The McGill Tribune Vol. 25 Issue 22 by The Tribune

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Vol. 25 Issue 22 I Wednesday,, March 1, 2006

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G r a d i n g M c G ill Profs fail admin, praise departm ents TRA CI JO H N S O N Last semester the School of Architecture, the School of Music and the Faculty of Management each received landmark dona tions from noted philanthropists that promised to improve the quality of McGill's teaching and research facilities, and attract top academic talent from around the world. But behind the glitzy, PRhyped faculty name changes and a thick gloss of prestige, most pro fessors are working to balance their research interests and teach ing responsibilities. How much support does McGill offer our pro fessors? The Tribune sent surveys to 60 professors-20 per cent of whom responded—to find out if working for Canada's top-ranked research institution is really all it's cracked up to be. Post-secondary students from across Quebec demonstrated on Parliament Hill to demand more school funding.

M a rc h in g f o r m o n e y McGill, Quebec students protest outside Parliament ROBERT C H U R C H On Thursday, roughly 35 students from McGill trav elled ■by bus to Ottawa to take part in a march on Parliament, demanding that the Conservative government reinstate nearly $5-billion in provincial transfer payments to fund post-secondary education. The protest included 350 to 400 students from uni versities across Quebec, according to SSMU Vice-President External Affairs Aaron Donny-Clark. "It was a success, for sure," Donny-Clark said. “First off, it was Reading Week at McGill and many other schools in Ottawa. As well, federal transfers are the least sexy issue possible, so to actually be able to get that many students caring about federal transfers, and caring enough [about fed eral transfers] to get them on a bus for two hours, is good.” In Ottawa, McGill was joined by Université du Québec, Laval and other Quebec student associations, in a demon

stration organized by la Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec, the provincial student lobby group. The protest coincided with a meeting between Quebec Premier Jean Charest, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, during which the premiers pushed for billions in additional trans fer payments. Harper campaigned on a promise to end the "fiscal imbalance" between Ottawa and the provincial govern ments, which would include reinstating $4.9-billion in annual payments to the provinces to fund post-secondary education, which were cut by the federal government in the 1990s. Donny-Clark said that SSMU and other student asso ciations will continue lobbying the federal government but cautioned that things would move slowly until Harper's first Speech from the Throne in April, in which he will outline the legislative agenda of the Conservative government. ■

Take a number. Doctor Most survey respondents said the administration provides "none" or "very little" support for faculty members. While profes sors praised the services provided by their departm ents-citing a positive work environment assis tance with course administration and help with grant fundingmany said their faculties offered little support. Professors from the School o f Environment and the Faculty of Engineering pointed to the absence of funding from their faculties for computers, travel research and book funds. Other professors noted that the Faculties of Arts and Science pro vide funding for teaching assis tants, but wished there were more in grading-intensive classes. And do professors ever experience that famed McGill red tape? "This is like asking if the Pope is Catholic,” Chemical

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Engineering professor David Copper wrote in an e-mail. Another professor, who wished to remain anonymous, said processing reimbursements from her own research account often takes two months or more. History professor Elizabeth Elbourne said implementing changes in the interdisciplinary program she coordinates is extremely difficult. "The process for getting small changes to the course line up is absurdly cumbersome, bureaucratic and lengthy," she wrote. Others said that the sheer size of the bureaucracy makes it difficult to get things done quick ly, but admitted that the situation is not necessarily different from other large universities. In good company Professors rated their rela tionships with their colleagues highly and noted the ability to share ideas as one of the most positive aspects of the work envi ronment at McGill. All respon dents said they had positive rela tionships with other professors in their department and felt respect ed by each other, although some said they didn't have enough tim e for interaction in their packed schedules. Biology profes sor Richard Roy emphasized the support he receives at both the scientific and personal levels from other members of his depart ment. “It is one of the major factors that keeps me at this university," he said. "We are a very good unit with complementary interests and scientific goals.” Professors also said that working with McGill students is a major reason they enjoyed work-

See PROFS, page 5

news

Cover photo by LUKAS EiERGMARK

@ MAC

Mac celebrates centennial with new library Library to receive $4.25-million facelift VINCCI TSUI

Schmidt and architect Michael Werleman, will see an increase in the number of computers and a larger eDuring Macdonald Campus Founder's Day cere classroom, as well as more group study rooms and monies held before Reading Week, administrators tables. There will also be a lounge area where stu announced that the Stewart foundation had topped off dents can relax in easy chairs, and an intermediary funding for renovation of the Mac library. area with extended opening hours. The $4.25-million project has been funded mainly "We've had input from students since the begin through private donations, as well as gifts from alumni ning of the project, which has been going on for three and faculty. In a 1999 referendum, students at years," said Burnham, "Right now, we actually have a Macdonald Campus also pledged about $300,000 over group of students from Rethink McGill that have pro five years in student fees. vided us with manufacturers of eco-friendly paint, fur In the past two years, however, students have voted niture, light fixtures and carpeting. We had to reject against donating more money to the the idea of a green roof, but in library. The most recent referendum, terms of furnishings we're doing The $4.25-m illion project has held in January, asked students if they everything we can to implement would pay $20 per semester over two been funded m ainly through ecological features into the library." years through their student fees. private donations, as well as The focal point of the project "Sixty-five per cent of students is the corridor connecting the gifts from alum ni and faculty. voted to pay for the library," said Marielibrary and the Macdonald-Stewart Ève Lemieux, president o f the In a 1999 referendum , M ac building. The two buildings are Macdonald Campus Students' Society, students also voted to already connected through the first "but we needed two-thirds of the vote floor, but this bridge will be a more contribute $ 3 0 0 ,0 0 0 . for the motion to pass." visible connection, with a common Due to the close result, MCSS has area/atrium concept featuring a pledged $28,000 toward the library and is requesting 40-seat café. more funding from McGill in the hope that the university "McGill Food Services had proposed a 150-seat will match the amount. cafeteria, but the dean is opposed to that because he Some students voted against paying for the library wants to break ground on March 15," Lemieux said. because they feared they would be paying for something "Also, it would've caused the cafeteria in the they will not have the opportunity to use. But Mac head [Centennial Centre, Mac's student centre] to close librarian Erica Burnham disagreed. and there would’ve been no more activity in the CC." "The schedule that we have is that it’ll be open at Despite praising the library's plan for increased the start of the [fall] term, with the grand opening during group project space, Lemieux worried that the lounge homecoming in October," she said. areas may also draw students away from the CC. The library project will feature two components: a Burnham, on the other hand, was less con full renovation of the library plus a walkway connecting cerned. the main Macdonald-Stewart building and the Barton "We want to give [students] space to do group building, which houses the library. Construction on the work, because there are more group projects being latter will begin on March 15, while renovations to the handed out in class now. We also want students to library itself will not begin until the summer. take advantage of the increased amount of technolo VINCCI TSUI The design of the new library, which was overseen gy" ■ Maclean's rates our libraries among the best in Canada. Feel free to mail by Burnham, Trenholme Director of Libraries Janine them this photo.

CORRECTION: The last issue (14.2.06) omitted the cover photo credit. The photo should have been credited to Vladimir Eremin.

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If you were alive in any way over the break and near a TV, it's likely that you P|v$ tuned in to at least some amount of Olympic ft (^ l j coverage. Canada had a record medal haul at ■ ■ H i m m * the Turin Olympics, bringing home 24 medals, including seven golds. Unfortunately, the men's ■ * t v hockey team left the tournament early, losing to the Russians in the quarterfinal match. The lacklustre »■ > -i t t r - N performance sparked many editorial cartoons encour' ‘ J ; 1 1 aging the team to "play like girls." • These Games S l|IS E llt| j e t a i t marked the end of CBC's coverage of the Winter ( Olympics. CTV has paid $90-million for the rights to the i 2010 Vancouver Games. Across all of its channels, the , Will fB fr broadcaster is planning more than 1,700 hours of cover «iilfltp# age, including 500 hours in French. • Sectarian violence Mi l - ■ claimed more lives in Iraq last week. The latest wave of vio lence began after one of Shiite Islam's holiest sites lay in pity's StfVii’ ruins after a bombing, The attack sparked reprisals across *:tv<i ilt f«ti* the country and prompted the Iraqi government to impose a curfew. The US ambassador told reporters on Saturday that 1k“ the prospect of a civil war was diminishing but added, "We're fcjfllF ;*f 1if not completely out of danger yet.” • The Canadian Press has U r t i j i l t reported that Lakehead University, in Thunder Bay, Ontario, has decided against expanding wireless Internet service across campus. Lakehead President Fred Gilbert told universi »j* |o l» v * r« ty officials, "The jury is still out on the impact that electromagT i t -4 f ; netic forces have on human physiology," and added that the ‘j j i " v,| s' P°l'cy would not change while he was president. According to i * !» tt »a university spokesperson, the .decision was a personal one A id e Wi t » made by Gilbert. Students are disappointed by the decision. | hU,]H( I t s • Capitalizing on US Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting I t i'iaÜ M it accidenT in which he shot a fellow hunter with pellets in the K ' ‘ P * ' chest ancj face toymaker FieroBuilders.com announced last it* ‘ 1 i * i'* It week that they will begin selling a "You Don't Know Dick" < ,j-.. * action figure, complete with shotgun and blade-tipped , « . shoes. The figure retails for US$29.95. • An Australian \ < i » grandmother received the Star of Courage, the country's f f 'p c u t ! > ! , , m highest civilian honour, when she saved a friend from T *. i Lit, a crocodile by jumping on its back. Her son was able , to shoot the animal, but Alicia Sorohan almost lost rttfWHg m w S W T her arm in the oreal. . iiiU , h i 'K t* i tot Sources: globeandmail.com, nytimes.com, • *i ' *>« I k , yahoo.com, The New York Post, itSIfl

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Students elect new AUS executive Presidential candidate RJ Kelford pulls surprise win M A T T CAMPBELL After a week of rigorous cam paigning for executive positions in the Arts Undergraduate Society, the votes are in. UO Arts Legacy student RJ Kelford edged out Corey Shefman, U1 Political Science, for AUS president with 50.4 per cent of the 909 votes. Other executives elected were: Franny Karlinsky for vice-president internal (57.8 per cent of the vote), Kay Turner for vice-president external (58.2 per cent) and Phil Holdworth for vice-president communications (47.4 per cent). Arts Representatives Rachel Abs, Yahel Carmon and Dan King, were also elected, with 21, 18.6 and 17.8 percent of the vote, respectively. Vice-President Academic Nejeed Kassam and Vice-President Finance Ross Margulies both won their positions by acclamation. Students also voted to renew the $13 annual fee for the Arts Student Employment Fund for anoth er three years by a wide margin, with 71.6 per cent voting in favour. After the results were announced, a jubilant Kelford shared some celebratory champagne with the winners and discussed his plans for the future. "I definitely want to make sure that the team gels well," he said. "If I

do nothing but make the team work well, and want to do well, then w ell succeed." Kelford said that he would be adding a plant to the office, but oth erwise emphasized a hands-off approach to the AUS presidency. "If everything goes right, all I’ll have to do is talk to the press and water my plant," he said. "That's not going to happen, but I'll have that plant." Turner said that she was looking forward to working with the new executives. "We're all really excited about the team that got elected," she said. "I think that we're all going to work pretty well together." After the celebratory hangovers had worn off, the Tribune spoke with Kelford and King about the election and their plans for the upcoming year. King, who served as president of Conservative McGill this year, indicat ed that interdisciplinary programs will continue to be a main focus. He also plans to remain on the curricu lum committee, where he can help assess new course proposals. Kelford said that he was extremely happy with how his cam paign was run. "Obviously, you've got to play to your strengths. Leadership is one of

my strengths," he said. '4 depended a lot on the support of older stu dents. Another thing was word of mouth. I tried to interact personally with everyone, and through that they could know my level of commit ment." He described his platform as focusing on the goals of othdr execu tives, and working hard tc/empower them. "I really want to push the status quo this year and I can't do it alone," Kelford said. "I don’t have the expert ise." Further, the incoming president pushed the popular "Raise AUS Awareness" theme, which many can didates mentioned throughout the campaign. However, he stopped short of saying it was a weakness of the society. "[The AUS] has a lot of enthusi asm," Kelford said. "We're right where we want to be in terms of get up and go." However, he acknowledged there is more that AUS can do. Among his campaign promises, Kelford pledged to seek a liquor licence for the AUS lounge in the Leacock basement. He also hopes to introduce concerts and a speaker series. —Additional reporting by James Gotowiec

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Celebrating black heritage BSN stages Black History Month events SERGIO ROLDAN MEJIA The onset of Reading Week did not prevent Black History Month activities from continuing. Last Friday's event was designed to raise awareness of Canada's involvement in events in Haiti over the past sev eral years. Event organizers screened two documentaries—Kevin Pina's The Untold Story and Nadine Pequeneza's Aristide's Haiti—and aired a CKUT interview with Patrick Elie, form er Haitian minister of defence. The discussion was part of a series of events organized by the Black Students Network in collabora tion with other McGill groups in order to celebrate Black History Month. Those participating in the event heard that Canada put pressure on Haiti's government by withholding .economic and humanitarian aid and then rushed in to support the unelected opposition when a rebel lion forced former president Jean Bertrand Aristide's government out of power in February 2004. Pina claimed during the discussion that the US led the strategy with support from Canada and France. "[Canada's] foreign policy was in lockstep with the Bush adminis tration when they destabilized the government by freezing aid," said Pina, who lived in Haiti for six years, in an interview with International World Television News. Pina also said that Canada fol lowed America's lead in becoming involved in the confusion of post coup Haiti. "It is fairly clear that Canada was acting at the request of the United States, that the Canadian government saw this as an opportu nity to play a constructive role in assisting our nearest ally in a situa tion that was considerably less con troversial than Iraq," he added. Although only about 30 people attended, the event was valuable to all who turned out, said BSN exter nal coordinator Donald Erskine. “It was quite frustrating to see such a low turnout for the event," he said. But, he continued, the people who were there were able to "have dialogue and get a deeper under standing of others." Some students were surprised by what they learned about recent developments in Haiti. "I found myself unable to believe that Canada is actually involved in such acts of human degradation in the 21st century," said Hanaa Suleman, U0 Science. Moreover, this was not Canada's first sojourn into Haiti. Canada participated in the UN-sanc tioned intervention in 1994 that restored former president Aristide to power after he was overthrown the first time. One month enough? Although Black History Month has existed since 1926, it has been celebrated at McGill only since the

creation of BSN 20 years ago. It began as Black History Week and evolved from there. Erskine said he wanted to extend it further. "[Black History Month] should not be ju st a month but an all-year event," he said. "History is made every day by people across the globe, and to com partmentalize specific groups to a month justifies its absence from syllabi, which is problematic in itself. I strongly feel

that McGill should pay more attention to the Africana Studies program that exists today." ■ The interview with former Haitian minister o f defence Patrick Elie is available online a t the CKUT Web site, www.ckut.ca.

LUKAS BERGMARK BSN welcomed elementary and high school students on Children's Day.

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Profs struggle to find balance M O R E O N L IN E

Students rated highly in survey

-Heather Haq Lawrence on "Get C aught Recycling" W eek. www.mcgilltribune.com

its attempts to draw elite professors to the island of Montreal. The sparkle of the research environment and an ing here, and spoke highly of student inquisitive student body will also curiosity. entice talent. Elbourne said working with "The key element is the way smart students "keeps me going," one is able to learn. In this respect, and Biology professor Frederic McGill is top," said Religious Studies Guichard said mentoring undergrad professor Gerbern Oegema. uate and graduate students is. one of However, retaining quality facul the best parts of his job. ty members could require the "Direct interaction with stu dents is extremely rewarding," he -"Dealing w ith the em otional afterm ath administration and academic fac ulties to increase support services wrote. of students that did not pass a course for professors and re-evaluate All of the survey respondents complicated bureaucratic proce said they enjoyed helping interest is absolutely heart-wrenching." dures. More streamlined support ed students and that they felt -R ic h a rd Roy, services, better communication respected by their students, even Professor of Biology and an administrative structure though students seem to be that is flexible enough to allow increasingly informal in face-toly with a career that cannot be con constructive change and new ideas face, and especially e-mail communi will ensure that professors are sup fined to the hours between 9 a.m. cation. Professors also believe that ported but not stifled by the institu and 5 p.m. the majority of the student body tion. For other professors, studentcomes to class prepared to learn. Deputy Provost Jacques related responsibilities are the most Music Performance professor Hurtubise said the Provost's office, difficult to face. Several described Hank Knox expressed satisfaction which handles complaints from aca student evaluations and marking as with the motivation of his students. demic personnel, is currently survey complicated tasks. "Students are here to work, and ing professors on their reasons for "Dealing with the emotional they work very hard indeed," he wrote. leaving McGill. According to aftermath of students that did not Hurtubise, the office has made signif pass a course is absolutely heartA balancing act icant strides in providing start-up While most professors reiterated wrenching,” wrote Roy. funds for research, but he admitted "Early in my career, I had to how much they enjoy the teaching dealing with the administration can teach a compulsory English course to component of their jobs, an equal be complex. recalcitrant... Engineering students at number said balancing the demands "I would say that where we do 8:30 a.m.," said Professor Kerry of class preparation and academic fall down is in efficiency of our proce research is stressful. Professors in the McSweeney. "In comparison, nothing dures, where there is always room for since has seemed difficult." School of Environment and the improvement," he said. "The aim on Faculties of Arts and Science said many issues is to have something Can McGill compete? securing grants for their research like one-stop service; we're not there With new endowments and a takes up a significant amount of time yet." ■ prestigious name, McGill may boost and places constraints on their ability to fulfill the demands of both teach ing and academic pursuits. Many professors said that administrative procedures, such as committee duties and government grant applications, are the most diffi cult and time-consuming aspects of their job. Others said the pressure to multi-task is constant and noted the difficulty of balancing work and fami-

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N E W S BRI EF Deadline: March 13th, 2000 SFU swim team suspended after hazing investigation Simon Fraser University suspended its swim team last week after an investigation concluded that the team had violated their written code of conduct during "hazing" activities organized by the team's senior members. As a result, the team will not be able to defend its North American title at a meet in Missouri next month. The British Columbia university recently concluded an investigation by a panel composed of administration representatives and decided to suspend the team over activities that took place at a house party last fall. According to the Globe and Mail, team members at the party were forced to imagine each other naked and describe their sexual fantasies about teammates. The activities were apparently directed at younger team mem-

bers at the behest of veterans. SFU Associate VicePresident Nello Angerilli was quoted in the article as say ing that the activities involved were not illegal and that the participants did not have to remove any clothing. "SFU takes allegations of hazing-in whatever fo rm very seriously,” Angerilli said in a university press release. "As an institution we are committed to providing a safe, non-threatening environment for everyone in our campus communities." McGill students are not unfamiliar with hazing inves tigations; administrators cancelled the two games remain ing in the Redmen football season last fall after they con cluded that some team members acted inappropriately during rookie initiations in August.-Robert Church For our take, see page 7.

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opinion

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Thought police brutality BR AND O N CHUDLEIGH

The helpless Romantic

Duelling values: death and sex as sport RICH TSENG got home Sunday morning around five to find that somebody was flaming me on an old blog I frequent. We'd been arguing about ageism, and since this man has no clue who I am, he proceeded to make attacks on my presumed character. He called me a "dirty old pervert,” at which point I, being a little drunk and a little high, chal lenged the knave to a real live duel. That shut the bugger up all right, but if he had turned up on my doorstep this morning with two smoothbore pistols, I probably would have marked out 10 paces. There's a reason why America banned duelling everywhere, and it wasn't because they were losing too many cabinet members, although .Alexander Hamilton being shot dead by Aaron Burr certainly helped the leg islation along. Duelling amounts to little more than ritualized murder. But what if peo ple had made ritualized murder into sport? So that, instead of having to find some trivial point of honour on which to kill, we could just kill for fun. Enter hunting. Hunting, like most sports, is a toned down version of the real thing. Most of our ancestors could survive without the food hunting provided, but did so to train for war. These days the sport is far removed from war or even primitive hunting; if you can shoot a man in the face with your gun and it still won't kill him, how's that supposed to teach you about war? Moreover, the only real dan ger you face is friendly fire, and if you choose to drive around in a buggy looking for prey, you're pretty much playing a violent version of golf that involves sinking living animals. That's why it always puzzles me that our society reveres sport-killers, but cannot abide

sport-fuckers. Humans had sex before there were enough of them to kiil something, yet we have institutionalized and made "whole some” one basic human activity while con demning the other. Men take their children into the woods, teaching them to gut fish, flay deer and hit ducks with birdshot, yet are at a complete loss when trying to explain to them how they came to be. Moreover, those who are good at it, people who are success ful in the art of attracting and seducing the opposite sex for fun, are given derogatory labels like "sluts” and "players," while a suc cessful sport-killer reaffirms his tough-guy family-provider image. But it gets even weirder than that. Apparently, you can submit to your urge to kill, but not your urge to create or consume violent art. Grand Theft Auto and Gangsta rap are, the critics say, vulgar, disgusting and harmful to our children. This is ridiculous. Helping to chop up and dispose of a deer's corpse is likely to be a more vivid experience than any images song lyrics might conjure up. And, of course, sexualized art is beyond the pale for these arbiters of morality. But all this grownup posturing serves a purpose, I suppose. It teaches kids a sense of decency and the boundaries of polite con versation. Anything to contain the insane reality that we are in part a cannibalistic soci ety where people kill or fuck each other for reasons like pride or control or money, a species rapidly working towards its own demise. Don’t take this to say, though, that I'm against sex-sports or hunting. After all, I may be duelling soon, so I should probably get used to this whole killing thing. ■

halk another one up for the thought police. As if censoring Sir Mick during the Super Bowl wasn't bad enough, a university president was sent sailing up the Charles River without a paddle, his only crime being speaking his mind. In a letter released last Tuesday, Harvard President Lawrence Summers announced his resignation, in his nearly five years at Harvard, Summers found himself in hot water often. Last March, he suffered a vote of non-confidence by Harvard's gov erning board. He was to face another such vote late last week. So rather than be further defamed and humiliated, Summers quit, leaving hard-line campus activists as giddy as schoolgirls. Why were they in such a celebratory mood, and why did they keep bringing the heat on poor Larry? His litany of apparent transgressions included questioning the academic value of an African-American Studies professor's rap CD. I don't know about you, but I'm not entirely sure how recording your own version of "Baby Got Back" has a lot to say about the AfricanAmerican experience. While Summers survived-that episode, it was the small but vocal outcry over his comments at an academic conference last January that seemingly snowballed into his ouster. In a lecture, Summers claimed that one of the reasons why fewer women than men succeed in math and science careers was innate differences between the sexes. Predictably, a shit-storm erupted. Never mind that Summers' hypothe ses were based on scholarly work—he was instantly branded a misogynist. Several con ference participants took offence and filed complaints. What resulted was a tighter leash for Summers; every potentially "con troversial" statement that came out of his mouth thereafter was examined with exces sive scrutiny. But Summers is not some wack-job, talking out of his ass, nor is he a backwards

conservative who believes women should be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. He graduated from both MIT and Harvard, was the secretary of the treasury in the Clinton administration before returning to run his alma mater, and is one of the world's most respected economists. Yet his thoughts were dismissed and condemned because they ,did not fall into an arbitrarily dictated line. Another Harvard economist who sup ported Summers described his critics , as "activists whose sensibilities might be at odds with intellectual debate." But they're by no means the majority; instead, they're just a really loud minority set on silencing every thing they don't like. "Academic freedom can't survive the control by that cult,” said Harvey Silverglate, a Boston civil rights lawyer, Unfortunately, far too many people have been drinking the funky Kool-aid. It’s ironic that Summers was given the boot by Harvard, a supposedly intellectual playground awed and envied by scholars the world over, where debate should be the order of the day. But what really gets me is that the university forced out an administra tor who actually—gasp!—cared about stu dents. Summers thought it unacceptable that faculty were scholars first and teachers sec ond. He recognized the oft ignored fact that, without students, there would be no research and prestige, and held them in due regard. And students liked Summers back. Yet here at McGill, Heather Munroe-Blum is still safely ensconced in her wood-paneled office, emerging once a year to greet under grads at SnoAP like some sort of administra tive groundhog. Apparently, the way to keep your jo b is to show disdain for students. Summers was forced to divide his focus between his jo b and fending off criti cism from the PC lobby that hijacked his tenure. By doing this, the thought police proved the. academic dictum that narrow mindedness trumps intellectual debate and academic progress. ■

Kleinium

Bad T V science a CSI-sore JO N A T H A N KLEIN ince the dawn of tim e -to steal a clichéd sci-fi phraseauthors have drawn on science to provide captivating plotlines. For instance, in the 19th century, authors like Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and even Mark Twain drew on the seeming ly fantastic findings of science to produce great works like Journey to the Centre o f the Earth, War o f the Worlds and A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court. Since then, the entertainment value of science has only increased, and television shows have made use of exciting sci entific endeavours. And because science constantly unlocks new doors of possibility, it is easy to imagine why many popu lar shows are based on science, or at least science fiction. From the Apollo-program-inspired space travel adventures on Lost in Space, to the medical intrigue of Grey's Anatomy, to the ancient zoology of Denver, the Last Dinosaur, science has inspired many classics of the medium. Okay, maybe not that last one, but you get the point. However, there can de a downside to all this tele-science. While I believe—or at least, I hope-that there is little chance that audiences will be fooled into believing that a dinosaur egg could survive for 65 million years (though the prevalence of

urban legends about the Loch Ness Monster may suggest oth erwise), there is some risk involved in using situations unfamil iar to the majority of viewers to drive plots. Such programs often present improbable situations—necessary to drive ten sion and conflict—as commonplace. These can distort public ideas about the limitations and abilities of various disciplines, which can have real-life consequences. On shows like CS/and Law and Order, forensic experts are routinely shown solving crimes themselves or offering up pieces of information far more quickly or accurately than can be obtained in real life. They sometimes even present opinions or facts that are simply unknowable. These include virtually instantaneous toxicology reports from patients' bodies—which can routinely take weeks-and up-to-the-hour time of death estimates, which are simply not possible due to the innumer able factors that would need to be taken into account to arrive at such a conclusion. Many lawyers and law-enforcement officials have recently noted a difficulty in obtaining convictions based on forensic evi dence commonly presented in trials. This has been dubbed by some as the "CSI effect." Juries have begun to demand more

specific and detailed forensic evidence to obtain a conviction, waiting to see the so-called "smoking gun” or some other piece of irrefutable evidence, like a perfect fingerprint match or a DNA sample from the accused. These expectations are danger ous, as they run the risk of putting the burden of proof required to convict criminals outside the range of what is reasonable to expect given the current state of forensic science. As television producers strive to give more realistic por trayals of life in their scripted programming, they risk confusing the audience and blurring the line between the sensational fic tion of the show and the true life experiences of doctors and forensic experts. I enjoy television as much as the next guy, but it is crucial to remember that fiction, even if based on true events, is likely not portraying its subject in a wholly realistic light. Just as you probably d o n 't-o r at least shouldn't-think from watching NYPD Blue that police officers spend most of their time in thrilling car chases and shoot-'em-up back alley encounters, you shouldn't have raised expectations of scien tists simply based on their portrayal on TV. Your local forensic pathologist will thank you. ■

the mcgill tribune j 1.3.06 | opinion

I McGill Tribune

EDITORIAL

Hey, everyone, leave those kids alone

Vol. 25, Issue 22 E ditor-in-C hief Liz Allemang editor@mcgilltribune.com M anaging E ditors Jennifer Jett A n d re w Segal seniored@mcgilltribune.com N ews E ditors Robert Church James G otowiec Niall Mackay Roberts news@mcgilltribune.com F eatures E ditors Genevieve Jenkins Cristina Markham features@mcgilltribune.com A&E E ditors Ben Lemieux Melissa Price arts@mcgilltribune.com S ports E ditors David Blye Adam Myers sports@mcgilitribune.com Photo E ditors Lukas Bergmark Vladim ir Eremin photo@mcgilltribune.com C opy E ditor Traci Johnson copy@mcgilltribune.com D esign E ditors M att Campbell Tiffany Choy Geneviève Friesen design@mcgilltribune.com O nline E ditor M arco A v o lio online@mcgilltribune.com A dvertising M anager Paul Slachta advmgr@ssmu.mcgill.ca

orry we have to be the ones to break the news, but universities aren't simply prisitine bastions o f unbridled intellectualism. Unfortunately, that's not a concept those in uni versity administration and the media seem to understand. Not shockingly, 18 to 24-year-olds some times act inappropriately. And when their actions violate a school's academic intregrity policies or the law, they should be dealt with accordingly. When a student is caught committing plagiarism, there should be consequences. And when a foot ball team forces rookies to strip down to their underwear and convinces them that they will be violated with a broomstick, it must be made obvi ous that this behaviour won't be tolerated. In these instances, university higher-ups are right to take action, and members of the media are cor rect to call attention to misdeeds. That doesn't mean, though, that outside forces should interfere when students are simply being students. Annual parties such as Management carnival should not face the threat of cancellation because a tabloid like Journal de Montréal published some photos of drunk stu dents. Likewise, Simon Fraser University's deci sion to ban its world-class swim team from defending their North American title because its rookie night involved a discussion of the rookies' sexual fantasies is an overreaction. These occurences are entirely different than an incidence of physical assault like the Redmen hazing. The students who participated in carnival chose to attend a party where they knew they would be drinking and stripping, and they did it of their own volition. And at SFU, Associate VicePresident Nello Angerilli admitted that the evening featured no illegal activities and that none of the rookies were forced to remove any clothing. These cases merited no media coverage or disciplinary action, and these interventions have nothing to do with the events themselves. Indeed, less than one year ago, they probably would have been dismissed as the antics of stu dents having perhaps a little too much fun. But after McGill's Broomgate, administrators seem to view students' actions as not simply "college kids being college kids," but instead as damaging to their heavily-cultivated reputations. And the

media is happy to oblige by spreading tales of youth run amock in their pages and on their newscasts. The end result of this relationship is that alumni decide to withhold their contribu tions, "proving" that the admin's fears were wellfounded. If universities ban events that let undergrads cut loose because they worry about reprisals from donors, it doesn't say much for those schools' alumni bases. If the alma mater has truly fostered a relationship with its graduates—and doesn't view them only as sources of cash to be cajoled once a year—a single isolated incident would not alter their decision to give. Further, while donations do comprise a large part of uni versities' budgets, students are still schools' pri mary resource. Universities should be restricting their students' activities only if students will be harmed, not because their reputations might be. Donors, too, need to look at themselves in the mirror if they plan to withdraw their support. They should remember the time when they were

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Terri Alderfer

in college, when they partied until all hours of the morning and did other things that would embar rass them today. And they need to realize that students can't spend every hour of every day immersed in studies. Finally, the media, as well, should take a les son from these incidents. Its jo b is to report the news, not make it. And members of the media who are so quick to pounce on every university scandal should seriously think about why they are doing so. Are they hoping to actually bring about change—necessary when something unto ward is going on, but not when students are engaging in innocuous fu n -o r are they just trying sell papers and make a quick buck by showing girls (and boys) gone wild? fsFo, universities are not pristine bastions of intellectualism, but they are not filthy bastions of drunkeness, either. The sooner administrators and the media realize that, the sooner students can go back to letting loose without fear of pho tographers snapping pictures for posterity. ■

OF F T H E B O A R D

Publisher Chad Ronalds

C ontributors

y friends won't travel with me anymore, and I don't blame them. I can't remember the last time my travel experience didn't involve delayed or cancelled flights, or luggage that took a vastly different route than I did. Two years ago, delays caused me to miss my connecting flight from Chicago O'Hare Airport, stranding me overnight in the drafty and deserted terminal on my way back to school. I vowed never to fly through Chicago again, only to cave in the following winter break and relive the exact same delays and sleepless night in reverse. In Dallas one year, I breathlessly arrived at my gate just in time to see the plane pull away. And once, while waiting for a long-delayed flight in Cancun, a crowd of us watched in horror as a small explosion shot out from the back of the plane (we boarded anyway). "If we ever plan a vacation together," a friend told me, "I'm taking a different flight." Things were looking up, then, when my mom called to tell me that the only mileage ticket avail able for my trip home over reading week was in business class. (Yes, I'm 21-years-old and my par

ents still make my travel arrangements.) This engendered a new kind of anxiety, though: Taking advantage of the airline class system I despise. Believing that all passengers should suffer equally through the nightmare that is air travel, I wondered how I could be such a hypocrite. Fittingly, I arrived at Dorval—Pierre Elliott Trudeau is simply too unwieldy—to find my flight delayed several hours. I would still get home, but about nine hours later than I had planned. At least the priority check-in line was short-though the act of sitting in business class made me uncomfort able, I could definitely get used to the perks. As I headed to the gate and got ready to board, I figured I'd hang back in line, waiting until the last possible moment to shamefacedly slip into my undeserved business-class seat. Alarmed at the thought of losing valuable overhead storage space, however, I quickly changed my mind. From my seat I gazed with paranoia at the line of peo ple filing past, each seemingly staring back and recognizing me for the fraud that I was. I had none of the trappings of a business-class passenger: no PDA, black leather computer case or fancy attire,

I looked woefully out of place in my sneakers and zip-up sweater. However, all discomfort dissolved immediate ly as I leaned back and the cracked leather on the seatback lovingly adhered itself to the curve of my spine. Here, there was no jockeying for space on narrow armrests, no seat jacked up to a 90-degree angle, I went straight to sleep. Touching down in Chicago—I know, I never learn—the pilot informed us our gate would be unavailable for a few minutes due to delays. Of course, I nodded knowingly. It's O'Hare. Facing a six-hour layover, I was unperturbed. Take your time, American Airlines mechanics, I thought to myself. I've got all day. My travel misfortunes have taught me many lessons: don't pack your winter jacket in your checked baggage, always ask for meal vouchers because no one offers them. But most important ly, it doesn't matter how you travel or how long it takes, so long as you finally get home. And if the intricacies of the frequent-flyer system demand that I fly in unnecessary style, well, I can live with that. ■

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.

opinion | 1.3.06 [ the mcgill tribune

I ’ VE G O T A FEVER. . . A N D THE O N L Y PRESCRI PTI ON MORE S U D O K U

Letters to the editor Journal-ism not up to snuff It is most ironic that the Journal de Montréal would publish Sébastien Ménard's now-infamous exposé of alleged improprieties by Faculty of Management students. Ménard's story appears on pages 3-5 of the Feb. 14, 2006 edition. On page 16 of the same edition, there is an ad for the Laval-based "La Sexerie" Sex Shop which pushes "erotic lingerie, oils and lotions." Furthermore, Ménard’s allegations are mild in comparison to the graphic and gratuitous 1970 Quebec sex film L'Initiation, in which Université de Montréal buildings and the U-d-M logo figure prominently and unmistakably. The star of this lurid film is none other than Chantal Renaud, aka Mrs. Bernard Landry. Although L'Initiation was pushed as a Christmas special on Canal Indigo (the francophone pay-per-view) in December 1999-i.e. well before Landry married Renaudand although it has since been replayed several times on TVA, Canal D and Showtime, there is no evidence that Landry was even asked to resign because of this. In contrast, in January 1937, the German War Minister, General-Oberst Werner von Blomberg, was compelled to resign because he had recently married a woman who had posed naked. As the New Testament says, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." José-Pierre Fernandez U3 History

It's just cartoons, people This letter is in response to the influx of criti cism driven towards Ben Lemieux’s article "Muslim's need to change their atitoon" (7.2.06), Many people thought it important to point out that Muslim leaders have denounced the violence brought forth, but none of the readers pointed out that the Danish government denounced the car toon. In both cases a denouncement from the government does not change the fact that the events still transpired. Whether the cartoons were in bad taste or not was not the debate in Lemieux's article. The point debated was the reaction of the Muslim people. The fact that violence erupted at all due to this publication projected a poor image onto the Muslim people. The response of the protesters that "if you insult me, I'll kill you and your family" was not only extreme, but also depicted their peo ple in a poor light. Last I checked, threatening someone and their family was illegal, or at least valid grounds for a restraining order. Finally, to those who say it’s a disrespect to their religion, they should watch the "Axis of Evil" comedy tour, a trio of Muslim comedians speak ing about how people should be able to laugh at themselves. Even Christians are able to do it every Sunday—in the morning we go to church and then in the evening we watch Family Guy. After all, a cartoon is ju st a cartoon.

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campus calendar

the mcgill tribune | 1.3.06 | student living

WHAT...

WHO...

WHEN...

WHERE...

CONTACT...

"SYNERGY" Dance Performance

MOSAICA

March 3-5, 8 p.m.

Gèsu Centre de Créativité

mcgillmosaica@hotmail.com admission.com

’ Who do? Voodoo!

Black Magic Society of McGill

March 3

Dawson Hall basement office

BMSM@mcgill.ca

’ Junior bowling tournament

The Lebowski Little Achievers

March 1, 7 p.m.

Sharx

andproudweareofallofthem@aol.com

Tango lessons •

McGill Dance Troupe

March 4, 8 p.m.

Scarsdale Jewish Community Centre

ithinkiknowwhatyoumean@msn.com

’ Hair-pulling tutorial

McGill Society of Juvenile Flirting

March 2, recess

Lower Field

stoooooop_it@hotmail.com

***See h o w

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RECI PE

Nothing like a Mexican fiesta to beat the winter blues TERRI ALDERFER Nothing is more aggravating than hearing your friends’ dish about their Reading Week romps down south when you have passed the time fret ting over upcoming midterms and stuck in the brisk north. How to cope with said jealousy? We suggest taking the night off and throwing a killer fies ta. Download some sexy salsa songs, blend a pitcher of margaritas and whip up some spicy South American fare that will make you forget you're not in paradise.. At least until tomor row.

Chicken enchiladas Ingredients: olive oil 4 chicken breasts, diced (veggie option: tofu) 1 large onion 2 large cans black beans, drained 1 can corn 8 flour tortillas 2 cans tomato sauce 1 teaspoon cumin salt & pepper 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese tobasco sauce (optional) sour cream (optional)

Preheat the oven to 190 C (375 F). In a large saucepan, sauté the chicken (or tofu) and onion on medi um heat until chicken is cooked through. Stir in the beans and corn. Add the cumin and salt and pepper as desired and stir. Turn heat to low. Sparingly oil a casserole dish with olive oil. Place the sautéed mixture in each of the flour tortillas, roll them and line them open side down into the casserole dish. Once you have placed the filled tortillas into the dish, mix desired amount of tobasco sauce with the tomato sauce. Pour this mixture on

top of the tortillas in the dish. Finally, cover the tortillas with shredded Cheddar cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese starts to bubble. Serve with sour cream if desired. Serves four, with leftovers..

Frozen margaritas Ingredients: 8 teaspoons coarse salt 4 lime wedges 12 oz. white tequila 4 oz. triple sec 9 oz. lime juice 4 cups crushed ice

Place salt on a plate and rub rim of a cocktail glass with lime wedge and dip glass into salt to coat rim thor oughly. Save the lime. Pour tequila, triple sec, lime juice and crushed ice into a blender. Blend at high speed. Don’t have a blender? Simply pour mixed contents over crushed ice instead. Pour into cocktail glass and garnish with lime wedge (tiki-style tropical umbrella optional). Serves four, unless you've taken up alcoholism to drown your post reading week woes. ■

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t's unsettling enough to hear the saying, "You are what you 18 — Approximate radio hours tuned eat." According to some experts, however, people are defined not only by what they eat, but also what they read, each week by Canadians ages 18-34. listen to and watch. A January article in Florida's St. Petersburg 19 — Approximate radio hours tuned Times examined the idea of "media diets"—that people each week by Americans ages 18-34. should pay as much attention to the media they consume as they do to calories and portion sizes. With North American obesity currently off the scale, we may want to seriously con sider our intellectual intake before we develop brain blubber. A ll statistics fro m The Canada/USA Report: A The range of possible media diets is as varied as the C o m p a riso n o f th e C a n a d ia n a n d USA people who follow them. After waking up in the morning, Populations, Their Lifestyles, Product Usage, a n d Ditte Sayers first goes online, where she receives e-mail edi M e d ia Habits. Toronto: P rin t M e a s u re m e n t tions of the Tribune and M cG ill Daily. Bureau, 2 0 05 . "Then if there's an interesting headline when I sign onto Yahoo! Mail, I may click on that and see what's going on," says Sayers, U3 History. She also has the N e w York Times In the evening Denhoed turns on Jeopardy!, Web site bookmarked on her computer and heads there E ntertainm ent Tonight or The Sim psons while she makes din three times a week to browse through health and science ner, To unwind after doing homework, she visits house and home Web sites like M arthaStew art.com and Epicurious.com. headlines. As with food, the key to maintaining a healthy media The television stays off in the morning, but several days a week Sayers watches CNN Headline News while she runs at the YMCA. She returns home in time for the evening news, which is on in the background as she makes dinner or does homework. Sayers follows that up with two to three hours of law and medical dra mas like G rey's A n a to m y and CSI. "And then maybe one day a week I'll watch The D a ily Show," she adds. Sayers describes hers as a junk food diet. "It shouldn't be, but it is," she says. "The biggest thing I would change would be sub scriptions to print news. I would definite ly get a subscription to

N a tio n a l New

G eographic,

York Times

N e w sw e ek

and print

sources." Emily Denhoed, U2 Architecture, con siders her media diet to be on the lighter side but balanced.

25.8 — Average hours of TV viewing per week among Canadian women 18 and older. 21.6 — Average hours of TV viewing per week among Canadian men 18 and older.

She notes, "If there's a day that goes by where I don't look at news, I definitely feel like there's something missing." Denhoed's day begins with morning news on the radio when her alarm goes off, followed by about 15 minutes online checking MSN Today and the Discovery Travel Network Web site. In between classes she checks Google News and Reuters online or reads the Tribune and Hour.

diet is balance, said Dr. Michael Hoechsmann, a professor in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education. "We're looking for what I might call a balanced diet,” he says, "that is, mixing into the meal some high fibres—which would be traditional reading—while avoiding the sort of highcalorie intake or the foods that are problematic, avoiding excessive consumption of elements of the meal like violence and mind-numbing content which doesn't challenge your mind." Reading is especially important, Hoechsmann said; some studies show that as media consumption goes up, reading declines. He also advised that students limit the amount of media they consume and the time they spend consuming it. "I think an occasional fast is useful to clean one’s mind," he said. "[The anti-consumerist magazine] Adbusters suggests a TV Turnoff Week every year from April 25 to May 1, and they refer to that as 'the year's biggest cleanup of our men tal environment.’”

Choosing what you chew The explosion in new media has provided users with greater diversity of choice. Not only can they decide what information to receive, but also how and when to receive it. "We’ve really made the move away from the old-style mass media into a blended universe of both new digital media, but also multi-channel spectrums in the old media,” Hoechsmann asserts. Ann Brocklehurst is a lecturer at the Concordia University Department of Journalism. "I think the big change has been that people tend to consume more niche media," she says. "Specialty television channels, Web logs, things like that." Given these choices, people are increasingly turning to non-traditional media for their information. A 2004 survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that 50 per cent of people under age 30 regularly or occa sionally received information about the American presidential campaign from shows like Saturday N ight Live and The D aily S how w ith Jon Stewart. Two of the 50 students who filled out a Tribune survey named "fake news" shows as their primary source of news. "Our generation needs to be spoon-fed its news to a certain extent," Sayers said. ’ [The D a ily Show\ is a nice way to inform people what's going on and it's entertain ing, but it's satirical so you have to go beyond that if you want to know what’s really going on." While Sayers identified television as her primary source of news, Aly Gulamhusein gets most of his news online. I don't have cable or anything, so the Internet's pretty much my main source of media," says Gulamhusein, U3 Philosophy. “ CBC.ca is my homepage, so I browse the head lines on that, and if anything strikes me I'll read it. Other than that, it's probably that MSN Messenger homepage that pops up when you sign in." Gulamhusein, who also relies on campus newspapers and news by word of mouth, claims he is more likely to search out information on a news event that interests him as Continued on page 13

45 per cent — Weekly newspaper readership among Canadians ages 18-24. 40 per cent — Weekly newspaper readership among Americans ages 18-24.

12 the mcgill tribune | 1.3.06 | features

SURVEY

SAYS...

Mmmm... media. The Tribune surveyed 50 McGill students on their media consumption habits, and the results may surprise you. W hile the Internet dominates as students’ primary source of news, magazine and newspaper readership are still high, and half of respondents claim they have a balanced media diet. If only students’ actual eating habits were this healthy. O n a v e ra g e , h o w m u c h tim e e a c h d a y d o y o u s p e n d w a tc h in g te le v is io n , re a d in g n e w s p a p e r s /m a g a z in e s a n d / o r o n th e W e b ( n o t fo r s c h o o l)?

W h a t w o u ld y o u s a y is la c k in g in y o u r " m e d i a d i e t " ?

I f y o u r m e d ia c o n s u m p tio n w e r e fo o d , w o u ld it b e m o s tly h e a lth y ( h ig h q u a lity ) , m o s tly u n h e a lth y (lo w q u a lity ) o r b a la n c e d ( b o t h in m o d e r a t e a m o u n t s ) ?

None or the above No response

International news

Balanced

..........I .............

i ...........................................~ ~ 3

f--- ~~~D Local news f ...... ............. y y y y

National news

Mostly unhealthy Mostly healthy

1 _______L ______

...... 10

y 50

Percentage

W h ic h o f t h e s e d o y o u w a tc h o n a r e g u la r b a s is , d e fin e d a s o n c e a w e e k o r m o re ?

W h a t w o u ld y o u s a y is y o u r p r im a r y s o u r c e o f n e w s ?

No response Entertainment programming "fake news" (Daily Show, e tc.) Local news (C FC F, e tc .) Broadcast news (C T V , e tc.) Cable news (CNN, MSNBC, e tc .) Morning news (Today Show, e tc.)

P e rc e n ta g e

W h ic h o f t h e s e d o y o u v is i t o n a r e g u l a r b a s is , d e fin e d a s o n c e a w e e k o r m o re ?

W h i c h o f t h e s e d o y o u s u b s c r i b e t o a n d / o r r e a d in p r i n t o n a r e g u la r b a s is , d e fin e d a s o n c e a m o n th o r m o re ?

PROFS SAY. . .

Academics detail their media diets (and make us feel really lazy) Rex Brynen, Professor of Political Science: "I usually start each morning by checking both the BBC and CNN Web sites, as well as the online Globe a n d Mail. The BBC is certainly one of my favourite news sources, since it pro vides a far more 'global' perspective on the news than almost any other news source. I also regularly visit Middle East media Web sites through the day: Ha'aretz, the Jerusalem Post, YNet, al-Jazeera, the Jordan Times and the (Beirut) D a ily Star. I subscribe to some e-mail news sources too, including the UN ReliefWeb daily update on major humanitarian crises, MidEastWire (a news summary serv ice), and several specialist services devoted to the Arab-lsraeli conflict. I also have several email keyword notifications set up on the Yahoo! news service, which alert me to stories on top ics of interest that I might otherwise have missed from other media sources. Finally, I’m geek enough to check CNET and Wired most days, and there are several blogs that I read regularly. In the evening, I usually check tomorrow's editions of the Middle East press again, as well as tomorrow's N e w York Times and W ashington Post'.'

■

Dr. Joe Schwarcz, Director of the McGill University Office for Science and Society: "In my line of work—hosting a weekly radio show, making TV appearances and giving a variety of public lectures—it is essential to keep up to date with scientific developments. I subscribe to some 15 publications including N e w Scientist The Lancet, The N e w E ngland Journal o f M edicine, The H a rva rd H e a lth

Letter,

Food a n d A g ric u ltu ra l Chem istry,

C h e m ica l a n d

and The M edical Post. Any major scientific development will be reported in these publications. I check Medline and Daily Science News everyday on the Web for updates and regularly look at the Quackwatch, N e w York Times, BBC, Health Canada and Food and Drug Administration Web sites. I estimate I spend about two hours a day trying to keep up to date, but you do have to have a good diet of information if you are going to be advising people about diets and such." ■ Engineering News

-C o m p ile d b y Jennifer Jett

NATIONAL GEOGRAPH

HOW f AR WILL WE GO?

Canws stop It?

1 CONNORS

Continued from page 11 opposed to receiving a constant stream of news. “If there is something interesting, like the recent uprising about those Mohammed cartoons, I'll search [for] articles," he says.

Moreover, as the number of media outlets increases, it seems there is less time to consume them. "At one point my roommates and I subscribed to the Globe and Gazette, and we never read it because we never had time," Sayers reflects. "We just had all these newspapers piling up in our apartment that nobody ever read, so we felt guilty about wasting all that paper." Denhoed had the same experience. "Last semester we subscribed to the Gazette on Saturdays and Sundays, but they started piling up unread towards the end of the semester because we were so busy with work," she says. "So now on weekends if we feel like reading a newspaper, we read old ones."

material and sources which are high in racism, sexism, homo phobia [and] excessive violence." So while the analogy is not exact, two central ideas—bal ance and common sense-apply equally whether choosing food for the body or food for the mind. ■

Common sense consumption When grappling with an infinite amount of infor mation at their fingertips, Hoechsmann says, students should rely on common sense. "I don'tthink there is one single diet [for everyone],” he remarks. "In fact, some of the items that people might consider to be poor choices, like soap operas, have been proven at times to be very useful in the lives of people who use soap opera narrative to talk about problems in their own lives, so it's difficult to make judgments on other people's media behaviours." Brocklehurst agrees. “I'm not big on telling people what kind of media they should consume," she says. "If you start telling people what they should watch in terms of media, what they should consume, it becomes like Canada's Food Guide, which is a food guide that no one conforms to." Each student will devise a diet that fits his or her lifestyle, insists Hoechsmann. He advises that students find media sources they're com fortable with and use them for both informa tion-seeking and entertainment purposes, although it is increasingly difficult to distin guish between the two. "I think a media diet is different from a food diet in that it doesn't really require daily monitoring," he says. "You can take an enor mous amount of the content which is less good for your diet and counteract that the following day by taking a lot of nourishment. However, one of the questions that might enter into this is the values embedded in the different media products that one is consum ing. In that sense, I would try to limit the

'ce CUM»

CLARICE CONNORS

Finding the w orld on the W e b Looking for news sites to hit online? Tribune editors provide their picks Today's Papers. Each morning the online magazine Slate posts a summary of US and international headlines in the N e w York Times, Wall Street Journal, W ashington Post, Los Angeles Times and USA Today, complete with links to the actual stories.

Sign up to receive it by e-mail at Slate.com. Other features worth checking out are "Today's Blogs," a roundup of chatter in the blogosphere and "In Other Magazines," a SparkNotesstyle guide to current issues of Time, The Economist, The N e w York Times M agazine and others. MediaScout. Montreal magazine M aisonneuve provides an answer to "Today's Papers" in the form of MediaScout, a daily summary of national and international headlines in Canadian media. MediaScout claims to take a critical look at what's making headlines, as well as what should be, in "the Big Seven": the Globe a n d Mail, N a tio n a l Post, O ttaw a Citizen,

Toronto Star

and

plus The N a tio n a l and CTV News Sign up to receive it by e-mail at

La Presse,

with Lloyd Robertson. www. m aisonneuve. org.

Harper's Weekly Review. Every Tuesday the monthly magazine supplies a rundown of world events, from the pro found to the downright odd. Subscribe at

from Reuters to Al Jazeera-and presents it in a readable for mat and categorizes it by person, place, industry and more. Users can browse articles and headlines, as well as customize the site to highlight articles according to their interests and pre ferred sources. It's a convenient way to streamline the infor mation available online so that it targets you individually. And, okay, a friend of mine works there.

www. harpers. org/W eeklyReview. html.

The National Online. Missed Peter Mansbridge last night? Don't worry, you can still catch The N a tion al online at www.cbc.ca/newscast.htm l, along with broadcasts from CBC Radio One, CBC Newsworld and local affiliates. lnform.com, Launched in 2005, ln fo rm .c o m compiles news from thousands of online, video and audio sources—

WorldNews.com, Think of this as the BBC Web site on steroids. Drawn from both global and regional sources, the sheer volume of information can be overwhelming and diffi cult to navigate, but the World News Network site tends to highlight the top stories well. It’s also available in about 20 lan guages, including Hindi and Malay. ■ —C o m piled by Jennifer Jett

MUSI C

W h a t a Peculiar and w o n d e rfu l sound The Slackers are coming to Montreal, ‘rude and reckless’ as ever TESSA B L A N C H F IE L D

The Slackers have consistently delivered a unique ska-oriented sound to a global audi ence for the past 15 years. On Saturday, "The Sound of New York" is coming to Le Petit Campus, and they promise to tear it up. Featuring keyboard/organ, saxophone and trombone, the sextet is touring to promote their new album, P eculiar (Epitaph Records), which showcases the band's dynamic yet pol ished style and proves that the true spirit of ska is alive and well. The Tribune reached saxophonist Dave Hillyard as the band journeyed to Buffalo—the first stop on their North American tour. Tribune: First of all, The Slackers are a ska band, but while I was listening to P eculiar there seemed to be so many other components to your music.. How would you describe your sound? Dave Hillyard: Well, the shorthand is that we're a ska band, but there are also reggae and soul influences, a little bit of sixties rock influence, and we listen to all kinds of music in the band. We're pretty open-minded and it ends up on the records-the mix, the m élange. T: On your Web site, you say that Peculiar is a transitional album. How so? DH: Every time we do an album we're try ing to reach a different level and not plateau. We're always transitioning into something. You don't want to do the same album over and over, you know? It's boring; you want to keep being innovative. T: How did you end up joining The Slackers? DH: Urn, I used to drink a lot, and then when I sobered up I found out I was in this band. T: Who are your influences and how do

you pay homage to them through your music? DH: Everything from the old Jamaican artists—Skatalites, Lee Perry and The Upsetters, The Heptones, The Maytals. Then I'm really influenced by jazz—John Coltrane, older stuff, too; swing music, I guess. There's also a little bit of a country edge to some of the songs, like "86 the Mayo." T: As a band, are you really "rude and reckless," like your Web site claims? DH: (Laughs) You have to come see us to find out! T: Fair enough. How would you describe Slackers fans? DH: It's been a nice mix of people. We get the guys in the black and white [Two Tonestyle] outfits, but we also get punks, we get a lot of college students; we get all kinds of peo ple. A lot of people tell me, ”Oh, I don't usual ly listen to this type of music, but I like" The

"Um, I used to drink a lot, and then when I sobered up I found out I was in this band." —Dave Hillyard Slackers' saxophonist Slackers." I always take that as a compliment. T: Why should Montrealers brave the win ter chill to come see your show? It was -11 degrees Celsius last week. DH: Oh yeah? Yikes. We will play music that will warm you. You will feel warm physical ly and you will feel warm in your heart. T: How do The Slackers distinguish them selves from other ska acts out there? DH: We've sort of become ah institution, and it's not intentional. We just keep adding things over time, and we've stuck around

longer than most of the other bands, too. Most of the other bands from New York are just starting out, and older bands don't play that much. We're one of the few bands that are still really active. T: stayed long? DH: It's mostly obsessive-compulsive behaviour. We're just too damn stubborn. T: What have you learned in the 10-plus years you've been in the band? DH: I guess what I've learned is that life is never predictable. You have to be able to improvise and roll with things. Like last time I was in Montreal, my saxophone snapped in half when I was on stage. I had to do a quick repair with duct tape. I finished my solo by just blowing through the neck and making this pathetic little howl noise, 'cause my saxo phone collapsed. T: How do you snap a saxophone in half? DH: Well, you know... if your music is that heavy... T: Tell me about the songs "Propaganda" and "International War Criminal." What do you hope to accomplish with these anti-war songs? DH: A lot of the artists we're influenced by, like Bob Marley or Bob Dylan or Curtis Mayfield, always spoke about the times they were in. We feel like right now, we're at a point in history where if you're not making some sort of social commentary, you're being very

self-indulgent. So you have to speak out. You have to say something about the times you live in. T: And what do you think about the times we live in? DH: Well, they suck pretty bad, don't they? (Laughs) T: Would you consider the band political ly charged? DH: Yeah, definitely. We're not just about that, but we definitely have an edge to us. A lot of our songs have double meanings. T: Finally, where do you find inspiration for your songs? DH: It’s stuff from real life. You open your eyes, you look around. The world around youthat's where your inspiration is. ■ The Slackers p la y Petit C am pus (5 7 Prince A rth u r E.) on Saturday. D oors o p e n a t 8 :3 0 p.m Call 8 4 4 -L O W fo r ticket in fo rm atio n.

H A N D S OFF T H E C A N V A S

W ho needs ipecac when you’ve got Pink? hate Pink. I really do. When I saw her new music video for "Stupid Girl" I wanted to puke... because she pukes. Literally. Pink had one thing in mind while making this video-to encourage young girls to be ambitious, independent and smart. That's great; more power to her. Watching the video, however, I wonder which is more important—the intention or the result? I commend the irritating poseur pop artist for pro moting healthy girl power and high self-esteem, but did she have to make such an annoying, visually offensive video out of it? The two and a half minutes of trepanation open with the image of a pigtailed little girl wearing a football jersey. The lit tle angel is posed with a dilemma: to be skinny, popular and bulimic (which also evidently entails being blonde), or to be an outcast—smart, athletic and butch. To help the feeble minded child decide her fate, Pink presents her with multiple outcomes: Pink as a repressed 1950s home economics teacher with a beehive; Pink as a Hollywood It Girl complete with huge sunglasses, tiny dog, mochaccino and convertible; and Pink as an orange-tinged victim of sunless tanning and plastic surgery. On the other side of the spectrum, Pink depicts herself

as a hot female president, and as a footballer playing with the boys and winning. At this point, I’m on the same pink page. The more I watch the video, the more I want to sympathize with her noble intentions. She tries to be funny, parodying Paris Hilton's sex tape and Jessica Simpson's soft-core car wash, and it kind of works. But just as I'm starting to get past her completely unoriginal beats and her distressingly harsh voice, there's a bridge in the song and it all goes to shit. Playing one of those Stupid Girls, Pink walks into a pub lic bathroom complaining about her 300-calorie binge. The sink next to her is occupied by a brown-haired beauty bend ing over the faucets. Just as the viewer starts to wonder what she's up to, the skinny chick projectile-vomits into the sink. I mean, you actually see her spew-it's yellow, for God's sake. Pink then pays the lady her due compliments and asks to borrow her toothbrush—the instrument responsible for trig gering her spectacular gag reflex. Placing the green, plastic item less than two inches in her mouth, Pink gets herself to purge after two attempts. Of course, we don't see Pink's puke because seeing a pop star's barf "is just so unsexy." This is where I got offended. Maybe it's because more than one girl close to me has suffered from bulimia or anorexia, and they were definitely n o t Stupid Girls. Or maybe

TESSA B L A N C H F IE L D

it's just that I don't appreciate seeing vomit on TV. I prefer more aesthetically pleasing images. While the latter is true, it's most likely the former reason that underlies my dismay and disgust. Watching that scene triggered some repressed emo tion in me, and it just didn't taste right. It's rare that a girl who has a severe eating disorder is shallow, stupid or even exceptionally vain. It was ignorant of Pink to portray such a serious, debilitating disease in the same trivial, satirical light as toting dogs around in purses. But maybe that was the point. Pink seems to pride herself on going against the grain (everybody needs a shtick, right Avril?). She metaphorically threw vomit in my face and got a reaction. As far as she's con cerned, mission accomplished. But what about those impres sionable young girls she's trying to protect? They don't under stand what self-esteem is, and Pink doesn't take the time to explain it. The only thing she's teaching her vulnerable fans is that it's okay to judge people on appearances: what they wear, their dress size and their hair colour are, apparently, determinants of their intelligence. Pink asks the question herself: "Where, oh where, have the smart people gone?” Evidently, far away from her record ing studio. ■

the mcgill tribune j 1.3.06 | a&e 15

FILM

T h e queen o f crass

PREVIEWS

Sarah Silverman sets standard for impropriety BEN LEM IEU X

Ever think, mid-conversation, of something really edgy and funny to say and then don't, solely out of fear that it may be too offensive or taboo to utter in public? In part, this awkward "Do I or don't I?" situation in which we often find ourselves is why comedians exist, and why cat egorically risqué or shock-comedy has grown increasingly popular of late. A successful, fruitful medium is born of people willing to say the things we are not. Nevertheless, certain brands of humour (particularly humour based on race or religion) are restricted to the comics who represent them. It would be inappropriate for most people other than Chris Rock or Dave Chapelle to crack wise at the Rodney King incident or fried chicken sales skyrocketing when the African American population receives reparations for slavery. Russell Peters making fun of the North American Indian population is fair game. Otherwise it would just be racism. Right? Sarah Silverm an: Jesus is Magic, if nothing else, is proof that some barriers are made to be broken (and that you don't have to be black to do black humour). Aside from a few light-decor musical numbers and some rather pointless (and drab) mise-en-scenes, Jesus is M ag ic is an hour and a half of Sarah Silverman's equal opportunity bashing: making comedic mincemeat of Jews, African and Asian-Americans, old folks, Hispanic people, more or less everyone living under the star-spangled banner. The lynchpin (and the arguable genius) of Silverman's work is not merely that she's a young, attractive Jewish girl poking fun at black people, but that she's doing it in such crass, tasteless fashion for such an enormous audience. It's one thing for a local comic to do an edgy, off-colour set at his favourite hometown club.

However, it's singular and unprecedented for a cute, innocuous-looking newbie to screen a film across North American that features rather classless (though admitted ly hilarious) one-liners such as "The best time to have a baby is when you're a black teenager" and, "I was raped... by a doctor, which is so bittersweet for a Jewish girl." Technically speaking, this isn't a very good movie. The loosely arranged story line is poorly maintained (on top of being plain uninteresting), the inclusion of music clips feels unnecessary and choppy, and much of what isn't Silverman's onstage work feels extraneous. But this shouldn't be judged as a movie, since its implications are more serious than the film medium usually entails. Jesus is M agic sets the bar higher for any form of comedy that deems itself radical, offensive or vulgar, and it dares to do so before a wider audience. It is a distinct and very risky brand of humour, but it has its merits. It reminds us, in these times of hampered and restricted freedom of speech, that humour is the spice of life, and if we cannot laugh at social problems and strife (at our selves, in the end), how can we manage to bear them? ■ Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic

is n o w p la yin g a t

Cinem a du Parc.

compiled by Melissa Price

Film. S la u g h te rh o u s e C in e m a —le k e 's Gallery-3955 St-Laurent-Thursday—9 p.m. Feel like starting off the month with a little subversion? Zeke's Gallery is the place to be, but take heed: It's not for the faint of heart—or, for that matter, anyone who has ever experienced even the slightest hint of an irregular pulse. The aim of S la u g h te rh o u s e C in e m a is to provide a forum for the strangest, most twisted and gen erally socially unacceptable short films that artists can conjure up. Thursday's showcase features such blood-spashingly macabre delights as Crimson, a 10-minute piece about the perils of unfaithful vampire girlfriends. Admission is $3; doors open at 8 p.m. Call 288-2233 for more information, or check out cinem a-abattoir.com . Film. A q u a m a rin e —opens Friday There's certainly no shortage of genuinely terrifying cinema opening this week. Gore-fests are one thing, but unintentional horror can be even more harrowing. Take this brilliant film con cept, for example: Two perky 12-year-olds in need of a miracle find a hot, blonde and abysmally airheaded real live m e rm a id (!!!) in a swimming pool. Of course, they all become BFFs and crush on the total hotties at their local beach resort, in between awful puns about marine life! The even scarier part is that one of the precociously bikini-clad tweens is played by corrosive R&B preemie JoJo. I really hope this movie is as bad as it looks, because I was unaware that such banality was possible. I'd tell you where it's playing, but I don't want to be held responsible. Art. Into th e Fold—Robert Lang—Redpath Museum—859 Sherbrooke 0 —through March 15 Throughout February, the foremost ques tion on my mind has been why in hell anyonë thought it was a good idea to permanently inhabit this icy wasteland of a country. Let's hope that March brings with it a decrease in the number of days when the windchill threatens to freeze all biological processes to a grinding halt. If not, at least we can hide from the weather's evil plans in McGill's tunnel system, which provides warm (if creepy) access to such shel tered diversions as Into the Fold. Showcasing the origami art of physi cist Dr. Robert Lang, the exhibition proves that most of us have com pletely failed to consider the power of paper-folding, Lang uses his knowledge of science and aft as a double-edged sword, applying com putational algorithms derived from origami to real-world problems in the field of engineering, And you thought it was just a paper airplane. Open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free; call 398-4086, ext. 4094 for more infor mation. Music. Bleeding Through and Every Time I Die—Club Soda—1225 St-Laurent—Monday As you may have gathered from their names, these bands sing lighthearted and cheer ful songs about lollipops, enchanted elves, bunny rabbits and the searing anguish of having your heart mashed into the concrete by the only person you have ever trusted. And they are awesomely intense about it. Help spread the cheer! Doors open at 7 p.m. Call 286-1010 for ticket information.

Who do? You do?

rtf illï Æ ï f ï 1j i f i l l 1-F

LIBRAIRIE

M a rch

M cG ill BOOKSTORE 3 4 2 0 r u e M c T a v is h S t M o n tré a l Q C H 3 A 3 L 1 T e l (5 1 4 ) 3 9 8 7 4 4 4

H I #-

Voodoo. Write for A&E. Meetings, Mondays at 5:30 p.m. in Caferama

w w w .m c g ill.c a /b o o k s to r e

arts@mcgilltribune.com

16 a&e | 1.3.06 | the mcgill tribune

REVIEWS

TRIBUNE OSCAR PICKS WILL WIN

SHOULD WIN Best Picture Lead Actor _ Lead Actress J | Foreign Film V Supporting Actoffi Supporting Actrjjf^ Director •

Crash

G ood Night, a n d G ood Luck Philip Seymour Hoffman ( Capote )

Felicity Huffman

Catch the Oscars Saturday at 8 p.m.

« &

{Transmerica)

Philip Seymour Hoffman Reese Witherspoon ( Walk

Paradise N o w

William Hurt (A History o f Violence) 3j Catherine Keener (Capote) George Clooney (Good Night, a n d G opd

Lpck)

# the Linem

Tsotsi 1 Matt Dillon {Crash) Rachel Weisz {C onstant G ardener y * Ang Lee {Brokeback M ou ntain ) »

Backpack <° Briefcase the 66Life After M cGill ” series March 1-31,2006 Throughout the month of March, the McGill Alumni A ssociation will be presenting w orkshops and sem inars free of charge (unless otherwise indicated) to provide you with practical life skills that you w on’t learn in the classroom . D o n’t m iss the keynote speaker, filmmaker Jake Eberts, B E n g ’62, at the Faculty Club on March 14! Sem inar topics, many of which will be presented by McGill alumni, include:

• Entrepreneurship ♦ How to Start Your Job Search • Negotiating for Success * Interviewing Skills

• Dining Etiquette (*) • Staying Healthy • Networking Techniques • Managing Personal Finances

Chantal Chamberland. D rip p in g Indigo. Chantal Chamberland impressed large audiences at last year's Montreal International Jazz festival, though it seems as if her music would be best enjoyed over a cocktail at the bar of a smoky jazz bistro. Or perhaps it could serve as cheesy makeout music, if that's what you're into. With her throaty, rich, expressive voice, Chamberland definitely has her act together as a cabaret singer. D ripping Indigo features skilfully performed jazz standards such as "Lover Man," "Body and Soul” and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore." Only "Les Cinéma-bars"-and the last song on the album, "L'hymne à l'amour," are in French, .the singer's native tongue, Chamberland plays guitar and is joined by alto and tenor sax ophone, piano, acoustic bass and drums. Every song on D ripping Indigo is well executed; of note are "Once in A While," "Someday” and "Hot Night in Baton Rouge." As for the album title, what is dripping indigo? Harmony Trowbridge, Am orophobe. Yes, her name really is Harmony. A new voice in the Canadian folk scene, Harmony Trowbridge has been lauded for her beautiful, innocent and honest lyrics. She is cur rently working on her full-length debut album and has released a six-track EP, Am orophobe, as a sneak peek. A m oro p h o b e exhibits Trowbridge's song-wrjting talents, but ultimately is not particularly creative or interesting. In "Nothing Like a Deer,” arguably the best song on A m orophobe, Trowbridge demonstrates that she is capable of crooning gentle melodies one minute and being entic ingly sexy the next. Unfortunately, Trowbridge does not utilize this ability on the other tracks, which are so benignly pretty they simply sound childish. Trowbridge's voice is magnificent when she stays within her range, but be pre pared to cringe when she ventures a single note too high, It's difficult to tell "Gold Strings of Lightning and Gone,” "Flat Bottomed Boat" and "Anybody But You” apart since all three songs seem to comprise the same chord changes and lack any definitive structure; but in their defence, they would serve as excellent lullabies. Harmony Trowbridge may be a musician worth checking out in a few years if she grows more inventive, varied and fine-tunes her voice—Ariela Weinbach Arctic Monkeys, W hatever People Say I Am, The Arctic Monkeys and their juvenile debut are a testament to the fact that a lit tle Internet chatter can go a long way, since you don't need to have a full-length album (or shit, even some live dates behind you) for people to be able to judge whether or not you're a great band. Just buzz. In a way, people had settled on a quali tative assessment of W hatever People Say I A m ... before it was even released. To break it down, if you're an impressionable West-Island girl with a penchant for frolicking around your room in PJs while ignoring lyrics so infuriatingly asinine that Paris Hilton could just as easily have written them, because lyrics don't make a great song (buzz does, by the way), then this is the album for you. If you have an IQ higher than your shoe size and you'd like it to stay that way, avoid the Arctic Monkeys altogether. Underdeveloped teenage poetry, would-be catchy hooks reeking of the Libertines and a tired, wilting Oasis mys tique leave you craving auditory satiation more fervently after having listened to the album than when you started. For the Monkeys, success earned overnight will probably last about that long.—Sen Lem ieux That's W hat I'm Not.

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Gerts Bar now has McGill Wireless!

We Unitarians certainly are. We believe there is an essential goodness in people, not inherent sinfulness. We have no creed or dogma which must be accepted, believing that the search for “ truth" is ever-evolving, and that each of us has a responsibility to search for it in ourselves. Please jo in us in the search any Sunday morning at 10:30. For more information: w w w .u cm tl.ca or phone 485-9933.

The Unitarian Church 5035 de Maisonneuve W. (Vendôme Metro) Special programs for children every’ Sunday at 10:30

HOCKEY — OUA QUARTER-FINALS

R edm en ready fo r O U A East cham pionship Gee-Gees can’t keep up with number one team in nation ADAM MYERS

After losing its first home game of the season last Wednesday night, things looked bleak for a Redmen team that headed into the playoffs with the CIS championship on its col lective mind. To avoid elimination, McGill had the unenviable task of winning two straight games—including one on the road— against an Ottawa Gee-Gees team that was looking to avenge last year's playoff ousting at the hands of the Red 'n' White. The Redmen, though, wouldn't be swayed by factors beyond their control. Instead, they continued their remarkable season with two consecutive wins to move into the OUA Eastern conference final for the second straight year. "We felt in the first game, we were rusty," said Head Coach Martin Raymond. "We didn't have that competitve edge that the playoffs bring to start that game against Ottawa and they had just come back from elimination in their series against Concordia. "We really didn't expect the off week would be so tough on the team. It really wasn't as bad last year, but the guys were under a lot of academic pressure that week. And we had a terri ble week of practice; we were totally not focused on hockey. I had -a player who had five exams, another with four." Ottawa became the first visiting team this season to win at McConnell arena with a 2-1 victory in the series' first game on Wednesday. The Gee-Gees took advantage of McGill's long lay off—it had been 10 days between games for the Redmen-burying two goals in the first frame. McGill answered with a single marker in the third period, but couldn't muster enough offence to tie the game. "They took a 2-0 lead and just held on,” Raymond said. "We really didn't start to shake the rust off until the third period but unfortunately it wasn't enough. They had their playoff legs, they had their competitive edge. Certainly in that first period, it proved to be a difference maker."

advantage heading into the third period. However, the break hadn't sapped McGill of its determination, as Charles Gauthier tied it up and Benoit Martin scored the winner with less than five minutes left to force a third and deciding game on Sunday night. "f felt quite strong that we would play [Ottawa] much more competitve on Friday and the guys proved so," Raymond said. Redmen skate to series win

The Redmen made no mistake in the rubber match, com ing out of the gates flying. The fast start propelled McGill to an early 2-0 advantage. Shawn Shewchuk was spectacular again, assisting on the first goal of the game and scoring a short-hand ed goal minutes later. That goal proved to be the eventual series winner, with McGill holding on for a 3-1 victory. Mathieu Poitras was solid in net again, stopping 23 of 24 shots.

Revenge on tap for next week

The victory sets up a rematch of last year’s conference final with Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. The Patriotes upend ed the Redmen in a three-game series that went the distance last season, so the Redmen will be looking for revenge. "We thought we got cheated last year," Raymond said. "We felt that we had outplayed them all three games. Unfortunately, we didn't score; we didn't capitalize on our chances. They were able to sit on lead. So certainly, our motivation this year was to get back into this finals and head to Nationals." McGill was 2-1-1 against UQTR this season, including a home ice win on Feb. 12 in the teams' last regular-season game. A win in this series will put the Redmen into their first-ever national championship, to be held in Edmonton later this month.

Redmen rebound on Friday

The series traveled back to the nation's capital on Friday, and the Redmen played like the game was a must-win. They opened with a torrid pace, getting up two goals in the first six minutes of action. But the Gee-Gees, who played extremely tough against McGill all year and led in four of the five regularseason games the teams played, battled back to take a 3-2

Shewchuk's goal was the difference as the Redmen knocked out the Gee-Gees.

T H E RED Z O N E

The real World Series ver get frustrated that, since 1993, the so-called "World" future. Admittedly, it will be tough to pique the public's inter Series hasn't included a team from anywhere other est in the event, although people should do everything in than the United States? This month, however, that will their power to watch the tourney. Here's why: all change with an event that will put its October counterpart The real spirit of the WBC involves the childhood ideal that sport is something that is bigger than us, something that to shame: the World Baseball Classic. With 16 countries bat instills so much pride in being chosen to represent an entire tling for the title, this tournament truly is a "World Series," tak nation as opposed to the free agency, arbitration and lack of ing the American pastime and putting it on a stage for fans loyalty representative of the major leagues. And if the the world over to see. Due to the disappointing decision to eliminate baseball Olympics have taught us anything, it's that sometimes the and softball from the Olympics in July of last year, Major opportunity to represent one's country can be so motivating League Baseball and the Players' Association saw the ongo that ordinary athletes like, Finnish goalie Nitttymaki, can ing demand for an international competition with profession become extraordinary. David Ortiz, the hard-slugging Red Sox DH who is play al athletes. Thus, the WBC was born. Although there have been several setbacks, most notably the near-exclusion of ing for the Dominican Republic, expressed the thrill of play Cuba's national team because of American economic sanc ing for his‘country. ”l got the opportunity to represent my tions against the Communist nation, the tournament is on country and you don't get to see that," Ortiz said. "There's players that play forever and they never get the opportunity schedule to begin next week. But why should everyone watch and support this fledg because that [tournament] was never going on before." Team Canada, though far from the favourite, has an ling global competition? The baseball season is still a month away. Even with the Blue Jays poised to make a run for the outside chance in the tournament. Jason Bay, Justin AL pennant, the NHL playoffs loom in the much nearer Morneau, Jeff Francis, Corey Koskie, Eric Bedard and Matt

MALLORY DASH Stairs—all prominent major leaguers—are playing for the team, while Larry Walker and Ernie Whitt will head up the coaching staff. With the amount of major league talent on the roster, and the fact that the playoffs are a one-and-done format, an upset may be in the making. Canada will need the lesser-known players on the roster to step up if they have any chance of succeeding. Lastly, a tournament like the WBC is a celebration of baseball talent around the world. The game is popular world wide, so there are tons of great players that you, me and Ken Williams have not yet heard of. Not many North Americans were aware of Ichiro Suzuki or Hideki Matsui until they both burst onto the scene in the American League after long and prosperous careers in Japan. Even with all the big names participating, the format of national teams allows for lesserknown talents to showcase their ability on the world stage. You can bet that major league scouts will take notice and catch a game or two this spring, and we should, too. After all, with the length of the MLB schedule, we won't see competitive action like this until the pennant races heat up in September. ■

18 sports | 1.3.06 | the mcgill tribune

G im m e some M o

A b re a k fro m co m m ercial breaks MOHIT ARORA ou may have noticed by now that I like to watch sports on television. A lot. So it stands to reason that much of my break involved watching the Olympics and the NBA All-Star Weekend festivities. However, in addition to being a sports nut, I'm also a marketing student. This is convenient, considering the sports world is home to some of the more ambitious adver tising campaigns on the planet, since sports and everything even tangentially related to them are enormous industries. In watching all these speed-skaters and tall men in shorts over the break, I was reminded of an entry I once read in Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban's blog regard ing the field of sports marketing. In it, he writes, "Every one of the sports marketing programs...are a huge waste of time and resources. It’s the 2000s version of rocks for jocks." Considering all the lacklustre ads and missed opportu nities by companies trying to sell themselves throughout two of the most popular events on television, it seems Cuban is right. Consider the Olympics. A record medal haul for Canada—McGill's own Jennifer Heil winning gold, and speed skater Cindy Klassen hoarding more precious metal than Fort Knox—but what is the enduring image of the Olympics for many of us? Frank and Gordon, the Bell beavers, or maybe Tim Horton's coffee bridging the gener ational gap between immigrant fathers and their Canadianborn children. In all fairness, neither campaign is especially bad, though neither is particularly good, either. You would think that an event with a similar viewing audience as the Super Bowl would inspire the same advertising ambition. Instead, they were extremely ordinary television spots that periodi

cally interrupted the 2006 Games, replaying so many times that viewers began to resent the ads. That's not exactly the desired effect. Of course, it is worth mentioning that the Super Bowl only comes once a year. The Games run for 16 days, so it might seem easier to spend all that money on making an ad when you only have to buy three or four television spots, rather than 60 over a two-week span. But that kind of think ing is a mistake. In simple terms, the better the ad, the bet ter the reaction. People won't get sick of a great ad nearly as quickly as they did the Tim Horton's ad, so the spot's net effect will still be positive. It seems Tim's reasoning was, "Instead of spending a lot of money, let's waste a little less money." What they failed to understand, though, is that the bet ter the ad, the less it needs to be aired. Consider the spectacular Air Jordan commercial aired (no pun intended) over the All-Star Weekend, showing kids playing basketball and emulating every iconic Michael Jordan image in the process. Viewers instantly recognized the tongue wag, the flying fist pump after nailing the final shot over Cleveland in the playoffs and the "I guess I can't miss tonight" shrug against Portland in the NBA finals. Not only is it a fantastic ad, it wasn't even aired all that often. I think I saw it three times in total, yet it’s the most memorable spot I've seen in months, right up there with the Disney ad during the Super Bowl with all the key play ers on the Steelers and Seahawks practicing their deliveryof the "I'm going to Disney World" line that only a Super Bowl MVP gets to say. And the Disney ad was only aired at half time. But while MJ was the star of the All-Star Weekend, he had little competition in the way of marketing genius. This

The O lym pics are over. The Stanely C up w o n ’t be aw ard ed until June. N eed help?

was plainly evident given the choice-of American Idol's Season Four champ, Carrie Underwood, to perform on Saturday night between the various skills competitions. The All-Star Weekend is intended to be ajoint market ing effort among the NBA, the host cit, and the appearing artists, and in this case, it seems unclear what the league, the city of Houston or Underwood's handlers were trying to accomplish. It was obviously important for Underwood to get a chance to perform live for 20,000 spectators and a nation al viewing audience, but who honestly believes that there is significant overlap in the NBA's fan base and that of Underwood? And if Houston is trying to market itself to the world, why wouldn't it choose any of several Houston artists who have made a name for themselves? Wouldn't Mike Jones, Paul Wall or Slim Thug, each of whom broke through with major successes in the past year, be more of a tribute to the city? What about the NBA? For years, critics have claimed it has tried to distance itself from hip-hop culture, though it repeatedly denies this. But what else would be the motiva tion for green-lighting Underwood rather than any of the artists suggested? Regardless, Underwood's performance neutered the entire night and alienated its audience, the complete oppo site of what a marketing campaign wants to accomplish. This marketing effort, like the ads aired during the Olympics, just goes to show how much money is being tossed around by people who don't know what to do with it. You can'tjust throw money at a problem that you're com pletely unqualified to address. Just ask Isaiah Thomas. ■

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last call

the mcgill tribune | 1.3.06 | compiled by D A V ID BLYE and A D A M MYERS

OT PTS

McGILL* (F-East)

TORONTO* (M-East)

UQTR (FE)

OTTAWA (FE)

CONC’DIA (FE)

10 3

RMC (ME)

QUEEN'S (ME)

RYERSON (ME)

A R O U N D THE H O R N

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FI NAL S T A N D I N G S HOCKEY (M)

sports

HOCKEY (W)

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McGILL

OTTAWA

CONCORDIA 8

CARLETON

LAVAL

1026 826

BISHOP'S

998

855

McGILL

948

983

10 832

894

15 818

1064

‘ Represents division leaders 6 OUA hockey ranks the two division leaders UQAM first and second, and then ranks the remaining six team according to total CONCORDIA 1 points. Six teams make the playoffs.

DECK

B-BALL (W)

B O X SCORE

Redmen Hockey—UQTR @ McGill; Wednesday, 7 p.m. at McConnell Arena

Sun. Feb. 26 2006 McGill Redmen 3 v. Ottawa Gee-Gees 1 McConnell Arena

We all knew it would come down to this. For the second straight year, McGill and UQTR will clash for the OUA East title and an automatatic berth at the CIS Championship. While McGill suffered a shocking defeat at home to Ottawa on Wednesday, it could be just the spark the boys need to get over the hump and reach Nationals for the first time. The winners meet the winners of Lakehead and Wilfrid Laurier for the Queen;s Cup.

SCORING SUMMARY FIRST PERIOD: McGill - Charles Gauthier (S. Shewchuk ) - 5:39 (PP) McGill - Shawn Shewchuk (unassisted) - 7:45 (SH) Ottawa - Ben McLeod (J. Briere ) -11:24 (PP)

Martlets Basketball-McGill @ Bishop's; Wednesday, 7 p.m.

The Martlets travel to Lennoxville for their opening round playoff game on Wednesday night, to take on a tough Gaiters team that finished the regular season 13-3. However, McGill was one of the three squads that managed to knock off Bishop's, and in a one game series, anything can happen.

SECOND PERIOD: McGill - Lucas Madill (unassisted)

Playoffless Redmen pounded in season finale

Laval forward Jean-Philippe Morin poured in a gamehigh 27 points as the Rouge et Or steamrolled McGill 10051 in Saturday's regular-season closer. The loss dropped the Redmen to 2-14, and they will miss the playoffs for the sec ond consecutive year. Laval, which led 52-19 at the half, shot an outstanding 64.3 per cent from the field (36-for-56) with an impressive 13-for-19 effort from three-point range. The Rouge et Or also went 15-for-20 from the foul line on their way to post ing the second highest offensive output by a Quebec team this season (Concordia netted 106 against UQÀM on Jan. 21). McGill was unable to keep pace with those lofty figures and shot 39.1 from the field (18-for-46) and 64.7 from the free throw line (11 -for-17). The only stat where McGill had an edge was in rebounding, where they held a narrow 20-19 margin, led by Yannick Chouinard, who had five rebounds to go along with a team-high 17 points. The QUBL rookie of the year shot 6for-9 from the field, including 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, I while adding an assist and a block. Elliot Siemiatycki had a solid outing in his 90th and final game for the Redmen. The 6-foot-3 guard had eight points, three steals, two assists and one rebound in 31 minutes of action. Siemiatycki was presented with a plaque prior to the game and is the only graduating player from a very young Redmen squad.

16:36

THIRD PERIOD: No scoring

Martlets Hockey-McGill @ Ottawa; Friday, 7 p.m

Game two of the Quebec Conference championships goes on Friday in the nation's capital. The fourth-ranked Martlets should be favoured going into this one, with coach Peter Smith returning from international coaching duty with a gold medal around his neck. However, with a goaltender like Meagan Takeada, the GeeGees will give them a tough showing.

GOALTENDERS: Ottawa: Mathieu Blanchard (L, 3-3; 3GA, 16 saves; 59:45) Empty-net (OGA, 0:15) McGill: Mathieu Poitras (W, 2-1 ; 1GA, 23 saves, 60:00)

NHL—Toronto @ Ottawa; Saturday 7 p.m. on CBC

SHOTS BY PERIOD Ottawa: 5 12 7 (24) McGill: 5 4 10 (19)

Okay, we know you're going to watch this game. NCAA Basketball—North Carolina @ Duke; Saturday, 9 p.m. on The Score

POWER PLAYS (goals/chances): Ottawa: 1/8 McGill: 1/4 (+1SHG for)

The Cameron Crazies will be in full force on Saturday night as these two renew a classic rivalry on tobacco road. Duke is hoping to cement the top spot going into the ACC tournament. Meanwhile, UNC isjust along for the ride. Having lost four players to the NBA, the Tar Heels aren't supposed to even be ranked this year. Instead, they're number 13 in the country.

OFFICIAL SCORER: Tara Findlay REFEREE: Francis Charron ATTENDANCE: 872

THIS WEEK IN McGILL SPORTS HISTORY Sunday, March 2, 1997

Having defeated the University of Ottawa in the previous round, the Redmen hockey team was hoping for a little luck in the OUA East final against top-ranked UQTR. Alas, it was not to be. The Redmen fell on Sunday night 6-5, losing in game three of the best-of-three series. Both sides came out strong early, scoring two quick goals in the opening frame, and another each early in the second stanza. The Red ’n' White allowed two quick UQTR goals early in the second, before replying with two of their own. But the clincher came with six minutes to go, when Patriotres forward Daniel LaFlamme put the puck past Jarrod Daniel. Sunday, March 2, 2003

The Martlets track and field squad once again proved that they were the best in Quebec, winning their fifth conference crown in nine years. McGill led all teams with 178 points, finishing 54 up on second place Sherbrooke. Four-time all-Canadian Sarah AiiKhan led the way for the Red 'n' White, capturing a meet-best four gold medals and a silver. The Redmen fared decently, finishing second with 83.5 points, 50 back of Sherbrooke, and were high lighted by a victory in the 4x800m relay. Sunday, March 4, 2001

The Redmen bailers began the playoffs with a tough defeat at the hands of the Laval Rouge et Or. McGill opened the game strong, leading 46-37 late in the first half. But from there, they fell into a serious tailspin, surrendering seven unanswered points to close the period. The downward spiral continued into the second half, with the Rouge et Or going on an 11-2 run and the Redmen fail ing to respond, leading to an eventual 92-80 demise. McGill stars Domenico Marcario and Denburk Reid were dreadful, unable to score a single point in the second half.

I 1

Martlets fare no better, but still in playoffs

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Genevieve Jenkins captured three gold medals and a silver to earn female athlete-of-the-meet honours as the Martlets won the Quebec university women's track and field championship Saturday in Sherbrooke. It was the eighth conference title in 12 years for the Martlets, who won nine of the 17 events, finishing with 143 points. Sherbrooke finished second with 140 points, fol lowed by Laval, UQÀM and Montreal. On the men’s side, Sherbrooke won its eighth straight championship with 217 points, followed by McGill (54) and Laval (52). Laval's David Gill won gold in both the 600- and 1500-metres and was named male athlete of the meet. Jenkins, who is also a Tribune features editor, was dominant in the 1500m race, finishing in four minutes, 44.33 sec onds. She also anchored two winning relays, the 4x800m and the 4x400m. Additionally, Jenkins placed second in the 1000m. Deborah Lightman also garnered three golds for McGill, narrowly beating out Jenkins for first in the 1000m and run ning leadoff in both of the winning 4x400 and 4x800 relays. Joining Jenkins and Lightman on the 4x800 were Sonia Jean-Philippe and Lindsay Lessard. The winning 4x400 included Maryse Dubreuil in leadoff, followed by Camille Costa, Lightman and Jenkins. Other McGill gold medals came from Lauren Whyte in the 3000m, Joanna Williams in the high jump, Heather McCurdy in the triple jump and the 4x200m relay team. In the men's competition, McGill won just two events, including the 3000m by Patrick McAuliffe, who was clocked in at 8:37.38. They also finished first in the 4x800m relay.

WH A T ' S Y O U R BEEF?

%L, Are we the only ones who had a problem with the I NBA all-star Saturday? First, they changed the threeI point contest to just two rounds and no one-on-one showdown at the end. Then they gave the slam dunk contest to Nate Robinson after he screwed up his final | attempt 14 times before he hit a mediocre second | attempt. Doubly so after Andre Iguodala behind the | backboard jam was one of the craziest dunks of the j past 10 years. But worst of all is that the NBA is still tryI ing to jam the WNBA down our throats. Let it die, please...While I don't want to totally rag on the Canadian performance at the Olympics, the men's hockey team was a total disaster. The team was full of a bunch of slow, older guys who couldn't keep up with the speed of the international game, while young speeders like Jason Spezza and Sidney Crosby were chilling out back home...Finally, while were on the subject of the Olympics, who do these athletes think they are missing the closing ceremonies? You would think I that these people would have a little more pride in their country than to act like such babies and miss the final event of what was otherwise our best Olympics.

| j |

Marian Fortier paced Laval with 13 points as the Rouge et Or cruised to an easy 79-53 win over McGill in the final regular-season contest for both teams. The game meant nothing to the Martlets, as they had already clinched third place in the conference and will travel to Bishop's for a onegame semi-final tonight. Guard Sarah Gagné dropped a game-high 15 points in her 130th and final home game for the Martlets. The 5-foot10 forward added six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Centre Julianne Noseworthy was the only other Martlet to hit double figures, scoring with 10 points and two rebounds in 25 minutes. Laval shooters had a hot hand, shooting 54.5 per cent from the field (30-for-55) and 81.3 from the foul line (13for-16). McGill shot 35.2 from the floor (19-for-54) and 75.0 from the line (15-for-20). Laval also dominated the Martlets in rebounding by a 33-18 margin. Laval, ranked fourth in the nation, finished the season in first place at 14-2 and will await the semi-final winner. M artlet skaters Find the silver lining

j 1

Last year, the Martlet figure skating team could only muster a seventh-place performance at the OUA champi onships. In just one year, the women in red and white were among the best in conference. Katherine McCall won two gold medals and a silver as McGill finished second of 10 teams at the OUA figure skat ing championships in St. Catharines, Ont., on Saturday. Queen's captured its third straight league crown, ending the two-day event with a second-place finish in the team syn chro event to score 85 total points and edge out McGill by five points.

election s m cgill

S P R IN G

E LE C T I

Elections M c G ill, in accordance with S S M U electoral bylaws, hereby gives notice that the following referendum questions w ill appear on the spring ballot:_________________________________________ REFERRAL SERVICES NETWORK FEE

SSMU DAYCARE FEE

WHEREAS the Union for Gender Empowerment (formerly the Women’s Union), offers referral services, a lending library, safer sex, and alternative menstrual products at cost to the entire student body;

Whereas the SSMU Daycare Parent Committee, as official representatives of the SSMU Daycare, desire to see additional Daycare staff employed by the SSMU Daycare, as well as a return to offering daycare spaces to children as young as / 8 months;

WHEREAS McGill Nightline has provided the McGill Community with confidential and anonymous listening, information, and referral services over the phone since its inception in 1984;

Whereas SSMU Daycare, a separately incorporated company, does not have the funds to currently meet these desires;

WHEREAS Queer McGill has been serving the entire McGill community since 1977 under various names and provides resources, referrals, discussion groups, social events and political representation for queer students and their allies as well as running the ALLIES high school outreach program and the Queerline listening line; WHEREAS the Referral Services Network offers invaluable support and referral services to the entire student body, and with further funding could expand improve these services; WHEREAS comparable services at other universities, such as the University of Ottawa Pride Centre and the Women’s Centre at the University of Toronto receive more than 10 and 100 times as much as the current budgets of Queer McGill and the Union for Gender Empowerment respectively from student levies; WHEREAS McGill Nightline already receives a fee of S0.25 per semester per student, which expires in 2008; WHEREAS McGill Nightline’s $0.25 fee will be put to referendum in the next referendum period if the referral services fee passes; Q. Do you agree to fund the Referral Services Network at a rate of $1.75 per semester, from which any student may opt out, from fall 2006 to no later than spring 2011? GENERAL ASSEMBLIES WHEREAS undergraduate students lack an open, accessible form for discussing and determining the policy and positions of the Student Society of McGill University; WHEREAS General Assemblies encourage debates on issues important to students and provide them with a means of directly participating in democratic decision making; WHEREAS regular General Assemblies have been and are successfully held by student associations both in universities (at UQAM. for instance) and in the vast majority of CEGEPS across Quebec; WHEREAS McGill students have recently demonstrated and increased interest in General Assemblies;

Do you agree to the imposition of a 1.50$ per student per semester fee collected by the Students’ Society of McGill University and transferred to the SSMU Daycare for purposes including but not limited to those described above for so long as the SSMU Daycare continues to operate?

CKUT RADIO McGILL FEE WHEREAS CKUT Radio McGill ("CKUT") is licensed by The Canadian Radiotelevision and Telecommunications Commission (C.R.T.C.) as a campus-community radio station to broadcast at 90.3 on the FM band; WHEREAS all members of the Student Society of McGill University (SSMU) are voting members of CKUT; WHEREAS McGill undergraduate students may participate in the activities of CKUT as listeners, programmers, technicians, researchers and receive training at CKUT in various aspects of radio production; WHEREAS CKUT is a not-for-profit, volunteer, community and student-driven organization where student fees comprise approximately forty percent (40%) of the station's annual budget, the remaining 60% coining from Associate Member fees and advertisement; WHEREAS CKUT became an independent student activity in 1988 and has served the McGill community with excellence in broadcasting since then, 24 hours a day, on FM radio, cable, and the Internet; WHEREAS McGill undergraduate students currently pay a fee of $4.00 each Fall semester and each Winter semester to support CKUT; Q. Do you support CKUT continuing as a recognized student activity supported by student fees, from which any student may opt out, with the understanding that a “no” vote will result in the termination of all undergraduate student fees and membership in CKUT?

BOARD OF GOVERNORS REPRESENTATIVE

WHEREAS the creation of a culture of General Assemblies would faster continuous engagement of the members in the operation of the Society;

Whereas for many years the Students' Society of McGill University (SSMU) had two seats on the McGill Board of Governors: one voting seat for a full time student, and one voice, but no vote seat for the SSMU President;

Do you agree with thefollowing amendments to the Constitution of the Students' Society of McGill University?

Whereas as of January- I. 2005 the seat for the SSMU President was eliminated due to the restructuring of the Board;

23.1 The Speaker o f Council shall call a Special General Assembly if rcquesled to do so in writing by

Whereas in March 2005 students voted to amend the SSMU constitution to make the SSMU President the sole undergraduate student on the Board of Governors;

no fewer than eight (8) councilors or two hundred (200) members of the Society from at least four (4) different Faculties or Schools w ithout more than fifty percent (50%) being from any one Faculty or School

23.2 The Speaker of Council shall call a Regular General Assembly to be held during the fifth week of the fall and winter semesters. Items on the agenda shall he submitted in writing to the Speaker of Council two weeks before the date of the Regular General Assembly, either by no fewer than four (4) councilors or one hundred (100) members of the Society without more than fifty percent (50%) being from any one Faculty or School. 23.3 Regular General Assemblies and the process leading to the adoption of their agenda have to be widely publicized by the society with all the necessary effort so that quorum is reached. For this purpose, the Society shall use the following communication tools: emails, website announcements, publicity in campus media, and posting. As soon as the agenda for a Regular General Assembly is know n, the Society shall announce it in The Tribune, The McGill Daily and Le Délit. 23.4 Quorum for a Regular or a Special General Assembly shall be one hundred (100) ol the Society from at least four (4) different Faculties or Schools. A maximum o f fifty (50) members from a narticular Facultv or School are counted for nurooses of Quorum

Whereas in 2005-2006 the SSMU successfully lobbied McGill to add a voice, but no vote seat for the SSMU President to the Board of Governors meaning that now there are two student representatives instead of one; Whereas to formalize this arrangement it is necessary to re-instate the position of Board of Governors representative to the SSMU Constitution; Whereas, due to special circumstances as dictated by Elections McGill, for 2006-2007 the position of SSMU representative to the Board of Governors will be elected by SSMU Council after soliciting nominations from any undergraduate student; Do you agree with the following amendments to the Constitution o f the Students' Society of McGill University?