News

Andrew Jeffrey — The Gateway (University of Alberta)

EDMONTON (CUP) — Dozens of protesters were forced to stay off University of Alberta grounds by police on Feb. 1 after claiming they would rally on campus.

The protest, which included participants from the Occupy Edmonton movement and the Faculty of Arts solidarity group, started at Ezio Faraone Park before coming to a halt on the northern end of Saskatchewan Drive.

The group of protesters were stationed across the street from HUB Mall for several hours after being barred entrance by university officials and Edmonton Police Service (EPS).

Nearly 20 uniformed EPS officers blocked the protesters’ entrance to campus. The officers stated that non-students would be charged with trespassing if they crossed the street, while students would be also punished if they set up tents on U of A grounds. Students were only allowed on campus provided they showed their ONEcards.

Some of the protesters’ complaints included the budget cuts and rising tuition fees affecting the U of A, which Occupy member Katie Nelson called a “huge standard of inequality.” Nelson also took issue with the university asking protesters to remain off campus.

“This is an institution that’s supposed to foster free speech, open dialogue and advocacy that’s blocking us right now,” Nelson said. “We’re here to fight for equality and we’re not allowed to speak.”

The U of A responded with an official statement on their blog, stating that they had already provided Occupy protesters with an explanation as to why they would be unable to set up camp on U of A property.

“Simply, any attempt to establish an Occupy camp on University of Alberta property — which is private property — will put the U of A community at risk, and, further, it will interfere with the university’s clear responsibility to effectively deliver its programs and services to students, staff and faculty,” the blog stated.

Attempts made by U of A officials and EPS officers to address protesters were met with various cries questioning ownership of U of A property.

Students’ Union executives were also invited to appear and support students’ rights to peaceful assembly.

“I’m not sure how much the university can do in order for the government to increase grants, to be honest,” said Farid Iskandar, Students’ Union vice-president (external).

“They’re working with us in order to have the Campus Alberta grant not be zero per cent again, because that does damage us. I hope that the government in the next budget considers post-secondary as a priority moving forward, and has budget increases for the (U of A).”

Some students watching the protest nearby disagreed with the Occupy movement’s requests.

“I think a lot of people over there have an oversimplified view of how [their requests] can happen and why it’s happening,” said U of A student Sean Bradley.

“I don’t think it’s a simple as, ‘We’re going to start a revolution and everyone’s going to listen, and we’re all going to agree on certain things now.’ There’s always going to be conflict.”

But protesters said it was important to send a message to U of A administration, despite others viewing their methods as ineffective.

“People may criticize this movement and say, ‘They’re not really making any difference,’ or, ‘This is just for show,’ but at the end of the day, I prefer to be on the side of people who are actually standing up for something,” argued Brent Kelly, a students' union arts councillor.

“We have to believe that we can make a difference. Because if we don’t believe, then really we sacrifice democracy. If we don’t act, if we don’t try, if we don’t stand up for a better world, then I don’t really know what democracy would be.”

The protesters stood on Saskatchewan Drive for nearly three hours before moving on to Whyte Avenue.

The next day, dozens of students were joined by members of the earlier Occupy protest in a flash mob protest against arts faculty cuts and tuition increases. Student protestors marched into the student union building, chanting loudly and waving signs that read “Education is a Right.” The group made its way across campus and was trailed by a handful of UAPS officers who made no move to break up the protest.

— With files from April Hudson

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Français

Claire Lévesque - Le Collectif (Université de Sherbrooke)

SHERBROOKE (PUC) — Voilà un sujet qui, de prime abord, risque de concerner plusieurs d’entre nous et qui plus est, de nous intéresser! Michèle Villegas-Kerlinger est professeure, chroniqueuse et traductrice. D’origine franco-américaine, elle est titulaire d’un B.A. en français avec une spécialisation en anthropologie et en linguistique. Elle s’intéresse à la Nouvelle-France depuis sa jeunesse et elle tient à préserver et à promouvoir la francophonie en Amérique du Nord. Quoi de mieux pour maintenir vivante cette belle culture que d’en faire connaître sa petite histoire?

Cette histoire qui est celle des débuts, des bâtisseurs, des origines qui ont été préservées et protégées pour qu’aujourd’hui nous ayons la possibilité d’être fiers de notre culture. Sur les traces de nos ancêtres est un recueil de quarante-six courts articles écrits pour le Sans-Papier, le journal électronique de la TÉLUQ.

Alors que certains articles nous racontent le quotidien de nos ancêtres, d’autres nous poussent à amorcer une réflexion et à nous questionner sur ce passé et son rapport au présent qui est le nôtre.

Les articles de ce recueil abordent divers sujets. La première partie nous présente des bâtisseurs alors que la deuxième nous décrit des «lieux de mémoire et de vie». La partie trois observe la vie au quotidien. La partie quatre résume quelques événements marquants et la partie cinq raconte nos légendes et nous fait connaître quelques personnages hauts en couleur.

On apprend que le terme «huguenot» vient du mot allemand «eidenossen», qui signifie «confédéré» et fait référence aux confédérés ou citoyens suisses. Les catholiques ont employé ce mot pour la première fois en 1560 en parlant des calvinistes en France. Par la suite, on employa le mot «protestant» qui signifie «attester» ou «rendre témoignage», et catholique réformé.

Les femmes sont présentes à tous les échelons sociaux et elles contribuent de manière importante au bien-être de la famille et de la société. Pourtant, les veuves constituent un grand pourcentage des gens pauvres des villes en Nouvelle-France. Elles sont prises en charge par l’Église, alors que les femmes abandonnées doivent se débrouiller toutes seules. Elles mendient, volent ou se prostituent.

On apprend aussi ce que mangeaient les Franco-Canadiens. Du bœuf, de la tourte, de la volaille, des légumes et des légumineuses. La mélasse est réservée à l’élite vu les coûts pour le transport. Et, comme les fruits sont rares en hiver, c’est pendant l’été qu’ils sont populaires. Entre 1608 et 1685, les Français calquent leur alimentation sur celle des Amérindiens. Le maïs, la courge et les fèves font partie du quotidien.

Le 21 janvier 2008 a marqué le 40e anniversaire de l’adoption du drapeau provincial, le fleurdelisé, par le gouvernement du Québec. Le plaisir de ce livre est que, peu importe la page à laquelle vous l’ouvrirez, vous y apprendrez quelque chose d’intéressant sur votre propre Histoire!

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Retrouvez l'article original sur le site du Collectif.

Sports

K. Bryannah James — The Brunswickan (University of New Brunswick)

FREDERICTON (CUP) — He’s leaning against a wall in the gym he and his teammates train in at the University of New Brunswick's Aitken Centre. His arms are crossed over his chest, with an easy-going air, as he takes a break from working-out to talk about a team that means a lot to him.

A team that he’s come to love and respect, evident in the smile that breaks — for not even a half-second — across his face when asked about the team.

“Everything is so fun to them, they enjoy it so much — they just have a passion for hockey.”

If you hear the name Dion Campbell, at the UNB, you think of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) championship hockey player or Varsity Red. If you’re a member of the New Brunswick Special Olympics floor hockey team, words such as "coach," "hockey player," "Varsity Red" and — most importantly — "friend" come to mind.

“I guess the best thing I enjoy is probably how it makes me feel when I see their faces light up every day,” said Campbell.

Campbell, a first-line forward for the Varsity Reds and graduating player, began volunteering with the floor hockey team as part of a school assignment.

“I got involved because [of] the disability awareness course through UNB,” said Campbell, “We had to do a certain amount of hours for community service to get involved.”

After looking through a list of different communities with which to get involved, this floor hockey team stood-out for Campbell. As he says, it’s something he knew he could help with.

After completing his course requirements, Campbell decided to stay on with the team and continue his involvement as an assistant coach.

“I couldn’t not stay.”

One of the most notable things about this floor hockey team is the camaraderie of each player and genuine happiness and pleasure they take from playing floor hockey.

“When their teammates score, it’s like they score. They’re so supportive of each other,” said Campbell.

“There’s no jealousy, there’s no hate in their hearts — it’s just pure enjoyment and love. It’s just amazing to see and it’s something I think everyone should get to see.”

Every Monday, Campbell, along with other coaches, helps the team improve their skill-set during practice with various hockey drills which range from passing to face-offs.

Campbell also brings his knowledge and drills from his practices as a V-Red to the court as well.

One memory that stands out for Campbell during his time as an assistant coach happened recently, with a team underdog on the court.

“There’s one guy, his name’s Keith. He’s about 50 years old and, you know, Keith, he’s — I don’t want to say [one of the] weaker ones, but he’s one of the guys who struggles to get offence going,” said Campbell. “And he got a goal the other night, just in practice. Geez, he was the happiest guy I’ve ever seen. It’s like he just won a big award or something.

“He was jumping up and down and he came running up to me, gave me a big hug. I was so happy, that was just probably one of the best things I’ve ever seen in someone.”

However, Campbell’s relationship with the floor hockey team goes beyond the court. He’s developed a friendship with his team, and makes an effort to visit them.

“A few of them work at Wal-Mart, another couple of them work at Superstore. So when I’m there I’ll make sure I go track them down and say hello and bug them a bit and see how they’re doing in their day.”

Campbell also says he plans on getting together with the floor hockey team outside of practice and drills, and will continue his involvement with the team.

“They bring the best out of you," he said. "You get to see a different side of things, that’s for sure. And it opens your eyes in a lot of ways.”

“It’s such a good feeling.”

The team, just before Campbell’s involvement, won a provincial tournament, which secured them a spot at the Special Olympics Nationals in Edmonton, Alberta in February.

“We’re just practicing to get them ready,” said Campbell.

In a bittersweet turn of events, Campbell will be unable to travel with the team to Edmonton because he’ll be training and competing with the Varsity Reds in hopes of securing another Atlantic University Sport (AUS) championship, and defending their CIS championship title.

Although he will be unable to accompany them, Campbell has encouraged the team to take from the tournament everything they can and to enjoy their time away.

“I just tell them to enjoy every moment of it and have so much fun in every part of it. Not just the game [but] your experience out west, your experience at the hotels, and the banquets,” said Campbell.

There’s also a dance during nationals of which, according to Campbell, many of the athletes are excited to attend.

“I tell them, 'Enjoy every moment and bring back the gold.'”

There will be roughly nine teams competing at nationals, New Brunswick’s team being the sole Atlantic province representative.

One of the things Campbell hopes to do in preparation for the team’s competition in Edmonton, is to bring some of his Varsity Red teammates out to play a game against them.

“[They] just have a passion for life that’s so contagious and every time I leave there I take it away with me. I just bring it out with me and I just love it. It’s just an unbelievably passion they have.”

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Science & Technology

Tom Ingram — The Manitoban (University of Manitoba)

WINNIPEG (CUP) — The leaders of several top virology labs have agreed to a 60-day halt on research involving new strains of avian influenza that are more transmissible in mammals. The agreement was spearheaded by Ron Fouchier, a Dutch virologist and the lead author of a controversial study on bird flu, currently in press at Science.

Fouchier’s work at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam created a new strain of H5N1 influenza, which allows for the airborne spread of the virus between ferrets. Ferrets catch the flu in a similar manner to humans, and are thought to be good models of flu infection in humans.

The United States National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB), to which Fouchier sent his paper for review before publishing, advised that certain details be left out of the published article for security reasons.

After the story broke, Fouchier saw growing public unease about his research and began talking to other flu scientists. They came to the conclusion that some time was needed to allow governments and health organizations to think about the issues raised by the work. A statement was published on Jan. 20 in the journals Science and Nature announcing the pause, which affects work on “highly pathogenic” bird flu strains. Research on naturally occurring influenza will continue.

During this period, Fouchier hopes to organize a meeting with the U.S. government and the World Health Organization (WHO) in attendance. “People need to talk, and infectious diseases specialists need to take the microphone and explain why this research is important and how you can do it safely,” he said in an interview with Science.

Some are worried about the harsh response to research that could have major benefits to public health. “I have concerns that people understandably concerned about security may put restrictions on important research that might go a little bit too far,” said Anthony Fauci, from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Maryland.

Fouchier himself believes that the fears about his research are overblown. “Bioterrorists can’t make this virus, it’s too complex, you need a lot of expertise,” he said. “And rogue nations that do have the capacity to do this don’t need our information. So I don’t think they will benefit from this information at all.”

Meanwhile, the WHO worries that restrictions on publishing flu research will jeopardize a painstakingly negotiated international data-sharing agreement intended to “increase and expedite access to essential vaccines, antivirals and diagnostic kits, especially for outbreak areas.”

Critics of the safety of Fouchier’s research were unwavering. John Steinbruner, an international security expert at the University of Maryland, questioned the ability of governments to do anything meaningful within 60 days. Richard Ebright, a biologist from Rutgers University in New Jersey, called Fouchier’s statement “strictly symbolic.”

“The letter rejects, out of hand, the need for enhanced biosafety, biosecurity, and dual-use oversight, and, instead, maintains that all that is needed is an opportunity for researchers ‘to assure the public’ and ‘to clearly explain the benefits of this important research and the measures taken to minimize its possible risk,’” said Ebright.

Thomas Inglesby, a biosecurity expert who criticized Fouchier’s research when it was first announced, compared bird flu to the Spanish flu, a disease that was widespread and deadly in 1918. “H5N1 avian influenza has sickened 571 people, killing 59 per cent of them,” he wrote. “To give some perspective, the fatality rate of the virus that caused the 1918 Great Pandemic was 2 per cent, and that pandemic killed on the order of 50 million people.” A more transmissible H5N1 virus, he believes, “could cause billions of illnesses and deaths around the world.”

Fouchier plans to keep to the NSABB’s recommendations as well as he can, but warns that it would be “very unwise” not to share information with his close collaborators in Indonesia, a major centre of H5N1 infection. A mechanism for sharing sensitive data with legitimate scientists is in the works and expected to be solidified in late February.

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Français

Samuel Sigere - Le Délit (Université McGill)

MONTRÉAL (PUC) — La semaine dernière, l’Institut de recherche en économie contemporaine (IRÉC) a présenté son rapport sur La hausse des droits de scolarité et ses impacts sur le coût de programme de l’Aide financière aux études. Mandaté par la Confédération des associations d’étudiants et d’étudiantes de l’Université Laval (CADEUL), l’IRÉC dresse un portrait réaliste des conséquences de la hausse des frais de scolarité.

Au terme de la hausse en 2016-2017 ce serait près de 265 millions de dollars que les universités recevraient en plus. Ces revenus viendront d’une augmentation de près de 75% du prix d’une année scolaire de trente crédits pour un étudiant à temps plein par rapport à 2012. On lit dans le rapport que la part des droits de scolarité dans les budgets des universités serait ainsi plus grande, ne représentant actuellement que 21% du budget de fonctionnement d’une université. McGill, contrairement aux universités qui dépendent des frais de scolarité, tire près de 32% de l’ensemble de ses revenus actuels de placements, donations, subventions gouvernementales et ventes externes. Le montant total annuel payé par les étudiants québécois au système universitaire augmentera de façon importante, passant de 268 millions de dollars en 2006-2007 à 665 millions de dollars en 2016-2017 et cela malgré une baisse du nombre d’étudiants à compter de 2015.

Selon les prédictions du ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport, la population étudiante universitaire à temps plein connaîtra une augmentation croissante jusqu’en 2015 avant de diminuer. Cependant les chiffres du gouvernement, utilisés pour créer le cadre financier du Plan de financement des universités équitable et équilibré, ne prennent pas en compte la hausse des frais de scolarité. Or, des études récentes ont démontré qu’il existe une corrélation négative entre une hausse des frais et la décision d’entreprendre des études; ainsi pour une augmentation de 1000 dollars, il y a une baisse de 2% des inscriptions universitaires. En considérant cette donnée et le cas québécois, soit la hausse de 1625 dollars, l’étude constate qu’il y a une surestimation de la baisse des effectifs de la part du gouvernement, écart pouvant aller jusqu’à 5000 étudiants certaines années.

L’Aide financière aux études (AFE) sera aussi affectée par la hausse puisque 35% des revenus supplémentaires générés iront au financement de nouvelles bourses. En 2008-2009, 51% des étudiants bénéficiaires de l’AFE étaient aux études universitaires. Ces quatre dernières années, le nombre d’étudiants aux études supérieures ayant besoin d’aide est resté stable à 70 000, soit environ 38,5% de la population étudiante. La hausse des frais de scolarité et les modifications apportées à l’AFE entraineront une augmentation de 10% des bénéficiaires de prêts et de bourses, ainsi qu’une hausse du coût d’administration, non planifiées dans le plan du gouvernement. Combiné au crédit d’impôt sur les frais de scolarité, l’IRÉC établit le coût réel du programme entre 175 millions de dollars et 192 millions de dollars, alors que le gouvernement a estimé le coût à 150 millions de dollars.

Devant de tels chiffres, on pourrait se demander si le jeu en vaut vraiment la chandelle. Une hausse des frais de scolarité est-elle vraiment la réponse au sous-financement des universités quand on considère qu’elle entraîne une diminution des effectifs universitaires, et une augmentation de l’endettement étudiant?

Dans le cadre de son mandat, l’IRÉC estime que suivant l’abolition des droits de scolarité et de retour d’impôt de 20%, le manque à gagner pour les universités serait entre 176 millions de dollars et 405 millions de dollars. De plus, la gratuité scolaire entraînerait une augmentation des effectifs universitaires entre 7% et 12%, ce qui impliquerait des coûts supplémentaires pour les universités. Il n’est toutefois pas évident de prédire quelle serait la façon optimale de financer le système universitaire sans réelles études sur les besoins financiers des universités.

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Retrouvez l'article original sur le site du Délit.

News

Arshy Mann — CUP Western Bureau Chief

VANCOUVER (CUP) — As students across the country vented rallied against high student debt on Feb. 1, at least one NDP leadership contender was protesting along with them.

At an event at Vancouver Community College's (VCC) downtown campus, Peggy Nash released a post-secondary plan that she argued would make higher education more accessible and combat student debt.

"Education is a right, education needs to be accessible, but that is not the case today. As you know, we have students graduating with debts the size of a mortgage, but they never see the house," she said. "And this disproportionately affects lower income students. They end up paying more for their education than wealthier students because they are the ones taking out the student debt."

The event was part of the National Day of Action organized by the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) in order to protest rising tuition costs and student debt.

Nash said that if she were elected prime minister she would create a dedicated post-secondary transfer from the federal government to the provinces, a long-time NDP goal. She also argued for lower interest rates on student loans and up-front grants instead of loans.

In an interview with The Ubyssey last month, Nash said that if she was a young person today, she may have chosen to not attend a post-secondary institution.

"Tuition fees were dramatically lower, and so I could work during the summer to pay my tuition — something [that] today, for most students, is absolutely impossible," she said. "I would probably think twice, if I was a young person today, about going to university."

Nash's proposal is largely in line with the rest of the NDP leadership field. On questions of higher education policy, there appears to be little that divides the candidates. The only fault lines that emerge are on what aspect of post-secondary the candidates emphasize.

Niki Ashton, an NDP MP who currently represents the northern Manitoba riding of Churchill and is a former instructor at the University College of the North, advocates for increased commitments to northern and First Nations education.

“That’s the pinnacle of the kind of inequality we see in our country and it’s unacceptable in a country as wealthy as Canada, that First Nations receive a lower level of funding ultimately because they are First Nations,” she said.

Nathan Cullen, an MP from northern B.C., argues that institutions such as colleges and vocational schools often get ignored.

“Often when we say post-secondary in this country, we’re talking about universities explicitly, and that’s got to change, because there’s been a bit of snobbery over the last generation or two. When I went to high school, it was success to go to university and failure to do anything else.”

NDP party president Brian Topp, like most of the rest of the NDP field, pushes back against a “student aid model that is predicated on getting people into debt."

“We need to move away from a debt model and more towards a grant model to help those who wish to go to university [do so],” he said.

Nash wasn't the only NDP MP that participated in the CFS' National Day of Action. Rathika Sitsabaiesan, the NDP's critic for advanced education and deputy critic Matthew Dubé joined students who had gathered on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in support of the protests.

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Humour

BestCrosswords.com

(CUP) — Puzzles provided by BestCrosswords.com. Used with permission. Please print the above statement with the puzzle.

Across

1- After John in the NT; 5- Bore; 9- Breathes fast and hard; 14- Circular band; 15- Abominable snowman; 16- China's Zhou _ ; 17- "Hard _ !" (sailor's yell); 18- Star-shaped; 20- No-goodnik; 22- "Hold On Tight" band; 23- For one; 24- Capital of Calvados, in NW France; 26- Lacking; 28- Capital of Moldova; 32- Observe; 36- Cornerstone abbr.; 37- Large cat; 39- Artist Rousseau; 40- First Arabic letter; 42- Aromatic wood; 44- Call for; 45- Informs; 47- Home movie medium; 49- Hwy.; 50- Takes by theft; 52- Real estate register; 54- Castle ring; 56- Routine; 57- Longfellow's bell town; 60- Assist; 62- Risky; 66- Artist's pencil; 69- Former French colony of north-western Africa; 70- Icon; 71- Actress McClurg; 72- Take _ from me; 73- Big name in printers; 74- Clairvoyant; 75- Uh-uh;

Down

1- Captain of the Pequod; 2- Soft drink; 3- Nailed obliquely; 4- Language communication; 5- Counteracting genetic improvement; 6- Emeritus: Abbr.; 7- Fit to _ ; 8- Breathing organs of fish; 9- Architect I.M.; 10- Detach; 11- Failure; 12- Casino game; 13- Fool; 19- It may be floated; 21- Manner of walking; 25- Israeli desert; 27- Japanese drama; 28- "Hyperion" poet; 29- Atoll unit; 30- Subway turner; 31- Of Hindu scriptures; 33- Inactive; 34- El Greco's birthplace; 35- Bird that gets you down; 38- "MASH" name; 41- Wading bird; 43- Pigment; 46- _ -mo; 48- Swear words; 51- Swedish auto; 53- Sailor; 55- Wearies; 57- ...baked in _ ; 58- Compact by pounding; 59- Narrow inlets; 61- Type of ranch; 63- Defense grp. since 1949; 64- A good one gets you there in a hurry; 65- Exclamation of fright; 67- 1980's movie starring Bo Derek and Dudley Moore; 68- Sprechen _ Deutsch?;

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Science & Technology

Matt Hirji — The Gateway (University of Alberta)

EDMONTON (CUP) — By pinpointing the exact moment when a black hole launched fast- moving material from the region surrounding it, a University of Alberta astronomer has uncovered an important clue for discovering how new galaxies are formed.

The interaction of material ejected, or “burped,” from black holes with other gasses in space is fundamental to the creation of new galaxies, but Gregory Sivakoff’s research on how and when matter is ejected from the black hole gives insight to the origins of these processes.

“One of the greatest questions in astronomy today is how black holes affect the formation of galaxies,” Sivakoff said.

“Our research may give foundational insight into this evolution by offering an understanding on the processes in which material from around a black hole is launched away.”

By using ultra-sharp detection methods made possible by the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) telescope system, along with an X-ray timing satellite, Sivakoff was able to detect and study an outburst by a stellar black hole located 28,000 light years away from Earth.

“Essentially, if your eyes were as sharp as the VLBA is, you’d be able to see somebody standing on the moon with your own eyes. Because of this, we were able to track how the jet’s behavior was changing,” Sivakoff explained.

“In our observations, we can see the emission blobs moving from the base of the black hole outwards at about the quarter the speed of light. And because those things are moving out, we can essentially play the tape backwards and precisely, to plus or minus half a day, to determine when those blobs started their journey.”

By understanding when the matter was ejected, it’s also possible to extrapolate under which environments this ejection can take place.

As Sivakoff explains, before the ejection takes place, the material in the regions immediately surrounding the black hole, called the accretion disk, becomes unstable, heats up and becomes sucked into the hole. After that, there’s an ejection of material from the black hole at incredible speeds.

“This is sort of the foundational research in trying to understand how the accretion disk … and the jet burst are linked,” Sivakoff said.

“By pinpointing exactly when the jet was launched, we can tell exactly what was going on in the accretion disk and we saw that the behavior was fundamentally changing. That means that we have a great meter to understand the physics of a projectile launch.”

Sivakoff’s research will help the astronomical community better understand the physics of how matter in the universe interact with each other.

While the exact mechanisms of the ejection remains mysterious to the scientific community, the launches also occur in supermassive black holes — similar to one at the centre of the Milky Way — which could have a significant impact in the creation of new galaxies.

“We’re not entirely sure what the material is inside the jet. It definitely includes electrons, but we don’t know if there are protons or positrons mixed in there,” Sivakoff said. “What we do know is that it’s some sort of ionized gas. As that material impacts other gasses in the future, it may affect how stars are formed.”

According to Sivakoff, more theoretical work will be done in the upcoming years in order to understand the full implications of the launch.

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Sports

Sean Tepper — The Eyeopener (Ryerson University)

TORONTO (CUP) — Crediting her with building not just Ryerson’s women’s basketball program and its athletes, but better human beings, more than 150 people — including students, colleagues, former players and family members — paid tribute to Sandy Pothier in an hour-long memorial service held in Kerr Hall gym on the Ryerson University campus on Jan. 26.

“How appropriate that we should be celebrating [Sandy’s life] here in a gymnasium,” said Toni Delabbio, a chaplain at St. Michael’s Hospital where Pothier was treated for cancer.

“A gymnasium is a place where there are wonderful wins, and there [are] horrible losing times. There [are] good things that happen, and there [are] very difficult things. They’re similar to life, and I know, as one of her players said this evening, Sandy’s here.”

The ceremony was filled with an abundance of praise for Pothier’s strength, determination and, of course, her distinguished career as both a successful basketball player and as one of Ryerson’s most accomplished head coaches.

After a two-year battle with cancer, the longtime women’s basketball coach died on Jan. 21. She was 50.

Speeches, poems and blessings brought the crowd to tears on a number of different occasions, as those who stepped up to the microphone shared stories about Pothier. Amongst the speakers were former teammates, former players and fellow coaches and family members.

“I don’t know how our family is going to survive without her,” Jenna, Pothier’s sister said. “She was an important part of the glue that brought us all together.”

While each speaker shared a different story, every one of them made it a point to note just how much she loved to travel, as she spent all of 2009 travelling to places such as Peru, Mexico, Arizona and the Grand Canyon.

“Her attitude to the cancer was much like her attitude to coaching. Stay positive, work and fight hard to the end,” said Jenna.

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News

Shane Magee — The Aquinian (St. Thomas University)

FREDERICTON (CUP) — Fredericton university students and professors urged the provincial government not to make cuts to post-secondary education at a budget consultation meeting last week.

“The returns on education are phenomenal,” said Joey O’Kane, president of the New Brunswick Student Alliance and vice-president external of the University of New Brunswick Student Union (UNBSU).

“If we want to see New Brunswick pushing forward to a real knowledge economy base, if we want to start moving ahead so we can be the next Alberta, so we can be the next Ontario, we really need to start investing in our youth, in our students, in our post-secondary education.”

The province is developing a four-year plan that will show students how much they will pay for tuition. The plan will also establish how much universities receive in grants from the province.

New Brunswick’s Finance Minister, Blaine Higgs, would not say whether tuition or provincial grants to universities would increase in the upcoming budget.

“I don’t come in here with any preconceived notions,” Higgs told reporters after the meeting.

“The process is to learn first and act later. That’s what we’re doing. So there aren’t any plans at this point, any specific plans that I could identify.”

Over 300 people were at the meeting to give their comments to Higgs about what should be cut or what needs more money in the March provincial budget.

Health care workers, gas station owners and early education workers made up many of the attendees who stood in the aisles waiting for the chance to speak at the microphone.

O’Kane spoke along with UNBSU president Jordan Thompson at the meeting. Both said the province should consider investing in post-secondary education as a means of retaining students and building the economy.

Higgs said it was time for universities in the province to do their share. Thompson agreed universities have to share the cost-cutting burden, but said it has had a negative impact at UNB.

“What we’ve seen is professors’ positions not being filled, increases in class sizes, the political science department basically doesn’t exist this year … so universities are doing their share. What we need is government doing their share,” said Thompson, as those in the room applauded.

St. Thomas University Students’ Union president Mark Livingstone was also at the meeting, but did not speak.

STU professor Matthew Hayes said people need to change the conversation about cuts.

“This conversation that the minister is speaking at us … is basically one in which we have to accept cuts.”

Instead, Hayes said people should look at the reasons why New Brunswick is in the current fiscal situation. He proposed reversing tax cuts made by former premier Shawn Graham.

“Rather than saying, ‘Can we afford to have an adequate number of long-term care facility beds?’ [and] rather than saying, ‘Can we [afford] decent post-secondary education, can we afford to offer children in primary and secondary school with learning disabilities sufficient help?’ I think we should instead be asking, ‘Can we afford to provide those tax cuts to the wealthiest people in New Brunswick?’”

After Hayes finished his comments, the minister took notes, but did not respond.

When asked after the meeting what the province could do to encourage students, Higgs said the government had to look at changing educational programs to better fit with what jobs are available.

“We’ve been spoiled for a lot of years. Change is hard but it can be motivating, encouraging and it can help us move forward,” Higgs said.

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Opinion

Torni Gbeleyi — The Brunswickan (University of New Brunswick)

FREDERICTON (CUP) — Prior to my recent visit back to my hometown of Lagos, Nigeria, I viewed the Occupy Movement, particularly its iteration in Canada, as a trend and a poor imitation of the Arab Spring. I had little empathy for the North Americans joining in the protests mainly because I felt that people of developing nations represent the true 99 per cent and are the people most affected by capitalism and neo-liberal values.

It was difficult for me to empathize with Canadian youths who joined the movement because as a citizen of a developing nation, I perceive Canada as an affluent nation. Quality and affordable healthcare, good education, constant electricity, running water and good roads are luxuries for the average person in Nigeria, but are amenities readily available to the average Canadian. In light of this, I had little interest in the movement and did not see it as a worthwhile or credible venture.

It took a nationwide strike in Nigeria and the possibility of not being able to return to school in Canada to completely change my views on the Occupy Movement. Sweating profusely at the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos and trying to find a new flight to Canada after numerous flights were cancelled, I realized just how influential the Occupy Movement had become.

The movement that I had openly and privately ridiculed was successfully adopted in my country by Nigerians protesting the sudden increase in fuel prices from 65 naira per litre to 140 naira per litre on the first day of the new year. I initially tried to disassociate the fuel price hike protests from the Occupy Wall Street Movement, but the numerous social network images, t-shirts and local news reports made it clear: Nigerian protesters took their cue from the Occupy Movement whether I cared to admit it or not.

I was extremely proud of the solidarity Nigerians expressed in reaction to the fuel price hike. Typically jam-packed Lagos streets were completely deserted in compliance with the strike, and many Nigerians took to Facebook and Twitter to express their dissatisfaction not only with the increase in prices but also with the flagrant corruption in the Nigerian government.

This widespread activism is uncommon for Nigerians. Phrases such as “E go better” — meaning "it will be well" — are commonly expressed by the Nigerian populace in harsh times. The late pioneer of Afrobeat music, Fela Kuti, wrote the song “Suffering and Smiling” to describe how Nigerians tend to hope for the best rather than revolt in trying times.

The strikes literally shut down the nation, and this affected international flights. Many airlines repeatedly cancelled flights, particularly after operations were disrupted by labour officials.

Being at the airport with fellow stranded passengers showed me the extent to which these protests paralyzed the nation. Some of the stranded passengers were university students like me trying to get back to class on time; others were workers trying to meet deadlines. A man I spoke with said he was worried he might lose his job for returning so late after the Christmas break.

The situation at the airport was tense, and many passengers were desperate. When a flight did leave, the check-in lines were horrendous as many people who had missed previous flights all tried to get on. Fights broke out on check-in lines. A woman behind me who kept instigating fights nearly had a suitcase thrown at her. Airline officials were completely overwhelmed by the crowd, but did their best to maintain order. I nearly fainted when I thought I had lost my passport in the chaos. Still, the undeniable power of the movement impressed me more than it alarmed me.

Although some Nigerians are already questioning the outcomes of the Occupy Nigeria Movement and the Boko Haram extremist group has continued bombings in Northern Nigeria after the strike, all is not for naught. I know now that everyone has a right to express their displeasure with government or economic practices they perceive to be unjust, whether they live in a developed nation or not. Every citizen has a right to contest for a better tomorrow.

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News

Ishmael N. Daro — The Sheaf (University of Saskatchewan)

SASKATOON (CUP) — On Feb. 1, dozens of rallies took place at Canadian universities as part of a National Day of Action to reduce the costs of post-secondary education. The event was sponsored by the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), a national student lobbying group, and organized by individual student unions affiliated with CFS.

The University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union (USSU), however, did not take part.

“We are being left out, but we’re OK with being left out of this particular day of action because of who the organizers of it are,” said USSU president Scott Hitchings.

The USSU has a long and tangled history with CFS. Once a prospective member, the students’ union severed its relationship with the lobbying group — a move that was not viewed favourably by CFS, given that students had voted in a referendum to join as full members. But the results of that referendum were disputed by the then-USSU executive. A legal battle ensued that eventually made its way to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, which decided in favour of the USSU.

On the CFS website, the USSU is still listed as a member.

“We’ve asked them numerous times to take us off their website and stop telling people that we’re part of them,” said Hitchings.

But given that CFS is one of two main student lobby groups in Canada — the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations is the other — the USSU is effectively cut off from any national efforts to affect the debate on post-secondary education.

Hitchings points out that education is a provincial responsibility and says that lobbying the federal government on the issue of education costs makes little sense, but others disagree.

“It is a common misconception that the federal government has nothing to do with post-secondary education,” said Kent Peterson, president of the University of Regina Students’ Union and Saskatchewan representative on the CFS national executive.

He points to federal student loans as well as programs like the Post-Secondary Student Support Program, which supports First Nations and Inuit students’ educations, as being directly under the federal government’s purview.

The Feb. 1 day of action, Peterson added, also had regional goals and lobbying aimed at provincial governments. In Saskatchewan, the CFS favours a tuition freeze and increased government funding to universities. (At the U of S, 22 per cent of the school’s budget comes from tuition fees while 70 per cent comes through provincial funding.)

Peterson, whose Regina students’ union is an active CFS member, said that U of S students could gain from active participation in national efforts and that despite the USSU’s reluctance, “there is an appetite for these things at the undergraduate level at the University of Saskatchewan.”

He added, “I hope there will be a willingness on the part of the executive there to actually participate and do something to benefit their members.”

The question U of S students face is whether the USSU’s lack of involvement in national student groups hurts them in lowering education costs and achieving other goals, or if the poisoned relationship with CFS keeps their voices out of the national debate on education.

“From what we can tell, the CFS doesn’t have much sway anyway with the government,” Hitchings explained, but if national lobbying efforts do succeed, “the government is going to give those benefits to all universities across Canada.”

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News

Caitlyn Holroyd and Otiena Ellwand — The Ryersonian (Ryerson University)

TORONTO (CUP) — More than a thousand students from across Toronto showed up at Queen's Park on Feb. 1 to protest the high cost of tuition in Ontario.

They joined students from around Canada who marked the National Student Day of Action, a country-wide campaign to call attention to the high costs associated with post-secondary education.

The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) organized the protest to demand that the McGuinty government reduce tuition fees. The organization says that Ontario students have the lowest tuition funding in the country and accuse the provincial government of using the promise of a 30 per cent rebate — which excludes two-thirds of students — to buy votes. Metro News reported that 90,000 eligible Ont. university and college students have not applied for the rebate.

In Toronto, students from Ryerson University and George Brown College marched to the University of Toronto, then travelled east on Wellesley St., south on Bay St. and then west on College St. to Queen’s Park. Traffic was stopped along the route.

Winnie Ng, the Sam Gindin Chair in Social Justice and Democracy at Ryerson, told The Ryersonian that she wants the government to recognize the importance of post-secondary education.

“In Ontario, students are urging the McGuinty government to drop the fees by 30 per cent as promised in the last election,” she said. “It is important that our federal and provincial governments recognize that people are the most important resource of a country and that allocating more funding and investing in public post-secondary education system is more important and yield more return than investing in fighter jets. Our collective voice and action will hold them accountable.”

Sandy Hudson, Chairperson of CFS-Ontario, echoed Ng’s sentiments on the importance of a collective voice.

“In the past, we’ve been able to win significant victories,” she said, adding that students who got involved not only represented themselves, but entire families who are also concerned.

The Ontario Liberals recently made headlines after they announced that $66 million allocated to research conducted at universities and hospitals would be cut. They stated that the money is needed for other programs, which would likely create more jobs.

Check out a video of the event from The Ryersonian here.

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News

Sarah Deshaies — CUP Quebec Bureau Chief

MONTREAL (CUP) — After walking away in late 2010 from the top position at Concordia University with just over $700,000 in severance pay, it turns out that former president Judith Woodsworth has been quietly teaching at the university since the start of the winter semester.

This time, she's not returning to the executive offices on the upper floors of the administration GM building, but to a office on the sixth floor of the McConnell building where the études françaises department is located. Twice a week, Woodsworth heads to the new MB building, where she teaches two small 400-level courses on translation.

“I am fundamentally an academic,” Woodsworth said in a phone interview with Canadian University Press when asked why she would return to Concordia after her dismissal. “I felt that the academic life was something that was really very much a part of me, and I wanted to come back and continue where I left off when I left Concordia 14 years ago.”

Returning to Concordia in 2008 as president was like a “homecoming” said Woodsworth, though she lasted only two and a half years as president. “It wasn't all smooth when I came back, but I feel still that this is a place where I belong. Some people might find it strange, but they're focusing on the wrong things, maybe,” she suggested.

Education minister Line Beauchamp told a reporter on Feb. 1 that she had asked Concordia for more information, saying she'd like to know the circumstances for her return.

“Yesterday, when I saw the news, I asked for certain explanations,” Beauchamp said. “Phone calls were made.”

Concordia spokesperson Cléa Desjardins confirmed that, on Jan. 31, "senior officials at Concordia were in touch with the office of Minister Beauchamp and answered their questions on the subject of Judith Woodsworth’s return to the university." The minister's office could not be reached for comment.

In the last year, while on unpaid leave, Woodsworth updated her book on the history of translation and travelled to Africa as a consultant to university bodies in Ghana and Kenya. She notified the university she was ready to return to teaching over the summer.

Woodsworth's dismissal raised the ire of students, staff, alumni and the public when she was let go under mysterious circumstances a few days before Christmas in 2010.

Her severance package raised eyebrows about university funding, since Woodsworth had requested, with other university leaders, that the provincial government raise tuition fees. Tuition fee increases in Quebec will begin in fall 2012.

“I realize that it doesn't sit well when people think of their individual costs when tuition goes up,” said Woodsworth, who nevertheless added that it is “normal” to receive compensation when contracts are terminated, and that her predecessor, Claude Lajeunesse, left with a larger severance package in hand.

The dismissal of two presidents within a few years stirred up outrage, with media nationwide taking note. Last summer, three external investigators released the Shapiro report, the cost of which came to at least $60,000. The investigation condemned Concordia's governance, saying the university needed to overcome a “culture of contempt.”

But is it okay for Woodsworth to be teaching students after being fired as president?

“The university obviously thinks it's perfectly appropriate. Like all academic administrators, Dr. Woodsworth received an academic appointment when she was hired on as president,” said Desjardins. “So she just took up that opportunity after that relationship was terminated.”

The reaction on campus to the return of a former administrator has been minimal.

“The two jobs are not connected,” said Maria Peluso, president of the Part-time Faculty Association, who pointed out that academics frequently return to teaching positions after their time as administrators. “There's nothing unusual about that.”

Lex Gill, president Concordia Student Union, agreed: “The reality is, being a university professor is different than being an administrator,” she said. “I just don't understand why she would want to come back.”

Erik Chevrier, a representative for the Graduate Students Association on the Board of Governors, said Woodsworth's departure raised questions about the school's transparency.

“We tried to address this by putting in transparent measures in a series of proposals ... and all of them, last meeting, every single one of them, was shot down,” he said.

The suggested measures included filming board meetings and increasing seating space for non-governors.

“That's more of a concern for me — since her departure, since they let her go, they're really not looking [at making governance more open]," said Chevrier.

Andy Filipowich, a senator and fine arts undergraduate, said students have also moved on. “It's not as important of an issue anymore, because there are so many more important issues that we need to band together on and fight,” he said. “And she's doing what she wants to do, I hope, and whatever job she takes after this, it's pretty much her own personal business."

A casual survey of students milling around the library of the McConnell showed some students were unaware of who Woodsworth is. The ones who had heard about it were not concerned.

“If we don't really know the whole story [about the dismissal], it's not bad that she came back,” said history student Mara Stancana.

“It doesn't affect my daily life at school. The goings-on of the administration doesn't change anything for me,” said Mohamed Azab, an English student.

Former university administrator Frederick Lowy is currently interim president, and Concordia is still searching for a replacement.

Woodsworth said she misses meeting a variety of people in her previous position, but that she won't be seeking any administrative positions any time soon.

While Woodsworth has dropped hints in the past that she was forced out of her position, she indicated she would not discuss the details of her dismissal because of a non-disclosure agreement.

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Français

Antoine Palangié - Quartier Libre (Université de Montréal)

MONTRÉAL (PUC) —

Bonjour,

Ma nièce, qui entre à l’université en septembre, s’intéresse au débat sur la hausse des frais de scolarité. Il y a un point que nous n’avons pas pu clarifier et qui pourtant paraît très simple. Quand on parle de hausse, est-ce en dollars constants? Sinon, les 550 $ que l’étudiant payait en 1969 est équivalent à plus de 3 300 $ en 2011. Autrement dit, la hausse n’est pas réelle —au contraire, les étudiants paient beaucoup moins aujourd’hui!

Est-ce qu’un de vos journalistes pourrait nous éclairer?

Merci! Paul

Bonjour Paul,

Le dollar constant permet de comparer les prix de deux biens similaires (les frais de scolarité) à travers le temps, en tenant compte de l’inflation. Sa valeur s’exprime toujours dans le contexte d’une année donnée (ici, 2011) par rapport à une année de référence (1969). L’exercice vise à calculer le montant des biens qu’un dollar de 1969 permettrait d’acheter en 2011.

Or, dans votre exemple, les 550 $ payés en 1969 par les étudiants pour acquitter leurs frais de scolarité sont exprimés en dollars de 1969. La notion de dollar constant n’entre donc pas en jeu. Votre calcul est pertinent, car 550 $ de 1969 coûtent bien, selon le cumul de l’inflation durant 42 ans, 3341 $ en 2011 –ou plus exactement, permettent d’acheter pour 3341 $ de biens en 2011. C’est effectivement 54 % de plus que les 2168 $ que les étudiants paient en moyenne en 2011, en dollars de 2011.

Mais les choses ne sont pas si simples. Tout d’abord, les étudiants paient aujourd’hui des frais afférents qui n’existaient pas en 1969. À titre d’information, ils s’élevaient à 367 $ à l’Université de Montréal pour l’année 2010- 2011, et ceux-ci peuvent être plus élevés dans d’autres universités.

Ensuite, et surtout, la comparaison des frais de scolarité n’a que peu de signification si elle fait abstraction des différences de contexte socioéconomique, notamment de l’évolution du pouvoir d’achat des ménages. Ce pouvoir d’achat dépend de l’inflation –bien prise en compte dans votre calcul–, mais aussi des revenus qui n’ont pas nécessairement changé au même rythme que les prix.

Dans les faits, le salaire annuel moyen au Canada a été multiplié environ par sept et les prix environ par six entre 1969 et 2011, indiquant a priori une légère hausse du pouvoir d’achat entre ces deux périodes. Cela dit, cette progression des salaires, très rapide dans les années 1970, est devenue très lente aujourd’hui. De plus, le salaire n’est qu’une composante du revenu disponible, et les autres composantes n’ont pas forcément évolué de façon favorable.

Par exemple, début 2011, le gouvernement Charest avait défendu sa hausse des frais de scolarité par un calcul similaire au vôtre. Des groupes sociaux avaient rétorqué que si les prestations gouvernementales avaient évolué aussi vite que les prix, l’aide sociale devrait s’élever à 813 $ par mois au lieu de 567 $, illustrant l’érosion des premières par rapport aux secondes. Un autre facteur qui a pu nuire à la progression du pouvoir d’achat, c’est l’alourdissement proportionnel de la fiscalité.

Mais surtout une analyse macroéconomique ne rend absolument pas compte des disparités géographiques et entre groupes sociaux. Ainsi, le salaire moyen peut très bien augmenter alors que seule une minorité s’enrichit (les plus hauts salaires explosent), qu’une majorité s’appauvrit (stagnation des salaires, augmentation des prix) et que les plus pauvres s’appauvrissent encore plus (dégringolade des minima sociaux). Cette situation se traduirait par une accessibilité plus faible aux études universitaires en dépit d’une société globalement plus riche.

Le problème ne se limite donc pas à la comparaison des frais de scolarité dans le temps.

Il reste enfin qu’au-delà des chiffres, ce genre de comparaison historique est très discutable. Par exemple, est-ce parce que l’espérance de vie des Canadiens était de 50 ans en 1900 qu’elle devrait être de 50 ans en 2011 (l’espérance de vie actuelle des Canadiens est de 81,4 ans)? Pourquoi le progrès social ne pourrait-il pas se traduire par un allègement des charges qui pèsent sur les étudiants?

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Retrouvez l'article original sur le site du Quartier Libre.

Sports

Susan Rogers — The Argosy (Mount Allison University)

MONCTON (CUP) — The Canadian Figure Skating Championships is probably one of the last places you'd expect to find a medical student. It would seem that no one could balance competitive figure skating with training to be a doctor.

But Kevin Boczar does just that.

Boczar is a competitive ice dancer; he and his partner Helene Letourneau have been skating together since 2006 when both decided to leave singles competition behind. The team has been competing together ever since, and skating at the senior level for the past two years. Yet for most of his time competing at the senior level, Boczar has been enrolled as a medical student at the University of Ottawa.

“It was difficult,” he explained, but “it’s just a matter of being able to juggle … the responsibilities of school and skating really well with time management.”

And Boczar couldn’t be more serious when he says that time management skills are the most important thing.

This past year he and Letourneau were on the ice at 6 a.m. for practice before heading off to classes for the day. After classes, they went straight back to the rink for more ice time and off-ice workouts. Then followed paper writing and studying.

Despite the time commitment though, Boczar said he enjoys being involved in volunteer work in the community. And it doesn’t end there: Boczar recently started a research internship at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute in cardiac imaging.

Yet, believe it or not, Boczar takes the same course load as everyone else.

“Throughout the whole time, we’ve always made sure that we’ve kept up our full time studies along the way,” he said, adding that at his medical school, part-time studies aren’t even an option. Boczar didn’t just coast through his studies either; when he graduated from Carleton, he was awarded the Chancellor's Award for having the highest marks in his graduating class.

When asked where he spends most of his time, Boczar decided it’s "probably equal. This year it has been a little more hectic with school so I would say probably in the lab this year, but other years it has been just about equal.”

One of the more stressful experiences Boczar says was juggling competitive skating with medical school interviews. Leaving the Canadian Championships in London in 2010, Boczar went home to Ottawa for one day of classes before flying to Vancouver for a medical school interview.

It was during medical school interview that his figure skating training really helped him out — “I found the interviews almost like a skating competition. You get the adrenaline rush and then you have to perform.” Voicing a somewhat unexpected sentiment, Boczar said that the interview process “was more fun than stressful.”

When asked what advice he could give to other student athletes, Boczar reiterated the need for time management skills. “I commend all the students that continue their athletic pursuits,” he said. “It's really rewarding [to continue in sports] and I just say keep at it because it gives you a good balance in life to do both school ... and athletics.

“I definitely want to stay involved with skating and I think I want to do it as a team doctor," Boczar continued. "As to what specialty I go in to, I mean there is no one route you have to go to become a sports doctor. So right now I am thinking cardiology, but what specialty I want to go into kind of changes weekly.”

Boczar and Letourneau finished thirteenth at the 2012 Canadian Championships, the last skating competition of their competitive career. With a medical clerkship taking up most of his time next year, and a clinical rotation in massage therapy dominating hers, the team simply won’t have enough time to train for competition anymore. Time constraints don’t mean that Boczar is leaving the rink for good though — he plans to become a skating coach, as well as a sports doctor and will be busy as ever studying to get both certifications in the next couple years.

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Arts

Karlie Banville — The Martlet (University of Victoria)

VICTORIA (CUP) — Corey Taylor. Masked lunatic and Slipknot frontman. California-blonde hair, good cheekbones. Lead singer of Stone Sour. This is the man who knows “what happens when everything happens to you.” Taylor has provided us with a map in the form of his 237-page book, Seven Deadly Sins: Settling the Argument Between Born Bad and Damaged Good. It’s like the Devil’s little tourist guide to where sin lies — and where it doesn’t.

“Sin is a matter of opinion, and in my opinion, sins are only sins if you are hurting other people. So if you are not hurting anyone else, where is the damn sin?” writes Taylor. “So what if you like to fuck? Who cares if you enjoy actually having money, or love to eat, or are impassioned, or use your covetous nature to push yourself to new heights?”

It’s an obvious sentiment to me. But hey, every essay needs a thesis statement. And a religion-themed piece that doesn’t rebuke people for “just straight chilling in their jammy-jams” is one you should crawl off your couch to have a peek at.

Still, Taylor was hardly channeling Christopher Hitchens when he defrosted those little nuggets of truth. After his initial arguments, the piece stumbles. And stumbles, and stumbles. It gets repetitive in its message. Granted, the message is still totally accurate. Granted, the message is still funny. Granted, the message is still coming from Corey Taylor. But there’s only so much reiteration a reader is going to allow before they call it quits. Hang in there. The personal revelations make the repetition worthwhile.

Seven Deadly Sins is not an autobiography — not in the established sense. There are scattered vignettes that support Taylor’s views on sin without side-tracking the reader.

Taylor does offer a portrait of his childhood in a chapter titled “My Waterloo.” He recalls being beaten by “fists covered in low-rent turquoise rings,” ricocheting from one home to the next and collapsing wherever his body fell.

Most frightening of all, Taylor recounts his rape at the age of 11. The event itself is described from a detached, almost neutral stance. His description of the consequences is graphic and effective. In a culture where male rape supposedly equals emasculation, Taylor steps forward, bold and unashamed. It may be something of a digression, but he deserves high praise for daring to incorporate it.

Taylor knows how to get into your head. His writing is lucid enough for those who don’t like to read, intelligent enough for you intellectual gluttons and freaky enough for kinky creeps. And yes, Uncle Corey has even left a plate of leftovers in the oven for those with morals. After successfully annihilating the original seven sins, he offers up a new set: murder, child abuse, rape, torture, theft, lying and bad music. Taylor’s logic is that sins need to be updated to reflect the now, and that they should be tangible. They occasionally overlap, but nobody whined about the occasional bouts of incest in the original seven, did they?

Seven Deadly Sins is a “screw you” to Mother Church, a big “but why?” to our moral conduct and a story of what happens when you sin just a bit too hard — and get away with it.

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News

Braeden Jones — The Watch (University of King's College)

HALIFAX (CUP) — A crowd of more than a thousand students marched in Halifax as part of a National Day of Action for lower tuition fees. Students from the University of King’s College, Dalhousie University, Mount Saint Vincent University, Saint Mary’s University and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design gathered at Victoria Park in downtown Halifax, then clogged main downtown streets.

The Canadian Federation of Students organized rallies across the country on Feb. 1. From Vancouver to Toronto to Church Point, N.S., students called for increased post-secondary education funding and lower tuition fees.

At the rally, Chris Ferns, president of Association of Nova Scotia University Teachers, said the teachers he represents feel for students who are forced to pay such high tuition.

“University isn’t just about knowledge, it’s about values,” Ferns said. “And quite frankly, speaking for faculty, our values are offended by a situation where policy makers like [Nova Scotia premier] Darrell Dexter, all of whom had access to an affordable education, see it fit to impose policies that ensure their children’s generation pay five or six times as much as they did.”

Laura Penny is author of More Money Than Brains: Why Schools Suck, College is Crap, and Idiots Think They’re Right and teaches at King’s. She echoed Fern’s sentiment when she addressed the crowd. “It is wrong and absurd that you have to beg and fight and march for what your parents and high school guidance councillors encouraged you to do,” she said.

“This is about a lot more than tuition fees … This march, I think, is about the disturbing feeling that your future has been cancelled because we don’t have the budget for tomorrow.”

King's Students' Union President Gabe Hoogers capped off the opening speeches by sketching a picture of a different funding structure for Nova Scotia schools.

“We march for a vision of Nova Scotia. One that recognizes the economic importance of an adequately funded system but also the inherent good in educating people," he said. "Our Nova Scotia is not one that impoverishes students for decades but one that enables us to learn and grow and give back to our communities.

“We will not stop marching and chanting and embarrassing our government until we see our vision through,” Hoogers continued.

Despite the cold and later the rain, students marched, chanted and cheered, with mitten-clad fists gripping bright placards and thrusting them into the air, through downtown Halifax and finishing at NSCAD University. For a brief while, the students stopped traffic, bringing attention to the rally.

Premier Dexter, a King’s alumnus, did not meet the crowd, despite the fact that he was a stone’s throw away. As the students marched toward the legislature, Dexter ducked down another street, as captured on video.

Check out a video from the National Day of Action protests in Ottawa from The Fulcrum below:

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Français

Olivier Boisvert-Magnen - Quartier Libre (Université de Montréal)

MONTRÉAL (PUC) — «Le piu piu, c’est un style proprement bas-canadien. Un style qui a évolué entre Quoibec et Mourial, mais qui commence à envahir tout le territoire du Bas p’tit à p’tit», affirme dans un jargon déroutant vLooper, DJ et membre du groupe rap Alaclair Ensemble. Pour plusieurs, ce phénomène musical aurait même un potentiel d’exportation en tant que premier style électronique proprement québécois.

«Une importante vague artistique déferle sur Montréal actuellement, un peu comme dans les années 1970 avec la musique rock, avance 7D, membre du collectif de rap K6A et organisateur des événements de DJ Artbeat. C’est difficile d’aller au coin de la rue sans croiser quelqu’un qui fait des beats.»

Pour nommer cette effervescence de musique rap électronique instrumentale, le producteur expérimental de Québec vLooper a lancé le désormais classique «This is piu piu music» lors d’un événement Artbeat en juillet dernier, dans le Vieux-Montréal. «C’est une appellation qui trottait dans notre tête depuis un bout, avoue Ken-Lo, le rappeur et beatmaker du groupe Alaclair Ensemble. Il y a quelque chose dans piu piu qui rappelle un pow-wow, comme un terme global pour indiquer le rassemblement festif.» «Piu piu, c’est LE son électronique typique qui a été traduit en mots», avance le détenteur d’une maîtrise en communication de l'Université de Montréal et journaliste spécialisé en hip-hop pour le site 10kilos.us, Laurent K. Blais.

En octobre dernier, les soirées Artbeat se sont déplacées au Panda Bar dans le Quartier latin de Montréal. Au menu, un jam musical de deux heures avec des DJ qui se succédaient chaque minute et créaient leur musique sur place avec leur ordinateur. «Je n’avais aucune idée à quoi m’attendre et j’ai été complètement renversé, lance Laurent K. Blais. C’était fascinant de voir le melting pot qu’il y avait là, tant sur le plan des approches musicales que de la diversité ethnique.»

Étudiante au post-doctorat en anthropologie à l’Université d’Oxford, Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier était également présente lors de la soirée au Panda Bar. «J’ai été estomaquée par ce que j’ai vu, dit-elle. Beaucoup de gens affirment que le développement des technologies encourage l’individualisme, mais avec des événements comme Artbeat, on voit que c’est l’esprit de collectivité qui prime.» «Ce genre de soirées permet le partage, ajoute Laurent K. Blais. La plupart des artisans du piu piu ne se connaissaient pas il y a huit mois. Maintenant, ils continuent de faire des beats à leur manière, mais sous une étiquette commune.»

Sur le plan musical

Impressionnée par le mouvement musical, Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier a décidé de se pencher sur le piu piu pour voir l’influence des technologies numériques sur le développement musical. Une longue étude de quatre mois qui lui aura permis d’interviewer 30 artisans de la scène afin de comprendre l’essence du style musical. «C’est une musique qui voit dans le futur et qui s’adresse à toute la planète. Les artisans du mouvement sont de vrais mélomanes qui connaissent toutes les racines du hip-hop, parfois même de la musique électronique et du jazz contemporain. C’est une musique toujours en mouvement, à l’affût des nouvelles technologies et des nouveaux sons.»

Sans être une révolution musicale, le piu piu se définit comme un style de post-rap, affirme Laurent K. Blais. «C’est un mélange d’influences. La plupart du temps, ce sont des chansons assez courtes, comme des esquisses créées pour passer l’émotion du moment.» Une technique de travail qui s’inspire directement du rap instrumental de l’étiquette californienne Brainfeeder et du hip-hop expérimental du regretté musicien de Detroit J Dilla. «Quand je fais un beat, je ne recherche rien en particulier, juste un vibe, une couleur, affirme Jamai, admirateur de Dilla et membre du collectif K6A. J’échantillonne des sons qui ont une texture intéressante, des rythmes qui claquent et une grosse basse sale.»

Mouvement unique au Québec?

Considéré par plusieurs comme le pionnier du piu piu, Ken-Lo a participé à la compilation Les Brassures du terroir mixée par 7D. Disponible en téléchargement pour 5 $ sur le Bandcamp d’ArtbeatMTL, elle présente une vingtaine d’artistes clés de la scène actuelle québécoise. «Au début, j’avais demandé à des artistes québécois et internationaux de participer au projet, affirme 7D. En fin de compte, je n’ai reçu que des réponses d’ici, ce qui fait qu’on s’est retrouvés avec une compilation 100 % québécoise.»

Le journaliste hip-hop Laurent K. Blais voit dans le piu piu un style musical ancré dans la culture québécoise. «C’est normal, quand tu écoutes une compilation de piu piu, d’entendre un échantillonnage de la voix de l’animateur de Découverte, Charles Tisseyre, ou un remix de l’extrait «Excepté une fois au chalet» pris sur YouTube, raconte-t-il. Les beatmakers s’investissent dans la culture francophone et retravaillent les références culturelles.»

Loin de chercher à copier ce qui se fait en Californie ou à New York –comme on l’a vu à plusieurs reprises dans l’histoire du rap québécois–, le piu piu pourrait influencer la scène électronique mondiale, selon 7D. «Au Québec, on est longtemps allés chercher l’inspiration ailleurs, affirme celui qui a plus de 20 ans d’expérience en tant que DJ. Maintenant, les choses s’apprêtent à être renversées.»

En 2012, 7D est à la recherche de nouvelles saveurs musicales. Un événement Artbeat en hommage à J. Dilla est en préparation et un nouveau style de musique pourrait éclore: le beatboot, hommage électronique au bebop, style de jazz-swing très populaire dans les années 1950. «On ne veut pas se limiter à un format précis, rajoute-t-il. Le piu piu, c’est une approche et une façon d’interagir avec les machines. À la limite, on ne veut même pas que le style soit reconnaissable.»

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Retrouvez l'article original sur le site du Quartier Libre.

Features

Katie Flood — The Cord (Wilfrid Laurier University)

WATERLOO (CUP) — “I’m really just looking at it to read books and share pictures, I guess — and maybe textbooks, hopefully textbooks,” said Klara Raic, justifying her purchase of an expensive, but increasingly popular piece of technology: the tablet.

The Wilfrid Laurier University second-year business student bought the Lenovo a1 tablet during boxing week sales for $200. While she hopes to use her new tablet for storing photographs and portable internet access, like many other students who have purchased tablets and e-readers, Raic was motivated by hopes of saving money on textbooks.

“This semester, I don’t have any more textbooks that I can buy online … but in the future, I would definitely continue using it and putting my books on here,” explained Raic.

While tablets and e-readers undoubtedly offer an advantage for avoiding the lines on campus to buy new and second-hand books — typically ranging from $200-$500 — are they worth the investment?

Raic thinks so.

“I’m thinking of just getting the online code and using this as my textbook and not spending the extra $120 dollars on the textbook itself … which is half of the price of this [tablet],” she said.

The second-year student explained her theory that after buying one or two e-textbooks online instead of in print, the cost of the tablet is likely made up in money saved.

While e-textbooks save money in the short term, Laurier’s Bookstore manager of academic material Mika Zybala pointed out that e-textbooks are usually a rental service, through which students miss out on resale value of the book.

“We’re seeing that bit of divide because general book reading is definitely moving in the e-book direction, where the traditional textbook is more in that access code, so it’s a short term access … you do not own that e-book,” said Zybala, explaining that students do not save as much money with e-textbooks as they would expect.

Coursesmart.com offers a first-year cultural anthropology textbook for $44.98 compared to the Bookstore’s price of $108.75, but the e-textbook can only be rented for 180 days.

“You’re not able to sell that material back to the store at the end of the semester, so that’s really where the biggest difference is,” he said.

When asked which she would buy from if books from a second-hand book fair and an e-textbook resource were priced the same, second-year student Vanessa Frey agreed that there is an advantage to buying print books. “[Second-hand] resale value, you can still sell it back for thirty bucks.”

But with the iPad 3 rumoured to be released in upcoming months, tablet popularity is increasing despite the fact that e-textbooks do not save as much money as students expect.

“We’ve definitely seen some strong sales through the tablet … there’s definitely a lot more interest in a tablet than the traditional desktop,” said Zybala, referring to the bookstore's technology sales.

“On a personal level, yeah I wouldn’t mind a tablet for convenience of everything, for Internet access, for being able to access email ... I think they’re becoming a bit more of a useful tool that can be used in multiple aspects,” said Zybala, who bought the Kobo e-reader last year.

Despite the trouble with tablets saving students money on textbooks, Zybala predicts that like Raic, students will continue to use the multipurpose e-textbooks because of convenience and the Bookstore will need to adapt in order to survive.

“It will definitely have an impact on our business,” Zybala said.

“I think [the tablet] has its place and I still think that the printed book will have its place as well. I think, in general, it’s all about choice.”

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News

Matt DiMera — The Runner (Kwantlen Polytechnic University)

SURREY, B.C. (CUP) — Recently impeached Kwantlen Student Association (KSA) executive Balninna “Nina” Sandhu is attempting to undo the results of the Nov. 30 special general meeting (SGM) where she and 12 other directors were kicked out of office.

Sandhu, the KSA’s former director of finance, and student Gary Singh Dhaliwal filed a petition Jan. 10 in B.C. Supreme Court claiming that the SGM was invalid and seeking a court order to reinstate the impeached directors and to place 14 other current and former students and staff members back in good standing as KSA members.

As members in bad standing, the 26 are currently not allowed to run for office in the KSA or vote in KSA elections. According to the petition filed with the court, Gary Dhaliwal intends to run for office in the next KSA election.

At that Nov. 30 meeting, more than 350 students voted unanimously to remove Sandhu, Harman “Sean Birdman” Bassi, Nipun Pandey, Parminder “Bobby” Padda, Jaspinder Ghuman, Tarun Takhar, Shivinder Grewal, Money Dhaliwal, Gaven Pangly, Simmy Grewal, Kamalpreet Dha and Jagraj Hayre from their elected KSA positions.

Sandhu and Dhaliwal have also asked the court to set aside the new bylaws that were passed at the meeting and to prevent the current KSA board from holding new elections until the court case has been resolved.

The day after the SGM, Sandhu accused the meeting’s organizers of not allowing her and the other ousted board members to speak in their own defense.

“We were barred,” she explained to The Runner Dec. 1. “Ask the petitioners of that meeting why we were barred from the meeting. I’m a student. I’m an elected official. I was barred from the meeting.

“Someone told me I wasn’t allowed in. He said, 'You’re not allowed to get in.' They wouldn’t let us register,” she said. “If I was let into the goddamn meeting, I could have said my statement.”

According to the court petition filed by Sandhu and Dhaliwal, none of the impeached board members attempted to sign in.

However, the impeached director of operations, Nipun Pandey, told The Runner Dec. 1 that he was able to register for the meeting, but claimed that he had been refused entry.

Sandhu, Pandey and former director of external affairs Bobby Padda all said at the time that their supporters had been too intimidated to attend the meeting.

The court petition also specifically mentions that all of the impeached board members and all of the students placed in bad standing are South Asian.

None of the allegations made by Dhaliwal and Sandhu have been proven in court.

The court dismissed an application Jan. 13 to expedite the case.

In a second application, heard Jan. 17, Sandhu and Dhaliwal asked for a court order to prevent the new KSA board from bargaining with their staff’s union, from signing or changing any contracts, and from calling any elections until the case had been resolved by the court.

That application was withdrawn when the KSA’s legal counsel then agreed that the new board would not take any “extraordinary actions — out of the ordinary course of business until the application or interim relief is heard on a preemptory basis.”

Sandhu did not respond to an email request for an interview before deadline.

The new KSA board has not yet filed their statement of defense.

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Opinion

Jacob Roberts — The Link (Concordia University)

MONTREAL (CUP) — Even if they don't believe in global warming or the role of trees in keeping the world’s temperature in check or not, few people will speak out against reforestation.

Humans use up a lot of wood, and even the most vehement anti-climate change conservatives have trouble preferring ghostly, stump-ridden, empty fields to the rich, healthy forests that used to cover the continent.

As a result, reforestation — like recycling — is one of those green practices that enjoys comparatively widespread acceptance in North American culture. Unfortunately, it’s not exactly deserved.

Many people assume, or maybe just want to believe, that after an area of forest is clear-cut, a crew of tree-planters goes in and replants all of the trees. After a few decades, the trees will be well on their way to adulthood and life in the forest will return to normal. By this definition, it’s a sustainable practice. But that’s not exactly how it works.

The clear-cut is the deepest

The Pacific Temperate Rainforest is close to 300,000 sq. kilometres, stretching from Alaska to Northern California. According to the World Wildlife Fund, it is the largest temperate rainforest on the planet and home to the biggest and oldest trees in the world, which can reach past 100 metres in the air and live for 2,000 years.

Clear-cut logging that started around the time of the Second World War has affected more than half the forest. Except for in certain preserved locations like Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island, the old growth of ancient giants is now almost non-existent.

The logging industry in British Columbia pre-dates clear-cutting practices, having begun during the 1800s. Back then, the technology was so crude that it could take a team of four or five men with axes and hand-saws weeks to fell a single old-growth tree.

That kind of struggle is a thing of the past, though, as deforestation technology has been steadily improving over the last century. Now, whole mountainsides worth of trees can now be obliterated in the time it once took to cut down a single tree.

As is the case with any operation designed to transform masses of natural resources into products for human consumption, the process whittles down the wood taken from the forest to a fraction of its original mass. Many of the trees that get logged aren’t big enough or straight enough to be milled into usable construction material — they were just in the way of the good stuff. Those trees get hauled into what are known as slash piles, a pile of forest detritus that is usually burned.

RE:Forestation

Typically, two or three years after an area has been logged and some of the ground vegetation is starting to grow back, crews of tree-planters — mostly young men and women, often students — are brought in on trucks, all-terrain vehicles and sometimes helicopters (in cases where road access to the cut blocks doesn’t exist).

For the price of about 10 cents a tree, they begin the laborious process of replanting a forest.

A decent tree planter can, depending on the terrain, plant between 1,500 and 2,500 trees in one day. Despite those numbers, only about one-fifth of the trees planted have a chance of making it to maturity. They will grow in clusters, with one tree taking dominance while the rest shelter it from the elements.

A few years after an area has been planted, loggers will come back in and fell the subordinate trees so that the dominant one will have a better chance of survival. Then, the replanted forest will be left alone for close to a century while the trees try to attain the height of their ancestors.

In his book The Golden Spruce, John Vaillant notes that it would take hundreds of years to actually re-grow a forest. It’s not just the trees; a forest is also comprised of the delicate ecosystem that flourishes all around the trees: the mosses, lichens and fungi that grow up their trunks and hang off their branches, the plethora of vegetation that thrives on the forest floor and, of course, the wild fauna that call the forest home.

Most of the trees will never make it that far. Recently, the very first reforested areas have begun to be harvested — they are, after all, no more than tree farms. At 100 years old, these trees would have been scoffed at by the earliest loggers as not even big enough to consider for firewood. They would have gone almost unnoticed.

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Français

Vanessa Mounier - Quartier Libre (Université de Montréal)

MONTRÉAL (PUC) — Avec près de 190 000 visites et 850 mentions J’aime sur Facebook en 20 jours, uMontrealmemes.com séduit de plus en plus d’étudiants en mal d’humour. Grâce à un mélange d’humour satirique et de sarcasme, le site tourne en dérision des sujets tels que la nourriture de Chez Valère ou la propreté des toilettes au pavillon Marie-Victorin. Le co-créateur, qui a voulu se faire appeler Brad pour garder l’anonymat, revient sur ce succès inattendu.

Quartier Libre: Comment fonctionne le site uMontréal memes?

Brad: Les memes sont des personnages ou des paysages dessinés ou photographiés sur lesquels on colle un message. On les fait parler sur différents sujets concernant l’Université. Il y a divers acteurs: celui qui est toujours frustré, celui qui est toujours triste, celui qui se sent seul. Il existe donc un memes pour chaque sentiment. Les memes servent à représenter les faits quotidiens, mais sous un angle humoristique. Nous sommes souvent, par exemple, confrontés à des toilettes qui sentent mauvais à Marie-Victorin, au mauvais café de Jean-Brillant, aux désagréments du portail étudiant…

Q.L.: Comment vous êtes-vous lancés dans un ce projet?

B.: L’idée est née à Noël, lors d’une discussion avec un ami d’Ottawa sur les memes en général et principalement sur ceux de McGill, la première université qui a lancé un tel site, le 15 décembre dernier. Nous avons repris quelques-uns de leurs memes que nous avons d’abord traduits; un processus délicat, car il fallait en préserver l’humour satirique. Le but était de les adapter aux situations rencontrées à l’Université de Montréal et ainsi de créer, grâce à l’humour, un sentiment d’appartenance à notre communauté. C’est une chose déjà présente à McGill, où les étudiants ont une cohésion universitaire beaucoup plus importante. La gestion du site Internet nous prend beaucoup de temps: recevoir les courriels des étudiants, leur répondre, poster les nouveaux memes… Le site a vu le jour le 5 janvier seulement et la fréquence de publication est de huit memes par jour. C’est incroyable! Nous sommes agréablement surpris du succès du site.

Q.L.: L’Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) est pour vous un «beau cégep». Quel rapport entretenez-vous avec les autres universités?

B.: L’humour «anti-UQAM» est de bonne guerre. Notre meme le plus célèbre est «on n’a rien contre les gens de l’UQAM, c’est un beau cégep». L’UQAM, quant à elle, nous définit comme une «université de régions» sur son site. Il n’est pas question ici de d’inciter à une rancœur collective envers les universités voisines. Il s’agit surtout d’une tentative de définition d’identité plutôt que d’un mépris interuniversitaire. Nous communiquons d’ailleurs beaucoup entre créateurs de sites de memes, de l’UQAM, de McGill et de l’Université de Sherbrooke. Je suis piqué dans mon orgueil, car le site uLavalmemes a été salué par plus de 1 000 mentions J’aime en seulement une journée.

Q.L.: Pourquoi garder votre anonymat alors que les créateurs des autres sites ont rendue publique leur identité?

B.: C’est un choix de notre part, pour deux raisons. D’abord, on ne sait pas si la direction de l’Université de Montréal a l’épiderme sensible. Il s’agit de quelque chose qui échappe au contrôle du Bureau de la communication. Ensuite, ce n’est pas dans notre intérêt d’être connus. Ce sont les contributeurs qui donnent vie au site. Ce sont désormais les étudiants à l’imagination fertile qui donnent le spectacle. C’est beau à voir. On garde tout de même un œil sur les memes que l’on reçoit par courriel. En ce sens, on peut dire qu’on censure puisque le but est de garder cet esprit bon enfant et non pas de transformer ça en quelque chose de politique, en vengeance personnelle ou en méchanceté gratuite.

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Retrouvez l'article original sur le site du Quartier Libre.

Arts

Shanelle Kaul — The Ryersonian (Ryerson University)

TORONTO (CUP) — There’s a new etiquette coming to Toronto restaurant tables. But this one has more to do with your wallet than your elbow placement.

The tipping standard in Canada is being increased to 20 per cent from 15. And many Toronto restaurants are following suit.

The Westerly, a popular Toronto hotspot located in the city’s west-end, prompts patrons to tip 20 per cent, while paying on a hand-held electronic terminal. And The Ace on Roncesvalles is doing the same.

But students on a budget aren’t taking kindly to this.

“That’s absolutely ridiculous. As if meal prices aren’t overpriced enough,” says Holly Miranda, a third-year radio and television arts student.

Though the suggested tip increase means wining and dining in the city may cost you a little more, not everyone is complaining.

Marc Belanger is a second-year geography student at Ryerson, who works part-time as a server. He thinks a bigger tip would boost service quality.

“If I know someone is going to give me a poor tip, I’ll up-sell their bill so they never come back.”

Up-selling items on the menu is a common trick some servers use to compensate for the potential of a small tip. When a customer orders a plate of nachos, a server will ask if they'd like guacamole on the side. If they order a drink at the bar, they'll be asked if they want an extra shot.

He also explains that in a team service restaurant like Jack Astor’s, tipping is where employees make their money.

“I have to tip out to the front of house, back of house, and the bar. So if someone gives me no tip, I actually end up losing money by serving that table,” he says. In the end, three per cent of the bill is owed to his co-workers.

But Miranda argues that an upward trend in tipping shouldn’t be the answer to low employee wages.

“It’s not my fault a restaurant owner doesn’t want to bump up their pay. Eating out is already expensive enough.”

And while some are resenting this new dining etiquette, others are already making alternate arrangements.

Katiee Amodeo is another Toronto student who says, “So maybe my next date night will be at my kitchen table. It’s probably cheaper that way.”

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Sports

Autumn McDowell — The Carillon (University of Regina)

REGINA (CUP) — For Daysha Shuya, team physiotherapist for the University of Regina Rams, the threat of a concussion is always looming.

With more and more athletes ending up “out indefinitely” due to concussions, the eyes of the sporting world have increasingly turned toward the physical trauma endured by players. Behind the benches at the University of Regina, things are no different. Although Shuya and the rest of the Rams medical team do everything they can to prevent a concussion from occurring, the inevitable fate is that they will happen — it’s just a matter of how to handle them properly.

“Our protocol with football is if we suspect a concussion, the first thing that we do is generate a referral to the team physician,” Shuya explained. “The physician does the assessment and if the physician is concerned that it may be a concussion we send the player to our team neuropsychologist and the neuropsychologist does cognitive testing.”

Requiring the players to complete cognitive testing was implemented into the Rams program more than 10 years ago as a way to prevent and treat head trauma.

“We were one of the first teams to start this in Saskatchewan,” Shuya said. “We have a baseline test of how every player performs before they start football for the season — what their normal value would be — and that way, if we suspect a concussion and we retest and they don’t test as well, it is often an indication as to how severe the concussion may be.”

The first question on everyone’s mind almost immediately after a player gets injured is, "How long will it be before he or she returns to game action?" As Shuya explained, this can often be quite difficult to determine.

“One of the difficult aspects is that the neuropsychological testing only goes after the cognitive functioning of the brain, so it doesn’t tell us things with other parts of the brain,” she said. “That is where our team doctor becomes an invaluable resource to determine how long or how severe the concussion is.

“If we are trying to determine their return to play, we use what’s called the SCAT [Sport Concussion Assessment Tool] 2. What it does is, we go through a series of tests and measures that we perform on the athlete and then the athlete also has a responsibility to go through some tests on their own.

“Once they go through all the tests and there [are] no significant findings or we don’t find any signs and symptoms that they initially had when they were injured, we start them on [the next step].”

The next step on the road to recovery for an injured player is the graduated return to play protocol. Although this method is designed to ease players into activity, it can also be quite time consuming for a player eager to return to the game.

“The graduated return to play protocol is going to take approximately one week if everything goes smoothly, but if at any time we push them too hard or they push themselves too hard, we have to go back to square one and the first stage,” Shuya said.

“They have to go through the whole protocol again, so another week. As long as they show any symptoms, they cannot start the protocol.”

In many of the highly publicized concussion stories, the question arises of whether the player made his or her return to action to soon — something that has Shuya worried.

“There are lots of different things that can happen that are quite scary,” she said.

“Probably the worst thing is that if the brain hasn’t restored itself to baseline functioning or back to its normal state, there is the risk of something called second-impact syndrome. Second-impact syndrome is a second or repeated trauma to a brain that is still trying to recover from the first trauma — basically, in simple words, the brain freaks out and swells.

“When the brain starts to swell, it gets pushed through a little hole in the base of the skull. That part of the brain that gets pushed through the hole is the brain stem and that is where the vital life functions are. That is that part of the brain that tells the body to breathe, tells the body to pump blood, tells the body the things that it needs to do to stay alive. As it gets pushed through the base of the skull, the person will actually die on the field instantaneously.

“That is, in my mind, the most scary thing, but the thing that I am probably afraid of even more than that is that if we put someone back to play when they still have signs of a concussion, we can make it so those signs don’t resolve quickly or they can take up to months or years to resolve. We can take a happy, healthy athlete and we can give them signs or symptoms of a concussion that may not go away for a long time.”

Hockey fans have been following the concussion stories surrounding two of the National Hockey League’s most well known players, Sidney Crosby and Chris Pronger. Fans will remember hearing the term “post-concussion syndrome” surrounding any Pronger discussion.

“Post-concussion syndrome means that the concussion and the brain haven’t healed themselves or resolved in a timely fashion,” Shuya explained. “The symptoms then progress from what they might have immediately felt when they hit their head to prolonged depression [or] mood changes.

“Some people get headaches that just won’t go away; there is a whole list of different symptoms that can be part of post-concussion syndrome and what makes concussions very, very tricky to deal with [because] no two concussions will be exactly the same.”

When it comes to Crosby’s concussion, even Shuya, who admitted to following the story, is not sure about his return to the ice.

“That is so hard to tell,” she said. “Sidney Crosby has had the best of the best looking at his case and following it and I don’t know, to be honest, what will happen.

“I think only Sidney and probably the first couple of doctors that saw him really know what’s going on because we only know the details that have been released to the general public, which isn’t really a lot to form a good opinion on him.”

While questions have swirled in the professional leagues about possible equipment and rule changes in order to reduce the number of concussions, Shuya also insisted the Rams are constantly looking for the next best in equipment to reduce the probability of injuries. However, having top of the line equipment can ironically cause the athlete to receive a more severe injury.

“I know that with the Rams, our equipment manager Dan Stark is really on top of the new equipment that comes out, and we do have the players in the best equipment that we can get. What we are noticing though is that each year, injuries are getting worse in severity,” Shuya said. “We are questioning if that is because the players are bigger and stronger [or] because we have them so protected they are not getting the small little injuries they used to get.

“When they get hurt, they get hurt really bad."

Minimizing concussions, Shuya believes, will take a combined effort from numerous personnel on any team.

“I think it needs [to be accepted] from everyone on the team; it can’t just be the trainers or the medical staff. The coaches have to be a part of it, but even more so the players have to be a part of it,” Shuya said.

“It’s also proper technique: using the best equipment you have available, educating the players, the team, and the staff on what a concussion is and how to try to minimize the event.

“It’s an all-encompassing focus. I think that if there was a quicker, easier fix, someone would have come up with it by now.”

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Français

Margaux Meurisse - Le Délit (Université McGill)

MONTREAL (PUC) — Il y a de ces rencontres que vous n’êtes pas prêts d’oublier, qui vous collent à la peau comme un vêtement mouillé. C’est l’une d’entre elle qui est à l’origine de cette chronique.

À la croisée de la rue Pastoret et de la rue des Trois Rois à Marseille se niche une galerie photo bien anodine; ses grandes portes en verres, séparées par des planches de bois bleu ternies par le temps, laissent transparaître une grande enfilade. À l’intérieur se chevauchent des centaines d’ouvrages photographiques posés sur de longues tables d’apprenti, sous l’œil attentif des cadres photo suspendus au mur. Invité à la galerie pour son vernissage, on pouvait suivre dans les yeux de Monsieur Garcin les traces des aventures qui ont fait de lui l’homme de 89 ans qu’il est aujourd’hui. D’origine provençale, il a apprivoisé la photographie lorsqu’il est parti à la retraite. Gilbert Garcin disait: «J’ai un jour pris conscience que les situations que je ne vivrai pas, les rêves que je ne ferai pas sont innombrables. Il n’y a pas de raison à se résigner à cet état des choses.» C’est ainsi que s’est fabriqué petit à petit l’univers du photographe, un état du monde et des choses d’apparence lunaire, toujours en noir et blanc avec une charge mélancolique incroyable, une sensibilité face à la fatalité de la vie qui vous kidnappe le regard si par mégarde vous avez l’audace de vous y pencher d’un peu trop près.

Dans chacune des photographies de Monsieur Garcin, presque toutes des autoportraits, vous trouverez le photographe lui-même, sous forme miniature, se mettant en scène la plupart du temps seul et luttant, armé d’un humour absurde, contre les forces de la vie. Très épurés, ces tableaux photographiques ont pour titres: L’homme portant le fardeau du Temps soutenu par L’Espoir ou Le danger des images (visuel ci-contre). Pour réaliser ces images, nul recours à Photoshop. Le photographe construit manuellement des maquettes tout droit sorties de son imagination, découpe sa propre silhouette pour la recoller dans un autre monde, trifouille et bricole jusqu’à obtenir le résultat souhaité.

Dans sa boite à outils, Garcin possède une gamme d’objets symboliques qu’il réutilise à souhait pour mettre en scène le théâtre de ses songes: sa grande bobine de ficelles pour l’écoulement du temps, de grands cadres de photos d’où il contemple son passé et une série de marionnettes en papier pour peupler ses rêves.

L’œuvre de Garcin est en quelque sorte là pour nous rappeler qu’il est essentiel de cultiver la simplicité et la vérité en photographie, de laisser divaguer notre imagination, d’aller jusqu’au bout de notre pensée et surtout de mettre la main à la pâte! Voici une ode à notre bonne vieille technique argentique qui a tendance, de nos jours, à se faire marcher sur les plates bandes par le numérique, ce prétentieux rat de l’informatique qui nous ment!

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Retrouvez l'article original sur le site du Délit.

Arts

Will Ross — The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

BURNABY, B.C. (CUP) — Red Tails has everything you’d expect from latter-day George Lucas, who produced the film and directed reshoots. This will delight everyone except fans of well-crafted movies.

Red Tails is the story of black pilots proving to white people that racism is bad because they are equally or more capable of shooting down aircraft. It’s a depiction of race relations which is as honest and responsible as its claim to being “inspired by actual events.”

Sure it was. Just like the creators of Spider-Man were inspired by seeing an actual spider.

Granted, the Tuskegee Airmen were a real group of heroic black pilots who proved their worth in combat by amassing an exemplary record. Red Tails dramatizes this by having them make monumentally stupid decisions for which they are not punished, like piloting four planes against a heavily defended airfield. They slaughter Germans with video game efficiency and earn begrudging accolades from brass. “You chalked eight kills in the air!” (By my count, it’s not possible that they got more than five on that mission. Nice proofreading, guys.)

Then that happens four more times. Red Tails’ repetitiveness is hell — which, we are unconvincingly told, war also is — and its episodic narrative isn’t helped by the complete lack of development or insight of its stock types (I refuse to call them "characters"). Every performance is terrible; unavoidable, with dialogue like, “This red paint will definitely make these planes distinctive!” Even worse, the plot refuses to give them any ambiguity or intrigue. The film’s moral seems to be, "Black people have the right to the same clichés as everyone else!" Not the Luftwaffe, though: they’re restricted to being zee evil Germans, cartoon villains whose deaths are unqualified victories.

I don’t have space to properly diss Red Tails’ aesthetics. It’s an ugly, ugly movie: uniform lighting, clunky tonal shifts, choppy editing, and CGI backgrounds that scream, “Oh my God, somebody forgot to finish me!” It’s so incompetent that major portions of the film are out of focus.

I must credit Red Tails for its political courage, though: it’s refreshing to see a film brave enough to give its sole female role no characterization or purpose beyond being the object of the male lead’s affections.

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News

Lee Richardson — CUP Ontario Bureau Chief

TORONTO (CUP) — For more than a week, steps away from a bus loop where York University students wait to head home for the day, two tents have stood in the middle of York Commons.

In the tents, three executive members of the York Federation of Students (YFS) have been camping out, as a way to bring attention to the annual National Day of Action.

“Symbolically, it’s talking about how students are being let in the cold by skyrocketing tuition fees and chronic underfunding,” said YFS vice-president of campaigns and advocacy Alastair Woods.

Alongside Woods, YFS president Vanessa Hunt and vice-president of operations Robert Cerjanec have been camping in the two tents.

“In the commons, there [are] almost 2,000 buses that’ll pass through there a day,” said associate director of York media relations Wallace Pidgeon. “That can bring up to 35,000 transit riders to campus a day.”

“There’s been a great awareness that has built over the past 10 days,” added Pidgeon.

The camp was settled to bring awareness to the lead-up of the National Day of Action, a student-rights advocacy day organized by the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS).

Within Ontario in particular, the CFS event aims to draw attention to the fact that the province has higher tuition fees than any other province, while the standard amount of student debt is growing and educational funding is low compared to other provinces.

“We want to make sure that affordability and accessibility to college and university education is a priority in the next provincial budget,” said Woods. “We want to make sure that it’s a priority investment, that it’s a really true substantial investment for education and it’s a longer term vision that’s not just going to reach the next election cycle.”

A major issue expected to be vocalized during the advocacy day, Feb. 1, is the 30 per cent tuition grant recently implemented by the provincial Liberals. Discussion has been raised by the CFS about the number of students who are ineligible for the grant, including some mature students and those studying in professional programs like law, medicine and pharmacy.

The YFS camp will be dismantled on Feb. 1.

“I think we gained a bit of gusto from the occupy movement,” said Woods. “On the first day alone, just after we’d set up the tents, a student actually gave me her coffee and said I needed it more than she did.”

“It’s in a good spot to get noticed, I’ve overheard a few people talking about it,” said York film student Fadia Haddad. “It’s good to raise awareness, but I know I couldn’t do it.”

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Français

Maxime Dubois - Quartier Libre (Université de Montréal)

MONTRÉAL (PUC) — Une des conséquences prévues de la hausse des frais de scolarité, c’est que les étudiants vont plus s’endetter auprès des banques. La Fédération des étudiants universitaires du Québec (FEUQ), une syndicaliste et un professeur de sciences économiques s’entendent difficilement sur la portée du phénomène.

Ce sont 52 % des étudiants qui ont un prêt de l’Aide financière aux études qui doivent se tourner vers d’autres sources d’endettement pour assumer les dépenses liées à leurs études, souligne la FEUQ dans un rapport de recherche intitulé L’endettement étudiant – États des lieux, déterminants et impacts paru en septembre 2011.

La Fédération ajoute que la nouvelle hausse de 1 625 $ des frais de scolarité de Jean Charest ne fera qu’aggraver une situation déjà très préoccupante. Dans ce même rapport, la FEUQ met cependant en avant les avantages des prêts privés, qui offrent la possibilité de choisir le montant à emprunter ou même la possibilité de déclarer faillite.

En revanche, le manque de clarté des informations fournies par les banques pose problème. «Les institutions financières doivent faire un effort dans leur publicité», explique l’attaché de presse de la FEUQ, Mathieu Leblanc. «Elles utilisent trop de raccourcis.» Un point confirmé dans l’étude qui scrute la publicité faite par six institutions. «Les coûts relatifs aux prêts privés sont rarement mentionnés et expliqués», précise-t-on dans le document.

Mon banquier est riche

Selon Régine Laurent, présidente de la Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ), cette hausse des frais de scolarité permettra avant tout aux banques de s’enrichir. «J’ai l’impression que nos dirigeants cherchent plus à rendre service aux banques qu’à l’enseignement», a-t-elle regretté dans Le Devoir du 7 novembre dernier.

«Ce n’est pas le nerf de cette guerre, affirme Michel Poitevin, directeur du Département de sciences économiques de l’Université de Montréal, en réaction à cette affirmation. On aime toujours s’en prendre aux banques, mais elles sont au cœur de l’activité économique.»

Selon lui, les profits réalisés grâce aux prêts étudiants sont trop peu importants pour que l’on puisse établir une corrélation entre hausse des frais et enrichissement des banques. M. Poitevin préfère parler d’une coopération entre «deux agents économiques» profitable à toute la société. «Vous allez acheter de l’argent à un prix qui est le taux d’intérêt, ce qui vous permet d’aller à l’université», résume-t-il. Cet échange peut aussi être un moyen de développer des occasions d’affaires grâce aux relations qui se créent entre un étudiant et son institution. Bref, un moteur de l’activité économique.

Mme Laurent réfute cette idée d’un échange profitable à tous, l’appauvrissement des étudiants restant un fléau à long terme qui désavantage les classes défavorisées. «Certains étudiants mettent 10 ans à rembourser leurs prêts, explique-t-elle. Ce sont les moins bien nantis qui vont payer.» De son côté, M. Poitevin ne pense pas que les étudiants soient pauvres, bien au contraire. «Ils vont chercher un capital humain très important, dit- il, on sait qu’une fois sur le marché du travail, un diplôme permet d’ouvrir plus de portes. Les étudiants sont donc les plus riches de leur génération.»

Étudiants impatients

Pour lui, c’est la logique du «tout avoir, tout de suite» qui fait que les étudiants se sentent démunis. «Certes, les étudiants sont pauvres lorsqu’ils sont à l’école, poursuit-il, mais les sacrifices qu’ils font maintenant sont récompensés plus tard. Le vrai problème est de savoir comment gérer le manque de liquidités aujourd’hui.» Les banques apporteraient une solution viable à ce problème.

Si le mode de financement public ou privé des études fait débat, tant Mme Laurent que M. Poitevin jugent «inégalitaire» la façon dont le gouvernement attribue les bourses. «En prenant en compte le revenu des parents, explique Mme Laurent, c’est le statut social qui va décider de qui peut entreprendre des études supérieures.»

Michel Poitevin estime qu’il faut tenir compte du programme suivi, car les coûts de formation varient. «Un apprenti ingénieur a besoin de matériel qui coûte plus cher à l’école qu’une personne suivant une formation en enseignement, explique-t-il. En accordant des bourses de même montant à ces deux catégories d’étudiants, on finance l’une plus que l’autre.»

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Retrouvez l'article original sur le site du Quartier Libre.

Sports

Susan Rogers — The Argosy (Mount Allison University)

MONCTON (CUP) — The atmosphere was like a family reunion earlier this month as Moncton played host to the Canadian Figure Skating Championships Jan. 16–22; an event that brings together the best figure skaters from across the country to vie for the title of Canadian champion and reunite with friends at the same time.

The 2012 event was exciting, as some skaters fought their way to the top of the podium for the first time in the women’s and pairs events, and the returning champions delivered outstanding performances to retain their titles in the ice dance and men’s events.

Men’s champion Patrick Chan defied all expectations, turning out an incredible final score of 302.14. It is believed that this is the first time anyone has ever scored over 300 points.

Though the score won’t count as a world record because it wasn’t set in international competition, it speaks volumes for Chan’s chances to win the world championships again this year. Olympic champions in ice dance Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir also put in an outstanding performance to win with a score of 180.02.

Though the returning champions were outstanding, it was the up and coming skaters who really won the hearts of the crowd.

Besides Chan, the favourite in the men’s event was thirteen year-old Nam Nguyen from British Columbia, who performed his jazzy number with style, despite falling on the stairs just minutes before his short program. The miniature athlete was followed by a throng of equally young admirers for the remainder of the competition, and skated well enough to earn a standing ovation and seventh place overall.

In the pairs competition, Megan Duhamel and Eric Radford, who, at age 26, were two of the oldest competitors in Moncton, skated an outstanding long program to win by nearly twenty points, despite having a lead of less than a point after the short program.

Duhamel, who had placed on the podium at the Canadian Championships three times with a previous partner, but never won the gold, told reporters, “Eric moved away from home when he was thirteen and I moved away when I was fourteen with the sole purpose of winning a national title … and it took a long time, but we never lost hope.”

Equally ecstatic, Radford summarized the feeling saying, “When I started skating it was this moment that I was dreaming of.”

Kaetlyn Osmond, a newbie at the senior level, came out of nowhere to win the short program in the women’s competition. Training at the busy West Edmonton Mall everyday helped Osmond battle nerves. “There are a lot of people shopping especially around Christmas time," she said. "I think you get used to getting nervous because you’re so used to having a crowd watching you everyday.” Osmond finished third overall.

Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje were the other crowd favourites in the ice dance, delivering an outstanding and emotional performance. Though they found themselves second again this year, they have used their time in Virtue and Moir’s shadow to improve their skating dramatically. They finished only 5.49 points behind, a dramatic improvement compared to the ISU Grand Prix final in December, where they finished 16.65 points behind the Canadian champions.

The Championships aren’t just for bragging rights however, as the results from the Canadian Championships are used to choose the team that will represent Canada at the World Figure Skating Championships, and at other international competitions such as the Four Continents Figure Skating Championship and International Skating Union Grand Prix Series.

The majority of the team representing Canada at the World Championships was chosen Jan. 22. Patrick Chan and silver medalist Kevin Reynolds will represent Canada in the men’s event. Likewise, champions Megan Duhamel and Eric Radford, and silver medalists Jessica Dube and Sebastian Wolfe will compete for Canada in the pairs competition.

Canadian competitors for ice dance will include champions Virtue and Moir, Weaver and Poje, and the fourth-ranked Kharis Ralph and Asher Hill. Bronze medalists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier will not be able to compete in the event as American Gilles has not yet been released by U.S. Figure Skating to compete for Canada.

The only decision that has not yet been made is in the women’s event. Canada can only send one woman to the world championships, and new Canadian champion Amelie Lacoste does not have as much experience on the international stage as former champion Cynthia Phaneuf, who placed second in Moncton.

The lucky woman will be chosen after the Four Continents competition, where Lacoste, Phaneuf, and fourth-ranked Najarro will compete. The bronze medalist in Moncton, Osmond, only sixteen years old, will represent Canada at the Junior World Championships this year to gain international experience, before competing internationally at the senior level.

Despite being in competition with each other, the skaters and coaches alike were thrilled to be in Moncton all together for the event. Top skaters often move around the country to train under certain coaches, yet the Canadian Championships are an event where skaters can see former coaches, mentors, and training mates.

“All of them are great … they’re all great friends," said Chan. "I think out of all the years that I have been on the world time, this is the biggest … brotherhood.”

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Opinion

Dave Swanson — The Link (B.C. Institute of Technology)

BURNABY, B.C. (CUP) — When you ask what defines Canada, what iconic symbols come to mind? You may picture Granville Street during the Vancouver 2010 Olympics — a sea of polite folks dressed as red-maple-leaf-caped crusaders. Maybe you see a bearded hockey player raising Lord Stanley’s Cup (unfortunately not Roberto Luongo). You might even conjure up the image of a resourceful beaver perched on his dam. Yes, these are all prevalent Canadian images; however, there is one marquee symbol that is as Canadian as it gets: the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s logo.

The CBC is Canada’s national public radio and television broadcaster and a major player in producing Canadian culture. It uses the majority of its funding, received in the form of government subsidies, to produce original Canadian programming like David Suzuki’s The Nature of Things, Q with Jian Ghomeshi and Hockey Night in Canada.

Currently, the CBC has an annual budget of $1.1 billion. This may seem like a substantial sum, but when compared to 18 other major western countries, Canada only places 16th in support for public broadcasters, with $34 per capita — 60 per cent less than the $87 average. This figure is expected to decrease in the near future due to impending Conservative government budget cuts. This is a serious problem.

The Harper Tories seem to be hiding behind the classic guise of right-wing politics — a "these are tough times and we need to reduce our national debt" mentality. But on Oct. 19, 2011, the government announced Irving Shipbuilding Inc. in Halifax would receive $25 billion to build 21 large combat naval vessels. Could a portion of this money not be used to reduce the debt?

It’s far more likely that the suggested five to 10 per cent cut in CBC funding has little to do with reducing debt and is only being framed in such a way to gain public support. I believe that the real reason for the proposed cuts is ideological.

Historically, the CBC has been viewed as left-leaning media. The socially conscious programming they produce and the liberal scope with which they present local and international politics is inherently dangerous to Conservative dogma. Harper knows the media can shape public opinion, and in order to remain in power, he needs voters to share his ideals.

When speaking to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters in 2004, Harper said the Conservatives would “seek to reduce the CBC’s dependence on advertising revenue and its competition with the private sector.” However, in 2008, when the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage released a major study on the future of the CBC that suggested annual funding be increased to $40 per capita over the next seven years, the Conservative committee members voted against it.

If the Conservatives take this anti-CBC stance one step further and cut the CBC’s funding, lower quality programming will be produced. The Canadian public will recognize this decline and lose interest in public programming, devaluing the CBC. If this occurs, it will justify further funding cuts.

This could then force the CBC to seek funding from the private sector in the form of advertising revenues, hindering its creative autonomy. The airing of commercial and mainstream content will become inevitable and give proponents of funding reductions a reason to eliminate all CBC government subsidies, effectively privatizing the CBC.

As of right now, the CBC receives a third of its total revenue from advertisers. If the CBC is forced to obtain the majority or all of its funding from advertisers, Canadian cultural identity will suffer.

The CBC is a wounded soldier wheeling a single pistol. It is up against the heavily armed cavalry that is the American media. If we do not provide it with adequate defence, it will be killed. Canada will then be in danger of succumbing to a Conservative agenda that seems more concerned with protecting its own ideology than the Canadian public.

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News

Arshy Mann — CUP Western Bureau Chief

VANCOUVER (CUP) — A new study argues that students aren't the freeloaders that some might believe them to be.

"Paid in Full: Who Pays for University Education in B.C.," published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), has found that British Columbians with a post-secondary degree contribute more to the public coffers through future income taxes than it would cost taxpayers to entirely pay for their entire degrees now.

"There seems to be a conventional wisdom ... that students are subsidized and they should stop complaining about high tuition fees because really taxpayers pay for their education," said Iglika Ivanova, an economist with the CCPA and the author of the report.

"But because [post-secondary graduates] earn more money, they end up paying more taxes. The question is how much more do they pay in taxes and is that enough to cover the upfront costs of their degree."

In the study, Ivanova compared how much it costs to fund a four-year degree to the expected lifetime income tax contributions of a university graduate. The higher earnings of degree-holders combined with lower rates of dependence on welfare or employment insurance meant that students more than end up end up paying their own way.

"A lot of people, when you talk about lowering tuition fees, think you're saying you want to subsidize education," said Ivanova. "But you're not really subsidizing it. They pay."

According to her findings, governments could cover the entire cost of tuition twice-over and would still be getting a bargain.

The CCPA study didn't take into account the various other ways that degree-holders contribute to the economy, such as by paying higher consumption taxes, contributing to economic growth and through innovation.

Ivanova embarked on the project in order to update a previous CCPA study done by UBC economist Robert Allen in 1998, which came to a similar conclusion.

She was interested if Allen's findings still held at a time that tuition rates increased substantially and British Columbians were paying less in taxes.

"Some people have speculated that we have so many graduates now [and] that university education isn't what it used to be. Maybe it no longer has a payoff for students," she said.

"But by and large we continue to find that almost every field of study including things that you would think have no practical value, like humanities, pay for themselves."

There was only one discipline that didn't cover its own cost — visual arts — and that's because artists tend to earn considerably less than their peers in other professions.

Ivanova went on to argue that because many prospective students experience "sticker shock" when confronted with the high cost of a university degree, they may decide to pass on higher education and that governments are therefore missing out on the potential tax revenue.

"So why are we putting barriers to education for so many people by having high tuition fees instead of making sure that everyone who wants to can get an education and contribute to society?" she said.

Zach Crispin, the chairperson for the B.C. wing of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) argued that decision-makers should take heed of this study.

"I would definitely hope that [governments] would take a look at the data that's been presented here by the CCPA and at least choose to freeze and work towards reducing tuition fees in the short term and really think fully about getting rid of financial barriers to post-secondary education," he said.

He also pointed out that the study demonstrates that the net gains to the public treasury from higher education have actually been decreasing.

"The fact is that when we used to have a more progressive tax system, those numbers were higher," he said. "As we move to reduce tuition fees and increase the tax base through a progressive tax system, students are going to be paying for their education more times over and we can actually increase the quality of it at the same time."

Ivanova emphasized that regardless of how high tuition fees are, students end up paying for their degrees one way or another — it's just a matter of when.

"It's economically feasible and fairer to ask graduates to pay for their degrees through taxes after graduation rather than asking them to pay through high tuition fees up front."

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News

Ashley Quinton — The Lance (University of Windsor)

WINDSOR (CUP) — Officials at the University of Windsor's Leddy Library removed three globes from the Curriculum Resource Centre on Jan. 11 after being notified that Israel had been scratched from their surfaces.

The chance of the vandalism being random is highly unlikely, as closer examination revealed the only altercation to all three spheres was the absence of the nation of Israel. The globes have been in this condition for at least the past three years despite student complaints, according to third-year law student Gavin Wolch.

Wolch, who is Jewish, said he noticed the problem a few years ago after seeing someone else’s complaint posted on the library’s question board.

“I looked at it and I added one. Nothing was done about it,” he said. “I saw [the globes] and it was frustrating, but it’s really hard to get angry at someone else’s ignorance.”

Peter Zimmerman, head of information services, has worked at Leddy Library for the past 10 years and indicated he had never come across a complaint about the globes. The library does keep complaint records, but not going back far enough to verify Wolch’s claim, he explained.

“I’ve checked recent complaints up until last semester, and I haven’t found a record of a complaint in the nature of what has been raised. We don’t necessarily keep all old complaints,” said Zimmerman.

“We are taking this very seriously — it’s a pretty upsetting incident, and it’s certainly something we would have responded to. Some of [the globes] are from the '50s and that’s really disappointing.”

Though the motives of the vandal or vandals can’t be known for sure, the act is being considered by many as an act of racism. “It seems like the obvious conclusion — I’d say it’s likely more politically motivated,” said Zimmerman.

“We’re on a very multicultural campus and the fact that that kind of blatant ignorance is there and in full view in the library is offensive,” said first-year political science student Jenna Bontorin.

Regardless of when a complaint was filled, library staff are aware of the issue now and have taken the appropriate steps to resolve the issue, according to Zimmerman.

The globes may not make their way back to their home in the library, but Zimmerman ensures every avenue to repair or replace them will be explored.

Requests to photograph the defaced globes were denied by Leddy Library officials.

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News

Sarah Deshaies — CUP Quebec Bureau Chief

MONTREAL (CUP) — If you’re a young person, Bob Rae wants to hear what you have to say — but you need to step up and say it. And no, he won’t reveal whether he’ll be running to be the next leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Rallying the youth vote was the goal of the interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada as he capped off a five-day tour of Quebec on the cusp of the opening of Parliament with a stopover at Concordia University on Jan. 27. More than 50 students and supporters packed the room to hear Rae, who had been invited by Concordia’s Political Science Student Association and Liberal Concordia.

One student asked Rae how he planned to recruit students, despite the low youth voter turnout rate.

“How long is it going to take for you guys to tell us what your vision is?” responded Rae. “Why are you waiting for me to tell you why you should participate in politics?”

Rae went on to add: “I think a lot of it has to do with how the baby boom generation takes up a lot of space,” he said. “This is not a generation that is uninvolved; this is a generation that says, ‘I don’t hear you talking about the things that matter to me.’”

One Concordia professor wanted to know how Rae felt about the differing quality and budget for education across the provinces.

While committing to giving students opportunities and focusing on research and development, Rae had critical words for the Canada student loans program — saying it’s “not a particularly good,” at times inaccessible, and should not turn a profit — and apprenticeship programs. "Not enough support,” he said.

And while he acknowledged that the federal government does not dictate tuition rates, Rae said he is open to advice: “I want us to be talking to university and college campuses and apprenticeship programs and everywhere that people are involved in learning experiences, and say, ‘How can we help?’”

But if the turnout at the last Liberal convention is any indication, young Liberals are trying to make their presence felt in the former “natural governing party” that was decimated in the last federal election.

The biennial convention, which took place in Toronto Jan. 13–15, was attended by over 3,000 delegates, about a third of whom were under 25. Three of out of five candidates for the job of national policy chair fit into that age bracket: Braeden Caley, Ryerson student Daniel Lovell and the youngest of the bunch, Zach Paikin, 20, who was present at the Jan. 27 talk. But the winning candidate was Maryanne Kampouris, who was born in 1956.

At the convention, party delegates decided to legalize and regulate marijuana, as well as instituting a preferential ballot system for elections.

But it’s clear the party still has some soul-searching to do.

When one student asked if it was time for the party to adopt a new manifesto of ideals, Rae responded: “Probably, it is.”

While admitting that the party needs to go back to the drawing board on its policies and ideas, Rae emphasized that they are not “really lost” but are instead refining their position to not be simply based on opposition to Stephen Harper or on legacies left by other politicians.

“We’re saying, think for yourselves; and if you want somebody else to think for you, you have two other parties you can go to," he said. "Our party is different.”

Rae left after an hour, leaving Montreal members of Parliament Justin Trudeau, Francis Scarpaleggia and Marc Garneau to take up the question period and answer the question of whether the “Bob Rae” bounce, or the Liberals’ bump in support in recent polls, will last.

“I think a tremendous amount of credit needs to go to Bob,” said Trudeau. “He’s been a very strong leader.”

But while there has been a small upturn in support, all three agreed more work needs to be done.

“I like to compare the Liberal Party to a body [that] was wheeled on a gurney into an ER, and they had to put the paddles to us,” said Garneau. “I would say today that the Liberal party has a heartbeat. It's not ready to get up out of bed, we’re still intravenous. We’ve got a heck of a long way to go, and we know it.”

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Français

Rémi Frenette - Le Front (Université de Moncton)

MONCTON (PUC) — Lundi dernier, la une du Ottawa Sun avait ceci comme titre: «C’est cher, n’est pas?» [sic.] L’article –qui aurait dû lire «C’est cher, n’est-ce pas?», faute que le quotidien s’est empressé de corriger l’après-midi même –s’appuyait sur une étude récente menée par l’Institut Fraser. Le rapport Official Language Policies of the Canadian Provinces: Costs and Benefits in 2006 et sa couverture médiatique en ont fait jaser plusieurs.

Selon l’Institut Fraser, puisque le bien-être culturel et identitaire des communautés linguistiques est difficile à chiffrer, il faut plutôt calculer les dépenses des gouvernements provinciaux et fédéral: financement pour l’éducation dualiste («additional costs of francophone students», p. 86), pour la traduction des documents, pour les services bilingues, etc. En bref, il faut apparemment s’imaginer l'usage unique de l'anglais: «an abolition of the language policies in New Brunswick and thus the sole use of the majority (English) language in the provision of all public services. What would happen if services governed by provincial law were not offered in French but only in English?» (p. 87).

La conclusion nous apprend que les coûts du bilinguisme canadien s’élevaient à 2,4 milliards $ (85 $ par citoyen) en 2006-2007 lorsqu’on additionne les dépenses des niveaux fédéral et provincial (p. 110).

Le Front s’est entretenu avec Michel Doucet, professeur de droit linguistique à l’Université de Moncton, ainsi que Jean-Marie Nadeau, chroniqueur au journal L’Étoile et président de la Société de l’Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick (SANB).

M. Doucet souligne d’abord l’instabilité économique actuelle qui encourage certaines personnes à remettre en cause les dépenses reliées à la gestion des langues: «Le rapport vient conforter l’opinion de plusieurs médias et de plusieurs personnes du côté anglophone, soit qu’effectivement, au Canada, le bilinguisme, ça coûte cher. Puis dans une période de pénurie comme celle-ci, qu’on pourrait utiliser cet argent-là pour faire autre chose. Donc, je ne suis pas surpris [de la couverture médiatique du rapport]».

Il faut par ailleurs garder à l’esprit les coûts d’un pays qui serait unilingue sur le plan politique et institutionnel, affirme M. Doucet: «Probablement que les revendications autonomistes seraient beaucoup plus fortes au Québec. Donc ça, ça a un coup social, politique et économique également. Au Nouveau-Brunswick, on ne peut pas refuser ses droits à 30 % de la population et croire que ce 30 % ne dira rien. L’alternative serait de s’assimiler, mais je ne pense pas que 30 % des gens auraient décidé du jour au lendemain de s’assimiler. Donc si le Nouveau-Brunswick avait continué sur une voie d’unilinguisme telle que celle qui existait dans les années 1960 et précédentes, je crois qu’il y aurait eu un coût social, politique et économique énorme».

Il se prononce aussi sur la méthodologie de l’étude, plus particulièrement sur les aspects qui n’ont pas été pris en compte dans le calcul: «Sur le plan même du développement économique: au Nouveau-Brunswick, on dit qu’il y a un coût mais on n’a pas regardé les bénéfices dans cette étude-là; c’est-à-dire des entreprises qui viennent s’installer ici parce qu’on a une main d’œuvre bilingue».

Jean-Marie Nadeau estime quant à lui que les chiffres ressortis par le rapport de Fraser n’ont rien de scandaleux: «Quand ça coûte 85 $ en moyenne au Canada pour se donner un contrat social, c’est pas cher. Déjà que les gouvernements ne suivent pas les décisions de la Cour suprême, à savoir que l’égalité réelle exige de la part du gouvernement d’en donner plus [que ce qu’il donne actuellement]. [85 $ par année,] c’est même pas deux cafés Tim Horton’s par semaine!».

Les deux parlent enfin d'une même voix quant à leur sentiment de l'Institut Fraser. Michel Doucet affirme que «c’est un institut de droite qui a souvent eu des positions controversées», et M. Nadeau ajoute que: «s’ils pouvaient, ils privatiseraient l’Assemblée législative, puis le Parlement».

Le plus navrant, selon Jean-Marie Nadeau, ne résiderait pas au sein de l’étude elle-même, mais plutôt dans la couverture médiatique négative qui a suivi: «Ce qui est un peu plate, c’est que les médias ont ramassé cette information-là sans aucun espace critique. Garrocher des chiffres comme ceux-là, c’est fermenter un peu l’adversité, la rébellion puis le négativisme contre le bilinguisme, contre l’égalité réelle, contre la dualité linguistique».

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Retrouvez l'article original sur le site du Front.

Features

Kristyn Filip — The Fulcrum (University of Ottawa)

OTTAWA (CUP) — The light at the end of the tunnel appears for many undergraduate students in their fourth year of study.

As the month of April approaches, graduating students dream of donning gowns and tossing caps in the air in before heading off into the proverbial “real world.” For others, receiving an undergraduate degree is just the tip of the iceberg. How do professors and students — those working toward obtaining a graduate degree and those in the midst of the application process — perceive the jump to grad school?

Make up your mind

While there is no universally accepted “right” time to start thinking about pursuing a graduate degree, many professors suggest students begin considering their options in their third year of undergraduate study.

Professors Victoria Burke of the University of Ottawa English department and Magdi Mohareb of the faculty of engineering both mentioned the ability to apply for scholarships in a timely manner as a reason why students should think about graduate studies before their fourth year.

“I think it’s ideal to have made a decision by the end of your third year because there are external grants you can apply to in the fall,” said Burke, noting that the Ontario Graduate Studies Fellowships and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada fellowship are due by early October.

“It is best for a student to consider graduate studies one year before graduation, particularly if he or she is seeking financial support,” said Mohareb. “You can start the process later on, but your chances of getting financial assistance will [decrease].”

U of O history student Laura Gurnham had been thinking about grad school since she began university, but found her third- and fourth-year courses gave her the final push necessary to make up her mind about pursuing a master’s degree.

“By exploring school through more challenging courses in third and fourth year, my determination [to go to grad school] has become a bit more solid,” she said. “I feel I can handle the work and I have started to narrow down specifically what type of program I want to apply to.”

Students in their fourth year of university who are just beginning to consider grad school need not panic. Krissy Coulas, who is working toward a master’s of library science degree at University College Dublin, didn’t know what she wanted to do until her fourth year of study at the U of O.

“It wasn’t until the summer before fourth year that I decided [a master’s] was something I wanted to do,” she said in an email. “Even then, I had to decide if I wanted to pursue a master’s in English, which was my undergrad major, or a master’s of library science. I ended up choosing a master’s of library science after getting some work experience in the Morisset Library.

The golden ticket: The reference letter

Perhaps the thing students worry about most when applying to graduate school is getting glowing recommendation letters from professors.

U of O English professor Thomas Allen reminded students that professors are accustomed to requests for reference letters.

“I don’t think there’s any reason to be shy about [approaching a professor for a letter of recommendation] because it’s part of our jobs,” he said. “We all write plenty of letters every year, so you’re not the only person who has asked us to do so.”

Nathan Young, a U of O sociology professor, encouraged students to research their professors before approaching them.

“Profs who are full time are the ones who expect to write letters,” he said. “Part-time profs often will hesitate [to write letters] because they know they don’t carry as much weight. You should also choose a prof who is recognized by other universities.”

Burke recommended potential applicants ask for reference letters from professors whose classes they excelled in.

“The first thing is to approach professors who gave you the best marks,” she said. “Even if you’re not entirely sure the professor remembers you, as long as you have the written material you produced for that professor, he or she will be able to look at your work and speak in really concrete terms about what your skills are.”

Gurnham expressed concern that large class sizes may have hindered her ability to get to know professors on a more personal level, which is often an important factor in an instructor’s decision to write a recommendation.

“I know professors are really open and friendly, but I have a hard time getting over that student-professor relationship enough to make a connection to a professor in a large classroom,” she said. “I obviously have talked to some, but I am worried they don’t know me well enough to provide a letter of recommendation.”

Fortunately for nervous students everywhere, Madeleine Sourisseau, a U of O student working toward her master’s in public and international affairs, said getting reference letters was not as scary or tough as she anticipated it would be. “It wasn’t difficult to get the letters because the professors I approached were more than glad to write them for me,” said Sourisseau.

What was the most trying part? “Working up the nerve to ask them!” she said.

In order to give the professors a broad view of her as a student, Sourisseau was sure to provide them with her statement of interest, an unofficial transcript of her grades and an academic resumé.

One of Sourisseau’s professors even let her help with the letter-writing process.

“He gave me a reference letter template,” she said. “I could tell him what I thought were my strengths so that he could write me an even better reference letter.”

Applying and the aftermath

After obtaining reference letters, the grad school applicant must move on to the next step of the process: Preparing all necessary documents and actually applying to his or her program of choice.

Admission processes differ according to school and faculty, but both Sourisseau and Coulas emphasized the importance of asking for help when necessary.

“The process of applying was a bit daunting, but it just comes down to reading the requirements for the schools you’re interested in, following directions, and calling or emailing their application representative if you need help,” said Coulas.

Sourisseau turned to her professors for guidance.

“The application process was straightforward and pretty easy once I’d made the decision to do it,” she said. “I asked the professors who had agreed to be my references for tips on how to write a statement of intent.”

At the U of O, the general requirements for master’s of science students are a B average in an honours bachelor degree and good letters of reference.

“If the student meets [the faculty’s] requirements, his or her file is circulated in the department,” said Mohareb, who is the graduate program coordinator of the Ottawa-Carleton Institute for Civil Engineering. “Files for master’s students, if admissible, are circulated among professors the candidate identified as possible supervisors for his or her thesis. If the professors are prepared to accept the candidate as a student, he or she is admitted in the program.”

Although the faculties of arts and sciences are very different, their admission processes are similar.

“[In the English department] the members of the graduate committee — who are usually four or five professors from the department — read all the files and make comments about them,” said Allen. “Some applicants are obvious 'yes'es, while some are ambiguous, and there are obvious 'no's, unfortunately. For the ones who are ambiguous, there will be a meeting to discuss whether or not to admit them.”

The application process is not easy, but for some students, it’s a small difficulty that pales in comparison to the payoff of having a master’s degree.

“The application process is more intensive than for an undergrad degree, but if you’re committed to the program you’re applying for, it isn’t difficult,” said Sourisseau.

Concerns, worries, and self-doubt

After making the difficult decision to actually apply to grad school, some students report feelings of self-doubt begin to surface. They become uncertain they “have what it takes” to succeed in a master’s program, despite having achieved high grades throughout their undergrad.

Gurnham, who will be applying to graduate school in the near future, admitted to feeling nervous about starting a master’s degree.

“I am concerned that I am not smart enough,” she said. “I get good grades, but I’m still worried that the level of original thought required from grad students is a bit beyond me still.”

Coulas had similar concerns.

“I was terrified that grad school was only for smart people, and though I’ve always gotten good grades, I’ve never considered myself smart enough for that sort of thing,” she said.

Studying at a master’s level is certainly more demanding than the undergraduate level, but Coulas mentioned that students shouldn’t feel graduate school is only for the elite.

“What you have to remember is that while grad school is challenging, it’s not reserved for the kids that get 90 per cent and upwards,” she said. “It’s just another level of education, like university was after high school.”

Professors tell all

How can a student guarantee his or her application will dazzle the graduate school committee? While there is no magic formula for success, professors are more than willing to offer general advice to any student applying to grad school.

Mohareb believes the biggest mistake applicants make is “not talking to potential supervisors before submitting their application.”

“Sometimes professors cannot accept students because students have specified they need funding while the university is unable to provide it,” he said. “In other cases, the department may already have a large number of students to supervise or may find your interests do not match their present research activities.”

In regards to statements of interest or research plans, which many programs require applicants to submit, both Burke and Young urged students to avoid including generic declarations of passion for their chosen field.

“When students are too general — for example, expressing a general love of literature — it’s just not specific enough,” said Burke. “If there’s a little too much non-specific enthusiasm, that’s harder to evaluate. Maybe there’s a fantastic student in there, but we want to have their skills demonstrated to us.”

“Sometimes the research plan is written like a life story and that’s a thing to avoid,” said Young. “It ought to be about what you intend to do as opposed to how you got here. A research plan should not be about why you’re interested in sociology — we assume you’re here because you want to be here. It should be about what you plan to do in the two years.”

Not only should statements of interest and research plans be specific, but they should also demonstrate the applicants’ ability to write coherently.

“[Some submissions] are not very well written and that tends to disqualify people,” said Allen. “People can really knock themselves out by being a bit sloppy with their statements of purpose.”

Is it worth it?

Given the somewhat dismal state of the current job market, many students decide to apply for graduate school simply to avoid facing the real world. Others consider this to be a mistake, believing a master’s degree to be unnecessary and little more than another massive debt to pay off in the future.

Allen noted students with high grade point averages could have their master’s degrees funded.

“[The English department’s] course work program here is only one year long and if you have an 8.0 grade point average, you’ll be funded. Given what the job market is like, why not get an MA?” he said.

Although Allen believes a master’s in English will “pay off down the road,” he cautions students against “getting a [master’s degree] just because they think, ‘Oh, I need to beef up my resumé.’”

“Nobody’s going to hire you for a specific job just because you have an MA in English,” he said. “But on the other hand, if you’re going into teaching or if you’re applying to law school later, it looks good. The intellectual challenge is good.”

Burke mentioned the transferability of skills acquired at the master’s level as a valid reason why a student might want to pursue grad work.

“I often hear [graduate] students say, ‘This year has blown my mind. This is difficult and exciting and I understand how to work at a high level now,’” she said. “We think of that as concretely useful for future work. We really think that the in-depth training you get from doing grad-level courses gives you additional skills that are transferable to a countless number of different jobs.”

Young believes a master’s of social science degree to be a “practical thing.”

“The majority of our graduates go into the workforce using their degrees,” he said. “A master’s degree can also clearly be a stepping stone for getting a PhD or for personal fulfilment, but it does carry a lot of weight in the job market. We track our grads pretty carefully.”

Perhaps Sourisseau summarizes the validity of grad school most succinctly.

“Yes, it’s a lot of work. Yes, it’s challenging. But it’s also rewarding, interesting, and filled with great professors and new friends,” she said. “If you like what you’re doing — if you feel as though you’re benefiting from it personally, academically, professionally — then it’s worth it.”

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Humour

BestCrosswords.com

(CUP) — Puzzles provided by BestCrosswords.com. Used with permission. Please print the above statement with the puzzle.

Across

1- Arabian republic; 6- Falls short; 11- Family man; 14- Hersey's bell town; 15- Capital of Jordan; 16- Afore; 17- Senate attendants; 18- "Cheers" waitress; 19- Adult males; 20- Blunted blade; 22- Healing plants; 24- Exacted retribution; 28- Pleasing; 30- Inhabitant of Tripoli; 31- Hebrew prophet; 32- Agent; 33- Wife of Akhenaton; 37- Attila, e.g.; 38- Rich cake; 39- _ de mer; 40- Skewness; 43- Jewish scholar; 45- Brooklyn's _ Island; 46- Flat roofing tile; 47- Lease holders; 50- Engage in textual misprision; 51- Single things; 52- Pith helmet; 53- Actress Ruby; 54- Group of eight; 57- Chancy; 62- Tolkien ogre; 63- Midway alternative; 64- Bert's buddy; 65- Fish eggs; 66- Sherpa's home; 67- Chairs;

Down

1- Mouth, slangily; 2- Writer LeShan; 3- Periodical, briefly; 4- Chemical ending; 5- Posy; 6- Washed out; 7- French friend; 8- _ little teapot...; 9- PC linkup; 10- Athletic shoe; 11- Brit's discharge; 12- Staggering; 13- Compact; 21- Compose; 23- Endure; 24- A, as in Athens; 25- Infectious agent; 26- Black-wooded tree; 27- Greek goddess of night; 28- Towering; 29- Aha!; 31- Joyous; 33- Short letters; 34- Permeate; 35- Small hand drum; 36- Greek epic poem; 38- Canvas shelter used on camping trips; 41- Future doc's exam; 42- Rainy season; 43- Dwells; 44- Cabinet dept.; 46- Apex; 47- English royal house; 48- Diciembre follower; 49- Bridget Fonda, to Jane; 50- Standard for comparison; 52- Skater Lipinski; 55- Friend of Fidel; 56- Faucet; 58- Metal-bearing mineral; 59- Kind of fingerprint; 60- Obtain, slangily; 61- Affirmative answer;

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Opinion

Alex MacDonald — The Argosy (Mount Allison University)

SACKVILLE, N.B. (CUP) — The Rhodes Trust recently announced that yet another Mount Allison student has been awarded a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. These scholarships were created in 1902 from the estate of British imperialist Cecil Rhodes. According to the Rhodes Trust website, Rhodes' vision in founding the scholarship was to develop outstanding leaders who would be motivated to fight “the world's fight,” to “esteem the performance of public duties as their highest aim” and to promote international understanding and peace.

These aims are well and fine, but Rhodes's idea of international understanding and peace was contingent on the rule of the British Empire, which Rhodes envisioned ruling the African continent “from Cape to Cairo.” The Rhodes Trust uses words to distract applicants from reading deeper into what the scholarship is about; however, I have to wonder about those who accept the financial support of a man who made his money in the worst of ways.

Rhodes made his millions in the diamond mines of southern Africa founding De Beers, a diamond company that has been a target of numerous legal accusations of anti-trust. Rhodes was also prominently involved in the Jameson Raid, an event that led to the outbreak of the Second Boer War. This war pitted Great Britain against the Netherlands for imperial control over southern Africa and resulted in collateral deaths of tens of thousands of native Africans.

Ninety-four Oxford University fellows deplored the decision to allow Rhodes on campus to accept an honorary degree. The opposition stemmed primarily from Rhodes’s involvement in the Jameson Raid and his circumvention of law in southern Africa. After the Jameson Raid, Rhodes’s brother was tried and convicted of murder. His execution was commuted to a 15-year sentence before Rhodes spent 30 million pounds (approximately 2.7 billion pounds in 2012) in order to have him released.

Rhodes was obsessed with personal gain and expanding the wealth of De Beers, his mining company. Even at the outset of the Second Boer War, Rhodes attempted to persuade military officials to protect his mining interests, rather than Britain’s military interests. Accounts of Rhodes during the time of war expose his fleeting concern for the lives of others and shed light on his perception of others who were not as “civilized” as the British.

Mount Allison is quite proud of its history and number of Rhodes Scholars, but are the achievements of those scholars overshadowed by the atrocities Rhodes committed during his lifetime? Are the students receiving scholarships concerned that the $100,000 they receive from the Rhodes Trust comes from the imperial exploitation and war-mongering Rhodes took part in? I know I would be concerned. If I claimed to care about corporate social responsibility, I would not be able to bring myself to accept the money. Being nothing more that a “C” student, however, I don’t have to create an excuse to deal with the ethical dilemma of being awarded a Rhodes Scholarship. What excuse does the current class of Rhodes Scholars have?

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Arts

Dasha Zolota — The Eyeopener (Ryerson University)

TORONTO (CUP) — Competitions in Ryerson’s fashion school give students unparalleled opportunities in their industry, but students are hungry for more lasting rewards.

Despite getting to work with big names in the industry, students say the experience doesn’t do much to boost their careers.

Meagan Johnston, a third-year fashion design student and winner of the 2011 Danier Design Challenge, will see her product in select stores across Canada this fall and receive a $5,000 check and a paid internship with the label.

However, competitors often have to sign contracts waiving the rights to their work, resulting in a lack of recognition, one student said.

“It’s the only downside to these competitions,” said Elisabeth Huynh, a fourth-year fashion communication student. Huynh participated in challenges for McGregor Industries and Shisheido Cosmetics during her third year.

“The winner will usually get around $5,000 — meanwhile, these companies are making so much more from our ideas,” she said.

Brianne Burnell, a fourth-year student in fashion communication, said the experience itself was what counts, but the ante needs to be upped on prizes for those in her program.

“The competitions for the design students seem advantageous because if they plan on becoming independent designers, it is great self-promotion,” Burnell said. She added the contests may have nothing to do with a fashion communication student’s future career, due to the versatile nature of the program.

Both students noted problems with the Shiseido competition.

“The professor helped us each step along the way,” Huynh said. “But I felt like she imposed her own ideals and views onto our vision too much. In the end, I wasn’t happy with my final project.”

Burnell seemed unsure what to make of her experience.

“We all busted our asses off on it, and no one won,” she explained. “No one even told us no one won, we just never heard anything, and that’s still a huge mystery.

“I wish the competitions would end in something more than a spread in a magazine or money,” Burnell added. Both Huynh and Burnell said more variety in competitions and potential internships would help start careers.

“It hasn’t been a life-changing experience. I think that experience will be presenting the creative portion of my capstone project to the judges at the end of this semester,” Burnell said. “I hope.”

Lucia Dell’Agnese, associate chair of Ryerson’s school of fashion, said the benefit of these competitions is that they teach students how to work for a specific market, how to research and how retailers function.

“I think often it’s hard for students to design for someone else other than themselves,” Dell’Agnese said.

“I wish — really wish — with all my heart, more retailers would follow suit,” Dell’Agnese said. “For young designers, it’s really hard to get started. It’s expensive.”

She explained that it’s a win-win situation regardless, for both retailer and student. The student gains exposure, however minimal it may be, as well as experience, and the retailer gets fresh, young perspectives.

“To future students: Take every opportunity that is provided to you as a student, in terms of competitions and broadening your scope of knowledge,” Dell’Agnese said. “The more you push yourself outside the box, the more you experience.”

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Français

Justin Doucet - Quartier Libre (Université de Montréal)

MONTRÉAL (PUC) — Le nombre d’étudiants montréalais qui ont recours aux services d’aide alimentaire a triplé au cours des trois dernières années. Un indicateur de la précarité qui se développe, mais aussi un moyen de lutter contre le gaspillage.

Trois fois plus d’étudiants dans les files d’attente de Moisson Montréal par rapport à fin 2008: ce sont les derniers chiffres de cette grande banque alimentaire chargée de la distribution métropolitaine et provinciale des denrées pour les Banques alimentaires du Québec (BAQ). Dans la même période, la demande globale en aide alimentaire sur l’île de Montréal a augmenté de 32 %, précise Dany Michaud, le directeur général de l’organisme.

Abdel est doctorant étranger à l’École Polytechnique de Montréal. Père de famille, il a recours au panier alimentaire mensuel offert par la MultiCaf de Côte-des-Neiges, car sa bourse de 19 000 $ par an n’est pas suffisante pour le faire vivre avec sa femme et ses enfants. «Je paye 8400 $ par année pour le loyer, 3000 $ en frais de scolarité et même si je paye déjà une assurance de 2000 $ pour moi et ma famille, je suis obligé [par les règlements de la polytechnique] de payer 1200 $ au régime collectif d’assurance maladie pour étudiants étrangers», calcule-t-il. «La différence [dans notre budget] à la fin du mois est petite, mais c’est un bon service. Et dans mon pays, ce n’est pas offert.»

«Pour le 5 $ que l’on payait pour un panier, on pouvait obtenir l’équivalent de 40 $ d’aliments, donc on économisait substantiellement. On voyait la différence à la fin du mois», explique Steve, un étudiant de 24 ans à la maîtrise en histoire à l’Université de Montréal. Il avoue pourtant ne pas avoir été en situation d’urgence financière pendant cette période, mais il explique aussi qu’il ne travaillait pas et que son budget était restreint.

Jusqu’à l’été passé, Steve et ses cinq colocataires ont eu recours à l’aide alimentaire du centre de loisirs L’Œuvre des Samaritains, où il y avait moins de demande et où parfois il restait des denrées à la fin de la semaine. Ils ont évité d’autres centres de distribution où les gens plus pauvres étaient nombreux. «Nous sommes allés à d’autres comptoirs alimentaires, mais nous ne nous sentions pas à l’aise quand on voyait que d’autres personnes avaient plus besoin de ces services que nous», explique-t-il.

C’est une attitude appropriée, puisque la crise n’épargne pas les banques alimentaires. «Depuis 2008, la situation est plus difficile, pour les bénéficiaires, pour les donateurs et donc pour nous, les organisations. La demande pour l’aide alimentaire augmente, les dons diminuent, donc on doit travailler plus fort pour obtenir le même résultat», déplore Nicolas Carpentier de l’organisation communautaire Jeunesse au Soleil.

Économie et écologie

Pour Steve et ses colocataires, la fréquentation des banques n’est toutefois pas uniquement motivée par des raisons économiques. Ils savent aussi que ces établissements participent à la récupération d’aliments qui seraient sinon jetés. «On savait que ces programmes contribuent aussi à réduire le gaspillage […] Pendant cette période où nous travaillions peu ou pas, l’on pratiquait aussi la récupération du pain dans les boulangeries et la fouille des poubelles. Il y a toujours eu le souci d’économie, mais ça s’inscrivait aussi dans une certaine prise de conscience.»

Selon l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture (FAO), 1,3 milliard de tonnes, soit le tiers des aliments produits sur la planète, est perdu ou gaspillé chaque année. Les hauts standards de qualité des commerçants et des consommateurs empêchent des aliments parfaitement comestibles, endommagés lors du transport ou de la transformation, de se rendre aux étalages des supermarchés. Par exemple, certains commerçants refusent de vendre des boites de conserve abîmées ou des carottes de forme irrégulière.

Au Québec, Moisson Montréal récolte annuellement 10 millions de kilos de denrées alimentaires en provenance de producteurs agricoles, d’entreprises et de supermarchés. Ce sont des dons, souvent issus de surplus d’inventaire, qui ne pourraient être vendus avant leur expiration, ont été légèrement endommagés lors du transport ou qui comportent des imperfections ou des erreurs d’emballage. Il y a une dimension socialement responsable aux activités de Moisson Montréal, considère Dany Michaud.

«On est vert chez nous! La récupération est centrale à notre mission. On se préoccupe avant tout des urgences alimentaires, mais on cherche des solutions à la faim qui soient durables», conclut-il.

Une corne d’abondance à montréal

Fondée en 1984, Moisson Montréal est la première banque alimentaire du Québec. Avec comme mission de réduire la pauvreté et la faim, elle dessert 212 organismes communautaires sur l’île.

Pour Dany Michaud, le directeur général de Moisson Montréal, son organisme participe à une action sociale plus large qui ne se limite pas à l’aide alimentaire. «La tâche de Moisson Montréal, c’est de mobiliser les denrées vers les organismes, pour qu’à leur tour, ils prennent en main ceux qui sont en situation difficile», explique-t-il.

L’organisme dépend surtout de bénévoles (3740 annuellement) et son financement est un mélange de mécénat et d’aide publique. 24% des dons financiers proviennent de fondations, 18 % des entreprises alors que le gouvernement et les élus contribuent à hauteur de 13 %. Le reste se répartit entre les dons d’individus, la grande guignolée des médias et les groupes religieux.

Jeunesse au Soleil, action à grande échelle

Cet organisme procure des paniers alimentaires à 2000 familles tous les mois. Ils contiennent des produits hygiéniques en plus des denrées périssables. Si vous êtes étudiant, le seul critère requis pour s’inscrire est d’avoir un faible revenu. Pour savoir si vous êtes admissible, il suffit de prendre un rendez-vous et d’effectuer une évaluation financière. Le contenu des paniers sera adapté à la taille de votre ménage.

sunyouthorg.com

Inclusion et interaction au Mile-End

La Mission communautaire du Mile-End est peut être le plus socialisateur des comptoirs alimentaires. On peut y voir manger et discuter des sans-abri, mais aussi des mères de famille, des adolescents et des enfants.

Ce petit local (on peut y asseoir 45 personnes), est un véritable lieu d’inclusion: la «clientèle» et les bénévoles se connaissent par leur nom, tous participent au nettoyage après les repas, on y entend parler le français et l’anglais, mais aussi l’espagnol. La Mission donne des cours de yoga, vend des articles de vêtements à prix modique, propose des ateliers d’art et donne accès à une clinique juridique.

Les paniers alimentaires sont réservés aux résidents du Mile-End, mais tous sont bienvenus aux repas communautaires. Les déjeuners sont servis de 9 heures à 10 heures les jeudis et vendredis et les dîners sont servis les mardis, mercredis et jeudis. Tous les repas sont gratuits et les paniers alimentaires sont à 1 $.

mileendmission.org

multiCaf, plus que de l’aide alimentaire

La cafétéria communautaire MultiCaf est le comptoir alimentaire le plus proche du campus de l’Université de Montréal. Il reçoit des étudiants chaque semaine. Le mandat du MultiCaf est triple: réinsertion sociale, aide alimentaire, réduction de la pauvreté et de l’isolement. Il reflète la diversité culturelle de Côte-des-Neiges puisqu’il est fréquenté par des gens de plus de 100 nationalités différentes.

Le dîner est servi de 11h45 à 13 heures, du lundi au vendredi, les déjeuners du lundi au jeudi, de 9h30 à 10h30. Tous les repas sont à 1,50 $.

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Retrouvez l'article original sur le site du Quartier Libre.

Opinion

Keeton Wilcock — The Fulcrum (University of Ottawa)

OTTAWA (CUP) — Dear Mr. Harper,

I’ve always been a big fan of your policies, and I can’t tell you how excited I was on May 2 when I watched the final numbers roll in and you gained a majority government. But it was on Dec. 11, 2011, that you won a very special place in my heart. It was on this day that your minister of the environment, Peter Kent, officially announced Canada would be the first country in the world to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol. A decision like that is just pure Stephen Harper gold.

“The Kyoto Protocol has been holding back Canada’s economic growth for far too long,” I thought. “It’s about time the Conservative government dropped that ancient piece of emissions legislation like an arts student with a chemistry elective.”

Now, to educated folks like you and me, dropping the restrictive Kyoto Protocol is only logical. You can imagine my surprise, then, when a few of my friends didn’t view Kent’s announcement favourably. Fortunately, I took a civics class in grade 10, so I have a thorough understanding of international environmental legislation and was able to explain your decision to my misunderstanding friends.

First, I explained that the federal government has saved $14 billion by dropping out of the Kyoto Protocol, and in these times of economic austerity, breaking our country’s promise to the rest of the world is totally legit. If our federal government paid this ridiculous fine, that would mean an increase of almost 2.5 per cent to our country’s $563-billion national debt!

“I know that I’m certainly not willing to give up 2.5 per cent of my hard-earned cash to make good on a 14-year-old promise with global repercussions, and neither should Harper and our federal government,” I said.

Next, I argued that this whole Kyoto business always smelled a little too much of communism for my taste, and if there’s one thing Canadians ain’t, it’s tree-hugging commies. Wealthy first-world countries cutting their emissions while poor, third-world countries are allowed to increase theirs? Sounds like some class warfare Marxist junk to me, and I’m certainly not having any of it. Capitalism for the win, am I right? I’m right.

I also noted the world’s largest emitters — China and the United States — never ratified the Kyoto Protocol. Everyone knows that until those countries ratify a climate-change agreement, taking action in any way to limit Canada’s annual 540 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions is basically useless.

Lastly, I was able to recall that the federal government’s Kyoto decision came just two days after the close of an international summit on climate change in Durban, South Africa — a summit Kent attended. This obviously allowed Kent to gain all the relevant facts about climate change necessary to make his educated decision to ignore it.

After I finished my tirade, one of my friends told me that Canada has been mocked internationally for the decision to drop Kyoto, and that Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, stated on Dec. 14 that we are at a turning point in history due to worldwide political protests and climate change.

I mostly didn’t know how to reply to that, so I just yelled, “Yeah, tar sands!” and said the discussion was henceforth prorogued for three months or so while I focused on more important things. That worked pretty well, I think.

Anyway, I want to personally thank you for the federal government’s decision to drop the Kyoto Protocol, and I encourage you to never let facts get in the way of your opinion — and never let a promise get in the way of your wallet.

Yours,

A proud Canadian

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News

Brandon Rosario — The Martlet (University of Victoria)

VICTORIA (CUP) — The University of Victoria Students’ Society (UVSS) has agreed to move forward with the installation and ongoing maintenance of needle disposal boxes in designated areas around the Student Union Building (SUB).

A motion to provide the main hallway bathrooms and on-site bar with drop-off boxes was put forward by UVSS chairperson Tara Paterson, after the UVic Department of Occupational Safety and Environment reported its finding of 10 stray needles on university grounds in 2010 and 15 more in 2011.

AIDS Vancouver Island (AVI) and Campus Security have also discovered a number of discarded needles in various places around UVic.

“Because there have been needles found on campus and because we know that there are diabetics, people injecting hormones [and] intravenous drug users, this does pose a bit of a safety concern,” said Paterson.

Disposal boxes will be similar to the ones currently used by B.C. Ferries, said Paterson, and will cost roughly $200 initially plus a $96 pickup fee as needed.

“This is just a start-up cost; there are some costs that would be [needed] to maintain it, though they would [be] minimal,” she said.

Letters of endorsement from the Society of Living Intravenous Drug Users (SOLID) and the UVSS Harm Less Club were sent to the board in March 2011, with both groups expressing their views on how clearly marked needle depositories would greatly reduce the risk of dangerous or fatal mishaps.

“Providing people on campus with safe places to dispose of drug use supplies is safer for the entire population of UVic, including students and campus workers, by helping to alleviate the risk of inappropriately discarded syringes,” wrote the staff at SOLID.

“Harm reduction, particularly in the realm of needle disposal, leads to increased health in the community,” wrote Daniel Prince, Harm Less Club’s signing officer.

“Our commitment to this project is such that we are prepared to take the financial responsibility for installation and maintenance of the proposed needle boxes,” he wrote.

Director of Finance and Operations Dylan Sherlock agreed that a simple and discreet means of disposing needles on campus would pay huge health dividends for its relatively low start-up cost, adding that the board should “do [it] without thought.”

However, some board members were skeptical of Harm Less Club’s offer to collect dirty needles from the boxes on a volunteer basis without professional training or supervision.

“I wouldn’t feel safe having students, community members or non-professionals handling [used needles] because it’s hazardous waste,” said director-at-large David Foster. “This has to have professional maintenance.”

Both Harm Less and SOLID offered to provide volunteer pickup and disposal in their respective letters.

Having had first-hand experience at a prior job where she was scratched with a needle hidden between some bedsheets, director of student affairs Jenn Bowie expressed concern over club members or other community members being put into the unnecessarily risky position of collecting needles when the UVSS has an option to hire professionals.

She also suggested that the UVSS eat start-up costs in order to prevent Harm Less from exhausting its budget.

Officially registered clubs receive around a hundred dollars from the UVSS per semester barring any extra funding obtained from special projects grants.

“I don’t want Harm Less to give up an entire semester’s budget for just one project when they could be putting that money towards greater outreach,” said Bowie.

The $96 pickup contract will go to Green Check, a company unaffiliated with university janitorial services that specializes in the removal and transportation of hazardous materials.

The money will be covered by the SUB’s Building Operations account and pickups will be adjusted according to volume.

Almost all science and medical facilities at institutions around Canada have their own disposal and pickup infrastructure for syringes and other discarded sharps. By applying the safety procedures of this lab formality to the commons, the UVSS hopes the new boxes will encourage both legal and illicit users to take responsible measures in getting rid of their paraphernalia.

“We are extremely pleased that UVic has joined the ranks with other North American universities in forming a progressive, pro-active approach to drug policies,” said Prince in his letter. “Initiatives such as safe needle disposal help to save lives.”

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Humour

BestCrosswords.com

(CUP) — Puzzles provided by BestCrosswords.com. Used with permission. Please print the above statement with the puzzle.

Across

1- Soviet news service; 5- Narc's employer; 8- Copied; 12- Dos cubed; 13- Boarded; 15- Mex. miss; 16- Caspian Sea feeder; 17- Appliance brand; 18- Mariners can sail on seven of these; 19- Merciless; 22- Advanced degree?; 23- Pinch; 24- Westernmost of the Aleutians; 26- Scottish pudding; 29- Drowsy; 31- Equinox mo.; 32- Grind together; 34- Alma _ ; 36- Glimpse; 38- Stare angrily; 40- Jester; 41- Bottom line; 43- Olds model; 45- Former nuclear agcy.; 46- Filament; 48- High-speed skiing; 50- Always; 51- Blend; 52- Center Ming; 54- Psychokinesis; 61- " _ quam videri" (North Carolina's motto); 63- Draw a bead on; 64- City near Phoenix; 65- Arguing; 66- Thin glutinous mud; 67- Friends; 68- Sibilate; 69- Part of TNT; 70- Very, in Versailles;

Down

1- Travel from place to place; 2- 160 square rods; 3- Counterfeit; 4- "Farewell!"; 5- Cupola; 6- Bibliography abbr.; 7- Bang-up; 8- Balaam's mount; 9- Before marriage; 10- Coup d' _ ; 11- Morse element; 13- Breathless; 14- Like Fran Drescher's voice; 20- Diana of "The Avengers"; 21- Flower part; 25- Side; 26- Serf; 27- The ideal example; 28- Cobb, e.g.; 29- Termagant; 30- Arabian republic; 31- Cpl.'s superior; 33- Gal of song; 35- VCR button; 37- Sportscaster Albert; 39- Recluse; 42- Internet writing system that popularized "pwn3d" and "n00b"; 44- Thor's father; 47- Bailiwicks; 49- Free from an obligation; 52- Casual assent; 53- Italian wine city; 55- Light air; 56- Chieftain, usually in Africa; 57- Animistic god or spirit; 58- Scorch; 59- Archipelago part; 60- Back talk; 62- Aliens, for short;

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News

Stephen Hargreaves — The Lance (University of Windsor)

WINDSOR (CUP) — University students across the country are mobilizing in opposition to the underfunding of post-secondary education as part of a National Day of Action on Feb. 1.

“The National Day of Action is part of a nation-wide campaign called Education is a Right,” said Roxanne Dubois, national chairperson for the Canadian Federation of Students. “The main goal is to fight for an acceptable, well-funded system of post-secondary education in Canada.”

Dubois points to the underfunding of education and rising tuition costs as major factors in educational inequity in Canada. “We not only need to educate people about the importance of post-secondary education, but also the importance of fair access to post-secondary education.”

“Universities have been under-funded since the 1990s,” said University of Windsor event co-organizer Vajo Stajic, the education and advocacy co-ordinator for the university's Organization of Part-time University Students. “We need to pressure both the provincial and federal governments to make education a priority. Students can no longer stand by and let tuition fees rise and rise. Post-secondary education needs to be accessible for all.”

According to the CFS, only 34 per cent of university and college students are eligible for the Ontario Tuition Rebate launched this month. Not covered by the Liberal campaign promise grant are part-time students, mature students, international students, students in a second entry program, including law, medicine and teachers college, and students whose parent or parents make over $160,000 annually.

“This is a lot of money to create a program which is very complicated and expensive to administer,” said Dubois. “It doesn’t increase access to post-secondary education, though it does give some students some help, which is important. The campaign promise was a tuition fee reduction of 30 per cent. That is not what this is.”

At the time the grant was announced, Minister of Training Colleges and Universities, Glen Murray told The Lance, “By giving a grant to students it reduces the cost to students but does not deny important revenue universities need to produce a high quality education.”

When asked about the omission of assistance for many students Murray said, “While we celebrate today, I am rolling up my sleeves.”

According to calculations by Dubois, if the $450 million assigned to the Ontario Tuition Rebate were applied universally to all students, it would equal a 13 per cent tuition fee reduction across Ontario.

“Students are calling on the Ontario government to turn their rebate into an across-the-board tuition fee cut for all students,” said Stajic. “The students being excluded by the rebate are those who are most financially at risk.”

Locally, Univeristy of Windsor students will march in solidarity with students across the country in favour of affordable and equitable education.

The University of Windsor Senate has granted academic amnesty to participating students, meaning students missing classes will not face academic penalty for being absent in order to attend the day of action.

Other events are being organized by students at individual schools and nationally by the CFS. For more information, visit educationisaright.ca.

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Arts

Ravanne Lawday — The Gateway (University of Alberta)

EDMONTON (CUP) — Don’t let the kick-ass female martial arts star fool you — Haywire makes no real attempts to break the action film mould. Amidst an oversaturation of average action scenes and an unresolved plot, Haywire never realizes its potential, falling flat in a sea of similar films.

The movie stars ex-MMA-fighter-turned-actress-and-model Gina Carano as freelance undercover operative Mallory Kane, an agent who is double-crossed by the company who hired her. After escaping an attempt on her life, Kane must fight her way from Dublin to New Mexico to reunite with her father and seek revenge on her betrayers.

The idea of a realistic, beautiful female spy is appealing, but the idea is poorly executed. This kind of spy thriller has been attempted with similar stories and concepts countless times, although most don’t feature a tough, fearless woman as the protagonist. But aside from the inclusion of a female operative, the film doesn’t do anything to break the action movie mould.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of Haywire is the overuse of dull action sequences. Carano does her job fluidly, but her incredible martial arts prowess is the only thing that makes the movie interesting. With a nonsensical soundboard — the gunshots sound quieter than punches — and rigid, impractical movement through the set, the film delivers action shots that don’t make the impact they should.

Another of the more prominent disappointments of the film is the generally undeveloped plotline. The story is loosely established, but the conclusion only makes a sub-par attempt at wrapping things up, begging for an undeserved sequel. Had the conflict been resolved, Haywire might have proved a good start to the 2012 film season, but the abrupt ending leaves a lot to be desired.

If Haywire has a saving grace, it’s the efforts from the skilled supporting cast. Ewan McGregor as Kenneth, Mallory’s friend and colleague who later betrays her, brings dimension to an otherwise shallow and hidden character. His role is supportive, yet pivotal, and he shines simply by doing his job as a minor character. Michael Fassbender also deserves credit for his briefly featured supporting efforts in the film. He plays Paul, a British secret agent who is assigned the duty of killing Kane on her mission in Dublin, and manages to give an otherwise quiet, dull character life and dimension.

Although Carano makes a tough, attractive female spy, acting may not have been her best venture to date. The film features her character in heavy, uncharacteristic makeup, leaving her looking unnatural for the majority of the movie. And while she obviously shines in her action scenes, her lines constantly seems strained and shallow.

Despite Haywire’s amazing supporting cast and Carano’s impressive martial arts skills, this isn’t enough to make up for the film’s many glaring structural flaws. The film seems to have a promising concept, but all its potential ultimately goes to waste.

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Science & Technology

Alan Piffer — The Martlet (University of Victoria)

VICTORIA (CUP) — People concerned that they can’t stop checking their Facebook, text messages, email and Twitter over and over again can take heart that they’re not alone.

In fact, this affliction can happen to anyone. Perhaps the TV show Portlandia explains the condition best, in a scene where Fred Armisen’s character can’t pull himself away from his computer and smart phone, constantly checking for new texts and Facebook updates. When his best friend discovers him in his trance-like condition at his computer, she realizes he’s been caught in a “technology loop,” yanks him away from his desk and drags him outside.

Although it’s easy to make light of, with social media firmly entrenched in our culture and smartphones exploding in popularity, technology addiction is actually having a large impact on society.

A recent report by Ofcom, an independent regulation authority of the U.K. communications industry, says that of smartphone owners, 37 per cent of adults and 60 per cent of teens describe themselves as “highly addicted” to them.

The report notes that smartphones have intruded on peoples’ lives in many ways, including their use while socializing with surrounding people, during mealtimes and even during trips to the bathroom.

In his book Virtual Addiction: Help for Netheads, Cyberfreaks, and Those Who Love Them, Dr. Dave N. Greenfield explains that the way people’s brains react to the constant stimulation of these technologies can be compared to a gambling addiction.

“All of these behaviours most likely involve an elevation of the neurochemical serotonin that we experience as a temporary sense of exhilaration. This process is short-lived, but very intense, pleasurable, and habit-forming,” explains Greenfield.

In the article “Smartphone addiction: Nine telltale signs” from the website cioinsight.com, a test determines signs that someone can be addicted to smartphone use. Among their questions, they ask:

• Do you use it while you drive?
• Do you use your smartphone longer than you had intended?
• Do family and friends call you on your regular smartphone use?
• Do you always crave your smartphone when it’s not on hand?
• Do you send text messages about an event as it’s happening to the point that you miss significant parts of the event?
• Do you take your smartphone absolutely everywhere?
• Do you feel helpless without your device?
• Is checking your smartphone the first and last thing you do every day?
• Do you post messages on social media so much that it diminishes your actual, physical human interaction?

Thankfully, there are solutions that people can use to break free of their tech addictions. In his book The Digital Diet, author Daniel Sieberg outlines a four-step procedure though which people can reduce their digital intake.

The first step technology addicts need to take is to stop and consider the effects heavy technology use has on their general well-being. The second step is monitoring their regular amount of technology use, via a “Virtual Weight Index.”

The next step is to consider the personal relationships that may have taken a back seat to compulsive social media use. Finally, people have to determine how to minimize their technology use by using it as efficiently as possible.

As Greenfield explains, Internet and social media are best done with an “everything in moderation” approach. “The Internet’s addiction potential is simply the opposite side of the coin and represents a dialectic of the good it can do,” says Greenfield.

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News

Katie McGroarty — The Link (Concordia University)

MONTREAL (CUP) — Concordia University is heading to court to settle a case with support staff who say the administration stole their holidays.

The Concordia University Support Staff Union has filed three grievances regarding unpaid holiday vacations from 2010–11.

According to the technical sector of the support staff union, the workers are owed paid vacation time from Jan. 4 and Dec. 23, 2010 and Jan. 3, 2011.

To draw attention to the issue, the union released posters featuring the Grinch from Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! standing in a police lineup, with a caption saying “Concordia, the Grinch who stole our holidays.”

Even though the arbitrator in the case ruled in favour of the union, the university has decided to appeal the arbitration and has filed a judicial review.

“Concordia is acting in bad faith,” said Alex MacPherson, president of the technicians’ union, which represents all 105 technicians at Concordia.

“Rarely does an arbitrator’s decision get overturned, so we don’t really know why they feel the need to do this.”

Because of the university’s request, no action will be taken regarding the CUSSU grievances until a decision is made in a superior court. A hearing date has not yet been scheduled.

The union says that, as per their contract, if a holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, then it must be moved to the following or previous day, while the university says the union wrongfully interpreted their collective agreement.

“The university is perfectly within its rights to request the Superior Court to review the arbitrator’s decision, just as the CUSSU would have been fully within its rights to do the same had it lost its grievances,” said Concordia spokesperson Chris Mota.

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News

Sarah Deshaies — CUP Quebec Bureau Chief

MONTREAL (CUP) — A Montreal-based advocacy group has filed the first in a series of human rights complaints following controversy over an immigration guidebook handed out in Gatineau, Que.

Fo Niemi, director of the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR), reported that the group filed earlier this month with the Quebec Human Rights Commission and is set to file a second time this week, with at least two more complaints being brought forward in the near future.

Controversy brewed last December when it was discovered that new immigrants to Gatineau, the fourth-largest city in Quebec, were receiving questionable advice in a “statement of values” that was released in late November.

Some of the 16 pointers were standard guidebook content on how to navigate and integrate into Canadian society. But the guide also instructed immigrants to wash frequently, be punctual, avoid cooking with pungent food and refrain from offering bribes to officials.

“The code basically promotes a lot of stereotypes and insinuates a lot of things that reduce immigrants to uncivilized and primitive people,” said Niemi, who felt the guidebook insinuated that “they don’t know about hygiene, they don’t know how to be punctual, they don’t know how to treat women and children.”

The first complaint was filed on behalf of Kamal Maghri, a federal employee who arrived in Canada 11 years ago and now lives in Gatineau. He became a Canadian citizen in 2005.

Maghri cannot recall exactly when or where he first heard about the “shameful” guidebook, but he remembered his initial reaction to instructions to wash frequently and be punctual.

“I was really shocked. I said to myself: 'Am I dreaming?' I told myself this was impossible,” he explained. “This couldn’t happen in a place like Gatineau, just next to capital of Canada.

“For me, the immediate reaction is to at least get an explanation from the people who wrote this, which is why I wrote an email to the mayor,” added Maghri.

But after he hit the “send” button, a municipal civil servant phoned a local mosque to unearth information about Maghri, who is originally from Morocco — “basically racially profiling” him, as Niemi put it.

Maghri was then copied on an email sent out by one official to another which noted he had debt and had arrived in Canada shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Maghri said he feels a responsibility to follow through with the complaint, and that he hopes other people who were offended will come forward as well.

“You do as the Romans do, but you’re still considered a barbarian,” said Maghri. “It’s very shocking, after you’ve been in Canada, for 11 years, that someone looks into your background at a mosque — when I have nothing to do with that mosque.”

Eventually, Gatineau mayor Marc Bureau apologized to Maghri for the email incident and the research into his background. But for now, Maghri’s case will pass in front of the Quebec Human Rights Commission.

It may take up to two years for this case and the others to be processed, according to Niemi.

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Sports

William Crothers and Matt Horner — The Brock Press (Brock University)

ST. CATHARINES (CUP) — The stage once reserved for little more than pickup games of shinny has definitely shown its value over the past decade, now permeating into multiple levels of organized hockey.

The NHL’s Winter Classic has become a New Year’s Day staple since being embraced in the 2007–08 season (after the initial success of the Canadian Heritage Classic in Edmonton in 2003). In 2010, the American Hockey League embraced the outdoor format, which ultimately set the path for this year’s partnership with the Ontario University Athletic Association’s (OUA) to hold both a men’s and women’s regular season game.

This year’s festivities were hosted at Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton, Ont., home of the Canadian Football League’s Hamilton Tigercats. The featured game was between the Hamilton Bulldogs and Toronto Marlies on Jan. 21, dubbed “The Steeltown Showdown,” which drew a record 20,565 fans. The showcase also featured a Toronto Maple Leafs-Montreal Canadiens alumni game, and open skates for the public.

Attendance for the OUA games was a fraction of the AHL showcase, but made for a unique experience and cherished memories for Brock, Waterloo and UOIT Hockey players.

“The event marked the first time in 70 years that an OUA team played outdoors,” said Robert Hilson, athletic director at Brock University. “In 20 years, our student athletes might not remember their 2011–12 record, or the score of the game, but they will always remember playing these games outdoors.”

Hilson explained it was somewhat a combination of initiative and luck that allowed for Brock’s participation in both the games.

“Ontario University Athletics approached the Brock men’s hockey team to play Waterloo on Sunday [Jan. 22]. There were only two OUA games scheduled on that week, and the other game was in Ottawa. Brock Athletics [then] proposed that the OUA include a women’s game on the Thursday. The University of Ontario Institute of Technology jumped on board immediately,” he said.

The chance to play outdoor hockey was something everyone on the team was looking forward to.

“I think everybody is really excited and it’s a great opportunity, obviously,” said Brock men’s head coach Murray Nystrom. “Probably a once-in-a-lifetime [experience] to be a part of it.”

The different conditions offer their own challenges, some of which can’t be simulated in practice. Outdoor game temperatures are rarely ideal, whether they be too cold or too hot.

Too warm, and ice conditions deteriorate; too cold, and it’s — well, it’s cold. The boards are less stable, the brightness of natural sunlight reflected off the snow and ice affects vision — hence the eye black — and the ice in general needs more repairs mid-game.

It was evident by Sunday that the ice around the goal post pegs had deteriorated, as evidenced by several nets being knocked off with very little contact.

Outdoor cardio and practicing with an extra layer of clothing can help, but unless you have some very high-end outdoor facilities, there are just some conditions that teams cannot duplicate.

It makes for a choppier game, necessitating a simpler, safer style of play. But if you asked any player, coach, referee or fan about their experience, you would be hard pressed to find someone who regretted playing or watching.

For players who spent their childhood honing their game on ponds and outdoor rinks, playing in the outdoor classic is what dreams are made of.

“I’m from Alberta originally and it gets pretty cold,” said Brock forward Ryan Allen, who hails from Fort McMurray, Alta. “[There’s] a lot of ponds and a lot of outdoor rinks and that’s all you did as a kid, play on the outdoor ponds and dream about doing it one day as a part of an organized game.”

On Jan. 19, Brock's women took down the UOIT Ridgebacks by a score of 3-2, coming back from a 2-1 third period deficit.

The aesthetic beauty of the outdoor game, which saw just about every kind of winter weather, was not lost on Hilson. “The women’s hockey game was out of a fairy tale. An outdoor rink, snow and the sun in the second period. It was absolutely perfect.”

For the men’s game, three bus loads of Brock fans created a home away from home for the Badgers, singing the national anthem over the music, eating turkey legs in the stands and watching an impromptu “mascot” fight between two fans dressed as a hot dog and a bear and the errant snowball.

“The atmosphere was electric and when the national anthem didn’t work and the fans took over — well, I don’t think I have ever been that fired up before a game in my entire career,” said Brock defenceman Isaac Smeltzer. “I found myself hoping that each period would never end.”

Waterloo would take the men's game 3-1.

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Français

Kéven Breton - Le Collectif (Université de Sherbrooke)

SHERBROOKE (PUC) — En exigeant que son entraîneur en chef s’exprime en français, le Canadien ne fait qu’ajouter un filtre superflu à son processus de sélection. En se limitant volontairement au bassin d’entraîneurs francophones, l’organisation élimine de facto plus de la moitié des candidats possibles –bien évidemment au détriment du succès de l’équipe.

Je suis un fervent défenseur de la langue française. Je suis un disciple de Molière, un francophile avoué, un écouteux de Plume Latraverse, un lecteur de Nelligan, un tatoué fleurdelisé. Et ça me fait toujours un petit quelque chose de voir un gars de chez nous comme Maxime Talbot ou Claude Julien soulever la coupe Stanley. Par contre, là où je m’insurge, c’est devant la simili polémique que les médias montréalais ont tenté de créer suite au congédiement de l’entraîneur Jacques Martin  et l’embauche de Randy Cunnewyorth, un unilingue anglophone. Scandaleuse décision! Manque de respect envers les francophones! Comment ceux-ci feront dorénavant pour comprendre les propos de l’entraîneur de leur équipe préféré?

Comme si Jacques Martin s’exprimait dans un français correct. «Définitivement, certains individus performent tandis que d’autres individus, disons, ne compétitionnent pas assez. On a bien bataillé, mais pas assez pour faire sur de gagner.» Quelle belle ode à Molière! De toute façon, ce n’est pas comme si les propos de Randy Conneyworth n’allaient pas être rapportés dans tous les différents médias du Québec, même faire la une du Journal de Montréal.

Idéalement, il est certain qu’il est souhaitable que le Canadien de Montréal, l’un des emblèmes québécois les plus reconnus à travers le monde, compte dans ses rangs un maximum d’acteurs locaux –si ce n’est que pour renforcer l’appartenance à sa province, et rétrécir la distance entre l’équipe et ses adeptes. Toutefois, des entraîneurs francophones de la LNH, on n’en compte que trois: Claude Julien, Alain Vigneault et Guy Boucher. Et étrangement, les trois doivent leur carrière au Canadien. Oui, les trois ont commencé leur carrière dans l’organisation du CH. Il y en a peut-être d’autres, des entraîneurs francophones prêts à prendre la relève comme pilote du turbulent cockpit montréalais, on pense à Patrick Roy ou Clément Jodoin. Cependant, si la sélection de l’entraîneur se fait au détriment d’un coach mieux formé pour le poste, il est là le problème.

Avec sa politique d’embauche actuelle, ce que le Canadien fait, c’est ajouter un filtre supplémentaire superflu à son processus de sélection. L’organisation passe à côté d’excellents dirigeants parce qu’il ne parle pas français –Steve Yzerman aurait souhaité obtenir à tout le moins une entrevue d’embauche d’emploi, lorsque le CH était à la recherche d’un nouveau directeur général. Désolé, Steve, tes compétences et tes connaissances en hockey ne surpassent pas ton manque linguistique. À Montréal, on a la seule équipe où les compétences linguistiques prévalent à l’expérience pertinente à l’intérieur d’un curriculum vitae. Le Canadien raye systématiquement tous les candidats qui ne parlent pas français. C’est peut-être pour ça que son club se contente de la médiocrité depuis quelques années.

Le bel héritage francophone du Canadien ne vas pas être ruiné si le Canadien embauche pour une fois, le meilleur candidat possible indépendamment de sa langue natale. À compétence égale, oui, priorisons l’entraîneur qui parle français. Mais ça ne devrait pas être le critère de sélection prééminent. Qu’est-ce que le patrimoine du Canadien collectionne exactement, les coupes Stanley ou le nombre d’entrevues données en français à RDS?

Je ne défends pas l’embauche de Randy Cunneyworth, mais j’aurais défendu l’embauche de Randy Carlyle ou de Kirk Muller. Ce que je défends, c’est la légitimité à embaucher un entraîneur unilingue anglophone. Les gens qui s’insurgent contre la décision du Canadien, pensant protéger la langue française, ont une juste cause à cœur: mais ils ne la défendent pas sur le bon terrain. Dans les écoles primaires québécoises, les élèves auront plus d’heures de cours en anglais qu’en français. Le débat, il doit être fait au ministère, sur la colline Parlementaire, dans les écoles, pas sur une patinoire. Laissons les équipes jouer au hockey, et ne mêlons pas politique à cela. Je préfère que mon équipe, le Canadien, gagne avec un entraîneur anglais, qu’elle perde avec un entraîneur français.

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