Imprint_2008-02-15_v30_i27 by Editor Imprint

Impr int The university of Waterloo’s official student newspaper

Friday, February 15, 2008

vol 30, no 27

imprint . uwaterloo . ca

Understanding student governance Part 4 of 5: A working dynamic

page 18

Microsoft sends us “The Bill”

Bill Gates to make UW his only Canadian stop in North American tour Ashley Csanady staff reporter

ill Gates will be returning to UW on the morning of February 21 to address students in the Humanities Theatre. Much like his first visit in 2005, this is the only Canadian stop on a North American university speaking tour. The multi-billionaire and co-founder of Microsoft will be speaking to students primarily from math, CS, and engineering about the role that innovation will play in driving the new economy. As well as the roles and opportunities for students who are enrolled in those fields in shaping that innovation. Students will also get “a behind closed doors look at some of the innovation currently being developed,” said director of corporate communications and public relations for Microsoft Canada Cynthia Keeshan. These will be examples of the type of innovation that Gates will be discussing and the result of Microsoft’s $7 billion US research and development department. Although the event is being touted as his “farewell tour” by everyone from university bigwigs to an article in The Record on Friday, February 8, Keeshan clarified that this is certainly not the case. The misleading headline of The Record article, “Bill Gates to include UW in ‘farewell tour,’” was based on an interview with UW president Johnston. He is quoted in the article as saying, “This is his farewell tour.” Where did this confusion come from? According to Michael Strickland, from UW’s communications and public affairs department, the misunderstanding stemmed from initial talks regarding Gates’ visit. Apparently, at the outset, the talk had been con-

sidered part of a final round of speaking tours, but as Gates is staying on as Microsoft CEO, it is hoped and believed he will continue speaking with students over the coming years. Although Gates announced his retirement from the position of chief software architect for Microsoft last June, Keeshan said that he will still be staying on in his role at chief executive officer of the corporation. She also said, however, that Gates does plan to “focus a little bit more of his attention towards some of the work he is doing with his foundation.” “The University of Waterloo and Microsoft have always had a relationship,” said Keeshan when asked why UW was, once again, the only Canadian stop. She added that it’s also one of the top academic institutions from which Microsoft recruits, as UW has a reputation for producing some of the top graduates in CS and math. When asked whether Gates would be furthering those recruitment efforts through his speech, Keeshan replied, “Microsoft is a company very driven by innovation [... Gates would] love to bring talent to the company to further that agenda. She clarified, however, that Gates’ speech is “really about the power of innovation to have an impact on our society and our economy.” Tickets will be distributed through the various faculty societies. Math, engineering, and CS have been allotted 100 tickets each, while ES, science, AHS, and arts have 25 tickets each. The CS tickets will be distributed through the computer science club as CS is a subset of the math faculty. acsanady@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Michael L. Davenport

Vance Lee, left, performs “Business Casual” with four other male models in the Lunar Festival 2008 fashion show, presented as part skit and part dance. Other numbers varied in presentation, from “Lingerie” and “Bikini” to “Asian Traditional” and “Formal.” There was also a Kung Fu demonstration by David Yip (not Imprint staff).

Lunarfest: a question of culture Yang Liu staff reporter

The Lunar new year is the most important of all the traditional Chinese holidays. It’s celebrated all over Asia, particularly in areas with large concentrations of ethnic Chinese. Vietnam, Mongolia, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal and others all take part in this deeply traditional holiday. The festival begins in the first day of the lunar month and continues to the fifteenth day of the month. This year the Lunar new year fell on February 7, for me the day brought me back to past, back to memories of when I received the traditional red pockets filled with cash and partook of moon cake. New year’s day carries a strong air of reverence among the elder generations and is considered almost a holy day of introspection. The University of Waterloo with its significant population of Asian students, many of whom still celebrate this very time-honoured

holiday. The rich and diverse Asian population in this school is reflected in the number of Asian-centric Feds clubs, which at times seems to dominate the landscape on Clubs Days. In 2002, a coalition of Asian clubs came together to host a Chinese new year festivity that became known as Lunarfest. The event has become an annual tradition headed by the Asian Alliance of clubs (CASA, Konja, Asian Focus, Dimensions, VSA, CSA). The event is intended to celebrate and promote Asian culture on campus, but as a Chinese student myself, I’ve come to wonder just how Lunarfest promotes this most important of Asian holidays. Johnny Trinh, co-ordinator of the One Waterloo Diversity Campaign (which is a Lunarfest sponsor) believes Lunarfest is a “great example of collaboration among clubs to promote culture.” Certainly from having watched the main event fashion show in the past, Lunarfest seemed to be an event that involved meticulous planning. The planning

committee began preparations for this year’s show way back in October of last year. “We wanted to introduce a new way to celebrate [Chinese new year], make it interesting and fun for both the people planning it and the people watching it,” said Lunarfest committee chair Doris Li. “It’s a celebration, we invite everyone to come, people of all races, it’s not just an Asian student event. Lunarfest is a party.” Lunarfest is separated into two parts: a daytime portion, with the participating clubs selling ethnic Asian foods, and the nighttime portion, which is a fashion show showcasing various seasonal wear. The fashion show is truly the main event of Lunarfest, this year it required the efforts of more than 70 people. However, there was one glaring detail that stood out. For a festival promoting Chinese culture, the fashion show had few displays of Asian customs. Doris Li had a different take on this, “It’s extremely difficult to be informative, to hold a information session on Lunar

new year. We want to be able to give back to members. It’s not completely about the festival, it’s also about making money and what will be entertaining and attract students.” I attended one of the fashion show rehearsal sessions the weekend prior to showtime. On that bitterly cold day, over 40 models, scene directors, and fashion directors gathered for long and grueling run through. In charge of overseeing the entire fashion show was a trio of ladies Lisa Chou, Mandy Fok and Sarah Tsao. “We started holding auditions for models way back in September,” said Fok. “We oversee the scenes, hold photo shoots and hand it off to the scene directors.” The energetic trio intently looked on as models and scene directors ran through each scene. “This is a big group of people,” said Chou. “Communication can be difficult at times with 16 scene directors and 40 models,” said Fok. See LUNARFEST, page 13

News

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008 news@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Bus strike threat challenged student mobility

Jamie Damaskinos

The empty shelters of the Charles Street bus terminal almost stayed that way, as GRT talks narrowly avoided degrading into a strike of GRT employees. Marco Baldasaro assistant news editor

ur U-Pass was almost rendered useless. Had Grand River Transit workers gone on strike — as they legally could have as of February 14 — University of Waterloo students relying on Grand River Transit for transportation would have needed to figure out a back-up plan to get to class. Happily, discussions between all involved parties led to an averted strike just past the “zero hour.” A posting was made to www.grt.ca at 1:00 am on Thursday February 14, stating: “A tentative agreement has been reached between the Region of Waterloo and Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Union Local 4304, Grand River Transit/MobilityPLUS, operators, dispatchers, fleet mechanics and service attendants. Ratification dates have yet to be set.” This was the most recent statement as of press time. A previous statement on the website read, “[S]hould there be a strike, conventional bus and specialized transit services in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge and North Dumfries will be disrupted.” The Region of Waterloo and Local 4304 had been “meeting on a face-to-face basis” and discussions were ongoing. “However,” the post continued, “further time is needed to work through the outstanding issues.”

The possible strike came only a term and a half after the introduction of the Universal Bus Pass or U-Pass at the University of Waterloo. Because of the U-Pass changes were made to the original service plan, including additional Route 12 buses, the addition of Route 29, directing Route 9 to campus and an extension of the iXpress service hours. Overall, the U-Pass has been deemed a success: “[The] general sentiment has been very positive and students have been very pleased with the U-Pass program at UW,” said Feds president Kevin Royal in January. “The numbers I’ve seen through the U-Pass Working Group have shown such a high level of usage that clearly the program is being well received at UW.” Based on the obvious peak-time congestion any rider of GRT bears witness to, there’s no doubt that a transit strike would have had significantly impacted many students at UW. According to Gethyn Beniston, the Region of Waterloo’s transit planner. In Fall 2007, 785 thousand trips were made on GRT by UW U-Pass holders. “It would be a shit-show,” said Pat McAdams, 2B history. “I live far enough away from campus that walking would be next to impossible. I don’t even know what I would do. I’m really at the mercy of the bus being up and running. I guess [if they

had gone on strike] I’d be foot-bombing it to school.” Due to an agreement between both the Region of Waterloo and Local 4304, a media blackout has been in effect since the beginning of the discussions. As a consequence, little information is available regarding any progress made towards a strike-avoiding agreement. Not surprisingly, news of both the on-going discussions and the possibility of a strike is coming as a complete surprise to some students. “I had absolutely no idea,” said Dom B., a third year arts major. “You’d think that given the implications this decision could have, it would attract a little bit more of the spotlight.” With reading week just around the corner, the impact of a short-term strike would have been parried to a certain extent. The Region of Waterloo and Local 4304 would have had a little over a week to come to an agreement before the start of classes on February 25. Temperatures for the region are expected to remain well below zero for the near future. It’s lucky for students cold walks home for many UW students were avoided. For up to the minute information on the status of transit services visit www.grt.ca or call the GRT Information Line at 519-585-7555. mbaldasaro@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Imprint Online Be sure to check out Imprint’s website on the evening of Friday, February 15 for up-to-date results in the Federation of Students 2008 election for: • Vice-president of education • Vice-president of internal affairs • Science student councillors

• St. Jerome’s student councillor • WUSC referendum • CKMS referendum

IMMIGRATION MADE EASY FOR VISA STUDENTS Ashley Csanady staff reporter

nternational students who want to stay in Canada once they finish their degrees may have a much easier time becoming citizens thanks to changes to the Pilot Provincial Nominee Program announced at UW February 12, 2008. Provincial Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Michael Chan announced the expansion of the program that helps recent graduates to obtain citizenship when they choose to work in their field in Ontario. The program now accepts graduates from any Canadian post-secondary institution as opposed to limiting it to those who hailed from a publicly funded post-secondary institution in Ontario. The changes also allow more employers to be involved outside of the GTA and accepts applications from more than the 20 or so fields originally accepted. Essentially, the Pilot Provincial Nominee Program is a push from the provincial government to encourage skilled international graduates from across the country to choose to live and work in Ontario. Employers can help fill the void of skilled workers in the province by hiring recent graduates and getting them work permits through the program. The provincial government will then sponsor the employees for citizenship. “This program will help encourage international students to study and immigrate to Ontario. Having the option to be eligible for permanent residency status after graduation is one more reason for international

students to study in Ontario,” said Chan. When asked why not just continuing international students to choose to study and live in Ontario, as opposed to opening the process to grads from across the country, Chan replied, “Some of the best and brightest students from around the world study on Canadian campuses ... the expansion will help Ontario employers meet their labour market needs and choose from the brightest and best international students.” “The expanded PNP now makes it possible for employers to offer a full-time job to an international student in his or her field of study. This applies to all professions, including computer programming and development,” said Chan. The old program limited the program to employers in the fields of health care, research, manufacturing, and construction. These fields typically have skilled labour shortages in Canada. When asked what companies in the region use and support the program, the Ministry responded that they cannot release that information without the company’s consent. All other provinces except for Quebec and the Yukon have similar programs according to Chan. “I think it’s good they offer this,” said international student Ajeet Vankwani, 2A math. “The majority of [international students] are going to stay in the end; they are not going back,” he added. acsanady@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

News

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008

Can a report save more beaver lives?

UW Wildlife Management Task Force suggests discouraging beavers from settling on campus

Jamie Damaskinos & Joyce Hsu

Keith McManamen staff reporter

new report compiled by the UW Wildlife Management Task Force has declared that the best way to protect beavers is to prevent them from establishing themselves on campus. It names constant vigilance by the university over beaver activity along Laurel Creek as essential to the prevention of permanent colonies on campus. Strategies named in the report include persistent dismantling of dams, hiring experts to install flow devices (“beaver deceivers”) around dams, and the use of abrasive paint or ammonia as a deterrent. The report contains recommendations on how to deal with a plethora of campus animals that potentially pose

a health risk or nuisance. Also at the top of the list are Canada geese and groundhogs. This report comes after over a year of consultation with wildlife experts, including the Ontario Wildlife Coalition, Ministry of Natural Resources and the local Humane Society. The chair of the committee, Environmental Studies Dean Deep Saini, affirmed that the utmost care was taken to make the report as thorough and complete as possible. According to the UW Daily Bulletin, he stated, “The recommendations we have arrived at a number of recommendations based on the input we received that should help the university in establishing a progressive and humane wildlife management program for our campus and the community.”

The task force was created November 27 of 2006, following a controversial decision by the university to contract a professional trapper to kill beavers, after an apple tree was felled near Village 1 a few weeks prior. The deaths of four beavers triggered outrage among students not only at the rashness of the action, but the administration’s failure to involve the students in ethical decisionmaking on campus or take advantage of the faculty of environmental studies’ expertise in the area. The recent WMTF report also contains an analysis of the actions taken against the beavers in November 2006, which it declares were carried out in a fashion that was humane and in accordance with provincial regulations. The conibear traps used operate like oversized mousetraps, immediately

snapping the animals’ spines. Any attempt to relocate the beavers through live trapping so late in the year would have doomed them to a slow and painful death by starvation, the report said. On the other hand, at the time, licensed wildlife rehabilitation expert Carole Damms advocated temporary relocation as the “most humane and viable option. The necessity of taking action against the beavers in the first place was not mentioned, although the administration and a large number of students disagreed on this matter at the time of the controversy. The reasons cited by university administration were the risk of flooding caused by the dams, the hazard of falling trees, and the giardia parasite that beavers can carry. In contrast, concerned students questioned whether Laurel creek flooding would at all abate with the beavers’ removal, and if the threat of falling trees was as immediate as officials claimed. Ultimately, it remains to be seen whether the taskforce’s recommendations will provide sufficient resolution for all parties involved.

Beaver Breakdown • Canadian Beavers, or Castor canadensis as they are known scientifically, are actually rodents • The trade of beaver pelts was part of the driving force behind the expansion and exploration of Canada • Current Canadian populations are somewhere between 10 and 15 million, but have been estimated at over 100 million before the days of the fur trade

kmcmanamen@imprint.uwaterloo.ca u_of_waterloo.pdf 1/30/2008 11:12:18 AM

• As well as finding their image on the nickel, the beaver was also on Canada’s first postage stamp.

Working in the USA is easier than you think. Whether it’s working at a beach resort or holding a big city job, SWAP USA can turn your summer into an experience of a lifetime!

WHY SWAP?

2008 GRADUATES ARE ELIGIBLE!

Online jobs > SWAP IS AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY FROM

LIMITED TIME OFFER

746-6893

Flexible 4-month J-1 visa - you choose when it begins! Secure travel: toll-free assistance and emergency support

CMY

465 PHILLIP STREET LOCATION ONLY

Enhance your resume with foreign work experience

University Shops Plaza 170 University Ave. West 886-0400

Have a great time and make new friends Visit www.swap.ca for your SWAP USA registration pack.

SWAP Working Holidays

SWAP IS A NOT-FOR-PROFIT PROGRAM OF THE CANADIAN FEDERATION OF STUDENTS.

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008

News 5 Black History Month: have we learned? Scott Houston staff reporter

February 14 – 16

Thursday – Saturday @ Studio 180, Hagey Hall Differ/End: The Caledonia Project Researched and relived by UW drama department students, come check out the production of “Differ/End”. Tickets $12 (students $10) at Humanities box office.

February 11 – 16

Monday – Saturday Class Enrolment Appointments Open enrolment for spring term begins February 19.

o doubt you’ve seen posters hanging in and on the SLC that spell out “BE.” If you take a closer look, and you’ll see that these posters feature prominent African-Americans such as Louis Armstrong, Harriet Tubman and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. These posters are on campus to celebrate and educate. Black History Month, held every February since 1976, exists to both promote education of African-American and AfricanCanadian life and history as well as celebrate the milestones achieved by blacks in North Americam from the underground railroad through the civil rights movement up to today. The campaign seen on campus is organized by the UW Diversity Campaign. On Friday, February 8, a panel of speakers gathered in the Student

Life Centre Great Hall to discuss a range of topics from perceptions of blacks in the media, black history and social issues of the black community. Speakers included Keith Ford, the deputy police chief of the City of Toronto, spoken word artist Travis Blackman, as well as local advocate Marlene Griffith Wrubel of the UW organizational and human development office. The Waterloo Public Interest Research Group is also holding events this month (visit www.wpirg.org for more details). The importance of Black History Month, however, seems to have been lost on some members of the university population. The Engineering Iron Ring Stag in particular, chose an inopportune time to hold their annual fundraiser — a “slave” auction. Though in poor taste at any time of the year, the coincidence in the planning of this auction is considered

by some to highlight the underlying ignorance in Western society that Black History Month is meant to dispell. In an interview with the Kitchener-Waterloo Record, Martha Foulds, communications director with UW’s faculty of engineering, said, “In the dean’s office, we’re quite surprised, to be honest, that this language is still being used and that this is the first time it was brought to our attention.” Although not everyone shares the same outlook on the situation as her. In a letter to Imprint, Donald A. Fraser of the engineering undergrad office expressed his views: “In a free society you can’t legislate all human behaviour. If you’re offended by something, tough luck ... get over it.” Chanda Prescod-Weinstein of UW’s physics department told the Record, “It reflects a real ignorance about the legacy of slavery in Canada. It’s disturbing. This is supposed to be an example of Canada’s best-educated students.

What does that say?” Imprint’s editor-in-chief, Maggie Clark, spoke on the syndicated Charles Adler radio show about the auction, where despite discourse about the need for sensitivity, Adler asked listeners how much “fake indignation” played into the community’s response. Meanwhile, the “slave” auction, which was promptly renamed after the issue achieved media attention, went on as planned, offering the services of first year students to cook meals, clean and chauffeur for the day. According to Foulds the event was inclusive towards all participating staff and students. Foulds plans to meet with the organizers in the near future to “sensitize them to the fact that this language is very powerful and potentially offensive and that … the dean’s office and faculty are extremely uncomfortable with it.” shouston@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

February 15

Loving to Learn Day An opportunity for everyone and anyone to share their reflections about their love of learning. More information online at http://www.cte. uwaterloo.ca/events_registration/L2L.html

February 15

Friday 7:00 pm @ Conrad Grebel University College Chapel Piano Concert Join us for a piano concert by undergraduate student Frank Jessop playing compositions by Chopin, Ravel, Rachmaninoff and Schubert. Admission is free.

This

cou

Ça p

ld b

ourra

e yo

ur r

it êtr

ush

hou r re he . ur

e vot

e de

point

March 6

Thursday 5:00 pm @ University Centre International Women’s Day Dinner Celebrate women mentoring women, Thursday, March 6, 5:00, University Club. Speakers are Emerance Baker (aboriginal services co-ordinator) and Susan Tighe (civil and environmental engineering); tickets $30 at Humanities box office.

Teach English Overseas Intensive 60-Hour Program Classroom Management Techniques Detailed Lesson Planning Comprehensive Teaching Materials Internationally Recognized Certificate Teacher Placement Service Money Back Guarantee Included Thousands of Satisfied Students

1-800-779-1779 / 416-924-3240

www.oxfordseminars.com

www.international.gc.ca/experience 1-877-461-2346

TRAVEL & WORK ABROAD VOYAGER ET TRAVAILLER À L’ÉTRANGER

News

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008

engaged by political film Angela Gaetano reporter

Australian government apologizes to Aborigine community

Travis Myers

The group Students for Palestinian Rights hosted a viewing of a film on the current Israeli-Palestinian crisis on Monday February 12 in the SLC. Pictured: Osman Ismaili, Rami Alhamad, Alaa Shanbour.

Income Tax / Bookkeeping / Accounting 1600 King St. N. | St. Jacobs, Ontario | N0B 2N0

Special Student Rates Available! We Do Your Tax Return While You Wait (Maximum 5 slips for “Do as you wait”)

Phone: 519-664-2206 Toll Free: 1-877-664-2206 Email: martin.tax@rogers.com

Open Saturdays in March! Call to book an Appointment!

Imprint wants your letters! (How else will we know how much we suck?) letters@imprint. uwaterloo.ca

Publicly acknowledging its past history of assimilation strategies that forcibly removed an estimated 100,000 Aboriginal children from their homes and families, the Australian federal government issued a formal apology on February 8th. The address, aimed at the “Stolen Generation,” was read aloud in Parliament House, and broadcast on public screens and national television. Although this apology marks a sharp turn from the preceding Prime Minister John Howard’s refusal to accept a past generation’s mistakes, critics are still displeased with current Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s lack of an offer of compensation. Currently, a limited number of civil suits have resulted in monetary compensation to Aborigine individuals, and Tasmania stands alone with the only state run compensation fund.

Controversial cartoon republished by Danish press After police reported an alleged plot to kill one of the 12 cartoonists who created the famously controversial images of Muhammad that sparked outrage, protests, and riots in early 2006, a variety of Danish and other European newspapers republished the cartoons in a show of solidarity with targeted artist, Kurt Westergaard. Some are concerned that last week’s republications will instigate a new wave of violence.The alleged co-conspirators in the murder plot, one Dane and two Tunisian citizens, were arrested by Danish police, and are expected to be released after charging, and expelled from Denmark, respectively.

Top Hezbollah leader killed in car bombing. Representatives of both the American and Isreali governments showed little sadness in responding to the recent car-bombing death of high ranking Hezbollah leader, Imad Mughniyeh, aged 46. Both governments denied involvement in the bombing, but expressed relief that Mughniyeh has been removed as a prominent and enormously lethal international terrorist threat. Known for targeting both Americans and the Jewish community, the extremist’s death is predicted to fan the flames of tension between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as in Iran and Syria. The fact that Mughiniyeh died in Damascus may come as an embarrassment to Syria, after recent American accusations that Syria has been harbouring terrorism in the form of violent Palestinian radicals.

Spielberg snubs China Olympics; cites Darfur Director Steven Spielberg has pulled out of his position of artistic director for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Citing China’s lack of action to support the estimated more than 200,000 murdered and forced from their homes in Sudan over the

last five years, Spielberg released a statement, saying,“I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue business as usual…” Reports from Amnesty International have claimed that China has been supporting the conflict in the Darfur region, stating, ““There is strong evidence that arms exported from China are fuelling the conflict in Darfur…” and, “China has traded arms and invested in oil resources in Sudan without sufficient consideration for the human rights of the population.”

Rape epidemic in African war zones Unprecedented rates of rape are tearing through already wartorn areas in Africa, and are affecting children and women in all age groups. In a stunning first, Nairobi, Kenya, has resorted to posting signs in urban areas to warn women of so-called “rape hot spots”.The UN is reporting that this increase is due, in part, to civilians participating in these crimes, adding to the threat already posed by militias who have been using rape as a weapon of war, terrorizing the populations of Kenya, Chad, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

RCMP keeping unnecessary files on Canadian citizens Canada’s privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart announced on Wednesday February 13 that, of the files the RCMP keeps on Canadians, over 60 per cent did not belong in the database, while an additional 50 per cent were deemed innnaproporiate. Stoddart referred to the collection of files as “unwarranted” and “disturbing.”

U.S. brings new sanctions against Syria American president George W. Bush ordered further sanctions against the Middle Eastern nation for what the U.S. believe to be efforts to disrupt the stability of American efforts in Iraq, as well as weaken Lebanon’s autonomous and democratic status. These new sanctions follow suggestions that Syria has been involved with the support of militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas.

Yahoo courts NewsCorp to fend off Microsoft NewsCorp, owned by media baron Rupert Murdoch, the company behind Fox television, the Wall Street Journal and Myspace is currently in talks with struggling internet company Yahoo to buy up to 20 per cent of its shares in an attempt to put off the unsoliticed takeover attempt. If successful, the conglamorate NewsCorp would combine MySpace and some of its other internet businesses while still allowing Yahoo to remain independent. The share purchase could be beneficial for both parties, allowing NewsCorp access to advertising opportunities as well as internet properties. —With files from The New York Times, BBC News, CBC News, Associated Press, Amnesty International, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, and The East African.

Opinion

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008 opinion@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

A word about words Friday, February 15, 2008 Vol. 30, No. 27 Student Life Centre, Room 1116 University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 P: 519.888.4048 F: 519.884.7800 http://imprint.uwaterloo.ca Editor-in-chief, Maggie Clark editor@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Advertising & Production Manager, Laurie Tigert-Dumas ads@imprint.uwaterloo.ca General Manager, Catherine Bolger cbolger@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Ad Assistant, vacant Sales Assisstant, Jason Kenney Volunteer Coordinator, Angela Gaetano Systems Admin. Dan Agar Distribution, Peter Blackman, Rob Blom Board of Directors board@imprint.uwaterloo.ca President, Adam Gardiner president@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Vice-president, Jacqueline McKoy vp@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Treasurer, Lu Jiang treasurer@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Secretary, Alaa Yassin secretary@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Staff liaison, Rob Blom liaison@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Editorial Staff Assistant Editor, Michael L. Davenport Lead Proofreader, Eric Gassner Cover Editor, Mark Kimmich News Editor, Travis Myers News Assistant, Marco Baldasaro Opinion Editor, Christine Ogley Opinion Assistant, Monica Harvey Features Editor, Dinh Nguyen Features Assistant, Cait Davidson Arts Editor, Andrew Abela Arts Assistant, Duncan Ramsay Science Editor, Adrienne Raw Science Assistant, Sherif Soliman Sports Editor, Yang Liu Sports Assistant, Olinda Pais Photo Editor, Jenn Serec Photo Assistant, Jamie Damaskinos Graphics Editor, Joyce Hsu Graphics Assistant, Yosef Yip Web Editor, Hoon Choi Web Assistant, vacant Systems Administrator, vacant Sys. Admin. Assistant, Peter Sutherland Production Staff Paul Collier, Alicia Boers, Tim Lawless, Matthew Wiebe, Tim Foster, Emma Tarswell, Stephen Yi, Gordon Li, Guy Halpern, Scott Houston, Ashley Csanady, Matt Black, Andrea Lorentz, Rajul Saleh, Tracey McKenna Imprint is the official student newspaper of the University of Waterloo. It is an editorially independent newspaper published by Imprint Publications, Waterloo, a corporation without share capital. Imprint is a member of the Ontario Community Newspaper Association (OCNA). Editorial submissions may be considered for publication in any edition of Imprint. Imprint may also reproduce the material commercially in any format or medium as part of the newspaper database, Web site or any other product derived from the newspaper. Those submitting editorial content, including articles, letters, photos and graphics, will grant Imprint first publication rights of their submitted material, and as such, agree not to submit the same work to any other publication or group until such time as the material has been distributed in an issue of Imprint, or Imprint declares their intent not to publish the material. The full text of this agreement is available upon request. Imprint does not guarantee to publish articles, photographs, letters or advertising. Material may not be published, at the discretion of Imprint, if that material is deemed to be libelous or in contravention with Imprint’s policies with reference to our code of ethics and journalistic standards. Imprint is published every Friday during fall and winter terms, and every second Friday during the spring term. Imprint reserves the right to screen, edit and refuse advertising. One copy per customer. Imprint ISSN 0706-7380. Imprint CDN Pub Mail Product Sales Agreement no. 40065122. Annual general meeting: Feb 26, 2008 2:00 p.m. Next staff meeting: Monday, February 18, 2008 12:30 p.m.

f all the weapons humankind has at its disposal, language is easily among the most dangerous. Sometimes when I think of how much harm we can do with so little: an essay, a sentence, a phrase, a word, I feel as if everything we say necessarily becomes a response to all that came before it — sometimes fuel for the fire; at other times — at the best of times — an apology; an attempt at reform. When I first moved here from Toronto, the most diversely multicultural city in the world, I thought I had already been exposed to an expansive range of beliefs. My wake-up call came during my first term in residence, when I met someone who told me they believed that all women who have abortions are “monsters.” It was at that moment I realized what I had instead been exposed to was an expansive range of accepting beliefs. Over the next four years I discovered how diverse and “current” people’s more intolerant convictions could also be. And yet in that same time period I came to realize that those most offensive of opinions had always existed in my surroundings — the homophobia of my next-door neighbour, who packed special sweets for us at Halloween; the skin-colour prejudices, especially with regard to immigration, of other children’s parents at peewee baseball games; the emptiness of the Arab-owned pizza shop down the street on September 12.

People had not changed — only the context in which they interacted. While mowing my neighbour’s lawn as a girl, it never occurred to me to ask her what she thought of gay marriage; while working on my curveball I never pitched my coach questions about Canadian immigration policies in relation to existing Aboriginal treaties. But in university — and almost from day one — you have time to sit and discuss your innermost convictions with students from all walks of life. You can draw lines in the sand, pick labels and haggle over the semantics of those labels until the bars close down (or the sun comes up). For better or for worse, “the human condition” is yours to explore. Outside this bubble, those issues only surface when something “newsworthy” happens — a dramatic federal policy platform; a protest gone horribly wrong; a terrorist attack; a woman comatose for years whose husband pulls the plug. And at these moments, often fuelled by the exaggerated reporting that accompanies this news, we almost find ourselves betrayed by the differences of opinion that emerge among our nearest and dearest — the partner we never realized believes in capital punishment; the best friend who believes whole other cultures are going to hell. And even times of need don’t necessarily help us: as humanitarian as we can often become during global crises, extenuating hardship easily

wears us down, and we soon turn protectionist, thinking only of ourselves and loved ones. We draw bigger lines in the sand. We make excuses to mask our fear, and to keep others out. Last week, I came across a car in the snow bank. A young man had already come to the aid of the old couple inside, but it wasn’t enough, and I offered my help. A few minutes later, an older man joined us, and together we dug out and pushed the car back into the street. That day, I didn’t know what the couple in the car thought about transgender individuals, assisted suicide or the war in Iraq; nor did I know what either good Samaritan beside me thought about the Canadian welfare system, homelessness and drug addiction, or gay adoption. Did it matter? There are those who believe every day is a blessing, a gift; I tend to believe every day is an opportunity to create meaning for oneself. I also tend to believe that for most of us, life is a matter of sometimes being in the car, and sometimes being on foot. When you’re in the car, all you can do is wait, and hope that someone will be kind enough to help. But when you’re on foot you do the only thing you can do — the only human thing to do, whatever your beliefs are, or theirs — you hunker down in the snow, you brace yourself against that front fender, and you push. editor@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Opium for the masses

he report released by John Manley’s panel on Canada’s future in Afghanistan was, for the most part, chock full of good policy advice. It was measured and pragmatic about what’s needed to help stabilize Afghanistan and made a convincing case for the difficult decision to extend our combat engagement there. However, in what amounted to ignoring the proverbial elephant in the room, the report spent a single paragraph on Afghanistan’s drug trade. In 2006, Afghanistan’s opium was responsible for 90 per cent of the world’s heroin, and a 2007 report by the Jamestown Foundation (an American think tank) suggested that the Taliban was making $10 to 20 million annually on the opium trade. Poppy production, which is processed into opium and heroin, is concentrated in the south of the country. Kandahar province, where the Canadian Forces are based, is responsible for 8 per cent of the country’s opium production, while in adjacent Helmund province a whopping 46 per cent is produced.

The Poppies for Medicine initiative is that rare example of a win-win-win situation... The Americans back a stringent anti-narcotic policy, and the Afghani government has been quick to agree. Using both the Afghani National Army and the National Police Force, heavy eradication efforts have been undertaken. The Americans, never ones to shy away from a war on drugs, have undertaken their own parallel campaign with DEA involvement, spraying and burning fields. It’s a simplistic approach which ignores the hard truths of the matter: growing poppies is the best way to make money in a desperately impoverished region. For a central government and military alliance that are short on goodwill, destroying peoples’ livelihoods seems absurdly counterproductive. Despite the Manley report’s apparent unwillingness to spend much time on the topic, it did voice weak support for the Poppies for Medicine proposal put forward by the Senlis Council, an international NGO. The program does exactly what it sounds like: it legitimizes the growing of poppy crops, regulates them and uses the plants as a source for medical-grade opiates. As the Toronto Star noted in April, 40 years ago Turkey was the

main source of heroin in the West. However, following a program to regulate the poppy supply and keep it out of criminal hands, it has since become the U.S.’s main supplier for the raw materials needed to make codeine. Similar conditions exist in Afghanistan as did in Turkey at the time; the poppy trade is an entrenched aspect of the economy, it’s the main source of income for many families and farmers sell to drug traffickers because that’s simply the market that’s available. Nonetheless, as Brian Macdonald pointed out in the Ottawa Citizen, Turkey’s transition from drug fount to medical supplier wouldn’t have been possible without the help of the Turkish Army. Since Afghanistan’s armed forces do not have the needed manpower for the project, the Senlis report argues that the communal structure of the village could work as a regulator. Although this seems a bit optimistic in a region awash with armed militants, the Poppies for Medicine plan has received support from the European Parliament and the Canadian Liberal Party, amongst others. The Conservatives, on the other hand, have toed the line and said they simply back whatever decision the Afghani government takes. For a government which claims to pride itself on doing the right thing whether it’s politically astute or not, the Conservatives are doing a pretty good job of burying their heads in the sand. The Poppies for Medicine initiative is that rare example of a win-win-win situation: Afghani farmers gain legitimacy and stability, the Taliban loses a source of income and the manpower that’s in such short supply can be focused somewhere else. When you frame it like that, it’s hard not to love the poppy. joyce hsu

ghalpern@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Opinion

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008

Segregation rollercoaster

eading the headline of a recent Toronto District School Board (TDSB) press release, I would liken it to a roller coaster. “Trustees approve four recommendations,” it begins, and I find myself getting into a motionless cart on the track. Next, we find “for improving success,” and I feel the coaster lurch into steady motion, climbing gently up the first hill as I smile at the view. Then comes the unexpected and unusual finish to the headline, “for black students,” and I’m coming up to the top of the first hill. Quickly I look into the release to sort this out as the horizon peers over the crest of the hill, and rises as my cart starts to point down. The first point of this seemingly nonchalant release says that in 2009, a new Africentric school will open in Toronto, and with that the roller coaster plunges fast and the ride begins.

On January 29, the TDSB approved four new measures, which includes creating a new Africentric school to open in the fall of 2009. “An Africentric Alternative School is a school open to all students, which uses the sources of knowledge and experiences of peoples of African descent as an integral feature of the teaching and learning environment,” according to the TDSB. A narrow 11 to 9 vote brought in the new measure, which had been a topic of heated discussion. Segregation this is thankfully not, but this is precisely the route we should not be heading down. John Tory’s massive defeat in the Ontario election last year — after he was poised to sweep it — could be an indication that we do not want schools to be divided and administered specifically by and for certain groups. He lost many votes to a suggestion of funding faith-based schools. The TDSB report on the proposal cites

Segregation this is thankfully not, but this is precisely the route we should not be heading down. that 40 per cent of black students do not graduate from high school, and that “a vast majority of students say that learning about their own racial and cultural background will make school more interesting and enjoyable for them and about half of all students say that this will help them to do better in school.” This is an idea worth developing, but to implement it by way of separate schools might not yield the desired results. The report also includes community suggestions for various aspects of the recommendations. Under ‘Black focused schools’, two answers exist. One supports the creation of such schools, but it is also the only

yosef yip

place where you will find the other suggestion: “The board should not establish a black focused school because it is divisive and it will create a focus away from improving school achievement of black students in all schools.” I could not have said it better myself. The second suggestion in the report, that pilot programs be developed “to implement a model for integrating the histories, cultures, experiences and contributions of people of African descent and other racialized groups into the curriculum, teaching methodologies, and social environment of the schools,” this is a model for success that can be applied to any and all schools. It promotes inclusiveness, inter-cultural understanding, and in promoting all cultures and beliefs could help to show that all are valued parts of our society. An Africentric school sends exactly the opposite message. It suggests that success is best achieved by creating schools which focus predominantly on Africentric values and experiences. The report even suggests that “the success of an Africentric Alternative School depends on the expertise of the school leadership, high quality instruction, high expectations for students, a culture of caring, parental engagement and support, as well as an inclusive curriculum that positively reflects the identities, backgrounds and experiences of all the students in the school.” That last part, whether schools are currently employing it as they should or not, appears to be the key, and could be the key that schools are missing right now. Separating students into schools designed to cater to different cultures

only helps to further stigmatize our youth and create barriers between youths of different cultures. The second suggestion of the report suggests pilot programs to further expose students to all different cultures, which helps to remind us of Canada’s diversity, and the strength it gives us. Focusing on teaching only to one group only the things most directly related to them does not promote diversity or inclusiveness. Perhaps the reason the pilot program was the second suggestion was because had it come first, it would be more obvious that it overrides any need for an Africentric school. Thankfully the progression of this program appears stalled. Already facing a $41 million budget deficit, the TDSB is putting the motion back to another vote, as the McGuinty government has said it will not cover the $350,000 cost of creating an Africentric school. McGuinty has also said that if this becomes a province-wide trend, his government will intervene. At least he understands one of the large reasons he won the election last summer. Hopefully, there will never be an Africentric school. Hopefully, instead, the shock of such a school will bring greater attention to the subject of cultural diversity in our schools and learning opportunities, and the challenges faced by all students of all cultural backgrounds. With any luck, incorporating the diversity of all our backgrounds into the learning of all our students can become the new focus, which will help all students to be proud of their cultural heritage; to be aware of the full mosaic of Canadian culture and how we are all integral pieces of it. -With files from the TDSB and the Toronto Star. adodds@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Tops and bottoms Waterloo

Fast & Free Delivery

402 King St., N.

884-8000

Godzilla Deal

$17.49

2 X-Large Great Pizzas 3 Fabulous Toppings on each Add 1 lb. wings for $3.99

Super Blah-Buster 3 Great Pizzas 3 Fabulous Toppings on each 3 Free Dipping Sauces

$21.99 Large $25.99 X-Large $28.99

Medium

Early Bird Special

$19.49 Large $22.49 X-Large $25.49

Medium

2 Great Pizzas, 3 Fabulous Toppings 1 lb. Chicken Wings 1 Garlic Bread,4 Cans of Pepsi www.twicethedealpizza.com

ell, here it is, what you’ve all been waiting for. I’ve skirted around it long enough talking about foibles of gay life and those goddamned conservatives, but you win. I can’t hold off any more. It’s time to talk about dirty, filthy, nasty, vulgar, obscene, hot and heavy man on man homo sex. More specifically, it’s time to talk about the mystery of sexual positions exclusive to the gay world. Gay penetrative sex is, of course, anal, and when it comes to anal sex one person has to stick it in and the other has to take it up the ass. In less vulgar terms, one partner is the “active,” or top, and the other is the “passive,” or bottom. Going to the extreme, you have the “100 per cent Top Jocks,” men who have presumably have such issue with their homosexuality and its feminine connotation that in their sexual encounters they can’t take any role but ultra-dominant to protect their view of their masculinity. On the other side of the spectrum are “Nelly Bottoms,” men whose primary goal in sexual situations is to be pounded as hard as possible in the ass.

For you heteros reading, keep in mind that asking any respectable gay man if he is a top or bottom will probably be answered with a slap in the face. To some gay men the preferred sexual role, even when not taken to Nelly Bottom or Top Jock extreme, is a defining factor in the identity of a queer. Some assume that taking a passive or active role in the bedroom indicates whether or not the person in question takes a passive or active role in life. That frame of mind is a little too mid ‘90s Cosmopolitan magazine psychology for me though. In fact, someone’s top/bottom status is so important to some that they will go so far ask to ask a potential partner before ever considering dating. Guys, if he asks you this before he asks you out he is not a keeper. So how can you spot a top or a bottom in the throngs of gay men dancing at Ren? Well in a very broad, stereotypical sense, bottoms are thinner and have a more girlish physique as well as having the tendency to act in a “fairy” manner. Conversely, tops

are thought to be of a physically larger stature and act in a more “butch” way. Obviously, like all stereotypes, these classifications don’t apply to everyone and are often defied. My butchest gay friend is a renowned Nelly Bottom and many twink-ish gays are tops. In yet another myth to be dispelled, gay men are not fixed in one position either. Like all spectrums, positional preference isn’t a binary thing. There is a large grey area of “versatility,” meaning those who take both top and bottom positions depending on the situation or just what they’re feelin’. Some vers‘ individuals might prefer one over the other, and some might have no real preference when it comes to topping or bottoming. So readers, there you have the truth behind dirty, filthy, nasty, vulgar, obscene, hot and heavy man on man homo sex positions. And where do I fit onto the top/ bottom spectrum? Well that is really none of your fucking business. tmyers@uwaterloo.ca

Opinion

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008

Letters Had a reaction to one of our articles, editorials or columns? Write a letter to the editor at letters@imprint. uwaterloo.ca UW’s New One-Party System? Team Yellow was back this year, comprised of students running for 20 Feds positions (12 of which were acclaimed); at first it seemed to me that the “party” had a monopoly on Feds leadership, but thankfully 12 other individuals were running. Nevertheless, I found it interesting that this year’s elections not only include very little competition but also very little more than the status quo. Councillor Falcao was bold enough to state the common perception that Feds is a socially elitist club, although certainly not one without individual exceptions. Having one dominant group of students seeking election certainly isn’t in the interest of the organization or the students; you can imagine the reasons for this. I am not against collaboration or unity among student representatives, but I certainly don’t want a small group of people making a majority of the decisions for the student body without accountability, open debate, or proper

I certainly don’t want a small group of people making a majority of the decisions ...

Re: CKMS referendum It’s disappointing to see that logic and reasoning as well as critical thinking are missing from the Feds decision to put the CKMS fee to a referendum. Sweeping generalizations and outright lies are more their style. I am a community member of CKMS-FM who began volunteering 15 years ago as an undergraduate student at St. Jerome’s. As I read the Imprint article “Referendum on our radio” I was struck by the inconsistencies in the Feds representation of how this referendum came to be. Vague references to “about five complaints” from students raised a red flag in my mind. Are these idle complaints while standing in line at Tim’s or well-documented, signed complaints from students? If they truly were valid complaints and not the general griping that we all do about the weather, Needles Hall etc., why was CKMS not informed so they could address these concerns? I wonder which students were polled in this very informal study. I’m guessing those who were sitting in the SLC at the time. A well thought out study would include both on and off-campus students but I guess the Feds didn’t want a well thought out study. Apparently, democracy doesn’t play an important role when you want to start your own radio station. Kevin Royal hasn’t provided any proof of the so-called “long-standing concern from students that the service provided by the campus radio station is disappointing.” Mr. Royal also calls the referendum a “student-led initiative regarding the accountability of CKMS” while Mr. Williams contradicts this saying “the referendum was brought about by council and not by a student petition.” Recently, CKMS-FM celebrated 30 years as the University of Waterloo and Waterloo region’s campus and community radio station. It will never be Top 40 radio – it is an alternative to commercial radio which is a point that many students don’t understand. Once educated on this point, students I have spoken with over the years come to appreciate and embrace this precious resource. It’s a shame that the Feds couldn’t work co-operatively with CKMS to inform students of their right to become involved in CKMS as fee-paying student members. Less than two years ago, “diversity” was the buzzword coming out of the Feds office. CKMS-FM has been providing a program schedule built upon diversity for 30 years. Throwing this away for the cost of a pint or a latte will mean that the voices of a few will irrevocably affect the voices of many. I hope students can see through the bureaucratic b.s. of this referendum and vote with informed minds.

consultation (having a regular email list that summarizes the decisions made in Council, the Senate, and by the Exec would be a start). As we know, it is more than apathy among the student body causing the lack of participation in student government: a lack of awareness among students as to what actually happens in Feds, little consideration of equity in forming policy and making decisions, and student leaders acting like typical politicians: making decisions for political gain or a personal agenda and claiming it to be in the best interest of their constituency. Perhaps transparency would provoke more students to get involved; whether out of disagreement on the decisions made or out of admiration for the organization and a desire to contribute, this cannot be a negative thing. That being said, President-Elect Williams’ platform does address some of these issues and there is little on Team Yellow’s website to disagree with, although more will be required to move Feds past a one-party mentality. Thus, I hope UW will soon witness progress in the areas of transparency, equity, inclusiveness, and accountability of our student government, regardless of who ends up winning. Because after all, Feds provides valuable and diverse services and is filled with great leaders; but following the logic of Council, if there’s still such a small number of students showing interest in Feds by next year, perhaps the student body should determine its fate through a referendum... or maybe request its fees be refundable online.

Re: Nuclear Business, Funding Woes, Imprint,Vol. 30, No. 26 In response to this article, I am enraged with the fact the federal government is still funding the AECL! Nuclear power plants are risky as it is, but enabling an antique of a nuclear power plant to run for over 50 years is a disgrace! There are enough environmental problems for the Canadian government to deal with (for example, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, emissions the government promised to lower but never did), yet they still have the nerve to throw money they could be funding towards lowering greenhouse gas emissions or researching on greener methods for energy resources. I reinforce Halpern’s opinion and I believe the AECL should be shut down immediately.

— Kyle Gossen

— Karen Wong

Barack fever community editorial

uzz buzz buzz. Hear that? Yes, we can. It’s the sound of Barack Obama and the noise he’s been creating south of our border. The Presidential hopeful is asking the American people to believe in the political process, not by finding a way to agree on policy change but rather by finding common ground in the foundation of humanity. I would argue that this young, gifted, leader is changing attitudes across cultures, races, languages, and borders. He does not just speak to Americans but to the world. You see, Mr. Obama is asking us to have hope. Surely, this message is not just about red, white and blue but rather it is about looking each other in the eye, no matter what flag backs us. So I’m taking this Democrat’s lead. Why not? He believes we can and it starts with me if the message is true. I clear my throat and proclaim that this is a call to action! As Obama’s declaration speaks beyond borders, he is asking us to consider the political process as our next project. This time, we shouldn’t take on a new house renovation or other such extra-curricular activity. This time, we won’t let celebrities speak for us, politicians spend for us and tax-breaks give for us. No — this time we should consider investing ourselves into democracy. A new democratic movement that reminds us — while the kids were at public school pursuing spelling bees and degrees and while we found a way to put dinner on the table after a hard days work — that we still have time

to participate in the political process. You can go to bed thinking that you want to be a part of your community and that your community needs you to be a part of it. If you have an issue in your neighbourhood, at your child’s school or in regard to a policy you read about in the newspaper – do something about it. Come on, I dare you. Maybe you don’t know enough about Afghanistan to form an educated opinion, so you form nothing. Maybe global warming gives you chills, but you don’t think there’s anything you can do about the temperature. Today, consider my challenge: somehow change your daily life to include active participation in the political process. The fun part is that you get to define active participation for your own life – as long as you’re doing more than what you were before.

Barack says “nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.” Should you accept my challenge, and I hope you do — expect critics. Tell them you want change and you’re actually doing something about it. The idea of millions of people caring about politics is daunting when we live in such an arguably apathetic world. So if you want change, show it. Mr. Obama asks you to consider his message for a better life simply by having hope. This same political underdog says there has never been anything false about hope. And this proud Canadian says there has never been anything better than agreeing with him. — Hannah “Banana” Feldberg

MA candidate recreation and leisure studies

joyce hsu

— Charlene O’Grady

Host of Sharkey’s World

LANGUAGE MAY OFFEND

STARTS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22ND! ALLIANCE

BE KIND REWIND ALNC CAMPUS 6X6.21 BW ONTARIO

FILMS

Opinion

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008

Your professors won’t pay you for your essays... but we might! In honour of 30 years of Imprint campus journalism, we’re celebrating the best of student writing at the University of Waterloo. By midnight, March 14, 2008, send a 750 to 1000 word essay to editor@imprint.uwaterloo.ca, answering one of the following four questions. If your entry is selected, you’ll win $250, publication in Imprint, and swanky-looking plaque. (Now there’s an offer your professors will be hard-put to match!)

1) How well is cultural diversity represented in Canadian media? 2) In this technological era, who really owns and creates the media? 3) Where does the bias lie in contemporary media? 4) How much does media shape the way we think and the world we live in?

poolitical

Graduate Studies and Research

community editorial

At the University of Ottawa you will work with internationally

renowned professors in an environment where student success is a priority.

www.uOttawa.ca

ver my university career I have been entertained by the freedom of expression displayed on the bathroom stalls in mens’ washrooms across campus. By writing this I am admitting that I have visited the bathrooms on campus a lot, to which I reply: everybody poops. Moving on. I cannot speak for the graffiti in womens’ washrooms, but can only assume their stalls are defaced with love poems and shopping lists. However, the writings that I have seen I can categorized into four themes; the usual, the original, the academic and the offensive. The usual consists of zingers across campus stalls that we all have seen. Classics like, “call for a good time, 519 555 5555,” or an arrow pointing to the toilet paper reading “Laurier Degrees.” The original category consists of scripture that is new and exciting. This includes creative drawings or statements like, “wow a lot of people shit with pens.” Then there are the academics out there, people who become so enlightened when taking a shit they feel the need to share a poem, pose a psychological question, or compose a sonata. Activists upset with local politics or global epidemics fall under this category as well, people I like to call poo-litical protestors. Then there is the offensive. These are the all too common homophobic, racial, or sexist scribbles. Whether it’s the word “nigger” scratched on the wall or something about someone “being fucking gay”, it doesn’t matter, these offensive examples are both disconcerting and stupid. See POO, page 11

Opinion

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008

Hate-apedia: the “children-friendly” wikipedia community editorial

recently discovered Conservapedia. If you haven’t heard of it yet, I’ll enlighten you: it’s a “conservative” version of Wikipedia, meant to counteract the “liberal bias” of Wiki’s articles. For example, in Conservapedia, one can look up Ann Coulter and find nothing but shining praise. Another thing you can look up in Conservapedia is “homosexuality,” which clearly outlines the hard-line conservative right stance to gays and other such “sinners.” Hard-line: you know, the section of U.S. (and sometimes Canadian) Conservatives who wear their fundamentalist Christian faith on their sleeves and mix it proudly in with their politics. Conservapedia has its own set of standards in order to differentiate from Wikipedia. Such differences include: editing which is not cited, “original research” — articles based on personal experience, and “neutral facts” but not neutral “points of view.” They explain this concept by stating that, whereas Wikipedia would label a group “militant,” Conservapedia would label them “terrorist,” if such a label fits, they assert. Another huge part of Conservapedia is that they’re a “family-friendly encyclopedia” and don’t publish explicit images, information or anything that might be deemed unsuitable for children. If my haunches weren’t already raised, which they were, they’d raise here. Although Conservapedia claims to

be more “learning-friendly” and “These people have a right to their schools? Will Canada soon follow suit to “intellectual” than Wikipedia, they opinions as much as everyone else.” wouldn’t publish anything unsuitable But I can’t help but fear the hatred these divisive American trends? As a left-leaning, homo-loving, for children? Let’s go over some of that people with such extreme views the things that might be unsuitable seem to spread. We aren’t talking commie-hugging sinner, am I any betfor children. Murder. War. Hatred. about having one’s own opinions ter than the conservatives who made Terrorists. Gay-bashing — don’t you anymore. It’s one thing to have an this “encyclopedia?” Yes. Yes, I am. think? The website is both telling opinion that being gay is wrong, or Because I don’t hate the people with them about those terrible gays and that being liberal is misguided. But whom I disagree, and I don’t seek to advocating hatred — and in some such conservatives as have crafted eliminate their rights to disagree with cases, violence. Sexually transmitted the Conservapedia don’t stop there. me. I don’t hate businessmen, despite diseases might not be an appropriate Since being gay is against the website believing in socialism. I don’t hate men, topic for children, if we’re going to creators’ beliefs, they believe that gay despite being proudly feminist. I’m not start being stringent about what im- people should have no human rights. convinced the corporate world is out to get me and ages and concepts my socialmight stain their Since being gay is against the website ist buddies, naïve minds. I’m going to paraphrase creators’ beliefs, they believe that gay people although I will continthe editor of Capiue to vote tal Xtra here, who should have no human rights NDP. recently inspired I’m tolme at a journalism conference: “If we made all print me- Their efforts to gain human rights erant, for the most part. But one dia, such as sexual health pamphlets, and combat hatred are seen as the thing I cannot tolerate is hatred. suitable for children, most of what’s “gay agenda,” a shot at conservative And in my opinion, a 22, 237 word printed in newspapers wouldn’t be. values the world over. Never mind entry on the evils of homosexuality War, famine, politics — none of these that the goal is to carve a niche in a is hatred. We aren’t talking about things are aimed at children, and they society where conservatives and gays intellectual “debate” here. There is only one side of the issue presented. are usually unsuitable for them.” He live together. Liberals? Idiots. Jerks. Commie- The debate, perhaps, is between Conwas talking about a pamphlet on transgendered health that included hugging anti-patriots. Conservapedia servapedia and the rest of society, a figure (cartoon or photo, I can’t claims to foster intellectual debate, who has allowed tolerance of such remember) with a dildo coming out yet when it comes down to it, they “evils” to grow. Conservatives, in of their pants. The figure was top- only support one intellectual stand- this case, aren’t talking about an equal less, breastless, with pants on. The point. Where is the debate? When opportunity debate; they’re talking pamphlet was taken out of distribu- did American society become so about crushing the opposition. Love’s entry is 237 words. tion at most public health outlets due divided and divisive? How can you These ultra-right conservatives live together if the very existence of to its “racy” nature. Well, after much laughter and other points of views prompts you have their priorities all wrong. Jesus tears over the clear right-wing bias to create your own webcyclopedias, was about love, right? Tolerance? of Conservapedia, it really started your own methods of government, Forgiveness? Caring for lepers, the to get under my skin. I try to be your own camps, your own groups, poor and other such people who were tolerant. I try to say to myself, your own schools? Your own home slighted by society during Jesus’ time?

You can’t take notes on facebook community editorial

f you’re like me and are frequently late to class, seats at the back of the room are your usual spot. From there, you can see what everyone else is doing, especially what is on their laptop computer screens. While most people claim they bring their computer to class to take notes, the number of times all I see are MSN message boxes and facebook pages littered across nearly every student’s computer screen for the duration of a class suggests otherwise. The school provides us students with free internet access in hopes that we will use it to further our learning, not so that we can waste time sending instant messages. Of course there are some people who use their computers for note taking purposes, but the vast ma-

jority seem to be more concerned with staying in touch with their friends. I find it both arrogant and disrespectful to ignore a professor because it interferes with your inclass socializing. I am not suggesting that the school eliminate the free wireless access, as it is a useful tool for many students who like to work on campus, but I think that this frequent abuse of the service may eventually lead to restrictive access, ruining this valuable tool for the rest of us. So the next time you’re planning to spend an entire class instant messaging your friends, just stay home — it’s much easier to concentrate without that annoying professor trying to teach. — Tim Lawless

Well then, how about conservatives take some of the positive aspects of their faith and practise them a little more fervently. Save the hatred and the negativity for the murderers, rapists and skinheads — for the gay bashers, the murderers of Matthew Shepard, the murderers of countless transgendered people, for the whitesupremacist lynch mobs and the Ku Klux Klan. Show us there’s a difference between a conservative and a hatemongerer. Let me believe that we can agree to disagree. Maybe these Conservatives could follow my example: go to as many gay bars as I’ve been to churches. They might not find Dorothy, but the club-happy gays they befriend will forever remind them to be tolerant. Conservapedia: I’ve made my own login. I don’t need to cite edits. Watch out — here I come. — Christine Ogley cogley@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Do you have an Opinion?

I guarantee that your friends are tired of hearing it; start writing it down for Imprint and your friends might come back. We need 100-200 words of whatever you care about Send it to

opinion@uwaterloo.imprint.ca

Poo: Graff Continued from page 10

In addition, I do not believe writing or drawing about sex all over the walls of a bathroom is actually going to get you laid. It is scary to think that the inside of the bathroom stall is a look at the inside of some peoples minds: full of crap. Two things come to mind when I observe bathroom graffiti. First, I think of the plant operations people who wash the stall walls from these scribbles. It does not seem fair that they must clean up our vandalism. This is my personal reason for not writing on the stalls, I pretty much stick with paper. Secondly, and conversely, the University is a community of educated minds and the bathroom stall is just another forum where we all meet, because after all, everyone poops. — Thomas Parker

Features Maggie Clark editor-in-chief

hile riding the bus last November I helped a visiting research student acclimatize himself to the region of Waterloo. His English was poor, and after I gave him directions we awkwardly went through the motions of a typical student introduction. As we turned into the university campus he said he was in math; I said political science. “Oh!” he said, with a note of heightened interest. “So you must know about 9/11.” “Of course,” I said, with a bit of a laugh — who didn’t? “You know who was responsible, then.” He asked this as we pulled up to the Davis Centre bus stop. He didn’t seem to be expecting a response. The bus doors opened and students began pouring out. We quickly followed suit. “The Jews,” he said, in lieu of thanks for my help, and called over his shoulder at the last moment: “Look it up!” As troubling as this reality is, cultural misconceptions play a large role in our day-to-day lives, both as students and as global citizens. Some of these misconceptions are relatively harmless, while others — like the kind that can spring up in mere minutes between strangers — speak to a much deeper, much more dangerous social context. But while individuals will sometimes err — grievously, hatefully, ignorantly — on the side of these misconceptions, all members of a free, democratic society should expect their media organizations to adhere to more critical standards.

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008 features@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

continue to study in Israel after completing their military requirements. It is this set of financial associations that Alhamad said his group could not accept, and which led them to stage a peaceful protest outside a January 23 information session about the exchange program. “We were never calling for an academic boycott,” said Alhamad. “We don’t have an issue with the exchange program itself. But especially because of where the money is coming from, and what is happening in that region right now, we have an issue with people who might not be aware enough of the situation. … We would like the program to support a trip into the occupied territories for [UW] students who go to Haifa. Maybe even [have them] go through a checkpoint to see what it’s like on a daily basis for the people who live there.” Alhamad also said he wanted to raise awareness of this issue without interrupting the lecture itself, and Pidduck agreed that the January 23 protest was handled professionally. “[Alhamad] and other members of Students for Palestinian Rights stood outside of our meeting room, handing flyers to students arriving for the session,” said Pidduck. “[They] were very quiet, very polite and 100 per cent non-confrontational.” But you would never have surmised as much from Imprint’s January 25 coverage of the event. Instead, from the article’s very headline, “Middle Eastern outrage,” to such insinuations of mood as “[they] gathered to express their anger” and “Alhamad … was infuriated,” the SFPR was presented as volatile and extremist — playing into what Alhamad called “the stereotype of the angry Arab.” Also problematic is a statement attributed to

regarding the January 25 article and accompanying graphic. Between his concerns, the concerns of SFPR, and the concerns of non-aligned undergraduates, I realized no simple correction would rectify the situation: something much deeper had been affected by the misrepresentations in this particular article. I had seen this consequence many times before, throughout all levels of Canadian media, but one example that stood out was the mainstream coverage of a situation in September 2006, when the distant connection of active Tamil Tiger members to the UW Tamil Students Association led some media outlets to bandy the word “terrorists” about in direct relation to current Tamil students at UW. This in turn threatened the positive learning environment to which every UW student is entitled. But while in 2006 I condemned the rhetoric of extreme oppositions that had been used by mainstream media, it was very disheartening to realize that same rhetoric had passed my notice in the January 25 edition of Imprint. Sitting down with Banyasz (JSA) and Alhamad (along with other SFPR members), we thus worked toward identifying the kinds of errors media outlets can make in their coverage of issues that matter to UW students, and getting a sense of how best to promote healthy, informed discussions about these issues on the university campus. For instance, when asked about the mainstream coverage of matters that resonate with SFPR’s mandate, such as Middle Eastern and Palestinian concerns, Alhamad noted that when certain terms, such as “territory” and “occupied territory,” are not used with precision they can drastically change the

A case study in accountability The UW-Haifa exchange program, flawed coverage of one student protest, and the search for effective campus discourse

And when those standards are not maintained, as was the case with Imprint’s similarly misinformed coverage of a student protest this past January, those same members need to bring us to task. The problems with “Middle Eastern outrage,” a January 25 article about one student group’s protest of the UW-Haifa exchange program, are extensive. But to understand how far this article strayed it is important to understand the origins of the story itself. Specifically, the UW-Haifa exchange is one of the University of Waterloo’s over 100 international exchange programs, all of which seek to broaden the intellectual environment for university students and faculty by providing more opportunities for individuals from participating schools to experience and learn from other cultures. This particular program, which has its foundations in computer science research and academia, partners UW with the University of Haifa, one of a few universities in Israel and the nearby, conflicted region. According to Prof. Anne Pidduck, UW coordinator for this exchange program, the University of Haifa was selected on account of personal and business contacts that the program’s donors have with the institution. It is precisely the names of these donors that first drew the attention of a UW student club called “Students for Palestinian Rights” (SFPR) to the UW-Haifa exchange program. “We first learned about the program [in early January], when we saw posters up in the Davis Centre,” said Rami Alhamad, head of SFPR. Soon after, Alhamad learned that the UW-Haifa exchange had been made possible by a gift of $500,000 from Gerry Schwartz, CEO of the Onex Corporation, and Heather Reisman, CEO of Indigo Books and Music. Reisman and Schwartz are also founders of the Heseg Foundation, which provides financial support to “lone soldiers” — Jews without family in Israel who journey to the region in order to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces — so they may

Alhamad, “By supporting Haifa, you are supporting state terrorism,” which Alhamad later told Imprint was taken out of context, as it continued to suggest SFPR is in favour of academic boycott. Alhamad clarified that SFPR’s real issue is with the state of Israel, which it maintains has acted in keeping with a definition of terrorism. By visiting any region one necessarily supports its economy; it is this continuing financial association that Alhamad instead intended to condemn. Furthermore, the final statement in the article, a comment suggesting that the “bitter conflict in the Middle East has found its way onto the UW campus,” implied that SFPR was not seeking peaceable means to foster university discussions and student awareness — while their January 23 protest shows otherwise. And yet the problems with “Middle Eastern outrage” do not end there, because with the article at only 387 words a graphic was solicited to fill the page space. What thus made its way to print was a deceptively simple drawing of Israel, its illustrated borders highly contestable, with a question mark in the middle. While it was not the intention of any Imprint party to question the validity of Israel’s nationhood, that is precisely what this graphic, on the basis of pre-existing hate material spread by anti-Semitic groups, conveyed to some readers — and precisely what prompted Imprint’s February 8, page 3 correction and apology. On an even more basic level, “Middle Eastern outrage” failed the sources test — specifically, the precept of good journalism that asks “Have you contacted all pertinent sources with a stake in this issue, and given each an opportunity to respond?” The January 25 article had only one source, Alhamad of SFPR, when it required at least two, if not three: comments from UW administration (preferably Pidduck) and any student groups with vested interests from elsewhere on the spectrum, like the Jewish Students Association (JSA). To this end David Banyasz, vice president of the JSA, came forward with concerns he had received

meaning of a piece. SFPR also stated that it was important for any political forum — whether a news article, guest lecture, discussion panel, or film presentation — to be as inclusive as possible. “I think a good way to start is by inviting speakers through UW Diversity and Feds to promote a clear understanding of the issues at hand,” said Alhamad. “If speakers can be brought in to speak about different conflicts around the world in terms of their different impacts — such as political, cultural, environmental, or economic — we would have a clear understanding of how our ‘global village’ works.” Banyasz spoke more specifically about the place of international exchange programs in this process of informing students about the world they live in. “[The JSA] supports higher education for all,” said Banyasz, “[and] the values and experiences an abroad exchange program can offer to students on both ends is tremendous.” SFPR also expressed a hope that, in the future, when the university administration makes a decision that “may create tension among the students, they also create room for discussion and consultation.” Alhamad is presently in the middle of friendly talks with both Pidduck and UW communications and public affairs director Martin Van Nierop, working to institutionalize a heightened awareness and sensitivity toward Palestinian issues within the existing UW-Haifa exchange program. What remains, then, is for Imprint to practise more consistent vigilance, and for the university community as a whole to create more opportunities for discourse, so as to heighten general awareness and understanding of issues that resonate with UW students. Not all student groups maintain a high profile on campus, but the students they represent still require the same basic, human consideration. Ultimately, when the learning environment is lessened for any one of them, all UW students pay the price. editor@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Joyce Hsu

Features

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008

Party like it’s reading week

t’s reading week. Personally, I find it a shame that we can’t just stick to elementary school naming schemes (i.e. March break), as replacing the month of the vacation with a verb places a huge burden on us all to actually follow through with what the name suggests. That being said, I’m willing to bet most of you won’t get any reading done whatsoever, even though you have sooo much work to do and have like 17 midterms that are all lumped into the same week we get back. So, now that we’ve established that you’re a bad, unmotivated student who won’t get anywhere in life, it’s time to talk about what’s really going to go down this reading week. You’re going to party — and probably pretty hard. But with partying comes every stingy student’s biggest dilemma: money. Let’s not kid ourselves, friends, partying costs money, and there’s probably some truth in the assumption that we’re not exactly rolling in that at the moment. What can you do? Well, just like any good stinginess strategy, a little planning goes a long way. Here are some ideas to squeeze all the good times you can out of those pennies:

Sake

Ok, this is the part of the column where 80 per cent of you vomit in disgust, 10 per cent of you roll your eyes, and 5 per cent percent of you say, “Sake? Wow. Yet another bastardization of Asian culture. What a poseur!” Meanwhile, the sound of the other 5 per cent is represented by the sound of crickets chirping. For those unfamiliar with it, sake is rice wine. Yes! Wine made from rice — not grapes! I know… my mind was blown the first time, too.

I’m not going to lie to you; Sake is an acquired taste. Most people think it tastes like wood alcohol, or something you’d use as a disinfectant, but don’t let that deter you. It’s not that bad. Sake is versatile: it can be served hot or cold. Hot sake tastes sweet, and cold sake tastes like water — honestly. Wonderful, clean, crisp water — cut with 14 per cent alcohol. Magic. The real selling point of this fine beverage is the value. While there are other alcoholic drinks in this price range, sake gets points for being exotic. What are your other options? Well, you could always drink 40s of malt liquor, but you’re going to have to try a little harder if you want to nurture your rap career. The price of sake will vary depending on the brand and quality you buy, but if you don’t want to jump right into higher end Junmai ginjo, you can get a good quality, all-purpose sake for next to nothing. As it happens, the LCBO is having a sale right now on Gekkeikan, an American-brewed sake that can go either hot or cold (16.6 per cent). A nice, alcoholic-sized bottle (1.5L) will set you back $15.60. Save $1.50! Drinking hasn’t been this affordable since you toyed with the idea of drinking rubbing alcohol. Don’t lie to me... we’ve all considered it at one point. Perhaps the greatest incentive to drink sake is that most people won’t give this beverage the time of day, so you can bet that almost every drop of it will be safely consumed by you alone. Trust me. Do you know how many times I’ve had to drink sake alone because my so-called friends won’t go near the stuff ? Some people clearly have no class.

Potlucks

A miserly student’s best friend.

Hot sake tastes sweet, and cold sake tastes like water — honestly. Wonderful, clean, crisp water — cut with 14 per cent alcohol. Magic. They’re the best way to solve two of your problems: 1) you miss your friends and feel it’s high time for a party, and 2) you don’t have any food in your house. All you have to do is mention the word “potluck” in any sort of e-mail or online invite and people will automatically fall in line. You’ll get the whole smorgasboard of attendees: die-hard foodies who go out of their way to make something gourmet (make sure you really ham it up on the verbal food orgasm), friends who bake awesome desserts (always a crowd pleaser), friends that show up with beer, and friends who totally forgot about the potluck aspect and show up with some chips and/or dip. Cop out! Just act casual. Kick it like you’re having the time of your life, but watch the clock. After a few hours, start putting some dishes in the fridge — “just so the food won’t go bad.” By the end of the night, I guarantee that at least half the food will remain there. Is it your fault if your friends are too forgetful or drunk to remember they’ve left an entire bowl of pasta salad in your fridge? I didn’t think so, either.

because — let’s face it – “beach” volleyball courts look a little ridiculous nine months of the year. But don’t let their mistake fool you. I predict this is going to be the new place to hit for students wanting looking for a good time on a budget, especially since undergrad students can now take advantage of the U-PASS (not UP-ASS) to get there for free. The club immediately gets points for the lack of cover. How refreshing is that? Once inside, you’ll be amazed (no, actually amazed – I know I was) by the décor. They have a chandelier…and stained glass windows! WTF? How many of us were expecting our new watering hole to sport even one of those things? If that doesn’t get you off, then you’ll be pleased to hear that domestic beers go for $2.25. Yes, you’re read that properly. $2.25! Mixed drinks and shooters are also a fantastic value. On a less-important-but-still-importantnote, the music isn’t bad either. Last time I was there, I nearly died when I heard the DJ drop KRS-ONE’s

“Return of the Boom Bap.” He also played hefty portions of dancehall. I was in beer-fueled love. By contrast, whatever has become of the once-mighty Phil’s? I started to notice a decline in their business last term, and with winter upon us, it seems that things are only getting worse. No more do I see inebriated students shuffling in Toronto-style lineups just to get in. In fact, I don’t even see anyone in line anymore…not even on a Saturday night! What happened, friends? The following is a list of possibilities: Did we finally grow tired of the routinely fresh stench of vomit that may or may not greet you as you descend the stairs? Did you maybe get tired of paying five dollars in cover? Did you start to grow suspicious after the seven-plus drinks you’ve downed may or may not have gotten you drunk? Did you start to realize that the teensy shot glasses they use may or may not be smaller than the ones moms use to give their sick children Dimetapp? Or maybe it’s that there may or may not be plumbing in the men’s urinals? Whatever you get up to this reading week, have fun. And if you do get sloshed (points for doing it on the cheap!), please, do it responsibly. Until next time, keep those fists tight. isherr@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

The Wax

The Wax is the new Phil’s. Seriously. You’ve probably passed by The Wax and The Still dozens of times on your jaunts through Kitchener, but never really thought of going in

=H7:K7J; IJK:?;I CWha[j_d] CWdW][c[dj

Make technology work for you. In just two semesters at Humber, you could upgrade your degree with a postgraduate certificate in

Wireless Telecommunications, Supply Chain Management or Project Management. Apply now and be well on your way to a successful career in technology.

humber.ca/makeitwork

Features

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008

Sustaining Feds service accessibility Suzanne Roma reporter

hese days, everywhere we go people are talking about global warming, saving the environment, ways to use our resources effectively and how to conserve energy. When we think about these things, the fact that we all belong to UW — a Canadian university renowned for being a leader in many fields — creates its own room for pause. Currently UW is home to a strong environmental studies faculty, but with an environmental policy that leaves much to be desired.. This is where the University of Waterloo Sustainability Project (UWSP) comes in. Unfortunately, they are still quite a ways from their goal of creating an environmentallyconscious community concerned with the university’s sustainability, as they state they are lacking the support they require to implement their services. UWSP is a student-run Feds service with the purpose of improving UW’s

STOP

sustainability both ecologically and socially. Sporting over 180 volunteers and nine working groups with goals to inspire things such as environmentallyconscious thinking and behaviour, promote planning and decision-making that is ethical, environmentally responsible, and accountable, they are said to be the fastest growing Feds service. Unfortunately, many of their goals which seem to harbour great potential, are barricaded by situational obstacles. UWSP co-ordinator Rob Blom, a fourth year mathematical physics student (full disclosure: also Imprint staff liaison), has been actively pursuing the implementation of a lively, environmentally conscious and effectively engaged student culture. In order to do this, Blom believes that the service must be relocated to a larger room that can adequately accommodate the growing needs of the service. He feels that the current UWSP location is hidden away from the public eye in the SLC, and is therefore less accessible to students.

IN AT H&R BLOCK

Currently located on the third floor, room 3102 of the SLC, UWSP has struggled to establish direct interaction with the student body. Many of the services and displays they provide, including small, mock turbines, an ecosystem of vermicomposters to showcase, cell phone and ink cartridge recycling, and a library of student proposals done in collaboration with professors are all severely underused due to their inconvenient third floor location. According to members of the Off-Campus-Don (OCD), last term Blom attempted to solve UWSP location problem by proposing a switch between them and the OCD office which is located on the second floor of the SLC. OCD service co-ordinator, Alison Lang, commented on theproposal stating that the location of OCD cannot be compromised: “We’re a service that provides a space for the first year student to feel welcome and comfortable, ask ques-

FAST TAX PREP

However, not all Feds services want visibility [...] the Food Bank (FB) and GLOW would prefer to be stationed where they are in the back halls of SLC. tions and hang out. OCD’s location is great because it’s in a place that’s visible even from the first floor.” When asked about Lang’s statement, Blom stated that this situation was no longer the case, as the UWSP has moved on to pursuing a new agenda. “I’m not trying to switch with OCD; OCD has a smaller room than UWSP,” said Blom. “My proposal states that we’re looking for a larger room. A smaller room would prove insufficient for our purposes.” According to Blom, UWSP is in the process of appealing for a different space in the SLC. They are hoping to persuade the SLC Management Board (SLC MB) to let them find a new

START SPENDING

Students, come in for your tax preparation and get instant cash back in just one visit. Student tax prep

get a FREE SPC card.

“home” on the second floor. Two Feds services reside on the second floor; the Campus Response Team (CRT) and Off Campus Dons (OCD) as well as the Waterloo Public Interest Research Group (WPIRG). According to Blom’s proposal, these services boast sufficient space for their resources, superior accessibility and prominent visibility, and that’s what he wants for UWSP. However, not all Feds services want visibility. Some services like the Food Bank (FB) and GLOW would prefer to be stationed where they are in the back halls of SLC. Marian Saavedra, one of the coordinators of the UW FB, said that “although we are not easily exposed to the student body, it is important that our service remains confidential. Therefore, our location is actually quite suitable.” Students are not always proud of needing to use some services like the FB but a common goal to all of Feds’ services is to make the clientele comfortable and welcome. Kevin Nixon, co-co-ordinator of GLOW, also agrees with this philosophy. He says that when dealing with issues of security, as in the case of the Women’s Centre, you need to provide privacy. “It’d be a bad idea if our service was totally visible. On the other hand, many volunteers believe that the hidden office spaces makes it difficult for first year students to find the services.” “When I was in first year and was trying to find the office for the first time, it was hidden; you could see the signs from outside up high, but if you can’t find the office then you can’t access the service,” said GLOW volunteer, Sean Uyeda. GLOW has attempted to combat this problem by posting signs in the back hallways, and is quite content with their space as it is. So when we look at the big picture, it seems that the majority of services have reached a happy median between the size, location, and accessibility of their space based on the goods they provide to the UW population. Rob Blom however, is still waiting for his meeting with the SLC MB to be rescheduled after the snow day in February caused their initial meeting to be cancelled. Until then UWSP will just have to sit tight a little longer to hear whether their request for a larger office space is acknowledged and accepted, or denied.

LSAT MCAT GMAT GRE

Preparation Seminars Complete 30-Hour Seminars

come in today or call 1-800-HRBLOCK (472-5625) www.hrblock.ca

Proven Test-Taking Strategies Personalized Professional Instruction Comprehensive Study Materials Simulated Practice Exams Free Repeat Policy Personal Tutoring Available Thousands of Satisfied Students

To qualify for student pricing, student must present either (i) a T2202a documenting 4 or more months of full-time attendance at a college or university during 2007 or (ii) a valid high school identification card. Expires July 31, 2008. Must also qualify for Instant Cash Back and Cash Back products. See office for details. Valid only at participating H&R Block locations in Canada. SPC Card offers valid from 08/01/07 to 07/31/08 at participating locations in Canada only. For Cardholder only. Offers may vary, restrictions may apply. Usage may be restricted when used in conjunction with any other offer or retailer loyalty card discounts. Cannot be used towards the purchase of gift cards or certificates.

Oxford Seminars

1-800-779-1779 / 416-924-3240 www.oxfordseminars.com

Features

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008

Pasta, the people’s food Ingredients: c 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour c 1 cup hot water c 3/4 cups and 2 tbsp whole milk ricotta cheese c 1 large egg c 1/2 cup finely shredded turkey, chicken, ham or crabmeat, c 1 cup baby spinach, roughly chopped,

c 1/4 cup grated Parmesan c 1/2 teaspoon salt c 1/4 teaspoon black pepper c 2 tbsp unsalted butter c 2 tbsp all-purpose flour c 1/4 tsp salt c Dash black pepper c 1 1/2 cup whole milk

Forming the dough: In a large bowl combine the flour and the water. Stir into a large ball (using a silicone spatula or wooden spoon works well). Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 10 minutes. Making the filling: Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl and stir . Take dough out, it should feel slightly sticky — you want it that way. Cut into 4 even pieces. Add extra flour for rolling, but don’t use anymore unless necessary or dough will end up tough. Form each piece into a 2 by 6 inch rectangle. Recover all 4 rectangles with the plastic wrap. Lightly dust the work surface and a rolling pin. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, roll the dough into a 4 by 19 inch rectangle. (Picture it as if you were forming an envelope.) Place 9 rounded teaspoons of filling about 1-inch apart down the center of the dough. Fold the dough over the filling. Press down on the edges of each of the ravioli with your fingertips, and then cut into small squares. Press down around the edges again to seal securely Place the finished ravioli on a baking tray and continue forming the remaining ravioli. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add half the ravioli and cook until the ravioli come to the surface and float (about 3 to 4 minutes). Drain into a large colander/strainer and cook the remaining ravioli. Serve Ravioli with sauce.

Stirring in the sauce: In a small saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Stir in milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. For an herb-garlic variation: Prepare as above, except cook 2 cloves of minced garlic in the melted butter for 30 seconds. Stir in ½ tsp of dried basil, oregano, or sage with the flour.

Be your own boss Earn up to $3,000 in awards and turn what you love to do into a summer experience. Keep all business profits and develop entrepreneurial skills. Apply online at www.summercompany.ca. Application deadline: April 30, 2008. Summer Company is open to all students aged 15-29 who are returning to school in the fall.

For more information

rob.clement@kitchener.ca OR 519-741-2986

www.summercompany.ca

o you want to be a skilled superstar Iron Chef? I know you secretly yearn to be one; I mean how could you not marvel at the on-screen culinary giants dishing out five plates in 60 minutes? Ever catch episodes where they make stuffed pasta from scratch and wonder how they do it? Well you won’t have to ponder anymore, learn tricks of the trade with this easy Agnolotti dish, a variation of ravioli. These round delicate pillows are the ideal cradle for almost any type of filling. Stuffed pasta can be shaped into rounds or rectangles with crimped or fluted edges to seal in the filling. Traditionally ravioli would contain meats, fish, or vegetables mixed with a cheese to moisten and hold everything together. A delicate sauce would be ladled over the pasta, either a cream or tomato based mixture.

Ravvolgere in Italian means ‘to wrap’, and the word Ravioli is derived from it. Italy prides itself on regional fare. For instance, ravioli comes from Liguria, a small coastal region in northwestern Italy, as well as Pansôtti, ravioli covered in a walnut-cream sauce. Tortellini (origami, ring shaped pasta) and Cappelletti (physically resembles their meaning “little hat”) are from Emilia-Romagna in Northern Italy. Agnolotti, means “priest’s hat” and the pasta comes from the region of Piedmont, an area surrounded by the Alps. They are crescent shaped pasta with the filling folded over it with one sheet rather than with the usual one layer atop the other (as done with ravioli). In the past, only aristocratic individuals enjoyed stuffed pasta.

Tiffany Li

However, pasta on the whole was not yet a mainstream food until an economic crisis during the 1600s rendered meats and fresh produce to soaring, unaffordable costs. Since flour was inexpensive and so readily available, it was immediately adopted into the home kitchen and soon became the people’s food. Today, pasta — in our case the stuffed variety —is a beloved dish, the versatility of which helps add flair and distinction to the regional foods of Italy. There will be no need to battle it out in the kitchen when you impress your family and friends during reading week with this dish. Rest assured your new found Iron Chef skills will leave any possible competition in the dust. tli@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Features

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008

Lunarfest: Is this Asian culture? Should food sales and a risqué fashion show be categorized under the name “Lunarfest?” Continued from cover

photos by Michael L. Davenport

Models and participants selected through an auditioning process for the Lunarfest fashion show.

Western PhD Programs ExplorE thE bEnEfits of a WEstErn phD t Canada’s best graduate student experience t Average annual funding of $26,757 t Outstanding student support from application to occupation t Lower cost of living than other large Canadian cities For further information on Western’s outstanding graduate programs visit

grad.uwo.ca

It can definitely be hard to reel in such a large group of students and mold them into a team that can turn out a cohesive product. Lunarfest co-ordinators Doris Li and Debby Yeung frequently had to belt out instructions over the chatter of several dozen people. The models seemed to be in high spirits despite the frequent down times and long practice sessions. “We practise as much as eight hours a day sometimes,” said one model. What I wanted to know was what the models thought of the cultural relevance of the show they were participating in. “It’s not catered to Asian culture per se, but it’s a good show, and whether you’re Asian or not, you can still come out to see us perform,” said model Vance Lee. “The clothes are very western, the themes are old broadway style,” said Rylan Armet another Lunarfest model. “[Lunarfest] does a good job of promoting models, but not so much of lunar new year.” Robyn Huang, a former fashion preformer had a different take: “We do feature Asian performances and Asian clothing, showing a fusion of East meets West,” he said. “In 2006, we did the traditional Chinese Lion dance in 2006 and had Chinese new year directions. There’s a misconception that CASA (Canadian Asian Students Association) is Asian orientated, there’s even performers that are Caucasian [in the fashion show].” I asked many of the performers why students who are not Asian or interested in Asian culture should bother with Lunarfest. Fashion show director Sarah Tsao gave the most impassioned appeal “I believe, we worked really hard and poured our heart and soul into to this. We want to show everyone the hard work we’ve been doing for the past couple of months.” said Tsao It’s hard to argue with Tsao’s plea, the fashion show is certainly the culmination of the hard work of many students who also led busy school lives. Their work should be supported

sell me food and ran around poseing for pictures.There’s nothing that educates people about Asian culture here. As a school that prides itself on academics, and as ethnically diverse school, we should take pride in educating people about our culture not selling it.” Wednesday rolled around, and it was time for the main event fashion show. As a reporter for Imprint, I had the fortune of getting backstage access to the event staged at Hagey Hall auditorium and seeing first hand the behind the scenes pandemonium of 50 people scrambling to get ready for the show. A mass of models were packed into a small change room, where the scent of hair spray filled the air. The stage hands were scrambling around, double-checking that everything was where it should be. At 7:30 p.m. the audience began to stream in, however, the turnout appeared to be sparser than the previous year’s, probably owing to the crunch of mid-term week. At around 8 p.m., the curtains opened, and the show was on. The show was themed around the various seasons, with clothes to reflect that season. Beautiful girls and hunky guys strolled out one by one in various performance pieces. The fashion show could almost be likened to a silent play with the various skits and choreography of each scene against the blaring background of pop music. The muteness of the play was interrupted half-way with a performance of a Chinese pop ballad. But the true highlights of the play was a performance by the very ethnically diverse UW Hip-Hop club, and one of few cultural elements of the show, a kung-fu performance by Chinese sword master David Yip. The show had it’s raunchy moments, one scene involved bikini clad girls scrubbing down halfnaked guys to the tune of Rose Royce’s car wash. Another scene involved several dozen scantily-clad guys and gals posing and gyrating in some sexy and scandalous lingerie wear. When the show finally came to an end, I had forgotten all about the cultural barrenness surrounding it.

“It’s not catered to Asian culture per se, but it’s a good show, and whether you’re Asian or not, you can still come out to see us perform.” wholeheartedly, but the gnawing question of whether the show should be associated with the cultural banner of Chinese new year remains. “I think they’re just using the Chinese new year to party,” said one Lunarfest planning committee member. “It’s[a fashion show] not a promotion of culture.” As Tuesday rolled around, the various Asian Alliance clubs set-up their booths for the daytime portion of Lunarfest. The clubs assembled in a circle downstairs in the SLC, selling various “ethnical Asian foods” ranging from curry fish balls and rice cakes, to Japanese takoyaki and the Asian favourite bubble tea. This was to be the cultural portion of Lunarfest; however some students found the event lacking. “I felt like people just asked me to buy stuff,” said student Dinh Ngyuen (full disclosure: Imprint features editor). “They just tried to

The Lunarfest fashion show was an entertaining play. As one patron put it aptly “I had fun and saw a lot of sexy guys and girls, what more can you ask for.” Many of the students had come out to support their friends in the show and not for a cultural showcase. But the question still lingers, should the fashion show have the name Lunarfest and connations of Chinese New Year attached to it or should it just bill itself as simply a fashion show. “I saw them practising in the SLC when they were fully clothed and I was embarrassed by the moves I saw,” said Tracy McKenna. “It’s over explicit, that kind of thing hurts the promotion of Asian culture.” Said another student, “Would people be prancing around in bikinis to celebrate Lent?” yliu@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Understanding student governance

A five-part Imprint special report

Part 1: Structures of Power January 25, 2008 Part 2: Representation through History February 1, 2008 Part 3: The Electoral Process in Action February 8, 2008 Part 4: A Working Dynamic February 15, 2008 Part 5: Obstacles and Optimism February 22, 2008

Understanding student governance Part 4 of 5: a working dynamic Where and how to become active on university committees Chris Miller staff reporter

re you so fed up with university parking you’re ready to park on a flock of geese? Do you have important opinions on the budget that need to be heard immediately? If only there were a way to get involved yourself! Fortunately there is through the most magical of bureaucratic inventions: the committee Navigating the hedge maze of university committees can be difficult, but the payoff can be worthwhile for students hoping to have their say in policy affairs. With almost every university issue falling under the purview of committees, there are many opportunities for both Student Council members and studentsat-large (full-time students who have paid their fees) to give meaningful input on areas that concerns them. The committees of student governance are divided into three categories, falling under the Board of Governors, the Senate and the University-level respectively. Though Feds members can serve on these committees under some circumstances, Feds also manages its owns committees. These committees fall

under the labels of standing committees and ah hoc committees. Feds has five standing committees in place: the Budget Committee, the Bylaws, Policies and Procedures Committee (both serving as yearly positions), the Internal Funding Committee, the Internal Administration Committee and the Education Advisory Committee (these last three serving as oneterm positions). Feds also has a single ad hoc committee established by former Feds President Michelle Zakrison: the Governance Review Committee. Ad hoc committees are eligible for standing committee status after one year and are created through Council ratification. With regards to student input, the difference between term-by-term and annual committees is that term-by-term offers explicit avenues for students to participate as at-large committee members. On top of two Student Council members, two “at-large” students are also selected to diversify the decision-making processes. At the beginning of each term, nominations are put forth by Council members to be read by the speaker. Councillors can nominate either each other or non-Council

The fight for student interests on a political stage

members and after the nominations are made, speeches and a Council vote follow. The sets of new committee volunteers are then approved. Even thought the Budget and BPP Committees do not expressly create such positions, there is also nothing forbidding students from coming in, observing committee proceedings and providing input. Furthermore, aside from Feds’ committees, the aforementioned university committees also sporadically offer spaces for students to engage with them. This can range from areas involving the Advisory Committee on Traffic and Parking to the Co-operative Education Council. Other positions are filled through appointments by the President of Feds, depending on the specifics of the Terms of Reference. If you would like to become a committee member or if you would like to see, speaking with your student governance representatives is a good place to start. The important decisions that go on in committees ultimately have their ramifications in the quality of your education and your academic life. cmiller@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Serving students through the business model Cait Davidson staff reporter

t the top of the list of the university services taken for granted, you will find the businesses run by Feds. The most familiar of which are the Bombershelter (Bomber), Federation Hall (Fed Hall), Wasabi, the Feds Used Bookstore, and Feds eXpress. Over the years, a number of Feds run businesses have been run and eventually shut down: the Record Store, the Post Office and Ground Zero. The name “Campus Center Pub” shouldn’t sound familiar to you; that was the name of the Bomber from 1975 to 1980. In 1976 suggestions to change the name emerged several times, and it was almost called the “Orange Bombshelter”, but this name was shot down. On April 3, 1980, a motion was passed to rename the Campus Centre Pub to the “Bombshelter.” In 2002, Bomber added the patio and increased capacity. Fed Hall was subsidized from 1984 until 2004 by student fees, the construction and mortgage was funded by $7.50 on the student fees, and was opened in 1986. The university removed the fee from student fees when the 20-year mortgage was paid off in 2004. In 2003, Bomber and Fed Hall were closed due to the loss of liquor licenses, when the University closed down the bars after a beating at Fed Hall, on the New Year celebration of 2002 – 2003. The beating hospitalized the victim and had five people arrested – only one of them being a UW student. Mid-January because of the beating and citing safety reasons, the university shut down both bars on campus. Feds filed an $ 11 million lawsuit against the university, losses from the closure of the bars being among the claims. After just over six months, the lawsuit was settled, and in the second mediation session, on July 28,

(the first mediation session on May 29), the university agreed to re-open the bars in time for Labour Day of 2003. Everyone who enjoys sushi is surely familiar with Wasabi. Started in 2004, it is a popular business in the SLC. Almost everyday Wasabi sells out of it’s goods. While it began offering just sushi, it’s beginning to spread out, selling dumplings and some hot food options as well. The Feds Used Bookstore allows students to buy and sell books at reasonable prices. The current manager John Jongerius, or “JJ” commented on the popularity of the bookstore, and how it allowed students to get their expensive textbooks for less. Students see 85 per cent of the profits from the book sales. Gaining 15 per cent of the profits from book sales, the bookstore grosses around $2 million a year. This is in comparison to 1988 when Jongerius took it over it was making $60,000 to $70,000 a year. The increase in students on campus, as well as inflation, has had a large affect on how the store has increased business in the past 20 years. Jongerius mentioned that everything was on paper in ’88; accounts were all kept in paper records. Now from any computer, anywhere in the world students can check their account balance. While incredibly convenient for students, these improvements in technology were the death of the Feds-run post office, according to Jongerius. Jongerius was post master for 10 years, from 1990 to 2000, until the campus post office was eventually faded out. In ’95 the post office was included in Aussies, in 2000 the post office was phased out all together — with Aussies continuing to sell stamps. Recent renovations in the SLC, moved Feds’ owned convenience store Aussies — once across from the Feds Used Bookstore — to the first floor of the SLC, across from Tim Hortons. Aussie’s was re-named to Feds’

eXpress, because, as stated by former VPAF Renjie Butalid, it will be no longer be down under. The plan to change this was announced September 1st, 2006. Feds eXpress held its grand opening on January 28th, and has been successful so far. Business has improved for Scoops now that they’ve been given room inside the new Feds eXpress. Federation Hall is notorious for being Feds’ money pit. While many of Feds’ business lose money, none of the other businesses lose as much as Fed Hall annually. While in the past, the VPAF has had “one big thing” that will save Fed Hall. Our current VPAF, Del Pereira, acclaimed for another term, has two plans to save Fed Hall — one short and one long term. Once nicknamed the “$7.50 Club” due to the subsidy from student fees every term, Pereira opened Fed Hall up to more clubs and societies this year, by helping them pay for the fixed costs of Fed Hall. Rick Theis mentioned that Fed Hall traditionally lost upwards of $80, 000, and that since Pereira has taken office, Fed Hall has greatly improved. Pereira’s short term plan includes helping clubs and societies to continue to use it, making the booking system easier and having a “students first” policy when it comes to booking out the space. As well, he’s looking into ways to better use the space, renting out the top floor and reducing some of the fixed costs. This year when ChinaReach was running their fundraiser, Feds helped them afford the space, reducing the cost of Fed Hall by $1,025. Pereira’s long term plan involves bringing in a consultant and working on ways in the future to change Fed Hall to make it more useful to students. While this will cost money, students will have a choice in how the space is changed.

David Yip staff reporter

ne of the less visible, but most important Feds functions is lobbying. Lobbying ensures that student interests are represented and that government policies and decisions are written and decided in favour of student interests as much as possible. Lobbying takes place on both the federal and provincial levels. At the provincial level, the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) represents some 115 000 Ontario students from seven different universities through their student unions, including Waterloo. According to their web site, OUSA helps students by “providing research and ideas to governments on how to improve the affordability, accessibility, and accountability of post-secondary education (PSE) in the province.” At the federal level, students are represented by the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA), an alliance of student unions from across Canada. Founded in 1995, it now represents 250 000 students across Canada. Student lobbying has produced many successes for students over the years. In February 2005, former Ontario Premier Bob Rae submitted a report to the Government of Ontario led

With the new Feds eXpress, we’ve heard a lot about the new bonuses of this new convenient store that has later hours and is open on weekends. Pereira acknowledge that there are challenges involved with this new store — the greatest one being keeping the store stocked with what students want and need. In order to know what students want, Feds are keeping track of popular items purchased, and introducing new items in order to keep trying to find what students want in the store. Recently, the sales of bread, eggs and other basics has increased, as students in suites are seeing that they don’t need to go all the way to a grocery store in order to get the things they need. As well, sandwiches in C+D’s are currently purchased from suppliers, Pereira mentioned that he’d like to start making these sandwiches on campus in order to reduce costs. Feds council goes through several steps in implementing new businesses in UW. In the near future, there will be an Indian food store that sells Halal food options in the place where Scoops used to be. Through finding out what food options students are wanting with polls, Feds began to look for opportunities to sell more Indian food. Halal food options on campus are few and far between, with cafeteria’s in V1 and Rev offering only one option a night. Pereira mentioned that with Scoops being moved to Feds eXpress, it left a space open for another food option. While there is now an Indian food night at Bomber, because Bomber sells alcohol, the food sold there is not Halal. The space where Scoops used to be is where this new food business will be placed. So far there has been overwhelming support from students on this new project. cdavidson@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

by Dalton McGuinty entitled, “Postsecondary Review: High Expectations for Higher Education,” dubbed the “Rae Review.” OUSA put forth 28 recommendations to the review, and of these, 15 were included in the Rae Review’s final report. According to Feds VPEd Jonah Levine, OUSA lobbying and the Rae Review also resulted in Premier McGuinty’s “Reaching Higher” plan for PSE funding in Ontario — a $6.2 billion investment in Ontario higher education over six years. OUSA also lobbied the provincial government for tuition tax credits to be shifted to grants, further improving PSE accessibility. This has become part of the Liberal party platform. On the federal level, a main success of student lobbying has been changing the Millennium Scholarship Program from being primarily merit-based to primarily needsbased. However, recent CASA’s lobbying successes during the Liberal government have been somewhat mitigated by resistance and clawbacks in the current Harper government, according to Levine. “This is in part due to the fiscal conservative tendencies of this government, and in part due to the fact that they are increasingly trying to pull out of areas that are traditionally a provincial domain, including education.” For example, the expansion of the Canada

Access Grant and the dedicated transfer of PSE funding from the federal level to the provinces were promised by the Liberal government, but then subsequent Conservative government cancelled these commitments. Current OUSA lobbying priorities include improving the OSAP program by removing the OSAP funding reduction for working students, and lowering interest rates for graduating students. Other OUSA projects include lobbying the provincial government to “provide mentorship and funding for students from at-risk backgrounds” and increasing funding to lower class sizes and increase the quality of teaching. On a federal level, CASA is lobbying for the renewal of the Canada Millennium Scholarship program. According to Levine, if this program is not renewed, “30 per cent of the need-based grants in Canada will be gone. Many students currently in university could suffer.” In this area there has also been support from the university itself. CASA also wants dedicated and greater federal funding for PSE – currently federal payments to provinces are used by the provinces on projects of their own choosing. Other CASA priorities include increasing the Canada Access Grant, as well as lobbying the federal government to lead a dialogue in this

country with the provinces on a strategic vision for post-secondary education in Canada.” The Feds Vice-President Education (VPEd) is the main voice for Waterloo students at these organizations. The VPEd sits on the board of directors of OUSA, which determines the lobbying priorities of the organization. OUSA also has a general assembly where Waterloo sends 7 of 49 delegates. In CASA, the Waterloo VPEd has one of 20 votes. Feds also brings concerns directly to the government, though “when speaking to politicians, much of the content of our conversation is determined through the priorities set by all student leaders affiliated with CASA and OUSA” to Levine. On campus, OUSA also has a campus co-ordinator. Waterloo’s coordinator is Andres Fuentes. “My role has two parts, the first one is to organize and run the OUSA campaigns on campus. The second role is to support the VP Education in lobbying local politicians.” Feds thus represents Waterloo at CASA and OUSA, which are both working at different levels of government to improve the quality and accessibility schooling. Says Fuentes: “We are working … so that all students have an equal shot at reaching post-secondary education.”

name and money to the co-op centre, and Ray Tanguay, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada are present. Faculty, staff, and students also have representation on the board. The University Senate is responsible for the educational direction of the university, such as the creation of new programs. As such, most of the senate is composed of academic representatives such as the deans from each faculty, presidents from each of the colleges, and faculty representatives from each faculty and college. Representatives of undergraduates, graduates, as well as alumni sit on the senate. Both bodies have student representation. Feds president Kevin Royal has a spot on the senate and two of his appointees Renjie Butalid and Aaron Stauch sit as students-at-large and also on the executive committee. There are three undergraduate students on the Board of Governors – Kevin Royal, and two students appointed by Royal – Steve Hayle and Caustan De Riggs. “Student issues brought to senate would typically include issues such as academic workload, changes to reading week, campus expansion and pushing for quality reviews of teaching on campus, as well as the renewal of the Canadian Millennium Scholarship Foundation.” said Royal. Issues affecting students covered by the board of governors include “the Campus Master Plan Steering Committee,

ensuring the student voice is heard on issues of student social and study space on campus, [and] green space.” Some other issues currently being discussed include the campus expansion in the United Arab Emirates, and each meeting typically includes reports from various committees such as the Building and Properties committee. Major issues such as the proposed Balsillie School of International Affairs involve both the major direction of the school and an educational component, and are thus discussed at both the Senate and Board of Governors. However, ensuring that the student voice is heard is can be a challenge. Since the number of students on each body is relatively small, making sure student issues are addressed can be tricky. “Our ability to push our agenda as students is completely reliant on our powers of persuasion over the other people in the room.” said Royal. The use of committees and sub-committees can also be a challenge to have student issues heard – “the student voice is often delegated and may go unrepresented if someone appointed doesn’t attend those meetings” he notes. Fortunately Royal noted: “Student voice is respected ... the student opinion is always valued and often sought.”

dyip@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

The UW senate and you David Yip staff reporter

t the heart of every organization is a crucible of power where shots are called, schemes are hatched, and decisions are made. The United Nations has the Security Council. The Legion of Doom has the Hall of Doom. Canada has the Senate and House of Commons, and the University of Waterloo has the Board of Governors and the Senate. The original 1959 University of Waterloo Act outlines the composition of each of these bodies. In 1972 the original Act was repealed, and replaced with a new one, where “The University of Waterloo, [has] agreed to broaden the representation on the said governing bodies to include student, staff, faculty and external representation, to ... more fully the objects of the University.” The Board of Governors is responsible for the overall direction of the university, and decides on issues such as new buildings, and the budget. Members of the board include the president and chancellor of the university, the mayors of both Kitchener and Waterloo, as well as a regional chair, which represents the Region of Waterloo. Members from the community at large are also present, which includes prominent business figures. For example, both Bill Tatham, who gave his

dyip@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

joanna sevilla

So, you wanna be a policy wonk?

Bylaws, policies, and procedures may seem boring, but they’re not. Really, they’re exciting — like robots. Michael L. Davenport assistant editor-in-chief

emember Asimov’s three laws of robotics? Or perhaps Robocop’s (a cyborg, not a robot) more succinct three directives, “Serve the public trust. Protect the innocent. Uphold the law.” As the directives are for RoboCop, the Bylaws of a corporation bind it. When standing next to a robot, you probably want to know if it follows Asimov’s first law. Likewise, when dealing with a corporation, it’s a good idea to know what laws govern that corporation. In the case of Feds, we all have to deal with the corporation in at least one way: we all give it our money (all full-time undergrads, anyway). We the students get certain rights in exchange for that money, and one of the best places to find out what your rights are is to read the Bylaws, Policies, and Procedures (BP&P). The Federation of Students has four BP&P documents: Policy, Board Procedure, Council Procedure, and Bylaws. Bylaws are “the ultimate law of the corporation” according to Feds executive researcher Rick Theis. No policy or procedure can run counter to any of the bylaws. Any change to the bylaws must be approved by the “membership” of the corporation — in this case, full time undergraduate students of UW. Unless you’re a grad student or staff member, that’s probably you. Yes, you’re a member of Feds. Changes to the bylaws are actually made at general meetings, including (but not limited to) the annual general meeting (AGM) in October. In case you’re worried about Feds doing something on the sly, like changing the mandatory Feds fee to infinity billion dollars, don’t worry — the quorum for a Feds general meeting is 50 members, so it would be challenging to do such things in secret. The Council Procedure is set by council, and can be changed at the monthly council meetings.

As Rick Theis put it, while the bylaws outline how the corporation is organized, it’s the procedures document which specifies the “day to day” details. For example, the bylaws say that an election shall happen on the Tuesday and Wednesday before reading week, and everyone gets a vote. But it’s the Council Procedures which outlines all the rules of the election, what to do in case of allegations of breaking the rules, the criteria of the online voting system, minutiae like that. While the bylaws tell you what you are guaranteed as a shareholder, the procedures spell out the implementation. Likewise, board procedures are set by the board of directors. The board of directors is responsible for the legal and financial health of the corporation (read: make sure Feds doesn’t go broke or get sued). It’s worth noting that the board of directors is chosen at the annual general meeting, so even though it’s not accompanied by as much fanfare as the presidential election, you still get to choose who they are. The fourth group of documents, the policies, are “stances” held by the Federation of Students. According to the Feds website, policies are “statements of belief held by Feds Students’ Council.” They are passed by council and require renewal every five years. They require a two-thirds majority to be accepted initially, but only a simple majority to be renewed or stricken. They can be in regards to issues which Feds has to direct control over, such as Policy 12 (A stance that “any scheme of tuition regulation is unjust.”) or issues over which Feds does have control (e.g. Policy 13 is about Clubs). Like any piece of robot software, someone has to “maintain the code”. With the Federation of Students, the in-practice maintenance of the Bylaws, Policies, and Procedures falls to the BP&P committee. Just as a company may have an in-house programming team which knows the system well and turns out tight code, BP&P is tasked with turning out well-written policy. “Policy wonks”

instead of “code monkeys.” However, to write policy BP&P must be given direction. If given nothing to do, they will do nothing. The output of BP&P is policy, but the input is pretty much anyone. If the president wants to change the bylaws, or if council wants to adopt a new policy, they’ll give BP&P the gist and ask them to pen the fine details. They’re a policy sausage factory. As with programming, the president or councillor can bypass the BP&P committee and draft policy themselves...in theory. But as with programming, bypassing the experts to kludge things is usually a bad idea. In practice, the first thing a group voting on a piece of policy will ask is, “Has BP&P seen this?” The exec and councillors in turn get their ideas from their membership. So if you have this great issue you think Feds should take a stance on (e.g., Federation-owned businesses should only sell Fair-trade items) talk to your student councillors and talk to the exec. If one of them agrees you have a good idea, they’ll turn around and hand the issue off to BP&P, who will write policy and hand it back to your motivated Feds avatar. That person will then introduce the policy change to the relevant body, at which a vote will then take place. Incidentally, a lot of these statements are true of Imprint as well — as you give the Federation of Students $34.67 a term for membership and rights, you give Imprint $3.30 a term for membership and rights. And as with Feds, Imprint have bylaws, policies, and procedures documents explaining your rights as members. Imprint has a board of directors to oversee the financial and legal health of the newspaper, and Imprint also has an annual general meeting at which you can choose the board of directors. In the end, all corporations are robots, except with a socially wrought framework instead of a husk of metal. And like robots, when they’re taken apart they can be damned fascinating. mdavenport@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Arts & Entertainment

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008 arts@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

DIFFER/END: The Caledonia Project Cait Davidson staff reporter

ometimes it’s awkward and uncomfortable. Heartwrenching, cathartic. The truth often is. It’s a show, but it’s more than a show. It’s an honest confession of human failures. Everyone should see Differ/End: The Caledonia Project at least once. I’ve seen it twice, and I still want to see it one more time. The production is art, exposing a story of indignity and telling a tale, but every time you watch, you will get something new from it. Director and professor Andy Houston assigned the research for the show as a class project for his drama 301 class, dramaturgical analysis. The class is designed to teach students how to properly design a play, through research and inspiration. The course involves the study of the framework of a production, considering historical, cultural and political aspects. The framework here is the ongoing land dispute in Caledonia between the Six Nations and land developers. For anyone unfamiliar with the issue, in February 2006 Six Nations protestors staged a protest against a developer building a subdivision on disputed land. The situation escalated and became a source of contention across the country. Outside agitators and angry residents in Caledonia protested the Natives’ right to dispute the land, and the police were called in to handle the situation, which continued to escalate. Differ/End follows the path of the researchers, studying to understand and put together the show on the land claim situation, which is part of the larger Haldimand Tract, the land given to the Six Nations in 1784 in gratitude for their assistance to the British during the American Revolution. To this day, the dispute remains unsettled. Watching for the first time, there were parts in which I was lost, and didn’t understand. The host leads you down a path of trickery and frustration, though at the end of the show it comes together clearly. The show itself is very interactive and intimate. It demands that a person be paying attention, and since it is set in a studio, the audience is already incredibly close to the actors. The beauty in this show is that there is nothing more displayed than the truth. The issue is examined from the sides that weren’t looked at in the major media. Throughout the production the performers share their personal experiences, and force the audience to examine their own personal opinions on the matter. Throughout the production, photos, videos and audio interviews are shown; the interviews forced those of us watching to realize this is a real issue, with real people involved. People hurt and injured; no matter what side you believe is right, you begin to understand the human suffering on both sides of the issue. The production was deeply affecting and thoughtprovoking. The actors showed a deep emotional investment in the situations, showing the depravity people can sink to, as well as the generosity and humility that would be needed to eventually settle the situation. “Did this really happen here – in our Canada?” is a question you may find yourself asking as the performers deftly display their experiences with the people of Caledonia. Some of the interviews and things said were surprising; at one point a First Nations man was quoted, saying that he believed the police were doing a good job, when one would expect him to feel animosity toward the police and Canadian authority. The program and play used the illustration of putting together a pie as putting together something tenderly and carefully, the pie representing the solution to the conflict, which the production argues will need to be a “negotiated solution.” The director, cast and crew truly succeeded in baking a pie. During the intermission of the play, the audience is allowed to go into a room that contains the class research, the dramaturgical accounts. Once in there, the audience is encouraged to view the research and draw their own conclusions. Following the performance, the cast serves pie and there is a question and answer session, which allows anyone with any questions to voice their opinions and get the actors and directors’ opinion and thoughts on the play. Caledonia is continuing its run from February 14 to 16. As well, the production will be put on again this summer. Staying true to the course, Differ/End may be changed by the summer, as it will keep up to date on the current issues surrounding Caledonia and the current land disputes in Canada. David Yip

cdavidson@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Arts & Entertainment

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008

Rocking the Boathouse

jacqueline mckoy

Jacqueline Mckoy staff reporter

tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not uncommon for students to never stray further than Bomber or even Uptown Waterloo when looking to partake in some live music. However, now armed with your trusty U-Pass there are few excuses not to explore a hidden gem of Kitchenerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s music scene â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the Victoria Park Boathouse. After a short bus ride to the Charles Street Terminal and a quick (albeit snowy and icy) walk down some side streets, I found myself in the environs of Kitchenerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Victoria Park. The Boathouse, which is essentially a boat house on the edge of the park pond, is pretty close to the Benton Street entrance. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a quaint building that has an outdoor hot dog and hamburger stand attached during summer events in the

park. During the day The Boathouse is apparently home to high-minded takes on pub cuisine as well, but tonight I was specifically there to check out the music. I was hoping that the quality of the nightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s act would make up for the fact that my shoes were full of slush and probably wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t dry before last call. There are several Waterloo establishments for listening to guys with acoustic guitars, but the Boathouse has not only that type of fare, but more. Tuesday night staple Dave Kaye delivers passionate and skilful singer/songwriter fare, and Thursday nights this past month have been all about the soulful reggae stylings of Errol Blackwood, which is a nice addition to the offerings at Starlight and Jane Bond. At night, The Boathouse is a relatively laid-back pub â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the polar opposite of the Bomberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Wednesday atmosphere. The environment is is a pastiche of

blue-collar types, skater punks, and dreadlocked hippies, but despite it not being a typical university bar, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel particularly out of place. Well, at least not after quickly downing a somewhat overpriced pint of Waterloo Dark. The evening takes a jam format, which is much like the familiar open mic night, except with a full band. This allows for a wider range of styles than the typical singer-with-an-acousticguitar deal. Brohman, Spitz and their guest drummer, billed as the Honeyland Express, played a variety of classic rock and soul covers full of booty-shaking bass, including a few Al Green tracks. A variety of scruffy young fellows streamed into the now-crowded Boathouse with gig bags and music stands. While I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t able to stick around until last call, I was able to catch one more act, a young four-piece know as The Jamhouse Band. As soon as I saw the

lead singer in his tie-dye shirt and the guitarist wearing socks but no shoes I knew the I was in for a treat. These guys played their own compositions and rocked out hard. By the time I left, the Boathouse wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just cozy Â â&#x20AC;&#x201D; it was beyond

crowded. As the night progressed, the crowd got younger and more lively and, to my suprise, my boots had dried too. My trek to the hinterlands of Victoria Park was worth it, after all. jmckoy@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

UW Gamers mourn lost Cove

To commemorate the loss of the SLCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Campus Cove, UW Gamers hosted a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Tribute to the Coveâ&#x20AC;? night last Wednesday. The club hosted many arcade-themed games for free, such as Dance Dance Revolution, Tekken 5, and Rock Band.

J DMBVEJB

CZ ,SJTUFO 5IPNTPO 'FCSVBSZ UP .BSDI

i#MJTTGVMMZ GVOOZ VOFYQFDUFEMZ UPVDIJOH A* $MBVEJB JT B NVTU TFF w 5IF 5PSPOUP 4UBS

1BZ 8IBU :PV $BO PO 8FEOFTEBZ OJHIUT BU 5IFBUSF $PNQBOZ 4VCKFDU UP BWBJMBCJMJUZ

#SPVHIU UP ZPV CZ

GPS UJDLFUT DPOUBDU UIF CPY PĂśDF CPYPĂśDF!LTUD DB PS WJTJU UIFBUSFBOEDPNQBOZ PSH

"EVMU 5JDLFUT 4UVEFOU 4FOJPST DBMM UIF #PY 0ĂśDF BU

Arts & Entertainment

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008

Make-up songs

Gamers gone wild

For all your Valentine’s Day wrongs

s this week is slowly coming to an end, I hope that most of you have been able to get through the bulk of your midterms and assignments, or at least enough to focus on the relaxation that reading week promises to bring. Not only is it a time to catch up on readings and schoolwork, but it’s also a perfect time to catch up on your gaming. Though next week may seem like it will last an eternity, it’s important to keep in mind that reading week is usually over almost as soon as it begins. Balance and proper motivation are key to make sure you get in your quality gaming time. So what better way to help your balancing act next week than to combine gaming into everyday tasks. One of the easiest ways to help incorporate gaming into a healthy week-off routine is to bust out more of your “active” games. Usually during time off, none of us are really inclined to pick up gym bags and trudge through the snow to CIF, so why not spend the time safe and warm dancing up a sweat in DDR or acing drum solos in Rock Band. Even if you have to trek to the gym during your time off, try bringing your Nintendo DS and focus on Mario instead of reading the tired old magazines scattered around. No matter which way you do it, adding gaming to your workout can help boost your motivation and keep yourself active while off from school. Also remember that grapes or baby carrots make good munchies over chips and fatty foods when pulling longer gaming sessions, and will often give you longer lasting energy over your studying and play time. Another important part of reading week time management is

sonia lee

Having the promise of some good solid gaming time can really help you to push through the last few pages of even the driest math textbook. Finally you should also remember to save time for friends and family. Though they can probably distract you rather easily from your schoolwork, you can easily integrate them into your gaming time. Family members young and old will easily join in a game of Guitar Hero, DDR, Scene-It?, Wii-Sports or any other group focused/family friendly game release. Wii owners should take special note that a large number of the games released on the console are quickly accepted by gamers and non-gamers alike. For your gamer buds, have them join you in some Gears of War deathmatch, or a run through of Tempest Keep in World of Warcraft before having to get back to your studies. Combining your social life with your gaming life helps to create greater bonds with friends

ou didn’t forget about it; it was a simple misunderstanding. You thought you and your partner weren’t buying into the commercialism this year — but you were wrong. For this error, you will now take part in the week-long make-up celebrations that occur every February 15 to 22. So get some cinnamon hearts and start writing some acrostic poems — you’re making up for Valentine’s Day. To aid in this stressful process I will suggest four times the number of songs I normally do. Instead of the regular one song per week, here are four songs that will put some confidence into the regret-filled phrase: “Happy Re-Valentine’s Day!” The first song you should consider sums things up rather simply — “Do You Realize?” by The Flaming Lips, from their 2002 album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. This is a slow, synth-heavy song that incorporates bells and subtle choir-like praises which emphasize lyrics such as those in the opening line: “Do you realize — that you have the most beautiful face?” The praise espoused by “Do You Realize” communicates the type of message that your significant other is going to want to hear from you. The best part about this song is that it does the talking for you. It’s considered beautiful all on its own, so there is no requirement of action on your part whatsoever. However, if you can’t deal with a slow song — perhaps a song that you can dance to — the second song may be more appealing. The second song, “Take on Me” by A-ha is from their 1985 album Hunting High and Low. Where “Do you realize” does the talking for you, “Take on Me” requires you to follow-up with the song’s message. If your partner wants you to work for their forgiveness, the lyrics

in this song will let them know you’re up for it. The lines, “You’re all the things/ I’ve got to remember/ You’re shying away/ I’ll be coming for you anyways”communicate the devotion that your partner likely needs. The only problem with these lyrics is that they may be interpreted as creepy. To avoid such an interpretation, surprise your partner with something nice to accompany this song — perhaps flowers. However, with the possibility that your partner does misinterpret the song, do your best to stay visible with your surprise. For example, don’t wait in dark alleys after their night class. Even if you have a hundred roses, you’re still lurking in a dark alley after their night class. If the “Take on Me” scenario seems too risky or too ‘80s for you, the final scenario is nearly foolproof — the “Phili-California Love-Punch.” Since you forgot Valentine’s Day the first time around, I recommend reversing the order of the love-punch. First, hit them with California’s All-4One masterpiece, “I swear.” While you may think that boy-bands are lame, your partner is thinking “you’re lame for forgetting Valentine’s Day.” In this case two lames make a right. As for “I Swear,” you should hone in on the lines “And though I make mistakes/ I’ll never break your heart” as these lyrics cater to your situation. To up the intensity and emphasize your commitment, you may want to sing this one. Just don’t bring three of your friends to re-enact the entire All-4-One quartet. While the girl in the music video does seem to enjoy the attention from all the members of the band, in the end, she jumps on a bus and leaves the four fellas on a street corner. If your “I Swear” efforts have swayed your partner toward forgiving you, don’t stop there, complete the

love-punch by reciting Philadelphia’s Boyz II Men hit, “I’ll Make Love to You.” The idea here is that “I Swear” can be seen as a pledge — or in your case repledge — to take care of your partner. To complement this, “I’ll Make Love to You” provides an example of what sort of cares you pledge to provide. This combination of songs is nearly as potent as Cupid’s arrow itself. These songs held number one on the Hot 100 for a total of 25 weeks in 1994. If you read the situation wrong and it turns out that your partner also dislikes boy-bands, your partner will surely take you back on account of their pity for your performance — foolproof. ktremblay@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

“LIKE NOTHING YOU’VE EVER SEEN! A MINDBLOWER! MARJANE IS A SASS QUEEN TO RIVAL JUNO.” - Peter Travers Rolling Stone

ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATED

RATED 14A

NOW PLAYING

6 Princess St. W., Waterloo 885-2950 www.princesscinemas.com

Combining your social life with your gaming life helps to create greater bonds with friends and family and helps to give them an appreciation for, as well as perspective of, your favourite pastime. NEW* call CELL phones to CHIN CHINA, HONG KONG, CANADA/USA, SINGAPORE AND THAILAND.

making sure you take care of any studying, writing or reading that you need to get done for when you head back to campus. If you’re lucky enough to not have anything due after reading week, help support your friends who do and keep them motivated to get their work done so they can join you in blissful freedom. For the majority of you who have work to do next week, I have some helpful advice. Without classes or urgent due dates, it’s easy to slip into an addictive gaming session which quickly turns Monday afternoon into Sunday night. To avoid this, use gaming sessions as study breaks. Give yourself a goal of studying to get done before allowing a three hour Crysis session.

and family and helps to give them an appreciation for as well as perspective on your favourite pastime. Keep this last point close to heart, since holiday time is always the best for carefree reconnection with your favourite people. Hopefully these quick little tweaks to your reading week will help you to maintain a balance between your gaming, school work, lifestyle and social network. It’s ever so easy to jump too far into one of these sectors during the holidays, but maintaining a balance will help you to walk out of reading week feeling accomplished, satisfied and hopefully relaxed. jrickert@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Arts & Entertainment

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008

Book Reviews

Fit for Eternal Life: A Christian Approach to Working Out, Eating Right, and Building the Virtues of Fitness in Your Soul Dr. Kevin Vost Sophia Institute Press

hough I love reading dearly, few books capture a spirit or goal in my own life as closely as this book does. For years now I have been struggling to achieve an inner and outer balance in my life — balance between mind, body and

spirit. In attempting to do so, I have tried various tools, methods, and strategies. Yet inevitably I find myself off-kilter. Now this book seems to be a resource that will help to achieve that balance. The main reason for that is the person that Dr. Kevin Vost is. He has been a lifelong enthusiast of both academic learning and physical fitness. He has written and published extensively in the realm of physical fitness and in cognitive and memory mechanics. Dr. Vost does not just write about these topics, he also practices them, which makes him an authority not just theoretically but also practically. Dr. Vost has done graduate work and post-graduate work academically and he has also competed in power lifting. The book flows nicely from topic to topic. It is designed to help you find balance in your life — to be neither a gym rat, nor a book worm, but to have the best of both worlds. It combines wisdom from classical authors down to current competitive athletes. He states: “Intensity and duration of effort, you see, are inversely proportional. How’s that? A wellknown saying in HIT [high intensity training] circles is that ‘you can train hard, or you can train long, but you can’t do both.’ The more demanding the exercise, the shorter the time you’re able to sustain it. The harder

you work, the sooner you must stop. We all know this from experience. The kind of exercise that maximizes physical strength is not only intense but also brief.” He will teach you to get more results from less time in the gym, and thus have more time for family, friends, leisure and your favourite ‘books.’ Each chapter begins with a set of quotations — one spiritual and the other from the classics. Vost draws from a very wide range of sources to support his arguments, with examples from Pope Pius XII, Aristotle, Seneca, St. Thomas Aquinas, Hesiod, Mike Mentzer and many more. These motivational and inspirational quotes help to draw you into the material. Robert Wolff in his book Bodybuilding 101 states: “There is nothing so constant as change. Meet it. Embrace it. Enjoy it. Learn from it. The one thing you can be absolutely sure of in your life is change.” This book will help you to achieve that lasting change and growth. It will help you develop physically, and improve all areas of your life. Or as a different philosopher, Montaigne, declared: “To strengthen the mind you must harden the muscles.” Vost will give you the tools to work both. He will teach you how to pump iron and to pump ions! — Steven R. McEvoy

Courtesy Fox Media

My Own Kind of Freedom (A Firefly Novel) Steven Brust Creative Commons

hat do you get when you cross a great TV series and movie (Firefly) and an amazing author (Steven K.Z. Brust)? You get a fabulous story that leaves you salivating for more. I have been a longtime Steven Brust fan and was introduced to Firefly just over a year ago. Both are among my all-time favourite works of science fiction or fantasy. What makes it even better is that Brust is giving away the book on his website. You can download it and read it for free — and what student could not use some free entertainment.

Brust always writes in a fun, easyflowing fashion. His books are usually a delight to read. This one took me by absolute surprise; he captured the spirit and the essence of the TV series and its characters and brought them back to life in a new adventure. His style of telling the story from a number of first-person perspectives and from different points in time draws you in, and once you are captured you do not want to get out. My only regret is that the book is not longer and I can only hope it will be the first of many. This book takes a reader into a universe they are familiar with through both the TV series Firefly and the movie Serenity. So as a reader you have expectations of how things will progress and how characters will respond. Brust does not let you down. In your mind’s eye you see the events taking place and because Brust is such a skilled writer, nothing appears to be out of place; it is exactly how you would imagine it. While reading this book it was like having a magnificent film playing in my imagination. All that is missing from it is some great cover art to whet your appetite. There is an old saying that you get what you pay for, but that is not always the case. That is definitely not the case with this free book. So go to his website and download what should be a hours of free entertainment. — Steven R. McEvoy

How is the pen mightier?

t the end of the school week — which, by the time you will read this paper, will be today — I’ll be hosting (for some strange reason) a comic workshop in Imprint. Some of the topics that I plan to talk about and discuss with others include items such as different forms of comics, different ways to approach making comics, and how to make a quality comic. From such, the last item that came to my mind — on quality — is something I find extremely important and can be approached from many angles. In other words, the question that comes to mind when it comes to comics is this: what makes a comic better, the artwork or the writing? Some might find this a bit paradoxical from me. I’m more inclined to drawing than writing an essay — for goodness sakes, I write a column on comics and cartoons — yet I find that a comic is better for its story. A comic can look amazingly fugly, but have the best writing anyone’s seen since John Hughes. XKCD (Munroe: www.xkcd.com), Dinosaur Comics (North: www.qwantz. com) and Cyanide and Happiness (Wilson et al: www.explosm.net/comics) come to mind as an extreme-sided argument. The artwork, although entertaining, is not in the least bit revolutionary. But that doesn’t stop millions of readers from reading these comics because they’re so well-written. Also, one thing to note is that there’s as much storyline continuity in these comics as there is logic for a large man to dress up in a Sailor Moon outfit. Ah, crap. That was an image I didn’t need to think about. But you can see what I mean when I say a tale doesn’t have to keep going like Evan Dahm’s Rice Boy (www.riceboy. jho-tan.com), nor does it need strong

continuity in characters like in Danielle Corsetto’s Girls With Slingshots (www. girlswithslingshots.com) — although I do love a continuous story. Remember that continuity has nothing to do with good writing. Don’t think I’m denying the importance of artwork in a comic, though. A great balance between the two is extremely awesome. Take for example Penny Arcade (Holkins, Krahulik: www.penny-arcade.com). If you’ve read the comic, you can see that there is barely any continuous storyline in it. Sure, the characters Tycho and Gabe occasionally go on bizarrely amazing adventures, but they don’t directly add much to a specific universe of characters. The gold in the writing comes from the humour, and the tremendous amount of courage that Holkins and Krahulik have to write such humour. With A Lesson Is Learned, But The Damage Is Irreversible (Hellman, Beran: www.alessonislearned.com), even an abstract form of writing can coexist with engaging illustration. Instead, their comics approach different themes of existence and surrealism, while at the same time using both real-life and imaginary characters. It’s a complete mind-trip, and the writing and the artwork fuse together to make unforgettable comics. It’s a tough debate for some, to tell you the truth. Other people have a love of comics because they see the artwork as its base foundation and the writing plays as a nice touch on it. But my argument for comic writing playing as the dominant role is this: comics are a form of literature, and for one to enjoy literature (s)he must enjoy the writing it has. ptrinh@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Arts & Entertainment

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008

CD Reviews Jonathon Foreman Fall & Winter

Kidstreet Kidstreet

Credential Records

Independent

Switchfoot’s vocalist, Jonathon Foreman, has released his first EP as a side project beside his work with Switchfoot. The album, called Fall & Winter, consists of two CDs — yes, you guessed it, a Fall CD and a Winter CD. The album is to be later supplemented by a Spring & Summer album that can be attached to the jacket of the first one. Being a vocalist and a songwriter for Switchfoot, the similarity in his new music to Switchfoot’s is certainly noticeable. There is a calming and mellow tone to his voice and the lyrics are of the kind that we could all use on a rainy day. It could be argued that there is some redundancy in the content of some songs, but they are still uniquely performed. The album tracks are mostly acoustic, with some exceptions such as “My Love Goes Free” that are piano-based rather than guitar-based. Most of the tracks are easy to listen to and the first one, “The Cure for Pain,” is certainly an impressive start. However, there are some irregular and seemingly off-tune ones, such as “Lord, Save me from Myself,” that are terrible and annoying to listen to. Jon Foreman’s music has the kind of tunes you would hear at the emotional ending of a Scrubs episode. If you’ve ever been a fan of Switchfoot — or Scrubs — this is for you. — Sherif Soliman

The Teenagers Reality Check Merok

The Teenagers album, Reality Check, has not yet been released, nor does the band have a Wikipedia page, so the group still has all the allure of undiscovered talent. From what was supposed to be a joke by Michael Spziner, Dorian Dumont and Quentin Delafon emerges a humorous, original album. Mainly Delafon, but Spziner and Dumont as well, contribute unmistakable accents to the lyrics. Accompanied by lo-fi melodies, the songs are simple and catchy, consisting of bass, guitar and computers. The album is mostly up-tempo, electro-pop with sing-a-long lyrics, and yet every song has an interesting, unique sound. Most of their song content centers around issues like having sex, Scarlett Johansson and 90210, which either should or should not be expected from three, semi-perverted post-adolescents. ‘Homecoming’ is a song that stands out on the album for three reasons: the spoken word type verses are unusual sounding, like a diary entry; the witty, vulgar lyrics make me blush; and the music video has a sexy, nostalgic feel that matches the song impeccably. Another favourite song would have to be the odd one out, “End of the Road,” because of its slower beat and dreamier feel. The lyrics are sung more softly which is perfect because they are about the end of a relationship. This album is innovative in its singing and lyrical style, while remaining familiar with minimal production. I would seriously recommend this album to anyone who likes interesting pop music or anyone looking for a unique, new band to listen to.

Driving yet playful, the self-titled album from local artist Kidstreet is immediately striking in its exploration of contrast. Understanding the music as “mixing electronic sounds with acoustic instruments in a harmonically crowded mashed up way,” as they do, seems to be a good place to start. The balance between electronic and acoustic is met at the outset of the record in “BMX Love,” with rough and blurred percussion meeting ultra-crisp melody. Throughout, the pattern continues, imbuing a certain element of duality in the work. Kidstreet seem to be at their best when though when either contrasting the elements to a high degree or experimenting with one side or the other. The three stand outs in the seven song record, “Fine,” “Edna PTK” and “Kids X3,” all represent forays into various separate aspects. “Fine” is the most highly contrastive. Electronically skewed piano launches the listener into the song with a fantastic hook that seems to truly display the potential of the artists, though that original playfulness is lost in the song’s somewhat heavy back-end. The acoustic leaning gem Edna PTK – while slower for you compulsive dancers – is a beautiful ballad in which the repetitive yet clear piano chopped at by angry percussion and lamented by low horns seems to truly the capture a sense of longing. Id give a dime to know what the composer was feeling, anyhow. The most heavily electronic song of the album finds its way to the end of the album in “Kids X3.” A somewhat more moderately paced anthem, “Kids X3” is the most danceable song on the list. The commitment to rhythmic variation and electronics gives this song its identity and its power. To say that Kidstreet’s album is at this point truly terrific may be premature. While the contrasting elements certainly display a great amount of talent, potential seems a more pertinent descriptor than mastery. Certainly there are elements of their album that display the promise in Kidstreet, though overall the album is perhaps not entirely certain of its purpose. — Mark Kimmich AB_GENER06_imprint.qxd

3/29/06

8:48 PM

Page 1

newrockalternative

saturdays

ladiesnight

— Tera Dargavel

djobi allrequest

Au Au

thursdays

Oedipus

It really is a shame that the B2 Green won’t be available this summer for lying around and cloud-gazing — especially because Au’s selftitled release would provide a perfect soundtrack for such a pastime. Au (pronouce it however you wish; their website provides little direction in that regard) is incredibly difficult to define in terms of belonging to a genre. If you’re familiar with Animal Collective’s earlier works or Sufjan Stevens’ insturmental tracks, it should be easy to envision the output this rag-tag team of folk instrumentalists — it’s expansive and genrebending, but mellow as well. Even if you don’t consider yourself mellow, you’ll be still be likely to appreciate the 40-odd minutes of sonic peace that Au provides in this album. Led by Portand, Oregon-based pianist Luke Wyland, a wide group of musicians create a gorgeous cacophony including mandolins, wailing voices, chimes and something that almost sounds like a kitchen sink. Their inventive nature shines most brightly on the first two tracks, “Sum” and “Boute.” The latter, with its calming minimalist motifs, makes for a perfect addition to a study soundtrack. Tracks such as “Death” and “Ask the River” towards the end of the album are more somber. Despite using vocal parts more traditionally rather than as an amorphous instrument, they both sound less well-constructed. Despite this, the curiousity of Wyland’s band makes for a unique and rewarding listening experience. — Jacqueline McKoy

bigalsretro fridays

anabstractstateofmind.

9pmuntil2am667kingstreetwestkitchener571.9032 www.clubabstract.com

Comics & Distractions

Crossword Tim Foster

Across 1. Little barks 5. Italian berry 10. Rigging support 14. Classic cookie 15. Separate 16. Operatic solo 17. Spite 18. Go back to square one 19. Singer Amos or actress Spelling 20. Sneak in 22. Level 23. Famous Norman cathedral 24. Infinite 26. Not passive 30. Halifax Univ. 31. Not remembered 35. Concede 39. Actors Rickman or Alda 40. Instruct 42. Threesome 43. Silky synthetic 45. Original Caucasians 47. Eliminate 49. Goes by 50. Gets away 54. Plead 55. At another time 56. Without caution 62. Foot inflammation 63. Icon 64. Margarine 65. Hang loosely 66. Cares for excessively 67. Thwart 68. Miniature whirlpool 69. Near, middle, and far parts of Asia 70. Durable hardwood used for shipbuilding Down 1. U.S. ball player Berra 2. Neighbour of Iraq

Sudoku

Hey Lost In Translation. I didn’t think you noticed me, I mean, most people don’t seem to notice a guy like me. I’ve been watching you, and I guess you’ve been watching me too. Maybe some time we can get together, and I can unravel your DNA. You are in the Science and Aviation program here and I must say look fantastic in your white shirt, red tie and black blazer. I always see you walking into RCH on tuesdays and thursdays and always want to talk to my beautiful blonde fly girl but just never can.You are also in my Calculus 128 class and can never get the courage to sit next to you. I only know your first name and you don’t know mine :(. Be my Charlie and ill be your Maverick. What do you think A.? -J.L

21 23

29 32

What is the craziest thing you plan to do over Reading Week?

35 41

by Mark Kimmich

36 42

45 49 53

3. Booty 4. Pieces of music for one 5. Famous quotations compiler 6. Mimickry 7. University advocacy group 8. Largest Greek island 9. Go to 10. Orbiters 11. Demonstrate to be true 12. Buenos ____ 13. Precipitates 21. Latin raise prefix 25. Minister for Public Safety 26. At a distance 27. Carbonated caffeine 28. Platter 29. Without finding out details 32. Golf ball stand 33. French water

Tim Foster

9 8 4 1 9 6 7 5 1 3 4 9 8 8 3 1 1 5 6 2 4 7 7 5 2 Hey Wonderful, I know I promised not to do anything special today but I couldn’t resist.You mean so much to me, and I’m thankful everyday for you. You’ll always be my beauty queen, but can you be my valentine too? Much love from your “loverboy.”

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008

You always go to dinner around 5:45 in V1. I know you’re taken but maybe we can spend more time together. I’ve sat beside you in Chem123, with your bright yellow sweater. You always catch my eye. I can never concentrate or study because of you.We dominate together. I think you’re the one, will you live with me next year? -ur luvah The beauty of facebook is that it makes breaking the ice easier than missed connections, I think I could be the person your talking about, send me a message and we can setup a lunch or coffee break? I don’t really drink coffee though, ha. To the cute brunette who was SJU FOC this past Frosh Week, I noticed you all the way from the Toga security moat. I witnessed you cut off the wristbands of five drunk frosh with such authority - glorious. I was taken by your beauty and know you’d be great to hang with, hopefully nothing came of that guy you were talking to for a while. I’d love for you to give me my own “O-Week” to remember.

34. Carbonless copy-paper type 36. Ages 37. American queue 38. Sleep (slang) 41. Despondent 44. Key part of plastic surgery 46. Errand boy 48. Choose 50. Largest bird of prey 51. Gentlewoman’s hair net 52. Was able 53. Polynesian archipelago 54. Conceive 57. Charlie Brown’s expression of annoyance 58. Squishy 59. Wild plum 60. Star Wars Alderaan senator 61. Tasty egg part

“Fly to the moon!” Abigail Cabunoc 3B bioinfomatics

“Shovel my driveway.” Chris Janovich 2B kinesiology

Feb. 8 solutions

tfoster@imprint.uwaterloo.ca V A L E O V E N L E I T I S O U R M C L E I T A L T R A Y E O N R I B A S S H A K I O T A B O A T P R E

7 4 6 3 1 5 2 9 8

5 1 3 8 9 2 4 7 6

M C C O Y B A S E

9 8 2 7 4 6 1 5 3

S M O K E D B U S I N E S S

1 6 8 4 7 3 9 2 5

P A R E I M E S T I F S Y E I P O N C R A C E R O S E S I T E S S E S M K S P O S T A D D R E M P H A S A L A D T Y L E

2 5 9 6 8 1 7 3 4

3 7 4 2 5 9 8 6 1

4 9 5 1 6 7 3 8 2

F R O S H

C O G N O S C E N T I

C O M L E E R O R E G O N

S T R O N G

“Skinny dipping in Florida.”

“Get ‘Rec’d.”

4A biology

1B recreation and leisure

Ngoc Nguyen

Russell Mackay

S A N D W I S E D C A S A H Y P O

6 2 1 9 3 8 5 4 7

8 3 7 5 2 4 6 1 9

“Getting plastered the moment I hit the Dominican.” Kim Manito

2B recreation and leisure

“Play spin the bottle!” Farzana Premji, Max Sadlowski and Kristen Reid 3B biomedical science, 3A chemistry and 3B biomedical science

I see... you in a friend’s film class, I smell... you when you pass by me.You smell like fresh apple pie.You take the 7 bus. I know you are a prude, but your love for political science just turns me on. Do you have a brother named Lance? I wear white boots and a bucket hat. I am watching you. To the petite Asian bouncing up the stairs of MC last Friday.You have the most amazing body ever.You were wearing VERY tight black yoga pants, which accented your hip curves (OMG…) and a v-neck that displayed your wondrous and firm assets. Your bosoms are very perfectly sized and aligned for your body type. I would love to stick my face in you chest and go ‘BBBUUURRR’. My buddy and I think you are the hottest Asian we have ever seen. We said “WOA!!!” as you bounced by us! We’d give anything to see you bounce by us again and who knows; maybe we’ll run into you… Missed a connection? Wanna break the ice? Email mkimmich@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

“Hammered snowboarding.”

Matt Sim

3A recreation and business

“Group sleepover!” Amanda Axman 4B english

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008

Comics & Distractions

Guest Comic

Travis Myers

Campus Bulletin ANNOUNCEMENTS Listen weekly to “Monday Morning Drive” on CKMS 100.3 or www. ckmsfm.ca > click on webcast< between 6:30 to 9 a.m., for your latest news, weather, popular music, new releases and free giveaways. Call 519-886-2567 to put your upcoming events/announcements on your UW radio station. Win $1000, $500 or $200 award. UW, UWO, WLU, or U of G students. Submit transcript, cover letter, and two technical communication samples. Deadline February 29, 2008. Go to http://www.stc-soc.org/awards/ thiessenaward.php. Doon Heritage Crossroads – February is workshop month – needlework, candlewick embroidery and genealogy. Call 519-748-1914 for info. Exchanges for undergraduates and graduates – 2008/09 academic years: Ontario/Rhone-Alpes, France, Ontario/Baden-Wurtemberg, Germany and Ontario/Maharastra-Goa, India. Scholarships available, for applications/deadlines please contact Maria Lango, ext 33999. MICEFA, Paris, France and the Chinese University of Hong Kong – internal deadline: March 17, 2008. For information and application forms contact Maria Lango, International Programs, Waterloo International, Needles Hall 1101, room 1113, ext 33999 or by e-mail mlango@uwaterloo.ca. Considering transferring to the Accounting and Financial Management program? Submit a Plan Modification form by Friday, March 14 to Carol Treitz, School of Accounting and Finance, HH290B, ext 36537. Forms available at the Registrar’s Office. Nominations are requested for one

student elected by/from the fulltime undergraduate students, term from May 1, 2008 to April 30, 2010. Nomination forms are available from the Secretariat, ext 36125, and from the Secretariat website. At least five nominators are required in each case. Completed nomination forms should be submitted to the Chief Returning Officer, Secretariat, NH 3060, no later than 4:30 p.m., Friday, February 22, 2008. A by-election will follow if necessary. Refer to the Senate website for information about Senate and its Committees/Councils. Need help with your tax return? KW Access-Ability is hosting free income tax clinics for persons with low incomes. For info/appointment call 519-885-6770.

CO-OP/CAREER SERVICES “Career Interest Assessment” – Tuesday, February 12 at 2:30 to 4 p.m., TC 1112 or Thursday, February 28 at 3 to 4:30 p.m., TC 1112. “Exploring Your Personality” – Part I: Wednesday, February 27 at 10 to 11:30 a.m., TC 1112. Part II: Wednesday, March 5 at 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., TC1112. “Special Session for International Students” – Wednesday, February 27 at 4:30 to 6 p.m., TC 1208. “Success on the Job” – Tuesday, February 26 at 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., TC 1208. “Successfully Negotiating Job Offers” – Wednesday, February 27 at 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., TC 1208. “Getting a US Work Permit” – Thursday, February 28 at 4:30 to 6 p.m., TC 1208.

“Writing CVs and Cover Letters” – Monday, February 25 at 12 to 1:30 p.m., TC 2218.

COUNSELLING SERVICES

English Language Proficiency Program (ELPP) – all workshops are scduled bertween 9:30 and 11:30 a.m.. Monday, February 25 or Tuesday, February 26 – “Articles/Prepositions/Pronouns.” For more info/registration call 519-888-4567, ext 32655 or kmaclean@ uwaterloo.ca or ext 33245.

STUDENT AWARDS FINANCIAL AID

2nd floor, Needles Hall, ext 33583. Please refer to safa.uwaterloo.ca to view a full listing of scholarships and awards. Stop by the Office to see if you have a grant cheque or Millennium Bursary cheque to claim. February 21 – OSAP application deadline (full funding) for winter and spring term. February 28 – deadline for OSAP Reviews (appeals) for winter only and fall and winter terms.

CHURCH SERVICE St. Bede’s chapel at Renison College offers worship on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. or take a break midweek with a brief silence followed by Celtic noon prayers on Wednesdays. Come and walk the labyrinth the second Thursday of each month, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. For more info contact Megan at 519-884-4404, ext 28604 or www.renison.uwaterloo.ca/ministry-centre.

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008 ads@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

VOLUNTEER

UPCOMING

Volunteer with a child at their school and help improve their self-esteem and confidence. One to three hours a week commitment. Call Canadian Mental Health 519-744-7645, ext 229. City of Waterloo, 519-888-6488 or volunteer@city.waterloo.on.ca has many volunteer opportunities. Check out the website today. Volunteer Action Centre, 519-7428610 or www.volunteerkw.ca, has many opportunities available – visit the website or call today! The Kitchener Youth Action Council is currently seeking volunteers aged 14-24 who are concerned about issues facing youth and young adults across Kitchener. For more info e-mail youth@kitchener.ca. Distress Line Volenteers Wanted - Canadian Mental Health Association is seeking caring volunteers to provide supportive listening and crisis deescalation to callers living in Waterloo Region. Please call 519744-7645, ext 300. The tri-Pride Community Association is looking for people to get involved with various projects leading up to Pride Week 2008 which will take place during the month of June. For more info e-mail info@triPride.ca or www.tri-Pride.ca. Career Services volunteers needed for 2008-2009 – Student Career Assistant and Student Marketing Assistant. Depending on the position you will gain valuable job search, marketing and career-related skills by either promoting events and services or by helping other students in their career planning and job search. Open to regular and co-op students who are creative and possess strong interpersonal and communication skills. Applications available in Career Services, TC 1214 or from our webpage at careerservices.uwaterloo.ca. Deadline March 14, 2008.

Saturday, February 16, 2008 Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region is proud to present “Hockey Night in Waterloo Region with NHL hockey legend Darryl Sittler,” at St. George Banquet Hall, 665 King Street N, Waterloo. Call 519-653-8966, ext 239 or shelly.friesen@ wcswr.org for more info. Tuesday, February 26, 2008 Spend a semester or a year in Germany while earning UW credits. Exchange info session at 3 to 4 p.m. in ML 245. For more info scwood@uwaterloo.ca. UW Vegetarians will have its General Meeting and movie night at 6:30 p.m., SLC room 2134. Everyone is welcome, free food. For details UWvegetarians@ gmail.com or uwveg.uwaterloo.ca. Friday, February 29, 2008 Feminist-Vegetarian Workshop – a workshop exploring the relationship between the oppression of women and animals put on by the UW Vegetarians and Women’s Centre at 1 p.m., SLC Multi-Purpose Room. Saturday, March 1, 2008 Rotunda Gallery presents “Everyday People” by Linda Brubacher, a UW graduate, at 200 King Street, W., Kitchener. For info call 519-741-3400, ext 3381. Friday, March 14, 2008 Considering transferring to the Accounting and Financial Management program? Submit a Plan Modification form by today to Carol Treitz, School of Accounting and Finance, HH290B, ext 36537. Forms available at the Registrar’s Office.

at Paradigm Transportation Solutions Limited, 519-896-3163, ext 9 or dcassidy@ptsl.com.

Only five minute walk to UW campus. Utilities and internet included in rent of $425/month. Contact 519-893-2000 or rooms4students@gmail.com. Five bedroom house available September 1/08. Rcently renovated, very clean, central air and heat, parking and laundry included. Walking distance to UW.

Classified HELP WANTED ;8G gi\gXi\j le`m\ij`kp îX[lXk\j n`k_ c`d`k\[ fi ef kiXèè^ è XZZflekè^ ]fi \ekip èkf X gif]\jj`feXc XZZflekè^ [\j`êXk`fe :8# :>8# :D8 fi :G8 è k_\ LJ %

Weekend counsellors and relief staff to work in homes for individuals with developmental challenges. Minimum eight-month commitment. Paid positions. Send resume to Don Mader, K-W Habilitation Services, 108 Sydney Street, Kitchener, ON, N2G 3V2. Angies Kitchen, Waterloo, needs part-time line cooks and waitstaff. Flexable hours. Bring resume to 45 Erb Street, Waterloo, attention: Teresa. 519-886-2540. Casual employment available – responsible individuals needed to assist with GRT travel survey. Must speak fluent English and be available to work approximately 75 hours, Monday to Friday, in March. Own transportation an asset. Paid training. Two shifts available – 6 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or 12:30 to 7 p.m. $12-$15/hour. Call Darlene Cassidy

HOUSING Attention Cambridge School of Architecture students! Live conveniently and comfortably right across the street from school in this beautifully renovated apartment. 4, 8 and 12-month leases available with excellent signing bonuses and rental incentives! Call Darlene or Joanne at 519-746-1411 for more details. Free 32” TV or BBQ for the first 10 groups! Spacious three and four bedroom townhouses available for May or September. Newly renovated, private backyards, patio, free laundry and parking. Call 519-572-0278 or visit www.domushousing.com. Spacious, well maintined house available to rent at 11 McDougall Road.

USE YOUR WATCARD at 160 University Ave., W., (at Phillip St.)WATERLOO 519-886-6490 www.bignight.ca

DEADLINE IS MONDAY AT 5 P.M. FOR CAMPUS BULLETIN, SLC, room 1116 or ads@ imprint.uwaterloo. ca

COURSE INFO SP-100 Forest Firefighting course to be held in London, Ontario March 1216, 2008 and Waterloo, Ontario March 19-23, 2008. Course will be held during evening hours during the week. To register, please call Wildfire Specialists Inc., 2233 Radar Road, Suite 5, Hanmer, Ontario, P3P 1R2, toll free 1-877381-5849. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources accredited. No guarantee of employment.

DEADLINE IS MONDAY AT 5 P.M. FOR CLASSIFIEDS, SLC, room 1116 or ads@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

WE HAVE THE CAREERS, YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITIES. The Canadian Forces offer you over 100 full- and part-time job opportunities in stimulating environments. Whether close to home or abroad, the Forces offer you: • A wide range of careers in professional fields and technical trades • Training programs throughout your career • Financial aid for your studies To find out more, visit our Website or your local Canadian Forces recruiting centre.

WWW.FORCES.CA

1-800-856-8488

JOIN US

Science & Technology

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008 science@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Stepping stones of innovation

Executives on innovation, entrepreneurship, education and the facility that combined them Adrienne Raw science editor

uilt on the theme of entrepreneurship, the Infusion Angels Innovation Centre (IAIC) sponsored by Microsoft aims to provide support and resources to students, professionals, and entrepreneurs to foster economic growth in Canada. The purpose of the IAIC, which launched on January 31, 2007, is to provide support for local entrepreneurs and businesses — like Frozen North, the game design company of former UW student Julian Spillane. The IAIC is part of a network of over 60 Microsoft Innovation Centres around the globe. Microsoft wanted to bring an Innovation Centre to Canada and, in so doing, to improve communications with their longtime partners Infusion Development (who had worked on many demos for Microsoft). Infusion Angels (a sister-company of Infusion Development that works to identify, fund, and help grow innovative concepts into commercial companies) presented the perfect opportunity. The partners then chose Waterloo, and specifically the Accelerator Centre neighbouring UW, as the home for the new Innovation Centre. The decision was based in part on a “longstanding relationship with Waterloo,” said Mark Relph, Vice President, Developer & Platform Evangelism Group, Microsoft Canada Corporation. Gregory Brill, CEO of Infusion Development, has long recognized the talent in Waterloo and at UW. Many of Infusion Development’s senior management were former UW co-op students who spent their work terms at Infusion Development. Brill and his team actively seek out businesses that would fit with the IAIC, but they also encourage people to come in and pitch ideas. The IAIC takes advantage of the Waterloo community, the talent at UW and the tech-

nological and people resources of Microsoft, Infusion Development and Infusion Angels to provide a unique and strong support base for young entrepreneurs. Value of the Innovation Centre

The IAIC is a “lightning rod for innovation,” said Relph. It serves as a focus area to support students and entrepreneurs, providing access to the latest hardware and software from Microsoft, Dell and Intel, industry experts who can provide technology and business advice and access to potential investors like Infusion Angels. The IAIC “serves as a seed a community can form around,” said Brill. The centre offers numerous events including outreach projects, industry speakers and educational sessions. For entrepreneurs, the IAIC provides a place where businesses can incubate until they’re ready to hatch into something new. Entrepreneurs also get access to technology, equipment and space. The IAIC is also an environment where entrepreneurs can try new ideas and, if that idea fails, try again with something new. Brill sees the IAIC as a place to learn behaviours to help entrepreneurs succeed. “Entrepreneur is a behaviour,” Brill said, “not an attribute.” For Julian Spillane, CEO of Frozen North, one of the companies currently working in the IAIC, the space is the most valuable support, right next to the connections and network opportunities the IAIC provides. Not only does the fledgling company value having a nice office without having to pay rent and deal with associated overhead costs, they also appreciate the environment provided by an office. “There’s this strange connotative difference,” said

Spillane of Frozen North’s office space in the IAIC, “‘I am in the office now so I will be more productive.’ The technology is the same but its just the environment, it feels completely different.” He went on to add, “We got a lot more done than we would have on our own or in our own space.” Brill, Relph and Spillane all agree that one of the most valuable resources provided at the IAIC is the people. Relph commented that the access to experts and connections was the “most valuable thing hands down” about the centre. The IAIC is somewhere to vet ideas with people whose job is to fund good ideas. The IAIC does not just benefit entrepreneurs or the community. According to Relph, Microsoft reaps value from the centre as well. The IAIC gives Microsoft an opportunity to participate in the Waterloo community and serves as a focus point for interaction with students. The centre also supports Microsoft’s partnerdriven philosophy. “Other organizations build their stuff with our stuff,” said Relph. And one of those other organizations might someday become the next great Microsoft partner. Future of the Innovation Centre

Both Brill and Relph have high hopes for the future of the IAIC. Relph hopes that the centre grows; he’d like to see more people take advantage of the support offered by the centre and more software and technology companies get involved. Brill said that the future of the IAIC involves expansion and change. Frozen North, one of the companies currently inhabiting the centre, is expanding and will soon outgrow their current space. As they grow and eventually move out of the centre, they’ll make room for new ventures to move in. According to Relph, Microsoft might open more Innovation Centres in Canada sometime in the future, but right now they plan of focusing on making the IAIC as good as it can be. Relph also commented that the Waterloo centre had something of a magical formation: groups came together in a way that would be hard to replicate. Brill also anticipates the success of Frozen North will prompt further expansion and funding for the centre saying, “Success breeds greater investment.”

Corporations and Education Corporations like Microsoft and Infusion Development and Infusion Angels see great importance in students’ education. The resources offered at the IAIC are just some of the initiatives they’ve undertaken to support education. Microsoft is deeply involved in education initiatives at UW. Microsoft, said Ralph, is an “active user of the co-op program.” Many of the students they hire are from a UW co-op program. The purpose of this initiative is two-fold. First, Microsoft provides what they recognize as young, great talent with experience and knowledge intended to encourage students to go into the field. Second, they identify potential future employees of Microsoft. “Down the road,” said Relph, “maybe we get to hire them.” Microsoft’s involvement at UW also includes current research into using tablet computers for such applications as math notation. “Education is not textbooks,” said Brill. “Education is exposure to processes that make you successful.” Brill sees the involvement of Infusion Development and Infusion Angels in education as an opportunity for students to interact with companies and learn about applications of classroom knowledge. He does, however, believe involvement is best in moderation. “Education is the way you get the innovators of the future,” said Relph. Unfortunately for the science and technology industry, enrolment in science and technology programs is declining. Relph speculates that the decline is because high school students are not encouraged to stay in math, science, and technology electives. The problem is further compounded as students stop seeing these fields as fun. Microsoft’s solution is programs that use game development to get students excited about software development. Brill’s view on the decline is a little more positive. He doesn’t see the decline as a result waning interest in the math, science and technology fields. Instead, he believes the decline may be caused because fewer students are applying to these programs for the wrong reasons — applying just because the field makes money, for example. He still believes that corporations and educators need to do more hands on teaching and less talking to maintain student interest.

Mark Relph

araw@ imprint.uwaterloo.ca photos courtesy infusion development

Gregory Brill

Advice For Entrepreneurs Mark Relph:

Gregory Brill:

Julian Spillane:

Relph’s advice to those interested in starting their own business is to “try and potentially fail.” Good ideas need trial and error to become great ideas. Ideas should be developed, and if they fail, entrepreneurs shouldn’t give up. They should go on to the next great idea.

Brill cautions would-be entrepreneurs that it’s “not enough to just have an idea.” Entrepreneurs must also understand the market they’re interested in and have a real team. “We invest in the team,” Brill said. People complement each other, whereas a single person has much more difficulty. “Being a solitary entrepreneur, doing everything by yourself, is hard,” Brill said.

The core of Spillane’s advice to entrepreneurs is to ‘be realistic.’ He encourages entrepreneurs to take risks and follow their dreams. “If you really believe in your ideas,” he says, “go for it.” But he also cautions entrepreneurs not to promise too much — or not enough — and not to misrepresent themselves. The key, he said, was honest reflection: knowing what the individual (and the team) were capable of and not taking on anything beyond the entrepreneur’s capabilities.

Science & Technology

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008

Frozen North moves upward Introducing Infusion Angels Innovation Centre success-story Frozen North

Julian Spillane

photos courtesy infusion development and uw archives graphic by peter trinh

Adrienne Raw science editor

rozen North, a video game design studio, is one of the fledgling businesses currently incubating in the Infusion Angels Innovation Centre. The company was founded by former UW student Julian Spillane in September 2006, but the passion behind the business has been around for a lot longer. “I think the first thing I ever wanted to do was make games,” said Spillane, who started programming when he was six years old. This passion for game design led him to UW’s software engineering program and a group of friends that made games as a hobby. In 2006, they turned their hobby into a business, incorporating Frozen North in September of that year. “I said, ‘I’m young, I’m in my 20s. If I don’t do this now, and I want to do it when I’m 30 or 40 and I’m either married or in a full time job and committed and I’ve got risks. I won’t be able to do it an I’ll regret it forever,’” said Spillane of his decision to leave school and found Frozen North. “[I] decided that the opportunity was on the table, that there was an opportunity for investment, and if I said no now it probably wouldn’t be there later. I hopped on it while I could.” Shortly after Frozen North’s incorporation, Infusion Development CEO Gregory Brill spoke at a conference Spillane was co-ordinating. After Brill’s keynote address, Spillane relates, “[Greg] said […] ‘I’m looking for someone whose got a small game development studio, a team of talented developers who want to make games. I want to invest in them. Do you know anybody?’ And I said ‘Yeah I think I know somebody.’” Further talks with Brill and Infusion Angels followed, until in June 2007 Frozen North moved from their Toronto base and into the Innovation Centre.

About Up & Dn

Up & Dn, an action-adventure puzzle platformer revolving around a wizard’s apprentice who can rotate his world, is Frozen North’s first game. The idea for the game originated with Frozen North’s lead designer Douglas Gregory who developed the original concept as an exercise in game development, experimenting with the ideas of gravity and spatial awareness. In August of 2007, the Frozen North team was approached by Microsoft to promote a new technology called XNA, which enables game development in a managed environment. The Frozen North team was tasked with building a game to be showcased at Microsoft’s X’07 conference. However, they only had two weeks to build the game. It was at this point that Gregory offered up his game design. Though initially hesitant, the team looked the idea over and set about retooling it for the X’07 conference. The prototype demo was showcased at the conference to positive feedback and interest. Between the positive press coverage and the interest from an Xbox representative (who wanted the game to go on LIVE Arcade), the Frozen North team received enough incentive to really develop the game and begin pitching to publishers. Design process and game development

“We’re very unconventional,” said Spillane of Frozen North’s design process. The design team uses iterative design, a design concept based on a cyclic process of prototyping, which is not something a lot of game design studios do. “Prototyping allows you to quickly evaluate a concept without investing a lot of time and money,” said Spillane. Normal investment in a game is $5 to 10-million. Prototyping creates an isolated “sandbox” that demonstrates the game mechanic. If the focus group hates it, then the design team has saved a lot of money. Functional, visual and interaction prototype are used to hammer out the concepts of the

game, from how the characters will look in 3D to how the tile-based interface will come together. Prototypes include animated maquettes, paper models, and complete applications that run in their own self-contained environments. Most of Frozen North’s prototypes were done in Flash, because that’s what the team’s designers were used to. Up & Dn had about five or six prototypes just to get the concept down. Up & Dn’s current platform, the Nintendo Wii, offers unique challenges and opportunities to the design team. Unlike developing for the Xbox 360, which is much like developing for Windows, the Wii uses a different operating structure and much smaller memory capacity, forcing the team to use more frugal design practices. The team uses a number of standard game design tools, including Adobe Creative Suite for art production, but also uses Nintendo’s proprietary technology, which Spillane said speeds up the design process. The Wii’s controller with its ability to provide positional, torque, and acceleration information allowed Up & Dn’s designers to build a gesture-based control system. On the Wii, the key game component (rotating the game world) can be done by holding the remote and rotating it in the desired direction — unlike the Xbox 360 or a computer platform which would require a key combination. On publication

Currently, Frozen North is reviewing a contract, received just two weeks ago, with a publisher to release Up & Dn on the Nintendo Wii. “This is the kind of thing I’ve been striving for all my life,” said Spillane. The offer is a very important step for Frozen North. “Once you’ve received an offer from a publisher, it means you’ve been vetted in the industry,” said Spillane. “It means that you’re taken seriously as an international game developer. And having that status means that no matter how poorly

our game does or how well it does, we are well on our way to becoming an international studio that’s respected by our peers, which is not something that most people can say.” Frozen North’s success is especially impressive considering that over 95 per cent of ideas are rejected during the initial pitch with the publisher. “So having been received so warmly, even on our very first meeting with the publisher, is just phenomenal,” said Spillane. Up & Dn isn’t a game that appeals just to the traditional group who identify themselves as gamers. In fact, said Spillane, “Of all the people we’ve shown this game to, the biggest reaction, positive reaction, has been from females who are not necessarily gamers.” It’s a statistic Spillane can’t explain, but that he recognizes indicates a positive potential for the game. “There’s a popularity in a demographic that’s relatively untapped because people are still obsessed with making very very macho games,” he said. The game will be published first on the Wii then later on the PC. Design practices

Frozen North has no plans to stop with Up & Dn. Spillane reveals that they have many ideas on the table. “We’ve gone through a lot of concepts the past few years and a lot of them I’d still like to see realized,” Spillane said. Frozen North’s team plans to avoid the mistake that many other studios make. “Our plan,” said Spillane, “is not to become like a lot of these studios out there where they live from project to project with big gaps in between because they haven’t finalized a design.” Midway through the development process, when the game designers’ work is done and the developers are working, Frozen North’s design team will start work on new games. If what they come up with next is as successful as what they have now, expect to see Frozen North’s name is going to become much better known. araw@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Science & Technology

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008

On Virginity Part 1 of 3: Reforming sex-ed, one condom-covered banana at a time

ersonally, I find high-school sex ed to be biased, oversimplified, and most of all, peripheral. Sex affects an individual on a multitude of dimensions, yet in-school sexual education content has remained stale and inefficient, and has denied its growth potential in the social context of a contemporary Sexual Revolution. Stubbornly, school boards across Canada insist on aiming their educational artillery at lowering teen pregnancy rates by discouraging sexual interest and expression. Ironically, their method alone is the reason it is fruitless. By creating a taboo around a naturally occurring process, they are encouraging the teenage population to gain knowledge through experience. I believe that the key to an unabbreviated sexual education is realism. All I learned from high school was, sex makes babies. What they failed to say is that sex is not purely a physical act, it affects the whole person, including their identity and self-perception. Because of this, the article you are reading will be the first in a three-part series discussing separate components of sex and virginity loss, with the purpose of filling in the gaps high school sexual education left blank. The first one will focus on expanding your mindset about virginity loss. Picture this. You’re standing barenaked in a room, ready to lose your virginity. You’ve got your condom in the

one hand and your heart in the other, as you’re feeling thrilled and nervous and three thousand ways at once. Stop and think: Is this how you pictured losing your virginity? And most importantly, do you think you are ready? Because crossing the sexual threshold is a highly normative and objective experience, it is nearly impossible to solidify a fool-proof guide to knowing whether you are ready, or whether and when you should begin having sex. It is better to provide considerations, so that in agreeing or disputing them, a person can establish their values. This is exactly what I intend to do. For instance, when you say you’re ready, what are you ready for? Sex, you say. Although you may be getting into it to experience for the glorified crescendos of sexual gratification, be prepared for some sex baggage for your mind. Did you consider that losing your virginity changes your perspective on the extent of human relationships, and on the capacities of your own body? After all, it signifies the passage from childhood to adulthood for a reason. Holding a new perspective on an old idea, I strongly believe that virginity loss has the strongest potential of being a positive experience when stemming out of a long-term relationship or friendship. No, I do not believe virginity loss and marriage go hand in hand, and my reasons have nothing to

do with possible pregnancy. Instead, I believe that the circumstances of this situation have greater long-term benefits than the casual “getting it over with” method. I think virginity should be lost this way because it ensures an environment open to communication, security and mishaps.

These three components are essential for your first time to be positively memorable. The first sexual interaction is purely a learning experience; as such, communication is necessary for cooperation and understanding, security assures a feeling of safety and trust that comes from familiarity with your partner, and a comfortable environment

for errors is necessary to prevent selfconscious embarrassments in a highly personal and private situation. Theoretically, these characteristics can be present or compensated for when virginity loss happens outside a friendship or relationship. However, this diminishes the support system that is otherwise available after sex, as discussing your inexperience with an almost-stranger is unlikely to happen. In contrast, the relationship/friendship scenario allows for a deepening of the relationship, where both criticism and reassurance is comfortable. The more you think about having sex before you commit to it, the more positive the experience can be. Although removing the association of sex and fertility is naturally impossible, it entails much more than reproduction. It is an irreversible transition into a new life stage, and unlike all others, its occurrence is entirely up to you. alomako@imprint.uwaterloo. ca

joyce hsu

Adrienne Raw

Heart shrinkage at age 50

science editor

Dr. Nathaniel Reichek, director of research and education at St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center in Roslyn, and his team have defined and chronologically timed a phenomenon called the “age 50 effect.” The age 50 effect refers to evidence collected by Reichek’s team and other researchers that shows that the human heart undergoes an inevitable, and currently inexplicable, decrease in size when it reaches a half-century in age. Researchers have ruled out many of the potential causes of the decrease including silent heart disorders, diabetes, mild high blood pressure, and obesity. The shrinkage, a substantial change of at least 16 per cent, occurs in both men and women, though certain gender-specific anomalies remain — for example, the right ventricle is usually larger in men than in women despite the overall shrinkage. Though research into the age 50 effect is still fraught with questions, it has provided one answer. The American Heart Association and the American College

Amino acid pre-cursor found in distant galaxy

Researchers using the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico (the world’s largest radio telescope) have discovered the building blocks of life in the distant galaxy Arp 220, located 250-million light-years away. The recent discovery of methanimine in Arp 220 adds to the previously detected formaldehyde, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, and possibly formic acid. Methanimine is an amino acid precursor which forms glycine, the simplest amino acid, when it reacts with hydrogen cyanide then water, or with formic acid. Before this discovery, methanimine has been detected in our own galaxy and in the neighbouring NGC 253, but never further afield. Unfortunately for the evolution of life in Arp 220, the galaxy has undergone a recent merger and currently hosts a vibrant star nursery. The number of new stars that live hot and fast, and then violently explode, means that conditions in Arp 220 are likely too turbulent to allow life to evolve. Scientists believe, however, that the ingredients for life could take root once more stable star systems and planets are born. The presence of methanimine, one of the basic building blocks of life, in another galaxy suggests to some scientists that life may be common in the universe.

of Cardiology have recognized an age-related increase in blood pressure. The study suggests that blood pressure rises as the heart decreases in size. Reichek’s work has opened the door to new questions about the aging heart. Fossil of flying miniature reptile found in China

The nearly-complete articulated skeleton of a new fossil species of flying reptile was unearthed in a fossil bed in north-eastern China. With a wingspan of less than 30 centimetres, the new species, named Nemicolopterus crypticus which means “hidden flying forest dweller,” is one of the smallest pterosaurs (ancient flying reptiles) known. The research team studying the fossils say this toothless, sparrow-sized specimen exhibits several features that make it unique among other pterosaurs. Its foot bones, for example, are curved in a way that suggests the creature spent much of its time living in the tree canopy, a feature not shared by other members of this reptile group. Paleontologists see these features as confirmation that pterosaurs were more diverse in their habitats than previously indicated by the fossil record. The discovery of the miniature flying reptile opens new avenues of research into the history of evolution of flying reptiles. — with files from National Geographic News, Detroit Free Press and BBC News araw@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

IMPRINT_fullpage_playoffs2

2/13/08

9:24 AM

Page 1

OUA PLAYOFFS

20 08

OUA 1/4 Finals

, MEN S

HOCKEY

OUA 1/4 Finals

, WOMEN S

OUA West 1/4 Finals

, WOMEN S

VOLLEYBALL BASKETBALL

Game 1

Wednesday, February 13 7:30 PM CIF Arena

Game 2

Friday, February 15 7:30 PM Clarica Arena

Friday, February 15, 7:00 PM, UW PAC

Game 3

Sunday, February 17 7:30 PM CIF Arena

Hockey / Volleyball / Basketball OUA Playoff Ticket Pricing

(if necessary)

www.c

LI S T ca

LI V EN E

Saturday, February 16, 6:00 PM, UW PAC

Adults: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10 All Students: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7 Children & Seniors: . . . . . . . . $5 Children under 12 . . . . . . . . . . Free

All games live on CKMSFM.ca

OUA Regulations dictate that tickets must be sold for OUA Championships - no passes, no complimentary tickets and no free admission for students.

sfm km .

CAMPUS RECREATION www.campusrec.uwaterloo.ca

MARCH

RAPTORS TRIP See the Toronto Raptors take on the Washington Wizards on Friday March 7, 2008 at the ACC. Tickets are $35 and includes round trip transportation and the game ticket and are available in PAC Office. For more information visit www.campusrec.uwaterloo.ca

Registered trademarks of Boston Pizza Royalties Limited Partnership, used under license. © Boston Pizza International Inc. 2005

Sports & Living

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008 sports@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Warriors thump Windsor A 6-0 rout for the Warriors over the Lancers, secures them home-ice advantage for the playoffs against cross-town rivals Laurier Suraj Sukumar reporter

he Waterloo Warriors finished off their respectable 18 -10 season this past week with a 2-1 record. After beating the Windsor Lancers 9-3 last Sunday, the Warriors earned a well-deserved overtime win against the Western Mustangs then fell to the Laurier Golden Hawks. The Warriors took the loss from the Golden Hawks this past Thursday. Even though the Warriors out shot the Golden Hawks 33-27, they were unable to finish on their chances. David Edgeworth provided Waterloo with a spectacular short-handed goal late in the second period, however, it just was not enough to help the Warriors defeat their rival Laurier as they lost 4-1. The 4-1 loss to Laurier led up to the final game of the regular season for the Warriors, as they took on the Windsor Lancers this past Friday night. With a win against the Lancers, the Warriors would earn home-ice advantage in the first round of the OUA playoffs against none other than the Laurier Golden Hawks. The Windsor Lancers were one of the weaker teams in the country with a record of 5-20-1. The previous match between the two teams saw the Warriors stomp all over the Lancers 9-3. This game represented an opportunity to clinch home ice advantage for the Warriors against their biggest rival, that meant they could not afford a let down against the Lancers. The Waterloo Warriors did not hold back on the Windsor Lancers, taking the game 6-0 to guarantee themselves home-ice advantage against Laurier. The game saw a lot of action beginning in the first period. The game saw a total of 23 penalties, six of them coming in the first period. The Warriors capitalized on one power play, opening the scoring at 2:53 into the first period. On a goal was scored by Mark Hartman and assisted by the captain Kevin Hurley and Joel Olszowka. The Warriors added another tally later in the first by Chris Golem.

jenn Serec

The Warriors go over strategy for their OUA playoff series against Laurier. The two teams split the regular season series 2-2. The scoring and penalty trouble continued into the second period. There were 10 penalties in the second, seven coming from the Lancers. One 10-minute game misconduct was also served by Scott Todd of the Lancers. The Warriors continued to benefit from the Lancers’ undisciplined hockey, scoring three power play goals, contributed by Doug Spooner, Kevin Hurley and Chris Ray. The penalty trouble continued

for the Warriors and Lancers into the third and final period, taking three and four penalties respectively. However, as the Lancers could not, the Warriors continued to capitalize scoring the last of their six goals on another power play to finish off their 6-0 win at 9:57 in to the third period. Captain Kevin Hurley had a stellar game, recording four points with one goal and three assists giving him the most points

in the game. Jimmy Bernier also played outstanding for the Warriors in the first two periods. He made 28 saves in 40 minutes shutting out the Lancers. Now the Warriors can look forward to extracting some revenge on the Laurier Golden Hawks as they will play each other in the first round of the playoffs. With a strong 6-0 win over Windsor, hopefully the Warriors can carry this momen-

tum into the first round and pick up the wins to secure themselves a spot in the next round. If the Warriors move on, they will take on the Brock Badgers, who have earned themselves a first round bye along with Lakehead. The Warriors have played some great hockey this season and are a good candidate to move on to the quarter finals and hopefully bring the Queen’s Cup to the University of Waterloo.

Waterloo student wins squash award Tom Ellis staff reporter

he University of Waterloo is most renowned for its academic excellence, but this weeks Ontario University Athletics (OUA) awards recognized the achievements of the Warrior Men’s Squash team. Coach Clive Porter was named OUA Coach of the Year, whilst team captain Eric Dingle retained the OAU Player of the Year award. Squash is a popular sport at UW with the intramural Black Knight squash league run all year round and boasting a healthy roster. On winning the award an excited Dingle said that it was “awesome to get some recognition” and that he felt great,

yet it is neither the first nor the last time that he will be decorated for his achievements. Since joining the Warrior varsity squash team in 2004-05, along with the team achievements of two OUA bronze medals, Dingle was named UW Rookie of the year, made the Academic Athletic Honour Roll, the Dean’s Honours List and the OUA All Star Team for the past three consecutive years. The Men’s varsity team has also been enjoying an impressive run of late winning the OUA bronze medal twice in the past four years and this year led by Dingle they narrowly missed out on the OUA championships. All these are the rewards of a 14 year playing career which began in small

sports club back in his home town of Calgary, Alberta. Dingle reveals that he has “always been big into athletics” and from a young age started three racquet sports — squash, badminton and tennis — along with soccer. When possible he still plays soccer at an

Success in both work and play is put down to time management intramural level to keep up his fitness and chose to concentrate on squash after showing early potential.

Any sport played at the varsity level is both physically and mentally demanding, yet Dingle believes that the balance of work, sport and leisure help “maintain [his] sanity.” During the season, which lasts nearly eight months, daily training consists of a mix of skill drills and fitness activities, and the OUA All Star admits that at the end of the season its “nice to take a break” and focus on other activities. Success in both work and play is attributed to time management, which involves getting assignments completed early (Dingle is in 4A computer engineering) to allow focus on squash. The example set by the varsity men’s squash captain goes some way to debunking the

myth that varsity sports can affect one’s academic work. Unfortunately, time management is unable to solve the problem caused by the Co-op program. As the season covers both the Fall and Winter semesters, the team often contains different line-ups, which makes Coach Porters award even more impressive. Dingle says that he has been lucky to have secured placements close to Waterloo, and has yet to miss an OUA tournament. This sort of commitment and a drive to succeed in both life and sport will no doubt aid Dingle as he continues his impressive career. tellis@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Sports & Living

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008

Poker odyssey Poker can be a game of great jubilation or one of great frustration. My own personal forays into the world of online poker has been tempered by periods of incredible success but there’s also been horrible downturns that have made me want to quit the game forever. It’s one of those games that can be an emotional rollercoaster for the serious player. Most of us started off as clueless amateurs, having been lured in by the bright lights of the World Poker Tour TV show. You see the likes of poker celebrities such as Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu raking in millions of dollars on TV in what seems to be a exceedingly simple card game. Pretty soon you’re trying your luck at your friends Friday night home game. From then on, the addiction takes hold. After dominating the Friday night poker table, you discover the foreboding world of online poker. You finally give in to those annoying Party Poker pop-up ads and deposit

some money to test out the microstakes tables. The strategy of playing only good hands pays off huge dividends at the micro-level. Pretty soon that initial $100 deposit becomes $500 dollars. Now you’re neck deep into the poker world, gobbling up strategy books, participating in online discussions with the pros, analyzing poker statistic programs. The money starts pouring in, thanks to your new found knowledge of poker strategy. Reverse-implied odds, VPIP, BB/100 this is the lingo you’re dropping now with your poker buddies. You go from playing one table at a time to two to four to six. You have a huge database of statistics from your played hands, including data from familiar opponents. The success is coming really quickly, you quickly amass the bankroll to go from $50 no-limit hold’em to $100nl to $200 to $400 to $1000nl. At this point the money is really

pouring in, the amount of money you have at the tablse is surreal for a simple college student. You’re risking more money in one hand that what you’re friends make in a month from their summer jobs. Both your confidence and ego are soaring now; poker has allowed you to break free from stereotypical poor-college

are as knowledgeable and skilled as you are, and losing streaks increase in frequency. Keeping level-headed becomes really difficult, as you have swings of thousands of dollars every day. The game has become a chore and a drain when you go tens of thousands of hands without profit, you being to put in longer and lon-

game for the temperamental. The poker stars on TV didn’t get there without hardships, they took the long path there. Daniel Negreanu talks often about having gone broke on three different occasions. That is the life of being a gambler, you can never be sure whether you’re going to win or lose on any given day. You just pray

Poker isn’t a game for the temperamental. The poker stars on TV didn’t get there without hardships, they took the long path there. student lifestyle. Sushi lunches and steak dinners everyday become the norm. You’ve arrived at the world of high-stakes poker, getting ever closer to the limelight of poker luminaries like Phil Ivey. Things are different at the high stakes games; big donators are far and few in-between here. The regulars

ger sessions to balance out the wild swings. Poker is no longer a fun hobby, but a soul-crushing full time job without the financial security. Those old grizzled poker vets who have grinded out a living in the casino cardrooms for decades are really something else. Poker isn’t a

that you’re doing the little things right to pay off in the long term. Patience and perseverance are the important virtues in this world. yliu@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Warriors make the first strike

Nikoo Shahabi

The Warriors dominated the Laurier Golden Hawks 5 – 0 on Wednesday, February 13 in game one of their playoff battle at the Columbia Ice Fields arena. The Warriors now lead 1 – 0 in the best of three series.

yosef yip

Men,s Basketball

Presents

Saturday, February 16 vs Windsor Lancers 3:00 PM, PAC Gym

07 THIS WEEK IN 08 ATHLETICS gowarriorsgo.ca Registered trademarks of Boston Pizza Royalties Limited Partnership, used under license. © Boston Pizza International Inc. 2005

WARRIOR [M] [M] BASKETBALL BASKETBALL

All proceeds from the Airplane Toss will support Special Olympics Ontario KW

gowarriorsgo.ca gowarriorsgo.ca

All UW guests who register for free passes will receive one paper airplane upon entrance for a chance to win GREAT PRIZES in the half-time Airplane Toss. Check gowarriorsgo.ca for more information

Athletes of the Week

IMPRINT | FEB 15 2008

Oleg Chernukhin - Swimming

Tamara Wagner - Swimming

Oleg, a 3rd year Engineering student from Fredericton, N.B., was named Swimmer of the Meet earning five medals this past weekend at the OUA Championships in Toronto. Oleg won Gold in all four of his events and earned a relay Bronze medal. He established new Waterloo varsity records in winning the 50m and 100m fly events. He also won the 200m I.M. and 100m back events. His 50 and 100 back times now rank him 2nd in the CIS rankings headings into the CIS Championships. Oleg was also this week’s OUA Athlete of the Week

Tamara, a 1st year Kinesiology student from Waterloo, Ontario, medalled in three events on the weekend at the OUA Championships in Toronto. She won Gold in the 50m breast stroke event and claimed bronze in each of the 100m and 200 breast events. In winning the 50m breast, Tamara set a new varsity record and has moved into the top ten in the CIS rankings in this event.

Sports & Living

Imprint, Friday, February 15, 2008

Warrior Wrap-up

Men’s Hockey OUA

Women’s Hockey OUA

Far East Division

W L T OTL PTS 45 1 22 5 0 37 1 18 9 0 30 2 14 12 0 27 3 12 13 0 25 3 11 14 0

GP 28 UQTR 28 McGill 28 Ottawa 28 Carleton Concordia 28

Laurier Toronto Guelph Queen’s Windsor York Western Brock Waterloo UOIT

Far West Division Lakehead Western Waterloo Laurier Windsor

W L 23 4 18 5 18 10 16 9 6 21

GP 28 28 28 28 28

T OTL PTS 0 1 47 0 5 41 0 0 36 0 3 35 0 1 13

GP 28 28 28 28

W 13 13 10 9

McMaster Guelph Queen’s Western Waterloo Ryerson York Toronto Windsor Laurier RMC

T OTL PTS 2 0 28 3 0 29 2 0 22 3 0 21

L 13 12 16 16

Mid West Division GP 28 28 28 28

Brock York Guelph UOIT

T OTL PTS 3 0 37 3 0 31 3 0 27 3 0 15

W L 17 8 14 11 12 13 6 19

W 23 20 17 12 12 11 9 7 7 1

L 2 5 9 9 13 11 13 13 16 22

T OTL PTS 2 0 48 1 1 42 0 1 35 6 0 30 1 1 26 4 1 27 5 0 23 7 0 21 4 0 18 2 6 2

Men’s Volleyball OUA

Mid East Division Toronto Queen’s RMC Ryerson

GP 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27

GP 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20

W 20 14 14 13 12 10 9 7 5 6 0

L 0 6 6 7 8 10 11 13 15 14 20

GF 60 51 45 48 45 39 39 30 17 26 3

GA 8 30 26 24 32 29 36 39 48 45 60

PTS 36 26 26 22 22 18 16 10 10 12 0

Game Recaps

Men’s Hockey

Women’s Hockey

Thursday, February 7 Waterloo 1 Laurier 4

Saturday, February 9 Waterloo 1 Western 3

Friday, February 8 Waterloo 6 Windsor 0

Sunday, February 10 Toronto 4 Waterloo 0

Men’s Volleyball

Women’s Volleyball

Wednesday, February 13 Waterloo 0 Western 3

Friday, February 8 Waterloo 3 RMC 0

Men’s Basketball

Women’s Basketball

Women’s Swimming

Saturday, February 9 OUA Swimming Championship Oleg Chernukin

Saturday, February 9 OUA Swimming Championship

50 metre backstroke -1st place 100 metre backstroke - 1st place 100 metre fly - 1st place 200 metre individual medley - 1st place

Tamara Wagner 50 metre breastsroke - 1st place 100 metre breaststroke - 3rd place 200 metre breaststroke - 3rd place

2007

of WaTerloo’s

GP W 21 21 21 16 20 15 21 13 20 7 21 6 21 4 21 0

L 0 5 5 8 13 15 17 21

PF 1794 1607 1527 1526 1511 1489 1441 1068

PA 1245 1370 1373 1386 1588 1611 1806 1909

PTS 42 32 30 26 14 12 8 0

York Toronto Laurentian Queen’s Carleton Ryerson Ottawa RMC

GP 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22

W 18 18 15 9 8 5 3 0

L 4 4 7 13 14 17 19 22

PF 1546 1632 1683 1408 1280 1230 1258 1135

PA 1303 1347 1470 1395 1307 1519 1501 1888

PTS 36 36 30 18 16 10 6 0

West Division

PA PTS GP W L PF Windsor 19 15 4 1562 1267 30 19 13 6 1513 1370 26 Brock 19 11 8 1506 1399 22 Guelph Western 19 10 9 1438 1426 20 Lakehead 20 8 12 1488 1529 16 Laurier 19 8 11 1338 1327 16 McMaster 18 8 10 1293 1320 16 Waterloo 19 4 15 1295 1470 8

GP W L PF PA PTS McMaster 21 20 1 1589 1071 40 Western 21 16 5 1502 1386 32 Windsor 21 14 7 1493 1277 28 Brock 21 11 10 1333 1373 22 Waterloo 21 11 10 1355 1336 22 Laurier 22 9 13 1361 1470 18 Lakehead 21 9 12 1358 1397 18 22 7 15 1369 1492 14 Guelph

GP 19 19 19 19 19 19 19

Toronto Ottawa York Queen’s Ryerson Lakehead RMC

7 vol 30, no

Evolution in

W 17 15 12 7 5 4 0

L 2 4 7 12 14 15 19

GF 54 49 40 31 23 18 0

GA PTS 12 34 19 30 29 24 41 14 45 10 47 8 57 0

West Division McMaster Waterloo Western Laurier Brock Guelph Windsor

GP 19 19 19 19 19 19 19

L 3 5 7 7 10 11 17

W 16 14 12 12 9 8 2

GF 50 45 44 41 35 35 13

GA PTS 17 32 27 28 27 24 28 24 39 18 37 16 4 53

Women’s Basketball

Men’s Hockey CIF Arena

Pac Main Gym OUA Playoffs - TBD Saturday, February 16

Waterloo vs. Laurier, 7:30 PM Friday, February 15

Men’s Basketball

Laurier vs. Waterloo, 7:30 PM Sunday, February 17

Pac Main Gym Waterloo vs. Windsor, 3:00 PM Saturday, February 16 Waterloo vs. McMaster 2:00 PM Sunday, February 17

Women’s Volleyball

Pac Main Gym OUA Quarter Final, 7:00 PM Laurier vs. Waterloo Friday, February 15

Men’s Volleyball

University of Waterloo Campus

Pac Main Gym OUA Quarter Final TBD Saturday, February 16

WaTerloo

’s official

sTudenT

neWspape

nT neWspaper

Friday, Janua

imprin t . uwate

rloo . ca

LIFE 4

michael l.

education

davenport

what’s inside

year re- Features describes the third students the Jernigan proudly ads and course,” during which museology Get your dice, gamep a biomedical te quired “museum secured a job at city to study at MiT, Jernigan day, while working as a live-in for Imprint’s comple to a museum-rich linary teams by teenagers travelare then divided up into interdiscip museum, cards ready engineering firm . house for troubled and for the chosen field, create an exhibit counsellor at a halfway guide to games to research and compiling their information. a far cry from his staff reporter by night. Though learned a lot about teenagers. digitally centre he be found in the ex- gradually ahead of you. i can are assures step they one or program Jernigan teens The BKi in the faculty ed Jernigan is always early at second cup for our they are troubled still adolescents and ► page 8 integration, located for Knowledge studies. it seems contradictory hot latté “Whether teens, they’re learned this by arriving ental issues no matter secure his usual extra tment, ceptionally gifted faculty a could to i environm behaviour tied so of interview program being at.” there’s a lot of common side. To my disappoin — a boundary-free the tables and asks me, “What’s spectrum they’re and get on his good seated and took the liberty ent which end of the is responding to the pressures Jernigan turns Jernigan was alreadymug himself. Lesson learned: Jernigan — but interdisciplinary than the big environm one such issue more path after high school. of filling the travelendlessly and execute flawlessly everything? of selecting a careerare a lot of teenagers coming out [Vicethat encompasses one must research arrive more than 15 minutes with the idea with learned that there do not yet know what career “I actually toyed and provost amit chakma] — and apparentlyagainst someone as capable as not have a of high school that academia and they should developing such early — when up Jernigan president they want to choose too far along in what until they are sure. g, Jerni- path t before we got encouraged me to think about ed Jernigan. design engineerin to make that decision in his enrichmen Jernigan program…he of Waterloo professor of systems the kids enrolled might look like.” ed the university option, the says some of , feel the very same degree program enriching and the unlimited building and gan has distinguish Waterloo degree abilities a new the success Sports a unique program, despite their leadership looking for has plenty of experience once more by founding for students, with e integration (BKi), pressures . “They were exciting programs valley program and Waterloo disciplines in Victor Ciesielski Bachelor of Knowledg qualities of education that would allow them to to incorporate all the shad was, he Former UW student and of both ; developing the BKI program program designed study. The highly anticipated a university experience the humanities Canadian Open. a student’s academic to explore in both we started thinking, Unlimited tees off at the e in september 2008. evolution.” continue valley natural commenc “a shad to when set faculty, says, that’s each degree is running the disciplines from of students the sciences. so unlimited undergraduate degree Jernigan has been1984, and has been a systems By combining an ► page 13 since to attract the kindswell-rounded; ‘What would like?’ and we began talking about program at uW professor since 1976. each year BKi is expected in every “really bright, reallyroles as leaders program look engineering that UW wants: 20 and 30 Shads ample time design likely to be taking when they go it just that way.” for BKi ensures based on he noticed “between In the fall of 2003, Jernigan the ones who are also curriculum but Arts The class.” p years decision scholarshi systems design unique play make this life during their universitygo in life.” Jernigan might as during the first on Drama professor’s of canadian Millennium for students to they lot. their passions lie The students noticed a list are granted scholarships based on to wherever himself. where they find in a parking university of the BKi degree. ve science recipients who well be describing his first engineering degree to be staged and could pick any and second years scholars. “I high school experience enrol in three investigati After achieving received 52 of these will be required to “not just textbook learning,” in the country. UW systems design and computing of courses that display two math courses, a prob► page 14 was on the chair for me to wonder how many of experimental says Jernigan. roughly and it was natural systems. systems is a very small language course, ability course, a new course, written and spoken ended up in cent of the only about two per course and them design, a computer department — it’s we’re very small compared to a critical thinking english courses, in the first two years of study. body — so Millennium 52 student and there are more are required years are designed to provide the whole university,at the university. out The first and secondacademy and an introduction scholars spread the a big picture of scholarship, while the third and , page 3 See DEGREE into the nature of reserved for more specialized fourth years are doug copping opportunities.

option.

Carleton Ottawa Toronto Queen’s Ryerson York Laurentian RMC

official sTude

► page

new degree Ed Jernigan founds

East Division

NOTICE OF MEETING – Imprint Publications, Waterloo is holding its ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING on Tuesday, February 26 at 2 p.m., Multi-Purpose Room, SLC, UW Impr Int The Proposed Agenda for the Meeting is as Follows: In t

LESSONS

Kinga Jakab

East Division

ersiTy of

Impr Friday, July 27,

East Division

The univ

ED OF LIGHT Sun AT THE SPE for new Midnight

The universiTy

Women’s Volleyball OUA

Saturday, February 9 Waterloo 68 Western 62

Men’s Swimming

► page

Women’s Basketball OUA

Wednesday, February 6 Waterloo 62 McMaster 78

Saturday, February 9 Western 89 Waterloo 81

Daylight near

Men’s Basketball OUA

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS PRESENTATION OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, 2006/2007 APPOINTING THE 2008/2009 AUDITOR PRESENTATION OF THE 2008/2009 BUDGET POLICY AMENDMENT RATIFICATION** ELECTION OF THE 2008/2009 BOARD OF DIRECTORS ADJOURNMENT

Proxy forms are available in the Imprint office and are due by Friday, February 22 at 2:00 p.m. Letters of intent to run for Imprint’s Board of Directors should be submitted to Imprint’s president by Friday, February 22 at 4:30 p.m. The floor will also be open to in-person nominations during the meeting.

QUESTIONS?? ~ Contact president Adam Gardiner at president@imprint.uwaterloo.ca or 519-888-4048

Closure at las Man accused

11, 2008

vol 30, no 22

t for loved one

of murdering

UW student

impri nt .

Organ don

uwat erlo

o . ca

ation sparks

pleads guilty , page 3

Health Cana

controversy

da in hot wate

r, page 20

WORKS IN P

ROGRESS

Campus co nstruction an ongoin Different ro g process ut UW refuge e for e program Photos by

Michael L.

assistant

Jenn serec

Davenport -chief

editor-in

pit has since blossom despite initial (see above right), ed into a beautifu which will eventua l building Sarah vations starteddelays in getting the actual uW’s future Hewey remains on , construction for feds reno- isn’t comple pharmacy students. The lly house intern te yet, but the schedu to open January le and the store eXpress arrived on campus first pharma building the refugees is still due cy students this term. in december, from a varietywas provided through The Quantu 28. The photov donations m-nano centre 2007, feds studen of groups on slow starter. due to open oltaic research centre (prc) tioned the has also as this year. origina is also univer against creating a student t council mo- fice,UW President’s Office, campus, including was supposed of september 2006, construbeen a fall of 2008, lly VP Academ but to uW’s research it was to open in vice sity of Waterloo World fee to fund the paul’sRenison English Langua ction park ic Ofyear. The green have started within the website of canada and technology ge Institute, united college univer St. tion, but the first is as of yet unmarred by following winter 2008.” says the “first phase [is] , federa program, an (uW Wusc) studen sity ser- and the faculty constru prc opening step is is of science tion of students already cfinally the Bombshelter campus map. students to organization that allows t refugee underway: excavati on new copies This past year, foundation. current constru suppor univers of our and ng also include service tunnel patio for the constru ction on campus integration t and fund the immigr ity Wusc’s further the issue of how to s an additio ction of a (see above centre-t of one or two ation refunda efforts — possibl fund n buildin post-se both Meanwhile, g (see above op). the condary institut refugees into ble student y through according to centre-bottom optometry was founde a countancy website ion. With the council’s debatefee — came into questio a d in 1978, also The program, which the extension school of ac- mence even more construction ) and pas. n. focused on (see above left) living ment provide this to costs, a slated fee, and whethe how to implehagey hall s funding for year (“engin this year, with is due to be completed in betwee eering 5,” to to com- sary expens school supplies, and other approa r or March of hardha n east campus es. classes starting neces- presidech for Wusc. accordnot it is the right hall and ringbe built in July 2006, as since ts soon ing and nt the to interna as steel-to incepti feds May. uW owned road) l darcy vice ed boots on of the progra the corner of disappearing King and victoriaa giant sand pit on from our campusdon’t look to be uW has hosted two Kenyan m in 2000, cilors did not disagree higgins, some counTariku Kebed with the spirit program, but streets. That anytime soon. e and samuel student refugees: to rather, the sand of the bers of the Kakum fee admini Banti, both mdavenport@im mem- “There ster it. in particu itself and how a refugee support tuition print.uwaterloo. lar said higgin were things waivers and camp. funding to of ca to be worked s, accommodation the refund.” out in terms for

L E T S

See WUSC

M A K E

A Sign up in D E A L the SLC Jan ! REV: Jan 18 From 14 th V1: Jan 1411am-3pm Check ww 15 th from QUIT SMO w.leaveth 5-7pm KING epackbehi AND WIN $600 nd.org for details

, page 3