Mount Allison’s
THE February 14, 2013
ARGOSY Independent Student Newspaper
Stimulating reading since 1872
The Love Issue
Vol. 142 Iss. 16
NEWS A THE
February 14, 2013
RGOSY
w w w. a r g o s y. c a
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Students elect new MASU Executive
Independent Student Newspaper of Mount Allison University Thursday February 14, 2013 volume 142 issue 16 Published since 1875
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Carly Levy
NEWS EDITOR Emily James
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Ian Malcolm
SCI/ TECH EDITOR Madison Downe
FEATURES EDITOR Ryan Burnham OP/ED EDITOR John Trafford
SPORTS EDITOR Rob Murray HUMOUR EDITOR Lisa Theriault
ARTS/LIT EDITOR Bhreagh Macdonald
ONLINE EDITOR Charlotte Henderson
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PHOTO EDITOR Kory D’Entremont
COPY EDITORS Kyra Jones, Claire Molgat Laurin & Ben Dunfield
ILLUSTRATORS Sally Hill & Katrina Zidichouski
NEWS WRITER Gavin Rea
ENTERTAINMENT WRITER Kent Blenkhorn
writingstaff POLITICAL BEAT WRITER Richard Kent FEATURES WRITER Jessie Byrne
SPORTS WRITER Wray Perkin SCI/TECH WRITER
ARTS WRITER John Fraser
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Norman Nehmetallah, John Perkin, Erin Burnham, Taylor Losier, Alex Francheville, Shawn Seeley, Ciera De Silva, Amy Wallace, Daniel Marcotte, Melissa Meade, Julia Kay, Kevin Levangie, Ian Chew, Andy Schweiz, Justin Thomas, Caroline Duda, Kylie de Chastelain, Caroline Whidden
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(Clockwise from top) O’Rourke, Smith, Webster, and Harley will take office May 1 2013. (Kory d’Entremont/Argosy)
VP External race the only close contest Richard Kent
Political Beat Writer The members of the Mount Allison Students’ Union (MASU) have spoken: following a two week campaign period, Melissa O’Rourke, Ryan Harley, Ian Smith, and Heather Webster will take office May 1 as the new President; Vice-President, Academic Affairs; Vice-President, External Affairs; and VicePresident, Campus Life of MASU, respectively. The elections took place last week on February 6 and 7, and results were announced via email February 8. Concurrently, MASU members voted on two referenda questions, dealing with meeting quorum rules and the requirements for constitutional revision. The closest race was for Vice-President, External Affairs—the only contest to feature two candidates on the ballot. Current Social Science Senator and Vice-President, External Affairs elect Smith faced off against former Social Science Senator Natalie Brunet. The External Affairs candidates ran on platforms that addressed the need to improve students’ knowledge of local housing options and renters’ rights, student transportation needs, and finding a workable provincial student lobbying alternative to the New Brunswick Student Alliance. While Smith polled 587 votes to Brunet’s 558 on the first ballot, he narrowly missed the required majority of 607 votes to win on the first ballot. However, since MASU utilizes a preferential balloting system— which drops the least popular candidate each round until one candidate has achieved a majority—Smith was able to accumulate an
disclaimers
additional 495 transfer votes, and won the election with 89.1% of total votes in favour. The Presidential campaign was also contentious, but for different reasons. Initially, both O’Rourke, Spoken Word Director at CHMA and former Residence Councillor, and Alex Whynot, President of Mt. A’s Health Care Outreach group, campaigned, but Whynot withdrew his candidacy on January 29. A sharper distinction between the candidates was visible in this race: O’Rourke’s campaign focused on MASU’s internal governance, while Whynot’s campaign focused on students’ mental well-being and MASU’s accessibility for students. Despite Whynot’s withdrawal, O’Rourke polled with the lowest percentage of votes in favour for any candidate, at 68.7 per cent. The Presidential ballot also saw the highest turnout, with 1220 votes cast, representing 45.9 per cent of possible voters. O’Rourke was nevertheless pleased to have been awarded the Presidential mandate for next year: “I’m really, really excited,” she told The Argosy in an interview. “I think that already we’ve got this teamwork that’s starting to get established,” she elaborated. Facing no challengers, Harley, an incumbent two-term Student Arts Senator, was elected to the Vice-President, Academic Affairs portfolio with 87.0 per cent of votes in favour, with 1193 ballots cast. Harley’s campaign centred on two pledges: working with the University to streamline the approval process for intensive courses offered during Mt. A’s Week of Independent Study and drafting a Charter of Students’ Rights to clarify the academic relationship between students and the University. Webster also ran unopposed. Running on a platform consisting on improved health services, the continuation of the Security project, and integrating residences more fully with MASU, Webster garnered 86.5 per cent of the vote.
MASU members also voted on two referenda: the first question, which asked Union members if they supported lowering the quorum for MASU meetings from twentyfive per cent to ten percent of membership, was defeated with 53.9 per cent of votes in favour and 25.8 per cent abstaining. MASU President Pat Joyce pushed for the referendum in Council, telling Councillors that MASU’s current members’ meeting quorums are disproportionately high, compared to other student unions. Joyce also mentioned that the 25 per cent quorum requirement for members meetings would create logistical problems if such a meeting was held, as most venues on campus cannot accommodate nearly 600 students. The second question, which passed with 77.4 per cent support, asked members if they supported giving Council the authority to amend errors in MASU’s constitution by unanimous consent. Referenda held by MASU require a two-thirds majority to pass. Voter turnout was lower than it had been in comparable MASU elections over the past few years, ranging from the 45.9 percent of possible voters who cast ballots for the President and Vice-President, Academic Affairs portfolios, down to 39.6 per cent on the referenda. A report circulated to Councillors Tuesday by Vice-President, Communications Ariel Yip hypothesized about the low turnout. “Voter turnout, unfortunately, was lower than previous years, with the main assumption being the limited competition between candidates this year,” Yip wrote in the report. The hiring process is underway for the remaining two positions on the MASU executive, Vice-President, Finance and Operations, and Vice-President, Communications. A third round of elections will be held later in the semester to elect six Student Senators and the Board of Regents Representative.
The Argosy is the official independent student journal of news, opinion, and the arts, written, edited and funded by the students of Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the Argosy’s staff or its Board of Directors. The Argosy is published weekly throughout the academic year by Argosy Publications Inc. Student contribution in the form of letters, articles, photography, graphic design and comics are welcome. The Argosy reserves the right to edit or refuse all materials deemed sexist, racist, homophobic, or otherwise unfit for print, as determined by the Editor-in-Chief. Articles or other contributions can be sent to argosy@mta.ca in microsoft word format, or directly to a section editor. The Argosy will print unsolicited materials at its own discretion. Letters to the editor must be signed, though names may be withheld at the sender’s request and at the Argosy’s discretion. Anonymous letters will not be printed.
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NEWS
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CIDA suspends funding Cuts based on anti-gay views Richard Kent
Political Beat Writer
Caroline Whidden
Katrina Zidichouski
Boy Scouts delay decision The Boy Scouts of America delayed a May vote on whether to end a longstanding controversial national restriction on gay participants. The board members of the 103-year-old organization, deeply divided over the issue, were expected to vote on the matter last week. Delaying the vote provides more time for both sides to express their concerns. Just last year, the Boy Scouts upheld the ban amid heavy criticism from gay rights groups. Even if the vote in May dismantles the national ban, local chapters are still able to ban gay participants.
German education minister resigns Germany’s education minister Annette Schavan resigned Saturday after a university decided to withdraw her doctorate upon the discovery that she plagiarized parts of her thesis. The circumstances are unfortunate for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government as it prepares for elections in the fall of this year. Duesseldorf ’s Heinrich Heine University decided to revoke Schavan’s doctorate following a review of her 1980 thesis on the formation of conscience. Although Schavan denies having either copied or deceived in her dissertation, her decision to resign stemmed from her consideration of the political consequences and her desire to avoid strain on the government.
The Canadian Press reported that as of February 9, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has suspended its funding to Crossroads Christian Communications, an evangelical organization engaged in international development projects in Uganda, over its views on homosexuality. This event was complicated by the relationship between the governments of Canada and Uganda, which has been strained after Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird publicly denounced Ugandan efforts to make homosexuality punishable by the death penalty, and is the latest in a string of problems for Julian Fantino and CIDA. International Cooperation Minister Julian Fantino, the minister responsible for CIDA, tweeted Sunday that he had suspended funding to the evangelical group, pending a review by government officials. Fantino tweeted twice
on the subject. “We strongly oppose criminalization [sic] of homosexuality & violence due to sexual orientation. CIDA funds projects based on merit,” Fantino tweeted. Fantino’s tweet was in response to Crossroads Christian Communications’s hostile positions regarding non-heterosexual relations, which were, until recently, available on the organization’s website. The Canadian Press report quotes an anti-gay passage, which equates various types of sexual deviance with “perversion” and “sexual sins.” The article, which was picked up by several Canadian news agencies, states that the list was removed shortly following the Canadian Press’s inquiry. According to Crossroads Christian Communications’ website, its development project in Uganda consists of digging and repairing wells and providing access to latrines. The website states that “to date, five new wells have been dug, twenty-seven boreholes have been repaired along with the construction of seventeen pit latrines for proper sanitation practices.” The project page thanks CIDA for its financial support of the project and quotes Fantino’s predecessor, former International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda.
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“This project will benefit over 500,000 people and improve their health and well-being by reducing their risks of death and disease caused by water-borne illness.” Now, Fantino has suspended further financial support for the organization beyond the 544,813 dollars that CIDA has already provided. It is unclear how long CIDA’s review of Crossroads Christian Communications will take. CIDA has faced numerous problems over the past year: Oda resigned in July 2012 amid concerns that she had misspent taxpayer money; more recently, Fantino has faced criticism for shifting CIDA’s focus toward partnerships with the private sector—rather than traditional non-profit partners. In January, Fantino signed and posted two letters on CIDA’s official government website advising New Democratic Party Members of Parliament that their advice on foreign aid was unwelcome and telling the Liberal Party of Canada that its record in international development was poor. The letters attracted negative attention because government departments are precluded from engaging in partisan activity by government rules concerning bureaucratic neutrality.
Pill that makes you stay in love
Canadian suspected in Bulgaria bombing Bulgaria’s Interior Minister revealed persuasive evidence last week that Hezbollah was behind a deadly 2012 bombing in Bulgaria, and that a Canadian citizen played a key role. The alleged Canadian came to Canada at the age of eight, became a citizen about three or four years later, and then returned to Lebanon at the age of twelve. Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has triggered public debate on what it means to be a Canadian citizen as a private members bill has resurfaced that would strip the citizenship of anyone who has committed an act of terrorism.
India’s Kumbh Mela festival On Sunday, more than 30 million people bathed in the intersection of India’s Ganges and Yamuna rivers, marking the most auspicious bathing day during the Kumbh Mela festival. This event is known as the biggest human gathering on Earth. Hindus believe a festival bathe at Sangam, where the rivers meet, cleanses the sins and helps bring salvation. Up to 100 million pilgrims are expected to bathe in the holy waters in January and February during the fifty-five-day Kumbh Mela, which is held every twelve years.This occasion is also a Maha Kumbh Mela,which occurs only every 144 years.
British sugar giant caught in tax scandal Over the weekend, a year-long investigation revealed that one of Britain’s biggest multinationals, whose brands include Silver Spoon sugar, Twinings tea and Kingsmill bread, has avoided paying millions of pounds of tax to Zambia. The corporation, Zambia Sugar, contributed virtually no corporation tax to the Zambian state between 2007 and 2012, and none at all during two of those years. During this time, it paid less than 0.5 per cent of its 123-million-dollar pre-tax profits in corporation tax. The company benefits from generous capital allowance and tax-relief schemes in Zambia, but it also funnels about a third of its pre-tax profits to sister companies in tax havens like Ireland, Mauritius, and the Netherlands. It is estimated that the tax haven transactions of this one corporation deprived Zambia of a sum fourteen times larger than the UK aid provided to the country to combat widespread malnutrition and food insecurity.
The love pill that makes your brain think you are in love and helps you stay in love. (Lea Foy/Argosy)
The love pill could hold couples together Gavin Rea News Writer
In the age of modern medicine, we have become accustomed to moodaltering drugs. For example, doctors usually prescribe anti-depressants to the victims of mental illness to correct the chemical imbalances of neurotransmitters in the brain. But have you ever wondered what aspects of our mood we might be able to control in the future? In a recent article in the Huffington Post, Oxford researchers stated that we will soon be able to create a pill that promotes human attraction through neurochemicals. In their paper, “Neuroenhancement of Love and Marriage: the Chemicals Between Us,” researchers Julian Savulescu and Anders Sandberg claim that the secret to a stable relationship can be found
in “chemical modulators” that will be able to increase perceived attractiveness and reduce adultery. “About two in every five marriages will end in divorce,” reported Savulescu and Sandberg. “Most marriage breakups occur between five and nine years.” Unsurprisingly, divorce rates peak among younger couples and decline with age. Savulescu and Sandberg believes the love pill will hold marriages together. Its potential ingredients currently include: Pheromones, which are odorless chemicals that cause attraction between two people. There is still a fair amount of dispute about how effective pheromones are, but pheromones have been sold in perfumes for years. (The chemicals were originally discovered in insects. They are the reason why an ant can find its way to a piece of food and then back to the nest.) Potentially, this could increase the initial attraction in a budding romance. Oxytocin and Vasopressin, chemicals that promote physical bonding. Studies have supported the claim that both oxytocin and vasopressin are released during
the early stages of a relationship. If taken in a pill, the chemicals could promote bonding between couples. Testosterone, which increases one’s sex drive, and possibly increases waning libido in a longer relationship. Cor t icot roph in-Relea sing Hormone (CRH), though it has been known to cause depression and anxiety, also induces a fear of separation. Not the best way to go about it, but possibly necessary in an extra-strength dose. Entactogens are another potential ingredient. These are usually found in MDMA. According to Savulescu and Sandberg entactogens “create the feeling of openness and the desire for emotional closeness,” which could possibly increase connection and social interaction. Savulescu and Sandberg stated that “Studies have shown that female desire for sexual intimacy decreases as a relationship continues, while the male desire appears constant. Conversely, desire for tenderness declines in men and rises in women. Sexual activity
The Ship’s L g An Argosy run down of coming events in Sackville Thursday
Sunday
Sexual Health Awareness Week February 14, 10:00 am WMSC 1st floor
Badminton Mounties host CCAA Qualifying Chamionships February 17, 9:00 am McCormack Gymnasium
The Sweetest Little Thing February 14, 7:30 pm Owens Art Gallery
Hockey Mounties host SMU February 17, 2:00 pm Tantramar Veteran’s Memorial Civic Centre
The Vagina Monologues February 14-16 8:00 pm The Wu Center
Basketball Mounties (women and men) host STU February 17, 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm McCormack Gymnasium
Friday Demystifying the Teaching Portfolio: A Three-Part Series February 15, 2:30 pm AVDX 120 Campbell Verduyn Flag Celebration February 15, 2:30 pm Athletics Centre - Pool Area
From Baroque to Britten Workshop February 17, 3:00 pm an 18, 8:00pm Brunton Auditorium VESPERS February 17, 6:00 pm University Chapel
Next Week
Windsor Theatre Presents: An Evening of One-Acts February 15, 8:00 pm; 16 2:00pm and 8:00 pm Con Hall
Crake Doctoral Fellow in Classics Lecture February 19, 4:30 pm Owens Art Gallery
Faculty Recital February 15, 8:00 pm University Chapel
Collegium Musicum February 20, 4:00 pm University Chapel
Sexual Health Awareness Week February 15, 11:30 am TBA
Omar Khadr, Oh Canada! February 20, 7:00 pm Owens Art Gallery
Saturday Badminton Mounties host ACAA Championships February 16, 12:00 pm McCormack Gymnasium Hockey Mounties host StFX February 16, 2:00 pm Tantramar Civic Centre IDLE NO MORE: From Environmental Issues to Aboriginal Rights panel February 15, 6:00 pm Crabtree M14 MtA Volleyball Mounties vs Holland College February 16, 7:30 pm McCormack Gymnasium Single Reed Student Recital February 16, 8:00 pm Brunton Auditorium
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Love someone, not a body
OPINIONS
This Valentine’s Day, let’s all be comfortable in our own skin John Trafford
Opinions Editor What will you be dreaming of this Valentine’s Day? Perhaps the seductive model on the front cover of this year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition? How about Ryan Gosling’s chiselled six pack? Unfortunately, many of us concentrate on all the wrong things when we think about love and what it entails. Obsession with body image has tarnished how we think about love and relationships. It’s time that we stop placing such undue attention on body image as it applies to how we think about love. It’s what’s inside that matters. Normally I hate using cliché statements like that one but in this case I’ll make an exception. My father once imparted some wisdom on me when he and I were discussing a girl I thought I really liked when I was in High School. My father asked me when I think about her if I actually think about her or if I think about having sex with her. It then occurred to me that I wasn’t really attracted to this person but only to her body. And after a bit of thinking I concluded that I had never really been attracted to this person. Had that relationship been built simply on the fact of mutual, physical attraction it would have been a hollow one indeed. Preoccupation with the perceived physical attraction of this person
People aren’t defined by their bodies (Kory d’Entremont/Argosy) blinded me to the fact that we really had nothing in common. When you think your attracted to someone ask yourself if you’re attracted to the person or to their body. If it is the latter you should do some re-evaluating on whether or not you want to be in a relationship with that person. At this point many of you might be thinking “hell yeah, real women have curves!” Thinking like this is missing the point. Real men don’t have six packs or a beer belly and real women don’t have curves or DD breasts. People are people independent of their bodily appearance. We need to move beyond the notion that a body, in whatever form it may take, equates beauty. To say that real women have curves alienates all those women out there who are naturally quite thin. And to say that real men have six packs alienates the men who can’t conform to the standards set by GQ magazine.
I am certainly no expert when comes to the intricacies of love but what I do know is that how a person looks should be low on the list of things that brings two people together in a romantic way. Love someone for who they are and not for how they look. So what should you take out of all this? On Valentine’s Day this year if you feel unappreciated don’t think that somehow your body image is lacking. What really matters cannot be expressed by how you or anybody else physically looks. A person is not their body; there are many more things that determine who somebody is. Be comfortable in your own body because your body is not you: it is the shell that carries your personality and all that really makes you the individual you are. True love has got very little to do with how somebody looks and this is something that we might forget on Valentine’s Day.
It’s only awkward if you make it Honesty and acknowledging the past can go a long way John Trafford
Opinions Editor Picture this. It’s a perfectly good Friday night and you’re enjoying yourself with some friends at Ducky’s or one of Sackville’s other fine drinking establishments. Suddenly you see the worst thing possible: Your ex or that person you had awkward pillow talk with after a one night stand. The first reaction among many of us (myself included) would be to ‘play it cool’, turn and lean toward your friends, all while pretending as if the two of you didn’t just make mutual eye contact. Yup, we’ve all done it. And it’s something that none of us should have to go through. In reality, social situations like the one described above are only awkward if the parties involved make it awkward. You have control on whether or not
awkwardness defines your relationship with those in your past love life. First, don’t create a situation that could later turn into an awkward encounter at Ducky’s. In my experience the biggest mistake that later came back to bite me in the ass was a lack of honest communication on my part. It was never my intention to lead this person on but that was precisely what I did with a woman in my past because, quite frankly, I was too scared to be truthful with her. I really had no desire to be in a lasting relationship with this person and if I had of been upfront and honest about that I could have avoided some seriously awkward moments. Whatever you’re feeling just let the person know. More often than not, awkwardness has its roots in a lack of communication. Okay, so maybe you’re past the point where you can avoid creating awkwardness with a former lover. If that is the case you can certainly avoid making it any worse. Next time you see this person out, how about instead of awkwardly staring into your beer why not say hello. I mean, both of you are aware of the awkwardness and sometimes it only takes acknowledging the person to
relax the situation. You don’t need to dive into an hour long conversation about how you’re sorry that things ended the way they did, all that is necessary is too stop pretending the person isn’t there and that your past history with them never happened. Wouldn’t you appreciate it if someone you shared intimacy with didn’t act as if they forgot about the whole experience? I think most of us would. Just acknowledge their presence, contrary to popular belief horrible awkwardness won’t ensue. This is much preferable to blatantly ignoring someone. Awkwardness is something we don’t have to be a slave to. It is in our power to act like mature, adults and recognize those we’ve shared intimacy with in the past. Don’t expect awkwardness to disappear with one ‘hello’ but over time not ignoring someone can really pay off. Ignoring a problem never helps find a solution to that problem just like ignoring someone never helps dispel awkwardness. Sometimes an awkward situation is unavoidable but things don’t always have to be awkward. So next time you’re at Ducky’s and your heart skips a beat because you see your ex, instead of ignoring them
The sex trade: patriarchy and dominance Kevin Levangie
Opinions Columnist While the sex trade may not actually be “the world’s oldest profession,” it has long been a part of the darker side of civilization. Arguments about prostitution legalization or decriminalization end up framed in a similar way to drug legalization and decriminalization. The issue tends to boil down to the notion that sex between two consenting adults should not be regulated, or a “lesser of two evils” argument on the side of legalization, and the assertion that prostitution is fundamentally exploitative on the other. The term “sex worker” encompasses a number of possible jobs, from pornographic actors, to erotic dancers, to prostitutes. These roles can be fulfilled by men and woman alike; however, most of the people exploited and abused in the sex industry are women from minority and marginalized groups. I would argue that the two most compelling arguments against legalization are the idea that selling sex necessitates the commoditization and objectification of the person being approached, and that prostitution is rarely, if ever, actually the product of a person’s free choice. Prostitution generally consists of nothing less than the male dominance of a woman. It is not an emotionally or psychologically healthy sexual relationship in which two people engage in mutually pleasurable sexual behavior; but instead a client paying for sex, given the way he or she wants, with no consideration for the wellbeing or pleasure of the woman who is subject to this act of patriarchal dominance. It is a reproduction of the idea of ownership of a person, or of a person’s will. Symbolically, it asserts that the woman is a commodity for which one pays and rewarded with gratification however the client wants. This objectification not only causes huge harm to the sex worker involved,
but also to the cultural perspective on gender inequality as a whole. An anti-prostitution feminist argument is that the money in a prostitution transaction is exceptionally coercive. Women who lack the funds to provide even the basic necessities for themselves or their families are essentially forced into prostitution, as they are unable to find other avenues to provide income. Women from marginalized groups are overrepresented in prostitution, suggesting that most people with other options will take them over prostitution. Another concern is literal physical coercion of human traffickers and pimps over sex workers, particularly women and children. Under the threat of physical violence, many people are forced into prostitution and left with no other options but to continue working in the sex industry. The lesser of two evils argument also has its merits. The assertion that legalization does not mean approval is an important one. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that any change in law, whether relaxation or legalization, will end prostitution. As long as there are desperate, poor, and marginalized people, there will be people who work in the sex industry. The legalization arguments suggest that regulation of sex workers takes them out from the dark underside of society, and gives them a chance for collective action, better health care, the prevention of abuse, and the overall minimization of harm for all those involved. Another issue with the sex trade is the huge social stigma suffered by its workers. Moral panics about the presence of sex workers in society do a disservice to all involved. By further marginalizing these at risk people, we are providing no recourse for them to move into a healthier and less exploitative means of gathering a living. Overall, I would self-describe as a reluctant supporter of legalization. The need to address the root causes of sexual exploitation is necessary in conjunction with the minimization of harm for those involved. Addressing social inequality, and trying to undo the oppressive patriarchy inherent in the current system is the best way to ensure that no one has to sell themselves to survive.
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OPINIONS
February 14, 2013
Dear Editor, Give mental health the attention it deserves What do we do with the elephant now? It was high time that we, as a community, acknowledged mental illness and started to work to end the stigma surrounding it. That’s why January 31 was so crucial; approximately 200 students packed themselves into Tweedie Hall for an evening of open conversation about mental illness and to hear about the Elephant in the Room campaign launched by Change Your Mind Mount Allison. The Elephant in the Room campaign aims to create an atmosphere in which mental illness can be spoken about without fear of stigmatization. A person who fears being stigmatized because of mental illness fears being told that they are dangerous, unable to do certain things being told that they are “just lazy”, or that they need to “perk up”. People struggling with mental illness report that the stigma is just as bad as the effects of the illness itself. And truly, it breaks my heart that as a society we have constructed something that could be just as difficult to deal with as OCD, Bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety,
body image issues, and the list goes on. Clearly, this stigma is unfounded. I am a student who struggles with depression and anxiety. I have a 3.7 average. I am a Residence Assistant. People tell me I am a good friend. I think I have some pretty sweet dance moves (ask me to show you the Badger-Unicorn sometime). Though my mental illness certainly has an impact on who I am, it does not define who I am. After the Elephant in the Room Launch, which I MC’d, I was overjoyed by the number of students who approached me to say that they too had a mental illness. Students who I know to be friendly, motivated, and successful. That “me too” moment is something I adore, and one of the reasons we must continue the conversation that started on the 31. There is no reason for people struggling with mental illness to feel alone; not when so many students are going through the same thing. There is no reason for students to feel like they could not possibly be understood; through conversation and the sharing of experiences anyone can come to have an idea as to what living with a mental illness is like. There is no reason for
students to feel hopeless: people live contently with mental illnesses every day and those stories must be shared. The idea behind The Elephant in the Room is communication. That’s what the elephant represents: a safe space to talk. If you see the elephant displayed by someone on campus that means that you can talk to them about any mental illness you or someone you care for may be struggling with. Likewise, if you choose to display the elephant that means that you are someone who is committed to being a stigma-free, supportive friend to those who may be in need. I don’t think its fair to expect these conversations to be perfect; as a society we don’t know how to talk about mental health, and thus there will surely be bumps in the road. If mistakes get made, apologies must be given, and the conversation should continue. What is important is that we are trying to have the conversation; what is important is the openness to having that conversation. So what happens next? We talk. We chatter up a storm. Change Your Mind Mount Alison intends to facilitate some of that, but really the conversation is in the hands of
the community. As compassionate human beings, we need to do away with the stigma we associate with mental illness. As members of a community, we need support those among us who are suffering. As a university, we need to figure out support students struggling in an academic environment. These are conversations that have no doubt already started. They must continue. And, Mount A, I’m so honoured to be having them with you. If you would like more information about the campaign or Change Your Mind Mount Allison, please feel free to contact Laura Gibbon at lagibbon@mta.ca or find us on Facebook. As always, if you or someone you know needs support please reach out to the Wellness Centre by email at counsellor@mta. ca or by phone at 506-364-2163. Becca Johnston
There is more to women than their vaginas Editor’s Note: This is an abridged version of a longer letter. Look for part two in the Feb 21 issue and find the full version online at argosy.ca What follows is something that I’ve thinking about for quite some time. For the past three years, I have helped to direct the Mount Allison production of The Vagina Monologues. I’ve had the honour and privilege of working with incredible, talented people--courageous, vulnerable, open, generous women and men. I’ve directed three different monologues, and watched each incarnation of the show shine as a testament to the worth, the creativity, and the capacity for community that theatre creates. And with the enthusiasm of the Mount Allison and the Sackville communities, the Wu Centre has been packed whole year after year after year. Together, we’ve created the kind of atmosphere that first shocks, then delights the audience. We make a space where questions that are all too often tucked away at the back of the societal mind are celebrated on stage under the brightest lights. Together, each year, we open up. And yet--something bothers me. I always know that working on the Monologues as a male, and as someone who identifies as heterosexually masculine, would have risks; any guy who has sat
and watched as the audience around him starts to chant CUNT suddenly understands that he far, far outside any familiar territory. There are things-experiences, perspectives, biological facts--that are the absolute terra incognita for the male psyche, laid bare. Dangerous, volatile ground. But I did it: the women around me in that group were so welcoming and open and generous and willing to hear me out that I felt barriers breaking down, both within myself and in the way the play was perceived. It became a safe place for us all to be vulnerable in front of the questions, the horrible truths, and the liberating fact of sexuality. Still, each time I put on my red bow tie and find my seat among the directors in the audience, I felt a twinge. Something bothers me about the play, its text, its perception, in a way no production can change. These are things that bother me as a heterosexual male; as an academic; as a poet; and as someone who has, for his whole life, identified as a feminist in the broadest, most inclusive sense of the term--the kind of feminism which, to paraphrase my great-grandmother Thérèse Casgrain, is at its core a humanist enterprise. It bothers me that that the Monologues do such a fantastic, important, necessary job at bringing to light some of the most terrible, reprehensible, and horrifying acts
perpetrated on women in human society--but do it in such a way that seems to deny that there exist positive sexual experiences, some of them between women and men. It bothers me that the only positive sexual experience with a man involves a lover whose obsession is to spend his time staring into the female character’s vagina – a practice which, I think, isn’t necessarily the norm for many women and men, and may not even be defined as a positive one. It bothers me that said man considers the woman’s vagina as ‘who [she] really is’, as though identity and intimacy were irrevocably seated in the vagina – even though not all women have vaginas. It bothers me that the only healing, non-repressive sexual experiences undergone by the girls and women in the play are either masturbation of a little girl by an older woman, or sadomasochistic power play by a professional, paid sex worker. It bothers me that all the other men in the play’s text are either adulterers, judgemental jerks, pedophiles, or rapists, and that they are collapsed into metonyms for the penis--’his spiky sharpness’, et. al. It bothers me that the woman in the Vagina Workshop reiterates to one of the participants that her clitoris is ‘the essence of her’, implying that the absolute and exclusive seat of identity
is a) in the body and b) sexual. It bothers me, finally, that the play itself has gone largely unrevised, unreworked, and unedited since it was first written in 1996--even though we know the discussion can be broader than the text allows it to be. Year after year, it becomes more and more difficult for me to direct the monologues with those frustrations in mind, however already subversive my presence may be. And it becomes particularly difficult to watch the show as a male who considers himself a feminist, who tries to understand and be aware of patriarchal oppression, who is sickened by acts perpetrated on women because they are women-whatever definition the term finds-because so much of its message to me, as a man, seems to be that, regardless of what I want to do to help the cause, I have no place in this discourse. Men have no voice in the Vagina Monologues, save for the one recounted by women. They may not need to have one in this context. But I worry about what that says to men who may be coming to see the Monologues for the first time, and may not necessarily have given much thought to the kinds of messages the play might have. Bernad Soubry
argosy@mta.ca
Love is all around us An entire issue of The Argosy dedicated to all things love and sex Carly Levy
Editor-in-Chief Many of us have come to the realization that Valentine’s Day is an invented holiday meant to make people spend money on things they don’t really need. While it seems that a lot of people are just zombie consumers who think expressing love means shelling out extra dough or making elaborate plans to impress a significant other, or lover that you wish was more, Valentine’s Day gets such a bad rep because of all the people who buy into that. Then there are all those people who think they need to be in love to celebrate it, come on take your best friend on a date. You two probably need to catch up anyway what with our degrees sucking up every minute of our lives. Every year on V-day I get valentines from my mother, grandparents and aunts. I always loved giving them to my classmates in elementary school too. It wasn’t about tacky teddy bears, roses, or shiny things, I just felt so special dumping my valentines deposit box on my desk and looking at the scrawled names to see who got Disney Princess and who got Power Ranger emblazoned cards. I still get that feeling now, I wear red on the fourteenth and I like to make homemade cards that I know will make someone feel loved. No matter how much you may hate V-day you can’t deny that special feeling that comes when you receive a card shaped like a heart that says you’re beautiful. I think there’s something really sweet about a designated day that celebrates love in all its forms not just the passionate love shared between partners but also the love you have for your parents, grandparents, other close family members and friends. That’s what this very special issue of The Argosy is all about. With our issue coming out exactly on V-Day how could we pass up the opportunity to have our first ever Love/Sex/Lust Issue. Inside our pages this week you will find articles about human interaction, love, sex, sexuality body image and gender issues. I hope that reading these remind you of all the important relationships you have in your life (including the one you have with yourself ) and inspires you to let all those people know how much you appreciate them with a gesture no matter how big or small, cheap or expensive that may be.
Don’t have a Valentine this year? Why not make the Opinions section your Valentine! Argosy contributor meetings are every Thursday at 5:30 on the third floor of the WMSC
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Female scientists get their due Recognition in science still a battle for women Madison Downe Science Editor Many readers will be familiar with Jane Goodall and her work with primates, and maybe Marie Curie, winner of Nobel Prizes in both Chemistry and Physics; the first woman to win that award. But after just a few names, even the highly informed individuals often run out of great female scientists to praise along side the great male scientific leaders. That is not to say that they do not exist, but rather female scientists have struggled for education, opportunity and recognition with varying degrees of success. Emmy Noether was one of the great mathematical minds of the Victorian era, revolutionizing abstract algebra and theoretical physics and was considered one of the greatest mathematicians in history by people like Albert Einstein. Despite these significant contributions she was only permitted to teach during
her lifetime as an unpaid lecturer, often under a male pseudonym, limited in her career by her gender. Grace Hopper was a pioneer in computer programming, developing the first compiler for a computer programming language and coining the phrase ‘debugging’, while at the same time serving as a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy. Physicist Lise Meitner discovered nuclear fission and although she co-authored nearly all the relevant work with colleague Otto Hahn, he was given the Nobel Prize for the work. Meitner generally considered one of the Nobel committee’s most glaring omissions of women’s scientific achievement. The element Meitnerium, number 109 on the periodic table, is named after Meitner. This is unfortunately not all in the past as Meitner’s story was nearly repeated with Jocelyn Bell Burnell in the latter half of the twentieth century. One of the most well respected physicists in Britain, Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered the first pulsar but her male colleague and her doctorate supervisor won the Nobel Prize in 1974 for the achievement while Burnell was snubbed. Her career
perfectly encapsulates the bias towards male achievement in the sciences in the modern era. Burnell became the first female president of the Institute of Physics and has continued to achieve excellence physics. Names that rarely surface in the media include Fabiola Gianotti who, in 2009 took the lead of the team of physicists operating the Large Hadron Collider at Cern. This may be just as much due to the lack of science coverage in the media as it is lack of recognition of female scientists. But the average person may be hard pressed to name a single female physicists while names like Stephen Hawking may spring to mind more easily. Neother, Hopper, Meitner, and Burnell are just a few examples of female scientists who ought to be just as well known as their more prominent male scientific counterparts. This did not occur in the past but history can restore some of the balance with recognition and the understanding that the fight for female recognition in science is far from over. Ideally the true mark of gender equality will be when women in prominent science roles are no longer considered noteworthy but self-evident.
New fail-safe male birth control
SCIENCE Sex myths debunked Shawn Seeley You grew up with your body, and you know it well: you know how it works, what makes it feel good, and how to protect it. At this point, you know everything… don’t you? With Valentine’s Day approaching, romance and sex are high on the to-do list for many. In the spirit of being sex positive, let’s take a few moments to review some of the more dominant myths surrounding sexuality and the health issues accompanying it. Sexually Transmitted Infections are totally preventable and totally curable. Young adults in university and college have the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections out of any age demographic. In surveys, university students have overwhelmingly revealed that the number one reason they avoid STI testing is a fear of being positive for any of the conditions. While hormonal contraceptives do not reduce the transmission rates of STIs, condoms can greatly decrease the likelihood of contracting an infection. Although they aren’t perfect, condoms should be your first line of defense. If someone refuses to use a condom during sex, they obviously don’t want to have sex with you that badly and, at best, have no regard for their own health, much less yours. As a caveat, some STIs, such as pubic lice and HPV, can be contracted despite the use of condoms. There is no cure for many STIs, particularly the more serious ones, such as herpes, HPV, HIV, and Hepatitis. Your best bet is to use a condom – they aren’t 100 per cent effective, but their efficacy is greatly improved when the directions on the package are followed. There IS a wrong way to use a condom. Sexuality is completely a choice… or is it completely biological? Your state of being heterosexual, bisexual, homosexual, pansexual or anything else is determined neither by choice or biology in isolation. Some evidence suggests that the environment is important, while other evidence has found anatomical, genetic, hormonal and structural brain differences between the various sexualities. The bottom line is: whether it was the environment, your genes, or an active choice on your part, your sexuality is your own and all sexualities are equal. The causal source is irrelevant and diverts attention from the crucial fact that we are all equal and worthy of love and respect. Genital structure is important for sexual pleasure. It’s not. Many females feel that their labia are too large, or not ‘properly pigmented’. To assume that your vulva isn’t beautiful as it is based on what is shown in porn is as flawed as males believing their penis is small, compared to what they see in porn. While we’re on the subject, average penis size is much smaller than what most men believe it is, and there’s tons of variability in shape and girth. For any kind of sexual activity (oral, vaginal, or anal), there’s only so much space to accommodate a penis. It really is a matter of how you use your vagina or your penis, and not what its appearance is.
Birth control shot for men claims complete effectiveness for ten years.(Kory d’Entremont/Argosy)
Vasalgel could protect men from unplanned parenthood John Fraser Arts & Literature Writer If you’re like many guys in their early twenties, then kids are not an option. Sure, someday having kids sounds like a wonderful idea, it just doesn’t seem to co-exist in the world of pre-exam all-nighters, keggers and Kraft dinner for every meal of the day. Raising a child is a huge responsibility that most young men are not ready for. While most women solve this problem by going on a birth control of some type to protect against the possibility of children, men are left leaving the fate of their reproductive security in a thin, latex barrier: the condom. However, recent studies in India may provide a new option for men looking to break free from the condom, and still avoid impregnating their partner. While condoms are an effective
barrier against pregnancy, they are far from perfect. If you want evidence of this, realize that there are people whose existence they owe to condoms not properly doing their job. They can break, tear, and slip off. Coupled with female birth control and effective use, they reduce the risk of pregnancy to a near impossibility. However, as your parents may have told you, nothing is 100 per cent and the risk of pregnancy is still present. Meet a new player to the game: male birth control. This new birth control, being developed in Indian laboratories, is claimed to be 100 per cent safe and effective. That’s right, 100 percent effective, which is a claim no other contraceptive can make, except that high school war cry of abstinence. So what is it and how does it work? Luckily for the gents, it is a one time procedure that claims to work for up to ten years, and is easily reversible at any point before this. It is less complicated than remembering to take a pill everyday, but the procedure does not sound like a walk in the park. First the penis is numbed, and then a shot is administered (let that thought sink in: a needle into your penis) that injects a compound known as Vasalgel into the vas deferens. When a man
ejaculates, the sperm travels up the vas deferens, meets the Vasalgel and is broken apart. So even if a man were to go completely without protection and ejaculate directly into a women, he would only expel destroyed sperm, thus eliminating the chance of pregnancy. Despite the small miracle this seems to be, there has been skepticism raised about its claim for effectiveness. As the drug is currently in clinical trials in India, and will probably not be ready to market in North America until 2015, some sources are concerned that the claim for a decade of protection may be exaggerated. Others worry that the gel may not be so effective after time, and that some sperm (out of the millions upon millions) may survive the gel. By far the largest concern however, is the rise in STIs that this might create. With teens having more and more unprotected sex as a result of this new project, STIs have the potential to increase dramatically. As it stands the only effective method against spreading STIs is your friend the condom, a female diaphragm or abstinence of course. Until the male birth control hits the market, it would be best gentlemen if you stuck with one of those three.
The clitoris and the prostate are secondary to the vagina and the penis. This is a really upsetting myth, because the clitoris is a source of immense pleasure for many women that is frequently ignored by their partners. The clitoris extends well inside the body, diverging into two halves that wrap around and extend behind the vagina. The internal clitoris can be stimulated by massaging the G-spot inside the vagina, and some researchers suggest that anal penetration will stimulate the lowest portion of the internal clitoris. The lack of understanding about the clitoris is mirrored by an aversion to prostate stimulation in men. Massage or stimulation of the prostate can result in intense pleasure, but many heterosexual men are afraid of being stigmatized as ‘gay’ for enjoying or desiring it. Here’s a hint, folks: if it’s between a female and a male, it really just can’t be homosexual. There are infinite myths about human sexuality that pop culture frequently embraces, and here we’ve touched on just a few. Be your own advocate this Valentine’s Day: make good choices, stay safe, and above all else, have tons of fun!
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February 14, 2013
Chivalry in the modern world Let’s all be a little more gallant Ryan Burnham Features Editor
Abstinence At university there may seem to be an underlying pressure to conform, and to let loose, experimenting with everyone and everything. Men are typically celebrated for the number of notches on their bedpost, while women need to keep their exploits to a minimum for fear of being unfairly branded a slut. Because I care, about each and every one of you, I am here to inform you that abstinence is just as socially acceptable as an alternative, for those who don’t want to wade into the world of sex just yet. To begin, you don’t need to justify your decision to anybody, be it religious, moral, or otherwise. Remember! You decide when it is that you want to become sexually active. Whether your decision is based around faith, religion, or your own personal philosophy, I commend you for your decision to remain abstinent in what often times can seem like a sex-crazed world; especially if you are a male where the gender ratio at this school is ever in your favour. It makes you ladies look good too! There is nothing better looking than a strong, independent, confident woman who knows what she wants out of life. Choosing to wait for the right guy or gal can be very rewarding, if it’s your goal, stick to it! While it should never be the primary reason for avoiding sexual encounters, there are plenty of health and circumstantial reasons to avoid having intercourse. Pregnancy for example: we’ll assume that most of you reading this are between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four, attending our beloved University, and so broke that your diet consists of minute rice and instant noodles. In case you were unaware, babies cannot survive on that diet, and to be quite frank it’s impressive that
you have managed to make it this far. Pregnancy is one thing, STIs are another: Herpes and AIDS and Chlamydia, oh my! Now there are many different sexually transmitted infections out there, but to prevent unnecessary therapy we’ll only talk about one. As a result of living in New Brunswick, we’ll discuss a disease that is rapidly on the rise throughout the region. Chlamydia effects one in ten females and one in twenty males. The infected can expect an unusual discharge, pain during sex, and a burning sensation while urinating. Similar to unplanned pregnancy, the best way to avoid this is to abstain, though condom use is always recommended if you’re engaging in intercourse for these reasons, and more. Avoiding sex doesn’t mean you need to have an aversion to relationships, as long as you are clear with the one you are in a relationship with, you can date without the pressure of having sex until you feel that you are ready. During this time you have plenty of opportunities to get to know your prospective partner, and depending on your definition of sex, there are some other sexual options available to you. Sex is a lot of fun, but sometimes it can obscure the forest for the trees. Choosing to remain abstinent can put things into perspective in a time when everyone else is stressing over their sex lives. Sexual activity can be a wonderful experience, but should only occur when both partners are ready. You need to be emotionally and physically ready for intercourse, as well as being educated on having safe sex. A fulfilling sex life does not mean a life full of sex, go at your own pace, and jump in when you feel ready!
Plenty of other ways to have fun. (Kory d’Entremont/The Argosy)
Write for the Sex Bomb!
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There is little that is permanent in the tradition of courtship and romance between men, women, and one-another. The variance between cultures and eras paints a picture of ever shifting taboos and degrees of acceptability. In our own time, the ever-more-equal culture we enjoy certainly decrees hesitation towards more traditional methods for wooing the persons who catch our eye. This shift in thinking is a step in the right direction, but there is still something to be said for a dash of chivalry in our day-to-day lives: taking the best elements of those noble and lofty ideals and applying them wholesale, regardless of gender. To be a noble knight in the medieval ages was to subscribe to the virtues espoused by the chivalric code. These were the principles which a man was expected to follow if he was to do his duty to his country and his God. Rarely were men so good as to stand equals to the paragons of chivalric merit: Saladin, Richard the Lionheart, or the fictional Sir Gawain. Rather, it was more common for knights to be boorish and base, human though they were. The Chivalric ethos was born from a military tradition where
decency, religiosity, and valour were prized above all else. The romantic element existed only in the ritual of courtly love, secret displays of affection among the medieval nobility. Instead, the primary role of this righteous path was t o ensure that knights would strike away cowardice, and be benevolent in victory. Respectable virtues, spoken of but absent in practice, climbed onto a romantic pedestal over the centuries. Applicable only to those exalted few, the grandeur of the chivalric code experienced a shift when it was largely coopted by fiction, and evolved into a romantic concept. However, the depictions of courtly love do seem a bit fun. Though a relic of the past, mired in less than splendid or antiquated undertones, some of the cornerstones of the courtly romance - the wooing, the adventure, and the secrecy - all reoccur in romantic plots again and again. They are tenets that can be easily re-appropriated and applied to a more current understanding of courtship. That is to say, the damsel in distress can be male, or further still, there need not be any distress at all.
Chivalry in the nineteenth and twentieth century accrued a new meaning- a gentlemanly code of conduct, the rules for any respectable man to follow. Rather than fighting to the death, the civil knight of virtue throws his coat upon the puddle to preserve the dignity of his partner’s shoes. Rosy and quixotic, the conception of gallantry in the twentyfirst century is, as the march towards sexual equality progresses, innately dated. Many of those chivalric charges p r o v e a r c h a i c remnants to be discarded, but it leaves us with some scraps, those romantic virtues we could all benefit from. We could all do more to emulate the values entrenched in the romantic graciousness of the chivalric code, to be more courteous and more magnanimous. Regardless of sex or preference, contemporary chivalric values can be entrenched in the universality of platonic love. Whether or not you find yourself alone this Valentines Day, hold open doors, offer a welcoming smile to friends and strangers alike, and, hell, even throw your coat over a puddle if the moment strikes you. It’s these little things that matter, to be goodnatured men and women, to be good people in the twenty-first century.
Wonderful world of aphrodisiacs A pick-me-up for your sex life Norman Nehmetallah Features Contributor
Couples and hopeful singles alike may have noticed with some dismay that Valentine’s Day this year falls on a Thursday, predictably in the midst of the midterm season. It may be difficult to convince others, or even yourself, to partake in some Valentine’s canoodling when the only blood coursing to be contemplated is in the study of the circulatory system, and the only sexy whisper is in stuttered Spanish off of a cuecard. However, while academic pursuits may be at the root of this issue, they may also provide the answers: aphrodisiac foods. The Oxford American Dictionary defines aphrodisiacs as any food, drink, or drug that stimulates sexual desire. However, the word ‘stimulates’ is somewhat misleading, as the aphrodisiac must not enhance sexual desire, but conjure it from nowhere. This desire is ultimately chemical in both males and females, with testosterone being one of the primary culprits. Therefore, aphrodisiacs tend to be food that is high in testosterone, or a part of an animal that is historically thought to be quite virile.
While most researchers do admit that certain chemicals in foods contribute to increased blood flow in the most fun parts of our bodies, or catalyze the release of certain hormones, they are not entirely sure about the extent of this effect. With the obligatory word of scientific caution aside, let’s dive genitals first into the nebulous world of aphrodisiacs! Most purported aphrodisiac foods fall into two distinct camps: those that are phallic or testicular in appearance, and those of which contain chemicals that either enhance circulation or enhance pleasure. The first camp is mostly cultural, including a predictable list of items such as bananas, avocados, carrots, cucumbers, and figs (which are thought to resemble female sex organs when halved). While it might seem juvenile to think that just laying eyes on a banana will enflame the passions, dozens of cultures swear by the efficiency of this method. On the other side of things, there are the foods that yield scents or chemicals that increase circulation, or have a wealth of
testosterone/estrogenic compounds; sweet basil leaves, aniseed, cardamom, chocolate, chilli peppers, honey, garlic, oysters, and pine nuts are among the most popular of these aphrodisiacs. Despite the many accounts given over the course of history by those who have believed that these powerful aphrodisiacs can elicit sexual desire in anyone, including the unwilling, there is resounding disagreement with this claim by both scientists and the aforementioned unwilling. So, while sprinkling sweet basil leaves and erecting a display of carefully arranged bananas and avocados in the middle of the library’s lustappropriate red floor might not get you m u c h be yond laughter and shame, that’s no reason not to introduce aphrodisiacs into your Valentine’s Day plans. As long as there is already a basis for sexual attraction, aphrodisiacs may be just the thing to stoke the fire, and get you and your partner away from the textbooks.
Graphics by Ian Malcom
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Mount A’s culture of hook-ups A less traditional version of normal Jessie Byrne
Features Writer We, as Mount Allison students, know all too well how small this school really is. Everyone knows everything about everyone. And so, it’s hardly a surprise that after the weekend ends, students are abuzz with the drama that took place, who got “totally wasted” and particularly, who hooked up with who. “Hooking up” is a phrase that is used so often today, we barely even stop to think of what it means. Which is intentional. The phrase itself is supposed to be vague, because it means something different to everyone. While some people might regard a simple make-out session as hooking up, others see hooking up as nothing less than sex. Regardless of what you think it means, one can’t deny that it’s one of the most prevalent aspects of university life. It seems that traditional dating has taken a back seat to this more noncommittal, alcohol-fuelled culture. Indeed, by fourth-year, seventy two per cent of students will have had at least one hook-up, with the average amount being ten for men and seven for girls. In fact, many relationships start out as a hookup. This doesn’t seem surprising considering that ninety per cent of Canada-wide student housing is now co-ed, as opposed to the more old-fashioned same-sex houses. But what do students really think of this culture? Do they like the idea of casual sex with a stranger, or do they go along with the trend reluctantly? The Argosy interviewed four Mt. A students to get a better idea: two female and two male students had varying feelings towards hooking-up across the board. When asked how they defined hooking up, all of the students agreed that you couldn’t just assume that there is one definition. “I think anything more than making out can be considered a
hook-up,” said one of the female students, “some people think that it’s just a pub make-out though.” Both male students agreed. “If someone says ‘I hooked up with someone’, I have to ask what that means,” one commented. Both groups also agreed on whom this trend is more oriented towards. They said that at Mt. A vit seems like hooking up is more about what guys demand from girls. “I just feel like because the ratio is so skewed here, it seems like the girls are fighting for guys, and they feel like they have to do stuff for guys in order to lure them in,” said one of the female students. “I think it should be fair,” one male student added, “although, just because there are fewer guys here, doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re going to hook up every time they go out. I feel like since there are fewer guys to pick from, you really have to stand out.” Despite this, both of the women felt that they personally don’t necessarily have to “put out” in order to get a guy’s attention. Both also noted that if that’s ever the case, then it’s definitely not worth it. “To me, it’s all about expectations,” said one girl. “There’s nothing wrong with flirting, but I think your intentions should be clear. If you’re not planning on going home with someone, don’t lead him or her on.” All of the students involved in the interview agreed that the worst part of hooking up at Mt. A is that word spreads like wildfire. “It’s amazing how quickly people find out,” said one student. “And it’s a small campus, so it can be awkward. It all depends on the maturity level of everyone involved and what happened.” Not one of the interviewees felt that this hook-up culture could have extreme adverse effects. The general consensus seemed to be that if both parties are being safe and responsible, then hooking up is a great way to learn more about yourself and it can be fun. “I think anything is good as long as you’re doing it for yourself,” said one of the female students. Even when it came down to the controversial use of the word “slut”, the parties were on the same page for the most part.
“I think the label definitely exists,” said one female student. “But I wonder why people judge it. I think that if people judge you based on your sexual experience, then it can largely stem back to jealousy and their own lack of self-esteem.” “People are nosy in Sackville and people know who hooks up the most often,” added one of the men. “It’s easy to call someone a slut because you know all the details and you can put a name and a face to the stories.” On a lighter note, all of the students had interesting tips to contribute when it came to the question of hookup etiquette. All four agreed that you should keep your hook-up details on the down low unless the other person is okay with you telling people. They also advised against getting too attached to someone, especially if you know it’s just a hook-up. As far as morning-after etiquette, one student suggested getting your partner a drink of water to help with the hangover, or offering to walk him or her home. “At the very least give a girl a pair of your sweats,” one of the guys said. “Don’t let them do the walk of shame in last night’s dress.” “And remember their name,” one girl laughs. “That way you don’t have to wake up in the morning and be like, ‘hey… you.” All four students considered it rude and awkward to leave before the other person wakes up. And on a campus where you’re bound to see the other person, increased amounts of awkwardness is the last thing you need. “Have an excuse to leave if you feel weird,” one of the male students said. “Say that you have a meeting or that you have a lot of work to do.” “But make sure that you don’t just ignore their existence after that,” added one of the girls. “Just say hi when you see them or even a simple smile.” “Just be friendly,” a third student concluded. “Don’t be a jerk about it.” So whether or not you participate in the hook-up culture that is everpresent at university, there seems to be some very clear-cut rules. Don’t make someone else feel uncomfortable, be safe, and don’t judge anyone who chooses to participate. In the end, it’s all about having fun and judgment from anyone else should never get in the way of that.
If you’re sneaking out early, make sure to remember your pants. (Kory d’Entremont/Argosy)
9
Through Stained Glass Rev. John Perkin
University Chaplain For much of the twentieth century, the worlds of spirituality and sexuality have been far apart, such completely different dimensions of life that it seems difficult to contemplate bringing them together. But spirituality, as I have grown to appreciate over the years, has to do with ALL of life, including sexuality. Spirituality is a relatively modern word in the English language, and we are still trying to work out exactly what it means. Often people assume it has to do with something exotic, esoteric, removed from the ordinary, and usually involving monastic retreats, walking the paths of medieval pilgrimages, or travel to India. But spirituality is far more than retreats and religious rites, quests and pilgrimages; spirituality has to do with an understanding of our own existence: what supports, informs, and shapes our sense of who we are and how we live. As one theologian expresses it, spirituality is what we do with the fire that is inside us, how we channel our desires and restless energies. My developing spirituality, nurtured in the Christian tradition, informs both the sense of who I am in the sight of God, in the community of God’s people (church), and in the larger world, as well as my actions and decisions and words, how I try to live out my life. It is based on an inclusive, accepting, hope-filled, affirming word of good news which announces the Kingdom of God, which we might also understand as the realm or the Dominion of God, arising from principles rooted in the narratives of scripture, particularly those describing the ministry of Jesus. Sexuality, then, includes but is not limited to sexual activity: it is indeed a gift to be celebrated, part of who we are as social, emotional, and physical people. The Greek philosophers maintained that we were fired into life with a madness that comes from the gods and that this fire or energy is the root of all love, hate, creativity, joy, and sadness. There may be some truth to this – but I would add from my Christian perspective that part of this energy/fire (breath) within us is our sexuality, given so that we might both offer and receive pleasure and have potential to create life. It is also a gift to be used responsibly; channelled wrongly it can bring profound hurt and pain. Sexuality, as one theologian noted, is like nitroglycerin: it can
be used to heal a wounded heart, or it can bring massive destruction. Sexuality, in its understanding of physical and emotional love, is celebrated in scripture, and opens us up to the wonderful possibilities that sex should not be frightening, but rather that it holds a sacramental possibility that in sex we have the very real possibility of knowing the presence and grace of God. So spirituality speaks to the gift of sexuality as something to be celebrated. But sexuality is also something we speak of in connection with gender, role, and identity. As I learned in my own growth and development, it is not just about what we do with our bodies, but what bodies we have and how we perceive them and what forces are at work on them in the world around us. My spirituality, for instance, rejects the objectification of bodies - women’s and men’s and reminds me of the affirming, welcoming, inclusive, equal nature of the realm or Dominion of God. It is the role of the church, for instance, to reflect this realm in a real way, for spirituality is intimately connected with the materiality and ordinariness of life. For instance, I come from a tradition that in 1911 was pushing for equal pay for equal work for women and men, and in 1913 approved the ordination of women to ministry. So spirituality speaks to the sexuality of gender in terms of equality and inclusion. It is about justice. Specifically, when we speak about homosexuality, religion tends to get caught up in the second part of that word, sexuality, and the Victorian values emerge and silence the discussion as though it simply has to with physical or sexual activity. Spirituality in response to sexuality in this instance is larger than physical love; it is the also the longing that transcends procreation, and includes tenderness and touch, commitment and companionship, trust and shared life. It suggests we are called into relationships which are affirming, ennobling, and nurturing of our humanity. So spirituality also speaks to the religious debate about homosexuality by reminding us to be inclusive, just, and human in all our relationships. In my understanding of God’s realm – which shapes who I am and how I live - spirituality is nurturing of my sense of self, my sense of self in relationship to God, and my sense of self in relation to the larger world. And specifically when we speak of sexuality, my spirituality suggests we need to think in terms of celebration, of justice, and of relationship.
10 FEATURES
February 14, 2013
argosy@mta.ca
The Argosy’s review of sex toys!
Handcuffs
$25
Ben Wa Balls
$160
Velvet Ripple
Having progressed through Cosmopolitan’s list of sex positions …for better or for worse… A little light bondage may prove a welcome release from the tired old techniques you’ve been lazily employing. Handcuffs provide a great gateway into some fun role-playing, and aren’t terribly difficult to find at any good sex store. Make sure you get a pair that can be released without a key in an emergency,and if you can find a pair with some padding that’s a bonus.(A bonus that will likely cost a bit more.) Handcuffs open up a whole world of sexual possibility, allowing one partner to take a dominant role while the other is bound by cold, hard steel.
I was pleased when this baby arrived at my doorstep in a white unmarked envelope after purchasing it on the internet. Tearing into the package I was taken aback by its size: it is considerably larger than any other external vibrator I have tried. This pulsating pleasure provider takes two C cell batteries: turning it on and feeling the vibrations reverberate down my hand and arm, my lady pearl gave a yelp of fear. A couple of days later, figuratively girding – and literally ungirding – my loins, I mustered the courage to direct the vibrations in the intended direction. A feeling of skepticism was soon washed away by waves of rather pleasanter feelings. If you like intense vibrations, then getting a toy like this could be the way to go. You may want to consider springing for the revered Hitachi Magic Wand rather than this fella though. The next time I inserted the batteries into my new purchase, the gratification I had so highly anticipated failed to materialize. After only one proper use, this erstwhile below-the-belt bliss bestower was busted. I had looked forward to many more intimate moments alone together, including taking our relationship to the next level (the bathtub) to test if it was, as purported, waterproof.
These neat little toys are different than your average dildo or vibrator. The balls are about the size of marbles and are usually hollow with a small weight inside. Like many other sex toys they come in a variety materials, which greatly influence the cost. A simple silicone pair is the cheapest option and usually come attached by a strap of the same material. Inserted in the vagina the balls are held in place by contracting the Kegel muscles. The weighted balls strengthen these muscles leading to more intense sexual pleasure and can also provide extra stimulation during foreplay or masturbation. To use just place them in the vagina and go about your daily activities, you will be more than ready to get it on after just a short time and leaving them in leading up to the main event will rev your engine just that much more.
The We-Vibe 3 is one remote control that you and your partner will never have to fight over. Worn while making love, the We-Vibe 3 boasts more power, a fully waterproof design, a convenient wireless remote control, and a wireless charger bases. There are six different vibration modes that are as quiet as a whisper, allowing it to go anywhere with you and your partner. It allows up to two hours of play on a single charge. The We-Vibe is a U shape vibrator, one end going into the vagina hitting right on the G-Spot and the other end wrapping between the lips of the vagina, landing perfectly on the clitoris. There is plenty of room for the guy to insert himself and receive his share of the vibrations. Warning: the vibrations will make the girl come quicker than normal. Danger: the vibrations will make the guy come much quicker than usual. The We-Vibe can also be used for solo play if you can’t wait for your partner. Do the exact same thing, except only with yourself. The only downfall the product is the over the roof price. It might make sex exciting, but the product is not worth 160.00.
In terms of bullets, this is just the best. Travel sized, super powerful, water resistant and only needs one battery! If you’re looking for something to massage the clitoral area and want to steer clear of a full-on vibrator or dildo, this is probably the best bet. Make sure to lube-up before using, the Velvet-Cote material feels good to begin with, but exponentially better with just a dab of lube. Keep in mind that you won’t be able to stimulate both the g-spot and the clitoris at the same time with this toy.
$10, or less!
Maxi Wanachi Waterproof Massager
Varies
We-Vibe 3
$38.50
Erin’s Eats: What’s better than getting a dozen roses? A vanilla rose cake, topped with buttercream Erin Burnham
Argosy Culinarian Having a “special” guest over? Treat them to this lovely vanilla rose cake, topped with a delicious buttercream icing. A flowery delight, perfect for two, or more!
Vanilla Cake: Ingredients 3 cups all purpose flour 2 cups of sugar 3 tsp baking soda 1 cup butter, softened 1 cup sour cream 3 eggs 2 tbsp vanilla extract
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and baking soda. Mix the remaining ingredients in a second bowl before adding them to the dry ingredients. Once all the ingredients have been combined, pour the mixture into two eight inch cake pans, and bake for thirty, to thirty-five minutes.
Buttercream Icing: Ingredients ½ cup milk 2 tsp vanilla extract 4 cups icing sugar 2 cups cold butter Directions: Mix well, and refrigerate to stiffen. Building the cake: Remove the two cakes from the oven; allow time for cake to cool. Once cool, coat the top of one of the
cakes with the buttercream icing, and place the other cake on top. Try to ensure that the two cakes are bound together by sugary goodness. Now, it’s time to cover your cake with icing roses. You’ll need a large star tip icing tube, a zip lock bag, and a batch of the icing we made earlier in the recipe. To make an icing rose, simply begin squeezing out the icing in a circular fashion by starting in the middle of
your desired flower. If you choose to cover the entirety of your cake with the roses, you can use a swoop of icing to fill the gaps the icing roses do not. Remember, temperature is important. You don’t want the icing to become too runny, make sure that it remains relatively cool. While the natural outcome of this recipe is a white cake, you can add food colouring to the icing batch to make things a little
Erin Burnham/Submitted more exciting. Also, be prepared to have everything that you love covered in icing. Finally, enjoy!
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How to triumph over your body hair. Sort of.
11
The battle against body hair: a timeless and painful pursuit Ryan Burnham Features Editor
Shaving, waxing, and all manner of hair removal for aesthetic reasons is a personal matter, and entirely according to personal preferences. The Argosy is not suggesting that smooth legs and a bare chest are to any degree superior to the gift of hair bestowed by nature, nor does our humble little paper want to advocate the practice of hair removal to the unconverted. That said, the tradition of maiming our manes has persisted throughout human history, for health, religion, and of course, beauty. On the surface, the exercise of shaving and waxing appears a rather modern visual novelty. Just take a gander at pornographic films prior to 1980. It would appear that North Americans have, by and large, found themselves in a fight against follicles as they prioritize smooth bodies over woolly ones. We’ll shave, wax, and even apply lasers to our natural fur coats in hopes of achieving that bald body. The practice of hair removal is hardly a new one, however. Nearly every human culture has, to some degree, a tradition of human fleecing embedded into it. The popularity of body hair has waned and waxed throughout human history; Alexander the Great apparently had poor facial hair growth, and shaved regularly to hide his boyishly patchy beard. In Ancient India, there was a period of time where it was in vogue to garner a glorious beard, while shaving hair off of the rest of the body. As early as 3000-4000 BCE, we see evidence
If you are not used to having hot wax strips on your body, a little liquid preperation may be in order. (Lea Foy/Argosy) to suggest that women were applying creams made from arsenic, lime, and starch to burn away their body hair. Regrettably, as time marched on the methods employed by women hardly improved, as later approaches saw the use of fire to simply burn the hair right off. Around 3000 BCE we begin to see metal shaving implements appearing in areas such as Egypt and India, and while shaving had been in practice prior to this, the invention made the entire process quicker. It is not likely, however, that these early razors made the process cleaner. There is also a darker side to hair removal; during World War II women who were found to have been involved sexually with the Nazi’s could expect to have their hair removed to shame them for their behaviour.
More recently there were arrests in 2011 in connection to assaults on Amish men in Ohio, where their beards were forcibly removed. Nowadays the most common procedure for hair removal comes in the form of razors, waxes, and creams. Shaving is a quick, and mostly painless approach, as contemporary razors have been refined beyond their ancient predecessors. Though shaved hair grows back more quickly, it is pretty much the only way to go for removing facial hair. Waxing is favoured for removing hair on the chest, legs, and pubic region. It can be messy, and very dangerous if done incorrectly. One must be careful not to apply the wax when it is too hot, or risk burning the skin. Burn or no burn, this technique will still be very painful, as fundamentally you are tearing the hairs right
out of your body. Finally, there are the depilatory creams. They vary in terms of ingredients, so it would be wise to investigate your options and determine if you might have an allergy prior to applying any of them to your hair. Essentially, the creams are chemicals that will dissolve your hair. With that in mind you need to make sure you don’t leave the cream on for too long, or you will experience a painful chemical burn. For those readers over the age of nineteen, and of a mind to drink, having a bottle of wine, beer, or whiskey handy might make the whole process a little easier. You should also have some friends around, as they will certainly enjoy watching you partake in a centuries long tradition of selfinflicted agony for questionable visual appeal.
The Kamasutra: philosophy, or pornography? Examining the renowned book Richard Kent
Political Beat Writer For many Westerners, the image brought to mind by the words ‘the Kamasutra’ is a book of sex positions, a kind of primitive, Oriental Cosmopolitan magazine—a tome best purchased wrapped in brown paper, its pages saturated in recipes for raw, carnal pleasure, an exotic work of erotic instruction; however, the reality of the Kamasutra is much more complex and far-reaching than the orgasm instruction manual it is so often reduced to by magazine covers and pocket versions of the text. Written by Vatsyayana nearly 2000 years ago, and first published in English by Richard Burton in 1883, the Kamasutra does provide detailed advice on sex positions—but, as Indologist Wendy Doniger points out in a paper titled “On the Kamasutra,”“it is in fact a book about the art of living: about finding a partner, maintaining power in a marriage, committing adultery, living as or with a courtesan, using drugs—and also about the positions in sexual intercourse.” Originally written in Sanskrit, “kama sutra” translates roughly to “sensual pleasure manual.” Ostensibly a compilation of older yogic insights, the Kamasutra offers prescriptions for
What you learn in the Kamasutra may require some flexibility, so get stretching! (Lea Foy/Argosy) each stage and aspect of a relationship, with chapters addressing everything from the type of house a man should possess, to the specifics of courtship (and marriage) in several situations, to some “dos and don’ts” for kings seeking to increase the sizes of their harems, to various herbal remedies for sexual problems. Some parts of the text are seemingly timeless: for example, there are a limited number of physiologically possible sex positions, and the Kamasutra names more of them than this author can lay claim to having tried, and there is a section on interior decorating. Other portions might prove problematic for some readers: Doniger has argued
that the Kamasutra’s treatment of sexual beating is an early written endorsement of rape culture, and that the text’s treatment of proper feminine sexual behaviour was decidedly animalistic when compared to its assessment of proper masculine sexual practice. If the Kamasutra is better conceived of as a guide to living well (admittedly, in a context somewhat removed from our own) by virtue of satisfying relationships, then the purely sexual popular view of the text in Western culture requires some explanation. Part of the reason for the Kamasutra’s misrepresentation in the West is its original translation
into English. Overseen by Richard Burton, during the height of British colonial domination of the Indian subcontinent, the first English translation of the Kamasutra was as influential on the Western popular psyche as its rendering of the text was inaccurate. For example, Doniger critiques the Burton translation’s over-reliance on (and perhaps inappropriate use of ) “eunuch”: writing in her article, “The Kamasutra: It Isn’t All about Sex,” that “the word ‘eunuch’ was bandied about loosely in British writings about the Orient, conveying a vague sense of sexual excess, cruelty, and impotence, and it infected Burton’s
translation of the Kamasutra, too.” In another example, English Professor Ben Grant argues that while Burton’s Kamasutra challenged prevailing Victorian attitudes on sexuality at the time of its publication, it also “[satisfied] the European male’s voyeuristic desire.” Given Burton’s marketing strategy for the text as a love manual for the sexually repressed Victorians as much as a legitimate work of anthropology, it is easy to see why the Kamasutra has gained infamy in the collective Western sexual consciousness. In contemporary times, several scholars have noted the banal prevalence of the Kamasutra in Western popular (sex) culture. For example, Jyoti Puri’s article, “Concerning Kamasutras: Challenging Narratives of History and Sexuality,” describes a world where Cosmopolitan magazine can classify readers as “sensual” based on their ownership of the (Anglicized) text, and publish two editions of its own book, “The Comso Kama Sutra.” Doniger corroborates this view, informing her readers that there are Kamasutra versions of a myriad of mundane artifacts, from wrist watches to PDA applications to condoms. Ultimately, the Western notion of the Kamasutra is reductionist and belies the complex world of ancient India. While the whole of the text may not be useful as a lifestyle guide for the modern reader, Western readers would do well to approach the Kamasutra without preconceptions.
12 CENTREFOLD
February 14, 2013
argosy@mta.ca
What does love
This week The Argosy partn story curator Ian Chew to fin ‘Humans o
“Love is more of a feeling than a definition. You’d do things you wouldn’t normally do, where your chest sometimes feels so tight when you care about someone that much. Love is fluid, transient, not a static thing.”
“Love is communication and compromise – working through issues and always talking to each other about things that bother you.”
“
“Love? Geez, that could mean a number of things. That’s a deep question…” All Photos by Ian Chew/ Humans of Sackville
The Argosy
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e mean to you?
nered with photographer and nd out what love means to the of Sackville’
“Love means heartbreak...It was a long time ago when I was a teenager. I think it was more like first love heartbreak.”
“Love makes the days a little brighter.”
““I’m in love right now. I have been with a girl for two years now. And everyday I do to see her smile. That’s all I want.”
“Love is candy – sweet, happy and bright.”
“Love is friends and family.”
“Love is an absolute commitment that holds honesty, compassion, care, trust, and friendship as its main essence and foundations.”
13
ARTS & LITERATURE
February 14, 2013
argosy@mta.ca
Energetic Indian music warms up a cold week
(Left) Hussain and Assani perform on tabla and sitar as part of the Performing Arts Series. (Right) The performers provide a workshop for students. (Ciera De Silva/Argosy)
Sitar and tabla performers entertain Mt. A Ciera De Silva Arts & Literature Contributor Despite blizzard conditions that threatened Saturday’s concert, audience members were delighted by the mesmerizing performance of highly-acclaimed sitarist Mohamed Assani and award-winning tabla performer Shahbaz Hussain. The concert marked the end of the three-day residency of the Indian classical musicians at Mount Allison’s Marjorie Young Bell Conservatory of Music, in which our music
department welcomed Assani and Hussain from their respective bases in Vancouver and Rochdale, England. These artists – of two of the most popular instruments from the Indian subcontinent – have been working together in Assani’s band Indus and are currently on a Canadian tour. The personable musicians, who have both studied under some of the most eminent teachers of their respective instruments, offered two workshops on Thursday: one on rhythm and the another on melody and raga in Indian classical music, which has its origins in Northern India and Pakistan. After these introductions to the genre’s fundamentals, Friday included a workshop on improvisation and a practical session in which students played authentic Indian classical music pieces using their own instruments and voices, even if they were not typically
used to play Indian classical music. A fourth-year music student expressed his gratitude for the workshops, saying that, “after practicing different styles of Indian music, it no longer seemed so foreign.” Like other workshop participants, he said he was better able to appreciate the Saturday concert after having previously learned first-hand about Indian classical music. It was Assani, a committed and experienced teacher, who originally offered to give the workshops. Performing Arts Series organizer David Rogosin jumped at the opportunity to offer the valuable international music experience to the Mt. A community. In Saturday’s concert, which was made possible by the J.E.A. Crake Foundation, the talented pair offered a moving performance and engaged each other in difficult
improvised passages, captivating the audience with a notable interplay between their versatile instruments. Hussain noted that as a type of drum, his smaller tabla can be used to derive strong rhythms, while his larger one can be used for deeper tones by drumming towards the rim of the instrument, lending it more to melodic passages. Meanwhile, using his eighteen-string sitar, Assani demonstrated two key types of playing, one of which involves keeping a finger on a fret and using vibrato to ‘bend’ or alter the note, creating vocal phrasing. The other technique entails playing melodic passages up and down the fingerboard. The players complemented each other’s rhythms and melodies, using many more techniques than crescendo and diminuendo and offering both slow, melancholic
passages and fast, lively ones. They were keen to explain the complex beat cycles and their geographical origins to a receptive audience. Hussain even described a particular beat originating from the India’s Punjab province as “groovy,” and he was not kidding! The musicians’ enthusiasm was evident throughout their performance and they visibly appreciated each other’s talent and creativity as much as the audience members. Their passion for their art form and the spirit they bring to it was contagious. Audience members left in high spirits after a memorable musical adventure led by these talented artists. We can surely expect to hear more from these two in the near future, both on the Canadian and international music scenes.
START Gallery presents work by Elizabeth Bissonnette When Facebook and art collide Amy Wallace Arts & Literature Contributor Despite Saturday’s looming blizzard, members of the Sackville community gathered at START Gallery to celebrate the opening of Elizabeth Bissonnette’s art show last Friday evening. The show, aptly titled “Should This Be My Profile Pic?,” features a variety of pieces that integrate technology and popular media into a colourful and innovative display of artistic talent. Limoges, Ontario, native Bissonnette is in her fifth and final year at Mount Allison and is graduating this spring with a fine arts degree. The collection, which is based on photography and digital manipulation, has been a focus for Bissonnette since her second year. “It all started when I was working with collage and manipulating the planes of the face in that fashion,” explained Bissonnette. “I just continued to experiment with collage until I started using photoshop to get the
same distortions that the collage was giving me. What really interests me is the way that the distortion plays with the way you view the portrait. From close up, you can just see shapes and colour, but once you step back the image becomes clear.” Bissonnette’s statement is clear: when viewed up close, one can merely see the intricate details of these pictures, and the face is not clearly visible. Yet from afar, the minute details fade away, revealing the portrait. The detail is extraordinary, and the artistic style presents an inventive representation of photography. “This is just my way of depicting faces that I find visually interesting," said Bissonnette. “I find pictures of my friends on Facebook that speak about who they are as people. I don’t use typical Facebook display picture photos; I like the candid shots, the ones that people weren't expecting. There’s always more emotion and some kind of humour involved with those shots,” Bissonnette explained. The process involves the distortion of individual photos using photoshop; the image is then projected onto a canvas and copied. Using oil paints or sticks, the different segments of colour are then painted.
Attendees showed appreciation for this creative take on the Facebook profile picture. “It is intriguing that she integrated technology and popular media into her art. I think that it speaks to our generation’s reliance on social media as a means of projecting ourselves,” commented guest Natasha Bani-Sadr. Bissonnette is currently taking a brief departure from this style, focusing instead on a series of small watercolour paintings based on masks that she has sewn. “The masks are a continued exploration of the way I paint and pushing the distortions even further,” she explained. Fresh off the success of her show, the future looks promising for this talented young artist. Bissonnette recently landed an artist residency at Ireland’s Burren College of Art, where she will spend two months. The program will allow her to meet with curators and other artists, thus opening doors to future endeavours. “I am very grateful that I have this show and I am getting this residency—this is a stepping stone towards what I want to do.” “Should This Be My Profile Pic?” will be open for viewing until February 19.
Exhibit visitor examines the work of Bissonnette. (Lea Foy/Argosy)
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15
Nothing to hide when posing for Mt. A artists Nude modelling proves your body is a work of art Daniel Marcotte Arts & Literature Contributor For many of us, the idea of being photographed or painted is an enthralling or potentially terrifying prospect, let alone doing so without the protection of clothing. When analyzing this idea from an artistic perspective however, the process can yield extensive benefits both academically and psychologically. In order to truly delve into nude modelling at Mount Allison, The Argosy interviewed a student that has been a part of the program for over a year. The student, who has requested that they remain anonymous, has provided insight into both the procedure and its effect on body image in order to ‘undress’ this unique and important facet of the Mt. A fine arts experience. Because nude modelling is a paid position that involves a slightly higher risk for uncomfortable situations, maintaining a professional and secure
environment and knowing one’s personal boundaries is a central aspect of the job description. “I don’t know what I expected to get out of it,” the student commented. “It was only weird for the first minute and a half ... but it was all very professional.” Nude models are expected to commit to three-hour sessions whenever required by the department, with all of the available models on a rotation system. For drawing classes, poses are extremely dynamic and change every fifteen to twenty seconds, whereas painting classes require much longer poses of up to forty-five minutes in length. In addition to the academic advantages this program provides for art students, the student also revealed the quasi-philosophical epiphanies that can be cultivated by modelling nude. “It’s almost like a forced meditation,” our interviewee reflected, “to know that your body is being viewed as art.” She described the process as the realization that one’s body is “worthy of being copied down” and, by extension, that ultimately everyone’s body is worthy in this regard. This mindset is one that has also been recognized and explored by the “Therapeutic Photography” of Ellen Fisher Turk, who aims to reshape how women view their bodies
by photographing them, often in the nude. In addition to existing as pieces of art, Turk’s photographs help victims of sexual abuse and those suffering from eating disorders or cancer to see themselves as artistically, aesthetically, and intrinsically desirable. Because of the varying interpretations and artistic liberties utilized by students during a modelling session, one of the most eyeopening aspects of modelling for our anonymous interviewee was the wide spectrum of depictions of her own body. “I learned how subjective the world really is,” she reported. “You have to be prepared to face what other people see.” Ultimately, this understanding is liberating, she explained, because a negative view of one’s own figure is merely one of endless conceptions that are possible, especially in the mind of an artist. For these reasons, it is clear that the benefits of nude modelling extend considerably beyond its academic merit. By analyzing the practice of nude modelling in a university setting, one can observe the valuable connections and relationships that exist between the mind of the artist and the perception of the self.
Justin Thomas poses for Mt. A student artists. (Lea Foy/Argosy)
Lust Over Values
Get comfy with the V
Anonymous I turned over on my side in a half-asleep, half-awake state, wrapping my arms around her waist. Without thinking, I slipped my hands underneath her shirt, touching her bare skin. I felt a surge of excitement filling my body as much as curiosity. I allowed my hands to travel up her shirt but then stopped right at the base of her breast. I knew by then that she was awake. Her heart was pounding as hard as mine. Neither of us moved, and I knew that I should not continue. The voice in my head was yelling at me to stop, reminding me that I was straight—one hundred per cent straight. But the excitement and the curiosity was overwhelming. With the tip of my fingers, I traced a line underneath her breast, going closer and closer to her breast each time. I heard her sharp intake of breathe. I froze, all of the sudden nervous and unsure. I dropped my hand quickly and flipped back over on my back, staring at the cream-
coloured ceiling of my bedroom. My mind was shouting at me to stop. I knew something was soon going to happen, and the image of my Catholic mother came into mind. I shuddered to think what she would think of me now. I fully turned my back on her. I felt her arms wrap around my waist, mimicking what I had done with her—tracing a line underneath my breast, just as light and slow. She would not touch them, which made me crave for more. The thought of begging her to touch me replaced the voice telling me to stop. After unknown minutes passed, she stopped, but did not turn on her back as I had done before. She remained there, just as unsure as I was. Laying there, my mind was having an internal battle. What my family would think of me? What I would think of myself ? What if I did try it: would I like it? I turned over once again, this time to find her staring into my face. She
had these huge brown eyes, the same colour as her hair. I watched as her eyes travelled from my lips to my cheeks, finally landing on my own eyes. Our lips were only inches from each other’s. I could feel her breath against mine. The internal battle in my mind continued as she inched closer to my face. Now her lips were only centimetres away from mine. Her small smooth lips... I closed the small distance between our lips, gently placing my lips on hers. It was hardly a kiss, but it was the most exciting kiss I had experienced. I pushed a bit harder against her lips, making full contact. Her mouth was smaller than what I was used to—much smaller. It felt weird and different, but exciting. My lips lingered on hers. I pulled away, keeping my eyes shut. “Are you okay,” she asked. I opened my eyes and nodded one slow nod. She then pulled my body against hers, pressing herself against me while kissing me in return.
Graphic by Sally Hill/Argosy
Annual show takes the stage this weekend John Fraser Arts & Literature Writer The much-loved and highly-praised The Vagina Monologues are making their return to Mount Allison this coming week. Starting on February 14, 2013, the campus will be treated to the hilarious, yet serious production aimed at bringing women’s sexual health and issues to the spotlight. As always, the production is very much ‘in-yourface’ and doesn’t shy away from the female body, sexuality, or the grittier issues of abuse and exploitation. Just in time for Valentine’s day, the Ascar winner of Production of the Year will run for three days from February 14, 2013, to February 16, 2013. The character of the monologues has always been distinct. Whether the crowd is treated to very frank and open humour or raw emotional scenes that jar the soul and mind, the monologues are a very adult production. Pulling no punches on the sexually explicit content, the cast will you have you screaming things you would never scream in different company. The performances often excite very emotional responses from the audience. Laughter and shy smiles are accompanied hand-inhand by tears and heartfelt pain as the performance slips between playful and flirty to darker sides of the coin. The organization One Billion Rising usually finds its way into the production and opens up the global perspective to educate viewers about the world issues that afflict women. According to One Billion Rising, one in three women on
the planet will be raped or beaten in her lifetime. Using the monologues as an avenue, they hope to raise further awareness, as V-Day officially launches on February 14, 2013, which is opening night for the monologues. Kelley Humphries is one of the producers of The Vagina Monologues, and was involved with it last year as a performer in the piece “The Workshop.” Every year the cast list for the monologues evolves to bring a unique performance. While new energy is infused through the introduction of fresh actresses, the experience and passion of veterans taking on new roles is certainly worth noting. “It has been amazing to see every actress bring something new to their role,” says Humphries, “and they have some really memorable takes on the monologues.” Without revealing anything to spoil the show, Humphries assures that “the directors have taken some monologues in directions that I’ve never seen before. It’s going to be a great show!” One issue that has always been present with The Vagina Monologues is how men relate and approach the production. While men are never attacked in the show, it is very easy to see that the male sex is responsible for most of the harm done to the victimized women. “We didn’t organize it here this year, but The Vagina Monologues organization has a workshop program for men called V-men,” says Humphries, “with the purpose of engaging men in ending violence against women and girls.” Despite the lack of workshop, The Vagina Monologues encourages men to actively participate in the directing and running of the show. Humphries concludes: “it’s the kind of experience where you laugh so hard, cry, and are drawn in to the intimate world that Ensler has created.”
ATTIC TRANSMISSIONS
THE CHMA 106.9 FM CAMPUS & COMMUNITY RADIO BULLETIN
FEBRUARY 14, 2013
BREAKOUT THE MAKEOUT EDITION
THE CHARTS
CHMA APPROVED LOVE SONGS
FOR THE WEEK ENDING TUESDAY FEBRUARY 12, 2013
CHMA STAFF
RANK
ARTIST
TITLE
An Indie Playlist for Your Valentine’s Day
(LABEL)
01 TEGAN AND SARA* Heartthrob (Warner) 02 LES HAY BABIES* Folio (Self-Released)
03 PARQUET COURTS Light Up Gold (Dull Tools)
04 ZEDS DEAD AND OMAR LINX* Victor (Self-Released) 05 MY BLOODY VALENTINE MBV (Self-Released) 06 BLUE HAWII* Untogether (Arbutus) 07 LUKE NICHOLSON* Mad Love (Self-Released) 08 INGRID GATIN 1,000 Lives (Pipe and Hat)
09 OLENKA & THE AUTUMN LOVERS* Hard Times (Self-Released)
10 LUCAS HICKS* Slower (Self-Released) 11 KLARKA WEINWURM* Continental Drag (Saved By Vinyl) 12 LADYHAWK* No Can Do (Triple Crown) 13 OLD MAN LUEDECKE* Tender Is The Night (True North) 14 JENN GRANT* The Beautiful Wild (Six Shooter) 15 DIAMOND RINGS* Free Dimensional (Secret City) 16 KID KOALA* 12 Bit Blues (Ninja Tune)
17 DANIEL ROMANO* Come Cry With Me
It’s Valentine’s Day, and to jump start your lovey-dovey playlists here are a few flirty Canadian indie love sons! Whether you need to create the right romantic atmosphere, or complete the perfect mixed tape, these song suggestions are sure to let your special someone know just how you feel! I’M WITH YOU - COLD WARPS A great song for anyone who doesn’t want a sappy love song, but is looking for an upbeat song for your sweetheart. BASIA BULAT - IN THE NIGHT ...or anything off of her album Oh My Darling is sure to add some sugar, spice and everything nice to your Valentine’s Day. LUCAS HICKS - THE SWEETEST LITTLE THING The anthem for this year’s Sweetest Little Thing you can find it on the event’s webpage and it’s sure to remind you of the sweeter side of life. HAYDEN - OLD DREAMS A beautiful melodic tune that is sure to pull your heart strings in all the right directions. OLD MAN LUEDECKE - AT THE AIRPORT There are so many sweet folk songs from Old Man Luedecke to pick from, but his song about reuniting in the airport might be the sweetest of all.
(Normaltown)
18 CRABE* Mort De Fraiche Date (Self-Released) 19 TY SEGALL Twins (Drag City) 20 A TRIBE CALLED RED* Trapline (Self-Released)
FEIST & THE CONSTANTINES - ISLANDS IN THE STREAM A beautiful cover of the song made popular by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. This Canadian version is a particularly lovely duet perfect for slow dances.
BOLIVIA - RUDY’S CALL A sweet locally-grown tune that will be the gem on any romantic mix-tape you might make for your sweetheart. BAHAMAS - HOCKEY TEETH From Bahamas debut EP, this song is perfect for your hockey-loving sweetheart who’s heart is still overflowing over the end of the lockout. JENN GRANT - OH MY HEART An upbeat pop song off her appropriately named album Honeymoon Punch, it’s sure to set your heart aflutter! THE WEATHER STATION & BABY EAGLE - MULE IN THE FLOWERS A sweet duet by two of Sackville’s favourite artists. Be sure to check out the other songs from her duet series released on You’ve Changed Records. JOEL PLASKETT EMERGENCY - I’M YOURS There are a lot of adorable Joel Plaskett songs to pick from, but this one might be the best to tell someone you’re head of heels for them! JULIE DOIRON - OUR LOVE Julie’s charming voice is the perfect addition to any sweet playlist. LADYHAWK - TEENAGE LOVE SONG This song might not describe a perfect romance, but it might make you nostalgic for your first time love. COUSINS - THUNDER Not a love song per se, but it has all the elements for a truly epic make-out jam.
21 SHEARING PINX* Storm Majorities & Magnetic Tremors (Dub Ditch Picnic) 23 CONNOISSEURS OF PORN* Falling Down The Stairs (Self-Released) 24 JAKE BUGG Jake Bugg (Mercury) 25 FIDLAR* FIDLAR (Dine Alone) 26 METZ METZ (Sub Pop)
22 YOUNG RIVAL* Stay Young (Sonic Unyon)
27 WIZ KHALIFA O.N.I.F.C. (Rostrum) 28 CONVERGE All We Love We Leave Behind (Epitaph) 29 CISEAUX* Ciseaux (Self-Released) 30 JILL BARBER* Chansons (Ourside)
31 CHRISTINA MARTIN* Sleeping With Strangers (Come Undone)
NEW LITERATURE SHOW ON CHMA “Bookish” hopes to create an on-air dialogue about great new books and wants you to read along! Bookish is a new literature radio show which will air Wednesdays at 11:00 AM on CHMA 106.9FM. With the goal of creating a sort of on-air book club, Bookish will explore newly released novels and seeks to create a dialogue around them. The main host of the show will be Vanessa Blackier who will be aided by a revolving cast of book-loving co-hosts. Each book will be discussed over two programs where your hosts will discuss characters, themes and ideas and other interesting information about the book. There’s also a chance for you to get involved too! Join the facebook group “Bookish on CHMAFM” to share your own opinions about the book and join in on the conversation! The current reading and broadcast schedule looks like this: February 13th & 20th - The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey February 27th & March 6th - Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon March 13th & 20th - Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn March 27th - Round House by Louise Erdrich For more information on Bookish and the novels being read join the group on facebook or email bookish.chma@gmail.com with your question and comments.
UPCOMING EVENTS & CONCERTS YELLOWTEETH + KURVI TASCH
NEWCOMER SESSIONS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15TH EVERY TUESDAY ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION 4PM 10:30 PM - $6 - 19+ 364-2221 WWW.MTA.CA/CHMA 3RD FLOOR STUDENT CENTRE
CHRISTINA MARTIN & DALE MURRAY SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16TH MACKINNON HOUSE CONCERT BUY YOUR TICKETS AT THE BLACK DUCK INN 7:30PM - ALL AGES
The Argosy
ENTERTAINMENT
www.argosy.ca
The Argosy’s favourite makeout jams Marvin Gaye really works if you’re feeling nostalgic and horny at the same time; like when you have the uncontrollable desire to perm your hair, throw on some hip-huggers, AND rub your naughty bits against someone else’s at the same time. “Let’s Get It On” is probably the classic that first comes to mind and is guaranteed to transform any awkward fumbles into some sort of erotic movement. If you’re not a huge fan of saxophone you can also try “Sexual Healing,” which is most likely what was playing when you were consummated. If you have, you know, like, an emotional attachment to your partner then switch on “How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You” or “Just To Keep You Satisfied”. -Anna Robertson
Jon-Rae & The River ≈ Prayer to God
Any Marvin Gaye Song
EVER
An appropriate soundtrack is essential when one seeks a successful iteration of necking. For such a soundtrack, look no further than “Prayer to God.” Although originally written by Shellac, the version of this song to seek out is a cover performed by Canadian alt-country rockers Jon-Rae & The River. Here, Jon-Rae Fletcher is in his element, his singing equal parts booze and mania, dovetailing effortlessly with the rollicking guitar- and piano-driven instrumentation—a perfect fit for a song that is, in fact, a vengeful and deranged hymn, begging the Lord to strike down a former partner and her new lover, complete with recommendations to God on exactly how much the two would-be victims should suffer in their respective demises. After all, nothing says romance quite like a song with an underlying message that roughly corresponds to “if I can’t have you, no one can.” -Richard Kent
This soulful tune from the prolific duo is one that’s sure to make your Valentine’s Day evening suitably hot and heavy. There’s just something in the tightly-coiled mix between Patrick Carney’s drums and Dan Auerbach’s fiercely buzzing guitar that makes you want to hold someone close and not let them go. And it’s not like “You’re The One” is 2006 album Magic Potion’s only sultry song – if Barry Manilow doesn’t necessarily turn your crank, there’s no reason distortion and tight-locked grooves can’t make your V-day a little more exciting. -Kent Blenkhorn
The Black Keys ≈ You’re The One
Top ten steamy V-day reels If romance is your cinematic preference, look no further Caroline Duda Argosy Contributor It’s Valentines Day, and you and your lover have decided to enjoy a low-key date night together. The candles are lit, the popcorn is popped, and now you have to decide on a movie. Look no further - the top ten movies to watch with your lover are right here! Number ten is 50 First Dates, a slapstick “rom-com” starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. When Henry Roth falls in love with a girl suffering short-term memory loss, he must find a new way to make her fall in love with him every day! If you and your lover are craving a night of crass humour and Hollywood love, this is the movie to choose! Dirty Dancing is number nine, the story of a girl who falls in love with her summer camp dance instructor. The angst-ridden love and incredible dance moves promise to provide fantastic entertainment for you and your lover. With number eight, Singin’ in the Rain; you and your lover will be singing all night! This fifties musical portrays the difficult transition from silent film to sound, and has scored 100 per cent on Rotten
Sometimes, the best of Valentine’s Day romance can be found on screen (Kory d’Entremont/Argosy) Tomato’s romance movie list. Great for date night! Number seven is Brokeback Mountain, a passion-filled movie set on a beautiful American mountainside. It is the heartwrenching story of two married men in a secret and forbidden relationship. This movie is easy on the eyes (starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger), but it’s a tearjerker so don’t forget Kleenex! 500 Days of Summer
is number six. This movie is great with its balance of humour, romance, and amazing music. Starring Zooey Deschanel and Joseph GordonLevitt, this is the story of a girl who doesn’t believe in true love, and a boy who falls hard for her. It’s the perfect amount of “cheese” and, well, it’ll make your dreams come true (ou-ouu). Number five is un film Français, Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain,
aka Amélie. If you and your lover don’t mind subtitles (or understand French), this whimsical movie will be extraordinaire for date night! Set in beau Paris, Amélie secretly changes the destiny of strangers while trying to fight her own loneliness. L’amour is delicate and subtle, yet nevertheless present in this sweet foreign film. Number four will take you and your lover back to the eighties with
Say Anything, starring a young John Cusack. In this feel-good movie, two teens face the perils of young love the summer before leaving for college. The story is very relatable, not to mention hilarious with the eighties music and fashion. Number three is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. A couple decides to have their memories of each other erased after things go downhill, only to realize their love still exists after reliving the good times. This romancemeets-sci-fi will make you and your lover cherish your time together even more, despite the good and the bad. When Harry Met Sally comes in at number two. Blunt humour and relatable characters make for an enjoyable experience as Harry and Sally develop a friendship regardless of the pressures that often accompany opposite sex friendships. Almost inevitably, a welcome romance develops over the course of this movie that will surely delight you and your lover! Finally, number one is Away We Go starring John Krasinski and Saturday Night Live’s Maya Rudolph. This tender romance and unconventional comedy depicts the struggles of a newly pregnant couple trying to find a place to settle down, all while overcoming very real obstacles that occur in a relationship. This sincere movie will have you and your lover laughing, crying, and feelin’ the love the whole way through!
18 ENTERTAINMENT
February 14, 2013
argosy@mta.ca
Girls just want to have fun (and fundamental rights) The brave new world of HBO’s hit Girls Kylie de Chastelain Argosy Contributor
Girls is a refreshing and controversial HBO series created by Tiny Furniture‘s Lena Dunham, a self-described feminist. Dunham writes, directs, and acts in the show, which follows the lives of four twenty-somethings as they navigate the tricky post-undergraduate realities of life in New York. There’s sex, swearing, drug use, relationship drama, feminist dialectic, joy, and a lot of growing up. But while Girls is full of all the good stuff, it’s what you won’t find on the series which is so striking – that is, a complete lack of glamour and mystique. There are no closets full of shoes and no shopping sprees; nobody talks about makeup, and nothing is black and white. Where most of their television counterparts are consumed with looking cute, Hannah, Marnie, Shoshanna, and Jessa are a sassy quartet focused on finding jobs, negotiating healthy relationships, and managing media in a techbased world. Sound boring? I promise it isn’t. While the show clearly prioritizes some values over others – safe sex, independence, and female desire, to name a few – Dunham doesn’t present anything in clear-cut terms. Though safe sex is identified as a priority by Hannah in the first season, she discovers she has HPV. Though Marnie holds down a “grown-up” job in an art gallery and is financially independent,
Dunham’s subversive portrayals of femininity stand out in TV’s wasteland (HBO). she has trouble giving up her relationship with a long-time boyfriend she has stopped loving, as of season one. Similarly, Jessa, dismissive of “women telling other women what to do,” struggles to follow through with her plans for an abortion – even though she’s told herself she’ll do it. There is an argument to be made here about the flexibility of the feminism that Dunham presents; while feminist principles are clearly valued, they are not handed down as absolute. Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett from guardian.co.uk describes how young women are starting to question their experiences as feminists in the twenty-first century in this vein, noting that “we’re now moulding feminism to suit our own
outlooks - it no longer feels like an all-or-nothing philosophy but a fight on many fronts.” For a generation raised in the post-sexual revolution era, Dunham’s personal-is-political approach welcomes a broad range of feminist perspectives. The show’s presentation of sex is unique and contentious – not because it addresses a number of conventionally taboo subjects, but because it explores what Ross Douthat of the New York Times calls the absence of “aspirational frisson” so characteristic of shows like Sex and the City. Frank Bruni, also with the New York Times, seconds this idea, stating that Girls “amplifies a growing chorus over what’s happening on the sexual frontier, a state of befuddlement reflective
in part of post-feminist power dynamics and in part of our digital culture and virtual fixations.” In his article, Bruni wonders aloud if young women are working hard to adopt “male” perspectives on sex – and whether or not they’re finding those perspectives to be an ”awkward emotional fit.” This last question, one Dunham has repeatedly voiced, speaks to the tensions of a shifting relationship landscape. Where monogamy once ruled and dating meant being a boyfriend or girlfriend, people are now connecting on completely different terms by hooking up sporadically and claiming not to care one way or the other about any of it. Dunham herself identifies that there has been a complete reversal in romantic objectives; the goal is now to have sex and remain emotionless, rather than having sex to feel connected. There’s no doubt that the influence of technology plays a substantial part in facilitating such intermittent relationships, but Girls ultimately poses broader questions about what constitutes feminist/selfrespecting/acceptable behaviour in a society which has dismissed the dating norms of old. Is it catering to a male agenda to hook up or have sex at will? Is it empowering? I’m not sure, and the girls on Girls aren’t either. The debacle is one well-known to university and college communities world-wide; Gen Y is negotiating a brave new world of relationships, and Girls has taken the time to jump right into the messy, nuanced details. Clearly, these representations are a substantial source of the show’s popularity – as most other pop culture representations glorify hook-up culture, and sex more generally, without incorporating any of the awkwardness or disappointments that go along with it. It might be fun to watch that stuff, but it’s definitely not real.
Love, as seen on the small screen The lost art of nuance What does onscreen romance tell us about ourselves?
How frankness won out against subtlety in popular lyrics
Kent Blenkhorn
Kent Blenkhorn
Entertainment Writer
Entertainment Writer
For the most part, television’s goal is to depict some aspect of real life so that the audience has something to connect to. Whether it is science fiction, family drama, comedy, or even cartoons, all have some degree of realism in them. Often this is epitomized in the love stories interwoven into the plot. But are these accurate depictions of love and relationships, or just campy stereotypes of how love is ‘supposed to look’? More often than not, we find ourselves being sucked into the courting and relationship of two people on the boob tube, without questioning whether or not it is a realistic or even probable representation of real life. As products of the nineties, we were all exposed to the tenuous saga of “Ross and Rachel.” Whether this is a good thing or not is a matter of personal opinion, but there is no denying that it was a major event in nineties pop culture. Or perhaps you are more familiar with one of the first iconic couple of the oughts, Jim ( John Krasinski) and Pam ( Jenna Fischer) from The Office. In both of these cases the audience was put through a roller coaster of ‘are they, aren’t they’ and the complications that raised each and every week. But is this a fair assessment of how people begin a
Popular music has been, almost always, focalized around sex. Whether it be your early fifties hip shaking romps or your soulful nineties R&B hot and heavy jams. Sex has always been a major theme throughout popular music. However, some artists are able to hide this theme a bit more inconspicuously than others. In recent years, songs have seemed to become more blunt when it comes to the subject of sex. There has definitely been a lot less coverup around the old ‘in-out, in-out’ in popular music than in days of old. We all know sex has been depicted in classic rock songs, which were still allowed on the radio. Led Zeppelin has thousands of them: ‘squeeze my lemons, and let the juice run down my leg.’ This is pretty vivid and provocative, but is a far cry from Nickleback’s lyrics from “Something in Your Mouth”: “Dirty little lady with the pretty pink thong, every sugar daddy hittin on her all night long.” The latter is certainly less subtle than that of rock n’ roll’s past. You can see more examples of this from the fab-four; one of their biggest hits was “Please, Please Me” which, incase you don’t see it, is a pun on the multiple meanings of please. Compare this to the Buck Cherry classic, “Crazy Bitch,” or, and not to pick on
TV love ignores the oft-mundane reality (Kory d’Entremont/Argosy) romance? Where is the show about the two people who meet on a online dating site, or at the bar after a long hard week? In the cases of Friends and The Office among other examples, people meet either through mutual friends, or at work. Perhaps that’s love in the real world, and we are just stuck in a world were people hook-up rather than date, or begin to date because their partner lives two doors down the hall. Is it simply proximity that causes people to begin dating? This is what shows like these want us to believe. Another aspect of a relationship that often gets depicted in television is the long distance relationship, something that more than one of you may be familiar with. Often this is a major conflict in the show that puts the couple on the brink of destruction. Perhaps that is what happens, as the distance between the two creates a metaphoric strain on the couple’s relationship that comes out in hilarious events whenever the two are together. You can see this in the hit comedy Parks and Recreation when Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) continue their
relationship after Wyatt is relocated to Washington D.C. But does this really speak to the hardship that comes from having a long-distance relationship? It seems that it would be a lot more frustrating than comical. But then again, it is television. One of the more interesting, and perhaps controversial, television relationship is Mitchel ( Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Cameron (Eric Stonestreet), a homosexual couple with an adopted daughter on Modern Family. This relationship has had a lot of criticism because of how mean they are to each other, and because throughout the first season they did not kiss. The primary question that arises is whether this is an accurate, or even fair, representation of a gay couple. And, so what, maybe this is just the kind of couple they are. Just because they are a gay couple on television, does not mean they have to be the spokesmen for gay couples everywhere. Like in any instance, television is mostly hyperbole to exaggerate aspects of real life; that is what makes it entertaining.
Nickleback too much, their song cleverly titled “S.E.X.” And these are just examples in the world of rock. Examples from punk are even more frank and vulgar. Take the Buzzcocks’ “Orgasmatic” for example, perhaps an early anthem of sex addiction. Or, and a more extreme example of shock and awe, anything by the late GG Allin. Who can forget classics like “Sluts in the City,” “Beat Beat Beat” and “Gimme Some Head.” And these are some of the cleanest examples of his songs. If you really want to see how much you can stomach, check out GG Allin’s discography where he is accompanied by bands such as The AIDS Brigade, The Scumfucs, and The Murder Junkies. However, as was said before, this is more about the shock and awe than anything else. This isn’t supposed to suggest that older music is better than newer music, but is simply an observation that some of the heavy hitters of contemporary rock are a bit more blunt when it comes to the subject of sex than their counterparts in the past. If you want to check out a newer artist that playfully discusses sex, you should try to find some music from Halifax’s prodigal daughters and rap trio, The Rhythm Method. The group has recently disbanded, but their solitary album, Celebrities With Low Self-Esteem, is a witty and hilarious amalgamation of songs centred around the theme of sex. Surely there are examples for either side that are missed in this article. However, in general, if you flick between your local classic rock station, and the contemporary top forties – or what have you – you will find that the subject of sex is less hidden behind innuendos on the latter radio station than the former.
The Argosy
SPORTS
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Mounties earn playoff spot Mt. A swimmers shine Mt. A volleyball break up logjam in standings to sit in third place
Swimming Mounties ‘throw uppercuts’ Taylor Losier Sports Correspondent
Robert Murray Sports Editor The reduced visibility and dark conditions in Sackville this past weekend provided an ironic backdrop for the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA) Women’s volleyball standings. With four teams in a logjam at twelve points going into the weekend, any movement could greatly impact a team’s playoff chances. Fortunately for the Mt. A women, they took a step in the right direction, winning a doubleheader against the Université SainteAnne Dragons (USA) on Sunday and locking up a playoff spot. The first match on Sunday started out with the Mounties dominating early on. They remained in cruise control right until set point the second set. Up 24-18, the Dragons rallied and the Mounties were temporarily thrown off their game. The teams traded points until the Dragons’ pulled ahead for good, winning the set 3129. “This team [Sainte-Anne] they’ve been pushing all the top teams so far this year,” noted head coach Andrew Kennedy after the day’s games. USA’s outside hitter Alexa Beaubien was a critical source of success for the Dragons’ in the comeback during the second set. Replying for Mt. A, Erica Cronkhite had several timely digs, which prevented the final two sets of the first match from swinging in the favour of the Dragons’. Both teams traded errors and streaks of points at intervals throughout the match, though the Mounties came
Sydney Umlah jumps to block a shot. (Sue Seaborn/Mount Allison) out on top eventually after four sets. In the second game of the day, the Mounties got off to a better start, though the sets were closer than the first. Caitlin MacDonald made several good plays hustling for loose balls and working hard on each rally. Kennedy noted the importance of his players to not, “lose sight of the immediate goal which is winning the next rally.” The Dragons’ won the third set in the second match before the Mounties closed out the win in the fourth set for the second time that day. Lyndsay Melanson of Moncton, N.B. was a large part of the Dragons’ efforts on Sunday. The Dragons’ had their moments where they had the Mounties on the ropes and capitalized on some chances but their overall inability to execute cost them the matches. Though Kennedy mentioned that Mt. A had a couple of lapses
throughout the game, the Mounties still clinched a playoff spot with the two victories. Going into the final weekend of play, Mt. A, USA, the Dalhousie Agricultural College Rams (DAL AC) and University of New Brunswick Saint John Seawolves (UNBSJ) all have two games remaining. With Mt. A sitting in third place, four points ahead of the other three teams, a victory over UNBSJ or the winless Holland College Hurricanes would set up a semi-final matchup with the St. Thomas Tommies on February 23. The only situation in which the Mounties would finish fourth is if UNBSJ won their remaining two games (against Mt. A and DAL AC) and both DAL AC and USA went winless. Mt. A’s final home game for the year is today at 8:00 pm against the (014) Hurricanes from Holland College.
This past weekend, the Mount Allison Varsity Swim Team travelled to the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) to compete in the 2013 Atlantic University Sport (AUS) Swimming Championships. Despite a blizzard that closed the UPEI’s CARI Complex and cancelled all other sporting events, the swim meet carried on. The Mt. A men’s team finished second, while the women’s came in fourth. The overall winner was once again Dalhousie University. The field was rounded out by competitors from other universities including: hosts, UPEI, Acadia, the University of New Brunswick, and Memorial University. “The men’s win was due to everyone swimming what was needed in finals; everyone pitched in,” said head coach John Peters, “It has been a good season.” Over the course of the meet, approximately twelve club records were set, some of the records were broken twice. Many of the swimmers walked away with best times, like graduating swimmer David Summerby-Murray, who achieved best times in seven out of eight events. “When push came to shove, the Mounties threw uppercuts,” said veteran swimmer Mitchell Peters. “The team brought the heat.” The highlight of the weekend was the men’s four by 100 meter freestyle relay, where the men won gold, beating out the Dalhousie Tigers. Third-year swimmer Colin Vale led the group, followed by rookies Joseph Blackwood and Jeff Loewen, with Mitchell Peters swimming anchor. The same team finished third overall in the four by 200
meter freestyle relay, while the group of Andrew Reeder, Loewen, Mikhel, and Mitchell Peters finished second in the four by 100 meter medley event. The women’s relay team also had strong performances; the team of Marya Peters, Zoee Leblanc, Kate Frise, and Léa Raiche-Marsden earned a bronze medal in the four by 100 medley relay. The team of Leblanc, Raiche-Marsden, Casey Losier, and Peters earned a fourth place finish in the four by 100 free, and another fourth in the four by 200 free, this time with the team of Zoee Leblanc, Emily Byrne, Léa Raiche-Marsden, and Marya Peters. Marya Peters once again had an excellent performance, earning a bronze in both her 100 and 200 meter freestyle, the latter in which she qualified for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) championship. She also finished fifth in both the fifty meter freestyle and backstroke. Meanwhile, the top female rookie, Zoee Leblanc, managed to qualify for finals in three of her four swims, despite suffering from a bout of the flu. In his last AUS championship, Mitchell Peters came first in the 100 meter freestyle, second in the 200 meter freestyle and third in both the 50 meter freestyle and 100 meter butterfly. Mikhel Peters earned gold in the 50 meter butterfly and silver in the 200 meter butterfly; Colin Vale came fourth overall in the 50 meter freestyle, barely missing the podium. Meanwhile, rookie Joe Blackwood earned silver in the 100 meter freestyle, joining Mitch Peters on the podium. Other strong rookie performances belonged to Loewen, who qualified for finals in all of his events, Nicholas SunderlandBaker, who came fifth in the 200 meter butterfly, and Eric Lane, who finished fifth in the 50 meter backstroke.
Mitch Peters Giving CIS swimming some ‘Speedo Love’ Wray Perkin Sports Writer He is easily one of the most successful Mountie athletes of this young century, and comes all the way from Sackville, New Brunswick. At 6-foot-2, he has the typical swimmer build, and is consistently winning medals in the pool. This past weekend was no exception. Mitchell Peters, a fifth-year history major, has been a Mount Allison Athlete of the Week countless times, as well as a multiple winner of the Athlete of the Month. Peters has also been the winner or co-winner of the Male Athlete of the Year award all four years thus far, and is well on his way to a fifth win. Mitch has been coached by his father, John, for his entire swimming
career, and says it has had its ups and downs, as does any such relationship. “On the whole it has been a 100 per cent positive experience. Dad knows what to say to get me swimming fast and he knows how to train me hard so I arrive at my competitions in peak physical condition.” Peters credits his success to his training, saying “I train twice a day and keep the mileage high. I have a great coach who knows how to train me and I focus on my technique.” In describing his daily food intake, Peters says he keeps his diet wellrounded in order to stay healthy. This past weekend, Peters had yet another successful weekend at the Atlantic University Sport Championship meet, winning a pair of gold medals, two silvers, and three bronzes. Peters says his favourite swimming memory is taken from that weekend as well. “Definitely when our relay team took out Dalhousie [University] in the 4x100m free relay,” Peters recalls. “This was the first time Dalhousie lost it in twelve years and possibly the first gold
medal that Mt. A has gotten in a relay. It was the first day of the meet and it really set us all on the path to success.” Peters, who plans to prepare himself for the Olympic trials in 2016, says he was pleased with his performance last weekend, but says he is attending “a much bigger meet in two weeks, where I expect to be going much faster.” Mitch and his sister Marya, a sophomore, have qualified for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) meet in Calgary in two weeks’ time. “This was my last meet where I could do a relay with Mt. A and compete with the team as a whole, I am definitely going to miss them all.” “The atmosphere at Mt. A is very welcoming and accepting. I grew up in Sackville, and my parents were Dons when I was a child, so I have always had a positive take on the atmosphere here,” says Peters. “It is a great place to be.” A self-described video game addict, Mitch says it is hard to balance academic and athletic success, and admits he often is playing catchup with his schoolwork, but usually manages to get back on top of things.
Peters’ is headed to CIS nationals. (Sue Seaborn/Mount Allison) With the CIS meet in Calgary in the near future, and the goal of a 2016 Olympic berth on the horizon, Mitch Peters is well on his way to more swimming success.
20SPORTS
February 14, 2013
argosy@mta.ca
Homophobia in the locker room What role does homophobia occupy in the locker room? Robert Murray Sports Editor Competing on the ice, field, or hard court is supposed to serve as a medium in which people can be careless, free and at peace. For gay athletes, it can feel more like a prison. To any athlete, nothing is more important when they compete than getting the win and basking in glory. For decades though, gay athletes have been held back by what ‘You Can Play’ cofounder Brian Kitts calls, “casual homophobia.” After campaigns to rid the locker room of racist and sexist behaviour, homophobia has been thrust in the spotlight as the next target. The campaign to end homophobia in the locker room has been a hot-button issue in locker rooms, from the big leagues to local arenas, for a significant portion of the last half-century. “We can’t do it, they have to,” commented Kitts in reference to how the project can have a realistic impact in the locker room. You Can Play was co-founded by Kitts, Patrick Burke, and Glenn Witman back in March 2012 as a tribute to Patrick’s brother Brendan, who came out in November 2009 and worked to eradicate homophobia in professional sports
before he died in a car crash in February 2010. At the time, Brendan was the student-manager for the Miami University Men’s hockey team. Despite the gains made in recent years through athletes, executives, journalists, and teams coming together, one Mt. A athlete still thinks that total acceptance of gay athletes is unbalanced. “I think that in general it’s more accepted among women to have gay teammates than men,” the athlete – who wished to remain anonymous – answered. According to another Mt. A athlete homophobia should not be tolerated in sport, “we’re all the same. Nobody should be judged or made fun of because of their sexual preference,” said fourth-year hockey forward Chelsea King. The campaign to end homophobia in the locker room faces some roadblocks. Locker room decisions and the events that transpire in them are usually restricted to athletes and team personnel. This puts the majority of the decisions on the shoulders of athletes and the team to take a stand. “Humans by nature value fairness,” said Kitts, “It’s a matter of giving them the opportunity to get on board with this.” Since their founding almost a year ago, You Can Play has joined forces with several prominent schools, teams, and athletes, all pledging to take a stand to end homophobia. St. Thomas University Tommies, the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds, University of Ottawa GeeGee’s, and the Ontario Intercollegiate Fastpitch Association have all made the stand at the university sport level in Canada. However, the battle is still a long way from
Sexercises Lisa Theriault & Robert Murray Argosy Staff
Squats Not only are squats great for shaping your legs and butt, this lower body exercise also stimulates blood flow to increase sensations down below. Stand with your feet shoulderwidth apart, and squat back into a seated position as though you’re in an imaginary chair. Make sure to keep your feet flat on the ground. Push from your heels and squeeze your abdominals as you return to a standing position. (15-30 reps) Kegel Exercises Stronger pelvic-floor muscles mean stronger contractions which will give you a better orgasm. Kegels contract and release these muscles to strengthen them. To do a kegel, tighten your pelvic muscles (this is the same muscle which starts and stops urine) for five seconds, release, and repeat. Do them for about five minutes every day. Pelvic Tilts Back pain can sometimes hinder performance. This move helps to strengthen the lower back, and core muscles. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Raise your pelvis until your body forms a straight line. Tighten your glutes and then slowly lower back to the floor. (20 to 25 reps) Plank Pose This move strengthens your upper arms, abdominals, obliques, thighs, and buttocks which helps stabilize you when on top or switching between positions. Lie face down and then lift yourself up onto your forearms. Make sure to keep your entire body as straight and flat as possible. If you feel any stress in the lower back, lower yourself to the ground. Hold this pose for twenty seconds and repeat three times. Cardio Exercises If you don’t want to be left in the dust or at
least have some sort of endurance in the sack, hop on a treadmill, bike, or brave the harsh outdoors. Some people like a sprint, some like a marathon in bed. Regardless of how you look at it, breaking a sweat at the gym on a treadmill for fifteen minutes every day or two will see your endurance skyrocket in no time. For you romantics out there, take your significant other skating so you both get a cardio exercise and a romantic date at the same time. Yoga Simple yet effective. It’s not just a place to find your inner zen but your inner sin as well. Going to yoga classes can help people of all shapes and sizes gain a new grip on flexibility. Chances are you won’t be spending your sex life in just the missionary position. Regardless of how the body turns during ‘pleasure time’, a little bit of yoga will go a long way in allowing you to try things you only ever dreamed of. Diet It’s not an exercise but still important. Everyone is beautiful in some way, shape, or form but you won’t be able to back yourself up in bed if you keep eating chicken burgers at meal hall. Throw in some veggies, fresh fruits, and other foods that will keep you alert and ready for anything when duty calls. Don’t be afraid to have an occasional big meal, whether you are building up energy or trying to regain it. Again for the romantics, making the meal a healthy intimate meal for two doesn’t hurt either. Literally anything Get up and do something. You may feel content to just sit on a couch but when it comes to intimate relations, especially with people you care about, good isn’t good enough. Do some pushups, jump rope, do some situps, or work out with some free weights. As long as you get the blood flowing and the testosterone pumping you’ll be in prime shape for anything that comes your way. Just like the cardio exercises, you don’t have to be the best, but a little effort can go a long way.
Homphobia in sports can wreck havoc on gay athletes. (Kory d’Entremont/Argosy) being over. Kitts noted the importance of not only forming an alliance of gay athletes but straight athletes as well. “We’re going to grow out of [casual homophobia],” he commented. Much like the way of racism and sexism, Kitts is hoping homophobia suffers the same fate, though he admitted change will not come overnight. He referred to several decades ago when it would have been considered acceptable to some degree
to use derogatory language towards athletes of different races or gender. Those times have come and gone now, and Kitts is firmly focused on placing homophobia in the same category. For now he and his team work day in and day out to ensure that athletic ability is the only determining factor for success in sports, from the bright lights of the world’s biggest athletic events to minor hockey game at the local arena.
Mounties play spoiler Hockey Mounties deal blow to Aigles Bleues ahead of AUS playoffs Wray Perkin Sports Writer Lauren Oickle picked a good time to start scoring at will. Much like she did last season, when she went on a long goal scoring streak leading the Mounties to a seven-game winning streak to end the regular season, the Mounties’ captain has started another goal streak near the season’s end. Oickle scored twice on Sunday, including the game-winner, leading the Mounties to a 3-2 win over the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleues. Mackenzie Lalonde scored the other goal for the Mounties, who got thirty-one saves from netminder Meghan Corley-Byrne. “We are able to roll four lines and be confident with all of them so that makes such a big difference,” the fifth-year forward said. “Our team has a lot of depth and that’s what it will take to be successful in the playoffs,” she continued Moncton opened the scoring on the powerplay with just under five minutes remaining in the first period, but Lalonde’s goal came only eighty seconds later with a shot from in front. “I got a pass from Lindsay James right in front of the crease with no one around me,” said Lalonde. “I knew I didn’t have a lot of time so I quickly released the puck over the goaltender’s right shoulder.” James and Sara Hubble drew assists on Lalonde’s equalizer, and the Mounties edged the Aigles 10-8 in shots in the first period. The second period had the Mounties outshoot Moncton again by a count of 1513. It also featured Oickle’s first goal, which came at the 11:19 mark on a redirection from Kristen Cooze to put the Mounties up by one.
Four minutes and forty-five seconds into the third, Moncton tied the game again on another powerplay goal, but again the Mounties answered right back with a beautiful goal from Oickle. Oickle skated down the left wing, and from an almost impossible angle, fired a net-seeking laser into the top corner to give the Mounties the lead which they would not relinquish. The Mounties successfully killed off a pair of penalties to maintain their lead, and got some good saves from Corley-Byrne in the dying minutes. “Every line had plenty of scoring opportunities throughout the entire game,” Lalonde said. “We were getting pucks to the net and knew to jump on the rebounds when they were there. We’re getting into a rhythm now; everything’s finally clicking.” Oickle agreed that the team was finding their stride, saying “It was definitely nice beating [Moncton] again and giving our team that confidence going into the end of the season.” Oickle has elevated her game at the right time, now with four goals in her last three games. After missing much of the season with a shoulder injury, she seems to have bounced back nicely, and is now tied with James for the team lead in goals with five. Cooze’s assist gives the third year defender the team lead in points with nine, as well as extending her lead in assists with seven. The Mounties conclude the regular season with three home games before hosting the Atlantic University Sport Playoffs. Wednesday night the Mounties hosted Saint Thomas, but the result was not available at press time. Saturday the Mounties take on the St.Francis Xavier X-Women, and Sunday is senior day as they play the Saint Mary’s Huskies. Senior players Ashlyn Somers, Lauren Oickle, Meghan Corley-Byrne, and Chelsea King will play their last regular season home game as Mounties. The Mounties are looking to enter the playoffs on a high note as they aim to repeat their playoff success from a year ago, when they made it all the way to the Atlantic University Sport Championship game. Doing that at home would be a dream swan song for the seniors listed above.
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Weekly Wellness: Domestic abuse How to recognize and deal with domestic abuse Melissa Meade Health Intern Love is in the air with Valentine’s Day upon us again. People are making romantic plans to celebrate what they share with their partners or taking the chance to act on a new romance. But what happens when a relationship feels less like a safe place to land and more like an emotional roller coaster? With our societal notion of ‘soul mates’ and the rose coloured glasses of infatuation, it can be difficult to recognize or even admit that a relationship is unhealthy. The National Centre for Victims of Crime reports that thirty two per cent
of college students have experienced dating violence and twenty one percent are currently experiencing it. Further, woman aged twenty to twenty-four are at the greatest risk for dating violence. Of course these statistics are only estimates since many cases of abuse go unreported. As well, this does not include emotional and verbal abuse, which can be equally damaging to the victim. Physical abuse is the intentional use of physical force against someone that causes injury, or allows the abuser to take control. While it may seem like physical abuse would be obvious if it occurred, many people feel guilty or scared and try to minimize, deny, or justify the abuse. This includes reasoning that the abuse you experienced is ‘not as bad’ as representations you have seen on TV or read about, it only happened a couple times, or it stops when you become
passive. As well, people in emotionally or verbally abusive relationships tend to believe they are not being abused because there is no physical violence. In all these instances, abuse is occurring. Emotional abuse is the intentional use of fear, guilt, shame, and intimidation to gain control over the other person. This type of abuse can be equally as damaging and confusing as physical abuse and can be even more difficult to identify as a victim. The victims of emotional abuse primarily feel afraid of their partner and tend to feel belittled, helpless, and as if they need to watch what they say. Abusers tend to isolate their partners from family and friends and make them feel inadequate so as to maintain control. Among other things, it is common for an abusive partner to humiliate, criticize, and blame the victim for the dysfunction in the relationship. There is a clear pattern that emerges
in abusive relationships which begins with the abusive behaviour itself. The abuser feels guilty and worried about the relationship ending so they make excuses (or blame you) for the behaviour and act ‘normal’ or especially nice to prove there is nothing wrong. This is followed by a set-up or situation in which further abuse can be justified and the cycle begins again. Domestic abuse occurs in all ages and ethnicities, in opposite-sex and same-sex relationships, and victims can be both men and women. Regardless of the specific situation and whether the abuse is physical, verbal, or emotional, the result tends to be feelings of worthlessness, anxiety, and depression. Everyone deserves to feel love and respect. If you or someone you know is experiencing any form of abuse please contact the Wellness Centre at 506364-2163 or email counsellor@mta.ca.
Rise of the NC-double eh? The blurring of the 49th parallel for university sport Robert Murray
Athletes of the Week MARYA PETERS
Sue Seaborn/Mount Allison Mount Allison’s second-year swimming standout Marya Peters won Joey’s Athlete of the Week honours for her outstanding and clutch performances in the pool at the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) 2013 swimming championships in Charlottetown, PE this past weekend. Peters set four Mt. A records on the way to winning three AUS bronze medals in the 200 meter freestyle, 100 meter freestyle, and four by 100 meter medley relay. She swam three qualifying times for the national championships in these races, and over the threeday meet, in the eleven races that she competed, she turned in personal-best performances for each one of them. She will now compete at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) national championships in Calgary over the Feb. 21-23 weekend.
MITCH PETERS
Sports Editor The walking distance between Evans, Georgia and the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) head offices in Ottawa is roughly 1,679-kilometres. On Nov. 29, 2012, the foot of Simon Fraser University (SFU) men’s soccer player Carlo Basso sent a shockwave this distance in just a matter of a few seconds. That moment was the lone goal scored by SFU in a 3-1 semi-final loss to Saginaw Valley State at the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Division II Men’s Soccer championship, held in Evans this fall. SFU’s success in men’s soccer and other sports this year, as the first Canadian school in the NCAA, has raised questions about what other Canadian schools could make similar jumps in the coming years. With an overall membership listed on their website as 1,273, the NCAA easily outnumbers the CIS in size. CIS President-Elect Gordon Grace admitted during a phone interview, “If you’re talking about football we [the CIS] would never have a chance.” He did go on to mention that in some sports, CIS schools would be able to compete with some of the top NCAA schools. Both organizations have produced their fair share of top talent. In professional sports several hockey player’s paths to the National Hockey League (NHL) has gone through the CIS and NCAA. NHL goaltender Ryan Miller won the 2001 Hobey Baker Award (the top honour for a NCAA men’s hockey player) during his time at Michigan State University. 2002 Olympic Gold Medalist Paul Kariya accomplished the same feat as a member of the University of Maine back in 1993.
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Sue Seaborn/Mount Allison
The SFU Clan play Divison II sports in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. (Ron Hole/SFU) Before NHL head coach Mike Babcock made headlines as a Stanley Cup winner and Gold Medal winning coach, he won the 1993-94 University Cup with the University of Lethbridge. For on-ice talent, the CIS has taken on the role of developing players that might still be rough around the edges after stints in Major Junior Hockey. Players like current Washington Capitals forward Joel Ward (University of Prince Edward Island) and Philadelphia Flyers enforcer Jody Shelly (Dalhousie) have enjoyed successful careers so far in the NHL, even after taking the CIS route. On the amateur sport side, Canada’s only Gold medalist from the 2012 Olympic Games, trampolinist Rosie MacLennan found success while going to the University of Toronto. Another Canadian Olympian, high jumper Derek Drouin, won a bronze medal after a thirty-six year drought. Drouin’s claim to fame before London was that he was also a three-time NCAA Division One champion, competing for Indiana University. Despite the size difference, Grace conceded that “a lot of CIS universities could do it if they chose to do it.” Despite this vote of confidence, one of the schools considering making the jump to the NCAA, the University of British Columbia (UBC), declined
to do so back in 2011. The decision was made back then by current UBC President Stephen Troop citing his school’s, “proud history within the CIS” in an article filed by The Ubyssey. The one main attraction of being associated with the NCAA as opposed to the CIS is the dollar sign attached to it. Andrew Bucholtz, editor of Yahoo! Sports Canada’s 55-Yard Line Canadian football blog and a devout follower of university football weighed in on the topic by email. “A nonsuccessful Division III team really doesn’t do much for a school, but even a bad Division I FBS [Football Bowl Subdivision] power-conference team still can draw tons of fans, big television games and plenty of money.” When comparing dollar signs between the organizations, the results are staggering. Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) announced last summer that they would shell out eighty-million dollars each year between 2015 and 2026 for broadcast rights to the Rose Bowl, one of the NCAA’s premier football games. Grace bluntly admitted that this would simply not happen in Canada. “We know we have to get better but at the same time we have to be realistic about who our competition is” he commented. He went on to elaborate that instead of constantly
comparing schools in the CIS to those of similar stature in the NCAA that the focus should be on developing the product with a focus on Canada. Grace made it clear that he is committed to the CIS brand. He mentioned that schools in Canada “at times … undersell the opportunities in the CIS.” Both the CIS and NCAA have sustainable legacies with several success stories on either side. However, some schools in the CIS may feel like a large fish in a small pond. Despite this, Bucholtz expects that the case of SFU will be an isolated one. “[The] CIS has shifted enough to address most of the concerns of other schools that were thinking about following suit, though, so it seems likely Simon Fraser’s going to be the only Canadian school in the NCAA for a while.” For most athletes, the choice can often come down to some large variables such as money, playing time, or academics. Grace fully encouraged any Canadian who may have a chance to play football at an school like Alabama or basketball at a school like Duke, to take advantage of the rare opportunity. At the end of the day, Grace placed the decision in the hands of the student-athlete. “What’s the best fit for you,”he stated.
Swimmer Mitch Peters led his Mounties’ men’s team to a wellearned second-place finish at the Atlantic University Sports (AUS) swimming championships this past weekend in Charlottetown, PE. The team won ten medals and set ten Mt. A records. Peters won seven of these medals, which included two golds (100 meter freestyle, four by 100 meter free relay), two silvers (200 meter freestyle, four by 100 meter medley relay), and three bronze (50 meter freestyle, 100 meter butterfly, four by 200 meter freestyle relay). It was the first time he medaled in all seven AUS events. He also qualified for CIS championships in the 100 and 200 meter freestyle events, and set five Mt. A records. His next swim meet will be at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) national championships on Feb. 21-23 weekend in Calgary. A three-time swim team MVP, Peters has been named an AUS all-star ten times over the past four seasons since 2008-09. Last year he broke every Mt. A freestyle record in the book and went on to the national championships.
HUMOUR
February 14, 2013
argosy@mta.ca
LOVE AND SEX
Finally a crossword to put you in the mood. Across
Down
1- ____ and hers; 2- Ill-fated lover; 6- I want you to ____ my brains out; 7- Fruit for a split; 8- Head locks; 9- Sweethearts or some doves; 10- Baby blues; 11- French ____; 13- Canine kiss; 15- It sells, they say; 16- Run off and form a union; 19- Sound before “thanks, I needed that!”; 20- Say yes silently; 21- “Titanic” female lead; 25- Bubbly drink; 28- Opposite of separateness; 29- Comes by honestly; 30- Flamingo feature;
1- Gripped; 3- Puts into motion; 4- Pampering place; 5- Will you ____ me?; 6- Playful, as a kitten; 7- Tops with cups; 9- Cares for deeply; 10- Feelings; 12- Go it alone; 14- Desserts in a box; 17- Checks out; 18- Spot in a crowd; 21- Rough and dirty; 22- Angel’s instrument; 23- Boudoir wear; 24- It’s in the eye of the beholder; 26- Greek cupid; 27- Grease up;
THE ANSWERS TO LAST ISSUE’S CROSSWORD
ROMA
NTIC
MOVI
1. “Me ? this ro I’m scared o om an f d neve ever ything .I r feelin g the r ’m scared of 2. “…I est of f, my wh what I saw, never however, yo I’m ole life wish t u o be p r feelings h the wa scared of w arted f ave ch y I fee rom yo anged l when hat I did, of 3. “Do , u w I I’m wi n’t for from t w th you ho I am, an get I’m his da ill have to d mos . y on.” tell yo ” just a t of al u: you girl, st 4. “I w l I’m s have b anding rote yo cared e w in fron u 365 i t of wal c h ed me t of a letters king o , b boy, as , I wro o 5. “I’m d ut of y and so king h te you ver y d u im to l, and a lette iscreet love h I love r ever y but… er.” … I lo day fo I will 6. “ W ve … I r a year. haunt e’ ll alw love yo ” y o ays ha u r d u. I reams ve Par . ” i s.” 7. “I w ish I k new h ow to quit yo 8. “As u!” you w ish.”
E QUO
TES - W
HO SA
ID IT?
Answers: 1. Baby (Dirty Dancing, 1987) 2. Mr. Darcy (Pride & Prejudice, 2005) 3. Anna (Notting Hill, 1999) 4. Noah (The Notebook, 2004) 5. Paula (The 40 Year-Old Virgin, 2005) 6. Rick (Casablanca, 1942) 7. Jack (Brokeback Mountain, 2005) 8. Westley (The Princess Bride, 1987)
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1. All it wants in return for love is to be fed! Maybe a treat here and there, maybe a laser pointer or a piece of string now and again, but overall, they’re quite easy to please. 2. A cat doesn’t get jealous if it sees you talking to your ex-cats. Better yet, cats don’t know how to use phones so it can’t creep around to make sure you aren’t texting your ex-cat. 3. You can have as many cats as you want; they’re okay with polygamy, and will even appreciate the company! 4. Nothing is better than cuddling with a purring kitty. 5. Cats don’t care about anniversaries or stupid holidays like Valentine’s Day…
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6. They have an impeccable sense of hygiene, which you don’t find among other species. 7. While others may leave you to fend for yourself, cats protect you from spiders, mice, etc. 8. When ordering dinner, a cat won’t tell you it doesn’t feel like dessert and then proceed to eat most of yours. It eats its own damn food. 9. Cats don’t care if you spend all day in sweat pants or in bed. They’ll join you and, more importantly, they won’t judge you for it. A lazy day every once in a while is perfectly acceptable, okay? 10. Cats can’t give you STIs.
Do you love student journalism?
RUN THIS SHIP!
The Argosy is hiring a new Editor-in-Chief for the 2013-2014 publishing year. Honoraria: $5000 paid quarterly Term: May 1, 2013-April 30, 2014 Deadline: Friday, February 15, 2012 Please submit a cover letter and resume to the Argosy Business Manager, Megan Downing, at madowning@mta.ca Candidates must secure a faculty member to sit on the Board of Directors for a two-year term before submitting an application.
QUALIFICATIONS: Excellent leadership skills Interest in student journalism Experience in editing and design an asset, but not required