The McGill Tribune Vol. 20 Issue 14 by The Tribune

T h e T r ib u n e G u id e t o M o o d C o o k in g

119

T h e B u z z o n C a f f e in e

20 I S S U E 14 T u e s d a y , 5 D e c e m b e r 2000 VOLUME

T- H* E

M e G IL

O N LIN E http://tribune.mcgill.ca

Published by the Students’ Society of McGill University

Faith, Hope and Love for $100, please B y P aul C o r n ett ________________

"Always, alw ay s p r e a c h the Gospel. I f necessary, use words" St. Francis of Assissi F a th e r E m m et Jo h n s, also baptised by Montreal’s street youth as Father Pops, is one of the city’s most appreciated citizens. Founder of Le Bon Dieu Dans La Rue (The Good Lord On The Street), Johns1 ministry has grown from a $ 10,000 loan to buy a used motorhome in 1988 (that broke down while dri ving off the lot) to a $1.5 million annual b ud get. Dans L a R u e ’ s brand new motorhome is now but the organization’s sideshow. Chez Pops is a drop-in center that offers meals, counselling, health services, art and music studios and even a highschool education whose grad uates1 average is higher than the provincial level. There is also The Bunker, an emergency shelter for youths between the ages of 12 and 19 that can accomodate 20 visitors. For the successes of Dans La Rue, much could be said besides it con tributing to the Catholic Church’s anemic public image in Quebec.

Gearing up for the Holiday season, Montreal's storefronts display winter wonderland splendour

Keep off the grass! Renovations to lower field alter McGill pastimes B y N ema Eth erid g e

Humble Beginnings How did this Montreal mira cle happen? What vision did Johns have that led to this unexpected s u c c e s s ? T he an sw er a ctu a lly begins with a humbling episode of J o h n s 1 life. W hen ask ed w hat motivated him to reach-out to the street youth, Johns referred back to a time when he was a disatisfied suburban parish priest suffering from a nervous breakdown and taking anti-depressants. “That goes back to those days when I was sick,” he said. “I had a little prayer book with a passage from Scripture on it saying T was hungry and you fed m e .’ “That bugged me."

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Events like Snow Air Pub, the broomball rink of the Engineering Undergraduate Society and Frosh are set to be relocated because of recent renovations to the L ow er Field. Over the summer, lower field w as re n o v a te d to rem edy a drainage problem created at the end of the winter, when snow melted and the field turned muddy. The University paid over $ 1 0 0 ,0 0 0 to have the field restructured and sod ded so that a grassy area could be accessible to students year-round. The renovations closed the field for the majority of the summer. Vice-Principal Administration and F in a n c e , M orty Y a lo v s k y , explained the status o f the lower field at the end o f la st w inter.

“Historically, as the snow melted at the end o f winter, we found the lower field to be non-usable - as a result o f u sage, it turned into a mud-bowl. To address the situa tion, the ‘lower field’ was closed in early spring, the soil was tilled, grass seed was planted and a fence was erected to restrict access. A drainage system was constructed, the Tower field’ was reshaped to have a crow n and sod was laid. The project was funded from the Universiy’s capital budget and the cost of the project was in the $ 1 10k ra n g e . T he T o w er fie ld ’ w as reopened in late August.” In order to keep up the renova tions, access has been restricted when the field is wet, a time when the grass is m ost su cceptible to being uprooted. “To allow the sod to root properly, lower field usage

was restricted to non rainy days and the use of tents on the field was limited,” said Yalovsky. O rg a n izatio n s like the E n g in e e rin g U n d ergrad u ate Society, which uses the field in the fall for flag football games, agreed to move their games to the resevoir when it rained. M artin S t-Je a n , E U S v ic e president internal explained how the agreement came about. “ A t the b egin n in g o f the se m e s te r, [the a d m in istratio n ] called a meeting with engineering and athletics,” he said. “W e met with Facilities M anagem ent and they told us they wanted to pre serve the field and that our football season damages it a lot. We came to an agreement not to use the field when it rains.” Although such an agreement

IU A L S A L E

inconvenienced flag-football play ers and their fans, a sport that StJean estimates attracting over 500 students and spectators, the EUS did not see it as a major problem in the beginning. “Originally, I thought that in the long run it would be ok ay,” said St-Jean. “W e agreed on not playing on the field so that it could get stronger, but now it seems like the look of the field is more impor tant than actually using it.” St-Jean is also concerned with the fate of the field during the win ter, when Engineering has tradi tion ally created an ice rink for b room b all gam es. “N ow they don’t want anything to go on the lower field during the winter,” he said. “I t’ s there for students to

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4012, Saint Denis street Corner Duluth

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J a n u a r y 2 to 3 1

G E O R G E S

L A O U N

r\ _

Eyes examined

by o p t o m e t r j S t s

_ .

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Pr e -s a le !

optician

off all our frames with the purchase of lenses

for McGill students and staff take advantage today before Christmas break U

1368, Sherbrooke street West Corner Crescent, in the Museum of Fine Arts building (514) 985-0015

600, Jean-Talon street East Jean-Talon Metro

(5 1 4 ) 2 7 2 - 3 8 1 6

Page 2 News

T he M c G ill T r ib u n e , T u e s d a y , 5 D ec em ber 2 0 0 0

No running on the grass - lower field off limits? sible to everyone that plays flagfo o tb all... People just get out of their classes go play and then go back to class... I, personally don’t play, but I see the cameraderie that goes on between everybody that does... It really gives people a lot to talk about to o ... and when you’re in university, you need something like that to talk about.

What h as been your experience with low er field ?

I saw last year.”

“I’ve only been on it once and that was for Frosh. But I’ve seen games and stuff on it.”

What do you think about SnowAP moving in fron t o f FDA? “It kinda makes sense to keep it here. It stands out here.”

• Pat Padgen, U2, English Literature

• Andrea Gilker, U0, Arts

How d oes the low er fie ld function f o r students?

W hat h a s b e e n y o u r e x p e r ie n c e with low er field ?

“It gives them a place to hang out. At the beginning o f the y ear, I would always just sit and read with friends and sit and lie in the field.”

How would you f e e l i f the ice rink w asn’t available to students during the winter?

“I see people play sports there and I think it’s a great place where peo ple can do what they want. To put a lot of money in it and make it untouchable is sort of silly.” • Matthew Tiffany, U2, Science

“Well, you see, I don’t skate. But I did enjoy sitting in the cigarette room and watch people play and stuff. That was fun.”

“I haven’t noticed anything done to the lower field.”

• Kanwar Saini, U l, mechanical engineering

How would you fe e l i f the EUS ice rink w asn’t there?

What d o you think the low er fie ld does f o r EUS? “I think it ju st keeps the clubs g oin g... If they didn’t have it so clo se to the [E n g in e e rin g Building], it wouldn’t be as acces

• Amy Gore U3

How d o you fe e l about things like Snow AP, the EU S ic e rin k an d f o o t b a l l tea m s b e in g r e l o c a t e d b ecau se o f a renovated low er field ?

What do you think about the ren o vations done to the low er field? • Eleanor Stewart, U2, Education

D o y ou th in k m ov in g S now AP fro m low er fie ld to an area in front o f F r a n k D aw son A dam s w ou ld m ake a difference to the program ?

“I don’t know. You could put it somewhere else, I suppose. But it is kind of fun to watch when you h ave nothing else to do when you’re studying.” • Danielle Boddy, U0, Arts.

“The lower field is kind of the only large area on cam pus th at’ s for stuff like that. 1 was a part of the Snow AP last y ear... and I don’t think moving it in front of FDA is a big enough area in regards to what

McGill A T H L E T IC S

Wishing those who have supported McGill's various inter-collegiate teams this past semester, all the best for the Holidays and up-coming exams.

“Stuff like football and that...it can be moved to the resevoir. I have no problem with that...and Snow AP, I think, could be moved to a smaller field... But I do think it’s really kind of pointless to have a field there if it’ s not going to be used.”

Compilation by Mike Bargav and Nema Etheridge

News Page 3

T he M c G ill T r ib u n e , T u e s d a y , 5 D ecem ber 2 0 0 0

Daily prepares move to temporary offices SSMU and Daily trade accusations over renovations B y Ja m es G

T he party resp o n sib le for th ese d elays depends on whom you ask. Jon B rick er, new s e d ito r for the Daily, blames SSM U fo r the D a ily ’ s cu rren t predicament.

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A s the D aily P u b lica tio n s Society prepares to move into tem porary offices, it is accusing the S tu d en ts’ S o cie ty o f M cG ill University of mismanaging renova tion s in the S tu d en ts’ S o c ie ty building, while SSMU claims that the Daily itself is responsible for some of the construction delays. The D aily has to m ove into new offices because of renovations in the Shatner Building that are scheduled to take place between C hristm as break and the end o f March. The ongoing quarrel between the D aily and SSM U stems from events that occu rred in A ugust, when SSMU locked the Daily out o f its o ffic e s in the S h atn er Building after lease negotiations stalled. The D aily sued SSMU in O ctober, saying that the lockout was a violation of their lease, but the court ruled in SSM U’s favour. The Daily’s temporary offices will be in two separate locations. The business office will be in the Coach House of Thomson House, a sp ace o f about 5 0 0 square feet leased by the P o stg ra d u a te Students’ S ociety. The editorial o ffice , also ap p ro xim ate ly 5 0 0 square feet, will be located in space len t by the U n iv e rsity in Chancellor Day Hall. D aily staff

“

Pack it up, pack it in, let the move begin

plan to move into their new offices over Christmas break. A aron W in d so r, e x e c u tiv e chairperson o f the PGSS, offered the office space because he values the D a ily ’ s p la ce on cam p u s, adding that he appreciates McGill’s contribution. “It became clear very early on that the Daily was in need of some s p a c e ... W h e th e r you like the D a ily or not, i t ’ s an im portan t voice for some people, and in some instances all people.” said Windsor. “It’s very important to keep them on ca m p u s ... I think it ’ s really admirable that the administration came through when the Daily was in a pinch.”

Students’ Society could not possibly have m ade this any m ore d iffi c u lt,” said B ric k e r. “ T hey jenny George seem to have completely mismanaged this entire renovation p rocess... They’ ve set start date after start d a te ... I t’ s goin g to fo rc e us to deal with another year of adversity because SSMU couldn’t get its act togeth er... It’ s reached the point where SSM U’s word is worth nothing.” S SM U P resid en t W o jtek Baraniak claims that the D aily is responsible for the construction delays. “W e have nothing to do with the D aily’s problem ... The Daily was a huge hindrance. We couldn’t proceed [with renovations planned for last summer] because we were involved in a legal battle with [the D aily],” Baraniak explained. “I’m

sorry they’re having problems now, but it’ s their own bloody fau lt... They’ve dug their own grave. “From the very beginning it was ‘Forget it, we’re not moving.’ They’re a bunch of whining chil dren when it com es down to it,” continued Baraniak. “Ultim ately, we didn’t want to affect them - we wanted to do their renovations over the summer. However, they refused to negotiate.” Bricker contends that SSMU is using the Daily as a scapegoat for the renovation delays. “I can ’ t see that anyone can argue that it’s been them and not us w ho’ ve mismanaged the renova tions,” said Bricker. “To say that we’re the ones holding this back, it sounds like scapegoating to me. W e’ve been operating at the mercy of SSMU. In August they locked us out, and now there’s still no sign of renovations.” “Grow up and get realistic,” declared Baraniak. “Try to secure the Daily’s future instead of attack ing our a ctio n s th at happened m onths ago. U n fo rtu n ately for them, the world doesn’t revolve around the Daily.” Bricker sees Baraniak’s com m ents as an in d icatio n o f the SSM U President’ s personal ani mosity towards the Daily. “ I gu ess th at show s what W ojtek ’ s attitude is towards the

1,000 students stranded off MARS T h e " P " in PIN d o e s n 't s t a n d fo r P e r m a n e n t C o d e By D

a v id

The lack of students returning Permanent Code forms has been a lingering problem for the McGill University administration since the beginning of the semester. T he Q u eb ec go v ern m en t requires every student registered at any Quebec University have a per m anent co d e . T he U n iv e rsity needs to collect the permanent code information so it will get the gov ern m en t funding m atch in g the number of students enrolled. How ever, many M cGill stu dents still haven’t applied for it. According to an e-mail sent by the registrar’ s office to each faculty last week, there are still over four thousand who haven’t applied. Of these, 647 are in Arts and 267 are in science. Steve Olive, associate registrar of student records, explained that the Registrar’s Office has put forth much effort to contact these stu dents. “W e ’ ve sen t th ree m ails telling students to apply for the permanent code. Once in August, on ce in S eptem ber and on ce in Octorber,” he said. Students who haven’t replied so far are blocked from accessing MARS and SATURN, according to the e-mail sent by registrar’s office. The student a ffa irs o ffic e has recently added a message on the hom epage m essage banner stating:”You must have a permanent

co d e to do co u rs e ch a n g e s on M ARS. If you are blocked from course change, immediately con ta c t 3 9 8 -2 2 2 4 or perm code@ aro.lan.m cgill.ca.” A sim ila r m essag e is also on the Registrar’ s “Queue Line” — the recording students hear when they are on hold for local 4210. All faculties and departments have been asked to contact students who do not yet have the code. Judy Kenigsberg, undergraduate secre tary fo r the C o m p u ter S cie n ce department, described the efforts her department has undertaken. “I have done everything possi ble. I have sent individual e-mails to all the stu d en ts [w ho still haven’t applied]... [and] I’ve sent two mails to professors so that they can make annoucement in class.” Sylvia Crawford, undergradu ate program coord in ator for the History Department, explains that several facto rs explain the why there are still so many students who haven’t applied for the perma nent code. “ Som e students believe the permanent code is the PIN number for MARS. [They think] the “P” in PIN stands for “Permanent”. The Permanent Code issue is not mentioned in the “Welcome to McGill” booklet either. Crawford also believes that it’ s not an easy task to make all the students aware of their permanent code status. “L ots of students have their individual e-mails and they don’t

check their po-box [accounts]. At this time of the year, most students are busy studying and they don’t tend to go to see their advisors. Some students don’t come to class. Some students don’t make course changes. So it’ s very hard to get hold of those students.” One of the solutions she sug gested is to make announcements about permanent code right before the start of each final exam. Sharon Bezeau, chief invigila to r fo r the fa cu lty o f A rts and Science believed that it was a valid solution and will discuss it with A s s o c ia te D ean o f A rts and Science. Olive explained that he under stood the problems experienced by students and staff in many depart ments. “ The perm anent co d e issue cam e after ‘W elcom e to M cG ill’ booklet [o f last September] was published. But this inform ation w ill be a v a ila b le on the n ext ‘W elcom e to M cGill’ [published] next January.” O live b eliev ed an oral announcem ent before each final exam would disrupt the students’ c o n ce n tra tio n . H o w ev er, O live n oted , a p o ste r an n ou n cem en t about the permanent code problem outside the exam room is a good idea. Some penalties, Olive said, would soon be imposed upon stu dents who continue to fail to com ply. The exact type has not been determined.

D aily. It’ s just not the case that h e ’ s treated the D aily with the sam e resp ect [as oth er cam pus groups].” R eg ard less o f the cu rren t imbroglio, the Daily will return to the Shatner Building when renova tions are complete. “T he D a ily P u b licatio n s Society will be entitled to reenter the Students’ Society building by around March 31, 2000, based on the lease we signed with them ,” said Baraniak. “They still have a home when renovations are com plete.”

C o rrectio n In th e N o vem ber 28 issu e of th e Tribune, it w as reported th at M cGill hired its first fu ll tim e b lack pro fesso r o n ly last y e a r. In fact, it w as th e Faculty of Law th at hired its first fu ll-tim e b lack p ro fesso r last ye a r. T h e re have been fu ll-tim e b lack p ro fesso rs at M cGill for m an y ye a rs. T h e Tribune reg rets th e error.

S c a r le t K e y A w a r d McGill has a vibrant and active student body. Each year, th e Scarlet Key Society seeks to recognize the a c h ie v e m e n ts o f o u ts ta n d in g le ad e rs on th is campus. Students who build and create change. | Students who have left th eir m ark on McGill.

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The Scarlet Key Society has been around McGill fo r a lm o s t 75 years. Since t h a t tim e, th e contributions of over 1500 student leaders have been recognized.

Application form s will be available in January If you have questions, please don't hesitate to e-mail scarlet_key@hotmail.com

Pino & Matteo Food Services in the

Faculty of Law Building. Starting

December 4th until December 22nd the cafeteria will remain open until 11:00 p.m.

Come by and see our specials.

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T he M c G ill T r ib u n e , T u e s d a y , 5 D ecem ber 2 0 0 0

Split Congress could mean legislative stalem ate B y J u l ie N o r w

ell

U-WIRE (DC BUREAU)_________

(U-WIRE) WASHINGTON The candidate that eventually wins Florida's electoral votes, and thus the White House, will have only cleared the first obstacle in his bid to lead the nation. The more diffi cult challenge will be to work with the newly elected Congress, which is as equally divided along party lines as the country's voters were this election. The outcome of elections in both houses of Congress left Republicans in control — barely. But their hold on Congress has been severely weakened by several surprising Democratic wins. This was particularly true in the Senate, where Republicans now hold 50 seats and the Democrats 49. As of November 22, one Senate seat for Washington State was still too close to call, with postal ballots being counted. "It's difficult to speculate how the Senate will change until the Washington Senate race is con cluded,” said a Senate official speaking on condition of anonymi ty. He added that the final political sway in the Senate would also be impacted by the outcome of the

presidential election. As explained by the Senate official, a win by Vice President A1 Gore and Washington's Republican incumbent Slade Gorton, or a win by Gore and Democrat candidate Maria Cantwell would yield a 52-48 or 51-49 tally, respectively, in favor of the Republicans. A Gore victory would require Senator Joseph I. Lieberman (DConnecticut), Gore's running mate, to resign from the Senate, where upon Connecticut’s Republican governor would most certainly replace Lieberman with a Republican. A win by Texas Governor George W. Bush and Sen. Gorton, or Governor Bush and candidate Maria Cantwell would yield a final count of 51-49 or 50-50, respec tively. But in the case of the latter, which would be the first time the Senate was equally divided in more than 100 years, Bush's run ning mate, former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, as vice president, would cast the tie breaking vote in the Senate, leav ing the Republicans with a onevote edge on the Democrats. In the House of Representatives, the Republicans

lost seats for the third election in a row, resulting in a narrow majority of 221 seats to the Democrats' 212. Independents continued to hold two seats. Despite this nearly equal divi sion in both Houses of Congress, the ideological gap may not be an insurmountable problem. "We still have to watch the presidential election," said Pete Jeffries, communications director for the House of Representatives. "Bush is good at bridging biparti sanship. Speaker Hastert is good, too. It's easier to get legislation passed if we work from the top down." Jeffries intimated that a Gore presidency, however, could face a greater challenge to partisan coop eration. "We have to see how long Gore drags this out in Florida," he told U-WIRE this week. Other observers are less opti mistic about a Congress that can work effectively together. "All the ingredients that were in the last Congress are still there," said Dr. Sarah Binder, assistant professor of Political Science at George Washington University. "I don't see much legislation [coming out of the new Congress]." "By and large the trend is towards polarization," Binder told

U-WIRE. "In chambers with a small majority you need a cohort of moderate legislators to build bipartisan coalitions. (But) Hastert is in an impossible situation because of the strong advocates on the right." Still, Republicans are hopeful that they will succeed in promot ing their agenda. "The speaker wants to get out the gate with a few issues," Jeffries said. These include tax fairness by repealing the marriage and death tax, health care reform, the provision of prescription drugs for seniors and educational reform. Binder was more skeptical about the success of new legisla tion "unless it's on prescription drugs or something where people agree." As for policy initiatives, Binder speculated that Bush could win support with a tax cut if it is not a large cut. She said that both candidates support educational reforms, however they differ on the specific issues. As the dust settles after an unusually close race in Congress, it seems clear that the hard-fought struggle for elective seats will become an equally aggressive bat tle over issues.

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T h a n k s , N e w s w r it e r s , fo r a ll y o u r h e lp . D ig g in g fo r d irt w o u ld n 't h a v e b e e n n e a r ly a s fu n w ith o u t you! W e w is h y o u H a p p y H o lid a y s — d ro p b y the o ffice in th e N e w Y e a r ! N e m a , M ik e , S h e r y a r

and all the best

Getting to the heart of the matter New treatm ent prom ises to fix dam aged heart tissue B y N a t a s h a Ja t e g a o n k a r ________

I t ’ s a c o n tro v e r s ia l is s u e : em b ryon ic “ ste m ” c e lls hold a great potential for medical treat ment o f organ d am age, but the thought o f using stem cells from lab-grow n fertilized eggs makes many people uneasy, and raises significant ethical questions about when exactly human life begins. But thanks to a revolutionary idea from Dr. Ray Chu-Jeng Chiu, chair of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the M cG ill H ealth C en tre, this issue may no longer be so perti nent. Chiu is using adult stem cells to replace damaged heart muscle c e lls, also known as card io m y ocytes. The adult stem cells are found in the bone marrow, a gelatinous su b stan ce found in m o st long bones in the body. These cells are also known as bone marrow stro m al c e lls . It w as p re v io u sly thought that their only function w as to p ro d u ce red and w h ite blood cells, but it has since been discovered that these adult cells share with their embryonic coun terparts the characteristic o f being pluripotent. That is to say, the cells can specialize into almost any cell type in the body, provided they are given the right signals. “W e realized the potential of turning these cells into tissues to replace damaged cells,” says Chiu. He is p articu larly in terested in treating patients with heart failure by this method. “Heart cells do not multiply,” explains Chiu. “W e ’re bom with the same number and we die with them. If some get dam aged, that’s it.” W ork in g w ith D r. Ja cq u e s G alipeau, a hem atologist at the Jew ish General Hospital, Chiu’ s experiments so far show that the procedure for regenerating these cells could actually be quite sim pie. The patient’ s cells could be gathered from the hip using local anesthetic. “It’ s no more painful than a flu shot,” says Chiu. Galipeau describes what the next steps would be. “A heart attack kills off nor mal heart muscle cells, which get replaced by a scar. If you inject the stro m al c e lls in to a s c a r, th ey w on ’ t do an yth in g. T h ey c a n ’ t guess what cell type they should turn into. They need cues from the en v iron m en t. B u t if you in je ct them into heart cells that are okay, the c e lls can c r o s s - ta lk .” T his physical contact among the cells is im portant. Galipeau likened the stromal cells to a metamorphosing creature of sorts. “W h atever they touch, they turn into. If they touch fat cells, they turn into fat c e lls . If they touch muscle cells, they turn into muscle cells.” He referred to this characteristic of stromal cells as a “p la s tic g e n o m e ,” e x p la in in g , “these cells contain the appropriate

genes to turn into a wide array of cells.”

Fear of rejection

UQTR sessional instructor strike delays classes

New York U. grad assistants offi cially request bargaining rights

• T R O IS -R IV IE R E S , QC — Because o f a month-long (so far) sessional instructor strike, students at l’Université du Québec à TroisR iv ières have been deprived o f cla sse s and may have to retake them during the holiday break if the dispute between the instructors and the University is not resolved soon. The union declared a general strike on N ovem ber 8 . Since then, the University has cancelled the strik ers’ classes. On November 27, as students in the a ffe cte d c la s s e s had lo st th ree weeks o f classes, the University decided to make up for the lost cla sse s if the strike ended. The make-up classes would take place in the first three weeks of January and the start o f the W inter term would be delayed to January 22. La Fédération étudiante universi taire du Québec, an umbrella group o f student a s s o cia tio n s a cro ss Quebec, urged the parties to resolve their differences in a press release dated November 29. On N o v em b er 2 8 , students at U Q TR voted to go on strike to protest the university’s decision to delay the start of the winter semes ter and force them to retake lost classes after the Christmas break.

• (U-W IRE) NEW YORK — New Y ork University’ s graduate assis tant union d elivered its official request for collective bargaining to the administration on November 27, the first step toward contract nego tiations between the two parties. L o ca l 2 1 1 0 o f the U nited A uto W o rk e rs, w hich rep resen ts the graduate assistants, sent the request, a standard procedure at the begin ning o f union-employer negotia tion. Lisa Jessup, an organizer with the UAW , characterized the letter as a general information request that will begin the process of negotia tions between union members and the University. “W e don’t think that well hear from N Y U right away,” Jessup said. “We know that they’re contemplating refusing to bargain.” N YU Vice President for Academic Development Robert Berne said the

This therapy offers enormous benefits not seen with other meth ods o f tre a tin g h e a rt fa ilu re patients. “A tremendous advantage is that there will be no rejectio n ,” says Chiu. Rejection often occurs with use o f embryonic stem cells and heart transplants because the p a tie n t’ s im m u ne sy ste m sees these cells as being “foreign” in the sam e w ay that b acteria and viruses are, and immediately tries to attack them. However, Chiu’ s technique is similar to a skin graft. The cells are simply being moved from one p lace in the p atien ts’ body to another, so no foreign tis sue is introduced. T he s c ie n tific co m m u n ity agrees that the technique looks promising. York TA strike draws anger from “W e’ve gotten a lot of public students ity,” says Chiu, “which has accel erated interest in it. T hat’ s good • TORONTO — York university fo r the patients — th e y ’ ll have students are upset about the disrup more resources and more people tion caused by a teaching assistant working on it.” Chiu expects clini strike that has gone on for the past cal trials to proceed very soon. six weeks. The TA union, C U PE D espite the m arvelous new 3 9 0 3 , and Y ork have broken off potential o f this therapy, Chiu cau j negotiations until early January. tions that diet and exercise “are { The union wants the same advan still the top ” when it co m es to tages as all the other TA unions dealing with heart problems. He across Ontario have. The University adds, “You know the saying. An points out that York’s TA ’s are the ou nce o f preven tion is worth a highest-paid in the province and refuses to back down on the issue pound of cure.” of indexation.

University is continuing to solicit the opinions of faculty, students and administrators, citing a m eetin g with the G rad u ate S ch o o l o f Arts and Science sched uled fo r D ec. 12. “It will be months before officials decide whether they will bargain,” he said. T he only w ay the University can appeal the N ation al L ab o r Relations Board deci sion to allow a GA union is to refu se to b arg ain , sending the matter into the federal courts. In the meantime, Jessup said, the U A W will keep the pressure on administrators.

C am p u s B rie fs

News Page 5

T he M c G ill T r ib u n e , T u e s d a y , 5 D ecem ber 2 0 0 0

withfiles from Ted Mann, Washington Square News (New York U.)

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M cG ill

Page 6 News

T he M c G ill T r ib u n e , T u e s d a y , 5 D ecem ber 2 0 0 0

By Shehryar Fazli, Mike Bargav and Nema Etheridge

Mark Chodos VP Communications What is your most memorable Winter Break memory? 1 can think of two that com e to mind right away. Last year I went to see the Tragically Hip over New Y ear’s in Toronto with my four best friends from home. That was amazing. It was great to see. my favourite band and my best friends. My first New Year’s in Montreal was when I was in Grade 1 2 .1 came here and we were driving around in a car, went to five different house parties. It was just madness in the suburbs. Also the first time I got dmnk on New Year’s was at friend’s party and — not me — but everyone was just making out with everyone else. It was just crazy. That was Grade 10.

Clara Peron VP University Affairs What plans to do you have for the holidays? "I’ m going to visit relatives in Germany, and then I plan to go skiing in France."

What is one of your fondest Holiday memories? "New Year’s last year was amazing. It was a fun crazy night. I was in Montreal... and I remember running up St. Urbain during the 30 second countdown for the year 2 0 0 0 ... seeing the countdown... and then the fireworks going off... taxis were honking their horns, everybody was drink ing champagne in the streets... even the police cars had their lights going... it was amazing... I didn’t have to be anywhere else but here to have an awesome time.”

s the semester com es to a close, most of you are probably wondering what this SMOOO thing is. The Tribune caught up with each executive of the Students’ Society of McGill University to discuss portfolio accomplishments of this semester, and goals for the next. In evaluating their performances, we graded the executives on their accessibility and approachability; their general attitude towards students and student groups; their knowledge not only in the areas of their own, but of the overall position and goings— on of the student government; their professionalism; and finally -and this is the one us members of the press deem most important— on how quotable they are. Based on this they were assigned a letter grade. We also decided to test the quickness of our representatives with some dazzling and challenging (and not so challenging) brainteasers. Here is what they had to say:

Positive aspects of portfolio: "I’ve learned a lot more about dealing with people, with the Administration, with students, with problems, with good things, bad things, with the press. Frosh was amazing. It went really well, just about without a hitch. Everyone had a great time. It was successful from all standpoints. With Four Floors, although there were some things that weren’t as good as they could have been, but overall I think it was a great event. I think a lot of people there had a great time. The blood drive exceeded expectations... our goal was 650 1units donated] and we hit 665.

The negatives: "The website needs some more work. We’ve had to webmasters unfortunately quit this semester for various reasons, which is too bad. The Pre-Exatn Jam, although it was fun, was not well attended. That was partially (due to] promotion, partly bad tim ing. Those were ray biggest disappointments.

President What were the positive aspects of your work with SSMU?• • I have learned a lot about how to deal with people. • I have a good team. • W e’ve managed to get renova tions under way, and managed to juggle all the different issues at the same time; The Tribune had to move, Travel Cuts had to move, The Daily had to move. So that’s been really positive. • I have learned from my predecessors and recommend to my forebears that the president should be a team player. Nothing can get accomplished alone. You should always have someone with you (when tackling projects), and I think the president should be

Chodos’ answer: (After some contemplation) I pass.- Blast tom foolery and linguistic trickery, just get on each other's camels and race to the finish, the winner ensures his camel is second.

(see page 8 for explanations)

Goals: "What I can improve on for next semester is the Open Meetings. The second one was good in terms of turnout... The first one was not well attended, [because] it was lacking in promotion. SnowAP is back from January 8 to the 12. Two more Shatner parties, hopefully one will be a Four Floors [Party] and the other maybe a Battle of the Bands. "The first-ever SSMU focus group, where the average student [expresses] what he hopes to get out of SSMU.

What were the positive aspects of your first semester? "I think I’ve been able to reach out to a lot of students [concening] what this position is about. I find that a lot of the projects are going along just as planned. A taskforce on internships got creat ed — just what I wanted to happen. "Also, I think I finally have a full sense of what my position calls for... I’ve created three categories for myself: student rights, stu dent representation and academic issues. What I’ve found best, though, is that students are interested. Everybody I’m working with is doing an excellent job. I’ve gotten a lot of positive moti vation from students and that helps."

What have been the negative aspects? "It’s a hell of a lot of stress. I sit on more committees than the Dean of Students and, personally, it has put a toll on me. I’m not doing well academically... Another problem I’ve had is that there is so much information that I want to convey. I find that my pre sentations at council are so long. I feel that I sometimes overload everyone that is there. I have to work on that for next semester."

What's left for next semester? "I’m working on coming up with recommendations for the University to proceed with internships in order to increase oppor-

Wojtek Baraniak

Brain teaser: A dying man will bequeath his estate to only one of his two sons. He takes them to the desert, gives them each a camel. He then says: ‘Have a race. Whoever’s camel crosses the desert SECOND inherits the estate.’ So off the two sons go, each trying to go slower than the other. Eventually, they are going side by side, very slowly. At the midway point, both brothers decide they need a break. So they get off the camels, go into a little rest area, and explain the situation to the guy behind the counter. He looks up at them, and says: ‘You idiots. You’re going about it the wrong way’. He then tells them something, after which they both rush out, jump onto the camels and race to the finish line. What did the man behind the counter say?

that person. If something goes wrong, you have to answer for it. I think I have played that role and I accept that responsibility. • There have been problems [that have arisen] that I jumped on and tried to fix. Examples: students complained about a lack of bike racks, and I [lobbied] for more bike racks; students com plained that there were not enough microwaves in one the cafete rias. I brought the issue up and a little while later I find out that there is one more microwave in that cafeteria. The Muslim stu dents almost lost their prayer space; [SSMU] lobbied on their behalf and they still have a space. • Dealing with the Administration. I love dealing with Dean [of Students Rosalie] Jukier. She is an amazing academic, and a very committed person. Any time there is a problem it is just great going up to her and talking to her about it.

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tunities... also, I plan on holding a forum in January to find out what students’ recommendations for the University are. A lot of next semester will involve writing the student strategic report from the forum. Also, I ’ll be continuing with the Library Improvement Fund and helping make the final decision as how the money will be spent...I’11 also be continuing my representa tion in Senate.

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Goals for next semester: • Council reform, [involving] a restructuring of the entire way we do business. There is a huge problem with the fact that people see SSMU as the executive, and that is wrong. SSMU, in reality, is everyone. What we would like to do is focus more attention on Council and the elected representatives that make up our body. • Accredit the association. • Bring environmental issues to the forefront. Bring recylcing closer to home. We do not have a very good recycling program on campus. The presidential brainteaser: see Chodos’. The presidential answer: see Chodos’.

(see page 8 for explanations)

Negative aspects? • It is just hard to keep a grip on reality and decide what the most important issue is. • My first four months as president were spent in court [with The Daily], • The [recent] McGill University First Aid Service issue [where SSMU was taken to the Judicial Board about its finance decision about the group’s budget].

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T he M c G ill T r ib u n e , T u e s d a y , 5 D ec em ber 2 0 0 0 shown that we are part of the community.”

J e r e m

Negative Aspects of Portfolio

Coals

Farrell VP Community & Gov't What is you most signifi cant holiday memory? “I would say my last Christmas before I left for university. We were watch ing Christmas specials. 1 was putting up the tree and instead of regular egg-nog, we had egg nog with rum and that was a coming of age thing”

Positive Aspects of Portfolio “You are fighting for issues that are going to affect the society and the school.” “You get to deal with a remarkable number of people across Canada. And you get to deal with government, which I think is a great way to participate in a democracy.” “I work long hours. But I work on things I want to work on. You get to be part of the University committee in a particular way. It is a unique experience.”

Kevin McPhee

“On one hand, you are fighting for something that has been fought for forever. We are fighting for these things so long, it seems like we are never satisfied. And often the issues you are fighting for fall on deaf ears.” “You are asking for money at a time where purse strings are closed.” requires the participation of 16,000 stu“This is an effort that ri dents to succeed and that is hard. And it takes long hours for small resuli

“We have started the process with elections. Now we’re are faced with a party that has been elected and now the task is to deal with them.” “Provincially, we have to lobby the government to start funding education, and fund it in the right way. We have to lobby for core funding and also for specific funding. We have to force the gov ernment to listen, and that is what’s going to happen next semes ter.”

Accomi

Brain teaser

On the Gover “We’ve gotten the government to recognize that McGill students care. It is one that doesn’t have tangible benefits but is neverthe less very important.’l ï ï * ' “I’ve improved the ties we’ve had with groups in Quebec includ ing La FEUQ. It has been important developing these communi ties.” “Federally, we have accomplished improving CASA. Being the Chair of CASA policy, I’ve been able to change policy so it is more current and caters to the needs of students today.” “We were able to organize constituency debates. W e’ve made steps in putting education on the federal agenda.” On The Community Side “We’ve finally made students part of the community and not a separate community. With the Terry Fox run and the Tenants Rights clinic, and by dealing with community groups we have all the full-time staff, and because I’m so connected with money and cash flow, I’m connected to what everyone is doing.” “As a result of my portfolio, I get to work with projects that show big results to students. For me, that is really rewarding.”

Negative Aspects

VP Finance What is your most significant holiday memory? “I don’t really have a memory like that. The thing I like most about the holidays is New Y e a r’ s day when my whole family goes bowling.”

Positive Aspects

“All the administrative work I get stuck doing^. lots of tedious paper work." “And the problem with the bigger projects is that you get frustrat ed more easily with a lot of obstacles to jump around. But |t is all worthwhile in tjigfend.”

VP Clubs & Services What are your plans for the holidays? "For the first little bit of the vacat i o n , W o jte k and I are s tic k in g around to get some work done., and then., after that, I’m headed home for the holdays..."

What are some of your fondest Holiday memories? Gosh.. I don’ t’ know where to start...sled ding, maple syrup, stacking wood, shoveling snow,

“You bury the survivors wherever they come from.” —

Holy semantics Batman, you don ’t bury survivors!

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Coals “We are still continuing with the food services plan. We still have to get a coffee store on the first floor, and move Gert’s downstairs. We still have to work out sponsorship money.” “The Daycare, which we continue to work on is planned to open next September.

Brain Teaser See Farrell for questions “It’s a plane crash, so there are no survivors...but there might be survivors.......Wait a minute: You don’t bury survivors!”

(see page 8 for explanations) Accomplishments Excellent Good Fair “Food services is perhaps my biggest accomplishment. Another big accomplishment has been refinancing the renovations the CBA was supposed bring funds to.” “W e’ve taken a larger role in the management of Gert’ s and Sadie’s, and that has given me a better perspective on operation.

“Getting to work with

Chris Grotto

A plane containing Canadian and American passengers crashes on the border between America and Canada... Where do you bury the survivors?

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playing with my dogs...family is always nice, too..."

What have been the postive aspects of the first semester? "We’ll start with the things that I had planned to do that actually happened. For instance, the first Activities Day was a huge suc cess... sign ups were way up. And then we also had really good feedback at our first leadership conference. We got a lot of really good information from clubs lhere; it helped us out a a lot...The lockers... although they’re a little slow in coming, renovations are beginning toget underway, so they're be built, as well... The events listingjbat 1 worked on with Chodos went very well... we also have the ëtehs” guidé whk& we’ll be putting out next semes ter; it’s something that I worked on with the clubs... the upper rez activities night w*s-àlso a mild success. And that led into a having a club table available very Tuesday for clubs and services to book in the lobbies of BMH and Royal Victoria College... and the donation from Management Undergraduate Society.

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technologies they use, so we’re going to buy some T.V.s and things like this, so that the clubs can have them. It would be a lot cheaper to buy them, then having to keep renting them from ICC. Also it’s quite difficult to cart ICC equipment back and forth in the snow, so this looks like it will have positive influences. I hope to be putting a lot more information on the web-site, as well... Also, I want to have an open meeting with clubs to find out what else there is left to do...

Brain teaser A man lives on the twenty-fourth floor of an apartment building. Everyday he rides the elevator to the bottom to go to work, but when he comes home, he only goes to the tenth floor and then takes the stairs the rest of the way. Why does he do this? "The answer’s not like . . .exercise?...um....[time elapses]... Is he in a wheel chair?...oh, that’s right,-stairs......Is something wrong with the elevator?... what are the buttons like on the elevator? How are they laid out?... hmm...."

Answer: H e’s too short to reach the buttons... "Ahh... I’d say I’ve made a mistake about every month or so. I would say the biggest downside, though, to all of these logistical things is that I haven’t been able to go to the events of different clubs on campus, which is something I’d really like to do. In ret rospect, I’ve really spent time doing logistical things with stuff like lockers, computers, building renovations,..

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T he M c G ill T r ib u n e , T u e s d a y , 5 D ecem ber 2 0 0 0

Page 8 N e w s

Explanations

How we araded...

Mc P h ee , VP O peration s ■ Fa r r e l l , VP C&G Affairs The fact that McPhee managed to coordinate and pull financing for renovations to the Shatner building despite the fall through o f C B A funding and long-drawn lease dis putes warrants a definite gold mark for professionalism and knowledge of SSMU affairs. Short, vague, and uninterested explanations of SSMU affairs however, leaves much to be desired in attitude and quotability. Checking and responding to phone m essages with som e d egree o f expeditiousness is definitely a req uisite to improving accessibility.

Because Jeremy Farrell can be seen all o v er cam p u s, he's an extremely accessible guy. If he's not in his office, at Gert's or some where in the Shatner building, he's d efin itely on cam p u s. H e's extremely approachable, very wel coming and always has a smile on his face. While he is very familiar with his own p osition, F arrell's overall knowledge o f the student government is, at times, below par. He could also improve his profes sional attitude at council meetings, including avoiding the many errors in his council reports that often make them difficult to follow.

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P é r o n , V P U n iv . A f f a i r s I Because she's "on more committees than the Dean of Students," Clara Péron is sometimes hard to catch. She doesn't even have set office hours. She is quick, though, to return a phone call which speaks a lot for her professionalism, as do her presentations at council and Senate. You can count on them to be w ell-researched, well-thought out and ex tre m e ly in form ative. Clara is also extremely approach able and welcoming. During inter views Péron comes off as very sin cere and knowledgeable, which is always a help when searching for the "perfect quote." If, on the spot, she doesn't have a good answer to a question, it won't take her long to find one. Her quick response to stu dent complains in regards to exmination environments in classrooms, and her d ed icatio n to enabling greater internship possiblities for

the U n iv ersity 's students have instilled in students a confidence in this executive.

G r a t t o , VP C&S Chris Gratto effectively repre sents his clubs and services. He has often defended clubs and services in Council that have caught some flack from the rest of the University. His work with DJ Waletsky to get fund ing for the Red Herring was com mendable, while his handling of the Black Students' Network was less so. H e's been in a cce ssib le to Tribune writers at times, but is pret ty good at returning phone calls.

M ark C hodos is one o f the most amusing executives you will meet. He is always quick to crack a joke and have a good time, which weighs a bit on his professionalism, but makes him extremely approach

able and easy to talk to. It took Chodos some time to effectively respond to the pressures of his posi tion in terms of dealing with student co m p lain ts. H o w ever, he has become more comfortable and artic ulate in representing the wide range of student needs at the University.

Ba r a n ia k , P r e s id e n t B aran iak is quick to return phone calls and never fails to make space in his schedule to discuss a particular issue. He has a very wide knowledge about the University, providing exhaustive answers in open m eetin gs, in terview s and informal discussions. Baraniak has, on occasion, responded aggressive ly , and acted u n p rofession ally, towards student groups that have publicly questioned his actions such as The McGill Daily. He has, how ever, been efficient in performing his tasks and responding to student complaints.

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play on it, and I think it’s a shame that we can’t use the field now for half the year, if they’re closing it.” Nigel Fung, a U 4 engineering student who has played broomball on the lower field for several years b e lie v e s a sp o rt th at b oosts “ m o ra le ” and “ c a m a ra d e rie ” am ongst students should not be placed in jeopardy for a field that is impossible to keep irritgated. “I mean, that ground is perma nently soaked anyway, just because of where it is located. Just because of the higher ground to the north, there’ s always going to be water co m in g in to th at a re a . And it d o e sn ’ t m atter how big o f a drainage system the school decides to put in, there is no way they can drain off all the water that’s com ing off of that mountain,” he said. Snow AP, the winter version of the Open Air Pub, is also subject to in con veniences, as the low er field has been its site of operation in the past. Mark Chodos, vice-president communications and events for the S tu d e n ts’ S o c ie ty o f M cG ill University, and chair-person for the program explained what happened when he began planning for Snow AP. “ W hen I a p p ro ach ed the ad m in istration about using the lower field this year, I was quickly

told... ‘You cannot use the lower fie ld ,’ because they d on ’ t want tents on i t . . . ” said C hod os. “ I guess, they’ve put all this money into it to maintain its beauty or its grassiness... I don’t know ...som e thing along those lines.” For both the ice rink and Snow AP, the administration has offered access to the grassy spaces in front o f F ran k D aw son A dam s and Burnside Hall. For what Chodos has planned fo r Snow A P , he believes that the proposed area is neither big enough for the event nor close enough to adequate elec trical outlets. “The best a tent company can do for us [in front of FDA] is a 40 by 6 0 tent, as opposed to the 40 by 80 tent that was used last year. We were told by the coordinators from last year that... the smallest tent we could have, if we wanted the stage, the serving of the drinks, the food, and the p ossib le sp on sorsh ip ... would be that 4 0 by 80 tent.” “Also, they don’t know if they can run enough power to it from F D A ,” Chodos continued. “L ast year they ran electricity from the library, but we don’t know if there are power supplies in FD A suffi cient enough to run the same sort of power:” Whether on lower field or in front of FDA, Chodos is confindent the event will take place, but he fears what will happen to the lower

Nema Etheridge

field in the future. “The biggest concern that 1 h ave righ t now is not so m uch Snow A P , but the future o f the lower field for students... I feel that the administration feels that it’ s more important to have green sp aces to attra ct stu d e n ts... as opposed to having a field used by students for sports and recreation.” Yalovsky agrees that student access to the field is important and that closing it off during the winter would make it accessible during the summer. “If we do not plan carefully,” he said, “we will repeat the situation of the past, namely, being required to close the lower field for nearly four months during the sum m er so as to allow the planted grass to grow.” Chodos, though, has a differ ing opinion. “M any many more students would be benefited from the lower field in the winter time because the majority of McGill stu dents who use the field are not even at McGill or in Montreal dur ing the summer.” “Snow AP and the ice rink are some of the biggest outdoor events at McGill in the wintertime, and I’d hate to see them change,” he con tinued. “I don’t know exactly what to d o... If facilities can realize how important the field is for students to use and not just to look at, then maybe [the administration] would change their mind.”

T he M c G ill T r ib u n e , T u e s d a y , 5 D ecem ber 2 0 0 0

News Page 9

Sem ester in review farewell to the basement smoking lo u n g e. T he fo rm e r S SM U -ru n cafeteria included an adjacent cafe te ria b ecam e sm oke free a fter McGill took over management.

Week of October 11 A fter lengthy court proceed ings over a lease dispute between the SSMU and The M cGill Daily, Judge Ervin Halpern rules in the favour of the Students’ S ociety. C h ican ery o v er w h eth er or not SSMU locking The Daily out of its offices is legal, and the existence of a lease, culminate in the court deci sion that fo rced T he D a ily and SSMU back to the bargaining table.

Week of October 17 B y M ik e B a r c a v ______________________

As the year 2000 comes to an end, the Tribune would like to offer you a window into the smashes, thrashes, and hits that shaped your semester.

through during the past summer. Grants from the Quebec govern ment in the amount of $17 million, and $6.5 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation enables the continuation of building plans.

Week of September 12

Week of September 6 Residence overbooking leaves close to 2 0 0 frosh roughing it in basements, bunk beds and suites at the Delta. Poorly planned waiting lists of over 4 7 0 students, leaves

The first Floor Floors party of the year is held on September 8 at S h atn er. A stab b in g ou tsid e Shatner leaves M cG ill students spooked and concerned about on

Monday, October 16, students took it to the streets in a Hillel sponsored rally decrying violence in the Middle East. For a few hours McTavish became a sea of students holding signs of “Jerusalem , the United Capital of Israel,” “Arafat stop the v io le n c e ,” “ W e w ant p e a c e ,” and “ P rou d to be a Zionist.” Speakers included many respected members of the Monreal Jewish community. T hrough O cto b e r, m olotov cocktails disturbed the peace and safety of many bastions o f dilligence and academia — “Second Cup” coffee stores in the Plateau. T he B rig a d e d ’ a u to d e fe n ce du Français, a group dedicated to pre serving and promoting the French language, took responsibility for the acts. They were responding to a re c e n t co u rt d ecisio n to allow Second Cup’ s English trademark without a French corollary. So for safety’s sake, study less.

Week of October 24

McGill residences scrambling to find new buildings. Unfortunately many new buildings suffer from bad maintenance and decrepitude, further adding to inconvenience of students. On the bright side, it was an all you can drink policy at the beer tent. Long awaited financial relief to enable much needed renovations to the music building and faculty im p rovem en ts fin ally co m e s

cam pus safety. N on-refundable drink coupons leave many students incensed.

Vandalism and arson result in the tem p o rary c lo su re o f the Provigo store on ave. du Parc and Sherbrooke. A fire in the Grenier d ’art above the store early in the morning of October 1 resulted in m assiv e w ater d am ag e, and a destroyed roof. C onstruction in Provigo remains incomplete, and store is of yet to re-open, leaving students searching for other retail ers of KD and beer.

Week of September 19

Week of October 31

Vandalism rears its head in McGill as an Open Air Pub tent is set aflame. Five days later, OAP managem ent finds the D Js’ tent had been forcefully collapsed the night before.

Leacock became a site of good will and altru ism with C h arity W eek . The A rts U ndergraduate S o c ie ty and the S cie n c e Undergraduate Society organized a wide array of fund-raising booths and events geared at raising money for Centraide. In early November alleged discriminatory practices by Centraide were condemned by way of a public expression of concern by SUS.

Week of October 3 S e rv ic e w orkers announce 94 per cent sup port o f a strike mandate on September 23. Porters, residence staff, cafeteria workers, janitorial staff, and m ailroom w orkers, stepped up pressure ta c tics in an effort to achieve a g re a te r jo b s e cu rity . N egotiations are still in progress. R en o v atio n s to the Redpath cafeteria brings

Philip Trippenbach

The first silent rally for peace in the Middle East organized by M cG ill A m n esty in tern atio n al October 26 brought forth a show of non-partisian desire for con flict resolution. There were no flags and no slogans, no indignant accusa tions when hundreds of students held candles as the foot of Redpath museum, many praying for peace

in the Middle East. Protests against human rights violations in the Middle East took a new turn Saturday October 28, as supporters of the Palastenian cause put down their banners for mock coffins representing v ic tim s o f v io le n ce sin ce September 29. The protesters m arched tow ard a g o v ern ment building and the Israeli conflict.

Judicial Board hearing to determine whether it violated its own consti tution in allo catin g funds. The M F A S ’ req u est fo r $ 1 1 ,0 0 0 in funding was matched by $1,700 in

Week of November 14 The B la ck S tu d en ts’ N etw ork q u estion s S SM U racial sensitivity November 8 as the BSN constitution did not g et p assed in co u n cil. R e a so n s ran ged from an allegedly inflammatory pre amble to the constitution, to im proper p roced u re in seeking approval. The constitution, with m inor am endm ents, was passed November 23.

Week of November 21 The M cGill University First Aid Service drew the SSMU into a

SSMU funding. Claiming that the funding was necessary to offer pre h o sp ital v o lu n teer c a re to the M cG ill com m u n ity to in crease safety in large e v e n ts, M FA S protested the $ 1700.

Page 10 Op/Ed.

T h e M c G ill T r ib u n e , T u e s d a y , 5 D ecem ber 2 0 0 0

M c G IL L

EDITORIAL

T R IB U N E

“It’s always more fun with a friend.” — Rhea Wong

like to thank our staff and contributors for all your hard work and dedication over the past fourteen issues. W e look forward to working with you for m any m ore issues to com e. G ood luck with exam s and have a restful holiday vacation. W e’ll see you next sem ester p en s/cam eras/k eyboards in hand, smiles on faces and bells on your toes.

Mad lib madness A gift from us to you: a m ake your own editorial à la Mad Libs style. Simply fill in the blanks with the type of word specified. The plural noun of place dining holiday season of choice Once upon a time, in a noun far below, there verb a /a n adjective band of new spaper editors, p hotograp hers, layout noun and web plural noun. Every day, all term long, this adjective bunch worked adverb in a windowless noun to put out “the most widely read stu dent new spaper on cam p u s.” Although they were noun and their office was adjective, the adjective paper people verb their noun. Every Monday night, when the paper verb to noun, all the adjec tive editors had one adjective noun: To verb into the land of notai, bug free noun and noun people. There was only one noun in the path of the adjective gang: the adjective kingdom of U n iversity organ ization an d th eir adjective leader. Adjective promises to verb the pale T ribun e staff were verb, tim e and tim e again ou n T h e ad jectiv e forces of noun had been thwarted by adject ive activists who put down the arm y of carbonated beverage com pany. The kingdom of sam e University organization was left with nary a noun to finish construction on their noun. Thus, the T ribun e staff kept verb downstairs in their adjective place. Sometimes, the adjective person would come down for a visit, his adjective noun brightening the gloom. But for the most p art, they were and adjective. W ho will verb us, they cried, before our 2 0 year old noun perishes in the darkness. T he situation w as gettin g ad jective. T he neighbouring o nation, with whom the T ribune had been at w ar, adverb moved out of the noun altogether. The T ribun e gang didn’t even have anyone to verb dirty noun with anymore. Life was oh so adjective. One day, a collective noun of editors were verb around on their very adjective couches in their very adjective office verb some very adjective cafeteria food, when suddenly, and without warning, they verb a /a n adjective noun. W h at’s that, they verb as the noun above them begun to verb. A adjective Ho Ho Ho and Oy Oy Oy were heard as Santa Claus and Chanukah H arry verb into the noun. “W e have com e to verb you, you hapless p lu ral noun,” they shouted in unisonoun “We are here to verb you to the North Pole shtetl of paradise, otherwise known as noun: We had verb adjective and adjective but your cries could not be heard though the adjective noun of the adjective castle of sam e University organization.” “E xclam ation ” the T ribun e staff cried, as one by one they verb their plural noun together: On E m u , on Bonnie, on Clyde, on Mr. Black! On Fim iigan, on Luke, on Puck, on iM acDaddy! Then they all verb on the adjective noun and verb their sam e plural noun to their adjective new noun in the North Pole. When they arrived, a /a n adjective noun was held and they verb on C h ristm as goose an d su m p tu ous latk es. “ Gee th a n k s ,” they exclaim ed to their adjective noun as noun flowed into their plural noun. “This is the most adjective noun we could ever wish for.” W ith a Ho Ho Ho and an Oy Oy Oy, Santa and H arry vanished into the icy air. As the T ribun e verb up at the adjective noun in the sky, one lone noun verb down each adjective eye. The old office has verb them for two time period plus, and it seemed rath er adjective to m ake such a fuss. W hatever, they said, lets go have a beer. And to all of our read ers, we’ll see you next year. Happy Holidays The editorial board of T he M cG ill Tribune

t h

McGILL TRIBUNE

E d it o r - in - C h ie f

John Salloum A ssistant Editor - in -c h ief

Stephanie Levitz Assistant Editor -in -C hief Rhea Wong C a m p u s E d it o r

Jonathan Colford

News Editor

Shehryar Fazli

Assistant News Editors

Mike Bargav Nema Etheridge

Features Editors

Shirlee Engel Ian Speigel

Entertainment Editors

Grace Carter Marie-Hélène Savard

h e M cG ill T ribun e would

T he Editorial B oard W issam A l-M o n th iry , A rian a Andrei, Ja ck ie Aquines, Julian Aw w ad, Ben Benchitrit, Masha Bogushezsky, Ja n e B o lto n , KC B olton, Karen B orn, Jo n ath an B racew ell, D eclan Brady, Ben B r is e b o is , M arni B r o t, E rin B u tle r , R e b e c c a C a tc h in g , A d am C h a s e n , G en C h iu , S tev en C hu, A n d rea e le v e n , Michael Colwell, Paul Conner,

P au l C o rn e tt, S arah C o rn e tt, B ori C sillag, Anna C vitk ovic, A n d re w D o b ro w o ls k y i, R ebecca D oiron, Kiki Dranias, Ju d ith D ro ry , Z u b in D riv e r, Nadine Ellman, Vince Escanla, C hris E sse rt, Sarah E ttu d gu i, Eugene Filipovitch, Laura Fox, Matt Frassica, Carolyn Freem an, Jen n y G eo rg e, M a lco lm Gliderdale, Pawan Girglani, Ed G lucksm an, Jo rd a n G oldblatt, D a v e G o o b la r , R ick y C. G o rd o n , Ju la n a r G re e n , Sara G r e g o r y , J a m e s G r o h s g h a l, Mimi G r o s s , A u tu m n H a a g , Drew Halfnight, Nick Hall, Jeff H a ll-M artin , A sch H a rw o o d , N ic o le H e ls b e rg , C h ristin a H e y d in g , R eed H ilto n , B e n H u n t, E h re n J e s s o p , C a rly J o h n s o n , A d am K a u fm a n , Karen Kelly, Mark Kerr, Raquel Kirsch, Peter Koven, Stephanie K w o o , V an essa Lang, Amy Langstaff, Alison Law ler-D ean, A n d re L e g a s p i, A le x a n d re L e ig h , Z o ë L o g a n , J e n n if e r L o re n tz, J o s é L o u re n ç o , T h e M inh L u o n g , D av id M a, C.

M ich a e l M acaraeg , B en Madgett, Nina Mahmood, Dean Malka, T ony M archetta, David Marsh, Jean M atthews, Jerem y M cC an n , L eah K. N c h a m a , D o r o th a N o r w o d w o rs k i, C h ris tin e P r itc h a r d , J o s e p h Q uesnel, Andrew Raven, Gaia R e m e ro w sk y , Ju stin R en ard , A m ira R ic h le r, J e n n a R in as P a b lo R o d rig u e z , O m ar Sachedina, Ben Sasson, David Schanzle, David Schipper, Mimi Seear, Meghana Shaw, Sandon S hogilev, Aliza Shu p ac, P eter Sitati, Sophia-Kate Smith, Shan Soe-Lin, Anna Soloman, Karen S te w a r d , S u ch o t Sunday, G o r d o n S u th e r la n d , D io n e T h o m a s , M e la n ie T o m s o n s J e n n if e r T ra w in s k y , Phil T r ip p e n b a c h , H e a th e r Van D o r e n , C h ery l V u, A n d re a W a llin g to n , D a le W a ts o n , Isabelle W est, Angela W ilson, L e o ra W ise, C rystal W red en , S a ra h W rig h t, N ina Z a c h a r ia d e s , D an Z ack s. Elizabeth Z alm an , C heryl Zu.

Stop the press SSMU- First Aid Service responds In view of the misinformation that has been disseminated o f late [“First-A id S ervice seeks direct student fu n ding” ( T r ib u n e , 21 N ovem ber 2 0 0 0 ) , “ V oting ‘n o ’ d ire c t fu n d in g ” ( T r ib u n e , 2 8 November 2000)] I feel obliged to provide an accurate portrayal of the dispute between the SSMU and the SSMU-First Aid Service. The SSM U -FA S has existed since 1996 as a small volunteer stu dent group whose mandate is to provide prompt and efficient pre hospital care to m em bers o f the M cG ill C om m u n ity in need. A lth o u g h the S S M U -F A S has helped hundreds of students in the p ast, som e m ay arg u e th at the SSM U-FAS has never reached its full potential. W e were therefore very pleased to be appointed a ser vice by the SSMU in January and hoped to use this newfound status as a platform by which to improve. H o w ev er, the S SM U had other plans. Even though SSM U -FA S is not listed in the 2 0 0 0 -2 0 0 1 Final SSMU Budget, let alone financially p rovid ed fo r ; and even though S SM U FA S received no funding

is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the Students' Society of McGill University Science Editor

Michael Ayles

Sports Editor

Jeremy Kuzmarov

Production Manager

Eric Oest

Advertising and Marketing Manager

Paul Slachta

Assistant Sports Editors

James Empringhant Neil Schnurbach

Photo Editors

Ad Typesetters

Dom Michaud Siu Min Jim

Patrick Fok Nico Oved

from the SSMU in the 1999-2000 academic year, this year we only received $1700 of the $1 1 ,4 6 0 we had requested. SSMU asserts that it was unreasonable for SSM U-FAS to request a third of its service bud get, however this claim is mislead ing. The total budget for the thir teen s e rv ic e s th is y e a r w as $160,818.00. Many services, how ever, raise funds directly from stu dents and therefore contribute rev enues amounting to $ 1 3 1 ,7 0 3 .0 0 . Doing the math, one quickly real izes how SSM U ’s service budget o f $ 2 9 ,1 1 5 .0 0 is calcu lated. So, where does this 30K go? It is used to supplement these services that have already raised funds e lse where. That the SSM U-FAS only received - 7 5 per cent of the aver age top-up to o th er s e rv ice s is absolutely unfair. And it is this injustice which has caused SSMU-FAS to consider other avenues of funding, including direct student funding. Incidentally, our petition to the Judicial Board, which has been recently resolved, had nothing to do with our level of funding. Anyone who would take the time to read our publicly-available petition would realize that our concerns stemmed from constitu tional violations perpetrated by the SSM U , not inadequate funding.

Staff: Ben Benchitrit, Paul Cornett, Jenny George, James Grohsgal, Mimi Gross, Nicole Helsberg, Mark Ker, Raquel Kirsch, Jennifer Lorentz, David Ma, Gaia Remerowski, Anna Solomon, Philip Trippenbach, Heather Van Doren.

J e f f Coull PhD2 P harm acology SSMU-FAS Financial Affairs Advisor

Letters must include author's nam e, signature, identification (e.g. U 2 Biology, SSMU President) and telephone number and be typed double-spaced, submitted on disk in Macintosh or IBM word processor format, or sent by e-m ail. 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, w ill not be published. The Tribune w ill 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. A ll other opinions are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The M c G ill Tribune, its editors or its staff. Please re cy cle this new spaper. Subscriptions are available for $30.00 per year. A d v e r t is in g O

Québec

f f ic e :

H 3A 1Y2

Paul Slachta, 36 00 rue M cTavish , Suite 1200, M ontréal, Tel: (514) 398-6806 Fax: (514) 398-7490

On-line Editors

André Nance Mildred Wong

Where some parties have confused the issue is with the remedy sought by the SSMU-FAS. According to the SSM U Constitution, the only reparation that the Judicial Board could award to the SSM UFAS in finding the S S M U gu ilty is an order allowing the SSM UFAS to place a question in a referendum. Furthermore, by means of remedy the SSM U -FA S firstly proposed that they be reassessed by a new SSM U F in a n cia l A ffairs Committee. Hence, any suggestion that the SSM U -FA S attempted to ob tain d ire ct stu d en t funding through the powers of the Judicial Board is misleading. Student-run campus first aid services are not only effective, but are also argu ab ly n e ce ssa ry . Almost every major Canadian uni versity has some system in place, many of which have directly saved lives. It has come time, especially co n sid e rin g the state o f this province’s health care system, for the SSMU membership to receive the skilled prehospital care avail able to it.

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Op/Ed Page 11

T he M c G ill T r ib u n e , T u e s d a y , 5 D ec em ber 2 0 0 0

"The Santa Schtick" v ery y e a r, m illio n s o f fparents go out of their way to trick their impressionable little kiddies into believing that a jolly, somewhat rotund man snakes his way down a soot-filled chimney with a bag full of toys made by little midgets in a sweatshop at the North Pole. Not only that, but this ‘Santa Claus’ character is

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responsible for performing this miracle of physics not once, but probably over a bil lion times...aH this in the span of about 12 hours. People, I’ve done some calcu lations, and there aren’t enough lifeboats for everyon e on the ship -o h s h it...I mean, the jig is up Santa baby! Here’s the deal: it takes Mr. Claus at least 5 m inutes to drop all the Transform ers off at each kids’ house. (Personally I prefer Jem and the Misfits dolls). This means that if there are at least 5 million houses to deliver in just Canada alone, it should take Santa over 4 0 0 ,0 0 0 hours just to do the drops, never mind the transit time. This adds up to over 41 mil lion hours to complete the whole trip; th a t’ s

m ore

than

4 ,7 0 0

y e a rs !

Furthermore, just how does he wiggle his oversized ass back up the chim ney don’t give me this wink-of-an-eye-andwiggle-his-nose crap. I’m also positive that Sony would be

Playstation 2 knockoffs and then gave them away to little kids who could be paying $ 4 0 0 a pop! Santa would have been shut down ages ago with this kind of racket. And another thing, Mr. Hoho suppos edly drives a sled pulled by 8 puny rein deer who, again using my quick math, are at least 2 0 0 0 (or 2001 as some millennium geeks m ight say ) y ears old, so if the earth’s circumference is 4 4 ,0 0 0 something kilometers and they’ve done this at least 2 0 0 0 tim es, these rein d eer have thus flown over 88 m illion kilom eters! Oh man, their arms must be tired! Baddump bum. And the lead reindeer, Rudolph, with that shiny red nose of his! If you ask me, he ought to have that thing looked a the might have some weird sinus infection. Listen, I don’t want to ruin Christmas for anyone here, but let’s take a good hard look at this. My parents had me believing in all this stuff until I was 12! It was only then that I began to doubt that those little

rowing up, I believed in Santa Claus. I'm not ashamed to admit it, in fa c t I'm proud o f it. Looking back on those times, I remem ber waking up on Christmas morning,

by giving out toys? Brilliant! If there's anything better than toys, 1 haven't found it. We all look back with fondness to our days as children (although if I

running downstairs, and checking to see if we had received any presents from jolly of St. Nick. Little did I care that as a Jew , Santa wasn't likely to visit our h ou se. It didn't b o th er me one bit. Always an optimist, I suppose. Nothing cou ld d eter me from the fa ct that I believed that there existed a wonderful man who flew over the world, and gave presents to those who deserved it. I still believe it today. Over the course of this column, I've complained about lots: students should

g et an oth er e -m a il talk in g about how much fun it was to be a child of the eighties, there is a 73 per cent chance I will go insane). Toys allow us to recall those beauti ful days of innocence, when we could play with Luke's Lightsaber, and not

n't drink, government should have con trol over ed ucation , stealing is evil, (although if you know that I've written all this, you should probably get out more). So, what do I like? I like Santa

have to worry about whether it was a phallic symbol or not. (O f course, it is not. Although Chewbacca might be.) Do I think Santa exists? Of course I do. Maybe not as a physical entity, but as an idea. He represents giving, retribu tion, consumerism, idealism, hope, hap piness, p eace, prosp erity, and much more. The holiday season is about all those things, although to different peo ple it means different things. That's okay too. The way I see it, on Christmas, (or,

midget elves had the engineering skills to make the Sega Genesis that my brother got for C hristm as; and the T o y s’ R ’ Us p rice tag on the box was a dead give away. So let’s ditch this crazy Santa gig and

Claus. I believe that he is important to our W orld. He gives away toys — is there anything better than that? And, you know what else I love? I love the fact that not everyone gets presents —

as we call it in my family, ”no-line-atthe-m ovie-day"), Santa Claus will be taking a w ell-deserved break. It’s not easy stockpiling more information than the CIA, and delivering more stuff than

only those who are good! I mean, does

U P S , but he does it. So, n ext year,

do it the right way, I mean that Chanukah stuff...they have "eight craaazy nights"!

n't this completely vindicate my deluded sen sib ilitie s! "S o rry G reg, y o u 're a drunk. No presents this year!" I can hear Santa saying it now! I love that! W hat a great way to

instead of putting a lame tree on top of the Arts building, let’s build a giant stat ue of Santa Claus big enough so he can see it all the way from the North Pole.

pissed if some old geezer started making

reward goodness, and punish evil! And

Canada's new distinct society: the west The O u t h o u s e of Comments D a v i d M a r s h a 11 A

side from C algary’ s wild

G rey Cup party and the B .C . L ion s’ shocking tri umph, Western Canada had a pretty miserable week. For one thing, the wind continued to blow upwards of 80 kilometres an hour across the Prairie plains. Then, the tempera ture fell nearly thirteen degrees in the sp ace o f tw o m in u tes, a Guinness world record. Finally, the ag on y cu lm in ated on M onday night, when our buddy Stockwell finally realised that his pecs aren’t as se x y as th ey used to be. Saddened, he drove his rugged pick up out to the family camp, where he keeps his jet ski for the summer months. On Tuesday morning, less than tw enty-four hours later, he was spotted down in Baha on that same sea-doo crying out “ screw those goddamn easterners” at the top of his lungs. T he em b ellish m en t o f this story isn’t the point. But neither is

Stockw ell. The point is that the w est is a w hole ‘ noth er w orld, where things seem to move along at their own peculiar pace. And from one province to the next, the pace d ecreases tw o -fo ld ; so for every step in Manitoba, half a step is taken in good o f Sis-catch-youwin. Thus by the time you get to Victoria, even the high speed fer ries are moving faster than you. In last week’s federal election, this bizarre western phenomenon was exemplified in the final results. Not exactly in terms of pace, but with regards to voting. In fact, all four western provinces supported the Canadian Alliance with at least 3 0 per cent of the popular vote. Meanwhile, the closest figure in the ROC was Ontario, with a meagre per cent. Of course, Alberta more than doubled Ontario’s totals, with a whopping 59 per cent favouring Stockwell Day, an unprecedented figure only fathomable by the likes

of Mikes from Cranmore. And you ask, why the heck is this happen ing? W e ll, co n sid erin g an e n o r mous m ajority o f the T rib u n e’s readers hail from Quebec, one can assum e that you are all fam iliar with the sense o f alienation fran cophones feel v is-à -v is English Canada. ‘Da French believe that they have been treated unequally. They are fed up with being walked like a dog. They feel excluded from the political processes which take place in Ottawa. In their eyes, les m audits an g la is control virtually everything that goes on behind the closed doors of Parliament Hill. As a con seq u en ce, their wants and needs are being ignored by the rest of Canada. This m entality is somewhat the same west of Kenora, where the Canadian Shield begins to descend into a vast, open region of flat land. T here, it’ s easy to feel lost and neglected am ongst the fields of wheat. And the same goes for the mountain ranges, where the majes tic w h ite -ca p p e d sum m its can eclipse the view from nearly any where; unless of course you’re the guy sitting atop the peak with the marvellous view. From a western er’ s perspective, Ottawa - and the

group of easterners who control her - is that lucky guy, who by virtue o f her “view” can do almost any thing she chooses, including under mine the w est by exp loitin g its resources, or simply by ignoring it altogether. This is of course what happened in the National Energy Plan; since then, westerners have never forgiven her. E ssen tially, w esterners feel alienated. They feel that the institu tions, politics, and ideals of Canada are foreign and do not take into account the west’ s distinctiveness. In their opinion, time is up; hence the creation of Reform only a few years ago. Originally, Reform was established to defend the regional agenda of the west, and although its mandate has changed, social co n se rv a tism rem ain s deeply grou n ded in its p latfo rm . C o n sid erin g the overw helm in g support for the Alliance, does the intrinsic presence of a right-wing social politik mean that westerners are a group of red neck hosers? Although a great deal of west erners do indeed live on farm s, w ear co w b oy h ats, and attend weekly, fundamentalist church ser vices, a vast majority are actually urban, middle-class, and tolerant; thus likely as liberally-minded as

m ost u n iv ersity stu d en ts. T hat westerners are willing to vote col lectively for the Alliance, despite the party’s dissonant policies, sug gests that westerners are prepared to subordinate the significance of ideology to issues of regionaliza tion . S to c k w e ll’ s su cce ss re emphasizes that animosity and hos tility continue to swell in the west, to the point that issues of alienation may now be the prime concern of western Canadians. It may be time for an apathetic, federal govern ment to react to this dissatisfaction.

Page 12 Op/Ed

T he M c G ill T r ib u n e , T u e s d a y , 5 D ec em ber 2 0 0 0

Ellipsis Holiday Edition!!!

Holiday Crossword Recipes: Holiday Edition

By Holiday Gooblar

T h i s w e e k , w e ’ r e l u c k y e n o u g h t o h a v e t w o r e c p i e s , if you can believe that. In honour of the approaching holidays, and fit ting in with this week’s (quite beautifully designed) Holiday edition of Ellipsis, the lovely and talented recipe girls have graced us with two different recipes that should brighten the bleak days ahead, and add to the general enjoyment o f the approaching season. Although neither of these recipes could be described as ‘healthy’, they can both most certainly be described as ‘delicious’ . First, Potato Latkes, and the Eggnog to wash the latkes down with. Yum, Yum Yum. But enough out of me, I’ll hand it over to them now.

Across

As December rolls in, it means two things-exams and the holi days. To satisfy the need to make something quick and easy, while getting into the holiday spirit, I present for Jewish and Gentile students alike, my mom’s fast recipe for potato latkes. They take about ten minutes to make and are perfect to bring to a holiday party or to make on a study break. The proportions are enough for you and a hungry friend— if you’re cooking for the masses, double or triple the amounts to suit your latke needs.

Ingredients: • 1 potato • an onion • 1 tsp. Flour • Salt and pepper to taste • 1 tbsp. Oil

Instructions: Grate the onion and the potato coarsely. In a bowl, stir it up with the flour and salt & pepper. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the latkes over medium heat until they are light brown on both sides. Easy, you’re done— now serve with either apple sauce or sour cream.1

It used to be that Christmas was the only time you could get eggnog. Now, thanks to us, you can have it whenever you want. You’re welcome.

Ingedients: 1 whole egg 1 tablespoon superfine sugar Pinch salt 1/4 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup milk

1. Feathery X-mas accessory 4. Holiday lead singer 9. Describes a stuffed Santa 14. Everyone around your tree 15. Everyone loves the fruit kind 16. The X-mas sword 17. A menorah on top of a Xmas tree, e.g. 18. Spend energy, as when putting up a X-mas tree 19. The old X-mas try 20. What all the kids want under the tree 22. What Santa's sleigh is made of? 23. What Santa has to be to get down the chimney 24. When the holidays are coming 26. What you hope the tree is not 27. To disguise, like the guy wearing the Santa suit 30. Put ribbon on a present 31. The ghetto's most X-masy street 33. Where farmers store their stock during the holidays 35. Stones' X-mas song 38. Holiday tattoo 39. The correct font for It's a Wonderful Life 40. Kwanzaa choices 4 L Bonnie's holiday compan ion 42. One who spends the holi days in Arabia 46. Giving a thoughtful present 49. Box of gifts 50. How many gifts you got 51. Speed up the X-mas process 54. Senator Thurmond, older

Nutmeg

Instructions: Beat the eggwhites until they’re stiff (almost like the meringue on a lemon-meringue pie). Add the sugar slowly, and then the milk and other ingredients (including the yolks) last. You can play a little with the ingredients to your taste- you may want to add some more sugar and vanilla or even cinnamon. Also, if you feel like treating yourself, add some cream instead of some of the milk- because cream makes eggnog even more amazing.2

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Footnotes: 1 For the less observant among us, try eating latkes with bacon, it may be a bit sacrilegious, but it’s soooo good. 2 Something else that makes it amazing is booze. Add a bit of rum or some brandy and you won’t just f e e l drunk, you’ll b e drunk.

Holidaeana Less t h a n u s e f u l f a c t s , You k n o w t h e r e s t Short one today, kiddies. Thanks to all the Holiday contributions from the o th er m em b ers o f the E llip s is fa m ily , p o o r old C ollecteana got left out in the cold. We don’t mind, though. Less work for us. If you think you want to contribute to Ellipsis, like maybe by writing Collecteana, drop me a line over the holidays: hesser@ po-box.m cgill.ca. Have safe and happy ones, by the way.

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than X-mas 55. Chanukah guitarist 56. Take a quaff of egg nog 57. To annoy, like by hiding the tree 58. Common ornament design 59. Kwanzaa anger 60. One who combines pre sents 61. Idiots who knock over the menorah 62. Flanders, who certainly cel ebrates X-mas

Down 1. African Christmas tree? 2. When you may not remem ber last year's holidays 3. He celebrates the holidays in space 4. The manger on a front lawn 5. Holiday mode of transporta tion, in Montreal 6 . Source of holiday furniture 7. Kwanzaa benefit 8. X -m as,____ year 0; abbv. 9. The original holiday philoso pher 10. Chanukah weapon 11. Make Santa uneasy 12. X-mas vegetable 13. Holiday inteijection 21. Film director, not holidayrelated 22. Mrs. Claus, pronounally 24. Christmas special host (probably) 25. Affirmative response, on Chanukah 27. McDonald's Chanukah pro motion 28. The top of the tree, in Quebec 29. The top of the tree, in phys ical space

32. "Frosty the Snowman____ fairy-tale, they say" 33. _________Lanka, where most don’t celebrate X-mas 34. Necessary to buy egg nog 35. Suited, like the beard for Santa 36. Caught in the X-mas tree 37. Sounds like a holiday word 38. Santa's 41. What to do if you don't like your present 43. Big part of fruitcakes 44. A red suit is appropriate 45. Honked your horn, on Chanukah 47. This will make your holi days smell nicer 48. Kwanzaa glue maker 49. Holiday pennies 51. People not to invite to your X-mas party 52. The one real holiday answer! 53. Remove the outer skin of a potato (for latkes) 54. Good for Kwanzaa relax ation 55. Wrote the carol, "Take on Me" Answers from Nov. 21

Page 13

New Year's resolutions: when the hangover wears off... B y S t e p h a n ie L e v it z

It’s not uncommon for people to awaken on the first morning of the New Y ear and not remember anything that happened the night b efo re. B u t som eh ow , people alw ays rem em b er that o v erly important to do list they made on the December 31 — the list of New Year’s resolutions. M aking New Y e a r’ s resolu tions isn’t something Oprah invent ed. In 153 B .C .E , the m ythic Roman deity Janus was placed at the head of the Roman calendar — hence the name for the first month of the year is January. With two faces, Janus could look back on the past and ahead to the future. He became the symbol of resolution for the Roman people, who would use the last night of the year to look for forgiveness from their enemies and exchange gifts with friends. The idea o f m aking New Y ear’s resolutions has changed its focu s from seeking forgiven ess from others to seeking forgiveness from oneself. Today’s self-help cul ture has embraced resolutions as a way to encourage people to make

changes to their behaviour. “I don’ t make resolutions as much as I make goals,” said Ron Duerksen, an M 2 student. “Things that I don’t like about myself, that I want to im prove on — goals in terms of personal growth.” When making resolutions, peo ple aspire to tangible goals, such as quitting smoking or losing weight. Tim Wideman, a U1 physical thera py student, says people shouldn’t focus on specific goals as much. “General resolutions [like I’ ll be a happy person], are easier to keep,” said Wideman. “You can ful fill your resolutions by doing some thing simple, not making a major change.” Dr. Don C. Farrow, Jr., authour of Resolution Solutions - How to

K e ep Your R esolu tion s F o rev er , says that whether specific or gener al, the fact that people make New Year’s resolutions is a good thing. “A ‘New Y ear’s resolution’ is a good resolution, as is any resolu tion. Simply because it is a desire to change and improve your life. Any resolution is a good resolution, as long as it meets the criteria of a ben eficial resolution.”

Auld Lang Syne Auld Lang Syne is that song that is played or sung right after all the cries of Happy New Year. W ritten, in part by Scottish poet Robert Burns in the 17()0’s, it was first published in 1796, after Burns’ death and has gone on to become the unofficial anthem of New Y e a r ’ s in alm ost e v e ry English speaking country. Auld Lang Syne literally means “Old Long Days.” Most people can ’ t get back the first few lines of the song, lending it the unoffical title of the song that nobody’ s knows. So you can impress your drunken bud dies, the lyrics are:

S h ou ld a u ld a c q u a in ta n c e b e f o r g o t a n d n e v e r b r o u g h t to mind? S h ou ld a u ld a c q u a in ta n c e b e f o r g o t a n d d a y s o f a u ld la n g sy n e? F o r a u ld la n g syn e, my dear, f o r au ld lang syne, w e ’ll take a cup o f kindness yet, fo r auld lang syne. S h ou ld a u ld a c q u a in ta n c e b e fo rg ot and never brought to mind? S h ou ld a u ld a c q u a in ta n c e b e fo rg o t and days o f auld lang syne? A nd h e r e ’s a han d, my trusty frien d And gie ’s a hand o ’ thine W e’ll ta k ’ a cup o ’ kindness yet F or auld lang syne

H o w ev er, argues Farrow, specific resolu tions are often easier to keep. “The hardest thing about keeping your res olution^) is having an insincere and/or intan gib le re so lu tio n ,” he says. U 1 psychology stu dent Eva Villalba says making specific resolu tions gives one som e thing to w ork with when trying to change one’s life. “ G en eral re so lu tions are like h o ro sco p es — they can apply to anything. If you don’t pinpoint your p rob lem , you c a n ’ t Hal's got a different set o f wheels work on it; better to be s p e c ific . Y ou can things that will have a real impact,” says M ark G riffen , a U 2 actively do something about it.” B u t w ill you do som ething Anthropology student. “So many of about it? Most people make resolu the changes I want to make have to tions and break them seconds after do with not procrastinating anythe ball has dropped in T im es Square. “It’s expected that people will break th eir re s o lu tio n s ,” says General resolutions are like Villalba. “Everyone makes them, but nobody sticks to them. It’s easi horoscopes — they can er to say I’m not the only one. If you make a New Y ear’s resolution apply to anything. If you and break it, nobody blames you for don't pinpoint your prob it.” R ach el D em psey, a U1 lem, you can't work on it; Literature student, says that making New Y ear’s resolutions isn’t just a better to be specific. You matter of following the pack. can actively do something “A New Year’s resolution isn’t going to change your life,” she says. aboutit “It’s a good opportunity for people to do something good for them selves and those around them.” — Eva Villalba While January may be the start of a new calendar year, some stu U1 Psychology dents see Septem ber as the best month to make a resolution. more, not cramming for exams. It “The start of a new school year makes more sense for me to pledge is a tim e when you can try and th ese things in S ep tem b er, not make changes about the way you do January, when I’ve already wasted

Patrick Fok

half a year.” Villabla thinks that there is a certain psychology at work when people make resolutions at New Y ear’s as opposed to another time of year. “If you make a resolution at any other time of the year, people expect you to do it. There is more pressure so you might actually get it done. Putting off resolutions until New Year’s is just an excuse to pro crastinate. You don’t have to wait for New Y e a r’ s, whenever some thing pops up, just do it.” Many people exp ect instant gratification when they make reso lu tions, forgettin g that quitting smoking or losing weight isn’t as easy as just saying you are going to do so. Resolutions can take time and dedication and expecting results overnight can lead to giving up the resolution altogether. “Y o u r resolution must be a desire for change from within you, not from anyone else, not for any one else, and not because of anyone else. It has to com e from within you,” concludes Farrow.

Chez Pops serves the community Dans la Rue Continued from page 1 “Johns continued. “Here I was a suburban priest stuck with menial administration duties, and in this New Testament, Jesus was talking about final ju d gem en t when he said “To w hom you did it, you did it to m e.“ “It bugged me and made me think I should do some thing like D ans L a Rue. ” So he d id . A n d h a v in g friends in high places helped him out with the small but important lo g istics o f b egin ning his o u t reach. A former classm ate o f his was by then a high-ranked execu tive for B ell and made sure that he got a cell phone with unlimited use for free. M ore im portan tly though, he needed the assistance and permission from M ontreal’ s police. This time, a friend o f his was actually the ch ie f o f p olice and gave Johns full cooperation.

Boyscout or evangelist?

Need for urban community

T h o u g h b e in g an o rd a in e d priest, Johns hasn’t found himself v e rb a lly e x p re s s in g his fa ith , which sometimes is ambivalent to him. “ T h e re are tim e s I w ish I could be an old time preacher. I used to say I didn’t want to be a b o y sco u t. It’ s not m y desire to feed the hungry ju st to feed the hungry. In feeding them, not only am I obeying the Boss, but I hope the m e ssa g e is g e ttin g a c ro s s , cause there are no strings attached to what I do.” “ I ’ m k in d o f a m b iv a le n t about the whole thing,” he contin u e d , “ S o m e tim e s I w o n d e r whether I ’m more concerned with bodies than souls. I see my work as p r e -e v a n g e liz a tio n . W h en y o u ’ re hungry, you c a n ’t think about God.”

Since Johns sees poverty and unem ployment to be the root o f m ost social problem s, his b asic goals are very practical. “ I ’ d like to see all o f these kids back in school, dreaming o f goals they’ d like to achieve. I ’d like to see other people com e and say that they’ll help,” he said. Fostering a stronger sense o f urban com m unity seems to be a higher goal towards which Johns is striving. “W hat I ’d really like to see is an anonymous foster grand-parent p ro g ram . O lder citiz e n s would enter into a relationship with a single m other and a child. They could baby-sit, let the girl have a weekend to herself. The male role m od el w ou ld a lso be g o o d . It w o u ld n ’ t c o s t th e v o lu n te e rs enough to worry about it. It would

g e t p e o p le in v o lv e d and from th e re so m u ch co u ld h ap p en ,” Johns said. The horizon o f Johns1 vision fo r M o n tre a l h as o b v io u sly widened with its increasing suc c e s s . D a n s L a R u e h as now attracted 100 volunteers and 2 4 fu ll-tim e e m p lo y ees th at h ave joined Johns1 social crusade. Suzie L esag e, an obviously ch e e rfu l and m o tiv a te d so c ia l worker is one o f them. Lesage is in charge o f projects seeking to econom ically reintegrage youths into society. D ans L a Rue has a jo i n t p ro g ra m w ith E m p lo i Quebec, a provincial employment agency, that allows youths to get a job with D ans L a R ue itself. “ Som e p eople w ork in our kitchen, some are in charge o f the music room,” Lesage said. “What we do is follow the kids through the program so that they go back to sc h o o l and se t-u p p erso n a l goals...The processing is slow and

c a s e -b y -c a s e . T h ey h av e th eir routine and som etim es a d isci p lin ed ro u tin e is d iffic u lt fo r them.” The social reintegration pro gram, however, also looks beyond the doors o f Chez P op s to help the youth. “ W e h a v e p la c e m e n ts in b u sin esses th at are u su ally six m onth c o n tra c ts ,” L esag e said. “I’m in contact with the com pa nies to work-out contracts. I sup port the kids by following up on th em and settin g -u p g o als and giving them moral support. It’ s a big step for them.” But already m any big steps have been taken through help at D an s la ru e and if “ faith, hope and love” were ever to show-up as a gam eshow category, Father Pops would have a p retty good shot at winning the whole damn thing.

Page 14 Features

T he M c G ill T r ib u n e , T u e s d a y , 5 D ecem ber 2 0 0 0

You can't engineer gender equality As the eleventh anniversary of École Polytechnique massacre nears, female engineers look back B y R a q u e l K ir s c h

I t ’ s e le v e n -th irty and the Engineering cafeteria is getting read y fo r the lu n ch -h o u r rush. Students are frantically gulping their coffees and solving problems as finals approach and assignments have to be turned in. This term is sp e cia l fo r A g ric u ltu ra l Engineering student G ene-viève Tremblay. It is her final semester before she receives her bachelor’s degree. T rem b lay has w orked very hard in a facu lty known for its demanding program. However, she does not think that her bachelor’ s degree is going to get her very far in the engineering working world — not because she is incapable, but because she is female. “E n g in e e rin g is a m a n ’ s world,” says Tremblay. “Next year I’m doing my M aster’s degree in engineering so I can start off on the same footing [as male engi neers] when I get out in the work ing w orld . W om en u sually are

paid less than men — they think of women as secretaries.” It’ s this feeling of inferiority that keeps women out of engineer ing. Faculties of across the country suffer from a huge gender enrol m ent g ap . A c c o rd in g to the Canadian Coalition of Women in E n g in e e rin g , S c ie n c e and T e c h n o lo g y , w om en cu rre n tly make up an average of 20 per cent, or one fifth o f engineering stu dents in the country. Enrollm ent also varies by type of engineering. Environmentally-oriented pro grams, such as Tremblay’s, aver age student bodies o f 3 0 per cent o f women while m ore m achineoriented programs like computer science hold a dismal 9 per cent female-recruitment rate. M cG ill’ s female engineering population is slightly above the Canadian average, at 2 6 per cent. Being a fem ale engineering student holds unique meaning at this tim e o f the year. It will be e x a c tly ele v e n y e a rs ag o this D ecem b er 6 th that a distraught

gunm an opened fire on women e n g in e e rin g stu d en ts at L ’Université de M ontréal’s École Polytechnique. Twenty-five yearold M arc Lépine killed him self after shooting 14 young women to death and in ju rin g 13 o f th eir schoolmates. T hat fateful D ecem b er day began as an exciting one — it was the last day of classes for the win ter semester, and the vacation was not too far ahead. Students study ing thermodynamics had no idea what kind o f v iolen t exp losion awaited them later on that day. A t 5 :1 5 th at a fte rn o o n , Lépine w alked into the sch o o l, past the security cameras, carrying a semi-automatic rifle. He walked into a classroom and demanded that the girls and boys form two sep arate g ro u p s. The stu d en ts, confused, thought that this was a joke. N oticing that his audience was not submissive, he fired a shot in the air. After ordering the males to leave the classroom , he began firin g at th e h e lp le ss you ng

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clock too far back for women hop ing to make contributions in engi neering.

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B u t good th in gs can com e from adversity. It can be a time for solidarity and action, says Shira Kogut, a U1 History student and member of the W om en’ s Union. One incident should not to deter people from their life-long dream. “Young women today can do whatever they want,” she says. “I think th at [the P o ly te ch n iq u e killings] would be a driver to go in to e n g in e e rin g . W h o w as [Lépine] to say that women should not be in engineering?” Despite these setbacks, says metallurgical engineering student C hris B o o th -M o rriso n , wom en should not be discouraged from entering the field. He asserts that the acts of an unfounded minority should not deflate dreams. “Traditionally, girls had had no place in engineering,” he says. “ B u t I think i t ’ s im p o rtan t to encourage women to go into engi n eerin g - the girl to guy ratio should be more balanced.” W om en have been strongly en couraged to en ter the faculty through the incentive of a scholar ship. McGill and l’Université de Montréal have scholarships geared towards the aspiring female engi neer. The b ursaries ran ge from e n tra n ce aw ard s to fu lly -p a id tuition and internships. Regardless of its challenges, Gordon feels that she made the right decision by applying to engi neering. Though there may only be a small number of fem ales, they are a close and compatible group. “Y ou sit in class wondering ‘Should I really be doing th is?’ , and then you realize that there are girls who are thinking the exact same thing,” she says.

would be a driver to go into engineering. — ShiraKogut U1 History

Un p re m ie r p rix

Cinq d euxièm es p rix droits de scolarité payés pendant 1 an*

• Pour toucher les prix, on doit s'inscrire en génie mécanique à l'Université de Sherbrooke (règlements disponibles sur place)

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SHERBROOKE www.usherb.ca

women. L ép in e’ s victim s w ere any thing but coincidental. According to police, he had a history of bad female relationships and was him self awaiting acceptance into the Polytechnique’s engineering facul

Polytechnique killings]

droits de scolarité payés pendant 4 ans*

A plague dedicated to the memory o f the lives lost at École Poltechnique

whatever they want,"she says. "I think that [the

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Although the m assacre took p la ce o v e r a d ecad e a g o , its anniversary still sparks fear and uneasiness in the minds o f stu dents.

• 20 prototypes allant "“s du robot articulé à la fusée • Des conceptions uniques soutenues par les grands de l'industrie • De jeunes génies inventifs

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The event, after all, took place in a school — a place that students often trust and treat as their own little secure universe. For U 1 engi neering student Andrea Gordon, the threat of violence is not a thing of the past. “It’ s really scary,” she says, “because that could happen to me. Y o u ’re always going to get people who think that women should stay home and do the cooking. There’ s no reason that this couldn’t happen again.” Engineerin g has often been accused of being a ‘B o y ’s Club ’, a faculty where males dominate and women are not as easily received. With more women entering most fields of science in recent decades this trend had hopes o f turning around. However, events like the Polytech n iq u e m assacre set the

Staying positive

T he M c G ill T r ib u n e , T u e s d a y , 5 D ecem ber 2 0 0 0

Features Page 15

Does love beat all?

A forum on inter-ethnic dating exemplifies the reality that opposites attract By A

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So lo m o n

Stroll through the L e a c o c k Building on any given weekday, and you’re bound to encounter sen sory overload. Your ears ring with the con stan t humdrum o f kids sweating exam s, presentations or life in general, your nose is enticed by the arom a from the perpetual bake sale by the stairs, and the fly ers on the walls and the people in the halls bombard you with strange yet familiar visual cues to digest. And all this as you dance around the ebb and flow of bustling people, getting knocked around, timing a pass, or setting up shop right in the m iddle o f the m ayhem . This cacophony of white noise can be deafening and prevent you from being aware of your environment. T hings w ere unusually quiet in Leacock 26, where 30 people wait ed for the start o f L o v e W ithout

Borders: A Public Forum on InterEthnic, Inter-Faith and Inter-Racial Dating and Relationships, making the setting conducive to becoming aware. The forum panel consisted of Professor C. Abbott Conway of the English department at McGill; Todd Fergusen, Assistant to the Chair of the Canadian ethics studies pro gram ; Rashi Khilnani and Olivia Daste, both McGill students. Professor Conway initiated the discussion by outlining some of the challenges that are commonly pre sented to a relationship involving people from different backgrounds. More specifically, he focused on the challenges that are sometimes pre sented to McGill students who are involved in such an arrangement. He mentioned the charter of 1852, which declared McGill a non religiou s in stitu tion . W ith this notion o f a cce p ta n ce in mind, McGill has established an atmos phere on cam pus that prom otes diversity. In this atmosphere stu dents are allowed and encouraged to

form relationships with individuals from d ifferen t b ackgroun d s. Conway explained that, in some ca se s, students are p articularity drawn to these relation sh ip s in response to feelings of inner tension and doubt regarding their own reli gions or cultures. Some people may embark upon an inter-ethnic rela tionship as an act of rebellion but there are many other motives for doing so. “ Human life co n sists o f a p ro ce ss w here op posites com e together and there is m ovem ent towards a resolution of paradoxes,” he stated. He stressed the positive aspects of an inter-relationship, namely the creation of a third element that tran scends the two parties. Conway also made sure to include the potentially negative features of such a situation. He claims that it is common for two students from different ethnic back grounds to meet at McGill and to form a relatio n sh ip h ere. Unfortunately the environment on campus may not be reflective of the attitudes that are maintained in a person’s family and community at home.

Human life consists of a process where opposites come together and there is movement towards a reso lution of paradoxes. — Professor C. Abbott Conway Khilnani and Daste interjected with accounts of their experiences with in te r-re la tio n sh ip s. They echoed Professor Conway’s positive

At the same time, the process of com ing to terms with a &ol> J « * * stran ger can be a ( k iw f r s r h j /[ )\ Sob % beautiful th in g ,” conceded Conway. The next ques ^c»" z v t t y c r v t ' tion prom pted a \ ' a ’f w r cafr!P co m p lete tu rn around in the dis cussion. V p rtfc jC tS S ! “W h at about the ch ild ren of in ter-eth n ic re la All w* " ^ x Do y . * * tionsh ip , who do \ Alabama lifted ■* IS O W fe they do when they ' b a a on itM trra e ie d | ( W y W f ppY/Yif-S face prejudice espe r t gwe ysv jW w ssi'C ’n cia lly when they ■to dare *tzrtier ' ptopi* don’t have a com ^ <are way1 CooW munity to turn to?” asked one student. +Mft * * » « * W * * Suddenly there was an increase in Peter Sitati participation; peo ple shifted in their ous reasons. attitude towards them but they also seats, voices were raised and the “You can pass on the best of acknow ledged the possibility of debate began. A significant propor both worlds when you’re in a union stereotypes and prejudices that can tion of the people in the room were like that,” suggested Khilnani. challenge these relationships. Daste offspring of inter-ethnic relation She expanded upon this state expressed her genuine belief that ships and not participants in them m ent by exp lain in g that when these challenges can be overcome. and thus were able to describe their you’re not completely satisfied with “ Stereotypes start to break w ays of overcom ing feelings of your own culture or faith, you can down, and tolerance kicks in when confusion and displacement. They extract the parts you value most and people actually need and interact,” offered prescriptions to each other. share your personal interpretation of she stated. “Having a strong sense of self them with your partner. Conway was quick to qualify and identity is important,” stressed A fter the panel had finished her statement. one student. However, the general speaking, the floor was open to “Some people are able to break feeling was that sense of self usual questions from the audience. the stereotypes and some people ly comes from a person’s communi The first queries posed includ will not. There will be acceptance ty, which isn ’ t alw ays receptive ed: “ How do you know if i t ’ s and rejection,” he said. towards inter-ethnicity. Many sug right?”,“Is love enough?” and “Do I Khilnani com es from a very gestions were offered, and many have to compromise my political liberal family. Although her parents suggestions were rebuked. W hat views also?” The entire panel reiter are not religious, they are Hindu by became obvious was that each case ated the same advice — never sacri birth. K hilnani exp lain ed that is rather particular. fice too much of your own personal Hinduism is inclusive by nature and The point of the forum was to identity for your partner but at the it is constantly evolving. F o r this allow people to develop pathos, not same time, try to avoid dwelling on try to solve problems. reason her parents have always been your differences and concentrate supportive of her relationship with “To pursue this like there is a more on the things that brought you men from other religious and/or cul right answer is the wrong way to together in the first place. tural backgrounds. She reflects her go,” concluded Conway. “No one should compromise family’s liberalism in terms of her their inner self because then you’re attitude towards inter-relationships; in fact, she supports them for vari just a shadow of the other person.

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Health: globalization's sick patient B y B e n ja m in B e n c h it r it

“Canada is privatizing health care,” announced Maude Barlow, one of three key speakers at an international conference that took place at McGill two weeks ago. The co n fe re n c e , en titled “ H ealth : G lo b a liz a tio n ’ s sick patient” was an attempt to raise aw aren ess on the dire c o n s e quences of the free trade of public services such as healthcare. It w as o rg an ized by “A lternatives” , a project to pro mote international solidarity among grassroots organizations. It featured th ree gu est sp eak ers: M aude Barlow, volunteer chairperson of The Council of Canadians, Shree M u lay, d ire cto r o f the M cG ill Center for Research and Teaching on Women, and Mira Shiva, head of public division o f V oluntary Health Association of India, who flew in from India for the confer ence. Barlow was first to speak at the Friday night conference, pre senting on the effect of internation al trade on health care in Canada.

Claiming that 4 0 per cent o f the C an ad ian h e a lth ca re sy stem is owned by p rivate co rp o ratio n s, against a decreasing 6 0 per cent still owned by the public sector, Barlow warned against privatiza tion. “Privatization is not a question of if and when, because it is here. The more it is allowed, the less we are protected,” she stated. She then denounced the con tro v e rs ia l W o rld T rad e Organization conferences, as well as Canada’s direct support for the trade agreements. Having partici pated in the Seattle protests earlier this year, she was able to better understand how the W TO views globalization and was skeptical of their intentions. “The W TO says that global ization is great, i t ’ s ju st that it hasn’t reached everyone yet.” She further stated her oppro brium at Canada’s involvement in the W TO, especially dismayed that Canada was playing a leading role in enforcing trade agreements. An example of this would be the auto pact between the US and Canada,

which, she claims, has greatly dis advantaged Canada’ s automobile industry. N ext, Barlow mentioned the name Pierre Pettigrew , at which point, the crowd released a rolling sigh of disgust. Pierre S. Pettigrew is Canada’s M inister for International Trade, and obviously enemy number one for Canadian grassroots organiza tions. Barlow spared no colorful ad jective in description o f him. Other recipients of her vitriol were governmental organizations such as DFAIT, the Department of Foreign A ffairs and International Trade, w hich, she claim ed , have to be exposed for what they truly are. “ Not only does D FA IT rule the government, but corporations rule D FA IT . These corporations want their grubby little hands on health care - [which happens to be] a trillion dollar industry,” she said. She commented that privatiz ing healthcare had also been a very important issue in the federal elec tio n s. W e are rem in d ed o f S to ck w e ll D a y ’ s sign in the English debate that read “No 2-tier

health c a re ,” defending him self ag ain st P rim e M in ister Jean C h re tie n , w ho a ccu se d the Canadian A lliance of supporting such a system. But Barlow was not convinced that the Alliance would eschew a two-tier system. “ They have no intention of maintaining public health care in this country,” she said. Following Barlow ’s presenta tion, Mulay took the podium and denounced massive drug multina tional corporations, claiming that they are a direct threat to public health. She took the exam ple of In d ia, a d evelop in g cou n try in which free trade has crippled the drug in d u stry. She began by explaining what has happened to essential drugs production in the last 10 years with the spread of globalization. “In 1993, 75 per cent of drugs w ere being m et by in d igen ous pharmaceutical companies.” Since then, that percentage has gone down as multinational corpo rations have basically taken over lo cal industry. M ulay explained that trade agreements do not pro

mote research and development in developing countries, rather, they tend to dismantle local pharmaceu tical industries, leaving grunt work for the locals. Shiva reinforced these argu ments. “India d o e sn ’ t want the American model,” she said. However, it seems that many d evelop in g co u n trie s hold the Canadian model in high esteem . T h at is w hy, exp lain ed S h iva, Canada must consider the repercus sion s o f the slide tow ard s the destruction of universal health care. “What happens here will affect the whole world,” she stated. Shiva lam ented that strong political resistance is countering the efforts being made around the world to change the present form of healthcare and the direction it’ s taking. “The selective blindness, the selective dumbness, the selective hearing, at this very moment [come from] those who are in power. It’s blatant,” she said. This, Shiva claimed, is exactly C ontin ued on Page 18

hank you to our photographers for all your hard work over

know that we are with you like The Force. We love you, we love

the sem ester. Your help and contribution is appreciated

you, we love you. We can't live without you. Please accept our kid-

more than we could ever express. Whether you're trekking

neys if you need them. If you leave us, we will kill ourselves or

across town for a picture or spending hours setting up a shot,

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each other.

'7 ttc & cu tcC

Page 18

Features

T he M c G ill T r ib u n e , T u e s d a y , 5 D ecem ber 2 0 0 0

Mature students: the struggle of returning to school in the post-bachelor years By N icole H elsberc

With the semester drawing to a close, many students are plan ning their holidays with friends and family, looking forward to sprawling themselves across the couch, hitting the slopes, reading for leisure and — in many cases — sleeping into oblivion. Just think about three weeks from now when you will have not a worry in the world, if not at least for a little while. However, not every McGill student goes home to relax and let the likes of Mom and Dad take care of them. Among a diverse stu dent body, there are those for whom life is slightly different at home; some for whom coming home means tending to the kids, spending quality time with your spouse or worrying about all sorts of aspects of the near future. Next time you’re sitting in class, look around. Most people you see are young, between the ages of 18 and 22. Many of these young students share sim ilar academ ic b ack

grounds, likely coming to McGill directly from high school or CEGEP, or perhaps taking a year off in between. But if you scan the sea of faces hard enough, you may notice someone else - some one who looks a little bit different, slightly older, or perhaps signifi cantly so. The mature student is some what of an anomaly at McGill. M ost m ature students come to M cGill from different back grounds. It has likely been some time since they have been involved in any type of formal education program. Some have been work ing or raising children and have decided to return to school to fur ther their education. Currently at McGill, there are 220 mature students, who on aver age are about 36 years old. A ccording to the M cGill University Registrar’s definition, a mature student is someone who is over 23 years of age and has come to McGill via a non-traditional way (not straight from high school or CEGEP). Although there arr

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mature students registered in all faculties at McGill, most are regis tered in the Faculties of Arts and Sciences. Daniel Regier, is one such mature student pursuing a B.A. He came to McGill already holding an engineering degree. He explains his return to school. “ I worked for a couple of years and there’s a whole bunch of stuff I wanted to try and I wasn’t enjoying my job. So I decided I would come back and try to figure out where I wanted to go next. So that’s what I’m doing — courses that I’m interested in.” There also exists a bracket of students who do not fit the Registrar’s definition of mature student — approxim ately 300 Continuing Education students. In addition, there are those who came to McGill via traditional ways but have perhaps taken tim e off between years of their studies, often significantly older than the average undergraduate. Lisa Jordan, an older student pursuing a ce rtificate in Continuing Education, returned to school to meet the needs of her new job. “I hold an arts degree but I have a new job which is taking me to the Middle East in the new year. I’m currently studying toward an Arabic language certificate to assist me in my transition to a new job and new environment. I’ve always been interested in learning Arabic and now I have taken the time to do so.” According to the Mature and R e-Entry Student A ssociation (MRSA), Daniel and Lisa’s returns to school reflect the most popular reasons for such a decision. MRSA statistics indicate that the primary reason to return to school is out of interest or hobby, the sec ond being a career switch that necessitates pursuing studies toward a new degree or certificate. Finding support amongst a sea of under and only slightly over twenty-somethings is a struggle for many non-traditional students. However, the MRSA — an organi zation on campus that attempts to

A need to update skills brings mature students to McGill

assist mature and non-traditional students — offers peer referrals, course information, internship pro grams, and workshops to assist these students with their studies at McGill. Richard Whipple, the PR rep resentativ e of the MRSA says mature students have their own niche in a university environment. “They are more interested in affiliating with people of their own interest,” he says. In room B55F, in the base ment if the Arts building, many mature students gather to social ize, do some work or just pass the time. “People come in here, know ing nobody, and they [suddenly] have a whole support system ,” says Whipple. The mature or ‘non-traditional’ student faces many difficulties that a young student may not. They are likely to have been removed from a school setting for some time and it takes time to adjust to student life (think what an extended summer vacation does and multiply by years). It is diffi cult to form a community of peers as the age and lifestyle of a non

Andrea waiiington

trad itio n al student may differ greatly from the average student. D ifficu lt decisions have to be made about one’s finances - to either continue working full/parttime or take sabbatical from work. The decision to return to school may also be complicated by the impact it has on spouses and chil dren. The decision to return to school is not an easy one. “It took me some tim e to make up my mind to go back to school. While I wanted to pursue a degree, there were many factors to consider,” says Elizabeth Smythe about her decision to return. “Though I was lucky to be com fortable financially, I certainly had things to worry about. I wasn’t sure if I would fit in, and I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to catch up to other students because it had been a long time since I had been in school,” Smythe says that she is con tent so far at McGill. “Overall, I guess I can say that it was difficult at first but my experience at McGill has been great.”

Privatizing health care Continued from Page 15

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why health care is becoming noth ing more than a “commodity to be bought and sold.” And when health becomes a commodity, health standards, par ticularly in under developed econom ies, are com prom ised. Especially when the major players are capitalistic drug companies. A likely scenario was present ed: Developing new drugs can be an economically risky business. Certain plagues are concentrated in underdeveloped countries whose victims likely don’t have the finan cial wherewithal to pay for the

drugs. Rather than devote resources to curing a disease like malaria, a drug company bent on profit is more likely to develop treatments for cancer or heart disease - dis eases which affect the more afflu ent citizens of the globe. Thus, the poor are left behind, getting sicker. The lecture wound down with a question and answ er period, which was capped off quite bluntly by Mulay. “[Health care] has to be taken back into our hands,” she said. The general purpose of this international conference was to open people’s eyes to the subject. U nfortunately, solutions to the

problems were suspiciously absent. No matter, Mulay made it clear we should join the protest this coming April, when Quebec City will be host to another World Trade Organization conference.

Features

T he M c G ill T r ib u n e , T u e s d a y , 5 D ecem ber 2 0 0 0

Page 19

The Buzzz on Caffeine

he semester is pretty much over and if you’re like most students you have a lot to catch up on before finals. This means there will be some late nights in your future either at home, at the library or maybe in a coffee shop. As exams approach, many will be reaching for that ever-popular stimulant — caffeine. What is caffeine? Chemically speaking, it’s an odorless, flavor less, bitter alkaloid (an organic base containing nitrogen that is found in a variety of seeded plants) that stimulates the central nervous system. It can increase awareness, alertness and energy levels when consumed in moderation (that is, under five cups of coffee a day). It also increases heart rate, urine pro duction and metabolism. If consumed in its most popu lar form — coffee — caffeine’s effects start about 5 minutes after drinking a cup and reach their high est levels about 20 to 30 minutes

later. It takes about 3-6 hours for the caffeine to be com pletely removed from the system. This time doubles in women taking oral contraceptives and is halved in smokers. In general people differ in the way they react to caffeine. Some can drink lots of coffee and still sleep like a baby while others may stay up all night after having only one cup. Furthermore, someone drinking four cups a day may start off having trouble sleeping at night but after a week of doing so will suffer no lack of sleep. T here’s been some recent ‘buzz’ linking caffeine consump tion to a decreased risk of Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s is a neurological disease that affects the part of the brain that controls movement, resulting in involuntary shaking of the arms and legs, trou ble speaking and difficulty in coor dinating movement. A study pub lished in the May 24, 2000 issue of The Journal of the Am erican Medical Association showed that Japanese-American men who drank four to five cups of coffee a day were less likely to develop Parkinson’s than men who didn’t drink coffee. Cells in the brain that

When a holiday drink takes a deadly turn

normally make a chemical called drip/percolated coffee, which has dopamine which signals the move the most caffeine of all. On a perment center of the brain become cup basis coffee has about 100 mg inactivated in Parkinson’s. Caffeine of caffeine whereas tea has closer may counter-act this degenerating to 40 mg. Coca Cola and the other process by indirectly increasing caffeinated soft drinks all come in dopamine levels. But it’s too early third to tea and coffee. But a to tell if caffeine will prevent Starbucks Grande size coffee takes Parkinson’s and nothing was said the cake with a whopping 500 mg. What about caffeine content in about the effects of caffeine on soft drinks other than Coke, like female Parkinson’s patients. But can caffeine also be harm Mountain Dew? The rumors are ful to our health? We’re still not true: American Mountain Dew has sure. Caffeine certainly increases caffeine while the Canadian ver blood pressure, but it doesn’t seem sion has none. The makers of the to increase risk for heart attack. On American drink say they add the the other hand caffeine (especially caffeine for taste, not for the buzz. coffee) can cause indigestion by But kids asked to do a taste test increasing stomach acid levels (reported in the kids m agazine which can cause acid reflux. In Zillions) couldn’t tell the difference some women caffeine has been between the caffeinated and nonshown to worsen pre-m enstrual caffeinated drinks. Now for the big question: Is syndrome. Pregnant women are told not to drink coffee because caffeine actually addictive? One caffeine can alter a baby’s blood study done by the French National H ealth and M edical R esearch pressure, heart rate and breathing. Now for the great debate: j Institute claimed that giving rats Which has more caffeine - tea or m oderate am ounts o f caffeine coffee? Looking at the raw materi didn’t promote activity in the part als, tea has more caffeine. But you of the brain known to cause addic use a lot more coffee per serving tion. The addiction theory comes than tea. The way you make your from the fact that both caffeine and coffee is also important. Instant these other dependence drugs indi coffee has a lot less caffeine than rectly boost dopam ine levels, can put you over it. Again, none of this is meant as a scare tactic or as an attempt to dampen anyone’s holiday spirit. But it is important to remember that later on, when you really need to,

which may contribute to addiction. Further evidence comes from the fact that caffeine can cause with drawal symptoms in people who consume as little as 100 mg of caf feine a day. Such symptoms include headache, fatigue, difficul ty concentrating and drowsiness. To lessen the effects of withdrawal, instead of going cold turkey, try instead to gradually decrease your consumption until you’ve cut all the caffeine out of your diet. Do you feel stressed out after your coffee break? No, it’s not because you spent an hour talking to your friends instead of studying, it’s more likely because caffeine can increase production of stress hormones such as cortical and cate cholamines making you feel even more nervous and jittery . The moral of the story: have your caf feine if you must, but remember it’s still a drug and the debate on its health risks continues.

you might not be in a position to think clearly about what to do. So think about it now, before your criminal record kicks in.

Consequently, the punishments well in real life as it does on TV. In M c G ill related to drunk driving are fairly fact, penalties for doing bad things Beneath severe in that they are aimed both at j with a car while drunk are harsh discouraging further offences by the j across the board, and definitely th e r o b e c a r e e r a n d same person and at curing a prob- 1 escalate with the gravity, of the Mim i Gr oss lem that is viewed as a widespread damage the drunk driver has p la c e m e n t s< e r v ic e social disease. In fact, reactions to caused. Under the Criminal Code, t’s that time of year again, when some of these penalties often raise there are many minimum penalties chestnuts are about to roast and eyebrows in that they are often attached to drunk driving convic S e a r c h in g holiday parties are about to hap more bizarre and more harsh than tions, including a $600 fine and a pen. Sure, most of us have to some popular misconceptions would have one-year suspended driver’s license fo r a jo b ? how make it through a grueling us believe. Here are some of the j for a first offence (subject to some exam period first, when our contin highlights of what can happen to modification depending on circum * JmmWr y m fr &fMKÉÉ8HHSg dün ued stay at McGill depends on our you if you are caught driving stances). A second offence will get you a minimum 2-week stay in jail ability to articulate the difference drunk: between probation and parole or 1) The Alcomètre - truth is plus 2 years without a license. In » Graduating in December? j k f y r y between a ventricle and an atrium. often stranger than fiction. A col- | addition, your car doesn’t have to j,:. A" The stress of making it through league tells me that for years a cer be moving or even have gas in it for Still looking for work? exams often just makes the partying tain story circulated through debat you to be found guilty of these Join the CAPS Job Finding Club. that comes afterward even more of ing circles and tournaments that no criminal offences. These penalties A two-week program from a relief, a time for going a little one believed was true. Actually, it I can go up pretty easily depending on your particular situation. Plus, if January 23 until February 2. crazy - and understandably so. was a debating topic involving a But while most of us have no strange kind of device that you someone is injured as a result of trouble partying responsibly (and I woulda hook up to your car. This j your drunk driving you might be hate to sound like a wet blanket device would test your breath for | looking at up to ten years in jail, » First Year or here), there will always be at least a alcohol and if you tested positive, it and 14 years if someone is killed. CAPS 3) You can have less than the Second Year Student? few people who don’t know when would not let you start your car. Brown Building enough is too much, who can’t hold While debaters the world over legal maximum blood alcohol level Uncertain about what Rm.2200 their liquor and/or can’t tell or don’t believed that this was a fictional and still be arrested. The Criminal career to go into? Join P.A.C.E. care if they have had too much to product devised to stretch their Code foresees different situations in MECC (Program for the Advancement drink to get behind the wheel of a argum entative skills, here in which you should not be behind the (Engineering wheel of a car and these provide car. Besides all the obviously dan Quebec it is a reality. If you’re of Career Exploration) and & Comp. Sci) gerous consequences that can result lucky and it is only your first effective blanket coverage as fol you'll join other students for 4 FDA Building from this kind of behavior, there offence, you may be sentenced to lows: If you have more than the can also be some pretty harsh legal drive only with a restricted permit legal lim it (80mg of alcohol in weekly workshops discovering Rm. 20 penalties related to drunk driving subject to the installation of an 100ml of blood) in you, even if more about your skills and offences. Alcomètre in your car. You will pay your driving is fine, you are break CAPS @ interests. Three groups to run The drinking and driving prob almost $90 per month plus tax for ing the law. And even if you have Macdonald Campus lem in Quebec is fairly significant, this privilege, and this zero-toler- I less than the limit, but you are dri this semester. Centennial Centre complicated by a number of factors ance breathalyzer will stop you ving erratically and attract a police including the fact that Quebec from driving if there is even a hint officer’s attention, you may be con shares borders with places where of alcohol on your breath. You will victed of the offence of impaired Contact CAPS for more details the legal drinking age is higher. also be forbidden from driving any driving, which makes no reference about these programs Teenagers often drive here for a car not equipped with such a to a specific blood alcohol level. While you’re debating that conun night of partying and drinking that device. they can’t have at home. All told, 2) The “Go easy on me drum, also try to remember that the w w w .m c g ill.c a /s tu s e r v /c a p s drunk driving is the leading cause because I was drunk at the time” | 80mg/ 100ml limit is actually not of car accidents in this province. issue does not often work out as that high and even just a few drinks

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Features

T he M c G ill T r ib u n e , T u e s d a y , 5 D ecem ber 2 0 0 0

Online shopping for the Holidays By H eather V an D oren

The year was 1984. The very notion of holiday shopping was enough to severely crimp my moth er’s (a woman ordinarily so enrap tured by the Holiday season that she could have been cast as a Whoo-extra) spirits. The thought of having to bundle two children both under five — in winter clothes and parade them through a sea of shoppers was just too much; not this year. Luckily for my brother and I, a gift, tied in brown strings was gingerly laid at our front door. Its messenger was not the rotund man clad in red, but a svelte man bedecked in navy blue trousers and cap. The gift? A bundle of cata

logues. From that year on, this is how my mother holiday shopped. Wc are now firmly entrenched in Holiday Season 2000, where gifts have undergone a rapid evolu tion - from small plastic action heroes to virtual reality action games. It seems only fitting that the

way we shop should evolve as well, and it has. For ease and accessibility, Internet shopping is unsurpassable. Where else can a consumer find presents for an entire family in less than an hour? In addition, there are a myriad of devices infused on the electronic shopping path that can assist even the most stumped of shoppers in obtaining “the perfect gift” These reasons are the main catalyst for online shopping growth, and it is growing at a huge rate. The average number of daily transactions in the first three weeks of November 2000 increased by 120 per cent from November 1999. Rob Solomon, director of pro duction at Yahoo! Shopping, accounts for this popularity increase. “The strong growth validates our strategy of offering consumers a wide selection of brand name m erchandise form thousands of trusted merchants, as well as con venient features like Yahoo! Wallet fa device that remembers a con sumer’s credit card numbers and mailing address] that make online shopping easy,” he says. “It is clear that we are convert ing a large num ber o f people already using our network into pur chasers on Yahoo! Shopping. Also adding to these increasing numbers are expanded shopping services for consum ers, including Yahoo! Shopping Vision, a rich media extension...and the availability of Yahoo! Shopping on Web-enabled

phones.”

Technology takes the test Even though I am an obvious novice web-jockey to the sport of electronic shopping, I decided to begin my Holiday hunt on an Internet shopping tour. My first gate was the Nielson NetRatings’ number one portal shopping desti nation: www.yahoo.com. I found myself running in the already wellworn grooves of others - the aver age number of Yahoo! daily trans actions for the month of November are more than forty per cent greater than the September figures. According to Yahoo! sales representative, Vince Dinh, the most popular products this season on the website (based on sales and search data) are: games to accom pany the recently released Sony Playstation 2, Grinch merchandise, DVD’s, Razor scooters, and digital cameras. Close runner-ups are per sonal digital assistants, DVD play ers, robotic dogs, Dragonball Z, MP3 players. The act of double clicking the «Yahoo! shopping icon” could be likened to ripping the blinders from my eyes; I was nearly swept away by an undulation of ads. On the right side of my screen, garish neon pixels of featured stores such as Nordstrom, Barnes & Noble, and Sak’s Fifth Ave beckoned me to enter their sites. On the left half of my monitor,

Yahoo! had meticulously organized an extremely comprehensive list of categories (ranging form baby care to auto parts) from which I could choose to browse and or shop. As a third option I could simply type in the name of the product I desired, and Yahoo! would present a list (complete with links) of stores that were featuring the item. No wonder Yahoo! directly enables more than $3 billion of transaction on its com merce platform. A final feature of the site was the Gift Selector. This little jewel was instantly added to my “list of favorites”. It seems that I normally spend the better part of the Holiday Season agonizing over the perfect gift to get the person-who-has-itall. Yahoo’s Gift Selector provides an instant solution to all gift-giving dilem m as conceivable. The Selector grants a user the option to choose not only for whom the gift is for, but also in which spectrum their interests lay, and in the desired price range. Once these choices have been completed and submitted to the Selector, a list of products is spewed onto the screen. The entire process-from start to finish takes at the most thirty seconds. Compare this to the weeks squandered in an effort to locate “the perfect item”. There is hope that my father won’t be receiving yet another necktie this year.

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The next stop on my Tour-deElectronic Mall, was eBay. The site was launched on Labour Day, 1995, in the hopes of creating a small, online trading community. Five years, and 12 million trades later, eBay has become the largest person-to-person online trading company. The user can browse, haggle, buy, or even hock your wares. The first step in entering the gates to this online bazaar is regis tration. This provides a small obstacle; if you have a non-affiliated Internet account (such as Yahoo! or Hotmail) and do not have a credit card number, you will not be allowed to register. This rea son alone should be enough to gal vanize one into obtaining a credit card; the site is truly amazing. Once entrance is obtained; the consum er is free to m eander through its labyrinth of items in a quest to find the one deemed wor thy of bidding on. In my excursion,

I decided that cologne infused with human pheromones was a holidaymust-have. All items have minimum bids and a set amount of time the item will be a denizen of the auctioning block. Once a bid is placed, the bidder can view who has named a price for the item, and how much their bid was. To aid shoppers, eBay offers a “learn how to bid” button on the top right hand corner of the screen.

Ditching the big guys Upon exiting the eBay site, I came to the conclusion that my eshopping savvy had drastically escalated from the time that I had begun on my little experiment. So I decided to do some browsing on sm aller, less known sites. I chanced upon www.respond.com. A shopper can email a request to Respond for an item - if the item is available by m ail order, Respond, who incidentally prides itself on being able to find the most obscure items, will return a list of results to the consum er. Bulk chocolate pudding mix for a mud wrestling party anyone?

Expanding consumer horizons for the future It is clear that E-Commerce is not a swiftly fleeting fad; it is a m ajor catalyst responsible for changing both the ways consumers shop and retailers sell. Innovative ways to entice users to jump from site to site, to explore areas that they never would ordinarily have gone to before all must be devel oped. In addition, the Internet shopping demographic is different than that of the “physical shop ping”. Retailers are now catering to a younger, more empowered audi ence, a very different audience then the billboards on highways. In an effort to keep up with this rapid evolution, M cGill is evolving with the times. E-marketing has been integrated into the curriculum of most classes. “In two of my classes this semester all the case analysis we are doing is on online companies,” says third year M arketing m ajor Elaine Duranceau. McGill additionally offers an entire course devoted to eM arketing in the Faculty of Management.

Wide Mouth Mason making music the old fashioned way Talking Ziggy Marley, tabledancing and girlish bladders with the Saskatoon band By Shan Soe-Lin Stopping in Montreal on their cross-country tour, Wide Mouth Mason rocked Café Campus Friday night. Whipping the small crowd into a frenzy with their infectious blend of blues-rock, lead singer Shaun V erreault had everyone dancing from the opening strains of “Smile.” Showing off his incredi ble range and vocal versatility, V erreault’s liquid voice soared through the chorus of “Tell Me” and their cover of Billy Jean. Equally matching Verreault’s prowess were bassist Earl Pereira, and drummer Safwan Javed. Flying through the bluesy basslines of their trademark song “Mary Mary”, Pereira was truly a sight to behold while playing and dancing simulta neously. Javed’s ferocious drum ming and inspired rapping midway through “Why” kept the groove going. R ecognized nationally for their incredible stage presence and energy, Wide Mouth Mason did not disappoint. Little known in Quebec, it was a treat to see them work their magic for the cozy, inti mate crowd. The band promises to return with their m elange of blues/rock/funk som etim e in January. Before their show, the three members from Saskatoon were kind enough to sit down for an indepth chat. In town promoting their latest release, Stew, they had plenty to say about the state of music today, their favourite influences, and the importance of having your own bathroom on tour.

WMM opens up Tribune: Stew is so different from Where 1 Started and the first one. Why is that? Have there been many personal changes that were reflect ed in Stewl Shaun: It’s hard to put our finger on...it could be because it’s a year later, or a couple of years later since the last one. It could be what w e’ve been listening to or our response to touring what was sort of a cerebral “head” record, and wanting to get into something that was fun live and bouncy. I think w e’ve showed elem ents of this before. I think it’s in ‘Why’ and ‘Tell M e’ but it seems like this time we were able to work with someone who was really sympa thetic to it, and understood it, and was able to get authentic sounding sounds to play it with. I think if we had played our earlier records with the tones that we have on this record it would have come across as a lot funkier. Earl: (interrupting) We tried to do this before, but it always came across rock sounding.

Tribune: Was it all up to Gordie Johnson (Big Sugar)? Shaun: Urn, yeah, working with him , and working with Craig (Northey, the Odds) too. When we were writing on our own, we were going in that direction anyway. It seemed like the music we were writing consistently had bump to it and that those guys really rein forced it. Gordie knew how to take that sound and run with it and make it sound like the real thing.

Tribune: I’m actually on my sec

says you’re a blues-rock band, then you’re a blues-rock band. There’s no sense in trying to make a record, and trying to prove everyone wrong. Shaun: That’s what was all in our heads though. That was the record we were going to make then. Tribune: If you were given the option of choosing a name to

what they looked like from album covers. It would be something that a friend would pass on to a friend, and it wouldn’t be a giant media blitz, where you read everything about them before you get the record. So in a way, I’d love to imagine that we’re being passed on to people that way, instead of being known through media and video and stuff like that.

Tribune: What do you eat, or take in biologically and spir itually to keep up the stamina to do all the touring? Shaun: Lots of chocolate and coffee. Saf: I’m a vegetarian, and my body is a temple, so I treat it with the utmost care. These guys have high metabolisms, so they eat chips and fries, but their bodies process it properly. Shaun: We get a lot of fruits and vegeta bles on the rider, and lots of water. Water is key. Especially in the West, in a lot of the drier places.

ond copy of Where I Started because I took the first one with me everywhere and scratched the hell out of it. (all three of them laughing) Saf: You got it. You are one of the ten people in Canada who got it. Tribune: T hat’s som ething I’ll never understand, why it didn’t take off. Because you d id n ’t release Bum, that’s why. Earl: I’m with you on that one! Shaun: I don’t know, that’s funny, because we never sit down and try to write popular music. It seems that what we were able to come up with on the first record was what was popular at the time. The sec ond record didn’t seem to catch that same thing. I still really, really like the record. I like a lot of the moods that we got into. The people who got it seemed to really, really Tribune: But aren’t get it which is really cool. Working Mouth wide open? You deckle. C h r is t a B e ll you peeing every five with David Leonard, we intention minutes? ally wanted it not to be like the live describe your sound, what would it Shaun: Yeah, which is hard when sound. you’re on the bus. Earl: H e’d never seen us live be? Saf: Especially Shaun with his girl Earl: Um, Alien Funk? before, so he came up with some ish bladder. thing completely different. On this Shaun: It’s so hard. record, we wanted to see if we Saf: Fusion. Not in the weird kind Shaun: Right before we go on, I could capture that live element. of art way. The word fusion, not usually ask, “Can I have my own bathroom please?” T hat’s the m ajor difference, I the artistic term. We’re a fondue. think. De tour Tribune: What are you all listen Tribune: But when your live ele ing to now? Tribune: How do you think you ment has always been said to be your strength, why would you try could get the m asses to better Shaun: Let’s start at this end of the table. understand your music? to make a polished record? Earl: Hmm, what have I liked? Saf: We don’t sing about getting Shaun: Not so much from the live thing, but I think we were being drunk and taking a girl home, so I Tribune: I know you like the new typecast. We were being thought of don’t know. For some people, Backstreet Boys (sarcastic) as “Shaun and the Wide Mouth that’s what they relate to, and I’m Earl: Oh yeah, the album kicks M asons,” Stevie Ray Vaughn not criticizing, that’s what goes on ass, I downloaded it way before meets classic blues rock group. We in their minds. Um, maybe the anyone else had it. It’s not even out thought that was a little inappropri greater masses aren’t supposed to yet! Nothing really has changed, I ate. We didn’t go in wanting to understand us, or m aybe i t ’s a like a lot of the same things as deconstruct our image, but when so question of time...I mean all I can before. I like that I can find a lot of many people tell you one thing, say is for the fans that do get it, and things that I couldn’t find before in when you’re not really it, we want I know that they’re out there record stores. ed to maybe show the other sides because I ’ve seen them they sit Shaun: Go to Vinyl Exchange. of the band that were there as much there asking, “well, why don’t There’s this record store in on the first record as the bluesy more people know about this Saskatoon that has all my favourite stuff. I mean you play one shuffle band?” But i t ’s okay because records, like a bootleg o f Tom and you’re automatically a blues we’re content with the music, and Wait’s show in Vancouver, a Ben happy that anybody gets it at all. Harper thing... I think he’s an band. amazing lyricist. I’ve been listen Earl: T hat’s the one thing we Sometimes I don’t even get it. learned on this record is that we’re Shaun: There’s a neat blessing in ing to a lot of Emm Gryner CD’s not going to let what people say that too. Led Zeppelin, I guess is (laughter from Earl and Saf) control the music that we make. the last band that had a big mystery Earl: My older brother Effren is That’s when we started trying to about them. Nobody knew who opening for us tonight. Look at forget about that stuff. If someone they were, and they kinda knew him, he’s the bigger version of me.

Saf: He’s got way more hair. Tribune: And both of you (Saf and Shaun) are only children? Saf: Yes. Tribune: Spoiled! Shaun: You’d think so, but we also had no one to pin anything on. Shaun: You know that part in Star Wars where R2D2 is shooting that thing out at Princess Leia going: “help me, you’re my only hope!! Help me!” over and over again, well that’s what being an only child is like. Your parents look at you and go: “You’re it. Everything’s riding on you.”

A little Super Sexe? Tribune: What are you guys plan ning to do tonight? What do you normally do after shows? Saf: We’re going to go to Super Sexe. Tribune: Well, it is an extremely classy place. Shaun: We thought we’d earn a lit tle extra money and do some table dancing. Actually we have a lot of friends here, and Earl’s brother, and some friends from Saskatoon who moved here who we never see. We’U probably keep it pretty quiet and hang out with them.

Tribune: What time do you nor mally go to bed? You must be so wound up after performing. Saf: At least two, or three hours. It takes a while to come down. Shaun: I’ve spent the last couple nights just lying in bed, buzzed, because the Ottawa shows were so good. I’d be lying there thinking, “I’m tired, I know I’m tired. We did two shows today, but I can’t sleep.” Saf: But we got a hot tip that the Marijuana party can help us out with that. (lots of laughter) Shaun: Well, I heard that they have some sort o f new thing...some medicinal technolo

gy-

Tribune: Well, you know, there’s NO marijuana here in Montreal. Shaun: No way, uh-uh. Tribune: It’s a city full of prudish people. Saf: Everyone’s so tight here. Tribune: You never get to smell dope while walking down St. Catherine’s. Shaun: And your sexuality, it’s so repressed. Tribune: We don’t have strip clubs that you can see from the moon because they’re so lit up.

Tribune: What’s the best concert you’ve ever been to? Shaun: Ever been to see? Um, M’shelle Ndegeocello, Montreux, Van Morrison and Ray Charles at Montreux, Charlie Sexton in a realContinued on Page 23

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The bowing of culture: Yo-yoing from high to low New Skin for the Old Ceremony Chris Es sert ven the most cursive survey of the popular elements of today’s culture that we label “Arts and Entertainment”1 would probably leave any conscientious observer wondering how a society can support its collective uncon scious with such unstimulating dri vel. Television, movies, music and increasingly even literature are becoming nothing more than con tent, the words and pictures that fill the space around the advertising, always striving to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Luckily for us, boys and girls, this is the twenty-first century, and if there’s something that’s certain about any work of art in this cul ture, it’s that no matter how bad it is, it can’t exist in a vacuum. As this Mathematics student under stands it, one of the most important aspects of postmodernism is inter-

textuality. And as im portant as intertextuality is in a porno lit-crit way2, it’s important in a more obvi ous multimedia way, too. What I mean isn’t nearly as complicated as I’ve made it sound. Think of intertextuality in its sim plest guise: movies and pop music. What would the song ‘Take My Breath A w ay’ be w ithout the movie Top Gun’l It wouldn’t have nearly the same level of meaning to so many people of our generation who grew up thinking Tom Cruise was so hot/so cool. But that’s only a trivial example. What I’m talking about are those rare, lucky moments when a TV show or movie or song which rests firmly in the realm of the absurd manages to include or refer to something from the realm of the sublime3. Allow me to make m yself more specific. Last weekend, I was over at a friend’s house watching Sex in the City. Now, notwithstand ing any arguments I may have had with those friends regarding the quality of this show qua show4 I think any reasonable person would agree that, as a television comedy,

' Anything that finds itself in this section of The Tribune, is what I mean. 2 I’m not going to go into this in such detail because a)it’s not what this article is about and b)I don’t really understand it. Suffice it to say that the experiences of reading and writing are drastically altered by what the reader and the writer have read before, and how they relate their personal literary unconscious, the collective literary uncon

Sex in the City belongs as far into the realm of the absurd as you can get. Yet, during a scene in the episode we watched, the music playing in the background was the Six Suites fo r U naccompanied Cello5, by Johann Sebastian Bach, which for me practically defines sublime. I mean that when I hear it, I get shivers down my spine, and when somebody m entions it in passing, my senses perk up and I immediately start liking that person more. It’s like what happens when I hear the sweet, sweet name of the girl that I have a really big crush on. But seriously, the idea that two people (Johann & Yo-Yo), separat ed by over two centuries have somehow come together to produce something so utterly perfect in its creativity, something that says so much to a third person (me) with out saying anything at all moves me in a very deep way6.1 guess this is the idea of music, or of art, even, and so I guess I’m saying that for me this piece totally encapsulates the ideal of Art. But that’s emotional; to give

you an idea of the intellectual con text of this piece of music for me, let me tell you that I would proba bly classify it as One of the AllTime Greatest Achievements of Human Culture. If you’re familiar with the Cello Suites, then I imag ine you know what I mean. If not, I urge you to run, not walk, to the nearest record store7 and get your hands on the CDs (it’s a double disc) as soon as you possibly can. I assure you that it will be well worth your trouble. Before hearing the little bit back on Sex in the City, it had been a couple months since I had taken out my CD and listened to the Cello Suites, and now, even two weeks later, I’ve barely listened to anything else. So as silly and immaterial and unimportant as this Sex in the City show is it got me back to listening to the Cello Suites, which are the exact opposite of silly, immaterial and unimpor tant. This is what I’ve been trying to come around to this whole time. What I love about the arts is what’s buried beneath the layers and lay

scious and the words on the page in order to get meaning out of those words. 3 A sort of anti-bathos, if you will. 4 i.e. to say: it’s not funny. 5 BWV 1007-1012. Probably performed by American Yo-Yo Ma, whose two versions of the Cello Suites are definitive as far as I i) know, and ii) am concerned.

ers of garbage to which we subject ourselves every time we turn on the TV. There’s treasure down here, and when you find it, you’ll be infi nitely richer8 than anybody work ing at AOL/TimeWamer who uses the word content seriously. I hate being topical (or at least 1 say that I do) but this is especially important now, and for two rea sons. If you’re a normal student, the next couple of weeks will prob ably number among your darkest of the year. And after that’s done, you’re shot smack into the world’s biggest orgy of commercialism and fake sentiment, always liberally covered in the syrup of third-rate arts. And what I’m saying, in case your exam-depleted brain hasn’t made the connection, is that high quality art, in the form of beautiful music, an afternoon at the Musée des Beaux Arts, or a dip in the ocean of literature or the bay of poetry9 is exactly what the doctor ordered to make you feel that much better. To take you, post-haste, from the realm of absurdity to the realm of the sublime. hesser@po-box. megill, ca

Obviously, I’m explaining this very poorly. Sorry. 7Or boot up Napster and start searching, if you like your eggs that way. 8 Unfortunately, I mean emotionally richer. They’ll still be economi cally richer than you. A lot richer. 9 These two do seem a bit unlikely during exam time, I’ll admit. 6

Big, green monster By A ndre Lecaspi

In a HEATED tent! If you are a DJ or in a band and want to play or volunteer, please call 398-8209 or email snowap@ssmu.incgill.ca

the story unravels, Carrey, like all his other roles, makes the Grinch an endearing character.

When I was little, Christmas brought two things for me: presents and nightm ares. I ’d stay up all night, not waiting for Santa, but dreading the green furry grim ace of the Grinch. But once I heard that a m ovie had Jim Carrey bringing the Grinch to life, I dreaded something else: that my child hood image of the You're a Mean one, Mr Grinch sacred Dr. Seuss The whole portrayal of character would be destroyed. Going into the theater unbi Whoville and the Whos is another ased was an extremely difficult thing. Director Ron Howard is endeavor. Carrey isn’t exactly the able to create a fanciful setting that most versatile actor around. In his seems to be pulled straight out of career, the only roles that haven’t the illustrations in the book. All involved some goofy catch-phrase the supporting characters add to the or slapstick humour were The atmosphere of a world created by Truman Show and Man on The Dr. Seuss. Taylor Momsen, mak Moon. But rather than use his ing her major motion picture debut material from the Mask, Dumb and as Cindy Lou Who, does a wonder Dumber or Ace Ventura, he blends ful job of playing the G rinch’s all three into a Grinch that sounds counterpart. And what Ron too much like his impersonation of Howard movie would be complete Jimmy Stewart. Actually, to be without his younger brother, Clint more exact, an impersonation of playing some obscure character (in Jimmy Stew art on speed. this case, the mayor’s assistant, Throughout the movie, bits and Whobris)? Add this and Oscarpieces of his characters from past winning actor Anthony Hopkins as roles peek out in little outbursts of the rhyming narrator, and you have shouting or in movements pulled a charming interpretation of Dr. Seuss’ classic that crafts a new and from The Mask. Surprisingly, Carrey makes it unique image of that big green ball work. Initially, he makes us hate of fur known as, The Grinch. and fear the furry creature but as

T he M c G ill T r ib u n e , T u e s d a y , 5 D ecem ber 2 0 0 0

Keeping the Brazilian roots real: Bebel

By Dan Z acks I have a confession to make: I am head over heels in love with Bebel Gilberto. I first saw Bebel at the begin ning of her first tour in July at Toronto’s renowned Brigantine Room. The setting was intimate, and thanks to my com panion’s willingness to wait in line for three hours, I had the best seats in the house. During that concert, Bebel made eye contact with me three tim es (yes, three tim es) and I decided right then and there that she would be mine. Well, after four month’s passage we still weren’t m arried and so I moved on. Unfortunately, last Saturday at the Spectrum she rekindled the fire and once again, I find myself crafting elaborate ways of making a rela tionship materialise. Why am I so enamoured with Bebel Gilberto? First and foremost

it’s her charisma. Never have I seen a musician, particularly one who would be justified in assuming an air of diva-esque arrogance, so thankful for crowd appreciation, so willing to talk with the crowd, and so obviously deriving pleasure from what she does. When she sings she sings to you and when she talks about her music and her musicians, she talks to you. There may have been seven hundred peo ple at the concert, but she connect ed with each and every one of them. But Bebel is about far more than charm. Her music is a sophis ticated blend of classic bossa nova and contemporary sensibilities. While she has collaborated with the likes of the late Suba, Thievery C orporation, and Smoke City, Bebel manages to maintain a solid grounding in the traditions of bossa, and to a lesser extent, musica para Brazilia. Most importantly, however, is the recognition in her music of the romanticism associat ed with Brazil and Brazilian music. Traditionally, the music has been approached in the West from an escapist, idealising perspective (witness the bossa/samba craze of the sixties, where musicians like

Stan Getz, W alter W anderly, Sergio Mendes and Les Baxter cre ates odes to the utopie, tropical par adise that, for them, was Brazil). Of course, the Brazil that many think of while listening to the music bears little resemblance to the actual Brazil and the great B razilian m usicians have been aware of this. The T ropicalia movement of the sixties and early seventies explored this phenome non and in a way, albeit perhaps once-removed, I believe that Bebel Gilberto is continuing in this tradi tion. Her beautiful, highly stylised movements bespeak of the ide alised Brazil while the very con temporary, relevant aspects of her sound confronts her listeners with the actual Brazil—a country that cannot be dismissed as the home of Carmen Miranda and Carnaval, but one that has an identity and culture of value and importance. For this she should be commended. The concert itself bore few surprises. The tracks on Bebel’s release, Tanto Tempo, were cov ered flaw lessly while allowing room for m usical excursions beyond the confines of the album. Her band was exceptional and demonstrated an unusual cohesion

that was very refreshing. The high light of the evening, for me at least, was her rendition of ‘Aguas de Marco’. Forty years ago her father immortalised this sublime song and her version did it great justice. Listening to it bordered on a spiri tual experience, like hearing Femi Kuti perform his father’s ‘Water no get enemy’. It was moving, to say the least, and on the whole, the concert was the best I’ve yet seen in Montreal. I cannot end this review with out making mention of the opening act, Lullaby Baxter. This singerguitarist and drummer duo from Montreal were surprisingly good and ought to have been accorded more respect than the audience gave them. The drummer was per haps the best I have ever seen, if for no other reason than he did not alter his facial expression once for the duration of the set. Bearded, well into middle-age and of some girth, he played tin cans as well as regular drums with a look of pro found disinterest that hinted at selfconfidence beyond the scope of my imagination. He was, in the words of my friend, supremely cool. Just like the entire evening.

The Tribune's interview with WMM ly small bar in Saskatoon. What

Continued from Page 21 else? BB King at Centennial. Saf: I love reggae. It was really cool to me to see Ziggy Marley. Shaun: Yeah, Ziggy was great. Saf: It wasn’t Bob, but it was close. Shaun: And when the little kids were on stage, that was pretty cool. What else? Saf: James Brown. Earl: He played on St. Catherine street. Big Sugar, way way back in the day. Saf: Herbie Hancock at Montreux. Shaun: There’s really weird things too, like there was this guy in Saskatoon who played kind of a contraption that looked like a guitar on a saw-horse. There were these little things, like wooden things that he had made that pushed down on the strings. His left foot played chords, and his right food had this singer-machine pedal on it that would strum the strings. And with his hand he played violin, and with his mouth he played harp and sang. He also had a Henry Potter M*A*S*H hat with all the pins in it, and he wore this vest and he just sat in the fringe festival in Saskatoon and played these oldtime songs all by himself. Saf: Charlie Hunter was pretty cool. Shaun: Charlie Hunter was mind boggling! I’ll go on record saying that’s the only guitar player where I ’ve left the show thinking, “I know as little about how you do what you do close up than before I came in.” I can’t make any sense of him. He has three brains and four hands. Saf: B o zio ...h e’s from another planet. I saw that guy play, and

though “I am not a drummer, I’m n

Tribune: You’re just a guy who hits things? Saf: yup. Tribune: Why didn’t you print the lyrics from Stew? Earl: To be different. Saf: So you’d all talk about it. Shaun: (Laughing) So we can go on the site and go: “he’s got a black tie” ? I wasn’t saying that. I’ve found, Seal wrote this in his liner notes, that it’s more interesting when you have to figure them out. I don’t think w e’re doing a Radiohead thing where i t ’s so notenunciated and so computer manipulat ed that you can’t have any idea of what it is. 1 think Gordie’s mix ing is so in your face that you can’t help but get what it is. But also, when I get a CD with lyrics in it, and I read along with it and it takes away from the overall thing because you’re focussing on the lyrics going, “okay, when is the next line going to start. Okay, there it is. ” And it’s more of an experience without it.

there. Tribune: Too bad you don’t sound like the Backstreet Boys. Shaun: (laughing) well, there’s a fortunate and unfortunate side to that. But you know what? If it takes a while to build up...I loved dis covering Joni Mitchell in my mid twenties. I loved discovering Van Morrison a few years ago, because they have a back-catalogue of stuff to check out. It’s not like you have to hear their first record and wait a year to get their second. If it takes

Tribune: A lot of Earl Pereira plucks da funk Christa Bell people want you to start selling your C D ’s in the longer than there’ll be just more States. stuff for them to hear. Saf: Well, it’s just politics down

Tribune: So what’s your favourite song? Earl: Oooh...can’t be done. Shaun: Favourite album can’t be done...fav o u rite concert even, because they’ve all been different. It’s like, “what colour could you take away if you could take away any colour.” Tribune: Oh, that’s easy. Puce. Shaun: Oh, how can you take away Puce? That’s my favourite colour. Tribune: Or eggshell, or taupe, or any of those useless, lifeless, insipid colours. Shaun: (laughing) Oh okay, I’ll give you that one. Which song is really hard, because they all build up your love of music, and not just that one song. Tribune: As much as I love you guys and wish you every success in the world, I kind of like it that I can see you at places like this (small Montreal blues club) instead of the Molson Centre. Saf: Yeah, someone else said that to us too. She said that as much as she wanted everyone to know about us, she liked having us as her band. When you were talking earli er, the stuff about the masses, that’s what it all comes down to. Either way, we’re making music.

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TRIB picks Just because you have finals in the next two weeks doesn't mean you shouldn't go out, right? Here are some shows we recommend you check out between Sociological Perspectives and Cognition. Otherwise, you'll go nuts.

This Week Thursday

Gordon Downie and the boys come back to the Molson Center. The w ord on the street is th a t the Tragically Hip never ever d isa p p o in t live. No m atter the exhorb ita n t price, you should make a p o in t of seeing them once. Sun da y

G o d s p e e d You Black Emp ero r, the 'e xp e ri

m ental concept rock and roll !' band, play at the Olym pia in w hat should be the show of the m onth. Only balcony seats are s till available, but for $11.50, it's w orth it. Mon da y

Did you know that the Tea Party were huge in Australia? They are. Huge in Australia. They proba bly play in hockey arenas down there. Or rugby are nas. Anyway, they're play ing at Metropolis tonight in what's being billed as 'an intimate, pre-christmas club performance'.

Next Week W e dn e s d a y

Good luck getting tickets for Our Lady Peace at Club Soda. 400 tickets go on sale the night of the show, and you can bet some people will start queuing up the night before. So forget we even told you about this one. S at ur day

Ludovic Navarre, alias S t - G e r m a i n , the p io

neer o f French Touch, plays at the M etropolis to n ig h t. House of Blues says the show is at 9pm, Pollstar.com says it's at 11 pm. Either way, buy your tickets early. For tic k ts and in fo r m ation fo r all these shows, call the Adm ission o u tle t at 790-1245

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Nummy things that'll warm yer wintered-out heart The Tribune guide to mood-cooking C ontributed

G race C arter, Marie-H élene Savard , G eneve Stewart

Are you afraid of the kitchen? Cooking is FUN, guys. Entertaining. Artistic, even. You catch my drift? Here are some tough-to-botch recipes that will impress guests and make your tummy sing for joy.

Chewy Ginger Snaps The scenario? The computers in the Bronfman building crash and the stubborn dickhead in your mar keting group insists you truck all the way out to his house in Laval to fin ish your project. You would be a much happier camper if the group came to your small, but propitiously located apartment. You need incen tive, and quickly. The music? Um...Er...Uh... by Eric Mingus. He might be the offspring of the famous bassist Charles Mingus, but Eric’s style is like no one else’s. There’s something for everyone in your group: soul, jazz, blues, hiphop, punk-rock, even spoken word m ingle on a debut album that promises great things to come. 2 cups flour 1 TBSP ginger 1 TSP baking soda 1 TSP cinnamon 1/2 TSP salt 1 cup sugar 1 egg 1/4 cup molasses 3/4 cup margarine Mix it all up. Using your hands roll into balls slightly smaller than Ping Pong balls. Roll the balls in sugar. Space evenly on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes. Enjoy. (Special thanks for this recipe go to Colin George.)

Sweet Potato and Ginger Soup The scenario? Your ex’s new amor is a kickass chef, not to men tion good-looking, and disgustingly “nice”. He or she has benevolently

invited you to a holiday dinner with a few friends, and asked you to bring a starter. Deep in your heart, you know that for all the kindness of an invitation, the dinner is, in fact, nothing more than a ploy to make he or she look wonderful, while you squirm awkwardly at the other end of the table playing with your already crumpled napkin, your prof fered dish an abject failure with the diners. You walk to the mirror, flash yourself your best Johnny Carson grin, and decide that this time, it’s not going to happen. The music? Whoa Nelly! by Nelly Furtado Get this album in your stereo before Nelly goes supernova. This girl is fierce, and her sing-along songs drip with confidence. Whoa Nelly’s pop is mainstream enough to please everyone around the table, but her Portuguese/trip-hop influ ences are strong enough to create a fresh, original blend.

and

D ale W atson

Apple Berry Crisp

vanilla ice cream— I suggest Breyers all-natural vanilla.

The scenario? Swim-team pot luck dinner soon. Need big, uncontroversial dessert item to fill the bel lies of hungry athletes. Don’t know a spatula from a spade.

Pecan Pie

The music? I t’s a Cool Cool Christmas, Various Artists, Jeepster. This is a charity album with a difference. With artists like the Flaming Lips, G orky’s Zygotic Mynci, the Dandy Warhols and Saint Etienne and title tracks like ‘White Christmas (demo for Tom Waits)’, ‘Thank You Dreaded Black Ice, Thank You’ and ‘In the bleak midwinter’, this sounds like the anti holiday album of the year.

The music? Best o f Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, Verve. It’s sometimes hard to find music for parents, This time, why not play something that everyone 3/4 cup granulated sugar can enjoy? Ella and Louis will make 1/4 cup all-purpose flour you feel warm and fuzzy inside, and grated rind of 1 lemon the music is so soothing that you 4 cups sliced and peeled apples won’t even mind when your mom (about 4) 1 pkg (300g) frozen blueberries asks you for the hundredth time if 6 cups sweet potato, peeled and 1 pkg (300g) unsweetened you’ve been eating enough. cubed (about 3 large) frozen raspberries 3-1/2 cups chicken broth 2 cups fresh or frozen cranber 3 eggs, lightly beaten 1 tbsp minced gingerroot ries (I used 1 pkg frozen-300g) 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 unsweetened coconut milk 1 cup dark com symp (or plain milk) Topping: 1/4 cup butter, melted 3 tbsp fresh lime juice 1-1/2 cups quick-cooking 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 tsp salt rolled oats 1 cup pecan halves 1/4 tsp pepper 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 9 inch pie shell, unbaked 1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted 1/4 cup whole wheat flour ice cream or flavored whipped 1/4 chopped fresh cilantro 2 tsp cinnamon cream to serve 1/4 cup butter or soft mar Throw ginger, potatoes and garine, melted Preheat oven to 350 degrees. chicken broth in a big pot. Bring to Stir eggs, sugar, syrup, melted but a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and sim 1) In large bowl, stir together mer for ten minutes or until potatoes sugar, flour and lemon rind. Add ter, and vanilla in medium-sized bowl until well-blended. Arrange are tender. apples, blueberries, raspberries and Transfer to food processor or cranberries, stir gently to mix. pecan halves in bottom of pie shell in concentric circles. Pour blender; purée until smooth. Spoon into 13x9-inch baking dish. syrup mixture carefully into pie (Warning: if using a blender, ladle 2) Topping: in small bowl, stir in a little bit at a time to avoid together oats, sugar, flour and cinna shell, bake 50-55 minutes or until tip of knife, inserted in center comes mess.) mon, drizzle with butter and toss to Return to pot and whisk in mix. Spoon over fruit. Bake in 375 out clean. Cool on wire rack. When ready to serve, reheat coconut milk, lime juice, salt and degreee oven for 40-50 min or until and serve warm with vanilla ice pepper. Cook over low until just bubbling and topping is golden. cream or sweetened whipped cream. warmed through. Garnish with Serve warm or at room temperature. almonds and cilantro. Serving tip: Serve warm with Makes 5 servings of about 1 cup each.

The scenario? It’s two days before your exam and you have showered in 72 hours. Your sweat pants have begun to feel like they are part of your body. Your eyes are crossing from the insane amounts of reading you’ve been slogging your way through. You are living on a diet of coffee and nutri-grain bars. The thought of coffee and nutrigrain bars makes you want to yak. You wish there was some kind of perfect study food to get you through the next 48. The music? What are you doing listening to music? Turn off your stereo and work. 125 g old cheddar 1/2 cup butter 1 cup flour 1/2 tsp paprika 1jar stuffed olives Put the butter in the microwave until it’s soft. In a bowl, shred the cheddar and add the flour, the papri ka and the butter. Mix until you get a well-blended dough. If the dough doesn’t seem sticky enough, add more flour (otherwise, when you put them in the oven, the olives will melt). Cut the dough in two, wrap each blob in Saran-wrap and put in the freezer for 5 to ten minutes. Drain the olives. Wrap each olive with dough and roll between your palms until you get a perfectly shaped round ball. Repeat with all the olives. Because you get over 50 olives and it only takes about 5 to feel stuffed, freeze them for later consumption. Put them on a plate in the freezer for 15 minutes, then transfer them to plastic bags. When you’re ready to eat them, bake in oven at 400F for 10 minutes, or until the dough turns golden brown.

Driving Miss Daisy is Delight! Lots of laughs and a few tears at Centaur By Reed H ilton

FORGOT TO HAVE YOUR GRAD PHOTO TAKEN! DO IT A

The scenario? Mama and Papa are coming to visit for a few days. You want to prove to them that two and half years of parent-less life has made you into a marvellously selfsufficient animal worth your salt. You can wash your own dirty underwear, you can get decent grades, and you can make a mean pie. Oh yeah.

Hidden Olives

JOSTEN’S

P ackage D e a l $65.00 g ets a p h o to an d y e a rb o o k .

Call Studio Jostens anytime at 499-9999 or go to 1456 Drummond Street.

The Centaur theatre’s Driving Miss Daisy is a play not to be missed. My friends and I arrived late to the theatre. We figured that arriving at 8:02 for an 8:00 show would be satisfactory, but the Usher would not let us in. So along with twenty other people who had clearly shared the same notion, my friends and I sat in the lobby watching the play on screen until Usher-man felt it was appro priate to let us pass. (This was despite the fact that there were a few blackouts that would have been com pletely acceptable moments for us to enter, but apparently he gets his kicks by detaining people). At last we were admitted into a secret passage where we were told to be quiet. Once we were seated, the show took my attention right towards it. The set had lilac-

coloured wallpaper covered in daisies—really cute. The set had three ramps: one to depict Miss D aisy’s son, B oolie’s, office; another ramp with two tacky brown cab seats to represent the car; and last, a ramp to demon strate a sitting room. The representation of the car with the two seats did not really work, because it required the actors to mime the door, trunk, steering wheel, mirrors etc. I say, if you are not a professional mime don’t try to do it. Miss Daisy and her driver were supposed to be talking to each other through the rear-view mirror, but they had not connected their gazes properly. Other than that the play was flawless. The timing was dead on. Carolyn Hetherington, who played a charm ing M iss Daisy, was believable in her role and truly stole the show as a worthy succes sor of the late, beloved Jessica

Tandy. It was clear what Ardon Bess, who played Hoke, the driver, was trying to accomplish but his inter pretation was goofy, for lack of a better word. This interpretation lacked the depth and seriousness seen in Morgan Freeman’s perfor mance. Mo Bock played Miss Daisy's overachieving son, who was devoted to his overbearing mother but who paid more atten tion to his work. He captured a southern man trapped between his wife, work and mother to a tee. The play was fast paced and left the audience wanting more. I was really impressed with this play as I have been with the pro gression of the Centaur season to date.

E ntertainm ent

T he M c G ill T r ib u n e , T u e s d a y , 5 D ecem ber 2 0 0 0

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The McGill Special Investigative Team discovers the real meaning of Thanksgiving Be n S a s s o n an d the McGill Special Investigative Team his past weekend, noting my exhaustion and extrem e antipathy towards sunlight, the McGill Special Investigative Team sent me home for some wellneeded rest and relaxation. It was American Thanksgiving and my beloved comrades thought there to be no better a time for their Yankee correspondent to go back home to roost. Oh, how they were wrong. Everything was going fine until I decided to partake of that timehonored American holiday tradi tion, the Hollywood blockbuster. Oh horror of horrors! My local cineplexe just reopened with twice as many screens and stadium seat ing. The draw was so strong that I found myself there twice in twentyfour hours. To say the films I saw

were disappointing would be some thing of a lie. I knew what I was in for. Let’s just say that these two films, The Sixth Day and Little Nicky, respectively, denied me the peace of mind I so desired as they got me to thinking about what’s wrong with American cinema right now. I came seeking m indless entertainment, and I got it, but not without suffering a heavy blow to my media-integrity. The first on the chopping block is The Sixth Day. As far as Arnold Schwarzenegger films go, this one was all right. Unlike his last film, End of Days, which cast him as a mournful Bruce Willisesque widower, this new one has him in that most familiar and love able mode, Arnold the family man, fighting to win back his wife and child. There’s a wacky sidekick, played by M ichael R appaport, plenty of cheesy one-liners and oodles of high-tech gizmos and I

sets. Unfortunately, it’s when we get to the special effects aspects of this film that it begins to fall apart. The Sixth Day is a sci-fi action movie about cloning. Clones are not in themselves a very impressive special effects-intensive film spec tacle. They’re just people who look the same. All you need is some trick editing and maybe a mirror or two for those really tough shots (see the original Haley Mills mas terpiece, The Parent Trap if you don’t believe me). So, to add to the futuristic mise-en-scène we get a lot silly high-tech junk that adds very little to the story, but shows that the producers are making a very earnest attempt at wooing a diverse number of Arnold-loving consumer markets. Probably one of the coolest and one of the most frustrating ele ments of the movie are the trans form ing heli-jets that Schwarzenegger and Rappaport

Je cherche By D avid Barclay_________________________________ _

In case you missed last week’s issue, Je Cherche is a list of musical selections intended to transport you out of the ordinary.

Magnétophone I guess sometimes I need to be reminded of how much you love me

(4AD) There is a lot to hear from and about this duet’s pop magic. On top are melodic space keyboards with beautiful loopy effects. Meanwhile abrasive backbeats and totally naturally overdriven signals explode underneath. This may give you a headache, but not for its lack of pleasantness. This is a record of hard noise and soft sound sitting together with too much ease.

Beatles

Maxi On

(Emperor Norton) Another release of complex space sounds orchestrat ed with cute Japanese twee vocals and style. Recommended for Bjork fans and lovers of every thing smooth. This is the stuff that gets indie kids listening to electronica and ravers listening to French pop. The North American release also fea tures bonus tracks!

Gentle Waves Swansong For You

LP/CD (Jeepster) Hot on the heels of the recent EP comes the 2nd full length from Isobel Campbell. Backed by a massive group of guest musicians including most of her bandmates in Belle & Sebastian, Isobel puts forth a more orchestral effort of fragile pop that is similar to B&S’s most recent album. Sensitive college boys rejoice!

Talkology Volumes 1-3

JURASSIC 5

(Talkology)

W.O.E. Is Me Face it, everybody needs hip-hop, no matter how much they hated it back in high school. This is the second single from the “Quality Control’- album by L.A.'s premier revivalist hip-hop squad. Six cuts including mixes and two previously unreleased tracks.

Hot Water Music

Tricky Woo

Never Ender

Trouble

(No Idea)

7" (Estrus)

Takato Minekawa

Tricky Woo's last release was considered a com plete disappointment by many of their fans, mainly due to the fact that they were unable to finish any song in under 4 minutes. What kind of rock and roll is that? Now picked up by Estrus, the best garage rock label in North America, Tricky Woo tries to set things straight with another step in their garageevolving psychedelic sound. So when are they gonna play their hometown?

special effects trap, but follows the even worse trend of masquerading highly marketable technology as a plot. Little Nicky is basically a video game with movie based on it. In one of the most graceless plot expositions in recent memory, the film, in its first ten minutes estab lishes Adam Sandler’s Nicky as Mario. The film could be called Super Nicky Brothers. Nicky must complete his goals in the game world, New York in a set amount of time (before his dad disinte grates). He gets unlimited lives because every time he dies he just goes back to Hell, which is his home. He has power-ups and spe cial items like his magical flask that he must use to complete the game. He transforms at different j points into different super-powered forms. At one point he shoots rain bows, at another point fire, he even m akes him self into a m illion Nicky-headed spiders. To be sure, as in The Sixth Day, the awful plot allows for some very entertaining scenes, but overall leaves a bad taste in your j mouth. I mean, a talking dog, for God’s sake! Even Taco Bell decid ed that one was too lame to keep | going indefinitely. Beefy, Sandler’s wisecracking bulldog companion is horribly unfunny. He pees acid and at one point shoots a spear from his | crotch, but basically he’s just a way for the very lazy scriptwriters to tie up loose ends and hopefully make the movie more successful in the overseas market where the highly colloquial dialogue probably won’t translate well. This would seem to confirm my suspicion that Thanksgiving movie-going tradi tion only works if you’re so loaded on booze and turkey that you can’t follow the plot anyway.

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12" ( Rawkus)

For those of you who sneer at the hype sounding the new Beatles “ I” record (because you already have all the tracks on first pressing 45s), Talkology has assembled for delight and chuckles the brilliant press conference banter of the Beatles during their snotty prime (‘64-‘66). Grab the three volumes, (the third being their 1966 Japan dates), 60 minutes each.

Florida produced many great hardcore bands during the ‘90s, bands who played insanely fast. Hot Water Music managed to add brilliant emotional contrast and control and gave classic Florida hardcore new depth and a positive attitude, earning them respect and praise from all over. This interesting full-length offers lots of energy.

pilot. The animation and design for these vehicles is very well done and the chase scenes featuring them are stunning. Of course the only reason why they are in the movie at all is to flesh out a very lame plot point. Arnold’s business runs charter flights for extreme ath letes who are so good at snow boarding that they need a half-helicopter-half-jet thingie to get them to the tops of the hills they board on. If this idea didn’t come from a focus group, it should have. If this movie had been about Arnold the futuristic pilot who has to fly dar ing missions and fight in some kind of apocalyptic war, I would have loved it, but no, this one has to be about Arnold the average Joe who runs a flying taxi service. Great action potential is wasted on rockdumb faux-hip, faux-thought-provoking plot points. Along these lines, we see high-tech football helmets that tell you the best plays to make, remark ably creepy robot dolls, and cloning tanks that look like they could have been lifted directly from The Matrix. All of this exists only to pad the very skimpy plot idea that Bill Gatesian monopolis tic biomedical/media moguls are bad. The editing is terrible, relying heavily on jumpy, sped-up flash backs and clunky computer-ani mated dissolves to shots of cells dividing. These techniques make crucial scenes, like those in which characters are killed or cloned, needlessly confusing and hard to follow. It’s as if the producers asked the director to go for that “MTV sty le” and he used Madonna’s ‘Ray of Light’ video as his template, thinking that kinetic energy and trippy stop-motion pho tography were one in the same. Little Nicky too, falls into this

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