The Sheaf 15/11/12 - Volume 104 Issue 11

Local comic reaches worldwide audience CULTURE 10

Sheaf the

.com

USask VP Richard Florizone ditches prairies for new gig at Dalhousie

NEWS 3

Interns run coffee and work long hours for shitty pay. Is it worth it?

15 November, 2012 | The University of Saskatchewan student newspaper since 1912

The taller the better — height gives athletes an edge on the competition

Improvise next Friday night’s plans with the Saskatoon Soaps

Cancer no longer just a disease but a lucrative business opportunity

SPORTS 6

CULTURE 11

OPINIONS 13

NEWS 4

USSU backs Sask. Party initiative to bump legal drinking age to 18 DARYL HOFMANN Senior News Editor

The University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union believes it’s time to lower the legal drinking age in the province to 18 years old.

The USSU released a joint statement with the University of Regina Students’ Union Nov. 7. Both organizations say they support ratcheting down the legal age to buy, carry and drink alcohol to 18 — the age you’re legally considered an adult in Canada.

The move comes just days after USSU Vice-President of Operations and Finance Steven Heidel attended the Saskatchewan Party’s annual convention where party delegates passed a motion in favour of allowing 18-year-olds to legally throw back an alcoholic

raisa pezderic/photo editor

The students’ union wants the province to rethink the legal drinking age. Critics say 19 is young enough. But we all know most kids start drinking in high school. So does it matter?

beverage. Premier Brad Wall said after his keynote speech that the motion must go through a consultation process before the party considers moving forward.

The students’ unions are calling on the provincial government to honour the resolution made at the convention

and introduce the initiative to the legislature for a vote.

Together the unions represent over 30,000 undergraduates across the province, many of whom are 18 and already getting drunk on most weekends.

Dropping the legal age limit would let 18-year-old first-year

by default as the host team. Now 10 games into the season, the Dogs are making a strong case for deserving their spot.

Last season the Dogs qualified for the prestigious University Cup tournament by winning the Canada West conference championship.

This year the Huskies host the University Cup and, regardless of where they finish in the conference playoffs, the Dogs are guaranteed entrance when the country’s best teams meet to battle for top Canadian university sport honours.

“Although we’re hosting

OPINION:

students go out for a night of drinking in a controlled and licensed venue, rather than a vacant parking lot, their dorm room or the backseat of a vehicle.

“It’s something the USSU as an institution has always supported. We feel it makes it more inclusive for all of our firstyear students,” Heidel said.

“We wanted to make sure people were talking about this and people realized all the different layers of the onion that this argument has.”

The legal drinking age in Manitoba, Quebec and Alberta is 18. The legal age for the rest of the country is 19.

jireh wong

Ishmael N. Daro

Legal drinking age

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Huskies proving they are the team to beat COLE GUENTER Sports Editor

All season the Huskies men’s hockey players have been saying that they want to earn their way into the University Cup tournament, not merely make it

Kenton Dulle and the rest of the Huskies men’s hockey squad keep winning in preparation for the University Cup.

raisa pezderic/photo editor

If you can fight and fuck for this country, you should be able to drink for the country

nationals we want to make it there the right way, by winning our league. We don’t want to take any short cuts,” said Derek Hulak, who is second on the team in points but was forced to sit out for the first time in over a year when the squad played Regina Nov. 9 and 10.

Hulak will be sidelined for a few weeks with a dislocated shoulder.

Hulak was the leading point producer in the Canada West last season and was a pivotal player in the team’s success.

He says it’s hard to watch from the bleachers but is focused on recovering and getting back to the ice as soon as possible to help the Dogs continue their winning ways.

The Dogs are 8-2 thus far in the season and have owned the top spot in the conference for the majority of the year. The team slid to second place in the standings after losing a game to Regina Nov. 10 and currently sit two points behind the Alberta Golden Bears.

The Huskies, however, have two more games than Alberta has left in the season schedule. Plus the Dogs boast a better win percentage than their 9-3 counterparts.

Team to beat

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Do you consider 18-year-olds to be adults? Should an 18-yearold be allowed to vote, buy porn and cigarettes, and fight in the military? Most people won’t hesitate to answer yes.

So why can’t an 18-year-old adult have an alcoholic beverage?

At long last, it seems like Saskatchewan might finally let all adults decide when and how to drink. After the party’s younger delegates made a strong case for it, the Saskatchewan Party passed a resolution at its convention last week to study lowering the drinking age from 19 to 18. If the government follows through, Saskatchewan would be the fourth province in Canada to set the drinking age at 18, joining Quebec and our two prairie neighbours Alberta and Manitoba.

Not everyone is on board.

Donna Harpauer, the minister responsible for the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority, says this will let alcohol get into high schools more easily. Others point to drunk driving statistics as a warning not to make alcohol more readily available to young drivers; according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Saskatchewan has 8.44 impairment-related crash deaths per 100,000 people — the highest in the country and more than double the national average.

Fight/fuck/drink

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NEWS

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| 15 November, 2012 | thesheaf.com |

Canadian research facilities Sheaf left to fend for themselves the

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ANNA-LILJA DAWSON Associate News Editor

Canadian research facilities are often well-funded during construction phases but are left without much support from the federal government to keep them operational.

University of Saskatchewan President Ilene Busch-Vishniac said that finding enough funding to cover operating costs has been a challenge for Canadian research facilities for years.

“It is odd that we get federal funding to build great labs (like CLS and InterVac) but then we receive little or no funding to operate them,” Busch-Vishniac wrote to the Sheaf in an email.

“This has routinely been a problem for our national facilities and it makes no sense to operate like this.”

Andrew Potter, CEO and director of VIDO-Intervac, the state-of-the-art international vaccine research centre on campus, said that operational funding for facilities needs to be considered before construction.

“There needs to be more attention paid to operational funding prior to building facilities, something that may mitigate problems faced by all of us.”

The federal government has funding programs in place for research initiatives and facilities, but recent budget cuts have left them unable to meet the funding needs of both small- and largescale facilities.

The Canadian Foundation for Innovation was created in 1997 to help cover the operational costs of research facilities and has created a number of programs to provide funding for research facilities and projects.

The CFI can award up to 40 per cent of a facility’s operating budget to 10 to 12 of the major

brett smith

The cornerstone of USask’s research facilities, VIDO-Intervac, is one of the largest containment level-three vaccine laboratories in North America.

research facilities in the country —including the university’s own Canadian Light Source and VIDOIntervac.

The 2013-14 operating budget for the CLS is upwards of $40 million, 40 per cent of which was funded by CFI. Although the facility receives a large chunk of its funding from the government, it is still left to find at least $24 million in funding each year from other sources.

“In the past there has not been a mandate of any government department or organization to fund ongoing operations of these facilities other than the limited CFI funds” that are available in

the Infrastructure Operating Fund, Potter wrote.

Potter wrote that VIDO-Intervac has not experienced any serious effects from the budget cuts and is working on creating partnerships to secure additional funding for the facility. However, not all Canadian research facilities are free from the budget cutback’s effects.

The federal government slashed National Sciences and Engineering Research Council’s funding by $30 million. The Council has an operating budget of $600 million.

NSERC’s Major Resources Support program provides funding for the operational and maintenance costs of research

facilities across the country and is funded out of NSERC’s operating budget. The MRS program will not undergo a complete cut but will have limited funds to award to meriting facilities.

Many small facilities across the country are dependant on the MRS to remain operational.

These smaller-scale facilities, which often have extremely narrow fields of study, have been hit by the federal funding cuts to programs that they are dependant on, leading to the closure of some facilities.

The Kuhlane Lake Research Station, a small facility run by the University of Calgary’s Arctic Institute of North America, received notice in July that the federal government will withdraw its funding in 2013. This funding, a total of $106,000, made up half of the facility’s yearly operating budget.

The Experimental Lakes Area facility, which is devoted to the study of human impact on freshwater lakes, lost all of its funding from Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The cut will save the federal government $2 million each year.

Both facilities have until March 2013 to find sufficient funding or they will close.

The budget cuts to the science and technology research realm has ripple effects throughout the Canadian and international science community, Potter wrote.

He noted that fewer available facilities and more expensive facility time could result in researchers leaving the country to do their work elsewhere.

“There is always a longer-term danger of people leaving the country for greener pastures or a perception of Canada as being still a resource-driven country as opposed to a knowledge-based one.”

Campus crime report Incidents at the University of Saskatchewan involving Campus Safety from Nov. 5 - 13 Officers issued:

DAVID DAY

UPCOMING EVENTS

©

Reading & Signing Nevermore: A Book of Hours

Monday, November 19, 7:00 PM

SASKATOON WOMEN'S CALENDAR COLLECTIVE Launching Herstory 2013

• 1 drive while suspended • 1 learner drive unaccompanied • 1 drive without reasonable consideration for others • 1 24 hour suspension • 1 use cell phone while driving Other reports: • Officers investigated the theft of a cell phone from an unlocked vehicle parked at a meter.

• Officers attended four medical calls.

• Officers investigated a theft of copper and

Thursday, November 22, brass from the Health Sciences building.

Approximate value of missing items is 7:00 PM

sheaf run nov 15, 2012.indd 1

$1300.00.

11/5/2012 10:54:01 AM

• Officers investigated a hit-and-run accident at Marquis.

• The theft of an iPod from an unlocked vehicle parked on Bottomley road was reported.

• A fire alarm was set off in Souris by excessive smoke from food that had burnt on a stove. No damage.

• An accident was reported at the loading dock of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine.

• A water pipe valve section in Thorvaldson ruptured resulting in a significant accumulation of water on the ground to third floors. Cost of damage is unknown at this time.

• While workers were loading a steam roller onto a semi flatbed, it fell off the side of the trailer. No one was injured.

• As a result of a routine traffic stop for an inadequate license plate light, a male was arrested on two outstanding warrants. He was issued a warning ticket and released with a court date for the warrants.

• Officers investigated a hit-and-run accident at Arts Court. The offending vehicle was located on campus.

NEWS

| thesheaf.com | 15 November, 2012 |

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USask VP Florizone takes top job out east

pressure almost identical to that felt by administrators at the U of S in recent years.

Florizone will succeed Tom Traves as president of Dalhousie.

Traves is a history scholar who’s worked for universities throughout Eastern Canada and served as Dalhousie’s president since 1995.

During Traves’ years in office, the university surged to become Nova Scotia’s flagship university and one of Canada’s top research institutions.

This year Traves, aged 64 and set on retiring following his tenure, is the highest-paid university administrator in the Maritimes with an annual salary of $393,000.

Florizone, on the other hand, will begin his term at age 44 and bring a vastly different skill set and management style to the East Coast university.

He has a bachelor’s degree in engineering and a master’s in physics from the U of S, along with a PhD in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Outside of academia, he worked as director of strategy for Bombardier Aerospace in Montreal and project leader for the Boston Consulting Group in Toronto.

He’s also spent time as senior corporate liaison officer and fundraising consultant for

Cambridge University in the U.K. “I’ve been fortunate to have a pretty diverse career, working across the university, corporate and government sectors, in a lot of different countries, but my heart keeps bringing me back to the university,” Florizone told Dal News, Dalhousie’s official news outlet, as part of his visit to the campus last week.

“I’m incredibly passionate about universities and our mission of teaching, research and community engagement. So for me, this is a unique opportunity to use all my skills and experiences to, I hope, help make a great contribution to society.”

At the U of S, Florizone’s portfolio included drafting the budget and providing leadership to the departments of human resources, financial services, consumer services, corporate administration, facilities management and Campus Safety.

“He was an excellent leader in terms of both the student experience and also moving forward with major capital projects,” said Fowler, who is also the director of consumer services at the U of S. As director of consumer services, Fowler reported to Florizone for four years. He says he has been constantly impressed by Florizone’s clear vision for the university and his tight grasp on the school’s fluctuating financial picture.

Florizone was a driving force behind much of the university’s recent infrastructure expansion, including the Canadian Light Source and VIDO-Intervac, the universities world-class containment level-three vaccine laboratory.

He was also vital to the $30 million Place Riel Student Centre renovation and last year was awarded the USSU Doug Favell Staff Spirit Award, which is annually handed out to a university staff member responsible for enhancing the student experience.

campus events for students that do not revolve around excessive drinking.

Last year the federal government released a set of lowrisk alcohol drinking guidelines as part of the country’s national alcohol strategy.

The document, which Shenher says students should pay close attention to, provides a handful of keys to drinking in moderation and knowing your limit.

The suggestions include, for example, no more than 10 drinks per week for women and 15 per week for men, no more than two drinks in three hours and one non-alcoholic drink for every drink of alcohol.

“There is an issue at our campus right now,” Shenher said, “but if we address it soon, we won’t end up like Queen’s or Acadia.”

In 2010, two Queen’s University students died in separate but alarmingly similar incidents just months apart from each other. Both students — one aged 18 and the other 19 — were drinking heavily and plunged

several stories to their death from campus buildings.

More recently, in September of last year, a 19-year-old Acadia University student originally from Calgary died after reportedly drinking about 40 ounces of alcohol and passing out in a dorm room.

Both instances have forced administrators at the universities to look to curb the drinking culture on campus through stiffer policies, including the banning of alcohol in dorms during welcome week and banning collections of empty liquor bottles in dormroom windows.

At the U of S, alcohol is permitted in most dorms for students 19 or older.

Brent Penner, director of Campus Safety, says officers commonly deal with incidents involving underage drinking. In most cases, officers doll out a fine of $360 for anyone underage caught drunk or in possession of alcohol.

A handful of incidents in just the past few months have resulted in students being

charged and detained for being overly drunk and causing disturbances on campus.

Penner could not say exactly how lowering the legal drinking age would affect alcohol use at the university, but pointed to campuses in the U.S., where the legal age is 21 and drinking is still rampant among college students.

The move to lower the age to 18 in Saskatchewan has already drawn the ire of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

“I would hope that the Sask.

Party or any government body would not lower the liquor age,” Diane Fontaine from MADD Saskatoon told the Star Phoenix.

“I would hope that they raise it.”

Sask. Party MLA Donna Harpauer, the minister in charge of Saskatchewan liquor and gaming, says changing the legal limit could potentially be a step backwards for the province.

“There are 18-year-olds in our [high school] system, in grade 12, and this brings alcohol into the schools a little more easily,” Harpauer told the CBC.

Florizone tapped to steer Dalhousie University through era of government cutbacks DARYL HOFMANN Senior News Editor Richard Florizone, a talented senior administrator for the University of Saskatchewan with a deep understanding of budgets and financial strategy, has landed himself a new job as Dalhousie University’s 11th president starting July 1.

Florizone, vice-president of finances and resources for the U of S since 2005, has been adept in cracking funding issues through several years of unprecedented infrastructure growth on campus.

He’s currently on administrative leave to work for the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation as an analyst. He was scheduled to return to the university next fall.

The IFC is based in Washington, D.C. and works to kick-start economic growth in developing and impoverished countries through strategic investment and market training.

Greg Fowler is acting as the university’s vice-president finance and resources in Florizone’s absence. According to the university’s bylaw, a search committee including one student must form to seek out a replacement.

Florizone will take lead at Dalhousie amid rounds of fiscal belt-tightening. The university has received a three per cent slash in the provincial operating grant for three consecutive years, leading to spending and program cuts and forcing the school to look at mergers and corporate sponsorships to make up for its shortfalls.

Florizone is tasked with reducing the costs of an expanding university without compromising the quality of education and research — a

Legal drinking age

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university of saskatchewan

/flickr

Richard Florizone, born and raised in Prince Albert, already has a stacked resume at age 44 and now is about to become president of Atlantic Canada’s biggest school.

Provost and Vice-President Academic Brett Fairbairn worked side-by-side with Florizone for several years. He touted Florizone for his out-of-the-box approach to some of the university’s fiscal hurdles.

“The one that definitely stands out for me is getting the student residences built at Campus Quarter,” Fairbairn said. “The university hadn’t figured out a way to make that work financially for 30 years.”

Florizone developed a publicprivate partnership with an Alberta firm that saw the residence project through from design to construction to operation. The cost-saving collaboration was the first of its kind for the university.

“That epitomized the kind of work he did,” Fairbairn said.

The university also benefitted from Florizone’s experience as a consultant.

After the 2008 global economic downturn, Florizone conducted a financial scenario analysis for the university to determine possible consequences of the recession.

The methodology he used won a national award from the Canadian Association of University Business Officers.

Florizone beat out roughly 200 candidates to be unanimously chosen as president by the Dalhousie presidential search committee.

“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome a leader with his credentials,” said Jim Spatz, chair of Dalhousie’s board of governors and the chair of the presidential search committee.

“It is unusual to find someone with his accomplished academic background, extensive consulting and strategic planning experience in the business world, and his public policy contributions provincially and globally. Richard Florizone is the kind of leader that doesn’t come along every day.”

Saskatchewan ranks as one of the worst provinces in the country for drinking and driving and young adults are the worst offenders, according to Statistics Canada.

In 2011, the number of impaired driving cases increased by 9 per cent in Saskatchewan — the second highest jump in the country next to only Ontario.

The legal age to drink in the province was 21 until 1969 when it was dropped to 18. Only a few years later it was raised to 19.

Heidel argues the legal drinking age has “little-to-no effect on the drunk driving rate.”

“People get in drunk driving accidents whether they were drinking legally or illegally,” he said.

“We’re all trying to achieve the same ends, which is lowering the binge drinking rates, drinking and driving rates and making our campus more inclusive. But raising the legal drinking age is not the way to do that.”

continued from

A student-led project at the U of S called “What’s Your Cap?” takes a look at some of the reasons college students go out drinking and warns against the potential risks associated with overconsumption and blacking out.

“We’re not anti-alcohol at all.

We’re trying to promote a culture of moderation and low-risk drinking,” project coordinator Justine Shenher said.

Last year, the group polled 889 students at random and conducted an assessment of the role alcohol plays on campus.

Among other things, the group found students begin drinking well before they turn 19.

Shenher feels lowering the legal age won’t change much.

She said the culture of drinking and partying on campus is the real problem.

Alcohol is a social staple at almost all college events and fundraisers — dollar beers, LB5Q, the welcome week tent, beer nights, pub crawls. The list goes on. Shenher would like to see more mainstream

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NEWS

| 15 November, 2012 | thesheaf.com |

Are unpaid internships the new normal?

If you don’t get a job after an unpaid internship, you got fucked.

PREETEESH PEETABH SINGH — The Dialog (George Brown College) TORONTO (CUP) — Christopher Daniels knows about internships.

Daniels, 41, is a Red Seal certified chef, who worked as an intern in Toronto’s food industry and is still uncertain in terms of his career.

Sometimes interns are paid.

More often they work for free, hoping the internship will turn into a “real” job or at least give them work experience and a beefedup resume. But in an economy still trying to drag itself out of a recession, today’s university and college graduates have it tough.

“I was paid a minimum wage, less than the dishwashers, despite being educated in my field and having five years of directlyrelated experience,” Daniels said.

“It is not a proud moment when it comes to discuss one’s wage, after volunteering, educating myself, paying thousands to do so, then find out I am still working for minimum wage.”

Even so, according to research conducted by Agata Zeiba, a master’s student at Wilfrid Laurier University, 59 per cent of internships in Canada remain unpaid.

Unpaid or not, these days rejecting an internship offer is not an option for most students. An estimated 86 per cent of graduates are willing to work for free. With high unemployment it often seems the only gateway into the job market. To economists, the new realities of internships, job casualization and unemployment are combining to create a new and worrisome feature of the modern job market — precariousness.

After the economic crash of 2008, many companies viewed offering internships as a survival tactic that provided them free labour. It has now turned into a long-term business strategy that threatens to become a permanent one.

Daniels, who dreamt of becoming a successful, highquality chef in a French restaurant, said Canadian employers have gotten used to free labour — and so has he.

“Many leave empty-handed, unpaid, time wasted. Yes we gain experience, but we all still have to pay the bills,” Daniels said.

In a large city like Toronto, the competition is fierce and employers know it.

Internships seem to be the new normal for university and college graduates, but there are few statistics about how widespread

pameladrew212/flickr

the practice is.

“We do not know what exactly is happening in the labour market,” said Andrew Langille, a Torontobased lawyer. “Specific actions can only be taken when we have enough data on unpaid internships in the province or country. Surveys and research needs to be conducted on a large scale.”

Labour unions have been in talks for 15 years but no concrete steps have been taken on this issue yet by any union. Lise Lareau, vice-president of the Canadian Media Guild said that it is tough to strike a balance in providing people with internship opportunities while not abusing them without compensation.

“Unions in general do not support unpaid internships” said Carmel Smyth, national president of the CMG. “We help in sponsoring, raising awareness, speaking publicly, educating people and pushing the government to do something about it. We are very committed to work on the social justice front but if you talk about individual work place, we cannot do anything with a company which we do not represent or that is non-unionized.”

The lack of statistics raises several unanswered questions.

How many internships translate into paid employment? What is the length and duration of internships?

How do internships translate into actual applicable work experience required by the employer for a desired position?

Internships and precarious employment is prominent in cultural sectors too. In many ways that is how it’s always been for artists, writers, actors, musicians or photographers, most of whom do not get a chance to work full-time.

In these sectors, these employees are seasonal or temporary workers with few benefits, lack of collective representation and little or no job security.

For Daniels, internships turned out to be an unsatisfactory path.

He’s returned to school at George Brown College to look for a second career in finance.

“It’s time to work towards a future that will allow me to support a family. I do not see things changing rapidly and I think that people will have to prepare for a long battle with poverty before making it to the big leagues.

“It’s my belief that we need to constantly adapt and evolve. The world is constantly changing. By staying current and even creating a market for a service or product that exists or we create, we will have a future and we will make it ourselves.” samantha braun/graphics editor

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| thesheaf.com | 15 November, 2012 |

Winston’s English Pub & Grill Winston’s Legendary Import Friday’s Start at 4PM...

An Evening with Yann Martel The College of Arts & Science invites you to hear author Yann Martel talk about his writing process and the experience of making LIFE OF PI into a major motion picture by Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee.

Monday, November 26, 2012 at 7 p.m.

Neatby-Timlin Theatre, Arts Building, Room 241 University of Saskatchewan campus, Saskatoon FREE Public Lecture. Doors open: 6:30 p.m. A book signing will follow.

Information: 966-2097 or cdar@artsandscience.usask.ca

Join us for a Sociable at Winston’s this weekend ...

Over 120 Imported Beer from around the world on sale ... have you tried: • Peaches & Cream Fruit Ale • Monty Python’s Holy Grail Ale • Marsten’s Oyster Stout

Life of Pi photo courtesy Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

| artsandscience.usask.ca

• Young’s Double Chololate • Golden Pheasant • Well’s John Bull Ale

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SPORTS Height a determining factor for sports success 6

| 15 November, 2012 | thesheaf.com |

Travis Robinson — The Meliorist (University of Lethbridge) LETHBRIDGE (CUP) — Height is not everything in sports. It’s the only thing.

To illustrate this rule, look to the heights of the past 10 men’s Olympic decathlon champions.

Many consider the champion decathlete to be the world’s finest athlete. He must be proficient in 10 track and field events and compete in these events in a gruelling twoday competition.

He can sprint, throw and leap within a reasonable standard deviation from the Olympic standard in each event, and must do so within the compressed time constraints of an Olympic schedule.

To be world class in these events

Team to beat

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takes an exceptional athlete, one must be blessed with both genetics and a broad skill set. Genetically, these Olympic champion decathletes share one thing: height.

All of the past 10 Olympic champion decathletes stand at least 5-11. Dan O’Brien, the tallest of the bunch, stands a long 6-2. Ashton Eaton, the reigning Olympic champion and world record holder measures in at 6-1.

This remarkable consistency in the athletes’ heights is mostly due to the nature of their sport.

Decathletes must have the leverage of a thrower, the stride of a sprinter and the length of a jump specialist.

The decathlete must excel in all 10 events and if they can stand at a height that falls between a javelin thrower and a middle distance runner, then this athlete will

have the necessary physicality to compete on a world-class basis.

Six feet, about three inches greater than the average North American male, seems to be this magic height for decathletes.

Tall athletes are not only dominant in decathlons, but they’re slowly taking nearly all the jobs away from their shorter counterparts in a growing number of athletic disciplines. Towering height is obviously beneficial in vertical games where a higher reach means a higher score.

Most basketball and volleyball players have historically been extremely tall and will continue to be. The average National Basketball Association player has been 6-7 since Michael Jordan entered the league some 30 years ago.

What is more surprising, though, is the growing importance of height in sports that are not necessarily dependent on a vertical advantage.

Take, for example, the National Hockey League. 40 years ago, the average NHL player stood 5-11.

Today, the average player is 6-1.

A Theoren Fleury-sized man would not be able to rise through the ranks as the 5-6 Fleury did 25 years ago. Today, NHL players at least six feet tall have a major advantage.

There are exceptions to this rule of course, as some smaller players have found success in the big leagues. Generally, however, the NHL player of today is tall and, if he does not meet the height expectations, he will be ignored by most NHL general managers.

The obvious question remains:

Why is height so crucial to athletic success? The answer is simple: leverage.

The taller athlete has more leverage and can generate more subsequent power than an athlete at a shorter height. An athlete with more leverage means that they can throw farther, jump farther, run faster and be more physically commanding than an athlete with less leverage.

Having more leverage than your opponent is a competitive advantage in any sport requiring the athlete to generate his or her own power.

Simply put, being tall gets you ahead in sports. Unless, of course, you’re a jockey or a gymnast.

1

Huskies head coach Dave Adolph attributes the team’s success to playing a smart style of hockey.

“We haven’t been taking a lot of risks with the puck and that’s really a big part of hockey right now, trying to make sure you play as high percentage as possible. We have been a real good team this year at playing high percentage hockey,” Adolph said.

The Huskies top offensive line has been a major part of that high percentage play. All three players, Hulak, Kyle Bortis and Jimmy Bubnick, were among the top 20 point producers in the league coming into the Nov. 9 match against Regina.

With Hulak out with an injury, with third-year forward Kenton Dulle filled in at left wing on the top line. After making the move

up, he posted a goal in his first game with the new line.

“We’re missing a pretty key member on that line but Kenton has slowly been working himself into a spot where he is a dangerous player,” Adolph said.

“It’s definitely a big confidence boost for me,” Dulle said.

The Dogs have played in six games this year that were decided by a one goal margin, and have won five of those six games. The squad will attempt to keep up the success in the remainder of the season and into playoffs, attempting to defend their conference title and earn their way into the University Cup tournament.

Huskies fourth-year forward Brennan Bosch has tallied four goals and one assist through eight games this season.

Canada West Standings Women’s Volleyball 1. TWU 2. UBC 3. Manitoba 4. Alberta 5. Brandon 6. Mount Royal 7. UBC Okanagan 8. Calgary 9. Regina 10. Saskatchewan 11. Winnipeg 12. TRU *Top seven teams qualify for playoffs

W-L 5-1 5-1 4-1 4-2 4-2 4-2 4-2 3-3 1-5 1-5 0-5 0-6

Men’s Volleyball

W-L 1. Alberta 6-0 2. TWU 5-1 3. Manitoba 4-1 4. Brandon 4-2 5. Mount Royal 4-2 6. Saskatchewan 3-3 7. TRU 3-3 8. Winnipeg 2-3 9. Calgary 2-4 10. UBC 2-4 11. Regina 0-6 12. UBC Okanagan 0-6 *Top seven teams qualify for playoffs

Women’s Hockey

W-L-OL 1. Calgary 8-1-1 2. Alberta 8-2-0 3. UBC 5-2-3 4. Regina 6-4-0 5. Lethbridge 4-4-2 6. Mount Royal 4-4-2 7. Manitoba 3-6-1 8. Saskatchewan 2-6-2 *Top six teams qualify for playoffs

Women’s Basketball

Prairie Division 1. Calgary 2. Lethbridge 3. Regina 4. Alberta 5. Manitoba 6. Saskatchewan 7. Brandon 8. Winnipeg

Pacific Division 1. UBC 2. UFV 3. TRU 4. UNBC 5. Victoria 6. Mount Royal 7. UBC Okanagan 8. TWU

Men’s Hockey

W-L-OL 1. Alberta 9-3-0 2. Saskatchewan 8-2-0 3. Regina 6-3-1 4. UBC 6-3-1 5. Manitoba 6-3-1 6. Calgary 5-5-0 7. Mount Royal 2-10-0 8. Lethbridge 0-9w-1 *Top six teams qualify for playoffs

Men’s Basketball

W-L 4-0 3-1 3-1 2-2 2-2 2-2 0-4 0-4

Prairie Division 1. Alberta 2. Lethbridge 3. Calgary 4. Manitoba 5. Saskatchewan 6. Winnipeg 7. Brandon 8. Regina

4-0 4-0 2-2 2-2 2-2 1-3 1-3 0-4

Pacific Division 1. UBC 2. Victoria 3. UFV 4. UNBC 5. Mount Royal 6. TRU 7. TWU 8. UBC Okanagan

*Top four teams in each division qualify for crossover playoffs

W-L 3-1 3-1 2-2 2-2 2-2 2-2 1-3 1-3 4-0 4-0 2-2 2-2 1-3 1-3 1-3 1-3

raisa pezderic/photo editor

Upcoming Huskies games Men’s Hockey

Men’s Basketball

• Nov. 16 & 17 at Calgary Dinos Nov. 23 & 24 versus Lethbridge Pronghorns @ 7 p.m.

Nov. 16 & 17 versus Calgary Dinos @ 8 p.m.

Nov. 23 versus UBC Thunderbirds @ 8 p.m.

Nov. 24 versus Victoria Vikes @ 8 p.m.

Women’s Hockey Nov. 16 & 17 versus Calgary Dinos @ 7 p.m.

• Nov. 23 & 24 at Lethbridge Pronghorns Men’s Volleyball • Nov. 16 & 17 at Trinity Western Spartans • Nov. 23 & 24 at Mount Royal Cougars Women’s Volleyball • Nov. 16 & 17 at Trinity Western Spartans • Nov. 23 & 24 at Mount Royal Cougars

Women’s Basketball Nov. 16 & 17 versus Calgary Dinos @ 6:15 p.m.

Nov. 23 versus UBC Thunderbirds @ 6:15 p.m.

Nov. 24 versus Victoria Vikes @ 6:15 p.m.

Wrestling • Nov. 17 at Jamestown tournament Nov. 24 — host Huskie Open

- Home Game

SPORTS

| thesheaf.com | 15 November, 2012 |

7

Dog Watch: Stephon Lamar COLE GUENTER Sports Editor

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s basketball team has grown fond of recruiting California-born products over the past five seasons. At least the feeling is mutual, as Stephon Lamar, this season’s most recent addition, is growing fond of playing for the Huskies.

Hailing from San Diego, Cali., the six-foot-tall point guard has been endlessly compared to Jamelle Barrett and Showron Glover, former Huskies point guards who were also born in the sunshine state. Lamar is determined to make his own mark on the Huskies squad, though, and has already begun to do so.

After four games with the Dogs, the starting point guard has averaged 25 points per game, including a 40-point performance against the Regina Cougars on Nov. 3.

The arts and science student is in his third year of university sport eligibility after having spent one year playing with the NCAA Division I University of the Pacific Tigers in Stockton, Calif. and

another basketball season at San Diego City College.

Despite the cliché, Lamar lives by the mantra of eat, sleep and breathe basketball.

“When I’m not at the gym practicing, most of the time

raisa pezderic/photo editor

you can catch me at the gym practicing,” Lamar joked.

“I love to work out and work on my game, I come to the gym and work on ball handling and shooting.”

When he finally does get off

the court, Lamar is often catching up on the latest news regarding his favourite NBA team, the Los Angeles Lakers.

“My favourite active player is Kobe [Bryant]. He has the best footwork and skills and he is clutch too,” Lamar said.

He quickly noted, however, that his favourite all-time player is undoubtedly Michael Jordan.

“When Jordan retired I was seven,” Lamar said. “I started playing organized ball when I was three, so I for sure remember watching Jordan play when I was young.”

Like most basketball players, Lamar has a closet full of shoes, including Michael Jordan’s signature line, Air Jordans.

“I have four pairs of basketball shoes but I’m really a big sneaker guy,” Lamar said.

“I only have about 10 pairs of sneakers here [in Saskatoon] but I might go home in the winter and come back with a whole different 10 pairs.”

Lamar was raised by his grandmother in Phoenix, Ariz. for most of the first 11 years of his life. He then returned to San Diego, where he was born.

Coming to Saskatoon was the basketball prodigy’s first trip to Canada.

“It’s weird being a foreign guy, but everyone is nice and it’s been a very easy transition.”

He admits the hardest part of the transition has come recently with the change of seasons. Winter in Saskatoon is much colder than he has ever felt before.

“Cold isn’t the word for myself.

This is freezing.

“There are no words to describe it. I tried to tell my cousins back home that it’s cold, but you have to come here and experience it to know what cold is,” Lamar laughed.

The weather even affects Lamar’s mood.

“When people walk by me and ask ‘How are you doing?’ now, my first response is ‘I’m cold.’ ” Lamar says his teammates have warned him that the weather will get even colder in the months to come, so he is preparing himself to brave the elements.

“I have a jacket and gloves already and I know every single tunnel around this school.”

Elliott has top finish for Huskies runners COLE GUENTER Sports Editor

Brittany Elliott had the University of Saskatchewan’s top finish at the Canada West and CIS cross-country championship race Nov. 10.

Elliott, who is in her third-year as a Huskie athlete but first as a cross-country runner, finished the five-kilometre race held at Western University in London, Ont. in a time of 18:56. Her efforts warranted 11th place in the Canada West conference and granted her a conference second team all-star mention.

The same race counted as the final results for CIS standings, and Elliott managed 48th in the nation among female runners. It was a solid showing for Elliott, who spent the first two years of her university sport career as a track and field athlete.

“She did fantastic because it was a very challenging course, and for her to finish that high up in her rookie year in cross-country is very good,” said cross-country coach Joanne McTaggart.

Courtney Sjodin and Rachelle Edwards had the next-best finishes for the Huskie women’s team, clocking in at 19:44 and 19:50, respectively, to finish 19th and 20th in the Canada West and 79th and 83rd in the CIS. As a team the Huskies women finished third in the Canada West and 15th in the CIS. The Guelph University Gryphons took the CIS women’s team title and had the top finisher in Andrea Seccafien, who won CIS gold, clocking in at 17:23.

On the men’s side second-year Davis Guenther had the Huskies’ best individual finish. Guenther finished 15th in the Canada West and 60th in the CIS, running the

HAPPY HOUR

10-kilometre men’s race in a time of 33:32.2.

Guenther is also rooted in track and field, and more used to running the 800 metre race.

“There’s quite a difference between running the 10km [race] and the 800 metre,” McTaggart said. This year “he has been learning to pace himself” for the longer distance.

Rookie Robert Bigsby finished next-best for the Dogs’ men, finishing 25th in the Canada West and 103rd in the CIS with a time of 35:08.4. Bigsby was one of four of the Huskies men’s rookies who competed in the national race, with their only previous experience running at the high school level.

It was Regina’s Kelly Wiebe who ran away from the pack in the men’s race, winning the Canada West and CIS men’s title. Wiebe finished the race 44 seconds ahead of the next closest runner and

Brittany Elliott led the pack of Huskies cross-country runners in the national championship race Nov. 10.

clocked in with a time of 30:21.4, averaging just over three minutes per kilometre.

As a team, the Huskie men’s finished fifth in the Canada West and 17th in the CIS. Guelph captured the men’s team title, their

raisa pezderic/photo editor

seventh straight national banner.

Individually, the Gryphons had the CIS silver, bronze and fourth place finishers in Ross Proudfoot, Aaron Hendrikx and Andrew Nixon.

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8

FEATURE

| 15 November, 2012 | thesheaf.com |

Get your head

mastering the ment

COLE GUENTER Sports Editor As athletes and coaches we spend a lot of time working on physical, technical and strategic skills in our particular sport.

But is that enough? What about the mental aspect of the game?

How important is it for athletes to prepare their psychological mindset?

According to Tom Graham, clinical research coordinator with the University of Saskatchewan’s psychiatry department, training the mind for sport is extremely beneficial.

“The mental part is huge because it can either unleash or derail those technical, tactical and physical preparations that we spend so much time on,” Graham said.

Graham earned his PhD in health and exercise psychology from the U of S in 1998. He also owns and operates Graham Consulting, a consulting firm that primarily works with coaches and athletes through the Sport Medicine and Science Council of Saskatchewan to help improve physical results by focusing on the mental side of the game.

Here are four key areas Dr. Graham addresses to help athletes hone their psychological sport skills.

adherence to physical training As a former Olympic athlete, Graham knows that while elite athletes are expected to follow a physical training program, not everyone does. When an athlete enters competition, their mental preparedness for the event depends, in part, on the quality of their physical training. By adhering to a physical training regimen, an athlete can gain confidence in that area and a mental edge on the competition by extension.

Failure to reach one’s physical goals and to follow a training program, however, can impact an athlete’s mindset, transforming what should be an area of confidence into an area of worry, concern and doubt.

“There is something inside us that says, ‘I was supposed to get this much stronger, I was supposed to adhere to my program [but] I didn’t do it,’ ” Graham said. “Subsequently, the athlete is entering competition with a question mark on their forehead, where they should be entering it, had they done everything, with an exclamation mark.”

the ideal performance state Every athlete uses mental tactics to get themselves ready for sports competitions. Graham emphasizes that, even though this process is different for each individual, there is a systematic way to go about it.

How athletes feel before they compete has a tremendous impact on how they perform. Thus, when athletes perform exceptionally well, it is important to recall how they felt prior to the event.

Graham calls this pre-competitive mindset associated with exceptional performances the “ideal performance state.” Once athletes recognize what their ideal performance state is, that mindset becomes the target for the athletes to reach before every competition.

Psychological skills like relaxation and visualization are often used by athletes, and these skills are far more effective when directed towards a targeted state of mind.

“You can relax and visualize but you may end up anywhere,” says Graham.

“The value in identifying your ideal pre-competitive mindset is that now those relaxation and visualization skills have a destination.”

combating self-doubt Once an athlete can identify and target their ideal performance state, one of the issues they must overcome is preventing selfdoubt from creeping into their psychological preparation.

FEATURE

| thesheaf.com | 15 November, 2012 |

9

d in the game

tal aspect of sport “The worries, concerns, doubts and fears are really the major monkey wrench issues that prevent achieving an ideal performance state or positive frame of mind before competition,” Graham said.

Negative thoughts are common and almost all athletes experience them at some time or another. They often occur while an athlete is experiencing a slump in their game and hasn’t been competing well. Self-doubt makes athletes feel anxious about aspects of their game that they have been struggling with and it often leads to delayed decision making in competition.

The repetition of negative thinking patterns can quickly turn into negative results.

The key to conquering self-doubt and preventing it from affecting performance is to identify the areas that cause worry, concern or doubt during competition. Then ask “what can I do about it?”

Answering this question provides the athlete with a strategy to improve their

performance. This strategy increases the athletes’ sense of control and they can begin to combat the self-doubt before it enters into their pre-competitive state of mind.

Graham says the coping strategy needs to be simple. Athletes are already on edge as they enter a competition that is important to them. Trying to stay on top of a complicated strategy only adds to their pre-competitive burden.

“Contrary to popular belief, athletes play better when they think less,” Graham said.

“Take the complicated strategy and simplify it as much as possible. Take the five points or 10 points in a complicated competition plan and boil them down to priorities.

“If we’re thinking about priority one and two, we are focusing on the big picture and, hopefully, this will take care of priorities three through 10 in the process,” Graham said.

season-long preparation for the big game Too often athletes expect career-best performances at important end-of-year competitions such as playoffs, but do little during the course of the season to make that happen. Athletes often acknowledge that they could get nervous at provincial or national championships at the end of the year, but hope it doesn’t happen to them when they get there.

“Consequently, they do nothing to prepare and, guess what, they get uncomfortably nervous at the end of the year,” Graham explains.

Competitive simulation is a method used to prepare for important competition. This involves using the progression from early season training to exhibition games to league and tournament competition to prepare for the most important competition at the end of the season. At each stage, the athlete induces a measure of playoff emotion by visualizing what makes playoff competition a remarkable experience.

This may include crowd size, larger venue, investment in one another, representing your city or province, and the consequences of winning or losing among other things. By doing this, the athlete completes their different stages of the season under conditions of elevated competitive arousal mentally.

As the season progresses, they have several exposures to playoff pressure and are better able to manage the most important events at the end of the season.

“We want to perform with abandon in playoffs. To do this, we have to apply some competitive simulation to the flow of our season,” said Graham.

Some athletes won’t put in the training time to try extra steps, like improving their mental game, until just before the most important competition of their careers. But top athletes prepare all season in order to be in the right frame of mind when the stakes are the highest.

samantha braun/graphics editor

CULTURE University student showcases her art at SCYAP 10

| 15 November, 2012 | thesheaf.com |

jenna mann/culture editor

Di Decaire’s paintings, some of which study Salvador Dali, will be on display until Dec. 7.

JENNA MANN Culture Editor As a child, Di Decaire’s speech impediment made it difficult for her to communicate. Drawing became the best way she could express herself.

She attended speech therapy for 13 years.

“Speech has always been difficult for me,” Decaire said.

“Drawing was the main way of talking for me for a while. If I could not find a word I would draw it out.”

Now, the current bachelor of fine

arts student at the University of Saskatchewan is getting ready to showcase her acrylic paintings at the SCYAP art centre and gallery.

The exhibit, Why... Eye Spy, features nearly 30 surrealist and realist paintings.

The newest paintings in Decaire’s show add a personal touch to her exhibit.

“Eyes have been and still are so important for me as I see them as the opening to who another person truly is,” Decaire said. “People have always said I have great eye contact, but in reality I’m actually [trying to see] what they are saying

to me and others.”

Images of eyes and metamorphosis are prominent in Decaire’s show. Her works deal with personal perception, mental health and transformation. “[I liked] the idea of playing with the eyes and how the mind can be tricked doing some simple things, with the feel of surrealism,” Decaire said.

Influences of Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte can be seen in Decaire’s exhibit. Many of her paintings feature images of clocks, butterflies and nature scenes. One of her favourites, “Autumn,” is

a pointillist — a technique in which dots are used to create one cohesive image — piece that takes a look down a long road, reminiscent of Saskatoon’s own Spadina Crescent.

While many of the paintings in Why... Eye Spy were completed between now and this past summer, Decaire has been working on some since 2008 when she was first introduced to SCYAP. She was a participant in the centre’s Urban Canvas Project that year.

The Urban Canvas Project is a work-readiness program for at-risk

youth. SCYAP employs 12 new participants between the ages of 16 and 30 each year. Participants build a public art portfolio while learning and working with other artists in the community. To qualify for the program one must be unemployed, ineligible for employment insurance and not in school.

The project is now taking applicants for its 11th cycle.

Why... Eye Spy will be showing at SCYAP until Dec. 7. The reception will take place on Nov. 16 from 7-10 p.m.

Kurtis Wiebe’s Peter Panzerfaust picked up by BBC KATLYNN BALDERSTONE It’s not uncommon for comic creators to dream about seeing their work on the screen, whether large or small. For local writer Kurtis Wiebe this dream is about to become a reality. On Oct. 11, BBC Worldwide Productions and Quality Transmedia announced that they would be producing a motion comic based on his historical fiction series, Peter Panzerfaust.

The series, written by Wiebe, a Saskatoon-based writer for Image Comics, and illustrated by Tyler Jenkins, is a unique take on the Peter Pan character created by J.M. Barrie.

“We’d [Wiebe and Jenkins] been doing some work for hire together but were looking to get our own project going,” Wiebe said. “He’d recently watched Apocalypse Now and thought a Vietnam-era story using the Lost Boys as central figures would be fun to illustrate.

I thought a bit on it and decided a WWII setting worked a lot better for the narrative.”

In Wiebe’s comic, Pan has been recast as a charismatic freedom fighter who helps a group of orphaned boys escape Nazioccupied France. Along the way they must evade and defeat the forces of the SS, led by Captain

Hook stand-in SS Captain Haken.

The first five issues were collected in a volume titled The Great Escape this summer. The collection details the boys’ quest to flee the city of Calais in an attempt to reach Paris.

The series immediately appealed to BBC Worldwide, with their vice-president of digital, Dan Tischler, stating in a press release Oct. 11 that he was taken in by the historical themes and elements of Peter Pan’s mythos. He acts as executive producer for the project alongside the BBC’s senior VP, Julie Gardner, and Quality Transmedia’s Jeff Krelitz.

BBC’s initial plan for Peter Panzerfaust is to release the story as a fully voiced motion comic and to distribute it digitally.

A motion comic is a unique form of animation that takes static comic panels and brings them to life, using animation, dialogue and voiced narration. Despite limited animation and a relatively low production value, this technique has been gaining popularity over the past few years thanks to motion comics’ ease of access and high quality compared to many mobile comic book apps. The technique has adapted titles like Astonishing X-Men, The Walking Dead, Axe Cop and world-renowned graphic novel Watchmen.

The production team hopes to use the motion comic as a jumping-off point and bring Panzerfaust to the small screen as a live-action television series.

“It’s a strange thing to have something you’ve poured countless hours into become something much bigger than you’d ever planned,” Wiebe wrote. “If the show ever happens, I imagine sitting down to watch an episode will be the most surreal thing I could ever experience. Only time will tell if it’ll happen.”

No casting information for either project has been released yet.

Wiebe’s other series include The Intrepids, Grim Leaper and Green Wake, which won him Canada’s Joe Shuster Award for Outstanding Comic Book Writer in September 2012. He also hosts “The Process” podcast, in which he discusses writing with other authors.

The seventh issue of Peter Panzerfaust was released Nov. 14 and the eighth will hit shelves Dec. 12.

On Nov. 17, Wiebe will lead a workshop at the First Nations University Saskatoon Campus on writing comics and breaking into the comic industry. The event will be hosted by the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild. For more information visit skwriter.com.

tyler jenkins

Tyler Jenkins illustration of WWII-era Peter Pan from the Peter Panzerfaust comic.

CULTURE

| thesheaf.com | 15 November, 2012 |

11

It takes two to tango but a generation to revive the classic dance

Tango’s Revenge producer Francine Pelletier.

MEGHAN O’NEIL — The Aquinian (St. Thomas University) FREDERICTON (CUP) — When journalist Francine Pelletier and her partner went to see a tango show while on vacation in Buenos Aires, they were expecting an “orchestra of elderly gents.”

What they met with blew their expectations out of the water.

“They were all young people.

Some with dreadlocks, others with gas masks,” Pelletier said.

It had “nothing to do with your grandfather’s tango, and it was such electrifying music on top of that. We said ‘Wow, we have to do

cara smith/the aquinian

something.’ ” They researched the “new tango” movement when they got back to Canada, discovering why young people in Argentina were reclaiming tango music and making it their own.

After many return trips to Argentina, Pelletier directed and co-produced the film Tango’s Revenge. The journalist screened her 70-minute documentary and took time to explain the history she discovered in the re-emergence of the dance.

“Tango was more or less outlawed with the military coups. There were a series of coups. The first, you see

here in ’55 and that sent the whole thing underground.”

The coup in 1955 started a dark political age for Argentina, and culturally for tango music. Since tango was indigenous to Argentina, the military didn’t allow or trust it.

“Before that [coup], people would go out and listen and dance to tango and knew tango and grew up with tango — it was coming out of their ears,” Pelletier said.

When tango started becoming popular again, it was for economic reasons — it drew in tourists.

“Tourist’s tango” involved elaborate shows with dancers wearing plastic flowers in their hair with sequins on their costumes, cascading along the dance floor to the sound of traditional orchestras.

Young people couldn’t identify with it.

Bankruptcy threatened Argentina in 2001 and there was a sense of an “existential” crisis among young people. They wanted to leave their mark on their country.

“They’re very proud young people who I think wanted to do something that was theirs, not just do more American music,” Pelletier said. “Their mission, literally, is to

make tango once again a popular art form as it was in the 40s and 50s.

Pretty ambitious, but they’re very dedicated. They’re very passionate.

They’re very inspiring.”

There is a scene in Tango’s Revenge where a band rehearsal is filmed. One member, who leads the group, urges the musicians to play loud even if it’s bad. Loud comes first.

“The important thing is to feel and to want to do something, which is why there are so many of them doing it,” Pelletier said. “And most of them are doing it really well. I mean they go from bad to loud, to good and loud.”

The film features the music of many tango musicians in Argentina whose Spanish is subtitled. The film’s first screening was in October at the Festival de Nouveau Cinéma in Montreal and the film will return to the city for its official release in December.

But this new wave of music hasn’t come without some resistance from the older generation, who often prefer to stay true to the classic form of tango.

“I think the more you hear them, the more it’s hard to not say

‘Wow!’” said Pelletier. “Some of the tunes, even I have a little bit of trouble with, but they’re great musicians. It’s just extraordinary music and they’re really good at it.

It’s contagious.”

Montreal-based Pelletier, who has co-hosted CBC’s The Fifth Estate and founded the feminist magazine La Vie en Rose, compares the passion of the music revolution in Argentina to the recent student protests in Quebec.

“It was like, finally we get a little bit of people who dare to stand up and be counted, who are not afraid to try and change things or do things,” Pelletier said. “It felt really good for someone who had been there years ago.”

So when this story found Pelletier in Buenos Aires, she knew she had to help. She even put some own money into the project.

“I said if I can contribute to making these people and this music known, then it doesn’t matter if I have to go bankrupt. I’d like to do it. I just hope they become world famous, actually,” Pelletier said, laughing.

Saskatoon Soaps bring comedy to the local stage KENDRA SCHREINER Before Whose Line is it Anyway? brought improv comedy into the mainstream, the Saskatoon Soaps was making Saskatchewan laugh with its on-the-spot dramas.

The acting troupe has been an integral part of the Saskatoon community since 1984, making it one of the oldest comedy groups in North America.

The troupe, which has about 13 full-time cast members, performs at the Broadway Theatre one Friday night a month. Each show has a different theme and each actor comes prepared with a basic character, which provides a skeleton for the night’s story.

The performance is improvised through audience suggestions, scene cues and games like those played on the television show Whose Line is it Anyway?

Local actors make up the Soaps and many of the comedians have gone on to act in large productions across Canada.

Two of the newest members, University of Saskatchewan students Kevin McGuigan-Scott and Jared Berry, got their start in high school.

Saskatoon Soaps founding member Blaine Hart, who is also a drama teacher at Holy Cross High School, brought the students on board.

“We used to go [to the Soaps] in high school and watch all these people and be like, ‘Oh man, this is so funny,’ and then to actually go and do improv with them — such a great opportunity,” McGuigan-Scott said.

In addition to the regular cast, guest stars often take to the stage at the Broadway Theatre. Red Green and Catherine O’Hara of Home Alone performed with the Soaps. More recently, Dustin Milligan (90210), Saskatoon-born Kim Coates (Sons of Anarchy) and Amanda Crew (Sex Drive) have participated.

supplied

Local actors of the Saskatoon Soaps.

Guest stars often bring in new excitement to the audience and the performance. Amanda Crew’s appearance resulted in a sold-out show, something rare for the Soaps.

“It was crazy.... To [perform in front of] a sold out crowd was pretty nuts,” McGuigan-Scott said.

About 200 people come to the Friday night shows. Cast members also perform at events across the province for team building exercises, company parties, murder mysteries and private functions.

“The road trips are actually a lot of fun... especially when they feed us,” Berry said. “There’s been a few small town shows where you can tell that you just made those people’s night and that was really awesome.”

It’s important for improv performers to be able to read their audiences. Understanding the audience helps comedians choose which jokes will go over well and which might get them in trouble, Berry said, citing a bad experience he had while performing at a “women’s night” event in one small town.

Before going on stage, Berry asked the event’s organizer what sort of jokes would be best for the audience. She said that sexist jokes about “women’s places” would go over well.

Berry trusted her advice and the result was a very large crowd of angry women giving him dirty looks.

“Was that new for you, making women angry?” McGuigan-Scott

asked Berry jokingly.

“Not to the extent of a large mass mob. It’s usually on an individual level,” responded Berry, noting that he learned his lesson from the incident.

Improvisation is “a good life skill,” Berry said. “Things change and you have to try and adapt the best you can in any situation.”

Though the students are not sure if they will pursue acting careers, both Berry and McGuigan-Scott say the Soaps are an important part of their lives and something they hope to continue with.

“It’s one dimension of your life where you can goof off and make people laugh. And really, there’s not much better than that,” McGuigan-

Scott said.

This month’s show, which will be James Bond-themed in honour of Skyfall, is at the Broadway Theatre on Friday, Nov. 16 at 9:30 p.m.

Tickets are available at the door at $8 for students and $10 for regular admission. The Saskatoon Soaps will donate proceeds from the night to the Broadway Theatre.

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CULTURE

| 15 November, 2012 | thesheaf.com |

Off the ice and into the pit

raisa pezderic/photo editor

Luke Brisebois (right) jamming with Weak Ends.

KEVIN MENZ Editor-in-Chief Three summers ago, Luke Brisebois gave his friend Dan Smolinski an offer he couldn’t refuse.

“I asked Dan if he wanted to start a band,” Brisebois said.

Well, actually, it was an offer that Smolinski could have easily refused — Brisebois couldn’t play any instruments and didn’t know how to sing.

“If you want to start a band, you can teach me how to play. I’ve always wanted to do that,” Brisebois told Smolinski.

Smolinski was indifferent. He hadn’t played much since his former band, Shackleford, stopped performing in 2004.

“I really didn’t want to play music,” Smolinski said, “but because he wanted to, I said, ‘Well, I guess I can show you because I did it for a few years.’ ” The two started a punk rock group called Lady Deathstryke and Brisebois’ eagerness to learn quickly transferred to Smolinski.

“I guess it’s just when you play for so long you lose the energy and you miss your firsts — your first time playing with your band, your first time playing a show,” Smolinski, Lady Deathstryke’s lead singer, said. “It was fun to watch him be able to go through all of that.

That’s what I enjoy most about it.”

Brisebois, 25, grew up playing elite hockey and has only recently had the opportunity to focus on music.

Brisebois played midget AAA hockey with the Saskatoon Blazers and proved he was one of the top players in the country: He was selected to represent Western Canada at the 2004 under-17 World

Hockey Challenge.

He spent three seasons in Wilcox, Sask. playing junior hockey with the Notre Dame Hounds before moving to Purchase, N.Y. in 2007 to play for the Manhattanville Valiants in the NCAA. Brisebois said he played the best hockey he’s ever played with the Valiants but that the school wasn’t what he was looking for academically.

“I wanted to take engineering and they didn’t have it. I found of all the courses I was in I was more interested in science and math, and it was a liberal arts school.”

He decided to move back to Saskatoon to pursue an engineering degree after only one year with the Valiants.

Canadian Interuniversity Sport rules state that when a player transfers schools, they must wait one full year before joining another team. Brisebois spent the year in the College of Engineering before he began skating with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies in the fall of 2009.

After just two exhibition games and before that year’s final roster had been set, however, Brisebois injured his knee and was told he would be unable to play hockey for a few months. The Huskies told him he could come back after Christmas to try out for the team again but Brisebois decided it was best to pursue his degree.

“I love the game of hockey and I’ve made a lot of my lifelong friends from it,” Brisebois said, but “I just wanted to continue my education and hockey wasn’t really going to jive anymore.”

Brisebois approached Smolinski only a few months after he decided to stop playing hockey competitively.

“Even when I was playing hockey, there was a group of us, we were always into punk rock and heavier music,” Brisebois said, but “I never really pictured myself playing until I finally decided to start Lady Deathstryke with Dan.” Brisebois currently plays bass in both Lady Deathstryke and another local punk group, Weak Ends.

Colin McGuirk McNeil, the drummer for Weak Ends, said that Brisebois was the driving force behind his own involvement in the group.

Brisebois asked McNeil three times to join the group, then called Memphis Bells, but McNeil was busy with other projects. When the Memphis Bells were struggling to find a drummer only one week before a gig, McNeil agreed to fill in.

“I was a little skeptical in the beginning but I gave it a try, did a fill-in show and was pretty comfortable with it,” McNeil said.

“I liked what they were doing so we changed the band name and threw out a bunch of new songs.”

Brisebois said even though Weak Ends have been together for less than a year, they have been working hard to play as much as possible.

“We toured out to Montreal this spring. We played between 10 and 12 shows on tour and then we’ve obviously played a lot of local shows,” he said. “I’m just lucky even to be able to play music, and to be able to play music where someone will actually come and listen to you is pretty amazing.”

Weak Ends will open for hardcore heavyweights Gallows at Louis’ on Nov. 19. Gallows, based out of Watford, England, are fronted by former Alexisonfire guitarist and vocalist Wade MacNeil.

Upcoming Events 18

Sunday

Tonight it’s Poetry with David Eso at Lydia’s MadChild at the Odeon 7 p.m.

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Monday

Gallows at Louis’ Chad Brownlee at the Odeon 7 p.m.

Blackie and the Rodeo Kings at Broadway Theatre

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Tuesday

Dollar Draught at Louis’ Leonard Cohen at Credit Union Centre 8 p.m.

Open Mic Night at Lydia’s

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Wednesday

Souled Out at Lydia’s U of S Jazz Band at Louis’ Open Mic Night at the Fez

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Recipe: Chili

Hearty and delicious: a good way to warm up your winter.

JENNA MANN Culture Editor

Warm up your winter with the Sheaf ’s loaded chili recipe.

Ingredients: • 6 cans tomato soup • 2 packages of lean ground beef • 1 package of farmer sausage or chorizo • 4 tbsp. chili powder • 1 tsp. salt • 1 tsp. pepper • ½ tsp. paprika • 3 garlic cloves, minced • 19 oz. can kidney beans • 14 oz. can black beans • 1 small can corn niblets • ½ onion, chopped • ½ green pepper, chopped • ½ red pepper, chopped • 3 roma tomatoes, pulp removed and diced • 2 tbsp. Sriracha • 1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro (optional) Instructions: 1. Chop all your vegetables and herbs. Keep the onions separate from the rest of the vegetables because it is best to caramelize them while cooking the ground beef.

raisa pezderic/photo editor

4. Rinse kidney beans, black beans and corn to remove unhealthy juices and preservatives.

5. Once the hamburger and onions are thoroughly browned, remove from heat and drain the water from the bottom of the pan.

6. Combine hamburger, onions, 6 tomato soup, corn and beans in a large stock pot.

7. Add salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, minced garlic cloves and Sriracha to the pot. Mix well.

8. Chop cooked sausage into bite-sized pieces and add to the mixture.

10. Place the stock pot on the oven and leave at a low temperature for 7 minutes. Continually stir so that no food burns to the bottom of the pan. Add a 14 oz. can of water if the mixture is too thick.

11. Add vegetables and cilantro to the stock pot. Turn up the heat on the stove to a medium temperature.

Heat the chili and stir continuously until it is warm enough to be served.

2. Brown your beef in a large frying pan on a low heat. When partially cooked, add onions to caramelize.

3. In a separate frying pan cook your farmer sausage. Once partially cooked, cut the sausage open lengthwise. This will help it cook faster. Once cooked, set aside.

Thursday

Trivia Night at Louis’ John Heffron at TCU Place David Fong Trio at the Bassment

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Friday

GWAR at the Odeon 6:30 p.m.

Bob Evans at the Bassment Grandtheft and Smalltown DJ’s at Louis’ Gutterdogs with Conor Coughlan at Lydia’s

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Saturday

Gordan Bamford at the New Holland building 9 p.m.

Eliana Cuevas at the Bassment 9 p.m.

Freestylers at Tequila Faber Drive at the Odeon 7 p.m.

Despite the Reverence at Louis’ Coal Creek Boys at Lydia’s

for the week of November 15 - 21

OPINIONS

| thesheaf.com | 15 November, 2012 |

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From pink ribbons to moustaches, using symbols to sell cancer SAVE A

TRAVIS HOMENUK

Why write?

KIMBERLEY HARTWIG

I still remember the first time my writing was published. I was in fifth grade and I wrote a haiku about water lilies. I don’t think I had ever been more proud of myself.

I realize now that anything written by a fifth grader in coherent English will be published, but nevertheless I loved seeing my words on a page. Needless to say, it’s gotten more difficult to get published as I’ve gotten older and my peers’ writing skills have caught up to my 10-year-old self’s slightly advanced ones.

There are many people who write only when they have to, as a means to an end, but I don’t think this is how it should be. Writing, whether with the aim of being published or solely for personal benefit, is something that everyone should do.

The more you write, the more you realize just how slippery language is. It may be a natural skill but translating thoughts, feelings, images and emotions into the most accurate words is tricky.

There will always be words that elude you, emotions and feelings you try to explain but can never recreate exactly.

That’s the thing about language: there isn’t a word for everything.

But the more you practice writing, the closer you get to what you’re trying to express, to the intended message. There are dozens of ways to write a sentence and the permutations and combinations that can be made with words are terrifying and exciting at the same time. There is never only one way to something; this article alone could be written hundreds of ways. That is what makes language so fascinating.

It takes time to learn the rules and nuances of writing, and even more time to learn how to manipulate them with skill. I’m not suggesting you use language to manipulate people (that’s just evil), but using the system to your advantage is fair game.

Not only will understanding the system make your writing better, it will also improve your verbal communication skills.

After all, how often do words get misconstrued? A compliment becomes an insult, a question becomes an accusation.

That’s what makes communication so difficult: as soon as we put words out in the open, once they leave our lips or our pens, they become open to

LIFE!

to breast cancer, a genetically female part of the female sex (though men can get breast cancer too), then it’s safe to say we’re linking moustaches to men and masculinity.

After all, pink is a typically “feminine” colour, and moustaches are a prominent physical symbol of manliness.

What if I truly can’t grow any type of facial hair? Does that make me less of a man?

Aren’t these symbols horribly stereotypical? Awareness about illness has become another way to perpetuate gender stereotypes.

Yikes.

What comes to mind when you think pink or see a moustache?

A certain type of moustache may carry with it certain connotations.

As I’ve noted, I look a lot like Honest Abe right now — or a cute little Amish boy. Whatever.

The point is that these colours and symbols were not picked arbitrarily. Some marketing team has figured it all out.

Cancer is both a business and a disease. It is something we live with and fight on a daily basis.

Please don’t believe that I’m against the spirit of either Movember or the pink ribbon campaign. I want men and women alike to live the longest and best lives possible — cancer-free. If we have to participate in these campaigns to accomplish this, then I’m happy to comply.

And trust me, I know that early cancer detection is key. It’s wonderful that we are raising awareness and funds for research into breast and prostate cancers.

However, I think it’s probably a better use of your time and energy to simply donate your money right

to the cause rather than buying a pink or mustachioed product.

Participating in Movember should be more than just growing a moustache, just as the fight to cure breast cancer should be more than slapping a pink ribbon on any product imaginable. I’m being a reductionist, I know, but I hope you see my point.

These campaigns should be about talking to our fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, mothers, wives, daughters and sisters about their bodies and encouraging them (and ourselves) to go for regular physicals.

They should be about

communication and awareness.

The Coke bottles, moustaches and ribbons are just distractions from the real issue.

Men, I know nobody really wants a cold, gloved finger up their butt — especially when the doctor hasn’t even bought you dinner first — but this simple exam might save your life, or the life of someone you love.

If you see somebody rocking some beautiful facial hair this month, ask them why they’re participating in Movember.

Hopefully they have a serious answer to share that goes beyond vanity.

interpretation.

Whether many people will read your writing or only you will have that privilege, writing is personal.

That’s what’s so scary about writing. It’s impossible to separate yourself from your words, and that entails vulnerability.

When people criticise your writing, in a way, they criticise you. Unlike speech, writing leaves behind a trace of itself, a physical

artifact that can be read days or months later — or years, in the unfortunate case of embarrassing teenage love poems. Every word comes from you and represents what you thought and felt at that moment in time.

Hemingway said it best: “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”

Writing can help you make

sense of many things, including yourself. After all, the hardest thing to lie to is a blank page.

So, here’s the challenge. Write something. Anything. A haiku, a short story, a novel, a horrible clichéd love poem that you will be forever embarrassed by. Just write something. What you write will surprise you. Just remember that, as Hemingway said, “the first draft of anything is shit.”

Only $1!

HERE LOONIES

It’s the most wonderful time of year. And no, it’s not Christmas.

It’s Movember!

On the 1st of November, messages all over the internet, including from peers, encouraged men to shave one last time before growing out their moustaches with the intent of raising funds and awareness for prostate cancer.

Personally, I can’t grow a moustache. Instead, I grow an impressive neck beard, resembling Abraham Lincoln’s.

Admittedly, I’m a terrible person and I don’t actually raise money for prostate cancer. In fact, none of my immediate friends do.

Either I associate myself with awful people who just like a “legitimate” excuse to grow out their facial hair, or there are others like us.

I’m not even convinced everyone is aware that you’re supposed to register online and receive pledges for your attempt at a moustache.

That said, if you grow out your moustache, you’re still raising awareness. However, I find myself wondering what the moustache really does for prostate cancer.

Look at the pink ribbon campaign for breast cancer research. Yes, there are benefits; I’m not going to argue that, so don’t get your underwear in a knot.

But the proliferation of pink ribbons has led to the commercialization of breast cancer. Regardless of what the product is, more and more companies continue to join forces with breast cancer research, placing pink ribbons on their products.

Why do I have to buy a bottle of Coke, a plastic water bottle or sports team memorabilia in order to support breast cancer research?

Why do I have to be a consumer to let people know that I care about cancer?

The pink ribbon is now a brand in and of itself. People will buy a product simply because it’s pink or has a pink ribbon on it. I’m sure we’ve all taken part in this.

At 54, my mother is a cancer survivor, but it wasn’t breast cancer; it was uterine cancer.

Where’s my ribbon for that?

Where’s my coloured bottle of Coke? Isn’t the uterus just as feminine as the breast?

Perhaps the uterus isn’t as marketable as the breast; indeed, the uterus isn’t ‘sexy.’ Even the ovaries have trouble getting attention.

Men, isn’t it funny how we’re now associating moustaches with a very intimate part of our bodies?

I guess male prostates aren’t marketable either, at least not in the same way moustaches are.

Who decides this shit?

Just last year I worked at a cupcake shop and we made cupcakes with chocolate moustaches on them. They sold out daily. “Oh, those are so cute,” was the consensus.

And yet there is nothing cute about cancer.

I’m worried that because certain cancers are now so well-marketed, people are forgetting about the rest of their bodies. We’re objectifying ourselves in terms of specific illnesses when our bodies are systems, and should be seen as whole units, not as one part aside from the rest.

If we’re linking the colour pink

samantha braun/graphics editor

Even if it’s just a list, writing practice hones your skills.

raisa pezderic/photo editor

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OPINIONS

| 15 November, 2012 | thesheaf.com |

Please don’t feed the Republicans BECKY ZIMMER As someone who has US President Barack Obama as her Facebook profile picture, it is probably pretty obvious that I wanted him to be elected to a second term in the oval office. Supporting Obama also means that I have to fend off criticisms from the roughly 70 million Americans who voted for Republican Mitt Romney, not to mention right-wing Canadians.

According to recent National Post poll, the latter aren’t as numerous as people might think. Out of 1,735 randomly selected Canadians 18 or older, 78 per cent would have voted for Obama.

The National Post goes even further to break that number down by age, sex and (Canadian) federal party preference. Not surprisingly, more Conservatives would have voted for Romney than members of any other political party. However, the number of right-leaning Canadians who would have voted for Obama is still high.

So what makes Obama and Romney so seemingly different, and Obama so appealing to Canadians?

It’s not just about the “left” or the “right” anymore. The political parties’ rhetoric and ideology have become blurred so that “left” and “right” have much weaker meanings than they

did even 50 years ago. These changing battle lines were evident in Romney’s campaign as he flip-flopped on issues to garner support. How many votes did he lose because of it? Flip-flopping only makes it easier for voters to see politicians as disingenuous (I know, a shocking discovery of Romney).

We know what Obama’s goals are: to improve the economy and to provide a better safety net for citizens, and he has not deviated far from these aims. Granted, he tried some things in his first term that didn’t work, but the fact remains that you know what he wants to achieve. Working his way up from little, Obama does not believe that the one per cent should be given that power.

Everyone knows this.

This is also why he is on the side of the 99 per cent. He wants to bring in beneficial social programs. He actually cares about hurricane victims in the wake of the recent superstorm that ravaged the Eastern seaboard.

It was obvious from the election coverage that the Republicans had no agenda other than to upset the Democrats.

They had the obvious right-wing stances on abortion and gay marriage but they did not have a solid statement on what they would do if they got into office.

Obama’s “socialist” programs are the biggest fear among Republican voters, the majority

barack obama/flickr

Calm down, Republicans: this man is not going to destroy capitalism.

of whom are older. This matches the Cold War-era viewpoint that socialism leads to communism.

Using Canada as a model, “socialism” is not exactly a bad thing. It has brought us universal, single-payer health care, the belief that everybody deserves

Fight/fuck/drink

1

the same basic opportunities, and unions, which have been very beneficial to labourers in the business world.

I do not envy any politician, and even as a political studies major, I do not want their jobs. To make over 300 million American

people happy is not an easy job.

To provide as much benefit to as many people as you can is the goal, but unfortunately that measurement is very arbitrary.

Letter to the Editor:

continued from

There’s more to responsible drinking than the drinking age, though. The culture around booze has much more to do with it. It should fall to parents to teach children how best to enjoy alcohol and how not to go overboard.

A higher drinking age might actually contribute to dangerous habits as well. In the states, where the drinking age is a ridiculous 21, binge drinking on college campuses is out of control partly because there are no legal ways for students to enjoy a drink. Instead, they pound back shots at parties or their dorms, where there is less incentive for moderation than in a bar.

The concerns about making alcohol legally available one year earlier are valid, but we all know that’s not when people actually start to drink. Most people sneak a few Bacardi Breezers during high school, so there is no reason to pretend the drinking age is anything but symbolic. If anything, its illicit nature makes the activity even more appealing to teens.

The good news is that people are at least thinking about at what age it is appropriate to start drinking alcohol. As the Regina LeaderPost’s Barb Pacholik wrote last week, it’s not a new debate either.

Saskatchewan’s drinking age was 21 until 1969, when it was dropped to 19. Three years later it was dropped to 18 but by 1976 it was raised again thanks to the efforts of NDP MLA Auburn Pepper (what a name!).

In all these debates, health and safety concerns were always front and centre, but it’s about time we recognize that you can’t legislate good behaviour. That falls to the cultural norms and practices that shape our provinces. In the meantime, it’s entirely unfair that we deny 18-year-old adults the chance to decide for themselves whether they want to drink.

jireh wong

College of Medicine Broken Promises I can’t believe the Sask. Party broke a promise to pay for necessary upgrades to the College of Medicine.

The university has had to borrow to backfill the Sask. Party’s broken promise, maxing out its credit. I am amazed this isn’t a bigger story.

Come to think of it, I can’t believe the ongoing gong show that is the College of Medicine’s pending probation, revolving faculty and bursting student enrollment before the new building is done, isn’t an ongoing top story. The med school has issues. Which is too bad. It should be the point of pride for the U of S, rather than quite the opposite, and a money pit at that!

Dan

Sheaf the

.com

ARE WE DOING IT RIGHT? LET US KNOW AT OPINIONS@THESHEAF.COM

HUMOUR Who was your childhood celebrity crush?

| thesheaf.com | 15 November, 2012 |

Shane West.

Amanda Lopinski

Ryan Gosling circa Remember the Titans.

Orlando Bloom.

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Jonathan Taylor Thomas.

Lauren Kerr

Adina Tsintzaris

Kailey Turner

FAKE NEWS OF THE WEEK After hate-fucking, hate-marrying and hatechild-rearing, woman regrets her decisions While a milestone anniversary is usually cause for celebration, Emily Adams spent the day of her 25th anniversary realizing some uncomfortable truths.

“I’ve basically committed my life to my husband out of spite,” Adams said slowly. “I mean, I never liked him that much but

I guess I kind of forgot about that.”

Adams met her now-husband in a third-year political studies class, where she says he was “always fucking mouthing off.” After the semester ended, Adams went home with David determined to “fuck the dumb out

of him.”

“Turns out he enjoyed it, so I decided to keep at it until I got it through his thick skull how much I hated him,” she said.

“That bastard is so stupid he still doesn’t know I hate his God damn face.”

Now in her late 40s, Adams

is starting to reconsider the wisdom of her life-long goal of vengeance.

“I think by the time I donated a kidney to him so he would be alive to suffer longer, I had maybe forgotten the point of the whole thing.”

Adams’ husband Dave,

meanwhile, says he has known all along but that he, too, is in the relationship out of hatred.

“I just can’t wait to see the look on that bitch’s face when she cracks before me,” he said with a dark smile.

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| 15 November, 2012 | thesheaf.com |