March 17, 2011 - A

the

SHEAF

Graphic by Danni Siemens

Turn off, tune in: Laptops in the classroom • A9

opinions

sports

news

Unrest in the Middle East • A5

Men’s basketball miss chance at championship game • A6-7

17 march 2011

section b

The u of s student newspaper since 1912

Three sweet bands and three sweet movies • B1-3

• volume 102 • issue 27 • www.thesheaf.com

A2 •

NEWS

Editor-in-Chief: Ashleigh Mattern, editor@thesheaf.com Production Manager: Tannara Yelland, layout@thesheaf.com Senior News Editor: Victoria Martinez, news@thesheaf.com Associate News Editor: Kevin Menz, news@thesheaf.com Photography Editor: Pete Yee, photo@thesheaf.com Graphics Editor: Danielle Siemens, graphics@thesheaf.com Arts Editor: Holly Culp, arts@thesheaf.com Sports Editor: Dorian Geiger, sports@thesheaf.com Opinions Editor: Tomas Borsa, opinions@thesheaf.com Copy Editor: Greg Reese, copy@thesheaf.com Web Editor: Ishmael N. Daro, web@thesheaf.com Ad & Business Manager: Shantelle Hrytsak, business@thesheaf.com Contributors: Thilina Bandara, Chad Poitras, Charlotte Gayler, Nick Frost, Devin R. Heroux, Michael Cuthbertson, Bryn Becker, Max Cranston, Dr. Andrew Rothchild, Shannon Dyck, Amanda Hunter, Colleen George, Allison Henderson, Eli Gana Board of Directors: Jordan Hartshorn (Chair), Chantal Stehwien, Blair Woynarski, Alex MacPherson, Robby Davis

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Membership in the Society is open to undergraduate students at the U of S, but all members of the U of S community are encouraged to contribute to the newpaper. Opinions expressed in The Sheaf do not necessarily reflect those of The Sheaf Publishing Society Inc. The Sheaf reserves the right to refuse to accept or print any material deemed unfit for publication, as determined by the Editor-in-Chief. The Sheaf is published weekly during the academic year and monthly from May through August. The Editor-in-Chief has the right to veto any submission deemed unfit for the Society newspaper. In determining this, he/she will decide if the article or artwork would be of interest to a significant portion of the Society and benefit the welfare of Sheaf readers. The Sheaf will not publish any racist, sexist, homophobic, or libelous material.

Graphic by Danni Siemens Happy St. Patrick’s Day! In the spirit of the season, our graphics editor used leprechaun magic to create the cover this week.

the Sheaf • 17 march 2011

Peter MacKinnon resigns

Neo-Nazi hearing declared

Terrence Tremaine, a former math and stats teacher at the University of Saskatchewan will go to trial on charges of promoting hatred.

Provincial Court Judge Bruce Henning made the decision March 11 to go to trial, though the case had been in and out of hearings since October 2009. The case will be held by a Court of Queen’s Bench.

In 2006, Tremaine founded the neo-Nazi National-Socialist Party of Canada, dedicated to white sovereignty. Some of their more inflamatory comments online included the statement, “Hitler was a lot nicer to the Jews than they deserved.”

Tremaine’s lawyer, Doug Christie, previously defended David Ahenakew, a First Nations Leader who also faced hate promotion charges. That case was thrown out.

U of S president will leave position after 13-year tenure

P-Mac is upset about leaving the university... and that sweater.

DORIAN GEIGER Sports Editor

Peter MacKinnon announced his advanced resignation as president of the University of Saskatchewan March 9.

A campus-wide email sent out by university officials indicated that the eighth president of the U of S would be stepping down, effective June 30, 2012. MacKinnon informed the board of governors of his decision on March 4.

It was unexpected that MacKinnon chose to step down less than two years into his current five-year term.

“There’s no such thing as a perfect time to leave an office like this,” MacKinnon explained via telephone from Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson Airport.

He said his recent appointment

by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to the Advisory Committee on Public Service did not factor into his departure.

“I’m not stepping down because I have any diminished enthusiasm for the office or for the work.

Students represent the future and it’s a privilege to work in postsecondary education. I felt sadness about the prospect but at the same time I felt enormously fortunate,” the president

added.

When MacKinnon leaves office, his presidential career will have spanned 13 years. MacKinnon is the second-longest serving president after Walter Murray, who was president for 29 years from 1908 to 1937.

Prior to his presidential appointment, MacKinnon was the university’s dean of law. He joined the U of S faculty in 1975 as an associate professor of law. He was originally from Prince Edward Island and, at 63 years old, has degrees from Queen’s University and the U of S. MacKinnon’s advance notice gives the president’s office a comfortable transition period and leaves the administration time to find a qualified replacement. A hiring committee to be in place by summer will initiate the preliminary stages of appointing a new president.

MacKinnon acknowledged the increasingly competitive global market in attracting esteemed academics for this position.

“There’s no question about that.

It is a highly competitive market.

Some of my colleagues don’t like to hear me say that but it is the case,” commented MacKinnon.

“And the competition is not local — it’s national and it’s international.

The successes at the University

photo by Pete Yee

of Saskatchewan depends on us being successful in that global environment.”

Amendments to the current hiring policy integrated on March 4 by the university’s board of governors reflect this. MacKinnon said he would be surprised if no one in the current administration showed interest in the position. However, he also noted the transition is too far away to speculate on potential candidates.

During MacKinnon’s tenure, the U of S has seen unprecedented economic expansion; over $1 billion has been devoted to university infrastructure during this time. He helped bring the Canadian Light Source to Saskatoon. He oversaw construction of the Physical Activity Complex and restoration of the College Building. And the College Quarter project and the unfinished Academic Health Sciences complex are newer initiatives begun under MacKinnon.

Other than continuing to build and promote the university’s global research base, MacKinnon will not undertake any new monumental projects.

“The office requires enormous energy and that does not change with an announcement. I expect to be busy up until my last day in office.”

Do we need a Social Justice Centre?

Centre would provide peer support, awareness for $30,000 a year VICTORIA MARTINEZ News Editor The proposed University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union Centre for Social Justice was the focus of the latest Students’ Council meeting.

After intense debate, the proposal was again tabled for a few weeks.

The ad-hoc committee charged with evaluating the need and feasibility of the centre submitted their findings and concerns prior to the meeting. Councillors received an updated version of the proposal package at 3:30 p.m., just before their 6 p.m. meeting.

Many councillors felt that making a decision on the centre, without appropriate time to review the documents, would be irresponsible.

Others were concerned that acting

too quickly would result in a poorly-executed centre.

USSU president Chris Stoicheff assured council that all of the discrepancies found by the ad-hoc committee in the previous mandate had been directly replaced in the new proposal.

“If there is truly a need then let’s make this centre a reality,” said Stoicheff, who says that despite low response rates to a needs survey, there is a demonstrated need for a social justice centre on campus.

He cited an open letter from former vice president student affairs, Ben Fawcett, to illustrate his point.

Besides being an over-arching entity to foster collaboration on social justice issues and providing peer support for students who’ve been subjected to racial or cultural

discrimination, Fawcett believes that “it is fundamentally our duty as students of higher education and future social, political, economic and environmental stewards to confront issues of social justice.”

While no councillors denied the need for social justice support on campus, not all of them thought that the centre was the right way to execute that goal at this time.

Katie Salmers, one of the Arts and Science Students’ Union members of council, suggested starting with a small scale, rather than full fledged centre.

“We can build it up and do it right and well.”

Vice president academic Blair Shumlich suggested employing alternatives for peer support, like

Justice cont. on A3.

Residents concerned about new Value Village

Saskatoon will soon get a second Value Village, despite fears over the store’s “clientele,” reported CTV news.

Some Stonebridge residents felt that a thrift store would bring unwelcomed characters into their community.

“Do I need to fear for my children’s safety and my property with the types of people this store is going to bring into our neighbourhoods?” read one comment on the Stonebridge Community Association web forum.

The SCA president Blair Pisio, however, felt that these comments did not reflect the community as a whole.

“It’s not a sentiment held by the whole community,” he said. “It’s a store we are going to welcome and help to prosper in Stonebridge.”

One email to CTV read, the “cost of kid’s clothes today is outrageous and I have no troubles buying gently used clothing.”

Pisio added that residents’ concerns have been addressed and that the decision to build the store has already been made.

Daylight Savings Time referendum axed

Premier Brad Wall has given up on his 2007 pledge to hold a referendum on daylight savings time due to a lack of public support.

According to Municipal Affairs Minister Darryl Hickie the decision to hold off the proposed referendum was made after a recent poll revealed more than two-thirds of people surveyed voted against making the change.

The poll was conducted by Fast Consulting using 1,012 participants, of which 56 per cent were strongly opposed to the change to DST. The results also demonstrated a higher opposition among residents in rural areas.

Holding the referendum would have cost Saskatchewan residents around $500,000.

thesheaf.com/news

VP to stay despite job removal

USSU president says decision to remain in office is ‘hypocritical’ KEVIN MENZ Associate News Editor Blair Shumlich will finish his elected term with the University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union.

After students voted to eliminate his position of vice president external from the executive at a special general meeting earlier this month, confusion arose as to whether or not he would resign immediately or finish his contract and leave on May 1.

There was some concern leading up to the March 10 meeting of student council that Shumlich might be impeached. Some students, including USSU president Chris Stoicheff, said they felt it was hypocritical of Shumlich not to resign, since Shumlich had been the one who proposed the elimination of his position.

In his campaign for the permanent removal of the VP external position, Shumlich argued that he did not have enough work to do to warrant a fulltime paid position.

“I think it is hypocritical to say that you’ve got nothing to do, to hold an SGM to get rid of your position — the position is eliminated — and then stay on and justify it because you’ve got lots of things to do,” Stoicheff said to Shumlich at council.

“I do think that it is unethical and I do think that you should resign.”

Classifieds ANNOUNCEMENTS

ABORIGINAL ACHIEVEMENT WEEK MOVIE & FREE LUNCH: Jim Settee: The Way Home, introduced by the Métis director Jeanne Corrigal. Thurs. March 17, 11:45 a.m., Global Connections Student Lounge, room 70, Lower Place Riel. Soup & Bannock lunch. Cosponsored by the Ecumenical Chaplaincy [Anglican, Presbyterian, United] & the Multifaith Chaplains Association. More info: Ursula at 966-8500 or ecum. chap@usask.ca, or usask.ca/mfca/ ecumenical.

3 SESSION LENTEN STUDY: Jesus for the 21st Century for people who take the Bible seriously but not literally.

A small group exploration of a credible Jesus, who is neither kidnapped by the Christian Right nor discarded by the Secular Left. Thursdays, 7-9 p.m., Grosvenor Park United Church lounge (corner of Cumberland & 14th St.) UC lounge. March 17: The Atonement; March 24: The Resurrection of Christ.

Come for all 3 sessions or just one. Cosponsored by the U of S Ecumenical Chaplaincy [Anglican, Presbyterian, United] & Grosvenor Park UC. More info usask.ca/mfca/ ecumenical.

Dr. Glen Gillis will be presenting a Saxophone Faculty Recital with digital accompaniment, Friday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m. in Quance Theatre. The concert will include works by Glen Gillis, James Cunningham, Timothy Crowley,

No councillor put forward a motion to remove Shumlich and he did not announce plans to resign.

“I have absolutely no intention of resigning,” said Shumlich. “I was elected for a 12 month term and I will finish what I started because I believe in what I did.”

The motion at the special general meeting did not specify a date for his departure. This led to conflicting interpretations from Stoicheff and Shumlich.

“The motion says the position is to be eliminated. I take that to mean, just like all the other motions that were passed in that meeting, it is to take effect immediately,” said Stoicheff.

Shumlich quoted an email from the USSU’s lawyer that suggested he should stay in his position until the end of the elected term.

“The intent of the amendments to the USSU bylaw was to eliminate the VP external position on a go-forward basis, meaning that no VP external would be elected after the term of the current VP external expires at the end of April 2011. At no time was there a contemplation that the amendment was to immediately, upon being passed, end the current term of the VP external currently serving,” read Shumlich from the email.

The VP external position has been removed before, and in those years the executive in the position finished Steven Galante, Karen Tanaka, and Mark Phillips. Admission: Silver Collection. For additional information please call Glen Gillis at 966-8356 or glen.gillis@usask. ca.

Registration is underway for a book discussion program at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6 at Alice Turner Branch Library. To register and reserve a copy of the book, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, call 9758127. Dr. Kristina Fagan, Assistant Dean of Aboriginal Affairs and an Associate Professor of English at the University of Saskatchewan, has taught this seminal Canadian novel for many years. Dr. Fagan will lead the discussion, which is sure to be an engaging one.

Registration begins Friday, March 18 for Friday Morning Book Club at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, April 15 at Rusty Macdonald Branch Library. Start your day off with a cup of coffee, a muffin and a book discussion of a recent bestseller. To register and reserve a copy of the book The Postmistress by Sarah Blake, phone 975-7600.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES K3 Excavating Ltd. is looking for employees to fill the following part-time positions (with the possibility of full-time employment in the summer): road grader operators, wheel loaders, skid steer operators, class 1A and 3A truck drivers and track hoe operators.

Fax resumes to 306-477-5078 or phone to inquire at 306-7170540. K3 Excavating is an equal opportunity employer.

their term.

Most councillors assumed the removal of the VP external position would not take place until next year.

“When I voted on this motion — whether or not the VP external would be eliminated — I believed that it would be taken into effect next year,” said arts and science councillor Katie Salmers. “I believed it would not be affecting Blair [Shumlich] this year.”

Education councillor Alysha Joanette backed Shumlich’s decision.

“He never said that there was no work, he said there was little work.

He has things that he has started — let him finish them.”

He is completing a summer U-Pass report and there are budget issues he is lobbying to see in the upcoming provincial budget.

Specifically, he hopes to see a rise in long-term tuition, an increase in the university’s operating grant and funding for both the Saskatchewan Scholarship Fund and the Gordon Oakes-Red Bear Students’ Centre.

“There is a certain irony to me saying that right after getting rid of my position will be one of my busiest weeks of the year,” he said.

The provincial budget will be released during the last week of March and Shumlich will be in Regina to discuss the USSU’s position on it.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES Want experience in Human Services? SARBI needs volunteers Monday through Friday to provide assistance to survivors of acquired brain injuries in their psychosocial rehabilitation programs. Training provided. Call SARBI at 373-3050.

Website: sarbi.ca The Kenderdine Art Gallery, University Art Collection & College Building Art Galleries are seeking volunteers interested in the visual arts. Gain valuable experience and expand your knowledge of contemporary and historical art! Contact: 966-4571 for more info.

Canadian Blood Services: With every blood donation you make, you save lives. By donating, you share your health and vitality with someone who needs it. To make an appointment for any blood donor clinic, or for more information, donors can contact Canadian Blood Services, toll-free at 1-888-2-DONATE (1-888-2366283) Share the Fun! is a new mentality charitable organization that is not specific to a certain cause or charity; whenever there is a worthy cause, we will do our best to support it. To volunteer at future events, book an event, or for more information about this charity, search for the Facebook group: Share the Fun!

Send your classifieds to ads@thesheaf.com. They must be no more than 50 words.

News •

A3

Romanow chambers USC honours former premiere

The name’s Romanow, Roy Romanow.

VICTORIA MARTINEZ News Editor The University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union honoured former NDP premiere Roy Romanow by naming their brand new chambers after him.

Romanow, who served as premiere from 1991 to 2001, graced the room with his name and presence March 10. The visit was a throwback to his early political days, when he was president of the Students’ Representative Council — what became the USSU — in 1961.

At that time, the core issues were health care reform and international relations. Dealing with those issues helped guide his political career.

“There was no room for anyone to be neutral. I was pro-medicare,” he said. Having honed his skill for debate through student activism, he finished his law degree at the U of S and was elected to legislature in 1967.

Today, the USSU has housing and tuition to deal with.

“Do all you can to fight hard for those causes students think are important,” Romanow urged

Justice cont. from A2.

training volunteers in alreadyexisting related groups on campus, like the Indigenous Students’ Council.

He also warned that a Centre for Social Justice would not reach students who discriminate.

He admitted his own prejudices when he first came to the campus, and said that at that time he would never have attended social justice events. His opinion was changed, rather, by actually interracting with members of other cultures.

“We won’t get our target market if we do things without looking at the target group,” he said.

photo by Pete Yee

councillors.

The USSU’s current president, Chris Stoicheff, told those in attendance that “Romanow is without a doubt the most appropriate choice,” for the council chambers’ name.

“Thank you for one of the greatest honours ever bestowed on me,” said Romanow of the honour.

“This is a great university, with a great contribution to the country, to be a part of that and have the youth of today and tomorrow come out of the clear blue to surprise me and honour me in this way is something to which I am greatly indebted,” he added.

The new chambers are part of the Place Riel update. They are immediately noticeable upon entering the building from the main doors, directly before the stairs.

The chambers offer much more room, accessibility and comfort than the old student council chambers, which were tucked below Saskatchewan Hall residences.

All students are welcome to attend meetings at 6 p.m. on Thursdays, and it’s worthwhile for all the shiny new mics and sometimes-riveting debate.

Another serious concern was financial. Shumlich, along with Edwards School of Business councillors Alecia Nagy and Reid Nystuen, among others, felt that the spending should be carefully examined and evaluated.

Referencing the recent removal of the $30,000 a year VP external position, funds which Stoicheff suggested putting towards the centre’s operating costs — excluding the cost to launch the centre — Nystuen spoke against spending.

“You don’t save $30,000 if you spend it immediately.”

Mary Lou Ogle Study of Communications Scholarship The College of Arts and Science with the Department of English invite applications for a new scholarship in Communications.

The award, established in memory of Mary Lou Ogle, is meant to recognize and provide assistance to continuing students pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and is valued at between $3,500.00 and $5,000.00.

Applicants must: » be students entering the third or fourth year of the B.A. with a major in English » be residents of Saskatchewan » be graduates of a Saskatchewan high school » submit an essay of approximately 500 words outlining career intentions within the field of communications A letter of application, with the accompanying essay, should be sent directly to: Dr. D.J. Thorpe, Head, Department of English, 307 Arts, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK., S7N 5A5

DEADLINE: Friday, 25 March 2011

A4 • News

the Sheaf • 17 march 2011

U of S student spearheads Japanese aid efforts Saskatoon group and Red Cross helping victims of worst Japanese earthquake on record VICTORIA MARTINEZ News Editor Satoshi Shibata is putting everything aside to help victims of the Japanese tsunami.

The international studies student called an open community meeting on March 13 to figure out what could be done to help in the aftermath of Japan’s earthquake and tsunami.

The group of 30 or so people included several members of the International Student’s Association and Saskatoon’s large Japanese community.

“We have a lot of people in Saskatoon still trying to find family and friends,” said Shibata.

He came to Saskatoon for high school, but his parents and sister still live near Tokyo.

“Even when I talk to my parents on Skype, they are still feeling the aftermath,” Shibata said. “The disaster isn’t over yet. It’s still ongoing.”

Shibata’s connections span the whole country, adding to his sense of responsibility. On a bike trip across

Japan, he got to know people in all kinds of communities.

“I’ve got connections in every prefecture,” he said. “I was getting help all along the way, and this is maybe a way to give back.”

This group, still so new that it has no formal name, is meant to provide the community with an outlet to help.

Shibata divided the group into three task forces: communication, events and an external group.

The communications team is devoted to updating information on the situation in Japan, contacting the Canadian embassy and locating phone numbers or ways to find missing people.

The events coordination group is already hard at work organizing public and educational fundraisers.

The external group will focus on government communications and on contacting local businesses to garner a higher profile and to gather donations.

Shibata signed a partnership agreement with the Red Cross on March 15.

“It is important students know

Satoshi Shibata is building hope for Japanese relief.

exactly where their donations are going,” Shibata said at the meeting.

Their first fundraiser is a documentary night at 4:30 p.m.

March 18 in the International Students Study Abroad Centre, thanks in part to the African Students’ Association donating their reserved time with the space — donations will gladly be accepted.

The group is also hosting a cultural event April 2 at Louis’. The University of Saskatchewan Students’

photo by Pete Yee

Union has agreed to waive the costs of hosting, so all proceeds will go to the Red Cross’s disaster relief efforts.

“We don’t need to be limited as residents of Saskatoon. Our efforts can create more bond in the community and internationally,” said Shibata.

“Roads are blocked, people still need to find their families,” he added, saying that as an import-dependent nation, Japan will have a particular need for food and water in the

aftermath.

In the interim, the Crisis Relief Students Association on campus will be hosting bake sales on Wednesdays to fundraise for both Libyan and Japanese aid. The sales will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m every week in the Arts Tunnel.

Faizah Jamil, the founder and president of the CRSA, says their efforts to fundraise will be similar to their fundraising for Pakistan last semester, which yielded over $5,000 in donations.

“Our efforts for Pakistan included bakes sales, a dinner and entertainment night, booths in malls and stores… as well as promoted a lot of awareness as to what is happening there with the floods,” she said, adding that the group planned to do as much if not more for the crisis at hand.

The next Japanese relief meeting will be Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in the International Students Study Abroad Centre.

Or text REDCROSS to 30333 to donate $10 to relief efforts.

‘Take A Stand’ urges students to fight racism on campus ULC posters feature personal statements against discrimination

One of the many posters displayed around campus.

ISHMAEL N. DARO Web Editor

Take A Stand awareness campaign.

Leon Thompson, USSU vice president student affairs, says that racism is an issue on campus even removed from such shocking instances.

“I think that racism exists on campus,” he said. “Racism is one of those things that you know is there, even if it’s hidden away or not visible.”

As a first step, the ULC distributed posters around campus featuring students’ own anti-racism messages. According to Thompson, the reaction has been mixed, with some people complaining that the messages were at times unclear.

In the first posters, students were encouraged to write whatever they wanted; some of the resulting messages were statements drawn from personal experiences that would not be immediately clear to everyone.

For example, one poster is captioned, “It’s not cool to discriminate against unborn children because of ethnicity.” Its meaning confused some students, including editors at the Sheaf.

“I think the important thing is that it’s getting attention, that it’s meriting people’s interest and thought and critical engagement,”

“

Even if [students] don’t agree with the posters, it’s making them stop and think.

Leon Thompson

USSU VP student affairs

are support services standing by.’ ” Thompson says he hopes future USSU executives will continue the union’s participation in Take A Stand. He refused to comment, however, when asked if the proposed USSU Social Justice Centre might factor into the campaign. In the meantime, Thompson says students need to recognize that racism is still present on campus.

“It’s all well and good to say the university is a fantastic place and nothing ever goes wrong here but we need to bring it out in the open, if anything, just to engage students.”

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The University Learning Centre is urging students to fight racism on campus.

The ULC — along with the International Student and Study Abroad Centre, Aboriginal Students’ Centre and University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union — launched Take A Stand, an anti-racism initiative, this month in response to an incident in October in which a campus event was disrupted.

At the time, the Indigenous Students’ Council was holding a gathering near the Arts Building to celebrate Aboriginal culture and mark the place of the proposed Gordon Oakes-Redbear Student Centre.

However, two passers-by started hurling insults at those gathered.

One student, Katie Peters-Burns, confronted the two individuals and was spat upon before they made their escape.

“Spitting on someone is a type of assault and it is one of the most disrespectful things you could ever do to someone — especially a woman,” she said at the time.

That incident inspired the new

supplied

said Thompson. “Even if they don’t agree with the posters, it’s making them stop and think.”

Students are encouraged to have their photos and pledges taken if they want to join the initiative, and several events are planned for later this month. For one such event, anti-racist author and educator Tim Wise will give a lecture at Third Avenue United Church, followed by a panel discussion.

“This [initiative] is not only to fight against racism on campus,” said Thompson. “It’s also something for those students who have been affected by racism to look at and to know that, ‘Hey, I’m not alone in this. I have people that I can go to, there are places that I can go, people I can talk to. There

News • A5

thesheaf.com/news

Unrest on the Arab Street

Expert says situation can’t be ignored

Student with family in Libya speaks

TANNARA YELLAND Layout Manager

ISHMAEL N. DARO Web Editor

The events in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya can seem remote and unimportant to students in Canada, far removed from any danger. But retired political studies professor Zachariah Kay issued a reminder to anyone who thinks the events in the Arab world can easily be ignored here.

“Security is extremely important” to Israeli leaders nervous about Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak’s ouster, said Kay. Mubarak had been a key ally to the West and Israel, and his absence has caused concern for the region’s stability.

Kay’s words could easily have been intended for Canadian and American leaders, who have shown similar reluctance in supporting a grassroots push for democracy.

This is despite the ongoing rhetoric about the importance of democracy and human rights in the Middle East.

“The problem that people have, that all of us have wherever we are, is this: by these dictators, there’s a maintenance of stability.

But on the other hand, how can you support regimes of this nature?” said Kay, arriving at the crux of the problem as it presents itself to Western leaders.

The Obama administration originally advocated for change from within the Mubarak regime before deciding to throw its weight behind the protesters. Mubarak and the man he succeeded, Anwar Sadat, had been crucial in creating peace between the Arab states and Israel: Sadat was assassinated in 1981 after he signed a treaty with Israel.

Western leaders have often looked the other way on human rights and democratic violations in regimes where maintaining peaceful relations are highly valued, and that sit atop vast amounts of resources, like oil.

But as Kay says, at some point stability must be sacrificed for basic human decency.

The question on many people’s minds is where that point is.

“I think it has to be shown that the support is there for change away from autocratic and dictatorial regimes,” Kay said. He added that part of the reason for the American — and, to a lesser extent, Canadian — government’s hesitancy has been that there was no policy in place for dealing with the political situation that arose in the early months of 2011.

Kay also took some time to talk about Israel. He is on a book tour for the last installment of his trilogy on Canadian-Israeli relations, The Diplomacy of Impartiality: Canada and Israel, 1958-1968, which posits that Canadian dealings with Israel were governed by a firm commitment to impartiality.

Kay said that the emphasis should be on

action, not rhetoric.

“We should not be confused with people saying, ‘Oh, Israel’s great,’ and, ‘Israel has to have security,’ whatever,” Kay said of impartiality.

“That’s not the issue. The issue is impartiality in terms of the conflict [between Israel and its neighbours], so what is done for one side is done for the other.

Both of Amjad Murabit’s parents and two of his older siblings were born in Libya, the North African country currently in the grips of a civil war. What he sees on the news today is a long cry from what Murabit saw when he visited in 2008.

Legend: No serious protests Leader deposed Some protests Armed Conflict Violent protests “For instance when Israel wanted to purchase a nuclear reactor from Canadian General Electric in Peterborough, [the government] said they couldn’t give any countenance, because if they were to do one for Israel they’d need to do one for the other side, maybe for Egypt.”

Kay refers to this strategy as a “phantom veto” because rather than tell Israel they cannot have something and risk a diplomatic rift, the Canadian government can say that to provide a reactor for Israel would require them to provide one to an Arab state. Israeli leaders, not wanting Egypt to have a nuclear reactor, accept not being provided one themselves.

In researching his books, Kay relied extensively on government documents from both the Canadian and Israeli archives. This explains why Kay’s book covers a decade that passed 43 years ago: many government documents do not become public for 20 or 30 years.

This also explains why Kay is reluctant to pass judgment on whether the current federal government has continued to be impartial in its dealings with Israel.

“People shouldn’t be confused by statements whether he’s pro [Israel] or not,” Kay said of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

“It’s the actual actions within the context of the conflict” between Israel and the surrounding Arab states.

graphic by Danni Siemens

“I knew even then there was some unrest about the government but nobody ever voiced it,” said the University of Saskatchewan sociology student.

Skip ahead three years and that unrest has become a full-fledged rebellion against the man who has ruled for over four decades, Muammar Gaddafi.

Only days after Egyptian protesters successfully deposed their longtime dictator on Feb. 11, protesters in Libyan cities started calling for similar things, such as greater freedoms and the ouster of their own leader. However, unlike the government response in Tunisia and Egypt, where violence was sporadic, Gaddafi responded by unleashing the military in full force to crack down on demonstrators.

Before long, the country was split between Gaddafi forces in the west, which centred around the capital Tripoli, and the rebels in the east with Benghazi as their stronghold. One of the deepest pockets of unrest, however, was the city of Zawiyah, only 30 miles from Tripoli. Over the last week, Gaddafi forces fought ferociously to retake the city from the rebels and sent their most elite fighting force to get the job done.

Amjad Murabit’s family is in Zawiyah.

“No one’s really doing anything right now because the army has surrounded the town from all four sides,” he said.

“Everyone’s just hiding out now.”

Murabit was surprised to see his father on British television being interviewed by a reporter for Sky News, calling it “a real eye-opener.”

In the video, his father, who is trained as a doctor, is seen treating wounded people at a hospital. He has been in contact with his family since then and says they are safe.

“The whole idea of my dad’s trip was to be a vacation,” he said. “Instead, he ended up having to work and try to save lives down there.”

The majority of Murabit’s family live in Libya now while he continues his studies in Canada. And despite Zawiyah having been retaken by Gaddafi’s troops, Murabit says the struggle to overthrow the dictator will likely continue.

“Now it’s at the point that people are not going to back down from the revolution.

They know it’s time for a change and, frankly, after 41 years, I don’t know how a guy would ever be able to retain his power.”

Murabit also said that Gaddafi’s intentions were good originally. When he came to power in 1969 in a military coup, he promised democratic reforms. However, they never materialized.

In time, Gaddafi became another strongman in the Middle East whose rule is characterized by widespread corruption and limited political freedoms. Additionally, while the country’s vast oil wealth has bolstered Gaddafi’s influence in the region, it has not enriched the lives of average citizens.

Now the movement against the eccentric dictator is in danger of being crushed.

Yet many Western countries are shy about intervening in another predominantly Muslim country.

“The fear for the United States and other countries is that they don’t want resentment from the people and they’re scared that Libyans will hate them like Afghanistan and Iraq,” said Murabit.

“Libyans don’t want that. They don’t want any armed soldiers in there. They don’t want anything like that. They just want some help in the air so they’re not getting bombed by planes while they’re fighting on the street.”

He also suggested more countries could follow France’s lead. When asked if that meant recognizing the rebel council in eastern Libya, Murabit says that he doesn’t call them rebels.

“I call them revolutionaries. Rebels always sounds kind of negative and I don’t think that’s the right word for them.

Revolutionary sounds positive — it sounds like they’re making a change for the better.”

“Did you know that 92% of graduating students would recommend the U of S to others?”

Speak up.

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Student surveys are an important way for your voice to be heard. Survey results have a direct and lasting effect on things like class offerings, residences, food services, clubs and your overall university experience.

Watch your inbox this term for survey invitations and take the chance to tell us what you think.

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Sports

the Sheaf • 17 march 2011 Gold medal game: Carleton Ravens Huskies games: quarter-final, vs. Trinity Western Spartans semi-final, bronze medal

1. Carleton Ravens 2. Trinity Western Spartans 3. UBC Thunderbirds 4. U of S Huskies 5. Lakehead Thunderwolves 6. Dalhousie Tigers 7. Concordia Stingers 8. Acadia Axemen

NICK FROST CUP Sports Bureau Chief

Final 8 standings:

Men’s basketball playoffs action

A6 •

HALIFAX — The Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team have won their seventh CIS championship in team history, and as many in nine years, with an 82–59 drubbing of the fifth-seeded Trinity Western Spartans on March 13.

From the outset, Carleton was able to move the ball well and establish a long-range shooting game that quickly chipped away at the Spartans defence. In the first half, the Ravens dropped 10 of 20 threeballs, allowing them to open up a nine-point lead after the first quarter and then extend it to 18 at the half.

A major focus for the Spartans was containing CIS Player of the Year Tyson Hinz, not allowing him any room to maneuver in the paint — an area he has been dominant in since the start of the tournament.

Hinz appeared visibly frustrated in the first-half, but Carleton head coach Dave Smart was able to settle him down.

While Trinity Western was able to neutralize Hinz at times, allowing him only 13 points and six rebounds all game, the Spartans fell right into the Ravens trap and other Carleton players were given space to create opportunities.

Among them were a pair of fourth-year guards, Elliot Thompson — who finished with a game-high 19 points — and Willy Manigat, who had clutch shots in his arsenal all game long, including a frantic jumper at the first-quarter buzzer to make it 26–17.

The Spartans, on the other hand, had trouble containing Carleton’s precise ball movement, often leaving players like Thompson wide open for a shot from beyond the arc, as well as an inability to

DORIAN GEIGER Sports Editor

capitalize on rebounding — a category Trinity Western led 46–34.

Fifth-year Spartans forward Jacob Doerksen attributed the team’s breakdown to a failure of matching Carleton’s ability to hit open reads and turn boards into points.

It seems Carleton has a knack for winning the big one in Halifax, as this championship marks the team’s sixth consecutive win in the Nova Scotia capital and the first since the tournament’s return to the Metro Centre after a three-year hiatus.

Meanwhile for Trinity Western, despite missing out on a championship in the team’s first appearance at the Final 8, the mere fact that they were able to earn a spot in Halifax will allow the program to take great strides going forward.

While the immediate excitement inside the Halifax Metro Centre was palpable for Ravens fans and players alike, the team will take some time to celebrate. But according to Hinz, there’s still plenty of work to do to ensure this young team can celebrate many more titles in the future.

DORIAN GEIGER Sports Editor Huskies vs. University of British Columbia Thunderbirds (Bronze medal) HALIFAX – Coming home empty handed was not the outcome the No. 3 Huskies expected heading into the CIS Final 8.

The Huskies were downed by the UBC Thunderbirds 106-90 in the bronze medal match on March 13 at the Halifax Metro Center.

Although this was a fight for third place, the Dogs were up against the best team in the country on paper.

UBC and Saskatchewan have proven to be two of the highest scoring teams at the Final Eight and scored 279 points and 269 points, respectively.

UBC was relentless, averaging nearly 28 points per quarter with their big guns Alex Murphy, Kamar Burke and Nathan Yu. Even with the absence of standout player Josh Whyte, UBC had minimal trouble in picking apart the Dogs’ defence.

Headed into halftime, the UBC Thunderbirds had a comfortable 6446 advantage over Saskatchewan.

The TBirds established their dominance after a monstrous 16-2 run triggered by two technical fouls on Huskies’ head coach Barry Rawlyk and point guard Jamelle Barrett.

In the end, some enormous dunks

by Lieffers combined with Barrett’s perpetual ability to defy gravity and sink that perfect layup just weren’t enough for the Dogs. The closest the Huskies came in the later-half of the game was following a layup by Barrett that made the score 89-79 and brought Saskatchewan within 10.

DORIAN GEIGER Sports Editor Huskies vs. Carleton Ravens (Semifinals) HALIFAX – Defending national champions, the Huskies men’s basketball team bowed out of gold medal contention on March 12 after falling to the Carleton Ravens 9583. The loss sent the Huskies to the bronze medal bout with the UBC Thunderbirds the following day.

The only lead the Huskies laid claim to was a three-pointer nailed

by Jamelle Barrett minutes into the first quarter that gave the Dogs a 3-0 advantage. CIS player of the year Tyson Hinz quickly responded by nailing back-to-back three-pointers for the Ravens. From that point forth it was undisputedly Carleton’s game — and Hinz’s too.

The 19-year old Hinz collected

Huskies vs. Dalhousie Tigers (quarter-finals) HALIFAX – The Green and White got one step closer to accomplishing a repeat national championship after knocking off the Dalhousie Tigers 91-79 on March 11.

By the time the buzzer sounded in the fourth quarter the Huskies had tamed the formidable hometown Tigers.

Jamelle Barrett, Michael Lieffers and Rejean Chabot were all unstoppable entities up front for the Huskies. And despite Chabot’s fouling out around the eight-minute mark, Barrett picked up the slack to slam the door on a Tiger comeback.

Dalhousie maintained momentum the first three quarters, taking a 37-36 lead over the Huskies heading into halftime.

The Tigers’ demise began to take shape in the final frame.

Lieffers silenced the boisterous crowd with two monstrous dunks in the second half, giving the Dogs a 10-point cushion and 7969 advantage with roughly four minutes remaining.

Barrett was a frequent thorn in the Tigers’ side; in penetrating Dalhousie’s defence, the Tigers were unable to read if the California-grown Barrett would dish — or swish.

It would be an understatement to label the Huskies-Tigers bout as a physical affair given the obscene amount of fouls dealt out; a total of 42 personal fouls were called. It was evident the flow of the Huskies’ game suffered.

Chabot, Barrett and Nolan Brudehl combined for 12 of the Huskies 24 fouls.

This led the referees’ judgment to come into question more than once by both benches. Huskies’ coaches Barry Rawlyk and Nathan Schellenberg were frequently on the tips of their toes exhausting their lung space in disapproval.

The win equated to a Huskies semi-final berth against the young and agile No. 2 ranked Carleton Ravens.

32 points en route to his team’s gold medal berth and presented an endless problem that interim head coach Barry Rawlyk and the Huskies could just not solve.

Aside from Hinz dominating the Huskies throughout the game, the Dogs found issue once again with the officiating. A total of 62 fouls were called between both teams — a staggering 31 fouls apiece. Needless to say, this was a physical game.

A series of missed foul shots by Barrett, Rejean Chabot and Nolan Brudehl with the seconds trickling away in the final frame didn’t help the Huskies’ cause either.

The victory sent Hinz and the Ravens to face Trinity Western last Sunday with a gold medal and Canadian varsity basketball supremacy on the line. all photos Greg Mason/The Charlatan

Sports •

thesheaf.com/sports

Dogged determination

A7

Despite Final 8 showing Huskies basketball program on the rise DEVIN R. HEROUX Sports Writer All it takes is one CIS National Championship to change the course of an athletic program at the university level.

That’s exactly what took place a year ago for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s basketball team. It translated into what was a season that perhaps nobody could have predicted.

It would have been easy for the Dogs to get lazy after securing the school’s first basketball national title; instead, they just rolled over the momentum they grabbed in that magical playoff run a year earlier into a successful regular season, and then into the playoffs.

After finishing with a 20-4 regular season record, the Huskies took care of business in the Canada West quarterfinals against Regina.

It was then time for the real test as they headed to the Final Four at UBC. In their first game at the Final

Barrett gets air at the Final 8.

photo by Greg Mason/The Charlatan

Four tournament the Huskies found themselves up against the upstart Trinity Western Spartans.

Instead, they had the Huskies held by a leash with four minutes left in the game, and a comfortable 10-point lead. But the Dogs never stopped.

There’s a fine line between

winning and losing, and for years the Huskies were on the other side of the win column. Now they believe they can win any game against any odds, and pulled off one of the more remarkable comebacks in recent memory.

Led by Rejean Chabot and Jamelle Barrett, the Huskies found a way to pull out a heartstopping 80-78 win over Trinity Western that secured their spot at Nationals. The defending Champs seemed poised for another Cinderella-esque run.

In the Canada West Final the Huskies came up against what has become formidable rivals in the UBC Thunderbirds. The Green and White knocked off the Thunderbirds in the very same game a year earlier and in the national championship game for good measure.

This year, however, UBC made sure a repeat performance wouldn’t be taking place, as they beat the Huskies 107-100. The result didn’t much matter other

than perhaps a second-place seeding at nationals as opposed to the third-place seeding the Huskies received.

The Dogs opened in defence of their title against the host Dalhousie Tigers and politely disposed of the lesser easterners.

Canada West MVP Jamelle Barrett was seemingly unstoppable in a 91-79 Huskies win. The quarterfinal affair was a rematch of a year earlier against the mighty Carleton Ravens.

Last year many people didn’t give the Dogs a sniff in the semifinal game against Carleton. They were playing the Ravens, who were the host team, and who had won the past six of eight CIS titles. Nobody from Saskatchewan seemed to care though, and the Dogs stunned the university basketball world, beating Carleton 86-82 en route to their banner year.

This year was a different story.

The Huskies were finally given the respect they deserved going

into the game, and a win wouldn’t have been that much of a shock.

It’s amazing what one championship can do. And despite the fact the clock struck 12 on this storybook run with Carleton, beating the Huskies 95-83, and UBC winning the third-place game against a tired Huskies squad, the Dogs were one win away from getting back to that national championship game.

There’s a culture of basketball and winning that has developed over the past few seasons at our fine institution that bodes well for the future. Many people can take credit in how this program has evolved over the years, and as a fan and spectator just like you, I smugly say, it’s about damn time people stood up and took notice of U of S basketball.

Trevor Nerdahl’s career expires after Final 8 Huskie Nerdahl an ex-grave digger and Trinity West Spartan DORIAN GEIGER Sports Editor Looking at Huskies basketball player Trevor Nerdahl, you probably wouldn’t surmise that the easygoing guard had been a graveyard digger once.

Nerdahl just wrapped up his CIS career following the Huskies bronze medal loss to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. But prior to joining the Huskies he had toiled amongst the tombstones of a Vancouver cemetery.

For three years Nerdahl worked at the Alleyview Memorial Graveyard in Surrey, B.C. As morbid as the occupation sounds, Nerdahl said it paid his bills while he was a student at Trinity Western University. At the time, Nerdahl had been playing for the Trinity Western Spartans, the same team that faced off in the CIS Final 8 gold medal match with the Carleton Ravens.

At $26 an hour, the job helped him

Nerdahl dribbles the nerbahl.

photo by Pete Yee

cope with the extravagant expenses that come along with a university degree. Nerdahl’s not some macabre maniac obsessed with the deceased — for him it was simple economics.

Working in a graveyard in the worst of Vancouver’s neighbourhoods made for some eccentric sights.

“You see a lot of weird things and meet a lot of weird people. There’d be drug addicts walking through all the time. You’d see people doing some weird worshipping satanic things at the graves sometimes,” said Nerdahl.

Due to the physical demands of a gravedigger, the job triggered bulging discs in his lower back that are constant reminders of his previous employment.

Nerdahl, who played for the Spartans from 2005 to 2007, was happy his former team had clinched their first berth ever to a CIS gold medal bout. However, he indicated nothing in the world would have altered his decision in becoming a

Huskie — claiming Saskatchewan’s first-ever national basketball championship last year was priceless.

A year later, however, Nerdahl was sorrowed at the Huskies premature departure from the Final 8.

“It’s a tough way to go out, for sure, but I’m just thankful I had the opportunity to play Huskies basketball,” said Nerdahl in reference to the bronze medal loss to UBC. Against UBC, Nerdahl collected 12 points, two assists and 25 minutes of court action.

“I had a great two years here.

Last year obviously we got to go to the national championships and experienced the highs and right now we’re definitely experiencing the lows. But all in all, I made a lot of friendships to last a lifetime,” added Nerdahl Nerdahl plans to be involved with the Huskies basketball camps this summer but it remains unknown whether he will return to the program in any capacity next season.

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Tickets (including banquet) Students $15 & Non-Students $30 Order your tickets by sending an email to ross.welford@usask.ca by March 27, 2011.

A8 • Sports

Huskies what’s up

Dogs’ track nabs medals at CIS championships MAX CRANSTON Sports Writer The Huskies return from the CIS track and field championships with medals in tow.

The culmination of the entire track and field season came down to three days of competition in Sherbrooke, Que. The Huskies won a total of five medals, four golds and one silver. Both the Huskies men’s and women’s teams finished seventh in the team standings.

The University of Windsor won the overall event in both men’s and women’s brackets by a comfortable margin.

The Green and White’s Taryn Suttie won two gold medals and was named female athlete of the meet. Suttie beat out favourite Heather Steacy from the University of Lethbridge to take gold in weight throw with 19.55 metres and also won gold in shot put with 15.72 metres.

Suttie bested her own CIS shot put record; previously it stood at 15.32 metres from the 2010 season.

Andrew Smith broke an eightyear-old CIS record in shot put with a throw of 18.48 meters to win gold. Nolan Machiskinic took sixth place in shot put with 16.01 meters. Machiskinic also placed sixth in weight throw, tossing 15.91 metres.

Taylor Petrucha, Lane Britnell

and Paul Selzer represented the Huskies men in pole vault.

Britnell took gold with 5.15 metres, followed by Petrucha in second with 5.05 metres and Selzer took 11th spot with 4.10 metres. For the women’s pole vault, Teresa Hill finished eighth, clearing 3.65 metres, and Meghan Richey finished 13th, clearing 3.35 metres.

Lincoln Crooks took ninth place with a high jump of 1.90 metres. Kristen Mackie finished in fifth place with a weight throw of 16.41 metres. Cossy Nachilobe leapt to a sixth place finish in triple jump with 13.68 metres.

Veronika Smits finished 12th in the pentathlon with a combined score of 3,160.

The 4x400 metre women’s relay team finished in 11th with a time of 3:59.91 and the 4x200 metre women’s relay team placed tenth with a time of 1:45.96.

The Huskies will now return home to Saskatoon to focus on the rest of the academic year.

the Sheaf • 17 march 2011

Ninetimes to premiere skate video Skate shop spent three years collecting footage for film KEVIN MENZ Associate News Editor At two years in the making, Ninetimes Skate shop is finally satisfied with the film it will premiere March 19 at the Broadway Theatre.

It’s only the third video in the shop’s history and the first in over six years, and shop staff are excited to feature Saskatoon’s best skaters on the big screen.

“It’s kind of a bold and cocky statement, but we do have the best skateboarders in Saskatoon riding for our shop,” said staff Dan Watson, emphasizing that all skaters in the video ride for Ninetimes or have their roots with the shop.

“Kevin Lowry is probably the biggest name in there,” said Watson.

“He gets in almost every issue of every Canadian [skating] magazine that comes out each month.”

Lowry rides out of Calgary and is sponsored by several companies, including Adidas and Blueprint Skateboards, which is based out of London, England. Watson said that Lowry is always welcome back to the shop.

“I’ve known him since he was eight and Jason Gordon, who owns Ninetimes, grew up with him. He’s family.”

Other notables include Cam Buchan, Mike Campbell and Garret McNevin, though there are many other local names in the video.

“Some team members will have a full section in the video,” said Watson. “Then there is going to be montages of friends and other team

Skater Jason Gordon’s shadow does the water sprinkler. supplied by

members who didn’t get a full section — there’s lots of Saskatoon people in it.”

In fact, even Gordon will have his own section.

“I’ve heard good things about Jason’s footage,” said Watson.

“That’s pretty cool, to be able to go and watch footage of the dude who owns the shop and it’s not some dude who doesn’t know anything about skating; the dude who is selling you your stuff is shredding. That’s pretty sick.”

Watson hopes to see himself in the video.

“They better edit me in. I’ve got one trick!”

The video was filmed by Duey Foley and edited by Sean Sader, and it sticks strictly to street footage.

“Most of it will be footage from Saskatoon, but there’s footage everywhere, from China, Barcelona and all kinds of other places,” said Watson. “None of it is skatepark. It’s

Owen Woytowich

spot finding and all street footage.”

Finally and most importantly, the premiere is free. Ninetimes will be giving away free merchandise at the event.

“It’s absolutely free,” said Watson, acknowledging that the premiere would not be possible without key sponsors Real Skateboards, Anti-hero Skateboards and Spitfire.

“These companies are actually paying to rent out the theatre for us.

So that’s very generous of them,” he said. “We have lots of prizes and giveaways from these companies and other companies, too.”

The video will start at 9 p.m. and is only a half-hour long, so won’t hinder the rest of anyone’s night.

“Everyone’s welcome. Come in from nine to 10 and get your night going.”

Ninetimes premieres their video on March 19 at the Broadway Theatre. It’s free!

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Opinions • A9

20 january 2011 • opinions@thesheaf.com • thesheaf.com/opinions • the Sheaf

An existential struggle with digital withdrawal How an archaic classroom policy became an eye-opening experience BRYN BECKER Opinions Writer

The whole traumatic episode began on the first day of the semester.

I remember it well. I was sitting at a table in a stuffy Arts Building classroom, thumbing through the course outline that had been handed to me by a professor who had only just walked into the room but was already inexplicably covered in chalk.

The outline seemed like standard fare. No surprises, really — until I got to the last page. There, the second line from the bottom: “computers must be turned off; no texting or related activities.”

The paper slipped out of my trembling fingers and fluttered down to the table. I felt like I had been given the Black Spot (cue nods of approval from English majors and pirate fans). My breath caught in my throat and I broke out in a cold sweat. My heart raced. I glanced around the room, clammy palms raised in an abject gesture of disbelief, hoping to catch a classmate’s eye and share a moment of profound incredulity.

I couldn’t believe it. Didn’t the professor know what century it was? Did he expect me to take notes with a quill and parchment?

I could picture the torturous weeks stretching out in front of me with no end in sight. It was going to be like Trainspotting

graphic by Danni Siemens

except with cell phones instead of needles; somehow I had to kick my nasty Facebook freebasing habit.

All right, I’m being slightly melodramatic. I didn’t have a nervous breakdown or a neardeath experience in class, and I’m not desperately addicted to my cell phone or laptop. Well, not quite.

But I was a little bit caught off guard. I knew that some professors frowned on students using cell phones during their class, but I had never encountered any hard-and-fast rules prohibiting it. Now I was facing an all-out ban on electronics, including laptops.

I seriously wondered if I was capable of resisting technological temptation for entire 80-minute periods. I questioned the prof’s rationale — it’s not like the

occasional text message was hurting anyone, right?

That was more than two months ago. I’ve managed to refrain from using my various electronic devices in class and as a result my perspective on the situation has fundamentally changed. Looking back, my initial reaction is almost embarrassing.

I’ve seen first-hand how putting away the gadgets in the classroom can dramatically increase the amount of information one can absorb and retain, and how it can make lectures more engaging, fulfilling and entertaining.

This is starting to sound like a preachy high school Public Service Announcement. Hold on — hear me out!

The cognitive benefits of closing a laptop or pocketing a cell phone in a classroom should come as no surprise to

anyone who has studied entrylevel psychology. Reducing the number of distracting external stimuli increases one’s ability to focus on the specific task at hand, like actively participating in class discussions or absorbing information.

Yes, some students choose to take notes on laptops, or like to follow along with presentation slides or other course material, especially in more technical classes. But in the three years I’ve been creepily observing my classmates’ computer use, I’ve yet to witness anyone go an entire lecture without repeatedly tabbing out to engage in something decidedly non-academic. The first person to read this article online while in class gets bonus points for proving me right.

The experience has shed light on how overly dependent we’ve become on our digital devices, and how important it can be to put them aside, if only while in the classroom. Bear in mind, this is a pretty out-of-character revelation coming from a guy who lives and breathes the Internet and gets more of a tan from his laptop screen than the sun.

Despite that (and the ridiculous introduction to this article), it strikes me as unfortunate that we’ve reached the point where professors have to actively enforce strict no electronics policies in their classrooms. We’re paying an exorbitant price for our education and we’re wasting

our money by letting professors lecture to a sea of faces bathed in the glow of cell phones and laptops. And it’s not just our money going to waste — don’t forget all the knowledge that’s bouncing off the back of our laptops that should be seeping into our brains.

Students are going to keep bringing their devices to class. I will probably be one of them.

In most cases no one is going to object. Still, just for fun, try going through an entire lecture with your laptop in your bag and your phone in your pocket. Maybe that boring class you usually spend obsessively refreshing Facebook isn’t as lame as you remember. I guarantee it will go by faster, and that you’ll leave a slightly smarter human being.

It’s not a massive struggle to unplug ourselves from our electronic devices, at least for the duration of a university lecture.

Or at least it shouldn’t be. Maybe there are students that can text and take notes on a laptop and pay attention to what’s going on, all while scoring precious class participation grades. But us mortals might be better off sticking to that quill and parchment.

and so on — is actually helping you to connect with others.

I’m sure Immanuel Kant would agree with me that Facebook treats people as means and not ends — which he regards as a very bad thing. For example, if you add someone because you want to “pad your stats,” rather than actually wanting to grow closer to this person, you would be treating them as means.

Now, before you respond with “Facebook’s not the problem,

you’re the problem,” or “You’ll be back, just wait and see,” I want to make clear that I’m not telling you to quit Facebook. However, I ask that you meditate for a moment on your pre-Facebook life. Was it really so lonely? Were you really that out of the loop? Did you really feel less popular?

Well, that’s all this old-timer has to say. I now open the floor to your spirited defence of the holy and beloved institution of Facebook.

Out of the digital fog of Facebook Rejoice, for there is life after digital death!

MICHAEL CUTHBERTSON Opinions Writer A few weeks ago I deleted my Facebook account.

The site responded like a lover hearing the “I don’t think we’re right for each other” speech. It showed me pictures of friends with captions pleading, “Murray will miss you; Chris will miss you,” and so on. Then it asked me, “Why are you doing this? Do you think we spend too much time together?

Don’t you feel safe with me?” I simply replied, “You’re ruining real communication,” and with that our love affair was deactivated.

News of the breakup was met with dismay. Several people gave me the exact same response: “Oh, you’re one of those people.”

“Those people,” I assume, refers to we barbarians, who like the shithurtling ape, can only talk face-toface. Who, without Facebook, miss all the hot news that flies through cyberspace.

But life after Facebook doesn’t feel any lonelier or subhuman. In fact, I feel closer to people, which in turn has made me feel more human.

Still, every year people seem to favour virtual communication more and more. A recent paper published in the prestigious journal

The Biologist reported, “the number of hours people spend interacting face-to-face has fallen dramatically since 1987, as the use of electronic media has increased.” I’m probably quite alone when I say I find this devastating.

Most see Facebook as a convenient, effective alternative to talking with a living, breathing person. I remember a friend telling me, “I like Facebook because you can edit things to sound exactly how you want them to.” He’s right: Facebook gives you the time to sound more clever and eloquent than you actually are.

But let me return for a second to the pre-Facebook, shit-hurtling apes of our past. Here, science has begun to reveal that face-to-face dialogue has a far greater value than we ever thought — even more important than sounding clever.

A recent study by the UCLA School of Medicine found that high levels of social isolation negatively impacts the body’s ability to fight off illness and stress. They attribute this to oxytocin, a hormone that responds to human interactions like “hugging, touch and warm temperature. It is even involved in feelings of trust and generosity.”

If you ask me, Facebook is the antitheses of these interactions.

After all, you can’t hold the person whose profile you’re stalking.

Moreover, any chronic Facebook

user will tell you that Facebook leaves you self-absorbed and paranoid of having missed an allimportant social event.

Undoubtedly, most Facebook users know full well these problems. However, like habitual users of anything, they think, “I have my habit under control.”

Indeed, many Facebook users maintain healthy social lives. Still, it’s delusional to think that using Facebook — collecting “friends,” broadcasting charming anecdotes

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A10 • Opinions

the Sheaf • 17 march 2011

Advice with Dr. Andy

CORRECTION

With Dr. Andrew Rothchild, MA, DSW, D.Phil, PsyD

In the article “2010 the warmest year in recorded history” in the March 10 issue of the Sheaf, we spelled Dr. Tom Pedersen’s name wrong 15 times. Fifteen! Sorry about that.

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I have never been especially athletic, and weight has always been a bit of an issue for me. I’m now into my late 20s, and I think it’s about time I made a lifestyle change for the better.

What sort of sports do you suggest for someone like me, who has never really run more than a block or two at a time or played more than a few games of pickup basketball? Where should I go to shop for equipment? And how can I make sure that I don’t injure myself by jumping into things too quickly?

— Rookie Prospect Dear Rookie Prospect, Give yourself a pat on the back for taking the initiative to make such a positive change in your life!

Now take that pat back. If you hadn’t waited so long and wasted your life, by now you might have been the next Michael Jordan — or at least not such a lazy shut-in.

To make the transition to exercise slightly easier, I suggest you stick with what you know — which I imagine is chips and videogames. Go buy a Wii. For the first while, simply try to use exaggerated hand motions and exert maximal force when pressing buttons. Once you’re body has adapted sufficiently (four or five weeks should do it), buy some sports games to test out your body’s tolerance for more exhaustive movements such as running on the spot, arm swinging or repetitive knee lifts. Take it easy at first, before moving onto the next stage — real-world participatory sports!

There are some pretty terrible sports out there. In particular, avoid cricket, darts, water polo, croquet, baseball and bowling; all other sports are fair game, so to speak. To purchase your new gear, look for retail outlets with the word “sport” in their name. For

example, Sportchek, Sportmart, and Source for Sports all stock sports equipment. I’m sorry, was that a serious question?

As for your concerns of straining or over-exerting yourself: before you begin any sort of strenuous activity (at least by your feeble standards), make sure that there are no children present, as the sight of you collapsing could traumatize them and lead to night terrors. Your heart is probably frail, your lungs flabby and withered, and your muscles brittle and decayed.

However, there are ways around this, and I can’t stress this enough — pharmaceuticals exist for a reason. Save yourself some trouble and considerable soreness by looking into diet pills, supplements and steroids. May I suggest a combination (or “Stack” as those of us in the know call it) of ephedrine, human growth hormone, plasma boosters and my own recently patented SuperSport Stem Cells. You’ll never look back™!

Dear Dr. Andy, I’m a student at the U of S, and like many other students I need to find a decent job to pay the bills.

The problem is I come from rural Saskatchewan (kinda near Foam Lake) and I’ve never really had a “real job” before. For money I would just help my parents and uncle run the farm but that isn’t really the greatest thing to put on a resumé.

So now it’s time for me to apply for work and I have virtually nothing to put on an application. I just need to get a real job to build up my resumé and finally get a paycheck that doesn’t come from my family. I’m a hard worker and have some good skills but it’s hard to prove that without official work experience and no local references.

What can I do to make myself more appealing to employers?

Should I be explaining my scenario to them? Should I just make something up? What should I do?

— Job Seeker Dear Job Seeker, First off, you really could have been more clever with your alias.

But, maybe that’s why you are having problems making up a decent resumé. You just aren’t very creative. I mean, sure, work experience is important — but employers look for a lot of other things too.

For example, have you considered taking a First Aid course? They love that shit. Or perhaps you should try taking the first job that comes your way and apply for something better while you already have one (don’t feel bad about screwing McDonald’s over). That way you’ll have a bit of money to work with and you’ll build up some actual work experience. But remember, this takes time, and that’s something you don’t always have. So what you should be looking for is the quick fix.

My suggestion to you is to think outside the box. Start thinking about things that you can put on your resumé that will set you apart from other candidates, but require no real effort.

Consider becoming an ordained minister. It literally takes five minutes and doesn’t cost you anything. In fact, I just became ordained while responding to this.

So just head to themonastery.org and sign up and you can become just like me*. I can guarantee all those God fearing employers will hire you when they read the name “Rev. Job Seeker!”

But, future reverend, that’s not all you can do to set yourself apart. You can also just fabricate credentials altogether. No one is ever going to check to see if you actually did work as a volunteer at a summer camp in Connecticut for sexually confused tsunami victims every year since you were 12. All you really need is a bit of creativity!

“But Dr. Andy, lying is wrong!”

Well duh, of course it is. That’s why you only lie to get your first few jobs. Then you can use those lie-jobs to get real jobs and then at the real jobs you don’t need to worry about the lie-jobs and eventually you don’t need the liejobs at all. It’s really quite simple.

Get out there, be a little creative, and get yourself some employment credentials! *except nothing at all like me, with less friends, fewer cars and far less success.

Do you have a relationship, family, or work-related problem you’d like to ask Dr. Andy? Have you ever been charged with aggravated mayhem? What is the 11th digit in pi?

Send questions to doctorandy@thesheaf.com.

There are only three issues of the Sheaf remaining in the regular term.

You’ve probably got a lot on your plate at the moment, but if you find the time to write something between studying, drinking and vomiting, send it to opinions@thesheaf.com

thesheaf.com/opinions

Tapping into the issues of bottled water

Opinions • A11

Commodifying the world’s most important resource is not in anyone’s best interest THE BETTER THAN BOTTLED TEAM Here at the University of Saskatchewan and on campuses across North America, discussions have been mounting over whether or not bottled water should be available. Why is the provision and sale of bottled water such an issue?

There are impacts associated with all of our day-to-day decisions. To better understand these impacts we can ask ourselves questions such as: Where did the materials to make this product come from? How was it produced? What happens to it after we’re done with it?

Answers to these types of questions may illustrate how connected we all are to the global economic market and to broader environmental and social issues.

One of these important daily decisions is whether to drink bottled or tap water.

There are many environmental issues associated with bottled water.

A lot of these have to do with the excessive amount of energy, petroleum and resources needed to produce, transport and dispose of bottled water.

For example, a large amount of petroleum is required to produce plastic bottles. Further, the transportation of bottled water (required both in shipping it to the consumer and then shipping it away to be disposed of) uses a lot of energy and leads to carbon emissions. Even plastic bottles that are recycled have an impact on the environment. For example, bottles recycled through Saskatoon’s SARCAN facilities are shipped to Calgary to be chipped and cleaned and are then subjected to further processing elsewhere. These resources are not used to produce the alternative: tap water.

When plastic bottles are not recycled, they end up in a landfill

at best, or can linger in the natural environment as litter. This leads to further pressures on our landfills and can result in plastic entering the food web (marine species have been known to ingest plastic litter, which can be detrimental to their health).

Using public tap water keeps water in a local watershed, while bottled water generally involves the transportation of water from one watershed to another. Whether the source of water is groundwater or surface water, the impacts of extracting water from local watersheds has raised many public concerns.

As a consumer, choosing to drink tap water instead of bottled water reduces negative environmental impacts. As well as being a wise environmental choice, tap water also averts many of the social costs associated with bottled water.

When water is placed into a profit-driven market, it is often sold for around 1,000 times more than local tap water. Ultimately, it separates the public into two groups: those who can and those who cannot pay for drinking water.

In addition to taking money from consumer’s pockets, paying for bottled water can reduce public access to affordable water that is clean and safe. For example, bottled water availability offers an excuse not to improve the accessibility and functionality of public water fountains. Drinking bottled water supports private control over water resources that could often be more fairly and affordably distributed publicly, ensuring that all citizens are able to access safe drinking water.

Ultimately, we must ask ourselves: who is controlling our access to clean drinking water?

What type of water governance structure do we want to support?

More specifically, we need to ask ourselves if we would prefer our

Water Treatment Plant meets all, and in most cases is better than, rigorous national drinking water quality standards.” And despite the perception that water fountains are dirty, the water fountains on our campus are cleaned daily, with special attention being paid to the spout and areas which may have been touched by hands.

Not only that, but water chlorine levels are tested monthly by the university’s Workplace Safety and Environmental Protection division, and campus community members can request further testing if they have concerns.

Bottled water may be required as a temporary solution in emergency situations or in places that do not have access to safe public drinking water, but it is clearly not a necessity in our city or on our campus.

Whether or not to drink bottled water is one of many complex global water issues that need to be considered. Water is more than a commodity, more than even a human right. Water supports all humans, all species, all ecosystems — it supports all life. Therefore, we need to make informed decisions regarding how we use our shared water supply.

The Better Than Bottled Water Team is Shannon Dyck, Amanda Hunter, Colleen George and Allison Henderson.

This bottle contained 100 per cent tap water.

water to be distributed by a private corporation, such as Coca-Cola (the distributor of the Dasani water sold on our campus), or the City of Saskatoon, a publicly accountable governing body elected by citizens.

In order for our campus community to fully embrace drinking tap water instead of

Students running on Cheez Whiz

photo illustration by Pete Yee

bottled water, we need to answer this important question: Is the tap water on our campus safe to drink? The answer is a resounding “Yes!” Saskatoon’s municipal water is among the best quality in all of Canada. According to the City of Saskatoon website, “Water produced by the City’s

World Water Week runs from March 2125 and will feature events and speakers across the University of Saskatchewan campus.

See usask.ca/water/ water-week.php for more information.

March is Nutrition Awareness Month — care, dammit!

NEIL SPARKES The Muse (Memorial Union University) ST. JOHN’S (CUP) — March is nutrition awareness month, and if you’re like me, the last two months of neglecting resolutions to eat better and be less self-destructive are starting to catch up.

Even though some groundbreaking steps have been taken — like no more Cheez Whiz, since it’s grey before the yellow colouring is added — the garbage is still full of frozen dinner boxes, bottle caps and Tim Hortons cups.

Students have limited options when it comes to buying affordable food. A loan or line of credit will only stretch so far once you’ve lost half of it to winter cab fare and spent another chunk at the bookstore. Kraft Dinner and Mr. Noodles have as much nutrition as cardboard, but they’re still staples of a university diet. Cheap food is too appealing to someone on a budget.

It occurred to me one evening, as I prepared another frozen

Mmmmm sodium alginate!

photo by Brian Bennett/Flickr

chicken burger patty with a side of fish sticks, that I should eat more vegetables. I’m too often satisfied to simply fill the empty void in my stomach with whatever comes easiest — the path of least resistance, if you will. Nutrition is something I rarely think about, and that’s not good.

The body is a complicated thing.

I wish my body came with a user guide — a manual that told me

how to keep all my components in tune, how to keep my gas tank full and how to get the longest possible life out of my vehicle. Even if there were such a guide, I would probably still struggle with basic things, like consistent meal times. I can eat breakfast right before I go to bed, right?

There are always people who take dieting too seriously. They carry light Tupperware lunches and calorie-counter notepads and they lecture you with hateful eyes as you order your BLT with double bacon.

Unless it’s by doctor’s orders, neurotic obsession with nutrition isn’t healthy either.

We all consume things that kill us: Smoke, soda and McDonald’s to name a few. But somewhere between gluttony and paranoia is a healthy balance, where smart choices come from awareness, not obsession. That’s what Nutrition Awareness Month is about. It’s not about telling people how to live, but reminding people to take care of themselves. Habits can set traps that are easy to fall into.

www.saskcancer.ca

research treatment prevention early detection

School of Radiation Therapy The Saskatchewan Cancer Agency invites you to consider a career in radiation therapy.

Radiation therapists are important members of the healthcare team in treating cancer.

They plan, deliver and provide care and education to people receiving radiation therapy.

If you are interested in building a career that combines patient-focused care with leading-edge technology, the Saskatchewan School of Radiation Therapy invites you to apply to become a part of this exciting and rewarding field. The next class will begin on August 15, 2011.

The Saskatchewan School of Radiation Therapy offers selected candidates a 25-month Radiation Therapist diploma program. This includes a didactic affiliation with CancerCare Manitoba and Red River College that requires students to attend two fourmonth terms in Winnipeg. Clinical competency is attained at the Saskatoon Cancer Centre and the Allan Blair Cancer Centre in Regina.

Minimum requirements: Successful completion of 30 credits of undergraduate university classes including: English – 3 credits, Psychology or Sociology – 6 credits, Physics – 6 credits, Anatomy & Physiology – 6 credits and Statistics – 3 credits. For specific course requirements please visit our website at www.saskcancer.ca under “Our Programs.”

Successful applicants will have a good background in the sciences, strong technical skills and the ability to work with care and precision. Patience, tolerance as well as strong interpersonal and teamwork skills are important to have.

If you are interested in applying please submit a resume, a covering letter indicating which clinical site is preferred and original transcripts of post-secondary education, no later than March 31, 2011 to: Cheryle Thompson, Human Resources Consultant, Allan Blair Cancer Centre, 4101 Dewdney Avenue, Regina, Saskatchewan S4T 7T1 For more information visit our website at www.saskcancer.ca or contact one of the program/site coordinators: Regina: 306-766-2220 Saskatoon: 306-655-2715

A12 • Opinions CAMPUS CHAT

the Sheaf • 17 march 2011 if you were on death row, what would you want for your final meal?

“Why don’t you ask me what I think of Peter MacKinnon and his administration?”

“A Chinese buffet.”

-Eli Gana

-Malcolm Radke

-Michael Kirkpatrick

Shares in earthquakes, flooding, tsunamis, hurricanes, and volcanic eruptions have skyrocketed following a recent string of catastrophic events in the global weather economy.

Edged on by recent flooding in Australia and New Jersey, and earthquakes in New Zealand and most recently, Japan, investors have been flocking to secure stocks.

Beginning with the Haitian earthquake disaster in early January 2010, Mayan market analysts have continually predicted a sharp rise in the demand for catastrophic natural disasters.

Nevertheless, investors are cautioned that “this is a lucrative, but nevertheless short-term portfolio investment… disaster bonds should devalue due to over supply by early 2012.”

Valuations of tectonic plate stocks have done particularly well, rising 42.3 per cent over the weekend to close at U.S. $56.23 per share.

An evolving crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is expected to contribute to a further boom in the prices of disaster shares.

Indiana man seeks television show

-Justine Shenher

Straight talk With Dale Judd

FAKE NEWS OF THE WEEK

Natural disaster stocks soar

“Homemade perogies with onions, butter and sour cream.”

“A hot dog from Original Joe’s.”

An Indiana man has begun engaging in reckless and self-destructive behaviour in order to secure a spot for himself on A&E’s popular primetime television show Intervention.

Travis Roede, a recent graduate of Purdue University’s drama program, became upset when he was unable to find acting jobs, and has said “it’s not because of a lack of gigs… but I’m a pretty average looking guy, about average height, and there just isn’t a market for that kind of actor except as an extra. So I figured the best way to get on TV was for people to feel sorry for me.”

Roede has since begun consuming upwards of 20 times the recommended daily caloric intake, has been experimenting with injectable drugs and is in the midst of developing a serious scab-picking addiction in order to develop a name for himself and hopefully land a spot on the network.

Dale Judd is a concerned parent of two U of S students.

As a studentrun newspaper, Dale’s views are intended to provide an alternative perspective on events on and around campus, and do not reflect those of the Sheaf.

Hey folks, Dale here.

By ‘time this gets on shelves, the new string of commie-hopefuls runnin’ for them USSU spots’ll have been announced ‘n all.

I got some predictions on who’s gonna take this one: either it’s one of them “pre-Law” beret-wearin’ fruit bowls or a pretty lookin’ broad with some sorta help-the-children deal.

An’ from what I been hearing there’s been a whole lotta scufflin’ over at yer USSU, and now one a them VP’s has gone and shot

himself in the hoofer ‘n is gettin’ the boot or some such.

Well Jeez, least they’re doin’ somethin’ for once. Not like a guy’s surprised a gaggle of pinkos ‘er leavin’ one a their own out in the cold.

Speakin’ a droppin’ the gloves, I seen one a the best ‘chel hits in a long time this past weekend. Lord knows a guy wasn’t actually watchin’ the Habs go at ‘er, but on the highlight reel I seen one of them French-fries gettin’ dished out harder than a trough fulla pig slop.

Ask me, there oughta be more of them type of hits. I mean, that video’s seen more action on the YouTubes than they know what to do with. Sure, here ‘n there some Nancy might break a vertebrae or two, but that’s the nature of the game.

I figure it’s time to get us some Craig MacTavishin’ and lose the helmets once and for all.

Winston’s Shamrock Shaker This St. Patrick’s Day Saskatoon’s Biggest and Best St. Patrick’s Day Party!

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Caffery’s Irish Ale

Shamrock Martini’s Irish Coffee Irish Depth Charge Dirty Leprechaun Shooter Jameson Irish Whisky Bushmills Irish Whisky

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All Night Long!

Winston’s Irish Dancers!

Winston’s Bagpiper Crew!

Irish Fare Churchill’s Irish Nacho’s $8.95 Guinness Burger $8.95

Irish Stew $7.95

Guinness Wings $6.95

Irish Whiskey Bread Pudding $5.95