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News

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 13, 2008

3

Top universities rail on Maclean’s ranking system Twenty-six Canadian universities refused to provide information for Maclean’s annual university rankings released John Lapsley News Writer

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cGill found itself at the top of the medical-doctoral category in Maclean’s annual University Rankings, based on a tabulation system which over half of the ranked universities denounced as inaccurate and unjust.

Now in their 18th year, the rankings pledge themselves to providing basic, essential information to prospective university students, but Chris Mota, Concordia University’s Director of Media Relations, thinks they do not accurately reflect the quality of the institutions surveyed.

“I don’t know that the whole ranking exercise is the best way of looking at things,” said Mota. “Comparing universities is like comparing apples to oranges.”

Mota echoed the dissent expressed by 11 universities – including the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia – in an August 2006 letter to Maclean’s.

The letter critiqued the publication’s research methodology: calling the the rankings “oversimplified and arbitrary” and questioning the legitimacy of expending public funds to aid a study for profit. Fifteen additional universities echoed their displeasure in the following years.

Though altogether 26 universities – slightly more than half of the 46 universities ranked – refused to provide Maclean’s with the annually requested information for the 2006 rankings, they appeared in the rankings nonetheless. Maclean’s filled the 2006 gaps using public sources or 2005 data, adding in that issue that “the rankings have always been contentious...since they place universities under the microscope.”

For their part, McGill adminis-

Ben Peck / The McGill Daily

trators found no complaint with the rankings. President Heather MunroeBlum called them “absolutely great for the University,” when asked at the Town Hall, adding the importance of publicizing McGill’s excellence.

As a regular champion of the medical-doctoral category, McGill’s support is unsurprising; the abstaining universities, however, maintain that their contention is with the rankings and not with their standings. This claim acquired greater credibility when a top-five mainstay, the University of Toronto (UofT), joined the dissenters’ ranks. UofT President David Naylor, whose university came second to McGill this year, denounced the rankings in April 2006 for resorting to a simple, aggregated “number one, number two, number three.”

The dissenting universities feel their complaints have been largely ignored. Since 2006, the extent of Maclean’s mention of the controversy is an annual addendum explaining

that lack of participation from some universities has forced the magazine to reduce its rankings indicators. In 2007, Maclean’s also began to use entirely public sources of data to inform the rankings rather than appeal to the universities themselves – a move that did not appease the dissenting universities so much as it eliminated Maclean’s need for their participation.

However, this change was enough to draw one dissenting university back into the fold. Sophie Langlois, Université de Montréal’s (U de M) Director of Media Relations, explained that Maclean’s decision to collect data from public sources relieved the burden on universities to collect the data themselves, so U de M reaffirmed support of the rankings in 2007. Langlois added, however, that UdeM has less of a stake in the issue than the other abstaining universities.

“My feeling is that rankings are not received in the same way for

francophone students [in CEGEP] – I’m not sure if they look at it the same way as Canada-wide high school students.”

Regarding the rankings’ purpose and fairness, Munroe-Blum cited the need for a university to constantly monitor indicators of its success, and praised the rankings’ publicly sourced information as fair and objective. Munroe-Blum added that the rankings have great implications for institutional pride and recruiting assistance.

McGill Registrar Kathleen Massey echoed the latter sentiment.

“It’s about reputation. We have a strong reputation that is reinforced

by Maclean’s rankings, which many students and parents use as one means of deciding which university to attend,” Massey said.

This, according to Concordia’s Mota, is in fact part of the problem – “that parents and children make decisions based on this unscientific information.” By failing to recognize

diversity among universities, Mota said, the Maclean’s rankings oversimplify university quality.

But as Massey pointed out, Maclean’s is only one form of publicity; not only do many other respected rankings exist, but McGill’s outstanding research work is also publicized through a variety of general media. Supplements like these to the Maclean’s rankings provide accurate portraits of universities and enable well-rounded decisionmaking.

The standoff between the Maclean’s rankings and the dissenting universities seems to have reached a stalemate. They all, however, agree that the Maclean’s rankings are no shortcut to an informed decision.

“It takes a lot of research to make a qualified decision,” Mota said, “but this is the wisest way to shop.”

Two Maclean’s staffers did not return The Daily’s repeated requests for comment.

Tight-lipped SSMU VP Finance & Operations tenders resignation Council to elect Silverstein’s replacement at November 27 meeting Alison Withers The McGill Daily

S

SMU VP Finance & Operations Tobias Silverstein will resign January 2, 2009, as announced Monday without an accompanying explanation as to what triggered his decision.

“I have been contemplating resignation for a while,” Silverstein stated in a SSMU press release. “I will continue to work with SSMU, the other

executives, and the office staff to help facilitate a smooth transition.”

He gave no further indication of why he resigned.

Silverstein won the portfolio by acclamation during a by-election process after VP-elect Peter Newhook resigned before his term began.

According to Rushil Mistry, who considered running for the position last spring, the portfolio had an overwhelming task list.

“It’s a really a big commitment and a lot of people don’t recognize how

much work it is,” he said. “Not only are you dealing with SSMU finances, but you’re dealing with Haven [Books] – which was a terrible investment – and SSMU’s $1-million investment fund.”

According to SSMU President Kay Turner, it will be incredibly difficult to transition a new VP Finance, as SSMU executives rely on their first three months in office – June, July, and August – to familiarize themselves with their portfolio.

“Not only are they not going to have the summer [to adjust], but it’s going to take all of second semester for them to learn how to do their job,” Turner said.

Despite this challenge, SSMU

Council will discuss his resignation in confidential session tonight, and elect a new vice-president from amongst its members, provided there are applicants, on November 27. Both Silverstein and Turner have indicated that they will make it a priority to make the new executive comfortable in their position.

Should no replacement be found, however, Turner felt confident that SSMU would be able to compensate by hiring a secretary general, an additional finance commissioner – a nonpolitical position – and transferring responsibilities and powers to the President.

“SSMU isn’t going to fall apart because we don’t have a VP Finance

& Operations,” she said. “We can still provide good service to students and good representation.”

She explained that most major decisions are made after consultation with the executives of committees– so the way SSMU makes decisions is not contingent on whether or not they have an executive.

The most challenging aspect of Silverstein’s resignation, according to Turner, will be ensuring operations run effectively in the committees on which the VP Finance traditionally sits – investment, finance, financial ethics research, budget, and operations.

Silverstein refused to comment after repeated requests.

Candidate Debates Interested in campus politics?

Come listen while the FYCC candidates present their platforms and the Yes Committees present their referendum questions – then participate in the open question period and discuss current student issues!

The debates will begin at 6:00 on Monday, November 17th, and will be held in the cafeteria on the second floor of Shatner.

Regular polls start Tuesday, November 18th, so don’t forget to vote online at

www.vote.electionsmcgill.ca Office: Shatner 405 (514) 398 - 6474 contact@electionsmcgill.ca

News

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 13, 2008

5

Principal unwilling to beef up Mac Campus shuttle bus service Town Hall at McGill’s West Island campus fails to attract downtown students Stephen Davis / The McGill Daily

Nicholas Smith The McGill Daily

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t a Town Hall with Principal Heather Munroe-Blum at Macdonald campus yesterday afternoon, a handful of students voiced concerns about insufficient shuttle bus service between downtown and the campus 40 kilometres west of Montreal.

Three students at the event – including Macdonald Campus Students’ Society President Emily McGill – separately brought up the need for improved transportation to Macdonald campus. They complained that the McGill shuttle buses fill up during rush hour, leaving many without a seat.

“It’s a wonderful service, but it’s always full during rush hour,” said Rona Strasser, a third-year

Parasitology PhD student.

There are over 1,400 McGill students in the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, which occupies MacDonald Campus.

Munroe-Blum answered that the University was not willing to spend more money on increasing service.

“Having the people to teach and having the place to teach will take priority over a shuttle bus,” she said.

The principal suggested that students pass a fee levy to expand shuttle service. She indicated expanding the commuter rail service – requiring lobbying to municipal, provincial, and federal governments – was the best long-term solution to transporting students between the campuses.

“There’s no door in the world that you can’t open as principal of McGill,” she later said, explaining the role she could play.

Munroe-Blum highlighted the importance of the West Island campus, and its growing interaction with the downtown campus.

“This campus was the first organization that wasn’t a not-for-profit to hold a conference on global food security,” she said of the September conference organized by the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

The Association of Postdoctoral Researchers was unable to get a clear response on whether they would be treated as students or employees for tax purposes. Earlier this month, postdocs were notified they may no longer be eligible for $7,000 income tax exemptions contingent upon their status as students. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) stated in an October letter that they no longer consider postdocs students. Munroe-Blum called the way Canada Revenue Agency has changed

its position at this stage irrational.

The principal also allayed Faculty concerns that the economic downturn would affect McGill enrollment, hiring, and pensions.

She pointed to trends that suggested investment in universities would remain high.

“We don’t want to put in place any omnibus or generic cuts or freezes,” she said. “There’s nowhere in the world that every dollar gets leverages as successfully as at McGill.”

Back downtown many were unaware that the Town Hall had happened. The Daily did not see any posters on campus, and many students only received an email invitation a day before the event.

The 48-person shuttle bus that arrived ten minutes before the event was just over half full – about normal for that time of day – and The Daily did not see any SSMU executives or

councillors at the town hall.

“I do not believe any SSMU executives went,” said Devin Alfaro, SSMU VP External. “We did put up one poster in the office, but I believe that was because [former SSMU President] Jake [Itzkowitz] and [former SSMU VP University Affairs] Adrian [Angus] were the only featured students on the poster.”

But Munroe-Blum was happy with the meeting, and noted that it was rewarding to get a different perspective at this Town Hall, given its location.

“You’re the judge as to how useful this Town Hall was,” she summed up.

“What I loved about the Town Hall is learning about every constituency. This has probably been the best [one] in that regard.”

While 70 members of the McGill community attended, only about two dozen students showed up to the event, largely from Macdonald campus.

Three Archeology professors take leave next year Department shuffled resources to ensure students can graduate Adrienne Klasa The McGill Daily

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cGill students specializing in Archaeology will see fewer courses and different teaching staff next September, when half of the Archeology subsection of the Anthropology department take their sabbatical leave. The number of upper-level courses available will also be limited, as will the department’s ability to oversee independent study courses.

“Professors will be more focused on supervising Honours theses so that these students can graduate than on overseeing independent studies,” said Professor Andre Costopoulous, one of the two Archeology professors who will continue to teach at McGill next year.

There are currently five archeology professors employed at McGill,

one of which is presently on leave.

Come September, two more professors will be released from their teaching duties in order to concentrate on their research.

Sabbatical leave is part of the normal cycle of academic life: after six years of teaching, professors are released from their other obligations in order to be able to devote their time to their research and extended field work.

“This time is essential because academics need time to write up and publish their work,” said Costopoulous.

The fact that these leave periods coincide is the result of a fluke, explained Diane Mann, an undergraduate advisor in the Anthropology department.

“The situation is not usual. The sabbatical only happens once every seven years, and generally it doesn’t happen at the same time,” she said.

Nevertheless, the department

has been aware of the problem for some time, and has been marshalling resources to deal with it.

“At first we were afraid we would only be operating at 50 per cent capacity, but now I think we will be able to provide students with 75 per cent of course offerings,” said Costopoulous.

Post doctoral students in the department will pick up some of the slack by taking on teaching responsibilities. The department is also looking to bring in sessional lecturers to give some of the courses that would otherwise not be available.

Studying with post docs offers students an opportunity to hear new ideas and perspectives, Costopoulous pointed out. However, they often have less time for students because they are busy trying to complete their own research.

Mann said that students have all been forewarned of the situation and

Sasha Plotnikova / The McGill Daily

instructed to plan their course selections accordingly.

“We are working with the ASA [Anthropology Students Association] to communicate with students. We are encouraging students to take as many [archeology]

courses as possible next term,” she said.

The minor in Archeology was removed as a study option in 2004.

Students now only study archeology as a subsection of an Anthropology degree.

6

News

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 13, 2008

Few students attend Remembrance Day ceremony Chaplain urges people of all faiths to honour sacrifices made by veterans Henry Gass News Writer

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school day.

“They shouldn’t suspend classes,” said first-year Michelle Reddick.

The ceremony began with a procession from the Roddick Gates up to Arts Building, where the large assembly struggled to fit in the lobby, with many spilling out onto the steps as Munroe-Blum laid down a wreath.

SSMU President Kay Turner read “In Flanders Fields,” a poem written

by McGill Field Surgeon Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, who operated a field hospital during World War I. She was followed by Reverend Jeffrey Barlow, the University Chaplain, who spoke about taking a secular approach toward Remembrance Day, emphasizing the importance of remembering regardless of personal religious orientation. He also called for a remembrance of those most closely affected by the casualties of war.

“It’s important for us, whatever our beliefs, to remember those

lasses continued as usual while McGill commemorated Remembrance Day – falling this year on the 90th anniversary of the World War I armistice – in the lobby of the Arts Building Tuesday.

Approximately 300 people gathered, but less than half were students – the rest were a mix of veterans, alumni, and staff.

“Some people don’t want to show up [to events] because it’s a school day,” explained Kallee Lins, U0 Arts, an attendee of the event.

Remembrance Day is not observed as an mandatory statutory holiday in Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia, or Some people don’t Manitoba. want to show up [to the Students were invited to attend the ceremony just Remembrance Day ceremony] a day before the event, in because it’s a school day an email sent by Principal – Kallee Lins Heather Munroe-Blum – U0 Arts who attended the ceremony giving them little time to

“

plan around classes or other obligations.

“They didn’t tell us anything about it until the night before,” said Rory Ewing, U1 Engineering, at the ceremony.

Some students were surprised McGill hadn’t followed suit with other universities around the country that suspended school for the day.

“I thought we’d have the day off,” said Anna Bunce, U0 Arts. “[British Columbia universities] had it off.”

Chris Chipello, from McGill media relations, explained that class schedules are designed to fulfill a minimum amount of class hours, and that McGill couldn’t afford to suspend an entire day of classes.

Others argued that McGill was right to continue with a normal

who have given their lives, and particularly their families, friends, and loved ones,” he said. “It’s necessary to think about all those people who are suffering all over the world.”

Barlow’s address was followed by a two-minute silence, and the ceremony concluded with a piper playing “The Lament” and a military trumpeter playing “Reveille.”

Throughout the twentieth century’s two World Wars, McGill has lost over 600 men and women– 363 died in World War I, and another 298 died in World War II. McGill students and alumni continue to remain active in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and other conflictzones around the world.

Charles Mostoller / The McGill Daily

Coop mechanic Erica Lamb (left) shows Maggie Schreiner (right) how to restring a brake cable.

Non-males get own shift at the Flat Interactive sessions encourage and empower budding bike mechanics Amelia Schonbek The McGill Daily

W

omen and transgender cyclists can have The Flat – a student-run bike collective located in Shatner – all to themselves for 3 hours on Sunday afternoons.

Julianna Rubbins-Breen, the member of The Flat who is coordinating the project, pointed to an under-representation of female and transgender individuals involved in bike repair.

“By creating a shift where those people traditionally marginalized from bike culture can access knowledge and gain skills, we hope to challenge the gender imbalance, and have more women and [transgender] involvement at all levels,” she said.

The goal of The Flat is to give McGill students and members of the community a safe and accessible place to learn how to fix their bicycles. There are several shifts every week when anyone can learn the basics of bike repair in The Flat’s space in the Shatner basement.

While many women and transgender people are collective members, volunteers, and users of the space, designated “mechanics” are frequently male. This means that many participants are likely to be taught by men.

“I think that the routine exchange of knowledge with males doing the teaching, and women and trans people learning helps to reinforce gender norms, which construct the male as active and the woman as passive,” she noted. “Essentially, this creates a gender divide and imbalance, which makes it even harder for women or trans people to feel comfortable and validated in many bike collectives or shops.”

Rubbins-Breen emphasized that The Flat’s activities are open to everyone.

“In no way does starting a women and trans shift necessarily mean that other shifts will become more male dominated; we are committed to addressing gender imbalances during all shift hours,” she said.

“To stop perpetuating a gendered divide within bike communities and cultures we need not only to acknowledge and address our

own behaviours but also provide an opportunity for those people who are excluded and marginalized to access that knowledge in an un-intimidating, non-hierarchical space.”

The shift aims not just to increase the number of female and transgender bike mechanics at The Flat, but also to help bolster their presence within the cycling community in general.

In the future, The Flat also hopes to partner with Concordia’s co-op, Right to Move, to set up weekly bike repair workshops targeting women and transgender individuals.

Rubbins-Breen noted that both coops have struggled with low attendance at events designed specifically for women and transgender bicyclists. Still, The Flat is committed to getting the shift off the ground.

“We’re trying to be especially active in getting the word out there,” Rubbins-Breen said.

The Flat’s next women and transgender shift will take place Sunday November 16 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m, in room B02 of the Shatner Building.

For more information email theflat. bikecollective@gmail.com or visit theflat.wordpress.com.

City councilor seeks student input on environmental issues Breanna Myles News Writer

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cGill alum Karim Boulos spoke to students Tuesday about what Montreal needs to do to make the city more green.

“We could be doing things a lot better,” he said.

Elected in 2005, Boulos is the City Councillor for the downtown district of Peter-McGill and president of the Committée Consultatif Urbain.

One student at the event was con-

cerned about public transportation to the West Island and congested metro trains. The student noted that some days it was difficult to find space on the metro, and that while it takes 20 to 30 minutes to drive to the West Island, it can take up to two hours on public transit.

Boulos suggested creating a direct light rail train between the West Island airport and downtown and widening train cars to accommodate more people. He mentioned strides the city has taken toward environmental stainability, including

filling many city bus tanks with biodiesel, and the installation of 342 new metro cars over the next 20 years – a $1.2-billion project.

Civil Engineering student, Lee Haber, asked about the deteriorating condition of Montreal roads, and wondered how to encourage drivers to leave their cars at home. Haber suggested charging residents based on their road usage, monitored with a GPS device.

Boulos was concerned with Montreal’s garbage production and encouraged composting, though

he noted incorrect composting can cause rat infestations.

Boulos also explained that charging for the amount of garbage produced by households is challenging in apartment buildings, where individual accountability is minimal.

Boulos was also adamant that students should participate the electoral process. He noted that at the last election, only six per cent of voters were between the ages of 18 and 24, while almost half were over the age of 50.

“Come to Council and ask a ques-

tion or lobby,” he suggested. “The solutions aren’t in a bylaw; they come from the public.”

SSMU VP External, Devin Alfaro, organized the event because he thought it was important for students to get involved and participate politically.

“Students have low turn out in elections so they want to engage more student involvement in local government,” Alfaro said.

Boulos invited students to attend his next council meeting December 2 at 7 p.m. at the Frontenac Metro Station.

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Quebec: Stay or Leave With the permission of the McGill University administration, a reporter from The Gazette will be visiting the campus Nov. 17-19 to ask students if they plan to stay in Quebec and build a career here after graduation.

The reporter will be sitting at a booth bearing a Gazette logo on Monday Nov. 17 in the McConnell Engineering Building, Nov. 18 in the Leacock Building and Nov. 19 in the William Shatner University Centre.

Student participation is strictly voluntary. While students of all mother tongues are welcome to participate, anglophone students are of particular interest to us, given the latest census data involving Quebec. These data show that for the first time in 35 years, the English-speaking community of Quebec is experiencing population growth. One of the reasons: far fewer young anglophones are leaving Quebec now than was the case in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. From 2001-2006, the Englishspeaking community of Quebec (i.e., those speaking primarily English in the home) grew by 5.5 per cent.

Bartending and table service courses Student rebate Job reference service • 514-849-2828 www.Bartend.ca (on line registration possible) Have you had a “LAZY EYE” since childhood?

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Want to know what The Daily looks like in action?

This suggests the so-called anglo exodus is over.

But is it?

We want to ask students what they plan to do after graduation. Is your French good enough to stay? Will you go wherever economic opportunity brings you? Would you miss Montreal?

Come and tell us your story between 11 am and 5 pm.

For more information, phone David Johnston at 514-987-2488 or 514-214-7194, or via email at djohnston@thegazette.canwest.com

youtube.com/mcgilldaily

Mind&Body

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 13, 2008

8

Overlapping epidemics ignored: Zulu Winstone Zulu is one of the world’s leading HIV/AIDS activists. A native of Zambia, Zulu was diagnosed with HIV in 1990. After a period of denial about the existence of HIV, he became the first Zambian to publicly acknowledge his HIV-positive status.

Zulu has lost four siblings to tuberculosis (TB), a disease that often coinfects those with HIV. He contracted TB in 1997, but was cured because of access to treatment. Throughout much of the 18 years that he has lived with HIV, Zulu has been dedicated to its widespread eradication and has campaigned worldwide for TB awareness; Zulu contends that the fight against HIV is also a fight against TB. Zulu came to Montreal last week to speak at the 2008-09 Concordia University Community Lecture Series about the issues surrounding TB and HIV in South Africa. He sat down with The McGill Daily to discuss the stigma associated with HIV, the importance of taking action, and how every university student can become part of the fight against HIV/AIDS and TB. The McGill Daily: You said “I want people to know that AIDS is real, that it kills, and that I’ve been through the heart of it and survived.

Now my biggest energy goes into combatting stigma.” What actions need to be taken to combat the stigma?

Winstone Zulu: Stigma is reinforced by silence. The more silent people are, the more stigma there is. The strategy is that more people

should talk about it and write about it, until people realize that it is just everyday people who get HIV. Back home, the stigma has decreased considerably. People can now get treatment for HIV at public hospitals.

MD: You were the first person to come out publicly about your HIV status in your country. What were your fears about speaking out, and what was the reaction?

WZ: The reasons for going into it overrode the fears. After losing my brothers, I just felt that it was ridiculous that no one was speaking about [HIV/AIDS]. At the time, if you had HIV you couldn’t travel to the U.S., and there were times that I was confronted with so much discrimination.

But, generally, the vast majority of people were very supportive.

MD: Why are more people not talking about HIV/AIDS and going public about their status?

WZ: I am hoping that in the time I am here, I can try and show people that there is nothing to hide if you have HIV. [The prevailing idea] is that if you are HIV-positive, then you must have been very bad or very promiscuous. If people talk about it more, people will realize that [often] the only thing that people do wrong is fall in love with somebody. Back home, many people get infected after marriage, so there is nothing to feel ashamed about. That’s the problem with stigma – it drives the disease underground, and as a result you can’t fight it effectively. People with HIV should be able to be public

about it and not fear anything.

MD: What are some of the factors involved in fighting this disease?

WZ: There are a lot of things and unfortunately you can’t start with [just] one thing. You need a program that includes prevention, treatment, care, education, and support. It is not easy to do, but not doing it doesn’t make it any better. I believe that HIV is not a problem that is insurmountable.

There was time when the national average for HIV incidence in Zambia was 20 per cent, and now it’s 14 per cent. Uganda, the worse hit country, has moved from 25 per cent to 5 per cent prevalence.

resources that are really needed. In comparison to the amount of money being spent by major governments on other “priorities,” the amount needed to eradicate TB is small. An example of this discrepancy is Bush’s plan: “The Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief”, which provided

MD: Since having HIV makes a person more susceptible to other diseases, how would you characterize the availability of drugs to combat the other related infections, not just HIV itself?

WZ: This is one of the problems.

TB is curable, and treatment is affordable, yet there is still a funding gap for the

US$15-billion to fight HIV. The proportion given to TB was only US$4billion, even though TB is the biggest killer of HIV-infected persons.

MD: Is there any specific message you have for Canadian students?

WZ: Each person can be an agent of change. In Canada, there is an organization called RESULTS-Canada. If you get in touch with them they will give you a number for your local government representative and a specific day to call. In this way, thousands of students can contact a head government official in a synchronized manner. If members of parliament get thousands of calls from students telling them that the issue of TB or HIV is important to them, the government won’t ignore it.... There is always dialogue with the candidates during elections, but afterward the relationship is severed – but it shouldn’t be.

The more people put pressure on the government about issues that really matter, the faster that positive change will happen.

– compiled by Mathura Thevarajah

Evan Newton / The McGill Daily

A winter wonderland of beer All hopped up Joseph Watts

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s wool socks and long johns are awakened from their summer hibernation and seeing your breath becomes as familiar to the eye as 4:30 p.m. sunsets, an annual question is once again raised: How the hell will I keep warm this winter? But keeping your body toasty is a no-brainer – just make sure your Christmas list says MEC repeatedly or try to find someone to help you warm up that down comforter of yours. Still, the only thing that can warm both body and soul is simple and time-tested: booze.

My favourite remedy for a mid-

winter cold is a hot toddy – heated lemonade with a shot of scotch and a spoonful of honey. A Saturday of snow fights and sledding is finished best with a hot chocolate doctored with the deliciously herbal liqueur Chartreuse. But this isn’t to say you should run from beer when it drops to the negatives.

The Winter Warmer is a style of beer hailing from the English brewing tradition. These malty sweet brews are all about body and alcohol in the flavour. They have little hop bitterness but are often spiced with cloves, cinnamon, and other festive

aromatics, influenced by the archaic “wassail,” a heavy ale mixed with spices drunk during Twelfth Night and Christmas ceremonies.

It makes sense then that Winter Warmers are often referred to as holiday ales or Christmas beers. Their seasonal release has many Quebecois brewers formulating new brews. One such beer is La Rudolphe ($13.99 for 750mL) from Microbrasserie SaintArnould in Mont-Tremblant. This self-proclaimed ambrée des fêtes is a true Winter Warmer. It pours a cloudy ruby red with a beautiful, thick head on top and has a spicy aroma that conjures up images of sugar plum fairies.

The taste follows suit: a malty sweetness is fronted by caramel tones and underscored with hints of spruce and even cranberry. The spices used in brewing bring out these wintry flavors while the 6.2 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV)

brings some warmth.

I also found that there are ways to ruin a perfectly good festive beer.

Brasserie Breughel’s Bière de Noël ($6.29 for 500mL) is a downright Grinch of a beer. Though I’m sure the yuletide spirit thrives in the tiny village of St-Germain de Kamouraska, it has escaped the brewers of Bière de Noël. Listed as an Extra Strong Dark Ale, this brew clocks in at 11 per cent ABV and is flavoured with hops and coriander, a spice usually relegated to Belgian Wit beers.

The taste is harsh – like rotgut whiskey – and relies on the coriander to back up the alcohol, unlike other Winter Warmers which employ a traditionally malty body for a hearty, warming beer.

Generally, Winter Warmers are best when eaten with sweets (enter all Christmas food), dark chocolate, or sweeter cheeses. Another beer that achieves the same results is the

German Doppelbock. The syrupy sweet Aventinus ($3.50 for 500mL) from Bavaria’s G. Schneider & Sohn is brewed with wheat, adding a sour contrasting note to the sweet flavour.

The result was a perfect pairing for the sweet mooncake left over from the recent Mid-Autumn Festival in Chinatown.

Both Quebecois beers are available at the vastly underrated dépanneur Épicerie José inc. (corner of Duluth and Berri), and the Aventinus is supposed to be available at all SAQs, but I only found it at the SAQ Express on Mont Royal and Clark. Once you track these beers down, it will make your winter drunker, warmer, and definitely more bearable.

Feel like Christmas is coming too early this year? Blame Joe. You can find him at allhoppedup@gmail. com.

Mind&Body

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 13, 2008

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Moustache revival November takes on a hairy challenge, for a good cause of course TAYLOR BERRY The McGill Daily

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rom Tom Selleck to Josef Stalin, history has proven that sometimes the moustache marks, if not makes, the man. Moustaches can serve as an expressive accessory. Consider the range of options between a burly Hulk Hogan handlebar and a slimy Matthew McConaughey teenstache.

Plus, chicks love moustaches because they make guys look like porn stars of old – okay, maybe that’s just me.

But now, during this great month of Movemeber, growing a moustache is both stylish and philanthropic.

Movember is the mustachioed version of November. It’s also a charitable event run throughout the month in which men are encouraged to grow and style a moustache in an attempt to raise money and awareness for men’s health issues. The rules state that you must start cleanshaven, then spend the month growing and grooming your moustache, and accumulating donations along the way. You can either go it alone or form a Movember team.

In Canada, Movember’s proceeds go to the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada, and in 2007

Railroad

the campaign raised $550,000.

Prostate cancer is the number one cancer threat to Canadian men; 27,000 cases are diagnosed and 4,300 men die of the disease each year.

And please, remember that Movemeber’s all about the ‘stache – there are no beards or goatees allowed though a small but luxurious “tickler” under the bottom lip is permitted.

Below, you can find some helpful tips for Movember.

1. Fuck the naysayers.

There are going to be some haters out there who are going to put the moustache down. They are either jealous of your wicked whiskers or intimidated by your newfound sex appeal. But whatever you do, don’t let them get between you and your facial hair.

2. Get creative.

If your moustache grows in thick and bristly, maybe you could go for a trucker-from-the-deep-South look.

Or, if your hair grows in sparsely, perhaps cultivating a Pedro Sanchez moustache is more your bag. In any case, let your imagination run wild.

3. Use peer pressure wisely.

This extends from guilting your

Camille McOuat / The McGill Daily

This moustachioed man – who has opted for the “Tom Selleck” look – is snarling at your lack of ‘stache. friends into giving donations, to teasing those without facial hair until they give in to the Movemeber spirit.

4. Document your progress.

This will score you more donations and, of course, give you precious memories to show your future children.

5. Bro out.

With its focus on men’s health and its manly, manly moustaches, Movember is all about brotherhood.

This is a time to cultivate your bro-

Dominic Popowich

The Daily wants to print your art. Submit to photos@mcgilldaily.com

6. Finally, comb your moustache.

Yes you can.

parties where the guest of honour is none other than the moustache.

And hey, moustache man, don’t forget to tell your mom that donations are tax-deductible.

Although Movember is geared toward the guys growing facial hair, there are a number of ways the girls can get involved without channeling the bearded lady. Women are encouraged to donate, spread awareness, and attend Movember fundraising

Though we’re nearly half way through the month now, there’s still chances to get involved. If you’re still interested in signing up or donating to Movember, check out movember. com. Remember, there’s no such thing as Mecember.

mances and spend time with the men you love.

EXP

SURE

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 13, 2008

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icture this: like most northern Ontarians, you live in a small town. You used to work in a nickel mine, but it’s closed now and there aren’t many other job opportunities on the horizon. You’re lucky to be eligible for employment insurance – many of your former coworkers aren’t. They’re thinking of moving to Sudbury to work in the service sector, or even to Fort McMurray to work in the oil sands.

“People don’t see a future for their communities, and the population is shrinking as a result,” says Mary Powell, chair of Political Science at Laurentian University in Subdury.

“There are hardly any young people who stay because there aren’t any jobs. They move to cities like Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, or Montreal.”

More and more northern residents are finding themselves in situations like this, a factor contributing to the NDP’s sweeping victory in the region extending north from North Bay this past federal election. The NDP now holds seven out of the ten ridings in northern Ontario, while in the 2006 elections it only managed to secure two seats in this former Liberal stronghold. Such a significant jump in support for the NDP merits a deeper look at the concerns of people living in the region.

This election, the NDP’s campaign was aimed at working families – not the most relevant demographic to younger voters. Yet populist messaging seems to have swung the vote in favour of the NDP in northern Ontario, by catching the attention of the region’s large – and cash-strapped – workforce.

Most residents of northern Ontario work in the forestry, mining, and agriculture industries.

Others rely on seasonal activities, such as tourism and fishing, for jobs during part of the year.

But recently, industries are leaving the region, and as a result a growing number of people in the area have lost their jobs. Factories are shutting down, because of the high price of electricity, an irony not lost on many residents who have lost jobs in the sector – dams in the region produce electricity for the rest of the province.

Layoffs don’t just mean a loss of income; former employees often lose their pensions and benefits as well. “Many people can’t afford pharmaceuticals and stop taking their prescriptions. Some people can’t even go to the dentist anymore,” says Powell. “The cost of living is much higher in northern Ontario. Take gas as an example: if gas is one-dollar [per litre] in Toronto, it’ll be $1.25 in Cochrane. Yet minimum wage is the same for all Ontarians.”

Many northern Ontarians are blue-collar workers with lower incomes who are dependent on vehicles to get to work or to do groceries.

Higher prices and unemployment mean that less and less northern Ontarians take winter vacations. “People end up cutting back on Christmas spending,” Powell says.

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ttending to the region’s economy is a primary concern for Tony Martin, MP for Sault Ste.-Marie. “Northern Ontario has a heavy resource base, and everyone knows that crises here tend to be cyclical. Problems in the forestry sector today could mean trouble for mining tomorrow,” he explains.

As they have done in the past, the New Democrats vowed to give wider access to employment insurance benefits, to increase minimum wage to ten-dollars an hour, and to provide pension security when employers go out of business. The NDP also promised to step in whenever there is a major layoff, in order to keep jobs in the region.

The number of working-class people receiving the short end of the stick is growing fast in the North, and many are aware of the NDP’s emphasis on labour rights. Enough northern Ontarians stood to benefit from labour-minded social reforms this federal election that the NDP gained most seats in the region.

Job insecurity isn’t the only problem troubling northern Ontarians. “Across [the region], access to timely and effective healthcare is an issue because people live in isolated communities. Many people in northern Ontario live far from centres like Subdury, Sault Ste-Marie, or Thunder Bay, and most live far from cities in southern Ontario like Toronto, London, and Ottawa, where the biggest hospitals are,” says Martin.

The region’s population is smaller than Ottawa’s metropolitan area, yet it covers 90 per cent of the province. This election, the NDP vowed to make medical services more accessible in northern Ontario by putting more doctors and nurses in rural communities.

The problem is not so much that there are not enough doctors and nurses to staff rural clinics in the region – the doctor shortage is actually worse in southern Ontario, and the government provides large incentives to practice in the North. Rather, there simply aren’t enough hospitals and clinics to serve northern Ontario’s scattered population. Communities across the North often lack medical services, which compromises quality of life.

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his past election, the NDP gained seats in northern ridings in British Columbia and Manitoba, as well as in the Northwest Territories.

These regions rely heavily on resource extraction, and just like northern Ontario, have a high proportion of blue-collar workers who have seen their livelihood bases disappear, and tend to vote for a party that defends their interests.

In addition to other northern regions, Powell compares northern Ontario to Newfoundland before the discovery of its offshore oil, or to Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia today. “The population would love to stay, but there aren’t any jobs,” she says.

The government has attempted to support industries in northern Ontario through the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario (FedNor). But NDP Members of Parliament claim that this money has been misdirected. For example, Tony Clement, federal minister for FedNor and one of only two Conservative MPs elected in northern Ontario, used money initially intended to help women, Aboriginals, and franco-Ontarians in the North to sponsor a triathlon tournament. The tournament took place in his riding, Parry SoundMuskoka, the southernmost riding in northern Ontario. The area attracts cottagers and tourists, and is hardly working-class, industrial,

or cash-strapped – unlike the more remote communities that could stand to benefit from FedNor funds. In addition, rural communities in southern and central Ontario can now access FedNor funds. This imbalance was a major part of the NDP’s platform in the recent election.

The fact that northern Ontario is underrepresented at both the federal and provincial levels causes its concerns and values to be pushed to the periphery of one the most populous provinces in Canada. “Northern Ontarians feel completely unheard by Toronto. In the House of Commons, the region has more ridings than Newfoundland, but since it isn’t a province in itself, it doesn’t get as much voice,” Powell says.

In the past, there have been mobilizations pushing for northern Ontario’s independence as a province, or demanding that the region join Manitoba. In the 1970s, the northern Ontario

“

Populist messaging seems to have swung the vote in favour of the NDP...by catching the attention of the region’s large and cash-strapped workforce

Heritage Party formed at the provincial level, initially pushing for the creation of a separate province and later demanding that the region’s manufacturing sector be allowed to prosper in order to create more jobs. In so doing, the aim was to develop the region’s economy so that it would not be as dependent on exporting raw goods to the rest of Canada. This party never managed to secure a seat in Queen’s Park, but soon after its formation, a Ministry of Northern Development and Mines was created at the provincial level to address some of the issues the party had raised.

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n recent coverage of the election, some journalists have that the NDP did so well in northern Ontario partly because of the region’s large aboriginal population. Yet voter turnout tends to be very low on native reserves. Doug West, a professor at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay who researches aboriginal politics, explains that “First Nations don’t get a lot of respect for indigenous forms of governance, which has to do with Canada’s history of colonialism.”

Reserves across Canada continue to suffer from dismal living conditions. “These communities often don’t even have decent drinking water, and suffer from bad housing. It’s a national disgrace,” Powell adds.

Many First Nations people have no desire to participate in a political system that has contributed to their marginalization, and in which their demands for self-determination continue to be silenced. Nevertheless, First Nations voter turnout tends to be higher in urban centres in the North. “Urban native people feel their voices can be heard more loudly in cities,” says West.

When asked whether First Nations voters might prefer the NDP to other parties, West

11

responds, “In this election, Aboriginal People actually tended to vote Liberal. But overall their vote didn’t impact on the results that much, since First Nations people don’t make up that much of the population eligible to vote in northern Ontario.” People under 18 account for a relatively large proportion of the total aboriginal population in Canada.

On the other hand, appealing to the First Nations vote also seems to have worked to the Conservative’s advantage. Kenora, the riding with the largest aboriginal population out of all ten in northern Ontario was a gain for the Conservatives. According to Powell, MP-elect Greg Rickford defeated the Liberal incumbent, Roger Valley, thanks to his strong involvement with native communities in his riding. Rickford worked as a registered nurse in the 1990s with First Nations communities before studying law. He then worked as a private practice lawyer for First Nations people exclusively. “He knows every community in the Kenora riding and has connections with aboriginal communities as well. I’m actually surprised he’s with the Conservative Party; his background is closer to that of an NDP candidate. I think people voted for him rather than for his party,” says Powell.

In past years, every large town in northern Ontario saw unemployment rise substantially.

But not every community is losing jobs. Red Lake, home to a thriving gold mine, has not suffered the fate of many small towns in the North.

The mine provides incentive against leaving despite the town’s extreme isolation; Red Lake is several hundred kilometres from Thunder Bay, the nearest city.

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n this election, Nipissing-Timiskaming riding was the only one to go to the Liberal Party in northern Ontario, with incumbent Anthony Rota taking the seat by a wide margin.

In Powell’s opinion, this riding is hardly worth including in her definition of northern Ontario.

The rest of the region is much more dependent on resource extraction than the southerly parts of northern Ontario is. This, combined with Rota’s popularity among his constituents, explains why the NDP did not pick up this riding.

In the seven ridings it picked up, the NDP had a strong slate of candidates with experience working on issues that concern northern Ontarians. The current MP for Nickel Belt, for instance, worked as a machinist for over three decades before becoming a union organizer.

He embodies the NDP’s populist appeal to working-class voters, a campaign strategy that proved very successful overall in northern Ontario.

Hearing the concerns of smaller communities was one of the strategies the NDP used to garner more popular support this past election.

Often, relatively isolated communities are the ones that most depend on extractive industries in the region, and are the hardest hit by the economic downturn in the region. According to Martin, “The viability of many small communities is threatened, especially because of problems in the forestry sector. This election, we tried to promote the well-being of these communities.”

14 Commentary

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 13, 2008

Basing the abortion debate on biology David Sean Paterson

HYDE PARK

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have been watching the misleadingly named “pro-life” club debate with amusement and increasing revulsion over the last few weeks. In a letter to The Daily (Let’s include the unborn, Nov. 6), Choose Life member Amy Bergeron writes, “the present lack of protection of unborn human persons in Canadian law is no less worth questioning and challenging than was the legal status quo before women were recognized as persons in Canadian law.” I hope that statement caused every feminist on campus to breathe a collective gasp of moral outrage. What, if anything, is Bergeron basing that statement on?

If her argument is based on biology, then Bergeron does not appear familiar with the subject – including what constitutes conscious life.

It is not my responsibility to ensure that those who oppose abortion are sufficiently proactive in obtaining a rudimentary understanding of developmental biology. However, it might strengthen their arguments – despite what Bergeron states, they are currently certainly worth questioning.

According to Bergeron and the regressive definitions she espouses, conscious and rational McGill women should be legally considered tantamount to a mass of cells with “potential.” From a materialist, neurobiological perspective however, this mass of cells has no functioning neural system, no consciousness, and thus is not a person, rendering her comparison to suffrage nonsensical. Even in the second trimester, a baby’s neural system is not complex enough for it to be considered conscious, except perhaps in the same way that a lobster is aware of its own existence to the extent that it knows not to pinch itself. Why does Bergeron consider

this a person? Biology doesn’t.

If her argument is based on faith, and if she is a dualist, Bergeron likely believes that this little blastula is a human because it has some sort of soul; perhaps comprised of something in the ether, or bestowed by a god whose existence is supported only by faith. She is of course entitled to hold and express this opinion under Canadian law – that’s part of what makes this country so great.

However, back here in the realms of the tangible, as these faith-based beliefs begin to slide from opinion into a mandate, they gain potential to impinge upon the rights of others.

And that is precisely the problem with the pro-life club. Obviously, Choose Life’s mandate includes ultimately extending legal rights to my aforementioned blastula, or to a bunch of cells to which the members intuitively ascribe a soul at the expense of adult, conscious people and their mature choices about what to do with their own bodies.

However passive, we can expect lobbying on their positions because such a group would not exist simply for those who hold identical beliefs to sit around and preach to the converted. Self-righteous moralizing unpredicated on fact becomes perturbing when those who hold these irrational beliefs move from the farcical fringe and onto the ramparts of legitimized power. Hence why Palin appeared to be a hilarious troglodyte, but the idea of a VP Palin wielding actual political power in conjunction with her antiquated, faith-based beliefs, was sufficiently terrifying as to help motivate record voter turnout.

A student group, however small and ill-supported, has both a voice and a capacity to influence its increasingly aggressive mandate on others.

Freedom of speech and expression should not supersede human rights; you can say and believe what you like, but that doesn’t mean you can foist these opinions and their related implications on those who do not share them. However in the debate specific to legal status, anti-abortionists would do well to select an example more suitable to their cause than women’s suffrage if they expect to convince anyone with even modicum of scepticism.

David Sean Paterson is a U3 Honours Cognitive Science and Neuroscience student.

He can be reached at david.paterson@ mail.mcgill.ca.

Yi Ariel Liu for The McGill Daily

Letters: Medication, Masi, and the UN

Letters Don’t belittle medication Re: “McGill Mental Heath cleans up” | News | Nov. 10 I take issue with Dr. Robert Franck’s comments regarding scaling back medication for McGill Mental Health Services patients. Saying that medication is not an answer, while a wonderful soundbite, is a somewhat dismissive statement that implies medication is never the right way to approach your problems. Further, it suggests that those who turn to medication are taking the easy way out, and are simply not trying hard enough to solve their problems in other ways.

This is a gross oversimplification and oversight of the benefits that medication can deliver to some people. Let me point out that in real life, no one considers the medicating step lightly or flippantly. Medication can offer a very important starting push to those who are trying to stand on their own feet but just can’t get up, no matter how hard they try and no matter how much they talk about their problems with a psychologist.

For some people medication is a necessity, usually a last hope, and I really don’t think it’s constructive to implement agendas that make those reaching out for help feel uncomfortable or ashamed to ask about the possibility of using medication.

I would have hoped to hear a more understanding and less blackand-white approach to this sensitive and personal issue from our new clinical director.

Nina Frampton U1 Chemistry

You can write, but you can’t think Re: “Not all men are meatogynists” | Commentary | Nov. 6 Allow me to take this moment to congratulate Santiago Perez for writing his first letter to The Daily. One can only regret the fact that it did not contain anything more than logical fallacies and typical reactionary sentiments.

Perez sets out to refute Sean Iacurti’s thesis that “the prevalence of women among vegetarians in western societies is due to a commonality that women feel toward the subjugation of cattle and swine,” and that “men practice their primeval rite of gender affirmation through ‘dominating animals’ by eating meat

in greater numbers.” But he does this by citing some statistics from rural India that he just knew would come in handy one of these days! By now, I trust Perez sees the ridiculousness of debunking a hypothesis on Western society with an example from the East, so there’s no need for me to make him feel any worse about it.

Bloviations aside, facts remain: there are more male hunters than female. There are more male murderers than female. While I don’t have the statistics in front of me, I would wager Mr. Perez a tender 20-ounce steak that there are also more male animal torturers. I’m male, and there is nothing I love more than a good steak. But I recognize that there is something sadistic inherent in my nature, that I certainly believe manifests itself in “racism, environmental decay, war, and class struture,” an obvious truth that Perez finds detrimental to his beloved feminist cause.

I’m sure the feminist movement would rather he not pretend to speak for them, but thank you very much.

Rarely is one supplied with stronger proof that the ability to form a coherent sentence is wholly distinct from the ability to form a coherent thought.

Ricky Kreitner U0 Humanistic studies Daily columnist

Canada doesn’t care about native people Re: “First Nations self-governance is tricky” | Commentary | Nov. 10 Mookie, you are wrong in so many ways about the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

First off, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the U.S. are not the only countries that have colonized indigenous populations! Brazil, China, India, Sweden, Peru, Mexico, all did (and do) as well, and the list goes on. And they signed the Declaration, so it’s not all foreign diplomats who have nothing more than a “theoretical” idea of what’s happening.

Secondly, although they may be a minority now, indigenous peoples were a majority of population at the time of contact. Thirdly, the Declaration does not force Canada to stop abusing the human rights of Native people, all it does is recognize that they have fundamental human rights, like you and I. Maybe you should read the Declaration, because it’s obvious that you haven’t. Further, the UN is not responsible for the plight of indigenous peoples; governments and citizens (you and me) are those responsible for the ongoing colonization of indigenous peoples worldwide. Lastly, self-government and self-determination are different, and self-determination has not truly been achieved anywhere in North America.

The Canadian government won’t

even sign a document recognizing their human rights – even when that document is non-binding.

You’re right about one thing, though, a solution to the issues facing Canada’s native peoples must be homegrown. But the “homegrown” solution until now has been abuse, assimilation, and colonization. When the UN comes up with a document that does nothing more than recognize the fundamental human rights of indigenous peoples, Canada – along with its white colonialist friends – decided to vote against it. Why not abstain? Why bring scrutiny down on itself? Because the Canadian government wants to make it clear to everyone (even when it could lie and just sign the damn thing) that it doesn’t give a fuck about native people, so get off the land, its time for some new oil exploration.

Charles Mostoller U3 Arts

Masi shouldn’t help select the new ombudsperson It’s good to see that all three McGill papers are taking the issue of the ombudsperson seriously, but now that they’re advertising the selection committee, it’s time to get to the heart of the matter.

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say this, but I think that having Provost Anthony Masi as the head of the selection committee represents a major conflict of interest. When Dr. Norman Cornett was removed from his teaching post over a year ago, it was Masi who encouraged the ombudsman at the time, Norman Miller, that it “was for the good of all students.”

When Miller discovered that Dr. Cornett’s students were almost unanimously opposed to his being let go and that it wasn’t, in fact for the benefit of the students, he was prepared to speak to a Quebec labour tribunal on behalf of Dr. Cornett. Yet it was Masi who prevented Miller from speaking at the tribunal.

My issue with this is that the ombudsperson needs to be independent from both McGill administration/ faculty and from the students. They need to be free to act as they see fit.

The ombudsperson is akin to the independent judiciary in a state, but if the judiciary is in the pocket of the rulers, how can justice come about?

I’m all for having the selection committee for the ombudsperson, but I believe that having Anthony Masi heading it up is most certainly not “for the good of the students.”

Aly Jivraj BA’07 More letters were received for this issue than could be printed. They will appear in the next possible issue. Send your non-offensive letters to letters@mcgilldaily.com.

16 Culture

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 13, 2008

Secrets, sex, and social justice Farzana Doctor’s first novel treats fluid identities with a touch of tenderness Zoya Aleem Culture Writer

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tealing Nasreen, by Torontobased author, Farzana Doctor, is a lighthearted story that revolves around three characters: an immigrant couple from India, trying to adapt to life in Canada, and an Indo-Canadian lesbian, exhausted by her work as a psychologist. Through a series of coincidences, persisting secrets, and lies, the three lives become intertwined and knotted within the restraints of a “doomed love triangle.”

One of the main characters, Nasreen, works as a psychologist at a Toronto psychiatric hospital. After a rough breakup with her long-term girlfriend, Connie, and the death of her mother leave her emotionally stunted, Nasreen finds herself often distracted, unable to concentrate

during her patients’ sessions.

Enter Shaffiq and Salma, an immigrant couple new to Canada, trying to adapt and assimilate into North American society without losing track of their Indian identity. Shaffiq, formerly an accountant, must resort to a temporary profession as a janitor at the same hospital. He develops a fascination for Nasreen, retrieving small treasures from her office. Salma, his wife, formerly a teacher passionate about her job, now works at a dry cleaners. She coincidentally begins teaching Gujarati classes to Nasreen.

She develops an attraction toward Nasreen that holds ties to a forgotten part of her past. As the characters cope with loss and despair, their stories intersect, and secrets and lies accumulate, eventually erupting in a kiss with impending consequences.

Doctor wrote the first draft of the first chapter of the novel in University of Toronto Continuing

Education class called “Writing the Novel.” “There is a growing awareness of issues relating to underemployed immigrants,” Doctor says.

“That helped me write Shaffiq’s character. I was also really interested in writing immigrant and queer characters because I feel that there aren’t enough novels on this topic.”

This is not solely a book about lesbians; sexual diversity is demonstrated more as a method to leverage, to progress the storyline, rather than making it the focus or defining characteristic of the characters’ lives.

“Sexuality is fluid,” Doctor says. It does not define their identity, but only an aspect of it.

“I’ve talked to many South Asian taxi drivers in Toronto. Some of them are neuroscientists, now working as taxi drivers. I wanted to show they have back stories,” Doctor says. This triggered her desire to bring up the issue of unfair underemployment for

immigrants, whose educational backgrounds are not recognized in Canada – Doctor considers this racist. It is difficult for these people to assimilate, to establish a sense of belonging. Like gender issues, immigration issues do not dominate the novel either.

Despite the presence of these topics, the novel presents more of a refreshingly simple, lighthearted message. More than the gender issues and the underemployment of immigrants, the true message of the novel seems to be more about the fluidity of identity and sexuality.

Doctor uses humour as a device to parody the psychologist’s perspective as well as certain cultural stereotypes. The humour incorporated into the plot seems at times farfetched and unrealistic. Though, at the same time, comedy also helps to downplay the seriousness of the plot, to lighten up the story, in a way quite effectively encouraging a sense of awareness.

And, while Doctor’s prose is distinctly banal, it conveys a message powerful in its universality.

Doctor crisscrosses characters from different cultural contexts. Her attempt is to break the “racist myth that somehow South Asian people are more homophobic than white Canadians.” The characters intersect as a result of actions enforced by pure human rationale and instinct, rather than as a result of their different backgrounds, tendencies, and lifestyles, as one would assume. She aims to “break those stereotypes,” and “poke holes” in common assumptions.

“I wanted to convey something political, but in a subtle, not heavyhanded way,” Doctor says. “I want people to start noticing the people around them, like those who clean their offices, for example.”

Stealing Nasreen is available for 22.95 from Inanna Publications.

A look at Montreal’s documentary film fest Antoine With Antoine, filmmaker Laura Bari treats us to a sensitive portrait of a six-year-old boy – one like any other, except that he’s blind. We witness the struggles this causes as he learns to read and write Braille and use an adapted computer. But this isn’t a film about the struggles of a blind child; instead, we’re presented with the real and imaginary worlds of childhood. The filmmaker puts us on the level of children, and adults recede into the background.

We follow Antoine in his classes, playing with friends, skating, and visiting family. We accompany him on imaginary excursions as a detective trying to solve the mystery of Madame Rouski’s disappearance, listen to him as a radio host, and sit shotgun as he drives his parents’ car. Antoine allows us access back into childhood. We do not pity Antoine or admire his struggle, because in the end, there really isn’t one. Antoine is blind, but he’s articulate, intelligent, and creative. He’s simply a boy. And for the duration of the film, we enter into and experience his world.

– Thom Large Both films show at the Rencontres Internationals du Documentaire de Montreal festival, running from Oct. 13 to 23. Visit ridm.qc.ca/en/home.html for locations and times, and check our next issue for more RIDM coverage.

Photos courtesy of RIDM

Afghanistan: le choix des femmes Hadja Lahbib’s documentary Afghanistan, le choix des femmes follows the story of two women in Afghanistan. But these are not typical Afghani women – Habiba Sorabi is Afghanistan’s first female governor, and Aicha Habibi is a warlord. This hour-long film challenges the way we normally view the problem of gender and forces us to consider the ways in which women might actually wield power in Afghanistan. At the same time, the film is refreshingly unobsessed with gender – Aicha Habibi claims to never have even considered herself as a woman – focusing instead on the fact that both women are highly respected and influential members of society.

Though they embody opposite ends of the political spectrum, the women both represent “two facets of the same determination to change the world.

Each of them has more or less given up on family life to serve her country.”

Turning away from the much-debated issue of how the U.S. will be able to help Afghanistan, the main question becomes: how will individuals – and women, in particular – partake in the rebuilding of their own country? If this doesn’t draw you in already, its depictions of the beautiful Afghani landscape surely will.

– Camille Holden

Culture

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 13, 2008

17

Once upon a time Aditi Ohri / The McGill Daily

Open mic for your inner child

Aditi Ohri The McGill Daily

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ildly popular in Toronto and Ottawa, “Grown-ups Read Things They Wrote as Kids” – also known as GRTTWaK – is a free, open-mic reading series that has now found a home on the island of Montreal. Last Wednesday, November 5, Drawn & Quarterly hosted a room full of former children revelling in the dramas and musings of their younger selves. What ensued

was hilarity, absurdity, and at times, touching sincerity from the pens and pencils of babes.

The first to read was an eccentric man in his late thirties, with an excerpt from a science fiction novel he had written at the age of seven. He read about aliens, diners, incredibly fast cars, and fantastical spaghetti entrees in space. A childhood prodigy underappreciated, he confessed his grandmother used to tell him that his stories weren’t “worth the matchstick she would use to burn them.”

After his reading came many diary entries, some love notes, a few more short stories, and a reading of my very first novel – The Cat. The readings portrayed intense emotions about boys, girls, romance, and frenemies; end-of-the-world angst and cringe-worthy lyrics with lines dra-

matic as “I broke my leg – nobody REALLY cares!”

My personal favourite was from a Judy Blume-themed diary: on May 21, a girl started her journal entry with “Happy Canada Day!” She proceeded to draw a Canadian flag and list her favourite things about this country – “maple sugar, bagels, and red.” Ah, the roots of Canadian identity….

To be a kid is to get away with whatever you can. You can laugh, scream, jump, kick, scratch bums, pick noses, play “make believe,” and openly mock others without being told that you’re making a scene or embarrassing your friends. Everything you do is magical and life-changing because you are doing it for the first time: you garble speech – it’s incredible. You walk – it’s momentous. You burp – it’s cause for celebration! I do all of these things

daily, and I receive no applause, no parental congratulation, no standing ovation or scrapbook insertion.

I am envious of children and nostalgic for my childhood. To be a curious and expressive child, I feel, is a privilege – people don’t give the same behavioural leeway to adults. In attempt to mature as refined, affable human beings, we inevitably water down our childhood selves in favour of social norms and necessities. This is, for the most part, a good thing, as it would be unreasonable for the world to expect a five-year-old to be as capable as a 25-year-old; but it is still important for 25-year-olds to remember what their younger selves were once capable of.

Just because we grow up doesn’t mean we grow old, and all “grownups” usually still have quite a bit of

growing to do. Despite being the youngest person reading, I could see that all those grown-ups retained some of their childhood perspectives they were reading from: the sci-fi dude was visibly offbeat and the Judy Blume lady was sweet and airy.

Adulthood is a looming, constructed, and restrictive entity, yet I fail to believe that adults truly feel like adults all of the time. My sentiments are best expressed by something Britney Spears [almost] sang once: I’m not a [kid], not yet a [grown-up] / All I need is time, a moment that is mine, while I’m in between. Sing it with me at the next reading.

For podcasts and information on upcoming events, visit grownupsreadthingstheywroteaskids.com.

You can also listen to Aditi’s reading online at mcgilldaily.com

Suspended anxiety and static scenes Cedric Anger’s The Killer reworks Hollywood clichés Chelsea Blazer Culture Writer

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ith his debut film The Killer, Cedric Anger successfully intermingles the stories of a wealthy investment analyst and father, Leo Zimmerman, and his blasé hit man, Dimitri Kopas, in a tale that exposes the limits of success and failure.

What begins as a typical Hollywood murder plot – a wealthy and appealing man running away from his unattractive killer – turns into a well-developed poetic story and extremely stylish film. When we first meet Leo, his life seems ideal: he has a darling daughter, a beautiful wife, and an opulent home. The killer, on the other hand, is anything but.

He comes off as a cliché Hollywood murderer; we first see him watching violent television alone in a hotel room (perhaps a hidden message?) and then dining unaccompanied at a deserted Mexican restaurant. Yet the film is interesting for the way it parallels and interweaves the lives of a

killer and his victim.

While Leo is much more successful on a superficial level, his life is also filled with emptiness. As a result, upon meeting his own killer, a strange and significant relationship emerges. From this point on, their roles reverse; as Kopas encounters a world of love and sympathy, Leo spirals downward into one of drugs and jealousy.

Despite the alleged action-packed plotline, this movie breaks the classical Hollywood rules through its use of original storytelling and filmmaking strategies. The plot is an exercise in suspense. Both the viewer and characters are constantly waiting – for secrets to be revealed, for someone to show emotion, and, of course, for cold-blooded murder. Moreover, the uncanny film noir mis-en-scène reinforces this sense of suspended anxiety.

The acting alone is worth seeing. Gregoir Colin, playing the eerie hit man, and his counterpart Gilbert Melki, in the role of Leo Zimmerman, provide a strong representation of the complexities of human life. There is nothing motivating or interesting

Courtesy of Evokative Films

A blasé hit man contemplates his next move in The Killer. about the characters’ lives themselves – in fact, the roles are actually written one-dimensionally so that one is unable to look into their past and see

clear motivations for their actions.

Yet despite this lack of depth, I found myself siding with them nonetheless. While the bizarre ending leaves

many questions unanswered, these two individuals remained, surprisingly, in my mind long after the movie ended.

18 Culture

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 13, 2008

Street smarts

Pursuing lifelong learning at the University of the Streets Café Camille Holden Culture Writer

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s what I’m studying useful? The million-dollar question. Many of us will answer no, we don’t like the format or style of learning of postsecondary education. And yet, here we are. So is there really an alternative? I guess there’s nothing left to do but sit idly in class and sponge up and spit out the coagulated information taught to me. Maybe I’ll start learning something useful once I graduate and find a job. Sigh.

Okay, hold on. There have been countless times when I’ve felt stimulated and engaged, like I’d truly come close to touching the essence of life.

A dinner table: food, wine, friends. A topic: language, death, liberty, Sarah Palin, the demise of Britney Spears,

the media, James Bond. The question remains whether there is a way to combine a free-flowing and conversational style of learning with academia. Last week I partook in something that is an attempt to reconcile the two: The University of the Streets Café.

On the bus heading up Avenue du Parc, I wondered – okay, I know what going to university is like, but how does one prepare to go to a university of the streets? I walked into Arts Café, where the event was taking place, secretly hoping to find hobos, b-boys, and professors happily mingling, sharing hard-learned lessons about life, and maybe even shedding a tear or two over a cup of Irish Coffee. To my surprise, I found a group of normal-looking, middleaged men and women, sitting around coffee tables and excitedly chatting

CULTURE BRIEFS Kind of blue I urge you to walk up the narrow staircase to MainLine Theatre, waltz into the low-key, homey sitting area, and order a hot beverage – just so you can drink out of a quaint ceramic cup.

The intimate setting will make you want to kick back and relax on the vintage sofa and put your feet up on the rustic coffee table. This is just the thing to get you in the mood to enjoy the upcoming performance. Keith Reddin’s Almost Blue recalls the lives of four people, each with a stormy past and a not-so-bright future, who are trying to find a way to change their dowdy destiny. The play consists of one set: a run-down, grim apartment inhabited by main character, Phil, impressively played by Rick Bel. The story unfolds as the dark secrets of a man trying to stay out of jail, a guileful ex-con, a dam-

about the night’s topic. The buzz of conversation and the smell of crisp, thin pizza permeated the air.

The University of the Streets Café is basically a two-hour discussion between random people at rotating cafés in Montreal. It’s a very casual and informal setting, in which anyone is welcome and everyone is a specialist – simply by virtue of being a human being engaged in society. Run

by Concordia University’s Institute of Management and Community Development, the University of the Streets Café attempts to “create gathering places for community members to pursue lifelong learning and engagement in the form of collective discussions. They are an opportunity for people of diverse backgrounds and realities to meet, where all people and perspectives are welcome.”

The dialogue I participated in was

sel in distress, and a rejected pornography writer unravel before our eyes.

This is stage noir at its finest.

More action occurs within the final moments of the play than the rest of the 90-minute performance combined – the plot twist is sure to keep any audience member at the edge of their seat, but be sure not to inch up too much, or you might wind up on stage.

The play is filled with sexual tension, manipulation, power, and violence that is bound to erupt at any moment.

As these talented actors transform themselves into the troubled characters of Phil, Blue, Liz and Steve, their impassioned performance brings us to ask ourselves the questions no one ever dares to dream.

– Rebecca Feigelsohn

A safe space Obtaining physical space for student activity has long been an issue for student groups, especially if it doesn’t serve an academic purpose. There is a lack of campus space that is distinctly ours; much of Shatner is commercial

entitled “Do we underestimate the importance of teen friendships?” Our discussion covered a variety of topics related to friendship, ranging from how the Internet is reshaping interpersonal relationships, to whether parents’ relationships with their kids can be “friendly,” and how friendships formed during childhood affect our adult lives. Several people talked about their experiences growing up in Colombia or on a commune. Others talked about being a friend to their kids, and others about having a sibling take on the role of parent to them.

One man gave a very interesting perspective from First Peoples’ reservations, where he found that there isn’t a traditional hierarchical system of power relations between people.

Though the topic was interesting, I left the cafe feeling disappointed.

I think the reason is that I came in

space, the rest allocated to student groups that can provide goods or concrete services. Though these are obviously important, we need more nonjudgmental spaces where students can exist without a distinct purpose, define the terms of the space for themselves, and where nothing but respect is required.

In part because of the absence of these spaces, we – a group of eight students – have taken on the second Montreal production of the Radical Vulvas, a show which attempts to create an open, accessible, and respectful space for conversations about women. As a “write-your-own” performance, the Radical Vulvas brings together poets, musicians, storytellers, performers, artists, and audience members in creating a conversation that is unique to the community in which it happens.

We strive to be queer and transpositive, and we also recognize the importance of taking class and race into consideration when talking about gender oppression. We are for equality, liberation, empowerment, and respect of difference. This is not

looking for arguments, theories, nuggets of truth. But I should have read the flyer – “Probably the most important thing we learn is how to learn together…. At the end of almost any conversation what stands even more than the factual learning is how challenging and inspiring it is to learn with a group and make space for individuals who come at a topic with very different opinions, experience, and levels of expertise.” And that, I realize, is the beauty of non-academic learning.

Upcoming conversations on the topic of “Building a Culture of Sustainability” include “How do we begin to understand the issues?”

(November 20, 7 p.m.) and “How do we put accountability into accounting?” (November 24, 7 p.m.) Check out the web site for locations and more information at univcafe.org.

a classroom; the terms of the conversation are more than academic.

They are personal, inclusive, nonjudgmental, and based on the needs and words of those present. It occurs in a physical space that we can fully inhabit and shape.

This concept of space is important to The Radical Vulvas because the issues that feminism tries to address affect everyone, not just women. We choose for this to be a space for women as well as those who care for and respect them, because women’s experiences don’t exist in isolation. This is a space for everyone. The Radical Vulvas is not a party and it’s not a lecture; it is a dialogue and a celebration.

The Radical Vulvas invites anyone and everyone to submit any kind of art on the topic of women and gender, preferably before November 15.

The bilingual show is at 8 p.m. on November 21 at the Dragonfly Studios (110 Ann). Email submissions to radicalvulvas@hotmail.com or check out their our web site at radicalvulvasmtl. wordpress.com.

– The Radical Vulvas

Compendium!

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 13, 2008

19

Lies, Half-truths, & Poop

SSMU VP Finance rejects Daily interview over Internet chat And not just any chat – one embedded in a semipopular social networking web site Winston Jeffries The McGill Daily

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SMU executives reached a sad new level of communication with the campus press last night.

After repeated attempts to contact soon-to-be-former SSMU VP Finance

& Operations Tobias Silverstein via text message, email, and phone, he finally responded over an Internet chat function that he was not available for comment.

In honour of this historic moment, The Daily has included the the transcribed interview below. Send questions to operations.ssmu@mcgill.ca.

Angel Chen for The McGill Daily

Angel’s illustrations appear every other Thursday. Send your feces to angelclchen@gmail.com.

CAMPUS EYE

Winston Jeffries / The McGill Daily

Principal Heather MunroeBlum, in a blurred gray suit, stands with her hands cupped near the front of the classroom.

She trekked to MacDonald campus in a Lincoln to answer questions on the University’s future – her words inspired audience members to knit.

Similar to every Town Hall in recent memory, this event was marked by empty seats, so-so questions, and a yearning for a lil’ somethin’ mo’.

Tobias tells us to talk to “the hand,” Internet-style.

Spencer Duffy / The McGill Daily

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