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NEWS

173.7 • Thursday, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

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Write On: Writers Workshop held during reading week

McLaughlin Library event cultivates writing community Stacey Aspinall

Reading week proved an opportune time for writing enthusiasts to pick up their pen and paper and learn from the pros at the fourth annual Writers Workshop, held on Feb. 20 and 21 in McLaughlin Library.

The event welcomed aspiring writers from both campus and the greater community. Participants could choose from 20 engaging workshops on a variety of pertinent topics, including social media, creative writing, magazine writing, and academic writing.

This is the second year the event has been free to attend, and it proved to be wildly popular. The event was at full capacity, with around 400 people who registered three weeks in advance, and many more on the waiting list.

“We’ve more than doubled in our attendees,” said Jodie Salter, a Writing Specialist from the Library Learning Commons. This is the third year Salter has been organizing the event.

“Last year we had 280 attendees throughout the entire two days.

This year… we’ve had 595,” said Salter. Registration was full to capacity, an increase attributed to better advertising, word of mouth through the community, and people tweeting about the event.

Participants were required to pre-register for each day, and then choose which workshops to attend. “Social Media Engagement,” “The Grammar Geeks’ Gab Session,” “You Can Write for Magazines and Newspapers,” “Thesis Writing: Tools for Success,” and “Writing Fiction That Sells” were just a few of the options.

When asked about the event’s growing popularity, Salter explained, “I think its because there’s a broad range of writing topics, from social media,

[to] publishing options, creative writing, fiction and nonfiction, and academic workshops, and because they’re free it’s an amazing opportunity for the community to have access to workshops that may not normally be available,” said Salter.

Writing can often be considered a solitary activity, but events such as this provide an important opportunity to network and make connections with other writers from within the local creative community.

“The other thing that is different [this year] is that we have more local authors presenting, so about half of our presenters roster [is] local - local being Guelph and surrounding area,” said Salter. The presenters holding the workshops do so as unpaid volunteers, contributing their time to allow the event to happen.

“A lot of our presenters have come from outside the university, so it’s really helped build that university-community collaboration,” said Salter.

PHOTO BY JODIE SALTER

Joan Flaherty speaks to aspiring writers at the McLaughlin Library during the fourth anuual Writers Workshop.

CME rebranded as College of Business and Economics

Name change intended to boost public profile of U of G commerce programs Michael Long

The University of Guelph’s College of Management and Economics has rebranded itself as the College of Business and Economics (CBE). According to Dean Julia Christensen Hughes, this name better reflects the college’s academic offerings and strategic direction. The change was finalized after a university senate meeting on Monday, Feb. 10.

“The name change followed a two year process where we considered our structure and our identity,

and it was intended to help put additional emphasis on the fact that we are a business school and that we have over 3,000 students studying commerce with us,” said Christensen Hughes.

Additionally, within the college itself, the Department of Business has been renamed the Department of Management, while the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management has been renamed the School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management.

Adding the word “food” to the latter title is a decision indicative of the school’s burgeoning area of specialization.

“We’ve had a long-standing commitment to the restaurant industry, but now we’re taking

a broader approach to looking at food and including the global food supply chain,” said Christensen Hughes. “So having the word ‘food’ in there is more reflective of our growing interest in that area.”

The college’s other two departments, the Department of Finance and Economics and the Department of Marketing and Consumer Studies, will retain their original names.

Overall, “[this rebranding] is something that, through focus groups and interviews with students and alumni, we identified as being critical to our future,” said Christensen Hughes. “With so many students choosing business programs, and employers choosing where to recruit…we

felt that it would be important to have the word ‘business’ in the title for prospective high school students, as well as for bringing employers to campus.”

This decision was announced less than a month after the Board of Governors decision to spend $10 million converting MacDonald Hall into the new home of the college.

With a new address and new name, Christensen Hughes says the CBE now feels “poised and ready” to pursue the next big branding target: getting a donor to attach their name to the college. The Rotman School of Management at the U of T and Ivey School of Business at Western University are just two examples of this popular trend

among business institutions.

Jacqueline Watty, Development Manager at Alumni Affairs and Development, noted that a benefactor might have to donate between 15 and 30 million dollars before qualifying to have their name affixed to a college. But with these latest rebranding efforts, Christensen Hughes is confident that donors will more forthcoming.

“We’re just in the early days,” said Christensen Hughes. “The college was formed seven years ago now, which might seem like a long time, but in the scheme of things is not typically when schools or colleges are named.”

The CBE currently has more than 3,000 undergraduate and 210 graduate students.

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The CSA general election starts March 5

Michael Long

Al Jazeera journalists on trial in Egypt Nine members of Al Jazeera staff, including Egyptian-Canadian bureau chief Mohamed Fahmy, have denied all charges at the start of their trial in Cairo.

The journalists stand accused of aiding a “terrorist organization” – Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood.

Egyptian authorities cracked down on the Brotherhood after the military ousted President Mohammed Morsi in July, and the Al Jazeera journalists were arrested just four days after the interim government labelled the Islamist group a terrorist organization.

Speaking from cages in the courtroom, the journalists told the BBC they had been locked up for 23 hours a day, were denied a chance to prepare their defence, and had not been shown the evidence against them.

Al Jazeera has said the allegations are “absurd, baseless and false,” and the U.S. government has demanded the journalist’s release, calling their targeting an “egregious disregard for human rights.”

US Army to reduce number of active-duty soldiers U.S. Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has unveiled plans to trim the size of the active-duty Army from 520,000 to as low as 440,000. That is a level not seen since 1940, but as the U.S. prepares to end its combat role in Afghanistan later this year, the military has come under increasing pressure to downsize.

“This is a budget that recognises the reality of the magnitude of our fiscal challenges,” said Hagel.

Reactions to the announcement were mixed.

Winslow Wheeler, a defence budget analyst with the Project on Government Oversight, criticized the proposal as “hype,” noting that overall military spending would still remain at 2005 levels.

Republicans, conversely, warned that cuts could hurt military readiness.

“This is not the time for us to begin to retreat, and certainly not the time to cut our military,” Republican Representative Michael Turner told Bloomberg News.

Hagel acknowledged that reducing the number of soldiers would compromise America’s ability to conduct multiple wars simultaneously, but he is convinced that the U.S., with its $600 billion military budget, would still be able to defeat any aggressor.

The proposed cutbacks would also curb housing allowances, limit pay increases, and retire the Cold War-era U-2 spy plane and A-10 attack jet.

Compiled by Michael Long

NEWS

www.theontarion.com

The Central Student Association’s (CSA) annual general election takes place from Wednesday, Mar. 5 to Friday, Mar. 7. On those three days, students will head to the online polls to elect their Executive, their college representatives to the Board of Directors, and vote on a referendum question.

Results will be announced within one week of the ballot box closing.

CSA bylaws prohibit candidates from campaigning prior to the specified campaign week, and this year’s campaign week begins on Monday, Mar. 3. Only then can candidates begin classroom talks, publicizing their platform, putting up posters, sending emails, and shoring up votes. Candidates are allowed to continue campaigning until the last day of voting.

The Ontarion posed two questions to each candidate for the Executive positions, and their responses will be published in next week’s issue, to be released Mar. 6. For now, here is a full list of candidates: For the Executive positions, the candidates are as follows:

Communications and Corporate Affairs Commissioner Matt Brown Sonia Chwalek River Roy Human Resources and Operations Commissioner David Alton Colin Morris For the Board of Directors, the candidates are as follows: College of Social and Applied Human Sciences Sarah Hafuth Claire Segeren College of Arts Shalu Atwal Brad Breedon Brendan Campisi College of Biological Science Tulakshiga Selvarajah

On the online ballot, students will also have a chance vote on a single referendum question, which this

year comes from the Student Space Initiative.

The Student Space Initiative is a relatively new organization that is seeking funds to make upgrades to student space around campus.

Spearheaded by Katherine Lucas, President of Interhall Council, the group takes some inspiration from the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences Student Alliance, which last year invested capital to make improvements to MacKinnon building. The Initiative is asking to collect a $2 fee per semester from full-time students, which would then be matched by the University of Guelph.

The preamble to their referendum question, which can be made public prior to campaign week, reads as follows: “The purpose of the Student Space Initiative is to update and modify student space on campus. This will be achieved by: updating furniture, installing new receptacles, improving lighting, and repurposing university space into student space.

These modifications wil.l be

accessible to all students. A student space committee will be struck to allocate funds to priority locations on-campus, which will increase and improve student space. The committee will be comprised of both students and staff to ensure fair representation from both partners and will report to the Compulsory Fees Committee annually. In addition, the committee will create funding guidelines and allocation principals before distributing its funds. Student membership will have a 50% + 1 majority on the committee to provide students with the opportunity to have a majority vote. These fees will be broken into two separate budget lines and will be distributed at the discretion of the committee. 80% of the fees will be for projects chosen by the committee while the last 20% will be projects recommended by students directly.

Students will have an opportunity to submit applications to the committee for consideration and projects that have the greatest impact will be chosen. The guidelines for these projects will be determined by the committee.”

Local Affairs Commissioner Luna Shen Brittany Skelton Caitlin Drew Zeran External Affairs Commissioner Sonali Menezes Maggie Robertson Academic and University Affairs Commissioner Peter Miller Kimmi Snider

COURTESY PHOTO

Fall reading week campaign highlights student stress Caroline Elworthy As students return from winter reading week with fresh minds and a regenerated sense of motivation, now is perhaps the best time to consider the pros and cons of having a reading week during the fall semester.

The Central Student Association (CSA) and the university administration have been doing just that, and Julia Forster, the Academic and University Affairs Commissioner for the CSA, is serving as the motivating force behind the campaign.

But as Forster explained, there are many scheduling factors that need to be considered before any action takes place.

Guelph operates on a 12-week schedule that allows the university to release grades before the conclusion of the winter break. If the U of G were to implement a fall reading week, the scheduling of dates would need to shift accordingly, shortening the 3-week long winter break to make room for the additional week off. Alternatively, rescheduling the U of G’s Orientation Week to hold classes earlier has also been discussed.

These modifications would be

extended to the U of G’s regional campuses and Guelph-Humber, compelling them to adapt to a 13-week schedule as well.

As Forster explained, such major changes in scheduling would require complex negotiations between the administration, the CSA, and the general student body.

But if there is great enough demand, the administration will be as receptive as possible. It is of the utmost importance, Forster added, that conversation be generated among the student body – they must know what options are available and what repercussions would follow.

While talk of a fall reading week continues, on Monday Feb. 10 the U of G senate approved a motion to extend Thanksgiving break to give students an additional day off.

Forster and the Graduate Student Association successfully lobbied to extend the Thanksgiving weekend into the following Tuesday. Forster explained that this works better than giving students the Friday before Thanksgiving off because, in that case, faculty would be forced to teach back-to-back classes. Transportation was also considered, as Tuesdays are typically less busy than Fridays for travelling.

The extended Thanksgiving holiday will be implemented starting next fall, and an additional teaching day will be added at the end of the semester to compensate.

Forster suggests that a fall reading week would provide more than a much needed breather during the hectic fall semester, it would also benefit the mental health of students, especially for those who only see their families twice a semester.

“I was trying to think of what I could do to help students in my position, and around the time of the 1 in 5 Campaign something that came to me – as a prominent issue – was stress and mental illness,” said Forster.

“There is definitely a growing awareness and increase of empathy for the mental health and stress levels of students throughout all levels of the university,” Forster added. “Our point within this campaign is to generate as much conversation and awareness about what options and services are open to students, and then simply to try our hardest to cater to these needs.”

The U of G recently formed a Mental Health Committee to observe how students react and cope with stress. In an effort to

lower the overall rate of depression, anxiety and stress among students, the group will explore scheduling and curriculum strategies employed by other universities in attempt to find the best possible approaches.

McMaster University, for example, currently practices a ‘midterm ban’ policy where, to reflect rising stress levels among the student body, a midterm recess is implemented, and during that time faculty cannot administer exams.

“One of our main goals is to reduce the stigma of mental health through effective education and awareness,” said Forester, “while reassuring those students who do suffer from temporary or serious mental illnesses that they are not alone.”

Recent surveys emailed through the Office of Student Affair’s listserv provided the CSA and university administration with a good indication of which student groups are most in favour of an extended fall break. Among the 5,000 respondents, first year students were found to be the most receptive to a longer break. The College of Biological Sciences was least in favour and the College of Arts was most in favour.

ARTS & CULTURE

173.7 • Thursday, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

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The Weekly Scene: 3 Days to Kill

1 stunningly-flaweddisaster out of 4 Sameer Chhabra

Set against a backdrop of a warm and welcoming Paris, director McG’s latest arthouse-thriller mashup is a disaster of a movie that attempts to tell four stories, spectacularly failing at all of them. Lacking in depth, emotion, and self-awareness, Luc Besson and Adi Hasak’s script juggles too many ideas and takes itself far too seriously. Had Besson and Hasak attempted to balance only one of the film’s four conceits with just a small amount of self-examination, they still would have failed, but the resulting production would have been mediocre instead of disastrous.

One of the only redeeming qualities found in 3 Days to Kill is Kevin Costner, and a reminder of the man’s talent for bringing sanity and humanity to otherwise insane productions.

Starring as Ethan Renner,

Costner’s role is ridiculously convoluted. First, he is an American hitman working to bring two terrorists to justice. Second, he is an American hitman working to bring two terrorists to justice, while simultaneously battling inoperable cancer. Third, he is an American hitman working to bring two terrorists to justice, while simultaneously battling inoperable cancer, while struggling to reconnect with his estranged daughter.

Fourth, he has to do all of this while somehow dealing with a family of squatters who have taken refuge in his apartment in Paris.

The audience is frequently reminded that Renner does not belong in France by bringing up the fact that the man can’t speak a word of French – over and over again.

Giving sole credit to Costner is unfair to the talented actress who has the misfortune of playing his occasionally rebellious and frequently manipulative daughter, Zoey. Hailee Steinfeld (of True Grit fame) plays her part with the kind of subtlety and nuance that such

a script calls for but doesn’t realize it needs. We see her toy with her father, lash out at him, and wear wigs to scare him into thinking she’s dyed her hair red - is insulting.

Though we see Steinfeld act with a knowing twinkle and her tongue firmly in her cheek, which is relieving.

Just in case her family troubles aren’t enough, Zoey has prom looming on the horizon.

COURTESY PHOTO

The film spends quite a bit of time reassuring its audience that Ethan isn’t a bad father.

We’re reminded that he’s a man from a different time, who isn’t used to the custom and procedure of the modern day. His inadequacy, the films argues, does not stem from a lack of love on his part, but from a lack of knowing how to parent. A repeated joke lies in how much Ethan and the criminals he interacts with understand his pain in raising Zoey.

With the small amount of characterization on display, no matter how much we may try to like Ethan, there’s nothing but a shadow of a character that we can cling to.

It’s not that Costner doesn’t do a good job with the material he has, it’s that he has little material to work with in the first place.

We see Ethan try to be a good father, and we see him struggle with his parenting, his illness, and his job. We understand that he finds himself in difficult situations, but beyond these facts, there is little in the way of emotional connection

to identify with him. Ironically, by failing to create any semblance of a character, 3 Days to Kill gives the audience an understanding of what it’s like to be Zoey.

Faint praise must be given to Theirry Arbogast’s cinematography. He refuses to abide by the shaky-cam standard for action sequences and car chases, and for that he must be commended. What the audience sees is the full sequence of events, including every punch, kick, and throw. Furthermore, Arbogast paints Paris with a warm orange hue that helps ease the melodramatic strain. There are several cinematic flaws, and the orange palette grows tiring after the third or fourth time Ethan and Zoey connect, but it’s not completely terrible, and that means something here.

There is little else to take away from the film’s plot, production, or characters other than, perhaps, that it’s important for parents to stay emotionally connected to their children – although, no one has actually ever disagreed with this advice or suggested otherwise.

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www.theontarion.com

He’s the secret, she’s the agent Stephen Banic NBC’s Chuck is one of the most underrated shows on television.

It ran from 2007 to 2012 and consists of five seasons, with a total of 91 episodes. The series ran a full story arc with a satisfying finale, but over the course of five years, it was put into jeopardy due to low viewership.

Although holding an extremely loyal fanbase, Chuck never really caught the attention of the mainstream viewer, and as viewership began to decline after its second season, NBC decided to cancel

Emily Jones

The Overview: Chuck

the show. The fans were livid. An online campaign was created to save Chuck. Instead of going after the network, the fans decided to approach the main sponsor, Subway, in their attempts at saving the show. Eventually, the fans were successful, and NBC confirmed a third season. Despite continually low viewership, the show continued with a fourth and fifth season, as well.

Chuck follows the story of Chuck Bartowski (Zachery Levi).

Having been expelled from Stanford five years prior, Chuck is forced to move in with his older sister, Ellie (Sarah Lancaster), and her boyfriend, Devon a.k.a. Captain Awesome (Ryan McPartlin), in Burbank, California. He spends

his days working at a fictional electronic store called The Buy More, playing video games with his childhood friend, Morgan (Joshua Gomez), and reading comic books. This all changes when his former college roommate, Bryce Larkin (Matt Bomer), a CIA operative, sends him an encrypted email containing all of the CIA database. When Chuck opens the email, all the information and secrets are downloaded into his brain.

Once the CIA and NSA discover that an average citizen holds all the secrets of the government, they send their two bests agents, Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovshi) and John Casey (Adam Baldwin), to protect and watch over

ARTS & CULTURE

him. The show revolves around this unlikely trio as they work together to bring down terrorists and corrupt officials, all the while trying to find a way to extract the data from Chuck’s brain so he can return to his ordinary life.

This show contains so many genres that it is very difficult to narrow it down to just one. At its core, Chuck is a comedy. It also contains a lot of action, spy and government conspiracies, drama, and romance. That being said, the romantic relationship between the two main characters, Chuck and Sarah, will drive any person who watches the show completely mad. As cheesy as this sounds, Chuck and Sarah are a match made in heaven. Never before have I been

taken on such an emotional rollercoaster ride in terms of a fictional relationship, eventually realizing that I had invested myself fully in the character of Chuck, and that his disappointments and successes were my own.

Television shows that evoke emotion in their audience are the ones worth watching, and these shows really justify sitting down and spending 45 minutes in front of a TV. Ladies and gentlemen, I have never cried during a movie or television show. Never.

However, the closest I have ever came to shedding a tear was the series finale of this very show.

That is beautiful television in my mind. Chuck is beyond Overview approved. Get watching.

Simply authentic: diary of a local foodie

Every once in a while, it is nice to add a light and delicious option to the weekly menu. One of my very favourite ways to do this is by making delicious salads that are not just fillers or ways to fit in the daily dose of vegetables, and that are in no way a “sad salad,” as some have called them within our office.

The key to making a scrumptious meal is to try to pair together interesting and unlikely combinations that end up tantalizing your taste buds. In this week’s column, I will share one of my tried and true favourites – a mixture of lettuces, cucumber, onion, and green apple, topped with a homemade dressing, goat cheese, and a warm mixture of oats, seeds, and nuts sprinkled with cinnamon.

As always, begin by rinsing all of your fresh ingredients including spring mix, chopped cucumber, and sliced green apple. Once all of these fresh ingredients are rinsed, place them in a glass dish and drizzle some fresh lemon on top to keep the green apple from browning until you are ready.

Next, it is time to make the salad dressing. In a small glass dish, add extra virgin olive oil, a splash of apple cider vinegar, fresh lemon juice, Dijon mustard, honey, a pinch of salt, a minced clove of garlic, chopped fresh parsley, and a dash of ground black pepper. Whisk together or shake (if the container has a lid) and let sit until the rest of the preparations are finished so the flavours are able to mingle together.

Moving on to the warmed topping, heat some butter in a frying

pan and add rolled oats, slivered almonds, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds. Then, sprinkle with cinnamon and a little sugar. Let the mixture get coated nicely and crisp up a bit (this will likely take 10 to 15 minutes) and then remove from heat. The final step is to toss the salad in the dressing, crumble the goat cheese on the green mixture, add some fresh berries or dried cranberries, and top with the warmed mixture. Served by itself or as a side to accompany a main dish. This dish is not only delicious, but it is beautiful as well.

Grocery list: -Spring mix -One green apple -Cucumber -Red onion -1 clove fresh garlic -Apple cider vinegar

BRAINSTORMING MUSIC EDUCATION

PHOTO BY ANN WESTBERE

Early in February, music students met for a group information and brainstorming session on music education. Dr. Marta McCarthy hosted the event, which was part of the Youth Music Action Network initiative in collaboration with the Ontario Music Educators, and Music Makes Us. The above photograph displays the ways in which music acts as a tool to enable positive change in the lives of people within society. By coming together to fuel a positive energy in regards to music education, pupils are offered an outlet to get out of their comfort zones in a safe and accepting place and are ultimately strengthening bonds with together and with the community.

-Extra virgin olive oil -Honey -Ground cinnamon -Sugar -Butter -Rolled oats -Sunflower seeds (unsalted)

-Pumpkin seeds -Slivered almonds - Lemon -Salt and pepper -Parsley -Goat cheese -Dried cranberries or fresh berries

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www.theontarion.com

ARTS & CULTURE

A ninja’s advice on love

David Myles and The Good Lovelies perform Valentine’s Day Jodi Taylor

David Myles and The Good Lovelies performed a show most fitting for Valentine’s Day, playing what The Good Lovelies described as “some songs about love, and some that have nothing to do with it.”

While you may not believe it to look at him, Myles’s song “Inner Ninja,” with Nova Scotia rapper Classified, was recently named the Best Selling Rap single in Canadian history. Despite having only bought his first guitar in 2001, Myles quit his job in politics to

pursue a career in music, and has since been quite successful, releasing seven albums and touring internationally. His first song to make Top 40 was “So Blind,” what he jokingly referred to as “bringing proper grammar back to the charts,” for his grammatically correct use of “with whom.”

Myles characterizes versatility and charm in his songs, switching easily between sultry love songs such as “Turn Time Off,” to the catchy and upbeat “Simple Pleasures.” Concluding with “How’d I Ever Think I Loved You,” a musical report card for a past lover, the rapper left the crowd smiling this Valentine’s Day - regardless of their relationship status.

The Good Lovelies provided the perfect feminine complement to the show.

The trio joined

forces in 2006, quit their jobs in 2008, and won a Juno Award in 2010 for Roots/Traditional Album of the Year. The chemistry among the three is evident, with the group constantly switching instruments and vocals as they move and sing in harmony. With their contagiously sunny dispositions, The Good Lovelies had the crowd dancing in their seats with “Kiss Me in the Kitchen” and “Sleepwalking.”

David Myles and The Good Lovelies not only left us with warm hearts for Valentine’s Day, but also with

the idea that quitting your job and starting a band can work out for some people - and we’re glad that these musicians took that chance. As Myles advised, “Take some risks every once in a while and amazing things will happen.”

PHOTOS BY WENDY SHEPHERD

On Friday Feb. 14, the River Run Centre hosted a musical performance featuring David Myles and The Good Lovelies. The above photographs are of David Myles (left), and Caroline Brooks (right) of The Good Lovelies (see photo reel on www.theontarion.com).

ALBUM OF THE WEEK: IN THE PINES

STYLE PICK OF THE WEEK: OMAIMA DAMMAK

COURTESY PHOTO The debut album from duo AroarA titled In the Pines was released in 2013 and is based on the avant-guard poet Alice Notley’s book. The husband and wife duo consists of Andrew Whiteman (of Broken Social Scene and Apostle of Hustle) and Ariel Engle. The album is a collection of unique sounds and beautiful harmonies that are filled with raw passion and fused by artistic excellence. Each track has a fresh vibe that flows into the next.

PHOTO BY WENDY SHEPHERD

Spotted in the University Centre, Omaima Dammak was chosen for style of the week. Dammak is on trend in an all-neutral outfit – black high-waisted trousers, an ivory and lace button up blouse, a khaki cotton blend blazer, and large iridescent leaf earrings.

ARTS & CULTURE

173.7 • Thursday, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

You’ll know it when you see it

Guelph freelance illustrator and artist, Cai Sepulis, has created quite the creative presence in the city Jessica Avolio

I arrive through the front door of OX and spot a head of shoulderlength jet-black hair in the back of the restaurant. I assume it to be Cai Sepulis, with my only knowledge of Cai’s appearance based on a 2x2” profile photo from LinkedIn. We are meeting for the first time.

I wave, walk over, and take a seat across the table. We go through the typical first-time introductions, order a couple beers, and lightly discuss the plan for this article.

The waiter comes by and drops off two coasters. “Your beautifully designed coasters,” the waiter says, looking over and making eye contact with Cai. We all laugh.

You see Cai is responsible for all the branding of OX, the new-ish restaurant located next to the Bookshelf in downtown Guelph.

“I was brought in before the place even had a name,” Cai mentions.

The entire branding process

started from scratch - figuring out the emotion, the interior design, and then “coming up with sketches and sketches of how it will look,” adds Cai. The finished work is displayed on everything from OX’s coffee sleeves, to their business cards, labels, and more.

Cai likens branding a company to acting as a dating coach. “I’m going to dress you up, and I’m going to make sure you attract the clients you want,” Cai explains.

You have no-doubt seen Cai’s work in more places than just the OX, because it’s just about everywhere. With a portfolio spanning

10-years experience, including graphic work done for the City of Guelph, Downtown Guelph, Hillside Festival, Cornerstone, Red Brick, and On the Verge, among many others, Cai’s work has quite a presence across the city.

“I kind of always knew that I liked doing illustration stuff and marketing,” says Cai, speaking about journeying into the field of graphic design. With time spent attending architecture school, one can see how this type of experience leads to the prominent theme of hand-drawn buildings in almost all of Cai’s

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graphic work, seemingly mending together a passion for both architecture and illustration.

Cai’s artistic endeavors originally began in a different field - silkscreening. “That’s where I started meeting everybody in Guelph, because I was kind of a young and upcoming artists,” states Cai, who then began designing postcards and websites. From there, Penguin Books initiated contact and presented the chance to design book covers.

“Everything just spun from there,” Cai adds.

Experience in the field of silkscreening did seem to go handin-hand with Cai’s shift into the graphic design field. Enjoying the idea of working in multiples, which meant not ever having an original piece, is what originally drew Cai to this line of work. Speaking to other more-traditional artists, such as oil painters, they would often mention never wanting prints of their work, but Cai would always retort with the same sentiment: “What do you mean? I want my work everywhere.”

Creating covers for Penguin Books and exploring other avenues, such as CD cover designs and other forms of branding and advertising through graphic work, allowed just this. There is an appreciation of the multiples aspect that comes along with graphic design, “even for the reason of artwork being more accessible,” continues Cai. “You think of stuff that’s in a gallery and it’s just stuck in a gallery, whereas you can go downtown and see my banners along the street. It’s like everybody can see that and everybody can kind of share in that.”

As for how Guelph influences Cai’s work: “I know most of the town and most of the town knows me...in a way it keeps me accountable to what I’m doing.”

Not allowing oneself to be flippant with a client or to create something “awful” helps generate more business through referrals, and this in-turn allows Cai to establish a base of customers in the city.

“I love the vibe of Guelph…I like that you can come downtown and you can generally find a seat on a patio somewhere...if you go out to a cafe to brainstorm and sketch, you’re not cramped into a spot, there is that luxury,” says Cai, comparing Guelph to experiences in hometown-Toronto. “And then it’s nice too that you do bump into people that you know...sometimes I’ll show somebody [my work] and say ‘what do you think of this? This is what I’m thinking.’ It’s kind of different having a giant office where everybody in town [is involved].”

Though, when speaking of the future, Cai admits: “It’s hard to say, I think that a lot of my work is starting to get beyond Guelph,” adding, “the part of me that likes seeing my work on so many different things and in so many different places - it really excites me.”

Back to School Sales

I think and think and think and think Until I finally get sent to bed.

And sorry Mom, It’s not the drugs; It’s the lecture, the cannon and the text.

Milton is a corpse And 10,000 Romantic Poets cannot raise the dead.

I read his obituary on Sparknotes And confirmed it with her Wiken friend.

But I think and think and think yet again, Because every Good Student knows Passage Identification (25 marks)’ll get ya in the end!

Eddy Morin

BY LAURA DOUGLAS

(LEFT) Douglas’ painting is of a still-frame from the film Wild Strawberries and is called A Doctor’s First Duty is to Ask for Forgiveness, which is a quote from the film.

Service Fee Reality is an ATM receipt, Crumpled and thrown away.

The freedom of the recycling bin, Ambition in the disposable age.

Eddy Morin

BY KIMBERLY NORTHCOTE

(RIGHT) This unique quilt was handmade by local artist and designer Michelle O’Keefe. The medium is silk screened, then quilted together. The image was taken from an Elton John record with imagery added by O’Keefe

e

BY MICHELLE O’KEEFE

,

BY NATASHA REDDY

BY DANIELLE BOURQUE

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SPORTS & HEALTH

Queen’s edges Guelph in women’s hockey semis

Historic season for Gryphons comes to end dramatic fashion Andrew Donovan

This historic season for Guelph, one that saw the women go an OUA best 21-3-0, that included a 12-game winning streak, came to an end in the third and final game of the OUA semi finals with a 2-1 loss to the Queen’s Gaels. The series finished in Guelph at the Gryphon Centre in what ended up being a defensive clinic by both of the OUA’s premier teams.

The Gaels opened up the scoring in the second period after holding puck possession for most of the frame. Clare McKellar broke through the Gryphons defense, which sent her on a breakaway.

McKellar made good on her opportunity and fired a shot from just

outside the crease that went top corner to make it 1-0 Queen’s.

The Gael’s Taryn Pilon also found herself on a breakaway, due in part to another Guelph defensive miscue, and buried her shot from the slot to put Queen’s up two.

Guelph came out strong in the third period, and a power play goal by Kaitlyn Mora brought Guelph within one goal. The pressure from the red, black, and gold continued relentlessly in the final period, but even with Gryphons goaltender, Stephanie Nehring, getting pulled in the final minute of play, an equalizing goal was not in the cards.

The last OUA title for Guelph was in 1998, and before that it was in 1995 under the captaincy of Canadian hockey legend, Christine Sinclair.

This season had all the ingredients to be a Cinderella story for the Gryphons. The OUA-best record, as well as the league’s leading

scorer and best goalie made Guelph the team to beat on paper. Then there was the “Fight for Kevin” initiative that brought not just the women’s and men’s hockey team closer together, but galvanized an entire campus to raise awareness for Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma cancer – a sickness that infected, and eventually led to the passing of, 14 year-old Kevin Siddall, brother of Guelph’s fourth year goalie, Brooke Siddall.

While the women did come up short of their goal, creating building blocks for sustained success is how schools win championships, and Guelph has certainly been able to achieve that.

Forward Jessica Pinkerton, first in goals (16) is a junior; while Sophomores Christine Grant, is ninth in goals (13); Amanda Parkins, twenty-eight in goals (8); and Averi Nooren, thirty-seventh in goals (7).

This is important for Guelph, as its top four goal scorers plus junior

PHOTO COURTESY OF GRYPHON ATHLETICS

The CIS #3 ranked Gryphons dropped the third of three games to Queen’s in the OUA semi final to end a season in which the women went an OUA best 21-3-0. goalie Nehring, first in wins (19), are all likely to return to the lineup.

Congratulations on the season, Gryphons, and thank-you for

reminding us of the power of community and the importance of fighting through challenges as a team.

Gryphons dominate at OUA Track and Field Championship Andrew Donovan The University of Guelph’s Track and Field team showed up to the 2014 OUA Championships, held at York University, and in one word, the Gryphons were dominant.

The women repeated as backto-back gold medalists, with a score of 150.5 total points, while the men put up 153 total points in a silver medal finish, second only to a Windsor Lancer team that brought home their 15th gold in the last 16 seasons.

All together, the women amassed 14 medals. Their successes began early on, with Sarah Dougherty winning gold in the weight throw with a distance of 17.22m, and continued with fifth year jumper, Julia Wallace, earning two silvers in high jump and triple jump, and a bronze medal in long jump.

“I did not expect the results that

occurred this weekend at all. I surprised myself,” said Katelyn Ayers, OUA and Gryphons athlete of the week.

Ayers, in her first season running for Guelph, has already been recognized nationally, as she shattered the Canadian Junior Record in the 1000m with a time of 2:44.88. Her performance at the Championships highlighted her previous successes, as she brought home a tournament best four gold medals, sitting atop the podium in the 600m, 1000m, and as the anchor leg in the 4x800m and 4x400m. Her results earned a full 24 points for the Gryphons.

“Overall the team performed very well, only missing a few possible points in some key events,” commented Ross Proudfoot, winner of gold medals in the 4x800m relay – in which the Gryphons set an OUA record time of 7:34.57 – and the 1500m.

The rare missed points, combined with a few surprise performances

by Windsor athletes, were, according to Proudfoot, where the Gryphons lost out on becoming back-to-back OUA Champions.

Guelph has thrown a wrench into the OUA Track and Field history books. The OUA and the CIS has consistently been dominated by the likes of McGill, Toronto, McMaster, Western, and of course, Windsor.

However, with the Guelph women’s team capturing their first OUA title in 2008, and the men capturing their first OUA and CIS title last season, the landscape for track and field in Canada has shifted to the suburban sprawl and agricultural heritage that is the U of G. “The athletes that this team builds all have the same winning mindset and focus on a combined team outcome at Championship meets,” said Proudfoot of Guelph’s

ability to sustain success at provincial and national levels. “Being around veterans with a winning mindset and a good work ethic brings about new generations of national medalists and continued success within the program.”

Proudfoot’s sentiments were echoed by Ayers, who attributed Guelph’s successes to two major factors: “knowledgeable and experienced coaching staff that are dedicated to training athletes,” along with the athletic prowess of the students on the team.

“We are a group of dedicated, committed, and hard working student-athletes…during each grueling practice, everyone gives 110 per cent, and never anything less than that. We all know that we have high standards to keep, so we make sure that [work] gets done,” commented Ayers.

While work has been done at

the OUAs, there is still work to be done at the CIS Championships, where the top two finishers in each event, plus the student-athletes that surpassed the automatic standards, will be in attendance.

Trackie.com currently has Guelph’s men’s team sitting tied for first with the York Lions in projected rankings, with 90.5 points, while the women sit second with 82.5 points; a full 14.5 points behind the Calgary Dinos.

The meet will be held at the University of Alberta in Edmonton from Mar. 2 to 5, and Proudfoot is confident with the potential for success, despite losing out to Windsor at OUAs. “We should have a larger advantage at the CIS level to overtake Windsor as we tend to have a more front-heavy team with more CIS qualifiers, and we only get stronger moving onto the national stage.”

SPORTS & HEALTH WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Anxiety symptoms can begin in childhood Andrew Donovan

PHOTO BY PABLO VADONE

The Gryphons women’s volleyball team ended an outstanding season where they went 14-5 (tops in the OUA West) when they lost in straight sets to the back-to-back-to-back OUA bronze medalist Toronto Varsity Blues.

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173.7 • Thursday, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

The statistics on mental health are prevalent, and we hear about them often. It is said that 20 per cent of Canadians will suffer from a mental illness in their lifetime, and 5 per cent of these illnesses will be anxiety disorders.

The Government of Canada spends (conservatively) $50 billion per year on mental health problems and illnesses, an astonishing 2.8 per cent of our annual GDP. With the conversation in health care shifting from treatment to prevention, a new study

by Guelph Psychology professor Arlene Young suggests that anxiety symptoms can begin in childhood.

“Babies who consistently jump at loud sounds and are slow to warm up to or prefer to avoid new people and situations are more likely to have a behaviourally inhibited temperament,” said Young. “This temperamental style makes them more vulnerable to developing problems with anxiety and even anxiety disorders later in development,” said Young.

Studies have been conducted in

which babies, some with anxiety symptoms and others without, were shown a happy and an angry face. The babies that showed symptoms of anxiety tended to draw their focus to the angry face.

This supposes that a baby that has a predisposition to look at the angry face will see their environment as more threatening that one who looks at the happy face.

The treatment explored by Young was varied. First, children would outline the shape of their bodies and researchers would ask them to show how their bodies felt in certain situations – the child pointing to their stomach, as an example, would indicate that their stomach becomes upset when they get nervous.

Secondly, Young suggests that “systematic desensitization” can prove to be useful for treating children with anxiety. The example she provided was a child afraid of elevators. Instead of forcing the child into an uncomfortable situation, the parent should hold the door open and let the child walk in and out, recognizing no harm will come to them. A second step would be to let the doors close and

immediately press the open door button to again, to prove to the child they are not in harm’s way.

Young’s research was compared to data collected concerning anxious children who spent time playing with peers and did not have the systematic desensitization treatment. Results found that systematic desensitization helped reduce anxiety in children.

While the average person reading this may be able to understand, logically, that little (if any) harm would come to them in something like an elevator, it is important for even adults to understand how slowly desensitizing themselves to their anxieties could help reduce symptoms.

Moreover, Canadian studies have found that only 49 per cent of those suffering from mental health issues seek a doctor’s advice for their conditions.

While taking preventative measures is obviously the best way to avoid most illnesses, if you suffer from a mental health disorder, the advisable plan of action would be to seek professional help as soon as possible.

Pedaling “Cyclocross” into future Olympic games Alexander Lefebvre The Winter Olympics are an exciting time for Canadians.

Our athletes excel in a variety of sports that are included in these games. We always look forward to the usual events: hockey, skiing, speed skating, and figure skating, among others. During the recent Sochi games, viewers in Canada, and around the world, were able to cheer on athletes in newly added events, such as Freestyle Skiing Halfpipe and Snowboard Slopestyle.

Many Canadian spectators were on the edge of their seat, embracing these new sports and the excitement that comes with them. But have you ever wondered how new events end up in the most prestigious winter athletic event in the world?

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) evaluates a variety of factors to determine the inclusion of every Olympic sport. These include viewership ratings, competition level of the sport, and participation rates of countries around the world.

It can be argued that the IOC is taking initiative to increase the diversity of sports within the Olympics, and specifically within the Winter Olympics, as can be seen in the addition of

“X-Game” type events.

This increase in diversity was furthered when the world governing body for cycling, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), engaged in talks with the IOC regarding the inclusion of a cycling based sport called “cyclocross” into the Winter Olympics.

For those unfamiliar with cyclocross, a few key words commonly used to sum up this cycling discipline include mud, beer, cowbells, and barriers – not quite the Tour de France.

This high intensity sport is raced on bikes similar to road bikes, but with features that allow them to ride on harsh terrain such as grass, gravel, mud, and even snow. Primarily raced in the fall and winter months, riders typically have 60 minutes to complete as many laps as possible on a course riddled with barriers and stairs that often require them to dismount and carry their bike over.

Cyclocross has recently surged in popularity within North America, due particularly in part to the World Championships being hosted in Louisville, Kentucky, in Feb. of 2013. This was the first time in 64 years that the World Championships were held outside of a European country.

Brian Cookson, recentlyappointed President of the UCI,

is in favour of cyclocross being involved in the Winter Olympics, as most major cycling disciplines such as road, XC mountain bike, BMX, and track are currently in the Summer Olympic Games.

However, he recognizes some hurdles will need to be jumped (no pun intended) for cyclocross to one day reach the Olympics.

The Olympic Charter states in Rule 6, Section 2, that a sport must be practiced on snow or ice to be included in the Winter Olympics.

Cyclocross course conditions often involve snow and cold temperatures – especially in Belgium, where athletes are trained to race in brutal conditions in the winter months – but these are not prerequisites for participation in the sport.

If newly appointed IOC president Thomas Bach is open to expanding the depth of the Winter Olympics, as we have seen recently, the rule may be altered. Perhaps, in future Olympic games, we’ll see some mud-caked Canucks running their bikes over wooden barriers, all the while being screamed at by rowdy fans. This is not the typical image of a Winter Olympic sport, granted, but 10 years ago, not many people expected athletes like Shaun White, in sports such as snowboard half pipe, to be participating in the Olympics either.

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Rudi Spruit, CanACT President

There’s an app for that

Today’s farms are more modern than ever with enough technology to care for hundreds of animals with a phone.

From GPS to weight monitoring to breeding problems out of genetics, technology has come a long way and continues to move forward at an extremely rapid pace. Every type of farm utilizes technology in some way and continues to improve to try and produce more food for less money.

If I had asked my grandfather how many cows he could milk, he would have said he could probably milk 45, although he would then be swamped with work. So, when my dad took over the farm in the 80s, he purchased his first computer and increased the herd size to 60 cows and 200 pigs. The computer allowed him to manage the animals more efficiently and decreased the amount of paperwork there was to fill out. Now, instead of using a calculator and paper, he was able to transfer all the information to a spreadsheet, completing a task that would have taken hours in just mere minutes.

In the early 2000s, we adopted a new computer program.

This program allowed us to track each and every cow’s

performance on an hourly basis.

We can see which cow walked more or less than usual, if they lay down more than usual, if they’re not eating enough, or if they’re metabolizing too much body fat for milk output. We can also check the health of every cow by analyzing their milk as they are being milked. This kind of management level has increased our herd size to 200 milking cows, but takes less work than the 35 my grandfather was in charge of.

This is just one example of how technology has shaped our farm, but there are many more. In pig barns they now have automatic sorters, which read a computer chip in the pig’s ear, much like a tracking device in a spy movie.

Based on the individual pig’s needs, it will feed the animal and automatically sort the pig in the appropriate pen. In chicken barns, they have automatic scales that hang in the barn and can tell how much each chicken weighs. Based on that information a farmer can tell if there are problems with the feed or the environment, as well as determine when they are ready for market.

In crops, there have been amazing strides to improve efficiency. Most consumers have heard of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), which have probably been the most effective tools in the field over the past

30 years. GMOs allow farmers to produce more food with fewer chemicals, fewer fossil fuels, and less inputs overall. Recently, however, Monsanto has come out with an ingenious new approach that really gets to the bare bones of resistant weeds, called RNAi RNA interference.

This exciting technology is still in the research phase, but will allow weeds to be controlled while greatly reducing chemical application. This is a huge step forward, and I think it will be one of the biggest advancements of the decade There are many more technologies being implemented on farms, from running equipment using GPS technology – which is advanced enough to run a tractor and plant a field by itself – to using drones to assess crop and weed growth in a field to make sitespecific fertilization decisions.

What’s most interesting about all this technology is that it is available to every farmer in the world, and with today’s smartphone and cellular networks, any farmer can access all of the information produced by milk meters, GPS, drones, and sorters anywhere in the world from the palm of their hands.

Farming isn’t a boring, handson career anymore. More and more, farmers are becoming managers and using technology to their advantage.

LIFE

PHOTO BY RUDI SPRUIT

Pictured is a milking parlour, showing off the electronics used by a computer system. As technology advances, farmers are utilizing these types of technologies that can work to their advantage when managing a farm.

You’ve probably seen this on Pinterest

How to stay healthy during the dreaded postreading week sludge Alyssa Ottema

It’s that time of year again. You’re either coming off two weeks of midterm hell followed by a week of binge drinking and sleeping until 4 p.m., or you’re headed into two weeks of midterm hell after a week of binge drinking and sleeping until 4 p.m. Either way, your internal clock is probably very confused as to why you’re up before noon, and your immune system has probably taken a beating over the last week by drinking out of sketchy plastic cups and being in extremely close proximity to germ-infested strangers. At this delicate time, it’s important to take care of yourself to avoid getting sick and perhaps having to defer your exams. In the infamous words of Hermione Granger – paraphrased – “You’re going to get yourself killed – or even worse, expelled.”

Here are some useful tips for keeping healthy at this perilous time.

1. Eat well: This probably means

you should pack a meal if you know you’re going to be out of the house for an extended period of time. Continuously buying food on campus is bad for your wallet and your body – especially considering that one of the only places on campus to take debit is the Taps. Fried Ravioli Bites does not a healthy student make. And, as much as we could argue about the benefits of eating breakfast, you’ll probably feel a little better in your morning class if you’ve got some food in your stomach. Plus, you won’t be that kid whose stomach growls through the entire lecture.

2. Exercise: I mean actually exercise, instead of signing up for a gym membership and then being conveniently “too busy” or “too tired” to go. Even if you just take a long walk outside, or do the Seven Minute Workout in your own bedroom (seriously, that thing will kick your butt), taking a break from working out your mind and doing something active is one of the best things you can do.

3. Sleep: This is one of the most important contributors to a healthy lifestyle, but it’s also what you’re most likely depriving yourself of.

Friends, parties, readings, reddit, and general procrastination all lead to sleep deprivation. So, do your best to log off the Internet, put down the textbook, and catch an extra hour or two of Z’s.

4. Drink water: Drink it all of the time. Drink at least two litres a day.

Buy one of those giant U of G Nalgene bottles in the bookstore and make sure you go through at least two refills. Carry it with you everywhere. For your and your body’s safekeeping, take it with you to parties. Try to drink a quarter of your bottle for every drink you have, and then your Tuesday night trivia adventures won’t seem like such a bad idea the next morning.

Keeping hydrated is exceptionally important all the time, but even more so when you’re making the kind of life decisions that seem a lot better in the moment than they do in hindsight.

5. Hand sanitizer: Campus is like a petri dish of all kinds of gross bacteria. All day, you touch door knobs, keyboards, phones, desks (and, accidentally, the gum on the bottom of those desks), and other people’s hands. While, to a certain extent, our bodies build up immunity, it’s

PHOTO COURTESY OF MEDITATIONMUSIC.NET

In this weeks column, Alyssa offers some tips for keeping healthy during the midterm season - tips you’ve probably seen on Pinterest.

still pretty easy to catch whatever’s going around campus if you don’t protect yourself. You can get the traditional Purell in little mini bottles,

or you can get really cool ones that smell like vanilla or gingerbread, so you don’t smell like the inside of a doctor’s office all the time.

OPINION

173.7 • Thursday, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

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University: education or indoctrination?

The flawed nature of our concept of learning Tom Oberle

As I reflect on my university experience in my final year, I can’t help but think about the ideas I’ve been exposed to and the difference between my view of the world now, compared to my view of the world in first year. I value my education. I’ve worked hard for it, and I’ve spent a lot of money to get it.

To some extent, I am proud of this, yet I believe some aspects of our concept of education and learning at university are deeply flawed.

We are taught to think critically, yet we are not taught to think critically outside of the liberal, secular ideological framework we are taught within. We are educated on the issues and problems of our world, yet we are taught that they are no fault of our own. We are taught that human nature is basically good, and perhaps if it is not, it does not matter anyway. Instead, our society, conditions imposed on us from society, and our political structure are to blame for the

suffering and injustice in the world.

Humanity is not at fault, even though we created these conditions in the first place. We have theories and frameworks to explain our world. We are told that, if we could find the proper theory, the right political framework, or that utopian ideal that Karl Marx once had, then the world would be at peace – despite evidence to the contrary.

We are driven by the herd mentality that university students must behave in a certain way, hold certain beliefs, and deem certain things as important. Partying, excessive drinking, and casual, guilt-free sex is the norm.

Students live by the imperative that if it feels good, do it, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else – to the best of your knowledge and the best of your definition of hurt. The pursuit of pleasure and human connection is the meaning of life. It’s what we were made for, and there is nothing else.

We are taught that God does not exist, and if he does, it does not matter. God and science are enemies, and there is no evidence for God anyway. We need only hear our professors denounce or mock the

existence of a deity to be content that we have exhausted all our personal efforts into the matter. We are taught that morality is subjective.

As long as you do what you think is right then we will all be fine. Yet I only need to mention Hitler’s Germany or Stalin’s Russia to characterize the outcome of this logic.

We are taught to be tolerant of all beliefs and ideas. Yet tolerance seems to actually mean, “you must agree with what others believe,” despite the fact that all these beliefs and ideas are contradictory. If you disagree, you are intolerant and an adversary to human rights and equality. Tolerance has become intolerant. It does not seem to be possible any longer for one to show others respect and dignity yet still disagree with their religious, political, or sexual views.

An idea can be contended against an idea, because ideas have no feelings or desires, but a human being should not be contended against another.

We are taught that what is true for you is not necessarily true for me.

Rather, what is true is a matter of one’s own personal opinion, reality notwithstanding. Whichever way you view the world is not right or wrong, it is simply what you choose to believe and we must be ‘tolerant’ of it. We must all find the truth that is right for us, for there is no absolute truth. Except, of course, the

COURTESY PHOTO

In this Opinion piece, Tom argues that the type of education we receive in the university setting is flawed, and that this generation of youth accepts what they are taught without question. truth that there is no absolute truth.

My experience at university has left me unsettled, because I see a generation of youth that accept what they are being told without question, that have no boundaries, and that exhibit no amount of wisdom or discretion for such matters. The twentieth century is arguably one of the bloodiest yet,

and this is a result of a disregard for these issues, which many of today’s youth continue to neglect.

The views represented in the opinion section do not necessarily reflect the views of the Ontarion nor its staff.

A big step forward for student democracy at uOttawa Padraic O’Brien History was made earlier this month when students at the University of Ottawa voted in a referendum to introduce general assemblies (GAs) and make them the highest authority in decisionmaking for their undergraduate student association, the SFUO. Students voted 66 per cent in favour of the measure, although nearly 800 ballots were discounted due to a technical error. Adding those, the total in favour would have been 76 per cent. This marks the first time a mechanism of direct democracy will be used in student politics in English-speaking Canada.

Concretely, the measure provides for the convening of GAs by the SFUO every semester. This will allow students to participate directly in the design of policies and budgets in their student union, ensuring greater control for the student population.

While many student associations, including the Central Student Association at U of G, convene GAs on a semester basis, these serve more as a forum for discussion between student commissioners and the student population than

as direct participation.

The model implemented by U of O is fairly popular in Québec, where it rose in prominence during the student strike two years ago. It was during GAs, held in packed gymnasiums in colleges and universities across the province, that students came forward in the thousands to discuss their province’s proposed reforms for higher education and voted to go on a historical strike that eventually struck down the government’s proposed increase of tuition fees.

Beyond the strike itself, the liveliness and earnestness displayed by these students left a deep memory, standing in sharp contrast to the cynical and depressing nature of political debate in the formal institutions of power.

The GA campaign was initiated by the uOttawa Marxist Student Association, and sustained by a coalition including the sitting executive members of the SFUO. A first referendum was organized in the fall semester, but despite overwhelming votes in favour of the proposal, was annulled due to insufficient turnout.

This time around, a “No” side also organized itself, gaining the

support of both the Conservative and Liberal Party campus associations. This group argued that students had little time or weren’t prepared to participate in politics, and also pointed out that general assemblies failed the first time they were implemented - in Ancient Greece.

In the coming months, supporters of the GA campaign will work on spreading awareness to students to ensure mass participation in this new body. Student participation will be important in order to resist the backlash we are currently witnessing with regards to the accessibility and quality of education, as exemplified by the yearly increases in tuition fees and the $32 million in cuts planned by the administration on this campus.

University is an important environment where youth can gain political consciousness and meaningful experiences taking part in organized collective action. At the University of Ottawa, students will now have the capacity to partake in mass mobilization in support of their interests - and potentially transform the playing field.

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OPINION

www.theontarion.com

Taxing the banks: the Robin Hood tax

Take from the rich to help the poor?

Antonio Corkovic

A wise man once said, “When presented with two options, pick the third.” It seems that, like our neighbours to the south, we have fallen into a two-option way of thinking: left vs. right, red vs. blue, Liberals vs.

Conservatives, us vs. them. Instead of dogma, we need a pragmatic and practical approach to deal with the problems that face us today.

A proposed idea, dubbed “The Robin Hood Tax,” stays quite true to its name. It is a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) that would levy transactions involving stocks, bonds, foreign exchange, and derivatives - including trade of futures and options related to stocks, interest rate securities,

currencies, and commodities. It is important to note that this would be limited to transactions between financial market actors. As such, ordinary consumer transactions like day-to-day banking would not be affected. In fact, even if you were an average stockowner who suddenly struck it rich with a $1,000,000 portfolio, you should not worry very much anyways.

This is because the proposed tax is only 0.05 per cent, which would mean you’d cough up $500 when selling your $1,000,000 worth of stock - not exactly robbery. Some analyses have speculated that it could even be viable at half that. If a Robin Hood Tax was to be imposed globally, it would raise muchneeded funds for disaster relief, climate change action, renewable energy infrastructure, poverty relief, and anything else that is in desperate need of funds and action

that don’t come with the attractions of a yearly dividend. It is taking from the rich and giving to the poor in a very direct way, as the only ones who stand to lose anything are the ones who trade amounts large enough for 0.05 per cent to ever be considered a problem.

The exponential growth of the financial sector, with a focus on short-term speculative gain, has created a ‘casino economy’. We have seen this with the bursting of the most recent bubble in the U.S. in 2008, which had devastating effects in Canada and worldwide. While here it was the average person who felt these effects, it is not the average person who would be affected by this tax, but rather the multitrillion dollar global financial industry that created the problem in the first place. In the U.S., the criminal banks on Wall St. concocted and sold junk financial products, and

PHOTO BY CHRISTIAN GUTHIER

The “Robin Hood tax,” is a proposed idea to tax not the average person, but the multitrillion dollar global financial industry. Estimated potential revenue from the U.S. alone could raise hundreds of billions of dollars to help fund projects such as disaster relief, climate change action, renewable energy and poverty relief.

instead of being prosecuted, they were bailed out with nearly a trillion dollars of taxpayer money. An estimate for potential revenue from the U.S. alone could raise hundreds of billions of dollars, and the U.S. is indeed one the most important players in this domain.

But then, of course, comes the rebuttal from those who stand to lose from the deal: the financial industry and the government representatives who support them.

They argue that this tiny tax would destroy the economy and scare away investment, which means the average Joe would not get his trickle-down, and life would be made worse overall. This is pure self-preservation by the banks themselves, and the informed global citizen demands that they pay their share for repairing the economy, because if the single mother working two jobs can survive, somehow the banks will too.

Canadian Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty has made it clear that he does not support the Robin Hood Tax, mostly for the reasons above (without the history and criticism of reckless investing, of

course). However, some countries in Europe have already adopted the system, citing satisfying results.

Other countries, such as the U.K. (where the movement originated), have stated that they would be on board only if it were imposed globally. While they are indeed correct that a global system would be most beneficial, countries need to take leadership in establishing the framework for such a tax. The global financial industry is extremely powerful, and until the source of the problem is dealt with, a real plan cannot be created. Switzerland and a few other small countries have commenced similar plans with success, and 11 Eurozone countries are set to propose new plans for FTTs. As Canadians, we must take global leadership and work with other countries in pushing this plan forward. The problems of this world are our own, and they are far more important than price tags.

Is this small tax going to fix the world? Probably not. But with global inequality at a record high, it is without a doubt a solid and simple policy plan that makes sense.

OPINION

173.7 • Thursday, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

Barbie becomes self-aware?

Stacey Aspinall There’s something strange about the latest cover model of Sports Illustrated. In a bold black and white striped swimsuit, she’s mastered a confident yet casual pose. Her long blonde hair is sleek and exceptionally shiny, and her pale skin is impossibly smooth.

Her big blue eyes stare boldly from the cover, but her gaze is blank. The caption reads: “The doll that started it all.”

That’s right - Barbie is the latest cover girl.

Barbie is featured on a promotional cover wrap for the 50th anniversary edition of Sports Illustrated’s annual swimsuit edition, which hit stands on Feb 18. The cover will appears on 1,000 copies, and is accompanied by a four-page advertising feature in the magazine.

“As a legend herself, and under criticism about her body and how she looks, posing in ‘Sports Illustrated Swimsuit’ gives Barbie and her fellow legends an opportunity to own who they are, celebrate what they have done, and be unapologetic,” a Mattel spokesperson said.

Critics (predictably) have weighed in on the implications of using plastic plaything Barbie as a cover girl in lieu of a real model.

The choice seems blatantly provocative – it’s clearly meant to ignite a discussion on representations of women in media and

engage viewers in debates about the idealized representations of femininity that many women contend with – and that mainstream media arguably perpetuates.

The magazine industry is notorious for creating unrealistic expectations that are detrimental to young girls and women. The cover could be read as a parody - serving to highlight the artificiality of the “ideal woman” by revealing the narrow view of what is considered conventionally “attractive.”

Additionally, many critics voiced concerns that the cover choice is inappropriate. Barbie is a children’s toy, while Sports Illustrated is an adult magazine whose cover stars for the swimsuit edition are often chosen for their blatant sex appeal, and are depicted posing provocatively in very little clothing. Featuring a children’s toy in what is typically a sexualized context is definitely controversial and likely to incite criticism.

However, the “controversy” does seem a bit contrived – there is even an official Barbie twitter account, featuring tweets about the cover with the tagline #unapologetic. I got the impression that the whole stunt was a viral marketing ploy, devised to bring Barbie (the brand) back into cultural consciousness.

That we’re still engaging in debates over representations of women in society and the commodification

and objectification of women’s bodies proves that it’s still a hot topic, but we don’t need a plastic doll to remind us of that.

“Barbie” responded to the backlash in an op-ed published online: “Today, truly anything is possible for a girl. Let us place no limitations on her dreams, and that includes being girly if she likes. It’s easy to say the culprit is the color pink or the existence of makeup… neither prevents girls from excelling in their own fashion. Let her grow up not judged by how she dresses, even if it’s in heels; not dismissed for how she looks, even if she’s pretty.

Pink isn’t the problem,” Barbie ‘writes.’

Barbie also defends previous models that have graced the cover of the magazine, pointing out that while their physical beauty is spotlighted in the magazine, models such as Heidi Klum and Tyra Banks have also accomplished great things in their careers.

I guess it’s significant that Barbie has been granted a voice in the debate, and that somehow she is expressing her views in her own words through writing (although I’m not sure how her plastic hands could properly grip a pen). Her own contribution to feminist discourse is a bit simplistic – but it is a contribution nonetheless.

“It’s time to stop boxing in

– especially in light of recent film and literary publications such as Food, Inc. and Eating Animals – has left many people looking for alternatives, despite a lack of true understanding on the subject.

An increasing portion of Canadian society is beginning to read only the organic and all-natural labels on food products, willingly shelling out extra money without understanding the Canadian food industry or even comparing ingredient lists between organic and non-organic foods.

In Canada, there are very strict regulations for food safety, shared between the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Health Canada. These strict regulations can perhaps be seen best in the stark difference between the American and Canadian meat and dairy industries. However, Canadian farmers must also adhere to extremely rigid regulations on the application of pesticides, because the government can now measure pesticide exposure in a population through food, to ensure that there is pretty much no chance that the pesticides used by the agricultural industry are negatively affecting the general population. Because of this, there is a big difference between the potential harm of pesticides and the actual risk that

accompanies them.

The CFIA recently conducted a study which showed that almost half of the produce certified as organic actually had pesticide residues, meaning that people who chose to buy such produce could have been exposed to a similar level of pesticide as someone buying non-organic foods.

While this study is controversial at best, it’s important to remember that organic certification doesn’t eliminate environmental contaminants and biological pesticides. In fact, in the U.S., arsenic is actually considered a viable pesticide because it’s naturally sourced.

Despite such strict regulations for both food production and food labelling, many Canadians still purchase food in an uninformed manner, following the latest food trend and flocking to key buzzwords rather than actively participating in their food experience. There remains a common misconception that because a product is labelled natural or organic, it is automatically better for your health. However, there has been little, if any, concrete evidence that these foods are better for your health. An examination of the nutritional indexes of comparable organic and non-organic products will reveal similar ingredients,

The organic food craze

Alyssa Ottema Growing up, we are inundated with comments like, “if everyone jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?” essentially warning us of the dangers of “jumping on the bandwagon.” However, it seems like this advice did not carry with us into adulthood, as is exemplified by the prevalence and popularity of the “natural” and “organic” food bandwagon.

There is a term that floats around, “pseudoscience,” which is defined as “claims presented so that they appear to be scientific even though they lack supporting evidence and plausibility.” This definition can, in some cases, apply to the bandwagon of the natural food phenomenon. The practice of presenting claims that appear to be scientific extends into our food industry, as organic and all natural products may not, as they often claim, be better for an individual’s health. The way that these products are presented in society leads to phenomena like the health food craze, with people paying 15 dollars for three bags of milk simply because it is labelled organic.

One large issue is the lack of understanding on the part of the consumer. A disenfranchisement with the corporate food industry

17

COURTESY PHOTO

Barbie has been featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the 50th anniversary of the swimsuit edition, prompting widespread debate on whether it’s appropriate to use a plastic doll in place of a real model. potential,” says Barbie. “The reality of today is that girls can go anywhere and be anything. They should celebrate who they are and never have to apologize for it.”

I guess it’s okay to be smart, ambitious and unapologetically feminine - as long as you can sell a glossy magazine cover while you’re chasing your dreams.

PHOTO DERIVATIVE OF ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATION BY DOUG ROGERS

Is organic food actually better for our health? The lack of understanding on the part of the average Canadian consumer leaves a lot of people jumping on the organic-food bandwagon without really knowing if there are any real health benefits. simply prefixed with organic on one of the products.

There is a fundamental difference between searching for an alternative in an informed manner and jumping on the bandwagon without acquiring true understanding. Buying something that bears the label organic or all-natural after reading The Omnivore’s

Dilemma, without truly understanding the meaning of the label or even skimming the ingredient list of the organic product in comparison with its non-organic counterpart, is not active participation in the Canadian food industry – it’s tossing aside the advice our parents imparted on us so many years ago.

18 The Ontarion Inc. University Centre Room 264 University of Guelph N1G 2W1 ontarion@uoguelph.ca Phone: 519-824-4120 General: x58265 Editorial: x58250 Advertising: x58267 Accounts: x53534 Editorial Staff: Editor-in-Chief Jessica Avolio News Editor Michael Long Arts & Culture Editor Emily Jones Sports & Health Editor Andrew Donovan Associate Editor Stacey Aspinall Copy Editor Alyssa Ottema Production Staff: Photo & Graphics Editor Wendy Shepherd Ad Designer Justin Thomson Layout Director Stephanie Lefebvre Office Staff: Business manager Lorrie Taylor Ad manager Al Ladha Office Coordinator Vanessa Tignanelli Circulation Director Sal Moran Web Editor Alexander Roibas Board of Directors President Heather Luz Treasurer Alex Lefebvre Directors Bronek Szulc Harrison Jordan Sohrab Rahmaty Anthony Jehn Melissa Yan Patrick Sutherland Contributors Danielle Bourque

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Padraic O’Brien

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Rudi Spruit

Breaking down the binary Facebook promotes gender diversity

Gender is often thought of in polarized terms and within our society it’s often assumed that you’re male or female, a man or a woman, or a boy or a girl. When we meet people, we often use gender as one of the first characteristics to identify someone. When filling out forms, we often must choose between placing a check mark inside either the box marked “male” or “female,” and public washrooms are often divided according to gender as well. The underlying assumption behind these norms is that “male” and “female” constitute two distinct categories – and that individuals must belong in one of these two groups.

On a daily basis, people are often forced to define themselves within this binary, and gender undeniably plays a huge role in forming our social identities. The male/female binary remains pervasive because it is seemingly an unquestioned aspect of our society’s structure – however, it’s a system that can be oppressive to those whose identities don’t conform to these defined roles. In reality, gender identity is far more diverse and complex.

Facebook has recently taken a more progressive stance on gender diversity and has opened up a new gender category. No longer limited to the gender binary, users can now choose “male,” “female,” or a “custom” option which includes over 50 identifiers, including gender fluid, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, intersex, female to male, male to female, trans male, trans female, transsexual, and two-spirit. Users are also given the option to keep their gender identity private, and are allowed to choose

which pronoun they’d like to be referred to as – whether male (he/his), female (she/ her), or neutral (they/their).

Many LGBT activists have applauded the change, which will allow everyone who uses Facebook in U.S. English a greater freedom in choosing how their gender identity will be represented online.

According to the Facebook Diversity page, the change is meant to encourage each user to feel comfortable being their true, authentic self, by stating: “An important part of this is the expression of gender, especially when it extends beyond the definitions of just ‘male’ or ‘female.’ So today, we’re proud to offer a new custom gender option to help you better express your own identity on Facebook.”

Though some hold the view that there is no need to complicate gender identity beyond the male/female binary, it is important to acknowledge the distinction between gender expression and biological sex.

According to the Ontario Human Rights Commission, gender identity can differ from a person’s birth-assigned sex, since it is linked to a person’s sense of self and the subjective sense of being male or female.

This may include transgender – people whose experience includes existing in more than one gender; transsexual – people who were identified at birth as one sex, but identify themselves differently; intersex – people not easily classified as “male” or “female” based on physical characteristics at birth; and many other identities. In reality there is a wide range of gender expression – referring to the external attributes, behaviour, appearance, and even dress that people use to express themselves.

However, in an article

Alexander Lefebvre Jodi Taylor Eddy Morin

EDITORIAL

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Pablo Vadone

The Ontarion is a non-profit organization governed by a Board of Directors.

Since the Ontarion undertakes the publishing of student work, the opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the Ontarion Board of Directors. The Ontarion reserves the right to edit or refuse all material deemed sexist, racist, homophobic, or otherwise unfit for publication as determined by the Editor-in-Chief. Material of any form appearing in this newspaper is copyrighted 2011 and cannot be reprinted without the approval of the Editor-in-Chief. The Ontarion retains the right of first publication on all material. In the event that an advertiser is not satisfied with an advertisement in the newspaper, they must notify the Ontarion within four working days of publication. The Ontarion will not be held responsible for advertising mistakes beyond the cost of advertisement. The Ontarion is printed by the Guelph Mercury.

COURTESY PHOTO

Facebook has opened up its gender identity category with over 50 options, giving users the freedom to identify outside of the gender binary.

published in The Guardian, Jane Fae writes that rather than opening up gender, Facebook should remove all gender options instead. As Fae points out, gender is one of many pieces of information that Facebook uses to target advertising to its users: “Societal gendering of pretty much everything, from toys and games, through to the ads that pop up on your timeline, is a live issue. Many women have deliberately selected ‘male’ as the only way to remove a succession of tiresome ads for wrinkle cream and diet products from their timeline.” In terms of data use, “gender is rarely helpful, except in a marketing context.”

Facebook still needs to know their user’s genders in order to capitalize on advertising revenue, and it still gives precedence to the binary.

Still, providing users the option to identify outside of the gender binary is a progressive move, and while some people may not feel the need to customize their gender, the ability to precisely

define your identity (in your own terms) will make a difference. Language is a tool that has the power to either empower or to oppress, and allowing users to define their gender identity from a wide variety of terms will have positive implications for those who may feel marginalized by the limitations of a gender binary that fails to recognize the experience of non gender-conforming individuals.

Social media has become an increasingly integral component of our identities, and a widely used social-networking site such as Facebook making these options available for its users opens up the possibility for greater awareness, understanding and acceptance of gender diversity.

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Send us a letter to the editor at ontarion@uoguelph.ca.

Deadline is Monday at 4 p.m., 300 word max.

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173.7 • Thursday, FEBRUARY 27, 2014 BestCrosswords.com

CLASSIFIEDS Interested in social and environmental justice? Join the OPIRG Board of Directors! Nominations due by March 4th. For more information visit www.opirgguelph.org or email opirg@uoguelph.ca

COMMUNITY LISTINGS A Musician’s Health Workshop on Repetitive Strain Injury Prevention. Hosted by Lance Dawson, RMT. February 27th, 7:00pm at Folkway Music. Free to attend, no registration required.

March 3 - Take the STRESS out of IBS! Learn strategies to decrease symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome or a stressed stomach. This 4 session program is offered by the Stress Management Clinic and the dietitian at Student Health Services. Mondays, 7:30 - 8:30 pm in 335 UC. Student fee $10. Details at www.uoguelph.ca/~ksomers.

The CSA Nooner presents Tara Luz Danse. Wednesday, March 5 at 12pm, University Centre Courtyard. Ottawa choreographer Anik Bouvrette and her dancers. En studio avec nous combines the presentation of excerpts from Les billes and Hippopotame with audience participation and live music.

Folkway Music Workshop “Looping for Songwriters with Norm Zabala”, March 8th. 1:00pm. A demonstration of the basic features of a single channel loop pedal. Free to attend!

Canadian classic rock legend Kim Mitchell will be coming back to Guelph to perform at the Guelph Concert Theatre, March 8th.

Sistas in Soccer outdoor recreational soccer league for women aged 18 and up. Games every Sunday afternoon, end of May until October. No previous soccer experience necessary. Register online at www.sistasinsoccer.com.

Across 1- Rock clinging plant 5- ___ Kick Out of You 10- Requests 14- Prepare for publication 15- More current 16- ___-Ball 17- Achy 18- Tip off 19- Fictional Jane 20- Places of contest 22- Teachers in habits 24- Half and half 25- Smell foul 26- Capital of Finland 30- More aloof 35- Altar words 36- Turf 37- Eat away 38- Texas dance 41- Deserved 43- Lesser 44- ___ the season...

45- Unspecified quantity 46- Come afterward 47- Ball game 50- Actor Stoltz 53- “You’ve got mail” co.

54- Four-time Indy 500 winner 58- Soul 62- Fair 63- Foot bones 66- Rat-___ 67- ___ uncertain terms 68- Take ___ for the worse 69- Portable shelter 70- Durable wood

71- Label anew 72- Biblical birthright seller Down 1- Arizona city 2- Scent 3- Male parent 4- Shorthand pros 5- Sort of 6- Hair goop 7- Farm female 8- Curt 9- Bandleader Shaw 10- I’d hate to break up ___ 11- Hebrides isle 12- Actress Deborah 13- Gets the picture 21- Tropical cuckoo bird 23- One on slopes 25- Disencumber 26- Blackjack request 27- Newsman Newman 28- Birds on Canadian coins 29- Keystone ___ 31- Dernier ___ 32- Tiny amounts 33- Paradises 34- Color anew 39- Former coin of France 40- Forest makeup 41- Actress Farrow 42- Fleeing 44- Pampering, briefly 48- Director Howard 49- Soap ingredient 51- Pave over 52- Angry 54- ___ were

19 55- The ___ Ranger rode a horse called Silver 56- Annapolis inst.

57- Breakfast area 59- Salt Lake City hoopsters 60- “Give that ____ cigar!”

61- Westernmost of the Aleutians 64- Furrow 65- Madrid Mrs.

SUBMIT your completed crossword by no later than Monday, March 3rd at 4pm for a chance to win TWO FREE BOB’S DOGS! Last Week's Solution

Congratulations to this week's crossword winner: Vivian Leung.

Stop by the Ontarion office to pick up your prize!