The McGill Tribune Vol. 29 Issue 10

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LONDON CALLING, PAGES 10 & 11

IMCGILL Published by the Students' Society of McGill University

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Vol. 29 Issue 9 • Tuesday. November 3, 2009

Montreal hosts Canadian university rowing championships

Trem blay re-electea Despite corruption allegations, mayor elected to third term JAMES GILMAN M anaging Editor

ADAM SCOTTI

Gérald Tremblay was re-elected to a third term as Montreal’s mayor on Sunday, and his Union Montréal party appears likely to take 39 out of 65 city council seats, giving them a comfortable majority in Montreal’s top legislative body.

Tremblay, who has been mayor since 2002, received just over 37 per cent of the total vote, defeating his closest rival, Louise Harel of Vision Montréal, by about five per cent.

Richard Bergeron of Projet Montréal came in third with just under 26 per cent. Voter turnout was just under 39 per cent, which is relatively high for a municipal election.

The campaign leading up to the vote was wrought with allegations of corruption at city hall, with the biggest scandal surrounding the water-meter contract Tremblay’s government awarded to a private consortium in 2007. The $355-million contract was suspended recently amid accusations of conflicts-of-interest, corruption, and collusion.

Rowers from all over the country competed for a place on the podium Sunday afternoon at Ile Notre-Dame. Full story on Page 18.

SEE PROJET ON PAGE 4

CAMPUS

McGill administration unveils online H1N1 self-reporting system Province denies request to hold vaccine clinics on campus TORI CRAWFORD N ew s Editor

With numerous confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu here at McGill, the university ad­ ministration announced on Monday the imple­ mentation of a self-reporting mechanism that will serve as the equivalent of a doctor’s note

for infected students and faculty members.

The online report, which is available on Minerva, allows sick students to report their illness to the Student Affairs Office, or to the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Office.

The report will then serve as the equivalent of a doctor’s note for the student for nine days from the time it is received.

“We gave nine [calendar days] to give students a little extra time because if the stu­ dent misses seven days of classes, there’s so

much catch-up,” said Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Morton Mendelson. “ [The time period] is actually more than we feel is necessary, but under the circumstances w e’re giving a little bit of extra time because of the number of people that could be sick for a fairly long period of time.”

Although the report excuses sick students from all academic activities for those nine days, Mendelson emphasized that the onus is on students to communicate with their profes­

sors to reach alternate arrangements for any assignments or tests they may have missed.

“On the form, it says very clearly ‘if you need to request accommodation for a missed exam, speak to the instructor in the course,”’ said Mendelson. “We don’t want students to think that they go there and everything is taken care of, and they can just assume that it’s all done.”

While Mendelson acknowledged that the

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2 » Tuesday, November 3, 2009

NEWS

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CAMPUS

Fourth annual Culture Shock taking place this week on campus Organizers aim to increase student engagement MARIA FLORES C ontributor

Culture Shock 2009, a week of events dedicated to exploring the myths surround­ ing immigrants, refugees, and communities of colour, will take place at McGill from Nov. 2 to 6.

The events are jointly organized by the Students’ Society and the Quebec Public In­ terest Research Group at McGill. A keynote panel, roundtable discussions, a walking tour, and several workshops are among the activi­ ties that will take place throughout the week.

Although open to the general public, this year’s organizers are aiming to target more events towards students in order to get them more engaged.

“We are basically continuing on what happened in 2006, but this year we will only have a few people coming from out of town because we want to focus more on local issues.

There is less of a focus on big name academ­ ics. Mostly we want to engage with people here,” said Indu Vashist, external coordinator for QPIRG McGill.

Despite the local focus, Vashist said the ultimate goal of Culture Shock is to provide a broader and more complex understanding of Canadian society.

“I think multiculturalism as a policy tends to whitewash a lot of the issues that people have in Canada. Within Canadian society, multicul­ turalism is used as a way of blanketing over issues that different communities of colour deal with,” said Vashist. “We need a different view than multiculturalism to understand these conflicts, we need to have a less liberal, more radical understanding of conflicts.”

Culture Shock was started in 2006 as a reaction to Culture Fest, a multicultural event that once took place on campus. Since then, it has evolved into looking at issues that dif­ ferent communities deal with on a day-to-day basis.

“We came up with this idea of doing this anti-racist event series, so more events are

No on-campus vaccination sites continued from cover self-reporting nature of the new system could be abused, he is mainly concerned about sick students who opt not to report their illness and do not stay at home at all.

“My sense is that there are more students who are going to want to try to write exams when they are sick than who are going to try and get out of them when they are not sick,” he said. “We’re really hoping that students, es­ pecially with the flu, don’t show up to exams sick, because we don’t need lots of students in the gym coughing, and being sick while there are all these other students in the same place.”

The system will also serve to take some of the pressure off of McGill Student Health Services, which until yesterday students had to visit in order to obtain a doctor’s note.

“At this point, we are encouraging stu­ dents to call us, and we will be giving them advice over the phone,” said Dr.Pierre-Paul Tellier, director of McGill Student Health Ser­ vices. “We will be encouraging students to stay at home, but this doesn’t mean we will refuse students who show up with symptoms, and we will definitely want to see students who have underlying medical conditions” With the H1N1 vaccine unavailable to healthy adults in Quebec until December 7, the possibility of students being ill during the exam period is a realistic scenario. Since the closest immunization location to campus will be the Palais des Congrès, the McGill admin­ istration has expressed some concerns about the inconvenience this could cause to students who are just beginning the final exam period.

“Our students give a high priority to their studies, and if they have to wait around to get a vaccination and lose some valuable study time, they might just forgo the vaccination,” said Wayne Wood, manager of McGill Environ­ mental Health and Safety, “We’re looking at

alternatives, w e’re looking at ways and means of if we can’t deliver the immunizations [on campus] maybe providing some transportation to the clinic.”

In order to get the vaccine, students must bring a piece of identification that proves they are a Quebec resident-for example, a student card, or a medicare card from any province to the clinic. While the administration is in talks with the Quebec Ministry o f Health to set up an immunization site on campus, the ministry has so far declined the possibility.

“We’re not asking to get the vaccine any sooner than anyone else in Quebec, but we just feel that w e’re in a position perhaps to deliver it more effectively to our community, and per­ haps get a higher participation rate if we do it here,” said Wood.

While it would be practically impos­ sible to confirm the number of cases so far at McGill, Michael Porritt, executive director of residences and student housing, said that there is at least one case in each residence. However, he also emphasized that the many prevention and control mechanisms that have been put in place—including free hand sanitizer refills, extra cleaning supplies in the bathrooms, food delivery programs for students who are ill, and weekly emails to keep students informed -have so far proven quite effective.

“It is in every building but in very small numbers. We’re not even at one per cent of the population being sick at any one time yet,” he said. “We’ve now had three situations where the one roommate got the flu and the other one didn’t, because they took the prevention tips so seriously.”

All students can obtain a free personal bottle o f hand sanitizer at every library refer­ ence desk on campus and at all residence front desks.

about issues that communities of colour and indigenous communities face, rather than try­ ing to depict them through food,” said Vash­ ist.

One of the panel discussions, which will take place on Nov. 3, will focus on mining practices in Canada. Judy Da Silva, commu­ nity member and activist from Grassy Nar­ rows First Nation, will be one of the featured speakers in the discussion which will focus on the colonialist practices of the mining industry and the negative consequences these practices can bring, whether political, social, or environ­ mental.

Da Silva will highlight the devastating ef­ fects that mining causes on all the fresh water lakes at Grassy Narrows, as well as on the ir­ reversible damage granite mining does to the land.

The presentation will also aim to create awareness of activities that threaten the tradi­ tional Grassy Narrows way of life.

“My goal is mostly to create awareness and also to network, because I am so power­ less and so weak. I want to find resources and

to meet people so that they can help me find out how I can stop this or to see what do we do next,” said Da Silva.

This year’s keynote panel, titled “ 1947/1948” after the two years where India and Sri Lanka gained independence, will ana lyze the contemporary border conflicts that still take place within these two countries. Guru Paran Gunaratnam, a Sri Lankan Tamil activ ist, researcher and one of the featured speakers for the panel, plans to emphasize the relevance of these issues at the international level.

“I think that it is important that Canadians realize how this international issue is happen­ ing, and Canada has to clearly define its role and take a side on human rights,” said Gu­ naratnam.

For more information on Culture Shock 2009, contact QPIRG McGill by email at qpirg@ssmu.mcgill.ca or by phone at 514.398.7432, or visit their website at www. qpirgmcgill.org.

Department of Microbiology and Immunology McGill University M IM M 501/502 Undergraduate Honours Students

Write for news. Meetings are Mondays at 5:30 in the Shatner Cafeteria.

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NATIONAL

Lisa Jardine awarded second annual Cundill Prize in History Receive'f$75,000 award for book Going Dutch STEVEN HOFFER N ew s Editor

The second annual Cundill International Prize in History was awarded yesterday morn­ ing to Lisa Jardine, a professor at Queen Mary University of London, for her book Going Dutch: How England Plundered H olland’s Glory. Jardine was shortlisted for the award along with Pulitzer Prize-winning Brandeis University professor David Hackett Fischer, recognized for his work Champlain’s Dream, and University of California at Santa Barbara professor Pekka Hamalâinen for his book, The Comanche Empire.

“I think that we write history, particularly history for general readers, with passion, with conviction and with a sense of urgency— otherwise, why bother?” said Jardine as she introduced her work. As the 2009 prize recipi­ ent, Jardine was awarded $75,000 and invited to return to the event next year to deliver the Cundill Lecture in History.

Jury members are instructed to judge sub­ missions on four criteria, including thorough­ ness of research, the importance of the subject and its projected impact, the originality of analysis and a high degree of accessibility to scholars and lay readers alike.

“I think actually, in a sort of funny way, we came up with three very good books at the end of the day,” said Timothy Aitken, jury member and president of the Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation. “But if we don’t court some sort of controversy, why will people want to read these books? Why will they go to the bookstore and say T want the book that

ADAM SCOTTI

Jardine, a professor at the University of London, is invited to return to McGill next year to deliver the Cundill Lecture in History. won the Cundill Prize.' They won’t, is the an­ swer. And if they don’t then the objective, in my view, is not being achieved.”

Aitken stressed that in order to become relevant, the prize must strive to constantly challenge conventional historical limits and push emerging authors to the forefront of their discipline.

After revealing that Jardin had won, Dean of Arts Christopher Manfredi initiated a panel discussion between the three finalists address­ ing one of the award’s underlying themes— writing history for a popular audience.

“There is no difference between general history and scholarly history in the hands of a proper scholar,” said Jardin. She then refer­ enced her father by stating, “There is nothing too difficult to communicate to a general audi­ ence as long as they don’t know it’s difficult.”

All three of the finalists agreed that writ­ ing for a popular audience is a consideration

that must be taken into account when research­ ing and developing a history book.

“A generation ago it was common to draw a distinction or even a disjunction between ac­ ademic history and popular history, or between popular history and serious history, and today I don’t think that is the way we think about it,” said Fischer. “We are working in a kind of middle ground and are trying to reach a larger public, but we are not in the entertainment business. We are scholars and so we always should be.”

Following the roundtable, Yale University history professor Stuart B. Schwartz, who re­ ceived the 2008 Cundill Prize for his work All Can Be Saved: Religious Tolerance and Sal­ vation in the Iberian Atlantic World, delivered the first annual Cundill Lecture in History.

Drawing a parallel between writing for a popular audience and his own work, Schwartz began his address by discussing the role of the

common man in generating significant contri­ butions to shaping history.

“W hat about the rest of us? Not the great shapers of history—the Napoleons and Cae­ sars, the Spinozas and Socrates—but the com­ mon folk?” said Schwartz. “W hat about their decisions and their actions—do those contrib­ ute to the course of history? And if they do, how can we as historians recapture them?”

Schwartz then specifically discussed his 2008 Cundill Prize-winning work, referencing several examples of “common folk” who in­ fluenced his research and dictated history.

Peter Cundill graduated from McGill in 1960 with a Bachelor of Commerce degree.

He has since emerged as a notable figure in the Canadian financial sector. In addition to fi­ nancing the Cundill International Prize, Peter Cundill has also created two graduate fellow­ ships in history worth $25,000 each.

PROVINCE

McGill astrophysicist Victoria Kaspi to receive Prix du Quebec Award for research involving neutron stars and pulsars TRIP YANG C ontributor

In a ceremony today at Quebec City’s National Assembly, McGill astrophysicist Victoria Kaspi will receive the 2009 Prix Ma­ rie-Victorin for her groundbreaking research involving neutron stars, pulsars, and other volatile outer space objects.

The Prix Marie-Victorin for natural sci­ ences and engineering is one of 11 prizes con­ ferred annually at the Prix du Québec awards, which celebrate individuals for their contribu­ tions to culture or science. The highest honour bestowed by the Quebec government, the Prix du Québec presents all winners with $30,000 and a silver medal. Kaspi joins a growing list of McGill researchers who have won Prix du Québec awards, including biologist Graham Bell in 2004 and atmospheric scientist Law­ rence Mysak in 2006.

“We are all extremely happy for Vicky,” said Professor Charles Gale, chair of the de­ partment of physics. “Vicky is driven by cu­

riosity and science; a prototypical physicist.

When one of us wins an award, it’s a real team-bonding experience. Prizes of this sort are what make this job fun.”

A Canada Research Chair in Observation­ al Astrophysics and the Lome Trottier Chair in Astrophysics and Cosmology, Kaspi is one of the leading researchers in the McGill Pulsar Group, a burgeoning astrophysics program.

Kaspi’s team examines the phenomena of stars with high-energy magnetic fields, such as the remnants of the gravitational col­ lapse of massive stars, also known as neutron stars. The Pulsar Group uses frequency sen­ sitive radio telescopes to schematically scan the Milky Way Galaxy for unusual signals.

In 2005, Kaspi’s team discovered the fastest spinning pulsar, or highly magnetized rotating neutron star, and over 20 pulsars located in a single star cluster in the Milky Way. “Our research is quite varied and we often find ourselves with unexpected results. Using radio telescopes we search for pulsars and neutron stars—many of which produce radio waves—and unexpectedly we discovered a very fast spinning pulsar,” said Kaspi.

Earlier this year, the team, in collabora­

tion with other scientists, witnessed an act of cosmic recycling, where a dying pulsar trans­ forms into a fast-spinning millisecond pulsar with a lengthened lifespan.

“Pulsars come in binary systems—often a white dwarf or another neutron star,” said Kaspi. “Neutron stars and pulsars slow down and die after 10 million years, but we observed a pulsar that was recycling material from a neighboring star to increase its own rotational speed and in essence increase its lifespan.”

While there were two McGill physicists building gamma-ray telescopes in the late 1990s, it was not until Kaspi’s arrival in 1999 that astrophysics research really took off. The Pulsar Group now employs seven full time researchers and specializes in a variety of as­ tronomical fields. Kaspi credits the freedom granted by the physics department for the re­ cent accomplishments the Pulsar Group has made.

“When you’re a young professor, you don’t normally have a lot of influence in the [administrative aspects] of the department,” said Kaspi. “When I came to McGill, I had a lot of say in how projects were developed and who to hire.”

Kaspi’s celebration as a 2009 Prix du Quebec winner coincides with the recent McGill-affiliated discovery of the most distant known cosmic object, a 13-billion-year-old su­ pernova that exploded near the beginning of the universe’s lifetime.

In collaboration with other researchers and NASA, McGill physicist Robert Rutledge used telescopes positioned in the northern and southern hemispheres to detect the explosion, titled Gamma-ray Burst 090423. Denis Therien, VP research and international relations, believes the recent successes are a testament to the strength of M cGill’s astrophysics pro­ gram.

“There are lots of good astrophysics re­ search elsewhere, but McGill represents the most powerful [astrophysics] group in Cana­ da,” said Therien. “Kaspi is not only a great science asset for McGill, but also a great inter­ national asset. In 10 years she will be one of M cGill’s stars, if she isn’t already there.”

mcgilltribune.com

4 • Tuesday, November 3, 2009

CAMPUS

TEDxMcGill conference coming up on Thursday McGill students organize independent event IBRAHIM AZAR C ontributor

On Thursday Nov. 5, TEDxMcGill, a half­ day conference, will feature some of McGill’s most fascinating and engaging individuals talk­ ing about their passions, their visions, and their research.

The line-up of speakers consists of McGill undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and alumni who will discuss topics ranging from the theories behind black holes to vaccine immunology to modem and post-modem man­ agement styles. The event, originally planned to be held in the Thompson House Ballroom, was relocated to the Jeanne Timmins amphitheatre in the Montreal Neurological Institute because the organizers received three times as many ap­ plications as they had planned.

Alison Withers and Tahnee Pantig, two of the event’s main organizers, attribute part of their success to the popularity of the TED con­ ferences. TED—which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design—is a non-profit orga­ nization that is famous for their events which

have featured speakers in areas far beyond the three in its acronym. TED speakers include for­ mer US President Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, director JJ Abrams, architect Frank Gehry, physicist Stephen Hawking, and molecu­ lar biologist James Watson.

After TED unveiled TEDx, a program that enables organizations, schools, businesses, cit­ ies, libraries, or just groups of friends to enjoy a TED-like experience through events these groups organize themselves, Pantig and Withers applied for a license under the McGill name.

“McGill is such a unique place with so many talents and research breakthroughs that we thought it would be a perfect venue to hold an event like this,” said Withers. They set a goal to have at least 50 per cent of their speakers be McGill students.

“There are not many opportunities for the students [to express themselves] and we wanted to provide a platform for the students to share their work with the community,” said Pantig.

Although they use the McGill name, the event is independently organized and neither the university nor any student body has control over its executive decisions. TEDxMcGill sought funding from the Dean of Arts Development

Fund, the Post-Graduate Student Society, and TVMcGill, among others.

The final line-up of speakers was selected based on two criteria. Students were chosen through a regular application process, while professors and alumni were targeted by the ap­ plication committee. The selection process took into account having speakers with expertise in their respective fields as well as having diversity in the final line-ups of topics.

Jan Florjanczyk, who will discuss the theo­ retical physics of black holes and highlight the surprising facts and the paradox of the universe, said that the freedom to talk about whatever he wanted attracted him to this event.

“The actual conference is so notoriously interesting that I didn’t need much speculation to guess what TEDxMcGill could be about. I ap­ plied to speak because with the freedom to talk about anything I was able to discuss something I’m very passionate about. No closed format or topic means a full creative license,” said Flo­ rjanczyk.

Ellen Bleiwas, an architecture masters student, said she applied to speak because she wanted to relate her academic work to the con­ cerns of everyday life.

“I study architecture, which, like many

disciplines in academia, is rather insular,” said Bleiwas.

“Architecture students are developed, cri tiqued, and evaluated by other architects. Yet architecture, being an integral part of our daily experience, is truly a public concern. I think it is important to give voice to issues of our built en­ vironment in a multidisciplinary setting—to get people thinking about the often unrecognized potential in their day to day experience of the city.”

Bleiwas’s talk will focus on a problem in Montreal: the lack of non-commercial pub­ lic space integrated into commercial axes, or how despite its vibrant and busy public life, it’s nearly impossible to go to the bathroom, meet a friend, or work on a laptop without consuming.

She suggests using underused, leftover spaces in the urban fabric to punctuate main streets with public space, in order to both fulfill a utilitarian function and add to the aesthetic beauty of the city.

While TEDxMcGill is already sold-out, you can watch the live stream of the conference on the TedxMcgill website, where videos of the event will be later made available. Withers and Pantig even hope some of talks might end up on the official TED website.

PROVINCE

Quebec calls for healthier models

Projet sees success in the Plateau

Province creates new voluntary charter for fashion industry

continued from cover Tremblay, who saw his vote total drop from his last victory in 2005, when he won almost 54 per cent of the vote, acknowledged the role that the scandal played in the mayoral race during his victory speech Sunday night.

“I ’m aware that the municipal administration has been strongly shaken by all of the events of the past months and particularly by those of the last few weeks,” he said. “I ’m aware that the confidence of Montrealers has been put to the test.”

Tremblay’s party wasn’t the only one hurt by the scandal. Just over a week before the election Harel’s top lieutenant Benoît Labonté was forced to resign from Vision Montréal after allegations emerged that he had accepted money from companies involved in the watermeter contract, to which he later admitted.

Projet Montréal, the only major party not tainted by corruption allegations, saw a surge in the polls on the eve of the vote, with some polls putting Bergeron in a statistical dead heat with Tremblay and Harel.

However, although Projet Montréal performed very well in the Plateau-MontRoyal borough, Bergeron ended up more than 10 per cent behind Tremblay, while the party won only 10 city council seats.

“I would like to congratulate Gérald Tremblay on his victory,” Bergeron told his supporters Sunday night. “The population has spoken. They gave us 25 per cent of the vote ... Gérald Tremblay won this election and I congratulate him for that.”

According to Students’ Society VicePresident External Sebastian RonderosMorgan, Projet M ontreal's strong performance in the Plateau, where many McGill students live, was a positive development for the students living in the neighbourhood and for the city as a whole.

EVE SWIRSKI Contributor

The glittering stage of Montreal Fashion Week was not only home to designers and their creations last week, but also to a new charter advocating the use of healthier models.

The province of Quebec recently agreed to the charter, which promotes less extreme thin­ ness, body diversity, healthier eating and weight control habits for models. Esther Bégin, co­ président of the working group which drew up the charter, said that these principles could take many forms, from limiting the use of Photoshop to make models look thinner and using models of various sizes in fashion shows.

Quebec’s Minister of Culture and Com­ munications Christine St. Pierre initiated the the charter after two girls from a Montreal high school created a petition at their school in re­ sponse to the overwhelming pressure in the media to be thin and perfect. St. Pierre was in­ credibly touched by the petition and now, over a year later, the charter is in place.

Dr. Howard Stieger, a specialist in eating disorders at the Douglas Institute, Bégin, and St. Pierre became co-presidents of the work­ ing group that drew up the charter. The rest of the 30-person committee is composed of media professionals, photographers, members of the fashion industry, and government officials.

Unlike laws in Madrid and Milan that state that models must weigh at least a certain amount, and that their body mass index must be at least 18, the Quebec charter is not a law or regulation, but rather completely voluntary.

Marie-Josée Trempe, president and found­ er of Specs models management and a member of the committee sees this voluntary aspect of

the charter as crucial to its existence.

“Had we [made this a law], the industry would not have gotten on board. This is a cre­ ative industry with free speech. To be honest, models and agents would have found their way around these things,” she said.

The purpose of the charter is to discourage eating disorders, initiate discussion about body image, and reinforce the importance that body diversity and health are important.

“This charter is not an answer but a tool to get people from the industry to have a dialogue and acknowledge that the [fashion] industry may be having a negative, albeit unintentional impact,” said Trempe.

Trempe added that the “heroin chic” look common to many models is not meant to set an example of body image but rather a means for clothes to look better and help designers sell more to buyers and editors. Nevertheless, many see these gaunt models as exemplary aspects of the fashion industry and strive towards the same skeletal image, which often contributes to the development of eating disorders.

The death of some models due to eating disorders has motivated the fashion industry as well as governments to take action in the fight against this standard of emaciated models.

Many people, particularly women, suffer from such disorders as anorexia and bulimia.

McGill is no exception; cases of eating disor­ ders have been reported time and time again, especially for first-years in residence. “[Students] at McGill and other universi­ ties also have a lot of pressure. When we bind together and get into action we can make a change. Real beauty is diverse and comes in dif­ ferent packages and as consumers we should be supporting that diversity - by spending money we are casting our vote and we need to start to thinking about that,” said Trempe. “We have the power to make a difference and it starts with our

“I think that it’s really interesting, it goes to show how much people in the Plateau were excited about a new party, a new vision for Montreal being presented to them,” he said.

“I think that it’s actually a great result, I think that a third party that is very ideas-oriented, and ideas-driven getting that kind of support and getting that kind of representation at city hall is very good for the city.”

Yet Bergeron was not disappointed with the end result, telling Radio-Canada on Monday that the election was “great progress for Projet Montréal,” which picked up only eight per cent of the vote in the last election.

Harel, a former Parti Québécois cabinet minister, who was criticized by many in the Anglo-Montreal community for her poor English skills and her withdrawal from the campaign’s only English language debate, expressed disappointment that voters gave Tremblay another mandate, but promised that she would stay on to fight corruption.

“I would have liked Montrealers to opt for change,” she said. “But let’s agree that they didn’t vote for the status quo; two thirds of voters refused the status quo.”

Harel’s party picked up a total of 16 council seats. The 65-person council is made up of the city mayor, the mayors of the 18 boroughs, and 45 city councillors elected from around Montreal.

Union M ontreal's Sammy Forcillo won the race for city councillor in the Peter-McGill district, which includes M cGill’s downtown campus, while victory for Projet Montréal in the Jeanne-Mance district, means that Bergeron, who also ran jointly for councillor in the distrinct, will be able to sit on city council, despite losing the mayoral election.

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Tuesday, November 3, 2009 » 5

CAMPUS

CAMPUS

New schedules

McGill sustainability fund to be voted on Nov. 1

New format to be introduced in 2010-11 academic year

University would match student contributions

SEYOUNG CHOE

KYLA MANDEL

C ontributor

C ontributor

McGill professors and students will fol­ A new sustainability fund for McGill will low a new class scheduling system called be voted upon in a referendum starting on No­ Time Table, beginning as early as the 2010-11 vember 6. academic year.

The fund, which will be raised by stu­ Luc Vinet, M cGill’s former provost, has dents—50 cents per course credit, up to a been working on the Time Table project since maximum of 15 credits per semester—will be 2005. Time Table is a new system designed to matched by contributions from the administra­ simplify the schedules of faculty members, as tion. It will then be overseen by a parity com­ well as to make the most of classroom space. mittee with equal representation from students The new system prioritizes faculty members’ and the administration, which will seek con­ schedules, allowing professors to input the I sensus from all members. days and times when they would ideally like “The university has never established a 3,000 students must vote in favour of the fund in order for the referendum to pass. Voting their classes to occur. The registrar’s office consensus-based parity committee. This is a will take place from November 6 to 12. would then allocate the available space. By | completely new way of doing things and that implementing the Time Table system, class­ should be really motivating for students,” said Right now, student groups don’t have enough Nicell emphasized that the premise be­ rooms that were once solely reserved for some Jonathan Glencross, U3 environment. funds to properly support something like a hind the fund is not to subsidize the operating faculties will be opened to others. The admin­ However, Glencross emphasized that sustainable projects fund, and the university costs of the university in any way. istration is considering introducing this new none of this will matter if students don’t vote doesn’t [either],” said Rebecca Dooley, Stu­ “[The fund’s] major purpose is to change system beginning with the academic class that in the referendum. dents’ Society vice-president university af­ the culture of sustainability at McGill. So we will enroll in March and April of next year.

“First we have to get the vote. With­ fairs. "Through pooling resources, the fund want it to be very visual, very obvious and Kathleen Massey, registrar and execu­ out 3,000 students voting for it, it won’t go will be accessible to all. Anybody that wants very interactive,” he said. “I hope it will shape tive director of Enrolment Services, said that through,” he said. “Everything is in the stu­ to initiate a project can find the funds.” [people’s] behaviour and the choices they the goal of this project is to spread classes out dents’ hands right now, which is a really pow­ Dooley also recognized that most student make in the future.” through the week so that students can choose erful statement to make because it says, one, projects might not be as expensive as those ini­ “This is about sustainability, it’s about the classes that they want to take with a mini­ [the administration] trusts us, two, they recog­ tiated by the administration. balancing economic, social and environmental mum number of conflicts. nize that what w e’re trying to do is important, “We definitely want special consider­ issues,” Nicell said. “The more we start think­ “This will be better for students by and and three, they’re sharing an immense amount ation for those smaller projects that will have ing about i t ... especially in the community of large because the class will be scheduled dur­ of responsibility.” large impacts and are definitely coming from a ours where we have some of the best thinkers ing the better portion of the week so that they Voting will take place from Nov. 6 until grassroots place,” she said. in the world, and I don’t just mean the profes­ have more access to the core courses that they Nov. 12, and students can vote either online Jim Nicell, associate vice-principal (uni­ sors but the students that are coming here, we want,” said Massey. “In fact, we are moving to through the Elections McGill website, or in versity services) said that this fund will help can change the world. I ’m quite convinced of two one-and-a-half-hour lectures, which might person. If referendum passes it will be put support many projects that are already in prog­ that.” be an interesting format for more students.” into place by January and will then be tested ress.

Polling will take place Nov. 10-12 during Massey insisted that the old scheduling for three years, at which point students will “Sustainability has been creeping into a the day in Leacock, Bronfman and Shatner, format would still be available and accessible have the chance to vote on whether to keep it, lot of stuff that w e’re doing,” he said. “But and Nov. 10-11 during the evening at New Rez to the undergrad students who are more com­ change it, or discontinue it. there was no fund that would say, okay, here is and BMH. To vote online, visit www.vote.elecfortable with the old system.

“Sustainability costs money to initiate ... a good idea, let’s see if it works.” tionsmcgill.ca.

“The reason we are doing this largely is to improve the pedagogical experience and the choice that students have in particular for course sections,” said Massey. “We are taking baby steps to make sure we meet all the needs that have to be addressed.”

Nonetheless, when asking undergrad students how they felt about a change in the ; scheduling system, the majority felt uneasy with this idea. Nora Khan, U2 anatomy and cell biology, said that she likes the schedule system that the university presently offers.

However, she finds organizing her complicat­ ed schedule at the beginning of each semester C H IR O P R A C T IC , challenging. As a way to make the students aware of the changes, she proposes, “[The adM ASSAGE TH ER A P Y , minstration] should suggest some information by mail through WebCT and tell us exactly A C U P U N C T U R E or what they are planning on doing and forget a survey to get the answers of the students.”

O R IE N T A L M E D IC IN E .

Rebecca Dooley, SSMU vice-president, university affairs, said that “it is important to be aware of [the change] and important to let the working group know that they need to ac­ knowledge that it will be a culture change for | students.”

2501 W est 84th Street, B loom ington, M N 55431 Dooley also added that students’ society will do their best to make information regard- | ing the new system available to undergraduate j students as soon as possible.

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6 • Tuesday, November 3, 2009

THE SUPREME COURT & BILL 104 On October 22, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down Bill 104, a fundamen­ tal amendment to the Charter of the French Language (Bill 101). Bill 101 stipulates that English-language public education in Québec is available only for children whose parents were also educated in English in Canada. This crucial piece of legislation was created to en­ sure that the children of all new immigrants to Québec would be educated in French, while protecting the fundamental right of Québec’s Anglophone community to have their children educated in English. However, a loophole was found. Parents of students who were ineligible to attend English public schools could send their children to an English-language private school for one year, after which they would be awarded their Certificate of Eligibility for English Language Instruction. Passed in 2002, Bill 104 closed this loophole.

Sadly, the Supreme Court ruled that Bill 104 was unconstitutional and “excessive,” and gave the Québec government one year to re­ place the law. I disagree with the Court’s de­ cision, and I’m not alone. Although this issue centres on language, for once this debate has not divided Québec on the traditional sover­ eigntist vs. federalist lines. One must remem­ ber that despite Bill 101 being adopted by a Parti Québécois government, federalist gov­ ernments introduced its predecessors, Bills 63 and 22. Following the high court’s deci­ sion, the federal NDP introduced a motion in the House of Commons reaffirming Québec’s right to protect the French language, a motion that was unanimously adopted. It is possible to be both federalist and in favour of a Frenchspeaking Québec. Québec’s federalist Liberal Prime Minister Jean Charest commented that he was upset, “because Bill 104 was an im­ portant law designed to prevent parents from using a back door to do something that techni­ cally isn’t allowed.” Liberal Minister of Cul­ ture Christine St.-Pierre added that she was

THE GOOD FIGHT As his wife and daughters went to bed last Wednesday night, President Obama donned an overcoat and left the White House for Dover Air Force Base. After arriving in the early hours of the morning, the president stood on the tarmac, arm raised in salute, as white-gloved soldiers unloaded the bodies of 18 more Americans killed in Afghanistan. He later spoke with the families of several of the men before returning to Washington shortly before sunrise.

President Obama’s trip served as a poi­ gnant reminder of the monumental decision he is facing. Two months ago, Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal issued a report to the president warning that without additional troops, the war in Afghanistan “will most likely result in

O p in io n “disappointed and angered” by the ruling.

There’s no doubt, however, that Bill 101 needs to be revisited. There are situations that the government failed to consider when they created the bill. There are immigrants to Qué­ bec from English-speaking countries whose first language is English, who are not eligible for English school. These immigrants should not automatically be granted an eligibility certificate; they did choose to settle in Qué­ bec, where the official language is French, so they must adopt French as their new language Nonetheless, the Québec government needs to make a distinction between an immigrant from an English-speaking country, and an im­ migrant from a country where the official lan­ guage is neither English nor French.

For example, if a significant part of a child’s education outside of Canada was taught in English, the child could be granted access to English schooling but be required to follow a bilingual-intensive stream. Bill 22 al­ lowed students with “sufficient knowledge of English” to study in English.

The Québec government must remem­ ber that the fact that one goes to an English or French school doesn’t mean one will not be­ come bilingual. Students must study the other language in their primary and secondary edu­ cation, and the majority of Montreal’s students graduate with a bilingual certificate. Upon graduation, students are free to choose the lan­ guage in which they will continue their post­ secondary education. It’s rare that a student in Québec who desires to become bilingual will not have the opportunity to do so during his/ her primary or secondary education.

Bill 104 was an important piece of legis­ lation: it stopped people from using a loophole to exploit the system. Our language legislation is important to ensure that new immigrants are prepared to enter Québec’s business world, where the official language is French. A loop­ hole is not a good thing, and now our lawmak­ ers will have to find a new way to keep this loophole shut. PQ leader Pauline Marois is calling on Jean Charest and the entire National Assembly to denounce the Court’s ruling.

While I don’t believe that this will happen, I know that Charest will not scrap Bill 104. Dur­ ing the next year, it’s essential that the “two solitudes” in the Assembly work together to please the Court, while defending the French language as Québec’s only official language.

failure.” In order to regain the upper hand in the country, McChrystal requested as many as 40,000 more troops.

McChrystal’s strategy, which hinges on confronting the Taliban in Afghanistan’s iso­ lated valleys while providing protection for Taliban leaders who choose to switch sides, has received the backing of much of the American military leadership. In recent weeks, however, one man has challenged the argument that a massive increase in troop levels is the best way to win the war.

That man is Matthew Hoh, who until re­ cently served as the State Department’s senior representative in Afghanistan’s Zabul Prov­ ince. While still in that post, Hoh was assigned to answer a question posed by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Why, Mullen wanted to know, had the military maintained a presence for years in Afghanistan’s remote Korengal Valley, despite suffering a number of casualties there?

A former Marine, the 36-year-old Hoh was brilliantly qualified to research such a question. He had served in the Pentagon, led reconstruction efforts in Iraq, and later fought there with the Marines after being recalled to

mcgilltribune.com

The inconvenient truth is that we wouldn’t know what to do with a revolution even if we had one. That shrillness you hear in the back­ ground on campus is the desperate plea for at­ tention from a movement trying to be a move­ ment. Self-affirming student activists trying rkre itner @me <ijllti4b.iineTe.om to be student activists. Maybe you’ve noticed how the McGill Daily prominently places pho­ tographs of masked protestors mad as hell and THE “ COUNTER-REVOLUTION” not taking it anymore. Or maybe you’ve seen the CKUT offices, where they’ve plastered the “Every generation needs a revolution. ” walls with supposedly “radical” political pam­ Thomas Jefferson phlets and posters, foolishly posing as some How the hell did we get here?

At the end of his “controversial events” illicit Black Panther lair in which heroic plots town hall, Deputy Provost (Student Life & are hatched and class-war strategy devised.

This correspondent remains wholly un­ Learning) Morton Mendelson mentioned in a brief aside that he saw great irony in the idea convinced. It’s a truism that the loudest voices of a university administration member plead­ often have the deepest insecurities. These shrill voices suffer from a similar crisis of authen­ ing with students to respect free speech. When he was a student at McGill in the late 60s, the ticity. The true character of their “movement” would be revealed when a sizeable contingent situation was precisely the opposite.

And so it was all over the world. One of showed up to the revolution in pre-ripped the favourite slogans of French student pro­ jeans and Che Guevara t-shirts they bought at Urban Outfitters for $28. testors in 1968—the celebrated soixante-huiStudents in Mendelson’s time appropri­ tards—enunciated the esprit du temps excel­ lently, “Il est interdit d ’interdire. ” It is forbid­ ated free speech as their cause du guerre, lend­ ing their movement an air of substance and den to forbid.

With the recent events at McGill, today’s legitimacy. Since they actually won, we can’t fight the same battle. Presciently, John Stuart students have made their disagreement with Mill cautioned that a society would only cher­ that sentiment apparent. What happened?

As Jefferson noted, revolutions are al­ ish their liberty if they fought for it themselves. ways necessary because the youthful spirit We still have this dogged revolutionary energy refuses to be dissolved by either victory or de­ to somehow expend, so we sing and clamour feat. It’s an eternal recurrence of generational and protest, demanding the establishment take angst, extinguished only by the gradual arrival back the rights it reluctantly surrendered only 40 years ago. of personal maturity.

To my fellow students w ho—in their But a substantive revolution requires a diabolical enemy. Recall the vilification of for­ youthful passion—responded so obediently mer McGill Chancellor Diek Pound last year to the recent call to arms: you are protesting for either the misuse or mistranslation of a for the sake of protesting. You think you’re single word. George W. Bush, as last month’s leading some important cause, but you aren’t.

Montreal protestors exhibited, can still fill that You are, at most, just a paltry throng of most­ role for a few years, though with gradually di­ ly self-appointed and self-described student “leaders.” Soon you will have a very super­ minishing returns. fluous job in a very superfluous suburb, and But these are merely localized examples, you will have a very inconsequential chat with exceptions proving the rule. The fact is that we get along just fine with the older gen­ your very inconsequential child about the time erations. On average, we live in our parents’ in university when you rose up and fought for what was ri... houses years longer than previous generations No you didn’t. You’ll stop mid-sentence, did. Most of us are quite content with the op­ portunities presented to us. There is no sub­ and you’ll realize you didn’t do anything— stantial reason to take up arms (rhetorically or you didn’t save the world, you didn’t fight for otherwise) against the established order. But what was right, and worst of all, you didn’t fight for what you believed in. Because you the more obnoxious voices of this generation didn’t believe—you just fought. demand their insipid revolution nonetheless.

active duty. In answering M ullen’s inquiry, however, Hoh began to question the entire mission in Afghanistan.

Hoh found that the Korengal Valley’s insurgents had arrived en masse only after American troops had been deployed. Further­ more, he concluded that most of the fighters had little connection to the Taliban and fought U.S. forces simply to maintain control of their individual valleys.

“I didn’t realize that a group in this val­ ley here has no connection with an insurgent group two kilometres away,” Hoh told The Washington Post.

Afghanistan’s fraud-ridden elections in A ugust—which saw the corrupt and unpopu­ lar government of President Hamid Karzai returned to pow er—only increased Hoh’s doubts that American efforts in the country were producing any results. On September 10, Hoh resigned his post, saying he had “lost un­ derstanding of, and confidence in, the strategic purposes of the United States’ presence in Af­ ghanistan.”

“To put it simply,” Hoh wrote in his letter of resignation, “I fail to see the value or the worth in continued U.S. casualties or expen­

diture of resources in support of the Afghan government in what is, truly, a 35-year-old civil war.”

In contrast to McChrystal’s strategy, Hoh has suggested that the U.S. draw down its combat forces in Afghanistan and focus on providing more support to Pakistan. Sending in more troops, he argues, will only increase insurgent hostility to the U.S. as it has in val­ leys throughout Afghanistan.

Both Matthew Hoh and Stanley Mc­ Chrystal are educated, well-read, and thought­ ful men. They have both gone to great lengths to understand Afghanistan’s history and cul­ ture, with McChrystal in particular making an effort to consult ordinary Afghans on the ground. The two men, however, have come to nearly opposite conclusions on the best way to win the war.

No one knows whether H oh’s or McChrystal’s strategy has a better chance of suc­ cess. In the coming weeks, however, President Obama should at least consider the arguments Hoh has advanced. For if his new strategy in Afghanistan fails, the president will be making many more trips to Dover.

Curiosity Delivers

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 • 7

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ïM C G lL L g lT R IB U N E wwwjmgilltribune.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Thom as Q uail editor@ m cgilltribune.com MANAGING EDITORS Jam es G ilm an jgilm an@ m cgilltribune.com Carolyn Yates cyates@ m cgilltribune.com PRODUCTION MANAGER A dam Scotti ascotti@ m cgilltribune.com NEWS EDITORS Tori Craw ford Steven H offer new s@ m cgilltribune.com OPINION EDITOR M att Chesser opinion@ m cgilltribune.com FEATURES EDITORS Shannon Kim ball Brahna Siegelberg features@ m cgilltribune.com ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITORS K yle Carpenter Laura Tindal arts@ m cgilltribune.com

McGill’s commendable H1N1 strategy The university’s coordinated response to the recent H1N1 outbreak has been fo­ cussed, practical, and impressive. With the recent onset of H1N1 at McGill, it’s clear that—led by Director of Student Health Services Dr. Paul Tellier and Executive Di­ rector of Residences and Student Housing Michael Porritt—the university is prepared to effectively combat the oncoming wave of HI NT Above all, it seems, McGill adminis­ trative officials are concerned that students won’t get vaccinated—which, in turn, could lead to the further spread of flu on campus.

Unfortunately, most students can’t receive their vaccination until December 7, during the first week of final exams. To maximize the number of students who will receive the vaccination, the McGill administration has asked the province to set up an on-campus vaccination site. This is a good idea. An on-campus site would increase vaccination

rates—and stem the virus’ transmission, thereby reducing absenteeism.

Up until now, though, the province has refused to set up the site. This is troubling.

Students are an at-risk target group for viral transmission. If anything, the province should see this as an opportunity to stem the growing wave of H1N1. If an on-campus vaccination site isn’t provided by the prov­ ince, McGill may provide transportation to and from the nearest vaccination site.

In another attempt to stymie H1N1 transmission, the McGill administration instituted a self-reporting absentee system yesterday. The system, which is avail­ able through Minerva, will take the place of medical documentation, and encourage students, faculty, and staff members to stay home if they’re sick. It’s clear that some stu­ dents will abuse the new system, but in this case, the benefits outweigh the costs. The Tribune feels that the system is necessary to

seriously reduce the spread of the flu.

There have been a number of con­ firmed cases of H1N1 in university resi­ dences. And, according to university of­ ficials, many of these students have made full recoveries. Porritt played a key role in developing and instituting programs aim­ ing to limit the spread of H IN I. These pro­ grams, which include alternative food plans and food-delivery services, are both smart and practical.

To aid in M cGill’s H1N1 strategy, it’s important to get your flu shot and wash your hands. Students with chronic medical prob­ lems can get vaccinated starting Novem­ ber 23. The nearest vaccination site to the university—as it stands now—is located at Palais des Congrès. The university can only do so much. Ultimately, your health is in your own hands.

SPORTS EDITORS K ailan Leung Jon Rubenstein sports@ m cgilltribune.com PHOTO EDITORS A lice W alker Julia W ebster photo@ m cgilltribune.com DESIGN EDITORS A lison Bailey Zoe Brew ster design@ m cgilltribune.com COPY EDITOR C arolyn G régoire ONLINE EDITOR A lexandr Cartasiov online@ m cgilltribune.com ADVERTISING MANAGER D allas Bentley cpm @ ssm u.m cgill.ca PUBLISHER C had Ronalds

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Commentary Amara Possian SPEAKING UP FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE I used to associate protests with countries transitioning to democracy. Not Canada. No. Canada was far too civilized to necessitate protests. I used to think there must be a bet­ ter way for protestors to achieve what they wanted, a legitimate way through our repre­ sentative institutions. A democratic way. Last Monday, over 100 young people observing Question Period in Parliament spontaneously took action. I happened to be there, although I didn’t know it was going to happen. At the time, it made me extremely uncomfortable, but, in retrospect, it is clear to me that the ac­ tivists present had no choice. They had been ignored for far too long.

First, let me provide some context. Last weekend was pretty significant for the youth climate movement. Power Shift Canada, the largest ever Canadian youth summit on climate change, brought over 1,000 young people to Ottawa for three days of workshops, panel dis­ cussions, and keynote speakers. The goal was to educate youth, help them build skills to take action in their local communities, and prepare them to send a strong message to our govern­ ment: we want fair, ambitious, and binding cli­ mate legislation now. The conference coincid­ ed with 350.org’s International Day of Climate Action, during which over 5200 events took place in more than 181 countries. Ottawa was host to Fill the Hill, Canada’s largest event, representing a peaceful gathering of almost 3,000 people on Parliament Hill.

Following these coordinated events— and immediately preceding the protests in the Commons—was Lobby Day, the final day of Power Shift Canada. Hundreds of youth met with their MPs and senators throughout the day to hold them accountable, to explain Power Shift Canada, and to express their goals and demands. In the afternoon, Lobby Day participants were attending Question Period.

Amid unconfirmed rumours of plans to disrupt Question Period, I attended out of curiosity.

As we went through security in Parlia­ ment, we were warned not to disrupt Question Period. About 15 minutes in, someone to my right stood up and yelled “Pass Bill C-311!”

As he was promptly escorted out, another ob­ server stood up and yelled, “Sign the Treaty on Indigenous Rights!” As she was escorted out, an MP asked what she had said. Some­ one else stood up and yelled, “She said, ‘Sign the treaty on indigenous rights!”’ One by one, as our fellow observers stood up and called for action on climate change and indigenous rights, they were escorted out, their voices re­ placed by others. Somehow, this escalated into over 100 observers chanting, leaving the MPs silenced. About a minute into the protest, the MPs started laughing.

We were escorted out regardless of whether we were participating in the protest.

The chanting continued. A reporter waiting outside asked why we were there. I wondered where he had been during the 3,000 person peaceful protest on Saturday. I wondered why he hadn’t attended Power Shift Canada.

The scene was overwhelming. Several ob­ servers were noticeably upset. My first instinct was to protect Power Shift. I had just spent five months of my life devoted to ensuring that this weekend went off smoothly, and I was wor­ ried about the negative implications and loss of legitimacy this could cause for the youth climate movement in Canada. Almost imme­

diately afterwards, my fears were confirmed.

Within minutes, news stories about youth dis­ rupting democracy, about a staged NDP pro­ test, and about protestors being dragged across the floors of Parliament appeared online.

My initial anger and worry was trans­ formed into understanding during a debriefing meeting that evening, attended by Power Shift Canada organizers, members of the Cana­ dian Youth Climate Coalition, and many who were present at the protest. At the meeting, it became clear that this was not an organized event. What started as a few individuals call­ ing for action and expecting to be escorted out turned into 100-plus chanting observers. This was a natural manifestation of the frustration youth felt as we watched our elected officials bicker and shout insults at each other.

This issue demands urgent action and nobody was listening. We had tried writing letters, signing petitions, and even staging flash dances on Parliament Hill. One thousand youth, representing every province and ter­ ritory, had gathered in Ottawa for the largest ever youth summit on climate change in Can­ ada. Three thousand people had gathered on Parliament Hill for a peaceful protest calling for leadership on climate change. Despite our numbers, there was very little media coverage.

Nobody was listening. But when a hundred people stood up during Question Period and spoke out against climate change, they gar­ nered national media coverage. The momen­ tum is building and the status quo may have begun to shift. Now is the time for action. Now is the time for effective dialogue. Now is the time for change.

Amara Possian is a U2 Political Science and Middle East Studies student. She can be reached at amara.possian@mail.megill.ca.

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

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Elections McGill Presents:

FYCC and R eferendum D ebate Thursday November 5th, 2009 at 5:00PM in Shatner Building Room 302 Come ask the Tough Questions!

Find out More About die Referenda that Effect you!

Advanced Polling Begins November 6th!

Advanced Polling Online at www.electionsmcgill.ca from November 6th-10th Regular Polling Continues: N o vem b er 10th- 12th V ote online at www.electionsmcgill.ca or at the fo llo w in g p o llin g locations:

Leacock Lobby Bronfman Lobby Shatner Lobby Burnside Basement Mcconnell Engineering N o vem b er 10th-12lh 10:00am to 4 :00pm

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Curiosity Delivers

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 • 9

MINDFUNK

Kick the cold, do-it-yourself Simple home remedies to resist the common cold YALE HERTZMAN C ontributor

Fall has many wonders—the sun sets earlier, the air is crisper, and the foliage is brighter—but one less wonderful thing is the common cold. Unless you possess a supernat­ ural immune system, you can almost count on contracting a cough, or at least a stuffy nose.

Combined with assignments and upcoming final exams, a cold can be a source o f addition­ al stress. And if your idea of a remedy involves tissues and a pack of Ricola, then getting bet­ ter may take a while.

There may not be a cure for a cold, but there are ways to make one more bearable.

Most of us know how to wash our hands, stay away from sick friends, and make the attempt at the supposed miracle of the elusive eight hours of sleep. But, there are several other tactics that you can adopt to help fight your cold faster and more effectively. The follow­ ing three cold-fighting remedies are extremely simple, and most ingredients are already in your refrigerator.

When it comes to soothing a dry, irrita­ ble throat, stick to hot water with honey and lemon. Preparation is self-explanatory: save

your tea bags and add a spoonful of honey and a squirt of lemon juice to your hot water in­ stead. This drink feels great on a sore throat, especially in the evenings or right before bed.

Boiling water can irritate the throat even more, so stick with warm water. It will have the same effect without the burn.

Fluids are essential when it comes to get­ ting rid of a cold. It is important to get as much water and fresh fruit juices as you can. Try to incorporate a big glass of juice into your di­ e t-o ra n g e , grapefruit, and pineapple are best because they are loaded with Vitamin C. And however unrealistic it may be, steer clear of coffee, tea, and alcohol, which have diuretic effects. Your body needs to rest, so don’t force it into overload by guzzling caffeine.

If you’re feeling adventurous, try a mix­ ture of garlic, cayenne pepper, and wasabi. It’s especially useful for curing a stuffy nose: the spiciness breaks up congestion and promotes drainage. If the garlic and wasabi combination only makes you nervous about bad breath, any moderately spicy food (think a bowl of chili or a dab of horseradish on a sandwich) will have the same effect. It may make your eyes watery, but at least you’ll know that it’s working.

For more information on cold remedies, visit www.mayoclinic.com

M I X I N ’ V I X E N ----------------- --------- -----

Defending Human Rights in Israel and Palestine 12:30 p.m.-2:00 p.m.

Chancellor Hall, Room 312 Hear Rabbi Arik W. Ascherman, executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR), give a background on the Zionist ideal as well as the Jewish tradition of supporting human rights for Israel’s minorities.

Student Exchange Information Session 2:00 p.m.

Stephen Leacock Building, Room 232 If you are considering going abroad, then attend the Student Exchange Information Session to learn more about eligibility and the application process.

5

Remembrance Day 10:30 a.m.

Raymond Building, Macdonald Campus

Join the Macdonald Campus community in honouring veterans past and present at Remembrance Day ceremonies. The procession will join with those from John Abbott College and Macdonald High School for ceremonies at the War Memorial.

7

Saturday Science Circus 1:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m.

Wong Building

Share in the excitement of McGill Science, and learn about hypnosis, H1N1, and how to treat dinosaur bones with McGill scientists. Come for the show and leave with the science. Free and appropriate for all ages.

ZOMBIE WALK AROUND TOWN

I

1Spritely spritzers BRAHNA SIEGELBERG Features Editor

Growing up in a Jewish home, I learned to appreciate anything with a bit of bubbles and a Yiddish-sounding name. From a young age, my mother would always ask me if I wanted seltzer in my ice cream or soda with my chocolate milk. But I never appreciated the subtle brilliance of a little effervescence until I tried it with alcohol.

During dinner parties and holidays, I would always hear my grandparents, parents, and their friends speak of spritzers. Someone would ask, “Who wants a spritzer?” after which there would be a chorus of “Ooh, me!”

As a child I wondered, what was this golden, bubbly drink with the funny name that made them all go red in the face and giggle at notso-funny remarks?

The “spritzef,” which comes from the German word for “to spray,” is an exception­ ally simple yet faultless blend of whiskey, sprite, and ice. It’s the kind of drink you can slip slowly throughout the night, until you suddenly discover, much to your surprise and delight, that you are pleasantly intoxicated.

While some spritzers may involve champagne, whiskey mixed with sprite tastes quite different from carbonated white wine, and generates a unique soda-like beverage.

And best of all, a bottle of whiskey and a liter of sprite are much more cost-effective—and serve a larger crowd—than a good bottle of champagne.

If you're looking to have a tipsy eve­

ning and enjoy what you’re drinking, then I recommend this cocktail. And don’t let the bubbles fool you. With a generous amount of whiskey, this is no chick drink.

Ingredients • 2 oz. Canadian whisky (I recommend Canadian Club Classic) • Sprite or club soda • Ice • Juice, such as cranberry (optional)

Directions 1. Pour chilled whisky on top of a gener­ ous amount of ice.

2. Fill the drink with soda until it appears light and bubbly.

3. Add a bit of juice if you enjoy fruitier flavours.

4. Garnish with the twist of a lemon peel 5. Stir, and say ‘L’chaim’!

A few notes • Spritzers can be served in either a beer mug or a cocktail glass if you are look­ ing to appear pretentious.

• Make sure to serve the drink directly after it is poured, so as to achieve maxi­ mum bubble levels.

• Warning: Due to its harmonious ratios and flavourful fusions, spritzers may have the possible risk of drinking a few too many.

STEPHANIE OVENS

New World Conspiracy held a Zombie Walk this past Halloween. The zombie social event of the year included shuffling through the streets, groaning, and searching for brains.

Feature: London Travel

Truman C apote was wrong when he called N e w York "the only re a l city-

languages a n d dialects. B ut these are superficial sim ilarities, fo r London is, o f

city, " fo r he fo rg o t the g re a t m etropolis on the o th er side o f the A tlantic. Like N e w York, London som etim es seems endless— a g re a t financial cap ital sur­

course, a 'city-city' a ll its own.

ro u nd ed b y crow ded squares a n d tiny shops, upscale avenues, a n d hole-inth e-w all cafes. Also like N e w York, the city is hom e to a staggering am ount o f a rt an d architecture, as w ell as m il­ lions o f p e o p le speaking hundreds o f

History and museums

Six weeks ago, / le ft M o n tre a l to study fo r a term a t U niversity C ollege London. W hile that's n o t n early enough tim e to see a ll th a t London has to offer, it's enough to g e t a fe e l fo r the city.

H ere's a rundow n o f som e o f London's m ore stu d ent-frien dly sights, cafes, an d w atering holes.

IOANA VARLAN

if it's n o t raining. S tart o ff at Trafal­ gar Square— w here you can chase pigeons w hile adm iring Nelson's

dreds o f steps to th e w in d y lo o k o u t on

seum. Located in th e leafy academ ic n e ig h b o u rh o o d o f B loom sbury, th e enorm ous m useum is fille d w ith s ta t­ ues, sw ords, and sarcophagi from

to p o f its d om e.

Just south o f th e cathedral across th e M ille n n iu m F o o tb rid g e is th e Tate M o d e rn , one o f th e w o rld 's best m o d ­ ern a rt m useum s. H oused in an enor­

around th e em pire. F ig h t th e crow ds to see th e Rosetta S tone and th e Elgin M arbles b e fo re heading up ­ stairs to ve n tu re th ro u g h galleries fille d w ith e v e ry th in g fro m Roman

to w a rd s Big Ben. It's possible to to u r th e Houses o f P arliam ent th e re , b u t it's easier to enjoy th e m fro m th e riv­ e rfro n t gardens ju s t to th e south.

Across th e stre e t to th e east

C olum n— and head dow n W hitehall

The m ost essential item s to pack

m ous fo rm e r p o w e r sta tio n on th e River

coins to A nglo-S axon helm ets.

stand th e w h ite

fo r London are a g o o d pair o f shoes, a raincoat, and an um brella. D e sp ite its size, central London is fa irly w alkable, and discovering th e city's tin y co b b le d alleyw ays is one o f th e m o st enjoyable ways to pass an a fte rn o o n here— even

Thames, th e m useum is w o rth spending a w h o le a fte rn o o n e x p lo rin g . W ander aim lessly th ro u g h th e galleries and ta ke in e v e ry th in g fro m Picasso's The Studio (L'A telier) to Claes O ld e n b u rg 's g ia n t w o o d e n electrical p lug suspended fro m

O th e r museum s o f n o te include th e Im perial W ar M useum , fille d w ith tanks, airplanes, and depressing ex­ h ib its on th e First W o rld War, th e D esign M useum , w hich features fun e x h ib itio n s on th in g s like e rg o n o m ­

w hen it's drizzling.

To g a th e r yo u r bearings, skip th e o ve rp rice d London Eye and head fo r St. Paul's C athedral in th e c ity centre.

B uilt by Sir C h risto p h e r W ren in th e 17th century, th e cathedral is g re a t fo r w a n d erin g b e fo re clim b in g th e hun-

th e ceiling. The m useum 's cafe and res­ ta u ra n t are b o th e xce lle n t as w ell.

D eciding w hich o f th e dozens o f m ajor museum s and galleries to v is it in London— m ost o f w hich are fre e — is a task in and o f itself. The m o st essential one to visit, how ever, is th e British M u ­

ics, and th e Science and N atural His­ to ry Museum s, b o th s itu a te d in th e upscale n e ig h b o u rh o o d o f South Kensington.

W alking around W estm inster and try in g to s p o t g o v e rn m e n t officials is

W e stm in ste r A bbey, w here th e co ro ­ nations o f English kings and queens have been held fo r nearly a thousand years. M ost m onarchs are also buried here, along w ith p ro m in e n t B ritons like G e o ffre y C haucer and Laurence O livier. It's a fin e piece o f m edieval arch ite ctu re and is w ell w o rth a visit.

St. James Park and B uckingham Pal­ ace are also nearby.

b e lfry to w e rs o f

also a g re a t w ay to spend th e day—

IOANA VARLAN

O riginally a tem porary structure, the London Eye is now a token p a rt o f the skyline.

Tuesda^^ovember2;>2009jJJ

But th e re 's fa r m ore to London than museum s and landm arks. It's o fte n as much fu n g e ttin g lost in th e tw is tin g streets o f th e W est End as it is a d m ir­ ing th e m onum ents. The W est End in p articular is hom e to a nu m b e r o f m ani­ cured squares, and G rosvenor Square,

lunch choice fo r professionals w h o w o rk in th e area, and o ffe rs h o t toasties, crisps, and drinks fo r ju s t £3.29.

Some o f London's b e tte r b ookshops also house g o o d cafes. Foyles, an e xcel­ lent b o o k s to re on C haring Cross Road in Soho, has a w e ll-kn o w n cafe in th e base­ m e n t w h e re th e re 's always jazz on th e sound system . A n d if y o u 'v e ju s t com e fro m th e British M useum , th e London Review Cake Shop o ffe rs tea, sandw ich­ es, and cake in a cozy, b o o k-cram m ed atm osphere.

near th e A m erican Embassy, is one o f th e best. Plant yo u rse lf on a bench and w atch w ell-dressed Londoners on th e ir lunch breaks, or spend an h our ske tch ­ ing th e square's G eorgian b uildings.

On th e w eekends and som e w e e k­ days, London also hosts a w id e array o f m arkets w here you can buy fo o d , c lo th ­ ing, and alm ost anyth in g else you can th in k o f. Cam den M a rke t, in a punkish

H yde Park and R egent's Park— central London's tw o gre a t green spaces— are also exce lle n t spots to p e o p le -w a tch o r ju s t lie in th e grass.

W h e th e r y o u 're lo o kin g fo r a quick b ite or a place to spend a rainy a fte r­ noon, London's Fitzrovia n e ig h b o u r­ hood is hom e to a num b e r o f g re a t little cafes and eateries fit fo r a stu d e n t b u d ­ g e t. C afe Teo, a tin y place on th e co rn e r o f N ew m an and M o rtim e r, is a p o p u la r

n e ig h b o u rh o o d fille d w ith pubs, is p o p ­ ular w ith s tu d e n ts on th e w eekends fo r th e huge v a rie ty o f kitsch you can buy th e re . P o rto b e llo Road M a rke t in N o ttin g Hill is g re a t fo r clo th in g and h o t e th n ic stre e t fo o d , and B orough M a rke t south o f th e river o ffe rs fre e samples on Thursdays and Fridays in th e m anner o f M o n tre a l's Jean-Talon.

Parks, cafes, and markets

PLANNING A TRIP?

• Both British A irw ays and A ir Canada o ffe r d ire c t flig h ts fro m Trudeau A irp o rt in M on tre a l to H e a th ro w In te rn ational in Lon­ don. A num ber o f o th e r carriers o ffe r co n n e ctin g flig h ts th ro u g h N e w York, Paris, and A m sterdam .

Round tr ip tic k e ts can be had d u rin g M cG ill's reading w eek fo r a p p ro x im a te ly $800 if purchased w ell in advance.

• Located ju s t o ff Piccadilly Circus in Soho, th e Piccadilly Backpack­ ers H ostel (12 S herw ood S treet; ww w .piccadillyhotel.com ) is one o f th e cheapest accom m odations available in central London. It's near th e bars and clubs o f Soho and Leicester Square as w ell as th e th e a tre s o f th e W est End. Rates fo r a bed in a 10-person shared room s ta rt at £12 ($21).

• Just o p e n e d in 2008, th e YHA

ZOE BREWSTER

C row n. M o s t o f th e m also serve fo o d ,

While yo u're in Westminster

w ith fish and chips and steak-and-ale pie

looking to spot governm ent officiais, snap a p ho to o f Big Ben, one o f London's m ost iconic structures.

Like any city o f its size, London is hom e to so m any places to eat th a t it's d iffic u lt to pick only a fe w to recom m end.

Still, th e re are a couple standouts. Jerk City, a C aribbean jo in t in Soho, serves up ta s ty Trinidadian ro ti and Jamaican

a p p earing on m any menus. Two sta n d o u t tra d itio n a l pubs are The Perseverance in B loom sbury and The Lamb and Flag on a back alley in C o ve n t G arden. There are also m any m ore m o d e rn bars in th e city.

The Rocket, a lo u d bar on Euston Road, is tre m e n d o u s ly p o p u la r w ith students.

A nd th e hip S horeditch n e ig h b o u rh o o d in th e East End is hom e to several g o o d boozers, such as th e Vice Magazinesanctioned pub The O ld Blue Last.

je rk chicken at s tu d e n t-frie n d ly prices.

If yo u 're fe e lin g a b it m ore upscale, A u ­ to m a t, an A m erican b istro in th e tre n d y M ayfair d is tric t, o ffe rs e le g a n tly prepared c o m fo rt fo o d in a w o o d -p a n e lle d dining room w ith black-and-w h ite tile flo o rs.

A nd fo r dru n k fo o d at 3 a.m., Brick Lane Beigel Bake in th e East End is a fam ous d e stin a tio n fo r h o t bagel sandwiches.

U nlike m ost N o rth A m erican cities, there's no set tim e at w hich th e bars close d o w n fo r th e n ig h t in London. Each

g re a t th e a tre destin a tio n s, fe a tu rin g ev­ e ry th in g fro m Shakespeare to lo n g -ru n ­ ning musicals to in n o vative new shows fro m B ritain's best pla yw rig h ts. If yo u 're set on seeing a p a rticu la r show, many th e a tre s o ffe r cheap tic k e ts in g o o d seats th a t g o on sale th e m o rn in g o f th e show, th o u g h th e queues can be long.

A n o th e r g o o d o p tio n is th e TKTS b o o th in Leicester Square, w hich o ffe rs halfprice tic k e ts up to a w eek in advance. In

Restaurants, theatre, and boozers

p u b and club has its ow n license re g u la t­ ing how late it can stay open. As such, m any pubs close d o w n as early 11 p.m ., w hich takes som e g e ttin g used to . Clubs, on th e o th e r hand, o fte n rem ain cro w d e d u ntil five o r six in th e m o rning.

T raditional British pubs around Lon­ don are o fte n w o rth g o in g to ju s t fo r names like The N o rth u m b e rla n d A rm s, The C aptain's Cabin, or The Rose and

Lastly, London is one o f th e w o rld 's

a d d itio n , England's A rts Council runs a scheme in w hich th o se 25 years old and under can o b ta in fre e th e a tre tic k e ts to certain shows.

U ltim ately, like N e w York, London is fa r to o large and co m p le x a c ity to be d is tille d in to a g u id e b o o k , le t alone a sh o rt article. Som etim es, it's be st to sim ­ ply hop on one o f th e city's red buses, and p ro ve Truman C a p o te w ro n g .

London C entral (104-108 Bolsover S treet; w w w .yha.org.uk) is ano th e r g o o d o p tio n . The hostel sits a fe w blocks n orth o f O x fo rd S treet in Fitzrovia, a cafe-filled n e ig h b o u rh o o d in w hich m any university students live. Rates sta rt at £24.50 ($43).

• C link Hostel (78 King's Cross Road; w w w. c l i nk h o s t e l . c o m), lo c a te d slig h tly fu rth e r afield in th e King's Cross n e ig h b o u rh o o d , is housed in a fo rm e r courthouse w here Charles Dickens once w orked.

The hostel is fa irly close to th e British M useum and offers free breakfast. Rates fo r a bed in a 16-person shared room s ta rt at £13 ($23).

NB: All prices are in Canadian dollars.

12 • Tuesday. November 3, 2009

mcgilltribune.com

FOOD GURU

GIZMOS & GADGETS

Far, far better than chocolate

Windows 7

The search for Montreal’s best almond croissant SHANNON KIMBALL F eatures Editor

After snapping cliché photos on the first day of my first—and only—trip to Paris, my father took me to a French patisserie and told me to order a pain au chocolat. My 10-yearold self was not able to comprehend the ge­ nius behind a buttery, flakey, croissant-like pastry oozing with chocolate. I forked over 10 francs, sat on a bench on the Right Bank, and prepared for the breakfast of my life.

And it was so disappointing. I still can’t understand why anyone came up with that god­ damn pastry. The rich, dark chocolate is usual­ ly dry, so as not to soak through the thin pastry layers, and does not pair well with the delicate and flaky dough. The French have been work­ ing for centuries to perfect their pastry dough, and yet the chocolate centre seems like it was just an afterthought. You don’t even get a good amount of “chocolate” in each bite. It’s not what you would expect from either chocolate

or a croissant, but somehow that combination fills the shelves of bakeries and supermarkets around the world.

Fortunately, one decade later, I’ve found my perfect croissant-that’s-way-more-than-acroissant. Filled with a mixture of marzipan or almond paste and covered with sugar or sliced almonds and baked again, almond croissants are simply delicious. The twice-baked method yields a crusty, crunchy, sweet outside and a soft, oozing center. Unfortunately, the cost and effort of making them at home without a degree in baking French pastries is too much, and so instead I give you the best almond croissants in Montreal, tried and tested.

Architecture Café: My introduction to croissant aux amandes came when a friend took me to Macdonald Harrington’s cafe for coffee. I thought I had ordered a plain crois­ sant, but I was pleasantly surprised to bite into a slightly sweet, moist, and nutty croissant.

The only downside is that they are sometimes a day too old and a bit too sweet. However, their croissant and a cheap cup of coffee sat­ isfy any breakfast craving. Price: $2.10. Bring your own mug for a 70 cent cup of coffee.

La Croissanterie Figaro: This bistro, café, and take-out bakery at the fringe of the Plateau gives the true croissant aficionado a taste of heaven. Their plain croissants are but­ tery enough to induce a heart attack, and their chewy almond ones are the perfect blend of sweet and nutty. Given that it’s so far from campus, eaters should note that freezing pas­ tries yields a relatively good result. Price: $2.25. Located at Fairmount and Hutchison.

Premiere Moisson: The Quebec chain bakery with a location just across the street from the Museum of Fine Arts, has a decent almond croissant. They are baked in large batches, which often bum, and I suspect that they use frozen croissants as a base. Neverthe­ less, the filling is authentic—sweet but not too sweet, and not overwhelming to the croissant itself. Price: $2.75.

Where not to go: Second Cup, Presse Café, or any place that uses almond-flavored custard. Almond extract is cheaper than al­ mond paste, so the substitution is very typical.

It is also very bitter, which bakers try to make up for by using overly sweet custard. The end result looks and tastes like a dry Twinkie.

Microsoft tries to be trendy IAIN MACDONALD C ontributor

Oct. 22 marked the release o f M icrosoft’s “sorry about Vista” operating system: Win­ dows 7. It comes in three flavours—Home Premium, Business, and Ultim ate—but most users will find Home Premium powerful enough, unless they really need 35 languages and an office network backup system.

Windows 7 is also available as either a 32or 64-bit system. This refers to the software’s design and how much space is allocated for data. A 32-bit operating system will only use 4 GB of memory, even if more are available.

A 64-bit system will be able to run certain ap­ plications faster than a 32-bit system, since the processor will be able to perform one opera­ tion over a larger amount of data. If this seems confusing, imagine reading a Vonnegut novel, and then reading Goodnight Moon. Just like you need to turn pages more frequently in a children’s book, your computer needs to load new data more frequently in the smaller 32-bit format.

Windows 7 also includes several new, mostly useless features. Two key additions are Aero Snap, which fits windows to half of the screen, and Aero Shake, which allows you to grab a window and make it come and go with a jiggle of the mouse. The Windows taskbar has also changed—whereas before users with Firefox windows open would see them all in the bar, now each application gets only one spot. Hover over it, and all windows display.

While Vista and 7 are similar under the hood, 7 performs faster in several categories, and many users will prefer the feel of it. How­ ever, upgrading an operating system can be daunting. You must back up everything, be­ cause the installation usually erases your hard drive; you also have to install the new system and reinstall all your programs. For the casual user, spending $230 ($120 if upgrading from Vista) may be a dubious investment. For those that enjoy the trendy features, Microsoft is selling copies to American university students at a discounted price, and this discout may eventually be available to Canadian students.

The McGill Tribune Literature Week The McGill Tribune is currently accepting submissions for our first-annual Literature Week. Curious? You have a couple of options.

1) W rite a s to r y t h a t ’s less th a n 100 w ords, or 2) W rite a s to ry t h a t ’s lo n g er th a n 1,000 w ords.

The b est stories will be published in th e Novem ber 24, 2 0 0 9 issue. R unners-up will be published online a t w w w .m cgilltribune.com . Send y o u r subm issions to editor@mcgilltribune.com before Novem ber 18, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. Late en trie s will n o t be accepted.

T h e c o m p e titio n is o p en to m a n u sc rip ts o f e x ­ ac tly 100 w o rd s o r fe w e r (categ o ry o n e ), o r g re a te r than

an d em ail ad d ress. T h e c o n te s t is o n ly o p e n to cu rre n t M cG ill stu d en ts.

Y ou m a y su b m it u p to th re e en tries fo r ca teg o ry o n e a n d o n e fo r ca teg o ry tw o . A ll e n trie s m u st b e in E n g ­

1,000 b u t n o lo n g e r th a n 1,200 (c a te g o ry tw o). E n trie s

E n trie s m u st b e se n t to ed ito r@ m c g illtrib u n e .c o m

lish , o rig in a l, u n p u b lish e d , an d n o t su b m itted o r accep ted

o u tsid e th e w o rd lim it w ill be d isre g a rd e d . In c lu d e the

w ith “ L ite ra tu re W e ek ” in th e su b jec t lin e o r th e y w ill

e lse w h e re at th e tim e o f su b m issio n . T h e M cG ill T rib u n e

w o rd co u n t o n th e first p ag e o f y o u r su b m issio n along

n o t b e re c e iv e d . A ll en tries sh o u ld be sin g le -sp a c e d 12 pt.

re s e rv e s o n e -tim e p u b licatio n rig h ts to th e 1st- th ro u g h

w ith y o u r fu ll n am e, y e a r an d p ro g ra m , p h o n e n u m b er,

T im es N ew R o m a n a n d s u b m itte d in .doc o r .rtf fo rm at.

1 0 th -p lace w in n in g e n trie s to b e p u b lish e d in an issu e o f

th e M cG ill T rib u n e, a n d k e p t o n lin e in p erp etu ity .

E n tries m u st b e d ated b y W ed n esd ay , N o v e m b e r 18, 2 0 0 9 at 11:59 p .m ., o r th e y w ill n o t qu alify .

W in n ers w ill b e n o tified b y S atu rd a y , N o v e m b e r 2 1 ,2 0 0 9 .

A&E

Curiosity Delivers

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 * 13

MUSIC

The B R O O D w ay brings big rew ards Elliott BROOD gets points for audience participation RYAN TAYLOR C ontributor

It’s been a good year for the men of El­ liott BROOD—which is indeed a band, not the singular entity the name suggests. Casey Laforet, Steve Pitkin, and Mark Sasso released their excellent sophomore album Mountain Meadows last June, headlined the Canada Day celebration in Toronto and JunoFest in Vancou­ ver, were surprise guest headliners at North by Northeast, and were recognized with two Juno nominations for Best Roots/Traditional Album of the Year and Artwork of the Year. They also received a Canadian Indie Award nomination for Best Folk/Roots Artist and most impres­ sively, made the shortlist for the prestigious Polaris Prize. Not bad for a little alt-country band from Windsor, Ontario.

The recognition is well-deserved. Moun­ tain Meadows is a fantastic follow-up to their Juno-nominated debut Ambassador, and ex­ pands on the unique sound that Elliott BROOD is known for. The album’s title, as serene as it sounds, comes from the Mountain Meadows Massacre, a dark event in U.S. history where a train of emigrants on the way to California were brutally slaughtered by a Mormon mili­ tia in Utah. The militia murdered everyone but the children, who were subsequently raised in the Mormon homes.

Regardless of the album’s loose narrative, the music speaks for itself. Always a difficult band to categorize, Mountain Meadows is full of banjos, acoustic guitars, ukuleles, and percussion, but is as equally rooted in rock as it is in country and folk. “Death country” is a term that often gets thrown around, but BROOD really is a sound unto itself. Listen to “Garden River” for a perfect example, where heavy guitars and crashing cymbals combine with Sasso’s impassioned growl to create a very powerful sound. There’s even a cathartic breakdown midway through, yet the country twang is always present. It’s this BROOD sound that is forcing people to pay attention.

“Our shows were pretty much sold out across the country, going west anyway. Really full rooms if not sold out,” says singer/guitarist

ELLIOTTBROOD.CA

Despite their fancy dress, these guys might be Dollerama’s biggest customers.

Casey Laforet. “A lot of people saw us play on [Much Music] and a lot people were coming and had never heard of us before. Being in that top 10 exposes us to a whole bunch of different people. I think the Polaris Prize is an amazing thing and it definitely boosted us for sure. We benefitted from that top 10 recognition.”

The band also released Mountain Mead­ ows in the States—their first release south of the border—and though they may not be as well known as in Canada, their audience is slowly growing.

“Some of the rooms were a little tougher than others, but we had really great crowds in Chicago, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Texas,” says Laforet. “It’s a little process. It’s the same thing we did in Canada. We started out playing to 20 people and then they tell their friends if you have a good show and people come back. We’re really focussing on trying to get something going down there. This was our first real kind of full tour of the States. It was good and a great start.”

Apart from the music, the BROOD live show is probably equally responsible for the growing legion of fans. The band’s high-en­

ergy shows are quickly becoming famous for handing out pots, pans, and spoons to the au­ dience to play during the set. Laforet says it helps to recreate the atmosphere of the album.

“We did that once on a whim because when we recorded we used a bunch of stuff to [make those sounds], a lot of junk to get percussion sounds and cymbal sounds and handclaps and something a bit different,” says Laforet. “It was in Thunder Bay the first time [we] decided, ‘Well we should hand out stuff to the crowd and have them bang along,’ and then it was like a virus, it just caught on. Now that people see it on YouTube I think if we showed up without it w e’d be in trouble.”

Those spoons and pans get pretty costly, however. “I think w e’re going to need to talk directly to Dollarama and get a straight deal or distribution,” laughs Laforet. “Or junk spon­ sorship. Sponsored by garbage.”

Maybe one of the most admirable aspects of Elliott BROOD is how, amongst all the hype and recent success, the band still remains humble. No stranger to the benefits of expo­ sure, Laforet began a podcast this summer to help expose more music to new listeners.

Pop Iffietoric iPARTY FOUL We’ve all experienced the highs and lows of the iPod party mix. But when you’re packed into somebody else’s house with drunken friends and strangers, there’s bound to be a moment when it's your turn to pick a song. The important thing to remember is that when you're at a party, nobody cares what your favourite song is. Before you make a mad dash for the iPod, it’s impor­ tant to realize that the song you want to hear is probably completely wrong for that mo­ ment. I don’t care if you think that “Karma Police” is the greatest song ever; putting it on after “Hells Bells” is the ultimate party music foul.

The type of music you put on should

depend on the situation that you’re in. Sure, everybody has a short list of songs that they can—and w ill—listen to over and over without ever getting sick of them, but odds are the rest of the crowd won’t share your af­ finity for “White Rabbit.” If you’re going to change the music at a party, you better stop thinking about what you want to hear, and start thinking about what would make the party even better.

I’m not advocating the strict use of a Top 40 playlist. But I am suggesting that you need to feel out the situation before you make your pick. If you’ve been hearing AC/ DC and Motley Criie all night, Sean Kings­ ton isn’t going to fly. If you’ve been hearing Kid Cudi, Beastie Boys, and Jay-Z, then it’s probably not the best time for The Strokes.

While you don’t have to stick to one genre.

you don’t want to pick something too dis­ similar from w hat’s been playing all night— and no one wants to hear a mix of Kanye West and Josh Groban.

Perhaps the biggest mistake that habitu­ al music-changers make is to use the party as a platform to show off their indie credibility.

There’s nothing wrong with playing Fever Ray, Animal Collective, and Matt & Kim on your own time, but in a public setting putting on an obscure song by an over-hyped indie band that 99 per cent of the world hasn’t heard of won’t score you any points—and will make you look like your iPod is full of iTunes free singles of the week.

There’s no easy way to say it, but some­ times enjoying the music at a party calls for self-sacrifice. You may cringe when you hear the “Cha Cha Slide,” or die a little inside if

“I just did it for fun because I think it’s a cool thing,” says Laforet. “Like the Polaris Prize does and like satellite radio and CBC Radio 3, they introduce you to music. We have a lot of fans that know us but maybe don’t know of the bands that we listen to and the bands that we play with. We did it at first as kind of a way to kind of, ‘If you listen to us you might like this so try this out,’ and intro­ duce people to other music, because that’s how it works. People listen to certain bands and then they can hear other bands that are con­ nected to that.”

The band has also been self-managed from the beginning.

“We’ve had different managers help us along the way but we really have a pretty good view of what we need done and w e’ve always done it ourselves.”

The BROOD way seems to be the way to do it: on their own terms, in their own cat­ egory, riding a wave of deserved momentum.

Elliott BROOD is playing at La Sala Rossa on November 6.

KYLE CARPENTER someone puts on “Blue (Da Ba Dee),” but remember that no one likes a music snob.

It’s better to suck it up, have another drink, and thank God that you’re not back at your middle school dance—even if it sounds like you are.

Every party is supposed to be about having fun—“Conservative” and “Tupperware” excluded—and the music should follow suit. This past weekend, I unasham­ edly put on songs by Shakira, Kid Rock, and Miley Cyrus, not because they’re personal favourites, or even good songs, but because they were what the situation called for. It’s the duty of anyone who takes the iPod by the reins to add to the enjoyment of the party: if you’re not, then you’re just doing it for your­ self, which is the music-changing equivalent of stealing beer and pouting in a comer.

14 • Tuesday, November 3, 2009

mcgilltribune.com

DANCE

FILM

D ance o f the dead

M ichael Jackson: this is shit

Montreal artists bring longdead Aztec holiday to life

Posthumous documentary This Is It is far from a “Thriller”

BIANCA VAN BAVEL C ontributor

In keeping with the Halloween spirit, I concluded my weekend with an eerie event at La Sala Rossa on Sunday night. With little idea of what was in store for me, I headed off into the night for The Day of the Dead Caba­ ret, a display of Montreal’s artistic talent put forth by Studio 303 and Necessary Rituals Productions.

Based on Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), this traditional Latin American holi­ day is celebrated to commemorate the lives of those who have passed, with many rituals and traditions tracing back to ancient Aztec roots.

Many variations of this day are celebrated around the world.

After expressing her desire to bring back the celebration and its many traditions to the Montreal artistic community, the show’s cura­ tor Allison Ulan initiated the celebrations of The Day of the Dead at La Sala Rossa.

The night started off with a contempo­ rary piece by Suzanne Miller & Allan Paivio entitled “Dancing with Skeletons,” creating a strange mood of foreboding. What started off as limp and lifeless dancing figures appeared to transform into bone as the dancers took on skeletal mannerisms. These alterations of movement seen at the core of the dance were mesmerizing and soon led to intensified por­ trayals of death.

Necessary Rituals Productions contrib­ uted with two pieces for the evening. Their first piece, “Madame et La Mort,” combined flamenco rhythm, tango coupling, and con­ temporary influences. The performances con­ cluded with “Isabelle in 5 Minutes,” which depicted a dramatized interpretation of a fu­ neral eulogy addressing family and friends while remembering the life of their loved one.

The piece explored the challenge of how, in a five-minute interpretation, could you touch on all the important aspects of a person’s life?

Further, the performance raised the problem of capturing someone’s entire essence using only words.

“Solea Brava,” performed by SaSaSa, ex­ plored the anticipation associated with death through a creative collaboration of vocal har­ monies, flamenco steps, and a touch of blues.

The beautiful vocals of Iris Godbout blew the audience away, weaving an intricate melody throughout the theatre.

The highlight of the night was the theatri­ cal demonstration put on by Continental Drift Theatre in “Morbidly Obtuse,” which included a light-hearted take on the indefinite uncertain­ ties associated with the other side. Poking fun at some modem rituals used for “summoning” spirits, this rather creative skit breached nu­ merous gaps between theatre, song, and dance

What started off as limp and lifeless dancing figures appeared to transform into bone . . . to supply the morbid night with some much needed comic relief.

Oddly enough, prior to the show a friend had asked if I believed in ghosts. Since no one had ever put it that directly before, I remained speechless, unsure of how to answer. As the events of the night unfolded, I couldn’t help but feel that there was some peculiar sensation in the air. Whether it was the power of the per­ formances or if there was something supernat­ ural at play, either way, there’s no denying that the Day of the Dead and its ghostly traditions live on in the heart of Montreal. The night took an atypical view of a much overlooked and under-celebrated day, while showcasing a wide variety of talent spanning various artis­ tic disciplines in an effort to honour the dearly departed.

WILLIAM ROBINSON C ontributor

To call Michael Jackson’s This is It halfbaked would be an insult to fallen soufflés and droopy cookies everywhere. Cooked up by Kenny O rtega—responsible for High School Musical and its sequels—the recipe for this disaster begins with a base of Michael Jackson, singing at half-voice, which is repeatedly explained as an act of conservation for the real shows. Stir in a couple seconds of So You Think You Can Dance-esque auditions, a few words on the environment, and a dash of wardrobe design, and you have a mess of things with great potential, shuffled to the side in an effort to make way for the King of Pop. The central error rests in the hands of those responsible for presenting rehearsal foot­ age as the next best thing to seeing what might have been a legendary concert tour, when in reality the next best thing is sitting at home watching old videos of MJ. It’s not like we get to experience new content either—to keep audiences interested, classics such as “Billy Jean,” “Thriller,” “Beat It,” “Man in the Mir­ ror,” and “Smooth Criminal” take centre stage.

The exception was, of course, the release of the new song “This is It,” which, while good, was barely performed.

The best parts were the asides showing how the concert was conceived. When Jackson speaks of how he wants the music to play or dancers to move, both he and the film gain credibility. In these scenes, we get a glim­ mer of what it was like to work around and to be Michael Jackson. Unfortunately, very few lines are dedicated to MJ talking about the concert, and way too many focus on his semi-coherent eco-friendly message. How­ ever, to further illustrate the would-have-been concert, digital animations explaining where

PAMELAANNEDAVIS.COM

Jackson’s last waltz ... or moonwalk. the backhoe would enter center stage or how Michael would make his first appearance are very worthwhile. The complementary film produced for the “Thriller” performance is im­ pressive for its costumes and special effects.

But more impressive is a 60-second clip with the wardrobe designer explaining the cutting edge R&D done by M J’s team, Swarovski, and others. It’s too bad that the informative sections were so occluded in an attempt to recreate the effect of a filmed concert. Other snippets of interviews did sprinkle the film, but they were quite bland, often eulogizing MJ unnecessarily.

The movie was not stimulating in any sense, which was disappointing for a musi­ cal documentary on Michael Jackson. Perhaps fully aware of this flaw, Ortega intersperses shots of the cast and crew clapping and cheer­ ing for MJ, just to assert that indeed this man is worth watching. And while he might be, this film isn’t.

MUSIC

Saskatchew anians have m iles to go before they sleep The Deep Dark Woods welcome The Winter Hours SAM JESSULA C ontributor

There’s a surprisingly light vibe to The Deep Dark Woods and their new album, The Winter Hours. The band’s use of cold winter and dark woods imagery may lead you to ex­ pect stagnant, dark, and sombre sounds. How­ ever, they produce an album that is surpris­ ingly warm and full of life.

If you stroll through The Deep Dark Woods, you will find that each band member is down-to-earth and natural, all trying to avoid a manufactured form of music. The five musi­ cians have known each other since they were kids growing up in Saskatoon, and the deci­ sion to start a band came as the obvious con­ sequence of liking each other’s music. Lead songwriter Ryan Boldt performs lead vocals and guitar, Burke Barlow plays guitar, Chris Mason plays bass and sings, Lucas Goetz plays drums and sings, and Geoff Hilhorst plays piano and organ. Combine them, and you’ve got a Prairies alt-rock band that is capturing the nation’s attention.

When it comes to their musical taste, The Woods are not picky. Boldt says they like ev­ erything that has a good beat to it.

“One per cent of every style of music is good in my opinion,” he says. The band names influences ranging from The Beatles to Otis Redding in their music, making their tunes the result of a continuous search for good sounds without lingering on any specific style. The Deep Dark Woods’ style is indeed quite unique, dipping into virtually all genres. As you listen to their records you feel a strong sense of folk and country, but in the end Boldt describes it as rock n ’ roll.

The Winter Hours is quite different from their previous work. “It’s the same kind of stuff as the other records, but I managed to get closer to the sounds I really liked,” Boldt says.

However, their music is constantly evolving, and Boldt foresees that “the next album will be considerably different. [It will] be louder and not as folky as the last.”

The Deep Dark Woods are intrigued by nature, as well as music’s natural state, and even the songwriting is natural for them.

“It just comes out, you can’t really think about it. It feels like you’re not really writing a song, it’s writing itself, you have to wait for it,

but eventually it comes out on its own,” says Boldt. Their new album was recorded from the floor, mimicking a live show and allowing the raw emotions of the album to assert them­ selves.

“That’s what w e’re good at and that’s what we like to do. Recording was stuck in between shows, and it was great to be able to record like you were live,” Boldt explains.

The band has a promising future—win­ ning Roots Group of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards and being nominated in the CBC’s Great Canadian Song Quest as

the Saskatchewan finalists has propelled The Woods into the spotlight. But as The Woods start to peek out of the darkness, they still re­ tain their genuine ideals.

“It’s pretty exciting and feels great,” Boldt says of their growing success. “We love that people are enjoying our music and com­ ing to our shows, but w e’re making music and that’s number one.”

The Deep Dark Woods play November 6 at La Sala Rossa with Elliot BROOD.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 • 15

Curiosity Delivers

MUSIC

The D erek Trucks B and slides but never slips Vocalist Mike Mattison talks about working with a prodigy STEVEN HOFFER N ew s Editor

When he’s not touring with legendary southern rock cornerstone The Allman Broth­ ers Band, slide guitar prodigy Derek Trucks spends his time performing with his personally assembled blend of rock, jazz, Eastern classi­ cal, and soul musicians known as The Derek Trucks Band.

Originally formed in 1994, when Trucks was just 15 years old, the band has no shortage of talent. Bassist Todd Smalie, drummer Yonrico Scott, and percussionist Count M ’Butu hold down an animated rhythm section that is continually challenged to satisfy the many in­ fluences that color DTB originals. To comple­ ment Trucks’ lead, Kofi Burbridge provides additional texture on keyboards—and occa­ sionally picks up the flute—while high-spirit­ ed raspy lead vocalist Mike Mattison keeps the song narratives developing.

Although the entire band is tremendously gifted, there is no questioning Trucks’ role as bandleader and namesake.

“I have to remember sometimes that I’m on stage and not to stand there gawking or clapping my hands,” says Mattison. Trucks has a stage presence that is appreciated with a keen eye—never the type for theatrics, audi­ ences praise Trucks for the concentration and precision of his live approach.

Now touring in support of its sixth studio release, Already Free, for almost a year, the band is experiencing an evolution in perform­ ing the recorded tracks on stage. “[The songs] do change but I think it’s for the better,” says Mattison. “They kind of morph into something unexpected when you tour a song that long ... I think everybody is pretty adventurous musically and we are not satisfied with boring ourselves.”

That tendency to imprint songs with an authentic Derek Trucks Band stam p—even if at times unintentionally—is immediately ap­ parent on the record’s lead track, a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Down in the Flood.” Accord­

ing to Mattison, the band’s arts and repertoire manager suggested the well-known Basement Tapes tune.

“We had some extra time to bum and so Derek and I sat down with a shaker track and just did it acoustically,” says Mattison. “He came up with the distinctive lick at the begin­ ning and then the light bulb went off—maybe we should try to Frankenstein this onto the song, and it seemed to work. So I’m glad we did it but [it] wasn’t too consciously thought out, it just kind of came out of nowhere.”

Although the band’s sound appeals to many audiences—they recently returned from a ran o f shows in Japan, performed for free at New York City’s Lincoln Center, and played the festival scene at the Allman Brother’s Wanee Festival in Florida—the improvised aspect of their live performance is responsible for a large portion of the fan base.

“Sometimes we try to figure out who our typical audience member is,” says Mattison. “I think it’s people who really like the adventur­ ousness of the improvising and appreciate how skilled everybody is musically.”

One thing is clear from the way that the band has accumulated recognition—The Derek Trucks Band has experienced an or­ ganic development that you would not expect from a guitar prodigy with a last name that comes with high expectations. But with the band embracing the family atmosphere with Trucks’ father—Allman Brothers Band drum­ mer Butch Trucks—and brother Duane spend­ ing time on the road, it’s not surprising that Trucks has avoided mainstream pressures for so many years.

“I think they have just been doing this so long and really built up an audience one set of years at a time and that really doesn’t happen a lot in this climate,” says Mattison. “I think the template now is for you to be pretty and young and they’ll throw a bunch of money behind a hit record and then you will start supporting it. I think this band has done it the opposite way and it has really worked out in terms of fan loyalty.”

The Derek Trucks Band will perform Sat­ urday November 7 at Metropolis.

C D REVIEWS C o u ld Be G o o d * t

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N ovember 3-9 Thursday. Music. Silver Starling.

Kings of Convenience: Declaration o f Dependence

Sebastien Lefebvre: You Are Here/Vous Etes Ici

The Dojo Workhorse: Weapons Grade Romantic

A light acoustic album about either the in­ conveniences of love or political activism, de­ pending on your point of view, Kings of Con­ venience’s Declaration o f Dependence has a cohesive sound throughout, particularly when compared to their two previous releases. Eirik Glambek Bpe and Erlend 0 y e, the band’s two exclusive members, chose not to use drums or percussion in any of the songs, substituting the beats with Eirik hitting his guitar for a percus­ sive effect.

Their sound has been likened to Jack Johnson, but songs such as “Second to Numb” and “Renegade” prove the band has a softer, more intricate vibe. A great find is the second track, “Mrs. Cold,” which has a tantalizing rhythm and great lyrics that remind the listen­ er of interpersonal interconnectedness.

“Boat Behind” and “Peacetime Resis­ tance” were recorded in open, spacey concert halls, which accounts for the reverberating ef­ fects on the tracks. These were also live per­ formances with Davide Bertolini and Tobias H elt—musicians usually present at Kings of Convenience’s live shows.

Great for listening to while studying or unwinding at the end of a rainy Montreal autumn day, it is easy to lose yourself in the gentle melodies and Eirik’s calming, whisperesque voice, which pervades throughout the album.

If Sebastien Lefebvre’s nasally voice sounds familiar, it’s probably because when you were 13 you heard him in his other band, Simple Plan, where he’s the back-up vocalist and rhythm guitar player. O f course, behind every cloying pop-punk act is a sensitive sing­ er-songwriter just dying to play his acoustic guitar and croon heartfelt lyrics of his own. If it sounds clichéd it’s because it is, and unfor­ tunately, so is Lefebvre’s debut EP, You Are Here/Vous Etes lei.

Though it’s not the pop-punk he’s known for, Lefebvre successfully caters to the same demographic. Fans of the deep, poignant and poetic lyrics of Simple Plan will probably identify with such gems as “Up and down the cobble roads in town, I walked alone/ See­ ing your face from time to time, hurts to my bones,” but it would be nice if Lefebvre chose lyrical subjects with some actual substance and forewent the obvious rhymes generally found in a grade nine English class.

The production sounds just as contrived as the lyrics. Lefebvre relies far too much on samples as a substitute for real instruments.

The string parts in “I Fall For You” may not be spectacular or stand out to begin with, but they would be so much better if a real musi­ cian played them, not a computer. It’s the over-production that takes any and all soul out of these songs. Pre-teen girls will eat this up, but everyone else should approach this album with caution.

- Ryan Taylor

After recently unleashing their album Weapons Grade Romantic on the Canadian music scene, Dojo Workhorse seems to be working their way up in the music realm. Cur­ rently based in Calgary, Alberta, the group is a united conglomeration of up to 50 artists at a time, and includes many individual talents.

The predominant vocals of Dan Vacon, heard throughout the album, sets the mood off on the right foot. Formerly known for his work with The Dudes, Vacon offers an interesting sultry pulse. Branching from a new genre of beautyrock, The Dojo Workhorse succeeds in provid­ ing a smooth, melodic sway to your day.

As a group dedicated to the artistry and collaboration of musicians, with little focus on sales and profit, the light-hearted desire to produce music for sheer want of enjoyment and skill is undoubtedly what comes off in the songs they sing. Intermittent guest appear­ ances from varying atypical instruments span the album, showing off a vast range of musi­ cal talents. From horns to organ to classical strings, an appealing arrangement of instru­ ments are employed and featured with each song. Overall, there is much to look forward to in their new release, not to mention Juno award-winning producer Russell Broom lead­ ing the way. Both contemplative and relaxing, these vibes can’t help but radiate from your core when you sit down to chill with Weapons Grade Romantic.

-

Carla Bragagnolo

- Bianca Van Bavel

With band members who have worked with Stars and Arcade Fire, and banjos, violins, and guitars building thoughtful but exciting orchestral-pop arrangments, there’s a lot going on in Silver Starling’s music. Opening for Ohbij.ou, this M ontre­ al supergroup is not to be missed. @ Club Lambi.

Friday. Film. The Men Who Stare at

Goats.

Ewan M cGregor and George Clooney star in the adaptation of a 2004 book ex­ ploring the US m ilitary’s alleged attempts to harness paranormal powers in the war in Iraq. Clooney pulls a M att Damon by sporting a dorky moustache. W hile it defi­ nitely has a good cast—Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey also star—be prepared for the buzz to overshadow the performance.

Friday. Music. The Arkells.

Hamilton, O ntario’s The Arkells are starting to make a name for themselves.

Following last m onth’s release of their first full-length album Jackson Square, they received a CASBY award from To­ ronto new rock station 102.1 The Edge for favourite new artist. It may not be a Polar­ is, but it’s a start. @ The Just For Laughs Theatre with The Novaks.

16 • Tuesday, November 3, 2009

mcgilltribune.com

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Curiosity Delivers

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 • 17

REDMEN LACROSSE- MCGILL 6, BISHOP'S 5

R edm en headed to Final Four after victory over B ish op ’s Fox outsmarts Gaiters in gritty, physical affair K A IL AN LEUNG Sports Editor

Bruised and battered after an exhaustive defensive battle in wet, muddy conditions, the McGill m en’s lacrosse team still had the en­ ergy to jump, scream, and hug after securing a spot in the Canadian University Field La­ crosse Association Final Four for the second straight year. The Redmen edged provincial rivals Bishop’s University by a score of 6-5 in a grueling, physical match on Friday night at Forbes Field, and moved one step closer to capturing a national championship.

Complete with on-field scuffles, constant heckling from the sidelines, and an inspira­ tional Gaiter comeback in the final quarter, Friday’s game is sure to go down as a classic.

Redmen Head Coach Tim Murdoch, however, was simply happy the game was behind him.

“It’s a great victory,” said Murdoch. “It’s always great when we beat the Bishop’s Gai­ ters. [It’s] always a tight game and we came out on top tonight. We played very well on de­ fence and we need to make some adjustments and improvements on offence, but the bottom line is that we won the game and w e’re going to the Final Four.”

McGill looked tentative to start the game, failing to capitalize on offence and allowing Bishop’s to win most of the loose balls on the ground. But the Redmen found ways to score, and looked as if they would end the first period ahead before an unassisted goal by Gaiter attackman Joseph Laleune knotted up the score at two apiece.

Bishop's controlled the offensive action early on in the second quarter, but the McGill defence, led by star goalkeeper Guy Fox, was impenetrable. Fox, whose last-minute save in the fourth quarter sealed the victory for McGill, was a force between the pipes for the entire 80

ADAM LAIDLAW

The Redmen will look to put the finishing touches on another outstanding season when they travel to Ottawa this weekend. minutes of play. Murdoch cited Fox’s constant communication with the Redmen defence as one o f the keys to the team ’s success.

“Guy Fox played great,” said Murdoch.

“H e’s an inspirational leader to the team and he made an incredible stop at the end of the game to win it for us. H e’s been great all sea­ son. He came back from an injury, and we are looking forward to some great things from him [during] the Final Four weekend.”

Although the Redmen boast the second most potent offence in the country with an average of nearly 13 goals a game, McGill was held in check by a physical and relentless Gaiter defence. Junior attackman Greg Henry scored less than a minute into the third quarter to finish off a hat-trick performance, and junior

Nick Moreau added another marker in the final minute of the third to give McGill a 5-2 ad­ vantage. However, the Redmen offence dried up in the fourth, and Bishop’s took advantage, scoring twice midway through the quarter to put themselves in a position to steal the win away from the home squad.

With momentum completely on Bishop’s side late in the fourth quarter, it seemed almost inevitable that the visitors would score to force overtime. However, Fox had other ideas, mak­ ing an emphatic statement with his last-second save. Despite his otherworldly performance, though, Fox was quick to deflect praise to­ wards his teammates. “[The defence] really stepped up,” said Fox. “We were a man down, but we dug deep

and gave it all we had. We’ve been waiting for this moment from the first day [of the season] to get to the Final Four once again.”

Coming off an uncharacteristically lethar­ gic loss to Trent University last week, Murdoch was happy to see his team respond with such grit and determination. Inspiration, he insists, is never in short supply for the Redmen.

“Our guys got about 20 emails from for­ mer players and alumni encouraging us on,” said Murdoch.

McGill travels to Ottawa next weekend for a shot at the Battaway Cup. The Redmen are the first team to qualify for the Final Four and will find out who they will face later in the week.

T h ir d M an I n =------COMING OF AGE IN THE NBA In 2005, as part of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, NBA commissioner David Stem instituted a rule that prevented basketball prodigies from being drafted straight out of high school. The terms list­ ed in the agreement specified that a player must be at least 19 years of age and a year removed from high school in order to be eli­ gible for the NBA draft. The age limit has resulted in an increase in “one-and-done” collegiate athletes, as well as some players taking their games to Europe for a year of pro experience. Fast forward four years and Stem and the NBA are getting set to reeval­ uate the old CB A —and make the age limit even higher. Stem recently proposed that the limit be raised to 20 years of age, and this time, I think he has it right.

H ere’s a quick rundown of Stem ’s rea­ soning from the first CBA of 2005. Play­ ers, he believed, would be better prepared skill-wise for the NBA after a year in col­ lege. This is unquestionably true—NCAA Division 1 coaches are the best in the world at developing young talent. Stem also rea­ soned that players would be better educated, and placed in a position to excel in a dif­ ferent career after their basketball one had ended.

However, the current age limit has a central flaw that should motivate Stem and NBA owners to increase it. A quirky NCAA rule allows athletes to get by on poor aca­ demic results. A player needs to register two semesters of failing grades in order to be suspended from their team. Theoretically, one-and-done players could opt not to go to a single class throughout their short univer­ sity basketball career, and still play for the

duration of the basketball season. This is ar­ guably the age limit’s greatest failing— one year of college, especially as a celebrity ath­ lete, is not comparable to a true university experience. Derrick Rose, now a superstar in the NBA, was proclaimed eligible to play at the University of Memphis even though the legitimacy of his SAT scores was incred­ ibly suspect. These are the bad eggs that Stem ’s one-year system produced. These cases could and should be eliminated by raising the limit to 20.

There are a number of advantages in raising the age limit to 20. Living in the spotlight for two years provides invaluable personal experience for athletes on the road to the NBA. In addition, athletes who go to college are role models for other young peo­ ple to do the same, showing that education matters and that you can’t get by in life on talent alone. Finally, forcing players to go

—

GABE PULVER

to school for two years would actually teach them how to grow with a team, an essential component o f success in the pros.

Stem also recognizes that a higher age limit will likely promote other pre-NBA op­ portunities in Europe, expanding the global reach of the sport and allowing young ath­ letes a chance to play against high-level competition. If Stem wants players to be better prepared physically for the NBA and expand the league’s brand in Europe, there’s nothing better than having budding superstars start out overseas.

The 20-year-old age limit is a good thing for the game of basketball. In a world with so many immature professional ath­ letes, a little more seasoning in college or overseas would go a long way. David Stem should push hard for it in the next CBA.

18 • Tuesday, November 3, 2009

mcgilltribune.com

ROWING

M cG ill successful at U niversity R ow ing C ham pionships Men’s lightweight wins gold, women’s lightweight wins bronze CHRISTOPHE BOYER j i 1

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:;

Contributor

Strong winds and heavy rain forced offi­ cials to move the qualifying heats from Sat­ urday to Sunday at the Canadian University Rowing Championships over the weekend, but despite the condensed schedule, McGill still managed to turn in an impressive perfor­ mance. Jonathan Rinaldi and Renaud GaronGendron captured gold in the m en’s light­ weight double, while the women’s lightweight four won bronze in a busy day at the Olympic rowing basin in Ile Notre-Dame.

Rinaldi and Garon-Gendron finished third in an early morning time trial with a mark of 6:38.3, good enough to qualify for the after­ noon finals. Fatigue was evidently not a factor later on in the day for the tandem from Que­ bec, as they exploded out of the starting gates.

The pair executed an exceptional race and held off a late push from the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria to capture the first gold medal ever for a McGill crew at the championships.

“In the time trial we were third and we thought, well that’s good, because we were rowing in the doubles only for the last week, and because before that we were in eights and fours all season,” said Garon-Gendron. “ [In the finals] the goal was to go out really fast and control the race, and that’s exactly what happened. We stayed in front to see everybody moving on us so we could react to them.”

On the women’s side, the lightweight coxed four won bronze with a time of 7:56.3.

Sophomore coxswain Stephanie Peruzzi guid­ ed the boat, which included juniors Claire Gowdy, Jennifer Allan, Emma Sheehan, and Marie-Christine Razaire. The Brock Badgers took gold with a time of 7:52.8, while the Queen’s Golden Gaels finished second with a

ADAM SCOTTI

Saturday’s torrential downpour forced organizers to condense the regatta schedule, but McGill still managed to haul in a gold medal. time of 7:53.0.

The McGill women’s open eight also placed third in the B finals with a time of 7:38.2. Western captured gold with a time of 7:05.1, followed by Victoria (7:07.1) in a photo finish result.

Due to the change in schedule, Sunday was packed with races from early morning to late afternoon. With many rowers participat­ ing in multiple races, the regatta proved to be a true test of stamina.

“Fatigue is definitely going to factor in,” said junior Andrei Popescu midway through the event. “All of these guys have already done

one if not two races, so they’re definitely going to be tired. You know everybody is going to be tired, [but] you’ve got to push it.”

With each school limited to bringing their top 12 rowers, McGill was forced to shake up their boats and try different combinations at the event. John Willcock and Eric Baumann— the gold-winning duo who placed first at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston last month—rowed a strong heat along with Travis O ’Farrell and Adam Hart to qualify for the A finals in fourth place. Although the team ex­ ceeded expectations in the trials, their boat was slowed by a headwind in the finals and

finished in sixth place overall. Despite the dis­ appointing result, Baumann was pleased with M cGill’s performance at the regatta.

“Overall it was a great experience be­ cause we never had rowed a pair before,” he said. “I’m not too disappointed with the result, because the learning experience was great.”

M cGill’s rowers were not the only ones who were recognized for outstanding per­ formances over the weekend. McGill Head Coach Philip Hedrei was honored with the CURA President’s Award, presented each year to the individual deemed to have contributed the most towards the development of rowing.

MARTLET HOCKEY- MCGILL 1, CARLETON 0

M artlets face rare test in hard-fought victory over R avens Tardifs goal enough as McGill extends win streak to 58 games JOHN HUI Contributor

After a dominating performance on Fri­ day night against an overmatched Montreal Carabins squad, the McGill women’s hockey team had to do the unthinkable on Saturday af­ ternoon: fight hard for a win. Second-year re­ arguard Stacie Tardif scored the lone goal in a tightly fought contest that could have gone ei­ ther way as the Martlets remained undefeated against Canadian competition with a 1-0 win against the resilient Carleton Ravens.

Unused to playing in tight games, the Martlets were nevertheless ready for the chal­ lenge, and managed to extend their winning streak against CIS opponents to 58 consecu­ tive games. McGill now holds a 45-0-1 life­ time record against the Ravens and remains

atop the CIS national rankings.

The game began in a refreshingly differ­ ent fashion from most of the M artlets’ inter­ conference contests. Instead of dominating their opponents from the get-go, the Martlets found themselves trading blows with their opponents, unable to generate good scoring chances against a stingy Carleton defence.

M cGill’s best chance to score came early in the opening frame when senior captain Vanes­ sa Davidson stickhandled the puck around her opponent on the left wirig to find an open linemate who failed to convert on the shot. Nev­ ertheless, McGill still managed to out-shoot their opponents 11-7 in the first period.

“It felt good [to] finally have an opponent to work hard [against],” said Tardif. “I think we had to change our game, but we rose up to the challenge and adapted to their game plan.”

The Martlets continued to apply pressure on the Ravens’ defence in the second period,

slowly but surely grinding away at the visi­ tors’ resolve. M cGill’s persistence ultimately paid off, as Tardif was able to find a chink in Carleton goaltender Amanda M uhlig’s armour with a little more than seven minutes left in the period.

“The puck kind of popped back high on defence,” said Tardif. “I knew the goalie was down to the right so I shot far post because I thought it would either go in or give up a re­ bound.”

Rather than collapsing after Tardif’s goal, though, the Ravens made a strong push to tie the game. Martlets goaltender Gabrielle Smith faced her toughest test yet, turning aside 11 shots in the final period with her team trapped in their defensive zone by a pressing Carleton attack. McGill Head Coach Amey Doyle could only offer praise for Smith’s performance after the game.

“Today was a tougher night for her,” said Doyle. “At the beginning of the game

she wasn’t getting many shots, but she stayed mentally tough. [As] the game went on, there were some really tough shots that she had to stay focussed on, and she did. I thought she was one of our best players tonight.”

Doyle recognized that in order for the Martlets to enjoy the success they did last year, they will have to do a better job convert­ ing on offensive possessions. However, Doyle was pleased with the way in which her team responded, and acknowledged the visiting squad’s efforts.

“Carleton has a very, very good team,” she said. “It’s the first time we played against them, and they checked hard and didn’t give us a lot of room. They worked very hard from start to finish and that is what we expected.”

The Martlets do not play again for a week until they face 1Oth-ranked Montreal at McCo­ nnell Arena on Nov. 7 at 2 p.m.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 » 19

Curiosity Delivers

FOOTBALL- MCGILL 0, LAVAL 50

SPOTLIGHT- QUIDDITCH

Football Fin

H arry Potter com es to life in V erm ont

With successful season over, Redmen future looks bright

McGill flies high at Quidditch World Cup

JON RUBENSTEIN

JON COHEN

Sports Editor

Contributor

The McGill men’s football team took to the field on Saturday afternoon with the stakes clearly laid out on the table: a win would en­ sure the Redmen a postseason berth for the first time in three seasons. Against the firstranked, defending national champion Laval Rouge et Or, though, the odds were simply too much for the home squad to overcome. The Redmen failed to capitalize on the momentum they had been building all season, and were unceremoniously squashed by Laval, 50-0, in a rain-filled affair at Molson Stadium.

The loss, combined with Bishop’s 30-28 win over Concordia, knocked the Redmen out of playoff contention. Although M cGill’s sea­ son once again came to an abrupt halt, many positives can be taken from an overall suc­ cessful campaign.

“The biggest improvement was that a year ago we played eight games and we only competed in one,” said Head Coach Sonny Wolfe. “This year we played eight games and competed real well in six.”

Laval quarterback Benoit Groulx com­ pleted 13 tosses in 15 attempts for 230 yards and passed for three touchdowns in the vic­ tory. With Saturday’s win, Groulx became the CIS all-time passing leader with 66 career touchdowns, breaking the mark of 63 set by Redmen QB Matt Connell last year.

The Redmen were plagued by sub-par play from rookie pivot Jonathan Collin, who looked fazed by the intimidating Laval defen­ sive line all game. He completed only 14 of 37 pass attempts for 149 yards and three intercep­ tions. “We made too many mistakes and gave them the ball with a short field too often,” said Wolfe.

Running back Andrew Hamilton was stifled by an imposing Laval defence that gave up only 23 yards on the ground to M cGill’s most potent offensive weapon. The Redmen were unable to gain a first down until their fifth possession midway through the second quarter.

Despite the loss, the Redmen came out of the 2009 season with a much-improved team and program. McGill ended a 17-game los­ ing streak and finished the campaign with a respectable 3-5 record. “If someone in August told us we were going to win three games, that wouldn’t have been a bad deal,” said Wolfe.

The Redmen have found a worthy suc­ cessor to former all-star quarterback Matt Connell in the form of Collin, w ho—despite a mediocre end to the season—exceeded all expectations with a stellar rookie campaign.

Hamilton dazzled fans with his speed and agility and gave McGill a talented threat at running back for the first time in a number of years. Wide receiver Charles-Antoine Sinotte had a monster season and set the CIS record for all-time receptions with 199. Hamilton, Si­ notte, and sophomore kicker Austin Anderson were all selected to the QUFL all-star team.

With a young core and plenty of talent on the roster, the future looks bright for Redmen football.

Middlebury College, Vermont, is perhaps best known for its beautiful green campus and well-recognized liberal arts program. Recent­ ly, though, the school is gaining notoriety for another reason: serving as the location for the annual Quidditch World Cup. The wizard sport immortalized in the sev­ en-part Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling has been cast, brooms and all, into a reality. This past weekend, teams from around the United States and Canada flew in —on airplanes, rath­ er than brooms—to Middlebury for the big­ gest quidditch tournament of the year. Twenty teams along with the host school participated in the event, including such notable institu­ tions as Harvard, Boston University, Univer­ sity of Pittsburgh, and, of course, McGill.

For the uninitiated, the rules of quidditch can appear daunting. The game is played on an open field, with three hoops on either side, de­ fended by a keeper. On each team, three chas­ ers attempt to throw a volleyball—officially called the quaffle—into one of the opposing team ’s hoops for 10 points. Two designated beaters on each team attempt to throw and hit opposing players with smaller balls, called bludgers. Any player hit by a bludger must drop the ball they are carrying and run back to their own hoops.

The final element of quidditch is, of course, the snitch. Rather than the winged, golden ball depicted in the Potter series, the snitch is instead a person dressed in yellow or gold, with a tennis ball in a sock hanging from the back of their shorts. Unaffiliated with ei­ ther team, the snitch attempts to avoid being caught by the seekers of each team, whose abilities to retrieve the sock earn their respec­ tive team a full 30 points, and signals the end

of the match. Every player, except the snitch, must keep a broom between their legs at all times and avoid being knocked off. Quidditch, much like football and hockey, is a full-contact sport.

M cGill’s quidditch team currently pos­ sesses interim club status—recognition as a varsity team requires consistent competition, as opposed to playing in only one or two tour­ naments a year. The team is in its second sea­ son, and was founded in 2008 by sophomore Reid Robinson. Team manager Karen Kumaki noted the immense positive reception quid­ ditch has received at McGill.

“Last year, Reid found a video of Middle­ bury playing quidditch,” said Kumaki. “He decided that it looked like fun, and got a few people together to draft a ‘quidditch consti­ tution,’ which turned into our application for club status with SSMU. It’s ridiculous that al­ most 200 different people have practiced with us this year, and that we brought a bus of fans to the World Cup.” McGill is by no means alone in its desire to field and support a varsity quidditch team.

Over 200 colleges and universities worldwide have begun to develop quidditch programs.

Cross-town rival Concordia has also brought together a team, and a McGill-Concordia match is currently in the works.

Second-year student Ben Cohen played for McGill in its inaugural season, but took on the role of head coach this year due to injury.

“People just think, ‘Oh, I’ll show up, I’ll hold a broom between my legs, I ’ll run around and have fun,”’ said Cohen. “But that’s not what quidditch is about. We had three prac­ tices a week in preparation for [the World Cup] and we focus on getting better, especially when it comes to passing and physicality. [As a coach], I work the team hard because I want them to succeed.”

Cohen has to be happy with the success his team found over the weekend. McGill opened World Cup play with a laugher against

St. Lawrence University, winning 100-30. The next game was an overtime loss on a technical­ ity to the University of Vermont, followed by a defensive shutout against Green Mountain College, 40-0.

The first three games decided the seeding for the single-game elimination tournament, and McGill emerged with the number-one seed in the North division. McGill faced UVM once again in the first round, and managed to blank their opponents with a score of 30-0, thanks to a second straight snitch capture by McGill seeker Alexander Graham.

McGill played the powerhouse host school in the following game, and were over­ whelmed by Middlebury’s advantages in size, speed, strength, and accuracy, falling to the eventual champions 80-0. McGill finished the tournament 3-2, and thanks to point differen­ tials, ranked fifth out of the 21 teams present.

“I was hoping that we would get the chance to play Middlebury, but we played them a round sooner than I would have liked,” said Cohen. “They’re a tough, physical team, and, obviously, they haven’t lost a game in three years.”

The quidditch season may not just be a one-hit wonder this year, as McGill is gar­ nering more recognition in the sport. Vassar College recently extended an invitation for McGill to compete in a tournament later this month. The quidditch team holds practices on Thursdays at 6:30 p.m., and on Saturdays at 2 p.m. on Lower Field. Practices are open and newcomers are always welcome to try out the sport. Spencer Berg, a first-year student who started as a chaser for the team, emphasized the inclusive nature of the sport.

“It’s an awesome game played by a group of amazing people,” he said. “You get to the point where it stops being embarrassing and starts becoming serious business.”

Quidditch as serious business? Not even J.K. Rowling saw this coming.

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the week in photos PHOTOS BY LORRAINE CHEUNG, ALISSA FINCOLP, JOHN KELSEY, STEPHANIE OVENS, M A X IM E SAW ICKI, APAM SCOTTI ANP JU LIA W EBSTER