alexander Brott, the founder and occasional conductor of the orchestra, which he estab lished in 1939. Boris Brott walked up to a side-stage microphone before the show and addressed the audience informally and bilingually. He mentioned that bells would signal the beginning of each move ment of a particular piece of music, indicating when applause would be appropriate, so as to eliminate long pauses between movements. The principal reason for this mini-lec ture became apparent as Brott read off a list of all of the high schools in attendance to varying cheers from the young crowd. Brott also talked briefly about the music that would be played during the course of the evening, indicating love as the common leit motiv except in the case of the Sinfonietta, which, he said, has “nothing to do with love. C’est moi
qui l’aime.” With laughter from the audience, the concert began. The brief Sinfonietta amply demonstrated the talents of concertmaster Martin Foster, a violin ist who plays with emotional, warm tones. Foster has been a pro fessor of violin at UQAM since 1982. He is also the technical anchor for the young players in the orchestra. Before the orchestra began the Carmen Suite, “a marvelous, humorous treatment of the theme of love,” Brott again addressed the audience and asked everyone to sing along at the appropriate places. Astonishingly, he actually turned around to face the audience during his conducting of the suite to signal the concert-goers to join in. Many of the older members of the audience on the left side of the corbeille began humming and then singing the words. Others began shushing, but Brott encouraged all to sing louder if they could. The young people in the audience were smiling after the piece was over, partly because of the homey atmos phere that was created by the inter action between musicians and the crowd. It also helped that “Entrée des gardes” and “Bolero” are two of the most recognizable songs in the canon. After the intermission, Brott accompanied his 85-year-old father to the microphone, where Tania Plaw, the honorary president of the orchestra (she presided from 1967 until this year), was honored for her four decade contribution to international classical music. The elder Brott then spoke about how
Mahler wrote the “Adagietto” as a love letter which conveyed the “interior concept of the love [he had] for his wife.” Brott Sr. also conducted the piece, which was played in memo ry of Michael Leiter, principal bass of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and frequent contributor to the McGill Chamber Orchestra, who died on October 13 at the age of 56. The short excerpt was classic Mahler: precise notes, and graceful music. The movement is scored for strings and harp, so even a small orchestra like the MCO can man age to play it without the wind sec tions that most other Mahler pieces require. The five percussionists excelled here, two of them rotating rapidly so they could play more than one instrument during the “Adagietto”. Kang stood during Bernstein’s Serenade, explicated as “based on Plato’s symposium on the concept of love, a musical love.” Kang, who came to international attention as the winner of the prestigious Indianapolis and Yehudi Menuhin competitions, showed her musical poise and impeccable technique, with smooth tones emanating from her instrument. Her interpretation was intermittently fiery. The end of the show yielded ample applause and satisfaction all round. A reception with the artists followed the concert. The orchestra has largely succeeded in bringing classical music to young people while attracting well-known talent.
MacWhirttr, Jason Mahagaaoy, Lauren Wakbren, James Wilson and lan Y«mg
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Page 20 E n t e r t a i n m e n t
The McG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 14 November 2000
Take 2 step s o u t of your h o u se an d g e t into th e g arag e By P awan G irclani
Most people know what House music is. Most people know what R&B/Hip Hop is. Some people dis like the former, some like the latter and vice versa. So, what do we do to merge the two forms of music to get something both parties can dig? We take heavy bass similar to that coming out of new school Hip Hop and a few Jungle style drum beats, not forgetting to take the tempo of a House tune while adding a few R&B Vocals and/or an MC. We then proceed to stick them all into a blender to come out with a purée that is referred to as UK garage or 2 Step (because of the chopped up beats). Today’s UK garage first went through a transformation from experimentally speeded up US garage (“4-to-the-floor”) before finally becoming a final 2 Step sound. This genre of music, which is now getting more and more pop ular, is like Drum & Bass, but less hardcore. Ravers claim it to be more audible and conducive to bumping and grinding. Ya get me? If anyone has been to the UK recently, especially London, it is very likely that they have heard a garage tune somewhere along the way, as more radio shows and artists are springing up and attack
ing all forms of the mainstream media. The uprising of the UK garage sound started with the swamp of pirate radio stations that came around during the mid 90’s all over Britain. These stations, such as Magic FM, were and still are ‘on and off but the vast num ber of them has helped garage reach all sorts of listeners, includ ing the occasional air traffic con troller catching some muddled air waves. These underground stations are usually comprised of a DJ as well as an MC, who are always bigging up various listeners while freestyling on the mic UK-style (i.e. with the English accent!). It is true that more recently the bigger stations in London have started shows (such as the really popular Dreem Teem) that cater to garage listeners. Like that of Rap Music, the UK garage scene seems to have its own “language” attached to it, which is more or less influenced by the West-Indies and Inner city ‘rude-bwoys’(London’s answer to the gangsta). Some common phras es do exist and to the unexposed, it might be a bit perplexing. Here is the Tribune’s petite guide to select ed UK garage (and Jungle) Slang: Hopefully, now the meaning of the word garage brings to mind something other than somewhere
McGill D EA N O F T H E FACU LTY OF R E L IG IO U S ST U D IE S
T h e present term o f Professor B. Barry Levy as Dean o f the Faculty o f Religious Studies ends on M ay 31st,
you park your car, or bands waiting for their big break. It is an increas ingly trendy style of music and remains to blow up in this part of the world but recently^he number of both commercial and under ground artists has been increasing. Tracks can be simple remixes, usu ally speeded up/ bassed up R&B and pop tracks, done by people in the studio, or they can be originals. More and more garage tracks are being done from scratch as new and established R&B artists realize the increasing power of 2 Step. It must be said, though, that garage remixes aren’t your average remix es. They can take the most dreary, slow song and inject a lethal dose of energy so that it can be fully rinsed out on the dance floor. Good examples of vigorous remixes are of Bell Biv Devoe’s “Poison”, and numerous Destiny’s Child ‘choons.
The Garagemen Obviously, giving a full list of all the contributors that are out there would be almost impossible but there are a few key players that are presently kicking some arse all over the place if they have not already succeeded in laying some swift brocks. The first name that comes to mind is Craig David, winner of ‘Best Artist’ at this year’s UKG Awards. Although this singer is not solely devoted to the 2 Step genre, "Rinse" (as in "Rinse it out”) to play a song and emphasize the greatness of it "Easy Now" basically the same as saying 'what's up'
"Locked in Locked on” to be tuned into a certain radio station "Massive" adjective meaning good; noun meaning a group of people (e.g. the McGill Massive)
2001, and an Advisory C om m ittee has been stru c k w ith resp ect to the renew al o f Professor Levy’s term or the selection o f a new dean.
In order to assist in its deliberations, the Advisory C o m m ittee w ould w elcom e any com m ents by m em bers o f the M cGill com m unity w ith respect to the renewal o f Professor Levy’s appointm ent. All
he has been a big influence in the forming of the unique sound. With his collaboration with producers ‘The Artful Dodger’, who are pio neers in this movement, he did vocals on the track “Re-Rewind (When the crowd say Bo Selecta)” as well as the more recent and more widely known “Woman Trouble” with Robbie Craig as well as a few other ones.
com m ents will be treated in the strictest confidence by the Com m ittee, and they should be addressed to: Dr. Luc V inet, Vice-Principal (Academic) M cG ill University 843 Sherbrooke Street W est M ontreal, Q C H 3A 2T3
These should be received as soon as possible prefer ably no later than Wednesday, N ovem ber 22, 2000.
number is exponential ly growing, who do produce UK garage music are not estab lished in another scene and only specialize in that realm. The best way to get an overall picture of what makes a garage tune a garage tune (and to know if you are feeling it) is to pick up a mix CD. There is, unfortunate ly, a serious lack of suppliers of UK garage in Montreal. Nevertheless, there are a few commercial compilations, which might be easier to find than others. First off is the Artful Dodger’s Re-Rewind compilation, which has a nice mix of some old and some slightly newer tracks. Then we have DJ EZ’s Pure Garage 1 and 2, which definitely extremes itself by showcasing both commercial and underground garage.
As already mentioned, there are heaps of people contributing to the sound of the UK garage. In order to understand this accelera tion, the following must be high lighted. This summer, Victoria Beckham a.k.a. Posh Spice teamed up with Dane Bowers of boygroup Another Level and making the wicked, ‘not-your-typical, cheesy Spice G irl’ track “Out of Your Mind”. Another illustration of this phenomenon is Shola Ama, who is a reputable English R&B artist that is also now focusing on blessing garage with her soulful voice. It is fair to say, though, that most of the artists, of which the
The following tunes on Pure Garage 1 are recommended for novices : “Movin’ too fast” by Artful Dodger & Romina Johnson; “A little bit of luck” by DJ Luck & MC Neat; and on Pure Garage 2 : “Summer of Love” by Lonyo; “Imagine” by Shola Ama (Asylum Remix). For all you travelers out there, Ayia Napa might be a destination to consider for your next adventur ous journey. Slowly but surely, this Cypriot (yet very much English) party haven will rank itself as much of a clubbing Mecca for ‘Garagites’ as Ibiza is for House fanatics. Many of the top 2 Step DJ’s from Britain do have nights there and many garage pubs/clubs are coming to existence. Not only is there a bubbling nightlife, but you get splendid beaches and copi ous amounts of water sport as well. Just remember to book well in advance for Summer 2001. If you think garage might be your cup of tea or already is, and you have limited traveling funds, you should know one thing: the number of Garage nights all over North America is increasing but Montreal hasn’t seen a proper 2 Step party up until now. Toronto, it seems, embraces this scene with more open arms than Montreal since several garage nights do already take place regu larly in T.O. Furthermore,
Ontarians have shown that they are more akin to a break beat sound (based on the Jungle revolution) than people from the 514. Don’t lose all hope, though, because your friendly neighbourhood English immigrants have let the Trib in on a rumor that a Montreal garage night will come to pass in the very near future. Those who are getting keen on hearing some UK garage or want to know more about it immediately might want to try www.garagemusic.co.uk for starters. For a North American based UK Garage web site (including details of 2 Step nights in the US and Canada), try www.heavyweightsound.com.
The McG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 14 November 2000
background.
Liquored Up and Laquered Down's booklet also comes lined with hilarious pictures. You don’t make up images like this, they have to come from with in.
genuine way. The lyrics are slow enough that the words are intelligible even if you’re not fully bilingual. ‘La Pomme’ (The Apple) is a funny, satirical look at a guy trying to find someone to have a one-night stand with. Presumably, the title refers to the Garden of Eden and the concept of temptation. The song is also ironic because the lyrics are serious and seem sincere but the melody is intentionally cheezy. The album has so many different sounds and meanings to it, it is as near to flawless as you can get. At first glance, it is easy to dismiss the album due to its minimalistic cover design but in this case, you can’t judge a CD by its cover. This album has something for everyone who is open to new and inno vative sounds.
E n t e r t a i n m e n t Page 21
smoothest sounding song, a good mix of Bono’s voice and the mellow melody that picks up during the chorus. All in all, the album isn’t bad, but it received too much media attention. They promised to deliver a more classic sounding sound, so we began to antici pate a great album. What we got instead was a decent album. While the songs fit in well lyrically, there is just something missing. Sadly, U2’s greatness lies in the past. Like the Rolling Stones, they try to duplicate their timeless sound but should seriously consider retiring instead, because their sound is getting old. The best aspect of the album, however, is that it’s a Bono album, as his voice stands out strongly and his full range is displayed most of the time. His voice has gotten fuller with age and with con
Jay-Z The Dynasty: Roc La F am ilia
Roc-A-Fella Records (Universal) Jay-Z, the jigga man, retains his rap title with The Dynasty, an album that firmly aims to establish his Roc-A-Fella family (consisting of fellow rhymers Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek and Amil). While he stresses that he is the big daddy of the operation, he predomi nately allows his prodigies to shine alongside him in a successful manner. The Dynasty is an album that rap fans can just sit back and chill to while enjoying the rhymes and beats of virtu osos in contol of the rap game. The list of party jams are not as long as the ones on The Life and Times of Shawn Carter Vols II and III, but this is a solid rap album in terms of organization, origi nality and production. Some notable hits are “Change The Game”, “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)”, and “Guilty Until Proven Innocent” featur ing R. Kelly. Big-time rap vets Scarface and Snoop Dogg also add some flavor to this mix on “This Can’t Be Life” and “Get Your Mind Right M ami” . Jay-Z brings us back to his streets (Brooklyn) on “Streets Is Talking” to solidify that he has never left them and that regardless of the success, it’s still his home. Story-telling rhyming rises to another level as Jay-Z and Sigel get emotional on the track “Where Have You Been,” focusing on the absence of father figures in the lives of youth. The future’s now for Jay and the top dog holds back no punches with this album.
— Ricky C. G o rd o n S o u th e r n C u ltu re o n t h e S k id s
O u tk a s t Stanko nia
LaFace/Arista (BM C) This album smells. Not like a kid from New Hampshire who hasn’t bathed in a week, but like the stank of a P-Funk concert. Outkast’s last two albums, ATLiens and Aquemini, have been char acterized by progressive, experimental instrumentals coupled with intelligent but bizarre X-Files-like rhymes, the sin gle “Rosa Parks” being an important and politically relevant exception. But, with Stankonia, Andre and Big Boi have solidified their Georgian roots and produced some solid funk with the help of their original producers at Organized Noise. Of course, the characteristic progressive edge of the past two albums isn’t all gone — still present are tradi tional blues elements as well as distort ed vocal m anipulations a la Peter Frampton. Yet, overall the album lis tens more like a Prince record then a Star Trek soundtrack. Of special note are the singles “Ms. Jackson” which is a soulful piece with nostalgic lyrics of regret, and the appearance of Andre’s former love interest Erykah Badu on “Humble Mumble.” Pick up the disk and let the dungeon crew take you for a little ride. Just make sure you bring your air freshener.
—S an d o n Shogilevj
Liquored Up and Laquered Down
P r o je t O ra n g e
TVT (Universal)
S e lf-title d
The Allman Brothers this isn ’t. Liquored up and Lacquered Down is a collection of every Confederate Flag waving, Corn liquor drinking, backwoods stereotype Southern Culture on the Skids could have put together. Depending on your take, this can either be hysterical campy hee-haw fun, or a boring slog through Mississippi influ enced rock. Truth be told, some of the diddies on this album are dam catchy. The short, bluegrass title track reminds one of those Louisiana bands playing on Mardi-Gras at the beginning of the party when everybody is still sober. “Pass the Hatchet” is a driving instru mental that almost sounds like it was performed by a different band in its semi-seriousness. “Com Liquor” is so stereotypically Southern in style, you can almost hear the grits frying in the
Radiohead marries French alternative m usic; th a t’s the sound of Projet O range’s new self-titled CD. JeanChristophe Boies sounds an awful lot like Thom Yorke, and the chaotic album adds to that similarity. Chances are that if you aren’t open to French music, you’ll become a convert by pick ing up this cd. The album as a whole (and the first two songs, ‘D-Max’ and ‘Mystère Aérosol’, in particular) is a balanced mix of fastpaced heavy songs and slower, mellow songs. ‘Teleaddiction’ portrays TV addiction very effectively. The lyrics are frag mented and portray how jaded youth become by sitting in front of the TV. This is the most straightforward song of the album with respect to lyrics. It con veys a serious social problem in a very
BM C
M e n o f H o n o r C ontinued from Page 14
Those actors who don’t resort to going overboard, such as Charlize Theron (who plays Sunday’s drunken yet beautiful wife Gwen) find that their charac ters have all but disappeared. In Theron’s case, she is left with little more than a couple of gorgeous fifties dresses, great hair, and smudged lipstick. Other members of the supporting cast include Michael Rapaport (Bamboozled) whose stutter is painfully irritating, and Hal Holbrook (The Firm) who plays an eccentric Navy Old Boy named Mr. Pappy. In all of this there is some good. The diving suits that Gooding and company sport lend well to some satisfying underwater scenes. The suits are bulking, weighing in at about 200 pounds. They have a fishbowl helmet and are attached to thick black tubes that provide oxygen from the ship. Walking around in those things must have been difficult. In the end though one thing is clear: a positive message alone can’t carry a film even with the help of big-name actors.
fidence.
L u d a c ris Back For The First T im e
E v e rla s t
Def Jam (Universal)
Eat a t W h i t e / s
BM C Atlanta-based rapper Ludacris makes an impressive debut into the rap game by bringing to it a wild and crazy home town feel. You won’t get any sleep lis tening to Back For the First Time: Ludacris will wake you up with his non-stop party-jams. This dude defi nitely masters the winning formula of pimpology that has been around since the early days of rap (with Too Short holding the helm). Ludacris talks a good game and the man can rhyme. He sticks to the game plan and does not stray from mentioning a booty tale here and there. One knock against him is his lack of orinigality: he is just another fresh face not saying anything new, but saying what’s been said very well. Who is Ludacris? He states: “ The nickname is something I made up, I have kind of a split personality- part of me is calm cool and collected, while the other side is just beyond crazy. My lyrics are ludicrous, my live shows are ludicrous- ludicrous like off the chain crazy.” Some sure fire hits on the album are “U Got A Problem ?” , “Game Got Switched” and the radio hyped “What’s Your Fantasy”. Ludacris is aiming for higher ground in the rap game and this album is more than okay for a beginner. His name will allow him to venture into many differ ent realms and spurt his growth.
— Ricky C. G o rd o n U2 A ll th a t Yo u C an't Leave Behind
Isla nd (Universal) U2’s “back to basics” approach on All that You Can’t Leave Behind has made the album passé and a little plain... yet not a complete failure. There has been so much hype surrounding the CD that the expectations were unattainably high. The first track, “Beautiful Day”, which is also the first single, is by far the
Everlast already established himself as an atypical hip-hop artist when he released his first solo album, Whitey Ford Sings the Blues. In this follow up, he further emphasizes his skills as being a diverse m usician. Every type of sound, from blues to rock to rap, and everything between, emerges from this album. You never know what you’re going to get with Eat at Whitey’s. Take for example the song “Babylon feeling” with Carlos Santana on guitar, where two thirds of the way through some light drum and bass sets into the song. Then we have “We’re all gonna die” with Goodie Mob’s Cee-Lo (also show ing his singing talents), in which the other distinguishing characteristic of this album, i.e. the overall darkness, amplifies itself. This darkness is a result of Everlast’s nearly fatal heart attack. It is obvious from listening to Eat at Whitey’s that the lyrics are a means for him to contemplate the issue. There are also many religious connotations mixed with this subject of death. The hip-hop aspect is very subtle, as most songs showcaseq Everlast “the heavy-voiced singer” and features voice-blessed indi viduals such as N’Dea Davenport and Merry Clayton. The only real typical song to cater to hip-hop heads is “Deadly Assassins.” featuring Cypress H ill’s B-Real. It should be said that although the music itself cannot be labelled as rap, there is definite proof of Everlast’s roots, with Rahzel beatbox ing on “Children’s Story” and lyrics such as “I need you like D.M.C needs Run”, where the former House of Pain member refers to his need for God on the song “Mercy on my Soul”. Basically, this album is not recommend ed for people who are depressed and/or people without an open ear to music. But for others, Eat at Whitey’s makes for a nice change to your average Rock, Rap or whatever album.
— Pawan G irglani
Godot C ontinued from Page 74
cannot cease ‘revolving it all’ in her brain. “What is It?” you ask. Beckett never tells you. Perhaps the absurdity of human existence? As if addressing the frustrat ing rhetorical question, More Than Godot moves on to “Catastrophe”. With this piece the production exposes itself, winks, and laughs at the absurdity of theatre that attempts to probe the ‘absurdity of human existence’. A moment of explicit self-awareness might undercut the impact and signifi cance of all the preceding plays, but in fact it offers a break in the rising tension and despair. “Catastrophe” brings our guard down to offer an anguished yet redeeming ray of hope: “Nacht Und Traume”. This piece seems to me the only way to close the show. I sat bewildered, mouth agape and eyes ready to drop tears at the ghostly dream enacted before me. The pro duction comes to a conclusion gracefully. A man (Sargent) sleeps with his head on a table. His dreamed self, poignantly portrayed by Hershler, wakes with the touch of a gentle hand from the darkness. I left the theatre in a daze. Beckett seems to me now not a pessimist, but a disillusioned opti mist. More Than Godot showed this possibility. Presented with a variety of acting challenges rang ing from complete immobility to the sole and silent use of one limb, the actors rose to the occasion and more. Technical accomplishments and expressive design round out this production as a vivid and vital theatrical celebration. Think Beckett. Thinking bleak? I think not. More Than Godot plays at Moyse Hall November 15-18. Call 398-6070for reservations.
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T he M c G ill T ribune, T uesday, 14 N ovember 2 0 0 0
D isappointing w eekend for M artlets soccer N um ber one ranked team finishes fo u rth at nationals a fte r losses to Dalhousie and Victoria By A ndrew Raven
The Martlets just can’t seem to get over the hump. For the third consecutive year the M artlets ended their season with a loss in the bronze medal game at the National Soccer Championships, this time in W olfville, Nova Scotia. The fourth place finish comes on the heels of perfect reg ular season and a number one ranking in the nation. It also marks the seventh time since 1992 that McGill has gone to nationals with out bringing home the medal. M cGill’s sixteen-game unbeaten streak came to a crashing halt on the first day of competition following a 2-1 loss to the eventu al champion Dalhousie Tigers. The Tigers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on goals by Julie Pigozzo and Erin Howell. McGill’s only goal came in the 88th minute off the foot of striker Amber Allen. The goal was Allen’s 28th of the season, breaking the school record set by Eva Melamed in 1999. It was one of the few bright spots in what turned out to be a dismal opening game. “We had a bad first half with little time for our pre-game warm up due to the (prolonged) opening cerem onies,” explained head coach Marc Mounicot. “Dalhousie played well and we couldn’t respond to the physical challenge.”
that I have ever seen as a McGill coach,” said Mounicot. “Everyone was on their game. Amber was just amazing especial ly in the second half’. The win propelled the Martlets into the bronze medal game against the seventh ranked University of Victoria Vikes. “The goal I set for m yself when I came to McGill three years ago was to win a medal within 4 years,” said Mounicot. But the Vikes would have something to say about that. The two teams struggled to a 0-0 draw until the 86th minute when Victoria f o r w a r d Charlotte Haley headed in corner Martlets couldn 't match regular-season magic at Nationals Parick Fok to give her team onship game. But on Friday against the Golden Gaels, winning the bronze medal and send the Dalhousie played to a 0-0 draw 1-0 on the strength of another goal M artlets home empty handedwith Queen’s, assuring the Tigers from Allen, her 29th of the season. again. “It was a pretty tough game “We just played the best game of first place in pool A and a berth
The opening game defeat was crucial. The Martlets would need a Dalhousie loss and a win over Queen’s to advance to the champi
in the gold medal game. The best McGill could hope for was bronze. The Martlets came out the next day and dominated play
out there,” said Mounicot. “We had a few chances but their keeper made some good saves. Victoria was a very well-balanced team. We were a bit tired out there after playing back-to-back games. Victoria had a day off yesterday and it was the difference.” The loss dropped McGill’s record in tournament play to 1-2 this year, and 3-6 over the last three years for a .333 wining per centage. McGill’s winning per centage in league play is .751 over the same period. Perhaps the disappointing showing at nationals isn’t so sur prising when you take into account the fact that the Martlets had not played a team ranked higher than 9th in the nation before arriving at the tournament. The Quebec Student Sport Federation has been historically one of the weakest in soccer in the country and offered the Martlets little competition. Before the team left for Wolfville, goaltending coach Mauro Panzera was worried about the quality of opposition McGill had faced. “The problem we have at nationals is that our league is not that strong. There are one or two teams that can compete with us on our level. But when we get (to nationals) it’s so different because all the teams are so good.”
Redm en soccer u p set a t N ationals No. 1 ranked team finishes fourth, but coach contends season was a "success story" By James Empringham
This wasn’t the way is was supposed to turn out. After holding the number one standing in the country for the final six weeks of the season, the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union Championships in Halifax last weekend were supposed to be a coronation for the previously unde feated men’s side. Instead, the Redmen were sent home without a medal after recieving their only two losses of the year, including one in the Bronze medal game to the University of Victoria, en route to a fourth place finish in the tour nament. The Redmen opened the tour nament many thought they would win, with a 1-0 victory over the McMaster Mauraders, setting up their semi-final match last Saturday with eventual silver medalists Saint Mary’s Huskies. The Redmen opened the semi final game with a marker from the foot of freshman Kyle Graham in the 8th minute to take a 1-0 lead into the half. That’s when things started going horribly awry for the
coach and CIAU coach of the year Pat Raimando didn’t hide his dis appointment. “St. Mary’s was a good squad, but we had the game under control when we were up 1-0 at halftime. Ultimately a couple of really costly errors on our part led to the defeat. The boys fought hard though, and it really feels like we only lost twenty minutes of soccer all year.” In the bronze medal match McGill’s opponent for the second year in a row was the University of Victoria, and once again Victoria prevented McGill from reaching the podium, with a 1-0 victory over the McGill run over at nationals Crystal Wreden Redmen. The game pro in the 66th minute. The Redmen’s duced no goals from either side in gold medal aspirations hung in the regulation time, but Victoria were balance for the remainder of the victourious after defeating the game, and the levy was effectively Redmen 4-3 in penalty kicks. “There was definitely a little brought down upon them in the 82nd minute when Atkins scored bit of a letdown against Victoria,” an insurance goal to seal the game admitted Raimando. “All year we at 3-1, and relegate the Redmen to had our sights set on the gold medal, but we still managed to con the bronze medal game. After the game Redmen head- trol the tempo in the bronze medal
Redmen. Matt Boulton of the Huskies proceeded to tie the game in the 49th minute, and Andreas Atkins notched the go ahead goal
game.” On losing the game in penalty kicks, Raimando would only say that, “If it had been the gold medal game it would have been a harder loss. Penalty kicks are part of the game though, World Cup finals have been decided on them, sp we have to accept that.” The gold medal game featured the Laurier Golden Hawks hoisting their first ever national champi onship by defeating St. Mary’s 6-5 on penalty kicks to win 2- 1. Laurier also gained two of the most coveted awards of the tournament as Kenny Nutt was named as the most valuable player in the tourna ment and Hawk keeper Pieter Meulmen was chosen as the most outstanding goalkeeper. M cGill’s midfielder Kevin McConnell was named to the all tournament team.
Looking back While the Redmen were disap pointed with their result at Nationals, their overall record was impressive. Though Raimando who led his team to a 15-2-4 record, and the QSSF title,
acknowledges that they came up short in the end. “We only lost two games all year, but unfortunately they were the wrong two. Regardless, the year was still a suc cess story.” The team will be hard pressed to equal their success next year as they stand to lose as many as many as nine players from their team due to graduation. Prabable losses include All-Canadian goaltender Eddy Zuppel, defenders Robert Baird and Gino Lalli, midfielder McConnell, and forwards Justin Student, and Julien Elia. However, Raimando isn’t wor ried. “We weren’t even on the bus ride home for an hour and already our coaching staff was planning for next year. We have a lot of depth and we should be just as strong as we were this year.” The Redmen are now faced with a winter of “what ifs” until they get another crack at it next September when the team will begin their attempt to make the CIAU championships for the 19th time in 24 years, and restore McGill soccer to the National championship glory of 1997.
Page 24 S p o r t s
THE McG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 14 November 2000
TheNatural Julie Brisebois is a rugby star after playing only two seasons B y N e il S c h n u r b a c h
Most regular people are still learning the rules to a sport two years after they start playing. Most regular people cannot even excel enough at one sport to play it at a world class level, let alone two. Julie Brisebois is no regular person. In only her second year play ing rugby at any level, Brisebois was named the 2000 Quebec Student Sports Federation most valuable player. The U3 Physical Education student, from Dorion, Quebec was also named an AllCanadian. Her accolades are almost never ending. In 1999, she was named the QSSF rookie of the year. “The individual honours are nice,” commented Brisebois. “But the most important thing is to be successful as a team.’ Brisebois’ team was indeed quite successful this season. After an undefeated regular season where they obliterated their opposition, the Martlets managed to win a sil ver medal at the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union national championships held last weekend at Bishop’s University in Lennoxville, Quebec. Brisebois was her usual erst while self at the national champi onships. She scored five tries in four games in the tournament including three in a 32-21 upset victory over Waterloo in the semi finals. In the gold medal game
against the University of Alberta, Brisebois scored the Martlets lone try in a 28-5 loss. Brisebois was
2 0 0 0 CIAU sil ver medal r u g b y team, she would have thought that you were crazy. She had always thought that rugby was an interesting sport but had never played. Last year, she got her golden opportuni Natural-born talent Brisebois
obviously quite pleased with the team’s performance at Nationals. “Last year, we finished in fifth place,” stated Brisebois. “This year, we were confident that we would get a medal; we just didn’t know what colour. We gave it everything that we had and got a
This w eek in Sports... Redmen Basketball: Friday November 17 8:00 PM vs. Queen's . Saturday November 18 vs. RMC 2:00 PM at Love Competition Hall Martlets Basketball: Friday November 17 6:00 PM vs. Queen’s at Love Competition Hall
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silver. It was a great achievement for McGill rugby.” Before 1999, if you would have told J u l i e B risebois that she would be a part of the
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“ L ast year, one of my friends from Phys. Ed. [team captain] Mandy Brunet approached me and asked me to play,” said Brisebois. “So I decided that I would try. I ended up liking it a lot. My family was very support ive. My dad was a bit scared of the contact but he ended up encourag
ing me.” The athletic ability of Brisebois was evident from almost the moment she started practicing. It did not take her long to earn the starting center position for the 1999 Martlets. The more she learned the rules of the game, the better she got. This year, Brisebois was sec ond on the team with ten tries in ten games. In the conference semi finals against the University of Ottawa, Brisebois set a school record with six tries in one game. The immediate rugby success of Brisebois is not that surprising considering that she is already a world class athlete in another sport. For the last ten years, Brisebois has been playing European handball at an extremely competitive level. In fact, Brisebois was on Canada’s national handball team for the 1999 Pan-American games held in Winnipeg, Manitoba. That team was extremely successful, winning the silver medal in the event. If not for a four point loss to Brazil in the finals, Brisebois and her handball teammates would have been playing at the Olympics in Sydney. “The first place team at the Pan-Am games got a birth in the Olympics,” explained Brisebois. “We were extremely close so it was a little disappointing. But I am very proud that the team was able to win the Pan-Am silver medal. I am still young so maybe I will have another opportunity to get to the
Olympics.” While the future looks bright for Brisebois in the sport of hand ball, she is also quickly earning a name for herself at the world level in rugby. During the summer, Brisebois played for the Quebec under-23 team at the national championships in Vancouver. Brisebois and Quebec managed to win the gold medal. The national under 23 coach was impressed enough with Brisebois’ performace to ask her to play for Canada’s team. This summer, Brisebois played two games against the United States for the national team. “Competing at a world class level in two sports is something special,” said Brisebois. “I love sports and I am lucky to be able to play them a lot. I hope that I will play for Canada’s team in rugby again.” Brisebois will surely wear Canada’s red and white uniform in rugby another time. More impor tantly for McGill fans though, Brisebois will also wear McGill’s red and white uniform next year as well. M cGill’s rugby fans are looking forward for the Martlets next run at glory. “I will definitely be back play ing for McGill next year,” explained Brisebois. “Who knows? Maybe we can do even better than we did this year. We will have a good team again next year and we will compete for the gold.”
Conference ro u n d u p O ttaw a tak es conference title (STE-FOY, QC) The Ottawa GeeGees snapped defending national champion Laval Rouge et Or’s con ference-record 16-game winning streak with a 26-9 road victory at Laval’s PEPS Stadium on November 11 in the OQIFC cham pionship. The game was hardly close. Despite the loss of star quarterback Phil Coté in the first quarter to a sprained ankle, the Gee-Gees sallied forth to a 13-2 lead at the half. Ottawa got its first score thanks to a trick play from receiver Nathan Thompson who threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to Darryl Ray at 8:03 of the first quarter. Ray was the Gee-Gees’ top receiver with 7 catches for 106 yards in the game. In the second half, Ottawa got scores from running back Michael Shaver on a 2-yard run, and from receiver Mike di Battista, on a 38yard catch in the fourth quarter from backup quarterback James Baker. Laval finally pierced the tenacious Gee-Gee defense at 9:09 of the fourth quarter when receiver J.F. Tremblay caught a 4-yard TD pass from backup quarterback Pascal Trudeau. Ottawa’s defence was tena cious indeed. It forced six turnovers and had four sacks, while holding Laval to its lowest offensive output
all season. The defence,in nine games which has allowed only 61 points all season, was led by rush end Kevin Gagnon’s 10 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and one forced fumble. Other notables were linebacker Mark Pretzlaff, who had 10 tackles, including seven solos and a knock down; and free safety Lukas Shaver, the OQIFC nominee for the CIAU’s President’s trophy as most outstand ing defensive player who had five tackles and two interceptions which he returned for 95 yards. Ottawa managed 295 yards of total offence for the game, while Laval countered with 315 yards. Both teams’ starting quarterbacks did not complete the game, with Coté down to an injury and Laval’s signal caller François Chapdelaine being pulled in favor of Trudeau. Chapdelaine completed 10 of 20 passes for 99 yards, no touchdowns and four interceptions, while Trudeau stepped in and completed 8 of 15 passes for 134 yards, a TD, and no interceptions. For Ottawa, Coté completed only one of three passes for six yards before being replaced by Baker, who connected on 13 of 22 attempts for 139 yards, with one touchdown and no inter ceptions. Mathieu Brassard was Laval’s leading rusher with 56 yards on 10
carries. Donald Welman led the Rouge et Or in receptions with six catches for 72 yards. Ottawa’s lead ing rusher was Michael Shaver, who ran for 51 yards on 13 carries. Ottawa will travel to Hamilton to take on McMaster in the Churchill Bowl national semifinal on November 18, with the winner advancing to the Vanier Cup at the SkyDome in Toronto on December 2.
W hat's N e i l s fa v o u r ite c o lo u r? A n d w h o th e h e ll is N e i l anyw ayl C o m e f i n d o u t by w r itin g fior th e M c G il l T r ib u n e ’s S p o rts section. Y o u ’l l be g l a d y o u d id . C a ll 3 9 8 - D O O M
The McG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 14 November 2000
Life in plastic — it's fantastic!
R edm en basketball splits first tw o g am es B y N eil S c h n u r b a c h
home team. Marcario led the way for the Redmen once again with 13 points at the half. Sophomore guard Frederic Bernard was another McGill standout. He tallied nine points and grabbed five rebounds in the first 20 minutes. The Red ‘n White made sure not to repeat their mistakes of the night before to begin half number two. Before the second half was 30 seconds old, junior guard Kirk Reid scored a quick five points. McGill continued to attack at the beginning of the frame, resulting in an 11-2 opening run for the home team. The Redmen lead was stretched to 19 points. After blowing a first half lead to start the season Friday night against Laval, it was extremely
After a disappointing 72-60 loss to Laval on Friday night, the McGill Redmen basketball team salvaged their opening weekend with an 83-68 win over Bishop’s. Red ‘n White fans were expecting a better showing in the team’s home opener against the rival Rouge et Or. Despite control ling the tempo and leading by nine points, 34-25, at the end of the first half, McGill came out flat in the second half and were outplayed by a large margin. The offense was extremely impatient which resulted in many turnovers, and the defense had problems rotating. This led to many open shots for the Rouge et Or who had no problem converting them into points. Charles Fortier led the way for the visitors with 27 points. All-conference guard Kirk Reid’s poor shooting-he was 0-14 from the floor- was endemic of the team’s scoring woes. Head coach Nevio Marzinotti was dissatis fied with his team’s per formance. “After playing so well in the preseason at home, it was upsetting to lose our first game,” com mented Marzinotti. “Our main problem was that we were not patient on offense. Everyone tried to do it themselves and forgot about their team mates. That is something k c Bolton that we will have to work Brady Murphy drives to hoop important for on over the course of the season.” While the team’s play was the Redmen to start off the second lackluster in the opener, one shin period against the Gaiters on the ing star was sophomore guard right foot. Domenico Marcario par Domenico Marcario. Marcario led ticularly felt that the great start the Redmen with 25 points and dis gave the team confidence. “That burst to start the second played his full offensive arsenal in the contest. Despite his efforts, the half was a confidence boost for our guys,” said Marcario. “Everybody Redmen came up short. played well and we never looked back.” Different story There were certain points in the second half when it looked like against Bishop's the Gaiters would try to mount a comeback. But every time that The Redmen appeared to learn they came within ten points, McGill from their mistakes of the opening started to pull away. In a late four game fairly quickly. On Saturday minute stretch, rookie point guard afternoon against Bishop’s, McGill Denburk Reid scored eleven points looked like a team with unlimited to put the game out of reach. The potential. result was an impressive 83-68 vic Because of an injury to starting tory for the Redmen. forward Andrew Beir, McGill Fred Bernard was the star of employed a four guard offense to the game for the Redmen. He led start the game. This strategy the team with 20 points and added a allowed the Redmen to capitalize team high eight rebounds. All four on their team speed, one of the starting guards scored 15 points or strengths of the squad. more. Marcario had 17, Denburk Right from the get-go it was Reid also scored 17 and Kirk Reid apparent that Bishop’s could not added 15 points. keep up with the quickness of the Bernard was fairly modest Redmen. McGill jumped out to an about his great performance. 8-2 lead in the first four minutes of “I don’t really care about how the game. It took the Gaiters 3:42 to many points I scored,” explained get their first field goal of the game. Bernard. “I just want our team to The Redmen continued to win. With this team that we have increase their lead throughout the we really can go places. I think we rest of the half. At the end of the can take Quebec and go to nation first frame, the scoreboard showed als.” a 40-30 advantage in favour of the
S p o r t s Page 25
Bernard may be overly opti mistic, but there is reason to believe that this year’s edition of the Redmen will be more exciting than in years past. There are many play ers who are capable of scoring, and McGill’s team speed matches up with any team in the country. With increased patience on offense and defense, this team will be a real force in the Quebec Student Sport Federation. Coach Marzinotti feels that his team is at a point where it could compete quite well with other teams in the conference. “Laval looks tough and Concordia is always the team to beat,” said Marzinotti. “But talent wise we are right up there with those teams. We have to learn from our mistakes and put everything together. It’s a long season, but we have a good chance of making some noise in the conference.”
Game Notes: Injury report
Fourth year forward Andrew Beir’s foot injury is almost healed. He is already jumping and will begin running next week. Fourth year guard Ari Hunter will have the cast taken off of his broken ankle next week. He will not return until after Christmas. During the game, forward Lazslo Molnar injured his wrist. He did not play in the sec ond half, but should be able to return next week. Poor officiating
With fourteen minutes remain ing in the second half, McGill com mitted their seventh team foul which was supposed to result in Bishop’s shooting a one-and-one. The zebras did not realize this and both teams kept playing. One minute later the refs caught their mistake and stopped the game to “go back in time” and award the Gaiters their foul shots. Poor officiating part II
After a Bishop’s score, McGill called a time-out with eleven min utes remaining. They had 25 sec onds left on the shot clock. After the time out was completed, the officials mistakenly thought that McGill only had one second left on the shot clock. After several min utes of arguing, the officials reset the shot clock to 17 seconds.
Anna Kournikova and the decline of women's sports
Out of Left Field Rhea
Wong
y loathing for Anna Kournikova is as deep as her self-proclaimed base tan, as long as her mane of hair and as scandalous as her short tennis dresses. I hate the bitch-goddess of tennis/ patron saint of Objectified Women’s Sports and I’m not ashamed to admit it. L e t’s exam ine the e v i dence. Anna Kournikova is a sub-par tennis player who has managed to successfully wran gle every magazine cover from here to T im buktu. W ith her m iles of blond tresses and golden tan, she is proclaimed to be the Great White Hope of the Tennis World. You thought all fem ale tennis players looked like men? W ell, think again ladies and gentlemen: not only can girls be athletes, they can look like Spice Girls, too! My beef with Corny-kova is that she has failed to win a single tournament; and is not even ranked within the top ten and, yet, has succeeded in charming the tennis skirts off of the sports world. The camera loves her, and she just eats it up like so much W im bledon cream and strawberries. Can I fault her for taking advantage of her 15 minutes of fame? No. Can I resent her for stealing the lim elight from more w orthy players? Absolutely. The W illiams sisters, for example, are a success story straight out of the hood. The self-taught sisters play a hard game and have significantly upped the bar on female tennis with power behind their serve and beads on their braids. Not to m ention, of co u rse, that these two women have singlehandedly challenged stereo types about ten n is being a patrician white person’s game. Yet, these two have not gar nered nearly as much press as Kournikova because they aren’t as sexy or pouty in front of the
M
lens. They can play the court, they just can’t play the camera. Take Jennifer Capriati, the comeback kid. In and out of rehab, this early-bloomer was thought to be all washed up after her kleptomania episode. N ev erth eless, C a p ria ti has proved her pundits wrong by smashing her way back onto the courts. Clearly, she earns respect for her tenacity, but is she gettin g the props she deserves? I don’t see any mag azine covers coming her way. Of course, the media obvi ously has much to do with this phenomenon, but it’s just such an old hat. We can blame the media, but what’s the point: the bias of the media has been so w ell-chronicled that i t ’s the same old story, different day. I ’m going straight to the source. Women’s sports, gener ally , have never been taken seriously. Women were never praised for their athleticism , they were praised for just how darn cute they could be. K ournikova g lo rie s in the objectification that women face in the sports world. Her talent is less than that of her peers, and yet she has the fam e. Despite having never won any tournament, she interviews like she’s already won every tour ney on the planet. She doesn’t even pretend h u m ility . She reeks of se lf-s a tis fie d a rro gance without so much as a nod to those who truly deserve it or a title under her belt. Kournikova is to women’s sports what Donna Reed is to feminism. Kournikova singlehandedly underm ines the progress that pioneering female athletes have worked so hard to accomplish. At the end of the day, who cares that Venus can serve like Sam pras or that Hingis can move like a lynx? It obviously d o e sn ’t m atter, because no one pays attention unless you show some T and A. And that is the tragedy of women’s sports.
Defensive Specialist
In addition to scoring 20 points and adding eight rebounds, Frederic Bernard continues to be a defensive wizard. The second year guard is particularly adept at drawing offen sive fouls from his opposition. Bishop’s attackers were called for three charges because of the aggressive defense of Bernard.
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Page 26 S p o r t s
The McG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 14 November 2000
W ho drives th e zam boni in Transylvania? Author and musician Dave Bidini comes to McGill to talk about hockey in some unlikely places By James Empringham
So I admit it. My life is in shambles, and it’s all Dave Bidini’s fault. Please, let me explain. In preparation for Bidini’s visit to the McGill Bookstore last Thursday evening, I sat down to read his latest literary offering Tropic of Hockey. As I progressed through the book though, I became acutely aware of a gradual change in my mood to the point where I admittedly found myself in the midst of a frenzied, full blown state of jealousy. With every frantic turn of the page, and introspective musing, the feeling spread through my whole body, and the reason you ask? First, a quick recap of the book: Male, thirty-something Toronto resident (Bidini) decides it would be a great idea to travel around the world, play hockey in exotic locales, and write a book about it. “I think it’s every Canadian’s dream to be able to travel, play hockey, and represent their coun try,” Bidini explained. Jealous yet? Oh did I forget to mention the he got paid for it.. .and met Gordie Howe? After successfully completing the first step of Jealous Canadian Anonymous’s road to recovery by admitting my problem, it was time to move onto the second step; con fronting it. In person Bidini is endearing and witty, and for the most part so is his book. A man of many interests, his various gigs have been as a guitarist and lyricist for The Rheostatics, a columnist for the Toronto Star, and a documentarist for his previous book which focused on the Rheostatics Canadian tour, called On a Cold Road.
He says that the idea for incarnations as a musician, and Tropic o f Hockey came from a writer Bidini has never been shy number of Bidini’s experience, one about being Canadian. While of which was a conversation which many Canadian artists seem to he had with a rec-league teammate struggle with their identity, Bidini who had played hockey in Dubai who once wrote a song called Ode years earlier. “You know, I’m pretty dumb. I had to be whacked over the head a cou ple times before I realized that this [book] is what I must do. They had to turn the volume up on those voices in my head before I was able to figure it out,” Bidini said. The book essentially docu ments Bidini’s hockey playing experiences in Hong Kong, Transylvania, and the United Arab Emirates, and he says that it was as eye-opening as he’d expected. “It literally was like a dream at points, almost sur real. I mean, you’d be playing on ice and it would seem very familiar, but What'dyou say about Wendel Clark? Bindini regulates then you’d be like outside and there would be like to Wendel Clark, is a strong believ er in the adage, write what you camels walking across the desert.” There were also some unfore know. “For a long time in Canadian seen advantages to playing hockey music the thing was kinda like try in unlikely places. “One thing about playing in to write like you come from some the desert that’s great is you just where else. But like Margaret have to put your equipment bag out Atwood said once, you have to write about your own experience.” for like 25 seconds for it to dry.” He says that Tropic of Hockey Through all of his previous
follows those same principals. “The book was neat because I got to write about Canada without sitting in a wheat field somewhere. I discovered that you can write about your home from anywhere else in the world, and at times you can write about it more effectively because you have a better perspective.” As a Canadian, Bidini doesn’t feel that the export of the game is a bad thing, even if it means that Canada is no longer the clear dominant force on the world scene. “We’re reluctant at times to give up our game to other countries, but I see it as something we should celebrate that people in these weird places are playing the game, because the game is strong. It’s something to be proud of, opposed to something to be wor ried about. It’s a tes tament to something that we’ve created.” That is generally Ehren Jessop the message deliv ered throughout the book. Bidini concludes that he thinks that globally people have embraced the game for the right reasons, “because it’s beautiful and because it’s Canadian.” Tropic of Hockey is a celebra tion of the Canadian game, but it is not without criticism. The game’s most basic principles are the most important and Bidini feels that
Canadians sometimes lose sight of these. The brand of unbridled, uninhibited “tongue wagging” hockey in the professional circuit has for the large part been replaced, with a lot of trapping, and obstruc tion which he writes basically leads to the hockey equivalent of Pong. “You see so many talented players, but the NHL game is almost an abuse of their talent, because guys are just being asked to chip the puck up the boards and ice the puck, or play systems or the neutral zone trap. I mean if you watch the best of Bobby Orr video, it’s great because he’s just basical ly hogging the puck.” Insights like this, are scattered throughout Tropic o f Hockey, showing that Bidini is neither just a writer or just a hockey nut. He is both. Tropic of Hockey is well writ ten, light hearted, and humorous, making it a truly enjoyable read. It’s an example of what good sports writing can be, as subjective as it is objective. Bidini definitely has something to say, and if you’re interested in hockey, travel or the speculative roots of Canadian cul ture, you’ll want to hear him out. But then again shouldn’t Tropic of Hockey be good? After getting the opportunity to travel, play hockey, and get paid for it, Bidini owes it to us legions of Canadian hockey fans to get it right, doesn’t he? And as for my jealousy problem, that I’ve gotten over since I realized that maybe he wasn’t quite as lucky as I’d thought he was. You can’t get a coffee and donut from Tim Horton’s on the way to that six o’clock in the morn ing practice in Transylvania, can you?
M artlets basketball p o u n d e d yet again Sad sack team continues slide By D avid Schipper
The Martlets women’s bas ketball team lost its first two reg ular season games, both at home 76-41 to the Laval Rouge et Or on Friday night and 65-56 to the Bishop’s Gaiters on Saturday. Against Laval, they were out classed by a larger, more skilled team. Indeed, Laval was ranked number eight in the country prior to the game. Over half of the Rouge et Or’s experienced team is 5’ 10” or taller, and the Laval players always seem to be in perfect posi tion to grab rebounds. Laval’s transition game is excellent; the ball is often launched halfway down the court to an open player after a defensive stand. Friday night’s drubbing can be seen as a learning experience for the McGill players. “We don’t yet have enough [skill] to play against Laval. They are a big team who use more of the floor than we do,” explained M cGill Head Coach Lisiane
Moore. “We didn’t adapt to a zone or man-to-man situation,” Moore added, in reference to a switch in tactics by the Laval squad. The Martlets have hurt their chances to win by committing too many fouls early. In both games, several McGill players were in foul trouble by the end of the first half, leaving less experienced players on the court. Against Laval, the M artlets could not afford these lapses or any others, like bad turnovers, which often resulted in points for the opposi tion. “I thought we were too anx ious against Laval. We are gain ing experience but we still have to work harder on our zone offense and execute it better,” Moore said. “With a consistent post defense and perimeter shooting, we will have a better chance against them next time.” The game against Bishop’s was a far more difficult loss because McGill has the skill and ability to beat the G aiters.
Intensity was lack ing a bit at the end of the first half. Bishop’s went on a 17-0 run in the last eight minutes to the end the first half. McGill scored the first six points in the sec ond half, but were not able to pull it out in the end. “We played 25 minutes against Bishop’s: the first five and the last 20,” Moore offered. “We had some lulls in the second half, but fitness is our main problem. We are just not in game shape. We really have to work our butts off in prac tice to achieve team unity, but with time and
experience we are going to be a force.” Among the bright spots for the Martlets over the week-end was the inspired play of rookie guard M aude V allieres. On Friday, she had 11 points in 25 minutes, while scoring 16 points against Bishop’s, including a per fect 4-4 from the line. Lysiane van der Knaap also provided a spark, scoring 17 points and had six rebounds against the Gaiters. Both players will be counted on if McGill hopes to emerge from its doldrums.
Due to space con straints, Sports Briefs could not be run this week. Briefs will return next week.
The McG ill Tribune, Tuesday, 14 November 2000
S p o r t s Page 27
M artlets hockey slow to em erg e from N ovem ber doldrum s Drop first two regular-season games; but manage first victory since October 29 against Saint Mary's on us no matter who got the puck, in a losing cause. ented Concordia team. “[The] puck was down there Referring to his defence, especially in our defensive zone,” the whole time, we couldn’t score,” added third-year Martlets defenceThe Martlets had a shaky Martlets head coach Peter Smith said a Smith after the game, refer man Allison Ticmanis. “In the cor thought “there were a few occa debut to their regular season last week with close losses to sions where they were back on ners there’s almost three girls down ring to the third period where there and they were pressuring and McGill outshot UQTR 15-5 with Concordia and the Université du their heels.” “They will continue to get Québec à Trois-Rivières, but were able to end a four-game winless better and they will learn from spell with a 9-1 demolition of the this experience,” Smith said St. Mary’s Huskies in an exhibition after the Concordia game, “The girls have to continue to play game on November 12. our style of play and not panic.” The balance between the two teams is definitely shifting Concordia Stingers 5, in M cGill’s favour as they McGill M artlets 4 repeatedly broke through the Stinger defense, registering 32 The Martlets almost ended shots and four goals. Concordia what is perhaps the most embar nevertheless outshot McGill 42rassing winless streak in all of 32, Amey Doyle made 37 saves McGill athletics on November 8, for McGill while Concordia’s but it was not to be as the Stingers Lisa Herritt made 28 stops for erased McGill’s 4-2 lead with three the win. goals in the last four minutes of play. Most of the current Martlets would have been in preschool the UQTR P a trio te s 2, last time McGill beat Concordia: the Stingers extended its unbeaten McGill Martlets 1 streak against McGill, which dates The Martlets were unable back to 1985, to 44 games (0-43-1) to solve the Université du Paula Mailloux eludes a Concordia defender on Wednesday with the win. Patrick Fok Concordia forward Lisa-Marie Québec à Trois Rivières Breton was the hero for the Patriotes’ forechecking and neutral pressuring us, so we had to put out scoring. “We had our chances, Stingers with three goals, including zone trap, and were stymied by another person [there to help] or but it just didn’t happen.” “We talked about it in the the winner with 1:38 left. Patriotes rookie goaltender hang back and wait for our girls to room,” Smith said. “Every game Concordia head coach Les Lawton Véronique Durand who made sev do something about it.” After giving up the opening this season is going to be a tough was pleased with his team’s come eral spectacular saves on the Martlets’ top guns. goal to McGill’s Paula Mailloux at and hard game, no matter who back. UQTR’s trap hampered the the 12:46 mark of the second peri we’re playing. We have to learn as “It was a bit of a characterbuilder,” Lawton said. “We have a Martlets’ offensive players’ move od, UQTR came back two minutes a group to have our best perfor young team with some experience. ment, forcing them to make bad later with a power play goal while mance for sixty minutes. I don’t It was good to see them battle back passes. Martlets head coach Peter Martlets captain Dana Rittmaster think we did that tonight [against Smith talked about beating the was sitting in the box for elbowing. UQTR].” and not give up.” UQTR finally slew the Martlet Carrying 11 rookies on their Patriotes’ neutral zone trap. “You’ve got to move the puck monster thanks to captain Virginie roster, the Martlets’ own inexperi McGill M artlets 9, ence showed as they were unable to into the middle of the ice or you’ve Bilodeau’s goal with 1:38 to play close out Concordia after dominat got to move the puck back,” said in the game which put them up 2- 1. St. Mary's Huskies 1 ing the game for fifty-six minutes. Smith. “That’s where we suffered. It was UQTR’s first win over Against St. M ary’s, the However, for the first time in many We have to make some adjust McGill since January 1999. McGill outshot the Patriotes Martlets’ first line of Sarah Lomas, years McGill was not overpowered ments [for next time].” “They were putting two people 34-26, with Doyle making 24 saves Sophie Acheson, and Paula by a typically speedier, more tal B y Jo n a t h a n C o l f o r d
Men's volleyball team w ins again By P hilippe-E douard Boursiquot
G. Donald Love Competition Hall was almost filled to capacity this past Sunday afternoon as the McGill Redmen volleyball team prepared themselves for their third match of the regular season. Prior to this showdown, José Rebelo’s warriors had just complet ed a brilliant run against Collège Edouard-Montpetit, who are ranked third in a Senior AAA League tour nament (with teams of the highest post-university calibre in Quebec), after losing in the semifinals against last year’s winning team. The previously lackluster team is showing promise this year. Earlier in the season, McGill went to Victoriaville and beat Sherbrooke 3-2 in an exciting 5-set match. That’s right folks, this year’s men’s volleyball team is for real. The guys are winning, and they’re confident they’ll make it far. “This is by far our best start in the past four years. We definitely want to make it to the playoffs,”
said setter Brian Choi, in his third year with the team. But what explains the drive and excitement that seemed absent in the past years? The portrait of Sunday’s game itself answers the question. At first sight, the pre-game warm-up showed that the Redmen were in for a tough battle against the aggressive members of the Vert et Or from l’Université de Sherbrooke. It wasn’t necessarily obvious that McGill would come out victorious. In the first few points, McGill seemed to be having trouble organizing themselves on the court, and Sherbrooke jumped to an imposing 8-4 lead. However, there was a clear display of superior intensity on the home side. After a timeout, the Redmen came back and played with much more flow and confidence. The confusion at the net disappeared, the kills started coming down (especially the superb ones by Mugabe Walker), and they found themselves back in the game, estab lishing an 11-10 lead. The entire match was suspensful with each
team falling behind by a few points, coming back and taking the lead only to lose it again. In the fourth set, McGill was in a must-win situation. The bril liant digs of Jonathan Faucher, along with the consistently efficient kills of Ryan Frank, who tallied 17 for the game, were the keys which allowed the Redmen to win the frame. The spectacular play of Mugabe Walker was also crucial in keeping the team alive. In the fifth and decisive set, the Redmen had their backs against the wall, trailing 13-8. After coach Rebelo called a timeout, the team came out with determination and scored seven consecutive points to earn the victory, 15-13, in the final set. The final score of this thriller was 30-28, 20-25, 25-27, 25-22, 1513. Three years ago, it did not seem likely that Redmen volleyball would have any respectability. The ‘starting six’ was composed of five rookies; strategy and efficient exe cution weren’t the team’s strengths. Now, the team chemistry of this
team is beyond reproach. “For the past three years, we’ve been training so hard, and we’ve been constantly losing, los ing, losing,” said Choi. “But the core of this team is so strong, the guys are so close, we’ve sacrificed so much to take part in this that we would do anything to support each other. 1 would die for any of these guys.” This genuine feeling of immense love of the game and pro found friendship is shared by every member of this team. “This group has tremendous team spirit. They have so much fun out there, it’s amazing,” remarked Coach Rebelo. “We constantly try to help each other and avoid letting anyone get down on themselves,” added budding superstar Mugabe Walker. “We strive to be always focused on the next point, and never to bother about the previous one. The chem istry of the team is such that we are always solid on the court.”
Mailloux combined for fourteen points as McGill clobbered the vis iting Huskies 9-1. The Martlets outshot the Huskies 56-13, with Doyle notching up the win while only playing the first period and saving the three shots she faced. Rookie Delphine Roy played the rest of the game, stopping 9 of 10 shots. The win was only their second since Maine ended a Martlet threegame winning streak on October 22. They have gone 2-4-2 since that date.
Conference woes With Ottawa’s decision to play in the Ontario University Athletics Association from now on, the Quebec University Hockey League has been reduced to three teams. McGill, UQTR, and Concordia will play an eight-game regular season. The second and third place teams will play each other in a semi-final, with the winner to advance to play the first place team for the confer ence title. Stingers head coach Les Lawton is disappointed in the return to a three-team conference. “It’s not so good for women’s hockey [in Quebec],” Lawton said. “It’s tough to keep credibility when each team plays eight games [regu lar season].” The University of Calgary is hosting the Nationals this year, however, it is Quebec’s turn this year to have the wild card spot. Thus, two Quebec teams out of three will earn a spot at the Nationals: the conference champi on and the second-place team. Along with them will be the OUA champion, the Atlantic champion, the West’s champion, and the host team, Calgary.
McGill Adidas Athletes of the Week Cross country runner Sarah Aii-Khan and volleyball player Mugabe Walker were named ath letes of the week for the period ending November 12. Ali-Khan, a 26-year-old grad uate student in pharmacology, won bronze at the CIAU cross-country championship meet in Toronto last Saturday, leading McGill to a fifthplace finish out of 15 teams. AliKhan, completed the 5-kilometre race in a time of 18 minutes and 10 seconds, She earned first team AllCanadian status. Last week, AliKhan was also the recipient of the top academic excellence achieve ment bursary for athletes in Quebec. Walker, a biochemistry junior, celebrated his 23rd birthday with 14 kills and 10 stuff blocks in McGill,s 3-2 victory over Sherbrooke on Sunday. The 6foot-2, 165-pound middle blocker was the key to McGill winning a thriller by scores of 30-28, 20-25, 25-27, 25-22 and 15-13.
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