mitZine v11.5

mitZinecontents

6

mitZine Awards

26

mitZinefeatures

Political Cartoons

guestarticle

westernlife

arts&entertainment

4 Paper Blogging

12 Kick Your Bucket List

19 Hollywood-ing History

Selma Purac

specialfeature

6

mitZine awards mitZine Editorial Team

26 Political Cartoons

Dan Perdic, PJ Helliwell, Ryan Hurlbut, Lauren Nicholson

westernlife

8 Farewell & New FIMS Zach Valliant, Jess Bronstein

9 Dear Digital Detox Diary Faucher and Class

10 Social Media Week Elizabeth Sarjeant

11 Summer Internships Melanie Anderson 2 [mitZine v11.i5]

Mitchell Sturm, Jennifer Stranges

14 Western’s Military Involvement Kyla Garvey

15 Counterpoint: Huron’s Controversial Chair David Conlin

arts&entertainment

16 Oscar’s Technical Awards Jonathan Forani

18 The Rihanna - Chris

Brown Collision Ademofe Oye-Adeniran

18 Kickstarting Your Creative Dreams Christine Tippett

Kevin Hurren

20 Vancouver’s Housewives & Canadian Nationalism Emily Stewart

21 The Infamy of Fame Taylor Pearce

world

22 Robocalls and Rotten Politics Stephen Wright

23 Real Food: An Exercise in Subjective Ethics Sarah Koopmans

24 Tracking the U.S. through Southeast Asia Paul Craig

mitZinestaff EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jonathan Forani editor@mitzine.ca MANAGING EDITOR Taylor Pearce editor@mitzine.ca GRAPHICS EDITOR Jordan Coop graphics@mitzine.ca WORLD EDITOR Julian Uzielli writers@mitzine.ca ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Taylor Pearce writers@mitzine.ca WESTERN LIFE EDITOR Elizabeth Sarjeant writers@mitzine.ca WEB EDITOR Jordan Pearson web@mitzine.ca PROMOTIONS COORDINATOR Marisa Dametto promo@mitzine.ca

editor’s note. by jonathan forani So the inside isn’t in colour, but we’re almost there.

Welcome to the ever-usual innards of the mitZine. The same splash of colour is here in each fresh turn of phrase and critical quip our writers employ, but behind Dorothy’s Oz the customary black and white of these pages looks a bit stale.

This is the first mitZine to ever touch a colour printer. Over the course of its 11 volumes, the black and white colour scheme was something of a brand for the Zine—earlier this year we even employed the slogan “It’s more than just black and white,” and, while a lovely figurative jingle, we thought it was time to kick it literal.

Dorothy isn’t slapped on the front simply as a kind of last hurrah for Volume 11 (that will come). She’s there to display where this small FIMS publication can go: that’s not to some delusional dream state where little people sing and horses are painted purple, but to a metaphorical Oz from which you don’t wake up to find your family deciding what pills will fix you.

This issue is a kind of Reverse Oz, unfortunately, but one day you will flip the mitZine cover open to the wonderful world of colour. There is no reason the FIMS publication shouldn’t have all the trappings of a professional publication.

As a faculty that studies media, we should be putting more money into our own media. This year’s staples were the first step. The move to colour is not

to place importance on aesthetics, but to give illustrators more opportunities and to harness the mitZine with an even greater level of impact on campus.

FIMS is a faculty that holds a lot of valuable critical insight, and to continue our efforts in providing a platform of free expression, why not throw some paint on the platform? Next year, in whatever capacity, grab your critical paintbrush and make the mitZine a force to be reckoned with.

Speaking of next year’s mitZine, I am happy to announce the Editor-in-Chief for Volume 12: outgoing Web Editor, Jordan Pearson. This year, mitZine.ca saw a major surge in popularity thanks to Jordan’s guidance as Web Editor, and I have no doubt that, as Editor-in-Chief, he will continue to raise all forms of the mitZine to greater levels of recognition and prominence at Western.

As another great volume of the mitZine comes to a close—with another ambitious issue—thanks must once again be extended to our dedicated crop of contributors who prove with each issue that the talent contained within these small pages could buckle the margins at any moment. To my amazing mitZine Staff—Taylor Pearce, Jordan Coop, Elizabeth Sarjeant, Julian Uzielli, Erika Fabian, Marisa Dametto, and Jordan Pearson—your commitment and skill has made producing these five issues all the more crazy and rewarding.

And as for that last order of business: hurrah!

Should the mitZine continue in colour?

FIMS’ Undergraduate Student Fund (USF) committee wants to know if you like the Zine’s new splash of colour.

Head to mitzine.ca to have your say!

[mitZine v11.i5] 3

mitZineguestarticle

“

Do the words on the tablet differ from my notebook in the same way that a handwritten note from a loved one differs from a text message halfconsciously composed on the way to campus?

�

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PAPER BLOGGING

W

written by Selma Purac

hen I travel, I keep a journal.

I pick up a plain black Moleskine with unlined pages, and in my characteristically miniscule script, I can fit a full forty lines of writing on each page. I have favoured these compact notebooks for as long as I can remember, and part of me wonders how much of my favouritism might have to do with the brand’s advertising.

There is, after all, a certain kind of romance to the Moleskine.

As the company’s website proudly declares, these are the “legendary notebooks” used by the likes of Hemingway, van Gogh, and Picasso. We are therefore encouraged to see these booklets as miniature storehouses of fragments that later became renowned works of creativity. Indirectly, what the company offers me is the illusion that I can partake in this artistic legacy through my own meagre scribbling. More importantly perhaps, the brand allies itself to the image of the “contemporary nomad,” offering small notebooks and journals well suited to the traveller. Maybe this is why the brand has become my travelogue go-to.

Recently, flipping through one of my old, weather-worn Moleskines, I was struck by the impact that the physical object had on me. The notebook bore traces of the trip: the shaky script of words written on long and uncomfortable bus rides, ticket stubs sloppily tucked between well-thumbed pages, and grease marks from a fish-and-chipper in Ireland. Through the notebook, I could feel a tangible connection

to the place where the words were first written.

For many of you who consider yourselves modern-day nomads, the tablet has come to symbolize the new generation of compact and mobile writing devices. Sure enough, a quick look around any airport lounge today will have you noticing the number of travellers who favour tablets, slipping them out of their ragged packs as easily as they would a granola bar. Indeed, many of the travel blogs I follow now list tablets as mobile necessities, along with things like an H.I. membership and a backpack.

What I wonder, however, is whether the experience of a travel journal might change when that journal is written and stored on a tablet. When I read through one of my old Moleskines, what I am essentially reading is a personal “paper blog,” and one that feels intrinsically tied to my travels.

Flipping through those pages nostalgically, I can relive the trip – not only through the words I’ve written, but also through the physical artefact itself – through the creases and the stains and the scrawl on those pages. Do the words on the tablet differ from my notebook in the same way that a handwritten note from a loved one differs from a text message half-consciously composed on the way to campus? In part, the medium is the message. And I’m not talking about the tablet’s camera and video-recording capabilities, but about writing and the object one writes on. I will likely continue to reach for my Moleskine, preferring the nomadism of the page over that of the pixel. [mitZine v11.i5] 5

mitZinespecialfeature

mitZine awards 2012

As RateMyProf slowly fades out of our digital conscience along with MySpace and Angelfire, the Second Annual mitZine Awards are back to re-validate the worth of ranking your education.

UPPER-YEAR INSTRUCTOR OF THE YEAR

FIRST-YEAR INSTRUCTOR OF THE YEAR

SELMA PURAC

JOHN REED

Honourable Mention: Warren Steele

In a school year that saw lots of unwanted attention aimed at FIMS, the word “technoculture,” or a certain class of 85%, we pulled together in support of our degree and our professors, even as campus buzzed with judgement. The one professor that needed that support the most, we are proud to announce, is once again the mitZine Award winner for Favourite First-Year instructor: John Reed.

When we congratulated Reed via email, the former FIMS T.A. was quick to put the awards into perspective: “Recognition of an individual is somewhat misleading because it takes a teaching team to run a class,” he wrote. “I was a T.A. years ago in this program, and I’ve worked for and learned from so many great people here. I continue to learn from them.”

For Reed, the mitZine Awards affirm 6 [mitZine v11.i5]the beauty of learning, and why we

Honourable Mention: Tim Blackmore

come to university in the first place. “I see it as recognition that the material resonates with the students,” he wrote in an email. “This material then pinballs around with material from other classes and creates something greater than its parts. That is the thrill of education. It’s the ‘universe of ideas’ that is part of university.”

By some beautiful work of fate, we are excited to honour this issue’s Guest Writer, Selma Purac, as Favourite Upper-Year Instructor. Purac was a heavy hitter at this year’s mitZine Awards, with her course “Exploring Consumerism” earning the most votes—in a tough competition—to be named the inaugural winner of Favourite Non-Required FIMS Course.

“I’m deeply flattered,” she wrote to us.

“I’ve been lucky, though. My students make it a lot easier for me. They don’t seem to realize that they have the power to make my life a good deal

more difficult; happily (for me), they do just the opposite instead.”

In the age of RateMyProf, where good teaching is assumed to be a one-way street, Purac brings up an interesting point: the student matters too.

“Their engagement and enthusiasm makes it easier for me to convey mine,” she writes to her numerous supporters. “Moreover, MIT students often read media in such insightful and surprising ways; it keeps me on my toes.”

Honourable mentions must be made to Professors Warren Steele and Tim Blackmore, who came in close seconds to Purac and Reed, respectively. For some more enrollment inspiration, log onto mitZine.ca for a complete list of the non-required FIMS courses voted for in the new category! photo credit: Cameron Wilson

NON-REQUIRED FIMS COURSE OF THE YEAR

MIT 2306: EXPLORING CONSUMERISM

Professor: Selma Purac

Late capitalist society is often defined by its monstrous appetite. Indeed, our need to consume plays a central though ambiguous role in the construction of self and its others in contemporary culture. From Marx to The Donald, from Romero’s Dawn of the Dead to Palahniuk’s Fight Club, this course explores both the promises and perils inherent in consumption and examines how metaphors of consumption evoke the potent cultural anxieties of our post-Fordist age. (via fims.uwo.ca) See the mitZine Online for a complete list of favourite non-required courses.

MIT STUDENTS’ COUNCIL MEMBER OF THE YEAR

HADRIAN MERTINS-KIRKWOOD

Honourable Mentions: Linley McConnell, Jessica Segal

The work of the many talented and passionate students on the MITSC can often slip under the radar and behind the mask of their many projects, but the mitZine Awards are happy to recognize their work once again.

In a year where eight members received votes from their council peers, Production Coordinator—and former mitZine Editor-in-Chief— Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood pulled off the title of MITSC Member of the Year.

As FIMS and Western struggled with their own branding issues, reflected in the Western U name-change and the enlightening (read: frustrating) “What is FIMS and is it working?” Rogers Chair discussions, Hadrian deftly guided the MITSC in the right direction. Sidestepping any potential for a council branding crisis, Hadrian churned out top-notch promotional material for every MITSC initiative. Redefining what it means to be “the man behind the curtain”, Hadrian helped bring a fresh and professional polish to the MITSC with his skillful behindthe-scenes work. Well done, Hadrian!

MIT ZINE CONTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR

KEVIN HURREN

Honourable mentions: Paul Craig, Sarah Koopmans, Chris Kay

In this crazy capitalist world, incentive usually boils down to the dollar amount. In the crazy dry world of journalism, traditional conceptions of incentive boil down to about nothing. When you’re a small, free, poorly-funded student “zine” with a wavering readership and reputation, incentive can’t be thought of in the traditional way. Something keeps our contributors contributing, and we’re proud to say that each year they impress us even more.

First-year student Kevin Hurren took the advice of every “Get Involved!”-spouting soph and rez staffer to heart and frequently turned out consistently enjoyable work that made producing the mitZine and mitzine.ca such a joy. Congrats, Kevin!

Honourable mention to veteran contributors Sarah Koopmans and Paul “Foreign Correspondent” Craig, who continue to impress with their critical insights and sharp wit, no matter what country they write from. Special thanks to Chris Kay for helping tackle the new realm of mitZine promotions as we continue to define ourselves as a publication. Looking forward to working with you all again!

MITSC STREET TEAM CONTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR

NICO DIPLACIDO This year’s reincarnated MITSC Street Team was full of intelligent and enthusiastic members eager to shape FIMS’ reputation on campus.

But Nico DiPlacido especially stood out. His willingness to participate in filming, endless supply of creative ideas, and ability to organize promotions did not go unnoticed, and were greatly appreciated by the leadership team. Congrats, Nico! [mitZine v11.i5] 7

mitZinewesternlife

hasta la vista, baby.

As we sit here in The Spoke and write this final letter, it’s hard not to get nostalgic about the past four years at this wonderful institution. Being a part of FIMS has been the best thing that has happened to us. We both have had very different experiences, but the one thing we both agree on is the uniqueness of this faculty, from the course names right down to the individuals who fill FIMS classes. You are all such fucking cool people.

To the grads of 2012, we wish you the very best as you transition into adulthood. Some things just cannot continue when you can’t call yourself a student any longer (or maybe they can, and we just won’t put them on Facebook). Regardless of where life is going to take you, we wish you the very best! To future grads, we also wish you the best and look forward to hearing about your upcoming years at Western and in FIMS. Thank you for a fantastic year. It is because of you that we sang along to Nozuka, got Inappropriate at Lavish, met and greeted our profs, and networked with FIMS alumni at Career Day. Thank you for giving us an unforgettable year.

Please, never forget to FSU.

Genevieve La Cute (Head Soph) Suri Waller (Assistant Head Soph) Alanna Osborne (Assistant Head Soph) Taylor Rivers (Assistant Head Soph)

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VP EXTERNAL Kelly Mark VP COMMUNICATIONS Sabrina Zavarise VP ACADEMICS Elizabeth Sarjeant VP FINANCE Aditi Bhargava VP EVENTS Anna Peirce FACULTY LIASION Kelly Hobson PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Sasha Barkans

MPI REPRESENTATIVE Jas Irwin

2012-2013 FIMS SOPH TEAM

Meredith Hardie Carolyn Irwin Chris Kay Bridgit Kazor Caileigh Kyle Linley McConnell Rachel Petford Jessica Pirraglia Lianne Pitts Jamie Rajf Hayley Rudolf

PRESIDENT Jordan Coop

MTP REPRESENTATIVE Jake Kislinsky

Sincerely, Zach “Irrelevant President” Valliant Jess “Irrelevant VP External” Bronstein

Monica Abadir Tyler Benning Taylor Bernier Rachel Birnberg Ian Clarke Emily Duggan Jeff Duggan Sarah Ellam Victoria Ercolao Karin Freeman Kelsey Glaser

2012-2013 FIMS STUDENTS’ COUNCIL

Shayne Sadler Steph Schoenhoff Michael Usling Jenna van Klaveren Stephanie Whent Leanne Whitehouse Hannah Wright Daphne Wu Sabrina Zavarise

CHAIRPERSON Kelley Morgan CHARITY COMMISSIONER Monica Abidir ALUMNI RELATIONS Jessica Pirraglia MITZINE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jordan Pearson STREET TEAM COORDINATOR Stephanie Schoenhoff HEAD SOPH Genevieve LaCute WEBMASTER Molly McCracken GRADUATES’ REPRESENTATIVE Cindy Ma

DEAR DIGITAL DETOX DIARY

The nature of this assignment was to remain unplugged for Reading Week, which meant no Facebook, Twitter, or texting, and to keep a diary of thoughts and feelings while going into “digital detox.” I have to acknowledge the courage and dedication of my students in the MIT 2374G: Social Networking course for having soldiered through this non-compulsory assignment. What may appear to be deceptively simple proved, in a majority of cases, an ordeal, and many employed metaphors associated with addiction. Some students would never opt to do this again, while others expressed self-discovery and higher productivity.

- Kane X. Faucher

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’t as king wasna tour r o w t e n l g Day 2 no socia be. After doin eek, I nd day of uld the w The secoas I thought it woic agua) forrnet cafes in r a N lt ( u c e e diffi ultiple Int r new hom a sign of around outhat there are umrprising but alsofor people realized town—kind of s l networks are this tiny rtant online socia how imporemote areas. in such ms and al symptot is going w a r d h Day 3 it the w ot knowing wha g to feel n I’m going I’m startmining anxious abouotut the fact thattch up on am beco feel anxiety ab and things to carks again. on. I also so many storieso my social netwo English in to have o have access t t day teaching le kids in when I d as also our firs ked to see litt an barely Today wools. I was shoc of these kids c ll of them the schs texting...some ts but almost a my clasliving arrangemen ke afford ll phones. aroline Bla C e c e v a [mitZine v11.i5] 9 h

“After all, what are social media to us if not an excuse for online narcissism, fostered by wit-confirming retweets, Reddit upvotes, and Facebook likes?”

Social Media Week and You: A Cause for Celebration? written by Elizabeth Sarjeant, illustrated by Jordan Coop

S

urpassing mothers, fathers, labour, and most religious occasions, social media have a full five days dedicated to their celebration. You probably celebrated Social Media Week (SMW) at some point from February 13th to 17th simply by updating your status or “liking” a meme.

The question is, how and why are social media being celebrated? What exactly are we celebrating? According to this year’s promo video, “Social Media Week’s mission is to explore how local and regional societies, cultures, and economies are becoming more integrated and empowered through a global network of communication.”

Events occurring worldwide during Social Media Week February 2012 were divided into categories according to which aspect of social media they explored. Under “Politics and Government,” for example, Berlin hosted “Facebook Revolutions?

The Role of Social Media for Political Change in the Arab World.” Meanwhile, in Chicago, advertising execs congregated for “When Integrated Marketing Met Social: Love at First Like” in the “Advertising and Marketing” category. A quick scroll through SMW’s online event archive reveals a long list heavy in the categories of advertising, marketing, entertainment, business innovation, technology, and even “Networking and Parties.”

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SMW founder and promotional video star Toby Daniels promised to spend the week “showcasing some of the world’s most exciting new business innovation.”

Filmed sitting in a conspicuously spacious conference room and donning a tightlyfitted business suit, he narrates the better part of SMW’s February promo video.

While Daniels earnestly tosses around such phrases as “collaborative consumption” and “networked businesses,” mentions of “empathy” and “global support for revolutions” are not the priority of his fragmented endorsement.

It’s safe to assume that February’s SMW conferences were primarily attended by professionals interested in online marketing. Despite its value as a marketing tool, less than 50 percent of all brands use social media to drive awareness, and only one in ten brands say social media is a top three priority, BlueLithium Advertising laments. Cue Social Media Week, which FIMS instructor Trent Cruz aptly calls “an industry PR event.” The conference series can also be seen as an awareness campaign in order to get more businesses on board the social media marketing train. And what better sponsor than Nokia, a multi-billiondollar, multinational communications corporation?

“I’m not surprised there are no panels on state surveillance of social media from

UK to Egypt or Twitter’s new censorship program,” Cruz says. Indeed, the rhetoric used by SMW is exclusively positive about the effects of social media.

Though the week is never referred to as a “celebration” by its spokespeople, this seems a far more accurate descriptor than the buzzword “exploration.” SMW presupposes that social media are inherently beneficial, not only as a tool for business innovation but as a democratic means of social change.

Alternatively, FIMS Professor Kane Faucher sees SMW as a “mass meme of me-meism.” After all, what are social media to us if not an excuse for online narcissism, fostered by wit-confirming retweets, Reddit upvotes, and Facebook likes?

In September 2011, Facebook declared an impressive IPO of $5 billion and laid claim to 800 million users. For us, however, Facebook is only as large as our personalized News Feeds. Social media give us the chance to make our own voices heard, no matter what we’re saying. Since we are the primary producers of social media, SMW is a chance to celebrate ourselves.

If you think social media are a cause for celebration, put down this zine, get back on social media, “like” more brands, change your profile picture, and stay tuned for Social Media Week September 24-28.

Summer Internships: Slave Labour or a Valuable “In” on the Media Industry? written by Melanie Anderson, illustrated by Lauren McVittie

T

he academic year is quickly coming to a close. However excited you may be to start your summer, the questions on your mind will likely include: What’s next for me?

Will I get a job? How? Internships are becoming popular avenues for media-related work experience. Media internships are often unpaid; however, the majority of jobs available are located in the Toronto area. How can you pay rent in Toronto with no income? The decision with which you’ll likely be left is whether or not to forego the paycheque for relevant work experience.

The summer after my first year, I interned at GlobalTV for a 6-week unpaid position and I also volunteered at CHRW part-time for two months last summer. I will admit, maintaining the motivation to work every day while knowing you’re not making any money is difficult. However, the connections established and experience gained is often more valuable. I have been able to develop media and journalism contacts, and have confirmed excellent references for future job recommendations. I make a concerted effort to maintain connections with several contacts at Global, and my volunteer experience at CHRW led me to a paid position there last year.

I’ve learned that when seeking specific experience and hands-on work in the media industry, it may be better to apply at a small media outlet where you’ll have the opportunity to get involved more directly with more challenging projects. The more prominent media companies stationed in Toronto may be great places to get your foot in the door, but odds are you’ll be assigned to less significant tasks, such as doing research or making phone calls.

those in the industry it’s an opportunity to see what you’re like, what your work ethic is, and what your skills are.”

Eligible MIT and MPI students have the option of earning an academic credit through an internship. FIMS Internship Coordinator Susan Weekes works closely with applicants to refine their résumés and cover letters for specific positions. “This is an important ability that helps students recognize past experience and personal skills that they can offer to potential employers,” says Weekes. “It also helps “Internships push participants out gauge a student’s professional readiness in of their comfort zone, and can also terms of following instructions, initiative, and attitude.”

Fourth-year MTP student Caroline Cameron interned at Sportsnet’s FAN 590 for two summers and at TSN’s Off the Record for one. “It’s all about getting open eyes to a fast-paced media your foot in the door,” says Cameron. industry that’s always evolving.” Internships work as either a one-toBut she also knows that being an intern one match, where Weekes contacts an isn’t easy: “One of the downsides is employer to submit a student’s application, that it’s usually unpaid. When I worked or by competition. Some positions are at the FAN, I worked full-time at another job during the day and posted, whereupon MIT and MPI students can submit applications would come to the FAN a few nights a week. There were a lot of through the coordinator. Students are also encouraged to apply for long days, but I knew that it would pay off.” internships on their own, whether for academic credit or otherwise.

Internships push participants out of their comfort zone, and can Weekes advises that internships aren’t just about earning practical also open eyes to a fast-paced media industry that’s always evolving. skills to go along with your degree—you might learn something The students at Fanshawe’s TV program have the opportunity to about yourself, too. “All experiences help students re-evaluate their complete a one-month internship as a part of their curriculum. course selection and career goals,” she says. “An unpaid internship Laurel-Ann Hardie, a professor in the Fanshawe TV program, can save time and money if they decide to set out on a different says it’s important for students to showcase their knowledge: “For path.” [mitZine v11.i5] 11

KICKING YOUR BUCKET LIST intro by Mitchell Sturm, list by Jennifer Stranges

We often forget that we come to university around the age of 18—when illegal drinking is exciting and make-outs count as “kills.”

When you get to university, you believe that in the next few years you’ll have fun and get into uncomfortable situations that will shape you into that cool person you’ve always wanted to be. If you were to ask First-Year Me what my university bucket list consisted of, you’d likely get the Gazette-friendly response: attend a varsity game, go to a Rick McGhie Wednesday, have sex on campus, eat at The Wave, skip a class, hook up with a TA, go tobogganing down UC Hill, join a club, make a soph team, et cetera, ad nauseum and so forth.

I’ve accomplished many of these standard things over the last four years (although, my TAs were never into me), and while I’m leaving Jacks Mondays and post-Ceeps poutine behind, it will be interesting to see how that bucket list helped me.

My four years at UWO (as it was called back in my day), were special for all of the unpredictable moments.

Sure I had a buffalo chicken wrap from The Wave, but it didn’t define my experience here. While I realize lists help motivate people, they won’t help you become a better person by the end of university. If I could replace your list and challenge you with one task throughout your university career, it would be: meet people. If you’re intelligent and interesting enough to come to this school, so are the thousands of people who join you. You will always come across people you dislike, but remember what they do for you—pushing them away helps define who you are. People can introduce you to new things, help you through your academics, inspire you, and can get you through tough times better than a CLT ever could.

Go ahead and make a bucket list, but constantly change it.

Adapt some of the FIMS mentality and escape the narrow ideals of university student life fed to you by the media. If you graduate happy to pursue a life of numbers, formulas, and structure, so be it, but never plan for it before exploring elsewhere. Come fourth year, your list of accomplishments will rarely relate to challenges set by a bucket list. Jenny and I agree that you’ll never know what will mean the most to you in university when you first get here, and rightfully so. As a soon-to-be-irrelevant graduate of this fabulous environment, I suggest you meet as many people as you can, and open yourself up to experiences you might proudly chalk down as meaningful accomplishments. Finish school, and re-work that bucket list into something that makes sense to you. We’ve compiled a ”bucket list” that makes sense for our experiences here, and might make sense for yours, too: 12 [mitZine v11.i5]

1. Defend “"tec hnoc 2. Get to Ceep ulture"” as a word but avoid ex s at 9pm on a plaining what it Saturday and means at all cos 3. Hate yourse see that the lin ts. lf for hating the e is already at B Mature Studen 4. Shameless arney's. t ly arrange a ph otoshoot of you in your class.

5. Spam all th and you ose 6. Go on a Spri “friends” from first-year durin r housemates. g USC election ng s.

7. Pretend to k Break trip, and gloat about it to those who did now all the chan n't. ts th 8. Say that you ’re waiting for th at the Rick's-regulars do. e Resolution/Sp ring Break peop gym to stop being so busy wit h New Year's le. J 9. Spend coun tless hours bein ust say it, that's all. g Head Soph, a Sophing is in a nd even longer n interview. trying to explain 10. Pretend to what be on council at a faculty event 11. Go to Jack to skip the line. 's te And the cover.

12. Have a ran n Mondays in a row as soon a dom fling with s y ou tu rn 1 9. someone from 13. Relish in th your floor in firs e one time you tyear. clim 14. Never unde rstand how man bed that damn hill without ge . .three years later. ttin yd perform? Wh y do they like B ance groups are in the UCC g out of breath. . Where do the usta 15. Have self-d y iagnosed Senio Rhymes so much? ritis…in third ye 16. Spend an ar. accu 17. Criticize ev mulated $100+ on the facult y clothing sales ery .

18. Be proud th issue ofThe Gazette. Do not hing to change at you can iden it. tify Saugeen Strip per, “"Stop Res your grad year by an inevitab le controversy: istin 19. Sign your fr iend up for the g",” USC Bieber Hack.

Kn 20. Start the Spoke's BeerT itting Club e-mail list. our 21. Never regis ter your license of the World and complete on pla ly four destinati 22. Never feel ons comfortable an te with Western and throw ou ywhere south of t all of your tick .

23. Actually s ets.

King tay 24. Start an a friends with your first-year ro Street. ommate. nonymous We stern-relatedT 25. Complain w it te it's too cold to g o to class. Com r account and fail miserably.

26. Scramble p la in it like restaurants in L hell within your last semester 's too warm to go to class. at Western to ond eat at all the 27. Never emb on you’ve always wanted to. race the Poster Sale. Ever.

28. Delete Fac ebook.

29. Be in a fac ulty 30. Avoid buc small enough to graduate wit h all of your bes ket lists. t friends.

[mitZine v11.i5] 13

The (General) Dynamics of Western’s Military Involvement

written by Kyla Garvey, illustrated by Martin Boustany

G

eneral Dynamics is one of the largest weapons manufacturers in the world. Between 2003 and 2007 the United States hired over 190,000 similar military contractors for the Iraq War. The military-industrial complex is frequently discussed in FIMS and provides an important focal point in questioning the work of the organization and its disturbing involvement with Western’s Faculty of Engineering.

In December 2004, General Dynamics Canada contracted Western to conduct research on the “composite fracture mechanics,” or armour, of the LAVIII, an eight-wheeled, lightarmoured fighting vehicle. Otherwise known as the Stryker, this vehicle was predominantly used in the Iraq War and in Afghanistan. The GDC website states that the Stryker “addresses today’s need for a fast, versatile, and survivable combat vehicle rapidly deployable by C-130 aircraft,” and that it “enables the soldier to achieve mission success quickly and decisively.”

The $800,000 project was unearthed by Professor Bernie Hammond and FIMS Associate Dean Nick Dyer-Witheford, who, along with other anti-war activists, formed a group called “Counter-Stryker.” The group’s founding aim was to establish awareness of the Stryker project and other hidden realities of Western’s military research programs.

FIMS Instructor Trent Cruz, another founder of Counter-Stryker, explains that the group was concerned about a lack of transparency in military research projects and funding at the University. “The constitution of Counter-Stryker demands a formalized and public process to openly address concerns “groups like Counterregarding University research funded by organizations associated Stryker work to reclaim with the military-industrial complex,” he says.

the public space of the university and to further democratic conversations surrounding the research and projects undertaken by academic institutions.”

The group appealed to the University under a Freedom of Information Request to disclose all military contracts at Western.

Appeals continued annually until 2009. A few of the projects disclosed included a $300,000 deal with Canada’s National Defence Department, a carbon nanotube technology used to enhance stealth fighters, and an ultrafine powder technology.

Further information was protected by privacy acts.

Counter-Stryker’s most substantial task was their pursuit of instating an ethics review at the University. When Nick Dyer-Witheford’s proposal to The Senate was denied, former Vice President of Research and International Affairs, Ted Hewitt, made the final statement: “In the absence of national or other comprehensive guidelines for addressing ethical issues associated with military-related research, any discussion regarding the establishment of an ethical review body at UWO with the express purpose of reviewing projects with military implications is premature.”

One 2006 discussion panel at a forum for professors, students, and London community members, asserted that Western’s participation in this contract was a significant political statement that needed to be addressed. Panel member and FIMS Professor Tim Blackmore said of the Stryker, “This is a machine you use to knock over a country to colonize.”

Nonetheless, there has been sparse media coverage of this project. Apart from CounterStryker’s coverage of the issue, only two other articles were published by The Gazette and The Online Reporter. Counter-Stryker provided alternative media coverage, and its blog and Facebook group served as a public forum for community members to debate the issue.

Despite these efforts, the Stryker is still being manufactured in London. In October 2011, a renewal contract was signed by both the London and Edmonton General Dynamics plants to enhance the LAVIII through a $1-billion project funded by the Canadian government.

Universities are a source not only of new, innovative technologies and the world’s brightest academics, but of young, malleable minds who are seen as good candidates for military research. Groups have sprung up at other Canadian universities, such as McGill and the University of Toronto, in response not only to the militarization of university research but also to its corporatization.

14 [mitZine v11.i5]

From April 27 to 29, U of T will host a conference on “Struggles Within and Beyond the Neoliberal University” to address the disconcerting trends in university structure, where topics will include the militarization of the university and the politics of research funding.

In the meantime, groups like Counter-Stryker work to reclaim the public space of the university and to further democratic conversations surrounding the research and projects undertaken by academic institutions.

COUNTERPOINT: The Intellectual Cost of a Moderate Academic Chair written by David Conlin, illustrated by Megan Hackney

A

s I read Aaron Zaltzman’s article titled “The Ethical Costs of an Academic Chair,” I couldn’t help but sympathize with his concern. Why would Huron College associate its academic chair with organizations that have ties to terrorism? Zaltzman provides an interesting and valid perspective on the matter that is well-thought through and argued passionately.

There are two sides to every argument, however, and Zaltzman’s is no exception. He accuses groups that donated the money of being tainted with Islamist ideology, and consequently proposes that the decision to appoint Dr. Ingrid Mattson may have been influenced by these controversial groups.

Zaltzman’s concern about Islamist ideology keeps coming back to ties with the Muslim Brotherhood. It should be noted, however, that if Huron were to approach different Islamic organizations for funding, it would be hard to escape the Brotherhood’s influence. When the United States changed its immigration laws in 1965, many Muslims with ties to the Brotherhood moved to the U.S. and began to form student organizations, mosques, and Islamic centres.

The political views of the Brotherhood may be controversial, but they certainly aren’t the only aspect of the organization; the Brotherhood has also promoted and carried out many acts of charity throughout the Islamic world. In fact, members of the Brotherhood created both the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Muslim American Student Association (MASA), two organizations that have played a large part in educating young Muslims and advocating human rights.

Zaltzman’s main focus is not that the funding is tainted, but rather that these organizations may have played a part in deciding who to appoint to the Chair. After all, whoever is appointed will ultimately have control over academic content. While Huron maintains that their Executive Board made the final decision, Zaltzman takes issue with the final choice, Dr. Mattson. Despite Mattson’s reputation as a committed democrat, Zaltzman warns, she has also

been called an Islamic extremist.

Instead, Zaltzman upholds the Huron alumni group’s suggestion of Tarek Fatah for the Chair. Fatah is viewed as a progressive and a liberal. His fight for issues such as gay rights in Islam is certainly admirable, and he is indeed an important advocate of what the Western world would consider “progress” in Islam.

Nonetheless, the decision to appoint Fatah would also have been met with harsh criticism. In the eyes of many Islamic scholars, Fatah has earned a reputation of holding a few extremists to represent Islam as a whole. Whether or not the accusation is warranted, many believe Fatah has distanced himself from traditional Islamic thought.

Dr. Mattson, on the other hand, was named the first female president of the Islamic Society of North America in 2006, a platform she used to advocate for human rights and encourage public condemnation of terrorism committed in the name of Islam. Though the ISNA was indeed listed as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the federal terrorism trial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, Dr. Mattson was brought in as president of the ISNA in order to represent the vast majority of Muslims who do not support terrorism.

In a time of uncertainty and persecution for Muslims in America, Dr. Mattson has been a voice of reason, explaining how traditional Islamic values can fit into Western society.

From the perspective of the University, hiring Dr. Mattson may be a better way to tap into mainstream Islamic thought.

Figures like Tarek Fatah are certainly important for Islam, but the risk of being seen as out-of-touch with mainstream Islam is one the University can’t afford to take. By hiring Dr. Mattson, the University gains a Chair with impressive credentials and with the ability to maintain a connection with the heart of traditional Islam. After all, learning about Islam doesn’t mean learning about the parts of Islam we agree with or understand. Instead, we should be learning everything we can.

Disagree with an mitZine article? Voice your opinion: editor@mitZine.

[mitZine v11.i5] 15

mitZinearts&entertainment Revenge of the Technical Worker: Why You Should Care about Oscar’s Technical Awards written by Jonathan Forani, illustrated by Lauren Nicholson

act of Hot Celebrity. It meant that we had to finally notice the nerds. Damn them for looking so normal!

It’s about time they get some more credit.

Oscar night’s technical awards aren’t even the really technical awards.

Indeed, there is a whole slew of nerds who aren’t welcomed to Oscar’s main party, but instead are granted a special night where a fading B-list starlet presents awards for innovation in film engineering and design. This year, Milla Jovovich wore glasses to present the awards, so we know she cares about smart things.

Maybe Jovovich had it right, though. Maybe it’s time Oscar was bespectacled.

N

erds don’t get much respect at the Oscars. In our living rooms this year, even less. When seven of the first ten awards at February’s ceremony were in technical categories, living rooms ‘round the world echoed in a collective groan. If Nielsen had ratings for how many viewers eye-rolled their TV set within the first hour, the stats would probably be comparable to how many viewers tried to cheek-pinch their monitors watching that kid in KONY 2012. So, lots.

When most people watch the Oscars, they want to see the stars.

When those in the industry watch or attend the Oscars, we assume they want to acknowledge the work of their colleagues—if they aren’t too busy “Jolieing,” that is. So, what are the Oscars for, then, if not gawking at celebs gawking at themselves? Hollywood’s biggest night is really just a glorified celebrity circle jerk, isn’t it?

Maybe nerds have no place in the circle But the Oscars have been changing. Entertainment Weekly film critic Owen Gleiberman blogged in January that the Academy seems to be distancing itself from its past where what was “popular” and “Hollywood” was the focus of the night. Gleiberman thinks that with the recent Best Picture victories of The Hurt Locker and The Artist, the Oscars have lost the old Hollywood spirit they once embodied where films like Rocky and Titanic prevailed.

Really, this poses the perfect opportunity for the nerds to stage their revenge. If Gleiberman’s “sea change” is a move in favour of art, then perhaps the art of so-called “technical” work will have a place. Opening the show with the Best Cinematography award meant more than just the fact that we’d have to wait through two hours of intermittently funny presenters for an overstuffed final

The 2007-2008 Writers’ Guild of America (WGA) strike brought more recognition to workers behind the scenes, but for an already somewhat recognizable crowd of entertainment employees like Tina Fey and B.J. Novak, the writers’ eventual win came at a cost to the many technical workers who hold little to no symbolic “star” value in the cultural eye—not to mention, the eye of their employers. During the strike, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) estimated that the lost wages of WGA members and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), the labor union representing technical workers, totalled more than $300 million.

“Writers were taking a gamble,” says FIMS professor and cultural labour researcher Matt Stahl, “but they had a good sense of their worth. You can’t outsource writing work like you can technical work.”

Stahl traces what he calls the “symbolic value” of writers back to the industry’s move from the East to West coast: “Hollywood studios began hiring well-known writers who had some recognition out in the world,” he says, “and they brought that consciousness with them, where they were then treated like cogs in machines.”

Naturally, the WGA was born.

Despite the advantages that IATSE brings to technical workers, the sad truth is that they hold no bargaining power. Technical artists are overworked, underappreciated—some identifying themselves as no more than “wrists” in the process—and easily outsourced.

“Outsourcing has really undermined the power of Hollywood unions to have an effect on studios,” says Stahl.

Where visible faces like Tina Fey have given extra heft to unions and brought writers to the forefront of creativity, technical artists are still missing in the equation of stardom and recognition. A recent viral video called to make one man famous to effect change.

Similarly, in order to effect change in the labour conditions of technical workers, the nerds might need their own famous face.

For now, they’re still waiting for that euphoric “revenge” moment when Freddie Mercury blasts on the intercom of the college campus that is Hollywood.

“Outsourcing has really undermined the power of Hollywood unions to have an effect on studios” 16 [mitZine v11.i5]

To Be Continued: Analyzing the Effects of the Chris Brown/Rihanna Collision written by Ademofe Oye-Adeniran, illustrated by Stephanie Whent

A

fter a very public criminal court case in August 2009, Chris Brown pleaded guilty to charges of assaulting pop-star girlfriend Rihanna. Under this plea deal, Brown was sentenced to five years on probation and 1400 hours in community service. Those who thought the Rihanna/Chris Brown story was over though were evidently mistaken.

Through the years, despite Brown and Rihanna’s persistent expression of love for one another, people believed both celebrities would move on with their lives. Naturally, the tabloids were there to tell the real story—or, at least, a version of it. Reports of Brown’s Good Morning America tantrum and a supposed Twitter war between his new girlfriend and Rihanna made tabloid headlines. Both singers seem to have used this publicity to their advantage by releasing songs easily linked to their abusive relationship. A year after Brown was sentenced, he released “Deuces”, about walking away from a bad relationship. It doesn’t take golden ears to realize the song could be about Rihanna, but it does contain alarmingly condescending and insulting lyrics towards the woman in the relationship.

On the other side, Rihanna released “Man Down”. In the video, Rihanna shoots a man after he rapes her, and is left to deal with her conflicted emotions, showing the toll that sexual abuse can have on an individual.

Parent groups were outraged that it promoted violence; if anything, the video shows that violence only begets more violence.

The key question is: why do people care about the irrelevant details of the tantrums, fights, and lyrics? Perhaps it is because this did not just happen to any everyday couple—it happened to two celebs who rose to the height of their career together. After the 2009 incident with Rihanna, people watched

as Brown’s career spiraled downwards.

The controversy would resurface again soon though, this time disturbingly in his favour.

In 2012, Brown was enlisted to perform at the Grammy Awards—twice. After the show, a significant number of girls tweeted that Brown could “beat them anytime.” Soon after, Rihanna and Chris Brown released remixes of their songs together. Chris Brown’s “Turn Up the Music” and Rihanna’s “Birthday Cake” became hits and reignited the speculation that they were getting back together, although their representatives quickly dismissed this as a rumour.

Some took Rihanna’s actions as condoning Brown’s behaviour. Instead of moving on with her life, she chose to sing a song with the very person that abused her three years ago. Brown throwing unnecessary tantrums and releasing condescending songs that possibly relate to Rihanna can be translated as an insensitive response to his actions. Perhaps this is all an attempt to attain closure and move on. However, other people see their actions as disregarding the importance of issues regarding domestic abuse.

Brown and Rihanna’s actions send a murky message, especially to young women who may currently be in abusive relationships. Domestic abuse shouldn’t be taken lightly, and girls tweeting that they’d let Chris Brown beat them is more than disconcerting.

It is not necessary to pay attention to every detail of Chris Brown and Rihanna’s relationship, because their actions are based on their choices, which the public cannot influence.

People should pay attention to the messages consumed by young people, and perhaps provide more alternatives to help youth realize and defend the importance of issues regarding domestic abuse.

[mitZine v11.i5] 17

Kickstarting Your Creative Dreams

written by Christine Tippett, illustrated by Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood

H

ave you ever had a great idea for a book, wanted to create a short film, or even make a card game about a velociraptor eating kittens? If you think you have an awesome idea, lucky for you Kickstarter.com may actually be able to make your previously far-flung aspirations tangible.

Founded in 2009, Kickstarter is the world’s largest funding platform for innovative projects that range from art and publishing to technology and food. Everyone and anyone is invited to start an endeavour on this website, from an entrepreneurial guru to your grumpy old neighbour. In order to solicit donations, the project initiator explicitly lays out their plan of action by explaining their idea, what they intend to do with the funds, the minimum amount of money they would like to raise, and the deadline for reaching that goal. Based on an all-or-nothing model, if the project is unable to reach its stated monetary goal by the deadline, then no money changes hands.

On Kickstarter, the general public is able to browse through thousands of ideas and pledge as little or as much money as they wish to the different initiatives. In turn, they get inside access to the projects they finance as well as a personal memento of their contribution. Unlike conventional investments, Kickstarter allows creators to keep all ownership rights and full control over their work. Last year alone, over 25,000 projects were launched with a fundraising success rate of forty-six percent, and a total of almost $100 million was pledged by over a million project backers.

risk out of creativity, Kickstarter has the potential to make innovation and creativity more inclusive to all.

In today’s society, money is often a barrier Sounds like a creative FIMS student’s dream to creativity. Thankfully, we can all stop website, right? Not necessarily. If everyone wishing that we had a rich uncle, because is able to create projects, then critics may Kickstarter allows cash-strapped, yet argue that the overall quality of art may passionate, hopefuls to get their ideas suffer. However, based on Kickstarter’s off the ground. Through crowd funding, model, projects have to be impressive enough to garner the online the website allows populace’s support before creativity to flourish they can be produced. and fantastic ideas to “Thankfully, we can Since successfully-funded become a reality. It all stop wishing that projects are often well-liked allows unconventional we had a rich uncle, ones, will this contribute and small projects to the dumbification of that financiers don’t because Kickstarter typically invest in to allows disenfranchised art? While this remains break through and yet passionate hopefuls to be seen, Kickstarter attract funds through to get their ideas off the has garnered so much interest primarily because the wisdom and choice ground.” the website consists of an of the crowd. By abundant number of small taking the financial 18 [mitZine v11.i5]

projects that aren’t typically invested in.

As a result, these alternative projects fight against the homogenization of creative culture.

Yancey Strickler, a co-founder of Kickstarter, reminds us that every project has a story. Everyone is doing something meaningful and something they care about, and we get to follow along and be a part of it through traditional peer-to-peer sharing.

Kickstarter and other similar crowd-funding websites may be facilitating the beginnings of an indie culture revolution by bringing together people who may not connect otherwise. It appears as if the accessible web-based middleman between artists and the Average Joe venture-capitalist is just beginning to see the potential of crowdfunding in the proliferation of artistic ventures.

Hollywood-ing History: Masking Truth Through Film’s Selective Lense

written by Kevin Hurren

“While these films at first seem to be retelling the stories of the past, none are completely innocent of adding or removing details and creating a number of historical inaccuracies along the way.”

T

he curtains have closed, the jewellery’s returned, and the glitter has long been swept off the stage of the Hollywood and Highland Center as the 84th Academy Awards came and went. As classes wrap up here at Western, you may be preparing to spend your lazy summer days doing the Oscar catch-up—that is, watching the nominated films you missed in the midst of school. But before the movie marathon begins, a cautionary tale should be told about this year’s Oscar batch. Instead of exploring new worlds and locales, many of the nominated films chose to draw from history for inspiration. While these films at first seem to be retelling the stories of the past, none are completely innocent of adding or removing details and creating a number of historical inaccuracies along the way.

Take, for instance, The Help, a film celebrated for its talented ensemble of female actors. Not even Octavia Spencer, Supporting Actress Oscar-winner, could make The Help immune to criticism, as controversy arose over the dialect used in the film. Set in the South, the film replaced the appropriate regional accent with a childlike, over-exaggerated “black” dialect.

This point, among others, was addressed by the Association of Black Women Historians, who called out both the book and film adaptation of the story for distorting and misleading viewers away from the historical realities of black communities during the civil rights era.

The Association also argued that the incorrect portrayals make the film less a story about hard-working, dignified black women labouring in white homes and more a coming-of-age fable for its white protagonist.

Speaking of female white protagonists, The Iron Lady is also guilty of having a selective historical outlook. As a film about the life of Margaret Thatcher, the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the 20th century’s longest-serving British PM, the content was received with mixed reviews. While the film tells a truly riveting story about a powerful individual overcoming both social and political obstacles, The Iron Lady spends a surprising amount time painting Thatcher as a fragile, dementia-ridden woman.

Comparatively, the film spends very little time exploring how Thatcher received the “Iron Lady” nickname, as the narrative trajectory seems to skip over the parts of Thatcher’s career where she was criticised as jobkilling warmonger.

The list can go on. Whether it’s no-man’s-land bromance in War Horse, or the writers of Moneyball highlighting the performance of one Oakland A player by ignoring the remarkable trio of starting pitchers on the team, artistic liberties have been taken with many films this year. There is, however, nothing inherently wrong with this process. The writers and directors involved with these films had no malicious intent in their projects—for the most part, they make films to entertain. With the collection of stellar films produced, they certainly achieved this goal. While many of the films seem to be taken from the history books, at the end of the day the films are pieces of art, and should be viewed with a critical eye. While all are free to enjoy these award-winning films, remember: just as all that glitters is not gold, all that glitters with Hollywood glamour is not truth. [mitZine v11.i5] 19

Not-So-Real: Vancouver’s Housewives Turn on Canadian Nationalism written by Emily Stewart, illustrated by Kristina Rowell

E

very time a successful TV show debuts in the U.S., it seems a Canadian counterpart soon follows.

Canada’s Next Top Model, Canadian Idol, and So You Think You Can Dance Canada are just a sampling of spin-offs, which jumped the border to the True North strong and free. The latest to join the list is The Real Housewives of Vancouver, following the success of its counterparts in Beverly Hills, New York City, Miami, Atlanta, New Jersey, and don’t forget the one that started it all—Orange County.

How did the public react to Canada’s Real Housewives import? In a March issue of The Winnipeg Free Press, Brad Oswald wrote that shows such as these “aren’t smart shows; they are unapologetically stupid shows, but they offer base level escapist entertainment that many TV watchers clearly can’t resist.”

While there is no doubt that entertainment is meant for escapism, should we escape to shows about the conflicts of overwhelmingly wealthy wives of rich men?

Barbara Williams, the top programmer of the show’s production company, Shaw Media, seems to think so and is excited to launch a Canadian edition following the viewers’ craving for the show. Likewise, producer Louise Clark is enthusiastic about creating a Canadian edition of the series.

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However, all of the comments in Oswald’s article demonstrated the users’ opposition to the Canadian edition, including one commenter’s assertion that the series consists of nothing more than “just a bunch of women sitting around living off their husbands’ money doing absolutely nothing.”

If The Real Housewives of Vancouver is getting a bad reputation with the public, why are producers so confident about this show?

Simple: it’s all about the money. It’s most likely easier to finance a Canadian equivalent to an already successful American reality TV show. If a show has done well in the U.S., it is fair to produce an identical show in Canada to celebrate our national programming, right? Well, not exactly.

Canadian reality television is not the answer to the need for more Canadian programming. As ;aginGiselle Wiedemere of The Weal argued: “Instead of the quick wit and fake personalities I’ve come across viewing the original American show, I was bored senseless by the meek and mild brides of Canada.” Likewise, she states most of these shows have a much shorter life on air than their American counterparts.

While it is important to engage in Canadian programming to celebrate nationalism, it seems we have little choice in television

programs. In fact, there are few shows alongside teen drama Degrassi that aren’t just replicas of American TV. Canadian music and film have unique characteristics that represent our nationalism, so it seems odd that this is not true of our television.

Regardless, we all know “reality” TV isn’t real, and that it is just as constructed as any other entertainment program. Even so, executive producer of Laguna Beach Tony DiSanto states while there was editing during the production of the show, the chemistry between its stars Lauren Conrad and Stephen Colletti was genuine. In fact, he argues “anytime you are taking it to the editing room, you are enhancing it and editorializing. But we never make up something that hasn’t happened.”

The companies can throw around the word “real” in their titles, use real locations, and record the lives of the actors all they want, but most people aren’t fooled. Will The Real Housewives of Vancouver be as successful as it predecessors, or will it flop like many Canadian reality shows? If the show’s anything like the housewives that occupy it, then it won’t go down without a diamondencr usted-acr ylic-nails-as-a-deadlyweapon-while-holding-a-Chihuahua-andmartini fight.

The Infamy of Fame: Recognizing Jason Russell

written by Taylor Pearce, illustrated by Cameron Wilson

“We live in a world where Snooki’s unborn baby is more likely to take the cover of a major North American magazine than a Ugandan war lord convicted of creating a child army” KONY 2012, as a video and a campaign, relies on the concept and tactics of acquiring fame. Russell explains in the video that to spread awareness of Kony’s crimes, posters with Kony’s face symbolically placed beside Hitler’s and Osama bin-Laden’s should literally “Cover the Night,” in reference to the upcoming April 20th event.

I

f you had to sum up fame in six words, it might look something like this: you want it until you don’t. We live in a world where Snooki’s unborn baby is more likely to take the cover of a major North American magazine than a Ugandan warlord convicted of creating a child army, and our celeb-obsessed society’s feverish manhunt for fifteen minutes of fame continues.

If there’s one person right now that could benefit from resting in the shade, away from the hot intrusive sun of Hollywood, it would be Jason Russell. Yes, that guy; as the co-founder of Invisible Children, his efforts to make said war lord Joseph Kony famous through history’s most viral video KONY 2012, propelled Russell into the public eye, and then unfortunately into the unflattering lens of TMZ. Overnight he went from a wholesome role model with Christian faith, a cute family and dedication to a cause to wandering the streets of San Diego naked in a semi-psychotic state performing a one-man—or shall I say onehand—show. When news broke about his breakdown, the largest reaction was that of ridicule, not concern. And although I count myself included in those whose jaws dropped when they read the report, I can’t say I was entirely surprised. In the past few years, in which we have lost Heath Ledger, Amy Winehouse and Whitney Houston, the celebrity crash has become all too familiar, even infamous. Before we ask why this keeps happening to famous people, the better question is: why are these people famous in the first place?

Historically, the concept of fame can

be traced back to the invention of “the star.” Richard DeCordova, author of The Emergence of the Star System in America, argues that actors didn’t one day turn into stars for their bubbly personalities. Instead, stars were only established in the early 1900s when film studios and the press worked together to not only make an actor’s face and name recognizable, but to foster a bond between star and public so that the public was aware of the star’s backstory and privileged to intimate details of their private life. This insider glimpse into the star’s offscreen activities was meticulously sculpted by the film studio and fed to the public through movie magazines and exclusive interviews.

Though this type of press still exists with the Walmart check-out mainstays like People magazine, manicured images of stars presented by the press are easily shattered now by the Internet. With the rise of the camera phone, anyone can be a paparazzo and profit off of nitty gritty images and video of celebrities by selling them to the highest bidding tabloid Looking back to Russell, he willingly brought his private life onscreen. In KONY 2012, Russell’s wife is shown during the delivery of their son and intimate home videos of his children are spliced in between shots of Uganda’s ravaged youth. It has not only become easy to recognize Russell by his face and name through KONY 2012, but his son too: Gavin, the audacious little boy with bright blond hair and big brown eyes.

In the midst of trying to make Kony famous, Russell himself became, in line with DeCordova’s definition, a star. The public could easily recognize this face and name, were told his backstory and given access to his private life. After KONY 2012 was released, Russell could be seen on countless news channels, literally putting a face to a name for whoever happened to have not gone on YouTube or partaken in any form of social media for days. Most of all, fame seemed to suit Russell: the former actor with “movie-star good looks” who could easily pass for Aaron Eckhart’s younger brother.

In everyday conversation, we reference fame like it’s an ordinary thing, because to our society it is. Just like we have been desensitized to violence through movies, music, and video games, we have been desensitized to the oddity that is fame.

Celebrities are tracked and followed day and night as if they were suspected Al-Qaeda supporters (in fact, maybe the CIA should take some pointers from the paparazzi).

We acknowledge how annoying that must be and sympathize with the celebs, but in the next breath we’re casually mentioning how Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield are, in fact, dating in real life (guilty). When it comes down to brass tacks, the public worships the select few who are famous, and I’d be hard-pressed to believe someone who said they’d never wondered what it would be like to wear the gold slipper for a day. Fame functions as a form of hyperrecognition: it works out great when it’s good, but when that gold slipper-wearing celeb slips up, TMZ steps in.

For Russell, who is now in treatment for his “brief reactive psychosis,” the greatest irony is that what made him worthy of videotaping that day in San Diego wasn’t him slapping the pavement and yelling expletives at people strolling the sidewalks, but that he was Jason Russell: the latest victim of the celebrity crash and prime fodder for the infamy of fame. [mitZine v11.i5] 21

mitZineworld Robocalls and Rotten Politics: Harper’s Conservatives Under Fire written by Stephen Wright, illustrated by PJ Helliwell

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tephen Harper and his Conservative government have come under fire in the face of thousands of complaints made to Elections Canada from voters in last year’s federal election. Citizens from all over the country claim that they were called by an automated telephone service claiming to represent Elections Canada, who provided misleading information about polling stations in their ridings. So far over 31,000 complaints against these “robocalls” have been filed, mostly from Liberal supporters who argue that they were targeted by the Conservative party and subject to voter suppression tactics to give Conservative candidates an unfair advantage.

freely to the media to inform citizens about issues such as environmental degradation.

To muzzle scientists is to prevent the dissemination of important information which citizens can use to make informed decisions, such as who to vote for in an election.

In conjunction with accusations of illegal robocalls and gagged scientists, Stephen Harper’s behavior within the House of Commons has further aggravated Canadian citizens’ contempt towards their parliamentary system. He has discontinued, Parliament twice (known as “proroguing”), which is not uncommon.

However, Harper’s prorogations have had questionable motivations behind them.

His first prorogation in October 2008 was carefully timed as to avoid a non-confidence vote in the House of Commons, which would have resulted in the dissolving of parliament and a subsequent election. His second prorogation in December of the same year, called in order to avoid scrutiny about Afghan detainees and gain more power in the Senate, resulted in thousands of demonstrators gathering to denounce his apparent disregard for the democratic process. In addition to prorogation, Stephen Harper was held in contempt of Parliament after he refused a request by the House of Commons to turn over documents regarding the Afghan detainees.

Robocalls are legal, but giving voters misleading information isn’t. Once the news broke and more complaints came flooding in, the reaction came swiftly.

Liberals and New Democrats were quick to accuse the Conservatives of deliberate vote suppression. Unsurprisingly, the Conservatives categorically denied any involvement with the scandal, but the condemnation of such dirty tricks spilled out of the House of Commons. Rallies were organized on Parliament Hill by citizens who rightly demanded answers.

There are still many unanswered questions about the origin of the calls and who is to blame. Elections Canada is conducting an investigation to answer some of those questions. But regardless of the degree to which the scandal is pinned on the Conservatives, the now-infamous robocall scandal will add to the growing contempt and distrust that Canadian citizens have for their government, and rightly so. The robocall scandal is only the most recent example of the government’s breach of democratic values.

Although the robocall incident has taken precedent in conversations about the behavior of Stephen Harper’s Conservative government, there have been other questionable acts that citizens have taken issue with. In its March 2012 issue, the prominent scientific journal Nature came out against the Conservatives for restricting the degree to which federally-funded scientists can discuss their findings with journalists and the press.

In their editorial entitled “Frozen Out,” the authors wrote, “Researchers [...] are now required to direct inquiries to a media 22 [mitZine v11.i5] relations office, which demands written

questions in advance and might not permit scientists to speak.” The reaction from Nature was prompted by the refusal of a researcher to discuss the details of his work regarding the effects of climate change in the Arctic, and a demand that work done on the decline of sockeye salmon not be discussed in interviews.

This kind of treatment of scientists is something you would expect to see in North Korea, or even China, but it is startling to see that it is happening here in Canada.

Freedom of expression, especially among researchers and scientists, is essential in any nation that considers itself a liberal democracy. Scientists must be able to speak

In fairness, it is not only the Conservatives who have apparently forgotten how to operate a government based on democratic values. The Liberals’ sponsorship scandal that came to light just previous to Stephen Harper’s inauguration as Prime Minister shook the foundations of trust that Canadians had, not only in the Liberal Party, but in Canadian governance as well.

It would seem that Canadian democracy has gone pretty rotten. With allegations of misbehavior constantly being shouted across the House floor, and citizens viewing their government in an increasing contemptuous and resentful way, the democratic deficit in this country is readily declining to the level of bankruptcy. Citizen apathy is partially to blame for the rise of such a miserable state of affairs, so citizen engagement must be used to fix it. Contempt must translate into criticism and the disregard we have for government must be challenged if Canada is to escape from its political quandary.

Real Food: An Exercise in Subjective Ethics written by Sarah Koopmans, illustrated by Sabrina Zavarise

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he more popular it becomes to be an advocate for social justice, the more people care about ethical practices in all areas of their lives. That goes for what they eat, too.

With the popular reappearance of local and organic products on the foodie scene in cities across the world, the trend is moving increasingly towards more ethical food choices.

What is “ethical” when it comes to food? It’s environmentally-friendly, cruelty-free, pesticide-free, and sustainable. It’s vegetables grown in non-toxic soil.

It’s animals allowed to exist in their natural habitat. It’s smaller fruit with the occasional brown spot. It’s using all-natural cleaners and feed. It’s reducing greenhouse gases.

Some, such as Canadian charitable organization Local Food Plus (LFP), would argue that the food ideal is local-sustainable-organic. On the FAQ page of the LFP website, the organization indicates that “LFP works to increase the number of local producers who can begin the journey to sustainability, because human survival depends entirely on sustainability. Sustainability is the opposite of a frivolous or flavour-of-the-month issue.

For LFP, sustainability is literally a do or die issue.”

“Local” and “Organic” represent two different bodies of regulation, inspection, and certification for the Canadian food producer. A “local” certification assures the consumer that the product was produced within the province (or group of geographically-related provinces) in which it is being sold. “Organic” refers to how the product was grown or produced: soil qualities, pesticides used, cleaning products used, and the use of organic feed for animals, among others.

work in the international food industry. Would a significant foodProducers of organic foods can sell their goods in other provinces buying shift from supermarkets to farmers’ markets once again and even other countries. For those that believe putting a superior leave migrant workers struggling to support their families? Leave product in their body is a more immediate truck drivers unemployed? What do we value issue than supporting the local economy, most as a society—short-term employment “What do we value most non-local organic products would suffice. for a few or the long-term and multi-planed as a society—short-term impact of sustainable and healthy food The Slow Food Canada website describes practices for everyone? employment for a few or the ethical eating as “ecogastronomy.” “It’s an long-term and multi-planed attitude that combines a respect and interest Granted, eating is a personal choice and in ecogastronomic culture with support for impact of sustainable and subject to personal values, but the scope those battling to defend food and agricultural “healthy” extends beyond one person’s healthy food practices for of biodiversity around the world.” body image or grocery list to environmental everyone?” and agricultural sustainability worldwide.

According to Slow Food, to teach about the It incorporates issues such as farmers’ pleasure of the taste of food “is the main livelihoods, small local businesses, air quality, soil quality, pollution, way to combat the incursion of fast food into our diets. It helps the prevalence of fast-food corporations, and the adaptation of to safeguard local cuisines, traditional products, vegetable and children to highly-processed foods, which in turn leads to obesity animal species at risk of extinction. It supports a new model of and a myriad of health problems. agriculture, which is less intensive and healthier, founded on the knowledge and know-how of local communities.” This form of Choose local, choose organic, or choose to make your own agriculture, the website continues, is the only one “able to offer flavourful meals using fresh ingredients—whatever “ethical” prospects for development to the poorest regions on our planet.” means to you. Just consider choosing “real food”.

It becomes obvious that to speak of food is not only to speak of the quality of food or the environmental impact of the food business, but also the economic impact with regards to those that

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Militant History: Tracking the U.S. through Southeast Asia written by Paul Craig, illustrated by Jordan Coop

Third-year MIT student Paul Craig is on a full-year exchange at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. While abroad, he has travelled through Southeast Asia, exploring Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. This is what he learned.

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n 1945, the French returned to Southeast Asia to re-occupy their colonies. Since the people of Vietnam, Laos, or Cambodia had yet to arrive at a point where they could build better guns than Westerners, the French graciously accepted the task of bringing to these backward people (French) governance, infrastructure, and pastries; and all this for the insignificant price of their natural resources and self-determination.

Even though still reeling from their time under a cruel foreign occupation, the French bravely managed to pull themselves together in order to continue their self-proclaimed mission civilisatrice.

It was heavy, this White Man’s Burden, but les jaunes would be enlisted to help bear it.

A few months before the French returned in force, however, Ho Chi Minh—Vietnamese intellectual, nationalist, and *sharp intake of breath* communist—and his cadres had basically overrun Vietnam’s administrative government buildings and declared themselves, the Vietminh, new rulers of an independent Vietnam.

After a period of uneasy cooperation and an unsuccessful talk in Paris, the Vietminh were formally ousted from power just 15 months after seizing it. Furious, the Vietminh called for a war of national resistance, and from the Vietnamese people came a flood of grasspaddy support.

By 1949, popular resentment against the French got so bad that the normally-rigid administration, in an effort to placate the Vietnamese, established an indigenous puppet government headed by the malleable Vietnamese Emperor Bao Dai. No one was placated; the war raged on.

On the battlefield fortunes ebbed and flowed, but the support for Ho Chi’s Minhs continued to rise steadily along with the human and material cost of the First Indochina War. It’s true, the French were killing more 24 [mitZine v11.i5]of the other guys than the other

guys were killing the French, but there were less of the French to begin with (most of them were still in France, you see), and— more importantly—they were also running out of cash. It’s expensive, you know, losing wars around the world.

And so the Americans—nouveau-riche after the Second War and just a tad imperious— started funding the French War effort (80 percent of it, at one point), so as to guarantee the market’s freedom over that of the Vietnamese.

In 1954, the French capitulated.

The splitting of Vietnam was the result of the 1954 Geneva Accords: a treaty in which France—effectively beaten in a costly and ultimately futile conflict—agreed to withdraw from Vietnam. The country was to be split (temporarily) in two: Ho Chi Minh’s communists were awarded North Vietnam while the South was to be ruled

by Bao Dai until 1946, when nation-wide elections would be held to unify Vietnam under one government.

Emperor Bao Dai (whose government has always been weak and unpopular) picked Ngo Dinh Diem to be his Prime Minister for political reasons rather than for leadership qualities. France would soon be leaving Southeast Asia, and Bao Dai hoped to woo the Americans (and their money) with his choice of Diem, an American sympathizer and a virulent anti-communist.

It worked.

Now, what I’m going to make very plain hereafter is that the government of President Diem was a bad government.

He wasn’t a communist, it’s true, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t authoritarian, repressive, or corrupt. Initially, it seemed possible for Diem’s South to prove itself a workable alternative to Ho Chi Minh’s North—certainly many American public figures were content to baste Diem with undeserved acclamations—but very quickly

things started to go very badly. And then they got worse.

Now, the first thing to understand is that Diem was not a good choice for a leader.

Neither the French nor the Americans thought very much of him: He was known to be very distrustful, unable to compromise, and a borderline fanatical Catholic (Vietnam, by the by, was at this time 80 percent Buddhist). So that became a fundamental problem once he became sole ruler of South Vietnam. The good policies he implemented didn’t work, and the ones that did work weren’t good policies.

One of Diem’s first acts of governance was to resolve the conflict between him and Bao Dai. Very quickly both leaders agreed that each would prefer exclusive power, so in 1955, Diem held a super-democratic election to determine who would lead the South. 133 percent of Saigon turned up to vote and Diem won by a landslide. In October, Diem declared himself the new President of the Republic of Vietnam.

The nation-wide election to unify Vietnam never happened, of course, because there was a chance it might be fair.

Diem’s land reform was a good policy that failed. This is crucial. During French colonialism, a small percentage of wealthy individuals owned most of the land. In the 1950s, most Vietnamese were farmers; land reallocation was important to them.

Purportedly a strict piece of legislature, Diem’s land reform was inconsistently implemented and plagued by corruption. By 1960, 2 percent of landowners still owned 45 percent of the land. This ineffective policy cost Diem most of his rural support.

Another problem was that Diem’s government privileged Catholics. Catholics would be often promoted, Catholic villages received more aid, and Catholics paid less taxes, for example. U mad, overwhelming Buddhist majority?

“the problem that plagues us isn’t that we still give aid money or offer military assistance to other countries. The problem is this barely-contained superiority complex that was at its worst in Vietnam, but is still visible today in our framing of international issues.”

After a few years, the government’s unpopularity soared like a B-52 and the North-backed National Liberation Front (a.k.a. the Viet Cong) didn’t even need a scandalous display of government brutality to win over droves of rural South Vietnamese. But it came anyway.

On May 8th, 1963, during the celebration of Vesak (the most important annual Buddhist holiday), police shot into a crowd of Buddhists waving Buddhist flags. Religious flags (except Catholic ones) were technically prohibited in South Vietnam, and eight monks are killed.

During the next few months, Buddhists staged a series of escalating non-violent protests and the government responded more ruthlessly to each one. In August, coordinated government troops attacked a number of pagodas in South Vietnam.

The pagodas were vandalised, 1400 monks are arrested, and hundreds of monks “disappear.”

Wait. So the Americans were directly funding a foreign government that shot peaceful protestors? How does the 1963 American government respond?

Well, obviously the crackdowns are unfortunate PR, and the official US response is to issue a call for reconciliation between Diem’s government and Buddhists.

But what really worried them was that the Diem administration freely admitted to considering peace with the North.

Privately, the Americans threatened to cut off aid to South Vietnam, and behind the scenes they covertly signalled to dissidents that they were open to the possibility of a coup. It was inconceivable to the U.S. government to negotiate with communists; if that was Diem’s plan, then he would have to go.

In November, Diem was assassinated, and for the next two years high-ranking Vietnamese military officials desperately grasped at power like a bar of wet soap before a more severe military junta took control and was able to retain it for a decade.

With the NLF making major gains in the South, in 1965 the US brought in its own military, inflicting incredible amounts of destruction on both of the Vietnams—as well as Cambodia and Laos—over the next eight years.

However, incapable of making any meaningful progress no matter how much shit they blew up, in 1973 the Americans made like the French: ils ont quitté. Two years later, the South finally surrendered to the North.

In 1975, Vietnam had finally achieved both independence and national unity—first claimed by Ho Chi Minh 28 years earlier—at

the price of millions of Vietnamese lives, as well as the billions of dollars it had cost to kill them.

In summary, President Diem was a widely unpopular fervent Christian ruler whose inept government (totally reliant on US aid, by the way) soon dropped all pretense of democracy. And this was really the best government the South ever had. Successive governments were military-run, and all were notorious for infighting, policy reversals, rampant corruption, and deep-set paranoia.

So why, then?

Why the 500,000 American soldiers trudging through Vietnamese jungle? Why the 15 billion tonnes of explosives the U.S. dropped into Indochina? Why the $3 billion in funding France’s Colonial War? Why the $7.5 billion in economic aid that it took to keep the Republic of Vietnam afloat, or the $15 billion in military aid? Why the $111 billion in total (or $738 billion in 2011 dollars)?

The American compulsion to support South Vietnam—whether the autocratic Diem regime or the confusing succession of coups and counter-coups that followed—was totally baseless if looked at pragmatically.

There was simply no reason to prop up South Vietnam: it was repressive, it was incompetent both as an administration and as a military, and it was unsupported by the majority of indigenous Vietnamese.

However, considered ideologically instead of pragmatically, there is an answer: Communism.

Both North and South Vietnamese governments had their shortcomings (criticisms over land reforms, tortures and executions,s uppression of political rivals; both governments were guilty of the same transgressions), but while the communist North was an indigenous government with a plan for the future (including social reform), and overwhelming popular support, the South was really just a sustained debacle that, no matter how bad it got, wasn’t communist.

The Americans did what they did not because it was right, but because they had to beat the communists.

And that’s almost the point of this article, but it isn’t quite.

What I want to talk about now is this idea that we as a democratic, modernised, sophisticated, and (yes, let’s just admit it) superior Western culture, are right. That we’re the good guys, and the other guys are the bad guys.

Communism, for example, is a bad guy.

That’s what we’ve been told, right? And sometimes that’s even true. The Khmer Rouge were pretty horrendous while they

were around. And North Korea doesn’t seem like too brilliant a place to live either.

But those communist regimes are awful because they’re individually awful regimes, not because all communist regimes are awful regimes.

Consider China. China’s economy is growing by leaps and bounds while those of most Western nations recede painfully. China’s Communist Party has planned economically for the long-term and, in the short term, they’re doing very well. This is the same China whose communist government is currently pursuing reforms towards greater liberalisation, and whose human rights record—while troublesome to Western commentators—doesn’t really concern the vast majority of Chinese.

It’s because of their propaganda, you say?

Brainwashing? They’re taught from an early age to privilege Chinese values and be suspicious of Western influence?

How are we any different?

Let’s look at Vietnam. Despite the colossal destruction of the American War (as it’s known in Vietnam), and the economic disruption of the USSR’s collapse in 1991, Vietnam’s Communist Party instituted an extremely effective economic reform that combined traditional communist economic planning with aspects of the free market and allowed for foreign investment. As a result, the year-on-year growth rate of Vietnam’s economy since the early 1990s has been consistently around seven percent, and over the last two decades poverty in Vietnam has been reduced dramatically.

To visit Vietnam today is to visit a very modernised country.

Vietnam is picturesque, booming, relatively wealthy and, unsurprisingly, idolises Ho Chi Minh.

Today, the problem that plagues us isn’t that we still give aid money or offer military assistance to other countries. The problem is this barely-contained superiority complex that was at its worst in Vietnam, but is still visible today in our framing of international issues. There’s this insidious Western idea that, where possible, it is our duty as a democracy to help non-democracies become democracies because democracies are better and that is the case in every case. It isn’t.

Just because we live in a democracy, doesn’t mean that everyone else wants to—and if not, we have to respect that. Democracy isn’t the only system under which one can enjoy a fulfilling life. We have a tendency to disregard people we find convenient to disregard, while at the same time we ostensibly champion all people. And that, my friends, is our mission civilisatrice. [mitZine v11.i5] 25

mitZinespecialfeature

Political Cartoons

For more than a decade now, the mitZine has given writers a platform for free expression.

Accompanying their words is usually some kind of image designed by a faithful crew of contributing illustrators, who we realize have always been confined to someone else's argument. Until now. In our visual culture, it seemed a slight oversight not to acknowledge the power of visual rhetoric. History has shown us — and mitZine complaint letters affirm it ——that words, whether verbal or published in a zine, carry a lot of weight. But there's something about images that really gets to people; especially images that make an argument.

These mitZine political cartoons don't tackle any topics that might incite the next great Muhammad controversy, but we hope they move you in some way. Laugh at them. Write us a letter. Rip up this zine. Whatever you do, acknowledge the power of the image.

illustrated by Dan Perdic 26 [mitZine v11.i5]

illustrated by Ryan Hurlbut

illustrated by Lauren Nicholson

illustrated by PJ Helliwell

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