The McGill Tribune Vol. 30 Issue 19

“ IS T H A T A R U B B E R N O S E I SEE?” , PA G E 14

Published by the Tribune Publication Society Volume No. 30 Issue No. 19

T H E T R IB U N E ’S G U ID E T O T H E G A M O T IO N S , PA G E 7

Council votes to censure President Newburgh C o u n c illo rs v o te in c o n fid e n tia l se ssio n

By Theo Meyer

Managing Editor The Students’ Society Council voted to publicly censure President Zach Newburgh in the predawn hours of Friday morning for his role in pursuing a contract with Jobbook. com. a new social networking web­ site designed to match students at elite universities with potential em­ ployers.

The deliberations and the vote to censure, which lasted nearly six hours in total, were held in confiden­ tial session, shrouding councillors’ exact reasoning for the decision in secrecy. In an interview shortly after the close of confidential session, however, Newburgh detailed his in­ volvement with Jobbook, including his financial stake in the company and the trips to the U.S. and Britain he took on weekends since the Fall.

In mid-September, Newburgh said, Jean de Brabant, a McGill alumnus and former guest lecturer in the Faculty of Law, contacted him about an “incredible student service.” After repeated entreaties, Newburgh met with de Brabant, who told Newburgh about a project he was working on that was under patent. To discuss it, however, New­ burgh would have to sign a confi­ dentiality agreement. Thinking the proposal wouldn’t be a serious one,

Newburgh signed.

“People ultimately make poor judgment calls,” he said. “This would be one of them.”

De Brabant told Newburgh about his idea for a web site that con­ nected students to potential employ­ ers, which he envisioned being pro­ moted by elite universities’ student unions. The initial plan, Newburgh said, was for him to call or email student leaders at other universities to recruit them. But later de Brabant decided that it would be more effec­ tive for them to make their pitch in person As a full-time employee of SSMU, Newburgh told de Brabant that he would only be able to trav­ el on weekends, when he could be away from the office. De Brabant understood, Newburgh said, but in­ sisted Newburgh receive a financial stake in return.

“He was pretty adamant that if we were going to be doing this on the weekends and during my per­ sonal time that I also be afforded the opportunity to get some kind of cut,” he said.

Newburgh accepted this, he said, on the condition that SSMU get a cut as well. He negotiated a deal in which SSMU would receive one share of Jobbook for each stu­ dent that signed up for the service.

See “CENSURE” on page 2

C o u n c illo r s s e n d G e n e r a l A s s e m b ly q u e s tio n t o c o m m it t e e P ro p ose d re fe re n d u m q u e s tio n to re fo rm G A w ill in ste a d be e xa m in e d by a new ly fo rm e d g ro u p

By Matt Essert_______________________

News Editor On Thursday, the Students’ So­ ciety Council voted in favour of a motion to refer the question of Gen­ eral Assembly reform to an ad hoc committee. The motion came after weeks of debate and concerns over

the validity and merit of the original motion, authored by SSMU Presi­ dent Zach Newburgh.

The motion, first moved by Management representative Eli Freedman, will create a committee chaired by Newburgh and composed of any interested councillors and at least three members-at-large—

members of SSMU who are not councillors.

Freedman explained that be­ cause the proposed amendments to the question were only introduced at Thursday’s Council meeting, he felt that councillors needed more time to consider the amendments before voting on them.

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“Not having the opportunity to review and consider every possible amendment in advance, considering the drastically different solutions of­ fered by each amendment, and giv­ ing consideration to the magnitude of the GA's importance, myself and other councillors expressed the opin­ ion that a committee was best served

to deal with all of this information and make recommendations accord­ ingly,” Freedman said.

According to the motion passed in Council, the committee does not yet have a specific mandate, but will work through the proposed changes to the GA, seek out further student See “COUNCILLO RS” on page 4

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By Elisa Muyl____________________ .

Contributor Many McGill students have their fair share of issues with WebCT, but it looks as though they might become a thing of the past. By May of next year, McGill is plan­ ning to have replaced WebCT with a new learning management system, or LMS. The movement to replace the Blackboard Learning system entered its early stages in 2009 as the Mov­ ing Forward Project Team began to prepare for the inevitable technolog­ ical obsolescence of a system that was once the best online learning system on the market. Laura Winer, a project member and chair of the Consulting Group on Pedagogy, said this is standard practice.

“WebCT was the best, hands down, five years ago,” echoed An­ drew Doyle, the Students’ Society representative on the Project Team.

As WebCT’s natural techno­ logical life cycle approaches an end, McGill has begun to shop around for a new LMS that will meet its re­ quirements moving forward.

Under Quebec law, a public in­ stitution wishing to pay a company in exchange for its services must go through a two stage process. In the first stage, called a “request for infor­ mation,” (RFI) McGill must compile a list of all of its requirements for a new myCourses platform. Based on this compilation, a group of three or four vendors who meet at least 70

per cent of the requirements will be selected. In the second stage, McGill will submit a request for proposal, or RFP. The vendor offering the best deal will then be selected.

Because the RFP process has a decision-making mechanism builtin, it’s important for McGill to spend a lot of time at the outset making sure the RFI submitted will most ac­ curately reflect its needs. Currently in the first stage, the Project Team has been carefully conducting a user requirement investigation to ensure that the vendor selected can meet the most important of those needs.

The next LMS will need to meet higher-than-ever industry stan­ dards and is expected to fill some of WebCT’s holes. According to Sha­ ron Roy, director of Content and Collaboration Solutions and project manager of Moving Forward, the project is focusing on the need for improvement in three areas: greater collaboration tools, open content, and an improved interface that will be more navigable.

To make sure they are covering all their bases, Moving Forward has been holding demonstration days for potential products. For the first half of each one, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., students and faculty are invited to assess how each vendor addresses their needs for a learning manage­ ment system. The next half of the day is geared towards the IT team, who evaluate how easily the system can be implemented and how well it can be integrated with Banner, McGill’s

student information system.

“There’s a whole back end system that students and faculty won’t see but that is important,” said Winer. “It is very important that [the product selected will] integrate with student information systems. We need to make sure that it will sustain the kind of use [the McGill com­ munity requires] ... and that it won’t crash.”

Another important aspect in choosing a new system will be its ability to keep up with natural tech­ nological progress. Despite being the height of technology in its day, WebCT cannot support newer ver­ sions of Firefox.

This is also an opportunity to make myCourses more attractive and enjoyable for students. Although Doyle says he hasn’t been particu­ larly successful in getting students to the demonstrations, some intrigu­ ing features could be on their way.

Some possible additions to the LMS experience include chat rooms and whiteboards, tools such as blogs or wikis that allow for multiple authors, a calendar that integrates with third party calendars, and maybe even a grade book that tells you what you need on the final exam to get an A. “We’re on track,” said Doyle.

“But the more voices [involved], the better.” The schedule for demostration days is available online at http:// blogs, mcgill.ca/mycourses.

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He refused, however, to disclose the details of his *own stake in the company.

Over the next two months, Newburgh and de Brabant embarked on several trips to elite universities in the U.S. and Britain, paid for by de Brabant. In October, the pair drove through New England and the Mid-Atlantic, meeting with student union presidents at Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technol­ ogy, Yale, Princeton, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Pennsylvania.

In November, they flew to Califor­ nia to visit five more universities, all of which signed contracts with the fledgling company.

Weeks later, the pair flew to Britain to pitch the idea to Oxford, Cambridge, University College London, and Imperial College.

Because he was bound the con­ fidentiality agreement, Newburgh said, all three trips remained secret.

In total, he said, he only missed one day of work at SSMU ; for executives to take days off, though, he said, is “not at all uncommon.”

De Brabant’s confidentiality agreement ran out last month, New­ burgh said, and he brought his fourmonth history with Jobbook to the attention of the Executive Commit­ tee on January 19. The matter came to a head on Wednesday—the same day that Jobbook officially launched.

The meeting quickly devolved into a raucous shouting match between Vice-President University Affairs Joshua Abaki, who faulted New­ burgh for his secrecy and what he called a conflict of interest, and VP Finance and Operations Nick Drew,

who emphasized the website’s po­ tential value to students.

“From my perspective, this is information you should have shared with all of the executive,” Abaki said at the meeting. “It doesn’t mat­ ter what you signed . . . the Society comes first.”

The Executive Committee voted to bring the matter to Council, where eight councillors—the minimum re­ quired number—voted in confiden­ tial session to impeach Newburgh.

After concluding their regular busi­ ness shortly after midnight, council­ lors debated for hours whether New­ burgh deserved to be removed from office. They adjourned at about 5:15 a.m. after voting to censure him.

Voting was by secret ballot, but the motion required the support of twothirds of Council for approval.

Though Newburgh survived as president, the clash over Jobbook has left the executive deeply divid­ ed, with three members generally opposed to Newburgh and two oth­ ers defending him. “How to move forward from here?” Newburgh said. “It is going to be tough.”

Newburgh remained upbeat about Jobbook, though, in which he recently renounced his financial stake. The website, he said, which generates revenue by charging a fee for companies who successfully use it to fill positions, “is going to ex­ plode.” That, he said, will make the controversy surrounding it worth it.

“Ultimately,” Newburgh added, “there was no harm done to the Society, there was no violation of any kind of policy, and this was always done in the best interests of students.”

News in Brief M U S passes referendum to change constitution In a referendum that closed on Thursday, 92.4 per cent of vot­ ing Management students approved major changes to the Management Undergraduate Society’s constitu­ tion. “[The constitution is] very, very altered,” said Eli Freedman, Management representative to the Students’ Society Council and mem­ ber of the redrafting committee. “We basically took a document that was not public, that was very outdated, and brought it into the 21st cen­ tury.”

The changes will install a board of governors, which will set long­ term goals for the MUS and ensurethat the executive follows through on mandates. According to President Céline Junke, the MUS has suffered in the past from a poorly directed, occasionally under-qualified, over­ extended, and unaccountable execu­

tive.

“Our executive body was struc­ tured in a way that made little sense,” Junke said. “[It had] a lack of vision and a lack of accountability.”

The new constitution also in­ corporates budget regulations for the Society,-and has 25 articles, while the old one had only 14.

The committee that drafted the changes, which also included MUS Vice-President Academic Mike Conrad and the Bull & Bear Editorin-Chief Alex Pejusi, among others, based the new constitution on that of the undergraduate society of Uni­ versity of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business.

“It is going to ensure that we see to our long-term goals and that we are held accountable,” Junke said.

—Sean W ood

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

SPEAKER ON CAMPUS

S u p r e m e C o u r t J u s tic e t a lk s b o o z e a n d t h e c o n s t it u t io n Justice M o rris Fish, a M c G ill a lu m n u s , d is cu sse s a lc o h o l’ s in flu e n c e o n th e C a n a d ia n legal system

By Kat Sieniuc

Contributor The Honourable Justice Mor­ ris J. Fish delivered the annual F.R. Scott Lecture on Thursday in Chan­ cellor Day Hall, discussing alcohol’s effect on development of the Cana­ dian Constitution.

Fish received a B.A. from McGill University in 1959 and a B.C.L from the Faculty of Law in 1962. He received an honorary de­ gree from McGill in 2001, as well as the F.R. Scott Award from the McGill Faculty of Law in 2006, and currently sits as a justice on the Su­ preme Court of Canada.

Before the talk, several of Fish’s colleagues and friends introduced the justice and his history. Accord­ ing to Fish’s longtime friend and colleague Harvey Yarosky, Fish has never failed to dissent in Supreme Court decisions when he disagreed with the majority.

“He has never hesitated when he felt the majority Supreme Court decisions was validating the abuse of authority that he felt should not be validated,” said Yarosky.

Yarosky also noted Fish’s be­ lief that the failure to evoke Con­ stitutional rights is a Constitutional promise that has not been kept. Col­ leen Cook, the Trenholme Dean of Libraries, similarly commented on Fish’s devotion to honouring the Constitution.

“I understand that Judge Fish’s commitment to freedom of expres­ sion likely [came] from being editorin-chief of the McGill Daily and the Montreal Gazette,” Cook said.

In the lecture, Fish has contend­ ed that some of Canada’s fundamen­ tal constitutional doctrines found their present shape in cases related to alcohol licensing, particularly those invoking issues of competing federal and provincial jurisdictions, the Peace Order and Good Govern­ ment Clause, and matters of trade and commerce.

“I can say with confidence that alcohol served as the trigger for much of our early Constitutional de­ velopment,” Fish said. “A surprising number of our foundational consti­ tutional cases began as disputes over sale, licensing, and prohibition of alcohol.”

Fish argued that Prohibition raised two constitutional questions.

First, which level of governmentfederal or provincial—had the ju­ risdiction to regulate alcohol? And second, should there be a distinction should be drawn between regulating the distribution of alcohol as op­ posed to a more advanced form of regulation? He said that these ques­ tions eventually resulted in the scal­ ing back of federal power.

Fish’s lecture mixed social history with constitutional history, arguing argued that two realities of 19th century Canadian life were

the centrality of alcohol in people’s daily routines and the social and po­ litical backlash widespread drunken­ ness caused.

“The challenge was that courts needed to grapple with social and political pressures, while simultane­ ously consulting foundational ques­ tions in constitutional law,” he said.

Fish bolstered his argument by pointing out that a quick list of key constitutional cases from the late 19th and early 20th century read like a liquor board document—“Local Prohibition,” “Manitoba Licence Soldiers,” “Consolidate Distill­ eries.”

“The reason why so many con­ stitutional cases involved alcohol was that there was a lot of drinking going on in 19th-century Canada, and not much else,” Fish said.

Fish explained how whiskey was considered to be a precaution against colds, and also noted how men would drink while at work, in­ cluding in the professional classes.

Even nursing mothers would regu­ larly drink for fortitude. In Montreal, residents often added brandy to their water to ensure it was safe to drink.

“Because of the role of alcohol in daily life, it was a major social issue,” he said.

Fish explained that temperance advocates relentlessly lobbied gov­ ernments to enact prohibition, while others were equally passionate and violent in resisting a ban. Thus, a

Supreme Court Justice Morris Fish delivered the annual F.R. Scott Lecture on Thursday. (Matt Essert / McGill Tribune)

long series of cases ensued based off these two opposing views.

Cases surrounding prohibi­ tion eventually resulted in a court ruling that both the provincial and federal governments had concur­ rent jurisdiction to enact prohibition schemes, followed by another series of liquor cases that affirmed provin­ cial rights.

“The Local Prohibition Refer­ ence is one of the earliest jurisdic­ tion decisions granting both federal

and provincial power to regions in the same area,” Fish said. “The law took a U-turn.”

First-year law student Vladi Ivanov said it was an honour to hear Fish speak, since he is a major figure in the history of Canadian law.

“I thought his lecture was an interesting way to connect consti­ tutional law, which sometimes can feel a bit disconnected from the real world, with Canadian history,” Ivanov said.

INTERNATIONAL

E g y p t ié m p r o t e s t s in M o n t r e a l s p r e a d t o M c G i l l c a m p u s Ju stin T ru d e a u ca lls fo r C anada to p ro m o te “ o p e n n e ss and s ta b ility ,” s u p p o rt E gyptian d e m o c ra c y

By Eric Mauser_______________________

Contributor The protests that have engulfed Egypt came to McGill’s downtown campus on Monday in the form of a midday demonstration by Amnesty International. While this is the first physical manifestation of the turmoil at McGill, the issue has been worry­ ing for many students since protests first began nearly two weeks ago.

“The trigger has been some kind of dissatisfaction with the economy,” said Imad Mansour, a McGill political science professor, about the source of the unrest in Egypt. He was quick to add, how­ ever, that despite the claims of many news reports, the protests are about more than the price of bread.

“Part of the frustration is with the whole package of policies ... the lack of representation, the lack of transparency, corruption, inefficien­ cy, economic decline,” he said.

The policies are those of Egyp­ tian President Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power for over 30 years.

Under Mubarak, Mansour said, Egypt has been wracked by corrup­ tion and inefficiency—“a case of bu­ reaucracy gone wild.”

While these issues may have pushed protesters to take to the streets in Egypt, many blame Muba­ rak directly and see his immediate expulsion from the country as the only way to solve its problems.

“We're standing here every day until Mubarak leaves; we've been standing here every day since [Janu­ ary 25],” said Mohamed Zoeid, a protester outside the Egyptian Con­ sulate on de la Gauchetiere Street in Montreal. “We don't trust this guy— he's been fooling us for 30 years.

Enough is enough.”

Many government officials in the U.S. and Canada have issued statements condemning the violence and calling for Mubarak’s resigna­

tion, political change, or both.

Inside the consulate, the Consul General of Egypt, Amin Meleika, said the protestors were a strong po­ litical force who had had a clear ef­ fect on the government.

“Now that the state has accept­ ed all demands [of the protesters], it wants to use the next six to seven months to organize the transition, so as not to leave a power vacuum,” he said.

Meleika said he was “optimis­ tic” about the safety of Egyptian McGill students and their families, and that “things are getting better and quieter.”

“The demonstrations, except for a few incidents ... have been rather peaceful,” he said. “I ’m optimistic because I see there is a movement in the right direction.”

In defence of Mubarak, Melei­ ka said the president had deployed the Army only for the safety of his citizens, not to inhibit demonstra­

tions.

On whether Mubarak will at­ tempt to play a strong role in Egypt after he steps down next September, Meleika speculated that “the Presi­ dent has made a very clear commit­ ment that he is not running again ... and that he himself would just like to end his term and set the transition.”

Meleika further defended Mubarak’s domestic policy, foreign policy, and sensitivity to his con­ stituency.

“I think definitely he will be remembered in a positive sense,” Meleika said.

Justin Trudeau, MP for Montre­ al’s Papineau riding, synthesized the views and concerns of both protest­ ers and the government.

“We're beginning to see move­ ments throughout the Middle E ast... that are saying, 'Enough is enough, enough of these hierarchical re­ gimes,'” he said. “[But] at the same time, I want to caution against being

naive.”

The installation of an extremist or authoritarian regime after Muba­ rak wouldn’t be much of an im­ provement, Trudeau continued.

“It's going to take a while, and Canada should be playing ball in promoting that type of openness and stability that would lead to [a de­ mocracy],” he said.

“We hope to draw attention to the fact that the freedom to assem­ bly and expression is an inalienable right,” said Amir Nijhawan, the or­ ganizer of yesterday’s Amnesty In­ ternational protest and a McGill po­ litical science student. “The protests [in Egypt] originated out of dissat­ isfaction with the political system, rooted in corruption and abuse. In the interests of protecting and pro­ moting rights, the voice of the Egyp­ tian people must be represented.”

4

Curiosity Delivers, www.mcgilltribune.com

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CAMPUS

C o u n c illo r s c o n c e r n e d A r ts s tu d e n ts s h o w c a s e r e s e a r c h r e f o r m w i l l b e s l o w e d S tu d e n ts fro m m a n y d e p a rtm e n ts g a th e r fo r firs t tim e e ve n t Continued from COVER

consultation, and try to propose other options for GA reform.

Maggie Knight, Clubs and Ser­ vices representative, said that be­ cause of this lack of a specific man­ date thus far, she “imagines that the committee will have a fair degree of ability to determine its own param­ eters” in reviewing options for GA reform.

During debate of this motion, Clubs and Services representative Max Zidel proposed imposing a deadline for the committee to pres­ ent its recommendations, “but that just got thrown in the air and we didn’t end up doing it,” he said.

But according to Arts Sena­ tor Tyler Lawson, any ambiguities will likely be addressed at the next Council meeting, “[where] we can assign to [the committee] something more concrete and more definite in purpose.”'

Freedman agreed. “At the next meeting of Council we will create more formal mandates, require­ ments, and structure of the commit­ tee,” he said.

There have been concerns, however, from a number of council­ lors over both the process by which this committee was established and the fact that it was established at all.

Arts representative Spencer Burger said he was very disap­ pointed by Council’s decision and thought that more could have been done to work through the original resolution at Council.

“I think we had an opportunity Thursday night to put in a number of amendments to [Newburgh’s] origi­ nal resolution that would have been accepted as truly beneficial reform to the GA, that would have gone to the referenda and probably been ac­ cepted by the majority of students,” he said.

Zidel was also unhappy with the decision to move the question to a committee.

“It was very poorly mandated,” he said. “It was also a mistake to have [Newburgh] chair the commit­ tee, in my opinion. I ’ve come to the conclusion ... that executives keep saying they don’t have time to do all this committee work, [and] I agree.

Councillors should be chairing the committees. We’re not babies.”

Several councillors also raised concerns that forming this commit­ tee could cause a loss of the momen­ tum that has been built around the push to reform the GA. “I think it’s possible we will lose a lot of momentum and that this committee will ultimately put off any real reform and won’t amount to anything,” Burger said.

Zidel agreed: “The momentum

for changing the General Assembly is going to die out among students, whereas the councillors are still going to want to do it. But we really need the students input to be able to do it in my opinion.”

Newburgh, who had been spearheading the reform movement, also expressed similar concerns.

“Unfortunately, we’ve killed that momentum and sense of ur­ gency, and as a result I would only hope that people continue to provide feedback, but . . . I am not confident that that feedback will be of the same calibre and quantity,” New­ burgh said.

Others, however, feel that it’s crucial to give councillors more time to consult students and reach an agreeable GA reform proposal.

“I do think that the motion brought forward definitely caught people’s attention and raised their awareness of the potentiality and the need to address this,” Lawson said.

“So going forward I think that we have momentum, more than ever, and we’ll hopefully apply that to­ wards fixing this important means of democracy on campus.”

Freedman agreed, saying that he would much prefer that SSMU take its time with such important re­ form and assess all possible reform options.

“I firmly believe that there is enough momentum within Council, due to general interest in the Society, that the student body losing momen­ tum is hardly a real consideration in our decision-making process,” Freedman said. “I also believe that regardless of previous attempts, this time we are going to figure it out.”

'Zidel lamented that the entire process had been generally mis­ handled, and speculated that a much better outcome could have been at­ tained.

“We did all this too late and we could have done it a lot earlier,” he said. “We really screwed up, but I don’t think that because we screwed up it means that we’re going to ac­ complish anything with this com­ mittee. [And] especially with the recent happenings at SSMU, I find it’s going to be harder than ever to do that.”

Lawson, for his part, views the work that will be needed for reform as a possible rallying point for ex­ ecutives and councillors.

“I think that while there’s been a lot of talk of the exec or Council having been split, it could be a good means by which we could come to­ gether and work towards a common end for the betterment of students as a whole,” he said.

By Ivan Di

Contributor The first annual Faculty of Arts Undergraduate Research Event brought together bright minds from different departments on Wednesday to showcase some of the research done by undergraduates in the past year.

Using various multimedia, stu­ dents were asked to creatively pres­ ent their research in a series of fiveminute presentations. Every depart­ ment in the faculty was represented at the event.

According to Dean of Arts Christopher Manfredi, the event was part of a coalition that “consists of four partners: the Faculty of Arts, the Arts Internship Office, the Pro­ vost Office, and the individual pro­ fessors who provide the research op­ portunities.”

Aside from providing a plat­ form to showcase research, the Arts Undergraduate Research Intern­ ship Awards also provide funding through grants with the hope of fostering research as part of the aca­ demic experience. “[Research] is going on, but we haven’t done a nice job showcasing it,” said Associate Dean of Arts Su­ zanne Morton, a history professor and one of the event’s organizers.

“Science already does it; the tradi­ tion of working in a lab is stronger than in Arts, where it is more indi­ vidualistic.”

At its core, “research is really simple — all you need is a good idea and you try to work it out,” said Dirk Schlimm, a McGill philosophy pro­ fessor.

Schlimm laid down his take on the steps to effective research.

“Getting an idea is also easy,” he said. “Just fill your mind with stuff and ideas will eventually pop out. Recognizing a good idea is hard; you need experience and professors will usually fill this role. Finally, working an idea out is harder, as it requires motivation, time, stamina, and knowledge of where to go with it.”

It appears as though the un­ dergraduate researchers listened to Schlimm’s advice, and, according to some, the results were hugely suc­ cessful.

“It blows me away how smart and articulate our students are,” Morton said. “The professors are just gushing.”

One of the student research­ ers was Karine Fonda, U1 Honours international development studies, who did her research on the “Health Insurance Access Database,” which examined health policies in Organi­ zation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries for dif­ ferent population groups.

Fonda described her research as both challenging and rewarding.

“There is a lot of reading and selecting the right information, an­ swering questions and asking more questions and trying to present ev­ erything in a coherent manner,” she said. “At the same time, I can apply some of my academic background.

It improved my research experience as well as helped me explore other areas such as law and translations.

For once, I can dive deep into the topic and I can see a pattern devel­ oping in a country.”

For professors, much of the learning and co-operation is mutual.

“We have excellent mutual re­ lationship,” Schlimm said. “McGill undergrads are very motivated with diverse interests and we learn from each other’s original ideas.”

Research can also help students find where their interests lie.

“It gives opportunity to test the field—only by doing it will you say, ‘This is really what I want to do’ or not,” Schlimm said.

This is especially relevant for undergraduate students who are still finding their passions. As part of his research study, Siddharth Mishra, U 1 Honours economics, who is also majoring in international develop­ ment studies, plans to travel to India this summer to examine its legal system.

“Development is something I am interested in. It is a way to fol­ low my interests,” Mishra said. It will be an interesting experience and summer.”

“Research lets you do what you love while getting paid for it,” he added.

(Robert Smith / McGill Tribune)

Are you a c r e a tiv e person?

Are you passionate about your s p i r i t u a l i t y ?

£ WANT YOU TO PARTICIPATE IN THE MCGI CHAPLAINCY’S “FA IT H IN FILM ” COMPETITION! Submit a short film of 10-30 minutes in length (deadline for submissions February 28th at noon) on faith and spirituality and you could win $500 worth of books from the bookstore OR $500 from Future Shop! etails available at: www.mcgill.ca/students/chaplaincy/faithinfitm/ or email to James Farr atjames.farrdpmail.mcgill.ca

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

CAMPUS

S t u d e n t s c o n c e r n e d a b o u t f o o d p r ic e s ; s e e k t r a n s p a r e n c y S ince p rice raises in January, ta lk s b etw een s tu d e n ts and M F D S have m a d e p ro g re ss

By Sarah Feldman _________________

Contributor The residents of Royal Victo­ ria College, Upper Residence, and Douglas Hall received an unwel­ come holiday gift in January, when the found that McGill Food and Din­ ing Services had hiked their prices.

Students of Upper Residence, frustrated by what appeared to them a “lack of respect” on the part of MFDS, created “PRICED,” a workgroup designed to find solu­ tions to the complaints of students locked into meal plans with MFDS. PRICED, led by Molson resident and First Year Council President Valen­ tine Sergeev, stands for “Perturbed Residents Interested in Changing Expensive Dining.” Despite what its tongue-in-cheek name might sug­ gest, Sergeev said that PRICED is less interested in changing, and more interested in understanding MFDS’s pricing decisions.

In response to the price hike, Sergeev and other PRICED mem­ bers drafted a petition which de­ manded accountability in MFDS’s decision-making and more student input in its policies. Within 24 hours,

nearly 500 residents of Molson, Mc­ Connell, and Gardner had signed it.

Despite the claims of an article in the McGill Daily, PRICED has never set out to lower food prices.

“It’s not the fact that the prices were raised,” Sergeev said. “It’s how [MFDS] went about it.”

Instead, PRICED’s petition says the group seeks to be a channel of communication through which residents can express their discon­ tent with “the decision of MFDS to increase food prices mid-year with­ out prior notice or explanation to students” and “the general refusal of MFDS to communicate with the student body and its representatives regarding the food services it pro­ vides.”

PRICED was particularly an­ noyed when MFDS failed to ac­ knowledge or explain its price-hike policy until the third week of Janu­ ary. Sergeev suggested that had some residents not noticed a higher than usual number on the cafeteria’s cash register while checking out, many would likely never have known about MFDS’s newest policy.

Sergeev stressed the importance of mutual respect between MFDS

and residents who, he claimed, were “genuinely upset” with MFDS’s “lack of openness towards the stu­ dents.”

In the near future, Sergeev said, PRICED hopes to see “more finan­ cial information published on the [MFDS] website,” in order to under­ stand MFDS’ costs for certain food items, like a $3.50 energy drink or a $6.50 hot meal.

PRICED has met with the ex­ ecutives of MFDS twice since the petition surfaced last week. Ser­ geev recognized the efforts made by MFDS to address students’ concerns and claims the meetings have been constructive.

Mathieu Laperle, the director of Food and Hospitality Services, acknowledged that MFDS had failed to notify residents of the price increase. Oliver de Volpi, executive chef, agreed with Laperle.

“We regret the way we imple­ mented the food hike,” de Vopli said. “But we do not regret the food hike.”

In the face of rising raw food prices over the past year and a half, de Volpi claimed that MFDS — which had previously refrained from

increasing food prices — was mere­ ly “bringing [its] costs in line with what they should be.”

“The goal [of MFDS] is not to make profit, but to generate enough money to pay our expenses,” said Laperle. At the same time, Laperle added that MFDS wanted to “up­ grade [its] locations and services on campus and in dining halls.”

Improvement is, of course, ex­ pensive. As a self-financed depart­ ment with no financial ties to McGill University, MFDS is burdened with a mortgage from its 2009 renovation of Royal Victoria College’s cafete­ ria.

Regardless, Laperle, de Volpi, and Monique Lauzon, MFDS’s marketing and quality counsellor, stressed that MFDS has, and will continue' to, prioritize the concerns of the student body.

“We are very responsive to stu­ dents’ feedback and we do not take their comments lightly,” Lauzon said. “Students have a voice through various channels of communication that are already in place.”

According to Laperle, MFDS receives and responds to approxi­ mately 100 emails from students

each month. In the same time frame, MFDS receives around 100 visits in its main office in Royal Victoria College from residents with ques­ tions, concerns, and constructive comments about the meal plan.

Further, in April 2009, MFDS created the Food and Dining Advi­ sory Committee, or FADAC, as a forum for residents, student govern­ ment officials, and executive mem­ bers of the MFDS to discuss stu­ dents’ concerns with food and dining on campus.

In response to PRICED’s re­ quest for a detailed breakdown of the cost of food items offered in resi­ dence, de Volpi said that he “would have no problem with that.”

Both MFDS and PRICED have the same goals in mind: mutual re­ spect and increased communication.

After all, noted Sergeev, “We need to work with MFDS to make things better for us. Only with open-mind­ edness and communication can we make progress.”

The executives of MFDS agreed. “We want students to know we are listening,” Laperle said. “Are we perfect? No. Could we improve?

Of course.”

SPEAKER ON CAMPUS

R a d io h o s t J o n S t e in m a n t a lk s fo o d s e c u r it y a t M c G ill E vent also la u n ch e s M F D S ’ s new s u s ta in a b ility stra teg y, b rin g s six “ fo o d s e c u rity c o n c e rn s ” to lig h t

By Sophie Silkes_____________________

Contributor On January 31, over 180 stu­ dents, faculty, and community mem­ bers attended a talk on local food system politics, delivered by Jon Steinman, broadcaster and host of the Nelson-based, internationally broadcast radio show “Deconstruct­ ing Dinner.”

Oliver de Volpi, McGill’s ex­ ecutive chef, introduced Steinman and provided the crowd with mostly locally grown snacks sourced from the Macdonald Campus Farm.

Steinman, a Nelson, B.C., resi­ dent and avid proponent of the localfood movement, spent the first half of his talk emphasizing the risks in­ herent in supporting industrialized, large-scale agriculture.

“We have very little choice but to invest in the industrial food sys­ tem,” he said. “Is this investment secure? When we deconstruct it, the short answer is ‘No.’” Steinman highlighted the six “food security concerns” which he argued should be at the forefront of our consumer awareness. He empha­ sized his third point, “corporate con­ centration,” as the most critical for

our understanding. Steinman cited Cargill—which, according to their website, is an “international produc­ er and marketer of food, agricultur­ al, financial, and industrial products and services”—as an example of how monopolized and vertically in­ tegrated contemporary food systems have become.

Cargill controls 40 per cent of slaughter capacity and 17 per cent of all grain in Canada, and also holds large stakes in the canola oil, com, sugar, ginger ale, and ice cream mar­ kets. Cargill is also one of Canada’s largest producers of plant fertilizer, natural gas, salt, and com plastics.

Steinman built off the example of Cargill to issue his plea for aware­ ness of the possible perils of submit­ ting to large-scale food systems and a call for widespread, holistic inter­ action between the consumers and their food.

According to Steinman, the fatal flaw of food production today amounts to the fact that “there’s a lot of money in the food system. It’s just not ending up in the pockets of the farmers.”

After spending half of his talk discussing the current way in which consumers are inadvertently perpet­

uating the poor conditions of mass food production, Steinman described viable alternatives to supporting in­ dustrialized agriculture.

“We live in a food system today that is quite a monoculture,” he said, urging listeners to cultivate external food systems through community shared agricultures and community cooperatives.

“We’re talking about trying to shift from one [food system] that is deeply rooted to one that is outside of the box,” he said.

The event, co-sponsored by McGill Food and Dining Services and the McGill Office of Sustain­ ability also functioned as an official and public introduction to MFDS’s new sustainability strategy.

“The talk was a wonderful forum for people from UQAM, UdeM and Concordia, as well as for outside groups—Ailments d’lci, the Montreal Permaculture Guild— who were at the talk as well,” said Sarah Archibald, a U2 student and a coordinator for the Food Systems Project.

For the third portion of the gathering, audience members heard from Jonathan Glencross, the U3 architect behind the $2.4 million

Jon Steinman spoke to students about the importance of the local food movement. (Sophie Silkes / McGill Tribune)

endowed Sustainability Projects Fund and one of the founders of the McGill Food Systems project, Laura Rhodes, the McGill’s Food Systems administrator, and Lilith Wyatt, the Sustainability Projects coordinator.

Rhodes unveiled M FDS’s stra­ tegic action plan towards sustainable food purchasing.

“How can a commitment to sustainable food systems at McGill create and support a culture of sus­ tainability at the university?” Rho­ des asked the crowd.

Rhodes presented a cohesive business model that involves applied

student research in the creation of iong lasting partnerships with local farms and suppliers who would sup­ ply dining locations on campus while keeping the McGill communi­ ty informed about the sustainability of its own food systems.

“If the end result is a system that students and professors are ex­ cited to study, staff and administra­ tors are enthusiastic to run, and all campus members are proud to eat from, then we have succeeded in creating a culture of sustainability at McGill,” Glencross said.

O

T h is I b e lie v e ?

“When you believe in things that you don't understand then you suffer. Superstition ain ’t the way. ” —Stevie Wonder The university can be a hotbed for superstition. When you fill peo­ ple’s heads with speculative ideas that are presented as facts, things will always get messy. Facts and metaphysical truths, when taken as sacred, become superstitions. When we make a professor more sacred than a book, or a book more sacred than a friend, or a friend more sa­ cred than a lover, we are playing with fire. Making something sacred is a problem because when you don’t understand, when your gut tells you something is fishy, you can simply say: “Nope, better believe the preacher, doctor, monk, parent, novelist, counsellor, lover, profes­ sor, magician, swami, etc.” We’re addicted to this. Easy answers equal distraction from difficulties on the home front. We’re not in “the real world,” we have no real problems.

True, we want to help the world, which is a good thing. But it’s not a pass for us to be high and mighty with problems. When you don’t un­ derstand why you feel the way you do, you risk the loss of your gut, or your intuitions. You say: “There must be something wrong with my abilitiès,” or you look for some big­ ger existential problem to chew on endlessly. Or, you pay $5,000 dol­ lars to fly to Africa to feed children, when the real problem is almost always at home. There are starving children in Montreal, too, and your boyfriend and parents have nothing

A le t t e r t o E g y p t’s p r e s id e n tia l h o p e fu ls Dear Presidential Candidate, I promise you, even though we seem angry and persistent and uncompromising in our demand for national change today, you will find us to be a people who will grate­ fully settle for some pocket change tomorrow.

The fact is, we are still recover­ ing from a traumatically abusive re­ lationship that senselessly battered our ability to trust. Ask any psy­

p in io n

to do with Nietzsche.

We sometimes tend to believe that when there are problems with us or with the world, that these problems are us or the world. We don’t trust that we understand the situation well enough to deal with it. It’s all very mystical and unreflective. The image of the supersti­ tious person used to be the ignorant believer, the person who “took the red pill.” But the young thinker is just as susceptible. When things get difficult in school, we know that we can get a mental health note or an aderol. When we feel perplexed, we know we can read “The Unbear­ able Lightness of Being” or Plato.

But these “answers” don’t make our “souls weigh more” at the end of it; they don’t make us better than any­ one else.

Do we really have to rely on vague diagnoses, esoteric intellec­ tuals, and wonder drugs to supple­ ment our “feeble” minds? Some more relevant questions might be: Am I treating my roommates well?

How’s grandma? Why does Brad’s room always smell funny?

When it comes down to it, be­ lief comes from instinct and intu­ ition, those vague and detestable, in­ tangible things. We can’t read about the backs of our own heads.

As an exercise, ask yourself what you really got out of that lit­ erature or philosophy class, and then compare it to what you might get out of a Pixar movie or the ad­ vice of a good friend. Ask yourself why you dismiss the possibility of a Pixar movie being a source of real wisdom.

Facts, diagnoses, intellectuals and leather-bound books can often just provoke superstition, though they may add to our university street cred. That’s not to say that they’re always bad, they just have their place somewhere behind things we really do understand—friends, fam­ ily and our sense of self; all those silly rank and file values.

You know you’re in third-year when a) Most of your friends are caffeine addicts, and b) All your friends have anxiously started mut­ tering phrases like “damn intern­ ships” and “admissions GPA” under their breath. Days of first-year bliss, when hitting the bib for 30 minutes on a Saturday would be overdoing it, are long gone. Around the cor­ ner looms what our collective con­ sciousness calls—cue scary Star Wars music—the next step.

Whether this next step is grad, med, or law school, or trying to gain work experience, it sends most of us into a strange sense of shock. Now I know some people claim to have everything figured out. Those with 4.0s, or a rich uncle at Google. Well, screw you guys. Turn to Student Living or Sports; this column ain’t for you.

This shock usually manifests it­ self in two ways: nervous frenzy and deer-in-headlights, the former gen­ erally leading to the latter. At first you start looking at all the options, a possible Masters program here, a possible Starbucks stint there. Then the info builds up. You visit intern­ ship conferences that show you all the exciting things people are doing (and so can you!), then you attend CV workshops, where you realize it’s surprisingly difficult to market serving fajitas every summer at local fairs. Then the admission re­ quirements start to kick their way into your dreams.

Slowly but surely, your third year becomes one convoluted mi­ crocosm of the rat race, with all the

chologist about “learned helpless­ ness,” and you will be convinced that chronic neglect can cause a disturbing level of psychological damage to a human. And if there is anything we have been for the past 30 years, it was neglected.

Although many of us may never fully heal, we will do whatever it takes to rescue our national dignity, which has been drowned in the Nile River for all these years. And when we do, we will revive our ability to scrutinize those who lead us, and we will demand nothing short of excel­ lence. Which brings us to you.

While most candidates for of­ fice typically have to labour for months in order to convince their people that change is even needed, you did not have to trouble yourself.

We are so fired up for change that it has taken every water-cannoned

truck in the country to cool us down.

In fact, all you have to do now is convince us that you have the best blueprint for reform.

In the past, you would have had no problem seducing us with the warmth of your charming promises and persuade us that you are nothing like our ex. Your articulate speeches would have made our hearts race with excitement, our eyes swell with hope, and our souls flap their wings into the horizon of freedom. But we learned from the Americans.

But soon enough, we will get over our painful past and throttle our recovered minds into a promising future. Soon enough, we will cough out the debris of your powerful an­ esthetic and wake up to the reality of who you really are. And when we do, we will not be fazed by your su­ perpower of eloquence, because our

T h ir d y e a r: t h e fin a l c o u n td o w n

ways to run faster and harder filter­ ing through your daily life.

As the nervous frenzy hits a crisis point you shift to deer-in­ headlights mode. Now you’re that guy staring blankly up the stairs in Cyberteque, coffee already cold in your hands. Or that gal who stud­ ies the numbers in the McLennan elevators, but never presses one, and never gets out on a floor. The rat race still swirls by, but now its words are slurred and it moves in slow motion. You go to class but wonder if it’s relevant. You look at your professors with their comfort­ able jobs, pretty PowerPoint slides, geeky jokes, and you start to seri­ ously resent them.

It would be nice to say that come fourth-year, the clouds part, and, amidst angelic singing choirs, Heather Munroe-Blum descends with a platter of job options and a buffet of career trajectories. But it’s just not true. Partly because I’m more suspicious of the world than I used to be, and partly because I’m still in third-year, still looking up at that titanic next step, in the same boat as you. Which, I suppose, is actually comforting. We’re still here together, in the world of mid­ term exams and Super Sandwich, of spring breaks and student colum­ nists. It’s not such a bad world, even if we have no idea what the one after it will be like.

So here’s my slightly senti­ mental challenge: enjoy your time here. Especially those of you who are nearing the end of a degree, with other stresses slowly press­ ing in. Take time to stroll to parts of the city you’ve never seen. Talk to new people at Gert’s. And when the next step fears hit, by all means, deal with it, but remember: for now, you’re still here.

( ------------------- -- --------------------\

Montreal citizens rallied in support of Egyptian protesters on Saturday February 4th.

More photos online at mcgilltribune.com www.mcgilltribune. com

V___________ / X-ray vision will see right through your hollow words. Take a look at the Americans.

The whole world watched Senator Barack Obama promise to redeem their national pride and re­ store their international reputation.

He convinced Americans—heck, even non-Americans!—that he was fatally allergic to everything George Bush. And they—no, we—trusted him.

Two years later, the Democrat­ ic Party suffered the most humiliat­ ing defeat of any midterm election since 1938. Today, almost half of all Americans disapprove of Obama’s performance thus far. And his rat­ ings continue to drop.

We Egyptians, like the Ameri­ cans, are no longer mesmerized by catchy slogans, and we have been immunized against the contagious­

ness of your charm. Your super­ power of eloquence will no longer avail you, because we have acquired X-ray vision. And we will see right through your hollow words every time.

We are not interested in hear­ ing about how un-Mubarak you plan to be, or in listening to a list of transgressions you vow never to commit.. In fact, we want very few words at all. Focus instead on build­ ing a roadmap for our country and a vision for our future.

What we want is the process— not the promise—of change. And if you fail to deliver, we will find somebody who will. Because you do not have the power to change us, but we have the power to exchange you.

Good luck, Mohammed Ashour

TheMcGill

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Tribune W W W .M CG1LLTRIBUNE.COM

E d ito r - in - C h ie f T o r i C r a w fo r d e d ito r @ m c g illtr ib u n e . c o m M a n a g in g E d it o r s M o o k ie K id e c k e l m k id e c k e l@ m c g illtr ib u n e .c o m Theo M eyer tm e y e r @ m c g illtr ib u n e .c o m P r o d u c tio n M a n a g e r I a in M a c d o n a ld im a c d o n a ld @ m c g illtr ib u n e .c o m S e n i o r D e s ig n E d i t o r Z o e B r e w s te r z b r e w s te r @ m c g illtr ib u n e .c o m N e w s E d it o r s M a t t E s s e rt, S e a n W o o d , a n d M a r ia F lo re s n e w s @ m c g illtr ib u n e .c o m O p in io n E d it o r R ic k y K r e itn e r o p in io n @ m c g illtr ib u n e .c o m F e a tu re s E d it o r A lis o n B a ile y fe a tu r e s @ m c g illtr ib u n e .c o m A r t s & E n t e r t a in m e n t E d it o r s B r a h n à S ie g e lb e rg a n d M a n is h a A g g a r w a lS c h if e llite a r ts @ m c g illt r ib u n e .c o m S p o r ts E d ito r s S a m H u n t e r a n d W a lk e r K itc h e n s

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--------- -— = E ditorial-----------------N e w b u r g h s h o u ld a p o lo g iz e , b u t n o t r e s ig n The Students’ Society Coun­ cil voted in confidential session on Thursday to publicly censure Presi­ dent Zach Newburgh While this limited information was all that was initially offered to students, it is now known that the censure was the result of Newburgh’s involvement with a new company, Jobbook. Debate on the issue, which began as a motion to impeach the president, was conduct­ ed in over six hours of confidential session—all non-councillors were barred from the meeting and council­ lors were prohibited from discussing the proceedings. Only because of re­ porting by the campus media do we know anything more than that New­ burgh was censured.

From the Architecture Cafe to the GA reform process, “con­

sultation” and “transparency” have been the buzzwords of the year in McGill’s student politics. It’s un­ fortunate, then, that Robert’s Rules of Order swear Council to secrecy when dealing with punishment of its members. A public bensure means little if students are not privy to the circumstances surrounding it.

Some of Newburgh’s actions did lead us to question his judgment, such as unilaterally entering into business negotiations on behalf of SSMU; signing the initial confiden­ tiality agreement; and having a per­ sonal financial stake in the Jobbook project. He certainly owes students and Council a full explanation and public apology. No one, however, has provided proof that he violated any of SSMU’s by-laws or its consti­

tution. It’s unfair to definitively con­ demn or defend Newburgh’s actions unless more information becomes public.

An editorial published by Jhe McGill Daily on Saturday called for Newburgh’s immediate resignation.

On the basis of the little information currently available, any call for New­ burgh’s removal from office is both premature and an incredible over­ reaction. Not only is it problematic for Council to impeach or censure someone without releasing any in­ formation on why it’s deserved, it’s also irresponsible for those outside of Council to align themselves on either side without more information.

Newburgh may have exercised poor judgment at some moments in his dealings with Jean de Brabant

and Jobbook. Given what we know, however, neither SSMU as a corpo­ ration nor any individuals involved were harmed by his actions. Though Newburgh has failed in at least one aspect of his job description—lead­ ing and maintaining unity among his team of executives—the burden- of proof is on those calling for his resig­ nation to prove that his offence was grave enough for him to resign. Per­ haps such information will come to light in the coming weeks, but given the details at hand, there is no reason for Newburgh to leave his office.

Mookie Kideckel, Managing Ed­ itor, is Zach Newburgh’s roommate.

He did not contribute to this editorial or review the Tribune’s coverage o f events surrounding the issue.

s p o rts @ m c g i 11tr ib u n e .c o m P h o t o E d ito r s H o l l y S te w a rt a n d A lic e W a lk e r p h o t o @ m c g illtr ib u n e .c o m

H a r p e r r ig h t t o f o r c e r e v e r s a l o f IS P d e c is io n

D e s ig n E d i t o r K a th le e n J o lly d e s ig n @ m c g illtr ib u n e .c o m C o p y E d ito r K y le C a rp e n te r A d v e r tis in g M a n a g e r D a lla s B e n tle y c p m @ s s m u . m c g ill.c a P u b lis h e r C h a d R o n a ld s

C ontrib utors MohammedAshour, Johanu Botha. Amanda de Souza.

Ivan Di, Sarah Feldman. Thea Fitz-James, Alex Hamilton, Isabel Luce, ChelseaLytle, EricMauser, Elisa Muyl, Nicholas Petrillo, Lauren Pires, Mira Sharma, AlexShiri. Kat Sieniuc. SophieSilkes, Daniel Sorger

T rib u n e Offices Editorial S h a tn e r U n iv e r s it y C e n tre S u ite 11 0 , 3 4 8 0 M c T a v is h M o n t r e a l, Q C H 3 A 1 X 9

Last week, the Canadian Radiotelevision Telecommunications Com­ mission (CRTC) ruled to allow a us­ age-based billing system for Internet Service Providers. The decision is anti-competitive and a disservice to technological advancement, and the federal government is right to force the CRTC to review its decision.

In Canada, there are a few major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who have built and installed the in­ frastructure required to connect a major computer network to the Inter­ net. These large companies, like Bell Canada, now provide Internet ser­ vice to home users and businesses.

Smaller companies like TekSavvy and Montreal-DSL rent usage rights from the larger companies, allowing them to use a certain portion of the host companies’ Internet connection.

Thus, the smaller companies are able to provide Internet service to custom­ ers without the large startup costs.

This rental system has allowed smaller companies to compete with the major Canadian ISPs by provid­ ing better rates and “unlimited” plans that offer users a flat-rate, all-youcan-download connection. Now, the big ISPs want customers of these smaller ISPs who download more to be charged proportionally, on a pergigabyte basis. Under the CRTC’s ruling this is exactly what would happen. The start-ups would have no choice but to pass these charges on to their customers, who would then be responsible for the charges.

Such usage-based billing will likely be harmful for Canada’s already-weak technology infrastruc­ ture. Despite consistently ranking as

one of the most developed nations in the world, Canadians have the 34thfastest connection speed, along with pricier connections. Implementing usage-based billing for ISPs will only serve to inhibit the competi­ tion, further perpetuating the oli­ gopoly that already exists. If startup companies realize they’re going to be charged extra to do their work in Canada, they will move elsewhere.

Usage-based billing would also dis­ courage bandwidth-heavy services like Netflix and Skype from serving Canada. Users who will be charged extra to watch television online will favour turning on the TV. This shift diverts money from the online televi­ sion providers and into the pockets of the big ISPs, who often profit from television. By providing an incen­ tive to watch the television instead of

Netflix, the major ISPs are promot­ ing an unfair competitive advantage in a different market as well.

The Tribune supports any deci­ sion to promote fair competition be­ tween companies, but the ruling by the CRTC clearly does not fall into this category. The proposed fee of $2.50 per gigabyte over the limit is more than a 10,000 per cent inflation on the actual cost of transmitting the data, estimated at less than one cent per gigabyte. The big ISPs would be pocketing 99 per cent of the costs paid by their competitors, an unprec­ edented and preposterous scenario.

For these reasons, we support overruling the CRTC’s decision. The CRTC should be encouraging a fanmarket for ISPs, not promoting anti­ competitive business strategies and corporate strong-arming.

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Resolution Re: The Society’s Invesments - YES This resolution would amend the Students’ Society’s bylaws to include information regarding its investments in corporate shares and government bonds. As SSMU’s counsel has advised, this is necessary in order to bring the corporation in line with Quebec law.

Resolution Re: Biking on Campus -N O If passed, this resolution would mandate SSMU to investigate wheth­ er bikes on campus are dangerous, to lobby the administration to reinstate biking on campus, and to look for ways to make biking safer. The ad­ ministration made it clear in the Fall that they have no intention of revers­ ing this policy, and no General As­

sembly motion or student-conducted research will change this. Also, it’s doubtful that SSMU has either the re­ sources to effectively study this issue or improve bicycle safety.

Resolution Re: The Improvement of the S S M U - N O Citing concerns with SSMU’s administrative structure, this resolu­ tion proposes that the organization commission an independent study by an outside researcher, preferably a student, to investigate the SSMU’s efficiency and business practices.

While we’d love to see SSMU oper­ ate more efficiently, we’re concerned about hiring a student to conduct the study. While student researchers can produce good work, this particular project is in an area where it’s un­ likely that any student would have

the expertise required to conduct a complete, useful analysis.

Resolution Re: The Appointment of McKinsey & Co. as McGill’s Consultant Firm — NO This resolution proposes that SSMU oppose the appointment of McKinsey & Co., a consulting group that McGill recently announced will provide services pro bono to the uni­ versity, as well as the appointment of one of the company’s administrators to the McGill’s Board of Governors.

Many of the whereas clauses, howev­ er, in this resolution are simplistic and devoid of context. Most corporations as large as McKinsey have taken ac­ tions that, when cited out of context, may reflect pooply on the company.

This does not make the corporation inherently evil and certainly does not

mean we shouldn’t avail ourselves of their services, particularly when they are offered for free.

Resolution Re: Use of McGill’s Name by Clubs, Services, and In­ dependent Student Groups of the Students’ Society — YES If passed, this resolution would mandate SSMU to continue to fight for the rights of student groups to use the McGill name in their titles and would ban the university from using any of these groups in their own publications if no progress is made.

Many clubs and services on campus, including the Tribune, have recently faced problems stemming from the university’s restrictions on the use of its name and this resolution is a step in the right direction.

8 C om m entary M ic h a S te ttin

M e a n in g f u l d ia lo g u e a t M c G ill OMEQ is a student club that seeks to provide an on-campus forum for dialogue on Israel and Palestine. This brief description, however, does not tell the full story, nor does it address the critical is­ sues that must be raised: what does dialogue mean? How do we do it?

Aren’t there enough Israel and Pal­ estine groups on campus?

Dialogue can mean different things to different people. Many are hesitant to approach it. Some see it as an excuse to do nothing substan­ tive. Some see it as a waste of time.

I respectfully disagree. Dialogue is about listening to another human being. Through this lens, dialogue can be considered an end unto itself; it allows you to gain an incredibly valuable understanding of what an­ other person thinks, and why they

think it. Without actually speaking to and genuinely listening to others, it becomes all too easy to stereotype them and make cookie cutter as­ sumptions about their opinions.

The integral component of this is dialogue as a whole is not an end unto itself. When the component of dialogue described above is con­ strued as the whole, many are driven away, concluding that dialogue is a waste of time.

Yet, this position does not take into account the necessity of dia­ logue initiatives in connection with the broader world. Dialogue does not exist in a vacuum. Those who engage in dialogue are bound to be those who care about the issue at hand (in this case, Israel/Palestine).

Those who care about the issue will take action, both public and private.

Dialogue in general, and that which takes place in OMEQ specifically, is in no way mutually exclusive with activism or debate. Rather, these are for other forums, some of which already exist. OMEQ does not seek to replace Students for Palestinian Human Rights, Hillel, or any other politically active Israel/Palestine group on campus. Rather, OMEQ intends to provide a space for re­

spectful engagement between those who might otherwise never have a discussion with one another. In doing so, OMEQ aims to empower participants to .act responsibly and purposefully.

To this end, we organize fre­ quent events and discussions. In the past, we have hosted speakers (such tis Daniel Levy and Amjad Atallah from the Middle East Task Force of the New American Foundation) to spark conversation, held film screenings followed by discussions (including various short films from attendees of the Peace It Together program), and organized discussions pertaining to pressing current issues.

And this is only the beginning. At­ tending university provides each of us with the unique opportunity to share the classroom and the campus with individuals and groups whose views run counter to our own. To OMEQ, this diversity is best viewed not as a source of discomfort and strife, but rather as an incredible opportunity for education, growth and action. Everyone is welcome at OMEQ events and anyone can influence its character because it’s essentially a human endeavour. It’s an attempt to listen and speak hon­

estly and openly with others about an issue for which many carry so much passion.

Micha Stettin is VP External o f

OMEQ: Depth Through Dialogue More information can be found at the OMEQ F acebook group, or at depththroughdialogue.com.

COLUMBIA PICTURES Win a prize pack with t-shirts, posters and hats.

TELL US THE: The worst pickup line you've ever heard

or The biggest lie you've ever told a girl/guy

E-mail your entries to: cpm@ssmu.mcgill.ca Only winners will be contacted by email

IK *M AVI St I im t

IN T H E A T R E S F E B R U A R Y 1 1 th Film is subject to classification

SSMU Referendum Question Deadline!

W ant to submit a referendum question for the W inter 2 0 1 1 referendum period?

The deadline to hand in petitions is Friday, February 1 1 at 5 pm.

Your question m ust be approved by Elections McGill BEFO RE you begin petitioning!

Drop by our office at Shatner suite 4 0 5 or email us at elections@ ssm u.m cgill.ca

For m ore inform ation email us or check out electionsm cgill.ca

S

t u d e n t

L

iv in g

BITS & PIECES

GIZM OS & GADGETS

Mad med reputations

IPv 4 no more

T h e

T h e

lu c r a tiv e

b u s in e s s

By Isabel Luce

Contributor In the 1860s and 1870s, the Faculty of Medicine at McGill Uni­ versity was known for an anatomy program that always seemed to have a fresh supply of cadavers for its students to dissect. The Faculty of Medicine came to be when the uni­ versity incorporated the Montreal Medical Institution. In 1833, the in­ stitution moved from their building on St. James Street to a new location that was described by a McGill reg­ istrar as “a strategic site for a medi­ cal faculty,” as it was located just over the fence from the cemetery.

The Medical students were largely separated from the univer­ sity’s Arts students, and, accord­ ing to McGill professor Stephen Leacock in 1942, “controlled their own funds, their own property, and their own activities.” Leacock hints at what John Irwin Cooper, another McGill professor from the 1940s, explained in more detail and in a slightly shocking language.

“The ‘meds’ were a strange and virile race, who, in popular opinion, divided their time between body snatching and fighting the police.”

At this time, there was a pro­ vincial act in place in Quebec that regulated the supply of bodies to medical schools. However this law was rarely enforced, which led to many bodies being taken by illegal means through the likes of “body snatchers” or “resurrectionists.”

o f bod y

s n a tc h in g

According to historian Joseph Hanaway, a body snatcher was able to sell a cadaver to medical schools for somewhere between $30 to $50, no questions asked. It became so lucra­ tive a business that some students were even able to pay their tuition in full from the money they gathered from grave robbing. There were a number of stories of bodies taken from the cemetery and tobogganed down Côte-des-Neiges to McGill.

The situation came to its boil­ ing point near the end of the 1880s, when one winter, a group of students decided to steal a number of bodies from a convent that had experienced a bout of typhoid fever. When it was discovered that the nuns’ bodies were missing, a public outcry arose, which led to the intervention of the Archbishop of Quebec. He appealed to the anatomy professors in order to figure out a way to stop these grave robbings, which resulted in a law that allowed all unclaimed bodies to be donated to Quebec Medical schools. This provided the students with a large enough supply of bodies that body snatchers were no longer needed.

In te rn e t h a s

sto p p e d

By lain Macdonald

Production Manager Last Thursday marked a sig­ nificant event in the history of the Internet. While many people didn’t notice it, and it wasn’t nearly as pub­ licized as Y2K, something happened that necessitates a major shift in the way the Internet functions: the Inter­ net stopped growing.

Internet protocol addresses, or IP addresses, are embedded in the way computers work. A computer communicates much like humans would use mail. The machines send packets of data back and forth to each other, with each packet contain­ ing a “to” address, a “from” address, and a message. These addresses are encoded in numbers, as computers only understand numbers. Long ago, someone decided it would be safe to use 32 bits to encode addresses. We group these 32 bits into four groups of eight and read them off as a se­ ries of four numbers, like 127.0.0.1, or 192.168.1.1. Each of these four numbers goes from 0 to 255, mean­ ing there are just over four billion possible addresses.

The person who came up with this addressing scheme never imag­ ined there would be anywhere near this many computers on a single network. About 30 years ago, people started to realize this might be incor­ rect. Recently, the last block of ad­ dresses was given out by the body that oversees address allocation, the International Assigned Numbers Au­

g r o w in g

thority, or IANA. There are now no more IP addresses available. Until this situation is fixed, no new inde­ pendent networks can connect to the internet.

IANA allocates these blocks to regional bodies, like the Ameri­ can Registry for Internet Numbers, ARIN, which maintains a block of addresses and distributes them to North American companies who need to connect additional machines to the net. These regional agencies all have reserve addresses, however, the reserve pool is quickly deplet­ ing. While big companies and ISPs often maintain a reserve pool for themselves, the number of machines trying to get online is constantly growing, and the infrastructure can­ not support its current rate of growth for much longer.

While this might seem not too serious, the exhaustion of the IP ad­ dress pool could pose a significant problem. With no IP addresses left for allocation, Internet companies won’t be able to network any ad­ ditional computers once their re­ serves are depleted. The growth of the Internet will stop. It would be analogous to the telephone company simply running out of phone num­ bers. New phone owners would be unreachable until the problem was solved. Big companies will be unaf­ fected, but any new company which needs a block of addresses will sim­ ply be cut off. To further complicate the problem, the only backup plan hasn’t been working very well.

The IPv6 standard was invented in the late 90s to combat the immi­ nent address exhaustion. The proto­ col is very similar, but with a bigger number for the address. At 128 bits, the IP version six standard supports 1038 addresses. Many ISPs and agencies ' have started conversion to IPv6, but even 10 years after its introduction, less than five per cent of Internet traffic supports the stan­ dard. Even with the address pool de­ pleted, there’s no urgency of any sort to adopt the new standard. The issue isn’t hardware or software related; IPv6 has been usable for years. In­ stead, it’s an issue of getting people to make the switch. Until IPv6 be­ comes more widespread, there will be big problems for Internet users.

While home users don’t need to worry about the implications of IPv4 address exhaustion, it could have se­ rious implications on industry. With­ out growth of the Internet, it’s hard to imagine industry growing at the same rate it has for the past 20 years.

The implications of the address ex­ haustion are much more severe than the media, which has largely ignored the issue, would lead you to believe.

A handful of major Internet based companies have taken steps towards implementing the new protocol, but until governments mandate the switch, it’s unlikely that Ipv6 will become widespread. It’s hard to pre­ dict exactly what will happen in the coming months, but it doesn’t look promising.

and join the percussion, browse the trinkets from street merchants, or have a picnic with friends. Definitely take a look at the LARPing (Live Action Role Playing) but don’t get caught in the crossfire; these people are serious about what they do.

7. Beaver tails in Old M ontreal These Canadian treats are just the thing to indulge your sweet tooth. A freshly baked warm pastry with your choice of toppings, which include but are by no means lim­ ited to Nutella, cinnamon sugar, ice cream, and fresh fruit.

8. W inter sports road trip A great way to embrace the season is by taking on a winter sport by trying skiing, snowboarding, or ice skating. For all you internation­ als, or those who hail from warm climates, you can’t say you came to Montreal without trying at least one

of the above. The McGill Ski and Snowboard club has weekly trips to mountains in the area so be sure to take a look.

9. Schw artz’s Montreal’s famous smoked meat sandwiches are always a treat from this renowned delicatessen.

You may have to unhinge your jaw to get a full bite. (Do they seriously think people can eat such wide sand­ wiches?)

10. Go to a M cG ill sporting event Before you leave the Martlets and Redmen behind, why not show some school spirit by supporting your fellow athletes on the rink, court, or field? Rival Concordia games are highly recommended for extensive heckling. Brush up on your cheers ... trust me, you rather be a Redman than a _______ bumblebee.

ON CAMPUS

M cGill Graduation bucket list io

th in g s to

d o

b e fo re y ou

By Amanda De Souza

Contributor Whether you’re in U0 looking forward to the next three years out of residence, or in U3 trying to do all the things you said you wanted to do when you decided to come to McGill, there should be something on this list for you. After all, this is no rural run-of-the-mill university town, it’s Montreal.

So on those nights where you and your friends find yourselves sitting on the couch looking for something to do, consult your fridge (where you should have this article displayed) and choose an adventure.

1. Distillerie With some of the best and most creative drinks in the city, this is the perfect place to grab a drink any

le a v e t h e

R o d d ic k

night of the week. You’ll find an ex­ tensive menu of crazy concoctions served in very large mason jars. But remember to get there early, it’s not a huge venue and it fills up fast.

2. B eau ty’s This family owned all day breakfast eatery is known for its jolly owner, Hymnie Sckolnick, who personally seats every custom­ er. From classic Montreal bagels to traditional Jewish latkes, you can’t go wrong with any of the options on the menu.

3. Two dollar chow mein Twoodles. Two dollar chow.

Noodles with melted Kraft peanut butter. This fine cuisine goes by many different names but is perfect if you’re out on the town late at night looking for some sustenance. Walk up to the window on St. Laurent just past Pine and order a “Combo 3”

G a te s

(chow mein + two springrolls for an extra dollar.)

4. St. P atty ’s on Crescent When March 17th rolls around, gather a group of friends and head out to Crescent to paint the town green. Hotspots include Hurley’s Irish pub, Thursday’s, Mad Hatters, and of course staple bar Brutopia for a pint of Raspberry beer.

5. Ride the bull at Chez Serge After a drink served in a sand pail with straws, challenge your friends to take a ride on the me­ chanical bull. Guaranteed memories include photos and bruises.

6. Tam tarns Every Sunday since 1978 start­ ing in early May and going until late September, a drum circle takes place beside George-Étienne Cartier Monu­ ment on Parc Avenue just up from the McGill gym. Bring your own drum

Curiosity Delivers - mcgilltribune.com

10 O FF CAMPUS

Let Bonhomme guide you through Q uebec’s Carnaval T h e w o r ld ’ s l a r g e s t o u t d o o r w in t e r f e s t iv a l is o n ly t h r e e

By Mookie Kideckel

Managing Editor Tire sur la neige. Bonhomme.

Chateau Frontenac.

If you don’t know what these are, it may be time to head down to Quebec City for the final weekend of Carnaval. If you do, you already un­ derstand why you need to go again.

For those who have never taken a French class, Carnaval is the world’s largest outdoor winter festival. Held annually in Quebec’s capital, Carnaval originated as one of the of pre-Lent carnivals that take place in Roman Catholic communi­ ties across the world. It is, of course,

no longer anywhere near Lent. The organizers probably figured that an icy carnival in February would be more fun than a slush-a-thon in March. They were so right.

A trip down to Quebec City can happen by train, bus, or car—or plane, but, like, really? Any of the first three will take about three hours, and will allow you to feast your eyes on the picturesque landscape of the Canadian highway. If you get bored of dead deciduous trees, or want something to eat, pull off at a high­ way stop and try some Valentine— the finest fast food Quebec has to offer. It’s just like an American fast food chain, but native to Quebec,

(urbanmoms.ca)

h o u rs

so you know you’re doing good for a local community, the Earth, and your body. In any case, the poutine is to die for.

Once you get to Quebec, look out for the signs with the smiling white snowman with the red cap that looks like a Santa hat but isn’t one. This is Bonhomme, short for Bonhomme de Neige. He also wears a ceinture flé c h ée—a. traditional French-Canadian sash, but you’ll only see this if you’re lucky enough to run into the real life Bonhomme.

He’s fat and smiley and his face looks totally different than you thought it would. If he doesn’t climb into his tinted window bus before you get a chance to hug him, go for it.

You’ll also be able to see Bon­ homme in full if you buy a $ 12 ticket to Carnaval, which comes complete with a mini Bonhomme action fig­ ure. I have that on my desk right now and I will treasure it always. Most of the activities in actual Carnaval that require a ticket are kid focused or fronts for corporate advertising. You can go on a zipline, but be sure to get the harnesses first (the two are actu­ ally located very far away from each other). A ticket will get you into the Ice Palace, which is pretty great, but it’s only a five minute walkthrough.

The best part about Carnaval, though, is enjoying all that gor­ geous Quebec City has to offer.

It’s touristy, but that’s fine because you’re there as a tourist. Check out the history—Chateau Frontenac is a gorgeous old railway hotel. The fes­ tival is right on the Plains of Abra­

aw ay

(Keeley Allen/McGill Tribune) ham, where the British won Canada in the Seven Years’ War. There are monuments all over, and Will be a great view of the water once the con­ struction stops. There are art dealers selling cheap prints and beautiful paintings all over. There’s tire—hot maple syrup poured over ice to be­ come some sort of magical toffee sensation, and there are the local bars, many of which are made of ice. Try the Caribou—a Quebec spe­ cialty shot—and sorlage, aka maple whiskey. While I was only there for the day, if you’re there for a while you’ll want to check out the parades.

And make sure not to miss the out­ door dance party at Bonhomme’s palace (the only non child-oriented event that we could find), held from 7- 11 p.m. every night.

Places to eat: McDonalds. You won’t be able to afford anything else. But get some BeaverTails, pou­ tine, and crepes along the way.

Places to drink: 0-Zone. It sells pitchers for the price every other bar sells pints.

Carnaval du Quebec runs until February 13. Check out details at carnaval.qc.ca.

$% uffe>«r m u s h r o o m s i

By Chelsea Lytle

Contributor

This weekend we had a guest stay with ■ us, and wanted to impress them with a de| licious dinner. We decided to make maple ■ and spice glazed carrots and parsnips, three cheese mashed potatoes, and stuffed mush1 rooms. The stuffed mushrooms are a parI ticularly good option if you’re feeding a ■ vegetarian, but even carnivores will enjoy this delicious recipe.

I k

Ingredients: • Portobello Mushrooms (1 1/2 per per­ son) • Two minced garlic cloves • Handful of freshly grated parmesan • Bag of spinach • Salt and pepper • Olive oil • Toasted pecans (optional) Directions: l.S e t aside one mushroom per person, these will later be grilled. Chop the re­ maining mushrooms into small bits and cook them in a skillet over medium heat with a splash of olive oil and half the garlic.

2. Once the mushrooms are mostly done, start adding the spinach. You're going to have to add the spinach in several parts so there’s time for it to cook down. We used about a box and a half of spinach to stuff six mini portobellos. Keep in mind that the spinach cooks down quite a bit.

3. As you are cooking the spinach, add in the remaining garlic.

4. At this point you should put the other mushrooms on the grill. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top then stick them on the heat. Since it’s the middle of winter and there was about a metre of snow chilling out on the deck when we cooked this, we decided to use the George Foreman grill instead of the barbecue. The only thing to keep in mind is that is does flatten the mush­ rooms a bit when cooking, so keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t get too squished.

5. Once the spinach has wilted, turn off the burner, immediately add the grat­ ed cheese and stir until melted. Some chopped up toasted pecans here would add some nice flavour and texture.

6. Take the mushrooms off the grill and heap the stuffing on top. Garnish with more parmesan.

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E N G IN E E R IN G O F F IC E R S It ta k e s m o re th an o rd e rs to co m m a n d a group of m en and w o m en to b rid ge a gap. M aking th e right c a lls w orking in s tr e s s fu l situ a tio n s and fighting a lo n g sid e my te a m , th a t's re a l le a d e rs h ip .”

Captain MICHAEL GODARD

C anada

A&E THEATRE

Making sense o f contemporary British theatre T N C

p re se n ts

M a r tin

By Alex Hamilton

Contributor When trying to describe the underlying message of TNC The­ atre’s newest production, Attempts on Her Life, the odds are stacked against you. Attempts on Her Life, directed by Laura Freitag, is the best-known work by modem British playwright Martin Crimp. Divided into 16 episodic segments, the play is a mosaic of disparate scenes and encounters within which the only unifying thread is a female figure: Anne, or sometimes Annie. In her director’s note, Freitag writes that this figure is “the perfect litmus test for [the play’s] narratives—denying them closure and determinacy while making them individualized and pal­ pable.” In other words, the charac­ ter gives the audience something to

C r im p ’s a b s t r u s e

p la y , A t t e m p t s o n

focus on amidst the chaos of the rest of the play.

Attempts on Her Life is “the skeleton of a script,” according to Freitag, written in unbroken prose, without assigning specific lines or roles to the actors. Accordingly, the director is given a great deal of leeway when choosing the number of actors and assigning their roles.

Freitag’s cast of six (Arlen Aguayo Stewart, Marko Djurdjic, Max Lanocha, Cory Lipman, Norah Paton, and Joy Ross-Jones) brings an array of characters to life onstage: terrorists and art critics, children and adults, particle physicists and pom stars.

The cast’s effectiveness is evident; the actors are able to both maintain distinct voices and mesh well within the ensemble. The play is staged so that each scene begins with its number and title projected onto a

H e r L ife

cloth screen at the rear of the stage.

While hurried costume changes are made, an answering machine mes­ sage is played to the audience. The 16 events trace out no recognizable narrative structure. There’s a sexy disco dance number, a sing-a-long in which Djurdjic plays the banjo, and a sales pitch for a car called “The New Anny” in both English and. perhaps, Russian. Theres also par­ tial nudity.

The play has all the right ingre­ dients. If it were not for borderline traumatic scenes—a military check­ point, an interrogation, an account of a mral village torn apart by war— the performance would be almost too much fun. The explicitly political aspect of Crimp’s writing, however, forces you to take it seriously. Under all the frivolity, there’s no doubt that Crimp is trying to convey something

important to the audience, albeit in an unconventional fashion.

The overall inability to fully ex­ plain the performance demands that we make sense of Attempts on Her Life ourselves. “Western theatre does a very good job of disempowering the spectator because they can't as­ sert themselves,” Freitag says. “But I think, in a play like this, the specta­

tor is empowered because they be­ come meaning-manufacturing parts of the show.” Seeing this play is an attempt in itself—you can’t watch it without trying to decipher it the whole time.

Attempts On Her Life runs at TNC theatre, Morrice Hall, F eb 912 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $6, email tnctheatre@gmail.com fo r details.

“Anne” and her colourful friends bring song, dance, and drama to the stage in TNC’s production of modern British play, Attempts on Her Life. (Alice Walker / McGill Tribune)

Pop lÿie to ric Glee-ful copyright wars

At this point in the ratings game, there’s almost nobody left who doesn’t know what Glee is.

The show averages an astronomical number of viewers and has turned its cast into stars. With the second season came an even wider audi­ ence and a more devoted fan base, and Fox has already ordered a third season. Of course, the show hasn’t been without its criticism, but Glee has won every battle of sheer popu­ larity. The critics are, for the most part, ignored.

A recent public blowout, how­ ever, between the show’s creator and rock band Kings of Leon brought to light another ballyhooed aspect of

the show, and it’s one worth men­ tioning. The story is this: Glee ap­ proached Kings of Leon sometime in the not-so-distant past about using their song “Use Somebody” on the show, and the band turned down the request claiming they had never seen Glee while simultaneously insisting that lending their song to the pop culture phenomenon would be akin to “selling out.” In a recent interview in "The Hollywood Reporter,” Glee creator Ryan Murphy was quoted saying, "Fuck you. Kings of Leon.

They're self-centred assholes, and they missed the big picture. They missed that a seven-year-old kid can see someone close to their age singing a Kings of Leon song, which will maybe make them want to join a glee club or pick up a musical instru­ ment." The dispute was further ag­

gravated when Kings of Leon band member Nathan Followill tweeted a homophobic insult to Ryan Murphy and suggesting he get over the whole debacle. In the end, Murphy spoke out about the homophobia and Fol­ lowill apologized and retracted his quote.

The whole public battle be­ tween Murphy and Kings of Leon is nothing if not childish and down­ right embarrassing. Murphy acted like an immature toddler when he blasted Kings of Leon for their re­ fusal to let Glee use their song, and came off like a pompous windbag when he insisted G lee was some sort of musical miracle. Despite this, the villain in the story ended up being Followill thanks to his homopho­ bic taunt. Overall, nobody wins in a public drama like this one.

The feud highlights these ques­ tions: Are artists selling out by li­ censing their songs to G lee? And how should rejection be dealt with?

Musicians have right to decide who can cover their songs, and while the definition of. selling out is murky at best, if that’s how an artist feels about G lee, there’s really no rea­ son they shouldn’t be able to mm down good money if they feel it will maintain their integrity as an artist.

After all, once Glee gains control of a song, they are veritably free to do with it what they wish, and this can be a terrifying situation for an artist who has worked hard to make their music. That being said, Glee brings many songs to a broad audience and can definitely help popularize an art­ ist should they choose to allow the show access to their catalogue.

There’s no right or wrong in the decision to allow Glee to use songs, and there’s no reason artists should be disrespected for turning the show down. However, should artists re­ fuse to allow G lee to use their mate­ rial, it’s completely unprofessional to make things personal. G lee will be here for a while, and many artists will give their songs to the show by the time it ends. The show’s fans are appreciative for the new versions of their favourite songs and for expo­ sure to songs they never knew ex­ isted. In the end, the original songs still exist and artists are allowed to keep their songs intact should they so choose, so does anybody really get hurt?

—Liya Adessky

Curiosity Delivers - m cgilltribune.com

14 THEATRE

If your vagina could talk, what would it say?

V -D a y

M c G ill a d d s

n ew

m o n o lo g u e s to

its

lo th

an n u al

p r o d u c tio n

By Lauren Pires

Contributor From February 10-12, V-Day McGill brings their 10th anniversary edition of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues to the stage. Directed

by Claire Hughes, this year’s per­ formance features 16 cast members presenting monologues based on true stories of women throughout the world.

The original Vagina Mono­ logues are based on interviews with over 200 women, and touch on top­ ics including humourous personal anecdotes, poignant tales of selfdiscovery, and heartbreaking stories of those who have survived sexual abuse. V-Day McGill is an organi­ zation dedicated to fighting genderbased violence, and all proceeds of the show will go towards the charities Women of Haiti, Heads & Hands, the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal and Shield of Athena.

This year, V-Day McGill de­ cided to include a monologue in

Actors perform monologues desscribing the good, the bad, and the ugly aspects that come with the vagina. (Alice Walker / McGill Tribune) their production entitled “As a Lesbian,” based on the experience of a trans person. The monologue was published in Ensler’s book but hasn’t been performed at McGill be­ fore. Assistant director Ryan Thom says that V-Day McGill added their

own dialogue to the piece in order to make it more inclusive of trans­ people.

A recurring theme in the pro­ duction has been the inclusion of a Spotlight Campaign monologue that highlights a particular current issue

o f T h e

V a g in a

M o n o lo g u e s

affecting women. This year, the “Spotlight monologue” focuses on the plight of women and girls in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, as thousands live in high-risk situ­ ations where they face the danger of sexual assault and rape, without a supportive infrastructure to assist them. The profits of the Spotlight Campaign go towards funding three safe houses—each with an office of legal assistance for survivors of vio­ lence.

The performance also features the stories of Japanese comfort women, female survivors of the Bosnian and Kosovan concentration camps, homeless women, young girls, and even senior citizens.

“Due to the breadth of issues covered in the performance, the top­ ics are accessible to many people, and are conversations we could have as peers, teens, and young adults,” says producer Nadiya Gaswami.

Interspersed with humourous monologues like “What Would Your Vagina Wear?” and “Vagina Happy

Facts,” there lies the sobering harsh reality of the dangers that women face every day in monologues deal­ ing with violence, social stigma, and alienation.

As a lead-up to this year’s production, V-Day McGill has also hosted a series of professor-led dis­ cussions on gender, sexuality, and reproductive health, covering topics like “Feminism and Pornography” and “The Contextualization of Gay Marriage.”

The Vagina Monologues is a medley of touching stories that are both easily relatable and eye open­ ing. If you aren’t swayed by the large charitable donations that will come out of the performance, the ac­ tors and the atmosphere and mean­ ing behind the show should certainly seal the deal.

V-Day M cGill’s Vagina Mono­ logues runs February 10-12 in L ea­ cock 132. Tickets are $10 fo r stu­ dents, $15 fo r adults.

THEATRE

Bawk-bawk-bawk, hak-hak-hak, aka dah-da-da-DAH (T r a n s la tio n : S to r y o f M a d n e s s ,

By Thea Fitz-)ames

Contributor When I read the tagline for Geordie Theatre’s MocShplat— “Shakespeare ... in a language you can finally understand”—I as­ sumed they were being ironic. But this clown version of Macbeth, told only in gibberish, was not only easy to understand, it also made the plot and themes accessible for the Shake­ speare novice and expert alike.

Despite the clowns, MocSh­ p lat—which pokes fun at drunks, fornication, and murder—is not a show for children. With a cast of four clowns, played by Marcel Jeannin, Michel Perron, John Sheridan, and Danielle Desormeaux, and di­ rected by Alain Goulem, the play is the product of a series of workshops and presentations that emerged in the late 1990s. Working collaboratively on gags and the creation of an original language, the group of sea­ soned actors is a joy to watch. With a language of their own and an adept use of mime and gesture, they weave their story so effectively that any previous knowledge of Macbeth is unnecessary. Yet MocShplat also ca­ ters to the Shakespeare lover in the audience. Those familiar with Mac­ beth will laugh uproariously at the clown rendition of “Is this a dagger

M u rd er, an d

I see before me?” Lady Macbeth’s “Unsex me here,” and one of my personal favourites, “To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow.”

The cast should be commend­ ed for their energy, precision and skill. Highlights included Perron’s Godfather-like Quindonk (Duncan), Sheridan’s fight between two clowns in the wings, and Desormeaux’s in­ credible facial expressions. All the actors have perfect comedic tim­ ing, and the music in the show gives their movements a dance-like preci­ sion. This, combined with the clash of their clown personalities and the absurdity of the costumes and props, makes MocShplat sidesplitting from beginning to end.

The most impressive part of the performance is how well it displays themes of the Shakespeare classic.

Director Alain Goulem suggests that clowns, with their childlike de­ sires to have one thing one moment and another thing the next, makes them the perfect vessels to explore Shakespearean themes. This is evi­ dent through Jeannin’s MocShplat (Macbeth), who hits all the marks of this complex character, demonstrat­ ing his shifts from ambition, fear, and nobility in a way that’s not only believable, but also identifiable; the best theatrical device to this purpose was the use of red yam as blood.

A m b i t i o n , M o c S h p l a t is a m u s t s e e ! )

After killing Quindonk (King Dun­ can), a gruesomely funny scene that only a clown could pull off, MocSh­ plat remains covered in bits of red string for the rest of the play. As the play continues, bits of red string are dropped here and there, so by the end, just like Laadie’s (Lady M) hands, MocShplat, the stage, and even some of the audience members are covered in blood—a fitting met­ aphor for the bloodthirsty story.

Montreal is just the begin­ ning for MocShplat. Plans include

touring across Canada, then hope­ fully continuing to Edinburgh and Europe. One can expect big things from this show—the great energy and thought that brought about its inception certainly indicates a bright future. These happy, homy, cruel, drunk, scared, and silly creatures offer a much needed ray of sunshine in these cold months.

MocShplat runs at the Centaur Theatre, Feb. 12, 7p.m. & 9 :3 0 p.m., and Feb. 13 at 3 p.m. & 7 p.m. $17.

Clowns present the wordless version of the wordsmith’s famous tragedy. (Julian Haber / McGill Tribune)

I\iesday, February 8, 2011

1

5

FILM

Under the sea ain’t so pretty anymore Ja m e s

C a m ero n

d e p ic ts th e tr u e

8y Mira S. Sharma

Contributor Sanctum 3D, based on true events, begins with a team of div­ ers exploring an undiscovered cave system in the South Pacifiers Esa-ala Caves. When warnings of a tropi­ cal storm begin, the team is swiftly thrown into a spiral of disasters that trap them in the caves. With no way to escape from the top, the team, left with few supplies, is forced to find another way out through the cave system.

This movie has James Camer­ on’s stamp all over it, literally and

sto ry

o f tra p p e d

visually. The first shot of the film is obviously a nod to Cameron’s early critically acclaimed underwater thriller, The Abyss. Director Alister Grierson brazenly mimics that infa­ mous image of the shadowy figure of a diver superimposed on a bright white light, leaving no room for cre­ ativity or imagination.

The film uses Avatar's film technology to create the most claus­ trophobic film you will ever see. The story follows the lead of Frank (Rich­ ard Roxburgh), a master diver lead­ ing the expedition into the unknown underwater cave system. Things take a turn for the worse when a tropical

c a v e d iv e r s

in

storm suddenly takes them by sur­ prise, trapping them inside. Frank, his teenage son Josh (Rhys Wake­ field), and their billionaire sponsor, Carl (loan Gruffudd) and his fiancée are forced to find a w.ay out through the treacherous caves. The trapped divers show all the typical traits of stock characters: the rich dude, the rich dude’s beautiful but mean fian­ cée, the loyal and humourous best friend, the spoiled child, and the tough-as-nails father.

Despite a lacklustre plot, the close-ups and the turning-360 shots were beautifully done, effectively conveying the entrapment of the

S a n ctu m

3D

divers. Claustrophobia hasn’t been more brilliantly conveyed since Hitchcock. The 3D effect heightens the illusion of literally pushing the screen towards your eyes and forc­ ing you to experience the terrors that ensue. When Frank loses his focus and is trapped under water with no breathing apparatus, the spinning camera action imposes panic on your unwilling heart. These effects combined with the beautiful scenic shots help make the film bearable.

With underdeveloped acting and dialogue, acting veteran Rox­ burgh and newcomer Wakefield are able to breathe some life into their

generic characters, revealing some heartfelt moments and development in their on-screen relationship. As Frank’s trusted friend, Dan Wyllie almost flawlessly executes his role as the comic relief. The subtle humour in the film is like an oxygen tank that replenishes the lungs, since the better half of the film will be spent holding your breath indefinitely.

Sanctum 3D is worth the mere thrill of experiencing the realities of cave diving in unchartered waters.

Proceed with caution and don’t for­ get to breathe.

MUSIC

The Tribune weighs in on

2 0

1 1

Gram m y picks

Best Pop Vocal Album:

Album of the Year:

Song of the Year:

My World 2.0 — Justin Bieber I Dreamed a Dream — Susan Boyle The Fame Monster — Lady GaGa Battle Studies — John Mayer Teenage Dream — Katy Perry

The Suburbs — Arcade Fire Recovery — Eminem Need You Now — Lady Antebellum The Fame Monster — Lady GaGa Teenage Dream — Katy Perry

“Beg Steal or Borrow” — Ray LaMontagne “Forget You” — Cee-Lo Green “The House That Built Me” — Miranda Lambert “Love the Way You Lie” — Eminem Feat. Rihanna “Need You Now” — Lady Antebellum

Pop music was everywhere this past year, whether you liked it or not. Although Perry’s nomination may have sprouted from her current hit singles, she’s not fa­ voured. We predict that Lady Gaga is finally going to get what she’s been itching for—more recognition from the Grammys—and will take the Pop Vocal Album cat­ egory this year.

Everything great about pop music is in The Fame Monster, catchy hooks, direct lyrics, and the best pro­ duction the industry has to offer. Techno and house music fans knew long ago that the synthesizer created catchy riffs, but the polished, 21 st century Gaga persona is responsible for bringing synth-pop to the Top 40. Her songs are completely over the top, absurdly theatrical, and consistently powerful. No doubt The Suburbs has a more intelligent message behind it, but there’s some­ thing to be said for Lady Gaga’s sheer entertainment value.

Cee-Lo Green’s stroke of genius was writing a vengeful breakup song that’s as rude as it is playful. For most of us, it's refreshing to hear a song about an ex that isn’t depressing, and the song is catchy enough to get stuck in our parents’ heads too. Whether they choose to sing the lyrics out loud with us or just mutter them under their breath, the song raises the same moral co­ nundrum that’s existed since the days of Elvis Presley: Is this artist considered controversial, or are my kids just cooler than me?

Record of the Year:

Best Rap Album:

Best New Artist:

“Nothin’ on You” — B.o.B. Feat. Bruno Mars “Love the Way You Lie” — Eminem Feat. Rihanna “Forget You” — Cee-Lo Green “Empire State of Mind” — Jay-Z Feat. Alicia Keys “Need You Now” — Lady Antebellum

B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray B.o.B. Thank Me Later - Drake Recovery - Eminem The Blueprint 3 - Jay-Z How I Got Over - The Roots

Justin Bieber Drake Florence and the Machine Mumford and Sons Esperanza Spalding

Some of the most popular songs of the year are featured in this category, making it tough to predict.

“Empire State of Mind” can be ruled out as its time on the top has clearly been forgotten; it should have been recognized at last year’s ceremony, considering the song was released in 2009. The award could easily go to Eminem and Rihanna, but “Forget You” is also loved by the Recording Academy. We’re going to predict “Noth­ in’ on You,” for an extremely successful debut single from B.o.B & Bruno Mars.

It will be interesting to see if the Best Rap Album honour will deservedly go to the Roots, despite their modest commercial appeal. Black Thought's struggles aren't nobler or more important than those of Eminem or Jay-Z, but his calmness makes his story more per­ suasive than the rest of the mainstream nominees.

Sometimes the committee will give the award to artists who've been nominated in the past but have never won before. Hopefully that mindset will play in the Roots' favour this year; otherwise Eminem will win yet an­ other award for yet another mediocre album.

This category isn’t always as packed with talent as it is this year, and any nominee could walk away with the Grammy. Drake has been a huge influence in the rap scene, Bieber’s a pop phenomenon, and Mumford & Sons have shined in the folk rock scene. Although there is no clear front-runner, we’re going to predict Florence & The Machine walks away with the hardware, just be­ cause we have a hunch.

The 5 3 rd ann ual Gramm y Awards airo February 13, on CBS at 8 :0 0 p.m.

—Alex Shiri and Nicholas Petrillo

iverfiH

L’a c h a t d e c i g a r e t t e s d e c o n t r e b a n d e c o û t e p l u s c h e r q u ’o n le p e n s e : il a l i m e n t e d ’a u t r e s a c t i v i t é s c r i m i n e l l e s c o m m e le t r a f i c d ’a r m e s e t d e d r o g u e s . L e s in d iv id u s p r i s e n p o s s e s s i o n d e c i g a r e t t e s d e c o n t r e b a n d e s ’e x p o s e n t à d e g r a v e s c o n s é q u e n c e s , a l l a n t d e l ’a m e n d e j u s q u ’à l’e m p r i s o n n e m e n t .

consequencesdelacontrebande.gc.ca B u y in g c o n t r a b a n d c i g a r e t t e s c o s t s m o r e t h a n y o u th in k . It f u e l s o t h e r c r im in a l a c t iv i t i e s , s u c h a s t h e t r a f f ic k i n g o f d r u g s a n d g u n s . In d iv id u a ls c a u g h t in p o s s e s s i o n o f c o n t r a b a n d c i g a r e t t e s f a c e s e r i o u s c o n s e q u e n c e s r a n g in g f r o m a f i n e t o ja il t i m e .

contrabandconsequences.gc.ca G o u vern em en t du C a n a d a

G overnm ent of C an ad a

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p o r t s

VOLLEYBALL— MCGILL o, LAVAL 3 (2 1 -2 5 , 2 0 -25 , 2 2 -25 )

M cGill looks toward playoffs after disappointing finale M a r tle ts

u n a b le to

h o ld

By Walker Kitchens_____________

Sports Editor The McGill Martlets (10-10) let lead after lead slip as they fell 3-0 (21-25, 20-25, 22-25) to the fifth ranked University of Laval Rougeet-Or (17-3) on Saturday night at Love Competition Hall. The Mart­ lets held early leads in each of the three sets but were unable to with­ stand the relentless Laval attack.

It was the final regular season game for the Martlets and final regu­ lar season home game in the fiveyear careers of power right side Amy Graham and middle Kelsey Irwin, who leaves McGill with an all-time team record in kill percentage.

The Martlets started extremely strong, leading the first set 14-10 as Geneviève Plante’s serve aced the Rouge-et-Or twice. However, Laval stormed back with a 15-7 run to close out the first set 25-21.

“We started off pretty strong but I think the nerves got the best of us,” said Irwin who was tied with a team leading 10 kills.

Despite losing the first set, the Martlets kept their composure and jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the sec­ ond set. But again, they let the lead slip away. Laval’s strong front line overpowered the Martlets as MarieChristine Mondor led the Rouge-etOr on a 13-3 run that gave Laval a commanding 15-9 lead. Laval won the second set 25-20 and Mondor led

le a d

a s

la s t r e g u la r s e a s o n

the game with 16 kills.

The first point of the third set was incredible as great defence on both sides kept the rally alive before McGill won the point. An emphatic spike three points later by Emily Kyte, who also finished with 10 kills, gave the Martlets a 3-1 lead.

They were able to extend the gap to 14-10 but again failed to hold on.

Laval took their first lead of the set 16-15 and never gave it up. In fit­ ting fashion, Mondor closed out the game with a powerful spike to give the Rouge-et-Or a 25-22 set and straight sets victory.

It was an emotional game for the team, Graham, and Irwin. Irwin has continually improved through­ out her career to eventually become one of McGill’s better players in re­ cent memory.

“She started from nowhere and really progressed through the whole thing,” said Martlets Head Coach Rachèle Béliveau. “She is a very good competitor, she loves competi­ tion.”

While Irwin and Graham’s last career home game did not go as planned, they have the upcoming playoffs to look forward to. With the win, Laval has earned a bye, while McGill plays the University of Montreal in a best of three semi­ final. The winner of that match will play in the final against Laval. Be­ cause the CIS tournament will be hosted by the Rouge-et-Or, three

m a tc h

en d s

in

s tr a ig h t s e ts

d e fe a t to

Laval

Emily Kyte and Kelsey Irwin led the Martlets with 1 0 kills each. (Robert Smith / McGill Tribune) teams from Quebec will qualify for Nationals. As a result, the loser of the Montreal-McGill clash will face last place Sherbrooke in a best of three competition to determine the last qualifier.

“Tonight wasn’t like we expect­ ed to be honest,” said Irwin. “When­ ever you’re playing Laval you have to fight really hard if you want to win ... We have to be really, really aggressive at the net. We’re play­ ing Montreal next weekend. They’re

a good hard hitting team and if we want to win we just have to hit a lot harder.”

Béliveau stressed that the team has already begun preparing for the playoffs.

“We’re going to be ready,” she said. “We worked on some things to­ night in preparation for the playoffs.

We asked the hitters to hit hard no matter what. We didn’t want to give any free balls and hit as hard as pos­ sible all the time and I think we did

apply it today.”

As the playoffs begin next weekend, the Martlets hope to avenge their three regular season losses to Montreal and wrap up a berth in the CIS tournament. McGill plays at the University of Montreal on Friday night before returning home on Saturday at 6 p.m. If the series is tied one game apiece, a tie breaker will be held at Montreal on Sunday afternoon.

T H IR D M A X IX The King is back, the Cavs are not

I like to consider myself an ex­ pert when it comes to recognizing futility and hopelessness in sports.

Each season, every team I cheer for seems determined to find a way to be increasingly awful. But despite my familiarity with last place fin­ ishes and double digit losing streaks, I have never seen anything like this season’s Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers just set an NBA record with their 24th consecutive loss—almost a third of an entire season. But what is most impressive about this streak is how the Cavs are losing; they’re getting annihilated.

Earlier this month the L.A. Lakers were a basket away from doubling Cleveland’s score, winning 112-57.

In their next two games the Cavs lost by 22 and 28 points. If you add

that up, Cleveland lost by 104 points over a three-game stretch—pretty embarrassing. The Washington Gen­ erals had a better chance of beating the Harlem Globetrotters.

But what really shows how bad the Cavs are is their 15-point loss to the Toronto Raptors on January 5. The Raptors suck; just a week after the victory, Toronto went on a 13-game losing streak of their own.

Losing by 15 points to the Raptors is like losing to Adam Morrison in a beard-off—it just shouldn’t happen.

What’s remarkable about the Cavaliers’ downfall is how quickly it happened. Last season the Cavs led the league with a 61-21 record, but this year their incompetence is unri­ valed. The only difference is LeBron James’s departure. Despite James winning two MVP awards, a scoring title and making the NBA Finals, the train wreck that is the Cavs season may be the best example of just how great (and I mean all-time great) a

basketball player LeBron is.

The Cavs team is virtually the same as last season minus King James. Let’s say this Cavs team breaks their streak soon and im­ proves. Right now they have an 8-43 record; it would be a stretch for them to win 13 games this year. That means LeBron, more or less, is the difference in Cleveland winning 48 games. Sure, there are other factors, but that is a ridiculous change in wins with only one star player being subtracted.

If you took Kobe Bryant off the Lakers or Tim Duncan off the Spurs do you think their teams would start losing at an unprecedented rate? Of course not. Even when Michael Jor­ dan retired in 1993 the Bulls were able to win an impressive 55 games.

James may not be better than Bryant, Duncan, or Jordan, but he’s always criticized for not winning a champi­ onship in Cleveland. However, with Cleveland’s struggles this year it

seems as though James’s Cavs teams were winning at an amazing rate despite him being surrounded by a bunch of scrubs.

As the season progresses and the Cavs continue to look hopeless, sit back and enjoy. Enjoy how comi­ cally bad the season is becoming for Cleveland because it really is quite a show. But more importantly, you should appreciate LeBron for his talents.

This past Thursday LeBron put on one of the best basketball perfor­ mances I ’ve ever seen. He scored 51 points, shot 17-25, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out eight as­ sists. What was most impressive is how effortless it all looked. When a player has such an incredible game it often feels as if they are playing above themselves and getting some­ what lucky. With LeBron, it looked routine. He didn’t force shots (in fact he hit his first 11 attempts), played within the offence and was essen­

tially unstoppable. This is what he is capable of when he plays his best.

Moreover, it was not some fluky per­ formance of a lifetime but the ninth 50-point performance of his career.

It’s an unfortunate reality that one’s character does not equate with one’s success in the sporting world.

As fans we want those players who we can relate to and who we like to succeed. However, this often clouds our judgment and obscures reality.

I’m not saying you should cheer for LeBron or even-like him, but if you’re ignoring how amazing Le­ Bron is because of his selfish and often arrogant actions during his ca­ reer, you’re missing an opportunity to witness of one the most incredible athletes of all time play basketball at a phenomenal level. Don’t believe me? Ask the Cavs.

—Walker Kitchens

Tüesday, February 8, 2011

1

9

HOCKEY

Rethinking hockey’s age-old prejudices

S P O R T S M AKING Y O U W ALK ‘ ER A R O U N D Y O U R K IT C H E N ?

G O T T IM E T O SLAM S P O R T S W IT H T H E H U N T E R ?

S P O R T S @ M C G IL L T R IB U N E .C O M

B r e n d a n B u r k e b l a z e s .a t r a i l f o r g a y a t h l e t e s in m a c h o h o c k e y c u lt u r e s

By Sam Hunter

Sports Editor Sometimes sports are just sports. Like the Super Bowl this weekend, they can be fun to watch and don’t mean much. Sometimes though, sports serve as a platform for a greater cause. I’m reminded of this because the day before the Super Bowl, February 5, was the one-year anniversary of Brendan Burke’s tragic and untimely death.

Burke died skidding on an icy In­ diana road and crashing into an on­ coming Ford truck, but his unique and unusual legacy is still felt strongly in the National Hockey League community and beyond.

Burke was a varsity goaltender in high school, but quit the team before graduation. He went on to become the student manager of the University of Miami hockey team.

Until November 2009, his only real claim to widespread hockey fame was as the son of the more famous Burke: Brian, the current GM of the Maple Leafs and architect of the 2007 Stanley Cup winning Ana­ heim Ducks.

Brendan became famous in his own right, partly still due to his con­ nection to his father, but also as a gay advocate in hockey. Growing up in the world of hockey, which can be a homophobic culture at times, Brendan quit his high school team for fear his teammates would find out he was gay. Since coming out in his sophomore year at the University of Miami and finding tremendous support from both his family and hockey team, Brendan decided to spread his story.

Brendan’s efforts, impressive as they were, won’t be remembered in the same way as Jackie Robin­ son breaking the colour barrier or Muhammad Ali declaring himself a pacifist, simply because Burke was no star of the game. But for every Robinson, for every Ali, there’s a precursor, someone of lesser stature who paves the way forward. In base­ ball, 60 years before Robinson took the field, there was Moses Fleetwood Walker, a middling catcher for the now-defunct American Associa­ tion, the real first African-American to play professional baseball.

Still, Burke’s experience and the media reaction it spawned shows that the time for another watershed moment in sports is drawing near.

Soon, there will likely be an openly gay athlete in one of the “Big Four” (NHL, MLB, NBA, and NFL).

And, even though hockey is behind in many ways (no retired hockey

player has ever come out, the locker room culture is often perceived as homophobic), my money is still on the NHL, Canada’s league, to pro­ duce the first.

There have been numerous gay athletes in baseball, hockey, football, and basketball, and some have even come out publicly after retiring, but none were openly gay during their playing careers. Glenn Burke, no relation to Brian and Brendan, the man known for popu­ larizing the high-five after home runs in baseball, has said that both his teammates and team manage­ ment were aware of his sexual ori­ entation, and that this played a role in prematurely ending his career.

Still, it’s unclear in Glenn’s case to what degree knowledge of his sexu­ ality was public.

It’s possible that a hockey play­ er will go much further than Glenn Burke ever did, and will come out, not only to teammates and manage­ ment, but to the entire media cir­ cus. It’ll be tough to do, and only a superior player or a person of su­ perior character will be able to do it—the former because he won’t have to fear losing his job, and the latter because he’ll take the risk for a greater cause. Hockey players, for all their “pugnacity, testosterone, truculence, and belligerence” are still mostly Canadian kids. And myassumption for Canadians is a high­ er degree of tolerance than found elsewhere. As recently out journal­ ist Steve Buckley said in an inter­ view with The Good Men Project, "[Rjeading all these emails in the last couple weeks, everybody’s got a lesbian sister. Everyone’s got a nephew who is gay. Everyone’s got somebody in their lives who’s gay.

And it’s not a question. People say, ‘Well, can a Major League baseball player be out? Would his teammates accept him?’ And that misses the point. It’s not a question of whether those teammates will accept him.

It’s a question of whether those teammates have already accepted other people in their lives who are gay or lesbian or transgendered.”

Furthermore, Sean Avery, widely regarded as one of the big­ ger meatheads in professional hockey, has expressed on record his solidarity with any youths who love hockey but are afraid to come out to their teammates. If Avery can show this kind of tolerance, anybody can.

I have a lot of faith in Canada, and in hockey as a result, to follow in the trail Brendan began to blaze and bring down the next major preju­ dice in sports.

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Curiosity Delivers, www.mcgilltribune.com

2 0 BASKETBALL— MCGILL MARTLETS 65 , LAVAL 58 ; MCGILL REDMEN 85 , LAVAL 83

Martlets and Redmen send Rouge-et-Or packing In a u g u ra l

P a ck th e

H o u se

g a m e

a su c c e ss

as

h o t s h o o tin g , in c e s s a n t h e c k lin g

c o n tr ib u te to

w in s

By Sam Hunter

Sports Editor After 15 years, Donald Love Competition Hall has finally seen its first capacity crowd. It may have been a long time coming, but both the Redmen and Martlets gave the sell out crowd of 872 exactly what they came to see, with big wins over conference rival Laval. Monika Fabian, president of Red Thunder, explained why the group hadn’t pre­ viously attempted to construct an event around a basketball game.

“It’s hard to organize an event around four hours of games,” said Fabian. “You have to dedicate your entire afternoon and evening to something like this. But I ’m really glad it was as successful as it was.”

Martlets Led by Natalie Larocque, the Martlets exploited their wide array of offensive weapons to overcome Laval’s superior size and get the 65-58 win.

Larocque had 21 points, Anneth Him-Lazarenko had 13 along with 11 rebounds, and Marie-Eve Martin scored 11 on eight shots.

Laval, who had a five game losing streak earlier this year, have turned their season around, winning four of their last six. Their two losses come against McGill who, at 10-1, are first in the Quebec conference.

It’s looking more and more likely that the McGill-Laval match­ up will happen again, in the play­ offs, with Laval the dark horse no one wants to face in the first round.

“I have no idea [what changed for Laval],” said Martin. “I don’t understand their situation but they seem to be stronger now than at the beginning of the season, so we defi­ nitely should not take them lightly.”

With the end of the regular sea­ son only five games away, the Marlets are looking to improve every time they’re on the court; and are si­ multaneously charging hard toward the goals they set at the beginning of

Left, Anneth Him-Lazarenko goes up for two points. Right, Olivier Bouchard shoots the floater. (Ryan Reisert and Adam Scotti / McGill Tribune) the year.

“We haven’t accomplished anything yet, but we could hit our first [goal] of the season if we clinch first place,” said Head Coach Ryan Thome. “The second was to win the conference playoffs, and the third was to make some noise in the CIS Championships.”

Realizing the first goal would certainly be an important step to­ wards accomplishing the other two.

“We want to finish first so that everything’s at home and we have the fans on our side,” said Martin. “It always helps to have fans screaming at the other team.”

Added Natalie Larocque, “When I played in the States it was the exact same feeling, that your fans are behind you, and it’s a lot of fun.”

Redmen The Redmen stepped up to win 85-83 against the number eight ranked Rouge-et-Or despite a bad night on the offensive end from leading scorer Simone Bibeau. Bi­ beau shot two for 15 overall and one for nine on three-pointers.

Still, Head Coach David DeAveiro was quick to point oüt that, “If he doesn’t make that one three-point shot, then we don’t win.

So that one that he made was a big one.”

Picking up the scoring load for the Redmen were Olivier Bouchard with 21, Kyle Bernard with 12, and Greg Gause and Winn Clark with 11 apiece.

The ball was shared equally as nine players finished with at least five points.

Six-foot-eight center Greg Gause got himself involved all over the stat sheet with five blocks, six rebounds (three offensive), a pair of assists, and a three-pointer.

“I think I caused some matchup problems with other big men because I can take it outside a little so I think that helps us,” said Gause. “If it’s a guy [guarding me that] I feel like I can take in the post, I take him in the post, if it’s a guy I think is stronger than me I take him outside.”

The win was a crucial one in what’s shaping up to be an intense battle for home court in the play­

offs between Laval, Concordia, and McGill. Currently, Laval is first in the Quebec conference with 18 points (nine wins), but Concordia is only two points back, with McGill another win behind Concordia.

“Our goal is to host a playoff game this year,” said DeAveiro.

“The thing for us is to hopefully get a crowd like [Friday] for all our home games and build that spirit and sense of pride for McGill.”

McGill could end up playing Laval again in the playoffs. If the Redmen get home court DeAveiro is hoping for a similar student re­ sponse to Friday’s Pack the House game, especially from the hecklers. “[I]f you make a mistake the student body’s going to give it to you, right?” asked DeAveiro. “[La­

val’s point guard Xavier] Baribeau s a very good player who played a lot of minutes and got worn down a little bit, so a little credit goes to our defense and the guys that guard him. But for sure the fans make a big difference. Nobody wants to hear the chant ‘airball’ after they miss a shot.”

Baribeau shot an airball with 1:30 left in the third quarter and was serenaded by a loud McGill crowd for the rest of the game every time he touched the ball. From that point on, he had one rebound, one steal, three turnovers, shot zero for three from the field, and bricked two free throws.

Bouchard and Bibeau put the last touches on the victory by sink­ ing free throws down the stretch.

McG ill s p e c i a l

menu

1

Caesar Salad Spaghetti Bolognese (Meat sauce) $7.95

2

Caesar Salad All dressed Bambino Pizza & Fries $7.95

3

Caesar Salad 12 Chicken Wings & Fries $7.95

H ielo R e s to B a r - 3 5 7 5 A v e n u e d u P arc (L es G a le r ie s ) 5 1 4 - 8 4 3 - 3 8 2 5 (F o r g r o u p s 6 & m o r e , b o o k in g re q u ir e 2 4 h r s )