Imprint_2010-03-12_v32_i30 by Editor Imprint

Impr int The university of Waterloo’s official student newspaper

Sexism in anthem

On feminism and controversy surrounding the recent national anthem change proposal.

OPINION 9

Friday, March 12, 2010

Vol 32, No

imprint . uwaterloo . ca

Grist Mill concert

Local arts collective partners with UW to put on a successful Women’s Week benefit show.

ARTS

Hawking arrives

Stephen Hawking finally comes to Waterloo and the Perimeter Institute this summer.

SCIENCE22 Events last week

A photo feature showcasing all the different events that have taken place at the SLC last week.

FEATURES 15 CFL prospects

Two Waterloo Warriors invited to CFL Evaluation Camp with a chance of getting drafted.

SPORTS16 Federal budget

A review of the federal budget, and how it may affect university students.

NEWS

Gina Racine

incoming editor-in-chief

et ready to see more University of Waterloo graduate students riding the bus next term. Last week the UW Graduate Student Association (GSA) voted yes to a proposal to add $52.94 a term to their non-academic fees for U-Pass access starting in spring. With a 1,199 to 727 online vote in favour of the proposal, full-time graduate students’ Watcards will soon double as a bus pass. According to the GSA website, the results are binding, pending ratification at a general meeting. In March of 2007, the GSA held a referendum on the U-Pass which failed by merely 66 votes. According to Hassan Nasir, vice-president of operations and finance with the GSA, there are several reasons why he believes the vote was a yes the second time around. “The graduate student demographics are changing,” he said. “They have seen the benefits of the pass with undergraduate students as well as the students at Laurier. Undergraduate students are now becoming graduates and parking is also becoming more expensive.” Nasir said the main concern of the ‘no’ committee was that they won’t be using the service, but will still be required to pay for it. Although current undergrad students and students at Wilfrid Laurier are paying less per term for their U-Pass, Nasir wants to make it clear that all students holding a U-Pass, including full time graduate students, will pay the same rate as of September 1.

Referendum results from 2007

766

Yes 700

Referendum results from 2010

No 727

Yes

1199

Only full-time graduate students are required to pay the term fee of $52.94. There are approximately 3,500 full-time graduate students registered this term, according to Nasir. Assuming enrolment does not decrease, that’s a total of $185,290 per term making its way to the GRT. Region of Waterloo transit planner Gethyn Beniston said the funding will not be used to add extra services to GRT. “[The funding] would represent the revenue we’re losing by not being able to sell [the passes] at our regular fare,” he said. “The revenue doesn’t represent an increase or decrease, it just expands the number of people who can use the transit service.” Council did, however, approve a limited amount of money for 2010 to add extra service to a number of routes in the university area, Beniston mentioned. “We will be monitoring the situation throughout the summer and the fall and allocating extra service where needed,” he said. Beniston said he is happy to have graduate students on board with the U-Pass. “It means we have all the university student groups in the U-Pass service now.”

r ja t ta cu por n n e Ia v a .d ll ae ch i m

editor@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

bogdan petrescu

After the U-Pass was approved for undergraduates in 2007, GRT increased service to bus stops close to the university, and added Route 29 to better serve students.

News

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010 news@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

x c e l l e n c e

i n

Innovation UW’s School of Pharmacy receives award for excellence.

Michelle Sterba reporter

graphic by rebecca chung

he University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy has what it takes to be cutting edge. On March 3, the group received an award for innovation at the 2010 Business Excellence Awards. The awards are hosted annually by the Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce and have been running for 10 years now. The event is held in recognition of Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce members who have made exceptional contributions toward the betterment of the community. This year’s ceremony was held at Bingemens in Kitchener. The theme of the awards ceremony was “Essence of Renaissance” and the men and women present were dressed to impress. Businesses of varying sizes, politicians, and board members were in attendance, totalling over 750 people. There were 72 nominees for only 10 awards, one of which was the innovation award. Out of the nine organizations nominated for the innovation award, Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy proved itself to be the most influential. The nominees were reviewed by a business excellence award champion before a judging panel decided the winner. To be nominated for the award, a strict set of criteria must be met. First of all, it must be an outstanding organization or business in good standing and a member of the Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce. Secondly, it must have achieved excellence in the past year through creating, inventing or developing an innovative product or process, the outcome of which has been a significant increase in revenue or job creation, productivity or quality, reduction in costs or improvements in services in range of areas. It is clear from the results of the evening that the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy did just that. Laura J. Manning, director of advancement at the UW school of pharmacy, was able to comment on the school’s response to receiv-

ing the award. “The school of pharmacy was extremely proud to receive this award,” she said. “To be recognized for innovation in a region like ours, and with a pool of nominees that included stellar businesses like Agfa HealthCare, Manulife Financial, Christie Digital Systems, Maplesoft, and DALSA Corporation, was a tremendous achievement.” According to Tara Turner, a member of the committee responsible for organizing the ceremony, “[the] U of W School of Pharmacy won for its tremendous innovation in their teaching and technology as well as for their new building.” This award was quite the achievement for the school, whose first pharmacy undergraduates began their studies in January of 2008. The University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy is the first in Canada to offer a coop program in the field. For those who are unfamiliar with the building, it is approximately five kilometres south of main campus. The building is clearly distinguishable from any other as the walls are covered with a colourful mosaic of medicinal plants. The building optimizes the use of natural light and use of organic materials such as wood and stone, making it both environmentallyfriendly and visually appealing as well. “Waterloo Pharmacy was noted for creating a future-focused institution, engaged in wideranging partnerships and connected to the community on multiple levels,” Manning said. “ The co-op experiential model, our personalized student selection process, and community outreach activities were important elements.” The school of pharmacy plans to move ahead with several new programs. The conditional admission, or CAP, program will allow a number of exceptional high school students to be pre-admitted into pharmacy. The school is also seeking approval from the Ontario Council of Graduate Studies, in hopes of creating its own graduate program. With the initiative being taken by the school of pharmacy, and the reception of the innovation award, the future of the school looks bright, indeed.

News

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010

SoundFM continues on in new space Jacqueline McKoy Lambert senior staff reporter

“

Our situation is crucial, that’s obvious... we went from [the] budget that we had before to something limited...we need financial support and donations to maintain our broadcast.

espite an alarming email recently sent to its members, SoundFM has long-term plans to continue broadcasting from its new uptown location. During the weekend of February 27, the Radio Waterloo Inc. (SoundFM’s holding corporation) board of directors sent an email to its membership stating that the station must raise $15,000 by the end of March in order to stay on the air. SoundFM volunteer, show host, and former Radio Waterloo board member Kristy Lee Palma described this plea to station members as somewhat rash. The $15,000 figure quoted was a rough estimate based on potential licensing fees, but “the [actual] number is not quite as high,” she said. As well, the station has contingency plans to continue broadcasting well past the end of March regardless of meeting that funding goal, which is being treated as a soft deadline, according to Palma. “Our situation is crucial, that’s obvious ... we went from [the] budget that we had before to something limited ...we need financial support and donations to maintain our broadcast,” said Palma. A significant change to the station’s funding formula is the introduction of a $600 a year programming fee charged to radio show hosts. Radio Waterloo provides flexible payment options for its radio hosts, and encourages them to secure sponsorship from local businesses. Palma said that the station has not lost any hosts due to the fee, and a majority of programmers have been able to cover the fee without special arrangements. Another part of what Palma refers to as the station’s “co-operation model” includes what she described as “amazing ad support from local businesses [and] various

micro funding from the community.” Businesses involved in advertising or sponsorship deals include the RCMP, Pay What You Want Online, and Encore Records. Radio Waterloo’s leadership is also dwindling. Former president and environment student senator-elect Steve Krysak resigned from the corporation’s board in December of 2009 following the station’s most recent general meeting. This term has seen the resignation of both student promotions director Nathan Vexler and student funding liaison Cole Atkin. Four board members currently serve; the only UW student in that group is science student Max Salman. SoundFM, which had previously planned to cease broadcasting on December 4, 2009, aired pre-recorded material throughout December and January while they moved their operations from North Campus’ Bauer Warehouse to Maxwell’s Music House in Uptown Waterloo. Live programming from SoundFM’s new home resumed on February 1. Despite being located off UW’s campus, the station still retains its less-expensive-to-maintain campus radio station status with the CRTC. CRTC rules require campus stations to have a minimum of one full-time student in their administration. Even though the station has left campus, Palma notes that there are many students volunteering with the organization and that “we still want to encourage affiliation with UW, and continue with that spirit.” Further details of Radio Waterloo’s plans for the future will be unveiled at its next annual general meeting on March 22; the location is to be determined. The meeting will be open to the public, with voting and board of directors nominations restricted to the corporation’s members. — With files from Imprint jmckoy@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

News

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010

Azra Premji and Alim Khamisa

Greece facing possible financial meltdown

Ontario Provincial Police officer killed

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer Vu Pham was shot and killed on the morning of Monday, March 8, by a 70-year old man in Seaforth, just north of London, Ontario. Pham, a 15-year veteran of the force, attempted to stop a white pick-up truck and was subsequently approached and shot by an armed man. According to CBC News, 15 to 20 shots were exchanged between the two men. Pham, the father of three young boys, was airlifted to London Health Sciences Centre, where he died from a head injury. The suspect remains in critical condition. The murder of a police officer is considered first degree murder, with a potential life sentence and no chance of parole for 25 years. Both the Huron County detachment and the province’s Special Investigation Unit are conducting an investigation of this incident. The most recent death of an OPP officer before Pham was in July 2009, when Constable Alan Hack was killed when a transport truck hit his cruiser. Governor general’s visit to Haiti reaffirms Canada’s support

Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean began her official two-day visit to her homeland of Haiti this past Monday, March 8. She touched down in the nation’s capital of Port-Au-Prince and was met by Haitian President René Préval and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive. The governor general made this special trip to emphasize Canada’s support amidst the national catastrophe caused by the powerful quake about two

news editor

Concordia University can’t afford prayer space

reporter

Greece is currently facing a massive debt crisis, but has steered away from a national financial meltdown — at least for now. European countries using the euro have been worried that a default on loans by Greece could cause a ripple effect in several other heavily indebted countries, such as Portugal and Spain. This ripple effect could, in turn, result in the devaluation of the euro, or even worse, the failure of the currency altogether. To regain fiscal balance, Greece has rolled out an austerity plan that entails major cutbacks to government spending and sharp increases in several taxes. The Greek government is expecting a savings of €16 billion through their austerity plan — possibly at risk of massive political upheaval, as protests to these cutbacks have already begun. The immediate outlook is alarming: Greece only has enough credit to finance the government through the end of this month, necessitating a bailout. Germany may step forward to provide the required bailout. If a European rescue does not transpire, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has full intentions of approaching the International Monetary Fund as a last resort.

Adrienne Raw

courtesy master sgt. jeremy lock / wikimedia commons

About 350 people lost their lives in Jacmel, Haiti — the hometown of Michaëlle Jean, governor general of Canada — during the month ago. With more than 200,000 dead and over one million citizens now homeless, Haiti is in a dire condition and in desperate need of international aid. Tuesday, March 9, marked the governor general’s visit to her childhood town of Jacmel, a town where the Canadian military has taken on a major role in helping to repair infrastructure and run both an airport and a medical centre. The Canadian government has also pledged $555 million in relief aid over the next five years, substantiating Canada’s commitment and ongoing support through the efforts to rebuild the quake-stricken nation. Toyota Prius driver fears for life when car won’t brake

On Monday, March 8, a Toyota Prius driver on the southern California interstate sped up to 150 km per hour to pass a car and was then unable to brake. According to CNN News, 61-year old driver Jim Sikes said at a news conference, “I pushed the gas pedal to pass a car, and it just did something kind of funny... and it just stuck there. I was trying the brakes... and it just kept speeding up.” Sikes called 911 for assistance and dispatchers attempted to assist him over the phone with no success. Emergency highway patrol caught up with Sikes’ car and instructed him, via the patrol car’s public address system, to apply both the car and emergency breaks at the same time. Fortunately, Sikes was able to slow his car down to 80 km per hour and then turned his engine off, coming to a complete stop. As a precautionary measure, one officer positioned his car in front of Sikes’s Prius. The total time of this incident was approximately 20 minutes. The car was taken two weeks ago for service at a local Toyota dealership where he provided his recall notice and was told his car was not on the recall list. To date, Toyota has recalled over 8.5 million vehicles worldwide, with many recalls due to acceleration and braking-related issues. Toyota is now investigating this recent incident. — With files from The Globe and Mail, The National Post, The New York Times, The Ottawa Citizen, CNN News, The Star, CBC news, and The Toronto Star

Concordia University can no longer foot the over $15,000 bill to provide prayer space for Muslim students. The university has been paying for prayer space at the Sir George Williams campus for over 20 years, including renting a room for the Friday congregational prayer attended by nearly 800 students. A spokesperson for the university said that the increase in numbers of people needing space means the university can no longer financially support the demand. Concordia’s Muslim Student Association is threatening to file a public grievance with the province’s human rights commission if the funding is cut. No other religious group on campus has been provided with a similar prayer space. Carleton University’s Emergency Response Team is recognized as best in Canada

Carleton University’s Emergency Response Team (CUSERT) has successfully defended their title as the best campus first aid team in Canada at both the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation skills competition (on February 26) and the National Conference of Campus Emergency Responders (from February 20 to 22). At the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation skills competition, Carleton University was ranked first among the Advanced Life Support (ALS) teams during the Physio-Control EMS Skills Competition. McMaster University placed first among the Basic Life Support (BLS) teams. At the National Conference of Campus Emergency Responders, CUSERT teams finished first and third place overall, beating out teams from 11 other universities for the position of the top ranked campus emergency response unit in Canada. The McGill Tribune editors resign as newspaper seeks independence

Ten editors at The McGill Tribune, including the paper’s editor-in-chief, have temporarily resigned from their positions to campaign for independence for the paper. The McGill Tribune is currently published by the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU). According to editor-in-chief Thomas Quail, the SSMU mandated that the newspaper become independent two years ago and that, though the decision was made without input from the editorial board at the time, the paper is currently looking forward to independence. Motivations behind the bid for independence include concerns over conflicts of interest (because the paper both reports on the SSMU and relies on them for funding) and concerns that the SSMU is legally reponsible for the paper (so any legal charges laid against the paper would have to be addressed by funds from the SSMU budget that normally go to student clubs). If the referendum passes, The McGill Tribune will be funded by a $3 fee levied against students and could be independent by September 2010. — With files from The Link, NCEMSF, The Charlatan, and McGill Daily araw@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Campus Watch

World This Week

Financial turmoil in Greece

News

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010

Review of the

Partnership with Malaysia is best kept secret at UW

federal budget

E Aboyeji staff reporter

elevant administration and staff of the University of Waterloo might be unaware but UW has purportedly acquired an international partner school in HELP University College of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. According to the Malaysian university’s website, the University of Waterloo, in collaboration with HELP’s American Degree Programme (APD), will be offering “the first regular and co-operative actuarial science program in Malaysia.” This program would allow sophomore students enrolled in HELP’s American Degree Program to transfer to the University of Waterloo’s actuarial science regular program for their last two years if they can achieve a GPA of at least 3.0 – 4.0 for their subjects and a GPA of at least 3.7 – 4.0 in their mathematics courses. It would also allow freshman students to transfer to the co-op program if they can fulfill the above grade requirements. Although UW’s Malaysian partners had begun to publicly advertise the program on their website and in its local media, several critical staffers of the international office, the office of the Dean of mathematics, and the department of statistics and actuarial sciences were unaware of the program. Only the associate chair of actuarial science at the department, professor Tan Seng, was able to confirm the program’s existence. According to the Malaysian born actuarial science professor and Waterloo alumnus, the university is making strategic partnerships with schools in Malaysia, such as HELP University College, as part of its internationalization mission. However, when Imprint called the International Student Office for comment on the story, we were told “we don’t have any exchange in Malaysia.” David McKinnon, an associate professor in the sciences, expressed these same sentiments in a telephone interview. According to him, although exchange arrangements were being negotiated with a university from Singapore, there were none for Malaysia to the best of his knowledge. Even the undergraduate studies academic advisor for the program, Mr. Laundriault, whose job is to prescribe such programs for interested students, was completely unaware of the program’s existence. According to him, “the faculty of math runs no such program in Malaysia.” However, a news report on the Sun Daily, which is one of Malaysia’s leading newspapers, quotes the University of Waterloo’s international recruitment and admissions co-ordinator, Andrei Jardin, as saying, “the University of Waterloo is looking for top students to join the faculty of mathematics, where the actuarial science programme is based. The overall university average is around 75 per cent. The lowest math average in the faculty is 80 per cent. Around 37 per cent out of 1,000 students in the faculty score an average of 90 per cent for their math. It is a difficult course, but a very fulfilling one.” Jardin could not be reached for comment as he was on a trip to China. Attempts to reach the staff of HELP University College for comment were similarly unsuccessful. eaboyeji@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Surplus 2001-2002

0 -10

13.2 billion

2007-2008

9.1 billion

8.9 billion

2005 2006 2005-2006

2003-2004

9.6 billion

2006-2007 13.8 billion

2002-2003 7 billion

2000-2001 0.017 billion

2004-2005 1.6 billion

2008-2009 -5.8 billion

-20 -30 -40

2009-2010

-50

2010-2011 -49.2 billion

-53.8 billionn

-60

DEFICIT EFII

Ian Cutajar and alcina wong

Divyesh Mistry reporter

fter a long delay, the federal government has announced the budget for the 20102011 year. Last Thursday, March 4, Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty read the budget to the House of Commons in Ottawa. Outlined in a 451-page document, the federal budget follows a mandate with three main goals: obtaining new stimulus funding, targeting funding initiatives, and attempting to balance Canada’s budget before any other G7 country. The last goal depends on whether the country can continue its economic growth at the level before the recession hit. Canada’s Economic Action Plan will be underway for the second year with an influx of new stimulus funding. In addition to last year’s $43 billion, approximately $19 billion is promised for the second year of stimulus funding. A total of $7.7 billion of this will be dedicated to infrastructure construction and $1.1 billion of the $7.7 billion will be going towards post-secondary infrastructure, to build upon the previous year’s investment. This amount will go primarily towards the repair and maintenance of Canada’s universities and colleges. About $725 million will be dedicated to science and technology funding. The budget has details dealing with a deficit of medical isotopes to create a new $19 billion Arctic research centre. The budget states that money will also go towards the development of green technology. Other technological infrastructure also lies with a federal promise to bring high speed internet to remote communities.

A large portion of the budget is dedicated to helping Canadians deal with the effects of the recession. A total of $7 billion will be used to create jobs and job training programs, and increase employment insurance to help cope with some of the job loss. There will be about $3 billion in personal income tax relief, and increased benefits for the working poor. Canada’s spending deficit skyrocketed upon the announcement of almost $62 billion in stimulus funding last year. The government, through their federal budget, has created a series of plans to reduce federal spending to about $2 billion in five years, which is less than what was spent before the recession. Some of the cuts being made include spending for the Canadian Forces. Other ways to balance the budget are gradually reducing economic stimulus, potentially streamlining government administration and bureaucracy, closing loopholes in tax laws to crack down on those who would avoid paying taxes, and shifting towards plastic bills to save money. A review of Canada’s economy from the periods before, during, and after the recession, follows the 150 or so pages of the budget. Indicating how Canada survived the recession better than many other countries, the review discusses the factors involved and attempts to make a case for responsible spending for certain programs. The budget ends with the goal of increasing economic co-operation and growth with other countries in the Group of Twenty, and to co-ordinate efforts of economic management with other international bodies, such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

$1.1 BILLION post-secondary infrastructure

$3 BILLION personal income tax relief

$725 MILLION science and technology funding

$19 BILLION stimulus funding

$19 BILLION Arctic research centre

$7 BILLION jobs and job training programs

Opinion

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010 opinion@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

IMPRINT The University of Waterloo’s official student newspaper

Student employees,

Friday, March 12, 2010 Vol. 32, No. 30

professional expectations

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

editor@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Editor-in-Chief, Michael L. Davenport editor@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Incoming Editor-in-Chief, Gina Racine gracine@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Advertising & Production Manager, Laurie Tigert-Dumas ads@imprint.uwaterloo.ca General Manager, Catherine Bolger cbolger@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Ad Assistant, Shirley Ma Sales Assisstant, Tony Tang Systems Admin., vacant Distribution, Sherif Soliman Distribution, Abdullah Asmat Volunteer Co-ordinator, Angela Gaetano

agging on the Bombshelter in the SLC is something I do often. The food is good, but the service is horrendously slow, and they’ve gotten more expensive over the years. I know when Bomber was criticized in recent memory, I was asked why we would speak ill of “the student pub”. It raises the question: as a restaurant patron, should I have lower expectations of Bomber just because it’s a “student” restaurant? Which itself leads to the general form of the question: should one have lower expectations of student ventures, as compared to their nonstudent counterparts? After all, there are several reasons why the quality of anything “student” could be inferior, be it student bars, student governance, student arts, or student newspapers for that matter. The biggest problem is turnover. By their very nature, anything “student” will have next to no longstanding staff — most students are only at UW for four or five years. Compare Bomber (which hires term by term) to UW Food Services or restaurants in the plaza, where I’ve seen many of the same faces since I started here in 2002. Consider in addition that students aren’t even

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, vacant Lead Proofreader, Katrina Massey Cover Editor, Rajul Saleh News Editor, Adrienne Raw News Assistant, Paula Trelinska Opinion Editor, Clara Shin 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, Jordan Campbell Science & Tech Assistant, Erin Oldynski Sports & Living Editor, Brent Golem Sports & Living Assistant, Michelle Duklas Photo Editor, Ethan Oblak 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

Next staff meeting: Monday March 15, 2010 12:30 p.m. Next board of directors meeting: Friday March 12, 2010 12:00 p.m.

eaboyeji@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

There is no good reason why government should subsidize the education of kids who can pay

ow, those of you who know me can attest to the fact that I am no socialist. I will not defend myself, however. But really, is there any good reason why Canada should subsidize the education of kids who can pay? No! I am not just talking about international students. I am also talking about rich domestic students. Let us be honest. I might not have the hard and fast figures but I’ll wager there are a considerable number of kids at this school whose parents can willingly cough up $30,000 or more, a year without sweating it. But again, I am not just saying they should pay, just because they can. That is a stupid policy-making rationale. There are concrete reasons why I believe rich kids deserve to pay the full cost of their education. First is the undeniable fact that quality actually costs money. And rich kids... well, you get the picture. Now, feel free to label me a hypocrite for showing you week after week on this column how the answer to the common issues

we face at this university are less matters of dollars and cents than they are questions of duty and diligence. Nevertheless, I would be a fool to discount the importance of dependable and fairly independent funding to a functional university. For as long as universities must bend over McGuinty’s peanuts just to have another 20,000 clueless younglings down their asses, they can never be the quality institutions they should be. We cannot realistically expect universities to ensure quality when their funding is tied to (over) enrolment targets amidst quickly increasing student teacher ratios. Secondly, it actually separates the wheat from the chaff as far as seriousness goes. Rich kids who think their education is costing them peanuts are generally less likely to put in the required effort that poor kids without any other reasonable choice will. By making sure rich kids pay for the fair value of their education, we can be assured that they are more than just zombies clogging up our lecture halls.

“

The University of California system for instance, raises fees 30 per cent for rich kids whose families made above $70,000 per annum. Considering that the University of California system is quite highly regarded as far as academic quality is concerned, it shouldn’t seem too shabby an act to follow.

Third and most importantly, it actually frees up money for the poor folks who really need it. I am not alone in saying this. In fact, there is a wealth of empirical data that shows that higher tuition equals higher aid. This literature is so convincing, universities are beginning to go this route by the droves! Indeed, the higher tuition, higher aid model has a wonderful record. The University of California system for instance, raises fees 30 per cent for

“

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.

seems like a cop-out. As with many things, an observation (Bomber has slow service) should not be confused with a justification (It’s okay for Bomber to have slow service, it’s just the student bar.) Perhaps my own position colours my worldview here. I am the editorin-chief of a student newspaper. I don’t know if you hold us to the same standard as other newspapers, but I know the law certainly does. I can’t publish a libelous article and then defend myself with, “Meh. We’re a student newspaper.” While sometimes student endeavours might fall short because of lack of experience or resources, we still need to aim to operate on the same level as the pros do. Having the same goals and same ideals as professionals allows us to strive to be professional. This is true of the newspaper. This is true of our student politicians. If low expectations of student senators pervaded, then perhaps they wouldn’t have had the courage to fight the administration on certain key issues, like exam relief, Saturday midterms, and the Orientation week. Being a student anything (politician, reporter, etc.) cannot be synonymous with lowered expectations.

Yes you can... pay?

Production Staff Jessica Pellow, Sarah Gudmundson, Ivan Lui, Jacob McLellan, Faerlin Pulido, Divyesh Mistry, Bogdan Petrescu, Neha Dhar, Rosalind Gunn, Stephen Kearse, Jacqueline McKoy Lambert, Bing Sun, Keriece Harris, Michelle Sterba, Ronald Chui Graphics Team Alcina Wong , Rebecca Chung

working full time, and it becomes apparent that “student” does tend to go hand-in-hand with “less experience”. In addition, many student run ventures are volunteer as well. The staff of Bomber are paid, but the “volunteer” aspect holds true for all the other examples I listed. Reporters for The Record are paid, reporters for Imprint are not. City councilors are paid, Feds councilors are not. For anything students do on campus, it’s not really a full time gig. With all that being said, you might be surprised to my answer to the original question: no. That is, I should not lower my expectations of Bomber (or any other student venture) just because it is “student”. I shouldn’t raise my expectations either; I should not expect Bomber to be the like Le Cordon Bleu in Ottawa (note: also technically a student restaurant) but I shouldn’t cut Bomber extra slack. The same holds for all the examples I listed in the second paragraph. Anything that is “student” should strive to be of the same quality as “the real thing.” What is the point of anything that is “student” if it’s not to learn how things are done in the real world? Cutting any endeavour slack just because it’s run by students

rich kids whose families made above $70,000 per annum. Considering that the University of California system is quite highly regarded as far as academic quality is concerned, it shouldn’t seem too shabby an act to follow. If Canada wants to get serious about improving the quality of its post secondary institutions, it has to end the senselessness of a subsidy that robs the poor of a quality post secondary education simply so the posh can joy ride.

Opinion

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010

Not an Analogy: Israel and the Crime of Apartheid

Bogdan Caradima Environmental Science

Community Editorials

eading Joshua Samuel’s arguments against the use of the term “apartheid” in describing the situation between Israelis and Palestinians, I am forced to consider the euphemism of “systematic racial segregation.” Surely, Mr Samuel, you have no objections with my terminology now, given that that is precisely what is happening in the Occupied Territories. Yet, it seems that there are some people who would have me arrested for saying such things, citing it as hate speech despite its virtue of being true. The Ontario MPPs that Mr. Samuel referred to have a problem with the term because “[apartheid] was only ever applied in one historical case and remains applicable only to that one period of South African history.” The underlying logic used to oppose the term not only ignores matters of historical record, but it rationalizes its opposition to the term by considering “apart-

heid” to be under some sort of copyright in terms of time and place. This rationale, the equivalent of arresting someone for calling any genocide a “holocaust” is apparently what is used to justify the proposed amendment of free speech laws in Canada. If my explanation was not immediately clear, I would point out that Palestinians, Israelis, academics and solidarity activists are not arguing that the Israeli apartheid is the exact same as the South African apartheid. The piece “Not an Analogy: Israel and the Crime of Apartheid” by Hazem Jamjoum of the Badil Resource Centre for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights is an excellent comparison of these two institutions. In this piece, Jamjoum argues that, while points of similarity and difference between apartheid South Africa and Israeli apartheid are outlined with great detail by prominent scholars and solidarity activists, apartheid is a political and legal system that could be practised by any state. He moves on to point out that even with

regards to the legal definition of apartheid, the 1973 adoption of the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid by the UN General Assembly clearly explained that the definition of the crime of apartheid was not limited to the case and borders of South Africa. In other words, there is no basis for the argument that apartheid refers exclusively to a particular government, period of rule, or moment in history. Nevertheless this insidious argument, in complete defiance of international legal findings and consensus, is precisely what Ontario MPPs and Joshua Samuels are proposing to the Canadian public. This dangerous move to suppress free speech must be stopped. The arguments that are put forward in favour of it are not only deliberately misleading, they wilfully deny matters of historical record and international consensus on matters of law. Mr. Samuels, I would like to remind you that when you put forward future arguments, do try to provide your own reasoning

rather than quoting Ontario legislators to support your case with appeals to authority. Of course, I happen to know exactly why you chose not to put forward any meaningful argument, instead substituting those of others for your own. In closing, I have three remaining points that I will make quickly. First, I would encourage students to carefully read the article “Not an Analogy: Israel and the Crime of Apartheid” as well as other opinions voiced on the use of the term “apartheid”. Http://electronicintifada.net/ v2/article10440.shtml. Secondly, I would urge students who are concerned about the Israeli apartheid or about free speech in general to write to their MP, either via electronic or paper mail. I have personally written to the Ontario MP Peter Braid using his email address: braidp1@parl.gc.ca. Lastly, I would like to thank Imprint for their graciousness and patience in facilitating the various articles and debates on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Thank you. This conversation is important.

Game release disappointment – continued? Michael Shao mathematics/computer science

few years back, I bet some of you could remember the pandemonium that ensued when StarCraft II announced its release in early 2006. You wanted to see more trailers, more game previews, and more battle reports; people wanted more of everything. Nobody could get enough of the excitement that followed Blizzard for the coming months. The sadness that followed after the announcement of the production delay in StarCraft II was therefore predictable and would create a cycle of frenzy to depression in the coming four years when the game that was supposed to revolutionize real-time strategy games completely never actually hit the consumer shelves.

I feel the same thing has happened with MAG — or for those who hate acronyms, Massive Action Game. Developers and early reviewers had claimed it was the “Call of Duty” killer and that it would dominate the first-person shooter franchise for years to come. Lately, though, I’ve seen my friends in the frenzy of lining up in front of sold-out stores to await a new shipping, go home, play it for roughly two weeks, get frustrated with the interface, and return it, saying they’d rather go back to playing Modern Warfare 2 or wait for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 to hit the console market. What is it with companies and dropping insane happy bombs on us then claiming nothing happened? They create these high hopes for consumers and give us absolutely

nothing for our buck. I thought (Left for Dead 2) L4D2 would be so much better than the first I was considering the pre-order, but I made the right choice by not actually purchasing it. L4D2 is nothing more than a simple expansion of the first Left 4 Dead, except with a few added monsters and some new, albeit cool, features. It doesn’t do much to promote the extra spending of $60, especially when we’re in university and still have studying to worry about. A game that I thought was good though, that didn’t get nearly enough good press and coverage, was World in Conflict: Soviet Assault. Being the very tech and military-savvy person that I am, I dove into the research behind the tactics and the weaponry being introduced in this pre-1990 era, and I was thoroughly impressed by the amount of realistic detail

they put into this game. The environment is completely destructible: heavy artillery, napalm, mortars, and tank shells leave life-sized terrain damage, and realistic detail of tanks and infantry is beyond belief; zooming in really close, you can make out individual and unique faces of each individual soldier! I also thought that the really simplistic (especially for a StarCraft fanatic like me) camera views, zoom and panning was done impressively and with few, if any, afterthoughts missed. It seems as if there is a pattern in today’s consumer society. All of the crappy games get insane press, become long-awaited and have such high expectations, only to get shot out of the sky by the horrible user interface or the impossible to understand controls. All of the insanely wicked games are never talked about,

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are simple to use, and are usually the cheapest ones. Why is that?! Are all of the really good gaming companies releasing increasingly worse games? Are they really that bored? Do they really have nothing better to do besides releasing crappy overpriced games and seeking attention? Maybe that’s why the low-end games are slowly winning out: the quality, to these guys at least, far exceeds the importance of quantity. I guess you still have to give StarCraft II some credit. If Blizzard started handing out pre-order forms, I think it’d be safe to assume Blizzard would be swamped with pre-order overstock syndrome, and end up having to fill close to a few (hundred?) million orders in the first few weeks. But can I really make that assumption safely? I guess we can only wait and see, if and when StarCraft II is ever officially released for the commercial market. As for MAG, well, let’s just call it a lost cause and sit back in front of our computers and wait.

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Opinion

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010

Feminism and the National Anthem studies

believe that most people are a little bit feminist. I say “people” because feminism is not rooted in biology and whether or not your sex organs dangle does not dictate your beliefs or actions. I had a rather interesting discussion with a man last week and after exchanging pleasantries he asked me how I feel about feminism. To that, I had to ask what he meant by feminism because anyone who knows anything about feminist theory knows that the phrase is thrown around and often homogenizes all feminist beliefs with the stereotypical femi-Nazi image. I am all for female involvement in military, pornography, decriminalized prostitution, etc. I am against any argument that suggests that these things destroy the fabric of civil society and the family, that it degrades and dehumanizes the female gender. Of course, this argument is predicated on consent, not coercion. Gender refers not to the biological but to the socially constructed, and if something is socially constructed, it is vulnerable to being deconstructed and transformed. Have you ever been told that you have to learn to “pick your battles?” Or “some things are better left alone?” That is how

I currently feel about the Conservative Party of Canada and the feminist Tina Prietz of Huntsville, Ontario. They wanted to change “In all thy sons’ command” in Canada’s national anthem to “Thou dost in us command” because it is more gender-neutral. The Prime Minister’s Office said in a press release that the latter version was the original version of the national anthem until the 1960s when the change occurred. I took the liberty of trying to find this original version and came to the Canadian Heritage section of the Government of Canada website. “O Canada” became Canada’s official national anthem in 1980 and was based on a poem written by Stanley Weir in 1908 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Quebec City. It was subsequently amended in 1913, 14 and 16 up until the adaptation of the “in all thy sons command” version for the official national anthem in 1980. Tina Prietz sent an email to Tony Clement saying that for 50 years she has felt excluded by the five words in question. To this I roll my eyes. For starters, according to the full history of the Canadian national anthem, the amended version was adopted in 1980 and is therefore only 30 years old. Also, Prietz is 60 years of age which makes her born in 1950 and therefore 30 at the time that the current version of the national anthem was adopted.

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More importantly, does Ms. Prietz think that this change will significantly affect the status of women in this country?

My question: where was this letter 30 years ago? If something this trivial bothers you enough, it is not rational to let it fester for three decades. And of course this email was eaten up by the Conservative Party because it’s no secret that they haven’t been in the good graces of female voters. This is a non-issue; a fad that has been taken up by the government to win the votes of members of the ignorant and nit-picking portion of the female electorate. Ultimately it comes down to a slippery slope, or a Pandora’s Box. Stating Canada’s multiculturalism and ethnic diversity should come as no surprise. At least once per year I get an email where someone has spouted off about being outraged when it was suggested that the Canadian national anthem be sung in a language other than English or French. If we start kowtowing to whiny, middle class, white, minority groups, then we’ve opened the box, started to slide, whatever analogy you would like to use.

While we’re at it, why not make all store signs, clothing labels, newspapers, food ingredients/menus and the singing of our national anthem take into account all levels of social, ethnic and language diversity? Women should be spelled ‘womyn,’ American money should be printed without ‘In God we trust,’ and I should be in the kitchen. I think not. More importantly, does Ms. Prietz think that this change will significantly affect the status of women in this country? We have made long strides in our fight for equal power sharing. However, I am of the opinion that when women like this one start picking ultimately frivolous battles, it throws a shadow over the progress we have made. There are bigger things happening that we should be worrying about. Ask CIDA whether they care about those countries that rank among the lowest on the Human Development Index. Some things are better left alone.

A Tale of Resurrection: China’s Awakening political science grad student

oaring with vibrant ambition, the Ancient Eastern Empire contemplated how to tame nearly double digit economic growth. On the other side of the ocean, a frail Godfather glimpsed with envy, for its double-digit problem was one of unemployment. In the East, Shanghai wondered how to confront excess savings and manage the rise of the Yuan. In the West, Washington ignored long-term debt problems, thanks in part to a paralyzed turtle named Congress. But I had sympathy for America— its wounds ran deep. There was nothing trivial about the credibility of the Western economic system being shredded up. One could only imagine the sense of anxiety that invaded the hearts of relevant officials, such as Ben Bernanke, who at one point claimed that, “If they had not done that [actions enacted by the federal reserve and treasury to counteract the fallout from the 2008 financial meltdown]...within 24 hours the world economy would have collapsed. It would have been the end of our economic system and our political system as we know it.” Technocrats were now attempting to cure the symptoms of a system that had almost fallen into deep depression. Foreign migraines continued to lurk in the background. “Strategic Management” thereof included engaging in an unwinnable war in Afghanistan, extending insufficient attention to the Israeli-Palestine conflict, all while radical legislators and interest groups advocated the seductive prospect of a war with Iran.

This juncture in history was surreal: indeed, the final chapter of Western domination in human affairs was being written. Some American planners realized this, and in 2009, the Godfather offered China an informal “G2” partnership, in which both countries would come together to shape significant aspects of the world. The offer was greeted by Chinese leaders downplaying the significance of their powerful nation. Apparently, the Godfather had made an offer that could, and indeed was, refused. A fascinating drama was unfolding. Theatre that forced me to question what the Chinese thought about us. Western spectators, students, and even the uninterested were well aware of the criticisms of the Chinese government. But what did they think about us? What did President Hu Jintao think of a political system that welcomed a vice presidential candidate who couldn’t answer the question of “what do you read?” Did the Chinese elite smirk when they reminisced about our intellectuals lecturing them about the impossibility of economic prosperity without political liberalism? What lessons were drawn concerning the freedom of speech when they observed an ex-baseball-player senator, Jim Bunning, yell at a federal reserve chairman (Ben Bernanke), while invoking the distinguished scholar’s name in the same breath as Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin? Did it all reflect a circus to them? These questions mattered. Some skeptics warned not to fall into the trap of fashionable “China” headlines. Yet I was well aware of their counter-arguments. I understood that America’s military might was uncontested. I understood that the American

economy was almost twice the size of China’s, in terms of purchasing power parity. I understood that America was China’s biggest customer. I understood that roughly 70 per cent of China’s 2.3 trillion in reserves was in US dollars. I understood that fortune would favour the American currency – the most powerful form of faith at that moment in time – for at least the foreseeable future. But the Chinese military was building up remarkably quickly. Who could deny that blowing up space satellites in 2008, the increasing strength along the Taiwan Strait, and cyberwarefare capabilities didn’t raise eyebrows? Alongside, of course, the many forecasts predicting China’s economy to surpass that of America’s in the not-so-distant future. Would the Godfather’s Seat be occupied by the Chinese statesman one day?

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Would domestic realities compel the East to adopt what was increasingly being viewed as an antiquated Western model? Would an unforeseen event change the course of everything this author’s writing implicated? I didn’t know, because uncertainty still remained the only certainty in human affairs. But one could be confident that Lord Keynes wasn’t the only force resurrected after the financial crisis, and what they thought about our ways of life increasingly mattered, as their power was only growing. One shrewd statesman captured the moment rather eloquently: “Looking back at the first decade of the 21st century, I am convinced that the enormous and profound changes the world has experienced will leave indelible imprints in the long annals of human history.”

Would the Godfather’s Seat be occupied by the Chinese statesman one day? Would domestic realities compel the East to adopt what was increasingly being viewed as an antiquated Western model? Would an unforeseen event change the course of everything this author’s writing implicated? I didn’t know, because uncertainty still remained the only certainty in human affairs.

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Aly Kamadia

Community Editorials

and conflict

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Ashley Stock 4A political science/peace

Opinion

I thought we already broke the glass ceiling: Olympics and the Academy Awards Matthew Wong 3B civil engineering

ith the Vancouver 2010 Olympics wrapping up two weeks ago, and the Academy Awards passing last Sunday, the world has never seemed so united in celebrating athletics and arts. With war and politics aside, the winter Olympics and the Academy Awards still seem to lack a sense of equality; at least from my point of view. The winter Olympics and the Academy Awards are slightly sexist and slightly racist. The basis of this thesis is the fact that we still need to divvy up the sexes in competition. Why do we need to divvy up sexes for categories, in both the Olympics and the Academy Awards? With reference to the Olympics, sure I can understand that biologically, testosterone creates a better athlete, or am I being sexist? But take, for example, the sport curling, where athleticism is not necessarily an important aspect of the “sport”, but instead, it is a game of strategy. Do men physically have better strategy than woman? If anything, wouldn’t women be better sleepers anyways? (That’s sort of an ass backwards comment.) How about

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figure skating? In the men’s and women’s single competition I think that Kim Yu-Na, the Korean gold medalist figure skater, would beat any male right now in the figure skating circuit. But then again that is a sport that is judged. On the flip side of the usual sexism, why isn’t there male figure synchronized swimming in the Olympics? There is such a thing as men’s synchronized swimming, but it is not allowed in the Olympics. As for the Academy Awards, why do we have a separate male and female category for “actors” in either a leading or supporting role? Does testosterone biologically make you a better actor? If we congealed the male and female categories together, would men always win? And what about Hilary Swank’s performance of Boys Don’t Cry, where a young woman portrays a boy. Hilary Swank won the Oscar for best actress in a leading role. Technically, shouldn’t she have won as the best actor in a leading role, she was portraying a boy. You can even take the sexism a little further in this category. For example, we don’t have categories like best female director, and best male director. The acting categories are the only categories that are gender specific.

One day when the first female black lesbian actress wins the award for the best director, will that distinction need to be made?

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Community Editorials

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010

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We need to place more emphasis on the award itself and less emphasis on the person’s physical attributes winning the award.

We can take it even further and throw race in there as well. We should have best African American male actor in a leading role, and best female Jewish actress in a supporting role. If that were the case, then which category would Robert Downey Jr. be in for his controversial “black” role as Kirk Lazarus in the movie Tropic Thunder? As a society, we place too much emphasis on our physical differences. For example, when Kathryn Ann Bigelow won for the Hurt Locker, she did not want to be known as the best female director, she just wanted to be known as the best director. The Oscar background announcer places the most emphasis on this crap. “For the first time ever an African American can win the Oscar for best director.” — referring to Lee Daniels, the director of the movie Precious. It sounds quite demeaning in comparison to what we’ve already achieved. So close

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and yet so far, he got beat — by a girl instead, sort of like the reverse of Hillary Clinton. One day, when the first female black lesbian actress wins the award for the best director, will that distinction need to be made? I thought we were done breaking barriers with Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King, and Barack Obama. Turns out America can have a black president, but can’t have a black best director. We need to place more emphasis on the award itself and less emphasis on the person’s physical attributes winning the award. When will we just be known as people? Will it have to be some day in the distant future when we no longer have different races and instead will all be some form of beige? I think we would still be able to find a way to discriminate. In the words of Stephen Colbert, “I do not see color... but I do homosexuality”

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Opinion

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010

International Women’s Week and graduation science

id-March is a mixed bag of emotions for those finishing their degrees at Waterloo, like myself. There are courses to worry about, taxes to file, and the ever-present voice nagging in the back of your head saying “you are about to graduate. You will need to do something afterwards. Why aren’t you doing more about this?” Of course this nagging is accompanied by some joy, but for the most part I’m finding the prospect of entering the real world intimidating and scary. There is another nerve wracking post-graduate experience that often gets overlooked by many of today’s undergraduates. In days gone by it was

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something that many people got out of the way in their early 20s, but today the average early-twenty-something is delaying the experience by at least a few years. Of course what I’m referring to is marriage, which seems scary and far away to many of us, but some UW students may have plans already underway for a spring/ summer 2010 wedding. It is to them that I address this piece of writing. Well, half of them, anyway. First, a little backstory as to inspiration: my favourite uncle passed away suddenly and wholly unexpectedly at the beginning of December, and the topic of his passing and subsequent events has not left the lips of my family quite yet. Recently my sister commented on a statement made by my cousin about how depressed she was that “her father

I’m sure many women reading this are thinking about how they desire their dad to accompany them because they love him or because they want him to share in their moment with him.

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John Brian Dorsay

wouldn’t be able to walk her down the aisle.” Given that this week is International Women’s Week, and I am involved in the party for an upcoming wedding myself, I spent some time dwelling on what it meant for a woman to be accompanied by her father on the way to the altar. No matter how hard I tried to justify the practice, I just couldn’t resolve it in my head. It’s 2010, people. Why are you women still allowing this to happen? Certainly there is something to be said for maintaining tradition. But what happens when that tradition represents archaic views widely rejected by women today? In the past, when a father walked his daughter down the aisle to her groom, he effectively finalized transfer of ownership of his property from himself to a new man, just as he would with livestock. Women are not livestock, nor are they property. The father was never her proprietor, nor will her husband be. Why not walk down alone, or accompanied by someone else, as a rejection of these antiquated ideas? I’m sure many women reading this are thinking about how they desire their dad to accompany them because they love him or because they want him to share in their moment with him. Normally I would be supportive of this. But at what

Community Editorials

Reflections: cost to the fight for equality do you make these concessions? Would you allow your father to offer a dowry payment as a sign of affection, along with all of the lovely connotations associated with it? Almost certainly not. Why do we allow the walk down the aisle to be treated any differently? Traditions change. Traditions that support tired old notions of gender inequality need to be changed. Women of UW, this is my appeal to you. Those who are about to graduate, you have a hard road ahead. You will be making less than your male counterparts, be at higher risk for workplace discrimination, and have events ahead that I can’t fathom (childbirth!? AHHH!) As you experience these hardships you will likely think about how far we’ve come, and about how great it is to no longer be thought of as property. If and when you make that march down the aisle, stand proud, stand strong, and don’t feel the need to have a man accompany you. Think critically about what having one do so represents. Walk on your own, bring friends, bring your mother, bring your mother and your father, you have a myriad of options. I urge you not to indulge the one that represents a period in history best left behind. Happy International Women’s Week everybody.

Campus Bulletin UPCOMING Friday, March 12, 2010 Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia – from chaos theory to carnal embrace lie the ingredients in the masterpiece comedy thriller Arcadia. Not a seminar, this play takes place March 11-13 ; 18-20 at 8 p.m. in the Theatre of the Arts, ML. More information at drama. uwaterloo.ca. International Women’s Week from March 8 to 12. Events daily – check women.feds.ca for more info. Saturday, March 13, 2010 Beyond Borders presents “Music with a Mission at Bomber” is a band night event at 8:30 p.m. Featured bands are Stonefox, Junka and IVS. 19+ event. Advance tickets on sale at Fed Office. Thursday, March 18, 2010 WoulduRather contest wrap up party hosted by Leave The Pack Behind, in the Bomber from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Free food and prizes. Everyone welcome. Contestants need to be present to claim prizes. The Matrix Impaired Driving Simulator arrives today at UW, Student Life Centre from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Presented by UW Health Services Party Smart Team, UW and Waterloo Regional Police. Rainbow Reels Queer Film Festival at Princess Cinema, UpTown Waterloo from March 18 to 20. Tickets/passes available at Princess Cinema, Gen X and WPIRG office. For more info 519-888-4882 or www. wpirg.org/rainbowreels. Sunday, March 21, 2010 Multicultural Exhibition open reception featuring Margie Kelk, Lloyd Cooke and Irina Likholet at the Homer Watson House & Gallery from 2 to 4:00 p.m. For more info www.homerwatson.on.ca. Wednesday, March 24, 2010 3rd Annual Indoor Golf Classic presented by Brain Injury Association of Waterloo-Wellington and Bereaved Families of Ontario-Midwestern Region, will be at Golf Without Limits, 283 Northfield Drive, E., Waterloo. Visit www.biaww.com or www.golfwithoutlimits.com or 519-342-3904 for more info. Friday, March 26, 2010 Annual commemoration of the U.N. International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination starting at 8:15 a.m., Kitchener City Hall Rotunda. For more info crosscultures@bellnet.ca. UW Ballroom Dance Club “Spring Fling” dance from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Button Factory, 25 Regina Street, Waterloo. Lessons, prizes refreshments. For more info www.uwbdc.ca. Friday, April 23, 2010 CFUW book sale today and Saturday, April 24 at First United Church, King and William Streets, Waterloo. Donations can be dropped off April 21 and 22 at back door of church. For more info 519-740-5249. No textbooks, please. Saturday, April 24, 2010 Free public Star Party, hosted by KW branch of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and KW Telescope, at dusk at picnic area number 9, Waterloo Park. Rain or complete overcast sky the event will be cancelled. For more details www.kw.rasc.ca. Wednesday, June 30, 2010 Student Video Contest – hosted by City of Kitchen-

er – explore your creativity, win cash prizes and have your video digitally projected on City Hall. Deadline is June 30 at 4 p.m. For guidelines and application visit www.kitchener.ca.

STUDENT AWARDS & FINANCIAL AID

For all in-person inquiries, including OSAP funding pickup, your SIN card and government issued, valid photo ID are required. BYID card can now be accepted as photo ID. March 24: last day to sign Confirmation of Enrolment for winter only term and fall and winter term to ensure full OSAP funding. March 30: recommended submission date for OSAP Rollover Form to add spring term to winter only term or fall and winter term. Recommended submission date for OSAP Reinstatement Form to add spring term to fall only term. Applications for Emergency Loans must be submitted on our web site by the last day of each term. Visit safa.uwaterloo.ca for a full listing of scholarships and awards.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Exchanges for undergraduates and graduates – 2010/11 academic years: 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. Remember the Seagram barrels? If you took a barrel at last year’s giveaway, Pat the Dog Playwright Centre wants to know! Contact Charmian at charmian@patthedog.org to tell your barrel’s story! Artists are invited to submit expressions of interest for a two-stage competition which will place a site-specific work of public art at the reconstructed main library, Kitchener. Commission is $125,000. Deadline is March 31, 2010. For details www.kitchener.ca or cheryl.york@kitchener.ca or 519-741-3400, ext 3381. Winter waste collection that is piled on top of snow banks makes pickup difficult for collection crews, therefore, garbage will not be picked up. Place green bins, blue boxes and garbage at ground level, end of driveway or shovel out ledge in snow bank for easy access. For more info www. region.waterloo.on.ca or 519-883-5100. 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.

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HOUSING

Weekend counsellors and relief staff to work in homes for individuals with developmental challenges. Minimum eight-month commitment. Paid positions. Send resume to Human Resources, K-W Habilitation Services, 108 Sydney Street, Kitchener, ON, N2G 3V2. Imprint has a work study position available – Systems Administrator – up to 15 hours/week at $11/hour. Candidates will have Webmail server administration experience, be familiar with medium scale Linux network administration, SAMBA file management, Windows XP workstations, LDAP authentication and Apache admin. Duties include maintaining and strengthening our office’s network system. Applicants must be fulltime students and eligible for OSAP. Please send resume to editor@imprint.uwaterloo.ca. Online Marketing Specialist – we need you! If you love online marketing and are web savvy, then we need you. For more details visit: www. fibernetics.ca/careers

Houses for rent – Hoffaco Property Management presents a new release of student rental properties located close to UW. Clean, new or upgraded detached houses, townhouses, apartments and true loft space rentals available on many nearby streets including Ezra, Marshall, Hazel and Lester. Rentals to suit all group size from 1 to 13. Many start dates available. Please email uw@hoffaco.com (preferred) or phone 519-885-7910. Three female Laurier students looking for a fourth female housemate for May 1. Own room, three floor furnished house, eight minute walk to campus. Includes washer/dryer, dishwasher and parking. Contact Kelsey Kerr 519-504-5097 or kerr_xo@hotmail.com.

SERVICES

Used books wanted for CFUW Book Sale, Friday and Saturday, April 23 and 24, 2010 at First United Church, King and William Street. Drop off donations at church (back door) Wednesday, April 21 and Thursday, April 22. For more info please call 519-740-5249. No textbooks please.

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.

FOR SALE

Used computers – AMD Athlon 64 3200+ ; 2 GHz ; 1GB of RAM ; CD/DVD burner. No hard drive included. Provided as is – $25, cash & carry. Come to Imprint, SLC room 1116 between 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday.

WANTED

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010 ads@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Career Services volunteers needed for 20102011 – two types of volunteer positions available: Student Career Assistant and Student Marketing Assistant. Depending on the position you will gain valuable job search, marketing, and career-related skills by either promoting events and services or by helping other students in their career planning and job search. Open to regular and co-op students who are creative and possess strong interpersonal and communication skills. Applications available from our webpage at careerservices.uwaterloo.ca. Deadline is March 19, 2010. The Student Resource Office is seeking volunteers to plan and host workshops on student concerns. If you have a couple of hours per week and the desire to impact your peers please contact the SRO in SLC 3104 or sroffice@uwaterloo.ca or 519-888-4567, ext 32402. All majors welcome. Shadow needed to be paired with international students for spring and fall 2010. Show them around, help them resolve cultural shock and make their stay in Waterloo more enjoyable. Make great friends and learn things from another country. Visit www.iso.uwaterloo.ca. Volunteer with a child at their school and help improve their self-esteem and confidence. One to three hours a week commitment. Call Canadian Mental Health at 519-744-7645, ext 229. City of Waterloo has volunteer opportunities. For info call 519-888-6478 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, 519-742-8610 / 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 519-7728787 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.

ONGOING

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

‫ﻣﻄﺎﻟﻌﮥ ﮐﺘﺎب ﻣﻘﺪس ﻣﺴﻴﺤﯽ ﺑﺰﺑﺎن ﻓﺎرﺳﯽ‬ ‫ ﻋﺼﺮ‬٩-٧ ‫ﭼﻬﺎرﺷﻨﺒﻪهﺎ ﺳﺎﻋﺖ‬ ‫ﻓﺎرﺳﯽ‬ ‫ﻣﺸﺎرﮐﺖ ﻣﻘﺪس‬ ‫ﻣﻄﺎﻟﻌﮥ ﮐﺘﺎب‬ !‫ﺑﺰﺑﺎناﺳﺖ‬ ‫ﻣﺴﻴﺤﯽﺁزاد‬ ‫ﺑﺮاﯼ ﻋﻤﻮم‬ ‫ ﻋﺼﺮ‬٩-٧ ‫ﭼﻬﺎرﺷﻨﺒﻪهﺎ ﺳﺎﻋﺖ‬ Waterloo North Presbyterian Church !‫ﻣﺸﺎرﮐﺖ ﺑﺮاﯼ ﻋﻤﻮم ﺁزاد اﺳﺖ‬ 400 Northfield Drive West WaterlooWaterloo, North Presbyterian Church ON N2V 1G7 400 (519) Northfield Drive West 888-7870 Waterloo, ON N2V 1G7 (519) 888-7870

CAREER SERVICES WORKSHOPS

For updates/changes to workshops, please refer to www.strobe.uwaterloo.ca/cecs/cs/index. Work Effectively in Another Culture – 2:30 to 4 p.m., TC 1208. Monday, March 15, 2010 Academic Interview – 12 to 1:30 p.m., TC 2218. Tuesday, March 16, 2010 Dental School Interviews – 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., TC 1208. Wednesday, March 17, 2010 Success on the Job – 4:30 to 6 p.m., TC 1208.

Thursday, March 18, 2010 Work Search Strategies – note: since the activities in this workshop build on the material presented in the online Work Search module (under Marketing Yourself) of the Career Development eManual, you will need to complete the Work Search online module as a first step before registering for this workshop. To access the module, go to cdm.uwaterloo.ca and select the UW student version of the Career Development eManual. 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., TC 1208. Exploring Your Personality Type (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator – Part II) – second session of a two-part workshop. 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., TC 1112. Monday, March 22, 2010 Academic Interview Skills – note: all sessions are limited to 30 participants. 12 to 1:30 p.m., TC 2218. Interview Skills: Preparing for Questions – note: since the activities in this workshop build on the material presented in the online Interview Skills module (under Marketing yourself) of the Career Development eManual, you will need to complete the Interview Skills online module as a first step before registering for this workshop. To access the module, go to cdm.uwaterloo.ca and select the UW student version ofthe Career Development eManual. 4:30 to 6 p.m., TC 1208. Pharmacy School Interviews – 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., TC 2218. Tuesday, March 23, 2010 Interview Skills: Selling Your Skills – note: since the activities in this workshop build on the material presented in the online Interview Skills module (under Marketing Yourself) of the Career Development eManual, you will need to complete the Interview Skills online module as a first step before registering for this workshop. To access the module, go to cdm.uwaterloo.ca and select the UW student version of the Career Development eManual. 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., TC 1208. Wednesday, March 24, 2010 Thinking about Dentistry? 5:30 to 7 p.m., TC 1208. Thursday, March 25, 2010 Successfully Negotiating Job Offers – 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., TC 1208. Getting a U.S. Work Permit – 4:30 to 6 p.m., TC 1208. Wednesdy, March 31, 2010 OMSAS Application – 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., TC 1208.

UW RECREATION COMMITTEE UW Recreation Committee events are open to all employees of the University of Waterloo. Register by emailing UWRC@uwaterloo.ca. Wednesday, March 17, 2010 UWRC Book Club – “The Optimist’s Wife,”; author Eudora Welty; 12 to 1 p.m., LIB407. Monday, March 22, 2010 Free talk presented by UW School of Optometry on Diabetes and the Eye, at Waterloo Public Library from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, March 25, 2010 “Trash Talk – the good, the bad and the really, really, ugly.” Region of Waterloo Waste Management Division, Kathleen Barsoum, will help you understand how what seems like a simple matter is not. Waste seems like the end of a think, but actually it’s just the beginning of a lot of things. Tuesday, March 30, 2010 Feng Shui Discussion Group with Meltem Kurtman, MC 5136 from 12 to 1 p.m. Thursday, April 15, 2010 UWRC Book Club – “The Audacity of Hope”; author Barack Obama; from 12 to 1 p.m., LIB 407. Thursday, April 22, 2010 “A Year on the Grand: Scenes from the Grand River” – a photographic celebration of four seasons on the Grand – Flex Lab, LIB 329 from 12 to 1 p.m. Tuesday, April 27, 2010 Brain Fitness with Chloe Hamilton, Warm Embrace Elder Care from 12 to 1 p.m, MC 5158 Thursday, April 29, 2010 Walter Bean Trail Talk with Dave McDougall (Federation of Students) from 12 to 1 p.m., MC 5158. Repeat of popular talk about the walking trails in the KW Region. Great powerpoint slide presentation.

Features

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010 features@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Making love for a cause

features editor

group of people gathered in Dana Porter early this week and made “love”. The event was held to raise awareness about blindness in Tibet, which has the highest rate of blindness in the world. The event started with a organized and synchronised shutting of blinds on one side of the library to make it spell love. After a few calculation errors the sign was completed, which was visible as far as University Avenue. This was followed by a walk from the library to the SLC, during which participants were blindfolded. The whole point

of being blindfolded was to give people a sense of how it would be if they lost their eye sight. This campaign, called ‘love in Action,’ is working with a group called Seva, which is a Canadian organization working for the same cause. Seva holds regular eye camps to help people who cannot afford eye care. “We are trying to raise awareness and funds for the blind people in Tibet. The problem is caused by the high altitude, but it is mainly poverty that is keeping them from getting an operation done,” said Jenna Goodhand, one of the organizers of the event. She added that the people of Tibet are suffering from cataracts which can easily be fixed by an operation, but the

people have no support from the Chinese government. The walk was followed by signing a white board at the Bombshelter, where people wrote their thoughts about how they would feel if they couldn’t see. This whole campaign is a part of bigger organization called Love in Action. This Toronto based organisation holds competitions aimed at raising awareness about various issues. The team at UW is the only one outside of Toronto. The group has had other events throughout the week to raise funds. Jessica DeBrouwer, another organiser, said, “we raised about $450 at an event last week, where we had people auctioning off their skills for a cause.”

klakhani@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

View of the Dana Porter as seen from University Avenue.

Awards not foreign to foreign affairs society E. Aboyeji staff reporter

he University of Waterloo’s Foreign Affairs Society seems to have just one mission this year: total domination.The club, which was formerly the University of Waterloo Model United Nations, has garnered a string of rather exceptional victories this semester and held its own amidst more challenging and better equipped opponents on both sides of the border. The club started very strong near the beginning of the term when its president, Keith McManamen, came home with the Outstanding Delegate award from the McGill Model United Nations (MUN) conference for his role as Chief Peace Negotiator on the Philippines-MILF (Moro-Islamic Liberation Front) Crisis Committee. This is a feat that stops slightly short of astounding considering that the McGill MUN conference is one of the biggest of its kind in the world with over 1,500 delegates. He also had to compete with other seasoned minds from Ivy leagues schools like Columbia, Georgetown, New York University etc. The club’s excellent streak did not end in McGill. They went on to the York Model United Nations conference which was held in Queens Park. The club sent four representatives and two continued the club’s wins by clinching two awards. Suleman Khanzada got an honourable mention as Slovenia on the Security Council for brokering a peace deal between North and South Korea, and Evan Bell got Outstanding Delegate amidst 300 delegates from various schools for his role

as Palestine in advocating for human rights of refugees in the Arab world. Perhaps these victories owe thanks in no small part to the diversity of the club. According to Executive Director Evan Bell, “students of every discipline and interest are welcome ... we don’t believe you need a political science or international relations degree to understand how global governance works.” As a result, members of the club come from a variety of disciplines, from economics to engineering. This adds plenty of perspective to many policy debates they must often engage in. The University of Waterloo Foreign Affairs Society (FAS) wants to keep “kicking ass,” but this time, they want to do it on home turf. They have been planning for some time about the UW Model United Nations conference, which will hold on the 27th and 28th of March. As Evan Bell told Imprint, “the club executives are hard at work planning lots of crises and unique world events for delegates to debate.” They expect that the conference will be well attended by student delegates as well as representatives of other schools in the Greater Toronto Area. Indeed, true to their tradition of open learning and diverse professional skills and backgrounds, they are encouraging members of the UW community to attend even if they have no Model UN experience. People who are interested in information about this event can find much of it on the Foreign Affairs Society website : fas. uwaterloo.ca eaboyeji@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

courtesy matt waller

Leaders building leaders Felicia Rahaman staff reporter

he excitement in the Laurel Room last Friday, March 5, surrounding the “Public Service Leadership: Leaders Building Leaders” presentation was so heavy in the air you could taste it. The special presentation sponsored by Communication, Leadership and Social Innovation (CLSI) featured David Johnston, the president of the University of Waterloo, Diana Denton, the director of CLSI, and Susan Cartwright, the senior advisor to the Privy Council Office. These key speakers highlighted “the importance of leadership and university and federal public service collaborations in building the next generation of federal public service leaders.” The presentation discussed the need for leadership, and the importance of having competent leaders dispersed throughout the federal public service. It is this need that led to the University of Waterloo’s own Diana Denton and Robert Ballard, in conjunction with professors at McMaster University, and a team of federal public servants, to create a bilingual curriculum titled, “Leadership in the Federal Public Service: A Course Guide for Universities.” Hopefully the guide will eventually be available online for undergraduate and graduate students in post second-

Presentation was so “ heavy in the air you could taste it.

ary institutions across the nation. This need has been two-fold in that it has also led to the creation of the Public Service Leadership Internship. The Public Service Leadership Internship is a one-time pilot program being launched at the University of Waterloo and McMaster University, designed for honour students entering their final year of study in September 2010. Prospective students apply for employment in federal public service starting in May 2010, complete SPCOM 490, and conduct a research project in their final year as part of the pilot. The program uses a combination of work experience and a research component to provide students with an understanding of the impact good leadership can have in the federal public service. This pilot will hopefully bring to light the many opportunities available to students to further their career, and themselves by working in the federal public service. Susan Cartwright noted in her speech that she hopes the curriculum addresses the four core competences of leadership; values

“

Komal R.Lakhani

and ethics, excellence commitment, strategic thinking, and engagement. By way of demonstrating the opportunities abound in the federal public service, Cartwright gave the audience an entertaining summary of her varied and comprehensive career within the service. President David Johnston through his own amusing speech containing many familial anecdotes expressed his hope that this curriculum will change how the government approaches and solves its problems surrounding the issue. Three of President Johnston’s five daughters are employed in the federal public service. The federal public service employs a million people over a broad spectrum of careers. The impending demographic shift is increasing the recruitment of prospective employees into the federal public service. These esteemed speakers hope students will consider the opportunities and experiences that career in the federal public service can offer. frahaman@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Features

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010

Imagyning creative approaches to non-violent resistance eoldynski@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

reative self—expression can be a transformative and empowering experience for many people, particularly for youths who encounter verbal and physical violence at high schools and universities. The founders of the Imagyn Film Festival understand the power of creative expression when addressing violence. In 2008, Wilfrid Laurier University student and Imagyn co-founder Sara Conrad took the course “Women and Violence” and it changed her. She recalls, “It opened my eyes to the realities of violence and how socially constructed ideas of gender, class, and race interconnect, and how these intersections are at the root of a great deal of unnecessary conflict and pain.” In 2009, Conrad teamed up with fellow Laurier students Kate Klein and Sasha Cocarla to create Imagyn Film Festival. For Conrad, the festival would be a way to address the disturbing trend of increasing violence

at all school levels across Canada. “Violence is highly underreported,” states Conrad on the Imagyn website, “so it’s even more disturbing when you consider the silence around the issue.” So why is the festival called “Imagyn?” The festival’s organizers offer the following definition: I·ma·gyn(a) To think outside the box; to envision and to actively work towards creating a community that embraces non-violence and human co-operation across all social identities (b) To be compassionate and imagine the different experiences you would face by virtue of your identity (c) You decide. Imagyn Film Festival held its first screening in March 2009. This year, the festival held its second annual screening at the Princess Cinema in Uptown Waterloo. It featured 14 amateur short films ranging from narrative and documentary to experimental and

mockumentary. The requirements for submitting a film to the festival include being a student enrolled part-time or full-time in a Canadian high school, college, university, or other secondary or post-secondary educational institution, and that the film must be less than 10 minutes long. The submitted films must also adhere to the festival’s theme, which is different each year. The theme of last year’s festival was youth and gender violence. This year’s theme was anti-violence resistance. One of the films from this year that really stood out to me was a series of spoof public service announcements by Black Women Against Male Harassment. In one of the public service announcements, a group of women stood in a storefront on a busy sidewalk, making cat calls at male passersby. One woman yells, “My emperor, my king!” Another woman yells, “I lost my number, can I get yours?” A narrator then chimes in:

You’re Invited to

We’ve all seen this before. A group of women standing on a street corner and as soon as a man walks by, they feel like they gotta holler. Let’s rethink this for a moment. Why do we need to talk to a cute man that walks by? How does he feel being yelled at, even if it is meant in a nice way? So next time you see a fine honey on the street with a six pack of abs and you just want to tap that, think twice. Instead of hollering, keep driving. One encounter at a time, we can stop male harassment.

At this year’s AGM, YOU can elect 5 new board members!

This short film was a great example of how role reversal can serve as an effective and comedic way to state important points, even about serious issues such as gender discrimination and violence.

Student social justice and environmental action since 1973!

WPIRG’s ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING & After Party!

For this year’s launch of Imagyn, a Creative Resistance Café was held which brought together festival participants to share their experiences about different forms of resistance. The café featured six roundtables on academic resistance, lobbying, direct action, artistic resistance, politics and policy, and lifestyle activism. Each table had a facilitator who is involved in some form of resistance in our community. Participants discussed the benefits and limitations of each form of resistance, and what forms of resistance work best for each person based on their own strengths and interests. While the discussion at all of the tables was honest and personal, I found these discussions of artistic resistance and academic resistance to be particularly insightful. The artistic resistance table discussed theatre as a tool for public education. Klein said, “Art incites you to action, there’s also an element of joy to art.” Participants discussed how art can serve as a method to shift social consciousness and to motivate people to get involved in social justice activities in their communities. The discussion at the academic resistance table was led by Ginette Lafrenière, associate professor in Laurier’s faculty of social work. Lafrenière stated that “universities should be a service to the communities in which they operate.” She discussed the idea that professors cannot become too involved in the community because they don’t have enough time. Lafrenière said, “There is a common belief that professors can’t be involved in the community because doing so will cause them to become tardy in their

scholarship.” Lafrenière shared that “some people believe that I’m no longer an activist because of all the letters at the end of my name, or that I’ve sold out because I have a nice cushy job.” Following the roundtable discussions, I spoke with Klein about what she envisions for Imagyn. “Technology is a language a lot of young people speak,” she said. “The film festival encourages them to use technology as a way to express themselves about things they feel silenced about.” Klein said that Imagyn also aims to “break down the silos between the academy and the community. [Anti-violence resistance] is a community issue and people care about it. We should not make this solely a theoretical issue.” Klein explained that Imagyn encourages people to speak from life experience. “You don’t have to be an academic, filmmaker, or expert,” Klein said. “Everyone is an expert over their own life experiences, everyone has the power to take action in our community to stop violence.” The founders of Imagyn Film Festival understand that sharing stories about verbal and physical violence that young people experience can help raise awareness and address the causes of violence. “Whether it be homophobia, body image issues, harassment, bullying, discrimination,” the Imagyn Film Festival Committee states that “we don’t want to assume identities and experiences, so we want to learn more, and learn with others. We’re interested in your perspectives, your struggles – your stories.” To submit a short film for next year’s festival, visit the Imagyn website at www.imagyn.ca

Find out about the year’s highlights and financial report, appoint an auditor, change bylaws and give your input. Join us for dinner and dessert as we celebrate over 35 years of student action and appreciate WPIRG’s amazing volunteers! Please RSVP for dinner at info@wpirg.org.

April 5, 2010 - 5:30 PM (location to be determined)

All UW students and community members are encouraged to attend and have a say! For more info on the AGM and the election visit: UW SLC 2139, http://wpirg.org, or call 519-888-4882.

Nominations for WPIRG

Board of Directors The Waterloo Public Interest Research Group is governed by a Board of Directors of nine members. We need five new board members to be elected at the

WPIRG Annual General Meeting on April 5. Nominations are open from March 15 at 10 am to March 29 at 4:30 pm. Pick up a nomination package in the WPIRG office (UW SLC 2139). See our website for information on being a board member, or email election@lists.wpirg.org. For more info visit the office, wpirg.org, or call 888-4882. Information Session: Being a board member Tu e s d a y, M a r c h 1 6 , n o o n , S L C 2 1 3 9 .

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Features

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010

Many reasons to celebrate March 8

rhesa chandra

komal r. lakhani

Monday Tuesday Wednesday

A lion dance performance takes place in the SLC during the International Celebrations Week. Left: food served at one of the events.

March 9

The Turnkey coffee house aimed to raise funds for Haiti by hosting local bands, music acts, dances, students reciting poems, spoken word and magicians.Pictured: Jazz Punch.

komal r. lakhani

March 6

Weekend

March 10

An all-you-can-eat fundraiser was held in the SLC by the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority to raise funds for pancreatic cancer patients.

komal r. lakhani

March 11

divyesh mistry

A participant dressed as Nadia Diamond in the Drag Show held at the Bombshelter pub.

gina racine

Signs put up in the SLC during the International Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Week.

Thursday

komal r. lakhani

Sports & Living

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010 sports@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Warriors take on CFL T

his is that beautiful time of year when the NBA begins to truly heat up. All teams have now played at least 60 games, we’re past the trading deadline, and the playoff picture starts to come into greater focus. We’ve already been treated to a fine year — Allen Iverson’s saga (did he leave the 76ers for his sick daughter or because he’s having drinking and gambling issues as reported by Stephen A Smith?), Kevin Durant’s emergence as a superstar and MVP candidate, Kobe being Kobe, and Lebron being Lebron. Even us Toronto fans have been treated to an exciting year by our Raptors. So without further ado, here is the first-ever edition of the championship odds. Los Angeles Lakers (2-1 odds): Yeah, the Lakers haven’t been playing particularly well as of late. And yes, there are those people out there who make a good point in saying that the Lakers, at times, looked better without Kobe than with him (their assists per game are about 21 without him and only 15 with him — meaning the ball stops getting passed when Kobe’s on the floor), but how can you bet against a team that has the most malicious, fourth-quarter assassin since MJ, two star seven-footers in Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, a defensive stopper in Ron Artest and the string-bean, anomaly that is Lamar Odom? The answer is you don’t. Cleveland Cavaliers (5-2 odds): LeBron really is the best player in the NBA now; it’s hard to make an argument against him. Since he entered the league, the Cavaliers are 10-12 when he’s been injured — and perennial championship contenders when he’s playing. Add the fact that they basically acquired all-star Antwawn Jamieson for nothing at the deadline, and will have Shaq to deal with Dwight Howard in the playoffs, and it’s hard to imagine we won’t see the Cavs in the finals. Will they beat the Lakers? My guess is no, but what do I know really? Dallas Mavericks (6-1 odds): The Mavericks have the best chance to take down the Lakers because they have scoring at every position and underrated versatility. Caron Butler may grab the headlines in their blockbuster deal (which sent Josh Howard to the Wizards), but seven-footer Brendan Haywood could actually make the biggest difference in the end. Dirk Nowitski is the best fourth-quarter producer behind Kobe and Jason Kidd looks like he’s 25 again. The only real question is (and this is a big, big question): who guards Kobe? Butler isn’t quick enough and Jason Terry is too small. Until they can answer that question, the Lakers are still the favourites to come out of the west. Denver Nuggets (13-2 odds): Carmelo is a monster and the purest scorer in the game right now. Add in the fact that he is brilliantly clutch and you have the makings of someone who can match Kobe, point for point down the stretch. But can Chauncey Billups play to the highlevel expected from him, and is the combo of Nene and Kenyon Martin enough down low? I doubt it. See NBA, page 17

Two Waterloo linemen are headed to the CFL evaluation camp in preparation for the CFL draft Ron Kielstra Jr. staff reporter

he Waterloo Warriors will be well represented in the CFL’s annual Evaluation Camp, which opens this Friday in Toronto. Offensive linemen Joel Reinders and Mike Warner have both received invitations to the camp and have been working hard in anticipation of the event which brings together 50 of the top CFL prospects from the CIS and NCAA. The CFL’s Evaluation Camp is being held at the University of Toronto from March 12-14 to give 50 of the top Canadian prospects a chance to showcase their skills prior to the May 2 CFL draft. Because the CFL’s rules require at least 50 per cent of the players on rosters to be Canadian, players will have the full attention of CFL scouts and an opportunity to improve their prospects of being drafted. Just being invited to the camp speaks volumes about Reinders’ and Warner’s chances of being drafted, however. Last year’s camp also hosted 50 players, 30 of whom went on to be drafted. Of those players, 16 are currently listed on CFL rosters — representing roughly five per cent of the total number of players in the league. Reinders has already been mentioned by various media outlets as a player to watch, and both players are hoping to use the camp as an opportunity to leave a strong impression. If either Reinders or Warner were to be

jj maxwell

Offensive lineman Joel Reinders (#64) holds off a defender to give his quarterback time. Reinders has only played football for two years, but is being mentioned as a CFL prospect to keep an eye on. drafted, they would be the first Warriors to be chosen in the draft since wide receiver Ian Forde was taken by the Toronto Argonauts with the last pick in the 2005 draft. Warner and Reinders have taken two very different paths to get to where they are now. Warner came to Waterloo as a high school all-star, while Reinders started off playing for the Warriors basketball team and only recently made the switch to football. “I’d lost all the joy of [basketball] and I told coach I had had enough after my second year. I was playing pick-up basketball with a few of the guys on the football team, and they suggested I come to a spring training session,” Reinders recalled. Reinders met head coach Dennis McPhee at the training session, who told him that while he had good

footwork from his basketball days, he would need to get a lot stronger and ‘football quick’ with his feet. Thanks to a lot of hard work in the gym, Reinders has done just that, growing from a 180-lb string bean in high school to a 320-lb behemoth able to handle the physical punishment of an offensive lineman. But dealing with the physical toll that came with ‘little people’ running at his knees on every play wasn’t the only thing he needed to get used to. Other than video games and the occasional pickup game, Reinders had never played football. “The hardest thing for me was [moving from] 10 players on the basketball court to 24 on the football field,” he said. “Before [the play], we need to recognize multiple variations of pass and run defence, as well as how to adapt. Offensive lineman is one of the toughest positions on the

team, both physically and mentally.” Having McPhee and Joe Paopao on staff — two coaches with CFL experience — has certainly helped his development, as has the leadership and experience that Warner has been able to offer. “Being one of the older guys on the team, I see it as my responsibility to help the younger guys,” said Warner, who has been a team captain in each of the past two years. “It’s something that you’re not necessarily chosen for and I kind of fell into that role.” After an all-star high school career at Westdale Secondary School, Warner came to Waterloo to continue his football career, and for the chance to study civil engineering at a top-ranked engineering school. See CFL COMBINE, page 20

Warrior golfers set to represent Canada in upcoming world championships

photos coutesy uw athletics

Garrett Rank (left) and Tiffany Terrier (right) are both viable threats at the world championship in Spain. Ryan Scott staff reporter

hen golfers tee off at the 13th annual World University Golf Championships June 7, 2010 in Antequera, Spain, amongst the talented group of international athletes will be Warriors’ Garrett Rank and Tiffany Terrier. The pair will comprise two of the 11 spots on the Canadian roster,

coached by Humber College golf coach Ray Chateau, and assisted by Warrior golf head coaches Dave Hollinger and Carla Munch. Both individuals had terrific 2009 OUA golf seasons that contributed to their nomination and eventual selection to the team, including multiple medal placing finishes. Terrier, the 2008-2009 Warrior Female Athlete of the Year and the winner of a gold medal at this past

seasons’ OUA championships will be amongst the favourites at the event. When asked about the honour of representing Team Canada, Terrier stated “It’s an honour to have the opportunity to represent Canada and I plan to do both the University of Waterloo and Canada proud.” This is not the first time that Terrier has took part in international play as the four-time OUA First Team All-Star also represented her home country of Jamaica as a junior golfer. Rank could also be a threat at the international event as he comes off a season where he helped the Warriors to a bronze medal finish at the OUA championships as co-captain of the team. Like Terrier, Rank had a gold medal finish of his own this past season as he fired a round of 68 at the Guelph Invitational. He echoed Terriers thoughts about the selection. “I am thrilled that I was selected for this amazing opportunity. It is truly an honour to represent the University of Waterloo, the OUA, and Canada,” Rank said.

Both golfers are not only tremendous athletes but also student leaders that will represent Waterloo athletics very well as only Warriors can, regardless of the outcome of the tournament. The selection of the two golfers, as well as both head coaches, shows how strong the school’s golf program has become. The team selection is difficult with the strong competition in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) league. “It’s a great accomplishment for the University of Waterloo’s golf program to have both our men’s and women’s coaches chosen for this team, as well as for two of our players to be representing the University of Waterloo and Canada,” Munch said. “Our program is becoming recognized as one of the best in the country. It’s [also] evident that Tiffany and Garrett’s hard work, dedication, leadership and results on the golf course have earned this prestigious honour.” rscott@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Sports & Living

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010

Women’s hockey: season recap NBA Championship odds

courtesy uw athletics

Randy Luciano reporter

or the Waterloo Warriors women’s hockey team, the 20092010 campaign was a tale of two seasons. On the pre-exam side, the team posted a solid 5-7-2 record and headed into the New Year believing a playoff spot was attainable. However, for the final 12 games of the season, the women went a disappointing 1-10-1 and week-by-week, playoff aspirations slowly and frustratingly slipped away. All told, the streaky club finished with a 7-17-3 record, totalling 17 points and finished ninth in the 10-team OUA. Defenceman Karen Vanderhoek pointed to an early season exhibition trip to Eastern Ontario as a catalyst for the team’s strong first half. “We all came into the season in good shape and excited to play,” she said. “We had a great road trip to Ottawa to start the year with some pre-season games and we were all pretty happy with where the team was going heading into the [season].” Waterloo started the season off by splitting their opening weekend and won their home opener in a shootout thriller over Western. Unfortunately, the team failed to build off this momentum and lost their next five games, including heartbreaking back-to-back home games on November 7 and 8 when the team gave up a tying goal with 20 seconds remaining to UIOT before losing in overtime and blew a 3-1 third period lead to Queen’s before

losing in a shootout. The Warriors had a respectable 4-3 record in their next seven games before the exam break, highlighted by a low-scoring weekend sweep of Brock and Guelph on November 21 and 22, where the women won by scores of 2-1 and 1-0. Coming out of the Christmas break, the team won another 2-1 shootout nail-biter in Toronto against the Varsity Blues, and looked to be picking up right where they left off. Shockingly, the club would not win another game until the final weekend of the season some six weeks later. Forward Mandy Harrop, who just finished her third season as a Warrior, said the team was battling injuries in the second half, and tried to sum up their pre- and post-Christmas records. “In the first half, everything seemed to clicking and all four lines were firing and in the second half we just lacked this consistency,” she said. Vanderhoek echoed this statement. “In [the second half], we weren’t getting the bounces and just couldn’t score goals.” One thing that the club can take solace in is the fact that despite their poor record, they were a competitive team night in and night out. Of the 27 games they played, the team was only blown out three times, proving that their effort and determination cannot be questioned. “I think this is something our team does very well. We always go out there and give it 110 per cent and battle hard. We know that in a tight league like this, we cannot pull off a win unless we show up to play,” Harrop said. A major detriment to the team’s success this season was their penchant for racking up penalties, evidenced by the fact that the club ranked first overall in Canada by a wide margin with 476 penalty minutes, spending, on average, one period of each game in the penalty box. Harrop was succinct in her assessment. “You can’t win hockey games

from the penalty box. That being said, we play on the edge, that’s our style of hockey,” she said. “I think for next year we really need to find that balance of staying out of the box but keeping that tough physical play that’s a staple of Warrior hockey.” Clearly, this is one of the major areas of the game the women will need to improve on to be successful. Forwards Caitlin Brydges and Randi-Lynn Wilson lead the team with nine goals, and Brydges also lead the team with nine assists and in points with 18. Goaltenders Kahla Stern finished 5-9-2, and Erica Bridgewater had a 2-7-1 record. Looking forward to next season, the club will be losing three players to graduation: Wilson, Melissa Quinn, and Laura Higgins. Harrop said the sting of losing so many close games this year should motivate the women throughout the summer and into next season. “I think for next year we will come back more hungry to avoid a repeat of what happened [in the second half] of this season.” Vanderhoek concurred, “I think we have a really strong group returning. If we can get off to a good start and win the games we should win, we have a great shot at getting into the playoffs.” Forwards Kelly MacLean and Emma McMillan, along with Brydges and Harrop will be looked towards to carry the offense next season. All four girls put up double-digit point totals this year, so there is reason for optimism. The margin between winning and losing is so small — of the Warriors 27 games, 16 were decided by just one goal — but if the Warriors can be a consistent team and avoid long losing streaks, a 2011 playoff birth is not out of the question.

Continued from page 16

Orlando Magic (9-1 odds): The problem with the Magic is they don’t have that tenacious, fourth-quarter leader. Dwight Howard is amazing and huge, but he never gets that “I’m taking over this game” look on his face, and they need that. Vince Carter is a softy and although he’s playing better, us Raptors fans know when the chips are on the table, he’ll come up short. Jameer Nelson is a stud, same with Rashard Lewis, but do you see the Magic upsetting the Cavs two years in a row? It’s possible, but not probable. Boston Celtics (13-1 odds): This team is just plain old. Kevin Garnett looks like a shadow of his former self, Ray Allen isn’t the game-changer he once was, and Paul Pierce looks tired and has little lift on his shots (as far as I’ve seen). Still, the Big Three could turn it around come playoff time and they have the skill to do it. Rajon Rondo is probably the most underrated player in the league, and Kendrick Perkins is a very solid center, so those two young guns give them hope. And who knows, maybe Rasheed Wallace will stop jacking up threes and actually play some of the All-NBA defense he was known for earlier in his career. There just seems to be more “ifs” with this team than any other contender, which usually doesn’t bode well for championship chances. Utah Jazz (17-1 odds): The Jazz, as of Wednesday, had won 21 of their past 26 games and are the hottest team in the league. Yet, with that being said, do you feel that this team is of championship caliber? Deron Williams is argu-

YOU FIND

ably the most complete point guard in the league, Carlos Boozer is as solid a power forward as there is, and Mehmat Okur and Paul Millsap give them good versatility—but for some reason, the Jazz always falter in the playoffs and I don’t see that changing this year. Atlanta Hawks (21-1 odds): Joe Johnson is great, Al Horford is great, Josh Smith is great, even Mike Bibby is great at times, but this team is just not there yet. They might make it to the conference finals, but no way are they going to get past the Magic and Cavs in the east. No way. Phoenix Suns (35-1 odds): Steve Nash is having another MVPcalibre season. Amare Stoudamire is a defender’s worst nightmare. Grant Hill has rejuvenated his 37-year-old body. Even Channing Frye has found a place on this team. But it’s been proven that this team’s run-and-gun style doesn’t translate to success in the playoffs, so the championship is a far way off. Toronto Raptors (60-1 odds): Probably a team like Oklahoma City deserves the 10th spot on this list, but let’s put the hometown Raptors in the mix (somehow I don’t see the Thunder caring). You could make the argument that the Raptors have a superstar with Bosh, a solid point-guard in Jarrett Jack, a closer in Hedo Turkoglu, and even a versatilehard-to-guard-weapon in Andrea Bargnani, so maybe they pull it off ? Okay, I think that does it — when I start trying to convince myself that the Raptors are going to win it all, it’s time to shut it out. jtoporowski@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

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Sports & Living

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010

The emergency situation

CRT members teamed up to take on simulated emergencies. Brent Golem sports & living editor

very term the Campus Response team picks out a weekend to hold their casualty simulation event and start preparing the blood and gore. A casualty simulation is an event that mimics real-life emergency scenarios, with volunteer subjects imitating symptoms of particular ailments to present the responders with a realistic challenge. Members of the team pair up and try to tackle a number of scenarios, which try to mix real-world scenarios with some worst-case scenarios. This casualty simulation saw 15 CRT pairings competing for the coveted bragging rights of being named the top CRT responders. Josh Gilgan, the CRT trainer, worked with six other in a committee to design and develop eight different simulations for the 15 teams. The scenario design was not an easy task; the committee had to come up with ideas for each scenario, and then appropriate timelines and vital signs for the simula-

tion to follow. Most importantly, the simulations needed to be design to create a fun and challenging atmosphere. “We always keep things fun for both responders and the volunteers we have acting as casualties,” Gilgan said. The simulations are key for teaching the responders how to stay cool under fire, while helping them to utilize the skill sets they have learned throughout CPR and CRT training. Each situation was analyzed by a judge, who then rated the responders performance and give them points. “I try to teach responder to think slowly and improvise,” Gilgan said. “If you rush through an emergency you are bound to miss things. So, it is best to take a moment to breath and approach every situation calmly.” The responding teams took on many situational challenges and had to appropriately respond to each incident. Would you know how to handle the situation? One of the more prolific and impressive scenarios involved a car accident where a driver lost control of a car after suffering a stroke and had hit a pedestrian. The responders had to treat the pedestrian for a broken leg and back, as well as a collapsed lung. The casualty simulation committee had actually driven a car up against RCH for the simulation. The scenarios serve as a great training tool for the team. Not only does it give the responders an opportunity to get creative by improvising

and applying their skills in new and non-conventional ways, but it also gives the trainers and team leaders an opportunity to see if there needs to be any training refreshers. “We can see what skills need to be addressed, such as triaging or specific injuries,” CRT co-ordinator Ryan Huckle said. This time around, the responders did a solid job treating their pseudocasualties. The hardest scenario undertaken seemed to be one where a person suffering from a mental illness had slit their wrists, and when the responders entered the room the casualty shoots the senior teammate. This left the surviving, and less experienced responder to treat two people who were not able to communicate. “It is impossible to predict and plan for every emergency, so improvisation is also critical,” Gilgan said. “Responders have a set of skills they can adapt, with a bit of creativity, to help casualties in almost any situation.” The team that stood out the most consisted of Christina Miceli and Jonathan Yim. The two responders had the best score of the day. “Besides both being strong independent responders, their biggest advantage was good communication,” Gilgan said. “By talking to both their casualty and each other, they were able to calmly make it through each scenario.”

Campus

Response

CRT responders are first -aiders who respond without prejudice or passion

Team

Brent Golem sports & living editor

he Federation of Students provides many excellent services, but none of the services are as vital at keeping you vital as the Campus Response Team. Waterloo’s Campus Response Team (CRT) was created in 1998 to foster a community for a first-aid team. The team has since expanded from having to seek out grants for basic equipment, to having an annual budget from Feds, as well as 45 members and the capacity to have three teams active at once. The team is run by volunteers who put a great deal of time and effort into making sure the standards of the team stay high. The operating committee of the team ensures that there is proper inventory of supplies, proper scheduling of all.

It is just as tough to make the team in the first place. Prospective volunteers have to interview for the position, and if they get accepted they must complete a mandatory 20-hour training weekend. That’s on top of time it took to get their first-aid and CPR certification that was needed to apply. The volunteers are very dedicated to their craft. There is a nine-hour shift requirement, and mandatory meetings every week. When all is said in done, each responder has volunteered at least 51 hours. Each responder is certified with CPR level HCP, which stands for health care provided. CRT responders are more qualified than UW Police to handle medical emergencies. The team covers most of UW and Feds campus events, as well as events requested by other organizations.

Top Left: Nina Hoang treats a choking Christian Montgomery while Lachlan Montague overlooks. Top Right: Casualty Ryan Reynolds lays with a gash in his chest after a simulated hockey fight goes awry. Bottom: CRT co-ordinator Ryan Huckle applies make-up to mad scientist casualty Skylar Dawson.

sports@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

CRT on Campus Photos by rhesa chandra unless otherwise noted

Top Left: Gary Tran and Ana Maria Dobrea respond to an unconscious female that has overdosed on drugs. Top Right: Christine Liu and Heidi Stoute respond to a juggling accident where a knife has impaled the casualty’s shoulder. Bottom: CRT Trainer Josh Gilgan briefs the casualties on their role in the scenario. Casualty Matt Gilgan lays pinned under the vehicle.

The future of campus response Brent Golem sports & living editor

On-campus first-aid team created called UW-Campus Response Team (UW-CRT).

Student Life Endowment fund grants CRT $4000 for supplies and uniforms.

Co-hosted the national annual ACERT conference with Laurier’s own ERT.

Many primary responders upgrade to become qualified as first responders, equivalent to firefighters.

Winter 1998 Jon Grieman

Fall 1999

Summer 1999

Winter 2000

A growing Campus Response Team officially becomes a Federation of Students service.

Spring 2008

CRT responders upgrade minimum CPR requirement from level C to HCP, putting them on par with a standard police officer.

Winter 2003

Winter 2009

Team becomes members of ACERT, a nation-wide post-secondary CRT organization.

or the present, the Campus Response Team is largely an event-based organization. Other groups that wish to have the CRT present at their events book them in advance. The team’s clients are the University of Waterloo, as they cover the vast majority of Canada day, Orientation events, homecoming, and Black & Gold Day; Feds; and miscellaneous groups who contract them out. Feds is by their largest client as they cover Bomber for busy bar nights and concerts, they will be at Bomber for the Lights concert, Oktoberfest, Hallowe’en dances, and other sanctioned Feds events. Whenever a Feds club completes a club event form, they have the option of selecting whether they wish to have CRT’s volunteer responders present. The Campus Response Team exists to increase the safety at specific events and across campus as a whole. So far their expertise has been underused. The team recently upgraded their mandate in the fall of 2008 to ensure all responders were certified with CPR-HCP instead of the more common CPR-C. The CRT responders constantly practise their skills to keep sharp, so that their hard training can mitigate errors that may occur. With their stringent training guidelines and scenario simulations, only emergency medical persons are more qualified to deal with bodily harm. However, the scope of CRT has not expanded in light of their growing expertise. In fact, the team’s exposure on campus has been limited to strictly

events after some concern was brought up after the team did not consistently cover Orientation week a couple years back. When a serious incident occurred, the FOC were more concerned with trying to find CRT, which was not present, instead of alerting the EMS. The advisory board governing CRT’s practices, lead by the director of university business operations, is also made up of the director of health services, the public health officer of health services, the director of safety for the University of Waterloo, the director of police services for the University of Waterloo, the clubs director for Feds, and the VP internal of Feds. The advisory board decided to curtail the CRT coverage to avoid future incidences, instead of improving the service to students. It is the reason CRT no longer is available during Campus Recreation games, which has quite a few incidences involving participants needing immediate medical attention every term. Many universities throughout Ontario have on-call teams that run 24/7 to provide emergency response. These include UWO, Toronto, McMaster, Windsor, OUIT, Carleton, and Trent to name a few. Even though Laurier isn’t a 24/7 team, they still operate for 108 out of the 168 hours per week; and Guelph has a similar situation in which they operate for 123 out of the 168 hours per week. In fact, it seems that Waterloo is the only university in Southern Ontario besides Brock that do not offer on-call coverage. Such coverage is important when the average response time target for Ontario EMS is 8.5 minutes per

call, and absent vital signs can be fatal within four minutes. “If we have responders on call and cut down on response time, it is known that the faster you can get to the person, the better chance the person has from recovering from a dangerous incident,” team co-ordinator Ryan Huckle said. Turning CRT into an on-call service is merely a matter of policy. The current director of university business operations, Bud Walker, has been more receptive of improving the involvement of CRT on campus, as is the new director of police services, Dan Anderson. “One of the great things Dan (Anderson) taking over UW Police, is that he is very receptive to synergizing our abilities together. We now give UW Police our schedule so that the constables can call us if we are on shift,” Huckle said. “It’s a positive step even if it doesn’t become fruitful.” With a change in policy and procedure, the CRT could become an on-call service. Dispatching them to situations is a fairly trivial step. When 9-1-1 is called from a University of Waterloo landline, Campus police immediately call the line back to confirm the incident and co-ordinate a response to it. Involving the Campus Response Team in the initiated response would go a long way in improving the service to students. Hopefully, in the future, the CRT advisory board will consider changing its policy, so that in the inevitable event that an emergency incident occurs, the students of Waterloo will be safely and swiftly taken care of. sports@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Sports & Living

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010

Warrior men’s hockey season in review Ryan Scott staff reporter

he 2009-2010 men’s hockey season was nothing short of exciting. This season saw a Warrior veteran climb the individual scoring leader board, an OUA top team ranking, a national team ranking, a late season push and a first round exit from the playoffs. The team began the season determined to take big strides. From the second the puck dropped on October 9, 2009, this was reflected in their play. The Warriors began the season on a three game winning streak, with one of these wins coming at the expense of their hometown rival, the Laurier Golden Hawks, giving the team an early step-up in the “Battle of Waterloo.” Along with this winning steak, the team was able to accumulate points in seven of its first eight contests. This left the team atop the Western Conference standings and a CIS top 10 national ranking. Their only regulation loss during this time came at the hands of the lowly University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Ridgebacks who remained in the basement of the OUA standings throughout the regular season. For the next month leading up to the season stopping Christmas break, the Warriors season at took a sudden turn as inconsistencies started to show in their play. The team put together a record of five wins and four losses during this nine game stretch, which moved the team from atop the Western Conference standings towards the middle of the

Warriors and the CFL • WR Ian Forde was the last drafted Warrior in 2005. • WR Josh Svec went undrafted in 2009 but has managed to catch on in the CFL with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. • RB Mike Bradley is the only other CFL alumnus from Waterloo. He played with the Edmonton Eskimos from 2002-2007. • Coach Dennis McPhee was the assistant coach of the Hamilton Tiger Cats. • Offensive coach Joe Paopao was the head coach of the Ottawa Renegades from 2001-2005 and played 10 seasons in the league.

pack. The Western Mustangs were emerging as the team to beat in the conference and handed the Warriors two of these four losses. In fact, after losing to the Warriors to start the season, the Mustangs went on a 14-1-0 run that solidified their place not only atop the conference but also the OUA standings. However, even though inconsistency marked this stretch, the Warriors won four of their final five games before Christmas. The team carried this momentum right into the new year as the team embarked on one of the most successful stretches seen by Warrior’s hockey in the past few seasons. The Warriors once again defeated the rival Golden Hawks to take a 2-0 lead in the season series, in a thrilling overtime game, jumpstarting a stretch where the team would win nine of its final 11 games, including an eight game winning streak. The team once again rose in the OUA standings and finished the season one point back of the Mustangs in the Western Conference. Once again, one of these two losses came at the hand of the Ridgebacks who regardless of their location in the standings had the Warriors’ number all season. The second of these losses came at the hands of the Windsor Lancers, which proved to have a greater impact than was realized at the time. The stretch placed the team as the number two seed entering the playoffs and set up a match between the Warriors and the seventh ranked Lancers. Under the OUA playoff format, the teams competed in a best of three series where a loss in the first game would

immediately place the losing team with their backs against the wall and their season on the line. Due to their ranking, the Warriors welcomed the Lancers to the CIF arena in game one. The Warrior faithful were in full effect even though the game took place during the student’s reading week break. Regardless of the home ice advantage and outshooting the Lancers by 13 shots, the Warriors fell by a score of 4-2. The team then traveled to Windsor and were able to return the favour, winning 4-3 and forcing a third and final game that would determine if the dream Warrior season would continue. Unfortunately, the double overtime thriller did not go the Warriors way and the team and their fans were left wondering what had happened in the first round match-up. The Warriors had achieved a regular season record whereby they had won 20 of its total 28 games, but were sent packing in another early playoff exit. The veterans of the team were reminded of yet another heart-breaking end to a successful regular season for the second consecutive season. However, with a vast number of players set to return next season, the Warriors should be as determined as ever to make sure this does not happen again. The team’s successful regular season was attributable to the effort and play of the entire team as a whole. However, the veteran leadership core of Chris Ray, Shane Hart, and Steve Whitely, and their consistent play game in and game out made the biggest difference for the team. This group of talented players led by example contributing to 41 per cent of the team’s goals. This ability to score was not only present during even

strength and powerplay time but also on the penalty kill as, alone, Ray was able to net four short-handed goals, ranking him second in Canada in this statistic and showing that the team could strike at any moment. Ray was also able to achieve top 15 status throughout the national ranks in both goals and points on the season. The Warriors captain was a stable force throughout the season and regardless of their abrupt end to the season, he was able to tally three points in three playoff games. However, it is important to point out that not only was the Warrior’s offensive attack lethal but their ability to keep the puck out of their own net was also crucial to their success. The team, backstopped by Keaton Hartigan, allowed the fewest goals in the Western Conference. Hartigan played in 25 of the team’s 28 games compiling a record of 18 wins and seven losses, three of these wins being shutouts. His goals-against average of 2.84 and save-percentage of 90.7

Jon Grieman

per cent were good enough for top 10 honors in the OUA. The goalie showed throughout the season why he was the number one goalie on the team and could handle the pressure associated with the duties. Next season, the Warriors will look to build on the achievements of this past season and with the stellar coaching staff of head coach Brian Bourque and assistant coaches Graeme Swan, Matt McGahey, and Jordan Brenner. With a strong returning player core, the OUA Championships are still in view for this hungry group of players. Regardless of what the future has in store for Warrior men’s hockey, one thing that is for sure is that the Warrior faithful will be back in full force next season to cheer the team to victory. The future is still bright and when the puck drops on the 2010-2011 season the Warriors will be ready to fire on all cylinders once again. rscott@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

CFL combine: Reiners and Warner looking to make a splash Continued from page 16

Warner admits that balancing an engineering course load with playing football was initially a struggle, but he’s learned to manage his time and knows what to expect from an athletic and academic point of view. He’s even managed to fit a couple of co-op terms in by finding jobs with companies in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. But it’s on the football field that Warner has really excelled, earning Lineman of the Year honours in each of the last two years and being selected, along with Reinders, to represent Waterloo at the 2009 East-West Bowl. Preparing for the camp has meant intense training for both students.

Reinders has spent several weeks training at Sport Specific Training in Burlington, and Warner has been working with the Waterloo coaching staff to perfect his technique. The two players have also benefitted from having McPhee and Paopao around to help prepare for the camp, leaning on their CFL experience as players and coaches to help answer any questions they might have. “They know the ins and outs of the CFL very well,” Warner said, “so it’s easy for me to get help preparing both mentally and physically for [the camp].” Reinders’ and Warner’s hard work appears to be paying off, and McPhee said in a recent interview with CFL.ca that he believes both have a chance to be successful at

the pro level. Regardless of their performance at the combine, however, both players have used their time at Waterloo to prepare for life after football. Reinders, who is a devout Christian, says he “thanks God everyday for the chance to attend the best academic school in the country and play football while getting a degree.” He wants to finish up his degree at Waterloo and is considering a career as a police officer. Warner will be finishing up his degree in civil engineering over the next year, and is looking at a career in either transportation or structural engineering. Currently, however, he’s keeping his options open and concentrating on football.

While both players would consider it an honour to play for any team in the CFL, they both have teams that are close to their hearts. Reinders has been a Stampeders fan for a while, and has siblings living in the Calgary area. Warner, on the other hand, grew up in Hamilton and would love to play for the hometown Tiger-Cats. “Playing at Ivor Wynne would be amazing. I remember all of the TiCat games I went to as a kid and the atmosphere in the stadium,” Warner said. “Those kinds of things help motivate you to get better, knowing that it’s possible you could be there one day.” rkielstra@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

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Sports & Living

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Science & Technology

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010 science@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Stephen Hawking coming to Waterloo summer 2010 Rick Ray reporter

tephen Hawking, one of the world’s most legendary physicists, will be calling the City of Waterloo home for the summer. The surge in news stories originated from the British newspaper, the Daily Mail, which stated that Hawking would leave the University of Cambridge, where he has been since 1962, to become a permanent lecturer at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo. The move was supposedly made as a “protest” to the recent funding cuts for science and education made by the British government. An official spokesperson has denied the news, claiming it is a rumour. Nonetheless, this summer, Hawking plans on visiting the Perimeter Institute for the first time. In 2008, Hawking was named the Distinguished Research Chair of the Perimeter Institute. Last year, Hawking retired from his post as the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, a prestigious position once held by Sir Isaac Newton. He currently holds positions at both Cambridge and the Perimeter Institute. This is an excellent opportunity for the Perimeter Institute, as Stephen Hawking is widely viewed as the world’s leading fundamental theoretical physicist, making significant contributions to the abstract fields of cosmology and quantum gravity. Despite suffering from neuromuscular dystrophy that has rendered him nearly completely paralysed, he continues to be an active member of the relatively small

field of theoretical physicists. Other aspects of his widely scoped work in theoretical physics include establishing the classical and quantum properties of black holes, and the building of quantum gravitational theories regarding the origin of the universe. Amongst his more celebrated work is his theory on thermal radiation with a black body spectrum emitted by black holes, referred to as Hawking radiation. Hawking has also written several books, such as A Brief History of Time in 1988 and George’s Secret Key to the Universe in 2007. The Perimeter Institute at Waterloo is internationally renowned for being the meeting place for the top minds in the field of theoretical physics. The independent research institute was founded in 2000 by Research in Motion (RIM) co-founder Mike Lazaridis, who provided an initial donation of $100 million. The University of Waterloo enjoys an open relationship with the Perimeter Institute, giving students the opportunity to attend presentations provided by the many esteemed guest lecturers invited by the institute. The Perimeter Institute also provides a joint graduate studies program with the university. The institute invites applications from select students who have an interest in one of the main research fields studied at the Perimeter Institute, such as quantum gravity, string theory, quantum information, cosmology, quantum foundations, or particle physics. The student would be able to pursue a full time graduate degree under the supervision of an institute faculty member, and can be enrolled as a PhD student at the University

of Waterloo. Each year, the institute accepts applications from outstanding undergraduate students to carry out research projects during the summer. Hawking plans on coming to Waterloo to work at the Perimeter Institute mainly for scientific research and private collaborations with other leading physicists. In addition to conducting research, Hawking’s association with Waterloo would boost the institute’s outreach objectives. On June 20, he will deliver a presentation that will be broadcasted by TVOntario (TVO) across Canada. The details of the presentation are still unspecified. The objective of the presentation, according to TVO, is to support scientific literacy across Canada. Previously, Hawking appeared in Perimeter Institute’s award winning documentary, The Quantum Tamers: Revealing our Weird and Wired Future, which was rebroadcasted on February 16 and 17 by TVO. To plan for Hawking’s first visit, the Perimeter Institute has expanded their facilities by 55,000 square feet to include the Stephen Hawking Centre. When the facility was initially proposed for expansion in his honour, Hawking stated, “Our field of theoretical physics has been the most successful and cost-effective in all of science. Where would we be today without Newton, Maxwell, and Einstein? Many great challenges lie ahead. Where this new understanding will lead, is impossible to say for sure. What we can say with confidence, is that expanding the perimeter of our knowledge will be the key to our future.”

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Science & Technology

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010

Fish, infections, and disasters Ivan Lui staff reporter

For the first time, scientists have managed to catch, on camera, fish eating plants. Even though they have artificially created food provided to them, these deep-sea fish apparently have a taste for wild products as well. The idea that fish only feed upon smaller fish or even act like predators now has to be rethought. “Fish may take advantage of terrestrial plant remains and macroalgae,” said Dr. Rachel Jeffreys of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research based in Texel. “This may have implications for the food web.” Jeffreys and colleagues at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and Oceanlab at the University of Aberdeen in Aberdeenshire, UK, study how a typical fish’s diet works, as well as how the ocean depth may provide food sources for the large amount of deep-sea life that exists. As part of this research, the fish are tested for their abilities to spot food, plant or otherwise, in the dark. Other oceanic creatures have also fed on similar products, such as crabs on wood that have sunk to the floor of the ocean.

To test their theories about oceanic life feeding on plants, Jeffreys and her team dropped spinach bait into the ocean with a camera attached. At about 3,000 m, about three different species of fish, two species of grenadiers and cusk eels, came swimming near the bait and began chewing away at it. “This is the first time that deep-sea fish have been observed in situ vigorously feeding on plant material,” said Jeffreys. Phytoplankton, a plant material that lives in abundance near the surface of the ocean, also serves an important role. These plants eventually wither and die away, leaving small fragments of their plant cells at the bottom of the sea. Fish eventually come upon these fragments and feed on them as part of their diet. This also means that plant-eating deep sea fish may form a massive, unrecognised carbon sink, playing a crucial role in how the world’s carbon cycle works. STI runs rampant

Nearly 16 per cent of individuals between the ages of 14 and 49 in the United States are currently infected

Did you know that a snail can sleep for three years? Write for Science & Technology, and share your dazzling intellect with the UW campus! science@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

with a form of genital herpes. To put it into perspective, that is about one out of six Americans. With this rate of infection, herpes one of the most prevalent diseases in the US. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the black female population has the highest chances of getting this infection, double that of males. Twenty one per cent of women are infected, compared to men, who are at 11.5 per cent. In comparison, 12 per cent of those infected are tallied as being caucasian, in comparisons to the black population which stands at a 39 per cent. Currently, there is no cure for any form of genital herpes or herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). Herpes causes recurring and painful sores on the genital areas. Not only this, but the symptoms also cause an increase in chances of transmitting AIDS. The AIDS virus is related to the herpes simplex virus 1, or oral herpes, which causes cold sores. “The message is herpes is quite common. The symptoms can be often very innocuous,” Dr. John Douglas of the CDC said in a teleconference. The CDC has also stated that most individuals that have

genital herpes are not aware that they actually have it. “Because herpes is so prevalent it becomes... a really important reason to use condoms on a consistent and correct basis with all of your partners,” Douglas said. The CDC estimates that there are 19 million new sexually transmitted infections every year in the United States, costing the health care system about $16 billion annually. The quake that rocked the world

The City of Concepción in Chile was reported to have moved 10 feet (three metres) after the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that occurred on February 27. This earthquake, recorded as the fifth most powerful ever measured in modern times, managed to shake other parts of South America that stood near the area. All the way from Falkland to Brazil, the shift occurred in smaller strands, but these areas where nonetheless shifted as well. Located on the Nazca tectonic plate, this earthquake occurred off the coast of Maule, a region near Chile. Squeezed together with the South American plate, the two

managed to create a tension large enough to cause the earthquake as a means to relieve tension between the two plates. GPS locations of the areas before and after the earthquake helped scientists measure how far exactly the locations have moved. Using this information, scientists were able to construct a map showing how the shifting has occurred and which locations were affected. It also provided scientists with an idea of how earthquakes affect land masses in general. “The Maule earthquake will arguably become one of the, if not the, most important great earthquake yet studied. We now have modern, precise instruments to evaluate this event, and because the site abuts a continent, we will be able to obtain dense spatial sampling of the changes it caused,” said Ben Brooks of the University of Hawaii. He is a coprincipal investigator of the GPS project in Chile, called the Central and Southern Andes GPS Project, or CAP. —With files from MSNBC and BBC. ilui@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Colloquia

What is the Nature of the Soul

What lies After Death

How do we know God Exists

What is the Purpose of Life

What is Revelation

What are Heaven and Hell

Philosophy

What is Ahmadiyyat

Of Islam The Physical, Moral and & Spiritual States of Man 7:30 PM, Wednesday, March 17, 2010

The State of Man After Death and the Purpose of Human Existence 7:30 PM, Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The Sources of Divine Knowledge and the Effects of Our Deeds. 7:30 PM, Wednesday, March 31, 2010

expires: Mar 30/10

Venue

MC 2065 (Mathematics & Computer Building), University of Waterloo Open Q/A sessions with Islamic Scholars Free Admission - Refreshments Ahmadiyya Muslim Students Association of UW and WLU

http://amsa.clubs.feds.ca

519-722-0841 amsa.uw@gmail.com

Science & Technology

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010

Artificial atoms from

superconducting circuits Quantum physics:

a brief history 1897-1905:

1897: J.J. Thomson discovers the electron. 1900: Max Planck explains blackbody radiation. 1905: Albert Einstein introduces the concept of photons.

1906-1923: 1911: Ernest Rutherford’s nuclear model of the atom. 1913: Niels Bohr’s planetary model of the atom. 1923: Louis de Broglie suggests that light also behaves like a wave.

1924-1926: 1925: Wolfgang Pauli introduces his exclusion principle. 1925: Werner Heisenberg, Max Born, and Pascual Jordan research matrix mechanics, a preliminary version of quantum mechanics. 1926: Erwin Schrödinger’s work in wave mechanics. The Schrödinger Equation soon followed.

1927-1928:

Daniel Manary reporter

uantum physics,” says Dr. Wilhelm, “is mathematically welldefined, but sounds strange when you put it in English.” As most, if not all, of the 30 of us gathered to hear his presentation are physics students, and of those, most are in first year, it’s easy to understand what he means. Wilhelm is a professor at the University of Waterloo in the physics and astronomy department, but he’s also involved with the Institute for Quantum Computing. While his area of research is in nanotechnology, it’s specifically oriented to quantum computing. His current research, which the presentation is named after, is in superconducting artificial atoms. He begins with the history of the atom, the current understanding of which both requires and helped develop quantum mechanics. Long before any empirical evidence suggested the existence of some fundamental structure behind matter, the Greek philosopher Democritus and his mentor surmised there must be an indivisible unit of which matter is made. Atomos, the Greek word for indivisible, has been carried down ever since, and in the 17 and 18 centuries, two chemists, Boyle and Dalton, found evidence in the ratios of mass required for chemical reactions to support the existence of atoms. This, along with the Balmer series, which showed that only certain wavelengths were emitted by excited hydrogen, led to a picture of the atom called the Bohr model: a central nucleus with an orbiting charge. However, he continues, this is where the classical understanding leads to some strange conclusions. The particles

orbiting the nucleus, electrons, have an electric charge, and we know that moving charges radiate energy. If this were the case, it would take only ten trillionths of a second for the electron to lose enough energy to crash into the nucleus. Since we don’t observe this happening, we’re still here after all, our understanding has to change. This is where quantum physics steps in. The reason the Balmer series consists of discrete wavelengths and not one solid band is because there are only certain orbits, and thus energy levels, that the electron can have. We know satellites can orbit at practically any distance from Earth, so the electron can’t just be a particle or it could too. Instead, the electron is also a wave. If you imagine a wave on a guitar string, it’s not hard to see that there are only certain wavelengths that can exist, since they must interfere constructively with each other. In the electron’s case, if the wavelength was slightly too long or slightly too big for its current orbit, it would have the same problem as before: it would interfere destructively with itself and lose energy. It’s this wave nature that gives rise to quantum computing. As Wilhelm explains, while we can predict everything about a particle, we can’t do so with a wave. A wave can’t be described as at a particular point. With the electron, the wave used to describe it is only a probability of finding it; it can’t be said to be moving from the classical perspective, for the reasons above. Furthermore, like a wave it can interfere with other electrons, both constructively and destructively. Interference is at the heart of what makes quantum computing different from traditional computing. While the traditional unit of information, the bit, is either a zero or a one, a quantum unit

of information, called the qubit, can be a zero, a one, or some combination of both. Wilhelm compares it to a multislit interference experiment using light, where a qubit is actually an interference pattern and not just a single bright or dark spot as the traditional bit is. Many computer functions can have the time they take drastically reduced due to this unique property. After discussing some of the applications of quantum computing and reassuring us that quantum cryptography is well ahead of quantum factoring so our data is safe for now, Wilhelm draws a few parallels between traditional quantum computing and his current work. What he’s investigating is called a Josephson junction, a superconducting circuit capable of storing a charge with an interference pattern, and in particular ones that store what are called “flux qubits.” The reason it’s called an artificial atom is due to the fact that some quantum systems use a single atom to store a qubit, and thus the Josephson junction emulates the behaviour of a single atom. One of the other similarities is called decoherence, where the interference patterns required to maintain the information fade. He also notes that with modern computer manufacturing at such a small scale, decoherence is becoming a problem for traditional computers as well. Unfortunately, Wilhelm doesn’t have time to cover the development of quantum optics on a chip, which would be the next stage in building a full-scale quantum computer. Currently, only small, isolated systems exist, which don’t yet rival a traditional computer’s scale. However, Wilhelm and the team he works with are getting closer to making that a reality, and the computer of the future could very well be a quantum computer.

1927: Heisenberg states that it is impossible to exactly measure the position and momentum of a particle at the same time. 1928: Dirac presents a relativistic theory of the electron that includes the prediction of antimatter.

1929-1964: 1932: Carl David Anderson discovers antimatter, and the positron. 1964: John S. Bell proposes “Bell’s inequalities,” which questions whether quantum mechanics provides the most complete description of a system.

1965-Present: 1970’s: Foundations are laid for the standard model of particle physics. Quarks and leptons are introduced. 1982: Alain Aspect carries out an experimental test of Bell’s inequalities and confirms the completeness of quantum mechanics. 1995: Eric Cornell, Carl Wieman, and Wolfgang Ketterle successfully produce Bose-Einstein condensates. This leads to the creation of the atom laser and superfluid gases. Present: (See article above) —With files from Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

jordan campbell

Science & Technology 25 Working from

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010

the ground up

thelferty@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Rosemary Nestor reporter

3-D model aids in understanding prehistoric extinction

For many years, there has been a huge debate over what caused the extinction of the dinosaurs and subsequently led to the dominance of mammals. Recently, new data has surfaced that has led scientists to believe that the extinction of the dinosaurs was in fact the result of a large meteor that struck earth about 65 million years ago, ending the Cretaceous era (145 million to 65 million years ago). The site of the meteor landing is a large crater discovered in the 1970’s in Yucatán, Mexico. The meteor is estimated to have been anywhere from 10 to 15 kilometres in diameter and the impact is thought to have been a billion times more powerful than the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima. After analysing 20 years worth of research, Elisabetta Pierazzo of the Planetary Science Institute, and David Crawford of Sandia National Laboratory, created the first 3-D model of what this meteor would have done to the earth. Their findings showed that the impact would have thrown the earth into a global winter that would have killed off 70 per cent of the population within the first few days. Pierazzo explained that this global winter would have been detrimental to the large dinosaurs but smaller mammals would not have died out as they were better able to adapt to the rapid change. With the elimination of the dinosaurs, mammals were able to claim dominance of the planet. There is still some controversy over whether this is the true answer to why the dinosaurs died out, as some scientists still believe that it was the result of global cooling and acid rain. However, Pierazzo and Crawford’s research seems to fit perfectly with the supposed changes that occurred at the time of the extinction of the dinosaurs. Fellow Canadian may be first to discover stardust

Science on the verge of being able to literally feel your pain

As far as we know, pain is one of the most individual of sensations. How do we know if we all perceive pain the same way? The current standard for pain comparison is a scale of smiley faces which doctors use to try and analyse the way you feel. But a new breakthrough in pain research has brought us much closer to understanding how people feel pain. By performing fMRI scans on several male patients who had just had their wisdom teeth removed, doctors from the University of Oxford were able to single out areas in the brain associated with pain. For each man the level of activity in that area directly correlated with the amount of pain each man reported. This has also been repeated with other volunteers who were pricked in the finger. fMRI scans track blood flow in a person’s brain. When an area of the brain is more active, more blood flows there. The fMRI can also track blood oxygenation levels and has become the choice brain scan because of its low invasiveness and its lack of exposure to radiation. Researchers hope that this breakthrough will lead to advances in pain research. While there has been criticism that this only represents short term instantaneous feelings of pain and does not account for chronic conditions such as phantom limb syndrome, researchers argue that this technology will advance our knowledge of how animals, foetuses, and people in vegetative states feel pain. They hope that this research can be applied to create less painful veterinary procedures and less painful ways of killing animals for consumption. Researchers also hope that this will also reveal if foetuses and people in vegetative states feel pain. Researchers have not officially released a report on their findings as they are still working out some of the kinks. They are optimistic that this will advance our knowledge of pain. While this research will lead to more controversy, it will also hopefully help a lot of people. —With files from the New Scientist, Popular Science, BBC, and NASA

“ A

Sonia Lee

We can make the lives and choices of people more rich and sustainable by changing the infrastructure we all live on.

while ago, I discussed how too many resources are being poured into debates over global warming, and how it should be treated more like what it is - a symptom of the bigger problem. Now I want to bring to the table another area that is being given more attention than it should: changing people’s habits. Too often are money, time, and energy spent on campaigns aimed at changing the habits and lifestyles of people. Whether it’s reducing the usage of plastics, recycling more, or reducing energy, most of environmentalism is trying to get everyone on the planet to change. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for having people becoming more environmentally conscious. It’s always good to make suggestions to friends or write about the helpful effects of being more conscious in a blog or newspaper, but I’m talking about the much larger forms of advertising and activist efforts that try to change the minds of everyone. Simply put, it is nearly impossible. People make the choices that are available to them. In today’s fast-paced society, more people are likely to choose the easier tasks, which typically aren’t the most environmentally friendly. It is very difficult to change seven billion minds towards a cause that is sometimes hard to incorporate into a fast-paced lifestyle; let alone changing seven billion minds at all. We are too inundated in cultures,

traditions, and routines to think about making any drastic, or even simple, changes in our lives. So does this mean we just give up? Let the world simply go on as it is? Not at all. It simply means that environmentalists need a completely different approach. Think of it as a bottom-up model: instead of changing the receivers of services and resources (the people), change the services and resources themselves. As I said, people make the choices from what’s available to them, so change what’s available to them. Many people may look at that sentence and think of some Big Brother-esque scenario where everything you choose from is limited and controlled, but this is not what I mean at all. In fact, we can create more choices using sustainable methods. I’ll use a couple of specific examples: energy and water bottles. Many organizations campaign about saving energy, turning off lights that you aren’t using, for example. Even I admit that on particularly quiet nights when the house is empty, it’s comforting to have a few more lights on. So instead, what if we changed the source? Instead of reducing use, if we could just switch over to renewable energy sources as a country (or more preferably, as a planet), then it wouldn’t be as urgent to conserve energy. Of course, we don’t want to go overboard in our usage, but with research into high energy yields from renewable sources, we may even be able to get more energy

“

Recently NASA’s spacecraft, Stardust, returned a sample of dust that it collected from the comet Wild 2. NASA was hoping that Stardust would live up to its name. Their hope paid off when they received the craft’s collections from the comet. Contained within the collection from the comet, NASA believes they have found stardust (also known as interstellar dust or medium). Stardust is the medium that exists between star systems in a galaxy; it is thought to be dust that comes from a time before the sun. Stardust is crucial to astrophysics as it helps scientists predict the lifespan of active star formations. Stardust is also the of of the building blocks of the universe. The particles come together to form stars, then planets, and then life. The discovery was made when NASA decided to go viral. They enlisted the public to help in their search for the dust particles by allowing internet users to comb though over 700,000 individual pictures of the dust through a virtual microscope. This is how fellow Canadian Bruce Hudson of Ontario discovered what is thought to be the first of two stardust particles contained in the sample. With Hudson’s discovery, NASA was able to identify what they think is another stardust particle. For his contribution to the project, Hudson was given the privilege of naming the two particles. He chose Orion and Sirius (the names of well known constellations). The particles both contained magnesium, aluminum, chromium, manganese, nickel, copper, and gallium. However, the particles are strikingly dissimilar. NASA is stressing the fact that this may just be a false alarm, but they have described themselves as “cautiously excited.” They are also hoping that they might again find help from the public in the future.

without much of an impact on the planet at all. On another level, water bottles are becoming the bane of the world’s oceans and a thorn in the back of environmentalists everywhere. Everyone uses them. Just the other day I saw someone loading up on six 24-packs of water bottles at the nearby Zehrs. Instead of urging people to switch to tap water and reusable water bottles such as Nalgenes, why not follow the example of many universities and towns, such as the University of Winnipeg’s ban on the sale of water bottles. Instead, hand out cheap (or free would be nice, too) Nalgene’s or other reusable water bottles and place refill stations in cafeterias and halls around campus. Use water filter systems when people are particularly paranoid about water quality. This way, people are using an infrastructure that is more sustainable and even saves them tons of money. The world is too complex to be focusing time and money on changing everyone’s mind. We can make the lives and choices of people more rich and sustainable by changing the infrastructure we all live on. The environmental movement needs a drastically new mindset if we hope to create real change. Move away from ineffective reductionist methods and activist campaigns and move towards more direct action that changes the infrastructure of the world itself. If we rebuild the ground people stand on, they will walk on it.

Arts & Entertainment

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010 arts@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

itchfork

ffect Athena Ngai reporter

lot has happened in the world of music since 1974, when Real Paper’s Jon Landau launched Bruce Springsteen’s career with the simple words: “I saw rock and roll future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen.” For one thing, among others, Real Paper is now defunct, and for another, well, the internet happened. With that emerged a new breed of authoritative music sources, including the oft-criticized, but incredibly influential Pitchfork Media (www.pitchfork.com). For those who haven’t heard of Pitchfork, here’s the story. With no background in journalism or even music writing, teenaged music zealot Ryan Schreiber launched Pitchfork in 1995 because, as he put it, “The internet needed something like this to cover underground music.” And by “something,” Schreiber meant music criticism from the fans’ perspective. Music criticism that was fast and honest. Music criticism for the love of underground music. Initially, Schreiber wrote all of the album reviews himself, but as the site’s traffic grew, so too did its roster of freelancers. Interviews, year-end lists, columns, and a daily news section would follow, but its much-longer-thanaverage album reviews still remained its staple. By the early 2000s, Pitchfork’s traffic and influence grew so large that the phrase “Pitchfork Effect” was coined to describe its influence on the indie music industry. Pitchfork now averages 250,000 unique visitors daily; though few would actually admit to liking it. Many complain about Pitchfork’s pretentious music elitism (see Pitchfork’s review of Jet’s Shine On or Metallica’s St. Anger), its lack of coverage on metal and R&B, and the absence of a comments section underneath its posts. However, despite all of these criticisms, there’s no denying the Pitchfork Effect in making or breaking a band. For example, after awarding Arcade Fire’s Funeral 9.7 out of 10, Funeral became the fastest selling album in the history of indie label Merge Records and the first Merge album to crack the Billboard Top 200 album chart. As Merge publicity director Martin Hall tells the Washington Post, “That amazing review was really the band’s first validation, saying, ‘Everyone needs to pay attention to this.’ Before that, Arcade Fire had been below the radar. But the floodgates opened. And I was just holding on for dear life.” Pitchfork has also been credited for breaking out Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Broken Social Scene, and Modest Mouse. Conversely, the Pitchfork Effect can also destroy bands. Just ask Travis Morrison, lead singer of the now-defunct Pitchfork darlings The Dismemberment Plan, whose album

sonia Lee

Emergency & I was named Pitchfork’s Album of the Year in 1999. Morrison’s solo album Travistan, however, received Pitchfork’s dreaded 0.0 rating. As he tells the Washington Post, “I just got the sense [Pitchfork] thought I was a rock star and they wanted to take me down a peg, but I don’t think it occurred to them that the review could have a catastrophic effect. Up until the day of the review, I’d play a solo show, and people would be like, “That’s our boy, our eccentric boy.” Literally, the view changed overnight […] I could tell people were trying to figure out if they were supposed to be there or not. It was pretty severe, how the mood changed. The review isn’t the story. The reaction to it is. The seriousness with which everyone takes Pitchfork is kind of mind-boggling.” But that was back in 2004, like a gazillion blog-years ago. Today, with new music blogs popping up daily, it appears as though the Pitchfork Effect isn’t what it used to be. “I have a feeling that for a while Pitchfork was seen as a hip source of music commentary,” said Mark Logan, owner of Kitchener’s Encore Records. “I used to look at Pitchfork sort of on a weekly basis and know that something got a good review, that people would come in and look for it, but that sort of peaked for us a year and a half “For my customers I think it’s really all over the map, whatever their preferred source of music news is. I think it’s gotten a lot more diverse than it was [before].” That’s not to say that Pitchfork isn’t influential. Far and away, Pitchfork is still the most popular source for underground music. According to its website, Pitchfork now has more than 2 million monthly unique visitors with a nearly 30 per cent yearly increase in visits. Most of the indie fans I’ve spoken with still check Pitchfork on a regular basis but they supplement their visits with music commentary from other sites. With this growing diversity, people just aren’t responding to the Pitchfork Effect like they used to. Case in point: the recently Pitchfork-panned, “monochromatic” The Courage of Others by Midlake received a 3.6 rating, yet still managed to chart in eight countries including the US and UK. In so many ways, today’s diversity in music commentary excites me: once obscure musical genres are now being discussed by thousands of like-minded music fans who are brought together by the internet. Anyone — truly anyone — can become a music writer on the internet. And with the growth of blogging, it is with that much more ease that the once unknown Bruce Springsteens of the world will be able to find their audience. — With files from the Honolulu Advertiser, Wired, the Washington Post, and Pitchfork

Arts & Entertainment

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010

Bridging the gap

Local arts collective pairs up with UW Andrew Kai-Yin MacKenzie staff reporter

t felt weird stepping into the Grist Mill on Sunday evening. It felt strangely official. I knew the Grist Mill as a cozy little venue for impromptu acoustic shows. Not that it wasn’t a cozy little venue for the relatively impromptu acoustic show. But it was more than a show — it was like a convention. Imprint’s contemporaries at The Boar and Blueprint were there in full force, with The Boar rocking a science-fair-style presentation board and, about five volunteers standing there to answer questions (they needed “Ask Me” buttons, if you ask me). The Women’s Centre showed up too with an entire zine library on display. At times, the entertainment felt almost secondary with all the interest groups trying to push their brand. Things started out calmly with a round of spoken-word performances, including one from WPIRG’s Rachel Small. The nature of the spokenword poetry set a somewhat political tone for the evening, to the delight of those there for International Women’s Week, and to the dismay of those there to see music. Many attendees were clearly not used to music and politics mixing so explicitly. The attendees were made up of an interesting demographic: they were mostly students. This may not be particularly shocking to Imprint readers — our entire world is students — but it was a little weird seeing so many students at the Grist Mill. The show was put on in part by Waterloo’s local Trepid Arts Collective, a group that attracts a certain consistent scene. Many of these scenesters are students, but for the students affiliated with Trepid (full disclosure — I’m one of them) the music scene and the university have been weird

Top left: Toronto’s Isla Craig was the opening artist at the GristMillonSunday,March7. She played a “dreamy set of experimental” music. Top right: With seven band members, Olenka and the Autumn Lovers animated the event with energy. Bottom right: The Erb St. Grist Mill is located in Waterloo Park. Photos courtesy: Isla Craig (top left) Olenka and the Autumn Lovers (top right) and rwhg via flickr (bottom right)

parallel universes that never really overlapped. The period from March 7 to March 9 was kind of a coming-out-party for the Trepid scene. Tuesday evening found Trepid stalwarts, including resident magician Wilber Cortez and godfather-of-sorts, Jeff Woods, crashing the SLC for a Haiti fundraiser. The extent to which they’ve suddenly embraced the university spotlight — two university-affiliated shows in three nights — is a little unprecedented. Woods, who books the majority of the Trepid shows and is the primary driving force behind the collective, has been ambivalent about the university music culture for a while. He sees it as too restrictive — too much trouble. But these shows indicate that relations between Trepid and the university are warming. “We’re actively trying to be more visible as a point for arts to cohese around,” Woods said. “Part of our objectives for this year is to draw more of the arts scenes together.” Trepid seems to be coming out of its shell to bridge the gap between its more independent scene and the more organized scenes sponsored by the university. It’s opening itself up to become more of an accessible, mainstream institution. The show danced a fine line between accessible (easy to find) and, well, not accessible Opener Isla Craig fell somewhat into the not-accessible category. Craig played a dreamy set of experimental, Mount Eerie-esque minimal musings (who am I kidding?). Words have a hard time describing her blissed-out set. Set to some live organicpsychedelic visuals by Toronto artist Mango Peeler, her set can perhaps best be described as simply being on some next shit. Her set-closing cover of Aaliyah’s “Rock the Boat” was one of the most pleasantly unexpected moments I’ve experienced at a Waterloo show. The set in and

of itself was one of the most pleasantly unexpected sets I’ve experienced in Waterloo. But I’m a music geek, and I don’t share everyone’s taste. Truth be told, I got the impression that a part of the crowd was a little weirded out by Craig’s freeform set. They definitely enjoyed themselves more when the headliners came on. Those headliners, Olenka and the Autumn Lovers, showed up with seven band members and even more instruments. In dramatic contrast to Isla Craig’s minimal set, the Lovers were pretty much maximal. They played a rollicking set of footstomping four-to-the-floor ballads, and the crowd loved it. The Lovers’ big-band sound evoked Canadian supergroups like the Arcade Fire and the Burning Hell — it was extremely accessible. “You’re right, it was a bridge show,” Woods said to me afterwards. I understand his reluctance to jump into bed with the university, who haven’t historically been friendly to the local music scene — there’s still a bitter aftertaste from their sour feud with Sound FM. He still isn’t fully admitting to himself that he’s rolling with UW: “The Sunday show, in fairness, was developed independently of the university [...] but it was a university related show in the end,” said Wood The Sunday show at the Grist Mill was a very successful bridge show. Something was there for every member of its diverse audience — politics for the activists, freeform acoustic for the music geeks, barn-burning ballads for pretty much everyone else. Whether or not Trepid and UW will continue their tentative affair remains to be seen, but judging by the success of the show, the bridge built on Sunday will stay up for a while. akmackenzie@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Arts & Entertainment

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010

Question, comments, pop culture commentary? arts@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

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Michigan band, Electric Six, played in Waterloo for the first time. They were short a member but still managed to deliver a great performance.

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And then there were five:

Paul McGeown reporter

f you’ve never given Electric Six a listen, it’s about time that you do. Few bands can be silly and at the same time rock your socks off, but the Michigan band manages to pull it off. Their music lies somewhere between The Darkness and MGMT: classic rock guitar and falsetto vocals backed by an insistent, danceworthy beat and a synthesizer (for an idea of what these guys are about, check out the video for “Gay Bar” on Youtube). Electric Six swung through Waterloo Wednesday night— their first visit ever, no less – and delivered a raucous if inconsistent set at Starlight. They were hampered by the absence of synth player Tait Nucleus?, who was back in Michigan (the band’s hometown) recovering from lyme disease. As their name suggests, Electric 6 rely a great deal on the synthesizer, and without it they had difficulty establishing and maintaining the abundant energy that is apparent on their albums. This deficit was evident immediately, and after the energy of openers “Sweet Thing”, the first two songs sounded tired. The band turned things around quickly with “Formula 409,” lead singer Dick Valentine proclaiming afterward that, “Those are the worst three songs we got.” He backed that up with “Down at McDonnelz,” the call-and-response chorus (“My people need a place to go!” “GO!”) serving to energize the Starlight crowd. After the energy fizzled somewhat , Valentine promised to “move directly to the dance material,” keying the start of “Improper Dancing.” This featured some freestyle poetry from the deep-voiced frontman, and led into the band’s breakout hit, “Danger! High Voltage.” The song concluded with a brief solo from

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Concert Reviews

Electric Six rock Starlight shorthanded

drummer Percussion World, who was impressive throughout. The band truly hit their stride on the home stretch, powering through “Gay Bar,” “Gay Bar Part Two,” and “She’s White.” Even though “Gay Bar” was greeted with the most enthusiasm, the anthemic “She’s White” was particularly good, owing to the work of lead guitarist Johnny Na$hinal. Na$hinal was dubbed “White Wolf ” for the night by Valentine, who — like any vocalist — attempted to play on the national and local pride of the crowd. Valentine has the aimless-but-concise stage banter down to an art. Among the highlights was his admission that the band was indeed going to come back out and play three songs (referring to the encore); they merely intended to head downstairs, shoot tequila, and catch their breath. When they did reappear for the encore, Valentine emerged clutching a giant pylon, which he hugged like a teddy bear for the remainder of the show. The only acknowledgment of his conspicuous new friend came just prior to the final song of the night, when he raised it slightly and finished a thought with, “Because I’m a professional musician.” The band then incited one last round of dancing with — appropriately enough — “Dance Commander”. Toronto openers Sweet Thing were also worth noting. Sweet Thing are definitely on the cheerier end of the rock spectrum, as highlighted by the sweet two-and three-part harmonies throughout their set. They’re also capable of rocking out, however. This is most evident on “Dance Mother”, which features an instantly catchy, falsetto chorus of, “I don’t want to dance motherfucker/ But you’re giving me no choice” (the song is available as a free download at www. sweetthingmusic.com).

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Arts & Entertainment

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010

The Morning Benders Big Echo Rough Trade

Music Reviews

Courtesy Owl and Bear (top) Rough Trade (bottom)

n paper, The Morning Benders are the archetypal fresh-faced indie band: they are young skinny guys who wear plaid, skinny jeans, and Wayfarers. They play sunshiney, happy-go-lucky pop too, and surprise, surprise, their new album Big Echo is about young love. Don’t let that fool you though, because at their finest, The Morning Benders are anything but typical. In their debut album Talking Through Tin Cans, The Morning Benders managed to create a pop record that channels the Beatles-meetsBeach Boys sound without ever sounding derivative. Despite creating such a solid album, The Morning Benders were still under the radar in the mainstream indie scene. After opening for the likes of MGMT, Death Cab for Cutie, Yeasayer, and Grizzly Bear, The Morning Benders seem to have gained some indie cred as they recently got signed by mainstream indie label Rough Trade. Big Echo marks a change in The Morning Benders’ sound. For starters, Big Echo was co-

Xiu Xiu Dear God, I Hate Myself Kill Rock Stars

here are bands out there singing about love stories, artists out there singing about a night at the club, and rappers going on and on about money and cars. Then there’s the band that sings about things that you know happen, but don’t want to acknowledge. That band is Xiu Xiu. The brainchild of frontman Jamie Stewart, Xiu Xiu has returned for their seventh studio album, brilliantly titled Dear God, I Hate Myself. Lead single “Chocolate Makes You Happy” is a medley of synthesizers and percussion making for a musically cheery experience, until you realize that there are darker undertones to the song, bulimia being only one of them: “Chocolate makes

produced by Chris Taylor of the experimental art-folk band Grizzly Bear — very different from the ’60s influences we’ve seen from the Morning Benders. In Big Echo, the band also experiments with a more textured sound as opposed to their lo-fi roots. The album opener “Excuses” features all the best elements of Big Echo and the Morning Benders. “Excuses” was recorded using legendary producer Phil Spector’s wall of sound technique as large groups of musicians and vocalists (including Christopher Owens of Girls) sing and play together in a combined orchestra and choir setting that teens with lush sound. This track is grand without ever sacrificing The Morning Bender’s simple, affable charm. Here, lead singer Christopher Chu sparkles: his airy, exuberant voice brings out all that’s magical about this track and the album. Like the first time (you know what I’m talking about) that this track describes, “Excuses” is daring, epic, and catchy as hell. “Excuses” starts the album off with a bang and it is, by far, the standout of Big Echo. Though “Promises” doesn’t have the grandeur of “Excuses,” it is very well-structured with catchy hooks that build toward an anthem that drips of depth and energy. “Promises”

you happy/As you deign to sing along/ When you thrust two fingers down your throat/And wash away what’s wrong.” The title track is less subtle with its lyrics, Stewart having written them as a selfdeprecating prayer to God. The song itself is a blend of acoustic guitar and KORG DS-10, a non-game music synthesizer software made for the Nintendo DS. The DS shows up on multiple tracks, but it’s not perfect “Apple For a Brain,” another DS-made song, feels lacking and empty compared to other songs on the album. “Hyunhye’s Theme” is an interesting track, making reference to new member Angela Seo. Its lyrics tackle the traditional stereotype of Asian parents: “Reading law at your desk/Praying for your parents/ They are so proud of this.” Lyrically, it hits home as it swells and swells, before concluding with a 30-second musical

is one of the few tracks in which the textures actually work to the band’s favour. I wish I could be just as excited about the rest of the album, but the rest of Big Echo makes for mild, uninteresting pop. Chu’s dazzling voice is underutilized as he’s drowned out by all the noise around him. For many of these tracks he also sounds flat, almost to the point of being lethargic. While Talking Through Tin Cans was catchy and frolicky, these last few tracks of Big Echo are bland and forgettable. As I’ve touched on previously, the textures work against the band here, as they don’t at all complement Chu’s voice. They overshadow his voice, and the result is distant rather than intimate. The Morning Benders really do deserve more attention and acclaim and Big Echo is an album I really want to like. Unfortunately, the Morning Benders sound like a band that hasn’t quite found its sound. The Morning Benders aren’t nearly as lush and evocative as Girls nor do they have the depth and expansiveness of The Shins. But if they keep making tracks as good as “Excuses” and “Promises,” the Morning Benders have the potential to be so much more than typical. They might even be extraordinary. — Athena Ngai

breakdown. Xiu Xiu is aided by the Immaculata Catholic School Orchestra, as they provide brass and woodwinds to an already solid track in “This Too Shall Pass Away (For Freddy).” The song itself is not as abrasive as other Xiu Xiu songs, though this is not necessarily a bad thing as the melodies and Morrissey references make for a rather pleasing song. Xiu Xiu may have gone through many line-up changes, but it doesn’t mean that the band has changed. Love it or hate it, but the band has retained their brutal honesty. If you’re able to cope with the lyrical content and occasional harshness in the instrumentation, then Dear God, I Hate Myself is a musically strong album. If you’re able to relate to and understand the lyrical content, then all the better for you. — Ronald Chui xiu xiu (top)

Waterloo thinks it can dance Julia Gunst staff reporter

he University of Waterloo is putting its own spin on the popular reality TV show, So You Think You Can Dance. This provides the chance for UW students to showcase their passion for dance in a competition run by Waterloo Team Feds. For most people, So You Think You Can Dance brings to mind spandex gone horribly wrong and judge Mary Murphy’s ear-piercing cackle. So You Think You Can Dance Waterloo, however, will contain less of the heavily edited reality TV show dramatics and more of the live action-packed dance performances. Like the TV show, the Waterloo edition will include contestants representing a wide variety of dance genres and a panel of judges. The audience will also receive a voting role in deciding the winner. After conducting auditions open to all UW students from February 22 to the 26, 12 competitors were selected to compete on March 20, at Federation Hall for a $1000 grand prize. According to the contest’s rules and regulations “auditions must be a minimum of one minute

and a maximum of three minutes in length, [and can be] both live and [in] video recorded submissions.” There will be no shortage of eye-pleasing spectacles, as the competition will be extending the Federation Hall stage and installing additional lighting for effects. The selected contestants span a range of dance genres, from hip hop to contemporary to cultural dance, and include both individual and group performances. Some performers will be representing different dance clubs or societies on campus. The competition offers a unique opportunity for students to create and showcase their original choreography, unlike the TV show where dancers must present pieces choreographed by others. Bettina Xue and Young Xue, members of the humorously named “We’re Not Related, Seriously” dance crew, are two students who have taken advantage of this opportunity. They have fused their two different dance styles of popping/locking and lyrical dance into an original piece. “We get to express our own feelings while we dance, rather than expressing the feelings that belong to someone else,” said Young. In addition to allowing creativ-

ity from dancers, this competition presents viewers with a live “uncut” version of the reality TV show. “When we see dance on TV, everything is cut, sliced and butchered to fit the rhythm and mood of the song,” said Young. “But when we dance, there’s no cut scenes... it’s just us doing what we feel like doing, and others enjoying what we do.” Bettina adds that “parts of it are free styling and just raw dance.” So You Think You Can Dance Waterloo is running for the first time this year, and is created by Waterloo Team Feds. The event will take place on March 20, 2010 at Federation Hall. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. This event starts at 7:00 p.m. According to the official So You Think You Can Dance Waterloo website, there will be a recreational performance followed by the competition. Tickets can be purchased at the Feds office in the SLC for $6 (UW students) and $8 (non UW students), or at the door for $10. Visit www.imprint.uwaterloo.ca for a full list of the top 12 who will perform at the event. jgunst@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010

Gaming Review Battlefield: Bad Company 2 EA Digital Illusions CE Electronic Arts

Grade The Good • •

D-

Playable Guns look good (I guess?)

The Bad • • •

Terrible and stupid AIs Tacky storyline Nothing new to bring to the table

ow that video games have taken us through the World Wars, some parts of the Vietnam War, and through most of “Modern Warfare,” what’s left? Well Battlefield: Bad Company 2 certainly had somewhere to go, and unfortunately, it just goes back to the Cold War. Not only does the latest installment of the BattleField series fail to provide anything new, it also seems like a watered down version of a recent modern warfare game that was good. Do you know which one I’m talking about? Of course, it tries very hard to mock that specific game, too.

STORY Battlefield: Bad Company 2’s story is presented through a soldier called Marlowe during the Cold War. At first, the premise of the story seemed interesting. The prologue sets the stage; you are Thomas Wyatt, a soldier in the Second World War era finding a defector in the Japanese islands. The twist comes when suddenly there’s a secret super weapon that the Japanese have apparently been building to ensure the Empire’s victory. However, this was not meant to last. Fast forward to the Cold War; Russians are looking to win. Your squad goes to counter the Russians, everyone goes back to America eating pie. Oh and there’s a small bit about Canada at the end, but who cares, right? Dialogues coming from the characters in this game are incred-

Come Celebrate St. Patty’s Day!

ibly stupid and, at best, were written last minute the day before the script was due. Your squad mates will constantly say things like “Let’s go home,” but when given the chance, they just continually want to fight. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 also seems to give a sense of over-patriotism as the story gives charcter multiple chances to go home, but the excuse made was often “There will be no home to go to.” Thank you Bad Company 2: your patriotism makes me want to puke.

GRAPHICS Much like the game itself, Battlefield: Bad Company 2’s graphics are subpar to what you would see in other games. The weapons that the player wields themselves are quite detailed and can cause an arousal of excitement to any gun nut, but that’s as far as graphics goes. Characters have this fish like look on their face and an overall plastic feel. Jungle environments stand out nicely, though.

GAME PLAY I am delighted to say that Battlefield: Bad Company 2 brings absolutely nothing new to the table in terms of First Person Shooters. There are sequences where you have to fight through sandstorms, or particles created when an RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade) hits the area around you, but these have all been done before and they return in a form more horrible than you can imagine. During the game, the player runs through a desert stage where a sandstorm kicks in. Logic deems that in order for the enemy to hit me, I must either be in sight, or give my position away by lighting up a flare and holding onto said flare. Since the game provides no flares to the player at any stage, I proceeded to run through the sandstorm, thinking that I would not be seen. It wasn’t until 20 seconds later that I realized my enemies had super vision. Guard towers standing some 40 feet away were filled with snipers that can hit you through the sandstorm, despite being covered in sand too. An aspect of the game that truly stood out as innovative for me, however, was the hand grenades.

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Grenades not landing where we wanted them to or not going off when they should is something we as gamers can all relate to. Bad Company 2’s grenades, however, seem to be made up of both horribly timed mechanics and bouncing rubber. When you set yourself to throw a grenade, one counts to three in hopes that the time in the air will be enough to stall so that when the grenade lands it will instantly explode, thus killing your enemies. In Bad Company 2, grenades have a seemingly extra long timer in order to make sure the player can count and better yet, the grenades won’t explode even when you throw then. When you have finally mastered the timing, however, the actual landing of the grenade becomes another problem. These grenades seem to be made of rubber that will simply bounce and slide until it hits a wall. I had a sequence where enemy troops stood ground inside a house. Rather than going in and wasting my time, I decided to throw a grenade in. Not only did the grenade hit the wooden floor of the house as planned, but it proceeded to slide out a door I had not planned on being there and wasted my precious explosive. Something else that must be mentioned in this review is how stupid friendly AIs are. The only friend that the player may have in this game is their gun. Rather than take cover and move forward with you, friendly AIs have a compulsion to sit still, yell at you and smoke a cigarette. The only way that these AIs will advance sometimes is when you either waste a grenade, or move forward until the game forces them to teleport; I’m not joking, they TELEPORT around with you. In fact, they are so stupid that sometimes when approaching an enemy base or town in the story, they’re compelled to keep moving forward until spotted, leaving you at the mercy of three or four mounted guns and a limitless amount of enemy soldiers. While we’re speaking of the mounted guns, I was not aware that a machine gun nest or a machine gun post with shielding can withstand several rockets worth of damage. Maybe I suck at aiming my rockets, but then again, I can’t tell since the game is so horrible.

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Arts & Entertainment

courtesy g4tv.com

A battle scene from the game Battlefield: Bad Company 2 floors, or anything unless they were melted into the surfaces of course.

PRESENTATION Bad Company 2 suffers a lot from stupid friendly AIs and small glitches that will serve to piss the player off. Characters and friendly AIs will get stuck, enemies will shoot you before a door is opened and throughout the game I’ve had dead bodies stuck in walls. You would think that after going through so many wars, the video game industry would learn that enemy bodies don’t actually get stuck in walls or

Multiplayer was not mentioned in the review because video games must stand to the single player in my view. Since the single player was so horribly done, I can only say this. Don’t buy this game.

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Arts & Entertainment

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010

THEY INVENTED THE REMIX

(BUT WE GET THE CREDIT) akmackenzie@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

ross-cultural pollination from the West to the rest — and increasingly vice-versa — has created some of the most interesting and original material in the world. But there’s a serious disconnect, where us Westerners judge the stuff that the “Resterners” create. In 1977, The Man Who Saves the World — more commonly known stateside as Turkish Star Wars — was released. It is now known as one of the worst films ever made. It’s also an absolute riot. Turkish Star Wars is a totally bizarre interpretation of A New Hope, one in which Luke Skywalker punches a bunch of mummies and monsters with golden fists, and also karate-chops Darth Vader in half. While other countries have produced their own ridiculous Star Wars knockoffs — Brazil has one particularly special take, where the Brazilian Three Stooges chill with Chewbacca and the gang for 90 minutes. Turkey is really the best known place for bizarre knockoffs. Among them: a twisted take on ET which opens with Elliot’s dog getting shot by a cop, a weird crossover flick where Captain America and El Santo fight evil Spider-Man, and what can best

be described as a Batman noir, where, between hanging out in strip clubs, Batman and Robin shoot criminals. (Note: these films are appreciated in only the most committed cult film circles.) Around this same time period, the Thai are covering Western lounge standards. Scientific studies have suggested that people fluent in tone languages like Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai, are much more likely to have perfect pitch. This is indeed the case — the Thais who sing these songs generally have powerful and interesting voices. However, they can be rhythmically challenged — there’s a great version of “Hit the Road, Jack” in which impassioned songstress Cat displays a profound out-of-touchness with the backing piano. At other times, the Thai display a charming disconnect with the Western culture they’re imitating. On “Funky Broadway,” singer Suda Chuenbarn tells us what is on Broadway. “Down on Broadway, there is a crowd.” Then she names them: “Name of the crowd? Broadway crowd.” (For what it’s worth, both the club and the dance are named “Funky Broadway.”) Meanwhile, on

“Kotmorn Yoop Yap,” Sakarin Boonpit phonetically recreates “All Shook Up,” creating something that hopefully makes sense in Thai. (Another note: that this music is appreciated in only the most geeky music-junkie circles.) Here’s the question, then. Why is it that cultural crossovers made in other countries are so often overlooked, but those made in the West are often considered revolutionary? A few weeks ago, I wrote about Vampire Weekend and Paul Simon. There are plenty more examples of cultured little white boys successfully mining foreign influences — Diplo, who’s been described as the Jacques Cousteau of hip-hop, immediately pops to mind. Why are there no examples of cultured foreign folks successfully mining white influences? Sure, the production values on Turkish remakes and Thai covers may be a little messy, but since when has Diplo ever cared about production values? If only we set the same standards for Turkish rip-off cinema as we did for Diplo. Diplo may be an intrepid musical globetrotter, but he’s successful mainly because he is a stupidly fun

courtesy cinephobia

A scene from Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam (The Man Who Saves the World) featuring a Turkish Han Solo getting his brain power sucked away by a phone cord.

person who makes stupidly fun music. Turkish Star Wars is nothing if not a stupidly fun movie. Argue all you want that it’s unintentionally funny, but when Luke Skywalker rips a mummy’s head off, throws it at another mummy, then smiles when the head explodes in the mummy’s hands, that shit is intentional. Turkish Batman, on the other hand, may dub in punch noises a little too loud, but it still turned Batman into a gritty everyman 30 years before Warner Bros. paid Chris Nolan big bucks to do the same.

Writing foreign camp off as mere schlock is cultural laziness derived from cultural xenophobia. Next time you scoff at a cheesy Hong Kong gangster flick, think about how awesome it was when Scorcese flipped Infernal Affairs on The Departed. Next time you groan at a Romanian cover of a current top 40 hit, think about how mindblowing it was when Rihanna sang the “Dragostea Din Tei” hook on “Live Your Life.” We’re setting double standards when we judge foreign stuff, and we don’t even realize it.

Arts & Entertainment

Imprint, Friday, March 12, 2010

St. Patrick’s Cupcakes

o here’s the thing. In the spirit of the Irish, I was really hoping to make an authentic St. Patrick’s day dinner of corned beef and cabbage. That being said, it turns out that cooking a roast for one fabulous foodie is a lonely endeavour, no matter how hungry she is. It has recently come into my plethora of random and probably useless knowledge that the traditional Irish meal is not, as many believe, corned beef and cabbage, but actually boiled bacon and cabbage (a thick cut of cured pork, not the sliced breakfast variety we’re used to). Corned beef came into popularity with Irish immigrants to America as they used what was more commonly available. I digress. I am determined, in a fashion not necessarily libationary, to celebrate the patron saint of Ireland’s holiday in currently craving convention: confections. I say not necessarily libationary because the confection I’m proposing requires the beverage most commercially related to the holiday. Are you catching on to what St. Patty’s pastry I’m proposing? Chocolate Guinness cupcakes. I love cupcakes. I can’t believe I have yet to write an article on them because they are by far the food I talk most about. I drool, dream, and obsess about them day in and day out. Yum! Well, now you know I love cupcakes. Guinness cupcakes were proposed to me a while back by my good friend Annie, another cupcake fanatic, when she insisted we had to try making them. Well Annie, I finally made them. A quick internet search for Guinness in baking will produce a number of recipes for cakes and brownies, due mostly to the chocolate and coffee undertones tasted in Guinness stout. Keep it in mind the next time you drink Guinness. As I mentioned in my chocolate cake

Steve Cutler

dyoon@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

recipe, coffee brings depth to dark chocolate flavours and smoothes cocoa’s bitterness. Guinness actually functions in cupcakes in the exact same manner as coffee, providing a vehicle for the cocoa to dissolve into, adding density and richness. The recipe I used called for the Guinness to be simmered with melted butter for cocoa to be whisked into this mixture, which left me wondering why I didn’t just use coffee instead; but the cupcakes were delicious. The stout lends the nuttiness and rich earthiness of coffee, which is not substitutable with coffee, to the chocolate cupcakes. If you are not able or willing to buy Guinness simply for this recipe, I would suggest substituting very strong coffee, but the addition of Guinness is well worth the trip. Also, what would a good cupcake be without lots of rich, creamy, and fluffy frosting on top? Cream cheese frosting appears to be the preferred topping for the chocolatey little cakes — a pairing reminiscent of red velvet cakes, actually — but many recipes keep with the Irish tradition and are topped with Baileys flavoured frosting. Thus, I followed suit. The result: The best frosting I have ever tasted in my life let alone made. I quickly swore to St. Patrick upon tasting that I would never again make another frosting, as it would be blasphemous to how awesome this frosting is. What’s more, it’s as simple as whipped butter with just a touch of Baileys Irish Cream and confectioner’s sugar. How had I never tried this before? Even though I’m not a huge fan of Irish cream, the irresistible frosting atop the dense, rich cakes was reminiscent of mochaccinos with giant dollops of whipped cream on top. With these cupcakes in hand I guess I can’t be too upset about my lack of corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day. Besides, there’s always bangers and mash!

Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey ’s Frosting Ingredients

Bailey’s Frosting

Guinness Cupcakes

• 3 to 4 cups confectioner’s sugar • 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature • 3 to 4 tablespoons Bailey’s

• 2 cups stout • 2 cups unsalted butter • 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch process) • 4 cups all purpose flour • 4 cups sugar • 1 tablespoon baking soda • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt • 4 large eggs • 1 1/3 cups sour cream

Directions Guinness Cupcakes

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Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and line 24 muffin tins. Bring 2 cups stout and 2 cups butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Kitchener 2010

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Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean (about 17-20 minutes. Transfer cakes to rack. Cool 10 minutes. Turn cakes onto rack and cool completely before frosting.

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Baileys Frosting

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In a large bowl, whip butter for several minutes until light and fluffy. Slowly drizzle Bailey’s (or milk or cream or combination thereof ) and whip until combined. Slowly add powdered sugar, letting it incorporate, until the butter becomes thicker and stiff (you will know when this happens). Frost and decorate cupcakes.