Vol 34 issue 17

The Voice of the University of Toronto Mississauga

MEDIUM THE

MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 2008

VOLUME 34, ISSUE 17

www.mediumonline.ca

Blair Witch meets Godzilla

Marketing mind manipulation

A Super Bowl preview

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Page 9

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Politicians talk to students JULIE TYIOS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) was host to several political talks last week as Members of Parliament (MPs) and political candidates attended separate forums to address national issues at the post-secondary level.

Mississauga-Erindale Liberal MP Omar Alghabra greeted a small crowd on Wednesday evening at an event organized by the Political Science and Pre-Law Association and the UTM Young Liberals. Among items discussed were the Manley Report, which discusses Canada’s future role in Afghanistan, and the need for greener technology.

“Canada has a chance to be a leader in green technology,” he stated. “Do we want to lead and sell technology now, or buy it from abroad ten years from now?”

The Thursday town hall meeting organized by UTM’s student unions addressed other issues pertinent to students.

Alghabra returned to sit on a panel that included Liberal candidate Bonnie Crombie from the MississaugaStreetsville riding and MississaugaBrampton South MP Navdeep Bains.

At the forefront of discussion was Bill C-398, the Canada Post-Secondary Education Act that was introduced to

Parliament on February 5, 2007.

Although only at the first reading stage in government, the bill was designed to secure funding standards for the purposes of accessibility and and accountability to post-scondary students.

“International fees have to be regulated and fair,” said third-year international commerce student Mubashir Ali. “A balance has to be maintained.” According to Ali, approximately 10 per cent of UTM’s population is comprised of international students, all of whom pay significantly higher tuition fees than Canadians.

The panelists also spoke about the Millenium Scholarship Foundation, which is currently limited to first-year students.

“It needs to be fixed,” Alghabra argued. “There is a compelling argument that is can be expanded.”

UTM Students’ Union president Walied Khogali and Erindale Part-time Undergraduate Society president Vlad Glebov both spoke at length about various issues and action to resolve them.

Bains encouraged students to become involved with their government to help necesasry changes to take shape.

“Pick a party you feel affinity with and shape their policy,” he said. “Contact us through emails and letters. Write me your opinion, which I can forward to the Prime Minister. Write to the newspapers.”

On war and art Symposium and exhibition at MiST Theatre showcases modern-day fear of war through art MEGHA KUMAR ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

On Friday, January 25, an exhibition exploring the relationship between art and images of war took place at the MiST Theatre, garnering an audience of over 50 people. The exhibition began with a lecture on the fear of war and its representation through images by Professor W.J.T. Mitchell, followed by two panels of discussion with different speakers on their experience with war-related projects.

In the first panel, Allan Harding MacKay presented an array of images called 'Double Bind' from his visit to Afghanistan. He showed images of the airfield that questioned the boundaries between photojournalism and art.

Brigitte van der Sande's discussion on her future project 'Amsterdam at War' played with the prediction of war in her city, how citizens would react to it, and how the society in Netherlands has gone from being a curious, open city to one of high surveillance and increased fear of terrorism. This was followed by Irene Loughlin's literary analysis on the post-war art of Naufus Figueroa.

One of the more provocative presentations involved Stephen Eisenman's analysis on images of waterboarding-which is a form of simulated drowning that is used as a torture technique.

“Some lectures were definitely better than others. I liked 'Amsterdam at War' the best - it was scary to see how our society may be and how it can affect our privacy,” said Joanne Fernandes, a fourth-year visual culture and communication student.

The symposium ended with Boris Groy's questioning of European identity in art and 'otherness' and an open debate on the lectures, prompting several audience members to think about the impact of art in the twentyfirst century.

photo/Matthew Filipowich

Students listen intently to the good-natured political debate held at UTM last Thursday evening. Several politicians and student leaders were present to discuss issues affecting post-secondary students.

UTM gets a dose of Winter

photo/Melissa Di Pasquale

WinterFest, held last Thursdayat the RAWC, was a collaborative effort between UTM’s student governments. Over 600 students attended the event, which saw plenty of indoor fun and giveaways.

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Monday, January 28, 2008

NEWS

Amnesty International’s “Write-a-thon”

Still no money for clubs

TEJAS AIVALLI

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Students gathered on Tuesday, January 22 at the university’s Women’s Centre to write letters and sign petitions to urge the Canadian government to do more for indigenous women who are victims of sexual assault, to admit more refugees fleeing Iraq and a host of other issues.

The “Write-a-thon” was organized by University of Toronto Mississauga’s student club, Amnesty International.

The club’s executive Sandra Ceccomancini explained that the annual event, which normally takes place worldwide on December 10, had to be delayed due to exam week. Around 40 students turned out to collectively write twelve letters and sign twenty-five petitions.

“It is for people to collectively write letters to government to make a difference,” said Ceccomancini.

She also spoke more about Amnesty International at UTM and its first year at the university.

“We have about 100 members. Our aim is to bring awareness to students and to provide outlets to students and to act on issues like equality for women to any current issues, abolishing the death penalty and the crisis in Darfur,” said Ceccomancini.

Pacinthe Mattar, a fifth-year student of political science and teaching and learning french came in to sign a petition about the Toronto 18, but signed others.

“I signed about ending violence against Aboriginal women and ending

child executions. It is easy to talk about issues and complain and mourn, but not a lot of people do much about it. This is a step away from complicity. It’s great that there is a chapter of Amnesty International here at UTM. Given the diversity of people here, there shouldn’t be a shortage of passionate people and things they are passionate about,” said Mattar.

Gregg Mendes, a fourth year history major and member of Amnesty International at UTM commented on the importance of organizing such an event.

“A lot of people doing a little bit is more possible than one person doing a lot. I have donated money to Amnesty before. By donating money from afar, you don’t see any reaction, but now that I am involved I can see change,” said Mendes.

“To those who feel this is useless I’d say with this project [of] bombarding government with rallies, mail, etc. may not make them change their mind but it will put it at back of their mind that a lot of their electorate is concerned about this. The government will at least tweak their policies,” said Cullingham.

“I am here to add my name to the list of those who want Ottawa to not just notice, but act to help resolve the crisis in Darfur. Canadians like to believe that the Canadian Forces personnel are engaged in “peace-keeping measures” beyond our borders. If so, then why are they deployed in Afghanistan and not Darfur?” said Deepali Swarup, a fourth year student in biology and gender Studies.

TEJAS AIVALLI

Administrative shuffling is being blamed for the delay in distributing funds for academic societies, according to University of Toronto Mississauga vice-principal academics and dean Gage Averill, and University of Toronto Mississauga’s Students’ Union (UTMSU) vice-president academics and equity Anita Chauhan. Both are currently involved in the process of setting up the Academic Societies Affairs Committee (ASAC). “[Academic Societies are] a really good opportunity to get students involved with each other. Students interacting with each other is healthy for social and intellectual life here,” said Averill. He expects the money to be distributed after the creation of the ASAC. After taking office on October 15, Averill signed the Academic Societies agreement on December 10. Charles Jones, who was the dean when the referendum was initially passed, left office on June 30, by which time Chauhan was already elected. Yet the signing of the agreement languished since late spring and little happened over the summer, according to Averill.

“There were several reasons why it had taken so long to get the agreement signed. It was difficult at the beginning of my term due to the fact that the previous executive had left very little information and instruction on how to go about

implementing this endeavor. It was not until September 17, when Gage Averill was appointed as dean of academics, that I actually was able to get a response from the dean's office,” said Chauhan.

Chauhan’s predecessor Aun Jaffery emphasized that it was well understood that students were expecting money collected from them for academic societies to be put to use as soon as possible.

“It was up to the incoming executive (Chauhan) to follow through with academic societies in a timely fashion. At the joint board meeting where the outgoing and incoming executives met, it was stressed that implementation of academic societies is a time-sensitive issue and must be picked up soon so that students can enjoy the benefits of it in September. Anita was present at that meeting,” said Jaffery.

He also added that Chauhan’s inference that the delay was due to a lack of follow-up information “is simply a reflection of how involved she was in the process as an associate.”

There is also the issue of a discrepancy regarding the composition of the ASAC as stated in the constitution and the signed agreement.

“When [UTMSU and I] first met, we debated whether a constitution should be a part of the same agreement and it’s my sense that it’s best to sever the two. The constitution does not have a sign-on from the dean’s office yet,” said Avrill. Avrill also indicated that he had yet to read the constitution but

that he is continuing to work with UTMSU towards having the committee setup and the funds made available.

“UTMSU wanted to handle [ASAC] in a different way - the ASAC would be handled based on the parties to the agreement, which would be UTMSU and the dean’s office. I support a strong and vigorous body that would influence this process representing the student s ocieties,” said Av rill. He also added: “The ASAC will be the body that will decide who is an academic society. If there is disagreement, we don’t have a mechanism that goes beyond the ASAC so it will be interesting to see what happens.”

Chauhan said clubs will be contacted after the ASAC finally meets.

“Money will be dispensed to the clubs after they have been approved by the ASAC and the money has been given to us by the university,” said Chauhan.

Despite the majority of students supporting the creation of academic societies, some student clubs such as the Psychology Association for Undergraduate Students at Erindale, are concerned about how the committee will handle funds for clubs that decide against being coopted into an academic society model.

“We want to keep the funds for academic societies, but we will determine an equitable and fair way to distribute the money within the structure,” Chauhan explained.

Rogers and family booted out of UTM DANIEL FILIPE MARTINS

photo/Melissa Di Pasquale

Adam Rogers speaks with the press before his eviction early last Friday. Although homeless, Rogers is determined to pursue his $5 million lawsuit against the university.

One stage of Adam Rogers’ rocky relat ionship w ith UTM ended Friday morning, after the sheriff of the Landlord and Tenant Board evicted him from his townhouse in Schreiberwood residence.

The married father of four moved into the unit last year assuming that he was officially a student after being assigned a student number by the university and given the option to lease. But the university later decided not to admit him, and told him to leave the townhouse.

Rogers, who is suing the university for $5 million, considered himself a student, with every right to be there.

“The lease speaks for itself,” he said to reporters outside his townhouse, while campus police looked on.

“You can’t live in university rez without being entitled to enroll as a student. It’s not my error – and the university keeps passing the buck!”

Rogers challenged the university almost from day one, but the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board ruled in the university’s favour in October.

Rogers, whose fourth child was born shortly after moving in, said the university provided little support for much of the crisis, aside from pointing out some general community resources. He said he feared for his family, as they have “nowhere to go.”

“We’ll end up in a shelter – if there’s room,” he said.

But, evicted or not, Rogers vowed to pursue his lawsuit against the university.

“This is not going to stop until it’s been resolved,” he said. “I’m not letting up, and I’m not walking away from it. No matter what happens, the university will be held accountable and they will compensate us for what they’ve done.”

UTM spokesperson Jane Stirling reiterated the university’s position that Rogers was never a student, and said UTM would fight the lawsuit until it was struck down.

“We have student families on the waiting list for units,” Stirling said.

“Our first priority is to our University of Toronto students.”

However, Stirling also said the university had forgiven Rogers’ current debt to the university – around $6,000 in unpaid rent and other fees.

Monday, January 28, 2008

UTM News Briefs Packed pub gets racy Last Thursday, Me to We UTM served up a campus first with the Anything But Clothes pub at the Blind Duck. Attendees were encouraged to wear anything they could find at home that was not an item of clothing.

Garbage bags, newspapers, towels, and shower curtains all came through the door slung about bodies in many creative ways.

“This theme has always been in the back of my head,” said organizer and Me to We UTM executive Chris Aiken. “I’ve always wanted to be part of one here at UTM.” Ticket pre-sales surpassed the 200 mark, forecasting a successful evening and fundraiser for the club. Many of Me to We UTM’s members set the precedent for the evening by wearing body paint and swimsuits to the event.

Me to We UTM is a new club on campus that provides many volunteer opportunities with services around the GTA. The club is currently fundraising as part of an initiative with Free The Children, a University of Toronto-affiliated group. “[We’re] fundraising to send volunteers to Africa and India,” said Aiken of the pub night’s cause. “All the funds from tonight are going toward this cause, and all our fundraising events go toward Free The Children.”

Pub night:

Frum lectures

Leave your clothes at the door

MEREDITH LILLY

- Julie Tyios

A powerful performance After reaching 300 performances across Canada and the United States, Vancouver-based artist Meghan Gardiner performed a powerful onewoman show about drug-induced rape to a rapt audience of UTMers on Wednesday. About 30 people attended the performance that was held at the MiST Theater in the CCT building.

The play was followed by an open discussion on sexual assault with a panel of professionals.

Gardiner’s show teaches about drugs such as GHB (gamma hydroxybutyric acid) and Rohypnol (flunitrazpam, also known as Roofies), which are often involved in date-rape scenarios. Surfacing as medicinal drugs in the 1980s, GHB and Rophynol have been abused in various ways over the past two decades. Some effects of these drugs are blackouts, slurred speech, and disorientation; symptoms which can easily allow sexual predators to take advantage of their victims.

Gardiner enacted scenes from her own experiences, leading up to memory loss in a club. Her earnest performance and the revelation that she had been a victim of date rape seven years ago contributed to a stellar production.

“I'm a working actor, the response has been overwhelming and I get to share my message to all women. I have gotten my moral justice!”

Gardener said after the show.

During the panel discussion several issues were raised, such as the lack of education about date rape on campus and the illusion it happens only with strangers. Tina Garnett, community relations coordinator at the Rape Crisis Centre of Peel, said that 80 per cent of the victims she had talked to knew their assailant to some degree.

The performance tied in with the purpose of the Ask First/No Means No campaign, a University of Toronto initiative that seeks to educate and prevent date rape.

- Megha Kumar

THE MEDIUM

NEWS

The war on terror is necessary and winnable, the United States has a one and a half party system, George W. Bush is not responsible for the decreased popularity of the Republican Party, and, while you have every right to feel that Christian fundamentalism is akin to Islamic fundamentalism, you would be wrong to think as much. These were some of the points presented

by David Frum during a free lecture at Hart House on January 23, which was organized by the Hart House Debate Committee and the Fraser Institute.

Frum, a former speechwriter to George W. Bush, University of Toronto alumnus, and the current advisor to Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani, treated students to an address focusing on party politics in the United States, the war in Iraq and Islamic fundamentalists.

In the midst of promoting his new book “Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again,” Frum chose to forego much of the nuanced policy discussion presented in the book, choosing instead to present ideas that proved to be provocative for not only Republicans but everyone, regardless of party affiliation.

In American politics, one party tends to enjoy considerable popularity over the other in terms of party identification among voters. The war in Iraq and the American economy has presented a strong case to suggest it is the Democrat’s turn to govern.

Frum argued that for the Republican party to remain relevant, the income gap should be addressed and policy makers must strive to demonstrate a better understanding of environmental concerns, both pressing issues in popular politics.

Frum acknowledged students’ propensity for “grand causes” and identified climate change as the

dominant issue in student activism.

According to Frum, the Republican party would be wise to remember that the philosophy of the schoolroom in one generation is the philosophy of government in the next, and they should consider reforming if they wish to be that government.

“Three hundred million people. Two parties. You don’t fire people from your coalition.”

-David Frum on American politics and the religious right

The American primaries were of popular interest during the lecture.

Frum observed that it is Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama who evokes the Bill Clinton-like finesse in his manner. Frum praised Bill Clinton’s ability to communicate with voters and to identify even the most poorly articulated concerns of the electorate. Frum added that Obama shows similar care in his public discourse.

When questioned about the role of the religious right in the Republican party, Frum replied: “three hundred million people. Two parties. You don’t fire people from your coalition.”

Frum further explained that the religious right has effectively mobilized their grassroots but, just like any special interest group, if they become a liability they will quickly discover the limits to their influence.

Frum stood by George W. Bush’s ideals concerning Islamic terrorism, saying that the violent means used by terrorists to further their causes effectively “takes them out of the game.”

photo/Vlad Glebov

Most students showed up the the Blind Duck clothesless last Thursday for the Anything But Clothes pub night organized by Me to We UTM. The event sought to raise money for the Free The Children foundation.

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Write for News Email Saira at news@mediumonline.ca

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Monday, January 28, 2008

EDITORIAL

Opinion JULIE TYIOS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | editor@mediumonline.ca www.mediumonline.ca

EDITORIAL War. We’re part of a nation obsessed with war. And it’s time for it to stop.

John Manley’s recently released report opens with the line: "Afghanistan is at war and Canadians are combatants." In it, he argues that our country should remain involved in the war in Afghanistan, despite problems with the mission. Although we are a nation that has, throughout time, committed to keeping the peace, it doesn’t seem like the case here.

The Liberals have pushed for our soldiers to be out of Afghanistan by 2009. It’s time to end this now. Our money and our resources have been drained by this bloody battle, and our soldiers remain in the middle of combat without equipment that is necessary for their safety. It is morally irresponsible to send our citizens into such a death trap without proper defense.

Although we’ve only lost a comparitively small number of lives (79 for us, 481 American) in the Afghan war since 2002, the war has cost us $4.1 billion. With problems in health care and education, that kind of money could go a long way. It’s time to end the war and bring our troops - and our resources - back home.

Julie Tyios

Letters to the Editor Yours,

PRESIDENT ENCOURAGES STUDENT INVOLVEMENT

Dear fellow students, faculty and members of the UTM Community, On behalf of the U.T.M. Students Union, I would like to start of by welcoming you all back to another jampacked semester. I hope you all had a well deserved break with your families and friends from last semester’s tests and exams. Fortunately UTMSU has plenty of campaigns/events/socials install for each one of you to keep you preoccupied, so please come by the office and visit your student union representatives and get involved in the action. I would also like to thank all my fellow students that volunteered and participated in WinterFest. I think everyone had a great time thanks to the hard work of Ms. Ishani Sharma and Mr. Razan Khan. The other great event we had last week was the MP Panel on Tuition Fees, where students shared their experiences with their elected representatives. I want to thank everyone that came out, especially the organizers Mr. Wasah Malik, Ms. Safia Farouk, Ms. Saaliha Malik and the participating members of parliament.

There shall be more town halls in the

future where you can all participate.

I would also like to raise two very important points in this editorial, beginning with correcting the erroneous article of Mr. Tejas Aivalli on January 21st 2008. Mr. Aivalli in his article on academic societies made inaccurate statements and alluded that UTMSU was dragging its feet on the process. Let me provide some context and a reality check. Firstly, Academic Societies are uniquely funded and recognized academic units by the university and your student union. In 2007, Students overwhelmingly agreed to support the project of implementing Academic Societies on our campus.

Why? Well due to the lack of academic advocacy caused by the secession of UTM from the department of Art’s and Science, hence the Arts and Science Student Union. In 2006, as Vice –President UTM, I secured a dollar to dollar match with the then Dean of Academics Mrs. Cheryl Misak. It was in 2007, that UTMSU under the leadership of Mr. Aun Jaffery was the question to support academic societies put to each one of you through referendum.

Visit us online at

www.mediumonline.ca I have no inspiration right now, so I blurb. The font problem has been overcome. 10.30 and we’er slow. Saira has gone for coffee. Rob left and came back. Arts boy has been here since I woke him out of bed at 4.30. Gin Rummy rematch.

You owe me $20. “Nah, it’s 18.40!” I’ll spare you some of your pride. Let the Medium Olympics begin! Nikita came and gone, Melissa is here. She brought us sushi. Some of mine disappeared. :( Cop out! I’ve been bombarding Ali with excerpts from Jesus Christ Superstar and the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Yes, you will love musicals by the time I’m through with you. “What a fruit!” Rob says of Ali’s grande strawberries and creme frappucino blended creme. Yes, Saira has returned. Dan is the only one without a cup. “Your negligence will not be forgotten,” he swears. Finally found editorial fodder. I should read the Mississauga News more often. Ali’s playing EIC trainee tonight, consulting the CP Style Book and all. He has a problem with “defence” versus “defense.” Good eye, Arts Boy, good eye. I await our GR rematch. Now he’s arguing it with Dan. Z versus S. Zed. Zed is dead, baby. Five scene points if you recognize the reference. Yes, recognize, not recognise. Arts Boy leans over my shoulder. Smells like Singapore. He takes on the Zed challenge - and wins! Now, if only it was a question in Trivial Pursuit, you might win. “Bring it!” “I’ll beat you again - what do you mean again?” Yeah, exactly. You’re 0 for 3. Dan copy edits behind my monitor. All I hear is a BBC voice. Office is quiet otherwise. Everyone’s gone to work. 11.57. I brought out the glasses today, but no slithery beasts. Someday, rob, someday. The sounds of Hurra Torpedo fill the office. I got the album from iTunes. Love it. Diana is officially back from the south. Ali and Melissa crowd around Saira. I hear debating about photo processes. A writer’s desk - mine fits the profile right now. Surrounded by drinks, computers, keyboards, printers, paper, but no cat. I should bring in my secret weapon next week - Chuckie T, el gato volador. I’ll make her a cape. She can write my editorial for me. I am being called. Rob picked up a Gideon’s Bible this past week. It has yellow pages for problems. Dan reads to me to find a passage for inspiration: “Considering divorce? Oh, you’re bitter and critical. Perhaps you’re contemplating revenge?

You’re in danger or threatened? Your friends have failed you? You need guidance? You are tempted to commit suicide? Your faith is weak? You are distressed or troubled? You feel attacked? Tempted to envy? Distressed or troubled?

Doubting? Thankful? Failure has come to you? You are considering divorce? You are contemplating marriage? At your wits end? You’re facing death? you’re tempted to drug abuse? You’re tempted to drink abuse? You are just retired?

You are tempted to lie? Sleepless? Lonely? Choosing a career? Weary?” “I can haz cheezburger??” LOLZ. Big changes here at The Medium. Moose is our hero. Total eclipse of the heartttttttttt... crashcrashbangbangbangbangCRASH. LOVE Hurra torpedo. Everyone wonders about the Sims 2 on their desktops. Er, sorry. It’s addictive. Deer sightings have increased lately. Moose saw a troop last night. Ali brought some posters into the office. Where’s the double-sided tape? Tejas makes t into the Mississauga News! Th e blame game is going on, I hear. Curious to see how it ends up. My alarm keeps going off from the Boggle game earlier. Not much of an ass-kicking this time, Arts Boy. You’s lucky. 8.

THE

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Board of Directors Christine Capewell, Jane Ngobia, Allison King, Josie Rigato, Gian Magalong, Bushra Al Sarraj, Meena Mathialagan

Currently UTMSU’s Vice president Academics and Equity Ms. Anita Chauhan was left with the task of its implementation in coordination with the university. Unfortunately the previous UTM Dean of Academics was promoted to a senior administration position as deputy provost leaving a gap in the portfolio. The current Vice President Academic and Dean, UTM Prof. Gage Averill was appointed on October 15th 2007. Under Anita’s Leadership we have worked closely with the Dean and signed an M.O.A on December 10th 2007. We are currently working on the implementation phase of the agreement. UTMSU and the Dean of Academics Office have and will continue to meet regularly over the next months to implement our agreement as soon as possible.

Another inaccuracy is the role of ASAC, the Academics Society Affairs Committee, which is the governance body that reports to the UTMSU Board of Directors. ASAC is responsible for the allocation of funds received from the levy. It will therefore be counterintuitive for UTM or UTMSU to appoint representatives of the soci-

eties on the committee because its is simple bureaucratic and unaccountable. Fortunately ASAC will be convened in the next two weeks to discuss the funding allocation, thanks to the leadership of Ms. Anita Chauhan and Professor and Dean Gage Averill.

The second matter I would like to raise with each one of you is the UTMSU-EPUS referendum. This is a special moment in our union’s history.

Your student union and the Erindale Part time Undergraduate Society would like to recommend a consolidation of representation, services and fees. This arrangement was endorsed by both organizations through their Executive committee, Board of Directors and membership at our respective annual general meetings. So what does this mean to each one of us?

Well if the resolution is passed and endorsed by the various governance bodies. UTMSU will represent all undergraduate students (full time and part-time). So you might wonder why is it a good idea? Well the initial benefit is lower incidental fees for current part-time students.

UTMSU would also be able to lobby

EDITORIAL Please write to:editor@mediumonline.ca Letters to the editor will be edited for spelling, grammar, style, and coherence.

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Submission does not guarantee publication. Submission of materials to The Medium presumes the writer has read, and agrees with, this policy.

more effectively due to the strength in numbers. Part-time students will be eligible for the UPASS and other great services, such as club funding, 2 cent photocopying, essay printing, food bank etc.

So if you are taking less than 3.0 credits this year, you are a part-time student eligible to vote. It’s your decision to make, so come out and make history and vote on Wednesday February 6th and Thursday February 7th between 12 p.m and 7 p.m at the South building and CCT link.

I would like to end this week’s editorial by reflecting on a quote from Mr. Thomas Jefferson who said “I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past”. Unlike Mr. Jefferson, I think its important no just to only dream, but act.

Stay tuned for more progressive changes at UTM. In student Solidarity, Walied Khogali President, U.T.M Students Union.

Please

Editor-in-Chief Julie Tyios

Composite Editor Andrei Dinu

Special thanks to our assistant editors:

News Editor Saira Muzaffar

Copy Editor TBA

Arts and Entertainment Andrea Grassi Rafay Agha

Features Editor Nikita King

Distribution Manager Ali Kasim

News Tejas Aivalli Megha Kumar

Arts & Entertainment Editor Ali Kasim

Business Manager Romano Bergic

Features P. Andrew Hamilton-Smith Lujayn Ali

Sports Editor Robert Silva

Webmaster Andrew Munro

Photography Editor Melissa Di Pasquale

Photography Matthew Filipowich Sports Christopher Sa’d Sunny Pathak

Monday, January 28, 2008

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6 THE MEDIUM

Monday, January 28, 2008

Arts & Entertainment ALI KASIM, EDITOR | arts@mediumonline.ca

Blair Witch meets Godzilla The Medium reviews the latest hype that is Cloverfield JEAN LEIGH One of the highlights of watching Transformers in the cinema last summer was Cloverfield’s trailer before the show. Audiences left the theater teased over this upcoming, mysterious film from producer J.J. Abrams (T.V’s Lost), which depicted the city of New York in sudden devastation, and a decapitated, headless Statue of Liberty. Was this another sequel to Godzil l a o r A r m a g ed d o n ? T h e absence of a title in the trailer prompted more suspense, along with several fake or working titles which included “Untitled J.J. Abrams Project” or the release date, “1-18-08”. Months later, it was established that Cloverfield, directed by Matt Reeves, was indeed a movie about a monster.

The movie is very similar to that of The Blair Witch Project, with regards especially to how it begins. Via a videotape found on an army site formerly known as Central Park, the entire movie is shot with a hand-held camera. The video footage begins with two apparent lovers named Beth (Odette Yustman) and Rob (Michael Stahl-David) on the morning of April 27. Rob is behind the video camera filming Beth while they both decide to venture out to Coney Island. The video jump cuts to a May 22 surprise party for Rob, who is leaving for Japan after becoming vicepresident for his company. The rest of the story is told through the point of view of Rob’s best friend,

Hud (T.J. Miller), who is given the responsibility of “documenting” the party. Because the May video is taped over the April video, we occasionally go very briefly back to the peaceful April day to see Rob and Beth on their way to Coney Island.

Hud provides a fairly good documentation of the monster attack with occasional humorous remarks. The shaky camera style is very much similar to Paul Greengrass’ work on United 93, providing the notion of “real” and allowing the audience to be right in the middle of the chaos.

Drawing parallel once again with Blair Witch, the cast of unknowns adds to this effect of making the video seem more realistic.

However, despite all these efforts for realism, there were moments where I couldn’t shake the feeling that everything was too planned out.

It is hard to believe that Hud would keep the camera rolling and pointed to everything important for the audience to see in the midst of all the chaos without having put down the camera for long periods of time. His camera shots just seem too convenient – we see everything that needs to be seen without missing anything. There is also too much of a story in the apparently “random” video that reeks of a planned out plot by writer Drew Goddard.

The monster, revealed through the right amount of glimpses, was a hit and never failed to chill the often-unsuspecting audience. That is, of course, until we catch a full

view of it. Lackluster animation and graphics – unoriginal and looking like it stepped out of the set of a B-grade horror flick – make you wonder where you haven’t seen something like this before. For the most part of the movie however, the hand-held camera is able to smoothen out the line between what is real and what is CGI, thus making it bearable to watch. Overall, this monster movie is pretty thrilling, but the little faults within force it just under the satisfy-the-hype level.

photos/www.cinempire.com

Bluesy Monday The Medium scopes out the Maple Blues Awards, Canada’s national blues awards program, held in Toronto last week.

LINDSAY HOPE

According to psychologists, the third Monday in January is the bluest day of the year. Broken New Year resolutions, miserable weather and, of course, the traditional Monday blues all conspire to bring us down. What better antidote for Blue Monday than the 11th annual Maple Blues Awards.

The annual awards gala was held last Monday, January 21, 2008 at the Mod Club on College Street in Toronto.

Organized by the Toronto Blues Society, and hosted on the night by Dawn Taylor Watson, the Maple Blues Awards celebrates contributions made by Canadian artists, producers, and writers each year. Hundreds of

bodies were crammed into the modestsized Toronto venue, creating an old fashioned country ambience in the heart of Little Italy. The audience tapped their toes to country and traditional styles and urban Chicago rhythm and blues. The majority of the people at the gala were grizzled blues veterans, but it was the younger generation that had crowds whistling in their whiskey.

One of the highlights of the night was Little Miss Higgins. Jolene Higgins, 29 and hailing from small town Saskatchewan, surprised the crowd with her 1930’s vintage-sounding performance. She plugged in a 60’s Kay guitar and sung with a spirited voice like a young girl who grew up in the Louisiana countryside, with just a touch of Minnie the Moocher. She is the fresh faced and gutsy voiced young lady whom the audience fell in love with. Higgins however, lost out on the award for “Best New Artist” to Thom Swift. Thom, who has been playing in the blues circuit for over 15 years with his trio band, Hot Toddy, was the front-runner in the category after the success of his first solo album, Into the Dirt. With his soulful, traditional voice, his acoustic style takes an alternative spin on classic eastern blues.

A familiar name and face at the show was Colin James. James has sold over 8 million albums and has won 6 Junos over his ten-album career. James bagged “Entertainer of the Year”, “Best Electrical Act” and “Best Recording” for Colin James and the Little Big Band IV. The baby faced 43-year-old, a protégé of Stevie Ray Vaughan at the tender age of 18, continues to inspire and influence guitar players with his raw sound which spans the music of the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s.

The Downchild Blues Band took home five trophies for “Bass Player of the Year”, “Male Vocalist of the Year”, “Drummer of the Year”, “Horn Player of the Year,” and “Keyboard Player of the Year”. Anyone familiar with the local independent blues scene would not be surprised at their feat.

Downchild has been in the business since 1969 and continues to be an iconic and seminal Canadian blues band.

Also among the seventeen awards handed out was a special award given to Brad Wheeler of the Globe & Mail’s Review Section for “Blues Booster of the Year”. Host Dawn Watson, herself a charismatic blues queen from Montreal, not only held down the fort but went away with “Best

Female Vocalist Award” and sent the audience home happy with her raw version of the Beatles’ Come Together. As always, the host band provided us with a sample of some of Canada’s best blues musicians, most notably Al Lerman, an extraordinary harmonica player and founder of the award-winning Canadian blues band Fathead.

Overall, blues as a musical genre is embraced countrywide and crosses all

cultural boundaries. Toronto and Montreal relate to the more traditional Chicago blues while those in the Maritimes and the Prairies fuse country and the blues together in the tradition of Nashville and New Orleans. Canada is on the verge of producing an international “blues star” so take advantage now of the free-of-charge blues clubs that Toronto has to offer and support this wonderful homegrown tradition.

photo/www.thomswift.com

Recently turned solo artist Thom Swift at the Awards Show.

Monday, January 28, 2008

THE MEDIUM

ARTS

7

The scourge: 14 reasons why I hate Indian television shows ASHISH SETH AND ABHISHEK SETH

Close the door. Shut the light. Hide your Chachi-jee in the closet and muster your might. The following material may hurt egos. I’ve been approached many times by angry faces with baseball bats wanting to beat me for my excessive, exploitive, and critical rants about Indian Culture (you haven’t silenced me yet).

There is a scourge. A scourge on satellite television. A scourge that intoxicates and sickens, blurs and blinds, breast-feeds and bastardizes my people, spilling daal malkani and vegetable pulao in our two eyes and beating our third with a cricket bat. I am talking about Indian soap opera television, Bollywood’s lesser known, greedier Ayn Rand disciple that cultivates oil barrels of stereotypes every year and trades it for easy cash from plebeian viewers.

Watched religiously by Indian families living in North America, Indian shows are finding their way on to Rogers Cable. Drama series replete with rehashed clichés, rehashed plot lines, rehashed characters, and rehashed families. They are overly dramatic, overly stupid, overly stereotypical, and say nothing about India whatsoever. But allow me to be a little more specific. Here are 14 rea-

sons why I hate Indian television shows: 1. Every show is about a virtuous family girl who is loved by everyone in her wealthy family except a bitchy character who wants to bring the family down or take over the family, for no apparent reason sometimes. The “bitch” is usually the mother-in-law, sister-in-law, sister, aunt, aunt-in-law, husband’s old lover, grandmother, grandmother-in-law – basically any role made for a woman. Men are exempt from being bitches – they usually play docile doctors or businessmen with no clue about what’s going on in the show. When they find out who the bitch is – the crappy culmination of every season – they usually do too little to stop her; thinking the problem can be solved with a dramatic slap. But it doesn’t solve the problem, because then someone dies and we have the start of a new season. There is a “bitch” in every Indian television show. It’s a prerequisite. And her character never quite dies. A new one always replaces the old one. Sometimes more than one.

And it’s always a woman.

2. Everyone in the family dresses like they’re about to go to a wedding – every day! Clothes consist usually of heavy jewellery, sparkling saris, gold necklaces, and then some. In some scenes, they’re seen sleeping in those clothes too. It’s just wrong.

3. Probably because of the clothes, characters display very little or no body language. They just stand. They don’t even look at each other when they speak, facing the camera or the open spaces instead. They’re almost like puppets, with no one pulling the strings.

4. The camera suddenly zooms in to every character’s face to highlight their reaction. As a technique this is fine, but not when it happens in practically every scene; and in accordance to the most insignificant piece of dialogue. Characters widen their eyes to create tension. Very annoying, and an excellent tool to waste time – a halfhour show consists of twenty-minutes of zoom-ins.

5. The father figure in every family is usually old and sick. He is the goto guy for sympathy. He has multiple heart attacks throughout the series but miraculously survives all of them.

When the show is nearing its climax and the “bitch” is about to be defeated, the heart attack kills him and we’re back to square one. The father figure is usually clueless as to what is happening in the household.

6. When the women are pregnant, it’s always revealed in dramatic fashion (usually before they’re about to abort it). If they don’t abort it, then a tragic accident puts them in the hospital and the baby either has to be aborted or surgically removed while

the mother dies. The audience can never actually tell when the women are pregnant because there are no physical features to show it. It could be the third trimester and her belly is still flat! The baby just pops out one day and “poof” we have a new character who ages three years in two episodes.

7. When the children characters are supposedly three years old, the director gets a nine year old actor to play them. They tend to have very stupid filler lines.

8. Daughters/daughters-in-law are frequent runaways due to disputes with elders. This lasts for an episode or two until they get killed in a car crash or return home after learning their father is about to die from a heart attack.

9. Everyone has cell phones with really outdated ringtones (MIDI files). Every person’s ring tone is the same.

10. The extras on the show are terrible actors. In extended hospital scenes (which are frequent), the nurse would talk like she’s reading from the script.

11. Characters and family do not look alike. Some are fair skinned, others are dark skinned.

12. When characters are by themselves, they talk to themselves.

Frequent monologues and voiceovers are cornerstones of the Indian soap

opera. They “think” really dumb and redundantly in their monologues, clueless as to what the “bitch” is planning or if there is a “bitch” at all.

The “bitch” has the most monologues because she has to “connive” in order for us to know she is a bitch. Words speak louder than actions in Indian television.

13. Characters’ friends usually (and I mean 90% of the time) become family as the show progresses after marrying a family member.

14. Seasons prolong through five years of show. Episodes air usually five days a week. We do not know when they get time to film.

I love you, India, I really do. But stop constantly making the same show over and over again. The same show that reinforces tired, old, conservative clichés that appeal only to old women in saris who suffer from diabetes, and clearly attempt to convert the new generation to be virtuous when they clearly are not (think Bollywood and its scantily clad music videos). Stop making consumer cocaine programming that gets us hooked but does nothing for us. Start writing from your hearts. To all who watch Indian Television; we need to start craving creativity, not bland naivety. Be critical of what you watch and demand change. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to prepare for some baseball bats.

8 THE MEDIUM

Monday, January 28, 2008

Features NIKITA KING, EDITOR | features@mediumonline.ca

A health care system in need of healing?

P. ANDREW HAMILTON SMITH ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITOR

Last week, the Brussels-based Health Consumer Powerhouse (HCP) and the Frontier Centre for Public Policy (FCPP) released a report stating that Canada ranks at the bottom of a 30-nation survey.

Canada’s value for money ratio was dismal, the report concluded, although the patient care outcomes were average.

Overall, we ranked “poor to adequate,” in the language of the report. This sort of wording might make Canadians feel as though their system is in some sort of a crisis but how many of us - free-market conservatives excluded - would consider Canada’s health care to be poor to adequate? It is worth pointing out that the HCP is a European organization that tracks such things as medical outcomes and value-for-money when comparing the public health systems of Europe. The FCPP decided to compare Canada’s health care system to those found in Europe, which is not exactly a random sample. According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2006 ranking of health care systems in 191 nations, the top 30 includes nearly every European nation, including France (first), Italy (second), Spain (third), Austria (fifth), and the UK (eighteenth), to name a few.

Many of the top ten nations are in fact small city-states, such as Luxembourg, Malta and Singapore, which further distort the rankings.

Regardless, Canada’s ranking in the WHO survey was thirtieth overall, and in the HCP/FCPP survey it twenty-third.

Suddenly, the headline “Canada ranks at the bottom of health care survey” seems a little bit extreme. So why exaggerate the condition of Canadian health care, making it seem as though the system is on the path to destruction? Clearly there is an agenda that prevents us from having a sensible, objective discussion about health care.

It may be the presence of the United States just south of Canada, where public health care is seen by some as a plot to steal American liberties and freedoms.

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York, wrote in the Boston Globe last August 3: “the healthcare system is being dragged down by decades of government-imposed mandates (and) wasteful bureaucracy,” and concludes that only tax cuts and incentives will fix the US system. This sort of inflamed rhetoric from south of the border may be what causes the Canadian debate to move away from statistics and figures alone. There are certain groups in Canada, such as the right-wing Fraser Institute and

C.D. Howe Institute, which also insist that increased corporate and private involvement in Canada’s health care system will alleviate its inadequacies. The solutions proposed by these groups look very similar to those used in the United States, where “users” – not patients - buy their own private health coverage, and the government pays for only the very poorest members of society. At the very least, they say, Canadians should be able to see a private clinic and send the bill to the government, so that they can get treatment as soon as possible - if they can afford it.

These right-wing groups argue that a public system destroys the freedom of hard-working, successful Canadians, who are forced to wait in line with everyone else for health care, when in the US anyone can get care right away - if they can afford it. “Allowing private hospitals to compete for the delivery of publicly funded care is a proven policy that would improve the state of Medicare for all Canadians,” according to an article on the Fraser Institute’s website. Sounds good, right?

Turning again to the WHO health care rankings, just out of curiosity, how did the United States score? Despite the highest spending levels, as measured as a proportion of GDP, of any nation on earth, the US ranked thirty-seventh overall – just ahead of

communist Cuba. Furthermore, the overall health of Americans was ranked seventysecond, compared to Canada’s thirty-fifth, and even though they spend a huge amount on health care as a nation, 16 per cent of Americans have no health coverage at all.

This is the miracle of the private health care delivery system.

According to an October 13, 2002 article in the New York Times: “When health care becomes a commodity, the criterion for receiving it is ability to pay, not medical need… the hallmark of the [US] system is the extent to which health funds are diverted to overhead and profits.”

In order to remain profitable and competitive, US insurance companies and medical HMOs play a game of “hot potato” with the most expensive patients – those who need the most care – and this game requires lots and lots of management and oversight. Perhaps a private system is not automatically more efficient just because it is “free-market” and run by businesses. In fact, statistical evidence seems to suggest the opposite: it becomes less efficient when opened to the free market. This may be one reason why this issue is so hotly debated in Canada – the facts are counter-intuitive to what we may believe, and so arguments are distorted by emotion and faulty logic.

So where does the truth lie? Should

Canada try to restrict all private involvement in health care, as the Liberals and NDP are trying to do right now with the unfortunately named “Canadian Public Health Care Protection Initiative?” Should we consider more of what is called “P3,” or Private-Public Partnerships, such as was used to build Brampton Civic Hospital. The facility has apparently gone $300 million over budget? Aren’t we involving private builders and operators to avoid cost overruns, which were commonplace in the past when the government handled all costs and construction alone?

Personally, I don’t think more private involvement will solve the problem because there really isn’t a problem.

Canada has one of the best health care systems in the world, and it is amazing that anyone could try to say otherwise. Despite our vast size, disparate and aging population, it is quite an achievement for Canadians to receive this level of care as cheaply as we do. Yes, costs are increasing, but that is due to many factors, such as those mentioned above - an aging population especially and also increasing pharmaceutical costs, over which the government has no control. Finding solutions to these obstacles will not be easy, but we must not be distracted by empty and misleading arguments for greater private investment.

Creative Corner Literally heaven In literary heaven all is done for the heck of it, and problems only arise for the sake of a novel or short story.

Last Sunday Nabokov was putting the finishing touches on a text he described as pure delectation, in the sense that the reader had two options when confronted with it.

The first is the path every reader takes, starting at the beginning and ending on the last page, all the while paying attention to character and setting descriptions; the second method consists in leaving plot and action behind, concentrating on enjoying the words themselves, and how they are arranged and manipulated.

His story was later acted out by Capote and Camus under the title Lovely levitating liaison of light bulb flashes.

-Trevor Abes

illustration/Gabriella Guo

Monday, January 28, 2008

THE MEDIUM 9

FEATURES

Mind the manipulation of marketing

BY NIKITA KING FEATURES EDITOR

Do you ever have a moment where you’re frozen with disturbance, when you’re too afraid to move, when it might be a nightmare you’ll never wake from? Your thoughts are blank and all you can hear is the rapid blinking of your eyelids. That was the very moment that made me realize I would never ever watch Happy Tree Friends again.

For those who are unfamiliar with the TV show, brace yourself. The show always starts off with adorable and rather colourful cartoon characters with puppy eyes that you can’t resist. But as cute as they are, throughout the show, they either suffer gruesome deaths or slaughter each other. Yes, it’s a guts-galore showdown with heads being ripped off and blood spurting, along with torturous screaming.

The controversy began in 1957 when an executive named James Vicary placed hidden messages such as “eat popcorn” in a film showing at a theatre in New Jersey.

Vicary claimed in the press that popcorn sales increased by 58 per cent.

Now I don’t particularly like watching pointless gore in movies, yet I have always loved innocent and fun cartoons. So here’s the strange part - though I initially found the show totally inappropriate, I couldn’t understand why I would still watch it, and worse, laugh at it. Fascinated with this strange behavior, I decided to research more about what had just happened to me.

Finally, I found out that I had fallen victim to a very popular psychological phenomenon: classical conditioning.

Classical conditioning is defined as a type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the potential to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus. It was first discovered around 1900 by a Russian physiologist named Ivon Pavlov. Pavlov was initially just trying to study the role of saliva in the digestive system of dogs. He would present meat powder in front of the dogs and collect their saliva in a tube. However, he noticed that the dogs would salivate before the meat powder was even presented to them.

Instead, the dogs would start salivating to the clicking sound of a device that was used to present the meat powder to the dogs. The dogs would normally not start salivating to a clicking sound, yet when this sound was paired with the presentation of meat powder, the dogs were conditioned to salivate to the clicking sound of the device.

Applying the rules of classical conditioning to my reaction to Happy Tree Friends, I noticed that I had always found the characters in the show funny because of the way they looked. For example, the character that always made me laugh on sight was a little baby blue elephant that wore nerdy glasses. I then realized that when these funny-looking cartoon characters were paired with violence, I was conditioned to elicit the same emotional response of laughter toward the violence.

As weird as my behavior may sound, classical conditioning is rather common.

Psychologists have proved that classical conditioning can even play a key role in shaping other emotional responses such as fear. Case studies of patients suffering from phobias suggest that many irrational fears can be traced back to experiences that

photos/Melissa Di Pasquale

By pairing classy images with smoking, advertisments can mentally condition you to think smoking is classy.

Does the Starbucks logo have a subliminal message of a woman holding her legs up in a sexual position ?

involved classical conditioning.

Back in 1920, John B. Watson, an American psychologist, performed a rather unethical experiment with an elevenmonth-old baby called Albert. Like many babies, little Albert wasn’t afraid of a rat.

However, Watson decided to pair the rat with a loud frightening sound so that Albert would be conditioned to fear the rat.

Every time the rat was placed before Albert, Watson would present a loud, startling sound to scare Albert. After about seven pairings, Albert had an adverse reaction whenever he saw the rat by itself.

However, before Watson could reverse the fear, Albert’s mother took him away.

Apparently, Albert had not only become fearful of rats, but he also became fearful of anything furry: fur coats, a Santa Claus beard, and even hair.

There are many common phobias that result from classical conditioning. For example, someone may have almost drowned in a pool at a young age. The pairing of such a traumatic experience with the sight of pool water can eventually lead to the person to elicit a fearful response toward being in the water.

Classical conditioning is also routinely used to manipulate emotions in persuasive efforts. Advertising is a popular means of taking advantage of classical conditioning.

A typical advertisement for a new beer brand may feature a voluptuous woman squeezing the beer bottle against her chest and her lips pressing against the bottle’s neck. According to the theory of classical conditioning, this image plays on the men’s sexual arousals. Eventually, the same arousal evoked from the image of the provocative woman in the ad can be elicited whenever the man comes across the beer brand – eventually persuading him to buy the brand.

The world of business and politics also makes use of classical conditioning. Fine wines, luxurious restaurants, and luxury cars are often used to entertain possible clients. Politicians almost always show up at all kinds of pleasant public events that often have nothing to do with their public service obligations. In both cases, the promoters are trying to pair themselves with positive events, so that they are associated with pleasant emotions.

But pleasant isn’t always the case.

Perhaps the ultimate political perversion of the principles of classical conditioning occurred in Nazi Germany. The Nazis used many propaganda techniques to create prejudice against Jews and Gypsies.

One such strategy was the repeated pairing of disgusting, repulsive images with stereotypical pictures of Jews. For example, the Nazis would show alternating pictures of rats and roaches over filthy garbage alongside pictures of stereotypical Jewish faces.

This was an attempt to condition the German population to have negative emotional responses to Jews and associate them with vermin.

quickly and imperceptibly. Vicary claimed in the press that popcorn sales increased by 58 per cent.

Since that time, books have been published claiming that sexual words and drawings are embedded subliminally in magazine advertisements to elicit favourable unconscious reactions from consumers. Religious overtones were added to this controversy in the 1980s when subliminal messages that encouraged devil worship were allegedly found in certain rock music. It always occurred in music that was played backward, an effect known as backward masking. In 1982, Led Zeppelin’s song “Stairway to Heaven” was criticized for demonic messages that were heard when the song was played backward. Critics claimed such messages could be heard as “the Lord turns me off - there's no escaping it. Here's to my sweet Satan.”

However, whether this was coincidence or intentional by the band is still a mystery.

The Starbucks logo is considered by some to carry a controversial subliminal image. Though Starbucks claims that their logo features a "twin-tailed mermaid," some critics go as far to say that the logo is a subliminal message of a woman holding

It is not a thing for politics of the past, however. In 2000, there was much uproar against a 30-second TV advertisement for President Bush, which dealt with the issue of prescription funding for the elderly.

Alongside images of vice president Al Gore, the ad showed fragments of the slogan "Bureaucrats decide." The word "RATS" was flashed for a split second before the complete word "bureaucrats" appeared below Al Gore’s face. Though Bush dismisses the scene as “accidental and bizarre,” experts on political advertising say that the word “RATS” was very carefully superimposed.

Another concern similar to the abuse of general classical conditioning is the controversy associated with subliminal messages paired with products. This is an unconscious type of classical conditioning where subliminal perception is involved.

Subliminal perception is the registration of sensory input without conscious awareness. The controversy began in 1957 when an executive named James Vicary placed hidden messages such as “eat popcorn” in a film showing at a theatre in New Jersey.

The messages were superimposed on only a few frames of the film and flashed by

her legs up in a sexual position. The critics’ theories states that this sexual logo unconsciously plays on a person’s arousal that then becomes paired with Starbucks merchandise, enticing people to buy their products.

To date, however, there is no published evidence that subliminal messages are entirely that effective. Considering the enormous sums that advertisers invest in using these kinds of marketing techniques, it seems reasonable to speculate that individual companies have data on their specific practices to demonstrate their efficacy.

But these data are not made available to the public.

If we’re constantly bombarded with ads aired on the radio, TV shows, and printed in newspapers and magazines, how can we prevent our emotions from being manipulated? Well, trying to avoid magazines, breaking away from the internet and constantly making an excuse to re-fill your popcorn bowl every time a TV commercial pops up is not that realistic. Only by consciously exploring these undercover tactics can we finally see what we need to see, rather than what advertisements want us to see.

10 THE MEDIUM

Monday, January 28, 2008

Sports

Gladiators unite ROBERT SILVA, EDITOR | sports@mediumonline.ca

It’s not a giant Q-tip, it’s a weapon ROBERT SILVA SPORTS EDITOR

Everybody - American Gladiators is back, so let’s take a minute and soak it in.

For those of you who haven’t seen the show from the eighties and nineties, the American television program displays amateur athletes who compete agianst each other, as well as against the show's own "Gladiators." It’s a battle of strength and agility with a very catchy theme song that will leave you humming and whistling for hours.

In the earlier version of the show, American Gladiators created the impression of a legitimate sporting event, similar to what wrestling does. There were colour-

commentators calling the play-by- that wrestling fans became accusplays, providing informative com- tomed to throughout his charismatmentary, and analyzing the contestants while they competed amongst themselves, as well as the Gladiators.

The new NBC version of the show, hosted by Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali, add a new kind of spunk to the once-popular show.

Hogan should actually be the solo host as Laila doesn’t seem to be host-worthy with her cliché commentary that doesn’t add much to the viewer’s experience. Hogan’s reputation gives the viewer photo/nbc.com the unique “Hulk-aMeet Crush. The picture speaks for itself. maniac” experience

ic pro-wrestling career.

So what’s new? They’ve added a pool to the joust event. It looks awesome and creates a hilarious mood when a contestant splashes down, as opposed to the corny gym mats from the earlier version.

Then there is “Conquer.” This event is held in mid-air on a plexiglass platform. Very entertaining, and looks extremely dangerous as it is a long fall down if you get tossed. The event is pretty simple, you wrestle with a very high risk of falling.

The biggest change from the older version involves the female Gladiators. They are much hotter t han before. I k now the former females had the old fluffy hairstyles that in retrospect look completely ridiculous, but they were all muscular, butchy, and could probably toss me a beating in a second.

So it’s a lot easier on the eye now when you tune into NBC .

Now, as a huge fan of the show, I go against many of the reviews that don’t quite appreciate the Gladiators like I do, but I don’t care. The jousts, obstacles, wrestling, ball-loaded guns that are awesome to watch when they spit out ball after ball at the contestants (pretty cool), and highly attractive females make the show worth watching.

There is one problem though: the show is only scheduled for eight episodes with no guarantee of a second season. So for those of you who are used to watching the classic Gladiators on ESPN Classic, don’t get too thrilled about the show’s return because it seems that you might have to default back to ESPN to get your Gladiator fix.

Monday, January 28, 2008

THE MEDIUM 11

SPORTS

Women’s Div 1 lacrosse come from behind to earn well-deserved draw ADRIANNA DZIUBA photo/images.google.ca

Carebears stare their way to a Division 2 Championship MIKE VAN In UTM’s largest basketball recreation division, ten teams battled it out over the past nine weeks to determine the Men’s Division 2 Basketball Champions.

In the semi-finals, powerhouse Mike & Friends, led by the Mikes, took on UTMAC’s Entourage.

In a back and forth game, Ambrish Patel led Entourage, scoring 31 in the 5350 upset victory. Mike Hickey led Mike & Friends with 26 points.

In the other semi-finals, Division 1 player Neil Sehra of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, with a game high 34 points, could not overcome the balanced attack of the Carebears, ending in a 48-40 loss.

In the finals, Entourage came out with energy as they were determined to “Ambrish” the Carebears. However, the Carebears put the pressure on the Entourage, building a 10-point lead by the half.

The Carebears took care of business in the second, going on on to upset Entourage 47-35. Ivan lead the Carebears with 15 points, while Patel recorded 20 of his own.

Special thanks goes out to all the players in a very successful and entertaining season. Congratulations to the champion Carebears for a hard-earned victory.

photo/images.google.ca

A Carebear prospect looks to become starter for next season.

UTM’s Women's Lacrosse team started the season off playing against the always-competitive New College (NC), last Wednesday night. The Eagles, led by Jessica Doberstein, Aliza Macklai, Kate Nelson, and Stephanie Wegierack, scored quickly showing NC that this was an improved Eagle team that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

NC fought back, howeve r, as their veterans took advantage of the Eagles’ rookie line, scoring three quick tallies.

Stephanie Wegierak and Kate Nelson each scored their second goals of the evening to tie the game at seven goals apiece. The game ended as a 7-7 draw.

Special mention goes to Heather Sabiston for her intense playing throughout the night—her passionate defence intimidated even the referees, who presented her a yellow card for her hard work.

Overall, it was a great start to the season. Good work to all the ladies who came out and played to win (or at least tie). Special thanks to those on the sidelines who came out to support their team.

SPORTS wants your input.

Contact Rob Silva at sports@mediumonline.ca and tell us what you want to read about through the month of February.

Do it for the Carebears.

Men’s Div 1 basketball team finish 4th in regional tournament On Wednesday, January 23, the Eagles opened the second half of their season with a convincing win against Skule A. Later that week, the Eagles placed 4th in a regional tournament, losing to Humber for the eighth consecutive time.

The Eagles take on the UTSC Racoons this Wednesday at 9 p.m. In their previous meeting, players from both sides were suspended for an oncourt fight. The Racoons and Eagles will battle for world supremacy among the animal family at the RAWC.

If you’re wondering why The Medium didn’t use a picture from the game or the tournament, both assistant editors Sunny Pathak and Christopher Sa’d - were in Atlanta enjoying the festivities of the NHL AllStar game, where the beer flowed like wine and the women flocked to beat writers to sweet sounds of Jon Capistrano.

Sports editor Rob Silva was last seen in Las Vegas, where he was training with his cousin, Anderson Silva, for his future MMA fight. The Silva family will be kicking ass and taking names. photo/Rickey Cheong caption/Sunny Pathak and Christopher Sa’d

Unwilling to give up, UTM bulked up its defence and stopped all of NC's offensive attacks for the rest of the half. The first half finished with a yellow card, one more goal by Adrianna Dziuba, and a 5-3 lead for UTM. NC got lucky in the second half with two fortunate goals, and a few questionable calls against UTM by the refs. With the game knotted up at five, both teams hustled and worked hard creating an intense game for the rest of the way.

NC scored another two goals creating a 7-5 lead. UTM however, kept their composure and were determined to even the score.

12 THE MEDIUM

Monday, January 28, 2008

SPORTS

David vs. Goliath: A Super Bowl preview ROBERT KIELEK

With the Super Bowl just one week away, all talk is about what may be the biggest game of the decade. A national showdown between AFC champions the New England Patriots and NFC champions the New York Giants will take place February 3 in Arizona, home of Super Bowl XLII. Over the last week, the media focus has been on New England’s star quarterback Tom Brady and whether or not his injury is valid, or if it’s just a theoretical conspiracy to disorient his opponents and viewers.

Tom Brady is Super Bowl XLII’s main focus. If the Patriots win, they will not only be crowned champions for the fourth time in the last seven seasons, they will be engraved in history as one of the best (if not the best) team ever assembled. With a win Sunday, the Patriots will go undefeated in 16 regular season games and undefeated in their three playoff games, leaving them with a 19-0 record, something which no team has ever accomplished.

Those rooting for the underdog need

not be disappointed. Although it may seem like a long shot for the Giants to win the Super Bowl by defeating the undefeated Patriots, it is a possibility.

A similar situation occurred during the 2007 World Series. A late season burst by the Colorado Rockies got them into the playoffs, and also a trip to the champi-

photo/nfl.com

Is Tom Brady really injured?

onship. Never have so many Colorado jerseys sold in one season. Everyone wanted the Rockies to win, except for the Red Sox fans, who saw their team sweep the Rockies in the final. Just like the Red Sox, the Patriots have been on top since day one of the season. The Giants got their late season burst and went on a winning spree right through the playoffs.

At the beginning of the season, the media hit up the New England Patriots and their coach Bill Belichick for the wrong reason. In week three, it was said that the Patriots cheat their wins by having members of the team secretly video tape signals made by the opposing teams’ offense and defense, and were headlined as cheaters. Coach Belichick denied all rumours, citing that the team only viewed authorized game tapes.

The two teams have different goals.

New England should continue to play the way they did early in the season, and not let the public get to them. They have to focus on playing as a regular team, the way they did in the three previous Super Bowl wins. If not, they may fall apart and allow room for defeat.

The Giants must treat this game as any

other game. They have to have all eyes on Brady at all times. They have to do exactly what they did in week 17 to keep the game close, and they will heavily rely on Eli Manning to step it up and play like his brother Peyton in last year’s Super Bowl.

The key to a Giants victory is the running game of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw. If the Giants can balance out the running of both Jacobs and Bradshaw, and if Eli can recognize the Pats defence, New England will have their hands full in Arizona.

In retrospect, this will surely be the game of the decade. Most likely, Tom Brady will play like a superstar quarterback. The Giants defence will do all that is possible to stop Brady, but history is on the line and we may just witness a piece of history, but will the Giants complete their Cinderella story?

Prediction: Tough to call a big game like this, but I think the underdog will be out and howling all night long on February 3rd, and the New York Giants will be Super Bowl Champs.