The Argosy Weekly “FLORES PERENNES CARPIMUS” THE VOICE OF MOUNT ALLISON STUDENTS AT MT. A: 2 513 VOL. CXLI MOUNT ALLISON, SACKVILLE, N. B., THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2012 No. 17 Town Celebrates Winterfest by Carly Levy Sackville’s fifth annual Winterfest this past weekend was the perfect midseason cure for the winter blues. Last week’s snowfall provided ample powder for the event, which showcased the many opportunities for cold-weather fun to be found in Sackville. e town offered a host of snowy activities and events for all ages over the course of three days. After skating on the Swan Pond Friday evening, children of all ages took advantage of a sunny Saturday to take in the main event, Winterfest Family Fun Day, which took place at Beech Hill Park. e afternoon included sledding, snow sculpting and sleigh rides. e Tantramar Outdoor Club also hosted a family ski clinic for beginners to try their hand at Rosanna Hempel Ingrid Gatin, the current artist in residence at STRUTS, combines her love for music with her love of visual art through “multi disciplinary art jams” that she holds on weekends. Sitting down at Ingrid Gatin’s workspace, I find one of those jumbo boxes of Crayola crayons with every colour you could imagine. Scattered around the crayons and pencils are colouring pages that Gatin has hand drawn and photocopied. I find myself reminiscing about how much I freaked out over these giant crayon boxes when I was a kid. I ask if these have anything to do with the “multi disciplinary art jams” that I’ve read about on her blog. “Yes! ere’s lots of colouring, lots of music. I’d love for some dancers to come. I love playing to dance, and I love dancing! You know, the first art jam didn’t have too many people because it was the day of the huge snowstorm, but the rest have been great,” she tells me. Coming from a very musical family, Ingrid Gatin started playing music at only four years of age, “I actually forced my mom to get me piano lessons,” she laughs. In high school, Ingrid started writing music but didn’t perform music until she moved to Winnipeg once she graduated. “I started playing in a blues band around 2006-2007, I played the mandolin and I was able to perform my own stuff. It was a bit nerve-racking, but I was with seven others so it wasn’t too bad!” Gatin discovered the residency in Sackville because she wanted to do a show in town, and came upon some information about STRUTS gallery. “I mean, I like to play music and do art, so I was really interested.” So far, she has really enjoyed Sackville, “Stereophonic was also so amazing. It was such a good introduction to the area because I got to meet so many people and then some friends came down for their own shows, like David Simard, who I have sang with before. He’s great!” Prior to her residency Sackville, Gatin has been recording with the producer Howard Bilerman, a former member of Arcade Fire, Women Score Win Over Rams by Kiera Foti For 140 years, e Argosy has served Mount Allison University, the Town of Sackville, and the Maritime region as a source for pertinent information. It has presented news and features stories, sports and arts articles, and served as a barometer of student opinion. In this issue, we pay tribute to the men and women who have maintained the and carried e Argosy through world wars, national referenduma and the changing Mt. A campus. e design template is copied from the exact template used during the 1950s by e Argosy Weekly. We hope you students, alumni and townspeople enjoy this retro issue of e Argosy and will join us celebrating our storied history as we look to the future and the next 140 years. A Tribute to Our Past Ingrid, page 16 Mounties, page 22 Sackvillians Get Out in the Cold Town, page 6 A Night of New Music by Julia McMillan Champion of New Music, Simon Docking, opened the Performing Arts Concert series with a bang (and a crash and atonal dissonance) on Saturday, February 7 at the Brunton Auditorium. Docking is “one of Atlantic Canada’s most visible musicians.” Born in Australia, Docking has made a name for himself as a well-known performer all over the world. He currently is a member of Toca Loca, a Toronto-based ensemble group. New, page 17 by Robert Murray e Mount Allison women’s basketball team scored a 83-53 victory over the winless Agricultural College Rams this past weekend to move to 11-4 on the season, remaining in third place overall in the ACAA. While the Mounties took advantage of a small NSAC team that only dressed seven players, they still had to put in a consistent effort to down their opponent from Truro. Marlon Smith led Mt. A. scorers with fourteen points while Lauren Antworth and Jennifer Robinson added twelve and ten respectively to pace the team to its fourth straight victory after starting 2012 with a 2-2 record. e third ranked offence in the ACAA scored over eighty points for the eighth time this season. Rookie Danielle Broome scored nine points off the bench, which came courtesy of three baskets from beyond the arch. In total, the Mounties shot 36.4% from the three-point line (12-33) and shot 77.3% from the line (17-22). e Rams offense was lead by Jennifer Lutes who went 9-14 from the field, including five from the three-point line in addition to making four of six foul shots. After the match, Sara Mackellar offered her opinion on the team’s play of late saying, “I think that play recently has perhaps not been as consistent as we were hoping for in the new year, what with two losses in four games, and only a one point victory over UNBSJ, but I believe our play has picked up as of late.” In other action from around the ACAA, the first-place St. omas University Tommies added to the Rams’ misery, downing them in Fredericton by a score of 95-23. e Mount Saint Vincent University Mystics swept two games at home, defeating Holland College 71- 52 before more than doubling up the Seawolves women by a score of 103-44. e Seawolves did not leave Halifax empty handed however, as they beat the Blue Devils from Kings by eleven points in a 64-53 decision. e Mounties are scoring close to on par against the undefeated Tommies, averaging less than six points off of STU’s per game average. e main difference, however, is shown on defense as the Mounties sit fourth in the eight- team league,e allowing 65.47 points per game compared to the 37.81 given up by the Tommies on average. cross-country skiing or snow shoeing. An ATV poker run and a Curl for Cancer event also took place on Saturday. Mount Allison students were also involved in the celebrations. e Students Administrative Council (SAC) sponsored the crowning of ‘Mr. And Mrs. Winterfest’. e prize goes to a couple who donate a significant amount of time and service to the community. Dave and Diane Fullerton were nominated by last year’s winners, Wallie and Norma Sears, for their time and dedication to Live Bait theatre, the United Church and various other community organizations. Dave also serves as the Town Crier and, according to their nomination, the pair are both “totally committed to bettering their community.” Ingrid Gatin STRUTS Latest Artist-in- Residence e exciting evening of New Music opened with Docking’s rendition of “Sonata, op. 1” by Alan Berg. Docking explained that if he could name the piece, it would be called something like “Time Flies.” His recent fortieth birthday prompted him to choose the piece, and mediate on the nature of memory. “I realized I had memories that were thirty years old, but still felt new. In same way, I could think of music I loved. Many of the pieces were written at the beginning of the twentieth century, and by now are a hundred years old, but they are still “new” in so many ways.” THE EURHETORIAN ARGOSY WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1872 THE FIRST PRINTED EDITION OF THE ARGOSY RELEASED IN 1875 WEEKLY PUBLICATION SINCE 1922 THE ARGOSY MEETS EVERY THURSDAY AT 5:30 PM IN THEIR OFFICES ON THE THIRD FLOOR OF THE WALLACE MCCAIN STUDENT CENTRE ALL MOUNT ALLISON STUDENTS ARE WELCOME, NAY, URGED TO ATTEND!
Transcript
The Argosy Weekly“FLORES PERENNES CARPIMUS”
THE VOICE
OF MOUNT ALLISON
STUDENTS AT
MT. A: 2 513
VOL. CXLI MOUNT ALLISON, SACKVILLE, N. B., THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2012 No. 17
Town Celebrates Winterfest
by Carly Levy
Sackville’s fifth annual Winterfest this past weekend was the perfect midseason cure for the winter blues. Last week’s snowfall provided ample powder for the event, which showcased the many opportunities for cold-weather fun to be found in Sackville. The town offered a host of snowy activities and events for all ages over the course of three days.
After skating on the Swan Pond Friday evening, children of all ages took advantage of a sunny Saturday to take in the main event, Winterfest Family Fun Day, which took place at Beech Hill Park. The afternoon included sledding, snow sculpting and sleigh rides. The Tantramar Outdoor Club also hosted a family ski clinic for beginners to try their hand at
Rosanna Hempel
Ingrid Gatin, the current artist in residence at STRUTS, combines her love for music with her love of visual art through “multi disciplinary art jams” that she holds on weekends.
Sitting down at Ingrid Gatin’s workspace, I find one of those jumbo boxes of Crayola crayons with every colour you could imagine. Scattered around the crayons and pencils are colouring pages that Gatin has hand drawn and photocopied. I find myself reminiscing about how much I freaked out over these giant crayon boxes when I was a kid. I ask if these have anything to do with the “multi disciplinary art jams” that I’ve read about on her blog. “Yes! There’s lots of colouring, lots of music. I’d love for some dancers to come. I love playing to dance, and I love dancing! You know, the first art jam didn’t have too many people because it was the day of the huge snowstorm, but the rest have been great,” she tells me.
Coming from a very musical family, Ingrid Gatin started playing music at only four years of age, “I actually forced my mom to get me piano lessons,” she laughs. In high school, Ingrid started writing music but didn’t perform music until she moved to Winnipeg once she graduated. “I started playing in a blues band around 2006-2007, I played the mandolin and I was able to perform my own stuff. It was a bit nerve-racking, but I was with seven others so it wasn’t too bad!”
Gatin discovered the residency in Sackville because she wanted to do a show in town, and came upon some information about STRUTS gallery. “I mean, I like to play music and do art, so I was really interested.” So far, she has really enjoyed Sackville, “Stereophonic was also so amazing. It was such a good introduction to the area because I got to meet so many people and then some friends came down for their own shows, like David Simard, who I have sang with before. He’s great!”
Prior to her residency Sackville, Gatin has been recording with the producer Howard Bilerman, a former member of Arcade Fire,
Women Score Win Over Rams
by Kiera Foti
For 140 years, The Argosy has served Mount Allison University, the Town of Sackville, and the Maritime region as a source for pertinent information. It has presented news and features
stories, sports and arts articles, and served as a barometer of student opinion.
In this issue, we pay tribute to the men and women who have maintained the and carried The Argosy through world wars, national referenduma and the changing Mt. A campus. The design
template is copied from the exact template used during the 1950s by The Argosy Weekly.
We hope you students, alumni and townspeople enjoy this retro issue of The Argosy and will join us celebrating our storied history as we look to the future and the next 140 years.
A Tribute to Our Past
Ingrid, page 16 Mounties, page 22
Sackvillians Get Out in the Cold
Town, page 6
A Night of New Musicby Julia McMillan
Champion of New Music, Simon Docking, opened the Performing Arts Concert series with a bang (and a crash and atonal dissonance) on Saturday, February 7 at the Brunton Auditorium.
Docking is “one of Atlantic Canada’s most visible musicians.” Born in Australia, Docking has made a name for himself as a well-known performer all over the world. He currently is a member of Toca Loca, a Toronto-based ensemble group. New, page 17
by Robert Murray
The Mount Allison women’s basketball team scored a 83-53 victory over the winless Agricultural College Rams this past weekend to move to 11-4 on the season, remaining in third place overall in the ACAA.
While the Mounties took advantage of a small NSAC team that only dressed seven players, they still had to put in a consistent effort to down their opponent from Truro. Marlon Smith led Mt. A. scorers with fourteen points while Lauren Antworth and Jennifer Robinson added twelve and ten respectively to pace the team to its fourth straight victory after starting 2012 with a 2-2 record.
The third ranked offence in the ACAA scored over eighty points for the eighth time this season. Rookie Danielle Broome scored nine points off the bench, which came courtesy of three baskets from beyond the arch. In total, the Mounties shot 36.4% from the three-point line (12-33) and shot 77.3% from the line (17-22). The Rams offense was lead by Jennifer Lutes who went 9-14 from the field, including five from the three-point line in addition to making four of six foul shots.
After the match, Sara Mackellar offered her opinion on the team’s play of late saying, “I think that play recently has perhaps not been as consistent as we were hoping for in the new year, what with two losses in four games, and only a one point victory over UNBSJ, but I believe our play has picked up as of late.”
In other action from around the ACAA, the first-place St. Thomas University Tommies added to the Rams’ misery, downing them in Fredericton by a score of 95-23. The Mount Saint Vincent University Mystics swept two games at home, defeating Holland College 71-52 before more than doubling up the Seawolves women by a score of 103-44. The Seawolves did not leave Halifax empty handed however, as they beat the Blue Devils from Kings by eleven points in a 64-53 decision.
The Mounties are scoring close to on par against the undefeated Tommies, averaging less than six points off of STU’s per game average. The main difference, however, is shown on defense as the Mounties sit fourth in the eight-team league,e allowing 65.47 points per game compared to the 37.81 given up by the Tommies on average.
cross-country skiing or snow shoeing. An ATV poker run and a Curl for Cancer event also took place on Saturday.
Mount Allison students were also involved in the celebrations. The Students Administrative Council (SAC) sponsored the crowning of ‘Mr. And Mrs. Winterfest’. The prize goes to a couple who donate a significant amount of time and service to the community. Dave and Diane Fullerton were nominated by last year’s winners, Wallie and Norma Sears, for their time and dedication to Live Bait theatre, the United Church and various other community organizations. Dave also serves as the Town Crier and, according to their nomination, the pair are both “totally committed to bettering their community.”
Ingrid Gatin STRUTS Latest Artist-in-Residence
The exciting evening of New Music opened with Docking’s rendition of “Sonata, op. 1” by Alan Berg. Docking explained that if he could name the piece, it would be called something like “Time Flies.” His recent fortieth birthday prompted him to choose the piece, and mediate on the nature of memory.
“I realized I had memories that were thirty years old, but still felt new. In same way, I could think of music I loved. Many of the pieces were written at the beginning of the twentieth century, and by now are a hundred years old, but they are still “new” in so many ways.”
THE EURHETORIAN ARGOSY WAS ESTABLISHED
IN 1872
THE FIRST PRINTED EDITION OF THE ARGOSY
RELEASED IN 1875
WEEKLY PUBLICATION SINCE 1922
THE ARGOSY MEETS EVERY THURSDAY AT 5:30 PM IN THEIR OFFICES ON
THE THIRD FLOOR OF THE WALLACE MCCAIN
STUDENT CENTRE
ALL MOUNT ALLISON STUDENTS ARE
WELCOME, NAY, URGED TO ATTEND!
THE ARGOSY is a member of the Canadian University Press, a national co-operative
of student newspapers.
Th e A r g o s y We e k l y
Independent Student Newspaper of Mount Allison University
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IT MANAGER Thomas Alexander [email protected] CIRCULATIONS MANAGERKent Blenkhorn
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writingstaffNEWS Carly Levy FEATURES Elise Dolinsky ARTS Joel Young
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complaintsComments , concerns, or complaints abouot The Argosy’s content or operations should be first sent to the Editor-in-Chief at the address above. If the Editor-in-Chief is unable to resolve a complaint, it may be taken to the Argosy Publications, Inc. Board of Directors. The chairs of the Board of Directors can be reached at the address above.
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disclaimersThe Argosy is the official independent student journal of news, opinion, and the arts, written, edited and funded by the students of Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of The Argosy’s staff or its Board of Directors. The Argosy is published weekly throughout the academic year by Argosy Publications Inc.
Student contribution in the form of letters, articles, photography, graphic design and comics are welcome. The Argosy reserves the right to edit or refuse all materials deemed sexist, racist, homophobic, or otherwise unfit for print, as determined by the Editor-in-Chief. Articles or other contributions can be sent to [email protected] in microsoft word format, or directly to a section editor. The Argosy will print unsolicited materials at its own discretion.
Letters to the editor must be signed, though names may be withheld at the sender’s request and at The Argosy’s discretion. Anonymous letters will not be printed.
publicationboardDr. Dave Thomas, Dr. Helen Pridmore, Scott Green
NEWS FEBRUARY 9, 20125
ESTABLISHED 1872 WEEKLY SINCE 1922
VOL. CXLI SACKVILLE, N. B., FEBRUARY 9, 2011 No. 17
ISSN 0837-1024The Underbridge Press is a student-run
publishing group at Mount Allison University.
by Rachel Gardner
After PhD candidate Barbara Roberts presented at Mount Allison on principles of accommodation and human rights for students with physical disabilities, The Argosy decided to investigate University accessibility for students with physical disabilities.
Currently, the Wellness Centre offers services to eighty-eight students with non-learning disabilities, including physical disabilities and mental health diagnoses. Disabilities Services Coordinator Laurie Mitchell comments that these numbers have continued to grow over the past few years. A variety of services are offered to level the playing field within the classroom, including notetakers, tutor services, test and exam accommodations, and scribes. The University has allocated $300,000 to Disabilities Services over the past three years, according to Director of Student Life Gayle Churchill.
Fourth-year student Justin Taylor, who spent twelve weeks in a cast last year, expressed frustration in the inaccessibility of the campus and several of the buildings. “I e-mailed my professors when the injury happened,” says Taylor. “A couple said that they were sorry and tried to work to accommodate me. Others asked if there was anyway I could make class because it was important.” Avard-Dixon and Hart Hall were particularly challenging to access, stated Taylor, who laughingly commented that he “had to hop on one foot up the stairs.” Taylor commented that he had found some assistance in keeping up with his class through the Wellness Centre, who had provided notes for him, as well as emotional support during the injury.
Transportation to and from campus was also particularly difficult, according to Taylor, whose injury happened in early January, mentioning that most of his support came from other students and the community. “I live by the Irving and people would stop and take me to my classes,” stated Taylor. “People were friendly and offered to carry my books for me.” He mentions that a shuttle service for those with a disability would have been helpful in the process. “I spent a massive amount on cabs in the first while and that would’ve made a huge difference,” he states.
Fifth-year student Ray MacLeod commented that in his first-year, a student with a wheelchair that had lived in Campbell had immense accessibility difficulties. “I can remember days where facilities management wouldn’t get the campus shovelled very well so she couldn’t get to class because the wheels would get stuck in the snow,” stated MacLeod. The student left the following year because of her difficulties accessing academic buildings.
When The Argosy looked into whether
building accessibility was a concern for the University and how it is working to address these concerns, Gayle Churchill responded that “Disability issues are a concern and a priority for the University. However, to date, I have heard from one student with whom I am working.”
Fourth-year student Cassy Muldoon-Gorchynski, the coordinator of the Students’ Administrative Council (SAC) Accessibility Affairs Committee, says that despite some effort from the University, the state of accessibility on campus is lacking. “The Meighen Centre and the Wellness Centre are working very hard to accommodate students as best they can, but given a recent influx of demand, they are hard-pressed for resources and time,” states Muldoon-Gorchynski. She comments that the administration is trying to plan for greater accessibility in the long-term, mentioning the building of an accessible bathroom on the top floor of Avard-Dixon. However, she states that this does not provide for short-term needs, as “this kind of action is redundant as the elevator necessary to access the bathroom will not be built for another fifteen years.”
Muldoon-Gorchynski identifies two main areas in need of being addressed to better accommodate students with disabilities. The first identified concern surrounds proper and consistent funding for the Disabilities Services Coordinator. “There is uncertainty right now regarding the stability of the position given current ‘soft funding’ [grant money]…further, her position at the Wellness Centre should be divided into a few positions, as she is currently responsible for coordinating a broad spectrum of accommodations.” Second, infrastructure must be redesigned to meet not only current, but potential, student needs. “A large cohort of potential students are completely excluded from Mt. A by virtue of its inaccessibility,” states Muldoon-Gorchynski. Despite tailoring to the needs of current students as much as possible, she comments that “actively excluding a large cohort of society by not including physical and intellectual accessibility in their short-term plans is wrong.”
A draft resolution condemning the government of Syria for its treatment of anti-government protesters failed to be adopted by the United Nations Security Council. The resolution was vetoed by Russia and China on Saturday. Thirteen Security Council member-states voted in favour of sanctioning the government of Syria, including France, the United States, and Britain, the three states who hold veto power along with Russia and China. Anti-government protesters have been demonstrating in Syria since January 2011 and have been subject to attack by Syrian security forces.
UN Security Council draft resolution vetoed
Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her diamond jubilee on Monday. The head of the Commonwealth and constitutional monarch of sixteen of the Commonwealth’s fifty-four states, including Britain, Canada, and New Zealand celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of her reign with a visit to Norfolk County, England. At the age of eighty-five, Elizabeth II becomes only the second British monarch to reach this milestone after her great-great grandmother Victoria, who reigned from 1837 to 1901.
Queen Elizabeth II celebrates diamond jubilee
A heretofore officially ‘un-contacted’ indigenous Peruvian tribe has been pictured in greater detail than ever before. Images of the Mashco-Piro tribe, who live in southeastern Peru, were taken by a photographer working for the campaign group Survival International. This tribe finds its lands being encroached upon by gas and oil projects and, as a result, has been forced to relocate. Attempts to interact with the Mashco-Piro tribe by the outside world have been rebuffed, most infamously exemplified by the death of a man who was killed by an arrow when he found himself too close to their lands last November.
Peruvian tribe photographed
The former leader of Panama, Manuel Noriega, was rushed to hospital on Sunday. Noriega, seventy-seven, was the military governor of Panama from 1983 until 1989, when he was ousted during the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US. As an US prisoner of war, Noriega was put on trial for racketeering, money laundering, and drug trafficking, and served a prison sentence from 1992 to 2007, after which he was found guilty by France and Panama for murder and money laundering. After spending less than a year in a French prison between 2010 and 2011, he is currently serving a twenty-year sentence in Panama.
Noriega hospitalized
Science Atlantic
Everyday Special
6 FEBRUARY 9, 2012THE ARGOSY WEEKLY
Wind Farms in Amherst Nearing Completion
Nova Scotia will soon be greening their energy, with an expected completion date of March 31, 2012 for the wind farm under construction between Sackville, New Brunswick and Amherst, Nova Scotia.
The farm is expected to generate 31.5 megawatts of energy for the province, enough to power approximately 10, 000 homes, based on the current average power consumption in NS. Most of the power is expected to be consumed by the community of Amherst.
“All the wind farms in Nova Scotia are serving the local load,” stated chief operating officer Don Bartlett of Sprott Power, a Toronto-based company assisting with the project, to the CBC News. “The power stays right here. And for Amherst, most of this power will be consumed right here.”
The project consists of fifteen wind turbines, with nine out of the fifteen having been completed at the end of January. The $61 million project has been a combined effort of three companies, NS-based DSTN, who manufactured the steel towers, Toronto-based Sprott Power Corp., and India-based Suzlon Wind Energy, which is the world’s fifth largest supplier of wind turbine parts.
NS Premier Darrell Dexter has indicated that the partnership between the Nova Scotia based DSTN with other national and international companies may allow for a potential new job market for the NS economy. “Renewable energy is a sustainable industry with a bright future, and DSTN is helping to showcase Nova Scotia as a leader in this growing field,” stated Dexter. Construction and building of the windmills have generated approximately 140 jobs at the
site, according to Bartlett. DSTN CEO Nam Ki Lee has expressed
hopeful sentiments for further involvement in other wind farm projects across the country. “In just a short period of time, we have shown that DSTN can deliver an exceptional product for the renewable energy industry,” commented Lee. “We look forward to many more successful projects like this one across Nova Scotia and throughout Nova Scotia.”
Dexter has further expressed the province’s desire to move towards the construction and implementation of renewable energy sources within the province. “Over the past six years, the price of coal has gone up seventy-five per cent,” stated Dexter at a September press conference in Halifax. “We have to do something now to reduce the province’s dependence on fossil fuels.”
Nova Scotia’s Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act legislates a province
wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction of ten per cent below 1990 levels by 2020. With the electricity sector accounting for nearly half of NS’s total GHG emissions, the province has regulated a renewable energy target of twenty-five per cent by 2015, and a legislated renewable energy target of forty per cent by 2020. Other policy initiatives include support for community feed-in tariffs, net metering, supporting development of tidal energy, hydro electricity, and a Clean Tech Fund to support new environmental businesses.
In NB, plans are under way to construct a wind farm with forty-three turbines on the Tantramar Marsh in Aulac. The proposal, made by Acciona Wind Energy, will supposedly supply enough power for 10,000 homes within the province. Before approval of the project can be passed, however, an in-depth study conducted by Acciona of its potential effects on migratory birds must be completed.
by Rachel Gardner
The Weather Network
On behalf of the Students’ Union, Vice-President Campus Life Michael Watkins presented the Fullertons with Mt. A scarves and mittens on Friday evening. Watkins helped with the selection of the winners and says the SAC enjoys any opportunity to get involved with the Town. He presented the lucky couple with the honours which included a homemade crown and tiara, and a gift basket full of donations from local businesses.
Students from the university were also partnered with a town organization for a fundraising event held at the Sackville United Church. Mt. A’s Rotaract club, in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Sackville, hosted a chili cook-off, now in its second year. Prizes were given for best all around, best vegetarian, and best spicy chilies. “We had eleven chilies for people to try, of which eight were made by Rotarians and three were made by students,” said Rotaract co-coordinator Allen Fowlis. Though he was disappointed with the turnout from townspeople, Fowlis said this was probably due to the main Winterfest event occurring simultaneously with the cook-off. Several students came out and Fowlis says, “Overall it was a fun event to put on and I hope it can stay an annual event in Sackville.”
The weekend was capped off with Sue Foley and Peter Karp, an acoustic blues duo, playing to a packed venue at Georges Roadhouse on Saturday night, a free movie showing at the Vogue Cinema, a special Winterfest Family Sunday at the Owens Art Gallery, and a screening of the internationally acclaimed Inuk film Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner.
Town Celebrates Winterfest
Continued from cover
The Ship’s L gKeeping you ‘in the know’ on Mt. Allison and Sackville events
ThursdayInternational Development Week Day 4: Annual Action Fair Wallace McCain Student CentreFebruary 09, 2012. 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Eve Ensler’s The Vagina MonologuesWu Centre, Dunn BuildingFebruary 09-11th, 2012. 8:00 pmMount Allison’s Bilingual production of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues. All proceeds go to Autumn House, a transi-tional women’s shelter in Amherst, NS. Tickets are $5 for Student/Seniors and $10. Tickets available at the door. Doors will open at 7:30pm.
FridayInternational Development Week Day 5: Global Action DayFebruary 10, 2012. 9:00 amCampus-wide, pledge an action online at http://active8campaign.com/about-the-campaign President’s Speakers Series LectureDr. John Mighton, OCCrabtree AuditoriumFebruary 10, 2012. 7:00 pmPlaywright, educator, founder of JUMP ( Junior Undiscovered Math Prodigies) Dr. John Mighton is the fourth speaker in the President’s Speaker Series for the Year of Science and Discovery. For more information visit mta.ca/ysd
CultureWorks ConferenceFebruary 10-11, 2012Free public conference celebrat-ing the accomplishments of the CultureWorks ASUP Grant. A Canada Council Reading by Dr. John Mighton at the Owens Gal-lery, February 10 at 4:00 pm. The award-winning playwright and mathematician will read selections from his plays. On February 11, at 4:00 pm there will be a keynote Address by Martin Willis en-titled Open Fields? The Future of Interdisciplinarity in the Humanities.
7ARGOSY.CA THE ARGOSY WEEKLY
International Students and SAC Connect
by Carly Levy
Recent concerns from Mount Allison’s international students have been brought forward to the SAC in the hopes of building a stronger voice for this community. International Councillor for the Student Union’s representative body raised important issues at a recent meeting of the Student’s Administrative Council (SAC), prompting the SAC to look into creating a new position that would cater specifically to international student’s needs.
Mitali Sharan is concerned about the lack of relationship between the SAC and international students. According to Sharan, there is a shortage of information available to international students regarding the services that the SAC offers. “A lot of people don’t even know what the SAC is,” she said.
Sharan states that international students do not receive information during orientation that covers how to use specific resources or facilities such as the SAC, The Argosy, the Wellness Centre, or CHMA. “The first information we receive about the University is at orientation, and there is an assumption that this is the same information that Canadian students receive, but this is not the case,” says Sharan. There is also a tendency to direct international students back to the International Centre when they come to the SAC with problems, which Sharan says is problematic.
“There’s an apprehension to help international students, so ultimately they are sent to the
International Centre,” Sharan said, explaining that this gives students the impression that the SAC is only for Canadian students, while the International Centre is only for international students. Sharan sees this as a major issue because if there is a problem with the services they are receiving at the International Centre, they don’t know where to go. SAC President Pat Joyce explained that the problem is that the executive is unclear about how to deal with the issues specific to international students that are brought to Council by the International Councillor, and the consequence is that it gets relayed back to the International Centre.
Sharan mentioned several problems that have been faced by international students in the past, such as confronting difficulties in arranging academic accommodations, accessing information on important issues facing students, such as tuition increases, the ins and outs of the student health plan, or how to get involved in campus groups that are not solely based on being an international student. “A typical [international student] faces a large language barrier and they need extra help understanding things that happen on campus,” stated Sharan, stressing that the International Centre is not adept at helping students with student life concerns that are usually communicated through the SAC.
Further complicating the issue is that her position as the International Councillor on the SAC is perceived as being with the International Centre. “People think I am [the International Advisor’s] assistant,” said Sharan, who believes that this could discourage international students
from bringing concerns to her attention. Sharan is troubled by the amount of students who may have issues but aren’t aware that they have people to advocate for them. “I know there are so many issues that go unreported because they don’t know who to go to for help,” she said.
Sharan has begun working with the SAC to develop a new position that would be more effective in addressing international student issues. Instead of having an International Councillor representing approximately 250 international students, Sharan believes an appointed coordinator with a committee made up of students representing a cross section of international students, Canadian students, and SAC councillors is the essential first step in tackling this problem. “A committee would cover more ground and be accessible to more students,” said Sharan.
Joyce is excited about the prospect of a coordinator and committee which would be solely responsible for advocating on behalf of international students. “[The International Centre] is a department within the university and [international students] need an avenue for dealing with problems associated with that department,” said Joyce. He explained that the committee will give international students a more substantial voice on the SAC and will provide more resources for enacting changes where necessary. “We’ve never really had a channel to make recommendations to the International Centre on behalf of international students,” Joyce said, expressing his hope that this will ensure concerns are dealt with more efficiently.
The SAC completed an application last week for the Status of Women Canada Grant. The application included a request for funding for a summer student to oversee a security audit that would be completed by Toronto Company METRAC. “One of the stipulations of the grant application was that it needed to be a collaborative project within the community that worked with many different groups to engage with the issues and prevent violence against women,” said Watkins. In putting together the grant application, the SAC partnered with the Green Dot Campaign, whose mandate is awareness through education about power-based violence. “There will be funding for our SAC projects, and also funding for the Green Dot’s campaigns and programs…. We will be able to work together towards the same goal, and with this grant money, that goal is closer in reach,” said Watkins. The SAC expects to hear back in March from the Minister for the Status of Women if they were successful in receiving the grant. In hopes that the grant will come through, the Campus Life Committee will be working on the job criterion for the new student position. The position will include carrying out an internal review of security at Mt. A and creating an educational awareness initiative that will be implemented through the 2012-2013 year. “The education component will be in conjunction with the Green Dot and again look to reduce all form of power-based violence by giving students information, and changing paradigms about how we live and work together as a community,” stated Watkins.
SAC Beat: Feb 1by Vanessa Million
Application for Status of Women Canada Grant
Review of Vice-President International and Student Affairs
Student focus groups were held on January 30 and 31 to review Vice-President of International and Student Affairs (VPISA) Ron Byrne’s position. SAC President Pat Joyce said in his report to Council that there were both negative and positive reviews about the current position. Some of the concerns listed included issues around Dons’ contracts, student inclusion in decision-making in the Student Affairs portfolio, an expressed desire for more international exchange opportunities, more thorough residence staff and executive training, and the need for improved communication from the VPISA. VP Academic Affairs Eric Fraser asked what kinds of results are expected from this review and what is going to become of this feedback. Joyce answered that the review will be passed on to President Campbell with an opinion from the SAC stating whether they think the position should be continued and, if so, what the VPISA’s main priorities should be. “I think that it’s a good opportunity for us to essentially try to guide someone in their position without being confrontational, so I think it is a formal process for making sure that a position that’s intended to serve us is doing it well,” said Joyce
The Investment Committee is in the process of determining collection methods for student feedback on long-term growth strategies for SAC excess funds as well as short-term investments. “With regard to the Investment Committee, we’re setting aside funds for contingencies […] It’s looking like this amount will be around $40-50k,” said Joyce told The Argosy. “Essentially the committee came to the conclusion that we did want to put money away for long-term growth,” said Joyce. Regarding short-term investments, the Committee is looking into giving out micro loans for student or community groups to serve as possible start-up capital for potential business projects that could be beneficial to the Mount Allison student body. Loans would be relatively low-risk to the Union and would provide funding for local entrepreneurs that could have a “high social return for communities,” according to Joyce. “This is not something that will generate money, but something that will generate projects.”
SAC meets with Investment Committee
SaturdayInternational Development Week Day 6: Gender Equality and Child MortalityFebruary 11, 2012. 7:00 pmTweedie HallInternational Centre, The Sackville Associa-tion of Grandmothers and Others, Multicul-tural Society of Sackville and Tantramar and MOSAIC are hosting a multicultural fashion show in aid of the Grandmothers of Africa. Entrance is by donation.
AthleticsWomen’s Hockey vs. Dalhousie, 7:00 pm
SundayLives of Girls and WomenMount Allison University Opera WorkshopBrunton AuditoriumFebruary 12, 3:00 pm; February 13, 8:00 pmOpera Workshop presents scenes from op-eras that present the varying roles of women, in history and in the present day. Works by Jake Heggie, Thomas Pasatieri, W.A. Mo-zart and more. Admission is free and all are welcome.
AthleticsWomen’s Volleyball vs. STU, 2:00 pm
MondayThe Sweetest Little ThingValentine’s Day Art Auction and DanceOwens Art Gallery and Struts GalleryOwens Art GalleryFebruary 14, 2012. 7:30 pmAnnual Valentine’s Day art auction and dance, featuring a cake-walk, door prizes, Instant-Lovin’ Photo Booth, and fun galore.
Classified:Farm Worker / Apprentice(2 positions 1 May – 31 October 2012)
Nature’s Route Farm is hiring for 2012 season by March 1st. Send a message via the website at http://naturesroutefarm.ca for details.
5ARGOSY.CA
by Elise Dolinsky
While February is most commonly associated with Valentine’s Day and Spring Break, it is also—and arguably more importantly—Black History Month. Mount Allison’s International Centre and Roots/African Heritage Society have prepared a range of events to celebrate Black History Month, kicking off the festivities with a lecture by Dr. Esmeralda Thornhill on February 1.
Canadians and Americans have celebrated Black History Month since 1976. Carter G. Woodson, who wanted to educate the American people about African-American history, founded the month of commemoration.
Professor, lawyer, human rights activist and anti-racism educator Thornhill has been internationally recognized for her expertise and writing on race. According to President Robert Campbell, she’s “a fantastic woman, she’s done everything, been everywhere.”
Despite the stormy weather, quite a few students and teachers came to hear Thornhill’s lecture, which was held at the President’s house, and followed by an open exchange between Thornhill and students.
Thornhill addressed the importance of
history, especially Black history and its exclusion across the country: “History plays a critical role in the lives of all people,” she said, adding that in schools, “the history of Black people is either marginalized or fully excluded.”
She spoke of her time in school, and how difficult it was to learn about the history of her people in Canada and the world. “I had to wait until I was an adult to educate myself,” she expressed.
One of the things that quickly became apparent to Thornhill was the absence of Black history from Canadian history books. “History as we know it is incomplete,” she stated, “ The narratives and contributions of Black people in Canada are excluded . . . the achievements and concerns of entire segments of humanity are ignored.”
Thornhill offered the rarely-told story of Viola Desmond as an example of ignored Black history. Desmond was a Halifax-born Black woman who refused to be segregated in a New Glasgow theatre in 1946. Though this happened nine years before the celebrated Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus for a white passenger, Desmond’s admirable stand remains relatively unknown.
“The exclusion of Black history leaves us with an incomplete and skewed history,” said Thornhill, “we need to know our history,
Commemorating Black History Monthotherwise these narratives get perpetuated over and over.” She described how Canada is often seen as a tolerant, immigration-friendly nation but that “in reality no welcome mat was ever put out for Black immigrants.”
Black people were often considered “unsuitable” for life in Canada, and all sorts of methods were used to prevent them from entering the country. Government policy, back door tactics, propaganda: “it seemed that no act was too low when it came to ensuring White-only immigration,” Thornhill added. “We Canadians pride ourselves on our diversity,” she said, “nevertheless, incomplete stories have led us to ignore the historical and present contributions of Black Canadians.”
Thornhill is a strong supporter of Black History Month, believing it is a “special time for us to reflect, to celebrate ourselves . . . Black History Month is instructive, the very act of it flies in the face of many of our beliefs.”
Led by the Roots/African Heritage Society, Mt. A sets out this February to remember Black Canadian history, by acknowledging and honouring their past. The second annual Black History Month dinner and film screening will take place this Friday, and on February 15 the Roots/African Heritage Society will host a poetry reading.
FEATURES
by Anissa Stambouli
Break-ups are hard. Whether you’re dishing it out or getting the short end of the stick, letting go of habit is no picnic. A new anti-smoking campaign, “Break It Off”, compares smokers and their cigarettes to two people in an unhealthy relationship, attempting to call it quits.
“It’s not me, it’s you,” reads the headline for the Break It Off website. In 2010 Health Canada reported an estimated 3,667,171 daily smokers. In order to bring this shocking number down, the Canadian Cancer Society and Smoker’s Helpline have partnered with Twist Image to create a new campaign that draws on the personal struggles of quitting, and uses it to establish a community of support for quitters.
The three-step road to dumping the habit resembles the advice that peers give when a friend is struggling through a typical break-up: “get it over with,” “stay split up” and “move on with life”. The site is interactive and features young adult models—clearly targeting young smokers. The website’s layout seems to be an attempt at “hip,”however its theme of “break-up” is relatable and sympathizes with the difficulty of quitting.
The new campaign is more casual than the usual “you have a problem, let’s guilt-trip you and toss in statistics” anti-smoking campaigns. Also, for those tech-savvy individuals that are connected to the Internet 24/7, the Break It Off concept can be quite helpful when seeking constant support to break that “addiction”.
Break It Off lists thirteen ways “to dump smoking,” suggesting a series of methods for smokers to choose from, as well as connecting smokers to online support should they require it. Once smokers have decided to quit and selected a path to pursue to achieve their goal of living cigarette-free, the next stage of “stay split up” comes into play.
Smart phone users can download a Break It Off App for free in order to fight temptation—
whenever, wherever. Smokes can contact Quit Coaches, track their progress by recording the number of cigarettes denied, the number of occasional slip-ups, and more. Offering support one hundred per cent of the way, Break It Off tells smokers what to expect within the first few days of quitting, how to overcome symptoms, triggers for relapse to keep an eye out for, what things to look forward to as their body readjusts, and more.
But Break It Off isn’t only for smokers hoping to dump their smoky lover. It also appeals to non-smokers who don’t want to start dating the cancerous nemesis. Smokers and non-smokers alike can upload videos onto the website, recording their progress, struggles, or resistance. Joshua Murray, a smoker-on-the-quit, uploaded
Cigarettes are like Sweethearts gone wrong
a video to the website that records a break-up letter he wrote to his pack of cigarettes.
As he listed reasons for breaking up with his teenage sweetheart, Murray humorously commented, “Two, you’ve cost me more and more money every year, and you never ever pay me back. Three, I realize that I’m often embarrassed to be seen with you in public. Four, we are not the kind of couple that kids can look up to.”
However, not everyone is falling for Twist Image’s approach to helping smokers quit. “Other than giving a hotline to call, [Break It Off] is not anything new,” said a second-year Mount Allison student. “But I commend the effort regardless.”
The binary segregation of public washrooms probably doesn’t strike many people as discriminatory. Bathroom labels are ostensibly harmless, but what many people fail to realize is that not all people identify as either male or female. Trans individuals, an umbrella term for folks who show characteristics of gender non-conformity, don’t often correlate with cultural gender norms.
The result of this is that many people experience harassment, intimidation, legal charges and violence regularly, on the simple basis of trying to use the washroom. “Bathrooms are a site where trans folks and other gender variant and gender non-normative people confront an enormous amount of violence,” stated People In Search of Safe Restrooms (PISSR) activist Bryan Burgess, “As a result, [they] either don’t use public restrooms, or wait so long to find a gender neutral one that doctors are seeing that trans folks are developing an unusually high rate of bladder-related health issues.”
There are several activist groups working to make that using the washroom is an easier process for trans individuals, including PISSR and Safe2Pee—a website where people can electronically add the locations of gender neutral washrooms, creating a sort of washroom directory.
The changes necessary to convert washrooms that are currently gender-segregated are minimal and inexpensive, and would ultimately result in greater equality and respect for the rights of trans individuals. There are movements across the country to remedy this inequality, particularly on university campuses.
“Universities across North America and in Europe are now providing gender neutral washrooms on campus in order to provide safe and accessible bathroom facilities for all students and community visitors,” said Dr. Erin Steuter, Mount Allison’s Sociology Department Head. “If Mt. A were able to add unisex bathrooms, they would be effectively signalling their commitment to creating a campus of social inclusion, that is a welcoming place where the basic needs of all people can be met with dignity.”
Students can support this movement at Mt. A with an online iPetition that seeks to include gender neutral washrooms in the new Fine and Performing Arts Centre at Mt. A.
“Of seventy-five washrooms on campus, there is only one accessible and gender neutral washroom on campus, and it has been out of order for months. Though there are some single stall washrooms at Mt. A, they are either gendered unnecessarily, reserved for staff, or are largely inaccessible due to location,” Steuter explained.
“It’s possible that the university fears that, by providing gender neutral bathrooms on campus, they would effectively be taking away certain aspects of privacy for students, staff and visitors, even though it would create more gender inclusivity on campus,” said Lauren Hutchison, a fourth-year Honours Sociology major. “Hopefully it’s an achievable task, but I feel like those with more traditional beliefs will find gender neutral washrooms too progressive at the moment. I think that if students had a say in the issue, it would be a much more feasible task.”
In 2010 the University stated that, “with future renovations, gender neutral bathrooms will become more common throughout the campus buildings.” Some students and faculty are beginning to express desire for the university to take steps to make this statement a reality.
Gender-neutral washrooms in demand
by Taylor Mooney
Fiona Cai
6 FEBRUARY 9, 2012THE ARGOSY WEEKLY
Sackville Hosts World Premiere of ‘Qapirangajuq’ Renowned Inuk film director Zacharias Kunuk was in Sackville earlier this week for the Atlantic Canadian premiere of his new film Qapirangajuq: Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change.
The film was co-directed by Mount Allison’s Canada Research Chair in Human Dimensions of Environmental Change, Dr. Ian Mauro, who is also the director of Seeds of Change. Both filmmakers held a panel discussion following the screening at Vogue Cinema.
Kunuk is most famous for his film Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, which was screened last Sunday in the Wu Centre in anticipation of Qapirangajuq. Atanarjuat won the prestigious Golden Camera award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2001, and is considered one of Canada’s most important films.
Atanarjuat was the first feature film ever written, directed and acted entirely in Inuktitut. It tells the story of an ancient Inuit legend featuring a warrior who must fight an evil spirit that is causing trouble in his community.
The Vogue was packed on February 6 for the screening of Qapirangajuq. The film is the world’s first Inuktitut film on climate change, and both the screening and panel discussion were free of charge and open to the public. Kunuk and Mauro collaborated to produce the film, which includes advice from Inuit leaders.
Mauro had been living in the Arctic for over a decade, primarily in Pangnirtung which had been hit hard by the effects of climate change: “I had been living up there, experiencing it,” he commented, “The elders told me, ‘you have a responsibility to do something’.”
Qapirangajuq looks at the social and ecological impacts of global warming on the arctic from the point of view of the local Inuit communities. Kunuk and Mauro traveled from community to community in the Arctic, interviewing academics, hunters and Inuit elders. Some notable interviewees include Sheila Watt-Cloutier, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and visiting scholar at Mt. A, and Mary Simon, a National Inuit leader.
Changes in the behaviour of polar bears, flooding, unpredictable weather, meat contamination, pollution and melting permafrost are just some of the consequences the Inuit have noticed in recent years. Both
filmmakers said they gained a lot from the making of the film, with Kunuk adding, “I’m just a filmmaker, not a scientist, but making this film was a huge learning experience for me.”
One of the more controversial aspects of the film was the Inuit elders’ criticism of polar bear biologists. The elders believe that many of the research techniques used, such as tagging and tranquilizing, are hurting the bears more than they are helping them. This puts into question our scientific understanding of polar bears, and the film has caused some intense dialogue between the two sides.
“A lot of polar bear biologists have publicly said that they disagree with what elders have said in this film,” said Mauro. However, both Mauro and Kunuk feel this could be a positive thing, and hope academics and Inuit elders can work together in the future. According to Kunuk, “In ten years I think we’ll be working side by side, scientists and elders.” He added, “elders have knowledge of the land and animals . . . scientists need to talk to them.” “We are in a crisis,” Mauro contributed, “the earth has never seen such an anthropologic change, so we need to work together, scientists and communities.”
Kunuk and Mauro spend most of their
time in four communities, each with different dialects. Fortunately Kunuk is fluent in all four, which has helped him to gain the trust of community members featured in his interviews. “Zach [Kunuk] is one of the few people that can patch these dialects together,” said Mauro, “People gave him really raw, heartfelt answers.” According to Mauro, “the film is just as much about language as it is about climate change.”
As climate change increases, the need for the scientific community to consult native elders is also increasing. “Elders and people on the land have their own science: the science of watching,” said Mauro, explaining that Inuit elders have important knowledge about the environment that can help fight climate change. “This is complex stuff, but I feel the voice of the movie says that there are things we can do to fix this,” he said.
Both filmmakers are very proud of their film, and believe the elders with whom they spoke feel well represented. “Video is the perfect medium for oral knowledge,” said Mauro, “The elders knew that their knowledge would be passed on; they trusted [us] and were honest.”
by Elise Dolinsky
Janelle Belyea
Green Team: Grounds Keeping on Campus by Naomi Martz
From the green swaths of grass and blooming flowers in springtime, to the snow clearing that’s done all over campus, the amount of work put in by the Mount Allison Grounds Department is apparent. Many individuals contribute to creating what most would agree is an aesthetically pleasing and functional landscape for the University.
The 2011 Environmental Audit looked at several key facets of groundskeeping operations, and how the environmental impacts of Mt. A’s practices are considered. Given the current weather, the most obvious practice is the use of salt to keep paved surfaces free of ice and safe for the campus community. As the salt enters the run-off water, it can have negative effects for animal and plant life, and can cause concerns for soil health and the state of drinking and irrigation water.
Although the Grounds Department continues to look into alternatives to salt, or ways to reduce
use when possible, it is clear that the primary concern of staff is to minimize risk of injury for those walking and driving on campus grounds.
In all seasons, one key part of environmentally responsible operations is reducing the amount of resources that are needed for upkeep. As the audit notes, “Mt. A’s landscaping is designed to increase water efficiency. Plant varieties that require little water are chosen, and mulch and compost are applied to increase water retention. There is little to no irrigation done on campus —the exception is when a season is particularly dry.” When trees are removed for reasons such as safety concerns or construction, it is common practice for the Grounds Department to replace every tree that has been removed from Mt. A property with three new trees.
In terms of re-use and recycling, yard waste from grounds maintenance such as pruning, gardening and trimming continues to be collected for windrow composting, and the soil can then be used where it fits best. The excess compost produced by the Grounds Department is then given to the town of Sackville, and most
recently to the Mt. A Farm. As the plan to have a composting system for the waste at Jennings Dining Hall progresses, the campus community should become aware of organic waste bins that will alter on campus accordingly.
When thinking about the environmental impact of grounds keeping and management, the question of pesticides is another common concern. As the Audit explains:
“Mt .A continues to follow the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program. The IPM is a six-step strategy, which fosters a healthy life for plants. Staff members monitor the insects, diseases and weeds, and only use pesticides and herbicides as a last resort spot treatment. For safety reasons, the sports fields are sprayed as needed.”
The Grounds Department must also consider factors such as provincial legislation and Sackville bylaw that regulate pesticide use. A representative from the Grounds Department noted that pesticides are used rarely on campus—other than the sports fields—since the earlier stages of the IPM tend to prove effective.
Cinema Politica This Month
February 15 Wu Centre at 7:30pm
This one-hour documentary unearths the story of the children, women and men who were students and teachers in Canada’s racially segregated schools. With a vibrant musical score composed by jazz legend, Joe Sealy, it is a poignant and unfailingly honest evocation of the struggle of African Canadians to achieve dignity and equality through education. Extraordinary archival film footage, rare photographs, and touching first hand accounts from past students, teachers, historians and community leaders, are interwoven in this unflinching look at the heart of racial inequality in Canada.
The Little Black School House
February 26 Wu Centre at 7:30pm
Consuming Kids throws desperately needed light on the practices of a relentless multi-billion dollar marketing machine that now sells kids and their parents everything from junk food and violent video games to bogus educational products and the family car. Drawing on the insights of health care professionals, children’s advocates, and industry insiders, the film focuses on the explosive growth of child marketing in the wake of deregulation, showing how youth marketers have used the latest advances in psychology, anthropology and neuroscience to transform American children into one of the most powerful and profitable consumer demographics in the world.
Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood
March 7 Wu Centre at 7:30pm
In December 2005, Daniel McGowan was arrested by Federal agents in a nationwide sweep of radical environmentalists involved with the Earth Liberation Front—a group the FBI has called America’s “number one domestic terrorism threat.” For years, the ELF—operation in separate anonymous cells without any central leadership—had launched spectacular arsons against dozens of businesses they accused of destroying the environment. With the arrest of McGowan and thirteen others, the government had cracked what was probably the largest ELF cell in America and brought down the group responsible for the very first ELF arsons in this country.
If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
7ARGOSY.CA THE ARGOSY WEEKLY
Sesame dressing is delicious, can be used for practically anything, and is one of the most common types of salad dressing back home in Japan. It is a creamy sauce that brings harmony to the taste of soy sauce and sesame.
I remember eating it for breakfast everyday on simple morning salads consisting of lettuce, tomato and cucumbers without ever getting sick of it. As I walked through the aisles of Sackville grocery stores, there were the typical types of dressings—Italian, Ranch, Caesar, Greek. I was even able to spot something called “Asian Sesame”, which sounded right but just didn’t look like the fantastic dressing that I had been craving.
I’ve since decided to make my own. After letting my friends have a taste, I became the “salad dressing girl” to them. Although this recipe is traditionally used as salad dressing, it makes a wonderful marinade for pork or can even dress ham-turkey sandwiches for lunch.
All you need is a blender or mixer, a cutting board, knife, and some ingredients that people usually have sitting around in their fridge or cabinets.
Ingredients:30g sesame seeds50g sugar350ml canola oil100ml sugar130ml soy sauce1 clove garlicHalf an onionHalf a carrot
Directions:1. Cut the garlic into quarters and the onion
and carrot into sixths for easy blending. 2. Add in the rest of the ingredients into your
blender/mixer. 3. Blend until smooth and creamy.
Enjoy!
Sesame Dressing
by Haruho Kubota
Home Alone PizzaVALENTINE’S SPECIAL
25% OFFAll Pizza, Donair, Subs, and Poutine
Hollywood Hits Puberty: Part II
How many times have you been asked this question by a parent, a teacher, or a friend who might not be as quick on the uptake? Why is it that we can be so confused by something as simple as a sense of humour?
Humour is really just the brain recognizing the completion of a pattern that surprises it. As we grow older, we recognize patterns in different ways and can make different connections, which allow us to appreciate more complex forms of humour; forms that involve linguistic reversals rather than just the unexpected completion of a joke or action.
A person’s sense of humour changes with age; movies and books that were once considered uproariously funny in childhood won’t even tickle a funny bone later on. Many children, for example, are especially fascinated by their own bodies, and therefore find “toilet humour”—especially the noises associated with bodily functions—incredibly amusing.
Adolescents on the other hand, tend to laugh at the misfortunes of others due to their own insecurities. They also find amusement in subjects that are seen as taboo, such as foul language or any kind of sexually suggestive humour. Conversely, it is believed that adults have more mature senses of humour. Jokes targeted at older crowds tend to be more linguistic in style, or require a more advanced grasp of current or life events—knowledge that a younger person might not possess.
In this way the evolution of humour, and what the masses find funny today, reflects the differing comedy sensibilities of television and film audiences. Early silent films were reliant on movement, as there was no dialogue with which to create a comedic situation. As such, it was the grossly exaggerated actions that elicited laughs. The introduction of “talkies” allowed for more complex jokes to take shape on the screen, although these jokes were made tame due to the film codes enacted by Hollywood.
Teenage comedies and all other manner of
“camp humour” pervaded comedy in the early 1980s and have since developed into the comedy of today. It would seem that this growth is a reflection of the growing market-influence of adolescents. As more adolescents gain influence as consumers, they became the target audience of film studios, who have tuned their sense of humour to teenage taste.
While many films such as The Hangover and Bridesmaids involve witty banter and language, they are much more geared towards an adolescent conception of humour: discussion and action feature things that have traditionally been socially taboo, such as jokes about bowel movements, nudity, outrageous language and conduct that would certainly have been flagged as immoral in the 1920s.
Bridesmaids in particular serves as evidence of the cultural evolution of comedy. In the film, an envious bridesmaid and her posse of wacky cohorts seek to undermine the efforts of the maid of honour at their collective best friend’s wedding. The movie is filled with humour that seems to fit the vein of The Hangover or the American Pie movies, focusing on sexually suggestive jokes, the use of alcohol, the embarrassment of friends and most notably, one scene in a bathroom that would definitely have been unthinkable only a few decades ago in the film industry.
Why is it that the public seems so accepting of this female potty humour now, when the topic would have been hidden in a time as recent as the 1980s? While it might be easy to say that society is merely seeing the continuation of the adolescent trajectory of contemporary humour, a more promising answer might instead be found in the idea of humour as pattern-completion.
The portrayal of women engaging in crude humour, imagery that is so seldom seen in popular culture due to lingering gender-stereotypes, offers a surprising completion to the pattern presented to us in Bridesmaids—a pattern completion that is only possible due to changing social attitudes about what should be considered appropriate behaviour for women in comparison to men.
by Geoff Hutchinson
by Spelunking Jones
Most researchers take a cynical stance on the existence of the mysterious G-Spot in women. Women themselves, however, beg to differ. A questionnaire on sexuality was mailed to a random sample of 2,350 women with an overall response rate of fifty-five per cent. In this sample, eighty-four per cent responded that they “believed that a highly sensitive area exists in the vagina”.
But what is the G-Spot? It is defined as an area in the front wall of the vagina, which is alleged to produce an extremely intense orgasm when stimulated. It’s the holy grail of female sexuality—something every partner wishes to find as they journey down below and inside her. Even though the direct evidence for its existence hasn’t been shown yet, much support for the famous hotspot is out there.
You may be asking, “how do I look for it?” and most importantly, “how do I know I found it?” Fear not she-gasm seekers, help is on the way. The G-Spot is typically located about two to three inches inside the vagina on the front wall. For some women, stimulating the G-Spot creates a more intense orgasm than clitoral stimulation.
However, sexual stimulation of the G-Spot seems to produce a variety of feelings: discomfort, sensation of urination, or pleasure. Evidence says that is it difficult to stimulate the G-Spot through sexual penetration, especially in the missionary position because of the special angle at which penetration must occur.
Rear-entry, or “doggy style”, seems to be the most effective position because the object of penetration—where the finger, dildo, penis, what have you—is rubbing on the upper wall of the woman’s vagina. However, direct G-Spot simulation has to be done with fingers.
Here’s a little “Indiana Jones Cave Guide” that you Mounties can experiment with:
First, start with a little foreplay. Everybody knows that most women need at least a couple of minutes to get aroused. After your partner feels all hot and wired up, get cozier. With your fingers approximately two to three inches in, move your fingers in even circles all around the inside of the vagina. Remain consistent with firm pressure along the entire length of the vaginal walls while fingering.
You may wish to give a little extra pressure towards her belly, as long as you don’t break the steady rotational rhythm. Stop rotating your fingers and rest your fingertips on the (usually slightly ridged) area of the vagina just behind the pubic bone, and exert pressure towards her belly (upwards).
This is direct G-Spot stimulation, and it usually feels best if the fingers are subtly moving. You can move your fingers in small, slow circles, or point your fingers more sharply and rock them back and forth. Listen to your partner and adjust your actions with her to achieve the best results. If everything goes well you will give her a few minutes of euphoric sensation, where she is in complete bliss.
Happy cave diving!
by Victoria Stroud
Have you ever heard the phrase “apple of my eye” or “by the skin of our teeth”? Have you ever wondered whether these phrases, which have become quite common in modern society, could have a deeper meaning to them?
Many of today’s sayings originated in one of the most influential books of all time—a book which has contributed to our culture and influenced our way of thinking, while retaining its roots in the past.
Though many texts have weathered the test of time, I am referring specifically to the King James Version of the Bible. Last year marked the 400-year anniversary of this noted translation. It is worth considering why this book has had such an impact on the English language and its literature, and why, despite the numerous versions of the Bible in circulation, this one in particular is worth examining in depth.
I cannot imagine what it would have been like to live in a time when there was no easy access to texts of any kind, including the Bible. However prior to 1611 this was often the case. In years leading up to the publication of the King James Version, many churches did not contain a single copy of the Bible. It was during this time that the Church underwent disturbances.
Puritans were experiencing conflict with the
earlier translations of the Bible and their faith. In response to this, King James I convened the Hampton Court Conference in 1604. It was at this time that the requisition of a new translation was issued. Approximately fifty-four translators, all of whom were members of the Church of England, were commissioned for this translation. Being individuals of faith, King James requested that they be guided by the ecclesiology (origin of the church) and episcopal structure (church hierarchy) while completing this lengthy project.
It took this team seven years to complete their work, and in 1611 the first publication was made. Since that time, over one billion copies of the King James Version have been published, giving the English language some new phrases and idioms which are now very familiar, although their origins may not be known to many people.
The translation was undertaken not only with for the purpose of giving an English equivalence to the Hebrew and Greek texts, but also with the intention for it to be read aloud in church, and so the translation had to be not only accurate but also pleasing to the ear.
As George Bernard Shaw commented: “The translation was extraordinarily well
done because, to the translators, what they were translating was not merely a curious collection of ancient books written by different authors in different stages of culture, but the word of
Through Stained GlassGod divinely revealed through His chosen and expressly inspired scribes. In this conviction they carried out their work with boundless reverence and care and achieved a beautifully artistic result . . . they made a translation so magnificent that, to this day, the common human Britisher or citizen of the United States of North America accepts and worships it as a single book by a single author, the book being the Book of Books and the author being God.”
Shaw’s statement summarizes the significance behind the King James Version translation, and helps to explain why this particular text has endured for 400 years (and counting). After all, “In the beginning was the word,” (John 1:1).
8 OP/ED FEBRUARY 9, 2012
by James Wilson
by Emily JamesIn my last article I cleared up some misconceptions about piracy. In this second of three articles I look at some examples of piracy being helpful and also reply to the arguments presented by Mr. Chris Paul.
Of course a defence of piracy is an old one. Every time a new technological advance has come on to the scene, from the printing press to the modern DVD, there have been those who felt threatened by the paradigm shift the new technology presented. To quote the Swiss government’s December report, “Every time a new media technology has been made available, it has always been ‘abused’. This is the price we pay for progress. Winners will be those who are able to use the new technology to their advantage and losers those who missed this development and continue to follow old business models”. Mr. Paul argues that copyright holders should have complete control over how their ‘property’ is used. However, this is not always in the interest of the common good. Let’s start with an historical example. Hollywood, centre of North America’s entertainment industry, owes a part of its soul to intellectual property infringement. Sure, Hollywood benefited from sunny weather, varied landscapes, and cheap land, but its physical distance from the east coast was also important. Why? In the early years of the 20th century Thomas Edison owned most of the patents necessary for film-making. Small production companies, unable to function, moved to California. Of course Edison sued, but California law saw the benefits to their own economy and basically told Edison to bugger off.
And of course artists have a right to profit from their labour, much like a lawyer has a right to profit from his. I would not claim, however, that a lawyer owns the law and yet he profits. Why? Because he provides a service. Production companies provide a service as well, namely the convenient access to entertainment. Mr. Paul, it will be the extent to which you make receiving your service convenient that determines your success, not clinging to outdated intellectual
Every now and then, you hear the word ‘tenure’. Just the other day, I overheard a professor say “I wish I could dye my hair pink and get body piercings, but I would get fired … oh wait! The tenure, so I can’t get fired!”
Tenure is usually referred to as life tenure in a job, and is an academic’s contractual right not to have a professor’s position terminated without a just cause. That sounds fair enough – justification for academic freedom and rights to professors. However, today it is almost impossible to fire a professor, even a bad professor. To put it into prospective, one in 57 doctors lose their medical licenses; one in 97 attorneys lose their law licenses—but for teachers, only one in 2,500 have ever lost their credentials.
In a dream world, we would all be receiving the best education from the best professors who truly care about all of their students. However, in reality, it is not always so. With tenure, even terrible professors have a job guaranteed for life. Students even notice it here at Mt. A, a school that has a good reputation for teachers that care about the students. However, there are those teachers who walk into class, talk about last night’s baseball game, go out for a smoke break, and come back to do a twenty minute lecture.
It is frustrating for students because we are being cheated of our education. It is also frustrating for other professors – the professors that see you outside of class; the professors who will dedicate countless hours (and red ink) to help improve your writing; the professors who love teaching and do it not because it is a secure job, but because they know they are making a difference in the world.
Imagine working beside a lazy person who does half of the work you do, but receives the same salary as you do. That is what good
professors go through. Good professors cannot be rewarded for their hard work or their teaching skills. Therefore, it does not encourage the professors to work hard. It actually tells them that it is pointless to work hard because there is no reward in return.
But what can we do about a bad professor? Well, the only solution today is to send that professor to another school and cheat other students from their education, but better them than us … right?
There are those great professors, including many at Mt. A. The professors that you think back on and say “he taught me more than science,” or “she taught me how to truly write.” Those are the teachers we remember and the teachers who deserve more than praise. They deserve rewards and benefits, perhaps encouraging other professors to follow their footsteps. However, there are only 3 or 4 professors that come to mind as great professors in the past 14 years of my education.
So, is the tenure system ruining education? Yes it is.However, the solution is not to get rid of the
tenure because professors still need protection. Instead we need to reform the contract. Reform the contract to make it possible to fire a bad professor and reward good professors. As a result, education will increase and money will be saved in the long run. Each year dropouts cost the United States $192 billion in lost income through taxes.
This is your education. And teachers, it is not just your job to get through essays quickly or fill up fifty minutes of lectures. It is your job to make a better future. As of right now, you have such a huge influence over the lives of your students. Teach us. Really, truly teach us with all you can and give us the gift to teach the next generation. Your teaching is not only a years worth of influence, but also an influence over generations to come.
Faculty Tenure
Russia is a country that needs a strong leader. Vladimir Putin certainly fits the description, but will Putin have what it takes to become President of the Russian Federation once again? Russia under Putin saw the creation of vast economic wealth, the rise of Russia as an energy superpower, as well as an increase in the GDP per capita. He brought Russia to capitalist fruition after the turbulent years of the 1990s, but it will take more than this for Putin to win by the margins he has won by before.
What is different about this election is that Putin will have more difficulty winning as easily as he did in the past, and he will have to earn every vote he gets. Russia isn’t in shambles as it was in the days of Boris Yeltsin’s presidency. The economy has strengthened and capitalism is not the foreign concept it was to the people of Russia prior to Putin.
Putin often used macho imagery (he once attempted to bend a frying pan on national television) in order to associate himself with ideas of being a grand saviour of the Russian Federation. With Russia developing as a rising economic power, it will be quite difficult for Putin to continue to portray himself as he has done in the past.
A seemingly new phenomenon has begun in
Russia: an organized opposition to Putin and his United Russia party. Last December, thousands of Russians in St. Petersburg protested what they saw as unfair election results. Mikhail Gorbachev himself even weighed in on the debate by calling for a recount of a disputed election in the country. This is a radical departure from previous attitudes among the Russian people. Corruption has always been a part of the bureaucracy that Yeltsin and Putin built, but it has never seen the opposition it now faces. It seems that after two decades, the last remnants of Soviet culture are falling away. No longer can strongman and semi-authoritarian tactics succeed in Russian politics without irking significant opposition. What does this mean for Putin and the United Russia party? For starters, Putin will need to reinvent himself as not only the tough guy defender of the Motherland, but as a leader of a liberal democracy who truly values both liberalism and democracy. United Russia is going to have to rebrand itself as a more legitimate political party.
The recent protest in St. Petersburg is an indicator of a larger movement from quasi-democracy to a much more free and open society. Likely, Putin will still win the presidency once again, but this time he is going to be forced to become a more liberal candidate. 2012 will likely belong to Putin and United Russia, but if they don’t alter their approach to politics, 2018 may not be kind to either of them.
Rushin’ to the Polls
A Continued Defence of Piracy
by John Trafford
property law. Back to the topic on hand, we have the curious
case of the book “Go the F**k to Sleep”. In May of last year the book “Go the F**k to Sleep” topped Amazon’s best-seller list ... one month before release. The book had been available online and widely distributed illegally for months. According to copyright dogma this should have hurt sales, but this case clearly illustrates that the file did not replace the actual book. In fact, it has been credited with the amount of success the book has enjoyed. Nor is copyright strictly necessary. When the 9/11 Commission Report was released by the US government W. Norton also released a paper copy for sale. Lets be clear: the report could not be copyrighted and was available for free online from the government as well as from government departments for a small fee. Norton still turned a profit.
Obviously organizations would want to study the effects of piracy, and what they find is often telling. Last February the Japanese Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry concluded a study that found while anime rentals were hurt by piracy, anime DVD sales actually increased as a result of piracy. It’s easy to see why if you think about it. A person who rents or pirates does sobecause they are not sure whether or not they will like the series. Buying the DVD still has tangible benefits over pirating, primarily hard drive space and quality of downloads.
I had a bit of a chuckle at Mr. Paul’s dismissal of two of my points. The arguments about return on investment and that pirates spend their money on other things come from the Swiss Government; Mark A. Lemley, Stanford Law School; and James Wilson, a lecturer at the Center for Professional Ethics, Keele University. Truly an absurd assortment.
That Mr. Paul would bring up ‘The Death of Critical Thought at Mount Allison’ in his defence of the status quo is certainly fitting. I hope Mr. Paul will continue to reply as no argument can be advanced without the opposing viewpoint being expressed. In the third and final part of this defence of piracy I will look at where the fight to defeat piracy will ultimately lead and propose an alternative vision.
Standard Examiner
9ARGOSY.CA THE ARGOSY WEEKLY
Dear Editor,
In the February 2 issue of the Argosy a short letter by (presumably) a student, Tori Morning, was so odd and so misleading I feel compelled to address it. Her letter was aggressive and rude in tone towards residents of the Sackville community who use the Fitness Centre. She hinted that Sackville residents are “complaining” to the SAC that they want access to the Fitness Centre. They do have access to the Fitness Centre, so I am not sure what she was talking about.
But that is not the part that bothered me. It was her insinuations that community members are either wanting, or already getting, “priority of spots” in the Centre, and it was her uninformed declaration that the facility is Mount A situated, run and staffed, and therefore a “student gym” that propelled me to my computer to write this.
First, I would urge Tori to read the description of the Fitness Centre which is posted on the Mount A Athletics Website. Here it is in its entirety. Note how welcoming it is to “residents of Sackville and surrounding communities.”
One of the three major areas of focus for Athletics and Recreation is to provide “Leadership in Wellness and Active Living.” To have a successful impact on this pursuit, Athletics and Recreation has designed and will continue to refine a set and programs and services aimed at best serving the needs and interests of our students, our faculty and staff and the residents of Sackville and surrounding communities.
With the introduction of a Fitness Centre Coordinator in August 2010, the department is poised to launch a more comprehensive and more engaging set of programs and services. We take our responsibility to encourage active living on campus very seriously and we are intent on connecting with as many students, faculty, staff
and community residents as possible.After reading this, I would ask Tori to click
on “Membership” where she will see the fee scale for those who are not students. I think, for example, that an adult resident of Sackville who pays $420.00 a year for use of the Fitness Centre (or $775.00 if they use the pool, too) should feel equal in every way to the students who use the facility.
As a non-student who has used the Fitness Centre on average three times a week for the past year and a half, I am thrilled to have this state of the art facility open to me. I know many other residents who use it, and everyone, with no exception, feels as I do. I love looking around and being inspired by the others – students, faculty, staff and community persons – who are devoting a part of their lives to trying to keep fit. It is that wonderful cross-section of people which makes the Fitness Centre so distinctive, and such a great pleasure for me. I have never heard residents express even a hint that they think they should have “priority spots” over students in the Centre. Actually, I have never had to wait for a machine for more than a minute or two, and that has happened only 3 or 4 times over the course of 18 months!
Thanks to Pierre Arsenault, the Athletic Director, and to Gaetan Richard, the Fitness Centre’s Co-ordinator, Mount A has taken a few giant steps forward in recent years to create an environment at the Fitness Centre which supports diversity of every sort, which is positive and exciting, and which promotes a terrific mix of town and gown, where people regardless of age or position, help and support one another in the mutual quest for “Wellness and Active Living.”
Dr. Janet E. Hammock
A green dot is any behaviour, choice, word or attitude, big or small, that promotes safety for everyone and communicates utter intolerance for personal power-based violence. We can work independently and as a community to end sexual violence, relationship abuse, harassment, homophobia, transphobia and bullying. People can do something small like saying “that’s not very nice” to something big like supporting a friend who wants to call the police or report an incident.
The Mt. A Green Dot Campaign will select green dots to submit to the Argosy. This week the green dot is Leah Mighton’s work with NSCC Service Learning and a Mt. A sociology class to develop YouTube-worthy video skits about the Green Dots and ending personal power-based violence. In addition to being a staunch supporter of the Green Dot Campaign, Leah is the Manager of S.M.I.L.E. and the Coordinator of the SAC Social Justice Committee. Leah really helps to keep the Green Dot Movement spreading at Mt. A and beyond. What’s your green dot? Let us know by writing to [email protected].
Sabina Snow
Ms. “Tourquoise” Eyes,Happy 22nd birthday to the cutest and most enchanting woman I know. You can be my cuddle buddy any day. My door is always open.
Dear Captain Cook,I’ll add some cream to your earl grey tea, if you come over and play some games with me.
My Bearded ValentineWhen I see your dark rimmed glasses and innocent smile I can’t help but know I’ll be around for awhile. Of course these aren’t the only reasons my heart wants to stay, it certainly doesn’t hurt that you’re quite a good lay. Your plaid-on-plaid style makes my heart go a flutter, sometimes I’m so lovestruck I speak, with a stutter. You’re there for me through thick and thin, it shows with your concern each time I prick my skin. Its safe to say we’re in it for the long haul we’re so in love, how much harder could we fall?
Dear Advertisers,If you are going to spend millions on
commercials for football games, you’d better make them worth watching.
Lucy,You’re the only one I’ve really loved. We both wanted things to last but we ran out of things to say. You meant everything to me but sometimes that’s not enough. I hope you’re happy…that would at least make one of us. I wish I could be there to say Happy Valentine’s Day.
Love, Jude.
Dear girl in my class,Just because you went to boarding school
doesn’t make you better than me. Public School Princess
Dear world,Stop posting to Facebook the reason why
you can’t attend an event when the event has hundreds of people you don’t know attending.
Privacy Patrol
Dear History Afficionado,Your help was invaluable, you are owed a
great debt of gratitude.Sincerely, Flores Perennes Carpimus
Dear Editor, Dear Editor, Dear Editor,
Dear Editor
Need something unique for someone special this Valentine’s Day? CHAT@MTA will be selling hand-made, fair-trade Ugandan bead necklaces in the Student Centre on February 9-10 and February 13.
The beads will be priced between ten and fifteen dollars, and the gift you purchase will be gift-wrapped with a thank you card from CHAT to the Future. All proceeds will go toward continuing efforts to provide sustainable housing, schooling and care for Ugandan orphans in need.
Show someone you care by caring about the world around you. *Cash only
A group of Mount Allison students went to Moncton on the night of January 28 for a performance of “Hänsel and Gretel” put on by the Université de Moncton at the Capitol Theatre. The opera, composed by Engelbert Humperdinck in 1891, is based on the famous fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm.
About a dozen students participated in the trip, organized by Professor Gabriela Fischer of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. The students are studying German at the first- and second-year levels, and the opera, which was performed entirely in German, was a learning experience as well as a night of culture.
The opera had a Mt. A flavour, as the part of Hänsel and Gretel’s mother was played by Mt. A music student Morgan Traynor, who gave an excellent performance of a difficult part. She, and the opera as a whole, were well received by the crowd, who gave a standing ovation after the final scene. In all, the event was a worthwhile use of a Saturday evening and a good time was had by all.
Lucas Cober
Forget that cute guy’s name at the bar? Did somebody make your day?
Wanna shout out your meal hall crush? Send in your “missed” to [email protected]
If you’re looking for the gang, go to Mel’s Tea Room.
Carly: The other day on the radio I heard a jewellery store ad that basically said “Valentine’s Day is so commercialized, but buy diamonds for your lover anyway.” The ad was trying to appeal to people that think Valentine’s Day was an invention meant to make people spend money on things they don’t really need, but somehow managed to use that argument to try and sell diamonds! Do they think we are all just consumerist zombies, that maybe we’d be more inclined to buy a Valentine’s present from their store because at least they acknowledge the fact that the whole day is based on evil capitalist ideas? Yes, most people are probably just zombie consumers, and Valentine’s Day gets such a bad rep because of those people. I won’t even get into all those people who think they need to be in love to celebrate it. Come on people, take your best friend on a date! You guys probably need to catch up anyway, what with our degrees sucking up every freaking minute of our lives.
I love V-day! No, I don’t need a specific day to tell my significant other that I love them, and I don’t want any presents either. I think there’s something really sweet about a designated day that celebrates love in all its forms, not just the passionate love shared between partners but also the love you have for your parents, grandparents, other close family members and friends, of course. Every year on V-day I get valentines from my Grammie and my Aunt. I always loved giving them to my classmates in elementary school, too. It wasn’t about tacky teddy bears, roses, or shiny things - I just felt so special dumping my valentines deposit box on my desk and looking at the scrawled names to see who got Disney Princess and who got Power Ranger-emblazoned cards. I still get that feeling now - I wear red on Feb. 14 and I like to make homemade cards that I know will make someone feel loved. No matter how much you may hate V-day, you’re gonna feel damn special when I give you a cupcake and a card shaped like a heart that says you’re beautiful.
Valentine’s Day Showdown: News Writer and News Editor go Head to Head!
Valentine’s Day. You might love it, or you might hate it. There are multitudes of people in each camp, probably even too many to mention. So, instead of taking a poll on the varying levels of hatred or gratitude towards this most lovey-dovey, possibly consumerist and most definitely contentious of holidays, we thought it better to just ask a couple of our own staff to explain their points of view.
Rachel: Valentine’s Day is one of the most dreaded days of the year for a good fifty per cent of the population, that is, the singles of the world. It places unnecessary emphasis on romance and relationships, and devalues the freedoms of singlehood. Let’s look at it this way: think about the big players in history – the vast majority of them were single! Joan of Arc, Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Florence Nightingale, Mother Teresa, Jesus. No emotional garbage to deal with, no strings attached, just plain devotion to a good cause and a legacy of remembrance by the general population. Thus, it only makes sense to celebrate the great martial status of singlehood, and the freedom attached to it.
If this argument is not so convincing, then let me continue. Valentine’s Day perpetuates the commercialization of love. You pick one day out of the entire year on which to pay for a date night, buy flowers, buy chocolates, buy cards, buy a puppy, buy the moon, all for your special someone, and only on February 14. I think that if someone would really like to show love to their partner, they’ll do it continually, throughout the year, and not necessarily by buying things for them. They’ll do it all the time because they love them everyday. In the words of a 1937 showtune, “each day is Valentine’s Day.”
Commercialization around Valentine’s Day is also blatantly hetero-normative. Walking by the shelves filled with Valentine’s Day cards, looking at packaging of candies, and watching marketing and advertising campaigns, it becomes apparent that the corporate commercialism of the day is aimed at a very targeted audience.
And let me continue. So often, Valentine’s Day becomes a patriarchal celebration in heterosexual relationships. In this case, men buy women all this stuff without the expectations that she will return the gift. While this may not seem so terrible at first—at least to the females out there—this perpetuates a gender role for men to be the breadwinners, the economic caretakers of the home. Come on my fellow women! We’ve got our own dough, and we can spend it on our partners too! Buy your shnookums some flowers! Sixty-one per cent of men have actually admitted that they would like flowers for Valentine’s Day. If you want to opt out of the commercialism of the day, as I highly recommend, make each other your own homemade gifts. Mixed CDs, knitted socks, or some chocolate cake often means a lot more than a ten-second decision at the store.
So, while others go out and celebrate this cursed holiday, I will stay at home and celebrate my singlehood... with a bowl of chocolate and romantic comedies to keep me company.
by Rachel Gardner and Carly Levy
Top Ten: Popular Expressions of the 1950s
by Taylor Losier
Are you visiting relatives this spring break who are still using expressions that were “hip” in their day? The Argosy has your back! Here are the translations to some common expressions form the fifties:
1. If you had been “Clutched”, you were rejected, shut down, turned away, etc.
2. That weird kid in the back of the lecture hall would be known as a “Fream”.
3. If you were a cheerleader, you were known as a “Paper Shaker”.
4. A “Big tickle” is a really funny story/occurrence.
5. If someone “Razzed your berries”, it means they impressed/excited you.
6. If you got the “Word from the bird”, you could be assured that you had been told the truth.
7. If someone was “In orbit”, rather than floating in space, they were merely in the know.
8. If someone told you that you had a “Classy chassis”, you would thank them for saying you had a great body.
9. If you wanted someone to calm down, you would tell them “Don’t have a cow”.
10. If you were in an awesome place, the aforementioned place would be called “Fat City”.
If you know me, then you know that I like to have a little drinksie-poo or two—or 14—on the weekends. If you don’t know me, let’s change that. I’m very friendly. What’s say we go out, have a cup of coffee sometime, forge a new friendship? What? You don’t WANT to be my friend? YEA? WELL, SCREW YOU TOO, BUDDY. What a jerk. Anyways, where was I? Oh yes. Liquor.
Booze. Suds. Drinks. Nectar of the Gods. Whatever you want to call it, alcohol is a part of the collegiate lifestyle, and has been for a very long time; those with difficult lives usually tend to head to the pub for a drink after work, and if you can find someone with a more stressful life than an undergraduate student, let me know, so I can send them a card with my condolences.
Because booze plays such a heavy role in my life, and in light of the fact that I’m expected to finish my matriculation at this fine institute of undergraduate education come April, which means I’m expected to reenter society as a responsible, productive, and mature human being (which, I should probably add, I can in no way classify myself right now—hell, most of you can’t either, who are we kidding? I decided to take a weekend of sobriety out for a test-drive.
It was…interesting. I really didn’t know what to do with the enormous amount of free time I now found myself in possession of. I could have done readings, or worked on schoolwork…but I think we all know that this didn’t happen. Instead, I spent the time hanging around my drunk friends, going to Moncton, losing a large amount of my rapidly dwindling savings account at the casino, and finishing the weekend by repeatedly trying to force myself to do readings, rather than play video games. I swear, I really did try to read, for like, a full 11 minutes. Seriously.
Honestly, I know many of you don’t care. “It was MARDI GRAS, MAN! THE PUB HAD A THING, WITH THAT BAND! BEER! WOO!” And, honestly, after a weekend of introspection, I can’t say that I disagree with you. I like going out with my friends, I appreciate the fine work of Messrs. Molson and Keith. Hell, I even appreciate a Colt 45 once in a while, although I tend to appreciate it a lot less the next morning. What I’m arguing for, though, is that despite the fact that I spent much of the weekend doing what I would have otherwise done, had I been drinking, the sobriety gave me a sense of perspective, and I learned something. I learned that the world actually does keep existing between the hours of 3 am and 1 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. I learned that it is possible to wake up on a Saturday or Sunday, without a headache that would make a grown bull elephant sit down hard. Perhaps most importantly, though, I learned, that you don’t need alcohol to have a good time, or enjoy your friends company…but that, given my friends, it certainly helps.
My (Very Long) Weekend Without Liqour
by Geoff Hutchinson
Droll JokesVarious Jokes from Past Issues, 1941-46
“Before I hear the doctors tellThe dangers of a kissI had considered kissing youThe closest thing to bliss.
But now I know BiologyAnd sit and sigh and moanSix million mad bacteriaAnd I thought we were alone.”
“I can’t marry him, mother,’” said the graduating co-ed. “He’s an atheist and doesn’t believe there is a hell.”
“Marry him, my dear,” said the mother, “and between us we’ll convince him that he is wrong.”
Professor: “From where I’m standing here I can tell what each one of you is thinking.”
Dave (From back of room): “Well, why don’t you go there?”
Police Sergeant: “A college student, eh?”Suspect: “Yes, sir.”Patrolman: “It’s a lie. I searched him and
found money in his pockets.”
The lecturer at a woman’s club called an attendant and told her to be sure to place a pitcher of ice water and a glass, on the speaker’s table.
“Do you want it for drinking?” she asked?“No”, said the lecturer, “I do a high diving
act.”
Co-ed (to boy friend, who was driving wildly down the road): “For heaven’s sake, use both hands!”
Boyfriend: “Can’t. Need one to steer with.”
In fewer words,The stork that brought you should be
arrested for smuggling dope.
One of the boys in the Astronomy class peered through the telescope the other night, and murmured, “Gawd!”
Pretty good telescope, we’d say.
12 FEBRUARY 9, 2012CENTREFOLD
Pages through the Ages...It all starts with an idea. In 1872, the Eurhetorian Society of Mount Allison College desired, like other colleges, to possess ‘organ’ to be read at their meetings. Three years later, the Eurhetorian Argosy became an independent publication. The rest is history, of which a sample has been provided for this issue. Enjoy!
The history of The Argosy is relatively calm and gradual when one looks upon its 140-year history as student media at Mount Allison. There was one event however, that pushed students’ free speech to its limits and forced the stern hand of the University. Centre stage was the editor-in-chief at the time, Nigel Martin.
It was 1964 and Mt. A, along with the rest of the country, was in the midst of social unease and unrest. “The early sixties was an era of change and new beginnings,” said Reverend Eldon Hay, who performed the duties of University Chaplain at Mt. A from 1962 to 1965. Nigel Martin, a third-year student at the time noted, “The 1960s was a time to shake off the chasteness of earlier decades. At Mt. A, if a man spent one night in a women’s residence, he could be expelled if caught.” Indeed, it was in this time that the University appointed its first chancellor, Dr. Ralph Pickard Bell.
After receiving a Bachelor of Arts from Mt. A in 1907 and after heading numerous highly successful and profitable businesses, Bell was the recipient of an honorary degree in 1944. The minutes of a Board of Regents meeting state he accepted the position of chancellor on the condition that “he would assume an active part in the affairs of the
Mt. A and The Argosy: A complicated relationshipby John A. W. Brannen university.” We can see the lasting positive effects of this
‘active’ role in the opening of several new buildings on campus, such as the current library that bears his name, the Conservatory of Music and Convocation Hall that bear Bell’s wife’s name, and the Chapel to name a few. But some, including faculty and students saw this ‘active’ role as tantamount to meddling. Dr. John G. Reid noted that while his main focus was Mt. A’s finances and administration, Bell “was a strong willed chancellor whose pronouncements could at times, perhaps unwittingly, trench upon the rights of faculty.”
Martin became editor-in-chief of The Argosy in 1964. In that capacity, he heard some of the grumblings about Bell’s influence, even from senior faculty members, but according to Martin, “rarely would any come forward or be on the record.” Though there hadn’t been an April Fools’ spoof issue (the equivalent of The Anarchy) in many years, he decided to revive this Argosy tradition and took aim at Chancellor Bell. Armed with an editorial entitled ‘All’s Well That Ends Bell’ and a racy caricature of Bell and his wife Marjorie in swim attire (below, left), Martin would soon see just how much influence Bell had at Mt. A.
“We had only distributed about hundred copies of the newspaper before the administration called the printer, ordered them to cease production and proceeded
to confiscate the remaining issues,” Martin recalled. Immediately, Martin and Argosy co-worker Keith Ward were called before the Student Disciplinary Committee, where they were told remaining at Mt. A was contingent on letters apology the university community and of resignation from The Argosy; they complied. Rev. Hay had a great impact on Martin in his darkest hour. “Most students didn’t rally to my defense and I don’t blame them,” Martin noted. “I was grateful for Eldon’s moral support.” Hay recalled it was more than just offering sympathy. “I reached out to him, as a person, in the name of justice.”
The University President, L. H. Cragg, sent out a letter to Argosy subscribers, stating, “The Editor and his staff were guilty of inexcusably bad
taste and an incredible lack of sensitivity to the feelings of others.” Student Valerie Marchand stepped in as editor-in-chief, but resigned after one issue. “Because of recent developments in the history of Mount Allison… The Argosy is being treated as a University paper, a means if public relations and not as a student paper…” She stated, “pressure has been applied,” presumably by the administration. On the same page, under the headline ‘The Argosy as it may have been’, the entire staff announced they too were, “resigning with their editor.” The Argosy, without a captain or crew, temporarily ceased publication.
At this point, the Students’ Representative Council stepped into to provide a campus-wide newsletter to fill the void left by The Argosy. “The SRC has undertaken to publish weekly a newsletter,” the typewritten paper read, “whose format shall be simply and primarily bulletins to announcements pertinent to the campus…” The SRC made no attempt toward a permanent publication of their own, stating emphatically, “[The newsletter] is not nor will it ever be considered a substitute for nor a temporary copy of The Argosy.” It gives a brief update on The Argosy, noting the need to hire a new staff, adopt editorial guidelines and principles and remain fully autonomous. The paper did reappear in the following semester.
For Martin, the story didn’t quite end there. “I needed one more year to graduate, but I needed a break,” he recalled, noting the many decisions and options for students of the 1960s. Nearly five years later, he applied to return to Mt. A to finish his degree. “After some deliberation, they allowed me to return but it was on one condition: I was not to be involved in any extracurricular or political groups on campus.” So Martin completed his undergrad uneventfully. He went on to work with numerous NGOs all over the world and has over thirty-five years of experience in Canada and on the global NGO scene. He has also advised the Government of Canada and government of Quebec on development issues. He became the founding president of the Montreal International Forum, an international NGO think-tank. He currently resides in Montreal.
Rev. Hay, a Professor Emeritus of religion at Mt. A, became and still is a tireless advocate for a more tolerant and inclusive society. In particular, he has provided leadership to PFLAG, a support group for families and friends of gay, lesbian and bisexual persons. He went on to receive the Order of Canada in 2003 for his work. He currently resides in Sackville.
Thinking back to 1963 at The Argosy at Mt. A, Martin is candid: “I was young, but injustice made me angry.” He sees his time at the paper as when he became aware of his own abilities. “The Argosy marked the first time I was able to channel that anger and affect change in my community.”
Though it is mainly the small and unseen events that have steered The Argosy throughout time, occasionally there have been significant and even confrontational events. Though this is a particularly exceptional case, we are served well with the knowledge that this event not only built character and fostered growth for Mt. A and The Argosy, but for each person involved as well.
The Argosy and its Editor-in-Chief would like to publicly thank and acknowledge the support of the Mount Allison University Archives and Archivist David Mawhinney in completing the centrefold stories. The vast majority of
clippings from previous Argosies are from the Mount Allison Archives or the R.P. Bell Library microfilm holdings.
13CENTREFOLDARGOSY.CA
Pages through the Ages...Research Shows Argosy Began in 1872
by John A. W. Brannenlike all respectable societies possesses
an ‘organ’ – “Eurhetorian Argosy,”
which was read by Mr. G. J. Bond.”
This is consistent with historian Dr.
John G. Reid’s research as well. “For
several years [before 1875], The Argosy,
following the previous tradition of
Mount Allison student publications,
had been read aloud at meetings of the
society rather than circulated in printed
form.” In 1872, The Eurhetorian Argosy
as student media came into existence.
In 1875, The Argosy became
independent of the Eurhetorian
Society and continued on as a monthly
publication until 1922. It was at this time
that it became a weekly publication and
became more news and editorially based
rather than strictly focused on literature
and academics. Almost a century after
achieving independence, The Argosy
was incorporated as a company in
1977 called Argosy Publications Inc.,
with a board of directors responsible
for ensuring good management and
financial solvency. In 1995, the editorial
staff began the tradition of putting
satirical and humourous phrases on the
cover, all of them concluding with ‘…
since 1875’. Now, The Argosy will trace its roots
beyond the first independent issue
produced and instead look to 1872, with
the creation of The Eurhetorian Argosy.
You’ll notice that this week is the so-
called retro issue of The Argosy, when
we pay homage to past editions of the
newspaper and upon whose knowledge
successive Argosy staff members
have built upon. In 1876, The Argosy
stated that its objectives were to, “give
expression to the views of students of
Mount Allison on college questions
and to furnish subscribers with local
and general college news.” Though
Sackville, the university and indeed the
world has changed tremendously since
then, The Argosy’s mission remains the
same: for students, by students.
With special thanks to David
Mawhinney, Archivist, Mount Allison
University.
The Argosy got a little older this week.
Three years older to be exact.
Most Allisonians are aware that
The Argosy has been around for well
over a century. Cheeky bylines, such
as ‘Exploiting frosh exuberance since
1875’, ‘Yesterday’s news today since
1875’ and ‘Sailing of into the sunset
since 1875’ have all graced the front
pages of the newspaper. But that ‘…
since 1875’ is now ‘…since 1872’.
In preparation for this special ‘retro’
edition, some staff noticed that in the
1950s and 1960s it says, “The Argosy
Weekly; Established 1872; Weekly
since 1922.” This led to a trip to Mount
Allison Archivist David Mawhinney’s
office and a stop in the microfilm room.
Sure enough, the first printed Argosy was
dated January 1, 1875. At that time, the
publication was called The Eurhetorian
Argosy, since the Eurhetorian (debate)
Society put it out. In it, the editor stated,
“The Eurhetorian Argosy, the organ of
our society, has been in existence for
several years past heretofore published
but orally.” He went on to mention
that the thought of competing with
successful student publications such
as The Dalhousie Gazette and Acadia
Athenaeum caused his courage to sink.
“But we have passed the Rubicon and
there is no turning back. So our little
Argosy has left the harbour and will
brave the threatening billows.” Thus the
printed Argosy was born.
But this still brings us back to 1872
– what happened exactly in this year?
The earliest records deep in the Mt. A
archives on the Eurhetorian Society
are sparse but Mawhinney was able
to produce three documents: two
Eurhetorian Society meeting programs
from 1871 and 1874 and a news clipping
from the spring of 1872. The latter of
the three documents presents a clear
indication that The Eurhetorian Argosy
was well established: “The Eurhetorian
10 FEBRUARY 9, 2012SCI/TECH
Business of Science Conference on Innovation
by Robert Murray
This past weekend, professors and students from the Ron Joyce Centre for Business Studies and the chemistry and biochemistry divisions of the Faculty of Science came together for a two-day conference held at Mount Allison to foster creativity and profitable ventures within the field of science.
The event, funded by both departments in conjunction with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, featured several presentations by both faculty and members of the business and science community surrounding Sackville, New Brunswick.
Chemistry student Joseph Mosseler commented on the event saying, “…it was a very valuable learning experience … business is highly integrated into the science community whether we realize it our not.”
The conference began early on Saturday morning with a presentation by Doug Robertson, President and CEO of Tech South East. Robertson started by explaining the practicality of having a science-based business solution. Robertson’s presentation was followed by the the commerce portion of the program, which featured Dr. Nauman Farooqi and Dr. Judith Holton. Both professors tailored their presentations to separate areas of the business process, with Farooqi talking about how to sustainably raise sources of finance and Holton focusing on innovative opportunity.
This was followed by a presentation by Frederic Gionet who worked with Enterprise Greater Moncton on how to properly develop a business plan once a scientist has a “eureka” moment. Afterward, the focus of the conference shifted to the science side as Dr. Andrew Grant, Dr. Matt Litvak, Dr. Khashyar Ghandi and Dr. Andrew Hamilton-Wright presented their research in thirty-minute sessions.
Pfizer Recalls One Million Packages of Birth Control Pills
by Shawn Seeley
Pfizer Inc. has issued a recall of one million packages of birth control pills in the United States, stating that errors in both mechanical and visual inspection of their products has lead to some packages potentially having inadequate levels of medication.
Oral birth control medications contain twenty-one doses of active medication and seven days of inactive sugar pills. Usually packaged in a blister pack, the pills are arranged chronologically to assist women in keeping track of their doses.
Pfizer has determined that recently shipped packages of birth control have too many or too few active pills, while other packages may have the placebo pills interspersed with the active doses, upsetting the balance of medication and placebo, thus altering the menstrual periods of its consumers.
Missing a dose of oral contraceptives is normally not cause for immediate, intense concern. If caught on time, the easiest rectification is to simply take the pill when the missed dose has been noticed. Unfortunately, since women are unaware they are taking the inert pills instead of the active ones, it is impossible for them to know that they need to
correct the situation. Not only does this put Pfizer’s clients at risk of
unwanted, unpredicted pregnancy, but because some users have prescriptions for contraceptives to control irregular or painful periods, the implications of this pharmacological blooper are far-reaching.
The recall extends to 14 lots of Lo/Ovral-28 tablets and 14 lots of the generic Norgestrel and Ethinyl Estradiol tablets. Both of these contraceptives are produced by Pfizer and marketed in the U.S. through Akrimax Pharmaceuticals. The packages affected by the error have expiration dates that range from July 31, 2013 through to March 31, 2014.
In Pfizer’s statement to the FDA, they direct consumers to immediately begin using other methods of contraceptives and to book an appointment with their family doctor immediately. Additionally, the FDA statement also urges customers to return their faulty birth control packages to the pharmacy the pharmacy from which they received them.
Pfizer’s recall is the second of its kind in less than a year. In September 2011, Qualitest Products, Inc. recalled nearly 1.4 million packages of its oral contraceptives across eight different brands. Although it is hard to say what the end result for Pfizer will be, Qualitest was sued for a pregnancy that was claimed to result from their packaging error.
Sugar Produces Deleterious Effects
by Emily James
Recent research from the University of California, San Francisco published in Nature reported that sugar is a toxin and is fuelling a global obesity pandemic, contributing to 35 million deaths worldwide from non-communicable diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Additionally, seventy-five per cent of health care dollars in the United States are spent on these diseases.
Sugar is everywhere. It has become part of our regular diet – even part of our fruit intake! The consumption of sugar worldwide has tripled over the past 50 years and is believed to be the reason why North American’s weight is increasing at frightening rates. As mentioned above, however, sugar does not only make people fat, but it contributes to a plethora of diseases. It influences the metabolism, raises blood pressure, alters signalling of hormones and causes damage to the liver.
To be clear, the researchers are not talking about the naturally occurring sugars in fruits; rather, they are concerned with the white sugar we put into our coffees every morning and especially high-fructose corn syrup. High-fructose corn syrup is more than a “bad” sugar, it is also a scary sugar. It is put in most of our processed foods without most of the population’s knowledge. In the early 1980s, high fructose corn syrup replaced sugar in sodas and other products because it was cheaper.
The researchers are proposing to limit the consumption of sugar. However, changing the diets of North Americans is almost asking for the impossible. Nonetheless, the UCSF believes it is possible if certain steps are taken. The UCSF team state that it can be achieved not through interventions of individual change, but on environmental and community-wide scales, similar to the efforts put forth against alcohol and tobacco.
In order for this change to be realized, special sales taxes would need to be levied and access would need to be controlled—all aided by a tightening of licensing requirements on vending machines and snack bars that sell high sugar products in schools and public places.
The purpose is not to get rid of sugar all together, but to make it difficult and less convenient to access. People eat sugar because it is there and convenient. In public schools, vending machines full of candy bars and sodas are in every building. Sometimes people do not even know they are consuming so much sugar in their daily diet. This is troubling, because the daily nutritional requirement for sugar consumption is absolutely zero grams.
Surprisingly, this proposal and research is turning many heads. After Robert Lustgi’s
Brainstorming sessions then allowed commerce and science students to collaborate on creating presentations.
All the presentations focused on the harnessing of green energy or promoted thinking outside the box. Presentations ranged from the harnessing of biosolids for energy consumption to energy efficient superconducting organic polymers. After the last science speaker had finished their presentation, Naim Khan gave a speech about the benefits of intellectual property rights before students and professors were treated to dinner and a guest lecture by former Mount Allison Professor Jack Stewart who currently works at the Chief Scientific Officer at Sorcimed Biopharma Inc.
After the presentations and dinner concluded, the teams once again broke into their respective groups to plan a presentation based on the information presented to them throughout Saturday morning and afternoon. On Sunday morning, the teams pitched their ideas to a group of “Dragons” featuring Robertson, Peter Hess (Managing Director, New Brunswick Aerospace & Defence Association), Patrick Langlais (Director Data Transformation, Elite), Bonnie Swift (Director Economic Development, Town of Sackville) and Rosemary Walsh (Manager of Consulting Business Development Bank of Canada). The presentations ended the weekend long conference, leaving both science and business students with a better grasp of what it takes to properly succeed in the opposite’s field of study.
Science Briefsby Shawn Seeley
Many, Many, MoonsTwo new moons have been found orbiting Jupiter, bringing the planet’s total moon to 66.
Hot HeadYawning may keep our heads from overheating, new research says. Yawning triggers expansion and contraction in the maxillary sinus, located in the cheekbones, causing air to be pumped onto the brain.
Cry me a riverPreliminary research indicates that women’s tears may contain signaling chemicals that lower men’s testosterone, causing them to be lose aggression and sex drive.
Bittersweet CF treatmentA drug named Kalydeco has been found to treat cystic fibrosis effectively in a recent double-blind human trial. Unfortunately, the drug treats a mutation that only accounts for four per cent of cystic fibrosis cases.
Higgs Boson Scientists at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland have found a possible Higgs signal with 99.9% confidence. Although this means physics is closer than ever to discovering the Higgs Boson and completing the standard model, it is still possible that the validity of the finding is only a statistical coincidence.
Alzheimer’s spreadAlzheimer’s disease has been found to spread from one area of the brain to another, as opposed to beginning across the entire brain at once. Tau proteins, a component of neurofibrillary tangles, have been observed to propagate from neuron to neuron, crossing the synaptic cleft.
speech, “The Bitter Truth” was placed on YouTube.com in 2010, it received 1,972,728 views. As ludicrous as the idea of controlling access to sugar sounds, it is hard to ignore the fact that sugar is killing us.
Should we control sugar as we do with alcohol and tobacco? In theory, it is not such a terrible idea. In a sense, sugar truly is similar to alcohol and tobacco because it is damaging the public health in a tangible and measurable way. Additionally, most of the population is unaware of the dangers of sugar.
As a challenge, try to not add sugar to your grapefruit. Or perhaps eat a fresh apple instead of peaches that have been soaking in twenty-three grams of sugar for months. If you can tell a great difference or your face scrunches up in distaste, then I would be surprised. Try it! That one minor change won’t kill you…literally.
Curious about the technology from the days of yore ?
Check out the Library’s collection of Consumer Reports Buying Guides!
Rena Thomas
11ARGOSY.CA
Ion DrivesI am pleased to announce that ion drives, most famously known for being the propul-sion system of TIE fighters from Star Wars, several Star Trek ships and other various ships appearing in science fiction, are not fictional. Here’s the rundown on how they work.
Jack Stocky of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory explains: “You’re trying to throw something off the craft so you can push the craft forward.” The indispensable ingredient of ion drives (as you may have guessed) is ions, which is what ion thrusters ‘throw off ’.
Ions are atoms that are electrically charged (either positively or negatively). In ion thrusters, this is most commonly achieved by using something similar to cathode ray tubes to bombard atoms with high-energy electrons, thereby releasing an electron from an atom (commonly Xenon) and turning it into a positively charged ion. All of this oc-curs in a positively charged chamber that is open at one end. As space has a potential of zero volts, the positively charged ions want to go there. Fast. Thirty-two kilometres per second fast. A grid at the opening spreads out the ions into a very science-fiction-esque, faintly visible blue beam.
Unfortunately, science fiction writers clearly know secrets unknown to our world’s brightest scientists as there seem to be sig-nificant performance disparities between the real world’s ion ‘drives’ and theirs. For instance:
Despite high exhaust exit velocities lead-ing to theoretical tops speeds of 90,000 m/s…eventually, current ion engines pro-duce all of the thrust of 0.5 Newtons: not much, in other words. It translates to a whopping acceleration of roughly 6.7 me-ters per second per day. Maneuverability of Earth ships equipped with ion engines, therefore, will be sorely lacking.
I suppose, however, that this is all on par with the course for now, seeing as we have no clue as to how to design and produce inertia dampeners that would prevent our eyeballs from exploding out of their sockets when we decide to jink away from a pursu-ing TIE fighters, anyway.
THE ARGOSY WEEKLY
Sci-Fi Fact or Faction?by David Shi
Value $1000
Crake-Sawdon Award For Outstanding Contribution
to Student Journalism
UNB Researchers Investigate Deadly Bat Fungusby Damira Davletyarova (The Brunswickan)
FREDERICTON (CUP) — Researchers, including those based at the faculty of biology at the University of New Brunswick, are searching for a way to explain and stop a phenomenon that has killed nearly seven million little brown bats in just six years, pushing the species to the verge of extinction.
In 2006, scientists in New York state noticed a decrease in the bat population. After surveying some caves, they discovered some hibernating bats had white spots on their muzzles and wings. The fungus has been aptly dubbed white-nose syndrome.
In 2010, Graham Forbes, a professor of biology at UNB and director of the N.B. Cooperative Fish Wildlife Research Unit, along with his team, decided to check local caves to see whether the infection had spread to New Brunswick.
“It was a new species [of fungus] and nobody knew where it came from, in part because nobody has done research on what type of fungus is already in caves or on bats. So we wanted to find out — maybe it was already here and no one looked for it,” Forbes said.
At that time, the team surveyed several caves and found no evidence of white-nose syndrome among hibernating bats. They have also collected data from several bats to determine what types of fungi reside on the bats.
Last winter, when researchers returned, they found symptoms of white-nose syndrome on little brown bats — one of only two types of bats besides the northern long-eared bats that are common to the province.
In one of the biggest caves, the researchers counted 6,000 hibernating bats, including the infected.
Karen Vanderwolf, a graduate student at UNB, has been working with professor Forbes in conjunction with the New Brunswick Museum, surveying the sites and probing the microclimate of the fungi.
“We confirmed from the research that [white-nose syndrome] wasn’t here until 2011 and we also wanted to find out what sort of fungus community was normally on the bats.”
This winter, Forbes and his team did not have to enter the same site to see a different picture — flying bats outside of the cave and dead animals on the snow.
“Most of them died right at the entrance — thousands of dead bats on the ground,” Forbes said.
The scientists counted only 300 bats in that cave — a 95 per cent drop in one winter.
Professor Forbes and Vanderwolf are keeping a close look on nine bat sites that mostly stretch from the Bay of Fundy to Moncton. Some of the caves are open and easy to get into; others so narrow that researchers have to crawl.
They also have to be extra careful not to transmit the syndrome from the infected bats to healthy ones. The scientists wear special clothing, use clean equipment and spend less than an hour in each cave.
“It spreads on contact, either on the walls or the bats, and because they are [hibernating] in groups, one gets [it] and [it] spreads to the other ones,” Forbes explained. And because New Brunswick doesn’t have many caves, bats fly hundreds of kilometres across the province to gather in one cave, transmitting the disease even faster.
Once in the cave, the team counts the bats, which is often quite difficult because of the high ceilings of the cave. Sometimes the researchers take a picture and estimate the number of species.
Then, they carefully isolate one hibernating bat from the group, rub its fungus on a special plate called an agar plate, and hang the bat back. They take the agar plates to the labs for further studying. The researchers also measure and
monitor temperature and humidity in the caves.Cold and wet caves are an ideal environment
for the fungus to thrive, Forbes explained. Fungus attaches to the bodies of hibernating bats and starts growing into the skin tissue. As a result, the mammals wake-up from itching and irritation in the middle of the winter, instead of April.
“To wake-up [in winter], they have to raise their body temperature and they have to burn their fat reserve,” Forbes explained.
“And they are either hungry or thirsty, or both; they look for water, for food, [which] takes them outside. There is no food and it’s minus 10 — they are going to die pretty soon.”
Starvation and dehydration also decreases the immune system of the little brown bats and their ability to fight away infection.
Meanwhile, the white-nose syndrome is spreading fast: it is estimated to spread from 200 to 400 kilometres per year. In just six years, the syndrome spread across 19 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces, and it is expected that the infection will expand all over Canada.
The loss of major pest predators will affect flora and fauna, and even humans, as the abundance of bugs and mosquitoes increases risks of transmission of different diseases.
Now UNB researches roughly estimate the
population of bats in New Brunswick — that was not abundant in the first place — has decreased from 10,000 to 3,000 species.
“For Eastern America, one of the most
abundant mammals [will be] essentially gone in five [to] ten years,” Forbes said.
“It’s one of the biggest, catastrophic losses of mammal species that we know of.”
The Brunswickan
16 ARTS&LITERATURE FEBRUARY 9, 2012
by Rosanna Leitnereffect on the fashion industry. People were unable to purchase extravagant pieces, and focused on basic and practical wear. The early thirties remained classy with the introduction of the empire waist dress, and the addition of fur to each look. Fur was used to fabricate coats and outerwear accessories such as scarves. Fur was also incorporated onto dresses, shirts and handbags. When the war began, the dresses and skirts became shorter (not for promiscuous reasons either).
People tried to save in every aspect, and reducing their fabric use enabledthem to stay trendy on a budget. The colour pallet shifted to darker ones suchas black, navy and neutrals as well, reflecting society's emotion. If you wantto join the fur trend, approach it carefully; one does not want to appear like a bear. Keep it simple with small additions on winter boots, mittens or make a statement with a fur vest. If you opt for the vest, keep your outfit fitted and paired with basic jewelry, you don’t want to submerge yourself in fluff.
During the 1950s, while people began to regain their lives, designers hit the ground running with snipping and sketching and revealed trends that offeredwomen soft and feminine attire. The shoulders became rounded along with fitted and long dresses. A classy approach was taken with pearls, scarves and gloves as accessories. Clothes were meant to portray a free and playful lifestyle, with the exception o f the structured power suit for the workforce. Scarfs make a great addition to any outfit - wrap a
Fashion Trends Through the Agesbroad and patterned shawl around you while
keeping your basics in the neutral hues or match it with one or two colours present in the scarf. If you are going for an interview or have a date, pop some colour with a chic silky scarf tied loosely.
Currently the trends are following the 1960-1970s style with bright, eccentric patterns and colours. Floral and animal prints along with graphics are making astatement, especially when paired with tights or billowy pants.
What can you expect next? The fashion outlook for this
spring will keep with the fall
and winter fashion, except that everything will become louder and the leather use will decrease. Fur and lace will continue to accentuate items; however, a polished look will be the result when paired with collared shirts
and structured bottoms. As for the animal print, chose one design and stick with it for a day, paring zebra print with python
boots is a daring move and could have the possibility of turning a few
to many heads. One could describe the up-coming trends as free, creative and fun-loving; therefore go ahead and strut your style!
Gentleman, stay trendy with next week’s snippet on dressing to impress!
Fashion is portrayed in countless shapes, sizes and hues. It is inspired by lifestyles, architecture, nature and self-expression. Runway trends are adapted by society and modified to fit individual taste. Throughout the past year, the fashion scene has been stepping back and reviving the old patterns of decades past. Fashion follows cycles, and the bold yet chic and functional trends are popping up once again.
Throughout the 1920s, women polished their attire with handbags, timeless jewelry and topped it off with elegant hats. The outfits consisted of cheerful colours, with bold prints and patterns. The twenties were years of hope, until the war began. Fashion is about expression, and the women proved their independence and
motivation for the workforce through their polished,
Britain-inspired ensembles while in the public eye. The
bright colours are evident in the shirts available
in the stores today; vibrant block hues such as green, red and blues are making statements as day and
evening wear and are even incorporated into skirts and pants. Bright outfits can be complemented and tamed with either earrings and a ring, or a matching
necklace and bracelet. Accessories pull an outfit together, and it
allows one to express their style without spending a fortune.Throughout the 1930s and
1940s, the war had a great
On Friday, February third, the Baked Ham Community Speaker series opened the new year with a relaxed evening of storytelling featuring five current Sackville residents and one special guest, acclaimed Inuk director Zacharias Kunuk. All six speakers gave a brief ten-minute story on the theme of leaving home, and its effects on their life and personal outlook.
The event’s reputation for quality certainly preceded it, and the legion was packed from the get-go, with late arrivals having to scramble for extra chairs or even floor seating. Even so, it was almost solely a crowd of students and faculty in attendance. Opening up the evening, Mount Allison astronomy professor Louise Edwards joked that almost nobody in the audience could claim Sackville as their native home, before telling the story of her introduction to astronomy. Fellow Sackville emigrant Maggie Pitts told of her adolescence, and the formative role of her teenage decisions on her current life. Ian Munroe’s experience of leaving home was of a different strain: he spoke of finding a new home through his work in northern aboriginal communities, and his subsequent liberation from his Western mindset.
After a quick shuffling of chairs during the intermission, the audience was treated to a slideshow of the changing nature of “home” from the perspective of Atanarjuat director Zacharias Kunuk, Canada’s preeminent Inuit filmmaker. While subdued, his few words powerfully conveyed the change that technology and Western culture has affected on vulnerable
It’s that time of year. No, not the time of year when the frigid February air makes you forget that there is ever a time when Sackville isn’t a barren winter wasteland, and not the time of year when you realize that you have no plans for valentines day. I’m talking about the time of year when you see posters for the Tintamarre Theatre Company’s newest production, and you think, “c'est beau, ça; living here is totally worth the freezing February weather.”
Since it’s formation in 1982, the Tintamarre Theatre Company has staged over fifty shows. ‘Tintamarre’ is an Acadian word that means ‘din’, or ‘clamour’. Rumour has it that it is used to describe the yearly migration of thousands of waterfowl to the Sackville area. This image seems like a perfect symbol for this theatre troupe: every year, students flock together and become involved with a production that fosters creative energy, diversity and environmental consciousness.
Alex Fancy, a former head of Romance Languages at Mount Allison, established the troupe with the intention of teaching languages outside of the classroom.
“I started this troupe, after some experimentations with drama in the 1970s, because I recognized that strict classroom circumstances are not the best for learning a second language,” said Fancy in an interview with Dialogue New/Nouveau-Brunswick. “Language is word, tone and gesture. It’s not just one, or the other. It’s expression as much as it is strict communication. You could say that Tintamarre is a bit of a trail-blazer.”
This year’s production is entitled Camp!. It tells the story of a group of campers at the fictional Camp Quomsiquomsasa who experience firsthand the threat of global climate change. It explores the state of alienation from the natural world many of us find ourselves in with a comedic spin. This idea of ‘eco-phobia’ is extremely relevant in our world today, and is a great example of the larger issues that Tintamarre addresses head-on. Last year’s production, entitled BOUFFE!, took as its theme the complex commodity chains that are attached to the food we eat everyday.
One of the most impressive aspects of Tintamarre is the fact that all of the productions are original: under the direction of Fancy, the entire cast and crew collaborates to create a play from scratch, so to speak. The result is a history of productions built from the bottom up that, year after year, continue to impress, entertain and stimulate the collective mind of Sackville and beyond.
Bernard Soubry, a third-year English Honours student from Montréal who is also creating Tintamarre’s new web site with support from CultureWorks, explains that “this is the latest in a series of plays that bring important social themes to the stage through the medium of bilingual comedy.”
Bernard adds that the play will provoke a lot of discussion when it tours to Maritime schools, with support from the Crake Foundation, Mount Allison alumni and other long-time supporters, in April-May. He plays Hibou, a dysfunctional and disapproving owl.
Set and costumes were designed by Decima Mitchell; and lights by Justin Thomas, a fourth-year Arts student (French, Drama, Music) from Sackville. Once again, original music was composed by Eric Biskupski, a fourth-year music major and drama major from Vancouver.
Camp! runs from Wednesday, February 8 through to Saturday, February, on the Convocation Hall stage. Doors open at 7:30 pm. The show starts at 8:00 pm.
by Joel Young
Tintamarre Presents New Show Camp
northern communities. Fine-arts student Amanda Curti then proceeded to lighten the mood with gut-splittingly terrifying stories of her Mussolini-worshipping racist grandmother. From her humorous perspective, sometimes leaving home can never happen soon-enough. Prominent Sackville figure and Struts-gallery operator John Murchie rounded off the evening with his own tale of leaving home for the first time, in his case, to attend university in Boulder Colorado.
As the night finished up, the main topic of conversation–after the stories themselves–was the series’ future. With talk of an all-student storytelling night, and future in-depth lectures, the humble meat-named event has succeeded in turning itself into an informative and enjoyable informal lecture series that unites both students and faculty. I, for one, will look forward to “leaving home” for the next one.
music producer of Lhasa de Sela, Wolf Parade and much more. She tends to play with a lot of musicians. Some come and go, but she has a few that stay with her for the long haul. After her residency, she is going to Montreal to do further work on her album.
During her residency, she will also be flying to Memphis to go to a folk alliance at the end of February. Gatin has gone to North by Northeast, “but it’s cool that this festival in Memphis is folk oriented, because I’m really into the folk music business, as opposed to the huge commercial music business, which irks me a bit,” she explains.
When I think of performance art, I think of Yoko Ono’s work, or Christopher Burden getting shot in the arm or something. So, I ask Gatin how she got into this musical type of performance art.
“Oh Yoko Ono is great, I love that stuff. I love movement, I was into acting for all of my life, I love art, and I love music. But you have to choose a focus. When I chose music, it was all consuming. Career wise it takes a lot of energy to have work in the arts. It was hard to choose one focus but I can combine poetry and writing with my music, which really satisfies me.”
Gatin plays a lot of instruments such as the keyboard, mandolin, and accordion. “When I recently toured with Matthew Tomlinson, I played the drums. I felt so badass!” she giggles.
Gatin’s show is on March 2, at STRUTS Gallery on Lorne St. and she will continue to have more art jams while she’s here, and all are welcome.
Baked Ham goes Here, There, and Everywhere
by Ian Malcolm
Ingrid Gatin at STRUTS Gallery
Continued from Cover
Internet Photo/ halleethehomemaker
Danica Lundy
17THE ARGOSY WEEKLYARGOSY.CA
by Julia McMillan
Windsor Theatre’s first production this season, Possible Worlds, left audiences confounded, inspired and infinitely intrigued last weekend, February 1 - 4, when it opened at Live Bait Theatre.
Possible Worlds was written by John Mighton, an award winning playwright, mathematician and philosopher. It combines elements of each of his careers as it weaves an intricate story exploring the concept of multiple dimensions, levels of consciousness and the mystery of the human brain.
The play follows the romantic entanglements of George and Joyce, as well as the journey of a pair of detectives as they attempt to solve the case of a missing brain.
While investigators Berkley (Cat McCluskey) and Williams (Jake Planic) search for answers in one world, the audience is transported to a dozen others, all centering around George’s pursuit of a woman named Joyce. George (Spencer Yarnell) seems to be floating within the levels of his own consciousness and memory.
- i saw kind minds break down disillusionalstasis next half life no me no here no know no no noformless and radical they bowed their heads greedancient and stupid and poor in life as they are richin warin chokingin declaringin dyingin making nothingin convulsive crying when it was known for the first time that they –kingsmurderersrapists of the soulcarbombers of innocence –had losthad fallen unfeeling unspeaking no banners no speechesonly vomiting now with a screambecause when power fades and words lead not into temptationwhat is there left to do but howl?when we the deviants winand share our bodies like seraphimand smoke grass like consciousness’ blind in the windand drink to pantsless days and loose cut nightsand kiss our broken hands while standing on broken feetand dance in the rain pleading for a floodand stay up with dreams and fractured nervesbreaking in the dark and reaching through the broken glasspleading with the ghost not to be alone in the towers of concretewith their marquis brightwith their clear windowswith their blinds opening and closingwith sex and bloodwith hope and painwith pain and joytraumailluminescencecollapsenuditythe final baring of the soul in a ripping yell that falls and echoesthe voice of men women and children heard one last time before the endthe washing away of societythe breaking down of proprietytable manners and tea at fourpoliteness and pederasty replaced with a passion so violentthe only thing left to do is tear down walland tear down grandfather and politicsand shout stark litanies at the fear through that wallthe only thing left to do is –the only thing left to do is touch the face cross the line –the only thing left to do is scream.
That statement set the tone for the evening. Docking performed contemporary pieces from all eras of the twentieth century, and reminded his audience of their ability to sound different, new, and exciting each time. Docking’s choice of repertoire featured dissonant pitch language, serialism, and atonalism. Although the experimental music may not be to everyone’s musical taste, Docking played to an eager and appreciative audience, and even converted this reviewer into a New Music enthusiast.
One of the most intriguing pieces of the evening was a collection of “miniatures” by Schoenberg entitled “Six Little Piano Pieces, op. 1.” The very short movements, each only about a minute long, were like flashes of emotion, or an experience. Schoenberg allegedly wrote the fifth movement, “Etwas rasch,” immediately after famous Romantic composer Gustav Mahler’s funeral. The movement featured elements of experimental new music, but was filled with minor chords evoking a sense of melancholy and loss. A recurring repetition of a high tone was added to represent the tolling of a church bell.
The audience’s favourite piece was “Djilile, ” written by Post-Modernist composer Peter Sculthorpe. When composing the piece, Sculthorpe tried to create a distinctly “Australian sound.” He combined musical
traditions from Eastern Asia with European instruments in an attempt to mirror Australia’s history and geography. The piece was more traditional in its composition, compared to Docking’s other selections. The piano played with a gentle chiming sound, emitting a somehow sad but beautifully haunting melody.
The whole second half was dedicated to a twenty minute long piece by Elliot Carter, entitled “Night Fantasies.” Docking described the piece as “what I think of as one of the greatest piano pieces of the last hundred years.”
“Night Fantasies” is a “ tone poem” about the half-dream state of falling asleep, and the many phases you go through: semi-consciousness, buried memories, the frustration of being unable to sleep. The piece explores the individual nature of rhythm and change groupings. Perhaps the only form of regularity or predictability throughout the music are the recurring open fifths that occur between the episodic vignettes that make up the piece. The small “interruptions, ” as Docking referred to them, are perhaps representative of the subject falling back into the sleep cycle. The erratic piece was captivating and completely intriguing, and so accurately captured the process of falling sleep.
After finishing the evening with a “Charlie Chaplan shrug” ending, Docking returned to the stage for a double encore. His performance was a fantastic opening to this season’s Performing Arts Series, and my favourite series concert thus far.
New Music with Simon Docking
The only thing that remains constant is his love for Joyce (Heather Baglole).
The acting in the show was some of the best I have ever seen in a Mount Allison production. Jeffrey O’Hara, who played Penfield the neurologist, among a number of other sub-characters, was particularly impressive. O’Hara’s ability to effortless embody so many distinct characters made the show that much more interesting to watch. Spencer Yarnell also gave an unforgettable performance as the troubled and torn George.
Heather Baglole’s character Joyce is one of the play’s most complex characters, taking on several different personas throughout the story. However, Baglole said she enjoyed the challenge.
“It was actually a very collaborative process. We all worked off each other to discover the different sides of our characters. I ended up finding it very natural [to play Joyce].”
For the staging of the show, Live Bait Theatre was transformed into a living brain. The stage was surrounded by axons, neurons and dendrites, and the use of a stage thrust enabled to audience to become fully immersed into the story unfolding in front of them.
“I wanted to make the audience feel as though they were actually in the brain,” said director Glen Nichols. “That way, they can become more involved, and sort of question their own reality.”
The minimalist set was a brilliant compliment to the complex play. The lack of props left the audience to fill in the rest of the scene with their imaginations. The use of music and the haunting red light at the end of the show also added to the experience.
Although the play ends with Penfield’s arrest, the case is not put to rest. Audience members are left with more questions than answers. Was George in an alternate universe? Which parts were reality, and which were only imagination? A great show needs great actors, a great production team, and a plot that leaves the audience pondering the performance long after they have left the theatre. Possible Worlds had exactly that– making it the best show I have seen all year.
John Mighton will be speaking at Owens Art Gallery on February 10 at 4pm, as part of the Canada Council Reading Series. Contact Christl Verduyn at Director Centre for Canadian Studiesat [email protected]
Windsor Theatre Journeys to ‘Possible Words’
by Samuel James Wilson
all that is –
Continued from Cover
Fiona Cai
18 ENTERTAINMENT FEBRUARY 9, 2012
by Anna Robertson
by Ian Malcolm
To label Saturday’s performance at George’s as ‘blues’ would be not so much a misnomer as an understatement. Peter Karp and the Juno award-winning Sue Foley – both talented musicians in their own right – united on the Roadhouse stage the night of February fourth for an intimate evening of rootsy, talkative tunes in support of their critically lauded 2010 album He Said She Said. As Karp and Foley told the audience, the songs in this album were born from a year-long written correspondence as the two travelled and performed separately. Their music certainly bears the mark of its origins, featuring ambling narrative songs about the loneliness of the road, imbued with natural hope inherent in the blues form. Peter Karp switched effortlessly between guitar, piano, and harmonica, his smoky voice deftly complemented by Foley’s reedy bluegrass twang. As mentioned, it wasn’t just blues – the two went well beyond the 12-bar, 3-chord requirement, offering up folksy slide-guitar, flamenco rhythms, and a witty songwriting sensibility that was arguably more Randy Newman than Duane Allman.
The George’s crowd obviously appreciated this mixture: parked cars lined Lorne street well in advance, and the Roadhouse was packed less than a half-hour after the show began. As more continued to trickle in throughout the evening, What began as a quiet, seated event turned into the kind of shuffling dance party that George’s seems to do so well. “They just don’t get up and dance like this in Toronto”, joked Karp, before diving into another southern-fried jam tinged with improvised east-coast references.
Karp and Foley’s performance was not only
technically engaging, but just plain fun to listen to. The two have a magnetic stage presence, and the casual way they trade off lines and riffs belies a personal and musical intimacy that demands seeing them in a live setting. The stage banter was always sharp, and the two got downright goofy later in the evening with –yes, I’m serious – an Anne Murray blues medley. The fact that this worked is only further testament to the duo’s very considerable abilities.
And so, a good three hours of music was had by all –plus or minus a small intermission and raffle – and a collection of songs born out of loneliness and distance served to unite a diverse Sackville audience on a cold winter’s night. Replete with a couple beers, it doesn’t get any more heartwarming than that. Once again, thanks to the Tantramar Blues Society on a night well-done.
Ridiculously Good Blues at George’s Dead Sexy
Love is in the air, and it smells like death. The Nerf guns are out and Humans vs. Zombies is back at Mount Allison. The return of the pseudo athletic Mt. A pastime coincides with the mid-season premiere of the deliciously visceral AMC show, The Walking Dead. Without a doubt, one of the best TV shows out right now, another (albeit somewhat bloody and gooey) gem from the former AMC. In the middle of the second season, The Walking Dead doesn’t show any signs of toning down on gore, nor delving into the soft porn/ soap opera direction that befell True Blood: and that’s what I love about it.
To be honest, I’m a pretty big zombie fan and there doesn’t seem to be any way of doing them justice without splatter. Earlier films, like Val Lewton’s 1943 horror flick I Walked With a Zombie, are an exception, but what they lacked in guts they made up for in eeriness. Almost every zombie film from 1960 onward like Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, 28 Days Later, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Deadgirl and now on small screen, The Walking Dead, has a healthy dose of putrid flesh.
But now, with Valentine’s Day around the corner, it seems appropriate that I would find out about Warm Bodies. Based on the book by Isaac Marion and backed by Summit Entertainment (responsible for Twilight), Warm Bodies explores the romance between a young zombie and the girlfriend of one of his victims. Of course, the general population is turned off by necrophilia, so rotting corpses have been humanized, with toned bodies (scratch and gash-free), brooding eyes and pale, but perfect, complexions. In case you didn’t catch that, they have officially SEXUALIZED ZOMBIES. It would take me a lifetime to express how confused and upset I am over this. They already took vampires from us, and now zombies are going to sparkle too? Deadgirl displayed some seriously disturbing sexual relations between humans and the un-dead, but made those scenes SERIOUSLY DISTURBING, sans sparkles. I can understand the vampire-romance genre, I can stomach that, but zombie-romance? Nah brah, I ain’t down for that.
It’s a little disheartening to see those former monsters that made me so wonderfully scared being represented by a select few university students with orange headbands, and by a new pale-faced romantic hero for twelve year olds to fawn over. Thank God for The Walking Dead, for keeping us tied to the roots of zombie film culture. For helping us remember what Night of the Living Dead and White Zombie gave us to squirm about; that zombies are reanimated corpses that can, and will, eat your brains, not something you take into the sack.
Elite Thursday Night at The Vogue
This evening Sackville Film Society will be screening Elite Squad: The Enemy Within, the sequel to the semi-fictional account of Brazil’s Special Police Operations Battalion of the Rio de Janeiro Military Police. Elite Squad was directed by Brazilian director Jose Padilha. The film was met with unprecedented box-office success when it was first released early last year in Brazil, and has been equally successful abroad, making it the most financially successful and critically acclaimed cinematic-export in Brazil’s movie making history. The film is Brazil’s official submission to the 84 Academy Awards, taking place last month, and is fresh off a festival circuit which included stops at Sundance, the Berlinale, and Austin’s Fantastic Fest.
Elite Squad takes us to a sprawling slum that surrounds Rio de Janeiro: one of the most
violent and gang-ridden places on the planet. Captain Roberto Nascimento is a badass cop who, after an intense special-ops mission to quell a jail riot ends in the violent death of a gang leader, is accused of a massacre, and then embraced as a hero by the people of Rio, who are tired of the crime that plagues their city. Much to his surprise, Nascimento is promoted and is then very quickly awakened to the crime and corruption that epidemic in the police themselves.
At the heart of Elite Squad is a very conventional, but infinitely re-imaginable cinematic structure, dating back to the Hollywood’s film noir era of the 1940s and 1950s. We are introduced to a central, law-enforcing male – a “private-eye” figure – who, while investigating and fighting crime, working his way up the law-enforcement ladder, is gradually made aware of internal corruption and misconduct. Audiences enter into a world of moral ambiguity and existential bitterness,
by Ian Moffattexplosions, guns, helicopters, special-ops, et al.
Jose Padilha began his film-making career in documentary, with a 2002 film Bus 174, and his more recent non-documentary films rely heavily on a very realistic approach. For a film of this magnitude, that meant bringing in a star-studded special effects team including Brundo Van Zeebroeck (Transformers) and William Boggs (Spiderman) to make the action sequences as intense, and as true to life as they can be. In creating a sense of documentary realism, Padilha also rebuilt in microscopic detail the penitentiary in which much of the film takes place. “Our intention was to make the action scenes as realistic as possible. We didn’t want a single thing to look fake … we brought in the best special effects professionals in the world, and also chose to prepare our actors with SWAT teams from major cities in the USA, and CATI, the security consultants for the Vatican guard,” Padhili said.
“Do you know how many years I’ve been wanting to come to Moncton,” Jerry Seinfeld asked the crowd at the Moncton Coliseum. “Zero!” The audience took no offence and roared at the apparent belittling of the City. Moncton marks Seinfeld’s most recent stop on his 2012 North American tour.
Seinfeld, the king of sitcoms and star of the hit series bearing his name, was in full form on the evening of February 4. He even
Jerry Seinfeld Hits Moncton in the Funny BoneJohn A.W. Brannan
had new material, that’s right, new material. His humour – which is for the most part good clean fun for the whole family - is sadly becoming a thing of the past. The simplicity of his observations of well-established norms is a winning combination. For example, his bit on the deathbed, something in any other context might be inappropriate or downright disturbing, elicited sustained laughter: “Have you ever read someone’s obituary and see they ‘died on their deathbed’. What does anyone expect when they buy a deathbed?” He went on to mention the death-lamp, the death-side table and the death-clock, which “by the way does not have a snooze button.”
His thoughts on cookies and their dangerous irresistibility were also a hit. “Chocolate cookies? They should be called chocolate sons-of-bitches!” He described waking up the next morning after indulging in some cookies the night before, as the scene of a car crash. “You know there’s crumbs everywhere, the milk carton is crushed, there broken glass… it’s quite a scene.”
Seinfeld, along with Larry David created the groundbreaking sitcom Seinfeld, whose nine seasons co-starred Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Michael Richards. The show follows the events of their lives regardless of how taboo or boring they are. Their memorable
shows among many, many others, include ‘The Contest’, ‘The Chinese Restaurant’ and ‘The Soup Nazi’. Seinfeld was called, ‘the greatest television program of all time,’ by TV Guide in 2002.
In an acknowledgement of his on-stage and perhaps off-stage neuroticism, Seinfeld took the stage at exactly 7:30 pm and departed at exactly 8:30 pm. The entire Coliseum was on its feet as he departed. Judging by the crowd’s overwhelmingly positive reaction, neither the pilot nor Elaine’s alcoholic boyfriend, nor Kramer’s loud girlfriend were present for this set. For this editor, this is one off the bucket list.
Rosanna Hempel
19THE ARGOSY WEEKLYARGOSY.CA
Home Alone PizzaMONDAY, FEBRUARY 13
2 x 12” pepperoni or 12” 1-Topping pizza
12.00+Tax
by Taylor Mooney
The Mouthbreathers comprise of Lucy Niles, Nic Wilson, and Evan Matthews. Formerly operating under the moniker of Lucy Niles and the Mouthbreathers, Niles is working to change the name, mentioning that she finds the old one a bit narcissistic.
Born from a failed folk act, the Mouthbreathers perpetuate a loud, punk-inspired sound. “Over the summer, just as an experiment, I was trying to write folk music just to see if I could. I didn’t really work out because I can’t really write folk music,” laughs Niles. “I asked Nic if he wanted to be in a joke country band, instead. We started jamming, and then it just turned into a punk band…I guess that’s more our style than joke country. This was last summer, and Evan joined in the fall. The oldest song we play is off of a solo EP I made last year after final exams.”
Niles explains that the name “the Mouthbreathers” came from a couple different sources. “Well I’m kind of a mouthbreather,” she laughs. “But mostly it comes from an awesome song by Jesus Lizard.”
Wilson and Matthews also work together in the band Yellow Teeth, and find playing with the Mouthbreathers to be a completely different experience. “All I have to do is hit things,” says Wilson. “I would consider to be Evan a writing partner in Yellow Teeth, just because we jam all of the songs out and figure out how they’re going to sound collectively.” Matthews agrees, “we write our own parts for this project, but we’re both acting in a purely supportive role.”
Niles explains that she likes to write her songs about what she knows. “mostly TV and books and drinking with friends. There’s no stylistic
On the BandwagonLucy Niles and The Mouthbreathers
artistic vision…I know a lot about TV. There’s a song about a Bender from Futurama, that’s probably our most conceptual song...It’s the episode where he tries to be a folk singer… It’s kind of chronicling my journey as a failed folk singer.”
Having only been together since last fall, the Mouthbreathers have already experienced a huge surge of popularity in Sackville. “We’ve played about eight shows…about as much as you can without infuriating everybody by oversaturating it,” says Niles. “We’ve played as much as I would possibly want to, just the right amount.” Niles also notes that the band has had quite a few strange experiences for how long they’ve been playing together. “We played a show with some metal bands at 15 Allison, and the basement flooded and everyone was getting shocked.” “Lucy got pushed into the drums by moshers when we were plying on Saturday, it was very Nirvana,” adds Wilson. “We probably sound really debaucherous,” laughs Niles.
The band notes both pros and cons of playing in Sackville. “I always say that Sackville is the perfect size because there’s always something to do, but there’s never two things to do, so if anything’s going on everyone will be there.” “It’s good that Sackville is centralized, too,” adds Wilson. “It’s easy, in theory, to go to Halifax, PEI, Fredericton, Moncton, St. John…they’re all within two hours, so it’s not a huge commitment. We could go on tour without going on tour. We could sleep in our beds every night.” Matthews notes that there are also disadvantages to playing in Sackville. “It’s really easy to oversaturate. There are probably about six or seven active bands…it’s not a huge pool, so you can’t rotate out.”
If you’re reading this on Thursday, you can see the Mouthbreathers tonight at Pickles, alongside the Bedroom Session and Peter Bohan.
Scrappy is Happyby Taylor Mooney
Joel Plaskett is approaching the release of his new album, Scrappy Happiness, in an unconventional way. He explains the project to CBC Radio 3 as follows: “myself and the Emergency Band, that’s Dave Marsh on the drums, and Chris Pennell on the bass, [have] begun a new record that we’re calling Scrappy Happiness. What makes this recording project kind of interesting is that we are recording and releasing a song a week for the next ten weeks... I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen. These songs are written…but they’re changing as we’re here in the studio, and also I can’t really control what happens because we have a deadline every week. So if I catch a cold, perhaps we’ll find ourselves recording a version of Santo and Johnny’s instrumental song ‘Sleepwalk,’ the one that the astronauts were listening to when they landed on the moon. That could happen. Unlikely, but possible.”
Along with this unconventional recording process, Plaskett is drawing a huge amount of publicity towards the CD with “making-of ” videos and a live chat-log on the CBC Radio3 website.
On the chat log, Plaskett reveals his inspiration for the Scrappy Happiness recording process. “Records used to be made quickly and released quickly. I really wanted to record as in the moment as possible, and get it out fast so people could react immediately and we could hit the road. It’s really fun having something so fresh hit the airwaves fast.” He notes that the biggest challenge thus far has been finding a steady pace. “I’ve been trying to take the weekends mostly off, but this week it’s caught
me off guard and I’ll be up all night trying to finish the next tune, as I didn’t get as far as [I was] hoping this week.”
These songs are not being written every week. They are being documented for the first time, but some are as much as a year old. “It’s cool to hear them come together (or fall apart!)…scrappy for sure, but imperfection is cool. I could probably write a song a week but some of these songs have just been waiting inside by acoustic guitar for this record to happen so they could come alive.”
Plaskett admits that the songs may have turned out differently if he wasn’t recording them so quickly. “I’d let them sit awhile and have more time to change or second guess or improve or whatever depending how you look at it. I’m really enjoying this weekly thing, as challenging as it is, because there’s no looking back.”
Laudatory praise has been rolling into Twitter in the form of posts with the hashtag #scrappyhappiness: “#scrappyhappiness is the best thing since sliced bread”; “the next ten weeks shall be good#scrappyhappiness”; “#scrappyhappiness is gunna be huge, I love @jplaskett and I love east coast music.”
“I love making records,” says Plaskett. “I learn more every time, and it provides me with tangible memories of place and time. I like to challenge myself, but I also just feel compelled to do it, regardless of the challenge or not…I’m treating this record more as a series of singles and hope it’ll hold together as an album. Happiness is scrappy.”
New songs can be found at radio3.cbc.ca/#/artists/joelplaskett, and are released every Monday night.
It’s the Eye of the Newt Gingrich
Lights, camera, music. Cue theme from Rocky III: Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger”. Action. There, my friends, you have the recipe for a successful Republican Party Presidential Primary Campaign in 2012.
That is, at least, you had a successful recipe until the artist sued you for using his music. That’s right, Republican Primary enthusiasts can expect a little less groove in their speakers next time you tune in to one of Newt Gingrich’s political rallies. Frank Sullivan, co-author or the Grammy-winning song “Eye of the Tiger”, has filed a lawsuit against Gingrich for using his song at political rallies since 2009.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Chicago, Il, on January 31, by Rude Music, Inc. – a music publishing company owned by Sullivan.
It’s completely possible to ignore the absurdity of the driving power chords and the cheesy swagger of the disco-rock beat that has been accompanying the former Speaker of the US House of Representatives in his public addresses across America for the past three years. It is not possible, however, to ignore the fact that Newt Gingrich is a faithful copyright owner himself: he is listed as author or co-author of over forty published works. He has reportedly earned between $500,000 and $1 million from Gingrich Productions, the company that sells his books, audio books and documentaries.
This is not the first time that a presidential hopeful has used the music of an artist against
by Joel Youngtheir will: in 1984, Ronald Reagan’s campaign team tried to use Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” to spark nationalist sentiments among his supports, apparently oblivious to the singer-songwriter’s liberal political stance. More close to home, Mitt Romney has recently been criticized by Toronto-based hip-hop artist K’naan for using his song “Wavin’ Flag” at a campaign event without permission.
It’s the thrill of the fight, yes? I wonder what Survivor was thinking in 1982 when they were commissioned by Sylvester Stallone to write the theme song for “Rocky III”. Maybe they thought it was a dead end, just something they could do to make a quick buck. Or maybe they knew they had struck gold from the moment they heard Stallone’s virile baritone booming over the phone, asking them to write a song to play over the montage when he prepares to fight Carl Weathers. At any rate, they probably didn’t expect it to be picked up by Newt Gingrich’s campaign team almost three decades later as a rally-call for support, rising up to the challenge of Mitt Romney.
If Newt Gingrich approached me with a proposition to write his next campaign song, I would immediately accept. I would call it “Please vote for me so I can continue the systematic privatization of industry, spread lies about the roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and entertain you at rallies almost as much as Sylvester Stallone did in Rocky III.” It would be a doo-wop tune, completely free of electric guitars and drums. It would be impossible to put under a training montage, and it would cost Gingrich the Primary.
Fiona Cai
Monday Special only!
20 FEBRUARY 9, 2012CHMA
THE CHMA 106.9 FM CAMPUS & COMMUNITY RADIO BULLETINATTIC TRANSMISSIONSFEBRUARY 9, 2012 THE LIVIN’ IT LOUD EDITION
RANK ARTIST TITLE (LABEL)
NEWCOMER SESSIONSEVERY TUESDAY
4PM364-2221
WWW.MTA.CA/CHMA3RD FLOOR
STUDENT CENTRE
THE CHARTSFOR THE WEEK ENDING TUESDAY FEBRUARY 7, 2012
Floorboards EP
31 LIAM FINNEY*
(Self-Released)
02 THE JOHN WAYNE COVER BAND* The Wheel (Self-Released)
26 JAMES HILL Man With A Love Song (Borealis)
28 IMPERIAL TEEN Feel the Sound (Merge)
07 COREY ISENOR* The Hunting Party (Self-Released)
11 ADAM MOWERY* St. Joseph’s Mechanical Penthouse (Self-Released)
27 JOEL PLASKETT/SHOTGUN JIMMIE*Joel Plaskett/Shotgun Jimmie Split (New Scotland)
25 THE ARKELLS* Michigan Left (Universal)
04 MARINE DREAMS* Marine Dreams (You’ve Changed)
29 ESCORT Escort (Silent Voice)
20 DAVID SIMARD & THE DA DA’S* Slower, Lower (Self-Released)
14 QUAKER PARENTS* No Crime When Covered in Grime (Self-Released)
16 ANDREW SISK* Treelines (Self-Released)
JON MCKIEL*03
Tonka War Cloud
(Saved By Vinyl/Youth Club)
22I Can’t Keep All Your Secrets
RAE SPOON*
(Saved by Radio)
13 KATHLEEN EDWARDS* Voyageur (Rounder)
Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
09 M83
(Mute)
17Lone Runner b/w Stye Eye
DIRTY BEACHES*
(Suicide Squeeze)
05 JOHN K. SAMSON* Provincial (Anti-)
10 DANIEL ROMANO* Sleep Beneath the Willow (You’ve Changed)
LIAM FINNEY Floorboards EP (Self-Released)
After being added to the Stereophonic bill at the last minute and performing a great set at Struts Gallery, Liam Finney’s Floorboards EP lands at number thirty-one on the CHMA charts this week. It’s a �ve-song record, but on listening, feels as rounded out as a full album. Two of the songs are traditional, and the other three are Finney originals, but they all �ow nicely together, and the packaging warrants a mention: it comes in a handmade, silk-screened leather envelope (designed by former CHMA programmer Corey Isenor.) There are multiple instruments on most of the tracks, and rich backup vocals are provided by Breagh Potter. Short and sweet, much unlike this review!
UPCOMING EVENTS & CONCERTSSAPPY: A PHOTO EXHIBITION JANUARY 20 - FEBRUARY 10 THUNDER & LIGHTNING LTD. (6 FORD LN.) FREE all ages 10:00am to 5:00pm M-F
BOLIVIA & BANDED STILTS: ON A BUS FEBRUARY 11 PARKINDALE HALL, ALBERT COUNTY $10 all ages 8PM
Radio Stations for ChangeVANESSA BLACKIER
SPECIAL FEATURE: HOMELESSNESS MARATHON
The Homelessness Marathon started up as a radio program to raise awareness about the issues facing the homeless and what evolved from that is an annual awareness event that involves radio stations across the country. Nearly 40 radio stations across Canada will be airing this broadcast in hopes of raise understanding about the plight of the homeless, including CHMA 106.9 FM here in Sackville, NB.
One of the important things to recognize is that this is not a charity event. The Homelessness Marathon seeks to solve the problem of homelessness by raising awareness. The marathon employees are not paid and they do not solicit funds for themselves or social groups. “With the goal of being a consciousness-raising event,” says the Marathon team in a press release, “the Marathon will provide an opportunity for homeless people and their allies to take to the airwaves, and allow a nationwide discussion on homelessness issues and possible solutions.”
The event will be broadcast on CHMA from 6:00 PM February 22nd until 8:00 AM the morning of the 23rd. The marathon is based out of Montreal, but you will hear live broadcasts from the streets there, and also live reports from outside St-Matthews United Church in Halifax and outside a cafe in Vancouver. Parts of the marathon have traditionally been broadcast on location from the wintery city streets at night, again, raising conciousness of the struggles of the homeless. This year’s broadcast will include a midnight phone-in hour, giving listeners the opportunity to voice their opinions. Each hour a different topic will be dicussed such as gentri�cation, gender, art on the streets and more. A complete hour-by-hour list of the marathon’s themes is available on the marathon website.
For more information about CHMA’s participation in the broadcast please contact [email protected]. More information about The Homelessness Marathon and it’s history can be found on the website: http://www.ckut.ca/homeless.
I had the chance recently to have a few words with Lucy Niles, Kevin Brasier and Jose Caron of the Sackville punk band, Go Get F***ed. Here’s what they had to say. Watch out for performances by these guys in the coming months!
Lucy NilesDrummer in Go Get F**ked. Guitar and vocals for the Mouthbreathers.Weirdest In�uence?My weirdest in�uence is the television show The Real World. I think that it’s one of the most interesting cultural phenomena of all time. I’ve read scholarly articles that say that the awkwardness is trans�xing, which I totally agree with. The editing is so generously done. It’s like Jersey Shore but more subtle.
Kevin Brasier Guitar in Go Get F**ked. Just �nished engineering the Lucy Niles and the Mouthbreathers album.Two Truths and a LieI’m just a regular guy. I moved to Sackville a little while ago, after I got out of juvie. Nobody really knows about how I stabbed my parents here, so I started making music! It’s all violent angry punk music. That’s how I prevent myself from stabbing more people.
Josée CaronGuitar in Yellow Teeth, guitar in Go Get F**ked and moonlights on the Lucy Niles and the Mouth Breathers album.
Weirdest In�uence?My weirdest in�uence is probably snack foods. Everything I do is to fuel my addiction to lying in bed and gorging on junk food. It’s my dream to be able to do that all the time. In the interim I make music. I’m just going to make music and hope that it works out.
LOCAL SPOTLIGHT: “LET’S GET F**KED” BECKY MARTIN
21ARGOSY.CA
by Wray Perkin
It’s the time of year when every game is important, and the Hockey Mounties emerged victorious in two such games on the road this past weekend, staving off a comeback for a 5-3 win Saturday in Dalhousie before coming back to defeat the first-place St FX X-Women 3-2 on Sunday.
Saturday’s action in Dalhousie had the Mounties up 4-0 after two periods, but a sloppy third period caused the Mounties some moments of worry, but they survived with the victory.
Lindsay James opened the scoring for Mt. A with a hard wrist shot from the middle slot which found the top corner. Near the end of the first period, Chelsea King chased a loose puck down the right wing and found the back of the net to put the Mounties ahead 2-0.
Katelyn Morton continued her strong season, scoring on a solo rush in the second before setting up Lisa Riley’s goal off a rebound before the period ended.
Morton scored again in the third on a hard shot, sandwiched in between Dalhousie’s goals, which had two scrambles in front of Jenelle Hulan find the puck in the net, while a shorthanded breakaway was the third Tiger goal. Hulan stopped 22 shots to improve her career record against Dalhousie to an astonishing 7-1-1 in nine starts.
The Mounties fired 25 total shots on both Dalhousie netminders. On Sunday, Courtney King’s goal with 6:06 left in the third period put the Mounties ahead for the 3-2 win against CIS #4-ranked St FX. The Mounties played without Megan Entwistle and James, who were both banged up the day before.
The Mounties trailed 2-0 after the first despite outshooting the X-Women for most of the period. A 3-on-2 rush and a powerplay provided the home team with the goals.
In the second, the Mounties put on the
Hockey Mounties sweep road tripSPORTS AND HEALTH
Sponsor: Joey’s Pizza and Pasta
Mount Allison’s six-foot-five forward BEN CHISHOLM has won University Athlete of the Week honours for a second time this year for his play against NSAC over the past weekend. Leading his team in a tough 69-55 win over the Rams, Chisholm scored 26 points and also pulled in six rebounds.
A third-year player with the Mounties, Chisholm comes from Fall River, NS, and is a former standout from Lockview High School where he was coached by Scott Lancaster. He was also a member of the Fall River Rebels coached by Neils Daigle. The former high school all-star was the Basketball Mounties’ MVP and a second-team ACAA all-star last season.
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Ben Chisholm Basketball
2011 AUS all-star goalie with the Hockey Mounties, MEGHAN CORLEY-BYRNE has won female Athlete of the Week honours at Mount Allison University. Corley-Byrne was instrumental in the Hockey Mounties’ huge 3-2 victory over the fourth-ranked StFX X-Women last Sunday, February 5, in Antigonish, NS. Selected as a second star of the game, Corley-Byrne stopped 28 shots on goal, some being exceptional saves for the Mounties. She currently holds a .931 saves percentage, with a 26.14 saves per game average, and has led her Mounties into third spot in AUS hockey standings.
Corley-Byrne was selected as the Hockey Mounties’ rookie of the year, and in her next season (2009-10), she was selected as a second-team AUS all-star and her team’s MVP. A former student at South Carleton High School, Corley-Byrne comes from Stittsville, ON and played Midget AA with the Nepean Wildcats prior to coming to Mount Allison. She is enrolled in fourth-year Arts, majoring in English, and planning to pursue a future in the teaching profession.
Also nominated this week were Erica Cronkhite (volleyball) and Lauren Antworth (basketball).
Meghan Corley-Byrne Hockey
pressure, and the powerplay went to work; three consecutive penalties against St FX allowed the ice to tilt to the St FX end, and Lauren Oickle capitalized on one of the powerplay attempts at the ten-minute mark.
Just over three minutes later, Kristen Cooze scored her sixth of the season to tie the game up 2-2.
The penalty parade continued in the third period, and in a very unusual 3-on-3 scenario, Megan Cameron’s pass found King who made no mistake on the backhand to give the Mounties the lead and ultimately the win. King along with sister Chelsea and Carmanah Hunter was the Mounties’ most dangerous forward line throughout much of the game.
Meghan Corley-Byrne was stellar for the Mounties in goal, stopping 28 shots in the Mounties’ first ever regulation win against St FX. Katie Greenway was equally good for St FX, stopping 33 Mountie shots.
Cooze has 3 goals and 2 assists in a current
4-game points streak, while Emily Van Diepen has a helper in each of the last three games, putting her at sixth in the AUS in points among defenders with 12 points. Oickle is also on a three-game points streak, with a goal and three assists in those games.
The Mounties (9-6-4, 22 points) now sit alone in third place, two points ahead of UPEI (10-8-0, 20 points). Mt. A has only one regulation loss in their last six games, and only two in 2012, so they are picking up steam at the right time of the season.
UPEI faced Moncton on Tuesday, but the result was not available at time of publication, and host Moncton and Dalhousie this weekend. The Mounties return home for a 5:00 pm game against Dalhousie on Saturday, and will travel to fifth-place Saint Thomas on Sunday. With only five games remaining in the regular season for the Mounties, every point becomes crucial in the standings.
Lisa Riley is by far one of the most interesting, not to mention determined, student-athletes that Mount Allison University has ever produced. The fifth year forward who is currently sitting with three goals and six points has been truly representative of the pro-active attitude Mt. A Athletics hopes to inspire within each athlete.
Last year Riley had to sit out with a knee injury that prevented her not only from playing, but also from being able to wear jeans for a long period of time. Riley is a Canadian Studies Major with a double minor in History and Geography, and is a resident of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, who works diligently to outshine another hockey hero also from her home town every time she steps on the ice.
Riley’s real contribution to the Athletics program has come through her extensive
Better Know A Mountie: Lisa Riley
Sponsor: Scotia MacLoedparticipation in extra-curricular activities. She is the Student Coordinator for the Links Reading Program at Salem Elementary School, which is a specially designed reading program she attends twice a week. In what spare time she has, she regularly writes the “Better Know a Mountie” pieces for the Argosy Sports section. She is also a Teachers Assistant and works two more part-time jobs, refereeing intramural hockey and working at the Athletic and Fitness Centres.
Riley’s passion for sports does not stop at hockey—as she is also involved with intramural basketball—but hockey remains her number one passion. She recalls the first time she started a game against UNB back when they were in the league: “The best moment I can remember was playing UNB … Jack told me I was starting. Standing on the blue line then lining up for that first face off. I was so nervous, but I couldn’t stop smiling. I won the face off and lost every other
one that game. It didn’t matter though because I won that first one.”
Riley, who also serves as president of the Canadian Studies club on campus, doesn’t relax during the summer months either. As a product of the Nova Scotia hockey program she volunteers her time with the High Performance program for Team NS that plays against others from around the region in the Atlantic Challenge Cup.
However, her studies serve as the most important part of her experience at Mt. A. She notes that the team’s large amount of away games can take up a lot of time, so she has to focus during the week so she is academically eligible to play. Looking into the future, Riley wants to take her talents to the classroom and become an elementary teacher, but you’ll still find her out on the rinks, playing and coaching. “I want to … coach for sure. I love it too much to stop playing so I’ll find a league to join somewhere.”
Tom Reid
Sue Seaborn
Sue Seaborn
Mount Allison/Sue Seaborn
22 THE ARGOSY WEEKLY FEBRUARY 9, 2012
February is a month when love is in the air and cupid is buzzing around working his magic. Valentine’s Day is around the corner and protecting yourself from STIs and diseases is extremely important and is something that is overlooked too often.
Having unprotected sex is extremely risky. It poses the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and diseases, as well as the chance of pregnancy. STIs and diseases can affect your general health as well as your future ability to reproduce.
There are many types of STIs but some of the more common ones are: chlamydia, herpes, gonorrhea, human papillomavirus (HPV) and syphilis. One of the more serious viruses to obtain from unprotected sex is the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
The best way to protect yourself from STIs and diseases is to learn about safe sex methods, talk to your partner(s) about their STI status and use of protection, use condoms (male or female) consistently and correctly and get tested regularly for STIs if you are sexually active. If you are diagnosed with an STI be sure to get treated and follow-up with a health care professional because it is easy to become re-infected, especially if your partner has contracted it and hasn’t been treated. Birth control pills, like condoms, can prevent pregnancy. However, they do not protect you from contracting STIs or other diseases. You should also be aware that these methods do reduce your chances of pregnancy and contracting STIs and diseases, but they are not always 100% effective.
An example of a common STI is chlamydia. Females between 15-24 and males between 20-29 have the highest number of recorded cases of chlamydia in Canada. Even more alarming, approximately one in ten women and one in twenty men aged 20-24 have had chlamydia in New Brunswick, and it has been on the rise in this province over the last few years. Like many STIs, many people who have chlamydia do not experience symptoms pertaining to the infection, which is why it can be easily transmitted, making it even more important to be tested.
STI testing can be as simple as peeing in a bottle. Some STI tests are done by taking blood samples while others are done by swabbing the urethra at the tip of the penis or by swabbing the cervix, which is done during a routine PAP test.
The Health Matters Society is hosting their annual Condom Rose Campaign on campus to promote safe sex on Valentine’s Day from 10:00 - 4:00 pm at the Wallace McCain Student Centre. They are also hosting a Wellness Fair at the student centre February 3, from 11:00 - 1:00 pm. Also make sure to check out The Vagina Monologues February 9-11, happening at the Wu Center, Dunn 113, at 8:00 pm!
To learn more about STIs, how to protect yourself or testing contact the Wellness Centre on the ground floor of the Wallace McCain Student Centre or call them at (506) 364-2163.
by Jenn MacKenzie
Love is in the Air ... but are you Protected?
Weekly Wellnessby Robert Murray
Mount Allison’s Mens’ basketball team handed the Rams from the Agricultural College in Truro their tenth straight loss by a score of 71-55. Despite the difference in the standings, the teams challenged each other and fought for every point on the hard-court.
Ben Chisholm led the way for Mt. A, scoring twenty-six points including going 11-18 from the field and sinking the team’s only three pointer. He also used his height advantage, standing tall at 6 feet 5 inches, to make two huge dunks on unsuspecting Rams that got fans on their feet. Also leading the scoring for Mt. A were Brandon Malally who dropped twelve, Akil Smith who added eleven and Neal Beckett who scored ten.
Rookie Jered Klaus was in full support of Chisholm’s assault on the rim saying, “His dunks got the whole team pumped up and it was some of the best basketball I’ve seen him play. His first dunk was one of the highlights of the year so far for sure.”
On the other side of the ball, Roberto Grant-Beals scored twenty-three for the Rams, who continue to sit at the basement of the ACAA standings as they prepare to host the Men’s National Basketball Championship this coming spring in Truro. Kyle Harvey had eleven for the Rams while Joshua Kennedy also added six points off the bench to round out the top three in scoring for NSAC.
Klaus commented after the match noting, “We had a slow start to the game but as it went on we picked it up offensively. We started to pick
Basketball Men Edge Rams at home
it up in the second half by running our offensive sets better and we came through with a good win.”
Mount Allison made the most of thirty-seven free throw attempts in the game, knocking down twenty-two of them compared to the Rams, who hit eleven of seventeen. Both teams struggled terribly from the three-point line. Ben Chisholm’s three pointer was the only one in eight attempts for Mt. A, while Harvey had both of his team’s long distance baskets. All together the teams only managed to sink three shots from beyond the arch on nineteen attempts. Both teams were evenly matched on both offensive and defensive rebounding, while
Mt. A won the turnover battle, giving up only eleven but causing twenty on the other side.
In other ACAA action this past weekend, the MSVU Mystics and UKC Blue Devils spoiled trips by Holland College and UNBSJ to the provincial capital as both teams swept their weekend games. St. Thomas scored the only other victory of the weekend, beating the NSAC 71-49 to add to their road woes that have yet to see them win a game on the road this season.
The Mounties are on the road this weekend as they travel to Halifax on Friday evening to face off against the UKC Blue Devils before facing Holland College on Prince Edward Island Sunday.
Mount Allison/Sue Seaborn
by Robert Murray
Most students spend their Christmas break relaxing, hanging out with old friends and eating their parents out of house and home before they head back to school. This was quite the opposite for basketball rookie Trevor Mann. The Thornhill, Ontario resident who now calls Harper Hall his home represented Maccabi Canada at the 2011 Pan –Am games in Sao Paulo, Brazil over the holiday break from December 24, 2011 to January 4, 2012.
Described by Mann as, “the Jewish Olympics”, he competed for the under-18 team during the event which brought together Jewish athletes from all across the Americas to compete against each other. The experience was very different for Mann due to the implication of FIBA rules and the different style of basketball, which he described as being “more physical and hard-nosed.” The team ultimately finished in fourth place in the tournament, which disappointed Trevor, who had hoped to be playing for the gold medal game. The experience didn’t sour his mood however, as he shrugged off the set back saying, “that’s life…it happens.” Overall, he was happy with the experience as he successfully went through the selection process and tryout camps to make the squad.
Mann noted that it was tough to gel in a short amount of time, but he plans to bring back several positive lessons from the experience. “I want to come back and play at a high level, put in work in practice and on my own time. I’m always looking to get better and I’ve got to stay hungry and humble,” he mentioned during the one-on-one interview.
This isn’t Mann’s first appearance in the basketball spotlight. In addition to playing on his high school basketball at Metro Prep, which is one of the top high school basketball teams
in the nation, he has graced the international stage as well. He was captain of the Under-14 Maccabi Canada basketball team during the last Pan-Am games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he led the team to a silver medal, and was captain of the U-16 Maccabi Canada team at a tournament in Israel. Mann has also played in the Ontario Basketball Association for the Mississauga Wolverines.
His teammates are also taking notice. A fellow rookie from Lakefield, Ontario, MacKenzie (Mac) Brown noted, “Trevor has had a solid rookie season and with his strong work ethic will surely be a player to watch down the road.” The two have also branded their own group calling themselves the “Ontario Connection.”
Sitting seventh on the team in points-per-game, Mann has excelled in his first year and is a big part of the reason why the team has three wins in their last four games, and are on pace to have a significantly better season than last year.
Basketball Rookie Provides Worldly Experience to Mt. A
Looking ahead to this weekend, the team faces the fifth place Blue Devils and sixth place Hurricanes on the road. With at least one victory over their remaining four games, the women will officially clinch a spot in the top three with St. Thomas and MSVU.
However, Mackellar insisted that they stick to the fundamentals, saying, “We just need to continue to stay focused on our goals and the wins will come…we just need to make sure to come out with a lot of energy on both days.” The Mounties next home game comes on February 18 and 19 as the team hosts the Tommies and Mystics respectively.
Continued from Cover
Mounties Ride Huge Third Quarter to Victory
Mount Allison/Sue Seaborn
Mount Allison/Sue Seaborn
23ARGOSY.CA THE ARGOSY WEEKLY
Next Thursday @ Pickles: Bolivia & Max Grizzly
Did you know Pickles delivers? 939 3354
This Thursday at 10PM:Lucy Niles & The Mouth BreathersandThe Bedroom Session
Mounties’ Volleyball Earn Two Weekend Wins
by Robert Murray
Mount Allison’s volleyball team experienced two completely different games this past weekend, but still managed to pick up consecutive victories against the University of New Brunswick Saint John Seawolves (UNBSJ) in ACAA Women’s volleyball action.
Mount Allison/Sue Seaborn
by Wray Perkin
The large-scale changes among the coaching ranks around the Canadian Football League have left many fans surprised at the number of coaching changes. They’re not alone in thinking so, either.
“This is the most turnover I’ve seen in the CFL,” says Toronto Argonauts general manager Jim Barker. Barker stepped down in December from his job as head coach of the Argos to focus on his GM duties, and was replaced by newcomer Scott Milanovich.
“I didn’t think there would be this many changes,” said Richie Hall, defensive coordinator for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. “Once the head coach changes, there’s a whole domino effect with the movement of assistant coaches, and the fact that half the league has new head coaches surprised me.”
Hall emphasized that it doesn’t stop with the head coaches, and was blown away when informed that he was one of only two defensive coordinators around the league who would be remaining in that job with the same team from a year ago. Tim Burke in Winnipeg is the only other.
“I never even realized it,” a surprised Hall said over the phone last week, “but now that you mention it, it feels a little weird. It shows how much movement there’s been.”
Both Hall and Barker attribute the small size of the league as being a major factor in the changes this off-season, and Barker pointed out that this year was unique in that two head coaches (himself and Wally Buono) stepped down to focus on their GM roles.
“There’s more pressure than before,” Hall mentioned, perhaps drawing from his two-year stint as head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos in 2009 and 2010. “Beforehand, you had two or three years to get a team rolling, but now you gotta do it now.”
Barker and Hall differed in the opinion of whether this trend will continue or if this is unique to 2011-12. Barker says with the upcoming expansion in Ottawa, “it will be
CFL Coaching Carousel
especially more prevalent, and it’s something that’s going to continue for a while.”
“The key to a successful franchise is stability,” Hall said. “You need to minimize movement, and grow collectively. When you’re constantly changing it’s hard to find success.”
One statistic which stands out is that Marc Trestman (Montreal) and John Hufnagel (Calgary) each have four years of CFL head coaching experience under their belts. That’s more than the entire rest of the league combined. Paul LaPolice (Winnipeg) has two years experience, while Kavis Reed (Edmonton) has one year.
Hall was surprised by this as well, but said, “Just because someone doesn’t have head coaching experience doesn’t mean that they don’t know what it takes to be a head coach.” Using Hamilton’s George Cortez as an example, Hall described the experience some coaches have of being around the league and the knowledge gained.
The veteran coordinator also said he didn’t feel any added pressure with a new crop of coaches around him in Saskatchewan to help them get acclimatized to their positions. “Corey (Chamblin, new head coach) is very smart, he’s a very good coach, and my role is to contribute whatever I can.”
The coaching circle, especially in the CFL, is a small one, and Hall spoke briefly about the fraternity which exists among coaches.
“If you stick around long enough, you’re going to coach against a friend. It’s a real good atmosphere for coaches. It turns out it’s a real small world.”
Barker and Hall are also in agreement that the 2012 season is shaping up to be an exciting one.
“You’re going to see a new CFL with new blood, and exciting, new ideas led by fresh faces,” said Barker. “It will be very exciting for the fans to see how it unfolds.”
CFL Free agency opens on February 14, and with big names like Andy Fantuz, Avon Cobourne and Justin Hickman on the market, expect even more turnover in player personnel over the next few weeks.
On Friday evening the nationally eleventh ranked Mounties took on the Seawolves (4-10) in what many anticipated to be an easy victory for the Mounties, who were coming off wins against the MSVU Mystics and NSAC Rams the past weekend. However, the Seawolves set the pace early, catching the Mounties off guard and winning the first set 25-23. The Mounties fell victim to several stuff blocks by the Seawolves early on. The Mounties rallied to
win the second and third sets by identical scores of 25-22. The fourth set saw UNBSJ jump out to an early lead and pace them to a 25-16 victory, tying the match at two sets apiece. The final set saw the Mounties grab the early lead and while the Seawolves challenged them several times at match point, Mt. A eventually took the set and match 16-14.
After the game, second-year right-side Georgia Sibold commented that, “The game on Friday was rough across the board for everyone; the Seawolves came out fighting and rattled our performance both offensively and defensively.”
The Mounties regrouped for Saturday afternoon’s rematch, taking the match in three straight sets (25-20, 25-13, 25-16) to momentarily take over sole possession of first in the ACAA Women’s Volleyball standings. Caila Henderson had a repeat performance of Friday evening leading the team in kills. The second set proved to be the Seawolves undoing, as they converted 0 of 8 kills while the Mounties converted 11 of 12 in the set and 44 out of 58 overall.
Sibold added after the victory Saturday, “Everyone showed up focused and ready to play Saturday morning and we really came together
and focused on what we needed to improve on from the night before.” Other ACAA volleyball action throughout the weekend saw the Dragons from Sainte-Anne take losses on the road versus St. Thomas Tommies and the Agricultural College Rams. Holland College also remained without a win on the season as they lost in straight sets to both the Mystics and Rams.
With the pair of wins, the Mounties move to 12-3 in the season with two final home games before they close out the season in Halifax against the MSVU Mystics to decide the season series. Currently the Mounties face an uphill climb if they want to finish first in the ACAA. The Mystics are tied in points but have two games in hand with upcoming games against the lower ranked teams in the league as they host the Dragons from Sainte-Anne in a double header. However, if the Mystics lose one of their next three games, the season finale on February 19 in Halifax will be for the ACAA Regular season title. Up next for Mt. A is a home date versus the Tommies this Sunday at 2:00 pm. Catch the action live in person or on Twitter at @Argosy_Sports!
RUN THIS SHIP!
The Argosy is hiring a new Editor-in-Chief for the 2012-2013 publishing year.
Excellent leadership skillsInterest in student journalismExperience in editing and design an asset, but not required
