The McGill Tribune Vol. 21 Issue 3

D e a r G e o rg e , s u c h an in h u m a n a c t m u st n o t go u n p u n ish e d ."

-V la d im ir P u tin ine.com

Desensitizing a nation Peter Koven

“When you live with apes, man, it’s hard to be clean. ” —Marilyn Manson In 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, killing thousands. A truly horrific attack, one of the worst in modern world history.

In 2001, the story of what hap­ pened was adapted by Hollywood into a romantic drama featuring Ben Affleck of all people, and utter disregard was given to what hap­ pened for the benefit of some good ol’-fashioned entertainment.

In 1912, the Titanic sunk, killing hundreds. Another tragic event, although all was apparently forgiven when James Cameron’s 1997 “adaptation” of the catastro­ phe made over one billion US dol­ lars.

Last Tuesday, terrorists killed thousands in America and left the country in chaos.

Jesus.

Any attempt to fathom, or make sense of what happened last Tuesday is literally a lost cause. Not because we do not understand what happened, but because we literally cannot put it in words. The horrible knowledge of what happened, the images we’ve seen repeated so many times on CNN exceed any possible effort to make sense of them, to dis­ cuss them or to draw some sort of understanding and acceptance out of them. We refuse to believe that in our so-called enlightened times that such a thing may happen, and when it does, we are left in such states of shock and disbelief that we watch in a morbid sort of stunned Please see RECONCILING, page 12

U.S. incidents may lead to surge in anti-Arab prejudice Ian Speigel

Nearly a week after two of the tallest buildings in the world were destroyed by hijacked aircraft, legions of firemen, police, troops, and medical personnel are still pick­ ing through the rubble. Though they are unlikely to find anything living, this terrible tragedy has birthed, among other things, a backlash against Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims.

At the time the Tribune went to press, there was still no definitive proof as to the identity of the ter­ rorists, or that Osama bin Laden — a wealthy Saudi terrorist and arguably the world’s most wanted

criminal — was involved.

Preliminary reports, however, have pointed at Islamic fundamen­ talists and bin Laden. Civilian repercussions have already begun in the United States, where a Texas mosque came under gunfire.

Though no racially motivated violence has been reported on cam­ pus, McGill’s Muslims and Arabs are wary.

“I stayed home last [Tuesday] night, trying to stay away from public places. I was given looks in the metro and I have heard a lot stories going around,” said Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights President, Ahmed Abu Safia.

Though the McGill and

Montreal communities have hither­ to remained free of any racially motivated violence, there have already been reports of slurs and discrimination.

“A guy came up to our infor­ mation table and we asked if he wanted to join our mailing list. And he goes, ‘Ya, send me an e-mail on how to make bombs,’” said Abu Safia.

“And yesterday I was walking by on campus and there were three girls talking. One of them said we should sweep away the entire Middle East.”

This is not the first time that the world’s one billion Muslims have been held accountable for the

N O W

actions of a tiny extremist fraction, but it may become the most acri­ monious.

Arab discrimination was preva­ lent during the 1991 Gulf War , but world opinion was split after the month-long war ended. Notable countries like France and Russia opposed the continued US military operations in the region.

This time, however, the entire world —minus Iraq and select oth­ ers —united to condemn the WTC strike as an affront against humani­ ty. Never before in its 52-year exis­ tence has NATO invoked Article V, unanimously declaring the hijack attacks on the U.S. to be an assault Please see POTENTIAL page 11

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2 News

The M cG ill Tribune, Monday, September 17, 2001

M c G ill reacts to the W T C tra g e d y Mike Bargav and Neil Schnurbach

Few things rank higher on the scale o f metaphysical uncertainty than the collapse o f the Twin Towers and the collision o f a passenger jet with the military wing o f the Pentagon w ithin the gap o f barely an hour. Taglines have made their deluge as quickly as multi-angle footage o f 767s oblit­ erating the W orld Trade C enter and fingers pointed toward elusive malefactors. T he dizzying hum drum o f Peter Jennings and the inklings o f a Jerry Bruckheimer film gone horribly wrong aside, registering the events o f Tuesday as ranking amongst the largest single event in American history is an endeavor bordering on impossiblility. As is often the case with the active participants in history, the broad scope o f the event stands pale before the hum an face it takes on. From the jaded throngs packed into ferries across the H udson to weary eyed travellers stranded in airports, the aftermath o f a an event hitting so close to home, if no t in your own backyard, is one that is felt acutely by all.

R ic h a rd

C hoi “I’m sorry th a t so m an y in n o c en t people died. N o o n e deserves to die in th a t fash­ ion. H u m a n life is im p o rta n t w h e th er A m erican o r otherw ise. A t th e sam e tim e, we have to th in k th a t n o th in g happens for n o reason. A m erican people sh o u ld begin to reflect o n th e foreign policy o f th eir ow n g o v ern m en t. I also believe th a t m ore retal­ iato ry violence will n o t beget peace.”

G a lit R u b e n s te in “There’s nothing to say. There are not enough words. I don’t think that people understand the real ramifications o f what went on. I believe that life will change in Canada. People have to reconsider their basic privacy because security will have to play a bigger role. I also believe that what happened in the US happened to Canada too. We cannot separate ourselves from the U S.”

G re ta

K a te

R e d k in

“I’m from New York. I don’t know anyone trapped in the the W orld Trade Center. But the W orld Trade Center is gone. T h at was so m uch building and now it’s just gone. So m any people died. It’s ridiculous. I’ve been glued to my TV, radio and the internet for three days.

The vigil last night was nice. T he U nited States should find these people and go after them . Nail their asses to the wall, nothing else will do.”

P a p a g e o rg iu

“For me w hen I first heard, I was at McGill and I was sitting w ith other stu­ dents whose families were from New York. They were intensely focused on the TV. A lot o f them haven’t heard from their families. T h at really struck close to home. N orth American people have never lived in fear in our daily lives.

This has changed everything.”

The M cGill Tribune, Monday, September 17, 2001

N e il V e r m a

S te p h e n

News 3

M a n fre d i

“I don’t know w hat to say. It was tragic.

H opefully these people will be brought to jus­ tice. It’s tough because we’re dealing w ith terrorists. We have to balance the lives o f innocent civilians w ith the lives o f people who hide behind smoke and mirrors. Regardless o f w hat the President and Congress do, action m ust be firm so this won’t happen again.”

“I think that the m ost signifi­ cant thing for me is the complete inablility to prepare and to prevent terrorist action. This is the first time in my lifetime that interna­ tional politics has changed since the Berlin Wall came dow n.”

Airport talk at Dorval: H e rv e

L o ren

D o b k in

“I’m very concerned about the retaliation against Arabs even at McGill. I’ve seen graffiti that says “Fuck you Arabs!” and that is extremely upsetting to me. People are mainly reacting to Bush’s com m ents about rage. T he media also played up the assum ption that Arabs attacked, validating a lot o f hatred.”

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“We’ve been at the airport for a long time and the officials here are telling us nothing. All we know is that there is a good chance that our flight will be cancelled.

We need to get back to France soon. We don’t have the money to sleep at a hôtel.

A nd I have to get back to work for Monday. We are waiting for the Transport M inister o f Canada to make a decision.”

“I don’t think that something like these attacks could happen in Canada. It seems to me that Canada is a more neutral country than the USA. They are like the younger brother o f the U nited States.”

“I’d like to get back to France. I would feel more secure there. We’re scared and we don’t want to stay here. We especially don’t w ant to sleep in the airport.”

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E llio t A s b u r y “There’s not m uch to say. T h a t is the m ost devas­ tation that was ever experienced in our lifetime. T he US should react w ith full force. Find those bastards and bring them to justice, whatever that entails. I support the President and all o f his actions.”

O P E N

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P U B L IC

Sexual A ssau lt M A Y include gang rape, acquaintance assault, rape, stalking, abuse, sexual harassment, dom estic violence, molestation, incest and/or any experience o f violation.

“Well a little bit scared, bu t I think it will be all right. It hap­ pened, b u t I d on’t think it’s going to hap­ pen in every single plane.

I d on’t really believe it will happen in Canada. It’s a very respected co u n try in the world. It can hap­ pen just to the USA.”

4 News

The M cG ill Tribune, Monday, September 17, 2001

N EW S BRIEFS

A m erican trag ed y strik e s clo se to SSM U Omar Sachedina

The first official Students’ Society of McGill University council meeting began on a somber note last Thursday night, as president Jeremy Farrell acknowledged the heinous nature of the terrorist attacks in the United States.

Farrell, whose own cousin and uncle just barely escaped from the World Trade Center in New York, started the meeting by reading the text of President Bernard Shapiro’s press release, which was distributed

the day of the attack.

In addition, the SSMU President said he spoke with Shapiro directly, who offered his help for stu­ dents affected by the tragedy.

However, Shapiro decided not to shut down the university — a move that was criticized by many students.

“The reason why he did that is because he felt that in no way should these events really change how we go about doing things. At the same time, in speaking to the President, he said there is no appropriate way to handle an event such as this. He does not think this is adequate or

appropriate, but does think this is the best thing we should do as an institution,” Farrell said.

“The reason why we kept class­ es open is because when you do something like [shut down the uni­ versity], it increases the anxiety...But where I take issue is that McGill kept classes going on as usual. I think that although we should have kept our doors open and classes should have been available, it should have been made very clear that no one was going to be penalized for missing school, classes, or anything else...I made that aware to many dif­

ferent people who advise the Principal,” he said.

Farrell further added that the biggest security threat is the poten­ tial for hatred among the student body.

“Some students have used emo­ tions of sadness, hatred, and anger, and [passed] that on to other stu­ dents through harassment and big­ otry...Our biggest concern is each other. So I ask that we do remember that we are all here for the same rea­ son, that we’re all McGill students, and that if we can just remember to treat each other with respect.”

Not a M anagem ent S tu d e n t ...

A t t e n d th e M anagem ent Career Fair!

M cG ill Security maintains o rd e r

Security measures were stepped up at McGill following the tragic incidents that took place in the United States last Tuesday. Extra foot patrollers were placed on duty primarily to meet with troubled stu­ dents and provide assistance in directing them to the proper resources and staff.

“The same thing was done dur­ ing Frosh, and it made things run a lot more smoothly,” said McGill’s Supervisor of Security Services Louise Savard, who stated that extra personnel are always on call in the case of special situations or events.

“It is the university’s policy to provide security at any large gather­ ing or event,” stated Savard, who cited the planned presence of securi­ ty agents at last Wednesday’s can­ dlelit vigil outside the Arts Building and last Friday’s vigil at Pollock Hall.

Savard also said that while there have been alleged reports of major disturbances around campus, she confirmed that these were unfound­ ed rumors.

“There have been rumors of fights, cancelled classes, and even a rally from Concordia approaching McGill last Thursday, but none of these things actually happened,” related Savard. She said that the sup­ posed Concordia rally turned out to be a group of students who were planning on attending a cancelled rally that was to be held last Thursday by Hillel, McGill’s Jewish student association.

With regard to rumors of a pos­ sible bomb threat on campus, Savard said that there have thankful­ ly been no such problems. She did however explain how such a rumor could have been started.

“An unidentified object was reported at the garage of Burnside Hall [last week]. It caused some worries, but it was found that the box merely contained alcohol.”

“It’s been a sad time for every­ one, but it has nonetheless been very calm and peaceful.”

-John Sciascia H em a-Q uebec extends hours

Bring your McGill ID & Dress to Impress!

For further Information, please visit the Career & Placement Service CAPS website @ w

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M cG ill M a n a g e m e n t C areer Fair

September 20, 2 0 0 1 1-3 PM @ The Omni Hotel (across fr o m B ro n fm a n )

Hema-Quebec is extending its hours and opening additional clin­ ics to accommodate a rush of peo­ ple eager to' donate blood to help the crisis in the United States.

The nearest center to McGill is the Prefontaine Metro stop at 2991 Sherbrooke St. East, which will be open from 9a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and from 8:30a.m. to 7:30p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Natalie Ruskin and Claudia Carravetta, U3 students at McGill, spent Wednesday distributing fly­ ers informing students of how they can donate. They were cheered by the consistendy positive response.

-Carly Johnson

The M cGill Tribune, Monday, September 17, 2001

Students glued to TV as news of attack hits home

McGill students unite with candlelight vigil

A candlelight vigil was held on the steps of the Arts building last Wednesday to commemorate the victims of the worst terrorist attack ever in North America.

At least two hundred students gathered outside the central build­ ing on campus to pray, sing and voice their grief over those who were lost.

Some in attendance had felt the blow of the catastrophe directly one student was reduced to tears as she spoke about her father, who nar­ rowly escaped from the World Trade Center.

Others, who were less directly affected, showed up simply as an expression of solidarity and support.

Anya Antonovych, who coordi­ nated the vigil along with four friends, said that it was necessary as a forum for students to voice their grief openly.

“I think something like this provides a sense of community.

McGill is so competitive and so big, and people needed to stop that life for a while. They needed a place to come,” she said.

All of the organizers stressed that the purpose of the vigil was to unify, not to place blame.

“We didn’t want it to be a reli­ gious or social thing, although we didn’t mind people [of various reli­ gious affiliations] reciting their own prayers,” said Maria Kennedy. “It was more about needing to know that others felt the same way.”

Accordingly, the vigil included a Hebrew prayer, a communal singing of “God Bless America,” and one student’s plea not to let the “actions of a small minority” incite hate or violent retaliation on cam­ pus. One Israeli student reportedly came and hugged a Muslim student, saying, “Peace has to start with us.”

While there was a police officer patrolling the area to maintain order and keep away off-campus photog­

raphers, there were no stirrings of violence. “There have been no problems to this point,” said Jonathan Daigneault of the Montreal Police Department, two hours into the vigil.

The vigil was the result of five students’ decision, in the eleventh hour, to provide an otherwise unavailable emotional outlet for those who had been directly affect­ ed.

“We decided to do it [Wednesday] morning. You could­ n’t walk anywhere on campus with­ out hearing people talk about it — but no one was doing anything,” said Kai Fierle-Hedrick.

Many students said that they were encouraged by the warm recep­ tion and support they received on campus and in the community; Copy Nova provided free photocopy services while the McGill Amnesty International club donated candles.

The more than $250 contributed by students in attendance will be donated to the Red Cross.

While some find the round-the clock news coverage excessive, Raudsepp disagrees.

“I don’t think it’s been exces­ sive. I think it’s essential that there be extensive coverage and contin­ ued coverage. I think the coverage has to go on almost around the clock because people want to catchon. I wasn’t able to see the televi­

sion reports initially because of my job, but I wanted to come home and see it as soon as I could. I did­ n’t want to wait until the ten o’clock news,” said Raudsepp.

“I think everyone has the option of turning it off — they don’t have to listen to it or read it.

After a while, you do become numbed.”

But Zinman, it seems, won’t be turning his television set off any­ time soon.

“There’s been nothing seen like this in my lifetime, certainly not in the students’ lifetimes, either — the Gulf War, nothing. This is the most significant thing to happen on US soil since Pearl Harbor.”

ra p id ly -e v o lv in g

tr a n s p o r ta tio n

David Clark and Carly Johnson

Omar Sachedina

As news of the terrorist attacks on the United States hit Montreal, students from around McGill scrambled to access whatever infor­ mation they could about the situa­ tion, some anxiously waiting to hear about the status of their loved ones, others simply shocked by the catastrophe.

Newspapers that would nor­ mally take the better part of the day to sell flew off the shelves at Maison de la Presse Internationale on St. Catherine, a worker there said.

“We’ve received four times as many copies of the New York Times and all of the US papers, and they’re just gone. We can’t get any more.”

At the Arthur Currie Gymnasium, each of the five televi­ sions in the sports complex was tuned in to the news.

“The television is usually turned on the morning, and people can shut it off or change the chan­ nel. But so far, no one has done that. Everyone wants to watch,” said Alexis Osepchook, a staff member.

Howard Zinman, front-desk receptionist at Royal Victoria College residence, said interest in the story has been unprecedented.

M a p

“The television’s been on non­ stop. The T.V. room’s never been this packed. You had students from Upper Residence coming down [here]. We have a lot of students from New York — one girl whose brother lives about five blocks away from the World Trade Center, so there was a lot of panic from her until she finally heard from him,” Zinman said.

“If it isn’t CNN, it’s CBC, and people wondering what the Canadian side of things are a little bit, whether the terrorists made their way over the border from here.

Even when our cable wasn’t work­ ing due to construction, we only had audio, and people were sitting around listening to the television, and watching static.”

Enn Raudsepp, Director of Concordia University’s Department of Journalism believes the attacks to be “certainly the most dramatic and shocking event of anyone’s life­ time.”

“I was born in the last yearand-a-half of the Second World War, during the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and I don’t remember any of it...This sit­ uation [the attack on the United States] is more immediate,” he said.

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O p inion

E d ito ria l Letters to the editor

E D I T O R I A L

C o m p a ris o n s

"All woe and sorrow life inflicts its worst On soul and body, — but we cannot die. ”

P e a rl H a rb o r —Elizabeth Akers Allen

Fighting a faceless enemy Neil Schnurbach

to

______________________

December 7, 1941 was a terrible day in both American and world his­ tory, but it was so easy. The question of response was never posed after Pearl Harbor was attacked. The Japanese attacked so there was no other option but to declare war on Japan.

But what is to be done now?

Should the United States declare war on countries such as Afghanistan, that is harbouring known terrorists including the notorious Osama bin Laden? Should the United States (and a coalition of other countries in the “free world”) declare war on terrorism and just attack all countries where there are suspected terrorists?

These solutions are obviously the easy way out, but they solve noth­ ing.

If the US nukes Afghanistan, it will be the civilians that suffer. And if that is the case, are the Americans behaving any better than the terror­ ists that attacked them?

But then, of course, what will the publics reaction be if the United States does nothing at all? And if the terrorists involved are arrested is there any indication that a horrific act like this will not happen again?

What remains clear in this whole mad scene is that there are more questions than answers. The United States and especially President Bush are in the most difficult position imaginable in terms of how to act.

One thing that President Bush and the American people should not do is scapegoat. And that seems to be precisely what has happened.

Aside from the friends and family of those in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the biggest victims in this whole tragedy are the ArabAmerican people. These people are facing an extreme amount of scrutiny just because of what certain members of their community may or may not have done. A huge wrong would be committed if Americans do not learn from the mistakes of their past. Let us not forget, for example, the inhu­ mane internment of thousands of innocent Japanese Americans during World War II. Moreover, everyone must remember that many civilians of Arab descent worked in the World Trade Center. They are victims just like everyone else in the United States. There are also many Arab Americans who have lived in the United States for many years and have absolutely no ties to any terrorist activities.

The North American community must remember that we are facing an enemy without a face. North Americans believe in good guys and bad guys, but what happens if we don’t really know who the bad guy is?

The answer is not to discriminate against an ethnic group just because it is the easy way out. That mistake was made in Germany during the eco­ nomic depression and it resulted in the tragic consequences of the Nazi regime.

o ff-b a se The immediate comparison drawn by media pundits of last Tuesdays sadistic and twisted attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon was that of Pearl Harbor.

That link is completely offbase. The reason: Pearl Harbor was a military action against navy per­ sonnel, an overt declaration of war by an expansionist Japanese empire bent on world domination.

The terrorist attack in New York City and Washington last week was perhaps even more scary than Pearl Harbor. The reason: Its target was not military personnel but innocent civilians, not responsi­

when a seemingly crazed suicide bomber walked into a discotheque and detonated himself, twenty peo­ ple were killed and hundreds of oth­ ers were wounded. The bombing set off a virtual chain reaction in Israel, with several other suicide bombers —hailed as heroes by their compa­ triots — becoming martyrs and taking innocent civilians with them to the grave. Now it appears that it

ble for any past political foibles or imperialistic intentions of the United States. They were ordinary folks, going about their daily rou­ tines, not interested in harming a soul. This past summer I was sup­ posed to travel to Israel for 10 days on an educational trip sponsored by Charles Bronfman. I didn’t go large­ ly because of the tragic events which unfolded in Tel Aviv in late June

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Assistant Editor-in-Chief N e il S c h n u rb a c h

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The M cGill Tribune, Monday, September 17, 2001

Op/Ed 7

O p in io n ^ E d it o ria l isn’t just in the Middle-East that walking down the street, or going into work is a major hazard. It is scary to think of the precedent set this sum­ mer, where innocent civilians have become embroiled in the religious/geopolitical battles of fanatical militants. The 20th century was characterized by terror and brutality, and now the 21st century is off to a very ominous start.

-Jeremy Kuzmarov, M.A History

H ow

to

re a c t?

The pragmatic response to this terrorist act, an encompassing and thorough counter-attack, may hopefully clear the way to a more peaceful world. But it would be a mistake to label the terrorist an alien, a fundamentally evil creature with whom we have no relation.

Human beings are violent in every aspect of our lives, to greater or lesser degrees. Violence and the fear it creates is how power is delin­ eated, divided; and it is through these tools that the world becomes shaped and formed. In our appli­ cations of violence, the only thing that is different is the degree of pain it causes. The only thing that is the same is the feeling at the end of the act: the hollow feeling that no true justice or meaning to life will ever be found.

Eric Warwaruk, 1st year, MA Communications

D u e to s p a c e c o n ­ s tra in ts c e r ta in L e tte r s to th e E d ito r a n d S to p th e p re s s c o u ld n o t be r u n . W e w ill d o o u r b e s t to in c lu d e th e m in n e x t w e e k 's is s u e .

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O N L Y

The Peace Day that wasn t Justin Renard

o commemorate and strengthen the ideals of peace both within and among all nations of the world, the United Nations General Assembly in 1981 proclaimed the opening day of its regular session as the International Day of Peace. This year, that day was to be September 11, 2001.

Last Tuesday was no day of peace. It was definitely not like any other Tuesday New York City, Washington D.C. or the US has ever witnessed. Instead, in my mind at least, last Tuesday is a day that will act as a indicator of the necessary commitment to co-operative accept­ ance that is to perpetuate peace in this world.

When I am reminded of the images depicted in newspapers and on television, I am most struck by the images of survivors making their way out of the clouds of smoke and ash. They all look the same. Groups of faceless individuals, arm-in-arm, are all victims of the same surrealis­ tic tragedy.

But that is just it, when the smoke finally clears and the fires are finally smothered, the victims that remain are faceless, or rather “race­ less.” Because it makes no difference

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what race they are or what national­ ity they are for that matter. They are people; human beings that live, for the most part, harmoniously.

Moreover, the problem is not merely that these equally faceless killers attacked innocents of the US or declared war on the American way of life, they have struck (down) on peace itself. And if it was the intention to hurt America or hurt capitalism, then they have failed.

For there is no better way to unite a people than in the face of a common enemy. If anything, once America has healed from the destruction of the WTC and Pentagon, and more importantly the loss of so many significant lives, America will still be there. And not only will she still be there, America will be stronger.

This does not go without say­ ing that the US is without its own flaws-that I, myself an American, have fallen accustomed to casting a blind eye to atrocities in other nations or allowing ignorance of for­ eign happenings to fester within because it was easy.

In Americas own immenstiy of ego, it too has so easily forgotten that proverbial “little guy.” But as big as the American ego may be, no individual or body of government deserved such a blatant and coward­ ly strike.

H A S

Notice now that I referred to the terrorists as killers. And mind you, that is exactly what they are.

They did not attack, strike, fire upon or thrust at any military body.

Instead the killers murdered inno­ cent people on a massive scale.

Again, this was their clear intention.

When I learned of the mass murder takaing place minutes away from my own hometown New Jersey, I wanted everyone to know. I want everyone to realize. I do not want anyone to forget that this changes things.

Tragedy changes things. In this case, tragedy has strengthened us.

For many it may not seem so, but as we have unnecessarily been fed a dose of harsh reality for now, we have something to work toward.

We must continue to save the faceless victims. We must begin to save ourselves. We must work toward saving peace, for it too is a victim here. One thing is for sure, if anyone can save peace it will not be Americans, it will.not be Canadians and it will absolutely not be the face­ less killers. Peace will be the faceless victims, the faceless survivors, and the faceless heroes of our world.

There was no Peace on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. There will however be peace, tomorrow and in the Tuesdays to come.

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T h e M c G ill T r ib u n e , Monday, September 17 , 2001

Facing a new terror: foreign policy implications E x p e rts a n s w e r q u e s tio n s Kate Welch As buildings and the national sense of security crumbled in America, the rest of the world watched the surreal, movie-like images on the news. Along with compassion and concern for those involved, the international commu­ nity also resounded with questions about the future. What does this horrific act say about the changing nature of terrorism? What are the implications for US foreign policy?

And, if, as is suspected, terrorists entered the US through Canada, what effect will this have on Canadian foreign policy?

Heading the list of suspects

Recent Beginnings

Eight years ago, in 1993, the bombings at the World Trade

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Centre that killed six people were a terrible pre-cursor to this week’s Rex Brynen, professor of polit­ events. These bombings were also a ical science specializing in Middle sign of a new type of terrorism: mil­ East politics and post-conflict itant extremists acting with very lit­ reconstruction, said that the level of tle state support. According to cooperation by various countries Maher Othman of the Arabic news­ will be key in determining US for­ paper, Al Hayat, many terrorist eign policy. Jordan, for example will organisations are based outside of be a key state in the US intelligence their respective countries. These efforts to uncover the network of organisations have become so wide­ Osama bin Laden. spread that it is difficult to trace In an interview with CBC news them. on September 12, former US Former US Assistant Secretary Undersecretary of State and of Defence Lawrence Korb wrote in Washington expert on counter-ter­ a 1998 BBC News article: “The rorism, Philip Wilcox, also pointed changing face of terrorism, pointed out that the US will seek extensive out that the informal structure of cooperation with its allies around these groups makes intelligence the world. operations problematic. This is He highlighted the paradox of a problem that cannot be solved the prevention question:, saying by any single state - it has to be Free societies cannot absolutely pre­ the international community.” vent acts of terrorism. Wilcox did These insights of 1998, in admit that civil aviation security 1 response to terrorist bombings needed improvement, but empha­ X in East Africa, are incredibly sized that complete invulnerability pertinent to the events of this of a state undermines free society. week. The importance of an [This paradox can also be seen in international response cannot the Canadian border issue. While it be underestimated, as was has not yet been determined pointed out by UK Prime whether Canada was actually a Minister Tony Blair, and launching point for the attack, the President George W. Bush finger-pointing has already begun.] immediately following the ----attack. Bush remarked the next W here Canada fits in day that America “will rally the world against the evil forces of terBrynen believes that the impli­ cations for Canada would be increased pressure, both domestical­ Key Supporters ly and from the US, to tighten bor­

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der security, and implement more restrictive refugee processes. He emphasized that there are no easy solutions, as it is relatively easy to file a false refugee claim. Sorting the false claimants from true refugees is a near-impossible task.

Another issue remaining is how to deal with false claimants. The

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nature of terrorism. He pointed out that the terrorists of today are motivated by fanatic or religious ideology, and conventional methods of investiga­ tion and punishment are in large part irrelevant. Wilcox concluded that the pathology of suicide bomb­ ing must be thoroughly examined in order to understand this threat, and any possible preventative or punitive measures.

Brynen stressed the unprece­ dented nature of the attack on the US, designed to maximize civilian casualties on a scale not previously seen. He also pointed out the will­ ingness with which these casualties were inflicted, in contrast to previ­ ous acts of terrorism which did have some (if rather ill-defined) limits.

Terrorism's Changing Face

Australian model is to detain such claimants in prison camps. In con­ trast, false claimants in Canada are released into the general public with the hope of locating them should deportation be necessary. Neither model is ideal, but Brynen did point out the failure on the part of the media to recognize the vast numbers of lives that have been saved by Canadian refugee policies.

Wilcox expanded on the diffi­ culties of fighting the changing

Limits, safety and confidence were all blown apart on September 11, 2001. What the world now awaits is the US reaction and poten­ tial retaliation. Professor of International Politics at McGill University, T.V. Paul, mentioned in his lecture the day after the brutal events that the US may have to retaliate for credibility reasons, to preserve its superpower status.

Statements filled with the rhetoric of war by President George W. Bush that the US will not make any dis­ tinction between those who com­ mitted these acts and those who harPlease see WAR, page 11

Com ing to term s w ith an atrocious reality Justin Renard For many students at McGill, walking around campus and down­ town Montreal, it seems as though nothing has happened. So far away from the actual events that took place Tuesday, an eerie normalcy prevails. That is except for McGill’s flag, sadly billowing at half mast atop the Arts building last week. It would seem that flag herself was megerly coping with tragedy.

No one would argue that McGill is not alone in its stuggle to

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deal. Much of the difficulty, is not knowing how to face the truth of what has taken place last week. In an interview with the Director of Mental Health Services, Norman Hoffman explains what it means to cope and what students and faculty can do about it.

Hoffman spoke of three major categories of reaction intensity rela­ tive to a tragedy. The first category is the general reactions which include some shock or horror and certain feelings of unreality. The second category includes reactions

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from people close to the events, those who know someone in suffarence. The third main category is made of those who have experi­ enced previous tragedies of their own.

For each tragedy there are typi­ cal, identifiable responses to tragic discovery, and then there are ways to cope.

In describing normal reactions, Hoffman explained: "It upsets peo­ ple’s sense of reality. People feel the world has changed...[students] deal by talking with friends and family.

They try to connect with their nor­ mal world."

Hoffman told of people going back to work in New York because they didn’t know what else to do.

But this is normal he added.

In the second category Hoffman described: "All the feel­ ings are much more intense. These are real feelings of grief and mourn­ ing. Here the need to reconnect with family and friends is very important. You need to express your

grief and getting support is extreme­ ly important."

The more dangerous of the cat­ egories is the third in which, Hoffman informed, individuals have a difficulty differentiating between the past trauma and the present one, He explained that intense feelings of unsafe are brought up and sufferers need some real recognition.

But in times following horrific tragedy, getting back to normal is often the hardest part. Whether an American student, a Canadian stu­ dent, an interna­ tional student, faculty member, directly involved or not, McGill has made extensive efforts to address the days, weeks and months ahead for the many

who may find accepting reality a trying endeavour.

As more and more were informed of the terrorist attrocities performed in New York and Washington D.C. on Tuesday, the McGill International Student Network (MISN), Mental Health

Services, Counseling Services, Health Services, Student Aid and Please see COPING, page 10

Th e M cG ill Tribune, Monday, September 17, 2001

Features 9

Left asking why...

- photos by Pat Fok & Jenny George

(counterclockwise starting from top) heartbroken students join in a candle light vigil on Arts steps, stranded passangers at Dorval International Airport await the opening of American airspace, flagdraped over silently grieving student at Wednesday night vigil, McGill visibly increases security presence around campus, police clocking in overtime at Dorval, glued to seats as new develop­ ments come

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10 Features

Th e M cG ill Tribune, Monday, September 17, 2001

Retrospex - The Trib @ Raquel Kirch________________

The fol­ lowing edi­ torial origin a 1 1 y appeared in the McGill Tribune on January 25, 2000.

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

-Martin Luther King Jr. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Terrorism and paranoia in North America

by Rhea Wong Stories about Algerian ter­ rorists sneaking their way into America with carloads of bombs and agendas for destruction have erupted all over the media.

Trumped up charges of international Islamic conspira­ cies and secret societies have fueled the North Americans’ imagination in a way that only a good o f fashioned Commie hunt could do in the past. A recent Maclean’s article served to illus­ trate just how paranoid North Americans could get in the face of nothing more than the demons in their heads.

On December 14, Ahmed Ressam was arrested for alleged­ ly possessing explosives in the trunk of his car. M aclean’s claims that Ressam’s arrest was the first step in toppling an ever-

widening circle of Islamic ter­ rorists hell-bent on launching their jihad on America. The arti­ cle then continues to theorize, hypothesize, allege and specu­ late on the extent to which Algerian/Islamic “fundamental­ ists” have burrowed their way into the britches of Canada.

They claim that these under­ ground groups are linked to much more influential leaders like exiled Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden.

These groups, they say, set up legitimate businesses only to front their terrorist activity which was mainly funded through petty crime.

The problem is, the article rants and raves about Islamic subterfuges with no solid evidence whatso­ ever. While they’re at it, why not mention that Mickey Mouse is the head of a Mafia attempt to brainwash the nation while they launder their underwear at Kentucky Fried Chicken chains? Without actual proof, it’s all just finger-pointing and sensationalism.

Something far more disturb­ ing is at work when such a wide­ ly-read publication like Maclean’s prints such negligent articles for the average Canadian citizen to read which renders minority-bashing acceptable.

The result is that monsters of our own making are created. History has shown repeatedly that no matter what, it’s Us against

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Them, whoever They might be.

North Americans need to feel like cowboys riding up on their collective ponies to defend and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done. You can’t be the hero without an evildoer.

Unfortunately, Algerians and Muslims in general have unwittingly stumbled into the viewfinder that Communists,

homosexuals or Salem witches might have once inhabited.

Regardless of how dangerous Montana militants and Algerian arsonists may or may not be, we must recognize that we relish the danger zone to reassert our own self-righteousness. Media-fueled paranoia about The Next Big Thing only thrives because of the superheroes lurking just below the surface of North American hearts. Evidence?

Who needs evidence? Paste the Terrorist of the Month’s mug on every publication from here to the Red Sea, broadcast him from every available satellite, extra­

dite him, lock him up and throw away the key.

Political scientist Samuel Huntington writes in “The Coming Clash of Civilizations” that the nouveau chic of the modern age will be clashes between cultures and civiliza­ tions. The oldest Western atti­ tude towards Islamic cultures have run the gamut from disdain to fear fueled by igno­ rance. The connection that Muslim equals fundamentalist equals terrorist must be bro­ ken. I do not doubt that there exists real danger in the world; I’m just not convinced that Muslims at large should be the whip­ ping boy for it.

The paranoia that North Americans fire up from time to time is not necessarily a result of any actual threat, but rather a per­ ceived one. Media often feedingfrenzies at the slightest whiff of blood and we eat it up because we require an outlet for our Superman complexes and fear of what we do not understand.

Everybody wants to be a sharp­ shooter, but ask yourself who the real target is.

planes were hijacked. Two hit the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre, one nose-dived into the Pentagon, and the last one crashed in a Pennsylvanian mine.

Our generation has witnessed his­ tory, and it feels horrible. What should have been a normal Tuesday morning ended in unimaginable revulsion.

No sooner did the towers col­ lapse than the accusations started flying. At first, news reports were careful to say that they could not confirm who had done it. By later on in the day, with no additional information in their hands and the population seeking to blame someone, they were ready to lock up Osama Bin Ladin and throw away the key.

And why not? Islamic terror­ ists are popular.

Oh citizens, the passage of time has not made us wiser. Is the World not big enough for several criminal minds?

The US declared the crashes an act of war by a cowardly and faceless group. In true American vigilante style, President George W. Bush has vowed to hunt down and punish those responsible. A beacon for peace? Maybe. A John Wayne film? Also possible.

Let’s just hope that the US acts with caution and objectivity when seeking restitution. We do not want to start World War III.

Dear Citizens of January 2000, The next big thing has arrived. On the eleventh day of September (fittingly 9-11), four

F u tu ristically yours, R aquel

Coping with disaster continued from page 8

T o c h a n g e y o u S t u d e n t S ta tu s to a C a n a d ia n P e r m a n e n t r e s id e n c e CALL FOR A N EVA LU A TIO N L in a A s p ri Tel: ( 5 1 4 ) 8 7 8 - 3 9 4 0 Fax: (5 1 4 ) 8 7 8 - 3 9 3 8 http://w w w .im m igration-prism a.ca em ail: w ebm aster@ im m igration-prism a.ca 1255 University Street, Ste 4 3 0 , Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3 B 3 B6

First House mobilized to determine a course of action to provide assis­ tance to all levels of affected indi­ viduals.

"Some find coping with this easy. Some find coping very diffi­ cult," said Principal Bernard Shapiro. About his own reaction, "I was concerned with students and faculty who found thay couldn’t cope. We worked to expand student counseling services and certain amount of stronger electronic arrangments.

The capacity for email was expanded to accommodate increased online traffic. On Wednesday, in response to eminent student and faculty concern, Shapiro posted a letter of aknowledgement on McGill’s website. In the letter, Shapiro brought to atten­ tion McGill’s own recognition of events and its decision to remain open.

He wrote, "It is not easy to

know how to respond as an institu­ tion to the disaster that occurred in New York City this morning.. .what is clear is the scale of the human tragedy involved and our hearts must go out to the slain, the wounded and the families of those affected."

Also on Wednesday, the MISN opened its doors inviting concerned students to get informed about the recent tragedy.

MISN President Miguel Bernal-Castiller said, "We are hav­ ing a place where people can come and first of all find out what took place. And as always [we] try to pro­ mote some sort of support. For now, [we] are trying to water down any tension that might come."

Bernal-Castiller reccomended that students should talk about the US tragedy in a calm way, and be open with their feelings.

Shapiro agrees. His decision to keep doors open the rest of last week was made to give students the

opportunity to discuss the events in a safe context, in class or out, he explained.

"Classes can be an ideal oppor­ tunity to deviate from typical cur­ riculum [to address these issues]," said Shapiro.

Such was the case at the Vigil Wednesday night, where students gathered outside the Arts building in respect of the victims and fami­ lies of Tuesday’s events. Songs were sung, poetry was read and candles were lit to create an atmosphere of recognition, acceptence and shar­ ing.

Said one speaker at the Vigil, "I hope all of us can perpetuate this positivity. Hate and violence just makes people unhappy."

As McGill’s flag returns to full mast this week, some will have already moved on. But for most the flag will continue to blaze only half­ way.

The M cG ill Tribune, Monday, September 17, 2001

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aired live on network television.

Even for people thousands of miles away, the images offered a Do you remember where you shockingly realistic glimpse into the were when you first heard the news? panic and chaos which left its mark As I arrived for my early morning on the day’ s events.

Words like "sur­ class, Organic Chemistry Professor real" and "unbelievable" seemed to Dr. Joe Schwarcz quietly informed be the consensus feeling as I spoke to students about the sinister events many students about their initial which were changing history over in reactions to the numbing visuals.

New York and Washington, solemn­ While the media succeeded in ly declaring: "remember this informing the public, the psycholog­ moment as the day the world ical damage of the reports immedi­ changed." ately began to take their toll. A sense As word of mouth quickly of fear and apprehension began to spread throughout McGill, the move through individuals, websites media slowly began to fully absorb and TV stations as the threat of and report the carnage of Tuesdays more attacks became an increasingly terrorist attacks. Radio, television and the internet all came to a seem­ more alarming reality. In only a ingly crashing halt as every imagina­ mere matter of hours, our fragile ble information outlet struggled to sense of security and safety had sort through the chaos. Confusion inconceivably been destroyed along and hysteria marked many of the with the towers of the World Trade early reports as people scrambled to Center.

When asked about the day’s understand what was actually hap­ events and the media’s coverage, phi­ pening. losophy student Bethany Fisher Inside the Shatner building, responded: "I watched CNN all day. dozens of students stood silently It seemed like the most viable source watching CNN on monitors in Caférama, with their blank and of news...I wanted to know how this expressionless faces serving as grim was going to affect both the U.S. testimonials to their collective shock and my life".

The unexpected surge in traffic and disbelief. caused virtually every major news Nothing though, could have site to readjust their front pages in prepared anyone for the disturbing images which would later filter into order to meet the frantic demands of many of the major network news­ information hungry surfers world­ rooms. We were presented with raw wide. In an unprecedented move, CNN.com removed virtually every and unedited footage as video feeds single link from its front page in of both airliners colliding with the order to accommodate as many visi­ towers were replayed from every conceivable angle as the terrified tors as possible, instead offering a simple black and white page with screams of bystanders were forever brief summaries of the day’s events. seared into our memories. Perhaps Content increased with time as the most horrifying of all, we bore wit­ infamous shots of the planes’ colli­ ness to people plummeting to their sions, among many others, became deaths as they leapt from the upper levels of >th burning structures, all available for download in both Real Video and QuickTime formats.

Andrew Rudochivlow

War on horizon? continued from page 8 bour them, and US Secretary of Defence Colin Powell’s remark that: “the US believe[s] that acts of war have been committed against the American community and will act accordingly,” both imply violent, and in th ir minds, justified retalia-. tion. Wi at the effects of such a retaliation will be we cannot know.

According to Brynen, the effect on US foreign policy generally in the Middle East will be negligible, with an undercutting of the already weak US support for Arab interests, and a strengthening of ties with Israel. Of course, the most influential compo­ nent will be the sway in public opinion that is the inevitable result of such a catastrophe. Our only hope is that the pride of the American people might be restored without te loss of any more inno­ cent lives.

As telephone and cellular net­ works went down, internet message boards became vital methods of con­ veying information to those strand­ ed without other means of commu­ nication. It also became a breeding ground for speculation and gossip as false rumors ran rampant on such topics as the date’s significance, Nostradamus and evidence that a potential terrorist sympathizer had warned of Tuesday’s horrible tragedy only days before on anoth­ er website.

The FBI was quick to embrace internet technology as well, offering a dedi­ cated website where individuals would be given the chance to submit potential information relating to the attacks.

Similarly, McGill’s Tuning into the own website wasted no time in posting an official message from principal Bernard Shapiro, who offered his condolences and sympathies to the victims and family members of those involved in the terrorist attacks.

As the day’s events held à stran­ glehold on every major Canadian and US network, uninterrupted and commercial free programming ran hour after hour. Variety and sports channels such as ESPN, MTV, TSN and Life chose to stop programming and switch over to news coverage from their parent stations.

As time stood still, the triviality of professional sports and the music industry became glaringly apparent as even VJs and anchors themselves admitted the relative unimportance of their respective domains.

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Features 11

Technology of terror

While on air during a brief the trio of Dan Rather, Peter sports update, ESPN anchor Dan Jennings and Tom Brokaw respec­ Patrick conceded: "Days like this tively worked furiously to relay as remind us of how insignificant our much new information as possible while sorting through countless business (sports) truly is.”

While Americans chose to offer incoming reports. By the end of the graphic footage from the day’s day, their tired and exhausted faces destruction, such networks as CTV seemed very apparent, a testament to and CBC chose to "Canadian-ize" their marathon broadcasts.

Journalists, historians and govtheir broadcasts by presenting inter­

tragedy on live television

views from both Parliament and Ottawa as Prime Minister Jean Chretien was quick to offer support to US President George W. Bush and our American neighbors.

When asked about differences in coverage, chemistry student Debra Walsh commented that: "The U.S. kept claiming that this was going to be a big war...while Canada chose to opt for a wait and see policy, they should have spent time on other possibilities."

On the three main American networks of CBS, ABC and NBC,

Jenny George ernment officials alike seem quick to make comparisons to the attacks on America as the "second Pearl Harbor" but few could have predict­ ed the sheer power and emotion of the media’s coverage of the worst ter­ rorist act in American history.

As we only begin to compre­ hend the repercussions and conse­ quences of Tuesday’s events, the haunting images and sounds that are left in its wake now serve as vivid reminders of the day’s unforgettable horror.

Potential for discrimination rife continued from page 1 against all member states.

The United States has a carte blanche to avenge itself, and if it deter­ mines that the perpetrators were Islamic fanatics, then the potential discrimination will increase both in the United States and around the world.

The Muslim community of Montreal has asked the MUC to increase security around Montreal’s mosques, and on campus there are preparations to stamp out harassment before it begins.

We are planning to hold a vigil on Friday night, and are sending out a mass email stating that we are all part of the McGill community - that nobody in the community was responsible for what happened, and that racism must end,” says Jeremy Farell, SSMU president.

In a rare act of unity both the SPHR and Hillel have put aside ideol­ ogy to condemn the terrorism, as well as entreating people to eschew racism.

“Even it does turn out to be [Islamic fundamentalists], it is not the fault of Arabs here —they had nothing to do with it. They have nothing to apologize for. And people who are frustrated and angry about what’s hap­

pened, I would hope that they would­ n’t take it out on people who are at no fault,” says Yoni Petel, president of Hillel.

Despite the ability of Muslims, Christians and Jews to rally around Tuesday’s attack, there is no denying that, should the assailants be identi­ fied as Islamic fundamentalists, the global Islamic community will be forced to pay a political price - partic­ ularly in Israel, where suicide bomb­ ing is being used as a means for polit­ ical gains. “[Terrorism] has an affect on everybody, everybody that witnessed it, everybody that’s connected to it.

And unfortunately the U-S. is going to have a lot of problems weighing civil liberty against security, and this is a problem that Israel’s had to face for a long time,” says Petel. “We hope at least that people would understand a little better why Israel does some of the things that it does to defend itself.”

On Tuesday the reflected glare of CNN off of frozen American faces suggested as much. If Islamic funda­ mentalists were flying those planes, the long run may prove as injurious to their brethren as the short run was to their enemy.

arts&entertainment M o n d ay , S e p te m b e r 17, 2001

Reconciling history through entertainment Continued from page 1 awe as the planes crash into the World Trade Center yet again. And again. And again.

This bears some closer exami­ nation. Take a good, long look at the scene again. The explosions.

The screaming. The bodies jump­ ing out of windows. The anxious pantings of reporters about what they anticipate the death toll will

is BeautifiA. Making entertainment out of the Nazi infrastructure and, in the çase of the latter, the very Holocaust itself, seems so thor­ oughly reprehensible that somehow, from a purely moral standpoint, it would seem that such films should never be made. And, yet, they were made, and we as a culture did enjoy them, and maybe they even helped us to internally deal somehow with the atrocities that happened not so

in movies and on television is not what desensitizes us to these horri­ ble images. It is no more responsi­ ble for this than it is for Columbine. That is the easy way out of the argument. What desensi­ tizes us is time. Time defeats us.

Time, and many, many repeat view­ ings.

And it’s already starting to hap­ pen. What shocked and horrified me beyond any sort of description

be. Now step back and think about everything we’ve just discussed, and think to yourself, “How the hell have I been able to watch this?”

Because herein lies the problem.

The degree of horror should make this sequence completely unwatchable, not fit for viewing by human eyes. And yet, as we watch it again and again, we become desensitized.

There is simply no way around this simple fact. After the initial shock, we accept it as a matter of course, despite the fact that, as I mentioned above, we really can’t comprehend the horror of it.

Oh no, you’re all probably thinking, here he goes blaming the media and movie and video game violence and whatnot for desensitiz­ ing us to the point that we can watch something like Tuesdays events and not feel affected. It’s one of THOSE columns. Well, it isn’t, actually. I think it just might be the other way around. I think, in many ways, that films and mass media are really just a reverse reflection of our society’s own growing desensitization to these events. And it makes me sick to truly state this, but I think that when the initial shock wears off, we simply forget about the sheer horror of it, and welcome any form of entertainment that in some way brings it to light. In à way, it might even be therapeutic. Perhaps when something becomes sheer entertain­ ment, it helps those who may have strong feelings about a certain event to deal with them. I’m thinking of something like The Producers or Life

long ago.

All of which leads me to this year, and the release of Pearl Harbor, featuring America’s biggest pimp-daddy in the lead role, backed

by Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay, and containing a budget of a couple hundred million dollars.

This film has got to hit us pretty close to home at a time like this, because it is of course a not-tooaccurate portrayal of the last serious “Attack on America” (copyright CNN, all rights reserved). And when I say not-too-accurate, I am of course making a grievous under­ statement of this abomination, which turns one of the most horrif­ ic events in modern history into an absurd tale of doomed romance.

This was taken as an insult by myself and virtually everyone else that took in (or read about) the film, and I really have to question how people who were actually there at the time of the bombing must feel about it.

But the more important issues that I think need to be addressed are these: how on earth did this film ever get made in the first place?

What sick assholes actually thought it was a good idea? How has it grossed nearly $200 million at the American box office? How did this writer’s own mother even admit to enjoying it?

And, finally: How long before last Tuesday’s events see the same fate?

And therein lies the key, peo­ ple. Oliver Stone is wrong. Violence

at first glance has now been extrap­ olated into an arts and entertain­ ment article, for God’s sake. I no longer even flinch when the planes hit Manhattan. It all seems like it’s a scene right out of a really bad movie. And, of course, that’s the direction that I’m afraid it’s eventu­ ally going anyways.

I can see it now (and given a few years, I’m very afraid Bruckheimer is going to see it all too clearly as well). Forget Affleck for the lead role, he’ll be passé by then. He would be great as the guy they interviewed Wednesday who carried the physically disabled woman down 63 flights of stairs, though (although of course they’ll have to make it twelve disabled women for entertainment purpos­ es). It’s all about subplots, baby!

Plus, you could have Tobey Maguire as the brave young pilot who crashes the fourth plane in Pennsylvania, saving thousands of lives. Steve Buscemi could be his wacky co-pilot. Peter Jennings could be, uhh, Peter Jennings. And a good Osama bin Laden shouldn’t be too hard to find - although of course they’d better make sure he’s responsible before they enter preproduction - faceless enemies are not good for business, you know.

Never happen, you say? Well, I really hope you’re right. I can’t real­ ly fathom people becoming so desensitized to such a horrible event that they’d allow our entertainment industry to do such a thing, either.

But as the shock of what happened

begins to wear off and America begins to mobilize a retaliation, the bottom line is that people’s percep­ tions are already beginning to shift over what happened. Shock has become grieving, and grieving is rapidly turning into a desire among the American populace for bloody revenge. Gears are grinding. People want action. Bush does not even seem to want to try to distinguish between America’s enemies any­

more —he simply wants revenge as much as everybody else. This is per­ haps the way things should be pro­ ceeding. It certainly bears no like­ ness to the scenario I described above.

But there is something else I feel I have to share with you, some­ thing I don’t feel very comfortable saying, but that has to be said nonetheless. Upon a first viewing of the attacks, besides the numb shock, the horror, the sense of unre­ ality I felt about what I was seeing as much as everyone else, some­ where deep inside me, another thought was brewing as well: That's a really lame-looking explosion.

And that, my friends, is what I want you to think about for the next little while.

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The M cGill Tribune, Monday, September 17, 2001

A&E 13

An interview with DJ jojoflores Dan Zacks

During our McGill careers we are Montrealers, and as Montrealers we dutifully maintain that we live in the greatest city in North America.

Montreal, of course, is a great city.

Cultural diversity, livability, beauty-these we have in abundance and they substantiate our claims to urban glory. However, when it comes to nightlife, cited as Montreal’s true distinguishing fea­ ture, we are embarrassingly lacking.

The Montreal dance-music scene is unacceptably one-dimensional.

Yes, we have a stellar hard house and techno scene. Yes, we have world-class clubs that cater to those musics. Yes, we have commercialmusic dance clubs by the dozen.

But that’s where it ends. If you want to spend a night dancing to the myriad of other dance sounds, broken beat or jazz-dance perhaps, then you had best pack up and go to Toronto, New York, or London.

Or you can go underground.

There are DJs and dancers in Montreal who want to see our scene mature to encompass something more than thumping beats.

Shunned by larger venues and cut­ throat promoters, these musiclovers host nights in smaller clubs, often during the week. These nights are about the music and nothing else. At these nights you’ll find people dressed any which way they want, people dancing, the absence of surly bouncers, a decided lack of attitude, and sweet, sweet tunes. jojoflores is one of these DJs and his weekly Thursday night party, Therapy, typifies these events. We spoke with jojo about his sound, his influences, Therapy and the Montreal scene:

Trib: Tell me about your influences and your sound. jojoflores: Well, I’ve always been influenced by soul, hiphop, R&B. But it’s gotten to the point where the R&B and the hiphop that’s out now is not as musical as it used to be. You have a lot of guys that are producing that are not musicians— they are more or less producers.

They eliminate a lot of the musi­ cians so that now most of the songs are not songs anymore, they’re just basically tracks written by produc­ ers, not tracks written by songwrit­ ers, so a lot of the music that’s out now for R&B and hiphop—for me it’s boring. You have to filter out that bad and look for the good stuff. But even the good stuff does­ n’t get a lot of play now.

what they played at the Garage [infamous New York club that was open from the 70s until the early 80s] just like house is what they played at the Warehouse [another infamous New York club of the same period]. House music and that house music was the new sound of disco, and there was a lot of rare grooves and there was also a lot of soul that was mixed into there.

At the Garage, they also played all kinds of music. So when I say garage, I mean the various types of dance music that are out there.

It can be from L a t i n rhythms to A f r o rhythms to New Jersey house music Ayla Khosroshahi or New York house breaking out ‘Soul To Soul’ and music, it could be any type of music ‘Public Enemy’ but they were also that’s danceable. playing this thing called ‘house music’ which was alternative back Trib: Tell me about Therapy. then because it wasn’t new. So I dis­ covered it along with a lot of other jojoflores: Therapy was a night that R&B and hiphop artists and songs I started because I have my Friday and it was like ‘Hey, this house and Saturday gigs to pay the bills. music must be good because they’re Those are my money gigs—I make playing it with this other type of my living off those nights. So I music that I play and that I can don’t try to play music that people relate to.’ It opened up my ears and don’t know or try to force music just seeing people vibe to that kind that people don’t know, I just play of music was a new experience for what people want to hear and also me. So I started playing house implement stuff that I like in music but I still maintained the between, you know? So Thursday roots that I had, which was R&B was a night that I wanted to use to play the kind of music that I liked, and hiphop. that I wanted people exposed to, Today, I still play R&B and hiphop, because they weren’t getting but the R&B and hiphop I play is exposed to it in the city because the stuff that I like, stuff that to me still bigger clubs only play harder music. has the roots of R&B and hiphop.

But my sound is more soulful than So we started our night playing anything else. It could be house deep house, garage, and afro-Latin music but it’s still soulful—I don’t rhythms, and whenever I book guys like eliminating the musicians. I it’s guys that play within that for­ like to have a vocalist on the tracks mat. I’m not going to book Junior that I play or I like to have a guitar Vasquez to play my night, I would solo or a sax solo or a piano solo. I book guys like Ron Trent or Little just like musicians to be involved in Louie Vega—well not Little Louie the music. That’s what my sound is Vega because he’s a bit bigger. I like and that’s how it’s evolved and that’s booking guys that are not such a household name but still big what it is today. enough to give some credibility to Trib: You’ve called your sound the night. So Therapy was a night that I just wanted to start for people garage... to come in and enjoy themselves. jojoflores: Well garage is basically You know, come as you are. That’s

Years ago, back in ’86 or ’87, I dis­ covered house and it was a different type of music but it still had soul.

The tempo was double that of R&B or hiphop, you could take a ballad and double it up and it was a house track. I used to go to this club called the ‘Business’ and they were

why Jello Bar is a good place for it, because people come in sneakers or jogging pants and it’s a mature clientele that I get, it’s not just young guys coming in.

Trib: Well there are a couple... jojoflores: Yeah, there are a couple of young guys [and gals!], but mixed in with a few older people and that’s the way I want it.

Different types of people from dif­ ferent backgrounds. You’ll notice that Therapy is mostly an ethnic crowd. It’s a mixture of a lot of eth­ nic backgrounds, and that’s what I wanted: to create a night where people can just go and enjoy new, good, different music mixed in with stuff they do know once in a while, but mainly to expose this kind of music that doesn’t get played anywhere else.

Trib: You’ve played some famous clubs and nights in Toronto like ‘Shifting Gears’ and ‘The Roxy.’

What do you feel about the differ­ ences between the Toronto and Montreal scene? jojoflores: Surprisingly, in Toronto I have a big following for the type of music that I play. It’s not any dif­ ferent than what they play there. It may be a different style that I play, but I guess anything Montreal that goes to Toronto, well, the people from Toronto sort of embrace it. As opposed to anything Toronto that comes to Montreal, people from Montreal reject it.

Trib: There’s also more garage, more jazz-dance in Toronto... jojoflores: Rare grooves...

Trib: Yeah, rare grooves. How do you feel about the packed crowds you can routinely get at Toronto nights like ‘Shifting Gears’ or ‘Movement’ compared to what you get in Montreal? jojoflores: Well, if you noticed, the crowds that go out for house music, garage or deep house, it’s younger than the crowd that goes out in Montreal. The reason being that they have a new generation of fol­ lowers whereas in Montreal we still have our old generation that’s fol­ lowing the music and they still go out because in Montreal, you’ll notice, that a lot of older people still go out. In Toronto they also have a lot of internet websites that support the scene, they have garagehousemusic, discl2, groove.ca—they have tons of websites!

Trib: And the radio stations... jojoflores: Like Nick Holder has two or three radio shows! And a lot of guys that I know that DJ have radio shows in Toronto. I mean

you ask DJs here that play this kind of music if they have a radio show--- forget it. There’s ‘Utopia’s Paradise’ that plays on Saturdays [on McGill’s CKUT 90.3FM], but other than that there’s not really a show that plays deep house or garage. So a lot of the kids that are on the internet or that are listening to the radio don’t hear this kind of music, and they can’t follow it. For the guys in Toronto, it’s right in their face. When you come out of a club you’re handed flyers for every­ thing that’s happening in the next month. Here, when you come out of a club you don’t see anyone doing that and it’s just a different mentality. It’s just a big electronic scene. You can go to an after-hours and see kids going off on electronic music but you’ll never see anything like the Roxy Blu where you have 800-1000 people dancing to rare grooves or deep house. You’ll only find that in Montreal at little ven­ ues like Blizzarts or you’ll find it at Therapy, but never at a huge club.

The guys here, the promoters, they work in a different way. They don’t communicate, they just compete against each other, it’s very cut­ throat. And the Montreal mentali­ ty is that if they see you getting big­ ger, or your name getting bigger, they try to hold you down, they try to hold you back. That’s how they are here, that’s how they’ve always been.

Trib: If people want to get into the scene and get exposed to the soulful house tip and garage, can you rec­ ommend any nights beyond thera­ py... jojoflores: Tuesday nights at Jai bar, I think it’s called ‘Better Tuesdays’ and they’re just going to play garage and deep house. They’re not going to compromise because it’s not a Saturday night and they don’t have to play the hits. Other than that, there’s Nu Tuesdays at Blizzarts, where they play a lot of broken beats and nu-jazz, and there’s Friday nights at Blizzarts with the Brass Knuckle’s crew which is like a little Movement thing [Movement is one of the world’s great jazz-dance, afroLatin house, rare groove parties], where they play rare grooves and stuff like that. Other than that you’re not going to find it in any major club like Kokino or Tokyo or any of these mainstream clubs. Not anymore.

Jello Bar is located at 151 Ontario East, five minutes from the St. Laurent Metro. Therapy takes place every Thursday night, with things heating up around midnight, but come earlier and chill. Check out www.jojoflores.com for more info.

Tragedy brings perspective to sports world O u t o f le ft fie ld

Je re m y

• “In the City of God there will be a great thunder, two brothers torn apart by Chaos, while the fortress endures, the great leader will succumb. The third big war will begin when the big city is burn­ ing” Nostradamus 1654 All of a sudden Barry Bonds and his historic quest to break the all-time home-run record seems trivial. Tiger Woods’ golf prowess, Michael Jordan’s return, and the rivalry of the Willliams’ sisters in professional tennis —stories which have captivated sports fans in recent months - appear banal and unim­ portant.

The world has gone mad.

Suicide bombers, showing a callous disregard for human life, reign free

K u z m aro v

in the Middle-East. And now, inno­ cent civilians are being targeted by terrorist organizations in our own backyard.

As someone who studies histo­ ry, I can quickly point out that humankind has suffered its fair share of human tragedy over the course of the bittersweet existence.

Sadly, while we like to think of ourselves as more civilized and advanced than our predecessors, the modern era has seen some of the most heinous acts of barbarism of all time.

The Holocaust, the Stalin purges, terror famines in Maoist China, Pol Pot’s killing fields in Cambodia, genocides in Bosnia, and Rwanda, massacres in Vietnam.

The list goes on and on.

Even by the jaded standards of the 20th century, the events which unfolded last week in the United States were extreme - especially con­

sidering the indifference for human life shown by the demented perpe­ trators .

The saddest thing is that the majority of victims, who died in a manner not befitting a dog let alone a rat, were innocent people going about the business of their everyday lives. They weren’t responsible for the past failures of American impe­ rialism, or its current diplomatic initiatives which may have been the motive behind the attack.

And while society comes to grips with the ominous reality of the 21st century world, the games must go on - eventually.

Sport, after all, does have an important function to serve —most importantly as a diversion to all the stresses and evils that have forebod­ ingly enveloped the world at pres­ ent.

Sport, for fans and athletes alike, is one element of life that makes it worth living. There are few things that get me more juiced than the prospects of playing a doubleheader on a lazy summer afternoon, or playing shinny hockey on an outdoor rink on a seemingly cold and bleak winter day.

Similarly, a trip to Yankee Stadium, or Fenway park, or Soldier Field, or Madison Square

Garden or dare I say Olympic Stadium, is always memorable.

That being said, I applaud Major League Baseball for its deci­ sion to postpone its slate of games after what transpired last week.

Ditto for the National Collegiate Athletics Association for cancelling its football and other major sport­ ing events. And kudos to the National Football League as well.

For one thing, the players are, after all, human beings. While we in the press tend to lionize our sports heroes and turn them into legend, they too have families and loved ones to worry about.

Many were personally affected by the tragedies, and many felt the same way as New York Jets quarter­ back Vinny Testaverde when he said: “The last thing in the world I feel like doing now is heading on a plane to California (where the hijacked planes were bound) to play a game in L.A.” And plus, who could cheer, and sing “We Will Rock You” at a time when a nation, and a world is in mourning. At a time when we need to commemorate the victims, and reflect on what has transpired before our very eyes, and on what direction the world is currently headed.

For this very reason, I think that McGill Athletics and the CLAU should have followed suit, and cancelled the slate of games scheduled for the week-end for the same reason that the professional leagues did. Sure, Canadian players are less directly affected than their American cousins. But then again, the fate of Canada has been intri­ cately linked to that of its southern neighbours for a long time now, and the terrorist attack hit home for the majority of Canadians just as hard as for Americans.

And so this week-end I will not be attending the Shrine-Bowl or any other sporting events for the very reason that I don’t care to hear blaring music from the speakers, or sit up and cheer a player battering his way to the end-zone.

The games must go on, but a one week delay of the schedule doesn’t affect attendance, marketing or the morale of the players. Most importantly it would give players, coaches and fans a chance to collect themselves before returning to the rhythms of normalcy.

The games will go on M c G ill A th le tic s James Empringham

While the professional sport­ ing world was brought to a halt last week as a result of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, athletic competition at McGill continued as it would have otherwise.

Both the men’s and women’s soccer teams played host to the Université du Quebec à Trois Rivières Patriotes at Molson Stadium last Friday evening and the Redmen football team were hosted by the Concordia Stingers last Saturday afternoon.

The decision not to cancel action was never really a considera­ tion for those in charge at McGill Athletics.

“Something like [the attacks] will change everybody’s life a little bit,” sympathized McGill Director of Athletics Bob Dubeau. “But it won’t change our current athletic program very much. Our games will continue to be played accord­

m a in ta in s

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in

fa c e o f tra g e d y

ing to schedule.”

Ken Schildroth, McGill’s inter­ collegiate co-ordinator, echoed

did agree, however, that the tragedy could register more long-term effects on the athletic program.

Dubeau’s sentiments: “This is a sit­ uation which certainly requires a great deal of concern, compassion and thought, but I don’t anticipate any immediate changes to our rou­ tine.”

Both Schildroth and Dubeau

“We generally don’t venture too far south, but we do play schools from states closer to the border such as Vermont and New York,” explained Schildroth.

“Crossing the border could now become a more difficult exercise.”

“We’ve let all the coaches know While border security may be increased as a result of the attacks, that there is counseling available for the issue of airplane security is not their players at the student services something which will affect sports building. Student athletes who need teams at McGill because they rarely time off, because of [the attacks], will receive it.” ever flew before the attacks.

The only noticeable change in The decision to play on is one which is welcomed by Redmen the McGill sporting routine last football head coach Chuck weekend was the moment of silence McMann: “Bad things happen but observed at the inception of the you have to go on. There are still a contests for those affected by the lot of good things going on which tragedy.

The tragedy in the United must continue.”

One of those ‘good things’ States has changed the lives of mil­ McMann was no doubt referring to lions of North Americans but it will is the Shrine Bowl which was con­ not affect the schedule of McGill’s tested between his Redmen and the athletic program, and the general Stingers last Saturday. Proceeds consensus of those around the from the Shrine Bowl game have Currie Gym is that playing through always gone to the Montreal the turmoil is a good thing.

Concluded McMann: “As Shriner’s Hospital for Children, with last year’s game raising a record much as people think the end of the world is coming, you can’t just sit $50,102 for the cause.

Though the university athletic around and wait.” schedule was not changed, Dubeau assured that there were precautions being taken regarding student ath­ letes who may be too distraught to take part in competition.

Th e M cGill Tribune, M onday, Septem ber 17, 2001

Sports 15

Role of sports in Terrorism and sport world gone mad V an

D a m m e

n o t so

flic k S u d d e n

fa r-fe tc h e d

Jeremy Kuzmarov

O u t o f r ig h t fie ld

N e il S c h n u r b a c h

After the horrific acts of terror which occurred on Tuesday, September 11th in New York and Washington, the last thing on any­ one’s mind is sports. But should that be the case?

Let’s be honest, sports are never the most important thing in society. Should someone dish out $500 so that his family sees a foot­ ball game, or are there more impor­ tant ways to spend money, like try­ ing to eradicate world hunger?

So why pay attention to sports at all?

The simple answer is this: sports are a release. They are a way to relieve men and women from our banal or extremely stressful existences. On Tuesday, I was at home from 9 AM until 9 PM doing nothing but watching news. I have many friends and family in New York and I was horrified for them.

My only release was at 9:00 when I went to a local park to watch a baseball game. For two hours, nothing happened in Washington and New York and I was only wor­ ried that the Seminoles would beat the Reservoir Dogs. Then at 11 PM reality struck again as I was glued back to the news for several more hours.

Am I a bad person because I did not think about the tragedy for two hours? Not in my opinion. It is not healthy to only concentrate on horror.

In July of 2000, my father passed away after a battle with can­ cer. The first thing I did after sit­ ting shiva (the Jewish way of mourning) was play baseball with

my team. In my heart I still felt a void, but I had to have some form of escape.

That is why it is disheartening to me that the PGA tour would cancel its golfing tournaments for the weekend. It is disheartening that major league baseball shut down operations for several days. It is sad that college football and the NFL will be shutting their doors for one week.

Let me just say that I do understand the decisions taken by the ruling bodies of professional sports. The athletes don’t really feel like playing and people do not real­ ly want to sit in a stadium filled with 70,000 other guys out of fear of being attacked.

But that does not mean that the United States and Canada can’t get away for a couple of hours. We need to worry about whether the Saints can beat the 49ers. We need to worry about Barry Bonds and the home-run chase. Otherwise, the terrorists will win.

They wanted the United States to shut down, and shutting down sporting events are a good way to show that we are beaten.

So while the world will never be the same after the events of September 11th, 2001 ,we must try our best to live our lives like we used to. And we cannot feel guilty for escaping reality for several hours.

Let’s play ball!

s u d d e n ly

D e a th

The sports world has not been immune from the onslaught of terrorist acts which have become more commonplace in recent years, with no more daunt­ ing an example than the tragedy experienced in the United States last week.

A key reason why Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and his contemporaries cancelled their games for this week was the potential risk involved. Though the horribly made movie Sudden Death (in which Jean-Claude Van Damme saves a hockey arena from terror­ ist infiltrators - and also plays goalie to win the Stanley Cup) was not supposed to be realistic, the twisted events of the past cou­ ple of days have eerily shown that it is not necessarily inconcievable.

Said Jeff Bagwell of the Houston Astros: “If I was a Yankee taking the field tonight, I’d feel nervous not only for myself, but for all fans. That’s a prime target.”

Added teammate Billy Wagner: “They targeted the Pentagon. If they aren’t afraid of that, then they aren’t scared to come after Enron Field.”

No sporting event has been a larger target for terrorism than the Olympic Games. The two most prominent examples:

and eventually slain. The perpe­ trators admitted to being mem­ bers of a Palestinian Liberation Organization faction called Black September. Despite this terrible massacre, the International Olympic Committee did not

decide to cancel or even postpone the games.

“Incredibly, they’re going on with it,” Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times wrote at the time.

“It’s almost like having a dance at Dachau.”

Atlanta 1996: The summer games in Atlanta were marred by the detonation of a crudely made 40-pound pipe bomb at Centennial Olympic Park in the early morning hours of July 27th.

The blast killed one person, and injured 111 others. One

Munich 1972: Eight Arab terrorists wearing track suits and hiding their weapons in gym bags, broke into the Olympic vil­ lage on the morning of September 5th, 1972 and headed straight for the rooms where the Israeli athletes were staying.

Wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg, and weightlifter Joseph Romano were among the 11 Israeli athletes held hostage

Turkish camereman also died of heart failure in the immediate aftermath of the blast. The man charged in the case is currently at large five years after the horrible tragedy. The FBI is still searching for Eric Robert Rudolph, despite a massive man hunt which including an extremely high-tech search through the desolate woods of Western North Carolina.

“All the investigative infor­ mation that we’ve gleaned during this case is that he planned this for a long-time.” said FBI agent Todd Lechter of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Unit. “ We knew it was going to be a long term investigation and we’ll be here until we get our man.”

Originally, the FBI had thought the the perpetrator was Richard Jewell, the security guard who discovered the bomb. Jewell, now a cop in Jefferson County Georgia, was charged with the crime and later exonerated. After much personal suffering he sued ABC, and various other institu­ tions, including the Atlanta Journal Constitution, for libel.

Students’ Society of McGill University

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c u s t o m iz e d

LEATH ER JA C K E T LARG E S E L E C T IO N O F

CUstom

LEATH ER TO C H O O SE k f R O M

M c G ill

B O O K S T O R E 3 4 2 0

M c T a v i s h

*

3 9 8 - 7 4 4 4