Imprint_2010-01-08_v32_i21 by Editor Imprint

Impr int The university of Waterloo’s official student newspaper

Friday, January 8, 2010

Vol 32, No

Ten years of

campus

onstruction

photos by michael l. davenport, graphic by ian cutajar

Sinead Mulhern intern

he University of Waterloo has experienced another decade, and many things on campus have changed. In the past 10 years, the campus has welcomed 10 new buildings as well as expansions to many existing buildings and the construction of those to come. The years from 2003 to 2008 were the second largest building boom for the university since it started up in the 1960s. At the beginning of the decade, in the year 2000, the Distance and Continuing Education Office was added to UW. Though located off-campus at 335 Gage Avenue, Kitchener, the office has contributed tremendously to the well-being of UW students, offering them online courses in over 40 subjects. 2001 brought in William Lyon Mackenzie King Village (MKV). The residence, named after the famous Kitchener resident and Canada’s longest-serving Prime Minister, houses up to 320 students, with 80 four-bedroom suites, as well as eight additional one-bedroom suites for dons. MKV also contains residence offices, a laundry room, and lounge area. In 2001 also came the William M. Tatham Centre for Co-operative Education and Career Services. Since UW has the world’s largest post-secondary co-operative education program, the

3 From top to bottom: Accounting expansion, photo taken June 2008; Photovoltaic Research Centre, taken August 2007; and connection between Physics and Engineering 2, taken August 2005.

imprint . uwaterloo . ca

Tatham Centre replaced Needles Hall as the program was becoming more populated. The centre contains administrative offices, rooms for group presentations, rooms for interviews, and a video conference room. In 2002, the Fire Research Facility joined UW campus. The facility conducts controlled studies of fire and its behaviour with crosswinds. The Centre for Environmental and Information Technology (CEIT), built in 2003, is a five-storey building containing a lecture theatre as well as 19 laboratories for teaching and also research purposes. Its aim was to bring researchers together to solve pending environmental issues. CEIT housed the Waterloo Institute for Groundwater Research. During the time, this research was a high priority at UW. The centre brought the engineering, environmental, math, and science faculties together and concentrated on areas of environmental and information technology. Concentration on these areas was higher than anywhere else in Canada. The School of Architecture was moved off-campus to downtown Cambridge in 2004. It is now Canada’s greenest architecture school, as well as the only one to have a permanent international facility, established in Rome, for the past 30 years. The offcampus school contains a cafeteria, a fitness centre, a lecture hall, a lounge, and a library. The Pavement Technology Building was also brought onto UW’s campus in 2004. The Pavement Technology Garage and the Victoria School were additions made to the campus in 2005. The Victoria School holds UW’s

School of Optometry. The satellite clinic gave students a full range of opportunities. A clinic is open to the public in the Victoria School where optometric services such as eye examinations and spectacle dispensing are available to everyone. Services within the Victoria School are provided by highly trained interns who are supervised by faculty optometrists. Although much of the building boom from 2003 to 2008 consisted mostly of the construction of new buildings, many already-existing buildings were expanded as well. Buildings that were expanded during this phase included Burt Matthews Hall (Applied Health Sciences), the Solar Technology Building, the School of Optometry, and the engineering buildings. Construction of the Quantum Nano Centre began in 2008; this fivestorey building, housing quantum information technology and nanotechnology, is scheduled to be opened in September 2011. Construction of Engineering 5 also occurred within the building boom in 2008. It is scheduled to be opened this spring. The final building that went up during the last decade was the School of Accounting. The groundbreaking occurred in 2007 and the building was finished in 2008. The building holds about 24 professors and over 1,000 undergraduates, as well as 100 graduates in both master’s and doctorate programs.

smulhern@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

News

Young adults mugged at knife-point near campus

Features

Student group raises $18,000 for sustainable development

Arts

Prevent egg-related kitchen explosions, ensure deliciousness

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News

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010 news@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Concerned for student safety Paula Trelinska news assistant

niversity of Waterloo police are urging members of the UW community to be vigilant following a recent string of muggings and robberies in this area. The incidents all occurred in the University Plaza area, on Phillip Street near University Avenue. On the evening of December 30, 2009, at around 9:15 p.m. two women were approached by three men wielding a knife. No one was injured but the women’s purses were taken. The suspects are described as Asian, five feet six inches tall, and in their early twenties. All three were wearing dark clothing at the time, and one of them also had a dark wool hat on. They were of a slim build and all were clean shaven. A similar incident took place on Monday, January 5, 2010, at approximately 10:00 p.m. A man carrying a knife approached a 20-year-old man and demanded money. The man ran away with no cash, and the victim was not injured.

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The suspect in this case is described as a male, dark skinned, in his late teens or early twenties, and five-feet nine inches tall. He was wearing a dark winter jacket and had facial hair. “Though the incidents have been occurring right on our doorstep, we don’t want lives to be heavily affected by this,” said UW Staff Sergeant Chris Goss. “We’re still recommending the same precautions as usual.” In order to stay safe students should travel in pairs or groups to increase safety and should avoid traveling in the evenings and at night whenever possible. If anybody witnesses any suspicious activity or individuals who do not seem to belong, they should report it to UW Police or Waterloo Regional Police immediately. Students should be cognizant, safe, and aware of their surroundings, Goss said. “There are also many support services available for students on campus,” Goss pointed out. “For example we have [the off campus shuttle]. UW police would also be happy to assist any individual who comes in with particular concerns.” ptrelinska@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

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News

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010

CIA suicide bomber, release of child soldiers, death of atomic bomb survivor

Paula Trelinska news assistant

Developments in the theft of the Auschwitz sign

The theft of the infamous Auschwitz sign caused outrage around the world last month. Now, Polish authorities would like to question two Swedes in connection to the case. The sign, reading, “Arbeit macht frei” or “Work sets you free,” was stolen on December 18, 2009. Of the two men whom Polish authorities wish to question, they believe one is the mastermind behind the plan while the other helped bring a car which was used in the theft over the border. There have already been five Polish men arrested in northern Poland in connection with the incident. Authorities would like to question a third Swede, not directly related to the case. There has been speculation on both sides that Neo-Nazi sympathizers had planned the heist; however, authorities on either side

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originally arrested him over a year ago but did not have sufficient evidence and therefore let him go. A few months later they began receiving emails from him which contained information about the security of the country. They kept in contact with him through email to get information and tried to bring him in to extract even more information from him. Jordanian and U.S. authorities believed that al-Balawi had been rehabilitated from his extremist views and were using him to hunt down a very prominent al-Qaeda official. Irish atheist group challenges blasphemy law

An Irish atheist group has posted many quotations pertaining to religion to show their distrust with a new government law. The law on blasphemy prevents anyone from saying anything grossly abusive against any religion or belief, if it is likely that it will cause outrage among a substantial amount of people. The staunchly Catholic country passed this law in July but it did not take effect until this New Year’s day.

There has been speculation on both sides that Neo-Nazi sympathizers had planned the heist however, authorities on either side have not confirmed that.

have not confirmed that. CIA double agent turns suicide bomber

Last month’s suicide bombing at the U.S. military base in Khost, Afghanistan left seven CIA agents and one Jordanian dead. He had now been identified a double agent. Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal alBalawi, a Jordanian doctor, was recruited as a counter-terrorism intelligence source. The Jordanian authorities had

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news editor

This Friday, the Irish atheists posted a series of quotations from Jesus, Mohammed, Mark Twain, Salman Rushdie, and Bjork. Although they agree that the quotations are blasphemous they believe that they should have the right to be said. Child soldiers to be released in Nepal

Thousands of former child soldiers that have been confined to

UN-monitored camps since 2006 were due to begin being released on Thursday, January 7. The seven main camps in Nepal hold almost 20,000 former Maoist rebels, about 3,000 of which are under the age of 18. The release of the child soldiers is part of Nepal’s ongoing peace process — a process that began with the end of a 10-year Maoist insurgency in 2006. The children were originally due to be released soon after they were confined to the camps, but the process was delayed by political disagreements. Once they are released, the former child soldiers will be given several options for their future: school, vocational training, or starting a business. UN observers will monitor the progress of the child soldiers’ reintegration into their communities. 20,000 homeless after earthquake in Tajikistan

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake left 20,000 people homeless in the Pamir Mountains region of Tajikistan. No deaths have been reported, according to emergency officials. The earthquake also resulted in cut electricity, lost communications, and blocked main roads. The homeless are currently living with relatives or in emergency shelters in public buildings.

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Though Yamaguchi is the only officially-acknowledged survivor of both atomic bombs, it is believed that there about 165 twice-bombed people — known as “nijyuu hibakusha” — in Japan.

93-year-old survivor of two atomic bombs dies

Tsutomu Yamaguchi died of stomach cancer on Monday, January 4 at the age of 93. Yamaguchi was the only official survivor of both of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II. Yamaguchi was on a business trip in Hiroshima when the first atomic bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945. He was less than two miles from ground zero, and he suffered ruptured eardrums and a burnt torso. He spent the night in a Hiroshima bomb shelter, then returned

Wednesday, January 6 saw London, England receive its heaviest snowfall in over 20 years. The snow was as deep as 18 inches in some areas. The heavy snowfall brought southern England to a near standstill, closing railroads, airports, and schools, and halting traffic on major highways. The weather also became a point of debate in Britain’s contentious pre-election politics. The estimated toll in lost productivity caused by the storm could exceed $1.6 billion. The unusually cold weather is expected to persist for at least another week.

to his hometown of Nagasaki the next day. On August 9, 1945, the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Though Yamaguchi is the only officially-acknowledged survivor of both atomic bombs, it is believed that there were about 165 twice-bombed people — known as “nijyuu hibakusha” — in Japan. — with files from CNN, BBC News, Yahoo! News, The Globe and Mail, and The New York Times araw@imprint.uwaterloo.ca ptrelinska@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Faculty gets bus pass Paula Trelinska news assistant

Record snow fall batters Britain

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Adrienne Raw

he Grand River Transit (GRT) corporate pass has come to the University of Waterloo as part of an agreement between the staff association, university officials and GRT. The bus pass is available to all full and part-time staff and faculty. It is being offered as an alternative to the parking pass as parking on campus is becoming more scarce and expensive. This pass will cost $51.05 per month, with a savings of $8.95, or 15 per cent off of a regular adult pass. The payments will be made through bi-weekly payroll deductions, mak-

ing it more convenient for staff and faculty than having to purchase a new pass every month. This program is not such that users can simply drop in and out. Once the bi-weekly payroll deductions begin they must continue to partake in the program or drop out altogether. Anybody who has not signed up for the pass yet can do so at Parking Services in the Commissary building. They must, however, go to a GRT terminal, either on Duke Street in Kitchener, or Ainslie Street in Cambridge, to have their photo taken. ptrelinska@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

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News

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010

Petition goes national and delegation faces harassment

news editor

University of Ottawa adds a fall reading week

The University of Ottawa senate voted in favour of adding a fall reading week to the 2010/2011 academic calendar at their December 7 senate meeting. The idea of a fall reading week has been discussed since the 1990s, and there have been two student referendums on the topic since 2000. One student federation leader commented that the fall reading

week will reduce student stress, give students more time to work on final assignments, more time to prepare for exams, increase students’ retention rates, and offer students a more balanced semester. The University of Ottawa joins several other universities, including York University and Trent University, that have fall reading weeks. Brandon University discontinues credit card payments

Last term, Brandon Univeristy joined a long list of Canadian universities, including the University

of Toronto and McMaster University, attempting to reduce costs by discontinuing tuition and residence payments by credit card. Students are now required to use alternative payment methods, including paying online through a financial institution like a bank. According to The Quill, Brandon University’s student newspaper, the rationale for the change was to reduce the university’s transaction fees. The proposal for the change cited the over $145,000 in transaction fees the university paid in the 2008/2009 academic year as one of the reasons for the change.

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The Concordia Student Union president Amine Dabchy claimed that the delegation was harrassed as an intimidation tactic because of the successful petition to hold a referendum to leave the CFS.

Concordia University delegation walks out of Canadian Federation of Students AGM

Concordia University’s eightmember delegation walked out of the Canadian Federation of Students’ (CFS) Annual General Meeting (AGM), held at the end of November last year. One representative is quoted in The Link, Concordia University’s student newspaper, as saying that the meeting was “a week in hell.” The delegation faced what they felt was harassment and intimidation, claiming their delegates were constantly followed by CFS staff members, asked to sign a legal agreement not to criticize the CFS, and had difficulty getting legislation passed. The Concordia Student Union President Amine Dabchy claimed that the delegation was harrassed as an intimidation tactic because of the successful petition to hold a referendum to leave the CFS. The delegation walked out after the vote on a motion to change the requirements for universities seeking referendums to leave CFS. Representatives from the Concordia delegation claimed the CFS prevented all debate on the contentious issue and violated its own principles by allowing a motion to pass with-

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Adrienne Raw

out the necessary number of votes required for approval. The CFS national chairperson denied the idea that the Concordia delegation was singled out. As a result of the CFS AGM, Concordia’s Student Union president said that his administration now fully supports the upcoming referendum to leave CFS; the executive was previously neutral on this issue. University of Saskatchewan student petition may get national attention

A petition developed by University of Saskatchewen Students’ Union vice-president external may get presented in the House of Commons in the near future. The petition was started to counter Conservative Member of Parliament Brad Trost’s petition to get the government to stop funding the International Planned Parenthood Foundation. Two MPs have confirmed that they will present the petition to House of Commons. — with files from The Fulcrum, The Quill, The Link, Macleans, The Concordian, and The Sheaf araw@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

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Opinion IMPRINT

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010 opinion@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

The University of Waterloo’s official student newspaper

UW fails at IT

Friday, January 8, 2010 Vol. 32, No. 21

Board of Directors board@imprint.uwaterloo.ca President, Sherif Soliman president@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Vice-president, Anya Lomako vp@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Treasurer, Lu Jiang treasurer@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Secretary, Erin Thompson secretary@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Staff liaison, Caitlin McIntyre liaison@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Editorial Staff Assistant Editor, vacant Head Reporter, E Aboyeji Lead Proofreader, Katrina Massey Cover Editor, Rajul Salen News Editor, Adrienne Raw News Assistant, Paula Trelinska Opinion Editor, vacant Opinion Assistant, Mushfiqur Rahman Features Editor, Komal R. Lakhani Features Assistant, Parth Khanna Arts & Entertainment, Dinh Nguyen Arts & E. Assistant, Michael Chung Science & Tech Editor, vacant Science & Tech Assistant, Jordan Campbell Sports & Living Editor, Brent Golem Sports & Living Assistant, vacant Photo Editor, vacant Photo Assistant, Abisade Dare Graphics Editor, Sonia Lee Graphics Assistant, Ian Cutajar Web Administrator, Paul Collier Web Assistant, Xiaobo Liu Systems Administrator, vacant System Administrator Assistant, vacant Production Staff Jackie Johnston, Alicia Mah, Bogdan Petrescu, Jacqueline McKoy Lambert, Andrew Dodds, Ivan Lui, Alcina Wong, Michael Shao, Rosalind Gunn, Michael To, Tejas Koshy, Anel Femandez, Felicia Rahaman Graphics Team Alcina Wong, Armel Chesnais, Majuratan Sadogopan 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. Next staff meeting: Monday, January 13, 2010 12:30 p.m. Next board of directors meeting: Friday, January 8, 2010 11:00 a.m.

n occasion, members of the University of Waterloo administration refer to UW as the “MIT of the North.” For those who may not know, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is known for their computer science and engineering programs, and for the ingenuity of their students. The comparison is intended to be flattering to us here at UW, but sometimes I find the claims that we are Canada’s jewel of technical competence to be flying in the face of reality. It’s comical, really. Students complaining about UW -ACE or Quest is nothing new, but some of UW’s information technology failings run deeper than that — and are more subtle. Here, I’d like to present three examples. Perhaps one of the most grevious mistakes was made when UW moved their online directory from UWdir to WatIAM. To update one’s contact information, one has to give the UW the answers to three or more “Authentication Questions.” The purpose of this system is that if a user forgets their password, they can answer these authentication questions to get their password reset. The dangerous part of the system isn’t that UW has personal information on its students, the danger is the questions are so easy. “What is the name of the hospital

where you were born?” That’s a matter of public record. “What was your first job?” That wouldn’t be hard to figure out. “What is your favourite drink?” Better not write about that, then. (*cough*Adly’s Ale*cough*) The hacker who made the news by breaking into Sarah Palin’s email account in 2008 did so by answering her (similarly easy) security question. According to Wired, “the hacker simply reset Palin’s password using her birthdate, ZIP code and information about where she met her spouse — the security question on her Yahoo account, which was answered (Wasilla High) by a simple Google search.” On the topic of “authentication questions”, computer security expert Bruce Schneier correctly noted that “the result is that the normal security protocol (passwords) falls back to a much less secure protocol (secret questions). And the security of the entire system suffers.” Nobody with a clue would design a system with authentication questions like “Where you were born?” but the University of Waterloo did. The second example I have are UW’s service websites, like “MyHRinfo” or “Jobmine”. They’re not nearly available all the time, only being online from 7 a.m. to midnight,

every day (except for Wednesday, where the website goes online at 8 a.m.). Why are websites — parts of the internet — keeping business hours? I recognize the need to take websites down for maintenance and to update databases, but 7 a.m. to midnight is hardly “five nines” of uptime. It’s not even one nine. (It’s 70.2 per cent.). In comparison, University of Toronto’s

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least their administration knows how to generate a damn PDF properly. UW’s IT systems aren’t completely made of fail. There are a few things that the University of Waterloo does very well. For instance, I’ve always been impressed by UW’s library system. In the old days, if I kept a book out late I would get a letter. Quite reliably, when the book became overdue

Nobody with a clue would design a system with authentication questions like “Where you were born?” but the University of Waterloo did.

online system (“ROSI”) is only down half an hour five nights a week, and 6 hours two nights a week. That’s 91.3 per cent (Note: one nine.). The third irksome thing I’d like to mention is that it appears the highest UW administration doesn’t know how to generate a PDF properly. The minutes and agendas the Board of Governors (and UW Senate) sends out are PDFs that have been made by printing a document out and scanning it back in. I don’t know the state of the U of T’s engineering program, but at

by a day or two, a piece of physical mail would appear. Now, the library system has moved to email, but even still, one late book equals one email message, without fail. Beautiful. Maybe I’m being overly picky. But I believe that if the University of Waterloo is going to compare itself to MIT, the administration should in no way mimic my computer illiterate grandma. All parts of the UW administration must strive to be computer proficient, in everything it does.

Feds requires student will mrowley@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Being a student means giving up control. Of course, we all do our best to make good choices: live a healthy lifestyle, pay our fees on time, hand in our assignments, and all the other business of being a full-time university student. Ultimately, however, we realize that the overwhelming majority of university business is entirely out of our hands. We don’t pick which courses are offered in which term, we don’t get to choose program requirements, which faculties get new buildings, or how much we pay, for what, to whom. This delicate balance of control and acceptance is vital to success as a student. However, it rarely occurs to us to try and shift this balance to put more power in our own hands. We all complain about long lines at the Bookstore or for OSAP, we all complain about Quest’s mediocre interface (not to mention UW-ACE), but we tend to file these sorts of things along with capital projects and tuition fees: the people in Needles Hall will do what they will, and we have to live with it. In our aggravation, we forget that there is something that can be done about a lot of these problems. Feds, theoretically, represents the undergraduate student body to the university administration, and are our strongest advocate for the changes we want to see. While it is obvious that over the past year there have been serious lapses in Feds’ projects (such as the logo debacle and the failed Student Services Complex referendum question), we should not let ourselves miss the forest for the trees. If the students want something done, Feds is the best bet for seeing it through. Feds, however, is only as strong as the

students who support it. Government, especially student government, can’t be a top-down affair: in order for real changes to happen, Feds needs real support. It’s far easier to bash this group for ineffectiveness than it is to work towards its success. In other words, we can’t simply wait for Feds to offer solutions to all our problems, because they don’t necessar-

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end. As we are a university that strives for excellence, our elected representatives must be striving for excellence as well. There are a large number of students who don’t even bother to vote in Feds elections because “they don’t matter.” This betrays a terrible ignorance of how this group works: if they have no support from students, they have no clout when

Feds, however, is only as strong as the students who support it... In order for Feds to work effectively, they need to know what we want them to do, and need support from us to do it.

ily know what these problems are. The Feds executive is made up of only four people, and they are not superheroes, or deities, or even experienced adults. They are students just like us. In order for Feds to work effectively, they need to know what we want them to do, and need support from us to do it. This, of course, is not meant to absolve these representatives of all responsibility for their shortcomings. They have a duty to be forward-thinking, responsive, and open to new ideas. They need to show some spine in face of administrative pressure, a pressure which will not always be for the betterment of campus life. They have a responsibility to make their procedures and policies accessible, clear, and efficient, to allow the maximum possible input from students. They must commit to projects and see them through to their

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Editor-in-chief, Michael L. Davenport 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, Tony Tang Systems Admin., vacant Distribution, Jennifer Domise Distribution, Sherif Soliman Intern, Paige Leslie, Sinead Mulhern Volunteer co-ordinator, Angela Gaetano

editor@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

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Student Life Centre, Room 1116 University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 P: 519.888.4048 F: 519.884.7800 http://imprint.uwaterloo.ca

it comes to implementing solutions. Of course, we are still a long way out from these elections, but over the coming weeks this column will examine some of the issues (both large and small) facing undergraduate students, consider the candidates for Feds executive positions, and pose some of the questions we should be considering as we make our way to the polls this winter. The administration of this university has an enormous amount of power in many areas that impact every student every day. We don’t get to elect the president or the board of directors, but we do get to elect Feds. If we care about the future of our school, we should take this opportunity seriously, and tip the balance of power back in our direction.

Opinion

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010

Community Editorials

What is the current State of Sudan? Miyar De’Nyok 4A environment and resource studies

here are two critical issues defining the situation in the Sudan right now. The first is the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2005 by the National Congress Party (NCP), the ruling party in Khartoum led by Al-Bashir, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), the southern Sudanese mainstream party. The second critical issue is the NCP’s refusal to implement the CPA and to cease hostilities with the people of Darfur, which is detrimentally becoming a determinal factor in peace and stability in Sudan. Background of the CPA

The NCP and SPLM share a Government of National Unity formed in 2005 through CPA. NCP is the ruling party in the north with its independent powers and SPLM is the ruling party in the south with its independent powers. The CPA gave self-determination to the people of southern Sudan to have referenda in 2011 whether to secede as independent state or remain in the United Sudan. According to CPA, elections were supposed to be held in Sudan in July of this year. The NCP, however, has stalled the election, pushing it to April 2010. It’s obvious that NCP is trying to do everything it can to destroy CPA and southern Sudanese self-determination. The status quo party is trying by all means to invigorate the political manipulation of the 1990s by resort-

ing to the clandestine tactic of refusing to sign referenda bills and border demarcations, denying southern Sudanese living in Canada, Australia, Norway, and some states in the U.S. the right to vote in the upcoming election, and turning down Darfur’s peace initiative. The issues surrounding elections, CPA implementation, and ethnicized politics that have now blanketed the southern Sudanese are situational barriers connected to the NCP’s plan to dissuade them, using the argument that southerners cannot govern themselves. This is breaching the future referenda that will pave a way to an independent south. All of these problems raise the questions of whether the CPA is being renegotiated: is there going to be an election or a boycott? Is violation of self-determination for south imminent? The Comprehensive Peace Agreement implementation

The CPA is dying slowly and it is being renegotiated secretly. The attempt to settle the outstanding issues that have not been solved yet by NCP and SPLM are clear indications that the CPA is on hold for the second time. Although the U.S. special envoy for Sudan Policy General Scott Graiton intervened to broker a deal for implementing the CPA and the signing of the referenda bills for 2011 and Darfur’s peace initiative, General Graiton failed to facilitate compliance between both sides on the CPA. Because of contentious debate around the points outlined in the CPA — the north-south

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border demarcation, census suppression, referenda bills, and wealth-sharing, just to name few — southerners are reluctant to sign on. The aforementioned points found in the CPA all tend to encroach on some of the south’s demands, instead favouring the north and this is causing further impediment to imposing the agreement and orchestrating Darfur’s peace initiative. The SPLM is forming a network with international communities in order to pressure the NCP to implement the CPA and the Darfur peace initiative. Rather than trying to get the NCP to renegotiate the agreement, the SPLM just needs to push for its implementation. Southern Sudan is now rocked by ethnic violence. The ongoing ethnic killing is the result of NCP policies of divide-and-rules and their plan to increase insecurities so that election will not go ahead and to have the opportunity to rig the election. Since Darfur is at war with this non-secular government, the NCP wants to ensure that the south is also at war with itself. The message I wish to convey is that the NCP is endeavouring to continue the exploitation of the south for its resources and in order to do this, they need to create and proliferate unrest in the south. This is accomplished by preventing the CPA from passing. Election overdue

An election should have taken place this year in July, but it was postponed by NCP, who justified it by saying that July is the rainy season

and the Sudan National Electoral Commissioners (NEC) were not appointed. February 2010 was proposed, then moved to April 2010. This justification seasoned the delaying tactic of violating the CPA and confirmed the reality that NCP is not willing to participate in the proposed general election. Al-Bashir’s party is just buying time to convince the Sudanese that they are legitimate and honest. However, should the Sudanese trust AlBashir’s leadership? The NCP is now intimidated by the fact that President Al-Bashir is besieged by an ICC arrest warrant and fear from anticipated growing anti-Sudan unity. Some of the evident pre-election frauds are confessed through constituencies’ allocations, voters’ registrations, and Diasporas’ consideration for voting. It is self-evident and featured by many authors at www.southsudannation.com. The NCP has stalemated the election intentionally to breach CPA and anger the southerners. They’ve done this first and foremost by delaying the NEC appointment, southern Sudan census suppression, and disagreement over the referenda bills. These are the facts that should be considered as to why NCP is not interested in participating in a general election. Now the NCP has founded a secretive party in the south -Sudan People’s Liberation Movement - for Democratic Change (SPLMDC) that evolved from it deficient policies of divide-and-rules systemic nature, considering this party to be the southern Sudanese party, but, internally it is NCP buying voters in the south one by one.

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Opinion

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010

How do you solve a problem like tuition? hate to begin a new year on this grim note, but sincerely, this wasn’t my merriest Christmas. I had huge bills to pay. I suspect we all did. Unfortunately for me though, since I don’t have the “worry later” guarantee of OSAP. During the Christmas holidays while the rest of the world was celebrating, I sat alone in a dark basement apartment, trying to figure out where the tens of thousands of dollars for this year would come from. The preceding hours had been tortuous. I had been filling the gazillion scholarship applications that now papered my floor. In one sudden wave of dangerous emotion, I dumped the exercise in futility to pick up my computer. “www.google.com,” I type. “Operating budget University of Waterloo 2009/2010.” I would spend the next few hours perusing this document. It would be the umpteenth time I have done this. Why? As it turns out, the operating budget is the Holy Grail to all the big questions of tuition. Sadly, our student leaders don’t realize this. The truth is, although free tuition is the dream; it will never happen (Sorry CFS!). The earlier we do away with that dreamy notion, the better. Sometimes I wonder instead of spending students’ funds globetrotting and screaming throats hoarse regarding free tuition, why don’t our student leaders spend more time scrutinizing the university’s operating budget to reduce waste and ensure it caters to the interests of undergraduate students? That is a question worth answering another day. Now, although examining the school’s operating budget is now some sort of habitual ritual for me, I realize that not everyone is a nut like me and they actually have lives. Knowing that unlike me you have lives and happy holidays, I’ll be happy to provide you my special operating budget holiday scoop. According to the 2009/2010 operating budget, the University of

Waterloo spends $300 million on salaries and benefits. This is approximately 72.2 per cent of the operating budget. Now I am not suggesting that salaries are a wasteful expense or that job cuts are the ethical or sensible road to the kind of responsible spending that will allow us cut increases in tuition. However, 72.2 per cent of the budget seems to be an objectively excessive slice of the budget to spend on salaries. To put this claim in context, the University of Guelph, a university as

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in our teaching ranks, and reduces the student teacher ratio. The solution is this: Hire fewer tenured profs. Hire more sessional instructors. I know this suggestion is bound to be controversial so I will give you, the undergraduate student, three reasons why this is a good solution to our present tuition woes. We begin with the cost argument. According to the memorandum of salary settlement between the university and faculty, the average professor

can bring down the student-teacher ratio to about eight or nine students per instructor. The second argument is the time argument. Tenured professors do not have time for us lowly undergraduate underlings—and understandably so. Their time is far better spent supervising graduate students or being Canada research chairs. Why bother about lowly undergraduates? Many of them even make a point of negotiating their timeslots to

So, if you are first year and you are currently paying $4,370 a year, by your fourth year you will be paying these professors, many of whom you may never see in your entire undergrad career, $5,250 a year!

large and prestigious as we are, spends a significantly less 68.1 per cent on salaries. As if the present costs are not already devastating enough to our bottom line, we are also compelled by contractual agreements to increase this amount by 5.2 per cent every year! You are probably thinking. “Whoa! Buddy, you must be a genius. How did you go through that five-paged document to get out all this insightful data?” Well, the wonderful thing about the operating budget is that one does not need to go through the hula-hoops of forensic accounting analysis to spot the problem. Clearly, it is salaries. Now I am not going to pretend that there is some quick fix to the spending binge that salaries are. Besides, they are a generally sensitive topic since they have to do with people’s living wage. However, I feel there is a way out of this funding quagmire that kills more than two birds. My proposed solution not only balances the operating budget and reduces the need for increases the tuition, but it also increases diversity

Opinion Have something to say? An issue you want the world to know about?

costs us about $140,000 annually and we currently have an astonishing 780 tenure-track professors at our school. This unnecessary extravagance leaves us with a bill of $109,200,000 in salaries we must pay annually. What does this cost you? $4,370 every year! The bad news does not end. Every year, this amount goes up by $220. So, if you are first year and you are currently paying $4,370 a year, by your fourth year you will be paying these professors, many of whom you may never see in your entire undergrad career, $5,250 a year! Now, lets look at the alternative. Hiring a sessional instructor costs about $50,000 a year. That means for the price of one professor, students get can get up to approximately three sessional instructors. Imagine for a second the kind of impact this will have on the teacher-student ratio. Our student-teacher ratio is currently an appalling 27 students per instructor. That means if more of our tuition is spent on sessional instructors as opposed to tenured professors, we

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avoid being “overburdened” with “crowded” undergrad classes. Even in my own academic experience, I find that more of the lecturers who are friendly and actually take the time to go over topics with you after class and care enough to discuss common research interests with you are sessional instructors. Even in informal polls I have held amongst my colleagues, lecturers are by far the undergraduate students’ best friend. There are few better confirmations of the fact that tenure track professors are invisible to undergraduate students than this fact; I am currently taking 3 year economics courses and I have not yet had a single class with any economics professors at this school except Larry Smith (who is an adjunct associate by the way). I have not even seen any of the other professors with my two eyes. So this raises the question, why should the undergraduate student pay so much for his professor’s disappearing act? My final argument is the opportunity argument. It is a widely

acknowledged fact that Waterloo’s tenured professorships consistently under-represent women and minorities. Our university has had a widely acknowledged “woman professor” problem for the longest time. In fact, only about 23 per cent of our faculty are women. There are a lot of structural reasons for this. However, I believe that sessional lecturer positions would be easier to access for women interested in working within Waterloo’s academia. There is also the issue of hiring internationally experienced instructors, especially in the arts faculty. Sessional instructor positions provide a hiring opportunity for visiting instructors with varied international experiences that can add much needed depth and breadth to our courses. If we desire for our university, a truly diverse faculty, it seems to me that increasing sessional lecturer positions would be the rather obvious route to take. The wonderful thing about these tuition-cutting ideas is that they could not have come at a more fortunate time. In February this year, the school will be finalizing a new memorandum of salary agreement as the previous one has expired. Our student leaders have an opportunity to pressure the administration into demanding some important concessions out of faculty. At the same time, it is not yet uhuru. Danger, serious danger, lurks. The province wide tuition freeze that has protected us from the storm of tuition spikes will expire this September. This opportunity may lessen the incentives for the administration to undertake the kind of cost cutting reforms our university so desperately needs. Clearly, business as usual is not an option Waterloo students already overburdened by debt can afford. It is about time, our student leaders reminded our professors, that the teacher’s reward may be in heaven but our loan repayment slips are here — on Earth.

Campus Bulletin UPCOMING Thursday, January 14, 2010 Wonder where your tap water comes from and where all of your waste goes? Head to E2-2348 at 6 p.m. for a presentation by Don Holland from CH2M Hill on Water Treatment Plant Designs. Free! Refreshments! WEAO and OWWA Student Chapter joint event. Tuesday, January 19, 2010 rare presents “Cape Farewell Documentary” at 7 p.m. at 1679 Blair Road, Cambridge. Register by January 15 at 519-650-9336, ext 125 or www.raresites.org. Thursday, January 21, 2010 Join us in the Tatham Centre, room 2218A and B at 5:30 p.m., to find out about the exciting careers at Blue Coat. Food will be provided. www. bluecoat.com. Tuesday, January 26, 2010 Volunteer/Internship Fair – come out and meet representatives from a variety of local agencies to find out about volunteering opportunities in a variety of different fields. Student Life Centre, Great Hall from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday, February 5, 2010 Nominations are being accepted for Distinguished Teacher Award at UW – deadline February 5. Please visit the blog on the Centre for Teaching Excellence’s web site for guidance on how to write an effective nomination letter. http://cte-blog.uwaterloo. ca/?p=9. For more info call Verna at ext 33857 or http://cte.uwaterloo.ca. Saturday, February 6, 2010 Women’s Municipal Campaign School, Waterloo Region for women interested in running for office or working on municipal campaigns from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Kitchener City Hall, Council Chambers, 200 King Street, W., Kitchener. For info/registration www.learnhowtorun.com. Tuesday, February 9, 2010 Countdown Possum Productions presents new original play 2-1, “Charlie Then and Now,” to February 13 at KW Little Theatre, 9 Princess Street, Waterloo. Info/tickets 519-747-9029 or frank-rejeanne@rogers.com. Friday, February 12, 2010 Nominations are being accepted for Amit and Meena Chakma Award for Exceptional Teaching by a Student at UW – deadline February 12. Please visit the blog on the Centre for Teaching Excellence’s web site for guidance on how to write an effective nomination letter. http://cte-

blog.uwaterloo.ca/?p=9. For more info call Verna at ext 33857 or http:// cte.uwaterloo.ca.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010 Book Club meets – “What the Psychic Told the Pilgrim” by Jane Christmas at LIB 407 from 12 to 1 p.m.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

ONGOING

UW Campus Response Team is recruiting for the winter 2010 term. See our website, crt.feds.ca, or drop by the office, SLC 2141, for more information. Applications close January 15, 2010. Exchanges for undergraduates and graduates – 2010/11 academic years: Ontario/Rhone-Alpes, France, Ontario/Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany scholarships available. IPO application deadline: January 18, 2010. MICEFA, Paris, France, IPO application deadline: March 17, 2010. For more info and application forms please contact Maria Lango, International Programs, Waterloo International, Needles Hall 1101, room 1113, ext 33999 or by email: mlango@uwaterloo.ca. Waterloo Wolf Pack – Waterloo boys under 13A rep soccer team will be conducting bottle drives/pickups to raise funds for registration and tournament fees. To donate call 519-578-9394 or 519-746-4568 or nevrdy@sympatico. ca or hadley7073@hotmail.com. Story writers wanted for free paranormal magazine. Short stories, articles accepted. Free for free exposure. Submit your scariest stories true or fictional. Distributed locally to ghost tours and online. www.kwparamag.com.

UW RECREATION COMMITTEE UW Recreation Committee events are open to all employees of the University of Waterloo. Register by emailing UWRC@uwaterloo.ca. Would you like to assist with the planning of UWRC events for 2010?? Email UWRC@admmail. uwaterloo.ca with your interest. Exchange Board – looking to rent, buy or sell? UWRC.uwaterloo.ca/ exchange_board. More info email Margaret at mulbrick@uwaterloo.ca. Lots of discounts available for UW employees – CN Tower, Ontario place, Empire Theatre, Galaxy Theatre, Kitchener Auditorium, Princess Cinema, VIA rail and more ... email Shirley at schatten@uwaterloo.ca. UPCOMING EVENTS: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 “Beat the tax man lunch and learn” with speaker Henry Zech, Investors Group, MC 5158 from 12 to 1 p.m.

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MONDAYS Gambling can ruin your life. Gamblers Anonymous, 7 p.m. at St Marks, 825 King Street, W, basement.

VOLUNTEERING Shadow needed to be paired with international students for winter 2010. Show them around, help them resolve cultural conflict and make their stay in Waterloo more enjoyable. Make great friends and learn new things. Please apply at www.iso. uwaterloo.ca. Volunteer with a child at their school

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010 ads@imprint.uwaterloo.ca and help improve their self-esteem and confidence. One to three hours a week commitment. Call Canadian Mental Health at 519-744-7645, ext 229. City of Waterloo has volunteer opportunities. For info call 519-8886478 or www.waterloo.ca/volunteer. The Distress Centre needs volunteers to provide confidential, supportive listening on our crisis and distress lines. Complete training provided. Call 519-744-7645, ext 300. Volunteer Action Centre, 519-7428610 / volunteer@volunteerkw.ca, for all your volunteering needs! Deliver or befriend through Community Support Connections. Deliver meals, drive seniors to appointments or visit one for a few hours each week. Contact Kate Lavender at 519-772-8787 or katel@communitysupportconnections.org.

Hey Hot Stuff! Volunteering at Imprint is fun, easy, helps you meet people and boosts resumes and grad school applications. All welcome, regardless of experience. volunteer@ imprint.uwaterloo.ca. Volunteers needed – The English Tutor program is in constant need of volunters to tutor international students. Volunteering is an essential part of student life at UW. Apply online at www.iso.uwaterloo.ca. Speak Croatian or Polish? Volunteer visitor required for a woman with Alzheimer’s disease. Two hours per week. Training/support provided by Alzheimer Society. Jill jmercier@alzheimerkw. com. Resume builder. Volunteer required to rebuild website for Kitchener International Children’s Games Chapter. Call 519-886-6918 and leave message or respond to icgkitchener@hotmail.com.

Have the summer of your life at a prestigious co-ed sleepaway camp in the beautiful Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, 2.5 hours from New York City. We’re seeking counselors who can teach any team and individual sports; tennis, gymnastics, horseback riding, mountain biking, skate park, theatre, tech theatre, circus, magic, arts and crafts, pioneering, climbing tower, water sports, music, dance or science. Great salaries and perks. Plenty of free time. Internships available for many majors. Interviews on February 3. Apply online at www. islandlake.com. Call 1-800-869-6083 between 9 to 5 Eastern time on weekdays for more information. info@islandlake.com. Extend-A-Family part-time positions – providing in-home and community support to individuals with developmental/physical challenges in a variety of programs. Providers will be reliable, energetic and committed. $12.48/ hour to start. If interested, please contact Recruitment at 519-741-0190, ext 238 or via e-mail at joy@eafwr. on.ca. Web – www.eafwr.on.ca.

HOUSING

Classified HELP WANTED 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. Summer of your life! Camp Wayne for Girls – children’s sleep-away camp, Northeast Pennsylvania (6/19 – 8/15/10). If you love children and want a caring, fun environment we need counselors and instructors for: tennis, swimming, golf, gymnatics, cheerleading, drama, high and low ropes, camping/nature, team sports, waterskiing, sailing, painting/drawing, ceramics, silkscreen, printmaking, batik, jewellery, calligraphy, photography, sculpture, guitar, aerobics, self-defense, video, piano. Other staff: administrative, CDL driver (21+), nurses (RNs and nursing students), bookkeeper, mothers’ helper. Oncampus interviews January 27, 2010. Select the camp that selects the best staff! Call 1-215-944-3069 or apply on-line at www.campwaynegirls.com. Starting in January – part-time employment available. Fun, games, sports and crafts with afterschool children at Laurelwood Public School. Only a short distance from the University. Interested persons should leave a message at 519-741-8997.

Only $389 – five bedroom house, must see, goes fast, excellent location at 121 B Noecker Street, starting May 1, 2010. Close to everything, very clean, free washer/dryer, gas heated, cheap utilities, two full bathrooms, two full size fridges, hardwood floors and ceramic tile throughout, large private yard and large deck. Free parking for five cars, on bus route. $389 per room, per month. Call 519-741-7724 or 416575-2104 or e-mail info@acdev.ca. Only $399 – one roommate needed for appartment on 410 Hazel Street, close to #9 bus that takes you directly to UW, 20 minute walk to campus. Large bedroom, very comfortable. Three other male second year students will be living there. Utilities included, furnished. Call 226-339-0335 for more info. For pictures, visit http:// sublet410.tumblr.com. Housing on campus – St. Paul’s University Collge has undergrad and grad housing available immediately or thoghout the term. Please contact Jenn at jlaughli@uwaterloo.ca.

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Does your thesis or major paper need a fresh pair of eyes to catch English spelling and grammar errors? Thesis English editing. Five business day turnaround. Neal Moogk-Soulis, ncmoogks@uwaterloo.ca.

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Features FASSinating! Parth Khanna features assistant

s the web 2.0 bug bites our youth, most of us are more likely to upload a video on YouTube or maintain a video blog than participate in a live theatrical performance. Theatre is often best described as being an emotionallypacked experience. The passionate ones paint it as human imagination manifesting itself in the facial expressions and voice fluctuations of the actors, the stage thumping of the dancers, and the heart soothing singing of the choir. To find out if live performance is as energetically charged as claimed, and to test its validity for the generation that gets its entertainment from behind the LCD screen, the expedition to find performance arts groups on campus began. The FASS Theatre Company (Faculty Alumni Staff and Students), the long standing pillar in promoting performance and theatre on campus, could prove to be the right place to look for answers. FASS, born in 1962, is an amateur theatre group and the oldest of its kind in Waterloo. The group takes pride in being open to all and “giving part to anyone that walks through their doors to audition.” Also, those working for the organization insist that even though the name mentions only faculty, staff, students, and alumni, anyone is welcome to participate. They have evolved greatly over their nearly five decade existence. In the beginning years, the Bambi stage

of any organization, FASS focused more on plays with no theme and different faculties performed skits loaded with puns and groans. As the organization deepened its roots, the script writing took place within the organization, the plays adopted themes, and humour became embedded as a part of the story itself. The organization’s long-standing history also serves as a yardstick for Waterloo’s changing student populus. As the past producer Nadia Ursacki, who has been at FASS since 1999, recalls, the students today are “less interested in partying and alcohol than they used to be.” She speculates this to a much younger demographic and students being “more academically oriented these days.” The auditions for this year’s play took place in Hagey Hall; a building where finding a room closely resembles finding ones way out of the maze, or into the maze to be more accurate. The loud bursts of laughs and cheers, travelling out of the small room where registration for the audition was taking place, worked as an excellent GPS. Auditioning composed of acting, singing and dancing. However, it was preceded by filling out forms laid on the front table. After being asked to grin in front of the camera, groups were made which auditioned for acting, singing and dancing in subsequent rooms. As the group members sang, danced, and acted their way deeper into the audition process, the smiles became wider, interactions friendlier, and eyes animated.

The positive vibes resonating amongst auditioning FASSies and FASSies to-be, as they nickname themselves, is rather intriguing. When traced, it may be construed to the richness of the experience they might have had while at FASS. They insist that FASS binds together those involved.

They unanimously expressed that working at FASS has given their social skills a boost. As Mark Jackson-Brown put it, “FASS is very social, you get like 100 insta-friends”. In addition to social skills, some such as tech editor Jordin Abrahamson found their intrinsic calling. As she sums up her experience,

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010 features@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Abrahamson said, “FASS gave me a place to play with all the cardboard and glue that I would ever want.” pkhanna@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

abisade dare

A New Start

komal r. lakhani

Becky Wroe, orientation and special events co-ordinator for Feds and Cora Dupuis, student life co-ordinator, first-year experience address the students at the New Students Orientation on January 6, 2010. Several different programs across campus admit new students to start classes in January rather than September.

Features

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010

extending a helping hand Paula Trelinska staff reporter

courtesy sos team

9.33/10) is ranked fourth nationally. Students have given comments like ‘Vince was amazing. He explained everything really well and was really nice and open to questions. He was sort of like a superhero. What a great tutor.’” This term the group plans on expanding their initiatives to include other faculties in the university. Students in the science faculty will also now be able to benefit from tutoring sessions. The group plans to include a total of

WANTED IMPRINT

nine courses in the line up for next term. There is also a project being launched this winter to distribute lecture notes. The idea is to distribute high quality lecture materials as a supplement to note taking. This is not to allow students to slack off, but rather to encourage them to listen more and engage in class as opposed to simply concentrating on writing every word down.

March 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011 The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the daily operation of UW’s student newspaper. They set a vision and direction for the paper in terms of design, format and content that is consistent with Imprint’s policy ; manage and evaluate a diverse volunteer staff ; facilitate regular meetings ; troubleshoot and facilitate conflict resolution ; oversee 16 workstations, Unix/Linux networks and Imprint’s website. The Editor-in-Chief will ensure the print-topress quality of all content. Proven managerial, organization skills, editing, layout and design skills, familiarity with Adobe CS4, photo editing packages and Unix/Linux networks makes you an ideal candidate. Volunteer management and web design experience are definite assets. Applicants are required to provide cover letter, resume and portfolio of relevant work to: Imprint Publications, Waterloo Attention: Hiring Committee University of Waterloo Student Life Centre, room 1116 200 University Ave., W., Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1 president@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

DEADLINE: jANUARY 31/10

ptrelinska@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Project Shanghai

The University of Waterloo’s official student newspaper

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Those involved in Waterloo SOS have been working very hard to bring these sessions to students and hope to expand the program even further should they be able to hire more tutors. — With files from SOS

Sarah Al-Hage staff reporter

n Sunday December 10, 2009, 15 Masters students from Shanghai Tongji Urban Planning & Design Institute arrived in Waterloo, Ontario to attend a 10 day course on community planning hosted by Mark Seasons, Associate Professor and Associate dean of Urban Planning at UW. As soon as they arrived in Canada, the students were split up into three teams and were expected to complete tasks requiring them to

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Their overall work was extremely impressive. Even more surprising was how they were able to surmount the various constraints they had faced, not least of which were the timing of the activity and language barriers. Despite the fact that they had only just flown into the country they were exceptionally clear and confident in communicating their presentations to the audience. Prof. Seasons acknowledged their impressive performance. Karen Hammond, lecturer and undergraduate officer of the School of Planning made an appearance and also said that she was

Each team was required to give a brief summary of their project assignment to the rest of their class and other interested members of the public.

apply their professional planning and design expertise to the redevelopment of the Canbar site in uptown Waterloo, located at 104 Erb Street West. Each team was required to give a brief summary of their project assignment to the rest of their class and other interested members of the public. In a very short time span of two days, each team was able to analyze the site and come up with a detailed plan to present to their classmates and the general public. They considered the phases of design, internal and surrounding uses, the Regional Growth Management Strategy (RGMS), public transportation, hierarchy and basic architecture of the buildings, open spaces, streetscape, diversity and many other details. They also provided handmade site plans and sketch designs to illustrate their plans.

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his past fall over 500 students benefited from tutoring sessions organized by Waterloo Students Offering Support(SOS). The group offered tutoring sessions for six different courses in both the math and arts faculties this fall and raised over $18,000 for sustainable development projects in Latin America which will be implemented on an annual trip. The project chosen this year will take place in either Honduras, Costa Rica, Peru, Nicaragua, or Panama. The location has yet to be chosen. Donations that were acquired in 2008 and 2009 went toward a joint project with York SOS in the village of El Cedro, El Salvador. This project was implemented just this past August and the group renovated a torn feeding centre for a school of 600 children. The program is valuable to first year students; those making the transition between high school and university benefited the most from it. The review packages offered in the program were said to be very comprehensive and several professors even commented on how useful they were to the students. Students themselves have given very positive feedback about the program. Some students have said that it is very useful to hear the concepts explained by someone who has already taken the course and done well. For those who have not studied for exams or tests beforehand, the tutoring sessions have been particularly useful. Students have also explained that they feel better knowing that they are not only getting helped but that they are also helping someone else out at the same time. Jeffrey Baer, the president of Waterloo SOS, says that students ranked the tutoring sessions as an 8.55/10 overall. Some individual tutors got marks even higher than that. He says, "Our top tutor (Vince Chan, this term's head tutor, rated

“very impressed by the presentations and the work that was produced.” The students also seemed to be very impressed with the hospitality provided and the course itself. The students thanked Prof. Seasons and said they learned a lot about Canadian urban design. “I’m truly impressed with the very fast pace. All of you have ideas to influence different perspectives. The purpose of the training program is to help you learn the concepts and that may be a little different than the way it is done in China. I want to congratulate you,” said Chow. The entire project was so successful that Seasons told correspondents “I will definitely want to do this again next year.” shage@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Features

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010

In line

and passing time Students stand in line to enter the Bombshelter pub on the first Wednesday of the term. komal r. lakhani

Komal R. Lakhani features editor

Taniya Gupta reporter

chool has started, and the students are back on campus. Everyone needs to get textbooks or fill out their OSAP forms. Students are waiting to get into the flow of things again by going to the Bomber or grabbing early morning coffee at Timmies. When talking to some people around campus about what they do when they are stuck outside the bookstore or trying to get into the Bomber on a Wednesday night, Imprint got a number of different answers. People pass their time by texting or talking to their friends. Some students also suggested entertaining themselves and others by showing off their dance moves, while some said reading a book can be enlightening, playing I-Spy was another good op-

tion. Other random answers were making out and singing. The long line-ups everywhere can be annoying and many choose to leave rather than wait. For those who do hang around, here are some things you can do to pass your time while waiting in line. To begin with, call someone you otherwise don’t have time to catch up with, such as your parents, and have that conversation about you plans for the future that you have been avoiding for the longest time. If that is something you aren’t into, the next item might be fun. Haven’t you always wanted to learn something new? Today might be the day. Turn and talk to the people around you and learn to say hello in five different languages; it’s the best way to pick up a new language. For the shy types, technology has blessed you with devices like Nintendo DS or Sony PSP, where you can defeat the evil monster and save the damsel in distress. For those of you, who treat your cellphones like your own baby, check out the various applications on your iPhone/BlackBerry. In this ever changing

world of fashion, you can never have enough clothes, so if you are a little short on budget, then bring out those knitting needles and make yourself a new scarf for the cold Canadian winter. The season of love is coming soon, with Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. If you are in the “single, ready to mingle” category, you might actually find someone interesting. The time can also be utilized to reflect on your relationship with your current partner, and if you think it’s not working out, you have enough time to come up with a break-up speech. A survey of UW students waiting outside Bomber revealed some other unique ways to pass the time. “I once saw a guy streak in line to make it move faster,” commented one student who wished to remain anonymous. Different people have different ways to pass those longs waits. Use our ideas or make your own, because in the end, it all boils down to having fun and getting things done. klakhani@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

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Arts & Entertainment

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010 arts@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Avatar James Cameron Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

ne bleak December day I trekked out to Galaxy cinemas to witness the stirrings of cinematic history. Sure I should have been studying for my exam the next day, but this was history in the making. This was the opening day of James Cameron’s Avatar. To be perfectly honest the only reason I went to go see the film was because of an overly enthusiastic roommate of mine who had been talking about the movie for weeks (think teenage girl and New Moon). Well that and the fact that it seemed like a better use of time than studying for impending doom. Avatar is James Cameron’s first feature film since his highly acclaimed 1997 masterpiece Titanic. Avatar is quickly following suit, already being lavished with a similar caliber of praise as it has already taken the number one spot as the largest opening ever for an original film. It pulled in $242 million worldwide on its opening weekend alone and has surpassed the billion dollar mark in record time. Much of Avatar’s hype has been due to its unprecedented use of computer generated imagery (CGI) and motion-captured performance. The 3D visual splendor of Avatar had me feeling like I had taken a 162 minute LSD trip. The jungle shots of the Na’vi homeland Pandora were the scenes from the film that best demonstrated the full potential of the CGI techniques that were used throughout the film. Cameron managed to build a world, not wholly unique but captivating all the same. He was able to instill an effect reminiscent of an underwater ecosystem with the bioluminescent botany that graced the screen. I preferred these calm scenes to the chaotic action sequences that finished the movie. The action scenes were unsettling with the sheer amount of motion. I literally had to open my eyes wider to try and capture it all. See AVATAR, page 17

courtesy IMDB

Movie

Sherlock Holmes Guy Ritchie Warner Bros Picture

Hypes A

mystery is a mystery, and sometimes it should stay as such. That’s not the case for Sherlock Holmes, nor for anyone interested in watching this movie. Those expecting a thrilling two hours of mystery solving by the greatest detective ever invented will not be disappointed by Holmes’ newest adventure. For Sherlock Holmes, the movie plot is quite standard, and at times, disappointing. However it gets brought back up to great standings. The premise of the movie sends the message that magic has invaded the city of London and it is up to Holmes to figure out how to stop the terror before it is too late. Being the skeptic that he is, Holmes goes out to solve this magical mystery and save the city. At times during the movie the plot seems to slow down the dialogue and intense mystery solving. Both are relevant and necessary to drive the plot along, but are also quite stretched in some instances. It should also be mentioned that the investigating sequences were quite scientific and very much to my liking. Robert Downey Jr.’s role as Holmes hits home for me as a cynical man acting in tiredly awkward sense Jude Law’s Dr. Watson, who is a standard gentlemen and quite the professional, is a perfect complement. The two characters mirror one another nearly perfectly and holds the audience’s attention long enough to sit through to the end. The interpretation of the character Sherlock Holmes in this movie brings out a sense that he is a brawler rather than a thinker, which could cause some audience members to be in shock. After all, Sherlock Holmes was known more for his wits than his fists. Still, modern film requires at least one explosion and several fight scenes, I cannot blame this movie for having as much fighting, and indeed, explosions, as it did. There is one thing that I must personally note for those who criticize movies for their immediate effect: do not do this with Sherlock Holmes. Although I was not impressed with Sherlock Holmes in the theatre, a closer reflection at how convincing the film was leads me to give this movie a hearty recommendation for all occasions. See this with your date, your family, yourself, or whomever. It is simply worth the watch.

courtesy IMDB

— Ivan Lui

Arts & Entertainment

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010

Easy over easy dyoon@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

o, here’s the thing: I could not live without eggs. Eggs, eggs, eggs, day in, day out. I could eat them until someone’s cows come home — or chickens, if you prefer. I really don’t understand how eggs have developed a bad rep. There’re the perfect food. They have iron, vitamins A, D, E, B12; and a bunch of other vitamins and minerals I don’t really know anything about. And they have protein — a lot of protein. Just two eggs fulfill one serving of meat or alternatives in the Canada Food Guide. Moreover, eggs are considered a “complete” protein, meaning that they have all nine essential amino acids your body can’t produce on its own. If you think about it, that’s a lot of good stuff in a little package. Perfectly wrapped up and everything. Most of the protein is contained in the yolk (the best part). You might have heard blah-blah-blah cholesterol, yadda yadda yadda fat, but like avocados and nuts, it’s good cholesterol. Anyway, at this age, are you actually concerned about your cholesterol? The American Heart Association has found that lutein in egg yolks protects against the progress of early heart disease — take that, you egg-hating cholesterolphobes! Unlike the old schools of thought, many dieticians now recommend eating eggs to lose weight. I have never, nor will I ever, worry about my consumption of eggs. Unless, of course, I’m not having enough. Personally, I love a soft yolk, runny and creamy, so that I can dip toast or other things in it. I regularly cook perogies with breakfast and dip them in the runny yolk. Weird right? But so delicious. There is some concern that undercooked eggs pose a food safety risk but Health Canada (or FDA in the U.S.) is so strict about such hazards that you could eat completely raw eggs without concern, if that’s what you’re into, let alone having concern for eggs with runny yolks. If you’re still worried, eggs are delectable medium, hard cooked or scrambled. If you like boiled eggs, take a lesson from me —

1 2 3 4 5

don’t start them, then take a nap. As I have learned the hard way, when the water has all evaporated, the eggs then explode with an unpleasantly loud bang. (I’ve heard the same will happen if you microwave an egg still in the shell.) That experience aside, boiled eggs are a fairly foolproof food. I have found that the best way to boil eggs is to put them into a pot of cold water and bring it to a boil. As soon as the water boils, turn off the heat and put a lid on the pot. Let them sit for five minutes for soft boiled, seven to eight minutes for medium boiled, and 10 minutes for hard-boiled; then place the eggs into cold water for two minutes. This method prevents overcooking of the egg as well as egg related-kitchen explosions. Lately, I’ve been crazy about scrambles; I came across a recipe for scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and chives and bemoaned my lack of smoked salmon, as I wasn’t about to go buy a package just to make a small portion of scrambled eggs. I settled on plain scrambles when I came across a tub of smoked salmon flavoured cream cheese that I’d bought a while back on a bagel binge (the product of another craving) and whipped the two together with some green onion to make a college student’s version of smoked salmon scrambled eggs with chives.

Put bread in toaster and add butter to a pan over medium heat. While the butter melts, whisk eggs. (I usually add a tbsp or so of water at this point, you may prefer to use milk or no liquid at all) When the butter begins to foam, add eggs to pan and stir constantly using a wooden spoon, ‘pull’ eggs from outer edges towards the middle. More movement will cause fluffier/ runnier scramblies, whereas higher heat and less movement will result in firmer eggs. When the eggs begin to hold shape a little, stir in the cream cheese quickly, fluffing up the mixture as the cream cheese melts.

smoked salmon scrambled eggs with chives

• 1-2 tbsp butter • 3 eggs • 2 tbsp smoked salmon flavoured cream cheese • ½ or more green onion, chopped Good olive oil • 1 slice bread, preferably of the crusty variety but any will do • Salt & pepper, to taste

Just before serving, stir in chopped green onion and season with salt & pepper to your personal taste. Drizzle some olive oil very lightly over the toast and serve the eggs on top. photos courtesy sxc.hu

Arts & Entertainment

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010

Music Reviews

Courtesy AmieStreet.com

The Promise Bif Naked Her Royal Majesty’s Records

hile at the door of grim nostalgia, realizing that the ‘90s (along with its music) are becoming a thing of the past, Bif Naked’s newest album, The Promise, fell into my lap. Being so behind in the times,

I was not even aware that said album existed. Nevertheless, my hopes were held high for a walk down ‘90s memory lane. So instead of grabbing myself a pair of acid-wash jeans and a flannel shirt from the local thrift store, I decided to give the album a shot. At the beginning her album, Bif Naked conveys that her songs are “ripe with immeasurable love and promise,” and begins with the song “Crash and Burn.” All jokes aside, with songs like “F**k You 2,” “You'll Never Know,” and “Ciao, Bella,” The Promise sparks the fear that Bif Naked is becoming an ‘one-trick pony.’ The romantic arc is not a new focus for this singer either, as her 2001 song “Tango Shoes” is just one example of her musical direction. “Tango Shoes” possesses a simple, yet absolutely fantastic structure. While it is centered around a “break up” motif, it holds a strong, lyrical originality. Unfortunately, her newest album adapts a minimalist style that lacks in metaphor and structural depth. Though not all bands are credited for their lyrical depth, I came to realize something unique about The Promise: Naked's songs have some of the easiest lyrics to recall. The lack of complication in her new album makes it easy to sing along. Unfortunately, I still have

difficulty taking her seriously with phrases like “Muthafuka” in her lyrics. On a more positive note, Bif Naked manages to produce 13 new songs, and thanks to the instruments and her unique style, none of them feel too similar. Sometimes her lyrics are enough to make one's eyes roll, but often overused messages behind her songs are outweighed by her unique singing style. As I followed along with the lyrics, I was surprised to find her inflection was different from what I assumed while reading the cover pamphlet. Reading lines like “I, no, I..I won't cry,” made my mind instantly think of a Kelly Clarkson sap-song. However, when Bif Naked sings, it is full of strength, passion, and victory instead of sorrow. I find it impossible to call this album “angsty” or any similar, condemning adjective. If someone were to ask me to describe this album, it is hard to say anything other than “It's Bif Naked.” With so many tracks involving would be heartbreak or anger regarding a sexual partner, it is easy to fear that the album (like so many others) might have very similar tracks. However, each song is presented in its own unique fashion, both through Bif Naked’s singing and the instrumentals.

There is little intensity to any of the song’s instrumentals in The Promise. None of the songs really go beyond vocals, a guitar, bass, and drums. While it is possible to do absolute wonders with limitations, The Promise shows no true signs of skill. Most of the guitar involves basic chords, and the drumming is equally simple. There is more positive than negative, however. Further, there is variety in the style and instruments. The guitar, for example, is not constricted to electric guitar and bass. Some songs have a more acoustic sound. The variation is near perfect; some songs are heavier on the drumbeat, some are more focused on the guitar, and the forms never drown out Bif Naked’s strong, varied singing. So what of that “one-trick pony” paranoia that I mentioned? Well, it is true that Bif Naked's newest album holds plenty of the “failed love” motif. Nevertheless, each track manages to remain as original as the last. While the strength of Naked's lyrics have faltered, to an extent it is very minimal and she has remained true to her original style. New and old fans of her music alike should not be disappointed with The Promise. I would strongly recommend picking it up.

On the whole, this is a very comprehensive collection of stories and poems which includes a number of Purdy’s own works. There are a few excerpts which are a few pages long, but a good number of those included are short in length. All of the authors and poets who appear in this anthology share a level of passion for this topic, which brings a deeper lever of depth to their pieces. At the same time, they bring together a variety of writing styles and approaches. One issue is that this is a book that is difficult to complete and enjoy in a single sitting. For those who are not too familiar with Al Purdy or poetry in general, it may take an extra reading or two to fully understand his impact on Canadian literature as we know it now. However, for those who have more of a passion for poetry may be able to find the literary references which are said to be scattered throughout his poems. For a very basic understanding of Al Purdy and his A-Frame house, I recommend reading these five poems although it would be best to read the entire book. The introduction by Dennis Lee, “Till the House was Real,” provides the general outline and sets the tone for the rest of anthology.

At least one of Al Purdy’s poems that is included in the anthology should be read as a sample of Purdy’s unique style as a poet, preferably “Prince Edward County.” The third piece is Duncan Patterson’s “Thinking through an A-Frame,” which is a detailed account of Purdy’s life around the period of time when the A-Frame was being built. The fourth reading is the only piece which focuses mainly on Purdy’s character as a person rather than as a poet: Janet Lunn’s “Remembering Al.” Finally, to wrap up the anthology is the afterword by Paul Vermeersch in his piece “If you’re ever down my way, drop in and say hello,” which tells of the regret of an invitation accepted too late. All of these personal accounts have created in me a yearning to experience those experiences, to receive the coveted invitation from Al Purdy himself, to visit his workspace, and to make the trek across the country to see the aforementioned A-Frame that he worked so hard with his wife to build when he was nothing but a bad poet. Although the book took longer than expected to finish, it was definitely worth reading.

— Ian Cutajar

Book Reviews

Courtesy Harbour publishing

The Al Purdy A-Frame Anthology Al Purdy Harbour Publishing

home is a physical representation of the builder’s sweat and labour. It is a reflection of the cultural times, and it is

a structure which eventually captures the essence of the people who have resided in it. The Al Purdy A-Frame Anthology is a collection of contributions by various writers and poets that seeks to tell the story of a house, behind which is a story about a man. However, the two are so intertwined that it might as well be the other way around: the story of the house is told through the story of the man. Each is distinct, yet irrevocably tied to and essential to the timelessness of the other. In each of the pieces, there is a recurring theme: that the A-Frame was Al Purdy’s home and the source of inspiration for a number of his works. As such, there was a call to preserve this place as a historic site. It was only after completing the A-Frame that Purdy was finally able to find his poetic voice. Over the years, Purdy spent many hours crafting his poetry. In this anthology are numerous personal accounts of visits to this his home, visits covering a span of time practically as long as the house has existed. Thus, this home has been immortalized in countless poems and stories by Purdy as well as by a number of his visitors and friends over the years.

— Jackie Chan

Arts & Entertainment

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010

Avatar:

Divine visual embodied Continued from page 14

I was simply stunned by how accurately the avatars portrayed human emotions and movements. After the first few scenes I completely forgot that these 10-foot tall, blue humanoids were fictional. In later scenes where the avatars were interacting with humans, it did not register that the seamless integration of pixels and flesh was a result of spectacular animation. Fortunately Avatar’s untouchable visual display more than compensated for its lack of plot. I felt like I was watching Pocahontas set in the year 2154. Although what screenplay nowadays doesn’t have recycled content? Regardless of the overall story, the dialogue wasn’t too inspiring with its liberal content of clichés. Avatar’s story was delivered by talented actors and actors alike. Sam Worthington portrayed his character, Jake Sully, with multiple dimensions, and the full range of desirable and undesirable personality traits found in humans. Giovanni Ribisi managed to become one of my favourite characters in his first scene. His sense of humour was a refreshing change from the rest of the scripted jokes and puns. Stephen Lang failed to impress me with his predictable, flat performance, and Sigourney Weaver’s performance was dissapointing for such a seasoned actress. Zoe Saldana gave the best performance by far under the blue skin of Neytiri. The raw human

emotion that emanated from her character left the rest of the cast in her bio-luminescent dust. Although Avatar is set 144 years into the future on another moon named Pandora, I found it interesting that many social issues prevalent in our time managed to find themselves in the future. The issue of Westernization is a main theme in the film. Corporate America is embodied by RDA, a firm that is trying to persuade Pandora’s indigenous people, the Na’vi to relocate

their home so RDA can mine the valuable mineral Unobtanium from the particularly rich vein that runs underneath the Na’vi’s home. In an attempt to befriend the Na’vi, RDA creates the avatars, biological replications of the Na’vi bodies that are controlled via a neural link. The avatars run schools to teach the natives English, and learn about their culture in order to diplomatically reason with the Na’vi for their land. However, the Na’vi have no interest in relocating, nor

will they permit the destruction of their homeland for the pursuit of rocks. The Na’vi live harmoniously with their surroundings, and worship their mother goddess Eywa and the spirits that are entombed within their homeland. The Na’vi seem to embody the environmentally friendly persona sweeping through our societies today. The clash between the materialistic RDA and the down-to-earth indigenous people of Pandora serve to be the canvas of Cameron’s palette of

Courtesy IMDB

vibrant imagery. Avatar took an age old plotline but gave it such a polish that the audience was blinded by the brilliant facets of colour and imagery. Seeing as how Avatar had people walking out of theaters literally sounding like they just experienced an orgasm on the big screen, I daresay that it’s a movie worth seeing, and with a reaction like that, possibly multiple times — not a bad form of procrastination.

— Felicia Rahaman

Science & Technology

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010 science@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

How to define environmentalism thelferty@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

ver the holidays, I had a few discussions with friends and acquaintances about environmentalism and how different people view its definition. Some people view environmentalism as tree-hugging activism, while others see it as a scientific pursuit. Environmentalism is one of those concepts that cannot have a single definition everyone will agree with. It encompasses social, political, economical, and environmental issues with many different people who have different ideas. It means different things to various people and it is not reasonable to change individual opinions to conform to one idea. There can at least be some common ground that we can get to. Let me start with one extreme interpretation. A definition largely held by the extreme right is the belief that environ-

mentalism is primitivist, and that environmentalists have an agenda to bring us back to the pre-Paleolithic lifestyle. Michael S. Rozeff, a retired professor of Financial Planning and Control, and self-named anti-environmentalist, referred to environmentalism as a threat to freedom that had a communist-oriented agenda that wants to drastically reduce the human population. Unfortunately, when used to describe the extreme left of environmentalism, he is right. There are environmentalists out there who want the world to throw away technology and go back to early lifestyles of living off the land. The difficulty of dealing with extremes on either side is that they will rarely listen to a word you say. Their opinions are frightening, and while they do not have much power in the political world, their ideas influence towards the more centre-leaning of environmentalist opinion. This is not a bad thing. There are many that believe environmentalism is about reducing our impact instead of actually changing the way we impact the environment. There are those that believe technological progression should be reprimanded and taken back a few notches, but not necessarily discarded. Many of these views have good, and all have bad, consequences. It is in that grey area between the two sides, at the incredibly thick centre, from which we can draw our definition. The definition of environmentalism should encompass everything that it has an effect on: society, humanitarian efforts, consumerism and materialism, economics, and social justice. It should also have as little ambiguity as possible. How do we create a specific definition that anyone can agree with? By looking at how we deal with the consequences of our actions, whether it’s for the environment, for social justice, or economical progression, we can see

how to better improve our environment so that all of these issues are addressed. We may not get the perfect result, but that’s not what we should be aiming for. We should be aiming for the best balance that favours as many factors as possible with as little damage to each as possible. The priority of these different factors, social, economic, environmental, etc., comes with opinion, and democracy will have its role there. However, everyone can agree that we want to preserve as much of everything as we can. Let me put forth the definition as I see it using that argument. Environmentalism is the act of improving the lifestyles of all humans with the least impact to the environment as possible. While we may not always get a solution that has absolutely zero impact on the environment, it may have other, better consequences for the economy or in fighting poverty. This can then lead to better solutions as conditions in areas such as human health and education improve. We will always be striving to have less and less of an impact on our environment, but if we define environmentalism as the need to preserve the environment before anything else, we will lose our humanity. If we define environmentalism as the end of all humanity and that the environment should always come last, we will lose our environment and then our humanity. Our population and society is too large and complicated to pick sides, so the best definition we can give environmentalism is the science of finding a way to preserve everything to the best of our abilities. We may not get it exactly perfect the first time, but the more we improve one aspect of the world, the more we create the potential to improve others. Environmentalism won’t solve all the world’s problems instantly. It will take cooperation, dedication, and the ability to take risks, whether or not you are from the left or the right.

Majuratan Sadagopan

The future is here, still no flying cars Tejas Koshy staff reporter

Boeing selects truck to haul laser weapon

The next step towards laser warfare was taken as Boeing officially selected a military truck produced by Oshkosh Defense to haul the beam control system for the tactical laser they has been developing for the U.S. Army. “This demonstration program has successfully transitioned from the design phase to the fabrication phase,” said Gary Fitzmire, vice president and program director of Boeing Missile Defense Systems’ Directed Energy Systems Unit. The Oshkosh Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck aka HEMTT is an eight wheeled, diesel powered, off-road capable truck currently used by the U.S. military. The HEMTT will be shipped to the Boeing’s Huntsville, Alabama facility in Spring 2010. A demonstration is planned during 2011. However only a low power beam will be used. The laser system that will ride the HEMTT has capabilities that include countering rocket, mortar and artillery projectiles with precision. Popular Science reported that the control system can acquire, track and select the vulnerable area of the target in the time it takes for the laser beam to fire towards the target. Boeing is currently developing a range of tactical laser systems that include the Airborne Laser project and the Free Electron Laser project. Synthetic alcohol promises all buzz, no hangover

Researchers at the Imperial College London in Great Britain are trying to develop a synthetic “alcohol” that could give the pleasurable sensation of drinking without the hangover.

The synthetic alcohol, developed from chemicals similar in composition to Valium, could give the sensation of tipsiness without affecting a portion of the brain. The team is being lead by Prof. David Nutt, the former advisor to the government. Prof. Nutt was relieved off his position after making statements about cannabis and ecstasy. According to The Telegraph, the team plans to harness benzodiazepines like diazepam, which is the chief ingredient in Valium. Researchers hope to create a colourless, tasteless synthetic that could replace alcohol in beer, wine and liquor. Nutt hopes to create a liquid that could allow drinkers to toss back as many glasses of the swill as they want but would remain only mildly drunk from first drink to last. For those who find the buzz too intense, Professor Nutt plans to introduce a simple antidote pill that mutes the synthetic’s effects on the brain’s receptors. The project is of special interest in Britain, which suffers significantly from alcohol abuse. DARPA wants flying cars, requests help from private sector

DARPA has submitted a proposal to the private sector to aid in developing a flying car, according to Popular Science. According to the proposal, the objective is to develop a 1 to 4 person vehicle than can drive and fly, thus avoiding difficult terrain, obstructions, IED and ambush threats. The overall scheme is to remove the limiting factors posed by terrain. If successful, DARPA hopes to put IED manufacturers out of business. The proposal notes that current vehicles anchor soldiers to the ground thus forcing them to take predictable routes and making them susceptible to IEDs. The proposal notes that helicopters are currently limited in speed and availability.

3D televisions now a reality

At the International Consumers Electronics Show (CES), Popular Science reported that Toshiba and Samsung have showcased televisions that are capable of converting 2D images into 3D projections. Toshiba showcased a television that uses cell processors (the same processors that are in the PS3) and converts 2D images into 3D in real time. The television comes with a set-top box which houses the processor, a Blue Ray disc player, 1TB hard drive and a server for playing video from other devices on a shared network. The cell processor will be used to constantly tweak the picture currently being watched for the best picture possible. It will adjust colour balance and brightness according to lighting conditions in the area. It also promises up-conversion of standard-def video using the cell processor. Toshiba’s television set will be available in sizes going from 46 to 65 inches later this year. Samsung also displayed a television set that is capable for showing images in 3D. The television set is an LED backlit panel that is just 0.3 inches thick. The remote for the set is a colour touchscreen that can broadcast TV while a Blue Ray disc is being played. The Samsung TV also features processors that can show 3D images via active shutter glasses and Wi-Fi. No pricing or release plans were announced at the CES for either product. —With files from Popular Science, The Telegraph, Yahoo Green, Boeing, and Federal Business Opportunities. tkoshy@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Science & Technology

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010

Fainting goats, faraway worlds, and forgotten carbon Ivan Lui staff reporter

Kepler discovers new exoplanets

On January 4, 2010, spacecraft Kepler, launched by NASA to seek out other habitable planets, was able to detect five new planets previously unknown to us. They follow the criteria for being an exo-planet (planets that orbit a star outside of our solar system). Kepler detects spots in the sky at night that fade or appear when they are near a star, such as our sun, that helps bring light to the surface of a planet. Initially, these detections led to a possible 175 planets for scientists to investigate. After 43 days in space, the spacecraft Kepler was able to send back information confirming the existence of five planets that met the qualifications of exo-planets. Though the temperatures of these planets are hotter than that of Earth, scientists are hoping that these discoveries will lead to others with conditions that can sustain human life. Hospitable exo-planet enthusiasts have been warned not to expect these kinds of findings to happen soon. There are still more than 100 stars in the sky to investigate. Many of these blinking lights are only eclipsing stars and not habitable planets. The newly known five, however, are the first five unknown planets to be identified and marked as having potential for life. The problem with these new planets is the heat, as each has a temperature to match the sun. These planets are also large, ranging from 25 to 670 times the size of Earth. While there is hope that the Kepler will eventually find something habitable by humans, it could take years to happen. Cooler stars may also be smaller and thus “harder to confirm,” said Kepler co-investigator Natalie Batalha, a physics and astronomy professor at San Jose State University. These smaller planets are harder to find,because they are dimmer. Finding these planets, however, does give scientists hope that perhaps there are hospitable planets aside from Earth. Long lost carbon filling ocean

A new study led by Eran Hood, an environmental scientist at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau, has stated that ancient carbon from melting glaciers has now become a part of the diet of oceanic life. This carbon, taken in while microbes eat, is from roughly 2,500 to 7,000 years ago. Most of these carbon particles were previously trapped under melting glaciers that flow into the ocean. Much like forest carbon particles that eventually make their way to the ocean, fish are now also absorbing carbon particles that flow from melting glaciers. These melting carbon particles provide the microbes that fish feed on a meal which in turn provides the fish with a chance to feed. These melting glaciers could possibly be maintaining the Gulf of Alaska’s fishery. The study team collected water from watersheds that have glacial runoff and those without glacial runoff. Streams with glacial runoff

contained larger amounts of easily digestible carbons. A downside to this, however, would be the loss of other nutrients. Though glaciers offer bountiful meals for microbes, other nutrients that come from ocean floors could be washed away because of the increasing amounts of melting ice. This study proved that, while old reused carbons in other sources of water may be harder for the oceanic life to consume, there are sources of old carbons that can be easily devoured. While melting glaciers prove to be a threat with our ocean water levels and with flooding fresh water into our ocean supply, Hood states that “It’s good to understand the uniqueness of glacier ecosystems and the important role that they play as a source of water and nutrients.” Frozen to maintain reproduction

The fainting goat is becoming an endangered species and the Swiss Valley Foundation (SVF) is working to preserve the breed of. Naturally prone to becoming targets of predators due to their keeling over when threatened, the fainting goats are currently being preserved by being bred in a new way. Rather than ensuring that the goats are protected and successfully birthing live kids of their own, scientists and other members at the SVF foundation harvest semen and embryos from the animals. This method, known as cryopreservation, helps to conserve the rare breed by taking these eventually inseminated embryos from the original mothers’ womb, and places them into surrogate Nubian does’ wombs. The mascot of the foundation’s effort the such fainting goat called Chip. This specific fainting goat had gone through the birthing process described above. His embryo was flushed out after only being six days old, frozen for several months, then placed inside a surrogate womb. Born a perfectly normal fainting goat, the foundation is hoping to use this method in order to help preserve the breed. Unfortunately, while some are working to preserve the fainting goat breed, there is a growing market demand for goat meat in some areas of the world. Goat meat, with its popularity rising in finer dining, creates a demand for the farming community to grow domesticated goats. The ability to preserve and reproduce species without high risk presents an opportunity to help the slowly fading gene pool of the bovine. While it may not seem much of a threat, consider that Holstein cows are now responsible for 93 per cent of America’s herds. Less than 20 bulls are responsible for half the gene pool. In comparison, the SVF’s Pineywood cattle can withstand heat that the Holstein. With the new cryopreservation method, large expanses of land can be saved while preserving and maintaining a cattle breed. In the end, however, our stomach is our final concern. “We have to eat these animals to save them,” Executive Director of the SVF, Peter Borden said. “Ultimately, food is the reason heritage breeds are important.” —With files from The New York Times, National Geographic, and Scientific American

Alcina Wong

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Sports & Living

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010 sports@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Women’s volleyball still on top at season midpoint Brent Golem sports and living editor

he women’s volleyball team might just be the best Warriors team that Waterloo has this year. This statement is not made lightly as Waterloo has sported a dominant tennis and badminton team, and had a few teams grace the CIS top 10 standings. While these ladies haven’t quite earned that honour yet, it is a surprise that they are so far unrecognized. The women started off the year on fire by going on a six game winning streak. The Warriors’ streak stopped after a very close match against a tough McMaster squad. The team rebounded by winning three of their next four games, and look to continue their

push for OUA dominance in the final stretch of this season. The women should be able to finish out strong as they only have two more matches against teams that are of the same calibre. The Warriors will meet McMaster and Western once more, while all the rest of their eight remaining games will be against teams whose record is under .500, except for Guelph, who the Warriors handled easily. This team is an excellent one to watch as they have the ability to play very well defensively, which gives them the opportunity to set up a very effective offence. The Warriors are led by outside hitter Bojana Josipovic, whose deadly smash has earned her first place in the OUA with 143 kills. The nearest competitor only has 108 kills. Outside hitter Kate Flanagan is fifth in the OUA with

Women’s Team Report Overall 1st (18 pts) Points For 29 Home 3-1 Points Against 16 Away 6-1 Last 10 8-2

103 kills. Their offence is set up by excellent play on defense by other Warriors. Libero Katie Spack is leading the OUA with 160 digs, edging her next closest competitor by over 20 digs. Flanagan shows she is a very complete player as she is eighth in the OUA with 113 digs. Laura Ledas leads the OUA in blocks with 43. The Warriors offence is in good hands as they have two very strong setters who can set up for the kill. Kayla Ng has 252 assists and Stephanie Ebreo has 149 assists as they sit 6th and 13th in the OUA respectively. The Waterloo Warriors have arguably the best lineup of women in the OUA and will be looking to secure home court advantage with some strong play down the stretch. sports@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Impact Player: OH Bojana Josipovic #13 GP

Pts

Digs

Blk

161

21 Brent golem

Men’s volleyball in good position for second half Brent Golem sports and living editor

he Waterloo men’s volleyball team has had a tough few weeks after starting off the season incredibly strong start to the season as they won three of their first four. It wasn’t long before the team regressed toward the mean as they lost their next five of seven games. Currently the Warriors are sitting on a two game losing streak which they will be looking to break against a decent Windsor squad in a week. The last match before their Christmas break was against Windsor

and they lost 3–2; they now have incentive to win the January rematch. Although they do not have the most optimal record at 5–5, we have seen that they have the skill to hang in tough with the stronger teams. Against a ranked McMaster team, the Warriors lost a close match 3–2 after taking them deep into the fifth and final set. Waterloo has found themselves in this situation before as they have played in four close fifth sets this year, but they have only come out on top twice. If the Warriors want to improve upon last year, where they lost to Queen’s in the OUA West semi finals in a close fifth set, they will

Impact Player: OH Corey Yednoroz #13 GP

Pts

Digs

Blk

128

Men’s Team Report Points For 21 Points Against 21

have to perfect their set offence so that their opposition doesn’t have an easy opportunity to set up their own kills. The Warriors will look to their excellent starting players to elevate their play for a greater chance to win. Outside hitter Corey Yednoroz is fifth in the OUA with 115 kills, while setter Andrew Thorpe is second in the OUA with 346 assists. Waterloo also sports some tough defence with Aaron Dam leading the OUA in blocks and Ian Peppel close behind in third with 41 and 37 block respectively. Duncan Cairns is second in the OUA with 88 digs. sports@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Overall T6th (10 pts) Home 2-2 Away 3-3 Last 10 5-5

Courtesy steve brooks

Games of the week: Friday, January 8

the best games in town

Women’s volleyball vs Lakehead at 6 p.m. on the War Court (PAC)

Saturday, January 9 Women’s basketball vs Guelph at 2 p.m. on the War Court (PAC) Men’s basketball vs Guelph at 4 p.m. on the War Court (PAC)

Sunday, January 10 Women’s hockey vs York at 2 p.m. at the Columbia Barn (CIF)

Sports & Living

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010

Men’s Basketball

Men’s Hockey

Men’s Volleyball

Women’s Volleyball West Division

West Division

West Division Team

OTL PTS

Western

Laurier

Lakehead

Waterloo

17 11

York

Brock

Windsor

Guelph

UOIT

PTS

Team

PTS

Team

PTS

Lakehead

Western

Waterloo

Windsor

McMaster

Queen’s

McMaster

Windsor

Western

Guelph

Team

McMaster

Waterloo

Guelph

Laurier

Waterloo

Brock

Toronto

Laurier

Windsor

Western

Brock

Laurier

Ryerson

Guelph

York

RMC

Nov. 27: Laurentian 70 vs Waterloo 91 Nov. 28: York 72 vs Waterloo 85 Jan. 06: Brock 76 vs Waterloo 63 Jan. 09: Guelph at Waterloo

Nov. 26: York 35 vs Waterloo 37 Nov. 28: Western 29 vs Waterloo 34 Dec. 05: Windsor 0 vs Waterloo 4 Jan. 07: Laurier vs Waterloo

Nov. 28: Western 3 vs Waterloo 1 Nov. 29: Windsor 1 vs Waterloo 3 Dec. 03: Waterloo 3 vs Laurier 2 Jan. 08: Waterloo vs Lakehead

Nov. 27: Western 3 vs Waterloo 0 Nov. 29: Windsor 3 vs Waterloo 2 Jan. 15: Windsor at Waterloo

Women’s Basketball

Women’s Hockey

Do you live, eat & drink sports?

Men’s Squash

West Division

Main Division

PTS

Team

PTS

Windsor

Western

McGill

Brock

McMaster

Lakehead

Queen’s

McMaster

Waterloo

Laurier

Toronto

Waterloo

Guelph

Brock

Team

OTL

PTS

Team

Laurier

Queen’s

York

Guelph

Toronto

Western

Waterloo

Brock

Windsor UOIT

Dec. 05: Queens 2 vs Waterloo 1 Dec. 06: UOIT 2 vs Waterloo 4 Jan. 05: Toronto 1 vs Waterloo 2 (SO) Jan. 09: Toronto at Waterloo

We NEED you! Write about or photograph your Warriors Come into the office or email us sports@imprint.uwaterloo.ca sports@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Nov. 14: Western 9 vs Waterloo 0 Nov. 14: McMaster 3 vs Waterloo 3 Nov. 14: Brock 1 vs Waterloo 5 Jan. 23: Toronto vs Waterloo

Nov. 27: Laurentian 88 at Waterloo 69 Nov. 28: York 52 at Waterloo 62 Jan. 06: Brock 85 vs Waterloo 52 Jan. 09: Guelph at Waterloo

athletes of the week

presents...

DECEMBER 7, 2009

THIS WEEK IN

ATHLETICS & RECREATION

KATE FLANAGAN Women’s Volleyball 4th year, Recreation Burlington, ON

LUKE GOVIA

vs U of T Varsity Blues 2:00 pm, CIF Arena Sunday, January 10, 2010

vs York Lions 2:00 pm, CIF Arena

IMPRINT | JAN 8

Saturday, January 9, 2010

vs Guelph Gryphons

4th year, Mathematical Physics Port-of-Spain, Trinidad

LI V EN E GOWAR

6:00 pm, PAC Gym

Saturday, January 9, 2010

basketball LI S T CA

Friday, January 8, 2010

vs Lakehead Thunderwolves

(W)hockey

RSGO. RIO

(W)Volleyball

Track and Field

I AM A warrior

(W) 2:00 pm, (M) 4:00 pm PAC Gym Registered trademarks of Boston Pizza Royalties Limited Partnership, used under license. © Boston Pizza International Inc. 2005

fp_JAN8:Layout 1

1/5/10

2:50 PM

Page 1

Campus Recreation instructional registration : Monday, January 11 - Thursday, January 14, 9am-4pm AQUATICS

FITNESS

Take advantage of the free swim times, improve your stroke with lessons, or get certified in leadership courses to become or work as a lifeguard

Regardless of gender, age or fitness level, we have a class suitable for you!

New programs include:

•Learn to Swim lessons for adults, students and children • Women's Only Fitness and Rec swim • Private Learn to Swim lessons for women only • Private Learn to Swim lessons • Learn to play Canoe-polo

• Belly Fit • Zumba • Advanced Conditioning • Beginner/Advanced Level Cycle Fit

CLUBS Check out the 25 club’s individual webpages for registration dates, costs, and session times. Check out www.clubs.uwaterloo.ca

Class schedules are flexible and made to suit students hectic lives.

FIRST AID Full spectrum of first aid training offered, from Standard First Aid to First Aid Instructor courses. Getting certified can give you an advantage in your co-op, summer or career job hunt.

INTRAMURALS

CONDITIONING

Leagues and skill levels to suit everyone’s needs.

Find out how the machines work in the fitness centres or have a program created to fit your needs.

Check out www.intramurals.uwaterloo.ca

New programs include: • • • •

Athletic Conditioning Do It Yourself Fitness Fitness Sampler Strength Training for Women

DANCE Try a dance class where you get a great workout, learn something new, and have a blast doing it.

Winter 2010 classes include: • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Salsa (level 1 and level 2) Belly Lyrical Hip Hop Musical Theatre Club Flamenco Bollywood Contemporary Social (level 1 and level 2) Flare Jazz Ballet

ICE ACTIVITIES Learn how to skate, practice hockey skills, figure skate, play some broomball or skate at your leisure during our Rec Skating times.

SPECIAL INTEREST Special interest classes and workshops are a perfect way for you to get involved in just the way you want to.

New this term: • • • •

Basketball Skilss Volleyball Skills NCCP Certification Golf Lessons with simulator

WELLNESS Feel, look, and think better after joining one of our wellness programs that work on the well-being of your mind, body, and spirit.

New this term: • Yoga for Athletes

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

Sports & Living

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010

Men’s basketball resilient in early season Brent Golem sports and living editor

he Warrior men’s basketball team has had a rough start to the season. Starting off the season the Warriors were heavily favoured to rule the top of the West division for OUA as they have a strong core of veteran players. Lead by point guard (PG) David Burnett, and a huge shooting threat in shooting guard (SG) Cam McIntyre, the team has many offensive threats to worry all teams that meet them. Unfortunately, things have not gone as smoothly as they look on paper. The team started off strong winning three of their first four, losing their first game by two points to Ryerson. After these wins they came up short against Carleton and Ottawa as they dropped

Men’s Team Report Points For 73.3 Points Against 68.3 Field Goal % 40.3 3 Point % 34.1 Free Throw % 70.5 Rebounds 39.1

both games in an Ottawa roadtrip. The Warriors were able to rally back to win their next two before the Christmas break. The team arrived back after a tough Christmas tournament in Quebec where they beat McGill, a very good UQAM, and finally lost to an excellent Acadia team. The Warriors headed down to Brock on Wednesday to meet the Badgers. The Warriors lost the game 63 – 76 with the entire offensive contribution coming mostly from McIntyre. The Warriors were close all game, but fell apart in the final quarter of play as they were outscored 13 – 23. Although the Warriors’ record is an underachievement at 5 – 4, Waterloo will have many opportunities to improve upon their record as they play down the final stretch. All is not easy, as there are a few bumps in the road. The Warriors have to travel to Lakehead in early February in order to face the Thunderwolves. This is worri-

some as the Warriors have been much stronger at home than they have been on the road. Although the Warriors season has not gone exactly as planned, their players have still posted some strong stats. Cam McIntyre is 12th in the CIS with 153 point; he is also second in Canada in three point shooting with 26 three point shots. David Burnett is doing an excellent job leading the offence as he sits in 8th in the CIS with 37 assists this season. Centre Matt Hayes has once again found his form and is second in Canada for blocks with 19, and 13th in rebounding with 65 rebounds. The Warriors have had decent field goal shooting by averaging 40.3 per cent, but they will need to improve their rebounding and relearn how to win late in the game if they want to take advantage of their strong home play in the playoffs.

brent golem

Impact Player: SF Ben Frisbey #33 GP PPG RPG FG% 3PT% FT% 6

12.5

7.2

45.6

33.3

sports@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Overall T4th (10 pts) Home 4-0 Away 1-4 Last 10 5-4

Women’s basketball have tough first half of season

Connect With Your FEDS/GSA HEALTH & DENTAL PLAN

Brent Golem sports and living editor

Courtesy UW Athletics

Impact Player: PF Laura Becotte #14 GP

PPG

RPG

FG%

FT%

8.4

46.7

52.4

Women’s Team Report Points For 52.5 Points Against 66.9 Field Goal % 33.8 3 Point % 27.5 Free Throw % 58.0 Rebounds 34.9

he Warrior women have had a tough season so far, which has included two three-game losing streaks. The Warriors started off on a three-game losing streak which surely affected the confidence of the young team. Luckily they met up with arguably the weakest OUA team RMC whom they beat 69–37. The Warriors have had it tough since. Unfortunately they have a young team who isn’t aggressive and need to build confidence in their play and in their system. In order to win the team must find the best shots in their offensive system and rebound stronger at both ends. When they win they shoot 40 per cent while they only shoot 31.5 per cent when they lose. In their losses they are much poorer on the boards as they only grab 31 rebounds per game while when they win they are able to grab 46.5 rebounds per game. While shooting better and having more ball possession is logically a key to winning, they do have the ability to compete with their opponents as a main theme to their play has been playing strong for one half and then looking like a completely different team. In the vast majority of their losses the team has matched their opponent’s play for at least a full half of the game. So if you come to a game and they are getting beat pretty badly, stick it out because they can play with that team, they just need some time. sports@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Overall 7th (4 pts) Home 2-2 Away 0-5 Last 10 2-7

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75.0

Sports & Living

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010

The decade’s bests in sports

Think Pink winning weekend for charity Brent Golem sports and living editor

he Think Pink weekend went well for everyone involved as the Warrior teams managed to come away victors in four of their seven matches. UW Athletics looked to build on their success of the previous year as they set a goal of raising $4,000 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. The weekend occurred November 27 to 29 2009, but the results are official: UW Athletics was able to raise $8,745.33 throughout the weekend. UW Athletics underestimated their efforts, once again, as they more than doubled their goal for the second consecutive year. Athletics had the opportunity to raise money through seven home varsity games, as well as raising money with the Waterloo’s Got Talent dance show, and a Spin-A-Thon where teams pledged money and participated in an eight hour CycleFit relay. The event was held from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm with teams of four to eight cyclists. Last year UW Athletics set a goal of $2,000 and broke it by raising over $4,000. This year athletics raised over $2,000 with their Spin-A-Thon alone. The effort was headed by special events co-ordinator Jenny MacKay. MacKay took charge of almost 20 hard-working volunteers who were present at all of the seven home games, Spin-A-Thon, and Waterloo’s Got Talent dance show. Although the Warrior teams posted a winning record over the weekend, the real winner was the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. All proceeds of the event were donated to the Ontario chapter. The event also raised awareness for the cause of breast cancer, which is the second most common type after lung. The Think Pink weekend was a success inside and outside the playing arenas thanks to the hard work of MacKay and her volunteers, and the preparation of all the coaches and players who provided some exciting sporting events to enjoy. sports@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

t is hard to believe that a decade has passed. It seems that just the other day that I was watching the Lakers reel off three consecutive championships, the Patriots storm through the NFL and the Yankees win yet another pennant in 2000. Ten years move fast, brutally fast, almost as fast as Gilbert Arenas does when whipping out his gun in the locker room. The best part of any significant moment in time (such as the end of a decade) is the rankings that follow. Be it the rankings of the best party you attended, the best-looking beard you grew or even the best pair of underwear you bought, putting things in their order from best to worst is necessary and amazing. It inspires debate, arguments and fistfights — what else do you want from life? So who was the best in this decade, you’re asking? Here are my All-Decade Awards for a variety of sports categories. Franchise of the Decade It’s hard to argue against the Los Angeles Lakers for the Franchise of the Decade tag. The Lakers went to six of the ten NBA Finals, winning four of them. They sported the best individual

jtoporowski@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

basketball talent of the decade in Kobe Bryant and had four incredible years with the second most dominant big man of the decade, in Shaquille O’Neal (behind only Tim Duncan). Overall, the Lakers edge the New England Patriots because they’ve been to more finals and won more championships, period.

games from local stations because some stadiums aren’t consistently filling up. It will be interesting to follow how each separate sport handles the economies’ fall.

Athlete of the Decade It pains me to crown him the best of the decade after the recent news that has been brought to light, but Tiger Woods deserves to win this title. Yes, his amazing run on the golf course is second-rate when compared to his stellar play in the bedroom (he was rated a 12 out of 10 by one of his girls on the side), but Tiger has literally become the most famous athlete in the world and is the Michael Jordan of the decade.

Athlete of the Future This is another one I’m not too pleased to write, but LeBron James has to be the defining athlete of the future. At 25, James has already won an MVP award, been to six (soon to be seven) all-star games, all while becoming an icon in circles outside sports. James is the perfect model for what sports stars can and will become; people who not only excel in what they do, but manipulate the media and the technology at hand to become larger than just their sport. A decent argument could be made for Sidney Crosby here, but Crosby’s worldwide popularity isn’t at James’ level.

Most Intriguing Plotline While the obvious answer would be to go with the Tiger Woods debacle, the defining plotline in this decade is the recession and its effect on sports — especially since it’s far from being over. The NHL is losing money faster than Nicholas Cage spends it and the NBA isn’t all that far behind (although its TV deal should easily keep it afloat). Even the NFL is having to blackout

League of the Decade The National Football League’s popularity has grown over the decade like Shaq’s waistline—speedily. Not only are their revenue streams amazing, but they are now slowly moving into Europe (with yearly games in England), which could open themselves up for even more rapid expansion. All in all, the NFL is the model by which all sports should live up to.

Campus rec stepping up the dance classes Ryan Scott staff reporter

ith a new semester comes the return of some popular Campus Rec dance classes, as well as the creation of some new and exciting dance classes. The winter term’s line-up offers growing opportunities for Waterloo students. Returning this term are some of the most popular Campus Rec dance classes. The “Salsa and Merengue” is exactly as it sounds — hot, hot, hot. This dance involves sexy hip movements, as well as captivating spins and turns. Along with Merengue, which has grown in popularity worldwide, this class is a must take for those interested in dance. Classes are available at a variety of skill levels including beginner, beginner plus, and intermediate. These classes are held on Tuesday nights at 5:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Also returning is Hip-Hop in which participants in the class learn cool urban funk dance moves at a high energy pace to the most recent sounds in rap, R&B, and pop music. These dance moves are influenced by some of today’s best video choreographers and allow those interested to participate in this growing phenomenon. Classes are held on Mondays at 4:00 p.m. and Tuesdays at 5:00 p.m. Another returning course “Social Dance” is a fun and unique class for partners looking to learn dances in formal, dance and wedding settings. Classes are available at the beginner and intermediate skill levels and are held Sunday’s at 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Also returning are belly dance, lyrical, contemporary, club, flamenco and jazz. Also available this term are some new and exciting dance classes. Bollywood is now available on Wednesday’s at 6:00 p.m. This increasingly popular dance style involves high definition and rhythmic movements that mirror folk dances from the humblest of villages in India to the most lavish films Bollywood has to offer. Another new dance course this semester is Russian Ballet which teaches the fundamentals of classical ballet as well as longer combinations of jumps, turns and fancy footwork. These classes are held Wednesdays at 4:00 p.m. Also new to the line-up of campus rec dance classes is Flare which is a flirty and fun dance as well as exercise format which brings out your hidden sides and releases a positive energy that is felt by the participant long after taking part in the class. These classes are held Thursday’s at 4:00 p.m. Finally, Musical Theatre is another new course being offered this term, it is a high-energy dance which combines music, dance and acting which is used to tell a story through its movements and accompanying music to those viewing it. These classes are held Thursdays at 6:00 p.m. Campus Rec is proud and excited with their new line-up of courses and hope the upcoming and returning participants are as well. “My goal is to dramatically increase participation in our dance program this term, ” Campus Recreation’s Instructional Program Coordinator Adam Steeves stated. “All of our instructors have exceptional dance resumes and such a passion for their craft that I am certain all participants will thoroughly enjoy themselves.” Steeves also points out that those interested are encouraged to visit the Campus Rec’s website at www.campusrec.uwaterloo.ca and clicking on the Warrior Online button in the top-right corner of the screen for complete descriptions and schedules. rscott@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Sports & Living

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010

Men’s hockey season recap and preview Ryan Scott staff reporter

he first half of the Warrior’s hockey season got off to an exciting start as the heavily touted 2009–2010 Warrior squad took to the ice with high expectations placed upon them to climb to the top of the Western Conference and OUA standings. The season began with the team going on a three game winning streak. They earned points in seven of their first eight games, giving the team a place atop the Western Conference and a CIS top 10 ranking. The one regulation loss the team received came in surprising fashion as the team fell to University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Ridgebacks, who are last place in the Western Conference. However, four of these wins came at the hands of the current top three teams: the University of Western Ontario Mustangs, the Lakehead Thunderwolves, and their Waterloo rival the Laurier Golden Hawks. Unfortunately, the next nine games proved to be inconsistent for the team as they struggled to string together winning games and regain the momentum they started the season with. During this stretch the team compiled a record of five wins and four losses, but struggled

against some of the top OUA teams. This included the Mustangs — one of their Western Conference rivals — who, since their loss to the Warriors at the beginning of the season, have lost only one game in regulation going 14–1–0 during this stretch. However, four of these five wins occurred in the final five games of the first half of the season. This includes two shutouts by second year net-minder Keaton Hartigan, showing that, going into the second half, the Warriors can be a force to be reckoned with. For the team to continue to build on their most recent success, the team will have to get off to a solid start as they battle the Laurier Golden Hawks in round two of the Battle of Waterloo. Round one went the Warriors way in an overtime thriller in which Waterloo was able to defeat the Golden Hawks 5–4. The team will then play the bottom three teams in the Western Conference and could easily get off to a great start in the second half. In order for this to occur, Hartigan will have to continue his solid play as in the first half he was able to post a Goals Against Average of 2.98 and a Save Percentage of .908 while winning nine games, two of which were shutouts. Along with this, the team will also need their veteran leadership

Men’s Team Report Goals For 56 Goals Against 46 Power Play % 10.8 Save % 90.8

of Ray, Hart, and Whitely to continue to produce at the consistent level they have. More specifically, captain Chris Ray has made the biggest impact thus far as he leads the team with 21 points (10 goals and 11 assists). However, his impact has been especially felt on special teams as he has three powerplay goals and four shorthanded goals. These shorthanded goals puts him atop the CIS in this stat category and make him a deadly force as he can break free at any point and turn the other team’s power-play opportunity into a Warrior goal. Most important to the team’s present and future success is consistent play throughout the team as each line has produced night in and night out and put forth a solid effort. This can be attributed not only to the exemplary work ethic of the team, but also great coaching from the Warrior coaching staff — head coach Brian Bourque, and assistant coaches Graeme Swam, Matt McGahey and Jordan Brenner. The Warriors have a bright immediate future and an excellent chance at taking back the Western Conference lead before entering the playoffs, where they will look to bring home an OUA championship for the Warrior faithful. rscott@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Overall 4th (23 pts) Home 7-2-0 Away 4-3-1 Last 10 6-4-0

Courtesy UW Athletics

Impact Player: LW Chris Ray #10 (C) GP 16

G 10

A 11

Pts 21

PPG 3

SHG 4

Women’s hockey season in review and preview Ryan Scott staff reporter

he Warrior hockey team has had nothing short of an interesting season, up to this point as they look to make up for their early season struggles. The first half of their season has been marked by heartbreaking losses that mounted early. The team began the season with losses in six of their first seven games, with their only victory coming in a shootout win over the University of Western Ontario Mustangs. However, only two of these six losses were by margins of more than two goals, with three games going to an extra period, showing that the team was still in these games and battling away even though their record did not reflect this effort. At this point the Warriors occupied the basement position of the league in tenth place, but were only a few wins away from breaking free and climbing up the standings. In the next eight games, the Warriors won five games but Courtesy UW Athletics

Impact Player: G Kahla Stern #1 W 5

L 4

Shutouts 1

Saves 244

SV % 92.4

GAA 2.19

continued to struggle against the powerhouses of the league including the rival Laurier Golden Hawks who have yet to lose a single game and are 15–0. Most recently the team has been able to put together back to back victories versus the Toronto Varsity Blues and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Ridgebacks, showing that the team is beginning to turn around their early misfortunes and ready to establish themselves as a competitor in OUA women’s hockey. In order for this to occur the team will have to find a way to defeat the top teams in the league as in the next five games they will play teams in the top five in the league including back to back games against the undefeated Golden Hawks next weekend. Thus far, the shining light for the Warrior squad has been the strong goaltending provided by third year player Kahla Stern who, in only nine games, has produced numbers comparable to the top goaltenders in the league. Her goals against average of

Women’s Team Report Goals For 35 Goals Against 40 Power Play % 3.8 Save % 81.7

2.19 and save percentage of .924 have been impressive. These stats rank her amongst the top five goalies in the league. She has compiled these stats through her five wins, including one shutout. Also important to the Warriors success will not only be hard work and consistency throughout the team, but also disciplined play as the team has had a continued issue of failing to stay out of the penalty box, placing increased stress on Stern and the Warrior penalty killers. In fact, the team has compiled 259 penalty minutes and are atop the OUA standings in this category. If the Warriors are able to stop this trend and build on their recent successes they should be able to step into the playoff picture and become a contender rather than a pretender. With the help of the Warrior fans, the second half of the season could be much better than that of the first. It is clear the team will not give up and will continue to battle as only Warriors can. rscott@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Overall 7th (14 pts) Home 3-3-2 Away 3-4-0 Last 10 5-4-1

Comics & Distractions

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010

JORDAN CAMPBELL (faculties@imprint.uwaterloo.ca)

MICHAEL TO (irresponsiblyoptomistic@imprint.uwaterloo.ca)

“J.T.” (geese@imprint.uwaterloo.ca)

28 King Street, N WATERLOO

519-954-8660 www.chainsawsaloon.com

W AINSA ook H C n i eb Jo n Fac o S R to LOVE ur chance for yo ASH! win C

Dirty Burger Days

Mon, Tues, Wed

$2 BURGERS & WINGS $5.50/lb

Comics & Distractions

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010

Solutions:

Crossword

December 4, 2009

Solution 1

N B C

L A S K A N

L K

L Y

60 68 73 77 83

P R

I C

I M E

T N

G A G A

R A S P

A B C

E P E E

I T

T E N

D N A

P A W

I O

F A R R

I M

14 21

A S H

24 28

L E D O V E S 48

S T E M M E D B E D

S E T

I M

S O S

T U R T 43

I D S

L K

L A R E D

B O R E A S 54

C H A

S E R A

I N G M A 30

S P A

F A T

S U

I T

I C E P A

F A C E S V I A S A V A N T E M L 69 70 71 72 A P A R T R I D G E I N A P E A R T R E E U R N

L 78

I 91

N O E

115

C A R

120

124

I E L

I D S

M R S

G O

105

I N S

R A D 87

H R S

106

I T U 109

M A T T

I T S

101

111

122

123

125

126

127

6 8 5 7 9 1 3 4 2

2 4 1 3 8 5 9 7 6

L E A P

I N G

O K E E

9 7 3 2 6 4 8 1 5

P A

I R

8 2 6 4 3 7 5 9 1

5 3 9 6 1 2 4 8 7

7 1 4 9 5 8 2 6 3

I E R L E

103

O F F

I N A

110

112

R V P A R K

121

E Y E

N E E D

102

117

U L T

I N G S

116

B R A

L U S T

L D E N R

108

A R S O N

C A D

100

O G R E F B

E T E 85

N O R

L A D

107

F R E T

104

U N S E E N

118

119

I B E R

3 6 2 8 7 9 1 5 4

114

I E

L O R D S I A N 128

A S S

1 9 7 5 4 3 6 2 8

113

S M L

4 5 8 1 2 6 7 3 9

WAITING By Michael L. Davenport

Note: every answer in this crossword has to do with “waiting”. Across

1. You can spend your whole life waiting for this 2. You’re waiting for these from your professors from last term

What do you think will change this decade? By Michael Shao and Jackie Johnston

“Teleportation.” Linda Ching & Vanessa Sun 4B Kinesiology

“People on the global scale will be more environmentally friendly.” Herbert Cheng

5. Waiting place in a building 7. Seeking an exception, you’re waiting for this from your professors of this term 8. You’ll have to wait until reading week to do this 10. Go to Bomber, wait too long to do this 13. Waiting for this outsize, freezing in the cold every morning 14. A group of polite waiting 15 people form this 15. Waiting for fruit to be delicious 16. Waiting for these to connect every building 18. Large groups of anxious waiting people here during exams 20. If you’re thinking of calling your ex late at night, wait until you’re this 22. Some computer geeks are waiting for this to overturn proprietary software 23. Some don’t need it, some desperately wait for it every term 24. One place on campus where students line up for food, especially in first year 25. This awaits everybody Down

3. Poorly performing corporations wait for this 4. Synonym for 14 across 6. Stereotypical college students can’t wait to put down the books and pick up this 8. Usually preferable to 20 down 9. They’re waiting for your phone calls 11. Some give up on 1 down, and settle for a piece of this instead 12. The theme of this crossword 13. Think long lines outside the Davis

Centre on Friday 17. Engineers in particular anticipate these crawls 18. Make your video games wait for you 19. Wait for postings, wait for interviews, wait for results 20. What most people do when they’re waiting 21. A few people every February can’t wait for you to do this to them

More buses coMing your way Starting Saturday, January 2, 2010, we’re increaSing gO BuS Service and making SOme changeS tO Better meet cuStOmer demand

4B Mechatronics Engineering

25 – waterLOO gO BuS Six new Friday eastbound trips from the University of Waterloo will run express to Square One GO Bus Terminal. At Square One, there are GO Bus connections to Hwy. 407 routes, downtown Toronto and Pearson Airport.

“It’s Y2K continued... and we’re not going to Uranus!” Ben Nelson PhD 1st-year Philosophy

Three new westbound trips from Square One will run express to the University of Waterloo on Sundays or holiday Mondays. “Nothing.”

There are changes to some trips including earlier departures so be sure to check the new schedule.

Hagen Richter & Sarah Borg Engineering (Recently transferred)

“Nuclear war.”

gO in the SnOw With temperatures dipping and snow in the forecast, GO is a safe and comfortable choice for commuting during winter weather. Visit gotransit.com to find out more about how we’re putting you first this winter.

Justin Massicotte 2A Chemical Engineering

Sajun Vins 1B Chemical Engineering

get Out OF yOur car and get On the gO. FOr mOre inFO, viSit gOtranSit.cOm Or give uS a caLL. Sign uP FOr e-newS tO receive cuStOmiZed gO inFO.

“Construction on campus will come to an end.” Mike Koivusalo 4B Pure Math & Teaching

416 869 3200

1 888 GET ON GO (438 6646)

TTY 1 800 387 3652

Pour plus de renseignements, veuillez visiter le site gotransit.com ou composer un des numéros ci-dessus. An agency of the Government of Ontario

Comics & Distractions

Imprint, Friday, January 8, 2010

PETER N. TRINH (impression@imprint.uwaterloo.ca)

(postscript@imprint.uwaterloo.ca)

RAJUL SALEH (differentperspective@imprint.uwaterloo.ca)