Imprint_2010-07-16_v33_06

Impr int The university of Waterloo’s official student newspaper

Friday, July 16, 2010

Vol 33, No

imprint . uwaterloo . ca

6

Features

10-11

UW alumna celebrates her late husband`s life with a musical fundraiser

Sports

13

Warrior takes squash to Australia Nikoo Shahabi

Jacqueline McKoy Lambert senior staff reporter

A

fter an hours-long appeal process, UW’s Canadian Asian Students Association (CASA) has been officially disbanded by Feds Student Council due to several Feds’ policy violations.

CASA was one of Feds’ largest clubs, with over 1,000 members. The club is responsible for the yearly charity fashion show held at Fed Hall, as well as a variety of athletic and social events.

The final decision from Feds also includes the stipulation that “any club with a similar mandate or activities will not be allowed to form for a minimum of two years commencing July, 2010, and ending August 30, 2012,” according to a letter sent to CASA by Feds VP Internal Nikki Best, earlier this month.

CASA appealed the decision at last Sunday’s Feds council meeting, but councillors upheld the ban with a vote of 12-6, with two abstentions.

CASA had been placed on probation by Feds’ Internal Administration Committee (IAC) in November, 2009 for hosting an unsanctioned event at Kitchener’s Elements Nightclub. Feds required CASA to have a police presence at the event, but according to them, CASA went ahead with the club night without retaining police services.

According to a news release from Feds, while on probation, CASA was allegedly involved in violations including advertising off-campus events featuring alcohol sales, as well as failing to submit event posters to Feds for approval.

As well, CASA had been charged with planning and promoting two events — last month’s 3-on-3 basketball tournament and a Bomber event with UW Hip Hop — after the club’s executives had been told to cease running events until they met with the IAC to discuss their future.

CASA responds to miscommunication CASA Co-President Ernest Chi was one of the club’s representatives who lobbied for an appeal of their disbandment at the July Feds council meeting.

“Honest mistakes had been made with marketing, but once we were made aware of [them], we took the steps to fix them…they interpreted honest mistakes as an intent to cause trouble,” said Chi. Chi agreed that the Elements event “was considered more of a high-risk event,” but he suggested that Feds’ stipulations were unreasonable. According to him, Feds pulled their approval of the event on the afternoon of the day it was to run. As well, he suggested that the event was vetoed by a single IAC member due to that person’s opinion of Elements.

Best, however, maintains that previous VP Internal Sarah Cook and the IAC had worked closely with CASA’s members to ensure that the event took place within Feds’ regulations.

Feds, however, made a one-time exception to CASA’s probation for last March’s fashion show afterparty at Fed Hall.

“If [CASA] didn’t agree with their probation, they should have dealt with it in 2009,” noted Best.

In general, Chi claimed that Feds did not follow their own Council Procedure 3 — rules that pertain to the administration of Feds clubs — in handling the CASA affair. Specifically, Chi suggested that Feds did not make an appropriate effort to inform all CASA executive members of the club’s probation status and potential disbandment.

However, Imprint has been forwarded email communication between Best, CASA’s co-presidents, and Clubs and Services director Dave McDougall that directly points to Feds’ attempts to discuss the consequences of CASA’s probation with them.

As well, Best communicated with CASA co-presidents to obtain contact information for all 15 executive members, but Chi and Co-President Justin Lok only offered their own emails and phone numbers.

Chi also said that CASA did not have direct involvement in running last month’s unsanctioned 3-on-3 basketball tournament, although the club’s logo appeared on posters for the event. Despite that, CASA members are seeking reimbursement for the costs for printing the event’s posters, according to an email sent to Best this week.

As well, Chi claimed that he and Lok were unaware that disbandment could be a consequence of violating Feds’ sanctions.

Best said that this is unlikely, given that both executive members — like all other executives of Feds clubs — had signed an agreement at the beginning of each term that clearly states that their club could be disbanded under certain circumstances. Chi insisted that the “decision was made with a lot of haste.”

Posters of recent CASA events which violated Feds Clubs’ policies.

courtesy of CASA archives

CASA’s history marred Email archives from IAC’s mailing list show that this was not the first time that CASA had been placed on probation.

CASA was previously placed on a two-term probation period beginning in Fall 2008, and made attempts to violate this by advertising for an end of term event at Fed Hall in March of 2009.

Previous VP Internal Andrew Falcao, in an email to thenCASA executives, said that the “decision was made due to the sheer number and intensity of incidents that occurred at the last CASA event at Fed Hall, as noted by the security staff and

management. Given the recent historical trend of increasingly rowdy events put on by CASA, we felt it was prudent to place the club on a form of probation,” he said.

According to the complaints, CASA has a long history of promoting events that feature discounts on alcohol, such as their member appreciation nights at Bubble Tease. In particular, an infraction mentioned in the disbandment letter from Feds was CASA’s plans to host an off-campus event involving alcohol sales, without disclosing this detail to Feds, as is necessary as per the federation’s policies.

Feds seeks to protect student interests Best maintains that IAC’s decision was made in the best interest of the student population.

“If we can’t control or protect our clubs off-campus, how can we do it on-campus?” she asked. She also noted that student response to the decision has been overwhelmingly supportive, and that to date, she has not received a single email in opposition of the ban.

Science Councillor Matt Colphon, one of the six councillors who voted against IAC’s decision, felt that “it seemed that there were questions to how the policies were handled on both sides.”

He was also unsure that all options for CASA’s continued presence on campus had not been explored. Colphon suggested that options could include removing CASA’s current executive team or disallowing all off-campus events.

“There were not enough alternative situations considered…a lot of shades of grey that were being removed,” he commented.

In recent history, only two other Feds clubs have been shut down under similar circumstances: Waterloo Tamil Students Association (WaTSA) and South Asian Students Association (SASA).

Chi, however, isn’t convinced that due process was followed.

“We were upset that a decision made by five people affects the entire campus,” he said. He was particularly concerned that three of the voting members of IAC are also voting student councillors, and that the Feds executives also had a vote in upholding IAC’s decision.

CASA’s future Chi described his reaction to the Feds decision as disappointment, noting that CASA’s disbandment means that “an entire demographic cannot be heard.”

When considering what CASA’s next steps will be, Chi said that they are going to take some time before going back to Feds.

Best’s take on the space that CASA leaves is somewhat different.

“You don’t have to be in a demographic club to have you issues addressed,” she suggested, noting that the soon-to-be relaunched One Waterloo campaign “will be the one-stop shop for students who don’t feel that they have a voice,” particularly with respect to cultural issues.

— With files from Feds and CASA

jmckoy@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

News

Imprint, Friday, July 16, 2010 news@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

UW President appointed as new Governor General Paula Trelinska news editor

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ate Wednesday, July 7, 2010, it was reported that David Johnston, President of the University of Waterloo, will be the next Governor General of Canada. The official announcement came early Thursday morning as the Prime Minister released a statement indicating that the Queen, upon Harper’s recommendation, had given her blessing.

The Governor General serves as a representative of the Queen to Canada. They are typically appointed for five years, but the term can be extended to seven years.

David Johnston will be the 28th Governor General since Confederation.

Johnston will begin his term as Governor General on October 1, 2010, several months before he was set to retire in 2011. His early departure will mean that the university will likely need to appoint an interim President, while his replacement is found. It is the Board of Governors which will be responsible for this. “The board has delegated the consideration of an interim president to the chair and vice-chair of the board, who will bring forward a recommendation to the board for approval,” said Ian Kasper, an undergraduate representative on the Board of Governors.

To many, Johnston may seem to be a surprising choice for Governor General, but he has a long history in academia and politics.

See JOHNSTON, page 4

Paula Trelinska

University of Waterloo President, David Johnston, seen above at the Canada 3.0 Conference, was appointed as the new Governor General early Thursday morning. The installation of Johnston will occur October 1 in the senate chamber. He will succeed to the Right Honourable Michaelle Jean.

Transit and funding: a love story Howard Leung reporter

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train linking Conestoga and Fairview, two well-traversed malls in the region? Sounds hard to believe, but the first steps for such a plan have already been taken.

Two weeks ago, the provincial government announced $300 million primarily used to fund a rapid transit plan, via light rail transit (LRT), from Waterloo to Cambridge, which will go towards Waterloo Region’s Master Transit Plan (RMTP).

While this funding pledge was “well short of a long-standing pledge to contribute up to two-thirds of the total cost,” according to The Record, there is still a possibility that the full $790 million price tag will still be covered by the higher levels of government. “[The Region] is currently in discussions with John Baird [the current Federal Minister of Transportation], asking the federal government to match the $300 million [that the province contributed],” explains Bryan Stortz, the director of corporate communications for the Region of Waterloo.

“We do have good support from the local elected officials, and the minister indicated [in the past] that certain monies were set aside.”

He also pointed out that the funding announcements can come one after another, such as in Ottawa’s light-rail system plan.

So some federal funding could arrive later.

“No federal funds have been allocated yet [but] Peter [Braid MPP of KitchenerWaterloo], is involved in ongoing discussions with the minister’s office on this issue,” confirms Kenneth Tam, communications consultant for Braid.

He also adds that Braid’s office has not received much feedback about the LRT funding cuts in recent weeks.

If the federal government does not end up funding the gap, then the Region of Waterloo will have to make up the difference.

They approved the light rail addition about a year ago, but the specific funding amount still needs to be determined.

There will be two phases of rapid transit — an LRT from Conestoga Mall to Fairview Park Mall, and bus rapid transit from Fairview Park Mall to the Ainslie Street Terminal in Cambridge. The transit plan is expected to be running by 2015, explains Stortz.

He confirms that the rapid transit will not be administrated by the transit Grand River Transit, known as GRT, but by the Region of Waterloo.

Stortz acknowledges that there are still a lot of uncertainties for the light rail, including the pricing of tickets and whether the LRT will have a “transit brand” similar to GRT. For now, though, the priority will be waiting for the federal funding. hleung@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Peter Kreze

Construction on Environment 3 has meant extended closures for both Ring Road and Environment 2. Ring road will remain closed until July 21, 2010, while the Environment 2 building will stay closed until July 20, 2010 at 5 p.m.

4 News Johnston: President set to to become Governor General

Imprint, Friday, July 16, 2010

Continued from page 3

Born in Sudbury, Ontario, he went on to study at Harvard, and later Queen’s University and Cambridge. He served as principal and vice-chancellor of McGill University and is a companion of the Order of Canada.

Johnston is perhaps best known for his role in helping advise the federal Conservative government on what shape the Oliphant inquiry should take. He has also served on numerous provincial and federal task forces and committees.

In 1999, he became the President of the University of Waterloo. Having almost completed three terms, Johnston is the longest serving president the university has ever had.

The Governor General was chosen through a committee appointed by Harper and led by Kevin MacLeod, the Canadian Secretary to the Queen and Usher of the Black Rod for the senate. Other names that are said to have been considered include John de Chastelain, former chief of defence staff and U.S. Ambassador, and Mary Simon, a national Inuit leader.

“His exemplary record of public service has earned him the respect, support and admiration of many prominent Canadians in politics, governments, academia, parties of all stripes, and in every region of the country,” Harper said in a statement. In the same statement the prime minister said: “David Johnston represents the best of Canada. He represents hard work, dedication, public service, and humility.”

On campus the reaction appears to have been similar. “Overall, students have come together and shown a great deal of pride when our President, David Johnston, was chosen as the next Governor General. President Johnston’s appointment was a popular topic for days among member of the Waterloo community, not to mention, was a trending topic on Twitter in Canada,” explained Feds President Bradley Moggach. Former Feds president and current presidential nominating committee member Allan Babor said, “I am proud to have David now represent my peers and I as head of our state.” ptrelinska@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Paula Trelinska news editor

McGill University acquired new radioactive tracers facility

The Montreal Neurological Institute and hospital (The Neuro) has received approval from Health Canada to manufacture, package, and export radioactive tracers.

These tracers will be sent to various hospitals and facilities across Quebec and Ontario. These radiotracers will be used for cancer diagnosis and imaging research.

The facility is producing GludefTM (fludeoxyglucose F18), and is only the third such site in Canada. GludefTM is a mildly radioactive glucose-analog and decays in radioactivity quickly.

The ability to produce it locally will benefit the hospitals and insitutions in the area, they will be able to get the GludefTM quicker. before it decays in radioactivity.

Formal program to address workplace violence now in place at the U of T

In response to amendments to Bill 168, Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety act, the University of Toronto has now implemented a formal program to address instances of workplace violence.

These changes mandated all provincial employees, this includes universities, have policies and programs to address such problems.

This new program will bring in many existing policies and procedures for dealing with workplace violence as well as clarify the university’s response to these incidents.

The program was approved by Governing Council on May 13, 2010.

University of Victoria is expanding their rabbit cull

The University of Victoria would like to reduce their rabbit population to about 200 rabbits.

Before the initial cull began the rabbit population was estimated at about 1,500.

They will establish rabbit free zones and also rabbit control zones. There will be about four zones and they will have 50 rabbits each.

Under this new plan, any rabbits which are outside Ring Road or in any place they

Paula Trelinska

Queen visits Waterloo: Hundreds of onlookers gathered on Philip Street on July 5, in anticipation of the Queen’s arrival. Just after 11 a.m., Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip arrived in a cavalcade of black limousines. The Queen was taken on a tour of the RIM manufacturing plant.

Before leaving, Mike Laziridis, co-CEO of RIM, and Dalton McGuinty, the Premier of Ontario, presented the royal couple with personalized blackberries, complete with uploaded messages from the Premier himself.

shouldn’t be will be either culled or sterilized, and relocated.

The university is looking for volunteers to help implement the rabbit control program.

So far no volunteers have come forward and the university says it may have to reconsider the implementation of its program.

They have connected with people who are willing to take the rabbits and one facility is willing to take up to 20 rabbits.

All spaces that are willing to take the rabbits would need to first be approved by the Ministry of the Environment.

Undercover police officer found in Ryerson student newspaper office

During the G20 protest, an undercover RCMP officer had to be led out of the Eyeopener office .

Officer Leslie Tull was using the office to monitor ten quiet protesters in the Ryerson Student Centre.

Dressed in plain clothes and asked to leave several times, Tull reportedly refused to leave and was asking students how many exits there were in the building and whether the protesters could be kicked out.

Somebody called security and the officer was escorted out.

University professors from Saudi Arabia at McMaster University

University professors from Saudi Arabia are at McMaster this week for a course on how to teach technological entrepreneurship.

There are 14 professors who represent various faculties at King Abdul-Aziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Throughout the two weeks they are at McMaster the professors will be working through a technology start up model.

The professors will also learn how to apply this model and how this model is already being applied at McMaster in the five year engineering and management program, an undergraduate program at McMaster.

This is organized through Essamy International, a startup company.

— With files from The Eyeopener, The Martlet, the Varsity, and the McGill Daily. ptrelinska@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Azra Premji reporter

HIV vaccine hunt

According to the World Health Organization, about 65,000 Canadians were infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), and approximately two million AIDS-related deaths occured worldwide in 2008. Efforts to develop a vaccine for HIV have been stymied to date because of the speed at which the virus mutates. Researchers have recently identified two naturally occurring human antibodies, VRC01 and VRC02, thought to be effective in neutralizing approximately 90 per cent of HIV mutations. The VRC antibody works to stop the virus from entering and killing important immune system cells called CD4 T-cells. The antibody is able to neutralize a large range of HIV mutations by attaching themselves to a site that remains intact through these countless mutations. Research to develop a possible vaccination that may produce antibodies similar to the VRC01 and VRC02 is underway. Testing will first occur using small lab animals, followed by non-human primates like macaque monkeys, and ultimately in humans, although the latter would occur after at least two to three years.

The findings were reported in Science last week.

Manitoba Metis land claim

A Metis community’s claim that they had been cheated out of about 570,000 hectares of land was recently dismissed. In 1870, Metis residents agreed to the Manitoba Act that promised 1.4 million acres of land to be set aside for Metis children and that the land along the rivers was left alone. According to CBC news, the transfer of land took more than 10 years, and during this time non-Metis settlers moved into the area. The Manitoba Metis Federation (MMF) says the negotiations and obligations by the Government in 1870 have not been fulfilled. However, the Manitoba Court of Appeal did not find the federal government guilty of ‘‘deliberate ineptitude” or “unconscionable conduct.” Chief Justice Richard Scott wrote on behalf of the five appeal judges and said “The Metis children as a whole did receive 1.4 million acres (5,665 square kilometres) — in fact, slightly in excess of that amount.” Further, the court found the Metis did not have treaty rights in 1870 and therefore no claims to the land. President

of the MMF, David Chartrand, announced at a press conference that the Metis people will “be appealing this matter immediately.”

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani: stoning to death

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtianti, 43, has spent the last five years in prison, suffered 99 lashes, and is facing imminent death by stoning for alleged adultery. Ashtianti’s husband was murdered in 2005. When two men were taken into custody, both claimed they had sexual relationships with Ashtianti. She is now facing a penal code based on the Sharia Law, a law that calls for capital punishment of husbands and wives who have had extramarital relations.

However, Islamic scholars argue there are several rigorous conditions attached to the punishment including the requirement that four Muslim men must witness the act and testify in court, a requirement which has not been met in Ashtianti’s case. A letter from Ashtianti’s son and daughter has led to an international campaign. According to the Amnesty International, stoning would entail burying Ashtianti up to her chest and throwing large stones at her until she dies from her injuries. The Iranian Embassy in London is denying reports by media and human rights groups that she would face death by stoning for her crime. According to Mina Ahadi, a Tabriz-born human rights activist (now living in Germany), the Iranian authorities may decide to hang Ashtianti instead. Ashtianti’s fate now rests with Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Human rights activists argue women are not treated equally in Iran and are vulnerable in the judicial system.

NATO death toll rises in Afghanistan

Five U.S. soldiers were killed in Afghanistan over recently. This means that NATO had a death toll of 12 in 24 hours.

Four soldiers were killed by a bomb in southern Afghanistan.

Another U.S. soldier died in a separate attack but also in the south of the country.

These deaths have been occuring while a large manhunt is underway in Helmand province for a rogue Afghan soldier who killed three British soldiers.

— With files from CBC, CNN, The New York Times, CTV, The Toronto Star, MSNBC, and the Globe and Mail.

Opinion IMPRINT The University of Waterloo’s official student newspaper

Imprint, Friday, July 16, 2010 opinion@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Reassessing the necessities

Living each day to the fullest requires cutting out the dispensable

Friday, July 16, 2010 Vol. 33, No. 6 Student Life Centre, Room 1116 University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 P: 519.888.4048 F: 519.884.7800 http://imprint.uwaterloo.ca Editor-in-chief, Gina Racine editor@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Advertising & Production Manager, Laurie Tigert-Dumas ads@imprint.uwaterloo.ca General Manager, Catherine Bolger cbolger@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Sales Assistant, Dina Hamdieh Systems Admin., vacant Distribution, Sherif Soliman Distribution, Abdul Asmat Volunteer co-ordinator, vacant Web Developer, vacant Board of Directors board@imprint.uwaterloo.ca President, E Aboyeji president@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Vice-president, Angela Gaetano vp@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Treasurer, vacant treasurer@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Secretary, Erin Thompson secretary@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Staff liaison, Keriece Harris liaison@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Editorial Staff Assistant Editor, Adrienne Raw Head Reporter, Dinh Nguyen Lead Proofreader, Ivan Lui Cover Editor, Sonia Lee News Editor, Paula Trelinska Opinion Editor, Andrew Dodds Features Editor, Rosalind Gunn Arts & Entertainment, Felicia Rahaman Science & Tech Editor, Komal R. Lakhani Sports & Living Editor, Brent Golem Photo Editor, Peter Kreze Graphics Editor, Armel Chesnais Web Administrator, Jennifer Nguyen Production Staff M. Chung, Abisade Dare, Michael Hay, Ngan Hoang, Mika Ilic, Tejas Koshy, Jacob McLellan, Divyesh Mistry, Deanna Ostafichuk, Eduardo Ramirez

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Next staff meeting: Friday, July 16 12:00 p.m.

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editor@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

hris and Aimee Lane started dating in August, 2003.

“It was very easy to fall in love with Chris ... he was very genuine and there was just something about him,” says Aimee.

The two moved in together in December, 2004, and bought their first house in June, 2005. It was only a matter of one month before Chris got down on one knee and proposed. But before they were set to get married and live happily ever after, Chris’ Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a disease he battled at age 17 but had been free of for eight years, returned.

The two were married in June, 2007, and although Chris was left sterile after undergoing several rounds of chemo therapy, the two had used a sperm bank prior to and Aimee became pregnant. Chris was the first to know.

After a long and tireless battle with the horrific

disease, Chris passed away on June 23, 2009.

Next Sunday, people from the Waterloo area and beyond have the opportunity to ride on Aimee Lane’s positivity train. She will be hosting a fundraiser in memory of her husband — an amazingly creative person who enjoyed music and loved life.

Instead of laying down and letting this disease take over, Aimee is using all her resources to make others more aware of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and is hoping to raise money to help find a cure.

I’m certain this story has touched many — it certainly made me rethink my purpose in life.

Taking something so incredibly tragic and somehow finding a positive — creating awareness about a disease that is becoming more and more prevalent and learning to appreciate what you have — shows that we too can rearrange our lives to become better people. We can overcome what

we consider to be tough situations because people do it every day.

We live in a society that is driven by obtaining financial gain and are taught from a very young age that being happy means being successful. But I believe being successful doesn’t always make you happy.

From the words of Aimee Lane, someone who knows a thing or two about not taking things for granted, “You really have to appreciate each other and enjoy life.”

You really do have to live each day to the fullest and follow your heart. Do what makes you truly happy because you don’t know what could happen tomorrow. Love like you have never been hurt before. Being in love with Chris and the life they shared together are the memories Aimee says she holds onto the most.

Winning hearts and minds

Though logical, COIN is becoming a losing proposition

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ast issue I talked about the meandering war in Afghanistan, and about the media’s tendency to ignore it; and, since you can’t spell ‘I’m not a hypocrite’ without the ‘I,’ let’s delve a little further into just what makes Afghanistan an un-winnable war.

The military strategy being proffered in Afghanistan is counterinsurgency, more commonly known as COIN. At its base are feel-good concepts like “nation-building” and “winning hearts and minds.” The premise is a good one, and painfully logical: if a nation resents you, you only serve to bolster the insurgency.

The problem, of course, is that as an occupying force you are at an immediate disadvantage. Like a guy who breaks up with his girl but wants to maintain the friendship, ISAF faces an uphill battle from the outset. Now,

pmcgeown@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

if the guy tries to cozy up to his ex’s friend (the way the U.S. is in bed with Israel), that might strain an already tenuous “friendship.” And if the guy — oh, I don’t know — kills her friends and family, well, that might make a coffee date more than a little awkward.

Civilian deaths in Afghanistan have risen sharply; the first four months of the year saw a 76 per cent increase over the same period in 2009. The death of a friend, loved one, or countryman would be difficult enough to swallow were it indeed an accident: caused by a stray bullet, say, or a piece of shrapnel.

But too often we learn of incidents like that captured in the Wiki-leaked Collateral Murder; like the killing (and subsequent cover-up) of five family members near Paktia province who had gathered to name a child.

How accessible is news like this to

ordinary Afghans? Based on 2007 estimates of cell phone use in the country, less than one per cent of Afghans — at the time — used a mobile phone.

I’m going to infer that slightly more than that own a television; less than that have Internet access. Even if I’m significantly off the mark, it is safe to posit that the average Afghan is not privy to information about casualty numbers or the manner in which his or her countrymen are killed.

So — no (knowledge of) harm, no foul, right? After all, what could the sentiment of one town matter in the grand scheme of the war?

First, consider that Afghanistan is a big country, and that ISAF forces are already spread much thinner than they would like. More importantly, consider that a recent offensive in the town of Marjah — a small, rural community targeted in the hopes

that it might provide a quick, decisive, propaganda-galvanizing victory — was far more tedious than was first expected. Granted, Marjah was known to have a Taliban presence, but what suggests a wronged town would not agree to harbour — and perhaps even join ranks with — the Taliban?

With calls for new General David Petraeus to relax protocols designed to protect Afghan civilians, the civilian death toll might push higher and set the entire strategy at an even more precarious angle. It is difficult to see a way out; it is even more difficult to imagine that American soldiers might yet win the friendship of the average Afghan. Unlike the hypothetical couple, there was never really a relationship to begin with.

With files from RS.com, Antiwar. com, msnbc.com.

Lessons from Haiti cannot wait bcaradima@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

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alf a year since a devastating magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the island nation of Haiti, media coverage has largely died down and worldwide attention has strayed elsewhere.

No doubt many readers have since noticed a continued global effort to sustain a previously ignored populace on our planet. While many news sources and commentators have pointed out the immediately obvious difficulties in rebuilding Haiti after the quake, few people have considered how past environmental practices will impact the loss of life after the disaster. This increases the challenges that lie ahead in terms of reconstruction, and enabling the Caribbean country to sustain itself.

Long before the earthquake floored the country, Haiti has had a troubled environmental history, particularly in the areas of water resource management and deforestation, both of which

have contributed to the low living standards of the average Haitian.

Prior to the quake, only about 54 per cent of the population had access to a water supply, and 30 per cent had access to sanitation services.

Sewage and waste water treatment were virtually non-existent, resulting in the contamination of surface water and the majority of the shallow ground water aquifers that sustained the drinking wells throughout the country. Additionally, domestic waste water and agricultural runoff caused biological contamination of water nearby and downstream of populated places, resulting in high rates of infant mortality and disease.

On the long road to recovery, dealing with the consequences of an already significant and increasing amount of water pollution will be a major challenge in rehabilitating the country, given that much of the population still relies on surface water

and shallow ground water aquifers for their water supply, both of which are becoming increasingly unsafe to drink due to the non-existent wastewater treatment and sanitation services in the country.

The consequences of deforestation will also continue to haunt Haiti, and it they will continue to do so until programs are in place to address the issues of unregulated logging, slashand-burn land management, and the burning of wood as fuel for domestic purposes.

In 1923, an estimated 60 per cent of the country consisted of lush forest; by 2006, less than two per cent of the country had forest cover. Given that deforestation leads to accelerated erosion of nutrient-rich top soil and decreases the recharge rate of aquifers due to increased surface run-off, the end result is greatly decreased agricultural productivity and decreased water resource replenishment for a

population that long ago outstripped the production of food and procurement of water.

Following the earthquake, the stockpiles of food and water needed to prepare for such a disaster were non-existent to begin with, even if Haiti had had the robust transportation infrastructure needed to handle the distribution of so many supplies.

Additionally, deforestation has also increased the risk of mudslides in the mountainous nation, and stripped the inland areas of the country of any natural buffer against the incoming hurricanes that will surely batter the coast in the near future.

The fact that Haiti has not been able to conserve its significant forest resources now means that future efforts in reconstruction will be hampered by other natural disasters that have increased in risk.

See HAITI, page 5

6

Opinion

Imprint, Friday, July 16, 2010

The essence of Islam asahi@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

T

hus far, this column has explored some prominent misconceptions regarding Islam, and some misconceptions about religion in general, as well as other questions pertaining to religious evolution and the relationship between religion and science. This was necessary so that the readership could begin this journey of legitimately exploring Islam without doubts regarding the validity of religion in general or misgivings about certain misunderstood principles of Islam.

That said, I now start the exploration of Islam by first defining what Islam is. There are many angles from which to answer this fundamental question yet I can only present a few here.

In order to understand Islam, it is pertinent to first understand mankind. Man is a creation full with latent potentialities and diverse faculties. Human life consists of personal life — both at the individual level as well as the familial level — and societal existence.

Moreover, mankind is ever aware that it is not alone. Everywhere it sees its fellow creation, and in everything it sees the majesty of a supreme being, longing for him and ever in search of him.

Fittingly, Islam, which literally translates into peace, is a code of principles which covers every aspect of human life seeking to reform man’s natural faculties such that he becomes in accord with the Will of the Creator of the Universe (and thus

in harmony with everything in nature), and thereby becomes enabled to use his God-given abilities as he was meant to, so that his great spiritual and intellectual potential may be fulfilled.

Islam provides guidance that helps man come closer to his creator and thus helps him achieve individual peace of mind and soul, and teaches him how to live socially, so that man may live peacefully at the societal level and be in accord with his fellow beings.

The Holy Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (On Whom Be Peace), describes Islam thus: “A person can be held to be a Muslim when the whole of his being together with all his faculties, physical and spiritual, is devoted to God Almighty, and the trusts that are committed to him by God Almighty are rendered back to the true giver. He should demonstrate his being a Muslim not only doctrinally but also in practice…a Muslim should prove that his hands and feet, heart and mind, reason and understanding, anger and compassion, meekness and knowledge, all his physical and spiritual faculties, honour and property, comfort and delight, and whatever pertains to him from the top of his head to the soles of his feet together with his motives, fears and passions, have all been subordinated to Almighty God as a person’s limbs are subordinated to him.”

HAITI: Rapid rethink required Continued from page 5

There are undoubtedly many readers wondering why the saying “c’est la vie” seems so hopelessly inadequate for the task of explaining the magnitude of suffering and the prevalence of poverty in Haiti, despite the prevalent corruption of Haitian officials and international blockades of financial loans. The grief and pain that we are witnessing today is not only a culmination of lack of governance and international inaction, it is also the product of gross negligence in the area of environmental policies. The lack of attention towards water resource management, forestry, and soil protection measures have been quietly exacting a toll on the occupants of

this beleaguered Caribbean nation for some time. The international community must take note of Haiti’s environmental record before hastily jumping in to rebuild the country.

Though some will object in order to point out that Haiti has many more serious concerns that are of greater importance, it should be noted that the people of Haiti require more than humanitarian aid and reconstruction; they need a long-term plan for the future, and the pursuit of environmental conservation is precisely that.

Reconstruction and conservation must take place in order to see Haiti through this time of upheaval, and failing in either endeavour will most certainly result in a failed state that will rely on outside aid for decades to come.

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Letters

He further describes Islam as consisting of two parts: “First, that God Almighty should become one’s object of worship and true goal and love, and that worship, love, fear and hope should be for God alone, to the exclusion of all others. All the commandments related to His holiness, glory and worship, all the limits set by Him, and all heavenly decrees should be totally and sincerely accepted…in great humility. All the truths and understandings, which are the means of appreciating His vast powers and of finding out the greatness of His kingdom and His sovereignty and are a guide for the recognition of His favours and bounties, should be fully ascertained.

The second aspect of devoting one’s life to the cause of God Almighty is that one’s life should be devoted to the service of His creatures and to sympathy[ize] with them and [share] their burdens and sorrows. One should suffer pain to bring them comfort, and one should experience grief to bring them consolation.”

Islam is a vast ocean, and to cover it with a fair amount of justice is very difficult, made more difficult still by the length restrictions of a newspaper column. However, that said, I feel this to be a somewhat reasonable introduction into the essence of Islam, and a fitting stepping stone for a series of articles I will write in the coming weeks, serially discussing the Five Pillars of Islam.

letters@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

CASA deserves better fate, second shake Ernest Chi & Justin Lok CASA co-presidents

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ince our inception almost 10 years ago, CASA has made landmark progress on both the scale and diversity of student run operations at the university. The recent events leading to our disbandment have been unfortunate, and this letter has been written to inform and empower you, the student. You deserve to know the facts, and you deserve to be properly informed so that you may ask the right questions and hold the correct parties responsible for this decision.

CASA was disbanded on June 25, 2010, by the Internal Administration Committee. This sub-committee of Feds consists of two student councillors, two students at large, and is chaired by the VP Internal. What is truly disappointing is the unfair and biased process through which this decision was made. The underhanded approach taken by this committee to disband CASA includes blatant violations of Council Procedure 3, which states in Section I.2.b that “when scheduled for dissolution […] each club executive member will be notified by one notice via telephone or email.” The committee made no attempts to notify executives, choosing instead to invite club representatives directly to a disciplinary meeting, at which they were blindsided by requests to state reason against disbandment. The glaring dishonesty in this process deprived CASA of any fair chance to prepare a defence, and as a result, the largest club on campus was dissolved. Given the committee’s extensive knowledge of Feds procedures, it should be clear that this violation was made with cause, and was not just an oversight.

Subsequently, an appeal was held before the student council, one that took the better of four hours. Once again, the circumstances were unjust and the appeal process terribly

flawed. Of the 22 votes cast, three were from members of the committee. It seems unreasonable that when a decision is appealed on the basis of fair process, the very individuals accused of violating procedure are empowered to vote.

The other three Feds executives also held votes, and their support undoubtedly lies with the VP Internal. This totals to six votes accumulated against CASA before discussion had even started. One also cannot discount the reluctance of student councillors to vote in opposition of their senior executive team. This was evidenced by one councillor’s motion for voting by secret ballot, to which the VP Internal responded by motioning for voting by roll call, which puts every councillor’s vote on record for public release through the meeting minutes.

This is not to criticize the dedicated student councillors, who showed diligence and patience in thoroughly discussing the issue. It is the leadership that is at fault. The committee has based their decision on CASA’s failure to uphold the very same procedure which they themselves have violated.

Proposals raised by multiple councillors to collaborate on a solution that would continue to foster CASA’s charitable initiatives were firmly dismissed. These very initiatives raised over $16,000 in the past year, and had far-reaching impacts throughout the university as well as the local Kitchener/ Waterloo community. The result of this decision sets a precedent that the Federation of Students, as an authoritative figure, is exempt from the very procedures they set for students and student groups. Was this decision reflective of the Feds mandate, “to serve, empower, and represent the undergraduate students of the University of Waterloo?”

It is now up to you, as students, to voice your displeasure, and ensure that student groups of the future are protected from such unfair treatment.

Pro-life propaganda on University Ave. Serena Markus waterloo resident

I

am not one to be offended by much, but I was absolutely disgusted after being bombarded with the visual atrocities a certain rights group portrayed on giant placards all the way down University Avenue beside the University of Waterloo this week.

There were pictures and graphic images of aborted fetuses at various gestational ages.

Now I don’t begrudge anyone their beliefs or their right to protest — this is Canada and one of the greatest privileges of living here is the freedom of speech — but I personally think there’s a line which this display most definitely crossed.

Images such as these would receive a high rating if they made it into

mainstream theatres and we would (as parents) have the option of screening and making an informed decision to allow our children to watch it or not, but they are somehow acceptable to display in public streets without warning, choice or regard for the audience because someone’s beliefs need to be heard/seen.

Had I have known, I simply would have taken an alternate route home, saving my son the trauma of viewing this garbage.

We were driving in my van on the way home from daycare and he was looking out the window when we came up on their signs and there was nowhere to go but right past them.

They were so disturbing I almost risked the damages that would have been caused to my van by hopping the median and going another way.

Horribly graphic images of dis-

membered, bloody, little fetuses/ babies, how do you explain that type of thing to a three-year-old.

Someone please tell me why our children must view this atrocity just because a few people want the shock value of this display? For the one baby this might have saved, they have emotionally scarred 100 more who had no choice but to be subjected to it on a normally peaceful ride home from daycare.

If you are trying to reach university students, then do it on campus, away from the public streets and out of the sight of small children.

As a private taxpaying citizen I feel that I should be able to safely drive my son down the streets without being bombarded with this visually disturbing propaganda.

Chalk markings are one thing but this is too much.

Science & Technology

Protesters in action as Marcel Coutu is driven away.

Imprint, Friday, July 16, 2010 science@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

photos by Komal R. Lakhani

Oil Sands good or bad?

The effect of oil sands in Canada

Komal R. Lakhani science and technology editor

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n a lecture held by the engineering and science faculties, President and CEO of Canadian Oil Sands Trust, Marcel Coutu, (a graduate of the University of Waterloo) presented the opportunities available to engineering, geology and geophysics in the Canadian oil industry. The public lecture, titled Impact of Canada’s Oil Sands, held on July 8, was subject to a silent protest concerning environmental issues surrounding the oil sands. Coutu is also the chairman of Syncrude Canada Ltd. The oil sands are a naturally occurring resource and produce a heavy and viscous oil that has to be heavily refined in order to be converted into usable products like gasoline and diesel. Oil sands consist of water, bitumen, sand, clay or various minerals. Alberta has the largest sand reserves in the world.

Coutu preached benefits of oil sands stating that 85 per cent of the world’s energy comes from hydrocarbons. He stated that oil sands are a key piece of Canada’s energy future. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers believe oil sands are a boost to economic activity and investments in oil sands was approximately $8.8 billion.

The total reserves of oil sands in all of Canada are considered to be in excess to that of Saudi Arabia according to www.oilcrisis.com.

Teach English Abroad

Environmentalists believe that the oil sands are a disaster in the making since the refining process leaves a major portion of water and minerals in the soil exposed to the biosphere.

According to www.worldwatch.org, the extraction process requires copious amounts of energy and resources. This results in the wastage of large quantities of water known as tailing (ground roc and process effluents that are generated in a mine processing plant) which are known to be toxic. According to the website there are two enormous toxic tailing dumpsites resulting from the extraction process that are visible from space via the naked eye.

When an audience member raised a question concerning the Syncrude environmental policy, Coutu responded: “We transport our employees in buses to the field, so that they don’t have to drive there, hence reducing carbon dioxide emissions from so many cars.”

Present at the lecture was a silent protest by WPIRG. “We are campaigning for lowering green house gas emissions in Canada,” stated Cassandra Polyzou a member of WPIRG. A number of posters raising concerns and questions about oil sands were held during the protest, which went unanswered.

Contu defended the oil sands development stating that “there will always be cost and benefits,” but added that “open land mining is temporary and we refill it.” klakhani@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

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Top: Marcel Coutu presenting during the lecture.

Left: A protestor displays a poster during the event.

Public Square

8

Science & Technology

Imprint, Friday, July 16, 2010

N-ice, N-ice, Baby : liquid nitrogen ‘n-ice’ cream

W

achiang@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

hen most people refer to the term “seasonal eating,” they’re referring to eating fruits and vegetables that are available, or particularly abundant, at specific times throughout the year. “Eat local, eat fresh”—that sort of thing.

But you see, I’m not most people.

When I talk about “seasonal eating,” I’m referring to eating curry in the winter, dried fruit and flatbreads in the rainy spring, and ice cream in the summer. Yes, really. And with the most recent heat wave to plague us this past week, I’ve been seasonally craving ice cream more than ever. More specifically, I’ve been craving ice-cream making.

I first discovered homemade ice cream about a month ago, when I had a can of coconut milk waiting to be used up, and realized—much to my dismay—that unless creativity struck (and fast), it was destined for a sketchy location in the back corner of my freezer. And of course, once there, things never make it back out. Enter: homemade mint-y coconut milk ice cream.

I’d read about making ice cream sans ice-cream maker before,

a process popularized by pastry chef David Leibovitz, and it seemed simple enough: mix together coconut milk, ground flax seeds, mint, and sugar.

Throw in freezer and stir every half an hour for four hours.

I tried it. Unfortunately, the results were inedible. A big container-sized chunk of milky ice, at best. The reason, of course, is because ice-cream making is really a science, best described at the molecular level.

Andre Masella, a graduate student from Laurier who works in UW’s biology department and has an affinity for blueberry Philadelphia-style ice cream, explained: “In normal ice-cream making, the freezing is so slow that gross crunchy crystals would form, but the churning keeps them small through agitation. This also mixes in air, making it soft and light.”

Considering the very non-soft and non-light consistency of my ice cream, I guess I lack some serious churning skills. Fortunately for me, however, Masella has a solution: liquid nitrogen ice cream.

Just as the weather outside makes my brain want to fry like

a batch of New York-style fish and chips, liquid nitrogen is just the opposite: it’s extremely cold. At -196 °C, the simple addition of it to any regular ice cream recipe encourages fast freezing (as opposed to the slow-freezing process of conventional ice cream making), which can greatly alter the texture and density of the final product.

“Ice cream can have 50 per cent air by volume—or 100 per cent overfill in frozen dessert lingo,” explained Masella. “The nitrogen-cooled ice cream is smooth, but very hard and dense, as there is no air mixed in.”

Surprisingly, as long as you figure out how to get your hands on the cool substance, making your liquid nitrogen ice cream is really rather simple. Take any regular recipe for ice cream, wear some heavy insulated or cryogenic gloves, maybe some goggles, and whisk in enough liquid nitrogen to your mixture in a stainless bowl until it reaches the desired consistency. And there you have it: your very own perfectly edible n-ice cream.

‘Tis the season, indeed.

Liquid Nitrogen ‘N-ice’ Cream (Mint-y Coconut Milk Version)

INGREDIENTS: 1 14-oz can full-fat coconut milk 2 eggs 1 vanilla bean, cut in half lengthwise 1 T chopped fresh mint 3 T unrefined sugar Liquid nitrogen, at least 1-2 litre

DIRECTIONS:

all ice cream materials in a large stainless steel 1bowl.Combine Stir to dissolve all the sugar. add some liquid nitrogen to the ice cream mixture 2whileSlowly stirring. CAUTION: A fog will be formed.

MAYA HENDERSON

Jinxu Zhang staff reporter

Controlling the Internet

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ince its recent invention, the Internet has filtered through every aspect of society, establishing an ubiquitous presence as a deeply entrenched part of our lives. While the Internet has always been difficult to control, the US government has taken drastic steps in recent weeks to protect its cyber interest.

A bipartisan bill, approved by a US Senate panel, gives the President of the United States the power to control or stop parts of the Internet in situations of national security. While the bill is vague in its definition of ‘national security’, there is growing worry of the US government’s ability to censor free speech and stop information flow. In addition to the so-called ‘internet kill switch,’ the National Security Agency has initiated a $100 million domestic Internet monitoring program dubbed ‘Perfect Citizen’. The program, which is claimed to help counter cyber-attacks on critical virtual infrastructure, serves as R&D for sensors deployed on various governmental networks such as the electricity grid and nuclear power plants. Beyond government infrastructure, the monitoring

program would be able to piggyback onto domestic networks to monitor for possible threats and assess national threat levels. The ominously named program, launched in short procession with the ability to shutdown the Internet, has created growing concerns of a ‘Big Brother’ system. While these regulations and programs do not directly affect Canadians, it is key to remember that much of the Internet’s critical backbone relies on servers within the United States. If a widespread shutdown were to occur, it would have the power to cripple the rest of the world’s Internet access as well.

While these measures are worrying for some, they come on the heels of recent cyber-attacks on major government infrastructure in the US and abroad. Over the Independence Day weekend, Treasury Department, Secret Service, Federal Trade Commission and Transportation Department web sites were all down at varying points. Additionally, suspected cyber-attacks paralyzed much of South Korea’s government servers and major banks. The Defense Ministry, the National Assembly, Shinhan Bank, Korea Exchange Bank and top Internet portal Naver were all forced to shutdown and major access issues lingered until late into the week. These recent high-profile attacks follow the much-publicized ‘Operation Aurora’ earlier this year. The highly organized attack, intent on modifying the internal code of these Internet companies, left operations at Google and Adobe severely compromised. As a result of these attacks, governments around the world have developed growing concern of their cyber vulnerabilities.

jzhang@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Did you know about Insulin?

Divyesh Mistry staff reporter

Before 1922, those who were diagnosed with diabetes would often lay dying in a comatose states, with their familes and loves ones surrounding them just waiting. Two years earlier, however, Canadian medical scientist Frederick Banting read something in a medical paper that he found intriguing.

He had made a link between the substance that had previously had no known medical properties and an experiment involving the pancreas and sugar. He found the medicial properties of insulin and the applications it could have in treating diabetes.

33 years earlier, a Polish-German scientist, Oscar Minkowski, had found that urine contained sugar, observing the swarming of flies around a dog’s pancreas and testing the urine for traces of sugar, what flies usually swarm around.

A year earlier, in 1921, a scientist in Bucharest had actually managed to discover the compound that would eventually known as insulin. Nicolae Paulescu patented the technique to create insulin, however no clinical use was found to be able to be used, so it lay forgotten.

Frederick Banting, who at the time had been a surgeon, knew how to extract the pancreas.

Travelling to Toronto, he set up lab space at the University of Toronto and recruited a lab assistant, Charles Best. Doing experiments

on dogs, he devised a theory that essentially extracted insulin from the surgically removed dog’s pancreas. Since removing a pancreas from an animal is akin to inducing them with diabetes, Banting and his assistance were able to keep the dog alive by injecting it with insulin.

By the end of the year, involving more dogs and a fetal calf pancreas, while recruiting more people onto the team including biochemist James Collip and psychologist J.J.R. Macleod, and publishing the results, privately, they decided to start a clinical test. They started on a 14-yearold who lay in Toronto General Hospital, dying in a coma. However, due to the insulin being so impure, the first human injection resulted in a severe allergic reaction, but the second injection

completely removed any sign of diabetes in the patient. The second test involved a giant ward room of children, each being injected with the insulin and each miraculously waking up before Banting and his team finished at the end of the room. In 1923, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was rewarded to Banting and MacLeod, who split the money with Best and Collip respectively. They then sold the patent for insulin to the University of Toronto.

Insulin remained mainly animal-based until the 1970s, when a genetically engineered human based insulin was created. Afterwards, most insulin created for use was this form. dmistry@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Features

Imprint, Friday, July 16, 2010 features@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Prudent student: A guide on student investing

reporter

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his is not an article about investment strategy.

This is instead a case for the logic and importance of drinking one less latte a week while you’re here at UW, and then never having to worry again about how you’re going to afford Starbucks during retirement.

Let’s go back to your first day of university in September.

Let’s say starting then, you saved $5 dollars every week, and put it in the stock market. You decide to put it in the stock market because historically, including depressions and bubbles, it’s showed an average of 14 per cent returns over time.

So, you skip one latte or two tequila shots at Phil’s and are able to put your $5 a week into the stock market. That’s $20 per month, or $240 per year, which is an entirely reasonable sum for persons of student income. Then, let’s also say you’re in co-op so you’re here at UW for a solid five years, graduating at 22, assuming you started university at age 18.

During your time as a student, you’ve managed to invest $1,200.

Good for you! So now you’ve graduated and you’ve moved to New York, and you start your successful adult career. But somewhere in the shuffle of life, you forget about investing and you never again invest a single penny in anything and go about working until age 65. At that time, you suddenly remember that money you invested.

You head off to your stock or mutual fund broker, ready to withdraw your $1,200. Instead, she hands you a cheque for the sum total of $335,807.08 as opposed to the $1,200 you painlessly put away during your undergrad. Wow. And such is the power of taking advantage of your age when it comes to making money.

Compound interest works in the same way that exponential parabolas work. They start off slow, and then

suddenly take off. If you begin stocking away money now as a student, the fact that you have more years ahead of you than you will ever have in your entire life will work to your advantage. Pretty powerful stuff, right?

But then, what happens if you never stopped putting in $240 per year? Remember now, this is even after you’ve graduated and you’re making big bucks and putting your arts degree to good use. If between the ages of 18 and 65, you put away an annual $240, you’ll have $921,954.08 which is close enough to a million dollars to make even the greediest of people quite comfortable. OK, so a million dollars won’t have the same purchasing power in 47 years as it does now, but you’re all smart enough to figure out that you’re not always going to be depending on OSAP to pay rent on a monthly basis and you’ll very soon have a lot more than $20 a month to take care of yourself.

But let’s say you’re diligent and like to show off, and you want to build the kind of financial future where at the age of 30, you can take a year off to travel the world and live off of the interest of your investments. Let’s say you start putting away $100 per month, or $1,200 per year while you’re in school, starting at age 18.

By the time you take your sabbatical at 30, you’ll have $38,506.38, which, coupled with your freelance photography business, is a tidy sum to live off of while hiking with monks in the mountains of Tibet for 12 months. And by the time you’re 65? You’ll have $4,609,770.40 and a membership to Bill Gate’s yacht club.

Now the point of this isn’t to tell you to stop drinking Starbucks, or that getting disoriented at Phil’s on a Saturday night is a bad thing. The beauty of youth is how quickly your liver can recover from, well, anything.

A little bit of foresight coupled with enjoying your life and living in the now can get you a long way when you take advantage of all the years you have to make good financial

decisions. That’s the beauty of starting to invest from a young age. You have so much time to do it, that you can start with so little and still be miles ahead of all the people who don’t learn what “compound investing” is until they hit 50. Two fewer shots per week is nothing compared to expensive designer everything and a beautiful life that you love.

So how do you get started with putting your money away?

Well the other great thing is that, because you’re a student, many banks and investment firms will waive their fees or give you a discount if you simply ask. As far as customer service goes, RBC and CIBC are the best banks for students to go to when they’re ready to begin investing.

If you’d rather go to a private investment firm, however, (which the author recommends because they generally have better trained financial advisors and better perks) the best and closest firm to UW is Canacord Investment in Uptown Waterloo. They quite simply have the friendliest, most knowledgeable and eager to help financial advisors when it comes to dealing with student accounts, out of all the other companies contacted.

Generally, investment advisors are paid on how well the stocks they pick perform. What that means is, the more money you make, the more they make.

So it’s usually in an advisor’s best interest to not rip you off, because they’re earning money on a percentage of your earnings. Big bucks for you means big bucks for them. (Make sure to ask how your advisor is being compensated—go for ones that get paid on performance, as opposed to flat-rate fees. It’s your right to know that, so ask.)

Use your eagerness and age as a bargaining tool when trying to get discounts, regardless of any firm you go with.

Make it very clear to them that you’re in this for the long haul, and you’ll be surprised about how excited they are to work with you.

Happy investing!

If you’re not linked in, you’re Out

S

ocial or “New” media has been hyped as the start of a wildly different style of communication in our lives: one that is more collaborative, responsive, and sharing in nature than the two-way conversations of yesterday.

The art of networking has not been spared from this radical development.

LinkedIn is arguably the most popular form of online professional networking, with over 70 million members worldwide as of May, 2010.

As an online job service, LinkedIn has changed the way people meet prospective employers — making it an ideal environment for internet-savvy networkers, like yourself, to look for your next opportunity.

LinkedIn is a social media evolution of traditional job search engines like Workopolis and Monster, where you can post your resume to make it searchable by HR professionals in specific industries.

The added power of collaborative sites like LinkedIn is that it can be used to communicate and connect with people you meet in business engagements. By building a network of professional relationships online, you can learn more about people you meet and get

introduced to opportunities you never knew were available.

Connecting with people through LinkedIn is very easy: it can be as simple as uploading your entire email address book and clicking “invite all.”

However, like any other form of networking, an ounce of sincerity is worth a pound of gold. Making your invites a little more personal is a far better strategy because it allows you to subtly remind people where you met them and that you’re interested in who they are.

That being said, LinkedIn connections should lean towards quality rather than quantity, because every contact you earn makes you more accessible to that person’s entire network.

This is because LinkedIn operates on shared contacts basis, meaning that you can be indirectly connected with someone by sharing a lot of their same contacts.

Basically, the more people you connect with, the more people you’ll be exposed to through their connections. Otherwise, many people will remain invisible to you on LinkedIn because they are “out of your network.” Adding people onto LinkedIn you have only met briefly is not a bad thing.

“

imerrow@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

“

Ayomide Daring

Adding people onto LinkedIn you have only met briefly is not a bad thing. After all, your very best friends and business contacts should already be a phone-call away.

After all, your very best friends and business contacts should already be a phone-call away. LinkedIn is more about reaching out to people you might not know so well, but want to remain in contact with professionally in case you find an opportunity they might be interested in.

The creation of your profile is probably the most important aspect of the LinkedIn experience, and writing about it here doesn’t do the topic justice. Suffice to say that your LinkedIn profile has the potential to go far beyond your resume in terms of richness of detail.

On your profile you can add your specialties, paragraphs describing the companies

you’ve worked for, details about projects that don’t fit in resume three-bullet formats, and a clever introduction that sums up who you are to prospective employers. Don’t miss out on this chance to expand on your traditional resume — it’s what LinkedIn is all about.

Most importantly, ease up on your privacy settings so your profile is searchable. HR professionals are now using LinkedIn to search for prospective employees instead of the other way around. Take advantage of this new trend and make your name pop up in searches for new graduates from the University of Waterloo. You never know what opportunities will come your way, so get linked in... or get left out.

The features section wants YOU to volunteer To volunteer, email features@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Features

Celebrating life after tragedy Rosalind Gunn features editor

A

“

Gina Racine

Chris, it always seemed to me like you had something special figured out about life. I never understood what it was, but I hope one day I will be able to look back and nod when I think about you and what it may have been. You are wise beyond your years and have taught me so much man. I wish you were around to help me now.

— Message to Chris written by a friend

“

Aimee Lane holding a CD of Chris’ music compiled by his friends after he passed away.

imee Lane had just found out she was pregnant when she had to plan her husband’s funeral.

At the age of 17, Chris Lane was first diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. After undergoing treatment, he remained cancer-free for eight years. “Five years is supposed to be that magic number,” says Aimee. That’s usually the mark where a person can feel sure their cancer won’t return. Such wasn’t the case for Chris, whose cancer returned, armed and ready for battle in 2005.

Aimee spoke of Chris and their life together as being the best years of her life. “Honeybuns” was her nickname for him and everyone knew it. Even their friends called him Honeybuns sometimes. The two were cute, they were sappy, they were inseparable, and it all began here, at the University of Waterloo. They met in 2003, during their time as undergraduates — Aimee a biochemistry major and Chris a computer science student. From early on, he felt that Aimee was the one, she says. “I mean, we were together like three weeks and I was helping him move!”

“It was just very easy to fall in love with Chris. I think part of it was [him] having gone through cancer at 17. I think it changed his outlook on life. He was very genuine and he had a charisma about him, you know?

My girlfriends would always say ‘there’s something about him. He gets away with stuff that most men just can’t get away with.’”

After about a year together, they were looking for their first house together. At their housewarming party at the end of July 2005, Chris proposed to Aimee in front of about 50 of their friends and family. “I was really impressed at how he was able to [surprise me], because he knew how observant I am, to the extent that, when he borrowed the car to drive out of town to get the engagement ring, he made sure to refill the tank to where it was so I wouldn’t notice the long trip,” says Aimee.

In August of that same year he began to notice a lump in his neck. He called his doctor and asked to move his September appointment to a sooner date to get it checked.

“He was worried, but, well, I’ve never known anyone so young to have cancer, so in my head, to deal with it, I guess I was sure that, oh, it was nothing,” says Aimee.

Chris did in fact have cancer again. “It was just total and utter shock,” says Aimee. And so, the chemotherapy began all over again, and he would likely become sterile as a result of it, doctors told him. The two decided to try the option of using a sperm bank.

By February he was in full remission and he looked great. Soon after they began to plan their wedding. They got married June 9 of 2007 and had what Aimee described as an amazing day. The first year of their marriage was bliss. They frequented the Uptown Waterloo strip on the weekends, meeting many of the people who were going to become their best friends. “[The years of] 2006-2007 were probably the best years of my life,” she says.

For whatever law of the universe, Chris and Aimee were made to pay for that amazing year, because the cancer came back. “For New Year’s 2008 we had a party at our house. The day after, Chris wasn`t feeling well and I thought it was just a hangover. But then it was kind of dragging on. He wasn’t feeling well and he was starting to get fevers. After five days of a persisting fever — a key symptom of Hodgkin’s — Chris went to his doctor.

The doctor did a few tests and they didn`t look good, so he told him to go to his oncologist for a biopsy which confirmed that the lymphoma was back again.

This time, they decided a stem cell transplant was going to be necessary. In order to perform the transplant, cells had to be harvested in Chris’s body, a very painful experience, Aimee says.

Later that year, eager to go back to work after recovering from the treatment, Chris convinced the doctors to let him go back. He went to work at RIM, where he was a team lead over a group of people Aimee says he loved to work with and who really respected him in return.

“He really liked his job; he’s not the type to just lie around. At the end, when he finally stopped working, it was because he was so sick that he couldn`t get off the couch,” she says. Instead of taking leaves of absences during his chemotherapy, he had worked it out with his employers that he’d work three days a week and on the off days, he’d go to chemotherapy.

On those “off ” days he didn’t really relax the way

he was supposed to. “He’d get up, go to chemotherapy, he’d come home, he’d have a nap, then he’d get together with his friends to try and record his album,” recounts Aimee. “He really wanted to have an album recorded before he passed away.”

Music was arguably Chris’ second love. “He was really into music. If he could have been a musician full-time and do the computer thing part-time, then that would have been what he did,” said Aimee.

He would play gigs around the city, frequenting Fox and Fiddle, as well as Failte’s. “Some nights he wouldn’t come home until about 3 a.m. and then he’d have to go to work the next morning,” laughs Aimee.

“He always handled chemo very well for some reason.

You always hear horror stories of chemo being worse than the cancer itself. “But Chris, it got to the point where he would look forward to chemotherapy, because, he said, ‘I feel like crap and I know that when I get some chemo I feel so much better.’ He’d get it, feel a bit tired, and just have a quick nap.”

In 2008-2009, Chris began to experience pain in his hip. Doctors recommended that Chris undergo more radiation.

Shortly thereafter, Chris had an appointment with his oncologist. “We knew it wasn’t good, because, when she walked in the room, she looked like she’d already been crying. Before she could even get it out, she started crying... she told us that it was back, that it wasn’t good, and that there wasn’t really anymore treatments left,” a tearful Aimee explains. They were given the option of a clinical trial as their last chance to try and beat the cancer.

“When he was sick people always said to me, “I don’t know how you do it,” and I’d say that, after he passed away, it was the hardest time of my life. But when I had him, it was never difficult; it was always so easy, because he made it easy. He never felt sorry for himself and, as long as he felt good enough to get off the couch, we were always doing something. In between treatments, we were out all the time, seeing music all the time, travelling around. So, even in May, when it looked like the chemo stopped working and he had to start the clinical trial, he seemed so optimistic.”

Even with their circumstances, the couple was on the search for their “forever house,” where they could build their family. On June 2, 2009, they got the news that, after months and months of trying, Aimee was finally pregnant.

But Chris wasn’t going to be able to watch his wife’s baby bump grow. About 51 days after the news, Chris succumbed to the disease and passed away.

Five-month-old Julian Jason Lane will never meet the father who named him.

It was his love of music that the idea for the Chris Lane Memorial Fundraiser came from. “The event to me is something more like, if Chris was here, it’s something he would have done,” Aimee says. “I just feel like, now that he’s not here, I have to do something on that type of scale.”

The headlining band, The Spades (local to Peterborough), is a band that was very involved in Chris and Aimee’s life. “When Chris and I saw the Tragically Hip in Sarnia in about 2005, one of the opening bands was The Spades. We thought they were awesome. They were a three-piece band and had “The Spades” on their drum kit just like the Beatles,” says Aimee.

The couple followed the band around as they toured Ontario cities and got to know them personally, Chris often chatting with them after shows.

“When I contacted the band and asked them to do the fundraiser,” says Aimee, “they said they were actually thinking about trying to do something for Chris,” says Aimee. “Juneyt is a flamenco guitarist from this city and he played at our wedding. He’s the one who’s gotten all the local artists and has gone to Sherwood and gotten the musical equipment.”

The Second Annual Chris Lane Memorial is an entire day devoted to celebrating music and life, running from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday, July 25, in the Waterloo Public Square. Performances range from children’s entertainment earlier in the day, to rock music at night, with a beer tent on the scene. All proceeds raised from the event will go to the Canadian Cancer Society directed to Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

For more information about the event or how to donate or volunteer, visit www.chrislanefoundation.org.

“

11

Imprint, Friday, July 16, 2010

Even if there was an answer to “why me?” would it really make anything better? If your name was drawn from a hat, or if you were being punished for cheating in school, would that really make your situation any different? In fact, since the question has no answer you might as well give it an awesome one. It’s you because your suffering takes the place of some poor child that would have got your cancer. It’s you so that you’ll have a sob story to tell pretty girls. It’s an irrational question so give it a nice irrational answer and feel good!

— From “Shit Happens,” by Chris Lane

“

10

Courtesy Aimee Lane

Chris Lane playing his guitar on the beach.

12

Features

Imprint, Friday, July 16, 2010

Green networks jbelanger@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

arious media outlets have depicted the burgeoning food activism movement as elitist; merely the concerns of the wealthy. After examining the extent and variety of food activism outlets, it becomes evident that people of all walks of life are taking a greater interest in the food they eat. Queen St. Commons Café, located in downtown Kitchener enables members of the community to actively engage with the food cycle and provide the knowledge and skills necessary to become food activist. Not only do they provide delicious and affordable vegetarian options, they also provide access to Community-Supported Agriculture programs (CSA boxes), farmers’ markets and cooking classes, etc.

More importantly, the café provides a public space for inclusive community building which largely revolves around food. This is a welcoming alternative to “corporate coffee chains, which have a managed way of controlling how people use the space” as stated by Joe Mancini, a representative of the café that I had the pleasure of meeting with. The café is very welcoming, with its very affordable prices and friendly volunteers; conversations flow naturally, seemingly unlikely friendships bud within the unstructured environment with movable furniture.

The philosophy of the café revolves around the building of community through the development of skills through the access to tools and knowledge. By including marginalized groups, they succeed in creating a space of genuine community, which is most appealing to the regular patrons.

Mancini and the other folks at the café are trying to “carve a space in corporate culture” and rediscover lost wisdom within mainstream society; such wisdom includes soil, seed and compost fundamentals, as well as food preparation skills.

Mancini cautions that the expansion of the processed food industry is leading to the relative deskilling of society and poses a threat to culture, seeing as the overwhelming abundance of processed products sends the message that regular people don’t have the ability to make equally tasty food. As a result, many are not developing basic “survival skills,” such as preparing meals and growing produce. Mancini proposes we can individually become better

“

The expansion of the processed food industry is leading to the relative deskilling of society and poses a threat to culture, seeing as the overwhelming abundance of processed products sends the message that regular people don’t have the ability to make equally tasty food.

“

V

Building community inclusively, one hummus wrap at a time

human beings by reflecting on our skills and the problems we face and mastering a craft by developing the appropriate tools and knowledge, which we can then share with our community.

The food available at the café is prepared and consumed by locals; this creates a tighter looped distribution system and evokes the possibilities and limitations within a local food economy. The food cycle becomes dynamic, and one begins to understand the implications of ones actions.

Queen St. Commons Café is at the heart of the Kitchener-Waterloo food activism movement.

They may not be militant in their approach, but the sense of community they are able to help create through food brings ideas and people together.

This helps create a powerful network of like-minded people who can share their ideas and skills and organize to further their cause. Given the plethora of issues within our global food system, it would be beneficial if we as acting members within the system sought to develop our food-related skills to increase the overall understanding of the food cycle, and to upgrade the tools at hand to create a sustainable food system.

From Florence

H

ave you ever gotten lost in a foreign city? I have, and it was great.

Landing in Florence was definitely eventful.

After a two hour train ride from Venice, I realized that I did not know where my hostel was. I had a rough idea of where the location was and that I was supposed to take a bus, but I had no idea how far I was supposed to take it.

To make matters worse, the bus schedules and routes had recently changed, which meant that there was no bus map.

The solution lies in the kindness of strangers. By asking people to give me directions to the hostel I met a lady that gave me a car ride there, she too was a backpacker once upon a time. If you run into problems, don’t stress and a solution will soon appear in front of you. With that being said, planning helps.

Florence is a great city, however five days is a bit too much time to spend there. The first site you should go to is the Duomo which is the biggest church in Florence.

I highly suggest climbing the Campanile because it will give you a great view of the city.

This is one of the oldest churches in city and I suggest climbing the Dome as well as it is the highest point in the city. Another great church that should be visited is the Santa Croce.

There you will find the tombs of

Armel Chesnais

great Italian figures, including Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli.

The next site I recommend seeing is the Uffizi museum. This is one of Italy’s greatest art galleries, which showcases some of the art that the Medici family has procured over the ages. One should keep an eye out for the Birth of Venus by Botticelli.

If you cross the river Arno, you will find the Palazzo Pitti. This palace was built by Luca Pitti a big rival to the Medici family. Pitti, however, went bankrupt from the building costs and thus the palace was purchased by the Medici family.

I also recommend visiting the rooms as you will get a glimpse into the life of the Medici family. The Boboli gardens behind the palace are also marvellous.

If you have time left over from visiting the different sites try walking up to Fiesole. Fiesole is a small quiet town north Florence, located on a small mountain.

There you will find an ancient Roman theatre. Right beside the theatre there is a museum which showcases different archaeological findings including some Etruscan vases, coins and other tools.

Fiesole also has its own cathedral as well which is worth seeing, however the number one reason to go up to Fiesole is because of the scenic view of Florence. bpetrescu@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Sports & Living

Imprint, Friday, July 16, 2010 sports@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Squash Warrior represents Canada down under Seth follows up Canadian University Squash Championships gold medal with strong play against the best in the world

Michael Markovski reporter

T

he seventh annual World University Squash Championships are currently underway in the beautiful city of Melbourne, Australia. At the tournament, competitors from 11 countries around the world competed at a high level while experiencing a taste of Australian culture. Micaala Seth, a second year chemical engineering student at the University of Waterloo, is one of the individuals representing Canada at this prestigious tournament.

At the World Championships, Seth was ousted in the first round in straight sets (11-2, 11-4, 11-5) by the eventual fourth place competitor, Melody Francis of Australia. She was then placed in a consolation bracket where she won her first match in three straight sets, but went on to lose her next match by a score of three games to one. Seth ended up in 14th place out of 15 competitors in her event.

Seth qualified for the World Championships after winning the Canadian University and College Squash Championships on Sunday,

March 7 this year. She reached the final with an upset victory over the top-seeded Nikole Todd of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. In the women’s final, Seth defeated Erin Roberts of Queen’s University to gain her berth in the World University Squash Championships.

Seth and her siblings were introduced to the world of squash by their parents who have been avid fans and players of the sport for years.

“One day they just put a racquet in our hands to see what happened,” said Seth. Evidence suggests they made the right choice, as she quickly took to the game and learned the skills and strategies involved in being a successful competitor.

“I think the turning point for me was when I was 12 and decided to take my competing to another level,” says Seth. She competed in her first tournament that year, and her team won the Silver medal. From that point on, she was hooked. In addition to keeping herself in tip-top shape, Seth says squash has helped her grow as a person and develop many meaningful relationships on and off the court.

The University of Waterloo has

also aided her endeavours as she attributes much of her success to training alongside the men’s varsity team on campus. By doing so, she learned many important drills to keep her in top form.

To give some newcomers to the sport some tips, Seth says the most important aspects of being successful are “getting the racquet back early, squaring up to the ball through footwork preparation, and using basic game strategy, such as hitting the ball where the opponent isn’t.”

It seems simple enough, but don’t be fooled because it is definitely a lot harder than it sounds.

In terms of keeping up with her demanding course load and busy training schedule, Seth says it takes mental toughness, but also had to thank the chemical engineering apartment for being very supportive and accommodating to her needs as an athlete.

After her experience at the World Championships, Seth says she will continue to play squash and hopes to compete in many more provincial and national championships.

Oh alcohol, I have loved you more mjefkins@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

B

arenaked Ladies references that date me back to the stone ages aside, its likely time we had a bit of a chat regarding some aspect of nutrition. I’ll let you work out just what aspect it is this week all on your own.

While the gym for many may be seen as “the hard part,” in all honesty it is regrettably the easy bit. If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent more than the three or four hours per week needed for a gym commitment aimlessly searching the internet each day.

The actual hard part comes by taking responsibility for the fuel with which you choose to power the various bits of human you’ve got. And when deciding at the chopping block, it isn’t hard to tell why alcohol should really be the first to go.

Alcohol — ethanol — isn’t just a drug, it is also a dense macronutrient. Unfortunately, unlike fat or protein, it is toxic and unable to be stored by our bodies. This means that the seven or so calories found in each gram consumed by your body will make its metabolisis top priority. At 12 grams of ethanol each, a standard drink will contain a minimum of 84 calories even before you consider nonethanol calories from mix or beer.

It’s easy to see how even a weekly night out can really inhibit results on calories alone, but of course that’s not all. Let’s talk now about how it affects muscular gains.

As I’ve mentioned in previous weeks, fat loss and muscle gain are intrinsically linked; the affects of alcohol in these areas are none too kind. In addition to direct disruption of protein synthesis, which I lack the credentials to get in to, ethanol has been consistently shown to cause significantly lowered levels of growth hormone, to cause increases in cortisol, and again decreases in testosterone.

Growth hormone secretions quickly become affected by even as little as a fifth of a drink in a 150 pound person. Seeing as growth hormone affects everything from

protein synthesis to calcium retention it is easy to make reasoned arguments against diminishing it from natural levels. Also, the affects of increased cortisol levels target similar systems. Large amounts can weaken the immune system, reduce calcium absorption and potentially even increase one’s appetite. And lastly, its affects on testosterone, this you might say is the biggie.

Infamous for bringing thoughts of violence and rage, testosterone is an incredibly important chemical in both men and women. For normal sexual functioning, red blood cell production, bone formation, and fat metabolism we as a species require testosterone. Continually messing with its dosage is in no way a good idea.

In both animals and humans testosterone levels are greatly affected by that intoxicating culprit ethanol. As you might be expect by the tone of this article at even low levels of alcohol testosterone levels took a beating.

Feeling the need to liven things up then, do allow me to tell you that the data gets even more interesting when you look at the affects of binge drinking.

In the rat equivalent of a human weighing in at 150 pounds, drinking about 16 standard drinks had testosterone levels reduced 60–75 per cent up to four days later. It is roughly one drink per nine pounds to have this extreme an effect if you’d like to work it out on yourself.

I should mention that the rats tend to correlate well with humans with respect to alcohol, so these results are likely relevant to you.

So that’s the short-term science of alcohol. A bit depressing. Could probably do with a drink. The other and probably more pertinent fact I left out until now is that alcohol is a part of our culture as human beings.

For the average person its complete remove is simply not feasible. So instead be conscious of its effects and make with limiting your own total consumption of this delicious, delicious beverage. Bottoms up!

The New NBA: Nothing But Allies jtoporowski@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

B

y now most sports columnists in North America have commented on the team-up of Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. The story has been beaten to a pulp, as bad as any girlfriend of Chris Brown could expect.

I know I should pass up on making any sort of comment on it — yet I can’t. I’m an addict for two things: sports and drama. This story has a healthy dose of both.

Can you pick your favourite part of this story? I can’t, it’s got too many juicy layers. I mean; has a sports star ever been so self-centered and self-serving as to schedule an hour-long program to announce which team he has chosen to sign with. As far as I know, the words “I will play with ____” take roughly 10 seconds to utter, not an hourlong special. And then combine that with the hysterical comments from Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, who called LeBron “disloyal” and a “narcissist,” while also finding time to guarantee that the Cavs will win a championship before LBJ will lift one.

Um, Mr. Gilbert, you had the most dominant young player in the world for the past seven years and didn’t win a championship… but you’re going to win one now that he’s gone? Yep, that makes sense.

Add in that Reverend Jesse Jackson compared Gilbert’s comments to a slave-master, and you essentially have the recipe for the best story of 2010.

Give Kanye West a live mic and a national audience and you couldn’t have a bigger disaster on your hands. Cleveland fans spent the night burning LeBron James jerseys and crying their eyes out.

The rest of the country (except Miami) was left in a state of angered awe. I mean, how did LeBron James possibly think this was going to turn out? An hour-long special dedicated to essentially ripping out the hearts of every Cavs fan — all of who had supported him and loved him unconditionally since he entered the league? Yep, good P.R. move LeBron.

But none of this truly matters

now. What matters is how this will affect the NBA going forward. The Miami Heat now have two of the best five players in the league, Wade and James, and another stellar performer in Bosh. Can they surround these guys with enough talent to fill out a championship roster? This is the big question.

What might be the most disturbing thing in all of this is what LeBron James’ decision means for the league as a whole. The NBA’s popularity surged to great heights when Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were battling each other. It continued on as Jordan made his mark on the game, a rivalry growing first with the Pistons, then the Rockets and finally cultivating against the Jazz, who he thwarted twice.

The league has always been about the great ones going at each other relentlessly, trying to carve their own legacies in history.

Never have we seen a superstar of LeBron’s magnitude cop-out so extravagantly. Instead of choosing to make his own legacy, he consciously pursued sharing his with Wade’s, and unfortunately for him, one thing will always be true — Wade has one more ring than him.

So is this the way the new era of NBA players will think? Will there never again be hatred amongst young players that develops into great rivalries? Will off seasons always be orchestrated by friends who decide that “having fun” trumps “historical significance?” This alarms me, from both an entertainment and contrasting standpoint. If the Heat go on to win four or five championships, how do we view LeBron? Is he a glorified Scottie Pippen, another championshipwinning super-sidekick? It’s hard to say.

So while I love the drama and can’t wait to see how the Heat play together next year — who is going to take the final shot? — this definitely throws a wrench in LeBron’s legacy and how we view Wade and him.

Jordan never would have done this, and neither would Kobe. But does that matter? Welcome to the new NBA, people — Nothing But Allies.

Transfer time for football So far 16 roster players and a number of recruits have committed to other universities for next season. Below is a list of roster players and the schools they are transferring to (unofficial at press time).

Name

School

Name

School

Mike Warner

Mac

RB

Steven Lagace

Guelph

REC Chris Korol

Mac

DB

Brett McDonald

Guelph

RB

Tanner Forsyth

Mac

OL

Colin Wicks

St. FX

DL

Andrew Heeley

Laurier

QB

Andrew Hickey

St. FX

DB

Patrick McGarry Laurier

DB

Hugo Lopez

U of T

OL

Joel Reinders

UBC

OL

REC Dustin Zender

Laurier

DB

Mitch Nicholson Laurier

REC Michael Squires

Acadia

DB

Nick Anapolsky

QB

SFU

Guelph

Jon Roney

14

Sports & Living

Imprint, Friday, July 16, 2010

All-Star Confusion jsmith@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

T

he All-Star game in Los Angeles went down in much of the same fashion as the first half of the MLB season; great pitching, solid defense (minus a nervous lob from Hong-Chih Kuo which sailed a solid 15 feet above its intended target) and not much offense. It isn’t as if this result was unexpected, since pitchers have been the story since day one this season, but it made for a very intriguing game.

When did it become the norm for the AL and NL managers to treat the game like a beer-league softball game?

It takes away from the competitiveness of the game when starters are taken out early and pitchers are given one or two innings. The game shouldn’t be about “getting everyone in,” it should be about watching the best players in each league battling it out. Didn’t anyone else want to see Ubaldo Jimenez toss a shutout against the AL? And while we’re on the subject nobody (not even Blue Jay fans) wants to see Joe Mauer get pulled for John Buck (who made a nice showing).

That brings us to the ultimate debate that rages around this time each season; how do you select the All-Stars? Should you reward players for a good first half or should it be based on career numbers or who the fans want to see? At this moment the selection is set up in a way which tries to do all of those things but the end result is a game littered with players.

The rosters are much too deep for one nine inning game.

The fans vote for the starting nine players, which is probably the best way to select them since it is a game for the fans. The manager selects the pitching staff; which is acceptable.

For one game you probably need five or six pitchers at the most and given that these are the best of the best, probably not more than three.

But somehow the American League ended up with 42 All-Stars. Isn’t the game watered down enough without drowning it with players when it is supposed to be exclusive for the top players in each league?

Go with the fan voting for the starting nine, the manager can select

four or five players having a great season as bench players and the best pitchers, and we can leave it at that.

Enough nonsense, let the boys play...

First Down...

A huge hat tip to everyone who watched the Home-run Derby in its entirety. It was painful to watch Chris Young and Vernon Wells combine to hit three bombs over the first 20 outs.

Somebody send a memo to whoever organizes this event: There is a difference between hitting a home-run off of a 90 mph fastball and hitting one off a 70 mph batting practice fastball.

You need raw power to hit a ball 400 feet off a pitch with very little pace and you can’t teach raw power. How about lining up some guys with raw power next time instead of a bunch of line drive hitters? Wouldn’t be the worst decision...

Another way to add some much needed colour to the All-Star festivities is to take a page out of the NHL’s playbook and have a skills competition.

It would take some creative thinking, but it would be well received by the baseball purists out there who enjoy an around-the-horn double play over a 450 foot tater. And who wouldn’t enjoy seeing Vlad Guerrero hose some guy from right field in the strongest arm competition? Or J-Mac turn a double play from the hole in short? That would be good for baseball...

Seventh Inning Stretch...

For the first time in his relatively short Tour de France career, cycling superstar Alberto Contador is looking extremely beatable. The 2007 and 2009 Tour champion currently sits in second place behind Andy Schleck of Team Saxo Bank but it’s been a bit of a grind for the Team Astana front man through the Swiss Alps...

It’s all but over for Tour staple Lance Armstrong which is a shame for a number of reasons. He is always a fan favourite and it would have been nice to see him push the leaders although another victory would have been unlikely. Another reason is it now gives the North American media no incentive to cover the Tour, aside from

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an obligatory mention. It was an ugly way to go out as well as Armstrong got involved in an unlucky crash which essentially gave him no chance of being able to recoup the time on the leaders...

Nice to see the British Open is back at the Old Course at St. Andrews.

Not even Wimbledon can match the history of this course, which is the ‘birthplace of golf.’ Aside from the obvious Tiger Woods story lines which everyone is familiar with, the real story to watch is whether Phil Mickelson can finally take home the Clarett Jug. The next best thing about the Open is watching grown men coming close to tears as they hack away from the vicious rough and cavernous bunkers that St. Andrews golf course is famous for...

Overtime...

A well deserved hat tip to Cincinnatis’ Travis Wood for trying to pull a ‘Roy Halladay’ on Roy Halladay himself. Wood took a perfect game into the ninth against Halladay and the Phillies but had it broken up with a double by Carlos Ruiz. It was all for not as Halladay was equally as good, and the game was 0-0 going into extras.

One of the real shames of this era though is that two pitchers both tossing shutouts going into extra innings were not allowed to try to finish the game.

Halladay was pulled after throwing 117 pitches and Wood had 109 after nine innings of work. I’m not advocating for ridiculous pitch counts; everyone should be aware of the long term damage that ensues. But two pitchers who had combined to give up six hits and one walk in 18 innings are clearly still effective and should have been sent back out there in the tenth inning. A minor injustice but one of those guys deserved to take home a win...

Shout out of the Week: There has been much said about the passing of George Steinbrenner, but a loss of equal proportions to the Yankees organization has gone largely unnoticed. My shout out this week is to longtime Yankee’s stadium announcer Bob Sheppard who passed away at the age of 99. He was the stadium announcer starting in 1951 and continued until 2007. His recording is still played every time Derek Jeter bats and was played for his first at bat in this year’s All-Star game.

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Courtesy Steve Brooks/UW Athletics

Warrior Sam Eyles (shown here this past season against Western) played in the Canadian under-23 women’s rugby championship, and helped Ontario win the gold medal.

Brent Golem sports & living editor

Warrior wins gold at Canadian women’s rugby championship Sam Eyles, a fifth year kinesiology student, worked hard to crack Ontario’s 25 woman roster and it paid off. Eyles played in the Canadian under-23 women’s rugby championship on July 1st to July 4th, and was a key component on the team. She had three trys as an eight-man during Ontario’s run to the finals. Ontario beat Nova Scotia 25–16, Saskatchewan 38–14, and dominated Alberta 79–0 as they captured the gold.

Eyles had a tough road to get to the gold. In order to make the 25 man roster, she had to get through invitational try-outs that pitted her against over 65 other hopefuls. Since the tryouts began in May, Eyles had put maximum effort into every try-out and her hard work paid off. She was rewarded with the eight-man position, a big part of any offense or defense. It is important for any eight-man to be strong and physically fit. They will be the first person to meet the opposition on defense and will be the first person to direct the offense after winning the ball in a scrum.

Eyles will bring back that training and experience to Waterloo for her fourth year as a varsity rugby player. With a new set of coaches, and some new blood recruited to the team, the Warriors will look to build on their 3–2 season in which they bowed out in the quarter-finals against Western. Jay and Leslie Shaw will be taking the helm for the 2010 season.

Black and Gold will feature rugby matches Waterloo’s annual Black and Gold day will be officially hosted by Waterloo’s rugby teams, in lieu of the football team’s one year suspension from play. The Black and Gold day will be held on Saturday, September 11. The games will be held on the newly refurbished Warrior field. The women will start off the day against Guelph at 1 P.M., while the men’s team will match up against RMC at 3 P.M.. FEDs president Bradley Moggach will perform the ceremonial kick-off.

Garrett Rank makes the cut Varsity golf phenom, Garrett Rank, birdied four holes and forced match play to end four holes early against Cody Paladino in the round of 64 match up. Paladino had shot even in the first two rounds, and was upset by Rank as he was tied for 13th place. Now in the round of 32, Rank will have to face Brent Martin. Martin and Rank shot identical 146 over two rounds, and sat tied for 48th place at four over par to earn a place in the match play.

The cut for the tournament sat at five over, with only 64 of the field of 156 players making it into the match play. Rank qualified for the tournament with a strong showing at the Medalist Golf Club in Marshall, Michigan, where he shot a second place 139. In order for Rank to come away with the trophy, he must shot better than his partner in five more rounds of competition.

Even though it is a amateur championship, there is tough competition. The 2010 NCAA Division I individual champion,Scott Langley, 21 who competes for Illinois, qualified for the US Open and is having a strong showing at this tournament. Also, Patrick Reed, 19 and a member of the 2010 NCAA Division I team champion Augusta State University is the third ranked amateur golfer in the world and also has made it through to the round of 32.

Former Warrior quarterback passes away Ryan Butler, a former Waterloo quarterback, lost his battle with cancer on Wednesday, June 30. He passed away at the age of 35 while holding the hand of his wife Amy. He is survived by his three daughters Allie, Ella, and Ryland, parents Daniel and Julie Coughlin and brothers Kenneth, Scott and Daniel (Penny) Coughlin of London, ON. Also missed by his parents-in-law, Shirley and Alton Adair and brothers-in-law, Samuel, Joseph (Jessica), David and sister-in-law Laura (Jason) Adair, all of Sussex, NB. Predeceased by his grandmother Iris Butler of London, ON. Butler attended Waterloo after graduating from Laurier High School in London, and earned his Bachelor of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering in 2000. He played five seasons with the Warriors during their most productive years in Waterloo history. He helped the Warriors win the Yates Cup twice in 1997 and 1999. He was also one of the original speakers for the Team-Up community outreach program, which has been running 14 years strong.

— With files from UW Athletics

sports@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Campus Bulletin UPTOWN WATERLOO BIA EVENTS 2010 July 16-18 – UpTown Waterloo Jazz Festival August 26-29 – Waterloo Busker Carnival Sunday, September 12 – UpTown Dining Saturday, October 9 – 29th Annual Pancake Breakfast Saturday, October 9 – 32nd Annual Great Oktoberfest Barrel Race Monday, October 11 – Thanksgiving Day Parade November 2010 – UpTown Waterloo BIA Annual General Meeting November 4-6 – UpTown Waterloo Treasure Hunt Saturday, November 20 – Santa Claus Parade November 2010 – Holiday Open House December 2010 – FREE Horse Drawn Trolley Rides December 2010 – Victorian Carolers For more information about the above events call 519-885-1921 or email uptownwaterloobia@waterloo.ca or www. uptownwaterloobia.com.

UPCOMING

June 19 to August 14, 2010 20th Annual Homer Watson Exhibition with opening reception June 20 from 2 to 4 p.m. For info call 519-748-4377, ext 233 or www.homerwatson.on.ca.

July 2010 “Interzone 002, Laura De Decker” is being presented at Rotunda Gallery, City Hall, Kitchener for the month of July.

Reception July 8 from 5 to 7 p.m. For info call 519-741-3400, ext 3381 or www. lauradedecker.com. rare presents – events July 4, 7, 10, 14, 17, 21, 24, 28. For info/tickets 519-650-9336 or info@raresites.org or www.raresites. org.

GroupVestor Inc, a UW student organization, is assisting Mel’s Diner with renovation expansion fundraising, with a deadline of July 31. For info moe@ groupvestor.com or ahmed@groupvestor.com.

“Core 2010” annual summer exhibition at Barber Gallery, 167 Suffolk Street, W., Guelph is running from July 10 to September 6. For info 519-824-0821 or barbergallery.com.

Thursday, July 22, 2010 WatPD Electives Info Session: Tips for Choosing Between PD3-PD7, from 12 to 12:45 p.m., Tatham Centre, room 2218. watpd@uwaterloo.ca. Pizza will be provided.

Saturday, July 24, 2010 UW Ballroom Dance Club is hosting a spring dance at 7 p.m. at The Button Factory, 25 Regina Street, S. Tickets include a beginner latin and ballroom lesson and light refreshments will be provided. Contact kwballroom@gmail.com or www.uwbdc.ca for more info/tickets.

July 23 – 25, 2010 Second annual Human Rights Docfest 2010, hosted at the National Film Board’s Toronto Mediateque. Will showcase Canadian films that highlight both national and international human rights issues. For info www.hrdocfest.com.

1 PAPER REMAINING FOR SPRING/ SUMMER TERM ...

July 30

Monday, July 26, 2010 KW Blood Donor Clinic will be at UW, SLC Multi-Purpose Room today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A second clinic will be held Tuesday, July 27 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For info 519-884-5728.

Friday, July 30, 2010 Come, enjoy and celebrate humanity with Nicaraguan singer/songwriter Luis Enrique Mejia Godoy and his band Tierra Fertil. This is a benefit concert for Mennonite Coalition for Refugee Support at 7:30 p.m. at Conrad Centre for the Performing Arts. For info/tickets call 519-571-1912 or refugee@mcrs.ca.

Friday, July 30, 2010 UW School of Architecture presents an other worldly adaptation of “The Cyclops by Euripides” in Cambridge today and July 31. Contact Miles Gertler at 519-212-8410 for details and ticket reservations.

Saturday, August 7, 2010 Paddles up! Get ready for the upcoming 12th annual Waterloo Dragonboat Festival, at Laurel Creek Conservation area.

A fun community experience with food, live entertainment and of course, racing!

Please come out and support the event.

For info www.waterloodragonboat.org.

Saturday, August 28, 2010 Open House to celebrate Bereaved Families of Ontario Midwestern Region’s new location in Kitchener at 678 Belmont Ave., W., Suite 103 at 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

For more info 519-603-0196 or bfomidwest.org.

Sunday, September 2, 2010 13th Annual Butterfly Walk to Remember 2010 begins at 2 p.m. at Williamsburg Cemetery, Kitchener. For info, 519894-8344 or www.bfomidwest.org.

ONGOING

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

TUESDAYS CNIB is conducting a Lions Low Vision Clinic at 180 King Street, S., Waterloo every Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more info www.cnib.ca or 1-800-265-4127.

THURSDAYS The UW Toastmaster Club has general meetings every Thursday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., SLC 2105B. We will help you build up your communication and leadership skills. Everyone is welcome.

For more info uwtoastmaster@gmail. com or www.groups.google.com/group/ uw_toastmasters.

CAREER SERVICES WORKSHOPS

Please refer to https://strobe.uwaterloo.ca/ cecs/cs for updates/changes to workshops.

Monday, July 19: Career Interst Assessment (Srong Interest Iventory) – note: material charge of $10 payable at Career Services prior to the first session – 2:30 to 4 p.m., TC 1113.

Tuesday, July 20: Job Information Session for Graduating Students – 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., AL 116.

Interview Skills - Preparing for Questions – go to cdm.uwaterloo.ca to complete online module – 2:30 to 4 p.m., TC 1208.

Wednesday, July 21: Successfully Negoti-

ating Job Offers – note: workshop geared toward graduating students – 3:30 to 5 p.m., TC 1208.

Thursday, July 22: Iterview Skills – Selling Your Skills – go to cdm.uwaterloo.ca to complete online module – 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., TC 1208.

Job Information Session for Graduating Students – 3:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., AL 116.

ANNOUNCEMENTS Looking to raise money for your nonprofit club or student society? Contact the Canadian Diabetes Association 519-623-0216, to learn about our “In The Bag” clothing drive fundraising opportunity.

Bereaved Families of Ontario have ongoing programs. Please call 519603-0196 or email support@bfomidwest.org for more information.

In The Mind’s Eye 2010: Issues of Substance Use in Film + Forum is a unique Canadian series presented by the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council. Films from North America and beyond, provide a rare and real glimpse into the world of substance use. 2010 schedule will be available beginning in September. To view previous films and info www.inthemindseye.ca or 519-575-4757, ext 5016.

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!

Story writers wanted for free paranormal magazine. Short stories, articles accepted. Free for free exposure.

Submit your scariest stories true or fictional. Distributed locally to ghost tours and online. www.kwparamag. com.

Tune in to Sound 100.3 FM radio or www.soundfm.ca for great music, prize giveaways, weather, traffic reports, community events and more!

STUDENT AWARDS & FINANCIAL AID

July 2010 2010/2011 OSAP Application now available – apply early.

July 28: recommended last submission date for Continuation of Interest Free Status Forms for this term.

August 6: recommended last day to pick up loans for this term.

OSAP Access Number (OAN) is now required when accessing your OSAP account online. If you can not retrieve the OAN, you will need to bring in your SIN card and valid, government issued photo ID to get the number.

Go to safa.uwaterloo.ca for a full listing of scholarships and awards.

VOLUNTEERING

Librus, Imprint’s new quarterly political science and international affairs publication, is looking for volunteers ahead of its anticipated September launch. If you have skills in article writing, proofreading, layout or editing and would like to be a part in the founding of a student publication, please direct your intents to Matt or Keith at librus@imprint.uwaterloo. ca.

Resurrection College HOUSING Single rooms available for fall, winter and spring terms. Five minute walk to campus. Quiet upper year residence, meal plan, high speed wireless internet, phone service. Parking included.

Email:

ptusch@resurrectioncollege.ca or visit: www.resurrectioncollege.ca

Imprint, Friday, July 16, 2010 ads@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Volunteer with a child at their school and help improve their self-esteem and confidence. Call Canadian Mental Health at 519-744-7645, ext 229.

City of Waterloo has volunteer opportunities. For info call 519-8886478 or www.waterloo.ca/volunteer.

The Distress Centre needs volunteers to provide confidential, supportive listening on our crisis and distress lines. Complete training provided. Call 519-744-7645, ext 300.

Volunteer Action Centre, 519-7428610 / volunteer@volunteerkw.ca, for all your volunteering needs!

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.

UPCOMING

Sunday, July 25, 2010 Memorial fundraiser for Chris Lane, UW alumni who passed away at the age of 29 from Hodgkins Lymphoma.

Join us from 12 to 10 p.m. at Waterloo Public Square, UpTown Waterloo.

This family-friendly event will include face painting, guitar hero contests, food vendors and much more! Live music with local musicians and bands.

All proceeds being donated to the Canadian Cancer Society to fund Lymphoma research.

Classified HOUSING

All ensuite bedrooms! Condo style units at 74 Marshall Street present a lavish twist on student living.

Each bedroom features an ensuite bathroom. Greens, blues and browns complement the high-end aesthetics, featuring dark cabinets, dark wood flooring and glass tiling – a beautiful way to study and live in style. Price per student is $595/month including utilities and internet (rare for new buildings). Parking available. September start, one year lease. Please call 519-572-0278 to book an appointment.

Luxury Lester Lofts – welcome to the start of a new era in student living. Premium, luxury student accommodation steps away from UW. Open-concept floor plans, sleek, urban finishes/colours, high ceilings, kitchen peninsulas, black appliances including dishwasher, large windows, onsite laundry, over 100 square feet in bedrooms, ensuite bathrooms and private balconies. Parking $35/ month. Prices from $547 – $600 depending on floor. Includes utilities, hi-speed internet and cable. Call 519-572-0278 for a viewing.

Room for rent for a quiet individual in a detached house, near both universities. Parking and all amenities.

Please phone 519-725-5348 before noon.

SERVICES

Finish your dissertation! ... in 4 to 12 weeks. Proven system to simplify entire process. Works for all disciplines and the most complex theises. 20 years experience and excellent references. Call 519-620-9046.

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.

HELP WANTED

Weekend counsellors and relief staff to work in homes for individuals with developmental challenges. Minimum eight-month commitment. Paid positions. Send resume to Human Resources, K-W Habilitation Services, 108 Sydney Street, Kitchener, ON, N2G 3V2.

Are you a web developer? Earn $1,000 in a month or less. Send resume to p.green.proj@gmail.com. See ad on page 7 for more details.

LOST

REWARD – Motorola Symbol barcode reader in black hip-pouch. Lost July 9 in EV1 or CPH area on campus.

Call ext 32262, ask for Bill.

IMPRINT The University of Waterloo’s official student newspaper

JOBS

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 full-time students and eligible for OSAP. Please send resume to editor@imprint.uwaterloo.ca.

Web Developer

TO APPLY FOR THIS JOB, YOU MUST FIRST BE APPROVED FOR ELIGIBILITY INTO THE INTERNATIONAL WORK STUDY PROGRAM FOR SPRING 2010

Up to 5 hours/week at $11/hour. Qualifications; working knowledge of LAMP servers ; experience with DJango web framework ; proficient with CSS, HTML, experience with JavaScript, JQuery an asset ; experience with PHP & MySQL is an asset ; proficient with Adobe Photoshop CS4 ; knowledge of current web trends, common practices, Web 2.0 SEO optimization. Job description tasks; web exculsive content for sections, web server maintenance ; curating comment/forum pages ; updating links to other websites ; blogging projects ; promoting Imprint website to students.

Please send resume to editor@imprint. uwaterloo.ca

Arts & Entertainment

Imprint, Friday, July 16, 2010 arts@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Blacklight: Tango Down tkoshy@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

Blacklight:Tango Down Zombie Studios Ignition Entertainment

Grade

C-

The Good • • •

The cheap price tag The protected spawn points Interesting gadgets

The Bad • • • • •

The cheap experience Monotonous, lacklustre visuals Failed to deliver on promises Corridor maps Both teams look too similar to each other

R

ight off the bat I would like to state that Blacklight:Tango Down is by no means a bad game. It is a bit of a disappointment, but then again I’m the fool for believing in the hype. It has solid shooter mechanics, a somewhat interesting setting, and its only costs $15. That being said its only worth $15; no more and no less.

Gameplay First and foremost, Blacklight is a multiplayer game. If you want an epic campaign, relatable characters and cinematic moments, you’re looking in the wrong place.

Blacklight’s marketing, concept artwork and developer diaries promised epic battleground taking place in skyscrapers. In fact I’d say nearly 95 per cent of the artwork depicted large-scale firefights taking place as dropships unloaded troops and explosions filled the air. The reality is that the game fails to deliver. Most firefights last only two seconds and usually involve only two people. While this be my fault for believing the developers, I can’t help but feel cheated.

On the other hand, the maps are certainly

very anti-camper. I can say that for nearly a 100 per cent of the time, I never encountered a sniping douchebag, though others have sought to differ. A nice addition, are the automated turrets that defend a team’s spawn-point, effectively negating the problem of spawn camping (to an extent).

Instead of vast vistas, punctuated with skyscrapers and multi-levelled gameplay, a huge majority of the maps are for all intents and purposes extremely decorated corridors. Its a glided cage, but its still a cage.

The core shooter mechanics are solid, then again this could be said about any half-decent first person shooter. That being said, newcomers to the FPS genre will suffer an absolutely brutal learning curve, as you are about as resistant to bullets as baby seals are to clubs. You will die a lot, and the only way to survive any encounter is to be the first person whom opens fire.

Blacklight does, however, offer an interesting array of gadgets that are quite fascinating. For one there’s the Hyper Reality Visor, replacing your ‘radar’ from most first-person shooters, which essentially reveals the entire battlefield to you, complete with enemy positions. There are grenades which essentially wreak havoc with the target’s HUD, giving you the chance to pop a couple of bullets into their chest. There are endless gadgets you can fix on your weapons While its true that Blacklight does offer extensive customization options, that fact is that there really is no introduction to this. You’re essentially chucked into a menu of bewildering options and the interface in this matter is as useful as a blind service dog.

In fact I could say that this is the chief problem with the game, in that that it doesn’t ease you into the gameplay. While one could say this is because this a multiplayer product, at least a some form of tutorial would have been helpful.

Presentation Perish the thought that I am a man that prefers style over substance; perish the thought that I judge a book by its cover; perish the thought that I’d prefer an idiotic Playboy model over a plain, if intelligent Waterloo student.

Above is a screen shot of the monotonous, lacklustre visuals.

But Blacklight’s graphics leave me feeling a bit underwhelmed. Its not that they’re awful, its just that they’re not very good.

When combined with the levels that seem to all take place within gray, dark war-torn Eastern European cities (though that might be the cities themselves), the graphics leave me feeling rather depressed. Not depressed enough to hang myself, mind you, but depressed enough that I actually decided to open my textbook.

That is not to say that Blacklight is an ugly game (that distinction belongs to Dark Void), there are some rather ‘nifty’ effects that often take place. With grenades going off and bullets flying through the air, every battlefield has at least a dozen explosions happening at any moment.

Another problem I have with Blacklight is that there is no real discernible way to tell apart the two teams. While there are some subtle differing hues of red and blue, the fact is that both teams look disturbingly similar to each other.

When combined with the frantic run, gun and die gameplay, they only way to tell teams apart, is if your reticule lights up with “friendly” warning or not. Its like someone asking you determine

courtesy g4tv.com

whether or not the elephant is mad, by gazing into its eye, while charges down on you.

Story To say that Blacklight has a deep and engaging story would be a lie. All the player is told is that there are two teams of technologically advanced warriors fighting it out in urban wastelands, set in Eastern Europe. For those who want to know more about the story and why these two armies of vaguely differing, technologically advanced soldiers are killing each other, you’ll have to go the “Help + Options” button In the end, while a part of me wanted Blacklight:Tango Down to be a game that trumpets the value of small developers defeating the corporate giants at their game, it just isn’t.

Monotonous visuals, lack of story and some bad design choices outweigh solid mechanics, interesting gadgets, and the few good ideas.

However I can truly say that this is a game that is actually worth its $15 price tag, that being said it’s only $15. It’s like paying for a discount hooker, you get what you paid for.

Gaming and Love: play games with them, well rather, talk in a microphone expressing how hot that plasma gun looks in your hands, you sexy Spartan you.

Making all these code words easy for people to understand, “Players” means you, the sap that will pay money for “PlayDates,” being the individuals that you, the sap, pay.

“

have to stick with the loneliness a bit more until those PlayDates can afford to buy PlayStation 3s. Players pay about 400 credits for a gaming session that will last up to 10 minutes, then the remaining 100 credits can be left for another session or be given to your PlayDate so that they will earn more money. That’s right folks,

The system that GameCrush follows is much like prostitution.

The system that GameCrush follows is much like prostitution; Players pay about $8.25 for 500 credits. With credits, one can play games with a girl (and guys apparently), amazingly enough however, these games range from online Adobe Flash to Xbox Live games (and what a selection with Halo 3, GTA 4, Gears of War 2, and Call of Duty).

Unfortunately, only Xbox Live is available at the moment, so all those Sony fan boys will

“

D

o you suffer from having a lack of attention from the opposite sex due to your gaming life?

Don’t lie, I know what you’re thinking, “well if I went to a bar…” but you don’t, so I guess that’s a shame.

Or maybe you’re suffering from a little loneliness since you’ve always wanted that gaming buddy, but never got him/her because you’re just too shy to ask them to a gaming session.

Well suffer no longer you lonely hordes, because there’s now GameCrush. But this week, for the price of one, you get not just one gaming column, but two, isn’t that neat? Instead of just The Closet Gamer, you’ll be hearing from me, The Prick with a Joy Stick, just to ensure that everyone gets their gaming fills. Everything will be alright.

Back on track, there’s a site that has been hanging around for a while called GameCrush.

Essentially, it’s a place for all you lonely gamers out there to find an excuse to game with someone, more specifically, girls: Although to be fair, there are some guys on there, too.

GameCrush is a new “social gaming site” that allows “Players” to find “PlayDates” to

Ilui@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

these “PlayDates” earn about 60 per cent of the credits you pay in for these “gaming dates.”

To ensure that people will return to their “gaming partners,” the site allows for each PlayDate to set their status to either “flirty” or “dirty,” those two being the only emotions that gamers apparently feel when they game.

Just to make sure the quality is kept with each rented gamer, each Player rates their PlayDate after their session is over with attributes such

as hotness, skills, and flirtiness.

It’s quite sad to see that some gamers would stoop so low, paying for the fake attention of the opposite sex. GameCrush essentially insults anyone who wishes to pay for their services by waving a big sign around saying “Look, look everyone, this loser can’t find a friend either.”

No one can justify why they would join such a service, not even if it’s because they’re stuck under a rock. At least when you hire a prostitute, you know you’re actually going to feel something instead of feeling yourself for a change.

In the end though, I suppose this type of garbage was only inevitable. Gamers are lonely and some girls are just more than just happy to share their sexy voices with these desperate alpha males.

So I guess what I’m saying is, if you enjoy paying about nine dollars to chat with someone for 10 minutes while you game, I guess it’s all worth it.

If you feel like spending that nine dollars at a bar and finding someone to spend the night with, that’s also all good. Just saying.

Arts & Entertainment

Imprint, Friday, July 16, 2010

Movie Reviews

The Last Airbender M. Night Shyamalan Paramount Pictures

P

lot. Character. Visuals. Dialogue.

Long ago, these four components worked in harmony to create a good movie. Then, everything changed when M. Night Shyamalan went crazy with the need for special effects over everything else.

By now, I’m sure everyone knows how abysmal this movie really is, be it from the horrible reviews it has received, the advice of friends who will never get their $13 back, or (like me) by having to actually sit through the torture. But the most shocking thing about this movie’s failure is not its numerous shortcomings, but how easy it would have been to avoid all of them.

The plot and the characters are all based on a TV show. A TV show that I like. A TV show that, at its best, averaged over five million viewers.

Shyamalan had a brilliant plot and absolutely lovable characters handed to him, complete with a massive fan-base, and what does he do?

He tries to cram a season’s worth of plot (that’s 20 episodes, each 22 minutes long, totalling to over seven hours of content) into 90 minutes and convolutes it. He removes every single thing about every character that makes them so great.

Aang’s carefree attitude, even with such a great burden on his shoulders? Gone.

Sokka’s sense of humour? Gone. Uncle Iroh’s jolly attitude? Gone. And all of it replaced with really stale acting. Which brings me to my next point: dialogue. I don’t know what possessed Shyamalan to write pages upon pages of awkward dialogue, but not

17

courtesy thelastairbendermovie.com

even the greatest of actors could’ve made them work (and trust me, these actors are far from great). Shyamalan, I understand that you have a strict policy of writing the script for your movies yourself, but a good director should know his shortcomings and be able to admit to himself that maybe he isn’t the best person for a particular job. In this case, either get a better writer or simply back off from the project.

Lastly, we get to the visuals. While they may have been the best part of the movie,

“best” is a relative word. In this case, they are nothing more than a shiny piece of metal in a pile of rubble. If you saw the trailers for The Last Airbender, you’ve pretty much seen all the scenes worth watching; that’s how few good scenes there actually are.

The tai chi poses, which in the show was a representation of how a bender interacts with their element, took less than one second to do, is stretched out to five seconds per attack, and devoid of any meaning.

Most of the time, you’re wondering why

the opponent isn’t simply running up to the bender and punching them in the face.

Typically, I can find at least one niche group that would enjoy the movie I am reviewing, and recommend it to them, but I honestly can not, in good conscience, suggest that any human pay to see this.

Please, go watch the TV series. It’ll take you 20 times longer to watch, but I promise that you’ll enjoy it a thousand times more.

— Rajul Saleh

Grown Ups Dennis Dugan Happy Madison Productions

Y

oung or old, this movie’s for you. A perfect combination of some of Hollywood’s most comedic people makes Grown Ups one of the best comedy’s of the year. The hilarious script is suitable for all ages, and the light plot makes for a relaxing summer movie.

Grown Ups starts off with five young boys winning a championship basketball game in middle school, following a retreat to a lakeside cottage with their favourite coach.

The lives of the once passionate basketball players fast forwards 20 years, creating a story of a memorable summer which starts with the recent passing of their former basketball coach. His death takes them on a journey to the same cottage they travelled to as a team for many summers and reunites the old friends, reminding them of the importance of taking a break from day-to-day responsibilities.

One of the messages in the story is that life doesn’t always have epic occurrences like movies usually portray. Grown Ups has minimally connected scenes with little complexity in order to just relax the viewer’s mind. This, along with the beautiful setting of lakeside cottages, elegant churches, and water parks, helps to serve as the perfect little getaway from our busy lives.

Happy Madison Productions never ceases to disappoint viewers. Casting Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Kurt McKenzie, Marcus Higgins, and Rob Schneider in the same movie was a recipe for a great cinematic experience.

Grown Ups continuously reinforces that summer is a time to spend with your loved ones and just have fun, and those who can’t make time for that are losing moments that can never be replaced.

— Marta Borowska

courtesy imdb

18

Arts & Entertainment

Imprint, Friday, July 16, 2010

Movie Reviews continued...

courtesy IMBD

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse David Slade Summit Entertainment

I

would rather be hit by a car. I would rather run full speed into a flock of geese. I would rather be a Laurier graduate.

So apparently there are a lot of things people would rather do

than attend the premier of Eclipse, the third installment of the Twilight saga. I was aware of this as I waited in line with dozens of Twilight fan girls to witness the unfolding of the latest chapter in the Edward, Bella, Jacob love triangle.

So to summarize thus far, yes I attended the premier of a film that has the tendency to elicit as much

hatred as getting up for an 8:30 a.m. statistics class in the dead of winter would. And no, I was not playing I Would Rather... as I the movie started because I, unlike 99.9 per cent of my social circle, do not hate the film Eclipse.

As I entered the theater I was not expecting to see the Oscars’ next shoe-in for best film. Or best

anything for that matter. That being said, Eclipse exceeded my expectations by carrying out its plot with a combination of good acting, special effects, light-hearted humour and a shirtless Taylor Lautner.

Eclipse’s first surprise was the marked improvement of the actors’ performances. They had managed to turn their previously one dimensional roles into believable, complex characters, and the plot was structured in a way that allowed the main characters to explore the relationships between them.

This film, as opposed to the previous two, gave many of the supporting characters the necessary screen time to disclose their past lives which helped the viewer understand the previously mysterious circumstances that led to their transformations.

Highlighting its talented supporting characters was an advantage to Eclipse that neither of the previous movies capitalized on.

In keeping with Twilight saga tradition Eclipse’s climax contained a battle to ensure the safety of Bella (Kristen Stewart). The combat that ensued was my favourite part of the movie as the special effects werewolves were seamlessly integrated into the fast paced carnage.

I found that Eclipse utilized simple humour more effectively than most films I have seen recently.

Bella’s father, Charlie (Billy Burke), consistently managed to be one of the most humourous characters with his deadpan, sarcastic delivery.

However, it was the cleverly placed double entendre, “I am hotter than you,” from Jacob (Taylor Lautner) directed towards Edward (Robert Pattinson) that elicited the loudest roars of laughter from the audience.

Eclipse is a good movie that shows audiences that incorporating simple ingredients can yield a final product that is simply good.

I realize that I just committed social suicide by writing this article.

I am fully prepared to log onto Facebook and see my friends list contain only the name of the person I went to see Eclipse with. However, I feel that it is unfair that people assume Eclipse is a terrible movie because of the sole fact that it is affiliated with the Twilight saga. That’s like assuming a student will be unintelligent just because they graduated from Laurier. And we all know there’s no truth behind that.

— Felicia Rahaman

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courtesy Scholastic Canada

Not That Kind of Girl Siobhan Vivian Scholastic

S

ome books when you read them have an astounding impact upon the reader, and the reader cannot stop thinking about the book or talking about it. This book is one such book. I realized some things while reading this book.

The curriculum I read in high school was dominated by male authors, even those I read as my picks were all male authors. I was about 25 before I read any female authors for leisure.

At the time, my girlfriend and I each picked five books the other had to read. Since then I have discovered a plethora of female authors I appreciate and admire. Yet even with that, it was not until reading this book that I realized that learning a women’s perspective and the impact of actions that at the time may seem inconsequential. This book will reveal to male readers the impact their actions can have, and for women it will show them some people they can relate to and maybe help them understand themselves better.

The story takes place at Ross Academy, a private school. Nata-

lie Sterling is a senior and prides herself on always making the right choices. She knows that bad choices can haunt you for years. Her best friend is an example of that. But Natalie has it all planned out, win the student council election, be class president, write the SAT’s, and go to a college far away. But somewhere along the way her plans start to go sideways. On one of these sideroads lie Spencer Biddle, a freshman Natalie tries to help. Natalie wants Spencer to start making better decisions, and to start mapping out her life. But Spencer’s life is almost ruined when nude pictures of her circulate around the school.

The story follows the students at the Ross Academy, through the first term of the school year. It is incredibly well written. It will transport the reader to high school.

You will encounter people like those you know or knew in school. The groups, clicks, pranks, and jokes will all seem so familiar it is stunning. The characters are real and well written. Not That Kind of Girl demonstrates that the impact of even the smallest actions or words can have long lasting effects, and like a rock, once thrown in the pond cannot ever be taken back.

What I learned most from this book, was that if I had read books like this when I was younger, I would have had a greater sense of the impact of my actions. I would have hurt a lot less people in my life, especially the women I interacted with. In the book Natalie Sterling learns to really understand who she is, she learns to be good at being.

And in following her through her journey we can learn the lessons she learns. It is a great novel and I highly recommend it.

— Steve McEvoy

Comics & Distractions

Imprint, Friday, July 16, 2010

crossword

“Happy Belated”

ACROSS 1. Gives notice of being AFK 5. Word with solid or management 10. Squared-up nicely 14. Like quality meat 15. Let 16. All prefix 17. Timid refusal 18. Silly song?

20. Pre-___ 21. Ultra Density Optical 22. Musicians Brian and Jim 23. Facial frostbite?

26. Makeshift napkin 30. Noisy musical 31. Check out 33. Garnett or Bacon 34. Least liked “Family Guy” character 36. Act with bias 38. Ambulance driver 39. Excessively zealous one 43. Modern address 45. Time part 46. Nostalgic candy for most 47. Strange Flash series, with “Fingers” 50. Like a fox 52. Loses balance 56. One with a blood disorder 58. City in Saskatchewan 60. Congruent to 0 (mod 2) 62. Students’ concern (abbr.)

63. Compass dir.

64. Canadian treat 68. Killed, slangily 69. Against 70. Brand of 51-Down 71. To be to Pierre 72. Tabula ____ 73. Parts of R.I.P. 74. Snake’s cry DOWN 1. Words on book jackets, perhaps 2. Thaw again 3. Macbeth’s ally (at one point) 4. ___-cone 5. Missing person?

6. Like _______ cannon (unpredictable) 7. ___-mo 8. To moderate, with “down”

1

2

3

By Mike Koivusalo

4

5

14

15

17

18

20

31 35

39

26 32

36

48

56

49

12

13

28

29

51

42

58 61

66

52

53

55

59 62

67

63 68

69

70

71

72

73

74

9. McGregor & Cameron 10. Miss 11. Flightless bird 12. Internet manga & anime database (abbr.)

13. Word with twist and neck 19. Embryo food 21. Remove a fastener 24. Harry Potter star Watson 25. Occular cream 27. 1998 Drew Barrymore flick “___ After” 28. Vigor’s partner 29. Large Tolkien creature 32. Before 35. “Golly!”

37. Gentle knock 39. Fashion magazine 40. Monopoly 4 of a kind (abbr.)

41. Nissan vehicle

54

42. Simple prefix 43. Country whose motto is “E Pluribus Unum” 44. Bolted 48. Literal-minded housekeeper of childrens’ stories 49. Hole 51. Living food?

53. Expels with vigor 54. CD readers 55. Finn neighbours 57. Mr. Millan 59. Some Blu-ray players 61. It’s located at 11 Wall St. 64. Inflict damage 65. SNL alumnus Gasteyer 66. Game parts (abbr.)

67. Some offensize linemen (abbr.)

68. Abbreviations for “that is”

Words have lots of meanings, so think critically. Cruciverbs love making clues words that can be either nouns or verbs. Consider the clue “Excuse.” Is the clue referring to the verb or the noun? Another of my favourite clues is “Eagle shooters’ group.” The answer was “PGA.” Look for short forms. If there is a short form or abbreviation in the clue, that’s your hint that the answer is the same.

Similarly to the previous hint, if the clue has a French word in it, or has “to Pierre” tacked onto the end, that’s your hint that the clue is a French word. The same goes for other languages, of course.

Missed any connections lately?

Got any ideas, gripes, or randomly entertaining thoughts?

Send them (with utmost affection) to:

distractions@imprint.uwaterloo.ca

From Shattered Heart

7 4

1

8 6 9

Dear fun arts student from last week: I am not said mathie, but if you’re going to insult someone publicly, at least spell “loser” correctly.

- the narwhal Dear the management eng girl who I have a crush on...

I secretly wish I can spend some time with you alone. I think you are cute and want to see you in summer clothing ;) - Engineering Stalker

A S S E S T A Y D E L E V A L E D A S H

B L P E B A S T

V I A G R A

3 7 9 2 5 8 6 1 4

8 2 4 6 1 9 7 5 3

G I Z Z A R D

8

June 30, 2010

T E D T E S E N T I A S P O T M A N E S R T S T A H I P L U U N Y S I G S U S E N E

6 5 1 7 3 4 2 9 8

6 3

5 8

2

Solutions

Crossword Solving Tips of the Week

It’s been 5 years since we’ve met. I miss your smiles, and your voice. I want to take you back from the guy that stole you away from me. Even if we don’t work out, I want to tell you that I still remember...all you are is all I want, forever and always. I’ll always treasure what you have said to me. I love you. I wish I can just tell you that in person...

Hope everything is really going well for you. I want you to be happy.

6

7 1 9 8 5 3 4

46

57

To my first and only girl,

3 1 9 5

38 41

50

60

27

37

45

47

11

sudoku

33

40

44

10

19

25

34

9

16

24

65

8

22

30

64

7

21

23

43

6

uw.cruciverb@gmail.

19

7 9 3 5 8 2 1 4 6

S Y E A V E N E K K A R K A H C D A A I K S I I I N A T O P E E D S

2 4 6 1 9 3 5 8 7

5 1 8 4 7 6 9 3 2

4 3 5 9 6 7 8 2 1

M A R I N E S U I G U R I C

E R A S E R

A R N S G E S T

I R A T E

G E T E O R N E

1 6 2 8 4 5 3 7 9

9 8 7 3 2 1 4 6 5

Flannel Girl in Psych 101,

You sit at a distance You seem so stern all the while What is the resistance?

How could I get you to smile?

I’ve passed you many a time But I could never advance So I came up with this rhyme Maybe it gives me the chance To say hello Anonymous Admirer

20

Comics & Distractions

Imprint, Friday, July 16, 2010

RAJUL SALEH (differentperspective@imprint.uwaterloo.ca)

ADRIENNE RAW (araw@imprint.uwaterloo.ca)

MICHAEL TO (irresponsiblyoptomistic@imprint.uwaterloo.ca)

A double take on the progress of ES3 As the construction of Environment 3 is under way, on the way back from the SLC one day, Brian St. Denis from Alternatives Journal, realized this building seemed a little...