NO REST FOR WINTERSLEEP, PACE 14
REDBIRDS BASEBALL WINS NATIONALS, PAGE 17
Published b y the Tribune Publication Society Volum e No. 30 Issue No. 9
All motions pass at sparsely attended CA
The big business o f standarized tests
SSMU becomes SSTEIRBBPPUSAM C By Matt Essert
there w as a p roblem , ev en though a
N ew s Editor
lot o f students h av e said there is a p ro b lem ,” C y ril said.
LSAT WRITING WORKBOOK
LSA T
ND Is
LAN
passed all six resolu tion s proposed at a sparsely attended F a ll G en eral
probably w o n ’t seriou sly a ffe ct the
A ssem b ly .
w ay G e rt’s operates.
T h e resolu tion s regarding the
“ In the end, w hat cam e o f it was
S tu d en ts’ S o cie ty liq u o r lic e n ce , g en
a nond escrip t cla u se that d o e sn ’t re
der parity, and lia b ility w ere passed
ally m ean anything at a ll,” she said.
w ith few or no am end m ents. T h e
“It seem ed lik e a b ig w aste o f tim e.
reso lu tio n s
volu m e
I d o n ’t think w e ’re a ctu ally going
in G e rt’s, the A rts U ndergraduate
to see anything co m e o f this, to b e
S o cie ty fundraiser, and the student-
h o n est.”
regarding
the
T h e resolu tion regarding lia b il ity w as passed after E li Freed m an ,
w ith m ajo r am endm ents.
20 09 -20 10 EDITION
E n d u ra n c e
H IG H E R S C O R E
GUARAN TEED
NOT TOR RESALE
P r a c t ic e
LSAT
A fte r a heated d ebate on the
the m o tio n ’s m ov er and a M a n a g e
resolu tion regarding the volu m e in
m ent rep resen tative to co u n c il, gave
G e rt’s, an am endm ent raised the
an im p assion ed sp e ech ca llin g fo r
proposed volu m e lim it from 6 0 d e ci
students to show the ad m inistration
b e ls to 14 0 d e cib e ls. T h is am ended
that they should b e allow ed to use
resolution w as even tu ally discard ed,
the “M c G ill” nam e in the title s o f
and the final resolution stated “that
clu b s and serv ices. T h e m otion re
G e rt’s B a r M an ag ers abid e by the
solved S S M U re fe r to its e lf as the
req uests o f the m ajo rity o f patro ns.”
“ Stu d en ts’ S o c ie ty o f T h e E d u ca
A llan C y ril, E n g in eerin g U n
Lesson Book
LSA T
EP AND SION5
G e rt’s night m anager Step h a n ie G o ssa g e argued that the m otion
run printing se rv ice also p assed, but
LSAT Logic Games Workbook ,N
L a st Thursday, the student body
not for resale
d u m m ie s
Its always midterm season when you’re applying to grad school. See story page to. ( Holly Stewart / McGill
B ounded
by P e e l, P en field , U n iversity , S h e r
the m ov er o f the resolu tion , said he
b ro o k e , and M a c C am p u s,” o r by the
w as neutral about th e ou tco m e o f
acronym “ S S T E I R B B P P U S A M C .”
this resolu tion but w as glad that the
“ T h is is a huge jo k e , it ’s rid icu
bartenders are now m andated to lis
lou s, i t ’s absurd. B u t it ’s a jo k e w ith
ten to the students.
a very serious pu nch lin e ,” F reed
“I w as kind o f upset that the
m an said at the G A . “T h a t serious
G e rt’s bartending sta ff w ere the on es
pu nch lin e is the ad m in istration ’s
w ho
Tribune )
tional In stitute R o u g h ly
dergraduate S o cie ty V P In ternal and
d id n’t really
re co g n iz e
See “GERT’S” on page
that
3
After Obamania, McGill’s Americans mail ballots once more Students vote as Republicans attempt to retake U.S. Senate and House of Representatives By Theo Meyer___________________
o f f ag ainst Jo h n M c C a in fo r the
M a na g in g Editor
p resid en cy tw o years ag o, students
A s a heated U .S . m idterm e le c
teering to m an phones and reg ister
returns. T h o u g h the atm osphere is m ore
e lig ib le t o vote. A cco rd in g to K e n
v o ters, inclu ding C assan d ra Z a w il-
neth S h erm an , the nation chairm an
on cam pus g ot involved in droves.
subdued this year, m ost o f the stu
sk i, a U 2 P sy ch o lo g y student from
o f D em o crats A broad C anada, the
M c G ill
dents interview ed fo r this article
the S a n F ra n cisco B a y A rea.
nu m ber is b e tw een
Stu den ts
fo r
O b am a,
a
tion cam p aign enters its final w eek ,
cam pus clu b started by law stu
said they w ere still planning to vote,
A m e rican students at M c G ill appear
dent K ev in G ru m b erg , held voter
the m ajo rity fo r D em ocrats.
to b e voting in fa irly larg e num bers,
reg istration
d espite the h assle o f requesting a b
“M o st o f m y w ork has been
7 5 0 ,0 0 0 ,
5 0 0 ,0 0 0
and
though tw o years ago the
w ith in m y ow n group o f frien d s, try
O b am a cam p aign estim ated that up
Seltzer,
ing to g et them reg istered and m ake
to a m illion A m e rica n s m ay liv e in
trips to battlegrou nd states w here
the M o n treal ch ap ter ch airm an o f
sure th e y ’ve requested th eir ab sen
the country.
sen tee b allo ts and the la ck o f a pres
M c G ill students w ent k n o ck in g on
D em o crats A broad C anada, about
tee b a llo ts,” she said.
idential co n test.
d oors. O n electio n day, hundreds o f
h a lf a dozen M c G ill students have
E stim ate s vary fo r how m any
ca n s are en rolled at M c G ill, m aking
students packed G e rt’s to w atch the
approached him regarding volu n
A m e rican s liv e in C an ada and are
See “U.S.” on page 3
W hen B a ra ck O b am a squared
R e d
a n d W
d rives
h it e
and
M
organized
A cco rd in g
to
M arc
c G ill S o c c e r G a m e
Friday, October 29 vs. Concordia
M cGill ATHLETICS & RECREATION
www.megHI.ca/attilettc8
Martlets 18h30 Redmen 20h30 Free entry with your Red & White T-shirt, $2 on all concessions
A p p roxim ately
M a r t le t H o c k e y
Saturday, October 30 vs. Carleton 14h00
2 ,0 0 0
A m e ri
re d b îrd SPO R TS SH O P
McGill Sports Complex 475 ave des pins 514-3981539
Support your Martlets and Redmen in authentic varsity apparel fromthe Redbird Sports Shop
--------------- —
N e w s ---------------
PROVINCIAL
Quebec’s Bill
eases access to Anglophone schools
1 1 5
Liberals pass bill despite opposition from Francophone protesters outside Charest’s office By Maria Flores News Editor
year and co ntain ed e ssen tially the
ca lly A ng lop hon e
sam e elem ents.
M ario B ea u lie u , the president o f St-
m in ority,” said
jo r it y ’s langu age. H e said B ill 101
gloph on es have the right to attend
needs to b e rein fo rced .
E n g lish sch oo l and I agree w ith that.
“ [B ill 115] allo w s the purchase
Je a n -B a p tiste S o c ie ty o f M o n treal,
“A t this poin t, B ill 101 has su f
outside
o f a right, and in a d em o cracy that
in his op ening sp eech at the rally.
fered ov e r a d ozen m od ificatio ns that
ob lig ed to g o to sch oo l in Fren ch
P rem ier Je a n C h a re st’s M o n treal o f
should not ex ist. A ttending an E n g
“T h e only solution is to apply B ill
w eaken it in all o f its a sp e cts. E n g
b e ca u se w e really are a sm all m i
fic e to protest the recen tly approved
lish private sch o o l now le g alizes the
101 to E n g lish n on-su bsid ized p ri
lish in M o n trea l has now a pow er
nority.”
B ill 115 on O cto b e r 18. T h e le g is
a cce s s to an E n g lish p u blic sch oo l,
vate sch o o ls. T h a t’s w hat w e want
o f attraction five tim es g reater than
Jon ath an G o ld b lo o m , a spokep-
lation grants students a cce ss to the
p u blic m eaning paid by ou r ta x e s,”
and th at’s w hat w e w ill h av e.”
that o f F re n c h ,” he said. “ F ren ch is
erson fo r the Q u e b ec A sso cia tio n o f
T hou san d s
gathered
W e sim ply w ant im m igrants to be
E n g lish p u blic sch o o l sy stem after
said G ille s L e fe b re , a protester at
chanted
w hat m akes us a nation. I f w e w ant
Independent S c h o o ls w as satisfied
spending three years in a private
the rally. “ W e are co n scio u s that w e
“M o n treal in F re n ch ” on a packed
to inclu de all o f our citiz e n s, no e x
with the ou tcom e.
n on-su bsid ized E n g lish sch o o l and
are a F ran cop h on e m inority in N orth
M c G ill
cep tion s, it w ill take a law that ap
a fter having follow ed a so -called
A m e rica, so i f w e w ant to survive,
ing signs read ing “V iv e le Q u eb ec
“ genu ine
there has to b e a leg islatio n that p ro
F ra n ça is” and “ N o to B ill
103”,
Sev era l org anizatio ns inclu ding
students w ho w ere not e lig ilb le to
tects our lan g u age.”
B ea u lie u exp ressed his d iscon ten t
Im perative F ren ch and the C o m m is
attend our sch o o ls [under the previ ous le g isla tio n ].”
ed u cation al
pathw ay,”
w h ich protesters fe e l is a threat to F ran cop h on e culture.
The
so -ca lled
As
the
protesters
C o lle g e
A venue
h o ld
p lies to all o f us equ ally .”
“brid ging
w ith C h a re st’s L ib era l g overnm ent
sion o f N ation al Sy n d ica te s (C S N )
A fte r a nightlong d ebate in the
sch o o ls,” E n g lish private and unsub
claim in g that it is abandoning the
w ere am ong the groups present at
Q u e b ec national assem bly, the bill
sid ized sch o o ls, hav e been co n sid
d efen ce o f the F re n ch language.
the rally.
was p assed early T uesday m orning,
ered to b e a “ lo o p h o le” in Q u e b e c’s
by a vote o f 61 to 5 4 .
C h arter o f the F ren ch
L an g u ag e
“W e are p leased thqt it w ill provide us w ith a cce s s to Certain
H ow ever,
G o ld b lo o m
argued
fo r m ore precision.
“M r. C h arest and all o f you w ho
M . Fernand , a m em b er o f Im
“W e fe e l that the regu lation s
find it rad ical to ensure the future o f
perative M o n trea l, supported B e a u
that they put forw ard are a little too co m p lica ted and u n clea r in term s o f
T h e law passed only d ays b e
( B ill 1 0 1 ), w h ich lim its a c c e s s to the
F ren ch , w e are here to tell you that
lie u ’s
fo re the end o f the Su prem e C o u rt’s
E n g lish p u blic sy stem to ch ild ren
you w ill no lon g er let you m ove
“brid ging sch o o ls” to the C h arter o f
helping parents as w ell as sch oo ls
y earlon g deadline to find an alterna
w hose
us b ackw ard s, w e are done feelin g
the F ren ch L ang u ag e.
plan, but B ill 115 is d efinitely a step
tive to the previo u sly approved B ill
langu age sch o o ls in C anada.
parents
attended
E n g lish -
solution
of
incorporatin g
guilty o f ex istin g , enough is enough,
“A ll w e w ant is that everyo ne
10 4 , w hich w as found to be in v io
“W h en w e estab lish ed B ill 101,
from now on it is forw ard that w e
w ho arrives in Q u e b ec and w hose
lation o f the C h arter o f R ig h ts and
w e co lle ctiv e ly d ecid ed that p u blic
are m oving , forw ard in F re n c h ,”
first
sch o o ls w ould fu n ctio n in F ren ch
said B eau lie u .
F reed om s.
langu age
is
neither
E ng lish
in the right d ire ctio n .” A t the national assem bly, P re m ier Je a n C h arest ignored op p osi
nor F ren ch , to be integrated in the
tion
T h e b ill also rep la ces B ill 103,
fo r ev eryo n e, w ith m in or exce p tio n s
A cco rd in g to B ea u lie u , ed u ca
F ren ch sch o o l sy stem , w hether it ’s
A ng lop hon e groups and referred to
w hich w as proposed ea rlier in the
fo r F irst N ations and fo r the h isto ri
tion should be provided in the m a
p u blic o r p riv ate,” she said. “A n
B ill 115 as “p rag m atic.”
from
both Fran cop h on e and
CAMPUS
Bookworms in paradise at Original edition of Samuel Johnson’s
1755
4
0
th annual McGill Book Fair
Dictionary of the English Language nets $ i, 8 oo
By Ricky Kreitner
buy it.
O p in io n Editor
“T h e n I see so m eo n e g oin g through the b o o k s ,” she said, “ and
R edpath H all w as filled with
they say, ‘ M y G od , I ’ve been lo o k
b o o k lovers searchin g fo r ru bies in
ing fo r that b o ok fo r 2 0 y e a rs.’ ”
the dust at the 4 0 th annual M c G ill
L e e s , w ho co m p leted her PhD
B o o k F a ir held late la st w eek.
in E n g lish literatu re at M c G ill, says
Fou nd ed by the W o m en ’s A s so ciatio n o f M c G ill in
that on e benefit o f the B o o k F a ir is
1 9 7 1 , the
that “old ladies w ho still w ant to
B o o k F a ir is now run by an ind e
co ntribu te to the university hav e a
pendent group o f volu nteers, m ostly
p lace to do so .”
eld erly w om en w ho self-id en tify as
A n o th er F airy , B etty , a vo lu n
the “B o o k F a irie s.” I t ’s the cu lm in a
te e r sin ce 1 9 7 1 , has a sim pler reason
tio n o f a y earlo n g p ro cess, b e g in
fo r w orkin g the B o o k Fair. “ I like
ning in Febru ary , w hen the F a iries
the b o o k s ,” she said w ith a bashful
re ce iv e and sort through thousands
sm ile.
o f donated bo o k s.
T h e B o o k F a ir a lso offe rs jo b s
“T h e y co m e flood ing in, you
to students to help out as cash iers
have no id ea,” said V icto ria L e e s, the co -o rd in a to r o f the B o o k F a ir sin ce
and as inform al secu rity staff. A
The
40th
McGill Book Fair drew bibliophiles from around North America. ( Sophie Silkes / McGill Tribune )
2 0 0 8 , and form er secretary -g en eral
cu ltural studies student, seem ing ly a B o o k -F a iry -in -tra in in g , w ho has
o f the university. “S o m e sm ell like
c a lls “beautiful subterranean R ed -
associated w ith running a sp ecial
an orig in al ed ition o f S a m u el Jo h n
w orked the fa ir both o f her tw o
tom cat, so m e are m ild ew ed , som e
path H a ll,” d espite the b a sem e n t’s
event.
so n ’s 1 7 5 5 D ictio n a ry o f the E n g lish
y ears at M c G ill, said, “T h e r e ’s a lot o f really n ice p eo p le that w ork here,
are w et.”
m usky sten ch and cle a r ev id en ce o f
T h e unsold volu m es are later distributed to various ch arities in p la ce s
ran gin g
fro m
Verdun
A fte r all exp e n ses, last year
L an g u ag e, w hich w ent fo r $ 1 ,8 0 0 .
the F a iries voted to g ive a $ 7 5 ,0 0 0
A signed co p y o f L eonard C o h e n ’s
and a lo t o f in terestin g peo p le w ho
O n e bro w ser in the p o litical
ch eq u e to the F acu lty o f M u sic.
first no v el, T h e F a v o u rite G am e,
co m e here. P eop le co m e from all
sold fo r $ 7 5 0 .
o v er the p la ce .”
recen t floods.
to
scie n ce sectio n said she co n tin u es
“T h e r e ’s a very strong feelin g am ong
G hana. L e e s predicts that fo r each
to g o to the B o o k F a ir “to get ch eap
the B o o k F a irie s that it should go to
“T h ere are treasu res h e re to be
S in c e 1 9 7 1 , the M c G ill B o o k
b o o k that ends up on the tab les, at
b o o k s that in terest m e.” T h e b o ok s
ward [need -based ] bu rsaries, rather
bo u g h t,” says F ra n ce s G ro en , for
F a ir has raised m ore than $ 1 .5 m il
least 1 5 0 oth ers have passed through
at the fa ir are o f rem ark ab ly good
than
m er d irecto r o f M c G ill L ib ra rie s,
lio n dollars fo r student bu rsaries and
her hands.
quality, and are sold to students and
L e e s said.
and the F airy resp on sible fo r pricing
sch olarship s.
T h e a cce p ta b le b o ok s are then sorted into ca te g o rie s and p riced by
oth er shoppers at reason able p rices. L a st
y ear
the
fa ir
raised
[m erit-based ]
sch o larsh ip s,”
A cco rd in g to L e e s , b o o k c o l lecto rs from as far as N o va S c o tia
the history section .
L e e s d ism issed any su ggestion
Ile a T ant, the B o o k F airy in
volu nteers w ith som e background
$ 8 6 ,0 2 1 . W h ile M c G ill perm its the
and N ew E ng land lin e up at 7 a.m .
ch arg e
know led ge o f their resp ectiv e su b
F a irie s to use R edpath H all at no
on the first day o f the fair, w aiting
o f rare and fra g ile bo o k s, said she
je c t s . T h e F a irie s sto ck the b o ok s in
ch arg e, the fa ir has to pay fo r tables,
fo r it to op en at 9 a.m . T h e m ost
w ould often spot a bo ok and ask
b o x e s in a sm all c o m e r o f w hat L e e s
security, and various oth er exp en ses
exp en siv e b o o k sold this y ear was
h e rse lf w ho w ould p o ssib ly w ant to
of
the
sp ecial
co lle ctio n
that b o o k s o r b o o k fairs m ight be d eclin in g as e-read ers rise in popu larity. “M y theory is that G od lo v es b o ok fa irs,” she said adam antly.
Tuesday, O ctob er 2 6 , 2010
3 S C IE N C E
Pseudoscience Symposium fills the aisles of Leacock
1 3 2
Experts warn that facts can’t always be taken at face value T ype 1 e rro rs— w here w e erro n e
By Zach Connerty-Marin Contributor
ou sly think w e are in d anger w hen w e are s a fe — and m ore dangerous
“Y ou already have b e en fo o le d ,”
T ype II e rro rs— w here w e m istak en
said Ja m e s “T h e A m a z in g ” R an d i,
ly think w e are safe w hen w e are in
a m agician and p se u d o scien ce in
danger. H um ans, Sh erm er said, also
v estig ato r, in a lectu re on T uesday.
tend to find patterns w here there are
“W h e n I ca m e out here, I too k the
none can lead them to fa lse b e liefs.
m icrop h on e. I d id n’t re a lly need it.
O ften , w here w e find co rrelatio n , we
It sim ply is a beard trim m er.” H e
assum e cau sation.
■ v
T h e m ed ical use o f snake oil
then p reced ed to shaved in fron t o f
one o f the m ost ubiquitous exam p le
a laughing audience. B u t b ein g fo o le d isn ’t alw ays a
o f p seu d o scien ce.
O b serv in g
that
laugh in g m atter. T h e L o m e T ro ttier
C h in ese w ater snakes w ere m o b ile
P seu d o scien ce Sy m p o siu m , a tw o-
and
It’s not a microphone: James Randi fools students with electric beard trimmer. ( Adam Scotti / McGill Tribune ) headlined the second day, d iscu ss
ex
So u th A frica n new spapers claim in g ,
seein g a doctor. W h en she finally
tracted o il from them and bottled it
“T h e answ er to the A ID S ep id em ic
-w ent in, she had a larg e S ta g e M B
ing, am ong oth er things, pet b la n
tics, d iscussed how w illin g people
as a cu re fo r jo in t pain, a p ractice
is h ere.” H e claim ed that an ti-ret
tu m or on her breast. S h e underw ent
kets w ith m agnets in them , w hich
are to b e lie v e the erron eou s in s c i
that later spread to oth er parts o f the
roviral drugs w ere a drug com pan y
ch em o th erap y and her c a n ce r started
th eo retica lly help pets rest better.
w orld. T h e orig in al sn ak e o ils did
co n sp iracy to k ill A frican s. Instead,
to re c e ss until on ly a red dot was
R an d i
left.
radon w ater, the in e ffe ctiv e n e ss o f
day gathering o f scien tists and sk ep
e n ce , and w hat tho se b e lie fs m ean.
w ell-lu b ricated ,
C h in ese
T h e sym posiu m to o k p lace last
not treat jo in t pain at a ll, but w ere
he said, his v itam in p ills w ere the
w eek at the C en tre M o n t R o y a l and
relativ ely harm less com p ared to to
answ er to A ID S . B etw een 2 0 0 0 and
in the L e a c o c k B u ild in g . T h e le c
d ay ’s “ snake o ils.”
2005,
the
South A frica n
g o v e rn -,
M ich a ela then d iscovered G e r m an N ew M e d icin e , a sch o o l o f
ad dressed
the
d angers
of
hom eopathy, and pens that identify fraud ulent bills. R and i m entioned one particular
ture halls w ere crow d ed bo th days.
M atthias R ath , a G erm an v ita
m ent com pounded the p roblem by
m ed icin e founded by R y k e G eerd
D u ring R a n d i’s lectu re in L e a c o c k ,
m in salesm an and m odern “ snake
d enou ncin g
drugs.
H am er, w hich proposes an alterna
h o m eop ath ic
m any had to sit on the floor.
o il” peddler, is " a very bad m an,”
A cco rd in g to G o ld acre, an estim ated
tive, p seu d o scien tific theory o f d is
co ccin u m , m ade from the liv e r o f a
ease based on p sy ch o lo g ica l traum a.
duck “k ille d w ith kind ness or [dead]
H am er co n v in ced M ich a e la that her
from old a g e .” R and i says you could
c a n ce r w as a result o f inn er co n flict
m ake so m uch m ed icin e that, “ with
an ti-retroviral
O sc illo -
M ich a e l Sh erm er, the ed itor-in -
said B e n G o ld acre, an aw ard -w in
3 0 0 ,0 0 0 - 3 5 0 ,0 0 0
c h ie f o f S k e p tic m agazin e, exp lain ed
ning B ritish w riter, b road caster, and
n ecessarily during this period.
how peo p le ca n often be co n fu sed
doctor. R ath too k m arketed his v ita
by a num ber o f natural o ccu rren ces
m ins not only to A m e rica and B rit
co lo g is t
ed itor o f
and that she m ust stop ch em o th era
the sun at the cen tre o f a b ig sphere
in everyd ay life .
a in — w here people can afford to buy
S c ie n c e -B a s e d M ed icin e, addressed
py. S h e did. H er ca n ce r relapsed and
and the o rbit o f Pluto on the other
tend ency
un necessary vitam in supplem ents in
oth er
she died.
to find patterns in m eaning fu l and
an attem pt to cu re their c a n c e r — but
G o rsk i told the story o f a w om an
m ean in g less n o ise ,” he said.
South A fric a ’s poor as w ell.
nam ed M ich a e la w ho g o t ca n ce r
“ P a ttem icity
is the
Sh erm er distingu ished betw een
R ath too k out fu ll-p ag e ads in
people died un
m ed icatio n ,
D avid G o rsk i, a su rg ical o n and
m anaging
dangers
of
p seu d o scien ce.
and, scared o f the illn ess, postponed
Cert’s to lower music on request
side and then a little b it beyond that,
Fortu nately, not a ll the e v e n t’s
you ca n m ake a sphere that can be filled w ith hom eopathic p ills from
speakers w ere so m orose. T h e en tertaining Ja m e s R andi
that on e duck liv er.”
U.S. students vote
Continued from COVER
ing out a bunch o f oth er p eo p le’s
Continued from COVER
istry student from F lo rid a w ho has
liab ility c o n ce rn s.”
v o ices and abo lish in g gend er par
“ [A stripper p ole] is sim ply a
it on e o f the largest co n cen tra tio n s o f
volu nteered fo r the D em o cra ts sin ce
exp ires
ity w ith absolu tely no d ebate on an
d angerous thing to have in the bar.
A m erican s in C anada. A lth ou gh the
the ag e o f 16, said he plans on vot
at the end o f the sem ester, w ill not
issue that has im p lication s fo r e q
T h e last thing w e w ant is to hav e a
ad m inistration d oes not k eep figures
ing fo r C h arlie C rist, the R ep u b lica n
fo rce S S M U to m ake ch a n g es that
uity, im p lication s fo r people feelin g
drunk student try their hand at pole
fo r w here students are reg istered to
g overn o r w ho d ecid ed to ran for
w ould in cu r any co sts, such as red e
safe on this cam p u s,” she said. “ I t ’s
d ancing
vote, m any hail fro m D e m o cra tic-
S e n a te as an independent a fter losin g
signin g the logo.
not so m uch the fa c t that it passed
se lv e s,” he said. “ I ’ ve seen enough
lean in g states.
to M a rco R u b io , a T e a P arty-backe d
that bothered m e, it’s the w ay that it
YouTube
happened .”
fallin g flat on th eir fa c e .”
The
m otio n ,
w h ich
T h e m otion m andating S S M U to hold a b ak e sa le to raise m oney
such a m otion.
and
then
inju rin g
them
vid eo s o f so b er people
“ A lot o f M c G ill students co m e
can d id ate, in the G O P prim ary. B u t
fro m the N ortheast, in p la ce s that
h e ’s
supporting
D em o cra tic
B u t W illiam F arre ll, the resolu
A n o th er m ajo r co n cern w as the
a ren ’t nearly as co n tested as the rest
ch a lle n g e r
su ffered large fin a n cia l lo sse s, also
tio n ’s m over, said that i f students at
fa ct that the assem b ly had a d ifficu lt
o f the U .S .,” said C ath al R o o n e y -
C o n g ressio n a l D istrict, w here Jo h n
p assed, but w as am ended so that the
the G A had had serious o b je ctio n s
tim e
C esp ed es, U 3 E co n o m ics and P o liti
L . M ic a , w ho S te m ca lle d a “co n se r
m on ey raised b e donated to a not-
to the m otio n , they w ould not have
quorum . T h is led so m e students to
cal S c ie n c e .
v ativ e gun-nut o f a C o n g ressm an ,”
for-p ro fit organization o f the A U S ’
passed it so quickly.
qu estion w hat had been d one to pro
ch o o sin g instead o f the A U S .
“ I g uess m aybe that ju s t g oes
m otion,
to show how m any people realize ...
w hich proposed to do aw ay w ith the
that [gend er p arity ]’s pretty silly in
The
g end er
parity
alternating m ale, n o n -m ale sp eak ing order at G A s and co u n c il, w as passed near the end o f the night w ith
p ersp ectiv e,” he said. T h e resolu tion regarding G e rt’s ren ovation s,
w hich
w ould
have
m ain tain in g
the
100-stu d ent
R o o n ey -C e sp e d e s
m ote the even t and w hether the G A
M assach u setts
w as a valuable leg islativ e p ro cess.
D istrict,
votes
in
10th C o n g ressio n al
w here
lon g tim e
D em o
in
the
fo r the A U S , w hich has recen tly
F lo rid a ’s
Se v en th
is running fo r re -electio n . N ot all A m e rica n students are v o tin g , o f course.
cra tic C on g ressm an B ill D ela h u n t’s
M a n ish a A g g a rw a l-S ch ife llite ,
tend the G A w hen th e y ’re interested
d ecisio n not to se e k re -e le ctio n has
a U 2 H istory student w ho grew up
in the m otions on the agenda.
ignited a tight ra ce to fill the seat.
in C an ada but is reg istered to vote
Stu den ts, N ew burgh said, at
“ It has been show n in the last
R o o n ey -C esp e d e s said he plans to
in C o n n e cticu t, said she had not requested a b allot, d espite voting
little debate or d iscu ssion . S o m e e x
included a “ stripper p o le” in the
num ber o f y ears that [the G A ] has
v o te m ostly fo r D e m o cra ts, but h e ’s
p ressed co n cern that a qu estion w ith
up com in g
taken a lot o f tim e from the e x e c u
no t ag ainst the R ep u b lica n s retaking
tw o y ears ago. H er actio n s re fle ct a
tives to plan and ex e c u te , and per
the H ouse o f R ep resen tatives.
broad er tren d — ju st 2 5 per cen t o f
so m any im p licatio n s d id n’t rec e iv e
G e rt’s ren ov ation s
and
m ade every T hu rsd ay night “ A m a
haps instead o f using [that] tim e
“I think there needs to be an
A m e rica n s voted in the 2 0 0 6 m id
and the effo rt and the resou rces that
id eo lo g ica l c h e ck ,” he added. “ I ’ m
term s, co m p ared to 5 2 p er cen t in
S S M U has to put tow ard a leg isla
all fo r refo rm , but it needs to be
the 2 0 0 8 presidential e lectio n s.
X in g said, violated article six o f
tive body that on ly every o ff-tim e
d one fisca lly .”
Z ach N ew burgh. “T h is is a very im
S S M U ’S co nstitu tio n, w hich m an
gets qu orum ,” he said.
portant issu e.”
date that S S M U protect “hum an d ig
teur N ig h t” at the bar, w as ruled out
m ore student co nsid eratio n. “I w as surprised that the d iscu s sion on gend er parity w as not m ore thou ghtfu l,” said S S M U
A rts
S e n a to r A m ara
P resid ent
P ossian
agreed. “ W h at I w as w atching in there w as a bunch o f w hite m ales drow n
o f order earlier in the w eek . T h e m o tion, Sp eak er o f C o u n cil R aym on d
O thers,
how ever, w ere
B u t Z aw ilsk i is vo ting , she said,
D esp ite the general enthusiasm m ore
fo r D em o cra tic can didates on T u es
to co m b a t the perception that youth are not p o litic a lly aw are.
interview ed
“ I d o n ’t w ant our generation to
V P F in a n ce and O p
“ [T h e G A is] a jo k e , rig h t?”
said they w ere planning on splitting
be seen as this m on o lith ic, apathetic
eration s N ick D rew added that there
C y ril said. “ I think it should be a b o l
the b allo tt fo r at least on e candidate.,
grou p ,” she said, “b e ca u se I d on ’t
w ere oth er co n cern s w ith adopting
ish ed .”
nity and bodily so vereig nty .” SSM U
blunt.
day, several
students
Y aak o v S te m , a U 2 B io c h e m
think th a t’s true.”
4 —
Curiosity Delivers. www.mcgiHtribune.com
----------------------
CAMPUS
CITY
Food Security Institute launched
Mile End construction disturbs businesses
At 3 rd annual conference, UN representative praises McGill By Amanda De Souza Contributor
M ad ram oo to o
said
that
a l
ch allen g es at this tim e ,” he said.
though intim idating ch allen g es lie
T h e planet produ ces enough food to feed all its occu p an ts, yet
N abarro argued a sh ift in focu s
ahead , the sta ff, stud ents, and p ost
is n ecessary to en sure the M D G can
d o cto ral research ers are op tim istic
b e co m p leted on tim e. H e called fo r
they w il find so lu tio n s.
a h o listic approach , that not only
on e sixth o f the w orld ’s population
“ [W e w ant to help] ad vance
co n sid ers production but ensuring
is ch ro n ica lly hungry. T h is w as one
the annual agricultural produ ctiv
p eo p le’s a c c e s s to nutritious food as
o f several startling statistics that
ity grow th w hile co n serv in g natural
w ell.
prom pted M c G ill’s T hird C o n fer
reso u rces and m in im izing en v iron
e n ce on G lo b a l Food Secu rity . T h e
m ental d egrad ation ,” he said.
even t
brought
together
He
students,
w ent
on
to
note
that
O w n e r s c l a i m r e d u c t i o n s in s a l e s a s u n d e r g r o u n d a q u e d u c t is r e p a ir e d By Richard Ramcharan Contributor
co n cern ed about the length o f tim e n e cessary to rebuild the street, w hich is cu rren tly estim ated at about tw o
F o r any one liv in g on P ark Av
y ears. S h e is trying to m aintain a
enue abo ve M ou n t R o y a l, the recen t
p o sitiv e attitude, she said , but “ there is also the ch a n ce o f bankru ptcy.”
A cco rd in g to N ab arro, a spe
co n stru ctio n on the street is w ell-
cia l area o f fo cu s is sm all farm ers
know n and u n w elcom e. N o ise starts
and w om en. “T h is m eans m ain tain
as early as 7 a .m ., w hile dust, g rav el,
city , she said , w as “ flatly refu sed ,”
A ny
co m p en sation fro m
the
facu lty m em b ers, and international
M c G ill’s p o sition w ithin the a c a
ing the fo cu s on sm allh old er ag ri
and a m aze o f m etal slabs and bright
though the city has hired a m ark et
d eleg ates fo r a d ialogu e o n w ater
d em ic and international com m u n ity
culture — investin g in sm a ll-sca le
co n e s m ar the sid ew alk.
ing firm to help prom ote P ark Av
and nutrition ch a lle n g e s.
w ill b e c ritica l to ach iev in g the in sti
farm ers, ag rib u sin esses, p ro cessors
T h e co n stru ctio n is m eant to
tu te’s g oals.
and m arkets. It m eans building the
fa cilita te the revam ping o f an im portant aqueduct that runs under
The
three-d ay
co n feren ce
began on Tuesday, O cto b er 19 with
“M c G ill is uniquely positioned
cap acity o f farm ers organizations
a p u blic lectu re hig h lig hting the in
w ith th e F a cu lty o f A g ricu ltu re and
and asso ciatio n s so that they can be
neath the street. T h e C ity d isco v
auguration o f the M c G ill Institute
E n viro n m en tal S c ie n c e s , that is bu ilt
fu lly involved in p o licy m ak in g and
ered that the aqueduct had reached
fo r G lo b a l F oo d Secu rity . T h e in
on an ag ricu ltu re, fo o d , and nutrition
p ractice — w orking fo r poor people
critica l co n d ition from old age and
stitute w ill fo cu s on in n ovative re
n exu s to tack le the problem s o f food
m eans w orkin g w ith th em .”
w ork w ould b e required on it im m e
se a rch , d evelo p m ent, and training to
and nutrition secu rity ,” he said.
T h is m indset reflects the inter
cu rren tly a ffe cts o v er on e b illio n
N ation s S p e cia l R ep resen tativ e on
p roach suggested by M ad ram ootoo
upgrade is the bu siness com m unity
people w orldw ide.
F o o d S e cu rity and N u trition , w as the
and broad ens the view o f food secu
that sits on the avenue itse lf. Sh op
the
O n e o f the m ain victim s o f this
fo r
k ey n o te sp eaker at T u esd ay ’s op en
rity fro m an issue o f natural scien ce
k eepers have been fo rce d to accep t
G lo b a l Food Se cu rity has been c re
ing even t. H e com m end ed M c G ill
to on e o f so cial scie n ce as w ell.
the C ity o f M o n tre a l’s plan w ithout
“T h e
M c G ill
In stitute
ated at this university to harness the
on its leadersh ip ro le in an area o f
“T h is m eans k eep in g people
trem endous en ergy and intellectu al
such en orm ou s d evelopm ental im
and their food and nutritional secu
“ O n ly three w eek s n o tice was
resou rces o f our com m u n ity and to
p o rtance and said he w as d elighted
rity at the cen tre o f all w e d o ,” he
g iv en ,” said Je n n ife r L o n g era n , the
m eet a m u lti-d im ensional interd is
to be takin g part in launching the in
said.
ow ner o f A rtistri, a boutique that sits
cip lin ary ch a lle n g e ,” said M c G ill
stitute. H e a lso thanked C an ada fo r
The
H onourable
B e v e rly
when people didn’t even know that the
d iscip lin ary and co m p reh en sive ap
N ab arro ,
“There were times
diately.
U nited
D avid
im prove the state o f poverty w hich
enue during co n stru ctio n .
business was open,” —Jennifer Longeran, owner of Artistri
m uch co n sid eratio n .
A cco rd in g
to A nn a A n g e lis,
J.
on the m ost affe cte d stretch o f street,
co -o w n e r o f E m C a fé , a ffe cte d m er
P rovost A nthony M asi as he ad
its co n sisten tly strong and lon g-term
O d a, C anadian M in ister o f In terna
betw een F airm ou n t and S t. V iateur
ch ants gathered w ith rep resen tatives
dressed the aud ience at the C entre
support on fo o d security.
tional C o o p eratio n , w as also present
aven u es. S h e said her sales are down
o f the city in the M ile End L ib rary ,
ch a l
to co m m en t on C an ad a’s initiatives
by as m uch as 3 0 per cen t.
w here it w as they d iscussed how
C hand ra M a d ram oo to o, dean
len g es that the U N is fa cin g to reach
on poverty alleviation and food se
“T h e re w ere tim es w hen people
o f the F a cu lty o f A g ricu ltu re and
the first o f eig h t U N M illen n iu m
cu rity. S h e em phasized an integrated
d id n 't ev en know that the bu siness
E nvironm ental
stressed
D ev elo p m en t G o a ls (M D G ’s ) — to
approach to the very co m p lex issu es
w as o p en ,” she said.
his co n cern fo r the p o ssible reo ccu r
erad icate w orld poverty and hunger
surrounding food and w ater nutrition
A rtistri is in its second year
ren ce o f the 2 0 0 8 food c ris is , w hich
by 2 0 1 5 . T h e p ro b lem , he said , does
ch allen g es and the indisputable link
o f b u sin ess, and L ongeran said she
spurred the first M c G ill C o n feren ce
no t stem w h o lly from fo o d produc
betw een food secu rity , ag ricu ltu re,
fears fo r the b o u tiq u e’s su rvival. Sh e
w ere untouched” she said, adding
on G lo b a l F oo d Se cu rity tw o years
tion but from a c c e s s to food fo r the
and su stainable eco n o m ic grow th.
ago.
w o rld ’s po orest nation s.
N abarro
M o n t-R o y a l.
S c ie n c e s ,
outlined
the
co nstru ctio n w ould occur. A n g elis said her bu sin ess has not fe lt the ill e ffe c ts o f co nstru ctio n as m uch as A rtistri. “ F ortu n ately,
the
sid ew alks
w as not e x p e ctin g a huge am ount o f
that “peo p le are not g oin g to stop
“ I t ’s not ju s t about getting food
grow th this y ear, and the co n stru c
e a tin g .” T h e co nstru ctio n m ay have
“T h e tim e to rein vest in ag ri
“ E nsu ring universal a c c e s s to
on ta b les, i t ’s about g etting b e t
tion has put a trem endous strain on
even
cu ltu re, food produ ction, and nutri
su fficien t food and a su stainable en
ter, m ore nutritious fo o d , on those
her op erations.
so m e w orkers co m e into the ca fé for
tion is now ,” he said.
viro n m en t is on e o f our m ain g lobal
ta b le s,” she said.
L on g eran
said she w as also
boosted
her bu sin ess
sin ce
b re a k fa st, lu n ch , o r a co ffe e .
EDUCATION
NDP claims Ontario universities misuse students’ funds York, Laurentian, and UOIT reportedly pay a combined
$1
million to lobbying groups
Ivan Minghui
en listed the help o f prom inent L ib e r
ition rates in C an ada and classro o m
erty at facu lty bargaining tables and
Contributor
al staffers. T h e U niversity o f O ntario
sizes have balloo n ed in relation to
not ad dressing the needs o f students
H e pointed to L auren tian U n i
In stitute o f T ech n olo g y also has a
oth er p ro v in ces.
w hen they seem ing ly have cash to
versity , w here the president w as the
spare fo r b ig lob by ing co m p a n ie s?”
fo rm e r assistan t deputy m in ister o f
Se v era l un iversities in O ntario
lo b b y ist co n tract w orth $ 1 3 0 ,0 0 0 .
“W hen you are the g overnm ent,
lationsh ip w ith the governm ent.
T rain in g and E d u cation "in O n tario.
w ere found to have paid alm o st $1
T h ere is an e co n o m ic incen tive
and you fund p u blic u n iv ersities, you
Stu d en t groups such as the C a
m illion to private lo b b y in g groups
fo r u n iv ersities to lob by , acco rd in g
are g ivin g m on ey that is supposed to
nadian F ed e ratio n o f Students are
“ H ow d oes that guy not have
in order to influen ce p u blic p o licy in
to Jo e l D u ff, an org an izer o f the
g o to students, lab s, cla ssro o m s, and
fearfu l that su ch p ra ctice s, i f left
the phone num ber o f every guy in
Q u e e n ’s P ark , a cco rd in g to a press
C anadian F ed eratio n o f Stu dents in
p ro fesso rs,” D u ff said. “ It sh ou ld n’t
u n d iscovered , could lead to what
the m in istry ?” he asked . D u ff su g
release issued by the N D P earlier
O n tario.
be g oin g to private lob b y ist firm s.”
L an g er ca lle d a “d angerous trend
gested that this also applies to all oth er p u blic u n iv ersities in O n tario.
when
w hereby d e cisio n s around public ser
in T oron to to lo b b y fo r their cau se
m on ey is bein g diverted aw ay from
v ices lik e ed ucation are m ade based
o f in form ation law s,
sim ply b ecau se it is ch eap er to have
students
on partisan and p olitical grounds
Students -is part o f a w ide range o f organizations that are supporting the
“U n iv ersities
this m onth. In d ocum ents obtained through the freed om
fund
lob by ists
“ So m eth in g into
is
w rong
lo b b y ists’ p o ck ets,”
press re lea se revealed som e o f
extern al private lo b b y ists than have
added A nd rea H orw ath, the lead er o f
[rather than] b e in g d eterm ined based
the lob b y ist groups" m ost lucrative
u n iversity ad m inistration do it,” he
the O n tario N D P. in a press release.
on the m erits o f the issu e.”
clie n ts. C h ie f am ong th ese is York
said.
the
T h e president o f the O ntario
In ad dition, D u ff said that on
The
C an ad ian
F ed eratio n
of
new rule proposed by the M cG u in ty g overnm ent to ban p u blicly funded
to
D u ff has called O n tario univer
A sso ciatio n
the board o f g overnors o f any sc h o o l,
institutions, inclu ding u n iversities,
$ 5 0 0 ,0 0 0 on three private lob by ist
s itie s ’ actio n s inapp ropriate, esp e
(O C U F A ). M ark L an g er, also criti
there are g overnm ent appointees and
from spending pu blic funds on c o r
firm s, w hile Laurentian U niversity
c ia lly
at a tim e w hen the u n iversi
cized the universities ask in g . "W h y
bu siness a p p o in tees, people that can
porate lob by ists.
paid $ 1 0 2 ,0 0 0 to Strateg y C o rp and
ties ch arg e so m e o f the highest tu
are these institutions pleading pov
b e influential based on their prior re
U n iversity , w hich
spent
c lo s e
U niversity
F acu lty
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
CAMPUS 2
nd Arch Café rally outside Senate, working group formed
By S e a n W ood
______________________
News Editor
To the tune of drums and cym bals, students held a second protest for the Architecture Café during Wednesday’s senate meeting. The protest took place near the entrance to the Leacock building, where senate meetings are held, and was led by Mobilization McGill, an ad-hoc group formed in response to the Café’s closure. Students’ Society President Zach Newburgh had wanted to propose a resolution at senate to re examine the Café’s closure, but the Senate steering committee dismissed it. There will, however be a new working group on student consulta tion, said Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Morton Mendel son. It will consist of administrators and student representatives, and will discuss a range of issues. “It would aid to identify mech anisms of student consultation, to determine on what issues it is ap propriate to have student consulta
tion. and to recognize and set rem edies that can be sought if there isn’t proper student consultation,” said Newburgh. The creation of a working group had been a part of the protes tors’ agenda. “We want a working group to be established to institutionalize student consultation” said Jenna Gogan, a Midnight Kitchen volun teer and member of Mobilization McGill. There was concern, however, that the group might not be effec tive. “We need to make sure that whatever they create will have last ing influence on the campus,” said Jeremy Bunyaner, U1 Arts. Though the café was the main issue at the protest, its leaders said they were protesting the underrepre sentation of students in general. “At the moment, there is no place on campus where student de cisions have any weight,” Gogan said. Some students were wearing
white armbands, which they said was an expression of solidarity. Some also wore red squares with the bands, symbolizing debt. “We might be in debt because of higher tuition, we might be in debt because of expensive food,” said former Daily Editor Sam Neylon to the crowd. Chants of “No more debt!” followed. In order to attract students, he Midnight Kitchen moved from its ordinary location to the protest. Even so, the crowd of about 80 was much smaller than that at Septem ber’s rally, which was in the hun dreds. "There’s not as many as last time, but it’s midterm season, so I’m not surprised.” said Carol Fraser, U2 German and East Asian Studies and a member of Mobilization McGill. "But I’m happy, I think it’s going well.” After about 20 minutes out side, the protestors moved into the Leacock building to a place within earshot of senate. Security guards did not stop them, but they did push
out the group’s drummers. The hall way’s acoustics galvanized the pro testors, making their chants of “Sol! Sol! Sol! Solidarité!” and “Students, united will never be defeated!” louder. Representatives from Free Education McGill, a Montreal-wide student-advocacy group, also at tended. “This is an issue of student con trol of campus space and that’s very important for our issue, which is
free education,” said Concordia stu dent Holly Nazar, a member of the group. “[This] means not just being free in terms of no fees, it means in terms of not being exploited.” Some students were skeptical about how much the protest would achieve. “It might raise some student awareness, but [it will not] get the Arch Café reinstated or [help us] see any financial documents,” said Chad Pinto, U3 Management.
SSMU Fall Referendum Period T h e F a ll 2 0 1 0 re fe re n d u m c a m p a ig n p erio d w ill r u n fro m N o v e m b er 2 - 8 , an d th e p ollin g p erio d w ill r u n fro m N o v e m b e r 5 - 1 1 .
The following two referendum questions will be on the ballot: R eferendum Q uestion R egard in g SACOMSS P ee Renew al Do you ag ree, To renew the $ 0 .7 5 fee per s e m e ste r (for full-tim e and p art-tim e stu d en ts) to fund th e S exu al A ssau lt C entre of McGill Student Society (Pall 2 0 1 0 th rou gh W in ter 2 0 1 3 )? R eferendum Q uestion R egard in g SSM U C h arity C om m ittee an dFun d Do you a g ree, To con tribu te $ 0 .5 0 p er s e m e ste r (opt-outable) to a SSM U fund th a t will be distributed to d isa ste r-strick e n cou ntries, and to the form ation of*a SSM U C h arity C om m ittee th a t will oversee th e fund and organ ize ch arity even ts a t McGill (the specific stru c tu re of th e com m ittee and details about th e even ts it will organ ize can be found a t w w w .votech aritycom m ittee.tk )?
As well as the following plebiscite question: P leb iscite Q uestion R egard in g Addition of an In terfaeu lty A rts and Science R ep resen tativ e on the SSM U L egislativ e Council Do you a g ree, T h at SSM U should consider am ending its con stitu tion to allow a rep resen tativ e specific to the in terfacu lty of a rts and scien ces to sit on L egislativ e Council?
T o view th e fu ll t e x t o f e a c h q u e stio n , in clu d in g th e “w h e r e a s ” c la u s e s , g o to s s m u .m c g ill.c a /e le c tio n s an d clic k on th e “E le c tio n s ” ta b . I f y ou h a v e a n y q u e stio n s p le a s e c o n ta c t E le c tio n s M cG ill a t e le c tio n s ® s s m u .m c g ill.c a
O Idiot Wind
A lè x jH a m ilto n & D a n ie lfcorgêrj alexh.daniels@ m cgilltribunel!com
T h e e n jo y m e n t e th ic
You are familiar with the words usually attributed to Bob Marley: “In every life we have some trouble/ But when you worry, you make it double/ Don’t worry, be happy.” This famous line—adopted as a mantra by Stoners everywhere—was actually written by an early 20th century Indian mystic named Meher Baba, who spent the last 40 years of his life in total silence, communicat ing with his followers via alphabet board. “Don’t worry,be happy,” has virtually become the modem enjoy ment ethic. This consists of roughly two principles: 1) Pursue happiness. 2) Don’t interfere with others’ pur suit of happiness The idea of the pursuit of happi ness has a long philosophic tradition, from Epicurus to Jeremy Bentham, who believed that happiness was the only intrinsically good quality, that it was the best common denominator in the context of liberal values like equality, liberty and tolerance. The beauty of Bentham’s idea is that the more we embrace a simple ideal like enjoyment, the more we encounter others who share our ideal, which in turn produces more enjoyment. But taken to an extreme, this doctrine makes us passive and apa thetic, distorting the traditional ideal of tolerance. For instance, suppose you meet someone at a party who you consider not only bigoted and ignorant, but aggressively so, and you say: “Hey, if that’s what makes you happy, great!” Bentham’s posi
B u y i n g all ( a n t iM u slim ) b ig o ts ! I do not expect corporate media outlets to report “facts” without ex aggerating them, cherry-picking them, “misprinting” and later re tracting them, or making them up entirely. I do, however, expect these outlets and their celebrity reporters to at least publicly pretend they lack a double standard. How foolish of me. In an interview three weeks ago, CNN’s Rick Sanchez claimed that the media is run by Jews and that Jews in America are not an op
p in io n
tion creates a passive social space, where there is no longer any reason for internal conflict if the ethics of enjoyment are followed. An ethic is an internal dia logue, in which we repeatedly ask ourselves, “Am I doing what I think is right?” The enjoyment ethic puts the cart before the horse; before we jump to the creation of an ethic, we should determine what it stands for. A useful ethic should be like a good sports coach. A good coach will tell you to do more than just “score a goal,” unless he wants you to run around the field aimlessly muttering, “How do I score a goal?” A good coach will tell you how to score and his explanation will in volve an appraisal of how your abil ities can be used effectively toward that end. Similarly, ethics aren’t about constantly asking ourselves, “How can I enjoy myself?” A per son becomes ethical when they can play the whole game. The blind pursuit of enjoyment or happiness demands something inherently unnatural from its sur roundings: it requires total control of a situation which is generated from involvement and investment of desire in the outside world. Real enjoyment is a by-product of the creative process, rather than the pursuit of a Zen-like state of pure consciousness and bliss. Seeking enjoyment has become a cultural imperative. Although en joyment is great, it doesn’t ask us to care, to direct our energy outwards, to form opinions, to disagree, or to fight for a cause. It leads us to pri oritize “how” we are doing over “what.” It bypasses the need to ask why we are pursuing happiness, be cause that answer is already part of the question. An ethic is a dominat ing force in our lives, a standard by which we measure our self-worth; it is a terrible thing to waste.
The Library Stampede kicks off when you wake up. After slamming your alarm clock you stumble groggily from bed, glaring around the room, daring anything or anyone to mention something about good sleep leading to good grades. The glorious image of an open, spacious library spot—plug-in included—begins to form. Interlocking, pulsing neurons, teeming with memorized informa tion, mould the picture of oneself strolling through those library doors after a peaceful night’s rest. A librar ian nods smilingly on the left as the elevator doors open on the right. Step into it, and you’re carried to a floor where your clean desk awaits. Open windows frame your work with leafy views of campus while the surrounding books stand like en couraging guardians of your intake of knowledge. Oh, if only. Before this picture can become solidified in your mind, the smart, calculating side of you— the side that got you here in the first place—starts to take control. It takes the montage of tranquil study time and screws with it, unapologetically inserting the realities of what this library spot will actually look like. Pages are strewn everywhere. Cold War-era grey walls encircle windows through which you have to squint to glimpse a square foot of green grass. And every five seconds some punk is trying to move the electronically controlled book stack, leading to a sharp, high-pitched, gonna-kill-
something-if-I-hear-it-again beep. Halfway to school, you real ize you left your laptop charger at home. Consciously trying to sup press profanity as you run, you hear the clock slowly clicking down. If you’re lucky enough to reach the library before the doors open, then you’re unlucky enough to sit in sheer academic tension till they do. Students line the walls awaiting the rush. A foot taps anxiously here, a pen is clicked constantly there. And then it happens. The security guard mutters something into a wireless radio, eyes scan the area, and the doors are opened. The next moment is key: as students fly by, swinging bags, fists or both, do you take the elevator up to the best spots or do you book it up the stairs? There is no right an swer. It all depends on the collective psyche, wind pressure, humidity, subject of study, and many other in calculable factors that change with the day. You’ll have to take it as it comes. However, to avoid the smallbut-horrific risk of being stuck in the elevator, I suggest you duck your head, clutch your belongings to your chest, and sprint up the stairs, voic ing a constant Braveheart-esque war cry all the way. In my time here, I have found my fellow McGill students to be mostly friendly in conversation and selfless in deeds. Not in the library. The best spots are fair game. And so be it—few things promote study ing as much as sitting comfortably in a spot you arduously fought for. If you have an issue with this, be vocal about it. There are political voices galore on campus that would be ecstatic to take up the “A LI BRARY SPOT IS A RIGHT, NOT A PRIVILEGE” cause. Until then, get up early, get up strong, and get on top of those library doors before the break of dawn.
pressed minority. He was fired the next morning. Deeply regretful, Sanchez dragged himself to break fast shows around the country and took every opportunity to apologize for his remarks. Meanwhile, an un forgiving CNN popped its collar, brushed its shoulders off, and took a bow to the cheerful applause of nearly everyone. Two weeks after this incident, Bill O’Reilly appeared on The View and, justifying his opposition to the Lower Manhattan Islamic Centre, claimed that “Muslims killed us on 9/11.” Joy Behar and Whoopi Gold berg walked off the set, horrified by his remarks. Unlike Sanchez, who admitted that his statements were intrinsically repugnant, O’Reilly gave the sleazy “I’m sorry that you took offence” apology. In other words, “I am sorry that you got upset over what I think is the truth.” O’Reilly was not fired. Instead, sup
port gushed in from the conservative right, and his ratings went through the roof. In fact, Fox News contributor Brian Kilmeade went on TV the next day. Showcasing his solidarity, Kilmeade outdid O’Reilly himself. “Not all Muslims are terrorists,” he claimed, “but all terrorists are Mus lims.” Surely such an absolute claim that is so easily refutable, and so harrowingly prejudiced, was an ac cidental slip of the tongue, right? Wrong. Kilmeade repeated this statement again a few hours later. He only apologized after the week end passed, with a seemingly insin cere and unmeant statement. Did Fox terminate his contract? Take a wild guess. A week later, NPR’s Juan Wil liams went on the O’Reilly Factor and stated that he “gets nervous” when he gets on â plane and sees
people “wearing Muslim garb.” Williams was fired, but not for long. Virtually every influential conserva tive, individual or institution, lashed out at NPR. Several prominent law makers and politicians urged Con gress to eliminate NPR’s federal subsidies. Meanwhile, the same day he was fired by NPR, Fox News signed Williams to a three-year con tract worth $2 million. What about Sanchez? Did ei ther Fox or MSNBC rush to exploit this right-leaning, former TV news anchor, heartbroken by a left-wing media competitor? Nope. None of them was- “interested at all” in the “disgraced” Sanchez. A recent poll by CBS showed that 42 per cent of Americans feel so strongly about the proposed Islamic centre in Lower Manhattan that it will likely influence their vote in next week’s congressional elections. Incidentally, the same poll revealed
T h e lib r a r y s t a m p e d e
Interestedin photojournalism?
Join our photogra phers in covering news, arts, student living and sports. Email photo@mcgilltribune.com for details.
k___________/ that '40 per cent of Americans have an unfavourable opinion of Islam— worse than it was post 9/11—even though 91 per cent of these poll tak ers admitted that they knew “some,” “not very much,” or “nothing” about Islam and its practices. Statements by O’Reilly, Kilmeade, and Miller are not neg ligent outbursts or genuine misun derstandings or “gaffes.” They are carefully thought-out phrases that nourish an organized and systematic exploitation of an irrational and ris ing fear of Muslims and Islam. They are tools that boost ratings, while ensuring the media’s continued and deliberate failure to draw a clear distinction between the over 1.3 bil lion followers of Islam and the small percentage of that number who be tray its teachings. Meanwhile, 58 per cent of Americans say they do not person ally know a Muslim.
T h e M cG ill
—
T r i b u n e ----------------------------------------------------------7 --------- --------- E d i t o r i a l — --------------New committee a victory for students W W W .M CGILLTRIBUNE.C OM
Editor-in-Chief
T o ri C raw fo rd edito r@ m cgilltrib une.com
Managing Editors
M oo kie K id e c k e l m kid eckel@ m cgilltrib un e.com Theo M eyer tm eyer@ m cgil ltribune .com
Production Manager A d am Scotti asco tti@ m cgilltribune.com
News Editors M att E sse rt, M aria F lo re s, and Sean W ood new s@ m cgilltrib un e.com
Opinion Editor R ic k y K re itn e r opinion @ m cgilltrib une .com
Features Editors A lis o n B a ile y and Shannon K im b a ll features@ m cgilltrib une.com
Arts & Entertainment Editors Brah na Siegelberg and R ya n T a ylo r arts @ m cgilltrib une .com
Sports Editor Sam H unter and Sean Wood sports@ m cgilltribune.com
Photo Editors H o lly Stew art and A lic e W alker photo@ m cgilltribune.com
Design Editors Zoe B re w ste r. Kathleen J o lly , and G a b y L a i d esign@ m cg illtrib une.co m
Copy Editor K y le Carpenter
Online Editor Iain M acdonald on line@ m cg illtrib une.com
Advertising Manager D a lla s Be ntley cpm @ ssm u .m cg ill.ca
Publisher C had Ronalds
Contributors
Manisha Aggarwal-Schifellite. Mohammed Ashour, Rebecca Babcock. Johanu Botha. Zach ConnertyMarin. AmandaDeSouza. ArielleFrank, WallisGroutBrown. Emma Hambly. Alexander Hamilton. Jacob Kanter. JohnKelsey, ChelseaLytle, SarahLazure, Mari Mesri, Ivan Minghui. Michael Morgenthau. Richard Ramcharan. Adam Sadinsky. Sophie Silkes. Daniel Sorger. JohnWillcock Tribune Offices
Editorial Shatner U n iv e rsity Centre Su ite 110, 3480 M c T a v ish M ontreal, Q C H 3 A 1X9 T : 51 4.398 .6 789
Advertising B ro w n Student B u ild in g
There is a brand new commit tee at McGill: the Student Consul tation and Communication Work | Group. Created by Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Morton Mendelson, the group’s mandate is to “broadly consider, and make recom mendations about, the methods used to consult and communicate with our students.” At least in part a response to the furor over the Architecture Café closure, the committee may fall short of many students’ hopes for a quick reopening. As a reply to broader demands for student consul tation, though, the work group is a j hard-won victory that gives reason J for at least cautious optimism. The caution is due to a healthy | dose of past experience. The memo randum on the workgroup cites “a number of recent issues” indicating
the need for student consultation. It is safe to say that the closure of the Architecture Café was one of these issues, yet after two months of si lence, this is the administration’s first signal that they even know students are upset. Lumping the café in with other issues allows the administra tion to skirt some of the difficult questions that have been asked about the closure, most notably regard ing the still-hidden finances. In that sense, the broad mandate feels like something the administration would develop if they were merely looking to redirect student energies. On the other hand, it is signifi cant that student efforts have reached the point where the administration feels that energy needs to be redi rected. Until now, administrators have merely ignored the students.
who they assumed, incorrectly, would take blatantly hostile gestures in stride. That they are interested in even the appearance of consultation is a step in the right direction. It is also exactly what protestors asked for. Through all the opinion pieces in the campus press and the chants at both rallies, students made it clear that they were not just upset about the café being closed. They repeatedly argued that the issue is much larger, a procedural problem rather than a merely topical one. In that sense, the administration is directly acceding to the demands of students, a victory of which weshould all be proud. The administra tion has its own pride to maintain and its own reasons for acting, and to think that it would cede entirely to student demands is unreasonable.
As far as compromises go, this one’s not bad. What is most important about the proposed committee is its po tential. On the one hand, it has the potential be completely irrelevant. On the other hand, it has the poten tial to become a real tool for student representation. The committee will present its findings in December, but there is time before then to contact SSMU representatives and let them know what messages you want to deliver to the administration. If we don’t tell either the Students’ Society or the administration what we spe cifically want, we can hardly blame them for not knowing. The consulta tion committee is reason for cautious optimism. Now it’s up to students to seize the opportunity and make it ef fective.
Source confidentiality must be protected Last Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada outlined certain principles for assessing cases in which journal ists in Quebec are asked to reveal the identities of anonymous sources they use in gathering sensitive informa tion. The Tribune feels it is vital to the public interest that reporters are able to plausibly assure sources that their identities will never be made known to the public or to those in terests that might be angered by the dissemination of whatever informa tion is being shared. To that end, we feel the court’s decision is a step in the right direction, but does not go far enough. The National Assembly of Quebec now needs to follow the court’s recommendation and enact a closely worded shield law, which, while not absolutely protecting jour nalists from ever having to reveal their sources, would make it clear that the onus is not on the journalist to prove she is concealing the iden tity in the public interest, but on the
litigator to claim that they would be acting in the public interest by re vealing the identity of that source. Any proposed solution needs to address this issue’s complexity.An absolute shield law would mean an absence of journalistic accountabil ity, and would too often prevent the courts from fairlyjudging certain civil and criminal cases. However, rules which make it too easy for journal ists to be prosecuted for not revealing their sources would inevitably lead to greater governmental corruption and a less-informed citizenry, because individuals privy to vital information might be less willing to share it with the media. The court is right to say decisions should continue to be made on a case-by-case basis. There must be specific prin ciples to guide such judgments. Ac cording to the Globe and Mail, this decision makes two specific recom mendations: “Journalists should be forced to reveal their sources only
when there is no other alternative to get the information and when disclo sure of sources’ identities is vital to the administration of justice.” The first of these principles evades the issue entirely. The prob lem arises when there is no other way to get the information. Stating that in the case of an impasse the journalists will always have to yield means no longer judging things on a case-bycase basis. It is to say that the public interest is always served by using the coercive power of the state to force a reporter to betray a solemn promise to someone revealing information we might not have otherwise known, and which we are better off for knowing. This is a massive loophole in the court’s decision, a tiny asterisk next to the freedom of the press, and should not be preserved in any future legislation. The second principle—that journalists should have to reveal their sources if concealing them
would prevent “the administration of justice”—is also too heavily weight ed against the journalist’s right to conceal and the source’s right to re main anonymous. By virtue of their profession, judges are more likely to think about judicial issues and not about the importance of protecting sources for the public interest. While we agree that cases should be judged according to which outcome would further the public interest, the court is wrong to place the burden of proof on the journalist rather than on the person trying to reveal the anonymous source. Such an onus might prevent journalists from securing the confidence from their sources that is necessary to gain access to sensitive information. The Quebec government should reverse this formula, through robust legisla tion that gives journalists the power to do their jobs, and gives sources the incentives they need to keep us all in the know.
Suite 1200, 3600 M c T a v ish M ontreal. Q C H 3 A 1Y 2 T : 514.398 .6 835 F : 5 1 4.398 .7 490
TheMcGillTribuneisaneditoriallyautonomousnewspaper publishedbytheSociétédePublicationdelaTribune,astu dentsocietyofMcGillUniversity.Thecontentofthispublica tionisthesoleresponsibilityofTheMcGillTribuneandthe SociétédePublicationdelaTribune,anddoesnotnecessarily representtheviewsofMcGill University.Letterstotheeditor maybesent toletters@mcgilltribune.comandmust include thecontributor'sname, programandyearandcontact infor mation. Lettersshouldbekeptunder300wordsandsubmit tedonlytotheTribune. SubmissionsjudgedbytheTribune PublicationSocietytobelibellous,sexist,racist,homophobic or solelypromotional innature will not bepublished. The Tribunereservestheright toedit all contributions. Editorials aredecideduponandwrittenbytheeditorial board.All other opinionsarestrictlythoseoftheauthoranddonot necessar ilyreflecttheopinionsoftheMcGillTribune,itseditorsorits staff-.Pleaserecyclethisnewspaper.
Respond to news Sing the blues Let us walk in your shoes Write for Opinion Share your ideas With your McGill peers Forget your tea’s Write for Opinion
Email : opinion@mcgilltribune.com
8
Commentary Michael Morgenthau Freeing Dem asduit Demasduit was 23 when she saw her husband die. In 1819, New foundland colonists raided her vil lage and took her captive. They shot her husband before her eyes, leav ing her newborn child to die. Even tually the colonists tried to return Demasduit to her people, but could not find them. She died a captive. This story doesn’t sound like the Canada we know. We know only of a Canada that is supposedly awesome: a premium version of the United States that mixes northeast ern liberalism with southern friend liness and a pseudo-European mul ticultural twist. But when it comes to the issue of aboriginal rights, Canada is far from awesome. Canada has screwed aborigi nals royally. First we stole their land, and then tried to kill them. Next, we gave them blankets with smallpox. Eventually we decided not to kill them, and tried to forc ibly assimilate them. We outlawed their customs and forced them into
residential schools, where they were physically and sexually abused. Why should you care about all this? You didn’t steal their land or crush their culture. How are you responsible for the misdeeds of the past? You aren't. But the point is that their plight is not only in the past. We are responsible for the fact that the average aboriginal gets 2.5 times less funds from the govern ment than other Canadians. We re ceive services from three levels of government. They receive services from only the federal government. We are responsible for the fact that they get less resources for healthcare and less for education. We are responsible for the stagger ing levels of disease, poverty and social ills on reserves and among ur banized Native communities. We are responsible for the fact that Cana dian aboriginals live in Third World conditions in a First World country. But we can stop screwing them over. We can correct a great his torical injustice. Canada needs to reconstitute aboriginal sovereignty within the federalist structure. Give them jurisdiction over relevant poli cies: health, education, and wildlife, among others. Canadian aboriginals I’ve spoken to reject the idea of a pa ternalistic state trying to solve their problems. They want the freedom to
address their own issues, which can only happen through the reconstitu tion of Aboriginal sovereignty. Social ills like suicide, alcohol ism, and endemic school dropout rates are inextricably linked to na tional self-esteem. Sovereignty is the only way to boost aboriginals' collective self-worth. Many would tell you that it can’t be done or that it’s too compli cated. Not only can it be done, but such solutions have already been de signed. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples advocated creat ing a third order of government, that gives Aboriginals powers similar to those of the provinces. As a large federalist country, we already include competing sov ereignties in one system. We can successfully add one more without damaging our national fabric. None of this should make any Canadianss gloomy about our coun try. As I said, Canada is great. We have the chance to be even greater. Let’s embolden the Canadian values of justice and federalism. Let’s reconstitute aboriginal sover eignty. Let’s free Demasduit from her endless captivity Michael Morgenthau is a U1 Political Science student. He can be reached at michael.morgenthau@ mail.mcgill.ca.
Hello, my name is Ricky, and I’m here to talk to you about a very special section of the McGill Tribune — Opinion! Since I started writing for the Opinion section, everything has changed. I’ve lost weight, gained muscle tone, and gotten tons of new friends.* But don’t take my word for it. Write for Opinion yourself, and experience the difference. Write one letter - you heard me — O N E LETTER, and I guarantee that your life will get better FAST. If not, you’ll get your money back, no questions asked.** ‘ Results may vary. Diet, exercise, and a cheery disposition recommended to achieve desired results. ** Dictated but not read.
31 U n iv e r s ity o f O tta w a
G r a d u a te S tu d ie s
Your next step starts here.
■
G r a d u a t e S t u d ie s O p e n
§f i f
H O U S e Thursday, November 4,2010
Travel subsidies of up to $85 are available for students travelling to uOttawa for this event from out of town. (Students must attend this event and must provide proof of transportation. See the website for specific requirements.)
mi »
Visit w w w . d i s c o v e r u o t t a w a . c a / f a l l for more details.
_
.......................
u Ottawa
S
t u d e n t
L
iv in g
GIZMOS & GADGETS
Comparing the Dell XPS M i
7 3 0
and HP Mini
2 1 0
The pros and cons o f tw o co m p u ter extrem es By lain M acdonald
Online Editor
I own four computers. Call me a hoarder all you like, but I use all of them on a daily basis. I have two laptops for school and two LAMP servers in my room at home which I use for working on a network appli cation. Having two laptops for daily use may seem excessive, but each machine serves a different purpose. One of my laptops is a big, bulky, and powerful gaming laptop. The other is a netbook with about as much processing power as a faculty standard calculator. While these two machines are on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of power and size, they both serve different needs. I usually use my heavy-duty laptop when I’m at home. The pow erful hardware provided by “the beast,” can run computationally in tensive applications, such as Win dows. The Dell XPS M l730 fea tures two 200GB hard drives, 4GB of RAM, a dual-core Intel processor, and an Nvidia GeForce 8700M GT
graphics card. In other words, it’s one of the most powerful laptops out there. The 17-inch display is great for watching movies and even bet ter for managing multiple windows. The spacious hard drives allow for three installed operating systems. They don’t call this model a desk top-replacement laptop for nothing. At a whopping 11 pounds, it’s quite a burden to carry around, but when I’m coding a project or working on an assignment, the extra power and screen space is a really useful fea ture. However, the box consumes 240 watts, meaning it gets hot. Very hot. It has recorded fan output tem peratures in excess of 70 degrees Celsius. Such power comes at an ex pense: the nine-cell battery provides a pitiful hour of battery life. My other machine is as close as it can be to the opposite of the XPS. Netbooks are often described as small, portable, inexpensive lap tops 5and the HP Mini 210 is exactly that. At 3.5 pounds, the laptop isn’t bothersome to schlep around. The 8-hour battery life is great for long
days in class, at the library, and in class again. In standard operating conditions, the netbook uses just under 10 watts, considerably less than your typical lightbulb. Howev er, the biggest limitation when using this machine is the 10.1-inch screen; when it comes to screen space, size definitely does matter. Additionally, the Intel Atom processor common in this line of laptops is about as pow erful as a refrigerator, and I wouldn’t dare run anything requiring any con siderable amount of memory on the machine. This is made worse by that fact that many of these machines use a shared graphics and applica tions memory, which means that a quarter of your physical memory is stolen by graphics operations. In fact, when I first got it, on startup, Windows was using over 90 per cent of the machine’s physical memory. I wouldn’t want to do anything more complicated than take notes, or,type up an assignment on the port-o-box. I typically use my netbook when I’m on the go, taking notes, checking e-mail, and most impor
tantly, harvesting FarmVille crops. However, at the end of the day, I cross-synchronize to my heavy-du ty laptop to get some serious work done. The beast is useful if you need the power to run intensive applica tions from WoW to MATLAB, but portability was likely the last thing the hardware engineers considered
when designing the rig. Long bat tery life and light weight make the netbook great for people on the go, but be wary of intensive operations like image or video editing. Using a netbook as a sole computer isn’t something I would soon try, but it makes an excellent replacement for a main machine at home.
TRAVEL
Punta Arenas: a hidden gem at the bottom of the world A dventure vacationing at the south ern-m ost tip o f South A m erica By W allis G ro u t-B ro w n
Contributor
A journey to southern Chile exposes a city full of history and adventures. Punta Arenas is a small, colourful city of about 120,000 people hidden at the southern tip of Chile. Separated from the rest of the country by icebergs, the most direct way to get there is by plane. It can also be reached by. car or. bus, but this requires a detour through Ar gentina. It’s quite easy and cheap to get around in Punta Arenas. Colectivos—taxis that, like buses, follow a certain route—cost the equivalent of
$3 per ride, travel all over the city, and are a great way to become famil iarized with the area. Punta Arenas’ fascinating his tory lends itself to a variety muse ums and architecture. The Palicio Braun Menendez displays pioneers’ wealth and luxury during settlement, and hosts local cultural events and art exhibitions. Sara Braun’s resi dence is a magnificent display of the wealth that was present in the region during settlement, with an exqui site facade, interior and a well-kept winter garden. There’s also a lovely bar in the back of the Residence, al though it can be a bit pricey for the budget traveller.
( W allis G ro u t-B ro w n / M cG ill T rib u n e )
Other things to do in Punta Arenas include the winter festival in July, touring the Austral Brew ery (and sampling beer, of course), watching the traditional Chilean dance La Cueca, and touring the penguin colony at the nearby Otway Sound. The area also offers a lot of ac tivities for those who are more ad venturous. The national park Torres del Paine is only a two-to-three hour car-ride away. During the summer season (October-April), tourists can hike, climb, kayak, horseback ride, mountaineer, ice-climb and much more. In the winter season (May-
September), day tours are still avail able. Visitors can also hike and ski in the surrounding area, such as at the Andino Ski.Club. Another option is taking the two-hour ferry ride across the Magellan Stretch to Porvenir in Chile, the capital of Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost piece of land in the Americas. In Porvenir, not only are there museums and monuments of the Selknam people (an extinct in digenous group who lived there be fore European settlement), but there is plenty of hiking to do as well. As you’re wandering along the beach, you may come across a group of fla mingos. If you make it to Porvenir, try walking to the old abandoned
stone house at the edge of the bay. I have never seen a sunset as beautiful as the one I saw in Porvenir. On your way, you may even run into a herd of guanacos, a llama-like animal found in the region. This description only covers the surface of this Chilean city. Puentas Arenas is full of history and adven ture, and is definitely worth the jour ney to the bottom of the world. Cheap places to stay: Hostal La Estancia ($10-20/night); Hostal O’Higgins ($12-30/night); Hostal La Luna ($10-12/night); Hostal Fitz Roy ($9-34/night)
Q U E S T IO N S T H E
If you’re like most people, being accept ed to McGill was a major relief. It didn’t just mean you could stop worrying about appli cations, stop tossing and turning every night over whether you had a future, and finally join the “McGill Class o f 20—” on Facebook. It also meant—for those Americans out there—that you didn’t have to worry about the SATs anymore, and for everyone else, that you had skirted standardized test ing for good. No more analogies, definitions, tutoring, or prep books. No more constant reminders o f how your intellect was insuf ficient for the rigours of the College Board. Then again, maybe undergrad isn’t the be-all-end-all of upper level education, and grad school is the place for you. In that case, welcome back to the world of standardized testing. But this time, there’s a lot more to it than memorizing word lists and remember ing what pi is. And at M cGill, standardized testing has a storied history. Standardized tests are one o f the com ponents often required in graduate school applications across North America that are meant to apply the same standard to all stu
F O R
Y O U R
F U T
S T A N D A R D IZ E D
dents in order to offer a prediction of initial academic success.They are all administered by American organizations. The Education Testing Service administers the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), which tests verbal, quantitative, and analytical skills for can didates applying to. academic graduate de grees and some business programs. It also administers the Test of English as a For eign Language (TOEFL), founded by the Law School Admission Council in charge of the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) and the Graduate Management Admissions Council, which owns the Graduate Man agement Admissions Test (GMAT). ETS also owns Prometric, which administers a host of other tests and certifications. Pro spective medical students take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), adminis tered by the Association o f American Med ical Colleges. While standardized tests are designed specifically to avoid potential subjectivity or institutional differences giv ing some candidates an unfair advantage, some have argued that they have their own problems, particularly in biasing some stu dents’ success over others. For one thing, there are language and diversity issues. M cGill’s medical school dropped the MCAT for Canadian applicants from Canadian schools just this year, be cause no equivalent test exists in French. “We need to be cognizant o f that facf, especially when the MCAT tests things such as verbal reasoning,” said Dr. Saleem Razack, assistant dean o f admissions for the Faculty of Medicine. “We wanted to make sure that we were reaching out appro priately to all o f the Canadian population, which includes Francophones.” It is important to keep in mind, added Razack, that standardized tests are “always designed for a population. Some people think that because it is applicable in one it is transferable to another, and that is some times true, but not necessarily. The MCAT is designed with the American population in mind. Our students are not that differ ent as a demographic, but you have to bear in mind the issue that population matters in order for tests to be really standardized.” M cG ill’s law school has never required the LSAT for similar reasons. According to Ali Martin-Mayer, assistant dean of admis sion and recruitment for the McGill Faculty of Law, McGill does not require the test because no other Quebec law school does. The reason for this, said Martin-Mayer, is
that the test is only offered in English. “So the main reason the LSAT is not an eligibility requirement at McGill, is that it would put non-English speakers at a seri ous disadvantage.” There are also issues regarding cost. Razack cited this as a smaller factor in Medicine’s decision to make the MCATs optional. Standardized tests themselves range from about $200 to $250. Then there are the books. Each testing organization has some free preparation material available on their websites, but many test-takers decide to supplement that with Princeton Review, Kaplan, or Barron’s materials, which can cost as much as $150 each. Students who take the premium route and enrol in a prep course offered by one of these companies to help their studies can dish out up to $2000, or more if they’re using private tu tors. Many students take each test twice to boost their scores, and a healthy number of test takers won’t end up at a graduate pro gram after taking the corresponding test. These high costs have raised criticism from some groups. Consumer rights orga nization Americans for Educational Testing Reform (AETR) writes on their website that the “big 3 non-profit testing compa nies,” E T S, ACT Inc., and College Board, are “monopolistic corporations” that “con sistently and shamelessly take advantage of American students and aspiring profes sionals for financial gain.” Using copies of ETS tax forms obtained from the 1RS, AETR alleges that ETS earned $94 million in profits in 2 0 0 7 — 155% o f the industry average—and compensated their CEO with seven times the industry average: nearly $1 million for the year. “Nonprofit companies,” writes AETR on their website, “are supposed to serve the public interest. In return, the 1RS exempts them from paying taxes. [...] But rather than uphold their non-profit promises, [the Big 3 test companies] would rather engage in misconduct including raking in big prof its, hand out exorbitant executive compen sation packages, and paying their govern ing board members.” These allegations are serious, but it is worth noting that AETR website says nothing about who they are. It is difficult to find third party publications mentioning the organization, and they did not respond to the Tribune’s requests for an interview. According to Tom Ewing, director o f press relations at E TS, concerns about
T E
“The th a t a sse m b f u l l o f th th ey
hav<
a trem co n tro l
p si
both cost and dive placed. Speakin GREs, he maintai not for profit. T1 come from for-pri metric. The high < of people and tim with tests that are test is also admir which requires a top-notch security offset in some fas High costs m rigorous process I its questions do £ nities. Ewing ex{ question takes 11 the drawing boarc der and racially b committees, asse United States, init question. Problen multiple stages of sitivity review th; question may or n particular group, topic that the aver familiar with, or i that might not be f Questions also go to ensure they do appropriately port group.” Eventuall on test takers, an< students performe der, and geograph
«
E: D E B A T E
BYM OOKIEKIDECKEL Itto m
lin e
h e tim e
is w e
w h o le te st q u e stio n s, !en
th ro u g h
lo u s
q u a lity
!ss t o
m a k e
:h e y ’re fa ir ” T o m
E w in g
mmunities are miscifically about the !hat the operation is panies’ Revenues bsidiaries like Produe to the amount essary to “come up ally flawless.” The d on the computer, plex network with ose costs have to be ’ said Ewing, o be related to the ndertakes to ensure to diverse commud that the average ths to make, from student’s test. Gend test development from across the craft each potential then sent through Ing, including a sen)ks at “whether the lot be offensive to a 1er it might cover a est taker may not be aight have language iar to all test takers.” igh a fairness review “inaccurately or inme gender or racial estions are tried out n analyzed for how them by race, genication. If questions
don’t work for one group, they are tossed out and everything starts again. “The bottom line is that by the time we assemble a whole test full of these ques tions, they have been through a tremendous quality control process to make sure they’re fair,” said Ewing And indeed, despite criticism, many ed ucators still seem to have faith in standard ized testing. Ewing said that over the last two years, the number of M BA programs accepting the GREs jumped from about 50 to nearly 450. Though the test is option al, McGill Law requires people who have taken the LSAT to disclose their marks. “If a candidate has studied well for it, the test is designed to predict performance in first year law,” said Martin-Mayer. “It’s not a perfect test, but it is a good measure, a good indication, and still useful information for us to have. McGill Medicine requires MCATs from all non-Canadian applicants or stu dents from non-Canadian schools. “You could look at this as a bit of a staged process. We decided to go cautious ly because there is definitely more hetero geneity with students applying internation ally,” said Razack. “We are not as able to know all the programs that are out there on a worldwide basis, so that’s why we kept it.” Ultimately, though, Razack is satisfied with the means that McGill Medicine ad missions uses to test the “non-cognitive” skills that are such an important part of being a physician including a new process called multiple mini-interviews, which can be conducted in either English or French. Whether that sort of system will ever re place standardized testing outside of Que bec, and whether test takers and critics would be kinder in their reviews of those sorts o f processes, remains to be seen. Whether standardized tests are biased or an accurate measure o f academic abili ties, change from the current system seems unlikely. Yet it is also unclear whether change is necessary or desirable. Upset about studying for the tests or not, most stu dents will have to take one of them to pur sue graduate studies. There may be serious problems when the majority of schools rely on a tiny number of private organizations to filter their applicants, but until somebody implements a better way of doing things, us grumpy test takers may just have to suck it up.
Curiosity D elivers - m cgilltribune.com 1
2
pumpKîti 8re>a«r By Chelsea Lytle
____
C o n trib u to r
Since pumpkin season is now well underway, I felt it would be appropriate to make something with my favourite squash. As delicious as “pumpkin bread” is, it’s not a typical bread—it’s a sweet loaf. This bread was inspired in part by my love of pumpkins, but also by my holiday leftovers. What better use for your leftover turkey, ham, or cranberry sauce than to put them on some good old savory pumpkin bread? This bread is very dense, but it makes for great toast. In g re d ie n ts
3 c. flour 3 1/2 tsp. sugar 1 pack of active dry yeast
1 tbsp. salt 1 egg 4 tbsp. warm water (90F, or microwave for 30 seconds on high) 2 tbsp. olive oil 3/4 c. canned pumpkin 1 tsp. nutmeg 1/2 tsp. cloves 1 pack of finely chopped fresh sage Directions
1. Dissolve the yeast with warm water and one tablespoon of sugar. 2. In a large bowl, combine the egg, olive oil, pumpkin, and the remainder of the sugar. Add cloves, nutmeg, and sage to taste. 3. Add the yeast mixture and knead for five minutes. 4. Warm the oven on low heat for
,
—
—
—
—
—
-|
one minute and then turn it off. Let the dough sit in the warm oven for | 15 minutes. 5. Add salt and knead for another | five minutes. 6. Let the bread rise in the warm | oven for an hour. It’s a dense bread, so this is helpful for getting | it to rise properly. 7. Take the dough out and form | it into a ball, oval, baguette, or whatever fun shape you like. Place | the dough on a piece of parchment paper or greased pan, loosely | cover again and let rise for another 30 minutes. 8. Heat the oven to 400F. 9. Cut the top of the loaf once or | twice with a sharp knife before putting it in the oven. 10. Bake for 40 minutes. 11. Enjoy your homemade bread. |
T u e sd a y T u e sd a y Guided Tour of the Redpath Museum 1 2 - 1 pan. Redpath Museum
Free MCAT seminar 6 - 7 : 3 0 p.m. Stewart Biology Building Room 106
Join Ingrid Birker for a tour of one of Canada’s oldest freestanding museums right here on campus. The tour will visit the museum’s rare ex hibit and collections. Space is limited, so please register online beforehand.
Thinking about medschool? McGill Medical Direction & the BioChem Undergraduate Society is of fering an MCAT seminar by an experienced MCAT prep instructor, for free!
Thursday Saturday 4Floors: Nightmare on McTavish Street 10:00 p.m.-3 a.m. Shatner Building
Martlet Ice Hockey vs. Carleton 2 p.m. McConnell Arena
SSMU’s annual Hallow een event is back again this year. Dress up and get freaky for an event that never disap points. Tickets sell quickly, so getting them through the facebook group might be your best option at this point.
Get your school spirit on and cheer for the Martlets’ ice hockey team as they face off against Carleton University’s Ravens for what is sure to be an exciting game.
WebCT stupidity of the week
Subjeet;N eu roscien ce
Author:
~
Date:
Thank you for the explanations. Unfortunately, I’m totally confused by the fundamental difference between living and non-living things. So ants, broccoli, people, and cats are all "living things" and therefore represented by sensory knowledge? However: pants, steamed broccoli, steeples, and hats are "non-living things" and thereforerepresented by functional knowledge? How is it logical at all that these things are represented by totally different modules in the brain? Perhaps I should look over the associated reading again.
R e p ly
Are your W ebCT discussion pages rife with idiocy, typos, o r grammatical erro rs? Send them to features@ m cgilltribune.com .
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
1 3 ODDS & ENDS
Trivial Pursuit: a McGill student competes on Jeopardy! Ladies and gentlem en, get your buzzers ready... By Ricky Kreitner
Opinion Editor
In 1856, John C. Fremont ran for President as the first candidate of the newly created Republican Party. He lost to James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States and the only lifelong bachelor to have ever occupied the White House. I relate these facts from mem ory. Anyone can re-construct them quickly, so long as they memorize the connections between the various parts. It isn’t a particularly special ability, and not a sign of superior
( babble.com )
intelligence; some people are simply better at it than others. Last August I had the oppor tunity to test my capacity for reten tion as a contestant on Jeopardy!. Throughout the taping, it was the name John C. Fremont, out of ev erything I had studied in the two months since receiving the call to come to Los Angeles, that emerged from the cobwebbed recesses of my memory, illuminated before me in a blinding light. The process for becoming a Jeopardy! contestant begins with a 50-question online quiz, which is offered twice each year. With only a few seconds to read the category and clue and type your answer, it can be a very stressful few minutes. I felt good, though, about my performance that night. In late April I received an e-mail requesting my presence in Philadelphia on the morning of June 21 to audition for a spot on the show. Much of Jeopardy!'s success can be attributed to the limitless breadth of material its questions cover. I knew I’d be fine with most literature, history, or—please, God— philosophy questions, but I didn’t stand a chance with any post-1999 television shows or ladies’ maga zines questions. My preparation for the Philadelphia audition consisted of making myself more receptive than usual to the world around me and pouring over my father’s 1975 People’s Almanac as we drove south on the Jersey Turnpike that sunny June morning. The live audition included an other 50-question quiz. The other
a circle and mostly not talking. The youngest person in the group by at least 15 years and hoping to assert my confidence, I tried to break the ice by asking where everyone was from. My motives were probably obvious, and my attempt therefore counterproductive, but at least I got to know my potential opponents. If anything at all eased my nerves that morning, it was the friendships, though embryonic, that I forged with some fellow contestants, and the sense that we were all dealing with the same dread. Each contestant is given a few minutes to practice their buzzing timing at the podiums, and to get comfortable standing on the stage. This made me much more nervous because I was consistently not buzzing in first, even on practice questions I knew. I tried to change my buzzer-holding style, but noth ing worked. I realized I was in for trouble. Five episodes are taped each day. The two contestants who face the returning champion on any given episode are chosen at random just before their own show starts. They have about five minutes to transition from passive observers watching from the audience to active partici pants in the game, standing behind the podium, interacting with Alex Trebek, and trying hard, despite the cameras, the audience, and the sheer incredibility of the whole thing, to concentrate on the questions and ring the buzzer before the others. Watching from the comfort of home, I saw Jeopardy! as a trivia game. As a contestant, however, I
candidates and I waited as the quiz zes were marked by the Jeopardy! contestant coordinators. They also conducted a personality interview to filter the personable needles from the dense haystack of trivia dweebs. I did alright, at one point drawing smiles after answering a question on Percy Shelley that nobody else knew, and pushed myself against my own insecurity to just relax. I received a voicemail less than a month later: “Hi, this is Robert from Jeopardy!. Please call me back when you get this.” The room around me transformed. My friend Sam gave me at least one bear hug, maybe three. I phoned my mother, who didn’t believe me at first. I phoned my father—who had unsuccessfully tried out for Jeopardy! twice, and whose mother tried out for the origi nal Jeopardy! in the 1960s—who then cried. I found the experience overwhelming and surreal. In the days I spent in Los An geles before the taping, I tried to both relentlessly mush facts into my brain, and keep my mind clear in the midst of such tumult. At one point, I remember standing at the edge of the Santa Monica pier, a crisp blue day, looking out across the ocean surface to the edge of the horizon, and thinking of only one thing: John C. Fremont. I slept terribly Sunday night. Hurriedly dressing in my suit and downing what I hoped would be a decent breakfast of everything the Marriott offered, I rode with my dad to the Sony Pictures Studio lot, and was dropped next to the crowd of milling contestants, standing in
experienced Jeopardy! as a buzzer ringing game, and only secondarily as a quiz show. At home, you know the answers, shout them at the TV, and convince everyone that you would be a good contestant. But on the set, you compete with two intelligent people who want just as badly to ring in first. The questions to which you know the answer may not be the ones you ring in first for, and those you ring in first for may not necessarily be questions you ac tually know the answer to. For contractual reasons, there’s a lot that I can’t reveal in writing about my experience. All I can tell you is what it felt like psychologi cally and emotionally to be behind that podium, both playing the game and being aware that you’re play ing the game. To feel yourself being picked apart by millions of eyes. It was very lonely. Afterward, I felt slightly traumatized, and not espe cially due to my performance. My first reaction after the taping was that I’d had no fun whatsoever. But it didn’t take me long to re vise that assessment, to realize that it was really an incredible experience, and a unique one. It’s embarrassing to talk about having been a contes tant on Jeopardy!, but everyone gets so excited by the whole thing, and their excitement gets me excited to the point that I no longer think of it as my own experience. And that doesn’t scare me nearly half as much as it would have a few months ago. Watch Ricky Kreitner on Jeop ardy! on October 29 on CBC at 7:30.
4
7
3
9 7
3
6 6
5
7
3
8
9
4
3
9
8
6
5
7
3
8
4
5
1
2
6
6
8 2
5
3
2
3
5
4
2
6
7
9
9
2
1
8
5
9
7 8
7
5
2
3
1
oo
Sudoku
1
4
8
5
1
5
4
7
9
8
3
1
3 1
8
5
GOT A BETTER SPACE FILLER THAN SUDOKU? WRITE FOR FEATURES
FEATURES© MCGILLTRIBUNE. COM
A
&
E
MUSIC
Wintersleep works twice as hard on the road H alifax band writes latest album on to u r By Kyle Carpenter
Copy Editor
It turns out that great albums can happen while you’re busy making other plans. Halifax’s Wintersleep wrote the bulk of their latest album, New Inheritors, while on tour. In ad dition to getting ready for their show each night, the band spent part of their soundcheck ironing out new songs. As you might expect, finding the time to do so is no easy task. “It depends on the tour, it de pends on how much time you have on stage to [sound]check before the show,” says bassist Mike Bigelow. “Once it’s time for the show, it’s got
“ I d o n ’t t h i n k w e w e n t in w i t h a c o n s c io u s effort to m a k e a d a rk ro ck a lb u m ”
to be all songs that people already know, or [the songs] have got to be finished.” Perhaps the band is able to pro duce new material this way because each member contributes as a song
writer. “It’s the first Wintersleep re cord with this lineup,” says Big elow. “Everyone in the band also plays guitar and writes, maybe not even full songs, but [is] always writ ing music and working on stuff at home.” This type of songwriting shows on the album. New Inheritors has a lot of variety. Just compare the first two singles: “Black Camera,” a minor key straight-ahead rock song, and “New Inheritors,” a slower vocal-driven song with folk under tones. Sometimes the polarity can be seen in a single song, like “Ex perience The Jewel,” a quiet, jazzy opening-track-tumed-epic-overture. Several songs have a darker feel than Wintersleep’s earlier work. However, Bigelow claims that wasn’t the band’s intent. “I’m not denying it, but I also don’t think we went in with a con scious effort to make a dark rock album,” he says. In terms of the content, Bigelow says that on songs like “Black Cam era,” it’s up to the listener to come up with their own meaning. “When it comes to Paul’s lyrics he doesn’t talk about them too much and we don’t really ask,” he jokes. “Paul’s a very interesting writer in a lot of ways and we all respect and admire his lyricism for sure.” Wintersleep are currently work
ing their way across Canada and the northern United States with the Besnard Lakes. When playing live, the band carefully plans their set list to balance heavier rock songs with their quieter pop tracks. “Lately we've been trying to play these two or three songs in a row that are all in the same tuning, and we can bang them out pretty quickly,” Bigelow says. “It’s fun to start the show out with two or three bangin’ rockers and then you can kind of take it in a different direc
tion.” Live, the band have also been trying to recreate some of the tricki er sounds on the album, like the mul tiple layers at the end of “Baltic.” However, Bigelow says that their use of things like samplers is kept to a minimum on stage. After releasing their third album. Welcome to the Night Sky, the band won the 2008 Juno Award for New Group of the Year, but they haven’t let the award go to their heads.
“We’ve always worked really hard and toured a lot, if there is out side expectation we don’t really feel it because we’re on tour,” Bigelow says. “Wintersleep’s never been a band that had this big record and that was it, not ‘it’ of their career, but [that] just kind of skyrockets them. [For us] it’s always been a constant progression, which I think we prefer. 1 think that’s a better route.” Wintersleep is playing Cabaret Mile End with the Besnard Lakes and Rah Rah on October 30.
P op ItHFroRic W hy I’ m Not Q u ittin g Mad Men The fourth season of Mad Men ended last week, and at last we have seen Don Draper in a moment of weakness: smiling stupidly at the thought of being in love. Spoiler alert: it has been subtly foreshad owed throughout the season, but I don’t think any of us actually ex pected Don to spontaneously pro pose to Megan, his sweet, noncha lant, French-Canadian secretary. But that’s one of the many great things about Mad Men. It’s unpredictable, but not unrealistic. The show about a Madison Avenue advertising agency in the 1960s has managed, even in its fourth season, to continue to wow audiences and gamer fans with its thematic and sty listic genius. Though I can’t speak personally to what life was like in the 1960s, I can say that from both reading about and hearing many per
sonal accounts of the era, Mad Men brilliantly captures the Zeitgeist of 1960s America while still managing to create TV drama at its best. One of the most brilliant aspects of the show’s recreation of ‘60s fash ion, banter, and social mores, is the way in which it slowly moves from staid, late-EisenhowerAmerica to the progressive Kennedy/Johnson ‘60s. Although the upper-class white men of SCDP (Sterling-Cooper-DraperPrice) are hardly evidence of prog ress, marginal figures creep into the episodes to demonstrate the chang ing mood. Most notably, Peggy, a once mousy secretary, has become a powerful copywriter by season four, slowly immersing herself in beatnik counterculture. She even gives selfproclaimed hippies a run for their money, when, locked in a hotel room with artistic director Stan and chided for being “prude,” she strips naked and goads him to “get liberated.” And then there’s Don’s ex-mistress, Midge, who, absent since season
one, returns to convince Don to buy one of her paintings, as she—an ar chetypal bohemian—has become a heroin addict. As the ‘60s came with prom ises of a more “permissive” society, it also struggled to let go of some of the traditional mores of the recent past, most notably in regard to fe male roles. Dr. Faye, a new add-on in season four, and also Don’s girl friend (that is, until he proposes to Megan), concludes in her surveys that all women ultimately want is to get married. Meanwhile, Joan is given a “promotion” in the season finale, but with no pay increase in sight, she aptly responds, “It’s al most an honour.” Another poignant moment of the season occurs when Peggy, outraged by one male copy writer’s remarks to Joan, decides to fire him. Although Peggy intended to defend Joan, Joan’s response is telling: “All you’ve done is prove to them that I’m a meaningless sec retary and you’re another humour
less bitch.” In the relatively new world of women in the workplace, power dynamics and the question of whether to bank on or give up en tirely one’s feminine wiles are still being worked out. However, as some of the show’s women are struggling to move forward into the future, oth ers, like Betty Draper, are stuck in the past. While Don’s blonde, beau tiful ex-wife began the series as a sympathetic suburban housewife, condemned to middle-class ennui, by the fourth season she has become embittered and an abusive mother. Now remarried to political advi sor Henry Frances, the effects that Betty’s selfish tirades have had on her children are becoming more pro nounced, as eight-year-old Sally is caught “touching herself’ at a slum ber party, hacking off her long locks, and later, hopping on a train to run away to Don’s house. In the midst of exploring and re-creating life in mid-1960s New
York, this season has delved further into the series’ overarching ques tion: “Who is Don Draper?” In the first episode, we see Don with a call girl. He asks her to “do it,” and then we find out that what he wanted was for her to slap him across the face. So Don Draper is a masochist. In teresting. We go further into the archive still when Roger Sterling, in the midst of writing—or dictat ing to a ghost writer—his memoir, first discovers an eager Don as a fur salesman, looking to enter the world of advertising. Amid Jersey Shore, Glee, Gos sip Girl, Grey’s Anatomy, How I Met Your Mother, and the rest of the endless list of crap people watch, Mad Men has saved television from becoming a cultural wasteland. Although the show was initially rejected by HBO—generally, the only source of artistically merited television—it’s AMC that had the last laugh. —Brahna Siegelberg
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
1
5
FILM REVIEW
THEATRE REVIEW
The show about writing a show
A blue-headed villain
[title o f show ] teaches how to create theatre and kill vam pires
M eg a m in d m im es superhero flicks
By Alexander H a m ilton C o n trib u to r
Something about musical the atre is inherently ridiculous. It has to do with the fact that, whenever you see people singing onstage, you can’t help but notice that you’re watching a performance. As Julien Silverman and Dane Stewart point out in their director’s note, there is a long-standing tradition of “self-ref erence and meta-drama” in classical theatre, [title of show] follows this tradition, using every opportunity to address the many clichés of mu sical theatre in humorous and often thought-provoking ways. [title o f show] (yes, that is the actual name of the show) is TNC Theatre’s first production of the year, and it’s also the first musical they have performed in over five years. A play within a play, the story follows two guys writing a musical, about two guys writing a musical, and their struggle to get it on Broadway. As a result, the play’s staging is min imal, with only four chairs for props and a keyboard for accompaniment (played by Sean Mayes), leaving little to distract the audience. Of the four leads, Ben Harris’s performance (as Hunter as Ben) dominates the stage, although he is awkward during the moments he is not immersed in his role. Michael Grundland (as Jeff as Michael) is a more consistent singer and actor
than Harris but often serves as a foil for Ben’s more exuberant perfor mance. Despite taking a backseat role in the performance, both female leads also deliver strong efforts. Bryna Weiss (as Heidi as Bryna) lacks vocal strength during some of her musical numbers, but she por trays her character with just the right mixture of confidence and timid ity to seem realistic. Caitlyn Milot’s performance (as Susan as Caitlyn) can only be described as hilarious. Though fully aware how silly her character is, Milot generates the most laughs and carries the play’s comedy. The show’s strongest feature is its use of meta-theatre to poke fun at traditional clichés. During one scene, Michael rolls his chair across the floor to Ben, who protests that they were supposed to be in different apartments at the time. Later, the ac tion cuts when one of the other char acters announces that “this scene feels too long.” [title o f show] is guilty of in dulging in self-mockery at times. For example, during a dream sequence, the characters fly over an imaginary New York City, and Michael pro tests that this is a ridiculous scene to include in a musical. However, at other times the performance com bines humour with some very astute observations. The best song of the musical,
“Die, Vampire, Die!” contains a fair ly in-depth discussion of the various challenges represented by artistic inhibitions. In the song, vampires represent the problems Ben and Michael encountered while writ ing their musical, including some of the tropes and clichés they work to avoid. Later, the actors discuss another problem for artists: popular success. In the song “Nine People’s Favourite Thing” they sing, “I’d rather be nine people’s favourite thing than a hundred people’s ninth favourite thing.” This seems to be the takeaway message of [title o f show]. The mu sical makes few compromises in its commitment to a certain artistic vi sion, and TNC’s production holds true to that. The only serious prob lem with [title o f show] is the way the action drags on in the second half, as the four actors try to bring their play to Broadway. Here the scenes and medleys lack cohesion and seem chaotic, failing to maintain the initial momentum and bring the musical to a concise ending. Despite this shortcoming, [title o f show] is enjoyable for its humanity, uninhib ited creativity, and demonstration that a musical doesn’t have to be predictable in order to be good. [title of show] runs from Octo ber 27-30 in Morrice Hall. More in formation at tuesdaynightcafe.com
By T h e o M eyer M a n a g in g Editor
About 15 minutes into Mega mind, the movie’s eponymous vil lain succeeds in defeating Metro Man, the Superman-like hero, giv ing Megamind control of Metro City. But after moving into city hall and exhausting his list of destructive pranks (launching fire trucks into the sides of buildings, painting blue moustaches on portraits), Megamind (Will Ferrell) grows bored. What is the point of being a villain, he won ders, a little too obviously, with no superhero to battle? The resulting film is four parts digitally animated children’s comedy and one part ex istential exploration, as Megamind, whose cape and ridiculous high collar frame his bulbous blue head, searches for a new identity. Many of the film’s plot twists hinge on Megamind’s dehydrating ray gun, which, along with a spe cially designed watch, enables him to assume the appearances of others. As he ponders life without Metro Man one night while thus disguised, Megamind runs into Roxanne (Tina Fey), a spunky television journalist who convinces him to help her bring down Megamind, forcing Mega mind to feign battling himself. The film, directed by Tom McGrath, is supported by a strong cast: Brad Pitt lends his voice to Metro Man, and Jonah Hill voices
Hal, a videographer remarkably similar to all the characters Hill plays in live-action movies. Seek ing a new rival, Megamind infuses some of Metro Man’s DNA into the fumbling, stocky Hal, transforming him into an awkward superhero who battles it out with Megamind for Roxanne’s affections. The zigzag ging plot makes all of this less clichéd than it sounds, and the movie, for the most part, cleverly mimes the superhero genre. While not up to the standards of the best Pixar films, Megamind is pretty clever animated fare. As he talks to a bobbing plastic duck while contemplating life without Metro Man, Megamind sullenly comments that he’s engaged in a “heated ex istential discussion with this dead eyed plastic desk toy.” A surprising amount of the jokes are aimed high, most notably the Obama-like “No We Can’t” poster Megamind hangs after taking control of the city. At times, Megamind almost veers in the direction of political allegory (at least if you spent the weekend studying for a political sci ence exam). Without Metro Man to check Megamind, the city becomes a one-party state, victim to the ca pricious—though fairly harmless— whims of Megamind. But unlike most real-life dictators, Megamind grows tired of absolute power and, egged on by Roxanne, tries to be come one of the good guys.
MUSIC
All in the family Folk duo Angus and Julia Stone prove th at siblings in a band together can still get along By Sarah Lazure C o n trib u to r
The music of Angus and Julia Stone has a strange effect on some people. After listening to them, many begin to think of the Sydneybased brother-sister duo as “their” band. When their music was playing at a recent party, I mentioned to the guy manning the iPod how much I liked them. The stranger’s unsmil ing response? “Well, I’m sure I like them more than you do.” Admittedly, I am not immune to the possessive instincts their music can sometimes instill and selfishly tried to keep this band to myself after hearing them on a trip to Australia in 2007. But, two al bums later and with an appearance on the Grey’s Anatomy soundtrack, the secret is officially out. Their new album, Down the
Way, has given fans much to be pos sessive about. In “And the Boys,” Julia’s warbling voice croons about “the gold falling from the ceiling of this world/ falling from the heartbeat of this girl/ falling from the things we should have learned.” Listen ers everywhere fall in love with Angus on the album’s single “Big Jet Plane,” as he implores you, in a smoky voice, to, “Be my lover, my lady river/ but can I take ya, take ya higher”. Their simple acoustic ballads about love, lust, and loss seem to typify the twentysomething roman tic experience to the point that it often feels the songs were person ally written to accompany the feel ings of infatuation, relationships, and heartbreak. Speaking from New York, the current stop on their North Ameri can tour, the charming Julia Stone described her difficult relationship
with the English language. Though their poetic lyrics may hold a lot of resonance for their fans, Julia does not find satisfaction in the spoken word. “I’ve always felt a little bit un fulfilled expressing things through words,” says Stone. “I never feel like I can fully connect the intention between what I want to say and the actual sound of it.” Fans seem to think otherwise, and the band’s ability to connect to their listeners has won them legions of loyal followers on the festival circuit from Australia to Canada to Britain, where they currently live. The siblings, who have been collaborating since 2006, have a fairly unconventional working rela tionship. The two write their songs separately, split the album between their different songs and work to gether in the studio on the musical arrangements and harmonies.
Brother and sister A n g u s and Julia Stone ( N e ttw e k M u sicG ro u p )
Though their lives are now very much intertwined, Julia said it wasn’t always that way, and grow ing up, the two didn’t exactly get along—something Stone attributes to their troubled childhood. “Family relationships are so ex treme because usually your parents’ dynamic comes into your sibling re lationship,” she says. “You grow up watching dysfunctional behaviour between two adults and then you be
come adults and you’re playing the same roles.” A love of music eventually brought the siblings together and al lowed them to “use this very strange set of circumstances where we’re living together and working together to try and let this stuff go.” Angus and Julia Stone play Le National on Friday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $18-20.
Curiosity D elivers - m cgilltribune.com
1
6
CD Reviews
THEATRE REVIEW
Femme fatale
Theatre perform s Euripides’ M edea By Alexander H a m ilto n
Contributor
Belle and Sebastian - Write
About Love Belle and Sebastian Write About Love is the Scottish group's eighth album in 15 years, and their age is starting to show. Unfortu nately, while their signature sound remains intact, the overall message of the album isn't as obvious as pre vious releases. Frontman Stuart Murdoch doesn’t wear his heart on his sleeve like he used to, and the album feels like the band has grown up. But Murdoch’s emotional reservation also makes the album a tougher lis- ' ten. The honesty and quirky sadness that make up Belle and Sebastian’s quintessential sound is missing, and when familiar elements of the band’s style come out—synthesizers, horns, and airy vocals—they don’t feel as energetic as they once did. The record has its high points, including the tracks, “I Didn’t See it Coming,” “Little Lou, Ugly Jack. Prophet John,” featuring Norah Jones, and the title track featuring actress Carey Mulligan. However, by the eighth track, “The Ghost of Rockschool,” the record begins to lag, and never really recovers. The record’s punchy beginning gets bogged down by slower tracks like “Calculating Bimbo” and the fluteheavy “Read the Blessed Pages,” both of which end up feeling out of place and not as wistful and sweet as classic Belle & Sebastian. Murdoch and company are known for their tragedy-tinged whimsy and Write About Love sounds a little tired. It may be time for them to fully embrace their grown-up identity rather than hold on to a lesser version of the sound that has made them instantly recog nizable for so many years.
PS I Love You -
Meet Me At The Muster Station Let’s be thankful that PS I Love You are better at writing songs than they are at picking band names. While the moniker is ripe for ridi cule, the 10 tracks that make up Meet Me At The Muster Station de mand far more respect. Hailing from Kingston, Ontar io, vocalist/guitarist and bass pedal player Paul Saulnier and drummer Benjamin Nelson make fuzzy, lo-fi garage rock that’s inevitably going to draw comparisons to Vancouver rockers Japandroids and L.A. punks No Age. It’s not totally unwarrant ed—they’ve got the frenetic energy and youthful abandon of the former and the noisier qualities of the lat ter, plus there’s the “duo” angle to work—but there’s more to it than that. Songs like “2012” and “Get Over” show Saulnier’s knack for guitar hooks while “Butterflies and Boners” and the buzz-creating “Facelove” feature full-on stadium sized guitar solos. The tunes become all the more impressive when you realize it’s just two dudes respon sible for all of that noise. Vocally, Saulnier plays kid brother to Wolf Parade’s Spencer Krug, with screams, yelps, and war bles that up the album's “weird” fac tor. But being buried way, way back in the mix, and aside from a couple moments of clarity, it’s damn near impossible to pick out any lyrical narrative or sentiment. It’s frustrat ing—these songs are so urgent and impassioned that you want to sing along, but you don’t know what the hell they’re saying.
Avey Tare - Down There Often overshadowed by the overwhelming success of his bandmate Panda Bear, many are prob ably unaware that Avey Tare—onefourth of Animal Collective—works as a solo artist as well. Down There, his solo debut, takes the listener on an adventure through the depths of murky swamps, riding distorted synths and bass-heavy sampling to return thoroughly satisfied at the other end. The album reveals Tare’s un conventional pop sensibility and sense of restraint. Songs average an accessible three to four minutes in length, and rather than overwhelm the listener with an exhaustive audio journey, each track seamlessly fades into the next. “Laughing Hieroglyphic,” Down There's first track, features a pulsating accordion as Avey Tare’s voice takes the forefront, passion ately singing, “It’s so easy to get lost in the mixture/ When forces strike/ Hard.” While Animal Collec tive has focused on making vocals merely another component of their songs, Avey Tare’s voice is the driv ing force of the album, allowing the sampling and layers of sound to support the song rather than dictate its sound. Avey Tare’s 34-minute album is one of the most cohesive and structured I’ve heard in a long time. Each twist and turn has a purpose, and the journey the listener begins on the first track feels complete and fulfilled by the end.
“Caution: there will be loud noises during this performance,” warns the door to Medea. The mean ing of this sign came to light during the most explosive part of the play. A murder is revealed, and BAM! The back wall of the set falls down, revealing charred fabric and streams of blood. Medea is Euripides’ classical Greek tragedy about Mithia, scorned ex-wife, and her one day of fiery revenge. Though written over two millennia ago, the story is accessible to a modem audience. Euripides is hailed as the most contemporary of the Greek playwrights—his psycho logical works feature empowered women, and heroes who fail to live up to their reputations. In this case the satirized hero is Jason, captain of the Argonauts, who left his wife Mithia for a king’s daughter even though she’d killed and betrayed her country for him. The ridiculous figure (played by co-director and co-translator An dreas Apergis) seems to think the marriage will benefit Mithia and her children, but doesn’t judge the woman too harshly at first. After all, as he says, “Women get angry when their husbands remarry.” “Angry” doesn’t suffice. Mith ia, portrayed in an outstanding per'formance by France Rolland, begins as a dejected bundle of tears and transforms into a raging, murderous, madwoman. “You’re not a woman," notes Jason near the end, “you’re a lioness.” Rolland manages to bal
ance the softness of a grieving wife and mother with the frenzied actions of a woman pushed over the edge. Beautiful, focused lighting along with an imaginative minimal set (designed by David Perrault Ninacs and Amy Keith, respectively) allow the audience to focus on the players in Euripides’ work. Granted, it takes five or 10 minutes to adjust to the heightened drama of it all. The opening monologue may seem like overacting, but it’s not. In a world where the gods rule all and revenge is best served very hot, high-strung emotion is just a fact of life. A good deal of Medea's impact can be attributed to its music, which was composed by Brian Lipson and directed by David Oppenheim. Live string instruments and a chorus of singers evoke the mood and mean ing of each scene. The music is rembetiko—an underground Greek style, which blends folk and blues. The five women of the chorus inter act with Mithia as her friends and conscious, highlighting her plight with beautiful, haunting voices. Medea is a wonderful (and in expensive) way to experience the atre. Parts of the production feel like Shakespeare, Mithia plotting like an ancient Lady Macbeth—but the lan guage is much easier to understand. The production is a well-rounded, memorable, tour-de-force. I’d rec ommend a trip to Medea—as long as you're comfortable with loud noises. Medea is playing at the Cen taur Theatre until Oct. 30th. More information at centaurtheatre.com
—Arielle Frank
—Ryan Taylor
—Manisha Aggarwal-Schifellite ( Scapegoat Carnivale Theatre)
CATCH UP ON THE LATEST ARTS, NEWS, SPORTS AND OPINION. W W W .M C G IL L T R IB U N E .C O M
S
p o r t s
BASEBALL
McGill baseball sets the bar for all other sports programs U nderdog Redm en win M c G ill’s first N ational C ham p ion sh ip since 2 0 0 6 behind strong pitching By Sam H u n te r
Sports Editor
The Redmen are National Champions. You aren't going to hear that phrase often at McGill unless you're talking about the baseball program, which won it all in ‘06, made the final in ‘08, and climbed to the pin nacle yet again this past weekend, winning the national champion ships. Despite entering the tourna ment as a wild card and winning only 33 per cent of their round robin matches, the Redmen stepped up in the clutch, winning three straight elimination games en route to the title. The Redmen started the tour nament off hot, beating the Atlantic Conference Champion Cape Breton Capers 8-2 on Friday, in a powerful team hitting performance supported by strong pitching from David Hab-
-------- —
erstram. On Saturday, McGill was shut out in two straight against Durham (8-0) and Concordia (5-0). The two losses pushed McGill to the brink of elimination, forcing the team to play a one-game tiebreak against the St. Claire Saints. McGill trailed 4-0 after two innings but scored 16 un answered runs, keeping their season alive with a 16-4 win. in the semifinals on Sunday McGill faced the undefeated Dur ham Lords, who had a 21-0 record entering the game. McGill had vet eran ace Anthony Carbone on the mound, who up until then had not pitched more than a single inning in any game due to an arm injury. Carbone threw a complete game, allowing only four hits, shut ting out the Lords 3-0 and leading the Redmen to the final. “I actually wanted that game so badly,” said Carbone. “I was a little worried, to be honest, before the
game started that my arm wouldn’t hold up for all seven innings, be cause going into every game I thought, T want to end every game I start.’ I wasn’t sure how my arm was going to react after having not pitched more than an inning all year but ... I just felt so confident be cause of all the boys behind me and how well we were playing.” In the final, the Redmen faced the Brock Badgers, who eliminat ed the Stingers in the other semi. McGill opened the game with two quick runs in the first inning but the Badgers then scored five straight. The Redmen hitters broke loose again in the fourth for six runs and a lead that they never relinquished, but not before the Brock bats tested McGill’s vaunted pitching depth. L J . Aguinaga came on in relief of starter and game one hero David Haberman after a tough two innings. Rookie Daniel Porter replaced him with the bases loaded in the sixth. He
finished the game against the heart of the Badgers’ order and earned the save. Chan Arndt took home tourna ment MVP honours going 12 for 21 with eight RBI. Shortstop Alexander Day caught the fly ball that gave McGill the win. “There was one out left ... I turned to Chan at third base and he smiled at me and I smiled at him and then Chan yelled at me like, ‘shut up, shut up, focus!’ And the next thing you know there’s a soft line-drive hit my way. I think I was already three feet in the air smiling and jumping.” The Redmen retained four for mer National Champions from the 2006 team: Noah Lezcz, Anthony Carbone, Alexander Day and Jacob Gallinger. Perhaps more importantly, the team has a number of holdovers from 2008, when McGill got all the way to the final and led in the fifth inning before losing to the Univer
sity of New Brunswick Cougars. “This season, honestly, playerfor-player, I think the teams we beat on Sunday were probably superior talent than us," said Alexander Day. "But what made this win special is that we were able to win based on the X-factor, the team unity.” McGill Head Coach Ernie D’Alessandro, in his 15th year with the team, was happy with the char acter his team showed. “Guys are playing with — I mean. I’m pretty sure one of my guys has a broken bone in the foot— they gutted it out the whole tourna ment and we never, never doubted ourselves,” he said. Josh Gordon was named to the Nationals All-Star Team as a first baseman and Daniel Kost-Stephenson was named Pitcher of the Year. Next season McGill’s most suc cessful team expects to see increased fan support at Trudeau Field as they begin their title defence.
P O I N T - C O U N T E R P O I N T ----------- --
Basketball’s great, but which league entertains us best? The NBA and College Basketball Seasons are about to begin and there is no better time to revisit the debate on which league is more entertaining and deserving of your attention. NCAA fan Rebecca Babcock and NBA advocate John Willcock duke it out.
NCAA
NBA Coaching/Game play The quality of coaching and game play in the NBA is the best in the world. There are undoubtedly great coaches and players in college, but they are spread thinly among schools that prioritize sports. The talent in the NBA is deeper than in college basketball. The most signifi cant differences between the NCAA and NBA’s gameplay are the foulout rules, game time, threepoint line, and shot clock. The NCAA is said to have more emphasis on tactics and defensive execution. As a specta tor I don't care about who can run the best 2-3 zone defense; 1 want to see the fast-paced and high-quality game play of the NBA.
Competitiveness The NBA, quite simply, has the best talent. Many critics have argued that NBA players are overpaid and complacent once they’ve signed a significant contract. How then would one explain Dwyane Wade’s memorable 2006 finals performance with the Hçat, or Kobe Bryant’s re lentless pursuit of his fifth Champi onship this past season after signing an $87 million, three-year exten
Coaching/Game play
sion? In both instances, players met the expectations placed before them. True competitors prevail in the end, and the players who are financial drains do not last. NBA players are paid proportionally to the entertain ment they generate.
Professional vs. Amateur In 2006, the NBA and the Na tional Basketball Players Associa tion agreed upon a collective agree ment prohibiting players from going directly from high school to the NBA, or prep-to-pro. The agreement is indicative of a changing trend The NCAA has typically acted as a farm system for the NBA. However the system is quickly evolving, with many elite players demonstrating their inclination to find their way into the spotlight of the NBA as quickly as possible. In the 2010 NBA draft, seven of the top 10 draft picks were collegiate freshmen opting out of college. In 2008, Brandon Jennings, a highly touted high school player, chose to play in Italy for a year as opposed to playing college ball. Both trends indicate that college basketball is becoming transitory. - John Willcock
Winner: NBA
Coaching in the NCAA is much more tactical than coaching in the NBA. NBA offences are repetitive because teams use isolation plays for their star players over and over. How many times in an average game does Steve Nash drive to the basket and dish to one of his centers? How many isolations will the Lakers run for Kobe? The teams in the NCAA have more varied offences. Duke, for instance, has a 3 out 2 in offence, 4 out offence, and a zone offence. The coach can strategically change offences, which creates variation in the game.
Competitiveness Two words: March Madness. This tournament is the essence of competition. Players play urgently in the hopes of pursuing basketball pro fessionally. In contrast to the NBA’s best-of-seven playoff format, this tournament is single-elimination, which raises the stakes and creates upsets that the NBA playoffs cannot offer. With a closer three-point line, any team can make a huge comeback if they catch fire from three-point land. Just last March, ninth seeded
Northern Iowa beat the top-ranked, defending champion Kansas. This is common in the NCAA tournament. Also, the vast array of teams in the NCAA adds to the excitement. Who doesn’t like “discovering” a mid major?
Professional vs. Amateur The NBA is a business, so many of the decisions are made for financial, not competitive reasons. Because of salary cap restrictions, every year there are uneven trades that will unevenly stack certain teams While other teams become less competitive to save money. In the NCAA, without the aspect of money, you see passion, which is sometimes lost in the midst of busi ness. After his final year at Gonzaga, Adam Morrison cried. The players of the NCAA play with a passion that is often absent in the NBA. For example, this past season the Boston Celtics coasted through the regular season. In a shorter NCAA season ever game matters. On Se lection Sunday every year deserving teams are left out of the tournament because of one or two bad losses. - Rebecca Babcock
Curiosity D elivers, w w w .m cgilltribune.com
1 8 --------HOCKEY— MCGILL 7 , QUEENS 1
Redmen demolish Gaels in front of rowdy home crowd Verreault-Paul scores four to lead M cG ill to a spectacular win on Fill the Arena night By Jacob Kanter
Contributor
The McGill Redmen trounced the Queen’s University Gaels 7-1 Saturday night, in a lopsided, but spirited game that featured strong defence, volatile tempers, and a fourgoal performance by star forward Francis Verreault-Paul. It was the sixth straight win for the Redmen, who are undefeated this season. From the opening face-off, the Redmen (6-0) played a highintensity game, dominating in shots and scoring chances. They relegated most of the play to the Queen’s zone and led 3-0 by the end of the first pe riod. Redmen sniper Verreault-Paul scored McGill’s opening two goals. “Queen’s is a solid team and we played really well tonight. We played well in our own end,” said Captain Evàn Vossen, clearly pleased with his team’s efforts. “Just the little things we’ve worked on are paying off, so if we can just keep going like that we’ll Have a lot of success.” During the second period, McGill’s offence exploded with four unanswered goals. Verreault-Paul led the second-period offensive as sault with his third and fourth goals of the game. Verrault-Paul was un stoppable all game, earning praise from his teammates “That’s just the kind of guy he is,” Vossen said. “He’s definitely a sniper, with him you know what you’re going to get. Everybody like [centre Guillaume] Doucet made great plays tonight and he was the
beneficiary. He was able to finish them off.” In the second period, tempers flared as the Queen’s team became increasingly frustrated. As a series of after-the-whistle shoving matches ensued, the rambunctious and large home crowd roared. Nine separate players went to the penalty box for roughing in the span of less than one minute. “We were up 5-0 at that point and tried not to get in their game too much, but we have to protect and de fend ourselves a bit, so for sure the tempers were running high,” said
Guillaume Doucet, who picked up three assists in the contest. “It’s al ways a rivalry when we play against Queen’s. The crowd is always loud, especially when it’s here.” By the start of the third period, the Redmen led 7-0. McGill notice ably relaxed failing to score and only mustering four shots on goal in the third. The Gaels put up the lone marker of the period when for ward Brock Ouellet scored at 1:13. The goal was the only blemish on Redmen goaltender Hubert Morin’s near-perfect night. He stopped 16 of the 17 shots sent his way.
The game was a penalty-filled outing and resulted ip the Redmen’s special teams units dominating the night. They scored twice on the powerplay and notched two impres sive shorthanded markers. “Those goals are definitely big momentum builders,” said Head Coach Kelly Nobes about McGill’s special teams dominace. “Scoring on your penalty kill is unexpected and our special teams were very effective, with our power play also generating a couple goals. We were very opportunistic. We scored when we got our chances.”
With an impressive six straight wins, the pressure is on for the Red men to continue performing at this calibre. “You try not to think about it, we go one night at a time, but to night feels good, it’s a big win,” Doucet said. “It doesn’t mean much for the streak though, because next game we have to do it all over again. But it’s still a big step in the right direction. We need to keep playing like we did tonight.” The Redmen look to keep their win streak alive on Friday in Kings ton.
BASKETBALL
NBA’s new-look New York Knicks visit McGill gym A m a r’e and the Knickerbockers tune up for final preseason gam e against the T o ro n to Raptors By A d a m Sadinsky
Contributor
In one of the best-kept NBA se crets since “The Decision,” the New York Knicks practiced at McGill’s Love Competition Hall on Thursday. Amid little fanfare, the Knicks put in an afternoon of practice in prepara tion for an exhibition game Friday night against the Toronto Raptors at the Bell Centre. Members of the Redmen and Martlets basketball teams, as well as some members of the local sports media, observed the superstars. It was the kind of event that doesn’t come around every day, and those who were there to witness it were not disappointed. On the same hardwood that our varsity teams
call home and on which many of us play intramural sports, NBA players were practicing. Signs around the gym notified students that the gym was closed, and many did not even realize that their intramural contests were cancelled because of the pres ence of professional basketball play ers. The Knicks relished a day out side of their usual surroundings and enjoyed practicing in a university environment. “To be able to go to a college where there’s lots of en ergy and excitement, that’s always good,” said Knicks Head Coach Mike D’Antoni. "Practicing every day, it becomes a bit of drudgery, so it’s a nice change.” Many of the pros took some time to help out the McGill athletes with some shooting
technique. The coach also mentioned that his players were enjoying their time in Montreal. “Most of our players have never been to Montreal. It’s a beautiful city, and for them to be able to experience the city the night before, I think it’s great.” Whether that statement meant that players were loading up on poutine and enjoying the infamous Montreal nightlife or soaking in the culture is a mystery. If anyone saw some larger than average men on their way to the bar scene on Thurs day night, they probably saw the Knicks. While varsity athletes were al lowed down to the gym to watch the practice, those who are not so athletically gifted were forced to
watch from the windows above the gym near Tomlinson Hall. Surpris ingly, in this age of instant com munication, there were only about twenty people watching from above. Whether this was because McGill students don’t care about basketball or if they were too focused on their studies is irrelevant; they missed a rare opportunity. Later on, a crowd gathered in the hall as the Knicks made their way from the gym to the bus back to their hotel. Some lucky students were able to take pictures with stars, like power forward Amar’e Stoudamire. One fan was even heard shouting to the newly signed free agent, “Take us back to the Holy Land!” A clever pun combining Amar’e’s task of re vitalizing the team with the NBA’s
longest playoff drought and the sum mer rumours that the star big man travelled to Israel and is now explor ing his alleged Jewish heritage. Returning to the playoffs will be a tough task for the Knicks but in an Eastern Conference domi nated by only a couple of teams, the last few spots should be up for grabs. “We have some good players, we’re young and we need to come together,” said D’Antoni. “We’ll try to make the playoffs, and 29 other teams are trying to do the same. We have a good shot at being pretty good this year.” If the Knicks live up to expec tations this season, a few McGill students will remember that the road back to the post-season began with a shoot-around at our very own gym.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
1
9
BASKETBALL — MCGILL 72 , WATERLOO 47
Martlets destroy Warriors but fail to win Redbird Classic H im -Lazarenko and M artin lead M cG ill to blow out victory against overm atched W aterloo W arriors By W alker Kitchens
Sports Editor
The McGill Martlets demol ished the University of Waterloo Warriors 72-47 in the final game of the Redbird Classic at Love Com petition Hall. The Martlets started slow, but once they found their of fensive rhythm they were near im possible to stop. McGill trailed 6-1 halfway through the first quarter, but closed with a furious 15-1 run. The Mart lets used intense defensive pressure to force turnovers from their op ponents that led to easy baskets in transition. “More pressure defensively,” said McGill Head Coach Ryan Thome when asked what the keys were to the first quarter run. “We didn’t make it easy on them. We got some early baskets by pushing it up the court and getting into early of fence.” Forward Anneth Him-Lazarenko led the Martlets first quarter charge, with five points, all off freethrows. The Warrior defence was unable to handle Him-Lazarenko in the post. They were forced to con stantly foul the post-player to keep her from scoring easy layups.
McGill continued to build on their lead in the second quarter. Him-Lazarenko and sharpshooting guard Marie-Eve Martin worked together to lead the McGill offence. Him-Lazarenko’s presence inside opened up the perimeter for Martin, who began to dominate. “We have Annette here working inside, so obviously if they double her inside I’m open outside,” said Martin. “The key was that we played as a team, that’s what worked best.” At halftime, the duo had com bined for 20 points and the Martlets led 32-18. Martin opened the third scoring one of her four three-pointers. She shot 6-10 and finished with a gamehigh 16 points in just 23 minutes. “We expect that [from Martin] every night,” explained Thome. “We got it from Marty all week end. That’s the kind of player she is, she works hard at every opportu nity. Sometimes the shots falling and sometimes its not, but she’ll always give you that effort.” By the end of the third quar ter, McGill led 58-30. The starters sat the rest of the game. The bench looked impressive playing against Waterloo’s top players. Led by cen ter Valerie L’Ecuyer the bench con
T h e M artlets look to build upon a strong perform ance at the Redbird Classic ( A d a m Scotti / M cG ill T rib u n e )
fidently finished the game. L’Ecuyer scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds. Despite the one-sided win, the Martlets were disappointed not to have won their home tournament. The Redbird Classic began well for the Martlets as they thumped University of Prince Edward Island 69-42. However, they lost their next game 64-52 to eventual tournament champions, University of Toronto. On the men’s side of the classic, the University of Western Ontario
was crowned champion. They edged McGill 72-67 on Saturday to remain undefeated. The Redmen won their other two games with an impressive 76-69 win over UPEI and 79-67 vic tory against Queen’s University. The Martlets see room for im provement as they head into the regular season next month. “We have to expect more from our starting players,” said Thome when asked how his team could im prove. “If our starting line gets us off and going, coming off the bench
we have some solid players who will maintain them.” Martin added that defensive improvements must be made. “What we need to improve on is our defence,” she said. “Just rotate and communicate on defence.” The Martlets open their regular season against Bishop’s on Novem ber 13 at Love Competition Hall. With Him-Lazarenko and Martin looking like two of the best players in Quebec, McGill looks primed for a successful season.
FOOTBALL— MCGILL o, LAVAL 68
Winless team massacred by top-ranked Rouge-et-Or N ear-record run o f futility continues By A d a m Sadinsky
Contributor
The nation’s number-oneranked team, the Laval Rouge-et-Or (8-0) massacred the winless McGill Redmen (0-8), who were looking for just their second home victory in two years. Laval scored a minute and a half into the first quarter and never looked back, posting a 68-0 win over the Redmen. There were no good signs for McGill on Saturday, especially for the many seniors who have now played their last game on McGill’s home field. “We can’t take a lot out of this game,” said Head Coach Sonny Wolfe. “It just shows us how far we have to go to compete with the best.” Laval scored as many touch downs as McGill had first downs. When Rouge-et-Or placekicker Christopher Milo sent his seventh extra point through the uprights just before halftime, a flock of seagulls that had been congregating on the empty north side stands abruptly got
up and flew away. Like looking di rectly into the sun, no one, not even the birds, could keep their eyes on the game for an extended period of time. Except, that is, for the many Laval fans who made the trip to Montreal and were louder than the home supporters. They at least had something to cheer about. The high light of the game for McGill came in the first quarter when third year defensive back Joff Gorin inter cepted an errant Bruno Prud’homme pass, one of the few mistakes Laval made all game. The drive, of course, ended in another three-and-out for the Redmen. The 130th season of McGill football will mercifully end next weekend as the Redmen go on the road to face Sherbrooke Vert-et-Or. The team is already eliminated from playoff contention, meaning that McGill has now missed the Quebec University Football League play offs four years in a row. A loss to Sherbrooke would cap off McGill’s third winless season in the last four years.
Laval scored as m any to u ch d o w n s as M cG ill had first dow n s in a lopsided loss ( A d a m Scotti / M cG ill T rib u n e )
-------------------------S p o r t s ---------------------SOCCER — MCGILL , MONTREAL Missed chances lead to tie, frustrating Redmen 1
1
M cG ill secures playoff spot but m isses out on valuable opportunity to m ove up in the standings By M ari M esri
Contributor
The McGill Redmen were look ing for a win against the University of Montreal Carabins this past Sun day, but their 1-1 tie secured them a spot in the Quebec Students Sport Federation playoffs. A win would have served the team well in the con ference rankings but they couldn’t put on the finishing touches. Both teams struggled to control the match from the kickoff. Eventu ally, the Carabins offence warmed up and began to create chances in McGill’s half of the field. Senior midfielder Thomas Lucas worked hard to parry the ball away from the Carabins forwards. The first goal of the match was controversial. In the 37th minute of play, Carabins goalkeeper Gregory Morin-Maltais caught freshman forward William Hoyle’s high shot. Upon catching the ball overhead, however, Morin-Maltais backed into his own goal. Despite the Carabins’ complaints, the Redmen received the benefit of the doubt and the goal counted. The second half opened with the Carabins on the offensive. Four minutes into the half, midfielder
M cG ill blows t -o lead against M ontreal ( Left : H o lly Stewart; M iddle and Right : A d a m Scotti / M cG ill T rib u n e )
Maxime Laurey fired a superb free kick into the top right corner of the net. The Redmen seemed momen tarily shaken by the early equalizer. McGill Head Coach David Simon responded by replacing mid fielder Cory Marcon with forward Alexander King in hopes of shifting the momentum. King proved to be a solution, as the Redmen offence picked up the pace and generated of fensive chances. Possession changed frequently
and both teams were unable to com plete plays. But after few more min utes of attack the Redmen started to control the game. Midfielders Yohann Capolungo and Olivier Babineau created scor ing opportunities for striker George Banks, who saw the field well and used his speed to his advantage. “I was very pleased with George Banks’s performance,” said Simon. “It’s the first game he started up front. He’s coming back from
a double knee surgery, he hasn’t played in a year, he is really peaking at the right time and we are going to need him.” Lucas provided the Redmen with well-aimed comers and free kicks but was unable to connect with strikers in scoring position. “It’s been the same old story for our team-we can’t really finish,” Said Lucas. “And that’s not just for wards, that’s a collective thing. We lack that killer instinct. We are pretty
young and it’s going to come eventu ally. Hopefully it comes at the right time in the next few games.” Morin-Maltais recovered from his first half gaffe with a commend able second, in which he stopped a barrage of Redmen shots on net. It was evident that tension was high as players began to get more physical as the game wore on. In ad dition to numerous fouls, the referee issued two yellow cards in the sec ond half—one to each team. With the clock ticking down, Simon put in striker Sebastien Munro in hopes of a late winner, but the match concluded 1-1. “Despite not winning the game, I felt that we were the better team overall in terms of play and in terms of opportunities that we created— especially the last half hour,” said Simon. “It didn’t go in but I think that if we can keep that momentum and that desire to move on forward, we can be dangerous next weekend and in the playoffs.” The Redmen travel to Concor dia next weekend. With two games remaining in the regular season, McGill is looking for a win to set up their regular season finale against UQAM, which could determine the second seed in the QSSF.
RUGBY — MCGILL io, CONCORDIA 17
Redmen’s
1 5
-game winning streak ended by arch-rivals
M cG ill unable to hold onto lead as inner-city rival Concordia hands M cG ill rare hom e loss By Rebecca Babcock
Contributor
f
The McGill Redmen’s 15 game winning streak came to an end Sun day afternoon with an emotional loss to arch-rival Concordia. It was a tight game until the last 10 minutes, but Concordia made plays when it mattered most and defeated McGill 17-10. The first half was extremely slow for both teams. The Redmen were ineffective passing and Con cordia’s lineouts were off the mark. The referee kept calling penalties on McGill’s scrums and also sent a Concordia player to the sin bin. “The ref was saying that we were engaging too quickly and I think that comes with communica tion with the forward pack. I don’t think it will be a problem, we just need to work on it a little more,” said fly half Josh Reznick. The first chance for points came in the 19th minute, but Gideon Balloch missed the kick. The first half ended disap pointingly for McGill. The score remained 0-0 and second-row Max well Gregory had to leave the game
with a dislocated shoulder. After the scoreless first half, the second started off very well with McGill aggressively pushing for a try. With a steal from Concordia’s lineout, McGill took possession near Concordia’s end. Scrum half Josh Reznick made a beautiful in side pass to Rodderick Mackenzie who scored the first try of the game. Balloch made the ensuing conver sion to make the score 7-0. A few minutes later, McGill extended their lead to 10-0 as a pen alty against Concordia resulted in Balloch making another kick. The Stingers would answer though with a beautiful offensive play resulting in a try and narro-
weing McGill’s lead 12 minutes into the second half. The following conversion, however, was nowhere close to the goal posts, and the score remained 10-5 for the Redmen. McGill was called on a penalty a couple minutes later, giving the Stingers a chance for three points, but they could not convert. In the 20th minute, another try and successful conversion by Con cordia left the Redmen in uncharted territory. They now trailed 12-10. Tensions ran high in the game’s dying minutes. Pushing and shoving began and sent Redmen center Sam Skulsky and a Concordia player being sent to the penalty box. McGill desperately pushed for
another try but Concordia’s defence held. The Stingers answered with another try, and could have put the game out of reach with a successful conversion. However, Concordia again failed and the score remained 17-10. Despite one last opportunity McGill could not even the game. While the Redmen were obvi ously frustrated, they remained op timistic after the game. “We’re obviously disappointed with the outcome,” said McGill Head Coach Craig Beemer, “but it was a really good wake up call. Concordia played well, and on a few defensive mistakes by us they were able to capitalize and score a couple of really nice tries. We were
pretty well matched. I don’t see my other team being better than another when it comes to physical presence or skill. We are usually predomi nately the better skilled team but I wouldn’t say that right now. They are even with us at this point.” Reznick agreed that the loss and tightly contested game could ultimately prove beneficial for the Redmen in the upcoming playoffs. “I think this is the first time our team faced adversity in a long time,” he said. “I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing, it’s a learn ing experience. We’re starting to build now towards the playoffs and we have to take this loss in stride, and hopefully put forth a better ef fort come semifinals. I think the intensity was there today, we were hitting hard but we just weren’t nec essarily playing the smartest rugby in the world.” The Redmen now head to the playoffs, hoping to have learned something from the loss. They will try to begin a new winning streak on November 7, when they play the Sherbrooke Vert et Or in the Quebec Student Sports Federation semilinal at Molson Stadium.