23
Katie Maz Issues Index 3 7 18 16 Arts & Culture Sports & Health Life Opinion Comics Editorial Crossword <eZllbÛ^] Community Listings 6 14 17 19 21 22 23 23 23 MARCH 2011 31 6 www.theontarion.com 164.11 APRIL Men are needed in the fight for gender equality M ichael Kaufman, the co-founder of the White Ribbon Campaign, the largest movement in the world to empower men and boys to promote gender equality, visited the University of Guelph on March 22 for an educational and inspirational session on the global issue of violence against women. The campus community was welcomed to listen and participate in the event which was interactive, self-reflective and challenged common assumptions. One of the key messages Kaufman gave was that we live in a culture of male-dominance. It’s not simply the existence of men that leads societies towards accepting violence against females. Male-dominance, or patriarchy, utilizes the biological advantage of males of greater physical strength as a way to gain and maintain power. As a Co-founder of White Ribbon Campaign speaks at U of G JIHEE (MARIE) PARK A student stands up against rising tuition fees during a rally organized by the CSA on Friday, March 25. result, in patriarchal societies the incidence rate of domestic violence and abuse of women is significantly higher than in others. Kaufman also discussed the cost of violence against women. However staggering the direct and indirect economic costs are, the greater cost of domestic violence is irreparable. Children who grow up in an environment of violence are often psychologically scarred and may acquire severe developmental problems. According to Kaufman, a root cause of the insistent nature of violence against women is that it is considered a personal problem. Many people do not feel it is their responsibility to address another’s personal issues. It is important to redefine the definition of civil responsibility and make violence against women an unconditional offence, whether it is in plain sight or behind closed bedroom doors. Kaufman emphasized that throughout the history of feminism and action for women’s rights, the activists have been the women themselves. “That’s where I learned about violence against women: From women who against all odds have worked as scholars, intellectuals, activists, working developing women shelters and crisis centers,” said Kaufman. “I agree with all of that and I think we can add to it. I think we need to add to it if we’re actually going to reach men.” Kaufman pushes the need to educate and inspire men, who have had for the most part in history, a small role in promoting gender equality. A simple biological difference that separates the two sexes should see “KAUFMAN,” page 4 Pranksters educate students about new method of activism C ulture jamming, a tactic used to disrupt mainstream institutions and corporate advertising, has been taken to a whole new level. e Yes Men raise awareness about problematic social justice issues through impersonating leaders and corporations in the mainstream media, a practice they coined as “identity correction.” Fake websites, press releases and videos that resemble those of real Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men and CRIME’s Laurence Fabre talk about hoaxes KELSEY RIDEOUT corporations create momentary confusion in the media and provide a forum to publically humiliate those complicit of unresolved social and environmental abuses. e CSA, OPIRG-Guelph and the University of Guelph Library invited Andy Bichlbaum and other notorious pranksters to campus on March 23, to share their work and describe the hoaxes they’ve helped to orchestrate. e first prank Bichlbaum spoke of was meant to shame the US Chamber of Commerce, the world’s biggest business lobby, for their stance against any government action on climate change. Bichlbaum held a simulated press conference where he announced a radically different position on climate change on behalf of the US Chamber of Commerce. e CNN picked up the story and later reported that the announcement was a hoax and the lobby group was not changing its position on climate change after all. Awareness was spread over how the Chamber really spends its $400,000 dollar per day budget, and Al Gore has since reported that the lobby group has decided to make some real changes in its attitude towards climate change. One of the first questions directed towards Bichlbaum was over the possibility of being sued for impersonating large-scale corporations. e Yes Men have only had to deal with one lawsuit (the outcome of which has yet to be determined) in the past 12 years of doing pranks. “It’s really because everybody can see that we’re right and they’re wrong,” explained Bichlbaum, on why corporations rarely try to sue the Yes Men. “You pull that veil, you do something stupid and funny and make people laugh and immediately everybody gets it. ere’s nothing to it.” Special guest Laurence Fabre from the Committee for the Repayment of the Indemnity Money Expropriated from Haiti see “YES MEN,” page 3 LEADING CHEER- LOVE & ANGER SLUT WALK GARDENS COMMUNITY GIVING UP COFFEE? PAGE 16

March 31st 2011

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Page 1: March 31st 2011

Katie Maz

Issues

Index

37

1816

Arts & CultureSports & HealthLifeOpinionComicsEditorialCrossword

Community Listings

61417192122232323

MARCH 2011316

www.theontarion.com164.

11

APRIL

Men are needed in the fi ght for gender equality

Michael Kaufman, the co-founder of the White Ribbon

Campaign, the largest movement in the world to empower men and boys to promote gender equality, visited the University of Guelph on March 22 for an educational and inspirational session on the global issue of violence against women. The campus community was welcomed to listen and participate in the event which was interactive, self-reflective and challenged common assumptions.

One of the key messages Kaufman gave was that we live in a culture of male-dominance. It ’s not simply the existence of men that leads societies towards accepting violence against females. Male-dominance, or patriarchy, utilizes the biological advantage of males of greater physical strength as a way to gain and maintain power. As a

Co-founder of White Ribbon Campaign speaks at U of G JIHEE (MARIE) PARK

A student stands up against rising tuition fees during a rally organized by the CSA on Friday, March 25.

result, in patriarchal societies the incidence rate of domestic violence and abuse of women is significantly higher than in others.

Kaufman also discussed the cost of violence against women. However staggering the direct and indirect economic costs are, the greater cost of domestic violence is irreparable. Children who grow up in an environment of violence are often psychologically scarred and may acquire severe developmental problems.

According to Kaufman, a root cause of the insistent nature of violence against women is that it is considered a personal problem. Many people do not feel it is their responsibility to address another’s personal issues. It is important to redefine the definition of civil responsibility and make violence against women an unconditional offence, whether it is in plain sight or behind closed bedroom doors.

Kaufman emphasized that throughout the history of feminism and action for women’s

rights, the activists have been the women themselves.

“That’s where I learned about violence against women: From women who against all odds have worked as scholars, intellectuals, activists, working developing women shelters and crisis centers,” said Kaufman. “I agree with all of that and I think we can add to it. I think we need to add to it if we’re actually going to reach men.”

Kaufman pushes the need to educate and inspire men, who have had for the most part in history, a small role in promoting gender equality. A simple biological difference that separates the two sexes should

see “KAUFMAN,” page 4

Pranksters educate students about new method of activism

Culture jamming, a tactic used to disrupt mainstream institutions

and corporate advertising, has been taken to a whole new level. Th e Yes Men raise awareness about problematic social justice issues through impersonating leaders and corporations in the mainstream media, a practice they coined as “identity correction.” Fake websites, press releases and videos that resemble those of real

Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men and CRIME’s Laurence Fabre talk about hoaxesKELSEY RIDEOUT

corporations create momentary confusion in the media and provide a forum to publically humiliate those complicit of unresolved social and environmental abuses.

Th e CSA, OPIRG-Guelph and the University of Guelph Library invited Andy Bichlbaum and other notorious pranksters to campus on March 23, to share their work and describe the hoaxes they’ve helped to orchestrate. Th e fi rst prank Bichlbaum spoke of was meant to shame the US Chamber of Commerce, the world’s biggest business lobby, for their stance against any government action on climate change.

Bichlbaum held a simulated press conference where he

announced a radically diff erent position on climate change on behalf of the US Chamber of Commerce. Th e CNN picked up the story and later reported that the announcement was a hoax and the lobby group was not changing its position on climate change after all. Awareness was spread over how the Chamber really spends its $400,000 dollar per day budget, and Al Gore has since reported that the lobby group has decided to make some real changes in its attitude towards climate change.

One of the fi rst questions directed towards Bichlbaum was over the possibility of being sued for impersonating large-scale corporations. Th e Yes Men have

only had to deal with one lawsuit (the outcome of which has yet to be determined) in the past 12 years of doing pranks.

“It’s really because everybody can see that we’re right and they’re wrong,” explained Bichlbaum, on why corporations rarely try to sue the Yes Men. “You pull that veil, you do something stupid and funny and make people laugh and immediately everybody gets it. Th ere’s nothing to it.”

Special guest Laurence Fabre from the Committee for the Repayment of the Indemnity Money Expropriated from Haiti

see “YES MEN,” page 3

LEADINGCHEER-

LOVE& ANGER

SLUTWALK

GARDENSCOMMUNITY

GIVING UP

COFFEE?PAGE 16

Page 2: March 31st 2011

The Ontarion is seeking an experienced and enthusiastic individual to fill the position of Advertising Manager. The successful candidate will demonstrate the following experience and skills:

Sales experience, preferably in print & web advertising Customer service, negotiation & conflict resolution Graphic design using Mac computers & Adobe software Training & supervision of staff Access to a vehicle is required for customer calls Previous work in a newspaper environment is an asset This is a flexible, full-time position with a two-year renewable contract Compensation includes base salary plus commission on advertising

sales, optional health and dental benefits & an annual campus parking pass

Annual salary potential $35K - $40K

A complete Job Description can be obtained by emailing Monique at [email protected]

Please reply with cover letter and resume by Friday April 15, 2011 at 4 pm to:

Ontarion Hiring CommitteeUC 264, University of GuelphGuelph, Ontario N21G 2W1 Fax: 519-824-7838E-mail: [email protected]

The Ontarion’s Employment Equity Policy is a proactive measure to recruit qualified people from a variety of ethnic, religious and class backgrounds, lesbians, bisexuals, gays and transgendered people, people of colour, Aboriginal people, people with disabilities and women. Members of the previously identified groups are encouraged to self-identify.

Only those applicants granted an interview will be contacted. To obtain a copy of the Employment Equity Policy or the complete Job Description email us at [email protected]

The Ontarion is hiring for the position of

ADVERTISING MANAGER

Page 3: March 31st 2011

3Mar. 31 - Apr. 6, 2011.com

NewsCities are ‘feeling the heat’ around climate change

Th e United Nations warns urban areas to prepare to be a target in order to curb climate change. A study by the UN-Habitat reports that 70 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions are due to the world’s cities, which only occupy two per cent of the planet’s land. Urban areas are considered energy intensive due to transportation and energy consumptions. Th ere is a need for improved knowledge surrounding climate change in regards to how cities contribute and what action needs to be taken. Th e Global Report on Human Settlements 2011, Cities and Climate Change: Policy Directions hopes to achieve this need through goals expressed in their report. - BBC

Platforms planks for federal election unveiled

A non-confi dence motion triggered Canada’s fourth federal election in less than seven years. National party leaders have started to unveil their platforms as election day approaches. Liberal leader, Michael Ignatieff , announced a campaign plank to help fund post-secondary educations for Canadian students. Jack Layton declared that part of the NDP campaign was focusing on credit card debt in order to control Canadian families’ household debt. Conservative Leader Stephen Harper is rumored to unveil an incentive for small businesses to continue the theme of lower taxes. Continue to look for announcements from all party leaders as the upcoming weeks progress. - CBC

Signifi cant reduction in energy during Earth Hour

On Saturday March 26, 2011 residents of Guelph who participated in Earth Hour signifi cantly reduced energy consumption. Th e Guelph Hydro Inc. municipal utility parent reported that during the hour, local power consumer used 4 megawatts less than the same period a week earlier. Th is equates to the equivalent of 1300 homes being dropped off the power grid. Th e University of Guelph contributed to the eff orts by reducing or turning off lights on campus. Th ere have been reports of the international event losing momentum among other cities but with these fi ndings it does not appear to be the case for Guelph. - Guelph Mercury

Compiled by Tahlia Dyer

(CRIME) helped to organize a hoax in which they acted as the French government and declared their commitment to repaying the 90 million gold francs France imposed upon Haiti following their independence in 1804. Th e debt has crippled Haiti’s economy since the early 19th century.

“We saw that the media had played a role of megaphone for foreign powers that had sought to quell discussion about Haiti’s independence debt and its role in underdevelopment,” said Fabre. “So it was no coincidence that we chose to stage a prank in which the voice of a pretend French government was prominent because we knew from experience that France would get listened to when it talked about Haiti.”

CRIME followed the hoax with a letter signed by prominent world leaders such as Noam Chomsky and Naomi Klein that publically denounced France’s refusal to pay back Haiti’s independence debt.

As the attention span in the media is so short, Fabre described how to create pranks that have a lasting impact.

“I think for a prank to

be eff ective as a mobilizing tool, I think you need to act in coordination with groups who are working on ongoing campaigns and you need to tap into networks that can talk about the signifi cance of the prank… I think it’s important to pick a target very carefully, that there’s a movement focused on that same target so you immediately have a network that can push forward the issue,” she said.

Bichlbaum was asked why he uses the approach of creating short-term confusion opposed to raising awareness in a more honest and direct manner.

“Within usually an hour or two, we’ve completed unveiled everything and said this is what happened, this is why it happened and this was who was involved...Why we do it that way instead of just saying this is important and sending out press releases is because probably nobody would publish that. Even the 20th anniversary of the Bhopal catastrophe wasn’t considered important enough to get much attention. I think doing our hoax enabled a lot more press to be written about that,” said Bichlbaum, in reference

to another Yes Men prank that shamed Dow Chemical over their refusal to compensate victims of the world’s largest industrial disaster.

Bichlbaum emphasized that

the purpose of pranks is not to create deceit, but to bring attention to important issues that rarely see media coverage.

“We don’t make lies. We unveil the truth.”

Josh Doyle

“YES MEN,” continued

Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men and Laurence Fabre from CRIME gave an interactive and at times hilarious presentation about international hoaxing and media activism.

Students to fi ght against shame by marching in SlutWalk

Slut. It ’s a pejorative word all too often tossed around with no repercussions. But

after a representative from the Toronto Police recently used the term in relation to sexual assault, a prompt uprising was born.

In stating, “Women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized,” the officer provoked a group of people to organize a rally denouncing the view that it ’s okay to blame victims of sexual assault based on their personal characteristics.

SlutWalk Toronto organizers explain more about the cause on their website.

“As the city’s major protective service, the Toronto Police have perpetuated the myth and stereotype of ‘the slut,’ and in doing so have failed us. With sexual assault already a significantly under-reported crime, survivors have now been given even less of a reason to go to the Police, for fear that they

Free transportation from Guelph to Toronto rally on Sunday, April 3

KELSEY RIDEOUT

could be blamed. Being assaulted isn’t about what you wear; it ’s not even about sex; but using a pejorative term to rationalize inexcusable behaviour creates an environment in which it ’s okay to blame the victim.”

U of G students Kinnison Ma and Kaila Newby have helped to organize a free bus trip from Guelph to Toronto on Sunday, April 3. The bus will leave the parking lot between the Boathouse and the Cat Clinic on Gordon St. at 11:30 am and drive to Queen’s Park, where the rally will start. At the end of the day, the bus will leave Queen’s Park at 5 pm and head back to Guelph.

Ma explained why she feels compelled to march the streets of Toronto for Slutwalk.

“We think this behaviour is so unacceptable and so wrong and we’re going to go out and show that hundreds of people think that no matter what you wear, who you are, or how you act, no one asks to be sexually assaulted. It ’s important that people start realizing that that isn’t an okay way of thinking,” said Ma, who sits on the Awareness of Sexual Assault Prevention Committee

(ASAP), alongside Newby, who is the producer of the Vagina Monologues at the U of G.

Newby emphasized that the attitudes expressed by the Toronto Police officer are not rare and continue to be shared by many figures of authority. A judge in Manitoba has recently received a lot of media coverage over releasing a perpetrator of sexual assault because the victim was perceived to be “provoking him with what she was wearing,” explained Newby.

SlutWalk also serves as an opportunity to shed awareness about the resources that do exist to support those who have endured sexual assault.

“There are a lot of people who have been sexually assaulted on our campus,” said Newby. “There are a lot of survivors. I feel like it ’s important for us to make the message loud and clear that there are a lot of support people and places on campus and we want to go to rallies like this to make sure that people are aware that they don’t have to feel ashamed.”

Support services in Guelph include the Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis Centre, the

Guelph Resource Centre for Gender Empowerment and Diversity (GRCHED) and the Wellness Centre. Both Newby and Ma praised Director of Campus Community Police Robin Begin, describing her as an “amazing ally” who is also a great support for sexual assault survivors.

Ma encouraged those interested in attending SlutWalk to show up on Sunday for the free bus to Toronto, and clarified that the march is inclusive of everyone.

“One thing is that this march isn’t specifically for woman-identified people, anyone can go and you don’t have to dress up in any sort of way. The name is more just in response to what the Toronto Police officer said. I know there are misconceptions that maybe we’re supposed to dress up in certain ways, but you don’t have to, just come as you are.”

Page 4: March 31st 2011

4 Mar. 31 - Apr. 6, 2011 164.11

News

not be the basis of discrimination, and the combined effort of all members of society is required for a wholesome and effective transition towards a culture of mutual respect and justice. To journey along that path, we have to begin to better understand the struggles faced by men.

“We have to also take action where we are and do things to reach men around us. One of the things we need to know about other men, and I say this as another man, is that we know, that men like women, share common values. One common value that we all share is that men, like women, want to be loved…but men are so stuck in this armor, so stuck feeling like we got to just keep proving ourselves to other men, that we carry around this weight,” said Kaufman.

2010 HOCKEY GOLDFIGHTERWALKING DEAD - SEASON 1JACKASS - P3HEREAFTERNEXT THREE DAYS FASTERBURLESQUEMEGAMINDBAMBI - DIAMOND EDITION

“ KAUFMAN,” continued

As a speech delivered at an educational institution, Kaufman also touched on the issues that exist in a campus setting, among students and other community members. These include harassment, sexual abuse and the psychological stresses that many female students face. Simple acts like walking home after the library closes at night may not alarm a male student in the same way. Not only did he identify the issues, but also presented solutions – get men on board with the effort.

“We have to find ways to connect with men…How do we do that? We build on this knowledge, by saying, first of all, if the violence stems from inequality then we damn well better fight and struggle for societies of greater equality. Because the greater equality we have, the less violence we’re going to have.”

Megan Verhey

Page 5: March 31st 2011

5Mar. 31 - Apr. 6, 2011.com

NewsPro-life exhibit brings continued debate over abortion

On Monday, March 28, the University Centre was once again filled with a

specific kind of imagery. Numerous display booths showing month-by-month pictures of unborn fetuses and an interactive stand with 4D ultrasound photos were meant to reiterate one student club’s most central message: life begins at conception.

For Hanna Barlow, Life Choice president and second-year Physics student, the day was meant to prompt discussion and openly inform students about the options they have aside from abortion.

“Today is very much about education and conversation with people,” said Barlow. “We’re showing people development from conception onwards. Already today, I’ve had wonderful conversations with people. I really love it when people are willing to have the conversation and debate…That’s my favourite part about today.”

Barlow was reluctant to describe the event as “anti-choice.”

“I don’t think the word anti-choice really applies. We’re not saying the mother has no rights, we’re not saying women don’t deserve the choice. What we’re

KELSEY RIDEOUT saying is think about the fact that women have rights, I’m a woman, I know I have rights, but if you believe that the child within you is a human person, then it has rights too, by nature of its humanity. I think it’s more of a message of respecting the life that you have,” said Barlow.

As is the case every year, the ideas Barlow and other Life Choice supporters promoted did not sit well with everyone. Several individuals quickly assembled a pro-choice booth in order to provide a different outlet for the student body.

Anastasia Zavarella, the CSA’s Local Affairs Commissioner, described why she helped in putting together the pro-choice display with the support of the CSA, the Wellness Centre and other community groups.

“I’m here to distribute information that is going to correct any kind of misunderstandings that students might pick up from the other displays, and to distribute pro-choice resources…There isn’t just one side of the story, there’s another presence on campus and people who care about the right to choose and value it,” she said.

Zavarella explained her major concerns over the imagery and information that was being disseminated by Life Choice.

“I think my primary concern is that it could be really triggering for people. The general sense that I get is that abortion is a difficult thing to do, both on your body and it can be a very emotional decision and a stressful time in your life, especially since the resources and the accessibility of abortion is so difficult…Then to have displays like this, that kind of drive home those messages [that] this is something you should feel guilty about, this is something you should feel ashamed of, that you’ve made the wrong decision. That’s kind of my primary concern, [that] the students who have had abortions, or who are pro-choice, feel isolated and made to feel guilty and ashamed of who they are and the experiences that they’ve had,” explained Zavarella.

Additionally, Zavarella was worried that the event was simplifying a complex and sensitive issue.

“What are the resources you have to care for the child? Is this something that is right for you? Is the pregnancy a result of a

sexual assault or incest? There’s so many other things that go into this,” explained Zavarella.

Barlow was asked to describe her thoughts over the circumstances in which women become pregnant, including sexual assault.

“I can’t think of anything quite as horrible as that…But if you actually talk to women who are in those circumstances, it surprised me that a lot of them say ‘I wanted to have my child, it was part of the healing process.’ Some of them say having an abortion was like a second rape. They were violated a second time.”

Some students may remember the controversy that occurred in 2009, when Life Choice was temporarily disaccredited after their “Life Fair” event sparked controversy and fueled concerns that women were being attacked.

Barlow, however, emphasized

her support for women who have undergone abortions and reiterated that this year’s event was meant to establish a respectful dialogue.

“I know women who have had abortions and it’s not an easy thing,” said Barlow. “It’s something that stays with you. I think it’s so important to educate people about it…I’m very sympathetic towards those women. I understand that they’re carrying pain with them. The last thing I want to do is make it worse for them.”

Megan Verhey

Students partake in Water Walk

Five kilometers. It’s the distance of many road races, hikes and neighbourhood

strolls. It’s also the distance travelled by many individuals in developing countries to the nearest water source. On Saturday, March 26, twenty students took a five km walk downtown and back to campus carrying buckets of water on behalf of Tin Roof Global Action and the Ugandan Water and Garden Project. The walk aimed to raise awareness about the scarcity of this resource and to raise money for initiatives such as the construction of water catchment tanks in Uganda.

Tin Roof Global Action is a relatively new organization on campus, and is led by Professor Craig Johnson, John Millar and a group of University of Guelph students. Through events like the water walk, the group hopes to raise awareness about international development issues and create global change.

“The Water Walk fulfills Tin

ANDREA LAMARRE KELSEY RIDEOUT

Roof ’s double-pronged mandate which is to educate locally about key international development issues and to help out a good cause in an international context. In this case, the water walk was helping out the Uganda Water and Garden project, and all of the proceeds we raise from the walk and our

upcoming events are going towards this,” explained Matthew Gumley, a fourth-year Political Science student and member of Tin Roof.

Gumley explained that the walk helped students gain insight into one of the challenges faced by those living in developing countries.

“The event was influenced by

the fact that numerous times a day people have to walk five km or greater just to get water, and most of the time it’s not people like us. It’s people who haven’t eaten in a long time. It’s children and old women.”

Even for the able-bodied, the distance is made more difficult by hauling buckets of water.

“It was tough. I can’t imagine having to do that daily or even a few times a day,” said Zoe Arghandewal, a third-year CJPP student. Seeing students trekking up the Gordon street hill also garnered some curiosity from those passing by.

“We got a couple of car honks… it’s not everyday that you see people walking down the street with buckets on their heads,” commented Patrick McBride, a fourth-year International Development student.

Some individuals have voiced uncertainty over the methods employed by Tin Roof and other non-profit organizations to generate awareness. Lisa Rideout, Director of Communications and Outreach for Good Evidence, a group that produces videos to share inspiring models of community based action, believes it’s important to question whether or not students walking with water on their heads depicts an honest representation of those facing water scarcity.

“The Water Walk that happened

in Guelph was meant to bring light to the problem of water scarcity. While it is hard to deny that attention must be brought to issues such as water scarcity, hunger, and homelessness, these kinds of token gestures performed by many North Americans across the continent are problematic. Performing a unison act, like walking with a bucket on your head, diminishes the experience of citizens actually facing water scarcity issues into an identifiable visual. What I mean by this is that, individuals without clean water, food or shelter do not have the same experience. They come from various backgrounds and experience their everyday lives very differently,” she said.

Tin Roof ’s programming goes beyond the Water Walk. The organization engages in several other community projects throughout the year, including offering Explore, a weeklong summer camp program for elementary school students that educates youth about international culture and development. As it grows and expands, Tin Roof Global Action hopes to bridge the gap they see between local and global action, through events such as the Water Walk and the upcoming open-mic event at the Bullring on April 8.

Tin Roof Global Action raises funds for the Ugandan Water and Garden Project

Tin Roof Global

A student stops to look at the Life Choice booths that showcased various in-the-womb images.

Students participated in Tin Roof ’s Water Walk, carrying water for five km to support a project in Uganda.

Page 6: March 31st 2011

6 Mar. 31 - Apr. 6, 2011 164.11

Lovely good music at Dublin St. Church

“There was never a moment when we were like ‘Are we a

band?’ We were a band,” said Caroline Brooks. Th is from the same lips that part ways to bring you one voice out of three in the trio of ladies known as Th e Good Lovelies. Brooks, Kerri Ough and a vocally overworked Sue Passmore brought their guitars, banjos and casual dresses to Guelph again last Friday, March 25 for a performance at the Dublin St. Church. Th e ladies, indeed as lovely in person as they are on stage or in your stereo, are currently on tour in support of their album Let the Rain Fall, independently released in February.

“We’re always touring,”

Harmonious trio Th e Good Lovelies visit Guelph before going internationalJOSH DOYLE

Arts & Cultureadmitted Brooks, adding that the trio puts in an average 150 performance days a year. “It’s good, it makes us happy to be on the road, and as independent musicians the only way to get your music out there is to be on the road.”

Naturally the idea of distance is a theme explored on the Lovelies latest release. “Old Highway,” which sounds like a grown up version of a Taylor Swift song, covers this ground well. Th e lyrics, “I miss home, I miss my mama, I miss the babies too,” are a musical refl ection of the ladies constant absence from home as they tour relentlessly.

Let the Rain Fall embodies other themes as well, most of them optimistic, encompassing love, freedom, and having fun in the rain. Th e latter makes up the idea for the Lovelies cover art by Canadian artist Julia Hepburn. It pictures a diorama of the ladies in yellow raincoats, reeling a boat out of what looks to be their living

room, all instruments on board. “It comes from that idea that it

doesn’t really matter if it’s raining or whatever, you can still have a good-time,” said Brooks.

Album opener “Made For Rain,” is a perfect embodiment of this theme, an inclusive harmony written about the way “nothing can sink our smiles.” It breaks off into melodious singing, almost becoming melancholy before it’s interrupted by another spunky harmony. Follow up “Free” is even more joyous, giving an early impression of the album as occupying only one aspect of human emotion, but eventually it fi nds a balance. “Best I Know,” is a plea for reciprocated love done right, the joy of previous tracks replaced by more concentrated and personal music, and lyrics of longing.

“Th ey’re not all that happy, but defi nitely at our shows we want everyone to have a good time. Th ere’s plenty of places to fi nd the other stuff ,” said Passmore before being silenced by her band mates, her voice in need of rest.

It’s easy to see Th e Good Lovelies take their songwriting to heart, considering it a vital organ in the body that is their music. While true of many artists, it’s the Lovelies communal approach that helps keep them moving in the same direction and producing work they can all call their own.

“We share songwriting credits, which I think is a very healthy way to maintain. If you look at the bands that have had staying power,” Brooks said, before making clear she was about to throw out some weighty examples. “Bands like U2, Coldplay, the Beatles; they’re all bands that share songwriting credits.”

Th e results of this approach seem to be working in the Lovelies favour. Th e songwriting for Let the Rain Fall is more or less an evenly shared task, some tracks written primarily by one member, while others are truly collaborative.

Up to this point Th e Good Lovelies have toured only in the U.S. and Canada, but recent developments will have them going international come April.

“We head to Australia next month, and in May were in the UK,” said Brooks. Th e Good Lovelies end their Canadian tour in Toronto, on April 2.

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Matt Barnes

Creative Submission

What would the old church pastor say,Were his spirit to return here todayFor his church is now so close to the highway.I imagine that, way back in his day,Th is bustling road was a country laneJust two dirt ruts, pretty and plain.To the left and right, settlers planted their grainBut pretty soon more and more people came,Moving North to new lands - wild, un-tame -Hoping they too could stake out a claim.In a matter of time, the forests were felled,Crops they would plant, homesteads they’d build,But how could this country possibly grow,If this cart track was not made a road? Th ough this road now linked cities and towns,Th ere was still plenty of rural charm to be found.Every Sunday, folks would frequent this sacred hall,Bounded by its four simple brick walls,And listen to each new weekly sermonWhile stained glass saints sat patiently observing.But soon someone thought to mount an engine on wheels,And this clever fellow invented the automobile.Now, with transportation so greatly improved,It became inevitable that this road should be paved.Th is made it easy to take a country vacation,To rent a lakeside cottage for a week’s duration - Or better yet, buy a nice house out this way,And just drive to work in the city each day.Shortly, the roadway doubled in size,I doubt the old pastor would believe his own eyesWere he to glance upon - just once more - Th is old temple with its boarded-up doors,Now just paces from the wide gravel shoulderBeyond which cars fi le past like marching tin soldiers.Th is monument to God is just a memory long gone,As evidenced by the unkempt churchyard lawn,Th e cold absence of the choir’s sweet song,And the traffi c that just keeps moving along.And now, I too drive on past:Just another car, just like the last.

Th e Old Church NICK REVINGTON

Harmonic trio Th e Good Lovelies re-visited their loyal Guelph fan base on Friday. Th ey head to Australia for their fi rst international tour in April.

“It doesn’t really matter if it’s raining or whatever, you can

still have a good-time.” Caroline

Brooks

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7Mar. 31 - Apr. 6, 2011.com

Arts & CultureCanadian playwright interesting choice for 2011 Mainstage

Canadian playwright George F Walker’s Love and Anger was the University of

Guelph’s Mainstage performance for Winter 2011, running from March 21 to 26 in the George Luscombe theatre.

Walker’s play follows the trials of a do-good lawyer “Petie” Maxwell (Sean Jacklin), a once prosperous, greedy practitioner who throws away his fortune after suffering a stroke and puts his energies towards helping those less fortunate. With the audience’s gaze remaining totally on the office, Maxwell is carried along by (or carries along) a supporting cast of responsibility, mental illness and a tangible cause, all manifested in three women who don’t so much get in each others way as give one another a reason for being there.

Maxwell’s complete 180 is begrudgingly followed by loyal assistant Eleanor (Abigail Slinger), who would rather have no part in his new approach to “law,” which involves dragging his name through the dirt in order to spite the system he now regards as evil.

Fueling Maxwell’s ambition is Gail Jones (Melika Azodi), a young woman trying to have her wrongly convicted husband released from prison. He promises to help, if only she’ll write about her life in the other room for a while. Enter “Babe” Connor (Eli Campbell), a

Acting and set-design prove student theatre worth price of admissionJOSH DOYLE

newspaper-producing bully who’s grown tired of Maxwell’s street level defacement of his newspaper stands. Connor becomes the figure of Maxwell’s cause, who sees the media mogul as a symbol of everything wrong with the world. After a peaceable solution is met with staunch resistance, Connor hires Maxwell’s old partner and friend Sean Harris as his lawyer.

The introduction of Harris (Lou Progosh) offers a glimpse of Maxwell’s past. Referencing $2,500 as the amount Peter used to spend on a raincoat, we see what Maxwell once was, making his abandon seem all the more desperate and misguided. Progosh’s portrayal is just pompous enough to make us hate him, and he’s confident enough with his place in the world to make us hate that too.

Ensuring the script never gets lost in its own gloom, Eleanor’s schizophrenic sister Sarah, played enthusiastically by Kate Maguire, comes along to stir the pot. She provides consistent reason for laughter, and a surprising degree of reason. Though not hopeless, her presence adds to Eleanor’s growing tension, and causes several brawls with the wealthy characters of Walker’s little corner in time.

“This place makes me very uneasy,” says an end-of-her-rope Eleanor of Maxwell’s corroding office. Slinger occupies the perfect amount of reserve for someone normal trying to function surrounded by eccentric characters. Indeed she speaks for everyone else who stumbles into that dingy hole in the ground, and therefore the play. Once the door is opened

the dialogue lets loose, and action follows so quickly that the law office becomes the epicenter of stress and mayhem. Clever indeed!

Jacklin does significant justice the model of ‘hopeless and deranged’ meets ‘ambitious idealist’ that comprises Maxwell’s character. He hobbles around the stage without his cane, reciting in rapid fire the problems he has with the world and the way he plans to tear it down. Full of big ideas and nowhere to take them, he leans on the tangible cause of Jones, whose calm portrayal by Azodi grounds the play.

Acting apart, the set was the most striking aspect of this season’s Mainstage. It’s crafty attention to detail and comfortable feel was realistic while fantastical, a world where logic is called to question, complete with a fully operational conveyer belt for carrying away crooked lawyers.

Director Paul Mulholland’s version sticks closely to the characters, examining each with a magnifying glass until we both love and despise them. In a word, we know them. As Connor, Campbell is successful in delivering a monologue that brings doubt to the understanding of right and wrong outlined early on. In a similar fashion we begin to doubt Maxwell’s aim, his fumbling and lack of direction offering no desirable alternative to those things he speaks against. The performance closes on a note of bandaged chaos, the little poor people left with prison, death, mental illness, and eventually each other, while the rich walk off with

another victory. Walker gives us a mere story, a

mess of lives intertwining, each of them with their own motives, each of them in need of a way out. In

a blink, the story is over, and the rest of the world fails to notice. A brilliant script, colourfully executed by a well-chosen cast, this year’s Mainstage raised the bar.

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Where it’s at: The music scene is saturated.

The world of live music has encountered an overhaul since the rock and roll

phenomenon of the 1960s. Back then it was rock gods and concert arenas, making it big and becoming “rockstars.” Now the term rockstars is barely in existence, and those who make their way to success find they’re sharing the stage with thousands of other acts. And the “god” status really doesn’t seem to be there anymore. Really, who today would qualify? The biggest names that come to mind when I think musician are Eminem, Jay-Z and Justin Bieber. Two of them are rappers and one of them can’t drive his own car(s). The point is, the landscape of music has changed.

Whereas getting signed to a label or even having one hear your music was a task all on its own in the 70’s and 80’s, the internet has changed that. Still an obvious

JOSH DOYLE marker of success in the industry, sites like Myspace have made getting your music noticed a much easier process.

The music of today’s independent artists are hitting close to as many ears as Cream and Jefferson Airplane did thirty years ago. An important difference between them is probably no one will remember them the way we remember Jefferson Airplane. Another difference is they aren’t making any money. Now-a-days people won’t go to a concert if it costs more than $10. New bands come out every day, ready to play for pennies, if not for free just to be heard. While this creates a wealth of original material, it also results in a sensory overload for music listeners.

Even the medium put in place to regulate the flow of music from production to listeners is suffering from the enormity. Sure, music

journalists will tell you they’re on top of it, with their millions of reviews and quirky back stories to every musician you can think of. They’re actually doing a good job considering, but if you read enough reviews you’ll find they’re scrambling to find different words for the same thing. The problem is two sided; there’s too much music (yeah, I said it) and there’s too much GOOD music (yeah, said that too).

Pitchfork.com always has a new advertisement up for the latest record you should buy, from a band you may never have heard of. Even if the music on Screws Get Loose by Those Darlins is amazing, I’m still getting to know The Strokes latest. Can I get a hot second here?! How can I be expected to digest the music and come up with thoughts of my own on it if I only get a week before it’s old news? When do I make it a part of my

life, smoke an organic cigarette to it, or sing it in my car with the windows down? Evidence suggests this is an old idea. The industry and listeners alike want us to buy, listen, regurgitate and forget, in just enough time for them to market you the next best thing.

I’m sure I’m coming off old fashioned and clearly there’s no turning back now, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t too much out there to keep up with. Canadian Music Week finished March 25. It advertised 350 bands at 35 venues over three nights. That’s a ridiculous amount of music to take in over such a short time. I’m not sure who should alter their behaviour, the plethora of bands putting out new material everyday or the demanding listeners and their jam-packed iPods, but I’m pretty sure the solution might be for both of these parties just to slow the fuck down.

Melika Azodi, Kate Maguire and Abigiail Slinger observe as Sean Jacklin begins another ethical lament in this year’s Mainstage production, Love & Anger

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Arts &CultureWhat am I looking at?

This week Zavitz Gallery hosts the work of Professor J. Carl’s

Sculpture class, an intriguing display of dangling fabrics, vibrant colour and twisted metal.

Entering the gallery is something of a task on its own, which may not have much to do with the art installation but adds in turn to the experience. The only available doors are those at the front of Zavitz Hall, which lead you directly into the first piece of sculpture. On first impression, large globs of a thick black fluid drip from the ceiling and connect with the floor. They are remnant of oil, but recall something with its own life force and degree of consciousness. They, or perhaps it since the globs might all be part of the same organic entity, appear to be mobile, traveling to the floor as opposed to falling

Winter 2011 Sculpture class holds collaborative exhibitJOSH DOYLE

by the hand of gravity. If the substance is oil, it has taken over the building, giving the impression that we have failed in controlling its influence over us. And yet the “liquid” is strangely inviting.

Inside the gallery several pieces run into one another, making boundaries difficult to distinguish. There is a relationship between pieces though, most of them seeming to compliment one another in the simplicity of the idea behind them, and their inability to achieve whatever practical cause you may assign to them.

Center space is occupied by what you might see as a Mary Poppins inspired flying machine; the kind of makeshift ornament only she could command. A large espresso machine makes up the core of the rather large unit, surrounded by decaying metal bars as its frame. The machine takes the place you’d assign to an engine, its silver body calling you to imagine it as functional. The artist goes as far as plugging its cord into

an outlet attached to the unit’s rear, a plastic skid-base with no connection to electricity. The illusion of power is nearly complete, and if somehow the umbrella affixed to the front can lift the machine into the air, your imagination can close in the logical gaps.

In the far right corner hang three chandeliers, one each coloured white, black and red. They each boast different styles of unused candles, remarking on their lack of function no more than the way they cling to one another vertically. Together they hang just inches from the floor, as though a person without understanding of their use has assembled them simply because they existed, and should not be wasted.

Beneath and all around them are exactly (I believe) 140 teacups of varying décor. The arrangement is aesthetically beautiful and speaks of variety within a narrow form, the ability to work wonders with what’s provided. Of course it is highly uneconomical as a means

of storage. Interrupting their flow and adding to the unclear exchange between pieces is a narrow wooden structure that slopes towards the floor on one side, like a section of framing for a tool shed. The unit’s planks are metal meshing, through which different colours of paint have been poured from the top. Paint covers thin strands of a fabric that hang from the planks in

Megan Verhey

impossible curves that breathe life into the structure. It exists in symbiosis with the coloured organic strings, again a unit overtaken by a strange liquid.

The remaining sculptures are challenging, but worth taking in for as long as you can commit. Take a look for yourself in Zavitz Hall, exhibit opening March 31 at 6pm.

A large assortment of sculptures fi ll the gallery and surrounding corridors in Zavitz Hall

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Arts & CultureSustainability week brings Jenikz to the Bullring

Last Friday at noon the stage at the Bullring showcased the voice

of Jenikz, a Guelph-based musician, poet, and advocate for mobilization of public action. As part of Sustainability Week, her performance ignited the lunch hour crowd into a moment of introspection, critical thinking, and appreciation for the enlightening messages brought through the powerful words of her lyrics.

Her mix of song and intermittent spoken word prose was superbly effective, a delicious matrimony of melody and anguished emotion, an elaborately orchestrated combination of instrumentals and vocals.

Art, to Jenikz, is an important way to deliver a message. In this day and age, we are exposed to information left, right and centre. This overload of data often leads us to be immune to absorbing any messages that come our way, even the important ones such as halting the deterioration of the environment.

“I think that a lot of people

Local artist plays show, seeking effective channel for message of positive changeJIHEE (MARIE) PARK

feel pushed and preached at. There is always something that is bombarding us, like advertising, just preaching, preaching, preaching,” she said. “I think that art [offers] a way of expressing yourself, but not pushing yourself into people’s faces. Art is a medium that people enjoy. I think they’re more susceptible to hearing music than being told ‘Save the world!’ Music hits home on a different level.”

Her concerns over the modern world’s passive approach to the international problem of environmental degradation caused by human activity spurs her creativity. However, with the social networking technologies that exist today, she sees so much potential for everyone to take action, build momentum, and create change.

“I hope that my music influences the world to [reach] its full potential,” she said. “What I mean by that is our generation has so much opportunity. We have the Internet and things that past generations couldn’t even have fathomed, freedoms and equalities that they would have just dropped dead for. We have a lot of opportunity at our fingertips through our ability to talk to the whole world.”

Jenikz’s past album, recorded live off the floor, was simply her

voice and the guitar. Her new album, Mother Earth, is her first to be officially released for sale. This time, additional instruments and experimental effects add an industrial racket to the organic touch that still underlies the songs.

“I love the way that adding those different instruments and sounds have made it a little more rough and dirty. More instruments give more expression. A deeper expression,” she said.

In parting, Jenikz offered her words of wisdom. “I really hope that my music can reach all hearts and open humanity to a new way of doing things. There seems to be a dark force in resisting change. There are so many ways that we can make the world a better place – so many ways. I think that is already happening, and I hope that my music is pioneering in that change.”

In the quest for an informed and motivated citizenry, Jenikz’s vision and passion is paving the way for Guelph towards environmental change. As university students, we can learn from her songs and take advantage of our privilege as members of a technologically advanced society, to push onward for positive action against ignorance and apathy. Katie Maz

Jukebox

In the musical bubble that is Guelph Ontario, three young men named Alex Ricci, Robin

Wright and Christian Ingelevics formed a band with a catchy name. A couple years later and bunch of touring behind them, Texting Mackenzie are now releasing their first full-length effort. It’s called Karateka, which means karate practitioner. The album cover fittingly displays a middle-aged man in a white robe and belt who we have good reason to believe is a Karateka. Karate is described as a martial art that focuses on striking, making use of punching, kicking, knee strikes and a horde of other ways of coming at you, which is also a pretty good summary of the album.

Much of Karateka embodies a sort of dialogue between Celtic infused story-telling, melancholy

JOSH DOYLE

Texting Mackenzie, Karateka

discussions of love and rogue attempts at something wholly different, borrowing from a multitude of contemporary influences. Track three, “Down Eramosa,” is a perfect sight for this conversation. The constant change of pace is reminiscent of a System of a Down song, but the feeling is lighter, like an east coast inspired Sublime cover.

If the album has a single, it’s “Indier Than Thou,” which might be a declaration of what the band members used to want. “Rave reviews from the hipster critics in the indie circle, big in Japan…big in Japan,” goes the first bridge. Maybe it’s what they still want, but they comb over a list of stereotypes

from the indie scene in a manner of mockery. It’s a catchy, energetic song with the ability to keep you listening through multiple changes of pace.

The effort becomes obvious on some tracks, like “My Ocean.” Ricci’s lyrics are smart but the vocal delivery leaves something to be desired. The song feels desperate to give a certain impression, as though they’ve chosen a direction that doesn’t allow them to execute fully, holding something in reserve. They give much more of themselves, and therefore get a better return in songs like “End of the World,” which comes off as honest, even with dramatic subject matter.

Karateka is a fun, eclectic album, accessible for listeners with varying degrees of musical experience. With contributions from Tom Schiks (Your Neck of the Woods) and a healthy dose of string, bluegrass is never far from pop-rock. Though a good enough album to play over, Karateka feels like a stepping-stone. It’s a fertile ground, full of different styles and influences, suggesting the many possible directions the band could

go but not spending too much time on any one in particular. Wright explores imagery and allegory like a skilled storyteller, his harp and guitar meeting a sturdy, versatile voice in a union that is often

pleasantly haunting. Ricci adds to the album with a voice a touch more inner city, but behind both their words all I keep hearing is “progress.” 3/5

Courtesy

Local artist Jenikz celebrates Sustainability Week in the Bullring with recent album release, Mother Earth

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Arts & CultureWhat are you reading?

It’s weird to become a grown-up. And yet, somehow, we’re all expected to do that very

thing. Some people, like Lucy Knisley, the author of French Milk, make this realization while on a five-week trip with their mother in Paris.

French Milk is primarily a story of a really great trip. Through her quirky line drawings, Knisley takes her reader with her through the streets of the much-beloved city. Being a food-geek, I fell head over heels for Knisley’s

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Wyndham House holds concert to help youth

The Do-It-Yourself (D.I.Y.) ethic that has become the norm among

Ontario-based independent musicians was highly visible at the Brass Taps last Wednesday, March 23.  Four local  acts including Ruby Randall & Sarah Clark, Hinindar, Richard Laviolette and Your Neck of the Woods made up the bill for a benefit show in support of Guelph’s Wyndham House.  Each group dedicated their time and music free of charge in order to help raise money,

Live music helps promote Project Storage initiative PHILLIP DE VRIES WITH FILES FROM JOSH DOYLE

a notable  example  of the aforementioned ethic.  The Brass  Taps was host to about two hundred attendees, some of which were loyal fans, while others were there to help support the cause. 

“The goal of the show was to raise money for Project Storage, a program for youth 16-21 to have a secure place of storage for their prized possessions,” said Jess Cleeve, organizer for last Wednesday’s event.

The concert was driven by a softer, folk-based sound, with Laviolette as the highlight performance of the evening.  His synthesis of country-blues folk and unique vocal timbre gives him a style reminiscent of a Coen Brother’s western, evoking early twentieth century nostalgia to a generation too young to experience it.  The Guelph graduate has gained a loyal following in recent years for what Exclaim!  magazine calls his “old soul” and ability to “swing from a delicate whisper to a guttural bark.”  To both virgin and experienced ears, it’s tough to disagree.  Laviolette’s sound and performance style make the 28 year-old seem wise beyond his years, creating music that is almost better suited to days of hard labour and campfires than to Facebook and iPhones.

Laviolette wasn’t the only musician exemplifying the D.I.Y mentality.  Following his set, Your Neck of the Woods got the crowd moving with their own brand of foot-stomping folk, a sound that prompted sales of CDs clad in fabric patterns and hand-made labels, showing no less

energy than their performance itself.  Their use of  mandolin seemed to cut through the other instruments with more shine and vibrancy than  the most tonally pleasing guitar-chord, adding an uplifting and opportunistic element to their music. 

Kitchener-native Hinindar offered up acoustic versions of his own material.  With a more modern singer-songwriter approach when compared with Laviolette, he alternated between acoustic and electric-guitar based sets, complete with his own comedic banter to help get through those awkward ‘tuning-my-guitar’ silences that can’t be avoided.

Ruby Randall & Sarah Clark’s angelic harmonies were backed by a shiny-blue upright bass, adding some polish to the electric sound often muddied up by lower quality PA systems.  Playing for the  first time as a band, Ruby Randall sounded much fuller and more rehearsed when compared with her solo performances.

“[It’s] obviously awesome,” said Randall of the change from solo act to full band. “It’s nice to have all the parts I picture in my head for my songs to not only be fulfilled but exceeded, because I’ve had the chance to play with such great musicians.” 

As the first act of the evening, Randall and Clark’s music drew people from their meals closer to the stage, and closer to learning about the idea behind the show.

“Music is a great tool for bringing about change and awareness for important social issues within our community,” Randall added. 

Cleeve commented on the necessity of hosting shows like this, and how the Wyndham house is working to improve conditions for youth who could use the support. Wednesday’s concert reinforced the place of live music in promoting a worthy cause.

“When youth store their things in garbage bags it perpetuates feelings of inadequacy and disposability. By providing a secure place for their belongings it helps to instill a sense of security essential to aiding youth in feeling valued.”

Courtesy

Pat Murphy

dedication to describing and drawing nearly every fantastic morsel of food that passed her lips over the course of her stay in the city of lights. Having been raised by “foodies,” as Knisley affectionately describes her parents, she certainly has her priorities in her stomach. That said, this is not just a story about eating and drinking well.

Aside from being a collection of Paris iconography and the aforementioned food porn, this is a story about the terrifying and exciting business of growing up. Knisley finds herself at the time of this story in a similar position to most university students standing on the brink of “real” adulthood. With her graduation from university mere months away, the author expresses the crippling

insecurity and hopeless idealism familiar to hordes of others in the same position. Along with anxiety about the viability of her future as an artist, Knisley deals with changes to her relationship with her boyfriend back in the United States but by far the most interesting aspect of the story is her changing relationship with her mother. Through the story of this trip, the reader can watch as the author adjusts to having an adult relationship with her parents.

Overall, French Milk is charming. It ’s a quick read and straight up pretty adorable. Knisley’s eyes are a delight to see the iconic city through. Her honest discussion of her feelings as she approaches the great adult unknown is a comfort to someone in the same position.

Wyndham house hosted a concert in support of Project Storage, involving talented local acts on Wednedsay, March 23.

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11Mar. 31 - Apr. 6, 2011.com

Arts & CultureNo more masterpieces?

Theatre theorist Anton Chekhov once said that there were no more

classic plays to be found after the year 1900. Th is theory is the basis for the fourth-year Th eatre Ensemble Class’s production of No More Masterpieces? debuting in early April.

In its fourth year running, the festival’s production, performed by the Th eatre Ensemble Class, is challenged to present six classical plays produced before 1900 in a modern theatrical setting; Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe, The Bear by Anton Chekhov, Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmund Rostand, The Taming of the Shrewby William Shakespeare, When we Dead Awaken and Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen.

Kayla Alexandropoulos, a student of the Th eatre Ensemble Class and co-executive producer of the festival’s organization committee, explained the preparation the class took this year when studying the theory for this production.

“A large part of the course is theory and adapting classics prior to 1900,” she said. “Th is production is based on Anton Chekhov’s statement about the end of classics after 1900. I think as a whole the course is to prepare us for a career in theatre in all aspects including script writing, acting, sets, lighting and costumes.”

As an end of the year project, the class is to put the festival on

Festival is back again to revive the theatre classicsRACHEL SCAPILLATI

and perform it over the course of three days, managing everything from creating the sets to making the costumes to performing in the plays themselves. “We had instructors who guided us. Sky Gilbert and Dorothy Hadfi eld provided feedback on certain things, but for the most part, we are on our own to adapt, present and produce these plays,” said Alexandropoulos.

In the course of adapting the plays, Alexandropoulos and her classmates had to follow certain guidelines in order to maintain the essence of each play while still making it their own modern adaptation.

“In each of the six plays, we had to include at least 25 minutes worth of original text from the play and up to 25 minutes of adapted text that we wrote,” she said. “With the new adapted text we can also include movement and pantomime, and anything we wanted really. We just had to make sure there was at least 25 minutes of original dialogue, the guidelines were pretty strict about that.”

Th e direction of each of the six plays is up to individual choice. With some of the plays, Alexandropoulos explained, the directors had their own unique and specifi c direction, whereas the play she was personally involved in chose to have collective input from every student involved.

“My role is similar to everyone else’s in the production,” she said. “We all [the class] essentially organize the festival ourselves and organize everything from writing the scripts, the sets, lighting, costumes, programs, rehearsal and the acting. We are

essentially compiling everything we’ve learnt in the last four years into this production.”

Some of the challenges in doing a project of this magnitude were in the actual adaptation of the play.

“One of the challenges is that we have to make these plays

relevant to a modern audience with modern language, whereas a lot of these plays were written a long time ago and use older language. We had to decide how much needed to be adapted,” she said. “One of the best parts of this production is getting to work together as a class, which has

been a really good experience.”Th e production will take place

in the George Luscombe Th eatre in the MacKinnon Building, room 101. Admission is $2 and the production runs from April 1 to April 3. For specifi c show times, go to their Facebook page, ‘No More Masterpieces?’

Gabriella Sundar Singh

Courtesy

Th e Winter 2011 Ensemble class. Th eir performance of No More Masterpieces will run April 1, 2 and 3.

Page 12: March 31st 2011

Th e results from the 2011 CSA General Elections are in! Students have elected fi ve commissioners that will comprise the CSA Executive Committee for 2011-2012.

Th e Ontarion asked each of the commissioners three questions to better understand their ideas about next year and get to know them a little bit more.

Next year I am looking forward to working with the executive and CSA board most. I believe that the executive is made up of student leaders who all come from unique backgrounds and will therefore bring greater diversity and fresh ideas to the table. Working together we will be able to have an amazing year and serve the students to the best of our ability.

I will be upset if I do not complete many goals and objectives next year, but what I believe I will be most disheartened by if I do not succeed is continuing to build upon and increase the academic community on campus. I would like to increase the collaboration on campus and facilitate diff erent groups working together to carry out academic events, forums, and getting information out to the students in an accessible and readable way. Guelph is an immensely rich campus, fi lled with student groups that are able to motivate and unite students in so many ways. Bringing these groups together in order to foster a great sense of community that will benefi t the students is a key goal I have.

Something about myself…before coming to Guelph I lived in Siberia, Russia for 10 months. I learned how to speak Russian and had the time of my life experiencing the culture and traveling the country. I also love baking and cooking with music in the background so that there is an opportunity for a dance party!

I feel so honoured to have the opportunity to represent undergraduate students on the CSA next year. Th ough my entire portfolio has me very excited for next year, I am most looking forward to having the opportunity to fi nd eff ective and creative ways to share information with the student body. We have a diverse and amazing set of groups, events and initiatives on our campus and I hope that I am able to reach as many students with this information as I can. Coordinating the CSA’s contribution to Orientation Week is also something that I am looking forward to starting on right away as Orientation Week is one of my absolute favourite parts about our university.

Meeting quorum at the Annual General Meeting is one of my most pressing goals for my term. I would be most disappointed next year if I am not able to meet quorum at this meeting, which is why I plan on innovating what has been done in the past to get more students excited about getting involved with the CSA.

Something interesting about me? Until the age of 8 I was convinced I would be a clown when I grew up. One summer my parents enrolled me in Circus Camp and I became quite profi cient in stilt walking. Th ough I have given up on my dreams of becoming a professional clown, I still own a pair of stilts and love to stilt walk once and a while!

Two things: Th e fi rst is organizing and mobilizing students around social justice and political issues that aff ect students from all walks of life. Not paying as much attention as I did in the past to the behind the scenes drama that goes on within the CSA and within the “Student Leader” community and putting more time towards representing students and providing knowledge to students about provincial and federal issues.

I will be livid if there is not a polling station on campus for the Provincial Elections in the Fall. Students have been politically disenfranchised for too long, and the unwillingness that we saw during the municipal elections to include a polling station on campus demonstrates that we are not a priority.

I absolutely love Zumba classes. If I could, I would Zumba all day. If anyone wants to organize a Zumba party with me, I’d be so down for that!

I am most looking forward to working with lots of interesting and cool people both on campus and in the Guelph community. In this position I get the privilege to meet with and support the work of people who are doing great things for the community of Guelph and beyond. I am also really looking forward to creating new opportunities for students to run with and do amazing things that surprise me and even themselves.

My number one goal in this position is to create a positive culture both in the CSA and in the Guelph community at large. By this I mean a place where people are excited to be and feel not only safe but nurtured in their interests and where they can grow as people. I want the CSA to be a place where people are excited to come and visit; where they feel like they can be supported and encouraged. I will be upset if I do not accomplish this.

I love the outdoors and try to spend as much time as I can outside. I love walking and biking through the forests and fi elds and have gone on many canoe trips in Algonquin Park and along the rivers of southern Ontario with family and friends. I have also done a hiking trip along the Bruce trail around Collingwood. As a kid me and my friends would go on day long hikes through the forest and fi elds north of Stouff ville and try to catch wild turkeys, without much success (they are really fast and smarter then they look).

For the 2011/2012 year I hope to work with the CSA’s Bullring; there is a very well written business proposal to bring local and delicious food to our student restaurant. I hope to hit the ground running and begin meeting with the group of students early this summer. In addition I plan on making the Bullring more inclusive and accessible by introducing Halal, Kosher and other dietary food options. Keep an eye out for my Bullring Food subcommittee.

Secondly, the Accessibility Working Group (AWG) has made recommendations on how to make the CSA space more physically accessible, some recommendations include installing an accessible water fountain outside the CSA front offi ce, and a power door opener at the entrance to the CSA student study space (UC Level 2). I hope to continue to work with the fi nance committee, AWG and UC administration to complete the recommendations by the end of the 2011/2012 year.

Finally a bit about myself, I was actually born Yaow-Tayki Stephen Ofori-Darko. “Joshua” is my Christian name given at my baptism. Yaow translates to ‘male born on Th ursday’ and Tayki is my actual given name. It is part of Ghanaian tradition to name children based on their day of birth and birth order. Middle names are typical only given to the fi rst born, so my father gave me his, Stephen. My name is pronounced Yao (like Yao Ming) – Ta – Chee (the vital life force). I won’t get upset if you still choose to call me Josh instead of Yaow-Takyi.

Board of Directors At-Large Representatives:

College of Arts – Sylvie Vigneux, Jodie Lalonde College of Social and Applied Human Sciences – Amy Bronson, Peter Miller College of Biological Science – Kinnison Ma, Jason Gallina

Referendums:

Students voted Yes to both referendum questions that were asked. WUSC will receive $0.71 more cents from each student towards their sponsorship of student refugees. Student Life will be granted $58 dollars from each fi rst year student to go towards O-Week costs.

Page 13: March 31st 2011

lifesaving,” said Fisher. “Th at’s something a lot of people don’t see. To be able to take that a see where Emily can go on such a world stage, the skill and determination that it takes to practice and get to that level takes a lot of self commitment.”

14 Mar. 31 - Apr. 6, 2011 164.11

Guelph lifeguard competes down under

It’s always nice to bundle up and experience the Great Canadian outdoors with winter sports

such as skiing and snowboarding. But where does lifeguarding fi t into this? University of Guelph Public Health Masters student Emily Brady trained in the frigid cold to prepare for the New Zealand Northern Region championships and the International Surf Rescue Challenge, both held in Mt. Maunganui, New Zealand in early February.

“I was training in the snow. I live right near a park and I would do a couple laps in the park and start sprinting in the snow,” said Brady. “I needed to have that kind of diff erent traction. It’s diff erent on sand than on a track, so I was hoping that the snow would build the muscle in the right spot.”

Brady not only had to practice sprinting in the snow, but also diving which proved to be challenging as the snow in Guelph does not have a lot of depth. She practices her dives for a competition known as beach fl ags.

“In one of the events called ‘beach

KATELYN DINGMAN

Sports & Healthfl ags’ you start lying down, you turn around and run 25 metres to dive for a baton in the sand. So, I had to practice that diving sequence,” said Brady.

Brady began lifeguarding when she was 17 and was encouraged by her peers to enter in pool lifeguarding competitions.

“I started with the pool competitions fi rst and my teammates noticed I could run and they said ‘Hey you should [start] coming and competing on the beach,’ so I went out for a few of the competitions and in my fi rst year I pretty much won everything,” said Brady. “From then on I was just hooked.”

Brady’s strong focus and determination paid off in both the International Surf Rescue Challenge and the Northern Region Championships. She competed in three team events and two individuals events, the individual events being her main focus, consisted of the beach fl ags events and a 90 meter sprint.

“Our main event was the International Surf Rescue Challenge, but we were there early to train and there was a possibility

for us to compete in the Northern Region Championships. Th at was the Saturday and Sunday before the week long competition for the International Surf Rescue Challenge and I came third in the beach front there,” said Brady. “It was my fi rst time competing internationally.”

During the week in the International Surf Rescue challenge, Brady came in fi fth place in her beach fl ags and beach sprint events.

“My motivation is just to have fun and not to worry too much about the results because ultimately it’s a fun lifestyle to keep healthy,” said Brady. “I am trying to go for the world team and that’s in Australia in 2012, so that’s one of my big pushes.”

Beth Fisher, University of Guelph supervisor of Aquatics, truly believes that lifeguarding as a competitive sport helps educate the general public in water safety education.

“Understanding how important lifesaving competitions are really helps to bring water safety education to the general public,” said Fisher. “We can see lifeguarding competitions as a sport and an intense skill and there’s a lot of training that goes into it, but behind it the lesson is always water safety. Th e whole world of water as a sport really opens up to you in a safe manner.”

Fisher’s role at the University of Guelph is to manage the facility from a safety perspective. She believes that Emily Brady has been a great contribution to water safety in her lifeguarding competitions.

“I think Emily is a fantastic representative for the sport of

Laura Tracey

Th rowing it down with Dunk: Recruiting season in full swing

All of the teams and athletes around the OUA and CIS have wrapped up there

playing seasons. It is time for the coaches to compete — no not on the fi eld, court, track, or ice surface — out on the recruiting trail.

Coaches will try to make the best impression possible on the top high school athletic talent in the country in order to convince student-athletes to attend their institution. No two recruits are the same — athletes choose their destination for post secondary education for many diff erent reasons and combinations.

Th e recruiting season for all university sports is the most important part of the yearly athletic cycle. Of course there is no free agency in university sports where players can change teams and play wherever they please when a contract is up.

Athletes do transfer schools on occasion, but to rely on that route

JUSTIN DUNK

for landing talent would be almost certain death for a varsity program.

One recruiting class can change the complexion of a program for years to come. One stellar group of athletes can turn around and re-energize a program.

Just look at the outgoing class of Gryphon distance runners, led by Kyle Boorsma and Rachel Cliff and how many championships they were able to be apart of in a Gryphon uniform.

Conversely, a recruiting class, which fails to meet expectations, can set a varsity team back for a number of years. No one can remember the names from recruiting classes that fl amed out at the post secondary level.

A couple Gryphon teams are off to a solid start. Th e men’s basketball team has solidifi ed their second commitment of the recruiting season. Eric MacDonald, a native of Sarnia and graduate of St. Christopher high school joined the Guelph program.

McDonald is a 6’ 1” combo guard who can certainly score. He dropped a career-high 48 points in a game during his senior high school season and he knows how to

lead his team to victories — posting a 166-44 win loss record during his high school career. MacDonald will be looking to compete for playing time in the Gryphons backcourt with the departure of starting point guard, Mike Petrella leaving many minutes to be fi lled.

It seems as though the men’s basketball team has capitalized on the momentum that another men’s team has created in recruiting circles.

Th e Gryphon football coaching staff has put together –- what many pundits, fans, chat and blogging sites have eluded to as — one of the top three classes in Ontario.

Guelph has gone toe-to-toe with heavyweights and perennial recruiting powers: McMaster, Laurier and Western to score athletic talent.

Th e Gryphons have landed commits from several ‘big name’ London high school players –- of course right in Western’s backyard.

And the Niagara region continues to be a successful

Emily Brady at the International Surf Rescue Challenge in New Zealand.

see “DUNK,” page 15

Page 14: March 31st 2011

15Mar. 31 - Apr. 6, 2011.com

Sports & HealthDzikowski bounces back to the court

It was a bounce back season on the court for the University of Guelph’s

women’s basketball team. But one varsity team member in particular had to work through multiple setbacks in order to get herself healthy and back on the court for her first full active season as a Gryphon.

“It comes to a point where you are either going for it or your not. I was determined to play. I wanted to be in a lead role on our team, I wanted to win,” said second-year team member, Ali Dzikowski.

The smooth shooting guard led her team in scoring -- averaging over 11 points per game -- in a resurgent 9-13 campaign for the women’s squad.

“She’s got one of the best basketball minds I’ve ever coached and that’s 42 years. She really understands the game,” said head coach, Tom O’Brien.

“I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it and prove

Second-year guard shoots out the lights

JUSTIN DUNK

something to my team that we can [be a good team],” said Dzikowski.

Rising above challenging times has been the calling card for Dzikowski early on in her Gryphon basketball career.

Before she donned a Gryphon jersey, Dzikowski suffered a torn left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) before the start of her senior season in high school.

She underwent surgery to repair her torn ligament and a lengthy rehabilitation process to return to full health in time for her rookie year as a Gryphon.

Just when Dzikowski thought she was 100 per cent physically, she developed a blood clot in her left arm, which forced her to sit out the first half of her rookie season. She showed some promise in the second half of her rookie year, averaging over six points per game.

Then, another injury struck. The setback occurred in

the summer of 2009, while Dzikowski was trying out for the Canadian Junior National team. She tore her right ACL, causing her to miss the entire 2009-10 OUA basketball season.

“I was so fed up with injuries, I didn’t even know if I was going to play [again],” said Dzikowski.

Again, she endured a lengthy rehab process so she could return to playing varsity basketball.

“Her rehab was tough and she just plowed her way through it. She is one tough kid,” said O’Brien.

“You have to get [the] feel [for] playing basketball again. You’re sitting out for over a year and not touching a ball,” said Dzikowski. “The biggest thing [in] overcoming an injury is mentally preparing yourself to play again ‘cause you always have that fear of, ‘is it going to happen to me again.’”

The graduate out of Brantford’s Assumption Highschool was finally able to put a full playing season under her belt, suiting up for Guelph in 21 of 22 regular season contests during the 2010-11 year.

“The sweat and the tears that she went through. I told her at the beginning of the year, ‘you’re going to play a ton of minutes because you deserve it because of what you had to go through,” said O’Brien.

“I finally got one [whole]

season under my belt,” said Dzikowski.

In recognition of her efforts, Dzikowski was awarded the OUA West division’s Tracy McLeod award for determination, perseverance and unwavering spirit to get back on the basketball court.

“It ’s great to finally be recognized. It takes a lot of time and a lot of effort [to] be strong enough to get back out on the

court,” said Dzikowski. “I’m so thankful that everyone’s been so supportive of me through everything.”

After a stellar campaign for the Gryphons in 2010-11 and leading the team to a playoff berth, Dzikowski will look to take her team to the next level in the future.

Megan Verhey

“It’s comes to a point

where you are either going for it or your

not.” - Ali Dzikowski

recruiting ground for the Gryphons, but they have been able to dip into the Halton region as well, which has often been controlled by the McMaster Marauder football program.

Guelph has been considered to have the second best recruiting class, so far in Ontario, one notch below the Western Mustangsn — who just recently held a press conference to announce the commitment of 30 high-end athletes and surely

more are on the way. In any sport it is hard to project

how high school stars will turn out at the university level of competition, but strength, for the most part, is in numbers and the Gryphon football program certainly has some rankings in there favour.

The trick of course is turning those recruiting rankings – in any varsity sport — into championship trophies.

“DUNK,” continued Ali Dziwkowski on court during a regular season home game at Guelph. It was her first full injury-free year with the Gryphons.

Page 15: March 31st 2011

16 Mar. 31 - Apr. 6, 2011 164.11

Sports & HealthAnd the new cup of joe is... Matcha!

Coffee is out! Stained teeth, stinky breath, full body jitters, adrenal stress;

who needs that first thing in the morning? Ok, ok, some of you might want the jolt to get your day moving. And a cup of coffee here and there doesn’t hurt. In fact, for years there has been supportive research stating the benefits of the occasional latte. But consider the cost of one cup (for some of you one cup is the appetizer to the five course coffee meal) of coffee each day over your lifetime. It’s very taxing to the system. Not to mention the need to increase the intake to get the same stimulation.

LEIGH MCSWAN, BSC., CNP

Taking the stage in our hunt for a healthier caffeinated beverage is Matcha Green Tea.

Originating from Japan, where it was used in traditional tea ceremonies, Matcha is becoming increasingly popular on the international beverage market as consumers constantly search for the latest and healthiest alternatives to coffee. Matcha is good for you for several reasons.

Caffeine Matcha does contain a small

amount of caffeine, but like all green teas also contains L-theanine. This increases the alpha waveactivities in the brain, which creates a feeling of relaxation. It is also associated with increasing the ability to focus and concentrate, but not agitate the nervous system. Researchers

believe that this may be one of the reasons that drinking tea tends to have a calming, refreshing effect, in contrast to the jittery effects of coffee.

AntioxidantsGreen teas contain a high

amount of antioxidants, chemical compounds known to forestall aging. Antioxidants are found in many fruits and vegetables – even chocolate. A testing method known as ORAC, short for oxygen radical absorbance capacity, evaluates the antioxidant levels found in food. The ORAC capacity of matcha green tea is exponentially higher than other foods known for their high antioxidant levels, such as blueberries and spinach. In comparison to regular green tea, Matcha is 10 times higher in

antioxidants — this is likely due to the way Matcha is processed, using the whole leaf, where many nutrients are found.

DetoxificationChlorophyll, the pigment

which gives leaves their green color, helps to remove heavy metals and chemical toxins from the body. Because matcha powdered tea is fully ingested when consumed, unlike tea leaves which are infused then discarded, and because matcha is shade grown, a process which increases the chlorophyll content in the leaves, matcha tea is a chlorophyll rich food. 

Mood Matcha contains L-theanine,

an amino acid known to relax the mind.  For this reason, matcha is

also known as a mood enhancer.  Buddhist monks drank matcha to assist in meditation, as it’s amino acids, when combined with caffeine, offer a sustained calm alertness over time.  Amino acids are also what gives matcha is distinctive taste. 

Make your own! Matcha Latte Recipe

1 tsp Matcha1 tsp honey, agave or organic cane sugar1/3 cup hot water2/3 cup warm milk (soy, almond etc)

Put matcha into a bowl or teapot, add hot water & then sugar or honey. Stir to dissolve. Pour matcha mix into a cup & top with warm milk. Enjoy!

Gryphon cheerleading squad shines in New York

It was a successful Jam Fest for the little known Gryphon cheerleading club. The squad

of women from Guelph made the trip to Rochester, NY on March 12 to compete in ‘The Cool Jam,’ at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

The Gryphons were placed in the Elite Division 1, All-Girl Collegiate Cheer event, taking home a first place result.

“It’s pretty amazing. It’s a great feeling. I have been on this team

JUSTIN DUNK

Guelph women end season on top

since the beginning,” said club president, Jessica Bruce. “These girls have really become my family and all of the hard work pays off [when you] get a first place finish.”

More top of the division results will certainly help the club garner increased attention, which could help make life for the club easier.

“The school gave us [some money] and Brass Taps also gave us some. A bus isn’t cheap and then we had to pay for registration and our uniforms and accommodations, it all adds up,” said Bruce. “That’s all from our own pockets. It’s hard, but we manage.”

The team president has been hard at work trying to recruit sponsors for the cheerleading squad.

“We’re not varsity and that makes it really difficult for us because cheerleading is really expensive,” said Bruce. “It’s been a lot of hard work to contact different places to help sponsor us. [Winning] makes it all worth

“The routine that we had in Rochester was the most difficult one

that we had all year.” - Jessica Bruce

Cari-Ann Young

it.”Amid fundraising and

schoolwork, the team found time to put a sparkling routine together at the Jam Fest, which was the reason the Gryphon cheer squad placed so well.

“The routine that we had in Rochester was the most difficult one that we had all year,” said Bruce. “We made the stunts more difficult and made tumbling more difficult.”

“Ending the season with a first in the States is amazing,” said team member, Paige Caletti. “We’ve really come a long way in a short amount of time and having to deal with all these injuries and [a] new team, [but the] new people have been unreal. I am so

happy we have done so well.”The atmosphere surrounding

the Jam Fest cheerleading competition was fierce.

“It’s definitely really competitive,” said Caletti. ”They are so intense down there in the States and they take cheerleading really seriously. It’s just starting to grow in Canada.”

If the team is able to raise enough funds, they hope to compete across the border again next year.

“We need the fundraising which is key,” said Caletti.

No matter the challenges put in their path the cheerleading club has certainly shown they have the potential to compete at a high level with other university squads.

The Gryphon cheerleading club warming up for competition at Jam Fest, in Rochester, NY on March 12.

Page 16: March 31st 2011

Courtesy

17Mar. 31 - Apr. 6, 2011.com

Sports & HealthGryphons compete at Ski Nationals

The 2011 Haywood Ski National Championships were held in beautiful

Canmore, Alberta from March 12-16. Many Guelph Gryphon cross-country ski racers competed in the five-day event.

Jennie Hissa posted the best individual result –- an eighth place finish in the 20km Junior Female distance skate race.

“I’ve been to nationals before and I’ve never had a good distance race,” said Hissa. “I just tried to have fun with it and that did me well.”

Mass-start distance races make strategic decisions at the beginning of the race very key.

“In places where you’re in higher altitudes [don’t] go out hard, but hold back a little bit and wait for other people to die off. There is a lot of strategy involved, when to go hard and when to hold off, or when to draft off people,” said Hissa. “I held back at the beginning and caught people as [the race] went along.”

Stamina and recovery was a key factor for the athletes at Nationals as many Gryphons participated in

Guelph skiers post solid results

JUSTIN DUNK

LifeWeekly drink recipe: The Canadian Breeze

A drink to enjoy on the beaches of Nova Scotia or Lake Ontario rather

than the Caribbean, the Canadian Breeze, a close sibling to the Sea Breeze, offers a fruity fusion of cherry, lemon, pineapple and whiskey. Its use of Canadian Club whiskey, rather than other international brands, distinguishes this drink from the Sea Breeze.

To prepare it, pour half a teaspoon of maraschino liqueur, a shot of Canadian Club whiskey, one tablespoon of lemon juice and one teaspoon of pineapple juice over ice. To garnish, add a skewered lemon wedge and maraschino cherry, and stir. The lemon and pineapple offer a sour twist, while the cherry liqueur softens it, adding a sweetness that blends nicely with the whiskey.

RACHEL SCAPILLATI

multiple events over the five-day competition.

“You basically go as hard as you can every single race and just try and recover the best [you] could in between [races],” said Hissa. “Recovery, recovery, recovery as much as you can.”

“We had a couple days of consecutive races, so right after the race [you] do a cool down and go home and eat and sleep and get prepared to do the next [race],” said team member, Laura Hewitt.

Racers also had to battle the thin air in Canmore, as the city sits over 1300m above sea level.

“[Dealing with] the altitude difference and getting used to the terrain in Alberta, I knew that was going to be difficult,” said Hissa.

The tandem of Hewitt and Kyla Vanderzwet were the top Guelph finishers in the Women’s Team Sprint event, crossing the finish line in seventh place.

“Any sprint race is exciting. The crowds are all really close by and when you’re racing with somebody else you don’t want to let them down,” said Hewitt. “And you can feed off their energy to increase your performance as well.”

“You can’t give up at any point during the race because there is another person who is depending on you,” said Hissa, who finished

15-place with her racing partner Lindsey Chapman.

Hewitt also posted a solid 16-place finish in the Women’s five-kilometre skate race.

“It was definitely the toughest five-kilometre race I’ve ever done. There were hills in Canmore which are nothing like the ones in Ontario,” said Hewitt. “I just had to have a positive self dialog.”

Scott Weersink led the men’s contingent with a 20-place finish in the Classic Sprint event and recorded a 15-place finish in the team sprint event with Patrick Twohig.

The Gryphon ski team felt they competed well against some very talented racers from around the country.

“I think we did really well overall. For a lot of people this was the first time racing in an event like this,” said Hewitt. “There were people that are on the national team, people that have been racing on the World Cup circuit this year [and] people that have Olympic medals. I think everyone stepped up to the plate very well.”

Gryphon Athletics

Guelph Gryphon Nordic Skiing team member, Patrick Twohig in action at the 2011 Haywood Ski National Championships.

Page 17: March 31st 2011

18 Mar. 31 - Apr. 6, 2011 164.11

LifeHow to fi nd fresh food for city-dwellers

Staring out the window of your student house at your cramped yard, or drearily

gazing out the window of your fourth fl oor apartment sans yard, you might notice there isn’t much room in your home to grow your own food. All the freshly grown lettuce, cucumbers or tomatoes you crave will have to be replaced by things you can buy in a grocery store in another words, a more accessible, yet less natural environment.

However, there are fresher solutions in local markets. Backyard Bounty, a social enterprise available to the community since 2008, is an organization dedicated to growing fresh vegetables right here in Guelph.

From mid June until the end of October, Backyard Bounty sells their vegetables at the Farmer’s Market and other local markets within walking distance to many Guelph residents.

In addition, Backyard Bounty off ers a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), which off ers residents of Guelph a unique opportunity to purchase batches of vegetables to last them through a portion of time and saves them a trip to the market and grocery store.

“We do vegetable pick-ups for the CSA on Tuesdays and Th ursdays every week [from] June to October,” said Julianna Van Adrichem, manager at Backyard Bounty. “People can also come to our location at 12 Waterloo St., to purchase their vegetables if they don’t want to be apart of the CSA program.”

Th e costs of the CSA program

RACHEL SCAPILLATI go back towards the growing of plants and maintaining the wages of the farmers.

“With urban farming there isn’t a huge margin of profi t. Th ere are so many costs to farming, wages and such. We strive to be a social enterprise, existing for the environmental and social benefi ts we can provide to the community,” she said.

Another program available through Backyard Bounty is the donation of your yards.

“Th e yards are donated from people in the community,” said Van Adrichem. “Th ere are many benefi ts to donating your yard because we maintain the plot that has been given to us without you ever having to worry about it. We cultivate the veggies there and then either use them for the CSA program or for the local markets. We don’t have space ourselves, so this is very reliant on community sharing.”

Besides the obvious local economic benefi ts, you may be wondering what the benefi ts of purchasing your vegetables through a local market are versus a grocery store.

“Th e most basic aspect of fresh vegetables is that when you buy them from a grocery store, they were not ripe when they were originally picked,” said Van Adrichem. “Th ey were ripened [using farming technology] so that many of the nutrients are lost once they are fi nally delivered to Ontario. When we harvest our vegetables, we pick them when they are fully ripe and sell them the day we pick them. Th ey were ripened while sitting on the vine, naturally.”

Th e types of vegetables

available for purchase from Backyard Bounty are lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, arugula, peppers, edible fl owers and eggplants, to mention a few. In a joint eff ort with Transition Guelph, Backyard Bounty is attempting to get apples as well.

What makes organizations like Backyard Bounty successful is the strong community support.

“Th is is a community-based project,” said Van Adrichem. “Th is makes it a fun and nice experience for the people picking up their shares. It makes a variety of people come together. Th is is a great community eff ort behind us and we are very thankful to Guelph for being so supportive.”

Other alternatives to growing fresh vegetables can be starting your own small pots of herbs and little vegetables at home. You may fi nd you have enough space in your yard to start your own garden, saving money on purchasing vegetables from the grocery store and treating yourself to fresher food.

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Weekly dog: Butters

Ecole Elementaire, a local French school, has donated a piece of land to Backyard Bounty.

Chris HamelinButters is fi ve years old. Th at’s not a long time for a dog. Sometimes his fur comes out on your clothes and one time he fell out of a car window. He was fi ne, but he tells that story a lot.

Page 18: March 31st 2011

19.com

On the topic of education and sustainability

In a sustainable world order, education would be practically free.

With climate change capturing public attention and making advances onto the political agenda, we should expect to hear policy proposals for significant reductions to the cost of education.

While the connection has yet to become clear to policy makers, grasping the dynamics of this change will provide a durable platform for promoting the tremendous advantage that a well-educated population provides in whatever sort of world we face.

Revolution is a change of accounting practices. The following example reveals the same sort of misperception that says we have to raise tuition fees to make universities viable.

Canada’s east coast fishery was a classic “success” story in the old accountancy. Every year more fish were being caught, more money made and, as a consequence, more money was available to invest in more fishing to make more money and so on to expand the process. Then, totally off the radar, the fish stocks collapsed and the many communities that were dependent on fishing met with disaster.

The situation brings to mind Plato’s cave. Prisoners who had never seen the creatures casting shadows upon their cave wall believed that the shadows were the whole of reality. In the same way, today’s accounts see money figures as the only valid indicators of the well-being of businesses and society. The underlying principle is that the only things that count are what people actually pay for. (How else can one prove value, except by producing actual receipts?)

Clearly conventional accounting was far from adequate in gauging the well-being of the east coast fishery. Had accounts also been kept of the ecological viability of the fish stocks and the nature of the fishing communities that depended on the fish, decisions would have been made to limit fishing rather than to subsidize the expansion of fishing fleets.

Likewise, when accounted for with the triple bottom line (environmental, social and economic) education is practically free. From the environmental perspective, education consists primarily of knowledge and good will. Both

MIKE NICKERSON

OpinionMar. 31 - Apr. 6, 2011

The opinions expressed herein do not refelect the opinions of The Ontarion

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of these “resources” are limitless. They require no greater draw on the natural world than the food and shelter necessary to sustain teachers and students. With some ingenuity around the use of sunshine to heat buildings, these material necessities can be maintained within sustainable cycles forever.

From the social perspective, well educated people tend to contribute more to society than

less educated people. They are more likely to understand the challenges of our times and have a potential for greater self-fulfillment, making them less likely to be sucked into the notion that they have to purchase new consumer goods to be happy.

The triple bottom line shows education to be an excellent place to invest public resources.

What will it take for such

sustainability accounting to replace conventional practices? It requires that, as a society, we acknowledge that we have grown to a mature size and that long-term well-being has to replace perpetual economic expansion as our primary goal. It is a question of direction. Once this reality has been acknowledged, we will begin to see, not the shadows on the cave wall, but the real world of

people working together with limited planetary resources to make way for successive generations to enjoy their place under the sun.

Page 19: March 31st 2011

20 Mar. 31 - Apr. 6, 2011 164.11

Opinion

Open Content: Content spam

If you thought “information literacy” was just for sissies – think again. Those faculty and

librarians aren’t kidding when they go on and on about the critical appraisal of information. There’s a lot of crap out there. Way more than you might think.

An entire industry has sprung up on the internet to provide low quality information just for you. And it is very big business. We’re not talking just plain old internet crap. This is on-demand, responsive, targeted crap. Content spam from content farms.

Here’s one way it works. People search for things on Google. Companies track those searches to watch what people are looking for. They immediately commission short articles about those topics from a legion of part time writers they have available. Those articles are posted in a variety of websites

Information junk foodMICHAEL RIDLEY

within hours, even minutes. People continue to search for those topics and those newly posted articles rank highly in a Google search (who looks beyond the first page of a Google search anyway?). People access these posts. Those pages are filled with online ads and people click on those ads. Online advertising is very, very big business. Essentially this is a money factory based on cheap, low quality information designed to drive your eyeballs to online ads.

Nothing here about quality. Nothing. It’s just spam in another form.

The poster kid for all this is a company called Demand Media. It is estimated that they produce well over 4,000 pieces of content day. They talk about themselves as a new type of media company being responsive to consumer needs. They went public in January through an IPO and the resulting valuation of the company was $1.5

billion. That makes them valued higher than the New York Times.

Of course, trying to scam the Google search results is an international sport. Everyone is trying to get their website on the first page and has high up as possible. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a very lucrative (and legitimate) business. However, when manipulating the search results goes bad (and content spam is bad IMHO), we need to pay close attention. The terms for all these things are fascinating and evocative: black hat SEO, relevancy gaming, and (my personal favourite) link bait.

Google took a huge amount of bad press on this. Since content spam was undermining Google as the preferred search engine, they have taken steps to alter their famous PageRank algorithm to

push these sites further down the search result list (i.e. they show up on pages 4 or later – who goes there?).

It seems to be working – for the moment. Demand Media share prices fell and other such companies announced layoffs. However, don’t kid yourself, crap content is surprisingly resilient.

So we are back to quality. Quality matters. Finding quality matters. Paying attention to the good stuff is what information literacy and critical appraisal are all about. As the motivational writer Wayne Dyer is fond of saying, always go the extra mile, it’s less crowded there. That’s where the quality is.

Are content farms evil? Or are they simply responding to consumer demand? Are you being manipulated or adequately informed?

Shutting down content farms is censorship. I’m not suggesting that. Manipulating Google search results is an acceptable business practice. I’m not really caring about that either (although it is fascinating – sorry, my propeller head is showing). For me it’s about critical appraisal and information literacy.

Spam is spam. Crap is crap. You need to know how to assess the validity of what you are reading or viewing. If you don’t have these skills, good luck to you. You are an info victim. You will be grazing at the content farms and the nourishment will be very thin.

Michael Ridley is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Librarian at the University of Guelph. Contact him at [email protected] or www.uoguelph.ca/cio.

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Loose cannon: Meet the CSA’s defiant ones

By In the iconic 1958 American film The Defiant Ones, two convicts (one

black and one white) escape from a chain gang in the segregated South and go on the run.

Being shackled together, the two fugitives have to overcome some pretty big hang ups (the white convict, played by Tony Curtis, is a racist, much to the chagrin of a young Sidney Poitier). Through shared hardship, they eventually come to respect each other, and even display the beginnings of friendship.

At the end of the film, a freed Curtis has the chance to hop onto a passing freight train and escape capture. Instead, he tries to lift Poitier onto the car with him. They both fall to the ground and are recaptured, the wiser for having worked together toward a common goal.

If the Central Student Association were to mount a remake starring Communications and Corporate Affairs Commissioner Demetria Jackson and her predecessor Gavin Armstrong, it would called The Defiantly Stubborn Ones, and neither of them would have made it farther than 50 feet.

In the 21st century, their personal feud serves as an important commentary, not on race relations, but on the destructiveness of ego.

It’s no secret that the two CSA Board members don’t see eye-to-eye. During last year’s referendum

GREG BENETEAU

on membership in the Canadian Federation of Students, Demetria volunteered with the “YES” campaign that advocated in favour of staying part of the CFS.

On the other hand, Armstrong is the primary contact to the CSA regarding the legal battle to leave the CFS. Both have struggled to remain on cordial terms throughout the year.

The animosity reached a head during recent CSA elections. While supporting his partner Martin Straathof in the race for External Affairs, Armstrong mounted a borderline vicious attack campaign against Jackson, questioning her competence and calling her employment at the CSA a waste of money.

I’ll be the first to defend criticism during an election campaign. However, it didn’t completely escape my notice that that, unlike the other races in which Armstrong took an interest, he focused primarily on pointing out Jackson’s weaknesses rather than trumpeting his candidate’s strengths.

Instead of helping Straathof, I suspect that Armstrong’s scorched earth campaign contributed to Jackson’s overwhelming victory. It’s also made strained their relationship to the breaking point and threatened to interfere with normal operations at the CSA.

Jackson has stood down from two committees, the Student Executive Council and the Special Grants Committee, in response to what she called a “toxic” work environment.

“That committee and the culture that exists within it has become toxic to me, especially after recent

elections and I refuse to sit on a committee that does so much psychological well being,” she wrote in her executive report to the board on Wednesday.

Demetria and Gavin are the only members on Special Grants. Since the committee can no longer make quorum, it cannot use its $100,000 budget to help U of G student groups fund various activities, including conferences, travel, volunteerism and social events.

Before you think that this is a one-sided assault, I should point out that Jackson has ruled out using mediation or board intervention to address her conflict with Armstrong, preferring to disengage from a duty that is a requirement of her portfolio.

“ I’m not even at a place where I can stay in a room with Gavin without feeling physically and psychologically ill for more than 1 hour maximum,” she wrote in an email. “Perhaps in the summer this is something we can revisit, but at this moment no, absolutely not.”

As for seeking outside help, “I really don’t have the time for it, and at times I feel as if I’ve spent way more time defending myself to him and others than doing the job that I was elected to do.”

Dealing with critics can be hard work, but it’s absolutely necessary. Shirking one’s responsibilities is not only a poor way to handle office conflict, it’s also a terrible way to start your second term on the CSA executive.

So, my message to the feuding parties is this: you’re going to be shackled together for the next 12 months. Deal with your problems now. or risk missing the train.

The opinions expressed herein do not refelect the opinions of The Ontarion

Page 20: March 31st 2011

21Mar. 31 - Apr. 6, 2011.com

OpinionVolun-tourism: philanthropy or self-interest?

With the first day of spring last week, students are

celebrating the return of the sunny weather and of course, the long-awaited end of school; the chance to go back home and for some, the excitement of making travel plans.

Today’s tourism industry is lucrative to say the least. In fact, many countries rely on it as a significant source of income. Corporations have learned how to capitalize on the Western world’s desires of escaping the mundane rituals of daily life and discovering paradise on the shores of another land.

To many, travelling for personal leisure does not sit well with them. It feels too selfish to spend thousands of dollars for a few days or weeks of a do-nothing-but-relax regime. However a

JIHEE (MARIE) PARK solution seems at hand; why not volunteer abroad?

It is hard for the average student to miss the extensive advertisements plastered on campus spaces by the many volunteer abroad agencies that promote their services on campus. They offer students with a convenient packaged travel deal, with the unbelievable fact that despite its appearance as a travel-for-fun trip, it actually is an opportunity to contribute to incredible international philanthropic causes. However, critical thought into the morality of the concept is crucially lacking when students decide to go on a trip abroad.

It feels as though too many students try to justify their desire for leisure and travel in this way. With the right intentions, volunteering abroad may indeed provide an educational experience

at their placements, while at the same time give valuable aid to the communities in which they visit. The final outcome of a project may provide a community with essential needs beneficial to their well being and future development. However, many volunteer abroad packages do not have a well-defined purpose or realistic end goals. This is as such because these companies do not exist for philanthropy, but is a business with the goal of making profit – they market to cater to the needs and wants of students, which would be a chance to see the world.

As a volunteer, one must realize that the primary purpose of being a volunteer is to help others. But really, as university students still working towards a degree, how much useful help can we offer to these communities? A group of students may spend a

few days putting together a brick wall of a new building. That is a lot of time and energy spent for a task that local tradesmen would be able to do more efficiently. It will often be that a substantially greater amount of aid would be achieved if the money spent on travelling and accommodations were to be given directly to the communities for their use.

Often a student would decide on a trip based on the destination. They pick and choose their preferred country from a list of locations that are also often common vacation hot spots. This method of selecting a trip reflects the students’ priorities – personal preferences first, and if some philanthropic work can be squeezed in between the sightseeing, it’s a great bonus. It has become that consumerism now extends to the types of volunteer work we wish to do.

It is immoral to use the precept that one is doing selfless volunteer work in order to fulfill the self-satisfaction of global and cultural travelling without feeling the guilt of self-indulgence. It undermines the concept of volunteering itself. However, it must not be then assumed that going on vacation with the intent of recreation is also unacceptable. The difference is that the latter does not try to camouflage one’s pursuit of hedonism as an act of kindness; hedonism by virtue is not necessarily immoral, as one can surely deserve to go on a well-earned break from hard work.

This summer, and in future years, bear these considerations in mind. True volunteerism must be guided by genuine goodwill: this will surely lead to a more extraordinary personal adventure than any nicely gift-wrapped volun-tourism package.

Quit hating on GMOs!

The March 24th issue of the Ontarion ended with an article entitled “No to

Enviropig” which I felt was a very fitting title, as it summed up all of its informational content right there. It perfectly reflects the blind hatred towards GMOs seen in the general populace. I’ve become more accustomed to seeing anti GMO protests on campus where you hear things like “GMOs cause cancer!”, “GMOs are ruining the farming industry” and the most popular and laughable “You’re playing God!” (The latter I refuse to even acknowledge on account of its overwhelming banality and religious tone)

I would like to address this issue as a concerned Guelphite, and as someone who takes the time to inform themselves when I have a question or hear a questionable statement. Also, it has been my impression that at the University of Guelph, we are forward thinkers that take an innovative approach to agriculture. I find it disappointing to see my student newspaper siding with these misinformed people and propagating unfounded claims, especially with an article so flimsy and lacking in fact-based arguments.

Watch out, because here comes a huge statement and I challenge anyone to provide evidence to the contrary: There is no direct link between cancer and GMOs.

To anyone out there who feels the need to add anti-GMO to their bag of trendy causes to support, let me drop some

ZACH LEBLANC knowledge on you. Generally speaking, genetic modification involves changing the genetic code of an organism by adding a gene from another organism or in some way modifying the genes of an organism. I want to avoid scaring anyone by saying this, however changes (mutations) in our genetic code occur every day by mutagens in our environment coming from a multitude of natural sources (in the average person, 50 per cent of these mutagens may come from your morning cup of coffee (organic or not). Over time, these mutations can create novel genes which when selected for through breeding (a form of genetic modification) can yield novel crops such as corn. Man created corn as we know it today. Transgenes or not, it has always been a GMO. Now in the Enviropig project, a specific protein was added to the animals’ genetic code reducing the phosphorous content in the pigs’ faeces. This isn’t something that’s done willy-nilly. It should be acknowledged that the scientists behind this project had a goal in mind: to develop a less environmentally damaging way of producing pork. If at any step in the process it was found that this animal could harm people, then this goal wouldn’t have been met and the project would have stopped there. Personally I am quite proud that the Enviropig was developed at my university and I wish it all the success it deserves. In addition I feel that it’s unfair to lump a university research effort in with companies like Monsanto as

their end goals differ greatly.The arguments raised in

the Ontarion article and on the CBAN website are that somehow GMOs are the cause of unsustainable farming practices. But these practices have been in the making for years as we’ve moved towards a more efficient food production method; a necessary evil for a growing population. So I don’t see how the Enviropig which came into existence 10 years ago and hasn’t yet hit the market can be blamed. I’ll acknowledge that many

GMOs are engineered to fit into the mass-produced food model endorsed by their designers, but the application of this tool isn’t restricted to that. We have yet to see all the wondrous avenues that can be taken in the genetically modified foods story. That being said,what we see generally in anti-GMO protesters is a similar situation to a child refusing to eat vegetables on account of them being “Yucky.” They don’t like them because they don’t like the idea of them. As silly as that sounds, from what I’ve heard in

discussion with these protesters, that’s as far as their knowledge on the matter goes.

At the end of the day, genetic engineering is us using our knowledge to make our crops better, which is what has been happening since humans started farming. So I really just want to urge anyone reading this not necessarily to agree with me but to inform yourself and understand what you’re argument is exactly before you put on a pig mask and sit on the canon. Because otherwise you just look stupid.

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22 Mar. 31 - Apr. 6, 2011 164.11

Vote. But don’t vote Conservative. O

n May 2, 2011 Canada will hold it’s 41st democratic election. This comes after

the Conservative government was struck down on a vote of non-confidence on March 25.

To begin, we want to make it clear that the Ontarion is aware of how cliché and repetitive this is about to sound. But it’s for your health that we bring you these crucial words: VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

Here’s why. For the past few years, a lot of complaining has been done about the Conservative government and their approach to leadership, both within our country and on an international field. We at the Ontarion are with all of those who dislike the current government. But those who are pissed off with Harper especially need to take action. Last year, voter turnout for citizens age 18-24 was 37 per cent. The percentage of eligible voters who actually go to the polls literally increases with every age group, meaning only one thing: young people aren’t doing their part.

The frustrating thing is that if young people did vote, we would undoubtedly change the outcome of the election. Instead, a specific demographic tends to determine

Editorialwho governs our country. People with established careers and homes will often vote Conservative, looking for a government that poses the least possibility for change and will keep their money safe.

But many of us don’t vote for the same reasons as these people. We vote whole-heartedly with our feelings and frustrations not just in our own lives, but also within the larger context of the world. If we want to change anything for the better, the Conservative government has shown they are not the party to do it with. Among Harper’s fine moments as Prime Minister, we’ve seen him and his crew dismantle the Canadian census, try to privatize media, expand the Tar Sands, pour billions of dollars into the mess that was the G20, and give the green light to corporations who pollute the most, just to name a few. The Conservatives have shown little to no willingness to act on climate change, and actually embarrassed the country at the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, resulting in international hoaxing by the infamous “Yes Men,” and many a magazine article badmouthing our nation. Our international image

as a country that stands up for social and environmental justice has profoundly changed, and it all started only a few years ago.

This is a crucial time in our history. Lot’s of talk has been made about this generation having to make radical changes to the way they see and live in the world if we’re to survive in a healthy way for generations to come. If the Conservative government has shown anything, it’s their stubbornness in making healthy changes that don’t involve immediate economic growth. But the money tree isn’t the only one we need to be saving.

We urge you to do anything you can to ensure we don’t have another Conservative government, and there are a couple of ways you can do this.

One option is to vote strategically. This is a realistic method of voting for anyone who wants to see a government that isn’t Conservative. In the last election, the Conservatives won with 37 per cent of the popular vote. That is not a large number, but the problem was that everyone else’s votes were divided and with a first-past-the-post voting system votes don’t materialize into seats based on the proportion of voters.

Strategic voting involves voting for the party with the best chance of winning. Right now the Public Opinion Polls have the Liberals with 27 per cent popularity, NDP with 20, and the Green party with 8. If those people voting Green party and just a fraction of those voting NDP were to vote Liberal, we could be successful in ousting out the Conservatives.

The next option is just as important to consider. Please people, vote for anything BUT the Conservative Party (known as the ABC strategy). Options include the NDP, the Green Party, the Bloc Quebecois and the Liberals. Other parties do exist but these are the most prominent ones and the only ones likely to win any seats in most areas of the country. They all have more socially and environmentally respectable platforms, and in many other ways reflect the interests of our population more accurately. If enough youth turn up to the polls and vow to vote ABC, we have a good chance in causing a shift in power.

For the future of our country, our families, our environment and our livelihoods, let’s do whatever we can do to say goodbye to Harper. It all starts by voting.

The Ontarion Inc.University CentreRoom 264University of GuelphN1G 2W1

[email protected]

Phone:519-824-4120General: x58265Editorial: x58250Advertising: x58267Accounts: x53534

Fax:519-824-7838

Editorial Staff:Editor-in-chief Nicole ElsasserNews Editor

Kelsey RideoutArts & Culture Editor

Josh DoyleSports & Health Editor

Justin DunkCopy Editor

Sasha OdesseAssociate Editor

Rachel Scapillati

Production Staff:Photo & graphics editor Megan VerheyAd designer Anne TabataLayout Director Alison Tibbles

Business manager Lorrie Taylor

Monique VischschraperAd manager Chris Hamelin

Board of DirectorsPresident

David EvansTreasurer

Curtis Van LaeckeChairperson

Marshal McLernonSecretary

Andrew GoloidaDirectors

Lisa McLeanAntik DeyAda GunsarJames Napier

ContributorsMatt BarnesGreg BeneteauTahlia DyerMark Guzylak-ShergoldZach LeBlanc Andrea Lamarre Katie MazPat MurphyJihee (Marie) ParkMichael RidleyElizabeth ShearlyGabriella Sundar SinghLaura TraceyJulianna van Adrichem

The Ontarion is a non-profit organization governed by a Board of Directors. Since the Ontarion undertakes the publishing of student work, the opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the Ontarion Board of Directors. The Ontarion reserves the right to edit or refuse all material deemed sexist, racist, homophobic, or otherwise unfit for publication as determined by the Editor-in-Chief. Material of any form appearing in this newspaper is copyrighted 2010 and cannot be reprinted without the approval of the Editor-in-Chief. The Ontarion retains the right of first publication on all material. In the event that an advertiser is not satisfied with an advertisement in the newspaper, they must notify the Ontarion within four working days of publication. The Ontarion will not be held responsible for advertising mistakes beyond the cost of advertisement. The Ontarion is printed by the Guelph Mercury.

Letters to the EditorDeadline for letters:Mondays @ 2PM

The Ontarion reserves the right to edit or refuse all letters deemed sexist, racist, homophobic, able-ist, advertorial, libelous or otherwise oppressive or unfit for publication as determined by the Editor in Chief. Letters must be kept to a maximum of 300 words. We will edit longer letters at our discretion.

All letters must include a full name and phone number (#’s not published), including those which are intended to remain anonymous. The Ontarion may occasionally print anonymous letters when personal safety is an issue.

[email protected]

Letters to the Editor

In his article titled “Combatting the Apartheird label, one word at a time,” by dismissing the term “Israeli apartheid” Greg Beneteau offers no verifiable facts and doesn’t engage with the evidence that Israel’s critics have offered. Nor does he provide a definition of “apartheid.” (The International Criminal Court and the United Nations define it as the “systematic oppression and domination by one racial group” over another.)

All Beneteau says in defence of Israeli policy is that it’s less horrific than the Rwandan genocide—that he can say nothing better for Israel’s political class is revealing—and he seems to think that genocide is the only crime considered illegal under international law. Yet Human Rights Watch notes that Israel’s blockade of Gaza “constitutes unlawful collective punishment.” Meanwhile, the International Court of Justice has ruled illegal the wall Israel has built on

the West Bank and all Israeli settlements are illegal. It takes an unusually narrow interpretation of “systematic oppression and domination” to deny that these examples meet the criteria.

Moreover, Beneteau encourages IAW activists to attend a talk on the Rwandan atrocities to see “what real...tragedy looks like.” That’s an appalling, callous statement. Israel’s Operation Cast Lead killed 1400 Palestinians in just three weeks and destroyed hospitals, mosques, a university and a UN building. Reports on this attack by Amnesty International, Human Rights and others have all noted that Israel committed war crimes. That the killings didn’t taken place at the same rate as the Rwandan tragedy in no way means that they aren’t tragic or are less “real.”

Greg Shupak, School of English and

Theatre Studies

As a student of the University of Guelph, I have an expectation that my voice will be represented fairly and unambiguously by The Ontarion. In last week’s article, Israel Apartheid Week Finds Support and Critique, Kelsey Rideout demonstrated an incredible lack of journalistic integrity. Though her article holds merit for attempting to present both sides of the issue, she provided IAW supporter Greg Shupak with the final word in the article itself (thereby preventing an adequate response from the other side). Not only is this subjective on a number of levels, but also doesn’t provide the student readers of The Ontarion with an accurate, unbiased perspective – something that they should be able to expect from their on-campus publication. The University of Guelph prides itself upon being a multicultural institution where any student should feel like they have the right to have their voices heard equally in

the student forum. It’s unfortunate that Ms. Rideout cannot provide that forum within the pages of The Ontarion.

Jeff Greenberg

Page 22: March 31st 2011

23.com

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COMMUNITY EVENTS

The Hungarian-Canadian Engineers’ Association would like to honour students of Hungarian descent graduating from a degree course in 2011 at its annual Ball on April 30. If you will graduate this year, please advise Professor

L.L. Diosady, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto M5S 1A4, e-mail [email protected], indicating your name, address, course, and university, so that a formal invitation could be sent.

MISCELLANEOUS

THE GUELPH RECORD and CD SHOW - Sunday, April 3. 10:30am - 4pm at the Best Western. 716 Gordon St. (opposite the university). Over 35 vendors. Admission $4. For further information contact: 905-777-1763.

Community ListingsThursday March 31

Women and Trans Night at The Bike Centre, U of G campus, 6pm - 10pm. www.hissinggoose.info

Save a life…or 3! Canadian Blood Services is looking for donors at the University of Guelph. Clinic held in PCH 11-6pm.

Charity Dinner at PJ’s Restaurant in the Atrium - proceeds to Everdale organic farm and environmental learning centre (www.everdale.org). Reservations: www.atriumrestaurant.uoguelph.ca/

Centre. Admission: $25, or 4 tickets for $80, $10 under 30 and $5 eyeGO. 519-763-3000 or online at www.riverrun.ca

Barber Gallery – ‘Movable Feast of Art: The Arrival of Spring’. Exhibit runs from April 2-May 31. Opening reception today 2-4pm. 167 Suffolk St. W. Free admission. Free parking. 519-824-0821.

Sunday April 3

Guelph Symphony Orchestra – Masterworks Lizt & Brahms with Pianist Alexi Gulenco. Conductor Judith Yan. 3pm at the River Run Centre. Adults/$30, Students/$15, Children/$10. www.riverrun.ca. 519-763-3000. One conductor out of five choices will become the new resident GSO conductor in 2011.

Friday April 1Inspiring Community body/mind/spirit – A weekend Celebration of Unitarianism in Guelph – April 1-3. 122 Harris St. www.guelph-unitarians.com or 519-836-3443.

University of Concert Winds Ensemble ‘Now For Something Completely Different’. Conductor John Goddard. Harcourt United Church, 87 Dean Ave, 8pm. Tickets $10/general, $5 (student/senior). www.uoguelph.ca/sofam

Saturday April 2

University of Guelph Choirs, Guelph Chamber Choir and University of Western Ontario Singers “Brahms A German Requiem”. Conductor Marta McCarthy. 8pm at River Run

Tiny Tot Thursday in the Children’s Museum. A fun drop-in progr am for children ages 1-4 and their caregivers. Admission - $2. 9:30 – 11:30am, Guelph Civic Museum, 6 Dublin Street South (519) 836-1221. www.guelph.ca/museum

Guelph Little Theatre presents ‘Twelfth Night’ a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare. March 31 and April 1, 2, 3*, 7, 8, 9. Evening shows 8pm (*2pm Matinee performances). 176 Morris St. Tickets & info: www.guelphlittletheatre.com or 519-821-0270.

index.shtml. Prix Fixe menu: $28.50/person.

Charity Fashion Show at the The Palace Nightclub. All proceeds go to Camp Oochigeas, a volunteer organization which provides children affected by cancer fun and meaningful experiences. Doors open @ 730pm. Show begins @ 8pm. Admission: $10.

Royal City Musical Productions Inc. presents ‘Once Upon a Mattress’ March 31st – April 2nd at 7:30pm, April 3rd at 1:30pm. E.L. Fox Auditorium, John F. Ross CVI. For tickets and info visit: www.rcmpi.com or call 519-763-3000.

Page 23: March 31st 2011