Vol 36 issue 14

Monday, January 18, 2010

Volume 36, Issue 14

Ignatieff goes back to school

Matthew Filipowich/The Medium

STEFANIE MAROTTA ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Last week, the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, Michael Ignatieff, held a conversation with students about the various issues affecting Canadians. The CCT1080 lecture hall overflowed with students, professors, citizens, reporters, camera crews and photographers, with a group of students watching the lecture live from outside the lecture hall. Attendance was well over capacity, which is 500 occupants.

On his cross-country tour, Ignatieff plans to hold town halls at various universities in attempts to reach out to younger generations and hear the opinions of citizens.

Ignatieff began his lecture with a statement regarding Harper’s decision to prorogue Parliament. “My adversary doesn’t want you to show up, he doesn’t want you to come out. He gambled when he prorogued Parliament that you wouldn’t care. He gambled on your cynicism, he gambled on your dissolution, he gambled on

your detachment, and interestingly, he gambled wrong,” said Ignatieff.

“When we have parliamentary committees that are getting close to figuring out what happened on the Afghan detainee scandal, he shuts the committee down,” Ignatieff said. The statement was followed by murmurs from the crowd and Ignatieff announced that the Liberal Party would be going back to work on January 25.

Ignatieff went on to discuss the poor performance in voter turnout and the immediate need to raise the quality of education in the nation with respect to providing opportunities to Aboriginal citizens, ensuring that all Canadians have a secondary school diploma at minimum and raising literacy rates.

Concerning the growing student debt, Ignatieff said that great expenses are both necessary and to be expected in order to obtain a world class education. However, the government should work with the provinces to increase grants, spread out payment periods, lower interest rates and boost youth employment. “I believe passionately that if you get the grades, you

get to go,” added Ignatieff.

The majority of the lecture was spent in discussion as line-ups on either side reached to the back of the lecture hall, with attendees eager for answers. Topics ranged from issues of youth involvement, climate change and Haiti to electoral reform.

A student from Erindale Secondary School stepped up to the microphone and explained that while many of his friends and other teens his age want to get involved and do care about politics, they feel that their concerns are not attended to because of their age. Ignatieff told the crowd that he first began involving himself in politics when he was in high school.

VP external Henry Ssali brought up the sudden devastation that had occurred in Haiti the night before and asked the party leader how Canada plans to act. Ignatieff said charities should allocate donations towards relief efforts, adding that the government needs to match the contributions of Canadian citizens dollar per dollar, along with a five million dollar contribution and that immigration needs to be

opened up to reunite families.

When asked about the unnecessary allocation of taxes to fund nuclear energy plants, Ignatieff disagreed, stating that nuclear solutions are essential if climate change is to be adequately addressed on the agenda. He described Canada’s performance at Copenhagen as an embarrassment.

“We have this weird thing going on in which Canada is waiting for the United States to act.

Conservatives think that you can either have an economy, or you can have an environment. I think you can’t have an economy unless you have climate change,” said Ignatieff.

One attendee asked Ignatieff to explain the ways in which he holds a greater passion and higher values for Canadian citizens than Harper.

Ignatieff responded that he is passionate about freedom through equality of opportunity and believes in education as a means to reach that goal.

The UTM Liberals president Deep Paul presented the leader of the Liberal Party with a University of Toronto sweater. The U of T alumnus donned his sweater while

he continued to answer individual questions and take pictures with students before leaving for another discussion at McMaster University.

The tour will culminate with a non-partisan conference in Montreal from March 26 to the 28.

“Canada at 150: Rising to the Challenge” will be a forum to discuss the goals of 2017, marking 150 years of Canadian independence.

Affirmative action at UTM? PAGE 2 King Tut reborn PAGE 6 Gizmos and gadgets PAGE 9 World Cup preview PAGE 12

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2 THE MEDIUM

MONDAY, JANUARY

NEWS HAITI DENIED

18, 2010

UTM commission creates Haiti Coalition KATHERINE LUCYNSKI ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

On January 15, UTMSU held its fourth commission meeting of the year, led by president Joey Santiago. About twenty students gathered in the UTMSU office in the Student Centre.

Several items were brought to the table, including a Haiti Coalition.

Santiago began the meeting by stating that the “commission meeting is open to every student at UTM. This is a safe space and everyone is entitled to their opinion.� Rules and regulations were explained and four new attendees were co-opted, whereby new members were asked to introduce themselves and state why they want to be part of the commission.

One of the first motions brought to the table was “Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament.� Walied Khogali, a member of the UTMSU, discussed the importance of taking action against prorogation. “By proroguing Parliament from December to March, they [Parliament] are suspending democracy,� said Khogali.

A petition of 400 signatures had been collected (the goal is to collect another 600 signatures).

Santiago explained that a discussion of the expansion of the Student Centre has been in the works for many years. “With a project as big as this, you want to do it right,� said Santiago. The main advantage for students is a planned food court in the Student Centre. It was stated in previous discussions that the university administration only wants food courts run by food services, not students. Discussions on the topic are ongoing.

For now, the UTMSU commission is planning on starting a committee, which will discuss and plan the expansion. This committee is open to all stu-

dents at UTM and the first meeting is planned for next week. A formal committee will consist of project planners, architects, the Vice President, UTMSU and the members of the student committee. The goal of the expansion is to find what is best for UTM students and make it happen.

The UTM commission brought forth the idea of a Haiti Coalition, stating that its intention is to collect food, clothing and money for relief efforts in Haiti.

Collection areas will be set up in CCT and the South Building, with monitors in both locations displaying news coverage of the devastating natural disaster.

All students are welcome to join the coalition as well as donate anything they can. The UTMSU will match fifty cents to each dollar donated, with a maximum of $5,000 on top of all donations that will be collected. UTM will be working alongside the Red Cross and World Vision in collecting donations.

Other motions discussed included starting a bursary of up to $1,200 for Accessibility students and allowing them an option to opt-out of the UPass, thereby saving them $97 a year.

Upcoming events on campus were also brought to the table, including Expression Against Oppression Week from February 1 to February 4, which will include the discussion of global issues and two speakers, Angela Davis and Denis Edney, at the St. George campus; Water Awareness Week, taking place at the beginning of February; the screening of the documentary “Flow� and a guest lecturer; Montreal Reading Week, which includes different packages for students to choose from, and Pride Week from Jan. 18-22.

Commission training is also being planned for this month, where students can learn the necessary skills needed during commission meetings as well as those needed to run campaigns alongside UTMSU.

UTMSU denies a student attendance at CFS meeting SAALIHA MALIK NEWS EDITOR

Last Wednesday, the UTMSU executive committee overturned a decision made by VP external Henry Ssali to send UTM student Stefanie Marotta to the Canadian Federation of Students semiAnnual General Meeting that will be held this weekend.

The reasons for rejecting Marotta as a UTM delegate were twofold. Firstly, the executive committee expr essed a concern about Marotta’s affiliation with The Medium as Assistant News Editor, even though Marotta made it clear to Ssali when signing up that she would attend the CFS semi-AGM as a student and paying member of UTMSU and the CFS, and that she would not cover the meeting for The Medium.

S econdly, members executive committee argued that it would cost extra money to send Marotta to the event. Marotta, a white female, does not belong to a “constituency group,� a category created by the CFS that includes Aboriginal students, students of colour, francophone students, students with disabilities, international students, mature or part-time students and students who identify themselves as members of the LGBTQ community. The UTMSU pays $325 for students who identify as members of the constituency group, but the cost goes up to $400 for students who don’t fall into

this category—students such as Marotta.

According to Joel Duff, the CFS Ontario organizer, the purpose of this subsidy, a discount of $75, is “to encourage delegations to bring diverse group members.� This year, all of the delegates sent by UTMSU to the CFS semi-AGM identify in one or more constituency groups.

Following news of Marotta’s r ejecti on, Ssal i call ed an e me r gency board meeting to appeal the decision. Ssali meant for the meeting to be held last Friday, but Wahlied Kogali, the speaker of the board of directors, cancelled the meeting based on a policy surrounding emergency meetings for UTMSU. According to the policy, “emergency meetings shall be called within seventy-two hours notice by the Executive Committee or President or with a written request by a majority of the Directors.�

In an interview with The Medium, UTMSU President Joey Santiago said that Ssali made an error in judgement by not consulting his list of delegates with the UTMSU executive prior to the meeting last Wednesday. “This needs to be done because there is a cost associated with attending and we need to deal with student dollars as efficiently as possible. Those who are sent to the CFS meetings are either elected leaders or are extremely experienced ministers and members who will represent students the best at CFS,� said Santiago, adding that the UTMSU does not discriminate against students or where they work.

“There is a limited amount of people we can send [to the CFS event] and we want to make sure we send people who will represent UTM students at the federation.

Those who have had the experience of going, those who know the political climate at CFS and are elected or trained student leaders are best suited to go,� said Santiago.

Ssali disagreed. In a statement issued to The Medium, Ssali, who as VP external overlooks all matters related to the CFS at UTM, said that he felt “disheartened that the executive committee voted to deny a fellow student [also a UTMSU stakeholder] from attending the CFS semi-AGM because of her affiliation with another campus organization. I don't understand how we can eliminate differences by creating more differences among students.�

Ssali claimed he followed the same procedure for registering delegates for the last three CFS meetings and there has never been a problem, “because I never registered any student out of the constituency groups. As a woman, Stefanie is a potential ally to the movement and myself being a progressive feminist, I doubt whether the executive committee's decision to eliminate her favours the movement's values.�

After learning that she had been taken off the UTM delegation, Marotta said, “CFS is wrong to implement these policies, but it makes it even worse that UTMSU accepts these policies. Their idea to encourage diversity is having the opposite result, and instead CFS is exacerbating social differences.�

Campus police weekly summaries January 7, 2010 to January 14, 2010

A window located inside the Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre was damaged by person(s) unknown.

January 7 - 4:30 p.m.

Theft under $5,000 A student reported the theft of her iPhone from a room located inside the Kaneff Centre.

January 8 - 8:10 p.m.

Medical Call

A student in residence called the 911 dispatch complaining of chest pains.

The student was transported to a local hospital by ambulance.

January 11 - 7:25 p.m.

Trespass to Property Act A non community member attempted to gain entry into the Recreational Athletics & Wellness Centre with a UTM student card. The male was removed from the facility and the owner of the card cautioned.

January 11 - 9:58 p.m.

A student reported a suspicious male loitering near his car parked inside the CCT garage, P5 level. Campus Police checked the scene but the suspicious male had left the garage.

January 12 - 11:20 p.m.

Controlled Drugs & Substance Act Campus Police were contacted in regards to the smell of marijuana emanating from a unit located inside a townhouse unit. Peel Regional Police

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January 12 - 11:00 a.m.

Suspicious person

were called in to assist with the investigation. One male was arrested and charged for possession of a controlled substance.

January 13 - 12:50 p.m.

Controlled Drugs & Substance Act A student reported a group of males smoking marijuana inside the CCT Parking Garage. The group had left the garage by the time Campus Police responded.

January 13 - 1:30 p.m.

Fraudulent permit A vehicle parked on campus displaying a fraudulent day permit was towed from the property.

January 13- 8:10 p.m.

Medical Call

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A shuttle bus driver parked on campus reported the theft of her property from inside her bus. Campus Police searched for a female suspect but could not locate her.

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January 7 - 4:50 p.m.

Mischief under $5,000

January 10- 6:35 a.m.

Medical Call

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An ill student was transported to hospital by ambulance from a campus residence.

A student was injured while walking near the Kaneff Centre bus stop. The student was provided medical treatment by UTM Health Services.

Campus Police responded to the Recreational, Athletics and Wellness Centre in regards to a user of the facility who was feeling unwell. The male’s condition improved upon the arrival of Campus Police and he refused transport to a hospital.

January 14 - 12:10 a.m.

Medical Call Campus Police attended a residence dorm and transported an ill student to a hospital.

January 14 - 8:40 a.m.

Animal Services on campus A dead deer was removed from the Outer Circle Road near Residence Road by Mississauga Animal Control.

It is believed the animal was struck by a vehicle.

Economics Career Night

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MONDAY, JANUARY

18, 2010 THE MEDIUM 3

SUMMER AT JERSEY SHORE NEWS

Students start summer job search at the RAWC OVAIS SHAH

Last Thursday, the Career Centre organized the Summer Job Fair in the Recreation and Wellness Athletic Centre. Targeting all university students in any discipline and recent alumni who gradua ted u p t o t w o y e a r s a g o , the fair hoped to provide students an opportunity to network with representatives from a range of industries about summer opportunities and career paths within their organizations and what skills, experience and education are required for these positions.

Participation in the Summer Job Fair increased again this year to 1,600, from 1,368 in 2008-09.

According to Career Centre statistics, this increased use is reflected in all of the centre's

other services as well. Over 60 employers also came to the fair, including Air Canada, Blockbuster Canada, Camp Trillium, Mississauga Business Enterprise Centre, Peel Police, Service Canada, Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, Chartered General Accountants of Ontario and Community Living Mississauga.

Representatives from the Camp Trillium booth at the fair were also impressed by the student response and turn out. “Almost all students came prepared to the fair and were seeking employment, as opposed to wasting time between classes,” said a Camp Trillium representative.

“As of today, two days after the fair, I have received strong positive feedback from both employers and students,” said Claire Westgate, the Career Centre’s

coordinator. ”Most importantly, many employers received great applications at the fair, and are already setting up interviews.”

Adrian Berg, the assistant director for Employee Relations and Marketing, expressed the same sentiments. He regarded the success of the centre’s events as primarily enrooted in the philosophy and experiences from all of its previous fairs, where staff tailored more events to connect stud ents with p otential e mp l oyers and other industry reps.

UTM graduate Jane Feung credits the Career Centre for helping her land a job with the Royal Bank of Canada. “The booklets and career binders in the centre, along with the staff assistance in applying to graduate school and finding post-graduate employment has been really helpful.”

‘Move your butt’ arrives on campus YANIQUE BIRD

This week marks National NonSmoking Week in Canada, and the students and staff at UTM are making sure the University is up to tobacco-awareness speed. Much of the activity will center on January 20, dubbed Weedless Wednesday by the Canadian Council for Tobacco Control.

Unlike the name of the event, there is nothing misleading about what the UTM health promoters have in store this week. The Move Your Butt campaign, a collaborative initiative between the UTM faculty and staff, the HSC, Student Housing and Residence Life, Peer Health Educators and Leave The Pack Behind, will focus on encouraging smokers to observe the nine meter smoke-free perimeter around designated smoke-free entrances.

Observing this rule is important because many designated smoke-free entrances are also accessible entrances.

When smokers fail to comply, persons

with accessibility needs are forced to expose themselves to secondhand smoke and its harms to get where they need to be. Similar problems apply to asthmatics and persons with tobacco allergies.

During the campaign, the nine meter perimeter will be clearly marked with chalk or flags outside main entrances on campus like the Library and South Building. Chad Jankowski, the Health Education Coordinator, declared that last year’s Move Your Butt event a success and noted that most smokers happily complied when asked to respect the boundaries. With last year’s success and the hope for this NNSW 2010, the event will become an annual occurrence.

“Just to be clear,” said Jankowski, “National Non-Smoking Week isn’t about pushing people to quit. Of course, if you are interested in quitting, this is an excellent opportunity to get the resources and support you need to reach your goal. There are four main messages we want to get across to students this week: prevention, reduction,

protection and cessation. There’s something for everyone at every stage of tobacco use.”

To drive these goals home, Leave the Pack Behind will be holding a contest with great prizes for categories corresponding to the four areas of focus. The contest will run for five or six weeks.

In the prevention category, nonsmokers are challenged to not begin smoking during the period of the contest. In the reduction group, the challenge is to reduce one’s tobacco use.

Social smokers are encouraged to separate their alcohol and tobacco habits for the duration of the contest. The cessation group, which will boast the highest reward, is aimed at smokers hoping to quit for good. Participants will enroll with a buddy who’ll help support them in their path to cessation.

Check out the Leave the Pack Behind website for more information on the contest and enrollment. And be sure to look out for the PHE, LTPB and RLS around campus on Weedless Wednesday, getting people to move their butts.

DiCarlo talks human nature OVAIS SHAH

Last Tuesday, UTM students, professors and staff members attended a lecture given by Dr. Christopher diCarlo, entitled “The New Ethics: A synthetic approach to understanding the Good and Evil.” The lecture, organized in collaboration with the Mississauga FreeThought Association, Centre for Inquiry and UTM, was hosted in the Student Centre’s presentation room.

Jai Sangha from the Mississauga Free Thought Association introduced Dr. diCarlo, the assistant professor of philosophy at the University Of Ontario Institute Of Technology who won the 2008 TVO Teaching Excellence Award.

Some of Dr. diCarlo’s research includes his PhD thesis on scientific evolutionary epistemology at the University of Guelph and current research on bioethics, human value behavior and actions.

Dr. diCarlo began his lecture by alluding to humans as unpredictable tidal waves that react to the causality of a complex web of events. Building upon this argument, he put forth a first-of-its kind philosophical model of New Ethics, which he explained using a model known as the Onion Skin Theory of Knowledge. This model is significantly different from previous ways of explain-

ing causality and human knowledge because it separates the two truths: Truth with a capital “T,” such as religion, supernatural and metaphysical phenomenon, and truth with a lower-case “t,” such as natural, empirical and rational arguments of the physical sciences along the lines of what he refers to as the “Cross of Reason.”

Dr. diCarlo described this novel model as “a very complex interplay of natural and cultural systems that separates humans from the other species, as they are system manipulators who have the ability of consciousness and ability exploit the constraints of nature.” This idea was advanced through the concept of mimetic equilibrium that advocates a balance between human actions and ideas. Unlike previous approaches, this new epistemological model attempts to reveal a greater understanding of the human nature by working to understand the causal factors in natural, physical and social sciences such as anthropology, sociology, politics and law.

Due to the contextual nature of the model, it draws its strength from taking into account the physical setting, cultural relativism, subjectivism, circumstances and other phenomenon around a particular event to explain human understanding of events. Dr. diCarlo analyzed the implications of model on the dual-

ism present in the Canadian legal system. “The evolved capacity of homo sapiens that allows them to examine behavior of themselves and others,” said Dr. diCarlo.

According to John Baker, one of the attendees at the conference, “should humans find out that they have no control of their actions as the OSTOCK model claims, then the entire view of capital punishment and other forms of incarceration systems would change to a different approach where human behavior is not just judged on religiously or culturally imposed moral ideals but rather it is judged by a complex interplay of genes, science, culture and numerous other factors beyond control of humans.”

Dr. diCarlo, who also works with the Society for Evolutionary Association of Law, argued that under his OSTOCK model, the legal system should change to not simply incarcerate or execute serial killers, rapists, pedophiles and other criminals based on moral judgment, but rather the legal system needs to be reformed to account for the causality of events and biological and physical factors that created the criminal. Behavior modification, among others, should be implemented to help those who want to reform and become conscious of themselves.

The Career Centre is funded primarily by student service fees, with the career portion currently at $49.86 per term per full time stu dent ($9.97 part time). This year, the centre has proposed an increase to $53.99 ($10.80 part time).

The Career Centre portion of the Student Service Fee was not increased for 2009 10 due to a carry forward of unspent funds from 2008 09 (staff positions that were vacant for longer than anticipated).

According to the centre's director, Joan McCurdy Myers, it is not in that situation this time—no carry for ward is anticipated. Yet costs, including staff salaries and benefits, which are typically the largest expense in student services, along with other costs like technology maintenance, utilities and care tak ing, continue to rise.

This means that the Career Centre fee needs to increase to cover these costs or its services will need to be decreased. The impact would be

most obvious in longer waits for the one on one services like resume cri tiques, less tailoring of workshops for particular areas of study, and stagnation in developing new materi als and supports. "I believe students would be at a disadvantage in seek ing work and further education if some of these services were discon tinued, but that's the harsh reality we may be facing," said Mark Overton, Dean of Student Affairs.

"Because more than half of UTM students use the Career Centre in an average year, from on line services like job and volunteer postings and resume toolkits, to group activities like workshops, fairs and networking events, students are likely to recog nize the value of these services even though leaders may be reluc tant to endorse fee increases," said Dean Overton, adding that the over all increase being sought in QSS deliberated fees will likely be less than $10 ($2 part time) in total per term.

Who is your favourite Jersery Shore cast member?

“Never seen it, only heard of it recently.”

Jessica Z. st 1 year Commerce

“That`s a tough one. Ronnie.

He`s my favourite.”

Emily P. 1st year Commerce

”The situation, it`s totally the situation.”

Lahriu W 4th year Economics

4 THE MEDIUM

MONDAY,

JANUARY 18, 2010

OPINION EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES?

Letter to the Editor www.mediumonline.ca

Here we go again ALAIN LATOUR EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

his week, I had to make a decision that may on the surface seem unethical. It c o n c e r n s The Medium and the UTMSU. It also concerns journalism ethics and affirmative action, although the people involved would probably hesitate it to call it that.

For those who haven’t read the article on page 2, here’s a rundown: our Assistant News Editor, Stefanie Marotta, decided to go to the Canadian Federation of Studen t ’ s s e m i - A n n u a l G e n e r a l Meeting that will be held this coming weekend. She applied on her own, without telling us editors anything, determined to go as a UTM student and not as a journalist for The Medium. VP external of the UTMSU, Henry Ssali, who was aware of her position, supported her in her desire to become involved with the student union. Mr. Ssali registered Ms. Marotta with the CFS, only to have her application rejected on the grounds that: a) she works for us, and: b) it would be too expensive to send her.

These are the facts, confirmed by both UTMSU president Joey Santiago and by Mr. Ssali. Where the facts become blurry is on the exact reason why Ms. Marotta’s application would be more expensive. Members of the executive committee that rejected her applica tion cl a im ed t h a t t h ey didn’ t want an “inexperienced delegate” (even though the union offers delegate training sessions prior to the annual general meeting). It is unclear, however, exactly how tra inin g o r i n e x p e r i e n c e w o u l d increase the cost of sending a student to the CFS AGM. What is clear is that, as per CFS policy, it costs less for the UTMSU to send students who are “(...) students of colour, francophone students, students with disabilities, international students, mature or parttime students, and students who identify themselves as members of the LGBTQ community” than it costs them to send students who comply with none of these requisites—in Ms. Marotta’s case, a Caucasian, heterosexual, Englishspeaking student.

This raises, in my opinion, serious issues. And because of these serious issues, I dropped my former editorial topic (Google vs. the Chinese government) and gave the article the green light, well aware of what the critics would say: that we attack the union too often, that we are unashamedly defending one of our own over an issue whose significance escapes most of the UTM population, and that quoting one of our own staff is non-standard to say the least, perhaps even unethical.

Duly noted—and carefully considered. Believe it or not, our

T

intention is not to bash UTMSU. Neither do we mean to automatically spring to one our assistant editors’ defence. The first reason we chose to cover this incident is because it doesn’t just affect us here at The Medium—it affects all UTM students who may wish to write for this newspaper. Would you still write for us if you knew it would hurt your chances of participating in UTMSU and CFS-organized activities?

More importantly, the whole debacle has exposed what I consider a glaring injustice, one that many UTM students are probably unaware of—that in this day and age, the colour of your skin determines what you get and what you don’t get to do, even among fellow students. The fact that this colour is white does nothing, in my view, to lessen this injustice.

Even scarier is the likelihood of someone being expected to proclaim their sexual orientation in order to increase their chances of acceptance in a student activity.

Wasn’t this one of the goals that countless gays fought for—that their sexuality should not make a difference? That they need not discuss it?

I, for the record, qualify as a mature student—an immigrant one to boot. But I would never use my age or nationality to grant me a discount of any kind.

To be sure, I am convinced that these policies do not seek to diminish the odds of students like Ms. Marotta to participate in a student union-organized event.

Rather, it aims to increase the likelihood of people with fewer opportunities to do the same thing, and to increase variety in such activities. But this policy, part of a controversial phenomenon known as affirmative action, has in the case of UTM failed, and I cannot help but wonder if it is at all needed in our campus, where students of all races, backgrounds and sexual orientations mingle and make friends and date. The tuition fees, after all, are the same for all, whether of French or English background, gay or heterosexual, black or white, and the fees that all students pay to the union are also identical (except international students, who on the other hand don’t pay taxes here).

Should we start paying less based on whether we identify as part of minority group?

The last reason I wrote this article was to praise Mr. Ssali, who did his best to reverse UTMSU’s decision and allow Ms. Marotta to go to the CFS semi-Annual General Meeting. It is as easy to cede to a group’s pressure as it is to believe that all organizations are composed of like-minded people who act like robots. With his courage, integrity and willingness to act independently, Mr. Ssali proved us wrong on both accounts.

If only we had more leaders like that.

Disappointed and disillusioned Dear Editor, Originally I had written a long, angry rant. Obviously, that isn’t the letter I’m submitting to you now. As of Friday night, I had decided against submitting any letter at all because, as cliché as this may sound, I feel like I’m back in high school.

Person A says that person B said this. Then person C calls me to insist that person B meant something else. Then person C tells person D something completely contrary to what person C told me, and, thankfully, person D relays the info in my direction.

Really? Is any of that necessary? I understand UTMSU has to respond in the safest political manner that will protect their executives, but if they had just been honest with me, I would never have submitted this letter.

With that said, I’ll start from the beginning. I’ve been writing for The Medium since September, and I must say that it has been one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve chosen to engage in since I began university. I’ve attended v a r i o u s e v e n t s t h a t I o t h e r wi s e may have not known about; I’ve met interesting people that I otherwise may not have encountered, and I’ve learned about and taken interest in topics that I otherwise may not have looked into. As a result, I’ve taken an interest in UTMSU. You know, that union on campus that’s always asking for people to come out and get involved? Yeah, them.

From reading The Varsity and UTMSU minutes online, I learned about the Canadian Federation of Students. I became interested and started doing research on the institution. Lucky for me, this falls under the department of the VP external Henry Ssali, who I see every Monday and Wednesday in lecture. Thus, it wasn’t difficult for me to find him and ask a few questions. Upon enquiry, Henry told me that any student could attend a CFS meeting as long as they’re informed and have been active in the UTM community. It just so happens that there’s a meeting coming up January 21 through to the 24. Thinking that I fit the criteria, I asked if I would be able to attend. You know, participate, get involved, all that good stuff UTMSU preaches. Henry told me that I’d be able to go.

Sadly, he seems to be one of the few executives who don’t believe there are two different types of students: “school leaders” versus everyone else.

I booked the whole weekend off of work, something I very rarely do. While researching CFS, I came across their registration policies.

They offer a $75-discount to participants who fall into constituency groups that include aboriginal, racialised, disabled, international, queer, transgendered, mature and part-time students. Basically, if you’re white, your student union pays more for you to go.

Apparently, this is not a problem for many of the UTMSU executives. Students pay membership fees to the union through tuition costs, yet the executives consider themselves so privileged as to

exclude students of a certain race.

While this is wrong of CFS, it disheartens m e to realiz e that ou r very own student union not only accepts these policies, but takes advantage of them as well.

I’m not one to take things on hearsay and I’m unresolved as to the actions I’ll take against the allegations; however, let me make one thing clear. I don’t respond well to underhanded manipulation, nor to being underestimated.

Calling me to tell me about the dozens of other people who would better benefit from attending CFS won’t deter me. I took the initiative, asked and was told that there was space; where were these dozens of other interested student leaders when registration was going on? I’m extremely disappointed in the way that UTMSU has handled the matter and I intend to make it known.

When Henry announced the names of the participants, the first excuse as to why I shouldn’t attend was because I’m affiliated with The Medium. If they had bothered to ask, they would have known that I was attending as a student and have no obligation to report to The Medium. My editor didn’t know I was supposed to attend CFS until after word of the allegations spread. When this excuse was shot down, one of the VPs tried to claim that it wasn’t worth all the money to send me.

Take from that what you will.

First, I think that the VP who was accused of discrimination should have been the one to contact me. I received a phone call from her the day after mentioning this to the president, but unfortunately I was at work and missed it.

I phoned her back during my break and never got a response.

Good on me to vote he r in l ast year.

Second, it is rude to tell me that, while I can attend if I want to, there isn’t much point or use in me doing so. It’s also irresponsible to say that I should let them know of my decision as soon as possible, and then tell other people that there’s no way I’m going and that I’ve been deregistered.

I thus find myself disturbed by the artifice of some of the UTMSU executives. I wasted a lot of my time and have yet to receive an apology.

In its constitution, one of UTMSU’s purposes is to “recognize the legitimacy of student representation and the validity of students’ rights; and whose role in society is clearly recognized and appreciated.” I’d appreciate it if one of the student leaders could remind them of this integral facet.

I’d like to get involved and learn through experience. I’m not so sure it’s worth the trouble.

MEDIUM II PUBLICATIONS 3359 Mississauga Road, Room 200, Student Centre, Mississauga, ON, L5L 1C6 Phone: 905.828.5260 Fax: 905.828.5402 Advertising: 905.828.5379 EDITOR IN CHIEF Alain Latour editor@mediumonline.ca NEWS EDITOR Saaliha Malik news@mediumonline.ca ASSISTANT NEWS EDITORS Katherine Luczynski Stefanie Marotta A&E EDITOR Michael Di Leo arts@mediumonline.ca ASSISTANT A&E EDITORS Nives Hajdin Patricia Figueiredo FEATURES EDITOR Amir Ahmed features@mediumonline.ca SPORTS EDITOR Andrew Tysiak sports@mediumonline.ca ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITORS Sarah Malagerio Bruno William Robertson COPY EDITOR Su Lyn Liew PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Matthew Filipowich photos@mediumonline.ca ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR Edward Cai COMPOSITE EDITOR Matthew Filipowich WEBMASTER Matthew Filipowich DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Heather Friesen BUSINESS MANAGER Romano Bergic BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chris Cauchi, Paul Donaghue, Ali Kasim, Kristian Jurlewicz, Aly Khan Madhavji, Paola Savasta, Phoebe Leung.

COMPLAINTS Comments, concerns or com plaints about The Medium’s con tent should be directed to the Editor in Chief who can be locat ed at the email address above.

COPYRIGHT All content printed in The Medium is the sole property of its creators, and cannot be used without written consent.

DISCLAIMER Opinions expressed in the pages of The Medium are exclusively of the author and do not neces sarily reflect those of The Medium. Additionally, the opin ions expressed in advertise ments appearing in The Medium are those of advertisers and not of The Medium.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Sincerely,

Stefanie Marotta

Letters to the editor will be edit ed for spelling, grammar, style and coherence. Letters will not exceed 1,000 words in print.

Letters that incite hatred, vio lence or letters that are racist, homophobic, sexist or libelous will not be published.

Anonymous letters will not be published.

MONDAY, JANUARY

18, 2010 THE MEDIUM 5

Michael Di Leo, Editor | arts@mediumonline.ca

High times at Hart House High Fidelity: The Musical makes its Canadian debut NIVES HAJDIN ASSISTANT A&E EDITOR

Rob Gordon’s relationship is falling apart. He lives in a crummy apartment and his greatest achievement in life is the collection of 45s he’s been amassing since the age of seven.

He’s the owner of a record store “with zero growth potential,� but it’s still “the last real record store on earth,� and Rob (David Light) “wouldn’t change a thing about it.�

Now reread that last sentence and hum the quotes as if they were song lyrics, because that is exactly what they are.

Based on Nick Hornby’s 1995 novel, which served as the inspiration for the 2006 Broadway version and most recently Mark Selby’s highly entertaining adaptation, High Fidelity: The Musical made its Canadian premiere at Hart House

rest/Just someone who’ll do/And I’m ready to settle for you). Led by Lily Ling, the band provided flawless instrumental sections while the cast delivered truly exceptional vocals, made all the more difficult by choreographed segments and continuous movement around the stage.

Light’s performance was extremely engaging. He constantly addressed the audience with his thoughts and top five lists (most notably his top five break-ups, in which the heartbreakers joined him on stage as he told the audience the back story), a style no doubt inspired by John Cusack’s monologues into the camera in the 2000 film adaptation. Yet Light brought something entirely of his own to the character, and despite the selfish and cruel things his character has done in the past, Light’s charm and endearing personality gained the support of the audience within moments of his taking the

this past Friday and had no shortage of songs to accompany the timeless tale of life, love and mix tapes.

Unfortunately, the amalgam of songs was actually too excessive, and instead of enhancing the central plot, the music overshadowed it and bumped the storyline into a subordinate role. Characters were breaking into song every few moments, which squandered any room for potential conversations (I know you must be asking yourself whether I’m aware of the fact that this is a musical, and I am), and though a scene may have called for a musical digression or two, it became slightly tedious when more than a few of the songs were reprised.

Having said that, Tom Kitt’s music was nonetheless amazing and was strengthened by Amanda Green’s hysterically melancholic lyrics that had the audience in fits of laughter (I’ve had the best/Now I need a

stage.

Carl Swanson’s portrayal of the adorably nerdy Dick was another of the production’s most entertaining elements, winning the hearts of all in his attempts to impress the girl he likes and evoking many laughs with his signature song, “It’s No Problem.� Other notable performances included Jamie Arfin as Laura, the betrayed girlfriend of Rob, whose newfound empowerment shone through in Arfin’s rendition of “Number Five With a Bullet;� Jason Zinger’s comical portrayal of the weirdly spiritual, Ian, Laura’s rebound, who also handled Kurt Cobain’s intervention; and James Ostime’s hilarious depiction of “TMPMITW,� the most pathetic man in the world.

The ensemble worked together in perfect harmony and had the audience clapping to the beat right along with them in the second-to-last clos-

2010 in games

NOTICE OF RETRACTION

No, not the Olympics—the other kind AMIR AHMED FEATURES EDITOR 2010, by all appearances, seems a good year for video games. Hit titles Mass Effect, Fable, God of War and Final Fantasy are returning, as well as some new non-franchise games that promise a new genre experience, such as They (a shooter/mystery) and Edge of Twilight (a steampunk hack-andslash game). With such a multit u d e , i t w ou l d b e h a r d t o w r i t e about every anticipated game of the year, but three in particular stand out, either for their innovation or for the promise of awesomeness:

Alan Wake: Remedy Entertainment, developer of the Max Payne series, is taking a dip into the psychological thriller genre. In Alan Wake, players take on the role of the titular character, an author who moves into a new town with his wife to overcome writer’s block. When Alan’s wife vanishes, the fun begins in the form of intrigue, drama and strange beings called dark forces that can be fought with light. Remedy hopes to create a sort of interactive thriller movie with these effects.

Alan Wake definitely offers something new: fights with something other than a gun and characters that go beyond the space marine or

ing number, “Turn The World Off (And Turn You On),� a moment that really made the musical one to remember. Yet by far the most memorable instance was the confrontation between Rob and Ian, in which Rob’s desire to beat up and kill Ian was acted out, only to have the actions played out in reverse to suggest the sequences were only in Rob’s mind. The easiest way to visualize the amazing spectacle would be to think of a movie being rewound, where the characters move in a backwards progression, and the difficult execution of these sequences by the actors and actresses was made even more realistic by the flickering lights and tape-rewinding sound effects. It’s not really meant to be explained. It’s just one of those things you have to see for yourself.

High Fidelity: The Musical runs until January 30 at Hart House Theatre.

Visit www.uofttix.ca for tickets.

busty elf archetypes. The interactive suspense film is also definitely a step towards innovation. These new features, however, will also be amazingly hard to pull off. The episodic, movie-like gameplay may annoy gamers who actually want to play a game and not watch an extended episode of LOST. Make no mistake though; if it succeeds, it could be the launching point for a new genre of video game.

Alan Wake was one of the Best Overall Games presented at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2009, hinting at nothing but good things.

We at The Medium apologize for any inaccuracies regarding “UTM’s own: Artist Profile,� which was printed in the Arts & Entertainment section on November 30, 2009 (Volume 36, Issue 11).

We have decided to fully retract the article in question after consulting with Richard Lindo.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Sincerely,

The Medium Editorial Board

Games continued on Page 7

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ic.gc.ca/careers

6 THE MEDIUM

MONDAY, JANUARY

18, 2010

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT MUSIC AND MUMMIES

Living the nightlife We met up with Karl Wolf before his show at the Blind Duck last week and chatted about his music, relationships, and pre concert rituals. Shirtless photos? Yes, please you choose boxing for the video concept?

It’s a long story. It’s about my ex-girlfriend. It’s the truth so I’ll tell you. It’s basically a metaphor about my life and my career but I didn’t want to use me being a singer and the stage and studio as my training ground. I really wanted to do something in a different vibe than music because it’s a true story about my ex-girlfriend. She never understood my career and where I was going and I kind of neglected her.

Because of that, in the video you see that with me at the gym and then at my main event, she didn’t show up so I messed up. It’s that kind of story.

SAALIHA MALIK NEWS EDITOR

T el l m e a b ou t y o ur ne w a lb u m, Nightlife. What sort of inspiration did you have when putting the album together, and what goals do you have for this album?

The thing is, with my first record, I produced it all myself, the second record, I started collaborating with other producers as well. The third album, I thought I proved myself as a producer and a song writer, so the whole album was made by a lot of producers in studios around the world. I just wanted an album that could be played in the car, in the clubs, at home, especially since we’ve been doing a lot of club events. I wanted some club bangers on this album.

W h y d i d yo u c h o o s e t o c ov e r “Africa,” by Toto?

It’s funny. I was just talking to my agent about this exact story. I was about 10 years old and I remember I would go to school and I would play that song for everybody, and all my friends, they wouldn’t get it. I just love the song. I love the harmonies. It just hit me; my parents are musicians, so just the musicality’s of it just blew me away.

After doing so many collaborations w it h ot h e r a r ti s ts , wh a t d o y ou think is the best and worst part of collaborating?

Well, it depends if the artist is good and I try to surround myself with good artists. They can inspire you even more to come up with more amazing ideas for a song. The worst part is when the idea isn’t that good and they’re trying to convince you of it and you’re trying to fight for your space and time on the song. But I’m really lucky I worked with good people on this record.

An d w ho ha ve yo u co ll ab or at ed with so far?

I’ve collaborated with Snoop Dogg,

Edward Cai/The Medium

Karl Wolf performs at the Blind Duck pub last week. Shirtless.

Culture, Loon, Sway and I’ve collaborated with all the guys on my team here. I might make my agent sing on an album with me.

If you could pick one female and one male artist to collaborate with who would you pick?

I really want to work with Shadai.

That’s really one of my goals. And Akon.

I read that you are inte rested in acting and we might see you on the big screen soon. Can you tell me more about that?

Yeah, my agent got me an offer for Saw 7, so they’re probably going to cut off my toes or something (laughs). I’m having another meeting this Monday for a big romantic comedy, not as a lead but still a part, which is cool. I’m starting to do films. I’m doing a lot of directing. I directed the music video for “Yalla Habibi,” I’m directing all of my music videos and acting in them, so I’m slowly getting into acting.

“Carrera” is my favourite song of yours, and I’d like to know what the story behind that song is.

My dad was always into Porsches since we were young, but he never got one, he was never able to. So when your parents really want something, you kind of want to live it for them, so it’s the car that I love, a Carrera. “ Yalla H abibi ” was sh ot in th e UAE and you get to travel all over the world. Where is your favourite place to travel?

I grew up in Dubai and I love going back there. All of my friends are there and the beach is beautiful. Dubai is probably my favourite place.

Do you have any special routines before a big performance? Do you still get nervous?

Yeah, I mean, you don’t get nervous anymore. It’s like another day at the office. You know what you’re doing but I usually do some pushups before.

I hang out with my buddies, and we take a drink of water (laughs). I do like at least 150 pushups before a show H o w d id i t f e e l t o p e r f o r m i n Toronto on New Years Eve in front of thousands people?

It was fifty thousand people and 3.2 million viewers! It felt great but it didn’t feel like fifty thousand people. I could only see the people in the front but it was the craziest feeling. I’ve always wanted to perform in Toronto outdoor for the last 10-15 years I’ve been in Canada, and every year I’m like “next year, next year.” It finally happened and it was a dream come true.

W h at i s yo u r fa v o ur i t e s o n g on Nightlife?

My favourite song is my new single “Hurting.” I love that video and it’s going to be crazy.

“Hurting” is a great song. All of your fans can relate to it. Why did

S o th a t b r i n g s m e to m y n e x t question. How have your relation ships changed since the limelight?

As you go on in this industry, you realize you need someone who understands the business, understands you and I think security in a woman is very important. If she’s secure in herself, then I’m very happy.

I s t h e re a n yt h i ng y o u w i s h y o u knew about the industry when you wer e st art in g up tha t yo u kn ow now?

I don’t regret a single thing because where I am is amazing, and this year is going to be amazing. We just finalized a deal in Europe with Sony and this is going to be my year, so I don’t regret anything. All the things I’ve done I’ve learned from. You just roll with the punches.

What do you thin k is the most important advice anyone has ever given you?

The most important advice that anyone has ever given me is when I first did the song “Africa,” four or five years ago. My agent at the time told me to do my own style and not just a straight cover. I did four or five versions of that song before it became the version it is today and now its triple platinum—it’s exploding all over the world. We sold half a million copies in Japan. It was all because of him directing me a little bit.

King Tut reigns over AGO AMIR AHMED FEATURES EDITOR

Turn left on University Avenue heading towards Union and you’ll see the Art Gallery of Ontario. No surprises there—the AGO has stood on the same spot since 1910, and buildings don’t generally up and vanish. What will surprise passers-by is the gargantuan statue of Anubis greeting visitors and the many flags wav ing from street lights, proclaiming King Tut’s visit to Canada.

The King himself still rests in his tomb in Egypt, as fragile as you’d expect a two-thousand year-old corpse to be, and unfortunately the boy king’s most famous relics— such as his death mask and sarcophagus—aren’t strong enough to travel overseas. However, the AGO’s new exhibit—running until April—does feature one hundred

artefacts, about half of which originate from Tutankhamen’s tomb.

The Egyptian government chose the collection items that it thought would survive the journey and best represent the royal life of Egypt, as well as the life of ancient Egyptians in general.

The collection includes several unique pieces that Pharaoh-philes won’t find at the ROM’s regular exhibit, such as a carving in progress that reveals the work process of Egyptian artisans, an array of shabti figurines and a rich collection of statues, including one of Tutankhamen that was later claimed by subsequent pharaohs.

Fine jewellery, hieroglyphic-riddled slabs and domestic items round the collection off.

Although the AGO hosted a similar exhibition in 1979, gallery-goers will find several strange aspects to the AGO’s current exhibit.

Harrison Ford stars in an audio

morethings.com

Good ‘ol King Tut. tour of the place, the gift shop offers plush nemes (the fancy striped headdresses) and children’s books along the lines of “Tickle

King Tut’s Toes,” and several looping videos will continually command anyone in earshot to “Enter the tomb of Tutankhamen!”

accompanied by an orchestral flurry.

Despite the cheesy wrapping, however, the AGO has delivered an extensive exhibition with an extensive educational and social aspect.

The AGO has established supporting lectures, available at discount rates for students, and even a podcast by exhibit curator David Silverman elaborating the histories of specific King Tut artefacts, from canopic jars to ancient toilet seats.

On the lighter side, the AGO website features an instructional dance video mimicking the angular pose used in Egyptian artwork and a photo-editing contest, where patrons dress Anubis in whatever whacky costumes they can imagine.

This may seem like overkill, but the hooplah is understandable: the Egyptian government has declared this exhibit will be the last where they will allow artefacts to travel overseas.

MONDAY, JANUARY

OFF THE RECORD ARTS

18, 2010 THE MEDIUM 7

& ENTERTAINMENT

Games to look out for

Record in review

Games continued from Page 5

NIVES HAJDIN ASSISTANT A&E EDITOR

GO TO MEDIUMONLINE.CA/SONGOFTHEWEEK TO LISTEN

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty: Aaw yeah. The only dialogue in the first trailer for this long-awaited strategy game sums up gamers’ thoughts perfectly: “Hell, it’s about time.” After sales of just under ten million copies, incredible critical reception and continued success, Bl i zz a r d h a s f i nally promised a return to the Starcraft universe.

For the uninitiated, Starcraft focuses on a three-way war between good old-fashioned humans, a swarm of space-insects known as the Zerg, and an advanced uberspecies known as the Protoss. In

the first installment of a planned trilogy, players will take on the role of humanity and attempt to defend themselves from alien attacks, while learning more about the rumored return of the Xel’naga, the creators of the Zerg and Protoss.

Blizzard has boasted that their new title will offer a new strategy game experience, while sticking to the fundamentals of what made Starcraft great. They’re keeping favorite units, but also including new strengths and weakness to encourage players to diversify their strategies and modes of play. The only downside is that Blizzard promised the game two years ago, which either indicates that they needed to renovate the game hugely or that it’s so fun Blizzard staff wanted it all to themselves.

“SESSION TWO” BY FREE THE ROBOTS

Halo: Reach: Building on the success of the Halo franchise, Bungie is coming out with a prequel to the phenomenally successful Halo: Combat Evolved.

The player controls a cyborg supersoldier known as the Lieutenant, a rank higher than Master Chief, and presumably much more badas s.

The game was announced at E3 2009, and there’s little doubt that Reach will deliver. Even though Halo 2 disappointed some fans with poor level design, plot and a sadistic cliff-hanger, Bungie hasn’t produced a bad title since then.

Reach’s success, however, will be determined in opposition to a game like Alan Wake. Alan Wake will

succeed based on innovation, while Reach will succeed by sticking to the fundamental and inalienable fun of mass murdering alien armies.

CONTRA VAMPIRE WEEKEND [XL] Upon listening to a few seconds of any Vampire Weekend song, it doesn’t take long to realize that the band’s name is clearly a misnomer. Any preconceived notions of emo dreariness are instead replaced with images of bright-coloured sombreros, long drives along the coast and hillside orchestral performances. Mellow, youthful and fun are just a few words that describe Vampire Weekend’s sophomore album, Contra, which was released last Tuesday.

Much to the delight of fans however, the entire album has been streaming online at www.vampireweekend.com for the past few weeks. The band’s website also offers a free download of the opening track “Horchata,” an island-inspired chant that melts away the mindset of the frigid winter months. “White Sky” merges Ezra Koenig’s infectious falsetto and

Rostam Batmanglij’s signature keyboard melodies, a combination that is present throughout much of the album. Many songs are reminiscent of the band’s self-titled debut album, in particular the Victorian string section of “Taxi Cab,” which was inspired by Joe Strummer, the lead singer of The Clash.

While Contra draws heavily from Vampire Weekend’s first effort, it is also a much more developed compilation. Songs like “Run” showcase the band’s newly perfected array of instrumental choruses, in which you will probably find yourself partaking in lots of head bopping and shoulder popping as you listen. Their new single, “Cousins,” opens with a set of erratic exclamations reminiscent of running through a thorny bush, and plunges directly into a frenzy of ska beats and run-on drum lines that upkeep the momentum for the entirety of the song’s mere two and a half minutes.

One of the most unexpected tracks is “Diplomat’s Son,” which samples M.I.A.’s “Hussel” and adds a subtle reggae vibe, creating one of the album’s most addictive songs. (Just as a side note, Vampire Weekend is probably one of the only bands that could get away with making lyrics like “When all I wanna do is use, use you” sound cute.) Since the group’s sound is so mellow, many of their songs tend to sound alike, often without any overly climactic moments. Yet they are one of the few bands that are able to use this repetitiveness to their advantage, and instead of fading into obscurity as the boring, same old act, Vampire Weekend use their lovable lyrics and happy-go-lucky tunes to make fans crave their music more and more.

8 THE MEDIUM

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18, 2010

Amir Ahmed, Editor | features@mediumonline.ca

The grammar wars The CVMC’s Grammar Initiative means Fine Art History students can face academic penalties for poor grammar AMIR AHMED FEATURES EDITOR

Views on English grammar are as numerous as the rules they comment on. Lynne Truss of Eats Shoots and Leaves sees it as a system vital to clarify meaning in a writing-based culture. Christian Lander of the blog “Stuff White People Like” jokingly explains it as a system of arbitrary rules that people use to judge others.

Normally, these differing views clash in the form of simple jokes about inferiority complexes, or in h a r d - c o r e F a c e b oo k g r ou p s . At UTM though, faculty views on grammar, writing and pedagogy can have academic consequences, and in the Fine Art History program, students and faculty sometimes clash over these issues.

The Fine Art History program uses a penalization system where students in their second or third year can lose up to 25% of their paper grades based on grammatical errors. Since the majority of FAH students’ grades come from papers, proper grammar ain’t no laughing matter. Though the initiative means the sought-after perfect-grade paper can become an average one and an average paper can become a fail paper, students can regain lost marks by taking grammar workshops at the academic skills centre, run by Dr. Tyler Tokaryk. To FAH Professor

A l i so n Sy m e , t he initiative is a necessity. “This is all about a failure of the high school system.

Most students come in with no knowledge of grammar and come in with serious writing problems, which causes problems when they need to read critically.”

“At first, we were just trying to overcome this overwhelming problem,” said Syme. “We’ve been refining the system every year.” At first, students in first year courses could lose up to 25% on grammatical errors, with second and third years able to lose up to 40%. Now, first year students attend grammar tutorials, and the maximum that third and second year students can lose is 25%, Students taking fourth year courses are not penalized at all. Fine Art students can also easily regain the marks by attending lectures and taking simple grammatical quizzes, which, according to Syme, many students do, valuing the grammar initiative for the skills they learn.

Some students do not agree with this assessment, saying that their mark deduc tions are too extreme and that the make up tests do not reflect real learning .

Some students do not agree with this assessment, saying that their mark deductions are too extreme and that the make-up tests do not reflect real learning.

“Most students attend the work-

shops simply to regain points,” said VG, a third year English and Fine Art History major, “and no one really takes anything from the classes. The program is unnecessary and the time spent in workshops takes away from valuable time needed to complete assignments.”

Albert Dalton, who saw the CVMC arrive in his third year, eventually found it beneficial to his writing.

Other students claimed the judgement is too extreme: the graders exploit needless, obscure uses of punctuation to deduct grades, penalize correctly spelled but strange-looking artistic words (Syme ensures that this no longer occurs) and receive more scrutiny than students in other fields, such as English. Albert Dalton, who saw the CVMC arrive in his third year, eventually found it beneficial to his writing. “ T h r ough c on s t a n t v i g i l a nc e , the quality of my writing elevated.

I personally can’t recall ever losing a greater amount than 9% on any single assignment.” He noticed that other students did not fare as well. “I inevitably empathized with their frustrations, but I never once felt they were unfairly or unjustly treated.

Their writing simply didn’t communicate effective understanding.” Dalton added that he earned his current employment due in part to the skills the initiative

allowed to acquire.

Perhaps if the initiative was based on a genuine lack of coherent thought, then perhaps less students would find fault with it.

Some students believe, however, that a disjunct exists between what professors and what graders view as grammatical. ”I found it frustrating that my professors had very little difficulty understanding my papers and deemed my papers to be legible, coherent and to be of higher than average standing, and yet the grammar nazis believed I was inept with the English language,” said student Andrea Hitchman.

Farrukh Rafiq acknowledged that the graders were sometimes to harsh, but also saw the value of forcing students to learn. “What percent of the procrastinating majority will devote their free time to improve their writing? If you’re serious about pursuing Art History, then you won’t mind getting some extra help to improve the way you present your arguments.”

Whatever the case, the conflict between the supporters and decriers seems to begin and end with the beliefs of what grammar is, and how to teach it. Grammar is a system of communication, and while vital to a writing culture, should be based on accurate transmission of thought and not whic h variations of the Oxford comma students adhere to.

Although everyone seems to believe this, the difference is how this belief is applied. Hopefully, these different camps can work together to find a mutually satisfying situation.

www.ala.org

Websites like Grammar Girl pros etylise on whether or not “got” is proper English.

Nine gadgets for technophiles USMAN MURTAZA

Is your university life a bit hectic?

These gadgets geared for students on the go may help ease the squeeze on your life.

Livescribe Pulse Pen ($199) The Livescribe Pulse Pen not only creates digital copies of everything you write by hand —it records audio too, linking it with the text so you can click on selective part of your notes to hear what you typed. The Pulse Pen also offers built-in applications like a calculator and translator. A big bonus is the 500 mb of online storage that you get when you create your Livescribe account (in case you don’t have your laptop with you and need to access your notes on a public computer). Do I hear a sigh of relief? A great tool for those willing to shell out the cash.

Clocky Rolling Alarm Clock ($19.99) Clocky is probably the world’s most annoying alarm clock. When you hit the snooze button, Clocky will roll off your nightstand and around your room, beeping and flashing until you get up and catch it. For those of us who like to sleep through the alarms, I dare you to go back to sleep after running a marathon in your room.

Dictaphone (from $20-120, depending on the data capacity) No matter how good notes you take, you’re bound to miss some points, but you’ll never miss anything again if you use a Dictaphone. Pop it onto your desk, simply click record and let it do its magic. What separates it from other recorders is that it only records when it hears something, saving battery life and memory space.

Noise Cancellation Headphones (varies) Ideal for areas with noise or when you want to listen to some music without disturbing others. There are a lot of choices, so go purchase the one that fits your taste and budget.

Printstik ($200-300) Library printer on the fritz and an assignment due in ten? PlanOn, the company behind Printstik, knew we lazy students do important things at the last minute, so they built a reliable last-minute, on-the-road solution: The PlanOn PrintStik PS910, a portable printer measuring one inch width, two inches tall, and eleven inches long (the same length as a sheet of letter paper) that prints from a laptop/desktop as well as your smartphone.

Technology continued on page 9

www.robogifts.lv

The Clocky alarm clock: say goodbye to sleeping in.

MONDAY, JANUARY

18, 2010 THE MEDIUM 9

WINNIE THE E POOH FEATURES

Technology for students Technology cont’d from page 8 As for paper, you don’t have to worry about carrying around individual sheets—the Printstik uses its own compact roll of paper.

Wizzcom InfoScan IS1000 Book Scanner ($40-$100) This device can save hundreds of dollars on photocopying costs over the year. Open up a book, start scanning the text, and it’ll get stored in the flash memory on the device, where you can plug it into your computer and read again. Now you don’t have to worry about scampering for photocopied documents during crunch times. The Wizzcom InfoScan IS1000 can scan up to 500 pages and transfer them via USB to a computer. On that note, be aware of copyright laws when copying fragments of books.

WRITE FOR FEATURES BECAUSE I SAID SO

Coral-200-Solar: a Solar Powered Handset ($40) Like the Samsung Blue Earth, the Coral-200-Solar from Chinese manufacturer ZTE also runs on solar power. Its low price will attract many users to this device, which will ensure that at least the mobile chargers do not suck up energy created by burning fossil fuels.

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Looking back at Winnie the Pooh AMIR AHMED FEATURES EDITOR

January 18 is Winnie the Pooh day, corresponding with the birthday of the bear’s creator, Alan A. Milne.

While some may think that reporting on the life of a friendly, fictional bear is unnecessary in a campus newspaper, I believe that it indicates a maturity to treasure our collective childhood, or a slow news day.

Milne was born in 1882 in London. He started his writing career studying mathematics in Cambridge, where he submitted stories to the student magazine Granta, now one of the most respected literary magazines in the English-speaking world, and later the humor magazine Punch.

Milne originally crafted the Pooh stories for his son, Christopher Robin, never having written children’s fiction before. The name “Winnie” comes from a Canadian black bear named after Winnipeg, a mascot for the war effort in the First World War. Winnie the Pooh was published in 1926, and The House at Pooh Corner in 1928. Disney purchased the right to Winnie the Pooh in 1966, and produced Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. The 20minute featurette, besides being Winnie’s first foray into animation, was also the first time he appeared

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A reproduction of the original pencil sketches for the first Winnie the Pooh book. in his now signature red shirt.

Pooh contemplat es Winnie as a Milne’s s tories have touched model of the calm, joyful and balsomething timeless. Aside from anced state we should all aspire to. television shows, featurettes and In any case, Winnie and his friends, plays, Disney has made nine Winnie cultural landmarks that they are, the Pooh films from 1977 to 2005 don’t seem to be fading anywhere and aims to release a new one in fast, and odds are that most of us 2011. who enjoyed journeying into the Children aren’t the only ones Hundred Acre Wood will be headwho find the bear fascinating either; ing back in fifteen years or so, to Benjamin Hoff’s book The Dao of find Winnie and friends unchanged.

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10 THE MEDIUM MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 2010

FEATURES POETRY AND PROSE

Creative Corner

Street Beggars SU LYN LIEW COPY EDITOR

“Do you want to go anywhere?” Kelvin asked me, holding open Monte Carlo’s glass doors. It was after dinner and Kelvin, a high school senior and my elder brother by five years, was responsible of taking me home.

“Not really,” I said. “Mom will have a fit if you drag me around Guangzhou at night.”

We walked down the stairs towards the road outside. Many restaurants in Guangzhou, China, are located on the second floor. Customers ascend a flight of stairs to reach the entrance.

There were two groups standing by the stair entrance: the Hunan restaurant, Hu Bei and Monte Carlo.

On one side stood the Monte Carlo staff, a girl with grey blazers atop a pristine white collared blouse and a black apron. She beamed when she saw Kelvin holding our leftover food in a Monte Carlo plastic bag. “Xia ci guan ying, please come back again,” she said in Mandarin.

Kelvin peered out and scanned for a taxi. Several figures, the homeless or beggars, crouched by the roadside.

“Let’s stay here for a while. There’s no use standing there choking on dust and exhaust fumes when there’re no taxis.” He nodded at the Monte Carlo girl, smiled awkwardly at the Hu Bei waitresses and backed away into a corner. “’kay,” I said. Kelvin reached over and patted my head, thoroughly scuffing up my hair. I scowled and ducked away. Kelvin chuckled, and leaned back against the wall, a smile lingering on his lips. I glared and turned away.

The Hu Bei restaurant girls wore long red qi paos, traditional Chinese dresses, with short sleeves and gold flower motifs embroidered on the bodice. The supervisor, a notepad in one hand and black headphones in her ears, barked short orders into the microphone attached to the headphones. The high collar hugged her slim throat.

A couple, a young man in a shirt and tie and a girl in a short white dress sauntered past the stair entrance. The man had his arm around the girl.

There was at least ten meters between the roadside and the restaurant entrance, but the couple stuck close to the buildings.

The Hu Bei supervisor strode forward, snagging a menu with one hand as she went. She stopped a discreet distance away, menu unfolded. The thigh-high slit in her qi pao revealed long, white legs. “Sin san, xiu je, sir, miss, have you eaten yet? Why not try our famous Hunan cuisine? Our special tonight is the braised pork.”

“Oh, no, we’re not interested,” the young man said.

“Or you can try our cold dishes to keep cool in this hot summer weather.

Our cold meats and chilies are very good.”

“Well…”

“And this one, I’m sure your lovely companion will enjoy it. Our cold vermicelli is very good for the skin—it opens the pores and promotes clear complexion.”

“Thank you, but we have already decided on somewhere else.”

“Dear,” the girl in white said in a clear voice. “Let’s eat here. I like Hunan food.” Her eyes flashed towards the street. “There are beggars down the road,” she said. “I don’t want to walk past them.”

The young man eye’s flickered back

and forth between his girlfriend and the supervisor. “All right. We can visit the Mao Guan next time.”

The Hu Bei supervisor smiled and gestured up the stairs. “Excellent choice, sir. Just head up the stairs and turn right.” She cupped her hands around the microphone. “Table for two, coming up.”

“Vicious,” Kelvin said, watching the couple. “I can barely understand Cantonese and I think that waitress’s scary.”

“I want a qi pao when I’m older!” I said. “Hey Kel, are those taxis stopping?”

The right signal light on several taxis flashed. Kelvin pushed away from the wall. The lights flickered out and the taxis swerved away from the sidewalk, speeding down Tian He Bei Lu. I stared. “Kel, why aren’t the taxis stopping here?”

Kelvin shook his head, his parted hair flopping lightly into his eyes.

“That’s strange. This is one of the prime stops, with the restaurants on this side and Teem Plaza on the other.” Kelvin gripped the plastic leftover bag tighter and shot me a grin.

“Wait here, I’ll see if I can catch a taxi.

Walk out when I wave to you, okay?”

I nodded. Kelvin moved under the shelter of a tree, looking out for a free taxi.

A wraith of a girl came up to Kelvin.

She cupped her hands and raised them, her head tipped backwards to stare up at Kelvin. Her knobby knees stuck out under a faded pink-gray dress. Her clear brown irises stood out on her dust smeared face. Kelvin looked down and tried to walk around her. His steps faltered when the girl tottered after him.

Kelvin glanced around. All other passersby veered sharply away as they walked past, leaving a bubble of empty space with Kelvin and the little girl at its center. A woman in her late forties stood at the end of the street, a bundle knotted across her chest. Kelvin shook his head, a sharp abrupt movement, and turned away.

The little girl grabbed onto Kelvin’s knee, her hands sliding as Kelvin jerked his leg away. She clung onto his jeans.

The Hu Bei and Monte Carlo girls stared at Kelvin and the little girl. I caught the Hu Bei supervisor’s eyes, almond-shaped and dark, as she looked down at her notebook. She looked at me and glanced away.

A girl, about nine or ten, walked up to Kelvin, her back straight. She was dressed in a faded, flower patterned cotton shirt and short cotton pants.

She held a bunch of flowers: tiny, burgundy red rosebuds with deep green stalks, wrapped in clear and silver plastic.

I encountered such beggar girls during my sixth grade China Trip the year before. The child beggars, a group of five, approached me; when my girl friends and I refused to buy their roses for one renminbi, they targeted the boys. Ted, a Taiwanese boy with an American accent, had flowers placed in his pockets and shoved into his hand. A beggar girl our age, with narrowed eyes and a sharp, pointed chin, flung a rose into his collar. “Pei wo, pay me!” she ordered.

Ted threw the roses on the floor and stepped on them. I remembered the broken, flattened petals on the pebbled street and the haunted look in the beggars’ faces. To us, one renminbi wasn’t worth much, but to the beggars, it meant a potential meal. If our entire sixth grade class—a group of forty-two

students—hadn’t been there, the girls would have swamped him.

I leaped from the stair entrance and dashed to Kelvin’s side.

“Da ge, big brother, please give me some money. Just a little,” the little girl begged. Her voice was sweetly soprano, like little chiming bells, but her skin was smudged with dirt.

Kelvin shook his head and drew his leg back slowly. He kept his hands and arms tucked to his side. Kelvin’s movements dragged the little girl along for a few centimeters, her slippers rasping against the concrete tiles.

The rose girl glared and brandished her roses at Kelvin. “Mei, little sister, let go.” The little girl gazed mutely at her elder sister.

I grabbed Kelvin’s left arm and glared around him at the little girl on the other side. I didn’t want to touch her. Kelvin jerked to face me and pulled away from the little girl’s loosened grip.

“What are you doing here?” Kelvin said, seizing my hand and pulling me towards the side of the road. “I told you to wait until I get a taxi.”

“It’s not like you can get a taxi with these girls latched on, can you? You can’t even answer back! You don’t speak enough Mandarin!” I snapped.

“You should have stayed. It’s safer.

Now they have two targets.” Kelvin said. “First cardinal rule with beggars: never give them money. Second: never give them an opening. Third: never show we’re expatriates.” Kelvin’s eyes narrowed. “We just broke the last two.”

The rose girl looked at Kelvin, at me, then at Kelvin again. Her lips stretched upwards at the foreign syllables. “Mai wo de hua, buy my flowers, buy my flowers!” she cried, waving the roses at us. “You have money!” Her slippered feet dug into the sidewalk and she bent her knees, ready to spring at us. Kelvin pulled me behind his back.

“There’s an empty taxi heading towards us,” Kelvin said, bending his head towards his shoulder. His hair obscured his eyes. “I’ll try to flag it down. Get into it as quickly as you can.”

The rose girl stamped her foot. She dragged her sister with her. “Don’t ignore me!” she shrieked. The little girl clung at her pink skirt. Kelvin raised his hand, palm upraised. The taxi slowed down.

I swung away from the protection Kelvin’s back offered. “Wo men bu yao ni de hua, we don’t want your flowers,” I snarled at the rose girl. The rose girl stared at me, her arm outstretched, the roses hanging limply in her hand.

She was a year or two younger than me, but I towered over her.

I swallowed once, twice. My throat hurt. I pointed at the recycling waste bins nestled between two trees several meters away. My voice, when I spoke, was low. “If you try to force us, I’ll throw your roses away.”

The rose girl stared at me, her eyes wide. Her outstretched hand trembled.

The little girl half-cowered behind the taller rose girl. Her little mouth moved, but there was no sound.

Something gripped the collar of my shirt and dragged me backwards.

“Taxi. Get in now,” Kelvin said, and shoved me towards the open taxi door.

I scrambled over the wood-beaded seat coverings.

“Hurry up,” the taxi driver muttered, staring up at his rearview mirror, one hand wrapped around the clutch. “I don’t usually stop when there are beggars around.”

Kelvin was two steps away from the taxi when the rose girl leaped. Her hands danced for the white leftover containers. Kelvin yanked his handupwards, the plastic bag streaking after it like a dog on a leash. He rushed into the taxi and slammed the door shut.

The taxi jerked to life a second later.

“Zhong Xin, Tian He North Road,” Kelvin told the taxi driver and leaned back against the chair seat, breathing heavily. “Vicious girls.”

The taxi driver glanced up at the rearview mirror. “Uh. You two are lucky. These beggars usually hunt in packs.”

“I know. Thank you for stopping,” I

said.

Kelvin glanced at me quizzically.

“So. What did you say to those girls?”

“Nothing, really. Just told them to leave us alone,” I said in a small voice.

Kelvin patted me on the head and curled one arm around my shoulders.

I twisted in my seat and stared out the back window as the taxi sped away from the sidewalk. The rose girl and her sister stood hand in hand. The older woman at the street corner paced beside the two girls, flapping her hands and shaking her head sharply.

The rose girl turned her head to one side, the roses crushed in her right hand.

But it’s true YANIQUE BIRD

Don't run. You can't hide Don't slip 'cause you'll slide.

Don't call and don't write.

I'll just argue. You'll fight.

I won't sink. You can't swim.

You knock. I barge in.

You blow hot and cold.

You're young. I'm too old.

It won't work this way.

I'm night and you're day.

There's no me with you.

That's a lie. But it's true.

Old bouquet LUCY ZEMJIC

In the old vase sits a dried up bouquet.

It is winter now; a weary wind blows against the window at the end of the day.

Outside on the street, the sound of a sleigh ruffles the feathers of sleeping crows.

In the old vase sits a dried up bouquet that you’d given me long on that day when I watched you leave, pressing my nose against the window at the end of the day.

Smoke from the chimney rises in a sad way like your cigaretes used to; yet still, every day, in the old vase sits a dried up bouquet.

In here, as I write, my hands made of clay will crumble quietly for the line I compose against the window at the end f the day I knew that like happiness you could not stay; but still, through the night, my loneliness grows.

In the old vase sits a dried up bouquet, against the window at the end of the day.

MONDAY, JANUARY

18, 2010 THE MEDIUM 11

Andrew Tysiak , Editor | sports@mediumonline.ca

Is it time to ban NHL’s swinging fists?

Just a little over a year since Don Sanderson’s infamous death,The Medium re examines the role of fighting in the NHL ANILA QASIM

A little over a year has passed since 21-year-old Don Sanderson took his last breath. The defenceman of the Whitby Dunlops, a senior level AAA hockey team, crashed his helmet-less head on the ice during a fight on December 12, 2008. The injury led to Sanderson’s eventual death. Most unfortunately, however, time has not changed the face of hockey, for it remains the only professional sport that accommodates within its legislation spontaneous acts of violence.

For many Canadians, hockey is a true manifestation of action. It incorporates the best of talent and entertainment, skimmed from the physical altercations that are resultant of foul play or revenge. For the many who oppose banning fights in hockey, on-ice combat is pivotal in that it protects talented players from the cheap shots: team mates guard the gifted players from harm, enabling them to focus on the game.

But what about the fights that are instigated by violent players, who attack their peaceful opponents?

Take for instance, Steve Downie of the Philadelphia Flyers, who in October 2007 sent Dean McAmmond of the Ottawa Senators into a concussion with a mighty flying elbow. Or Jesse Boulerice, also of the Flyers, and his cross-check to the face of Ryan Kesler of the Vancouver Canucks. In both cases, infamous

fighters disrupted the peace by attacking traditionally peaceable opponents. How is violence functioning as a mechanism of protecting these talented players?

Many argue that being physical is integral to the game of hockey; fights are channels through which frustrations can be released. Violence, however, tends to lead to more violence.

One of the best illustration of this truth can be found in the Richard Riot of St. Patrick’s Day in 1955.

Maurice Richard, the iconic Montreal Canadiens player, was high-sticked in the face by Hal Laycoe of the Boston Bruins.

Infuriated, Richard struck Laycoe in the face, eventually breaking his stick over the Bruins’ back, and punched a linesman twice in the face, rendering him unconscious. A season long suspension ensued, which also prevented Richard from playing in the playoffs. This propelled a riot of enraged supporters protesting the banishment of Richard from the ice, including the setting off a tear gas bomb in the arena and extensive looting and damage to buildings in its vicinity.

Violence is indeed vicious; however, it is also glamorized.

Of late, hockey fights have gained an overwhelming amount of emphasis. In sports highlights, fights from a previous game receive airtime comparable to that of the scoring of a goal. Hockey is exhilarating in its fast pace and inexhaustible displays

CanWest Photo

In 2007, Derek Boogaard of the Minnesota Wild (right) and brother Aaron (left) opened up a hockey fighting camp for children in hopes of teaching players how to protect themselves on the ice. of intricate moves, but since when was the fight that lasted three minutes more important than the other 57 minutes of cold, hard hockey?

“As long as the NHL continues to make fighting part of the game, we'll continue to make it part of our highlight package,” stated Mike English, the executive producer of Sportsnet Connected, whose network features a collection of hockey fights in a weekly TV show, Friday Night Fights.

Hockey Night in Canada’s executive producer, Sherali Najak, shared similar views. “If there's anything going on the ice, we have to show it, including a fight. It's not our job to censor the game. You have to show it and you have to show it all.”

For the millions of viewers and the thousands of youngsters that idolize NHL players, the overwhelming frequency of violent outbursts— approximated at 0.64 fights per game—may be sending out the wrong message. Are we, by not pushing the NHL to enforce penalties with more vigour, condoning violence?

Participation in organized team sports teaches us life-lessons, instils within us a sense of responsibility and the ability to work with others.

By allowing professional adults to interact amongst each other viciously, are we redefining the notions of sportsmanship and professionalism for our future generations?

A 2007 hockey fighting camp for

children, founded by Derek Boogaard of the Minnesota Wild, tutored players in the skill of protecting themselves on the ice. For added authenticity, the children donned T-shirts decorated with imitation blood.

Clarence Campbell, the NHL president from 1946 to 1977, claimed that if fighting were to be abolished, “the players would no doubt develop more subtle forms of viciousness.”

If that is the case, why is it that this tolerable face of violence is being twisted into a hideous form?

Why has Don Sanderson lost his life?

The inexhaustible list of injuries sustained by hockey players is frightening. Concussions, seizures that cause uncontrollable shaking of limbs and the rolling back of eyes, various gashes and wounds and other more serious injuries are becoming intolerable. It is time the NHL came down hard.

Stricter penalties are not uncommon in other sports, considering the policies in basketball, baseball and football. The latter, which features tackling and such physical interactions amongst players, alongside strict ejection rules, should be taken as a model. The beauty of hockey is not reflected in blood spatter and blackened eyes. Hockey is adrenaline, agility and cunning. It is not necessary to eradicate fighting; it is necessary to regulate fighting in hockey more closely.

Saints and Colts dominate en route to easy victories After their impressive performances on Saturday, a Superbowl bout between these two teams seems inevitable WILLIAM ROBERTSON ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

The Divisional playoff round kicked off this past weekend and proved who deserved to be there vying for the Superbowl.

Action began on Saturday, when the Saint s took on the Arizon a Cardinals in the Superdome. New Orleans were coming off their Bye week and they came out fired up and definitely well rested. They began the game in normal New Orleans fashion by going down by a touchdown in the early going.

Cardinals ’ runningback Tim Hightower took a handoff and ran it 70 yards into the Saints endzone to score the first points of the game.

But that was pretty much all the Cardinals could cheer for the entire game, since the Saints offence was potent as three separate players scored tou chdowns in the first quarter alone.

Reggie Bush had a game to remember as he had 217 all-purpose yards along with two touchdowns.

In the third quarter, he returned a punt for 83 yards alone to put the Saints up by 31 points. Drew Brees had a relatively quiet game by his standards as he threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns.

The Saint s easily rolled over the Cardinals, whose defence was almost unnoticeable compared to the offence against them. They had no answer for Bush or any offensive player on the Saints. Kurt Warner was able to spread out 205 passing yards, but was intercepted once as well. The win for the Saints means they will play Dallas or Minnesota depending on the outcome in Sunday’s game. Either way, it will set up a great match-up between the Cowboys (who ended the Saints winning streak) or Minnesota (who Brett Favre is the QB).

In AFC action, the Indianapolis Colts took on the Baltimore Ravens, and the Colts were able to defeat the tough defence Baltimore is known for. In the first quarter, the teams exchanged field goals and were tied at thre e. The tide changed for Baltimore in the second quarter as Manning picked their defence apart

with a mixture of run and pass. The defence looked off-balance and took several penalties, which led to scoring drives for the Colts. The teams went into half-time with Indianapolis leading by 14. This proved to be all the Colts needed as Flacco could not find a receiver for most of the night, and when he did, the receiver managed to drop the pass. The penalties and lack of offence led to the Ravens’ disappointing loss and sets up a Colts vs. Chargers or Jets next week.

Next week will be exciting as it has the makings of two classic games. The Saints have homefield advantage with whomever they play and so do the Colts.

Currently, the Colts are favoured to win the Superbowl, but in sports, anything can happen.

Jeff Gross/Getty Images

Colts star quarterback Peyton Manning 30 for 44 for 246 yards and two touch downs. The Colts defeated the Ravens 20 3.

12 THE MEDIUM MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 2010

SPORTS

SOCCER SUPREMACY

World Cup 2010 - group E to H preview In this final installment, The Medium tackles the final four groups. From current titleholder Italy to South American supremos Brazil, the battle for World Cup supremacy intensifies DAVE ESPOSTO

With African footprints abound, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon further symbolize the continent’s rise to the upper echelons of world football.

Considered a favorite along with perennial underachievers, the Netherlands, this group illustrates a variety of contrasting football landscapes. In one instance, the Samurai Blue from Japan, who were the first team to punch their ticket to South Africa, bring an impressive array of talent and accolades with them. Considered one of the most successful national teams in Asia, the Japanese will look to ride their streak of four successive World Cups with a new generation of players who mainly ply their trade in the homegrown J-League.

Along with the African and Asian representatives, the fusion of European sides Netherlands and Denmark round out the group. As mentioned above, the Dutch are known as underachievers.

Considered a threat at the outset of major tournaments, the Oranje fail to live up to expectations, and this tournament may be no different. An injured Robin van Persie and an out of form Klaas-Jan Huntelaar represent the sides attacking options, but look for coach Bert van Marwijk to utilize other options to see Holland top the group.

The Danes, back in the world spotlight after being absent at Euro 2008 and the 2006 World Cup, boast a myriad of world-class talent led by former AC Milan striker Jon Dahl Tomasson. The Danish Dynamite, under the tutelage of Morten Olsen, will look to explode out the gate and leave a mark after years away from the international scene.

With an effective mix of youth and veteran presence, the Danes will push but ultimately fail to stun in South Africa.

Final Standings: Netherlands, Cameroon, Japan, Denmark

and retain their crown.

Second spot in the group may belong to feisty South American side Paraguay.

After a stellar qualifying campaign, which solidified the Albirroja’s fourth consecutive finals appearance, the side will look to cement a round of 16 place after missing out in 2006, finishing third behind England and Sweden. Star players such as Manchester City’s Roque Santa Cruz and Real Valladolid goalkeeper Justo Villar will lead the side.

After a dominating qualifying run in the Oceania bracket, the All Whites from New Zealand make their first finals appearance in the World Cup since 1982. Regarded as the minnows of the tournament, many players in the side play their club football in the Australasian A-League. The side, however does include some players with top-tier footballing experience. The most prominent is mainstay and captain centre-back Ryan Nelsen, who plays for Blackburn Rovers in the English Premier League. Looking to crack the squad is 18-year-old striker Chris Wood, who also has Premier League experience playing for West Bromwich Albion. Direct and physical, Ricki Herbert’s side remain unscathed by their moniker as minnows.

The final side in the group is Slovakia. Nicknamed Repre, the side finished qualifying as surprising winners in a group, which included Slovenia, Czech Republic and Northern Ireland. Competing in their first finals as an independent nation after participating in eight previous championships as a member of the former Czechoslovakia, the side will look to build on the momentous occasion with an impressive showing. With most of this side play their club football on foreign ground, their greatest influence of players will come from the German Bundesliga. Look for the side to finish in third spot.

Final Standings: Italy, Paraguay, Slovakia, New Zealand

Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia

Group G: Brazil, Korea DPR, Ivory Coast, Portugal

2006 winners Italy are the favorite for top spot in the group. After a poor showing at Euro 2008, under the tutelage of Roberto Donadoni, the Azzurri have reappointed Marcello Lippi, the man who led them to glory four years prior. With the core group of players remaining seemingly unchanged, with the likes of Fabio Cannavaro and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, La Nazionale will have to deal with the pressure of entering the showcase defending champions as well as a side who have seen recent struggles if they want to repeat

With only two spots guaranteed, this group may be the most difficult for bookkeepers and football fans to call.

While Brazil are favoured to take top spot in this projected Group of Death, second spot in the group is the most intriguing. Firstly, however, to provide a fair assessment, one must look at each side individually, beginning with the five-time champions from South America.

A penchant for panache, the Selecao are once again showing the world their unique and incredibly talented brand of

Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon

rsltothecore.com photo

Former Toronto FC midfielder and captain Amado Guevara (left) will be playing for Honduras this summer. football. From Robinho to Kaka, the star-laden side head to South Africa as a favorite to win the entire tournament.

Coach and former captain Dunga has reinvigorated the side, who go into the showcase as both Copa America and Confederations Cup title holders. The second side in the group is North Korea. An underdog from the outset, just punching their ticket to South Africa remains a great accomplishment.

Known for pulling off one of the World Cup’s biggest upsets in history after beating Italy 1-0 and advancing to the quarterfinals in 1966, the North Koreans will look to once again rock the football landscape.

The third group is another African representative. The Elephants from Ivory Coast will be making their second successive World Cup appearance after debuting in 2006. As debutants, the side caused headaches for Argentina and Holland, and have since grown to become one of the continent’s most revered and talented sides. A glance at the squad list can attest to the talent throughout the squad, with many players already stars within their respective domestic sides. From Chelsea duo Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou to Manchester City defender Kolo Toure, look for the Elephants to push Portugal for second spot in the group.

The final group is Portugal. With many of their players being Brazilianborn, such as stalwarts Deco and Pepe, this plot adds to an already mouthwatering group. While the side had to punch their ticket via a play-off win over Bosnia-Herzegovina, there is no denying that the talent at coach Carlos Queiroz’s disposal is not just vast, but skilled as well. From Cristiano Ronaldo to Ricardo Carvalho, the side will look for their mix of youth and veterans to

Bears' Gaines Adams dead at 26 Greenville, SC Bears defensive end Gaines Adams has passed away. The Greenville News reports Adams, who was 26, died Sunday morning after being taken to the emer gency room at Self Regional in Greenwood, citing the county coroner.

(Sports Network)

White Sox ink Jenks, Quentin to one year deals Chicago, IL The Chicago White Sox avoided arbitration with both closer Bobby Jenks and outfielder Carlos Quentin, reaching agreements for one year contracts with both players..

Jenks' deal is worth $7.5 million, while Quentin's is for $3.2 million.

(Sports Network)

hold off a challenge from the Ivory Coast and advance to the round of 16.

But while they are favoured by many to trump the Elephants and join Brazil in the second round, it is difficult to see them maintain a consistent level within the group stage.

Final Standings: Brazil, Ivory Coast, Portugal, Korea DPR Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile Euro 2008 winners Spain head into the tournament as another favorite to win it all. Under new boss Vicente Del Bosque, who took over for Luis Aragones, La Furia Roja is another side laden with stars at every position. From the dangerous striking duo of Fernando Torres and David Villa to midfield maestros Xavi and Andreas Iniesta, it is no wonder that the side comfortably cruised through qualification, maintaining a flawless record throughout. While they look to easily progress, they must remain humble and not take any opponent lightly.

Rounding out the European contingent in the competition is Switzerland.

Keeping a low-profile, the Swiss are entering the group as long shots to progress, even if they managed a round of 16 finish in 2006. An abundance of youth may be the Helvetians’ ticket in exiling the ghosts of a forgettable appearance at Euro 2008, where the nation seemingly turned on the side.

With support restored and a nation hungry to make amends, the Swiss will look to upend the chances of two South American sides looking for their time to shine.

After a twelve-year absence, Chile is back in the World Cup. Their first appearance since 1998, La Roja will

want to show the world what they have been missing. Coach Marcelo Bielsa has turned the tide and has once again made the Chileans a football force in a continent dominated by Argentina and Brazil. The Chileans will look for Humberto Chupete Suazo to emphatically introduce his finishing skills to the world and continue his impressive run of form.

The final side in a group with plenty of Latin feel to it already is Honduras.

Making their second-ever World Cup appearance, the Catracho have become a symbol of prosperity in a country rife with political problems. Considered a saviour by the nation’s citizens, coach Reinaldo Rueda has done exceptionally well to steer the Hondurans into South Africa. With stars like Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Wilson Palacios and former Toronto FC midfielder and captain Amado Guevara, this South American side will look to do better than their showing in Spain 1982, where they went winless.

With two continents represented by two different nations, the world will be treated to a diverse mix of footballing styles, tactics and skill sets. But in the end, look for the Swiss and Spain to progress.

Final Standings: Spain, Switzerland, Chile, Honduras The groups are now set. The debates have begun. All that is left is to wait. On June 11, South Africa welcomes the world. The 19th edition of the World Cup will surely not disappoint. More than just a spectacle of sport, football has become an outlet for peace and equality in the world, and no matter whom you support, and even if you don’t follow football at all, the showcase will have something for everyone.