The McGill Tribune Vol. 27 Issue 21

O U R 1

C U R R E N T S C H O O L

P H O N Y

S Y S T E M

T H E

IS I N A D E Q U A T E , P A G E 10

B A T M A N

BITES

D U S T , P A G E 14

T ribune V o lu m e 2 7 Issue 21 • F e b u ra ry 19, 2 0 0 8

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P u b lis h e d b y th e S tu d e n ts 'S o c ie ty o f M c G ill U n iv e rs ity

Perfect season for Martlets Post-grads may lose clubs access

M c G ill

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S t in g e r s

N e g o tia t io n s fa il t o re a c h M o A V in c c i T sui

T h e tw o te a m s sc ra m b le for a lo o se p u c k in M cG ill's 5 -0 ro u t o f C o n c o rd ia . S e e p a g e 1 8 for d e ta ils.

Plate Club d e e m e d u nsanitary H e a lt h T

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Concerns raised by Student Health Services regarding the sanitation of the Plate Club's dishwashing protocol has caused the club to shut down for parts of last week. The club, which provides Shatner cafeteria diners with reusable plates and cutlery, operates by having each diner wash the utensils that they borrow.

The conflict began when Gail Kelsall, a nurse consultant from Student Health Services, approached the Plate Club on Tuesday, demanding that they

n o t

m e t

cease operations. "[Kelsall's] main concern was with having 6 0 or 70 people washing their dishes in the same water; a little like the doorknob effect," said Tim Dowling, a Plate Club executive. "I feel like it's a personal mission of hers."

Following the orders dutifully, the Plate Club closed up shop. However, SSMU Vice-President Clubs and Servic­ es Marcelle Kosman was upset that she was not contacted throughout the or­ deal, and only heard about the closure through a friend.

"It was absolutely inappropriate

to think that anybody from [Student Health Services] has any jurisdiction over what we do here at our student centre," Kosman said. "It's not her deci­ sion whether or not the Plate Club con­ tinues. It's SSMU's decision. Obviously, if it poses a health hazard, we want to find solutions to make sure that we deal with this in the appropriate way so that the Plate Club can continue to run in a way that is sanitary.”

Kosman told the Plate Club to continue last Friday and the group was See C L U B on p a g e 5

Post-graduate students may soon be denied access to Student's Society clubs and services. Although the ban has technically been in ef­ fect since May 2 0 0 6 , SSMU Council will vote this Thursday on whether to strike the by-law which grants Post-Graduate Students' Society members a "special status" allowing them access to SSMU clubs, services and activities in a symbolic move to pressure PGSS to re-enter nego­ tiations for a new Memorandum of Agreement.

The special status was originally created in 2 0 0 1 as a result of an MoA between SSMU and PGSS which re­ quired an annual payment of $1 6 ,0 0 0 from the latter party in exchange for clubs and services access. When the MoA expired at the end of May 2 0 0 6 , SSMU.did not attempt to negotiate a new agreement until December 2 0 0 7 , when they asked for a pay­ ment of $5 0 ,0 0 0 . PGSS rejected the terms outright and there have been no further negotiations.

"We basically said, 'This is an outrageous proposal and we're going to end negotiations for that proposal, so there is no MoA any­ more,'" said PGSS President Amy Cox. According to SSMU Vice-Presi­ dent Clubs and Services Marcelle Kosman, the $5 0 ,0 0 0 figure as­ sumes that nine per cent of PGSS members, roughly 6 5 0 students, use SSMU clubs and services.

"We were aiming high, hoping to find middle ground," Kosman said.

"The $5 0 ,0 0 0 that we went in with was the number we wére starting with; we were obviously going to negotiate down. That's how nego­ tiations work; Cox should know that.

She's a Ph.D. student and she has

been involved in student politics."

Cox said that PGSS did not ac­ cept the proposal due to a lack of information on the number of grad­ uate students currently using SSMU clubs and services.

"My understanding is that we've been trying to get that information for several years,"she said. "We didn't really get anywhere with getting that information."

As a result, Cox sent a letter to SSMU clubs and services soon after rejecting SSMU's terms in midJanuary, asking them for informa­ tion about their graduate student usage rates. Kosman, upon finding out about the letters, immediately sent an e-mail telling the clubs and services not to respond, as it would technically be impossible for PGSS to fund the clubs and services.

"The problem with PGSS fund­ ing services directly is that [clubs and services] are not autonomous organizations; they're part of SSMU. So if PGSS wants to give them money, PGSS has to give the money to SSMU and then SSMU gives the money to the services," Kosman said.

"The PGSS executive has clearly tried to undermine our responsibility and authority, which is really disrespect­ ful and really troubling."

Cox was concerned that Kosman's e-mail would give PGSS a poor reputation amongst the clubs and services.

"I think it's very disturbing and really sad that [SSMU] would con­ sider revoking the status of gradu­ ate students at this early stage because I feel like we are trying to work towards [the same goal],” she said."They may not like the way that we're doing it because we said that we don't necessarily want to directly See SSM U o n p a g e 4

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News

COVER GRAPHIC BYADAMSCOTTI

PROVINCIAL

c it y

UQAM protests school deficit and rising tuition S o c ia l

s c ie n c e

J am es G

il m a n

Last Monday, students from L'Université du Québec à Montréal's Faculty Association of Students in social sciences began a weeklong strike in protest of rising tu­ ition and UQAM's plans for reducing its ballooning deficit.

Striking students are worried that the combination of Premier Jean Charest's provincial tuition defreeze and UQAM's plans for budget reas­ sessment will lead to higher fees and increased financial pressure.

Valérie Reine Marcil, press atta­ ché for the social sciences students' association, remarked that aside from higher fees, the university's proposed financial plans will harm the quality of teaching, with fewer new teachers being hired.

However, UQAM is under in­ creasing pressure to get its financial house in order. According to a 2 0 0 7 study by the Dominion Bond Rating Service, a Toronto-based credit rat­ ing agency, UQAM has the second highest per-capita debt load of any university in the country, with a perstudent debt of over 5 2 0 ,0 0 0 , leaving

s t u d e n t s

s t r ik in g

it with the worst credit rating of any Canadian school.

Last week's strike followed ac­ tions taken in November when stu­ dents stayed out of classrooms and took to the streets, angry at what they considered UQAM's plans to pass the debt burden.

"It's a complete follow-up to last fall," Marcil said. "The plan when we stopped in the fall was to continue in February."

Yet this time around, support for such action is not as widespread as in November, with only social sciences students taking part in the strike.

Two other faculty associations voted against taking part in the walk­ out at the beginning of the strike. On Thursday, the Faculty Association of Arts students also voted against join­ ing the strike by a vote of three to two.

Chantal Levesque, vice-presi­ dent external for the Faculty Associa­ tion of Students in arts, explained that coordinating action among different groups is becoming more difficult.

"Even if everyone thinks it's im­ portant to do something, they just don't agree on what to do and how

a l o n e

to do it,”she said. "It's hard to actually do something all together."

The disunity of the UQAM stu­ dent movement means any future action is unclear, including whether the social sciences students' asso­ ciation will continue the strike alone through this week.

"A strike is always useful, but it's very difficult when you are alone like [the social sciences students' as­ sociation] is," said Emmanuelle Sirois, president of the Faculty Association of Students in languages and com­ munications, one of the groups that voted against striking.

Sirois explained that the major­ ity of members of her association voted against the strike because they felt there was a lack of support for such action, stating that the student movement seemed to be "melting".

Both Levesque and Sirois ex­ pressed uncertainty over what future action should be taken. However those groups that voted against the strike are expected to take part in this Thursday's Day of Action, when students will head to Quebec City to voice their concerns with the tuition defreeze. ■

CAMPUS

Alternatives to Afrocentric schools proposed P a n e l

s h ifts

f o c u s

V incci Tsui With the current high school dropout rate hovering at around 4 8 per cent among black students in Montreal, citizens from all walks of life filled the Lev Bukhman room in Shatner last Wednesday to voice their opinions on a potential solution. The discussion on the possibility of open­ ing an Afrocentric school in Montreal was led by a panel of black educators and counsellors assembled by the Black Students Network.

McGill law professor Adelle Blackett stressed th a t th e discussion w o u ld be an abstract debate, adding th a t th e A frocentric school recently approved by th e T oronto D istrict School Board o nly vaguely describes its mission.

"There is no form al proposal on th e table in M ontreal,"she said."I w a n t to see m ore clarity over w h a t a blackfocussed school m ig h t m ean in rela­ tio n to a range o f o th e r options."

All o f th e panellists appeared to agree w ith Blackett, w ith m any pre ­ ferring th e idea o f m aking changes to th e cu rre n t e ducation system.

"Our children are n o t th e p ro b ­ lem . Their e n v iro n m e n t w ith in the school needs to be addressed, and as parents w e have th e rig h t to dem and th a t tim e, energy and m o ne y be spent on fixing th e environm ent.-B y-doing so, all child re n — black, w hite, brow n

t o

b la c k

c o m m u n i t y

or yellow—will benefit," said Brenda Rowe, a student services coordinator at John Abbott College and part-time lecturer at the Simone de Beauvoir In­ stitute at Concordia. "Having the gov­ ernment participate in creating these schools is to go down a slippery slope toward segregation! I cannot support going back there, especially when we live among such diverse cultures."

One of the major concerns raised by the panel was the availability of re­ sources to start an Afrocentric school.

While Blackett said that compared to Toronto, there is more public funding available for private schools in Mon­ treal, Quebec Board of Black Educa­ tors representative Dianne JonesHosten was more concerned about the human resources needed.

"W ho's g o in g to teach these schools? Are w e g o in g to have to bring o ld teachers o u t o f retirem ent?

The yo u n g e r teachers are n o t c o m ­ m itte d to this proje ct at all,"she said.

The panel suggested that change needs to happen not just in schools, but in the entire black com­ munity. Some alternatives that were discussed included establishing after­ school or weekend programs, or forming a black parent resource.

Audtence member Veronica Johnson, chair of the West Island Black Community Association, cited her group's Community Learning Centre

at Riverdale High School in Pierrefonds as an example of a successful after-school program provided by the community.

"The parents made sure that they were getting from the com­ munity what they weren't from the schools,"she said.

However, Youth in Motion pro­ gram coordinator and Westmount High School Moral Education teacher Sabrina Jafralie insisted that changing the curriculum was key.

"We need to simultaneously lobby the Ministère de l'éducation, du loisir et du sport about changing these historical inaccuracies [in our curriculum,] because if we as parents, teachers and community organiza­ tions don't lobby the government to change anything, then what are we really doing?" she said. "We can do all the Saturday day programs we want, but they still need to be reflected in our curriculum."

BSN communications coordina­ tor Rachel Oryema appreciated the depth of the discussion, adding that BSN is committed to pursuing the issue further and taking action.

"We have a very small amount of money in terms of financial resources, but we have a lotofcapacityanda lot of drive and willingness to do things such as fundraise and work with the community,"she said.*

Day of Action goes to the capital S tu d e n ts

t o

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K ristin M aich A province-wide Day of Action in support of free education will take place this Thursday in Quebec City.

After last semester's protest against Premier Jean Charest's tuition defreeze in downtown Montreal, this week's fol­ low-up demonstration, called for by l'Association pour une solidarité syndi­ cale étudiante, aims to draw together student groups and associations from across the province.

ASSÉ information Secretary MarcAndré Faucher pointed out that there has not been much action in Quebec City, and locating the upcoming dem­ onstration in the province's capital is a means by which to symbolically target the provincial government.

"We've seen what the [govern­ ment's] response was in the past and I "don't think we can expect much from just a Day of Action, but we hope to get the word out; get the public speaking about free education," Fau­ cher said. “Big actions like Feb. 21 as well as smaller ones like we've been having and plan to continue to have, can create an impact as a whole, and we can start a debate."

Students' Society Vice-President External Max Silverman agreed that the protest's location holds symbolic significance, but suggested that hav­ ing it in Quebec City is a "bit of a dou­ ble-edged sword."

"It's where all these decisions are being made and for a lot of schools it's really a hassle to come to Montreal, whereas [Quebec City] will bring out more regional schools," he said. "Of course the flip side of that is that it's harder to get students in Montreal out to Quebec City to protest. But Ithink-it's a good thing to move things around and accommodate more students."

Local student unions and univer­ sity campuses, including L'Université

N e w s

Q u e b e c

du Québec à Montréal and L'Université de Sherbrooke, are presently in the midst of making plans to bus Mon­ treal protestors out to Quebec City.

SSMU has ordered two busses that will depart from the Shatner building at 11 a.m. on Thursday. Student unions at Concordia and Dawson have not taken a position on the Day of Action, according to Silverman.

'There hasn't really been much

SARAYOUSEFNEJAD SSM U 's p o ste rs to u t a free rid e to Q u e b e c C it y for s tu d e n ts .

action so far this semester— w e saw last semester th a t there was a similar sort o f action problem , b u t there was a big m o m e n tu m shift in N ovem ber in th e media and am ong students, and sup po rt for th e defreeze began to build," Silverman.said. "There has defi­ nitely been a shift in sym pathies to ­ w ard students, and I th in k w ith the fact th a t this semester th e action is b egin­ ning a lo t earlier, there's a goo d chance o f students being [increasingly] active again this sem ester."*

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Arts Undergraduate Society announces executive candidates After extending the nomination period for five days in order to obtain candi­ dates for the positions of President and Vice-President Finance, the Arts Undergradu­ ate Society has released a full list of candidates for the upcoming election.

A similar lack of interest occurred last year when incumbent President RJ. Kelford ran unopposed.

"Last year we extended the deadline and still no one ran [for president], so many of us were very surprised by the turnout," Kelford said.

Despite the executive turnovers elections may bring about, Vice-President Aca­ demic Patrick Boily is seeking re-election. Last year's VP Internal and VP External can­ didate for the 20 07-200 8 year, Roy Jahchan, is running for president.

"Having two people come back for AUS is very unusual," Kelford said. "Usually, it's none. The year before I came and the year before that there were no people return­ ing, so to have two coming back is kind of a new culture for AUS. Most people want to get involved with [the Students'Society], which is why they come and go through AUS." Kelford explained that the evolution of AUS over the years is making it more attractive for aspiring student politicos.

"We've managed to give AUS a lot more credibility so it's something that now, people come in and stick around," he said. "The organization as it is now is more than double the size it was two years ago, both in terms of people involved and programs we run. The candidates need to be able to maintain these high standards we've set for them."

There are three candidates running in each position of president, VP communi­ cations and VP external; two each for VP academic, VP events and VP internal, one for VP Finance and four candidates for Arts representatives to SSMU. After his two year term, Kelford is not allowed to run again by the constitution.

"It's sad to let go, but I'm excited to see where it goes next," he said. "I definitely have confidence and I'm excited to see new personalities in there. The AUS is in for several good years to come."

— Lena Gayraud

www.mcgilltribune.com

19.02.08-News *3

CAMPUS

SPEAKERS O N C A M P U S

Opt-out fees referendum ignites Council debates

Smoot recalls cosmic exploration

Students struggle against admin fee control Nobel Laureate explains the question had changed, but attributed Marcelle Kosman. "Our GA mandate T C history of universe has been to support these groups to the adjustments to the diverse needs iffany

hoy

Last Thursday night councillors put a hold on Valentine's Day activi­ ties to address three motions for this semester's upcoming referendum.

The Special Council meeting was called to facilitate several council-ini­ tiated referenda, just one day before submissions were due to Elections McGill. O f the three motions, the one relating to opt-out fees on the M i­ nerva system was the most heavily discussed.

The question refers to all optoutable fees and the mechanics to which they are administered, asking students whether they "support the principle that McGill student groups should be able to autonomously de­ sign and administer their own acces­ sible online opt-out system."

Regardless of the support or o p ­ position councillors had for this m o­ tion, they were reminded that this was not the question at hand.

"Whether or not you agree with the principle, that discussion hap­ pens during the referendum period with “yes' and 'no' committees," said Vice-President Clubs and Services

regain their autonom y taken away by the McGill Administration."

At the insistence of the mov­ ers, this motion is intended to solicit general student input on the current structure o f fee opt-outs.

"The Administration in our meetings has been telling us what students want,"said Law Senator Erica Martin. "Maybe they assumed they were democratically elected, but we felt it was im portant to present a clear question to students in order to show the Administration that this is what students think."

A handful of the student groups named in the motion m et in late January to draft the proposal and even m et with the McGill Administra­ tion, however some felt the final draft ended far from where it started.

"There are a lot o f differences betw een w hat was drafted and what was sent by Kosman," said Arts Un­ dergraduate Society Vice-President External Cole Ryan. "It seems to have gained more ambiguity from where it started."

Kosman acknowledged that the

o f the groups, and asserted that the spirit of the motion remained un­ changed.

"It's entirely possible that some o f the groups listed don't agree with this question," she said. "What we are fighting for is that groups have the right to decide where that group has their fund online."

AUS President RJ. Kelford ac­ knowledged that their fee posed dif­ ferent needs than others. "AUS's fee is much different than everyone else's," he said. The fact that it is online [Mi­ nerva] is incredibly easy for us— the status quo saves us a whole lot of trouble."

Despite this, Kelford believes the question was put forward with good intentions. "This service won't affect the accessibility o f opt-outs, it wasn't the purpose to make the process more difficult," he said.

The m otion was passed 19 - 0 , with numerous abstentions. Students will be allowed to form yes or no committees for all referenda ques­ tions until Feb. 22 , 2008 , before poll­ ing opens on March 8. ■

A n d r ew D a th a n F rankel Nobel Laureate Dr. George Smoot, co-author o f W rinkles in Time, summarized the discoveries o f m od­ ern cosmology in his presentation last Thursday titled, "Relics o f the Big Bang," as part o f this year's Anna I. McPherson Lectures in Physics. The 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics was joint­ ly awarded to Smoot and Dr. John M ather for discovering pockets of varying hot and cold in the residual heat left over from the beginning of time.

Smoot began his historical overview at the beginning o f what McGill xosm ologist Dr. M att Dobbs described as a "time of discovery."

Einstein's general theory o f relativity conflicted with the contem porary view o f a timeless, static universe.

Even Einstein himself had trouble accepting the changing world view.

According to Smoot, when the Big Bang theory was first proposed using relativity by Dr. Georges Lemaître, he was publicly chastised by Einstein w ho said, "Your math is correct, but your physics abysmal."

In 1965 , Dr. Arno Penzias and Dr. Robert Wilson accidently discovered that otherwise em pty space is per­ m eated with a dim microwave glow.

This radiation is now identified as the lingering heat o f the Big Bang, which has been stretched to the microwave spectrum by the expansion o f space.

Smoot's research sought to re­ fine the initial measurements o f the cosmic microwave background with vastly improved precision. Some early cosmological models predicted a rotating universe, which would ef­ fect a distinctive pattern in the heat o f the CMB. Smoot's team sought to detect this shape using a high altitude apparatus m ounted on a modified Lockheed U-2 . These high altitude planes fly on the edge of space to avoid anti-aircraft fire while performing military reconnaissance missions, making them ideal for tak­ ing scientific measurements which would otherwise be obstructed by the atmosphere.

That experiment, rather than d e­

ADAMSCOTTI Yale anthropologist Nora Groce and Laurie Sargent o f the Justice D epartm ent discuss th e new ly form ed International Convention o f Rights o f Persons w ith Disabilities. See story on-line at m cg illtrib u n e .co m .

— A T T E N T IO N

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tecting rotation, actually discovered a different sort o f m ovem ent. The entire Local Group (over 35 nearby galaxies), far from being a quiet and stationary place, is actually moving around 600 km/s with respect to the CMB. "What could cause that?"Smoot asked. "M agic... or gravity,” but the exact nature of the pull is still largely unknown. The anomaly has coyly been monikered the Great Attractor and is still a current area o f research.

Resolving the exact nature o f the CMB distortion required more precision than what could be achieved through the haze of the atmosphere. Smoot proposed a satellite-based experim ent to the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration which would use a similar apparatus to the previous U -2 experim ent. The Cosmic Background Explorer launched in 1989 carrying three experiments, including both Smoot's and Mather's. The project announced in 1992 the Nobel w in­ ning discovery that the background was actually riddled with miniscule pockets o f relative hot and cold.

The shape o f these pockets car­ ries enormous implications concern­ ing the evolution of the universe from a singular point to its present state. Smoot demonstrated with a simulation how these inconsisten­ cies primordial heat could coalesce into individual stars and galaxies.

These variations also show that the macroscopic structure o f space is not curved, as is allowed by general rela­ tivity. "We now teach people that the Earth is round but the world is flat," Smoot said.

Students gave mixed reviews to the presentation.

"He's a very eloquent speaker," said Nathalie Ouellette, U1 Honours Physics. "It was very approachable to a non-phycisist."

Nigel Thorpe, U 3 Honours Phys­ ics, was less enthused,. especially with Smoot's handling o f the ques­ tion and answer session.

"He spent 15 minutes answering the first question, 10 the next before running out o f time,"he said. ■

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TheMcGillTribune

4-News -19.02.08

SSMU unable to enforce ban PGSS wants to re-negotiate negotiate with SSMU at this m om ent and that may make th em unhappy. I can understand, because they w ant control."

Cox added that she w ould be interested in continuing negotiations.

"In the past, w e gave SSMU m oney and they were able to do whatever they w anted with it. I think if w e did negotiate a contract, we w ould say, 'Here's m oney for clubs and services, for [their] adm inistration and the cost,"' she said. "We're also trying to work on some governance issues or account­ ability issues because it's im portant th at the m oney th at w e put in is being used to actually help the services."

If the ban does com e into effect, SSMU will be limited in w h at they can do to stop graduate students from using clubs and services.

"Technically, w e can't really bar anybody from using a service. If you call Nightline, we're not going to ask you if you're an undergrad or a grad," said SSMU President Jake Itzkowitz. "But w e can bar [graduate stu­ dents] from being active m em bers o f clubs by restricting access to bank accounts, e-mails, computers, etc. because those are resources under SSMU's control." ■

SPEAKERS O N C A M P U S

Monsivais links Mexico to U.S. Mexicans self-identify as Latin Americans Au W ithers "Never have I heard of a Mexican considering himself as a North American," said award-winning journalist and Mexican culture critic Carlos Monsivais during his speech entitled "The Other North America" last Wednesday. Going on to explain that Mexicans consider themselves as Latin Americans, Monsivais denied any cultural link between Mexicans and North Americans extending beyond the North American Free Trade Agreement and geographic proximity.

C O RRECTIO N In the January 22 , 2008 issue o f the McGill Tribune (“Students go nuts while waiting"), Dr. Norman Hoffman was incorrectly attributed as the Director of McGill Mental Health Services. He is, in fact, the former director. The Tribune apologizes for this error.

T H E P O W E R O F C H A N G E IS IN Y O U !!!

NEBOJSA PETROVIC Cultural links in Mexico kicked off the "Are we American" conference.

As part of the Mini-Beatty lecture series, the event also kicked off the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada's an­ nual conference. The three-day affair titled "Are We Ameri­ can? Canadian Culture in North America''drew policy mak­ ers, academics, critics, writers, media and communications people, artists and researchers from across North America.

Monsivais examined Mexico's identity struggles w ith­ in the context of the North American cultural superstruc­

CALL F O R

ture. His ironic narrations detailed how Mexican identities become confused as they look to North America for mi­ gration and em ploym ent opportunities. By North America, Monsivais referred to its primary association, the United States.

He explained that Mexicans who migrate from a sed­ entary, rural life trade familiarity for cramped, chaotic and unfamiliar experiences in urban metropolises.

"To go, you risk losing everything... [but] to stay, you lose the possibility of ever risking anything," he said.

Monsivais also stressed the importance of employ­ m ent opportunities for workers in urban centres, stating that the umbrella of em ploym ent status contained the tw o main themes o f identity in Mexico City: inclusion and exclusion.

"Employment defines the anger, the social collapse and the destruction of the social fabric," he said.

Mexican identity and status remained bleak as one looked north of the border. "Work defines a people,” he ex­ plained, detailing how many Americans identify Mexicans with cheap labour.

In Monsivâis's view, the change of one cultural con­ dition to another does not include a harmonization of identities between the tw o North Americas. He added that em ploym ent opportunities would need to precede a revo­ lution of ideas to transform this tension.

During the lecture Monsivais did not attem pt to draw cultural or identity bridges between Canada and Mexico.

"Canada to [Mexicans] is just Canada" he said. "It is just part of NAFTA." Alyssa Holland, U3 political science, agreed with M on­ sivais observations on NAFTA. "There's definitely a U.S.-centric attitude," she said after the event.

Monsivais was praised for his literary accomplish­ ments by Hispanic studies professor Jesus Perez-Magallon and Mexico's Consul General to Montreal Edgardo Flores Rivas. Perez-Magallon joked that Monsivais should be given a “Nobel Prize for Reading" and Rivas asserted that Monsivâis's presentation "threw light on what makes [Mex­ icans] unique and w hat makes [Mexicans] universal."

Professor William Straw, the coordinator of the confer­ ence and acting director for MISC admitted that he learned to read Spanish by reading Monsivâis's work. "[Monsivais] is the leading, most wide-ranging writer on what it is to be Mexican internationally," he said. ■

N O M IN A T IO N S

Elections McGill is accepting nominations for the following positions in SSMU: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

President VP University Affairs VP External VP Clubs and Services VP Internal VP Finance and Operations 7. Student Senators( one from each faculty) 8. Financial Ethics Research Committee ( 3 FERC Councilors)

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N e w s B rie f McGill m ay launch satellite medical school in Gatineau McGill University and the Q ue­ bec Ministry of Health are in prelimi­ nary negotiations concerning the establishment o f a satellite campus o f the McGill Faculty o f Medicine in Gatineau to help alleviate the chronic shortage of doctors in the region.

The proposal arose from a petition by the coalition known as Outaouais à l'urgence phase 2 to establish a m edi­ cal school in Gatineau with the hope that doctors trained in the western Quebec region o f Outaouais would remain following graduation.

"When we compare [Outaouais] with other regions... we are short of many, many medical resources," said Marthe Robitaille, a spokesperson for Outaouais à l'urgence phase 2 . "I think this is the only solution to our shortage."

According to Robitaille, the peti­ tioning group was organized in Janu­ ary o f 2007 and is based on the model of the original Outaouais à l'urgence, created 35 years ago by a group of doctors in response to similar difficul­ ties.

"They had a petition o f over 40.000 [signatures] and the impact o f this coalition was tremendous be­ cause it brought about the construc­ tion of Gatineau Hospital," Robitaille said. The current petition has over 41.000 signatures.

According to Quebec Ministry of Health spokesman Bernard Chagnon, however, the Ministry has been look­ ing for a solution to the current doc­ tor shortage for some time.

“We'd been looking fora solution before we got the petition," Chagnon said."Anywhereyou go in Quebec has this same problem [to some extent]."

McGill would most likely be the university to establish the pro­ posed satellite campus because of an initiative by the Quebec Ministry of Health called the Réseau Univer­ sitaire Intégré de Santé. The RUIS plan, created in 2003 , divides Q ue­ bec into four research and teaching regions that are the responsibility of the province's four universities with faculties of medicine: Université de Montreal, Université Laval, Université Sherbrooke and McGill. Most of west­ ern Quebec, including Outaouais, is in McGill's region.

Robitaille cited Ottawa, across the river from Gatineau, as a powerful draw for doctors w ho m ight other­ wise stay-in the Outaouais region.

"The salary is higher in Ontario and the grass is always greener on the other side," he said.

A possible snag in the project is Outaouais à l'urgence phase 2 's desire that the proposed McGill sat­ ellite campus conduct instruction in French. Currently all of McGill courses, with the exception o f language class­ es, are taught in English.

The McGill Faculty of Medicine was unavailable for com m ent on the possibility of a satellite campus.

— Theo M eyer

Club resumes without protocol changes Health Services ignored Kosman's office in decision Continued from COVER still operating as of Monday.

"The reason that J told the Plate Club to continue running is because nobody from McGill, whether it's a doctor or a nurse or [Deputy Provost Student Life & Learning] Morton Men­ delson has the right to come into this building and tell a dub that they're to be shut down," Kosman said. "They have to bring their concerns to me and I respond to their concerns. And if there are health issues, I'll work with clubs to implement changes with these clubs."

In an e-mail sent to Kosman on Friday, Kelsall stated that the methodol­ ogy of the plate-washing project must be re-examined. Washing in a com­ mon public thoroughfare, lukewarm water and students immersina their

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bare hands into the water were cited as main health concerns behind the tem ­ porary closure. She gave some sugges­ tions stating that one person from the club should be responsible for wash­ ing the dishes in hot water. She also added that the wash-basins should be relocated to within the cafeteria. As of Monday, none of these changes had been implemented.

"Obviously, it's my job to advocate for clubs and services, but the way [Kelsall] and company handled the situa­ tion is really problematic," Kosman said.

"It's disrespectful to the club, but it's also disrespectful to me in my position.

It's not fair that they just went to the club directly and told them that they need to shut down. This wasn't that ur­ gent of an issue."

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See story on-line at m cg illtrib u n e .co m

the apparent confusion that many ad­ ministrators have when dealing with SSMU clubs or services. According to Kosman, this is not the first time that she has been overlooked when prob­ lems come up with clubs and services.

"There are members of the faculty who work directly with different ser­ vices, but they've never been in con­ tact with me and we've never spoken, and I've only found out about these relationships recently. For example, McGill First Aid Services actually has an advisory board that I never knew even existed," Kosman said. "I have a feeling that those administrators probably don't know that if they have an issue with the service, that they should be coming to me and not dealing with the service directly."*

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Director of Health Services Dr. Pierre-PaulTellier justified McGill Health Services'actions.

"My nurses contacted the [Plate Club] directly and explained to them that they weren't meeting the [health] requirements. I've subsequently sent the information to the people who are, in my mind responsible for evaluating this problem,” Tellier said. "That is the occupational health person on cam­ pus, and the person who's responsible for food services on campus, Associate Provost Jim Nicell."

Tellier added that Health Services found the Plate Club to be a valuable endeavour but asserted that their pri­ mary responsibility is public health on campus.

This controversy demonstrated

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The (regulatory) barrier m ethod

Quoth the lease agreem ent

T im o t h y M ak T im o t h y . m a k @ m a il . m c g ill .ca uch o f the Canadian environmental movement's efforts to fight climate change have been focused on ad­ vocating increased governm ent intervention.

W hat about existing regulatory barriers that ham per the market's own ability to address environmental problems? Before enacting new legislation to deal with environmental ills, it is worthw hile to consider removing ex­ isting laws that block financial incentives for green initiatives. In Canada, governm ent reg­ ulation has held back the developm ent and usage o f environmentally friendly alternatives like electric cars.

The ZENN (Zero Emission, No Noise), for example, is an award-winning Canadian elec­ tric vehicle that travels at a maxim um speed of 40 km /h and has a range o f approximately 56 km per charge. As the name suggests, the vehicle emits no greenhouse gases— simply plugging the ZENN into a standard wall outlet overnight recharges the car. Given that wide use o f these cars could significantly reduce total greenhouse gas emissions, it is surpris­ ing to find restrictions in Canada impeding their sale and use. Until late last year,Transport Canada stated that the ZENN did not m eet Canada M otor Vehicle Safety Standards and it was only after the CBC aired a story about this egregious governm ent oversight that the ZENN was cleared for sale. But the regulatory barriers to be cleared were far from over; after being approved for sale in Canada, the ZENN now needs to be approved for operation in each individual province. Since British Colum­ bia approved the operation o f ZENN cars in 2000 , no other provinces have followed suit.

While some suggest that ZENN cars are dangerous because they travel at slow speeds, it is relatively easy to buy bikes or ride scooters that travel at similar or even slower speeds. Further, low-speed vehicles (LSVs) with the same type o f body as the ZENN have safe records in Europe for over 15 years o f use on the roads. The ZENN has already been ap­ proved for use in the US, with 43 states allow­ ing them on low speed public roads. What,

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JFKOSTUCK@GMAIL.COM

then, is still preventing Canadian authorities from approving a car that could save consum­ ers loads o f cash on gas m oney while elimi­ nating 7,700 pounds o f tailpipe emissions per car each year?

Could an even more interventionist ap­ proach be the solution to our environmental woes? In May 2007 , N ew York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was hailed as a leader in environ­ mental policy when he announced that the city's entire fleet o f 13,000 cabs would be re­ quired to convert to gas-electric hybrids by 2012 . Rather than being a genuine beacon of strong environmental leadership, such com ­ mand and control approaches just lead to bad policy. Given the evident financial ben­ efits to switching over to a gas-electric hybrid, allowing the market to function freely seems to be the easy choice. W hy not allow the price mechanism to convey the preferences of cab­ bies to manufacturers? Rather than being an effective long term policy, Bloomberg's dic­ tates reduce incentives for manufacturers to innovate— if taxi drivers are being forced to buy certain models, there is little reason for car manufacturers to further improve their products so as to draw in more customers.

Canadians and their governments need to start identifying and removing the regula­ tions that prevent the market from working towards environmentally-friendly outcomes.

Removing these barriers provides for a variety o f positive results— it allows for the freedom o f trade and commerce, increases consumer choices and allows market incentives to func­ tion freely in harnessing hum an ingenuity and satisfying individual preferences. Removing barriers to ZENN cars and hybrid taxis is not a panacea for the problem o f climate change and will not be enough to satisfy most peo­ ple. But such changes are a step in the right direction and are something that free-market thinkers and environmentalists alike will be happy to see put into a c tio n .* A m o d ifie d version o f this piece a p p e a re d in the W estern S tandard.

have the attention span o f a gnat. This,

I com bined with my chronic, borderline-

debilitating, put-Ham let-to-sham e inde­ cisiveness is perhaps why I find myself flit­ tering through life. I've changed my major more times than I (or my parents) would like to count, my hair hasn't been its natural color in years and I'm constantly in a state o f revamping my wardrobe, my décor and my life. I have lived in six apartments in half as many years and move about Montreal as though it were a Risk board. I thought that I was condemned to the life o f a nomad, perpetually in a state o f looking for a new apartm ent and gullible subletters.

But then I found love. Love in the form o f a studio apartm ent in the lower Plateau with reasonable rent, high ceilings and a large, clean, 24 -hour laundry room.

This apartm ent was my glass slipper, my bell tower and my bat cave. It was close enough to school that I could roll out of bed at eight fifteen for my eight thirty class, but far enough away that I could hole up in my fortress o f solitude for days and not worry about running into anyone that knows me. I love this apartm ent like I have only loved Cadbury mini-eggs. And now I have to move.

Upon finding my arcadia, I swore it would take nothing short o f the apoca­ lypse to drive m e away. This particular apocalypse weighed nine pounds, eight ounces.

At first, I thought my neighbors had acquired a particularly vocal cat. It was not unusual to hear latent sounds through the walls— smoke alarms, ham m ering— but altogether, the building's walls had been impressively soundproof. Which is why I was particularly shocked when I heard distinct and piercing squalls coming from several doors over. There was a strict catsonly policy in the building to prevent noise pollution. W hat kind of hell-cat was living next door? From the noise it made, I im ag­

ined it to be Cerberus's playmate, com ­ plete with three heads to account for the ceaseless squawking.

Night after night I would be woken up by its cries, and slowly, I felt a grudge form. It was a Poe-worthy vendetta, a tale of fiery madness. Whatever cursed beast this was, I would m eet It— if only to look evil square in the eye.

We m et in the hall on a day when I was already in a particularly foul mood. I heard the cries from a distance as I made my way up the stairs to my front door. Turning the corner, I expected something on a rattling metal chain, rabid and red-eyed, frothing at the mouth. Froth it did, but chained it was not.

My neighbors had procreated. My nemesis was a six-week-old child.

There should be laws against this, as there are laws allowing landlords to pro­ hibit their tenants from keeping dogs.

Never would I have signed the lease if I had known both my neighbor and I were nine months away from a life-changing sur­ prise. This bundle o f joy, this melancholy burden, began to cost me more than just sleep. I soon learned that nothing ruins sex like a crying baby heard through the walls— something about cause and effect.

Something must be done to pre­ vent others from experiencing my plight.

Perhaps the creation of family-friendly buildings that could be erected far, far away from, well, me. Yes, that child has as much right to be here as I do, but I at least deserved a warning. Com plem entary ear-plugs. Or condoms. Anything to have anticipated the piercing cries that infil­ trate my chamber door. Shall I sleep here?

Nevermore. ■ J.F.'s previous c o lu m n "The P anty M o n o togues" w as re title d by her editors. She w o u ld like to n o te th a t the o rig in a l title was “M y Va­ g in a M onologue."

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O FF TH E B O A R D

The Schlock Doctrine: The rise of the inspid Naomi Klein B yron T au aomi Klein is the Ann Coulter o f Canada— a demagogic sycophant who has parlayed her political shtick into a lucrative business (some m ight say "brand"). Instead of being a right-wing blowhard, Klein has positioned herself as an anti-corporate, anti-globalization rabble-rouser w ho presumes to speak for the exploited huddled masses around the world (after all, Canada is a cold, humble, little social democratic para­ dise with socialist leanings, not a Bible-thumping imperialist behem oth) all the while raking in dough in the form o f book deals and speaking fees.

Klein talks at length about her conversion experience in interviews. She used to be a greedy little capitalist pig who cared only about the best brand names and the latest fashion trends while gleefully charging her corporate loot to Daddy's credit card. However, somewhere between high school and finding actual gainful employment, she had a change o f heart and became a dyed-in-the-wool radical dedicated to exposing and eliminating inequality and sweatshop labour and undue corporate influence, oh, and neo-liberal trade policies wher­ ever they exist.

We Americans and our evil multinationals, it seems, cham­ pion a brand o f heartless free-market piracy, which robs the

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good people of the developing world o f the fruits of their la­ bour, and forces them to toil in hot, miserable working condi­ tions, just to make our garments and sneakers. Our big m ulti­ nationals assimilate or obliterate anything in their path towards global domination. Interestingly, when it came tim e to publish her anti-multinational manifesto (no pun intended) N o Logo, Klein had no problem selling her book to the Canadian arm of Knopf Publishing, which is ow ned by Random House, which is ow ned by Bertelsmann Media W orldwide— a multinational media conglomerate, operating in 63 countries. Her U.K. pub­ lisher for N o Logo was HarperCollins, which is ow ned by none other than Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, the largest media conglomeration in the entire world. Oh, the irony!

Sometimes the horrors of the unfettered free market are too much for Klein to bear. In a recent lecture broadcast on the program Big Ideas, Klein talked about being wheeled into a private clinic in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit, to be treated for minor injuries. This elegant private clinic was almost devoid o f patients, despite New Orleans being inun­ dated (again, no pun intended) with casualties after the storm.

The greedy, m oney grubbing intern who staffed the clinic had not even considered volunteering down at the shelters,

even though all of Klein's well-heeled Montreal and Toronto physican friends had rushed to the scene (no doubt, to the ne­ glect of their patients— and given the waiting tim e for a doc­ tor in Canada, this amounts to something akin to malpractice), Indeed, Klein neglected to m ention in her lecture that private clinics are barred by law from refusing emergency stabilization treatm ent to patients regardless of ability to pay, or that she apparently had no qualms about accepting care from one— aside from making snide public remarks about her experience. o f course. Such details are inconsequential when the funda­ mental rights o f people are being violated in the name o f the heartless profiteering.

In some senses, Naomi Klein is no different than Wal-Mart, or the Gap. She makes a living off people's suffering. But at least, they make no bones about it. Klein's books are printed, pack­ aged and distributed by the corporations she shuns. Her stan­ dard of living is made possible by the free-market she decries.

And her fam e rests off the backs of those w ho are "exploited" by the same heartless multinationals who publish her schlock.

O f course there are problems in the world, Naomi. It's just that not all o f us can make such an easy living while remaining so smugly self-righteous about it. ■

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19.02.08•TheMcGillTribune•7 ED ITO R IA L

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Hands off McGill's opt-out process

ast Thursday, the Students' So­

L ciety held a special m eeting of

Council to discuss a referendum question that would require SSMU to protect the autonom y o f student clubs w ho have opt-outable fees..

The question requires SSMU to lobby the administration to allow clubs and services to control their own online opt-out processes. A m otion at. last fall's General Assembly dem anded that SSMU make "every reasonable action to reclaim and protect the sovereignty and independence of all student groups," providing the m oti­ vation for this question.

Even if students were to pass this question, it would be largely symbolic. Under SSMU's M em oran­ dum o f Agreem ent with McGill, the university does not take responsi­ bility for funds collected, but rather only takes the money from students and hands it over to the Society.

Individual student groups already determ ine whether or not their fee should be opt-outable by putting a fee levy forward during the refer­ enda periods: Student groups and the SSMU electorate dictate which fees are voluntary and which are mandatory. McGill's only responsibil­ ity is to collect student m oney and distribute it as students dictate, in a democratic manner.

Though SSMU councillors and executives have consulted with many clubs and services, the Tribune's

name was included in the motion with hardly any opportunity for input. Last spring, the Tribune won a fee levy of 50 cents during the spring election period which is fully opt-out­ able through Minerva. We are happy to have the current system in place.

Minerva-based opt-outs streamline the process not only for students but for the organizations as well. We ac­ cept the accountability and scrutiny that comes with receiving student m oney and have no qualms about the current interface.

Minerva is w here students go to receive tuition bills ând the universi­ ty's accounting departm ent handles the collection of SSMU levies and other student fees. In the bureaucrat­ ic labyrinth that is McGill University, the Minvera opt-out system is actual­ ly a model o f efficiency and simplici­ ty. SSMU clubs should recognize that, even if their funding is on the line. In fact, in this situation, McGill has actu­ ally im plem ented a policy that makes the lives o f students easier.

The question at the crux o f this debate is: w hat is the benefit o f this for students? If organizations w ant to collect m oney for their operating budgets, they should be spending their tim e informing students of the services they provide rather than wasting their tim e attem pting to take their fee from the control of M c­ Gill, when the fees are already under the purview o f SSMU. ■

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E D ITO R IA L

Afrocentric schools don't pass the test

he approval o f Afrocentric pub­ licly funded schools in Toronto would ideally ameliorate the problems o f a disengaged ‘ urban black, youth through increasing Af­ rocentric content in all subjects.

They would no longer be the m i­ nority populatiton at these schools, and the curriculum would increas­ ingly focus on black innovators and history-makers.

Emerging within an already heated and highly com plex debate over funding o f specialty schools (such as Catholic schools, which receive public funding in Ontario), Afrocentric schools are another ex­ am ple o f good intentions that com e with a myriad o f problems. Propo­ nents argue that these schools must be public although they carry reli­ gious or race-based aims because the majority of pupils are from lowincom e families (Toronto's Catholic schools,serve many recent im m i­ grant families).

The Afrocentric curriculum, however, is not only contentious but vague. Funding has already been granted; but conflicting ideas remain about how schools will be 'Afrocentric.' An ambiguous goal of creating an Afrocentric curriculum is dangerous. W ho is qualified to teach and develop this curriculum? Math problems that draw on non-Anglo­ phone names, for example, have already becom e the norm in most Canadian textbooks. W ouldn't an Af­ rocentric textbook, w here no Mary's or Ming's or Meghnads appear, be a step backwards? There is no point in replacing a formerly Eurocentric viewpoint with any other 'centric.' It will also be hard to avoid swinging the pendulum to the other extreme and avoiding traditional,'Eurocentric'

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history altogether. Increased black history and culture must not be at the cost o f education about history and ideas that emerged from the Western context, which dom inated the last several centuries o f Canadian and North-American history.

It is condescending to claim that struggling students will drop out be­ cause they are not learning about their heritage. Students do not drop out because they are not interested in the material but because of socio­ econom ic issues. A 2003 report in The E d m o n to n Jo u rn a l and a Jan 2008 issue o f T h e N a tio n decried the 70 per cent drop out rate of First Nationscentred schools in Alberta. Instead o f copying these flawed monocultural models, public funding should go towards more pragmatic programs.

Classes that teach African heritage could be electives within the current system, scholarships could be set up to help black students interested in post-secondary vocational schools or universities. Social, com m unity­ building programs that promote African-Canadian culture and offer access to assistance such as free tu ­ toring could also be encouraged.

It will always be a challenge to have a properly inclusive academic system. But the Afrocentric school proposal should simply not be ac­ cepted as a model. It is a slippery slope. Do we w ant schools segregat­ ed by every social and demographic group that must eventually stake its claim in the 'centric' system in order to have its voice heard? This recent decision in Toronto was m ade with the right intentions. However, as the solution to the increasing problem of high school drop out rates and cur­ riculums in desperate need o f revi­ sion, it remains m isguided.»

O FF TH E BO ARD

Doolittle machines do little for world peace C rystal C han

cientists, inventors and media sources that S discuss their technological advances can't help but overestimate the promise o f every new finding. They report every patent as ground­ breaking. Sometimes, it becomes just a little too ridiculous.

Dog bark-decoding software is one such case to make recent headlines. The topic was revital­ ized following the findings of Csaba Molnar et al„ published on Jan. 15 2008 . The group of Hungar­ ian ethologists developed com puter technology that could identify, better than humans, which of six categories— 'stranger', 'fight', 'walk', 'alone', 'ball' and 'play'— dogs' individual barks signalled. The program could also group a single dog's barks together, something humans were almost com ­ pletely unable to do. This is all very well and good, except that the media coverage o f Molnar's con­ clusions verged on absurd. Headlines were of the fantastical “Com puter communicates with dogs" (Telegraph) variety, suggesting not the mechani­ cal sorting o f barks but w hat seem to be sentient, talking computers. Articles cite Molnar's more ludi­ crous beliefs: that his work could not only lead to commercial devices for interspecies com m unica­ tion but, more inexplicably, revolutionary human communication aids.

This reminds me o f the rhetoric that accom­ panied Molnar's predecessors. Nam ed one of

20 0 2 's coolest inventions by Time magazine, the

Japanese novelty Bowlingual categorized your dog's vocalizations into happiness, sadness, frus­ tration, anger, assertion or desire. CNN reported over 300,000 o f the personal gadgets sold in Japan and the Takara Company Ltd. was looking to launch them in the States. In a Takara press release, Bowlingual was credited for helping to "facilitate the bonds of friendship betw een tw o leaders, Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi and Rus­ sian President Putin, as well as prom ote peace and strong international relations betw een Japan and Russia" when the contraption was presented in a Russian form to the president. "Promoting peace betw een the species" is also attributed to Bow­ lingual. These kinds o f overblown claims led to Bowlingual's 2002 Ig Noble prize, a parody o f the Nobel awards acknowledging achievements that "cannot and should not be reproduced." It seems like no one listened.

Molnar's findings are anything but revolu­ tionary and his paper makes no such claim. But media coverage has favoured sensational and often false implications, citing Molnar's proud daydreams rather than asking for clarification and explanation about his research. The experiments were exploratory rather than definitive; the soft­ ware and human subjects classified barks in very different methodologies. All in all, humans identi­

fied 40 per cent correctly and the software 43 per cent correctly— a minimal difference. Media often glossed over factual details and focussed on future implications. They headlined the astounding pos­ sibilities for high-tech interspecies communication gadgets.

In any case, would the increased possibil­ ity o f a hum an-dog translator be so useful? W hat w e regularly say to our canine pets isn't of so in­ tellectual a nature, rarely going beyond the realm o f monosyllabic commands. As for understanding our dogs, those interested in gadgets like Bow­ lingual probably believe their dogs to be gifted anyway— they're interested in doggy-thoughts beyond boring categories like "ball" or "fight."

Ethology is an im portant field. Molnar's paper was one o f many contributions in it, published in the J o u rn a l o f A n im a l C o g n itio n . The journal's read­ ership approached it w ith context; the media fren­ zy sensationalizes, distorts and thus trivializes his work.This brings me to the following question: has it just been a slow m onth in scientific research, or are more genuinely groundbreaking findings left to the back pages o f barely-read scientific journals while bombastic findings like Molnar's latched on to by major newspapers and heralded as one step behind deserving a Nobel peace prize? Has the fantastical and the bizarre becom e more impor­ tant than fact? ■

The McGill Tribune is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the Students' Society of McGill University in collaboration with the Tribune Publication Society. Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of the Students' Society or McGill University. 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 theTribune 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.

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*TheMcGillTribune• 19.02.08 V O X P O PU LI

Sw ann's song for clubs and services A lexandra S w a n n

ALEXANDRA.SWANN@GMAIL.COM he w inter semester General Assembly occurred last M on­ day. The ever-present constraints o f finding an appropriate tim e and space were resolved in a worse way than usual, with the GA being held at 2 p.m. during midterm s.The students w ho did not attend were chastised for their apathy and lack of political involvement. The likelihood that the vast majority of them had classes and m ight prefer attending those classes as opposed to the GA did not seem to occur to some o f the partici­ pants. Quorum was not reached and the GA became a $4,000 consultative forum. We watched SSMU council sing "Rocket Man," w e affirmed that we liked autonomous student-run food services, w e heard someone prom ote a Day o f Action on Tuition and then we got to the motion about clubs and services.

Most o f you probably didn't hear about the motion. It was that "SSMU's priority should be clubs and services." It was in­ tended to spark debate about w hat has happened to clubs and services this year on campus, from the cuts in funding to the abysmal IT services. And it certainly did spark debate, though not of a productive kind. During the discussion, tw o general charges were levied from members o f SSMU: criticisms o f the motion and criticisms o f the debating union itself.

The antagonism that was apparent and the flippant com ­ ments that were m ade were not taken lightly. The suggestion that "it's better sometimes when a club or service disappears" is not the attitude that should be taken by a responsible student governm ent.The DU has existed for 127 years and helped to cre­

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ate SSMU. We have held debates about com m unism with am ­ bassadors from the U.S.S.R., corresponded with future Supreme Court justices and even had Leonard Cohen as a despotic DU president. We have folders full of postcards to our mascot Fred the Moose, decades worth o f docum ents from previous execu­ tives and memories o f all the hundreds o f students w ho have participated in this activity since the founding o f this university.

We were told that we should learn lessons about fu n d ­ raising. We have fundraised extensively— over $10,000 this year. That's the only way w e could function as a club. W hen our funding is cut, our ability to recruit new members and to provide them with resources is im peded. It's harder to train people and send them to tournam ents and harder to m ain­ tain our com m unity in perpetuity. We provide training in academic skills such as public speaking, logical argum enta­ tion and analysis. SSMU sh o u ld care if our club exists and should care if other clubs are facing the same constraints.

The acquisition o f Haven Books was vehem ently defended be­ cause it was consignm ent and w ould provide cheap books for all students, as opposed to clubs and services that benefited "only 6 ,000 - 7,000 students.'That Haven Books w on't break even (much less make a profit) for the foreseeable future and that it could still suck up clubs and services m oney in perpetuity wasn't a problem, because it could provide cheap books. Well, some cheap books. Those few cheap books they're still allowed to sell with the non-com petition agreem ent with McGill.

A lexa n d ra S w ann is a U3 p o litic a l science a n d e n v iro n m e n ta l studies s tu d e n t a n d pre sid e n t o f the M c G ill D e b a tin g Union.

V O X PO PU LI

O FF TH E B O A R D

ive us this day, our Daily bread

Male bashing for fun and for profit

M c G ill D aily E dito rial B oard

A ndr ew D a th a n F rankel

C00RDINATING@MCGILLDAILY.COM lagiarism is a very serious accusation, one that deserves careful consideration and measured investigation. Unfortu­ nately, The Tribune's coverage o f plagiarism, allegations against one o f the Daily's editors paints a misleading picture o f the incident and may have given rise to some grave mis­ conceptions.

The Tribune article "Whistleblower ac­ cuses McGill Daily o f plagiarism" (12 .0 2 .08 )

by Byron Tau leaves out several impor­ tant aspects of this issue. Most impor­ tantly, The Tribune does not make im m e­ diately clear the fact that the texts from which Features editor Martin Lukacs is alleged to have plagiarized were cited in the article in question.

The Daily feature "Taxing the rich, spar­ ing the poor" (Jan. 7 ) by Martin Lukacs explic­ itly stated: "Information was taken from CCPA [Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives] studies, including T h e Rich and the Rest of Us''Why Charity Isn't Enough,"The Great CEO Pay Race,' and 'Eroding Tax Fairness.'They are available at policyalternatives.ca'.'

The Tribune claimed that Lukacs's article contained "phrasing, content and analysis similar to text that appeared in several articles published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives."But beyond an oblique reference in a quote by Daily Coordinating editor Drew Nelles, the Tribune article did not explain that The Daily cited the CCPA texts. Glazing over this fact is a great disservice toTrib readers.

TheTribune didn't bother consulting the authors whose work was allegedly plagia­ rized, so w e did. Here's w hat CCPA B.C. senior economist Marc Lee had to say: "Having just read the original article, it seems to m e like plenty o f reference has been made. This is a reporting about some o f our work and not presented as original research."

And Canadian Labour Congress senior economist Andrew Jackson: "I agree entirely with Marc."

Apparently, the alleged victims o f pla­ giarism don't even feel their work was plagia­ rized.

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My university experience isn't about saving $20 on a book.

The extracurricular activities in which w e participate, the volun­ tary associations in which we find friends and explore our identi­ ties, the leadership opportunities we have on campus— that is w hat I w ant from my student union. I like debating. Some people like singing or fine arts. Some people want to engage in political activism, environmental research, exploring ethnic and religious identities or outdoor activities. Club funding allows McGill stu­ dents to form voluntary associations with similar individuals, to pursue their interests and to gain leadership and organizational experience. This is w hat many o f us will rem em ber when we leave university.

SSMU should not assume that this point of view has no force because the Debating Union is better at discussing issues than at political mobilization. It's not just in our interest— it's in the interests o f the Choral Society, the Red Herring, the Muslim Students'Association and Hillel McGill, to name a few. It is in the best interests of all the clubs w ho feel that their concerns have gone unheard by this council, w ho nervously anticipate the pub­ lication o f Haven Books'finances, w ho don't have the resources to sustain their membership, w ho s till can't use their W eb sites.

I missed tw o classes to com e to your inconveniently tim ed and unrepresentative GA— do not shrug m e off. ■

W e also consulted our lawyer, w ho told us this case was unambiguously not plagia­ rism. "Plagiarism is when you claim someone else's work as your own," he told us. "In this case, credit was given." , There are numerous other problems with The Tribune's coverage o f this incident, including describing it as "plagiarism" When it is, in fact, alleged plagiarism. As well, Lukacs referred to a specific sentence in his feature as “lazy and sloppy," but this quote was used to refer to all the incidences o f alleged pla­ giarism.

Additionally, before reading the Tribune article, w e were unaware that Adam Mahler had contacted the Ethics C om m ittee o f the Society o f Professional Journalists— an Amer­ ican organization to which The Daily has no relation. To frame Lukacs's and Nelles's quotes as a response to an opinion o f which they were unaware is shoddy journalism.

We have contacted the Ethics Com m it­ tee directly and are waiting for its sugges­ tions. We will certainly take its opinion into ac­ count, but w e have decided the best course of action is to heed our lawyer's advice.

The Daily editorial board w ould like to make clear that w e consider plagiarism a very serious issue and although w e believe that this case does not constitute plagiarism based on the professional advice w e received, it is obviously too close for comfort. We are taking steps to ensure this does not happen again, using suggestions from the National Bureau Chief of the Canadian University Press, an organization m ade up o f over 70 student newspapers from across the country.

IfThe Daily were to write an article about our friendly competitor, w e would take the utmost care to get the story right. ButTheTribune neglected to m ention key aspects o f the story, framed it in a misleading way and made no attem pt to thoroughly research these ac­ cusations. We respectfully await a printed apology from our upstairs neighbours. ■ Th e M c G ill D a ily is a n in d e p e d e n t stu d en t n ew s­ p a p e r p u b lish e d tw ice a w eek.

ale-bashing has becom e so socially ac­ ceptable and prevalent in the media that some seem honestly surprised to consider any alternative. Friday's New York Times included a piece covering a recent report in the Journal o f Adolescence, which found that, shockingly to the reporter Ms.Tara Parker-Pope, teenage boys are m otivated by more than lusty desires w hen pursuing romantic partners. All the news that's fit to print now includes ground­ breaking discoveries such as 80 per cent o f the study participants describing their reasons for dating including:"! really liked the person."Per­ haps more shocking is that am ong the sexually active, "the boys were equally likely to say they pursued sex because they loved their partner" as they were to indicate physical attraction.

W hat illuminating revelations will ParkerPope bring next to the readers o f the Times?

"Not all men beat their wives" could be a head­ line w orthy o f feature, while "Cuddle or Sand­ wich: W hat he really wants" just m ight be that breakout report to land the esteemed journalist her dream beat with C osm o magazine.

W hile feminist advocates have been quick to lambaste vocabulary perceived as being m ale-norm ative— the use o f "man" instead of "person”to describe an occupation, SSMU's tact­ ful decision to bolster "non-males" in order to enforce gender parity or references to Senator Clinton's first nam e instead o f last— less imagi­ native anti-m ale’ implications are frequent and unchallenged. Portrayals o f men as brutish, callow and altogether uncultured are rampant throughout film and television productions, usually along with the implication that theatre, literature, poetry and other fine arts are some­ how un-manly.

Even the male author o f the teenage sex

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survey, while com plim enting the study subjects' preferences, disparages the alternative. “Let's give boys more credit," Parker-Pope quoted him as saying, "although some o f them are just look­ ing for sex, most boys aren't like this horrible ste­ reotype." Even sexuality, which is uniquely and inherently inter-gendered, is base and vulgar when driven by male desire. The intentions of the boys' partners— almost exclusively young w om en, as the study focused on heterosexu­ als— were not considered within the scope or interest o f the study. After all, as everyone al­ ready knows, high school girls only date in the hope o f finding their future husbands and’ only disrobe once they have found their soulmates.

Conversely, female sexuality is increasingly accepted and celebrated. McGill recently joined with countless other university campuses to host performances o f the V a g in a M o n o lo g u e s, a collection o f plays identified with women's em pow erm ent.The M o n o lo g u e s frequently por­ tray w om en victimized by male aggression and harmed by male sexual appetites, while casting fem ale-fem ale sexual experiences, consensual or not, as positives. The event proceeds are al­ most universally donated to aid groups focus­ sing on violence against w om en.

The feminist m ovem ent has rightly achieved much to correct Victorian prudishness toward fem ale sexuality as part o f the larger campaign for women's rights. That trend is now being reversed for men. W hile media publica­ tions seek to belittle and hom ogenize male sexual intentions, more radical m ovements seek to directly assault the male sex drive by liken­ ing it to violent assault. Both buck efforts for real sexual equality. Men's rights may not be the popular social m ovem ent, but its issues are real and present. ■

C O R R E C TIO N The McGill Tribune apologizes for our lack o f the use "alleged,” the misuse o f the term "whistleblower"and failure to contact the CCPA authors ("Whistleblower accuses McGill Daily of plagiarism",12 .02 .08 ). However, the technicalities m entioned are peripheral to the reported lack o f sp e cific attribution o f phrases and ideas, which formed the basis o f Mahler's accusation in the story. The Tribune stands by the crux of the reporting which was accurate and fair.

W E YOU

HAVE TH E C A R E E R S, H A V E T H E O P P O R T U N IT IE S

T h e C a n a d ia n F o rc e s o ffe r y o u o v e r 100 f u ll - a n d p a r t - t im e jo b o p p o r tu n itie s in s tim u la tin g e n v iro n m e n ts . W h e th e r c lo s e to h o m e o r a b ro a d , th e F o rc e s o ffe r y o u : • A w id e ra n g e o f c a re e rs in p ro fe s s io n a l fie ld s a n d te c h n ic a l tra d e s • T ra in in g p r o g r a m s th r o u g h o u t y o u r c a r e e r • F in a n c ia l a id f o r y o u r s tu d ie s To fin d o u t m o re , v is it o u r W e b s ite o r y o u r lo c a l C a n a d ia n F o rc e s r e c r u itin g c e n tre .

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n a t io n a l s c h o o l s y s t e m E d u c a to rs in c lu s iv e M eghna M arjadi Earlier in February the Toronto District School Board approved a proposal for an Afrocentric school to be opened in Septem ber of 20 0 9 . Until then the TDSB will be prom oting Afrocentric afterschool programs. The aims o f the school include introducing a mpre Afro­ centric curriculum and creating a black com m unity to support black students and possibly rem edying their 40 per cent dropout rate in To­ ronto. Approval o f the school» the concept o f which has been decades in th e making, has sparked a media frenzy and highlighted the confu­ sion o f à com m unity in whose chil­ dren are in crisis. W ith the dropout rate for black students in Quebec at a startling 48 per cent, educators in the province are joining the debate and w ondering if they should fol­ low in Toronto's footsteps. A debate is raging on all sides but all agree th at the present school system is failing black students and som e­ thing must be done.

The problems at hand

"Toronto black kids are desper­ ate— they are failing a t an alarm ing rate," explains Dr. Shirley Steinberg, an associate professor in th e Facul­ ty o f Education at McGill University.

"These schools can only help these kids. They are going to deal with

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ow n biases in order to better relate to students. However, "I think it's really important, wherever you are, this kind o f inner exam ination would that you always have every perspective, every be difficult. Steintype. Not just whatever is the white perspec­ i berg expresses i concern that the tive, the black perspective: we are all one, we ] schools are treat­ are living in the same city." ing black students s unfairly.

— Rebekah Maccow " T r a d itio n a l ; schools see [black Si students] as prob­ lem students," ex­ plains Steinberg.

Still, deciding children and youth w h o have dif­ dren are the problem. Rowe's sug­ ferent backgrounds than th e pre­ gestions for improving the experi­ to separate students o f different races as an educational strategy ence o f black students in schools sumed dom inant w hite culture."

Steinberg attributes media ■ ■ attention and predictions o f a re­ turn to segregation to irrational fears am ong m em bers o f the To­ ronto w hite com m unity. "There is a prevailing opinion that whenever black people get together it makes "Establishing separation is a slippery w hite people nervous," she says. slope towards segregation. I cannot "I believe it to be a noble but misguided [proposal]," says Brenda support going back there."

Rowe, a student servides coordi­ — Brenda Rowe nator at jo h n A bbott College and a part tim e lecturer in the Simone de Beauvoir Institute at Concordia, speaking at the BSN forum.

O ne concern w ith opening the Afrocentric school is that trans­ brings back to mind the struggles planting black students into a sep­ involves making teachers undergo arate school implies that the chil­ self-examination to address their o f the past to elim inate segregation in an unequal world.

O p ening Pandora's box "Establishing separation is a slippery slope towards segregation.

I cannot support going back there," says Rowe.

"Here in Montreal, I don't be­ lieve that students should be in schools that are Afrocentric," says Rebekah Maccow, social coordina­ tor for BSN and U 3 art history and English. "Obviously being here you have a different identity from Africa. I think it's really im portant, wherever you are, th at you always have every perspective, every type.

N ot just whatever is the w hite per­ spective, the black perspective: w e are all one, w e are living in the same city. W e share the same ideas, m aybe some differently, but we angj all living in the same place."

Others express similar opin­ ions; Scott Harisson, a trustee for the TDSB, voted againjt form ing ERECKLESCASSIE.WORDPRESS.COM a separate Afrocentric school, but in favour o f increasing Afrocentric Many are calling for a province-wide curriculum change to include more culturally diverse content.

content within existing schoHe suggests "developing progra is [within the mainstream system] o support the needs o f those s j dents."

Another trustee, Gary G< vford, voted in favour o f the p oposal and stresses that anyc e w ho wants to go to the sell y can go. He also cites 34 existing ilternative schools within the IT 6 I that allow students w ho are not ■ doing well in the mainstream sys[ tem to seek a better fit elsewhere.

I "Many people have been talking* I about this as segregation," says I Crawford. "We're trying to address i an educational crisis. It's not that I we're separating [African-AmeriI can students]. Any student has the choice to go to this school. It's an opportunity for students v. 10 do not feel they are succeed g in the mainstream schools to s jcceed."

W hile m any fear that it is a re­ gression to a less tolerant time, is also im portant to note th at intec ation has, in some cases, been in obstacle for students' educatio al successes. "[Following integration], bl k people in the U.S. w ho were ( it in non-segregated schools star a to fail m ore and more,” Steinb rg explains. This can be com parée o the integration of Native Amem m children.

“Native kids are bussed w hite schools and that has often been a disaster. Why would you ! bring kids to schools developed I y the "oppressor"? The [mainstrec n] curriculum is not designed to p - , preciate non-European ways o f knowing."

According to Steinberg, Eurocentric system has w iped out black culture com pletelyjand stu­ dents are left w ith nothing to iden­ tify themselves with. This loss of identification lowers self-esteem

19.02.08•TheMcGillTribune•11

www.mcgilltribune.com

NMSU.EDU

The dropout rate for black high school students in Quebec at a startling 48 per cent.

"Different is always not-cool w h en you're a child," says Latoya Morgan, C hief Coordinator and po­ litical cdôrdinator o f the BSN. She is also pursuing master's in educa­ tional psychology w ith a concentra­ tio n in cognitive science at McGill.

"Look at research studies on self­ esteem o f black children... up until the age o f nine or eleven, minority children only associate negativity towards themselves and towards their cultural group and they have pm -w hite preference. It's really not until they reach junior high-school w here they start forming a posi­ tive group esteem. Not having this positive group esteem effects their education," M organ supports the forma­ tion o f afrocentric schools. She feels that there should be a separate school w ith a curriculum catered to the black com m unity, w hether it be a regular school or a Saturday school. This school w ould work to rem edy the fact that black students are not exposed to their history or the positive aspects o f their cul­ ture but instead to stereotypes and negative aspects.

It's ju st an idea Though the purpose and po­ tential o f the school have been fre­ quently discussed, the main debate is over w h at the school really is.

Everyone has a different opinion o f what'Afrocentric' means and every­ one has a different vision o f w hat the school should be. In Toronto, the location, funding, administra­ tion, curriculum and students all have yet to be determ ined. All that has been approved is the idea.

"We have decided to open this school in principle," says Crawford.

"Many other details, like location, grades, costing, etc, will com e back to us in May 2008 for a final deci­ sion."

However, the concept o f a final decision seems abstract w ith ­ out many o f the preliminaries taken care of.

"In Toronto, th e proposal is at a very early stage...We need to have a debate in context, not an abstract debate" said Adelle Blackett, Associ­ ate Professor and William Dawson Scholar for the McGill for faculty o f Law, at the BSN forum.

Love th e one you're in No decisions can be m ade until the school's purpose is clear­ ly m apped out in the May 2008 proposal. W hether discussing the

emphasis on a single culture or many, all sides o f the debate w ant students to learn a m ore global cur­ riculum than at present and they w ant th e children to be confident

"We share the same ideas, maybe some Rebekah Maccow, social coordinator for BSN.

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and successful in whatever world they live in.

"I w ould agree that having both perspectives is very im por­ tant, but it's not just black kids that need perspective. W e need to edu­ cate everyone about the black cul­ ture. So why are w e having schools specifically that focus on this black culture?...W hat about educating the w hole society about black cul­ ture? W e need to put it in the cur­ riculum, yes, but it's not just black schools that need to have this in their curriculum. It is all schools, so yes, it's a step ahead to have these schools but I don't see any point in educating som eone about th em ­ selves while everybody else doesn't know anything about them," says Eyerusalem Tessera, Financial Coor­ dinator for the BSN. ■

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L e a d e r s h ip T r a in in g P r o g r a m F a c ilit a t o r T r a in in g

Are you interested in developing your facililitation skills in a student-friendly, antioppressive context?

We are looking for students interested in learning facilitation skills to become involved in our LeadershipTraining Program by leading various workshops throughout the upcoming year.

Participation will be by application and interview. Facilitators will then take part in a free two-day (weekend) comprehensive facilitation training. Students must be attending McGill for the 2008-2009 year and available for training on the weekend of Saturday, March 15th and Sunday, March 16th. After attending the training session and running workshops, students will receive certificates of facilitation training completion (very useful these days), and personal letters of attestation when requested.

If interested, please pick up the application at the First-Year Office. Submit it in person with your CV and cover letter to the FirstYear Office (Suite 2100, Brown Building).

Deadline is Thursday, March 6th.

Contact Leslie Copeland at leadership. training@mcgill.ca M c G ill Leadership Training Program or 514-398-6913 for First-Year Office more information.

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W o r s t f ilm p o p d it t ie s M o v ie sco res a re g e n e ra lly sa p p y a n d c h ic h e — the syru p y string s, the o b vio u s leitm o tifs a n d sta n d a rd o rch e stra l a rra n g e ­ m ent. But w hen p o p so n g s a p p e a r in m o vies, th ey tend to b e even w orse. These rep resen t th e w orst o f the w orst.

Dashboard Confessional - Vindicated (S p id e rm a n II) Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On ( T itan tic ) W hitney Houston - 1Will Always Love You {The B o d ygu ard ) Smash Mouth - I’m A Believer {Shrek) Aerosmith - Don't W ant to Miss A Thing (A rm a g e d d o n ) Will Smith - Men in Black (M en in B lack) Eddie Vedder - Hide Your Love Away {I A m S a m ) Rufus W ainwright - Hallelujah {Shrek) Will Smith - Wild, Wild, West {W ild, W ild, West) Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes - (I've Had) The Time of My Life {D irty D a n cin g ) Survivor - Eye of the Tiger {R o cky II I) Stevie Wonder - 1just Called to Say I Love You ( The W om an in Red) — C o m p ile d b y Byron Tau.

ECOTIP

N a t iv e s t a k e a s t a n d Climate change violates human rights K ath r y n D ingle Last week, Federal Environm ent M inister John Baird visited Nunavut to attend a Climate Change Adaptation m eeting and announce a new Framework Agreem ent betw een the territory and the federal governm ent. His tim ely visit calls attention to the clim ate change crisis facing Inuit com m unities— w ith thinning ice, shifting w inds and dw ind ling w ildlife populations, the Arctic and its people are already feeling the harsh im pact o f global warming.

According to the 2004 Arctic Clim ate Im pact Assess­ m ent, average tem peratures in the north are increasing tw ice as fast as in the rest o f the world and by the end o f the century, average Arctic tem peratures are expect­ ed to have risen by four to seven degrees Celsius. This w arm ing will radically change the Arctic landscape and make traditional indigenous ways of life difficult, if not impossible, to sustain.

The im pact thus far has been so harmful that many people feel clim ate change is underm ining the basic hum an rights o f the Inuit. In 2005 , the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, led by Nunavut activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier, filed a legal petition against the U.S. governm ent claim­ ing its greenhouse gas emissions violate the Inuit's rights to "the benefits of culture, to property, to the preser­

vation o f health, life, physical integrity, security and a means o f subsistence, and to residence, m ovem ent and inviolability o f the home," because of the dam age ren­ dered by clim ate change on the environment. The U.S. was targeted as the world's largest polluter, but other countries like Canada and Russia were implicated as well.

The petition led to a hearing in front o f the Inter-Ameri­ can Commission on Human Rights in early 2007 where Cloutier dem anded relief from the U.S. for their breaches o f international law. Although the Commission lacks en­ forcing power, a ruling in favour o f the Inuit could serve as a basis for future lawsuits and tougher climate change policy.

Currently, the Inuit are hoping to capitalize upon the current Al Gore-inspired wave o f environmental concern which draws attention to the climate change emergency they are facing. The UN's adoption o f the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Septem ber 2007 offers further support to the Inuit's claims that climate change violates international hum an rights law.

W ith livelihoods so closely tied to the land, the Inuit have no choice but to face the challenges ahead o f them and fig h t to maintain their rights in the Arctic. Their dra­ m atic example serves notice to the rest o f the w orld that clim ate change is real, life-threatening and only getting worse. One can only hope th a t those in charge are pay­ ing close attention. ■

19.02.08•TheMcGillTribune•13

www.mcgilltribune.com TECH

R e a d p o o c h m in d s Finding out what your dog really thinks

PRINCIPAL HEATHER MUNROE-BLUM invites McGill Students, Faculty and Staff to a Town Hall where discussion will centre around:

database o f thousands o f barks. Owners can input size and breed for a more accurate reading, as well as size and shape o f the muzzle for dogs of mixed breed. The owner's LCD screen then receives a wireless transmis­ sion and displays one o f the six em otional categories into which the dog's bark can be classed: sadness, frustration, territorial, assertive, happy and needy, fol­ lowed by one o f about 200 pre-program m ed phrases that match the emotion.

Reviewing this device for the San Francisco Chronicle, Sophia Yin, a veterinarian, pronounced its translations useless and inconsistent. It should be noted, however, that although scientists, most notably Dr. Matsumi Suzuki, President o f Japan Acoustic Lab, were working on it, the device was intended to be used for entertainm ent purposes and not as an actual translator. The craze for this dog translator has since sloughed off, but goes for about a hundred dollars on A m a zo n .co m . And if you are not a dog person, no wor­ ries. A quick trip to Japan w here the "Meow-lingual" was released in 2003 will bring you a step closer to your feline friend. ■

E m m a C abrera - A ragôn W ith dog as man's best friend, it may seem natu­ ral to wish to com m unicate with him. Whereas this may have once been a one way-street, with humans conveying the meaning o f "bad dog" or "that's a good girl" by tone to their pets, a device, produced by the Japanese com pany Takara, was m eant to allow dogowners to literally read their pets'm ood. The "Bow-lin­ gual," developed by Takara, was first released in Japan in 2002 and features a m icrophone transm itter that can be attached to your dog's collar and a handheld device w here an LCD screen translates your dog's bark.

The device came to North America in 2003 , slightly modified but serving the same basic function o f ana­ lyzing a dog's bark, as well as other goodies such as a recorder for w hen the dog is hom e alone, a medical checklist and dog training tips.

The translation for the Bow-lingual is enabled by voiceprint technology, w here the dog's bark is picked up by the microphone and then compared against a

W H A T A

M A K E S

G R E A T

U N IV E R S IT Y ?

A n d H ow A re W e D o in g ?

A question and answer period on other issues and concerns will follow.

Tuesday M arch 4 , 2 0 0 8 1 2 : 0 0 p .m . 1 : 3 0 p .m .

FO O D FO R TH O U G H T

WM cGill

University Centre Students' Society Ballroom 1 3rd Floor 3480 McTavish

S e r io u s ly t a s t y

Information: Townhall@mcgil!.ca

Cookies are back in style S o p h ia K arw ow ski Long ago, when I was a sullen preteen, my father, a notorious modifier o f recipes found on the backs of bags o f flour, conjured up these babies with the aid o f a little creativity, a little genius and a little flaked coconut.

Im mediately following their debut, they soon achieved cult-like status among my circle of friends. He has since stopped baking these cookies, but here I revive them and present them to the masses in all o f their caloric glory. The recipe shown here is in its classic form, but if you have cookie hang-ups (most people do), om it some o f the mix-ins and add whatever tickles you instead.

It's o u r u n iv e r s it y .

le t's ta lk a b o u t i t ...

Ingredients: 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/3 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup butter, softened 2/3 cup chunky peanut butter 1/2 tsp. vanilla

TV Call for Submissio-

TVMcGill Presents Fokus Film Festival 2008 ay Cinema du Parc. Go to www.tvmcgiHrcom'/foKus to find can enter! m

1 egg 1 cup w hite or whole-w heat flour (or mixed) 1/2 cup quick cooking or regular oats 1 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. salt 1 cup raisins Approx. 170 oz. semisweet chocolate chips Approx 85 oz. shredded coconut

4

News:

orC ÎV M cG ill sits down with David Frum, Presiden? inside look ; TnerSpeechwriter.This must-see segment gives into m e inner-workings of one of the most controversial administra tions in recent history.

Steps:

ants: Better Late Than Never!

Beat sugars, butter, peanut butter, vanilla and egg in a bowl until creamy and well blended. Mix in flour, oats, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chips, raisins and coconut.

Using a teaspoon, scoop balls o f dough and drop, about tw o inches apart, on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes for chewy cookies, longer for crunchy. Cool for one m inute before removing from cookie sheet. ■

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FILM

Talking heads sully Julian Temple's new Joe Strummer doc J o h n S em le y It's fitting that Julian Temple's latest docu­ mentary begins like so many other zombie movies. As the credits roll over black, overlap­ ping radio voices interrupt each other in differ­ ent languages, each one announcing the death around which the rest o f the film will gravitate.

As this AM chatter fades back into the ether, Joe Strummer emerges: framed tightly, snarling the vocal track to "White Riot” through his gnarled teeth. Confronted by this image of the departed quasi-revolutionary, rock front man many times over and self-proclaimed "punk warlord" at his most elemental— unaccompanied by a band, energy focussed towards the incendiary lyrics of one of The Clash's earliest and most iconic anthems, face twisted in goofy earnestness— it becomes clear that Joe Strummer has joined the welcome ranks o f the undead. And this is how Temple sets about constructing Strummer: as a dem igod of rock and revolution whose specter hangs over popular music in as many parts per million as Elvis'.

Hey ho, Let's Joe!

Joe S trum m er: The Future is U n w ritte n is

English filmmaker Julian Temple's latest rear­ view mirror gaze at the unsullied and quicklyexhausted attitude o f the 1970 s English punk movement. In 2000 , Temple released The Filth a n d the Fury, an outstanding Sex Pistols docu­ mentary, which had the remaining members of the band telling their own story, in the form o f awkward interviews and archival footage.

Temple takes a similar approach with his latest film, incorporating interviews, archival video, still photographs and (in some o f the film's most inspired sequences) animation drawn from Strummer's own notebook marginalia to develop the legend o f the man best known as the singer/songwriter/rhythm guitarist for The Clash.

The film follows a fairly standard docum en­ tary trajectory. We begin with Joe (born John Mellor) as a kid and watch as the young rebel develops in line with nonconformist boiler­ plate. The young Strummer hears the Stones on a radio broadcast, grows his hair, leaves home as a teen to travel the English countryside, does nothing in particular for a while, gets swept up in the summer o f love and, with the times ever a-changin', soon ditches unkem pt shoulderlength locks and sandals for a close-cropped proto-punk do and crusty leather jacket. Strum­

mer, like so many streetwise youth in Eng­ land and post-Altamont America, realizes the counterfeit naïveté o f the hippies and trades in a life of vagabondism for squatting in aban­ doned London tenem ents and thrashing away at power chords as if the fate o f the universe depended on it.

powers that be"inThe Clash's music,Temple for­ gets (like so many others looking back blearyeyed on punk's roots) how great the music itself was. We're never really told why "Safe European Home" is such a great song, nevermind why "Bhindi Bhagee"may be just as good.

Clash City Rocker

Still, such lapses into tedious, sycophantic doting are rewarded by the ample footage of Strummer offered. And this itself would mean nothing if he weren't so charming, funny and (despite his consistent battles with the dem on o f "selling out") deeply sincere. Seeing a heavier, post-Clash Strummer passing out flyers to Mescaleros shows to twenty-somethings w ho may not even know w ho he is proves a compelling image, and one which speaks to the am ount

From here, the film turns into an A&E bio about The Clash for about an hour or so, follow­ ing the band from their contrived manufactur­ ing in 1976 through superstardom, addiction, firings and, inevitably, break-up in 1986 . There are some great bits in here, such as footage of early gigs where fans in dingy punk clubs would flood the stage, resulting in Strummer and his band mates taking refuge from the deluge not by ending the show, but by seeking higher ground atop their amps. But as excellent as all this is, there seems to be a lot missing. Instead o f focussing on the more interesting docu­ ments o f concerts, interviews and all the archi­ val Easter eggs that make the first part of the film so interesting, Temple instead chooses to interview a bevy of people o f note (musicians, actors,journalists, filmmakers) about the influ­ ence ofThe Clash and Strummer on their lives.

This is where The Future is U n w ritte n teeters into mawkish idol worship, with Temple fram­ ing interviewees against tagged-up bridge em ­ bankments and trashcan fires, as if they all were living Strummer's punk ethos at the very m o­ m ent the camera turned to them . While the ef­ fect is charming at first, it grows stale and takes an embarrassing turn when the likes of Johnny Depp (sporting Jack Sparrow facial hair), Bono and Buscemi enter the equation. Not only is it absurd to believe that Bono sits around open bonfires at night, musing wistfully on the pro­ found effect Strummer's music had on his life, but why should we even care? Presumably most people watching the film have a vested interest in Strummer and The Clash and would be more satisfied asking their music-savvy friends or some bus-riding young punk wearing a C o m b a t Rock logo tee about how great they are.

It's all this excessive adulation that most undermines Temple's efforts. For the film's tw o hour duration we have talking heads barking about how powerful and influential and m on­ umentally im portant Joe Strummer and The Clash are, but the uninitiated are never given insight as to w hy. For all o f .the undercurrents o f "come gather'round children" and "fight the

Strummer's Long Shadow

o f character this man possessed even after his turn on rock's pitiless carousel. The subject is eminently worthy of docum entary inquiry, but Temple stutters when trying to sum him up and would have been better served in the end to let Strummer speak for himself. Given Stummer's death in 2002 , it is understand­ able that The Future is U n w ritte n unravels as a post-mortem. Thankfully, despite the exces­ sive beatification, it is one which realizes it­ self more as a tasteful eulogy than some dull, docum entary obit. ■ Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten debuts Feb. 22 a t C inem a d u Parc (3575 Parc).

Check www.cinemaduparc.com fo r show tim es a n d tickets.

POP RHETORIC

...I'd like to t h a n k th e w rite rs SUNPREET D h ALIWAL After three unsettling months of marching around Para­ m ount studios, the Writers Guild of America strike has finally : come to an end. Considering that the Academy Awards show is less then tw o weeks away, the end o f the strike could not have come at a better time. It is quite coincidental that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are finally coming to an agreement with the Writer's Guild after three whole months of constant arguing. Mostly because the AMTP suddenly, some­ what out of the blue, agreed to a three year tentative contract for the writers to get a share o f the movies and television shows released on DVD, among other deals. Why is it that they finally agreed to make this contract now and not three months ago?

If you ask me, I would think that it probably has something to do with the perennial parade of glitz, glamour, pom p and cir­ cumstance that is the Oscars. Not only is the Academy Awards telecast the Super Bowl of overdressed awards galas, but it is also this year celebrating its 80 th anniversary. The last thing that Hollywood would want is to destroy its image and lose ratings over a strike.

Does the AMPT find it imperative that the Writers Guild should be the ones providing all the witty patter for the show?

Perhaps after watching Leno, Stewart and Colbert attem pt to handle their shows without a throng of underpaid comedic scribes, the board felt that the writing should be left to the writ­ ers and not to the celebrities.This should come as a relief to Oscar host Jon Stewart, who can take comfort in the resolution o f the strike rendering him less reliant on awkward improvisation.

The last thing anyone vested in the Academy wants to see is another sad attem pt at celebrities trying to do the job of the writ­ ers. Does the unaired Golden Globe ceremony ring a bell? The colourful event was hosted by the ever so charismatic Billy Bush and Nancy O'Dell from Access Hollywood. As much as they tried to break the tension with their tiresome humor and not so witty comments, the Golden Globes were a complete bust. Not to mention several millions o f dollars down the drain. If we learned anything from that dreadful rendition of the awards ceremony, it was that'the writing'should be left up to the writers.

But really, it's not as if anyone appreciates the writers for

their hard work in actually creating the show. When was the last tim e you actually sat down and thought, "Hey, the Oscars were good this year! Sure, Billy Crystal was charming as ever, but it was the w riters that made it a hit!"Instead, everyone is more con­ cerned about what celebrity will com m it the next fashion crime or which couple is on the verge of disaster. Either way, the hard work o f the writers is completely ignored, leaving them once again in the cold studio writers rooms, slaving away at glib sit­ com repartee and hackneyed plot devices for our favourite serial­ ized dramas. But at the end o f the day, most Yallie-bred TV writers probably prefer a fat paycheque and DVD royalties to the solidar­ ity of the picket line.

But thankfully, with the strike over, we can sit backand watch the Oscars knowing that once again, it will live up to its place as the three hour over-watched, over-paid, overly-advertised awards ceremony. But this time, take a minute and appreciate the work o f the writers. W ithout them, you probably would have had to find some other mindless act to occupy your brain during reading w e e k .*

29.08.08•TheMcGillTribune•15

www.mcgilltribune.com SPEAKER

A w a k e , a w a r e a n d o n lin e Gilberto Gil on digital culture and politics R enée S utton Digital culture can help prom ote political change, claimed Brazilian Minster o f Culture and Grammy award­ w inning singer-songwriter Gilberto Gil in a lecture last Fri­ day at the Omni Hotel. Speaking about the role o f mass media in today's society, Gil offered a refreshing perspec­ tive on Internet rights, copyright and digital culture. The lecture was sponsored by Media@McGill and the McGill Institute for the Study o f Canada.

"There is a general feeling o f there being no hope on the horizon for humanity, particularly w hen we see so much violence and corruption everywhere, in com m uni­ ties and in governments,"Gil said. He countered such pes­ simism, however, by insisting that new forms o f culture can advance political change.

"Radical changes are only possible at specific histori­ cal moments," he said."Cultural, environm ental and digital policies can play a fundam ental role in the reshaping o f traditional political systems."

As the Brazilian Minister o f Culture, Gil has made ef­ forts to com bine digital technologies w ith social capa­ bilities, such as the construction o f hundreds o f "cultural hot spots," where under-privileged people have access to free computers, software and the Internet. According to Gil, the Internet has created a space where people have the ability to be autonom ous and free from governm ent control.

"Many cultures need to learn that digital technologi­

cal devices are tools for better cultural performance," he said."Social change starts w hen we can all understand cy­ berspace as a territory o f our own."

As a musician, Gil is a long-tim e proponent o f politi­ cal activism. During the 1960 s he was an integral part of the Müsica Popular Brasileira m ovem ent and was arrested in 1968 for 'anti-governm ent activity.' Today, Gil is a sup­ porter o f artist's rights, but still strongly advocates more leniency in digital property regulation. By his reckoning, the ability to publish and to share one's own creation is essential in achieving self-empowerment.

"A person should learn to upload before they learn to download," he added. In Brazil, he explained, many tal­ ented individuals, such as musicians and athletes, are not given the recognition they deserve, w hile fame and for­ tune goes to producers, agents, and other business peo­ ple. This kind o f exploitation can be avoided in the digital world, he proposed, by putting artists more directly in the spotlight.

Even digital revolutions have seen enormous resis­ tance, however, and corporations and governments have tried to block new possibilities. Gil did not deny the nega­ tive sides to these technologies and the fact that they can be used against social interest, but stressed the im por­ tance o f both humanizing and politicizing them.

"We must make them available," he said, "otherwise they m ight fall into politician's hand, and we all know what that means." ■

FILM J

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Christensen stiff as ever in lead role S a m J essula David Rice's childhood resembles any superhero's home life: he doesn't have any friends in school and his m other left him at age five w ith a drunk and abusive fa­ ther. Thankfully, Rice has the uncanny ability to teleport and therefore splits the first chance he gets. In the blink of an eye, he travels from New York to Egypt and still has tim e for a one night stand in London. As cool as that sounds, he's also hunted dow n by Paladins, power-jealous evil ge­ niuses w ho have decided to rid the world o f potential su­ perheroes w ho m ight im pede their nefarious ambitions.

In a nutshell, that is the plot o f Ju m p er, w hich portrays Hayden Christensen as the globetrotter w ho defies the laws o f physics.

Christensen plays a real, ugh, "Skywalker" this time, and even though this epic tale is set today, he essentially reprises his S ta r W ars role— a kid w ith a miserable child­ hood, dum ped in a small tow n, know ing he was m eant for greatness and possessing an ability that none other than God should have. As much as he tries, Christensen is inca­ pable o f conveying em otion and seems like the shell o f a man w ho has lost his personality on the set o f his last film (right there along w ith his self respect as an actor). The other characters are on the same level as the protagonist.

Samuel L. Jackson is particularly bad at playing the evil, conniving and spiritually m otivated Paladin. He lacks the essential flair any good villain has and is incapable o f tem ­ pering his age w ith the w isdom th a t should com e w ith it.

The com ic relief o f the movie was supposed to be brought by the other ju m per character, yet he comes o ff as just another high school geek w ho lives vicariously through his X-box.The only diam ond in the rough is Rachel Bilson's Millie, w ho isn't overly developed, but is pretty enough

Be one of the first to come by our office, Room 110 in the Shatner Building, with this ad for your chance to win passes to the Montreal advance screening of

VANTAGE POINT CAN YOU SOLVE THE PUZZLE?

ROTTENTOMATOES.COM Hayden snags prim e seats for the Floyd reunion. to grace the audience w ith a w elcom e distraction from Ju m per's petty scraps o f plotline.

It is rather ironic th a t a movie that travels the world inside and out actually goes nowhere dramatically. At the same time, it makes sense that w hen presenting a pro­ tagonist w ho takes so many shortcuts, the director Doug Liman allowed himself the liberty o f cutting a few corners himself. Indeed, the grand reunion o f the hero and the heroine is brought dow n to a bar fight; the expected con­ frontation between the main character and his abusive/ drunk father is sliced into a tw o word exchange, and the final battle o f the mortal enemies is cut to a sissy fight.

To be fair, this movie is not all bad. It has the poten­ tial to be an action hit, yet the problem remains that the actors don't hit anything, they just avoid each other by teleporting left and right. The action sequences are quite baffling, and one is surprised at being capable o f follow ­ ing the fig h t scenes despite the constant rupturing o f the space continuum .

As a whole, Ju m p er's gim m ick wears thin and the movie falls apart in front o f the spectator's eyes, w ho may find himself wishing he could ju m p out o f the movie th e ­ atre to a less uncom fortable setting.The film cannot even claim originality, as anyone going to see that movie has already heard o f Hiro Nakamura from NBC's H ero es (who w ould kick Christensen's ass in a fight). This film serves its purpose as an entertaining tw o hours, yet in the end can be stacked up on the shelf right next to all the other disap­ pointing, overly publicized action flicks. ■ Jumper is p la y in g a t the A M C Fo rum (2131 S te -C a th a rin e www.cinemamontreal.com fo r show tim es, o r g o

W). C h e ck

JUMPERTHEMOVIE.COM He's had it w ith these em -f'ing teleporters.

POLARISMUSICPRIZE.COM G ilberto Gil: Cultural revolutionary, exem plary physical specimen.

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PUU.HC AVENU!

16•Arts&Entertainment •29.08.08

TheMcGillTribune

COMEDY

S a m m y 's b a c k Local comic to close world tour at Comedyworks

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S teve M cBean o f B.C. b ased p sych-rock outfit Black M ountain talks s h o p with A&E. C heck it o u t online at www.mcgilltribune.com.

L a u r a T in d a l Montreal-born comedian Sugar Sammy has found himself on a pretty wild ride during the past few years.

Voted Montreal's favourite comedian three years running by the M o n tre a l M ir­ ror, there's no corner of the globe he's left untouched in his touring schedule, having performing in venues as far away as Ireland, Holland, Hong Kong, Los An­ geles and Dubai. Now finishing up his Canadian tour to promote his recent comedy CD D o w n w ith the Brown, this multilingual Montrealer (he speaks Hindi, Punjabi, French and English, like a good Indo-Quebecois boy should) is gearing up for three hom etown performances starting on Feb. 28 at Comedyworks.

"I'm very Montreal,"Sammy boasted.

SUGARSAMMY.COM "You see me, you speak to me, and if I told Sammy th e comic heartthrob. you I was from Montreal, you wouldn't be surprised. We're a special breed."Raised in an East-lndian household in French Canada, he blames his first viewing o f Eddie Murphy's stand-up film D elirious at the age of eight for his subsequent descent into the world of comedy.

"I was like 'I love him! I want to be like him!"'Sammy said, after seeing that Murphy's comedy could win over even his skeptical parents. "They call and check how each and every show went," Sammy said o f his supportive parents.

"They're sometimes a little bit too involved, to the point where I think they're managing m e more than my manager is. It's cute."Growing up, Sammy's house­ hold was never very traditional, but his Indian background and his Francophone environment provided plenty of material for his early sets, which were filled with commentary on the climate of multiculturalism he'd experienced growing up.

These days, Sammy's shows draw largely from his experiences in the last couple years, rather than the ethnic humour that caused many people to call him the next Russell Peters.

"I think I've done it enough, the whole ethnic angle. It's been overdone.

Now everywhere I go every comedian is doing it, so I sort o f want to drop that," he said. His upcoming shows contain a surfeit o f new material, exploring a wide range of stand-up standbys such as family, success and bad luck with women.

"It's sort of a psychological breakdown o f who you are," Sammy said of the art of stand-up. "Everything I talk about is stuff that's happened to me.

It's not observations, it's very personal experience." And Sammy certainly has a breadth o f good experiences to choose from. Last fall he opened for Dave Chappelle in Toronto.

"It's probably the most nervous I've ever been," Sammy said of working alongside an idol."Chappelle liked [my set] so m uch...he took the accountant aside and said 'Look, I want you to double this guy's pay.' He ripped my cheque and doubled my pay. It was the best day of my career." But even after selling 10,000 tickets for his one-man show in South Africa, it's headlining back in M on­ treal that Sugar Sammy is really excited about.

"I've been home a total o f tw o months out of twelve. I'm so happy to come back. I have so many jokes that are so Montreal based, just for the city, so it's a very special set when I come back home.''B

STOP IN AT H&R BLOCK

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START SPENDING

S ugar S am m y takes th e stage a t C om edyw orks (1238 Bishop) Feb. 28 — M a rch 1 Tickets are 575. Check www.comedyworks.com fo r showtim es.

S t u d e n t s , c o m e in f o r R e v ie w

y o u r ta x

Out to Lunch. Excuse m e W hile I d o th e B oo g a loo . Acid jazz often has the habit o f becom ing background music. Go to any posh bar or restaurant and you are pretty much promised the sound o f reverbed horns over electronic beats, though you probably won't be listening very closely. But David Levy and O ut to Lunch don't w ant their music to just slip to the back o f listeners' minds. Levy makes clear in his liner notes that even though he loves the complexity o f improvisation, he also knows his James Brown and funk as well as the power o f a strong repetitive groove. By using the force o f a groove with jazz improvisation he hopes the tw o musical styles will "Buttress each other, augm enting the effect that each possesses,” but sadly for Out to Lunch, the grooves and vamps in their music often don't carry the w eight they should. The lesson they didn't fully learn from James Brown was that a respectable groove needs a good hook and a strong vamp needs a mem orable melody, both o f which are lacking on Excuse M e W hile I D o the B oogaloo. The music does do cool things with different genres and shows great skill, but it is missing the anchors it needs to keep from meandering.This isn't true o f all the songs, as "Me and Minskers" proves, with its lean baseline and tasty soprano sax, but as a whole, this album is far from attention grab­ bing. It will please jazz enthusiasts, but it doesn't stand out in its genre.

— Geoffrey A nstey

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S p o r ts H O C K E Y — R E D M E N 5, CA R LETO N 3

R e d m e n p l u c k R a v e n s f o r s e r ie s v i c t o r y McGill now squares off against oldest rival for trip to QSSF final “Carleton has a really good first line and they gave us a tough game," said Raymond. "But we certainly took it to them in terms of the speed of the gam e and were able to take a good enough lead to close the door at the end."

Forward Guillaume Demers opened the scoring for McGill when he snapped the puck past Carleton goaltender Doug Jewer at the 1:03 mark of the first period. Demers's goal set a school playoff record for fastest opening marker by a Redmen player.

The Redmen would then double their lead before the end of the first frame when sniper Mathieu Leclerc converted on a power-play opportunity with winger Adam Marriner in the box for interference.

After Carleton's Justin Caruana spoiled Poitras's shutout bid early in the second period to make it 2 - 1 , defenceman Ken Morin put the gam e out of reach with a cannon of a slapshot that gave the veteran rearguard his first playoff goal after failing to score in the regular season.

Sam Bloom, on a beautiful rush capped by a great deke, and Eric L'Italien would also tally for the Red'n'White to com plete the first gam e rout.

M att C hesser The McGill Redmen notched tw o quick wins last week against their newest rival, the Carleton Ravens, in order to set up a playoff series w ith one o f their oldest foes, the Queen's Golden Gaels.

The Redmen swept the OUA East quarterfinal against the expansion Ravens team, w ith a 5-1 victory on Wednesday at Mc­ Connell Arena and a 5-3 w in on Friday night at the Carleton Ice House. The series victory sets up just the second playoff chapter in the fourth-longest rivalry in hockey history dating back to 1895 , as McGill meets the Queen's Golden Gaels in the best-of-three OUA East semifinal beginning on Wednesday. The semi-final m atch-up w ill be the first tim e in 98 years that the tw o teams have squared o ff in the playoffs.

"For university hockey and hockey at McGill it's really neat that we get to play Queen's," said McGill Head Coach Martin Ray­ mond. "It's not som ething that's going to change the way we prepare for games, but as a form er player, and now a coach, I cer­ tainly appreciate being able to play one o f the old four teams."

Closing it out

Strong first game

McGill opened the post-season with an impressive 5-1 vic­ tory on hom e ice on Wednesday night.The Redmen got markers from five different players, and Mathieu Poitras made 22 saves to power the Red 'n'White to victory.

Game tw o of the quarterfinals proved to be a tougher test for the Redmen, as the Ravens tried to avoid their first series loss since the original incarnation o f the Carleton squad was defeated 3 3 yearsago. ........ .............. ......... .

With the teams tied at three goals apiece after tw o periods of play, McGill's Vincent Lambert notched the gam e-winning goal on a shorthanded rush at 4:40 of the third period. Centre Benoit Arsenault would add an em pty net marker to seal the win and the series with five seconds re­ maining in the game.

"Obviously we knew they were going to give us a tougher gam e than they did on Wednes­ day,"said Raymond. "Our special teams got us out o f trouble and we played a strong third period, but it wasn't a great gam e for us.

But they had their back against the wall and we managed to play well enough to take the gam e away from them , so that's

ADAM SCOTTI something."

Despite G Doug Jewer's painful effort, Eric L'Italien lifts the puck into the yawning cage.

Also scoring for McGill were

ADAM SCOTTI The series proved not to be much o f a faceoff.

Morin, Bloom and Shawn Shewchuk, while Mathieu Poitras made

21 saves to pick up his 81 st career victory in red and white. In w in­

ning, the goalie captured some vindication after losing the top slot in a disasterous performance during last year's postseason series against Concordia.

The tenth-ranked Redmen open the OUA East semi-final against Queen's in Kingston on Wednesday and then return to McConnell Arena for gam e tw o on Friday at 7 p.m. If necessary, gam e three will be played at the Kingston Memorial Centre on Saturday night.

McGill finished the regular season with eight more points than Queen's but the Golden Gaels were seeded higher by virtue o f winning their division. In their tw o meetings this season the Redmen have outscored the Gaels by a 16-3 margin. ■

T H IR D M A N IN

T h e fo o ls o n t h e Hill oger Clemens is a com plete prick. Anyone w ho has watched even the least bit o f baseball over the last tw o decades knows that there is nary a more disloyal w ind­ bag in the sport— maybe in all professional sports. He has made a living— albeit an extraordinarily successful one— out o f shilling himself out to the highest bidder and acting as MLB's foremost mercenary. Clemens, in w hat was surely a first-ballot Hall o f Fame career, has made pit stqps in Boston,Toronto, Yan­ kee Stadium and in his native Texas w ith the Houston Astros, leaving every franchise ignom iniously and usually leaving fans harbouring a seething hatred.

R

After seemingly flaming out in 1996 , after four seasons over which he w ent an embarrassing 40 - 39 , Red Sox GM Dan Duquette infamously claimed that the increasingly doughy Cle­ mens was "in the twilight o f his career"and shipped The Rocket to Toronto; since then, the not-so-washed-up Clemens has col­ lected four Cy Young Awards (he already had three in Boston), a pitching triple crown, tw o World Series titles, a sparkling 156-67 record and posted arguably his most dominant season in 2005 when he tossed a shocking 1.87 ERA at the age of 42 . As a gen­ eral rule, athletes aren't like fine wine: they don't get better with age, a. maxim even more ironclad when considering flame­ throwing pitchers like Clemens whose arms tend to explode by their mid-to-late 30 s, not become more commanding. His career defied all baseball and sporting convention and now, thanks to the testimony of his former trainer, Brian McNamee,

in the Mitchell Report, it seems it's pretty obvious why.

Despite all this, however, Clemens didn't deserve the lynching he suffered at the hands of that Congressional freak show last week. In front of the same governmental jury— the House Com m ittee on Oversight and Government Reform— that investigated baseball's drug testing policies and subpoe­ naed MLB stars such as Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmiero several years ago due to the fallout from the BALCO scandal and Jose Canseco's whistle-blowing book, Clemens was skewered by politicians eager for their face tim e on na­ tional television. While the House Committee, claiming total impartiality, did manage to lob a few shots across McNamee's bow— after all, he was only down table from Roger— the pro­ ceedings were disgustingly aimed at chopping Clemens down as each representative individually waxed philosophical at the pitcher's expense.

While it's debatable if such a tax-funded government board should even be bothering with baseball's regulation of drug use, especially while a war rages on in Iraq and America's social security system crumbles, the hypocrisy of the kangaroo court was appalling. American authorities have always claimed in their infinite War on Drugs that the priority is the targeting of dealers and not individual users, yet on Capitol Hill, U.S. law­ makers savaged the high-profile user and, with a few excep­ tions, gave the steroid-dealing McNam ee a relatively easy ride.

Furthermore, the com m ittee praised fellow Yankee and Astros

A aro n S igal

pitcher, as well as Clemens's best friend, Andy Petittite for being so honest, forthcoming and responsible for coming clean about his dabbling in a little HGH. Petittite was accused in the same Mitchell Report as Clemens of taking the very same drugs and committing the very same crimes as his buddy; although The Rocket denied the findings, Petittite came clean about his one tim e use o f McNamee-supplied HGH, but if the report had never surfaced, you can be assured that the southpaw starter would've never felt his deep conscience knawing at him. Even then, however, Petititte still lied. It turns out that only under Congressional subpoena did he tell the full truth about taking performance-enhancing drugs given to him by his father. So basically, Petittite cheated and then lied twice about it, but still became Congress's golden boy.

The assassination of Clemens was a complete sideshow as noted the very next day by a falsely-apologetic Henry Waxman, chairman of the com m ittee and blowhard extraordinaire, who claimed regret forthe proceedings of the McCarthy-esque show trial. Steroids in sports is one o f the few issues the public is very clearly against and, as a result, every politicians is vying for TV tim e to vent their moral outrage on such a softball position. The Congressional witch-hunt is a way for people like Waxman, a Californian Democrat who no one had ever heard from before or will know of again after the drug issue fades away, to get their 15 minutes of fame. Sorry it had to come at your expense, Roger. ■

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18-Sports -19.02.08

TheMcGillTribune

Q U O T E O F TH E WEEK:

H O C K E Y — M ARTLETS 5, C O N C O R D IA 0

"The guy I voted for had power and imaaistration. He took it, my vote is him and I'm stick­ ing with it."

— D a rry l "C h o co la te T h u n d er" D a w k in s on vo tin g for D w ig h t H o w a rd a s N BA S la m D u n k C h a m p io n .

M c G ill s tre a k s in t o p la y o f f s Martlets are heavy favourites to win title M att C hesser New England, eat your heart out.

The McGill Martlets capped off a perfect 18-0 regular season last Sunday afternoon by defeating the Concor­ dia Stingers 5-0 at McConnell Arena. McGill's 18 victories set a QSSF record for wins in a single season and marks the first tim e in their history the Martlets have finished undefeated in regular season play.

"I give the team a lot of credit for earning this record," said McGill Head Coach Peter Smith. "Going undefeated in the regular season is a nice milestone but it doesn't mean anything when you get to the playoffs. A whole new season starts now and it's the one we care about."

It was fitting that Sunday afternoon's victory came against the last team to go undefeated and untied in the Quebec conference— the Stingers, w ho did so in the 1999-2000 season. Concordia dom inated the CIS in the '90 s but have fallen on tough times in the new ! millennium and were outscored 41-3 in seven meetings | against the Martlets this season.

Goose egg

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Research project to investigate the effect of beta-blockers on acute pain perception

In typical fashion, Charline Labonté m ade 15 saves j to earn yet another shutout for McGill and tie a pair of : records in the process. Her 11 th shutout o f the season j tied the CIS mark set in 2002-03 by form er McGill net- | minder Kim St-Pierre, and her 17 wins this year matched j the QSSF record she set last season. The Olympic gold i medal winning goaltender also helped McGill set a [ Quebec conference record by allowing just nine goals ) against in 18 games.

J ADAMSCOTTI She didn't see much action against the Stingers, however, as her teammates dom inated their cross-town 1FJordanna Peroff prepares to unload a bomb. rivals— finishing the gam e with a 45-15 edge in shots on open Anne-Sophie Bettez in front o f the net. The rookie goal. sniper m ade no mistake with the gift-wrapped feed, slid­ "Concordia's a hard-working team and it didn't help ing the puck through Doyon-Lessard's five-hole to notch that we had a slow start tonight," said defenceman Cath­ erine Ward, w ho finished with a goal and an assist. "But her 15th goal o f the season.

Kate Elzinga and Shauna Denis would round out the our energy level picked up as the gam e w ent along. It was Martlet scoring, notching a pair o f McGill markers just 16 special for us to set some Martlet history by getting the seconds apart, late in the third period. win, but we're really just focussed on the playoffs now.”

"Tonight wasn't really about the record for us," Denis McGill opened the scoring late in the second period, after almost 38 minutes o f scoreless hockey, when a point said. "It was more about staying on a roll for the playoffs shot from, blueliner Gillian Merrifield hit a Concordia player and not allowing Concordia to steal any m om entum . I on the way to the net and floated over the left shoulder of don't think anyone m entioned [the perfect record] until after the game." goaltender Audrey Doyon-Lessard. Merrifield's third goal of the season would prove to be the game-winner.

The real season begins Ward, w ho returned to the lineup after missing three The first-ranked Martlets open post-season play on games with a deep tissue bruise on her left foot, touched off a four-goal third period by launching a howitzer past Wednesday at 7 p.m. at McConnell Arena in a best-of-three semifinal against the Stingers. Game tw o is scheduled for the glove o f a screened Doyon-Lessard. The All-Canadian Friday at 7 p.m. at the Ed Meagher Arena and, if neces­ rearguard would also pick up an easy assist just over five sary, a third gam e would be played at McConnell Arena minutes later, feeding the puck to Vanessa Davidson, who drew tw o Concordia defenders before spotting a w ide- on Sunday at 1 p.m. ■

H e a lt h y M a le V o lu n t e e r s PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Dr. Francesco Carli,

Department ofAnesthesia.

Montreal General Hospital

CANDIDATE P R O FILE • • •

AGE 18-45 YEARS GOOD HEALTH NON SMOKER

Length of the study: 3 sessions. Each session lasts 3-4 hrs.

Place: Montreal General Hospital, 10thfloor.

COMPENSATION PROVIDED For more information Pleasecontact: Dr. Yasser Abulhasan- e-mail: yasser.abulhasan@mail.mcgill.ca Dr Vesselina Koeva - e-mail: vesselinakoeva@yahoo.com Dr.F. Carli - e-mail: franco.carli@mcgill.ca

ADAM SCOTTI Caroline Hill (6) and Alyssa Cecere try to fish th e puck o ut o f a goalm outh scrum.

19.02.08•Sports • 19

www.mcgilltribune.com ON DECK Women's Hockey—QSSF semifi­ nal: Concordia Stingers at McGill Martlets; Wednesday, 7 p m. at McConnell Arena

A fter finishing th e regular season j w ith an u n b le m is h e d 18 -0 record, | | th e M a rtle ts look to avoid an.early j | p lay o ff e x it1 in th e ir first round I m e e tin g w ith th e C oncordia j Stingers. The Martlets- have o u tscored C oncordia by a 4 1-3 m argin in seven gam es, so th ere is really no reason to e x p e c t this series to need m ore th an tw o g a m e s jn this b e s t-o f-th re e m atch -u p . There is a d e fin ite possibility th a t th e M a rt­ lets could run th e ta b le from here until th e N ation al C ham pionships.

If th e y pull th a t off, th e n th ey w o u ld not have lost a regular sea­ son or playo ff g a m e all year. This is history in th e m aking; tru st us, go w a tc h th em .

S p o r ts B rie fs Redmen finishfourth at QSSF badminton championships

The McGill Redmen badm inton team fin­ ished fourth at the Quebec provincial champi­ onship tournam ent after a pair of 3-2 setbacks to Laval in the semi-final and then to Sherbrooke in the bronze medal match on Saturday.

The format was three singles matches and tw o doubles matches per round.

Highlights were Mathieu Laforest and Kevin Major-Hansford's flawless performances in the num ber one and num ber three-seeded singles match-ups, respectively. Both won their matches against Laval and Sherbrooke in tw o straight games.

Rookie Thomas Grace nearly defeated Laval's second-seeded singles player, which would have put McGill in the gold medal match against M on­ treal, the eventual victor.

women's volleyball All-Stars in voting conducted by the league's coaches.

Thomson was named to the six-member first team, while Kelsey Irwin, Valérie Savard and Gillian Johnson each made the second squad.

McGill tied with the division-leading M on­ treal Carabins for most All-Stars.

Thomson earned all-conference honours for the third straight year. The 21 -year-old finished third among QSSF scoring leaders and 11 th in the nation, with an average o f 4.03 points per game.

She was third among conference kill leaders (3 .67) and fourth in digs (4 .12 ).

Irwin, a m iddle blocker, was eighth in the league scoring race, averaging 3-43 points per gam e.The 19 -year-old ranked fourth in kill percent­ age (0 .35 ) and seventh in kills per gam e (2 .83).

Savard, a setter, was sixth in assists per game (6 .4 ) and 14 th in digs per gam e (2 .4 )

Volleyball Martlets get four All-Stars

McGill grabs five golds at track and field meet

Power-hitter Jennifer Thomson was one of four McGill Martlets named Quebec university

McGill athletes captured five gold medals at the McGill University All-Comers track and field

m eet held at the Richard Tomlinson Fieldhouse on Friday and Saturday.

For the Redmen, Keith Esch won the triple jum p (13 .15 m) and was second in the high jum p (1 .85 m).

On the women's side, the 4 x 800 relay squad, which finished first overall, had the best McGill re­ sult o f the weekend, clocking the third fastest Ca­ nadian Interuniversity Sport thus far this season.

The winning quartet was composed of leadoff runner Trish Muddim an, Heather McCurdy, D ebo­ rah Lightman and Catherine Drouin-Audet.

Lightman also won the 1500 m (4 :42 .32 ) and Zaria Stoffman grabbed a gold medal in the high jum p (1 .56 m), edging out team m ate Alana Battiston, and was second in the 60 m hurdles.

The team's final gold was produced by the women's 4 x400 relay (3 :57.19 ), composed of Fatihat Mom oh, Battiston, Hilary Kellar-Parsons and Drouin-Audet.

Battiston also w on bronze in the shotput, while McCurdy (silver, triple jum p) and Muddim an (bronze, 1000 m) also medaled in other events.

Men's Hockey—OUA East semi­ final: Queen's Golden Gaels at McGill Redmen; Friday, 7 p.m. at McConnell Arena

G am e tw o o f th e b e s t-o f-th re e OUA East sem ifinal m oves back to M cC on nell A rena, as th e fo u rth old est rivalry in hockey history sees its first p lay o ff gam es in 98 years. Put o ff your reading w eek plans for an extra day, because university sports at M cG ill d o n 't g e t any b e tte r th an Q u een's-M cGill hockey. W h en else can you g e t dru nk w ith over one thousand fe llo w students and ch an t a b o u t G o ld en Gael hockey players c o m ­ m ittin g bestiality?

Soccer—McGill Indoor Classic Soccer Tournament; March 1-2 at the Tomlinson Fieldhouse

Both th e M artlets and R edm en, as w ell as som e M cG ill alu m n i, are am o n g th e 20 team s ta kin g p a r ti in th e seven-on-seven in d o o r j to u rn a m e n t at th e Tom linson j Fieldhouse on th e first w e e k e n d ] o f M arch. The to u rn a m e n t kicks o ff on Saturday at 10 a.m. and concludes w ith th e finals on Sun­ day at 6 p.m . If you're back in to w n at th e end o f reading break stop by th e Fieldhouse to catch som e h ig h -le ve l "footy" w ith o u t having to freeze your nuts o ff outside.

NHL—Detroit Red Wings at Van­ couver Canucks; Saturday, 10 p.m. at General Motors Place; CBC

The n ig h tca p o f CBC's trip le -h e a d ­ er Saturday m ig h t n o t be as e n ­ te rta in in g as last w eek's CanucksOilers slugfest— w h ic h fe atu re d 14 fig h tin g m ajors— b ut th e Red W ings are looking to halt th e ir longest losing streak o f th e sea­ son and V ancouver is fig h tin g for a p la y o ff spot in th e ridiculously c o m p e titiv e W estern conference, so it should be a g o o d one. The b a ttle o f th e Sw edes alw ays makes for good h ockey— bo th gam es b e tw e e n D e tro it and V ancouver so far this year have been d e cid e d by a single g o a l— and R oberto Luongo is w o rth w a tc h in g re g ard ­ less o f ho w his te a m plays. Plus, I'm sick o f re c o m m e n d in g Habs, Leafs and Senators gam es so this g e ttin g .

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S P R IN G

2008

R e fe re n d a

Notice of Questions/Call for Committees

W h e r e a s the title of Chief Returning Officer is a m isnom er and

W h e r e a s th e s e students groups and fees at McGill including, but

meaningless,

limited to, th e SSMU Referral Services Fee (funding Q u eer McGill,

W h e r e a s th e Chief Electoral Officer is th e title used by Elections

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Midnight Kitchen, QPIRG, SSMU Library fund, SSMU Environment

Do you ag ree to th e following constitutional a m e n d m e n ts ?

Fee, SSMU Campus Life Fund, SSMU Bursary Fund, Radio CKUT, QPIRG, McGill Tribune, Arts Student Employment Fund, and the

All references to Chief Returning Officer or CRO be changed to C hief Electoral Officer or CEO. All references to Deputy Returning Officer or DRO be changed to Deputy C hief Electoral Officer or DCEO

Yes/No

Arts U ndergraduate Im provem ent Fund, each contribute uniquely to stu d en t life and learning on McGill cam pus; W h e r e a s th e s e stu d en t groups are c o m m itted to keeping online opt-outs accessible t o students; W h e r e a s th e op t-ou t system c re a te d and administered by th e McGill administration denies th e s e stu d en t groups th e right to

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administer their own fees;

M em orandum of A g reem en t (MoA) with McGill University, to produce annual audited financial s t a te m e n ts ; and W h e r e a s th e nomination of auditors w as presen ted at t h e regular W inter General Assembly, which failed to attain quorum ; and W h e r e a s th e auditors must be nom inated in o rd er t o perform an audiot of th e SSMU; and

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A L L

F O R M S

A V A IL A B L E

A T

w w w .e le c t io n s m c g ill.c a

As a "Yes Committee" has already been formed, students may only form a "No Committee" for this referendum

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