The McGill Tribune Vol. 25 Issue 21

PUBLI SHED

BY T H E

STUDENTS'

SOCIETY

OF

MCGILL

Vol. 25 Issue 21 I Tuesday, February 14, 2006

UNI VERSI TY

W a v e o f th e fts h its S h a tn e r T h ie v e s

ta r g e tin g

b u ild in g

s e c u r ity

MARIT MITCHELL

Think Valentine's Day is exciting with ONE significant other? Wouldn't it be better with two (or more)?

Turn to page 14 for an in-depth look into the mysterious and exciting world of "The Lifestyle..."

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Theatre, had a backpack containing her laptop, wallet, books, and notes stolen fro m under her chair at G erfs.

"There w ere som e people a fe w tables over, b ut G e rfs w as virtu ­ ally em pty,” said Shaffeeullah. "There w ere fou r o f us sitting around a square table, and no one saw any­ thing."

Louise Savard, M anager o f Security Services, acknow ledged the w idespread problem . Theft o f lap­ tops is ram pant in all McGill b uild ­ ings, a problem o f w hich Security Services is already aware, she said.

"It's a crim e that's ongoing,” said Savard. "W e have people that are going around cam pus to the areas w here w e know there are m ore thefts than others, b ut u lti­ m ately it's th e responsibility o f each o f us to m ake sure w e keep [our property] really close by."

Security in th e Shatner building is handled directly by SSMU rather than by McGill Security Services.

SSMU has arranged to increase security guard presence by 44 hours a w eek on evenings and w eekends, in addition to im p lem e ntin g a sign-in p ro to co l. These changes w ere expected to have com e into effect as o f yesterday and w ill be paid fo r by SSMU. M w otia fears tha t th e Shatner crim es are prem editated.

"M y suspicion is that th e re ’s an organized group perpetrating these atrocities. [The attacks are] to o w ell orchestrated to be accidental,” he

M c G ill A th le tic s

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A recent rash o f burglaries in th e S hatner build in g has led to increased security guard hours and th e im p le m e n ta tio n o f an afterhours sign-in system sim ilar to the o n e c u rre n tly in place at th e Burnside building.

This situation w as brought to th e attention o f th e Students' Society exe cutive by SSMU G eneral M a na ge r P auline Gervais, w h o receives regular security reports fro m th e McGill Security Services.

"The p roblem started on the fo u rth flo o r and spread dow n," said Leon M wotia, vice-president clubs and services. "It caught us o ff guard.”

The m a jo rity o f th e fts have been fro m club offices, b u t individ­ ual students have also been target­ ed. The U nio n fo r G ender E m p o w e rm e n t, th e M u slim S tudents' Association, th e McGill Tribune, the McGill Legal Inform ation Clinic and Best B uddies are som e o f th e organizations th a t have been affected. Item s stolen have ranged fro m cash to —in th e case o f th e McGill Legal Inform ation Clinic—a com puter.

"W e had b e e n w a rn e d by SSMU in an e-m ail th a t there had been a series o f break-ins, b ut w e figured w e w ere safe,” said Josh Wales, vice-president finance o f Best Buddies.

The burglars have thu s far acted w ith a great deal o f confidence and relative im punity. Nikki Shafeeullah, U1 International D evelo pm en t and

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news EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

- JUSTICE JO HN

GOMERY

Canada’s newsmaker of the year in the hot seat T h o u g h ts

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Justice John Gomery came to McGill last week to give the annual James Mallory lecture to a group o f enraptured students.

He sat down with the Tribune to discuss his work as a commis*sioner.

Have the headlines produced by the Gomery Commission turned Canadians off politics?

I think people have gone through som ething o f a catharsis.

I d on 't think the com m ission created people cynicism, I think the cynicism was already there and perhaps aggravated by w hat peo­ ple heard through the C om m ission's hearings. I think it was a necessary process to go through. I think that suspicions are always worse than knowing the truth. And once you know the truth you can put it behind you. And I think—I hope—that applies to the Canadian public in general One o f the m otivations I had in taking this com m ission was that I thought it was necessary to do w hatever I could to restore confidence in the Canadian political system. We are spoiled in Canada because w e live in a sort o f idealistic society, W e're the envy o f the w orld for our system o f governm ent and for the cleanliness o f our politics. But because w e live in this sanitized world, w e're m ore shocked than people w ould be in another country, w here there's a certain a m ount o f legitim ate cynicism JAMES GOTOWIEC about the political institutions w here corruption is a way o f life.

W hen corruption occurs in Canada, w e ’re scandalized-and we're Justice Gomery was looking very dapper in his comer office. rightly scandalized. It was very im portant to p ut this particular aber­ ration behind us.

Do you feel the Conservative government's Accountability Act will implement the changes that you recommended?

Som e o f those recom m endations correspond very closely to w hat the CPC prom ised the electorate it w ould do if elected to p o w e r... The Conservatives are also in a position o f having m in or­ ity governm ent, so they have to seek the cooperation o f the o pp o ­ sition parties to give effect to their party platform. So the answer is that I d o n ’t know w h a t's going to happen to m y recom m enda­ tions, but I think I have reason to be hopeful, because Mr. Harper • said that, substantially, he agrees w ith m y recom m endations, and I know the opposition parties have said they expect to hold Mr. Harper to his promises. I know o f the editorial positions that say som e o f the recom m endations are not realistic. But I prefer to o pti­ mistic th a n ... cynical. So I am optimistic. I know Mr. Harper has said the introduction o f an accountability act that w ill include som e

o f the recom m endations from the com m ission will be his first order o f business.

How do you react to the thought that your commission was responsible for large changes in Canadian politics, includ­ ing the fall from power of the Liberal Party and the rejuvena­ tion of the separatist movement?

I d idn't create the facts that w ere uncovered in our inquiry. I contributed to uncovering those facts, so d on 't shoot the m essen­ ger. I was really the messenger; I uncovered certain facts and cer­ tain circumstances, and people can make their ow n conclusions.

The purpose o f m y report was n ot to influence the outcom e o f an election. The purpose o f m y report was to investigate and to state the facts.

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Was your report presented fairly in the press?

I think generally yes, it was presented in the press in a responsible way. But journalistic reporting is designed to appeal to their readership, and the m ore sensational facts tend to get reported on [versus] som e o f the less exciting parts. But that's ju s t the w ay things a re ... I can't say that the reporting was unfair.

But I agree that a lot o f people think they know w hat's in the report but they haven't bothered to read it. But I can't really blam e th e m ... it was long to write, and it's long to read.

How has your report shifted Canadian politics?

I do think there is a fairly fundam ental change that m y rec­ om m endations aim to effect, and that there is a change in w hat I call the culture o f governm ent, there is a culture o f secrecy that I think is rooted in the past and I think has to change in order for the governm ents o f the day to show the transparency that w e expect now. W ell see, to w hat extent the recom m endations are im plem ented, but if the recom m endations are im plem ented there will be a fairly profound change in the w ay governm ent operates in Canada.

How have you dealt with the spectre of celebrity?

My reaction is one o f astonishm ent, because I d idn't think that people w ould make a 73-year-old ju d g e into a celebrity. The reaction that I have is m ultiple: first o f all, I’ve lost m y anonymity, w hich you start to regret once you've lost it. I can't go dow n the street and n ot have people look at m e ... m y face is known. Most people look at m e in a friendly way and say hello, and that's not unpleasant, b ut it ju s t m eans tha t you're constantly on stage, and so you have to be wary o f w hat you do and w hat you say. That's a reality I've never experienced before, and it's new because m ost­ ly jud g es d on 't have th a t... It's an advantage not to be known.

Would it be valuable for the average Canadian to read the report?

Absolutely, it w ould give any citizen a better understanding o f h ow o ur governm ent works, and w hy it d id n 't w ork the w ay it should have worked. And if you know w hy som ething d idn't work, you're in a better position to avoid that kind o f mistake in the future. So I think it's a course in civics for any Canadian citizens and a recom m ended read.

—Compiled by Robert Church, James Gotowiec and Niall Mackay Roberts

CAMPUS

M cG ill’s V -W e e k s come to a theatrical climax T h e

V a g in a

M o n o lo g u e s

N O R A WEBB After tw o weeks o f events aim ed at raising awareness a bout sexuality and gender-based violence, McGill's V-Weeks cam e to a dram atic clim ax this w eekend w ith th e annual presenta­ tion o f The Vagina Monologues.

V-W eeks organizers a d m itte d th a t the activities m ay appear on its surface to be an excuse to plaster the walls o f McGill w ith explic­ it posters or shock McGill's m ore tim id students by asking th e m a bout the ir "d o w n theres.”

However, Laura Johnson, one o f the event's managers, argued tha t this year's goals w ere different.

"This year w e w ere trying to get past those m isconceptions," she said. "There are still peo ­ ple o u t there w h o need to hear this."

W hile em bracing th e m ore entertaining qualities o f V-Weeks, organizers tried to raise awareness a bo ut fem ale and trans sexuality.

"It's a lot o f fun," said Johnson. "W e eat chocolate vaginas and have a good tim e, but it's also a lot m ore than that."

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Party V-Weeks aim ed n ot only to stim ulate but continued lack o f know ledge a bout fem a le sex­ also to educate students. A Jan. 2 5 presenta­ uality. tion by Stella, a M ontreal organization advocat­ "W e’re in 2 0 0 6 , and w e're still afraid to say ing th e legalization and regulations o f th e sex- vagina or even talk a bo ut sex or o ur genitals," trade industry, opened she said. students' eyes to the W hile fem a le sexual­ realities o f sex workers. Undeterred by the production's ity rem ains a relative m ys­ On Jan. 30, an open vagina-heavy content, many male tery fo r m any m en, this discussion w ith th e year's director, Jason viewers ventured out to see Sexual Assault Centre Maghanoy, seem ed m ore o f M cG ill S tud en ts' the play over the weekend. than prepared to tackle S ociety e ncouraged th e once unm e ntio na ble topic. students at McGill to Actresses expressed enthusiasm a bo ut address th e ongoing scourge o f gender-based violence.

M aghanoy's leadership.

According to A m y Gajaria, one o f the "It's really p ow erful having a straight guy seven actresses participating in this year's pro­ take on the cause and the m essage," said duction, The Vagina Monologues acts as a use­ Gajaria. ful too l fo r involving the public in discussions o f For Maghanoy, th e production was a col­ these and o th er taboo issues. laborative e ffo rt in w hich he ensured a strong "Art is such a good w ay to talk a bo ut things fem a le presence in managerial roles.

"C unt is m aybe one o f th e m ost hurtful tha t m ake us u ncom fortable," she said.

Gajaria argued, however, tha t V-Weeks and w ords in the w orld," he said, "and through The Vagina Monologues still have m uch w ork these m onologues w e w itness w o m e n taking ahead o f them . She expressed surprise at the ow nership o f the language tha t has degraded

them ."

U ndeterred by th e production's vaginaheavy content, m any m ale view ers ventured o u t to see the play over the w eekend.

"I find it incredible h ow open it is," said Luke Walker, UO Arts. "I thin k that's th e best part."

A nother m ale view er argued that The Vagina M onologues succeeded in opening up an im p orta nt subject m atter to a w ide r a ud i­ ence.

"Finally, it's rem oving the taboo, th e m ys­ tery and th e unknow n, making it m ore accessi­ ble," said the student, w h o preferred to rem ain anonym ous nonetheless.

After tw o sold-out shows over the w eek­ end, The Vagina M onologues clearly continues to resonate w ith m any students at McGill and to make an im pact in th e larger M ontreal c o m ­ m u n ity A portio n o f th e proceeds fro m the event w ere donated to the Sexual Assault Prevention and Aid C entre o f Châteauguay, Head and Hands, le G roupe d 'intervention en violence conjugale chez les lesbiennes and the M ontreal Assault Prevention Centre. ■

the mcgill tribune |I4 .2.06 |news 3

CAMPUS

AU S election makes a silent debut P o o r

a tte n d a n c e

DA NIEL A M IN This w eek, students in th e Faculty o f Arts w ill select a n ew Arts U n d e rg ra d u a te S ociety exe cutive council, w ith all six executive posi­ tion s up fo r grabs. There are tw o stu­ dents com peting in th e race fo r AUS p re s id e n t—C orey S he fm an , U1 Political Science, and RJ Kelford, UO Arts Legacy—as w ell as candidates vying fo r o th er AUS positions and tw o w h o face uncontested races.

Voting begins today and c o n tin ­ ues until Thursday.

A ccording to c u rre n t AUS P resident Patrick Scace, th e w inners w ill be announced only a fe w m in ­ utes a fte r th e p olls close on Thursday. Candidates had a chance to p ro m o te th e ir agendas and cam ­ paigns at a debate last Thursday in th e AUS lounge in th e b asem e n t o f th e Leacock building. All 16 candi­ dates running fo r th e various posi­ tion s spoke at th e debate, attended by five undergraduates.

Shefm an and Kelford are vying to succeed Scace as President. This year, Shefm an serves as an Arts re p ­ resentative to SSMU, w he re he is chair o f both th e External Affairs c o m m itte e and th e Task Force on A cadem ic Advising. Kelford is presi­ d e n t o f Solin Hall Residence Council and in high school, w orked w ith the O n ta rio S tud en ts Trustees Association (OSTA-AECO), a looselyaffiliated netw ork th a t represents the co n ce rn s o f O n ta rio se co n d a ry school students.

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Both candidates said th e ir previ­ ous experience m akes th e m q ua li­ fied fo r th e jo b o f president.

"W ith exp erien ce com e s th e ability to do m ore, th e chance to really accom plish m o re as presi­ dent," Shefm an said. "Arts students haven’t really had th a t th e last couple o f years."

Kelford said tha t he had his ow n cabinet in OSTA-AECO, and together the y lob b ied th e g o v e rn m e n t on b e h a lf o f a lm ost 1 .5 -m illio n s tu ­ dents.

"This gives m e experience re p ­ resenting a w h o le bunch o f stu ­ dents," he said.

W hile Shefm an says he also considered running fo r a position on SSMU council, he decided against it because he thinks he can a cco m ­ plish m ore w ith in th e Arts faculty.

"M y e xp e rie n ce len d s itse lf m ore to AUS,” he said.

The ca m p a ig n began last M onday, w ith c a n d id a te s p lacing posters advertising th e ir cam paigns in every possible nook and cranny in th e Leacock building. S hefm an said he spent m uch o f last w ee k outside Leacock 132, speaking to Arts stu ­ dents a bo ut w h a t the y w an t fro m the ir stu d en t association. Shefm an said his m ain p rio ritie s are to im prove academ ic advising in the faculty and m ake th e AUS m ore accountable. He w ants to subsidize room booking fees in Leacock, bring back and im prove the Arts Taverns, and "m ake AUS m o re a part o f stu­ d en ts’ tim e at McGill.” Both candi­

v o te r

tu r n o u t

c o n c e rn s

dates said th a t one o f th e biggest prob lem s o f th e AUS has is a lack o f visibility.

"If I do w in, I'd definite ly like to look at faculty identity," Kelford said. "There's no Arts spirit. We can o ffe r m ore services th a t pro ­ m o te AUS.” Kelford said th a t w h ile som e people have w on de re d w hy he is running fo r president as a firstyear student, m any senior stu­ dents pushed him to run for president because o f his leader­ ship abilities.

"I really believe in th e AUS and I th in k I can do a pretty fa n ­ tastic jo b ," he said.

In o th e r races, Zoe Palaire and Franny Karlinsky are running fo r v ic e -p re s id e n t inte rn al, Zachary M ack and Phil H oldsw orth are com p etin g for th e p o s itio n o f v ice -p re s id e n t com m unications, and Kay Turner and Thom as A ndrew s are in th e race fo r vice-president external.

JAMES GOTOWIEC N ajeed K assm an has been acclaim ed as vice-president aca­ Evidently, elections don't coincide with the paper-reduction campaign. dem ic, as has Ross M argulies for vice-president finance.

Scace said. m any o f w h o m have established The candidates running fo r Arts th e ir ow n W eb sites fo r th e cam paign Students w ill also vote in a ref­ representative to SSMU are Yahel and advertise th e m on cam paign fly ­ e re n d u m on th e A rts S tu d e n t C arm on, Fred Burril, Rachel Abs, E m p loym e nt Fund, w hich m ust be ers.

Esther Benoit, Daniel King and David re-approved every five years. Each W inners w ill n o t undergo any Power. There are three Arts represen­ form al training fo r th e ir new posi­ Arts stu d en t pays a yearly fee o f $13 tative positions available. to fu n d ASEF. ■ tions, b ut th e current executive does The best source fo r info rm a tion h op e to m ake th e transition easier. on th e candidates' platform s is on Arts students can vote online “W hat's going to happen is our th e Elections McGill W eb site and until Thursday at the Elections McGill executive has been w orking on a fro m th e can did ate s the m selves, Web site, www.electionsmcgill.ca. h an db oo k on h ow to run th e AUS,"

M c G ill

DEPARTMENTOFBIORESOURCEENGINEERING

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Master of Science

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o r a G ra d u a te C e rtific a te A r e y o u a n o u ts ta n d in g s tu d e n t le a d e r ?

D o y o u k n o w s o m e o n e w h o is?

Pick u p a n o m in a tio n kit f o r th e S c a rle t K ey !

T

he Scarlet Key recognizes student leaders who are truly committed, who go above and

beyond the call of duty, who inspire and motivate others, and who demonstrate unselfishness, perse­ verance, passion and creativity. Nominate someone

T o m o r r o w ’s s o l u t i o n s t o d a y !

S tu d y t h e b io -p h y s ic a l, le g a l, in s titu tio n a l a n d

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deserving today!

Details and forms are available from: . SSMU (Brown 1200) • PGSS (Thomson House) • Dean of Students (Brown 4100) • www.mcgill.ca/scarletkey

s o c io e c o n o m ic a s p e c t s o f w a te r u s e a n d m a n a g e m e n t in a n i n t e g r a t e d c o n t e x t .

Nomination Deadline: March 1, 2 0 0 6 at I PM

For information: Department of Bioresource Engineering McGill University, Macdonald Campus 21.111 Lakeshore Road Sainte-Anne-de Bellevue, QC, Canada H9X3V9 514-398-7774 514-398-8387 (Fax) bioresotirce®mcgill.ca www.mcgiil.ca/agreng/programs/iwrm/

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CAMPUS

S e c o n d s

Trivia a serious pursuit M A T T CAMPBELL

It w as a long night fo r Students' Society councillors on Thursday. As the m eeting dragged into its fo u rth hour, it appeared th a t som e councillors w ere trying to re m e m b e r w h y th e y had On Saturday, McGill hosted for the first tim e originally run fo r office. • Vice-President C om m u nica tio ns and Events Roz Freem an told the annual National Academic Quiz, a presti­ C ouncil a bo ut a n ew idea th a t she's trying to im p le m e n t along w ith Vice-President O perations gious trivia tournam ent for devotees o f the and Finance Eric van Eyken: an Interfaculty O lym pics. Scheduled fo r late March, th e O lym pics hobby. The e vent w as held at th e 6 8 8 w o u ld involve all faculties com p etin g in a variety o f events, including "social event c o m p e ti­ Sherbrooke building, w here 18 o f the top team s tions." • E nvironm ent C om m ittee Chair Max Silverm an to ld councillors th a t th e co m m itte e in Canada and the US, including McGill, com pet­ w an te d to co m e up w ith incentives fo r students to p rint th e ir essays double-sided. O ne idea is ed in tw o divisions. to give anyone w h o brings in a m arked dou ble -side d essay a reusable coffee mug. • There Rebecca Vernik helped organize the tourna­ w as in fact im p o rta n t business at C ouncil—it w as re feren du m night. C ouncil approved a slew ment. o f q uestions fo r students, including o ne on reinstating th e SSMU Daycare fee, one concerning "It's been a long day," she said. "Even get­ radio station CKUT and one asking a bo ut th e form a tio n o f a Referral Services N etwork, w hich ting the room s was d ifficult... It seem s like I'm w o u ld c o m b in e th e U nion fo r G ender E m pow erm ent, Q u e er M cG ill and McGill Nightline. running tw o tournam ents at once."

Students w ill be able to vote on th e q uestions next m onth, • Council also approved a refer­ McGill trivia expert and tou rn am e nt com ­ e n d u m q uestion asking students to a m en d th e SSMU C onstitution to reinstate th e p osition o f petitor Yossi Ehrlich explained his strategy for Board o f G overnors representative. C ouncil w ill a pp oin t a representative to serve until one can preparing for events such as this. be elected, w hich can't happen until the a m e n d m e n t passes. ■ "You see random facts and inform ation and

SP R IN G E L E C T O R A L P E R IO D

kind o f soak it up like a w e t sponge."

Each round o f trivia lasted approxim ately 18 minutes, and each team played up to 15 games throughout the course o f the event.

M oderators asked rapid-fire questions, and team s then had a chance to answer up to three follow -up questions, w hich concerned a range o f subjects such as history, sports and pop culture.

Mark Edelstein o f Queen's University said the schedule was intense.

"It's m ore draining than you think. It's a good tim e though. We have a lot o f fun."

Edelstein's Queen's team fared well in the final stages o f the tournam ent, though McGill accum ulated m ore points per game. Q ueen’s ultim ately captured to p spot in the second divi­ sion, w hile the University o f Ottawa clinched first place in the first division. ■

e le c t |o n s |j^

D O Y O U W A N T T O G E T IN V O L V E D ?

Elections McGill is looking for N O M IN A T IO N S The following positions are available: SSMU EXEC • President • VP Finance & Operations • VP University Affairs • VP Communications & Events • VP Clubs & Services • VP Community & Government Or you can run for: • Undergraduate Student Senator • Financial Ethics Research Commissioner • Representative to the CKUT Board of Directors E le c tio n s M c G ill is a ls o a c c e p t in g s t u d e n t - i n i t i a t e d r e f e r e n d u m q u e s tio n s

N o m in a tio n & S t u d e n t - I n i t i a t e d R e f e r e n d u m K its c a n b e d o w n l o a d e d o n lin e a t w w w .e l e c t i o n s m c g i l l .c a o r p ic k e d u p o u t s i d e t h e E le c tio n s M cG ill o f f i c e , r o o m 4 0 5 in t h e S h a t n e r b u ild in g

N om ination K its due: W ed n esd ay , M a rc h 1st a t N oon R eferen d u m Q uestions due: F rid a y , F e b ru a ry 1 7 rtl a t Noon Q u e s t io n s ? E le c t io n s M c G ill c a n b e r e a c h e d a t c o n t a c t ^ e l e c t i o n s m c g i l l . c a o r 3 9 8 - 6 4 7 4

Aufe i h. >■ 1i^a«I t tdlw* "jfcbtr TW*

Up to Speed

.-.i V: rrfn

**“” US Vice President Dick Cheney accidental­ ly but repeatedly shot a fellow quail hunter during an expedition in Texas on Sunday. Sprayed w ith shot’ m .. • gun pellets in the face, neck and chest, the elderly m an .. ' ’ .. vwas rushed to hospital and is now reportedly "alert and ! h * doing fine." • A N ew York ju ry recently rejected a » w idow 's w rongful death claim against the restaurant Benihana, know n for its chefs' practice o f entertaining si ftm** guests w ith the tableside juggling o f food and utensils. The 'A 'V ^ r w id o w argued tha t her husband suffered an eventually fatal ik neck injury after repeatedly dodging sautéed shrim p tossed in his direction. • At the British M useum last week, a tourist Hr v tripped over his untied shoes, fell dow n a flight o f stairs and IV- iMl crushed a display o f rare Qing-dynasty vases into w hat *h k* The mm- M argaret Greeves, th e m u se u m 's assistant director, described as "very, very small pieces." The m useum staff m é ê w« I was optim istically "determ ined to put the m back together." #.m m m , * • A grade-seven boy in Rhode Island has been te m ­ llxvdfwi porarily barred from school after advocating violence » « M >mm> ft against President Bush, Oprah, and the executives of Ks-Mi^C >WÛ V’- Coca-Cola and W al-Mart in an essay project entitled t? «.I f« Huiijtrev "M y Perfect Day." The US Secret Service has been called in specifically to investigate the boy's inten. .lio n s against the president, w hich typically carry : *.«, it* m i..... a m oderate federal sentence if corroborated.

the mcgill tribune j 14.2.06 j new s

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T h eft victims feel ‘violated’ SSMUVP: crimes organized, well-orchestrated C ontinued fro m cover said. "They're to o w ell-co ordin ated and to o w ell-targeted to be coincidence."

S haffeeullah agreed th a t she has heard to o m any accounts o f th e fts fo r th e actions sim ply to be crim es o f opportunity.

"It m akes m e very u n co m fo rta b le to th in k th a t stu­ dents are being preyed on," she said. "You th in k it w ill never happen to you. It's kind o f th e w o rst thin g tha t can happen to you on campus."

Best Buddies, w hich shares an o ffice on th e fo u rth floor, had $50 stolen fro m a cashbox in January.

"I re po rte d it to th e SSMU office, and th e y said th a t th e re w as nothing th e y could do," said Wales. "It's really frustrating tha t w e can't tru st th a t o ur o ffice is safe. I d e f­ initely fee l like I have less tru st in th e SSMU security sys­ tem ."

"I d o n 't th in k the re 's so m e o n e b e tte r to steal from ,

b ut stu d en t groups really aren't th e place to take m oney," said M w otia. "It's u n fo rtu n a te th a t these groups are b ein g targ e te d . T h e y're e sp e cia lly v u ln e ra b le because $50 to a stu d en t g roup is a lo t o f m oney, and stealing fro m these groups could effectively cripple the m fo r th e rest o f th e y e a r... w h ich is w hy w e 're investing in security."

"You feel violated," said Shaffeeullah. "It's an inva­ sion. It m akes you m ad at you rself fo r n o t being m ore cautious, b u t I c o u ld n 't have been m o re cautious."

To increase th e ir personal security, Savard advised students to "p u t th e strap o f you r bag around you r knee or you r leg so yo u 'll kno w if it gets m oved."

M w otia stressed th e need fo r club executives to d ep osit m o ne y on a regular basis. .

"Be m o re vigilant," he said. "D o n ot store m o ne y ove rn igh t in you r club offices. All th e clubs have bank accounts fo r good reason. You s h o u ld n 't have m o ne y in y o u r offices. Just m ake th e deposit." ■ D o y o u o c c a s io n a lly s u ffe r fr o m a n y o f t h e fo llo w in g s y m p to m s ?

□ In so m ia □ A n x ie ty □ T h irs t f o r k n o w le d g e □ D elu sio n s o f g ra n d e u r □ R a s h e s o f in sig h t □ P h le g m o f m o ra lity □ D is c h a rg e s o f h o n e s ty If s o , th e n a d m in is te r t h e la s t rite s —y o u 'r e a b o u t t o b e h it b y t h e M cG ill tr u th b u s.

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new s | 14.2.06 | the mcgill tribune

NEWS ANALYSIS

Access denied

Why can’t all the campus computers just get along?

JAMES G O TO W IEC

A

s PowerPoint and projectors have surpassed transparen­ cies, professors have stopped accepting hand-w ritten essays, and spreadsheets have grow n to be essential for labs, a com puter has becom e a m ust-have to get through an undergraduate degree. And for students w ith ou t a PC at h om e or a laptop to lug to school, the com puters on cam pus are indispensable.

Upgrade or die!

According to Provost Anthony Masi, McGill has vastly increased spending on inform ation technology to try to keep up w ith the dem ands o f the m odern classroom.

"Five years ago there was no central spending on stu­ dent [inform ation technology] matters," he said. "N ow w e are spending betw een $3-m illion and $4-m illion per year directly on accessibility and quality fo r these issues."

O f tha t money, $1 -m illion is set aside for library tech no l­ ogy dedicated to student use. The adm inistration spends another $ 1 -m illion directly on replacing old com puters and im proving cam pus wireless access, and devotes an a ddition­ al $ 1 -p iillion to im proving services like w ebspace and e-mail, and providing quicker Internet access.

All this spending is in addition to the m oney that individ­ u a l faculties spend, often fun de d in part by students. In the Faculty o f Science, students contribute $22 per sem ester to the 2 1st Century Fund, w hich goes tow ards th e Science C om puter Taskforce. According to CTF Chair Robert Kaplow, the Taskforce replaces all o f its 1 4 0 com puters every four years. Even during the interim periods betw een replace­ ments, CTF still has to m aintain the technology.

"In an average year, [costs] w ou ld probably be on the order o f $ 50 ,0 0 0 ju s t for m aintenance and printer stuff," he

said.

CTF runs a surplus m ost years, accum ulating m oney until the com puters are replaced.

The Arts labs are a sim ilar story. Arts students have access to roughly 2 3 0 com puters in and around the Leacock building, accessing th e m m ore than 4 ,0 0 0 tim es in January.

Luc Levasseur, supervisor o f th e Faculty o f Arts C om puter Labs, said that the faculty replaces lab com puters every four years, and m onitors every five years.

"The w eird thing about this w ho le set-up is that th e labs basically get better com puters than the profs do," he said.

Who gets to play?

Every first-year Science or M anagem ent student has probably tried to check his or her e-m ail in the Leacock build­ ing betw een classes, only to be helpfully inform ed by the com p ute r tha t the y are n ot allow ed to log in. Every Arts stu­ d en t has probably m ade the sam e a tte m pt in Burnside, only to find o ut tha t Internet access is all they're allowed. And let's not forget Engineering, Law, M e dicine ... wait. W hy aren't the com puters accessible to everyone?

The reason is a fam iliar one: m oney. The dow nside o f paying fees to pay fo r brand n ew com puters is tha t everyone pays fo r their o w n com puters, so th e y ’re locked o u t o f all the others.

"It’d be nice to be able to use the com puters anywhere on cam pus," said Linda O'Connor, U1 Philosophy, "n o t that I w ou ld specifically go to a Science building and ju s t try to clog up their computers."

Last year CTF did ju s t that, allowing any student to log on to Taskforce com puters. However, non-Science students only have access to the Internet.

"Since people w ho aren't in Science d on 't pay for any [of the SUS com puters], w e're sort o f giving them the ability to log on as a kindness," said Kaplow. "The reason w hy w e let th e m use the Internet is if they're in th e building and need to use it quickly before class. But th e idea isn't for Arts students to be com ing in and using it, sitting there for tw o hours w ork­ ing on a paper, w hich w ou ld take it away fro m a Science stu­ dent."

Unfortunately, the Arts com p ute r labs aren't ready to return the favour. According to Levasseur, students have requested it in th e past, b ut the labs are to o full as it is.

"Because the Arts faculty is so large, as far as students go, during peak periods there's no w ay w e could sustain the extra traffic," he said.

M any Science students w ould like to be able to use the labs in Leacock.

"I’m pretty sure everyone can use the Science ones, so it'd be nice if w e could use the Arts ones," said Colleen Macartney, U3 Biochemistry.

The McGill adm inistration seem s to agree w ith the m ajority o f students. Masi said he has been trying to push the faculties tow ard a shared-use m odel since he first becam e McGill's chief inform ation officer in March, 2001.

"There is no good reason w hy students in one faculty should n ot be able to access public com puters located in another faculty," he said, adding that in som e instances c o m ­ puters should be reserved for students in a specific depart­ m e nt or unit if there is special licensed software they m ust use. He rem ained optim istic, though, that faculties w ould slow ly adopt his position.

"These things take tim e, energy and patience, b ut I think progress is being m ade every day.” ■

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"I still cannot fathom how someone looks at another person and does not see a reflection of themselves, does not see another human being.

People can be taught hate, but they can also be taught to love, and together we can all give our world a more human face."

- J u lie t K a ru g a h e , University o f Toronto, Canada/Rwanda, MRH 2001

re sid e n ts o f M o n treal. O p e n to any s tu d e n t a t M cG ill U niversity, th e aw ard is p re se n te d fo r e x c e lle n c e in re s e a rc h in H o lo ca u s t and rela ted stu d ies, an d p ar­ ticu larly o n th e h isto ry o f th e g h e tto s o f W arsaw an d K o v n o [K au n as], Essays p re p a re d in any c o u r s e o r in d e p e n d e n t re se a rc h m ay b e c o n s id e r e d .T h e aw ard is a d m in iste red by th e D e p a rtm e n t o f J e w is h S tu d ies in c o o p e r a tio n w ith th e Je w is h Com m unityF o u n d atio n . T h e aw ard w ill b e p re se n te d

d u rin g th e C lo sin g E x e rc is e s o f th e

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of REM EM BRANCE an d HOPE A S T U D E N T S ' L E A D E R S H IP M IS S IO N TO P O L A N D

. T h e c o m p e titio n is o p e n to u n d e rg ra d u a te a n d g ra d u a te s tu d e n ts a t M c G ill U n ive rs ity. . S tu d e n ts m u s t s u b m it 2 ty p e d c o p ie s o f th e ir e s s a y s to g e th e r w ith full c o n ta c t in fo rm a tio n . . E s s a y s c a n b e b a s e d o n p rim a ry o r s e c o n d a ry m a te ria ls a n d w o rk in all re la te d d is c ip lin e s w ill b e c o n s id e re d . . E s s a y s u b m is s io n s m u s t re a c h th e D e p a r tm e n t o f J e w is h S tu d ie s O ffic e , 3 4 3 8 M c T a v is h S tre e t, no la te r th a n A p ril 1 4 , 2 0 0 6 .

M ay 22-29, 2 0 0 6 This dynamic educational leadership program teaches university students of different religious and ethnic backgrounds of the dangers of intolerance through the study of the Holocaust. The overall goal of the program is to promote better relations among people of diverse cultures. We bring hundreds of students to Poland to demonstrate the horrors of the Holocaust, and the obligation upon each one of us to create a world in which religious and ethnic diversity is cause for celebration rather than discrimination.

Scholarships based on merit and financial need will be granted on a competitive basis to students expressing a strong commitment to the program's goals.

For a complete program description, please visit our web site:

www.remembranceandhope.com For further information, Your local campus representative please contact OR Jenni Stoff: 416-597-9693, x29 /1-800-663-1848, x29

the mcgill tribune

j 14.2.06 |news 7

N E W S BRIEFS as th e SSMU C onstitution.

A rts R ep re se n ta tive C orey S h e fm a n repeatedly tried to d efer th e m o tio n to th e next C ouncil m eeting.

"It is incredibly inappropriate fo r us to d ecide on a m atter o f such gravity w ith o u t first consulting o u r constituents," he said.

S hefm an w as una ble to convince his fe l­ low councillors, w h o voted d ow n his prop o s­ als.

S e n a te /B o a rd R e p re se nta tive Jesse Pasternak also trie d to refer th e m a tte r to SSMU's M edia Board, w hich m e t last sem ester fo r th e first tim e in recent history in response to com p lain ts a bo ut Tribune content.

"C ouncil d o e sn 't have th e necessary too ls nor tim e to ju d g e an issue like this,” Pasternak said.

Several co u n c illo rs fo u n d th is o p tio n unsatisfactory, however.

"I have zero faith in th e M edia B oard’s ability to render a decision in this case,” said SSMU Vice-President Finance and O perations Eric van Eyken.

Pasternak's m o tio n also w e n t d o w n to defeat.

D urin g th e deb ate, so m e co u n c illo rs que stio ne d th e role o f th e legislative council in

electronic card access to buildings, e-m ail addresses, sign-on credentials, etc.," he said.

McGill students m ay be surprised to find Eventually, all students w ill be able to o u t th a t McGill N etw ork and C om m u nica tio ns access M cG ill's o nlin e tools, including Minerva, Services, th e arm o f th e university responsible W ebm ail and WebCT, throu gh a single hom e fo r m aintaining th e university's com p ute rs and page. The curre nt system forces students to networks, has provided all M cG ill students w ith 100 m egabytes o f fre e o n lin e file storage visit d iffe re n t sites to access th e ir e-m ail, class hom epages and registration and billing in fo r­ space fo r personal use. m ation. ■ The data fro m NCS show s tha t m o re than —Kayvon Afshari 1 4 ,0 0 0 students have files in th e ir h om e direc­ tories. NCS D irector Gary Bernstein said he is To access your storage, visit unsure w h e th e r m ore students w o u ld use th e www. mcgill. ca/ics/weicom e/#storage. service if it w ere m ore w ide ly publicized.

There are no explicit constraints on w ha t No censuring, censoring this time students can store in th e o n lin e database.

S tud en ts' Society C ouncil vote d 1 2 -9 H owever, th e M cG ill C ode o f C on du ct applies Thursday against a m o tio n to censure th e fo r all usage o f M cG ill co m p u tin g facilities.

Tribune e ditor-in -chie f fo r publishing an o p in ­ According to Bernstein, NCS has m any ion piece regarding th e international reaction o th er plans fo r students in th e near future, including expansion o f th e w ireless netw ork to controversial new spaper cartoons depicting th e p ro p h e t M o ha m m e d. and th e ongoing installation o f Vista, th e new SSMU V ice -P re sid e n t External A aron version o f WebCT. D o n n y-C la rk p re s e n te d th e m o tio n in "O f m ost significance to students is th e NCS ID m ana ge m en t initiatives, w hich w ill cul­ response to an O ff th e Board o p in io n piece p ublished last w eek entitled, "M uslim s should m inate in Single Sign On to all o u r system s change th e ir attitoon." He alleged th a t the and self-serve password reset m echanism s, as piece w as both offensive and distasteful and in w ell as speedier provisioning o f things like violation o f th e Tribune's e ditorial policy as w ell 100 megabytes of wasted space

m aking such a decision.

"Last year w e passed th e Equity Policy to deal w ith these kinds o f issues,” said SSMU Vice-President University Affairs Max Reed.

"This policy, if n o t in letter tha n in spirit, is being violated by Council. W e should w ait and a llo w th e Equity C om m ission er to d o a proper investigation." ■ —James Cotowiec Some SSMU clubs may face eviction SSMU Vice-President Clubs and Services Leon M w otia a nnounced at council th a t he is currently evaluating club space requirem ents in th e Shatner b uilding and m ay force certain groups to vacate th e ir office space it they're n ot using it properly.

Clubs and Services C o m m itte e chairm an Sean W augh said tha t he w as unsure how m any clubs m ig ht lose th e ir space.

"The VP C&S has a w aiting list o f clubs w ith o u t o ffice space," said W augh. "If a club show s any lack o f o ffice activity, or disrespect to its shared space, it m ay be asked to leave th e Shatner b uilding," so o th e r clubs can use it.

The Clubs and Services c o m m itte e w ill be m eeting W ednesday to discuss th e m a tte r.»

—Robert Church

@ MAC

Mac celebrates founding C o - C E O

o f

E n g in e e rs

W it h o u t

B o r d e r s

s p e a k s

L e a d e r s k ip

T r a in in g

In te r a c tiv e W o rk s k o p

V IN C C I TSUI On Thursday, M acdonald Cam pus celebrated the 175th birth­ day o f its founder, Sir W illiam C. Macdonald, by cancelling classes from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and allowing stu­ dents and staff to attend a cerem ony featuring Parker Mitchell, co-founder and co-CEO o f Engineers W ithout Borders, as a guest speaker.

At only 28 years old, Mitchell is the head o f one o f the fastest-growing organizations in th e w orld , w ith 17,000 m em bers in Canada alone.

Both EWB and Mitchell him self have been th e re cipients o f countless awards; m ost recently, the organiza­ tion was recognized at the Canadian Awards for International Cooperation.

The Globe and M ail has also nam ed Mitchell and co-founder George Roter as tw o o f Canada's Top 4 0 Under 40, an annual ranking o f young business leaders and entrepreneurs.

"W hen you hear the w ord 'entre­ preneur,' you think o f som eone in his or her garage, w ho thinks they have a solution to a problem or a need and are o ut to make a lot o f money," Mitchell said. "Social entrepreneurship has m any parallels to that—som eone sees a problem in the w orld and they try to find a solution, except they d on 't make a lot o f money."

Opting to pace around the stage w ith a clip-on m icrophone instead o f standing at th e p o d iu m , M itchell dynam ically presented the topic o f social entrepreneurship by drawing fro m real-life examples, including sto­ ries fro m his recent trips to Haiti and Zambia.

On the day prior to the event, Jacob Beaudry, an executive m em ber o f the McGill branch o f EWB, cycled on a stationary bike for 24 hours straight—only leaving for bathroom b re a k s-to raise funds for his trip to Zambia this sum m er as a ju n io r EWB fellow. The fundraiser was coupled w ith a variety o f events, including a bake sale, African lunch, m ovies

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Mitchell speaks with Mrs. David M. Stewart, a generous Mac donor. throughout the day and a "Bridge the Poverty Gap" event in w hich students decorated w ooden planks and nailed them onto a small w ooden "bridge."

"We had the idea [to cycle for 24 hours] first, and then w e also found o ut that [Mitchell] was com ing for Founder's Day, so w e coincided the tw o days,” Beaudry said.

Both Mitchell and Beaudry point­ ed o ut that few people know that non­ engineers can jo in EWB. They said this makes m any people w h o are interest­ ed in the organization avoid becom ing involved w ith it.

"Som etim es the reputation that engineers have can be a bit daunting," Mitchell said, "but I think that w hen they m eet the people they're ju s t like, 'Oh, I d id n 't know engineers are like that!' The com m on thread is the belief in the pow er o f technology, and any­ one w ho's interested in prom oting that is m ore than w elcom e to jo in . It's usually the one-on-one interaction that gets them to jo in , or the passion [for] international developm ent."

Beaudry, fo r exam ple, is an Agricultural Sciences student.

"The idea behind EWB is to take the analytic thought process that engi­ neers are known for and apply it to

hum an developm ent issues," he said.

"It's ju s t about being very thoughtful and acknow ledging that you can't solve hum an developm ent issues ju s t w ith pure passion—you have to com e in w ith thoughtfulness and you always have to criticize your approach and look to improve. The people you're w orking fo r are the people you're try­ ing to help."

A fter his biking endeavour, Beaudry w as unable to attend M itche ll's speech, b u t G hislaine Johnson, a no th er ju n io r fe llo w em barking on the trip to Zambia and vice -p re sid e nt o f th e M acdonald branch o f EWB, attended the cere­ monies.

"I've gone to other speeches that he's done, and this tim e the focus was not on EWB, w hich I thought was nice," Johnson said. "It was m ore about trying to get people convinced th a t th e y can m ake a d ifference through tim e and effort. I thought that was a nice message rather than ju s t talking about EWB." Aside fro m M itchell's speech, Gold Key awards—Mac's version o f the Scarlet K e y -w e re also presented to seven students during the Founder's Day proceedings. ■

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opinion

Subjects and predicam ents

A lexical lament

G uest soap

Islam needs

MOHAMMAD MIRALY

O

introspection BABAR RAFIQUE

I w ear an Allah necklace. I've been w earing it since m y aunt gave it to m e years ago to help m e re m e m b e r m y religion. Given th e events in the w orld since that tim e, m ost recently the angry M uslim protests leading to th e fire b o m b ­ ing o f em bassies in reaction to cartoons, I'm having a hard tim e thinking a bout anything o ther than m y God and the people w h o believe like I do.

It was w rong and short-sighted o f the Danish Jyllands-Posten to publish the cartoons o f M oham m ed, and I w hole-heartedly support th e peaceful protests against it. Free speech should n ot be used as a justifica tion to blatantly m ock the Prophet and those w h o believe in him .

It w as even dafter fo r m any European newspapers to republish th e cartoons, in som e sort o f m isguided a tte m p t to prove the ir b elief in free speech by tram pling on beliefs held sacred by over a billion people. M any w ou ld p oin t o ut tha t Jesus and Christianity are routinely m ocked w ith o u t a reaction anyw here near the M uslim one, and the reason for that is a sim ple one —in th e march tow ards secularism in Europe and N orth America, to be a conservative Christian is tp be rem oved fro m the m ainstream o f society.

Thus, being a Christian has b e c o m e -p e rh a p s rig h tly -a deeply personal pursuit, an internal process largely disconnected fro m the secular­ ized external world.

That is n ot the case w ith Islam—to be M uslim is to be connected to a very religious external reality, tha t is, to be connected to o th ­ ers w h o have strong religious identities that tru m p all o ther identities. Jesus, hanging on a cross, can be subm erged in urine (à la Andres Serrano's "Piss Christ") because m ost Christians have accepted a secular, tolerant reality in their countries. M o ha m m e d cannot be portrayed as a

terrorist because M uslim s have not. Although the reasons are varied, and exceptions to the rule many, there is an ideological clash o f civi­ lizations here—one that w ill not go away any­ tim e soon.

S om ebody posited to me, long ago, that Islam w as th e best religion w ith th e w orst fo l­ lowers. Is it? Although th e protests w ere hardly representative o f th e M uslim populace, it does­ n 't excuse w hat som e o f th e protests led to.

Think a bout th e stunted mentality, th e intellectu­ al deadening, the level o f dogm atic brainw ash­ ing tha t w ou ld lead som e bo d y to carry, w ith u tm o st seriousness, a sign tha t says "Behead Those W ho Insult Islam" w ith o u t a red flag of rationality being raised inside th e ir head. Is it really tha t surprising tha t people o f this stripe w ould thin k nothing o f burning dow n em bassies in revenge? Yes, the cartoons w ere offensive.

But the y w ere ju s t cartoons. If w e are to be a civ­ ilized people, w e m ust m atch actions to reac­ tions, and the reaction to an u nfortunate series o f drawings should n ot be th e charred rem ains o f three embassies.

Islam has been hÿacked by those w ho shouted the ir dogm a th e loudest, and so those w ho are the least rational in th e M uslim w orld have stolen the right to d efine o ur religion. We need to do som e serious soul-searching. We need to rediscover ourselves, o ur religion, and h ow tha t religion coexists and prospers w ithin the states o f th e w orld. The M uslim future, short this kind o f introspective analysis, looks quite bleak. A full-scale attack on Iran is looking a lot m ore palatable now to m any w h o had previous­ ly opposed it—after all, w h o w ants a nuclear Iran w hen M uslim s are burning d ow n em bassies over cartoons? ■ Babar Rafique is a U2 Political Science student.

ne o f the m ost horrifying aspects o f m o de rn life is th e egregious and o fte n tim e s m acabre m isuse o f lan­ guage. The com m o n n e ss o f lexical slips in p opular parlance is indicative o f a subver­ sive, general perversion o f the language.

This is exem plified by th e pervasiveness o f su b -p a r su b -sp e cie s like E bonics and Albertan. Too m any conversationalists, w ith th e ir lazy tongues, get entangled in w ebs o f dangling m o difiers and split infinitives, lead­ ing th e m d ow n a dangerous slope to cer­ tain em barrassm ent, if n o t suicide (social, n ot actual). Beyond these considerations, however, is th e hard reality th a t speaking w ell isn't really considered w o rth w h ile in o ur tim es. Plebian parlance has infected the p opular consciousness.

FJow b a n e fu l are th e trills o f Valleyspeakers, verbifying nouns and "like, om igo d"-in g willy-nilly. All to o fre qu en tly can w e re co u n t screechy, elo n ga te d m o n o ­ logues by speakers chronicling h o w they "w ere, like, totally m aking o u t on every lam pp ost on St. Cat's!" W ith m uch shock and aw e d o w e w itness dialogue tha t sub ­ stitutes pronouns fo r verbs, ignores stan­ dard conjugations and e lim inates subjectverb agreem ent: "M y m o th e r she bigger tha n you. She always do crazy things. She going to knock you out.” It's n o t o nly English th a t suffers th is proverbial d eflow ering , though. Every vernacular perpetrates on its m o th e r ton gu e such oedipal crimes.

The sem inal issue here is tha t lan­ guage is tied intim a tely to hum anity. It is o ur larynxes and uvulas th a t m ake possible the tra n s m is sio n o f ideas th a t d is tin g u is h hum a n intercourse. W ith ou t proper dia­ logue, a ttem pts at c o m m u n ica tio n w ou ld be as useful as a blind m an looking o u t a w indow . Just im agine if peo ple w h o o sten­ sibly spoke th e sam e language d id n 't understand each other.

C onsider th e follo w in g actual conversa­ tio n I experienced. In response to a query regarding her occupation, She says: "I ju s t

passed th e bar exam." "O h," Fie replies, "I d id n 't realize becom ing a barm aid required such rigour." She looks at him askance, and offers a corrective: "No, I ju s t com p lete d an actuarial-related law degree." Fie says, sur­ prised, "W ow, th e laws o f bird-keeping.

That's really, urn, interesting." W hat a nitw it, she thinks to herself! "N o," she squawks.

"M y degree is in insurance and tax law!"

"Ah, taxonom y," he nods, w ith a w in k and a sm ile.

Flow absurd. W here has o ur c o m p re ­ hension o f language gone? We n ow have such im poverished linguistic ability tha t w e can no longer understand each other. O ur language skills have degenerated so m uch th a t anything beyond a sim ple conversation is thrust into th e realm o f th e im becilic. In o u r q uest fo r th e b o tto m line and the b o t­ to m dollar, w e have settled fo r bargainb asem e n t language use as w ell. O ur stan­ dard has been so low ered th a t th e m ost acceptable com m u n ica tio n s are typ ified by u nw itting abuses at best and som ew hat-syl­ lables at w orst. The plebian has b ecom e so para m o un t th a t turning a phrase is n o w as ta b o o as turnin g a trick (perhaps n ot in M ontreal, tho ug h).

W hat all this speaks o f is o u r sub m is­ sion to an increasingly rapid pace o f life, w hich supports a w orld view th a t indulges, and even pam pers, inability: allow ing peo ­ ple to get away w ith avoidable mistakes speaks to th e acceptance o f im p ro p e r or in co m p le te education. O f course, education is a scarce com m od ity, w hich is lam entable.

But w he n m ode ra te ly educated individuals subvert th e language, e ith er through active or passive support, the n w e run th e risk o f b ecom ing th e victim s o f a d ilu ted social intelligence. This, in turn, inhibits th e sophis­ ticated understanding o f o u r lives and tim es th a t is so im p o rta n t in o u r small, sm all w orld. A fter all, w ith o u t th e use o f proper subjects and predicates, a ttem pts to com e to know o n e a nother w o u ld be like a bro­ ken pencil: pointless. ■

Nu-kyuh-lar blast

Following W al-M art’s yellow brick road ERIC ALPER

I t's a sad reality tha t w riting books, once reserved fo r those w ith som e actual knowledge, has b ecom e an every-m an's profession. These days, everyone is an expert.

Steven Levitt w arns us to question, even fear, these "experts" tha t build the body know n as conventional w isdom .

But all to o often, th e fram ers o f conventional w isd om lack it them selves. The experts tell us to fo llo w the path the y have m apped fo r us, to fo llo w th e yellow brick road.

Am ericans w an t to spread fre ed om : the y also w an t prod­ ucts and services tha t satiate the ir w ants and desires. So w ha t d o the y do, say on th e ir jo u rn e y fo r shoes, b ut fo llo w th e yel­ low brick road to Wal-Mart. Inside, they find tha t W al-M art stocks a copious selection o f Nike shoes. Nike hires cheap labour in Sudan. Slave labour, som e m ig ht say. The fre ed om spread by m arkets has com e fu ll circle.

W hile at W al-Mart, the y also need strawberries. They find a box—they're th e size o f a tw o-year-old's head. A miracle, they think. But they find tha t the y taste like m anure, and guess what? The straw berry farm tw o m iles d ow n th e road dusts its

crops. This is th e new eco no m ic reality, the y think. Am erican son becom es th e very goods tha t W al-M art sells. And there is has to com pete, b ut at th e end o f th e day, m anagem ent's cut­ a nam e fo r such h om ogenous goods. Yes, th a t’s right, they're ting th e fat and the y find com m odities. And w hen all is them selves paw ns in a said and done, th e firm does Am ericans tell their kids to eat their spinach, that millions field increasingly crow d­ n o t care a bo ut th e m or their ed w ith m ore paw ns— of starving children in Africa w ould kill for it. But suddenly fam ilies. W al-M art's orienta­ black, w hite, green and it dawns upon them that those kids in Rwanda—they're the tion is far to o short-term . everything in between.

T h om a s Friedm an new com petition. A nd w hile the US cannot fund Social Am ericans tell the ir argues in The World is Flat kids to eat th e ir spinach, Security because the population in the workforce is shrink­ tha t globalization brings the tha t there are m illions o f ing, the com petition is reproducing like jackrabbits. prom ise o f an im proved stan­ starving ch ild re n in dard o f living fo r fam ilie s Africa w h o w o u ld kill fo r it. But suddenly it daw ns upon the m around th e w orld. M eanw hile, a w orker in a Levi’s garm ent tha t those kids in Rwanda—they're th e n ew com petition. And factory is w orking w ith o u t health insurance as Levi's destroys w hile th e US cannot fun d Social Security because th e pop ula ­ its o w n market, feeding W al-M art’s rapacious desire fo r v o l­ tio n in th e w orkforce is shrinking, th e com p etition is reproduc­ u m e at below -cost prices. You can keep squeezing a tu b e o f ing like jackrabbits. toothpaste, b u t at som e point, nothing com es o u t anym ore.

At th e checkout line, Am ericans are reduced to th e lo w ­ The land o f rollbacks and sm iley faces w elcom e s you to a est c o m m o n denom inator. A person becom es a sale; a per­ w orld leading a race to th e bottom . ■

the mcgill tribune | 14.2.06 | opinion

E D I T O R I A L

I M cG ill

D e fe n d in g

T rib u n e

fig h tin g

Vol. 25, Issue 21 Editor-in-Chief Liz Allemang editor@mcgilltribune.com Managing Editors Jennifer Jett Andrew Segal seniored@mcgilltribune.com News Editors Robert Church James Gotowiec Niall Mackay Roberts news@mcgilltribune.com Features Editors Genevieve Jenkins CSstina Markham features@mcgilltribune.com A&E Editors Ben Lemieux Melissa Price arts@mcgilltribune.com Sports Editors David Blye Adam Myers sports@mcgilltribune.com Photo Editors Lukas Bergmark Vladimir Eremin photo@mcgilltribune.com Copy Editor Traci Johnson copy@mcgilltribune.com Design Editors Matt Campbell Tiffany Choy Geneviève Friesen design@mcgilltribune.com Online Editor Marco Avolio online@mcgilltribune.com Advertising Manager Paul Slachta advmgr@ssmu.mcgill.ca Pubusher Chad Ronalds ONUNEATWWW.MCGILLTRIBUNE.COM Contributors

Kayvon Afshari, Pat Akey, Teni Alderfer, Eric Alper, Daniel Amin, Mohit Arora, Tessa Blanchfield, Dave Brodkey, Julie Collins, Clarice Connors, Lauren Consky, Jamie Goodman, Kiyoko Gotanda, Meaghan Hoyle, Mohammad Miraly, Marit Mitchell, Nicolas Murcia, Julie Peters, Dan Pujdak, Vincci Tsui, Nora Webb, Ariela Weinbach, Areiyu Zhang Tribune Offices Editorial. Shatner University Centre, Suite 110, 3 4 8 0 McTavish, M ontreal Q C Tel: 51 4.398.6Z 8 9 Fax. 514.398.1750 Advertising. Brown Student Building, Suite 1200, 3 6 0 0 McTavish, M ontreal Q C H 3 A 1Y2 Tel. 51 4.3 9 8 .6 8 0 6 Fax. 5 1 4 .398.74 90

he publication of 1 2 satirical cartoons depict­ ing the prophet M oham m ed has sparked outbursts of violence from Islamic funda­ mentalists, inflamed already-strained relations between Western and Muslim leaders, and ignit­ ed dispute in newspapers across the globe about the value of freedom of speech. And if there is anything a journalist loves more than breaking juicy political sex scandals, it is defending and expounding on the virtues of freedom of the press.

However, more important than debating whether or not the Jyllands-Posten had the right to print the caricatures-which it did, as an inde­ pendent publication fre e jro m government censorship-is whether or not it s h o u ld have printed them . The relative merits of publishing material that a huge group of people may find deeply offensive is a topic that needs to be debated at high volumes, with sinewy adjectives, nuanced articulation and large doses of opinion in news­ papers across the globe.

This is especially true of the campus press, which allows for much more reader interaction than the mainstream press. Debate that takes place in its pages should not be stifled, shut down, censored or censured when its viewpoints are unpalatable to some. Instead, it should be encouraged as a path to understanding and as an alternative to violence and intolerance, which are always unpalatable.

A student paper is a public forum for a diverse group of people—the varied editors and student writers who put it together, and the dis­ parate members of the student body who read it.

This means that a diverse set of opinions will be represented on our pages. It also means that some will vehemently disagree with those opin­ ions, as happened last week when an Off the Board that we published generated a controver­ sy, and resulted in SSMU Council considering a motion to censure the Tribune.

This diversity enhances the learning process, engenders understanding of other cultures and creates a multiplicity of opinions, som e popular and some unpopular. It is absurd to imagine that at a university with 1 9 ,0 0 0 students, everyone's thoughts and ideas will converge harmoniously. It is equally absurd to expect that every piece print­ ed in the opinion section of a campus paper will

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elicit a glowing response and complicit nods of agreem ent. In fact, it would be- eerie and P le a sa n tville -e sq u e if that were the case.

The most important function of an opinion page is to create debate and dialogue between different factions. A good editorial is bound to make at least one person angry while intelligent­ ly addressing a sensitive issue. After all, a student opinion piece is not m eant to serve the same purpose as a diplomatic com m uniqué from the UN Secretary General.

It is imperative to recognize that opinions should not be suppressed simply because they are unpopular, despite pressure from some quar­ ters to do just that. Therein lies the beauty of freedom of thought and expression that citizens of democracies enjoy: The majority does not have the right to silence a minority.

Instead of labelling possibly offensive opin­ ions as discriminatory, and instead of creating fear of voicing a minority viewpoint on campus and thus giving rise to an environment of repres­ sion, students who disagree with material printed in campus publications should contribute to ongoing dialogue. Writing letters to the editor, penning guest commentary pieces and speaking directly to the students responsible for printing

the contentious articles are both m ore effective and m ore constructive strategies than demanding the censure of material that som e people oppose.

At a student paper, it is the responsibility of the editorial board to monitor potentially contro­ versial content, relying on the example set by pro­ fessional news organizations and on feedback from readers. Newspapers have a responsibility to make themselves accessible to the public, and the Tribune is no exception. However, before stu­ dent government or its officers decide to inter­ vene in an issue that involves a publication and its readers, all other avenues of communication should be thoroughly exhausted.

By using this paper as an open and inde­ pendent forum for students to express their opin­ ions, popular or otherwise, the McGill campus can capitalize on the attribute all those glossy uni­ versity brochures highlight: the diversity of its stu­ dent body. There is undoubtedly a grey area between right and wrong and between appropri­ ate and discriminatory. But it is not for one per­ son or even a small group to decide what is verboten and to decree legitimate material crimethink by self-righteous diktat. On this fact, we hope, even dissenting factions can agree. ■

DARK H U M O U R

by JAMIE G O O D M A N

OFF T H E B O A R D

S a lo n

GENEVIEVE JENKINS

c u ltu r e :

t’s been two years since-l got my last haircut and

I I suppose split ends are bound to show, but I'm

mocked for it incessantly. Getting my friends to understand why I prefer split ends to an encounter with the salon-dwellers usually requires some explanation of my aversion to salons th em ­ selves.

Because it had been so long since the last haircut, my loathing of these places was starting to becom e less intense—when I got my locks snipped last week, I actually went to a salon (my only other trims in the last three years were in Supercuts on free "It's your birthday" haircut cards). Navigating past the front desk and down a winding staircase, I was surprised by the nether­ world of pampered wom en I discovered in the basement.

Having my head massaged in the sink, I thought that perhaps I had been missing a lot in life. Perhaps this w as the best place in the world.

That dream died the second I raised my head to look around. I’m always a bit taken aback by the general image of salons, even when I look from outside: W om en sitting for hours with hair that looks like it's gotten stuck in a kitchen supply cab­ inet and come out looking like mashed peanut

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butter sandwiches ensconced in foil, over-dyed and over-dried hair sticking out at every angle. But it's the vanity of those inside—som ehow comfort­ able wasting three hours—that really sickens me. Is this how self-confidence is built? If that were the case, I wouldn't have a problem with vanity. It's just that the opposite is true: W om en who give in to these socially encouraged primp-fests have low self-esteem.

Bewildered, I watched as they ogled them ­ selves in too-numerous mirrors, glimpsing faces buried in more cover-up than the sponsorship scandal. For almost the entirety of an inexplicably long blow dry, a girl beside me, also in her early twenties, revealed the complexity of her life in all its shallow glory: She was getting her hair profes­ sionally washed and blow-dried (as she did every other day), extensions put in her hair, and yet another chemical peel that weekend. Those topics exhausted, she waxed eloquent on the beautiful softness of her white rabbit-fur boots. This girl is an extrem e example of the depravity visible in every salon, but maybe she's also the inevitable product of a society that encourages image-wor­ ship and conformity.

I loathe thé idea of presenting an autobiogra­

m a tte rs

phy to hairdressers—what are these people think­ ing when they hand over details of every experi­ ence? I'm fairly certain that this is where the gen­ der divide begins: Men get 10-minute, $10 trims, sitting silently in swiveling chairs, slipping out before they have a chance to be harangued.

W om en get three-hour, $ 25 0 hair-cut-and-colorand-extension-and-blowdry-and-style, chattering endlessly, surveying reflections, tossing fake tress­ es as they promise to be back next month (or week, or day, depending upon how much tim e and money they like to waste). An intimate rela­ tionship with one's stylist som ehow develops. But just because som eone has done their jo b and hacked off hair doesn't mean they should be invit­ ed into a personal life; a garbage man also cleans up, but nobody invites him in for a gossip-fest.

The negative stereotype of wom en is formed in salons. It's a place where one's purpose in life is lost in the fumes of hairspray, and a place of gross Barbiefication, where w om en attempt to become attractive idols, succeeding only in filing out as carbon copies of a perverted ideal. We are building a world of people with too much self-con•sciousness and not nearly enough self-awareness, and we're starting in the basement salons. ■

The McGill Tribune is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the Students' Society of McGill University, in collaboration with the Tribune Publication Society. Letters to the editor may be sent to letters@mcgilltribune.com, and must include the contributor’s name, program and year, and contact information. Letters should be kept under 300 words and submitted only to the Tribune. Submissions judged by the Tribune Publication Society to be libellous, sexist, racist, homophobic, or solely promotional in nature will not be published. The Tribune reserves the right to edit all contributions. Editorials are decided upon and written by the editorial board. All other opinions are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the McGill Tribune, its editors or its staff. Please recycle this newspaper.

10 opinion | 14.2.06 | the mcgill tribune

L e tte rs to

th e e d ito r

We don't get Woody

I was surprised to see a review of M a tch p o in t last week ("Woody return?" 7.2.06), seeing as the film is now in its week of release in Montreal.

Further, I found Hancox's insight into the film quite per­ plexing, as he failed to appreciate the fine Woody-isms of the film and the clear use of the Chris as an alter-ego to Woody himself (Irish among the English, Jew among the Gentiles—it's not that much of a stretch, really). Perhaps the British accents were just too difficult to decipher?

I was glad to see that Hancox noticed the opera as sound­ track, but shocked that he didn't make the ju m p to realize it was used to evoke the tragic nature of the story, adapted from Theodore Dreiser's An A m e rica n Tragedy, which itself recently premiered as an opera at the M et in New York. Had Hancox done a simple Google search about the movie, he would have learned all this and not found the ending to be twisty enough "to make M. Night Shyamalan green."

G eoffrey H a ll U 2 Arts

Mohammed cartoons redux

Even though I totally agree with Ben Lemieux, he failed to analyse the situation ("Muslims need to change their attitoon," 7.2.06). Yes, the situation got out of control. Yes, it is a bad image of the Arab world that these protesters are showing. Yes, Arab countries misunderstood that Denmark cannot control the press, but nevertheless apologized.

However, we have to see the situation from the other side, too. Depicting M oham m ed is not allowed in Islam. This angered a lot of people and some of them got way too extreme. But, as a Muslim, these people do not represent Islam or the Arab world. They are a bunch of extremists.

On the other hand, what do we expect from these dicta­ tors that rule the Arab world? Nothing. Just stupidity, cutting diplomatic relations with Denmark. And again, dictators do not represent the voice of the majority of the population.

All I am saying is to stop making it sound like extremists represent Islam and Arabs are not peaceful. I just wonder what would happen if caricatures in the Arab world portray tragedies like 9 /1 1 or the Holocaust. The anger would be understand­ able.

Z ie d Laaribi U1 Physiology

• Falling into the age old media trap of chasing sensation­ al media stories, Ben Lemieux's opinion piece paints a picture of Muslims being hardliners out to destroy pluralist thought... oh, and a few embassies on the way.

Through his examples of burning embassies and hysteri­ cal demonstrators, Lemieux accuses Muslims of not able to react to offensive cartoons of their Prophet through construc­ tive means. However, this is simply not true. Innumerous prominent Muslim organizations worldwide have called for calm and have condemned hysterical actions. The Muslim Council of Britain issued a plea for peaceful and dignified responses. The Muslim Public Affairs Committee of Britain has openly condemned the actions of violent protestors. The Saudi ambassador to Washington asked for Muslims to show restraint. Yes, it is true that there have been deplorable reac­ tions to the cartoons; however, Muslims have also taken an active stance calling for a calm resolve to the issue.

Lemieux typifies Muslims as unable proceed rationally, but instead prone to act like pubescent youth with raging hor­ mones. He accuses Muslims of being unable to handle a "cheap swipe" at their religion. Unfortunately, he doesn't make the connection that the same pluralist attitude that would fos­

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• Lemieux's article ignores the fact that the protests in the Muslim world began peacefully. The cartoons were published in September, but the protests have gained mom entum only recently. Initially Muslim governments responded by dem and­ ing an apology from the Danish media and government.

However, the Danish authorities chose to sever ties with the Muslim countries rather than infringe upon the freedom of their press. The current reaction is only a consequence of fail­ ure of diplomatic negotiations. The situation could very well have been resolved peacefully with some foresight and tact.

I would also like to point out that a protest or a dem on­ stration is merely one of the numerous forms of expression of one's beliefs and ideas. And as members of a tolerant society we all believe in "freedom of expression." We do not label pro­ testors against anti-globalization or the war in Iraq, as "oversized bullies" trying to enforce their agendas. Thus, Muslims are total­ ly justified in expressing their feelings through protests or demonstrations.

If Lemieux has problems understanding how people react when they are indignant and angry, I suggest he should look at the language in his article. If he as an objective, rational journal­ ist, can get so riled up by somebody calling for "butchering of mockers of Islam," then so can a Muslim insulted by abuse against Moham m ed. That's a no brainer, if you ask me.

Ayesha AH U 3 Econom ics a n d Finance

• This is a response to those who believe that Muslims are guilty of overreacting to a few cartoons that were in "bad taste.” It comes as no surprise that there exist individuals who feel that the cartoons of M oham m ed were taken too seriously, since there is a serious lack of respect towards religion in Western society.

Maybe followers of other faiths take it lightly when their religious figures are ridiculed, but Muslims honour Moham m ed more than any other human being. Yes, historically other reli­ gious figures have been ridiculed and no commotion arose,

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More on anti-Semitism

Much can be said about Neil Lazarus, beginning with the fact the he is a career propagandist, and has no integrity as an academic. His assertion that anti-Semites exist in the world today is absolutely correct, but it is ignorant and offensive of him to group them in three vague, all-encompassing cate­ gories: "the left wing," "the far right wing" and "the Muslim and Arab world."

While I agree with Lazarus that to ignore that some of the criticism of Israel has its roots there is dishonest, I would add that to carry out an entire lecture portraying Israel as a righteous victim while not even uttering the word "occupation" is equal­ ly deceitful. Lazarus' propaganda hurts only the Jewish com m u­ nity that truly cares about Israel, of which I am a proud m em ­ ber.

At one point, Lazarus quoted Goebbels to argue that if media sources repeatedly claim that Israel is an oppressor, people will buy into it and be deceived. I think the quote is more suitable to characterize Lazarus’ lecture itself; Lazarus has proven that if Jews are told over and over again that everyone hates them, that Israel is a victim and that media coverage of Israel is biased, they will swallow and internalize these baseless claims. Those who don't swallow this nonsense (like Nasser Abukhdeir and m e) are avoided by being labelled anti-Semites.

At the end of the day, though, it is Lazarus and his dogmatic followers who do the most damage to Israel and the Jewish people, by refusing to distinguish between anti-Semitism and legitimate criticism.

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• Lemieux claimed that Muslim spokespeople did not respond “peacefully" against the Danish newspaper mocking the prophet Mohammed.

It seems that Lemieux is completely out of touch with what was happening for four months. After the Danish news­ paper published the cartoons, there were several peaceful attempts to resolve this issue, including p e titio n a ry local Muslims and a complaint that was submitted to the Danish police for violating the Danish criminal code that prohibits pub­ licly insulting other religions (these were dismissed for consid­ eration of the "freedom of speech"). Prime Minister Fogh Rasmussen refused to even m eet with ambassadors from eleven Muslim countries. Isn't this considered peaceful?

Even after the violence that erupted in some countries, many Muslims condemned it publicly. A simple Google search will tell you that Lebanon's top Sunni Muslim scholar, Moham ed Rashid Qabani, and Sheikh Ahmed Badreddine Hassun of Syria both condemned the violence. Many other prominent Muslim organization and scholars across the globe also condemned the violence in all its forms.

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• Ben Lemieux does not seem to understand a basic concept: that freedom of speech is not absolute. A "speech" cannot use "freedom of speech" as a shield to offend others in bad faith, to violate contemporary standards, or if it lacks liter­ ary, artistic, political or scientific values.

Those who drew the cartoons and the European papers that published them did so in bad faith, knowing how offensive these .actions are to Muslims. Violence against diplomatic premises is not acceptable, but the outrage that Muslims express all over the word is very rational. Muslims are still suf­ fering from the colonialist mentality of Europeans across histo­ ry. Thus, Muslims are certainly not up to taking nauseating jokes from Europeans. Humanity owes Muslims in general, and M oham m ed in particular, a lot because of the enormous con­ tributions that Muslims have m ade to civilization. I say to Ben Lemieux and his kind that the type of democracy and values th e y advocate are the ones that have failed a big test.

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but Muslims cannot be blamed for others' indifference.

As for this notion that Muslims have now proven them ­ selves to be terrorists, if the so-called Western "peace-makers" are so anti-violence, then should we have not expected them to refrain from republishing the cartoons numerous times across Europe after witnessing the outrage they caused? Unless the intention was to purposely inflame the violence, of course.

Muslims are labelled as terrorists, but how much guiltier is the one engaged in violence than the one purposely inciting it?

ter such a discussion also encourages constructive debate where religious tolerance has its place.

Lemieux's comments are not only shallow, but also deeply pejorative to the pluralist mentality he himself seems to be espousing. A picture painted by such hands should be likened to an archaic collection of Archie comics and thus find their proper place in the w orld... right inside the dustbin.

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SILHOUETTE — MONTREAL ANAPHYLAXIS SUPPORT GROUP

W h en

N o, Y O U

L o v e r o f all th in g s lite r a r y

a l l e r g i e s kill

M o n tre a l s u p p o rt g ro u p o ffe rs c o m fo rt f o r th o s e living w ith s e v e r e allergies TERRI ALDERFER For many of us, getting to that morning class in tim e to grab a coffee and bagel from Tim Hortons is often too much of a struggle. For those with anaphylaxis, a rare and life-threatening allergic condition, grabbing breakfast (or any other meal, for that matter) is much more complicated.

McGill student and founder of the Montreal Anaphylaxis Support Group (MASG), Andrea D. Lobel, has m ade it her personal mission to provide infor­ mation and local support for those who suffer from anaphylaxis. According to Anaphylaxis Canada, the condition affects an estimated two per cent of Regardless of life-saving properties, needles are scary!

Canadians and causes between 12 and 5 0 deaths per year in Canada alone. The reaction results from the consumption of or exposure to allergens such as peanuts, tree nuts, seafood and milk products. Other less common aller­ gens include insect stings, medicine, latex and even exercise.

Lobel, a third-year Ph.D. Religious Studies student, founded the support group three years ago after returning to Montreal to attend graduate school after a 15-year hiatus in Ontario. This experience away from her hometown instilled in her a sympathy for those students with ana­ phylaxis living in Montreal temporarily for school. The condition tacks on additional adjustments that must be made along with all the others at University. Students are confronted with new food choices, unfamiliar products and social situations involving food that could be harmful.

“Living away from hom e was a real challenge [for me]," says Lobel.

The MASG, which boasts nearly 5 0 members, offers meetings at a local hospital that has donated space for the group. The meetings provide information on everything from dealing with the initial diagnosis of severe allergies to how to cope in restaurants and when travelling. The group also has a private e-mail list to provide information and to allow for a healthy dialogue between members about the issues surrounding this condition.

Symptoms of anaphylaxis are generally visible within minutes after contact with the aller­ gy-causing substance, but in rare instances may occur up to four hours later. Com m on symp­ toms include difficulty swallowing, hives, gastrointestinal symptoms, cardiovascular effects, swelling of the lips, tongue and face, difficulty breathing, itchy or pounding ears, sneezing and runny nose. If one of these reactions is left untreated, the oxygen supply to the brain and other vital organs may be cut off, leading to cardiac arrest and possible death.

Obviously, such circumstances lead to the need for caution in everyday life. "Since food is often served at social events, this poses certain social challenges," says Lobel. Young adulthood is one of the highest risk periods for anaphylaxis, and Lobel notes the importance of not hiding a life-threatening condition in order to “fit in" to a social group.

Fortunately, awareness of the rare disease has increased in the past five to 10 years, but according to current studies, the incidence of the disease seems to be rising as well. Despite increased awareness, Lobel still believes that victims of anaphylaxis are treated and portrayed unfairly in society. “As with other conditions and disabilities, jo b discrimination is not unknown," she says. Allergic individuals are often portrayed in films and sitcoms as nerds with runny noses, and in the recent film Hitch, Will Smith's allergic reaction to shellfish was the target of laughter and humiliation. “In my opinion, this is inappropriate and vastly minimizes the seriousness of anaphylaxis," says Lobel. She hopes that by promoting awareness of the condition, these mis­ conceptions will be replaced with correct information. ■

K erry M cS w eeney, a p ro fe s s o r in th e E ng lish d e p a rtm e n t, b e g a n his c a re e r a t Q ueens, b u t has b e e n te a c h in g a t M c G ill fo r th e p a s t 2 0 y e a rs . H e d is cu s s e d w ith th e Tribune th e im p o s s ib ility o f c h o o s in g a fa v o u rite b ook, h is p ro b le m s w ith iP ods a n d th e im p o rta n c e o f exfo lia tio n .

Q u e e n s or M cG ill? Well, Montreal is a lot more interesting city than Kingston. And the under­ graduates here are much more diversified and heterogeneous than at Queens. You are all generally the same age, but it's wonderful to get to know the different languages and ethnicities and back­ grounds of the students at a place as varied as McGill.

W hat is your favourite class to teach at M cG ill? I've managed to enjoy teaching

English throughout my career by moving around a lot. My favourite class at the m om ent is a new one I'm teaching [Poetics of Short Fiction] because I've just started doing it. Usually in the third year or so of teaching a new class it gets to be about per­ fect: You've made all the mistakes you are going to make. I started teaching it last fall.

But other than that I would choose the Ulysses class. It's incredibly easy to teach, you just get the students to read it and it's marvellous. You just let them discuss and the most interesting things com e out of it.

W hat are your pet peeves w h en it co m e s to the classro o m ? My daughter is an

Favourite b o o k? [H e p auses fo r a m o m e n t, stym ied. I s uggest m y o p in io n th a t asking a person w h o loves b o o ks w hich is th e ir fa vo u rite is asking th e m a n im possible question. H e agrees b e fore he fin a lly says:] If you'd asked m e 2 0 years ago, I would have said M o b y Dick. For a while it was Eliot's M id d lem a rch . If you'd asked m e five years ago it would have been [Tolstoy's] A nna Karenina, because I'd just started teaching a class on that. But right now it's [Joyce's] Ulysses, because I'm teaching that

class now.

W hat is your favourite part of Ulysses ? When the two m en go outside at night and they look up above them and they see 'a heaventree of stars hung with humid nightblue fruit.'

W hat reaso ns w o u ld yo u give to a student pursuing a degree in En g lish ? A degree in English is incredibly useful for getting a job. It can be great preparation for a number of different things. A friend of mine is a lawyer, and she had an English degree. I asked her if it was good preparation for law, and she said it was excellent preparation. It's all about telling stories. It's all narrative and analyz­ ing texts. It's also an important skill to be able to write essays and articulate yourself. There are a num ­ ber of reasons to do it.

W hat are your h o b b ies, other than En g lish ? Well, I don't play as many sports as I used to. I don't know, I watch sports on TV, we rent videos. My kids are grown up and out of the house now, so my wife and I have been travelling a lot more lately. My garden has won prizes from the W estmount Horticultural Society. We're quite serious about gardening.

Favourite w o rd ? I'd have to say, "exfoliate." W e used to have a lot of trouble with my son when he was going through his adolescent phase. We used to tell him we were 'waiting for him to exfoli­ ate.' He'd get so furious at us when we said that.

www.anaphylaxis.org.

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McGill Procrastinator's Alliance

‘ Leonard Cohen Appreciation Day McGill Society of Pomosexuals

Doesn't "McSweeney" sound like a pub's name?

academic as well: she is teaching at a big university in the States, and she brought something to my attention that I didn't notice before she told m e about it-cell phones and iPods. And not in class, but I notice now the way students will come out of a classroom and immediately start talking on their cell phones or listening to their iPods. They have absolutely no interaction with each other in the hall­ ways. I think that leads to a rather shrivelled university experience. The university setting offers stu­ dents a great opportunity to m eet new people and have new experiences, and if you are talking to som eone on your cell phone it's probably som eone whose num ber you already have.

Visit www.masg.ca to g e t in to u c h w ith A n d re a D. L o b e l a n d th e M o n tre a l A n a p h y la x is S u p p o rt G roup. F or m o re in fo rm a tio n o n a n a p h yla xis, visit A n a p h y la x is C a n a d a 's W eb s ite a t

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L y ssies!

—C o m p ile d b y Julie Peters For th e co m p le te in te rv ie w w ith Kerry M cSweeny, check o u t www.mcgilltribune.com.

W H E N ...

W H E R E ...

C O N T A C T ...

Postponed until further notice

r.B.A.

llgettoitlater@gmail..com

Feb.17, 6 :0 0 p.m.

Leacock 132

beautiful_losers@mcgill..ca hosemedown@ hotmail..com

‘ Intro to Communal Showers

Swing McGill

Feb. 16, 9 :0 0 p.m.

Currie Gym change rooms

•Boycott Valentine's Day

McGill Union of Embittered Singles

Today

Redpath Museum

love_stinks@gmail..com

‘ “ See h o w these listings a re ju s t TOO g o o d to b e true? To a v o id s h o w in g u p fo r a n e ve n t th a t d o e s n 't (sig h ) exist... S u b m it y o u r listings! A dvertise to the m asses! Give us y o u r m o n e y !

Advertise your event! For only a toonie you can get a listing in the print and online editions of the Trib. Drop by the SSM U Office (Shatner building, Suite pick up a form. D eadlines are Fridays at 3:30 p.m. For m ore information call 398.6789 or e-m ail calendar@ mcgilltribune.com

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: t o e x p re s s th e sh o f a w o u n d e d th e e v e r-a n g s ty a r, M e lis s a P ric e LUKAS BERGMARK

LUKAS BERGMARK

W arning: D o n o t a tte m p t th e use o f this p la y lis t unless y o u a re a skilled p ro fe s sio n a l in th e a rt o f angst. N o n e o f these songs s h o u ld b e p la y e d o n Valentine's D a y unless y o u 're sin g le a n d in to s e lf-to r­ ture, o r in a re la tio n s h ip w ith so m e o n e w h o h a te s Valentine's D a y as m u c h as y o u do. The a u th o r takes n o responsibility fo r a n y m isuse o f this pu b lica tio n .

"If I Didn't Care," The Ink Spots: One of the premiere love songs from the Godfathers of soul and pop adult.

"There Is A Light That Never Goes Out," The Smiths: Morrissey quietly dreams of shared death while driving with someone whom he has never told he loves: "And if a double-decker bus crashes into us/ To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die.”

"As Tim e Goes By," Chet Baker: The quintessential jazzm an's rendition of this Herman Hupfield classic will add a healthy touch of class to your Valentine's day playlist.

"Transatlanticism," Death Cab for Cutie: Everyone's heard this one. It's about people we love being far away and how oceans make it worse. "I need you so much closer.”

"Dream a Little Dream of me," Mam a Cass Elliott: Of all the recorded versions of this song (Nat King Cole, Ella, Louis and all), this has got to be my favourite. It's as if God made Mam a Cass’s voice with this song in mind.

“Black,” Pearl Jam: One of the darkest—so to speak—songs of lost love. "I know someday you'll have a beautiful life; I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky, so why can't it be mine?”

"Pale Blue Eyes," The Velvet Underground: Soft and sweet, this has got to be the most soulful song in Lou (feed’s repertoire. Some fine lyrics and the smoothest guitar solo you've ever heard have m ade this song a classic for over three decades.

m m im

"Konstantine," Something Corporate: Yes, it's clearly emo, and yes, he whines on for quite a while, but it's beautiful and very sad. “Spin around me like a dream we played out on this movie screen/ And I said, did you know I missed you?"

"Something I Can Never Have," Nine Inch Nails: Now we're getting bleak. He sounds like he's on his last reaches of life here: "You make this all go aw ay/ I'm down to just one thing, and I'm starting to scare myself." Hey, you can't blame him. He just wants something he can never have.

Continued on next page

W E ARE PRESENTLY L O O K IN G F O R ... s

"Pushit," Tool: This epic psychmetal composition is almost 1 0 minutes long and contains this lyric: "Remember I’ll always love y o u / As I claw your fucking throat away."

Cool.

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O u r s t a f f w o u ld b e p le a s e d t o a n s w e r all y o u r q u e s tio n s . C all us n o w o r v isit o u r w e b s it e if y o u m e e t t h e a b o v e c r ite r ia s .

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"Piece of my Heart," Janis Joplin: Yeah, that's it. No, I offered it.

Go ahead, take it. I don't care.

C m on now, baby. Take another lit­ tle piece of my heart, see if I care. / s a id take it, g o d d a m m it!

"Love Will Tear Us Apart," Joy Division: Well, the title kinda says it all. The fact that frontman Ian Curtis went for a swing from a hom em ade noose not long after its release doesn't help much.

"Lovesong," Jack Off Jill: It’s a cover of The Cure's song—you know, "However far away, I will always love you.” Except, imagine a wom an singing that song about the one person she always loved and never had. Or while being beaten to death.

"Some Kind O f Stranger," Sisters of Mercy: "I can wait a long long tim e before I hear another love song," wails Andrew Eldritch, so choked up he can barely get the words out (don't worry, he always sounds like that). Here, here. ■

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A n a p h a rm o ffe rs y o u m u ch m o re th a n y o u e x p e c t. P a rtic ip a tin g in o n e o f A n a p h a rm 's clin ical research studies m eans: ♦ Receiving a m edical assessment • Being cared fo r by well trained m edical personnel ♦ Receiving a com pensatory in d em n ity based on the length of your stay and n u m b e r of return visits • D edicated concern fo r your com fort, health and security.

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t he mcgill tribune | 14.2.06 | stu d en t living 13 since Sting dropped his 1 9 9 3 classic "Ten Summoner's Tales."

Nothing like the good o f days, though.

Continued from previous page.

"Let's Get it on," Marvin Gaye: A no-brainer.

"Sexy Motherfucker," Prince: A bit of a tongue-in-cheek j addition to the list. By no means a romantic tune, but holy shit i is this a good song. If you're on the prowl for Valentine’s, give i this one a play as you’re exiting your house. Works better than ! Viagra, "Fields of Gold," Sting: It's been covered ceaselessly

”1 Love You," Daniel Lanois: Best known as U2 producer for the past 25 years, Quebec's pride Lanois is actually one of the greatest songwriters and creative forces in the Canadian musical landscape. This, one of the more earnest and gor­ geous ballads in many years, is from his 2 0 0 3 album, Shine.

"Breathe Me," Sia: Backup singer for Jamiroquai and guest performer on several Zero 7 works, Aussie songstress

Sia Furler brought her own marvelous and distinct blend of soul and acoustic pop to audiences with her superlative 2 0 0 4 release, C o lo u r th e S m a ll One. "Breathe Me" is one of the album's many highlights.

"All the King's Horses," Robert Plant: In 2 0 0 5 , ex-Led Zep frontman Robert Plant crafted not only one of the strongest albums of his career, but the most sublimely beautiful song of the year. A simple, sincere and warm acoustic love ballad with emotive vocal work to break hearts left and right. ■

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E x p lo rin g th e p s y c h o lo g y o f a s w in g e r TERRI ALDERFER 'll admit it seemed a little shady. I lied to my friends about my Saturday night and nervously hailed a cab. I made my way north on StLaurent, passed the bars that I other twentysomethings to frequent on Saturday nights. Ten dollars and a chatty cabby later, I arrived at my desti­ nation. I stepped out of the car and, feeling all on me, walked up to the door of Club Nuances, one of Montreal's numerous private "swingers'" clubs.

The tone of secrecy and the sexually obscure was set by the blackout curtains, beyond which I was greeted by sexually explicit images from the Kama Sutra along with a disclaimer warning that I may witness any number of sexual acts without—gasp!—any warning.

Admittedly, I had envisioned the swingers' club as a spatter­ ing of sex-crazed couples decked out in PVC and brandishing whips who were going to proposition m e for sex in a direct way that would leave me feeling uncomfortable. Although I witnessed many things that, as a non-swinger, I was not accus­ tomed to—such as the cage-like room in the basement with five beds, a shower and some condoms—the swingers' club was not the squalid place I had expect­ ed.

fantasy. In North America, it wasn't until the onslaught of a more sexually liberated culture—thank you to Elvis Presley's sexy hips—in the 1950s that swingers began forming underground communi­ ties amongst, and thus, the lifestyle was born.

Seems pretty straightforward, right? Meet another couple over some drinks, concede to the obligatory mingling on the dance floor and take them downstairs to live out your wildest sexual fan­ tasies with some group lovin'. Well, not exactly.

The rules of engagement

Although its patrons covet the sexually liberating nature of the club, the swinging lifestyle is by no means the free-for-all orgy that one might envision. There are specific boundaries to be respected and etiquette to be followed.

Tony and his wife Jo-Ann, a middle-aged couple boasting 30 years of marital bliss, have been coming to Club Nuances and practicing the lifestyle for the past five years. "We have our own set of rules," says Jo-Ann. Specifically, they must always be in each other's presence while engaging in sexual acts with others. This may not be the case for all couples though; she says, "Everybody has a different approach to the lifestyle."

The Quebec Swingers Association (AEQSA), a provincial organization that oversees private clubs like Nuances, gets a little more specific about its rules: Treat others with courtesy; practice

So, how do you swing?

Although often involving the mutual swapping of partners between two couples, swinging, also known as "The Lifestyle," can also involve sexual acts between one couple and a single man or woman (although sin­ gle wom en are accepted into the lifestyle more enthu­ siastically than single men-sorry, guys). In socially liber­ al Canada, it is estimated that swingers make up two to five per cent of the population.

Humans have always fantasized about having sex in groups or, at the very least, with different partners.

According to Ronald Mazur, author of The N e w Intimacy, 9 9 per cent of women and men have wished for, or been curious about, sexual and sensual experiences with someone other than their partners. From the Ancient Greeks to the Egyptians, almost every civiliza­ tion throughout history has lived out some form of this K am a Sutra m urals greet the guests at C lu b N uances.

personal hygiene; only do what gives you pleasure; practice safe sex; respect the feelings of others-in other words, 'no means no.'

Okay, now for the perks

Only 16 per cent of the 8 5 3 cultures on record actually pre­ scribe monogamy as the norm in their culture, according to Helen Fisher's A n a to m y o f Love. It's no wonder then, that a significant por­ tion of North Americans, who are taught monogamy as a social prerequisite for civilization-ahem, Freud—seek to break away from the sexual restrictions imposed on them.

For Jo-Ann and Tony, a long marital rut sent them searching for ways to rekindle their extinguished flame. It was Jo-Ann who took the initiative and suggested they check out a swingers' club.

Ever since, swinging has provided the couple with tremendous benefits, reopening their line of communication and improving their relationship. Today, "there is nothing we can't tell each other," Tony says with a smile.

A hot commodity in the world of swinging, Maggy (names have been changed to protect privacy) was the only single female looking for action at Club Nuances on Saturday night. Not surpris­ ingly, her motivations to swing were a bit different than those of Tony and Jo-Ann. Married for some time, Maggy became frustrated with her asexual husband and began an affair with another man. When her relationship with the second man began to dwindle and he just couldn't let go, she took drastic measures. Hey, we've all been there.

She and her boyfriend joined the swinging lifestyle so that Maggy could pass him off to another woman they became intimate with. In the process, she discovered she enjoyed being with other wom en and was, in fact, bisexual.

For Maggy, the initial drive to join the swinging lifestyle out of necessity turned into a desire to fulfill her bisexual fan­ tasies.

Pragmatically speaking, there -are some nearly universal reasons that individuals are attracted to this sexual lifestyle.

It is ideal for those who, in the words of Vince Vaughn in O ld School, shudder at the thought of "one vagina [or penis] for the rest of their life."

McGill Sexual Ethics Professor David Koloszyc agrees with Vaughn. "With swinging, you get to have a relationship without being stuck with that person sexually," he says.

The sense of transgression involved in a "secretive" sex­ ual lifestyle such as swinging is also part of its enticement.

Excitement arises from doing something you are not sup­ posed to do, says Koloszyc, but the increasing societal acceptance of the swinging lifestyle assures its followers that they are no longer labelled as deviant either.

S o r r y , I d o n ’t s w i n g t h a t w a y . . .

M o n o g a m y d o e s n ’t h a v e t o m e a n m o n o to n y CRISTINA MARKHAM W e've all heard the arguments for polygamy over monogamy. Yes, it's true that som e animals are genetically programmed to have life partners, while others naturally tend to stray. Though it's near impossible to determ ine which categories humans fall in to, as we can't discount social factors, the animals with the closest DNA structures to humans are all polygamous.

Also, w e are constantly bom barded with stories of climbing divorce rates, couples in marriage counselling and dating services like Ashley Madison. If w e live in a culture that seems to be leaning more and m ore towards polygamy, why would anyone stick with boring old monogamy?

While marriage and m onogam y are, for the most part, a religious or social construction, it has becom e so entrenched in our societies that many mistake it for natural.

Monogamy, however, is a choice that is m ade by both m em bers of a couple. For many couples, the trust and inti­ macy they are able to share with that one person is infinite­

ly m ore exciting than key parties and swinger's clubs.

The W eb site w w w .a n d th e y liv e d h a p p ily e v e ra fte r.c o m addresses the concerns of married couples. Most fairy tales end with that familiar line, but give no clue as to how the couple managed to find such unheard-of w edded bliss. By giving tips and suggestions from other happily married cou­ ples, they attem pt to make marriage not only bearable, but tempting. The topics range from wedding etiquette to ring selection to mail-order brides, though the majority of head­ ings deal with monogamy. ATLHEA argues that while m onogam y may not be "natural,” it has becom e ingrained in our society for a reason. They contradict the DNA argu­ m ent by pointing out that hum an beings are animals in biol­ ogy only, and our abilities to reason, understand and form concepts separate us from the animal kingdom. Dolphins may be smart, they say, but they never landed a m an on the moon. While animals m ate out of instinct, the sexual drive of a hum an being is governed by much m ore than a desire to further their lineage. No hum an being, they argue, is capable of having sex without engaging in it mentally on at least s o m e level. If w e were water buffalo, running about the

plains with a new m ate every w eek wouldn't be a problem.

The site argues, however, that w e are m ore unlike animals than we are like them , so to use their behaviour to justify our own is ridiculous.

Monogam y has countless benefits: Sixty per cent of single w om en reach the age of 6 5, while 9 5 per cent of married w om en do. Addiction to drugs and alcohol are sig­ nificantly lower among married people than among singles.

Also, a University of Chicago study found that married cou­ ples, com pared to those who cohabitate, make twice as much money, experience half the domestic violence and have tw ic e as m u c h sex. If that doesn't send you running for the altar, I don't know what will.

The idea of monogam y just sounds too unbearably dull for some people, but it is the only option for others. The thrill of a new partner can't replace the comfort of looking into the eyes of a trusted partner. M onogam y—like polygamy, polyandry, or even vegetarianism -is a choice. But if one partner isn’t enough to fill your dance card, w w w .a sh le y M a d is o n .c o m is just a click away, ■

ALL PHOTOS BY AREIYU ZHANG

the mcgill tribune j 14.2.06 |features 15

R ig h ts f o r c o m m u n a l c o it u s

In favour of a legal forum for group fornication GENEVIEVE JENKINS

Being "sent to your room" doesn't seem like such a bad thing at Nuances.

"It's a mild transgression. Just like drinking and smoking, or smoking marijuana," he says. In other words, swinging is an accepted—albeit reluctantly—behavior in Canadian society.

In December 2 005, swinging was declared legal by the Supreme Court of Canada, which stated that clubs allowing group sex and partner-swapping do not harm Canadian soci­ ety and should not be considered criminal.

Swinging: Not for the weak

Although swinging is slowly becoming accepted as our society becomes more liberal in terms of lifestyle choices, there is still an elem ent of the "double life" that swingers face. Tony and Jo-Ann are not open about their sexual pref­ erence because they feel judged by others outside of the swinging community. When they come to Club Nuances, they are entering a world where they can escape from their The nitty gritty lives as middle-aged, suburban professionals. At times their There are as many ways to approach the swinging sexual practices can require some difficult explanations, such lifestyle, as there are to approach the traditional dating scene. as when they told their 2 1 -year-old daughter that Tony and Jo-Ann have tried it all. They looked through per­ they had sex with other people. sonal ads and m et couples outside of the club for dinner or Koloszyc believes that swinging is more coffee, but often found this approach to be artificial. They accepted in a city like Montreal, known for its prefer the clubs because this atmosphere wastes less time, sexual culture and liberal ideology, than it would though there are nights when they go home ’empty handed'. be in small-town Mississippi, for example.

"People start to talk and you can tell right away if there is a Swinging may exist in small towns, but it is sure­ physical attraction," says Tony. ly on a more secretive level. ’ There’s no beating around the bush either. Says Tony, "It's about the society we live in. We are "There is no bullshit; people will just ask, ’What are you uncertain about its values, so you get room to looking for?"' This particular couple is not looking to go all experiment," he says. Swinging has become a the way. They describe themselves as "Mélangist," mean­ viable option for many in this urban atmos­ ing they prefer foreplay and oral sex, but not intercourse phere of financial and social independence. "If with another couple. something is not considered a sin by society, Many other couples are "Echangist”—they're looking I people figure, why not?" notes Koloszyc. for sex—so it is important that these personal preferences If swinging is something that you think be discussed before getting started. Not surprisingly, it is might turn your crank, by all means, check it the wom en of the couple who connect first, which leads o u t-it’s not as scary as it seems. One word to to a night of talking, dancing and maybe going down­ the wise: this lifestyle is not the answer to a stairs to get better acquainted. j troubled relationship, so don't go into it think­ Exhibitionism is another draw for many couples in j ing your sex life and relationship issues will swingers' clubs. Exhibitionists may not even swing at be magically solved by a little sexual libera­ all, but rather relish having sex in front of others to tion. Swinging requires a healthy relation­ heighten their pleasure. The multiple-bedded ’sex ship based on trust and communication to room' in the basement of Club Nuances is certainly an be a positive experience. appropriate venue. j So if you're not feeling entirely satisfied Maggy doesn't like the idea of others ogling a t p - ' f i j K her while she's having sex. As a non-exhibitionist, she p r * IV^jj this Valentine's Day, remember there are some options for people who are willing to prefers to meet with couples outside of the club—which may think outside the monogamy box—espe­ have been a disappointment to some looking for a hot sin­ cially if you're okay with getting it on with multiple couples on gle on Saturday night. a mattress in a basement cage. ■

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Sex vs. Love

In Western society, w e have tried tirelessly to combine sex and love into one relationship, but as the current divorce rate suggests, we haven't been so successful. Swingers rec­ ognize a fundamental distinction between love and sex and believe that a lifetime of monogamy is unrealistic. ”1 can’t believe that a couple can be together without cheating," says Jo-Ann. Tony agrees, and to them sex does not have much to do with their feelings for each other. "We're madly in love with each other, and for us, sex is sex, it's play," he says.

For this couple and many others, having sex or engag­ ing in sexual activity with another person is not cheating at all, because their partner is aware of their acts in this controlled environment. To draw a boundary between the married cou­ ple and their swinging partners, many invoke a rule of no kissing—something reserved specifically for their significant other.

Fisher cites a poll taken by People magazine in 1 98 6 that found 74 per cent of the 7 4 0 respondents believed that one does not actually need to engage in intercourse to be unfaithful. Apparently, it is the emotional rather than physical infidelity that hurts the most. By requiring honesty and com­ munication, the swinging lifestyle actually emphasizes some of the most important aspects of a healthy relationship.

Canada may have gone to the Conservatives, but swingers are still at liberty with the new laws that let them get it on with multiple part­ ners in designated public areas. Originally accused under Criminal Code section 2 1 0 (1 ) for allowing indecent conduct, Jean-Paul Labaye owned a swingers' club regulated by yearly membership dues, pre-entry inter­ views and a watchdog doorman. Providing a public place for the sole purpose of group sex was deem ed "degrading and dehumanizing” and was calculated to induce anti-social behaviour in its disregard for moral values by the original trial judge. In Jean-Paul Labaye v. Her Majesty the Queen, a Supreme Court case that stretched from April to December 2 005, the criminal conviction of Labaye was set aside.

So now we've reached the point of retrospective evaluation: What does such a decision mean for the moral future of Canada? According to a right-wing C algary Sun columnist, Link Byfield, the Supreme Court justices are tyrannical rule-makers, passing down decisions without regard for the public opinion. But isn't that the point? Aren'tjudges given leeway to make decisions according to their interpretation of the Constitution, decisions that should not be hampered by the willy-nilly opinions of an ill-informed public?

The most important issue to address is how the ruling will affect individual rights, especially when negating the conservative viewpoint that this sort of allowance is damaging to society and possibly even infringing upon the rights of those who disagree with swinging. Since most swingers are not open about their sexual activity—both because there is a negative stigma attached to the idea and because many of them enjoy the idea of the forbidden—it doesn't seem likely that they will be trouping into Ottawa engaged in acrobatic intercourse. It's fairly clear that the only people affected by this ruling are the swingers them ­ selves: They cannot be arrested for participating in group sex in swingers' clubs.

The rational reader would know this already, but it has somehow been turned into a variation on the them e of the degradation of moral­ ity in North America—a them e that, quite frankly, has grown a little stale since Clinton left the US presidency. And it's a them e that Byfield isn't ashamed to exploit.

"This ruling opens wide the door to sex clubs, gay bath houses, helpful counseling in high schools and other delights," he says.

By grouping swingers with gays he draws out those hyper-conser­ vative elements of society already overly concerned with the preserva­ tion of a prudish and heterosexual mainstream culture.

But let's turn the question of rights around: What about the rights of those who enjoy group sex? Byfield asserts that swingers clubs are a place "where people go for orgies with consenting adults as young as 14." Despite the Supreme Court decision, the negative image that has likely damaged the psyches of many a swinger is being perpetuated.

Simply by phrasing the group sex as an orgy, Byfield has doused the reality of swingers' clubs in a harsh and untrue coat of verbiage. In fact, group sex in swingers' clubs is not the free-for-all sex-fest that an orgy is; it is a rule-based sexual encounter between adult couples, not with a room of scandalous 14-year-olds. Perhaps the new ruling will allow for a more fair perspective of those who enjoy sex with multiple partners, and also impress the idea that forms of sexuality, even when outside the narrow constraints of the "norm," should not be causes for the dem ­ olition of rights. ■

For m o re in fo rm a tio n a b o u t Club N uances ca ll 8 4 5 -1 7 4 1 o r visit www.clubnuances.com.

C o u ld y o u f e e l a t h o m e in a p l a c e l i k e t h i s ?

T h e U n ita ria n c h u rc h is a sp iritu a l, w e lc o m in g place — o p e n to ev ery o n e, reg ard less o f race, b a c k g ro u n d ,

L o o k in g f o r a f u r t h e r fe a tu r e s fix?

e c o n o m ic s ta tu s o r sex u al o rie n ta tio n .

It’s a place w h e re y o u r p e rso n a l valu es

H i t u p w w w .m c g illtr ib u n e .c o m f o r w r i t e r R a c h e l M e ln ik ’s t a k e o n w h e t h e r m e n a n d w o m e n can b e

a n d e x p e rien c e s are w elco m ed .

W e h av e n o fixed d o c trin e o r creed , b eliev in g th a t “tr u th ” is ever-evolving.

frie n d s w it h o u t o n e w a n tin g t o ju m p t h e o t h e r ’s b o n e s .

Also, the Features section would like to apologize for an error in last week’s issue. The article entitled “Olympic bidding: A competition worthy of the Games" that was attributed to Cristina Markham was actually written by James Young.

P lease jo in u s o n S u n d ay at 10:30am .

T h ere are also p ro g ra m s for c h ild re n o f all ages.

F o r m ore in fo rm a tio n : w w w .u c m tl.c a o r p h o n e 4 8 5 -9 9 3 3 .

T h e U n itarian C hurch 5035 de Maisonneuve W. (Vendôme Metro)

MUSI C

M o n tre a l m u sicia n s an y th in g b u t M a la d ro it

M a la ju b e ’s b r e a k th r o u g h a p p e a l r e -d e fin e s F ra n c o R o c k BEN LEMIEUX Traditionally, French-Canadian artists have never m ade it very far out of Quebec, the language barrier diminishing the accessibility of their music to the sur­ rounding Anglophone continent. The ensuing desire of Quebec musicians to cater to the restricted available audience has spawned scores of classless bands whose em pty lyrics, bastardization of the French lan­ guage and irritating overuse of Québécois folkloric them es have composed a bland Francophone music scene for the past decade.

And then there was Malajube.

This Montreal quartet first m ade their presence known in 2 0 0 4 , with no more than 1 ,0 0 0 pressings of their debut album —the most energetic, spontaneous

"We decided against major labels in favour of truly making the record ourselves...

Being 'in it' is what truly makes the experience worthwhile for us."

—Julien Mineau and nostalgic punk/garage/grunge sound that La Belle Province has heard this side of the 21st century. This was Quebec's answer to Metric, and hopefully the beginning of a new musical era in which to de-slumpify ourselves.

"I don't think language has much to do with pop­ ularity," com m ents singer/guitarist Julien Mineau of Malajube's atypically substantial appeal to the local Anglophone population. "We did com e out of that milieu. W e . played shows with The Dears and The Unicorns, but maybe it's ju st the style of music that we play that reaches out to Anglophone Montrealers."

Though he admits it's only his best guess, he's right on the money. All the Anglophone bands who've acquired uber-hip indie status on the island in the past 1 0 years have been about bringing a parsimonious

brand of rock ’n' roll music back to the fun-loving masses. Tricky Woo. Priestess. We Are Wolves. Starvin' Flungry. These nam es spell out thick, meaty, uncom ­ promising.

Malajube, with it's debut Le C o m p te C o m p le t, demonstrates all of these attributes. A tight band that started out with a consolidated punk-rock sound, remarkably catchy hooks and an unrelenting sonic propulsion have now returned with a surprisingly var­ ied, comparatively laid-back second album.

T ro m pe-L'œ il, released province-wide a w eek ago, is a harmonious conjunction of old-school moshers like "Pate filo" and "Fille a plumes," and breezy, freeflowing rock ballads like "Jus de canneberges" and "Montreal - 4 0 C." On the distinct stylistic divergence betw een the tw o albums, Mineau noted, "With Le C o m p te C o m p le t, w e had less studio experience and far less money. W e had a few thousand bucks to do the project in six months. W e didn't produce it ourselves; w e just w ant­ ed to get the jo b done. But the experience has m eant a lot. W e learned from our mistakes."

Most musicians would dream of learning as quickly as Malajube. On their sophom ore record, they elected to produce and take part in the mixing of the album with little outside assistance relative to most studio albums that, simply put, don't sound this bloody good. As Mineau reports, that's the only way they're comfortable working.

"We decided against major labels in favour of truly making the record ourselves," he says. "That way we end up much m ore proud and satisfied with the final results. Being 'in it' is what truly makes the experience worthwhile for us.” ■ T o n ig h t's la u n c h fo r Trompe l'oeil a t La Tulipe ( 4 5 3 0 P a p in e a u ) is, u n fo rtu n a te ly , s o ld o u t. A s u p p le ­ m e n t h a s b e e n s c h e d u le d fo r Feb. 2 1 a t th e s a m e ve n u e . D o o rs o p e n a t 7 :3 0 p .m . s h o w a t 9 p .m . C a ll 5 2 9 - 5 0 0 0 o r v isit www.latulipe.ca fo r m o r e in fo rm a ­ tio n .

NEWMUSICCANADA.COM M in e a u —g iv in g live perfo rm ances to m atch M a la ju b e 's studio successes.

H A N D S OF F T H E C A N V A S

S to p 1

ne thing that never ceases to amaze m e is the com ­ plete inability of certain people to act reasonably when going to rock concerts. I mean, it’s not hard.

You're basically encouraged to yell and flail around, the concept of personal space dissolves into the ether, and most people's tolerance for behavior that would generally be considered extremely obnoxious rises dramatically in the context of a mosh pit.

When you go to an average rock concert, you're basi­ cally agreeing that you're cool with standing much too close to perfect strangers, having your ears screamed in, being shoved around, and various other minor indignities. I'm really short, so I've also accepted the fact that I'll spend half the show staring at the towering expanse of some dude's back. Stuff like this is no one's fault, and is generally accept­ ed to be the kind of crap music fans have to go through in order to be part of the crowd freaking out as the frontman launches into the guitar solo of your favourite song.

But then, there's the stuff that occasionally makes going to concerts really, really suck. I'm talking about stuff

O

b e in g s u c h a t o o l °

like the plentiful beer showers that ensue when someone forgets about the laws of physics and decides to dance vio­ lently while holding a plastic Molson cup. This isn't hard to avoid; just finish the damn beer and then go jitterbugging.

On a similar note, a lot of people seem to be unaware that the ends of lit cigarettes are o n fire, so it might be a good idea to keep them away from the pit and the tangle of human limbs it contains.

Speaking of human limbs, there's a small sample of the population who seem to lose all feeling in their bodies upon entering a concert venue. At least, that's the only explanation I can think of for their blissful enjoyment of bashing m e repeatedly with their arms, legs, and head while dancing. I mean, I see how it can happen: space isn't plentiful, and if I'm behind som eone tall, I'm kind of hard to see. But one would think that at some point curiosity would set in and the person in question would begin speculating as to the nature of the warm, bony, squishy object with which his or her elbow keeps colliding. Yep, that would be my face. Thanks.

MELISSA PRICE It's really not very hard not to act like an asshat. Just try to be vaguely aware of your surroundings. I really don't think you need such a large purse to carry supplies for this three-hour show, but if you're sure you do, then for the love of God make sure it doesn't smack m e in the side every tim e you move. If you have large and/or dangerously pointy hair, make sure people around you aren't getting smothered or impaled by it. Stop telling the band what songs to play while they’re in the middle of playing other songs. Don’t tell opening bands that they suck, because that’s mean. Don't be that one guy w ho’s always scream­ ing "Woo!" during the good parts of songs, or that other guy who's so freaking drunk he's careening off other people like a pinball. (Okay, okay, that's been m e before. I am a proud hypocrite.)

Oh, and if you decide to go crowdsurfing and then end up on the floor because I have the approximate arm strength of a four-year-old with muscular dystrophy, don't bitch at m e about it. The kick in the head you gave m e on the way down got your point across nicely. ■

the mcgill tribune | 14.2.06 | a&e 17

A R T

P R E V I E W S

T he art of rem em b ran ce

M A C M h o u s e s a rtis tic r e fle c tio n o n W W I I

Film. Escape to C anada-C iném a du Parc—3 5 7 5 Parc— opens Feb. 17 Canada is pretty awesome, eh? I mean, other than the fact that it's continuously freezing. On top of a distinct lack of politicians nam ed Bush, Canada has legal same-sex mar­ riage, a policy on marijuana that flirts with decriminalization, a n d that giant nickel. E scape to C a n a d a follows the events of 2 0 0 3 , the year Canada's groundbreaking policy supporting same-sex marriage was first im plem ented, as well as the year containing that glorious week or so where pot wasn't illegal exactly. Go see why the Great White North is poten­ tially becoming one of the best destinations in the world for gay couples, stoners, opponents of the war in Iraq and anyone else who likes intact per­ sonal liberties. See c in e m a d u p a rc .c o m for showtimes.

LAUREN CONSKY One is physically and spiritually overwhelmed upon viewing Anselm Kiefer's new exhibit, H eaven—Earth. As the title suggests, the famous German artist's work explores a dynamic between heaven and earth, and addresses a civilization in search of spirituality but grap­ pling with the weight of its human condition. He suc­ ceeds in making the viewer feel something that is not just mute and cerebral—as a lot of modern works seem — but emotional as well.

Born in Donaueschingen, Germany, at the end of the Second World War, Kiefer grew up ip the wake of Nazism when Germany lay in ruins both politically and spiritually. As an important contemporary German artist, he is in the position to ask such fundamental questions as to what end humanity is willing to go to reach heav­ en.

Although his work is not specifically about the Holocaust, it can be seen as a form of mourning and working through the catastrophe of the Nazi era. In the process, Kiefer attempts to rebuild German culture into the more complex spiritual matrix that existed in a much earlier time. He grapples with heavy issues bound in recent German history and the human instinct to reach for transcendence. How do w e move beyond historical realities without forgetting? How do w e reach heaven?

What is paradise?

His works suggest that transcendence is possible as long as we remember. The them es of remembrance,

"Seeing Kiefer's works for the first tim e is like walking into a room where something horrible happened, and you arrived late and no one is talking, and you keep asking questions with a direct response."

—Marc Myers, Museum Director-General resurrection and exit are referenced in layers upon layers of symbols that suffuse his work. His symbols and liter­ ary quotations, extracted from Jewish, German, Greek, Norse and early Christian cultures, allude to mythic, his­ torical and religious figures and ideas.

This is the first survey of the artist's work in almost 2 0 years. Curated by Michael Auping at the Museum of Modern Art, Fort Worth, Texas, the exhibit opens with the oldest Kiefer work extant, "Die H im m el” (The Heavens), 1 969, a small book containing a collage of sky pictures.

Kiefer works in mixed media; included in the collection are books as free-standing sculptures, such as "Buch mit Flügein" (Book with Wings), 1 9 9 2 -1 9 9 4 , an iconic wingspan of a bird evolving from a book. The wings, con­ structed with lead, steel and tin, reference the mythic

co m p ile d by M elissa P rice

BTA.IT Icarus, the power of writing, books and the German Gideon bible, among other interpretations.

His colossal canvases border on abstraction and create a post-apocalyptical feel, with their oversized pro­ portions and three-dimensional elements. Most are quite beautiful, especially "Melancholia” (Melancholy), 2 0 0 4 , a stormy, dark seascape depicting a fragile, three-dim en­ sional glass polyhedron hovering above the ocean.

Organic materials such as seeds, clay, branches and dried sunflowers are incorporated with thick slabs of paint to give the canvases an earthy feel.

As one progresses from one room to another, Kiefer's paintings act like tarot cards, each possessing its own symbols but creating a larger dialogue as the view­ er interacts with the show as a whole.

"Ash Flowers" (1 9 8 3 -1 9 9 7 ), for example, depicts a massive architectural image of a Nazi ceremonial hall in ruins. The building, designed by Albert Speer, the archi­ tect of Hitler's Third Reich, is covered in layers of ash which nearly obliterate the structure. The ash symbolical­ ly references Ashlar, the Freemasonry symbol represent­ ing man in his potential and realized state. A gigantic dried sunflower hangs from the top of the painting. Its seeds fall into the ash on the floor of the building, indi­ cating a m om ent of transition in history as well as the possibility of renewal for a building and a reconstruction of collective memory. In this one painting, Kiefer sug­ gests it is possible to resurrect national identity while overcoming the legacy of Nazism.

Kiefer's work makes the viewer feel unsettled, because he is not afraid to ask the larger metaphysical questions. As m useum director-general Marc Myers explains, "Seeing Kiefer's works for the first tim e is like walking into a room where something horrible hap­ pened, and you arrived late and no one is talking, and you keep asking questions with a direct response."

The lack of answers frustrates the viewer, but reminds us that in order to work through such complex history, one has to confront it. ■

Music. Gogol Bordello—National Music Hall—1 22 0 Ste-Catherine E —Feb. 16 Gogol Bordello is the result of a bunch of insane Eastern European guys deciding to break every single one of the rules of punk, including but not limited to the one where you're not supposed to make punk out of gypsy folk music. Luckily, spectacularly-mustached frontman Eugene Hutz is just crazy enough to pull this off. Not only is the music genuinely awesom e both in spite of and because of its weirdness, but the legacy of the band's live per­ formances is already causing a stir: Hutz apparently likes to do things like climb anything climbable and launch himself into tables full of glasses, and shows often end with everyone present drunk, bedraggled and dancing like mad. Doors open at 8 p.m. Call 7 9 0 -1 2 4 5 for ticket information.

Music. Belle and Sebastian—Metropolis—5 9 SteCatherine E.—Feb. 26 O f course, being doused in beer and kicked arouhd isn’t everyone's idea of a good time. There's little chance of that happening at a Belle and Sebastian concert; they seem like very polite people. The largest threat here is an attack of acute melancholy from the Scottish septet's pretty, bittersweet melodies. Doors open at 8 p.m. Call 9 0 8 -9 0 9 0 for ticket information.

Art. Drawn & Quarterly book launch—Casa del Popolo— 4 8 7 3 St-Laurent—Feb. 2 1 —7 p.m.

The brainchild of Chris Oliveros, Drawn & Quarterly was originally intended to exist ônly as a single anthology showcas­ ing comics by underground artists whose work focused on sto­ rytelling and emotion rather than your typical superhero fare.

The ethos has stayed the same, but Drawn & Quarterly quickly expanded into a hugely successful and influential publication company, releasing dozens of comics and anthologies and boasting a lengthy roster of associ­ ated artists, including the legendary R. Crumb and Adrian Tontine, creator of the exquisite (and ongoing) Optic Nerve series. The book launch will fea­ ture appearances by several featured artists, including Anders Nilsen, whose Big Questions books have been garnering acclaim for their m uted artistry and somber storylines. Call 2 0 4 -3 8 0 4 for more information.

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a&e | 14.2.06 | the mcgill tribune

ART

MUSI C

P a n a c e a : f o r w h a t ails y o u

S p r i n g in t h e

L o c a l fu s io n b a n d b rin g s it all to g e t h e r

h eart o f w in ter

T E S S A B L A N C H F IE L D

Who would have thought that you could ja m out to "Peter the Wolf”? Panacea, a five-m em ber hard groove fusion band, did just that and a whole lot more on Thursday night. Their live album recording at the 1221 Crescent Street Pub packed the bar, as the group deliv­ ered a unique and energetic show.

Panacea is Eli Chalm er on trombone, Nick Kurshnit on trum ­ pet, Greg Burton on keyboard, and twins Josh Dodds playing bass and Ben Dodds beating the hell out of the drums. The group had a difficult tim e finding the exact words to describe their sound. As Burton explained, "We're mod-fusion—no,

high-energy fusion. Wait, I've got it— we're progressive heavy groove.''

Regardless of labels, Panacea brought it all to the table. Jazz, reg­ gae, soul and a dash of psychedelic funk kept the crowd cheering and the show fresh. Their compelling style, complemented by an equally dynamic stage presence, produced an eclectic, tight performance.

"W e're com pletely different from anything else out there. Our instrumentation is different; the fact that we don't have a guitarist is unique and we create very different, long movements," said Josh Dodds.

He was right: Panacea is skilled at building melodic tension and seamlessly moving from one sound to the next. They had so much ener­

gy that it seem ed like their instru­ ments were going to burst into one harmonious, musical orgasm.

Burton played the keyboard like a heavy metal star, and Chalmer was, as he colourfully put it, "musi­ cally jizzing all over the place." Every band m em ber perceptibly felt the music he created. To kick it up even more, Chalmer repeatedly grabbed the m icrophone and scatted in tongues to the beat. No one knew what the hell he was saying, but it didn't matter. The crowd loved his gibberish.

As he explained, "I had to pro­ vide som e craziness to the show. I becom e insane and just go—I bab­ ble like a crazy person." From m ove­ m ent to m ovem ent, you never knew what you were going to hear, but you always liked it.

Panacea is defined as a cure-all for any dis­ ease, difficulty or evil one m ay encounter.

The boys definitely cre­ ated enough sound to ward off evil spirits, and their vibrant beats and enthusiastic attitude sent an optimistic vibe throughout the small, smoky bar. So if you're feeling down, go see Panacea any Thursday night at 1221 Crescent Street Pub. They'll jam the life back into you. ■

H u n g r y f o r su n lig h t? C h e c k o u t th e s e p a in tin g s J U L IE C O L L I N S

Even if you missed the Provence exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts, you still have tim e to appre­ ciate the beauty of French land­ scapes. Soleiado is an old word from Provence meaning "ensoleillé'' or "sunny," as well as the title of Judith Pickard and Olga Maksimova's latest art exhibition, which opened on Thursday and runs through Sunday at Galerie Mile-End (5 3 4 5 du Parc).

The quaint gallery houses 25 works by the two artists. Most of Pickard's endeavours are oil land­ scapes on canvas, while Makismova invested her efforts in small-scale ceramic and metal flower sculptures and beach scenes.

At the opening, friends, neigh­ bours and art lovers alike ambled around the gallery gazing at the art, sipping wine, nibbling on cheese and contemplating potential purchases.

The works ranged from affordable sculptures to an array of paintings out of the price range of the average col­ lege student. Even if I could not afford to purchase a painting for my personal art collection, I could still

appreciate the works.

Provence was the inspiration behind the exhibit. Pickard and her family spend part of each year in the region, which holds a special place in her heart. She said that although the paintings are very realistic, they are "on the line between realism and the abstract." She wants the viewer to interact with each painting and have an individual experience.

Although Pickard takes an impressionistic approach to art, not painting the exact outline of each plant, the viewer unmistakably recog­ nizes the texture and definition of lavender and other floras. Pickard wanted "the tenacity of plant life" in Provence to shine through in her work.

In Provence, the sun defines all life, and it is also resplendent in Pickard's paintings. Light reflects off leafy trees, providing shade and cool relief in the middle of the summer heat. Looking at her paintings is like escaping the bitter cold of Montreal, and finding a bit of warmth, even if only for a few minutes. ■

ODETOANUGLYPIG.COM Panacea, ro cking even u n d e r poor lighting conditions.

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PIZZA S LIC E S C h e e s e ................................................... 1 . 6 5 P e p p e r o n i ......................................2 . 0 0 All D r e s s e d ............. .....................2 . 0 0 V e g e t a r i a n ............... ................... 2 . 0 0 S p i n a c h ...........................................2 . 0 0 C h i c k e n ( G r a i n - F e d ) . ............. . 2 . 2 5 -F u ll P i z z a s A v a i l a b l e -

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G e rts B ar now has M c G ill W ire le s s !

DEBORAH HAYEK

2.75

BEN LEMIEUX

the mcgill tribune | 14.2.06 | a&e 19

M U S I C

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R E V I E W S

S o n g w r ite r N ik it a U o n b re a k in g b a r r ie rs BEN LEMIEUX M o n tre a l- b a s e d s in g e r /s o n g w r ite r /m u iti- in s tr u m e n ta lis t N ikita U b e c a m e a n a c tiv e m e m b e r o f th e lo c a l m u s ic c o m m u n ity s h o rtly a fte r h e m o v e d h e re fro m M o s c o w a t a g e 13. T ra in e d in c la ss ic a l g u ita r w o rk s in c e a g e 10, h e firs t d e m o n s tra te d h is tre m e n d o u s v o c a l d e x te rity a n d a x e m a n s h ip in h ig h s c h o o l a s a m e m b e r o f th e FACE b lu e s b a n d , ta c k lin g th e likes o f B.B. K in g a n d L e d Z e p p e lin a d m ira b ly —e v e n b e fo re his 1 8 th b irth d a y (skills w h ic h th is w rite r c a n a tte s t to a s a m e m b e r o f o n e o f his m u s ic a l p ro je c ts ).

Today, a t a g e 2 0 , U h a s a s o lid b o d y o f w o rk to h is credit, e x p e rim e n tin g w ith a u n iq u e b le n d o f m e la n ­ c h o lic rock, e le c tro n ic s a m p lin g a n d lo o p in g , a n d b lu e s sensibility. H e h a s b e c o m e a fa n fa v o u rite a t P etit C afe C am pus, The Y ellow D o o r a n d o p e n m ic n ig h ts a ro u n d th e city. In lig h t o f h is u p c o m in g s h o w a t th e B ish o p S tre e t Pub, U s a t d o w n w ith th e Tribune to discuss h is o p tic o n s o n g w ritin g a n d m u s ic in M o n tre a l.

T h e sin g er/so n g w riter h a s b e co m e hugely p o p u ­ lar in the last d e ca d e or so, w ith a u d ie n ce s of all ages listening to D a m ie n Rice, Ja m e s B lunt a n d Ray Lam o ntagne, to n a m e a few. W hat abo ut th e genre do yo u feel is so attractive to m u sic a u d ie n c e s?

I find it's a revival of the folk movement, but in a very different sense, lyrically. If you take the original folk m ovem ent of the sixties and seventies, it was songs that were very politically centred, which was the "in thing” at

the time. But I find that now, what people like Damien Rice are doing is they're personalizing the folk m ove­ ment. We're very attracted to this very personal, rom an­ tic storytelling. And, on a side note, I feel that James Blunt shouldn't be a part of that category.

W hy not?

Because I feel that James Blunt is a construct. It's a response to that movement, and he's largely manufac­ tured. And I wonder how long it's going to take them to realize that formulas don't work. It's originality that ulti­ mately becomes popular.

So, in term s of your ow n songw riting, or in the work of artists yo u adm ire, w h at d o you feel h as been d o n e differently?

Where I'm coming from is a framework of sorrow,

"I think what's happened to Montreal is a great thing, but we have to keep working at it. W e have to become more varied. W e have to maintain that status and bring it further."

-N ik ita U but not in a depressive kind of way. I find that if there is something that saturates airwaves and performances in the North American music market of today, it's a frivolous approach to romantic songwriting. It's something that I'm trying to work against, something that Nick Cave and Jeff Buckley tried to work against.

W hy d o you feel that sorrow h as to be so signifi­ cantly represented?

It's not so much in the songwriting as it is in the way w e deal with things. You can forget about something unpleasant, and as you often hear people say: "Oh, I'm off to watch that particular band so I can forget about my troubles and just have a good time.” I feel it's better to embrace the negative aspects of life as the positive, and to work through them and to negotiate them within your art and the way you talk about things, That said, I also feel that humour, sensuality and sexuality should have an enormous place in music. It's about not ignoring, mostly.

W hat kind of clim ate do yo u asso ciate with M ontreal's m u sical life? Do you feel the ongoing craze over our "scene" has assisted M ontreal m u sician s or inadvertently stifled th e m ?

I think it's a bit of both. I think Montreal has a more serious image than 10 years ago, musically. But at the same time, as it always has been, you have one artist that gets associated with a city, which in our case is The Arcade Fire. I think what's happened to Montreal is a great thing, but we have to keep working at it. W e have to becom e more varied. We have to maintain that status and bring it further.

D on't you feel that that's the w ay things are n o w ?

I think that’s the way things are going, but in Montreal there's a huge divide between the bar scene and the "serious" music scene. The only person I can think of who was a part of the bar scene and then made it big was Jonas. I think that there’s a certain kind of elit­ ism here, like, "I don't play in bars. I actually have a band and w e play serious shows." I think we have to start blur­ ring those lines and start taking a ll of our music serious­ ly and homogenize that m ovem ent. ■

MARIE MAQUAIRE; COURTESY NIKITA U N ik ita U —sin g in g his w ay th ro u g h M ontreal.

N ikita U p la ys live w ith W illiam R ockw ell a t th e B ishop S treet Pub, 1 2 2 2 ru e Bishop, a t 9 :3 0 p .m . Saturday.

A d m issio n is free.

The R o bo cop Kraus. They Think They Are The R obocop Kraus. Who do e s The Robocop Kraus think they

are exactly? This Nürnberg-based band bears a striking resemblance to Franz Ferdinand, and certain aspects of their music are reminiscent of Enon, The Strokes and early Talking Heads. In fact, the cover design of They Think They A re The R obocop Kraus is a take-off on the 1 97 8 Talking Heads album M o re S ongs A b o u t B uildings a n d Food. I am the first person to complain when liner notes do not include lyrics, but in the case of this album I'm not even sure why the band bothered printing them, as they could have been written by a high school student. Here is a shin­ ing example from the first track: "After laughter comes tears/ All good things com e to an e n d / No need for m edication/ It feels like losing a friend." To makes matter worse, the vocalist coughs out the lyrics as if som eone has punched him in the back between guitar riffs. Whoever Robocop Kraus is, they certainly are not doing anything particularly new, nor are they doing justice to the bands from w hom they borrow.

—A rie la W einbach M atch b o o k R o m an ce . Voices. To announce the good news: Poughkeepsie, N ew York is now more than a place for cheap shows and guaranteed muggings. In fact, thanks to Matchbook Romance, people finally have something nice to say about a city in which I was once warned to "get out before dark and never com e back."

In a theatrical and well-orchestrated album, MR has proved that they've far evolved past their form er days of em o and post­ hardcore. Voices offers an alternative path for those disgusted by My Chemical Romance and Coheed & C am b ria-a delicately balanced album jum ping between quick-tempo rock songs, soft acoustic ballads and sus­ pense pieces that sound like they’d be perfect for a Victorian-era gothic tale. The opening track, "You Can Run, But W e’ll Find You" is guaranteed to haunt you long after you hear it, while songs like "What A Sight" will soothe away any of yourworries. Whoever m ade the CD packaging also went all out; Neil Gaiman-style drawings of rabbits drive hom e the overall them e of the album, "down the rabbit hole" self-contemplative introspection. Bravo, Matchbook, you avoided the sophomore slump. (For anyone from Poughkeepsie though, I'd like to say that your city is beautiful, regardless of any badmouthing).

—D a n P ujdak

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sports H O C K E Y — REDMEN

Red m en

5, U Q T R 3

roll in to p lay o ffs

S tro n g e f f o r t fr o m fo u r th lin e cap s o u ts ta n d in g re g u la r s e a s o n As the third period started, the Pats continued to play well on the power play, taking the lead with another Boutin marker, his third of the game. With all m om entum on the UQTR side, McGill appeared frustrated. The Redmen took tw o penalties within 12 seconds of each other, giving UQTR a five-on-three advantage for nearly two full minutes. But the Redmen managed to kill it off, with plenty of help from Filiatrault.

"They scored three goals quickly on not a lot of shots,” the netminder said. "After that, I really wanted to shut the door. It was for my own pride. Not allowing a goal on the five-on-three was huge for us.”

A D A M M YERS

With the conference title locked up and with its entire first line scratched due to injury, the Redmen hockey team certainly could have found a reason not to show up Sunday night.

However, the opportunity to send a message to potential playoff opponent Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières was much too tempting for the Red 'n' White to pass up.

Lucas Madill scored the game-winner in the third period and defenceman David Urquhart added three assists as McGill capped an astounding regular season with a 5-3 win at McConnell arena over the second-place Patriotes. This improved the Redmen's OUA record to 20-1-3, but Head Coach Martin Raymond was quick to keep things in perspective.

"What is really going to count is the playoffs,” said Raymond.

"We didn't look at [the game] like it is Trois Rivières and we need to win for a mental edge. We know it's going to get harder in the playoffs, it’s just the nature of the game. Regular season is only one step of where w e want to go. We don't have the champagne out yet; there is plenty of work to do. Our players have deserved what they have gotten so far through hard work, discipline and strong overall play.”

McGill w ent ahead 2 -0 in the first period, taking advantage of some effective forechecking. Chris Churchill-Smith got his sec­ ond goal of the season to open the scoring at 10:53 of the first period, and Guillaume Demers notched his third of the year to put the Redmen up by two. Sam Bloom tallied an assist on both goals.

"I got a nice pass from [Bloom] and was looking to go up high,” said Churchill-Smith who was sporting an army helmet after the game. "I was looking upstairs, but I kind of fanned on the shot and it went five-hole.”

T h e c o m e b a ck b e g in s

Raymond said. "We wanted to have a winning record against every team.”

Raymond explained that as the game went on, UQTR start­ ed to chirp the McGill bench, especially after the Patriotes briefly took the lead. At that point, what essentially amounted to an exhibition game for McGill took on a much more important meaning.

"They really started challenging our bench. One of their guys even said some things to m e,” he said. "You just don't do that. I would never have any of my guys do that.

"We had heard through our sources that UQTR was telling people that we were just a one goalie team ,” he continued. "So it was extremely nice to get one with [backup goalie] Filiatrault in net. Our fourth liners really chipped in tonight also; it was a great overall effort."

That effort was needed because the Redmen were without their entire first line for the contest after Shawn Shewchuk was injured in Saturday night's 2-0 win over Ottawa, Benoit Martin was held out of the game with nagging injuries, while Doug Orr sat out his eighth straight game. Defensem an Yan Turcotte also was scratched due to injury.

McGill now has some tim e to rest and heal before the play­ offs. Thanks to their first-round bye, the Redmen will have ten days off before returning to the ice on Feb. 2 2 for the OUA quar­ ter finals. ■

The huge penalty kill seem ed to give McGill a second wind.

Just seconds after the penalty expired, a UQTR player was called for roughing, and on the ensuing power play, captain PierreAntoine Paquet banged in a rebound from inside the crease to even the score at three.

"I don't usually get to play on the power play,” the unlikely goal scorer said. "Coach decided to change things up and put m e out there. I was lucky enough to be able to put one in."

McGill continued to press the Patriotes, and it paid off again later in the period. Defencem an Lucas Madill walked out from the corner, plowing over the smaller UQTR defender and sneak­ ing a wrap around in before UQTR goalie Dany Dallaire was able to squeeze his pad against the post.

The game was iced with just over a minute to play, when Ken Davis ham m ered hom e a wrist shot to clinch the victory. The goal gave Davis a point in six straight games.

Although the gam e m eant nothing in the stand­ ings, it was a valuable way for the Redmen to send a message to the Patriotes, w hom they may m eet in the Ontario University Athletics East final. The win also allowed McGill to take the season series against UQTR with a 2 - 1 - 1 record.

CLARICE CONNORS "That is something that we had wanted to do from K en D a vis help ed the R e d m e n with his strong fo rech eckin g an d w as later aw arded with a the beginning of the year,” goal for his efforts.

Patriotes p ick up the pace

The two-goal advantage was short lived, though, as Jonathan Boutin’s power play marker at the end of the first peri­ od put UQTR back in the game. Boutin took advantage of a McGill breakdown in the defensive zone and fired a one-timer past goalie Jean-Michel Filiatrault.

The score held until late in the second period, when Boutin again found the back of the net with the man advantage. The for­ ward got behind the McGill defence and took a pass from defenceman Sam Gibbons before deking out Filiatrault to tie the game.

Immediately after the goal, McGill appeared to regain con­ trol, capitalizing on a scramble in front of the Trois Rivières net.

However, the referee ruled that the whistle had blown to end the play, one of a number of questionable calls on the evening.

T H E RED Z O N E

W h ere

d id t h e p a s s i o n g o ?

A D A M PARENT

assion Lives Here, the slogan for the current Winter Olympics, is a com m on phrase found plastered around the city of Turin. But from what I've been read­ ing and watching, this sentiment is only shared by those visiting or living in the immediate vicinity of the city. There doesn't seem to be passion anywhere else.

Before the Salt Lake games in 2 0 0 2 , the media was in a frenzy. You couldn't go five minutes without hearing the latest on our Olympic hopefuls or the adjustments made to our majestic hockey team. Every journalist in the country became an analyst before the last Winter G a m e s the Olympics w ere the news.

Where are these "experts" now, though? Some are busy drawing out a scandal that they believe involves Canada's golden child and ceremonial Prime Minister, Wayne Gretzky. Others are obsessed with late selection being m ade to our men's hockey team, while ignoring the other squads. But it would seem that the media's interest in the Olympics, other than these two examples, is nearly non-existent.

P

The American media, and the American public for that matter, is no different in its disregard for the Olympics. A recent poll at espn.com asked, “For which of the following are you most excited for in the near future?" The Olympics ranked far behind NCAA basketball, the Superbowl and MLB spring training. Spring training has people more excit­ ed than the Olympics—this is a joke right?

What has happened? Are the Olympics simply not what they have been in recent years? Has the sporting public lost their desire for the pinnacle of world competi­ tion? Is there a lack of interesting stories to cover?

The latter is certainly not the casei especially for Canadians. Vancouver is hosting the 2 0 1 0 Olympics, and Canada plans to use Turin as a stepping stone to a strong performance at home. We're fresh off our most successful Winter Olympic performance ever in Salt Lake City.

Moreover, 2 0 0 2 marked the first Olympic hockey gold for Canada since 1 95 2. How are we n o t excited to rally behind our team and country to support them on their path to a second gold medal?

Maybe Olympic popularity is on the decline; however, viewer ratings show a different story. Viewing hours for the Salt Lake Games were at 13.1 billion total hours, up 1.5 bil­ lion hours from 1 9 9 8 in Nagano. Canada recorded its high­ est viewer rating in broadcasting history when the hockey team defeated the United States to win gold. It certainly doesn't seem like the public is losing interest.

However, there is one major similarity between the Nagano Games and the Games in Turin: Neither place is in North America. While I am enthralled by the Olympics, it looks as if most North Americans couldn't care less about the games if they can't watch them in prime time, I hope this is not the case. I hope that the hype lead­ ing up to the Olympics is no indication of the excitement to come. I hope that it actually is a joke that people are more interested in MLB spring training than they are in the Olympics.

Unfortunately, though, it appears as though the Turin them e of "Passion Lives Here," should instead read "Passion Lives H ere...and Only Here.” ■

the mcgill tribune | 14.2.06 j sports 2 1

PROFI LE — T R A C K A N D

FI ELD

M o ffa t h ittin g n e w

V e te r a n v a u lte r p e r fo r m in g NIALL M A C K A Y ROBERTS McGill's pole vaulters have got­ ten used to being overlooked. O f the university's 4 0 odd track and field team m em bers, the four lonely vaulters—all of them w om en—only occasionally slip out of the shadows of larger and higher-profile group events.

Hannah Moffatt, who two week­ ends ago easily posted a 3.60-m etre vault to secure a spot at the CIS national championships, hopes to change all that. The Newfoundland and Labrador provincial record-hold­ er, now standing tied for sixth in the Canadian intercollegiate rankings, speaks modestly but hopefully of challenging her own records and of bringing new attention to McGill's pole-vaulting squad.

"I really like to help highlight the achievements of the team and all their hard work this past season," Moffat said. "I think many people don't understand what pole vaulting is, but we're out there jum ping every day."

If Moffat's growth over the past four years with McGill is any meas­ ure, she has good reason for confi­ dence. The former track and field fem ale rookie of the year and 2 0 0 3 0 4 MVP entered McGill clearing

a t

heights in the low three-m etre range.

But last season, she set the universi­ ty standard with a 3.65-m etre vault.

Moffatt first started vaulting eight years ago in her hom etown of St. John's, after spending a lot of tim e in gymnastics, a com m on background for vaulters. She speaks of passion for vaulting as technically and psycholog­ ically demanding.

"I've been doing this for a while, and I really love the technical aspect, focusing on the sport itself and not just school," she said. "But there's a social aspect as well. This takes some guts, for sure, so you make good friends with people on the team.”

Moffatt is also serving as co-captain of the wom en's track and field team this year, a position she tries not to take too seriously.

"I don’t lead them myself; I lead by example," she said. "The team captains—we try to work together and to motivate the team in any way we can.”

T akin g o n e for the team

However, the team aspect of pole vaulting can be difficult to understand in a sport so rooted in individual performances and improv­ ing on personal bests. For her part, Moffatt sees McGill's small group of pole vaulters—the self-appointed "pole-vaulting posse"—as a resource

G et a co u p o n w ith

h eig h ts a

s k y -h ig h

le v e l

for mutual support in training and performance.

"The problem is that this is an individual sport," Moffatt says. "But you still have teammates, and w e still help and support each other during individual events, and that's really what makes a team. And that's what being captain is about as well—check­ ing in with everyone, seeing how they're doing, relaying it to the rest of the team."

The other m embers of the polevaulting posse spoke highly of Moffatt's leadership abilities. They all gathered recently to watch N a d ia — the story of renowned Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci—and chat about their upcoming events.

"Hannah works really hard," says Esther Usborne, a pole vaulter in the first year of her Ph.D. program. "She’s a great leader on the team, and she's really inspirational."

Mary Dunbar, U2 Physiology, speaks of Moffatt as a strong repre­ sentative for pole vaulters in the larg­ er, co-ed track and field team.

"Of course, she gets along well with all the other pole vaulters. But she also stands up for us, and for all the people who are kind of over­ looked."

M offatt a n d M c G ill polling well

Moffatt's current goal is to move

fo r a f r e e

s tu d e n t ta x

from 13-foot to 14-foot poles, which McGill track and field recently pur­ chased, in large part due to Moffatt's performance, in order to make an even four-metre ju m p before the end of the season. As she often does, Moffatt speaks modestly about her potential.

"I technically have to be stronger," she says. "I have to be mentally prepared, because what happens if you're not technically capable or strong enough is that you get pushed back down the way you jumped."

Pole-vaulting coach Peter Hargraves, however, says he fully expected M offatt to m ake and exceed her four-metre goal in the near future.

"She’s a very physically strong athlete; she has a lot of speed and also has a tremendous gymnastic ability, which is a great asset as a vaulter," Hargraves says. "But she's too humble. I think she's very capa­ ble of jum ping four metres. She just has to get her head wrapped around th e ... danger of crashing."

Hargraves, w ho characterizes Moffatt as "world-standard" in her sport, said he hopes to see her ju m p ­ ing at 4.15 metres. He describes her ability as ’just peaking in the next few years," and he expressed optimism that her achievements would draw

m e d iu m

VLADIMIR EREMIN M offat ho p es to b reak records and soar o v e r the co m petition.

new focus to the pole-vaulting pro­ gram.

“She already had a huge impact on our ability...to request [supplies]," Hargraves says. "Knock on wood— she'll be able to ju m p for another eight years." ■

D o m i n o 's P iz z a

p r e p a r a tio n .* H&R BLOCK

C o m e in t o d a y o r c a l l 1 - 8 0 0 - H R B L O C K

22

sports j 14.2.06 | the mcgill tribune

Gimme some M o

A n O ly m p ic fla m e o u t

w M O* w 2Ç

m m m m m

M O H IT ARORA

E—

he Olympics have always been number one on my list of "things that are monumentally huge for a few weeks every four years, but otherwise completely ignored," with the World Cup of Soccer second and Ricky Martin's musical career last.

I always find myself mildly excited during all the build up leading to the Games, but then the opening cere­ monies come along and rock my world. By the time the Olympic flame is lit, I've fallen into a 16-day trance, where I start recording split times on my walk to school and describing lectures as having nailed all the compulsory exercises but losing points for artistic merit.

But after taking in all the action from Turin the last few days and enduring countless soliloquies by the CBC's Brian Williams on how cappuccino symbolizes the essence of the Olympic spirit, it dawned on me just how stupid the Olympics really are. There are just so many warts on the face of the Games to annoy, frustrate and infuriate a world-class sports fan like myself that need to be pointed out.

If you're worried that I'm going to pile on the insults even after I've made my point sufficiently, then you can take that up with the Canadian women's hockey team.

They understand that you have to keep pouring on the pressure and running up the score. It’s the nature of the beast!

You see, with women's hockey having exactly two teams that contend for the gold, Canada and the United States are forced to trounce their opponents because goal differential might be an important factor in deciding the outcome of, I don't know, something or other. Somehow believing that any technicality will affect the inevitable Canada-US gold medal game, both find it necessary to win games against overmatched opponents by double-digit scores, leading to faux-empathetic quotes along the lines of "yeah, we feel bad about having to humiliate the host country, but it was important for m e to record a hat trick in the first period!"

But with the talent pool of women's hockey limited to just these two countries, it begs the question: Why is women's hockey in the Olympics? Sure, Canada and the US have incredibly strong programs, but a requirement for a sport being included in the Games is that it is played at a high level by an appropriate number of countries. Isn't this why football isn’t an Olympic sport? Something's not right here.

If nothing else, though, what hockey has going for it is that it's a conventional sport, the type you can go out

T

and play whenever you want. Can you say the same for luge or ski jumping? How does one even get into these sports? Not only that, but if you’re an aspiring luger—is that the appropriate term? Lugist, maybe?—or ski jumper, how long do you have to train before you can even start to per­ form the task at hand? If I decided to do either of those events tomorrow, I'd probably kill myself on the first attempt. How do these people practice new techniques?

Are there luge bunny hills?

And why, oh why, is there a judged element to ski jumping? I've always had a problem with judged sports, if only because I think sports should be objective and tangi­ ble, so why take something that seems completely basicsee who jumps the furthest—and add judges? If he lands on his skis, as opposed to, say, not landing and maybe dying, just take the distance and give out the medals!

Speaking of judged sports, my editor Andrew Segal explained to me that in revamping the judging system, the powers that be in figure skating have decided that there is no perfect score. Now, judges aren't using any specific ideal with which to compare a skater's performance; they are just handing out points.

How does this help judging, exactly? Doesn’t this allow for even more crookedness? What's to stop a Russian judge, whose scores are recorded anonymously, from giving the Chinese skater a 5.7 and then awarding one hundred billion points to her countryman? I'm looking forward to when one skater gets awarded infinity points, only to lose to a skater who scores infinity plus one. Way to take the most viewer-friendly sport in the Games and add mass confusion, guys.

Still, though, it's not clarity that I seek when I watch these events. It's everything else the Games offer. There are fewer sights more impressive than seeing a pairs skater literally pick up his partner and fling her in the air, where she spins four times before landing backwards on one skate without missing a beat. There is nothing more entertaining than watching a short-track speed skating race degenerate into a full-contact roller derby. And there is nothing that can replace seeing an athlete who has trained her whole life to compete so hard in her event that she can't even stand upright afterwards, then somehow find the strength to sing along to her national anthem as her country's flag is being raised in her honour.

That's why I love the Olympics, warts and all. The rules may be ridiculous, and the sports may be a million miles away from conventional, but the Games always seem to stick the landing. ■

H— 4 mmmm ■mhS w U SS EiE r—

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the mcgill tribune | 14.2.06 | sports 2 3

Last c a ll

A R O U N D THE HORN

compiled by DAVID BLYE and ADAM MYERS

Martlets clinch conference with double win w eekend

Foward Brittany Privée scored twice and added an assist as fourth-ranked McGill doubled Ottawa 6-3 in women's uni­ versity hockey at the Ottawa Sports Complex on Saturday. Kim Kerr scored three goals in a losing cause for the Gee-Gees.

McGill's Kristin Leuszler set a team record for the fastest goal from the start of a game, beating Ottawa backstop Megan Takeda only nine seconds after the opening face-off. The Martlets then jum ped to a 2-0 lead only 75 seconds later, on a marker by Christine Hartnoll. Privée gave the Martlets a com­ manding 3-0 lead at 4:19.

Ottawa stormed back on a pair of goals by Kerr, at 14:17 of the first and 7:40 of the second period. But McGill put the game out of reach with second period goals from foward Rebecca Martindale, rookie Amanda Carmichael and another from Privée.

Goaltender Kalie Townsend made 21 saves for the win and improved her record to 4-2-0. Takeda was credited with 19 saves in a losing cause for the Gee-Gees, as her record dropped to 3-3-0.

Sunday's game was a little tougher, with McGill needing overtime to see off Carleton. Trailing 1-0 in the dying minutes, forward Shauna Denis netted the tying goal with only 21 sec­ onds remaining after McGill pulled goalie Catherine Herron.

Rookie Vanessa Davidson later scored at 1 :46 of the extra frame, as the Martlets rallied late to edge the Ravens 2-1.

The victory clinched first place for McGill in the Quebec conference, the Martlets' second regular season pennant in school history. The Martlets, who previously finished atop the standings in 2 00 2-03 , outshot the Ravens 41-18, improving their record to a league best 1 1 - 2 -0 .

S T A N DI N G S H O C K E Y (M)

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6

2

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16

OTTAWA (FE)

13

8

2

1

29

CONC'DIA (FE)

7

10

3

3

20

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7

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‘ Represents division leaders OUA hockey ranks the two division lead­ SHERBR'K ers first and second, and then ranks the remaining six team according to total UQTR points. Six teams make the playoffs.

DECK

W

V-B A LL (W)

B O X SCORE

M artlets B asketball—Bishop's @ M cGill; Friday, 6 p.m . at Love C o m petitio n Hall

The Martlets suffered a massive setback on the weekend when they lost to then winless Concordia. While they're currently in fourth place, they still have a shot at finishing third in the QUBL. However, a loss this weekend against Bishop's will all but guarantee that the Martlets finish fourth and face a difficult series with the very same Gaiters.

R e d m e n B asketball—B ishop's C o m petitio n Hall

@ M cGill; Friday, 8 p.m . at Lover

The Redmen are in the middle of one their worst seasons in recent memory, and last weekend's losses are just indicative of how poorly they've played. However, they somehow still have a chance of mak­ ing the playoffs. McGill, presently 2-9, sitsjust a game and a half back of UQÀM for the fourth and final playoff spot in the QUBL. Plus, they already own a win over Bishop's. Could lightning strike twice?

R e d m e n a n d M artlets Track & F ie ld —M cG ill Saturday, 9 -4 p.m . at To m linson Field h o use

O pen

M eet;

This will be the last chance for you to check out the Track and Field squads before they go on to provincials. With a team including polevaulter Hannah Moffat and a top-flight men's and women's 4x800 relay, you might see some impressive results. It will also be the last chance for many athletes to qualify for the Quebec championships.

Will the drunk cheering section be there again? Go and find out.

Martlets H ockey—Ottaw a M cC o n n ell Arena

@ M cGill; Saturday, 3 :3 0 p.m . at

Normally, we wouldn't call a game useless, regardless of who is play­ ing. But let's be honest: The Martlets have already wrapped up first place in the QUHL and Ottawa has already made the playoffs in this four-team conference. The only thing we can really say is that if McGill wants to stay sharp, they should play to win as they will have all of next week off.

5 5th N B A All-Star g a m e —East vs. W est from H ouston; Sunday, 8 p.m . o n Sportsnet

Sunday brings us the annual offensive barrage that is the NBA All-Star game. While we're not the biggest fans of useless displays of offence, there will be some truly m a ssive plays as the men involved will only care about looking good and not wanting to play defence. Finally, Raptors fans take note: Chris Bosh will probably see some serious minutes, as the Eastern Conference has very few quality big men not named Shaquille O'Neal.

Sun. Feb. 12, 2 0 0 6 McGill Redmen 5 v. UQTR Patriotes 3 McConnell Arena SCORING SUMMARY FIRST PERIOD: McGill - Chris Churchill-Smith 2 (S. Bloom, T Kyres) 10:53 McGill - Guillame Demers 3 (S. Bloom, D. Urquhart) 17:31 UQTR - Jonathan Boutin 13 (S. Gibbons) -1 8 :3 6 (PP) SECOND PERIOD: UQTR - Jonathan Boutin 14 (S. Gibbons) -1 9 :2 1 (PP) THIRD PERIOD: UQTR - Jonathan Boutin 15 (M . Gravel) - 4:34 (PP) McGill - Pierre-Antoine Paquet 6 (C. Gauthier, D. Urquhart) - 7:54 (PP) McGill - Lucas Madill 7 (T. Kyres, D. Urquhart) -1 2 :5 4 McGill - Ken Davis 6 (C. Gauthier, G. Dem ers) -1 8 :2 4

The Redmen hockey team charged toward the playoffs with an undefeated weekend, including wins over number threeranked Guelph and Toronto, The wins put the Redmen on a fivegame winning streak, which included wins over two top-five ranked teams. Against U of T, Pierre Gendron recorded a hat track, his fifth three-goal performance of the season.

Su n d a y, Feb. 17 , 2 0 0 1

The Martlets hockey team ended a 16-year, 49-gam e win­ less streak against Concordia as the Red 'n' White beat the Stingers 1-0 in a shootout for the bronze medal at the national championships. Martlet captain Dana Rittmaster capped off her career with the game's lone goal, beating Lisa Herritt over the shoulder on a shot that hit a post before settling in the back of the net. McGill goaltender Kim St-Pierre recorded the shutout, including blanking five Stingers during the shootout.

POWER PLAYS (goals/chances): UQTR: 3 /9 McGill: 1 /1 0 MOLSON CUP THREE STARS: 1. Lucas Madill (McGill) 2. Jonathan Boutin (UQTR) 3. David Urquhart, McGill ATTENDANCE: 713

J t /

I O L Y M PIC TRIVIA

Ip R a ft With the Turin games underway, answer these ques­ tions about past Olympic moments.

1. Who scored the lone shootout goal when the Czech Republic beat Canada in the 1 9 9 8 semi-finals?

2. Which Canadian goalie did Peter Forsberg score on to win the gold medal for Sweden in the 1 9 9 4 games?

3. Which Belarussian player scored the game-winning goal that upset Sweden in the 2 0 0 2 games (the goal went off Tommy Salo's head)?

4. In the 1 9 8 8 wom en's figure skating competition, gold medalist Katarina Witt and bronze medalist Debi Thomas both skated to what music?

Friday, Feb. 18 , 19 9 4

The Mai Uets Lagers' eight-game w in n in g streak came to an abrupt end when they were defeated 5 9 -4 4 by the Stingers. The loss was a painful reminder of top scorer Vicky Tessier's absence, as Tessier saw her season come to an end with an ACL injury two weeks prior. McGill took an early 8 -0 lead in the game, but couldn't keep the Stingers at bay. The Martlets' high scorer was rookie Anne Gildenhuys, with 13 points.

Martlets bailers spilt w eekend gam es; play-offs in jeopardy

SHOTS BY PERIOD: UQTR: 7 7 9 (2 3 ) McGill: 7 12 12 (3 1 )

THIS WEEK IN HcCILL SPORTS HISTORY Saturday, Feb. 1 5 , 1 9 9 7

M cG ill M oguler golden in Italy

McGill student, and last week's Trib cover girl, Jennifer Heil earned Canada its first gold medal in the 2 0 0 6 Winter Olympics. Heil, who missed the podium in 2 0 0 2 by only 0.01 points, left no doubt this time, earning 2 6.50 points and destroying the competition by 0.85 points to take gold. Heil was joined on the podium by Norway's Kari Traa (2 5.6 5) and France's Sandra Laoura (25.37).

The only problem was a slight gaffe by the announcer before Heil's run. The Spruce Grove, Alta., native was original­ ly announced as being from the United States of America. The mistake was later corrected.

5. In 1956, which Austrian was the first alpine skier to

w in ih rc ir-g o ld medals in one Olympics?

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Rookie Rikki Bowles had a career-high 12 points as the Martlets beat UQÀM 6 2 -5 4 Friday evening at Love Competition Hall. The win briefly pulled the Martlets into a tie with UQÀM for third place in the Quebec conference.

Bowles showed veteran poise down the stretch, successfully sinking all four of her free-throws to thwart the Citadins' come­ back attempt. Success at the free-throw line proved vital to the Martlets victory, as the team drained 20 of their 26 opportu­ nities, while UQÀM only made it to the line five times, convert­ ing three.

Forward Catherine Parent added a team-high 16 points off 5-for-8 shooting from the floor and a perfect 6 -for-6 from the charity stripe. She also had two steals and tied for a gamehigh in rebounding with seven.

On Saturday, though, disaster struck for McGill, as the Martlets fell to Concordia. The win was the first of the season for the Stingers, who managed to edge the Martlets 62-60.

Former McGill player Fanie Ruel led the Stingers with 20 points. Rookie Vanessa Danisi had 16 for the Martlets, who fell to 5-8 on the season.

Redm en cagers fall twice; playoff hopes alm ost gone

Citadins' foward Samuel Johnson had a game-high 21 points as UQÀM beat the Redmen 6 3-5 6 in a crucial basket­ ball game at Love Competition Hall on Friday night. UQÀM, which moved two-points ahead of McGill for the final playoff spot in the Quebec conference.

The teams were tied 31-31 at the half, but UQÀM quick­ ly built up an 11-point lead in the second half. McGill man­ aged to cut the UQÀM lead to three with just over a minute remaining, but couldn't get over the edge.

Sharp-shooting rookie forward Yannick Chouinard had 16 points in a losing cause for the Redmen, including eight of McGill's final 13 points. In 24 minutes of play, Chouinard shot 6-for-9 from the floor, including 3-for-5 from three-point range. Fellow rookie Nickolas Pronovost added 11 points, four boards, five assists and two steals. Also reaching double-digits in scoring for McGill was centre Olivier Lamoureux, who had 1 0 points, six rebounds and two steals.

UQÀM, which out-rebounded the Redmen 33-31, shot 41.5 per cent from the field (22 of 53), while McGill made good on only 34.4 per cent of their shots (21 of 61). The Citadins also converted 13 of 17 free-throws (76.5 per cent), while the Redmen made just seven of 15 for a paltry 46.7 per cent accuracy rate.

On Saturday, the Redmen fell to Concordia. Stingers' foward Dwayne Buckley scored a game-high 25 points as Corfcordia downed McGill 67-61. With the win, Concordia clinched first place in the QUBL.

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