Volume 46 Issue 4

Volume 46

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Issue 4

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October 3, 2011

Trustees Close PCVS despite Student, Community Protests Plans already underway to reverse KPR vote

By Wes Collett-Taylor, one of Arthur’s co-op students from PCVS The week preceding the deciding vote on school closures was a busy one for PCVS. On Monday, the recommendation that PCVS be closed was announced and was circulated to students. Within hours, students had organized an improvised dance show for Tuesday. On Wednesday, a human chain was formed from the school (where the first link was 1932 graduate Beatrice Lumbar) to Market Hall. On Thursday, students organized a walkout, where they left their classes to protest, play music, dance, and shout on George Street in the rain. Local businesses closed their doors in the afternoon in solidarity with students to demonstrate the fiscal and community importance of a downtown school. By Thursday evening, the protest relocated to outside the public school board meeting, where trustees voted 7-4 in favour of closing PCVS. Here’s what people were saying at the chain on Wednesday:

“

This my fourth day of placement and already I love this school... the community is so enriching and everyone feels safe here, and I’m loving it, so that’s why I ‘m out here today.”

-Jen Freele, Queens/Trent Concurrent Education Student

“

PCVS has become my second home, I am completely dumbfounded as to where I could go if [PCVS] was closed.”

-Collin Chepeka, Student

“

After teaching here for 25 years, preceding that with 3 of the other city schools, I have to say that this is home, this is a place where kids are comfortable, where they are accepted for who they are, and we work with them as who they are to give them the best education that we can.”

-Elizabeth Campbell, former teacher at PCVS

“ “

I think it would an absolute shame if we lost that [school] in the downtown core.”

-Lori Christensen

The love that my peers have for this school, and the teachers have, and the community, is so ridiculously inspiring.” “PCVS is the love of my life, and I’ll fight for it with all I’ve got.”

-Kirsten Bruce, student, member of Raiders in Action

“

I have a gut feeling that this isn’t the end.”

-Matthew Finlan, Student Activities Council president

in the paper this week: Volume 46 | Issue 4 | October 3, 2011

Masthead by Jackson Creek Press 751 George Street • Suite 104 Peterborough, ON • K9H 7P5 tel: 705-745-3535

Elections & Protests Plenty of each! Try out some of those democratic rights.

editors@trentarthur.ca • www.trentarthur.ca

Co-Editors Business Manager Iris Hodgson

Tyson Shennett

Miranda Rigby

Copy Editor Associate Editors Chelsea Rodrigues

Brett Throop

Proofreader

Matt Jarvis

Andie Hartshorne-Pople

Distribution

News Reporters Andy Cragg

Monika Trzeciakowski

Sara Ostrowska

Co-operatives

Carmen Meyette

Wesley Collett-Taylor Mya Rushnell

Photography Andrew Tan

Board of Directors Chair • Kate Taylor Secretary • Caitlin Currie Treasurer • Not yet named

p. 4 - Copyright Cash & Wall St occupation p. 5 Burqa Bans are not so secular p. 6 & 7 - Local and provincial candidates weigh in p. 8 AIDS Walk & Hollerado meets Mayor Bennett? p. 9 Tar Sands Opposition in Ottawa p. 10 - Make pickles with the Seasoned Spoon p. 11 - Science and Business coverage in Arthur?! p. 13 - Brad Pitt & Punk rock p. 14-Trent Radio plays sad bastard music

Members at Large • Matt Rappolt, Brett Throop, Joel Young

Contributors Scott Wannan • Brian Lukaszewicz Jonathan Alphonsus • Cornel West Natalie Guttormsson • Caileigh Morrison Radz Mpofu • Robin Smyth Yolanda Jones • Gozde Kilic

Submission guidelines Articles Articles should be submitted via email to editors@ trentarthur.ca, in the body of the message, or as an *.rtf, *.doc, or *.txt attachment. The body should be approximately 800 words. Listings, announcements, or briefs should not exceed 100 words. Feature pieces can be up to 1500, but must be arranged in advance with the editors.

Images Hard copies (photographs, original artwork, etc.) should be brought into the office (751 George Street, Suite 104) to be scanned. If submitting files electronically, please save as *.tif, with a dpi of no less than 300 pixels.

Letters Limit letters to the editors to 250 words. Letters longer than 250 words may be published but Arthur reserves the right to edit for length and clarity (but not content).

Conributors are encouraged to attend the weekly story meeting on Tuesday at 7pm at Sadlier House, or to contact the editors if considering submitting to an upcoming issue.

Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of Arthur staff, volunteers or its Board of Directors. Contributors are encouraged to attend the story meetings Tuesday at 7pm or contact the Editors to discuss story ideas.

All article submissions are due Thursday at midnight.

Letters, Listings, Classifieds, and Events are due Friday at five and should be sent to listings@ trentarthur.ca. Advertisers are encouraged to contact advertising@trentarthur.ca for ad rates and contracts.

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I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello.

By Iris Hodgson with the solidarity of Miranda Rigby

Last Thursday, the Kawartha Pine Ridge School Board voted 7-4 in favour of closing Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational School (PCVS), despite overwhelming opposition from PCVS students, parents, and alumni, and from downtown business and community members.

This decision is a mistake and should be reversed.

Arthur has been following this story since last winter, when an Accommodation Review Committee was formed to examine declining enrolment at Thomas A. Stewart, Kenner, PCVS, and Adam Scott. That committee was comprised of students and principals from the four schools, as well as KPR Board Trustees Rose Kitney, Cathy Abraham, and Roy Wilfong, among others.

Throughout this process, teachers at the schools have been prohibited from commenting on the situation.

Arthur attended the fourth and final ARC meeting at PCVS this July, where Board Chair Don Blair tabled a controversial motion to recommend that a Peterborough school be closed, but declined to specify which one.

At that meeting, ARC members reported that they had not had time to consider (and in fact, in many cases, had not even read) materials submitted by the community. On several occasions, Blair – who earned over $60,000 for his work on the committee -- referred to materials that had not been circulated to the remainder of the ARC. The ARC complained that they could not do their work effectively because of limitations on the time and duration of meetings set by the KPR board, but students at the meeting were flabbergasted at the lack of preparedness demonstrated that evening.

Over the summer, the KPR Board ruled out Kenner and Adam Scott as potential schools to close. They first recommended that TASS be closed, and also explored the possibility of relocating the Board offices to TASS, but decided against it when the cost of renovating the school was deemed to be too high.

It is unclear what the renovation cost would be to move PCVS students to TASS – especially because the presence of asbestos was one reason that the Board office relocation was a no-go. If Board staff don’t want to work at TASS, why should we send students there?

Last Monday, following the decision to leave Board offices at their current location, the Board recommended the closure of PCVS. We are horrified at this decision, and we are not alone.

PCVS students have been fighting the closure of their school since this winter. This past week, they formed a human chain from their front doors to Market Hall, demonstrating the close connection the school has with the downtown.

On Thursday, students walked out of classes and protested outside the Board offices prior to the meeting. Downtown businesses closed their doors Thursday afternoon to express the importance of students to the downtown community, not just

editorial as customers, but as contributors to Peterborough’s arts community as well.

An avalanche of support for PCVS’s unique role in downtown Peterborough was presented at Thursday’s board meeting.

Supporters reminded trustees that PCVS is at capacity; that it has the lowest per-capita operating costs of all Peterborough high schools; that students who face racist and homophobic harassment at other schools find a safe haven at PCVS; that lowincome and at-risk students are more likely to attend school if it is located close to downtown; that PCVS’s reputation helps high school students their university applications noticed.

This decision means that students who transferred to PCVS to avoid homphobia at their home schools must choose between attending a Catholic school, where their identities are explicitly not supported, or returning to the schools that their bullies attend. This is unacceptable.

Arthur has two PCVS students working in our offices, and their impact on what we do is unmistakeable. One of our co-op students told us that she had been informed that KPR was not going to take students’ opinions into consideration, which is the last thing that students should be told.

After the Trustees’ votes were tallied, a PCVS student commented, “Congratulations KPRDSB, you just killed downtown Peterborough.” We think that the City of Peterborough should take that seriously, before struggling businesses close their doors. Peterborough City council can choose to involve itself in this decision, and should be taken to task for their reluctance to do so thus far. Parents at PCVS are looking to repeal the Trustees’ decision, and they should not have to do this work alone.

This closure will be a blow to some of Peterborough’s smallest, most marginalized communities, but the source of this strife is likely provincial. In 1998, the Harris government amalgamated 129 school boards into 60. The Peterborough County Board of Education and the Northumberland-Clarington Board became the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board.

Last week, these trustees voted 7-4 in favour of closing PCVS. The motion was tabled by board Chair Rusty Hick, a former principal at Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School. Only two of the other eleven trustees, Rose Kitney and Roy Wolfong, represent Peterborough, and they both voted against PCVS’s closure.

This decision was made by people who don’t know what it is like to live or go to school in downtown Peterborough, in spite of all the evidence provided by community members who know that this is a mistake.

Rather than closing schools, we should be advocating for more teachers and smaller class sizes for the core courses that students need. Students should be able to go to school close to home, not just at PCVS but wherever they live in Peterborough.

Here at the Arthur office, we can’t help but think back to the closure of Trent’s downtown colleges, in spite of the efforts of Trent students and faculty to keep them open. We hope that Peterborough’s high school students will have better success, and we stand behind PCVS.

Letters

Our Space seeks volunteers Part-time students form TPSA Dear Students,

To the Trent Community:

Welcome back! You bring a special energy and vitality to our community.

The rumours of our death have been greatly exaggerated. (With apologies to Mark Twain.)

If you are new to Trent you will soon discover that Peterborough has many scenic areas and a wide variety of artistic and cultural attractions. On the less positive side, it also has the dual distinction of being the homeless and unemployment capital of Ontario.

The Ontario Works benefit barely covers rent for a closet-sized room. Despite large increases in food and fuel costs, benefits are raised a miserly 1 to 2 percent per year so the purchasing power of individuals consistently decreases. Workers on minimum wage often have no benefits and no job security.

Despite food banks and meal programs, many people experience hunger by month-end when their cheques have been used up. Cuts in the special diet supplement and in some church food voucher programs have made the situation even worse.

Many people live in terrible rooming houses that should be condemned. The Our Space Community Centre tries to provide a place where people can socialize and have soup and coffee, but the City has cut its hours back from 12pm to 6pm a day.

Homelessness is a disgraceful consequence of our failure to care for our most vulnerable neighbours. Despite much clamour about homelessness (plus campaigns, studies, initiatives and task forces) the same 12 to 15 people who were homeless five years ago are homeless today.

If you want to help relieve the shameful scourge of local poverty there are many ways. Volunteer at Our Space or a church meal program or food bank; write to the members of city council asking them to provide a minimum-barrier shelter and more supportive housing for the homeless, start an anti-poverty group through Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) or join an existing social justice group.

There’s a rumour going around that the dissolution of Julian Blackburn College (JBC) was accompanied by the demise of Julian Blackburn College Student Association (JBCSA). We wish to let everyone know that nothing could be further from the truth. We are the same rose by another name, that being the Trent Part-Time Student Association (TPSA).

If you visit our new webpage, www.trentu.ca/tpsa, and click on ‘History,’ you will see that Trent’s part-time students formed their own association (in 1971), well before there was a Julian Blackburn College (1975). Twenty years ago that selfsame association was instrumental in having the then-named ‘Staging Building’ renamed ‘Blackburn Hall’ to honour their college and students.

Back in its day it was a big winner.

When JBC was dissolved at the end of April 2011, the students were asked to choose which of the remaining four undergrad colleges they wished to join, and if they hadn’t done so by the end of May, they’d be assigned to one. So at this, the beginning of the 2011/12 academic year, the over one thousand part-time students at Trent are scattered among LEC, CC, OC, and GC (with a few survivors still making their way through Traill College). But assimilate? Never!

Well, admittedly, that’s a generalization that an English paper would never allow. In fact, in some instances you can’t even tell a part-time student from a full-time student, and they fraternize scandalously. They are forgiven, of course – as they’re young. It is the more mature student who finds his or her way to the association, often seeking our assistance in a frantic effort to balance a job and family and study and myriad other aspects of a busy life, but just as often seeking and finding friends among their equally stressed peers.

You will no longer find JBC or JBCSA in that eponymous building, but the latter rose phoenixlike as TPSA in Wallis Hall at Traill College, that most beautiful Trent downtown campus. A welcome has been extended to all part-time and mature students to make Traill their ‘home away from home’.’ Students take advantage of the commodious computer lab, the elegantly serene Junior Common Room lounge, and the stunningly sophisticated pub. The Trend has its own Chef Daniel serving excellent and nutritious home-made food. The Trend is open daily during the week from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm, Thursday evenings from 8 pm to 11 pm (closed on weekends and holidays).

In addition to another location, a new name, and its own webpage, TPSA has adopted a motto – “Here to Help” – and extends that promise to any and all who consider themselves nontraditional students. To be an anomaly can be a beautiful thing.

Thank you for your contribution toward making this a more benevolent and just community.

Carol Winter, Our Space Volunteer

Helen Wallis, TPSA (formerly JBCSA)

Campus

Unofficial TCSA Election Results

How to get your vote on

By Andy Cragg

At press time, these results were pending approval at the TCSA Board meeting, which was held Sunday, Oct. 2.

Indigenous Students Commissioner Mathew Baril

Gender Issues Commissioner Caitlin Currie

Mature and Transfer Students Commissioner Lindsey Musclow

International Students Commissioner

YES 348 NO 25 Spoiled 21

YES 359 NO 19 Spoiled 16

Students with Disabilities Commissioner Ben McColl 248 Kolby Kehr 159 Spoiled 5

First Year On Residence Commissioner James Abbott YES 359 NO 17 Spoiled 18

First Year Off Residence Commissioner Lucie Kawiche YES 357 NO 21 Spoiled 16

YES 354 NO 27 Spoiled 13

Ariel Salmon 109

Muhammad Raza Sheik 158 Chanel Christophe 132 Spoiled 7

Ethical Standards Commissioner Liban Bigore YES 354 NO 27 Spoiled 13

Environment and Sustainability Commissioner Edrees Amiri YES 350 NO 30 Spoiled 14

“Just get those students out to vote!” says Wimpy Borland, the Returning Officer for the Peterborough electoral district. Many Trent students will vote for the first time during the Provincial Election on Thursday October 6.

For students from the Peterborough area, voting can be fairly straightforward. You can return to wherever your voter card was mailed (a parent’s home, usually) and vote at a nearby poll.

For students who are registered to vote in other cities and towns, elections that fall during the school year can present certain logistical challenges to casting a vote. If you currently live in Peterborough, you can definitely vote in this riding. With some advance planning, you can also vote in your home riding.

If you live on-campus, the process should be fairly easy. Elections Ontario will have a polling station set up on election day in Gzowski College. To vote, you need to bring a piece of ID with your signature on it (e.g. driver’s license or health card) as well as a piece of mail addressed to your on-campus address. The Trent Housing Office can provide you with a letter showing this information if you need one – it should only take a few minutes.

For students living off-campus, your first task is to find your local polling station. You can do this at wemakevotingeasy.ca. On election day, you can vote at this polling station by bringing one piece of ID with a signature as well as something that proves that you live in the polling area.

A piece of official mail with your name and address on it will satisfy this requirement, for example a hydro bill, or government-issued mail. If it has your current address on it, your Trent admissions letter, transcript, or tuition/fees statement will also work. Check the website for a full list of options. In a pinch, bring some ID with a signature and a friend who can vouch that you live in that polling area (yes, really.)

Don’t worry if you can’t bring your voter card to the polling station, or if you aren’t registered to vote yet. You can easily register at the polls.

Out-of-province students who live in Ontario for school are also eligible to vote. The only student demographics not able to vote are students who are not yet 18 and students who are not Canadian citizens. However, people falling into these categories can still encourage their peers to vote.

Youth voter turnout is always lower than the already low general voter turnout. The voting rate for youth under age 25 is almost always under 40% in Canadian elections. As Rick Mercer argued in his rant about student voting before the Federal Election last May, if you wonder why tuition has gone up and up, it’s because politicians know students don’t vote. Prove the politicians wrong.

Volume 46 | Issue 4 | October 3, 2011

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campus

Trent faces potential $250,000 increase in library licensing costs Thought photocopying books, newspapers, and journals was free and simple? Think again.

By Brett Throop, with files from Jonathan Alphonsus

Photocopying books, newspapers, and journals and accessing e-books and e-journals is set to get either a lot more expensive or a lot more confusing.

Trent is revising its copyright policies in response to a potential major fee hike by copyright collective Access Copyright. For two decades, that organization has compensated authors and publishers for the copying of their works by charging post-secondary institutions yearly fees for a blanket licence for photocopying and creating course-packs.

Now, they’ve proposed a new tariff regime to Canada’s Copyright Board that would dramatically increase what post-secondary institutions pay. Universities currently pay Access Copyright about $3.38 per full-time student. Access Copyright is now asking for thirteen times that amount – about $45 per student. At Trent, this increase would amount to around $250,000 more than what we currently spend.

The proposed changes by Access Copyright would also limit access to some electronic materials, place further restrictions on what can be copied and shared, and require that institutions monitor and report on copying activities.

Access Copyright argues that the changes are necessary to ensure that copyright holders receive adequate

compensation for the use of their materials.

The Copyright Board won’t decide on the proposed changes for a few years. But dozens of post-secondary institutions are refusing to wait around for a decision, having opted out of doing business with Access Copyright earlier this year. The organization worries that by not paying for licensing rights, illegal copying at those institutions will proliferate and copyright holders will lose compensation.

Trent is working under an interim agreement for this year. It paid its fees to Access Copyright on September 1, 2011. Meanwhile, a working group of faculty and administrative representatives is being struck to revise Trent’s copyright policies in advance of the Copyright Board’s decision. Administrators won’t say definitively if student representatives will be included in the working group. The plan is to draft a policy by Christmas, seek out input on it campus-wide, and then implement a new policy next summer.

“We’re taking a very go-slow-do-it-right-the-first-time approach,” Trent University Librarian Robert Clarke said.

“Given the nature of Trent—[our] spirit of consultation and getting all the stakeholders involved—it was felt that we shouldn’t rush into bringing something in.” He stated that decisions by other universities to opt out were made hurriedly by senior administrators, with little time for consultation.

Clarke called the proposed fee hike “excessive” but

wouldn’t say if Trent is considering opting out of the tariff agreement for future years. Without the general permissions it provides, Trent students and faculty could be forced to seek permissions from publishers directly or limit copying to what is allowable under Canada’s Copyright Act. Clarke predicted that the final fee decided on by the Copyright Board would be much lower than the proposed $45 per full time student, which might give institutions like Trent more reason to stick it out with Access Copyright.

However, other questions still remain which will influence whether Trent and other institutions stay with the status quo or go it alone on the copyright front. Most importantly, decision makers will want to know how electronic materials will be dealt with and how much scrutiny Access Copyright will have over copying practices.

In the meantime, Clarke advises that students and faculty make themselves aware of what they can legally copy under the Canadian Copyright Act. He also advises looking for licensed electronic copies via the Library website before considering photocopying something illegally. Another option is to seek out open access materials, which have no copyright restrictions. Open access is a growing trend to provide free world-wide access to published works.

Clarke added that the Library is currently piloting a service to help faculty get required copyright permissions from authors and publishers.

Protesters Occupy Wall Street

By Anthony P. Gulston

Every day since Sept 17, protesters have been camping out in New York’s Zuccotti Park and marching to Union Square (renamed Liberty Square) on Wall Street. An amorphous list of demands has been posted on coupmedia.org. Notable demands so far include: the elimination of corporate rights as persons; the repeal of the Patriot Act; a restructuring of financial regulations; an end to the War On Drugs; free education from kindergarten to college; and a forgiveness of all student loan debts.

The protests have attracted a number of high-profile attendees including rapper Immortal Technique, Susan Sarandon, Michael Moore, Dr. Cornel West, author of Race Matters, and others. In a message to protesters, political theorist Noam Chomsky said, “Anyone with eyes open knows that the gangsterism of Wall Street -- financial institutions generally -- has caused severe damage to the people of the United States (and the world)…. The courageous and honorable protests underway in Wall Street should serve to bring this calamity to public attention.”

On Friday, the NY Transport Workers Union Local 100, comprised of more than 38,000 members, unanimously voted to join the protest.

There has been little coverage of the protests in the mainstream media. Police have been using pepper spray and nets on the crowds, and hundreds of arrests have been made so far.

The New York protesters are coordinating with activists nationally and worldwide, including planned protests in Toronto and Montreal, via occupytogether.org.

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campus

Burqa Bans topic of Inaugural Elaine Stavro Lecture

By Gozde Kilic

This year, the province of Quebec introduced a ban to deny government services to those covering their faces with a burqa. A number of European countries such as Belgium, France, and some states in Germany have also passed legislation that bans the wearing of any clothing with Islamic religious symbolism (including the burqa and the hijab) while other countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands have proposed similar bans.

This controversial issue was the subject of Dr. Wendy Brown’s lecture, “Civilizational Delusions: Secularism, Tolerance, Equality” which she delivered last Thursday, September 22, at Market Hall.

Dr. Brown, a renowned political scientist from the University of California, Berkeley was hosted by Trent University as the Elaine Stavro Distinguished Visiting Scholar in Theory, Politics and Gender. The program was designed to bring together Trent students, staff, faculty, and the members of Peterborough community with intellectuals who are engaged in political theory.

In her inaugural speech, the founder and benefactor Elaine Stavro explained that the goal of this endowed program is to bolster research in humanities and social sciences by bringing a distinguished scholar to Trent. As Dr. Stavro noted, the idea behind this program is to provide collaboration in interdisciplinary studies as well as encourage thoughtfulness and critical inquiry, especially in a time when financial and popular support for that is fading away.

In her lecture, Dr. Brown sought to provide an unmediated and genuine understanding of the concept of secularism.

Especially since it has been utilized as the political justification of these legal bans, it seems that a “true” understanding of the concept is an imperative need. “What does it mean to be secular today?” and “What are some of the claims of Western secularism that make such bans possible?” are some of the questions that gave direction to Dr. Brown’s talk.

Dr. Brown began with five of the general assumptions of secularism that make the burqa bans legitimate, and, one by one, deconstructed these assumptions to reveal their misleading or illusory nature.

One of these assumptions, and probably the most wellknown and well-worn one, is that “secularism generates a religiously neutral public sphere.” Dr. Brown asks, “Does it really?” and, by revisiting certain legacies of the Protestant Reformation in Locke and Marx, set out to show the fallaciousness of the religious as well as gender and cultural impartiality that underlies Western secular discourse. She reflected on the ideas of tolerance and equality, which are an important part of the secular discourse, and how Western society uses these ideas to contradict itself with Islam.

After her formal talk, masters and doctoral students of the Centre for Theory, Culture, and Politics had a chance to meet with Dr. Brown to casually discuss her lecture. Various questions were asked, and concerns over the meaning of

secularism and democracy were raised.

Although Dr. Brown provided some valuable direction to points of departure in answering these kinds of questions, she generally avoided giving her own opinion, or her own solution about what to do. (She warned the audience at the beginning of her talk that she is not interested in shoulds or should nots.) It was unclear whether she is avoiding stating her own opinion or whether she has no stance to take, but with a problem as concrete as this (with real and physical consequences), she could have gone beyond the abstract and theoretical realm to provide some concrete suggestions.

“

One of these assumptions, and probably the most well-known and well-worn one, is that ‘secularism generates a religiously neutral public sphere.’ Dr. Brown asks, ‘Does it really?’”

Volume 46 | Issue 4 | October 3, 2011

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LOCAL candidates

Another (Provincial) Almost-All-Candidates Debate

By Sara Ostrowska

The Trent University Politics Society hosted an all-candidates debate on September 21 in the Great Hall at Trent. Incumbent Liberal MPP Jeff Leal, Socialist candidate Ken Ranney, and NDP candidate Dave Nickle were present. Green Party candidate Gary Beamish was represented by his campaign manager, former Green candidate Michael Bell. The Progressive Conservative candidate, Alan Wilson, was not in attendance.

There were around 100 people in the audience at the beginning of the debate. To start off, each candidate took some time to introduce themselves and their party. Ranney compared socialism and Christianity, stating that his party focuses on humanity and caring for others. He also mentioned that the healthcare system that Canadians seem to be so proud of and grateful for is a socialist system.

Dave Nickle remarked that the purpose of politics is to help people, and that his party focuses on affordable housing, jobs, student debts, daycare, and health care, so that there can be a secure future for ourselves and our children.

Michael Bell described his party as a global movement and said that the Green Party takes the greatest ideas of all the parties and rolls them into one.

Jeff Leal summarized the success of his party, recalling his party’s accomplishments for the duration of his 8 year term.

“What will be done to help students find meaningful work after post-secondary education?”

Ranney and Nickle agreed that capitalism is the problem. Ranney answered by calling for a transformation in society as a whole, while Nickle noted that capitalism is awful at distributing wealth. Ranney also playfully commented that the Liberal government may be annoying to people, but that they have good intentions, which put a smile on Leal’s face.

Leal stated that we need to take technology created here in Peterborough to create jobs, and that we need to use Trent as the important resource it is.

Bell got the first hearty laugh of the crowd when he said that Peterborough has been designated as a giant seniors’ home by the Liberal government, stating that the city has not been allowed to grow. He then expressed that our dependence on subsidized oil is a major problem, noting that governments make it affordable for us to ship our jobs out of country, instead of having jobs here.

“How can the progress of climate change be slowed?”

Nickle said that his party will cease all use of nuclear power, and provide low interest loans for people to refurbish their homes so that people can bring power back to the grid, while also noting that conservation is key.

Leal wants to cap nuclear power, slowly phase out the use of coal energy, and work with GE and Samsung on the Green Energy Plan.

Bell wants to shift the tax burden to polluters, and fund green and alternative energy. Ranney said that the problem is a worldwide one, and that if anything is to be done about climate change, all the governments of the world should place CO2 controls on every single company.

“What would you do to improve funding for universities?”

Leal stated that universities are forced to run at a deficit, which negatively affects students. He responded that his party has increased funding 58% over the last few years, and that the Liberals are planning to give a 30% tuition grant to students. He then stated that his party has taken a step forward from the previous government. At this point, Leal and Nickle got into a heated series of rebuttals, arguing over which government did more for students.

Nickle then claimed that we need a fresh approach to politics, arguing that politicians should not be just throwing numbers at the public. He argued that rich corporations and people need to pay their fair share, and that taxes and services are needed because services are good for the economy and society.

Ranney, in agreement, answered the question more directly by announcing that his party would give postsecondary students a monthly allowance, while rolling back university tuition fees back to the 1995 level.

“What should be done to address the housing crisis?”

Bell answered that the crisis is a symptom of something bigger and that poverty has to cease to exist because “we can’t be in the business of managing poverty.” Nickle said that the Liberal government did indeed do good things, such as raising the minimum wage and implementing full-day kindergarden, but said that it took too long for the minimum wage to be raised and that the Liberal government gave their MPPs raises much quicker. Another series of fiery rebuttals ensued.

Ranney then took a stand to say that he was not interested in MPPs’ raises. He said that if the Socialist Party was elected, everyone would have a guaranteed income and a child allowance. Jeff Leal said that his government would work to overhaul the social assistance program.

“What will be done to make post-secondary education more affordable, and when will these changes occur?”

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Ranney answered, “I don’t know how soon we’ll ever be elected,” but reiterated his plan for a student allowance and rolled back tuition fees.

Nickle said he would freeze tuition, and change would be seen on October 7, an answer which brought much enthusiasm from the crowd. He made the point that we should de-emphasize the financial crisis and prioritize the unemployment problem, stating that instead we actually have an unemployment crisis and a financial problem.

Leal answered the question by stating that there are jurisdictions in the US that want to mimic Ontario, and that with his party, Ontario has the opportunity to be leaders in the world.

Bell simply said his party would freeze tuition and then move towards fully funded post-secondary education.

Students then took the stand, asking various questions about the budget deficit, the well-being of patients in hospitals, the Liberal 30% grant, mental health and disabilities, culture and the arts, GO transit, and poverty. There was no clear winner of the debate.

Wilson has also not made appearances at candidate meetings on mental health issues and social justice issues, but has attended meetings on housing, business, and agriculture. Jeff Leal and Gary Beamish have remained relatively low-key amongst the student community. Dave Nickle was the only candidate present on campus for Clubs and Groups Day at Trent, and for the Pride Parade. He has also been spotted on campus, handing out pamphlets and conversing with students.

Ontario Leaders Turn up the Heat on Energy, Education, Environment, and the Economy

By Carmen Meyette

Last Tuesday night, the leaders of Ontario’s three major political parties met in Toronto to engage in a televised debate on this election’s big issues. Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak and Ontario New Democratic Party leader Andrea Horwath are fighting to knock Dalton McGuinty out of the Premier position which he has held for the past eight years.

While the parties seem to share concerns regarding job creation, the economy, energy costs, education and the environment in Ontario, they insist on different methods of resolution. This became clear over the course of the debate, which featured six questions submitted by the public.

The issue of education weighs heavily on the minds of students as tuition rises and our debt loom. Hudak named education as one of his priorities. He puts emphasis on updating Ontario’s apprenticeship model to create 200,000 new skilled labour positions.

If elected, Hudak will also move to dismantle the International Student Scholarship Program and move that money into OSAP as an attempt to make post-secondary education more accessible for Ontario Students.

McGuinty and Horwath both addressed education as a primary focus in their campaign but chose to create plans based on tuition rates in universities and colleges rather than the skilled trades.

McGuinty has been referred to as the Education Premier, a nickname which he lived up to by speaking extensively about his successes and future hopes for education in Ontario. He spoke about his plan to reduce

tuition by 30 percent. This would mean savings of $1,600 for university students and $730 for college students. McGuinty also reminded viewers that in his term he built 400 new schools, hired 10,000 teachers and implemented full day kindergarten.

Horwath argued that reducing tuition rates by 30 percent is not effective enough in combating the rate at which they are rising.

Her plan is to freeze tuition rates where they are now to give students a break.

This debate turned up the heat on the cost of energy. Hudak talked about removing HST from heating and hydro bills as well as pulling the plug on Smart Meters. He argued that HST made day-to-day expenses unaffordable when introduced during a time of recession. He also considers Smart Meters inconvenient and unfair. Smart Meters were introduced by the Liberals to encourage household energy conservation in activities such as dishes and laundry simply by paying attention to the time of day when you do these chores. Mr. Hudak said that if elected, he will make the program optional.

Horwath claimed that if elected there will be no more private contracts looking after our energy needs and no more shipping jobs out of Ontario when they could be done locally. She also announced her plan to remove the HST from our heating and hydro bills (thanking Mr. Hudak for borrowing that part of her platform) and went on to say that she would also start removing the HST from gasoline, and freeze gasoline prices at the pumps. Horwath agreed with Hudak that Smart Meters were not helpful for people trying to make energy conscious decisions.

Instead she would introduce tax credits to assist people wishing to renovate their homes

in the name of eco-consciousness.

Finally, McGuinty spoke about how he is rebuilding Ontario’s out-of-date energy system with the belief that bringing our technology up to date will attract international investors. He promised to reduce energy bills by 10 percent. McGuinty has promised to phase coal out of Ontario with the reasoning that it has negative health effects on our population which costs our health care system, and that it is no longer a viable, modern option. He claimed that last year was the first year that more money was spent worldwide on green energy than on oil. If elected, McGuinty would propose 20,000 large- and medium-sized energy projects as well as 30,000 micro-projects all being sponsored from within Ontario. He reminded voters that the Liberals’ green plan is endorsed by David Suzuki.

All parties expressed concern over making and keeping Ontario a desirable place to work with a thriving economy. Hudak spoke about his Five-Point Jobs Plan, one of those points being the 200,000 skilled trades positions he would like to create. He points to this plan and his priorities as the answer to getting our economy back to a thriving position and keeping our job market alive.

Since McGuinty is in office, he was the easiest target for criticism on the economy.

Hudak pointed out that in July, Ontario lost more jobs than any other province and that our economy has only grown 10 percent, while government spending has grown by 80 percent.

Hudak disagrees with the spending of money on eHealth, a program which took film records out of hospitals, replacing them with easily transferred electronic ones. He

PROVINCIAL ELECTION

considers the program a failure based on some financial decisions which were made by eHealth’s then CEO in 2009. Hudak says he will reduce government spending by ending organizations such as the 14 Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs).

Hudak would also eliminate the Ontario Power Authority, an organization whose mission is to “ensure our energy needs are met for the benefit of Ontario now and in the future.”

In contrast, Horwath says the NDP will save money by raising the corporate tax rate to 14 percent and providing tax cuts only to businesses that create jobs and train Ontario’s workforce. She will be a supporter of industries such as forestry and attempt to ensure their success. She is critical of Mr. Harper’s choice to lower taxes for big businesses, and plans to find savings by capping the salaries of CEOs in health care.

McGuinty pointed out that Ontario has created more jobs since January than any other province in Canada, and that he protected over 400,000 jobs in the auto sector during the recession. Furthermore, his plan to push Ontario to the front of green energy will be a huge opportunity for job creation in the energy industry. He will save government money by reducing the size of the Ontario Public Sector by 7 percent (about 5000 positions). Furthermore, he will find 200 million dollars in savings in Ontario’s public service boards and commissions. In recognition of the current deficit he asks us to remember that he has lowered a deficit before and is confident that he can do it again.

Volume 46 | Issue 4 | October 3, 2011

7

arts

local

AIDS Walk: Journey Back to Life Hollerado, meet Mayor Bennett

Photos by Nick Ferrio

“

Lethbridge Mayor Rajko Dodic got on stage to shred through a blues jam during the Hollerado set in his city. What tricks have you, Daryl Bennett? As I said before, probably none.”

By Matt Jarvis

By Cornel Grey

Sitting on a cold stone, I find myself gazing out onto the Otonabee River. I see a matronly-looking duck guiding her young charge across the water and I observe while enjoying a bag of free popcorn and my second helping of vanilla ice cream.

It's Sunday Sept. 25, and I'm at Millennium Park. The sun hasn’t quite set yet but the mosquitoes are already out. No one minds though.

It’s a crowd of a relatively decent size as far as I can see, then again, this being my first time I cannot compare to previous years. What I can say is that everyone wants to be here.

Some fifteen to twenty minutes after, it commences. The 20th annual Scotiabank AIDS Walk for Life, hosted by the Peterborough Aids Resource Network (PARN), is officially underway as the opening remarks are made. Like moths to a flame, participants gather toward the platform to listen to the speakers. The aforementioned analogy is admittedly cliché but one finds that it’s particularly effective when we consider that the walkers would be carrying candles for the entire trip.

One speaker indicates to us that more than sixty thousand people are infected with HIV/AIDS in Canada, and a third of these persons do not know their status.

Following the speeches, the lighting of

8

candles in memory of persons affected by AIDS is done -- a moment of silence -- and the walk begins.

One by one, we collected our candles, had them lit and marched out of the park.

Passers-by saw candles floating along the sidewalk in the dark. For some participants, it may have been about a good workout; a cause worth volunteering for; or a nice way to spend a Sunday night.

For me, it was a means of keeping the dream alive: the hope that one day scientists will be able to find a cure or that the information that organizations provide will be able to permeate our society in a way that will have people employing preventative measures more effectively in their daily lives.

So walk we did, up one street and down the other, only stopping where stoplights did not permit us to go onward as quickly as we would have liked. Nonetheless, the musical selections of the team from the Trent African Caribbean Student Union (TACSU) kept some participants entertained.

When we returned, the prizes were awarded and of notable mention, the Trent Queer Collective (TQC) was awarded the prize for the biggest student team. In the end, the AIDS Walk was an excellent way to culminate Peterborough Pride and no doubt many individuals are already looking forward to next year’s event.

So. Hollerado is a band. The members grew up on the same street in Ontario. They play rock music, think current era Canadian indie boy raspy voices overlaid on an unabashed embrace of 90’s power pop distortion. Blah, blah, blah. Look: I don’t want to drown you in a sea of superlatives, that’s not my style.

Search “Americanarama” by Hollerado on YouTube, you’ll get the point.

And speaking of points, the one I am getting at is that Hollerado will be in Peterborough on October 12 as a part of their “Meet the Mayor” tour.

And yes, they will also be meeting with our Mayor. Or at least I hope they will be.

Let me explain. Apparently the idea started when the band realized that Toronto mayor Rob Ford was thought to be making a bunch of crappy decisions, and they subsequently realized that some mayors must be making good decisions and wouldn’t it be nice if they could meet them on tour. And there you have it. What a great freaking idea.

The band has already met with the mayors (and/or deputy mayors) of Sudbury, the Sault, Thunder Bay, Regina, Lethbridge, and Vancouver. Each mayor has been (and will be) asked the same 5 questions:

1. What is the most fun thing you have ever got to do as mayor?

2. If you could have lunch with another mayor of any city in the world, living or dead, who would it be?

3. Mayor Quimby or Mayor West? Why? 4. How do you get to work every day?

5. Who is your favourite local band?

The band then proceeds to grill the mayor on local issues they feel are important as well as ask questions on behalf of the respective community. Questions for the mayor can be submitted via the band’s Twitter (@hollerado), Facebook, or at

holler@hollerado.com. Whoever submits the question the band likes the most will be brought along to the meeting, and then to the show.

For many students, and some community members, the next question will be: “Who the hell is our mayor?” And then maybe, “Why the hell do I care?”

Well… His name is Daryl Bennett, he owns the “Liftlock Group” of companies which includes Capitol Taxi, the Greyhound station, Liftlock Towing and Liftlock City Freightliner. He was named Citizen of the Year by the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce in 2004, which coincidentally is the same year he lost his position on the Trent University Board of Governors.

When asked what kind of car he would buy he answered, “A Bentley because they are well built.” I desperately want the Mayor to meet with Hollerado. Why? Because with all the optimism I can muster, I want to give Daryl Bennett the chance to prove to me and everyone else that he is not so stupefyingly boring as I am inclined to believe he is through the information that is available to the common citizen.

Lethbridge Mayor Rajko Dodic got on stage to shred through a blues jam during the Hollerado set in his city. What tricks have you, Daryl Bennett? As I said before, probably none. And yet, Mr. Bennett, the bright eyed child in me wants to learn of long practiced tap dance routines, after hours in the City Hall foyer. Or perhaps you engage in stress-relieving primal scream sessions in Jackson Park. Don’t kill that child, Daryl.

Don’t let us down. When Hollerado calls; pick up the damn phone.

Hollerado will be playing the Market Hall on October 12, 8pm. Advance Tickets are $18 and available at markethall.org or by calling (705)749-1146.

Ask the Mayor a question: holler@hollerado.com Encourage Mayor Bennett: dbennett@peterborough.ca Follow the band’s progress: holleradomeetsthemayor.tumblr.com

column

[CMA]

What does solidarity mean if it only lasts one day?

Natalie Guttormsson discusses her experiences at the Ottawa Action to say No to the Tar Sands last Monday, Sept. 26. This week’s column does not necessarily reflect the opinions of all CMA members.

Photos by Natalie Guttormsson

By Natalie Guttormsson

After attending the action last Monday in Ottawa I knew I had to cover it for the CMA column but I struggled to find a way to do it. The protest made it into the mainstream media, even if it was skimmed over or under-estimated by CTV and CBC. Many bloggers have covered the lead-up, the duration of the day, and the debrief. Others have great quotes and sharp photos, so what can I offer? I decided to forgo doing a news report and will instead share a reflection of my involvement.

To briefly summarize what happened, there were several hundred people on Parliament Hill last week to protest the tar sands. Just over 200 went over the barricades, but there were at least 200 standing in solidarity on the ‘permitted’ side, acting as witnesses and providing support for those participating in the sit-in portion.

The event kicked off at 10:30 with many guest speakers, including First Nations leaders from affected communities of the tar sands and the expansion project. Other speakers included representatives of the organizing groups. The sit in and scaling of the barrier came at around noon to 1pm. It was very organized, peaceful, and smoothly done in small groups.

The day ended as the group was slowly arrested or escorted out of the grounds, three-by-three. Some were charged, others were released without charge. It was expected, but nonetheless completely absurd that parliament can just set

up a fence to keep the people out of what is supposed to house the House of Commons. How can they make it illegal to send a message to those who are supposed to serve us?

In my limited, but recently intense experiences with protests and rallies, I am left with a cycle of mixed emotions.

In the hours before it all starts I feel excited but mostly anxious. No matter how low-risk or peaceful a protest intends to be, it is impossible to predict the actions of strangers or the reactions of the police. Many precautions can be taken like packing extra clothes and gear in case of tear gas or writing a lawyer’s number in permanent marker somewhere on your skin, but you can’t predict whether you’ll need them or not.

During a protest, when the numbers are the greatest, the energies are the strongest, the chants and singing are the loudest, the signs and banners held the highest, adrenaline results in a kind of euphoria. The issues may be serious and down-right depressing, but the feeling of solidarity amongst the crowd overrides that. When the action is over, during the time it takes to travel home and back to the relative safety of everyday life, a feeling of hopelessness can settle in. I am sharing this reflection to combat that sense of hopelessness, not only in myself, but in my fellow protesters, and all those who may have the sinking feeling that “there is nothing I can do, so why bother?”

What does solidarity mean if it only lasts one day?

Rallies and protests do not really create change, they foster it. In the case of the tar sands, I think big demonstrations

like the one that happened last Monday are necessary to remind the doubters and our politicians that we are large numbers, committed to working towards change. We don’t all agree about how to proceed or what tactics to use, but there is a sense of solidarity amongst groups who have allied themselves in this goal to stop the tar sands expansion.

I could go on about what it means to be an ally, but I don’t have enough space to do it justice. What impressed me most about the Monday action was how peaceful and smoothly orchestrated everything was. Yes, people were arrested, but each person who put themselves in that position knew it was highly probable they would be. There was no tear gas, there was no violence, there were only high spirits, high energy, and a determination to be heard (not to mention lots and lots of heat!).

And we were heard. Now we have to make sure we are not forgotten or ignored. It doesn’t end now and it won’t end in my lifetime. This is a struggle that will last a couple of generations. I think that is where many get lost afterwards.

They wonder how they can accomplish such an impossible goal. Well, my answer is that it is not within our power to shut down the tar sands today, or tomorrow, or even a decade from now. In twenty years, maybe? Our job is to keep the ball moving forward and help mobilize the next generation to keep it going. Seven generations forward is how far many First Nations in Canada tell us to think about.

We need to listen to that wisdom and not lose ourselves in the impossibility of the moment.

Volume 46 | Issue 4 | October 3, 2011

9

local

Delicious turnout at Purple Onion Festival Images by Yolanda Jones

column

Summer Sourcing , Winter Feasting Carefully preserved rooftop garden bounty feeds Spooners all winter

By Robin Smyth

This article does not profess to be an academic discussion of what is wrong with our food system, or why we should eat foods that are local, seasonal, and organic—Trent has profs who can argue that a lot better than I could. From Ecological Agriculture to Canadian Food Systems, and everything else in between, we have some very knowledgeable people teaching some very important subjects.

Trent now offers a specialization in Food & Agriculture, and there are rumours of an Indigenous Agriculture course in the works. You can also gain practical experience through a number of volunteer opportunities, or take on a practical application course through the Trent Centre for Community Based Education- this is an program that allows you to work directly with a community organization, doing work that can really make a difference.

So I’ll let you explore the academic elements on your own, instead giving you a quick peek into a busy kitchen at harvest time.

As a “well-seasoned spooner,” are you ever amazed at the prolific amount of corn that magically appears in your November wraps? Delighted by the decadence of homemade pesto that brightens bleak February days? You have several folks to thank… definitely the farmers who grew this beautiful bounty and harvested it in the late summer sun, but also the wonderful Spoon staff who spent gruelling hours slaving away in the kitchen while the rest of us lolled about on the beach. Can you imagine blanching and freezing enough eggplant to feed the Spoon army through the cold months? Making so much applesauce you don’t even want to look at it? As cook and current Summer Sourcer Danni Dickson says, “the one bad thing about summer sourcing is that, by the end of it, you’re really sick of everything delicious.” Except peaches, she says—“I can never peel enough peaches.”

Fair enough. We all have our thing. For Danni and fellow sourcer Emily Mask, this job requires a lot of practical know-how, but also a lot of intuition. How much food do we need? What kinds of food do we want to eat? And just how many ways are there to store beans, one of our most successful crops out in the gardens? The food we happily eat at the Spoon comes from a number of places, most excitingly of all Trent’s very own extensive field and rooftop gardens. Originally started as an academic experiment, the gardens have now expanded to provide a substantial amount of the vegetables we eat at the Spoon, and also comprise a community garden element where folks can tend to their own plots. Sweet!

For the food we can’t grow ourselves, we are also regulars at the Peterborough markets, and have developed meaningful relationships with many local farmers- where would we be without the Bruni’s? We love them. Go find them at the Saturday market and seriously, eat their eggplant. It is amazing. We also get a lot of support from small scale organic farms like Circle Organics, Tall Tree Farm, and Deep Roots Farm- keep it in the community!

Especially because, if you make friends with your farmers, they will often give you sweet deals on tomatoes come canning season!

Another Spoon favourite is Jan Laurie a.k.a the Sprout Lady—in that sad time between summer greens and midMarch passive solar salads, Jan’s delicious sprouts keep our wraps a little less cabbagey. There are certain things we can’t buy in the city, but we try to keep it as local as possible. We do the majority of our ordering through the Ontario Natural Food Co-Op, and our huge moral dilemma right now is whether or not it’s okay to use wraps from B.C. We are lucky at the Spoon to have one big honkin’ freezer, and sometime soon, a root cellar to store our produce.

Things like these help us eat well all through our long winter season. If you don’t have access to these items, consider drying or canning- we dry a variety of herbs from our garden very simply just by hanging them, and as some of you learned a few weeks back at Emily and Danni’s canning workshop, you can easily preserve a number of delicious foods through pickling and canning. It’s important to do your research in these kinds of endeavoursthings you try to dry sometimes rot in humid places or lose their good energy if left too long in the sun, and canning can definitely lead to baaaaaad things if not done with absolute care. But don’t let this stop you- do a bit of reading (www.homecanning.com is a great place to start), pick something low-risk like tomatoes or pickles, and give it a try.

Garlic Dill Pickles (use either small whole cucumbers or large ones cut into quarters) Yield: makes about 4 pint (500 mL) jars You’ll need— 8-10 small pickling cucumbers (about 3 lbs/1.5kg) 2 cups (500 mL) white vinegar 2 cups (500mL) water 2 tablespoons (25 mL) pickling salt 4 heads fresh dill or 4 teaspoons dill seeds (20 mL) 4 small cloves garlic 1. Cut a thin slice from the ends of each cucumber 2. Combine vinegar, water and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil 3. Remove hot jars, boiled according to manufacturer’s directions, from canner or pot.

4. Place 1 head fresh dill or 1 tsp. dill seeds and 1 clove garlic into each jar, then pack in cucumbers.

5. Pour boiling vinegar mixture over cukes to within ½ inch (1cm) of rim (head space).

6. Process (boil) 10 minutes for pint (500 mL) jars and 15 minutes for quart (1 L) jars.

7. Let ‘em sit for a few weeks to really mature, then devour eagerly.

10

Science says

opinion

Quit denying it: you’re a social media addict

Peterborough should do more to employ recent local grads

What’re you gonna do, tweet about it?

We should stop paying tuition to become baristas.

By Matt Jarvis

By Radz Mpofu

Everyone’s entitled to a little hypocrisy now and then, right? I’ve always been a stalwart supporter of the free progression of science and technology. Multi-function prosthetic limbs? Sign me up. Vat grown Human/Tiger chimera? Where do I donate my genes? Of late, however, I have hit a moral impasse I am not quite able to mentally navigate.

Social media has developed in the last decade into a very real and vibrant community, with virtual neighbours to chat with over cold cups of coffee. I am ok with this. In fact, I think it’s great. I am constantly publicly posting articles on my social pages, hoping for textually mediated discussion. The environment allows people to respond in their own time, which breeds confidence, which breeds great freaking ideas.

The problem I have come up against is that no one will talk to me anymore during the mid-class 5 minute break. I brought this up recently in class when I got tired of pretending to read the blank notebook in front of me, just a general observation put out into the world. What I received in reply were 20 quick, disinterested glances and an aural respite of about 4 seconds before the various degrees of clicking and tapping began anew. What I said was, “It is interesting that we can all be here together, alone.”

Social media has invaded my social time.

I’m a disgracefully busy man; some of you share my burden I’m sure. When I have five minutes on a bus or in class I want to talk to human beings. What is so interesting on that Blackberry that you can’t maintain eye contact with me past that 4 second mark?

According to Daria Kuss, a researcher at “the other Trent University” (Nottingham), indications are that social media is not really about active communication between parties. Instead, it is a tool which allows individuals to present themselves in a positive manner, leading to a pleasurable feeling. It turns out this pleasure is highly addictive.

The technical term is social networking sites (SNS) addiction.

Holy crap. Addiction, I get it now. I smoked cigarettes for ten years, and when people told me it got in the way of our friendship, I abandoned those friends like the cold ash drifting from the tip of my overpriced Belmont. I’ve seen evidence of this hypothesis firsthand, such as individuals checking messages on little plastic boxes while walking right into the road or while driving. Both these examples are unfortunate recipes for destruction that can only be explained through addiction.

So, maybe that’s it - I don’t get it because I just haven’t taken my proverbial “first puff ” of mobile SNS. As long as you choose your time of use wisely, cell phones are safe…right? Trent U’s very own Magda Havas (Associate Professor, Environmental and Resource Studies) suspects not. In her opinion, the effects of cell phone use share a commonality with cigarettes…brain tumours. To be fair, many vehemently disagree with her. San Diego physicist Bernard Leikind writes that it is physically impossible for cell phone use to damage tissue in any way, if anything it may provide a slight protection from cancer.

Blah, Blah, Blah. The fact of the matter is; I don’t care. I’m sure people will go on believing whatever they want no matter what any trained and experienced professional has to say, and death has been laughed at by scores of smokers for years now. Do the research, form whatever opinion you want to, BUT PLEASE, stop tapping during the 5 minute break. While cell phones may or may not kill you, my withering glare takes no prisoners.

Ever since I arrived at Fleming in 2007, I’ve heard from professors, guest lecturers and business professionals that our beloved “Electric City” has lost its spark. This has been a hot topic for politicians federally and municipally. We need to tap into a frontrunner mindset as we progress to building a local knowledge-based economy.

Peterborough is a largely “untapped” talent market. This means that businesses have not accessed the full potential that can be brought from the thousands of young, gifted, professionals that our post secondary institutions are pumping out annually.

The bulk of students who’ve been educated in Peterborough for the past 2 to 4 years are walking out the door to the GTA or even out West. Peterborough’s unemployment rate jumped to 11.2% over the summer. Compare that to 8.1% in Toronto and 7.6% in Oshawa and this “crisis,” as City Councilor Keith Riel stated in last week’s Peterborough Examiner, is in need of immediate attention.

Factors for the recent climb in the unemployment rate can be attributed to students moving to Peterborough for strictly academic purposes. Students increase the population, but in many cases, they don’t work, helping with the escalation of the jobless rate.

But that is not the only reason. In February of 2004, SHI Consulting, a research firm based out of Toronto, stated that almost 10,000 residents commute out of the city and area to work every day. That’s approximately 10% of Peterborough and area’s population leaving our labour market to work somewhere else every day.

Moreover, student employment has dropped overall by almost 50% during the recession according to Statistics Canada. The number of students able to find a job dropped 3 percentage points between 2007-2008 and 2009-2010. The students who were fortunate enough to land paying positions mainly ended up in the service industry. This stat resonates across Canada, not just Peterborough. Needless to say, there is an untapped fresh, motivated and talented labor market moving into server and cashier jobs as opposed to jobs that suit individuals’ particular skills.

Peterborough’s business organizations are slowly integrating a shift in this frame of mind, and the Chamber of Commerce has a new student mentorship program that Fleming and Trent business students can apply for. But this is not sufficient.

We need to ask why emphasis isn’t being placed on finding students jobs in Peterborough’s local economy. As the election draws near, think about my last article in Issue 0 about the impact our generation can make on the political process with the right motivation and platforms.

Get out and vote on October 6. Ask Peterborough politicians what they are doing to help young professionals get jobs, become established and apply our skills. Ask them how they intend to build a knowledge-based economy when the majority of one fifth of the “knowledge talent” they’re helping develop isn’t fully getting integrated.

On both ends of the spectrum, Peterborough is one of the sleeping dragons of Ontario, whether providing services or tapping into the labour market. Don’t you think it’s time we woke our city up?

Volume 46 | Issue 4 | October 3, 2011

11

12

arts

Not just a movie about baseball? Just kidding, it totally is.

4.5/5

By Brian Lukaszewicz

In 2001, the Oakland Athletics blew a 2-0 series lead and lost to the New York Yankees in the first round of the American League playoffs. Their total player salaries came to around $34 million that year. The Yankees spent $113 million.

Moneyball is based on the bestselling book of the same name by Michael Lewis and takes an in-depth look at how the 2002 Oakland A’s and their General Manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) used advanced statistical techniques to level the playing field in Major League Baseball, a league notoriously dominated by who can spend the most.

To the average person this may seem like a terribly boring concept for a movie, and granted as a fairly adamant sports fan myself I might be a little biased. But if you’re wondering why the name Michael Lewis sounds so familiar, it’s because Lewis is also the author of another book-turned-movie, The Blind Side. Moneyball differs from The Blind Side in many ways but what they have in common is their ability to connect sports to the human drama that surrounds them.

Brad Pitt’s Billy Beane is a fascinating character. An ex-player himself, he’s a little less than refined, but he knows baseball, he knows how to negotiate, and most importantly, he knows he’s playing in a game that’s fixed. While Moneyball can occasionally be guilty of using some of the more typical conventions of the sports genre, Beane and his Assistant General Manager Peter Brand (Jonah Hill playing against type) provide plenty of reasons to care about what’s happening on the field, and plenty of context to keep it all interesting.

This is never more evident than in the film’s finale. For those of you who don’t yet know the story of the Oakland A’s I won’t ruin anything for you, but I will say I was quite surprised with how poignant the ending was. Sports movies rarely go beyond the triumph on the field, but Moneyball takes it a step further and the film is better for it. The perspective provided by Lewis is fascinating.

Of course, a ton of credit should also go to director Bennett Miller (Capote) and screenwriters Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network) and Steven Zaillian (Gangs of New York) for their execution of the source material. The style of Moneyball is extraordinarily original and beautifully shot. The game sequences use a combination of real life and pre-recorded footage to capture not only the original excitement of the moment, but the emotional rollercoaster undergone by Oakland’s players and management.

While Moneyball is likely to turn off a few non-sports fans, even those who don’t spend much time playing fantasy baseball should enjoy this charming and intelligent underdog story. Heck, when the screen fades to black you may just want to start up a fantasy team of your own.

Punks, Pits, and Pogo dancing

By Scott Wannan

Tuesday September 20 was another punk night at The Spill. Two local bands and one touring band with roots on both coasts and Montreal played their versions of punk rock.

Lots of very angry, incredibly fast music provided an excellent soundtrack to a night of drinking and moshing.

Bumpin’ Tacos started the night off. They are a local speed punk two piece comprised of a singer, Mike Pietrasik, who sounds like a less evil version of Stza Crack from Leftover Crack and a drummer, Amanda Mackey, who also does backing vocals. A small but fierce pit began as soon as they started. They sang Bad Brains speed punk rock with angry, spite filled lyrics coming from an otherwise unassuming guy. Who needs lead riffs when you’re playing whip fast punk rock? They played a pair of ska songs that zoomed by at the same breakneck speed. Pietrasik also plays in TV Casualties, more on them in a moment.

Kill Matilda played next and they were just as awesome. They weren’t quite as fast but they were every bit as pissed off and more melodic. They played straight ahead punk rock with lead riffs to spare, think Jack Off Jill but punkier and angrier, with aggravated melodic vocals and an occasional from-thegut shout. They performed an energetic set with some pogo dancing from the band.

Lead guitarist Dave Roberts was working so hard he sweat through his shirt early on and played most of their set shirtless.

Dusty Exner, the lead singer and rhythm guitar player, climbed up on the monitor to do her punk rock goddess thing. The pit at this point was a group of women who Dusty brought on stage to be the Kill Matilda dancers. Usually when people stage dive there is a crowd there to catch them and body surf them to the back, but one guy didn’t care at all and dived right onto the floor. He got right back up, grabbed his beer and resumed drinking.

Locals TV Casualties closed the show out with their brand of harder edged punk. They were much the same as the other bands, but these guys were heavier. They manage to have a huge, thick guitar tone without being sludgy and they were slightly slower but only in comparison to the other two bands. They are a five piece with three of the members providing back up and gang vocals, including Pietrasik from Bumpin’ Tacos.

The vocals from the oddball lead singer were gruff but clean. He didn’t do much other than roar into the microphone but he still exuded some serious energy. The bassist stood off to the side of the stage, stepping up to bellow into the microphone. They had some surprisingly catchy moments and lots of lock step grooves.

All three bands fit into the larger genre of punk while hammering out their own brand of that pissed, rebellious music. If you get a chance to see any of these bands, don’t hesitate.

Volume 46 | Issue 4 | October 3, 2011

13

Trent Radio

If You’re Trent Radio, Peterborough is Your Party Caileigh Morrison: First things first, what is your programme called?

Shannon Culkeen: Melancholy Holler. It’s a music programme but it’s all sad, hollowsounding music. Not even like your cat just got run over by a truck but more like everyone in the twenties died of cholera, that’s what Melancholy Holler is about. It is broadcast on Friday nights at nine.

CM: Why did you decide to do Melancholy Holler?

SC: I had a show last year – I actually had a couple of shows last year, in the summer and in the fall – and I realized that pretty much if left to my own devices I’d slide back to playing the most sad, sad, hollow-sounding music imaginable, like I just had this gift and penchant for selecting sad music. And then I decided I should just do a sad music show.

CM: Just live it.

SC: Exactly. Just stop fighting it, you know. I’d be like, oh no, it happened again...sad bastard music.

CM: So it’s just an hour of sad bastard music.

SC: Yeah, and I get to concentrate it all into one show. Everyone who’s sad can just listen to it. Or who needs to study and doesn’t want to listen to punk rock or whatever.

CM: Let’s talk about your history with Trent Radio. When did you first listen to Trent Radio?

SC: I think when my twin sister, Meaghan Culkeen, had her show The Mad Ones. That was way, way back, she’s had that show for a long time. So I was listening to her show and I thought, “this is the best!” And that’s when I started listening to Trent Radio.

Actually, wait. The first time I listened to Trent Radio they were doing a live-action Harry Potter interview. I was in high school, and I was like, “This is the weirdest thing ever,” because they’d say things like (in a silly accent) “I’m Hermione Granger and I take studying very seriously indeed” and “We’re worried about Voldemort, or he who should not be named, oh I’ll call him Voldemort” and it was the weirdest thing ever but I liked it so much.

CM: The weirdest thing ever but I liked it so much....that sounds like something that would sum up Trent Radio. Definitely. What other programmes have you done?

SC: The one last year was the Poutine Mixtape. The music was in French but I explained it in English because heck, I’m not bilingual, but I dig the French tunes. And it was great. I learned a lot about French music at that point in the game and those who knew about French music would say “No, you’re playing crap, play this” and I’d say “Oooookay!” Then in the summer I had The Finer Things with Katie Adamson, which was the best. We discussed delicious recipes and drinks and mostly just played musical ping-pong, which for anyone uninformed means you just try to compete with each other to play the best song ever on the radio.

CM: You’ve done a bunch of music shows so far. What are the benefits of doing a music show?

SC: Everyone wants to be a slammin’ DJ with their own sweet, sweet tunes on a music show. Having done both a music show and a talk show, I found the talk show way more challenging, because you know what?

If I had to choose between me being interesting or having Timber Timbre be interesting, I think I’d go with the famous guy with the good voice generally.

It does get hard though because you have this long show and then you have to make sure your music’s good and that your show improves over the season even after your knowledge base starts drying up. I don’t have an encyclopaedic knowledge of music, so every show is a learning experience. Sometimes I’ll just look up a label and select tracks and say “It’s a surprise for you! It’s a surprise for me! Oh, it’s really good.”

CM: Can you tell me a favourite on-air Trent Radio moment?

SC: It was something like the fourth Poutine Mixtape.

I was feeling comfortable in Studio A and I was playing stuff that I was super into. So I was sitting in there thinking “Wooo, this song’s the best, love this song” and I was singing along with this song and realized that my mic was on. So for a solid three minutes I’d just been singing along with the radio for all and sundry to hear. But it was kind of an awesome radio moment.

CM: How do you feel about community radio?

SC: The best. When people ask “Hey, what are you doing on Friday night?” and I say “community radio” and they say “I’ve always wanted to do a radio show....” I say you can. Tonight, actually. Just come in and I’ll put you on. It’s so nice to have something that simultaneously has so much street cred and is so accessible. I mean, who doesn’t want to be the DJ for everyone to listen to? Everyone wants to be the DJ at the party and Peterborough is your own party when you’re on Trent Radio.

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Listings DJ WHO’s bi-weekly hip hop night and live performances!

Featuring: DJ TLO (DMC Battle Champion and DJ for SHAD), Fresh Kils (live percussion on MPC beat machines), Relic (MC) and DJ WHO. WHEN: Thursday, Oct.6.

WHERE: The Trasheteria/The Attic DOORS: 10pm-2am COST / AGES: $5 / 19+ An Inspiring Night of Documentary Film, Stone Sculptures, Paintings, Music and Dance!

WHAT:The premier screening of short documentary “Out Of The City,” an exhibition of stone sculptures and art; then Lua Shayenne & Co. perform traditional African and contemporary dance works that center on current issues and life experiences, followed by the music and dance of The Resolutionaries Marimba Band and DJ WHO. WHEN: Saturday, Oct.8 WHERE: Market Hall DOORS: 7pm. SHOWTIME: 7:30pm COST / AGES: $10 / ALL AGES. Transition Re-skilling Institute Heart & Soul Resiliency Circle Gathering. Tues. Oct 4, Sadleir House (751 George St N.) 6:30-8:30pm. $5/ pwyc. Come and watch Coming Home, the final episode in the Sacred Balance Series. Join us as we watch this beautiful film, following up with a discussion that will explore David Suzuki’s invitation to rediscover the spiritual connection we need.

This is a family-friendly event and no pre-registration is needed, so come out and enjoy this spiritual journey.

Health care for candidates. Allcandidates meeting for health care on Tuesday Oct. 4 at 7:30, at Grace United Church Monaghan Rd. S. Get the facts on HPV! Wed. Oct. 5 at 7pm, Champlain College Council Chambers (CCN M2). Info session and Q&A with Dr. Lillian Revel, sexual health expert from Trent Health Services.

ver at The Garnet, 321 Hunter Street Peterborough at 8pm, $5.

Biff Hannon and Donna Collison: On Sat. Oct. 8 and Sat. Oct. 22, come out and see Jazz Duo, pianist Biff Hannon and vocalist Donna Collison at Curry Village, 306 George St. From 6pm to 9pm.

The Mangy Moggy: a United Way Fundraiser. A bicycle scavenger hunt by COIN. Meet at Millenium Park, 2pm on Sat. October 15. Register at COIN (251 Charlotte St), Peterborough Green-Up (378 Aylmer St. N), B!KE (336 Rubidge St.), or the TCSA Office. Cost of registration ranges from $15-$30. The options for the scavenger hunt are the Alley Cat Race for bitterly competitive individuals, or the more leisurely Poker Run for teams of 4. Prizes for performance, prizes for panache.

This scavenger hunt is for avid cyclists, commuters, Sunday-afternoon-cyclists, and families, so come out and join the fun!

Scottish Country Dancing at Trent: The twenty-first year of Scottish Country Dancing at Trent begins Thursday, September 15th in The Gathering Place, Peter Gzowski College, on the Main Campus from 8.00 to 9.30 pm. Social dancing for all ages. FREE nine week introduction.

If Thursday does not work for you the Peterborough Scottish Country Dance Society have a Beginners class on Tuesday evening from 7.00 pm to 9.30 pm in the parish hall of All Saint’s Anglican Church. They offer a special reduced fee for students. For more information on either of these groups call John or Joan Reeves at 748-5255 or e-mail jfreeves@smpatico.ca.

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Fall Monday night Yoga Class! Prana Flow Yoga 12 week series. Yoga has proven to reduce stress, increase euphoria, and maximize health in body and mind. This is an all levels class. All are welcome! Instructor: Tiina Kivinen 50 hr certified.

Dates: Mondays Sept 12 - Dec. 5. (not including Thanksgiving) Time: 7:30 - 9pm Cost: 12 weeks for $108 (commit to your practice!) or Dropin for $12-$15 sliding scale. At Sadleir House Dining Hall, 751 George St. N Peterborough.

Introduction to Buddhism: “Travelling from Confusion to Original Sanity” A 10-week Study Group based on talks given by The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche and carefully compiled under his direction. Starts September 15 at Sadleir House. Whether you are new to Buddhism or already have experience studying the Dharma, this is a great opportunity to engage in lively discussion of Buddhadharma.

For more information, call 705-7550063.

Canadian and multinational mining companies. Wed . Oct 5, 6:30pm, Sadleir House. Free event, donations welcome. Colombian and Canadian governments are supporting and assisting the work of Canadian and multinational mining companies.

Join CPT volunteer Stewart Vriesenga in a discussion about incredible resistance by campesino farmers and artisanal miners to the overwhelming repression they face by this industry.

Herb Walk with Anna Petry of Deep Roots Farm: Join us at the Spoon Wed. Oct. 5 at 4:30pm as we explore the woods of Trent in search of herbal magic. $5/pwyc. Along with small scale organic farming, Anna has been wildcrafting and creating remedies with wild herbs for the past 15 years. Anna will walk us through some common plants and their basic uses, showing us how to work with wild medicines in a safe and practical way.

Cris Derkson and Christa Couture: On Sat. Oct. 8, come out and see Cellist Cris Derkson and Folk Singer Christa Couture on tour from Vancou-

Volume 46 | Issue 4 | October 3, 2011

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