March 3rd, 2011

Passing judgment on the penny pg. C7 McMASTER UNIVERSITY'S STUDENT NEWSPAPER

www.thesil.ca

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

Feds open Innovation Park lab

EST. 1930

FROM CAMPUS TO YOU AND BACK AGAIN

VOLUME 81, NO. 21

Mac claims volleyball title

CANMET-MTL builing relocated from Ottawa MADIHA KHAN SILHOUETTE STAFF

The Government of Canada officially opened a new state-of-the-art Materials Technology Laboratory (MTL) at the McMaster Innovation Park (MIP) on Feb. 23. The approximately $60 million, 156,000-sq. ft. facility, which is affiliated with the Canada Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology (CANMET), is expected to boost steel, transportation and energy industries both in Hamilton and across Canada.

“Working with the federal government to relocate such a phenomenal research centre from Ottawa to MIP has been an incredible experience,” said Zach Douglas, MIP president. “The presence of CANMET-MTL here will likely stimulate the relocation of other companies to Hamilton and thereby facilitate the future economic development of our great city.”

CANMET-MTL has a special program that provides all Canadian university researchers access to its facilities. This program, which is funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), was initiated by professors at McMaster University. McMaster owns CANMET-MTL and the federal government will lease the building back over the next 25-40 years.

According to David Wilkinson, McMaster University’s Dean of Engineering, the partnership between McMaster and CANMET is an old one.

“McMaster University students have had significant engagement with CANMET while it resided in Ottawa,” said Wilkinson. “The National Access Program partly funded by NSERC allowed McMaster students to spend a day or a few weeks at CANMET to complete research projects. However, with the relocation of CANMET-MTL to MIP, we can expect an increase in the number of McMaster students benefitting from CANMET’s expertise and attaining valuable exposure to the industrial side of their work.”

Wilkinson further noted that since CANMET drew experts from all over Canada, McMaster and Mohawk students would gain significant experience from collaborative projects.

The mutual benefits to CANMET-MTL and McMaster were stressed by both Mayor Bob Bratina and President of McMaster University, Patrick Deane, at the official ribbon-cutting ceremony, which was also attended by Douglas, MIP president, and the Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of Natural Resources.

The Mayor explained that the presence of CANMET-MTL in Hamilton would help the city retain • PLEASE SEE REFORM, A4

For full story, see pg. B1 PHOTO C/O RICHARD ZAZULAK

McMaster MD faces sex assault charges Defendant to re-appear in court March 14, will plead not-guilty FARZEEN FODA

young children. Chauhan graduated from McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Medicine in Two men strolled out of a base- 2010, after which he entered the ment courtroom in Toronto’s Old post-graduate program in July City Hall following a bail hear- 2010. Since acquiring registration ing on Feb. 23, looking sharp and with the College of Physicians and confident; a look quite unexpected Surgeons of Ontario, both men have for two doctors who had just spent maintained a clear record thus far four days in the Don Jail on account with no history of malpractice or of sexual assault charges. The pair professional negligence. were described by the Toronto Star Before pursuing a medas looking “quite like two gents ical degree at McMaster University, sprung from the Chauhan completed pages of GQ.” his undergraduate

D r . degree in Politics Suganthan Kay- As doctors, the duo and Economics from ilasanathan of may have had easy Royal Military ColMarkham and Dr. access to a variety lege, graduating in Amitabh Chau2002. He joined the han of Ancaster, of drugs, which left Canadian Military police concerned in 1997 and left in both doctors and long-time friends, that this was likely 2007, but mainwere arrested on tained affiliations Feb.18 following one of many sexual as a member of the an alleged sexual naval reserve, workassaults.” assault on Feb. ing part-time at the 13.

Kayilasanaval reserve divnathan, aged 32, is ision HMCS Star a Family Physician who works in a in Hamilton while working in the privately owned clinic in Markham. Department of Plastic Surgery at He completed his medical degree at McMaster as required for his postthe Medical University of the Amer- graduate program. icas in 2007, and has been friends The Department declined with Chauhan since he migrated to to comment on the matter.

Canada from Sri Lanka as a child.

According to the Toronto

Chauhan, also 32, is cur- Star, the two men met a 23-year-old rently a post-graduate resident in woman at a downtown Toronto hotel the Department of Plastic Surgery bar located at Queen St. and Uniat McMaster University. He lives versity Ave. where they offered the in Ancaster with his wife and two woman career advice before leading ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

her to a second bar at Wellington St. W. and Spadina Ave. Police suspect that an unknown substance was slipped into her drink at the second bar. Later the woman was taken to a hotel where the alleged sexual assault took place. According to the Globe and Mail, a publication ban has been put in place prohibiting the

release of the identity of the young woman, as well as many other details about the alleged assault.

Detective Daniel Luff of the Toronto Police Services Sex Crimes Unit noted that as doctors, the duo may have had easy access to a variety of drugs, which left police • PLEASE SEE GOV’T, A4

C/O RICHARD LAUTENS / THE TORONTO STAR

Amitabh Chauhan was interviewed after the hearing on Feb. 24

[This Week in the Sil] Facing the Man Cassandra Jeffery discusses the tribulations of having to submit to authority as an adult.

Pg. A7

Venture to Vegas

Short Fiction Contest

Our business editor Santino Marinucci visited Vegas for the break. Get the scoop of what Sin City had to offer.

Pg. C1

ANDY’s short fiction contest begins this week, with the theme of relationships.

Submissions due March 18.

Pg. D4

This is a paid advertisement from the MSU.

the

PRESIDENT’S PAGE Nick Shorten VP (Finance)

Mary Koziol President

Joe Finkle VP (Education)

John McIntyre VP (Administration)

LET’S TALK TUITION

FOR A GOOD CAUSE

Students engaging in discussion about tuition is an invaluable tool in the lobbying process

Annual Charity Dodgeball Tournament raises funds and brings together the Mac community

Joe Finkle VP (Education) vped@msu.mcmaster.ca ext. 24017

In collaboration with numerous campus partners, the McMaster Students Union will be hosting an open discussion concerning tuition in post-secondary education on Thursday, March 10th from 11:00am to 1:00pm in CIBC Hall (MUSC 3rd floor).

Let’s Talk About Tuition will bring campus stakeholder groups, students, University administrators and provincial lobby organizations together to discuss the various positions, strategies and views taken of tuition in Ontario.

The goal of this event is to promote an open dialogue between various parties and allow students to talk about their thoughts on tuition. Moreover, the event will give all interested parties a better understanding of what is being done to address the rising cost of education in Ontario.

All are welcome to attend and no registration is required. This event is the extension of a conversation introduced by CUPE 3906 when they hosted Free Tuition? in February. At that discussion, calls were made to take the dialogue to a broader cross section of campus and engage with more opinions, including those of student groups, administrators and sector lobby partners.

Let’s Talk About Tuition will be an open forum for discussion, featuring free-flowing conversation from the group, with the opportunity to ask questions of each other and campus leaders from a variety of backgrounds, including McMaster President Dr. Patrick Deane and OUSA Executive Director Alexi White.

Tuition is always contentious and has never been so relevant, as class sizes increase and Ontario students face the lowest per-capita funding in Canada.

Asking what value you receive for your tuition payments is an important dialogue.

On Saturday, March 19th, the MSU in conjunction with Athletics & Recreation will host its annual Dodge for a Good Cause Charity Dodgeball Tournament. This event is held to raise monies for a local or national charity.

This year, the charity beneficiary is Autism Society Canada (ASC), which is a national not-for profit charitable organization founded in 1976 by a group of parents committed to advocacy, public education, information sharing, and support of regional societies. ASC works across the country to reduce the impact of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ADDs) on individuals and their families.

This event was born out of the overwhelming desire of MSU clubs to support charities through sporting initiatives. This event is continuously growing each year and because of this, the fundraising goal for this year is set at $10,000.

Help us reach this goal through your team registrations, pledges and donations! In its third year, the goal

The President’s Page is sponsored by the McMaster Students Union.

It is a space used to communicate with the student body about the projects, goals and agenda of the MSU Board of Directors.

www.msu.mcmaster.ca

of this event is to bring students, staff, the community and the university together in a charitable initiative with a common goal- to make a difference.

All those interested in taking part are welcome to register a team of seven individuals (minimum three females) at the DBAC Business Office by Friday March 11th. A refundable $40 registration bond is required.

New this year, the more money you pledge the more competition points you receive! All pledge forms must be submitted to the Clubs Administrators Office by Friday March 18th at 4:00 pm.

Pledge forms can be found on the MSU website (www.msu.mcmaster. ca). Inquiries about volunteering, sponsorship or prize donation should be directed to Dina Fanara at clubsasst@msu.mcmaster.ca.

Brittani Metlin MSU Clubs Administrator clubs@msu.mcmaster.ca 905.525.9140 ext. 24113

THE SILHOUETTE • A3

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

Newsbites Compiled by Jemma Wolfe Fine Arts Program Proposed changes to the School of the Arts Studio Art program – pending approval by the Senate – will be implemented starting this September 2011. This change involves the altering of the degree designation for Studio Arts students from Bachelor of Arts to Bachelor of Fine Arts, in order to prepare students for potential entry into a Master of Fine Arts program and a career in the art world. Students will now enter Studio Art directly in first year, instead of being considered general Level I Humanities students until streamlining their focus of study in Level II, and will graduate with an Honours BFA. This new program also introduces the collaboration of Studio Art students with the Engineering Faculty, and emphasizes the importance of environmentally sustainable art practices through the introduction of new courses. Fourth year even offers an intensive two-week Print Residency at an atelier in Quebec. Art History will remain an Honours BA program.

Humanities Program Changes Academic regulations for undergraduate programs in Humanities and Social Sciences are changing for September 2011. Continuation in the programs is now dependent on a new, graduated cumulative average (CA) system. For an Honours program, students are now required to have a CA of at least 5.0 to progress to Level II of a program, 5.5 to continue into Level III, and 6.0 to be admitted into Level IV. For a three-year BA program, students must have a CA of at least 3.5 every year to progress through the program, and then graduate. The Bachelor of Social Work program and combined Honours programs involving Geography and Psychology require a consistent 6.0 CA.

Sexual Assault

Multiple victims suspected wife and Kayilasanathan’s father entering several medical facilities - and they are not allowed to enter around Hamilton.

While the College of Physconcerned that this was likely one any bars or other places that primar- of many sexual assaults. By Feb. 24, ily rely on the sale of alcohol for icians and Surgeons of Ontario will continue their investigation, both two other women had come forward revenue.

The two men are also pro- Chauhan and Kayilasanathan are with allegations against the men.

The first woman raised ac- hibited from entering hotels, motels permitted to continue to practice cusations against Chauhan alone, or inns unless they are required to medicine but will not be able to use while the second woman raised ac- attend a medical conference. Fur- or carry drugs outside of the hospicusations against both men. As of ther, they have been restricted from tal.

Feb. 24, no charges have been laid in these cases. Luff would not elaborate but noted in an interview with the Toronto Star that there are similarities between the two new cases and the first incident on Feb.13.

Following the hearing on Feb. 23, the men are out on bail and will return to court on March 14.

Both men intend to fight all charges and plead not guilty to all allegations against them.

Chauhan and Kayilasanathan are being charged with gang sexual assault and administering a noxious substance. Both the men were released on bail with numerous conditions and a $100,000 surety.

As per the conditions of bail, the two men are required to surrender all travel documents as police are now looking into suspected criminal activity during their trip to Panama, as well as to Saskatchewan. The two travelled to Panama earlier in February and at the time of arrest Chauhan had a Saskatchewan driver’s license.

The pair must remain in Ontario and reside with their respective guarantors - Chauhan’s Suganthan Kayilasanathan leaving the bail hearing on Feb. 24 • CONT’D FROM A1

C/O RICHARD LAUTENS / THE TORONTO STAR

IBM Collaboration McMaster has recently entered into a partnership with IBM Research to improve the energy efficiency of campus buildings. This new software will use physics and statistics to predict imminent weather patterns and forecast associated local temperatures. From there, decisions can be made as to whether artificially heating or cooling buildings is necessary, potentially reducing energy consumption. The technology will also analyze the energy efficiency of campus buildings, and be able to identify points of inefficiency for improvement. This energy-smart building initiative identifies the need for institutions to be socially responsible, and presents the opportunity for extensive environmental conservation.

MUSS to be replaced in Spring Post-Reading Week launch for new email system delayed FARZEEN FODA

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Mac students showed the MSU and University administration the power of the student voice with an overwhelming voter turnout in the Google vs. Microsoft email poll held in October.

Students who were anticipating a post-Reading Week launch Endurance Study of the new email system, though, will have to wait a little longer.

A study by McMaster’s Michael G.

Two and a half thousand DeGroote School of Medicine has McMaster students voted 70 per proven that endurance exercise precent in favour of Google as the vents premature aging. The mice the email provider that would replace scientists used in their research had the “headache known as MUSS been genetically engineered to age [McMaster Undergraduate Student faster due to the alteration of a cerServer],” as described by MSU tain gene. The results of the study president-elect, Matthew Dillonfound that endurance training on Leitch. a treadmill three times a week for Both Google and Microfive months prevented premature aging in nearly every organ of the mice’s bodies, despite their genetic predisposition to age prematurely. Those mice soft offered McMaster students who were genetically altered yet did not undergo endurance training ap- exceptional storage capacity and peared lethargic, grey and balding, socially inactive, and less fertile. The convenient student-centred features researchers responsible for this study link their findings to the importance that far exceeded the capabilities of healthy active living, and the critical significance of regular exercise in of the current undergraduate email server, MUSS. Given the opportunrelation to human longevity and physical health.

ity to vote on the decision, students ignored and the student body vote voted overwhelmingly in favour of for Google would still be the final the Google product. word on the matter.

Following the vote, the Upon returning to school new email system was expected to after the winter break, students were be available for McMaster students assured that the new email system and faculty by the start of the second would be ready immediately folterm in January, with the start of the lowing Reading Week, and would new year. be available for

The email McMaster students system was not Although the switch and faculty by Feb ready by that time, 28. Students have to the new email however, as the returned from Readserver has been necessary arrangeing Week and the ments and contract delayed once more, long-awaited email negotiations had switch has not ocstudents can be not been completed curred. assured again that in time to have the While the issue system ready for he was careful to students and faculty note that nothing has not been by the beginning of definitive can be ignored.”

January. said with certainty

Dillonat this time, DillonLeitch noted that Leitch explained contract negotiations can take a that with the delay, the MSU was very long time, but the process has given two options. Dillon-Leitch been going relatively smoothly with explained that the first option was McMaster. The MSU was assured at that, “we could present a possible this time that the issue had not been time when there would be a free-up on the server so they could make the switch and shut it down for a weekend,” said Dillon-Leitch.

He explained that this option was not chosen due to the possible risks associated with students not being familiar with the interface or experiencing other technical difficulties in the process of switching over and to avoid inconveniencing students awaiting important emails during this period.

The second option entails implementation of the Google email server in May or June. The exact date has yet to be finalized, but the MSU chose this option with the interests of McMaster students in mind. “Early May launch or June launch would give us a lot of time to figure out the system, to get to know it, and that way it won’t interfere with academics,” said DillonLeitch.

Some people have had pleasant experiences with MUSS and would much rather remain with the original email system, conceded Dillon-Leitch. As a result, the option to remain with the original system is permitted for those who request it. Instructions regarding how to put forth this request to UTS will be provided at the time of the switch.

Although the switch to the new email server has been delayed once more, students can be assured again that the issue has not been ignored. “UTS has been really helpful with it all … We just want to make sure that when it is done, it is done properly,” said Dillon-Leitch.

A4 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

Research Centre

Energy Conservation

Gov’t aims to facilitate Mac-Mohawk partnership

Mac kicks off res-wide energy challenge Residence buildings compete to reduce energy consumption NABILA KHAN THE SILHOUETTE

CHRISTOPHER CHANG / SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR

The state-of-the-art CANMET Research Facility opened on Feb. 23 in Innovation Park.

• CONT’D FROM A1 its talented young people, particularly graduates of McMaster and Mohawk.

This new partnership, which was officially recognized by the signing of a memorandum of understanding on May 29, 2009, stipulates that while McMaster University students and faculty will collaborate with CANMET on pure research projects, their Mohawk counterparts will work on applied projects that seek to solve specific problems.

Such projects include the creation of lighter, corrosion-resistant auto bodies and parts, safer military equipment, more durable pipelines, and components for the next generation of nuclear reactors.

Given the infancy of the new CANMET-MTL, this will by no means prove to be an exhaustive list of in-

Hamilton may be recognized as the premier centre for advanced materials research. We at Mohawk College are also excited about the possibility of offering an adjunct professorship to one of our CANMET partners, so that our students can gain from “Hamilton’s reputathe partnership even whilst they tion as Canada’s attend lectures at Mohawk.” Jenson ‘steel city’ could explained that logistics of this have yet to be sorted out. change whereby

CANMET-MTL was oriHamilton may be ginally created by Natural Resourrecognized as the ces Canada as a Physical Metallurgy Research Laboratory that conducted premier centre for metals research for the Canadian advanced materials Military during the Second World research.”

War. Today it is acknowledged as Canada’s premier research centre dedicated to designing new materiwho is responsible for technology, als, innovative manufacturing proapprenticeship and corporate train- cesses and performance evaluation ing amongst other things. “For one, measures while studying advanceHamilton’s reputation as Canada’s ments in recycling and eco-materi‘steel city’ could change whereby als. itiatives.

“The possibilities are endless,” said Cheryl Jenson, VicePresident of Mohawk College,

McMaster’s new energy-saving initiative is a small gift to the environment that comes in a big package.

The Residence-Wide Energy Challenge is a first-time collaboration between the Inter-Residence Council (IRC), Residence Life Staff (RLS) and the Office of Sustainability at McMaster University. The goal is simple: to get results.

The challenge, which started on March 1, encourages all residence buildings on campus to conserve as much energy as possible over the span of the threeweek competition, in the hope that those energy-saving habits will stay with students. The building that conserves the most energy by the end of the challenge period will be named the 2011 Energy Challenge Champion and will be awarded the Champion Cup.

“It’s about helping to support education on how to be more sustainable,” stated Michelle Ponter, Programme Assistant of the Residence Life Management Team.

“We want to see how the students can take that life skill and then put it to future use, either in residence or off-campus.”

The energy consumption of each residence building will be monitored by metres. The information from the metres will be extracted every three days and then posted on the Residence Information Systems (RIS), so that students are kept up-to-date on the progress they have made over the duration of the competition.

“We want to get students engaged and we want to give feedback and tips,” said Sarrah Lal,

Vice-President Communications of the IRC. “It would also be interesting to see if the challenge has the same impact on small buildings and large buildings.”

The Office of Sustainability website is the hub for all things concerning the competition.

In addition to general information and current residence standings, the website provides a list of 24 tips on how to conserve energy.

Kate Whalen, manager of University Sustainability, suggests that the simplest energy-saving strategies include switching off the lights and simply unplugging a device when it is not in use.

“We have about 20 initiatives each year including the Carbon Inventory, which determines McMaster’s carbon footprint,” said Whalen about other sustainability programs at McMaster. “The Residence-Wide Energy Challenge is a similar energy-saving initiative focused on education, but it is the first to focus on residence students.”

The idea for the challenge is nothing new. Other educational facilities, such as the University of Guelph and Queen’s University, have implemented similar programs. What is new, however, is that McMaster University has uniquely adopted the initiative through a major collaboration among three key groups at the university.

The competition’s main objective is to reduce, engage, and educate. The initiative will help to create a culture of sustainability that its organizers hope will last.

“We want to continue the cooperation,” said Whalen about the future of the Residence-Wide Energy Challenge. “We want this program to grow bigger and better each year.”

THE SILHOUETTE • A5

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

General Election

Student Representation

SRA elections postponed

Few candidates emerge for Senate elections

SAM COLBERT

SENIOR NEWS EDITOR

Just hours before the all-candidates meeting was to take place on March 2, the Elections Committee of the MSU extended the nominations deadline for the Student Representative Assembly (SRA) General Election.

Candidate nominations are now due on Monday, March 7 at 4:30 p.m. The all-candidates meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. that day, and campaigning will begin at 8 a.m. the following morning.

“A lot of concerns came in today about some promotion issues with the opening of nominations,” said Callen Clarke, chief returning officer of the MSU, on the day of the postponement. “We had a lot of concerns from SRA members and various members of the McMaster community that might be interested in running or that knew people that might be interested in running.”

“Taking those [concerns] into consideration, we thought it would be best to extend the nomination period,” explained Clarke.

Individuals competing for the 31 seats will have six weekdays to campaign, including the March 14 and 15 polling days. Originally, voting was to take place on March 9 and 10.

“We’re well within the requirements of the MSU bylaws,” added Clarke. “We thought it was a good decision to make and we do like to err on the side of making sure that as many people know as possible, and if there are concerns coming from members of the community, then we’re going to respond to that.”

Unlike MSU presidential elections, which were conducted using online voting, the SRA elections will use the paper balloting method. SRA elections use a plurality vote, which means that students can vote for more than one candidate if there are multiple SRA members representing their faculty of program. Although UTS can run a preferential ballot, as will be needed for the dental plan referendum, it is unable to support a plurality vote.

The term in office for successful candidates will run from April 1 of this year to March 31, 2012.

General Assembly The deadline for motions at this year’s MSU General Assembly is March 11 at noon. Motions are due to MSU Speaker Naheed Yaqubian, who will chair the March 14 event. All full-time undergraduate students are welcome to attend, debate motions and vote to change the way their union operates. Any decisions made will be binding on the Students Union, provided the vote reaches quorum, which this year sits at 589 students. Check out next week’s issue of the Sil for preAssembly coverage.

JOY SANTIAGO / MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

Elections have been scheduled to fill vacant undergraduate and graduate student positions on the Senate for two-year terms during the 2011-2013 academic years. The positions of Undergraduate Faculty of Social Sciences Representative and Graduate Faculty of Engineering Representative will be decided by online voting from March 15-16, while the positions of Undergraduate Faculty of Humanities Representative and Graduate Faculty of Science Representative were filled by default due to lack of competition. The vacancies for which no nominations were received will be addressed in September-October 2011.

• Jemma Wolfe

Dental Plan

Referendum gets final chance of the year to pass Delayed SRA general elections push voting past deadline for General Assembly motions SAM COLBERT

SENIOR NEWS EDITOR

After emerging with an inconclusive result from last month’s MSU Presidential Election because of a bylaw violation, the dental plan referendum will appear again during SRA General Elections on March 14 and 15.

Students will choose whether next year’s dental plan will give them a maximum $600 in coverage for $115 fee, a maximum $750 in coverage for a $119 fee, or whether the plan will be discontinued entirely.

The initial problem with the dental plan referendum was a matter of faulty ballots. All referenda questions during the Presidential Election featured non-transferable votes, meaning that students chose one option for each rather than ranking choices. Three of the five questions had only two options, but both the health plan and dental plan referenda questions had three

choices. MSU bylaws state that a preferential ballot must be used if there are more than two options.

Because one of the three choices for the health plan referendum received more than 50 per cent of votes, it was clear that a preferential ballot would not have changed the outcome, so the vote was allowed. But, because none of the dental plan options received a majority of support, the result was declared invalid.

After reviewing last year’s budget, an early priority for this year’s MSU administration was to stop the bleeding from the health and dental plans. More students had been opting out while those that weren’t opting out were making more claims, which meant that the plans had become severe burdens on the union’s finances.

The dental plan lost about $50,000 during the 2009-10 fiscal year. The situation with the health plan, though, was far worse, with losses coming close to $680,000,

which included the near $100,000 in PST build-up from previous years.

If the dental plan matter does not reach quorum (the number of votes required for a valid vote) or is for some reason inconclusive following the SRA General Elections, the SRA will have to run the vote again if they wish to change the plan. After general elections this month, there will not be another opportunity to present the question to the student body before the 2011-12 school year.

Quorum for the referendum is 1,963 this year. When an Engineers Without Borders referendum ran along with general elections last year, the 1,100 votes cast fell well short of quorum, which meant that the question had to be presented again during the recent MSU Presidential Elections before passing.

The fact that elections have been pushed from March 9 and 10 to March 14 and 15 could present

a new challenge. If the dental plan didn’t draw quorum during the original voting days, March 9 and 10, the issue could have been tabled for the March 14 General Assembly, for which quorum is only 589. Because the deadline for motions is March 11, there will be no further opportunity to vote on the matter again if the vote on March 14 and 15 does not draw quorum. The MSU may be faced with a failing dental plan for yet another year.

“If [the plan] continued like this for many years, that would be a significant problem,” said John McIntyre, VP (Administration) of the MSU. “One year won’t cripple us. It wouldn’t be the best thing, but it’s going to be a situation we can work through.”

The question will appear exactly as it did during Presidential Elections, except this time will use preferential balloting. The hope for the MSU administration is that, should it pass, it will pull the dental plan away from another deficit.

A6 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

EDITORIAL

editor’s extension: 22052 letters: thesil@thesil.ca

I want my Vietnam

The Silhouette McMaster University’s Student Newspaper

TheSil.ca

Editorial Board Executive Editor... Peter Goffin Managing Editor... David Koots Copy Editor... Katherine Marsden Senior News Editor... Sam Colbert Asst. News Editor... Jemma Wolfe Asst. News Editor... Farzeen Foda

Libya a poor substitue for conflicts of the past

Opinions Editor... Cassandra Jeffery Sports Editor... Brian Decker Asst. Sports Editor... Fraser Caldwell InsideOut Editor... Natalie Timperio Asst. InsideOut Editor... Kaitlin Peters Senior ANDY Editor... Roxanne Hathway-Baxter ANDY Music Editor... Dan Hawie ANDY Ent. Editor... Myles Herod Senior Photo Editor... Christopher Chang Multimedia Editor... Joy Santiago Asst. Photo Editor... Jonathon Fairclough Business Editor... Simon Granat Asst. Business Editor... Santino Marinucci Web Editor... Jason Lamb

Silhouette Staff Kevin Elliott, ANDY Trevor Roach, ANDY This past Wednesday, troubled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi vowed, in another one of his marathon speeches, to start a Vietnam-grade war in his country if Western powers try to remove him from his presidency.

And upon reading that, or a translation of it, my heart skipped a beat, rose three inches in my chest, pirouetted and shook before humping its way back down into place.

My cardiacal deal is, I’m jealous of old people. There, I said it. And it’s true. I’m jealous of the quickly wrinkling boomers. Not my parents exactly. They’re too young. I’m jealous of people just a gray hair older than them. And I’m not jealous of the fact that they’re now starting to collect government pension cheques, or that they can get a break on car insurance, or even that they get into movies cheaply. I’m jealous of what they had when they were my age. Aren’t you?

Because let me tell you something, right in the middle of them going through their collective “fuck the establishment” phase in their early twenties, they had the opportunity to fight against a real establishment: war, and segregation, and censorship, all things we still have, but not in the way we used to.

There have just been too many damn improvements around the world. Political conflicts, social injustices, blights against humanity have all been watered down to a much less significant level of severity.

They don’t make travesties like they used to.

So our generation never got a Vietnam of our own. Oh, the horror, the horror. But then along comes Gadhafi, an Arab white knight riding out of darkest Africa and into our dreams with his promises of brutal, stagnating, unjust war, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the fall of Saigon, and all of a sudden I’m hopeful.

I should qualify this by saying now that I do not have a bloodlust. I don’t like violence and I personally would not wish a napalming on anyone. But I am a Political Science student and a diligent young radical, which means that I depend on at least a little devastation cropping up from time to time. I need it so that I can show my insistent distaste for it.

I want the hated establishment back before my Molotov cocktails go stale. When my kids ask me for stories of youthful abandon I don’t want to have to give them some chickenshit line about promoting climate change awareness. I want to have tales of real gen-u-ine fighting against the institution. I want to spin yarns about oppression and defiance and fighting the good fight. So I say get on it, Moammar, man.

Bring us your Vietnam. And for its part I hope the American government re-institutes the draft too. It won’t be pretty, but an increase in bad happenings would give us a glut of opportunities for activism, and a golden proving ground for our political ideals.

Without tyranny we can have no resistance movements. Without war we can have no peace rallies.

Without segregation we could have no million man marches. Besides, what do I care? A war in Libya, even another Vietnam, can’t hurt me. I’m a student. For students, wars are just theory.

•

Legal The Silhouette welcomes letters to the editor in person at MUSC B110, or by email at thesil@thesil.ca.

Please include name, address, and telephone number for verification only. We reserve the right to edit, condense, or reject letters and opinion articles. Opinions expressed in The Silhouette are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial board, the publishers, or university officials. The Silhouette is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the McMaster Students Union.

The Silhouette board of publications acts as an intermediary between the editorial board, the McMaster community, and the McMaster Students Union. Grievances regarding The Silhouette may be forwarded in writing to: McMaster Students Union, McMaster University Student Centre, Room 201, L8S 4S4, Attn: The Silhouette Board of Publications. The board will consider all submissions and make recommendations accordingly.

YOU THERE! GET TYPING!

PETER GOFFIN EXECUTIVE EDITOR

For everything in these pages and some things that aren’t, visit

TheSil.ca Actually, we’re just reprinting back issues of Oprah’s magazine now.

And yeah, that does include the one where she gets naked.

Write for the Silhouette e-mail thesil@thesil.ca or come down to MUSC B110

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Victor Pek, Sports Sandro Giordano, Ad Manager

to survivng the bieber movie. not that i went. i mean, i assume it was pretty bad. to vietnam movies. it was a terrible war, but a great set. to the mouse in my apartment. please stop chewing on my food and start chewing on an electrical wire.

to the violence in labia. mr. gadhafi, leave labia now! to slimy contact lenses. blechh. to sight in general. when did you become so high maintenance? to labia having one of the world’s largest deposits of oil.

to chuck berry.

to the nervous heaves.

to archives, and fartlighting pictures in said archives.

to brian’s exam schedule. we’ll miss you b-decks.

to the fifth consecutive year of a burned-out light bulb in my office. to the early night.

to adding people to your Linkedin network.

Linkedin, you’re Facebook’s ugly younger sister.

to beating new shoes. i broke you in, bitches.

to the opression of labians. let my labia go!

Section Meeting Times Photo Fridays at 3:30 p.m. photo@thesil.ca News Fridays at 1:30 p.m. news@thesil.ca Business Tuesdays at 12 p.m. business@thesil.ca Sports Fridays at 11:30 a.m. sports@thesil.ca InsideOut Mondays at 1:00 p.m. insideout@thesil.ca ANDY Mondays at 2:00 p.m. andy@thesil.ca Opinions Mondays at 1:15 p.m. opinions@thesil.ca

THE SILHOUETTE • A7

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

OPINIONS

production office extension: 27117 opinions@thesil.ca

Catering to a higher authority CASSANDRA JEFFERY

Patience is not one of my virtues, so you can understand my discretion with this vest wearing As a young child, I could not wait individual. In my opinion, I find the to grow up. It seemed as though the driver’s chatter extremely rude. He’s life of an adult was easy, carefree, putting 50 people behind schedule, and fun. I envied those over the and not a mere five minutes behind ripe old age of 18 because they, I schedule either. thought, had no one else to answer Does he not understand to except for themselves. that I could have slept in for an Over the past reading extra 20 minutes? I’m sure he week, I have realized just how doesn’t care, why you ask? Because naive I once was. Our lifestyles are he’s wearing the bright yellow vest. not feel-good, do-what-you-want Because he knows that the stupid fairytales. We have student loans to Greyhound bus cannot go anywhere pay off and classes to pass. Our lives without him, he has the authority are difficult and often stressful; if I and when he says the bus is leaving had known this I would have never is when the bus is leaving. wasted my childhood dreams on Depressing isn’t it, growing up. realizing how much we have to

What I found most cater to authority. Either we can appealing about adulthood was yell at the bus driver to hurry up, the fact that older people were in which case I’m sure he’ll take their own boss; they did what they an extra 10 minutes to drink his tea, wanted to do. You or we sit and bask can imagine how anger and hope As an adult, I am in depressed I was he’s almost finished realizing that the his seemingly vital on the day I found out that answering average individual is conversation.

In to no one does not both circumstances, exist. As an adult, still responsible to a you’re left at I am realizing higher authority and the mercy of his that the average authority. we must be individual is still The bussing submissive to such experience sparked responsible to a higher authority or my hatred for such higher authority and we must be else we won’t get authority figures but, submissive to such after contemplating anywhere in life.” the situation, I’ve higher authority or else we won’t realized that this get anywhere in life, in my case, submissiveness to authority occurs literally. in more instances than I would like

You’re most likely to admit to. wondering, what sparked such an Have you ever had to sit idea? Well, over the reading week, in an emergency for five hours, all I spent far too many precious hours the while wishing you could do of my life, which by the way I will something about the excessive wait? never get back, on the Greyhound. Or perhaps you’ve had a delightful I’m one of the unfortunate souls encounter with a hormonal too cool who lives beyond the safety bubble teenage store clerk while purchasing of Southern Ontario. Stuck without a sweater; clearly his or her phone a car, I suffered on the bus for hours call is much more important than at a time. customer satisfaction.

Let me set the scene for In such situations what you: I’m patiently waiting on the can the average person do? Causing Greyhound, early in the morning, a scene won’t do anything but for the bus to take off. It is now embarrass you, so you must sit and 7:45 a.m. and the bus was schedule attempt to wait patiently. to leave at promptly 7:10 a.m.

From this epiphany I’ve yet the driver is nowhere to be realized that adulthood is not about seen. Finally, through the dirty making your own choices and being Greyhound window, I see a man your own boss. It’s about how long in his bright yellow driving vest you can wait around. I’d rather go talking to someone. back to the sandbox.

OPINIONS EDITOR

JOY SANTIAGO / MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

We may assume we have absolute freedom, but in reality, we’re on the time of a higher authority.

Working world prompts fear of financial crisis PETER GOFFIN

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

I am not a business student. The arts I studied did not include finances and I have never been financially inclined. Like, I don’t even carry a wallet. But as I teeter on the cusp of adulthood, I am for the first time starting to look at success in terms of money. Not wealth, but comfort, I guess, mainly because that’s what I’m used to.

Not that I’ve never been rich. I should make that clear. I’ve never had any excess, and I’ve never really wanted it either. But I’ve never been uncomfortable. I’ve never wanted for anything really.

Even as a student, I’ve always made enough to live within my means and still live pretty well. Now, as I look careers and the real world, I’m starting to get nervous. Actually,

scratch that. I’m not nervous. I’d downright afraid.

I’m afraid of being poor.

Not abjectly poor, not starving, not homeless. That, I can’t even fathom.

I’m afraid of moderate success. I am afraid of just not quite having enough.

I’m afraid of overdue bills.

I’m afraid of taking out loans. I’m afraid of seeing things I’d like but can’t buy. I’m afraid of being on a budget. I’m afraid of not being able to have nice things.

Now, I know how bourgeois that all sounds. And if I were the type of person who used words like “bourgeois” I would hate myself for feeling the way I do. I know I’ve never been truly hungry. I know that I’ve never really been desperate. Who am I to fret about money? It’s crass and it’s cold obsession, sure, but it’s real

and honest. And of course I’d like to say money doesn’t matter. And right now it doesn’t, necessarily.

But I know in a few years or 10

my working life stretched out in front of me, I’m already feeling the squeeze of not wanting to lose my comfort. I’m worried for what they call “the lifestyle to which one is accustomed.”

Believe me, I’m willing to There’s a work. I just don’t want to struggle. beautiful idealism There’s the difference. And more than anything I’m afraid of the fear in not caring about that comes with the struggle. I want cash. But I do. I do to be able to breathe and sleep and care. And, on the eat and all that without the money worries looming over me. And bright side, it’s one maybe that’s the real desire in me. hell of a motivator.

I want to feel good. It’s not really To hell with being an about the money. It’s about having a job and doing well. Money is artist.” an expression of that. Sure I can survive with a little bit less, but or 20, it sure will matter. When I want to feel safe. I want to feel the life I want costs more. When comfortable. I want to feel fulfilled. the life my kids want costs more.

There’s a beautiful idealism Looking, as I am, at the rest of in not caring about cash. But I do. I

do care. And, on the bright side, it’s one hell of a motivator. To hell with being an artist, I’m a hired gun. I’m a mercenary. I want the money. I want the security. And as time goes on, I’m more and more at ease with that. So while my classmates are all preaching poverty and suffering for their passion, I’m already quite warmed up to the idea of a steady paycheque.

Not that I’m applying to Law Schools or anything crazy, but I’m looking at the little sacrifices when considering careers, creativity for stability, that sort of thing.

I can be idealistic on weekends, but right now I want to spend my weekdays at a steady, well-paying job. I want the fulfillment. I want the comfort. And, yes, the money would be nice too.

Would you like to see my portfolio?

[This Week in Opinions] Clueless Youth Despite the increase in Internet use, our youth have no interest in worldly issues.

Starbucks and the latest brands are seemingly more important.

Pg. A8

Quitting Facebook

Benefits of Mac dental

Although you may not believe this, there really is a life outside social networking. Perhaps it’s time for you to deactivate Facebook.

Pg. A9

The McMaster dental plan is a financially savvy way to keep your teeth clean and pearly white. Make sure to vote in favour of campus dental benefits.

Pg. A10

A8 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

The perils of a clueless youth As we drink our Starbucks coffee, world issues seems to be the least of our worries JASMINE KEILLOR SILHOUETTE INTERN

Okay, so it’s my first day on the job. I’m interning here at The Silhouette and I can’t wait to get started. An Opinion article you say?

Sure, no problem. I bite my lip.

Due tomorrow? No sweat. I rack my brain. There must be an opinion in there somewhere. I sift through the piles of useless information (Did you know that in Lexington, Kentucky it is illegal to carry an ice cream cone in your back pocket?), and silly daydreams (I won’t even go there) and my endless lists of have-to-dos (homework) and wantto-dos (can you say coconut milk on a beach in Florida?). Yup, this is pretty much how my mind works.

I search desperately for a topic of interest but find none. It only takes me about 20 minutes of staring at a blank computer screen to realize that, well um, maybe I’m just not a very opinionated person, at least not when it comes to topics of any substantial importance. Sure, if you ask me what I like I can tell you. Orange is my favourite colour, and snot green is my least favourite.

I like grapes and chocolate milk and

I drink coffee black. But seriously, who cares? I have a favorite band, a favorite book, a least favorite pair of socks. But honestly, who doesn’t?

This is when it occurs to me that when it comes to the vast array of subjects and topics that lay outside the realm of food, fashion and fun, I really haven’t got a clue. It also occurs to me that this probably isn’t a good thing. “Hey,” I’m thinking, “I might be on to something here.”

The truth is that I know I’m not alone in my cluelessness.

While the rise of technology has drastically increased the pace of our lives and has made available to us a boundless sea of information and resources at the simple click of a mouse, we somehow manage to remain in the dark in terms of what’s going on in the real world.

Ask me something about politics and I’ll give you a blank stare. Ask me who’s running the country and if they are doing a good job, and I’ll most likely just smile and nod my head yes a few times for good measure. Ask me for an update on current world issues, ask me what’s going on in Haiti or Vietnam, ask me how it’s going in Africa and quite frankly I won’t have an

answer. Ask me who’s running for the next election or when the next election is and, needless to say, I won’t have a clue.

The sad part is I don’t really care. The scary part is I am 18 years old; I can vote. The problems that arise from the cluelessness of

We are putting power in the hands of people about whom we know nothing. It truly opposes everything our system stands for. While the name and face of a prime minister may seem irrelevant and impertinent in regards to our everyday lives, the truth is that government has an immense impact on many aspects of our lives, from our schooling to our careers to our lifestyles.

By living in political By living in political ignorance we are letting ourselves ignorance we are be controlled blindly without even letting ourselves be thinking to ask questions. There may or may not be anything wrong controlled blindly with the way we are living our lives without even at the moment, but I can’t help but wonder: if the government were to thinking to ask really push our country in the wrong questions.” direction, lead us way off the path and into a ditch, would we even notice?

An equally probing today’s youth are vast and varied concern is that, thanks to the and most are stemming from the cluelessness of modern youth, our fact that we are just so distracted perspective on life is all out of by our own hectic lives that we whack. don’t have the time or motivation to When I leave home in the broaden our horizons. morning with messy hair, miss my One looming concern here bus, trip over my own two feet and, is that we are ignoring the privilege I don’t know, let’s say break a nail, we have of living in a democracy. those starving kids in Africa are the

last thing on my mind, let me tell you.

We often forget how lucky we are to be living in a country where the tap water runs freely and our dogs and cats eat better than a poor man. I’m not suggesting that we change the world. I’m simply putting it out there that if we took the time to acknowledge that problems exist, we might realize that in a world full of hate and war and pain, we are awfully lucky to be sipping our Starbucks and bitching about some jerk who posted an ugly picture of us on Facebook. When we don’t see the flip side, when we don’t see the rest of the world and just how bad things can be, it’s all too easy to forget how good we’ve got it.

I could go on rambling here, but I’ll stop while I’m ahead.

After all, I stand at the front of the line when it comes to clueless youth. I may be able to graduate high school with a 95 per cent average but hell, I don’t even know the words to O Canada. Kids these days, eh?

Maybe they should learn to pick up a newspaper every once in a while.

Feedback

?

“Not really, I just check on the Internet.”

Anas Khan

Do you still read the newspaper to keep up-to-date with global events?

“Yes, something I always do in the morning.”

Chika Ofili

“Every now and then, but it’s mostly because I heard of something interesting and I want to read about it.”

Melissa Janssen

“No, I don’t have it available to me.”

Brittney Massey

?

“No because I use the Internet. However, I do keep up-to-date with global events.”

Ali Wadood

THE SILHOUETTE • A9

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

Marx or Socrates, who will you choose?

JENNA SHAMOON

analyzed society in different ways that I agreed with as well.

After hearing the ideas of University, to me, was seen as the capitalist figures, I also thought their time to figure myself out. In high ideas made sense. But obviously, school, I thought that when I went they were contradictory to my to university, I was going to answer support of Marxist ideas, leaving every question about myself that me at a crossroads of ideologies. had been left blank. One of the I decided to clean the slate questions that were unanswered of my mind completely and to not regarded my overall belief and identify myself with a political politics. I thought university would ideology, since I wasn’t able to stick be like reaching the Promised Land to one side. I was always floating in of ideology and belief. Well, that this grey area of mixing ideas that Promised Land turned out to be a never became concrete for me. I mirage. still did not understand what I really I thought I was going to agreed with and constantly found find at least one ideology that spoke that I was contradicting myself over to me clearly through my courses, and over again. particularly Political Science and When it came to Philosophy.

Philosophy class, I had a little One of the figures that I was more hope for myself. I figured if I constantly bombarded with in many couldn’t find the meaning of life in of my courses was Karl Marx. At this class, I won’t find it anywhere first, I had really admired Marxism else. and Marx’s viewpoint on societal The first class we discussed structure. “Yes! Finally something Socrates. I found the meaning of that makes sense!” That was my life. Then we discussed Aristotle. I initial reaction. I certainly identified found it again. Epicurus, Spinoza, with his viewpoints and thought Descartes, Nietzsche; I continually that it was certainly a viewpoint that found myself agreeing with varying I would stick with for a long time. views of God, the meaning of life, As the year progressed, however, I and knowledge. was exposed to other figures who Most of the ideas SILHOUETTE STAFF

contradicted one another, and I kept failing to understand what it was that I agreed with.

How could I agree with Socrates and Nietzsche, when Nietzsche’s book Twilight of the Idols talks about what’s wrong about Socrates? It made absolutely no sense.

As the year draws to a close, I still have no idea where I am on the spectrums of ideology and belief. I’m neither far right nor far left; neither a rigorous atheist nor a devout Catholic; neither a Marxist nor a capitalist. And I think it will stay that way for a long time.

There’s a whole range of beliefs out there, so who knows when I’ll change my mind next. But instead of trying to figure out what my beliefs are, I’m just going to let it happen.

From past experience, it’s ridiculous to commit to an ideology so quickly because you’ll always discover new ways of thinking that open up new windows of thought.

So I’m just going to let my mind run wild for a bit, give it some exercise with new ideas, and then worry about what I believe in. The Promised Land may have to wait for a while.

JOY SANTIAGO / MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

It’s hard to choose a religion or ideology to follow when you agree with a number of theorists.

Quitting Facebook There is a life outside of social networks KATIE JANSEN

of personal interactions has run dry.

As you might have guessed, I was feeling rather jaded We all have vices. Some of us just as The Social Network’s credits hide them better than others do. began to roll. My jaw clenched And the dawn of the technological with determination, I flipped open age has brought in a bumper crop my laptop to de-activate Facebook. of shiny new addictions. You’ve But then I saw my News Feed and seen the evidence yourself. Your hesitated; an old roommate had gym partner has knobby little posted a Youtube poop on my wall. trackball calluses. Your cousin Social obligations clearly has disgustingly high online poker dictated that I find a video of similar stats. Your sister’s credit card bill or inferior quality with which to shows a charge for the “Proud to return the favour. But it didn’t stop Be a Democrat” app. Come on, sis. there. I kept reading my News Feed.

You’re not even American.

As I scrolled, I felt my urge to deI miss the days of old- activate cool faster than a Union fashioned addictions. We used to Market bagel. be limited to cigarettes, Johnnie I began to suspect that Walker, exercise machines, or some I would never be capable of decombination of the three. Instead, activating Facebook. How would I’m now stuck with friends who my social life exist without it?

Facebook poke me like there’s no Without having access to Events, tomorrow. Thanks to the never- would anyone take the time to invite ending barrage of status updates, me to parties anymore? I’d still I know more about the nuances of have my phone and a viable e-mail my acquaintances’ bowels than I address, but would the inviter do about current political unrest in think beyond the borders of those Libya. little Event page checked boxes? It Last Saturday, I was re- can’t be denied that there’s a thrill watching The Social Network associated with a Wall Post that while eating an Arby’s Classic only makes sense to you because Roast Beef Sandwich, the classiest you were there. of sandwiches for the classiest of But Facebook won’t miss ladies. I was hypnotized as Jesse me. Other than the electronic paper Eisenberg shouted trail I’ve been at Andrew Garfield, scattering around Other than the “Eduardo, I’m since 2006, I’ll not talking about electronic paper trail cease to exist. Sure, a dating site, I’m and I will I’ve been scattering Facebook talking about have our memories, taking the entire around since 2006, but I won’t be able social experience of I’ll cease to exist. to see them. I’d college and putting have to log in for it online.” And then Sure, Facebook and that. Typical of I will have our – Wham. I realized any addiction, the it. My entire social temptation to re-join memories, but I life has become will always be there one big Facebook won’t be able to see – a temptation only profile. made stronger by them.”

I joined Facebook’s practice Facebook during Welcome of retaining user data.

Week 2006. First came: “I must It’s been a week since I add everyone I met at the party left Facebook. I’ve found my hands tonight!” Then came: “Oooooh, automatically typing the URL when that Application looks like fun! I have nothing to do, and I have to Did I just give them my credit catch myself before accidentally card information?” Then: “Did I signing in. Ditching Facebook has go to elementary school with her? caused my entire Internet usage Who cares! Added!” Then came patterns to shift. the worst of all: “One day we’ll Any time I’ve used my get back together. So it’s probably laptop, it’s been to grade assignments important for me to keep snooping or write job applications. I found his profile pictures and looking at myself whizzing through four his new friends.” novels this week, the glory of the And that’s when it had to printed word having been rekindled stop. I had to de-activate Facebook. within me.

The whole situation didn’t And, believe it or not, my even make sense – how did it get this verbal and written communication bad? I barely remembered meeting skills have skyrocketed to up to a half of these people in person, but level they haven’t reached since here I was, playing Jetman and high school. browsing through pictures of them I do not regret my decision nestled up with a bong. to de-activate. Although I miss the Worse still, I found myself little things, like, Event invitations, browsing through photographs link sharing, and peeking through of happier times and wondering party photos, I’ve come to adjust. why I don’t have social plans 24- E-mail is an excellent avenue for 7. There’s nothing like browsing trading memes and mp3s, and through old photographs to trigger a arranging weekend plans via texts sense of bittersweet nostalgia. suits me just fine.

It became far too easy to Life without Facebook peer inside the lives of people who does exist. It’s not the social exile had departed from my friendship. that Mark Zuckerberg would have I’ve always wondered why many of you believe it is. But now I’m short us continue to maintain electronic one addiction. Does anyone want to relationships long after the trickle play Magic: The Gathering?

OPINION

A10 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

The future is wide open for Mac dental is beneficial Humanities students DOUGLAS CALDERWOOD-SMITH

opportunities are limitless. The skills that I referred to will enable a Humanities student to thrive in most job opportunities.

Of course a Humanities degree After reading Jemma Wolfe’s Opinion article in the last issue of the Sil (“Will Hummers isn’t a ticket to employment, as our friends really be wielding spatulas?” Feb. 17), I was in Engineering often remind us, but it is a a bit concerned about her perspective of her foundation to be the type of person who will succeed in the workplace. Let our friends with Humanities degree.

As a fellow Humanities student technical degrees work in technical labs for myself, majoring in Communications and the rest of their lives. Humanities students are Political Science, my perspective of my the thinkers, the visionaries and the leaders in faculty and my own perception of self-worth the new knowledge economy.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the is very different from hers.

Similar to you Jemma, coming into conclusion I have come to is that Humanities this degree I was made to feel inferior right students need to build on their education postaway by my peers. During my Welcome graduation. Whether that means a Master’s Week, an Arts & Science student, who was a degree, post-graduate diploma, or an unpaid good friend from high school, said to me, “So internship, recognizing our degree as a strong you’re a Hummer, eh? Enjoy your four-year foundation to build upon is essential.

We’ve had four years to figure out vacation.”

As Humanities students, we must not who we are, what our own strengths are, and adopt the same profession-orientated logic where we want to go. Pick a route and pursue that engineers, nurses, Commerce students it wholeheartedly.

My message to Jemma, and any and Health Sciences students employ. We have to recognize our own unique skills and other Humanities student reading this then build on them as emerging professionals. article, is that your future is bright. Don’t What skills am I referring too? let McMaster’s culture of disrespect and Humanities students are superb writers, very harassment towards Humanities students literate, strong critical thinkers, creative, bring you down. You’re smart, or else you culturally savvy, and are politically adept, as wouldn’t be at McMaster. You’re capable, well as having strong interpersonal and social or you wouldn’t be graduating. And you’re skills. motivated to succeed, or else you wouldn’t be But what good are those skills if pondering the fate of your future. you can’t find employment, right? From Or maybe we should ask Peter The dental plan referendum will appear on the SRA ballot on March 14 and 15. my perspective, Humanities students are George and Patrick Deane how they feel is vital to take preventative measures before not limited by the job market; in fact, the about their Humanities degrees?

HEATHER SCHRAM the issue escalates.

OPNINION Keeping your teeth means better Did you know that $115 will buy you $750 chewing function, an aesthetically pleasing worth of dental treatment each year? That is a smile and, ultimately, better health. value of $3,000 over the course of four years.

Despite clearly understanding Maintaining good oral hygiene the need to take care of their oral health, includes brushing your teeth twice daily, using students often neglect to do so because a mouthwash, and using dental floss, which are lack of available dental benefits. Lack of also essential to ensuring one’s overall health. dental insurance is the primary reason for not Benefits of good oral hygiene also include the seeking preventative care from a dentist. prevention of bad breath.

Individuals seeking private dental In addition to a daily routine, insurance coverage is quite expensive with AARON JOO I’m tired of euphemisms, I’m tired of people OPINION telling me that what I’m saying is “politically people should visit their dentist on a regular limited benefits. basis. Cleanings and check-ups should be incorrect.”

Dental health care is not covered Man, there are some real annoying idiots out Screw you! Who died and made you scheduled once every six months to ensure by OHIP, and for many students paying for there. Next time you go out to a space where the representative of language? Show me that any problems with teeth and gums can be dental services can lead to financial hardship, remedied quickly. there’s a large group of people coming in and your credentials, I say! while others cannot afford it at all.

Regular visits to your dental office out, just sit down, make yourself comfortable, Think about it. Language is just To help students pay for their dental and count how many times they say “Hi! How words, words are just symbols, and they enables your dentist to keep an eye out for needs, a dental plan has been put in place by are ya?” to each other. don’t mean anything unless placed in certain early warning signs of oral health problems, the McMaster Student Union. Your Student

It’s not even “Hi, how are you,” it’s contexts. Take this scenario for example: including tooth decay, gum disease and oral Union has negotiated an incredible dental “Hi, how are ya,” incessantly, A soldier has been “given cancer. benefit package on your behalf.

In fact, did you know that your oral in the same obnoxious voice, the duty” to send the family By pooling all resources together, and most of them are so of another soldier “the bad health is directly correlated to your overall the Student Union has much greater buying Euphemisms. It’s a news.” He goes to their small well-being? Many serious health conditions power and for that reason alone, they can completely self-absorbed, miles up their own ass, that way to keep people suburban house and the first including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer pass along incredible savings to all students they don’t even wait for a from being upset, thing he says is, “I’m afraid can be detected early by an oral examination. to make dental care affordable. proper answer! And those of didn’t make it. I’m sorry Your dentist and hygienist will be able to Now your $600 from September turning them into the he us who do answer back are for your loss.” So the old lady detect early signs of problems. to August covers you for a full examination blissfully unaware starts bawling and wants to Once a dental problem is diagnosed and consultation, including any necessary just as ridiculous. By that I in its early stage, treatment can be immediately x-rays and diagnostic services at time of mean those who fall right into know how he “passed on”. sheep in a pen. the cursed trap of automated Well what does the recommended and administered. Common exam, during each policy year. Complete After all, we don’t soldier say? Someone on the issues such as broken fillings, cavities, and oral examinations; recall oral examinations; computer speech: “How are want to hurt ya?” “Fine! How are ya?” same team shot his face off gum disease are very often easy and quick to emergency or specific oral examinations; a The next time you full check-up and cleaning which includes anyone’s feeling.” accidentally while he was treat.

However, if these issues go up to four units of scaling and one unit of encounter a situation like this, cleaning his gun? try the following response to No, he just says, untreated, root canals, gum surgery and polishing; fluoride treatments limited to one keep them on their toes: “Well let’s see… “friendly fire,” it’s what he was taught to removal of teeth may become the only per policy year; partial composite or toothoh, five minutes before you showed up, I say, told to say. Of course, the old lady never treatment options left available and could coloured fillings; and partial oral surgery and just blew a massive turd out my ass, and I knows that inside the soldier standing in front become quite costly. Since gum disease is one extractions limited to two wisdom teeth in mean a huge, triumphant bastard, felt like a of her, he’s a little glad the bastard’s dead, of the leading causes of tooth loss in adults, it any policy year. hernia just pushing that sucker out. Got any because he’s thinking of the multiple times matches? he found a fat, steaming turd in his helmet, The smell’s still lingering around.” or the time he put a venomous snake in his Or something along those lines, you know? bed, or when the medic had to put his arm Shake them up a little bit. in a sling since a certain someone constantly

I saw a sign the other day that said, threw punches at him when the drill sergeant “Please pick up after your pet. Thank you.” wasn’t looking.

What’s with all the formalities? Just approach Euphemisms. It’s a way to keep the lazy asshole! “Hey you! I’m sick of people from being upset, turning them into stepping in your dog’s shit! Pick it up!” So the blissfully unaware sheep in a pen. After the dog thinks the sidewalks are his personal all we don’t want to “hurt anyone’s feelings.” toilet, but that’s natural, you can’t help that, But the truth is the world is a fucked up place, it’s a dog! not everyone is lollipops and sunshine on the

But as a pet-owner there are certain inside, and pretending it isn’t doesn’t help responsibilities they should be upholding, so anyone from challenging the realities going go up to him and tell him face to face! Man, on around them.

OPINION

SILHOUETTE FILE PHOTO

The use of euphemisms

Language in its simplest form

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

THE SILHOUETTE • A11

A12 • THE SILHOUETTE

SpeculatoR

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

INSIDE THE SPECULATOR

The Hamilton

Ultrasound images.

That used to be a spray-paint can.

Thursday, March 3, 2011 F Taping things to our perineums since 1930 .

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“What Did You Learn This Week, Timmy?”

“I learned that The Onion can go fuck itself.

I run this neighbourhood now.”

Disclaimer: Stories printed in The Hamilton Speculator are fact. Any resemblance to persons real or dead is likely intentional and done out of spite. Opinions expressed are those of The Speculator and if you disagree with them you are wrong. And stupid. Possibly ugly as well.

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2010

SPORTS Westward

Bound

THE SILHOUETTE • B1

McMaster emerges from London with an OUA championship title after beating the host Mustangs in four sets. The victory is the Marauders’ third in the past four seasons. The team now travels to BC to take part in the CIS Championship.

See pg. B4

PHOTO C/O ANDREW HO

B2 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

THE SKINNY

What You Need To Know This Week In Sports Sports Editorial

Madness steals CIS spotlight BRIAN DECKER SPORTS EDITOR

It’s March. And along with the rising temperatures and torturous term papers, the third month of the year means one thing: madness.

That would be March Madness, of course, the annual college basketball tournament that turns even the most fair-weather sports fan into a diehard hoops junkie.

It’s a time of year when people who haven’t watched a college hoops game all year fill out their brackets and suddenly feel like a drunken undergrad student cheering on their team with lewd chants and a painted face.

It doesn’t matter that they probably couldn’t pick out NCAA-leading scorer Jimmer Fredette from a police line, or that they probably didn’t know the Tournament now hosts 68 teams instead of the old 64.

Instead, it’s simply a time when people cheer on a wild sporting spectacle with an obscene entertainment value. And the best part might be that the wild unpredictability of it benefits no expert over idiot in picking teams to win. A hoops database of knowledge is irrelevant in the thick of the madness. After all, with so many games and upsets to be had, there’s a reason they call it madness

Your bracket is your manifesto, and with upsets abound, there’s no exact science about who predicts the right teams to win. Heck, the No. 1-ranked team hasn’t won the tournament since 2001, and only five times since 1982.

But beyond the betting and the bragging rights, what else makes madness such a widespread epidemic during the Ides of March? Couldn’t the sudden urge to cheer for a wild card team happen at any point during the sports season?

To me, it’s about the feeling that comes with cheering for a new team with a new identity. Like a freshman student in Frosh Week, it’s the surge of momentum you feel by embracing the identity of a team: the colours, the cheers, the nickname.

And it’s got everything to do with patriotism for your school.

Why else would anyone want to cheer for something called a Hokie, or a Volunteer, or a Tar Heel? It’s part of the great collegiate tradition.

A great collegiate tradition that, for whatever reason, we don’t have north of the border.

A well-attended NCAA basketball game will have tens of thousands of fans in the stadium. Up here?

It’s rare more than a few hundred attend a game. You can buy Duke and North Carolina jerseys at your local Foot Locker, but you’d never see a Marauders or Mustangs jersey for sale off campus.

As far as collegiate athletics go, it’s a whole other world south of the border.

But there’s a funny thing about the madness. Beyond the marching bands and massive crowds, it still pervades interuniversity sport come playoff time. And that’s something entirely visible up here in Canada.

This week, the McMaster men’s volleyball team will head to Langley, BC to take part in the CIS Championship. After they defeated the rival Western Mustangs last week in London for the OUA Championship, they’ll have a chance to compete for their first national championship.

Also this week, the Wilson Cup will come to McMaster’s Burridge Gym. It’s the Final Four for OUA Basketball, and will see one team walk away with a conference title while the three others go home with nothing.

And in a few weeks, the country’s women’s basketball teams will take part in a set of country-wide regional tournaments to see who can make their way to the national championship.

All together, it sounds just a little bit like madness.

What drives people to be passionate about collegiate sports doesn’t need to be based around betting on your bracket or watching some kid who may or may not enjoy a mediocre NBA career some day. If you take away all the hype and hoopla, everything that stands out about the NCAA tournament can be found right here at home.

What about the momentum of cheering for a school? You know, one that you actually go to or have heard of before (Let me know when you can find George Mason or Gonzaga on a map).

What about the joy of watching unpaid athletes competing for nothing more than their school pride and spirit of the game? Sure, it’s a nice premise if you believe it, but with scholarship scandals seemingly always around, it’s tough to take seriously.

What we have here at home in the CIS is a pure form of collegiate athletics. No lucrative TV deals; no outrageous full ride scholarships; just schools and students putting their hard work and dedication on the line for their team.

There are plenty of ways to watch these championships. Some, like the Wilson Cup, will be on national TV (theScore, if you’re wondering). Most can be watched on webcasts online. But regardless of how or where you see them, the playoff and championship games happening across the country this month are worth watching.

After all, you might find you actually like this kind of madness.

Male Performance of the Week

Tyler Santoni - Volleyball

What can one say about Tyler Santoni that has not been said already? The fifth-year middle added to his legendary Marauder career with a third OUA title this past week and won honours as both the player of the championship match and the tournament as a whole. He notched 11 kills on 21 hitting attempts on Saturday.

PHOTO C/O RICHARD ZAZULAK

Female Performance of the Week

Sara Giovannetti - Track and Field The third-year runner provided the women’s track team with its lone medal at the OUA Championship meet at York this past weekend. Giovannetti earned a silver in the 3000m event. She finished behind Guelph’s Rachel Cliff in a time of 9:58.41.

Giovannetti’s efforts helped the Mac women secure a seventh-place team finish.

Photo of the Week

PHOTO C/O PETER SELF

Top 5

Five Most Underrated Sports Events 1. Ironman Triathlon 2. Iditarod Sled Dog Race 3. NCAA Frozen Four 4. World Ice Golf Championships 5. Gloucester Cheese Wheel Race PHOTO C/O ANDREW HO

The Marauders celebrate a point during their OUA Championship victory over the Western Mustangs. The men now travel to Langley, BC to compete in the CIS Championship tournament.

Come Write For Us! - Sports meeting every Thursday at 11:30 a.m.

Follow us on Twitter - @Decker_Brian @fraser_caldwell @theSilhouette

THE SILHOUETTE • B3

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

Athletics & Recreation

Corporate cash flows at Mac PATRICK THORNLEY THE SILHOUETTE

In the world of university athletics, money is a key in maintaining and improving not only varsity teams, but all programs and services offered by athletic departments. Add the global recession, and government and corporate funding for universities has been reduced.

The McMaster Athletics and Recreation department is no stranger to the pinch of this trickledown effect. However, spurred by aggressive branding in the form of the Colour Your Passion campaign, Athletics and Recreation is finding success in recruiting new and reaffirming old sponsorship deals.

“A lot of people recognize university sports logos over other things associated with a university,” stated Parrish Offer, Business Development Coordinator with McMaster Athletics and Recreation, who said that university athletics offer a unique market for prospective sponsors.

Citing the importance of the Colour Your Passion campaign, Offer noted, “If we can create something that all students are proud to be a part of, then the sponsors want to get involved with this too ...

McMaster students and faculty are unique in that they seem to have

loyalty, where once they get onto a brand they don’t change.”

With a group of some 5,000 new undergraduate students each year coming into McMaster, poised to become consumers for life, sponsors seem more drawn than ever to partner with McMaster University.

New this year is the sponsorship with McDonald’s, which carries with it all the clout of the famous Golden Arches. With the Big Mac player of the game being awarded to the game’s MVP and the Small Fries Games profiling young athletic talent at halftime of basketball games, McDonald’s presence has been strongly felt on campus.

“McDonald’s has also been great at helping us out with things like feeding groups of kids on day trips to McMaster. These are the types of partnerships we are looking to create,” said Offer, who was quick to point out, “we like to talk about partnerships, not sponsors. A sponsor means they give us money and get nothing in return, we [Athletics and Recreation] like the idea of a partnership because when they partner with us, they help us so we can put on a better student experience for athletes and general students.

“On the flip side, I actively want to see these corporations suc-

ceed, and support these partners out of loyalty to the brand,” he added.

The strength of McMaster’s branding campaign can be easily noticed by the expanding group of M Club members. The M club, founded in 2008 by community members committed to raising funds for athletic financial awards, has seen recent additions like McDonald’s and also Allegra Printing Hamilton. Athletics and Recreation has also extended some existing deals like that with Cogeco and Cable 14 (both M Club members) to continue broadcasts of McMaster football, basketball and volleyball games. With new national and local partnerships heading towards McMaster in the near future, Offer makes it clear that long-term sponsors, like Fox 40, Orlick Industries and other long-time supporters who helped create the M Club are not to be discounted.

“We aren’t trying to create a Mac brand that gets watered down with ads, we want to legitimize the Mac brand with advertisements,” said Offer.

Offer believes much of the new interest in partnering with McMaster stems from a basic realization among investors, “there are all kinds of ways to advertise: billboards, internet ads, etc. But one of the differences with advertising

with Mac, is when you are driving down the street or on the Internet, you aren’t in the best mood, but when you are at a basketball or volleyball game or working out and you see an ad, chances are you are probably smiling or in a good mood and you want an ad in a good place, like McMaster.”

McMaster’s branding campaign has no doubt improved the visibility of athletics and recreation, but Offer doesn’t feel that the peak of the branding has been reached. “We are still getting people aware of what our brand is. University sports are a bit unique in that your clientele changes a lot more than your brand needs to because every year you get 5,000 new students so the branding is new each year for them.”

“Athletics and Recreation would love to see the branding transcend athletics and engage the entire McMaster community. It is this commitment to expanding the McMaster brand that has created the buzz of partnership interest we all may benefit from soon enough,” says Offer.

Mac’s ultimate vision is a “Mac Crazy” environment where Westdale and Main Street are painted in Mac memorabilia centred around the one thing we all share in common: the colour maroon.

SportsBites Women’s Basketball Mac’s struggle of a season ended on a high note with an 80-39 victory over the winless Waterloo Warriors.

Alyska Lukan scored a season-high 19 points, and Liz Burns chipped in 17 of her own to help mace the Marauders. The Warriors struggled to keep up, committing 36 turnovers in the loss. Shackled by a myriad of injuries all season long, the Marauders missed the playoffs for the first time since 1993.

OUA All-Stars Women’s basketball forward Taylor Chiarot has been named an OUA West second-team All-Star for the second straight year. The fourthyear forward and Hamilton Native was Mac’s leading scorer and rebounder this year, averaging 12.8 points and 7.8 rebounds this season.

Women’s volleyball coach Tim Louks was named OUA West Coach of the Year, leading his team to a 16-3 record. Larissa Puhach and Sarah Kiernan were named firstteam All Stars, while Shannon McRobert was named to the secondteam for the first time in her career.

Men’s volleyball star Tyler Santoni celebrated his fifth and final season by being named a first-team OUA All-Star, while libero Josh Lichty was named to the second team.

Rookies Jori Mantha and Austin Campion-Smith to the all-rookie team.

Track Mac’s 4x200 metre and 4x4000 metre relay teams took home OUA bronze medals last Saturday. Both teams were composed of Jimmy Tat, Matt Pawelke, Scott Hutchinson and Rudy Baronette. The 4x400 event saw McMaster run a time of 3:22:38, good for a new school record. On the women’s side, Sarah Giovanetti ran for a silver medal in the 3000 metre event.

Wrestling Star Mac wrestlers Ryan Blake and Kevin MacLellan earned silver medals at the CIS Championship, both coming up just short in the championship matches. Blake reached the 72kg division final but fell to 2009 CIS Champion Ryan Myrfield of Brock, while MacLellan was bested by reigning CIS Champion David Oliver of Saskatchewan in the 76kg division.

Men’s Volleyball In addition to winning the OUA Championship and punching their ticket to CIS Nationals, the men’s volleyball team has been named Pizza Pizza OUA Team of the Month for February. The Marauders won their third OUA title in four years on Saturday, beating the Western Mustangs three sets to one.

Wilson Cup The OUA Champion in OUA men’s basketball will be decided this weekend at Mac’s Burridge Gym. The winner of the Wilson Cup will be decided by a Final Four elimination tournament. Laurier and Carleton tip off the action Friday night, followed by Lakehead and Ottawa.

B4 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

Men’s Volleyball

Mac spoils the party in London FRASER CALDWELL

ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

The McMaster Marauders completed a storybook final chapter in their OUA campaign this past weekend, claiming their third conference title in the past four seasons at the Final Four in London.

Facing off against their two fiercest rivals and most skilled opponents, the Marauders first dealt a four-set defeat to the Queen’s Gaels in Friday’s semifinal (25-14, 25-19, 23-25, 25-23), before repeating the feat the next night against the hometown Mustangs (25-17, 25-23, 18-25, 25-22).

The conference title extends McMaster’s season for yet another week, as they travel to Langley, BC for the CIS Championship this weekend as the Ontario representative.

Seeded sixth in a field of eight squads, the Marauders will face off against the Brandon Bobcats in the quarterfinal round on Friday.

McMaster had earned the right to play for the OUA Championship after handily dismissing the Laurier Golden Hawks in straight sets at the Burridge Gym in their quarterfinal tilt.

However, the Final Four would provide a much sterner test for the maroon and grey.

Their first opponent at the event would be McMaster’s perennial nemesis Queen’s, whom they had beaten in both of the teams’ two previous meetings this season.

However, each of those wins had demanded the maximum of five sets from the Marauders, and required McMaster’s sharpest form to achieve.

However, Friday’s semifinal would find the Gaels in less than top gear, and missing starting setter Dan Rosenbaum due to injury.

Whether it was Rosenbaum’s absence or simple unpreparedness, Queen’s emerged from the warm up in horrible form.

By comparison, McMaster was motivated and well organized and used that advantage to jump out to an early lead in the opening set.

With Kevin Stevens and Jori Mantha routinely beating blocks on both wings, and the latter serving with frightening ferocity and accuracy, McMaster stormed into a dominant position in the first and would not be caught.

After clinching the opening frame by an 11-point margin, the Marauders led out strongly again in the second, and would win it convincing despite a spirited Queen’s fight-back in the late going.

McMaster had a glorious chance to sweep their opponents in straight sets while leading 21-18 in the third, but would succumb to a late charge by the Gaels and would be forced to play a fourth.

However, it would prove to be only a formality, as the Marauders remained focused to eke out that decisive frame by a score of 25-23 after Queen’s crucially dumped their service into the net.

McMaster’s sophomore left side, Kevin Stevens would be

PHOTO C/O ANDREW HO

Tyler Santoni led the Marauders to an OUA title this past weekend. It was the third for the program in the past four seasons. named the Marauders’ player of the game after enjoying perhaps his finest match of the season.

The Manitoban outside notched a team-high of 16 kills on 30 hitting attempts and routinely confounded the Gaels’ defensive schemes.

Having brushed aside Queen’s, McMaster advanced to the conference final, where they faced the Western Mustangs on the purple-clad Londoners’ home court.

This would seem to lend Western the support of a partisan local crowd, but the reality on Saturday night proved to be far different.

Rather than a decisive home court advantage for the Mustangs at Alumni Hall, the presence of a sizeable and boisterous contingent of Marauder faithful turned the age-old adage on its head.

Full of confidence from their victory of the previous night, and with this supportive audience on their side, the maroon and grey opened their Saturday final in fine form.

In a fairly lop-sided first set, the Marauders outperformed the host Mustangs in nearly every

facet of the game, clinching a 25-17 victory and silencing the Western supporters dotting Alumni Hall.

Despite a renewed effort on the part of Western in the second set, McMaster continued to edge proceedings, largely through superior backcourt defence.

Middle talisman Tyler Santoni would seal the frame in the Marauders’ favour with a venomous kill at 24-23 and give the visitors a commanding two-set lead.

Facing the brooms on their home court, the Mustangs buckled down in the third set, forcing a fourth after a wayward set from Marauder setter Austin CampionSmith gave the hosts an easy route to the floor.

But as they did the previous night, McMaster responded to the setback by going on a tear, winning seven of the first nine points of the fourth set.

While Western would regroup and tighten the gap as the period progressed, the Marauders continued to plod ahead and set up a truly poetic match point.

In a rally that will be remembered for some time to come, Tyler Santoni made the most of a

juicy middle set and sent an outrageous effort directly into the face of the surprised Western outside Matt Poulin.

With the ball ricocheting violently to the floor, the Marauders swarmed the triumphant Santoni, while Poulin was left in a bloodied and dazed heap.

It was an emphatic end to a statement match from the Marauders, which sees them overcome the odds to top the OUA.

The aforementioned Santoni was awarded McMaster’s player of the game honours, as well as recognition as the most valuable player of the Final Four tournament.

The fifth-year middle tallied 11 kills on 21 attempts in the victory, and shared the team lead in points with 14.5.

In the aftermath of the win, Santoni was adamant that the title lost none of its lustre in the wake of his previous two victories.

“That was just incredible. We’ve worked so hard for five years, and I’ve already got two of these. It doesn’t get any worse each time,” said Santoni.

“Especially for me and Josh [Lichty], after the disappoint-

ment we went through last year. To come back and work our asses off with a young group. It was incredible.”

On the topic of his highlight reel kill to cap the match, the veteran middle was quick to voice his satisfaction.

“I guess we drew first blood,” Santoni laughed. “I think it was an exclamation mark on the game and a great way to finish for me. My last OUA point and I’ll remember it forever.”

It may have been his last point in the OUA, but Santoni is far from finished now that his team has claimed the Ontario title.

With the win, McMaster enters this weekend’s CIS Championship tournament held at Trinity Western in Langley, BC.

Seeded sixth for the event, the Marauders begin the tournament with a match against the Brandon Bobcats in the quarterfinal round.

That match will be played on Friday at 3 p.m. PST (6 p.m. EST).

A live webcast of the quarterfinal and all other matches being held at Langley will be hosted by the Streaming Sports Network (www.ssncanada.ca).

THE SILHOUETTE • B5

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

Men’s Basketball

Connolly: hard not to be optimistic Building block season cut short by early playoff exit BRIAN DECKER SPORTS EDITOR

This week isn’t going according to plan for Amos Connolly and the Marauders.

Their plan would have included preparing for the OUA Final Four this weekend at Burridge Gym. But after a first-round playoff loss to the Western Mustangs on Feb. 23, they’ve been left to ponder what could have been.

“They kicked our butts,” said Connolly. The Marauders fell 78-67 in a game that the Mustangs never really lost control of. Mac fell behind by 10 in the first quarter and as much as 22 in the second half, and though they made a number of runs, were never able to regain control of the contest.

But for the disappointing loss – McMaster had easily defeated Western in both of their meetings this season – Connolly and his squad are rich with positives to take from the season.

“[With the loss still fresh] it’s difficult for me to feel good, but I can’t help but feel confident about the direction this team is headed in,” said the coach, who finished his first season as head coach having guided his team to a 16-16 overall record and the fourth seed in the competitive OUA West.

“It’s hard not to be optimistic.”

A .500 record is certainly nothing to write home about, but with a number of question marks headed into the season, playoff contention was never a guarantee.

“We had a lot of guys that didn’t know each other at the start, but we meshed incredibly well,” said forward Matt Wilusz, one of the team’s captains. “The young guys along with the older guys that came in like Kenan [Etale] and Scott [Brittain] came together so

PHOTO C/O RICHARD ZAZULAK

Victor Raso and the Marauders were pushed out of the playoffs by the Western Mustangs, ending their 2010-11 campaign. well.”

Wilusz was the only senior to have played on last year’s squad, and McMaster was without three major players — Tyrell Vernon, Jermaine DeCosta and Keenan Jeppesen — from last year’s 24-9 team

The season wasn’t without its road bumps along the way, either. Brittain, a highly touted NCAA transfer from Boston University, looked dominant at times, but missed most of the season with recurring concussion problems. It’s

uncertain whether he’ll be able to return to the court as a player.

Mac also dealt with injuries to starters Scott Laws and Victor Raso, who missed time along with highly talented rookie Taylor Black.

“We put it together well. We kept getting hit with setbacks the whole year,” added Wilusz.

“I’ve never really had an experience in basketball with such a close group of guys, and the fact that we’ve got so many of them returning along with our strong recruiting class is great,” said Con-

nolly, who said the chemistry the team built during the year was key in overcoming adversity to reach the playoffs.

Off the court, the recruiting class Connolly speaks of might be one of the strongest ever for a McMaster team. The coach says next year’s rookies, including guards Aaron Redpath, Adam Presutti and Joe Rocca along with forwards Brett Sanders and Nathan McCarthy, will have a chance to help right away.

“One of the things we

need to do better is get tougher as a basketball team. Having these players come in and compete for playing time right away will help us be more competitive in every aspect of the game.”

This week is still a painful one for the Marauders, with the wounds of their loss to Western still fresh. But Connolly says it’s less painful thanks to the future they have ahead of them.

“The optimism we have moving forward makes this week just a little bit easier.”

B6 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

Women’s Volleyball

Men’s Volleyball

Louks seeks change Rookie steps into pressure role after deflating loss Campion-Smith key part of championship FRASER CALDWELL

ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

FRASER CALDWELL / ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

Mac could not overcome Western in their OUA quarterfinal.

FRASER CALDWELL

ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

One point will haunt Tim Louks for months. That much is true.

Speaking with the coach almost a week and a half after his team’s disappointing quarterfinal loss on home soil to the Western Mustangs, it is clear that Louks remains highly emotional about the way in which his squad exited the OUA playoffs.

Above all, Louks rues a crucial point that his squad simply failed to take advantage of. Having played a sub-par match against the Mustangs for much of the contest, the Marauders nonetheless found themselves level at two sets apiece in the fifth.

Although Western had raced out to an early lead in the deciding set of their conference quarterfinal, the Mustangs inexplicably allowed the Marauders back into the match.

With the score standing at 10-8 in the visitors’ favour, the maroon and grey were given a golden opportunity to draw within a single point.

A Mustang miscue presented the Marauders with a juicy overpass, the equivalent of a tennis smash or an uncontested dunk.

And rather than take that opportunity, McMaster’s hitters allowed the ball to drop in confusion, and gave away a crucial point in the process.

Only six points later, the match was over and the Marauders relegated to also-rans in a conference they had led for much of the season.

“We’re 10-9 with the ball if we put that overpass away,” said Louks. “You don’t train overpass.

It’s generally a pretty high-percentage scoring action, without saying that it’s a guaranteed point.”

“10-9 with the ball or 11-8 without the ball, and it comes over.”

The coach trails off with obvious

The Marauders have had a whirlwind season to say the least, but for one member, the experience has been particularly turbulent.

One look at the starting lineup for the men most recently crowned champions of the OUA, and you’ll see a rookie in the most conspicuous of spots.

Austin Campion-Smith is the setter of choice for the Marauders, and the first-year is making the most of his opportunity.

The Bowmanville, Ontario native was named to the OUA’s All-Rookie team last week, and outdueled two of the best setters in the province in Jackson Dakin and Sean McKay to clinch the conference championship this past weekend.

But just a few mere months ago, all of this seemed far from likely.

Indeed, for the opening half of the season, Campion-Smith was undoubtedly the also-ran at the setting position. Fellow rookie Chris Spack had edged him out in their early season competition at that spot, and showed no sign of relinquishing it.

But then at the onset of the Christmas Break, Spack sustained a serious ankle injury, requiring surgery, and Campion-Smith had the opening he had been craving.

Talking with the first-year standout, one is immediately struck by his enthusiasm and belief at this stage in his young career.

He explains immediately that he never doubted his ability to

contribute as he has this season.

“I came in with high expectations for this year,” said Smith.

“I was fighting with Chris for the start, and it worked out that Dave thought he was stronger for the team at the beginning.”

“He started and did a great job. When he went down I knew it was my time to step up and my time to shine. Obviously with Chris going down I’m not proud or anything, but we do this for the team and we do it together.”

Despite his obvious confidence, Campion-Smith admits that when the baton was passed to him mid-way through the team’s late November clash with York, he could not help but feel the gravity of the situation.

“When I came off the bench at York, I was really nervous,” remarked the setter.

“With motivation from my cousin Josh [Lichty] and Tyler [Santoni] who believed in me, it worked out.”

The success he enjoyed almost immediately, and his increasing comfort in the starting role served Campion-Smith well in the marquee match ups of the OUA playoffs.

In the stress and strain of knockout contests against the highprofile competition of Queen’s and Western, the rookie was unflinching, and demonstrated a level of calmness that belied his relative youth.

“At that point of the season, I was 100 per cent confident. I was a bit nervous at the start of the year with the pressure of being a rookie

setter and a bench player. But I’ve done this all before,” said CampionSmith.

His status as a rookie in a high-pressure position led the Gaels to attempt a measure of gamesmanship towards the setter in the Marauders’ semi-final victory on Friday, but Campion-Smith indicates that he had the last laugh.

“The last game, the middle Amo [Michael Amoroso] was chirping me. This time around, every time I was at net they would ask me if I was nervous and tell me not to let the team down. I didn’t respond.”

With his success this past weekend in helping to guide McMaster to a conference championship, Campion-Smith now faces the inviting prospect of playing the best squads in the country.

Obviously overjoyed at the opportunity, he believes that it will be the perfect end to a landmark rookie season.

“This has been the best time of my life. The school is perfect. The balance between school and volleyball is unreal and just to end it like this is incredible.”

The first-year setter will soak in all that he can in British Columbia this weekend.

He knows full well that with T.J. Sanders waiting in the wings following a high-profile transfer from the University of Manitoba, his time in the limelight may be limited.

But that won’t stop Campion-Smith from enjoying what remains of his breakout rookie campaign.

expletives to follow.

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the play and the match itself for the coach is the fact that his team had fought back to level the quarterfinal after dropping the first two sets.

“We scratch and claw, we get engaged. Seventy-five per cent of the four sets prior to that were engaged, and 75 per cent of the different pieces involved. And Western at the turn is up 8-4 in the fifth and all they have to do is close. But they don’t.”

“We have an opportunity.

An overpass. You salivate for those suckers, there should be people clamouring. But we had nobody clamouring,” laments Louks.

Most worrying for the Marauder coach is what he perceives as a negative attitude on the part of his players, who have been quick to discount their own abilities in the face of adverse conditions.

“The moment that you’re saying ‘I can’t’, you’ve got a decision to make. It has to be: ‘I will’.

Train harder, train with more intent, watch more film, be a student of the game.”

In the wake of that disappointment, the coach insists that change is in the cards for the Marauders in the off-season.

Most importantly, Louks is striving to create an environment of competition amongst his players.

“There are some decisions to be made, and one of them is that I’m carrying a monster squad next year. And they will fight, maybe for the first time in their lives, to compete.”

“There will be 16 to 18 bodies in our room, six to eight of them being first year. We’re going to go to a larger team and put the pressure on the players to compete.”

Louks looks forward to welcoming new faces to the Marauder fold. But in the meantime, he continues to rue the point that could have kept his squad’s season alive. Despite beginning the season on the bench, Austin Campion-Smith has shone in a starting role.

PHOTO C/O RICK ZAZULAK

THE SILHOUETTE • C1

INSIDEOUT THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

production office extension: 27117 insideout@thesil.ca

SANTINO MARINUCCI

its colours with slot machines lined up row by row in the airport just waiting to take somebody’s hard-earned money in one short pull.

However my attention was quickly diverted by the spectacular view of the Las There are many preconceptions of what to expect when going to a place like Las Vegas Strip while waiting for our airport limo. Pictures truly do not do a place like this Vegas. Many people think that it is only a place for adults, where you can gamble, justice; you have to see it to believe it. drink, smoke, and do whatever you want.

The limo ride from the airport to our hotel was something out of a movie as However, others may say, it is also a great to bring the entire family, go to we cruised down Las Vegas Boulevard at two miles an hour marvelling at the towering shows, and do the tourist thing. spectacles that are called hotels.

Or maybe, if you really want, you will find yourself stealing a tiger, getting After we finally got to our hotel, there were many things that became apparent roofied, and winning $30,000 at the card tables. Of course, those activities would be to me, however the things that boggled my mind the most were the completely different performed in whatever order you like. set of laws that exist in the Las Vegas bubble.

However, that’s the beauty of Vegas: you can make it as classy as you want When I mean different, I mean they would make Dalton McGunity choke on it, or as tacky as you want it. his own tongue. For instance, it is totally cool to carry your mixed drinks, bottles of I had the pleasure of staying in Sin City this reading week, and I most beer, bottles of liquor up and down the strip and drink, with no questions asked. certainly had no time to read. The only exceptions were the unusually addicting Another gem that would come as a shock to many who have never been to Las spinning numbers flashing in front of my face on the casino floor.

Vegas is the legality of smoking in the hotels and casinos.

From the second I got off the plane, the vibe of the city already began to show • PLEASE SEE WAKING, C2 ASSISTANT BUSINESS EDITOR

GRAPHIC BY JOY SANTIAGO / MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

[This Week in InsideOut] Scream OH! for oral Don’t knock it til you try it. Getting wild down under may just be a safer (and more fun) alternative to intercourse.

Pg. C3

Mac for Katrina relief

Farewell to the flu

This past reading week, a group of McMaster students travelled to New Orelans to aid in hurricane recovery.

Need a quick fix for that godawful virus? Learn how to cope with and prevent the flu from beating you.

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C2 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

Waking up in Vegas, minus the venereal disease • CONT’D FROM C1

indoors, excluding restaurants. So if smoking is not your thing but you want to try your luck at the casino, be prepared to encounter people with cigars and cigarettes happily throwing dice and playing the slots. However, if you enjoy a good cigar, or cigarette, this is the place to come.

I say this because they have any selection you want (excluding Cuban cigars) and the best part is, you never have to leave your seat. They will come around

with the humidors, light it for you and probably shine your shoes on top of that.

This brings me to the next thing about Vegas that will be greatly missed, and that is the spectacular level of customer service that each worker provides to its visitors. This even includes the cab drivers who actually know where your destinations are, instead of having to ask you for directions.

The people who work in Vegas survive on their tips but, in this city, tips are not expected,

they are earned. Accordingly, every single server I encountered gave excellent customer service, and in turn I always gave an excellent tip.

One cab driver regaled us with stories of his journey to America and his escape from the 1979 Iranian Revolution, another told us some of the funniest, dirtiest jokes we have ever heard, making the rides as enjoyable as the places we were going to. The shows were nothing to scoff at either, though.

Watching David Copperfield make a 1947 Chevrolet appear out of

nowhere in front of 200 people was something that everyone should see at some point in their lives.

Better yet, I got to see my dad get picked randomly out of the crowd to give two random numbers to Copperfield.

Copperfield then to unlocked a box which had been onstage the entire act, and revealed my dad’s numbers on a piece of paper that had been inside since well before my dad was even picked.

There are many ways to enjoy Las Vegas, whether that be

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gambling, going to shows, seeing the Grand Canyon, or just exploring you can make it whatever you want it to be. Heading down to Sin City was an experience that cannot be matched by any other city, and at the end of the day, even if you don’t like to gamble you can keep yourself so busy you may not even step inside a casino.

As I type this, with the glittering Las Vegas skyline in the contrail of my plane, I cannot help but thinking one thing: I should have bet it all on black.

THE SILHOUETTE • C3

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

SEX and the STEEL CITY

The lowdown on going down

SILHOUETTE FILE PHOTO

The benefit of going down on your partner before sex can result in increased pleasure during sexual intercourse.

LAUREN JEWETT THE SILHOUETTE

Whether you are giving head, eating out, muff diving, going down, playing the skin flute or performing oral sex, there are a few things that need to be considered. There are many benefits for both the “6” and the “9”, but, just as anything else in life, there are also some risks involved.

In early teen years when one is finally ready to start exploring their sexuality, oral sex is often the first place they turn to. The University of California studied 500 grade nine students and found that most of them would not try intercourse before oral sex. Additionally, the study indicated that these students viewed oral sex as more appropriate for their age group, as well as more socially acceptable.

Although there is no risk of pregnancy with oral sex, this does not mean it is risk-free. In fact, you are at risk for several different STIs that, in addition to being transmitted through vaginal and anal intercourse, can also be transmitted through oral sex. Such STIs most commonly include chlamydia, gon-

orrhea, and even HIV. Further risks include various bacterial and viral infections as a result of unclean genitals.

Oral sex has its many benefits, the most obvious being the orgasm. Often, oral sex makes for great foreplay. But is foreplay a priority for both males and females?

After speaking with some McMaster men it was clear that the only benefit to giving head was simply the knowledge that you are giving another person pleasure. The benefits of getting head seemed to be an equally short list.

After some uncomfortable questioning it was clear that many men are focused on the big picture and are eager to get to the end result the best way they know how.

All agreed that, while they enjoy a BJ every now and then, they are more interested in getting their partner off of their knees and on to their backs.

Women seem to have a lot more to gain from oral sex. Giving head seems to offer two possible advantages, the first is knowing you are pleasing your man, while the other (if you so choose) is the nutri-

tional value that accompanies each and every load of love.

Sexperts at the University of Chicago claim that some of the many nutrients found in semen include 150 mg of protein, 6 mg of fat and a lot of B12 and calcium. The list of giving is short, but fear not ladies because the advantages of receiving seem endless.

If you happen to have a partner who is willing to perform oral sex long enough for you to achieve orgasm then you are aware of the incredible and relaxing sensations associated with it.

Women tend to need a lot more stimulation than their male counterparts to achieve orgasm from oral sex or intercourse. It takes women a great deal of time and focus to forget their troubles and get in the mood.

Foreplay is extremely important in order to have good and effective sexual intercourse.

Without it, women have a difficult time reaching the Big O. Clitoral stimulation starts the production of vaginal lubrication that is necessary for pain-free sex. Just because a girl is wet does not always mean she is

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ready for sex.

It is important to slow down and take some time for arousal and stimulation to build up. The more stimulated a woman is, the bigger and better her orgasm is going to be (which means the bigger and better things she will have to say about you to her friends).

Many women acknowledge that their guys are not interested in slowing it down while they are in the throws of passion, but it will make for better and longer lasting sex.

Many partners face the issue of time. Consider going down and giving her an orgasm before you start with sexual intercourse.

She will be more than pleased and will be extra lubricated for your sliding pleasure.

It takes a while to get to know a person. It can take even longer to figure out what they like in bed. This is where communication is key. It can be uncomfortable and a bit of a mood killer at first when you are trying to whisper things like “yes, well no … almost, go left … my left, your right!” but you have to keep at it until you get a natural

rhythm going and are comfortable enough to express what you want, and more importantly what you do not want. It can also help to try new things that can add new sensations to your usual routine.

Using toys like blindfolds and handcuffs can add a sense of adventure and risk that can give you the edge you’ve been craving.

Incorporating toys like vibrators while performing oral sex at the same time will cut your foreplay time in half and make her legs go weak.

Another popular way to add some flavour to your downstairs adventures is flavoured lubricant or experimenting with hot and cold sensations like hot chocolate and popsicles.

If oral sex is something you want to try for the first time, or you are a seasoned pro it is important to talk with your partner and communicate your desires.

It can also be a good alternative if you are not ready for intercourse. For some of you it’s one of the many bases on the way to home plate, for others it’s the force to knock it out of the park.

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Various times @ Copps Coliseum www.hecfi.ca for more info

C4 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

Healing after the hurricane Mac Serve heads south to help rebuild New Orleans VANAJA SIVAKUMAR THE SILHOUETTE

We can all probably remember, with great deal, where we were when the world witnessed the extreme force of Hurricane Katrina that swept through New Orleans, Louisiana in 2005.

The repercussions that this category three hurricane brought to towns and cities near the mouth of the Mississippi River is still felt today with many New Orleanians in need of homes and hopeful for a miracle.

“What can I do?” Many of us asked that question after watching the news stories on television and learning of the homes flooded with whole towns underwater.

The volunteers of the Mac Serve program asked that same question, and actually took the initiative and did something about it.

McMaster’s own Mac Serve Program under the Student Success Centre gathered a group of 46 volunteers, one of the largest groups in Mac Serve history, both undergraduate and graduate students, to travel down to New Orleans via a bus during this past reading week.

These volunteers offered aid and support to the areas most devastated by the hurricane.

The main purpose of the trip was not only to provide services to the hard hit areas of Hurricane Katrina but also to learn of the politics of disaster relief and its effects, both socially and politically, on a local and global scale.

Adam Kuhn, one out of the two leaders of the trip and also the Student Affairs Manager at the Student Success Centre says that “the main goal of this trip was not only doing work and getting work done but also learning through experience and making connections for yourself.”

social aspects of not only the Hurricane Katrina disaster but also the BP oil spill that occurred in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico.

A large emphasis was focused on purpose and each volunteer was required to consistently question why and what function they had in the bigger picture of international aid.

Lectures were held at the University of New Orleans regarding what had previously been done for the disaster victims and what still needs to be done.

Visiting the Hurricane Katrina Museum also gave the students a look into the history of New Orleans and the personal stories of some of the hurricane victims.

“Applying for this trip is open to any McMaster student,” commented Kuhn. He also stated that “our feedback from past trips have always been positive.”

Applications open in October with a required questionnaire that can be filled out online. There are numerous trips available to choose from to various locations in North and Central America such as Mexico, Vancouver, and different parts of Hamilton to name a few.

Catherine Lau, a third-year psychology student, thoroughly enjoyed the trip and said that a highlight for her was “hanging out with some of the students attending the local university and hearing their stories when Katrina hit … they really appreciate Canadians’ help and were really friendly and welcoming.”

Also, Lau learned that “we Hurricane Katrina. shouldn’t judge that everything is okay in terms of disaster remedihouses but also provided whatever ation simply because it happened help they could to the local fellow- in North America. Even after five ship that provided their accommo- years New Orleans is still in need of dations during their stay. aid.”

A large component of the Further information can be trip was educating the large Mc- found at: http://studentsuccess.mcMaster group of the political and master.ca.

VANAJA SIVAKUMAR / THE SILHOUETTE

Volunteers from McMaster help build homes in areas affected by

Kuhn was pleased to see that many of the volunteers did just that.

McMaster volunteers worked along side Habitat for Humanity in building two homes, where they got as far as getting the

frames up within three days. This is quite a feat seeing as this was the first time many of the McMaster volunteers handled a hammer, much less building a house!

Nonetheless these volunteers persevered and not only built

THE SILHOUETTE • C5

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

How-todo-it NATALIE TIMPERIO

SENIOR INSIDEOUT EDITOR

A sudden onset of body aches and pain, fever, headache, fatigue, and a cough causing you to nearly pee your pants leaves you stranded hopelessly in bed. It’s no common cold—it’s the flu. F*#K!

The last thing you need is to be struck ill with that awful F-word of a virus. Maybe you shouldn’t have walked out the door this morning without a coat—yes, spring is fast approaching, but the negative symbol appearing on your local weather channel should indicate that it may be a little too soon to swear off all winter wear.

Or, maybe you shouldn’t have had that smush fest (thank you Jersey Shore for expanding my vocabulary) with that random over spring break—although you can consider yourself lucky if this is the only virus you picked up.

Regardless of how you got to this point, there’s no better way to deal with the flu than to ingest

Fight the flu blues large quantities of over-the-counter cough syrup in addition to daytime/ nighttime flu pills. Add tequila shots to the mix and you’re sure to enjoy a reasonably breezy recovery.

In all seriousness, there are numerous ways to not only prevent contracting the flu amongst other related illnesses, but also ways to make your recovery as comfortable as humanly possible without the incessant use of drugstore medications (although I wouldn’t rule out the alcohol).

Although most of this should already be known, I question people’s knowledge of basic hygiene.

Duck and cover

Don’t sneeze or cough into your hands without sanitizing afterwards. Although this would be a step up from sneezing or coughing without covering your mouth area, no one wants to be a second hand cougher. So spare your fellow folks and sneeze or cough into your arm, sleeve or a tissue. It’s recommended

that you still wash your hands afterwards. In fact, wash your hands incessantly—this is one time in which obsessively sanitizing is more than justified.

Wash, wash and wash

Although you may not be able to do much else other than lay in bed moaning with every movement (not in the preferred way), washing your hands is an easy enough task.

If you’re fully unable to remove yourself from the mattress, then ensure that hand sanitizer is within reach.

Great! Now you’re at least semi-set for flu prevention. But what of flu recovery? I hate to be the bearer of bad news but unless you’re into the whole flu shot deal (which of course would have prevented you from getting the flu in the first place) there’s no definitive way to recover from such awfulness.

Here are some coping tips, but as a Humanities student working as an amateur journalist

I cannot guarantee you that any of some much needed alleviation of this will work successfully. sick symptoms when you need it the most. Just follow the instructions on Comfy and cared for the package and you should have no

Nothing is better than worry of overdosage. mom’s homemade chicken noodle soup when you’ve got the Go natural flu. Allowing yourself to get as No, I don’t mean go naked. comfortable as possible with some Although, if wearing your birthday hot liquids will surely soothe any suit makes you feel better then associated pain and discomfort. by all means go nude! Just shut I find cuddling with a childhood all blinds beforehand. If you’re stuffed animal to be a great help— paranoid about taking drugstore no joking! If for some reason you’re medications then consider some unable to enjoy the comforts of natural methods. home, then send a friend out to get Chewing a raw, salted you some canned chicken soup and garlic clove naturally boosts the what have you—at least this will immune system. Gargling warm provide some level of comfort as saltwater also helps to clear bacteria opposed to you whining hopelessly from the throat area where germs alone. tend to congregate. If you can’t stomach some of these natural Drugstores are dope medicines, they are also are

Don’t dope yourself up available in capsules. on drugstore medicines, but don’t rule out the potential effectiveness All in all, I wish you of what your local Shoppers Drug nothing but the best possible Mart has to offer. NeoCitran and recovery from the flu or whatever other related products can provide other ailment you are stricken with.

Support Blood 101 at Mac KATIE FERGUSON SHEC

This past September the McMaster Students Union (MSU) began a partnership with Canadian Blood Services in a program called Partners for Life and pledged a goal of 450 units of blood to be donated by the end of 2010.

With the support of the Student Health Education Centre (SHEC) this goal was exceeded with an impressive 545 total units donated.

This term the goal is set even higher, as McMaster is currently involved in a challenge

called Blood 101. This is an annual student-led blood donor competition aimed at recruiting and retaining donors within universities, colleges and technical campuses across Canada.

With your generous donation of blood, the MSU has the chance to win one of three titles: the school with the highest participation rate, the school that collects the most units of blood, or the school with the highest number of first-time donors.

As this is the first year we are competing in the Blood 101 challenge, to win a title would be an impressive way for the MSU to

begin in Partners for Life.

The need for blood continues to grow every day and thus the need for donors increases as well. Currently, baby boomers represent the largest percentage of blood donors in Canada, and as this dedicated group of donors age, many become recipients themselves.

This means that there is a need for more young Canadians to give blood. The MSU is proud to report that of the 545 units donated last fall, 187 of them were from new donors.

Donating blood is an easy, safe and rewarding act of kindness that can impact or save up to three lives. You must be at least 17 years of age, weigh at least 50kg (110 lbs) and be in general good health.

On the day of your donation you should be feeling well, have had adequate sleep, and something to eat and drink.

Upon arrival at the clinic a test will be administered to determine whether you meet the haemoglobin (iron) requirements and you will be asked a number of questions for eligibility purposes.

Canadian Blood Services takes appropriate measures to ensure the confidentiality of your personal information. Many students say they are willing to donate blood, but that they haven’t had the time or opportunity to do so. Well McMaster, this is your time.

Blood clinics on campus will be taking place: Tuesday March 8

10:30am-5pm 3rd Floor MUSC, CIBC Hall Friday March 25 10:30am-5pm 3rd Floor MUSC, CIBC Hall Tuesday March 29 10am-3:30pm Ewart Angus Centre

To book your appointment call 1-888-2DONATE, or visit SHEC in MUSC 202 and receive a free box of Kraft Dinner! Walkins on the day of clinics are also welcome.

For any questions regarding the MSU’s partnership with Canadian Blood Services please feel free to contact Katie Ferguson, SHEC Coordinator at shec@msu.mcmaster.ca or (905) 525-9140 ext. 22041.

C6 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2011

THE SILHOUETTE • C7

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

BUSINESS

production office extension: 27117 business@thesil.ca

Just our two cents Canada’s love-hate relationship with the penny

Raging Bull

Squeezing the juice out of Lululemon Why this athletic chain is trending SANTINO MARINUCCI ASSISTANT BUSINESS EDITOR

CHRISTOPHER CHANG / SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR

Many Canadians don’t think that they are worth the metal from which they are forged.

SIMON GRANAT

SENIOR BUSINESS EDITOR

It seems as though the penny has dropped. As is the case every few years or so Canadians fall out of love with their iconic coin. For many of us, pennies are not even worth the effort of picking up off the ground. And as the price of copper has been steadily rising, the penny has all too frequently been the target of more hate than love. This has prompted Canadians to yet again ask, “Do we really need the penny?”

Much of the recent anti-penny prose can be traced back to a single statistic. It costs more than a penny to make a penny.

In fact, it costs the Royal Canadian Mint 50 per cent more to make the penny than what its market value is. Currently, the Mint spends about one and a half cents making our one-cent coin.

Those who want to abolish the penny say that it is outdated and consumers can do without it. The idea is that any change would be rounded up or down to the nearest five-cent denomination.

Advocates of abolishment are quick to point fingers to Sweden’s rounding system.

In 1972 Sweden eliminated their one-cent piece, instead opting to round up or down to the nearest fifth cent. Other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Singapore and Switzerland have adopted similar techniques. New Zealand has even gone so far as to round up to the nearest ten-cent denomination.

Penny proponents, stuck in a limbo somewhere between nostalgic malaise for the past and precision, argue that the penny should remain in circulation. And for others, the penny is a cultural symbol. Canada can do without it, but shouldn’t.

To some it is a matter of history. For them, the penny is woven into the tapestry of Canadian history. The first penny was minted in 1858, and was a slightly larger diameter than our quarter.

Britain’s goal at the time was to give what would become Canada a stable currency.

As provinces joined the Federation from 1867 onward, they let their own currency mechanism fall by the wayside in favour of adopting

Canadian currency and the Canadian penny.

The composition of the coin has changed numerous times since its inception.

The largest change in diameter was made after the First World War. In 1920, the Mint shrunk the penny from a bulky 25.4 mm to its current size of 19.05 mm.

In 1997, rising copper costs forced the Mint to roll out a penny with a different composition. Before then the penny was composed of 98 per cent copper. In 1997 the mint toyed around with a similar amount of zinc until settling on the current composition of 94 per cent steel, 1.5 per cent nickel, and 4.5 per cent copper plated zinc in 2000.

In 2010, the Senate released a report recommending that Canada scrap the penny.

They argued that the current levels of inflation, people’s spending habits, and hording the coin make current use an unneeded expense for the government.

Even if the government does one day discontinue the penny, chances are that the coin won’t fade away but remain glimmering its copper glow in piggy banks across the country.

Lululemon is one of the companies that have managed to impress me on a regular day-today basis in terms of its market presence and innovation. It is also one of the companies I praise on a regular basis for the spectacular product that they manage to produce.

Not only have they made workout clothing an acceptable fashion statement outside of the gym, they have also managed to make people, more specifically female individuals, look great when at the gym.

At the high risk of sounding like I only like this company because of how fantastic the opposite sex looks in Lululemon outfits and accessories, consider a few more sober reasons why this company is on the rise.

For one thing, Lululemon is about to unveil their newest feat of fashion engineering to the gym-going elite. If your guess was creating clothes that do not smell like sweat or other aromas after you have hit the machines then you are right.

Lululemon has achieved the impossible: making clothes that do not smell like the gym, even after you’ve come back from the gym.

Apparently this line of clothing is designed with a silver fiber woven into the clothes, which absorbs sweat and kills odourcausing bacterias.

So if you are in the demographic who does not like to wash their clothes after a workout, or if you have an embarrassing odour problem Lululemon has you covered.

On top of this Lululemon’s stock has been bullish in the markets hitting new highs for its ever-climbing stock price. The athletic wear company has recorded stock prices as high as $75 CDN per share, up from a previous 52 week low of $28 CDN. This shows that the company is picking up speed this quarter as summer rolls around.

If that was not a good enough reason to think that this company was in the upswing, it is starting to cater equally to men as it has to their loyal female fan base. It has been reported that more men are starting to buy into yoga, thus starting to buy yoga clothes.

What better reason does a man need to join a yoga class, or so-called “BROga” class, than to be promised face melting hits to exercise to?

BROga, is essentially yoga geared towards men to help attract the demographic towards that activity.

In an estimated $6 billion yoga market, catering to men would be the best thing to do in terms of sales.

The increasing abundance of menoriented BROga will mean nothing but positive things for Lululemon in terms of branching out its demographic outside of women.

To top it all off, the Chief Executive Officer of Lululemon, Christine Day was just awarded with British Columbia’s 2011 most influential businesswoman award, for excellence in her field.

Essentially, Lululemon is on their way up in the world. They have mananged to manufacture a product that not only puts a smile on my face, but on the faces of all men and women who use their product.

I also would not be surprised if we saw them in the headlines more with the ever increasing popularity of BROga among men, and their innovative odourless clothing design.

Lululemon, I love you.

[This Week in Business] Industria Revolution

Summer job?

Conflict raises oil prices

Did team Industria come out on top again this week?

Or did team Infinity recoup their losses?

Taking the time to properly prepare for job hunting will yield better results.

Conflict in the Middle East has led to oil spikes in the western world.

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C8 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

MARS Apprentice

Industria steams ahead In Brief Getting hot under the hood

An Ontario Superior Court judge has given the go-ahead for a class action lawsuit against General Motors. The lawsuit was filed by 207 General Motors dealers who claim that the auto manufacturer forced them to close.

They state that GM pressured the franchisees to sign wind down agreements with only two days to think about it.

Prepare for liftoff

SIMON GRANAT / BUSINESS EDITOR

Team Industria has made MARS history by being the only team to win four straight boardrooms.

SIMON GRANAT

away with their ideas,” said Professor Malik Mandeep, to a somewhat confused audience who responded with a mixed sense of laughAfter the disappointing performances of both ter and caution. teams at last week’s boardroom, team Infin- Industria’s presentation focused ity and team Industria walked into this week’s on making SoBe an experience and pitched boardroom with something to prove.

SoBe as the “drink that gets stuff done,” said

The boardroom was late to start, but Atta Urrehman, member of team Industria. as soon as team Infinity took the podium it “The one thing that can push SoBe over the was clear that this week was different. This top is the experience”. week’s challenge was presented by MARS’ In what would eventually unfold to largest sponsor, Pepsico. The challenge was be a bittersweet irony, it was the passion of for the apprentices to come up with a mar- team Industria that pushed it over the top. keting strategy that would reinvigorate SoBe. Team Infinity chose to centre their What’s more, the company wanted the teams’ campaign around SoBe’s lizard mascot. Their strategies to appeal to university students. idea was to pitch the question, “Who’s your

Off the back of last week’s perform- lizard?” to consumers. They wanted to affect, ance the teams upped their game. There was engage, and inform consumers, creating a a marked youthful invigoration and a passion buzz through multimedia and campus events. to their presentations.

“I thought we did extremely well.

Team Infinity kept up the pace and We got our point across and conveyed our brought a passionate pitch to the panel of message extremely well,” said Ben Descujudges. But, in the end, Infinity’s efforts were ouds of team Infinity. no match for the Industria revolution. Team In the end, the judges found that Industria pulled it out and won their fourth while team Infinity had a better, more cohesive straight boardroom. presentation style, Industria edged them out

“Turbins off to you, Infinity blew me with the development and execution of their SENIOR BUSINESS EDITOR

Bull Bear

Bear Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) With an ailing CEO and rising sales, Apple’s second version of the iPad was unveiled this week. The trouble is that there was no build up for the launch. Sure, there was speculation, but I watched, and I waited for a date and then I eventually just gave up. Apple’s unwillingness to keep consumers in the loop probably means that many of those who would buy the iPad2 woke up and realized that they already owned a laptop.

Bull Staples (NASDAQ:SPLSt) Staplers are a finite resource. There are only so many you can buy. It’s a good thing that Staples, toy store to many a white collar worker, has finally realized this. After a long, constant and sharp decline in stock price the company has some good news to offer investors. They will be expanding their copy and print services. The downside: their sales are dependent on the economy, but with the economy slowly looking up, Staples is poised to capitalize on it.note.

Write for the Business section Meetings Tuesdays @ Noon, MUSC B110 business@thesil.ca

idea. A win by team Industria this week brings the score for the overall competition to 4-0 out of five boardrooms. In a sense, even this week’s boardroom was inconsequential since Infinity would be unable to rally back and win after dropping to a 3-0 deficit. “Walking in the boardroom we thought, ‘We have nothing to lose now,’ but we said ‘We have not lost yet,’” said Descuouds.

Next week’s challenge is presented

by Canadian Tire. The apprentices are tasked with coming up with a plan to raise hockey equipment sales by $10 million. Currently, Canadian Tire is the largest retailer of hockey equipment in the world and the company has pledged to make an internship placement available for one of the apprentices, after the competition.

The question that looms over next week’s final boardroom is whether team Industria will be able to shut out Infinity for the first time in history. Will Infinity be so discouraged from their season’s performance that they’ll just give up? Or will Infinity rally back and take one for the team?

Find out next week, same bat time, same bat channel.

Airline carrier Porter has announced that they will be attempting their second go in two years at an IPO. In mid-March the board of directors will meet to discuss the pros and cons of the move. Last time the company attempted an IPO, they were halted by tepid investors who did not believe that Porter could maintain its success.

Saudi ruler extends a hand

It’s not every day you read about a Saudi King doing much to help the building of their society, however Saudi King Abdullah has pledged to finance a US$15 billion plan to build housing for his people. This comes at a time when Saudi Arabia is facing a housing shortage and the King plans to build over two million homes by 2014. Along with this, he plans on funding more social programs and education.

Phasing out Ronald McDonald

The world’s most popular fast food restaurant is slowly phasing out their most iconic figure. That’s right, Ronald McDonald will become a thing of the past as they move towards a more “upscale” chain to attract a different demographic to its restaurants. Not to say that he will totally fade away, he just won’t be staring you in the face anymore when you order your “upscale” Big Mac.

THE SILHOUETTE • C9

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

The dog days of summer work Preparing for summer employment puts you ahead of the curve

It is important to plan out your summer job this year or else you may end up broke, jobless and alone this summer.

SANTINO MARINUCCI

ASSISTANT BUSINESS EDITOR

Whether you are a first-year student looking for summer work, or you are graduating and trying to find out what career you should pick in order to start your life, finding a job that does not totally suck can be a very trying experience.

Coming from someone who has been doing this for three summers now, from one student to another, it is probably best to find a job that you can go back to the next summer for your best case scenario.

However, for those who can only dream to be that lucky, or people who do not have the kind hand of their parents to give them

nice desk jobs, let’s go through some ways to find yourself in comfortable employment that will not have you working like a slave.

First off, always utilize the sources you have available to you.

This does not stop at the Internet.

Talk to your family members and network with other friends to see if they know people who are hiring.

This will give you a leg up on the competition if you start early and you get to know whoever is employing you.

The next thing that is extremely important is to not set your standards too high, this is because you will be limiting yourself from finding work rather than the employment climate from doing so.

What I’m trying to say is, have a general idea of what you are looking for in terms of work, so that you have a basic standard to work towards and do not sell yourself short.

However, do not think that because you are in first year university that you are that much better than every other person applying.

Many students think that because they have completed some university they are that much more competent than the next person.

Well let me tell you something, employers do not care, and in some cases it can be a strike against you. This meaning that if they know you will not be returning, employers will not waste, time, money and

resources training you if you are leaving in the fall.

This is where tailoring your resume and cover letter to each job is very important. When you are applying to various places you must always remember that if you want a job of substance you must write a new cover letter for each place you apply.

The days of sending out mass applications in the mall with your mom waiting outside are over, you need to show potential employers that you care about their company, even if the job description is laying sod. Always be professional, and always make sure that every detail has not gone unnoticed.

To leave a lasting impres-

sion, the best advice I can give to someone applying with a cover letter and a resume is to write it like you are applying for the job of your dreams. This means no mistakes whatsoever, a genuine interest in what you are applying for, and detailed cover letters for each application. These things, which may seem very trivial and obvious are some of the most commonly overlooked aspects when applying for a job, and may cost you one as well if you do not stay competitive.

So when you are applying this summer, be sure that you place everything you have into your cover letters, resumes, and canvassing to make sure that you are happily employed and making some dough.

Play the Silhouette Stock Challenge It is pretty easy to sign up, just follow these simple steps and you’re on your way to making cold, hard, fictional cash.

Go to the website: www.wallstreetsurvivor.com/ Public/Members/Register. aspx?partnerTournamentid=4835 Fill out your personal information in the boxes provided; chose Canada as your country and Hamilton as your city.

You must register with a valid McMaster email address and handle.

You must enter ‘mcmaster11’ as the promote code. Otherwise you will not be able to compete.

You will then be sent an email confirmation.

Follow the instructions to confirm your registration.

From here you can start trading and be one step closer to smelling some prize money.

Contest ends on March 8

C10 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

Gambling away your max bet Looking at the evolution of the gaming industry and its follies

SILHOUETTE FILE PHOTO

Take a look inside the gambling industry and how they have evolved as an institution over their long history.

SANTINO MARINUCCI

ASSISTANT BUSINESS EDITOR

To begin, let’s address what gambling actually means. This term denotes an activity characterized by a balance between winning and losing that is governed by a mixture of skill and chance.

Now many would refute this, some saying that it is all skill, some saying that it is all luck, and some saying that it is just a scam.

While any of those statements may be true, looking at a brief history may help understand why we gamble and how it has evolved over time.

The gaming industry in Canada and the United States has had a long and interesting history.

It has gone from being viewed by society as a manifestation of the devil, deemed a sin and, in many places, outlawed and punishable

with prison time.

It has also been viewed as a lifestyle reserved for the rich and sophisticated, as in the 1950s when Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack defined what Las Vegas, gambling, and being cool were all about.

However today, gambling is not known as anything glamourous or sophisticated, just another form of adult entertainment that is available to the general public. It has been reported that the number of people who currently gamble in the United States every year is up to 100 million. That is up from 50 million people just three years ago.

Canada has a different story when it comes to gambling, it was only in 1999 when the federal government completely lifted the ban on dice games ending a 611 year ban stretching back to the 1380s.

Get this: in 1892, the Canadian Criminal Code declared a complete ban on all gambling activities. Over the years, various different forms of gambling became legal and, a little more than a century later, gambling has become a national pastime. By 2001 Canadian provinces had fully embraced the gaming culture and it blossomed into the $15 billion industry that it is today.

Now that you have had a little bit of the history behind the gambling industry, let’s look at how people can actually justify playing against the odds inside casinos and why we love to give away so much of our money. Gambling is not too different from buying insurance. When you buy insurance, you bet on the occurrence of something that may or may not happen in the future.

This is similar to taking a risk in the casino, hoping for a payoff that may or may not happen.

So why do we gamble?

Many of us gamble because of the exciting probability that we may win a large jackpot, regardless of the odds stacked against us. Others think that they can actually beat the odds and make a living off their winnings from the casino.

The mindset of doubling your money at the slot machines or at card tables is, in actuality, a hard thing to do if you are not focused and organized.

The casinos do everything in their power to stack the odds against you. This is why they win most of your money and build lavish casinos, because lots of people like you and I think that the odds are with them.

Maybe it is the challenge

of testing the odds, or maybe it is a certain form of therapy for people who are down and feel like taking chances.

Nevertheless, the odds will always be against you, and with Vegas odds usually hovering around 25-1 and Ontario odds closer to 30-1 you might as well just throw your money out the window.

Worldwide, the gaming industry is a trillion dollar moneymaker each year, and it will continue rise steadily with the recovering economy and the rising popularity of Macau, China’s answer to Las Vegas.

Regardless of the steep and unfavourable odds, visiting a casino is one of those things everyone should do at least once in their life, if for no other reason than to witness just how easy it is to lose your hard-earned pay.

THE SILHOUETTE • C11

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

From the Gould Trading Floor

Oil prices rise with Mid-East conflict

The price of oil is set to skyrocket as the Jasmine Revolution in Egypt and Libya threatens Iranian, Saudi Arabian and Nigerian supplies.

RALPH CONFORTI THE SILHOUETTE

As tension has mounted in numerous countries in the Middle East over the past two months, the world has sat back and watched history unfold before its very eyes. After years of living under oppressive regimes, angry citizens of Yemen, Bahrain, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, and Libya have challenged or cast aside their leaders in brave displays of revolution.

The social and geopolitical implications of this “Jasmine Revolution” are undoubtedly monumental; the financial ones, even more so.

For decades, politicians, analysts, and critics have speculated

that the Middle East was a powder keg that was ready to explode. This fear was based on the power and influence that countries in this region hold over the global supply of oil.

Recent events have shown that this fear was not unwarranted.

When unrest first began to stir in Egypt for the removal of Hosni Mubarak and his 30-year dictatorship, the initial effect on the markets was a rapid decline in equity as capital partook in a flight to quality.

This pushed bond yields down and prices up as investors sought the safety and security of fixed income. On the day of Mubarak’s resignation from office, markets around the world surged,

with the TSX rising 70 points and the S&P 500 seeing a 1.5 per cent gain.

Since uprisings have recently broken out in Bahrain and Libya, the global financial implications have grown even larger. Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate have surged to highs not seen since 2008, with Brent surpassing the US$120 per barrel mark on Feb. 24, and WTI passing US$100 per barrel on the same day.

Bahraini protestors forced the cancellation of the opening race of the 2011 season for Formula 1, costing the economy of Bahrain at least US$150 million, and unknown amounts in positive public relations. Libyan dictator Muammar

Gaddafi’s brazen claim to sabotage pipelines and cut off the 1.3 million barrels of oil the North African country supplies everyday has sent oil prices surging, equity markets plummeting, and bond yields downward as another flight to quality has been seen.

Even with Saudi Arabian assurance that they possess excess capacity and supply, oil prices continue to rise.

There is widespread fear in the markets that the unrest will spread to other kingdoms and dictatorships that supply the world with oil, including Nigeria, Iran, and most importantly, Saudi Arabia.

Some analysts have already started predicting US$200 per barrel of oil

in the near future. If this happened it would squash any economic recovery that has been generated to date and send the world spiralling back into a recession, if not a depression.

The world demands equal rights and treatment for all people, but what tolerance does it have for such equality when it begins to hurt their pocketbooks?

These uprisings in the Middle East are not only a showcase of the strength and desire of people for their own rights, but are also a test for investors and citizens of the world to back up their so-called “beliefs” with action and support. How the world will fare in such a conflicting test remains yet to be seen.

C12 • THE SILHOUETTE

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2011

Offering hope & healing

“Look back but don’t stare. It is only when I make peace with what is behind me that I set my sights on what’s ahead”

Tuesdays

Binge Breakers 7:00pm -8:30pm Facilitator: Alison Colavecchia

Wednesdays

Yoga 7:00-8:30pm Facilitator: Leslie Landry

Thursdays

Teen Motivation Group: “Courage to Heal” 7:00-8:30pm Facilitator: Carly Lambert Support for Family and Friends 7:00– 8:30pm Facilitator: Jaime Thor Adult Support (Evening): 7:00pm– 8:30pm Facilitator: :Lesley Sardo

Please help us keep kids healthy, active, and engaged!

Go to www.ontopoftheworldforkids.ca to donate or sign up as a fundraiser!

Please see our website for full descriptions of our programs: www.daniellesplace.org

How to Register for a Program:

Drop in and fill out a registration 10 minutes before group, or call into the center Danielle’s Place Eating Disorders Resource and Support Center 895 Brant Street Unit #3 Burlington, ON L7R 2J6 We are a not-for-profit incorporated in Ontario 905-333-5548/1-866-277-9959 (001614555) and a federally registered charity info@daniellesplace.org (charitable number BN 85550 6671 RR0001)

the liptonians • oscars king of limbs• incendies

andex

thursday, march 3, 2011

Senior Editor: Roxanne Hathway-Baxter Entertainment Editor: Myles Herod Music Editor: Dan Hawie Contributors: Trevor Roach, Josh Parsons, Michael Hewak, Michael Gallant, Colin Leggett, Chris Hoy, Catherine Brasch

Cover: Jonathon Fairclough

this week

mar.3

Animal Farm The Casbah 9:00 p.m.

mar. 4

Rah Rah This Ain’t Hollywood 9:00 p.m.

mar.5

United Steelworkers of MTL This Ain’t Hollywood 9:00 p.m.

mar.6

in commemoration for the ousa blue chair week, a maverick understudy stands atop a massive chair while gazing boldy into the future. trippy.

music

Plants and Animals The Casbah 8:00 p.m.

mar.7

photo of the week

in the hammer

The Liptonians The Casbah 8:00 p.m.

mar.8

hand rollies, egg salad, dr. dog, euro trek, memorized plaques, the scent of paint, fredericton, king of limbs, vinyl, perhaps both? crappy oscars, denim jacket blanket, cool story bro, haircuts, selling kooters, tedx mcmaster, sleep walking, polaris fail, zeus verge dominance, notification madness, we miss you, duke erl

Yukon Bonde The Casbah 8:00 p.m.

mar.8

now

andy’s ticks

The Russian Futurists This Ain’t Hollywood 10:00 p.m.

mar. 3-4

theatre Urinetown Westside Concert Theatre 434 King St. West, Hamilton, ON L8P 1B7 (905) 777-9777

opening

film Rango The Adjustment Bureau Beastly

the right thing is to write things

preferably in this publication

meetings are held on mondays at 2:00pm in musc b110 e-mail your submissions to andy@thesil.ca

over your lifetime you will produce enough spit to fill a swimming pool. science says. quit horking behind the student centre.

CHRISTOPHER CHANG / SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR

musc b110

thursday, march 3, 2011

f.u.b.a.r.

as important as the content itself.

Releasing singles for mass consumption is now a staple approach editorial column to creating exposure dan hawie through the likes of iTunes and The Hype Machine, but putting Think about the last time you sat down and listened to an album in out singles in advance of albums its entirety. How did you set the was already a defined practice in the mood? Dimmed lights? A reclined ’50s and ’60s. The difference was, in chair? A bowl of cereal? I’ll save you those days, getting to those singles from talk of candles and a “friendly when listening to a full album on stranger” scenario but seriously, a record player wasn’t as simple as consider the last instance where you hitting a button or turning a knob.

The listener would have to went through an album and whole- heartedly enveloped yourself in it. sit with the album and subject their ears to each track, one after the othFront to back, side to side.

I was given a record player er, each flowing into one another in this past Christmas. It’s contained a confined way. Lifting the needle in a nifty little suitcase wrapped in onto a particular track was always brown tolex, with built-in speakers, a possibility of course, but hear me fits right in the corner of my desk, out.

There’s a particular scene collects dust in an antique-like way that makes me proud to never clean in Almost Famous in which the and, best of all, it serves as a permit always-beautiful Zooey Deschanel for sifting through my dad’s record gives her little brother a copy of The collection. Five milk crates, plenty Who’s Tommy, and advises, “Listen of ear work, and a strange amount to [this] with a candle burning, and of obscure disco later, I’ve come to you’ll see your entire future.” Hippy hijinks aside, there’s a great deal one hell of a realization.

Before the technological of resonance behind Zooey’s view tsunami of all things digital, and of the album as a piece of art to be before the introduction of that itty- gazed into, or as a musical journey, bitty shuffle button in the corner of if you will.

Every little fade in/out, your iPod, there was an era when the track order of a record was just all of the dead ambience separating

column

one track from another, that warm crackle of the needle as a constant backdrop – all of these features were taken into consideration by the artist, and fine-tuned for consumption. Manually turning over the record from side A to B, for example, wasn’t a menial task. It was a quick breath, a ritualized way of moving into an entirely different soundscape.

And this is where the record really stood out as an art form in and of itself. Front to back, it acted as an interactive medium between the artist and the listener by creating a sonic experience – one which demanded complete devotion to a set of speakers, and allowed for a more subjective take on discovering an album’s many textures, with or without the candle.

Track sequencing, then, was essential to maintaining a level of fluidity on a record. The album served as a chance to tell a story in a larger context outside of each single.

From a musical standpoint, Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here whisks you into nine parts of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” with some of the band’s most notable singles cleverly placed in between.

Conversely, from a thematic standpoint, David Bowie’s The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust builds up to the eventual downfall of ol’ Zigs. If the sequencing on

the big tickle

the silhouette’s art & culture magazine • D3 Ziggy was any different, then he would have killed himself off before becoming famous. There’s no fun in that.

This doesn’t mean that only a vinyl album can really show off its sequential colours, though.

An EMI rep put it nicely in a chat with The Guardian, as he explained the sequencing of an album as imagining two sides of a record.

“You don’t want two songs with the same theme next to each other. The best albums sequence themselves.”

And the contemporary examples are endless in staying true to that formula. Though reduced to 37 minutes, Radiohead’s latest effort, The King of Limbs, provides for an album of textural substance, where the sum is worth more than its parts, for example.

The point is simple and yet, strangely enough, it took going through amy dad’s old record collection to really come to terms with it. Sequencing defined an era of music that, despite regressing with the decline of vinyl over the years, still echoes in the work of a number of artists today.

Sure, the warm nostalgia of a needle on vinyl may not linger, but try going through your online album collections from front to back without cherry picking and rearranging your favourites. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

andy’s picks

1. Let England Shake PJ Harvey 2. Kon Tiki Plants and Animals 3. Oh No Dr. Dog 4. Separator Radiohead 5. Coldest Days The Rural Alberta Advantage 6. Got Blinded Toro Y Moi 7. Kids 7 Ukelele Band 8. Long Time The Roots 9. Center of Gravity Yo La Tango

what was the last album that you enjoyed from front to back?

compiled by jonathon fairclough & dan hawie

“between the buried and me’s colours” nick zgraja

“radiohead’s king of limbs” jacqueline flaggiello

“nas’ illmatic ” alvand mohtashami

“laura marling’s i speak because i can” olivia gissing

“hot chip’s coming on strong” andrew hunter

thursday, march 3, 2011

D4 • the silhouette’s art & culture magazine

write us a story for the andy short fiction contest what to do:

theme:

1. write a story 2,500 words or less

relationships

2. include your name, student number, email, phone number, submission title, and word count on title page

(parental, friendship, romantic)

3. type in 12-point Times New Roman font 4. be a McMaster undergrad student 5. submit a hard copy to The Silhouette office (MUSC b110)

prizes: 1st place: $50 Titles giftcard 2nd place: $35 Titles giftcard 3rd place: $20 Titles giftcard

deadline: March 18, 2011 winners will be published in the March 24 issue of andy

thursday, march 3, 2011

music

the silhouette’s art & culture magazine • D5

going local andy discusses the importance of self-sustaining art collectives One of the most repressive criticisms an artist can receive is the powerful claim that it has already been done. I have learned from experience that the push to be wholly original can be an overwhelmingly frustrating and disheartening battle, especially on a planet cresting a population of seven billion individuals.

Lately, I’ve come to realize that the source of my disempowerment was a desire to touch the entire world with my art and to create something universally novel. Instead, what has become my recent aim is to be satisfied touching only those who are most immediate and tangible to my own being. Any others then become an unexpected reward.

For many artists, this is a harsh reality that can be crushing to accept. In a society so thoroughly consumed with the notion of profit, liberal arts students can easily become disillusioned by the seeming worthlessness of their degrees.

Picture the recurring scene of your favourite uncle asking the stifling question: “So what kind of job will that degree get you anyway?” Trust me, I’ve been there.

I would never suggest that you drop the gloves and enroll in commerce next se-

mester. To suggest that a university is merely job training is to bastardize the conception of a university as a space for the development of critical thought. If we are to support ourselves economically as artists, an empowering position to launch from can be a youth-oriented art consisting of a myriad of like-mined yet diverse individuals.

The most important piece of advice I can give is to start now while you have the privilege of being surrounded by thousands of compatible companions. By organizing a collective in your youth, you will provide yourself and those whom with you are involved with the opportunity of transforming it into a self-sustaining enterprise as you age.

Being a full-time student myself, I am well aware of the restricting time constraints and obligations we already must commit to. But it can prove surprising how a simple and honest grassroots approach can blossom over time. All that is required is a bit of patience and effort when it can be afforded.

With the rapid expansion of social interconnectivity attributable to a generation raised on the Internet, the web provides an unprecedented opportunity for artists

to seek out others with aligned aspirations.

Social networking platforms and affordable dot-com sites allow us to connect with others in ways unimaginable to our parents. But despite this, it shouldn’t be forgotten that dropping into a local café for a face-to-face conversation could have an equally positive outcome.

Art collectives can take a variety of forms, with some focusing on a specific medium while others take an all encompassing and transdiciplinary approach. They can take shape as literary press, zines, independent record labels, galleries or a collection of all these mediums and many other outlets.

The only unifying essence is that they provide communal support and inspiration for the artists who seek to be associated with the movement.

Perhaps the most well-known and immediate example is the Friends of Bellwood stationed in the Trinity Bellwood neighbourhood. What started as a grassroots gathering based out of a house flourished into Toronto’s epicentre of the indie community. Associated acts now include bands such as Ohbijou, Sebastian Grainger and the D’Ubervilles.

A prime example of an upcoming honest and organic collective is the Torontobased Wolfshirt Records. Managed primarily

by Evan Sidawi, Wolfshirt Records functions as an indie records label, recording studio, concert hall and promotion agency all in one.

The majority of those involved are students in their early 20s, proving that a little extra work in your spare time can flourish over time.

In just the past year, Wolfshirt Records has helped to record and release an ever-growing avalanche of diverse music.

To promote their releases, the label throws monthly “family hours” which are both a house party and concert brimming with positive vibes and creative collaboration.

But Wolfshirt refuses to pin themselves down to music exclusively as their mission statement suggests: “The best way to enjoy art is by creating a community where artists and fans have a mutual friendship where they are able to feed off each other's positive energy.”

• Josh Parsons

JOY SANTIAGO / MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

D6 • the silhouette’s art & culture magazine

music

thursday, march 3, 2011

the right tones

andy talks instrumentation with winnipeg’s the liptonians The Liptonians’ sound is a peculiar one.

On one hand, they’re consistently crafting gorgeous pop gems that will claim their territory in your memory and refuse to leave. On the other, they’re using complex harmonization, brass instruments, and organs to do it.

The subtleties in instrumentation are so well-integrated into their sound that the Winnipeg five-piece will have you momentarily forget that you’re listening to a complex album, only to be reawakened by an unintuitive rhythm, a diminished harmony, or the low-frequency wails of a baritone sax.

The Liptonians take the standard setup of bass, guitar, and drums, and add just enough flair to keep their sound down to earth. The addition of organs, baritone saxophone, and even autoharp give the band a sound that is entirely their own, but not in a way that is distracting from the strength of the songwriting.

It seems that The Liptonians have found a way to preserve the delicate balance between musical complexity and universal listenability. This elusive equilibrium won the band a Western Cana-

dian Music Award for “Outstanding Pop Recording,” which has helped the band garner acclaim outside of the relatively isolated musical ecosystem of Winnipeg.

“The Western Canadian Music Award was really helpful for people being able to take us more seriously. There’s been a couple of things that, in and of themselves are not even the biggest thing, but it’s what it does for you that ends up really being valuable,” explained vocalist Matt Schellenberg in an interview with ANDY earlier this week.

“It was just validating to our families, validating to our friends, and, you know, it gave us this little edge over somebody else when sending an e-mail to an agent or to a venue or whatever. So [the award] really helped us out immensely,” he continued.

Although the band is insistent on integrating jazz and blues elements into their music, their use of baritone saxophone on their brand new album, Let’s All March Back Into The Sea, was carefully orchestrated.

Schellenberg elaborated: “We were trying to take horns back from how

ska ruined them for everybody. And we tried really hard to try to reference the 1930s and not ska. For me, I hate ska music. We were like, ‘how can we have horns in a popular music context without referencing that?’”

As if 2011 hasn’t been ambitious enough for The Liptonians, the band has just embarked on a North American tour in support of Let’s All March Back Into The Sea.

“After the tour, we’re going to hopefully feel like we’ve done a good job in giving the album some legs to stand on, and, uh, we’re going to take some time to play some local shows and make sure that, locally, we still have some good buzz coming out of there. I think that’s really important.”

Although the Canadian music scene is currently thriving, The Liptonians’ hometown of Winnipeg is not a city that normally comes to mind when one thinks of flourishing Canadian music.

The band’s recent success inside of Winnipeg serves as a testament, however, that sometimes it pays off to be a big fish in a small pond.

“When you can become a bigger thing in your city, then you can become that thing from Winnipeg that everyone’s talking about. And that’s helpful,” added Schellenberg.

The Liptonians have even joined forces with friends from the Winnipeg music scene to form their own record label, Head In The Sand. Although originally a small organization without its sights set on becoming a full-fledged label, the Head In The Sand collective has really matured in its short life.

“There’s really nothing that a normal record label has that we don’t, because we have distributions for the label, and I guess a team of people working at it. But it’s really just a group of friends,” Schellenberg explained.

“Head In The Sand has become, kind of, the thing in Winnipeg right now, which we’re really proud of and excited to be a part of.”

The Liptonians will be performing in Hamilton on March 7 at the Casbah.

•

Mike Gallant

thursday, march 3, 2011

feature

the silhouette’s art & culture magazine • D7

up in smoke andy reflects on the 2011 oscars Say what you will about the legitimacy of the Academy Awards, but they do matter, and it is always the biggest event in Hollywood. This past year was a phenomenal year for Oscar calibre films, and last Sunday the awards were presented to the best of the best.

Speaking of presenting, this subject should be gotten out of the way before moving on to the winners and losers of the 83rd Academy Awards. James Franco and Anne Hathaway are certainly good actors, and do appeal to a younger demographic. However, they make terrible hosts.

The Academy may have been apprehensive about bringing on a comedian to host after the Ricky Gervais Golden Globes debacle, but the hard truth is that they are just better suited to host. Hell, even Hugh Jackman did a better job two years ago. Franco and Hathaway had almost no energy and Franco looked like he ripped every bong in Los Angeles.

It wasn’t just the hosts though. Most of the writing for the presenters just tended to fall flat this year. Overall, it was a disappointing ceremony in terms of entertainment value. Even a computerized Bob Hope couldn’t save the broadcast, and Billy Crystal’s appearance only served to remind us that there are far better Oscar hosts out there. At least they didn’t have any ridiculous dance numbers this time around.

Alright, on to the awards themselves. This year, The King’s Speech was named best picture, with full validity. This was a film that really moved people, was brilliantly written, and had incredible performances by the entire cast, including Colin Firth who won best actor for his role as King George VI. The King’s Speech also took home awards for best original screenplay and best director.

Natalie Portman received an Oscar for her arresting and mentally anguished ballerina role in Black Swan. Much like Colin Firth, Portman, was expected to take this award home, though she was in good company with a lot of talented actresses, including newcomer Jennifer Lawrence from the lesser known but critically acclaimed Winter’s Bone.

Aaron Sorkin predictably picked up a golden statue for adapted screenplay for The Social Network. Sorkin was pretty much a lock for this award. Much of the praise for the film was given to his incredible script. The Social

Network also picked up awards for film editing and best original score. It certainly was strange to see Trent Reznor all grown up and accepting an Oscar, but then again, Eminem has one on his mantle. Ditto for Three Six Mafia.

Both supporting role Oscars went to actors appearing in The Fighter. Melissa Leo received an Oscar for her role as trashy Lowell mother Alice Ward, and during her speech dropped the only Oscar F-bomb I’ve ever seen. It was magical. Christian Bale also picked up a well-deserved award for his role as meth-addicted former boxer Dick Ecklund, giving a shout out during his speech to the real Dick Ecklund (as well as poking fun at his Terminator outburst from a few years back).

Toy Story 3 took home Oscars for best original song (can’t go wrong with Randy Newman) and best animated feature. This is the fourth year in a row a Pixar film has won the award, and Pixar’s sixth Oscar overall for animated feature. This year also marked Pixar’s sixth nomination for best original screenplay.

The best documentary feature award was a toss up, with a lot of people expecting the edgy and somewhat insane Banksy documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop to take home the award. However, the winner was Inside Job, which delved into the financial crisis created by Wall Street executives. While Exit Through the Gift Shop was an incredibly unique look at street art and an excellent biographical piece on the man known as Mr Brainwash, there is still some mystery as to whether the film was entirely real, or whether it was just another Banksy project.

That about does it for awards that anyone really cares about. Inception deservedly won for cinematography, and it cleaned up in technical awards with Oscars for sound editing, sound mixing, and visual effects. Alice in Wonderland won awards for costume design and art direction, while Hollywood legend Rick Baker took home an Oscar for best make up for his work on The Wolfman.

That wraps up this year’s Oscars ceremony. Until next year, keep praying that they bring back Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin.

• Colin Leggett JOY SANTIAGO / MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

D8 • the silhouette’s art & culture magazine

feature

thursday, march 3, 2011

love and sex and magic andy looks at the demise of subtlety in rap music Tonight I’m fucking you. Oh my, am I being too forward? Well, see, here is the situation: you know my reputation. Excuse me, I don’t mean to be rude but tonight I am going to stick my penis into your vagina.

The preceeding statement pretty much sums up the hot and heavy attitude which Enrique Iglesias and his buddy Luda have been pumping through the clubs in recent days. Sure the radio edit has “fucking” replaced with “loving” but we all know what Mr. Iglesias is truly trying to tell his alluring lady friend. The subtle art of a sexual innuendo has been forfeited for the aggressive abrasion of sex in-her-endo as artists strive to have their beats heard on every dance floor populated by horny humans.

Yet Enrique is not the only one to have given up beating around the bush to just beat it right in your face. Usher is another artist who proposes to make love not in the com-

fort of your own bed, but right inside of the club. This homeboys new hit “Make Love In This Club” gives up the on the pleasantries of subtle seduction as Usher proposes doing the dirty right on the dance floor. While making love on the dance floor would eliminate the immensely unfortunate walk of shame, I would think that new levels of awkwardness would ensue with unsightly body parts being shown within a public space.

The presumptuous predictions of sexy scenarios can be found not only within fully intelligible lyrics, but also in da confusing dialogue of gangstas like Tony Matterhorn. Inventing a new mischievous dance move with his hit, “Dutty Wine,” Mr. Matterhorn has abandoned literary merit to tell girls to “turn roun’ like you know rose duck” and then “spin around cuz you know how fi wuk”.

Perhaps “rose duck” is some sort of cute pet name for his muse but more than likely has

been used to rhyme with that tricky words “fi wuk.”

While it may seem like the males are the only ones getting in on this crazy concoction of sexually explicit content, Rihanna has proven otherwise with her newest hit condoning the pain and pleasure induced by sadomasochism.

The way Rihanna sees it, “sex [is] in the air, [but she] don’t care, [because she] love[s] the smell of it.” So all of that relentlessly raunchy behavior in the clubs is nothing but a playa’s potpourri. Rihanna’s song “S&M” seems to be bringing up a darker side of sexual behavior that has, up until this point, been safely stored within the confines of kinky closets.

This lack of sexual subtlety in mainstream music can be attributed to more than just a few promiscuous songsters as there seems to be an overwhelming trend amongst

the greater music industry these days. Ever since Elvis the Pelvis shocked millions with his overactive gyrations, musicians have realized the potential of sexuality in music, but some take it just a bit too far. Clearly they do not know the meaning of the phrase “just the tip.”

The truth is that the music reflects a culture behind it. So what do these dirty little ditties say about the horny humans that are loving this whole vibe? The sex in music isn’t really new, but the overtly tasteless demeanor in which it is performed seems to be reaching a climax that is far from beautiful.

If these musicians keep playing the game of who can show more shameless sexuality, the result will be an overexposed body of music that has forgotten the art of a slow striptease.

• Trevor Roach

under the radar

thursday, march 3, 2011

off the web

wimp http://www.wimp.com/

Don’t let the shockingly sparse and simple layout of this website fool you, the content is absolutely incredible. There are numerous daily posts of interesting and adorable videos that cover a broad range of topics. With a simple perusal through the list you can find i can’t find my phone out the correct plural of octopus, the strange http://www.icantfindmyphone.com/ powers of the placebo effect, and why it is okay to be alone. The best part is: you won’t It’s more or less what it sounds like. Can’t feel like you’re procrastinating because many find your phone? Enter your phone number into the cute telephone graphic on the web- of the videos are at least quasi-educational. site and you will soon know where it is. Unless you left it in the bathroom of the bar.

Sorry, I’m just bitter.

the beat get your scene points!

drink up that zeus juice, kids.

Earlier this week the second annual Verge Music Awards took place to celebrate Canada’s finest artists. Hosted by Sirius Satellite Radio, the ceremony announced its finalists after a month of online voting for Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, and Emerging Artist of the Year. Along with Windsor natives Michou taking artist of the year, and BC songstress Hannah Georgas securing this year’s best emerging artist, Toronto roots rockers Zeus took home $25,000 for their 2010 debut, Say Us, as album of the year.

Damn straight. We couldn’t be happier about wasting so many hours clicking on that microscopic Zeus bubble. Here’s to hoping for some reparation coinage for vision impairment. Zeus!

the silhouette’s art & culture magazine • D9

crazy things parents text http://crazythingsparentstext.com/ Cell phones and text messaging gave parents another way to embarrass and shock their children. They don’t have to rely on ugly hats or blowing kisses in public, now they can use technology to make their offspring cringe.

The text messages on this site will inevitably make you say, “Mooomm” out loud and succeed in making the gaps between generations seem even wider.

• Roxanne Hathway-Baxter

hey everybody, we’re all gonna get sued.

ok, gallagher.

A&E’s upcoming documentary Caddyshack: The Inside Story is coming under a siege of legal fire. Rusty Lemorande, a producer who worked on the original Caddyshack has cried libel, stating that the documentary has exposed him as an on-set spy. A spy without the charm of the high-tech gadgets or the fedora.

Allegedly, Secret Agent Rusty had the job of being a drug informant, narking on Rodney and Chevy for their blow, booze and broads.

Allegedly. You better clear this up, Rusty. Nobody likes a nark.

Former Oasis vocalist Liam Gallagher and music genius Thom Yorke have always had their verbal rifts in the press, but a recent review from Gallagher over Radiohead’s latest album, The King of Limbs, provides for some of his best material yet. When gauged for his thoughts on the album, Gallagher made sure to compare his latest act, Beady Eye, as being on par in terms of musical merit. Here’s a snippet of Gallagher’s critical brilliance: “Them writing a song about a fucking tree?

Give me a fucking break! A thousand year old tree? Go fuck yourself! You’d have thought he’d have written a song about a modern tree or one that was planted last week.” Point taken. Ecological awareness is a valuable concern we should all reflect on.

@tigerpowerhunk69 Man-du-jour Charlie Sheen has officially signed up for Twitter and in the few days since joining the club he’s accrued over 175,000 followers. There’s no shortage of users eager to see what this multi-substance user has to say in 140 characters or less. Charlie may be chomping at the bit to spew more racially insensitivities and up-his-own-asseries, but his first tweet was a simple, “Winning.” Check it out, but just be warned, your face might melt off and your children might weep over your exploded body. Charlie Sheen: the fuck?

off the rack

• Dan Hawie & Roxanne Hathway-Baxter

There’s no denying illness is a touchy subject.

Nobody wants to talk about it, think about it, or accept it unless they are forced to. Sick is a compilation zine that confronts this difficult issue head-on. The zine is made up of highly personalized tales of illness, punctuated with simple, yet beautiful black and white illustrations. There is a major focus within Sick on the manner in which alternative and DIY communities handle illness. Many of the stories feature particularly heavy criticisms directed towards the callous attitude of the punk community towards members who were suffering from illnesses.

The stories are told with brutal honesty and vivid descriptions that are sometimes hard to swallow. The authors don’t shy from giving the grisliest and most graphic of details of their diseases and their symptoms.

Sick succeeds in making those who have been fortunate enough to avoid serious physical illness thankful for their health. As for those who have been affected by illness, they are offered a type of hurting hope. There are suggestions for support and advice on how to be an informed patient. Sick is an educational work that aims to teach its readers that people with illnesses should not be viewed as social pariahs and that ignoring the topic is not an effective way of handling it. Illness, unfortunately, is going to be around for a long time and sure, we don’t like to talk about it, but why not read about it?

• Roxanne Hathway-Baxter

D10 • the silhouette’s art & culture magazine

kings of complexity

music Radiohead King of Limbs

HHHHH OK Computer, released in 1997, was the best album of its decade, and it had guitars. Kid A, released in 2000, was the best album of its decade, and it had synthesizers. The King of Limbs, released this year, is ... weird.

Now virtually unrecognizable from its original incarnation, Radiohead has matured gracefully since its “Creep” days of angsty vocals and post-grunge power chords.

After taking alternative to the next level with OK Computer, they voluntarily laid down their crown as best rock band of the ’90s to produce Kid A, a cold and haunting electronica record responsible for influencing the 00’s most prominent of genre-bending musical acts. Its release heralded the arrival of a new kind of “rock” band: one that refused to settle into its assigned archetype, and wasn’t afraid to operate outside the artificial boundaries set in place around it by both the music press and their own fans.

Radiohead’s influence doesn’t stop there. The pay-what-you-want business model employed for the release of In Rainbows was as much a publicity gimmick as it was a harbinger of the significant shift in music economics to come. Since its release, legal streaming outlets such as Soundcloud, Myspace, Hype Machine, and Last.fm have exploded in popularity, with artists of varying fame offering entire albums for free in the hopes that viral word-of-blog promotion will generate the same level of interest in their own music.

The King of Limbs isn’t free, but it is most definitely worth the money. Listen: I would wager just about everyone who plans to hear Limbs has done so by now, opinion at the ready. Quite a few undoubtedly see it as Radiohead’s rare misstep in a long string of consistently brilliant releases over the last decade and a half. A little too abstract, a little too short, a little too ambient, a little too uneventful, blah, blah, blah.

Just like with Kid A, however, after the hype machine has cooled and people have sat down to honestly soak up Limbs’ subtleties, it too will join the ranks of Radiohead’s highly esteemed catalogue.

Indeed, there are no standout tracks and no real hooks. Many of the songs are musically quite simple on the sur-

thursday, march 3, 2011

face — “Feral” consists of little more than a skittering drum beat and disembodied cooing. The unimaginable complexity of Limbs lies in the texture. Maybe some of this intricacy can be attributed to the skill of producer and long-time Radiohead collaborator Nigel Godrich, often referred to as the band’s sixth member. When listening, it often feels like a hundred things are happening in the background, yet none overpower one another and they all intertwine to completely embrace the listener from all sides. It’s this murky, intangible quality that makes Limbs so engrossing.

The record can be readily divided into two. The frenetic first half: drumbeats tripping over themselves, sonic manipulation, and Thom Yorke crooning even more exasperatedly than usual.

Then the subdued second half: sometimes acoustic, always pensive and dreamlike, with steady (if at all) rhythms giving something for the ear to focus on, as washes of delirious extraneum glide through the melodic ether.

Radiohead has the rare ability to make music that feels as if it has no prior influences — deja vu-like in its sensation. Limbs is no different, at different points vaguely drawing on jazz, glitch, IDM, Thom Yorke’s solo material, and the cosy apocalypse aesthetic of analogue electronica band Add N to (X).

Every song feels so uniquely different from one other, but when listened to as a whole, the album is seamlessly cohesive.

Opener “Bloom” features a glitchy swirling piano loop backed by acidic 2-step drumbeats packed so tightly together they seem to overlap, its motion guided to a halt by the foggy echoes of ascending trumpets. “Morning Mr Magpie” has an infectious shuffling rhythm, cradled by an inconspicuous bass weaving in and out of the lead guitar’s double-dutch skipping rope.

The delicate “Codex” is a vaporous piano ballad floating amongst a cloud of reverb, later accompanied by a drowning duo of trumpets and soft strings. Its spiritual partner on the album, “Give Up The Ghost”, is a soft acoustic guitar track complemented by harmonious looped vocal samples that form a small angelic choir of Yorke-ian noises. Lead single “Lotus Flower” is the most straightforward song on the record, and would’ve fit nicely on In Rainbows, with a buzzing bassline cutting through Yorke’s trademark falsetto.

Will Limbs be the album to define this decade? Probably not. To be honest, there isn’t anything here Radiohead hasn’t tinkered with before, musically or thematically. This time around however they’ve allowed their self-indulgent side to truly take control, and the result is a collection of sincerely naked and richly organic songs made not to please, but simply to exist — take it or leave it.

•

Michael Hewak

in stereo

thursday, march 3, 2011

the silhouette’s art & culture magazine • D11

featured review Lykke Li Wounded Rhymes

HHH On Wounded Rhymes, the infinitely seductive Lykke Li drops Youth Novels’ fragile water nymph routine in favour of bombastic drums and brash declarations. Although the musical theatrics have been elevated to near Florence and the Machine levels, lyrically Li remains the same old broken heart, with clouds of chilly sadness looming over every track, most of which lament the cruelties of unreciprocated love. Li’s wandering, reverb-drenched vocals couple well with her gloomy twist on doo-wop balladry, especially in tunes like the swaying “Sadness Is A Blessing,” and wah-wah laden album closer “Silent My Song.” The later half of the record can lag, but as a whole, Wounded Rhymes’ aching outpour contrasts nicely to the delicacy of her previous work. Standouts include the anthemic ode to sexual prowess “Get Some,” and “Love Out Of Lust,” a song urging us to get it while we can.

• Michael Hewak

Adele 21

Dropkick Murphys Going Out In Style

The Sheepdogs Learn and Burn

HHHH

HHHH

Fresh off of a new heartbreak, Adele brings emotion like a powerhouse. Her vocals, accompanied with her amazing lyrics, make each and every song extremely personal.

Her much-anticipated sophomore album, 21, showcases the mature voice she has developed since her 2008 debut release, 19.

Even though a lot of the songs are about heartbreak, there is also a glimmer of hope within them. Adele turns her heartbreak into an empowering experience, filling every song with an overflow of emotion, each perfectly rendered with beautiful lead vocals and harmonies. When listening to the vocals on this album it is hard to believe that Adele is only 22 years old. Hers is definitely a talent that will only get better with age.

The Boys from Boston are back. It’s been four years since the last Dropkick Murphys album, and Going Out In Style is a tremendous return to form. Going Out In Style is a concept album built around the life of character Cornelius Larkin, with each song tracing a period of his life. It’s a tale of life, love, hate, happiness, war, and finally death. Each song is imbued with experiences from the band members’ lives, making the album a much more personal one. In addition to their signature sounds of bagpipes and tin whistles, the guys in Dropkick Murphys also bring a lot of heart to their music, and it shines through in a big way. Featured guests on the album include Fat Mike of NOFX and Bruce Springsteen.

• Catherine Brasch

• Colin Leggett

The Saskatchewan-based The Sheepdogs are quickly proving that more comes out of their flat rectangular province than just wheat. They play a brand of classic rock that plucks influences from your dad’s favourite records, but combines them in a way that breeds a warm familiarity rather than blatant mimicry. Reminiscent at times of Led Zeppelin, The Allman Brothers, and CCR, The Sheepdogs roll up the best of the ’70s, light it up with solid guitar chops and exhale a glorious cloud of rock. But considering the band is so deeply rooted in its influences, Learn and Burn offers variety and never stagnates.

The hazy classic rock vibe merely serves as a vessel for soulful vocal harmonies and infectious pop sensibility. This album is reminiscent of a carefree time, and provides the perfect soundtrack for zipping down the Trans-Canada on a summer road trip across the prairie flats.

HHHHH

• Chris Hoy

D12 • the silhouette’s art & culture magazine

film

thursday, march 3, 2011

a slow burn

quebec’s villeneuve creates a tale of war and stunning revelations Incendies Directed by: Denis Villeneuve Starring: Lubna Azabal

HHHH Canada’s 2010 Academy Awards entry for Best Foreign Film is a rather unique piece of Quebecois filmmaking – an Arabic tale of war, survival and family ties.

Incendies, the fourth feature film from Quebec’s Denis Villeneuve, proves to be a stellar addition to the Canadian canon of modern filmmaking. Originating from Wadji Mouawad’s play of the same name, Villeneuve’s adaptation can be seen as his most accomplished work to date, succeeding his chilling rendering of a high school massacre in 2009’s Polytechnique.

Alongside such contemporaries as Atom Egoyan and Denys Arcand, Villeneuve concentrates with great detail on family, represented here through a matriarch’s agonizing trek from East to West.

The story begins with twin adults

from Montréal who, upon being read their mother’s will, are shocked to discover that they have a long lost father and brother. It seems that protagonist Nawal Marwan had secrets that her grown children, Jeanne and Simon, never suspected.

Refusing to play his mother’s game, Simon leaves Jeanne to deal with it. However, learning the extent of her traumatic history, including connections to a Muslim criminal and time spent in a militia prison, both begin their quest to find closure.

The plot thickens, having them return to Lebanon to retrieve answers, and in doing so, unraveling parts of their family past.

Incendies intercuts between the life of Nawal growing up in her native country and Jeanne during her first sojourn to the Middle East. Lubna Azabal’s Nawal, a woman of Christian descent in a 1970s Arabic country, largely carries the central plot.

From the film’s very first flashback, we witness her refugee boyfriend and father of her first child gunned down before our eyes, perpetrated by family members. The

swift and unapologetic slaying creates a looming shadow that hovers as the film’s merciless psychology.

Although Incendies might sound like a disparaging take on the Middle East, it’s actually more individual than political. In fact, beside Montréal, neither America nor the rest of Canada is even mentioned. Instead, it is about the personal vendettas and gritty truths that define its powerful tone.

Shot among the desolate terrain of Jordan, the aesthetically confident cinematography of desert serves the narrative’s human drama. The wide vistas speak volumes, especially when contrasted against the grey, urban Montréal.

While it does deliver visceral blows, Incendies withholds a twist that erects it from a merely good film into a memorable one. Its impact depends on a precise timeline, which, when pulled off, does it appropriately – with shock, dismay, and silence. Its culminating effect hears a cry of horror echo from Jeanne as she accepts the circumstances for her and her brother’s existence.

Understated acting gives the film

its backbone. Actress Lubna Azabal’s beaten performance brings Nawal to astonishing life. Undefeated by inconceivable events, she trudges through a war-stricken region devoid of trust, where her drive to live is the need to reconnect with her estranged first son.

Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin and Maxim Gaudette do fine work as siblings who gradually begin to understand their mother, although they may be a bit too old for their roles to be truly believable.

Villeneuve is not afraid of probing political and emotional themes in a low-key, unembellished fashion. He manages to steer clear of the potential melodramatic pitfalls that typically taint dense subject matter with heavy handedness.

Similar to a Greek tragedy, the evil and aftermath of Incendies are universal, with fearless execution and scared destinies of its characters remaining its lasting expression.

Regardless of its loss at this past Sunday’s 83rd Academy Awards, Incendies is a winning achievement for Canadian cinema.

• Myles Herod