The Argosy January 22, 2015

MASU entertains with winter carnival pg. 3

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MUSIC

Hey Rosetta hits Jennings Hall for winter carnival

St. John’s rockers draw large crowd to unorthodox venue

Hey Rosetta frontman Tim Baker performs for an audience in Jennings Hall. Jon Mckiel opened for the seven-piece group. Adrian Kiva/Argosy.

Michael Dover Arts & Culture Reporter “This is a song about having a few drinks,” explained Hey Rosetta frontman Tim Baker, “because this town seems like it’s built on just fucking rolling around slightly drunk.”

As the crowd cheered, the band proceeded to launch into “Yer Spring,” a song that embodies everything that’s unique and great about Hey Rosetta.

On their studio album, the track starts slowly, opening with lilting lyrics overshadowed by tinkling piano chords and a steady backbeat. Over the next five minutes the band gradually

weaves in counter melodies supplied by violin, electric bass, cello and three back-up singers, respectively.

The track’s magic lies in Hey Rosetta’s unparalleled subtlety: the band builds up the song’s complexity with such care that the listener is left pleasantly bewildered by its intensity at the three minute mark. The song

unfolds like a fire-cracker, exploding in slow motion, with the last haunting notes lingering in your ears long after the track ends. However, this was not my experience on Saturday night.

‘Hey Rosetta,’ pg. 10

MUSICAL THEATRE

Garnet & Gold preps for upcoming show

Society to bring Broadway classic to Mt. A stage Amanda Cormier Arts & Culture Reporter Next week, musical theatre lovers can get a taste of Broadway at Garnet & Gold Musical Theatre Society’s production of Cole Porter’s Anything Goes.

Garnet & Gold’s annual shows often appeal to a younger audience, and Anything Goes is no exception.

Trent Logan, the President of G&G,

said that after last year’s production of Beauty and the Beast, they wanted to incorporate more mature elements while still keeping their younger demographic in mind.

“The show is written in the 1930’s, so it has that kind of feeling,” Logan said in reference to its light-hearted humour and upbeat jazz numbers.

When asked to briefly describe the storyline of Anything Goes, there was hesitation and a bit of nervous laughter; Logan simply responded

with “that’s a really good question.”

“It’s about mistaken identities,” said Michelle Riley whose character, Hope Harcourt, is in love with one character but engaged to another. This plot element creates a story that is difficult to explain, but entertaining and easy to follow.

As with any musical, the story is only a small part of what makes Anything Goes unique. Fitting in nicely with the time of its Broadway debut in 1934, the score is what Garnet & Gold

music director Rachel O’Brien calls “classic Cole Porter jazz.” “[They’re] tunes that everyone knows but doesn’t realize they know,” said O’Brien, referencing songs like “Anything Goes” and “Blow Gabriel Blow.” She added that the score is a good balance of strong vocals and brass-heavy orchestration.

‘G&G,’ pg. 11

Volume 144, Issue 13

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Humour pg. 14

MASU

Nimmrichter resigns as VP Tyler Stuart News Reporter Kyle Nimmrichter announced his resignation as vice-president, academic affairs of the Mount Allison Students’ Union in front of his quiet colleagues on Monday. Applause broke the silence as councillors and senators gave Nimmrichter a standing ovation.

A fourth-year philosophy student, Nimmrichter said he resigned because his studies had suffered during his time as vice-president, jeopardizing his honours degree.

“Unfortunately, I will not be able to continue to juggle doing the work that’s required of me for my honours project as well as remain in my post as vice-president, academic affairs,” Nimmrichter told council on Monday night.

Nimmrichter said he sacrificed his schoolwork and marks to fulfill his responsibilities as vice-president.

“When you have 2,400 people to answer to, those projects and those meetings take priority,” he said.

All things considered, Nimmrichter said he was pleased with his work this year.

“I think we, together, accomplished a lot of important things.”

As vice-president, Nimmrichter helped push the fall reading break motion through senate, and the academic experience survey through MASU council. With these projects, he went beyond his duties as vicepresident, according to former vicepresident academic, Ryan Harley.

“If you expect to make any progress beyond going to university senate committee meetings and being a voice for students, it does take an enormous amount of time,” Harley said.

“Knowing the kind of person Kyle is, he certainly wasn’t willing to settle for the status quo.”

Shortly after Nimmrichter announced his resignation, president Heather Webster moved to hire social science senator Steven Black as interim vice-president.

The motion passed unanimously.

Black abstained.

“Obviously I wish that Kyle wasn’t leaving,” Black said. “But I feel like I’ll be able to provide as much as much continuity as possible, given the circumstances.”

According to the MASU bylaws, the chief returning officer must call a byelection within 14 days of an executive member’s resignation.

The CRO has set nominations to open on Jan. 28. Voting will take place on Feb. 19 and 20, according to a MASU newsletter.

News MT. A SENATE

Editors: Cameron McIntyre & Kevin Levangie | January 22, 2015 | argosy@mta.ca MANSBRIDGE SUMMIT

Sabbatical Chancellor’s panel spars on public broadcasting The third annual summit brings together students, artists, academics motion Jean-Sébastien Comeau passes News Reporter Tyler Stuart News Reporter Senate approved a motion requiring the administration to circulate the numbers of sabbaticals and faculty with tenure track positions at least one week before the February and March senate meetings.

On sabbaticals, the motion requested the office of the provost to provide a department-by-department account of the number of sabbaticals taken, sabbatical replacement requests, and sabbatical replacements provided. The motion also called for the office to provide tenure track appointment requests made, and tenure track positions granted.

The motion came a month after the release of the arbitration results, which amended the sabbatical replacement policy.

Sabbatical replacements and the tenure-track process was a contentious issue in last year’s faculty strike.

Before the motion was introduced, Mount Allison President Robert Campbell voiced concern.

“I’m happy to entertain this motion and whatnot, but in my heart of hearts, I don’t think they are necessary. I think they are reasonable,” Campbell said. Getting this information “doesn’t require a motion in senate. I think it requires a phone call.”

Dave Thomas, vice-president of Mount Allison Faculty Association, proposed the motions with religious studies professor Andrew Wilson.

Thomas said that the motivation for the motion was clarity and transparency.

“We were thinking the first step might be to paint some basic information about where we are at, where we’ve come from, and where we’re headed,” he said.

The third annual Mansbridge Summit brought a group of 40 Mount Allison students together with academics, artists and Mt. A’s Chancellor Peter Mansbridge to discuss the role of a public broadcaster in modern society. Throughout the summit, students played a key role in shaping the debate. The Jan. 16 event was structured around a series of roundtables facilitating discussion between students, three panellists and the chancellor, in which students were tasked with coming up with the questions that Mansbridge would later ask the panel.

“I felt the structure of the whole thing was very well done. They put a lot of thought in allowing us to have time to talk to the panelists before, have our ideas, discuss it for a couple of hours, and then we got to talk to Peter Mansbridge himself about it,” said Carlie Fyfe, a second-year political science major.

This year’s theme was particularly relevant to the chancellor’s work as the anchor of CBC’s flagship news show, The National. “I kept trying to distance myself from my real job, but it’s hard. Obviously, things come up, and you want to say something,” said Mansbridge. The CBC had a rough 2014, a year that saw the broadcaster cut its programming and a widely condemned handling of the Jian Ghomeshi scandal.

The panellists were Lydia Miljan, political science professor at the University of Windsor and senior fellow at the Fraser Institute; Marshall Button, actor, director and artist in residence at Moncton’s Capitol Theatre; and David Myles, singer-songwriter and host of CBC’s The East Coast Music Hour with David Myles, who is also a Mt. A alumnus.

The panel, which was open to the general public, sparked lively

Peter Mansbridge visited Mount Allison for the third annual Mansbridge Summit. Adrian Kiva/Argosy. discussion on the role and mandate of a public broadcaster, in this case CBC. Panellists, in particular Myles and Miljan, clashed views frequently through the discussion. While Myles focused primarily on the CBC’s mandate – putting ratings aside – Miljan said that the CBC should focus solely on ratings in order to determine which shows are viable.

“The sole pursuit of ratings inherently makes the mandate difficult to pursue when the mandate suggests minority voices,” said Myles. “Why play Acadian music to Anglophones? There is value in that.

In New Brunswick, we should all be listening to each other’s music all the time. It’s a way of understanding each other’s culture, but does it fit into a ratings-based mandate? Probably not.”

Miljan was invited in order to provide an alternative perspective.

“One of my goals was that I wanted to bring somebody to campus that usually would not be brought in to speak at Mount Allison,” said Steven Black, Mt. A’s Mansbridge Summit

intern. “That took shape perfectly with Lydia [Miljan]. Conservative through and through, partner at the Fraser Institute, but fiendishly intelligent and very articulate. She really did a great job of getting the students to think,” said Black.

Myles, who was recently hired by the CBC to host his own radio show, was worried that his presence, along with the presence of Mansbridge, who is one of the most recognizable faces of the CBC, would skew the discussion and lead to a stale debate.

However, as soon as he met the other panellists, he was reassured that the discussion would not simply be a praise of the CBC. “[Miljan] is totally informed and she shares the opinion of a lot of Canadians. It’s really important. If people are going to figure how [the CBC] is going to look like in the future, they have to be ready to face all those arguments that she is presenting, which I think are valid,” said Myles.

“I think you need that kind of energy to make a panel work,” said Mansbridge. “At a certain point,

it’s pretty clear where everybody’s coming from, so once you get beyond that, you can actually start to get some constructive discussion going on… it was clear where people stood, but they put that aside and had some good, constructive thoughts that weren’t all based on ideology,” said Mansbridge.

The chancellor noted modifications that were brought to this year’s summit, such as the smaller number of students allowed to participate.

While the past two years have seen between 60 and 65 students partake in the program, this year’s summit was capped at 40 participants. “[This year’s summit] was another step forward in terms of the progress of the program,” said Mansbridge.

“Of the three years, these were the most focused group of students.

When we sat down this afternoon, they knew exactly what they wanted out of this. I was very impressed right away.”

MASU

Emergency council meeting ‘legitimate’ under bylaws Ambiguous wording leaves a diversity of interpretations of Law II section 6 Cameron McIntyre Senior News Editor Ambiguous wording in the Mount Allison students’ union’s bylaw brought the legitimacy of an emergency meeting of the Student Administrative Council into question. While the legitimacy of this meeting is no longer in question, the ambiguity that caused the initial questions remains under some interpretations.

The SAC met on Dec. 2 to approve the allocation of $5,000 dollars to fund a survey of MASU members.

The money went to Common Metric, “a boutique data analytics and consulting firm specializing in

higher education,” hired to help run the survey. The emergency meeting occurred to allocate the funding to Common Metric before the end of term to ensure their availability.

The ambiguity arises in Law II section six of MASU’s bylaws, the law under which MASU President Heather Webster had the meeting called. It reads, “special circumstances requiring immediate action shall empower the President to have a meeting called without having posted notice or an agenda for twenty-four (24) hours.”

The words, “to have a meeting called,” cause ambiguity because they do not stipulate who would call this emergency meeting.

“It’s vague ... to prevent anyone

from having a veto power if council wants to convene,” said Josh Outerbridge, vice-president of finance and operations for MASU. In theory, if the law stipulated that one individual should call an emergency meeting, an emergency meeting could not occur if that person was absent.

“Given that it is a special circumstance … the bylaws are acknowledging … that there might not be time for the chairperson to receive notice and that is what is happening with our meeting,” said Outerbridge.

“It is basically just a different way of phrasing that [the President] can call a meeting,” said John Nuttall, chairperson of the SAC.

In an Argosy report published last week, Nuttall said that the meeting was illegitimate, but he has since retracted this statement, saying that the meeting was legitimate and no rules were broken.

The article also questions the legitimacy of Ryan Harley’s chairing the meeting, but upon review of the bylaws his role as chair is legitimate.

Nuttall did not see the email calling the meeting until after the meeting had occurred due to a late night of studying. In the absence of the chairperson his or her duties as chair of the meeting fall to the deputy chair.

Hired a week early, Taylor Crosby, the debuty chair said that her short time on the job rendered her incapable of chairing the meeting allowing her to

step down under Law X section 2-C. “It was my first actual meetingthat I had been to as deputy chair[and] our chairperson wasn’t able to make it, so our vice-president communications stepped in… I was not sure how the meeting really ran,” said Crosby.

Since the deputy chair was incapable of performing her duties, the responsibility of chairing the meeting fell to Ryan Harley, MASU’s vice-president of communications. The vice-president of communications, under Bylaw 4 6-L, can “assume the duties of Deputy Chair in the event of the absence or incapacity of the Deputy Chair.”

The Argosy | www.argosy.ca

NEWS

WINTER CARNIVAL

3

Carnival’s varied offerings draw crowds

Winter revelers took to the ice of Swan Pond for an evening skate as a part of the Carnival. Adrian Kiva/Argosy.

Kevin Levangie News Editor MASU’s winter carnival had students on their feet, from a frosty night of Swan Pond skating to dancing the night away on three tons of sand in the student centre.

The week was capped with a performance by Hey Rosetta in

Jenning’s Meal Hall in front of a crowd of about 800 students. The concert was considered a great success.

This is the first in a series of three winter carnivals to be funded by a single referendum that was passed last year with its share of controversy involving MASU’s bylaws. After three years, any fee levied by MASU must be approved again by referendum to

continue.

MASU Entertainment Director Justin McKiel and Deputy Entertainment Director Brandon Williams organized the majority of the week’s activities. They said they were pleased with turnout at their events and for the opportunity to branch out from activities that are traditionally their purview.

McKiel said that while his initial

winter carnival budget of $12,000 provided by the levy was exceeded, it was worth it to get a well-known musical act such as Hey Rosetta.

Ticket sales for the show brought in about another $4,000. MASU president Heather Webster said that if the carnival remained over-budget when the final numbers come in, the deficit would be covered by the surplus from MASU’s general operating budget.

McKiel said the $10,000 MASU paid for Hey Rosetta was a good deal, and only made possible because the show fit into their schedule.

“They had a show literally the day before and would be driving right through,” said McKiel.

“We had really high attendance at all of our events,” said Webster.

“What was so great to see is that we attracted diverse groups of students to the events.”

The week began with a “ministicks” tournament, a miniaturized ball hockey tournament that saw participants lurch around Tweedie Hall on their knees, vying for Hey Rosetta tickets. “[In] the mini-stick hockey tournament for example, we had a type of student that wouldn’t normally be engaged with the student

union and come out to the usual entertainment events,” McKiel said.

“It was a great experience. Our team fought hard, came out on top, and have the knee scars to prove it,” said Sam Fellows, a third year psychology student whose team won the free tickets.

Another event included skating on swan pond with lights, music, and hot chocolate on Jan. 13. Despite the bitter cold – the night saw a temperature low of -24 Celsius – students enjoyed the chance to socialize and skate while Sinatra and other classics played over loudspeakers.

“I really enjoyed it, I thought it was a super fun thing to have, especially as someone who has missed skating so much,” said Jane Rouse, a second year commerce student.

“First Class Splash,” a collaboration with the Grad Class Executive, saw volunteers load three tons of sand onto a dancefloor in Gracie’s for the second year in the row. The dancefloor was packed, and The Pond was at capacity.

“I think that providing great entertainment to students is something unique to MASU,” said Webster. “There are unique events that we can throw that other groups on or off campus can’t.”

We’re looking for our next

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Qualifications:

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Feb. 5, 2014

Opinion

Editor: Tessa Dixon | January 22, 2015 | argosy@mta.ca

THE ARGOSY

DIVESTMENT

Independent Student Newspaper of Mount Allison University Thursday, January 22, 2015 volume 144 issue 13

A call to conversation

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Divest MTA: differing approaches Alex Lepianka

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Fossil fuel divestment has received considerable criticism for what will become our generation’s defining struggle. For the white-collar stakeholders with vested interests in maintaining business as usual – those at the helm of both corporations and investment institutions alike – divestment resembles a breach of trust.

Many institutions control, invest and spend the capital of others. In the interest of ensuring those spending decisions are made sensibly, a legal framework of fiduciary responsibility exists for decision makers. So, when the call is made for our institutional stakeholders to divest, the response often takes the form of a crude argument along the lines of “our hands are tied.” From the Bank of England to eco-financial policy think tanks like Carbon Tracker Initiative, many strong voices do acknowledge that the fossil fuel industry faces severe risks as climate policy frameworks and a burgeoning green sector threaten the industry’s bottom line. This fact is a foot in the door for proponents of divestment, as it begins to appear not only as a financial responsibly, but a fiduciary necessity.

Yet, divestment is about more than realigning capital markets, voicing shareholder discontent with unethical decision-making and obliging university governors to make symbolic gestures. Divestment is now, as it has been historically, about starting a conversation.

Divestment is now, as it has been historically, about starting a conversation

A growing body of evidence suggests that, should portfolio managers elect to reallocate their investments away from the destruction of the planet, the variance in rates of return are often negligible.

Yet there are still vulnerabilities to these veins of thought. For one, by framing the issue at hand as a market failure, divestment advocates expose themselves to arguments claiming the market will address the problem without intervention. According to the International Energy Agency, fossil fuel extraction costs will skyrocket relative to those of renewables, and market mechanisms will shift the $950 billion’s worth of capital expenditure on fossil fuels towards something more sustainable.

Figureheads of the environmental left such as Naomi Klein in her 2014 “This Changes Everything” criticize

DivestMTA members, Gabrielle Steeves, Zoe Luba, Alex Lepianka, Emma Jackson and Elly Hannon. Chris Donovan/Argosy. legislative and market frameworkbased solutions as inherently incapable of addressing the roots of change– only the symptoms. These criticisms are most poignant when we consider how ineffective international carbon credit markets were at actuating any real changes. This vein of thought is nostalgic for clear legislation that worked directly, rather than acting through complex financial derivatives and the monetization and trade of carbon flows. Concerns that divestment is an ineffective tool for meaningful change are therefore not unreasonable.

Consider for a moment how the campaign for disengaging investments from apartheid South Africa played out, or how universities, state governments and handfuls of other institutions made the choice to divest from the tobacco industry in the 1990s. Perhaps, as even proponents of divestment note, no discernable financial pressure resulted directly from these two examples of capital-flight activism. Often, as investors fled, less discerning ones stepped in to replace them. In both of these historic cases, divestment forced upon the institutions which lead us – from places of higher learning to our institutions of governance and of faith – a moment of reflection.

Divestment campaigns force our boards of governors, our statesmen and our moral leaders to consider, as the Drew Gilpin Faust, the President of Harvard University, considered in 1990, if it were in their interest to profit from activities that “create a substantial and unjustified risk of harm to other human beings.”

The hope – or perhaps the necessity – that drives any campaign to divest is that each and every one of us deliberates with others and, finally, acts upon these discussions. Then, and only then, does divestment figure strongly as an impetus for change.

A call to action Lauren Latour

In a widely publicized letter released in Oct. 2013, Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust disavowed the University’s divestment campaign.

Although Faust agreed with the sentiments driving the campaign and understood that no institution could ignore the realities of climate change, her letter took great pains to argue against the merits of divestment. As do many other university governors, Faust insists that fossil fuel divestment is a wholly inappropriate course of action for a university to take. One of the primary arguments that proponents of divestment come up against is that a university endowment is a resource to be utilized and built upon, not a tool to “impel social or political change” as Faust puts it. This is an argument that we at Divest MTA have heard time and again, from administrators, professors and fellow students and it is a claim that we wholeheartedly disagree with.

As consumers and investors, we are consistently told that we vote with our dollars and its absolutely true.

The decision to hand over money to a given company is condonation, whether implicit or explicit, of the actions of said corporation. As a result, spending and investment is always political and always has social implications no matter how we might like to tell ourselves otherwise.

Faust also argues that Harvard and other institutions considering divestment are, as shareholders of these corporations, better situated to engage with fossil fuel corporations than they would be should they make the decision to divest.

After all, our corporations are not only designed, but are required to create value for their shareholders, a fact that resonates with each shareholder resolution filed against the fossil fuel giants.

These giants, the top 200 fossil fuel companies worldwide, have an estimated 740 gigatonnes of fossil fuel reserves. In a landmark study, Carbon Tracker Initiative indicates that, in order to prevent global temperature increases beyond the two degree threshold which scientists and world leaders have determined to be of relative safety, we must burn no more than 565 Gt of carbon between now and 2050. Keep in mind that the aforementioned 740 gigatonnes that those top companies have is just a small fraction of the total known reserves – about 2,795 Gt. A quick division will politely point out that, of these total reserves, we can only burn about 20 per cent; beyond this, global climate futures become grim.

The remaining 80 per cent of those reserves would bust us into a state which can be referred to as “stranded assets,” meaning that they are assets which remain unused and cannot be profited from. The only way that fossil fuel corporations are going to agree to refrain from exploiting some 80 per cent of their resources is if we strip them of their right to do so and to disengage with them absolutely.

Divest MTA wants Mount Allison University to withdraw any investments the endowment fund may have in the fossil fuel industry.

We don’t need to tell you the danger that climate change presents, to do so would insult your intelligence. All we want you to know is that its up to us as members of the Mt. A community, to compel our University to take action. Fossil fuel divestment is one of the most meaningful ways Mount Allison can act on climate change, but if we don’t make it happen, and soon, the opportunity will be lost, and we’ll be on the wrong side of history.

The Argosy | www.argosy.ca

ONLINE: Pat Joyce: Letter to the Editor Samuel Clements: Judicial system failures

OPINIONS

UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA

5

Lawsuit distracts from real issue of sexual violence

Culture of violence in sports has been perpetuated by the media and school representatives Chad Morash

The over-emphasis on the stories of the perpetrators of sexual assault, rather than assault itself or identifying the hardships brought upon the victim is indicative of a systemic problem. Members of the University of Ottawa’s men’s varsity hockey team have filed a $6 million lawsuit against the university for damages to their reputations, due to the administration’s decision to suspend the team following the involvement of two of the players in the sexual assault of a Lakehead University student.

These damages claimed by these players is not the least bit comparable to the pain inflicted by two of their teammates.

Allegations of sexual assault, inappropriate conduct toward women and blatant disrespect for human dignity has been very present across Canadian university campuses this year.

Andrew Creppin, who is currently at the helm of the lawsuit against the

The men’s hockey team has been suspended for the season. Colin/Flickr. university, claims that he dreams of going to medical school and fears that he may no longer “meet a medical school’s ethical standards.” Another teammate has complained that he will not be able to play hockey in Canada after being associated with the sexual assault charges and that he will have to sell his newly bought condo.

It is truly unfair that these are the stories gaining attention instead of the story of the young woman who was assaulted by these players. Where is her story? There seems to be quite a

lot of concern for the futures of these team members, but the victim’s story appears to have been swept under the rug.

Other team members complain of stress and anxiety caused by the allegations. Certain players have stated that their reputations have been irreparably damaged. What about the psychological impacts to the victim?

How does she feel right now? The players who are complaining about such minor grievances as not being able to play their chosen sport for two

years could not imagine the pain and trauma faced by the young woman in question, potentially for the rest of her life.

Sports culture is often associated with rape culture and although it would be easy enough to generalize them as complicit in this culture, some of the blame is shared by the media and the spokespeople for both the team and the university.

Particularly, the handling of cases like this contributes to this culture, and doesn’t help the situation.

We are not asking the right kinds of questions. I think we are asking perpetrators of assault questions that do not rock the boat such as these: “How do you think this incident will affect the rest of the team?” or “Did you ever suspect that your team mates could act in this way?”

These questions do not give us more information about the victim, nor do they help to explain the context of the incident. Most importantly, these questions do not set up a useful dialogue for the critique of the culture of violence and misogyny that persists in sport.

What needs to happen is a more in-depth view of the incident that includes comments from many different sides of the story. These views could be collected from

the victim’s friends, university representatives, experts in the field of violence prevention, as well as researchers. I think what would be most helpful in getting a broader view of the incident and getting the right message out to the public would be a panel discussion between a few of the individuals listed above. This discussion with multiple viewpoints could serve as a starting point for the public to discuss issues of sexual assault within sports and to raise awareness of this issue.

The immense amount of coverage on whether or not the whole team should be suspended, for how long and for what cause, has clouded the real problem lying at the heart of the story: the assault that took place.

Very few people are talking about the assault itself and how to put an end to the culture of violence within sports.

This is where I think the media has failed the victim and many others like her. Instead of asking questions such as whether or not suspension is appropriate, we should be asking what measures are being taken to ensure incidents like this one are reported and dealt with using a victim-centred approach.

POP CULTURE

Oscars give little recognition to minorities Realistic representation of minorities in the arts is a necessity

Mike Roy

Last week, #OscarsSoWhite became a trending topic on Twitter after the nominations for the 87th Academy Awards were announced. Aside from the typical commentary that particular films or actors were left out of their respective categories, the spotlight on the nominations shone on the stunning lack of minority nominees. Instead, the Academy chose to nominate the same breed of wealthy, white and mostly male contenders that have been graciously rewarded since the awards show began in 1929. While the trending topic of #OscarsSoWhite received dismissive criticism from those in Hollywood, I think it is a necessary first step to begin to voice our issues with representation in the arts and to eliminate the embedded nature of systemic racism within our culture.

To establish some context for the Oscars this year, all of the actors and actresses nominated for the lead and supporting roles are white. Among the directing nods, only one hails

Minorities have had little recognition for the 87th Academy Awards. Caricato da Abigor/Wikipedia. from a visible minority, while all of the nominees are male. Selma, a film about Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights movement in America, was nominated in Best Picture and Best Song categories, but was locked out of every other category. Even Gillian Flynn, who adapted her own novel into a screenplay for Gone Girl, did not receive a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, despite having won over 15 accolades from various awards groups and critics’ circles in the same category. At least these films were recognized to some extent, while countless other wonderful

independent films or smaller productions failed to make their mark on Oscar. I understand that at an awards show, especially one like the Oscars, attracts certain kinds of films designed to fulfill the archetypes that win year after year, but I think it’s about time we addressed the issues that this attitude instills upon pop culture.

According to a study completed by the L.A. Times, among the 6,028 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 93 per cent are white while 76 per cent are male. The average age of

an Academy member sits at 62 years old. The Academy has been making better efforts to welcome more diverse invitees to become members in determining the nominees and awards each year, but the trend will continue to see a vast misrepresentation nonetheless. The Times determined that even with a high retiree or death rate among older members and the induction of more non-white and non-male invitees, the Academy would still skew to be 89 per cent white and 72 per cent male by 2023.

To compare, the Motion Picture

Association of America offers an annual breakdown of the cinematic box office, which indicates trends among average moviegoers.

According to the 2013 study, white audiences make up 54 per cent of the tickets sold in American and Canadian box office sales, Hispanics at 25 per cent, African-Americans at 13 per cent and a category of Other at 8 per cent. The age group of 25 to 39-year-old moviegoers comprises the majority of ticket sales on average, taking about 23 per cent to 25 per cent of tickets based on each of the ethnic categories as defined by the MPAA, which vastly contrasts the statistics of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

If we completed an overhaul of the Academy to better represent what actually comprises the motion picture industry of North America, we may set a better trend for avoiding issues of race and gender in the future.

Hollywood stars and awards shows offer a huge amount of influence over the general public who regularly tune in to theatres and television sets and are inherently swayed and moved by the sounds and images before them.

Imagine if we could perpetuate a far more real representation of the world in film by promoting and honouring all populations, one that just might shed attention to the minorities that deserve it, rather than the chosen few.

Sports MEN’S BASKETBALL

Men rally from four point start to beat STU

Editor: Alex Bates | January 22, 2015 | argosy@mta.ca

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Settle’s squad squashes Dragons Mt. A picks up two crucial victories at home against visiting USA

Alex Bates Sports Editor The Mount Allison Men’s Basketball Varsity squad scored just four points in the first quarter of their match against the St. Thomas University Tommies on Sunday, Jan. 18 – a bleak start for a squad who averaged almost 75 points per game in 201415. The squad trailed by 14 points going into the second quarter, and the game seemed out of reach.

After being beat by the Tommies the previous Saturday, it looked as though STU would have no trouble rolling over the Mounties again. Mt. A dug deep, with Kaleefah Henry scoring 24 points en route to a 72-66 comeback win.

The Tommies, who were missing top-scorer Will Barber, held a commanding nine-point lead at halftime, 33-24. It was only in the third quarter when the Mounties dropped 26 points on the visiting Tommies, where Mt. A appeared to have a chance in the game.

The game came down to the final minutes of play. The Tommies held a 66-65 lead over the hometown Mounties, but Mt. A was able to rally, scoring the final seven points of the match to win by a total of 72-66.

The Tommies proved to be a tough opponent once again for the Mounties, but Mt. A came back to attain their sixth win of the season.

Bradley Hovey had 23 points for the visiting Tommies, and Dylan Gallant had 18 of his own for STU. The win was key for the Mounties who will attempt to stay ahead of the Tommies in the standings come playoff time. The Holland College Hurricanes continue to race out to a perfect 10-0 start in the 2014-15 season, and lead the rest of the league by eight points. The Tommies and Mounties are locked into second place with six wins and three losses.

Both teams are ahead of Crandall University by four points, as the Chargers hold the fourth and final playoff spot.

Mt. A has two big games coming up this weekend. The Mounties will visit the University of King’s College Blue Devils on Saturday, Jan. 24. The Blue Devils have a record of three wins and seven losses. The Mounties beat the Blue Devils on Nov. 16, 2014 by a score of 87-72. 87 points scored is the season high for the Mounties.

After the squad’s trip to UKC, the Mounties will visit Mount Saint Vincent University. The Mystics also hold a record of three wins and seven losses, and are tied for fifth in the ACAA with the Blue Devils. The game will occur on Sunday, Jan. 25.

The Mounties were able to top the Mystics 72-63 on Nov. 23, 2014.

The Mounties, who had been on a losing streak since Nov. 15 that spanned across six games, were able to collect two huge victories to vault them back into ACAA playoff talk. Sarah Richardson/Argosy.

Benjamin Foster Sports Reporter The Women’s Volleyball Mounties lost all momentum before the squad faced off against the Université de Sainte-Anne Dragons last weekend.

On Wednesday, Jan. 14 in Halifax, the Mounties lost again, this time against long time ACAA powerhouse Mount Saint Vincent University Mystics to increase that skid to six games.

“We played better than we were before Christmas [Against MSVU].

We did take a set from them and we had some momentum going, then we

made a few too many mistakes,” said Mt. A head coach Paul Settle. “They are a very good team and they came back on us and took it to us in the fourth game.”

The weekend gave the Mounties a huge opportunity to gain some of the lost momentum against the seventh place Dragons coming to Sackville for two match-ups.

Despite the Dragons record of three wins and seven losses, they had been playing well lately, giving many strong ACAA teams a challenge.

“They took Holland College to five sets and they are ahead of us in the standings, they beat Dal AC and they are ahead of us in the standings,” said

Settle.

The Mounties did something that they have not done since the middle of November on Saturday, as they beat the Dragons in four sets. The game was close throughout, with the Mounties controlling USA while they had their starters in the game.

They won the first two sets by scores of 25-18 and 25-12.

The match was looking like it was going to be a quick one when the Mounties jumped out to a lead of 1811 in the third set, but the Dragons did not quiver. The Mounties failed to put them away on two match-point opportunities and the Dragons took a very exciting and nerve wracking

third set 28-26.

The fourth set was no easy task for the Mounties as they tried to break through, but they were able to pull away in the end to take the match and end their losing streak at six.

The two teams were back at it on Sunday. The match was what every Mt. A fan had been waiting to see, as the Mounties stomped on the Dragons, making it look easy as they won in straight sets, 25-11, 2517, and 25-19. Madison Archibald stood out for the Mounties, she was the best server in the game, leading multiple long point streaks, as well as leading the team on the floor.

“These were two wins we really needed to get back on track. We played well and the other team has been playing very, very well lately.

We did a lot of very good things today in terms of attacking and on defence, we put the pressure on them,” said Settle. “When a team gets in a funk, it gets right into their heads. Its difficult to get out of that sometimes so this was a very good weekend for us that way. I’m very pleased with the way the girls played this weekend.”

The wins bring the Mounties back to a .500 record on the season at six wins and six losses, which keeps them in a very tight race for one of the four playoff spots. MSVU is once again running away with the conference but the three other playoff spots are very much up for grabs. St. Thomas University, Dal AC, Holland College, University of New Brunswick-Saint John and the Mounties are all in the hunt, with second and seventh place only separated by four points.

The Mounties will try to move closer to getting a playoff spot next weekend when they will travel to Saint John to play UNBSJ on Saturday before playing the Dal AC Rams at McCormack Gymnasium on Sunday at 2 pm.

WEEKLY WELLNESS

Hacking darts no longer your calling?

National Non-Smoking Week could be your chance to quit Madalon Burnett This week in Canada is a big week for health fans: National Non-Smoking Week. Since 1977, the Canadian Council for Tobacco Control has been using the third week in January to advocate the cessation of smoking.

Goals of the campaign include educating people about the risks of smoking tobacco, preventing people from starting to smoke, helping smokers quit, promoting the right to clean air, and denormalizing the tobacco industry. The campaign aims to, eventually, see a smoke-free society. A project called the Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring System was implemented in 1999, and since then, the percentage of the population that smokes has dropped from 25 per cent to 16 per cent.

The popularity of smoking in North America has declined in recent year, but it’s been a long road to get where we are today, and we’ve still got a long way to go if we want to convince the entire population to drop the habit. Now, smoking has grown to a billion dollar industry. On average, $24 million per day is spent purely on advertising tobacco products globally.

Unfortunately, since smoking has become less common in North America, due to bans in certain locations and educational programs, tobacco companies have turned their efforts toward the developing world where laws are less strict.This has led to a rise in the prevalence of smoking in many other countries.

Quitting, however, has an array of health benefits. It lowers the risk of you from developing diseases like lung cancer, emphysema, and heart

complications, and quitting sooner is linked to a longer lifespan. It also protects the people around you from similar complications. Stopping smoking also means you stop burning through your hard-earned money, and will make you feel more energetic. It requires a lot of planning and lifestyle changes to stop yourself from smoking, but everybody is capable of breaking the habit with help. A recommended strategy for quitting is recording the times when you smoke and determining the triggers that cause you to smoke.

For some people, temporary lifestyle changes that remove the triggers can be beneficial to quitting, such as giving up coffee, spending time in different places, or exercising more often. Setting up rewards (such as planning to go out for lunch if you successfully stay smoke-free for a

week) can be another good way to motivate yourself to stay away.

If someone you know is looking for a good reason to quit, this might be their chance. For National NonSmoking Week, a large variety of organizations are putting on campaigns and programs designed to bring our nation together in an effort to break this habit. At Mount Allison, we are fortunate that it is against policy to smoke on campus, and anyone smoking within 10 metres of a building is standing too close.

For smokers who want to quit, the Wellness Centre is a great resource to help you on your road to a healthier life.

Madalon Burnett is the Health Intern at Mount Allison University

The Argosy | www.argosy.ca

SPORTS

VARSITY SWIMMING

Swimmers head to UPEI Mounties battle flu in AUS Invitational

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

7

Mt. A last, but two points out of playoffs Benjamin Foster Sports Reporter

Zoee Leblanc (above) came third in the 200-metre breaststroke. Taylor Losier/Argosy.

Alex Bates Sports Editor The Mount Allison Varsity swim team crossed the Confederation Bridge on their way to the University of Prince Edward Island last weekend for their first competition of the new semester after a holiday training session. The Mounties came home with four individual and two team medals.

“The attitude going into the meet was we wanted to gauge where we’re at and mentally prepare ourselves for [the Atlantic University Sports Championship], see what we need to work on. It was a meet where we weren’t focused on best times, but on technique,” said second-year swimmer Laurel White, who placed fourth in the 100-metre breast and fourth in the 50-metre breast.

On the Women’s team, secondyear swimmer Alison Loewen led the way with a first place finish in the 50-metre free, and a second

place in the 100-metre free. Marya Peters also made the podium in her 50-metre free, coming third, and finished fourth in the 50-metre back, while Zoee Leblanc came third in the 200-metre breast, and fourth in both the 50-metre breast and 200-metre individual medley. First-year Olivia Feschuk placed fourth in both the 100-metre free and 100-metre back, while Brenna Rothfuss also placed near the top in the 100-metre back, finishing sixth.

The women’s 4x100-metre medley relay team of Peters, Leblanc, Feschuk, Loewen finished third, while the 4x100-metre free relay team of Loewen, White, Feschuk, Peters placed second overall.

On the men’s side, Eric Lane was sidelined due to injury, lowering the team’s numbers to five swimmers.

Martin Peters finished fifth and sixth in the 200-metre and 100-metre fly respectively, while fellow firstyear Geraint Berger came fourth in the 100-metre free and fifth in the 50-metre fly. Third year swimmer,

Jeff Loewen, finished sixth in the 50-metre breast, while the men’s captain, Andrew Reeder, finished fourth in the 50-metre back.

“I think I did alright, given the circumstances,” said Reeder, who was dealing with the flu in the week leading up to the competition, as were several other swimmers. “Hopefully at AUS I’ll be able to finish my swimming career on a high note.”

As for the men’s relays, the 4x100metre medley (Reeder, Loewen, Peters, Berger) came fourth, while the 4x100-metre free relay, comprised of the same team, finished fifth.

“I think the biggest win we had was Allison’s 50-metre free, and the women’s 4x100-metre free relay coming second. As for the men, Andrew Reeder also had a strong performance in the relays,” said Coach John Peters. “Coming off a hard training camp, we swam what we expected and now we’ll spend the next three weeks getting ready for AUS in Dalhousie.”

The Women’s Hockey Mounties are playing their best hockey of the season at the right time, once again fighting for a spot in the AUS playoffs. After a weekend where the Mounties lost two out of three games, the women sit in last place in the AUS. The team is only two points out of a playoff spot, holding a record of five wins, twelve losses and one overtime loss.

“Of course we aren’t satisfied with where we are sitting at this moment in time but we can change that,” said Mounties leading scorer Mackenzie Lalonde.

Playing in Halifax Wednesday night, the Mounties lost a close game with the Dalhousie Tigers, 3-2. Mounties netminder Keri Martin was replaced by Kate O’Brien in the second period after letting in three goals on sixteen shots.

The game was very tight, as Mt. A outplayed Dalhousie for most of the game by a slight margin. Lalonde and Kara Anthony notched the two goals for Mt. A. The Mounties dropped Friday night game at the Tantramar Veterans Memorial Civic Centre to the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus. The final score was 3-2 for the Aigles Bleus when the final buzzer sounded.

The floodgates opened early in the first period, with Catherine Dumas scoring a goal just two minutes into the game. Three other goals would be scored in the frame and Moncton held a 3-1 lead. Rookie Rosie Heffernan scored the goal for the Mounties.

Lindsay James scored in the third period to make it a one-goal game, but the last ten minutes of the game were frustrating for the Mounties, as they could not muster even one shot on net and the Aigles Bleus won 3-2.

Martin got pulled for the second straight game after letting in three goals on thirteen shots and O’Brien stepped in and shut the door once again. O’Brien nearly led the Mounties back to victory, stopping all eighteen shots she faced.

Moncton goalie Emilie Bouchard left the game with an apparent injury halfway through the third period and was replaced by last year’s playoff MVP and Mt. A nemesis, Gabrielle Forget.

“Friday’s game against Moncton was a close one. I think we came out flying but we were just shy of getting a few more goals that would have let us walk away with a win,” said Lalonde.

On Sunday night, the team played one of their best games of the season and opened a 4-0 second period lead, beating the UPEI Panthers 4-1.

O’Brien finally got her chance to start and did not let in her first goal of the weekend until the third period. Overall, she stopped 63 out of 64 shots in her three appearances giving Mounties fans flashbacks of last year’s playoffs. If her strong play continues, it bodes well for the rest of this season.

“Kate played an amazing game on Sunday, she kept us in the game and helped us maintain the confidence we had to get the win,” said Mounties captain Kristen Cooze.

Anthony scored two of the four goals for Mt. A, with Lalonde and Kelsey MacDougall getting the other ones. It was MacDougall’s first goal of her AUS career.

“We played a solid game as a team, we moved the puck really well, worked hard in all three zones on the ice and I think it was helpful that we scored two quick goals to start off the game because it gave as some confidence and that confidence helped us win the game,” said Cooze.

The Mounties are looking to continue their strong play against UPEI at a home game at 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 23.

BETTER KNOW A MOUNTIE

Lund looks to re-gain rookie form on the court Riverview-native Katie Lund hopes to hang a banner of her own in McCormack

Benjamin Foster Sports Reporter The Mounties Women’s basketball team has vaulted their way up to the number two spot in the ACAA standings. Along with an impressive class of rookies, the team has been led by veteran players, Mackenzie Gray and Katie Lund. Lund is a third-year power forward out of Riverview, N.B. pursuing a B.Sc. degree in biology.

Lund started playing basketball in grade four and joined her first club team in Riverview in grade seven. She also played baseball and volleyball when she was young, but decided in the end that basketball was the sport for her. “I watched my brother play

a lot and that got me into basketball and my parents always supported me,” said Lund.

Her greatest success came while playing basketball at Riverview High School. “In grades nine, 10 and 11 we won provincials and in grade 12 we made it to the final, but we lost.”

Those improvements proved to be very valuable as it was where Lund saw the biggest improvements of her basketball playing days, going from winning Most Improved Player on her team in grade 10 to getting named Most Valuable Player for Riverview High School in grade 12.

“My best memories of those times were the big tournaments we went to, like Hoop Classic, and Dairy Town.

They were always really fun with the

girls,” said Lund.

When it came to university, former Mounties Women’s basketball head coach Al Hart made the 5’9” power forward’s choice a lot easier. “He approached me to come play basketball. I had always been considering Mt. A, but then when he approached me and I knew I had a chance to play basketball too, I decided to come here,” said Lund.

She did not disappoint in her rookie season at Mt. A. Lund averaged over six points per game and was named Rookie of the Year for her team at the annual Mt. A Athletic Awards banquet. “We were middle of the pack, but it was a good season anyways. We had a decent team,” said Lund. That same year, Lund was

named a CCAA National Scholar for her hard work in her classes.

Lund’s sophomore season did not echo the success she had in her rookie season. The team once again performed mediocre and just missed the playoffs. “Last year was a struggle.

We had a lot of injuries. Mackenzie went down, another player tore her ACL, and a couple girls quit. We were struggling for players last year, so I played a lot.”

The extra playing time has shown this season in Lund’s strong performance to this point. The Mounties currently have a record of five wins and four losses and are in a fight to finish first in an ACAA conference that is up for the taking.

“I feel really good about this year.

We had a good first half and hopefully we can keep it going this semester. I think we have a chance to win the ACAA title. All the teams are super close and every game is really close and competitive,” said Lund.

That would accomplish the one thing that Lund wants to do during her time playing basketball as a Mountie. “I really want to win a championship and go to nationals.

I’ve never played in a national championship before.”

Lund isn’t sure what she plans on doing after she’s done at Mt. A. “I’m not sure, but definitely school of some kind, maybe even a master’s degree.”

Better Know a Mountie is sponsored by ScotiaMcLeod and The Connors Group.

8

EXECUTIVE ELECTIONS

Editors: Cameron McIntyre & Kevin Levangie | January 15, 2015 | argosy@mta.ca

Meet the c President

Platform

Background

Council Restructure Student Engagement

Campus Safety

Student Space

Student Health Funding

VP External

Dylan Wooley-Berry

Piper Riley Thompson

Annie Sherry

Hopes to update the sexual harassment and assault policy, get external funding for mental health services, renew strategic plan hire part time academic advisors.

Wants to foster community building between MASU and students. Plans to properly advertize how to vote and campaign points to students for the upcoming federal election. Will lobby for post-secondary issues to be considered as federal election priorities and for pass/fail distribution credits. Aims to create a students’ rights and responsibility document outlining topics such as appealing grades, lease agreement breakdowns and residence roommate rights.

Wants to coordinate the student vote in the federal election. Hopes to show students the value of our external memberships, which students are paying for MASU to be a part of, such as the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA), the New Brunswick Student Alliance (NBSA), and transportation (egs. bike co-op and airport shuttles). Wants to get a maritime bus terminal on campus and strengthen the relationship between students and the town, getting them involved in orientation.

President of student council in high school and New Brunswick provincial student council.

Manager of educational programming at outdoor swimming pool. First year councillor. Harper Hall president and regular attendee of MASU council meetings this year.

Arts senator and faculty councillor for two years.

Sat on six senate committees and board of regents committee. Executive member of Change Your Mind. Executive assistant to an MP in Ottawa and assistant to provincial minister. Canadian studies president.

Off-campus councillor. Put together housing fair with previous vice-president external, and served as the vice-president external this year.

Will back the most effective plan presented on the issue of shrinking council.

Wants a smaller council to encourage councillor engagement and knowledge-based collective voice. Currently in favour of changing to six executive, six senators, and six members-at-large.

In favour of shrinking council to six executive members, six faculty councillors and six members-at-large.

Wants to implement a well-maintained events calendar and set publicized deadlines for council projects to increase accountability of the executive team.

Wants to communicate the vice-presidential projects to students more effectively and get students excited about being members of the MASU.

Thinks MASU’s annual general meeting was a success and would like to continue this event.

Would like to partner with town to co-host events.

Endorses the Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence against Women and Children (or METRAC) report. Wants a full time campus security officer. Wants improved exterior lighting (street lamps and flood lights) on campus.

Wants to advocate for an increased active security role on campus and foster mutual respect between students and security.

Would like the students’ union to be involved in setting the direction of new policies such as the sexual assault policy and the plagiarism policy.

Seeks a walk home program for campus.

Plans to incorporate gender neutral washrooms and accessibility for physical disabilities into campus master plan.

Wants longer library hours and to explore the option of a 24-hour study space and published building hours.

Would like the MASU office to be more hospitable for students to visit.

Wants mandatory mental health first aid for house executives and resident assistants, paid for by the university. Wants a full time psychologist hired in the Wellness Centre.

Wants to increase MASU health and dental plan coverage to improve accessibility for mental health services while making such services more financially feasible.

Community mental health strategy involving representatives from the university, town, and students to work on this. Continue advocate for students with the mental health commission of Canada.

Wants students to decide allocations through referenda. Will look into cutting the least used services and refund students.

Wants to improve current services offered from student fees and explore the feasibility of new services.

Wants to improve already provided services such as the bike co-op.

The Argosy | www.argosy.ca | Willa McCaffrey-Noviss reports

EXECUTIVE ELECTIONS

candidates VP Academic

9

VP Campus Life

Delaney Losier

Ryan Lebreton

Mary Emma MacNeil

Cole Murphy

Plans to implement online academic advising to improve the service. Plans to improve residence academic mentor training. Hopes to implement grad school prep. services and better promotion of science writing resource centre help.

Wants to prepare for the next round of faculty negotiations. Proposes a student submission of what they would like to see in these negotiations opposed to a hands-off approach. Wants to implement fall reading week programs such as tutorials.

Hopes to diversify events to involve the town of Sackville and students together. Aims to improve clubs and societies training, give residences an “appliance facelift,” and host unique events such as a bar hop scavenger hunt and a winter formal ball.

Wants to give students what they deserve and enhance the MASU services they’re already receiving. Plans to use “outside-the-box” thinking for entertainment events, eg. to better use spaces such as the quad and/or Jennings dining hall.

Will go above and beyond the job description laid out for him.

High school student council president. Canadian studies club secretary. Secretary-treasurer of Campbell Hall. Various leadership roles in the Nova Scotia Secondary School Students Association.

Off-campus councillor. Member of a student review committee which illuminated problems consistently faced by students.

Hunton House residence assistant. Food and housing representative. Avid MASU council meeting follower. Active listener to residents who helped her compose her platform.

Windsor Hall floor representative and social chair. Orientation white shirt and off-campus councillor. Sat on campus life committee and has experience with campus life in general through various connections with athletics, administration and student affairs.

Wants to shrink, but thinks on/off campus councillors are important to provide appropriate representation.

Wants to shrink council and have members-atlarge to more accurately represent students.

Wants to make council smaller, but preserve on and off campus representation if possible.

Thinks there should be further investigation into the root cause(s) of council’s problems before changing the structure.

Wants better promotion of services to students and increased communication between MASU and students. Says students should feel represented by their union.

Wants to move council to a different room so students feel more welcome to attend.

Plans to make campus resources directory booklets for students. Wants to put on events that students to attract students. Wants to improve clubs and societies training.

Wants to have individual vice-president booths at the Clubs & Societies Fair instead of one MASU table in order to engage students in executives’ separate portfolios. Aims to take a proactive approach to student engagement rather than wait for students to come to him.

Not applicable to portfolio.

Not applicable to porfolio. Supports improved campus safety.

Wants to implement the walk home program and fix the logistical problems which the program previously faced.

Wants to implement policies based off the METRAC safety and security audit. Wants to implement policy and physical changes such as the installation of phone charging stations around campus, improving lighting on campus and adding gender neutral bathrooms.

Wants to use the Purdy Crawford lobby and student centre. Says we are here to study and that it is essential to ensure there is available study space.

Wants to increase study space and library hours.

Wants to turn the old fine arts building into a study space/lounge area for off-campus students.

Wants to increase student study space in exam season (possibly as simple as getting chairs and tables in Tweedie Hall, the student centre, and Purdy Crawford) and add one 24-hour study space.

Plans to ensure there are distinct questions on academic experience survey relating to mental, physical health. Wants to continue to advocate for mental health services on campus.

Will support other executives in their safety projects.

Wants to implement a healthy living month with meditation and aquatic zumba programming held in February. Aims to get machines fixed in the fitness centre.

Wants to continue mental health campaigns on campus and put a condom in every mailbox from the MASU.

Better allocation towards academic aspects.

Wants to explore how well MASU’s services are being promoted. Believes MASU spends a reasonable amount on academic services.

Not interested in raising student fees. Wants to put out more referenda to consult students about where their money is allocated.

Wants to improve current services offered from student fees and explore the feasibility of new services.

Arts & Culture BREW REVIEW

Ducky’s features barley wine

Editor: Daniel Marcotte | January 22, 2015 | argosy@mta.ca

Hey Rosetta show at Jennings: continued from cover

Toque and Mitts Celtic Knot Brewing 7.3% ABV, $6.25/pint Celtic Knot has brewed up a winner with its Toque and Mitts barley wine.

On the first sip, this ale’s main flavours are chocolate and coffee, rounded out by nut and caramel notes. While this may sound like a stout, it’s not. The deep red-brown ale is anything but creamy, and as the style’s name suggests, the alcohol’s flavours are similar to a nice red wine: present, but held in check by the other flavours. The wine-like character increases with each sip.

This beer resembles wine in another way, too: the use of oak chips in the brewing process. They aren’t just any oak chips, though; they were lightly toasted and then soaked in bourbon. The beer aged on the chips for a month after fermenting. The resulting bourbon sweetness, without the harsh alcohol flavour of whiskey, really sets this ale apart.

The small-batch beer was sent to only three bars across the province (Moncton’s Laundromat Espresso Bar and the Tide and Boar are the other two locations that have tapped the beer), so if you’re a fan of rich, dark ales, get yourself a pint while you still can.

– Richard Kent

Hunky Dory Pale Ale Boxing Rock Brewing 5% ABV, $7/pint Hunky Dory might be best described as a summery take on an American pale ale. With its crisp, refreshing mouthfeel and lingering hop bitterness, this ale would be perfect for bringing a different element to your patio cooler.

Unfortunately, Hunky Dory is disappointing in terms of taste.

While it features some trace notes of wheat, citrus, chamomile and sea salt, these subtle flavours are swallowed up by a dominant hop taste before the drinker can properly appreciate them.

Where the beer truly excels is in its mouthfeel: the texture is a pleasant balance of bubbly and smooth that gradually improves after a few minutes in the glass. Hunky Dory also boasts a lighter gravity than other pale ales, making it easier to drink a second or third pint.

One could almost mistake Hunky Dory for a lager, as its rich, golden colour and intricate lacing is somewhat unusual for a beer of this style. This would be an excellent place to start for those new to hoppier brews, as it ultimately straddles the line between light, crispy lagers and smooth, malty pales. However, hop fanatics looking for a more complex taste might find Hunky Dory a little disheartening.

– Daniel Marcotte

Hey Rosetta performs for a packed Jennings Hall. Concertgoers were also invited to enjoy the band from the balconies. Adrian Kiva/Argosy.

Technically, I was listening to the same song, but it lacked the richness and finesse of the studio version. I could see violinist Kinley Dowling and cellist Romesh Thavanathan performing enthusiastically on stage, but I could barely hear their instruments from my place in the audience.

As a result, Hey Rosetta simply didn’t sound like Hey Rosetta. The orchestral instruments for which the band is known were drowned out by the guitars and drum kit.

The tambourines, trumpet and French horn were equally inaudible.

Consequently, the audience was left with a lesser act that sounded canned and generic.

An inferior speaker system and the poor acoustics of Jennings Hall conspired against the band. Deprived of their nuanced dynamics and instrumental variation, there was frankly little to differentiate one song from the next. The overall effect was one of absence; the band’s drawn out chords were lost to the meal hall’s

espresso bar and refill station.

The unengaged audience didn’t help matters. More than once, the band was forced to perform over a wave of chatter as members of the crowd talked among themselves. This effect was particularly evident from the second floor viewing area, which provided the perfect vantage point from which to watch a sea of students packed together and standing still.

To be brutally honest, during the first 45 minutes of the act, the crowd was, with several exceptions, one of the

least engaged I have ever seen at a live concert.

Yet, to Hey Rosetta’s credit, the band seemed to make the best out of bad circumstances, and by the end of the night the audience finally seemed to have loosened up. It wasn’t a bad concert per se, it was just not the concert I would expect from a band of Hey Rosetta’s calibre.

FILM

Thriller held back by clichés and confusion ‘Before I Go to Sleep’ initially promising, but fails to deliver Lily Mackie Arts & Culture Reporter While Rowan Joffe’s Before I Go to Sleep could have been one of this year’s most entertaining thrillers, its adherence to overused conventions drags it down.

Although the film offers a strong cast and a screenplay adapted from S. J. Watson’s New York Times best-selling novel, Joffe opts for the safe and predictable in lieu of the challenging and thought-provoking.

Instead of using its many resources to create something meaningful, or at the very least imaginative, the film remains plot-driven and unoriginal.

The movie focuses on 40-yearold Christine (Nicole Kidman) who suffers from injury-induced amnesia.

Her husband Ben (Colin Firth)

explains that Christine stores up information for a day and when she wakes up in the morning it’s all gone; she’s back to the memory of her early twenties. The rest of the film focuses on Christine, with the assistance of a psychiatrist (Mark Strong), as she tries to piece together different events and people from her past.

The film invokes the common frustration of not being able to remember something, which simultaneously increases suspense by strategically withholding or revealing information. It quickly becomes difficult to decide if anyone is who they say they are. Clearly, the main idea was to make the audience feel unsure of whom to trust, however Joffe went a little overboard with the number of plot twists and red herrings. It might be easier to just sit back and enjoy the visuals rather than

try to predict the final outcome of the vacillating plot line.

Gripping cinematography does allow for vividly intimate shots, helping the fact that the actors were given very little to work with. It becomes clear that Joffe has chosen a set of actors with a talent for shedding a perfectly-timed single tear. Indeed, Kidman’s tear-streaked face seems to be one of the most common recurring shots. Tasked with carrying the film, Kidman does good work with what she’s given, and is probably one of the most stable aspects of the entire film, despite her character’s unstable condition.

In today’s film culture, it seems like most movies are running a marathon against one another to see which one can produce the longest screen-time. In this respect, Before I Go to Sleep is refreshingly succinct

and to the point. However, this is its only refreshing aspect. The rest of the film is conventional, to the point that it fails to stand out from the many other identity-crisis thrillers such as David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, Christopher Nolan’s Memento, and even the Bourne series. Although each scene is carefully structured, well developed and skillfully executed, they nonetheless all possess an air of familiarity.

Before I Go to Sleep’s clear potential accentuates the disappointing final product. Joffe’s film unfortunately brings a new meaning to the term “ignorance is bliss,” as I for one feel that if I were able to wake up tomorrow having completely forgotten the film, I would be better off for it.

The Argosy | www.argosy.ca

Arts & Culture

Garnet & Gold: continued from cover “There are so many dance breaks, because there is so much dance in this show,” said O’Brien. “It gives the band a chance to show off their great chops.”

Throughout the production process, the cast and crew faced various challenges, including the late arrival of sheet music, lack of proper rehearsal space and the performers’ lack of tap dance experience.

While O’Brien did not make any drastic changes to the original score, she did note that the sheet music for the band did not arrive on time. By the time it did arrive, a lot of the numbers had already been choreographed and

rehearsed.

A unique element of Anything Goes is its use of tap dancing. Winn said that only a couple of cast members had tap danced before.

Winn also recalled that their supplier originally neglected to send any men’s tap shoes for him to use.

“They sent all the tap shoes with heels,” Winn said. “It was quite interesting to teach them because I was dancing in high heels with sweatpants. It was pretty funny.”

The G&G production often experienced difficulty finding a space for choreographers and dancers to rehearse. Because Convocation

Hall and the Purdy Crawford centre are often booked for other events, they were left to find other spaces on campus to practise, such as the student centre.

Despite a few challenges, Winn felt that the cast learned quickly.

“As long as you want to, you can, and that’s been proven time and time again with G&G,” he said. “It’s their enthusiasm that’s making it as awesome as it is.”

The show will run Jan. 29 to 31 at 8 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinée on Jan. 30. Tickets can be purchased at the MASU office, Joey’s and Tidewater Books.

THEATRE

Planinc stages play at local pub Mt. A alumnus does tragic take on French theatre

Left to right: Sam White, Louis Marquette, Ben Egli in the performance space at Ducky’s. Michael Dover/Argosy.

Michael Dover Arts & Culture Reporter Sackville has a new theatre company: Sackville Student Theatre, created by recent Mount Allison graduate Jake Planinc, who also directed the troupe’s first production, Art, by acclaimed French playwright Yazmina Reza.

The no-frills show was performed on a shoestring budget at Ducky’s Pub on Jan. 19 and 20 before a small but dedicated opening night audience.

The play recounts a 15-year friendship that falls apart when Serge (played

by Ben Egli) purchases a perplexing piece of modern art that prompts his best friend Marc (played by Louis Marquette) to passive-aggressively accuse him of putting on airs. For those familiar with Reza’s work, it should come as no surprise that over the next hour and a half, the insults gradually shift from the academic to the personal, with both characters losing the audience’s sympathy in the process. The cast is rounded out by Yvan, played by Sam White, who acts as a fraught intermediary between his two ungrateful friends.

While the choice of venue might not seem ideal for theatre, in the hands of Planinc and his team, including lighting/sound designer Alison Crosby and stage managers

Emily Preeper and Anna Shepard, the lack of space and technical constraints were turned into assets, allowing for rapid scene changes and immersive monologues. The monologues were performed off stage on the same plain as the audience, with the actors illuminated from below by a single yellow footlight. This divide between the onstage action and the offstage monologues was an effective detail which provided the actors with more room to manoeuvre, while simultaneously drawing the audience into the characters’ barely-concealed emotional turmoil.

Art is a difficult play to stage under the best of conditions, described by Reza as being a comedy underpinned by human tragedy. In Planinic’s production, the tragic elements of the play were highlighted, as demonstrated by Egli’s understated performance as Serge, a character which could easily have been cast as a bumbling and insecure figure for comedic effect. However, Egli’s portrayal was unflinchingly calm, detached and reasoned, balancing the outsized personalities depicted

by Marquette and White. Egli’s dignified approach to the role eases the audience into a false sense of sympathy that is slowly shattered as his cool demeanour reveals sociopathic undertones.

The seriousness of Planinc’s

production is reflected in the way the titular piece of ‘art’ is depicted.

In most versions of the play, the canvas is actually pure white, with the “shades of grey and red” gushed over

by Serge as invisible to the audience as they are to Marc and Yvan.

In contrast, Planinc’s set design featured a canvas with clear lines that resembled actual paintings by abstract artists such as Kazimir Malevich, lending credibility to Serge’s claims.

This subtle choice of set gave Planinc’s production a unique voice, eschewing easy laughs in favour of serious drama. However, at times, the seriousness of the production seemed out of sync with the absurd dialogue, and there were moments, such as when the characters were senselessly repeating the same lines, that could have used more emphasis on the comedic elements of the script.

This minor critique aside, Art was extremely well produced, and the engrossing performances of all three actors kept the audience on the edge of their seats. When the lights went down after Marquette’s final monologue, I personally had goosebumps. The acting was raw and the beer was cold. At the end of the day, what more can a theatregoer ask for?

Ship’s Log EVENTS Starry Sackville F r i d a y, J a n u a r y 2 3 8 – 9 p.m.

S i r J a m e s D u n n Wu Centre B y D r. C a t h e r i n e Lovekin on the Rosetta Mission O b s e r v i n g t o f o l l o w, weather permitting.

Responding to evaluations of your course F r i d a y, J a n u a r y 2 3 2:30 – 4 p.m.

Av a r d D i x o n R o o m 120 What have you learned about last t e r m’s c o u r s e s n o w that you’ve had a chance to read the evaluations and compare them to the stud e nt s’ f i na l g r a d e s ?

Are there lessons to be learned, changes to be made, questions to be asked?

Blue Monday M o n d a y, J a n u a r y 2 6 4 – 7 p.m.

Jennings Hall Mezzanine Described by some as ‘t he most depressing d a y o f t h e y e a r ’, B l u e Monday is a great time to learn more about what you can do to take control of your own happiness.

There will be a variety of activities designed to boost your mood in as little as 10 minutes.

Wr i t e r R e a d i n g : Mark Blagrave M o n d a y, J a n u a r y 2 6 4 – 6 p.m.

Owens Art Gallery Foyer Mark Blagrave returns to Mount Allison to read from his new collection of stories ‘Salt in the Wo u n d s ’. R e f r e s h ments. Ever yone welcome!

B o o k Wo r k : a s e r i e s of short talks Tu e s d a y, J a n u a r y 2 7 7:30 – 9:30 p.m.

Owens Art Gallery Foyer Join John Murchie, Janine Rogers, Andre w Wi ls on, Luc y MacDonald, and Kirsty Bell for an informal evening of talking books and

11

how they work, from medieval manuscripts to contemporar y art.

Bagel Lunch We d n e s d a y, J a n u a r y 28 12 – 1 p.m.

Wa l l a c e M c C a i n S t u dent Centre Room 125 Come Join the Jewish Stu d e nt s’ Ass o c i a tion for a free bagel l u n c h , h o s t e d b y Te l Av i v Un i v e r s i t y a n d H e b r e w U n i v e r s i t y, Januar y 28th from noon until 1 p.m.

C h a n g e Yo u r M i n d seeking input C h a n g e Yo u r M i n d i s in search of testimonials, anecdotes or brief statements on practical things and creative accommodations provided by professors in times of mental health distress or general trouble.

Submit by messaging C h a n g e Yo u r M i n d o n Facebook, tweeting using #mentalhealthwin, or answering on our Google forum at tinyurl.com/ M TA m e n t a l h e a l t h w i n Po e tr y Re ading We d n e s d a y J a n u a r y 28th 5:30 p.m.

Bridge Street Cafe Guest poet-Juan Sanchez. Ever yone is welcome!

Friday Januar y 23 Wo m e n’s H o c k e y 7:00 p.m.

UPEI vs. Mount Allison Ta n t r a m a r Ve t e r a n s Memorial Civic Centre Sunday Januar y 25 Wo m e n’s H o c k e y 2:00 p.m.

StFX vs. Mount Allison Ta n t r a m a r Ve t e r a n s Memorial Civic Centre Sunday Januar y 25 Wo m e n’s Vo l l e y b a l l 2:00 p.m.

DA L AC v s . M o u n t Allison McCormack Gymnasium

Science

Editor: Tyler Pitre | January 22, 2015 | argosy@mta.ca

TECHNOLOGY LAW

New federal law targets internet pirates Bill C-11 gives more power to copyright holders

New piracy law may affect many online pirates looking to get ahold of copyrighted materials such as music and movies. Cameron McIntyre/Argosy.

Clay Steell Science Reporter Pirates, ye be warned. New regulations in Canada’s Copyright Modernization Act have made file sharing in Canada potentially less secure. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are now legally obliged to warn internet users that a copyright holder is aware of their illegal downloading activity, and to release those users’ personal information if a lawsuit is filed. These new laws, also known as Bill C-11, came into effect on Jan. 1, and lets copyright holders sue file sharers for up to $20,000.

Copyright holders, such as music or movie studios, can publicly see the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of anyone sharing a file through torrent software. Copyright holders are able to tie file sharing IP addresses to an

ISP, but not to an individual. They must ask ISPs to inform file sharers that the copyright holder is aware of their illegal activity and can take legal action against them. Before the new regulations, ISPs could choose whether or not to contact a customer with the copyright holder’s warning, or become liable of illegally enabling file sharing.

In addition, ISPs must release a file sharing user’s personal information, such as their name and address, if the copyright holder files a lawsuit against them. Copyright holders can then sue file sharers from $5,000 to $10,000 in statutory damages, and up to $20,000 if the file sharer gained monetarily from the activity.

Technically, Mount Allison itself is an ISP because it manages the campus’ local network, and will have to comply with the new regulations.

According to Helmut Becker,

Director of Computing Services, Mount Allison has informed several students in the past that copyright holders were aware of their illegal file sharing activity, and that their network accounts would be suspended if they didn’t stop. Becker said that these students stopped their file sharing thereafter, and that Computing Services has never had to suspend an account due to file sharing.

Becker said that Computing Services doesn’t monitor users’ internet activity, and only knows when a student has been file sharing after a copyright holder has contacted them.

“What you do or what you look at [on the internet] we could care less,” he said, “but if you start doing this, you could get sued.”

While Computing Services doesn’t have precise statistics on the number

of file sharers on campus, they have noticed a sharp decline in recent years on the proportion of bandwidth file sharing takes.

“Most of our internet traffic five or six years ago was probably file sharing,” said Peter Crawshaw, Computing Service’s Network Manager, “but most of [it] now is video, people watching Netflix or other video sources.”

Bill C-11 included other new regulations beyond online copyright violations. In an email to the Argosy, Stephen Law, department head of Mount Allison’s Economics Department and an expert in the economics of regulation, wrote: “some of the new regulations in C-11 are excellent, [but] the new restrictions on digital locks are problematic and overly restrictive.”

He said that although the new regulations on online copyright

violation could have been worse, they may benefit large copyright holding firms in the United States more than those in Canada.

Law also said that some parts of Bill C-11 were meant to bring Canadian copyright law in line with other countries.

“Some of the Canadian rules are better than elsewhere, especially for education, and some are worse than elsewhere, such as the rules on digital rights management.”

An aspect of Bill C-11 of which Law approved was exemptions on copyright for media use in education.

“It made little sense for the RCMP to be investigating school teachers showing movies in their classrooms,” he wrote.

SPACE EXPLORATION

NASA’s dawn spacecraft to discover new worlds Human space exploration takes its next leap forward tyler pitre Science Editor The newest research on planetary discovery yielded interesting results involving the habitability status of eight planets. Researchers have statistically determined that these planets are in range in what is known as the goldilocks region. This region would be able to support liquid water on their surfaces.

Astronomers at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have been working for a year on a study concerning eight potential habitable planets in the goldilocks region. Among the eight, two of

them seem particularly promising.

Both Kepler-483b and Kepler-442b have been singled out for their comparison to our own planet, Earth.

Their sizes are relatively similar and their proximity to their star allows for significant solar radiation. The size of these planets are particularly important, as it is a determinant for its chances of being rocky like Earth.

A bigger planet, or a massive one like Jupiter, tends to be not rocky and may not be able to hold any liquid on its surface.

Researchers have been at this study for quite sometime. They first identified these candidates during a Kepler mission. However, the ability confirmation of important

information, such as size and whether or not they were even planets, came only after the researchers used a computer program called BLENDER. The following year, researchers used different methods of studying the planets such as spectrometry and optics studies in order to learn more about their composition.

Spectrometry involves a wide range of techniques of chemical analysis, and is used to determine the characteristics and properties of substances.

Kepler-442b is one of the planets most similar to Earth. It goes around its sun once every 112 days and is about one-third larger than Earth. Researchers calculated that the chances of it having rocky

characteristics like that of Earth is about 60 per cent, but receiving only about two-thirds as much sunlight from its sun. Finalizing the statistical analysis for Kepler-442b puts the planet’s probability of being habitable at 97 per cent.

Kepler-438b is the second planet considered to be similar to Earth. It has a greater chance of having rocky characteristics at 70 per per cent, but receives only 40 per cent more light than Earth. The total analysis for this planet lies at 70 per cent chance of being habitable.

Kepler-438b’s lower statistic is mostly due to its large amount of sunlight intake. The goldilocks zone refers to a planet’s distance from the

sun: it is not too far from the sun to cause water to be in a constant solid state and it is not too close for the water to vaporize. What is it? It seems that it may receive too much sunlight to maintain liquid water. However, the statistic is still considerably high.

The word habitable does not mean that it contains life. It simply means that if a planet is habitable, there is a higher chance for the development of life.

“We don’t know for sure whether any of the planets in our sample are truly habitable,” said center astronomer David Kipping.

The Argosy | www.argosy.ca

Science

GENETICS

13

Centuries-old whale may be key to long life

The secret to young life may have been in front of us for a very long time, a new study suggests. Ciron/Wikipedia.org.

Clay Steell Science Reporter A study published in the journal, Cell Reports, by an international team led by researchers from the Institute of Integrative Biology at the University of Liverpool, is the first to look at Bowhead Whale genes in light of their aging process. It found mutations in genes related to aging and cancer development.

Bowhead Whales can live up to two centuries: one caught by Alaskan Inuit whalers in 2007 had a harpoon embedded in its flesh originally fired before 1885. They are also among the largest animals ever to have lived, some reaching up to 100 tons, larger than many dinosaurs. These whales have about 1,000 times as many cells as humans do, which, when combined

with their old age, should result in higher rates of tumor growth and cancer. Yet relative rates of disease and tumor development are much lower in these whales than in humans and other animals. The study’s authors suspect that Bowheads have a genetic mechanism for suppressing the growth of tumors and diseases, as well as other mechanisms for extending their lifespan.

Aging is an inescapable part of being human, yet how and why it happens remains largely mysterious.

A new study on the oldest known living mammal, the Bowhead Whale, may shed light on the role genetics plays in how animals, and therefore humans, grow old. By comparing the Bowhead’s sequenced genome to that of its shorter-lived relatives, the study was able to identify potential genetic adaptations that help the whales live

so old with exceptionally low rates of cancer and disease. Its findings show a correlation between living longer and genetic adaptations, and may aid research in human aging.

Notable mutations in their genome include the ERCC1 gene. This gene is involved in repairing damaged DNA and correlated with shortened life spans in mice when impaired, as well as the BAMBI gene, which has been implicated in humans’ proneness to cancer and disease.

Mutations in the Bowhead genes were compared to the species’ closest relative: the Minke Whale. Minke Whales are shorter-lived, under fifty years, and smaller, weighing less than ten tons. Several genes were also duplicated in Bowhead Whales but not Minke Whales. Having duplicates of a gene affects how cells repair DNA and divide, and has led to past

evolutionary innovations like human brain functions or the mammalian placenta. The LAMTOR1 gene was one notable duplicate in the Bowhead genome as it is strongly associated with aging and cancer development in humans.

Several hypotheses have been proposed for why organisms age, but none have been fully able to explain this phenomenon. Aging doesn’t appear integral to all life, as some animals do not seem to age.

Some species of jellyfish, flatworms, crustaceans, and hydras, are considered biologically immortal: they display no signs of aging or of decreased fitness over time. Some vertebrates, such as sturgeons, turtles and tortoises are negligibly senescent, where signs of aging are very minor.

How these animals overcome aging is a rapidly growing interest to the

medical community, which hopes what we might learn from them could be applied to human aging, cancer and disease.

The study’s authors made the sequenced Bowhead Whale genome free and available to other researchers online at the Bowhead Whale Genome Resource website. While their study was focused on genes related to aging, their sequenced genome may be valuable to other scientists researching these whales.

This study was also unique as it first sequenced the genome of an animal on which aboriginal communities are directly dependent for food. Most of the animals whose genome has been sequenced, such as cows or rats, are important in livestock or health research.

HEALTH

Link found between optimism and heart health

New study suggests that optimistic people have healthier hearts than their counterparts Tyler Pitre Science Editor A new study from the University of Illinois suggests there is a strong correlation between optimism and ideal cardiovascular health across socio-demographic and ethnic lines.

The study was published in the journal, Health Behavior and Policy Review, authored by many researchers but led by Rosalba Hernandez, a professor of social work. The study found that the people in the highest quartile of optimism were also likely to have close to ideal or ideal cardiovascular health. In contrast to their pessimistic counterparts, the most pessimistic participants had low scores, indicating low cardiovascular health. These results factored in socio-demographic differences, which may otherwise conflict or skew the data. They also utilized multiethnic study of atherosclerosis, which is a medical study of cardiovascular disease over a period of time. They accessed health related information

through MESA’s participants of about 6,000 multiethnic men and women. MESA’s access to a multiethnic sample made it easier to get a general study. Cardiovascular health may range based on ethnicity, so factoring this in helped strengthen their findings.

The researchers used various metrics in their calculation of cardiovascular health. Among these were diet, physical activity, blood pressure, body mass index, blood sugar and total cholesterol. The most optimistic people had ideal values for these metrics or close to ideal, whereas their pessimistic counterparts did not. They were graded on a twopoint scale, ranging from zero to two.

The sum of these numbers for every category tested would be from zero to 14, where a higher score indicated a better cardiovascular health.

The highest scoring participants were found to have twice the probability of having ideal cardiovascular health. We can imagine, although it is not explicitly

stated, a healthier outlook on life leads to less stress and more drive to keep healthy, whereas a negative outlook may lead to unhealthy lifestyle choices and stress.

The study collected data of adults from the ages of 52 to 84 who participated in MESA. The researchers for the optimism study used their data, with a sample size of 5,134, in order to discover the correlation between optimistic people and ideal cardiovascular health.

According to Statistics Canada, cardiovascular disease was the second leading cause of death among Canadians. Many cases of these diseases are preventable, and a healthier look on life may certainly be a good start.

“At the population level, even this moderate difference in cardiovascular health translates into a significant reduction in death rates,” said study leader Hernandez.

New study suggest that being more optimistic may contribute to better cardiovascular health. Anna Farrell/Argosy

Humour

Editor: Taylor Losier | January 22, 2015 | argosy@mta.ca

Last issue’s solutions

72- Acceptable; 73- Philosopher Kierkegaard; 74- Parks on a bus;

(CUP) - Puzzles provided by BestCrosswords.com. Used with permission.

Across 1- Swedish auto; 5- Undercover operation; 10- Cooking appliance; 14- Cockney greeting; 15- Mistake; 16- Defense grp. since 1949; 17- Somewhat; 18- Gaucho’s rope; 19- Jazz flutist Herbie;

20- Long luxuriant hair; 21- Republic in N South America; 23- Moo goo ___ pan; 25- D.C. VIP; 26- Gone; 31- Tend a fire; 35- ___ carte; 36- Jazzy Chick; 38- Smells; 40- Lens holders; 42- Inflexible; 44- Consumes; 45- Stuffing for pillows; 47- Boat often made of birchbark,

canvas, or fiberglass; 49- Permit; 50- Capital city of Yemen; 52- Eyeglasses with tinted lenses; 54- Towel word; 56- “…and seven years _____”; 57- Carry; 62- Denials; 66- Milk source; 67- Polynesian porch; 68- Lady’s escort; 69- Kiln for drying hops; 70- Diciembre follower; 71- Prefix with skeleton;

Down 1- Thin stratum; 2- Neighbor of Sask.; 3- King of comedy; 4- A wineshop; 5- Attendant; 6- Corner; 7- Oil-rich Islamic theocracy neighboring Iraq; 8- Short letters; 9- Eats grass; 10- Treater’s words; 11- South African river; 12- 2002 erupter; 13- Prefix with profit or fiction; 22- Golden Rule word; 24- Circle segment; 26- Like some chocolate; 27- Inventor Howe; 28- Argentine plain;

29- Actor Stoltz; 30- Impressionist Edgar; 32- Keats work; 33- Australian marsupial; 34- Some Art Deco works; 37- Hokkaido native; 39- Concordes, e.g.; 41- Part of the Holy Trinity; 43- Contribution; 46- Actress Madeline; 48- Cackleberry; 51- Bridal paths; 53- Lengthier; 55- Joe of “Hill Street Blues”; 57- Furniture wood; 58- Tabula ___; 59- ABA member; 60- Doozy; 61- Describes a gently cooked steak; 63- Vintner’s prefix; 64- Finishes; 65- Greek portico; 66- Also.

An inside look at the MASU elections This election season, stay informed in order to spend your vote wisely.

Dakota Pauley As I’m sure you’ve noticed, the Mount Allison community has been passing around a sickness, as of late. We can now confirm this fast-spreading disease is known as “Election Fever”!

That’s right, it’s that time of year again when we, the students, decide which of those Facebook campaign invites are most worth our time. The MASU elections allow the students to choose their representatives for the upcoming year, and while this isn’t as grand as the Sackville regional elections, it is guaranteed to have a higher student turnout. Therefore it is with the utmost importance that we put in the bare minimum amount

of research into deciding who should lead our student union. To get you started, here is an outline of the positions being campaigned for.

First, there is the Students’ Union President, also known as, El Presidente, or “Hey, isn’t that Heather Webster?” The president of the school has the responsibilities of managing the school’s finances, ensuring a safe and thriving educational environment where students can learn and to ensure all aspects of the school are running properly. As for what the MASU president is responsible for- I have no idea. But it probably involves lots of dancing, so choosing a candidate who knows how to “shake it” is especially important.

Secondly, there is the Vice

Want to unlock the secrets of the universe?!?!

President of Academic Affairs, also known as, The One True Vice President, (don’t be fooled!). This person is in charge of ensuring the best academic environment for all of the students on campus. Their responsibilities include ensuring a somewhat quiet library, arranging classroom sizes so that they are on the verge of being big enough for students and making sure that exam schedules are slightly inconvenient for everyone. Being a little flustered with academics is an exciting part of students’ university experience, and this executive member ensures that it will be lengthy and memorable.

Next up, we have Vice-President of Campus Life, also known as, Your Best Friend. If you’re loving your campus life here at Mt. A, then you

have this person to thank, as they ensure that each year is better than the last. The VP of Campus Life is essentially responsible for keeping the campus alive and fresh! This involves mowing the lawns, clearing paths, shoveling, salting and other campus upkeep. Ensuring a bright and beautiful campus is by far no easy task, but as every student has to walk to class, this responsibility is sometimes seen as the most important one at the school.

Finally, there is the VicePresident of External Affairs. This position, well…no one really knows or understands what this person does. After all, “External Affairs” sounds kind of shady doesn’t it? I mean that could be anything. Is this person running the student mafia

Write for the Humour Section!* Contact tglosier@mta.ca

or importing illegal textbooks or something? Either way, voting for this person may or may not be the most important vote you cast this year. Then again, who really knows!

So there you have it! As a student, you are now fully prepared to make an informed, educated decision for voting in your future executive members. You know virtually nothing about the candidates themselves, but they don’t pay me to do that kind of research, so you’re on your own. If you’re thinking of just taking the easy road by withdrawing from the vote, then don’t worry, the mass emailing system is sure to kindly remind you of your laziness.

*Writing for the Humour section will not actually unlock the secrets of the universe

The Argosy | www.argosy.ca

Humour

Strategic supping

15

Patrick Allaby

Student stress-o-meter

Taylor Losier Humour Editor

Puzzle by WebSudoku.com

Fourth Year Don’t Care: a medical case study Taylor Losier Humour Editor Also known as: Senioritis, And Doneis with Thisus.

Symptoms: This disease often presents itself to students who are within four to 10 months of graduation, and can last for an indeterminate amount of time.

Symptoms include a significant lack of self-motivation, increased apathy, irregular drinking patterns, and is accompanied by vocal refrains of “fourth year, don’t care” (from which the disease derives its name).

Cases may vary in severity, with the worst cases causing severe lethargic behaviour in students, and the more mild cases causing momentary lapses in attention, and bouts of nostalgia.

Taylor Losier Humour Editor

Medical History: The first recorded subject was a young man by the name of S.C. Rewthis, who was said to have run naked through the men’s residence at his university, heavily intoxicated, throwing pages of his thesis into the

air as he went. He was said to be shouting unintelligible limericks as he went, although this is the only reporting of any such symptom, and may have simply been a facet of Rewthis’ personality.

Although he was eventually apprehended and forced into clothing, Rewthis spent the remainder of his time at university on probation, and was said to be increasingly melancholic as the year progressed, prone to sighs and mutterings of “I am so over this.”

The disease was first documented at Mount Allison approximately three years after the school opened.

Treatments: Currently, there is no known cure to this ailment. There are several treatments available, including a swift kick in the pants or an intense guilt-trip phone call from mom, though these have only reported moderate success. Extreme cases may result in the second stage of the disease, “Fifth year, forget it.”

Sackville Winterfest presents the:

"(Damon Fowler Band) is full of lyrically rich, confident songwriting and shimmering Americana-laced guitar. Fowler is as expressive a songwriter as he is a singer and instrumentalist. He's preaching an otherworldly, Americana-themed gospel from a six-stringed pulpit.

He is a roots guitar guru in the making."

Saturday, Jan. 31 9 pm, George’s Road House, 67 Lorne St., Sackville NB

Ticket Price: $15 in advance (at Ducky’s) and $20 at the door, Students $10 (ID required) • Tantramarsh Blues Society: www.mta.ca/tbs Rod Allen’s Used Cars