The McGill Tribune Vol. 28 Issue 17

PLAYERS' BREAKS OUT OF THE ASYLUM, PAGE 14

EASY, BREEZY, BEAUTIFUL, CARCINOGENS, PAGES 10 & 11

The M cG ill

Tribune blished by the Students'Society of McGill University

www.mcgilltribune.com

Volume 28 Issue 17 • January 20, 2009

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it PLUS POURtf®® monstrators chanted slogans in French outside the First Ministers'Conference in Ottawa on Friday, where Quebec Premier Jean Charest (centre) and Prime Minister Stephen Harper |M

both spoke.

Harper, premiers talk Senior Fellow Couillard implicated in inquiry îconomic strategy eaders present unified stance at irst Ministers' Conference T heo Meyer Prime Minister Stephen Harper consolited support from provincial and territorial Bmiers on Friday in Ottawa at a First Min­ ers' Conference called to discuss a coortated response to the national economic sis. The premiers and the prime minister esented a unified front for action on an onomic stimulus package, increased la>ur mobility, credit availability, and investsnt in infrastructure.

The premiers had originally asked to eet with the prime minister on the econny shortly after the federal election, but irper declined an invitation to the Council the Federation meeting in Montreal on

McGill ATHLETICS & RECREATION

October 20. Friday's conference offered the premiers a rare opportunity to influence the federal budget, which the prime minister is planning to release on January 27.

The prime minister repeatedly stated that his upcoming budget would necessi­ tate running a federal deficit, but that deficit spending is only a temporary measure.

"We are in a situation where we know there's money out there," Harper said. "This is a time for the government to come for­ ward, borrow that money at very low inter­ est rates, and make sure that money is put to work in the economy."

The premiers largely agreed with the See PRIME MINISTER on Page 2

Controversy surrounds lobby activity of Persistence Capital Partners T homas Q uail On January 9, Quebec's Lobbyists Com­ missioner André Côté announced an inquiry into potentially illegal lobby activity surround­ ing the office of former minister of health and social services Dr. Philippe Couillard, a senior fellow in health law at McGill.

In an interview with Radio-Canada, Lob­ byists Commissioner spokesperson Pierre Morin explained that the Commissioner had "reason to believe" shareholders of Persistence Capital Partners, an investment group with private health care interests, had violated the Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Act. Ac­ cording to Morin, the Commissioner alleges PCP shareholders met with Couillard without

Hockey

Basketball

Ottawa vs. Martlets January 24 at 14h00

Double-header against Bishop’s January 24

Ottawa vs. Redmen January 24 at 19h00

Martlets game at 18h00 Redmen game at 20h00

registering as lobbyists. Under the act, "every person considered a lobbyist... must be regis­ tered in the registry of lobbyists."

On June 25, 2008, Couillard resigned as Quebec's health and social services minister.

Two months later, he accepted a partnership with PCP. La Presse then revealed that Couil­ lard had held meetings with the firm's share­ holders while he was still in office. Couillard has admitted he held talks with PCP during that time, but said that the talks were of a gen­ eral nature only.

However, the Commissioner's inquiry doesn't implicate Couillard directly.

"We're not inquiring into Dr. Couillard ...

See COUNCIL on Page 2

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COVER PHOTOS BY ADAM SCt

CAMPUS

Council concerned with new posting Munroe-Blum: 'I'm not big on allegations' i

Continued from COVER

this is a nuance we want to stress," said Morin in an interview with the Tri­ bune.

One day before the Commissioner's announcement, McGill appointed Couillard as a senior fellow in health law. According to McGill's press release, dated January 8, the former health minister's mandate includes "coordinat­ ing the reflection on public policy related to health care, considering both national and international perspectives. He will also participate in teaching, special lectures, and research activities related to health and law."Couillard's tenure began on January 1.

In the same press release, Couillard said that "It is with great pleasure that I join McGill in the establishment of an open academic forum where all views will be welcome and debated, in keeping with the tradition of excel­ lence of this world-class institution."

At last Thursday's Students'Society Legislative Council meeting, Princi­ pal Heather Munroe-Blum fielded student concerns about Couillard's prox­ imity to the investigation and involvement with a company that supports investment in private healthcare "If [there is concern] that [Couillard] is corrupted, I think there's no re­ cord of that and I'm not big on allegations ... If the concern is that he's someone who moved out of the public health sector into private health­ care— having people who represent different points of view in the area of public policy is really good," Munroe-Blum said. "We like debate, if we can't have open, contentious debate in a university then I don't know where we can have it."

Student leaders were surprised by the controversial appointment, but maintained that McGill should be a venue for different ideas, especially con­ cerning healthcare policy.

"I have a lot of trouble with the idea that [McGill] wouldn't wait to see this cloud lift over this individual. ... But, at McGill, we need to be able to hear all points of view," said Students' Society Vice-President University Af­ fairs Nadya Wilkinson.

Wilkinson also said she would continue to bring the Couillard appoint­ ment up with administrators.

"If what [SSMU President] Kay [Turner] and I hear is that students want us to act on this, then we will," she said.

Couillard did not respond to the Tribune's request for an interview. ■

PHOTOS BY ADAM SC Clockwise from top left: Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, British Columbia Premier Gordon Campt Manitoba Premier Gary Doer, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Newfoundland and Labrador Pren Danny Williams in Ottawa on Friday.

NATIONAL

Prime minister calls for federal deficit spendinç Campbell says it "is not time for an election" at meeting in Ottawa Continued from COVER

prime minister on the necessity of deficit spending.

"I totally concur with the prime minister. We have to make sure these are short-term and not long-term structural deficits," British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell said.

"These are short-term investments we're making in the fu­ ture of the country."

Campbell went further in his support for Harper than most of the premiers in attendance, hinting that he would not support the proposed Liberal-NDP coalition in a vote of confidence on the budget.

"To be candid ... I believe that what we need right now is stability," Campbell said. "I think we need stability for the long term. I think that's what people are expecting. I think that's what we all have an obligation to try and deliver. It is not time for an election."

Early in the afternoon, the premiers and the prime min­ ister achieved a breakthrough on two amendments to the Agreement on Internal Trade, both designed to increase in­ terprovincial labour mobility.

"The original trade agreement was signed in 1995, but it suffered from a number of inadequacies in terms of a re­ ally effective internal trade document that was enforceable for the people of Canada," Manitoba Premier Gary Doer said.

"The premiers committed themselves a few years ago to en­ suring that we had ... a dispute resolution mechanism that had teeth."

The new dispute resolution mechanism will provide for penalties of $150,000 to $5 million designed to increase com­ pliance with the AIT. The agreement will also make it easier for workers certified in one province to work in another, ef­ fective April 1,2009.

Later in the afternoon, the premiers and prime minister announced more general agreements on ensuring credit availability and increasing federal infrastructure funding.

Quebec Premier Jean Charest reminded reporters of his province's commitment to increased infrastructure spending and called on the federal government to do the same.

"In Quebec alone over the next 10 years, we'll be spend­

ing $70 billion. These are record numbers on energy and frastructure,"Charest said.

Though neither the premiers nor the prime minis specifically discussed increasing funding for post-second education, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall suggested vestments in universities might be part of more general frastructure spending.

"We have said that the definition around infrastructi needs to be flexible, and I heard the prime minister toe agree that that needs to be the case that infrastructure our country includes post-secondary facilities ... as well the public works, the highways that we traditionally think Wall said.

The prime minister refused to discuss the possibility 0 middle class tax cut, which he had hinted at in an intervii with the National Post on Thursday, in addition to stimu spending in next week's budget. On Sunday, Liberal Lear Michael Ignatieff said that the Liberals would oppose a bro program of tax cuts in a confidence vote. ■

fw.mcgilltribune.com

20.01.09 • The McGill Tribune • 3

■y

Algerian begins fourth year in Montreal church bdelkader Belaouni still asking Canada for refugee status C ara W ilson On Saturday, supporters of Abdelkader Belaouni, an Algerefugee claimant, rallied in Point St. Charles on the steps t. Gabriel's Catholic Church, calling on the provincial and ?ral governments to grant Belaouni refugee status. About people, including local business leaders, community activand church members, demonstrated in solidarity with the ear-old, who is blind and suffers from diabetes. Belaouni previously denied refugee status by the Canadian governlt in 2003.

January 6 marked the three-year anniversary of Belaouni's ctuary within St. Gabriel's. Father James MacDonald, St. Ga­ l's parish priest, was among the speakers who addressed porters.

"We want all the support we can get," MacDonald said, der is waiting for the amnesty and mercy of Immigration ada. He is a person of value despite his apparent handis, and is capable of contributing to our society."

Jared Will, part of Belaouni's claimant committee, exned that Belaouni was refused status because "Algeria ; taken off the list of countries Canada recognizes refugees n, because the height of the civil conflict [had] died down", stated that Kader was also previously refused refugee stabecause "he did not have a job offer or biological family in lada".

When asked about his current living conditions, Belaouni I, "I have happy days and sad days just like everyone. I play

my music and I'm working on my second album. ... I just want [the Canadian government] to look at my case."

Steve Watson, a member of the Canadian Auto Workers Union, met Belaouni in 2005 on a march from Montreal to Ottawa for refu­ gee rights. He came to Montreal from Toronto with five other union members to participate in the rally. Serge Dupont, the Canadian Auto Workers Union president, and the rest of the union have also expressed their support for Belaouni.

"This should have been set­ tled a long time ago," Watson said.

"It's time for the minister to inter­ vene personally, as he's done sev­ eral times in recent cases."

Belaouni still faces possible deportation if he leaves the sanc­ Blind Algerian musician Abdelkader Belaouni is still taking sanctuary in St. Gabriel's tuary of St. Gabriel's.

Church in Point St. Charles. "[Belaouni] would be uproot­ that he has .built for himself here in Point St. Charles." ed for the third time [in 12 years], Belaouni emerged from the church to thank his support­ which is difficult for a blind person," Will said. "Belaouni would ers towards the end of the demonstration. be forced to leave the city he knows where he has friends and "It's so cold, but it warms my heart that you're all here," he community-based support. He would be returning to an un­ stable situation. Most significantly he would lose the dignity said. "Thank you everyone, it is touching." ■

>EAKER ON CAMPUS

lalper talks Israel swish expert discusses Gaza J ulie B ea u ch a m p Anthropologist and co-founder the Israeli Committee against jse Demolitions Jeff Halper spoke Wednesday about the conflict in Gaza Strip and the Israeli governnt in front of about 200 people in cock 219.

In light of the Gaza conflict, per, along with the presentation's 1er speakers, denounced the idea t the entire Jewish community is rected to support the Israeli goviment's actions. They argued that :y should be able to speak out hout being labelled as anti-patric. Montreal civil rights and human hts lawyer Julius Grey introduced Iper.

"Human rights force you to take sitions on issues where there is itroversy and not adopting the ofal party line is controversial," said ;y. He also argued that there can no peace without social justice for estinians and encouraged people speak out. "There is no justification this action on moral grounds."

Halper, a Jew born in Minnesota t now residing in Israel, referred to 3 situation in Gaza as an ongoing issacre.

He discussed the notion of exisivity, which he said is crucial in derstanding the crisis.

"Israel sees this land as theirs, d the Palestinians as residing in eir country," Halper said.

Regarding the recent conflict, ilper argued that the rockets can>t be stopped by military means, it only through a peace process.

Nevertheless, Halper claimed at Israel still has the support of the

international community despite its actions.

"Four million people have been living in horrible conditions for 41 years, yet most of the world supports [Israel]."

Hiba Al-Ali, PhD candidate in management, believed Halper's pre­ sentation was worthwhile.

"It was extremely informative and critical in creating awareness of the various hardships and the depri­ vation of basic human rights which the Palestinians face on a day-to-day basis by Israel."

However, she said more is need­ ed in order to present a fair and bal­ anced portrayal of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"More presentations along these lines are needed to break through the one-sided Israeli message he­ gemony which prevails in the North American media," Al-Ali said.

Vicky Tobianah, U1 political sci­ ence and English literature disputed the notion that Halper portrayed himself as a representative of the Jewish community.

"He represents a minority of the Jewish community, the majority of which has expressed its solidarity with Israel,"Tobianah said.

Zach Newburgh, Ui Middle Eastern studies, also disagreed with Halper's depiction of Israel.

"Halper lies about the state of Is­ rael, [he] presents a fabricated depic­ tion of Israel and refuses to put the conflict in perspective, which would illustrate that Israel has the right to secure its population," he said.

Newburgh added that Israel supports human rights, a fact he be­ lieves was understated by Halper. ■

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students are invited to enter by January 30,2009

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p Europe For fu rth e r inform ation about the Young Journalist Award Contact: (6 1 3 )2 3 8 -6 4 6 4 info@eucanyja.ca www.eucanyja.ca

4 -N ew s-20.01.09

The McGill Tribui

EDUCATION

Strike keeps class cancelled for York students Ont. Ministry of Labour asked to help resolve faculty contract dispute S heila G

iffen

Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3903 members will vote on York University's latest offer today, in what could be the final chapter of York's two-and-a-half month faculty strike.

CUPE 3903, which represents the contract faculty, teach­ ing assistants, and graduate students of York University, has been on strike since November 6, suspending classes for more than 50,000 students.

The union has been pushing for improved job security and a two-year collective bargaining agreement. While the media has focussed on the union's demand for higher wages, Chief Steward Tyler Shipley claimed that wage hikes were not the union's top priority.

The union's 3,300 members began voting yesterday and will continue today, under the supervision of Ontario's Minis­ try of Labour. Under Ontario's Labour Relations Act of 1995, an employer such as York University can ask the Ministry of La­ bour to force a vote by union membership on a contract.

Shipley called this forced ratification vote an "incredible waste of time," saying that the vote is only suspending negoti­ ations, and thus taking time away from the students'academic

year. Shipley claimed that at last Thursday's union meeting, 90 per cent of the 500 members present voted against the same offer from the university.

Frustrated students have been involved in trying to accel­ erate the decision making process in order to get back to class.

Lyndon Koopmans, a first-year business student, and Cathe­ rine Divaris, a fifth-year Kinesiology student, are co-founders of the web site www.yorknothostage.com and the York Uni­ versity Anti-Strike Group on Facebook, which currently has over 4,700 members. Along with other students, Divaris and Koopmans have created a strike discussion forum for clarifying issues and rallying support.

Ideally, the group would like to see the university and the union successfully negotiate a settlement on their own. But if the situation remains unresolved after today's vote, Koop­ mans said that group will fight for back-to-work legislation.

Koopmans hopes that once the issue is resolved, the group will help ease the students'transition back to school and en­ sure that the quality of education is maintained.

The York Federation of Students has also been rallying support. YFS president Hamid Osman organized a petition signed by 4,000 students urging both the university and the union to get back to the bargaining table.

"We handed the petition over and saw six days of con­ secutive meetings earlier this month," Osman said.

"[The early January meetings were] the first time we ft there was any meaningful negotiation,"said Shipley.

But since those meetings in early January, bargaining h come to a standstill in anticipation of next week's vote.

At this point, students are concerned with getting tl academic year back on track.

"I'm worried about coping with a condensed schedu when I've got to maintain a GPA to keep my scholarship," sa Koopmans.

For students like Divaris, the strike is jeopardizing bo their final semester and graduation.

"We have been irritated by the lack of respect for studen and we just want to get back to class," Divaris said. !

Shipley remains optimistic that the issue will be resolve following, what he expects to be, a defeat of today's vote. : "The pressure will be back on the university at that poi to meaningfully bargain with us. All the remaining issues c; be resolved and will be resolved quickly providing the unive sity negotiates," he said.

The students, the union, and the university have all sa they want to end the strike.

"The strike will only come to an end if they contint meeting, bargaining in good faith, and come to a treaty settl ment so that 50,000 students can come back to the classroon said Osman. ■

CAMPUS

Grad students kickoff first-ever Green Month PGSS teaches students simple ways to be more environmentally friendl S teven H offer In an effort to promote green policy and environmental awareness, the Post-Graduate Students' Society has declared January its first ever "Green Month.'The event, which features programs on both the downtown and Macdonald campuses, aims to teach students how to integrate simple methods of going green into their everyday lives.

"The idea behind Green Month is to expose students to new ideas about the environment and other ways of thinking about sustainability," said former PGSS environment commit­ tee chair Chris Wrobel. "The more people that become aware of particular environmental issues, the more effective some of the environmental programs will be."

"We are leaning toward education and raising awareness of environmental issues among students," said Jessica Ward, the current PGSS environmental commissioner.

Ward added that it is often difficult for graduate students to find the time to mobilize large-scale green initiatives, and that "Green Month" not only provides them with an opportu­ nity to get involved, but also to learn more about active green efforts on campus.

Green Month began on January 9 at Thomson House with a "House Warming Party" that featured local organic beer.

Thomson House already exclusively serves fair trade organic coffee, and donates all of the leftover food from its events to a local food bank as part of its sustainability program.

Many other events have taken place since, most notably a lecture entitled "Chemicals in the Environment" given by McGill chemistry Professor Joe Schwartz.

"I think that having a green month can do a great deal, but the truth is that we should have twelve green months every year," said Schwartz. "The most important thing is that we focus on the science and not on the alarmist propaganda that tends to go around."

Schwartz's lecture was immediately followed by a work­ shop aimed at teaching participants how to make their own environmentally-friendly household cleaning products. At­ tendees learned how to make safe and cheap laundry soap and an all-purpose scrub cleaner, which they took home along with a green recipe book that included other practical, envi­ ronmentally-friendly home cleaning solutions.

One of the most anticipated events of Green Month will take place on Thursday, when the Political Science Students Association hosts a two-part program beginning with a silent auction and concluding with a documentary screening. The silent auction will focus on nature photograph prints offered mainly by graduate and post-graduate students. Proceeds from the auction will be donated to Ecojustice, a Canadian

PHOTOS BY HOLLY SEWART AND DAVID BENSOI Conserving water has never seemed so sexy: McGill students practice conserving water by showering together in Molsoi Hall during Green Month. Try this at home.

non-profit organization composed of lawyers and scientists promoting government accountability on sustainability is­ sues, and other green initiatives. In addition, the documentary screenings of Just a Lawn and City 21: Multiple Perspectives on Urban Futures will include an exclusive question and answer session with Megan Durnford and Chris Zelov, the respective filmmakers.

An open forum on green buildings at McGill and a seminar

by André Aylwin, director of facilities operations on the McGill strategic energy plan, are among the other events included as

part of Green Month.

While Green Month promises to offer a wide range 0 informative programs, it's only one of many preliminary mea sures being taken on the McGill campus to ensure long tern environmental sustainability awareness and action.

"I think that raising awareness is the first step and al though our committee has been involved in some other initia tives that are more action focussed, the general focus of Greer Month is more of an awareness raising task,"Ward said."We an really just trying to practice what we preach." ■

20.01.09 • The McGill Tribune • 5

www.mcgilltribune.com

SPEAKER ON CAMPUS

EDUCATION

Stanford duo roll Mary Meehan speaks at out new iPhone app Choose Life event iStanford aims to more closely connect students to university

Self-proclaimed liberal feminist argues against legalized abortion A ustin del R io

S ara M c C ulloch Though only in their third year at Stanford University, Kayvon Beykpour and Aaron Wasserman, along with close friends at the school, have pioneered a new way of connecting with fellow stu­ dents. Their application for the iPhone, iStanford, has the potential to forge a tighter bond between students and their university.

The iStanford application is a new way for students to interact with the Stanford community. Accessing iStanford on an iPhone or iTouch allows students to view a campus map, find contact in­ formation for faculty members, pay their tuition, add and drop courses, and stay on top of school sports. As the applica­ tion's popularity grows, students are also suggesting new ideas, and Beykpour and Wasserman are listening. As Stanford stu­ dents themselves, they are fully aware of what students expect.

"There is no limit to where we are drawing the line. This is something that every school could use, and we are able to use it and see others using it," said Beyk­ pour. "We are getting first-hand feedback.

We also have the privilege of being our own target audience."

The iStanford is not purely a student project— Beykpour, along with a child­ hood friend, started Terriblyclever Design back in the summer of 2007 and had al­ ready contracted for companies such as Best Buy, Comcast, and Hewlett Packard.

But it wasn't until Thomas Black, associ­ ate vice provost for student affairs and university registrar at Stanford, contacted Terriblyclever that this project became a reality. Terriblyclever was treated as an independent company, despite the fact that everyone in the small development firm was a Stanford student.

A desire to keep up with the chang­ ing ways students communicate prompt­ ed Black, along with Stanford Director of Student Affairs Tim Flood, to work with

the company. Other students are now being encouraged to develop their own ideas and applications in a new course offered at Stanford and led by Apple Inc. personnel.

"We are interested in the student de­ fining what they think is a good service and the student getting more involved in defining it," Flood said.

So far, students have felt the differ­ ence.

"I have the pleasure of using what I have made," Beykpour said. "Also, working with [Black and Flood] gives me a lot of faith that there are administrators work­ ing for students."

"I cannot express enough how much [Black] wanted this project to hap­ pen from day one," said Wassecman. "He pushed us through it all and is as excited about it as we are. He was opening all the doors to us, making Stanford available to us."

With their help, Beykpour and Was­ serman have brought Stanford to stu­ dents. Black and Flood see potential in the younger generation and are listening.

There is a shared excitement for evolu­ tion: shuttle bus schedules and locations, iPhones as identification cards, and up­ dates on campus events. The company is already being contacted by different uni­ versities, and will be releasing a new uni­ versity application in the coming weeks.

A short video Beykpour and Wasser­ man made demonstrates background in photography and film. The video pre­ miered at the October 11 Stanford home­ coming game this year. Wasserman pro­ vided the voiceover, Beykpour the phone, and the music was written with friends.

And the community is responding: the .free application is seeing an increas­ ing number of downloads.

"For their young age, they are very flexible, understanding, and patient.

They know that you can't make an admin­ istration turn on a dime," Flood said."They are young, energetic, and quick. This has brought everyone together." ■

ARTifact

Mary Meehan, a self-proclaimed feminist, liberal author, and public speaker from Maryland, defended the pro-life movement last night as she stood before a packed Leacock 232 at Choose Life's third official event Choose Life, a new interim club at McGill, in­ vited Meehan to explain her seemingly contradic­ tory political beliefs.

"I think a moment's reflection reveals that liberals indeed are anti-choice on many issues ... the death penalty, most wars, torture, rape, racial discrimination, and many more. They should add abortion to the list," Meehan said.

Meehan, who has researched and written ex­ tensively on the subject, gave 15 reasons why liber­ als and feminists should support a pro-life position, ranging from the protection of civil liberties to the harmful effects that performing an abortion has on both the doctor and patient.

"There has, of course, been much controversy over the medical effects of abortion on women.

And many folks who support abortion say that the feeling many women feel after an abortion is relief because their problem has been solved. I think that is probably true of many women. The problem is that later on, sometimes within months, some­ times a year, or many years later, there is a kickback resulting in depression, and sometimes more seri­ ous psychological problems," she said.

Meehan has also done research on the al­ leged connections between the movement to legalize abortion in the United States and the eu­ genics, population control, and forced sterilization movements. She pointed to organizations such as the American and the English Eugenics Societies, who helped found the International Planned Par­ enthood Federation in 1956, as largely responsible for abortion legalization.

"Most of the early population controllers were white males who were not worried about ethics or the health effects of the pill, intrauterine devices, or abortion. They just wanted to get population numbers down, especially the numbers of poor people and minorities," Meehan said.

During the question and answer period, fierce debate erupted between many students on both sides of the issue. Elise Eisenkraft Klein, U2 Jew­ ish studies, was not persuaded by the claim that abortion is necessarily connected to population control.

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Mary Meehan speaks last night in Leacock 232.

"Pretty much everyone in the pro-choice movement would agree that eugenics is racist and wrong— however, I don't believe that that makes a really strong argument because the vast majority of people who have abortions in this country do so by choice, and forced sterilization is not the same thing as abortion," Eisenkraft Klein said.

Deborah Rankin, a former McGill student and current member of the Infertility Network of Cana­ da, countered that at a governmental level, popu­ lation control is part of the equation because abor­ tion is encouraged for women who are having dif­ ficulties coping with the burden of a pregnancy.

"We really don't have choice in this country.

Choice is made in a context of real options and all the funding goes to abortion. There's no designat­ ed funding for crisis pregnancy support anywhere in this country. If they're really pro-choice, why is there no funding for crisis pregnancy support?"

Rankin said.

Natalie Fohl, founder and president of Choose Life, would like to see the abortion issue debated much more openly on campus.

"The debates are not really talked about any­ more so we want to really just get discussion going and get people thinking about it. Are we really okay with the status quo right now?" Fohl said.

The event was the third and final event re­ quired for the club to attain full-club status at the end of the month under Students' Society guide­ lines. ■

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Floor Fellows, Dons and M O R E Fellows help to shape the first year experience for thousands o f students living in M cG ill Residences.

D o you want to be a student leader, show newbies the ropes, plan events, and mentor first years in the transition between living at home and living independently?

I f so, now is the time to apply for the 2009-2010 academic year!

For details and to submit an application, please visit www.mcgill.ca/residences/floorfellow ARIK SCHWARTZ

Shower cap-wearing actors were just one species of artists McGillians caught last week at Artifact, TNC theatre's celebration of all things artistic. The festival ran six nights to sold-out audiences.

A p p l i c a t i o n s a r e d u e n o C a te r t h a n J a n u a r y 2 8 t h , 2 0 0 9 a t 5 p m

O pinion YOU HAD AN OPTION, SIR

HISTORIA ME ABSOLVERA

There's so much to like about McGill

Polygamous or not, marriage is a problem

T im o th y M ak TIMOTHY.MAK@MAIL.MCGILL.CA

M a x S ilverm an MAXWELL.SILVERMAN@MAIL.MCGILL.CA

hen I completed my third year last April, formerTribune opinion editor Byron Tau wrote an article excoriat­ ing the quality of education at McGill. I have always thought that his piece was unneces­ sarily harsh, and made a mental note to write a similar evaluation when I was set to gradu­ ate. Having finished my last course in De­ cember, I feel up to the task of weighing the positives and negatives of, as my editor put it, spending my time and money (as well as my parents'money) on a degree at McGill.

• I first toured the McGill campus in the spring of 2005, but viewed it as a formality. I had my heart set on the University of Toron­ to, and I planned a sojourn in Montreal pri­ marily to see the sights. But as I emerged for the first time from the metro stop on Univer­ sity Street and begrudgingly trudged across campus through snow (an unfamiliar meteo­ rological phenomenon for a Vancouverite), I found myself confronted with the towering Arts building. It was at that moment that the tide began to turn. Awed by this light-fes­ tooned structure, I began to have a change of heart.

Over the years, we student columnists have often complained about Montreal's climate, or the poor advising and endless red tape at McGill. But few of us take the time to appreciate the blessings we've re­ ceived from this venerable institution. In the last four years, I've studied on a campus of breathtaking beauty—if only we took more time to appreciate it. As anyone who has ever enjoyed quaffing beer at the Open Air Pub can attest, McGill is a gorgeous oasis in the midst of a concrete desert (after all, it's certainly not the quality of the beer that keeps OAP busy).

Nowhere else could I have found the calibre of professors that I have encountered at McGill. Byron lambasted professors by ac­ cusing them of delivering "rambling cursory lectures" and characterizing them as rude

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and dismissive, but I have found this to be far from true. As I apply to graduate schools and a seemingly endless list of fellowships and scholarships, my professors have been gen­ erous with their time, complaisantly working for the benefit of their students' careers.

Perhaps the biggest criticism that can be leveled at this university is not the qual­ ity of the professors or the inattentiveness of the teaching assistants— it's that few of us are genuinely proud of having attended this institution (and this problem will soon catch up with the university's pocketbook).

We'll remember our gracious and generous friends, a few outstanding professors, and a few incomprehensible ones. But aside from a few songs about how frosh week or carnival is here at last, there's little that binds us to­ gether as a community.

I once met a former McGill graduate in Toronto. Excited that we shared a common educational experience, she implored me to sing a song that was once part of those com­ munity ties. Embarrassed, I admitted that I didn't know the words to "Hail, Alma Mat­ ter." I also realized what McGill has lost over the last generation: a sense of belonging, a sense of community that leads graduates to stay involved in their former university for decades to come. And this will have con­ sequences, as future generations of McGill graduates will feel less and less inclined to donate generously to their alma matter.

McGill doesn't need to be a factory, in­ cessantly churning out pounds of ground student. There are countless opportunities for involvement, from the limitless connec­ tions to be made at clubs, to the ubiquitous guest lectures held in Leacock, Burnside, and the Faculty Lounge. The atmosphere on campus isn't "heartless," as my editor said, although McGill has its faults. Lying some­ where between anonymity and a true sense of community is substantial room for im­ provement. ■

ast week, the Tribune editorialized about the recent polygamy charges against the fundamentalist Mormon leaders, Winston Blackmore and James Oler. Taking a fairly standard libertarian ap­ proach, their editorial argued that Canada's laws are outdated and go too far, but failed to address what is (historically and pres­ ently) so wrong about our laws in the realm of conjugality. It also neglected to mention that Canada's polygamy laws are intrinsi­ cally tied to the colonialism and racism of Canada's past.

To be sure, I'm not a fan of secluded, walled-in religious cults, and I'm not deny­ ing the horrendous abuses that occur in communities like Bountiful, B.C. But model­ ing a community's conjugal arrangements on our view of what marriage should be is short-sighted and ahistorical.

Throughout history, human conju­ gal relations have taken countless forms.

Regulated marriages fitting a defined set of criteria are a relatively recent historical phe­ nomenon. And marriage, as the permanent union between one man and one woman, for life and to the exclusion of all others, is an even more recent idea that our society has imposed using both legal and physical force.

University of Alberta professor and au­ thor Sarah Carter has shown that our defi­ nition of marriage was a colonial project.

Prior to colonization, Canada's Aboriginals recognized thousands of forms of conjugal relationships and family models. Further, bans on Mormon polygamy are directly re­ lated to this racist project. Documents show that debate over Mormon practices in West­ ern Canada, leading to legislation, focussed on the presence of a white community— the model to which Aboriginals were to' be assimilated— practicing something that the government had forbidden Aboriginals, as it was part of their savage past. Destroying

L

a multitude of relationships had drastic e fects on communities at the time, splittin up families and changing laws and custom But there were also intended long-term e fects: gender-undermining traditions all bi disappeared and women lost much of the empowerment under previous models. Fu ther, same-sex and other gender-bendin relationships, which proliferated in th community-based conjugal model of mo: Aboriginals in Western Canada, were all bt stamped out.

The recent expansion of marriage t two men or two women doesn't change it historically oppressive nature. Quite the op posite: it uses marriage as a tool of margina ization and control. A whole segment of th population, which previously (and rightfully thought that government regulation of se and relationships was bullshit, is now incoi porated into the normative paradigm. Thi project of making certain models of Gay an Lesbian (capitalization intended) relation ships normal (or, dare I say, making ther white) has undermined queer demands fo the abolition of norms in the first place.

Marriage has also been tied up in th concept of race. In recent years, gay group in North America have been intrinsicall tied to many neo-conservative nationalis projects— particularly since the launch o the War on Terror and its targeting of Mus lims, who, we're told, are the nastiest ho mophobes of all. It's no wonder, then, tha Proposition 8 passed in California. It's alsc no wonder that the white, Gay (again, capi talized) leadership there is stirring up racis sentiment, and blaming its loss on black ho mophobia.

Racism is alive and well in our society and marriage is one of its tools. To allow people to be charged under an archaic lav of clearly racist origins would set a danger ous precedent, and be a step backwards fo humanity. ■

FRESH HELL

The oddball apostles of L. Ron Hubbard Z o e D aniels ZKDANIELS@GMAIL.COM cientology gets a lot of bad press. Recently, the death of John Travolta's son Jett threw the faith's contro­ versial tenets into sharp relief on my favorite celeb­ rity gossip blogs. Online gossips say that Travolta's antipharmaceutical Scientologist beliefs kept him from prop­ erly medicating his child's seizure disorder. Not one to take what's said on the Internet seriously (especially the sparkly, pink sections of the Internet), I dismissed these claims as idle speculation.

Previously, I thought that Scientology’s bad reputation was mostly due to Tom Cruise stealing Pacey's girl. It also scored crazy points for originating in the 1950s science fic­ tion writing of L. Ron Hubbard. But plenty of religions start from books initially dismissed as ludicrous or heretical, so that's never a sure bet for discounting a faith. Similarly, the Church of Scientology has plenty of am biguously phrased philosophical information on its website, but no more than the average Christian Evangelical website. Scientology also follows the time-honoured religious tradition of using "man" to stand metonymically for "humanity." But while some other religions use this word because of ambiguous

S

translations, Hubbard only wrote in English. Speaking per­ sonally, I prefer religions that include me in their tenets.

But I digress. The largest difference between a Scien­ tologist and an Evangelical Christian website is in the scru­ tiny the content has been subjected to. While Christianity has been debated and dissected for thousands of years, Scientology is about as old as your parents.

As such, the Church of Scientology is free to invent whatever ridiculous myths it wants. Although the website states that "no one is asked to accept anything as belief or on faith,"it fails to produce anything besides Hubbard's nov­ els to support the purported existence of Xenu— a galactic badass who brought beings to Earth 75 million years ago.

He apparently trapped them in volcanoes and then killed them using hydrogen bombs, thus creating the sadness in our world. I'm going to need a Harvard study or a rune or something before I even pretend to believe that.

The website also made me suspicious of Scientology's author, whom the Church credits with discovering "that drug and chemical residues are stored and trapped in the fatty tissues of the body and remain long after a person has

been off drugs." Giving Hubbard the credit for that is like saying I "discovered" that your foot goes tingly if you sit on it for a long time. It may be true, but I don't get to base a re­ ligion on it. The reference may appear in an inane passage on the evils of drugs, but it makes me wonder how much thinly camouflaged craziness the Scientologists slipped into their doctrine.

Ultimately, I couldn't stomach the task of untangling all of the jargon on the Scientology website. But I did get a brief lesson on the meanings of various Latin and Greek root words, which make up the most important Scientolo­ gist neologisms. I also gathered that Scientology essentially involves therapy to achieve a life free from misery, and to gain "the ability to stably handle power." And while this religion is fundamentally ridiculous, I can see why movie stars— with all of their economic and cultural capital— are drawn to its promise.

But, by the same token, you'd think that people whose livelihoods depend on being cool would be wary of a reli­ gion based on aliens, with a trademarked logo that looks like a rejected Starfleet emblem. ■

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20.01.09 - The McGill Tribune • 7

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EDITORIAL

Letter to the editor

CouillarcTs history with PCP can't be ignored I t's not easy to keep up a good reputa­ tion. Dr. Philippe Couillard, McGill's new senior fellow in health law, is learning that lesson right now.

Couillard was appointed to the posi­ tion at the beginning of this year to guide interdisciplinary research into public policy and law in the world of healthcare.

Couillard has an impressive resume: he has been a professor at the University of Sherbrooke, a practicing neurosurgeon both in Quebec and in Saudi Arabia, and from 2003 to 2008 he was Quebec's minis­ ter of health and social services.

Unfortunately, the controversy sur­ rounding Couillard relates to his work in this most recent position. As the Charest government's minister of health and social services, Couillard met with a number of lobbyists and private interest groups. One of these groups was Persistence Capital Partners, an investment group interested in private healthcare ventures. Less than two months after he resigned as minister last June, Couillard was hired as a partner in PCP's new healthcare fund.

On January 9, Quebec's Lobbyists Commissioner André Côté launched an inquiry into potentially illegal lobbying by PCP in relation to Couillard's office. How­ ever, the inquiry isn't specifically directed at Couillard. When allegations of miscon­ duct first surfaced last August, Couillard said that his conversations with PCP share­ holders were of a general nature only.

At the Students' Society Council meeting last Thursday, McGill Principal Heather Munroe-Blum defended Couil­

lard's hiring, saying that she's "not big on allegations," and that the administration reviewed any potential conflicts prior to his appointment. However, the full details of Couillard's discussions with PCP's share­ holders are still unknown to the public.

Some critics have opposed Couil­ lard's appointment because of his links to private healthcare— one of Canada's great taboos. Although the Tribune supports public healthcare, we also don't think Couillard should be disqualified from a senior fellowship because of his political views or associations. Universities ben­ efit from a diversity of perspectives, and Couillard brings a tremendous depth of knowledge and experience to McGill.

Both the law and medicine faculties stand to benefit from his appointment.

Nevertheless, many people are con­ cerned about Couillard's links to PCP— something that affects his ability to serve in a leadership role at McGill. To allay these concerns, Couillard should provide full public disclosure of his past dealings with PCP. He may be blameless, but that doesn't matter if the public remains un­ convinced. The people of Quebec and the McGill community deserve to know what Couillard discussed with PCP, in as much detail as is possible.

That's a lot to ask, but senior fel­ lowships at McGill are not given lightly.

There's no evidence to suggest that Couil­ lard did anything illegal. But if he wants to have a reputation for leadership and integrity, he'll have to set the bar a little higher than that. ■

Hartlee stands by her comments

Re: "Letters to the editor: Hillel McGill is misrepre­ senting anti-Israel protestors" (13.01.09) in response to Mr. Abukhdeir's recent letter, I feel the need to clarify certain points rather than to simply, "get over it," as you suggested. Firstly, let's address your characterization of me as a supposed "blind" supporter of Israel. Although I do commend you as a writer for your courageous use of a tired cli­ ché, I resent your assumption that my opinion is any less informed than yours. I am not"blind"to the tragic loss of civilian life in Gaza, but I am shocked that you are blind to the fact that this is a two-sided conflict.

Furthermore, like any other citizen of a democratic country, I freely exercise my right to criticize the ac­ tions of the Israeli government, a stance I would feel substantially less comfortable about if Hamas was my governing body.

Secondly, I think I owe you an apology for my "disturbing" affirmation that flag burning seems somehow inconsistent with the "peaceful" atmo­ sphere sought at these rallies. I'm sure you can make the case that these national symbols were desecrated in a spirit of good will and harmony, but I am hardpressed to reach that conclusion. And unlike in Kayan Hui's perception of Saturday's rally ("Protests over Gaza return to downtown Montreal," 13.01.09), which I also happened to attend, I was shocked by the con­ stant repetitions of"terrorists!''and"murderers!"These are slogans of peace? Am I missing something here?

So sorry, Mr. Abukhdeir. I stand by my earlier comments. And the only thing I am "concerned about" is our difference in opinion over what constitutes a peaceful protest.

— Hartlee Zucker, U2 humanistic studies and Hillel McGill president

Kaylea Howarth online@mcgilltribune.com

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OFF THE BOARD

Drinking, driving, and doing the right thing M att C hesser

I n my summer job as a bartender at a golf and country club, I have allowed dozens of men to drive home drunk—some after only a few beers, others after drinking more alcohol than Amy Winehouse at an open bar. I'm not proud of this.

That's why the news that 16 employees of the Lake Joseph Golf Club in Muskoka Lakes, Ontario (including two bartenders, one bar manager and all of the club's board of directors) are being charged with "permitting drunken­ ness" after three young men were killed while driving home drunk, deeply troubles me. All 16 employees face substantial fines and potential jail time if they are convicted under the Ontario Liquor Act. I have little sympathy for the bartenders in­ volved in this case, since it is alleged that they served 31 drinks in three hours to the three men—two of whom were 20 years old, the other 19. Under no circumstances should a bartender serve 10 drinks per person over such a short period of time, and the bartenders deserve to lose their jobs for their foolishness. But I object to the notion of holding bartenders criminally liable for the actions of grown men once they

leave the bar.

I abhor drunk driving. I have never— not even for a short distance— driven while intoxi­ cated. I am responsible enough to call a cab (or my parents) when I know I cannot drive. That's why I don't buy the argument that a bar has a responsibility to ensure their patrons get home safely. Yes, they should call a cab for drunkards, but ultimately the decision to get behind the wheel of a car is made solely by the patron.

Those who drive drunk understand the conse­ quences, but are too arrogant to acknowledge their own mortality and the damage they could inflict on other persons.

I understand the logic of requiring bartend­ ers to ensure their patrons'safety, but the practi­ cal implications of the law are unclear and un­ fair. Bars have been held liable in cases in which groups of drinkers have pretended to get into a taxi, only to sneak over to their cars and subse­ quently get into an accident on their way home.

This type of ruling baffles anyone with a shred of common sense. We've become so wrapped up in a culture of blame that we've destroyed the concept of personal responsibility. One of the saddest moments of my bartending career

was when a man I admired drank himself into a stupor. He insisted that his wife was coming to pick him up, and I trusted him. When I glanced out of the window later and saw him get behind the wheel of his car, I was devastated. I just don't know how I'm supposed to deal with that type of duplicity.

I'm aware that part of my hesitation is really cowardice. I don't want to stand up to someone twice my age, who earns at least five times my salary. I also don't want to confront angry, irra­ tional drunks who have no respect for me. And I certainly don't want to call the police repeatedly to report country club members who frequent the bar every day of the week. I get paid far too little to be a babysitter for middle-aged men with drinking problems.

I hate to sound like I'm mimicking Tim Mak, but I've had enough of our paternalist state tell­ ing me that I'm responsible for someone else's decisions. If a bar doesn't monitor alcohol con­ sumption and encourage drinkers to find a safe way home, revoke their liquor license. But don't file criminal charges against employees in lowpaying jobs with little ability to control their pa­ trons. Blame the imbiber, not the provider. ■

he 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 f 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 00 words and submitted only to the Tribune. Submissions judged by the Tribune Publication Society to be libellous, sexist, racist, homophobic or solely promotional in nature will not be published. The Tribune reserves the ght 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 taff. Please recycle this newspaper.

8 • The McGill Tribune • 20.01.09

VOX POPULI

VOX POPULI

Correcting Silverman's columnistic wrongdoing

Baha'is are still suffering in Iran

N adim R oberts

V icky T obianah

NADIM.ROBERTS@MAIL.MCGILL.CA

VICKY.TOBIANAH@MAIL.MCGILL.CA he title of Max Silverman's column two weeks ago is highly misleading. While claiming he is going to be talking about "rockets and wrong­ doing in Gaza," he chooses to focus only on the "wrongdoing"— namely, by the Israelis. Silverman writes that Israel attempted to ethnically cleanse its population by placing Palestinians in "wretched, inhumane refugee camps." Yet he neglects core facts of this issue. Palestinians still live in refugee camps because the Palestine Liberation Organiza­ tion's strategy relies on poor living conditions that can be blamed on Israel. This strategy is employed

by Hamas today: keep Palestinians unhappy so they side with a terrorist organization.

I couldn't stop myself from laughing when Sil­ verman said that "the Israeli 'withdrawal'... simply relocated Israeli troops to a safer location." He conve­ niently neglected to mention that 2.5 million Israe­ lis have been put into harm's way due to this with­ drawal as rockets have continuously bombarded the town of Sderot since the withdrawal. 75 ... 14 ... 13 ...

A bomb has just been launched by Hamas in Gaza.

It's despicable that Silverman would suggest that Israel is risking the lives of its soldiers merely so they don't "look weak in the face of Hamas terrorism."

Israel evacuated its citizens in 2005 from the Gaza strip, and yet, from the day thereafter, rockets have bombarded Israel. This war is not based on Israel's apparent desire to prove itself, as Silveman suggests, but to prevent the non-stop barrage of rockets that enter Israel daily. Perhaps he didn't hear PresidentElect Barack Obama's comments last summer, that if rockets were terrorizing his daughters, he would do everything in his power to protect them. 12 ... 77...

10 ... You hear the siren and run to a bomb shelter.

It's true that many Palestinian civilians have been killed. It's also true that Israel regrets this. How­ ever, when Hamas uses its own citizens as human shields, purposely sending rockets into Israel from homes, schools, and mosques, Israel has no choice but to protect its own citizens—something Hamas has refused to do.

T

As Golda Meir stated, "Peace will come when S ince the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, Amnesty Interna­ the Arabs will love their children more than they tional has reported that at least hate us." Instead of arbitrary attacks, Israel sends leaflets to Palestinians encouraging them to leave 202 Baha'is have been executed by the current Iranian regime. Although exe­ their homes. Every day, Israel halts for three hours cutions have become less common in to allow this but they choose to remain in the line recent times, the Iranian regime's cam­ of fire. Israel pinpoints only the locations that have paign to systematically cripple mem­ been a threat to Israel, targeting terrorists and not bers of the Baha'i Faith has intensified. civilians whenever possible. Israel has undergone years of rocket attacks before deciding to act, yet On January 14, six Baha'is were arrest­ ed, including one Baha'i woman who again proving there is no desire to kill civilians. 9 ... worked at a human rights organiza­ 8 .. . 7... You're carrying your three-year-old child, who tion linked with Nobel laureate Shirin cries hysterically.

Ebadi. These events have followed the The numbers are misleading— hundreds of Pal­ estinian deaths and 13 Israeli deaths. Perhaps this is Iranian government's closure of Ebadi's Defenders of Human Rights Center because Israel installs warning systems. These only in Tehran. The spokesperson of Iran's give residents 15 seconds, but it's still better than Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed nothing. Israel builds bomb shelters and Hamas that the center was closed because it refuses to. Silverman, and the rest of the world, had no license. Licenses are increas­ shouldn't blame Israel. If they are truly angry at the ingly difficult for Ebadi to obtain as Palestinian deaths, they should ask why Hamas is she and her colleagues have defended doing such a poor job of protecting its citizens. 6 ... many individuals and groups whose 5 .. . 4. .. The bomb is getting closer. human rights have been violated by We have heard for months now about an Israeli blockade. But the real question is, yet again, why the current Iranian government.

The six Baha'is arrested on Janu­ Hamas refuses to distribute the food to its citizens, ary 14 will join seven Baha'i leaders choosing time and time again to deny their citizens basic rights and blame Israel for their shortcom­ who are currently being held without charge in Evin prison in Tehran, after ings. Hamas claims the roads are blocked and that being arrested in March and May of is stopping them from circulating food. Let's get this 2008. Ebadi is currently representing straight: the roads are blocked for food but they can miraculously get around to fire rockets daily? 3 •••2 these seven Baha'is, whose arrests have recalled memories of the 1980s ... You can't make it to the shelter. when countless Baha'is were arrested And finally, Silverman claims that Israel's re­ and executed without any formal con­ sponse has been disproportionate. Does this mean that Israel should use Qassam missiles and randomly victions, or simply under accusation of being apostates. Commenting on the launch them into Gaza, killing terrorists and civilians, recent arrests, Diane Ala'i, a Baha'i In­ like Hamas does to Israel? Would that be proportion­ ternational Community representative ate? i ... You were just killed. ■ to the United Nations in Geneva, said that "as far as we know, all of these Vicky Tobianah is a ih p o litica l scien ce an d people were arrested primarily be­ English literatu re stu d en t. cause they are Baha'is." Among those arrested was Jinous Sobhani, who worked as an assistant for the Organi­ zation for Defending Mine Victims, as well as the DHRC. Ala'i has confirmed that "the connection of Sobhani to the work of Ebadi's organizations points to the gravity of the situation in Iran, where the government seems intent on stifling any expression of the im­ portance of human rights or religious freedom."

Iranian media outlets have re­ cently made allegations that Ebadi's daughter, a former law student, was converted to the Baha'i Faith by McGill

law professor and human rights la\ yer Payam Akhavan, a move made u doubtedly to discredit Ebadi among the Iranian people. Other such clain made against Akhavan and the McG Association for Baha'i Studies ha claimed that Akhavan is an Americ; spy, that McGill is a prominent cent of Baha'ism in North America, and th the McGill ABS is the hub of this a tivity. All these allegations have be< false, and are part of a larger campaic to slander and misrepresent Baha' and all those associated with ther Ebadi, who won the Nobel Peace Pri in 2003 for significant efforts in fi thering the cause of democracy ar the rights of women and minority in Iran, has been receiving an unpre edented number of death threats relation to her defending the seve Baha'i leaders arrested last May. ( January 1, demonstrators in suppo of the current Iranian regime attacke Ebadi's home and office.

All this reflects the gravity < the conditions facing Baha'is in Ira The persecution of Baha'is in Iran h; taken a much more methodical c rection in recent times, as they ai denied higher education, have the property confiscated or destroye and are often denied employmer and government benefits. The Irania constitution, which only recognize Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zc roastrianism as protected religion has served as the institutional bas for the persecution of Baha'is in Ira It was purposely worded to exclut Baha'is from any government securit thus forming the platform on whic Baha'is are denied the most basic c human rights. With the world's atter tion now focused on the conflict i Gaza, the Islamic Republic of Iran h; taken another opportunity to furthe its agenda of persecution of its large; religious minority, who have commi ted no crime but to believe in a rel gion that espouses beliefs such as th oneness of humankind and the one ness of religion. ■ Nadim Roberts is a U3 political sc ence student and vice-president extei nai of the M cGill Association for Baha Studies.

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F

EATURES

The cosm etics and personal care prod­ ucts ind ustry is w orth $5.4 b illio n in C a n a­ da and is responsible for products ranging from toothpaste and sham poo to lipstick and perfum e. Under Health Canada's ju ­ risdictio n, the ind ustry is one of the most heavily regulated in the co u n try— but for som e concerned ad vo cacy groups, that isn't enough.

In October 2007, the Campaign for

Safe Cosmetics, an American coalition of non-profit health and environmental or­ ganizations, tested 33 brands of lipstick at an independent laboratory. Sixty-one per cent of the lipsticks, which included items manufactured by Revlon, Dior, and the Body Shop, contained lead levels of up to 0.65 parts per million. To compare, the United States Food and Drug Administra­ tion has determined that 0.1 ppm is the limit for lead in candy. None of the brands listed lead as an ingredient.

In Canada, the Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist of banned ingredients from Health Canada is the first line of defence in deter­ mining whether or not a product is allowed to go on the market. The list, which is up­ dated several times per year, is developed by reviewing international literature and research studies and by monitoring other regulators.

"Conclusions are based on weight of evidence— information is gathered through recognized scientific journals, as well as opinions [and] decisions on the safety of cosmetic ingredients made by na­ tional [and] international counterparts and expert panel groups," say Health Canada online documents.

Before a product is available for sale, all its ingredients and [recipes] must be filed with Health Canada.This both ensures the product does not contain anything cur­ rently on the Hotlist, and makes it easier to recall products quickly if new ingredients are added to the list.

"If six months from now Health Cana were to decide that a substance were ris and wanted to take it out of products, th can do it without any legislation,"says Mi Patton, director of government and me relations of the Canadian Cosmetic,Toile and Fragrance Association, a trade associ| tion which represents 175 member com nies. "Because they've got the formulatio of all the companies on the market, th can notify companies and retailers and s 'As of February 1, these products are longer permissible."

Canada's regulatio ns are far more stri gent than those of the United States, whel the FDA relies heavily on co m pany self-p| licing. However, despite the fact that t d isp arity o riginates prim arily in formattinl Health Canada still receives criticism ov[ the difference between the H otlist and t num b er of restricted ingred ients in Euroi W hile the C anad ian list includes ab o ut 5 ingredients, Europe's is over 1,100.

"The num bers on the restricted list Europe are astronom ical com pared to Ca ada, and people say, 'W hy do they have m any more thing s listed?' A lot of it has do with the fact that lead w ould be list in Canada, and under the sam e com pour there m ight be 40 or 50 d erivatives that a listed in Europe," says Patton.

Ingredient lab elling on personal ca products has been m andato ry in Canac since N ovem ber 2006. Health Canac m aintains that this m easure was not in plem ented in order to alert consum ers the presence of banned ingredients, bi to allow them to d eterm ine w hether the m ight have a problem with any ingredier

According to online resources fro Health Canada, "while the vast majority < cosmetic ingredients are considered harn less, some of these ingredients do have tf potential to cause adverse reactions in small percentage of the population wit sensitivities. The nature of the reactior

20 .01.09 •The McGill Tribune •11

vw.mcgilltribune.com

PHOTOS BY ADAM SCOTTI AND NIKI HYDE

B y C arolyn Y ates

] the ingred ients w hich trigger them y w idely. M andatory ing red ient listing cosm etics is d esigned to help protect ise with sensitivities w ithout lim iting )ices for the C anad ian public."

Co nsum ers are still concerned, how evnot with the ingred ients that are on the , but w ith the ones that m ight be m issI from it. Breast Cancer Action M ontreal, advo cacy group currently in the m idst a cam p aig n to rem ove toxins from perîal care products, is w orried that current ellin g is not adequate.

"Now all products have the in g re d its listed, but the toxins and the horm one rupters and the m utagens are listed iongst all the ingredients with no in d ica n that they are carcinogenic," says Deena isy-A pel, a board m em ber of BCAM. "At s point, we want them to at least in d i:e w hich are the offending chem icals, d we w ant them removed."

BCAM's concerns are based on w hat ?y call the "precautionary principle," the ;a that regardless of w hether som ething proven harm ful, if it m ight be, that's good ough.

"If we th in k som ething is no good, en if we don't have 100 per cent proof, ; should act on caution, ju st in case," says jsy-A p e l.

This is w hat has lead to BCAM's current m paign against environm ental toxins, spite scant scientific evidence that the geted substances are carcinogens.

"There's no conclusive evidence that y of this causes cancer," says Ariel Fen;r, a research associate at the Office for ience and Society at M cGill. "It's based astly on [non-hum an] studies, and this the reason w hy it's difficult to know r sure. We are not rats or mice, so it's it really clear that w hat is found in rats d m ice can cause problem s in hum ans, o ugh certainly it is an ind ication that ey m ight be associated w ith problem s ...

As far as cancer, there is no co nclusive link.

A bsolutely not."

However, one of BCAM's concerns is phthalates, w hich are used as plasticiz­ ers in je lly toys as well as in personal care products.

"There is som e p o ssib ility [that estro­ gen levels are effected by] phthalates ...

But again, it m ight be a problem o nly for young children,"says Fenster.

BCAM acts on the precautio nary prin­ ciple, and it seem s Health Canad a does as well.

"Health Canad a takes their jo b very seriously, and their threshold for safety is very high," says Patton. "You can never be sure there's no risk. If a no n-g o vernm ental organization, another governm ent, or even an in d ivid u al brings to their attention in­ form ation that w ould lead them to believe that there m ight be a risk ... they act very sw iftly to ensure that, if it could be a haz­ ard, it's identified and acted on."

N otifications of product recalls are available on the Health Canada w ebsite, and the Internet m akes it possible to find inform ation on the nonsensical co nso ­ nants on the back of the package. Co sm et­ ics Cop's cosm etic in g red ient d ictio n ary and Environm ental W orking Group's Skin Deep database cover an expansive list of ingredients and can be helpful in deter­ m ining w hat the contents of a given prod­ uct m ight m ean. ■

I

i

Student L iving

CASH & CAREERS

How to get the perfect IT internship Use Google to find a job with Google K aylea H

in technical fields qualifies students for consideration. Also, many major companies have IT departments, so draw on your other interests to determine the type of company for which you want to work. For instance, if you've picked up an economics or finance minor, look for opportunities at finan­ cial exchanges, banks, or investment firms.

o w arth

A summer internship is the perfect opportunity to enter the business world, learn how an office works, and determine exactly where you want your higher education to take you.

Information Technology departments at companies across the globe are looking for motivated computer science and engineering students. Here are a few tips to help you find the perfect internship.

Start early

Many companies start recruiting summer interns as early as the previous fall, so don't postpone your search much lon­ ger. Apply to as many internship postings as possible, start­ ing with the ones that spark the most interest. Even if you have to turn down less attractive offers, you will also have more options if you don't get the one you most want.

Network

Networking is an invaluable tool for locating employ­ ment opportunities and internships. If you have family members or friends who work for companies with large IT departments, ask them to inquire about possible internship positions. Additionally, getting involved in student groups, your faculty's undergraduate society, as well as professional groups can provide you with valuable contacts and access to job offers.

Finding the engine to power your search

Identify interests

Be sure to identify your areas of interest, whether it's in hardware or software engineering, networking, game devel­ opment, quality assurance (QA), or a range of other possi­ bilities within IT. Keep in mind the non-technical positions within an IT department, such as project management or documentation, where an arts background and an interest

Hundreds of online search engines match hopeful employees with prospective employers. Internships are frequently listed along with permanent positions; simply search for your field of interest and specify intern as a key­ word. Some of the best search engines are Monster.com, MonsterTrak.com, lnternWeb.com, lnternshipPrograms.com, and ComputerJobs.com.

It's also possible to locate internship positions by com­

pany. Make a list of companies you'd like to work for, locate the careers section on their website, and navigate their search engine for internship positions.

Several McGill groups organize career fairs to aid stu­ dents seeking internships. Use these career fairs as network­ ing opportunity— approach attractive companies, hand over a copy of your resume, and make contacts. The McGill Career and Placement Service organizes career fairs throughout the year, and you can find information on either their website (caps.mcgill.ca) or Facebook group. Also, the McGill Technol­ ogy Career Fair is scheduled for January 28 at New Residence Hall and requires registration. See www.mcgilltechfair.com for details.

Go big or go home

Don't be hesitant to apply for your dream internship.

Major companies in the technical field such as Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Oracle, have extensive summer intern­ ship programs and are looking for unique applicants. Spend ing a summer at a leading company in the IT industry will provide an incomparable, fast-paced learning experience.

Several companies boast outstanding internship benefits as well. For instance, Microsoft offers subsidized housing and car rental as well as paid travel to the job location—and they'll even pick up your housecleaning bill. ■

/■

COLUMBIA PICTURES DISTRIBUTEDTHROUGHSONYPICTURESRELEASING

T r ib u n e

IN V IT E S Y O U T O A S P E C IA L S C R E E N IN G O F

TRAVEL

C a n 't g o w ro n g w ith H o n g K o n g A snapshot of Asia's world city V incci Tsui Known as a foodie heaven and shopping mecca, Hong Kong is a bustling international metropolis that al­ lows travellers to enjoy the Far East without experiencing complete culture shock. An added bonus is that you can do it all without applying for a visa—the special adminis­ trative region's slack regulations allow citizens of over 170 countries (including Canada) to enter without one.

To take advantage of some of the city's food and shopping, start your day with dim sum for brunch before heading to Sai Yeung Choi Street in Mong Kok. Known as "Women's Street" among locals, the pedestrian-only area is lined with stalls hawking everything from knock­ off purses to cell phone covers for very low prices. When you get hungry, you're only steps away from Fa Yuen Street, where little shops offer many of Hong Kong's fa­ mous "street eats,"such as waffles, fish balls on a stick, and stinky tofu. For those who prefer sitting down, duck into a Hong Kong-style café ("cha chaan teng") for a Hong Kongstyle milk tea—made with evaporated milk instead of milk or cream—but don't be surprised if the waiter seats

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Deadline for entry: JANUARY 30TH AT MIDNIGHT ONLY WINNERS WILL BE CONTACTED BY E-MAIL AND WILL BE INVITED TO PICK UP THEIR PASS AT THE THEATRE Full contest rules available at »l<

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IN THEATRES FEBRUARY 6

If you prefer sightseeing, a popular attraction is Ngong Ping 360, a 20-minute cable car ride to a tourist village at the top of the mountain. The views of Lantau Island from the cable car are spectacular, but skip the souvenir shops in the village and head right to Po Lin Monastery, the home of the bronze Tian Tan Buddha, the world's largest outdoor Buddha statue at 34 metres. After climbing the 238 steps to see the Buddha up close, many visitors choose to enjoy a vegetarian meal at the monas­ tery, and a homemade tofu dessert from one of the little restaurants in the area.

Round out your trip by riding the historic Peak Tram up to The Peak, where you can take in signature views of Victoria Harbour before heading into Madame Tussaud's to see wax figures of local and international celebrities.

Skip Hong Kong Disneyland and find your inner child at Ocean Park—although its dying sturgeons and zookeep­ er-attacking animals are making headlines, the panda exhibit is a must-see. Finish the day with a memorable dinner of fresh-out-of-the-tank seafood in Sai Kung or Lei Vue Mun, then party the night away in Lan Kwai Fong.

If you're loaded: Ranked number one for rooms, services, and facilities in Hong Kong, the Four Seasons Hotel sits on the Victoria Harbour, provides an impressive waterfront view, and is in the heart of Hong Kong's financial district. With rooms starting at about $640 CAD, the hotel is also home to Lung King Heen, the only Michelin three-star Chinese restau­ rant in the world.

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you with a stranger. Still not dropping from all that shop­ ping? Other popular shopping areas such asTsim Sha Tsui or Causeway Bay are only an MTR—Hong Kong's version of the metro—ride away.

If you're frugal: Steps away from Tian Tan Bud­ dha and Po Lin Monastery, the SG Davis Hostel of­ fers bed space from $90 HKD (-$ 14 CAD), or you can "rough it" in their campsite for $40 HKD (~$6 CAD).

For those who prefer to be closer to the action, Hong Kong Hostel—the largest hostel in the city— has beds starting at $150 HKD {-$23 CAD) and is conve­ VINCCI TSUI niently located in Causeway Bay, an area filled with Hong Kong offers dim sum, shopping, and sight-seeing — shops and restaurants. ■ without having to get a visa first.

20.01.09 «The McGill Tribune* 13

FOOD GURU

MINDFUNK

One tequila, two tequila, The very best carrot cake ever three tequila, floor Excessive boozing can leave you with more than just a hangover K atherine S tavro Partying and drinking every weekend isn't alco­ holism, no matter what your parents say. However, once drinking turns into a daily habit, it's time to think about whether you have a problem. To be diagnosed as an alcoholic, the DMS-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, version IV) requires at least three of the following symptoms to be consis­ tently present over a period of one year: increased tol­ erance (needing more of the substance to obtain the same effects), withdrawal, unsuccessful attempts to cut down use, a great deal of time spent obtaining or consuming alcohol, a decrease in social, occupational, or recreational activities, and continued use despite knowledge of physical or psychological damage.

In large quantities, alcohol can be toxic to both the body and brain functions. Just one night of heavy drinking will affect your perception, decision-making skills, memory, coordination, and concentration. Al­ cohol also causes severe dehydration, which is what leads to that killer hangover the morning after a pubcrawl. When your brain lacks water, it responds by inducing painful headaches. In more severe cases, al­ coholism triggers other psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety and depression. Fortunately, with abstinence these co-morbid disorders tend to gradually disap­ pear. Alternatively, panic disorders can develop as a result of long-term alcohol use, and actually worsen as an individual goes through withdrawal.

Alcohol withdrawal is extremely dangerous, as it can cause death from sudden, discontinued use.

The primary effects of alcohol result from stimulating GABA receptors (GABA being an inhibitory neurotrans­ mitter), which promotes depression of the central nervous system. With time and heavy drinking, these GABA receptors become de-sensitized to alcohol and decrease in number, leading to tolerance and physi­

cal dependence. Suddenly ceasing all alcohol con­ sumption makes the central nervous system go into overdrive, and as a result, consequences can include anxiety, seizures, delirium, hallucinations, shakes, and heart failure. Withdrawal symptoms subside after one to three weeks, but less severe symptoms may persist up to one year.

To avoid alcohol dependence before it begins, get drunk responsibly by eating a good meal before going out, and a slice of 99-cent pizza at the end of the night. Also, drink a lot of water throughout the evening and when lying in bed.This simple advice can save you from painful hangovers. If you decide to take your car partying and feel at all uneasy getting behind the wheel, call Montreal's Operation Nez Rouge for a free ride home at 514-256-2510.

Students who feel their alcoholic behaviour is spiralling out of control can contact Student Health Services, located in the Brown building. Drop in hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.nn.. A team of doctors, nurses, and therapists are available free of charge for students with appropriate health in­ surance. Appointments can be made by calling (514 ) 398 -6017 . ■

Learn how to impersonate a five-star chef T ori C rawford One day, two teachers were shopping in NewYorkCity. Upon re­ turning to their five-star hotel, they had tea and carrot cake in the hotel restaurant. They liked the carrot cake so much that they asked the waiter whether they could have the recipe, and surprisingly, the cook gave it to them— but when check­ ing out the next day, there was an extra $350 charge as a professional fee. Needless to say, they vowed to give it to anyone and everyone they knew. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Cake • 1 cup granulated sugar • 1 cup vegetable oil • 3 eggs • 11 /4 cup sifted flour • 1/2 tsp. salt • 11/3 tsp. baking soda • 11/3 tsp. baking powder • 11 /2 tsp. cinnamon • 2 cup grated carrots • 1/2 cup walnuts

Icing • 1/2 cup cream cheese (room temperature) • 1 tsp. vanilla • 1 3/4 cup sifted icing sugar • 2 tbsp. butter (room tempera­ ture) Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. 2. Combine sugar, vegetable oil, and eggs in a large bowl and beat until bubbly.

3. Combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

4. Add dry ingredients to oil mix­ ture and beat well. Fold in car­ rots and walnuts.

5. Pour into pan and bake for one hour. Meanwhile, beat all icing ingredients together until creamy.

6. Wait about 10 minutes for cake to cool before icing it. ■

LEADERSHIP TRAINING PROGRAM Leadership Skills Development Workshops NATE VANDERWEERD

L ead ersh ip

If you a re a student involved in campus activities as an executive, organizer or event L eadership Training P rogram planner, you qualify for First-Y ear O ffice the Leadership Training Program’s FREE Skills Development Workshops.

M cG ill

MINDFUNK

Ergonomically correct studying made easy Make sure the only pain is in your brain Z o e K ichler Studying, while hard on the brain, can also be hard on the body if done incorrectly. Just as there are ways to train your brain for correct studying, there are ways to train your body so that ergonomically correct studying becomes a habit. From the computer's posi­ tion to your body's position, there are many factors involved.

Typing or sitting at a desk for extended peri­ ods of time can lead to many disorders such as Car­ pal Tunnel Syndrome or damage to tendons, wrists, hands, fingers, and arms. Inflammation, tenderness, tingling, pain, and loss of sensation characterize these disorders. To avoid these problems, start with a flat keyboard. Your wrists should be kept level with your forearms, at their neutral position. Furthermore, your chair should have armrests that do not directly com­ press any part of the forearms or elbows. If using a computer mouse, move it using your forearm instead of just your wrist.

Posture is also affected by long hours of study­ ing. Poor typing posture can cause pain in the back, neck, shoulders, hands, wrists, and eyes. To avoid this, assume a natural keyboarding posture while typ­ ing. Your chair should support your upper and lower back and the chair height should be set so that the seat doesn't compress the back of your knees. Plant

your feet firmly on the floor, with your thighs parallel to the ground and knees at a 90-degree angle. Your upper arms should also remain relaxed and close to the body.

Eyes are another part of the body that should be protected while studying. Staring at a computer screen can lead to eyestrain, but placing the com­ puter or laptop at a proper position will reduce the discomfort. The monitor or computer screen should be placed so that it sits entirely below eye level. The monitor should also be tilted slightly for ideal lighting and view. If possible, adjust the lighting to limit glare.

When reading on the computer screen, make sure the text isn't too small and if it is, increase the font size in­ stead of moving the screen closer. Working at a com­ puter for a long time also means you blink less, which is bad for the eyes. Because of this, it is important to look away from the computer screen every 15 minutes for a brief break. During this break, blinking rapidly will also relax the muscles in the eye, which will pre­ vent injury. If remembering to take a break is a prob­ lem, software which prompts users to take a break at set intervals is available online.

Working and studying are often long and phys­ ically-straining activities. To make studying as painfree and enjoyable as possible, be sure to employ er­ gonomically correct studying tips. ■

Develop and build your leadership skills. Attend a minimum of five workshops throughout 0 8 / 0 9 academ ic year and receive a certificate of completion.

This January, check out...

D ive rsity A m o n g st Students Wednesday, January 28, 5:30-7:30pm W hat does it mean to truly be aw are of diversity issues?

Is your club, service or organization being as inclusive as it can be? Come identify things that you can do to make your organization more welcoming.

Troubleshooting C o m m u n icatio n B reakd o w n s Thursday, January 29, 5:30-7:30pm Become a better communicator and lead er by making the messages you send and receive clearer. You’ll see the difference it makes in your volunteer positions and in your career!

Registration for workshops: In person, one week in advance, on a first-come, first-served basis, in the First-Year Office.

For more info, drop by the First-Year Office in the Brown Building, Suite 2100, or call 514-398-6913

A rts & E ntertainment

THEATRE

Eternal darkness of the troubled mind Player's new production grapples with life's most difficult questions B rAHNA SlEGELBERG Timothy Findley's celebrated 1977 play Can You See Me Yet? is now showing at Player's Theatre. Directed by McGill stu­ dent Mike Lake, the play is set in a Canadian insane asylum prior to the Second World War where patients struggle to find sanctuary both within their troubled minds and away from the tumultuous outside world. Findley's story grapples with the problems of identity, sanity, and the role of memory in the fashioning of the self.

When Cassandra Wakelin (played by Alice MartinEllwood)—a patient from the "other" ward of straightjackets and electroshock therapy—arrives at the less “dangerous" ward, reality conflates with memory as Cassandra begins to view the patients in the asylum as figures from her past.

Through a series of monologues and flashbacks, the play si­ multaneously develops Cassandra's story as well as those of the 10 other characters. Through the use of this technique, the play manages to destabilize the line between the sane and the insane, the real and the imagined, and the individual and the outer world.

Given the gravity of the play's main themes as well as the depth of characterization, the talented student cast does a re­ markable job bringing to life the difficult and complex charac­ ters. Martin-Ellwood delivers a convincing and heart-wrench­ ing portrayal of Cassandra, while Charles Depman manages to skillfully play a man who thinks he is a dog throughout the entire performance. Marie-Marguerite Sabongui persuasively portrays a nurse who seems herself a bit crazy—she's saccha­ rine-sweet one moment and barking commands the next. The rest of the cast members give equally stellar performances.

With the help of the intimate setting created by the ambi­ ance of Players' Theatre as well as the era-appropriate costum­ ing, the actors enable their audience to be transported to the dark, though at times humorous, world of the asylum.

This thought-provoking play explores many facets of the human condition and asks just what it is that makes us human.

In the world of Can You See Me Yet?, a man can believe he is a dog, a woman can believe her dolls are her children, and an­ other can believe she is a 10-year-old girl. Yet given the many absurdities that exist in the world around us, Findley bids us to view the behaviour of the patients as perhaps no more out­ landish than that of everyday people.

Though the characters of Findley's play have all essen­ tially lost their minds, their dialogue is filled with poignant insights and musings that leave the audience wondering whether these characters are really any crazier than the rest of us. In one memorable episode, Cassandra asks another pa­ tient, "Why do we obey?" and answers that it is because we are afraid to trust ourselves. In a brilliant move on the part of the director, the radio simultaneously blasts the voice of Hitler

in the background. The play questions the sanity and sound reason of not only those in the asylum, but all of us. Cassandra seems to understand better than most that participating in human society is ultimately a question of self-assurance and our ability to convince others who we are. Her insights invite the audience to contemplate what humans are without our memories, as well as without other people to affirm our own identities.

Cassandra also questions the notion of "asylum" and asks if we are ever really safe. While the patients may be unaffected

by the war in Europe, they are very much disturbed by the on­ going wars within their own minds.

With an incredibly talented cast, an undeniably brilliant script, and an intimate viewing atmosphere, Can You See Me Yet? is a true testament to the artistic and multi-talented stu­ dent body at McGill. ■ Can You See Me Yet? plays at Player's Theatre (4 th floor of the Shatner Building, 3480 McTavish) January 2 1 -2 4 at 8 p.m., with Saturday matinees on January 2 4 at 2 p.m.

POP RHETORIC

Red c a rp e t b lu e s I unapologetically confess that my greatest disappoint­ ment of last week was, due to my lack of access to cable TV, not being able to indulge in one of my favorite guilty pleasures—watching the annual Golden Globe Awards.

Despite the absolutely mindless world of the award show, I cannot deny the rush I get from seeing the celebrity faces that have occupied my trips to the movies and fre­ quented my TV screen over the last year, tramping about in gowns in which they can barely breathe or struggling to smile after recent botox injections.

I, a shameless voyeur, bask in my one opportunity to watch these cult figures posing for paparazzi, being interviewed by annoying E! correspondents, reading off teleprompters while presenting awards, or acting entirely surprised upon winning one. It's the many now-hackneyed conventions that make award shows worth watching: the handholding couples, the humble nods, the attempted humorous "thank you" speeches and the tearful "l-neverthought-it-could-happen-to-me"ones.

The Globes is, in my opinion, one of the better award shows. The Oscars make me uncomfortable as I am forced

to watch perspiring actors sitting upright in their chairs as they await the terrifying results,The Grammys get crappier every year as more and more untalented new pop artists burst onto the scene, and The Emmys are guilty simply for validating the existence of day-time soap operas.

The Globes, however, feature the best of film and television, both comedy and drama. It is an award show in which "Hannah Montana," Meryl Streep, and Steve Carell can appear on stage consecutively before one commercial break. The Globes celebrate the full scope of the entertain­ ment world, without valourizing any one genre in particu­ lar.

With a staggering 14.6 million viewers (that's almost half of Canada), I am clearly not the only one who enjoys indulging in this show. Yet, despite the obvious reasons for watching award shows—the glamour, glitz, and random discoveries such as that Hugh Laurie, the star of House is re­ ally British and Jack Nicholson is still a pimp—the awardsshow seems to point towards a fundamental human ten­ dency to deify certain individuals. England has its Queen, Italy has its soccer players, and America has its Angelina

B R A H N A SlEG ELBER G

and Brad.

In fact, the infamous red carpet actually has its roots in classical mythology. It was considered a path for the gods, whose feet would thus avoid touching the ground. In Ae­ schylus'5th century BC play The Agamemnon, the title char­ acter's conniving wife Clytemnestra lays out for him a red carpet upon his return from Troy, as her plan is to murder him whilst he believes he is getting the royal treatment.

Yet even he notes that he feels it might be insulting to the gods for a mere mortal to tread the red carpet.

Given the red carpet's historical symbolism, is our cel­ ebration of the stars who inhabit it the ultimate act of hu­ bris? Are Hollywood celebrities— in lieu of politicians who have ceased to inspire us or gods we may no longer believe in— really deserving of our worship?

While the answer may very wel I be yes, when the night is over, the red carpet is pulled off the cement, the dresses are returned to Donatella, and limos are turned back into pumpkins. So, I just want to thank NBC and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for allowing us all the ability to indulge, if only for a few hours. ■

20.01.09 • The McGill Tribune • 15

ww.mcgilltribune.com

1USIC

MUSIC

Different musical strokes ram indie to folk

Online cherry picking

Strokes bassist Nikolai Fraiture goes solo

A musical "revolution"

K yle C arpenter

"This next one is a kindergarten sing-a-long kinda," says ickel Eye front man Nikolai Fraiture, with a cheeky grin. He egins to play "Out of Exile," which the crowd immediately recgnizes, as it is one of the two songs that have been released efore his full album, The Time o f the Assassins, comes out on inuary 27 . Some of the crowd did join in for the chorus, "Hello lotherfuckers, cause' I'm back from exile." Luckily, none of tern were kindergarteners.

Fraiture is best known as the_ bassist for fashionista indie >ckers The Strokes. The band is no stranger to side projects— ickel Eye is the third after drummer Fabrizio Moretti's collabration, Little Joy, and guitarist Albert Hammond Jr.'s two solo bums. Fraiture teamed up with British rock band South to >rm Nickel Eye. Though they've released several albums and btained a strong fan following in the U.K., South are probbly best known on this side of the pond for their hit song 3aintThe Silence," which was featured on season one of The i.C. With over io years of experience, South provides a strong acking to Fraiture, who is well on his way to becoming an idie rock veteran.

Nickel Eye began their current tour of Canada and the U.S. i Montreal at The Green Room on January 14 . Even though was their first show of the tour, the band's chemistry was trong and it seemed as if they had been playing together for ears. Fraiture has a curious and strange presence—with The trokes, he's on the sidelines while lead singer Julian Casalancas takes the spotlight. Yet in Nickel Eye, he's switched to coustic guitar and lead vocals. He seems somewhat unsure f the attention that comes with being the front man. Even n the album, his style of singing has a somewhat awkward ;el to it, as if he's speaking under his breath. At the concert, e certainly wasn't about to yammer on with the audience for ery long, although his guitar player Jamie McDonald's quip bout wearing long johns for the first time kept the atmophere light and informal.

The crowd perked up when Fraiture launched into the hythmic and incredibly catchy song "Brandy of the Damned." t sounds like a combination of reggae, folk, and rock—sort if like Bedouin Soundclash meets Babyshambles. The song ; a likely first single from the upcoming album. Known for

his driving bass hooks while playing with The Strokes, with Nickel Eye, Fraiture favours his acoustic guitar, although some of the show's best moments, including its closing rock n' roll crescendo, came when he picked up his electric Gretsch to play heavier songs. Nickel Eye finished after a short half hour set, which will have to be enough to tide over fans for another week before the much-anticipated The Time o f the Assassins is released. ■

NIKI HYDE Nikolai Fraiture closes his (nickel) eyes.

J o sh u a R o sen blatt

With the commercialization of radio stations, audiences are stuck listening to more of the same mainstream music.

Fortunately, the Internet has emerged as a hotbed of musi­ cal creativity. One of the latest stations to make the switch to online broadcasting is Los Angeles radio station Indie 103 .1 , whose final day on air was last Thursday. Forced with a declin­ ing audience share, the long-running radio station opted to take its indie flavor online.

The result is cherrypeel.com , the brainchild of twenty­ something music lovers Andrew Stern and Ross Hyndman.

Disenchanted by the small range of free music readily avail­ able to listeners, they created an online music community to bring artists and listeners together.

The website's goal is simple: to discover and promote new music and lesser-known musicians. This objective is ac­ complished by giving burgeoning artists the opportunity to showcase their talent online, providing them with free expo­ sure and publicity. Bands can upload their songs to the site free of charge while retaining full rights to their music, and are entitled to remove their songs from the website at any time, for any reason.

Listeners have access to the site's online music catalogue and can choose between streaming songs directly from the site and downloading them. Users who register to the site can also comment on songs, share songs with friends, and create their own playlists. An additional feature of the website is the voting system by which users rank the songs they listen to.

Top-ranked songs are prominently featured on the site's popu­ lar page, providing a better chance for artists to get noticed.

Put simply, cherrypeel.com is a one-stop shop for music where visitors can listen to new music of a variety of genres, including indie rock, folk, rock, and pop. Sure, Stern and Hynd­ man haven't exactly invented the wheel—young aspiring art­ ists have been using Internet sites like MySpace to get their name out there for years. Nevertheless, they've created a user-friendly site where "fans have the power to decide what is worth listening to."The site's creators go so far as to call it a "democratic music revolution."While the jury's still out on that one, the website is definitely worth a look. ■

: ILM

Rebels with a cause A/WII history, Hollywood style L ukas S am u elso n

In director Edward Zwick's new film Defiance, a group of Polish Jews seek ref-^ jge in the forest and struggle between the decision to either survive quietly or ight against Nazi invaders. This World War II film offers a refreshing and original jerspective on a historical event that has been covered from countless angles.

The film contains enough suspense, action, and battle heroics to entertain without crossing over into mindless action movie territory. The entertainment ralue of the film is balanced by quality acting, poignant scenes, realistic and ouching romance, and character development which add depth to an other­ wise straightforward and uncomplicated plot. The protagonist of the film, played sy Daniel Craig, without any of the suave self-assurance of his portrayal of James Bond, is very fitting.The dreamy Craig proficiently portrays a caring, just, brave, and believable hero. On top of Craig's impressive" performance, effective and lonest drama peppered in between the survival plot makes the film much more zomplex, reminding the audience that these people were torn from their normal jves and thrown into a desperate survival situation. The movie also conveys the aw anger and grief of the Jewish refugees, capturing the emotion of a people who are fighting to maintain their faith despite living in constant fear.This is best exemplified by an emotional, yet graphic scene where the refugees confront and ultimately kill a captured Nazi soldier.

There's seldom a dull moment, thanks to subplots including sibling rivalry, budding romance, and community infighting. The most satisfying moments of the film include the decidedly badass Craig quelling a mutiny, several romance scenes that avoid getting sappy or unrealistic, and of course, thrilling combat scenes. However, the comedic one-liners spoken periodically at lighter points in the story detracts from it's believability, and could be seen as inappropriate.

Though the film may receive criticism for its historical inaccuracies or an overly "Hollywood" appeal, the film effectively relays a story of great struggle, bravery, and hardship. After all, the movie is intended to entertain. In glamor­ izing an already exciting tale of real-life courage and survival, Zwick makes Defi­ ance a film that can be appreciated by everyone, not just history buffs. ■ Defiance is now playing a t Scotiabank Theatre (977 St. Catherine).

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16 • Arts & Entertainment ■20.01.09

R e v ie w s

The McGill Tribun

MUSIC Higgins. Zs. The triumphant Big Star guitar chords of "There He Is" signal the beginning of Higgins' excellent album Zs, perhaps the best record yet from the standout, critical­ ly-acclaimed young record label Serious Business. Higgins is a lovely pop band in­ fluenced by seventies-era power-pop and AM radio fare. It's songwriter Kevin Fish's lyrical proficiency that has led to such a well-executed melodic result for the six-

member band.

"Yes I Know," with its sterling guitars and wonderfully chiming cho­ rus, is one of the record's most memorable moments, while monster epic "Charly" (complete with its own prelude) is an acid-drenched psych-pop track soaked in dense guitars and rolling organs. On the slower end of things, the wistful "Write It Down" and "Ok" recall Third/Sister Lovers-era Big Star. Higgins harbours an unusually consistent devotion to the music of yesteryear. Rarely does Fish integrate more recent influences into Zs' eleven songs. Although "Wall Of Dumb" is distinctly reminiscent of the Magnetic Fields, this disc as a whole has a remarkably consistent 'clas­ sic' vibe. The only other constant is the record's level of quality. Zs is an unquestionably satisfying release.

—Michael Tau The All-Am erican Rejects. When the World Com es Down. Three years after their second studio album Move Along went double platinum and cracked sev­ eral mainstream music charts, The AllAmerican Rejects are back with When the World Comes Down—or better put, Move Along Part II. The sound of World's 11 tracks signals that AAR isn't quite ready to deviate from the formula that made their last effort a surprise success back in 2005. Why mess with a good thing, right?

On the new album, the foursome known for their blend of pop, emo, punk, and rock delivers another dose of teen angst. Heartbreak seems to be what these Oklahoma natives know best, and much of the album is spent wailing about lost love. Good luck getting the first single "Gives You Hell"—sure to be the break-up anthem of 2009— out of your head.

Other noteworthy tunes are the up-tempo tracks "Failin'Apart,""Breakin'," "Real World,"and the slower, acoustic ballad "Mona Lisa." Another album highlight is "Another Heart Calls," in which the band collaborates with New York-based folk-pop duo The Pierces. All in all, while the long-await­ ed album is not quite as solid as Move Along, it will not disappoint fans of the group and is definitely worth a listen. What it lacks in originality, it more than makes up for in quality and style.

—Joshua Rosenblatt

Indie rock for Canada's great outdoors Provincial Parks cross provincial borders D anielle C herkas If you think you're familiar with Canada's vast array of provincial parks, think again. Toronto-based band Provincial Parks won't be lurking in the periphery of your scene-dar for long. As ravenous bloggers lie in waiting, licking their mutton chops and following the scent of the "next best thing," Toronto's best kept secret awaits its inevitable widespread success. The four man ensemble, formerly named "Howl", have traded in their Ginsberg-inspired title for something a little more in tune with their music.

"People were missing out on our intended connec­ tion with the beat movement," says the group's singer and guitarist Will Hemmings."We were finding ourselves being associated with wolves." According to Hemmings, this was causing a rift between the band's reputation and its members' musical intentions. Hence emerging Provincial Parks, whose highly accessible melodies and lyrics coincide more with the hippie movement within Canada’s preserved landscapes than with the carnivo­ rous yell of wolves.

While the band identifies with the hippie move­ ment, their music avoids an overly psychedelic sound.

"We want to move in the direction of bands like Fleet Foxes and Band of Horses," says Hemmings. "Their sound is not only widely accessible, but also manages to be unpredictable." This goal is certainly achieved in their newly released EP Iron Ponies, which was written and recorded in a band members' basement. Loaded with catchy lyrics and habit-forming hooks, the album manages to achieve the impossible. It manages to both appeal to a wider scope of listeners and repel the gener­ ic tendency of pop music. The fun and infectious track “Young Bride" should be accompanied by some sort of a patch to wean listeners off of its addictive melody. "\ knew we were doing something right when my dad told me he liked our stuff,"jokes Will.

It seems that Will's dad isn't the only member of the Provincial Parks fan club. The band has peaked the in­

terest of many music publications who have also take note of the evident pressure the band is placing on il hometown seams. "We've played one gig in Montrea says Hemmings. "But other than that we mostly pla gigs in Ontario." The band members hope to establis their touring bearings in the east before taking on th rest of Canada. However, Iron Ponies illuminates the ir evitability of their local outburst. The band will be pc rading their hits across provincial and national border in no time.

Despite these positive reactions from the pres: Hemmings suggests that the goals and perspectives c the band members regarding Provincial Parks'future ar fairly modest. "We're not in this to make loads of cash says Hemmings. "I'd like to own a small house, but that' the extent of it."

In terms of the direction their music is taking, Hem mings envisions an approach more akin with the exper imental, yet vocally refined sound of Brooklyn-basei Grizzly Bear. Hemmings admires the band for their di verse arrangements and stellar vocals, two ingredient which make "Provincial Parks" the burgeoning bear cut trailing heavily on heels of their mentors' exceeding!; large musical paws. ■ Provincial Parks plays at The Pound (377 Richmom St.) on January 23.

Provincial Parks on a natural high.

MYSPACE.COM

FILM Andrew Vincent. Rotten Pear. Singersongwriter Andrew Vincent's recently released album Rotten Pear— his fifth and most emotional to date— is marked by poignant, honest lyrics that explore themes of loss and loneliness. Against the backdrop of a soft acoustic guitar, Vincent showcases his soothing and appealing voice, which is strikingly reminiscent of Ben Kweller. Recorded at his home in To­ ronto and produced by small indie label Kelp Records, the album confirms Vincent as a noteworthy Canadian singer-songwriter.

Rotten Pear's first track "Hi Lo" is a pleasing, gently lilting melody that's soothing to the ear and draws the listener into the album."Ruffian," a beautiful song whose lyrics describe the experiences of a misguided young boy, is a prime example of Vincent's lyrical story-telling. If you're a fan of acoustic rockers like Elliott Smith arid Nick Drake, Vincent's sound is sure to please. Vincent is not as innovative as Smith or Drake; although the songs featured on the album are generally mellow, pleasant tunes, they're nothing you probably haven't heard before. Nonetheless, Rotten Pear displays a pleasant flow and makes for an enjoyable listening ex­ perience. If you like what you hear, check out Vincent live at L'Escogriffe on January 31.

— Carolyn Grégoire

I’m g o in g s o m e w h e re !

M

LEARNTOTEACH ENGLISH.CA

2012: A pseudoscientific odyssey Documentary predicts the end of days?

B ernard R u d n y 2012: Science or Superstition is the kind of cinematic debris that erodes my faith in humanity. It's an indepen­ dently produced documentary about the end date of the Mayan Long Count calendar in the year 2012—which purportedly coincides with some grand cosmic realign­ ment. In brief, 2072 is an affront to modern cinema—and I say this as someone who has seen Caddyshack2.

A series of new-age spiritualist "experts" predict what will happen on December 21, 2012, when the cur­ rent era ends according to the Mayan Long Calendar.

They try to introduce some scientific evidence—there's talk of solar flares and constellational alignment— but it's dubious at best. That's hardly surprising, given that the studio that produced the film is named The Disinfor­ mation Company. 2072 contains 78 minutes of the kind of pseudoscientific new-age claptrap popularized by 2004's What the Bleep Do We Know!? To be fair, there are some differences— What the Bleep interweaves its non­ sensical metaphysics with the story of a young female protagonist searching for fulfillment. 2012, on the other hand, interweaves the ramblings of balding, middleaged men with stock footage from the weather chan­ nel. Its production philosophy was apparently inspired

by An Inconvenient Truth— combine an utterly uncharismatic narrator with Powerpoint-quality animation. The result? I watched 2012 in broad daylight with a cup of coffee beside me, and still fell asleep twice.

Such shortcomings could be forgiven. After all, plenty of great documentaries—from Roger and Me to

In the Year of the Pig— have modest production values But those films told fascinating stories, whereas 2011 is just a collection of metaphysical twaddle. What 2012 lacks in science, it makes up for in superstition. There's plenty of apocalyptic scare-mongering, as one selfstyled "expert" predicts that the year 2012 will bring a "culling of humanity" and "decimation of large parts ol the human race."

Frankly, I was curious as to how anyone could make sense of the superstitious trivia presented in 2012 until the end of the film, when the Mayans' use of halluci­ nogens was discussed. And when one of the "experts' being interviewed referred to himself as one of"the psychedelically enlightened few" who need to "walk civili­ zation down off its bad trip," I finally understood why I disdain this film. 2012 is the celluloid counterpart to that annoying guy you always see at parties who turns every conversation into a discourse on psychedelics and spiri­ tuality, and then encourages you to toke up and "ex­ pand your mind."

This summer, another film titled 2012 will be re­ leased: a big-budget science fiction film from the direc­ tor of Independence Day, and that's how it should be.

The coming apocalypse (whether it's 2012 or Y2K) is a great scenario for action films, but it makes for terrible documentaries— especially when the new-age proph­ ets get involved. ■ 2012: Science or Superstition is available on DVD at www.disinfo.com.

Sports BASKETBALL— MARTLETS 72, CONCORDIA 65

For Martlets, a day makes a big difference

McGill avenges tough loss to Stingers with emotional home victory J acob K anter It may be easy to make mistakes, but it certainly isn't easy to learn from them.

The McGill Martlets women's basketball team had only 24 hours to learn from a one-sided 74-53 road loss to the Concor­ dia Stingers. But once the dust settled, it appeared that the Martlets were wise beyond their years.

McGill turned the tables on their cross-town rivals at Love Hall on Saturday night, defeating the Stingers 72-65. It was the Martlets'-first win in their last five tries against Concordia—a dry spell dating back to November 22,2007.

"Over the last few games, we had been playing as good individuals— one or two girls would have a good game," said McGill Head Coach Ryan Thorne. "But today we had a good team effort, and that's exactly what we needed."

Drive and dish

Though the Martlets' success was due to their collective

strength, fourth-year point guard Nathifa Weekes, who fin­ ished with 21 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, was a standout on both ends of the court.

"We played harder, we played more together as a team," said Weekes, echoing her coach's sentiment. "I was more ag­ gressive than last night, and that opened up my teammates."

In the second half, Weekes routinely broke down Concor­ dia's defence, driving the ball into the lane to get a layup, draw a foul, or kick the ball out to a teammate on the perimeter.

Guard Stephanie Bergeron was one of the beneficiaries of Weekes's passing, as Weekes assisted on two of Bergeron's five three-pointers, including one that put the game away with under a minute remaining.

"That's what Stephanie gives us,"said Thorne of Bergeron's perimeter shooting. "Nathifa's speed and her ability to attack gave us an opportunity to [balance] our jump-shooting."

While Weekes's driving ability was the story of the second half, freshman forward Anneth Him-Lazarenko, who finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, asserted herself in the first half.

Him-Lazarenko routinely beat Stingers to the ball on both the offensive and defensive glass, and notched three easy putbacks off offensive boards in the first half. Fellow forward Elise Lepine, who finished with nine points and 13 rebounds, also chipped in to give McGill a 42-36 rebounding advantage.

"The gameplan was to start with some inside play," said Thorne. "We were going inside a lot, and that got [Concordia] in some foul trouble, so we were going to the line a lot. That got us going. And then, once we started doing that, it opened up shooters on the outside, because they would double [team] us when we would enter the lane."

Love Hall provided the Martlets with a true home-court advantage, though chants of "Let's go Stingers!" were audible throughout the evening.

"Concordia's gym is more compact, and they do a great job in their gym of trapping and double teaming," said Thorne.

"Today, we were able to spread the floor more and to pene­ trate and pitch it out."

Short memory

ADAMLAIDLAW Lepine, who finished with a team-high 13 rebounds, makes up half of the Martlets'talented young frontcourt.

Though both teams started sluggishly, it appeared as if the Martlets had forgotten the previous night's loss. With two minutes left in the first quarter, McGill eventually opened up a lead that it held until two minutes remained in the third. Lead­ ing 45-43, McGill allowed the Stingers to score 10 of the next 14 points, taking a six-point lead early in the fourth quarter.

But Weekes wouldn't let the momentum slip away en­ tirely. The Martlets' senior leader stepped up when her team needed her, hitting 10 of 11 free throws in the final 10 minutes.

Conversely, the Stingers went 1-5 from the line in the fourth quarter, opening the door for McGill to complete its dramatic comeback.

ADAMLAIDLAW Weekes put herteammates on her backdown the stretch, scoring 12 of her 21 points in the fourth quarter.

The Stingers matched the Martlets in terms of teamwork, as nine players hit field goals. Krystie Douglas led the visitors with 14 points, Ebony Morris grabbed seven rebounds, and Me­ lissa Anne Campbell dished out seven assists. But Concordia's depth was no match for McGill's desire to win their first game since the season opener against Bishop's on November 15. "[This win] means a lot because we were really down, los­ ing six in a row," said Him-Lazarenko. "It's a way of proving that we're on the right track and working hard, because we are. I'm really proud of the team because everyone stepped it up and showed what they're made of."

The win pulled the Martlets into a tie for fourth place with the Stingers, as both teams now sport 2-6 records. McGill has a week to prepare for the Bishop's Gaiters, who will host the Martlets in Lennoxville this Friday. The teams will face off again on Saturday night at Love Hall at 6 p.m. ■

THIRD MAN IN

C o o p e rs to w n : a p la c e to ta lk a b o u t th e p a st ■

he Baseball Hall of Fame recently inducted its two latest members: Ricky Henderson and Jim Rice. But one player not inducted was Mark McGwire, who only received 21.9 per cent of the vote—well short of the 75 per cent needed to earn admission. Sports enthusiasts have been plagued by the question, "Should McGwire be elected into Cooperstown?" in recent years, and the end appears to be nowhere in sight.

I'm torn on the issue. Statistically, there's no doubt that McGwire belongs in Cooperstown. You can't argue with 583 career home runs—good for eighth all-time— and his revitalization of baseball in 1998, when he broke Roger Maris's record of 61 home runs in a single season.

That summer, sports fans wondered every night, "Did he hit another one?" McGwire was the prototypical American sports hero—the larger-than-life figure with tree trunk bi­ ceps who hugged his son (the St. Louis Cardinals'batboy) after every smash.

But America's infatuation with McGwire ended in 2005 when Jose Canseco described how he injected McGwire with steroids in his book Juiced. At a Congressional hearing later that year, McGwire dubiously skirted around the ques­ tion of whether he ever took steroids, saying, "I'm not here to talk about the past." Suddenly, it seemed like McGwire

T

was a cheater. Should a cheater be allowed into the Hall of Fame? Voters are instructed to pick a candidate based on his "record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, char­ acter, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played." Clearly, McGwire lacked integrity, sportsmanship, and character in the voters'eyes.

The voters believe that if McGwire was to be voted in, we would be celebrating cheaters and telling young ath­ letes that by gaining an unfair advantage, they'll be able to reach the top of their sport. The steroid era ruined baseball for many fans, and McGwire is often viewed as its poster boy.

Though it's easy to denounce McGwire as a cheater and bar him from Cooperstown, the situation is much more nuanced. First, McGwire has never admitted that he took steroids, and it has never been proven. The validity of much of the material in Canseco's book has been dis­ puted and while McGwire's response at the Congressional hearing was cowardly, he never said, "I took steroids." More importantly, steroids weren't banned in the MLB until 2002, after McGwire had retired. Therefore, even if he did take steroids, he never broke any rules. Furthermore, it's rarely mentioned that many pitchers were likely taking steroids during McGwire's heyday. Cheating has been present

■

J on R ubenstein

throughout baseball's history. Pitchers would throw "spitballs" and hitters have always corked their bats. To distin­ guish McGwire's method of cheating from any other kind is unfair.

It would be quite unfortunate if McGwire ends up like Pete Rose, a legendary player who admitted to betting on baseball and was banned from the game 20 years ago.

When Rose admitted to betting, the baseball world was outraged and believed the ruling was fair. But popular sen­ timent towards his induction has recently become more favourable, and many sportswriters have called for him to be placed on the Hall of Fame ballot. McGwire seems to be headed down the same path as Rose's early days of exile—a sad fate for one of the game's greatest players. The shroud of controversy that now surrounds his legacy will never be removed, but that doesn't mean he should be kept out of the Hall of Fame.

To truly move on from the steroid era, baseball must first acknowledge its existence, and giving McGwire a bust in the Hall of Fame would go a long way towards achiev­ ing that. Regardless of whether or not he was good for baseball, his story deserves to be remembered. McGwire single-handedly changed the game, and for that reason he belongs in Cooperstown. ■

18 • Sports • 20.01.09

The McGill Tribum

BASKETBALL— CONCORDIA 82, REDMEN 69

Redmen get no "Love" on their home floor McGill collapses in fourth quarter to split weekend series with Stingers K a il a n L e u n g

Michael White scored 19 points and hauled in 13 rebounds, while Sean Anthony managed 17 points and six rebounds, as the Redmen fell to Concordia 82-69 at Love Hall Saturday night. Coming off an emotional and hard-fought win against their cross-town rivals the night before—one that snapped a five game losing streak— McGill struggled to find any sort of rhythm or range this time around.

"Both teams made adjustments defensively [between the two games],"said McGill Head Coach Craig Norman. "We made some mistakes, and we had trouble shooting the ball. We de­ fended hard, and sometimes when you defend hard, it affects you on the offensive end of the court."

Both teams looked sluggish from the opening tip-off, and the first quarter was characterized by poor decision-making and easy misses on both sides. The Stingers found themselves in foul trouble early thanks to a series of quick whistles, but McGill failed to take advantage of being in the bonus, fre­ quently settling for contested jum p shots with the shot clock winding down. McGill's defensive effort was solid early on, however, as the team did an excellent job communicating and collapsing down on Concordia's 6'7"centre Jamal Gallier.

The second quarter proved all too similar to the first, as seemingly every chance McGill had to build momentum and bring the capacity crowd into the game was neutralized by a bad pass or wasted possession. McGill led for most of the first half, but Concordia scored the final five points of the second quarter to take a three-point lead going into the locker room.

McGill's intensity and offensive efficiency picked up in the second half, as White was fouled on a made basket, and for­ ward Matt Thornhill drilled a three-pointer from the wing to even the score at 32. But a flurry of missed shots by the Redmen allowed Concordia to put together a run late in the quarter.

Guard Damian Buckley showed off his athleticism with some pretty drives to the hoop, and the diminutive Pierre Thomp­ son completed a rare four-point play to cap the Stingers' run.

Anthony kept McGill close late in the quarter with a runner in the lane and two free throws, and Concordia led 48-46 going

into the final stanza.

White leveled the scoring with a two-handed dunk in transition in the opening seconds of the fourth, but Gallier threw down two of his own to silence the crowd and swing momentum back in Concordia's favour. That slam started a 16-0 Concordia run that took only three minutes and effec­ tively put the game out of reach. The Redmen found them­ selves with plenty of open looks in the quarter, but simply couldn't find the bottom of the net.

"We've got to find a way to execute better and to cut down on our mistakes," said Norman. "I thought we should have been up going into the fourth quarter. We didn't play that well, and we still tied.... We made a lot of unforced er­ rors, and that hurt us."

Turnovers also plagued the home team, as McGill com­ mitted 25 turnovers, and assisted on only 10 made buckets.

Gallier routinely shook off McGill's undersized frontline in the second half to finish with 19 points and 17 boards, and Buckley chipped in with 18 points and six rebounds. McGill's leading scorer Moustafa El Zanaty finished with 15 points and eight rebounds.

Tensions ran high near the end of a game, and an al­ tercation broke out between some of the opposing players after the final whistle.

"There's a fierce rivalry between McGill and Concordia," said Norman."It was a physical game, it was the second night in a row, and tempers were running short. But we'll take some measures to make sure that doesn't happen again."

Despite the disappointing results from Saturday's con­ test, the Redmen have little time to dwell on any loss, espe­ cially in the competitive Quebec league. At 2-6, the Redmen find themselves looking up in the standings at their four conference foes.

McGill travels to Lennoxville to take on the Bishop's Gai­ ters on January 23 before returning to Love Hall to take on the Gaiters again the following evening. The Redmen will look to avenge a two-point loss suffered on November 15, and climb out of the QSSF basement in their continuing bid for national recognition and a playoff spot. ■

ADAM LAIDLAW

El Zanaty, the Redmen's leading scorer, wasn't given a lot of room to work with on Saturday night. He scored 15 points.

PROFILE— NORDIC SKIING

A look inside McGill's Nordic Ski Club Student-run team features blend of beginning and advanced skiers J a c o b K an ter

M cGill Athletics funds a select num ber o f athletic program s, but that doesn't stop students from organizing varsity teams on their own. This sem ester, the Tribune will look a t a num ber o f Var­ sity Club sports on cam pus, beginning with Nordic Skiing.

Every successful organization benefits from well-defined roles for its workers.The McGill Nordic Ski Club, however, bucks that trend, and it just might be better off for it.

"They're just names on paper,"said Head Coach and McGill graduate student Megan MacDonald of her title and that of Captain Alex Danco.

"They're fairly interchangeable," added Danco. "We basi­ cally all coach and captain ourselves. We organize races our­ selves, organize transportation, events, pretty much every­ thing. It's a lot of work, but it's pretty fun."

All athletes put in time and effort to play their respective sports at a higher level. But student-athletes in club sports, like MacDonald and Danco, have to work hard just to be able to put in their time and effort to become better cross-country skiers. In a sense, their experience is more rewarding.

"We're competing for McGill,"said Danco, who is in his sec­ ond year. "We wear McGill uniforms, we get written up on the athletics website. But it's nice, because we're essentially com­ pletely self-run.... There's a group of four or five people who do all of the organization and administration, booking of hotel rooms, and race registrations and finance. But also it tends to be the same people who organize the structure of individual practices and seasons."

The season is structured in a unique way, to say the least.

Beginners and veterans comprise the 20-member team, which leads to a balance between recreational races and competitive m eets.

"Our aim is to put out a racing team to a certain extent," said MacDonald. "But we take people at every level: beginner

skiers, as well as some skiers coming from National-level races, and serious skiers from Quebec. We start training in early Sep­ tember, and we train up to five times a week or so, all through­ out the school year, and then our racing season really gets going in January. Anyone with sufficient physical fitness and dedication can join the team."

day. The club supplies the equipment, and lessons cost $22.15 for students and $26.58 for non-students. Another group of lessons will be offered on the weekend of February 13.

Private lessons are also available at other times for mul­ tiple skill levels. The McGill Nordic Ski team can be contacted at (514) 755-1487. ■

This year's beginners will look forward to the Canadian Ski Marathon— a two-day 160-kilometre race between Montreal and Ottawa— on February 7-8, and the Viking Loppet— an af­ ternoon race with multiple 20- and 33-kilometre events— on February 22 in Morin-Heights, Quebec. But the more advanced skiers will look forward to two Quebec Cup races.

"The Quebec Cup is a club circuit, so it's at a very high level," said MacDonald. "But we've been part of starting a uni­ versity category within that circuit."

"In Quebec, there is no university circuit," added Danco.

"Instead, the people who are competing in these [Quebec Cup] competitions are from groups like Skibec, Ski de Fond [Orford], Fondeurs-Laurentide, and Mont-Ste-Anne. They're full-time skiers, essentially. They can dedicate several hours every day to training really hard all year-round for trying to make the National team or something similar. So we're com­ peting at a higher level than we can afford to, being university students. But that being said, we're always pushing ourselves to be better skiers, and one of the best ways to do that is to compete with these high-quality athletes."

Two Quebec Cup races bookend the 2009 season, with the first on January 30-31 in Gatineau, and the second—the Quebec Cup final—on March 28-29 at Mount-Ste-Anne.

Since the Nordic Ski team receives no direct funding from McGill Athletics, the skiers must look elsewhere for financial support. In addition to a yearly club fee for its members— $400 for 2008-2009—the team holds beginner lessons in conjunc­ tion with McGill's Campus Recreation initiative.The first group of lessons is this weekend at the Mount Royal ski trail from 1-4 p.m. on Friday and Sunday and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Satur­

MEGAN MACDONALD

160 kilometres over two days of cross-country skiing will do wonders for your peace of mind.

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