The McGill Tribune Vol. 30 Issue 22

H O C KEY T E A M S BRIN G H O M E HARDW ARE, PAGES 20-21

THEY WANT YOU! The Tribune’s SSMU Executive election preview

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This year’s candidates: from upper left, left to right: Todd Plummer, Monika Fabian, joel Pedneault, Stefan Prokopetz, Lauren Hudak, Emily Clare, Carol Fraser, Christina Sfeir, Shyam Patel, Kady Paterson, Natalie Talmi, Maggie Knight, and Cathal Rooney-Céspedes. See interviews on pages 4 - 7 and endorsements on pages 1 2 -13 .

Anticipated changes to Frosh unveiled at Orientation Fair Academic and social orientations fused into one Orientation week; more rigorous criteria for leaders

By Matt Essert News Editor

After several months of con­ sultation, review, and discussion, the new plan for McGill Orientation and Frosh week was revealed last Thursday. With a new, more unified vision of what orientation should be and certain scheduling changes,

Orientation Week aims to be more cohesive, and will connect the aca­ demic orientation, formally known as Discover McGill, with the more party-oriented Frosh activities.

Next year, classes will start on Thursday September 1, with movein day taking place the previous weekend of August 27. In order to fit the traditional orientation week ac­

tivities into the limited time frame, several changes have been made.

Rez Fest will be held on Sun­ day September 28, followed by three days of academic orientation until the first day of classes on Thursday.

Faculty froshes will begin that Fri­ day and last until Sunday night. On Monday, SSMU-sponsored events will take place.

“[We’re] trying to maintain events as they are, but just show­ ing that there’s a bigger chain that runs through all of it, that this is the orientation week,” said Riley DalysFine, Survey and Report coordinator of the First Year Transition Network in the Office of the Executive Direc­ tor of Services for Students.

Orientation leaders will lead a

group of first-year students for the entire week, rather than for just one portion of the orientation.

Leaders will be selected based on a collective vision of what the faculties, the First-Year Office, and SSMU believe the ideal leader should be and how he or she would handle orientation. Because leaders

See “FROSH” on page 3

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Major Frosh changes released

University says it will release AUS funds; timetable pending Continued from COVER On February 15th, the Arts Un­ dergraduate Society announced that the administration was withholding $90,000 in student fees from the or­ ganization due to a failure to submit financial audits from the past several years in the allotted time.

David Marshall, president of the AUS, and the rest of the execu­ tive have been trying to rectify the situation ever since, working with Robyn Wiltshire, director of the deputy provost (student life and learning) office.

There was some good news this past week when the deputy provost’s office said the money would be de­ livered.

“We haven't received our fees or heard specifically when we will get them,” Marshall said in an email to the Tribune. “However, the dep­ uty provost's office has informed us that they are forthcoming on the basis of information that we are able to provide them information about this year's financial practices, not those of years past.”

In the meantime, the AUS has taken steps to try and mitigate the ef­ fects of the financial loss in the short term.

“I’ve taken lots of personal li­ ability,” Marshall said. “This might limit student involvement [in the AUS] because students might not

want to be involved if they have to extend their credit limit and take on debt for the sake of the society.”

On top of paying for events with their own money, the AUS executives are working with their new auditors to obtain the required documentation the university has requested.

“We hired new accountants be­ cause our old ones weren’t satisfac­ tory, we’ve been working with this new audit team since October to get the last three years of financial statements in order,” Marshall said. “[Getting new auditors] wasn’t just to cover ourselves, it was to have better financial practices for the fu­ ture.”

These new financial practices seem to be paying off, with the ad­ ministration saying they will release the funds soon. Although the admin­ istration said they understand that this is affecting students this year who have paid the fees, there is no exact timetable for when the funds will be turned over. However, Mar­ shall was careful to note that prac­ tices are being put in place to ensure this doesn’t happen again. “[The administration] are being responsive, [but] they want more re­ assurance about future projects than about past sins.”

— Nathaniel Finestone

will be in charge of the same group throughout the entire week, they will be expected to be more well-round­ ed and better prepared to handle a variety of situations.

“The idea is to give the lead­ ers a little bit more of a mandate,” Dalys-Fine said. He added that there are already many highly committed and mature Frosh leaders and be­ lieves that they will be willing to ac­ cept more responsibility and thrive under it.

“We believe that they [will] see potential for fun throughout the whole week,” he said. “[We believe] that they’re going to enjoy the whole job.”

Anurag Dhir, coordinator of the First-Year Transition Network and the Community Action Toolkit in the Office of the Executive Director of Services for Students, pointed to the importance of the leaders and co­ ordinators in the success of an event like Frosh.

“It’s the coordinators and the leaders that make this event what it is,” Dhir said. “So if we can sup­ port them and empower them to make this event the best that it can

be, then I think the students need to take that ownership. But they can’t do it alone, and I think that’s where the administration can come in and provide that support for them, offer­ ing resources and tools.”

Tom Fabian, VP Internal of SSMU, agreed with Dalys-Fine, saying that the mentality for frosh leaders needs to be altered.

“We have to get out of the men­ tality that it’s just a binge drinking opportunity for a bunch of leaders,” Fabian said. “They have the oppor­ tunity to be a role model or mentor for the [first-years] for the entire week.”

Fabian also explained that he has been interested in condensing SSMU Frosh into one day for some time.

Fabian said his goals going into this process to decrease the focus on drinking and to ensure that the ad­ ministration is aware of all orienta­ tion ideas throughout the planning process so there won’t be any seri­ ous problems during the actual Ori­ entation Week.

Jana Luker, executive director of McGill Student Services, said the administration has been a part

of the orientation reimagining pro­ cess from the beginning, and so far everyone has been pleased with the methods of consultation that have gone into these changes!

“From the administrative per­ spective, if the students are feeling at the end of it that they’re oriented and better prepared to start univer­ sity then that’s what matters,” Luker said. He also explained that the ad­ ministration’s main role in most of the discussions has been to give stu­ dents a forum for discussion.

Although some of the changes being put into effect are the result of the condensed schedule, others had been in development for many months before the schedule was an­ nounced.

“We were still going to be doing this working group anyway,” Dhir said. “But when we found out the schedule was changing, it was a bit of a wrench, but at the same time, I took it as an opportunity, say­ ing, ‘Oh man, now we really have a chance to work with a clean slate, we can actually re-imagine this from the day one.’”

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Working group suggests cutting Arts minor requirement Group also recommends changes to first-year program and advanced-standing credit system

By Eric Mauser______________ Contributor Since the mid-90s, Arts stu­ dents at McGill have been required to fulfill the requirements of both a major and minor in order to gradu­ ate. This, along with several other components of the Arts degree pro­ gram, may soon change if the pro­ posals from a Dean of Arts Working Group are implemented. While the recommendations are not final or binding, they have instigated discus­ sion and could have a serious impact on future McGill students.

The proposed changes are in re­ sponse to a number of issues. Andre Costopoulos, Associate Dean of Arts and head of the working group, said that due to increasing enrollment, decreasing administrative support, and flat academic hiring, there is more pressure on students, profes­ sors, and administrators.

“If we keep doing things exact­

ly the way we are doing them now, we are going to be affected by those pressures,” Costopoulos said. “So what we need to do is see how to or­ ganize ourselves in order to meet our academic objectives.”

Costopolous was directed by the Office of the Provost in fall 2010 to establish a group to study these pressures and recommend how to address them. The group consists of students, faculty, and other univer­ sity personnel and its suggestions were made public to both faculty and student societies in February.

According to the draft proposal, the major areas affected by changes would be the first-year program, advanced standing credits, and the mandatory minor for all Arts stu­ dents. The first year program would focus on teaching students certain skills, like essay writing, that are necessary for success later in the Arts program.

According to Costopoulos,

eliminating the mandatory minors would prevent students from being forced to complete a program in which, they are not interested.

“We end up in a situation where we have essentially service minors— minors that exist because students have to take them. Academically, that doesn't make sense,” Costopou­ los said.

If mandatory minors were eliminated, Costopoulos said, stu­ dents would still be free to pursue a minor, but they would, also be able to pursue course configurations that do not fit into the current program configuration.

The final change under discus­ sion would allow students to decline advanced-standing credit during their U1 year, permitting them to complete a full four year program of study at McGill. Devon Willis, a U3 joint honours political science and environment and international development studies student and

member of both the working group and the Arts Undergraduate Society Council, thought this would be a positive change. As a CEGEP stu­ dent, he felt that only three years at university was not long enough.

“Just because students did CEGEP, or did advance credits, does not mean that university is any less foreign to them,” White said. “It takes adjusting no matter whether you have those 30 credits from high school, or two years experience at a CEGEP.” In describing the original aim of the working group, White said the goals were to “cut costs, [and] to streamline the Arts degree to make the administrative costs lower. How­ ever, all the professors and council­ lors in the [working group] were very idealistic in their desire to improve the undergraduate experience.”

Amara Possian, an Arts sena­ tor, said she was impressed with the way in which the proposals were

handled.

“I'm really happy with the pro­ cess,” Possian said. “The associate dean sat down and asked himself ‘Who needs to be part of this discus­ sion?’ [He] brought them all in, put them in a committee, and then spent months drafting suggestions.”

Both the members of the AUS and Costopoulos cautioned that none of the suggestions were certain to be implemented and, if any were adopted, they could take years to be instituted. However, Costopoulos said “Some of them (the changes, specifically the dropping of the man­ datory minor) could be implemented as early as September if the Arts fac­ ulty accepts them.”

All stressed the need for student input on changes.

“It's really important that stu­ dents speak to the students who are sitting on these committees if they have any huge problems with the changes,” Possian said.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

3 N A T IO N A L

C a n a d a w in s b r o n z e in B r itis h g lo b a l im m ig r a t io n s tu d y R a n k s b e h in d

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P o r tu g a l; s t u d y e x a m in e s im m ig r a n t r ig h ts , r e s p o n s ib ilit ie s , o p p o r t u n it ie s

By Kat Sieniuc

benchmark whether governments “Migrant workers and their grant equal rights, responsibilities, families have some of the best la­ and opportunities to all their resi­ bour market opportunities in Cana­ On February 28, the British dents. The aim was not to measure da. Foreign residents and nationals Council and the Migration Policy change in the influx of migrants to have thé same right to work in any Group published a study that ranked the 31 countries, but to determine sector, start a business arid use pub­ Canada third in the world for its which practices most benefitted lic job services. All have the same policies on immigrant integration. these migrants. working conditions and access to The study compared Canada to 29 A press release on the report social security,” the report noted. other countries, including all Euro­ noted that having high standards Jack Jedwab, executive direc­ pean Union member states as well was critical. “Successful integration tor of the Association for Canadian as Norway, Switzerland, and the helps create more competitive and Studies, said that these findings United States. cohesive societies,” the report said. should be interpreted with caution.

The British Council and the Overall, Canada received 72 “We need to look at the overall Migration Policy Group are organi­ points out of a possible 100, which rankings and not be satisfied with zations that track immigration pol­ ranked the country behind Portugal, being third best on the list,” he said. icy in various countries across the with 79, and Sweden at 83.

While Canada has some of the world. Their study brought together The report cited the federal strongest policies in place to ensure 100 researchers to look at differ­ government’s recent focus on recog­ immigrant integration, the study ent categories of integration expe­ nizing the education and credentials revealed many other areas where rienced by immigrant workers and of immigrants as the reason Canada it can improve. The report recom­ their families. These included access moved up two spots from last year. mended policy adjustments such to education and the labour market, Canada scored highly in the as removing the extensive backlog ability to reunite with family, the education category, as its English as for processing immigrant applica­ possibility of permanent residency, a Second Language programs often tions, recognizing that non-citizen and political rights. successfully address the needs of residents should be given the right The Migration Integration immigrant children. Canada’s labour to vote, and providing leaders of im­ Policy Index (MIPEX) was used to mobility also earned a high score. migrant associations with the chance Contributor

to inform integration policy through consultative bodies.

Howard Duncan, director of Canadian immigration studies or­ ganization Metropolis said that the study’s findings should be examined carefully, and noted the increasing demand for skilled immigrants.

“One thing we’re seeing, not just in North America and Europe, is a growing competition for im­ migrants who have a high level of skill,” Duncan said. “The competi­ tion for migrants is going to be, in part, won or lost in terms of integra­ tion policies.”

Morton Weinfeld, a professor of Canadian Studies at McGill Uni­ versity, said integrative immigration policies benefit Canada by helping to avoid some of the high-profile prob­ lems found in Europe, including the rise of explicitly anti-immigrant par­ ties. However, he was also skeptical of MIPEX. “I’m not sure how meaningful all this is,” Weinfeld said. “Sweden does have an anti-immigrant back­

lash, and Portugal is not known as a major migrant-receiving country.”

According to Weinfeld, “Can­ ada is lucky,” because immigrants to the country tend to be relatively educated, it does not have many il­ legal immigrants, and it has not had a major guest worker program like Germany.

“Unlike Europe,” he said, “we are really an immigrant society with lots of experience in dealing with immigrant integration.”

Canada admitted a record num­ ber of over 280,000 immigrants in 2009—the largest number in 57 years.

The top 10 countries in the study, in order from best to worst rank were Sweden, Portugal, Cana­ da, Finland, Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Spain, the U.S., and Italy.

The bottom 10 in the study were the Czech Republic and Esto­ nia, Hungary and Romania, Switzer­ land, Austria and Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia, Cyprus, and Latvia.

SPEAKER O N CA M PU S

E x - M a n d e la c a b in e t m in is t e r N a id o o a s k s b ig q u e s tio n s “ A r e y o u g o i n g t o f i t in o r a r e y o u g o i n g t o c h a n g e t h e w o r l d ? ” h e a s k s ; f o c u s e s o n

By Elisa Muyl Contributor

After a warm introduction, Jay Naidoo, clad in a dress shirt and leather jacket, addressed a collection of about 100 students who gathered in the Bronfman Management Build­ ing on Thursday evening.

“What do you want to talk about? Well ... OK, what does the future hold?”

At an event organized by the International Relations Students’As­ sociation of McGill, this was one of several big questions that was asked

by Naidoo, a former minister in Nel­ son Mandela’s post-Apartheid cabi­ net, current chairman of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, and human rights advocate. Rather than a lecture, Naidoo referred to the event as an “open house,” a forum in which he could respond to students’ questions and address what the audi­ ence was interested in discussing.

“He came to McGill for free,” said Lorenzo Garcia-Andrade, the speaker’s chair at IRSAM. “He said he considers universities ‘the nurseries of democracy.’” GarciaAndrade’s position is a new one, having only been created this year.

It is part of IRSAM’s drive to cre­ ate a more externally oriented, but McGill-focused, portfolio within the

student group.

Initially, Garcia-Andrade had envisioned a panel of speakers with different historical perspectives on apartheid. He quickly realized, however, that Naidoo “could [have] a whole conference on his own.”

The range of topics Naidoo covered seemed to reflect the length and breadth of the entire International Development Studies curriculum.

He discussed his own experiences in South Africa, the current upheaval in the Middle East, women’s em­ powerment, education, and grass­ roots organization, and the dangers of malnutrition for infants. Despite the talk’s broad range, the entire dis­ cussion seemed to go back to one important point; there are systemic challenges to global welfare. Naidoo believes that it’s up to the next gen­ eration to do something about these problems. “The system is broken,” he said several times throughout the discussion.

The charismatic Naidoo also occassionally elicited laughter from the audience with his commentary.

“You all obey the rules here,” he said. “In Africa, a traffic sign is a bit of a guide. In Bangladesh there’s no guide, even. You just drive!”

For all his comedic timing, he made it clear that he is unwavering and serious about human rights is­

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Jay Nadioo challenged students to answer the difficult questions. (Alice Walker/McGill Tribune) sues. “It was offensive to have [insti­ tutionalized racism in South Africa] just like it is offensive to me today to see people dying of starvation,” Naidoo said.

In addition to his staunch ad­ vocacy for the union of pragmatism and humanitarianism, Naidoo em­ phasized the importance of human agency. “[This is] the question we have to ask ourselves: Are you going to fit in or are you going to change [the world]?”

The Egyptian revolution, he said, is another chapter in the neverending struggle for a better world.

Global solidarity, he said, in com­ bination with democratic grassroots organizations and strong leaders succeeded in overthrowing South African apartheid. He added that any changes in the future will also require international pressure and internal agency.

Alia Jan, a U 1 anatomy and cell biology and international develop­ ment student, found Naidoo moti­ vational, particularly with respect to his emphasis on students’ roles in development and his stance that fe­ male empowerment is key to devel­ opment everywhere in the world.

A UQAM student attending the lecture said he’d come to thê discus­ sion already believing in activism and agency but that it was encour­ aging to hear that someone from an older generation still held to similar ideals. “In a sense I’m an old guy now,” Naidoo said. “I represent an old fight. I think the issue about you is what do you stand for? What is the value you see in the world?”

In the end, he said, the decade to come will be defined by the revo­ lution of Arab youth seizing their fu­ ture. “And that’s why I’m excited.”

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How will your experience with SSMU influ­ ence your approach if you are elected?

I’m very aware of the fact that many students don’t understand SSMU. We need to be making our­ selves much more accessible in a variety of ways to * reach a variety of audiences. I think there’s a big chunk in the middle that if we made it easier, if we decreased the barriers to participation, if we decreased the bur­ den on students to understand how SSMU works, and instead said “Hey! We want your input on this thing specifically, and this is how we’re going to take your information and enact it,” then we’d probably get a lot more participation. And I know that people say that every year, but I have had great success building up the environment side of SSMU- I’ve been able to do this in a microcosm of SSMU, and I hope I would be able to extend that model to other committees and other things SSMU does.

What are your thoughts on the GA? You probably know how I feel about the GA. It absolutely needs reform. I wasn’t very happy with the way in which the attempt at reform was made. My approach is let’s warn people in advance, let’s set up a very distinct way of soliciting feedback, then take this feedback and write it into a resolution and put that to referendum. If we can’t make it work, then we should abolish it. But I don’t think we’ve given it its best shot yet. Surely we can come up with some sort of way where we can have a disucssion about impor­ tant issues on campus and vote on them in a way that is democratic and inclusive.

Do you think SSMU should sign a contract

with Jobbook?

Should we get rid of Jobbook entirely? Not nec­ essarily. It could be a great service for students. On the other hand, for those students who are very upset about what happened, it’s not going to increase their trust in SSMU if SSMU then goes and signs a contract with a company with which they’ve expressed dis­ pleasure. It really comes back to consultation. Unfor­ tunately we don’t have all the details, so it makes con­ sultation very hard. Currently, I would be concerned about signing a contract with Jobbook just because I don’t think we’ve sufficiently addressed the loss of trust from some parts of the student body.

How important is it for the president to have a good relationship with the administration?

It’s very important to have a professional rela­ tionship with the administration. In other forums I’ve had the experience of going into meetings, being hard hitting, at times when necessary, but you keep your cool even if they tell you things you’re pretty sure are a blatant lie and you proceed. Sometimes it’s about collaboration. I think we need a more nuanced ap­ proach; sometimes we need to collaborate, but there are other times when our interests fundamentally do not align, and then it is our job to represent in the in­ terests of students, because we are a student society, and it’s our job to speak up for ourselves.

If you could go back in time and high-five one person, who would it be and why?

Elizabeth the First, because she was a strong fe­ male leader, and she defeated the Spanish Armada.

What is wrong with the SSMU? What things would you fix?

We promote this mentality both internally and externally of “us versus them,” and even at times “good versus evil.” And it’s just so combative and so inconducive to real progress and it gets to the point where people not only get coloured into these cer­ tain spectrums, but also, it’s almost as if only one side can win. It’s either us or the administration, its either QPIRG or Conservative McGill, one council­ lor or another, and it marginalizes the minority and it doesn’t really do anything for the student body. And ultimately we spend so much time combating against each other when we should really be working with one another and we don’t do enough of that.

don’t care. And is this a book you can rewrite over one year? No, but promoting that sort of culture will ultimately benefit the GA.

How would you tackle GA reform next year?

You can implant short term mechanisms to change stuff like marginalization of the minority, things as simple as: if one third of the body wants to go to an online vote, then you should be able to go to an online vote, if we hit room capacity and people still want to get in, by default you go to an online vote. However, there are two overarching issues: the SSMU doesn’t provide proper forums for discussion and if anything, the GA is used as a fallback for frus­ trations people feel, whether its issues that have to do with the SSMU or issues that are completely external to the SSMU. The second is student apathy. The rea­ son we don’t hit quorum is not because the GA isn’t advertised well enough, it’s not because the motions aren’t advertise well enough, it’s just that students

What do you think SSMU should do about Jobbook?

Letting the past issues regarding [President Newburgh] and Jobbook overshadow the possibility of there being an amazing service for students would really come at the detriment of bettering student life and if the contract is amazing and if the council or ex­ ecutive or whoever decides that this is something that could truly benefit student life, then we would be fail­ ing our student body in not signing on to something like that. But it depends on the contract, it depends on the service. But we have to understand that we’re only here for four years and that our relationship with Jobbook will ultimately extend so much farther down the line and we can’t look at the situation in such an enclosed bubble.

One of the president’s most important goals is being a liaison to the administration. What is your relationship like with administrators such as the principle, deputy provost and provost?

I think we take a very negative approach in the way that we address the administration. We often times take such an entrenched stance in our issues without being able to understand the issues that they are facing as administrators and as people who are trying to not spend money that they don’t have.

The VP internal gets criticized a lot for just being a party planner, would you agree with that assessment or do you see a bigger role and if so what else?

Well, I definitely agree with the criti­ cism of it being too often a party planner, because I think that is largely what it is now, which is a problem, no question. My actual intent in internalizing the internal portfolio would be to just relate more to the faculties and actually try to build campus community. Break down apathy and create more engagement on campus. Engage po­ litically, engage socially, engage with more students, and actually do something aside from just studying.

Frosh is going to be changing next year, how do you feel about the changes and how the process to change and ac­ commodate SSMU to the changes has been going on right now?

The process has been good, I’ve had the opportunity to work fairly closely on it, I do work for the first year office, so it’s currently my job to recruit people and convince them that this is actually a good idea.

I think it’s a step in the right direction in that it is a more inclusive event, it’s not just the crazy Frosh party that it can be, so I think that by having people be Discover McGill tour leaders, academic advising leaders, as well as being Frosh party leaders, it gives people the chance to actually make friends and remember who they met more than a week afterwards.

If you could accomplish one thing next year, what would it be?

Getting orientation off the ground and making sure that it is something people want and people are interested in, we’re trying to use it as a spring-board both at the administration level and at the SSMU level, to start engaging through the entire year, so having that actually work, and hav­ ing people be pleased about the event, and see the advantages. It will also help build relationships with the Milton-Parc community, so having a successful Orientation Week, and getting people behind that idea and in support of how it works.

If you were a drink what would you be?

I’d probably be an Old Fashioned because has a lot of parts to it, it’s not some­ thing that you can just get thrown together, it’s something that actually has a lot of parts that make it a tasty drink and it’s also something that has passed the test of time as far as mixed drinks can go.

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on how we feel about Frosh, but I am totally in favour of how this year we are working more closely with the administration. ' I’m working hard to keep the parts of Frosh that we like alive.

In general, would you say that open dialogue is a big part of your platform?

Yes, with the administration. In all as­ pects.

Anything else that you’re especially going to promote?

I hope to foster a sense of community among the students. I feel like this year’s VP internal has done a fairly good job of catering to a small section of the student body, but I look forward to engaging with the smaller cultural groups on campus, the

faculty associations, working more with Athletics, and especially working with peo­ ple from Montreal that still live at home.

Tom has an excellent relationship with SPIN, his events planning committee, and that’s really crucial. But I think he’s stepped on the toes of faculty associations a few times.

Do you have any ideas for new events?

I want to make a permanent student art gallery happen somewhere on campus. I’d also like to do some off-campus events to engage the people that live at home.

How do you plan to engage students when your competition is Montreal?

By working with off-campus bars and organizing cultural events off campus.

What are your strengths?

I bring a lot of experience to the table, working on small events, working on large events, completely conceptualizing events on my own and making them happen, like AUS Charity Week.

I’m really good at damage control. I came into AUS Frosh right before it [ran a large deficit] and tried to minimize the damage, and also was an AUS exec, this year with our whole tax situation and fi­ nancial situation. I’m really good at nego­ tiating with the administration, and I think that’s something I bring to the table that the other candidates don’t.

As much as this is a job, I don’t see it as a nine to five thing. I see it as signing up to do this 24/7. If it means working 20-hour days, I will. I have an idea of the amount of dedication it takes.

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Frosh is going to be significantly different next year. How much do you know about the changes that have been proposed or have already gone through and do you support them?

I’m worried that the change of a Frosh leader is going to have an effect on people who want to volunteer because I know a lot of students who want to be a Frosh leader see it as a time for them to party as well. But I’m worried with “orientation leader” where you now have to take students to Discover McGill, it's going to lessen the effect that applying for a Frosh leader would have. I think that the VP internal has to stay strong in the ad­ vertisement [for Frosh leaders] and spin it in a way that will appeal to students and not let administration completely trample over Frosh.

A lot of people see VP internal as an event planner. What other aspects of the role would you focus on if elected?

I’m really intrigued by the political side. I know that the VP internal is known as being an apolitical position, but I’m a poli-sci major and eventually I want to go into politics, so I’m interested to learn the political aspect of it. Also, the communi­ cations aspect, I want to take “Get Ready McGill” to the next ievel for promoting SSMU events. I want to take that and hype it up to the extreme, making it a branded name, having it on Frosh cups, on tick­ ets, so that when people see the logo, they start relating it to amazing events.

Do you have any ideas for new events next year?

I really want to have a speaker series.

In high school Romeo Dallaire came and spoke to our school and that had the most profound effect on me. So I would really like to expand the variety of events that we have because it’s not all about the big epic parties, its about finding events that will reach out to all sorts of students on campus.

If you could be one type of mixed drink, what type would you be and why?

On my grad trip to Cancun, they had these drinks called the Superman. They looked like a rocket Popsicle. I would, say I would be the Superman because I could be a super hero to SSMU and help save all the events and I have different layers to me that combined make an amazing drink.

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As you know, there are going be — ■ some major changes happening to Frosh — * next year. How do you feel about these changes, how do you feel that they’ve _ been handled by Tom Fabian, the current VP Internal?

If they’re done correctly, which I feel j I could do, then they could be amazing. I ^ — think the new schedule is really great in that it really embraces student independence.

But I don’t think [Fabian] is being nearly as vocal or as involved in getting faculty societies involved in the decision-making.

He hasn’t formed an opinion or stood up for student independence, which I think is really important.

The VP Internal position is often criticized as being nothing more than party planner. Do you see the role as more than that?

I absolutely do. One major way that it is is that the VP internal should be there to represent clubs, societies, students on cam­ pus. One of my ideas is to get clubs more involved in the planning of events. Being there for support and promotion of studentrun initiatives is a major goal that is some­ times overlooked.

That being said, do you have an ideas for new events?

I don’t know if it would be possible to really coordinate this, but I would love to have the clubs and societies run ... a big field day. It would be sort of like Street Fest, but more interactive.

Another challenge often faced by the VP internal stems from McGill’s lo­ cation. How do you engage students in SSMU events when your competition is the city of Montreal?

I don’t see the city of Montreal as a competition, I see it as amazing, and you can work with that. Why not embrace [it] and spread more people into the commu­ nity?

If you had a hot tub time machine and could travel back to any time or place in history and high-five one person, who would it be and why?

Rosalind Franklin, the woman who got kind of screwed out of her Nobel Prize.

She’s helped [Francis Crick and James Watson] with [the discovery of] DNA. She was a scientist back in a day when there weren’t a lot of female scientists and she didn’t try and use her femininity to get help from people, she tried to really try to find facts on her own.

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It seems like there will be some big changes next year regarding tuition hikes, so what would be your big plan of action to fight them?

There are two parts to the strategy, one which is the more traditional lob­ bying set of things, meeting with MPs, presenting them with alternatives to tu­ ition increases, things that they can do to finance universities other than through shifting the financial burden towards stu­ dents. And number two is just getting the word on the street, informing students,

thinking about the impact that tuition in­ creases may have on them.

Other than lobbying, what would be your biggest goal for the QSR? Our strongest stance in on out-of­ province and international fees, that’s something that the Quebec Student Movement in general has been able to put aside partly because the majority of students in most Quebec universities pay Quebec tuition whether or not they’re in­ ternational, so that’s something I would like to work on. More generally I think QSR can expand its policy work with the federal government.

How would you engage McGill students in Quebec politics?

Something that past externals have done is sort of lay out the positions each political party has in relation to post sec­ ondary education, provision of flyers so people can read the facts and make up their minds, so providing that kind of information would be a priority if there would be an election. Otherwise beyond party politics, there’s a lot going on in Quebec in terms of social movements, and a lot of the time the problem is that

is doesn’t get translated into english both in terms of language and culturally, so I think a lot of my job would be to get people to know about the issues.

Another traditional role of the VP external is dealing with the MiltonParc community, and it seems as if every year the problems remain, would you adopt any new strategies?

Vis-à-vis the Milton-Parc com­ munity I don’t think there’s anything to change in terms of our relations with them, they’re pretty good, there’s this sense of community endeavor. I don’t think that the changes that have to hap­ pen are necessarily at the level of our in­ teraction with them, if anything it would be at the level of Frosh, often they feel that students are noisy. It’s not a question of inter-organizational relationships, it’s a question about sort of the culture that students have, and I wouldn’t be the one to change that.

If you were a cocktail what would it be?

I’d say a rusty nail because I’d like to think I’m tough as nails.

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What do you think would be the most important issues facing the VP UA next year?

One of them will be tuition for sure, it has been shown that tuition increases seem to be inevitable for this upcoming year, how­ ever as VP UA I will definitely take a very hard stand against tuition hikes, but at the same time I feel that it’s very important for the VP UA to have some tangible solutions to the inevitable, it’s more than just taking a stance, you actually have to do something about it which is why in my platform I re­ ally emphasize expanding the amount of scholarships and student aid, because fi­ nancial barriers shouldn’t be a reason why [students] don’t attend McGill. Students are paying you to do a job and we should be providing them with solutions.

The relationship between students and the administration is often charac­ terized by this dichotomy between adversarialism and cooperation, what would be your approach to the administration as VP UA? The administration will not want to work with students if they’re constantly try­

ing to take them down from the other side. I would be firm, but at the same time I would always listen to the other side, because it always takes two to tango, and ultimately the administration holds the upper hand in a lot of circumstances, and so in order for students’ voices to be heard and to be taken seriously we need to be very constructive and proactive, but firm at the same time.

What do you think VP has done well this year, and what would you do differ­ ently?

I have a very high perspective of VP Abaki because I feel that he has taken a strong stand on multiple issues and has ac­ complished them extremely well. I think what takes him apart from previous UAs is his ability to delegate well.

The only mechanism that I would do differently, is when you say consultation, you actually mean consultation, and as a VP UA it’s very difficult to have the time to do the things that you want to do, however a very big priority is not being out of touch with students.

How has your work with SSMU and other student organizations prepared you for the role of VP UA? First and foremost I’m in the inter­ faculty of Arts and Science so I think this has given me a very diverse perspective of the pros and cons of being in both Arts and Science. I’ve been involved in SSMU for many years being the speaker on Council [and] I feel that I can really conduct myself in a very impartial manner, and that I’m al­ ways open to listen to people’s opinion. So I know the SSMU from a very apolitical posi­ tion, but I also know it from a very political position as being the Science representative and it’s extremely important because in this position you need to have the experience of engaging yourself within politics.

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With regards to the administra­ tion people have adversarial rela­ tionships towards it or cooperative relations, where do you think your ap­ proach falls?

I think we have to be ourselves as student representatives but also a re­ source to the university to get informa­ tion into what students want. So it’s im­ portant to work with the administration at that level and make sure we provide the support they need in order to make sure that information is getting out. But also, it’s important to stand by SSMU’s principles and fight for them. It has to be item by item, and we have to respond to the student body.

What do you think would be the most important issues that you would be addressing next year?

Making sure that there is more open and accessible education, inside and out­ side of the classroom. Also, making sure that SSMU-administration relations are a lot more transparent and open, and that’s also working with the executive team making sure that we are a coher-

ent team, there are a lot of opportunities for the VP UA to work with every single other portfolio. Finally, it’s very much about creating a new culture of commu­ nity, and I think one of the most impor­ tant things is increasing the portion of international students, the services aren’t adequate for them, we need to make sure that there is enough support in terms of health services, mental health services, off-campus housing that’s affordable, and make sure that there’s affordable food on campus.

So I think it’s very much about creating a global community and these three ideas have to be implemented in sync. It has to be done together in order for it to be cohesive and substantial and to actually affect change.

How do you feel your work as eq­ uity commissioner has prepared you for taking on the responsibilities of the UA position, and why UA? I think what I’ve done as equity commissioner has kind of taught me a methodology which is extremely ap­ propriate for the UA, it’s about dealing with different issues, and looking at different perspectives and trying to put students first. As equity commissioner I have demonstrated that I have the ability to reach out to everyone. I think my ex­ perience definitely suits me in terms of dealing with different levels of student governance at McGill.

If you could go back in time and high five one person, who would it be?

Let’s go Canadian, Trudeau. I can high-five Trudeau, right after he did the pirouette, I could do that, that would be like badass.

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What experience do you bring to this position?

I feel that being funding coordinator is a privilege, because not only do I have administrative experience in the sense that I know the whole staff, and I know how the system inside the office works.

I've also gone to many Council meetings, which provides me with an idea of the by­ laws and the constitution What are your plans for the Book Bazaar?

The Book Bazaar is going online.

First, we're going to work with the online website. We'll probably start with just text­ books, it will be only inclusive to McGill students so we can create safe space.

Haven Books was unsuccessful, and I would never pull a stunt like that. I think you learn from your experiences, and it's

© o & a e ü ïf ü o o o What plans do you have for the Book Bazaar?

Definitely online, I think there were initiatives to start it this year, there’s definitely McGill classifieds but I don’t think it gets used enough, it’s not userfriendly enough. And that would be also a one time fixed cost instead of continually paying every year, you set up a website, and then it lasts forever.

What is your vision for Gert’s?

Depending on how much power I’m given or how much sway I have with council, I’d like to renovate it now. But if not, definitely keep up with the promo­ tions, so as much as I can do, I definitely don’t want to delegate the responsibility What experience do you think you away, and I think that’s unique to me.

How will you work to make sure bring into this position?

I’m currently doing work for the as­ that the investment decisions are made sistant director of finance here at McGill, by SSMU’s VP Finance are represent­ I’m doing research on IPOs. So people ed by the entire student body?

I’m not going to be investing a hun­ definitely trust my financial expertise, I understand financial statements, I did dred percent to the equities of something budgeting this summer for work. I did a like Goldman Sachs, to somebody who is lot of journal entries, low level accounting tearing up the rainforest, again I said I’m here to make money but definitely I’m this summer for a Winnipeg company.

I want to meet with all the heads of going to be working very closely with clubs and services at McGill just to go FERC and I’m bringing back the invest­ over their budgets, my position is defi­ ment advisor at Council.

If you were a mixed drink what nitely not apolitical, but I feel it’s more apolitical, so yes the Council site is ex­ would you be and why?

I like a gin and cranberry juice, be­ tremely important I realize that, but it’s more important to be able to deal with the cause cranberry juice is so innocent but 3.3 million dollars in a financially stable gin’s got a little bit of fun too so I think way and that’s crucial, we’re talking it’s a pleasant mix. about the sustainability of SSMU.

great to take initiative, but you need to know what works and what doesn't.

What's your vision for Gert’s?

Unfortunately, students are going to need to be patient. Gert’s renovations were supposed to take place this summer, but it's going to take place the following summer. I would continue the formula that VP Diaz and VP Drew initiated, which has generated revenue and attraction in terms of students coming into Gert’s. My main priority is to figure out who will be paying for the renovations.

Will funding suffer if we divest from unethical corporations?

I'm not saying we shouldn't have in­ vestments. If we do invest with someone or in a company, we can help each other out. We really need to revamp FERC. This has been lacking in terms of VP FoPs. We should also invest in smaller businesses and support them, because they're the backbone of our society. Investments are secondary, students are first.

How will you work to make sure any investment decisions SSMU makes will be representative of the whole stu­ dent body?

One of the things I want to do is make sure the FERC commissioner is on the ball, and also having more regular meet­ ings. The best way to do this is get Council involved, since they're elected to represent the student body.

If you were a mixed drink, what would you be?

Water, because next year, you need me.

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Why is it important that the VP clubs and services be an elected posi­ tion and not something like the interest group coordinator, who is an appointed administrator?

When you’re hired as IGC you kind of already have an idea of what you’re supposed to be doing and you fulfill a cer­ tain role, whereas with the VP clubs and services portfolio there are certain respon­ sibilities, but you can cater to all the needs of the clubs within your term of office. I think that’s going to be really important especially for next year, because I hope to implement a lot of changes that will better the whole system in general, because it’s a bit of a mess.

What are some of the issues that you’ve noticed this year and how would

you try and fix them?

A lot of clubs haven’t been active for a number of years, so it’s really wasting the resources that we have to offer clubs and services. I’ve been looking into the way a bunch of other universities in Can­ ada handle their clubs and services pro­ grams and a lot of them have been super successful because of the fact that they make clubs reapply every year. I think-this would be really beneficial for our system here at McGill because then we would be better able to help the clubs in growing and being successful on campus and we would not be wasting any resources on clubs that aren’t active at all.

The last two VPs of clubs and ser­ vices were both former interest group coordinators. How does your position as IGC prepare you for this role?

This is a big part of the difference be­ tween Carol and I. As IGC you learn thing that you can’t in any sort ofposition to pre­ pare you for VP clubs and services. You learn the inner workings of SSMU, you work with the people, you develop rela­ tionships with everyone in the office, you see how people within SSMU interact and how to go about certain things.

If you were a mixed drink, what would you be, and why?

AB-52. It’s a shot of Kahlua, Bailey’s, and Crown Royal. I think having those dif­ ferent layers .can be related to me.

I certainly see it as a positive experi­ ence to have had before coming into the position, but it’s not the only one and not every VP clubs and services. I come from that kind of outside perspective and I want to bring a fresh perspective to the bureau­ cracy of SSMU, which is sometimes really hard to deal with, and sometimes can seem really condescending.

What do you think makes you the best candidate for this position?

I really think I’d bring a fresh per­ spective to this position, something that hasn’t necessarily been there in the past if) years. And I don’t just throw around the < buzzwords—I’m not really a politician, I’m really running for this because I think X What do you think the VP clubs and I could do the best job in terms of anti-op­ Ll_ services relationship should be towards pression and environmental sustainability.

What if you and the incoming exec­ __ I independent student groups that aren’t utives had different ideas about the way clubs or services, such as QPIRG? things should be run (i.e. collectively The way I see it is that campus is a place for intellectual growth and intellec­ versus more hierarchical)?

I think it could be something that tual discussion and groups like QPIRG or could be discussed. The executive commit­ campus publications. Even though their tee isn’t a super hierarchical thing; deci­ not directly under SSMU, not directly sions are always kind of made collectively under the VP clubs and services, they still anyways.

But I would try to bring in my provide a service in the same way that a past experience with working with strictly club or service does and so their growth consensus based organizational model and should be developed and fostered in the may have to adapt it. same kind of way.

If you were a type of mixed drink, The last two VP clubs and services what would you be and why? were both the interest group coordina­ Something with whisky it in. It gets tors before coming into the position. Do you a more mellow drunk. you think it’s an advantage to be the IGC before coming into the position?

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O pinion we were in shorts and summer dresses, and we did it poolside or by Marko Djurdjic the ocean, but I was still compelled to act like somewhat of a decent 4 person. Clean-ups eventually hap­ m djurdjic@ m cgilltribui le rco rrw pened. Our room was kept in order.

And most importantly, we didn’t S p rin g break: terrorize the people around us.

Yes, we received a single noise w o o o !!! complaint. But, it’s almost inspir­ ing to hear a father of two say, in a Until about 5 a.m. on Satur­ wonderful British accent, “Totally day, February 19, I’d never seen not your fault, so don’t apologize. the ocean. I’d seen pictures of it, of The resort should have put you kids course, and I went to Cancun when I in your own building. You should was eight years old, but neither real­ be having fun. I’m a partier too!” ly counts. My apprehension towards That was pretty insightful, to say tropical places was amplified by the the least. hordes of inexcusable “douchebags” I realized during Reading I had heard populate such places. If Week that young people on vacation you’ve ever seen any sort of televi­ mostly act like young people. We sion program depicting spring break, are loud, obnoxious, full of alcohol you know what I’m talking about and buffet food, and we just want (lots of visors and light beer). The to have fun. We hopefully won’t be notion of Spring Break was always acting this way in 10 years, so this off-putting, simply because of these is our chance to be young and stu­ images that were conjured in my pid and go swimming (sans certain mind of reckless, annoying young garments) at 3 a.m. just because we people terrorizing eastern Mexico can. for a week, leaving nothing behind This seems like a very spoiled but spilled alcohol, bodily fluids, thing to say, but I’ve never been and regret in their wake. Dignity is able to go travelling or sunbath­ lost, and so is my lunch. ing before. For years now, I have But this past week, as a final worked intensely throughout the hurrah before the inevitable pain of summer months, and vacations were graduation, 19 of my best friends just not possible. I work to pay for and I went to the Dominican Re­ my education, and when I have an public. I was surprised to be met opportunity to see something I’ve not by the cast of the J e rse y Shore, never seen, to be somewhere I’ve but by hundreds of families, older never been, I’m going to take ad­ couples, and two very intoxicated, vantage of it. And I definitely did. very sloppy girls, among others, ca­ There were no wet t-shirt contests vorting on a beach. But what I found or Pepsi-sponsored events: it was most interesting of all was how my just a group of friends, in a warm group and I behaved: very much place, drinking fruity drinks and like university students. We played Brahma while trying to make the flip cup, went “clubbing,” and spent best of seven days removed from-ice as much time together as possible. and snow. And believe me, we did.

What I witnessed was not us de­ I recommend a Cancun vacation to stroying paradise, but simply doing everyone. what people our age would be doing Also, I went horseback riding. on any given party night. Granted, That was excellent.

Polarize Me

A response to th e critics In my last column, I ex­ pressed some of my thoughts on the Egyptian revolution. I was initially surprised by the com­ ments and letters which seemed primarily to be personal attacks on me, my religion, and my polit­ ical beliefs. But as I read through them, I also found many that were respectfully written and construc­ tively critical.

I did not intend to offend anyone and am sorry if anyone was hurt. I have taken many of

the criticisms seriously, but a lot of people took my words out of context, and the message I in­ tended to get across was not ac­ curately received.

I did make an error in a par­ ticular sentence, which I would like to correct: I said the “only” thing driving the revolution was food, but I should have said “one o f the many things” driving the revolution was food. The use of the word “food” was not meant to downplay other causes of Egyp­ tian unrest, but to emphasize the high level of poverty experienced by approximately 40 per cent of the population, and the low per­ centage of GDP growth—0.21 per cent, compared to 187 per cent in Jordan and 132 per cent in Algeria. Many people felt I had misunderstood the Egyptians’ demands by mentioning poverty as the central cause of the revo­

Li m k a ssel@ m cgilltribune.com

Fac e b o o k and w h a t it offers Every morning when I wake up, I reach down for my laptop, which sits beside my bed on the floor, and I check Facebook. I have already checked Facebook immedi­ ately before falling asleep—that’s why my laptop is so close. But as each day brings new possibilities, so I hope Facebook will, too. In reality, it does and it doesn’t. In Facebook’s domain, there's no horizon—the sun never sets.

I hate that I love Facebook. I crave attention, yet shy away from it at the same time. I covet notifica­ tions—little gifts, in my mind—yet I’m often embarrassed to receive them. If I could bring myself to do it, I would paint Facebook red. I would like every video, comment on every picture, join every group, play every game, attend every event.

Fortunately, I restrain myself. But really, what for?

Well, there’s my dignity. I do check Facebook every 12 seconds, but you won’t know it unless I leave a trace. But so much on Facebook is innocuous and boring. I think that’s the problem. I know I want more than that—something vague. But let me just look at my profile one more time to double check that it’s not there.

When the Egypt protests start­ ed, and so many commentators at­ tributed the revolt to Facebook, I felt sort of emasculated. “Wow,” I thought. What the hell have I been doing with Facebook all these years? Definitely not propelling

lution. I fully acknowledge that Egyptians were demanding dem­ ocratic and human rights as well as an increase in their poor living conditions; however, it would be naive to claim that food was not a primary motivating factor for many Egyptians. Abdel-Wanis, an Egyptian father of six, when asked what his reasons for supporting the revolution were was quoted in the National Post as saying, “For five years I have been looking for my day’s food, and finally I found people to stand with.”

Yes, I am Jewish, as some people kindly pointed out, but when I mentioned the region’s volatility I was not only referring to Israel. As protests have spread to more parts of the Middle East we have seen countries that have not be able to protest as Egyp­ tians did.

I did not intend to suggest

insurrection or fomenting unrest.

Could Facebook actually be cool now? Subversive?

Just in case, I joined “We Are All Khaled Said,” a Facebook group protesting police brutality in Egypt.

Wael Ghonim, an Internet activist who works for Google and who was detained for 11 days by the Egyptian police during the protests last month, supposedly created the group.

Now, I imagined, I was doing something, I was being active. But I was still doing it on Facebook. And it didn’t feel much different—or more exciting—than changing my profile picture. I was still in Montre­ al, going to class, taking notes, mak­ ing dinner, and the protests in Egypt were going on without me.

I’ve deleted my account about three times in the five years I’ve had it. But my furloughs have never been long—two weeks at most.

Leaving Facebook was as much an acknowledgement of its power as was checking it incessantly.

If everyone checks Facebook as often as I do—swallow your pride and nod—if everyone is as addicted as I am, then it’s not surprising that Facebook may have facilitated pro­ tests in the Middle East. As Nicho­ las Kristof wrote in the New York Times: “New technologies have lu­ bricated the mechanisms of revolt.”

I’d never considered Facebook a tool of empowerment because it embarrasses me that I have an ac­ count. I don’t know if I’ll ever get over that embarrassment because I can’t—I won’t—get off Facebook.

In my boring and un-heroic case, however, Facebook doesn’t re­ ally facilitate protests. It facilitates parties. I’ll probably enjoy life more if I attend one of the 16 events I’ve been invited to throughout the week.

And in the end, perhaps Facebook is an invitation to get off the computer.

But you have to have spent enough time on it to know that.

that Egyptians do not deserve de­ mocracy. I do not see Egyptians as different from me or anyone else. The point I was trying to make is that democracy is a very expensive and time-consuming process. The costs of implement­ ing a democratic system in a poverty-ridden country must be considered.

What was most misinterpret­ ed was why I believe Egyptians do not necessarily want a democracy.

While I was watching the news, I often saw Egyptians saying they wanted liberal rights, namely freedom of speech, press, and religion. I support liberal rights and certainly believe we should stand up for them, but democracy does not guarantee anybody those rights. Moreover, having multiple parties, free elections, and voting rights does not necessarily mean that liberal rights will develop in

Interested in photojournalism?

J o in o u r p h o t o g r a ­ p h e r s in c o v e r in g n e w s , a rts, s t u d e n t l i v in g a n d sp o r ts.

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s__________________> Egypt, or any other country.

I stated, quite controversially, that I do not believe democracy is a human right. I stand by that statement, though I don’t have the space to defend the idea here.

However, I do believe democracy is something a society may strive for. I think that, for now, Egyp­ tians should focus on obtaining liberal rights and better living conditions for everyone.

In my first column of the year, I said that I hope to have open dialogue with readers and to discuss new perspectives on issues we care about. I want to thank the readers who took time to write me thoughtful, respectful responses. I feel fortunate to have had the chance to hear different opinions and I hope we can con­ tinue this constructive dialogue and help bridge the gaps in our community.

T r ib u n e WWW.MCGILLTRIBUNE.COM

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E d ito r-in -C h ief Tori Crawford editor@mcgilltribune.com

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T h e T r ib u n e ’s r e f e r e n d u m e n d o r s e m e n t s

M a n a g in g E d ito rs Mookie Kideckel mkideckel @ mcgilltribune.com Theo Meyer tmeyer@iricgilltribune.com P ro d u c tio n M a n a g e r Iain Macdonald imacdonald@mcgilltribune.com S e n io r D esig n E d ito r Zoe Brewster zbrewster@mcgilltribune.com N ew s E d ito rs Matt Essert, Sean Wood and Maria Flores news@mcgilltribune.com O p in io n E d ito r Ricky Kreitner opinion@mcgilltribune.com F e a tu re s E d ito rs Alison Bailey features@mcgilltribune.com A rts & E n te rta in m e n t E d ito rs Brahna Siegelberg and Manisha AggarwalSchifellite arts@mcgilltribune.com S p o rts E d ito rs Sam Hunter and Walker Kitchens sports@mcgilltribune.com P h o to E d ito rs Holly Stewart and Alice Walker photo@mcgilltribune.com

Ambassador Fee Increase— YES This proposal would raise the "SSMU Ambassador Fee from $1.25 to $2.00. The opt-outable fee pro­ vides financial assistance for stu­ dents looking to attend or host aca­ demic conferences, competitions, or other events. Such activities improve the university experience for count­ less students and also help maintain McGill’s reputation, thereby benefit­ ing even students who do not person­ ally use the funds. That the current year’s fund has already been de­ pleted shows that students are actu­ ally using the money and that the ad­ ditional funds would be put to good use. The answer to this first question is a definite “yes.”

Midnight Kitchen Fee In­ crease—YES This referendum question would increase Midnight Kitchen’s fee from

D esig n E d ito r Kathleen Jolly design@mcgilltribune.com C opy E d ito r Kyle Carpenter A d v e rtisin g M a n a g e r Dallas Bentley cpm@ssmu.mcgill.ca P u b lis h e r Chad Ronalds

M e re p en arch y

Contributors L iya A dessky, R ebecca B abcock, M arko

d it o r ia l

D jurdjic,

N athaniel F inestone, M atthew K assel, E ric M a u s e r E lisa M uyl, N icholas P etrillo, G abe Pulver, Jonathan R osenbluth, Jon R ubenstein, A dam Sadinsky, A dam S cotti, M ira S. S harm a, K at S ieniuc, V icky T obianah, C h lo e Turner-B loom

Tribune Offices Editorial Shatner University Centre Suite 110, 3480 McTavish

It is a dark world out there. A state of war, each against each. You are all alone. It is mere penarchy.

Despite all our progress as a species, despite our eminent legal institutions and our many esteemed documents banning torture, pro­ tecting free speech, prohibiting the wearing of a fake moustache in church if it makes people laugh (Al­

$1.25 to $2.25 per semester. The student-run vegan food collective claims that the past year has brought increased turnout and therefore in­ creased demand; that the kitchen requires repairs and replacement of equipment; and that without this fee increase they will have to shut down.

Midnight Kitchen has also promised to use the increased funds to expand its catering services, especially to “anti-oppressive” groups. We hope that the collective will define this broadly. All SSMU clubs are man­ dated to be anti-oppressive, and as all students contribute to the pot they surely have equal rights to benefit from it. Notwithstanding that caveat, this fee increase is necessary, small, and in any case opt-outable. The Tri­ bune hopes it will pass.

Creation of a Fee for the McGill International Student Net­ work—NO

If passed, this motion would create a $0.50 opt-outable fee to fund the McGill International Student Network. While MISN certainly organizes fun events and provides valuable services for students new to Canada and McGill, we are con­ cerned about the lack of specificity contained in the question regarding what exactly the extra funds would be used for. The question claims that because MISN currently has to run its events at cost, this “seriously hampers its potential as a service for international students.” There are many student groups and clubs, how­ ever, who run events at cost. We fail to see why all students should subsi­ dize the group’s trips to Quebec City and elsewhere. All McGill services could benefit from additionaly fund­ ing; the question as proposed fails to demonstrate why MISN merits this fee above others.

This question would allow TVMcGill to charge an opt-outable fee of $0.10 per credit. TV McGill is an important service. It is the only avenue at McGill for students inter­ ested in video work to get experi­ ence filming and editing. It has also expanded its offerings this year, livestreaming events like the General Assembly and SSMU candidate de­ bates. We look forward to seeing it grow further in the future.

Referral Services Fee Renewal—YES This question would renew the fees for Queer McGill, Nightline, and the Union for Gender Empow­ erment. These are all indispensable services that provide needed facili­ ties to marginalized students. They are valuable destinations for student money.

abama), when it comes to possession of writing implements the only rule is that there are no rules. We are no better than the beasts.

The Trib office sucks up my pens. I come with three and leave with none. It is only a room, with four walls, and I imagine that if I’m losing pens it means someone else is gaining pens. I also know that whenever I see a pen lying around unguarded, especially if it’s a clickytop that is satisfyingly smooth, I take a quick scan around the room and go in for the kill. I feel like an early hominid stealing a rival’s woman when he is out on a hunt. I’m pre­ pared to defend myself with force, if necessary.

The banks have the right idea, as they so often do. Most chain

their pens to the counter, recogniz­ ing their value and wishing to avoid the lawlessness of the streets and the Tribune office. Thomas Hobbes, the political theorist who originally conceived the idea of an primordial, pre-legal state of nature as a state of war, and famously described life in it as “nasty, poor, brutish, and short,” saw very clearly what this means.

Responding to a hypothetical person unsympathetic to his description of the lawless state of nature, Hobbes wrote in Leviathan: “Let him there­ fore consider with himself ... when going to sleep he locks his doors; when even in his house he locks his chests.” Hobbes is unclear as to whether he believes these behaviours indicate that we are still to some ex­ tent living in a state of war. I wonder

whether he had any anxieties regard­ ing the security of his quill.

Showing up for class without a pen, especially at a school as com­ petitive as McGill, is like showing up for battle without your sword.

You ask a fellow to borrow his spare and he looks at you warily. He as­ sumes he will never see it again.

You promise he will. And then you forget—honestly, you tell yourself later. It totally escaped your mind.

A recent mass clean of the Tri­ bune office turned up scores of dusty pens, under couches and between cushions. I’m told this disproves my penarchy theory. I remaiq dubi­ ous. Pens are never found precisely where you left them. There are dark forces at work here, and they do not discriminate, clicky-top or no.

was terminating. This behaviour is repulsively inappropriate, as the cir­ cumstances of the pregnancy could have been traumatizing and this ac­ tion could be augmenting that terror.

Furthermore, doctors were required to tell these women that they would be ending the life of an unborn child, who is a unique individual. This is shocking. Women should be re­ spected and helped with whatever choice they make regarding their body, and their life, and absolutely no one should make them feel oth­ erwise.

The issue of abortion has sev­ eral different facets: women’s rights and men’s position with regards to this, religious opinions, and ethi­ cal approaches. Inquiries into what it means to be a conscious human being or how to define when life begins should be explored, but these are extensive, subjective philosophi­ cal debates. I will not touch on the religious issues; we live in diverse

countries and each person should be entitled to their own beliefs, but those beliefs should not necessarily extend beyond their religious com­ munities and affect everyone else.

Ultimately, I think the importance of women’s views regarding a pre­ dominantly females issue surpasses the religious and ethical concerns.

Women should be free to choose what to do with their own body and life; it is illogical and wrong to let men decide.

Given that men seem to domi­ nate most political positions of power, there is the obvious problem of whether the position of a pregnant 16-year-old can be understood by them. This young girl has her whole life ahead of her, and it would not be an easy choice to abort a baby, but it is reassuring to know the choice exists. Children bom when they are unwanted are unlikely to live suc­ cessful, happy lives. As the book F reakonom ics proved, there is a link

between legalizing abortion and a drop in crime in the United States.

This is because fewer children were bom into unpleasant environments and thus more children grew up with proper care and nurturing.

You try being pregnant, Mr. 55-year-old-state-representative, at the age of 16, losing your life as you know it, and consequently being forced to spend a vital time of your life looking after a kid you never wanted, not to mention what your family thinks, or what this would mean for the future of that kid. The effects on the young mother and her child are detrimental, and this is the most important thing to reflect on.

I hope other states do not follow North Dakota’s move, because that would be a sad step backwards for American society.

TVMcGill

Fee

Renewal—

YES

Montreal, QC H3A 1X9 T: 514.398.6789

Commentary

Advertising Brown Student Building

Chloe Turner-Bloom

Suite 1200, 3600 McTavish Montreal, QC H3A 1Y2 T: 514.398.6835 F: 514.398.7490

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There is something enormous­ ly wrong with older men having the power when it comes to state laws regarding abortion. This idea is per­ fectly clear considering the recent bill passed by the North Dakota House of Representatives.

One of the most disgusting as­ pects of this story is that while abor­ tion was legal at the one clinic that exists in North Dakota, laws were already in place compelling doctors to show pregnant women ultrasound images of their fetus with the goal of personalizing what the abortion

C h loe Turner-Bloom is a U2 p h ilo so p h y a n d p sy c h o lo g y student, a n d can b e rea ch ed a t chloe.tu rn erbloom @ m cgilltribu n e.com .

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B etw e en tw o w o rld s

Two weeks ago, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and American President Barack Obama announced new plans to streamline and facilitate trade across the bor­ ders of their two countries. While this type of movement may be new to businesses, it’s a familiar reality to those who live along the border.

Having lived my entire life in Sarnia, Ontario, a small city that borders Port Huron, Michigan, it’s still hard for me to conceptu­ alize the United States as a “for­ eign country.” There are a variety of ways most McGill students are probably familiar with Sarnia: they think it has something to do with an evil White Witch and a talking lion named Aslan, they’ve driven through it and over its bridges on their way to or from the U.S., or, most likely, they recognize it as Michael Moore’s familiar Canadian counterpoint in the films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko. We also had a brief stint as the “Kissing Capital of the World,” thanks to the Guinness Book of World Records, and the area is popularly known as “the chemical valley,” thanks to the profusion of chemical, oil, and gas refineries that form the bulk of the town’s economy.

If you’ve never spent time in a border community like Sarnia or Windsor, you might not realize how connected the two countries are. At the risk of sounding like an­ other high-school cheerleader from a borderland, I can literally see the United States from my house. You’d be hard pressed to find a child in any of the area schools, on both sides of the St. Clair River, who hasn’t asked their parents at some point why they had to drive over the bridge, when swimming across the 100 metre­ wide river would just make so much more sense. Many people commute from Ontario to Michigan for work, particularly nurses, varsity and club sports teams often compete against each other, babies are bom in Amer­ ican hospitals, and sick Americans come to Sarnia for care (as immor­ talized by Moore in Sicko). The Americans love our casino, and we love their cheap gas and alcohol. It’s a wonderful two-way relationship.

While Detroit may no longer be the booming Motor City it once was, it’s still home to five profes­ sional sports teams, major concert venues, great independent restau­ rants seriously lacking in small town Ontario, and a surprisingly impressive museum, the Detroit Institute of Arts. Most importantly, however, there’s Target. The reality is that shopping is simply better in the U.S., from food (mostly because of Trader Joe’s) to cheaper books.

With Detroit only 45 minutes away, compared to Toronto’s three hours, there’s very little reason for us to travel there.

Other than the shopping, one of the major benefits of living in a bor­ der community, on the Canadian side is the availability of radio and tele­ vision free from CRTC regulations.

This means when I go home I get to listen to classic rock other than the Tragically Hip and Rush, can avoid shows like Dan for Mayor, Heart­ land, and Intelligence, and most importantly, get to watch American Super Bowl commercials.

The biggest differences be­ tween the two countries are food and weapons. Stop at a McDonald’s only 20 minutes over the border, between Port Huron and Detroit, the heart of Michigan militia coun­ try, and you’ll find not only that an American medium coffee is the size of a Canadian extra large, and you can’t get milk, only cream, to go in it, but also a parking lot full of pickup trucks with gun racks in the beds.

In addition to culturally and socially, the southern Ontario bor­ derlands are more closely tied to Detroit than Toronto economically.

The heavy industry, oil refineries, rubber factories, and auto plants of the Samia-Windsor corridor are mirror images of the Rust Belt Mid­ west. These intimate ties, while great in the middle of the 20th century, are admittedly a problem today, with the Windsor-Samia area having the second worst unemployment rate in Ontario. Any economic recovery plans for the areas will necessarily have to be cross-border in focus and reach as well, recognizing the real­ ity of interconnectedness.

To my friend and fellow editor from “Toronto,” (read: Thornhill) who takes every opportunity to re­ mind me that, “there is no Ontario outside of the GTA,” I will say this: we don’t care about you either. To­ ronto may think it’s the centre of the world, but those in the borderlands of the province know that despite a tough economy, they still have the best of both worlds.

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T h e T r ib u n e P u lic a tio n S o c ie ty B o a rd o f D ir e c to rs is n o w a c c e p tin g E d i t o r - in - C h i e f a p p lic a tio n s fo r th e

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c o v e r le tte r d e ta ilin g y o u r in te re s t, a C V , a n d th r e e re le v a n t w r itin g o r d e s ig n s a m p le s a t th e T r ib u n e O f f i c e (S h a tn e r n o ) to th e a tte n tio n o f T P S C h a ir M a t t C h e s s e r . T h e d e a d lin e fo r a p p lic a tio n s is M a r c h

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The Trib une is calling for applications for th e 2 0 1 1 - 2 0 1 2 Editorial Board. The follow ing positions are open: M an ag in g Editor (2 ) Production M anager N ew s Editor (3 ) O p in io n Editor Features Editor (2 ) Arts & E n tertainm ent Editor (2 ) Sports Editor (2 ) Copy Editor O n lin e Editor Design Editor (3 ) S ub m it a cover letter, CV, and three relevant w riting, design, or photo sam ples addressed to Tori C raw ford, E ditor-in-C hief to e d ito r@ m c g illtrib u n e .c o m , or drop o ff a copy in th e Trib une O ffice, S hatner n o . A pplications are due M arch 2 1 at 5 :0 0 p.m .

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J o i n p r o g r a m b e n e fic ia rie s a n d A m b a s s a d o r s fo r a n in s p irin g e v e n in g & le a rn m o r e a b o u t R i g h t T o P la y !

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After w atch in g last w e e k ’s debates, in erv iew in g each candidate, and rigorous debate, the McGill Tribune Editorial Board hum bly presen ts our sixth annual SSMU election endorsem ents. T his year’s election differs from past years in that all but one of th e p ositions is contested. This m ean s that stu dents have a real choice. We hope you w ill keep our en dorsem ents and our argum ents in m ind w h en voting, but u ltim ately it’s up to you. Vote o n lin e at h ttp s://o v s.ssm u .m c g ill.ca / or at any of the p ollin g stations listed on page seven .

Polls clo se Friday, M arch 11, at 5:00 p.m .

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P R E S ID E N T

After much deliberation, the Tribune endorses Cathal RooneyCéspedes for the position of Students’ Society president. Although we were divided on the decision, the majority of the editorial board ultimately believes he will be most effective in implement­ ing needed changes within SSMU. He is a candidate that understands the limi­ tations of both the role of the president and SSMU as a whole.

Between coordinating Frosh, his long-time involvement with Model UN, and his role as speaker of Council, Rooney-Céspedes has been involved in many different aspects of McGill stu­ dent life. This will allow him to bring various perspectives to his position. As speaker, he has gained valuable knowl­ edge of process and procedure.

One of the most promising items on Rooney-Céspedes’ platform is his position on communication. Campus politics too often devolves into petti­ ness, with individuals attacking each other and failing to compromise. As an articulate pragmatist, Rooney-Cés­ pedes will ensure the SSMU isn’t dis­ tracted by divisive ideological issues.

If next year’s president can encourage collegial debate they will be making significant progress towards changing SSMU’s culture for the better.

The president’s main role is over­ seeing their executives. To lead a group of often strong-willed people, the presi­ dent must be willing to negotiate and compromise. Some of us are slightly concerned that Rooney-Céspedes can come off as cold and condescending.

We hope he is able to project an ap­ proachable persona to his fellow exec­ utives, councillors, and constituents, as this is key for a SSMU president.

Maggie Knight has extensive SSMU experience. She has consis­ tently demonstrated that she is a natu­ ral leader, with an impressive ability to get things done. She exhibits admirable

commitment and dedication to every­ thing she becomes involved with.

Yet we are worried that some of Knight’s goals will continue to bog SSMU down in the culture of unrep­ resentative politics and indecisiveness that have fmstrated us for so long.

Students have shown themselves to be alienated by hostile GAs, overly bureaucratic politics, and student lead­ ers who condescendingly dismiss non­ political interests as “apathy.” Knight is well-intentioned, but many of her solutions have already been tried with little success. She is devoted to large amounts of consultation, prolonged dis­ cussion on the GA, and new measures to bring students into SSMU politics.

This type of approach appeals to some students, but they are already involved.

The biggest barrier to entering SSMU politics is not systemic exclusion but lack of interest. Rooney-Céspedes has shown a keener awareness of this, and more willingness to try innovative means of enhancing student life. This, after all, must be the goal of any SSMU executive, whether through discussion forums or social events. It’s impossible to say whether or not he will be able to engage the interest—at the risk of sounding a little Nixon—of McGill’s silent majority. We do know, however, that the old approach is ineffective; a new vision is at least worth a try.

Although the SSMU president is limited in what they can accomplish in relation to the McGill administration, we believe that Rooney-Céspedes’ ne­ gotiation style and approach will be the most effective. Professor Mendelson is articulate and intelligent and has little patience for antagonism or unrealistic demands. We have faith in both can­ didates’ rationality. But Rooney-Cés­ pedes’ demonstrated impatience for nonsense at council and his articulated commitment to collaboration and dis­ carding the traditional us-versus-them approach to the administration gives us confidence that he has the best chance of having even a limited impact.

One area where Knight is more experienced, knowledgeable, and has articulated a more concrete plan, is in sustainability. We hope that if elected, Rooney-Céspedes will look to imple­ ment some of these ideas.

Ultimately, next year’s SSMU president must be able to lead a team of executives, repair the tone of campus debate, and negotiate with the adminis­ tration. Knight is certainly experienced and competent, but in these areas, Rooney-Céspedes has the edge.

E X T E R N A L

Tuition is going to be a huge issue next year, and Joël Pedneault will be a strong per­ son to have at the helm as VP external. We hope that he will take multiple viewpoints into account and keep his strategies grounded in serious research, but his experience and the way he has presented himself this campaign period give us confidence in his ability to ef­ fectively lead the external portfolio.

Pedneault’s primary challenge next year will be trying to keep tuition fees down in the face of an end to the current freeze. These may as much as double over the next few years, and Pedneault has pledged to lobby against tuition hikes for Quebec, out of province, and even international students. This would be a diffi­ cult task for anybody, and a Quebec govern­ ment set in its ways, with university and busi­

S fm V P

ness leaders onside, will be extremely difficult to sway. Pedneault may have the best shot at success, however. He has spent the past year working with the QSR and has a solid under­ standing of its workings. He also understands SSMU, thanks to his experience as a council­ lor. He has been involved in research and has pledged to conduct more, is interested in try­ ing to ease barriers for Anglophone entry into the Quebec student movement, and wants to pursue a strategy that includes presenting real alternatives to tuition hikes to provincial leg­ islators. He is well-spoken in both official lan­ guages and should be able to inspire the confi­ dence of students and the administration.

That tuition will still rise is a likely out­ come, so we hope that Pedneault will leave time to focus on his other promises. The reduced fare transit pass for all students, increased col­ laboration with community groups, and every­ day work as part of the SSMU executive are all endeavours we would like to see. One of Sebastien Ronderos-Morgan’s strengths as VP external was engaging students in events and trips that were not just about tuition, like a bus to protests outside the climate change negotia­ tions in Ottawa. Though Myriam Zaidi has not run many of these trips, they would be good things for Pedneault to bring back.

Joël Pedneault has a good track record and a well thought out vision. We encourage you to vote yes and wish him luck as VP ex­ ternal next year.

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F IN A N C E

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Shyam Patel is the ideal can­ didate in this year’s election for VP finance and operations. Patel, the current SSMU funding coordi­ nator, has the requisite background and expertise to make a successful VP finance, which is perhaps one

O P E R A T IO N S

of the most difficult portfolios in SSMU. In his current position Patel has worked extensively with this year’s VP finance, Nick Drew, and has lain solid groundwork for a tenure as VP. Any frequent visi­ tors to the SSMU office know that Patel is a ubiquitous presence. He is a diligent, committed, and orga­ nized worker.

Patel seeks this position fully aware of the challenges involved, and he is refreshingly honest about what it will take for the Society to meet them. Regarding the renova­ tion of Gert’s, Patel urges students to be patient and to recognize that working with the university is a painfully slow but necessary pro­ cess. He is also worried about who will pay for the summer 2012’s Gert’s renovations, since only half of the cost is currently accounted for.

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We have Inil both Lauren Hu do an exceptional affairs next yearl that Hudak’s wid| and record of groups will make fective représente administration.

Both candie strong platforms, in increasing stuc ing commitment ing times for nol McGill health s Hudak are both d accessibility. W^ more emphasis < hikes, their platft create more work prove student aid, uate participatior

Patel is similarly honest about the slow process involved in turn­ ing the SSMU Book Bazaar into a solely online endeavour. The idea is to create a “safe space” in which students can sell anything they want, furniture as well as books.

His pledge to never get bogged down in anything similar to the failed Haven Books demonstrates an ability to learn from the mis­ takes of his predecessors.

A major part of the VP finance portfolio is dealing with SSMU’s investments and managing them in a simultaneously shrewd and ethical manner. Patel is profes­ sional and knowledgeable, and has repeatedly articulated his commit­ ment to ethical investments. His plans to redirect some of the soci­ ety’s investments from larger, po­ tentially problematic corporations to smaller businesses are laudable, as is his desire to revamp the Fi­ nancial Ethics Research Commit­ tee (FERC).

One of Patel’s more interest­ ing proposals is to make the posi­ tion of VP finance more visible on the SSMU political landscape. He

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aith in the ability of and Emily Clare to job as VP university Ultimately, we feel range of experience trking with diverse ter SSMU’s most efive to the university \

ites have similarly They are interested ent services, includto decrease waitiriously backlogged ervices. Clare and evoted to increasing *e Clare has placed on fighting tuition irms both pledge to study positions, inl­ and raise undergradin research. Each

u d a k A F F A IR S

has unique aspects as well. Clare, for instance, wants to institute more halfyear French classes and make campus food more affordable. Hudak pledges to fight for more student representa­ tion on the Athletics Board and smaller class sizes.

It is good to see that Hudak and Clare are both capable of setting con­ crete goals, but even the most phe­ nomenal UA vision must be tempered against the goals of five fellow execu­ tives, the results of much-promised consultation, and the agenda of an often stubborn administration. More important than platform, then, is how we can expect candidates to handle committee meetings, negotiations with the administration, Senate, and any other unexpected issues. Their respec­ tive past experiences are all we have to go on in assessing them on those issues.

Again, both inspire faith. Clare has been a devoted and hard-working equity commissioner, even if the Tri­ bune has taken issue with aspects of the new equity policy. She is friendly, affable, professional, and uninterested in engaging in fruitless adversarial politics with the administration. Her consistent attendance at Council meet­ ings this year and her demonstrated commitment to working with faculty associations indicate that she is famil­ iar with SSMU’s workings and inter­ ested in learning. Clare would make a fine VP university affairs.

Hudak, though, stands out even more. She is also personable and pro­

s to get more involved in the ing of clubs and services, and ds to meet with clubs to ex­ operations and how they can Jert's to their advantage. Patel as his first priority streamlinhe funding of clubs, in the f that the Society’s profits * go o benefit its own conive groups.

Patel’s opponent, Stefan rpetz, inspires less confi; than Patel. His last minute into the race and paucity of is promotional material con■iharply with Patel’s constant ing and grounded campaign dais. Prokopetz also lacks ’s intimate knowledge of U, which is necessary for osition. Especially given the tetition, the learning curve 'rokopetz may simply be too Drew has done an able job ing the society into a profitand ethical future. Shyam is the best imaginable candito receive that legacy and to rue moving forward.

fessional. In addition to being the cur­ rent SUS representative to Council, she is the Engineering Undergraduate Society speaker of council and was the SSMU speaker last year. She has therefore been present for nearly every piece of SSMU legislation passed in the last two years, and knows SSMU politics inside and out. She was also one of the most active councillors this year. She served on a number of com­ mittees and contributed to the craft­ ing of important resolutions like the boycott of McGill Food and Dining Services in the wake of the Arch Café closure. She demonstrated a consistent willingness to work beyond ideologi­ cal bounds, rarely providing a predict­ able stance and showing an ability to gain the respect of a wide spectrum of fellow councillors. As an Arts and Sci­ ence student who knows EUS policy, she also brings a strong understanding of a broad array of student life to the table, and can more than any other can­ didate claim to be a representative of SSMU’s members. While her support of a motion to have students vote on defunding QPIRG that was later ruled out of order might have been a mis­ step, the Daily’s assertion that it dem­ onstrates a “complete misunderstand­ ing of the powers of SSMU” is grossly hyperbolic. Few councillors can claim to have never erred; fewer councillors can claim as much intimate knowledge of SSMU as Lauren Hudak.

Both are excellent candidates.

However, Hudak’s pragmatic ap­ proach may be the most promising for dealing with significant issues. When it comes to who would be the best face for students at Senate, with the admin­ istration, and in committees, we vote for Hudak.

T û d d V P

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Both candidates for the VP clubs and services position are well-qualified and dem­ onstrate the necessary requirements for the position. Ultimately, however, we have more confidence in Monika Fabian, and endorse her for the role.

Fabian spent the past year as SSMU in­ terest groups coordinator, a position that has traditionally, though not always, been a use­ ful stepping-stone to VP clubs and services.

While being IGC does not necessarily mean a candidate will make a capable VP, Fabian has demonstrated good time-management skills and strong commitment to the job. She has worked intimately with many clubs and services at McGill and is well aware of the diversity of their respective needs. She has a broad sense of what comprises the often dis­ parate elements of the McGill community, and has worked extremely hard to promote a sense of school spirit that can be embraced by all. A Fabian vice-presidency would steer the clubs and services portfolio in a less po­ liticized and more unifying direction, an approach the Tribune believes appeals to a broader base of students and would therefore be more successful.

er

IN T E R N A L

The Tribune’s endorsement for Students’ Society Vice President inter­ nal goes to Todd Plummer. Plummer’s varied experience and connections, strong platform, and ability to commu­ nicate and negotiate effectively make him the strongest candidate for the in­ ternal position.

Plummer’s platform is tangible and practical, as well as innovative. In ad­

C L U B S

dition to plans to revive a high-profile guest speaker event and an end-of-year concert, Plummer’s ideas for a perma­ nent student art gallery and a “DUST­ ED” event to bring Montrealers into SSMU life are all excellent and realis­ tic.

Importantly, Plummer plans to build on relationships between SSMU and the various faculty associations.

This is a significant role for SSMU, and particularly for the VP internal, but has occasionally been overlooked. With his experience on one of McGill’s largest faculty associations, the AUS, Plummer is well-poised to effectively undertake such a project.

By far the biggest challenge facing next year’s VP internal will be imple­ menting the major changes to Frosh, now called Orientation Week. This will require a careful balance between nego­ tiating with administrators and advocat­ ing for students’ interests. In his role on the AUS executive, Plummer has

S E R V IC E S

Fabian’s most interesting proposal is to mandate that all SSMU groups reapply for club status every year, in order to avoid in­ active groups sapping financial resources.

While the motivation behind this idea is sound, we are concerned that if implemented, it will cause unncessary bureaucratic confu­ sion for new club executives. Fabian also wants to run a club executive training session every year to strengthen ties between clubs and SSMU. This would be a significant step towards eliminating the inevitable challenges of turnover and institutional memory faced by almost all club executives. We look for­ ward to seeing this proposal in action.

Carol Fraser, who is involved with Mid­ night Kitchen, believes her direct experience with a SSMU service will allow her to bring a unique perspective to the portfolio. She also hopes to import some of Midnight Kitchen’s collectivist principles to the SSMU executive, which, she admits, already operates largely non-hierarchically.

We find Fraser’s direct club experience appealing, however, she is less qualified for this specific position. She lacks a familiarity with many aspects of campus life that charac­ terize Fabian’s campaign. Fraser admitedlly has more experience with political groups at McGill, but Fabian has more diverse experi­ ence. In addition, since the VP clubs and ser­ vices often has to deal with divisive political issues, for example the Choose Life saga, it is important that they remain objective in their interactions with these clubs. We are confi­ dent that if such an issue arises, Fabian will strike a fair and unbiased position.

Fraser emphasizes correctly that it is important for the VP clubs and services to be approachable and not abrasive. We were disappointed at Fabian’s slightly condescend­ ing tone to her opponent in their debate, and hope she will be more accessible to club ex­ ecutives.

already interacted with many of these This, along with Plummer’s concrete, administrators, and we are confident he innovative new ideas, as well as his ex­ will be a forceful yet reasonable voice perience on an executive that has over­ come significant challenges, makes him for student concerns.

Plummer has seen the AUS go stand out.

Candidates Christina Sfeir and through one of the toughest years on record for a faculty organization at Natalie Talmi have experience and McGill. He has been an integral mem­ good ideas. They are familiar with event ber of an executive that has taken every planning through their work on Orien­ challenge in stride and responded im­ tation changes and SSPN, respectively. pressively. Plummer has also been con­ Talmi’s plans to include clubs in SSMU sistently open and accessible to the stu­ events and Sfeir’s interest in bring­ dent press. With this experience under ing in political speakers are both com­ his belt, Plummer is well-prepared to mendable. But neither candidate has the handle any of the challenges or conflicts broad experience possessed by Plumthat he will inevitably face as a SSMU *mer and Paterson. Ultimately, Plummer probably has the best ability to engage executive.

Candidate Kady Paterson, with her a diverse community in a wide array of experience on SSMU Council, work in events.

In a school not traditionally known the First Year Office, membership in SSPN, active participation in this year’s for its spirit, current VP Internal Tom process of negotiating changes to Frosh, Fabian has made significant strides, and experience with one of the school’s particularly through building ties to smaller and often overlooked faculties, McGill Athletics, a process . initiated Education, is also highly qualified and by 2008-2009 VP internal and former would likely do an excellent job in the Tribune editor Julia Webster. We hope position. We are concerned however, Plummer will continue these efforts, that she is the only candidate for inter­ as they provide important benefits to nal who failed to mention the impor­ SSMU, Athletics, and the broad McGill tance of sustainability in her platform. community.

S tudent L iving GIZMOS & GADGETS

W h y a b c i2

3

S im p le p a s s w o r d in g , t h e w a y t o g o By lain Macdonald Production m anager

If you’ve used the Gawker media service in the last year or so, you’re probably aware of the massive account information leak that occurred in late 2010. In this security breach, the user database, containing 1.3 million users, was leaked. This breach shows that even huge sites with millions of users aren’t safe from simple hacking techniques. Furthermore, these sites don’t always use simple techniques like password salting, proper hash algorithms, and good Internet secu­ rity practices to protect themselves and their users. However, Gawker’s experience provides a lesson to users regarding Internet password security measures.

The user account database dump contained information for 1.3 million users, just over 8,000 of which had crackable passwords. Re­ sults of the password crack showed that about four per cent of users were using one of the passwords: 123456, p a ssw o rd , 1 2 3 45678, life-

or q w erty. Also high on the list of common passwords were number sequences, words, and names. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Strong passwords are characterized primar­ ily by their uniqueness, so you won’t find a lot of other users using this password. However, this leak dem­ hack,

C C

is a s t r o n g p a s s w o r d onstrates that many Gawker users are vulnerable due to their use of weak passwords; or, perhaps, that Gawker users are actually so secure they’re using simple passwords like 1 23456.

Consider a security-savvy In­ ternet user. She has two or three very strong passwords. Because of the uniqueness and length of these passwords, she can only remember three. She reuses the same three passwords for all of her online ac­ counts, from email to Facebook to online banking. Now, in a password leak, one of her passwords is made publicly available. Additionally, her e-mail address is associated with the leaked account. Unfortunately, she uses the same password for her email as for the leaked account. Now her e-mail is exposed to anyone who wants to take a look. Furthermore, in her e-mail are her bank statements, which contain enough information to determine her account numbers.

In another unfortunate mishap, she is using the same password for her online bank account as email.

Now, despite taking proper security measures, the user has be­ come an easy target for identity theft as a result of the account leak.

In contrast to this, some Inter­ net users divide their online accounts into two tiers: high priority and low priority. For high priority accounts, like e-mail, online banking, and

a m p u s a l e n d a r

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F myMcGill, the user uses one of a few strong passwords. However, for low priority accounts, like Gawker, Twit­ ter, and other things of that nature, the user opts for a dummy password.

Now, in the same leak, this user has had his news-site account compro­ mised, but because he is using a dif­ ferent, stronger password for his email, his important accounts are still safe. By using dummy passwords for accounts which she doesn’t care about, the user has made her online life more secure.

Simple passwording can be taken to the next level by creating a different e-mail address linked to low priority accounts, so security breaches relating to these accounts don’t reveal any important user in­ formation. This also has the desir­ able side effect of quarantining spam mail to another e-mail account.

While it is not likely that the tens of thousands of Gawker users with weak passwords are employ­ ing this tiered approach to online account management, there’s actu­ ally a valid reason to use seemingly foolish passwords. For sensitive ac­ counts, secure passwords should be always used. A password’s security is a function of length, mix of capital and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. However, in some cases, a b c l2 3 might actually be the most secure password of all.

W ednesday T h u r s d a y Baseball and Race in Canada: The Case of Jackie Robinson 3 p.m.

Leacock, Room 232

Srping has Sprung 8:30 p.m. -12 a.m.

Les Trois Minots 3812 St. Laurent

John H. Thompson, a history professor from Duke University, is lecturing about baseball and race in Canada with a case study of the first Black Major League Baseball player in North America.

The Red Herring and McGill Improv have as­ sembled a night of stand up comedy, live bands, and, of corse, improv. Come have a beer and a laugh at Les Trois Minots this Thursday.

Tickets are $5.

F r id a y

F r id a y

Freaky Friday: Hematopathy—What is it with blood sucking?

5 p.m.

Redpath Museum Auditorium

SSMU election period ends 5:30 p.m.

Online at ovs.ssmu.mcgill.ca

Learn about the blood sucking habits and lifestyles of mosquitos, leeches, lam­ preys and some humans with Professor Murray Humphries.

Followed by a viewing of In­

Vote for your favourite SSMU candidates until 5:30 p.m. this friday. Read up on the Tribune’s and the Daily’s endorsements to get informed, then go to Gerts to hear the re­ sults!

te rv ie w w ith a Vampire.

1__________________________ ____

1

c a i * r o % - z u e c h m i b re w e r

By Manisha Aggarwal-Schifellite À& E Editor

This zucchini-carrot bread uses the healthiness of vegetables to create a guilt-free alternative to your average brownie. Quick and easy to make using any fruit and nuts you have lying around, it’s easy to tweak the recipe for a range of dietary restrictions. The best part is that the veggies make it accept­ able to eat for breakfast, especially with some jam. Happy snacking!

Ingredients: • 2 eggs or 5 tbsp egg whites • Slightly less than 1/2 cup of olive oil • 1 cup brown sugar or 1/2 cup agave syrup • T medium-sized zucchini, grated 9 1 large carrot, grated • Splash of vanilla extract • 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour

1.

(slightly more if you use agave) • 1/2 tsp baking soda

• • • • • •

1/2 tsp baking powder 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 tsp salt Chopped almonds Dried cranberries Chocolate chips

Directions: • Preheat the oven to 350 de­ grees Fahrenheit.

• Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking pan with olive oil or cook­ ing spray.

• In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and gradually add the oil, sugar/agave, vanilla, carrot, and zucchini.

• In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking pow­ der, cinnamon, and salt. Stir this into the egg mixture until just com­ bined.

• Add chocolate chips, almonds, and cranberries (add as much or as

(Miranda Whist/McGill Tribune) little of each as you want).

• Pour the batter into the greased pan and bake for approximately 20 minutes. Ensure the bread is cooked

through by inserting a skewer in the centre of the pan. When it comes out clean, the bread is done.

For a vegan alternative, mix 2

tbsp of ground flax seed and 6 tbsp of water. Let the mixture thicken and add in place of eggs. (Adapted from Smitten Kitchen).

J

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

1

5

HOWTO

H o w t o r e a r c h ild r e n D o n ’t g e t k n o c k e d

By Matt Essert

u p , b u t i f y o u d o , h e r e ’s w h a t t o d o

__________

diabetes.

N ew s Editor

You might think it’s a bit early to start thinking about rearing chil­ dren, but it’s not. Kids are every­ where and need to be dealt with in the right way. If you make a mistake raising a child, you are effectively giving the middle finger to the fu­ ture, and that’s just kind of rude.

So, we have assembled some basic things to keep in mind when groom­ ing the future of humankind.

Candy Candy will make your kid fat.

Do you really want a fat kid? If your kid gets fat, then they won’t have any friends and they won’t get a job and they’ll die. Do you really want a dead kid? So, to make sure they don’t eat candy, here’s what you do. Forbid your child from ever eating candy ... except on Hallow­ een night. On Halloween, take your child out trick-or-treating and let them collect all the candy they want.

But then, specify to your child that he or she needs to finish it all before midnight or you will have to destroy what is left over so that the ghouls of Hallows’ Eve past don’t come and eat your child’s face (make sure you tell this to them to make them extraterrified). Then, the kid will eat so much that they’ll probably get sick and vomit everywhere. At this point, you can tell the child that they’re probably allergic to candy and they should never eat it again. Now, you don’t have to worry about Type II

Awards Never let your child have an award unless they win something.

Too many participation awards are given out to young kids. This is a stupid idea. It makes them compla­ cent. No wonder this country never wins anything in sports. If your child is given some sort of participa­ tion award, you should take it away from them and smash it in front of them. This will build their character so they learn not to take shit from nobody. Along the same lines, you should make everything a compe­ tition. This will encourage them to get better at things and make them more awesome as they get older. If you have multiple kids, make them compete against each other for your affection and promise to only love the winner. This will make them try extra hard and will also teach them that nothing is free, especially love and affection.

Lying Lie to your children when you see fit. For example, tell them a fork is actually called a “spoon.” This will confuse them and entertain you to no end. Furthermore, they will be so confused over basic utensils that they will have to discover new ways to eat food, which would be awe­ some. Imagine eating soup with a knife ... badass, right? Also, if you lie to them and they figure out you’re lying, then you know that your kid isn’t a total idiot and you can then

be sure that you will send them to school instead of having them work on your farm as a chicken shepherd.

Apathy You should try to be relatively apathetic about your kids. When they’re teenagers, they’ll be apathet­ ic about everything, so you might as well get ahead of them by a few years. Let your kids do whatever they want. Tell everyone you are fol­ lowing a trendy new parenting style, approved by Oprah, called “free range children.” They literally don’t have to do anything they don’t want to do. Don't want to go to school?

Fine. Their choice. Want to wear their Halloween costume to school in December? Sounds good. Not only will this reinforce their sense of entrepreneurship and creativity, it will also teach them that keeping it real is the most important skill they can ever learn. Furthermore, when your kid gets mocked for wearing a Halloween costume to school in De­ cember (which they will), you can a) Tell them you told them so, which will be fun for you, and b) Teach them how to fight back, either ver­ bally, physically, or both. If you later get called into the principal’s office because your kid was “defending himself’ in the schoolyard by mak­ ing fun of other kids, just tell the principal to stop being such a nerd, or you’re going to give him a swirly in the toilet. At this point it doesn’t matter what other adults think of your kid ... your kid is going to be so ace.

The M cG ill Tribune Literature Week 1) Write a story that’s less than 1 0 0 words, or 2) Write a story that’s longer than 1 , 0 0 0 words.

The best stories will be published in the March 2 2 , 2 0 1 1 issue. Runners-up will be published online at mcgilltribune.com. Send your submissions to editor@mcgilltribune.com before March 17 , SOU, at 1 1 :5 9 p.m. Late entries will not be eccepted. See on­ line for details.

G r a d u a te a n d P o st-G r a d u a te d S c h o la r s h ip s r e la t e d w i t h H y b r id S p y d e r v e h ic le d e v e lo p m e n t p r o g r a m C e n tre d e te c h n o lo g ie s a v a n c é e s B R P -U n iv e rsité d e S h e rb ro o k e (CTA) o ffers G r a d u a te a n d PostG ra d u a te d S ch o larsh ip s re la ­ te d w ith H y b rid S p y d e r V e h ic le d e v e lo p m e n t p r o g r a m . O f f e ­ red pro jects a re re a liz e d w ith in m u ltid isc ip lin a ry te am s, in c lu d in g professors fro m U n ive rsité d e S h e rb ro o k e a lo n g w ith te c h n ic ia n s a n d e n g in e e rs fro m B o m b a rd ie r R e cre a ­ tiv e P ro d u cts (BRP) a n d th e y le ad to fu n c tio n a l p ro to typ e s b u ild in g .

C T A is a c tu a lly se e k in g fo r t o p -le v e l c a n d id a te s in M e c h a n ic a l a n d E le ctrica l E n g in e e rin g to ta c k le e ith e r M aster, D o c to ra te o r P o s t-d o c to ra te p ro je cts a sso cia te d w ith h y b rid -p r o p u ls io n t e c h n o lo g ie s : • A e r o d y n a m ic s • H eat M anagem ent • M e c h a n ic a ls /M e c h a tr o n ic s • E le c tric a l/E le c tr o n ic C o n tro l • S tru c tu re s a n d M a te r ia ls

W e b C T q u o t a t io n o f t h e w e e k

In te re ste d c a n d id a te s a re re q u e ste d to se n d a m o tiv a tio n le tte r a n d re su m e a lo n g w ith t h e ir scho o l m arks b u lle tin at th e fo llo w in g a d d re ss : D ire c to r - U n iv e rsity affairs C e n tr e d e t e c h n o lo g ie s a v a n c é e s 3 0 0 0 , b o u l. d e l'U n iv e rsité S h e rb ro o k e J 1 K 0 A 5 in fo @ C T A -B R P -U d e S .c o m

Deadline : April 1st, 2011 for programs starting on June 2011 Relevant candidates only will be selected for interviews. CTA offers a dynamic and stimulating workplace featuring hi-tech equipments in an outstanding living envi­ ronment. CTA is committed to the principle of employment equity. While remaining sensitive to the issue of fair and equitable treatment for all, we will seek to establish a workplace representative of the people we serve by implementing employment equity policies and procedures.

For more information visit us at http://www.cta-brp-udes.com/en/msc-and-phd-programs.html

A & E FILM

H e ’s ju s t a s m a ll t o w n b o y , liv in g in a lo n e ly w o r ld Ed H e lm s

m a k e s h i s l e a d i n g d e b u t in q u ir k y , s c r e w b a l l c o m e d y , C e d a r R a p id s

By Theo Meyer M anaging Editor

In C e d a r R a p id s , Tim Lippe (Ed Helms), a small town insurance salesman with a heart of gold, is the picture of Midwestern naiveté—a man, as his boss says, who was going places and then never did.

He’s never flown on a plane before, doesn’t drink, and wears a sweater vest over a turtleneck when he goes out at night. So when his boss sends him to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for a re­ gional insurance convention, it’s a monumental challenge.

This premise, of course, is pretty familiar. As most viewers will probably guess, Lippe fates temp­ tations in the big city and returns home triumphant. But Miguel Arteta, the film’s director, keeps C e d a r R apids quirky enough to make it somehow seem fresh. Lippe car­ ries butterscotch candies around in his pocket, but he’s also sleeping with his recently divorced gradeschool teacher (Sigourney Weaver, in a marvelous bit of casting). He’s only sent to the conference when the co-worker who’s supposed to go, a closeted sexual deviant, accidentally strangles himself with a belt.

Cedar Rapids is Ed Helms’s first leading role, and he holds the slightly screwball comedy together.

Like Owen Wilson and Hugh Grant, Ed Helms tends to play variations of Ed Helms no matter the role; his character in C e d a r R a p id s echoes his roles in The H a n g o ver and on The Office. As Lippe, though, Helms

Tim and his motley crew let loose in Miguel Arteta’s latest comedy, (keepthisthought.blogspot.com) takes his willfully innocent demean­ or to a new level. His lines—“I’ll dream of you in my heart,” he tells Weaver’s character on the phone— are painfully earnest, but he man­ ages to pull them off.

Upon arriving in Cedar Rap­ ids, Lippe befriends three confer­ ence veterans, and the character actors who portray them make the movie worth seeing. John C. Reilly plays Dean Ziegler—“Deansie,” as he prefers to be called—a boorish drunkard ostracized by the confer­

P W in n in g the M e ltd ow n Cam e

Charlie Sheen has been a tab­ loid staple for most of his adult life.

Between his numerous arrests, failed relationships, and well-documented addictions, the actor has provided the media with endless fodder. It’s a miracle Sheen has had any time for his actual profession.

Two a n d a H a lf M en appeared to be Sheen’s saving grace. When he landed the role of Charlie on the half-hour sitcom approximately eight years ago, Sheen reinvented himself as a marketable entity who could successfully carry a show and relate to the everyman. He remar­ ried twice, had more children, and stayed out of trouble for a reason­

able amount of time—especially by his standards.

And yet, as is often the case with former addicts, Sheen has gone off the deep end once again, doing a complete 180 in a matter of months.

He changed from a divorced family man into embattled party animal. His recent escapades include vacations and a 36-hour cocaine binge with multiple pom stars and one of his equally troubled ex-wives. He has also publicly said that he hopes his children ask him about his drug use so he can tell them some “epic” sto­ ries. Apparently, his years off drugs and alcohol were too “boring,” Two a n d a H a lf M en creator Chuck Lorre is a “bullshit TV persona,” and he is on “a drug called Charlie Sheen.”

He has also spouted various antiSemitic remarks about Lorre. This past week, production on Two a n d a

ence’s Bible-thumping leadership.

Isiah Whitlock Jr. backs him up as Ronald Wilkes (“The Ronimal”), a mild-mannered Black insurance salesman who, as he tells everyone he meets, enjoys community theatre and HBO’s The Wire.

Along with Joan OstrowskiFox (Anne Heche), a mother of two who lets loose once a year in Cedar Rapids, the two men try to coax Lippe out of his shell. His responses are often just weird enough to be hilarious; when the trio urges Lippe

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J f f i e

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it’s a shock when Deansie asks if he’s been “eatin’ the canned tuna from the bottom shelf.” The insur­ ance convention itself turns out be a something of a snake pit, with scheming factions and backroom deals. “Now you see how dark this place is,” Deansie tells Lippe as the convention comes to a close. Like so many lines in the movie, you get the sense that he’s only half-joking.

r i c

was shut down in response to Sheen’s actions, specifically his multiple public jabs at the top man­ agement at his network and the show itself. Sheen has subsequently been given multiple opportunities to voice his deluded opinions in mul­ tiple press outlets such as TMZ and ABC. And lest we forget the power of social media—he now has a very active Twitter account.

Sheen's behaviour can be ulti­ mately summed up as highly inap­ propriate. His wild, unpredictable actions are no longer just material for the media but a terrible example for his children. What will they think when they are old enough to hear and read about his exploits? What does his eldest from a previous marriage think? Can his children truly rely on him as a father?

Sheen’s recent behaviour has H a lf M en

to join them in a round of shots, he orders an ounce and a half of sherry.

The jokes don’t aim too high—at one point, a drunken Deansie puts a brass garbage can lid on his head and mimes R2-D2—but Reilly and Heche are talented enough to pull them off with panache.

Ultimately, C edar R a p id s works because of its odd juxtaposi­ tion of screwball comedy and scenes that are serious, innocent and, at times, bitter. Lippe is sweet enough to Ostrowski-Fox, for instance, that

also resulted in extensive job losses for those who worked on his show.

He has cost his fellow colleagues their jobs, at least temporarily, with the future of the show hanging in the balance. Multiple news sources claim it’s all for the greater good.

Had Sheen really had grounds for his nasty comments about his employ­ ers, it would have been advisable to settle them quietly and with lawyers rather than hashing it all out in the media, resulting in an inevitable backlash from the hand that fed him (and frankly, paid him exceedingly over-the-top amounts of money).

Once again, Sheen has failed to see that his actions have consequences for more than just himself.

And what of the media, which has allowed him to wreak havoc with his words and provided a public venue to view photos and videos of

his antics? While this is another ar­ ticle in and of itself, it’s worth men­ tioning, however briefly, that the media have served once again as en­ ablers, provocateurs, and exploiters of a man who is clearly unhinged.

In Sheen’s defence, there’s no doubt the man needs help, both of the therapeutic and the rehabilitation variety, and is thus not completely responsible for all of his actions. So if there’s any reason to refrain from fully holding him accountable, it’s the fact that he is likely not in his best frame of mind at the moment.

Charlie Sheen is turning into a parody of himself and probably won’t have much time before his current situation becomes less of a media fascination and more of a total and utter tragedy.

—L iya A dessky

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

1

7

MUSIC

Les J u p e s a r e in v o g u e t h is y e a r W in n ip eg band

str ik es o u t o n

a n a t i o n a l t o u r in s u p p o r t o f t h e i r d e b u t a l b u m , M o d e m

By Manisha Aggawal-Schifellite A&E Editor The most recent brainchild of Winnipeg musician Michael Petkau Falk has been a long time coming.

His band, Les Jupes, recently fin­ ished an album almost two years in progress. Petkau Falk has been part of the process of making M odern M yth s since the beginning, writing the first set of tracks in late 2008 and starting the recording process in February 2009.

“It’s been a long time in the making,” he says. “I’m a big be­ liever in music as an open-ended process ... [and] I wanted to make sure we did it right.”

After a long two years, the cur­ rent lineup of Les Jupes—which has only been in existence for three months—is taking M odern M yth s on the road with dates in Ontario, Que­ bec, and Eastern Canada. “[Touring] allows us to grow and evolve,” says Petkau Falk “Our live show is mostly faithful to the re­ cord, but we’re doing things better; we’ve added things and taken things

Les |upes demonstarte their no-frills style, (killbeatmusic.com) out for the shows. Musically, it’s a refinement process.”

Petkau Falk is particularly ex­ cited about playing in Montreal, cit­ ing the city’s influence on M odern M yths. “The record was sort of bom in Montreal,” he says. Montreal pro­ ducer Marcus Paquin, known for his work with Arcade Fire, produced the album, and Petkau Falk returned to Montreal to mix it. “While it’s most­ ly a Winnipeg record, it’s got a lot of Montreal in it as well,” he says.

The result is a thoughtful and

introspective album set around the common theme of “people trying to deal with their shit, figure them­ selves out, and get past hurdles in their lives—hurdles that are mostly self-inflicted,” says Petkau Falk.

This loose theme covers the major­ ity of the tracks, including a charac­ ter study of former USSR President Nikita Khruschev as one of those “who has to please and appear a certain way ... but they could just explode.”

Although this record is more

collaborative, Petkau Falk has left his mark on every aspect of its sound. “For the most part, I’ll write the structure of the song and give it an emotional directidn,” he says. “I know the mood I want the song to take, but sometimes I’m open to see where the song wants to go.” Other tracks on the album showcase some of this flexibility and collaboration between Petkau Falk and the rest of the band.

Lyrically, Petkau Falk points to another common trope in the album's lyrics. “It’s a tough love record,” he says. “Just get over yourself al­ ready.” When discussing the band’s tour schedule, Petkau Falk’s “get over yourself’ approach is readily apparent. Les Jupes are playing both Canadian Music Week and South by Southwest this year, and, according to Petkau Falk, the difference be­ tween them is clear.

“At CMW, everyone is trying to prove how cool they are, espe­ cially because there are so many industry people there,” he says. “At SXSW, it’s more of a big party. It’s very celebratory, and it’s a lot more

M y th s

fun, even though there are industry people there. People don’t seem to worry about it as much.” With these and many other shows ahead, Petkau Falk is excited to get back on the road, especially with the band’s cur­ rent lineup. “We’re old hat at touring now, but the beauty of it this time is touring with people who are more fun than ever before.”

Petkau Falk’s overall approach to making and performing music seems to follow this line of thought.

“I’m just the middle man for these songs,” he says. “They come through me, but I’m not ultimately responsi­ ble for how they live their lives. The environment for the songs is impor­ tant for what the songs want to be.”

While some artists would have given up on the exhaustive process of making M odern M yth s, Petkau Falk shows that sometimes, it’s OK to let go and let things happen, es­ pecially when the result is this suc­ cessful.

L es Jupes p la y le C a g ib i on M arch 10 a t 8 p.m .

FILM

C a n y o u “ a d ju s t ” y o u r fa te ?

N o l f i ’s f i l m f a i l s t o a n s w e r i t s o w n

By Mira S. Sharma____________ Contributor Despite the saying “You can’t judge a book by its cover,” it is still possible to tell something about a movie from its poster. The poster for George Nolfi’s directorial debut, The A dju stm en t B ureau features a woman in a red dress holding on to the hand of man in a suit running away from towering shadows of men in hats, creating a Hitchcockian vibe that gave some hope that this was going to be a film noir romantic sci-fi thriller. Unfortunately, appear­ ances can be deceiving.

The A dju stm en t Bureau is the latest film based on the works of science fiction wizard Philip K. Dick, best known for his stories that fashioned film heavyweights, B lade R unner and M in ority R eport. Nolfi was a screenwriter for films such as O c e a n ’s T w elve and The B orne U l­ tim atum , but his latest project falls flat. The A dju stm en t B ureau ’s narra­ tive is excruciatingly slow and fails to go anywhere.

Matt Damon stars as smiley­ faced New York politician David Norris who is the favourite to win a seat in the United States Senate.

However, when his bad boy past

ex isten tia l q u e s t io n s

catches up to him, he drops behind in the polls and loses the race. David runs into the men’s bathroom to prac­ tice his “comeback” speech when he bumps into Elise, played by Emily Blunt. Sparks immediately fly, and they kiss. After the encounter, David gives the speech of his life.

After a couple of months, David starts a new job at a law firm and runs into Elise again and gets her phone number, this time on the bus.However, when he gets into work he sees that things are not nor­ mal. David suddenly finds a group of men in 1950s-style outfits doing strange psychological tricks to his unwitting speechwriter’s head. He tries to escape from the group, called the G-Men, but the men catch up and quickly capture him.

These G-Men are led by Rich­ ardson, played by M a d M e n ’s John Slattery. Richardson explains that they are employees of the “Ad­ justment Bureau,” set to carry out plans determined by the mysterious “Chairman.” He tells David not to tell anyone what he has seen, oth­ erwise they will “reset” his brain.

David must fight the agents of fate in order to save his life and be with Elise, whom the G-Men have for­ bade from seeing him.

The main problem with the film is that it only scratches the surface of the philosophical musings it at­ tempts to impose on its audience. Do we have free will or is it something we have to fight for? Is there a high­ er force that determines the path of our lives? In thie film, Nolfi seems unable to answer his own questions.

And when we think we are about to see something interesting, like David’s and Elise’s plan to find the Chairman, Nolfi instead provides a dry explanation and a tasteless end­ ing before we are allowed to reflect on the situation.

However dull the narrative, Damon reminds us that he can play more than just brooding action he­ roes. Blunt plays a stereotypical free-willed spunky woman. Her per­ formance fizzles, however, in a sec­ ondary role without great dialogue.

So, is The A dju stm en t Bureau science fiction or romance? It’s nei­ ther. It turns out that Nolfi’s mindpuzzle is no puzzle at all and can be chalked up to a lacklustre story with only two interesting chase scenes that might provoke a few seconds of thrill.

if you’re sick o f charts, write for arts: arts@ m cgilltribune.com

Seville une filia le de entertainm ent one

Invites you to a special advanced screening W ed nesd a y, M a r c h 16th at 7 p m A M C F o ru m 22

To participate, email "Lincoln Lawyer" in the subject line to: cpm@ssmu.mcgill.ca Deadline to enter is March 14th at 5pm.

Only winners will be contacted by email.

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1 C D

8 MUSIC

R e v ie w s

F u n k a n d g o r illa c o s tu m e s V a n c o u v e r ’s F i v e A l a r m

F u nk h e a ts u p th e C a n a d ia n w in ter

By Holly Stewart Photo Editor

Lupe Fiasco: Lasers Controversy broke out after Lupe Fiasco admitted via Twitter that he is experiencing creative dif­ ferences with his record label, who asked him privately not to “rap too deep” on his latest album. Lupe may have taken this advice to heart, or he might be preparing himself for a dis­ appointing release. Either way, his third album, L asers clearly isn’t his best. Despite the growing popularity of introspective rappers like B.o.B, Kid Cudi, and Drake, there’s plenty of room in hip-hop for Lupe Fiasco to make a statement. But instead, he raps primarily about the burdens of success and the state of American politics.

The middle of the album is filled with catchy club songs fu­ eled by strong hooks and solid guest appearances by Trey Songz and MDMA. Some might call this a su­ perficial sell-out, but a break from Lupe’s socially conscious rapping is long overdue.

As for the political raps, Lupe just couldn’t help himself. On “Words I Never Said,” “State Run Radio,” and “All Black Everything,” he goes after some of the most obvi­ ous targets imaginable: Fox News, George Bush, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, etc. Thinking this ma­ terial would be edgy and original was a big miscalculation.

By the end of “Lasers,” the deep tracks sound lazy and listeners get the impression that he made the club tracks only to appease his label.

I’d take a catchy pop song over trite political rap any day, but Lupe and his fans seem to think otherwise and the end result is just confusing.

—N ich o la s P etrillo

Eisley: The Valley Indie darlings Eisley’s third full-length album, The Valley makes no bones about its subject matter.

Reportedly inspired by singer Sherri DuPree’s split from Chad Gilbert, of emo band New Found Glory, the album pulls out all the stops and vo­ calists Sherri and Stacy DuPree don’t hold back when it comes to saying what they think. Backed by the rest of the band, two other Dupree sib­ lings and a cousin, Stacy and Sherri pound out their angriest lyrics yet, tempered by beautiful harmonies and nuanced musical arrangements.

The songs have great emotional and musical range that display the con­ stant changes in sadness, fury, and contemplation that come with heart­ ache and personal turmoil. Nowhere is this more evident than on “Better Love,” with a hardrock edge and vocal crescendos that effectively showcase Sherri’s emotional lyr­ ics. More stripped-down tracks, like “I Wish” and “Kind,” continue to show the range of musical and lyri­ cal depth of the record, but The Val­ le y ’s, real standout songs are Sherri’s despair-filled anthems, “Watch it Die” bring out the rawness in Sher­ ri’s lyrics, and shine when coupled with Stacy’s harmonies and angry guitar. “Smarter” stings with lyrics like “So put your hands together and clap for/ The painful choice you've made 'cause it's right.” Eisley has been consistently under-hyped since their debut, 2005’s R oom N o ises, but The Valley proves that pretty voices have something to say, and the Du­ Pree family knows how to bring the message home.

—M anisha A ggarw al-S ch ifellite

Since embarking on a national tour, Vancouver’s Five Alarm Funk are discovering the real meaning of a Canadian winter. Even with the first few stops of their tour in frigid Sas­ katchewan, the intensity of their live performances hasn't cooled.

“I say that Five Alarm -Funk is an omni-musical, multi-sensical experience, where we’re going to give many kinds of music and we’re also going to see a big visual assault, we’ve got lots of choreography, lots of jumping around,” says saxophone player Dameian Walsh.

According to Walsh, the music playing in their tour van has includ­ ed Frank Zappa, gangster rap, James Brown, and gypsy music, just to name a few.

The array of sounds, beats, and personalities isn’t lost on the stage.

It’s likely that a band member will don a gorilla costume at some point in the night, although it was rel­ egated to the washing machine for a brief period. “It got a little too funky for us for a while,” says Walsh.

Unfortunately, the band’s shark costume was damaged during the first part of the tour, so there won’t be anymore silver-backed gorilla versus great white shark wrestling matches. But according to Walsh, this doesn’t mean the show won’t be a wild time.

“We aim to see the audience getting down really hard. We want to have a great time going on where you can lose yourself in the dance and the sweat of the moment,” he says.

The band’s costumes are a reference to A nything Is P o s s ib le ’s tongue-in-cheek album cover,a sketch of a gorilla and a shark en­ gaged in a toothy battle. Walsh ex­ plains that their drummer inspired the art as well as the name of the album.

“Tao was imagining the fiercest

No lack of spunk for this to-person funk band, (audiobloodmusic.com) thing he could get tattooed on him­ self,” he says. “He figured if he had a silver-backed gorilla tattooed on his chest being attacked by a great white shark coming over his shoul­ der then it would be one of those real fierce combinations of beasts. It turned into a joke that went around the band for a month ... that’s how we got the name for the album, and that’s how we had our attitude in making the album. We could get the sound that we wanted because any­ thing is possible.”

It’s remarkable that these ten individuals can get together in the studio, with all their different back­ grounds and sounds, and make music as complex yet cohesive as the tracks on A nything Is P o ssib le.

The songwriting process begins when one band member brings in a riff or a beat that inspires the rest of the group to build on it, coming up with the different horn, percus­ sion and guitar parts. Then all 10

band members work on getting the song ready for recording. “We call it trimming the fat,” says Walsh. "We take a jam and turn it into a fully ar­ ranged song.”

The band is planning some more dates in and around Vancouver this April, followed by a few shows in the U.S., which means their next album probably won’t be released until 2012 at the earliest. This will give them time to introduce more people to the music on A nything Is P o ssib le.

“That’s how we spread the word about Five Alarm Funk, through word of mouth,” says Walsh. “When people come to see our show and they have a great time, they go tell their friends.”

F ive A larm Funk p la y s a t The B elm on t on M arch 15 a t 8 :3 0 p.m .

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----------------- S ports---------------HOCKEY—GAME ONE: MCGILL 5 UQTR 3, GAME TWO: MCGILL ^ UQTR 6, GAME THREE: MCGILL 6 UQTR 1

R e d m e n r a lly f r o m c r u s h in g d e f e a t t o t a k e r u b b e r m a tc h M cG ill fin is h e s s e a s o n

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record at M cC o n n ell A ren a a s th ey a d v a n c e to

By Walker Kitchens and Adam Sadinsky______________ Sports Editor and Contributor Earn a berth in the CIS Na­ tional Championships: check. Take out a bitter rival: check. Finish the season perfect at home: check. The McGill Redmen ticked all of these things off their to-do list for the 2010-2011 season this past week as they defeated the UQTR Patriotes two games to one in the OUA East­ ern Conference final.

GAME ONE Despite dominating the first 20 minutes of game one in the Eastern Conference final, the McGill Red­ men found themselves deadlocked in a scoreless tie against the UQTR Patriotes. The second-ranked Red­ men had outshot the Patriots 15-5 but were unable to find the back of the net. Instead of panicking, McGill, who led the nation in scor­ ing this season, remained composed and rallied for a 5-3 victory as five different players scored Wednesday night at McConnell Arena.

“We knew that we were taking it to them fin the first period] and we had our chances,” said Redmen cap­ tain Evan Vossen. “And we knew if we just kept working eventually [the goals] were going to come. No one got frustrated, we knew with our skill and speed we were going to get one.”

That turned out to be the case as the McGill power play went threefor-four and dominated the final 40 minutes. With 12 minutes to go in the second, Redmen forward Guil­ laume Doucet made a great play as he drove wide on the left wing and drew a hooking penalty. With the man advantage, McGill made no mistake as Francis Verreault-Paul batted a loose puck out of the air and into the net at the 9:25 mark of the second period.

Five minutes later McGill drew another penalty, this time for high sticking. Again the Red­ men calmly converted as Simon Marcotte-Legare tipped a point shot past Patriot goalie Jean-Christophe Blanchard.

With a minute to go in the sec­ ond, UQTR was able to answer with a goal of their own, but the Redmen remained poised as they entered the third period. Just two minutes into the final period McGill again found themselves on the power play. They set up their offence quickly and Marc-Andre Dorion found Andrew Wright with a beautiful slap pass to give McGill their third goal with the extra skater and a 3-1 lead.

Wright, who now has five goals in these playoffs, credited the suc­ cessful power play to aggressive

A solid team effort in games one and three spurred the Redmen to victory. (Adam Scotti / McGill Tribune) play.

“We just up the tempo when we go onto the power play,” he said. “A lot of teams drop down a notch when they go onto the power play. We just move the puck quick, get hard shots and get after the rebounds. We pick up the pace rather than backing down.”

Just 21 seconds after Wright’s goal, Maxime Langelier-Parent scored what was to be the game win­ ner on a wrap around that fooled Blanchard. The game looked all but over at 4-1, but UQTR scored two

they got a few opportunities and they went in—it wasn’t like they started taking the play to us.”

“They scored but we controlled the third period,” echoed Vossen.

“They scored a couple but we kept our composure—we knew that the last few minutes were going to be tough, they were going to throw everything they had at us, but we handled it pretty well.”

The victory improved McGill’s record to 34-3-3 on the season and a perfect 20-0-0 at McConnell Arena.

The 34th victory tied the Redmen’s

(Adam Scotti / McGill Tribune) goals in two minutes to cut the defi­ cit to one goal with five minutes to play. The Redmen remained com­ posed and confident despite the Pa­ triot rally. UQTR struggled to mount any sort of attack to close the game and with 17 seconds to go CIS scor­ ing champion Alex Picard-Hooper scored an empty-netter to ice the win.

“Our game plan did not change [after the two UQTR goals],” said Redmen Head Coach Kelly Nobes.

“Our effort level did not change,

single season record for most wins.

It was a night in which the score was much closer than the game itself as McGill controlled from the start and outshot UQTR 42-18.

“I thought we played a good game tonight,” said Nobes. “I thought we played a full 60 minutes.

We created a lot of offensive oppor­ tunities. I thought our discipline was good. We were moving our feet all night, which is why we had a good 60-minute effort. [And] our power play was real good.”

GAME THREE On Sunday night the Redmen cruised to a decisive 6-1 victory in the OUA Eastern Conference final rubber match over the UQTR Patri­ otes. In front of a raucous McCon­ nell Arena crowd, the Redmen put the finishing touches on a 21-0 home season in a game they led for the last 53 minutes. Six different play­ ers scored for McGill, who will now travel to London to take on the West­ ern Mustangs and play for a second straight OUA Queen’s Cup title.

After a crushing 6-1 defeat to the Patriotes in game two at the Colisée de Trois-Rivières, the Redmen were determined to avenge their loss and send their provincial rivals packing.

Hubert Morin, who allowed five of the six goals on Friday, put the rare bad game behind him and stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced in the series-deciding game.

“Friday was tough, it’s all con­ fidence,” said Morin, a junior from St. Georges de Beauce, Quebec.

“Coach talked to me and told me not to worry about it, just come back stronger. Tonight it was either end the season or play two more weeks of hockey. I can’t live without hock­ ey so I wasn’t nervous tonight at all, just excited. The crowd was there and loud, they brought us energy and we were all over them all night.”

McGill got on the board early when captain Evan Vossen took a pass from Simon Marcotte-Légaré and slipped the puck past UQTR goalie Jean-Christophe Blanchard.

The goal quieted the sizeable contin­ gent of Patriotes fans who travelled from Trois-Rivières and shut down the early UQTR momentum, which they would never recapture.

“We wanted to set the tempo of the game and spend time in the offensive zone by getting the puck deep, cycling it along the wall and getting it to the net,” said McGill Head Coach Kelly Nobes. “We

N a tio n a ls

played a full 60 minutes tonight.”

After outshooting the Patriotes 14-5 in the first period, McGill wast­ ed no time in the second, as FrancisVerreault Paul notched his sixth goal of the playoffs just 59 seconds into the frame.

Special teams were the differ­ ence on Sunday night as McGill capitalized on three of their eight powerplays while the Patriotes failed to convert on any of their five opportunities. The Redmen would score the first of their three power play goals after Andrew Wright was robbed point blank on a two-on-one with Alexandre Picard-Hooper who found a wide open Marc-André Dorion to make the score 3-1. “This was one of our best games of the season,” said Dorion, “We’ve been working hard on special teams all season and it makes a big difference in the playoffs.”

Guillaume Doucet, Christophe Longpré-Poirier, and Marcotte Légaré all added goals for McGill, who would outshoot the Patriotes 47-25 in a game that was never in doubt.

Félix Petit scored the lone goal for UQTR, whose season comes to a disappointing end after having qualified for Nationals last year. The game ended with a scare as secondyear Redmen forward Jean-François Boisvert was slashed on the calf by UQTR’s Guillaume Chicoine, who received a five-minute major for his apparent cheapshot. When asked in the locker room after the game what he would have said to Chicoice, Boisvert answered like a true fighter: “I’d say nothing. He’s going home and I’m still playing hockey.”

McGill will keep playing hock­ ey for the next two weeks and will try to improve on last year’s Uni­ versity Cup performance in which they finished at the bottom of their three team pool. “The mentality of the team is different,” said Dorion.

“We don’t want to just win, we want to go all the way and be the first McGill hockey team to win the Na­ tional Championship. It’s been 130some years now and I want to break that history and make it all the way.”

Dorion’s hopes for success on the national stage were echoed by Coach Nobes who made very clear what the team’s goal will be when they get to Fredericton: “We’re going to win.”

The Redmen will now battle the Mustangs for the Queen’s Cup at 7 p.m. on Saturday night in London.

After that, they’ll make the long trip to Fredericton for the 2011 Caven­ dish University Cup that will run from March 24-27 and will feature the representatives from Quebec, Ontario, and Western and Atlantic Canada.

Curiosity Delivers, www.mcgilltribune.com

2

1

HOCKEY—GAME ONE: MCGILL 4 MONTREAL i, GAME TWO: MCGILL 8 MONTREAL 1

M a r t le t s w in s ix th c o n s e c u tiv e Q U H L c h a m p io n s h ip M cG ill o u t s c o r e s

M o n t r e a l 1 2 - 2 in t w o g a m e s w e e p ;

L a b o n t e s h u t s t h e d o o r w h i l e H ill l i g h t s t h e l a m p

By Rebecca Babcock Contributor The McGill Martlets are champi­ ons of Quebec once again. The top ranked Martlets continued to utterly dominate their provincial opponents as they captured their sixth con­ secutive Quebec University Hock­ ey League championship this past week. McGill swept the Montreal Carabins with wins on Thursday and Friday night to extend their confer­ ence winning streak to an amazing 105 victories.

GAME ONE On Thursday, McGill won the first game of the series at home against an overwhelmed Montreal squad. There were some ups and downs for the Martlets, but a strong overall team effort led to a convinc­ ing 4-1 win.

“We have to play simple, stick to the basics, try not to do anything ourselves, [make] no individual plays, and play as a team—that’s when we play our best,” said fifthyear forward Caroline Hill who scored two goals in the game.

Both teams were obviously excited for playoffs to begin as the first period began with speed and intensity from both sides. The Mar­ tlets’ skills were on display early as accurate passing, great puck control, and an offence that was both calm and strategic led to a dominant first period in which the Carabins were

Martlets winning like Charlie Sheen. (Elisha Lerner / McGill Tribune) outshot 11-3.

For the first 15 minutes of the game the Martlets managed to gen­ erate numerous scoring chances but were unable to find the back of the net. But with McGill continuing to keep the pressure on the Montreal defence and with the Carabins clear­ ly not posing an offensive threat, Montreal was forced into taking multiple penalties near the end of the period.

The Martlets were finally able to score on Montreal’s third consec­ utive penalty, a tripping call. With three and a half minutes to go in the first, there was a scurry in front of

the net and Caroline Hill was able to slip the puck past Carabins goalie Rachel Ouellette. Ann-Sophie Bettez and captain Cathy Chartrand were awarded assists on the goal.

McGill again dominated in the second period as Montreal gener­ ated little offence and barely seemed able to clear the puck. The few good shots the Carabins were able to take were turned aside by McGill goalie Charline Labonte. With eight min­ utes to go, Montreal received an­ other penalty for tripping. A minute into the power play a great offensive push by McGill led to Bettez find­ ing the back of the net to make the

score 2-0.

The beginning of the third pe­ riod also started off well for McGill.

Only five minutes into the frame, Hill scored her second goal of the game making the score 3-0. Howev­ er, the Martlets got into penalty trou­ ble late in the period. McGill was reduced to three skaters and with the two man advantage Montreal finally found the back of the net, cutting the McGill lead to 3-1.

Montreal appeared emboldened by the goal and pushed hard to tie the game. In the last few minutes, the Carabins pulled their goalie to give them a sixth attacker. The extra skater was still no match for the Martlets, who held off the Montreal attack. The extra player also didn’t prevent Chartrand from scoring with 38 seconds left in the game to make the final score 4-1 for McGill.

Head Coach Peter Smith cred­ ited the victory to a solid team effort for the entire game “We had a lot of energy and a lot of get up and go,” he said. “I think the beauty of our team is that we have a whole group of players who work hard and focus.”

G A M E TW O With a 1-0 lead in the series, the Martlets remained focused and hum­ ble as the next night they played the second game of the series in Mon­ treal’s arena “We worked hard all week in preparation so we were able to stick

to our plan to work hard around their net,” said Chartrand after the game one victory. “But tomorrow is anoth­ er day and we need to build on it. We don’t want to be overconfident.”

On Friday, McGill continued to build on their momentum from the previous night as they cruised to a 8-1 victory against the Carabins.

The Carabins opened the scoring and led 1-0 but the Martlets were quick to answer. Jordana Peroff scored the first McGill goal on a power play with assists from Leslie Oles and Kim Ton-That. Two min­ utes later Lisa Zane found the back of the net to give the Martlets a lead they would never relinquish. In the last few seconds of the period, TonThat scored another goal with assists from Oles and Peroff to make it 3-1 for McGill.

Katia Clement-Heydra and Bet­ tez scored in the second period to extend the McGill lead to 5-1. Then, in the first minute of the third period, Peroff scored her second goal of the game. Hill scored the last two goals of the game to make the final margin

8- 1 .

Next week the Martlets will travel to Waterloo, Ontario for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Na­ tionals. McGill is the team to beat in the CIS championships as they have a 30-0 record against CIS teams this season and is looking to bring an­ other trophy back home.

T IIIR l) MAN IN From velour tracksuits to cardigans and class The National Basketball As­ sociation, my friends, is back. The turnaround the NBA has made over the past few years is truly remark­ able considering the dark days it suf­ fered for most of the 2000s. While a number of factors have accounted for the comeback, much of the credit should go to one man—commission­ er David Stem.

The bleakest moment in the NBA’s recent history came on No­ vember 19, 2004 at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Detroit, Michigan.

When Ron Artest made the ill-fated decision to enter the stands and at­ tack a fan who had thrown a Diet Coke at him, the fate of the Asso­ ciation changed forever. “The Mal­ ice at the Palace” confirmed a wide held belief among basketball fans that pretentious thugs dominated the league. Whether or not this view was

accurate is up for debate, but many fans became disenchanted with the sport and Stem realized that its image needed to be refashioned.

Part of the solution to this problem came in the way of a con­ troversial dress code, which was instituted in 2005 and helped the NBA turn the comer. Gone were the days when players appeared on the sidelines dressed in velour tracksuits with gold chains around their necks.

Now bailers are seen as classy pro­ fessionals who try to out-swag each other on the sidelines with the fresh­ est fashion trends. Rather than Allen Iverson sitting at a post-game press conference in gangster clothing with an “I just don’t give a f*#$” attitude, LeBron James rocks a cardigan with skinny jeans and hipster glasses.

Stem’s decision received a lot of heat initially but it was a smart move that helped the league clean up its image and rebound from the melee in Detroit.

The second decision made by Stem that changed the makeup of

the league was instituting an age minimum to enter the NBA Draft. In 2005, the commish announced that players had to be at least 19 years of age before becoming eligible to be drafted. The talent in the league had become diluted due to a plethora of high schoolers who forewent the college experience to chase millions in the NBA. These youngsters were poorly prepared not only in the bas­ ketball sense but also psychologi­ cally. For every Kobe Bryant who successfully made the jump from high school to the league, there were twice as many Kwame Browns and Eddy Currys whose careers were destroyed because they made the illfated decision to skip university. In­ stead of attending college and grow­ ing both physically and mentally, these players were thrown into the fire of professional basketball and burnt out quickly.

Do you think it’s a coincidence that there are suddenly myriad young superstars looking to dominate the league for the next 20 years? It all

comes back to the ingenious deci­ sion to create an age minimum.

Players like Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, and Blake Griffin all benefitted from the university experi­ ence, both on and off the court. In a recent interview, Durant noted that, “Once I went down to school I grew up a lot as a person—as a man—off the floor, and it prepared me for my time in the league.”

The work is not done for Stem.

He is about to encounter another turning point for the NBA as the collective bargaining agreement expires at the end of this season. I, pray to the powers above that a deal gets completed to avoid a lockout. I could not imagine life without the NBA. No more awe-inspiring Kobe Bryant buzzer-beaters that stab teams in the heart worse than Brad Pitt did to Jennifer Aniston. No more Derrick Rose crossovers that are so nasty they make you want to puke.

No more Kevin Garnett getting his Charlie Sheen on every time he steps on the court.

Let’s not even talk about what would happen if there was no fan­ tasy basketball. The beauty of fan­ tasy sports goes beyond crunching numbers and vying for the prize at the end of the season. Managers live and die with their teams while trying to scrap their way into the playoffs.

It’s about finding that hidden gem on the waiver wire and watching him blossom into a fantasy stud. There is no greater feeling than seeing fellow league managers at a bar and talking shit about how they drafted David Lee in the second round. These are the joys of life that I cannot go with­ out.

So please Commissioner Stem, get a deal done. Do whatever it takes. As fans of the game, we can­ not afford to have something so meaningful taken away from us. In the meantime, let’s be thankful that we are about to witness possibly the best NBA playoffs we’ve ever seen.

Ever.

—Jon R ubenstein

Curiosity Delivers, www.mcgilltribune.com

BASKETBALL—MCGILL 68 LAVAL 72

L a v a l u p s e ts to p -s e e d e d M c G ill F ire a la r m

and

R o u g e e t O r rain o n

M a rtlets’ p a ra d e

—

F o o ia v a s S L IM ? â B û tfâ

The magic of Melo and the

By Sam Hunter Sports Editor

majesty of MSG Through three quarters, Laval was so hot from the field that it’s ex­ cusable if anyone thought they were the cause of the alarms ringing in Currie Gym. The culprit was in fact a faulty detector, but that didn’t stop the entire complex from being evac­ uated for 20 minutes while the fire department searched the premises.

Even that reprieve from the Rougeet-Or bombers wasn’t enough for the Martlets, as they fell behind by 16 soon after play resumed, en route to a devastating 72-68 upset loss at the hands of the visiting team.

Laval took the RSEQ playoff field by storm, coming in as the fourth seed and ending the tourna­ ment as Quebec champions. The Rouge et Or beat both number-one ranked McGill and number-two UQAM, earning a spot in the CIS National Championships in the pro­ cess.

After the loss, the Martlets applied for an at-large berth to the Western Regionals in hopes of win­ ning their way into Nationals. The University of Victoria was selected instead, ending McGill’s season.

There were danger signs from the opening tip, as the Martlets looked nervous and disjointed.

“I think it was probably the emotion of the moment,” said Head Coach Ryan Thome. “We got caught up in that, so we weren’t connect­ ing, we weren’t on the same page, we weren’t doing the things we nor­

Natalie Larocque drives to the hole. (Holly Stewart / McGill Tribune) mally do.”

This was manifested on offence by over-passing, rushing shots (the Martlets shot 10.3 per cent from three on the game), and poor clock management. But it was on defence where the team really struggled.

“We gave up too many points,” said Thome. “We don’t usually give up 70 and we gave up 72 ... [Laval] played solid, they shot well from the three-point line. 52 per cent in the first half, so they hit some shots, [but] we left them open on bad rota­ tions.”

Despite the disparity in their

regular season records, Laval looked like the more poised and confident team. The presence of twin towers Marie-Michelle Génois and MariePascale Nadeau might have had something to do with that. With a combined height of 12’4”, their pres­ ence in the middle provided Laval with a backbone on defence and a means to attack McGill’s shorter frontcourt.

No Martlets will graduate this year, so the 2011-2012 team will be equipped to come back and make a deeper playoff mn.

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When you spend too long in one place, it tends to get to you. There­ fore, it makés sense to use Reading Week to escape a dreary Montreal February for warmer climes. Yes, your faithful writer sought to escape the aggression of constant snow and biting wind and went to the Big Apple. New York City. I had a warm spot on the floor of my artist friend’s Brooklyn loft and tickets for a Knicks game—quite the hip­ ster hajj.

Carmelo Anthony felt trapped too; a pending escape (his free agen­ cy, my graduation) from our current homes mere months away. When all looked dead during earlier trade negotiations to facilitate Melo’s exit from Denver, doubtless he turned to the sky and open face of heaven— to breathe a prayer for Knicks GM Donnie Walsh to pull the trigger.

“Trade for me,” he whispered. The Knicks would have to give up half their team, but his prayers were an­ swered.

I had the dumb luck that my tickets fell on Carmelo Anthony’s debut night at the Garden. There’s nothing like an arena full of fans whose team has just landed a coupde-grace, making a league shaking trade which improves their team dramatically in the long run and for a playoff push this year. The Gar­ den that night was delirious, replete with chants for Melo that occurred, impressively, even outside the arena before the game.

Both wearing blue, in Melo’s case a bright new #7 jersey, mine a smudgy Knicks t-shirt that smelled funny and was purchased from a man on the street, we excitedly watched the arena fill. Madison Square Gar­ den is physically different than most arenas, much wider and lower, so every fan feels closer to the court.

With the court well lit and the seats dark, it’s more like a Broadway the­ atre than any other arena, fitting for New York. But the game, and all of the pomp surrounding it, felt kind of like a big-budget performance.

Early in the evening, the Knicks superstars seemed so excited to play together. A surreal pre-game press conference included a photo op with Melo, Amare Stoudemire, and Chauncey Billups all beaming.

Speaking of Stoudemire, the Garden

faithful have embraced him in a way rarely seen by most new acquisi­ tions, though one would suspect that if Mohammar Quadaffi averaged 26 points per game, Knicks fans would love him too. That said, the mayhem at their game introductions showed that New York adores their hometown hero, Anthony, perhaps even more than they’ve already wel­ comed Stoudemire. The only cheer louder than the one for Anthony’s introduction was for his first quar­ ter put-back dunk—some of his first points as a Knick. In the first quar­ ter, when he got his first rest it must have dawned on Melo that he man­ aged to control both the game and the entire league. We are in the era of the superstar, there is no doubt.

But what about the basket­ ball? It might take them some time to learn to play together—the Heat have been dealing mightily with chemistry problems all season— but Billups and Stoudemire form an excellent pick and roll combo and Melo is terrific in isolation. When the team finds a way to reconcile the two, lesser opposing defences will cease to exist and the Knicks will get every open shot they need.

With Milwaukee’s defence focused on Amare and Melo that night, Bil­ lups went off for 21 points, eight assists, and six rebounds, and the crowd chanted his name. Backup PG Toney Douglas scored 23. The Knicks finally have a glut of scoring options. As for Melo’s numbers? He put up 27 points and 10 boards and the Knicks won by six. Strangely, though, the stats seemed secondary to the spectacle. The grandeur was a perfect way to start Anthony’s Knicks career, to add a new chapter to his relationship with the league.

For one night his story was a pleas­ ant and gentle tale of love and languishment.

After the game I held an ear to SportsCentre and NBA.com. I want­ ed to reflect on the supposed history I witnessed that evening. Catching the notes on Melo, an eye to the game and an eye to the fans, I was filled with excitement about spend­ ing the next few seasons watching the sailing cloudlet’s bright career with the Knicks. For he who has at­ tended supposed sports history, he mourns that day so soon has glided by: E’en like the passage of an an­ gel’s tear, that falls through the clear ether silently.

—G a b e P u lver

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Like sports? Write for us. sports@mcgilltribune.com

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

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This w eek it b ecam e known th a t the third ran ked B Y U C o u g a rs su sp en d ed leadin g rebou n der B randon D a v ie s f o r violatin g the sc h o o l’s H on ou r C o d e b y h aving p r e ­ m a rita l sex w ith his girlfrien d. E ach stu den t sign s the H on ou r C o d e when entering w hich sta te s th at a stu d en t m u st, “be h onest; live a ch aste a n d virtu ou s life, o b e y the la w a n d a ll cam pu s p o lic ie s, use clean language, re sp e c t others, a b sta in fro m a lc o h o lic bevera g es, to b a cco , tea, coffee, a n d su bstan ce abuse, p a rtic ip a te regu larly in church services, o b serve the D ress a n d G room in g Stan dards a n d en cou rage oth ers in th eir com m itm en t to co m p ly w ith the H on or C ode. ” This b e g s the qu estion ; w a s B Y U right?

Y E S Brigham Young University has been highly publicized over the past week due to the school’s decision to suspend leading rebounder Brandon Davies for his violation of the uni­ versity’s Honour Code. This code requires all students to be honest, live a chaste and virtuous life, use clean language, and maintain spe­ cific grooming standards (including not growing a beard). In addition it prohibits alcoholic beverages, sub­ stance abuse, tobacco, tea, and cof­ fee.

This strict Honour Code is not for me. To clarify, I would never attend BYU, as my day-to-day life conflicts with the code (I’ve already had two coffees, did not shave this morning, and I just made plans to go out for a beer this evening). Davies, however, like all other students at BYU, was aware of the Honour Code and agreed to it when he decided to attend the university. He made a commitment to follow the code, and by having premarital sex with his girlfriend, blatantly violated it. He was not blindsided by this news, as he was fully aware that he was com­ mitting an infraction. The univer­ sity simply stood by their principles, and, in doing so, they sacrificed a top player and, potentially their abil­ ity to win a national title.

In sports, owners, general man­ agers, and coaches too often turn a blind eye when their players commit infractions because acknowledging it would have negative consequences for the team’s performance or poten­ tial profit. Major League Baseball, which has spent the past few years trying to distance itself from the dark stain of the “steroid era,” is a prime example. During this time the obvious prevalence of steroids was ignored by coaches, general manag­ ers, owners and even the commis­ sioner, because players hitting home runs made the teams better, and brought fans out in record-break­ ing numbers. Once the information about performance enhancing drugs became public, MLB had to face the music and clean up its act. It’s clear, however, that they failed to act even when they (and not the fans) knew what was going on.

BYU has been condemned for suspending Davies, with critics argu­ ing that he was not in violation of any

N O

criminal codes and that his actions were consistent with social norms.

I believe, instead, that BYU should be applauded. Finally, a sports orga­ nization has placed its values ahead of winning. The NCAA’s core val­ ues do not include winning, but they do include “the highest level of in­ tegrity and sportsmanship.” BYU’s actions represent the integrity that has been sorely lacking in the sports world. BYU could have swept this under the rug, and no one would have known. Instead they’ve shown that their principles are a genuine priority—and that these principles trump athletic success.

For students at McGill, such an Honour Code might seem ri­ diculous. Freshman students’ first impressions of university life come from Frosh Week where the two most emphasized activities are alco­ holic consumption and promiscuity.

To argue, however, that a restrictive Honour Code is unjust illustrates a lack of contextual understanding.

BYU is a private university, and their values do not harm, and are not imposed, on others. Their Honour Code is based on Mormon religious values and it reflects the presence of religious freedom in the United States. Institutions are permitted to establish their own value systems and codes of behaviour, as long as they are within the law. It would be unjust to enforce this Honour Code if students were forced to attend the institution, but, as in the case of Da­ vies, students choose to go and are fully aware of the code of conduct to which they will be held.

While it seems shocking that Davies will be suspended for the season just because he had sex with his girlfriend, his violation of the school’s Honour Code warrants such a punishment .upon further review. If Davies is to represent the school as an athlete he has a responsibility to adhere to its principals, and failure to do so warrants suspension. Rather than being criticized, BYU should be commended for standing by their Honour Code and enforcing their principles. Davies’ suspension is unfortunate—but it is just.

—Jonathan R osenbluth

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When D a v ie s d e c id e d to g o to B YU he m a d e a com m itm en t to co m p ly w ith the s c h o o l’s H on ou r C ode. I t ’s a refreshing breath o f fre sh a ir to se e a co lle g ia te institution ch oose th eir valu es o v e r a th letic success.

We live in a world in which people are far too quick to turn a blind eye to athletes making mis­ takes and acting like morons be­ cause they’re famous and athletic.

Despite this, suspending Brandon Davies for the entire season was the wrong decision.

Admittedly, Davies knew what he was getting into when he signed BYU’s Honour Code. If he didn’t want to live by those rules, he should have chosen another school.

The problem lies with how BYU re­ sponded to the breach of their code.

First off, their decision is devoid of any attempt to understand the personal changés that often occur during college. But in addition, the suspension has caused much more harm and damage than Davies’ ac­ tions ever did.

College is a period of transition in life. People change quickly and their core values change with them.

An Honour Code is a noble idea, but it ignores the reality that a graduat­ ing student will be much different exiting than they were entering.

There are things I have done during my last four years of college that I would not have thought I would ever do as a 17-year-old freshman.

I could have signed an agreement about my conduct and actions en­ tering university that I was very comfortable with that I wouldn’t be alright with now. Does that make me hypocritical? No. It makes me a nor­ mal university student.

The difference is that Davies actually did sign an agreement and he broke it. He should be held ac­ countable for his actions. But does this act really merit a season long suspension and possible expulsion?

He deserves to be punished but he also deserves a second chance. Sus­ pend him for a game or two, but not the entire season.

Davies only “crime” is that he had sex with his girlfriend. Who was harmed by this? Davies? His girl­ friend? I don’t think so; in fact I’m willing to bet they both had a pretty great time.

Davies committed to BYU two years ago. Sure, as a freshman he might have been confident that he would abstain from sex while at BYU, but a lot can change in a cou­ ple years. He met a girl, they started

dating, and they had sex. Seems pretty reasonable. BYU should react with understanding, not dogmatic discipline.

Moreover, the suspension is harming many more people than the violation did. First, Davies and his girlfriend are being scrutinized, analyzed, and judged by the national media, which they don’t deserve. If BYU had dealt with the issue behind closed doors and suspended him for a couple games it would not have blown up nationally like it did.

Additionally, it dismantled the BYU basketball team. Some may argue that basketball is just a game, but the reality is basketball is not just a game to Davies and every ' other member of the team. The sport is their life; they’ve spent thousands of hours practising, playing, and training. At one point it stops being a game and becomes something much more important to each and every one of those students.

Davies’ suspension doesn’t just ruin this season for him, but for every single member of his team.

BYU was ranked third in the na­ tion and had a legitimate chance to win the NCAA tournament. Success is fleeting in college basketball as players graduate and turn pro very quickly. As a result, great teams only exist for a year, maybe two, before exiting players dismantle them. This season was the team’s chance to be the best; without Davies they’re still good, but not great. With this sus­ pension, each and every player on that team will wonder for the rest of his life what could have been. More devastating is the fact that Davies not only feels responsible for ruin­ ing the season for himself, but also ruining it for his teammates.

Yes, Davies broke the Honour Code, but he’s a changing 19-yearold who admittedly made a mistake that harmed no one until BYU de­ cided to suspend him. Does his girl­ friend really deserve to be nationally humiliated? Do his teammates need to feel cheated? Does he deserve to think for the rest of his life that he let each and everyone of his team­ mates down? These are the direct results of the suspension. Where’s the honour in that?

—W alker K itchens

N u it B la n c h e

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